Published Work

One Foot Out • 14th March 2023

Overlooked and undervalued: students with disabilities struggle to navigate inaccessibility at Cal Poly

The rain at the start of winter quarter came down in sheets. Life in San Luis Obispo seemed to come to a pause for several days; classes were canceled, roads were flooded, everyone was encouraged to stay inside their homes. For English junior Sydney Lehr, the rain added additional stress to the already tedious routine of mapping out how to access classes in a wheelchair.

Usually, Lehr has the days before the start of a quarter to figure out wheelchair-accessible routes to classes. Navigating Ca

Mustang News • 23rd March 2022

Horses trained by students, sold by students: The Quarter Horse Enterprise and Cal Poly Performance Horse Sale

Smooth and Snappy. Nine Ball Wild Card. Cowboys Fancy Sage. Wednesday Corona. WW Colonel Hawkinson. Hes All Wright. Miss Jackson. Smooth Jaguar. Bullet Proof Boon. Willie Was Colonel. Call Me A Pepto.

What could all of these words have in common?

These are the official registered names of some of the horses that will be in the Cal Poly Performance Horse Sale this June.

The Cal Poly Performance Horse Sale is the culmination of two quarters of training and planning done by Cal Poly students. St

Mustang News • 11th March 2022

Cal Poly students plan on celebrating 'St. Fratty's' weekend amid lifted COVID-19 restrictions

Students make plans for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend in San Luis Obispo as COVID-19 restrictions are rolled back, but safety enhancement zones and health concerns remain.

As Cal Poly rolls back COVID-19 related regulations on campus with plans to drop the mask mandate in classrooms and labs starting in spring quarter, students wonder whether the university will be as worried about social gatherings as last year.

“I don’t know how much they care now,” graphic communication freshman Jackie Bost

Mustang News • 10th March 2022

Sociology students use Easter eggs on Dexter Lawn to protest Cal Poly COVID-19 policies

Groups of students walked across Dexter Lawn between classes and asked one another which color they should grab. After choosing, students popped open colorful plastic eggs to reveal a Hershey’s Kiss chocolate and a QR code.

The 200 eggs to choose from and a sign that called for students to “grab an egg” were a part of a demonstration on Dexter Lawn on Thursday, March 3.

The demonstration was done in hopes of affecting change on Cal Poly’s campus in regards to the administration’s current COVID

Mustang News • 1st March 2022

Cal Poly lab works to understand students’ perception surrounding Sexually Transmitted Infections and what it means to be “clean”

Cal Poly students are researching students’ perceptions around Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) – exposing a lack of awareness and knowledge about reproductive health on campus.

The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Lab is a research lab focused on sexual and reproductive health issues that affect women, with a specific goal of working with women of color because of significant data that shows women of color are often underrepresented in this area of study. Their research projects can fo

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

Mustang News • 18th February 2022

"Hidden history": Cal Poly student leads tour of San Luis Obispo's WWII Black history

A Cal Poly history graduate student is leading a presentation and tour this Friday about a Black artillery regiment that resided in San Luis Obispo during World War II.

“They Faced the Rising Sun: The 54th Coast Artillery Regiment on the Central Coast in WWII” is going to be a lecture, slideshow and walking tour. The event is taking place at the community room in the City-County Library on Palm Street at 2 p.m. or over Zoom for virtual attendees.

The student, Erik Brun, will be leading the pre

Mustang News • 31st January 2022

What is stalking? Cal Poly Safer Community Panel explains

Safer, Lumina Alliance, Cal Poly Police Department and the Civil Rights & Compliance Office at Cal Poly defined what each of their groups consider to be stalking during a Jan. 20 Safer community panel for Stalking Action Month.

“I am surprised that we have so many available resources for students and yet there still are so many occurrences of stalking, sexual violence, dating violence, etc.,” food science sophomore Tommy Zamencik said after the panel concluded.

Safer and Lumina Alliance are co

Mustang News • 29th January 2022

The University Union Market is now open

A fourth campus market is now open, this one in the University Union.

“It’s super convenient as an off-campus student who spends most of their time at the [Multicultural Center],” psychology sophomore Angelo Lozano said. “It’s going to start burning holes in my pocket.”

The other three markets are Campus Market, located near Highland Dr., Market PCV, located in Poly Canyon Village, and Market Grand Ave., located within the Vista Grande Dining Complex.

After its soft opening on Sunday, Market

Mustang News • 20th January 2022

Cal Poly's COVID-19 saliva testing to be brought to market through local partnership

Cal Poly faculty developed saliva-based COVID-19 testing technology that students have used on campus since February 2021. Now, those saliva tests will be brought to market.

Nathaniel Martinez, associate professor of biological studies, and Andres Martinez, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, developed microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (microPADs) for low-cost and portable diagnostic applications, according to a Cal Poly press release from December 2021.

The faculty partnered wi

Mustang News • 13th January 2022

Two more COVID-19 deaths and 41 hospitalizations reported in San Luis Obispo County

Two more San Luis Obispo County residents have died from COVID-19, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department reported on Tuesday. This brings the county’s total number of COVID-19 deaths to 375.

Of the two community members whose deaths were announced, one resident was in their 50s while the other resident was in their 60s.

“These deaths are a sobering reminder that COVID-19 can be extremely serious,” County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in a Jan. 11 County Public Health n