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Fremont, California
Above: Members of the Associated Students of Ohlone College and other students take part in the groundbreaking of the Student Services Center. In the center of the group, Student Board of Trustee member Sahar Yousef wields a ceremonial gold shovel. Below: The current profile mockup of what the new building will look like when finished. Photo by Jack Husting, mockup provided by College Relations
Humans stay dumb while chimps learn. – Page 2
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Vol. XXXVI No. 7
Renegades lose in last four minutes.
OPINION
The universe’s ‘dark energy’ explained.
SPORTS
NEWS
FEATURES
Alumni battles fire on TV.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Student services center ground broken by students By Sandeep Abraham Staff writer Ohlone will soon be preparing for the construction of a new Student Services Support Building that will serve students by consolidating all student-related services into one building. As President Doug Treadway put it, the new Student Services Center will be “a first-stop for students for all their needs on campus.” The groundbreaking for the building’s construction took place on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The project itself will take a year or more to complete and the building will most likely be open either in the fall of 2008 or spring of 2009. Buildings 7, 25, and 26
will be completely torn down after graduation to make room for the ambitious project. Parking lots O and P will also be closed to make room, hinting at the size and magnitude of the new building. To compensate for the lack of parking, there are plans under way to build new parking lots closer to campus to replace lots O and P. According to Patrice Birkedahl, director of college relations, S.J. Amoroso, the same company that handled the construction of Hyman Hall, will construct the new building. Construction will take place over the course of a year or so and heavy machinery will be brought in to work on the site. The sheer size and planning
behind the Student Services Support Building imply that it will come with a hefty price tag. The entire project will cost $32.8 million and, while that is a fairly large amount of money, Ohlone will pay it through the Measure A bond, which was passed four years ago by the citizens of the Ohlone Community College District that includes Fremont, Newark and a fraction of Union City. Measure A raised about $150 million but much of that is going toward the construction of Ohlone’s Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology campus while some of it will go toward renovations and readjustments to the main Fremont Continued on Page 3
budget, as upgrades can be made over time. On a related note, Moore recently announced his retirement. Ethnic Studies Professor Mark Salinas has also just resigned. Isabell Ronnels, captain of the women’s softball team, stated, “Since 1988, there have been 22 upgrades to the softball field and only five were funded by the college. The other 17 were done through fundraisers and donations. The only reason we have fences, a tractor, an electronic scoreboard and a sound system is from sources other than the school.”
She also stated that the fields needed leveling and resodding and that the space the team currently used was dangerous to play on. She requested that the board replace the screens and pits, add security lights, an extra bleacher and repair the dugouts. After this, the women’s softball team gave a standing ovation and left shortly thereafter. Yee stated that he had gone to Chabot College, examined their fields and agreed that the fields at the Fremont Ohlone campus were inadequate compared to those of other community colleges. The other focus of the board
meeting was how to deal with the frontage property development to maximize the benefit to the college. Members of the board presented various ideas and the board decided to hold a workshop to better inform its members of the possibilities and options, with only one dissenting vote by Trustee Bob Brunton. Yee said that he would like to remind the rest of the board that the frontage property lease or any income generated by the frontage property should not be expected to solve all the budget inconsistencies and that the “master plan may need revising.”
Trustees hear complaints about athletic fields By Brian Chu Staff writer
The men’s baseball and women’s softball teams voiced their discontent about the condition of the athletic fields to the Board of Trustees at Wednesday’s 3 p.m. meeting. A week after Ohlone Athletic Director Paul Moore expressed his frustration over the conditions of the sports fields, the men’s baseball team captain reiterated the concerns and stated that although plans have been tossed around for a Newark baseball field, there had not been any improvements to the one at
Fremont Campus since 1991. He also said that the lack of drainage and other terrain hazards were causing the players to suffer. The board posed several questions to team members about how Ohlone athletic programs would be affected if the entire field was removed and team activities moved to Newark for practices and games. The overwhelming majority of players stated that they preferred that the athletic fields on the Fremont campus be renovated and upgraded instead. Trustee Garrett Yee said that that option was also more convenient for the school
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Opinion
monitor March 15, 2007
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 General Excellence Fall 1994 General Excellence Fall 2000 General Excellence Fall 2004 General Excellence Fall 2005
Editor in chief: Anna Nemchuk News editor: Omer Ahmed Opinion editor: Matthew So Features editor: Eric Dorman Sports editors: Jeff Weisinger Nick Zambrano Photo editor: Jack Husting Online editor: TBA Staff writers: Sandeep Abraham, Michael Aburas, Emily Burkett, Brian Chu, Kanya Goldman, Destiny Harrison, Krista Imus, Margarita Kitova, Noah Levin, Kevin Protz, Cheyenne Martin, Tomas Ortega, Kyle Stephens Ad manager: Danelle Meyer Ad staff: TBA 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
We aren’t getting any smarter, but chimps are By Sandeep abraham Staff writer “Chimpanzees have started using weapons.” It sounds like a headline you would usually see glaring at you from a tabloid as you wait in line at Safeway, but it’s true. Chimpanzees have been observed using sharpened sticks to find and kill bush babies, which are small nocturnal creatures that look like a cross between a monkey and a squirrel. When I first heard about this, I was in shock, but not because they were using weapons,
as shocking as that is. I was shocked at something far more elementary. Since when do chimpanzees sharpen sticks and with what? That’s what I found really impressive. Apparently, these proficient primates fashion their weapons by taking a stick, ripping away its branches and leaves, and using their teeth to sharpen one end. They then go look for a dead tree, the holes of which often contain sleeping bush babies. That’s when the fun starts because they then slowly inch toward one of these
holes, raise their sharpened sticks over their heads and start brutally repeatedly stabbing the hole, hoping to hit the jackpot. This does seem pretty desperate, considering the amount of effort it takes and the slim odds of finding a bush baby. Back in the good old days, chimpanzees used to simply push sticks into termite mounds and let their food come to them. So why the sudden change? I guess the pay-off is bigger and probably tastier too. Human beings have always been amazed at how much a
chimpanzee’s behavior resembled our own. We laughed when they wore tuxedoes and giggled at the funny, clown-like expressions their faces made. Because we share 98 percent of our DNA with them, we often look at their behavior to better understand how our ancestors might have behaved. Even those who don’t believe in evolution can’t help but smile back when they see a chimpanzee smiling at them. Is it any surprise that they would imitate something as undeniably human as murder? Well, it isn’t
exactly murder, but given the fact that they are killing other primates, it isn’t hard to imagine them killing each other. Chimpanzees are very aggressive creatures, after all. Although I don’t think we have to worry about trying to survive on the planet of the apes any time soon, one fact has become abundantly clear. They’re catching up. It may be another few millennia (or less), but sharing our cities, weapons and businesses with chimpanzees is a distinct possibility. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. You decide.
overhaul of the British legislation as related to all intoxicating substances, citing that alcohol and cigarettes cause more harm than many currently demonized narcotics and propose that drug use is a social issue, not always a problem, and should therefore be treated as such, with information on proper use widely disseminated and pointless and expensive crackdowns replaced by a drug policy that “should be better integrated into broader policy, not ghettoized in some ways as it is now.” In other words, England, wake up and smell the smoke. And here I’ve been denigrating
England for their cat quarantine laws and lack of freedom of press. Perhaps I’ll move there after all. On the other hand, lobbyists in the U.S. have been fighting for years to legalize drugs in general and marijuana in particular, like the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) that emphasize medical use. Why has drug use become such a scapegoat recently? Humans have been smoking, eating, drinking, inhaling and injecting various substances to alter consciousness for thousands of years - some religions and cultures are based on psychotropic stimulants - and all of a sudden it’s the biggest sin since
that bloody apple. Or has it been recently? Come to think of it, drug use has been vilified for quite some time, and current legislation did not spring out of nowhere, full-grown. So why? Yes, some drugs are actively harmful to the body and seem to cause the user to behave in ways harmful to themselves and others but I would argue that it is difficult if not impossible to pinpoint the drug as the cause of the problem. People tend to seek escape from their problems in anything that alters their mood and, whether it’s alcohol, television, sports, school or drugs, the issues spring mainly from
the user, not the medium. But drugs are so much more dangerous than all those other things, comes the rallying cry. How much worse is it to hand an already disturbed person an effective, albeit temporary, way out of this reality and expect them to treat the substance with the respect it deserves instead of abusing it, their own body and everything unlucky enough to be in the way? Cars kill more people than illegal substances do and all you need for a license is a few lessons, about $60 and a trip to the DMV. The drug debate has been blown Continued on Page 3
British drug law proposal is rational, fair-minded By ANNA NEMCHUK Editor-in-chief “The idea of a drugs-free world, or even of a drugs-free Britain, is almost certainly a chimera. The main aim of public policy should be to reduce the amount of harms that drugs cause,” stated the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce) report that came out March 8. The 336-page report goes on to realistically describe the uses of illegal drugs today as not necessarily harmful, call for a much-needed
Campus Comment > > How many stairs are there on campus?
Answer: approximately 1,300
josh Daugherty Drama “Enough to make you want to skip classes once in awhile”
chris Empey Biomedical Science “200.”
jun Fang richard gavarrete Psychology Business “501.”
“300 thousand.”
robert maningat
Nursing “100.”
March 15, 2007 MONITOR
News
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No big crunch: the universe will expand forever By ANNA NEMCHUK Editor-in-chief “An ending in ice rather than fire,” Alex Filippenko decreed would be the fate of the universe at the “Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe” Brown Bag last Friday. March 9 saw Room 3201 packed to the rafters with students and instructors alike waiting for the UC Berkeley astronomy professor to begin the semester’s second Brown Bag seminar. Filippenko introduced cosmology, the study of the universe, by carefully pointing out its difference from cosmetology, the study of cosmetics and their use. “There’s a thousand stars in a patch of sky the size of a grain of sand,” he continued. It is the aim of cosmologists to answer such questions as “When did time and the universe begin?” “How will
it all end?” and “How do galaxies form?” by studying some of those stars, usually through high-powered telescopes. Edwin Hubble, a leader in cosmology, was the first to postulate that the universe is expanding due to his work with prisms, which refract light into its component colors - a rainbow. In 1929 he formulated Hubble’s Law, which states that the distance of galaxies from ours is directly proportional to the amount of red in the spectrum of the light they give off, a phenomena analogous to the Doppler effect. Since not all stars are actually close enough to provide sufficient light to measure, stars that have died explosively, referred to as supernovae, and are giving off huge amounts of energy are most often used for this. From these principles, astronomers have seen that all galaxies
are moving away from each other except for those gravitationally bound to one another. Assuming that some sort of Big Bang occurred to jump-start the universe in the first place, some scientists have previously thought that the rate of the universe’s expansion would eventually slow and, counteracted by the gravitational forces all objects exert, reverse, bringing all galaxies back together and at some point resulting in a “Gnab Gib,” the opposite of the Big Bang. However, in 1998 Adam Reiss, with whom Filippenko worked with, discovered that some supernovae’s light was fainter than should have been possible as predicted by existing theories. That’s when Einstein’s “cosmological constant” came into play. He supposed that the constant, called the lambda effect, was a sort of anti-gravity force present in the
Update to campus security alert system in the works By MICHAEL ABURAS Staff writer The Safety Committee here at Ohlone College has begun discussed installing a new campus-wide alert system in order to increase campus safety. The new protocols and services are meant to replace the current system which can alert people to evacuate but cannot warn staff of specific threats. “If we need to keep someone in a certain area, there’s no way for us to do that,” said Campus Police Chief Steven Osawa. “If we had someone with a gun shooting people or a toxic spill, how do we tell everyone to stay inside? We would have to send someone room to room.” In addition, the improved alert
system would provide a more organized way to evacuate the campus. Osawa explained that a few years ago the school received a credible bomb threat and the campus had to be evacuated. “It took two hours to evacuate the campus. Everyone ran to their cars,” he said. But the more serious problem remains in the possibility of needing people to either stay inside or in a certain area. Osawa noted, “We’re not the only campus. Many large businesses don’t have that capacity either.” The campus is currently in the process of installing telephones in all classrooms. “The issue,” according to Osawa, “is how would we call all those phones at once. We would like it to be like a hotel system where they can send mes-
sages to all the rooms.” Financing the alert system is also something that has to be addressed. “If we can afford it, it would cost thousands and thousands of dollars. We have to come up with a viable means to do it and address the budgetary aspects as well.” Osawa also explained that, “because of the dynamics of our student population, we would have to develop a system that addresses the hearing impaired as well.” An incident that illustrated the necessity of a more complete alarm system occurred last Friday, March 9; the entirety of Building 8 was evacuated around 8:20 a.m. for a fire alarm being triggered by machinery releasing steam. With a more advanced system, the accident may not have proven as disruptive.
Student services gets a home Continued from Page 1 campus. An additional drive is planned to raise $10 million to furnish the new building and refurnish the old buildings. The Measure A bond was approved by voters on March 5, 2002. The buildings that formerly held various student services will be readjusted for classroom and office space. Buildings 25 and 26 will be torn down to make room for parking that will help compensate for the lost parking space of lots O and P. The services that will be moving to the new building are the counseling department, student health center, financial aid office, cashier’s windows, transfer center, student success center, extended opportunity programs and services, the
office of admissions and records, the information center, the international admissions office, the Associated Students of Ohlone College office, the testing center and veterans’ services. The Ohlone cafeteria will not be moved, but there will be portable food stands around the new building. The bookstore and library will also remain in their current locations. The new building is also intended to better integrate Ohlone’s staff members and improve communication between them. By putting all related services into one building, staff members in charge of these services can more efficiently work together to serve students. This will also help reduce all the red tape and detours students need to deal
with to take care of simple tasks. The Student Services building will also serve as a gathering place for students and will contain meeting places for clubs and groups as well as private study rooms. Changes to campus parking lots will take place on May 1, just as lots O and P close for construction. Lot N, just below lot O, will be converted to a parking lot for disabled students and carpoolers. Lot B, which is currently a staff parking lot, and lot W, which is next to the Smith Center, will be open to students and staff on a firstcome-first-serve basis. There will also be a shuttle running along the road to which lots C, D, E, H, and K connect, stopping at the Palm Grove near lot A.
vacuum of space exactly equaling gravitational forces to keep the universe static. When Hubble discovered the universe’s expanding nature, Einstein denounced the theory as his “biggest blunder.” However, “Einstein’s biggest blunder may really have been his biggest triumph,” according to Filippenko, as Riess and other cosmologists presented the presence of “dark energy,” a force that pushed rather than (like gravity) pulled. This dark energy is supposed to be uniformly spread throughout the universe but commanding such a small influence on matter that it needs gargantuan distances to really take effect. This would explain the phenomena that astronomers had noted - that at the outer boundaries of the universe, galaxies seem to be speeding away from each other at an increasing speed.
So it would seem that Robert Frost was right and “for destruction ice/Is also great/And would suffice,” ended Filippenko to applause, laughter and genuinely thoughtful looks from the audience. Filippenko has been voted “Best Professor” in Berkeley five times and was selected as the 2006 “Professor of the Year” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The Brown Bag Seminars are presentations meant to inform and interest in the areas of math, science and technology. The next event, “Prehistoric Life and Global Climate Change” will be delivered by Paul Belasky, geology and geography assistant professor Friday, March 16 at 11:45 a.m. in Room 3201 with free refreshments available.
A modest drug proposal - live and let live Continued from Page 2 completely out of proportion and, as usual, the main point has gotten lost in the rabble. Human society has as its purpose one thing and one thing only - to improve the quality and likeliness of human life. Everything else can be boiled down to that. The moment society stops helping the individual and begins to harm, it has invalidated its own existence and that’s accomplished first and foremost by the encroaching by the government on individual civil liberties. Personal choices are just that - personal - under the control of each person and only that person. Drug use is a personal choice. It is not the government’s responsibility to police people’s personal lives, much as the process seems to bring it great enjoyment. The impact of drug use on society, however, is a social issue that can and should be addressed, starting with the reason so many people seek escape from their lives in the first place. For more information on the good fight, go to www.rsadrugscommission.org and www.mpp.org.
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monitor March 15, 2007
Culture Pirate By OMER AHMED News editor
Virtually learning One of the highest aspirations of my academic career is to take a class in my pajamas while eating cereal and watching cartoons. I have partially achieved this lofty, though admittedly somewhat pointless, dream by taking online courses. In classes ranging from women’s lit to Java programming, I have combined my love of relaxing on a comfortable couch with my desire for knowledge. Unfortunately, it is not quite the same as being in a regular classroom, as there are significant limitations to the conventional online class. The root of most of these problems lies in the lack of a physical classroom and a set class period. As Rebecca Nesson, a Harvard computer science instructor said in the New York Times, “No matter how good a distance-learning class is, an inherent distance does still exist between you and your students.” Without the variety of in-person lectures or discussions, the routine of most on-line classes becomes read the book, post on forums, submit an assignment or take a test, repeat. While it is possible to learn with these methods, there is a lack of interactivity and the ability to question the instructor is impaired. In a conventional classroom, you can ask an instructor a question and get an answer immediately. When online, you have to resort to e-mail, and will have likely moved on to new ideas by the time a response is received. Student discussions also suffer from the delayed response time. Luckily, a way around the limitations of most online classes has been found, allowing me to learn and have my Cheerios at the same time. Harvard, Pepperdine and New York University have started holding class session in the online “virtual world” of Second Life. Students log-on to the online, free-to-play videogame, create a character to represent themselves and go to class. The teacher, who also has a virtual character, lectures using PowerPoint, a digital white-board and a microphone. Students can communicate in real time using their own microphones and can take notes directly into a file that they can later print. This may all seem unnecessarily complicated. Too much work just to emulate what we already have on campus. However, the ability to have the total classroom experience from anywhere makes education near universally assessable. Not only could I take my classes from my couch if Ohlone used this technology, I could take a vacation in Hawaii and still “physically” attend class. Once you look past the absurdity of learning in an on-line videogame, this technology could be the perfect form of distanceeducation short of virtual reality.
Features Alumni battles fires on, off TV By Eric Dorman Features editor As a firefighter and paramedic, Holly Novak appears at the scene of blazes, car wrecks and medical emergencies. But on the Discovery Channel? “I guess I’ve always been a ham,” said a laughing Novak, speaking about her appearance last January on Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs” series. The choice to be part of the show wasn’t just random, either; Novak, who works for the Fremont Fire Dept., took two semester’s worth of acting classes at Ohlone 20 years ago. “Dirty Jobs” is a weekly realitybased show that aims to showcase the world’s dirtiest jobs—from sewer inspecting to oyster shucking to collecting garbage in Chinatown. The show, which is unscripted, features show founder Mike Rowe performing whatever dirty job is featured that week. The show’s viewers are encouraged to send in their own “dirty jobs,” which is where Novak first got the idea of appearing on the show. “I was browsing through the [Dirty Jobs] message board and I saw a post that suggested firefighting, and I’m like, ‘cool, I’m onto that one,’ ” said Novak. As soon as Rowe learned of the possibility of doing a segment on firefighting he was very enthusiastic, said Novak. A “big fan of the show” herself, Novak lost no time in volunteering to show Rowe what firefighting was all about. Determined to help Rowe experience the true work of a firefighter, Novak and Fremont Fire Capt. Ron McCormick started a healthy blaze in the kitchen of an abandoned house on Mowry Avenue near Mission Boulevard. Finding the location, said Novak, was not a problem. “We found an old abandoned house and we asked the owner, ‘can we light it on fire?’ and the owner said, ‘oh, yeah, we don’t want it,
Photos courtesy of Holly Novak
Fremont firefighter and Ohlone alumni Holly Novak, above left, prepares to enter a burning house during a filming for Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” series in September 2005. Below, Novak, right center, helps “Dirty Jobs” founder Mike Rowe, left, in ankle-deep water. burn it to the ground,’ ” recalled Novak. After waiting 30 seconds to let the blaze intensify, Novak and Rowe moved in, both fully outfitted with firefighter’s gear and filmed by Rowe’s camera crew. They turned their hoses on the fire, then moved in to try to extinguish the blaze from the inside, tearing rooms apart in search of live embers. Novak said that not only was the burn realistic, it was even more difficult that what she generally encountered on a daily basis. “They closed all the windows to make it really really smoky and hot,” said Novak. “It was fairly characteristic of what a training burn is like.” Novak said that there were no major safety issues taking a rookie like Rowe through a burning building. She said that not only was Rowe in good physical shape, but also that she and McCormick “wouldn’t let him do anything that was too dangerous.”
But even after putting out the house fire, Rowe’s day wasn’t over yet. He, Novak, McCormick and the camera crew rode the fire engine to the other side of town, where they showed Rowe how to fix a fire hydrant that had sprung a leak. This illustrated part of how firefighters got their hands dirty, said Novak, because the only way to fix a broken hydrant to simply jump in to the middle of the jet of water and cap it. This also added to the comedic aspect of the show, for as Novak put it, “sometimes the water flies up in the air and comes back down and hits you one the head.” Novak said Rowe enjoyed the experience, so much so that he hopes to film another segment with
Novak within the next month or two. Novak said that this time, the focus would be on paramedics’response to vehicle accidents, and would feature the kinds of things paramedics do to rescue trapped passengers, such as tearing apart cars. No date has yet been set for the filming, as Rowe is temporarily out of action after suffering a back injury. Novak said her time at Ohlone started almost by accident. She never had any intention of attending the college, but after being talked into taking a few theater classes by a friend, Novak said she enjoyed acting so much she stayed on for another semester. Novak remembered the college as being very different in her time her; for example, her two performances, “Grease” in 1986 and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum” in ’87, were both performed in the outdoor theater, as the Jackson Theater did not yet exist. After Ohlone, Novak attended Mission, Chabot and Las Positas colleges before becoming a firefighter and paramedic in the early 1990s, a job she said she enjoys. In her daily work, which consists of three or four 24-hour shifts per week, she responds to everything from house fires to people worried they’re having a heart attack. “I do a little of everything,” said Novak. To learn more about “Dirty Jobs,” tune in to the Discovery Channel Tuesdays at 9 p.m. or go to http://dsc.discovery. com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs. html, where you can watch clips of recent episodes or buy the season on DVD.
Student rakes in scholarship winnings By Kyle Stephens Staff writer Free money? Cool. Free money for school? Not as fun, but certainly just as desirable. And when it comes to obtaining money for school in bulk, Ohlone alumni Candice Nance has it down to an art. Nance, in her time at Ohlone and studies abroad in Cambridge, England, has earned over a dozen scholarships, totaling more than $10,000. Of scholarships, which provide money for school to students based on merit or simply the act of applying, Nance said “anything is possible.” Nance developed a systematic approach to applying for scholarships. For one, she devised form letter-type reference letters, simplifying the writing process. Where that wouldn’t work, she just got used to writing application essays. Further in her arsenal was a folder with 12 sections for each month; as new scholarship entry and deadline windows approached, she had her materials already on hand, and ready to send. The key, said Nance, was
organization. be secured based on Seminars on desituation. veloping this kind of Nance’s scholarship sweeping planning are proceeds also extended possibly in the works, overseas; she was able with the aid of a former to study in Cambridge teacher of Nance’s, t h r o u g h O h l o n e ’s Associate Professor study abroad program. Christine Bolt, who “In general, my tips teaches business at are to look in multiple Ohlone. As it stands, places,” said Nance, there are also many “[from] obvious placPhoto courtesy of es like at Ohlone’s scholarship-hunting Candice Nance Financial Aid office sites online, such as www.scholarships. Ohlone alumni (I’ve won a couple of com. ASOC Scholarships Candice Nance while I was at Ohlone), Among Nance’s more notable scholar- has acquired to organizations that ships were the Amelia over $10,000 you are active in (i.e. Earhart Scholarship, in scholarship my Amelia Earhart worth $3,000, which money. Scholarship), to famapplied toward her ily members (NUMMI training as a private pilot, and scholarship), to unusual places (the a recurring scholarship through Lowrider Scholarship). Toyota. Nance was able to secure “The most important thing is to the scholarship because her mother let all of your friends and especially worked at NUMMI, a Fremont car family know that you are actively manufacturing plant that produces applying to scholarships, and then both Toyota and GM vehicles. Both they are usually nice enough to these scholarships illustrate the save newspaper clippings or any kinds of special funding that can announcements they see and give
them to you,” said Nance. Scholarships are of special value to the average middle income family, added Nance. In this particular tax bracket, federal aid alone cannot be relied on for educational funding. Organizations that have scholarship programs know this, and are just about willing to hand out the money to any interested party. There are scholarships for every kind of person imaginable, said Nance, be it Latino, ChineseAmerican, left handed, related to an electrical engineer or Scouting scholarships. And for some, one need not even be of the intended group to claim the funds; by proxy of being the sole claimant, you too could score some help paying for those pricey textbooks. “It never hurts to apply,” said Nance. “Anybody can do it.” Nance is currently developing a workshop that will teach college and high school students how to get organized to set up an efficient system as she has done to increase their chances of winning scholarships. Interested students may contact her at CandiceNance@yahoo.com.
Features Instructors present art at show By Cheyenne Martin Staff writer Students and faculty gathered in the Louie Meager Art Gallery Wednesday to view the Faculty Art and Design Show. Almost every faculty member was present to represent their art and answer any questions the crowd might have. A piece representative of the show was Adjunct Instructive Roald Hartman’s wood, seed, charcoal and glass installation, which reminded students of an Indian sand painting with a modern twist. The piece was unique to the show and a favorite of student Jennifer McCurdy because there was work “on the floor, not just on the wall.” Students also liked the simplicity and the fragility of the piece. Local artist and faculty member Katie Frank featured a piece called “Untitled Index” which consisted of nine three-dimensional squares made of encaustic - a style of
Photo by Kevin Protz
Ohlone instructors showed several pieces of their artwork at the Faculty Art and Design Show Wednesday. Above, Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Denise Owen stands before two of her pastel works, “Still Life” and “Portrait of a Murder.” Below left is Adjunct Instructor Jian Wu's oil painting, “Sailboats.” painting using hot wax - and wood. Frank crafted the piece from parts of a diary and a book, as well as many other elements, to give each form its own personality while still relating to the others. Moitreyee Chowdhury, a student of Frank’s, said Frank’s piece was one of her favorites because it was “tactile, it makes you want to know more.” Anthropology Instructor Barbara Rodgers’s “Chaos Return” was well
received by the crowd. The piece featured oils in bright colors, with short and sporadic lines that conveyed a sense of extreme energy. Rodgers said her inspiration behind the painting was to “describe emotions everyone feels, the chaos that everyone experiences.” The crowd favorite by faculty and students was a four-piece series of pastel on paper by Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Denise
Owen, titled “Allegory, Landscape, Still Life and Portrait of Murder.” Many faculty and students said they appreciated the individuality of each work. The salient piece in the series was “Portrait of a Murder,” which conveyed a sense of loss and haunting even before the title was revealed. “It was dark while being light at the same time,” said a student. In a different art medium, Adjunct Instructor Jian Wu created a very colorful “Chiaroscuro” oil piece called “Sailboats.” “Chiaroscuro” is an Italian word that describes the process of painting where the artist uses colors that would not normally be present, and the viewer’s eyes optically mix the colors to a recognizable image. From close-up it was very Van Gough-eschue, but as the viewer backed up, the picture became more present. Instructor of Art Paul Mueller showed a different kind of art, entitled “Water works,” featuring black and white photos of various people watering lawns. Though simple, the art provoked curiousity about the subjects in each picture. Chowdhury said she also liked Mueller’s work because of the symmetry and repetition, and described the piece as “not just a topic, it’s how it’s displayed.” Next to come to the Art Gallery is “Art of Pysanky,” which will run from March 23 to April 6.
2007 Citizen of the Year honored
First meeting held for Sydney trip
By Kanya Goldman Staff writer
By Margarita Kitova Staff writer
Fremont Bank Vice President Gloria Fuerniss was honored as “2007 Person of the Year” by the Ohlone Foundation in a celebration last Friday at the Fremont Marriot. Picture disco balls on stage, Grease playing on the big screen, groovy costumes and hundreds of people. That'll give you a good glimpse of the afternoon’s festivities. The theme was “Back to the Future, A View of Our Journey” and the event included a glance back at Ohlone’s nearly 40-year history and a look to the college’s future. Rick Geha, chair of the Ohlone’s Foundation Board of Directors and last year’s Citizen of the Year, along with foundation executive director Josephine Ong-McBride donned 60’s, 70’s and 80’s outfits to keep with the event theme. The event started off with a parade of dancers lead by Director of Dance Janel Tomblin-Brown. College President Doug Treadway then thanked Fuerniss for her hard work and for being “the kind of person to get things done.” Fuerniss’s older sister Angelina attended, as well as about 30 other family members. The elder Fuerniss spoke tearfully about losing their brother and father, saying they would both be proud of Fuerniss today. She was also awarded a proclamation from the city of Newark, presented by Mayor Dave Smith, a proclamation from the city Fremont, presented by Mayor Bob Wasserman. At the end of the ceremony, Fuerniss expressed her own gratitude, “this is such a pleasure, so many people around me make it possible; thank you to Ohlone College and my Fremont Bank family.”
Are you interested in going to Sydney - the melting pot of cuisines with a drinking age limit of 18, with free theater and dances, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and the possibility of scavenger hunt in Gothic cathedrals? Then you can join the group of Ohlone students who will be studying at Billy Blue University of Sydney, Australia this fall. Associate Professor of Business and Technology Christine Bolt made this pitch and more at the first exploratory meeting Tuesday in room 5209, which drew a crowd of seven students. She is still looking for more applicants. Eight students from Ohlone have already signed up for the program and have checks, and another seven have turned in applications so far. With a total of 15, the group needs at least 10 more people, which will then cause the price per person to go down. The more students that sign up, the lower the price will be for each individual student, said Bolt. For example, if 25 to 29 students sign up, the program will cost approximately $6,099 per person, while if only 20 – 24 students sign up, the program cost increases to $6,599 per person. The program price includes accommodation at a twin home stay with a pre-screened host family in Sydney, a meal plan (breakfast and dinner provided most days), travel insurance, transportation to and from the Sydney airport, a group
orientation and a group Thanksgiving dinner, as well as selected group excursions. There are no age restrictions on the trip. There are three deadlines for application. The first was on March 5, the second is April 6 and the third will be on April 30. Priority will be given to those who applied before the March 5 deadline. Applications are due by 4:30 p.m. on the due date. All courses offered are transferable to a CSU or UC system. Bolt, who will be traveling with the group, will teach the business and macroeconomics classes. Ohlone professor Kay Harrison will teach a travel jounraling course; the other courses will be taught by Australian professors. Two group excursions are planned for the trip. One excursion will be a Winery Tour of three individual wineries, while the other will be a tour of the Australian Blue Mountains. While up to 15 units are offered, many students prefer to take only 12 units to allow for more time to soak up the atmosphere and the culture of Australia. All majors are eligible for the program, including undeclared majors. The trip will last from Sept. 5 to Dec. 3. Students are free to make their own travel arrangements as long as they arrive in Sydney on time for the start of the semester. All participants in the program are required to have a visa. For more information, contact Bolt at (510) 659-6233 or at cbolt@ohlone.edu.
March 15, 2007 monitor
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Devil's Advocate By Anna Nemchuk Editor-in-chief
Gas mask, anyone? I’ve avoided touching this topic for quite a while. Anyone actually acquainted with me in person should appreciate my Herculean restraint but, alas, I simply can no longer do it. Pardon me, but I must relieve myself. Why, oh WHY, do people smell so bad?! It’s not enough that I’m a college student regularly stuck in rooms of what can charitably be described as claustrophobic proportions with 30 odd teenagers whose philosophy on bathing tends toward being firmly convinced that they must take a bath once a month, whether they need it or not. Never mind the professor who, in between running from class to coffee vendor to class, has somewhat neglected their deodorant that morning. It’s not enough that I live with five cats who, while certainly being capable of self-cleaning, (in fact, any actual bathing attempts made by me tend to result in lacerations, stitches and heart palpitations - on my part) choose regularly to highlight that most admirable of catly traits - terminal pig-headedness, hold the bacon - and refuse to do so on general principle. “Love me, love my stinky butt,” purrs my little orange tabby as she lovingly sits on my head every morning. It’s not enough that I work in a bookstore where, despite general conviction, the regular patron is not so much a bastion of the community as the small green fungus spore growing halfway up its left armpit and tends to spit copiously, leave Vaseline-smeared secret stashes of books, demand valet service and call me ma’am, in my view the greatest offense of all. It’s definitely not enough that I deal regularly with a predominantly male editorial staff that views showers as photo opportunities and the algae on the pond as greatly beneficial to the pores. It’s not enough that my best friend constantly insists on taking overloads roughly equaling the national debt and immediately ceases all grooming behavior not involving the consumption of insects abiding on his hair-covered regions, nutritious as they are. It is, of course, not nearly enough that whenever I do take BART the one I happen to choose will invariably be filled with at least three bleary-eyed individuals toting little brown paper bags on the next stop, all of whom will descend on the seats surrounding mine and proceed to engage in deep philosophical musings on the falling value of the dollar, the moral legitimacy of the Vietnam war and the merits of vodka vs. low-carb beer. It’s not enough...excuse me, a squirrel just ran by. It smelled of Old Spice. I think I’m going to propose marriage.
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March 15, 2007
News Brunton advises ASOC on funding By NOAH LEVIN Staff writer
Photo by Jack Husting
The wreckage of a Saturn ION and a Chevy Silverado await towing after an accident at the stop sign on Anza-Pine Road.
Coffee spill results in car crash By Michael Aburas Staff writer A collision occurred Tuesday, March 13 around 1:09 p.m. near the softball field involving a 2000 Chevy Silverado and a 2006 Saturn ION. The crash was at least partially caused by spilt coffee. “I was coming down the hill and I spilled my coffee on my leg and missed a stop sign,” said the driver of the Silverado, Will Montalvo. According to Officer Kelli Snow of the Fremont Police Department, the driver of the Saturn, Tabatha (last name unknown), “was stopped at a
stop sign making a left and [Will] had a coffee issue.” There were no injuries, but Tabatha was provided an ice pack by paramedics for her left knee. “It’s sore. That’s what happens after an accident; you’re sore,” she said. When they asked if she would like to go to the hospital, she declined. Both cars had to be towed off campus and the cost of the damages is currently unkown. Campus Police Chief Steven Osawa commented, “I think everybody drives too fast around here. We don’t have enough officers to enforce the speed limit.”
Board of Trustee member Bob Brunton spoke with the Associated Students of Ohlone College at the Tuesday meeting about how best to serve the students of Ohlone with a limited budget and the purpose of Ohlone’s Board of Trustees. Brunton explained the funding process the board works with. He said that 56 percent of California’s budget is spent on education. This is then split up between five academic systems: the University of California system, the California State University system, K-12 primary schools, private schools and the California community college system. Brunton went on to assert that only a small part of this money reaches Ohlone and the school’s income from tuition does not cover all the student body’s needs on its own. He then referred to his own college days in Colorado, describing how he used the student government
to pass a $1 entertainment fee to students each year. Brunton’s school’s population was by no means small and, with the dollar contributions of 18,000 students, Brunton and the school government were able to book the famed Doobie Brothers. The meeting then moved on to officer reports. President Candice Kirk brought up the ASOC “bowling night,” part of a string of social outings for the ASOC members to hang out and get to know one another outside of school. Kirk encouraged her fellows to attend the bowling night, saying, “We’re supposed to have fun together, that’s a part of our job.” Newly appointed Legislative Representative Ken Steadman then proposed the idea of purchasing videos on proper parliamentary procedure to help train ASOC and Inter Club Council members in proper protocol. The videos come in sets of five and seven, and run from $300 to $500 respectively. The idea was shelved for further discussion at a later date.
Midnight contest
Ohlone’s spring art and culture magazine Midnight is looking for student-produced poetry, short stories and photographs. Poems should be no longer than 180 words or 36 lines and short stories should be no longer than 800 words. Photos should be submitted in JPEG or TIFF format, 300 dpi. There will be prizes for submissions that appear in the magazine, which will be published May 11. Send submissions or questions to monitor@ohlone.edu.
Campus Events CLASSIFIEDS Spring Break -- Don’t wait in line on Spring Break!! No line and no cover at bars and clubs!! Get the Real Hook Up at VipSpringBreak. com. Earn Money -Earn $2,500+monthly and more to type simple ads online. www.DataAdEntry.com. NOW HIRING $11$18 -- Do you love working with children? Become a substitute!! We need teachers, aides & directors for preschools, daycares and after school programs all over the Bay Area. Schedules are flexible. You pick your days, hours, region and age group! We will work around your availability. Pls call (866) 994-7823, email at calstaff@sbcglobal. net or visit our website: www.CaliforniaStaffingService.com. Hiring receptionist -- Fremont Professional Massage and Bodyworks is looking for a daytime receptionist to work Mondays,Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Job includes answering the phone, taking care of the register, checking in clients, etc., will also be able to work on homework while at the job. For more information, visit www. fremontmassage.com.To apply call Tina Kemline at (510) 304-1526. Looking to hire -- Highway 77 magazine is looking for a part time graphic and page layout person. Job will also qualify for work study credit. Pay is negotiable. For more info call Louis at (510) 388-5201 or email at either Lhighway77@yahoo.com or highway77mag@yahoo. com. Visit www.highway77magazine.com or myspace.com/highway77 to check us out. Sharks Ice is Hiring -- Sharks Ice in Fremont is looking for energetic and motivated Ohlone students! We are hiring for the following positions: Bar tenders, Snack Bar Attendants, Skate Guards, Pro Shop
and cashiers. Apply on-line at www.sharksice.com or call (510) 623-7200 for more information. Part-time job opening -- Part-time job in Fremont-based media company. India knowledge a plus. $10/ hour plus commissions. Send resume to harvi@ siliconindia.com or call (510) 364-9181. Seeking piano instructor -Looking for a person to take piano lessons from. Must be affordable and in the Fremont area. Must already teach lessons to others. Please call (510) 304-2538.
March 15 New Art Display -Fine art and Design Faculty Show. In the Louie Meager Art Gallery. Can be seen through April 7. Each of the art, design, photography and graphic arts professors will exhibit some of their works. Will show their varied talents while introducing the students and community to the faculty’s fine art works. Gallery is open Monday through Friday, noon to 3 p.m.
by Shawna Luce. 19 M.E.Ch.A Meeting -- 1 to 2 p.m. in Room 14A. Come check out the M.E.Ch.A club. Meets every Monday and everyone is welcome. 19 Transfer Event: CSU East Bay -- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Transfer Center. Come meet with a representative to talk about transferring. To get more information call the Transfer Center at (510) 659-6241. 19 Transfer Event: Mills College -- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Quad. Come meet with representative Vala Burnett to talk about transferring. To get more information call the Transfer Center at (510) 659-6241. 19-23 March Ohlone Bookstore Sale -- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the bookstore. Will be a sidewalk sale, and 30% discount on all clothing and stuffed animals.
21 Alliant International University Scholar visits Psychology Club -- 2 p.m. in the Jackson Theatre. Topic covered will be Careers in Psychology. This event is free. 21 Transfer Event: UC Davis -- 10 a.m. to Noon for drop-ins, and Noon to 2 p.m. for appointments. Come meet with representative Robert Hickerson to talk about transferring. To make an appointment or get more information call the Transfer Center at (510) 659-6241. 22 Women’s Softball -- 3 p.m. vs. Hartnell College here at Ohlone. 22 Student Repertory I -- 8 p.m. in the Smith Cen-
20 Men’s Baseball -- 2 p.m. vs. Hartnell College here at Ohlone.
15 Women’s Softball -- 3 p.m. vs. Diablo Valley College here at Ohlone.
21 Study Abroad: Exploratory Meeting -- 4 p.m. in Room 5209 for Sydney Australia, fall 2007. Anyone interested in exploring and study-
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ter. To purchase tickets for this performance or to get more information visit the box office. 23 Men and Women’s Swimming -- 2 p.m. vs. Fullerton College here at the Ohlone pool side. 24 & 26 Audition for Beauty and The Beast -10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for children between ages 9 and 12, and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. for ages 13-21 on March 24, and 6:30 to 9 p.m. for ages 9-21 on March 26. Prepare 1-2 min. show tune in the musical style of show (No pop/rock). Accompanist will be provided. Wear appropriate dance shoes and dress comfortably. Must be 9-21 years old at time of auditions. Please reserve an audition by visiting www.starstrucktheatre.org or call (510) 659-1319 for more information. Auditions will be held at StarStruck Studio, 42307 Osgood Road Unit L, Fremont.
20 Transfer Event: UC San Diego -- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for appointments, and 2 to 3 p.m. for drop-ins. Come meet with representative Erica Quintor to talk about transferring. To make an appointment or get more information call the Transfer Center at (510) 659-6241.
15 Men’s Baseball -- 2 p.m. vs. Cañada College here at Ohlone.
16 Brown Bag Seminar -Prehistoric Life and Global Climate Change 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Room 3201. Presented by Paul Belasky, associate professor from Ohlone. Brown Bag Science Seminars are designed to stimulate interest in and awareness of topics, trends and careers in science. This series is sponsored by the Math, Science and Engineering Division and ASOC. The event is free.
ing in amazing Australia should attend this meeting. Explore, meet new people and study abroad. For more information, contact Christine Bolt at cbolt@ohlone. edu or (510) 659-6233.
March 15, 2007 monitor
19 LIFE Meeting -- 1 to 2 p.m. in Room 14B. LIFE is an exciting new club that meets on Mondays. Come join the fun and take part in “Liberated Individuals for the Environment.” Everyone is welcome. 19 Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway -- Performance from 2 to 2:30 p.m. in Room 8206. This free performance will be given
Read the Monitor Online at http://ohlone.edu/org/monitor
The Monitor invites your comments. Letters should be 250 words or less and include your name and relationship to Ohlone. Letters become property of The Monitor and may be edited for spelling and length. Campus Events listings are free for college-related events. To have your event added or to place an ad, contact Danelle Meyer at (510) 659-6075 or e-mail monitorads@ohlone.edu
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Page 8
Disaster strikes Renegades in Fresno By Tomas Ortega Staff writer The Ohlone Renegades had a 15-point lead with four minutes to go in their Elite Eight match-up with Antelope Valley in Fresno. Unfortunately, they would get no more field goals by any one player on the court and Antelope Valley was allowed to build a comeback and finally win the game 71-69. The Renegades looked sharp in the first half last Thursday. They were up by as many as 16 points, led by a barrage of threes from both Bert Whittington and Patrick Collier, who both finished the half with nine points apiece. Between the two of them, they shot 6-9 from three-point range. Heading into the locker room, Ohlone led 41-30. When the second half began, Ohlone still showed they were a dominant team. Something must have ignited Allen Hester in the second half, in which he scored all of his 17 points while only limited to 13 second-half minutes. Ohlone held Antelope Valley’s Ade Dagunduro and Marcellus Robertson, to only 10 points in the first half. However, both of them went on a scoring frenzy in the second half, scoring 32 of their teams 41 second half points. After the game Ohlone Head John Coach Peterson said of Dagunduro, “we couldn’t keep Ade from getting to the rim. He is such a phenomenal finisher and we had no answer. No
answer at all for him.” The final moments of the game were undoubtedly intense. Antelope Valley took the lead with 0.36 seconds left on the game clock. Peterson called a timeout at that moment and told his team that they needed to make sure they “controlled Ade from taking over the game.” Ohlone did keep the ball from getting to Dagunduro, except they were not able to make any game changing shots at the end of the game. They had about four shots at the end of the game but none were able to be drilled for the tie. After the final whistle had blown, the many Ohlone supporters who made the three-hour trip down to Fresno went silent. The only fans making any sort of noise were those wearing Antelope Valley shirts. The Renegades stayed in the locker room for nearly an hour after the loss and when they finally came out, the looks on the players’ faces spoke volumes. Nothing was left to be said. Ohlone had the game in their hands and let it slip away. Peterson pointed out that “when your margin of victory is 14 points all year long, you get into tight games and we didn’t have enough in place to win tight games. And that’s my fault, not the kids’.” Antelope Valley went on to win their next game and advanced to the finals where they met the host team Fresno City College. Fresno blew them off the court, winning 90-77 on Sunday.
Photo by Jack Husting
Patrick Collier, center and Ohlone met their untimely demise in Fresno. Ohlone finished the year with a 28-4 record, the best in school history.
Lady Renegades play ‘mad’
Future Ohlone home games:
By Jeff Weisinger Sports editor
Baseball
The Lady Renegades entered March Madness last weekend looking to continue their dominance through the season. However, before they would go for the championship, they would have to go through a Saturday triple-header, which included Porterville, Yuba and Feather River College. Ohlone would beat Porterville 6-2, Yuba 9-2, and Feather River 11-3, to move on to Sunday’s quarterfinal game. In Sunday’s quarterfinal game, Ohlone took on San Mateo, a team
they defeated earlier in the season 7-0. Ohlone Head Coach Donna Runyon would send out her big game pitcher, Isabel Ramos. Ramos, who struggled slightly against Feather River the day before, once again began to struggle against San Mateo as Ohlone would fall into an early 2-0 lead. Down, but not out, the Lady Renegades would begin to claw back, as Isabel Ramos would hit an RBI triple, which would bring in freshman catcher Cassandra Ortega, cutting the deficit to one. But that would be all Ohlone would get. Ramos would keep the game close and did everything she could
to give her team a chance to come back and win, however San Mateo had other plans and found their hitting groove in the fifth and sixth innings and would eventually win the game 6-1, eliminating Ohlone. The Lady Renegades drop their overall record to 16-4 on the season, with Ramos’ record dropping to 9-3. Ohlone will now have to look forward to restarting their winning streak in league as they will come back home to take on Diablo Valley College today at 3 p.m., then travel to Foothill College on Tuesday, and then finally return home on Thursday, March 22 to take on Hartnell College at 3 p.m.
Thurs., 3/15/07: vs. Cañada College, at 2 p.m. Fri., 3/17/07: vs. Monterey Peninsula College, at noon. Tues., 3/20/07: vs. Hartnell College, at 2 p.m. Thurs., 3/29/07: vs. West Valley College, at 2 p.m. Sat., 3/30/07: vs. Chabot College, at 2 p.m. Tues., 4/3/07: vs. Taft College, at 2 p.m. Wed., 4/4/07: vs. Southwestern College, at 2 p.m. Thurs., 4/12/07: vs. Cabrillo College, at 2 p.m.
Softball
Thurs., 3/15/07: vs. Diablo Valley College, at 3 p.m. Thurs., 3/22/07: vs. Hartnell College, at 3 p.m. Tues., 3/27/07: vs. Gavilan College, at 3 p.m. Thurs., 3/29/07: vs. West Valley College, 3 p.m.
Swimming
Fri., 3/23/07: vs. Fullerton College, at 2 p.m. Fri., 4/13/07: vs. Sierra College at 2 p.m.
Remember, that’s Oakland, not Fremont Last year was supposed to be the year for the Oakland Athletics. They were clicking on all cylinders, the pitching staff was perhaps one of the tops in the league while the addition of Frank Thomas finally brought life to the lineup. A World Series shot was only four wins away. All A’s fans know how that one ended. But like the saying goes, “there’s always next year.” I’m not even going to lie but when the Tigers sank their teeth into the A’s last October, the pain had just begun. So to say that “theres always next year,” is a little premature. The magical turnaround of Frank Thomas packed up its bags and went to Toronto. And then there’s the Barry “Benedict” Zito story,
Swing away By Nick Zambrano Sports editor
who left the green and gold for the orange and black along with plenty and plenty of papered green. But what added more salt to the wound was that nasty, little tidbit about that 20-mile hike from Oakland to south Fremont. New Manager Bob Geren has a lot on his plate this upcoming season and it’s going to be imperative that he steer his team clear of these disturbances if he
wants any chance to win an AL West divisional title in his first year as skipper. General Manager Billy Beane has dug his way out of bigger holes before in the past and this year is not an exception. He did manage to bring in another old slugger trying to revive his career in the form of Mike Piazza along with journeyman outfielder Shannon Stewart. Although he isn’t “the Big Hurt,” Piazza can still provide some punch into the heart of lineup while Stewart can get into scoring position easily with his ability to steal bases. Nick Swisher broke out early last year but saw his numbers decline as the season rolled on. If Swisher can manufacture another 30+ home run season and keep his
batting average around .280, we could be talking about a potential All-Star. Speaking of breaking out, Marco Scutaro had a phenomenal postseason filling in for the human Humpty-Dumpty, Bobby Crosby. Scutaro’s performance should say enough to give him the starting shortstop job. Crosby, along with Angel Perez, should be sent down to Triple-A Sacramento to start the season off. Although, the depth chart has flame-thrower Rich Harden as the number one in the starting pitching rotation, Danny Haren could very well own that number one spot. Haren was the man who mowed down that oh-so-powerful Minnesota lineup to get the A’s
to the ALCS. The only negative with the pitching is the lack of left-handers. This is where Oakland will miss Zito the most. After Zito’s defection to San Francisco, the A’s were left with only three lefties on the whole staff. Despite that, the A’s look to be in good form to repeat as divisional champs, but don’t count on another shot at the World Series. And as far as that whole 20-mile hike thing to Fremont goes, I find it rather horrific that “Fremont Athletics” t-shirts are already being worn. In my mind, that is far more premature than ejaculation. Quick, does anyone know someone who can perform a speedy euthanasia?