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UVI Student Among Top 10 in National Business Competition

July 27, 2006 — A UVI student placed among the top 10 in a national business competition held recently in Tennessee. Business major Mervin McDougall, a junior, claimed ninth place in a competition at the Future Business Leaders (FBLA) Phi Beta Lamda (PBL) National Leadership Conference and Competition. McDougall and seven other students from UVI's St. Thomas campus attended the conference/competition with Information Systems Assistant Professor Aurelia Donald.
McDougall won for his work in the Visual Basic Programming Concepts competition. The other areas of competition included telecommunications, Web page design, public speaking, management information systems, computer concepts, economics, C++ programming, state annual business report and business concepts.
The other UVI participants were Marcel Thomas, Relberth Henry, Burnett Williams, Ta-Mine Challenger, RoxAnn King, Sarah Frett and Khalilah Frett. Rory Andrews did not attend the conference but had his work submitted for competition.
A highlight of the events for the students included meeting coach Ken Carter, the no-nonsense basketball coach on whom "Coach Carter," the 1999 movie starring Samuel Jackson, was based. Carter was the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony. The UVI contingent met with Carter following the ceremony
After months of fund-raising, the UVI students were among more than 2,000 students from 48 states who participated in the conference. Professor Donald applauded the students' efforts.
"The students all did great in their chosen areas and all of them have intentions of preparing for and going to the competition next year, which will be held in Chicago," Donald said. "We thank the public for believing in us and giving us sufficient support to represent the University of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands and ourselves," she added.
Sponsors and supporters who made the trip possible included Sens. Craig Barshinger, Louis Hill, Celestino White, Lorraine Berry, Terrence Nelson, Roosevelt David, Adlah Donastorg and Liston Davis; Peter Ottley, Goddard Catering, Asfour Department Store, Kazi Management, Driehaus Management, Better Roads, Mapp and Liburd Campaign, K-Mart, Stephanie Anderson, Winifred Francis, East End Lumber and Donna Edney.

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