Tritons Call October 2016, Volume 41, Issue 2

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Fall 2016, Vol. 41, Issue 2, October

University to build new engineering annex

By Cody Dowless Triton’s Call Staff The University of Guam will soon see the addition of a new engineering annex as well as a renovated and expanded student services center.

The new additions are part of the Vision 2025 plan, which according to the UOG website, aims to prepare the campus to accommodate 5,000 campus and online students.

A separate engineering annex will be constructed adjacent to the Agriculture and Life Science building.

UOG currently has a pre-engineering program whose courses

INSIDE Page 2 UOG provides outreach Page 3 Graduate students visit Saipan Page 5 Hack-a-thon held at UOG Page 6 Faculty Profiles

Shown above left is the conceptual model of the new engineering annex, which will be built beside the Agricultural and Life Sciences building, shown on the right. Courtesy UOG Vision 2025 Master Plan

emulate those required in the major colleges and universities. However, UOG students must travel off island to complete their degrees.

UOG Vice Presi-

dent of Finance and Administration Randall Wiegand said, “We have relationships with three universities who will seamlessly receive students who have

completed the two-year program. The universities are University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Iowa, and the Mapua Institute of Technology.”

The addition of the annex is a step in the direction of an eventual Continued on page 2

Changes proposed for EN 085 remedial course

By Aaron Pier Triton’s Call Staff The Department of English and Applied Linguistics is in the process of implementing some changes in the curriculum for future Tritons.

EN 085 is a remedial course that students take if their writing skills require a little more attention and guidance before progressing to 100-level courses. Due to its status as a remedial course, students who complete EN 085 do not accrue General Education credits.

EN 100 is a bridge course, and serves as a

stepping stone between remedial courses, and those that Simpson-Warner factor into the General Education requirements.

Students enrolled in a bridge course earn college credits, but those credits do not count towards General Education requirements.

A task force of UOG faculty have put into motion some changes regarding the two aforementioned courses.

The plan is for the two

courses to be absorbed into a newly designed bridge course.

Carol Simpson-Warner, instructor of English, said, “The new bridge course will be designed to support student success, whatever their previous writing preparation may have been.”

The new course would still provide the writing skills for students enrolled in the course to succeed in the rest of their General Education requirements.

Combining the EN 085 and EN 100 into a single course can

help to cut the amount of time students spend in the class room Garcia before they were eligible to gain college credits.

According to Christopher Garcia Ph.D, the overhaul of EN 085 and EN 100 provides a way to accelerate and support student progress.

The redesigned course is on track to be implemented by the Fall semester of 2017.

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016

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Cont’d: New construction planned for campus Continued from page 1 UOG School of Engineering, according to the Vision 2025 Master Plan Executive Summary.

This prospect is already appealing to Trey Leon, an undeclared freshman currently enrolled in some pre-engineering courses.

“This excites me because we will have more resources geared toward engineering. It will allow us to have engineers from our own island rather than having them come from outside places,” Leon said.

The current student center will be renovated and expanded to serve as a one-stopshop integrating all vital student services.

According to Wie-

gand, this will include services like financial aid, student and career counseling, campus post office, bookstore, student government offices, admissions and records, as well as other services.

“We are trying to make it convenient for students to conduct as much business as possible in the student center,” Wiegand said.

Groundbreaking on the projects is set to begin in May of 2017, but this is tentative.

According to Wiegand, factors such as weather, availability of skilled laborers and materials all make it difficult to predict exact construction dates.

These upgrades to the university will be funded by a $21.7 million dollar loan to be given to the university soon.

Wiegand stands next to the 2025 master plan model for University of Guam at the SBPA Presidents office. Photo by Yvonne Manglona

Wiegand mentioned that several options for funding were meticulously considered, but they went with the loan.

“UOG was pleased with the results of the USDA involvement in

the LG building and since they were the low cost option, so the University decided to go with USDA for the Student Success Center and the Engineering Annex,” Wiegand said.

Eventually, Vision

2025 includes International dormitories and a Triton Engagement Center. These plans have yet to be fully conceptualized, but will be implemented with the completion of the first phase.

Program provides outreach to island’s high schools

By Aaron Pier Triton’s Call Staff The University of Guam continues its commitment to aid in the improvement of education on the island of Guam.

According to UOG English Instructor Terisita I. Perez, “The program is meant to offer a perspective of where the writing skills of high school students are, and how to help them to achieve their writing goals.”

The program is

intended to help ensure that when high school students are transitioning into college, they are able to place into freshmen level courses, rather than remedial or bridge courses.

“Most of the high schools on island are involved with the outreach program offered

by UOG,” Perez said.

The program has instructors from UOG working with high school English teachers during faculty meetings.

The program also Publisher Francis Dalisay, Ph.D. Editor-in-chief Jeff Bautista Circulation Manager Cody Dowless

includes diagnostic testing of a sample population of high school freshmen every other year. The comprehensive test helps the visiting instructors from UOG to provide feedback curtailed to the needs of the high school in question.

Customized feedback takes into account the points that each school may excel at, and the points where they may benefit from some advisement.

The program is

intended to help ensure that when high school students are transitioning into college they are able to place into freshmen level courses, rather than remedial or bridge courses.

“Most of the high schools on island are involved with the outreach program offered

by UOG,” Perez said.

The program has instructors from UOG working with high school English teachers during faculty meetings.

The program also

Staff witers Dominic Cawili Calvin Cho Cody Dowless Tamaaki Gondo Aaron Pier Alan Seid, Jr.

Contributors Arnie Paul Aban Eliza Casimbon Yvonne Manglona Lorenz Santarin

includes diagnostic testing of a sample population of high school freshmen every other year. The comprehensive test helps the visiting instructors from UOG to provide feedback curtailed to the needs of the high school in question.

Customized feedback takes into account the points that each school may excel at, and the points where Continued on page 7

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By Alan Seid Tritons Call Staff Jonathan Triplett is the new director of UOG Residence Halls.

He and his staff have been busy with projects aimed at improving the University’s dorms.

“When I first came, I could see that we needed a lot of changes,” said Triplett “There’s been so many changes, some may seem small and some may seem big, but they’re all big to me.”

Triplett said, “One thing I wanted to do is change the students’ experience first, by improving their own private space, which is their room, the place they spend most of their time.”

With this in mind, Triplett, his staff, and a few student volunteers took it on their own hands to renovate Guma’ta Hall, providing students with newly furnished and painted rooms.

Triplett then ren-

A row of blue and yellow bikes with safety helmets await processing inside the lounge of Residence Hall Dorm 2.

These bikes are a part of Residence Hall’s new Bike Share program. Photo by Yvonne Manglona

ovated the common spaces, such as the study halls, lobbies, and including reopening a computer lab for residents.

“The common spaces are the second

place that students spend most of their time, so improving on these places was a great way to make their experience better,” Triplett said.

Another thing that

is on Triplett’s agenda is to open a new convenience store on campus. The store will be located at the main lobby of dorm 1.

“Opening a convenience store would

make it so that the residents can get everything they need right here where they live,” Triplett said “it would also make it a lot safer Continued on page 7

Public admin. graduate students attend conference in Saipan

By Alan Seid Tritons Call Staff The University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration’s Master of Public Administration Program was able to send off all prospective graduates to Saipan for the 2016 Business and Finance Conference.

Guided by the program chair John J. Rivera, Ph.D., the MPA program proudly represented the University at the 2016 Business and Finance Conference, which was held on Sept. 15 to 16 at the Saipan World Resort, Royal Taga A. The event was hosted by the Bank of Guam,

Masters of Public Administration students and faculty along with pose for a group photo at the 2016 Business .and Finance Conference held in Saipan. Photo Courtesy of MPA program

Commonwealth Development Authority, and Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

The MPA students showed great effort and commitment by completely funding their trip themselves. They were able to raise some

money through a bar fundraiser prior to their departure.

The purpose of our trip was to attend the CNMI business and finance conference to get a better understanding of CNMI’s economy because our

practicum project is to study CNMI’s current status and then “This was a great learning experience,” said Oreng R. Ngemaes, a prospective graduate in the MPA program.

Ngemaes added, “I

learned so many things.

To be able to sit in and to hear the locals voice out their thoughts and opinions helped me gain a better understanding of CNMI’s major economic issues and it will surely help us put together a good report by the end of the semester to address some of the issues brought up.”

Ngemaes also said the same group of students will be going back to Saipan in early December to present their studies and policy recommendations to the CNMI legislature, chamber of commerce, and all locals who will be able to attend.

3 University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016

University’s dorms get improvements and upgrades

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UOG seminar sheds light on online education

By Dominic Cawili Tritons Call Staff A good number of students learned some valuable information while attending a highly educational seminar in the University of Guam’s School of Education building.

The seminar, which covered theoretical and practical challenges of online education for lifelong learners, was part of the Around the Latte Stone Seminar Series, a special collaborative series by the University of Guam’s School of Education and English Communication with the Chamorro Studies Program.

The seminar was led by UOG Professor of Education Yukiko Inoue-Smith, Ph.D., along with Christopher S. Schreiner, PhD., in an intuitive presentation

UOG students partake in an intuitive seminar that teaches the challenges and benefits of online education. Photo by Dominic Cawili

on online education.

Online education is learning with the assistance of the internet and personal computer.

“Education is everything,” Inoue-Smith

said. “It is important for future instructors to become life-long educators to help students survive in a technology-based society.”

The seminar also

includes the challenges of online education that may develop in global learning communities over time.

The challenges consist of the method and

duration of time participants take to learning material, the constant changes in course design to incorporate the use of technology, and focusing more on objectives and expectations rather than technological aspects.

In a world growing with technology, Inoue-Smith explained, “Without students participating in online learning communities, there is no online course. It is imperative for people, not just students, to learn in general.”

The goal behind this seminar is to inspire students to become great teachers so they can be able to inspire their future students in a world that is coming closer together online.

New tutoring program offered for Micronesian youth

By Alan Seid Tritons Call Staff The Chain Of Knowledge “Micronesian Tutoring” is a relatively new tutoring program that is run by students here at the University of Guam.

The program is dedicated to providing tutoring opportunities for Micronesian students attending high school and middle school.

“Our goal is to provide success and opportunities to Micronesian youth,” said Jasmine Basset, the program’s public relations officer. “Since Micronesian students going to school here at UOG will be the ones tutoring, this program also creates a way for the older generation of

Last year’s Micronesian tutoring sessions were held in the UOG Agriculture and Life Sciences building. Photo by Yvonne Manglona

Micronesian students to connect with the younger ones,” she added.

the dropout rates and increase graduation rates.

Basset also said the program targets Micronesian students who are at risk of dropping out of school. By doing this, the program hopes it can help reduce

“Our number one priority is to provide tutoring services in essential academic subjects to the students,” said Basset, “but this is only one aspect of

our vision for the entire program.”

Bassett added that along with providing tutoring services, the program wants to “promote better leadership, life skills and character building for Micronesian youth, also to promote

cultural awareness and unity, and to establish a collaborative network to promote program sustainability.”

The program was officially kicked off last year, and after a successful launch, the program wishes to expand. From starting with only a few tutors, Basset tells us that they now want to reach out to UOG students from all Micronesian nations to come be a part of the program. “Our goal is to have at least two tutors from each island.”

For more information about the Chain of Knowledge, Micronesia Tutoring, please contact the programs public relations officer, Jasmine Basset at jsmn.bsstt@ gmail.com.

By Calvin Cho Triton’s Call Staff

On Oct. 1, 2016, Venture Guam and UOG SBPA alongside with multiple other sponsors hosted a Hackathon at the Bank Of Hawaii-Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2nd Floor in the UOG SBPA building.

The goal of event was to help introduce members from various technological and crafting communities how to bridge the gap of technology and commerce.

Andrea Naomi, the coordinator of the event, set the goal of the event to teach these groups of individuals how technology can be used to solve

e-commerce problems.

The event began with a small ice-breaker activities to help each of the individuals get to know each other and followed a series of lectures and presentations from different presenters.

For the main event, different groups were tasked to think of a certain issue or problem that Guam faces.

Than the group has to create quick mobile prototype application that helps solve the issue or problem. Finally the the groups were also tasked to monetize the app.

All of the food and supplies were given to the attendees from the various sponsors of the

Participants listen to a presentation during the hackaton at the UOG SBPA 2nd floor. Photo by Calvin Cho

event The Hackathon is part of a series of events created to help businesses and the various different tech and craft communities

Triton men’s soccer scores first win

By Tamaaki Gondo Tritons Call Staff The Tritons started their season with a victory on Friday, Oct. 8.

This is UOG’s first soccer game since the sport’s revival program that introduced three different sports programs at the University.

The game started at 7 p.m. at the Guam Football Association National Training Center. Tritons clashed with the Sidekicks FC, a former division one soccer team on Guam.

The game started with the Sidekicks scoring the first goal 15 minutes in the game during a penalty kick of the first half of the match. For the rest of the time, the Triton’s aggressive play style kept the Sidekicks in a constant struggle to keep the Triton’s from scoring.

Heavy rains started to pour and both teams are locked in a back and forth battle in the

awe inspired torrential epicness. The Triton’s unable to score a goal within the first half.

The second half started, the Tritons continued their aggressive play style. They kept constant control of the ball, showing an increased level of performance showing their hunger to win the game.

The Triton’s was able to make their first goal with a penalty kick during the first 20 minutes of the second half.

With 30 minutes remaining, Jon Raz, a Triton’s defensive player, scored a goal after a corner kick.

For the rest of the game, the Tritons dialed back their aggressive game and played a strong defense, keeping the Sidekicks from controlling the ball.

There were many close calls by the Sidekicks, but it was not enough.

The match ends and

the Tritons defeated the Sidekicks. The final score, 2-1.

UOG head coach Roderick Hidalgo was not fully satisfied with the match, saying it is not the win he had envisioned, but he was happy with the win regardless of how the match was played.

The coach added that he is thoroughly optimistic for the next matches the Tritons will be playing. He believes the team can do a whole lot better and that the Tritons will learn from this and gain valuable experience to add to their performance.

The future looks bright for the UOG soccer team as they started the season strong.

With the encouraging optimimism from the coach, the Tritonssoccer team will only get stronger. We all can only wait and see how far the Tritons will go.

thrive economically. The final event in the series is the mini makers fair that will be hosted on Oct. 29 at the BOH-Center for Entrepreneurship and

Innovation, 2nd Floor Naomi concluded the event by saying that it helps show the power of community and communication here on Guam.

Guam Travel Club offers adventures overseas

By Dominic Cawili Tritons Call Staff In the past years, multiple travel agencies, or clubs, have established their footprints in Guam.

Some of these travel clubs have made their success by making traveling simpler for individuals and families who wish to embark on adventures and vacation packages.

Other clubs relay their efforts in bringing more interested people to Guam and having adventures here.

Guam Travel Club, partnered with Cebu Pacific and Resorts World, aims to take locals on adventures around the globe at an affordable cost.

Resorts World, the hotel-partner, will ensure that the parties will have a luxurious stay in of their hotels, and give

them an experience that “nothing compares” to.

G. T. C. was founded as a company in Aug. 2016, and it will have open enrollment for members starting at the end of Oct. 2016.

One of the founding members, Ken Hoots, said, “Guam Travel Club is a group of people that is passionate about traveling, having new experiences in different countries, making new friends, and overall having a good time.”

One of the concepts behind G. T. C. is to make it affordable, easy, and enjoyable for people to go on vacations at a cost that is well below the market value.

If you are interested and seek more information, please contact Ken Hoots at 688-5319.

5 University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016

October Hackathon bridges technology gap

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016

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Professor Xiao Wei unravels world with biology

By Eliza Casimbon For Triton’s Call Xiao Wei, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of biology, and the only botanist at the University of Guam.

Before Wei began teaching at UOG, she was a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. At UT, she conducted research and taught other grad students while completing her dissertation.

“My life was pretty much running between classrooms and doing research for my labs,” Wei said.

Before choosing biology as her graduate studies, she was previously a chemistry major. She studied medicinal plants and analyzed their chemical components.

To analyze their chemical components, Wei was required to do field work to collect

medicinal plants. This exposed her to more biology concepts.

“That’s where I was hooked,” Wei said.

She remembers the specific date, Aug. 18, 2014, the day she began teaching at UOG. Before Wei arrived at UOG, there was no one teaching plant biology.

She is currently teaching two sections of environmental biology and has previously taught botanical courses, like plant taxonomy and plant diversity.

“Biology is exciting,” Wei said. She explains that it can tell stories.

These stories can unravel history, a person’s current life, and how one should live responsibly in the future.

One of Wei’s goals as an instructor is to have her students gain the basic training in biology, like the basic foundations in biology.

Xiao Wei, assistant professor of biology, explains that biological research can tell stories and unravel history. Photo by Eliza Casimbon

Wei points out that a student does not have to be an expert, but a student should at least know how to improve themselves.

She explains that a class that is not in-

teresting will result in students ignoring the subject.

“You have to have the passion for it. In my class, it’s very important for me to show my passion and interest in my

teaching subject first,” Wei said.

Next semester, Wei is excited to be teaching scientific writing for the first time.

D.E.A.L Chair Evelyn Flores shares love of literature

By Lorenz Santarin For Triton’s Call Evelyn Flores, Ph.D., is currently an associate professor and division chair of UOG’s Department of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Guam. She is also known for her poetry and children’s books about Chamorro culture and identity.

Flores, who was born on Guam, possesses a great love for literature, enjoying both reading and writing. She also possesses a passion for learning and teaching.

As a child, she was unusual among her peers in that, while they couldn’t wait for summer vacation to start, she couldn’t wait for it to end.

“I was one of those students who loves going to school,” she said.

“I remember sitting there during summer vacation and watch the clock because I could hardly wait for school to open again.”

She looks at these memories as her starting point to become who she is today.

Even after earning her Bachelor’s degree in English, Flores felt the call of academia and returned to school for more. Thus she got a Master’s degree before moving on to get her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

“There comes a point when you feel used up, a car running out of gas,” Flores said. “Then I need to go back and do some more studying

Flores and research, kind of refueling the tank.”

Flores found herself drawn back to Guam for her work in the field of Pacific Island Literature. She considers herself to be the type of scholar who is where the action is, hence her decision to return. With her love for learning and teaching, taking on her post at UOG’s College of Liberal Arts and

Social Sciences only seemed natural.

She is currently working on several projects.

The most prominent is an anthology of native writers to be used in future semesters. She also hopes to one day release a poetry memoir.

“It’s okay for other people to tell our story, but that’s not good enough,” Flores said.

“We have to tell our stories too. If you only get our stories from outsiders’ perspectives, it’s a very one-sided view.”

Flores uses the following quote by James Baldwin to describe her feelings on Literature: “You write to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also

knowing that that literature is indispensable to the world… The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.”

Afterwards, Flores went on to describe why she enjoys writing.

“Writing is like playing the piano,” she said.

“I play the piano, but I don’t play well enough to play for others. I play for my own enjoyment, and I think writing is the same way. It’s cathartic. Even though some of my poems will never be seen by anyone else, they have served their purpose by allowing me to articulate my experiences.”

By Arnie Paul Aban For Triton’s Call Guam’s basketball community has recently seen a growing number of highly skilled players, and UOG Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Josh Enrique Torres is playing a role in spurring on this growth.

Torres is developing talent through his own organization Nothing But Net Guam.

Nothing But Net Guam officially launched in March 2016, which started as idea that eventually became a reality.

“It quickly grew into a program,” Torres said.

“We host camps during each break that Guam Department of Education has and when the kids are not in school, we have the kids working hard in our camps.”

Torres serves not only as the owner but also as the head coach for the camps.

University of Guam Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Josh Enrique Torres, shown center above, looks to develop talent through his own organization Nothing But Net Guam. Photo by Arnie Paul Aban

Torres, who grew up in Seattle, Wash., started playing basketball competitively in middle school up until his senior year as a varsity player at Kentwood High School in Covington, Wash., where he was introduced to coaching.

“In high school, we ran clinics for the youth,

we hosted what we called Cage Camp and our varsity team would be coaches for the players who attended Cage Camp,” Torres said. “I really started to enjoy the coaching aspect of basketball.”

Over a course of nine years in coaching, Torres’ accolades go beyond winning and

teaching the fundamentals of basketball.

“We try to inspire the youth to really get involved in basketball and sports to learn discipline, sharing, being a team player,” Torres said. “We are trying to teach good values and morals starting at a young age.”

The game of bas-

ketball is more than a sport for Torres. Torres learned the same valuable lessons he teaches at a young age growing up in a family of athletes.

His mother was a junior Olympic swimmer, his father was a Division I football player, and his brother was a state champion wrestler. He followed suit by being a Division II football player.

However, his love for basketball and coaching carved his path into starting an organization.

“I get really fired up when the players buy into the system, buy into team mentality, play consistently and together,” Torres said.

“I really enjoy the cohesiveness in team sports, it is a reciprocal effect where I inspire them. They play hard and they play well, that inspires me to continue to coach.”

Cont’d: University’s dorms see improvements Continued from page 3 for them because they wouldn’t have to walk all the way to the nearest store anymore.”

Triplett went on to mention that another thing that they needed to improve was the programs that were offered to the residents.

Whether they were programs that were designed for activities

or ones that were for educational purposes, he wants to improve on all of it, and even add new ones.

“We are exited to say that we have just recently launched our brand new, bike share program with our 10 brand new bikes,” Triplett said.

He explained that the bike share program will allow dormitory residents to rent out

bikes for free whenever they want. Triplett also added that this is only the beginning for this program, and that his plan for the future is to increase the amount of bikes to about 60 and offer it to every student in the university.

Another program that was recently launched at the dormitories are the shuttle services. After getting two new vans, the

residence halls can now shuttle residents to any destination on island, whether it is for activities off campus, or for taking the day out shopping.

Triplett went on to say that his plan is to have a diverse set of programs that offer as many opportunities to the residents.

Programs that include athletics, recreation, education and conveni-

ency.

Joanna Kumaichi, a UOG senior criminal justice major, and a resident at the dormitories explained that, life in the dormitories has become more comfortable.

“I have been here for more than three years, and I can honestly say that the dorms have never been better,” Kumaichi said.

Cont’d: Program provides outreach to Guam’s high schools Continued from page 2 they may benefit from some advisement.

The program is intended to help equip high school students with the writing skills necessary for expecta-

tions at the collegiate level.

“The high school outreach program should be helpful no

matter where a student may choose to attend college,” Perez said.

Such an investment in the academic success

in the youth of Guam, by the University, should aid high school students in all their future endeavors.

7 University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016

Men’s basketball assistant coach stays active in community

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, October 2016 8

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