Cal Poly Update - June 2010
Spotlight: Commencement 2010
More Than 3,000 New Grads Join Cal Poly Family June 12
Commencement on Saturday provided a chance for students and faculty to reflect on the Class of 2010’s transformation from whip-smart, wide-eyed freshmen to motivated new professionals with hands-on experience, ready to do the work their first day on the job.Cal Poly bid farewell to more than 3,000 members of the Class of 2010 over the weekend. Former United States ambassador and state assemblywoman Carol Hallett received a Presidential Medal of Honor at the morning ceremony and delivered the keynote address to agriculture, liberal arts and science and mathematics grads. Gary Bloom, a noted Silicon Valley techology leader, honored alumnus and Cal Poly Foundation Board Member, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters and delivered the keynote address at the afternoon ceremony for business, engineering and architecture and design grads.
Click here to see a photo slideshow from commencement
More details about the speakers and graduates
Watch video of the commencement on YouTube
Alumni News
Cal Poly Wind Ensemble Performs at Disney Concert Hall June 22 - Join Special Pre-Concert Reception
The Cal Poly Wind Ensemble is performing as part of the Los Angeles International Music Festival Tuesday, June 22, at the Disney Concert Hall. It's a grand finale for band director and music professor Bill Johnson’s 43-year career at Cal Poly. Tickets are available for the performance as well as a special pre-concert reception at the Jonathan Club. Meet fellow alumni, parents and friends at a pre-concert reception with music by the Cal Poly Jazz Combo. Hear from
Cal Poly Foundation Board Member Ken Stone and College of Liberal Arts Dean Linda Halisky and current student musician Matthew Webb at the private reception. Tickets are $50 for reception and performance and $30 for the reception only. Reception seating is limited; RSVP by June 16.
Details and registration on the Cal Poly Alumni Events Calendar
Alumni in the News in June
A speech communication alumna is now a central part of a new MTV reality show set in New York City. A journalism alumna is leading public affairs at the Disneyland Resort. A biological sciences alumnus has been named to coordinate research on a dangerous bacterial disease that strikes livestock and wildlife. Find out which alumni made headlines recently -- and if you know them.
Read about Alumni in the News
PolyLink Photo of the Month is Rock Solid
Cal Poly Engineering alumnus Charley Cross is the June PolyLink Photo of the Month winner for his 2009 shot of Morro Rock. Cross, a software engineer who now lives in Sacramento, was visiting his daughter Julia -- a current Cal Poly Graphic Communication major. His son was accepted to Cal Poly and will start this fall.
PolyLink - Private, Free and Secure
Cross is just one of the 15,000-plus alumni you can find in PolyLink, Cal Poly's free private online community (www.calpolylink.com). Inside you can browse more than 500 alumni photo albums, view members personal profiles, and send 'in system' e-mails to more than 30,000 alumni. Unlike other social networks, PolyLink is private. Only verified alumni, current seniors, faculty and staff are allowed inside -- and the university will never share your data. If you are alumni or a current senior and you haven't joined PolyLink yet, look for a separate e-mail today with your first-time login code. Create a photo album in PolyLink and you could be the next Photo of the Month winner.
Honoree Kazunori Karayama talks to reporters
after the ceremony.
Photo by Chris Leschinsky
World War II Nisei Alumni Honored at June Ceremony
A handful of alumni and surviving family members received diplomas in a special ceremony June 7 honoring Japanese-American students who were ordered to internment camps at the start of World War II. The university identified some 30 former students who were eligible to receive an honorary bachelor’s degree because their studies were cut short. The ceremony was the culmination of Cal Poly's part of the California State University Nisei Project. Find out more about Mustang Nisei at a special campus exhibit going on now at the Kennedy Library. “Nisei Diploma Project: Stories from California Polytechnic State University,” will run June 8 through July 5 during regular library hours in the library’s first floor gallery. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Details on the Kennedy Library exhibit
SLO Tribune column on Cal Poly Nisei Alumni by History Professor Dan Krieger | See the KCOY TV News Coverage
University News
Class of 2010 is Already Conquering Career Market
In the midst of one of the toughest job markets since the Great Depression, grads from Cal Poly’s Class of 2010 are landing professional career positions from Apple to Sundt to Amgen and beyond. “I’m not surprised that our students are enjoying success in their job hunting,” said Robert Koob, Cal Poly provost. “Our students are known for being academically motivated and while they know theory, they also have experience with practical application. When you combine that with our learn-by-doing philosophy, you get resourceful professionals who are prepared to contribute from their first day on the job. Employers know that and appreciate that about Cal Poly graduates." The students themselves attribute much of their success to Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy and focus on science, technology, engineering and math, which are in high demand in the job market.
Find out more about some of our amazing 2010 grads and where they're headed
Cal Poly's Regional Economic Impact: $469 Million
Cal Poly generates $469 million in regional spending and a total of $29.6 million in tax revenue, according to the latest economic impact report from the California State University Chancellor's Office. Other findings in the report: Cal Poly is responsible for the creation of more than 5,000 jobs, and Mustang alumni earn a total of $2.4 billion. In addition to detailing the 23-campus CSU's economic impact across California, the report breaks out the impact of each specific campus. Find a breakout map for campus-specific impacts, and more details in the entire report, at:
http://www.calstate.edu/impact/
Search for Next Cal Poly President to Begin Anew This Fall
After three finalists came to campus in late May, California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed announced that a new search for a president for Cal Poly will begin this fall. "The board of trustees certainly respects the level of experience the candidates bring to the process, but ultimately, we must be confident that the next president be the right fit with the campus and the community," said Reed. "In addition, we are competing to attract candidates within national presidential compensation levels that are often much higher than we are able to offer. This makes the search that much more difficult."
More on the Chancellor's announcement
New Endowment Supports Students, Honors Bakers
Friends of Cal Poly have recently established The Baker Fund for Excellence in Project-Based Learning as a tribute to the 31 years of leadership provided by retiring President Warren Baker and his wife, Carly Baker. Cal Poly President’s Cabinet Chairman Steve Ciesinski and Rick Bergquist of the Cal Poly Foundation Board of Directors presented the Bakers with an award in May naming the fund after them. Almost $700,000 has already been raised for the newly created endowment. It will help fund projects across all university disciplines that address real-world problems, engage students in innovative research, and help students participate in national competitions.
Click here for more details
Click here to contribute to the Baker Fund online
Cal Poly All-Natural Beef on Sale in June
Cal Poly students are offering a gourmet treat: all-natural, grass-fed beef. As part of an annual learn-by-doing project, students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences have raised a herd of Black Angus cattle at the university's Swanton Pacific Ranch outside Santa Cruz. The project's all-natural beef cuts are for sale for a limited time.
More on the beef and the sale
Today's Students
Business, Architecture, Planning, CM Team Takes Silver in Bank of America Housing Challenge
An interdisciplinary team of Cal Poly students took second place in Bank of America’s Low-Income Housing Challenge.
The Cal Poly team partnered with EAH Housing of San Rafael to create a physical and financial proposal for Broadway Village, a 70-unit, multifamily, mixed-use development near downtown Oakland. The project was geared toward larger, low-income families with a minor emphasis on housing individuals with HIV/AIDS. The Cal Poly team included 13 students from six departments: eight students working toward bachelor degrees in Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture, as well as five graduate students in Business and City and Regional Planning.
See details on the project and short video on the project on the Poly Housing Collaborative website
Architecture Students Take Top Design Honor
Cal Poly Architecture students David Lee and Anthony Stahl were awarded the highest honor at the recent 2010 Mock Firms International Skyscraper Challenge: Collegiate Division sponsored by Chicago Architecture Today.
More on the architecture awards
Students Take Awards in Agriculture Competition
Cal Poly agriculture students took placed first and second for their public speaking and research skills at the 2010 conference of Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences.
More on the ag awards
Psych/Bio Student's iPhone Fixit Business Featured in Forbes
Cal Poly senior AJ Forsythe landed in Forbes Magazine online in May for his home business fixing iPhones. It's booming. Forsythe founded the company in January 2009, dubbing it iCracked -- after the device's tendency toward cracked screens. Forsythe says iCracked, which he runs out his San Luis Obispo home, is pulling in $1,200 to $1,500 a week after expenses. He wants to expand the business in California, to Texas and, later, the East Coast. But he'll have to finish his double major first.
Read about Forsythe in Forbes.com
Student Philanthropy Council Campaigns for Awareness
Cal Poly's Student Philanthropy Council made the news with its first ever "Days of Philanthropy" event on campus -- and decked out the Poly "P" with a message visible around town. The 12-member student council was aiming to raise awareness among students about the increasing role private support is playing at the university. In 1987, California state funding covered 90 percent of the cost of students' education; in 2001 it covered 75 percent of the cost. And in 2010 state funding accounts for only 50 percent of the cost. The council is reviving the tradition of a senior class gift.
Visit the Student Philanthropy Council Web site
Faculty & Staff
Bringing Tomato Tech to Egypt's Small Farmers 
Food Science and Nutrition Professor Hany Khalil spent two weeks in Egypt in May conducting workshops on sun-drying tomatoes. The workshop targets female farmers with small land holdings, to help them preserve their excess tomato crop to generate income and food security. "Even though the pharaohs established sun drying thousands of years ago, the latest technology has yet to be developed in Egypt," Khalil said. The assignment was coordinated by the international non profit agency ACDI/VOCA and funded by USAID.
Photo courtesy Hany Khalil
Herman Ellis Rickard
Dairy Science Faculty Emeritus Herman E. (Doc) Rickard passed away in May. During his 30 years at Cal Poly, Rickard supervised the Dairy Project and coached the Dairy Cattle Judging teams involving hundreds of students -- including three national championship teams. Alumni can send e-mail to memoriesofdoc@yahoo.com.
Coming Up
GALA Brings 'Queen of Mean' to PAC July 10
Lisa Lampanelli is Comedy's Lovable Queen of Mean. Heralded as "more than a standup -- a standout," by comedy legend Jim Carrey, Lampanelli is a mash up of Don Rickles, Archie Bunker and a vial of estrogen. She's performing at 8 p.m. July 10 in the Christopher Cohan Center.
More on Lampanelli