Monitor 2010-3-4

– Page 5

Vol. XLI No. 5

Browning responds to forum – Page 6

Basketball teams advance to playoffs – Page 8

Fremont, California

OPINION

SPORTS

NEWS

FEATURES

Noise Pop goes boom in the Bay

A suggestion that could save money – Page 2

March 4, 2010

‘WE’RE SHRINKING!!’

Photo by Amy Kent

Associate VP of Human Resources Shairon Zingsheim, Ohlone President Gari Browning, and Mike Calegari, VP of Administrative Services addressed Ohlone’s current fiscal situation at a Budget Forum Monday at the Jackson Theater.

Browning said, “We are shrinking. We are shrinking in response to state cuts.’’

Up to 5 layoff notices to be sent by March 15

By KATHRYN DIXON Staff writer President Gari Browning projects that Ohlone will face a $ 2.5 million budget deficit in 2010-’11. This is a projection that is based upon future decisions by Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, the state legislature and federal government that are to be made in the midst of the recession. To close the $2.5 million gap, the college set forth various options at the Budget Forum in the Jackson Theater on Monday.

Ohlone will replace CIG, a company it contracts with to manage Internet technology at the campuses. CIG employs three people.

Last year, the amount paid to CIG was reduced from about $900,000 to $600,000. This year, the college will hire a new Associate Vice President in charge of IT for about $138,000 plus benefits and probably manage two other employees, with a cost savings of an estimated $300,000 over the cost of using CIG. There were only two certain options put forth by the administration. First, that the college will save $500,000 in materials, supplies, and services as it did last year. Second, the Ohlone will give layoff notices to no more than five counselors on March 15, the legal

deadline for doing so.

Takakuwa said, “We are all teachers in adThe Board of Trustees meets on March dition to counseling. We teach study skills, 10 and the layoffs will be part of the agenda. career planning, career testing, and how to The board will vote to ratify or not ratify the succeed in college. I think this matter of the notices. As of press time, the college shows layoffs could have been anticipated earlier not intention to back down in issuing the by the administration and there could have notices despite the firestorm of shock and been college-wide discussion, planning and dismay among faculty and staff strategies in advance of having that these counselors will suffer to give notices.’’

“It is my At the Budget Forum, Rob the pain of potential layoff. responSmedfjeld, math professor, Regarding the layoff notices, sibility to criticized President Browning President Browning said, “It is my keep the for hesitating to reveal who responsibility to keep the college college among the faculty are going to fiscally sound.’’ fiscally receive layoff notices and the “We have an idea about how to sound.’’ amount of money to be saved be able to close the gap and avoid from any such layoffs. He said layoffs. However, we don’t know --Browning to waves of applause from the what will happen with state fundaudience,“You had to have ing and with negotiations. Because known that this is why we are of that we can’t avoid the option of giving notices. However, we do have the here -- to hear these things.’’

Browning replied in part, “We don’t have time to avoid these layoffs.’’

According to Wayne Takakuwa, a coun- any proposal to notice classroom faculty at this selor, his department includes four general time, nor do we have any proposal to notice counselors, four counselors in Disabled Stu- educational administrators, because both of dents Programs and Services (DSPS), one those areas are much depleted as are librarmental health counselor and one Extended ians. You saw the numbers in response to the Opportunity and Services Program (EOPS) SERP (early retirements). No counselors took SERPS. The number of counselors we have counselor.

at this time is 20. Our class offers, student enrollment, and headcount are all down.’’

Browning continued, “We have to respond by reducing student services where possible.

Again we are only considering notices, we are going to continue to work to find out possible solutions. Our counselors are doing incredible things for students. But the number of counselors we have had in the past has been designed for growth, designed when times were better. Cuts from the state are draconian and are targeting student services to the most fragile students.’’

According to Ron Travenick, VP of Student Services, who is working on demographics, there has been about a 5 percent decrease in student population, in part because there are fewer classes available for students.

Mike Calegari, VP of Administrative Services, projected that the 2010-’11 will have a $2.5 million deficit. He made it clear that is a projection based on the governor’s speech about community college funding in January and based upon the Legislative Analyst’s report of last week and based on Ohlone’s prior budget experience.

He anticipates that the deficit at the close of the 2009-’10 budget year will be $300,000 Continued on Page 6

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Opinion

monitor March 4, 2010

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Editors in chief: Jeff Weisinger

Kyle Stephens News editor: Manika Casterline Opinion editor: Anna Biaritz Roldan Features editor: Jillian Sanchez Sports editor: Nick Zambrano Photo editor: Jacque Orvis Online editor: Max Stephens Staff writers: Ean Tajeron Tina Karimi, Noah Levin, Nazia Mastan, Kathryn Dixon, Christy Marovich, Cyndy Patrick, Beena Dhonchak, Cynthia Velasquez, Blair Ruppert, Dave Sheffer, Jessie Worden, Hyder Abkhan, Nichele Ryles Photographers: Alex Glanville, Japneet Kaur, Denesha Zago, Allie Drago, Amy Kent, Kevin Williams, Joseph David, David Epperson Sophia Vaughn, Kevin Yin, Joseph Rivera, Joseph Fiorez, Jessie Worden Ad manager: Anna Biaritz Roldan Ad staff: Christy Marovich Inez Black

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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.

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Opinion

Ohlone needs to lay out all of its cards now

By Jeff Weisinger Editor-in-chief and MANIKA CASTERLINE News editor If you haven’t realized it by now, Ohlone’s in pretty bad shape financially.

And there isn’t a thing we can do about it.

Since last fall, more than 150 sections have been cut, the men’s and women’s basketball teams have had their seasons shortened, along with baseball and softball, and tennis has been cut from Ohlone after a one-year stint (not too big a surprise, but still, RIP Ohlone tennis.)

Last Monday’s budget meeting was supposed to keep the college informed on what’s going on with “The State of Ohlone,” especially during the current budget crisis.

Yes, the entire state of California is in a rut, but we’re not talking about California right now, we’re talking about Ohlone. Just a reminder.

In the beginning of the semester at the State of the College address, Ohlone College President Dr. Gari Browning described how she wanted to lead a more “transparent” administration, meaning she wanted to be more open about what’s going on with Ohlone. Much like how former Ohlone President Dr. Doug

Treadway was.

Safe to say, her idea of transparency makes her seem more opaque.

With a $2.5 million deficit, Ohlone is now planning to lay off five counselors.

The irony of all this is that the counselors were not notified of this plan of action before the meeting began, thus straying away from “The Ohlone Way.” Ohlone usually works out ways to fix a budget without having layoffs. Layoffs were mentioned back in the fall, but were avoided in November in which Ohlone decided to work around layoffs and cut classes and other programs instead.

There’s no specifics on how much the college will save. Come time that these counselors will be given the boot, what can be said is that nobody is happy with how things are turning out.

Those people who are not happy include the Ohlone student population who, if anything, have suffered the most from everything from the budget and our own administration.

Yes, the student population doesn’t make the six figures that the administration does, but when 150 sections are cut since last semester and with the summer semester getting cut in half just

about, the students are the ones truly suffering.

Then you toss in the plans to cut counselors, making less counselors available for students, counselors who help the students move on past Ohlone.

Last fall, students protested that Ohlone not cut the Transfer Center when word got out that the Transfer Center would be shut down.

Long story short, once again, it’s the students that get affected the most through all the cuts. What Ohlone decides to cut, or who they decide to lay off drastically affects the students in the end.

Continued on Page 3

Going organic can help resolve carbon emissions

By Tina karimi Staff writer It is safe to say that going green is near the top of everyone’s priority list these days. It certainly is for me. The way I see it, you can never be too prepared—especially when faced with the threat of melting polar ice caps. So I recycle, I take public transit and I walk wherever I can, hoping to minimize my carbon footprint. Many other conscientious people do the same. But little did I know that, despite all my efforts at sustainable living, I was still committing a major eco sin:

I eat beef and I cannot bring myself to give it up, even for the sake of Mother Nature herself.

Cows and other ruminants, like sheep and goats, are notorious among the green-minded community for producing copious amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide.

According to the United Nations, livestock is one of the top environmental concerns and causes 18 percent of the worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. This means that your In-N-Out hamburger contributes more to global warming than all the planes and cars on the planet.

The most environmentally friendly response to this information would have been to abstain from red meat altogether—but for those of us who cannot bring ourselves to completely give up steak forever, there is another option.

Many environmental activists have recommended turning to grass-fed cows.

Most of the beef on market today is grain-fed: the cows are fed corn and soy, and are injected with hormones to fatten them up more quickly. They are crammed onto pastures doused in pesticides and fertilizers. The growth of feedlots

has led to acres upon acres of grassland and forest being razed to accommodate the grain needed to feed the cows. This contributes to the overall carbon footprint of a grain-fed cow, as the fertilizer needed to grow these crops constitutes a massive amount of fossil fuels.

A grass-fed cow, on the other hand, will be raised on native grasses—eliminating the need for harmful chemicals and deforestation. Although some studies have shown that grass-fed cows produce more methane than feedlot cows, grass-fed cattle have a much lower

carbon footprint overall. Grass-fed cows produce healthy spoil that keeps carbon dioxide under the ground and out of the air. Grass-fed beef is also healthier than grain-fed feedlot beef, as the former is high in omega-3 fatty acids, also found in salmon, and low in saturated fat.

Yes, grass-fed beef can be hard to find, though “green” markets such as Trader Joe’s do stock it, and it is often more expensive than grain-fed beef. But in the long run, paying extra for the meat pays off. You get a healthier body and a healthier environment—and what could be better than that?

Campus Comment > > > How should California balance its budget?

Ghezal Faizy NURSING

“They should not take too much from schools.”

Farah Faizy

Michael Flatrey

BIOLOGY

UNDECIDED

“They should give people medicare and insurance.”

“Legalize marijuana.”

John Lang

Vivian Mejia

KINESIOLOGY

NURSING

“Less money on jails and more money on education.”

“They should alocate the money properly.”

News

March 4, 2010 monitor

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World Forum on Congo: conflict, hope

By Denise Ann Burgan Staff writer Passionate about women’s health and security, guest speaker, Bridget Nolan, an international expert on displaced populations, spoke on the theme of “Conflict and Hope’” in the Congo at Tuesday’s World Forum series.

Nolan recently returned from Paris, France after six months of studying French, the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

She is currently awaiting security

clearance so as to begin working with the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service.

The former director of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention took the stage after an introduction by Ohlone President Dr. Gari Browning.

Nolan discussed what has been deemed “The World’s Deadliest War,” in which an estimated 5.4 million people have been killed.

And the war continues.

Nolan continued with her personal account of the repercussions the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has had on the

women in the region.

Coined “the curse of the Congo,”the resources have been highly sought after, resulting in human rights advocacy groups such as Heal Africa, Raise Hope for Congo and the Enough Project, stepping in to provide medical attention, as well as hope, to the victims of the violence brought on by the conflict.

Africa is resource rich with gold, diamonds, copper and coal, as well as 80 percent of the world's coltan reserve, a mineral necessary in the production of computers, laptops

and mobile devices.

Nolan said that trade in coltan has had “social effects akin to slavery,” not unlike the trade in rubber by King Leopold of Belgium had in the early 1800s.

Ohlone Associate Professor of English Mark Brosamer spoke briefly after Nolan’s presentation.

“Two years ago I was hard pressed to find the Congo on a map,” admitted Brosamer.

Since that time, Brosamer joined the Heal Africa campaign and volunteered his services as an interpreter.

His ability to speak French helped to facilitate communications between the medical staff and the women who had been brutally raped and victimized in the town of Goma.

“The thing that touched me most,” said Brosamer, “was the incredible hope and resilience of the people.”

“It doesn’t take a grand gesture,” continued Brosamer.

“Think outside the box. Being here today, you have already begun to chip away at the walls of your own box.”

We are sinking, not shrinking Continued from Page 2 The point of that matter is that the Gari Browning adminstration mirrors any other political adminstration: broken promises from politicians who promise change.

The only change I believe in is that the student body feels the lack of spare change padding their wallets.

She took the helm of this metaphorical ship in order to steer it in the right direction. And according to information given at the Budget Forum about our current financial status, we are not just shrinking.

What we really are is sinking. And not just Ohlone – the whole state of California.

The housing market crashed,

business is lousy, so there isn’t enough tax money to support services like education, but we won’t raise taxes and we don’t want to cut services either.

The legislature has utterly failed to come up with a solution. And Ohlone has to wait for the legislature to act before the college knows how much money it will have.

This is like the blind leading the blind. Obama was right – it’s time for a change. Except he hasn’t had much luck either.

The irony is that Ohlone is laying off counselors and cutting back on other employees who work directly with students, while at the same time it is hiring another vice president, who will be paid in

excess of $130,000. The new VP would handle IT as well as an IT support staff.

Even though this is supposed to save money in the long run, this is an addition of another administrator, a sixth vice president.

Another example of poor communication that Browning exhibited, was when ASOC VP Ngan Vu asked at the forum what would be the best way to inform the student body on what is going on.

Browning’s response was to tell Vu to regularly attend the ASOC meetings, which Vu already has to do as part of her ASOC duties.

There is a massive disconnect in what is being said versus the administrstion’s actions.

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Features

monitor March 4, 2010

Life & Style

By Ashley Mckenzie Culture Columnist

Hidden chefs A few weeks ago I had the privilege of going to my very first charity dinner. This particular event was called, “An Elegant Affaire,” hosted by the organization LOV. LOV’s particular goal that night was to raise money to bring multi-cultural and performing arts assemblies to local schools.

Our meal was prepared by people referred to as “hidden chefs,” all of them involved in their city or their city’s school system. In fact one of our own, Ohlone Trustee Garrett Yee, became Chef Garrett Yee for the night and made everyone dessert.

Even the waiters were volunteers.

I learned that the waiters were students from high schools in the area such as Logan, Washington, Newark Memorial and Mission San Jose to name a few. Two of the Mission San Jose students I spoke to, Eric Gan and Brian Ning, told me they were working this event representing the Leo club, and though they get school credit for participating, they were really there to help out, as they had already fulfilled their required 40 hours. Students like these quietly and efficiently circled the room, ensuring that every mouth in the room was busy enjoying their pre dinner snack.

The food overall was, in a word, spectacular. As soon as I walked in the door, delicately cut pieces of steak and tea sandwiches were being offered. The meal was served in five courses.

Our appetizer was called Empanda de espinaca. The crust was tender and flaky, housing spinach and cheese that melded together perfectly. Our pasta course was an Italian Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna Al Forno. The salad served was called Athens Greek Salad. Although it wasn’t really a Greek salad, it was very flavorful.

The only course that was disappointing was the main entrée, the American Pork Loin. There was nothing special or unique about it. Our final and best course in my opinion was the Parisian Chocolate Mousse. Served in red heartshaped bowls, this chocolate delight was the ideal consistency: light and fluffy. It was the perfect end to a fantastic evening.

This is titled, ‘March,’ one of Luk's favorite drawings, other than the one she’s currently working on.

Karen Luk, accomplished artist

By Sarah Hashemi Staff writer “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a common idiom use in everyday life. It is taught in grade school and used in casual conversation; yet, people still tend to peruse over a title without looking past a cover.

Karen Luk, whose title is the Student Services Assistant in the Placement Center, is a typical case of a judged book.

If one were to look deeper, they would realize that Luk is much more than an Ohlone staff member—she is an artist.

Luk’s start in the art world was where everybody starts painting: Kindergarten. Throughout the years, her passion grew and she continued painting.

Luk originally started off as an English major at Ohlone, taking both English and art classes but dropped English to further pursue art.

Her work displays her love for both storytelling and art, “I make comics, which is the marriage of writing the word and the picture.”

Her favorite materials to work with are watercolor and chalk pastel. Luk said her favorite piece, by far, is the one she is currently working on.

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tion of The New York Times.

Published was a self-portrait of her at Seabright State Beach, in Santa Cruz. Luk was recognized for manga, which she defines as Japanese comics, “It is a viable story telling medium.”

Her journey into The New York Times is an experience she calls surreal, especially since she was a completely random find.

The freelance journalist who discovered her simply searched manga artists in the Bay Area and happened to stumble upon some interesting artwork. Seeing Luk’s work, The New York Times contacted her and somewhat in disbelief, Luk accepted the task of painting a Photo by Jessie Worden piece specifically for them.

Luk would like her recent pubLuk is currently the Student Services Assistant at Ohlone licity in The New York Times to Luk completed her Associates has to pay to get them framed, pay domino out into more paid work, Degree in Fine Arts at Ohlone before to get into an art show and that still but she makes sure to not get her receiving her bachelors in Illustra- does not guarantee a sale. hopes too high.

Art as a career is a bumpy tion from the California College of In the mean time, Luk will conthe Arts. Luk’s main inspiration is, road—she puts a lot of effort, time tinue to work her day job and keep “Everyday life. Reality is stranger and money into her pieces, and can art a hobby—by teaching manga than fiction. A lot of the stories I possibly never get a sale. workshops at the Morgan Hill LiThis is why she has a day job at brary, entering art shows and simply tell are based off of my own life experience and folk tales—folk tales Ohlone. It allows her to pay her bills painting as she always has, until the from Europe and folk tales from and paint without having to worry day she is able to turn that hobby Asia.” Luk would like to further about how she were to pay her next into a career. her career in art, but she said it was bill or afford her next meal.

Students can view some of Luk’s Recently, Luk was published work, both manga and illustrations, difficult.

When finishing paintings, she in the Bay Area highlight sec- at her website: http://karenluk.net.

Features

March 4, 2010 monitor

5

Series breaks down urban legends and UFO’s

By Anika Dokes Staff writer Ohlone’s Psychology Club will be presenting and hosting one of the most interesting seminars in the Spring semester.

The club is happy to announce that this year they will once again have the Psychology Club Speaker Series.

The club’s mission is to promote psychology as a field and as a discipline by conducting field trips, oncampus activities and educational speakers.

Sheldon Helms, who is the adviser of the Psychology Club as well as a professor of psychology, said, “The club started the speaker series about a year ago and it was mostly because of my own irritation and going to other campuses and

university campuses especially and finding out they had these amazing speakers coming to talk to their students.”

“Eventually, I went to enough of those and I started thinking why can’t we have those at Ohlone and I spoke to the Psychology Club to come and speak to the club and eventually open it to other groups.”

Each semester, the psychology club holds various forums where speakers come and present their material that they have researched in their field.

In the Fall semester, the club invited two phenomenal psychologist speakers Kim Peek and Michael Shermer.

Based on his bestselling book, “Why People Believe Weird Things,” psychologist Michael Shermer applies his beliefs and in-

vestigations to scientific reasoning and unexplained phenomena.

Shermer also goes into great detail on what makes us believe in bigfoot, UFO’s, is ESP real, what causes mass delusion, what’s with UFO sightings and the unanswered questions that we are still unable to answer.

However, Sheldon also said, “We sold out the Smith Center which is over four-hundred seats and we thought, ‘how can we follow that up?’”

On the other hand, psychologist Kim Peek’s seminar was based on how he memorized hundreds of books, encyclopedias, phone directories, maps, songs and much more.

This coming April the Psychology Club will be having outstanding guest speaker/ psychologist Brian

Dunning.

Dunning is the creator of Skeptoid.com and hosts a weekly podcast in which he crucially examines spurious claims in a variety of areas.

His training and education in computer science has prepared him to do the kind of extensive research to attract an average of 100,000 downloads per week.

Skeptoid.com fully examines and has four basic types of popular pseudosciences which are: consumer frauds, urban legends, alternative medicine and conspiracy theories.

In his seminar, Dunning will share personal stories about nonscientific ideas, critically examine a wide range of pop-culture myths and urban legends from bigfoot, to conspiracy theories, to New Age healing techniques, health claims such as Homeopathic Medicine,

Detoxification Craze to other numerous and outrageous topics that no other psychologist would be willing to talk about.

Dunning also has two bestselling books, “Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena” and “Skeptoid Two: More Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena” The Ohlone Psychology Club is looking foward to once again present and have a Psychology speaker come next month, Apr. 16.

The seminar will be held at Jackson Theatre, Smith Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.

The club has other planned events in the future such as the “Evolution vs. Creationism” by Dr. Eugenie Scott and ‘The Importance of Sleep”

by Dr. William C. Dement.

For more information, please contact the Smith Center Box Of-

Bay Area bands featured at NoisePop

By Noah Levin Staff writer This February was indeed an eventful one with this year’s NoisePop Music and Film Festival.

The festival is an annual, citywide event where small, intimate venues across San Francisco showcase groundbreaking and popular local bands, film and art.

The bands featured in this year’s festival range widely in styles and influences, but the general focus in on the wider genre of “indie” music.

This is an umbrella term for unsigned, sometimes “against-thegrain” musicians and bands. Indie can include styles as diverse as electronica, folk, post-punk, garagerock, pop rock and even hip-hop and reggae.

The show on Friday was held at Slim’s, one of San Francisco’s best-known venues.

A large projection screen sat at the back of stage, with strange visuals and video clips playing behind the various acts.

The evening began with one my favorite local bands, BATTLE-

hooch.

The band performs an exciting blend of party music, retro psychedelic rock and electronic goofiness.

The attending crowd was initially thin, but as Battlehooch finished its all too brief set, the space had filled out more.

Following Battlehooch was the ’80s inspired band Butterfly Bones.

The lead singer Austin Fraser’s ethereal vocals and fiery guitar leads fit well over the band’s bouncing electronic retro beats.

It was during these melodic dance beats that I made my way to the green room, where I was lucky to catch some of the musician and talk shop with them.

Emerging from the narrow halls beneath Slim’s in San Francisco, the pulsing electronics beats of The Limousines coursed through me like the Red Bull I just slammed down in the green room back stage.

Limousines frontman Eric Victorino was grooving on stage, singing in a high, almost childish falsetto, augmented by Limousines' producer and composer Giovanni Giusti.

The band is a local sensation, as are the other acts that played Slim’s that night and other venues throughout the month of February as part of the NoisePop 2010.

Standing on the fringe of the now dense crowd, I nursed a cold beer as the final act, headliners Wallpaper, took the stage. Hailing from Oakland, the duo plays an infectious, tongue-in-cheek style of club rap and R&B. This concert was one of the last to play for the festival, but this year’s NoisePop surely won’t be the last.

The growing popularity of the genre and a newly emerging indie music industry means that NoisePop can expect more similar events popping up around the Bay Area and California.

So if you failed to catch the festival, try and pop over to the city to catch these bands before they leave town for respective tours.

More information about Noise Pop Industries, the producers of Noise Pop, The Treasure Island Music Festival and other events can be found at www.noisepopindustries. com and www.treasureislandfestival.com.

Photos by Samanta Conlon

Two of the bands featured at Noise Pop were Battlehooch and Butterfly Bones.

Former child prodigy Andrew Neiman performs

By Dave Sheffer Staff writer There was a sense of local boy done well in the audience as the theater filled to capacity waiting for Adam Neiman to enter the stage.

Neiman, who is originally from Fremont, reads as somewhat of a child prodigy.

At the age of 9 he won the Fremont Symphony’s Young Artist Competition and went on to tour in Germany and Italy all before the age of 18.

Neiman has had quite the successful career, with and Emmy nomination aw well as his music in a documentary.

The Fremont Symphony Orchestra is apparently struggling during these tough economic times and is having a $22,500 Challenge grant to raise money.

The first half of Neiman’s recital, which was held Feb. 27 at the Smith Center at Ohlone, was all Chopin pieces in honor of his 200th birthday.

The Chopin pieces were the highlight of the evening consisting of waltzes, nocturnes and a ballade.

The two waltzes were as the name would apply dance music.

The Waltz in C-sharp Minor Op. 64 No. 2 was the only tune mostly recognized.

The piece had a constant upbeat sound but then dramatically shifted

into a slower more melancholy melody only to pick back up at the end.

The second waltz was what Neiman described as a “riff” on a waltz because of how fast the song was played.

I enjoyed all the Chopin pieces partly due to the emotion that Neiman invested in his playing. During the slow, light parts of pieces his back would be vertical.

His hands would bounce off the keys into the air as if jumping for joy, conversely during the fast dark parts he was hunched over and practically throwing his body at the piano in a violent manner.

After intermission there was a

trio of Erude-Tableaus from Sergei Rachmaninoff that were songs based on paintings.

The second song was the only memorable song. Supposedly the song based on a painting of a riverboat man of the underworld.

The song was slow, sad and Neiman played the song as if in physical pain.

This led into Neiman’s own composed piece “Visions” a song he said came to him in a daydream.

While talking about this song Neiman mentioned how, “The best classical music created today is in films.” One of his pieces will featured be in an upcoming PBS documentary.

Unlike the previous songs, “Visions” lacked any unnecessary notes and seemed single focused in building up an epic sound.

This was different from the Chopin and Rachmaninoff pieces that he played that seemed to go all over the place before finding their primary melody.

Neiman ended with a Sonata by Serge Prokofiev that stretched out into the end of the evening.

The song was broken into four different segments that all managed to blend into one giant score.

Despite the light jokes told between songs, the overall performance was quite long but entertaining.

6 MONITOR

News

March 4, 2010

Practical solutions to a $2.5 million deficit proposed Continued from Page 1 that will be paid by the ‘‘rainy day fund,” which will then decline to $700,000.

In the 2010-‘11 budget, Ohlone will have to add back $200,000 in salaries paid for by Title III, which has lapsed, pay less than $130,000 for partial salaries of three employees who were paid with bond money.

The employment of some of these may be temporary. The bond is near depletion.

Calegari said he expects an increase in the PERS retirement contribution rate of one percent of the classified payroll. There will be an increase in medical premiums costs. Furlough savings must be added back.

There is a decline in interest regarding Ohlone’s cash reserves. It is necessary to backfill about $1 million because the state cut the grant to the Deaf Services Program.

Cuts in categorical programs are projected to remain at 15 percent although the state has cut them 32 percent or 62 percent, thus Ohlone must backfill the difference.

Ohlone anticipates a 2 percent deficit caused by the state’s decreased level of funding community colleges.

It anticipates a 0.38 percent negative cost of living allowance.

It’s projected that there will be hardly any federal stimulus funds to replace the $150,000 in these funds received last year.

To fill the $2.5 million budget gap for 2010-’11, Calegari laid out a series of options on a chart.

He stated that employees other than faculty must be given 45 days notice according to their contract and May 15 would be the final day to do so before the spring term ends.

So far, there has been no decision to give other layoff notices.

The options Calegari presented to solve the budget crisis included: freezing step and column wage increases for CSEA, SEIU, UFO,

and administrative employees, which would result in saving a total of $324,444.

A one percent wage decrease for these same employees would save $356,880. A one-day furlough for these same employees would save $59,116. A one-week furlough for these same employees would save $295,805. Calegari also listed on this chart savings regarding the medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans of the CSEA and SEIU employees.

This chart did not include the fact that faculty and administrative employees elected years ago to receive cash payment of about $8,900 yearly in lieu of having their medical, dental, vision and life insurance deducted from their wages as do CSEA and SEIU employees.

Shairon Zingsheim, Associate VP, Human Resources, presented a chart at the forum showing positions now vacated.

She is attempting to put back a few positions, which were vacated, by advertising the positions. Zingsheim noted that the positions would be modified to save money.

According to Calegari, 12 members of faculty took the SERP package and retired. The SERP offer last year was very successful, resulting in savings over $1 million.

Calegari is working on a Voluntary Severance Package to provide one-time compensation for those who volunteer to quit. The date of severance would be this June and it would probably be offered to all employees, except possible those in indispensable positions. The plan is in the formulation stage.

Calegari also addressed increasing revenues in 2010-‘11 at the forum. He said the international student program is expanding, which creates new revenues. And that community contract education, and renting facilities such as the pool and the Smith Center will increase revenues.

Photo by Amy Kent

“We are becoming a small college not by our own choice,” said President Gari Browning. “Enrollment and head count are down. The state is targeting the most fragile student population: categorical progams. ’’ There is a potential to develop Ohlone’s 37 acres of surplus property, a project which he intends to get back on track.

An active senior living facility backed by government funding is one proposal.

David Wood, an instructional assistant at the English Language Center in Hyman Hall complained that he and his colleague were visited by Zingsheim and their CSEA union representative and quizzed about working only 10 months

Response to Budget Forum President Gari Browning wrote the following as a response to the reaction from week’s Budget Forum.

The purpose of Monday’s forum was to share what budget information we have to date and to begin a dialogue focused on solutions and ideas for our future budget challenges.

After reflecting on the forum, it is obvious to me that the Ohlone College community is passionate about keeping the college operating at a high level of excellence to ensure student success and passionate about avoiding layoffs.

One of my principles in dealing with this budget situation is and has been to avoid layoffs, and I am committed to ongoing dialogue and negotiations to fill the gap without layoffs.

Recognizing our budget deficit is primarily payroll driven and must be resolved by payroll reductions, I have created a proposal as a starting point for working together to meet the 2010-2011 projected budget shortfall without layoffs.

Assuming a $2.6 million shortfall (which remember may very

well change), we could close it by offering an incentive for voluntary severance (in lieu of a SERP) which would need to net $350,000 to $500,000 in salary savings; a reduction in hourly counselors for $320,000 in savings; use of $500,000 of the rainy day reserve; and furloughs (from flex days for faculty) at 4 percent of the total college salaries for $1,400,000 in savings.

Because there are so many unknowns at this time, my initial proposal does not preclude the need to issue March 15 notices to a maximum of 5 counselors or the possibility of reducing staff and administrators that are not required to be noticed now. However, if we are able to make these adjustments or a combination that yields a similar total, we should be able to avoid or reduce layoffs. This proposal would give us flexibility needed to meet the changing budget situation.

As I am sure you understand, it is my responsibility to ensure the fiscal soundness of the District.

There are two potential threats to that. One is that although we all want to work something out to

avoid layoffs, any solution requires negotiation which can become complicated. The second is that we are at the mercy of the state budget and things could happen there to make our situation so bad that layoffs are unavoidable.

I recognize these are very challenging times for all of us and that looking forward I will need to make some difficult decisions to ensure the college remains fiscally sound.

I appreciate the viewpoints you shared on Monday and expect you to continue to voice your opinions.

As we move through the rest of the semester, I’ll be meeting regularly with the College Leaders and the College Council. We will have more forums as we get new information, and I will continue to post updates to our budget webpage.

Some of you have been emailing me your ideas; please keep that up.

Also understand that we need to respect the negotiating process and the process our Board of Trustees must follow.

Thank you all for the efforts you have put forth to maintain the quality of education at Ohlone and the services we offer to our students.

instead of 12, which he said is an illegal negotiation under their bargaining agreement.

Zingsheim disagreed with his view of the situation, stating that she was just trying to get to know these employees and discuss the impact of the summer cut backs at the Fremont campus.

Several CSEA employees in the biotech department experienced a similar scenario in which the option of working fewer months was discussed with them by Zingsheim.

She again disagreed with their viewpoint stating she was trying to get to know them and understand their situation.

Browning intends to hold more budget forums and other meetings to insure transparency of the budget process. She said she wants to refrain from cutting additional classes in the future.

According to Calegari, the next budget forum will most likely occur after the governor revises the state budget in May.

Senator resigns

By EAN TAJERON Staff writer Senator Jason Trinidad resigned his position of ASOC Parliamentarian on Tuesday.

Trinidad said, “I’ve enjoyed serving our student body, but I have many more responsibilities on my plate right now, and I won’t be able to continue upholding this position to the best of my abilities.”

The duties of the Parliamentarian include: interpreting the Constitution and Bylaws; oversee the Parliamentary procedures, the Brown Act which pertains to rights of public knowledge, Title 5, which regulates construction of school facilities, and the Education Code; and making sure that the council complies with all the above.

Trinidad has some words of wisdom for interested candidates.

Trinidad said, “Since you’ll have more to oversee and be responsible for, it is critical that you know your stuff, because everyone will be looking at the Parliamentarian during a situation.”

By the end of the next ASOC meeting, President Kevin Feli-

ciano will have appointed a new Parliamentarian from one of our 57 senators.

Currently, Ohlone has the largest student senate of all community colleges in California.

Also, the March on March 4 will take place in San Francisco. This is another march apart from the one on March 22.

There will not be any free transportation for this march. The rally will take place at City Hall, which is near the Civic Center BART Station, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Since there are people who will not be able to attend the march on March 22, March 4 provides more opportunities for people to show support to fight the budget cuts.

ASOC Legislative Representative Andie Morhous explained, “March 4 is the day of local action, so the major cities of California will be having their own local rallies.”

The purpose of both marches is to bring people together in order to voice their opposition the budget cuts.

This demonstrates that the needs of Ohlone students are a top priority to the ASOC that was elected to serve our priorities.

Sports/Campus Events Renegades split series vs. Solano March 4, 2010 monitor

Ohlone moves on Continued from Page 8 lay the ball in, giving Ohlone a 68-67 lead.

Contra Costa rushed the ball up to midcourt in a desperate effort to turn the tables, but Valenzuela stole the ball and was immediately fouled with 7.1 seconds still on the clock.

As the Comets were not yet over the bonus, they would need to foul one more time before forcing Ohlone to shoot free throws.

Ohlone inbounded the ball to Rogers, who was fouled roughly by Comets’ guard Zenaia Hunt.

Rogers hit three of her last four free throws in the game’s final seconds to close out Ohlone’s fourpoint, 71-67 win, sending them to the Regional Final, just one game away from the State tournament.

Rogers finished with 15 points and nine assists. Rubin had 25 points on 10/17 shooting. Martin ended up with 28 points.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to be in playoff position this year,” Rogers said after the game.

“Now that we’ve made it to the second round, it means a lot to have proved people wrong.”

Ohlone’s second round opponent will be arguably the state’s best community college team in top seeded City College of San Francisco.

CCSF defeated Ohlone during the regular season 69-46.

The game will be played in Saturday night in San Francisco at 5:30 p.m.

By Jeff Weisinger Editor-in-chief Twenty-five combined runs, 23 innings, three days and one extrainnings thriller. But no partridge in a pear-tree.

Then toss in the weather holding up, along with Ohlone and Solano splitting their two-game series, and we really can say that “everybody won.”

The Ohlone baseball team and the Solano Falcons split their doubleheader over the weekend, with the Renegades winning on Saturday 8-7 in 14 innings and Solano winning the second game 7-2.

The catch here is that Thursday’s game stretched into Saturday due to darkness after the 13th inning on Thursday.

The series started at Ohlone with freshman Mark Mercer taking the mound for the Renegades in his third career start. Mercer struggled a bit on Thursday, pitching just 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking and striking out two.

Falcons starter Joe Lewis shut down the Renegade lineup through 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four, this while striking out and walking five batters.

And then came the ninth inning.

After Matt Fontaine sat down Solano in the top of the inning, the Renegade lineup went to work.

Down 4-2, Ohlone catcher Michael Di Rocco led off the inning by reaching first on a throwing error,

Photo by Joseph Florez Kyle Holmstrom’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at four with Solano marked the second straight game that Ohlone rallied from behind. allowing him to advance to second. the 13th, Walterhouse’s shot fell three-run bottom of the 14th.

Kyle Holmstrom came up next and, just short of the fence.

The “second” game Saturday much like Ryan Walterhouse did at On Saturday, Solano picked saw the Renegade magic simply San Mateo, Holmstrom drilled a back up, driving in two runs in disappear, as Falcons starter Kenton Ben Consuelo pitch to right-center the 14th, one off a Derek Cren- Bevacqua held the Ohlone lineup to field for a two-run home run , tying shaw RBI single and the other off just two runs on seven hits through the game at 4.

Patrick Johnson’s run scored with 6 2/3 innings in the Falcons 7-2 Holmstrom’s home run marks two outs. win. the first time that Ohlone has come The Renegades offense picked up Renegades ace sophomore Roback in the ninth inning in back-to- also, with Ohlone driving in three- berto Padilla suffered his first loss back games. runs, including Zach Johnson’s of the season, struggling through 4 Ohlone had two more chances to two-RBI single, tying the game at 1/3 innings, while allowing six runs, win the game in extras, once in the 7, then Ohlone ended the game with five earned, on a season-high eight 11th inning after tying the game at Josh Vidal’s sacrifice fly, bringing hits allowed, although he struck 5, but Cody Foster popped out to home Stephen Lacombe for the out three and walked one batter center to end the inning. Then in win, capping Ohlone’s three-hit, on the day.

Read the Monitor Online at http://ohlone.edu/org/monitor or www.ohlonemonitoronline.com 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 Bia Roldan at (510) 659-6075 or e-mail monitorads@ohlone.edu

March 4 Speech Brown Bag Speaker : The Woman Warrior: A Multicultural Identity Performance

by Julia Salvador, Instructor of Communication Studies, from San Jose State University, Room 2133, 2- 2:30 p.m.

4 Men’s Baseball home vs.

Gavilan College, 2 p.m.

4 Women’s Softball home vs. Chabot College 3 p.m.

5 Men’s and Women’s Swim/Dive away vs. De Anza College 2 p.m.

6 Men’s Basketball Regional Final Playoffs all day.

6 Women’s Basketball Regional Final Playoffs all day.

6 Women’s Softball home vs. Cosumnes River College/Merced, all day.

6 Men’s Baseball away vs.

Hartnell College, Salinas, noon.

7 Ohlone Symphony Orchestra directed by Larry Osborne, presents

7

their first concert of the Spring featuring Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 for Wind Instruments (Gran Partita).

Jackson Theatre, 2 p.m.

7 Ohlone Wind Orchestra

presents a concert of new compositions. Jackson Theatre, 6 p.m.

8 SLOA Subcommittee meeting in Rm 1407 / NC1317 noon to 1 p.m.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Page 8

Ohlone crosses Shasta off postseason checklist

By Nick Zambrano Sports editor The long journey to the state title will continue for the Ohlone Renegades. This past Saturday, the Renegades opened up the regional playoffs in typical fashion as they

FINAL SCORE Shasta: 60 Ohlone: 75 Next game: Sat. Mar. 6, vs. Yuba 7 p.m. rolled past Shasta College, 75-60.

The Shasta Knights won their bid-game against West Valley College back on Feb. 24 to earn the match-up with Ohlone.

Ohlone Head Coach John Peterson stated before the match-up that he wanted to see more of a “man defense” in the postseason.

According to Peterson, the Renegades have not played a man-to-man defense in their last four games.

“I thought we defended well,” said Peterson. “They present some problem with the player movement but I think overall we did a pretty good job. I mean 60 points is 60 points.”

As the first half moved forward, the Ren-

Photo by Nick Zambrano

Driving hard: Ronnie Sawyer attempts to finish a difficult lay-up. He finished the contest with 12 points.

egades saw their lead expand and at the end of the first 20 minutes, they led 37-26. Shasta had only three leads in the half, all of which were simple one-point exchanges.

Reggie Jones lit up the scoreboard in the first half with 11-point output. He finished the contest with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

The 11-point lead at halftime kept growing in the second half. With 10:30 left on the clock, the Renegades opened up a 17-point deficit. Unfortunately for Shasta, things got worse when the Renegades grabbed a 70-51 lead with five minutes left to play.

Guard Scott Clark had 10 of his 15 points in the latter half. He was 6-10 from the field but also went 3-6 from the three-point land and had a team-high eight assists.

“It was a good effort,” said Clark. “My teammates were able to get me the ball in good positions and I was able to knock down the shots. It was good to finally have that happen in the playoffs right now.”

Along with the efforts of Jones and Clark, Ronnie Sawyer was 5-6 from the free-throw line and finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Despite grabbing just three boards, Lavon Gray grabbed eight points for himself.

After making short work of Shasta, Ohlone was right back to work in Epler Gym as they prepare for a “Sweet 16” showdown with the Yuba College 49ers on Saturday, March 6.

The eighth-seeded 49ers come into the contest fresh off a 65-62 win against Sequoias on Feb. 25.

Yuba finished first in the Bay Valley Conference where they went 25-4 overall. They also posted a conference record of 15-1.

Tip-off Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Swim teams return for home meet

By Kevin Yin Staff writer

Photo by Alex Glanville

On their mark: Swim season began this week.

The Ohlone College men’s and women’s swim teams each competed in two meets last week.

On Friday afternoon, Ohlone met College of San Mateo. The men’s team prevailed 130-58, while the women’s team fell, 112-66.

The men who won eight of the meet's 11 events with a manifold effort, as seven different Ohlone swimmers took first place in individual events.

On Saturday, Ohlone hosted the 2010 Norcal Pentathlon. Scores of men and women from seven different colleges met in Fremont.

Although the action on both the men’s and women’s side was dominated by Santa Rosa Junior College, Ohlone managed to post some strong results.

Jason Corbett was superb for the men’s squad, finishing in first place in two races, the 100 breast (1:02.28) and the 100 IM (56.43). Corbett managed to produce high finishes

in each of the five events, placing 2nd in the 100 free (49.19), 3rd in the 100 fly (55.25).

Ohlone’s women fared less well than the men, but Ashley McBride was a bright spot on the day. McBride cracked the Top-5 in each of the three events she raced in, nabbing 2nd in the 100 IM (1:06.44) and a pair of 5th place finishes in the 100 free (58.34) and the 100 back (1:08.21).

Both teams will race face De Anza on Friday at 2 p.m. in Cupertino.

Lady Renegades make it past Contra Costa in first round

By Kevin Yin Staff writer

Photo by Nick Zambrano

Jayme Leftridge hits a crucial shot.

Ganeaya Rogers flipped in the decisive go-ahead layup with 12 seconds remaining as the eighth-seed Ohlone Lady Renegades defeated the ninth-seed Contra Costa Comets 71-67 in last Friday’s first-round playoff game in Fremont.

“This feels really good,” Ohlone Coach Julia Allender said after the victory. “Not a tougher kid could have hit a bigger shot.”

The game featured two teams closely matched in skill and athleticism, as well as two of the top scorers in the state in Comets’ guard Kenyanna Martin and Renegades’ guard Jasmine Rubin. Martin came into Friday night averaging 23.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.3 steals, while Rubin entered the game averaging 21 points per game and shooting 38 percent from beyond the three-point line.

Rubin and Martin were effectively neutralized while guarding each other early on. Martin’s first score came on a banking jumper in traffic at the nine-minute mark. Rubin did not score until a three pointer with 8:03 remaining in the half that put Ohlone up 19-16. Both stars, however, would

quickly heat up.

At halftime, with Ohlone holding a 31-24 lead, Rubin had nine points while Martin had 11.

Rogers chipped in eight first half points with several determined drives to the hoop.

Ohlone opened the second half with a sudden offensive burst as guard Crystal McLaughlin hit a long two-point jumper along the baseline.

After that, everything started to go wrong for Ohlone.

Ohlone committed turnover after turnover, despite coach Allender calling two timeouts in an effort to settle her team down.

“I’ve got tough kids.” Allender said.

“All season long, every big game. They’re just not going to go away. They kept themselves in it.”

After that, the game became a shootout, as each team scored basket after basket. After a Martin jumper, Ohlone failed to score on their ensuing possession, it looked as though the Renegades’ season might be coming to an end.

With 30.9 seconds remaining, and Ohlone needing a defensive stop, the Lady Renegades forced a Contra Costa miss and Valenzuela knocked the rebound out Continued on Page 7