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Wits held the annual International HIV/AIDS Candlelight Memorial on 15 May 2015, using the opportunity to create awareness of other pertinent issues in South Africa and on the continent which call for solidarity and unity. The global theme for this year’s candlelight memorial, which is a day-long event at Wits, is Supporting the Future, aimed at calling people to unite and demand a more sustainable HIV/AIDS response. The theme is particularly relevant to the scourge of xenophobic violence which engulfed the country recently amongst other forms of social injustices and discrimination. Programme Director for the Counselling and Careers Development Unit (CCDU) Vinoba Krishna says that this year’s Candlelight Memorial is aimed at galvanising society and making them search deeper into their humanity. “We all have problems, personal challenges and tragedies. It is a personal reflection space for people to think about what they are going through and is a thinking process of...

When natural disasters like the earthquakes in Nepal or the volcano eruption in Chile occur, one of the most pressing issues hindering rescue efforts is the loss of electricity. A senior design project completed by three students in the College of Engineering may help bring power back quicker to those dealing with the aftermath. Project leader Andre Lima Siuffo, Marisol Contreras and Kevin Gregorio designed and built a portable and low-cost renewable system that utilizes both solar electric and wind electric technologies to generate power. With support from professors Andres Tremante and Sabri Tosunoglu, the system Siuffo and his team created uses a wind turbine and solar panel that work in tandem to charge a battery bank that can be used to provide electricity. “One of the main purposes of the project was to prove that it is technically very easy to build a hybrid system and it’s not expensive at all,” said Siuffo, a mechanical engineering major gradu...

Graduation speakers Carol Schall (left) and Mary Townley (right) celebrate with graduate Shauna Spencer. Photos provided by Lauren M. Henry, marketing and special events coordinator for the University Student Commons and Activities. Virginia Commonwealth University recognized 45 graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex seniors during the fourth VCU Lavender Graduation on April 24 at the Harris Hall Auditorium. Lavender Graduation is a special graduation ceremony that honors the achievements of graduating gender and sexual minority students on campus. The keynote speakers were Carol Schall, Ph.D., assistant professor in the VCU School of Education, and Mary Townley, supervisor of transitional programming at the Health Diagnostic Laboratory, who served as plaintiffs in “Bostic v. Schaefer,” the Virginia marriage equality case.