Mustang News

Mustang News • 13th March 2023

Cal Poly Farms Hosts U-Pick Orange Picking

Cal Poly Farms hosts seasonal U-Picks throughout the year. From now until June, the orange orchards are open to the San Luis Obispo community. The U-Pick events take place on Saturdays in the Cal Poly citrus groves. Students and families can go out and pick a variety of citrus fruits including oranges, lemons, and limes.

“Our biggest season is citrus. We typically start picking in January and go until about June, and depending on the weather, we’re out here every Saturday from about nine to fou

YouTube • 30th May 2023

Meet Cal Poly’s ‘Chicken Guy’: One student turns passion for poultry into beloved on-campus business

Andrew Dolan has become known as the "Chicken Guy"- one of Cal Poly's beloved on-campus characters. The agribusiness senior brings his chickens social events...

Mustang News • 22nd March 2023

WATCH: Students clean up neighborhoods after St. Fratty's Day

The Cal Poly Center for Service and Action hosted a neighborhood clean up the Sunday after St. Patrick’s day. Students volunteered to help clean up remaining trash and litter around the neighborhoods near campus after the annual ‘St. Fratty’s Day’ celebration. About 4,000 people gathered in the streets during the event.

Mustang News reporters Gabrielle Downey and Madison Vernon show us how students were involved in the cleanup.

Mustang News • 16th March 2023

Diablo Canyon: California’s last nuclear power plant

For more than 3 million people in California, one energy source powers their phones, computers and lights in their homes: The Diablo Canyon Power Plant. It’s also the last nuclear power plant in the state of California.

Twenty miles from Cal Poly’s campus, Diablo Canyon sits close to Avila Beach and powers about 9% of California’s energy. In 2018, the state of California decided to decommission and close the power plant by 2025, but last year the California Congress voted to extend the life of

Mustang News • 6th March 2023

WATCH: Students present at the 2023 CSU Research Competition

Cal Poly student researchers presented their research projects in order to go to the statewide CSU research competition.

“Basically, the Cal State system competes against itself in a wide variety of disciplinary areas to identify and celebrate student and alum excellence in student research,” Director of the Office of Student Research Jane Lehr said.

Cal Poly will pick 10 student research projects to represent the school at the next level. Last year, Graduate Student Savannah Weaver presented

YouTube • 5th December 2022

Cal Poly ISCO hosts protest for Iranian women’s lives

On Thursday, Nov. 10, student protesters lined up across Dexter Lawn, holding posters and protesting for the justice of Iranian women. The protest was inspi...

Mustang News • 1st December 2022

San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden hosts Nature Nights art exhibit

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is hosting on an art exhibition for the holiday season. Nature Nights opened on November 11 and will run until January 8 every Thursday through Sunday.

The exhibition features light installations, wire sculptures and projections throughout the Garden with the intention of connecting nature and art together. Guests can take a tour of the Garden and explore the art throughout the exhibition.

Mustang News reporter Gabrielle Downey shows us some of the highligh

Mustang News • 7th November 2022

Cal Poly parking, explained

Many students and faculty have experienced driving in circles around Cal Poly’s parking lots in search of a spot. By noon, the parking lots are full and students aren’t able to use the permits they paid hundreds of dollars for so they wouldn’t have to walk to class.

“For my 12 to 2 p.m. class on Mondays and Wednesdays, it’s been really, really hard to find a parking spot,” liberal studies senior Brayden Schauer said.

Commuting students had the option of buying a quarterly or annual parking per

Mustang News • 4th October 2022

'Learn by Brewing': Cal Poly creates its own beer with local brewery

Cal Poly recently partnered with Firestone Walker Brewery to create a new beer specifically targeted for the Mustang community. The beer, Cal Poly Gold, debuted at Cal Poly’s first home football game on Sept. 9.

Co-founder of Firestone Walker Brewing Company David Walker said the collaboration began through Cal Poly. The school reached out due to the deep connections they have with the brewery. Many Cal Poly students learn, intern and go on to work at the brewery.

“Cal Poly blood runs thick in

Mustang News • 20th October 2022

A Look Inside the 2022 San Luis Obispo Reptile Exposition

The 2022 San Luis Obispo Reptile Exposition was held at Madonna Inn this past weekend. Many local and state vendors displayed their animals for the San Luis Obispo community. All kinds of snakes, lizards, chameleons, turtles, and other reptiles were on sale for people to take home as pets. The exposition also focused on educating the public on reptiles with live speakers and events throughout the two days.

YouTube • 8th September 2022

Introducing The Sandspits: A KCPR Exclusive Interview

KCPR sat down with the local surf rock band The Sandspits for a closer look at their work and the people behind it! Meet three of the four band members and l...

Mustang News • 16th May 2022

Watch: Meet the new ASI President Gracie Babatola

Political Science sophomore Gracie Babatola will take over as Cal Poly’s ASI President for the 2022-2023 school year. Mustang News Reporter Gabrielle Downey sat down with Babatola in this exclusive Q&A.

Mustang News • 7th April 2022

Years after disappearing, the Pismo clam is bouncing back

When Cal Poly alum Carolyn DeRosa was 10 years old, she would spend her summer days digging up clams in Pismo beach. Her grandparents would get her up early in the morning to head to the coast and dig through the sand to find the massive Pismo clams.

She remembers sitting on the beach with her family and watching her friend dive down in the ocean. She said he would find so many clams, but because they were so heavy, he wouldn’t be able to bring them all back up to the surface. He had to leave t

Mustang News • 5th April 2022

DiVR 360: Bringing Scientific Scuba Diving into the Classroom

Most people won’t get to experience the vastness of life under the ocean. They won’t get to experience pulling on a wetsuit so thick they can’t bend their arms just to stay warm in the freezing pacific. They won’t get to feel how heavy an oxygen tank is on their back nor the attached buoyancy control device, which keeps them from sinking straight to the sandy floor.

They won’t get on a boat, review their safety plan with a diving buddy and find a spot off the coast to anchor down. They won’t ge

Mustang News • 10th March 2022

Former Chancellor Joseph Castro has a guaranteed faculty position — at Cal Poly SLO

Several Cal State University employee contracts include a policy that guarantees them a backup job somewhere in the CSU system.

For resigned CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro, that position is a tenured faculty role in Cal Poly’s very own Orfalea College of Business.

Castro resigned as Chancellor in February after USA Today published an investigation into his mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints while president at Fresno State.

In a settlement and release agreement obtained by Mustang News,

Mustang News • 12th January 2022

Cal Poly is proposing student fee increases. Here’s how to participate in the consultation process

Cal Poly Academic Affairs is proposing a plan to increase College Based Fees in order to offer students more financial aid and further fund Learn By Doing opportunities. Students can learn more and ask questions about this proposal at an open forum this Thursday.

The open forum will be on Zoom Thursday, Jan. 13, from 1:10-2 p.m. Students can also voice their feedback on the proposal in this form. Cal Poly will be consulting students and campus groups on the plan until Feb. 4.

The College Based

Mustang News • 3rd February 2022

Pismo Beach hosted SLO CAL Open surf competition

The SLO CAL Open presented by French Hospital Medical Center took place at Pismo Beach from Jan. 27-30. This competition was one of two World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series events that will take place on the Central Coast.

Alyssa Spencer and John Mel came out on top of the four-day contest. On Sunday, Jan. 30, Spencer took down last year’s event winner Sawyer Lindblad and Mel beat Levi Salwson, according to a WSL news release. These wins secured Spencer a spot in the Challenger Series and

Mustang News • 17th February 2022

Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers and San Luis Obispo High School sponsors local robotics competition

Two teams from San Luis Obispo High School won awards at the 11th annual robotics competition for middle and high school students on Feb. 5., and one team will advance to the state championships.

The 2022 California Central Coast VEX “Tipping Point” Tournament is a regional qualifier for the state robotics championship and was held at Cal Poly. There were 17 high schools that participated in the event. The Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers sponsored the event alongside the SLO-Botics robotics

Mustang News • 27th January 2022

Cal Poly launches new campus safety app

Campus Public Safety launched the Rave Guardian safety app on Jan. 14 that will allow students to contact the Cal Poly Police Department directly if they are in danger. The app is currently available for all Cal Poly students and employees.

The app allows the user to send confidential text messages to the Cal Poly Police Department with tips, reports of suspicious activity or requests for a safety walk from Mustang Patrol. These text messages can be sent anonymously or campus police will be abl

Mustang News • 21st February 2022

New Instagram account sharing Cal Poly COVID-19 concerns says student health is not ‘negotiable’

A new Instagram account is sharing anonymous posts written by Cal Poly students who have had negative experiences with COVID-19. These posts criticize Cal Poly’s testing centers, isolation policies and the administration’s response to the omicron surge. The account also urges Cal Poly to change their COVID-19 policies.

The account, @covidcalpolyslo, first posted on Jan. 24 and shared their intentions of giving a platform to students’ stories and voicing change to the school.

“We strive to call