OHLONE COLLEGE
MONITOR
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 Vol. L No. 1
Virtual reality gaming is on the rise. See story on Pages 4 and 5.
FREMONT, CA OHLONEMONITOR.COM
Parking structure opens 900 new spots available on south side of Fremont campus SEAN DAVIE Staff writer
IVAN VARGAS / MONITOR
College officials cut the ribbon for the new parking garage Wednesday evening. Left to right: Rahul Patel, student representative to the Board of Trustees, trustee Ishan Shah, trustee Vivien Larsen, trustee Greg Bonaccorsi, college President Gari Browning, trustee Teresa Cox and trustee Jan Giovannini-Hill. Below-left: Attendees gather for the grand opening. Below-right: Construction continues on the Fremont campus after Buildings 1, 2 and 8 were demolished over the summer.
The first of Ohlone’s many construction projects has been completed and is now officially open to the public. Although the new parking structure on the south side of the Fremont campus has been fully accessible since the beginning of the semester, college officials held a ribbon cutting Wednesday evening. The construction project began with a ceremonial groundbreaking on Feb. 12, 2014 – nearly 19 months ago. The new structure contains 906 parking spaces, including disabled, staff and student carpool spots. The structure adds 563 new spaces, compared with the lots it replaced. It also includes an elevator system, EV charging stations and bike racks. One of the worst aspects of life at the main campus, especially lately, has been the dreaded march up the hill. Luckily, however, parking in the new structure will save up to 250 stairs’ worth of climbing. “I find that it’s a lot easier to get up to the classrooms, especially since it’s a lot closer here,” student Steven Mendez said. “There’s a lot more parking spaces than there used to be down there. It’s just very convenient.” Not all the parking news is Continued on Page 2
McMahon, longtime professor, dies at 63 VANESSA LUIS Editor-in-chief Retired Ohlone psychology professor and counselor Tom McMahon died over the summer in Carlsbad. He was 63. McMahon, who retired in 2011 after 35 years at the college, died on June 25 after a long battle with frontotemporal degeneration, a non-Alzheimer’s form of dementia. “He was kind, considerate, and funny,” math Professor
Geoff Hirsch said. “I enjoyed our many conversations.” Born on July 1, 1951, McMahon grew up in San Diego and began working at Ohlone in 1976. He was a successful writer, the author of three books and a nationally syndicated parenting newspaper column. Retired Ohlone professor Alan Kirshner, McMahon’s former colleague, described him as “a great mind, a creative mind, an active mind. Continued on Page 2
New women’s basketball coach takes reins BRIANNE O’SULLIVAN News editor Ohlone has recently hired Steve Picchi as the women’s basketball head coach. During his impressive coaching career, which began with him unofficially coaching a sixth-grade team as an eighth-grader, he has held positions at places such as Sequoia High School, Santa Clara University, Notre Dame de Namur University, Burlingame High School, and Chabot College. Picchi’s Sequoia High School team, his most recent before joining the Renegades, qualified for the
Central Coast Section playoffs three times and in 2012 netted a Peninsula Athletic League title. “Steve brings with him a long history of success with student athletes in the Bay Area and we hope to continue that trend here with our women’s basketball program,” ChrisWarden, dean of the Kinesiology and Athletics Division, said in a statement. At 16, Picchi was hired to coach a youth basketball team. After that first week, he went home and told his father, “I know what I am going to do when I grow up.” Picchi has been quite successful in his coaching
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career. During his time at Burlingame High School, his team won a Division III Continued on Page 2