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Spring 2016, Vol. 40, Issue 4, May
UOG Film Festival draws crowds
By Swetha Kotwal Triton’s Call Staff
The University of Guam held its annual film festival on April 29 and April 30. Screenings of original films and documentaries were held in UOG’s Lecture Hall and the Fine Arts Theater. Short films were created by UOG students and talented members of Guam and her sister island, Saipan. Saipan resident, Ben Salas’s short film, “Ayotte’ Way of the Warrior Poet,” captured the integrity and passion he has for spoken words. Ayotte’ means to throw verses back and forth and that is exactly what Salas executed effectively. The first Chamoru animated film, “MAISA: The Chamoru Girl Who Saves Guahan,”
INSIDE Page 5 Aging Fine Arts Building Page 6 Changes in residence halls Page 10 Push for medical marijuana Page 12 Guam’s dry spell
Hundreds of community members attended the 2nd annual UOG Film Festival held April 29 and April 30. The festival screened local, regional and international films.
crowded the Fine Arts Theater. Chamoru was the only language to be spoken throughout the film. The film is about a girl named Maisa who saves Guam from being eating by a big fish. With the help of the
women of Guam and her hair, she creates a net strong and long enough to capture the fish, but let’s the fish. Her sparing the fish is a representation of how Guam people are forgiving when some-
one does in justice. At the end of the screening, producers gave out 10 copies of the film to audience members who imposed questions. The film was produced to bring awareness about Chamoru culture,
legends, language, and practices. During the experimental shorts, What Goes Around, directed by UOG business student, Robert Patricio, documented the life of an ordinary red ball that travels from a backyard to the busy streets of Tumon. Patricio was exposed to film making during his sophomore year in high school. Although he aims to inspire others to create films, Patricio knows the setbacks when it comes to the film making community on Guam. “Guam doesn’t have this foundation that is a film industry, it’s more like we have a film society. People who love doing it try to have events like UOGFF so that we could showcase our films,”Patricio said.
WASC reaffirms UOG’s accreditation in April visit By Dray Thompson Triton’s Call Staff Representatives from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visited the campus to conduct an on-site review on April 18 through 20. WASC had reaffirmed UOG’s accreditation once again. Linda Buckley, WASC commissioner and onsite review acting chair,
prepared a speech on behalf of her team. “The team and I want to express our deep appreciation to the University of Guam for your generous hospitality and hosting a smooth, well organized visit and for making us feel welcomed,” Buckley said. Accomplishments The WASC team commended the University for several accomplish-
ments, the first one being the University’s strength of initiative through comprehension, progression and ambition for integrated planning. The stated objective of prioritization is particularly amendable as was the inclusion of the University’s stakeholders, both external and internal shaping the initiative. Fiscal steward-
ship, particularly, the achievement of multiyear financial surpluses, was the second accomplishment noted by Buckley. Buckley explained the diversification of revenue streams has been critical to the University’s financial sustainability. Continued on page 2