Monitor 2008-10-30

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Vol. XXXVIII No. 9

Feast is planned

Women’s soccer rolls over Cabrillo.

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Fremont, California

OPINION

Scholarships are available; deadline soon.

SPORTS

NEWS

FEATURES

Student has novel aspirations.

Drinking age should not be lowered to 18.

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October 30, 2008

Parking crashes

More green awards

By Anna Biaritz Roldan Staff writer

By KYLE STEPHENS News editor

The Associated Students of Ohlone College (ASOC) laid out plans for its Thanksgiving feast at its meeting Tuesday.

The annual event, planned for Nov. 17, will cost the ASOC $5,000 and will offer a free meal to any interested student. According to Legislative Representative Dan Zhou, the purpose of this feast is to promote the ASOC and at the same time provide an opportunity to give out surveys, since the feast is a time when a large number of students gather.

One problem with the event in the past has been its sheer popularity, not only with students but also with faculty and staff. In order to afford more room for students, the ASOC is considering charging the latter group $5 for the food. Zhou also suggested giving the food away free to faculty members in exchange for their help in distributing surveys to the students in their classes. That would have been a good idea but as one member mentioned, there will be more staff than faculty coming to the event.

Math Instructor Geoffrey Hirsh made an appearance at the meeting, discussing the two math contests Ohlone students join annually, the AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges) and Mathletics, the former of which is held all over the U.S., covering pre-calculus, and the latter which is held in Monterey and covers calculus. The AMATYC was held here two weeks ago.

Continued on Page 3

At Ohlone's Fremont campus, there are two to three hit-and-run accidents per week in the parking lots. Between both of Ohlone’s campuses, the rate is about one accident per week. Chief of Campus Police Steve Osawa said this is “a matter of course,” wherever cars are involved.

A driver may misjudge his turn area, or how deep or wide his vehicle is, and as a result, other vehicles get damaged. Most accidents happen in this fashion, according to Osawa.

If you are the instigator of an accident, by law you are required to leave a note on the damaged vehicle detailing the date and time of the incident, as well as contact information. Convictions can result in marks on the perpitrator’s liscence, fines and jail time.

If someone bears witness to such an event without the crasher leaving such information, they are legally obligated to report the crime, hopefully getting a description of the car and/or the driver. Cameras in the parking lots can record some of the events in the lots, but eyewitness accounts are always best, and can corroborate what the camera saw.

Information regarding car accidents would be most helpful to the accident victim and the campus police, who can be reached at (510) 659-6111 in Fremont, and (510) 742-2311 for Newark. Crimes may be reported anonymously, for either school, via the campus police website: http://www.ohlone. edu/org/security/form-confidcrimereport.html.

Photo by Japneet Kaur

Ohlone's Newark Center has won three more awards for its environmental structure and performance. First was ‘The Green Project of the Year,’ a 2008 Structure Award from The Business Journal in San Jose. The other two awards received, both for innovation in green technology, were from the East Bay Business Journal and GreenTech.org. In August, the Newark Center was deemed Platinum-status LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified, which makes it ‘the Greenest College in the World,’ according to the Newark Center’s website.

Twelve-year-old in college? No kidding By nicole johnson Staff writer Most 12-year-olds spend their time playing games, hanging out with their friends and maybe squeezing in a little schoolwork on the side. There aren’t many who have a distinct plan for their academic future.

Edwin Huang is not most 12-yearolds.

Huang, who was taking advanced calculus classes at Ohlone at the age of 9, is now applying to some of the country’s most prestigious universities three years later. His goals are to become the world’s youngest Nobel Prize-winner and contribute to human health.

With a passion for science, Huang has been highly developed in science

since a very early age. Math Instructor Anh Nguyen, who taught Huang’s calculus class in Spring 2005, remembered Huang as standing out in class, and not just because of his age.

“Edwin is an amazing child,” Nguyen said. “He was the best out of 42 students.

An hour test could take him at most 15 minutes to finish with [only] a minor careless mistake. [A two-hour final would] take him only 30 minutes to finish with 99 percent.”

Huang, a Mission graduate, is just like any other child, though; he enjoys computers, photography, volleyball, basketball, swimming, chess and piano.

Huang had an internship at Molecular Medicine Research Institute in Sunnyvale, CA over the summer. “This experience was very meaningful to me

because it was the first time I could apply what I have learned to create something innovative,” said Huang.

Huang is aspiring to be a scientist. He has applied to MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Chicago. “He mastered math and science. He practiced and practiced until he mastered it,” said Nguyen. “He challenged me during my lecture and that made me spend extra time to do research before [teaching class.”

Huang is thankful for being gifted and advanced in academics. In a questionnaire he filled out for his high school graduation, Huang said that “since a young age, I have taken initiatives to challenge myself and see how hard I can push myself to work.

Continued on Page 4

Photo courtesy of Edwin Huang

Edwin Huang took his first Ohlone class when he was 9 years old.

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Opinion

monitor October 30, 2008

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: Eric Dorman News editor: Kyle Stephens Opinion editor: Brian Chu Features editor: Andrew Le Sports editor: Jeff Weisinger Photo editor: Japneet Kaur Graphics staff: Amanda Sheppard Staff writers: Inez Black, Jacque Orvis, Benjamin Chang, Ankita Chhabra, Suchi Gupta, Nicole Johnson, William Martin, Tomás Ortega, Ryan Richmond, Anna Biaritz Roldan, Kathy Sung, Farnoosh Vahedi Photographers: TBA Ad manager: Jacque Orvis 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.

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Opinion

Lowering drinking age amounts to surrender

By Rebecca Soltau Staff writer A group of 120 college presidents is pushing to lower the drinking age to 18, in an effort to curb binge drinking on campus. They’ve got an impressive name, the “Amethyst Initiative,” named after the ancient Greek words that mean “not intoxicated.”

These college leaders hope that a lower drinking age will encourage more responsible drinking. They also think it will cut the excessive, furtive, forbidden thrill of drinking—“pregaming,” in kidspeak— before a frat party or other public appearance. But I think these top academics forgot their Econ 101.

Legalizing something generally invites more indulgence, not less.

Yes, binge drinking is widespread, entrenched and destructive.

and increasing seat belt usage — and greater awareness of the perils of drinking and driving. But the trends are known and predictable: When states lowered their drinking ages in the 1970s, alcohol-related crashes involving teens rose. Do the math.

Does anyone doubt that putting alcohol in legal reach of 18-yearolds wouldn’t instantly result in more accidents and drunken driving deaths?

The argument most often trotted out to defend this proposal is one of fairness: If an 18-year-old is old enough to fight in a war, he or she should also enjoy the right to drink.

That sounds like a compelling rationale. Except it’s wrong. Society offers different rights and responsibilities at different ages—in many places, even a 24-year-old can’t rent a car, for instance. The right to join the military and fight at 18

doesn’t automatically qualify you for every other right and privilege of adulthood, particularly if experience and statistics show that it’s a bad idea.

Those college presidents are right to be alarmed about underage drinking on campus. But I would rather see them pouring their energies into making sure that authorities enforce local laws against serving or selling to minors, and pioneering new campaigns to convince college kids that they risk their health, and their lives, with heavy drinking.

Lowering the drinking age would transfer responsibility—and in some cases legal liability—from colleges and their presidents to the extremely immature shoulders of 18-year-olds.

To me, it seems as though the decision would be fatal.

I do understand that the man or woman in prison is in there for unspeakable crimes that can’t be reversed, but at the same time, who are we to play the role of God? Think about it: if someone was to die tomorrow due to natural causes, we would accept their death as God’s will, but if someone is murdered, our immediate response turns to “kill him for what he did.”

No! There are other ways to punish criminals, such as life in prison.

Killing someone does not solve anything, because anger and punishment only hurt you because anger is like burning coal—you only end up burning yourself.

Also, considering the amount of money that is spent on just trying to give someone three injections is ridiculous. And what if the person turned out to be innocent after they were killed? You can’t reverse death now, can you?

Lastly, how can anyone, jury or

voter, live with the fact that they chose the fate of someone? If you can’t even think why someone would take someone else’s life, then how can you say you have that right to punish them with death? Whatever the reason may be that these people on trial are given capital punishment, it should be eliminated altogether. Life is a precious gift given to all of us, and we choose our destinies with it. When you end it, you just end it.

And that is surely frustrating for college officials. But their strategy reeks of surrender.

Kids under age 21 don’t drink because it’s illegal. And they won’t stop drinking if it’s made legal.

Another problem with lowering the drinking age: Surveys—and experience—suggest that making alcohol abundant and available to 18-year-olds also opens the kegger for their 17- and 16-year-old friends and much younger siblings.

The current age threshold doesn’t stop many underage college students from drinking, but there’s evidence that the higher drinking age has curbed some binge drinking.

In 1984, when Congress effectively mandated the 21-year-old age limit, 45.4 percent of college students engaged in binge drinking, which is defined as five or

more drinks in a row at any point in a two-week period. That’s according to Monitoring the Future, which conducts an annual national survey of drug and alcohol use by young people. By 2006, that figure was 40.2 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of students who reported drinking every day fell by more than a quarter.

Statistics on the effects of the higher drinking age on driving fatalities are even more dramatic. As legal drinking ages have gone up, the number of young people aged 16 to 20 killed in alcohol-related crashes has plummeted by nearly 60 percent—from 5,224 in 1982 to 2,121 in 2006. This was even as the number of young people killed in non-alcohol-related crashes increased by 34 percent.

Some of that drop is attributed to other factors, including safer cars

then some time during the week you turned on the news and heard about a man or woman who is receiving capital punishment because of his or her actions that lead to the deaths of many.

Now, you’re probably wondering where I’m trying to go with this.

My point is this: no matter how terrible a crime has been committed, how can anybody in their right mind justify a murder as justice for another murder?

Murder is never a solution for another murder

By Ankita Chhabra Staff writer Hypothetically speaking, let’s go to a time in your life when you were so mad and so pissed that you were ready to kill someone, but you didn’t because in your right conscious mind you knew the consequences and how you could not justify the murder because of your anger. But,

Campus Comment > > How will you vote on the gay marriage ban?

Sangeetha Bala

Heleina Jimenez

THEATER

Kristina Yim

Natalie Seybold

CHEMISTRY

UNDECIDED

UNDECIDED

UNDECIDED

“It’s stupid because they just legalized it, and now they’re taking it away.”

“I think people should vote against it – everybody should be equal.”

“Everybody should have the same rights.”

“Everyone should have the same opportunities.”

“I haven’t decided personally... but there should be equality.”

Amma Gamez

News

October 30, 2008 monitor

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Decision 2008 Don’t forget: this Tuesday is Election Day. Can’t decide who to vote for? Many corners, like this one at Mowry and Paseo Padre, offer ample window shopping opportunities.

Among those up for election are Board members Nick Nardolillo and Bob Brunton and hopefuls David Sheen, Greg Bonaccorsi and Teresa Cox. Photo by Japneet Kaur

Free money: fall scholarships are available

By Farnoosh Vahedi Staff writer Fall scholarships are out, and the deadline to turn them in is Nov. 7.

The fall scholarships given by the Ohlone College Foundation are there to help students who are having trouble paying for college.

So what’s the catch? Well, despite the fact that there is a little work needed to complete the scholarship forms, there is no catch: the scholarship money is free for

the taking.

The Foundation scholarships add up to $16,500 in total and are available for 32 students.

There are 15 different types of scholarships and each has its own criteria.

For first-generation American students there are two scholarship opportunities: the Audrey. M. Hack Scholarship, which prefers firstgeneration college students, and the Deeksha Inc. Scholarship.

Most - but not all - scholarships

require a GPA of 2.5 or above.

These scholarships are designed so that all those who require money for school have a chance at getting it, according to the financial aid office.

While applying for scholarships, it is important to remember that the more specific scholarships you apply for, the better the chances for receiving the scholarships.

For example, there is currently a scholarship called the John Edward Marks scholarship available

Math Club petitions for cash Continued from Page 1 Hirsch mentioned that several years ago, Ohlone was ranked number 86 in the nation for the AMATYC, but since offering prize money for winning the contest, the results have improved. Ohlone was ranked number 8 in ranking last year.

The idea to have prize money - $50 per high-scoring students - has encouraged more students to join the competition. The money originally came from the Ohlone Foundation, but for the past two years the ASOC has stepped in to pick up the tab. This year the club is requesting money to be used for the prizes, registration fee, meals and transportation of those who will compete. The amount they are requesting amounts to $1,033.62, which should last them for the whole academic year.

The money request for the E-Z Up tents, which was brought up in last week’s meeting, was once again discussed. E-Z Up tents are easily set up and collapsed portable canopies, which are useful for outdoor events to keep the sun and rain off.

The ASOC’s current proposal is for the purchase of four tents. The ASOC executives and senators will vote on this next week.

The Speech Department’s money request from the previous week for a student success talk was also brought up, but the matter was referred to the Inter-Club Council (ICC) since this is a club related matter.

In another step toward making the entire campus a “free speech area,” the ASOC approved the creation of an Open Forum Committee.

The Psychology Club announced plans to invite CalTech Professor and Research Psychologist Michael Shermer to speak in the Smith Center in February. Psychology Club Advisor Sheldon Helms showed the ASOC a short YouTube video showing some of Shermer’s talks.

Helms strongly emphasized Shermer’s lively and entertaining presentation style, leading to almost all his events selling out because of his strong fan base. He also mentioned Shermer’s appearance on Oprah, CNN and his very own TV show, as well as his publication, the Skeptic Magazine.

Helms said he hoped to fund the event through a partnership between the Psychology Club and the ASOC. He is requesting $5,000 for the event, which includes a $4,500 honorarium for Shermer and $500 for his lodging and travel.

Potentially there will be a return of around $4,000 that would be given back to the ASOC should the tickets sell out.

They are planning to have tickets (printed with the use of money the Psychology Club gets from their fundraisers such as their donut sales) cost $10 each.

Feliciano announced that there has been a new prospective club presented to the ICC called Urban Movement. He also announced that

themes for the next Club Days are being thought of already. Ideas like a Vegas theme or Art Deco theme have been brought up. The next Club Days will also be longer, the ICC decided. They have decided to extend it an hour later, making it run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to give the many students who get out of class past 2 p.m. a chance to get involved in the event.

Zhou announced that he was able to attend a lobbying workshop, which taught him a lot about how bills are passed. He told the rest of the ASOC to feel free to come up to him and ask about it if they were interested.

Student Member, Board of Trustees Lauren Baca announced that there will be a visit from the accreditation team over the next week.

The state accreditation team, which determines whether colleges can maintain their state funding, visited the college this spring and evaluated the college on a variety of criteria, placing the under “warning” (the second highest level awarded) as a result of their findings.

The ruling does not place the college directly at risk of losing its state funding, but does require that Ohlone submit several follow-up reports to the team. Out of 110 community colleges here in California, around 20 are in the warning status. Baca observed that, “the accreditation process basically keeps the college on its toes.”

for male Newark Memorial High School graduates who are studying French or information technology or have a love of tennis.

If you fit the criteria, by all means apply - the chances of running into heavy competition for this scholarship are small.

But students who don’t feel like they fit any specific criteria should not be disheartened; there is a scholarship for them, too: the Ohlone College Foundation Scholarship.

It does not have any specific

limitations; the only criteria is that the applicant must be enrolled in at least 12 units and have a GPA of 2.5 or better.

The general requirements for application are that students should submit a completed Ohlone College Foundation scholarship application. Students must also submit a personal statement.

For more information, visit www.ohlone.edu/org/scholarships.

Those who get scholarships will be notified in January.

Panelists to discuss speech careers

By Suchi Gupta Staff writer The Speech and Communication Studies Department is organizing an “Annual Careers in Communication Panel” today from 1 to 2 p.m. in Room 3102.

The event will feature a panel of six Bay Area professionals with careers in marketing communication, public relations, event planning, recruiting and journalism. Among them are three former Ohlone College students who are currently working with their degrees in communication.

One of the speakers is Nicole Imhoff, an event planner from the Bay Area. Another one is Tony Yang, a former editor of the Ohlone Monitor, who is currently working as a journalist for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The third speaker is Sapna Kanakiya, a recruiter for Washington Mutual/Chase.

The panelists will be talking about their careers briefly, highlighting how a degree in communication has helped forward them. They will also be answering the questions asked by the audience.

Speech Instructor Brenda Ahntholz, coordinator for this event said, “we are doing this panel as a service to current students and are honored to have former students back with us to talk about their careers in communication.”

Admission is to the panel is free.

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monitor October 30, 2008

The view from here

By Andrew Le Features editor

Settling for less Do you lick lick lick it like a lollipop? Do you like to spell out b-a-n-a-n-a-s over a repeating cheerleader beat? Do you want to stare at my lovely lady lumps, and rhyme it with my humps? If you do, you’re the majority of U.S. consumers, who manage year after year to make the worst music the absolute most popular.

And I’m not even saying this from an embittered rock snob point of view. It’s not that I’m against hip-hop and rap being the predominant form of music, it’s just that atrocious hip-hop and rap is popular now. I mean, how many times can R-Kelly really sing about peeing on 14-yearold girls? It’s all the same now, rims, yayo, rims, Hennessey, rims, money and rims. Sure, all of NWA’s songs dealt with being gangstalicious, but at least songs back then had lyrical quality.

For example, a sample line from Warren G’s Regulate which came out in 1994 contains such poetic lines as “Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole/ Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold.” Compared to 50 Cent’s Candy Shop, which was released in 2005 and charted number one; “I take you to the candy shop, I’ll let you lick the lollipop. Go ’head girl, don’t you stop, keep going ’til you hit the spot.”

And that’s not even the low point. Just three years ago, the number one song in the United States was My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas which contained the lines “My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps.”

It’s even gotten to the point where I would rather drive in silence, than have metaphorical nails driven through my ears by listening to Top 40 radio. But even though the quality of music has gotten progressively worse every year, people still listen.

Our music used to inspire the world; people used to risk their lives just to play the Beatles in the USSR, the East Germans broke the Berlin Wall to David Hasselhoff - and now our songs are about how low our chains hang.

This topic is dead and done though, music has been going downhill for a while and it’s going to stay that way as long as people are willing to settle for mediocrity.

But my-oh-my how people love mediocrity. People love pseudo-celebrities who contribute nothing to sociey on Laguna Beach, they love mediocre pop stars who repeat the same word over and over again, and they love mediocre movies that have big explosions and little thought.

But is it apathy that causes us to do nothing about it, or are we just really comforted by the fact that everything around us reflects our own lack of ambition?

Features Being a ‘mad scientist’ pays off

By Jacque Orvis Staff writer With the economy the way it is, more and more students are looking for creative ways to make money.

For the typical student, jobs of ice cream scooper and burger flipper beckon. The more inspired become mad scientists.

One such student is Amanda Morrison. Equipped with a trunk full of chemicals, safety goggles, popsicle sticks and purple and green cups, she entertains children at birthday parties, special events, summer camps and especially after-school programs by dressing up like a mad scientist and showing kids how to make slime.

“I am a mad scientist,” said Morrison, while stirring obscure chemicals in purple and green cups until a green, thick and slimy substance appeared.

However, Morrison wasn’t always a mad scientist. Before, she was a clerk for 24 Hour Fitness and a movie theater signing in guests and popping popcorn. “It was horrible,” said Morrison about her previous jobs. Morrison adds that priorities were different as a clerk than as a mad scientist; as a clerk, her job was to make money, but as a mad scientist, her job is to make children happy.

Morrison never thought that she

would ever work with children. “I had no interest in kids, and I didn’t know they were so fun,” said Morrison. “It’s wonderful.” Morrison’s job isn’t rare, nor is it necessarily local. The Canadian-based company, Mad Science, is nationwide, with franchises all over the country and tons of mad scientists employed at each one.

At the Bay Area franchise, Morrison works with several other mad scientists, including the infamous Mean Mr. Green and his assistant Kinetic Kyle, and they perform shows such as Mad Mixtures, Indoor Fireworks & Lightning, Chemical Luminescence, Fizzy Physics and others. Each show is catered to entertain and educate children.

“It’s an over-glorified day care,” said Morrison.

These are not just random people who dress up in lab coats and make green goop. Each scientist endures an extensive background check, is fingerprinted and is tested for TB. As for Morrison, she visits over 40 Bay Area schools to conduct after-school mad science shows, but she only performs at six of them per week.

As for her hours, each session only lasts for two hours, which she said works perfectly around her school schedule. “I have a fun job,” she said. When asked if this could be her dream career, Morrison said there are full-time scientists, but she’s

Photo by Jacque Orvis

‘Mad Scientist’ Amanda Morrison plays with a rubber glove while in her scientific vestments. more interested in attending college, living life, and making money.

“There are too many things for me to be able to do,” she said.

In college at age 12 Continued from Page 1 “For example, when I was 7, I wanted to see what college level studies would be like. With that in mind, I took Ohlone College’s math placement exam and scored into advanced math classes with students who were in their 20’s.”

After completing nearly all of the math classes offered by Ohlone, Huang felt as if he had “reached the ceiling of that experience.” At that time, he began to challenge himself to branch out, resulting in him taking physics courses as well as English courses.

“In order to measure my own degree of success at learning those subjects, starting at the age of 9, I assessed myself with benchmarks by taking the SAT subject tests in Math IIC, Physics and Chemistry.”

Huang’s greatest strength in academics lies in his desire to improve. One of his accomplishments was receiving a score of 800 on the SAT Math IIC test when he was 9 years old.

“Taking the test and receiving the full score was a very important accomplishment for me because this was the first major standardized test I took. Also, this test set the path for all the other standardized tests I have taken.”

Huang’s philosophy of life is to “keep going” like the Energizer Bunny. “All my accomplishments fill me with humbleness. Humbleness that I, and individual of 12 years of age, am fortunate enough to be ready for college far ahead of the usual age. All my achievements, from seven AP [classes] to over 50 college credits, are what I consider to be blessings from God.”

Features Ohlone student writes novel

By Anna Biaritz RoldAN Staff writer Do you have a passion for art?

Think you’re the Picasso of your generation? If so, you might just be what Rachel Cortez is looking for.

Cortez is an aspiring novelist who is holding a contest for the cover of her proposed first novel.

Cortez, who prefers writing fiction, started doing creative writing in elementary school. Cortez said that experience has taught her a lot and that is reflected in her writing.

According to Cortez, “I remember one of my stories won a contest, and the other students gathered to hear it read in the assembly room.

I think that was when I knew that I wanted to share my stories with a larger audience.” Cortez’s writing skills budded from her mother’s reading and encouragement to read and maintain a wide set of books.

Cortez mentioned that her mother aspired to be a writer but just never got to do it since she started a family. Cortez claims that her writing is a tribute to her mom who has always been supporting her in all she partakes.

Other than her mother, the rest of her family, friends and people that surround her also inspire her.

Cortez said that each has a story and are a part of each other’s story. She said, “I can only hope that my story resonates with others and draws them into a world away from the everyday chaos.”

Cortez said she believes in lifelong learning and that knowledge really does lead to opportunity.

Cortez is currently a full-time student taking online classes at the University of Metaphysical Sciences, which is an “organization dedicated to assisting people in becoming knowledgeable about metaphysical concepts and discovering the true self,” according to their website, www.umsonline.org/.

She hopes her classes will lead her to be a spiritual counselor. To earn money, though, she also sells a variety of crafts.

Cortez’s novel is entitled The Sariel Chronicles. The main character in this novel is Sariel, a fallen angel who happens to be famous for being one of the Watchers in the book of the prophet Enoch.

The book talks about what may have happened during Sariel’s life as a human being. Since Sariel is very much an inter-dimensional time traveler, the events take place in different dimensions and time periods here on Earth, in many places like Atlantis, Peru, Scotland and even here in California.

Cortez chose to write in fiction since with fiction there is more room to tap into the imagination, which serves as an escape from reality.

As Cortez said, “with the fantasy and metaphysical genres there’s a whole universe of other worlds to write about.”

Cortez said that the main character is definitely a reflection of herself, her personality and her inner struggles. She writes about what she knows and draws characters from her own experiences.

The moral of The Sariel Chronicles is not to allow one’s self to be a victim of the number one predator in our world today - fear. The target audience for her book are all those

who are soul-searching just as the main character.

Cortez has started a contest for her book’s front cover. She is holding this contest since there are many talented people who she would like to work with. This contest is also her way of helping artists market themselves.

The contest for the front cover artwork is open to everyone. Rules and guidelines for the contest can be found at the journal section of Cortez’s personal DeviantArt web page, http://shortsharpshock. deviantart.com.

Cortez is looking for anything from traditional art, to digital paintings to photography for her cover art. However, the art has to use the stock image provided of the main character Sariel and rules are specific in that the character cannot be seen wielding a gun. The art will also have to be converted to a digital format for the publisher to use it.

Cortez has already received quite a number of entries.

All entries will be evaluated and given points by the judges. The winner, aside from getting a spread on the front cover, will be recognized on the first page of the book. The winner will also be allowed to plug their website address on the site.

The Sariel Chronicles is Cortez’s first book of an intended trilogy. She hopes to publish it by early 2010.

Although Cortez has not yet found a publisher, she said the novel is significantly under way and continues to be a work in progress.

October 30, 2008

monitor

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Weighing Anchor

By Eric dorman Editor-in-chief

Cyberspace nation

Photo courtesy of Rachel Cortez

Sample book cover for The Sariel Chronicles.

The author is currently accepting submissions for the cover for her first novel.

Bump.

Did you feel it? No? That’s all right; you’ll feel it again. Because this isn’t the last time the real world and the virtual one are going to collide, and next time, the impact won’t be so soft.

The collision happened last week, when a Japanese woman was arrested for committing a “virtual murder”—logging on to her online husband’s account and deleting his profile. While it isn’t the murder itself that has her facing jail time (up to five years, for illegally accessing a computer and deleting electronic data), the story nonetheless highlights the ever-closing gap between the real and virtual worlds.

The Japanese woman’s story is only one small piece of a puzzle that has been slowly pieced together over the past decade with the exponential growth of Internet networking and graphics capabilities. I’ve seen parts of this jigsaw, this melding of concrete and virtual worlds, firsthand—some time ago, I heard the story of a student who his parents entrusted with some real-life cash to help him make it through the semester. When the student returned to his parents soon after asking for money, they discovered that he had spent several hundred dollars on a weapon for an online fantasy game. He was forced to sell it, but had no trouble finding a buyer; there were plenty of other users who were willing to shell out real-life cash for a virtual tool.

Whether you believe the student was foolish or justified in his virtual purchase, the fact remains that virtual reality is only going to become a bigger part of our everyday lives over the coming years. If you disagree, look at it this way: as virtualization technologies continue to increase at the same mind-boggling rate we’ve seen from them over the past decade, the online experience is only going to get more real.

Will plain old reality improve at the same rate? It’s doubtful.

If history is any indication, as a race, humans tend to follow the path of least resistance. It isn’t an indication of laziness so much as efficiency: we look for the most happiness for the least amount of work. And for all its faults, that’s what the virtual world offers.

I’ll be honest. I don’t have a significant virtual presence and I don’t see anything in cyberspace appealing enough to compel me to shift my life from terra firma to the virtual world of pixels and avatars. But as long as the virtual world continues to march toward a version of reality that we find more attractive than our current version, we will see more and more people moving greater parts of their lives online. Like it or not, we’re in for a closer mix of real and virtual worlds.

Bump.

6 MONITOR

October 30, 2008

Advertising

Campus Events CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS

PIANO FOR SALE -- Upright, rosewood Chappell piano in excellent condition. Made in England. $1,200. Call 510-790-1139 or email souzafive@comcast.net.

For information on Jobs an Career Resources, visit the Student Success Center in Room 1403 or go online at www.ohlone.edu/org/ssc/ Foothill College.

October 30 Speaker Event- Annual Careers in Communications Panel at 1 p.m. in Room 3102 on the Fremont Campus.

31 Women’s Soccer - Home vs. West Valley College at 12:30 p.m.

31 Men’s Soccer - Home vs. Las Positas College at 3 p.m.

November 1 Women’s Basketball All day scrimmage away in San Mateo 1 Men’s Baseball - Away vs. West Valley College “Scout Day” at 10 a.m.

2 Women’s Softball - Away vs. San Jose City College at 10 a.m.

2 Women’s Softball - Away vs. Sierra College at noon.

3 Academics - Spring 2009 priority date for new student applicants in order to ensure earliest possible registration times. Registration is in Building 1 on the Fremont campus.

4 Women’s Soccer - Home vs. West Valley College at 12:30 p.m.

4 Gay Straight Alliance Meeting at 2 p.m. in Room SC-116 4 ASOC ­- Meeting at 4 p.m. in Room 6105

7 LIFE Club - meeting at noon on the Palm Bosque 8 Ohlone College Flea Market - The regular flea market is held the second Saturday of each month throughout the year in Lots E and H on Fremont Campus. Parking is $2.

8 New Art Gallery Exhibit - David Tomb: The Plumed Serpent. A Show of large scale naturalist drawings of endangered birds from Mexico’s El Triunfo Wildlife Preserve will be in the LouieMeager Art Gallery.

8 Men’s Baseball - Away vs. Los Medanos at 10 a.m.

9 Ohlone Wind Orchestra - Performance in the Jackson Theatre at 2 p.m.

12 Board of Trustees - Meeting at 7 p.m. in the Child Development Center’s conference room on the Fremont campus.

12 Community Band - Entertainment in the Jackson Theatre at 8 p.m.

14-15 Men’s Water Polo - Nor-Cal Tournament.

Location TBA. 14-15 Women’s Water Polo - Nor-Cal Tournament. Location TBA. 14-15 Women’s Basketball - SLCC Tournament in Salt Lake City

October 30, 2008 monitor

19 Women’s Volleyball Home vs. SJCC at 6:30 p.m.

- Home vs. Butte College at 6 p.m.

20 Campus Tour - Join the free tour of Fremont Main Campus at 4 p.m. in Building 1.

21 LIFE Club - meeting at noon on the Palm Bosque

21-22 Women’s Water Polo - State Championships. Location TBA. 21 Men’s Water Polo - State Championships.

Location TBA 21-23 Men’s Basketball - Home Tournament vs.

Shasta College 21 Women’s Basketball

22 Men’s Soccer - First Round of Playoffs 22 Women’s Soccer - First round of playoffs 23 Ohlone Orchestra entertainment in the Jackson Theatre at 2 p.m.

24 Academics - Spring 2009 Registration begins for continuing students.

Registrar's office is on the first floor of Building 1 on Fremont Campus.

14 Men’s Baseball - Home vs. Los Medanos College at 2 p.m.

14 Women’s Soccer - Las Positas College at 3 p.m.

14 Women’s Volleyball ­- Home vs. Cabrillo College at 6:30 p.m.

18 Academics ­- Last Day to drop from full-term classes with a W grade.

18 Gay Straight Alliance meeting at 2 p.m. in Room SC-116.

11 Campus closed in observation of Veteran’s Day

18 ASOC - Meeting at 4 p.m. in Room 6105

11 Gay Straight Alliance meeting at 2 p.m. in Room SC-116

19 Faculty Senate Meeting at 3:30 p.m. in Room 1307.

11 Men’s Soccer - Home vs. Gavilan College at 3 p.m.

11 ASOC - Meeting at 4 p.m. in Room 6105

19 NASA / Ohlone Science Night - Future Exploration of the Moon and Beyond seminar presented by Dr. Anupa Bajwa in the Jackson Theatre at 7 p.m.

11 Women’s Soccer Away vs. Chabot College at 6:30 p.m.

19 Faculty Senate Meeting at 3:30 p.m. in Room 1307.

12 College Council meeting at 3 p.m. in Room 1307

19 Women’s Basketball - Away vs. Skyline College at 5:30 p.m.

7

5 Faculty Senate - Meeting at 3:30 p.m. in Room 1307 5 Women’s Volleyball - Away vs. Hartnell College at 6:30 p.m.

6 Men’s Baseball - Away vs. Peninsula College 2 p.m.

6 Campus Tour - Join the free tour of Fremont Main Campus at 4 p.m. in Building 1.

7-8 Men’s Water Polo Conference Tournament at Foothill College 7-9 Women’s Water Polo - Coast Conference at

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 Jacque Orvis at (510) 659-6075 or e-mail monitorads@ohlone.edu

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Page 8

Triples Alley

Congrats Philly

By Tomás Ortega Sports writer

By Jeff Weisinger Sports editor

Brotherly love

Bay Area mess

Pedro “I-can’t-believe-youwon-the-world-series-after-coming-up-with-the-Giants-and-never-doing-anything-great-exceptgood-defense-a-few-years-in-arow” Feliz.

Am I bitter? Of course I am.

Pedro Feliz spent his entire San Francisco Giants career torturing Giants fans with his “swing at first pitch breaking balls” and “pull the ball with a runner on third” game.

Giants fans wanted him gone.

Just have him go away and pick up a “real” third baseman who can drive in 100 runs and hit 30 home runs.

They got rid of Feliz only to come up with nothing at third and watched him come up in the bottom of the eighth inning with the World Series tied and deliver the game-winning run.

Maybe Feliz wasn’t the exact reason the Phillies won.

The Tampa Bay Rays got lucky the rain decided to come down as hard as it did Monday night and extend them a few days to regroup themselves to try to score some runs against a great Phillies pitching staff. No luck there either.

Rocco Baldelli had no luck this postseason except for a solo home run in the American League Championship series against the Red Sox. Yet he is the one who ties the game for the Rays. It’s just strange how these things decide to play themselves out when the national spotlight is shined on them.

Nonetheless, it was a good series. It didn’t end up with an amazing story line of the Rays coming from the depths of hell, er, the A.L. East.

It ended with a more heartwarming story.

It ended giving a city a chance to sleep well tonight and for years to come knowing that they now have a championship they can call their own that wasn’t won two decades ago.

The Philly Fanatic, the greatest mascot in all of sports, can now shake his odd shaped belly next season and now it now represents a World Series title.

After a disasterous postseason last year, Cole Hamels came back and threw exceptionally well against the Brewers, iced the Dodgers (yeah!) and now against the Rays he came out to show the baseball world who the next upand-coming left hander is.

Sleep well city of brotherly love. America will remember you as the team that won the 2008 World Series. I will always remember you as the city that booed Santa Claus.

Embarrassment is “an emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others.”

Usually some amount of loss of honor or dignity is involved, but how much and the type depends on the embarrassing situation.

When watching both the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers, the word “embarrassment” always comes to mind.

The season for both Bay Area teams thus far has been yet another one to forget.

With both head coaches being fired early through the season, both teams having trouble on both sides of the ball and no sense of there being a bright side, the Raiders and 49ers are in for another dismal year.

(Note: The Bay Area deserves better than this.)

The days of Gannon to Brown, or Garcia to Owens are long gone, replaced by the failing promise of Russell to Curry or any 49er quarterback to Vernon Davis.

Both interim head coaches are trying to do anything they can to save the season, but both efforts seem to be pointless.

However, one interim head coach does stand out between the two.

49ers coach Mike Singletary might’ve started something in San Francisco after kicking out the “me-first” tight end Vernon Davis in Sunday’s 34-13 loss to Seattle. Davis was kicked off the sideline after he and Singletary got into somewhat of an arguement in the fourth quarter after Davis was penalized for slapping the Seattle defender in the facemask after a seven-yard catch.

Singletary proved that even though he’s just the interim head coach, he will not take any B.S. that the current NFL player gives to the organization. (That column coming soon...)

The Oakland Raiders will keep falling in their downward “Silver and Black” as long as Al Davis is alive, let alone in control of the Raiders.

JaMarcus Russell has not yet proved he can be a starting NFL quarterback, and star receiver Ronald Curry has been benched for a seventh-round receiver.

The team itself has lost all class, best shown in the embarrassing 29-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday in which the team celebrated every small play in the fourth quarter after being killed throughout the entire game.

Once again I state... The Bay Area deserves better than this.

Photo by Jeff Weisinger

Ohlone goalkeeper Iman Aghel watches as teammate Darwin Eng dives forward to keep the ball away from the MPC forward.

Add a ‘W’ to their record!

Men’s soccer wins first game

By Ankita Chhabra Sports writer Not only did the Ohlone Men’s Soccer team go from an 0-16 record to winning their first game last Friday against Mission College, they also started scoring goals in consecutive games.

With the boost in play offensively, their first victory brought great joy as they shut out Mission College 3-0 in Santa Clara.

Ohlone’s Danny Zermino scored their first goal, followed by one from Ivan Espinoza.

“There is no substiitution for hard work, and it finally came together for us at Mission,” said Espinoza

after the game, which ended on a goal by Daniel Galloway.

“The boys are doing very well now, they’re improving more than ever,” said Renegades Head Coach Don Williams, who put on a smile after earning his first victory.

Tuesday’s game against Monterey Peninsula College saw the newly driven Ohlone team start strong only to finish slow.

“Someone was going to come out this game shining,” said Monterey Peninsula College Head Coach Mike Bielski last Friday.

Shortly after the Lobos scored, Ohlone answered right back.

Renegades lead scorer Danny Zermino added to his team-leading

total with an assist from Darwin Eng in the first half.

Ohlone’s miscommunication caused the Renegades to lose control, as the Lobos created shot after shot.

Goalie Iman Aghel is gradually showing improvement game by game.

Now 1-16 on the season, the Renegades look to continue the steady improvement offensively and defensively to finish the season on a high note and have momentum going into next season, since state playoffs are out of reach.

The Men’s soccer team will travel to take on Las Positas College in Livermore today.

Women’s soccer rolls on; beats Cabrillo College 2-0

By Tomás Ortega Sports writer The Cabrillo College Lady Eagles came to Fremont on Tuesday looking for their second win in as many matches, but were met with a resilient Renegade defense, who walked away pitching a shutout 2-0.

Ohlone struggled in the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Lady Renegades settled down late in the first half when they opened up the

scoring as a free kick got loose and Ohlone’s Casey Tuoto got a handle on the loose ball to pick up the easy score in front of the goal.

The defense of both teams tightened from that point on.

Ohlone had a few good looks including back-to-back attempts by leading team scorer Fannie KolokoGreen, who was held to zero goals in this one.

Ohlone’s goalkeeper Danielle Anderson had a great game herself.

That was attributed to her defense stifling any shot attempt of Cabrillo’s forwards.

Ohlone’s second half offense was made up of Alissa Henderson.

Henderson received a cross at midfield and drove her way to the goal alone giving Ohlone an insurance goal and sealing the win at the same time.

“We wanted to beat them,” said Henderson after the game. “Last time we went to Cabrillo we didn’t play very well.”

Perfect no more: Women’s water polo handed first loss

By Tomás Ortega Sports writer Friday afternoon’s Women’s water polo game was a tough one to swallow, as Ohlone’s early 3-0 lead slowly slipped away.

Head Coach Jeffrey Bissell of Foothill College stated that games are “not won in the first quarter,” but how Ohlone managed to let this one slip away was somewhat hard to watch.

Ohlone goalie Sabrina Ruckli played extraordinarily well, coming up with big block after big block,

however she still gave up three goals late in the first quarter, two of which came from Foothill’s sophomore center Jenna Roe, who finished with a hat trick on the day.

Foothill rattled off four straight goals to go up 7-4 to start the second half and Ohlone wasn’t able to close the gap after Foothill’s four straight, and were handed their first conference loss on the season.

“We gained experience last week when we were down 6-1 and came back,” said Bissell. “There’s four quarters to play and we learned that games are not won in the first

quarter.”

With the loss, Ohlone, Foothill and West Valley College all share a 5-1 conference record heading into the final week of the season.

Ohlone head coach Don French didn’t seem upset after the game, although his team lost.

“They’re tough,” said French.

“We lost our best player due to fouls early. Not only is [Amy Lovelin] our best offensive player, she’s also our best defender.”

“They found the chink in our game and went for it,” French said after the game.