Recent News
Students Volunteer to Connect Facilities in Need With Distilleries Producing Hand Sanitizer
Apr 23, 2020
Disinfect Connect helps connect facilities with hand sanitizer producers.
Gabe Pepper got the call the first Sunday of spring break. It was his older brother, Miles.
“My brother had spoken to the manager of our grandma’s nursing home in Northern California, and she was having a really hard time finding hand sanitizer,” Pepper said. “She was going out to the grocery store every morning to try and find some, which was potentially exposing her to the virus.”
Miles Pepper, who has experience with crowdfunding and startups, had called Gabe because he knew distilleries were making hand sanitizer, and wanted to find a way to connect distilleries with nursing homes and other facilities in need.
He asked Gabe if he could get a group of volunteers together to start calling around and making those connections, which grew into the free website Disinfect Connect.
Gabe Pepper and his friend and roommate, agribusiness major Eric Agresti, immediately jumped on it. They soon formed a team with three other Cal Poly students, handling everything from volunteer coordination to outreach and public relations for the website.
English senior Chris King has been helping Disinfect Connect with content creation.
“It’s cool and rewarding to use skills I’m learning at Cal Poly as I’m writing the blogs in the blog section and managing social media,” King said. “It makes it feel like my major and my studies are worth my time. It’s really cool to take the Learn by Doing process outside of an academic setting and have to perform by doing it.”
During the long spring break, King and his colleagues volunteered around 12-15 hours each day to get the operation up and running.
One of the first big breakthroughs was a partnership mechanical engineering student Seth Ewing facilitated with the Washington Distillers’ Guild. Washington was one of the first epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, so that was one of the first places outside of California where the Disinfect Connect team focused their efforts.
“It’s been a really good exercise in business strategy and working in a team, but we don’t have profit as our main goal,” Pepper said. “It’s really cool that our end goal here is helping people and potentially saving lives.”
The team is beginning to build the database along the West Coast, with an ultimate goal of going national.
“We want to build that database out so registered distilleries and nursing homes are aware of what’s going on,” said Colin McAfee, a business administration student who’s volunteering as the project’s content manager. “The shortage of hand sanitizer and disinfectant is not limited to the West Coast, so it’s important that we get a national scale on the project.”
And though the project started with nursing homes and assisted living facilities in mind, the operation has expanded its list of vulnerable populations to include first responders, hospitals and others on the front line of the virus.
Gabe Pepper, a wine and viticulture major, is Disinfect Connect’s volunteer director, managing about 50 volunteers. Agresti is directing the website’s public relations response, while English major Chris King helps with content creation and public relations as the team’s social media manager. Ewing is the outreach director. All of the students are third-years.
Ewing, King, Pepper and Agresti are all roommates who are staying in San Luis Obispo. McAfee is working from his home in the Bay Area, and the rest of the team the students are working with is remote.
"Miles Pepper is leading Disinfect Connect, and some of his friends who work in tech are building the website and doing back-end development," Gabe Pepper said. The Cal Poly students are working on outreach, public relations and making sure the platform is being put to use.
“Due to the urgency and importance of the issue, we’re moving extremely quickly,” Agresti said. “It was just an idea when it first started, and now it’s a fully-functioning website servicing thousands of people. We’ve had to jump in and do things we haven’t really had experience in, and the sink-or-swim pace of everything forced us to adapt on the fly. It’s pretty fun.”
Disinfect Connect has a verification process: organizations in need of hand sanitizer fill out a form, and once that form is processed they show up on the site’s list.
“Distilleries have had no shortage of demand for sanitizer, and it’s been too much in a lot of cases,” Agresti said. “We have metrics that break down the type of facility, how much they need and shows when these places are expected to run out of their supply.
Being part of the team, and being able to not only learn about different aspects of the operation but carry them out, have been the most important Learn by Doing aspects of Disinfect Connect for the group.
“It’s cool and rewarding to use the skills I’m learning at Cal Poly,” King said. “This is a real-word thing with real-world consequences. You can’t afford to mess up an important phone call or have typos in press releases. It’s really cool to take the Learn by Doing process outside of an academic setting and have to perform.”
Pepper agreed.
“We’re able to take this experience and come back into classes able to contextualize what we’ve been doing and put that into the context of coursework,” Pepper said. “Looking back on my college career, this is the coolest and most helpful thing I’ve been a part of and that goes for everyone here.”
The team has set up a GoFundMe in order to keep the project running and allow the team to continue to provide services for free.
This story originally appeared on Cal Poly News.
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Two CLA Students to Represent Cal Poly in CSU Research Competition
Apr 14, 2020
Maddie Roman and Fionna Fahey, CSU Research Competition participants
Update: Fionna Fahey won first place in the undergraduate Humanities and Letters category!
The Annual CSU Student Research Competition is held to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate scholarly research and creative activity by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments throughout the 23 campuses of the California State University.
Ten students from each CSU campus are selected to compete in the competition. Of the 10 students selected by the Academic Senate Grants Review Committee to represent Cal Poly, two are from the College of Liberal Arts: Fionna Fahey, an interdisciplinary studies senior; and Maddie Roman, an interdisciplinary studies junior.
Fahey’s research project aims to highlight the resilience fostered within sex work communities by (re)membering the erased histories of sex workers in San Luis Obispo.
“Sex work has been a highly contested issue in academia and politics,” she said. “However, this project aims to act in solidarity with sex worker movements.”
Roman’s research is related to anonymous England-based street artist, Banksy, who has been active since the 1990s, and whether his street art should be considered real art and how the public view Banksy's work. She said, “This experience taught me that having a strong interest in my topic and putting in time to prepare allowed me to be more confident when presenting.” She looks forward to sharing about Banksy and hearing opinions on his works. “I am fascinated by his works and street art as a whole,” she said.
Finalists will make oral presentations before juries of professional experts from major corporations, foundations, public agencies, and colleges and universities in California. They will be judged on their oral presentations and written abstracts.
Typically, presentations happen in person -- this year's Annual CSU Student Research Competition was to be held at CSU East Bay. However, the competition will now occur virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fahey and Roman submitted a digital form of their research, and they will complete the Q&A portion of the presentation via video conferencing on the scheduled date of the competition, April 24.
Regardless of the changes to the competition, the student researchers learned a lot by participating.
“I have learned that competitive public speaking is difficult and that undergraduates are producing amazing research,” Fahey said. “I look forward to connecting with more undergraduates and seeing all of their important research.”
Dawn Neill, a professor of anthropology in the Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts Department advised both Fahey and Roman. She insists that all the credit for development and execution of the excellent work goes to them.
“Though I had the pleasure of guiding Fionna’s research and providing feedback, it is her mastery of complex feminist theory and careful archival research that brings her project into clear focus,” Neill said. “And Maddie’s project blends traditional notions of art and art history with a boundary-spanning exploration of street art.”
“Both Fionna and Maddie have produced great individual student research projects highlighting the strength of the interdisciplinary methods the new ISLA program prioritizes. I am both happy and proud to see their work representing CLA, Cal Poly and the ISLA program.”
'You Can Pay It Forward.' Theatre & Dance Department Creates Patterns for People to Make Their Own Masks
Apr 13, 2020
Laina Babb models a face mask in the opening page of instructions.
As the coronavirus pandemic spread through the United States, and protective face coverings became the norm, costume shop manager Laina Babb of the Theatre and Dance Department spent days creating accessible patterns that students and alumni can use to fashion their own face masks out of fabric.
As the coronavirus pandemic spread through the United States, and protective face coverings became the norm, costume shop manager Laina Babb of the Theatre and Dance Department spent days creating accessible patterns that students and alumni can use to fashion their own face masks out of fabric.
“Initially, this was for hospitals but morphed into putting it out there for the community, because of the changing recommendations,” Theatre and Dance department chair Josh Machamer said, referring to the updated CDC guidance encouraging people to wear protective masks in public.
“Making fabric masks alleviates the need for masks that are better suited for hospitals,” Babb said. “It’s a nice way to be creative and be able to do something constructive when we’re all sitting at home figuring out what’s going to come next.”
The patterns are available to students through the department’s Canvas page, which also contains a multitude of resources to help them through the virtual Spring quarter.
“You don’t know how many people are going to make them, but knowing it’s out there for people, that’s part of what our job is,” Machamer said. “We make sure there are resources and they still have a connection to us, whether they’re students, alumni or faculty.”
The two mask patterns are a simpler, pleated mask and a more stylish “duck-bill” mask, which has more space in front of the face and a pocket where people can put a filter.
“This came internally from Cal Poly with Laina’s idea,” Machamer said. “We’re putting our departmental name behind it; we’re putting our expertise behind it and we’re showcasing ways in which we’re adjusting and being flexible in the shift and dynamic for the Spring Quarter.”
Machamer also sent the mask patterns to Theater alumni.
“All of our alumni had to go through the costume construction class, so it’s a great way to harken back to remembering some of those skills. And now they can see the benefits of what they’ve learned in everyday life,” he said. “You don’t necessarily know where these skills will come in handy, but being able to combine the hard skills of knowing how to sew with the aspect of creativity, collaboration, ingenuity and service are attributes of larger transferable skills.”
Babb is also in the process of making about 30 masks for some of San Luis Obispo’s essential city workers.
“This is an opportunity for people to feel like they can take some sort of control in this unknown environment, which is really important,” Machamer said. “It’s not just a hobby, but ultimately essential. You can make a mask not just for yourself, but for friends. You can pay it forward.”
This story written by Gabby Ferreira originally appeared on Cal Poly News.
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Professor Earns International Book Prize for Her Book on Post-WWI Berlin
Mar 9, 2020
Cal Poly History Professor Molly Loberg was recently awarded the Hans Rosenberg Book Prize for her book titled “The Struggle for the Streets of Berlin: Politics, Consumption, and Urban Space, 1914-1945.” 
The Hans Rosenberg prize is presented each year by the Central European History Society for the best book in the field. Loberg accepted the award in January at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New York City.
“The Struggle for the Streets of Berlin” focuses on the post-World War I metropolis and how political and commercial entities fought for the attention of the city’s crowds through advertisements, posters, parades and violence. Loberg was inspired to write the book after discovering a photograph of a 1920s Berlin street scene, including several posters plastered around and on top of each other, all competing for the attention of passersby.
The prize committee praised Loberg’s new perspectives on Berlin’s iconic 1920s culture and her examination of subsequent Nazi uses of the city. The committee noted: “The Struggle for the Streets of Berlin” gains power from comparison to current-day struggles in other streets in cities all over the world.” Loberg’s book demonstrates how the modern city street “offers possibilities for both authoritarianism and anarchy” yet also exists as a “lived symbol of the relationship between citizens and the state.”
Loberg has taught at Cal Poly since fall 2007 and is a Fulbright Scholar and a Humboldt Fellow. She has produced numerous acclaimed articles and presentations focusing on consumer culture and German history, among other subjects. In 2013, she earned the History Article Prize from the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians for the best article by a woman historian in all fields for “The Streetscape of Economic Crisis: Politics, Commerce, and Urban Space in Interwar Berlin.”
Last quarter, Loberg spoke about “The Struggle for the Streets of Berlin” as part of the Kennedy Library’s Conversations with Cal Poly Authors series. The conversation can be heard here.
This story originally appeared in Cal Poly News
Philosophy Professor Awarded Grant to Study Predictive Policing
Feb 28, 2020
Philosophy Professor Ryan Jenkins
Cal Poly philosophy Professor Ryan Jenkins received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the ethics of using artificial intelligence to assist police officers in anticipating crime before it happens.
Researchers from Cal Poly, (including philosophy professors Patrick Lin and Keith Abney), and the University of Florida have partnered to conduct the study, which was awarded a total of $509,946 to fund three years of research.
Artificial intelligence can be used to predict criminal activity in advance based on past crime statistics of a particular area. By taking this historical data into account, the AI tries to predict the time and location of possible crimes.
However, the morality of “predictive policing” is subject to considerable debate. Those in favor of the practice believe it to be an asset to a police department, providing a tool to make police work more efficient. Critics maintain that the technology violates the rights of those within communities targeted by the algorithm and reinforces racial bias among police officers.
Jenkins’ research team plans to analyze the ethical dilemmas involved in predictive policing in general; develop equitable solutions to problems arising from the establishment and implementation of this technology; and determine best practices with regard to the design and use of the technology. Their ultimate goal is to work directly with police departments to make their use of the technology more ethical, humane and just.
“As algorithmic crime-fighting tools become widespread in police departments, and as the skepticism grows, it is crucial that questions of fairness, equity and discrimination are addressed,” Jenkins said. “Distrust makes it harder for police to do their jobs, and we want to help alleviate some of the distrust that may come from using these tools.”
The researchers hope for the study to benefit both citizens and police departments, providing insight into the most ethical way to conduct predictive policing. The findings of the study, they expect, will also apply to other uses of artificial intelligence such as in court systems and medical fields.
Story originally appeared in Cal Poly news
With more than 30 workshops, “Inclusion Starts with Me” Teach In Sparks Conversations About Diversity and Inclusivity
Feb 25, 2020
Nearly 3,000 attendees participated in more than 30 workshops and talks across campus on Thursday, Feb. 13 for the “Inclusion Starts with Me” Teach In. Teach In sessions informed and inspired students from all majors to think about diversity and inclusivity and act in their work fields and social environments.
Master of Public Policy Students Partner with SLO County to Develop Better Mental Health Programs
Feb 4, 2020
Master of Public Policy project team
A group of students in the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program is partnering with the San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Department to evaluate innovative projects that address mental health needs in the county.
As a part of California’s Mental Health Services Act, the county received funding to develop programs that promote positive mental health and reduce the negative impact of mental illness. This funding sparked the creation of small-scale projects to address mental health concerns.
From peer mentorship programs for Latina women to trauma-informed care training for employees, the programs address different concerns affecting people in San Luis Obispo. The act was designed to encourage innovative approaches to mental health.
“One of the requirements of getting the funding is that it’s a brand-new program, a unique way of providing a service,” MPP student Ty Ulrey said. “It’s unique that they can fund these programs with the full expectation that they might not work.”
Now, a team of five MPP students are surveying providers and evaluating the programs to evaluate which ones are worth implementing permanently. The County of San Luis Obispo is partnering with Cal Poly’s public policy program to collect data, interview providers and find out which programs are effective.
“Rather than creating a huge program and the infrastructure to support it and hope it goes right, these are smaller-scale interventions to see what works,” Elizabeth Lowham, co-director of the MPP program, said.
Students designed the evaluation process and are working with key providers who helped develop and facilitate the programs. The evaluation process includes two components: collecting statistics and data and qualitative interviews with providers to hear about their experience with the programs.
“This is also leading to connections in local government,” MPP co-director Martin Battle said. “We’re an important institution in San Luis Obispo County, and we should play a role to help good governance.”
The students’ final report will go to the State of California, and the State will work in collaboration with San Luis Obispo County to decide the next steps for the programs.
“It’s a great way to serve the community in a mutually beneficial way,” Ulrey said. “It gives students relevant work experience, and then the County needs independent evaluators. It’s a really cool partnership between Cal Poly and behavioral health. The more that those relationships and bridges can be built, the better.”
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Art and Design Senior Served as Chief of Discipline for Fencing in USA Pentathlon National Qualifying Event
Feb 4, 2020
Allison McClain, Fencing Club President
Top athletes from across the country competed for a spot on the USA Pentathlon 2020 Olympic team at Cal Poly the weekend of Jan. 17. Art and design senior Allison McClain was the Chief of Discipline for fencing and helped organize the fencing event.
Cal Poly hosted the final national qualifying event for athletes in the USA Pentathlon on campus. Pentathlon is a five-sport event, including swimming, fencing, equestrian, shooting, and running. Each athlete competes in mini-competitions of each of the five sports.
The university and the USA Pentathlon worked together to organize the event at the Recreation Center, and they asked for students’ help. As the Chief of Discipline for the fencing portion, McClain, who is also president of the Cal Poly Fencing Club, provided expertise in fencing to ensure the event ran smoothly.
“I was in charge of asking the right questions — like do they need scoreboards or strips? I helped with the technical aspects that Cal Poly might not know about each sport,” McClain said.
From ensuring all technology was running smoothly, to reaching out to athletes, to getting the Recreation Center in shape for the event, McClain practiced event management skills for an Olympic event.
“Fencing is a very technical sport, so there’s a lot of electronic things that can go wrong,” McClain said. Thankfully, my coach and other Fencing Club members were there helping me.”
McClain said the fencing strategy in a Pentathlon can be different from a typical fencing match. Since there are five different sports, the matches are shorter. She said it was interesting to compare different techniques the athletes used as they moved from one event to the other.
McClain had the opportunity to work and talk with USA Pentathlon coordinators and Olympic fencers including former Olympic gold medalist and Pentathlon managing director Rob Stole. She said they discussed potential plans to expand the fencing club on campus.
“It was really neat to see the main gym, with tiles on the ground, nice fencing strips, scoring boxes and the Olympic banners everywhere,” McClain said. “It was great seeing that.”
Join Cal Poly Career Connections!
Jan 21, 2020
Career Connections is Cal Poly’s exclusive online networking and mentoring platform. Mentoring is one of the most impactful ways that alumni can help Cal Poly students succeed. Now you can expand your professional network and provide support to our amazing students. Alumni can utilize Career Connections in a number of different ways:
- Grow your network and connect with Cal Poly’s alumni community
- Serve as a mentor to students and provide one-on-one career-related advice
- Join groups that match your career interests and participate in discussion boards with alumni and students
Career Connections was built with your busy schedule in mind. Completing a profile is simple – you can use LinkedIn to automatically fill in some information. You customize the experience – choose the level of participation that fits your schedule. From posting and responding to discussion boards, to short-term mentoring through email or video chat, to more involved interaction, make Career Connections your own! It’s free, and takes just a few minutes to get started.
How do I get started?
- Go to careerconnections.calpoly.edu
- Click “Join Now!”
- Complete your profile and if your email matches our records, you’re all set!
- If your email is different from our database, verify the email sent to your inbox (if you don’t receive one, check your spam folder) Hold tight as we verify your account.
- Start networking, mentoring and more!
Learn more and sign up today at careerconnections.calpoly.edu
Jane Lehr to Serve as Founding Director of Newly Formed Office of Student Research
Jan 16, 2020
Jane Lehr, professor in the departments of Ethnic Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies, will serve as founding director of the newly formed Office of Student Research in the Office of Research and Economic Development. 
In her new role, Lehr will focus on increasing the transparency of access to research opportunities, supporting the professional development of both student researchers and research mentors, and increasing the submission and success of grant proposals that integrate student researchers, among other responsibilities.
Lehr is also affiliated faculty in the Center for Engineering, Science & Mathematics Education (CESAME); the department of Computer Science & Software Engineering; and the Science, Technology & Society Program. She will continue in these roles as she serves as director of the Office of Student Research on a half-time basis.
During her time at Cal Poly, Lehr’s work has focused on educational equity, including substantial activity designed to increase access to inclusive and equitable experiences in undergraduate research across campus. As director of the California State University Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) in STEM Program at Cal Poly and in partnership with BEACoN Research Mentors and other campus entities, she has worked closely with students, faculty, and staff across the university to make progress toward this goal. More recently, Jane has engaged in new partnerships designed to provide support for Cal Poly graduate students entering research both as mentees and mentors.
“These experiences have given Jane a deep understanding and respect for the existing research activities of each college and an awareness of their strengths and nuances,” Renee Reijo Pera, Vice President of Research and Economic Development, said.
Lehr has also collaborated with the Office of Research to better understand the landscape of undergraduate research at Cal Poly, identify how inequities in access and experience might emerge for students, and explore how the Office of Student Research might enhance existing efforts of colleges and departments to address this issue.
“I am excited to have Jane continue her work with our office after so many years of successful collaboration,” Pera said. “I know she will build an Office of Student Research that will be of tremendous benefit to our campus community.”