Recent News
Q&A With President of CLA Ambassadors Christine Lam
Oct 6, 2020
Christine Lam
By Sophia Lincoln
Christine Lam is a political science senior at Cal Poly's College of Liberal Arts and she is the new president for College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Ambassadors, a group of CLA students involved in outreach and leadership within the college. Lam was also the Cal Poly representative to the Panetta Congressional Internship in 2019.
Question: What responsibilities do you have as the president of CLA Ambassadors?
Christine: As the president of CLA Ambassadors, I kind of run the day-to-day operations of everything just making sure that everything that we need to do – so specifically, the information sessions every week – is running smoothly. With the virtual format, of course a lot of things are different, but we still need to hold information sessions. So that includes training our new ambassadors, working alongside [Cal Poly] Admissions to make sure that there is an information session every week, coordinating with ambassadors and now, I am also trying to do a lot of new things within the programs, [including] creating a new position for diversity, equity and inclusion and also mentorship within the program itself.
Editor’s note: Information Sessions are for prospective students to learn more about Cal Poly and the college. They were typically on campus, but this year are happening virtually.
Question: What types of initiatives is CLA Ambassadors in charge of as a whole?
Christine: We are the public face of the College of Liberal Arts so, anything that the university is involved with in a public aspect usually we will have student ambassadors represent the college in certain aspects. So, during Open House we have a booth that represents College of Liberal Arts Ambassadors. A lot of times, if the College of Liberal Arts has some sort of panel – whether it’s for the new Dean Advisory Council – usually ambassadors get [asked to join the panel], especially with public relations roles; if anyone who is interested in CLA or has questions about it, they will often reach out to us and we will direct them to the appropriate party.
Question: How and why did you become involved in CLA Ambassadors?
Christine: I kind of just fell into it. I think I got an email one about [recruiting CLA Ambassadors] and I was like okay, why not. I don’t want to be like I didn’t take it seriously at first, but I didn’t take it seriously at first. I was just like, oh it’s just a good way to get involved, but then I really started liking it. Talking to people who were once in my position, I know that my college application journey I didn’t get to tour colleges, I didn’t get to talk to people who went to the college and I wish that I did. The more that I got involved and the more things that CLA did for me outside of CLA Ambassadors, I kind of became passionate about sharing my experiences and what the college has done for me so that [prospective students] can come and have the same opportunities I did.
Question: What has CLA and CLA Ambassadors done for you that has enhanced your experience at Cal Poly?
Christine: [I gained] a lot of public speaking skills. I [previously] thought that I was a good public speaker but nothing compares to that experience of being asked on the spot about a question that is kind of difficult, like the diversity issues at Cal Poly; you can’t really just pull out your phone and [look up] what I should say, it’s the on-the-spot thinking that really helped me and I think that that really helped like specifically for me the biggest part was when I did the Panetta Congressional Internship where I had to interview with the Secretary of Panetta Institute and that experience working in CLA Ambassadors really helped prepare me for that because the questions were really difficult, but definitely the experience from CLA Ambassadors helped me a lot there.
Question: What are your goals for this year as the president of CLA Ambassadors?
Christine: I think the goal is just to maintain the integrity and as much of what we had last year as possible. Obviously, we’re not going to have as [many] community outreach events and events in the dorms as well – I don’t think we are going to have any this year, but just being able to engage with the first-years, build a community and also build the relationships within our organization -- making the CLA a stronger and tighter-knit community are definitely some goals that I have.
Question: Where do you see CLA Ambassadors going in the future?
Christine: I really hope that, because one of my best friends is the president of COSAM Ambassadors, I hope that there [will be] more blending and interaction with the other ambassador groups. I do think that there is a great potential for collaboration and reaching across colleges to learn from each other more, since I know that a lot of times when people come to our information sessions, they are interested in minors and other colleges and I feel like that engagement can really help. For the future, I hope that [CLA Ambassadors] gets bigger. I hope that the mentorship program that is still in early stages lasts and also creating an alumni network that can double for CLA Ambassadors and the college itself.
Question: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Christine: I couldn’t do any of it without my amazing executive team and members who are always being super accommodating for the virtual environment.
Read the most recent CLA News stories.
Ask an Expert: What Makes Online Misinformation So Dangerous — And Shareable?
Sep 29, 2020
WRITTEN BY GABBY FERREIRA
A pandemic, natural disasters and widespread protests are all happening across the country right now, and a significant epidemic of misinformation is exacerbating the chaos.
Kim Bisheff is a lecturer in Cal Poly's Journalism Department
and an expert in how misinformation spreads online.
Unequivocally false claims have been swirling across the internet — that antifa protesters are being bussed into towns ahead of protests to loot, that hydroxychloroquine is a cure for the coronavirus — and in many cases, the sheer number of people who believe them and spread the misinformation only serve to more deeply fracture our shared perceptions of truth and reality.
Cal Poly News sat down with Kim Bisheff, a lecturer in Cal Poly’s Journalism Department and an expert in how misinformation spreads online, for a chat about what we face, why it’s harmful — and what we can do about it.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is misinformation? What counts as misinformation on a social network like Facebook or Instagram?
It’s a really tricky term to define these days because it’s being thrown around so much, but in a general sense, misinformation is false information that is pushed out to the public with the intent to deceive.
Generally, misinformation is designed to tap into our emotional reactions: fear and anger, most frequently. We humans have this design flaw where, when we experience strong emotions —especially fear and anger — or in some cases, that feeling of validation that comes with having your opinions restated in an inflammatory way, we tend to react to that information without giving it much critical thought.
On social media, that means liking things, retweeting, “hearting,” commenting, interacting in any of those ways. When we do that, we amplify that message in a way that in the olden, pre-social media days we didn’t have the power to do.
A lot of that content is political. A lot of it is, these days, COVID-19 related.
Here’s an example: a lot of the misinformation around the pandemic is about miracle cures, like gargling with bleach or the whole hydroxychloroquine thing.
When that came out, it tapped into this really strong fear that people had, and in a vacuum of concrete information, they just ran with it. People, even very bright people, were getting hydroxychloroquine and taking it prophylactically even though there has never been any definitive evidence that it’s helpful. Of course, eventually it was shown that not only does it not help, but it can be very harmful.
But in that interim, and even still now, there are memes out there, there are narratives that are being passed on by people who are looking for a solution to this big scary thing that’s out there. They’re going to grab on to any possible solution they can find.
Another example of misinformation is texts and Facebook posts about antifa being bussed into SLO in advance of protests. That exact rumor is playing out in cities all over the country with almost the exact wording every time.
Those messages were designed to cause a fear reaction and be spread around. Locally, that led to shop owners being fearful and boarding up their stores, which had a negative emotional impact on a lot of community members. That’s an example of misinformation that spreads with absolute intent to deceive and to cause uncertainty.
Those repeated messages are super powerful because the more we’re exposed to false information, the more likely we are to accept it as true information.
How does misinformation spread? How does misinformation find a footing in an audience?
It taps into emotional triggers.
We’re already on heightened alert, at really high levels right now, and then we see something that seems to legitimize that fear. We share it, we spread it, we send it to friends because we’re worried about them.
We have this feeling of having insider information because it came to us from a friend of a friend. Once someone we know is attached to that piece of misinformation, then it lends it this legitimacy that shuts down our critical thinking even more. So, it continues to spread and spread and spread.
The interesting thing about something like that is once a piece of misinformation has been debunked, the truth really doesn’t spread.
False information spreads much faster than true information, and that includes misinformation that’s been debunked or corrected. Once this thing has gone out there, it’s really hard to contain again.
That has to do with human nature. The emotions that are involved in debunking are less satisfying than the emotions that are involved in legitimizing our fear and anger.
There can also be a little bit of embarrassment, especially if we realize that we ourselves were suckered into believing something that was false. We consider ourselves intelligent beings and we shouldn’t fall for that stuff. It’s embarrassing! We maybe quietly think, “Oh that wasn’t right,” and we move on. Whereas when we experience the more negative emotions that are triggered by scary content, just as humans, we feel a greater urge to put it out there.
Because of the nature of viral information, it spreads quickly and in a way that causes us humans to adopt beliefs. Developing a belief is much easier than tearing down that belief because of evidence to the contrary.
When you’re dealing with people you respect and love and they’ve consumed really well-produced convincing misinformation, like that Plandemic hoax video, and they absolutely believe it, it’s just heartbreaking. It’s so hard to have those conversations. It’s so hard to convince them that it’s not something they should put any faith in. It’s challenging.
How do you confront a loved one about misinformation that they truly believe, or have shared on social media?
What I’ve learned is that first of all, it’s a very, very, very difficult task.
Secondly, once someone has adopted a belief, if you simply present them with facts contrary to that belief, you’re not going to change their mind. They’re more likely to just dig in. The best way to start to change someone’s mind is to find common ground.
In the case of the Plandemic video, for example, you could say something like this:
“Wow, I saw that video. It’s really convincing. When I first saw it, I thought, ‘I can see how this makes so much sense.’ I was curious about the woman who was interviewed, so I Googled, and look what I found. What do you think about this?”
When we bring them on that journey of discovery together, it takes the shame and accusation away and makes it more likely that they’ll be receptive to the possibility that their first interpretation was wrong.
It’s really key to make it clear this is a person I love and respect and I’m not telling you you’re stupid or wrong. I want to go on this intellectual journey with you. Let’s do this together.
What are the consequences of misinformation? How do we see misinformation impact people both on social media and then in the real world?
I am very concerned that if Americans continue to look at their social media feeds to find out about current events and how the world works, and if they continue to turn away from legitimate sources of news and science information, then when election time comes, we’re going to make some really bad decisions.
It sounds like conspiracy, but there are plenty of people who would like to see the downfall of our democracy.
Part of that game plan is taking advantage of our tendency to react to inflammatory content by spreading it through social networks. We all need to inoculate ourselves against that by being aware that this is a problem that exists.
We need to think critically whenever we are confronted by those scary emotions because of something we saw or read. Of course, in the pandemic era it’s really hard to do that because everything we see is scary.
When I give talks, one thing I’ve started to tell people is they need to do some social media distancing.
I would never tell anyone to stop consuming social media because that’s a fool’s errand, but it shouldn’t be the place where we go to find out about what’s happening in the world. It should be the place where we go to find joy and share pictures of our families, beautiful hikes we’re taking, and anything that makes us feel positive emotions.
If there’s anything that makes us feel a negative emotion that we consume, especially on social media, we just need to stop and take a breath and put on our critical thinking brain and at the very least, don’t react to it on social media.
If we just stop sharing it, this problem goes away.
How should people judge for themselves whether they’re looking at a credible news source?
Mark Zuckerberg is not going to save us, we gotta do this on our own. [Laughs].
When we’re deciding what’s a credible news source, one thing we should look for is whether the stories have bylines. We should then look up the people who have published that information, and look them up across their social channels and see: do they have a journalism background, do they have an advocacy background, who are they?
We need to improve our ability to tell the difference between fact-based writing and opinion writing. That’s a big problem.
Opinion pieces tend to generate a bigger emotional response, so in the digital world those individual stories are more likely to get shared and spread. As readers, we tend to be pretty bad at telling the difference between opinion and news when it’s not clearly labeled in a separate section in a newspaper.
Another thing to look for is attribution. Responsible, professional journalism attributes its statements to credible sources. Every statement should have clear attribution that helps us understand exactly where the reporter got that information. The word “said” is all over every professional news story. When we’re reading casually, we don’t even notice that word, but if you start looking for it intentionally, you’ll see after that “said” is a source that we can look up independently and verify.
We want our information attributed to primary sources. That means, for example, if it’s something that has to do with a real estate development, then we want to make sure the reporter is talking to the development director and not a random neighbor who’s angry about the impact that development may or may not have on their property value. Reporters do include opinion statements from the general public, but those statements are lower in the story and serve a different purpose. We want our facts to be confirmed by primary sources.
The News Literacy Project has fantastic resources for educators and for anyone who wants to improve their news literacy skills. They just launched a podcast called, “Is that a fact?”
Another good resource is MediaWise, a program through the Poynter Institute that’s geared toward empowering people to become better consumers of information. Their free, online fact-checking course for first-time voters goes live in October.
Could you give any examples of misinformation that spread on social media that bled into the real world?
The “Pizzagate” rumor is the most notorious example.
Sign of the Times: Students Use Graphic Communication Skills To Promote COVID Safety Measures
Sep 29, 2020
WRITTEN BY GABBY FERREIRA | PHOTOS BY JOE JOHNSTON
As the coronavirus pandemic progressed during the spring quarter, Facilities Operations executive director Jude Fledderman started thinking about posting signs on campus to help people safely navigate Cal Poly in the age of COVID-19.
Michaela Kwan, left, and Chris Jones work with the die cut
machine at the Cal Poly Printing Press.
Meanwhile, University Graphic Systems, the Graphic Communication department’s student-run printing and design operation, was brainstorming how to keep their business running during the pandemic.
“I knew Facilities was looking to get these signs printed quickly and we have the equipment and capacity to produce them,” said Colleen Twomey, chair of the Graphic Communication department. “It was serendipitous.”
Since July, the students who primarily operate UGS have been making the signs, which show people how to get around campus buildings while maintaining social distance, among other things.
“The UGS folks were extremely positive in taking this challenge on and working through the details,” Fledderman said. “This is not something they expected to do, but they took it on and delivered.”
The student managers on the UGS team, who were mostly trained on their duties via Zoom during the spring quarter, knew this year would be different. But the sign project hammered home the new normal of adapting a business to serve customers in pandemic conditions.
“The students’ responsibility is to run the company, and typically there is plenty of business throughout the year. This year they have had a big challenge due to COVID-19, and they really have to pivot and be agile,” Twomey said. “I’m extremely proud of these students.”
The students, along with Graphic Communication electromechanical technician Peter Schlosser and adviser Dina Vees, are figuring out how to move forward and expand their skills during this unprecedented time while also fulfilling their UGS duties. Vees helped create a digital storefront, where UGS’s customers can place orders online, helping to streamline operations.
Kinsey Mangan checks delivery confirmation for COVID signs
as she and other student employees print signage to be used
in buildings on campus during the coronavirus pandemic.
The team has also learned how to use different kinds of machinery in the shop, which is useful not only for printing signs but also for future products. They’ve also created a San Luis Obispo-themed kit of products, including buttons, stickers, a mug and a T-shirt, to help new students this fall feel more connected to the area as remote learning continues.
“You don’t get any deeper, hands-on learning than you do in UGS,” said Stephanie Tang, UGS’s specialty printing manager, and a fourth-year Graphic Communication major. “As managers, we have so many responsibilities and we have to learn how to use and utilize the machinery effectively.”
“It’s a lot. It’s uncharted territory for sure,” said UGS general manager Chris Jones, also a fourth-year Graphic Communication major. “Because of the pandemic and this need for signage, we now use it and incorporate it into our services. We now have all these new machines that are now within our capability of using and it’s honestly fantastic.”
The experience has also made the students more confident in their abilities.
“Being able to run a machine by yourself and know what you’re doing is a pretty cool feeling,” said Elise Monroe, account manager and third-year Graphic Communication student.
Working in UGS is “the epitome of Learn by Doing,” Jones said, and while part of the Learn by Doing experience in UGS involves making mistakes and learning from them, the student managers all said putting out quality work is their highest priority.
“Although we do make mistakes and we learn through our mistakes, we’re still a company that holds quality as one of its highest standards,” Monroe said. “It’s being able to make those mistakes but then being able to fix it as properly as we can and having that clear-cut final product, that’s ultimately what we’re striving for and what UGS tries to do with all of its projects.”
“UGS is definitely a privilege,” said project manager Kinsey Mangan, a fourth-year Graphic Communication student. “These are the kinds of things it seems like employers want to know about and I think we have a team that really takes that seriously.”
The UGS students aren’t the only students working on the pandemic-appropriate signage: a team of student workers in Facilities is installing the signs, according to Fledderman and Paul Fleischer, a planner, estimator and scheduler in Facilities Operations.
The UGS team all said they were excited to take part in making the signs, and had sent videos of the process to their families, shown the signs off to their roommates, and found other ways to take pride in their work.
“I went on a run on a Friday after getting off my shift working on the floor signage, and I ran by Baker and the signs were up,” Mangan said. “That was the first time I had seen them on the building and it was super exciting to see that this is something that everyone on campus is going to see and I had a part in doing it.”
Story originally appeared in Cal Poly News
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CLA Professor Diana Stanton Awarded Distinguished Scholarship Award
Sep 21, 2020
By Sophia Lincoln
Cal Poly Dance Professor Diana Stanton, who has worked on various dance films and collaborative student projects, has received a Distinguished Scholarship Award for the 2019-20 year.
Diana Stanton
Granted by the Academic Senate, the award recognizes achievement in scholarship and creative activity by exemplary and accomplished faculty.
Stanton’s work includes research of what she calls “kinesthetic intelligence,” which refers to the human ability to learn and process life through movement.
“Movement and dance are innate to who we are as a whole person,” Stanton said. “My hope is that people recognize the importance of movement.”
According to Stanton, kinesthetic intelligence is applicable to all different majors and fields of study.
“[The Theatre and Dance Department has] had a lot of students that integrate their studies with dance,” Stanton said. “We have people that do choreography pieces relating to aerospace ideas and we even had one student, who is a doctor now, do her whole senior thesis about a bacteria.”
Stanton’s work is also very collaborative among the different colleges at Cal Poly, and she has led workshops for various majors including one for first-year architecture students to experience some of their concepts in a kinesthetic format.
While many students have used the dance minor to further their own respective studies, Stanton also believes that dance itself can be an essential aspect of life.
“I don’t want to diminish dance as an ancillary or supportive role in these things, but really as an integral way in how we think, how we feel and how we process.”
Stanton has also been recognized at national film festivals for her dance pieces “State of Grace,” which portrayed the different stages of women’s lives, and “Breaking Bread,” which was recognized at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and depicted the dynamics of family dinner.
Stanton is very grateful for this recognition from the Academic Senate for the dance program and her work.
“What I am thrilled about is that dance is being recognized in academia,” Stanton said. “I have tremendous gratitude and thanks for those that bestowed this upon me to see the importance of what we do.”
She would also like to recognize her students who participated in her work.
“This scholarship was not done alone, the work of the students has been critical in the research and activity we do as artists,” Stanton said. “The students have experimented, stretched their comfort zones, they have been vulnerable and honest, and most of all passionate about movement exploration.”
Stanton also hopes that this recognition may bring to light the importance of the dance program as a whole.
“I hope it brings our program recognition that is collaborative and included in all of the other disciplines,” Stanton said.
Stanton, along with other awardees Scott Hazelwood and Foaad Khosmood from the College of Engineering, received a $2,000 award and were formally honored during fall convocation.
Read the most recent stories in The Link
Psychology Senior America Romero Awarded Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Aimed at Preparing Future CSU Faculty
Sep 21, 2020
By Sophia Lincoln
Psychology senior America Romero is one of two Cal Poly students who have been selected as pre-doctoral fellows through the California State University's (CSU) Sally Casanova Scholars Program.
America Romero
The program features one-on-one guidance provided by a faculty member from the student’s respective college and may include participation in research, visits to doctoral-granting institutions and travel to a national symposium or professional meeting and related activities, according to their site.
Romero will work alongside faculty advisor Kelly Bennion, an assistant professor in the Psychology and Child Development Department.
“I think the reason [Romero] designated me as her faculty mentor is because [she] has been working with me for about a year in my research lab and also her interests happen to be very similar to mine,” Bennion said. “So, I was extremely excited when she told me she wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and specifically that she wanted to study memory because that is my area of expertise as well.”
Romero has worked with Bennion before both through the BEACoN Mentoring program and as a lead research assistant in Bennion’s lab.
“Not only does she collect data on memory studies and enter the data and analyze it, but I also lean on her to help communicate with my other research assistants so that she can help organize, or manage, my lab,” Bennion said.
Romero will continue working in Bennion’s lab for the 2020-21 academic year where she may conduct her own experiment for her senior project and also gain guidance from Bennion as her designated faculty mentor for the program.
Additionally in the fall, Romero will have the opportunity to help present her and Bennion’s findings at virtual conferences. Bennion also hopes to help Romero find and apply to a doctoral program that matches her interests and perhaps help her find a lab to work in over the summer.
“Ultimately, I would also really like to just continue to mentor America in just professional development even after she graduates,” Bennion said.
Romero is interested in pursuing a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience and plans to use her fellowship to learn more about different doctoral programs, to become more involved in the research aspects of her doctoral aspirations and to obtain financial support for application fees.
“America is extremely impressive,” Bennion said. “I very rarely have a student who does so much external research to figure out everything she needs to know not only about Ph.D. programs and grad school but also opportunities like the Sally Casanova Scholarship.”
Romero is also involved as a Scholar Mentor in the Cal Poly Scholar’s Program and has spoken on several panels for the Psychology and Child Development Department.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity and to be able to continue the mentor-mentee relationship with Dr. Bennion,” Romero said. “I am a [first-generation] student so, to me, all of this is unchartered territory. It’s super helpful to have someone as incredibly helpful as she is to guide me through the process.”
The Sally Casanova Scholars Program aims to support the doctoral aspirations of CSU students who have faced economic or educational disadvantages. The program is intended for students who are interested in becoming CSU faculty members after achieving their degrees.
“As a first-gen, Latinx student it is hard navigating higher education, so it’s been super exciting that I have this opportunity,” Romero said.
Graduate student Ashlee Hernandez from Cal Poly’s School of Education’s Higher Education Counseling and Student Affairs program was also selected as a pre-doctoral fellow for the program. Hernandez and Romero are the first Cal Poly students to be selected for the Sally Casanova Scholar’s Program since the 2014-15 academic year.
How Cal Poly Prepared Recent Alumna Sydney Nguyen For Her Career in Design (Q+A)
Aug 6, 2020
Sydney Nguyen (Comparative Ethnic Studies, '20)
"By harnessing the work, organizing, and values, focus that energy into the building and healing of our communities – especially the marginalized. Because our wounds have never healed, and our foundation is broken. Amplify our voices. Lead unapologetically and empathetically. It's always about putting other’s needs before your fears." - Sydney Nguyen (Comparative Ethnic Studies, '20)
What did you love most about your experience at Cal Poly?
In my five years at Cal Poly, some of the most valuable moments I’ve had in my time were learning from the brilliant minds of students, professors, and mentors, teaching me to always lead unapologetically and empathetically. Working with an array of student organizations and leaders, I’ve learned that leadership and empathy lie in the practice of caring for communities around you. From having listened to personal stories of adversity and resilience in student-led workshops, classroom discussions on critical theory, and creating works of art and literature that engages us to be active citizens, these are moments to be caring. I especially loved my courses and mentors in the Ethnic Studies department and students activist organizations, MCC, CAED Diversity + Inclusivity Committee, Decolonizing Sustainability, Queering Migrations, etc, because these groups of folx allowed me to envision and embody what a healthy and loving community could be.
As a designer, these are important skills and privileges to live by —having the self-love for ourselves, understanding multi-faceted contexts, and being sensitive, hopeful, and responsive to the world around us. These generous people and resources have provided me their welcoming love that inspired my education, one that could never be taken away from me.
How did Cal Poly prepare you for your current job?
At Cal Poly, I have participated in opportunities that seem unlikely when merged, specifically around social justice, design, and the built environment. This blend allowed me to challenge conventional ways of thinking and further pushed me to design the type of futures that local communities need, which currently led me to be a freelance creative. Navigating 2020 can be painful, but if anything valuable to take out of it is always to remain resilient and hopeful, shifting mindsets to create opportunities from adversity. Cal Poly has certainly provided me confidence and values in being critical and caring for unpredictable situations, as a means to shape the equitable, just, and beautiful world we want to live in.
In being a freelance creative, I’ve taken lessons and experiences learned to lead the type of work I am interested in and create visions and strategies with non-profits, businesses, and teams that share the same values with me. From having the honor to lead the CAED Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, I’ve networked with student leaders across campus organizations and build workshop curriculums, and policy plans that advocate the needs of BIPOC students in the college. Taken on lessons from Ethnic Studies and Sustainability, I’ve conducted research and project management that increases student public engagement and education in these intersectional disciplines that are needed now more than ever.
These privileges and experiences —to co-create, dream, draw, write, listen, sculpt, organize, and design— have helped me create seemingly nonexistent futures to exist and thrive. Cal Poly has prepared me to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, be continually critical and caring, and strive to lead authentically and empathetically wherever I go.
Read the most recent CLA News stories
Ask an Expert: How Do You Vote in a Pandemic?
Aug 3, 2020
With a presidential election just months away and a pandemic keeping many Americans away from public spaces, the ability to vote safely and securely has become a major concern for engaged voters around the nation.
Cal Poly political science professor Mike Latner is a nationally-recognized expert on voting rights. He works with the Union of Concerned Scientists on developing policy proposals to combat voting inequality, and is the co-author of the book “Gerrymandering in America: The House of Representatives, the Supreme Court and the Future of Popular Sovereignty.”
Latner met with Cal Poly News to help separate fact from fiction in the conversation about voting by mail, and discuss how the nation can address the challenges that are sure to arise in this unprecedented election.
How does voting by mail work? Is it as susceptible to fraud as some people claim? There are a variety of types of voting by mail. The most comprehensive is what we call universal vote by mail. That’s a system in five states — Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado and Hawaii — where every eligible voter receives a ballot in the mail. California is moving to universal vote by mail for this coming November election.
In Oregon, counties put secure drop boxes in various locations, and any voter can turn their ballot directly in to a drop box. The other option is California’s traditional model, which is no-fault absentee voting. That means if you’re a registered voter in California, for any reason or no reason at all, you can sign up to be a permanent absentee voter and have your ballot mailed to you.
All states have some form of mail-in voting, for military voters and overseas voters. It’s important to note though, that even in the universal vote-by-mail states, there are opportunities to vote in person.
On voter fraud, I did some work with the UCLA Voting Rights Project, and there have been several other studies as well that have looked at vote by mail as a process. And when we look across states where more people vote by mail, we don't see any evidence that there's a significant increase of voter fraud.
If anything, the real concern is when we move a bunch of people into a different system of voting, you're going to have mistakes. You may have a higher ballot rejection rate because of differences between signatures on ballots and registration files. But generally speaking, voter fraud is not a problem in the United States.
Political science professor Mike Latner
What lessons should we learn from recent primary elections this year about voting in a pandemic? Particularly primaries like Georgia and Michigan, where there were serious problems at polling places with overcrowding and polls closing? I'm currently working on a study where political scientists and economists looked at the Wisconsin primary, where we had exactly this pattern. The city of Milwaukee consolidated their polling places — they went from about 85 polling places to just five. Because of the pandemic, a lot of people requested mail-in ballots, but the state wasn’t prepared for it in a number of ways. People were waiting on Election Day to get ballots in the mail that they had never came. The governor tried to postpone the election, which was rejected in the courts, but it wasn’t even clear the day before whether there would be an election at all.
So you had all this last minute confusion, and then you had voters that were standing in line for four hours at a time. Two and three weeks after the election, the counties where you had larger numbers of people per polling place showed a spike in positive cases of COVID-19.
We know that this threat is real and it's something that we have to take account for November, if we are looking to stop the spread of the disease and to ensure that people can safely exercise their franchise.
If every additional administrative step is going to make voting harder, what does that actually mean in terms of who effectively ends up being able to vote? The way we look at it in political science is that every act has a cost. If you have to take time out of your day, or if there’s only a certain day or place where you can vote, or only a certain way to get election information, every little thing that makes it more difficult goes into this calculus of whether or not someone votes.
If everyone starts out with the same resources — money, time, whatever — then the cost of voting is the same for everyone. But we know that we already have inequalities, people who have fewer resources like free time. So when you have those inequalities in society already and then add the cost of voting on top of it, it’s more difficult for people of lower socioeconomic status, people in communities that are less well-served, to overcome this cost.
What ends up happening is that you end up exacerbating the inequalities that are already present in the system. That's really what we want to avoid because that's a question of equity, and it's frankly a question of voting rights and political equality.
What do we need to be looking out for in the upcoming November election, with everything going on? The first thing we need to do is to make it easier to register to vote. The demand is certainly there — if you look at polling data, this will probably be a record year for voter turnout, if we have the infrastructure set up
Second, we need to make it easier to vote by mail. We should be sending all registered voters mail-in ballots, and not make them go through the process of having to request them, because every extra step in the process leads to fewer people actually turning out to vote.
Third, we need to ensure security and safety at the polls. That means we need to be as efficient as possible in processing voters in person on election day. We need reliable, working voting machines, sanitation, social distancing and safety guidelines. The goal needs to be minimizing wait time, because that’s where the greatest risk is.
And finally, we need an open and transparent process with regard to processing ballots, because across the United States election officials are going to be facing problems that they’ve never faced before. We know that voters of color and younger or first-time voters are most likely to have their ballots rejected. Especially in this political environment, we need to make sure that the process is fair, transparent and equitable.
For all that to work together, what the states need more than anything else is support from Congress. The CARES Act allocated about $400 million in election support to the states. We’ve found that we actually need about $4 billion allocated across all 50 states in order to ensure a safe and secure election.
Are there signs that more states are taking these issues seriously and working to address them? There are, in fact. There have been something like 42 states taking some kind of action to either reduce the excuses required to obtain an absentee ballot, or like in the state of Michigan, they're proactively sending eligible voters absentee ballot requests. You can see it happening around the country, but it’s slow.
My concern is that we're going to be in a position where even if states provide the necessary legislation, that there simply aren’t going to be the resources and the financial support that state and local election officials need. Congress needs to allocate more support for this effort nationwide, because states can only do so much. And we have to act now if the nation's going to be ready in November.
This story, written by Larry Peña, originally appeared on Cal Poly News.
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Emeritus English Professor Named SLO County Poet Laureate
Jul 5, 2020
Emeritus English Professor Kevin Clark has been named the new San Luis Obispo County Poet Laureate. We are excited about the opportunities to come for our community! The San Luis Obispo County Poet Laureate Program is dedicated to advocating the literary arts by appointing an outstanding local poet as Poet Laureate to promote an appreciation of poetry among people of all ages. The appointment is a two-year term. The Poet Laureate shares the art of poetry with citizens of San Luis Obispo County through their writings, recitations and leadership of community poetry readings.
Here is a bit about Kevin..
Winner of the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Series Book Competition, Kevin Clark’s Self-Portrait with Expletives was published by Pleiades Press and distributed by LSU Press. His first full-length collection, In the Evening of No Warning (New Issues Poetry and Prose), earned a grant from the Academy of American Poets. Clark also won the Angoff Award for best contribution to The Literary Review, an Artsmith fellowship, and a Bread Loaf fellowship.
The author of three chapbooks, Clark has published poems in such journals as the Georgia Review, Iowa Review, Antioch Review, Crazyhorse, Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, Gulf Coast, and Poetry Northwest. One of his poems was anthologized in The Notre Dame Review: The First Ten Years.
Clark also writes essays about literature, some of which have appeared in magazines such as the Iowa Review, Southern Review, and Contemporary Literary Criticism. A semi-regular contributor to The Georgia Review, he has published essays in books about Ruth Stone, Charles Wright, and Sandra McPherson. He and his son, the actor and artist Joe Hewes-Clark, have cowritten a play, Brick’s Last Call.
Recipient of two teaching awards, Clark has written a textbook on writing poetry, The Mind’s Eye: A Guide to Writing Poetry (Pearson Longman). He spends summers teaching at the Rainier Writing Workshop, a low-residency MFA program in Tacoma, Washington.
Clark lives with his wife, Amy Hewes, on California’s central coast, where he continues to play city league softball “despite legs like ancient concrete and more injuries than Evel Knievel.”
Check out more at his website kevinclarkpoetry.com
Story originally appeared on Arts Obispo
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Teach ON! Covered Issues of Equity and Justice Surrounding COVID-19
Jul 2, 2020
In the spirit of the “Inclusion Starts with Me Teach In” that was offered in the winter quarters of 2018, 2019 and 2020, the College of Liberal Arts hosted a virtual “Teach ON!” during the spring 2020 quarter. The 2020 Teach ON! was a series of both prerecorded and real-time virtual lectures devoted to issues of equity and justice surrounding COVID-19.
The pandemic has magnified structural inequities — as well as strengths — that exist in our diverse communities, and the Teach ON! organizers recognized the need for scholars to speak to the complexity of the coronavirus response and its intersections with issues of race, class and equity.
Faculty across campus were encouraged to use the lectures along with other curated resources in their courses. Presenters covered topics such as anti-Asian racism, self and community care, global responses, health care disparities, the redeployment of survival strategies for marginalized communities, issues of equity in a pandemic, fear and privilege, the social toll of social distancing, and laboring in the time of coronavirus.
The Teach ON! was offered in the same spirit as the Teach In, says Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, CLA associate dean for diversity and curriculum. “It’s a way for faculty, staff and administrators to model how we can engage in intellectual discourse around issues of social justice, particularly in times of great social need.”
Nearly 600 attendees including students, staff and faculty logged into the live events, and even more accessed the provided learning material throughout the quarter.
Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American studies at Princeton University, gave a keynote presentation to conclude the series on June 4. Benjamin studies the social dimensions of science, technology, and medicine; race and citizenship; and knowledge and power. More than 250 people logged in to watch her talk titled “Race to the Future? Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology and Society.”
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Political Science Student Accepted to Panetta Congressional Internship Program
Jun 24, 2020
Imahn Daeenabi
Imahn Daeenabi, a third-year political science major from Menlo Park, California, will serve as Cal Poly’s 2020 representative to the Panetta Institute’s Congressional Internship Program.
After a two-week training period at the Panetta Institute at CSU Monterey Bay, Daeenabi will work in the capitol office of a California congressional representative in Washington, D.C., for 11 weeks in the fall.
“At a time when there are so many crucial issues that require a public policy solution, I believe this will be a great opportunity to learn from the experienced leaders working in Congress,” Daeenabi said. “I’m thrilled and grateful for this hands-on experience that will equip me with the skills and knowledge needed to become a public servant.”
Daeenabi’s previous experience includes internships with California State Senator Jerry Hill, San Mateo County Supervisor Warren Slocum, and the SLO Legal Assistance Foundation. In addition to his work experience, Daeenabi anticipates that his Cal Poly coursework, including classes on the U.S. Congress and on American politics, will be a major benefit when working at the Capitol.
“My experience working at the county and state level in district offices was incredibly beneficial,” he said. “Working at the federal level will be a new challenge and will hopefully provide a holistic view of how all of our levels of government operate.”
Daeenabi plans to graduate from Cal Poly in June 2021 and attend law school. He is the 20th student from Cal Poly to participate in the Panetta Institute program since 2001.
Daeenabi will join 25 other students, all nominated by the presidents of each CSU campus, as well as Dominican University of California, Saint Mary’s College of California and Santa Clara University. The program is open to all academic majors and is recognized as one of the leading internship courses in the nation because of the rigorous training it provides.
The Panetta Institute covers program costs, including course registration fees, campus services during orientation, air travel and housing in Washington, D.C. By covering these expenses, the institute can make the program available to interns from all socioeconomic levels. Cal Poly awardees are supported in part through the Ed and Jan Slevin Congressional Internship Endowment.
About the Panetta Institute for Public Policy
Founded in 1997 by Leon and Sylvia Panetta, the Panetta Institute serves the entire California State University system plus several other schools. Under the direction of Secretary and Mrs. Panetta, the institute provides a variety of study opportunities in government, politics and public policy, and sponsors a range of other programs. These include the Leon Panetta Lecture Series, which brings national political leaders and policy thinkers to the Monterey Peninsula to discuss important national and global issues; a Policy Research Fellows Program; and the Leon E. Panetta Archive, a resource for scholars interested in the workings of Congress. The institute is located on the campus of CSU Monterey Bay in Seaside, California. Visit www.panettainstitute.org/.