Tritons Call February 2017, Volume 42, Issue 1

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Spring 2017, Vol. 42, Issue 1, February

University still challenged by financial shortfall

By Woody Castro Triton’s Call Staff The University is currently facing a monetary shortfall that may affect its ability to stay afloat through FY2017.

UOG was slated to receive $30.6 million in appropriated funds for facilities operations for FY2016. Roughly $5 million of that amount still has not been released by the Guam Department of Administration.

“They have closed the books on 2016,” University of Guam President Robert Underwood said.

Continued on page 3

UOG is facing a financial shortage that may affect its ability to stay afloat through FY2017. Photo by Woody Castro.

Jury decides not to indict UOG student involved in alleged dorm incident

By Amanda Dedicatoria

Triton’s Call Staff A 25-year-old male student was alleged to have sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female student in a UOG dorm room on Jan. 1, 2017, following a New Year’s Eve party held at the Residence Halls.

According to the Jonas Macapinlac, UOG Director of Integrated Marketing, the alleged supect reportedly sexually assaulted the victim in the male student’s dorm room.

The victim was reportedly inebriated at the time of the alleged incident.

Following the report,

On Jan. 1, 2017, a UOG student was accused of sexually assaulting a female student in a UOG dorm room.

Photo by Amanda Dedicatoria

the male student was booked and confined by the Guam Police Department.

The Pacific Daily News reported that

on Jan. 13, a grand jury on Guam decided that the evidence was insufficient to indict the student for the charges.

Because the female

student had moved and is no longer attending UOG, the University has allowed the male student to enroll for the Spring 2017 semester.

In order to dispel any misconceptions about the consequences of such an action, UOG Chief Planning Officer David Okada said the University has certain administrative actions that can be applied to a violator of campus policies.

As the only certified Title IX investigator available, Okada was in charge of the University’s internal investigation.

“There’s a thick line

between what the police department will do and what the university does in a case like this,” Okada said.

In accordance with the University’s zero tolerance sexual misconduct policy, the male student was suspended from intersession classes, all campus activities, and was removed from the Residence Halls pending the results of a full administrative investigation conducted by the university.

The University has also offered counseling and support services to the victim and continues to be in contact with her.

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

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Biology major has family ties with NASA legend

By Jose Castro Tritons Call Staff University of Guam biology major Trevor Boykin recently received a resolution from I Lehislaturan Guåhan (The Legislature of Guam) on behalf of his great-grandmother, Katherine Johnson, a former NASA mathematician.

Johnson was featured in 20th Century Fox’s “Hidden Figures,” a film that portrayed the space race that took place in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Johnson, who was an African American woman, worked with other African American colleagues to derive the essential mathematical computations behind the trajectories of the Friendship 7 Mission and John Glenn’s first

orbit around the earth.

Boykin held an early screening of the featured film, donating the proceeds to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) division of the UOG Endowment Foundation as a scholarship for eligible students who maybe interested.

Students who have any type of financial obligation are eligible to receive the award, in addition to the required qualifications. Although the award for the scholarship is awaiting its approval, be on the lookout for an opportunity to apply. The main intention for this scholarship is to assist those students who wish pursue a degree in any field of STEM. Trevor, who was a

young boy at the time, lived a difficult life in Las Vegas with his mother before relocating to Guam in 2001.

His father was in the Air Force, who had orders to be stationed at the Anderson Air Force Base in Yigo. Since then, he has been living on island for the most part of his life.

“Guam will always be my home” Trevor explained.

He described his great-grandmother as a “natural born genius.”

“It meant a lot having a UOG Biology major Trevor Boykin is shown holding relative who took part in his resoution from the Legistlature of Guam Photo by Jose Castro such history.” He reiterated that it is a “pure wouldn’t want to miss gy. blessing. It makes me my chance.”

“It will be a dream want to work and take The Virginia native is to do just as much as part in more.” now on his second year my great-grandmother “That’s why I want as biology major at the did,” explained Boykin. to work out here in the University of Guam and “She was my idol.”

Pacific. The diversiis hoping to purse his ty of life is so rich. I Ph.D. in marine zoolo-

UOG citizens express mixed opinions about Trump

By Dave Borja Triton’s Call staff Newly elected president Donald Trump has become a polarizing figure in the political realm.

Trump proposed to establish a Territory and Commonwealth Advisory Committee to keep in contact with Guam and the rest of the territories.

UOG President Robert Underwood gave his thoughts on Trump’s proposal.

Underwood explained that, “this is really for

the Republican Party leaders on Guam to navigate. They should be explaining to us as a general rule what the Governor has heard about this and the status of the people that are appointed to this planned committee.

Other Republican leaders should be alerting us to that because I certainly don’t have a special pipeline to the president himself.”

President Trump has also promised that there will be a special assistant to keep day Publisher Francis Dalisay, Ph.D. Co-editors-in-chief David Borja Jose Castro Circulation Manager Jose Castro

to day interaction with the TCAC and that the committee will comprise of representatives from the territories such as Guam and American Samoa.

Underwood also expressed the likeliness of this coming into fruition.

“Invariably, whether it was Obama or George Bush, every last year of their term they would issue a report about the status of the territories

Continued on page 5 Staff witers and copy editors David Borja Jose Castro Woody Castro Amanda Dedicatoria

Shown above is a photo taken at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Kristina Blaz, an alumna of the UOG Communication program, took the photo and attended the event.

Contributors Kreeshia Aquino Rianne Peredo

Email us: tritonscalluog@ gmail.com tritonscall.com facebook.com/tritons.call twitter.com/tritonscalluog

By Woody Castro Tritons Call Staff The University is experiencing slight increases in cohort retention and graduation rates with 2016 showing the highest numbers yet.

The six-year graduation rate for 2010 has reached 30 percent, which is the highest it’s ever been. This shows a slight increase of 3% from 2009.

The data for the sixyear graduation rate for the Fall cohort firsttime, full-time freshmen from 2011 through 2016, have not yet been calculated.

According to Deborah (“Dee”) D. Leon Guerrero, director of academic assessment and institutional research, student cohort retention can be measured by talking and checking in with student groups regularly.

The baseline data are collected during the Fall semesters from groups of students who are first-time and full-time freshmen. Follow up data are then collected if the students initially

Data from the UOG Fact Book Academic Year 2015-2016, plotted above, suggest the University has experienced a slight increase in the graduation rate within the a 10-year span. Graphic by Woody Castro

sampled return the following Fall, and if they graduate after 6 years.

These data serve as indicators of issues that students experience from the time they first enrolled at UOG, delineating the types of issues, and when such issues are more likely to occur.

Leon Guerrero said,

“the plan is to make the experience for our students feel like they belong because studies have shown that when a student feels like they belong in that type of environment, they tend to stick with it and continue on.”

According to the current UOG Fact Book, a total of 336 degrees

were conferred during the academic years of 2004 to 2005. This includes 286 undergraduate and 50 graduate conferred degrees.

The University has experienced a jump in the numbers of degrees conferred. For the academic years of 2015-2016, a staggering amount of 459

undergraduate and 112 graduate degrees, totaling 571 degrees, were conferred.

However, there is a Pending Graduation Certification for Summer 2016 as the students who graduated over the summer have yet to be included.

Continued: DOA’s failure to release funds leaves UOG in financial hurdle Continued from page 1 Cash allotments for the University have been provided by the Government of Guam since 1952, and are generally used for the payment of permanent employees and to cover the cost of utilities for the campus.

With this situation at hand, the University has not been able to

hire new employees, including full-time faculty. It has resorted to hiring part-time adjunct instructors to meet demands.

In addition, utilities maintenance works, including scheduled installations of new backup generators for the facility, have been pushed back.

Underwood also said other resources such as the University’s reserve funds have been depleted around Janu-

ary of 2017.

“We had to use up all of our reserves. We had money put aside and we had to use it all up,” Underwood said.

Reserve funds were set aside for capital improvement plans for instance repairing classroom air conditioning and other improvement projects which are not funded through Gov Guam and DOA. “It’s not just about the giving us money to run the University, they’re

(Gov Guam) risking your future,” Underwood said.

Among the consequences of the budget shortfall, a tuition increase may have to come into play in order to counter the shortage and a deficit in their audit for last year even though the university was just accredited last year for another 8 years.

Underwood questions, “Will we have to go through this again

this year?”

However, Underwood reassures that the University is steadily balancing funds from other accounts and tuition funds to secure remaining operational costs in order to keep the facility from going under.

Moving forward into Spring 2017, the University will still continue with its daily operations and scheduled classes.

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

Graduation and retention rates show slight increases

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University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

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Campus faces dilemmas in enforcing smoking ban

By David Borja Triton’s Call Staff Since its implementation 10 years ago, the University of Guam’s smoking policy has seen its fair share of enforcement challenges.

UOG Chief Planning Officer David S. Okada, one of the founders of the policy, provided insight on the how the policy came into fruition.

According to Okada, “the smoking policy is an initiative, that’s within the nation. There has been a drive for universities to support no smoking on campus.

We wanted to be part of that initiative, especially since we have oversight of the cancer grant, which is a big part here of our support and research.So to help support and complement the things that we research and do, the smoking policy was in line with all those things within the community and to better the health of individuals.”

When asked on his

opinion on the effectiveness of policy thus far, Okada explained the difficulties of enforcing the policy on campus.

“For enforcement purposes, the best we could do, like say if you were the smoker is, ‘can you please not smoke on campus?’ If you choose not to do so, the best we can do is have you removed from campus if you continue to smoke at that time.”

Guam Public Law 30-63 prohibits smoking within 20 feet of any public entrance or exit.

If individuals are caught violating this law, they may be liable to pay fines up to $500. UOG falls under this category with the aforementioned policy, but only law enforcement can make citations.

Okada expounded on the enforcement dilemma: “The challenge is even though this is now public law and if a GPD officer came on campus and I’m smoking, he can cite me. But the question now becomes

An unnamed student’s Reauleaux RX75, a form of e-cigarette. Photo by David Borja

is this the best use of an officer’s time?”

Okada explained that this particular enforcement issue can be resolved if G4S, the company which provides security around campus, can be enabled to give the same type of citations to those that are caught smoking.

UOG Integrated Marketing Communications Director Jonas Macapinlac, who worked with Okada in creating the policy, ushered sentiments towards the student body on campus to help add to the cause.

“I would like to see students taking the

lead with promoting no smoking on campus,” Macapinlac said. “Now I know there are a lot of students that smoke and vape but there are a lot that don’t. So to put it all on the University administration to kind of police this, it’s tough, so we have to do it as a community.”

University increases awareness of cyber security issues By: Jose Castro Triton’s Call Staff Cyber security is of the utmost importance when it comes to logging into the campus’ Wi-Fi network or entering the four-digit passcode to access and use a desktop at the UOG Computer Lab. Rommel Hidalgo, the University’s chief information officer, and Eugene Adanzo, a junior information analyst, have collaborated in projects to enhance the UOG online experience.

According to Adanzo, cyber security refers to the “Information

Technology Security that focuses on the protection of networks, data, computers, and programs from unauthorized access, or change.”

While Hidalgo and Adanzo have been with the University for no more than two years, there have already been significant changes to how students access their personal information (account specifics, loan amounts, award notifications, contact numbers, and even grades).

Fortunately, the University uses some of

the best software there is, such as the Ellucian Colleague software.

This software is encrypted with the Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which is a type of certificate of authenticity of encryption.

The padlock icon on the upper left hand corner of the webpage will signify that your information on that page is encrypted.

Essentially, this SSL certificate is the backbone that protects and privatizes of all students’ accounts and information. Since our campus’s network is

SSL certified, you can assure that your student web account is protected.

However, there are many risks when using your personal credit/debit card, social security, or even your phone number if you ever decide to browse elsewhere.

“There are more than a million attacks every minute that happens in cyberspace,” says Hidalgo.

Students need to “have the personal responsibility when giving out your personal and valuable information

over the web.”

Adanzo, who has also had some Cisco Systems training, says to “watch for some of the websites that you visit. There are numerous webpage hackers that use a jpeg image of the SSL encryption certificate to fake their authentication.”

Hidalgo and Adanzo are formulating methods and strategies in order to help raise student awareness, also to help students conveniently access their online web accounts.

By Amanda Dedicatoria

Triton’s Call Staff For many students, paying for school can be an unpleasant experience. Bank accounts containing money earned from months of work are bled dry, shoulders bump against other shoulders in the financial aid office while everyone is trying to fill in colored sheets of paper and worrying about whether or not their grant money came in.

There are loans to take out, far-off offices to walk to, and deadlines to meet. It can be a hectic and expensive activity.

But according to the Bert Flores, an administrative assistant, helps students at the Financial Aid Office. Photo by Amanda Dedicatoria Director of Financial Aid Mark Duarte, students AVAILABLE SCHOLARSHIPS urges students to apply Because some scholhave another option for as many scholararships are offered at that they can consider: ships as they can, no certain times of the scholarships.

The Guam Symphony The Katherine matter how much mon- year, the page is updat“I think the reason why Society Scholarship Johnson STEM ey is being offered. ed rather frequently. a lot of people don’t Scholarship “You really have nothapply to scholarships is “It’s money you didn’t The James and Young already have,” he said. ing to lose,” Duarte because they’re intimiThe Filipino-American Hee Ji remarked about applydated by the application “You can use it for President’s Club of Scholarship books or tuition.” ing. “Even if you didn’t requirements,” Duarte Guam Scholarship Duarte encouragget the scholarship, said. “But they’re norThe James Ji es students to look it’s not a big loss. But mally minimal. You just Dreamer Scholarship The Society of through the Scholarif you do, the rewards got to have a certain American ships page on the UOG you get help you with GPA, some letters of Military Engineers The Clotilde “Di’de” website to check out your future. You’ll never recommendation, and Guam Post Gould/Pacific Daily the scholarships that know if you don’t try.” sometimes an essay.”

Scholarship News Scholarship are being offered.

Duarte said that he

Cont’d: UOG citizens express mixed opinions about Trump Continued from page 5 stating how they wish they could’ve done something,” Underwood said. “If President Trump wants to be the first to break that cycle, I wish him well for us to get in on the front end of the conversation but right now I don’t see that happening.”

Another part of this TCAC plan is to perform a holistic review of all federal regulations

affecting the territories and commonwealths.

Having a department to answer to and a process for problems that concern the territories and to have an is the main concern to address in Dr. Underwood’s eyes.

“They’ve tried to solve this during the Clinton administration by creating IGIA (Intergovernmental Insular Affairs Office) but it isn’t really an office in the White House to raise issues to,.” Underwood said.

Around campus, the student perspective is focused on how President Trump will affect the curriculum that will be available in the general education system and to University students in the upcoming years.

“Trump is taking the previous administration’s policies and flipping most of their policies but I’m concerned as to whether his decisions will benefit certain programs within school such as

fine arts programs,.”

Paulino said.

Kristina Blaz, a Spring 2016 graduate and recent attendee of the 2016 Republican National Convention offered a more optimistic view on his presidency.

“As of right now, people should remain positive because the full effect of his decisions have not come into play. When I went to the Republican Convention, I had the opportunity to learn a good deal about the presidential process

and it was interesting to see Trump speak and his family speak on his behalf to show a different standpoint rather than what is frequently shown in the media.

As a president, I feel sometimes we need an outsider and the fact that he is a successful businessman makes me think he can to bring a new perspective for change in this position.”

5 University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

Students can avail of scholarships offerred by FAO

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

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Opinion: Guam should limit betel nut usage through legislation

By Rianne Peredo For Triton’s Call Betel nut, also known formally as areca nut, is chewed primarily in South Asia, Southeast Asia and some Pacific islands including Guam.

It is also known as “pugua” in Guam.

Although it has been classified as a carcinogen and psychoactive substance, researchers Murphy and Herzog found that it is still chewed by an estimated 10% of the world’s population, which equals to about 600 million people.

Chewing betel nut is a common cultural practice. However, I think that the risks of betel nut chewing outweigh all possible benefits and should result in Guam law limiting and eventually banning its usage.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) as well as Saipan are a couple of places where limiting the sale of betel nut was implemented or introduced to local legislation. In regard

“The high it provides is not worth the multiple health risks that come along with it.” to Saipan, lawmakers enacted “The Betel Nut Control Act of 2015,” which states that betel nut cannot be sold to minors under the age of 18.

In Guam, the Betel Nut Intervention Trial (2015) is an ongoing research project by the University of Guam (UOG). The study aims to provide an intensive group-based cessation program for voluntary participants that want to quit chewing betel nut. Additionally, BENIT raises awareness of cancer and cancer prevention via outreach activities.

After visiting the UOG Cancer Research Center located in Dean’s Circle, I was given a copy of BENIT’s flyer entitled “Betel Nut Chewers Needed!” I have seen this flyer posted in various locations on campus. I was also provided with a

fact sheet that lists the aims of the Cancer Research Center as well as a detailed progression from its pre-pilot to project phases.

Murphy and Herzog state that the two distinct types of chewers/ users in Guam chew mature betel nut by itself, which is known as “Chamorro style,” while adding ingredients such as slaked lime and tobacco to an unripe nut and betel leaf is “Yapese Style.”

The health risks of chewing betel nut are not limited to increased risk of oral/mouth cancer, esophagus cancer, as well as burns and lesions in the mouth.

Additionally, betel nut chewers who add tobacco to the mixture can develop leukoplakia, which manifest as white patches in the mouth that look like dental plaque. BENIT also states that users

are susceptible to oral submucuous fibrosis, an incurable condition that causes jaw and mouth stiffness.

Growing up in Guam, I was aware of the “betel nut culture” that surrounded me whenever I attended family gatherings. Some members of my family would sit around in a circle and chew the mature betel nut, or pugua, which was a dark red color. Their teeth after years of chewing pugua were the same color as the nut itself or more blackened brown in appearance.

When I asked a few of them why they chewed pugua, they said they liked the taste or that it was a tradition.

Oftentimes, my family members would laugh at the relaxing “high” the nut provided for them at these gatherings.

Currently, betel nut is not banned in the U.S. or in Guam. Villaverde (2011) states that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted the

ban on bringing betel nut to the U.S. in 2000.

The USDA guidelines on transporting betel nut to the US via hand-carrying or postage mail is limited to five pounds per person and require the husks to be removed as well as the nuts itself to be cracked or cut.

Although I agree that cultural practices in the Asia-Pacific region should be passed down to future generations, multiple studies on betel nut chewing and its classification as a carcinogen and psychoactive substance outweigh any possible benefits of its usage.

In the future, I hope that Guam lawmakers will acknowledge that betel nut chewing is a cause for concern in the local community and should be addressed.

We should pass local laws that limit and eventually ban its usage.

The high it provides is not worth the multiple health risks that come along with it.

Opinion: Sex education should be inclusive to LGBTQ+ community

By Amanda Dedicatoria

Triton’s Call Staff When I was a junior in high school, a friend of mine asked me how he could do the dirty with a boy. Considering that I was not a gay male, I could not give him a straight answer.

“Can I use Crisco?” he asked. “You know, for lube?”

“No,” I replied, horrified. Even though the sex ed I received was subpar, I knew that any oil-based products would erode latex condoms. “Don’t ever do that.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, a little embarrassed. “I was just never taught this, you know?”

At the time, I thought this exchange was funny. Looking back on it, now I feel as though it highlighted an important topic that typical sexuality curriculum has neglected to address: the existence of those who identify as LGBTQ+.

According to a survey done by the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that encourages inclusive health curric-

ulum and STI/STD prevention, the quality of sexuality education varies from place to place.

Out of fifty states and one district, only nine states have any form of positive LGBTQ+ representation.1 The state of California’s education system, is LGBTQ+ inclusive and teaches life skills about healthy decision making.

In a study performed

by Portland State University social workers L. Kris Gowen and Nichole Winges-Yanez, that while sexuality education has the

power to inform youth and influence healthy decision making, it has done so from a heterocentric perspective.

Meaning, teaching the youth about how to have heterosexual relationships is exclusionary of individuals who do not identify as heterosexual.

For the study, several focus groups consisting of LGBTQ+ youth from the state of Oregon were asked to described the quality of the sex ed they received. The students recounted that LGBTQ+

discourse had been practically nonexistent and that LGBTQ+ topics would be met with silence whenever the students would bring them up.

Even though this study was done in the States, a similar attitude could be found on Guam.

“My high school sexual education was inadequate,” said Javan Santos, a sophomore at UOG who is openly gay. “There was nothing about gay sex or sexuContinued on page 7

By Kreeshia Aquino For Triton’s Call After last November’s presidential election, I was preparing to leave for vacation to Indiana for the holidays. I was excited and nervous at the same time, which was strange because I had already been there the previous year. I was a bit more skeptical and nervous, because Donald Trump had just been voted as the country’s president with Mike Pence as his vice president.

Of all the places one could visit during the holidays, I was heading straight to Pence’s home state. I had been hearing a lot of controversial stories about Pence, especially because he seems to have more extreme Christian, conservative, and republican ideas than Trump.

I do not fully support Pence, especially his extreme views concerning the LGBTQ community and abortions.

When I was in Indiana, I kept hearing about Pence and what he did for the state’s education system. I wanted to take a look into Pence’s education policies and

their outcomes.

Based on my research, I found flaws regarding three claims that Pence made concerning education.

First, he mentioned when he was governor of Indiana he helped increase funding for K-12 public schools.

Pence mentioned this in his 2016 state of the state speech. Indiana’s current state budget does show an increase in school funding with the two-year budget spending about $480 million more to the K-12 education, but overall, it was just a 2.3 percent increase.

Pence did not offer more funding in the public schools because he was busy with increasing subsidies for private school tuition.

Another key thing to mention was that Pence was the first state leader in 2014 to repeal Common Core, and then create a similar program for Indiana schools.

The Common Core is a set of educational standards for teaching and testing English and mathematics between kindergarten and 12th grade in the United

States.

As a congressman, Pence was one of the Republicans to vote for President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. When Pence took office in 2013, he did focus on establishing school vouchers and expanding charter schools in Indiana, and he was able to make the state rank the highest in the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a leading proponent of quality over quantity in charter schools.

Second, Pence claimed that as governor, he was able to start the first pre-K pilot program, called the On My Way Pre-K. This was one of Pence’s top legislative priorities for the 2014 legislative session because Indiana was one of the states without a state-funded pre-K 9.

Although his program was able to provide scholarships for nearly 2,300 low-income 3-and 4-year-olds, Pence was criticized for refusing to apply for $80 million in federal money, which would’ve helped expand the program. A

month later, however, he became interested in the money.

Third, he claimed that in Indiana, the test scores and graduation rates went up. Based on the fact checks, thanks to Governor Pence, he politically decided to change Indiana’s academic standards, and the state had to hurry up and make a new ISTEP test, causing scores to drop.

I also find it upsetting that he proposed a bill that pretty much blamed teachers the drop of test scores, in other words shifted the accountability to teachers. Pence and the legislature passed laws that required charter schools that kept failing the tests to shut down.

I also found out that in another study, Indiana’s program found that students who used vouchers to transfer from public to private schools saw a decline in math achievement and no change in language arts. As for graduation rates, the data showed that the rate dropped from 90 percent in 2012 to 87.1 percent in 2015.

Now that Mike Pence

is the new Vice President of the United States, there was recent news on his breaking the 50-50 tie Senate vote on accepting Betsy DeVos as the new education secretary.

DeVos has also been a controversial figure, especially as it pertains to the nation’s education system, some claim that she has no prior knowledge or experience dealing with this subject.

I’m a little worried for the future, it seems Pence wants to focus more on politics than on public education. He seems to be basing his decisions on education by political motives.

Vice President Pence does state that education is important, especially among the youth, and I see what he is trying to do.

He is trying to handle and focus on education from the younger age, and not so much on higher education.

Although many people are worried and continue to protest, many of us can only hope things start to turn out better than they look.

Cont’d: Sex ed should include LGBTQ+ community Continued from page 6 ality in the class I took.”

According to Ashley*, another UOG sophomore, gay sex was a taboo topic in the class she had taken. When a student mentioned homosexuality in her class, a debate ensued.

These themes of exclusivity and silence are harmful to LGBTQ+ youth. By not encour-

aging open communication and informed dialogue about sexuality, educators run the risk of leaving their students vulnerable to not only having unsafe sex, but also ridicule.

According to Gowen and Winges-Yanez, positive representations of LGBTQ+ people and events in school curriculum are associated with a safer, more

accepting social climate for LGBTQ+ youth.

A more inclusive curriculum would involve allowing LGBTQ+ discourse in the classroom and lessons about anatomy and STI/STD prevention. It could also include exploring the relationship aspect of sexual education, so that students would not only know how to practice safe sex, but know

the difference between being in a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy one.

Integrating these topics into middle and high school curricula could help cultivate an atmosphere of belonging for LGBTQ+ youth and could help combat the dysphoria students around that age may experience in those formative years.

Thinking back to my days in high school, I think that if the sex ed we received was more inclusive, my friend would have never felt ashamed about asking me for help. And I would have never had to imagine him putting vegetable shortening where vegetable shortening should never be.

7 University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017

Opinion: Vice President Pence’s impact on Indiana’s education

University of Guam, Triton’s Call, February 2017 8