1. Exercise

Workout or do some sort of physical activity. Now is the time to burn those excuses away by getting on a treadmill or walking around the scenic views of Tumon. By scenic I mean staring up at the iconic whale peeking out of Sea Grill.

Studies show that walking at least 20 minutes a day may reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 30 percent. As you may know (or not), heart disease is one of the leading health-related deaths on Guam. Do yourself a favor by getting rid of the Spam in the grocery list and replacing it with a nice walk!

2. Learn to Cook

Learning to cook can be a hit or miss, but it never hurts to try. It will only hurt if you burn yourself. You are already bored enough to get to this point, so might as well do it. If you are a beginner, start easy. Duh. My favorite easy recipes when I was learning how to cook were Instant Noodles. Today, I cooked boiled eggs. #Progress. 

3. Go Geocaching

Did you know that Guam actually has geocaching? Geocaching is a fun way to get an easy 20 minute walk in your day. The Geocache app allows for you to find hidden objects around the island through hints and clues that fellow geocachers post. If you are feeling mysterious, outdoorsy, and up for an adventure, this is the activity for you!

4. Go Thrifting

Salvation Army, a popular thrift store on Guam, has a warehouse located in Tamuning that is filled with pre-loved clothing, gadgets, handbags, and many other vintage items. You can literally find an old DS or GameBoy in there on a lucky day. If you are a shopper, this place is a must-try experience. 

5. Plan a Party

Planning a party can be hectic, but it does not always have to be that way. Planning a party should be as fun as the party. And if it is not, then you are not doing it right. It does not even have to be anything big! Get someone to do it with you and invite your friends and/or family. If you do not have any, go back to number one and re-read this story.

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With these statistics, UOG has become a well-diverse environment, especially being the island’s only University. 

As both ethnic backgrounds are diverse and unique, there are many reasons to celebrate and honor the pride students take in their culture. In this story, we look at how students perceive diversity in UOG and what barriers they may face with underrepresentation on campus. 

Riko Ichikawa, a freshman Accounting major at UOG defines diversity as acknowledging that everyone brings unique perspectives and experiences to the table. “It means valuing differences rather than trying to erase them,” she said.

Ichikawa is Japanese, but was born and raised on Guam. UOG was a natural choice for her. She believes that UOG does well in honoring and respecting the diverse cultures on campus through cultural events and student organizations. However, she does feel the need for UOG to improve representation in curriculum, faculty, and staff.

There are moments on campus where students feel “talked down upon” by some faculty and staff. Believe it or not, it happens quite often. Some faculty and staff treat students differently because they are “kids.” 

Students are often judged by the way they act or do things on campus. As a result, some students feel constrained and develop the feeling of not belonging. 

“Coping with the challenge of feeling underrepresented can be difficult, but some strategies that may help include seeking support from student organizations that share your background or identity,” Ichikawa said.

She notes the importance of speaking up. “Remember that you have a valuable voice, even if it’s not always recognized by others,” she said.

Chauntae Quichocho, a senior majoring in Chamoru Studies for Education admits that she has had experience of feeling underrepresented in some of her classes. “I do feel that there needs to be more local professors here on campus to be able to relate to the kinds of cultures, traditions, and values of the students,” she said.

With UOG professors also being culturally diverse, they come from different ethnic backgrounds with their own traditions and practices. Some professors may not understand the struggle that students face outside of their academic life to make ends meet. 

On top of student’s studies, some work part-time jobs to help pay for bills. Some are even the “breadwinner” or “head of the household” in their families as a working-student. 

Although the focus of the faculty is to ensure excellence in academics, students feel that the need for a stronger accommodation in understanding the life behind the academic door must be represented. 

To overcome this battle, Quichocho talks to a mentor who she says is working hard to ensure that others do not have to experience the same feeling. 

How are students finding success in the midst of the cultural barriers?

Oxaly Orichiro, a senior in UOG says that her motivations outside of campus brings her to the mindset to keep going.

She spends her time outside of campus hanging out with her family and friends, embracing the moments she shares that bring her closer to her spirituality. 

“I don’t really focus on challenges. There will always be challenges, I’m sure of that. I focus on the positive and getting through with my classes,” she said. Orichiro is a Chuukese student seeking a degree in public administration. 

UOG continues to strive for unity in diversity with being the only university on Guam. Students stay resilient with the challenges and still continue to seek success for themselves.

The post Unity in diversity appeared first on The Triton's Call.

One of the easiest ways to represent your alma mater as well as school spirit is through wearing the school’s clothing. 

Over the years, the University of Guam created different kinds of merchandise. The issue with it is that it is different, but the concept is the same. The University of Guam needs better merchandise. The school needs gear that the students, as well as alumni and people who have not even attended would want to wear. 

All of the clothing that had been released was a bit too plain. The school merch needs to have depth, it needs to have some character. It needs to have the effect that makes people say, “I want to buy that.” UOG merchandise is not only sold at the Triton store, but can also be purchased on the University of Guam Triton Store website.

A survey sounds reasonable, but the students would need to be interested enough to want to take a survey regarding school merchandise. Maybe an online survey or an in-person survey to get an understanding of what the students, as well as alumni would want to see in the future. 

One of the best ideas is to have themes for the merchandise. For example, during certain holidays there should be school merchandise surrounding that holiday. It can be a way to show that the University is in touch with what is going on and it will show some creativity. Holidays are celebrated all over the world and on social media so that can be the easiest thing to start with. 

Merchandise is also available on the UOG store website and there are images that show the available merchandise to purchase. There are choices from their original collection, their athletics collection, and they even have merchandise for children. For the most part, the merchandise just looks plain. There is not much that grabs attention. UOG needs to have merchandise that people feel cool wearing.

Take Jordan’s for example. It was primarily a basketball shoe, but it has now become fashionable for street wear, and casual wear. Most people that wear Jordan’s don’t even play basketball, or have seen Michael Jordan play basketball. Of course UOG doesn’t compare to Michael Jordan, but we all have to start somewhere. For this year’s theme of “UOG Forward”, it’s a great start to move forward with some better merch. 

The post New Year, New Drip appeared first on The Triton's Call.

It’s always a good idea to treat your mom to some lunch or dinner for her special day. The following restaurants offer annual deals to help you treat her to some of her favorite restaurants. Sushi Rock plans on having their all day happy hour specials, and encourage customers to make reservations in advance. For updates on specific menu items included in the specials, be sure to check @sushirockguam via Instagram for updates!  Read more about ikaria lean belly juice.

Longhorn Steakhouse offers eGift cards year round, for $75 you can use $50 towards a meal and the remaining $25 as a Fandango gift card for a movie afterwards!  

If you’re late to getting a gift, try getting gift certificates that she can use to enjoy her day. Lovely Nails offers gift certificates but must be paid through cash only.  Local small businesses and estheticians plan on giving mothers the following special promos. Take a look to these prodentim reviews.

Crystal Energy Guam is a local store that sells all things crystal related and is offering Mother’s Day bundles for sale! For more information on what is included in these bundles or what crystals are best for a Mother’s Day gift, check out their store located in Tumon Sands Plaza.  

Esthetician, Isa Ha’ani Flores, is offering Mother’s Day promos for her services, to see her availability visit her Instagram, Read more about metaboost connection.

Guam Premier Outlets is holding a giveaway for 2 lucky moms who can enter to win a gift basket worth over $100 and a gift certificate to New York Nails! To learn how you can enter, visit @gpoguam via Instagram.  

If you have no other plans visit Agana Shopping Center for a Mother’s Day Celebration, May 7-8 from 10am-4pm. Enjoy live performances, face painting, and more on this special day! These are the best ikaria lean belly juice reviews.

The post What to Do for Mother’s Day 2022  appeared first on The Triton's Call.

I believe many of us have at the very least heard of a famous Ghibli movie: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo,  

It’s hard not to have a Studio Ghibli movie as a precious memory, the soft colors and vivid art styles along with whimsical themes are things that any child would have burned into their memory.  

Princess Mononoke, written and directed by renowned Hayao Miyazaki, takes a drastic turn from the classic light-hearted stories to tell a more towards a deep, detailed story.   

The premise of the movie follows the stance of the main character, Ashitaka, being an outsider looking in on his home and surrounding nature being overtaken by an industrialist town, Iron Town, that is trying to deal with its own problems.  

In short, the movie takes place in 14th century Japan. The harmony between humans, nature, and the supernatural starts to crumble when one side tries to tip the power balance.  

Ashitaka gets caught up in the middle of the conflict while traveling to find the Deer God to undo his “curse of hatred”.  

The movie gives a watching experience that is both frustrating and eye-opening as the position of Ashitaka is similar to the watcher. A position where we have enough information to understand but the question lies, do we have any right to interfere?   

Ashitaka suffers from “the curse of hatred” which starts to eat away at him more and more as the forces of nature and the people of Iron Town continue to clash.  

According to an interview with Miyazaki, he did not want the distinction of the characters to have a fine line between good and bad. He states, “That’s how people are.” The complex characters and story make the emotions all the deeper.   

The rich historical references still make it a fantastic watch even today.  

The post Princess Mononoke, a Darker Fairytale   appeared first on The Triton's Call.

The internet has ways to find out how to do almost everything from YouTube tutorials to Wikihows, theirs is almost nothing you cannot find on the internet.  

How easy is it to forget the other sources of information that we’ve always had before the normalization of smartphones and the daily access of the internet? CDs, books, newspapers, or other printed mediums have now been slowly fading away.  

Yet with all this digital development, paper notes are the way to go on the academic road. When you take the time to write down your notes, the LED lights do not get in the way and with the notes being in your own words and style, in theory it is easier to memorize.   

A similar article on the Advertiser’s Printing website quotes a study that the harsh lights of our devices cause exhaustion easier than regular eye-to-paper studying and can even mess with our comprehension abilities.  

It is true that with screens we may say that we read through the material faster, but can we say that we truly understand what’s being told? What details could one miss from the constant and trained “skimming” we’re used to when confronted with an entire condensed page of text.   

Researcher Ziming Liu also notes that “…screen-based reading behavior is characterized by more time spent on browsing and scanning, keyword spotting, one-time reading, non-linear reading, and reading more selectively, while less time is spent on in-depth reading, concentrated reading and decreasing sustained attention.” 

It shows that taking the time to actually comprehend and absorb the given information instead of adhering to our usual fast-paced skimming can only be beneficial when we have academic goals. 

The post Screens or Paper? The Preference is Clear   appeared first on The Triton's Call.

It is 6:30 a.m. Your alarm clock goes off, but you snooze. 9 minutes later, it goes off again. You want to continue snoozing it, but you know that you have a class at 8 a.m. that you cannot be late for. Finally, you get out of bed and head to the bathroom to begin your hygiene routine. You go back to your room and sit at your desk. Class begins.  

That is an ideal day in the life of a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the unfortunate reality is, many of us log onto our Zoom sessions with our webcams turned off and hop back into bed.  

We are now halfway through the semester and many of these unhealthy habits are hard to get rid of. The amount of stress that school, work, and my personal life had on me is probably very relatable to all of you. So, I decided to ask my friends how I should handle my stress. Here are some of their suggestions. 

Bhradley De Leon, 22, is currently working as a restaurant server.  

“Currently, I get stressed when there are last-minute changes to my schedule. Also, when work gets super busy [because] it’s hard sometimes,” states De Leon. 

To deal with his stress, he goes to the gym, hangs out with friends, and plays video games.

Like De Leon, Angela Diaz, 20, also goes to the gym to release stress. “Putting my workout first [in the day] before anything helped my mindset; to put myself first before anything or anyone else,” Diaz says.  

My friends also offered advice for those feeling stressed. 

Alexandra Lekites, 20, says, “Your mental health is more important than what’s stressing you. Make sure you give yourself a break and be kind to yourself because you’re making small progress every day towards your goals in life.” 

Jordan Barnes, 22, also known as Koreo, is a Twitch streamer and content creator. His current stressors include burnout, lack of creativity, and unnecessary drama.  

“Deep breaths and finding something you love to do whether it be eating your favorite meal or watching your favorite show. Going outside and breathing really helps too. Remember that stress is a temporary feeling and that you can exacerbate that feeling if you do anything rash during stressful moments,” Barnes advises. 

The post Breathe In, Breathe Out – Time to De-stress  appeared first on The Triton's Call.

Leatherface, one of the most famous on-screen killers in horror movies, is brought back to the movie scene in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was released on Netflix last February 18th, 2022.   

The iconic chainsaw-wielding killer has been going on rampages since 1974 around the same time that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise started. Though there are around nine movies in this series, none of them are really dependent on each other. Viewers can watch the movies as standalones.  

As an avid watcher of horror films, I personally expected to see a well-structured plot to support the gore in the film. However, despite the good graphics of bloodshed, I felt that this film lacked excitement in terms of plot and character development.  

Texas Chainsaw Massacre begins with one of the main characters Lila watching a Leatherface documentary in the convenience store. This feels like a summary for the people who are not familiar with the series, thus disappointing me with poor plot structure.  

We are then given a surface level introduction to both main characters, sisters Melody and Lila. Melody is introduced as a snotty, rich Gen Z who purchased Harlow, Leatherface’s hometown, with dreams of making it some sort of “haven” for those who want country life. On the other hand, Lila is a girl with a traumatic past who is taken under Melody’s wing. 

Both characters have potential to be more than their superficial introductions. However, throughout this whole 83-minute film, I was disappointed that we are given nothing about their pasts and are left to sit on non-existent character development.  

Lila’s trauma regarding guns is only explained through split-second cut scene flashbacks, and Melody’s snotty rich persona only showed outward change after witnessing intense murders. 

What really makes this film a total bust for me was the massacre scene on the bus. As Leatherface walks in to murder all of them, the first thing the young adults do is pull out their phones to take videos and go live on the internet. It was such a typical Gen Z stereotype to document traumatizing situations instead of taking it seriously. 

Despite the awe-inducing visual effects in the kill scenes and graphic wounds, I think that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise should have been left on its own instead of being butchered in this reboot. 

The post Netflix’s Leatherface Sequel is a Massacre Itself  appeared first on The Triton's Call.

“When you break it down, English is a language and the purpose of language is to communicate and share ideas, feelings and information,” said Nick Abrenilla, vice president of The English Society. “We enjoy all different aspects of the language, and in The Society, we get to share it with likeminded people.”

The English Society is a network of English majors and minors that encourage and support solidarity amongst its members.

They provide a platform for students who have a shared interest in literature, linguistics, education or writing to interact with each other.

This group of highly motivated college students is determined to bring their love of the art as far as they can. In the past, they have held writing workshops for high school students at Guahan Academy Charter School.

Sasha Aldridge a UOG alum and former officer of the organization invited The English Society to Guahan Academy, where she is an English teacher.

During these workshops, the members covered topics important to high school students such as how to write an essay and how to choose a topic for that essay, formulate a thesis, gather information, evaluate sources, organize and synthesize data, form ideas into cohesive thoughts, and cite where they got their references.

Aldridge said that after the first workshop the students were so eager to participate. The high school students notice an improvement in their writings because the techniques they learned took the mystique out of writing essays. The English Society members explained it to the students in a way they understood.

 “Sasha gave us a call and asked if we were willing to come down to the school to help give the students some pointers,” said Joe Taitano, president of The English Society. “We held a meeting to discuss it and the members were excited to jump on the project.”

The English Society will be making another trip to Guahan Academy Charter School in December.

They also hold events such as LIT Talks at least once a month, where members can get together to discuss literature, poetry, novels, music, movies and graphic novels or long-form comic books.

“Many people think English only covers books and poetry, but screenwriting for TV Shows and Movies, lyrics for music also fall under English,” Taitano said. “There are many parts of popular culture that have its roots in literature, basically anything that has words has a connection to the language.”

The English Society is open to all who have an interest in the many aspects of English or those who just want to make improvements with their writings.

“You don’t have to be an English Major to join,” said Elizabeth Elmore, a first-year member. “Right now, one of our officers Artemia Perez is not an English Major, she is an Anthropology Major.”

If you are interested in The English Society, you can check them out on Instagram @uogenglishsociety, their blog at uogenglishsociety.wordpress.com or catch one of their meetings every other Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in room 104 of the English and Communications building during the semester.

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By Greg Rosario, December 2, 2019

GUAM – Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, a bunny rabbit and a chicken came out dressed to impress, intimidate, and make hearts melt at the Guam Premium Outlet for the Feathers and Fins “2019 Howloween Pet Costume Contest.” The event took place on Oct 26.

We were expecting over 150 pet enthusiasts and spectators gathered in front of the Cinnabon at GPO’s main entrance for this year’s event, that’s why we had to go ahead and make a webinar teaching all those dogs owners how to stop a dog barking at night, in order to avoid the event to be a mess, while dozens more stopped by to take pictures of the festive pets.  Over 60 pets we in attendance while 40 of them vied for the Grand-Monster title.  In the end it was Soba, a French Bulldog dressed up as “Soba the Builder” who walked away with the title. His costume was a play on the popular kids cartoon show Bob the Builder. Soba took home the Grand-Monster title for the second year in a row.  He was dressed up in a homemade foam hard hat, kids white tank top, cut denim jean shorts with a hole for his tail to sick out, utility belt complete with toy hammer, plyers, and screwdriver.  He even rolled around in a bulldozer fashioned from a baby stroller and cardboard.  If you want to discover the best treatment anti-anxiety for your pet check out Observer’s list of top CBD treats. Why do we use Glucosamine for dogs? Glucosamine increases the concentration of proteoglycans in cartilage and the synovial membrane which produces the fluid lubricating the joints. Also, glucosamine for dogs amazon may support the repair of damaged cartilage by increasing collagen deposition, providing joint care for dogs and cats.

“Every year we gotta [sic] up our game,” said Desiree Clemente, Sobas owner. “My partner and I are always thinking up new ideas all year long.”

This event goes back more than 20 years according to Barbra Zimmerman, owner of Feathers and Fins. 

“About eight or nine years ago we were approached by GPO to have our events here.” Zimmerman adds. “We used to have it at our shop (Feathers and Fins Pet Store) going back more than 12 years before that.”

            She said she is very pleased with the arrangement; as it has allowed the event to grow and have even more contestants and spectators.

Other Winners

Duke, a German Shepard dog dressed up as a spider won “most scariest”.  Biggie Smalls a Pomeranian dog dressed up as Buzz Lightyear complete with Rocketship stroller won” most cutest.”  Rex, a Golden Labrador dog dressed up as a Koi Fish won “most original,” Ginger, Buddy and Theo, a trio of Guinea Pigs dressed up as a family of vampire, won the Feathers and Fins Pick.

Prizes included gift certificates courtesy of Feathers and Fins Pet and a treat basket for the pets.

Zimmerman said Feathers and Fins also organizes other events that they hold throughout the year for the family and their pets.  They include pictures with Santa Claus, pictures with the Easter Bunny, manicures and pedicures, and hamster races to name a few.  These events are all free to the public and held at Feathers and Fins Pet Store located right on Marine Corp Drive in East Hagatña.

Zimmerman says to check out their Instagram @feathersnfins671 or call the shop at (671) 477-1192 or (671) 472-1190 for more information.

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