Cal Poly Update
The E-Newsletter for University Friends and Alumni

:: Alumni :: University News :: Today's Students :: Faculty & Staff ::Coming Up

Alumni
Rose Float Brings the 'Arctic' to Pasadena
After a year of work and a weekend of decorating by students, alumni and parents, the Cal Poly Rose Float rolled down Colorado Boulevard in the 59th Annual Tournament of Roses parade Jan. 1. Cal Poly Rose Float Club students joined their counterparts from CSU Pomona to enter the float. The theme for this year’s team float was "Arctic Antics," featuring polar bears and penguins at a festive holiday luau. The Cal Poly float is the only entry designed, constructed, decorated and financed entirely by students. This year's float didn't take home any trophies, though Cal Poly floats have won more than 40 trophies and awards in parades past.
Photo by Tom Zasadzinski, Courtesy CSU Pomona
Click on the Photo at right to see the slide show

You will need Adobe Flash Player to View the Slideshow | Click Here to Download Free

Alumni in the News
Monster Cable founder Noel Lee was profiled in Investor's Business Daily this month. The story highlights Lee's rise in the specialty speaker wire business after blending his training in engineering with his love of music. Currently on the rise in a completely different field is Cal Poly accounting alum Chuck Liddell, a.k.a. "The Iceman," who retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship Dec. 30. Other alumni made headlines in January too. Read about the West's King of Cotton, award-winning winemakers (and cheesemakers), alumni helping with peace plantings in Iraq, and answer the most important question: do you know any of them?
Read about Cal Poly Alumni in the News

Cold? Warm Up for Men's Basketball
with Alumni Chili Tasting February 8
The Cal Poly Alumni Chili Tasting will be held Thursday, Feb. 8, before the Cal Poly Men’s Basketball game. The men's team will take on Long Beach State in Mott Gym. Sample the Central Coast's best chili and then join in the Mott madness and cheer on the Mustangs. Chili tasting begins at 5:30 p.m. and the basketball game begins at 7 p.m.
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University News
Record Number of Applicants for 13th Straight Year
For the thirteenth year in a row, Cal Poly has received a record number of undergraduate applications. For the 2007 fall quarter the university received a total of 34,173 applications, up 11 percent from 30,786 in 2006. Of the 30,000 first-time freshmen who submitted applications, 2,575 were submitted as early decision applications -- applications of students who made Cal Poly their first choice.
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Governor’s Proposed Budget
Provides Increases for CSU System
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a $299.5 million increase for the California State University system, which would fully fund the trustees’ budget request for 2007-08. The Governor's proposal continues the existing Higher Education Compact. The proposed budget provides a four percent ($108.9 million) increase for general operations, $65.5 million for enrollment growth of 2.5 percent to fund an additional 11,000 students, and $2 million to continue CSU efforts to increase the number of K-12 math and science teachers.
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Take a Look
Web Cams Show Progress on Cal Poly Construction Projects
Cal Poly is in the midst of a building boom. Two Engineering buildings are now receiving finishing touches, the Spanos Stadium is nearly completed -- and a 2,700-bed student housing village is now in the first phases of construction at the base of Poly Canyon. Several of the construction projects have web cams -- cameras linked to the Internet, showing live streaming photos. Click on the camera icons below to take a live look at campus and the projects. When you click on the camera icon, a new window will open on your computer screen. (High speed Internet service is best for web cam viewing -- dial-up modems will take much longer to send the camera feed to your computer screen.)
Click Here for Links to Construction Web Cams

University Dedicates Solar Energy System Under Sunny Skies
Cal Poly's Engineering West building is now home to a rooftop solar photovoltaic energy system. The University showed off the system during a dedication ceremony in December. The solar panel system is part of an extended California State University pilot program. It was installed in September at no cost to the university. It is expected to generate 230,000 kilowatt hours per year, and was built and is owned, operated and maintained by SunEdison. The company is North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The system will reduce a portion of Cal Poly’s energy costs by delivering predictable electrical energy pricing for the university for the next 20 years.
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The Gift That Keeps On Printing!
Cal Poly's Graphic Communications Department unwrapped its 60th anniversary gift from Heidelberg USA this week. The new Heidelberg four-color plus coating tower Speedmaster CD press arrived in December, on many big trucks, in many huge boxes. And it took many people plus a crane to unload and set up the $1.55-million present. The press replaces the four-color Speedmaster 74 that Heidelberg gave the department for its 50th anniversary in 1996. Heidelberg has provided three four-color presses to Cal Poly over the years, making it possible for students to learn on the latest technology the graphic arts industry has to offer.
More Details | Read the SLO Tribune story
See the Time-lapse movie of the press installation
Courtesy GRC Professor Brian Lawler

Continuing Education Announces Winter-Spring Class Line-Up
Cal Poly Continuing Education and University Outreach’s Winter-Spring 2007 catalog of courses is now available in print and online. Offerings include a wide range of programs in professional and personal development, online classes, certification programs, outdoor programs, test preparation and the Adult Degree Program, which is designed to enable busy adult students to earn a Cal Poly bachelor’s degree.
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Today's Students
Students Aid December NASA Launch of Space Bio Experiments
Cal Poly satellites set off for space in December. NASA launched the GeneSat-1 mission Dec. 16. The GeneSat1 satellite was full of experiments on how space flight affects the human body. The experiments are contained in P-POD deployers, a launch "pod" developed by Cal Poly students. The 5-inch square cubes weigh just over two pounds. Once in space aboard the rocket, the P-Pods ejected and are now orbiting, protecting the experiments inside during their mission in space. Stanford University and Santa Clara University developed other portions of the satellite. The launch went off without a hitch Dec. 18 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The knowledge gained from GeneSat-1 will help scientists understand how space flight affects the human body -- specifically, the intestinal bacteria that help human beings digest food.
More Details on the Launch | Cal Poly Magazine story about the P-Pod Program
Read the Stanford News item | Read the Mustang Daily story

‘Three-peat’ for Cal Poly City and Regional Planning Students
For the third time since 2000, a Cal Poly City and Regional Planning student has won the American Planning Association’s prestigious National Planning Leadership Award for a Student Planner. The APA jury selected undergraduate student Michael J. Marcus to receive the honor. The APA leadership award is presented each year to a student whose outstanding contributions help create communities of lasting value.
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See 'Dancing on the Edge' in February Orchesis Concerts
Award-winning guest artists from New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco join Cal Poly students and faculty to present the Orchesis Dance Company's 37th annual concert, "Dancing on the Edge." Under the direction of Professor Maria Junco, "Dancing on the Edge" traverses the physical, psychological, emotional and cultural boundaries of dance, and features works in a variety of styles, including aerial dance, ballet, modern, jazz, tap, ballroom, Filipino and Mexican traditional dance. Evening performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3, and Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 8-10.  In addition, a 2 p.m. matinee is scheduled on Sunday, Feb. 4. All performances will be in the Spanos Theatre at Cal Poly.
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Faculty & Staff
Cal Poly Marine Science Research Taking Shape on the Pier
Cal Poly Marine Science Education and Research Manager Tom Moylan took over the Cal Poly pier operations in April 2002. Donated by Unocal to Cal Poly in 2001, the steel and concrete pier stretches 3,057 feet out from Avila Beach into some of the most biologically rich waters on the coast of California. The pier is now used for classes and Cal Poly marine science research work, and it is attracting an impressive number of outside collaborators, from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Science Foundation to NASA and the U.S. Navy. Cal Poly plans to spend millions more for pier labs, classrooms and conference facilities. One of the professors conducting marine research is Lars Tomanek. He's working from a small floating platform up the coast from the Avila Pier, in Morro Bay. Tomanek is collecting information on how simple sea creatures such as oysters and mussels respond to environmental stress.
Read the SLO Tribune story on the pier -- with slideshow
Read the SLO Tribune story on Professor Tomanek's project -- with headline

Two Cal Poly Faculty Members Awarded Fulbright Scholar Grants
For the second year in a row not one but two Cal Poly faculty members have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants. Mei-Ling Liu, a computer science professor, and Robert P. Rice Jr., a professor of integrated pest management in the Horticulture and Crop Science Department, are among more than 800 individuals who will travel to some 150 countries to lecture or conduct research as part of the 2006-2007 Fulbright Scholar Program.
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Are Libraries On the Endangered List? Kennedy Library Dean Weighs In
The Sacramento Bee wrote about proposed transformations to the capitol city's library system in the face of the digital age. Plans call for a revamped system to blend innovations from major book chains (comfy chairs for reading, latte counters) and the tech world (wireless access, computer banks for public access to the internet, tech classes). Responding to a Bee query, librarians across the nation said libraries will not die -- they'll morph. Cal Poly's Kennedy Library Dean Michael Miller, a nationally recognized innovator in the evolving role of the library, was among those interviewed.
Read the Sacramento Bee story | Visit the New Kennedy Library Web Site

Cal Poly Dean to Head National Continuing Education Organization
Dennis “Skip” Parks, dean of Cal Poly Continuing Education and University Outreach, has been elected president of the Association for Continuing Higher Education. ACHE is one of the country’s oldest and largest organizations dedicated to promoting lifelong learning and continuing education. Parks was named president on Oct. 30 at ACHE’s 68th Annual Meeting and Conference in Los Angeles. Previously, he had served as the organization’s regional chair, director-at-large and vice-president. Parks dedicated his one-year term to addressing the need for continuing education to take a greater role in promoting the community engagement and public service missions of colleges and universities.
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Professor Recognized as one of 2007's 'Hispanic Legends'
Cal Poly Microbiology Professor Raul Cano appears in the 2007 edition of the "Hispanic Legends" calendar. The glossy photo calendar is published by State Farm and includes photos and biographies of prominent Hispanic Americans. Others featured in the calendar include Major League All-Star baseball player Chico Carrasquel, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and WNBA pioneer Rebecca Lobo. In 1995, Professor Cano and colleagues stunned the world when they announced they’d revived 30-million-year-old bacteria from spores taken from the belly of an ancient bee entombed in amber. Cano has received several awards for his outstanding teaching skills and is recognized for his laboratory training of undergraduate students. He is currently the Unocal Chair for Environmental Studies at Cal Poly and Director of the University's Environmental Biotechnology Institute.
Visit Professor Cano's Web site | Visit the Environmental Biotechnology Institute Web site
Read the Microbe.org profile of Professor Cano

San Luis Obispo Opens Park Spearheaded
by Landscape Professor, Department
Good luck, prosperity, and longevity are the likely fortune for San Luis Obispo’s newest public park – spearheaded by retired Cal Poly Landscape Architecture professor Alice Loh. The park was officially dedicated and opened in mid-December, with a ceremony including Cal Poly’s Chinese Student Association performing a traditional lion dance. Mary Kennedy, wife of Cal Poly President emeritus Robert Kennedy, led the program, which included the city mayor, Loh, and others.
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Passings: Professor Bill Rife
William C. Rife, Cal Poly Professor Emeritus since 1998, passed away Wednesday, January 3, 2007. Bill came to Cal Poly in 1977 as head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and served in that capacity for over a decade. During 1998-90 he led curriculum development for the University as interim associate vice-president for academic programs before returning full time to the classroom.
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Coming Up
Professional Bull Riders CEO to Speaks January 18
Orfalea College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series continues with a presentation by alumnus Randy Bernard, chief executive officer of Professional Bull Riders, Inc. Bernard will speak on campus Thursday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. in the Alex and Faye Spanos Theatre. A reception will follow the event at 3:45 p.m. on the patio of the theatre. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is $4. During his talk, “PBR: A Bullish Market That Can’t Be Corralled,” Bernard will discuss professional bull riding as a sport and a business, as well as how it grew to become the 7th largest sport in the country in 13 years.
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Professor to Read His Award-Winning Fiction January 19
Cal Poly English faculty member Todd J. Pierce will read his fiction at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan.19, in Phillips Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center at Cal Poly. “Newsworld” is a collection of short stories related to news and entertainment events. “I wanted to play with the type of cultural stories we all carry with us, a type of national literature of pop culture,” he said. “The characters in ‘Newsworld,’ like many Americans, are engulfed in a life-imitating-art syndrome caused by the hyper reality presented by the media. They struggle to understand whether their own lives fall within or outside the media-defined reality,” Pierce said.
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Family Series Continues
with Theatre of Light January 21
Cal Poly Arts continues its Family Series with "Theatre of Light," presented by LUMA, Sunday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m. in Harman Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center. Anyone who has ever played with a flashlight under the covers, or has been fascinated by fireflies, shooting stars, or fireworks, will be drawn to LUMA, a series of short, wordless skits blending the latest in lighting technology with science and the performing arts. Ten years in the making, LUMA is a wonderland of color, movement, and geometry brought to life.
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Third Time Will Charm with Keillor January 24
The charming, witty, and always entertaining writer and humorist Garrison Keillor is probably best known for his widely popular radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” and his best-selling books, including “Lake Wobegon Days.” On Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 at 8 p.m. in Harman Hall of the Christopher Cohan Center, Cal Poly Arts presents the third return engagement of the American icon in “An Evening With Garrison Keillor.” Tickets are available online at www.pacslo.org. | More Details

Early Music Ensemble Presents Bach
January 27 at the Cohan Center
On Saturday, January 27, the Cal Poly Early Music Ensemble performs in concert at 8 p.m. in the Pavilion of the Christopher Cohan Center. The ensemble will perform "The Hunting Cantata" (Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd), by J.S. Bach. It is a delightful and most popular secular cantata. Professor Thomas Davies will present brief musical highlights in a lecture demonstration form before the work is performed. Tickets are $10 general, $8 seniors and students.
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Hail to the Chieftains Returning
in Concert at the PAC January 28
Cal Poly Arts presents Celtic music legends The Chieftains in concert Sunday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. in Harman Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center. With a career that spans four decades and 40 albums, The Chieftains are not only Ireland’s premier musical ambassadors but also a major force behind the worldwide appeal of Celtic music. Featuring pipes, whistle, bodhran, fiddle, flute, and vocals—and of course the well placed stories and key guest artists for which they are famous— the six-time Grammy winners joyfully capture the essence of traditional Irish music.
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