The building of the Fine Arts department, which is home to the university’s music, theater and

fine arts programs, is showing signs of deterioration. Doors in the building are out of place,

restrooms have broken stalls and toilets, and paint has faded or chaffed off.

Longtime UOG Art professor Lewis Rifkowitz expressed his thoughts about the facility’s horrid

appearance.

Rifkowitz, who specializes in three-dimensional art, said when he first set foot at UOG in 1989,

he saw that the facility was already in need of improvements. From Rifkowitz’s view, the

building was too small for its purpose.

Rifkowitz explained, for instance, that the department’s three-dimensional art program offers a

set of classes in sculptures and another set in ceramics. This necessitates two different rooms:

one for sculptures classes and one for ceramics classes. However, both sets of classes all happen

in one room.

“I do it in one classroom and it is virtually insane because materials don’t intermix without

polluting each other, contaminating each other and just causing havoc,” Rifkowitz said. “A

ceramic lab is a ceramic lab. A sculpture lab is something different. It’s more of a central shop

where you can build, manufacture and fabricate and we don’t have that. I can’t offer that to the

students. They’ve been given the short stick for 27 years.”

Professor of Music Steve Benardyzk describes the Fine Arts Building as a functional facility, but

it is at the same time, archaic and dilapidated. Benardyzk noted that the practice rooms in the

building are small and not soundproof. Also, the practice rooms are juxtaposed beside a

classroom for music, and thus the sound from people practicing travels around the entire area.

“If somebody right behind me is practicing with another piano, it is hard to concentrate,”

Benardyzk said. “One of the bigger music issues is the amount of silence and the ability to get

stuff done.”

Benardyzk explained that the restrooms were renovated three or four years ago, but the

renovations done weren’t complete. Stalls from the men’s room were made out of particle board

material, and even after upgrades, plumbing problems continued to occur every few months,.

Despite these issues, however, professors and students are doing the best they can and potential

creativity that is untapped.

“We teach people how to take risks. We teach people how to fail. We teach people how to

grow,” Rifkowitz said. “In order to do that, you have to make work and you have to attempt to

go outside of your comfort zone.”

The UOG Endowment Foundation’s Physical Master Plan proposes the construction of new

facilities on campus and the renovation of some existing ones. According this physical master

plan, the Fine Arts Building is among one of the facilities that will be either renovated or

demolished and constructed entirely new.

With the Endowment’s master plan going into motion, the Fine Arts Building is long overdue for

a complete makeover.

From UOG’s Endowment Foundation, the upcoming Physical Master Plan responds to the

university’s strategic initiatives. The goal is to have brand-new physical facilities that will be

able to provide accommodations for the students both on-campus, off-campus and online by

2025.

According to the pamphlet, the Physical Master Plan tells the university that is the best choice

for Guam and throughout the Pacific Rim; a campus that will create and develop Guam’s culture.

With the help of the UOG Capital Campaign, opportunities are provided to individuals and

businesses that wish to provide financial support for the Physical Master Plan. All funds raised

by the UOG Endowment Foundation for the Capital Campaign will be used to build new

facilities such as the Fine Arts Building.

James Sellman, Ph.D., dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science, explained that the

Fine Arts building is one of the oldest building from the year 1964 and it is extremely long

overdue.

“We are still nine years out,” Sellman said. “It is number three on the list for renovation for the

2025 Capital Campaign.”

The post Aging Fine Arts Building in need of repairs, Vision 2025 sets plans (Part two of a report on the building’s condition and plans to fix it) appeared first on The Triton's Call.

The 4th Annual President’s Cup was held at the courtyard during the 48th Annual UOG Charter Day, Mar. 8, 2016. The President’s Cup is a series of competitive sports activities.

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James Sellman, Ph.D., dean of CLASS, explained that the first annual conference came to be from a group of professors back in 1980. Those professors realized that they the need to share their research to the larger community.

Sellman stated that the best part of the conference is seeing the student presenting their topics to the community.

“We have so many intelligent students enlightening research on local and regional issues and then make their poster board or full on conference panel presentations. They are always enlightening,” Sellman said.

Jesse Mantanona, a senior and theater major/communication minor, along with his partners from the theater department presented their topic about bikers being stereotyped from the point of view of Hollywood.

“There’s a lot of stereotypes about bikers that should be cleared up by now. Because what Hollywood puts out there should not be taken that seriously,” Mantanona said.

The conference also included off-island presenters. Sandra Wawrytko, Director of the Center for Asian & Pacific Studies from San Diego State University, was the keynote speaker. It was Wawrytko’s topic for the conference was about Global Aesthetics.

“I wanted to see Guam, never been here, and to try to understand more about the culture and I think it is a very diverse environment. I think it is very receptive to the kind of ideas that I’m interested in my research,” Wawrytko said.

An excerpt from the first conference’s overall goal is explained by Elliot McGinnies.

“One of the unique functions of a university is the pursuit of knowledge without regard to its current utility. Research, or more broadly, scholarly activity is the very hallmark of a university. faculty research not only advances knowledge, it enliven teaching” said McGinnies.

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Okada and Mansapit crafted a draft incident command plan for crisis management in a form of a checklist.

The checklist includes bomb threat procedures, such as if the threat was received from a phone call, an e-mail, handwritten note, and packages that have suspicious signs. The 911 emergency hotline and the phone number for the University Security are also included on the checklist.

Each checklist has been read, handed out, and distributed to all employees within the facilities. Calling 911 or the University Security and assessing the threat is the first step. There are different levels of threat, depending on which threat falls under the checklist. It is up to the University Security or the first responder to figure out the next step once the level of the threat is issued.

“There are standard procedures for rally points and accountability for people when and if such a situation needs to be done in terms of evacuation,” Okada said.

“The university does take it seriously and if when it does happen, we are prepared to do so to respond,” Okada stated.

Okada emphasized the importance that faculty and administrators should be leading students….and guiding them toward the correct procedures to follow…should a crisis happen.

Opinions on GDOE bomb threats

Mansapit explained that the majority of the threats have been hoaxes and students are treating the threats as a reckless competition. He explained that if a student is caught some people will question if that student should be convicted as an adult would instead of a minor. When dealing with a topic like that, the people from the judicial court will have to decide what kind of punishment the student will receive.

A recent  KUAM news report by Krystal Paco stated that on Feb. 17, a Southern High School student named Herisjoe Stephen was caught, arrested and had been indicted by the grand jury with charges for conspiracy and terroristic conduct.

“Although perpetrators made see it as a joke, the threat of a bomb is a serious claim. But I’m glad that our security on campus took the necessary precautions to make the emergency plan to ensure safety,” said Chaunsi  Cepeda, an Accounting major of University of Guam.

“The protocol is good thanks to the guys at security,” said Christian Cayanan. “Bottom line is that the kids who started the threats deserved to be punished.

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