OHLONE COLLEGE
THURSDAY
MONITOR
MAY 09, 2013 Vol. XLV No. 8
FREMONT, CA OHLONEMONITOR.COM
Grass fire sparks heated concern
ASOC to repeat elections FRANKIE ADDIEGO Staff writer
TAM DUONG / MONITOR
The Fremont Fire Department puts out the grass fire located behind Building 7 on May 3 at 2 p.m. Staff and students evacuated.
MANIKA CASTERLINE Senior editor A small brush fire ignited behind Building 7 on Friday, May 3 at around 2 p.m. The fire led to the evacuation of the building. A school staff member discovered the grass fire, which occurred in a 15 by 15 foot space outside the second floor of Building 7. Ann Burdett, the Disabled Students Programs and Ser-
vices director, sounded the alarm and called 911. The fire department’s maintenance team also took a preventative measure by turning on the sprinkler system where the grass fire was ablaze. The Fremont Fire Department was dispatched one truck to Ohlone to put out the fire according to Robin Brabb, acting deputy fire marshal. Witnesses at the scene
speculated that the fire may have been caused by a unidentified discarded cigarette butt. Campus Security Chief Steve Osawa confirmed that a cigarette appeared to be the source of the fire but no major property damage happened and nobody was injured. “It is still under investigation, but if the person who threw the cigarette away is a student, action will be
taken,” said Osawa. Administrative services vice president Ron Little warned smokers to be especially cautious during the fire season. “If there is anything, it is to be more precautious during fire season. Ohlone is a nonsmoking campus. Although I can’t confirm that it was a cigarette butt, it is highly probable that the fire was caused by a cigarette,” he said.
Due to a ballot design error, Associated Students of Ohlone College will be holding elections once again on May 13 and 14. “What happened was, there was a problem with the [system],” said ASOC president Amit Patel. Patel said there was a lack of no-votes in the electronic ballots and “the concern was brought up that it wasn’t there.” During the ASOC election, which was held May 2 and 3, Mat Weber was elected the president of the organization. When asked whether or not Weber would be on the ballot, Patel said because he was a write-in before he will still be noted as a writein now. “It’s the same election,” said Patel.* Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees approved ASOC’s $200,000 investment packet, which will be administered by Fremont Bank. In other news, the board recognized Student Trustee Tawney Warren, who celebrated her last meeting with the Board of Trustees. “It has been a very busy year,” said Warren. “I’m so glad I got to get in and to know what the college needed.”
Weighing options: summer semester or summer vacation? TARA INGRAHAM Staff writer Most students who attend college tend to live by a getin-and get-out policy where efficiency is essential. Taking summer courses has long been one of the main means of achieving that efficiency, but are there benefits and drawbacks to this? The answer depends on the students themselves. Taking summer courses can accelerate the time it takes to graduate or lessen the strain during the fall and spring semesters. “If a student takes summer classes over two years that could potentially shave a semester off of the time they need to be here before graduating,” said Ohlone student counselor Heather Ryan. Another positive effect is that it keeps the mind active or “…in school mode,” said Ryan. Continually exerting
the brain lessens the recovery time needed to get back up to pace when the next semesters start. The drawback that might come with summer classes
schedule outside of school over the summer will be like,” said Ryan. “Summer courses are best for students that tend to catch on quickly and wel-
the material or it can be extremely detrimental in future classes. “I have some reservations about whether or not it is possible for students to re-
SUMMER COURSES ARE BEST FOR STUDENTS THAT TEND TO CATCH ON QUICKLY AND WELCOME THAT KIND OF CHALLENGE. HAVING A COMPETITIVE NATURE MIGHT HELP. FOR THE STUDENT WHO IS A LITTLE MORE THOUGHTFUL, THE SUMMER SEMESTER CAN FEEL HECTIC. -- Heather Ryan, student counselor though is that compressing a 16-week semester into six weeks can pose a challenge that may be stressful to students if not carefully thought out ahead of time. “It depends on how well the students understand themselves, how challenging the subject they are planning to take is and what their
come that kind of challenge. Having a competitive nature might help,” said Ryan. “For a student who is a little more thoughtful and wants to process the information more, the summer can feel hectic.” Sequence courses such as math and chemistry are especially difficult because students need to fully grasp
ally master the material for those kinds of courses in such a short amount of time.” said Ryan. “This is where a students’ understanding of themselves becomes essential. Depending on their learning style it can very difficult for them to absorb the material.” That is why Ryan said she
normally suggests only one or two summer courses at a time. “One class for students who have other things going on, like a job, family commitments, traveling or anything else that would take away from their school schedule. Possibly two for students who are able to focus entirely on school.” A single class in the summer tends to have the same workload as two classes during a regular semester, she said. Some students actually like the compression that goes along with summer classes. Some enjoy the idea of getting classes they do not like over and done with quickly. One class that Ryan has noticed to be very popular with students in the summer is speech because it makes them nervous. “So,” Ryan said, “If there is a class that you aren’t looking forward to, summer can be the perfect place to take it.”