Contact: Melissa Robbins, ASI
805-756-1291

Cal Poly Students Explore the Future of Sustainability and Culture

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly clubs and Associated Students, Inc. Student Government will look at sustainable practices and diversity Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the CP Next: Generation Sustain forum.

The two-day forum is designed to raise awareness about the ways that globalization and climate change will affect social dynamics and environmental practices. All events are free and open to the public.

CPNext: Generation Sustain will kick off Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. when the SoulSpeak Poetry Collective takes the stage in Chumash Auditorium to engage in powerful displays of performance art. 

At noon, New York Times science reporter Andy Revkin will discuss his work exploring climate change and natural disasters around the world.  Revkin has been covering the environment for The Times for more than a decade, and in 2003 he became the first Times reporter to file stories and photos from the sea ice around the North Pole.

Revkin spearheaded a three-part Times series and one-hour documentary last year on the transforming Arctic. He has won various awards for his reporting and photojournalism, including an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award and is a two-time winner of the Science Journalism Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

On Thursday, dozens of Cal Poly clubs will participate in a club fair in the UU Plaza from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  From 3 to 4 p.m., ASI Student Government will host a three-person panel discussion on renewable energy solutions in Chumash Auditorium.  Panelists include:

  • John Shoals, Grover Beach mayor pro tem
  • Ken Smokoska, vice chair, Sierra Club California
  • David Garth, president/CEO SLO Chamber of Commerce

The forum will culminate at Farmer’s Market Thursday night, with clubs gathering from 6 to 8 p.m. to share information with the community.

Event organizers are hoping that students will take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and interact with industry experts.   

“I hope that students walk away with a better understanding of the challenges that our society faces, and more importantly, the many creative solutions that are available,” said Mike Marcus, a CP Next coordinator and Environmental Affairs team leader. “We need to get away from the doom-and-gloom mentality and see the many opportunities that our generation has in front of us.”

For more information about CP Next: Generation Vote, call Melissa Robbins at 756-1291 or e-mail her at chiefofstaff@asi.calpoly.edu. 

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