Recent News
CLA honored alumnus Mike Griffith officially completes his degree after nearly 40 years
May 10, 2022
Mike Griffith will walk the stage and
officially receive his diploma on
June 12, 2022.
By Nicole Troy
In 1983, history student and theatre aficionado Mike Griffith was wrapping up his final year at Cal Poly before a “perfect” job opportunity fell into his lap. The position with local lighting company Teatronics was not something Griffith could pass up, as he and his wife were working multiple part-time jobs to support their family, so he “dropped everything and took the job.” Soon after, Griffith became one of the top executives at Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. (ETC), one of the preeminent theatrical lighting companies in the world.
After a whirlwind career that took him around the world, Griffith retired in 2015. Since then, he has spent his retirement doing what he calls “wrapping up loose ends,” including completing his final quarter of college and graduating from Cal Poly after nearly 40 years.
“It feels really gratifying to come back to San Luis Obispo,” Griffith said. “I had compartmentalized [graduation] in my brain and just knew that it’s something that’s out there — it never inhibited my career. But I knew that if I was going to graduate, it would be from here.”
The COVID-19 pandemic proved beneficial in this instance for Griffith as he was able to finish his final class remotely from his home in Wisconsin.
“I always knew I was close [to completing my degree], but last summer in June 2021 I spoke with Dr. Kate Murphy and she told me that I only needed one class, HIST 303: Research and Writing Seminar in History, and it was offered in Fall 2021 on Zoom,” Griffith said.
In the spirit of “wrapping up loose ends,” the decision to enroll once again at Cal Poly was an easy one.
Advised by Dr. Molly Loberg, Griffith wanted to make his final project special. He chose to write his research paper on one of his favorite songwriters, legendary singer Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt is best known for writing songs popularized by other artists including Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Griffith’s paper, titled “For the Sake of the Song,” detailed research on Van Zandt’s battle with addiction and how it may have informed his songwriting.
Upon nearing the completion of his project, Loberg suggested he use his senior project paper to craft the culminating stage of his project in the form of a concert.
Mike Griffith, donning a Cal Poly t-shirt,
performing with his band.
Similar to Van Zandt, Griffith is an avid singer and guitarist, playing in bands based out of Los Angeles. He would put together a concert led behind the scenes by Spanos Theatre Technical Director, and one of Griffith’s best friends from Cal Poly, David Beals.
Beals and Griffith first met at Cal Poly in the early 1980s, performed together in a production of the musical ‘Godspell’ and the rest is history.
“Mike called me up told me about this cool idea of doing a concert around his final paper and he said he wanted me to be the technical director,” Beals said. "I figured it would be fun to surprise him.”
Beals took the honor to direct his friend’s senior project concert as an opportunity to decorate the stage with lighting equipment that Griffith had either hung himself as a production assistant in the 1980s, or generously donated when he was working at ETC.
“It was something I wanted to make fun and personal to him,” Beals said.
Mike Griffith (second from left) performing
live with guest musicians including
Louie Ortega (third from left).
The intimate senior project concert took place on March 16 in Spanos Theatre and featured Griffith’s bandmates from The Sons of Sunset, Mary Sue Gee and The Sons of the Caballeros, led by local Grammy Award-winning artist Louie Ortega.
Griffith narrated his way through the program as the bands, and Griffith himself, played some of Van Zandt’s greatest hits in front of an audience of family, friends, colleagues and music enthusiasts.
Griffith, who was named CLA’s honored alumnus in 2011, finished his coursework in March 2022 and can now officially call himself a Cal Poly graduate.
Griffith plans to walk the stage during the College of Liberal Arts’ commencement ceremony on June 12 at 70-years-young.
Watch video from the concert below:
Credit: Mike Griffith & Family
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Cal Poly Professor Publishes Groundbreaking Study on the History of Gay Pornography
May 10, 2022
Ruszczycky joined the English
Departmentas part of the CLA's
2017 DEI-Focused Cluster Hire.
Cal Poly Assistant Professor of English Steven Ruszczycky published a groundbreaking book “Vulgar Genres: On Gay Pornographic Writing and Contemporary Fiction” with the University of Chicago Press.
In the book, Ruszczycky asserts that many in the United States have long misunderstood pornography as either a frivolous pleasure or an obscenity requiring censorship. Through detailed investigation of gay print culture, Ruszczycky shows how that framing prevents our appreciation of pornography’s diverse forms, meanings, and uses. In fact, his book argues, pornography often has had a positive influence on many areas of modern life, including gay culture and classic works of LGBT literature.
The cover of Ruszczycky's book, "Vulgar Genres:
On Gay Pornographic Writing and
Contemporary Fiction.
“For better or worse, pornography has become a ubiquitous feature of modern life. I wrote this book to come to terms with that fact, but my point is not that we should appreciate pornography like we appreciate art or literature. Rather, it’s that even trashy culture can teach us important lessons about ourselves, our past, and the world we live in today,” Ruszczycky said.
Ruszczycky has been with Cal Poly since 2014. He earned his Ph.D. in 2014 from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He was hired as an assistant professor to the department of English in 2017 as a part of the college’s first DEI-focused cluster hire. At Cal Poly he offers courses in LGBT literature and culture for both the department of English and the department of Women’s, Gender, and Queer Studies.
Ruszczycky is also the co-editor of “Porn Archives,” published by Duke University Press in 2014, and a co-director of the Central Coast Queer Archive Project, a local documentary project seeking to preserve the history of LGBT+ life on the Central Coast.
“Vulgar Genres: On Gay Pornographic Writing and Contemporary Fiction” is available in multiple formats from the University of Chicago Press.
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Q&A with the California Cybersecurity Institute’s Danielle Borrelli
May 10, 2022
Danielle Borrelli works as the
Operations Coordinator for the
California Cybersecurity Institute.
By Nicole Troy
Danielle Borrelli (Political Science ’11, Master of Public Policy ’17) is helping lead the charge to address our nation’s national cybersecurity crisis as the Operations Coordinator for the California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI). Partnering with the tech community, private corporations, public agencies, and academia, Borrelli and the CCI work to craft a novel workforce prepared to combat the ever-growing online threat landscape.
In a seemingly technology-dominated field, Borrelli uses her expansive liberal arts background to spearhead national and international anti-human trafficking work, coordinate trainings for law enforcement officers and the public, and conduct research.
Borrelli recently sat down with us to discuss the paths that led her to the CCI and her thoughts on some of her greatest career achievements.
Borrelli at her master's graduation
ceremony in 2017.
You earned your Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and your Master of Public Policy from Cal Poly. What were the most impactful classes you took during that time?
The most profound undergraduate class I remember was POLS 381: Peace and War with Craig Arceneaux. It opened my eyes to the dynamics at play in the world in a way that wasn't judgmental or stereotypical. I liked having space for that dialogue and for that thought leadership, if you will, to understand the world in a new way.
My favorite graduate class was POLS 515: Public Policy with Elizabeth Lowham, who is the most amazing person I've ever met in my entire life. The class brought a deeper understanding to not just politics, but how policies form, all the aspects around different stakeholder groups that inform policy, and different types of events that frame policy movements or policy changes.
It was really challenging, but I loved every bit of it because it helped to lay a good foundation for the rest of my education. I still quote and use things from that class to this day, and I worked with her for a long time on projects as they related to the CCI.
What did life look like for you during your college years?
During my undergraduate years, I put myself through school as a computer technician, working about 25 hours per week. During my master’s program I worked 40 hours per week and then had my coursework which added another 30 hours. In my first year in the MPP program, I was also running a safe house, so it felt like I had no sleep for close to a year.
You ran a safe house? How did that begin?
I learned about human trafficking in an undergraduate class with Shanruo Ning Zhang and then did my senior project on it. After I graduated in 2011 and began working fulltime, all my free time was basically spent doing anti-human trafficking work. At the beginning, that involved raising funds, coordinating fundraising events for nonprofits and gathering locals in the community to start a group we called the Mountainbrook Abolitionists.
We hosted one of the first regional anti-human trafficking conferences in the area and were part of the launch of the SLO County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force. After some time, we went to Brazil and did some anti-human trafficking work there during the World Cup. When we came back, we realized that we are seriously lacking services for survivors in the United States, so we endeavored to start a safe house.
How did this lead into your work with the California Cybersecurity Institute?
I did internships with both Polaris and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for my master’s program. Back then, AWS was launching what they call the Digital Transformation Hub out of the Cal Poly Technology Park. Part of my internship was to help set that up, as well as to work with Polaris to deliver a hands-on, immersive training for all their trainees across the nation. Polaris came to the Digital Transformation Hub and CCI for consulting on immersive training and I helped to organize the entire simulation.
Four years ago, after my internship, I was offered a position as the operations coordinator at the CCI. The cool thing about my job is that I am able to marry my IT background and my passion for human trafficking. I do a lot more than just human trafficking work at the CCI, but that is the core.
Borrelli (right) speaking at the University
of California Cybersecurity Summit.
What does your role at the CCI entail?
As operations coordinator, I oversee most of the things that happen at the CCI which include programs like training and certifications, awareness and education, and research and development.
With the awareness and education part, I organize most of the competitions we put on for middle schoolers, high schoolers and a few other programs. Other job duties include financial analysis, policy analysis, research, project management, event coordination and HR analysis.
If I’m being honest, there's absolutely no consistency to my day-to-day and it varies depending upon what the need is that day. I think of each day as, “What skill sets do I get to use today to get the job done?”
How did your political science and liberal arts background set you up for success in a tech heavy industry?
Political science gives you a very broad skillset that is applicable in a lot of different professions and fields. Through political science, I learned that by researching, opening up your mind to understand an issue, looking at the different angles and learning about the stakeholders, you can become almost a micro expert in any subject matter. So, I applied that idea towards technology and cybersecurity.
How can students apply their various liberal arts backgrounds similarly to you?
You don't need to be a genius to work in cybersecurity. Beyond the technical aspects, we need people to understand the policy and how it affects the privacy and the security of people's data. There's so much data on each human being around the globe and the technical people are not going to be as effective at making sense of that to the average layperson.
It’s important for someone with an understanding of cybersecurity — and the technical aspects of cybersecurity — to be able to translate that information to the average person in a way that empowers them to make decisions. That is where the CLA and majors like psychology, political science and English come into play. Engineers play an important role, but so do the rest of us.
What’s next for you?
*laughs* Honestly, I laugh because 10 years ago I had this solid plan of what it was all going to be like, and then none of that happened. I like to dream and hope for the future, and then just be flexible about what is going to happen. I think it‘s important to have one or two ultimate goals. I know it’s super cliché, but I would love to start a family.
As for work, at least for the CCI’s Trafficking Investigations Hub, I really want to finish the virtual reality simulation that we've been developing for the training of law enforcement and other service providers. It feels like almost a necessity to get that done in the next year or two.
Any parting thoughts?
I am just really thankful to Cal Poly and its Learn by Doing pedagogy because you don’t get that very many places. I am also grateful to the CLA for working as hard as they do to deliver opportunities to students. I encourage students to take every opportunity that Cal Poly offers you seriously and to apply yourself to it. If you fail at something, don't worry about it, just continue to try hard and you will get there.
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Cal Poly Journalism Department granted full accreditation status
May 6, 2022
The Journalism Department joins 117
other programs around the world to
receive such validation.
The Cal Poly Journalism Department has received full accreditation, joining 117 other programs around the world to receive such validation. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), the agency responsible for the evaluation of professional journalism and mass communications programs in colleges and universities, voted 18-0 at its April 29 meeting in Chicago in favor of the Journalism Department receiving full accreditation.
“This accomplishment represents years of hard work by the faculty and staff to meet the rigorous demands of the accrediting process,” department chair Brady Teufel said. “In recognizing Cal Poly as one of the best universities to learn journalism and public relations, the council affirmed that we’re succeeding in our mission to provide students with an education that covers fundamental skills and concepts along with problem solving, critical thinking and innovation.”
The accrediting process involved an external site-review team visiting classes, interviewing faculty and staff, meeting with students and administrators, scrutinizing facilities and equipment and digging into data regarding admissions, class sizes, demographics, learning objectives and more.
Former department chair Mary Glick led the effort over the past five years and was on hand when the council made their recent decision.
“I'm so proud of the way our department came together to accomplish this,” Glick said. “Faculty, staff and students all played a role, supported by a group of dedicated alumni."
The nine standards and competencies that were reviewed include:
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Mission, governance and administration.
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Curriculum and instruction.
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Diversity and inclusiveness.
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Full-time and part-time faculty.
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Scholarship (research, creative and professional activity).
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Student services.
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Resources, facilities and equipment.
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Professional and public service.
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Assessment of learning outcomes.
Cal Poly is now one of eight journalism programs in the California State University system to be fully accredited by ACEJMC. Accredited programs, which are reviewed on a six-year cycle, are eligible for external funding and are more attractive to both students and industry partners. Of the roughly 500 journalism and mass communications programs in the United States, less than one-fourth are fully accredited.
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Cal Poly’s Mustang Media Group Wins Best Newspaper Along With 16 Other Awards at National Journalism Conference
Apr 27, 2022
By Sophia Lincoln
Mustang Media Group Wins 17 Awards
Cal Poly’s student-run news source, Mustang Media Group, won 17 awards at this year’s Associate Collegiate Press (ACP) Conference in Long Beach, California. Mustang Media Group (MMG) includes the print and digital newspaper, Mustang News, as well as the student-run FM radio station, KCPR, and the TV broadcast team, MNTV.
For the ACP’s Best of Show Awards, MMG won First Place for Best Broadcast News Program for four-year universities, as well as Second Place for Best Newspaper for four-year universities with more than 10,000 students, and Fifth Place for Best Website for four-year universities with more than 10,000 students.
For the California College Media Association (CCMA) Awards, which recognizes various California college media organizations, Mustang News won First Place for Best Newspaper ahead of San Jose State and University of California Los Angeles. The student-run organization also won First Place for Best Social Media Reporting and First Place for Best News Series. This was the first time in recent history that the student-run newspaper earned such recognition.
"Being recognized as the best university newspaper in California speaks to the talent level and dedication of the many students who contribute time, effort and creativity to keeping readers informed and engaged,” Journalism Department Chair and Professor Brady Teufel said. “The judge’s specific recognition of the newspaper’s COVID-19 coverage and articles in Spanish is a testament to the important role that Mustang News fills in the campus and local community.”
During the 2021-22 academic year, Mustang News reporters tackled challenging topics including the Kristin Smart case, COVID-19 and remote learning with what judges from the California College Media Association described as a “thoughtful” combination of reporting and editing.
"All of the content teams for Mustang Media Group have done an amazing job this past year,” MMG General Manager Jon Schlitt said. “From getting up early in the morning to bag and deliver papers during the pandemic to covering how the pandemic has affected all aspects of student life at Cal Poly, their work has been absolutely extraordinary. I'm thrilled to see that work recognized as the best in the state as well as, in some cases, in the entire nation."
MMG Editor-in-Chief and journalism senior Tessa Hughes was one of a handful of students from MMG to attend the conference.
“I am so beyond proud of my team and all that they have accomplished this year,” said Hughes. “The awards won at ACP and CCMA exemplify that they 100 percent deserved the recognition. I am still in shock at the win and couldn’t be more excited. My time at Mustang Media Group has been my favorite part at college.”
The entire list of awards that Mustang Media Group received at the conference are listed below.
California College Media Awards:
First Place: Best Newspaper - Tessa Hughes, Cameryn Oakes, Sabrina Pascua, Stephanie Zappelli
First Place: Best Headline Portfoilo - Omar Rashad
First Place: Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design - Zara Iqbal, Nicole Herhusky
First Place: Best News Series - Catherine Allen, Lauren Boyer, Madison Bellah, Abigail O'Branovich, Fuave Kootnz, Ava Kershner
First Place: Best Social Media Reporting: Von Balanon, Sydney Ozawa, Catherine Allen, Harrison Kirk, Mason Ogden
First Place: Best Sports Photograph - Kyle Calzia
Second Place: Best Photo Illustration - Kayla Stuart, Marta Lukomska
Second Place: Best Editorial Cartoon - Zara Iqbal
Second Place: Best Non-Breaking News Story - Maureen McNamara, Omar Rashad
Third Place: Best Feature Photograph - Fenn Bruns
Third Place: Best News Photograph - Kyle Calzia
Third Place: Best Newspaper Website - Tessa Hughes, Sabrina Pascua, Cameryn Oakes, Stephanie Zappelli, Adam Birder
Third Place: Best Online Advertisement - Elaine Do
Third Place: Best Overall Newspaper Design - Marta Lukomska, Solena Aguilar, Von Balanon
Associated Collegiate Press: Best of Show awards
First Place - Best Broadcast News Program (Four Year Campus)
Second Place - Best Newspaper/ Four Year Campus, more than 10,000 students
Fifth Place - Best Website/Four Year Campus, more than 10,000 students
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A Pair of Married CLA Faculty Members to Pursue Fulbright Scholarships in Poland
Apr 27, 2022
By Sophia Lincoln
Gregory Domber
In 2003, Cal Poly faculty members Gregory Domber and Mira Rosenthal met in Poland while pursuing Student Fulbright Scholarships as graduate students. Later this year, the now-married couple will return to the country where they met as Fulbright U.S. Scholars for the 2022-23 academic year.
Domber, lecturer in the History Department, will be teaching and conducting research at the Jagiellonian University Institute for American Studies and the Polish Diaspora. His research will examine effect of international programs, like the Fulbright exchange, on Poland’s recent political history. Rosenthal, associate professor of English, will be teaching and conducting research at the Center for Translation Studies, also with the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her work will include translating the works of Polish-Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka.
Mira Rosenthal
Rosenthal plans to publish her translations of Ginczanka’s work into a book of poetry while teaching a class on contemporary American poetry. Similarly, Domber hopes his findings will lead him to publishing another book or a book-length project while teaching a class on U.S.-Polish relations in the 20th Century.
“Particularly given the war in Ukraine right now, it’ll be a fascinating time to teach Polish students and get their feedback about their understanding of this process,” Domber said.
According to Domber’s research proposal, his project seeks to trace the development of American exchange programs back to the early 1950s and test whether international exchanges had direct or indirect effects on Poland’s democratic revolution in 1989.
The proposal states that his research “will also provide evidence of the importance of person-to-person connections in shaping more free societies and the importance of allies working together toward the idealistic goals of promoting democracy, whether that is against common foes – like Aleksander Lukashenko or Vladimir Putin – or internal political machinations.”
In addition to having the unique perspective of conducting his research in Poland while history is unfolding in Ukraine, Domber also has personal ties to the communities affected by the war on Ukraine.
Rosenthal and Domber have friends that live in Poland that are working to help Ukrainian refugees. “It’s been difficult to be so far away, knowing what so many of our friends are going through right now,” Rosenthal said.
In addition to furthering their research within their respective fields of study, the couple also hopes to have a more direct opportunity to help Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans in this “unsettling time,” Rosenthal said. “It will be great to be back regardless of – or in part because of – the crisis in the region right now,” Domber added.
According to an email from Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Ethan Rosenzweig, “Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad.”
The Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to challenges facing our communities and our world for more than 75 years.
Fulbright scholars also play a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations, according to Rosenzweig.
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San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Features May 1 Showing of ‘La Perla,” Starring Famous Cal Poly Alumnus
Apr 20, 2022
Contact: Megan Rivoire; 805-756-2250; mrivoire@calpoly.edu
Pedro Armendáriz’s senior photo,
at age 18, in 1931. Photo courtesy:
Cal Poly.
As part of a collaboration years in the making, the Latino Outreach Council of San Luis Obispo County and Cal Poly’s Office of University Diversity and Inclusion are co-sponsoring the showing of “La Perla,” an iconic Mexican-American film, during the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1 at the Fremont Theater.
The 1947 film is based on John Steinbeck’s classic novella “The Pearl,” which published that same year. Steinbeck and renowned Mexican director Emilio Fernández co-wrote the screenplay. The film stars Cal Poly alumnus Pedro Armendáriz as a poor fisherman who discovers a perfect pearl that subsequently transforms his and his family’s lives.
Armendáriz was a famous Mexican actor born near Mexico City in 1912. From ages 16 to 22, he attended Cal Poly, which then was a polytechnic high school and junior college, from September 1928 to the spring of 1932. He graduated in May of 1931 and stayed on as a junior college student for part of the next year.
During his time at the polytechnic school, Armendáriz took several shop classes in his first two years and then shifted to liberal arts courses. In his final year, he studied journalism, was president of the Press Club, helped edit the El Rodeo yearbook and took his only drama class during 1930-31.
Notably, he was also an active member of the Campus Playshop and performed in student theater productions. He subsequently returned to Mexico City, where he pursued the love of acting that he fostered at Cal Poly, and within three years starred in his first dramatic film.
Known as the “Mexican Clark Gable,” Armendáriz starred in iconic films from the golden age of Mexican cinema, such as 1943’s “Flor Silvestre” (“Wild Flower”) and “María Candelaria,” which came out in 1944, working with legendary Mexican actors including Dolores del Río and María Felix.
Armendáriz also worked internationally and in Hollywood. He made several films with actor John Wayne and directors John Ford and John Huston. His last film appearance was in the James Bond movie, “From Russia with Love.” He died in 1963.
The Steinbeck Institute will join the showing for a pre-film presentation. A reception will follow with a brief question-and-answer session with the Steinbeck Institute. And after “La Perla” is shown, Armendáriz will receive a posthumous award, given by College of Liberal Arts Dean Philip Williams, that will be presented to the Head Consul for the Mexican Consulate out of Oxnard, Euclides Del Mar Arbona. He will personally deliver the award to Armendáriz’s closest living relatives.
Individuals interested in attending the film can purchase tickets at: https://www.goelevent.com/SLOFILMFEST/e/LAPERLA.
For more information on the Cal Poly Office of University Diversity and Inclusion, visit diversity.calpoly.edu.
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Cal Poly Students’ Sustainable Packaging Design for San Luis Obispo Business Wins First Place in National Competition
Apr 18, 2022
Graphic communication Professor Xiaoying Rong and
students Isabel Lao, Sadie Curdts, Naomi Furuya,
Kaitlin Sakae, Mandy Ko, and Madeline Wales.
After a year of research and development, a team of Cal Poly students gained hands-on experience designing new sustainable packaging and labels for a San Luis Obispo-based gourmet cupcake and dessert business — and took first place for its effort.
Seven graphic communications students participated in the Phoenix Challenge, a yearlong project in which students help a local small business rebrand and market itself with materials using the flexographic print process, a technique that uses a flexible plate to print on a variety of materials.
The students, Naomi Furuya, Mandy Ko, Isabel Lao, Kaitlin Sakae, Ashley Rubens, Mads Wales and Sadie Curdts, won first place at the college-level competition in March against teams from across the U.S. This year’s theme was sustainable packaging for sustainable business, and the students focused on helping a local small business reduce packaging costs and make their brand stand out.
They chose to work with a small San Luis Obispo-based business, SeaBreeze Cupcakes & Sweet Treats, to develop and design a cupcake carrying box, a three-pack extract box, and labels to help the business reach out to specific groups of customers and expand to new demographics.
“I learned a lot from the experience of iterating on a printed product with a team,” Lao said. “I feel like that hands-on experience prepared me for working in a similar setting in industry.
“I also appreciated seeing the flexographic printing process from start to finish. It was helpful to know what choices go into selecting inks, substrates, specialty processes, etc., based on limitations and what the client wants, and then seeing how those choices reflected in the quality during the press run. I can better envision the processes behind what we talk about in class now that I’ve seen them for myself.”
Custom packaging design for local business,
SeaBreeze Cupcakes & Sweet Treats
The team considered sustainability, environmental impact and efficiency while developing the packaging and labels. The cupcake carrying box and extract box are designed to use the minimum amount of glue, with dielines designed to cut out the maximum number of boxes from one single sheet of folding carton board. The boxes were made of unbleached boards with the minimum amount of ink, to further reduce the environmental impact.
The team also designed a set of labels for the business owner to target different demographics without changing the structure of the boxes. The labels are designed for efficient production to reduce the manufacturing cost.
The team spent the last academic year brainstorming different concepts, conducting market research on cupcakes and sweets, interviewing industry experts on regulations, packaging materials and structures, surveying targeted demographics for insights, iterating packaging structures and label designs, and printing on the flexo press in the lab for prototyping. Finally, they presented the works and the prototypes to a group of judges from the printing industry.
Graphic Communication student Mandy Ko works
on specialty labels for the 2022 Phoenix Challenge.
“The experience students gain from this competition helps them practice and advance their skills in technology, team building and leadership. Participating in Phoenix Challenge is more than a competition — it has a long-lasting impact on students’ success after graduation,” said team advisor and Graphic Communication Professor Xiaoying Rong.
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Journalism Alumna Kirsten Grind Publishes New Investigative Book
Mar 11, 2022
By Sophie Lincoln
Happy At Any Cost
A new book released in March 2022 uncovers aspects of the personal life of noted entrepreneur Tony Hsieh and the truth behind his mysterious death in November 2020.
The book, “Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh,” is written by Kirsten Grind (Journalism ’02) and her Wall Street Journal coworker Katherine Sayre and published by Simon and Schuster.
During her undergraduate studies, Grind worked as managing editor for Mustang Daily, now known as Mustang News. She was in charge of selecting and making the final edits for all of the newspaper’s content every night to make brand-new daily print issues.
“To this day, that was still my hardest job in journalism. It was so hard,” Grind said. “But even though it was such hard work, it really made me fall in love with newspapers and that grind – I just loved it. It was so fun.”
Grind also said that her work at Mustang News has helped her get to where she is today.
“Once you get into the industry, you see a lot of people come from journalism schools with a master's degree, and I honestly felt like I have fared way better than those people because it was so much more hands-on at Cal Poly,” Grind said.
Grind currently works in the Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco Bureau, focusing on technology reporting as an enterprise reporter. This role involves investigative coverage on stories that require some extra digging.
Grind began reporting on Hsieh soon after his unexpected death through a series of investigative articles for the Wall Street Journal. But as she continued to dive deeper and find out more about Hsieh’s life before his death, she decided to turn her reporting into a book. Grind said audiences can expect to see a documentary as well.
“It’s a really heartwarming but very heartbreaking story because he was really well known for all of these incredible management experiments,” Grind said. “But his whole life, he was struggling with mental health issues that went untreated."
This will be Grind’s second published book, the first being “The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History,” which also began as a series of investigative articles in 2008. Grind was covering banking for the Puget Sound Business Journal when news of the bank’s failure began to unfold. “The Lost Bank,” published in 2012, chronicles the story of Washington Mutual based on her own investigative reporting during that time.
With her new book coming out, Grind said she hopes to shed light on mental health and “the problems with keeping it quiet, especially among successful entrepreneurs like Tony Hsieh.”
"Happiness at Any Cost” is currently available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other retailers.
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Nine CLA Professors receive 2022 Poly Reps Terrance Harris Awards
Mar 9, 2022
By Sophie Lincoln
2022 Poly Reps Mentorship Awards Ceremony
At this year’s celebration of the 2022 Poly Reps Terrance Harris Mentorship Awards, nine members of the College of Liberal Arts’ faculty were recognized for their impact on Poly Reps students: psychology Lecturer Elizabeth Barrett, English Lecturer Leslie St. John, ethnic studies Lecturer Damien Paul Montaño, psychology Professor Julie Garcia, communication studies Professor Bernard Duffy, psychology Lecturer/incoming Assistant Professor Susana Lopez, ethnic studies Lecturer jaime ding, theatre and dance Assistant Professor Karin Hendricks and ethnic studies Lecturer Lizzie Lamoree.
Poly Reps students are involved in the university’s ambassador program, overseeing university committees including Campus Tours, Special Events and School Visits and Presentations. There are roughly 40 students who participate in the organization to assist in promoting Cal Poly to prospective students and their families, alumni, potential donors and friends of the university.
Psychology Lecturer Elizabeth Barrett was recognized for her influence on Poly Rep Cate Armstrong.
“One award will never do your impact on the world justice, but I hope you too feel seen in all the ways you choose to give yourself time and time again,” Armstrong wrote in a letter nominating Barrett for the award.
When teaching, Barrett prioritizes engaging students through music, discussions and participation “that they didn’t expect,” Barrett said. “I believe that it’s the duty of the elders in our community to act as beacons for the next generation so that they don’t spend all of their time reinventing the wheel but are free to build on what has already been learned by previous generations.”
English Lecturer Leslie St. John, also nominated by Armstrong, received an award for her strength as an educator.
“I embrace the pedagogy of wholeness, which shifts obstacles to opportunities,” St. John said. “I love seeing students cultivate the muscle of introspection.”
Ethnic studies Lecturer Damien Paul Montaño received an award for their work to create a safe space and be a mentor for students who feel marginalized.
“It can make all the difference when [students] see themselves reflected in their guides,” Montaño said. “Mentorship in all its forms can change the student narrative from one surviving to [one] thriving.”
Montaño said they acquired this perspective on mentorship through their own experience growing up as an Indigenous member of the LGBTQ+ community, which showed them how important guidance can be.
Similarly, psychology Professor Julie Garcia, said mentorship became important to her after guiding figures she learned from as a first-generation college student shaped her academic trajectory.
“Nothing is more satisfying than helping students reach their academic goals, and I feel very privileged to be able to mentor students in my role as a faculty member,” Garcia said.
Communication studies Professor Bernard Duffy also shares this sentiment. “It is critically important that faculty encourage students in their individual educational and career goals,” he said.
The annual Terrance Harris Poly Reps Mentorship Awards program began in 2017 to recognize Cal Poly staff, faculty and friends who have made a significant impact on a current Poly Rep.
The Terrance Harris Mentorship Awards are presented in honor of current Cal Poly Vice President of Strategic Enrollment Management Terrance Harris, who is a former advisor of Poly Reps. According to Poly Reps Ambassador Matt Sato and Poly Reps President Grace Lauer, Harris has provided mentorship of what being a Poly Rep truly encompasses, and it is important to the organization to recognize those individuals who go above and beyond for students.