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Renegades end streak, still top-ranked
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Fremont, California
Vol. XXXVIX No. 15
OPINION
ASOC says ‘Welcome to spring semester’
SPORTS
OPINION
NEWS
Milk and cookies for students
Obama says funds coming for education – Page 2
Feburary 1, 2010
President sees bright spots amid cutbacks By Kyle Stephens Co-editor-in-chief
Photo by Ean Taijeron
Ohlone student Brad Ward purchases textbooks in the bookstore for his classes prior to first week of school.
Addressing staff and faculty during Friday’s back-to-school, stateof-the-college address, Ohlone President Dr. Gari Browning highlighted the many budgetary hurdles the school is facing, while focusing on some improvements and plans for the next five years. For instance, she pointed to: • A doubling of the value of Pell Grants awarded, from, $500,000 to $1 million. • Ohlone’s sports teams have won six conference championships in the last year, an unprecedented number • New facilities and retrofits, including new physics and engineering labs in Building 8.
• Diversity outreach to international students and sister schools in Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China. • ASOC has the largest number of senators ever, 29. ASOC President Kevin Feleciano has been elected Chair of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, Region IV. Also, ASOC’s Andie Morhous has been serving as Ohlone Legislative Representative to the State of California. On the downside, the state funding outlook for community colleges remains precarious, even though Ohlone has balanced its current budget through a combination of class reductions, furloughs for all workers, an increase in non-state funding and use of the $1 million Continued on Page 3
Kindle the fire against expensive textbooks By KATHRYN DIXON Staff writer In today’s economic crunch, students are looking for alternatives in purchasing bargin textbooks. Students trying to save money can go online and buy textbooks from online stores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Ohlone bookstore is where most students wait in long lines to get their textbooks on the first days of classes. According to Daniel Ho, who works at the bookstore, “We can arrange for some purchases online.” Ohlone student, Brad Ward said,“The reason I bought my books
at the bookstore is the convience and the 50 percent buyback.” Students can also arrange to sell and buy their books online using such outlets as eBay. However, the future of textbooks may involve rentals. The Barnes & Noble College Bookstore is now running a pilot rental program for books at more than 600 college campuses including Fresno State University. A student can save up to 75 percent off the cover price in this program. Ohlone is not yet a part of this program. The growing trend in publishing is the ebook. The Ohlone bookstore does not currently offer any
ebooks. However, some ebooks can be accessed through the Ohlone library, the Fremont public library and through other web sites. Most ebooks can be read by logging into a website and looking at the book its PDF version, web, or word format. For those who want to hold an ebook in their hand, there are devices such as the Kindle. Amazon is supplying some textbooks via ebooks. However, it requires that they be downloaded on a Kindle ebook reader, which costs at least $259. Amazon sells general fiction and nonfiction books on Kindle for
Waste spending gets trimmed By KATHRYN DIXON Staff writer Downsizing is one way to save money, considering that Ohlone College is facing a $1.2 million budget deficit in 2010. Ohlone has previously cut some programs and eliminated the courses offered by 22 percent during summer 2009 and by 10 percent for fall ’09 and spring ’10 terms. Salaries and wages have been voluntarily slashed about 4 percent across the board. Another way to reduce the expenses is to cut back without depleting the quality or
quantity of goods and services that Ohlone provides. According to Joanne Schultz, Business dean, Ohlone has cut overall expenditures by $257,000 throughout the college’s departments last year. But, can even more money be saved in the long term? Mark Robbins, the director of Purchasing and Contracts, said, “With an operating budget of $50 million, my department negotiated over 75 major contracts in ’09, cut costs and intend to do so in the new year. One way that Robbins hopes to achieve this goal is through
e-commerce and e-procurement. These methods will require faculty, administration and students to sacrifice by assessing what supplies they really need in order to fulfill their academic goals. Robbins has replaced a failed online requistion system with a new user-friendly online system created in Datatel’s Colleague User Interface. The system reduces the amount of data entry, allows departments to track status of orders, and looks up vendor information. It improves turn-around time. Cynthia Banuelos, the buyer who Continued on Page 4
$9.99, which is less than purchasing them for the usual $25 hardbound price. The lowest price for the new iPad, which also is an ebook reader, is $499. There are other ebook readers available besides Kindle and iPad. They can all be purchased online. Amazon has reached agreements with three major textbook publishers to provide books for Kindle users: Pearson Education, Cengage Learning and Wiley Higher Education. This year, six colleges and universities will test Kindle textbooks with their students -- Pace, Arizona State, Case Western Reserve,
Princeton, Reed College and the University of Virginia. To obtain a bargain-priced textbook, it is vital to obtain the name, publisher, year of edition edition of the textbook required for class. Then a student can research the prices of the book in the Ohlone bookstore on its shelves or online. The Ohlone library also has a collection of textbooks and materials that can be utilized free. This helps so that students can access the information they need without paying for it. The Ohlone Bookstore will start to buy back used textbooks from students starting on Feb 1.
Hands-on learning By ARMILENE C. ABUCAY Contributing writer Students in the last semester’s “Math & Science Teachers Seminar’’ got some realistic teaching experience. While they presented their practice lessons to the class, the “students’’ threw paper airplanes, talked on their cell phones, and took naps. It was a lesson in student engagement, appropriate consequences for misbehavior and the importance of excercising patience in the face of challenges. Limited to 10 students, the class was part of the California Teach/ Science & Mathematics Initiative taught by Tania Manning. Education 105, provided prospective secondary math/science teachers with history, materials, assessments, and hands-on experience. For information, contact Dean Mikelyn Stacey at mstacey@ohlone. edu.
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Opinion
monitor February 1, 2010
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
Editors in chief: News editor: Opinion editor: Features editor: Sports editor: Photo editor: Online editor: Staff writers: Ad manager: Ad staff: Adviser: Printer:
Jeff Weisinger Kyle Stephens Manika Casterline Anna Biaritz Roldan Jillian Sanchez Nick Zambrano Jacque Orvis Max Stephens Katheryn Dixon Denise Burgan Ean TaiJeron Anna Biaritz Roldan Christy Marovich Bill Parks 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
Change we can feel (and need) in our pockets By Manika Casterline News editor The question that the American populace always has toward our federal government is: “What can they do for us?” President Barack Obama addressed some of our needs as students in his first State of The Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Obama said, “In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to
banks for student loans. Let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants.” This legislation, were it implemented, would help students to afford tuition. Also, those tax dollars funding such programs would not be indirectly funneled to students through loans from banks. Obama also said, “Let’s tell another one million students that, when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will
be forgiven after 20 years, and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.” He stated that efforts to solve this problem should not only come from the government but also from the colleges and universities aswell. Colleges and universities should also take responsibility by cutting down on their costs. The sweeping reform of higher education is intregal in preserving
the future state of this union. In order to remain competitive globally, capital needs to be invested into overhauling the present system of education. The administration’s policy is going in the right direction. When Obama was a candidate, he evoked rhetoric of bringing change to Washington. With the heated debate over domestic and foreign policy, some are quick to critize that the status quo of politics, including education reform, is still business as usual.
Obama answered this, saying“In the end, it’s our ideals, our values that built America, values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe, values that drive our citizens. “These aren’t Republican values or Democratic values that they’re living by, business values or labor values. They’re American values.” This address exhibited Obama’s greatest gift: the ability to bring a diverse group of individuals together.
ASOC welcomes students to the spring semester By Kevin Feliciano ASOC President Welcome back! Hope you all had a good holiday break. I am Kevin Feliciano, president of the Associated Students of Ohlone College (ASOC) Student Government. The ASOC is your voice to the college administration. The ASOC Student Government exists to represent students’ needs, wants and concerns. The ASOC is a great way to get involved at Ohlone. You can join as a senator and learn valuable leadership and networking skills desired by both four-year universities and employers. Applications can be picked up from the Campus Activities window on the second floor of the new Student Services
Center Building 7 between today and Tuesday, Feb. 16. To join, you must be available on Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m., have a 2.00 cumulative GPA, or be a new student at Ohlone and carry five units. For more information, stop by the Campus Activities Window, e-mail the ASOC and come to one of the Senator Information Meetings on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. or Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. in Building 7, Room 7101. During the winter break the ASOC completed the cafeteria modernization project. We have replaced the furniture, upgraded the acoustics and painted the space to make it more appealing to students. I encourage you to attend the Cafeteria Grand Opening event on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 11 a.m.
in the Cafeteria. This event will consist of a dedication ceremony followed by “Bingo Ballin!” This event is co-sponsored by Campus Activities. This semester has a lot to offer Ohlone students. The Inter Club Council will be holding its bi-annual Club Days event called “Club Days: Casino” on Tuesday, Feb. 23 and Wednesday, Feb. 24 from 11a.m. to 1p.m. in the Cafeteria. This is your chance to explore the different clubs on campus. Each club will host its own table, free food, music and games. For more information, you can e-mail Ngan Vu, ASOC vice president, at ASOCVicePresident@Ohlone.edu. Come check it out! The ASOC has been working diligently with the Ohlone College Civic Engagement Club to fight
against the statewide education budget cuts – Ohlone’s budget has been cut $3 million overall. We are doing our best to limit more cuts in the future and possibly turn things around at the state level. Along with other colleges in the state, we have set up a program this year to bring students from campus to march in Sacramento at the state’s capitol on March 22. Ohlone joins thousands of other students, faculty, and staff throughout the state to fight for education. Be sure to look for budget cut awareness events on campus this semester in order to gear up for our march in March 2010. In April, the ASOC Student Government will hold its annual elections to elect new ASOC executive officers for 2010 – ’11. Look for more details soon.
In addition, the ASOC has partnered with local businesses to offer students discounts. All you have to do is show your ASOC student I.D. card. You can get your ASOC student I.D. card at the I.D. window located at the Campus Activities and ASOC office in Building 7 on the second floor. On behalf of the ASOC, I’d like to wish you all the best of luck this semester at Ohlone. If you have a need, want, or concern please do not hesitate to stop by the Campus Activities and ASOC windows on the second floor of Building 7, call us at 510-659-6063, send us an email at ASOC@Ohlone.edu, or visit us on the web at http://www.ohlone. edu/org/asoc and at http://www. theasoc.com. Have an amazing semester at Ohlone!
Campus Comment > > How has the rain affected your routine?
Shirin Maskatia
Nora Qutob
ENGLISH PROFESSOR
UNDECIDED
“I stayed home and read a novel instead of coming to campus”
“I have to leave home earlier to get to work on time.”
Danielle Sevis UNDECIDED
“I have to leave home 20 minutes earlier to get to school.”
Hannah Nguyen
Paige McCutcheon
BIOLOGY
ENGLISH
“I have to drive more carefully.”
“Parking has been harder.”
Campus Events
February 1 Art Gallery Exhibit continues: Pergamon Large academic drawings of the Pergamon Altar by Rob Anderson, instructor at the Atelier School of Classical Realism. These drawings were made from direct observation. Open all day at the Louie-Meager Art Gallery, Smith Center 1 Student Services Regular Hours are in effect. (Due
to budget cutbacks and filled classes, Spring 2010 Extended Hours for Student Services is CANCELLED) 1 Spring 2010 Registration begins for Kingergarten-9th grade students 1-3 Book Buybacks at the Ohlone College Bookstore 2 Inter Club Council (ICC) meeting in Room 6105, Fremont campus, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
2 Women’s Softball away vs. Modesto College at 3 p.m.
2 ASOC meeting in Room 6105, Fremont campus, 4-5 p.m. 3 Auditions: Student Rep at the NUMMI Theatre, Smith Center, 2 - 5 p.m. 3 Nursing Orientation schedule for Fall 2010-
Spring 2011 Program All students must arrive promptly at 3 p.m. and check in. Bring a photo ID. No one will be admitted after the orientation begins. Due to limited seating, only prospective students will be allowed to attend. No guests, children, or strollers will be admitted. Room NC-2100, Ohlone College, Newark campus, 3:30-6 p.m.
February 1, 2010 monitor
3 Faculty Senate meeting, Room 7101, Fremont campus, 3:30- 5 p.m. 3 Campus Tour starts on the second floor of Building 7, outside of Admissions & Records on the Ohlone College Fremont campus Sign up to reserve a space. 3 Women’s Basketball away vs. Hartnell College.
Rainy day fund is gone Continued from Page 1 “rainy day fund.” Browning said the “Rainy Day Fund” is gond, and the school will need to save up for a new fund, but various grants and money saving ideas will help generate income
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through the coming problems and into better financial days. Planning for beyond the crisis is a priority for Browning, with the new master plan for the period of 2010-2015, and efforts to formulate it are in full stride.
Free milk and cookies By MANIKA CASTERLINE News editor Free cookies and cocoa are being offered as a welcome treat to kick off the Spring 2010 semester. Cookies and cocoa will be available from 11 a.m to noon in the cafeteria foyer from Feb. 1 to Feb. 3. They will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis and advise you have some while supplies last. Campus Activities is running the event as part of Welcome Week.
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
Monday, February 1, 2010
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Chabot ends Ohlone win streak at 11 Chabot wins at Ohlone for second straight year By Jeff Weisinger Co-editor-in-chief It’s been a while since the Ohlone Men’s basketball team went undefeated in conference play, and after Wednesday night’s 64-53 loss to rival Chabot, the Renegades will still have to wait for a chance to finish undefeated in the Coast Conference North. “We’ve gotten accustomed to winning,” said Renegades Head Coach John Peterson. “But Chabot played great. It was an identical game to last year.” The Gladiators’ 11-point win marks the second consecutive season that Chabot has come to Ohlone and defeated the Renegades at home. Ohlone won the prior three matches against the Gladiators at home since 2005 before falling to Chabot last year 71-65. “It’s a big win for us,” said Chabot Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dennis Aye. “We’re trying to compete in conference as well as get ready for the playoffs.” Ohlone started conference play with a 5-0 Coast conference North record going into Wednesday night's matchup. The loss put Ohlone at 5-1 in conference play, tying them with Foothill for first place in the Coast Conference North, with just six games left to play in the regular season. Yet despite the loss, the Renegades are still off to one of their best starts of a season in recent years, now riding a 16-4 overall record. They started the season 5-0 before losing back-to-back games in the Shasta College tournament and then to Cabrillo College back on Nov.
25, then went on to rip 11 in a row until Wednesday night. “(The loss) will only hurt if we don’t bounce back,” Peterson added. The Renegades didn’t help themselves at all on the court Wednesday night, shooting a mere 39.2 percent from the court, including going an embarrassing 9-for-26 from the court in the second half. That 39.2 shooting percentage is also the worst that Ohlone has
John Peterson shot in any of their four losses this season. In their three-game losing streak back in late November, the Renegades shot at least 43 percent or better in the losses. “We had to do a better job of keeping our composure and shots would fall,” Peterson said. “Some of them were good shots that didn’t go in, but some shots were shots where guys were pressing. And the more we missed, the more we struggled defensively.” The 53-point total for the Renegades is also the lowest point total for Ohlone this season. Ohlone scored 56 at Foothill in a 56-52 win back on Dec. 20. “The effort level was embarrassing,” Peterson said. “That was the frustrating part. I think the effort level went down as the game went
on.” “We know Ohlone’s very physical, very fast and play tough,” Aye added. “Given that, I thought we played well.” Ohlone led throughout most of the first half, starting the first five minutes of the game on a roll to an early 11-4 lead. However, the Gladiators would fight back to come within one point, 15-14 with 10 minutes left in the first half. The Renegades would go up by seven after Demetrius Love’s layup with just under seven minutes remaining, but Chabot would fight back again off Jason Rockwell’s three-pointer with 1:03 left, tying the game at 28. Chabot would take the lead in the final seconds of the half off a free throw by Meka Ezekwesili, and a last-second layup by Mark Stevenson to go up 31-28 at the halftime. Stevenson finished with a game-high 26 points for Chabot on the night while Ezekwesili finished with four points, two of which coming on free throws. Quaran Johnson would bring the Renegades within one, 33-32, early on in the second half, but the Renegades would never take the lead back, pulling within one three times in the second half, and tying the game once at 44 off Love’s three-pointer. Johnson led the team on the night with 17 points while Love finished with six. Yet, once Chabot’s Derrick Bruce hit his jumper to break the tie, giving the Gladiators the 46-44 lead, Chabot never looked back, holding off the Renegades for the win. Ohlone battled for first place in the CCN against Foothill on Friday. Scores were not available at time of publication. Ohlone will travel to Feather River CollegeonThursday,Feb.4beforereturning home to take on Canada on Saturday, Feb. 6 in Epler Gymnasium.
Photos courtesy of Don Jedlovic Quaran Johnson’s 17 points were not enough to overcome Chabot. John Peterson, left, was not happy with his team’s play Wednesday.
A penny saved is a penny earned for Ohlone Continued from Page 1 who works with Robbins implemented and processed 1,526 purchase orders. These purchase orders were valued at over $12 million in 2007-’08 and he did comparative shopping regarding those orders. He continued with this process during 2009. Now, as more purchase orders go online, the buying procedure is running more effectively because of streamlining the process. It also decreases wasteful spending and benefits the consumer. There is more time left to focus on combing the internet for the lowest prices and checking community vendors’ rates. Robbins is also using a “just in time” system for ordering office supplies. A department can place online orders and this was implemented by a purchasing consortium. It’s based on the principle that a group can combine their power to have more clout in negotiations for lower prices from vendors. Ohlone has such a consortium in place.
The Foundation for California Community Colleges has obtained the lowest bid for office supplies from Office Depot. The foundation conducted what is called a reverse auction – companies did online bid-offs for the types of items, which the Foundation posted online that it wanted to buy, and suppliers bid for the contract. The foundation selected the lowest bidder – Office Depot. The procedure for online shopping is convenient. Ohlone submits a requistion for its estimated annual purchase and obtains a blanket purchase order from Office Depot. Each department at Ohlone has an online account with Office Depot. Robbins encourages administrators, faculty and staff to take advantage of additional discounts on commonly used items called “best buys,” which are available on the company’s website. Once a purchase is made, the supplies are typicallly delivered within 72 hours. These simple actions of utilizing technological advances contributes
to the ease of acquiring supplies. And this goes a long way in helping the college save money. That money can be allocated in order to fund other projects and for other materials that are necessary. In this case, a penny saved is a penny earned. Robbins has also instituted a wider distribution of CalCard credit cards to staff and faculty to use for routine purchases that don’t require his prior approval. The CalCards decentralizes the procurement process, thus reducing the purchasing staff’s workload, so that they can concentrate on comparison buying and contract procurement. In order to get the most bang for the buck, Robbins is also cutting costs by using a new state law. Ohlone has elected to participate in the Uniform Public Construction Act. This particular piece of legislation allows Ohlone to solicit informal bids for construction projects valued between $30,000 and $125,000. Ohlone was required to use
formal sealed bidding procedures for contracts valued over $15,000 before this law was enacted. Now such requests for proposals, which were required prior to the utilization of this were often time consuming and expensive to generate. Contracts can now be negotiated and evaluated on other criteria. Now he can focus on making sure that the project will be “built to industry standards.” Robbins expects Ohlone to engage in at least 75 contracts next year and possibly more if the underground water intrusion project is funded by the state legislature. The project has not been submitted because of the lack of state funding during the economic crisis. Robbins is hopeful that state money will be released “little by little over the next year so that this project can go forward.” Robbins and his staff are also contributing to Ohlone’s finances. His department is also a revenue center with some nonbuying responsibilities. It contracted with a new snack
vending company for new machines at higher commissions. It also negotiated with Fresh & Natural to provide food services at the Newark campus, the proceeds of which are directly distributed to the ASOC. The people in the purchasing department are no longer backoffice types who haggle prices and fill supply closets. They are now up front, using high tech, finance, the law, and entrepreneurship to cut costs for Ohlone. The purchasing and contract department is playing a visible role in shaping the finances and the future of our college. With the fiscal quandaries that Ohlone faces, the purchasing and contracts department has excercised a means in lowering costs for the administration and faculty. Robbins has worked for Ohlone for three years. His background is in business administration. Prior to Ohlone, he worked a combined 20 years for community colleges and for a Cal State University.