Cal Poly Update | April, 2008

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

Alumni
Come Back to Campus April 19 for Open House
If your destination is Cal Poly Open House, the Cal Poly Alumni Association will be there to welcome you back. On April 19, visit the CPAA welcome back booth on Dexter Lawn. They'll have giveaways for alumni and will also be offering half-price alumni association annual memberships. As always, admittance to Open House is free, but some events require tickets. For a complete schedule of events, visit the Open House Web site.

Homecoming 2008
Dates, Game Set for November 6-8
The Cal Poly Mustangs will take on North Carolina Central in Alex G. Spanos Stadium in the big game during Homecoming 2008, Saturday, Nov. 8. Get your tickets early: the Homecoming game and Tailgate BBQ always sell out at least a week in advance. Cal Poly's Homecoming 2008 events will be held November 6-8. Already on the schedule: a 50-year reunion for the Class of 1958, and the annual Homecoming Tailgate BBQ and Wine Tasting on the O'Neill Green in front of the Orfalea College of Business building. Mark your calendars and watch for details on the Homecoming Web Site.
Photos from past Homecoming celebrations

Saving the Earth, Touching Space, Giving Back - Alumni are Doing it All
Aero engineering alumnus Burt Rutan has received another out-of-this-world honor for his pioneering private space voyager designs, but he's not the only alum in the news this month. Others include an architecture alum honored for advanced recycling technology, wine traders, race car drivers, lawyers, tech wizards and more. Do you know them? Find out...
Read more about Alumni in the News

Jamie Gaiser PolyLink Photo of the Month:
Motorcycles, Airplanes and Babies
Cal Poly alumnus Jamie Gaiser (B.S., Business Administration, 2003) likes to spend his days off racing motorcycles. His day job? Flying military C-17 transport planes and missions as a captain for the U.S. Air Force. As if that's not enough to keep him busy, Gaiser and his wife have just embarked on one of life's biggest adventures: Parenthood. PolyLink members can view Gaiser's family, work and racing photos on his PolyLink Profile page. Everyone can see the PolyLink Photo of the Month gallery anytime - no login required.

New On PolyLink: Find Friends, Share Video, Blogs and More
Mustang-to-Mustang networking just got a whole lot easier. We've made some big changes to PolyLink, Cal Poly's online community. We’re very excited to announce several new Personal Page features that we think PolyLink members will really enjoy. Now you can share videos, e-mail your entire friends list in seconds, blog, add your favorite web feeds, and more.
Details on New PolyLink Personal Page Features

University News
Budget Crisis Forces Cuts in Cal Poly Fall 2008 Enrollment
The downward spiral of California’s state budget crisis is a major factor in shaping enrollment cuts in this fall’s Cal Poly undergraduate class. A total of 4,150 undergraduate students are expected to enroll this fall, 1,131 less than the number of students enrolled in fall 2007. In addition, 700-750 fewer new students will be enrolled during the off quarters of winter, spring and summer, bringing the total to 1,831-1,881 fewer new students admitted to Cal Poly than last year.
Read more about enrollment cuts at Cal Poly
ACT NOW: Sample letter to personalize and send to your legislator

Annual Parents' Weekend Set for October 24-25
Parents: this year you have your own weekend at Cal Poly! Cal Poly Parents' Weekend 2008 is set for Oct. 24-25. Come down and visit your student, take a tour of campus, and enjoy a Tailgate BBQ before the Cal Poly Mustangs take on Southern Utah State in Alex G. Spanos Stadium on campus. Watch the Cal Poly Parent Program Web Site for details as events are scheduled.

How Do You Feed 13,000 Animals?
With The New Animal Nutrition Center
Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has opened he doors of its brand new Animal Nutrition Center. The nearly 21,000-square foot, $5.5 million teaching and research plant can produce up to 6 tons of animal feed per hour for a variety of animal species and is filled with state-of-the art processing equipment. Cal Poly’s Animal Science Department uses the plant to make feed for all 13,325 animals on campus: 400 beef cattle, 250 dairy cows, 125 horses, 50 sows, 500 piglets, 350 quail, 5,000 egg-laying hens and 7,000 broiler chicks.

The Animal Nutrition Center will also be used to manufacture specialty feed products that are part of ongoing industry-sponsored research on campus, as well as to manufacture custom products for commercial companies. Private support from industry was key to building the plant.
More about the Animal Nutrition Center
Read the SLO Tribune story on the new ANC

Heating and Air Conditioning Program Receives $350,000 Challenge Grant
The Bay Area Chapter of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association board has voted unanimously to fund a challenge grant worth $350,000 for the Cal Poly Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration program. Between Nov. 12, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2009, the Bay Area industry group will match gifts to the Cal Poly Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Education Endowment from any donor – corporate, personal, non-profit or otherwise – up to $350,000.
Read more about grant

Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts Adds New Department & Minor:
Women's and Gender Studies
After almost two decades as an independent academic unit, the Cal Poly Women's Studies Program is becoming the Women's and Gender Studies Department, the 17th department in the College of Liberal Arts. The Women's Studies Program was founded in 1990. In 2000, the program hired its first permanent faculty line, Mary A. Armstrong, who will now serve as department chair. The program recently expanded its faculty and course offerings. Currently 25 faculty members from nine different departments teach core and elective courses in the Women's and Gender Studies Department.
More on the Women's and Gender Studies Department

Today's Students
Business Students' Annual Wheelchair Benefit Dinner & Auction is April 12
The Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation student chapter will hold its annual benefit gala dinner and auction at the Embassy Suites hotel in San Luis Obispo from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12. The students of the Cal Poly Wheelchair Foundation raised $29,000 at the 2006 Gift of Mobility Benefit, allowing them to deliver more than 800 wheelchairs to underprivileged residents of Belize in August 2006.
Read more on the 2008 Wheelchair Benefit

red wine in glass Sixth Annual Cal Poly Wine Festival is April 26
The Cal Poly Vines to Wines club will host its sixth annual Cal Poly Wine Festival on April 25 and 26. The weekend includes a golf tournament April 25 and wine tasting April 26. The event, formerly known as “An Afternoon Amidst the Oaks,” is a benefit for the new Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program and the student Vines to Wines club. The event will again take place at the Santa Margarita Ranch, from 1 to 4 p.m. Some 100 wineries from across California will be pouring, and Central Coast restaurants will be on hand with appetizers. The event also includes a silent auction and music. General admission tickets are $50.
More on the 2008 Cal Poly Wine Festival

SHPE students Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Takes Awards Again
Cal Poly’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) makes a big impact every year. The club offers its 156 student members academic, social, professional and leadership opportunities. But members also reach out into the community with K-12 tutoring and mentoring programs. Because of its record of service, the group was recognized as the 2006-2007 Region I Chapter of the Year at the SHPE National Conference held in Philadelphia.
Read more about Hispanic Engineers

Engineering Students Bring Green Technology to Salinas
Cal Poly engineering students are playing a major role in revitalizing the historic Salinas Chinatown neighborhood. The students, in collaboration with peers from CSU Monterey Bay, are developing a renewable energy source for the neighborhood’s community garden. The project is being funded by a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Cal Poly students will design and produce a wind turbine for energy generation and a battery storage system to maintain power overnight at the garden.
Read more about Chinatown project

Faculty & Staff
David Wehner Cal Poly Dean Named
to State Food and Agriculture Advisory Board
Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Dean David Wehner has been appointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. The State Board of Food and Agriculture is a 15-member advisory body appointed by the Governor to represent a broad range of agricultural commodities and geographic regions and both the University of California and California State University academic systems. The board is responsible for advising the Governor and the Secretary of CDFA on agricultural issues and consumer needs.
More on Dean Wehner's appointment to the board

Afghan Professor Releases Award-Winning Documentary on DVD
Cal Poly Ethnic Studies Professor Maliha Zulfacar is currently on sabbatical, serving as the Ambassador to Germany for her native Afghanistan. Zulfacar's pre-ambassadorship work on a documentary about the people of Kabul is now available in commercial release. Recognized as “one of the most important films on the Middle East in recent years,” by Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, “Kabul Transit” is now available on DVD from Bullfrog Films. Co-produced and directed by Zulfacar, “Kabul Transit” details the uncertain and often tragic lives of Afghans and Westerners trapped in Afghanistan’s virtually forgotten war.
Read more about Kabul Transit

drawing of blue ducks in water Cal Poly Professor Documents
Local Pleistocene Dinner: Ancient Duck
What was for dinner on the Channel Islands in ancient times? A flightless duck, according to a Cal Poly Professor Terry Jones and colleagues' study, which appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Science Academy. It appears California once had its own version of the dodo bird: a flightless duck which managed to escape most predators by colonizing the Channel Islands. Unlike the dodo bird, the Channel Islands duck could dive and swim, which may partially explain its longevity as a species: more than 8,000 years.
More on the Channel Islands' ancient duck
Read the story in Science Daily online

Teana Fredeen College of Engineering Adds
Outreach Coordinator for K-12 Schools
Cal Poly College of Engineering has hired an outreach coordinator to oversee and expand programs that expose underrepresented K-12 and community college students to the field of engineering. In her new position, alumna Teana Fredeen (AERO ’91) will strive to continue Cal Poly’s trend-bucking application and admission rates, which persist although engineering enrollment has slowed down at many other universities across the nation.
Read more about Outreach Coordinator

Coming Up
Alumnus Professor Speaks on Practice of Architecture April 11
Eric Nulman, Cal Poly alumnus and lecturer in Cal Poly’s Architecture Department, will lecture on his practice and experience as a registered architect on Friday, April 11, at 4 p.m. in the Business Rotunda ( Room 213).. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and has worked for several offices, including Morphosis, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, and Grimshaw Architects. He received his master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University.
More on Nulman's lecture

Cal Poly Marine Science Pier
Open to the Public April 12
Due to popular demand, the Cal Poly Pier again will be open to the public on Saturday, April 12, from 9 a.m. to noon. Visitors can explore the facility at their own pace during the free event, enjoying hands-on displays and interacting with Cal Poly faculty and students who conduct research at the pier. Bring the kids and check out the marine life in the touch tank, use equipment to see microscopic plankton, and watch a live video feed from marine robots exploring the ocean floor.
Read more about pier event

Students to Perform Scenes From Strauss Operetta April 11-12
Students in Cal Poly's Opera Workshop will perform arias, duets and ensembles from Johann Strauss' operetta "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat) on Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, in the Spanos Theatre on campus. The two performances, both at 8 p.m., allow more students an opportunity to participate. Jacalyn Kreitzer, Cal Poly voice, performance and diction teacher is the workshop producer. Performances are directed by Ross Halper of the San Francisco Opera and conducted by music faculty member David Arrivée. Tickets are $6 for students and senior citizens and $10 for the public.
More on Die Fledermaus

The Females of Folk Come to the Cohan Center April 12
Amalia Spicer Cal Poly Arts brings the "Females of Folk" tour to the Christopher Cohan Center Saturday, April 12. The show features The Wailin’ Jennys and Amilia k Spicer. Curtain time is 8 p.m. in Harman Hall. The two distinct bands will perform in an evening of female folk singer/songwriters and outstanding musicianship. Already a favorite with Garrison Keillor and Jackson Browne, the Wailin' Jennys are an extraordinary acoustic trio with contemporary lyrics and heart-stopping three-part harmonies. The Canadian group is quickly amassing folk and country fans beyond their borders. Spicer blends the poetry of her lyrics with a smoky, rich voice.
More on the Females of Folk concert

Open House Concert April 19 Features Tunes from Stage, Screen & Ballet
The Cal Poly Music Department will hold its annual Open House concert Saturday, April 19, at the Performing Arts Center. Enjoy an evening of entertainment beginning at 8 p.m. in the Cohan Center. Cal Poly's Symphony, University Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble will play works from stage, screen and ballet. The event is sponsored by Cal Poly's College of Liberal Arts, Music Department and Instructionally Related Activities program.
Details & ticket info

All-State Wind Orchestra Festival Concert is April 20
Performances by the All-State Festival Wind Orchestra, the Festival Symphony Orchestra, and Festival Jazz Band will help conclude Cal Poly’s Open House festivities April 20 in the Christopher Cohan Center's Harman Hall. Performances begin at 2:30 p.m. The All-State Festival Concert, featuring over 180 of California's top high-school musicians, continues an annual Cal Poly Music Department tradition that brings some of California’s finest young musicians to campus to perform. They are chosen by recorded audition and arrive only the Friday before the concert to begin rehearsals.
More on the All-State Wind Orchestra Festival Concert

HMS Pinafore singers Who needs Pirates
When there's 'Pinafore' -- April 28 at the PAC
The Carl Rosa Opera company performs the classic "HMS Pinafore" Monday, April 28 at 8 p.m. in Harman Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center. Come aboard the gloriously appointed Pinafore with its full chorus and live orchestra to set sail on the hilarious tide of love, hypocrisy, and mistaken identities culminating in heroic fun, frivolity, and fortune. This sea-faring smash bursts with satiric wit and is packed with some of Sullivan’s most popular songs and operetta’s best-loved characters.
More on the HMS Pinafore performance

three CATS in costume Still Time Snag 'Cats' Tickets
"Cats," the longest-running show on Broadway, is coming back to the Cohan Center for two nights only April 29 and 30.This is the 25th anniversary national tour of CATS is the only production in North America sanctioned by show composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. With original direction by Trevor Nunn and choreography by Gillian Lynne, this is the show credited with the “British invasion of Broadway.”
More on the CATS performance

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