Cal Poly Update | May 2008 | The E-Newsletter for University Friends and Alumni

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

Alumni
Bjorn Adams PolyLink Photo of the Month:
Snowboarding the Canadian Rockies
Second-generation engineering grad Bjorn Adams (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1998) takes the latest Photo of the Month prize for submitting this shot. It's Adams in action snowboarding at Island Lake in the Canadian Rockies in 2005, shredding up the slope like a surfer carves a wave. Adams and his brother run the family engineering firm in San Diego. If you're a PolyLink member, read more about Adams, or browse through other alumni photo albums after logging in at www.calpolylink.com, the online community for Cal Poly alumni. Not an alum or a PolyLink member (yet)?
Click Here for the PolyLink Photo of the Month gallery -
no sign in required.

Cheryl Achterberg Alumni in the News:
Movers and Shakers, Disney VPs, and Winemakers
California State University Chancellor Charles Reed honored Cal Poly alumnus George Gomes (B.S., Ag Business, 1966, M.S., Ag Education, 1971) for his efforts advocating for the university. Gomes was the first in his family to attend college; he's currently serving as the undersecretary to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Biology alumna Cheryl Baker Achterberg (B.S., Biological Sciences, 1975) is a finalist for the provost's position at Washington State University. Another alumna was just appointed as Disney Resorts' new VP for communications; another is a finalist for a top job running Washington State University, and two made headlines for their wine. See if you know them!
More alumni in the news

Win Free Tickets to Carol Channing Concert June 1
The original Dolly is about to say 'Hello, Cal Poly' and you can be there. Spend an evening with Broadway legend Carol Channing at the Performing Arts Center's Christopher Cohan Center on the Cal Poly Campus June 1. PolyLink is sponsoring a drawing for two free concert tickets, plus winners' choice of either one night at the Madonna Inn or dinner at Sage, the new restaurant across from the Performing Arts Center on campus. To win, you must be an alumnus and a PolyLink member. Log in to PolyLink at www.calpolylink.com and create your Personal Profile by May 16. Then visit this PolyLink page and enter your name in the drawing. (Requires login to PolyLink).

May Alumni Events
Gourmet Cooking in Temecula, Wine Tasting in Modesto, Golf All Over
Looking for something fun to do in May? Take your family out to the ball in Baggett Stadium on campus. Alumni are getting together for wine tasting in Salinas, Modesto (it's Fork "N" Bottle time) and San Diego. Going anywhere in Kentucky? Stop by Pewee Valley for an alumni afternoon of wine, appetizers and friends. Check out the PolyLink alumni events calendar for details on these and many more events at www.calpolylink.com/alumnievent s - no login required. Remember, you don't have to be a member of the Cal Poly Alumni Association to attend CPAA events.
See the Alumni Events Calendar

You Could Be Next
Business Alum is Latest PolyLink Nano Winner
Bob Millsap (Bus Admin, 1990) is the latest PolyLink iPod Nano winner. Millsap and his wife Shelley (Rupert) Millsap (Liberal Studies, 1990) now live in Glendale, Arizona, where Bob Millsap is a successful mortgage broker. The Mustang couple have two children, moved to Arizona a decade ago, and love it. With the PolyLink Nano win, everyone in the family now has an iPod, Bob Millsap noted. If you're Cal Poly alumni, You could be next. How? All you have to do is create your personal profile in PolyLink.
Read more about the Millsaps & Nano Giveaways
(requires login to PolyLink)

Know a June Grad? Give a Grad Pack
Cal Poly's Spring Commencement is June 14 and 15. Do you know a June grad? Give the perfect gift: a Cal Poly Grad Pack. Priced at $20.08 per pack, they include an annual Alumni Association membership, an exclusive Class of 2008 T-shirt, and a Cal Poly Alumni chrome license plate frame.
Get 2008 Grad Pack Details

Sicily CPAA Sicily Trip: There's Still Time
to Get in Touch With Your Inner Italian
You don't have to belong to the Cal Poly Alumni Association to take advantage of its great travel program. All alumni, parents and university friends are welcome. This October, get in touch with your inner Italian by touring Sicily. The island abounds with ancient historical sites: Taormina, Mt. Etna, Syracuse, Mondello, Agrigento, and Palermo. Sign up for the trip by June 17 and receive a $100 discount.
Visit the CPAA Travel Web for more details

University News
student painting Fifth Annual 'Polyhouse' Underway
Cal Poly Professor Roya Javadpour and her project management class are working on their fifth home renovation service project, this time for a Nipomo man confined to a wheelchair. Javadpour's students have raised more than $50,000 dollars in donations of cash, building materials and other assistance for repairs and improvements. They'll be spending their weekends working on the Nipomo house, home to a disabled man and his wife. The gentleman has minimal use of his hands and legs and is unable to move, feed himself or handle any personal needs without assistance. His wife is his primary caregiver.
Read more about "PolyHouse" project

Cal Poly Students Take Top Prizes at Statewide Research Competition
Cal Poly had two first-prize winners among its ten entries at the 22nd Annual California State University Student Research Competition. The Cal Poly winners were among nearly 200 students from 22 campuses who took part in this year’s competition. Biochemistry major Daniel Le,from San Jose took first prize in the undergraduate physical and mathematical sciences division. Mechanical Engineering major Chi-Yeh Hsu from Mountain View and electrical engineering major Xian Wang from Pleasant Hill won first prize in the undergraduate engineering and computer science division.
Details on the winners and other Cal Poly competitors

Graphic Communications Partners With NYU to Promote Graduate Studies
Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department and New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) have teamed up to promote graduate education in graphic communications management. The partnership between Cal Poly and NYU’s Graphic Communications Management and Technology master’s program is called “East Meets West.” Cal Poly is promoting its relationship with NYU to encourage students to consider graduate school.
Read more about Cal Poly/NYU Partnership

John Morgridge Cisco Chairman Emeritus Honored at Baker Forum
John P. Morgridge, chairman emeritus, Cisco, gave the keynote address at the biennial Baker Forum, Sunday, May 4. Morgridge spoke about the changing technology landscape and its implications for the future of polytechnic education. Morgridge was also honored with the Baker Forum's Wiley Lifetime Achievement Award. Morgridge joined Cisco in 1988 as president and CEO and helped set the culture there.
Details on Morgridge and the Baker Forum 2008

State Budget Crisis
Revised State Budget Set to Be Released This Week
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to release his revised version of the state budget this week. The budget could mean either $7.3 or $9.9 million in cuts to Cal Poly, and could include a fee increase for students. Those cuts were proposed by the governor earlier this year as part of a 10-percent, $386 million cut to the 23-campus California State University system. CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed discussed the proposed budget cuts to higher education in California in a recent interview.
More on the budget, including the interview with Chancellor Reed

Today's Students
Arachnid tent 2008 Design Village
'Mission to Mars' Winners Announced
Innovative – and sometimes quirky – designs are always part of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s annual Design Village competition, held during Open House. The event challenges teams of architecture, construction management and engineering students from universities across the West to design structures and live in them for the weekend. This year, Cal Poly's "Team Mars Exclamation Point" entry won first place in the "Most Sustainable" category, and an honorable mention for best mode of transportation. Overall winner was Team Triad of West Valley College. Photos from the competition will be posted soon on the Design Village web site.
Read the list & see photos of Design Village 2008 winners
See photos from past competitions | See KSBY News video of 2008 Competition

Cal Poly Flower Judging Team Again Best in Nation
The Cal Poly Flower Judging Team has again been crowned national champions. The 2008 team earned the honors at the 67th National Intercollegiate Floral Crop Quality Evaluation Contest, held at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in early April. Competing student teams are judged on their ability to discern differences in perfection of various floriculture crops. Students had to rank specimens in 32 different classes, including 15 different potted flowering and foliage plants and 17 types of fresh flowers -- ranging from potted callas to stems of snapdragons.
More on the flower judging victory

Cal Poly Supermileage Racer Takes Silver at International Competition
Supermileage Black Widow At a whopping 2,752.3 miles per gallon, Cal Poly’s 2008 ‘Supermileage’ car finished second place at this year’s international Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition. The test vehicles were powered by combustion engines, fuel cell/hydrogen technology, diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas and solar power. The 2008 competition took place April 11-12 at the California Speedway track in Fontana. Cal Poly faced a field of 27 teams from 23 universities and four high schools from across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
More on the supermileage team

Cal Poly Water Polo Teams Ranked Among Top in the Nation
The Cal Poly Women’s Water Polo team earned the title of National Collegiate Club Champions after winning a match against the University of Oregon on May 4. Sarah Ur shot the winning goal during the first three-minute overtime period in a match that had the two teams tied at 6-6. It was the team’s fourth championship win. The Cal Poly Men’s Water Polo team also scored big this year, winning their fifth National Championship title in November. In March, the Collegiate Water Polo Association placed team members Daniel Harris and Josh Mix in Division 1 of the All-American Team.
More on the water polo teams

Cal Poly Teams Out to Build a Better Lunar Backhoe in NASA Competition
Interested in designing a lunar backhoe? The Cal Poly College of Engineering is partnering with Slobotics to enter NASA’s Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge. Students and community members interested in participating in this prestigious national competition are invited to join a Cal Poly/Slobotics team. The event will be hosted in the Engineering Plaza at Cal Poly on August 2-3. Twenty Regolith teams from universities, the private sector and industry have already registered for the competition. Winning teams will split $750,000 in prize money and have the chance to contribute to NASA’s final product: an excavator that will be used to establish a moonbase by 2020.
Read more about NASA contest

Cal Poly Student, Newspaper Win First-Place Awards
Cal Poly student Ashley Singer, a third year business marketing major, was named the Advertising Sales Representative of the Year by College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers. Singer, the second straight winner from Cal Poly in that category, won in the newspapers with less than 40,000 weekly circulation category. Cal Poly’s student newspaper, the Mustang Daily, also took first place in the Special Section category for its Best of Cal Poly 2007 Edition.
More on the Mustang Daily awards

Faculty & Staff
College of Education Dean Receives National Research Award
Dean Bonnie Konopak Bonnie Konopak, dean of Cal Poly’s College of Education, has received the 2008 Award for Distinguished Research in Teacher Education. The award was presented by the Association of Teacher Educators and recognized Konopak and her co-authors for their research study, “Student Engagement in the Teaching and Learning of Grammar: A Case Study of an Early Career Secondary English Teacher.” The study was published in the Journal of Teacher Education.
More on Dean Konopak's award

Biology Professor Receives Grant to Study Damage to Fish in Morro Bay
Cal Poly biology professor Lars Tomanek has received a $30,000 grant to investigate why gobies in Morro Bay are developing cancerous tumors. Tomanek believes the tumors are being caused by contaminants in the bay that disrupt the fishes’ endocrine systems. Analysis of the fishes’ livers showed high levels of a byproduct of compounds found in detergents. The troublesome compounds help break down oil and grease. “The question is where is it coming from?” Tomanek said. “We don’t know that, yet.”
Read the full story in the SLO Tribune

Professor Russell's Compositions to Premiere
at Walt Disney Concert Hall June 8
New music by noted contemporary composer and Cal Poly Professor Craig Russell will be premiered by the San Luis Obispo Symphony at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 8. The 2 p.m. concert will also feature guest performances by renowned guitarist José María Gallardo del Rey, violinist Kathleen Lenski, and French hornist Richard Todd.
Read more about the concert

Professor's Anthology Tackles Medical, Ethical,
and Government Tech Issues
Cal Poly's Nanoethics Group has published an anthology of articles and papers looking at emerging issues created by technological advances. The anthology, “Nanotechnology & Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues,” was co-edited by Philosophy Professor Patrick Lin, director of the Nanoethics Group. The articles in the anthology were written by leading researchers, policy experts and scholars worldwide and tackle environmental, health, medical benefits, intellectual property, professional code of ethics, privacy, and international governance issues impacted by emerging technology.
More on the nanoethics anthology

UCSB Names Cal Poly Professor Honored Alumnus
Cal Poly Professor George J. Petersen was named a Gevirtz Graduate School of Education Distinguished Alumnus by UC Santa Barbara. The awards recognize outstanding accomplishments in research, teaching and or leadership. The recipients are selected by a committee of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and will be honored at a reception in the spring.
Read more on George Petersen

College of Ag, Food and Environmental Sciences Announces Awards
Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences recently honored 10 faculty and staff members for outstanding work and accomplishments. Several of the awards are supported by industry. This year’s recipients include dairy science and crop science professors, animal science and agribusiness staff, and a manager at Cal Poly's Swanton Pacific Ranch facility outside Santa Cruz.
Details on the CAFES awards

Passings
Lawrence Wolf, First Director of Financial Aid at Cal Poly
Lawrence Wolf, 81, of San Luis Obispo died Monday, April 21, 2008, at his home. Arrangements are under the direction of Reis Family Mortuary and Crematory in San Luis Obispo. Emeritus staff who knew Wolf recalled him as a wonderful person and great boss. Donations in his memory may be made to hospice.
Read the obituary in the Tribune

Coming Up
Quilt Exhibit Now Running at U Art Gallery
The rich and complex history of quilt-making is told through the quilts on display now at Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery. The exhibit runs through June 14. Cal Poly’s Art and Design Department is co-curating the show with noted quilt author. Carolyn Mazloomi. The exhibit, titled “A Tear in the Fabric: The Conceptually Driven Quilt,” features work by 25 quilt-makers from around the country.
Read more about the quilt exhibit

Cal Poly Theatre & Dance to Stage ‘Animal Farm' Throughout May
Cal Poly’s Theatre and Dance Department will present a stage production of George Orwell’s” Animal Farm” at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17, Wednesday and Thursday, May 21-22, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Spanos Theatre on campus. This theatrical version of “Animal Farm” presents an allegorical tale of agricultural revolution: the overthrow of Farmer Jones by the animals.
More on the 2008 production of 'Animal Farm'

Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble Spring Concert is May 16
Arab dancers The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will perform traditional and contemporary music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean and larger Middle East at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 16, in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center. The ensemble will perform vocal and instrumental selections from some of the greatest composers and performers of Arab art music, including the legendary Sayyid Darwish of Egypt, the eminent Fairouz of Lebanon, and the Syrian superstar of Egyptian cinema, Farid El Atrache.
Arab Music Ensemble Spring Concert ticket info

Musical Prodigy Joins Jazz Night with University Jazz Bands May 30
Jazz bands on stage One of jazz's brightest young stars will showcase the new generation's approach to jazz at Cal Poly's Jazz Night concert at 8 p.m. Friday, May 30, in Harman Hall in the Performing Arts Center's Christopher Cohan Center. Pianist Taylor Eigsti will perform with both Cal Poly's University Jazz Band #1 and the Cal Poly Jazz Combo. University Jazz Band #2 and another jazz combo will also be performing in concert.
More on Jazz Night

Ninth Annual Mustang Madness Dinner & Auction is May 31
The Ninth Annual Mustang Madness benefit dinner and auction will be held Saturday, May 31, in Mott gym. This year's theme is 'El Dorado Nights.' Mustang Madness is a fundraiser for Cal Poly student athletes, with proceeds going toward student scholarships. The evening features dinner by Chef Ian McPhee of McPhee's Restaurant and Grille, and wines from Vina Robles.
Details on Mustang Madness 2008

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