Trans and non-binary students report mixed experiences with SHAC

from Daily Lobo 08/14/2023

UNM’s Film students & fauclty stand with the strike

Legislative from page 1

“Writing is an art and a field of communication,” Thiel said. “If art and essential communication are outsourced to artificial intelligence, we are likely to lose far more than we will gain.”

The project, “Making AI Generative for Higher Education,” will take place for over two years at UNM.

Leo Lo, dean and professor of the College of University Libraries and Learning Services, leads the research project in collaboration with other universities and the company, Ithaka S+R.

The research will focus on teaching, learning and information discovery, Lo said. The six-person team will interview faculty to assess their needs to support them, then implement a university-wide AI policy. The Center for Teaching & Learning, Lo said, is also hosting a session before the fall semester to help returning faculty learn how to use AI in their teaching.

“We need to support both instruc-

Over the past two years, several trans and non-binary University of New Mexico students have reported mistreatment and lack of access to hormone therapy at Student Health and Counseling, according to Juniper Reimagined’s outreach coordinator, Ophelia Aragon. This has resulted in a delay of medically necessary gender-affirming care.

Juniper Reimagined is a Queer and trans student alliance at UNM amongst several LGBTQ student organizations on campus. Five student members of Juniper Reimagined have said they had a poor experience with SHAC, including trans and non-binary individuals who said they have dealt with being misgendered, Aragon said.

SHAC’s website says that it follows the World Professional Association for Transgender Health recommended standards of care to ensure students receive care in an environment that feels safe, welcoming and affirming.

Juniper Reimagined Vice Presi- dent Mara Cox said she noticed a lack of education on LGBTQ issues amongst SHAC staff members. Cox made an appointment to receive gender-affirming care in February 2022; five months later was when she received her hormone replacement therapy.

James Wilterding – a practitioner at SHAC who works with patients seeking gender affirming care –said they will typically have at least two visits with a patient during the intake process to conduct a gender identity history interview to make sure there experiences are consistent with gender dysphoria.

“We do an interview with them and (they) talk to us about what’s going on … (We) talk about their story and how they’ve come to understand that they might be wanting to seek a form of gender affirming care,” Wilterding said. tors and students on their AI literacy. Right now, most of us don’t really know much about the technology, the implications, the ethics,” Lo said.

When seeking treatment in February, Cox said to receive gender-affirming care at SHAC, she was asked questions about feelings of dysphoria to get treatment. Tentative about her dysphoria, Cox said that this delayed her access to help.

“I went in to learn a little bit more about the care that I would go through, but they didn’t really elaborate on that all too much because I didn’t get past that first step,” Cox said.

Juniper Reimagined President August Fowler is a fourth-year student at UNM who has had good experiences, until a change in provider led to negative encounters. He has been going to SHAC for HRT for the past year, which is when he first started hormones.

At the July meeting, Moses brought up concerns that AI might worsen the existing issue of misinformation.

“We certainly live in an ecosystem where there is a tremendous amount of misinformation, particularly in social media, and the real concern with generative AI is that it will be very good – it already is – at producing convincing stories that sound true – that are convincing, but are in fact just based on falsehoods,” Moses said.

Thiel’s most recent poetry book, “Questions from Outer Space,” addresses the way technology has been misused in a society unprepared for the fallout, which she related back to AI.

“The scaffolding cannot yet handle the ethical questions AI is ushering in for all fields,” Thiel said. “Already, our uses of technol-

“(The first provider) was always great about not misgendering anyone, not deadnaming anyone,” he said.

During the transition to a new provider, Fowler sought a reproductive health care procedure at SHAC. He said he felt uncomfortable after several SHAC staff members misgendered him.

“The whole procedure, (the provider) just felt pretty dismissive and not super considerate,” Fowler said.

Wilterding said that students can add their preferred pronouns in the health history questionnaire located in the student health portal. Cox said that despite a negative experience, SHAC is capable of providing good care as it has done so for her and other students.

“For the most part, I think it’s just educating the current gender provider as much as possible, and amending any issues that might ogy have supplanted deep thinking, creative approaches and complex analysis to a significant degree.”

The potential of AI when employed by creative people is a superpower, Lo said, however it requires effort, critical thinking and communication skills, especially when used in the classroom. Lo said he wants people to use AI to its full potential.

“I want our instructors to be fluent in AI so that they know how to teach their students to use it in the right way,” Lo said.

AI could potentially be a useful tool, but Thiel said one that’s applications need to be considered. “We would be wise to remember the cautions of dystopian novels and films that communicated such concerns about AI developing beyond humans’ means to manage it.” have come up in the past,” Cox said. “I think the biggest thing that SHAC could do is encourage more modern conceptualization of what gender and sexuality are so that there is that broader view.”

Lily Alexander is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander.

Milan Ortiz-Ruiz is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo. com.

Lauren Lifke is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo. com.

Strike from page 1

Streaming is not the only issue. McDuffie also spoke about the impacts of artificial intelligence in the field.

“I don’t believe that AI can live the life of a human being and bring the sort of soul and humor, and the absurdity of life,” McDuffie said. “But they can certainly use it to generate ideas, which is what people are for.”

The strikers wrote in demands on May 1 that “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material; can’t be used as source material; and [works covered by union contracts] can’t be used to train AI.”

Background actors are concerned about the companies paying them for a day’s work while scanning them to use their likeness throughout a project. McDuffie said they have a friend in the industry who was paid about $100 to be scanned and then used multiple times in a film.

UNM seniors Madrigal and Jack Justice have participated alongside strikes to show solidarity. Madrigal recreated a photo from his freshman year in front of Netflix studios, however this time he’s holding a picket sign.

“Going into freshman year of college ... and taking a picture up at the studios thinking, ‘Wow, this is someplace I really can’t wait to work … And then going into my last year of college, taking a picture at the same exact place with the idea, ‘I would really love to maybe work here someday, but we need to see some serious change before that happens,’” Madrigal said.

Justice has been a part of SAG since he was 11, joining in 2011 after being a child actor. Justice said seeing the strike firsthand is something he can see himself looking back on in years to come.

“You want to cross that picket line and go into studios right now and help them, or what? It’s a big moment for us, and I think it’s going to be cool,” Justice said. “Years from now, when we have a great agreement and look back on this moment, where were you? What were you doing? Were you on that picket line?’”

SAG-AFTRA has not been contacted to continue negotiations, however negotiations between WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers resumed on Friday, Aug. 11 according to TvInsider.

“There’s a large amount of people in the department that are very, very optimistic, very hopeful. They’re not naïve, they’re very aware that the industry we’re going into is tricky,” Madrigal said.