Triton’s Call Staff

Music played in the background, the smell of wine filled the air, and people went on chatting and observing as the opening night for the Ceramic Celebration Plus opened its showcase for the first night.

The exhibit kicked off its showcase at the Isla Center for the Arts on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, and lasted until its final day on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016.

Many students and local artists decorated the walls with different types of works such as ink drawings, paintings, digital art, and block prints.

Ceramic pieces and mini sculptures were showcased on columns as some of them served as centerpieces to some of the rooms.

A lot of the art pieces, including the primarily functional ceramic pieces, were available for sale at a very desirable price.

The Ceramic Celebration Plus is an annual fundraising. The proceeds from the sold items help fund programming at the Isla Center of the Arts, which is an auxiliary program in the Division of Communication and Fine Arts.

“Because it is an auxiliary program,” states exhibit coordinator, Dr. Yamashita, “Isla does not receive any appropriate funds from the Government of Guam so we are tasked to raise funds for our operations.”

If you want to support the Isla Center for the Arts and your local artists, you can attend Creative Hands: Selected Works by Local Artists.

It is a biennial exhibit that is part of a series of juried exhibits since 1992, and starts Dec. 1, 2016, and stays open until Feb. 3, 2017.

It consists of a variety of media including digital photographs, watercolor and acrylic paintings, ceramic pieces, and mixed media compositions.

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The Public Administration and Legal Studies Society hosted their fourth annual Zombie Pandemic Challenge. Students raced through the darkened campus, completing missions while dodging the hordes of ravenous “zombies” hunting them.

Prior to the event, the organizers were concerned that the weather was going to be postponed or even cancelled. Fortunately, the sky cleared up before the event was set to start, and, with the determined efforts of the PALS Society and volunteers, it went off without a hitch.

This year, 15 teams participated in the competition.

The challenge is designed to test participants’ athleticism and their skills in planning, quick thinking and teamwork. They sprinted to the scattered stations to complete as many missions as they could in the time limit.

Missions included the zombie version of “pin the tail on the donkey,” mixing food coloring, and digging in a mystery box, among others.

Each mission required a certain number of members.  Only one mission could be done at a time. Teams spent most of their time running back and forth from the safe zone to report and regroup.

Each competitor was given five strips of caution tape—serving as flags—that the zombies would try to steal. According to the game’s rules, losing all five strips would lead to elimination. Individual zombies could only take one flag at a time.

Due to the physical nature of the challenge, safety was an important concern. The rules discouraged roughhousing and prohibited violence. Referees and facilitators made sure no foul play or injuries occurred.

Unfortunately, some students’ enthusiasm got the better of them and that lead to some problems. Some competitors abused the safety zones, some zombies didn’t follow the one flag limit. Both sides had cases of unnecessary roughness.

PALS members confronted the individuals responsible, but only after the incidents had occurred.

However, that same enthusiasm led to a fierce competition. This year had a six-way tie for the last two spots in the top five after the first phase. Unfortunately, only five could advance, so there was a bonus challenge to determine who was moving on.

When asked for advice for next year’s challenge, a member of one of those six teams, J. Thomas Jackson said, “Just run a lot.”

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The Inafa’ Maolek Conciliation along with University of Guam’s School of Business and Public Administration hosted the Restorative Justice Forum in celebration of Conflict Resolution Day.

The forum provided a comparable overview of the restorative justice process in Guam communities and schools.

UOG President Robert Underwood opened the event with welcoming remarks.

The first half of the forum featured a panel of professionals, including Chief Justice Robert J. Torres, Deputy Attorney General Carol Sanchez, Guam Community College adjunct professor and small business owner Art De Oro and Founder and President Emeritus of Inafa’ Maolek, Patrick Wolff.

Each speaker gave their insight on what restorative justice means to the island and how it would benefit every member in our society.

Restorative justice

According to the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, restorative justice is “a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that…can lead to transformation of people, relationships and communities.”

Also discussed by most of the panel speakers were how successful peer mediation programs work in schools.

Peer mediation, not the same as restorative justice, still has somewhat similar motives in treating school-related issues or crimes.

“It gives our youth the opportunity to engage in this process,” Executive Director of the forum, Christina Noket said. “So that they become better citizens. They can understand the consequences of their actions, and move towards a more peaceful community.”

The guests, mostly criminal justice majors, plan to use the knowledge they gained as they pursue their goals for Guam’s justice program and its communities.

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The seminar, which covered theoretical and practical challenges of online education for life-long 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 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.

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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 whom wish to embark on adventures and vacation packages.

Other clubs, or organizations, 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.

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Tritons Call Staff

     On Thursday, Aug. 25, The Isla Center for the Arts held their grand opening for the International Exhibition of Contemporary Print UOG 2016.

     The event hosted diverse viewers, ranging from students to professors both artists and non-artists alike. It was an entertaining event followed up with refreshments and appearances of a few artists themselves. 

     The exhibit showcases various print pieces from twenty-four experienced artists world-wide.

     These artists are from countries such as Guam, the United States, Japan, India, and a few others.

Many of these artists are known to actively present their work in other exhibitions across the world.

     The artworks encompass a range of themes and techniques that include relief, intaglio, screen-print, digital, and experimental. “The print works are very popular in Japan,” says Japanese artist, Takeda Ritsuko, “Between the reality of a sheet of paper and the fictionality of the three dimensions on or in a paper, there is my world.”

     Many artists, just like Takeda, live in the world of print; taking our world of reality and pushing it in to a two or three dimensional piece that explains itself.

     The organizer of the exhibit, Dr. Irena Keckes, said, “This exhibition invites audiences to explore if and how print practices have been revolutionized through research, technology, and diverse communities…the aim is to perceive printmaking beyond its traditional meanings, and visualize it as a transformative force in art today.”

     Dr. Keckes hopes that the interest of print art will inspire more artists to partake in the field and will bring in a new art field to the island. The exhibit at the Isla Center for the Arts will be open to public until Oct. 14, 2016.

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Tritons Call Staff

     The 2016-2017 academic year had begun with University of Guam revitalizing its sports program.  This revival would give the opportunity for any interested students to join a sport.

     One of the selected sports UOG has to offer is soccer. Soccer is a popular sport both on Guam and all over the world. According to Topend Sports Network, an estimated 3.5 billion fans have chosen soccer as the most popular sport world-wide.

If you are a soccer fan, you should already know that the Qatar World Cup is going to be happening in November 2022, so if you are planning to visit Qatar for this event this is the perfect time to start preparing yourself.

     Roderick Hidalgo, the newly hired coach for the UOG men and women’s Tritons Soccer teams, believes he is fit to take on the mantle of leading this new Triton soccer team to succession.

     Coach Hidalgo has been playing soccer since his first year of high school, which is about thirty years ago. He started coaching right after high school, but is still an active player.  He has experience playing for the Guam National Team and other various clubs.

     Through Guam Football Association, Hidalgo was able to get his education in coaching and received a “C” Licence and “B” Licence from the Asian Football Confederation.

     “One of my goals is that these guys learn leadership and skills they would not normally learn in the classroom,” Hidalgo said.

     He plans to guide the teams into becoming highly competitive, joining the local leagues, and taking top spots in competitions.

     Hidalgo also plans to be more involved in the community and start camps, and to be able to invite other universities to partake in tournaments.  It would be a full university experience in sports for his athletes.

     Both men’s and women’s soccer teams are still looking for interested players. If you are interested, soccer practices are held Monday to Friday, from 4 to 6 p.m.

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