Monitor 2006-12-7 by Ohlone Monitor

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watch for us on Jan. 29.

continues winning.

Supreme Court has too much power.

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Fremont, California

Vol. XXXVI No. 14

Basketball

OPINION

season.

of semester,

SPORTS

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NEWS

FEATURES

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Thursday, December 7, 2006

NASA night at Ohlone draws full house By Eric Dorman Staff writer NASA’s Jonathan Trent spoke on the origin and future of life on earth before an overflow crowd in the Jackson Theater Wednesday night. The talk, entitled “The life and times of life and time” drew such a large crowd that the line stretched from the doors of the Smith Center back to the chain link fence surrounding the main stairway. Furthermore, about 150 to 200 people were shut out of the Theater after the maximum capacity of 400 had been reached. “We’ve never seen even half this crowd,” said Math, Science and Technology Coordinator Yvette Niccolls. The exact cause of the huge

crowd is unclear; however, many professors did urge their students to attend and a significant number offered extra credit. In the talk, Trent, who has a PhD in Biological Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, attempted to put the history of earth in perspective by placing its conception, about 4.5 billion years ago, at one end of a football field, and the present in the other end zone. Trent explained that life on earth first began 3.4 billion years ago, around the 25-yard line, in the form of cyanobacteria, or bluegreen algae. The cyanobacteria expelled oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, eventually creating an atmosphere of oxygen similar to the present world, as well as ozone. Life as we know it did not

begin until about the 10-yard line - Homo Sapiens did not come into existence until 0.08 inches from the end zone. For the rest of the talk, Trent actually focused not on the human race, but on the microorganisms that had been living from the beginning. He talked in particular about those microorganisms what could withstand such unforgiving environments as boiling sulfuric acid in volcanoes, so-called thermo-acidophiles. He said that because of their ability to survive in extreme environments, they would be the survivors in a catastrophe such as a meteor striking the earth, which could wipe out all other forms of life. “These are the organisms that have been carrying the ball from the 25-yard line to the present,” said Continued on Page 4

NASA/Ames scientist Jonathan Trent takes questions during the NASA Science Night.

students. “Eighteen weeks is just too long,” said Speech Professor and 30-year veteran Kay Harrison. “It can really burn down students.” The college’s decision to make the switch from the 18-week semester came at a September Board of Trustees meeting last year. The suggestion was brought up by the faculty, many of whom where hopeful that it would increase flagging enrollment and bring Ohlone onto the short semester model followed by all of the area’s four-year colleges and many of California’s community colleges.

The Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly to adopt the new system, with 82 percent of eligible faculty voting for it. Enrollment has risen dramatically this semester over last, a total of about 12 percent at the last tally, said Vice President of Student Services Ron Travenick. Currently, the college has 3,952 full-time students and 11,271 total students, surpassing even record enrollment years such as 2002. “I can’t say specifically how much of it’s due to [the 16-week semester],” said Travenick, “but I do know this is the biggest fall term we’ve ever had.”

Whatever the reasons behind the increased enrollment, the shortened semester certainly is one of them. First-time student Zhen Wang, for example, said that the shortened semester was definitely a factor in his decision to attend the college. While faculty and students for the most part agreed the 16-week semester worked well, the consensus seemed to be that it would still take some getting used to. Some faculty mentioned the need to reshape their classes in order to fill the extra time allotted, 10 extra minutes for every class period, and an additional three hours of class

time over the term. Some teachers, such as Harrison, said that many teachers found themselves winding down their lectures after the usual 50 minutes, then realized that an extra 10 minutes were still left before the class ended. Student Alex Alejo agreed that while the 16-week semester was beneficial overall, it did make some courses, including his Biology class, more challenging because of the decreased number of labs. Other faculty, such as Bradshaw, believed the shortened semester to actually fit their classes better. Continued on Page 4

By MICHAEL ABURAS Staff writer

yon art crowd. Gumby was voiced by character actor Dallas McKennon who is currently in his 80s. McKennon was also the cook in the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds.” Gumby was revived in the ‘80s because of a “Saturday Night Live” skit titled “Merry Christmas Dammit,” featuring Eddie Murphy as Gumby. “Art thought he should bring it back,” said Wathen. Clokey then put together a studio in Sausalito. Wathen reminisced that for about three years after the skit aired, he could hear people in public say “Dammit, I'm Gumby.” Wathen worked on the last episode of Gumby to be filmed, entitled “Time Out.” The episode featured a sick Father Time, resulting in time distortions. Specifically, he worked on the Father Time scene, which featured a jester popping out of a cookoo clock. When the studio filmed Gumby,

the voices were recorded first, then the team of animators would act out scenes. “You have to act the whole thing out,” to have an idea of what it will look like, said Wathen. For Gumby’s lip movements “we had a whole bunch of cut out lips,” they changed depending on what was needed. At the time Wathen was working on Gumby, film was shot at 24 frames a second. However, current stop animation is filmed with digital cameras that can also measure movement. That is why the movement of characters is so smooth in movies such as “Corpse Bride,” explained Wathen. One of stop animation’s early pioneers was Willis O’Brien, who did experimental shorts in 1916. O’Brien was part of the crew who did the special effects for 1925’s “The Lost World,” which used stop animation for the dinosaurs in the Continued on Page 8

Photo by Eric Dorman

Students and faculty reflect on short semester By Eric Dorman Staff Writer As the college’s first 16-week semester draws to a close, some students and faculty took time to reflect on the shortened semester. Most considered it a success. “The 16-week semester is much better,” said Math Professor Bob Bradshaw, who has taught at the college for 21 years. “Simply because students don’t have to remember material from 18 weeks ago.” “I like it because of the longer break,” said student Thomas Jernigan, echoing the sentiment of many

Gumby animator explains stop-motion history

Photo by Michael Aburas

Two of the clay figures used to make ‘Gumby’ posed on Stephen Wathen’s desk. On the left is Gumby; on the right is his companion Pokey.

With new computer special effects and computer-generated images, does anyone remember stop animation? “Stop animation isn't dead yet,” said Stephen Wathen, who teaches technical theater. Wathen explained that, despite the use of computers for most special effects and animation, stop animation is occasionally used today for movies like “Corpse Bride” and “Wallace and Grommet.” Wathen was part of the animation team that worked on Gumby, possibly the most famous of all clay animation characters. “Gumby is literally and figuratively made out of clay,” said Wathen. Gumby was first aired on NBC in 1956. Gumby was the creation of Art Clokey. Wathen described Clokey as a strange beatnik artist who was part of the Topanga Can-

Opinion

monitor December 7, 2006

Associated Collegiate Press / National Scholastic Press Association All American 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Regional Pacemaker 1988 Journalism Association of Community Colleges First in General Excellence, Northern California Fall 1994 General Excellence Fall 2000 General Excellence Fall 2004

Editor in chief: Anna Nemchuk News editor: Omer Ahmed Opinion editor: Matthew So Features editor: Morgan Brinlee Sports editor: Jeff Weisinger Photo editor: Christa Meier Online editor: Chen Lin Staff writers: Michael Aburas, Frankie Addiego, Sabahat Adil, Emily Burkett, Eric Dorman, Jessica Frye, Noah Levin, Brittany Wilson Ad manager: Danelle Meyer Ad staff: Manika Casterline, Janelle Feliciano, Dulce Fernandez Adviser: Bill Parks Printer: F-P Press

Offices are located in Room 5310 on campus, 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont 945395884. Call (510) 659-6075. Fax: (510) 659-6076. E-mail: monitor@ohlone.cc.ca.us Opinions expressed in the Monitor are those of the respective authors and are not necessarily those of the staff, the college or the Associated Students of Ohlone College. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority view of staff members. Advertising material is printed herein for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an expression of endorsement or verification of such commercial ventures by the staff or college. The Monitor is funded by the district, by the Associated Students of Ohlone College, and through advertising revenue. The Monitor is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press, Journalism Association of Community Colleges, Community College Journalism Association, California Newspaper Publishers Association, College Media Advisers and Society of Newspaper Design.

Opinion

Bush appoints condom-hater to distribute them By ANNA NEMCHUK Editor-in-chief Would you appoint Hitler the president of Israel? After all, he was an experienced politician, seasoned in military strategy and intent on the prosperity of his country’s citizens. Oh, wait, HE HATED JEWS! Gee, that strikes me as a bit of a sticky point, there. Now, would you appoint Eric Keroack chief of family-planning of the Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for the distribution of an annual $283 million grants in Title X funding to clinics and individuals? After all, this man is a doctor, has been the medical director of the Mas-

sachusetts-based “A Woman’s Concern” crisis pregnancy centers for years, and should have plenty of experience dealing with women in the family way as an obstetriciangynecologist. Oh, wait...he thinks condoms suck, no one should have sex before marriage and America has long been suffering from “widespread ‘loosening’ of sexual mores.” No wonder Bush has just given him the job. The “A Woman’s Concern” website states in its “Contraception Policy” that it “is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality, and adverse to human health and happiness,” moreover, “AWC staff and volunteers will not

distribute brochures, books or other materials that advocate and promote the use of contraception.” See http://partners.awomansconcern.org/about/mission_values. jsp. This is the man we’re supposed to trust to educate our woefully uninformed and just as vehemently horny teens about how NOT to get pregnant or catch an STD? Pardon me for panicking. The point has been made to exhaustion that condoms, birth control pills and other forms of contraception are not foolproof - unintended pregnancies do still occur and not all forms of STDs are limited to fluid transmission. Call me crazy, but I’d still prefer a country with periodic cases of HPV and abortions over

one with a raging case of AIDS, Africa-style, more babies than cell phones and a fervent, but futile, belief in the glory and effectiveness of abstinence. But why stop there? AWC points out pitfalls of premarital sex beyond the ken of the mere mortal including: “intense emotions that can make it hard when the relationship ends. Without a formal commitment like marriage, relationships have some level of insecurity because either person can leave at any time.” See www.awomansconcern. org/northshore/questions/sex. Give the man a medal. Sex causes intense emotions and people sometimes break up. No. Really? I never would have thought. Of course sex causes intense

emotions - it’s supposed to and, if it didn’t, no one would care about it in the first place. Friendship causes intense emotions also, as does baseball and eating too much ice cream. And while it might come as a surprise to Keroack, relationships do exist without sex that are just as intense emotionally and can harm just as much, if not more. And would it be just mean to point out the little fact that America has something like a 50 percent divorce rate, leading us to believe that perhaps even in such a “formal commitment” as marriage, either person can STILL leave at any time? Or is it illogical to believe that the website of the organization Keroack leads in any view reflects his own views?

And if the Court were to keep with its original intention of reviewing laws as passed by the legislature, there would be no issue. This is not the case in today’s government. Judicial activism has run rampant through the courts since its inception in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857). In its essence, judicial activism can best be described as ruling from the bench. The power to make laws no longer rests with Congress alone. Judicial activism through substantive due process has allowed for decisions like Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) which solidified the separate but equal doctrine. True, it also allowed for Brown v. Board (1956) which overturned the Plessy decision; however, the power to make law should rest in a body that can be held accountable for their decisions and one that will respond the majority. Justices are not accountable to the public. There are no repercussions to their actions within the system. They cannot be voted out of office and they are not chosen democratically to begin with. Yet, the Court has assumed the power of the legislature. Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas (1956) is the perfect example of what an activist court can do. Going against all popular

demand within the constituency, the Warren Court overturned the separate but equal doctrine and explicitly stated that separate was inherently unequal as well as demanded the immediate integration of all public schools. While the merit of this decision cannot be denied, the methodology through which the change was allowed to occur should be called into question. Should the undemocratic body of the Supreme Court be allowed to mandate law? Not according to our Constitution. In fact, according to the Constitution, the judicial branch doesn’t even have the power to review law. It wasn’t until the Judiciary Act of 1789 that the power of judicial review was ever codified and not until Marbury v. Madison in 1803 that it was ever used. Substantive due process has never been codified. The intentions of the Founders for the Supreme Court were laid out clearly in Federalist 78. Substantive due process was never mentioned there, either. Unfortunately, today’s Court has stretched the limits of both judicial review and substantive due process to create a new Supreme Court. One enriched with not only the power to interpret the law, but also the frightening ability to mandate it. The balance of power has been

disrupted. The logic behind the right to privacy is a perfect example. In the landmark decision of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the lesserknown precursor of Roe v. Wade, Justice William O. Douglas wrote, specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance. This was the shockingly shaky analysis behind the right to privacy. If you don’t know what a penumbra is, you’re not alone. It actually has nothing to do with law and is in fact defined as a shadow on the sun. Douglas essentially reasoned

that certain enumerated rights had an aura that encompassed other rights that were in the shadows. Thus was born the right to privacy which had no legitimate, written basis in the American Constitution. That is, until the Supreme Court mandated it. Whether the public is in accord with the decisions of the Court or not is irrelevant. Today, the American citizenry is faced with the simple fact that their Supreme Court has absorbed a new power, one never intended by the Founders to find its place in such an undemocratic institution. The power to make law was intended for the legislatures and it should returned.

Supreme Court surpasses its congressional powers By emily burkett Staff writer If you were to ask an American who makes your laws, the most popular reply would be Congress. Congress makes the laws, the executive enforces them, and the judicial branch interprets them. At least, that’s what government teachers across the nation preach in their classrooms. However, modern politics has not kept with the balanced, tripronged government envisioned by our Founders. What was initially viewed by Alexander Hamilton as the weakest branch of government, having neither the power of the purse nor the sword, has become the most dangerous and heaviest branch of all. Behold the modern judiciary. The concept of a Supreme Court is innately undemocratic. Justices are appointed by the executive and confirmed by the Senate, separating the Court from its constituency two-fold. The judges never face an election and they don’t necessarily represent their citizenry. Ivy League educated and silver-spoon born, Supreme Court justices rarely fit the bill of the average American. But the Court is a recognized necessity, a control on mob rule and a guarantee of protection for the minority.

December 7, 2006 MONITOR

News/Opinion

Photo community forms online

ASOC year in review

By Noah Levin Staff writer

By MANIKA CASTERLINE Staff writer From the very start of the semester, the Associated Students of Ohlone College’s administration, led by President Candice Kirk, had to deal with several issues. ASOC persevered through constitutional challenges by taking a series of votes. Kirk said, “We had to figure out ways around the problems by deciding certain things that were outside of it. And later on figuring out that we do need to revise/revamp the constitution. So that was definitely a struggle for all of us, not just me.” This year’s administration has so far utilized their resources to conduct several ASOC-sponsored events. “I feel like we have accomplished quite a lot for the short amount of time that we have been working. We did the election. We did Thanksgiving. We did a little bit of the charity and we are still working on that,” Kirk commented. The ASOC attended a leadership conference earlier this semester at UC Berkeley in order to bond with each other and start off with a strong foundation. Kirk stated, “I think the retreat really helped us to get to know each other and figure out our leadership styles because we all have really specific leadership styles. Some people lead with their hearts. Some people lead analytically. Some people lead by spontaneity. And all of them are

Photo by Christa Meier

Current ASOC President Candice Kirk great; we just had to figure out how to work with each other.” Kirk’s agenda for next semester is already quite full. She intends to have an ASOC garden created for Earth Day and has promised to up the standards as well as the turnout for the 2007 Unity Week. “We have a really good group planning that. We’ve got Tatyana Hamady. She is really, really intricate with her details. And she is very creative when it comes to ideas of what to do,” Kirk said. The legislative committee is also requiring all ASOC members to deliver three suggestions of possible changes that can be made to the ASOC constitution, due before winter break. It will also take into consideration the constitutional problems that arose during the fall semester election and try to generally amend the constitution.

Aspiring Ohlone photographers can now post their favorite work online for all to see as photography instructor Paul Mueller has created a wiki, or an online community, for photography enthusiasts. The wiki, which has been active since roughly the beginning of the semester, was originally comprised of just a handful of Meuller’s photography students, who joined the site and then made their own pages where they could post their photos. Members of the wiki can comment and share their work for anyone to see. “The wiki is open to anyone in the Ohlone community,” said Mueller, “Students, alumni, people who can just say the word ‘Ohlone.’” And though the wiki was first populated primarily by photo students, it is independent of Mueller’s classes, intended to be a “nice place for people to share and communicate.” Currently, there are nine members

in the wiki, contributing new photos regularly, and displaying a wide range of style and talent. “It’s like MySpace for people with brains (and cameras),” said wiki member Wilson Ramsdorff. Though in reality, the wiki isn’t elite in the slightest. The number of members hasn’t yet climbed, but their work is beginning to pile up, as members of the wiki continually add more photos and give constant feed back to one another. But this isn’t the rampant, and often times chaotic, open forum of MySpace or Xanga. On the wiki there is a page with conduct and sign-up guidelines. Emphasizing the focus on photography as well as member participation, the guidelines also demand courtesy and respect for other people’s work. Tying in to the ideas of mutual respect for one another within the group, Mueller has also granted members the ability to edit any part of the wiki. The guidelines stating a member can edit any part of the wiki with the exception of

other members’ photos and words. Plagiarism is also discouraged as an obvious rule. Members are also encouraged to direct new people interested in joining the wiki to the site itself. Mueller’s distinct and slightly sarcastic sense of humor also shines through on the guidelines, giving the wiki subtle character all its own. Work posted on the personal pages of members ranges from amateur to profession and from black and white to color or sepia. Members can freely comment and discuss one another’s work on the discussions portion of each member page. Comments range from the whimsical and casual to the professional and critical. Members can post as many photos as they like. Several members were student that traveled to Australia the previous semester, with some simple, travel pictures intermixed on pages with breath taking landscape and cityscape photos, recalling a National Geographic-esque feel.

Campus Comment > > > Have you been naughty or nice this year?

STACY BELL Theatre

JASON CALIBO Undecided

“I’ve been naughty and I’ll give no comment as to why.”

“Naughty because I’m a very NAUGHTY boy!”

ANDY MORIMOTO Undecided

MYMA PADILLA Biochemistry

“I’m a good girl!”

“I haven’t been too bad or too good.”

SHAWN DANIEL LAMONT HARPER Mechanical Engineering Graphic Design “I’m the juggernaut so I’ve been both.”

HUNN RASOOL Electrical Engineering “I think I’ve been nice; I’ve stayed out of trouble.”

FABIEN MANSOUBI Electrical Engineering

“Nice, because if you’re nice then good things happen to you.”

“Nice I guess, because I just arrived, so I’m trying to integrate.”

JOEL ROMAN Undecided

JESSICA STANLEY Theatre

“Pretty nice this year; I’ve been fighting the battle against evil .”

“I’ve been naughty because I stole your heart.”

4 MONITOR

December 7, 2006

News

New speech lab aims to assist Ohlone orators By ERIC DORMAN Staff writer “Here at the lab, our job is to take butterflies and make them fly in formation,” according to Christeen Kelley, the new Maggie Morrisson Speech Communication Lab coordinator, referring to the “butterflies” most people feel at speaking in public. Ohlone’s new speech lab opened about two months ago, aimed at helping prospective orators with everything from rehearsing their speeches to calming nerves. Ohlone’s speech professors couldn’t be more pleased. “I’m really tickled about this,” said Speech Professor Brenda Ahntholz. “We’ve been waiting for a speech lab here for ten years, and now we’ve finally got one.”

‘Life and times of life, time’ Continued from Page 1 Trent, using the football analogy. “And we can expect that they will continue to carry the ball long after we’re gone.” Trent also noted that since these organisms could survive a trip through space, it was possible that life had come from another planet to earth in the form of an asteroid. Yet the opposite was also true, he said - life could have radiated out from earth after a meteor struck earth and flung bits of it into outer space. Trent concluded his talk with the subject of global warming and its impact on humans. He said that as sea levels continue to rise, coastal areas, including much of the bay area, would be underwater, wiping out coastal cities and agriculture. Through it all, though, he said, life would continue. “The question is not so much whether life will continue to exist,” said Trent, “It’s whether humans can continue to exist.” Trent works in the Bioengineering division of the NASA/Ames research center in Santa Clara, studying microorganisms to try to find out whether they might be able to survive in extremely inhospitable environments, such as those in outer space. He came to Ohlone as part of the sixth Ohlone NASA Science Night, a yearly event when someone from NASA comes to speak at Ohlone. The next Science Night will take place in late April and will concern biotechnology.

The lab, tucked unassumingly in room HH-216 at the back of the English Learning center in Hyman Hall, was named after the late Speech Professor Maggie Morrisson. A narrow room, it has two rows of chairs, a computer, several CD players, and three video players, with a bookshelf on one end and a lectern on the other. The lab employs 20 “peer consultants” - students who staff the lab and help other students with any problems they might have, said Kelley. The peer consultants are not paid for their time, but receive three units a semester for putting in two hours a week at the lab, which is open Monday through Friday. “The most important resource we have are the peer consultants,” said Kelley. “You can’t replace support with equipment or technology.”

Already, Ahntholz said she’s noticed a large improvement in her class after the speech center opened. She now requires her students to spend at least one hour a week in the lab working on their speeches. Since this is the first semester the college has offered speech tutoring, the peer consultants are not required to have taken the class they are tutoring. Often, said Kelley, two students from the same class will both come into the speech lab at the same time, one to tutor and the other looking for help. The peer consultants are trained to answer the questions that most commonly come up, said Kelley, who came to Ohlone for the first time this semester after working four years at Cal State East Bay as ommunication lab coordinator. These questions range from finding

Views on semester

Continued from Page 1 For example, Bradshaw says that, in some of his classes, subject matter that would formerly take a class and a half to teach can now fit into one. Still, not all faculty are enthusiastic about the 16-week semester. Chemistry Professor Maru Grant contends that the college never should have made the switch. Grant, who was against the shortened semester from the beginning, says that both her labs and lectures have suffered from it-her labs because two weeks of labs that were cut and the lectures because she feels that the increased lecture times are too long for students to concentrate through. She feels student workload is an issue as well. “Students have more material to study, and less time to do it,” said Grant. “There are only 24 hours in the day.” Student Linn Chie agreed, saying that the 16-week semester is “just too short.” History Professor Darren Bardell conceded that the shortened semester made a half-semester class he taught a bit more difficult, because he only had eight weeks to teach it instead of nine. Still, he feels that the 16-week semester is definitely a step in the right direction. In fact, he was so much in favor of the shortening that he voted for a 15-week semester. “I figure, if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound,” said Bardell. Overall, though, students didn’t mention being crunched for time much of an issue. Jernigan said he didn’t feel any extra squeeze, even in the last days of class. Francia Valderaz conceded that finals were tougher under the shorter semester, but the extra vacation time “makes it worth it.” Spring classes will not start until Jan. 29, two weeks after classes have started in previous years. For better or for worse, the 16-week semester is here to stay, said college President Doug Treadway. He said that judging by enrollment figures and faculty and student satisfaction, the new system looked to be helping the college. “In the long run,” said Bardell. “I think it’s going to be beneficial for both students and faculty.”

a topic, to organizing the topic, to audience persuasion, all of which can be worked through using the bookcase full of research materials at the lab. But most often, said Kelley, working on the speech comes down to simply practicing a speech out loud in front of a peer consultant. “It can get loud,” she said, laughing. But most of the time, said Kelley, any trouble with a speech boils down to a case of nerves or “butterflies.” About 85 percent of people, she said, are afraid of speaking in front of a large audience, and sometimes practicing the speech out loud again and again is the best way to do that. Kelley plans on moving ahead with the speech lab next semester, when she hopes to receive money

for video equipment so that students can deliver their speech in front of a camera and play it back to see how they did and what they might need to work on. She also hopes to form two classes of tutors: junior peer consultants, working at the lab for the first time, and senior peer consultants, who would have already worked at the lab for a semester. The two classes, she hopes, would be able to share tips with each other more efficiently than she could share them. Overall, said Kelley, the most important thing the lab can help students with is preparedness. “The more prepared you are,” said Kelley, “the better it is.” For more information on the Speech Communication Lab, go to ohlone.edu/instr/speech or visit the lab in Hyman Hall’s HH-216.

New online Monitor By Frankie Addiego Staff writer For students who like to read news, but don’t like to get ink on their hands, a new online edition of “The Monitor” will be hitting the information super highway in the near future. The site will feature a calendar of events, blogs and stories you can’t get anywhere else. Currently at the helm of the project is Online editor Chen Lin. Lin said the goal of the site is to “provide the information that people are gonna want.” He also said that the site’s calendar will be “more comprehensive” than the calendar on Ohlone’s main website. Lin describes the features on the website in an optimistic manner. According to him, the site will contain, “interactive stuff… [to correspond with a story about] construction here on campus, we might make a flash animation. The site will also

contain stories that the print version didn’t have room for. Meanwhile, existing stories may be embellished once put online. “We might cut up a story a little bit and put the whole story online. Plus, we might have updates online.” Student curious to discover how editors feel about current issues may be in luck as the staff is developing blogs for the site. “We want editors to have their own columns,” said Lin. However, the path to blogdom isn’t always easy. “There’s some issues, administrative issues,” said Lin,“[the advisor] wants to make sure it’s okay for us to have a blog.” The site will also have multimedia functions according to Lin and “The Monitor” adviser Bill Parks. “The plan is to have a capability for streaming video,” said Parks. Expanding on this, Parks said that the site is going to appear more “professional.”

December 7, 2006 MONITOR

Sports

Who’s got a shot at the Heisman?

Photos by Jeff Weisinger

Renegades freshman guard Korey Hutchinson defends the Siskiyous player.

Men’s basketball continues trend with Siskiyous victory By Jeff Weisinger Sports editor The men’s basketball team seems as if they can do no wrong right now, as they continue to keep on winning. Last Sunday’s game against Siskiyous College was another example of how dominant this team is. However, the Renegades could’ve lost this one, especially early in the matchup. Siskiyous took an early lead in the opening minutes as Ohlone seemed as if they could not keep up with the passing offense from Siskiyous. But it wouldn’t take long for the Renegades to regroup and come back as they would go on a 11-0 run midway through the first. From there, this game was pretty much over, as Ohlone would go into the locker room at halftime with the score 45-26. And it wouldn’t end there, as the Renegades, led by Bert Whittington, Jermaine Smith and Korey Hutchison, would completely control the second half as Ohlone led by as much as 32 points midway through the second half. Ohlone controlled the court offensively and defensively, taking

advantage of every Siskiyous turnover, then taking a 35 point lead in the last six minutes of the game. After all was said and done, the Renegades would run away with this one by a score of 90-62. Yet, regardless of the winning streak the Renegades are on, they’ve had to overcome a couple of obstacles. “We’ve been able to remain humble,” said Renegades head coach John Peterson. He is also

happy that his team has done a great job of staying focused on the next game and not getting ahead of themselves. Coach Peterson will have a tough challenge coming up tomorrow night at home at 7 p.m. against Merritt College. What makes this game worth watching is that the head coach of Merritt College was once Peterson’s assistant here at Ohlone. Will the student become the teacher?

Renegades freshman center Hamidou Coulibaly takes flight to the rim over three Siskiyous defenders.

In sports, the Heisman Trophy is the most sought after award next to the Vince Lombardi Trophy for winning the Super Bowl. Its name came from a man named John W. Heisman, head coach of college football for more than three decades, between 18921937. He was also the first athletic director for the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. In 1935 the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) decided to establish the DAC Trophy for the best college athlete in a given season. John W. Heisman passed away in October of 1936. Because he was considered to have changed the face of football for what has now become an American passion, the DAC decided to change the name of the DAC Trophy to the Heisman trophy after he eventually succumbed to pneumonia. Throughout this 2006 college football season, we have seen a lot of talent from players of all different positions. The top candidates in this year’s ceremony are quarterback from Ohio State Troy Smith, quarterback from Notre Dame Brady Quinn and running back from Arkansas Darren McFadden. There are some names left off this list, such as running back Adrian Peterson of Oklahoma, running back Mike Hart of Michigan and quarterback of Hawaii Colt Brennan. Based on stats, Brennan should be the winner. Here’s why. He leads the nation in touchdown passes with 53, which were 23 more than Troy Smith! He led in yards thrown at nearly 5,000 yards to Smith’s 2,507 and completion percentage with 72.1% to Smith’s 67%. Now, the reason why he is not getting as much consideration as the others and most likely will not win the award is because he plays

Over time By RAHUL BATRA Sports writer on Hawaii time, so many sports writers do not have a chance to watch him play and he plays in the very weak WAC Conference. Even though he may have set numerous records this season, Colt will not win. The Buckeyes’ dominant quarterback, Troy Smith, led his team to an undefeated season and had the best game of his career against a number two Michigan by throwing for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns. He’s been their biggest playmaker. Brady Quinn can certainly make an interesting case for himself. Since Sept. 16, he has thrown 26 touchdown passes and two interceptions. However, he may fall short because of losing at the L.A. Coliseum against USC in his final game. Finally, there’s Darren McFadden. Of the bunch, he is the most versatile player on the football field. He can run, block, pass, return kicks and make big plays. Out of all these potential winners, I’m going with the obvious choice to win the Heisman: Troy Smith. The reason he will win is because he led his team to an undefeated season over some good schools and has made big plays when the pressure was on. He has tremendous arm and can move with his legs. When it comes down to it, the requirements for the Heisman all come down to whoever the best overall player was. And Troy Smith was that player! Look for him to hoist up the trophy in Times Square.

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Dancers above and right perform a piece called ‘The Stream of time Never Flows Back.’ The leatherclad male dancers at the top and lower right of the opposite page are performing a piece called, ‘Charge.’ Below and lower left are dancers performing ‘The Bright Brilliant Clouds.’

Photos by Chen Lin

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China dancers highlight Ohlone season By Noah Levin Staff writer Blessed with grace, elegance and poise, the envoy of performers from the Shanghai Theater Academy College of Dance amazed and enchanted the Ohlone College Community on the nights of Nov. 16 and 17. Invited to our campus by Ohlone President Dr. Doug Treadway and the Ohlone Foundation, the 26 student dance troupe displayed their immense talents in two special performances at the Jackson Theater. The performance Nov. 17 was made especially interesting with the presentation of letters from the White House, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mayors of Fremont and San Francisco , and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China. The letters heralded the dancers’ visit as the hopeful begin-

ning to a long friendship between the two schools. In attendance was also famed Chinese dancer Yuan-Yuan Tan, who was performing across the bay in San Francisco . With the long set of speeches finally given, the performance began in earnest. Dances featured ranged from classic Chinese folk dance to the modern and highly acrobatic. In all there were 13 dances performed, with as many as 13 men or women performing at one time. Each dance was meant to illustrate a part of Chinese culture, allowing the performance to serve both as entertainment as well as education. Dances were performed by small and large groups of dancers, as well as many notable solo dances. The lighting employed by Lighting Designer Jenny Yeung was stirring and beautiful, supplementing and enhancing the dances. Also of note

was the separation of male and female dancers on stage: No men appeared in any pieces with women, and vice versa. The first piece was a folk dance of the minority Yi people of northeast China called “Brilliant Clouds.” The host of female dancers draped in elegant red dress that call to mind traditional Spanish garb rather than Chinese spun and bobbed up and down masterfully, zipping around the stage like hummingbirds. Audiences laughed to the high spirited beat of the solo dance “Learning the Craft,” a piece about a young drummer meeting his match in a skilled older drummer. The young male soloist bounded amiably around the stage, using his small drum as a prop for him to sit, roll, and stand on. His goofy and playful demeanor won over audience members easily, making him a fan favorite during the meet and

greet after the performance. One of the most stirring and beautifully choreographed pieces was dream-like “Time Is Like Water, It Flows But Never Returns.” A solo dance’s music alternated between a traditional Chinese folk piece and a violin rendition of the Beatles classic, “Yesterday.” The female dancer’s movement emulated the flow of a babbling brook, as the music shifted between the Chinese folk and the lamenting cry of the violin playing the Beatles. Soft white and blue lights fell on the soloist, making the audience feel as if it was one with a mighty river. The extravagant “Ladies with Fans” was a delightful display of grace and poise. The women onstage were garbed in red dresses, fans flipping in front of their faces and turning above their heads. Heroism and machismo were main themes in the dance “Emperor

of Qin Reviewing Troops,” a men’s group dance inspired by the Terra Cotta warriors found in the Qin Tomb. The four male dancers were clad is ancient-looking Chinese armor. Following in the theme of warfare “Golden Armor” amazed audiences with its power. A young male dancer, dressed as a general, flipped and ran around the stage. The entire performance ended on a certainly epic note with the all male piece, “Charge…” The 13 men were clad in leather-strap outfits meant to emulate armor, as they charged into battle. This piece was stunning in its own right, and served as a pronouncement of the proud, strong Chinese spirit. The 13 dances were followed by a catered meet-and-greet session in the NUMMI Theater next door. All in attendance were welcome to talk with the exhausted dancers through the help of translators.

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Culture Pirate By OMER AHMED News editor

Charity and microfinancing This holiday season, it is time to forget your old charitable ways. I’m not talking about skipping on charities altogether, I am talking about a new way to give money to those who need it. That way is microfinancing. Okay, so microfinancing isn’t exactly new. It has been around for quite a while in a number of developing countries. The basic idea is the same as your typical financing scheme. Someone loans or gifts money to someone else for some purpose such as starting a business or buying equipment. However, most conventional loans are inaccessible to say... your average vegetable farmer in Togo. Most poor third world citizens could never dream of qualifying for such loans. The bankers would laugh. Even middle-class Americans have issues getting needed loans. A microloan, on the other hand, can be made accessible. If said farmer needs to buy some baskets for her family, you loan your $20 in U.S. currency. Small loans and gifts, from $2 to $2,000, can really make a difference in people’s lives. So much so that the last Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Muhammad Yunus, won for his microfinancing work in Bangladesh. Through Grameen Bank, which means Bank of the Villages in Bangla, Yunus has given small loans to more than 6.61 million borrowers. About 97 percent of these loans are to women and the average loan amount is under $100. The money has not been wasted, either. Almost 99 percent of the loans are repayed in full, on time and the bank has opened up 2,100 branches. More recently, organizations have been created to enable individuals in the United States to take part in microfinancing. Not only do these organizations give us the ability to donate money directly to individuals, the loan model eventually returns your money. At this point, you can donate again. With microfinancing, single donations can benefit a large number of people around the world. A quick check on kiva.org, a microfinancing site featured on CNN and in The Wall Street Journal, reveals a Bulagian man looking to set up a tailor shop, a Nigerian mother seeking to start a general store and a Ecuadorian family wanting to run a fruit stand. With only $25, you could help each one directly with little to no middle-management getting in the way. I wouldn’t throw all my money into microfinancing. There are great charities everywhere. Here at Ohlone we even have the ASOC Holiday Gift and Food Drive and Alpha Gamma Sigma Better World Books Drive. However, if you want your dollars to have a more direct, global effect, microfinancing is the way to go.

Photo courtesy of Susan Mountain

Students from Carmen Madden’s Creative Writing class read some of their work at the Fremont Barnes and Noble on Tuesday.

Ohlone writing class performs at the Hub

By Eric Dorman Staff writer English Professor Carmen Madden’s Creative Writing class had its second Creative Writing Open Mic Tuesday night, with students reading everything from short stories to letters to slam poetry. The event, held at the Barnes and Noble store in the Fremont Hub, showcased a variety of subjects ranging from homosexuality to languages to flying. The readers, numbering about 20, read excerpts from works they had done as part of the class, English 111A and B. The readings varied in topics. In one, by Kalie Wheeler, the story opened at a funeral, with many people coming to pay their respects to the deceased, a man named

Jonathan. As the story unfolded, the narrator revealed that the death had been from anything but natural causes—Jonathan, a gay man, had been found on the street beaten to death. The narrator spent the rest of the story trying to overcome the guilt that surrounded the death. In another story, Nancy Montes read “Lesson Learned,” a short story that followed a girl and her boyfriend from a failed date at a restaurant to the freeway, where the boyfriend, growing increasingly angry, began speeding and ultimately crashed. Sitting in the hospital, the girl realized that even though she hadn’t wanted to, she had to end the relationship. “This was God’s way of showing me the truth,” said Montes, “and it was a lesson learned.”

Continued from Page 1 film. “The animation is pretty crude by today’s standards, but audiences were impressed,” said Wathen. The same crew who worked on “The Lost World” also worked on “King Kong” in 1930. “Kong was the Star Wars of its day,” explained Wathen. Another special effects technique that was used for Kong was Blue Screen. “It was a special effects breakthrough,” said Wathen. In addition, rear screen projection, also a cutting edge development, was used. “Kong” featured four 18-inch animation puppets. The effect of Kong’s fur movement is the result of the animator placing his fingerprints on the puppet. “Kong’s personality is one of the things that made this a classic,” added Wathen. Peter Jackson was so enamored with the original “Kong” that he kept the choreography the same for the last fight scene between Kong and the T. Rex, according to Wathen.

Although Wathen did not work directly on “Kong,” he did restore the stegosaurus from the classic movie. The stegosaurus is currently in the possession of Forest J. Ackerman, who owns one of the largest sci-fi collections in the country. “It was literally turning to dust,” said Wathen. Another style of animation that Wathen described was replacement animation, pioneered by George Pal. Pal came to the U.S. from Holland in the 1940’s to escape the Nazis. Replacement animation uses multiple puppets interchanged during filming, according to Wathen. Some of Pal’s film credits include: “War of the Worlds,” “The Time Machine” and “When Worlds Collide,” which won the Oscar for best special effects. Currently, Wathen teaches in the theater department and also wrote the versions of “Dracula” and “Three Musketeers” that were performed at Ohlone recently.

Not all the works were so dark. One poem, read by Eric Martinez, detailed all the languages and cultures that made up his language; two others were letters to the readers’ dog and cat. Still another poem, written by Taras Tymoshenko, was a short piece on flying. Tymoshenko is currently working on a book, called “The Divine Error” which he eventually hopes to get published. On a different note, Eric Franks delivered a pieced entitled “Epiphany,” written in the style of slam poetry. The poem, with words like “People are gasping/The Devil’s laughing/I don’t know what’s right/I just want to walk toward the light” detailed many of the narrator's conflicting thoughts and emotions, eventually resulting in an epiphany.

Franks said the poem was not difficult to come up with. “I just had to think,” he said, “and it all started coming out.” The event ended with Susan Mountain’s reading of a work entitled “Women’s Movement”, about a woman who grows an appendage not normally associated with that gender. The story followed the woman’s changes to more and more masculine traits, such as refusing to ask for directions (prefering to drive in circles and curse instead), and increasing enjoyment of football and beer. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the writing program or would like to read the students’ works may go to at http:// dev2.ohlone.edu/instr/creativewriting/index.htm.

Stop animation teacher animates history

Photo by Michael Aburas

Stephen Wathen explains stop animation.

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Devil's Advocate By Anna Nemchuk Editor-in-chief

Which college?

Photo by Christa Meier

Students began to set up their artwork in the Louie Meager Art Gallery on Wednesday.

Students’ photography on display By Noah Levin Staff writer Experimental Visions, a showcase of students’ experiments with photography, will be opening on Friday, Dec. 8 in the Louie Meager Art Gallery. Exhibited will be the work of the eight best students from the Alternate Processes class. The photography media used include pinhole, cyanotypes, Holga and large mural prints.

The work on display is the culmination of this semester, with handmade photo albums in addition to the extensive photo work. Pinhole, one of the first kinds of photography ever used, comprises one part of the exhibit. Pinhole cameras consist of a black box, photo paper and a small pinhole in the top of the box. “It works just like an eye,” said curator Deborah DeLue. Students made their own pinhole cameras from household objects they collected.

Cyanotype, another style of non-traditional photography, uses a negative placed on a normal piece of paper, which is then treated with chemicals, which makes it photographic, and gives it a blue tint, hence the name. Holga is named for the cheap plastic Russian camera used for the method. It is especially favored by students in the class because of the malleable nature of the plastic cameras. “The Holga gives you room to experiment,” said student Matt

Bridges, “It allowed me to work heavily with double-negatives.” The last portion of the gallery is composed of large mural prints, which are enlargements of traditional negatives. Said photographer Kamara Hall, “I like the posters a lot. It allows you to play with the imagination more.” Hall and Bridges’ work, along with that of other students, can be seen in the Louie Meager Art Gallery from Dec. 8 till Jan. 18 of next year.

Ohlone Winter Dance Showcase By Noah Levin Staff writer With the end of the 2006 Fall Semester fast approaching, the NUMMI Theater prepares to present the Winter Dance Showcase. A review of all the dance classes’ current works in progress, the showcase will feature ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, modern and contemporary, and even ballroom styles. In all, there will be approximately 75 students performing in the NUMMI for the showcase, with dances featuring up to 40 students dancing on stage at one time. The string of showcase performances will serve not just to show

off students’ hard work to friends and families, but for Director of Dance Janel Tomblin Brown’s students, it also acts as a final test for the semester. Students were “given a choice to perform the final in class, or on stage,” said Director Brown. Brown’s jazz and tap company Foot Notes is also set to perform in addition to the class performances taking place. The Winter Showcase is known for its popularity, and the small venue means seats will sell out quickly. “It sells out fast. We’ve turned people away before, so get tickets early,” warned Brown. The Winter Dance Showcase will be performing Dec. 8, 9, and 10 at 8 p.m.

The transfer deadline for fall semester to UCs and CSUs has come and gone. Anybody else need a paper baggie for that nasty little case of hyperventilation? Oops, I forgot. Now come the private university applications. Granted, most of us aren’t planning to stay at Ohlone forever. As much fun as it would be to take every single English and philosophy class Ohlone offers, I really should continue on to that elusive PhD in something or other. Besides, I’d only have a few courses left. Transferring will have me in a completely new place, once again totally ignorant of the best professors, most interesting classes and least soiled bathrooms. Even knowing that, most of the anxiety is caused by the anticipation - just like getting a piercing, when the worst moment is right before the needle hits your skin - doesn’t relieve it. And of that anxiety, the majority comes not from the act of transferring itself, but from the agony of getting into a particular school. In the Aug. 21, 2006 issue of Time Magazine the cover story, “Who needs Harvard?”, made the very good point that just because you haven’t heard of a college doesn’t mean it’s not good and students may well benefit more from attending a small university, suited particularly well to their major and able to provide much more of a hands-on experience than a larger, more well-known and competitive university may do. Try telling that to screaming soccer moms and PTA enthusiasts, arming their second-graders with SAT prep books and clamping hands over ears anytime the words “state university” come up. And, admittedly, it’s difficult to fight the appeal of a worldrenowned school - the prestige of having Ivy League on your job application is impossible to measure but may, indeed, give you that needed advantage over the competition. Still, as the article points out, it’s better to get good grades at a small school than to flounder at a famous one. Most of the pressure in school comes not from pure learning but from passing, getting, achieving - I could only imagine what heaven a school would be that taught each child differently, oneon-one, with the only benchmark being progress in comprehension and knowledge measured in, again, individual ways. Perhaps with the advent of computer technology, this may prove the hidden treasure - being able to treat each student with the care and attention they deserve, a feat currently impossible on a significant scale. As it stands, try to start with stressing less and picking schools that want you for you, and not only if you’re on the Olympic team.

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CLASSIFIEDS Sharks Ice is Hiring -- Sharks Ice in Fremont is looking for energetic and motivated Ohlone Students! We are hiring for the following positions: Bartenders, Snack Bar Attendants, Skate Guards, Pro Shop and Cashiers. Apply online at www.sharksice. com or call (510) 6237200 for more information. P r o fessi onal Piano LessonS -Private lesson with qualified teachers certified by Royal Music School. Great coordination training with lots of fun! Individual and group rates are both welcome. Wonderful relaxing atmosphere and practical progressions. Try it out and develop your musical sense now!! Interested parties please call Christy @ (510) 6480066. P R E S C HOO L TEACHERS & AIDES NEEDED - Do you love working with children? CalStaff is looking for substitutes to work in preschools, daycares & after school programs. We have jobs all over the Bay Area. Schedules are flexible. We will work around your availability. You pick your days, hours, region and age group! Travel as far as you like, see new cities or stay close to home. Call CalStaff to schedule your interview @ 650872-7870; 925-522-0102; 866-994-7823 or visit www.californiastaffingservice.com. H I R I NG M U S I C TEACHERS -- Are you musically talented and looking for a highpaying part-time job?