OHLONE COLLEGE
MONITOR
THURSDAY
DECEMBER 12, 2013 Vol. XLVI No. 10
Niles lights up Fremont. See story on page 6.
FREMONT, CA OHLONEMONITOR.COM
Measure G provides overhaul to Fremont campus
PARKING
Fremont lots to close SHANNON SORGE Online editor A massive parking lot revamp. That’s what’s coming to Ohlone beginning in the spring. As of now, the Fremont campus has 2,480 available spaces and a peak need of 2,043, leaving a surplus of 437. The number of surplus spaces will drop to seven Continued on Page 3
BOND PROJECT
Major renovations coming LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief
TAM DUONG JR. / MONITOR
It is finally here. The highly anticipated $349 million Measure G initiative will be in full swing once the Spring 2014 semester begins on Jan. 27. The Fremont overhaul will include parking lot closures, the construction of a new multistory parking complex, and the demolition and construction of buildings in the Continued on Page 3
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NEWS
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
CAMPUS INCIDENT
Transient causes stir at Ohlone Fremont man arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief A 23-year-old transient was arrested Friday after he was accused of exposing himself to a student in the quad on the Fremont campus before fleeing, police said. Rahem Gipson was arrested on suspicion of obstructing and resisting, and indecent exposure, Fremont police said. It was the first non-forcible sex offense on the Fremont campus in more than three years, according to campus police. The incident began about 11:15 a.m. Friday, according to Campus Police Chief Steve Osawa. “I can’t give out any personal information because it is a sex crime,” Osawa said. In a statement, Osawa said: “The victim student
was not physically touched, injured or harmed by the suspect. The suspect was located in the upper quad area and officers attempted to detain and question the suspect. The suspect struggled with the officers and fled the campus.” The Fremont Police Department was notified and responded to the incident. Gipson was detained by Fremont police officers while hiding in the backyard of a residence on Nido Court near the campus, Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said. “On the way to the campus, a responding officer encountered the suspect on foot and when he attempted to talk to him he ran,” Bosques said. “The officer made a Uturn at Mission Boulevard and the 680 entrance when Gipson jumped a sound wall and continued to run.” Officers followed Gipson from the street as he continued to evade police before making his way to the sound wall surrounding the Nido Court neighborhood, Bosques said.
It is scary to know that something like this could happen here at Ohlone, but honestly this is the first I ever heard of something like this -Ohlone student Jasmine Rhys Officers deployed a police dog in the neighborhood, but Gipson surrenderedwithout incident, Bosques said. “It is scary to know that something like this could happen here at Ohlone, but honestly this is the first I ever heard of something like this,” Ohlone student Jasmine Rhys said. “I have taken late classes before and I would be really scared if something like that happened to me.” According to the threeyear annual campus crime report, no non-forcible sex-
ual offenses have been reported in the district since 2010. This year, a victim reported a forcible sexual assault that happened in 2012 – the only one in the past three years. No campus-wide crime alert was issued because the crime occurred more than a year before it was reported. “It makes me a lot more comfortable as a woman to know that these type of incidents don’t really happen here that often, Rhys said. “Scary, but at the same time I can’t just stay home and be scared.”
The Monitor will be on winter break, but be sure to check for updates online at www.ohlonemonitor.com.
NEWS BITES SOAR donations Social Ohlone and Recognition (SOAR) is seeking donations to help pay for social events for employees at Ohlone College. Past SOAR-sponsored events have included welcome back lunches for employees, a pre-graduation dinner and recognition awards, and the group’s annual winter party. This semester, the group tackled employee quality of life issues and co-sponsored employee flu shots. The group receives no money from the district. To donate, go to www.ohlone. edu/org/soar/contribute. html.
Toy drive Ohlone students and staff still have time to donate toys in any of the League of Volunteers (LOV) toy drive bins on campus. On the Fremont campus, the bin is located outside the president’s office in Building 1 and on the Newark campus it will be in the main lobby. Donations will be accepted until Dec. 18. –Compiled by Marissa Martin
NEWS
OHLONE COLLEGE
MONITOR STAFF: Editor-in-Chief: Louis LaVenture News editor: Marissa Martin Features editor: Magdalena Jurys Sports editor: Louis LaVenture Opinions editor: Amelia Neary Photo editor: Tam Duong Jr. Online editor: Shannon Sorge Monitor Staff: Yahya Burhani Erika Heredia Sruthie Kondamoori Alizaib Lodhi Luis Morales-Medrano Hung Ngyuen Santiago Perea Joy Tantingco Majtabah Walai Mitchell Walther Adviser: Rob Dennis Printer: FP Press
California Newspaper Publishers Association
Journalism Association of Community Colleges
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CONTACT US: Offices: Room 5310 Call: 510.659.6075 E-mail: monitor@ohlone. edu Read: facebook.com/ Ohlone.Monitor www.ohlonemonitor.com 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.
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
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Parking lot closures coming in spring Continued from Page 1 when construction is at its height. “I pay $2 to park now but I still have to search for a spot by the time I get to school,” student Nafiz Singh said. “When the parking changes, what am I going to do then? I’m going to pay $2 to park and not even get a spot?” Come January, students and staff should be prepared to keep searching, because parking lots M, N and O will be closed until August 2015. The closure will make way for the $19.5 million, 905-space South Parking Structure, one of a series of construction projects paid for by the $349 million Measure G bond approved by voters in November 2010. “This is just the beginning of an exciting transformation of the Fremont campus,” President Gari Browning wrote in a campus-wide email. “The spring semester will be a particularly difficult one. The impact of construction over the next few years will require us to be patient and to work together, but the end result will be very well worth the effort.” Lot P will remain open during construction, providing 24 spaces for people with disabilities, four administrative spaces, four human resources spaces and one spot for an emergency vehicle. The remaining space will be used for the contractor’s job site trailers and personal vehicle parking, said Heidi Birch, senior program manager with Gilbane Building Co. “There will not be any construction equipment parking or access in Lot P,” Birch said. Another eight spaces for people with disabilities will be available in Lot A, along with eight more below the stairs of Building 1, near the Palm Bosque. Paid daily “VIP” parking no longer will be available during the construction process, and some staff spaces and carpool spots are shifting locations. There will be 74 staff spaces in the southeast corner of Lot D, and another 28 car pool spaces in the southeast corner of Lot K. “If they’re making me park almost basically on the street, the prices for permits should be decreased,” student Ryan Nguyen said. “They should make it $1 less per day for daily parking permits and $10 less for semester parking permits. If the parking is going to be further away I wouldn’t want to spend the same amount, I would want to pay a cheaper price.” Birch said that the price of the parking permits is being discussed.
TAM DUONG JR. / MONITOR Car pool spaces will be added here in Parking Lot K during the campus overhauls beginning in January.
“There is a possibility that they may be reduced,” she said. “That’s a plan under consideration.” On Feb. 17, Lots B and C will close to make way for the Swing Space Construction – 40,000 square feet of portable buildings for classrooms and offices to be used when Buildings 1, 2 and 8 are demolished. A temporary lot will be built between Lot E and Mission Boulevard, adding 350 spaces to help make up the difference. Renovations will continue through the summer for the athletic fields construction. Lot K will be demolished by June 15, leaving a surplus of only 65 spaces for summer school students. “The fact that they’re taking up so many parking lots is going to ruin everything,” student Damien Low said. “How much money is the school going to lose for those people who can’t find parking and don’t want to even show up anymore? Not to mention the majority attending community colleges are undeclared, and the fact that Ohlone is going to take away the convenience of their close parking will make students think twice about continuing school.” Still, Birch said Ohlone officials are doing everything possible to maintain the quality of education and programs at the college, and those efforts won’t change with the loss of parking. Chance O’Connor, who plans to attend Ohlone in the spring, said the construction won’t change his mind. “I still plan on going to Ohlone even with all the construction,” he said. “It’s not going to affect my decision.” Things will ease a bit for the start of Fall 2014 semester. On Aug. 25, another temporary lot of 251 spaces will be built between Lot G and Mission Boulevard, extending the surplus to 366. On Sept. 15, though, Soccer Field Construction will take over the south side of Lots D and E, cutting the number of surplus spots down to 25 again.
“I always park at the top because it’s near my classes,” Nguyen said. “It is more convenient, especially since I go to my car after each class and switch books. If they make me park at the bottom I’d have to change my routine and carry all my books up at once. It would just be a complete hassle.” As of Jan. 12, 2015, a final temporary lot of 150 spaces will be added on the south side of Pine Street, parallel to The Kidango Child Development Center.With the swing space fully occupied at this time, the surplus will dwindle to seven spaces. “If there’s a bus stop near your house, during the construction I’d say take the bus,” said student Andrew Wiebusch, who frequently takes the bus to school. “It’d be more eco-friendly and more cost-efficient to take the bus. The bus also drops off in the middle and top of
the school so you wouldn’t have to park all the way at the bottom.” The South Parking Structure is scheduled to be complete on Aug. 2, 2015, providing an availability of 2,674 spaces and a peak need of 1,843, with a surplus of 831. The Fremont campus will not be the only one affected. At the Newark campus, another 15,000 square feet of portables will be installed in Parking Lot A. Two temporary lots will be constructed at the rear end of the school, providing 340 spaces in addition to the current overflow lot of 300 spaces. “For me, my last full year here will be during all of the construction,” Singh said. “I wish I could be a part of the finished product. It sucks that I won’t get to experience the final result, but it is what it is. I can’t pick when and where I want to go, I’m stuck here.”
Building demolition in 2015 Continued from Page 1 center of campus. “Buildings 1, 2 and 8 will come down and there will be four years of swing space during construction and demolition,” Ohlone President Gari Browning said during her State of the College Address in August. The project is aimed at revitalizing the aging Fremont campus, which was built in 1972. The design of the new campus is geared toward keeping the Native American culture that currently exists on and in the area surrounding the Fremont campus. The parking structure, for example, is designed to blend into the hillside, and each level will have a graphic representing the hierarchy of the spirits in the Ohlone tradition, officials said. Demolition of Buildings 1, 2 and 8 is set to begin in the spring of 2015 with construction following in the summer of 2015. The projects are scheduled to be complete in 2018. “You really have to have a pioneer spirit and be positive about what is going on,”
said Heidi Birch, senior program manager for Gilbane Building Co. “It really requires a lot of positivity and forwardthinking thoughts to be a part of something of this magnitude.” Gilbane is the Ohlone College construction management firm responsible for the Measure G bond project. Including the parking lot closures and construction of the new parking structure, the Fremont campus will be a work in progress for the better part of five years until the project can be completed. “So for five years the school is basically going to be a construction site?” Ohlone student Brian Naples said. “If that is the case I may seriously have to look into Chabot. It is a little bit farther for me but at least their campus is already finished.” Students, faculty and employees all will be forced to deal with the inconvenience while the school undergoes the major overhaul. For more information about the Measure G project visit www.ohlonebond.com.
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FEATURES
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
Mission Peak Experience By Magdalena Jurys
Overall experience Mission Peak is located east of Fremont in the Mission Peak Regional Preserve, part of the East Bay Regional Park District. On Nov. 16, I decided to follow the first pioneers and hike Mission Peak. The uphill hike is 2.8 miles from the parking lot to the top. There are two trails (north and south) that merge on top. The regular path on the left becomes very crowded on weekends, so I chose the less traveled Horse Heaven Trail. The path is marked all the way to the top and easy to follow. The peak has an absolutely stunning view of the Bay. I highly recommend going on this hike. Be patient, however: The most stunning views are at the top. Top, 1:40 p.m. I made it, along with 60 other people. The top is crowded and the metal peak marker is certainly the No. 1 object in everybody’s cameras (to prove they made it to the top). The view is outstanding and worth all the effort to see it. Now it’s all downhill on the way back. I wish I had wings!
Did you know? You can look through each of the tubes of the peak marker to see a different part of the Bay Area. Each tube is directionally pointed to show a different landscape.
Second stop, 12:25 p.m. My second stop was made just before the more difficult part of the hike. This is when the trail becomes more steep and more challenging. The view is amazing; yellow hills blur with the blue sky.
Third stop, 1 p.m. 35 minutes of pretty intense hiking have made my legs heavy and slow. The temperature drops and the pleasant breeze becomes stronger and cooler. I am glad to have my wind-breaker and hat. From here it’s just a medium 30- to 40-minute hike to the top.
First stop, 11:50 a.m. I made my first stop after 40 minutes of uphill hiking. My legs definitely started to feel the workout and after a few sips of water I caught my breath for the next part of the hike. This is truly the first beautiful view that Mission Peak has in offer.
IMPORTANT - WATER -HIKING SHOES -ENERGY BAR - SMILE
Start, 11:10 a.m. The Saturday of Nov. 16 surprised me with wonderful sunny weather, a pleasant breeze from the Bay and the crowded so-called HiddenValley Trail, which was not hidden that day at all. Therefore, I chose the less-well-known Horse Heaven Trail, a steep single track that merges on top with the HiddenValley Trail. Good breakfast is a crucial step in this great workout with 2,000 feet of climbing in three miles. Ready for adventure, I started my hike at 11:10 a.m Directions from Ohlone College Take left onto Mission Boulevard and then turn left onto Stanford Avenue. Drive to the end where there are parking lots ( on weekends it’s super packed so try to go earlier, or park along Stanford Avenue).
FEATURES
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
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Reid sees ghost, band forms
Above: Reid Riegelsberger, Cole Berggren and Alex Lefkort rehearse in Fremont last month. Right: Riegelsberger screams during the band’s rehearsal. Reid Saw a Ghost is named after him.
Ohlone students team up to form indie-rock band Reid Saw a Ghost Story and photos by Joy Tantingco A self-described “indierock band,” the Fremont group Reid Saw a Ghost makes contagiously dancy tunes with catchy riffs, a punk attitude, and a highenergy live show. The band is made up of lead vocalist and bassist Alex Lefkort, guitarist Cole Berggren and drummer Reid Riegelsberger, all Ohlone College students. The band was formed over sandwiches and a jam session shortly after Berggren and Lefkort’s previous band, “The Sound of Streetlights,” split three years ago. Since
then, they’ve graduated high school, played countless shows all over the Bay Area, fought crime and released two albums. The group’s latest album, “Still Haunted,” was released in August at the annual music festival they set up themselves in their backyard. Joining Reid Saw a Ghost were bands from San Francisco, Livermore, Dublin and Washington state. “Colechella,” as they called it, was one of their greatest accomplishments. Aside from the shows they continue to play, Cole and
Alex, sophomores, and Reid, a freshman, currently study at Ohlone, with majors in music. They manage to juggle band practices, classes, girlfriends and part-time jobs in their busy schedules. But even with so much going on, there’s nothing they love more than making music and having a good time with good company. You can find more information about Reid saw a Ghost on Bandcamp at http://reidsawaghost. bandcamp.com and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/reidsawaghost.
Group provides variety to local music scene AMELIA NEARY Opinions editor Have you heard of deathcore? It’s the new subgenre of heavy metal that’s been rocking the indie music scene for the better part of a decade. The Monitor sat down with two Ohlone students and members of the local deathcore band Beg For Death to get a glimpse into this steadily rising new music genre. When asked what separates deathcore from the heavy metal pack, Beg for Death lead guitarist Ramon Villarroel said, “Deathcore
tends to be heavier. Like death metal.” Last summer, Beg for Death recorded seven songs and the band plans to record a crop of new songs this winter. The band’s biggest song to date is “Falter” from the last album “Callous.” “We really managed to put some hardcore aspects that really stood out in that song,” Villarroel said. When it comes to playing to a live audience band members prefer to play the smaller venues where they say their sound can be better appreciated. “We feed off the audi-
MAJTABAH WALAI / MONITOR Ramon Villarroel, left, and Kenny Turner pose on the Fremont campus.
ence’s energy,” lead vocalist Kenny Turner said. Beg For Death’s biggest
show to date was in Fresno when they opened for Carnifex, one of the most well-
known deathcore bands in the industry. “Ideally, we could blow up as huge as we want,” Turner said. “We try to have fun and if people dig our music, that’s tight.’’ So what do these guys do between performing for packed venues and recording sessions? Villarroel, who is looking to graduate as a music major, is planning to do sound engineering while Kenny Turner, an accounting major, is getting ready to finish up his last year at Ohlone before transferring to San Francisco State University.
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MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
FEATURES
NILES LIGHTS UP city of FREMONT Festival of Lights Parade and Tree Lighting dazzles packed crowd YAHYA BURHANI Staff writer Area residents descended on the Niles neighborhood of Fremont on Nov. 29 for the annual Festival of Lights Parade and Tree Lighting. The event, organized by the Niles Merchants Association, celebrates the Christmas tradition every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It begins with the tree-lighting, and the parade features more than 60 floats, balloons, vehicles and school marching bands. The festival “has been a tradition in Niles for over a decade,” said Barbara Niedzielski, a Niles Merchant Association board member. “We do it for the betterment of the community, bring the community together for the start of the holiday season.” Locals set up chairs on the
sidewalk facing the street to have a good view of the parade. “They’ve been set up there since 10 o’clock a.m.” Niedzielski said. Janet Camarena came out to watch her son marching in the parade with America’s Best Karate in Niles for the third year. “The parade is a great opportunity for the families to come out,” she said. The festival has grown every year, with more visitors from other parts of Fremont and neighboring cities, and parking was hard to come by in local neighborhoods during this year’s event. “It was a big crowd, colorful, a lot of ethnic diversity,” parade coordinator Ray Pulver said. Niles, although part of the city of Fremont, looks like a small town from the 1920s, untouched by time. It has a tight-knit commu-
nity, which the festival was designed to bring together. “It was very, very small w h e n i t o r i g i n a t e d ,” Niedzielski said. “It was just a few people who got together and formed the Niles Merchants Association and (said), `Let’s just have a nighttime lighted parade,’ because there’s never been one in Fremont that we know of. So they got together and decided to do a parade and it has grown since then.” The Niles Merchants Association raises money for the festival by selling Christmas trees, and organizing car shows and a Christmas tour. “It gives a chance for people to go out and see some cool stuff instead of them being stuck inside the house,” said Raul Martinez, who marched in the parade with the Sunol Cowboys. “It was great. Every year it is growing more and more.”
Christmas in the Park provided a huge tree lighting spectacle for the pa
Left to right: The Ford F-100 Elites cruise through during the parade on Nov. 29. The Clauses greet the crowd during the festival. Sant
FEATURES
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
Fremont Holiday Light Displays 36040 Wellington Place 38643 Glencoe Drive 40012 Catalina Place 43571 Mission Boulevard 42800 Mission Boulevard For more holiday decorations visit
www.lightsofthevalley.com
HUNG NGUYEN / MONITOR
acked crowd in downtown San Jose last week.
TAM DUONG JR. / MONITOR
ta Claus makes his first appearance to the crowd. A vintage Volkswagen Beetle lights up the street during the parade in Fremont.
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OPINIONS
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
Nelson Mandela leaves lasting legacy LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief As Americans, we tend to take for granted the freedom that we enjoy in our democratic country. Imagine if here in the United States only white males were allowed to hold an elected office or position of power. This was the case in South Africa from 1948 until 1994, when the country had its first democratic election. The passing of the legendary politician, philanthropist and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela on Dec. 5 drives home the point that we should never take for granted the privileges that we have in the United States of America. Mandela was famously sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state in 1962. He served 27 years of that life sentence, and was released only after a huge worldwide campaign that claimed Mandela had been wrongfully convicted. On Feb. 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of prison a free man, with his country in complete disarray created by the system of apartheid. Apartheid was the system that South Africa employed to keep blacks and whites separate from each other in
every aspect of life. Segregated townships were created to keep blacks out of “white-only” neighborhoods. Mandela refused to accept this,
a n d after his release he led a delegation to negotate with the government to end the policy. Then, in 1994, he won the presidency, becoming the first black elected official in South Africa. “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself,”
CAMPUS COMMENT
Mandela told the Associated Press in a 2001 interview. Once the apartheid sys-
TAM DUONG JR. / MONITOR
tem was done away with, Mandela was the natural choice to elect for people who had once not been allowed to vote. While apartheid had been
abolished, it was still a very common practiced form of racism that carried with it a stigma that the new president was trying to change. Mandela b e -
c a m e the face of the anti-apartheid movement and a global icon in the push for equality of all people in his beloved South Africa. Millions of people took to the streets of South Africa to celebrate his election and the hope that change was
imminent and things would get better. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created under Mandela’s watch to investigate all of the crimes that took place because of apartheid, in order to bring some peace to the victims. In December 1997, to the dismay of many, Mandela announced that he would not try to amend the two-election policy or run for election again. He gave his farewell speech on March 29, 1999, marking his retirement from politics. Mandela stayed active in many causes following his time as president, and many of his programs are still in effect and wide use to this day. Mandela was a member of an oppressive country that he had the strength to fight for. Twenty-seven years of being wrongfully imprisoned would drive a sane man crazy, but Mandela didn’t view it as punishment. Rather, it was a hardship he had to go through in order to provide a better country for his people. “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others,” Mandela said in a television interview with the American news station CNN in 1991.
What will you be doing during the winter break? CONNOR TITTA Multimedia
“Hanging out with family”
GABRIELLA REYES Fine Arts
“Possibly traveling”
ASHFAQH CHOWOHURY
Computer Sceince
“Going to Boreal for skiing”
ETHAN NICHOLS TAYLOR DAHL Psychology
“I am working and visiting family”
Undeclared
“Going to the mall”
MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
9 JOY TANTINGCO / MONITOR
OPINIONS
MAGDALENA JURYS / MONITOR
ALIZAIB LODHI / MONITOR
Happy holidays from the Monitor
Back row: Yahya Burhani, Alizaib Lodhi, Hung Nguyen and Majtabah Walai. Middle row: Tam Duong Jr., adviser Rob Dennis, Santiago Perea, Magdalena Jurys, Amelia Neary, Shannon Sorge and Louis LaVenture. Front row: Marissa Martin, Erika Heredia and Sruthie Kondamoori. Not pictured: Luis Morales-Medrano, Joy Tantingco and Mitchell Walther.
JOY TANTINGCO / MONITOR
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MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
NEWS
Ohlone ASL
College boasts one of the strongest Deaf Studies Programs in the country. LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief Anybody who has been around Ohlone College long enough has seen people communicating with American Sign Language. Ohlone boasts one of the best Deaf Studies programs in the country and has the largest population of deaf people in the entire community college system nationwide, according to Interim Dean of Deaf Studies Thomas Holcomb. “When the California School for the Deaf moved to Fremont from Berkeley in 1980, Ohlone started American Sign Language courses to get the community ready,” Holcomb said through an interpreter. “Nearly half of the deaf students in the program come from the California School for the Deaf and the other half come from all over, even other countries.” The Deaf Studies Program has a wide range of representation from around the globe, including Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and China. “American Sign Language is unique to America, just like each country has a language unique to itself,” Holcomb said. “Most international students don’t know American Sign Language but many have been exposed to it online.” The transition process for any new college student can be a difficult one, but that experience is magnified when you are deaf – even more so when you are an international deaf student. The Deaf Studies Program at Ohlone has done its best to accommodate all new students and help
make the transition a seamless one. “The counselors within the division do a fabulous job of helping students,” Holcomb said. “Deaf people have a strong solidarity that is present no matter which type of sign language is being used.” The Ohlone program has been so successful in part because of the three parts that comprise the department. The first is the actual courses, which are meant to teach the culture as well as the language and are designed by deaf faculty with deaf students in mind. The second part is geared toward people who can hear and are interested in learning more about the culture and language or are interested in becoming an interpreter. “It’s a really cool environment,” Erika Heredia said. “Everybody is so friendly and it makes learning American Sign Language fun.” Part three of the program is the interpreter-preparation program, which provides those interested in becoming American Sign Language interpreters the necessary classes and experience. The three-pronged system has been very successful for the school and the community of Fremont, which is known as a hub for the deaf community. There is only one more School for the Deaf in the state, in Riverside. “The Deaf Studies Program helped me to get ready for my English course,” Byung Gyu Lim, a Deaf Studies student, said through an interpreter. For more information about the Ohlone College Deaf Studies Program, go to their website at www. ohlone.edu/instr/deafstudies.
TAM DUONG JR. / MONITOR
Left to Right: Vianney Bernal, Salma Watson, Tony Long Jr., Amanda Gallegos, Joshua Leandro and Alexander Raimondo-Kerber use the Evelyn Henderson Deaf Studies Lab on the Fremont campus to prepare for end of the year assignments and tests.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SPORTS
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MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
Ohlone hoops team off to stellar start
Got Me Feeling Some Type of Way with LOUIS LAVENTURE
No time
HUNG NGUYEN / MONITOR
Candy De Los Reyes attempts to split a double-team while looking for an open teammate during a home win on Dec. 2 in Fremont.
They are tough kids who have high standards for themselves. They have great genetics; it is just in their DNA
LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief The Ohlone College women’s basketball team went 2-1 over the weekend at the Contra Costa College Comet Classic Tournament in San Pablo. The Lady Renegades lost to the host team 75-72 but rebounded with a 56-48 victory over Chabot College and a 69-61 triumph over Los Medanos College. Ohlone is now 6-3 overall with conference play not set to begin until January. “When we get down we really rely on each other to stay motivated,” Lady Renegades forward Deajanae Conic said. The Comets had a 35-33 lead at the half and outscored the Lady Renegades by 1 in the second half of the contest for the 3-point victory. Conic was a beast on the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds to go along with her 12 points. Freshman guard Candy De Los Reyes was outstanding for Ohlone, obtaining the elusive tripledouble by scoring 18 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. “She made a lot of tough baskets and really kept us in the game,” Coach Julia Allender said. “She got to the rim a lot and put the pressure on the
defense tremendously, not to mention she is a great rebounding guard.” Candy De Los Reyes and her twin sister, Crystal, have given the Lady Renegades some toughness at the guard position, filling the huge shoes left empty by departing sophomores Sopheap Chan and Madison Craig. “They are tough kids who have high standards for themselves,” Allender said. “They have great genetics; it is just in their DNA.” Next, Ohlone took on conference rival Chabot College, defeating the Gladiators by 12 points. Candy De Los Reyes dropped in a game-high 16 points in the winning effort, while Kianha Farrish chipped in with 12 points of her own. “Sometimes my shot just feels right,” Farrish said. In Ohlone’s final matchup of the tournament, the team took on Los Medanos College, handing them a loss by a final of 69-61. Emily Osagiede contributed
-Coach Julia Allender
with 12 points off the bench for the Lady Renegades in the triumph. Next up for Ohlone is the Caren Franci tournament in Santa Rosa, scheduled for Friday through Sunday. The Lady Renegades then return to Fremont at 6 p.m.
on Dec. 20 to take on Foothill College at Epler Gymnasium. The first Coast Conference South match for Ohlone is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Epler Gymnasium on the Fremont campus.
HUNG NGUYEN / MONITOR
Liza Dunlap drives by a De Anza College defender in Fremont.
For sports fans throughout the country, this is a special time of year. Professional as well as collegiate basketball and football are in full swing, and so are the Major League Baseball annual winter meetings where trades and transactions are abundant. The college football national championship is set, with an undefeated team led by a Heisman Trophy frontrunner pitted against a team of destiny with a string of last-second miraculous triumphs. The sports fan in me is filled with excitement, yet as a student I find myself missing out on some of the most exciting moments in sports. When Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall connected on a 73-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to Ricardo Louis in the final seconds against Georgia to keep their national championship hopes alive, I was on Blackboard studying for a geography test. I was reduced to perusing the sports highlights shows to catch a glimpse of the amazing reception. Then, just a few weeks later, Auburn defensive back Chris Davis Jr. returned a missed field goal by Alabama kicker Cade Foster 109 yards for the go-ahead score with no time remaining. I was reading “Skippy Dies” for my English class. One of the most iconic moments in sports history and I saw it on a replay. Being a full-time student and a sports fan can really be a tough task to manage and still maintain some sort of sanity. I find myself missing out on a ton of iconic sports moments because I am lost in a book or paper, and this is the reality for any student. School dominates your time and, as somebody once told me, sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do in order to get where you want to be. I try to live my life by these words, and in times of great sporting events that I miss out on I try to remind myself of this. I am missing these games now so that someday I will be comfortable enough to relax and take in all of these moments once I have an established career and my schedule is not dominated by crazy time requirements thanks to education.
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MONITOR DECEMBER 12, 2013
SPORTS
MAGDALENA JURYS / MONITOR
What would an Ohlone College football helmet look like? This artist’s rendering gives an idea of what it could be if the school brought back the sport.
Ohlone football absent since 1982 LOUIS LAVENTURE Editor-in-chief Being a college student brings with it a lot of new experiences. For most, it is their first interaction with the true football experience, whether it comes from attending a game or being a part of the team. Yet at Ohlone students are not afforded that luxury because the college has not had a football team since 1982. Former Ohlone football Head Coach Mike Cowan is the sole connection to the glorious past linked to the Renegades program. “I started teaching at Ohlone in 1975 and I also served as an assistant coach on that team as well,” Cowan said. “In 1976 I took over as head coach and I held that position until 1981, just before the program was shut down.” Cowan retired from teaching in 2010 and is
now an adjunct instructor at Ohlone in the athletics department. Cowan says that Proposition 13 and the administration at the time were the major factors in the shutdown of the football program. “The administration we had at the time wasn’t the best and it really showed when Proposition 13 passed,” Cowan said. “When it came into effect the funding was supposed to be drastically reduced, so the school jumped the gun and got rid of a bunch of stuff focusing more on the arts.” Cowan believes that the current administration at Ohlone would never have let something like that happen to a program that was on the rise when it was disbanded. “The current administration here at Ohlone is very pro athletics, which is a far cry from the old administration,” Cowan said. “(Athletic Director) Chris
Warden, (Vice President) Leta Stagnaro and (President) Gari Browning are all really supportive and the athletics department and programs really could have benefited from them as they do now. “They really do a great job with things.” Before 1975, the Renegades set a record for most consecutive losses, which was even mentioned on an episode of Monday Night Football, Cowan said. The Renegades had just one victory in Cowan’s first season, but followed that up by going 9-3 and losing in the state championship game by a touchdown to then-powerhouse Taft College the next season. Once the decision to cut the football and other sports teams came down in 1982, there was a huge show of support for all of the programs, which also included gymnastics, track and wrestling.
“A lot of people showed up to the board meeting that were angry because they did all of this without telling anybody what was going to happen,” Cowan said. “Everybody was really upset and it was not a very good scene.” In one fell swoop, the board sent Ohlone football into oblivion with the likes of the Pet Rock or VCRs. Reprising a defunct athletic program would be a major task that also would be very costly. The total number of players on a collegiate football team is exponentially bigger than most other teams on campus, creating a whole new set of issues off the field as well. San Jose City College Director of Athletics and Kinesiology Lamel Harris spoke to the Monitor about some of the day-to-day dealings that make football unique. “Just the sheer number of players alone on the foot-
ball team requires us to do things differently,” Harris said. “Study hall is one area where we have to accommodate football because there are too many people to incorporate into our normal study halls, so they have their own.” Harris said that he meets with the head football coach for the Jaguars, Carlton Connor, two to three times a week to see what is going on, and that they are constantly looking for ways to improve. With so many high schools surrounding the Ohlone College area, numbers wouldn’t be a problem. Nearby Chabot College in Hayward currently has 12 players listed on its roster that attended high school in Fremont, Newark or Union City. Still, a football program requires a lot of attention and funding, which Ohlone doesn’t seem to have had for more than 30 years.