THURSDAY
MAY 12, 2016
Vol. LI No. 10
Students on the job hunt in Newark. See photos on Page 4
FREMONT, CA OHLONEMONITOR.COM
Former Ohlone student charged in terrorism case VANESSA LUIS Editor-in-chief A former Ohlone student has been charged in federal court with attempting to aid a terrorist organization. Adam Shafi, 23, was charged in December with providing material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations. He has pleaded not guilty. A pretrial conference is scheduled for next month. A second-generation American of Egyptian de-
scent, Shafi was a Fremont resident and graduated from Mission San Jose High School in 2011. Mission’s student newspaper reported in June 2011 that Shafi planned to attend Ohlone, and former students confirmed he went to school here. On July 3, 2015, Shafi was arrested on suspicion of attempting to aid and join a terrorist organization, four days after federal agents stopped him from boarding a flight to Turkey at San Francisco International Airport.
If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Shafi had been monitored by agents since August 2014, after he disappeared during a family trip to Cairo. Shafi’s father notified the U.S Embassy when he went missing and informed them of his suspicion that he may be trying to join ISIS, according to court records. Prosecutors say Shafi attempted to join the extremist al-Nusra Front (a sub-group
Task force seeks feedback on arming police BRIANNE O’SULLIVAN News editor
LAURA GONSALVES / MONITOR
Campus Police Officer Ben Peralta is one of two sworn officers at Ohlone who could be armed under a proposal being explored.
The task force responsible for exploring whether to arm Ohlone police recently sent a survey to faculty members asking about the benefits and concerns of arming sworn officers. Earlier in the year, when Ohlone Police Chief John Worley first proposed the idea of arming officers, there was some debate about whether or not safety officers and/or sworn officers should be armed. Sw o r n o f f i c e r s g o through far more extensive training than safety officers, including a six-month police academy on various topics and psychological background checks. Such thorough training is not required of safety officers. Ohlone currently has two sworn officers on staff. The current proposal is to allow only sworn officers to be armed. Veronica Alvarez, an Ohlone student studying psychology, thinks arming campus police could Continued on Page 2
of al-Qaida). “Adam was discouraged with the politics and direction of the United States, citing the recent Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, and wanted to be in a country of people of similar mindset and religion as himself,” according to the criminal complaint. The complaint goes on to state that Shafi believed ISIS killed too many Muslims and was too brutal. Federal Continued on Page 3
Adam Shafi in his junior year at Mission San Jose High School.
Ohlone to celebrate Golden Jubilee VANESSA LUIS Editor-in-chief Next year, Ohlone will celebrate its 50th anniversary serving the Fremont and Newark areas. Shairon Zingsheim, associate vice president for human resources and training, and Jim Wright, former vice president of academic affairs and deputy superintendent, are co-chairing the 50th Anniversary Year planning committee. The planning is just getting under way, and they will form subcommittees made up of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members. So, what can we expect? A 50-year birthday bash? Dinner and drinks? A night in? According to Wright, the established theme is to “re-connect and re-engage with former students, faculty and staff and recognize their accomplishments.” The committee will focus on two phases in order to
celebrate this monumental occasion. The first will be in Spring 2017 and will feature a series of receptions for former students. Past valedictorians, ASOC presidents, alumni, and many more will be invited back to Ohlone. The second phase will be in Fall 2017 and likely will feature a campus-wide event. “We are hoping this will be a time for programs, departments and organizations of the college to conduct events and activities that: explore and celebrate their histories and visions for the future; re-connect and re-engage with and recognize students and employees,” Wright said. When it first opened, Ohlone was located on a small temporary campus on Washington Boulevard, and enrollment was about 800 students. Now, Ohlone has two permanent campuses and had an enrollment of 16,989 for the 201415 academic year.
Honda seeks re-election to District 17 congressional seat This is the third of five profiles of the candidates for the 17th Congressional District, which includes the Ohlone campus. The fourth and fifth profiles are on Page 10. BRIANNE O’SULLIVAN News editor Congressman Mike Honda has represented the area that encompasses the 17th Congressional District since 2001. During his time in Congress, Honda has secured federal funding for various programs and the expan-
sion of BART to San Jose. Honda has strong support from labor unions and has been called a progressive by many. He is for raising the minimum wage, a long-time supporter of the LGBTQ community, and a supporter of affordable healthcare. Honda spent a few years of his childhood in an internment camp during WWII in
Colorado. He recently wrote a piece in Time magazine that related his and his family’s experience in the internment camp to the political atmosphere today. “Let us not give into hate and ignorance. Let us be the coun-
try of compassion and open-
ness. We are a multiethnic, multireligious, multicultural nation. Our diversity is what gives us strength, and our respect for the Constitution, rule of law and American ideals is what unites us,” Honda wrote. “The divisive hate mongering espoused by Trump and others moves America backwards and surrenders our future to the mistakes of the past. There are many challenges facing our country today, and we need to stand together to Continued on Page 3
Congressman Mike Honda