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From the Editor

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n January 10, 2011, the world recognized Suicide Prevention Day, promoting worldwide commit-ment and action to prevent suicides. The Interna-

tional Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP) highlights that “each year as many as 1,000,000 people are estimated to die by suicide across the globe; many, many more make nonfatal attempts.”In Jamaica, the figures are worrying. In an article published in the Jamaica Observer recently, entitled “Here for a pur-pose - Teen triumphs after failed suicide attempt”, a 15 year old shared how she attempted to commit suicide after being depressed for a while. Thankfully, her attempt failed and she is now focused on fulfilling her purpose in life. Dr. Donovan Thomas, Founder of Choose Life International said in the ar-ticle that 40 persons have committed suicide since the start of this year. Between 1996 and 2009, 779 people claimed their own lives.

There are many causes of suicide and it is important that we recognize that it is preventable. Parents, especially, need to be aware of what’s happening in their children’s lives and note any significant changes in behaviour, eating habits, performance in school, as well as interactions with others. Depression, bully-ing (whether online or in person), feelings of worthlessness brought on by a number of different issues, alcohol and sub-stance abuse, are just a few of the root causes of suicide.

Young persons are increasingly at risk. The World Health Or-ganization says that “although traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries.”

If you’re experiencing feelings of depression or you feel like life isn’t worth living, get help immediately! You are not alone and you are created for a greater purpose. Recognize your strength, power, worth and the significant contributions that you will one day make. You are loved and cherished. If you have a friend or family member who has shared something with you that immediately sets off red flags, it is important that you get help immediately. Suicide is never the answer.

If you or someone you know has a problem, speak to a par-ent, guidance counselor, responsible adult or contact any of these organizations: Peer Council Association of Jamaica, RISE Life Management, Choose Life international, or check your lo-cal directory for additional organizations.

OTogether We Can Prevent Suicide

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by Kandice Moncrieffe

would start this article with lyrics from Shabba Rank’s song but sadly, college has no school bells. In my first week at UWI, I realized that this was going to take more than what

I gave in high school and that I’m finally an “adult” and I’d have to play that role.

I woke early on Monday morning, although I had a class at 11, and stood at the bus stop for over an hour while I waited for the bus. When I got to Half Way Tree, a bus was waiting at the UWI/UTECH bus stop to take me to college! As soon as I got on campus, I tried to figure out where my classes would be held for the day. I discovered that tutorials aren’t held in the first week, so I wasted my time under the gazebo at Juici Patties play-ing cards; something I promised myself I wouldn’t do.

On Tuesday I was excited for classes because I’d have French and this free elective I signed up for called “Philosophy of sex and love”. When it was time for French, I heard there are no labs in the first week, and when I went to the Philosophy class I heard that the lecturer was sick but he still sent us work to do. He gave us a chapter to read, so Tuesday was also wasted.

I finally had French class on Wednesday but then again, it wasn’t exactly a class, since the lecturer just gave us the course outline and did roll call and told us what was expected, which last 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave school because I had a marketing class later in the evening from 6-9pm. That class was totally awesome and interesting. I felt like I was finally in college.

I don’t have classes on Thursdays, but I still intend to be at school because I plan to do sports so that I can become a well-rounded student.

On friday I finally had an actual class. It was French but only lasted for an hour because hardly anyone came, so I spent the rest of the day under the Juici patties gazebo or at the Students’ Union.

All in all, I think the first week of school wasn’t as productive as I had hoped, and without discipline and self motivation, the rest of the year could end up that way. I’m really trying not to be a gazebo bum.


College Lifestyle

My First Week of College

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Entertainment


have to say going into this movie I had high expectations. To be honest, I was expecting to see a female version of Jason Bourne and some mind-blowing stunts and action sequences that would leave me on the edge of my seat,

but I was somewhat disappointed. The plot is something you’ve seen a million times before.

Cataleya (Saldana), the main character in the movie, grows up to be an assassin after witnessing the murder of her parents as a child. Turning herself into a professional killer and working for her uncle, she remains focused on her ultimate goal: to hunt down and get revenge on the mobster responsible for her par-ents’ deaths.

Also, the ending is pretty predictable. The characters are not developed very much but then again that doesn’t matter, this is an action movie and it moves at a pace quick enough not to waste any chance at seeing some good fight scenes. Colombiana earns itself three out five stars. Saldana did a very good job in this role, but the same can’t be said about the rest of the movie.

I can’t say the movie was bad, but some of the acting variety and action sequences were wildly uneven and some were just downright laughable.

Despite my doubts, how-ever, especially with the lack of character devel-opment and weak plot, I thought it was pretty entertaining trash. It’s the type of movie where you leave your brain at the door and have a good time.

Colombiana is an action-adventure film from director, Olivier Megaton and Sony Pictures starring Zoe Saldana, Jordi Molla, Lennie James, Amandla Stenberg, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis and Callum Blue.

Supposedly devoted Christian and Samaritan turned musician Clifton Brown, better known as Cliffytwang, has released his first single since Dj Powa refixed a video of his appearance on the local news and made him famous. The song, entitled Wat If Me Frass which was done with Alloby, could possibly become the next dancehall chart topper, but maybe for a week or so be-cause Clifton’s relevance doesn’t seem to last long. Or does it?

The Song It’s fun to listen to, I must say, and I definitely picture myself doing the “drunking dance” while listening to it. My favorite line has got to be “What if me frass dat nothing, yard swag inna me cup dat a something”. You can’t help but laugh when you hear it. Alloby is also a good asset to the song. The riddim is slow but hype. Is this the start of a career for Cliff Twang?

Overall: Hot or NotI would say the song slightly made it across the Hot-line. I give it 6 out of 10. That’s good for Clifton Brown but what about the bridge? And didn’t he say that he doesn’t want to be known as an entertainer because that’s not who he is and he’s not here to entertain people, he just wants to worship God?

What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected]

IPG-13Colombiana

What If Me Frass Cliffytwang and Alloby

Movie Review

New Music Review

by Alana Gardner

by Dervin Osbourne




by Dervin Osbourne

My Art, My Culture


Hopeton Barley: Artist Extraordinaire

opeton Barley is a fantastic artist. His sculptures were the initial fo-cus of this feature, but one look at his paintings had us scrambling to highlight as many of his work as we could. It goes without say-

ing that he’s creative, he thinks outside of the box and always pays keen attention to detail. When he’s not working on art, he also likes playing basketball and throwing the javelin.

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ixteen year old Summer Jarrett has a great deal of passion for fashion. She believes that fashion is more than pretty clothes and flashy shoes, but a lifestyle and an outlet for expressing feelings. The young, fast-

blossoming designer, who is currently in the 11th grade at the American International School of Kingston, began designing at age 14 and gets her design inspiration from nature, fashion maga-zines and fashion photography, but mostly from television and celebrity fashion trends. Her favourite designer is Kimora Lee-Simmons, who she admires because of how she operates her business, her numerous accomplishments in the fashion industry in a short time and the fact that she too started at a young age.

Summer is known for designing couture, one-of-a-kind dresses and shoes. She hopes to later venture into men’s clothing, hand-bags and even jewellery. Surprisingly, she has not done any fash-ion design courses or received any formal training apart from a quick crash course from her grandmother on how to use a sewing machine. She, however, plans to successfully complete fashion school and learn all the necessary skills. Her brand is called ‘KAJ by Summer Jarrett’ and is a registered trademark. KAJ is her middle name and is also the initials of her supportive mother, Kelly Anne Jarrett.

She wishes to not only have a career in fashion design but also in dance, music and theatre. “Another passion of mine is to run my own performing arts company or school in Jamaica to capitalize on the abundance of performing arts talent,” she says.

With so much on her plate, the young designer also found time to initiate a modern dance troupe at her high school and com-plete the Royal Academy of Dance Ballet exam earning a distinc-tion. She is also a member of the Tony Wilson Junior Ensemble. “It is truly a challenge to manage school and designing,” she says. “Time management is beyond key.”

“I wish people would understand that the fashion industry is what you make it. If you go in with the mind-set that it is a ruthless business then it will be, but if you go there with an open mind then the fashion world will be wide open to you,” she continues.

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Cover Story

by Justine Powell Photos by Tiffany Lue-Yen

KAJ by Summer Jarrett: Fashionably Beautiful

Sixteen year old designer, Summer Jarrett

Below: Creative Designs from KAJ by Summer Jarrett





Jarrett receives much support from her group of family and friends, from advice and sounding boards, to guid-ance and moral support. Her support system consists of her mother, father, three older siblings, her friends and talented photographer Luca Khouri, as well as her personal models – Lesley McCook, Ashleigh Samuels, Lindsey Lodenquai, Ali Matalon, Bianca Lalor and Alysia Francis.

Her advice to teens is to follow their dreams. “This is something that everyone has heard before. People don’t understand the powerful meaning behind it. It doesn’t matter how basic or how out-of-this-world your dream may be, anything is possible once you put in the work, have fun with it and take everything one day at a time. The world is yours to transform,” she says.

List of accomplishments• Launching her designs at her first fashion show

at her sweet 16 party on July 3.

• Landing a grand opportunity to supply Indigo Boutique in Barbican with her stunning pieces.

• Having the online merchandising outlet, Young Moguls, distribute her pieces.

• Receiving numerous interviews.

• Dressing Miss Jamaica Universe 2011 Shakira Martin for interviews, photo shoots and even

supplying her with a few pieces for the big Miss Universe competition in Brazil.

• Recently showcasing more of her pieces at a fashion show hosted by Indigo Boutique during

FNO 2011.

Cover Story





Cover Story





olum Optima Petenda Sunt”, the motto of Camper-down High when translated to English reads ‘Only the Best is Good Enough’ and could very well be the

reason for the big changes that occurred at the school during the past year. Long time Vice Principal Mr. Valentine Bailey is now the principal, succeeding Mrs. Cynthia Cooke. Like many of the teachers at Camperdown high, Mr. Bailey is a past stu-dent. He had a vision and high hopes for the school while he was a student and now that he is the man in charge, he has the opportunity to bring those visions to life. He did just that.

In his first year as principal, there have been changes made both physically and academically. The school can now be easily rec-ognized as the red and blue paint shines bright covering the plain grey that was there before. And if that’s not enough recogni-tion, the entrance to the school has also been improved. It was completely reconstructed and now bears the motto and also the school crest, which are illuminated at night. Additionally the bathrooms have been revamped, gazebos built to facilitate stu-dents during lunch and the gardens redone.

Secretary Ms. Cheryl Rigg explains that all this was necessary and was done in hopes of improving the environment to further suit the students and to make them more comfortable. She says the setting is now more conducive to learning. Academically, the school has seen improvements. In this year’s CSEC exami-nations there were more ones and twos received than the years before.

Among the subjects are Spanish, which jumped from 89 per-cent passes last year to 100 percent this year; Human and Social Biology which had 81 percent passes; 90 percent for Integrated Science and 84 percent for English. There have been changes to the grading system also. The pass mark was once 50 percent and has now been increased to 60 percent. Sixth form is still on its progressive path and considered one of the best in the country. Law has now been added to the curriculum. Students in grade seven will now be doing Information Technology and grade 10 students will do Electronic Document Preparation Management.

Usually students were limited to doing only seven subjects, but that no longer exists. Janelle Walker, one of the school’s top

students, did nine subjects in the CSEC exams and received a grade one in all subjects.

Apart from academics, Camperdown has a long history of suc-cess in sports. It was given the name the Sprint Factory some years ago. It had one of the best 4 x4 teams and some of the fastest runners like Romaldo Rose, who represented Jamaica at international track events. The school also has a reputation of success in Football, and recent scored victory over defending champions Jamaica College in the opening match of the Man-ning Cup competition. The cheerleaders have always done well; they are the best cheerleading squad in the island, placing first consecutively for years in the JamFit competition.

There’s never a dull moment at Camperdown. Every year they host their annual walkathon which usually ends at Hope Gar-dens where they’ll have their traditional Evening of Excellence, showcasing the talent of the students. Camperdown is home to Agent Sasco, Spragga Benz, Donald Quarrie and Ricardo Fuller, just to name a few of course.

Formal Outfit 2 – Casual Outfit 2Take party outfits and mix and match them with simple shirts while keeping your accessories.

My Skool

Camperdown High: Only the best is good enough

"Sby Dervin Osbourne

Camperdown’s cheerleading squad. Photo by The Dutty Berry Show



he BlackBerry Torch 9860 is RIM’s new touchscreen handset. Basically, this phone is what would come

about if the Storm 2 and the Torch 9800 had an amazingly beau-tiful baby together.

Shape and DesignA stand out feature of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 is how re-markably thin it is. Measuring 11.5mm in thickness, it is clearly slimmer than both the Storm and the Torch 9800. The develop-ers decided to toss the sliding Qwerty keyboard feature which I feel might disappoint some existing members of Team Black-Berry. I find that many people tend to shy away from fully touch-screen phones. In an effort to make consumers feel better about the removal of the sliding full Qwerty keyboard, RIM has made the Torch 9860’s screen 3.7 inches larger than the 9800’s. This addition does make the onscreen keyboard a bit easier to use, but it might still be a problem for consumers with huge thumbs.

Sturdy HardwareAnother noticeable feature of this phone is its overall shape and design. It appears that RIM developers deliberately decided to mold this phone with a shape similar to that of the popular Samsung’s Galaxy collection. The hardware is sturdy and seems to be able to withstand the daily abuse that consumers bestow upon their phones. The back isn’t as ridged as previous Black-Berry devices, but it is definitely sleeker. Below the screen are the usual BlackBerry menu, back, call end and call answer but-tons and the optical track pad which is now common to new BlackBerry devices, but this time it has a backlight.

BlackBerry OS 7Maybe one of the most important features of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 is it runs on BlackBerry OS 7. RIM announced that this new OS includes a new interface called Liquid Graphics technology. Simply put, this means the graphics interface and processor work together to make the phone respond more quickly. It’s really fast switching between screens such as favou-rites, downloads, all, media, etc. It also makes the usual holdup we’re used to with existing BlackBerry phones vanish. There’s also a new browser on OS7 which RIM has declared is 40% faster than the browser on OS 6.

Pros: fast 1.2GHz processor, 2.5 Gigs of built in stor-age space, wifi, voice-activated universal search, no more click screen, good battery performance, good quality camera, HD video and a big screen with LCD display good for browsing and watching videos.

Cons: the “cheap” looking raised front buttons, no physi-cal keyboard, lack of flash player support and I don’t particu-larly like the positioning of the convenience keys.

Hit or Miss? I can see that the Torch 9860 is definitely going to appeal to many of RIM’s current consumers as well as a few new ones. I don’t think that this handset will take over from the iPhone, it might just give RIM a little buzz to tease a couple of people away from other Android devices and all the iPhone 5 hype.

Tech Review

BlackBerry Torch 9860


T

by Najique Gayle





Relationships

hen the sun goes down, will summer love always be around? The more we hear the statement, “sum-mer is over,” the more it begins to resonate with

us. Some teens who’ve entered relationships over the holiday are now faced with the random, self-inquiry, “Do I still want to be with this person now that summer’s over?” Clearly one has doubts about their girlfriend or boyfriend fitting into their future. It’s okay to not be sure about your relationship’s future or about carrying a summer fling into the new school year, as conditions of a relationship tend to change. Here are some things that you should consider before you make your decision.

Good Grades = Me - You + Books If you feel like this relationship will hinder you from achieving what you want in the future, such as good grades, you’ll prob-ably need to find a way to manage both your relationship and academics. If it’s not possible, you’ll have to decide on whether or not you’ll forgo the relationship in order to achieve the other important things that are also close to your heart.

All Is Fun In The SunYou know already that there’s a time and place for everything. Well, the same goes for relationships. The conditions of a sum-mer holiday are much different from the conditions during other times in the year. Everything in summer is fun, and that’s be-cause the conditions of summer allow it to be. Spending a lot of time together and having loads of limitless fun may not be as possible when school starts. So if you feel as if your partner is only best in the setting of summer, you may have to let them go to find someone who’s best for all seasons.

No Ball & ChainThere must be something you’ve recognized in your partner or your situation that worries you and may seriously threaten hav-ing a future with them. A bad characteristic, migration and the list goes on. It’s hard to be hopeful about something if continu-ously you’re faced with unfavourable circumstances. Also, you may simply just not see your partner in your future. So don’t hold onto a chain that’s already rusting either; don’t hold onto a relationship that is about to disseminate. At some point you’ll be forced to break and part ways and the outcome will not be good.

Best Thing Since Sliced BreadIf you met somebody really awesome this holiday you should really think about whether or not you want to lose them. Good persons are really hard to find. However, if you don’t have much of a lasting connection with someone, and with work it doesn’t improve, then simply there’s no place for your summer love in your future.

WSeasonal Love

by Ava Gardner




World Championships Recap: Hits and Missesby Najique Gayle

he 13th IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Daegu, Korea was yet another successful champion-ship for Jamaica. The games came to a close follow-

ing a spectacular world record of 37.04 seconds in the 4x100m relay set by the Jamaican men, led by sprinting superstar Usain Bolt.

The most well-known athlete on the planet, Bolt had yet an-other prominent performance winning the men’s 200m and running the anchor leg to win the 4x100m relay. Despite this, these Championships will probably be most remembered for the fastest man’s shocking false start and subsequent disqualifi-cation from the 100m final. Though many Jamaicans were disap-pointed, Yohan Blake raised the flag high as he was able to keep his composure and claim victory, becoming the youngest 100m World Champion at 21.Going into these games, the Jamaicans were expected to take home at least 13 medals but were only rewarded with nine. Af-ter day three, Jamaica only saw Veronica Campbell-Brown and Yohan Blake medaling in their respective events. It would ap-pear to the Jamaican fans that the athletes were not as inspired to win as they were in previous championships. Several factors may have contributed to this. It is possible that this less than expected performance may have been due to the absence of the world’s fastest man in the 100m this year, Asafa Powell, or Usain Bolt’s disqualification, there was the issue of food, injury-plagued athletes or maybe even a combination of all the above.

I felt as if there was a boost in the performance of the Jamaican athletes after Melaine Walker ran that very impressive 400m hurdles final from lane 8, taking the silver medal after being nar-rowly beaten by Lashinda Demus of the USA. After Melaine’s inspirational run, Jamaica won gold medals in the men and wom-en 200m. Usain Bolt once again dominated the field and ran the fourth fastest time in history, while Veronica Campbell-Brown powered across the finish line to deny Americans Carmelita Jeter and Alyson Felix the gold. We also secured medals in the men and women 4x400m and the 4x100m men’s and women’s finals.

Whatever the reason for the performance of the Jamaican athletes, we still have much to be grateful for. For such a small island, Jamaica placed fourth on both the medal and placing ta-bles. It should be noted that all medals came from track events. This is surely a great achievement. Personally, each time I saw a Jamaican on the medal podium or heard the national anthem being played, I was extremely proud to be Jamaican. Our ath-letes represented us well despite not performing to our initial expectations.

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Sports




Talented TeenAba Sykes: Miss Jamaica Caribbean

Talented Teen 2011ighteen year old Aba Sykes, contestant number 12 and Miss Angela’s, took home the crown for the Miss Jamai-ca Caribbean Talented Teen Competition that was held

at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre recently. Sykes met with Teen Spirit eZine and dished all about the competition. The young star had auditioned in March and began rehearsing in June for the big night. She made it very clear that it was definitely not an easy win. “Those girls don’t play! There was never a time where I could say ‘yes, I have that!’ Very talented girls,” she said with a laugh.

Aba, along with 15 other contestants, had to present a talent piece, strut an evening gown and showcase her intellect by an-swering a question. For her talent piece, she sang a roots reg-gae medley and for her evening gown, Sykes wore a green, fitted gown with a beautiful, diamond neckline by her sponsor, Angela’s Boutique. Her question was ‘If she had won the title, what would her platform be’ and she geared her response towards volunteer-ing, since she believes in giving of herself and helping others with-out expecting anything in return

When asked what was most challenging about the competition, Aba responded, “For me, it was always a struggle to balance be-ing an active participant as opposed to just being “nuff ”, so while I would volunteer to do something, I’d leave another thing for someone else to do,” she said. She also had to pay much attention to her confidence level. However, the young bud had tonnes of support from her family and friends and would do nothing differ-ently. She made special mention of her little brother who was her biggest supporter. For sectional prizes, Sykes received Most Con-genial as well as first runner up in the talent competition. Asked if she learned anything throughout the course of the competition, she said: “Yes. As a contestant, you cya watch wah nobody else ah do...you are your own individual and if you don’t have that self-assurance, yuh salt.”

When they had announced the winner, Sykes began leaping and jumping backstage. Her prizes include a one-year scholarship to pursue a bachelor’s degree at the University of Technology, a lap-top from Royale Computers, $25,000, a trip to St. Kitts, furniture, Kool Runnings Water Park gift voucher and gift baskets from Soft Sheen-Carson and Clean & Clear. She will go on to represent Jamaica at the Haynes Smith Miss Caribbean Talented Teen in St. Kitts in December.

Her advice to teens is “Nuh focus pan nuh locus (Miss Kitty voice)... Accept and apply constructive criticism but do not be discouraged by pure negativity,” she noted.

by Justine Powell

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Fashion

Fashionable Flatsutside of carrying us all over the place and protecting our feet from the elements, our feet do so much for us! Treat them well and slide them into adorable flats like

these!

by Ava Gardner

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Teen Spirit eZine

Documents

suicide rates

suicide attempt

root causes of suicide

life international

life isnt worth

young people

rise life management

uwiutech bus stop