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

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

Alumni

Spanos Stadium, Memorial Plaza Taking Shape, Honoring the Past
The old Mustang Stadium is in the middle of its physical transformation into the new Alex G. Spanos Stadium -- scheduled to be completed in time to kick off football season this fall. If you've ever wanted a personal piece of permanence on campus, the stadium project is offering a prime opportunity. In return for a donation covering the cost, alumni and friends can have a personally inscribed paver in the new Memorial Plaza.
Read More about the Stadium
and Plaza
or
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Alumni in the News
Former Migrant Worker Turned Harvard MBA Started at Cal Poly
Before earning his engineering degree at Cal Poly, Martin Curiel spent his childhood working in the fields and orchards of California and Oregon with his family. After earning his civil engineering degree at Cal Poly and a job at Texaco, he decided it wasn't enough -- and went on to earn an M.B.A. from Harvard. Now he works as a financial consultant and urges other Latino college grads to remember their roots and help migrant families succeed. He was a commencement speaker at University of Texas this month. Find out who else is in the headlines -- and if you know them!
Alumni in the news this month
Special Update: Alumni in Politics

Mark Your Calendar: Homecoming 2006 Set for Oct. 20-22
Come back to campus for friends and fun! Homecoming 2006 is set for Friday, Oct. 20, through Sunday, Oct. 22. The Cal Poly Alumni Association is holding its Grand Reunion for the members of the Class of 1956 -- and all preceding classes. In the big game, the Mustang football team will take on South Dakota State. Watch Cal Poly Update for coming details on Homecoming 2006.

University News

Cal Poly Women's Lacrosse is Again No. 1 in the Nation
For the sixth year in a row, the Cal Poly Lady Mustangs Women's Lacrosse Team returned home victorious from national collegiate championships, finishing the season as the No. 1 team in the nation. After a hard-fought battle with Michigan State in Dallas the weekend of May 13, the score was Michigan 7, Cal Poly 12. The Cal Poly Men's Lacrosse Team also ended the season well, finishing at No. 8 in the nation after championships the same weekend.
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Orfalea College of Business Will Offer Master's Degree in Accounting
Cal Poly's Orfalea College of Business is launching a new Master of Science degree program in accounting, with specializations in tax and financial accounting. Although the degree program was originally approved by California State University System Chancellor Charles Reed in February 2001. The sluggish California economy and resulting state budget constraints placed the degree program on hold. But now it's back in action. Provost Bob Detweiler and OCOB Dean Dave Christy, with approval from the Chancellor's Office, announced in late May that the OCOB will begin offering the accounting master's degree program in 2007.

Straighten Up! Cal Poly Design-Build ‘Boot Camps’ Are Booming
The California Center for Construction Education at Cal Poly and the Design-Build Institute of America are teaming up to host a series of "Design-Build Boot Camps.'" The week-long educational "boot camps" are designed to speed up the certification process for professionals seeking design-build designation. Earning the designation typically requires individuals to travel to various U.S. cities to complete core courses over several months or years. The Cal Poly boot camp takes place over one week on campus. The Aug. 6-12 session is already full; space is still available for the Sept. 10-16 program.
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Professionals Laud City and Regional Planning Projects
Cal Poly's City and Regional Planning Department received three 2006 Awards for Leadership and Service from the Central Coast Chapter of the American Planning Association. The department earned two awards for excellence and one for merit. The awards were presented at an APA dinner May 20 at the Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort in Avila Beach.
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Liberal Arts, Science and Math Establish Program in Coatings, Ink, Toner
Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department in the College of Liberal Arts and the Polymers and Coatings Science Program in the College of Science and Mathematics have formed a new partnership to address needs in the coatings, ink and toner industries.
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Corps Presents Cal Poly with Award, Peace Pole
Cal Poly is one of the top 25 universities in the nation this year when it comes to students signing up for the Peace Corps. With 46 student volunteers, Cal Poly beat out UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis to secure the No. 22 spot on the Peace Corps' national list. This is the first time Cal Poly has made the list. The Peace Corps dedicated a Peace Pole at Cal Poly May 16 -- a national honor -- in recognition of students' participation in the international service program. The pole stands in the plaza between the Administration Building and the University Union, near the Mustang sculpture.
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Read the Mustang Daily story on the Peace Pole

Today's Students

First Doctoral Students Graduate from Joint Program with UCSB
Seventy-seven graduates made history June 4. They're the first group of graduates to complete Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara''s new doctoral program in education.
Read the KSBY Story

CM Graduate Receives $20,000 Fellowship
Cal Poly construction management graduate Joe Karten was recently awarded the Victor L. Regnier Traveling Fellowship and $20,000 for his proposal to research sustainable buildings in foreign countries and create a Web-based database of reports about the buildings he visits. Sponsored by the American Council of Construction Education and the Regnier Family Foundation, the fellowship provides $20,000 for travel and living expenses during a nine-month independent study program.
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Students Complete PolyHouse Makeover
Cal Poly Professor Roya Javadpour and her project management students just completed their third annual "PolyHouse" home renovation service project, this time for an elderly San Luis Obispo woman and her daughter and grandchild, both disabled. Javadpour's students raised some $20,000 in donations of cash, building materials and other assistance for repairs and improvements on a home shared by a 75-year old woman, fragile with diabetes, blindness and age-related illnesses, and her 54-year old caregiver-daughter.
See the KCOY news coverage and video
See the KSBY news coverage

Students Take Five Out of Six Awards in Fox Logo Design Contest
Cal Poly graphic communication students dominated a recent logo design contest sponsored by Fox Atomic, a new division of entertainment industry giant 20th Century Fox. The Fox Atomic marketing team was seeking a dynamic name and logo to represent the creative energy of its core demographic of 16-to-21-year olds. Students were asked to come up with a name that embodies Fox Atomic’s vision of an “edgy, funny and entertaining brand” and a “cool and/or irreverent” logo design.
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Students Compete in Design Finals
Cal Poly College of Architecture and Environmental Design students will compete in the American Institute of Architecture Students Chair Affair 2006, June 8-10 in Los Angeles. Cal Poly is one of six schools vying for the top prize of $2,500 and a free trip to the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters Convention in Chicago this fall.
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Faculty & Staff

Los Angeles Film Festival to Screen
Professor’s Documentary on Afghanistan
“Kabul Transit,” a documentary by Cal Poly social sciences Professor Maliha Zulfacar that explores the soul of a city devastated by nearly three decades of war, has been accepted into the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. “Kabul Transit” will be shown June 24, 25 and 29 at the festival. The 104-minute film follows city residents in the course of their daily lives and listens to stories of their past and hopes for their future, according to Zulfacar. “The central character of ‘Kabul Transit’ is the city itself -- neighborhoods leveled by rockets, traditional mud brick homes next to modern glass towers, gleaming SUVs caught in traffic jams with rebuilt taxis.”
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Ag Professor Helps U.S. Help Afghanistan
The Cal Poly College of Agriculture is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Afghanistan build its agricultural exports sector. Cal Poly Food Science Professor Hany Khalil recently presented food safety workshops for government Agriculture Ministry personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan. The workshops aimed to train Afghanis on meeting international food safety standards – key to building exports.
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President Appoints Sandra Ogren as Vice President for Advancement
Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker on June 7 announced the permanent appointment of Sandra Gardebring Ogren as Cal Poly's vice president for University Advancement. Ogren has served as the university’s vice president for advancement, in an interim capacity, since fall 2004. Her appointment follows completion of a national search for the position and with the strong endorsement of the search committee and those involved in the recruitment process. Ogren’s areas of responsibility include development, alumni relations, corporate and foundation relations, public affairs and governmental relations.
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Bill Watton Appointed Chief of University Police
Cal Poly has appointed Bill Watton Chief of University Police effective June 1. Watton has 36 years of law enforcement service that includes 12 years as police lieutenant for the City of Atascadero , serving 18 months as interim police chief for the city. During his career he implemented the Atascadero “Community Action Partnership” and served as Emergency Services Coordinator for the city. Watton joined Cal Poly in January, 2002, as Operations Commander for University Police and was appointed interim police chief in January.
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Longtime Materials Engineering Professor
Harry Honegger Passes Away
Longtime Materials Engineering Professor Harry H. Honegger passed away on May 29, at the age of 81, in Eugene, Oregon. He and his wife, Jeannette, moved there after he retired from Cal Poly and stopped teaching through the FERP program. Honegger taught in the Materials Engineering Department for many years. He came to Cal Poly with a M.S. from Oregon State College in 1961. He was a welder, in the Navy, and was a registered professional engineer. He had no teaching experience whatsoever when he arrived on campus, but he possessed a more important trait that made him successful: Harry Honegger really loved students, according to colleagues and alumni.
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In the Navy, Professor's Software Innovation is Moving Things
The Integrated Computerized Deployment System (Icodes) is a ship load planning computer application that uses artificial-intelligence principles and techniques developed by a private San Luis Obispo company in association with Cal Poly. Two Cal Poly Architecture professors -- Jens Pohl and Art Chapman -- originally developed the application to help design buildings. The software can calculate, for example, how many offices can fit within a certain area. The U.S. Navy is using the software now in supply lines around the world.
Read the full story in Washington Technology magazine


Former Ag Dean Returns as Senior Advisor
Former Cal Poly dean of agriculture Joe Jen, who has been serving as undersecretary of research, education and economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2001, has returned to Cal Poly as a senior advisor to President Warren J. Baker and California State University Chancellor Charles Reed. In his new position as senior advisor for special agricultural and federal initiatives, Jen will assist the president and the chancellor on systemwide strategies and provide support for Cal Poly and the CSU on federal policies and programs.
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Coming Up

Commencement Ceremonies
Set for June 4, 10 and 11
More than 3,700 students are set to graduate in seven separate ceremonies at Cal Poly’s Spring Commencements. Ceremonies are set for Saturday and Sunday June 10 and 11. Commencement speakers include best selling mystery author (and alumna) Nevada Barr, Jeet Bindra, Chevron's president of global refining, and Kara Blakeslee, a trustee of the American Land Conservancy. Ongoing construction at the Alex G. Spanos Stadium is the reason for the multiple commencement ceremonies.
Full Commencement Schedule

See 'The Last Unicorn' June 11
The Pacific Dance Center, under the direction of Karen Garman, is staging "The Last Unicorn," a children's musical theatre production. Over 150 children will perform with local professionals and dazzling special effects in the story of a unicorn in a brave search to find others like herself. Showtime is 3 p.m. in the Spanos Theatre. Tickets are $12 general admission, and available in advance at the PAC ticket office, 756-2787, and at the door the day of the show.
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Deyo Dancers Come to Cohan Center June 17, 18
Lisa Deyo Dances Saturday, June 17th, at 8 p.m. in the Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre. Choreographer Deyo and dancers will perform in a trio of pieces. "Brasiliero" is a sensual contemporary ballet, swirling through a variety of Brazilian music. "Blue" is a jazz, modern and musical theatre piece set to Marcus Roberts’ brilliant interpretation of Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue." "Suite" is a modern and jazz fusion piece.
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PAC Hosts Opening Concert of Mozart Festival July 14
The 36th Annual Mozart Festival begins with a concert at 8 p.m. in Harman Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center, presented by the Mozart Festival, featuring conductor Scott Yoo and pianist Vladimir Feltsman. The concert will feature Beethoven's "Overture to Corolianus," Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major," and Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 5 in D Minor." For a complete schedule of all San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival concerts and events, including the Artists Corner, Music at the Movies and special summer soirees, visit www.mozartfestival.com or call (805) 781-3008 to request a free ticket brochure.
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