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HOW CAL POLY NOTIFIES STUDENTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTS NOVEMBER 9, 2021
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Cal Poly is in tiłhini, the Place of the Full Moon. We gratefully acknowledge, respect, and thank yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini, Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County and Region in whose homelands we are guests.
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SEMESTER SWITCH: HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR STUDENTS & PROFESSORS
STORY BY Ben Anderson & Catherine Allen DESIGNED BY Coby Chuang
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SWEDE AND SKOGEN: IS COMING OUT OF THE WOODS AND BLOWING UP IN SAN LUIS OBISPO STORY BY Emily Brower DESIGNED BY Megan Anderson
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SERIOUS AND ONGOING HOW CAL POLY NOTIFIES STUDENTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTS”
STORY BY Chloe Lovejoy & Sam Riordan DESIGNED BY Zara Iqbal
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24TH ANNUAL CULTUREFEST: THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION AT A PRIMARILY WHITE INSTITUTE
STORY BY Chloe Lovejoy DESIGNED BY Kayla Olow
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A LOOK FORWARD INTO MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STORY BY Derek Righetti and Gwendalyn Garcia DESIGNED BY Claire Lorimor
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE TORTILLAS BY BLAS ALVARADO
It was hot as students tightly crowded into the sold out student section of Spanos Stadium, having little room to move around let alone find their seat. Excitement erupted from all sections in the stands as fans from all over the central coast focused on the game while others focused their aim – throwing tortillas on the field. Nearly 11,000 fans attended this year’s Blue-Green Rivalry on Oct. 16, an annual Cal Poly Men’s Soccer event that takes place against the University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos (UCSB). While fans were getting swept away in the heat of the game, Charles Harlon, a Miller Event Management security guard, was busy trying to keep fans and the athletes on the field safe. According to Harlon, he was greet-
ed with a middle finger from Cal Poly students when asking for directions to Spanos Stadium. Harlon said the worst part was having to “kick-out” angry students from the stands because they were throwing tortillas as part of a “tradition.” “I have had a terrible time at Cal Poly,” Harlon said, “[Students] didn’t want to give up their tortillas, even though throwing tortillas is racist.” Every year, against Spanos Stadium policy, Cal Poly fans sneak tortillas in and throw them onto the field, hitting players, coaches and officials. Tina Javid, a nutrition freshman, said she was shocked to see so many wtortillas litter the field during the first Cal Poly soccer game she ever attended. “It’s just disrespectful,” Javid said, She said that she thinks any Cal Poly student willing to throw torti-
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llas “deserves to be kicked out” due to the “history of [throwing tortillas] being racially inappropriate.” For the past eight years, throwing tortillas has become second nature for Cal Poly students during the annual event. According to Don Oberhelman, Cal Poly’s Director of Athletics, it should not be claimed as a Cal Poly tradition. UCSB students have been throwing tortillas during their home games since the early 1990s and even made national news in 1997 when a basketball game had to be stopped due to there being too many tortillas on the court. The same thing almost happened twice this year in Spanos Stadium when officials threatened Cal Poly with a forfeit if students continued throwing items onto the field. “You can hurt someone, it’s disrespectful to a culture and it’s wasteful of food when we have scarce resources on our planet … Any one of these is a reason not to do it and we have
MADDIE HARRELL | MUSTANG NEWS Tortillas scatter the field during the Men’s Soccer match against University of California Santa Barbara
three,” Oberhelman said. While disappointed in the fans for upholding what they think is a Cal Poly tradition, Oberhelman said he hopes students will come up with a new tradition that can keep the fan attendance high.
SCAN TO WATCH THE VIDEO
GROWING NUMBER OF STUDENTS HAVE STOPPED COMPLETING DAILY SYMPTOM SCREENER BY OMAR RASHAD
In Mustang News’ October print issue, a story titled “In the Red Zone: Cal Poly Students and Staff Speak Out About Sexual Misconduct On Campus” incorrectly stated that President Jefferey Armstrong painted over red hand prints on campus in 2005. The removal of the red hand prints was decided by Cal Poly administration before Armstrong assumed his role in 2011. This has been updated in the online version of the article which can be found at Mustangnews.net.
VIDEO & THE HILL
CORRECTIONAL STATEMENT
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Read the rest of the story ON MUSTANGNEWS.NET
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MEGAN ANDERSON | MUSTANG NEWS
Since the beginning of fall quarter, a growing number of students have stopped filling out Cal Poly’s daily symptom screener, meaning less students are reporting whether they have COVID-19 symptoms to the university. Over the first five weeks of the fall quarter, the weekly count of completed daily symptom screeners fell by 32% — from 97,062 completed symptom screeners in week one to 65,564 in week five, according to university data. All enrolled students are required to fill out the daily campus screener if they are accessing on-campus facilities for any reason, according to the Cal Poly website. Currently, there are over 21,000 students with classes that have an in-person component. The factors contributing to the decline is unclear, but with little to no enforcement of campus passes, some
said it makes sense why students aren’t filling out their daily symptom screener as much anymore. Public health sophomore JP Surrillo said the decline in use is because students don’t take the screener seriously anymore. The screener doesn’t do much besides help people find out if they have COVID-19 symptoms, he added. Furthermore, enforcing campus passes has fallen almost entirely onto professors. University officials have recommended faculty and staff to check campus passes at the beginning of in-person classes and activities. However many faculty members do not for various reasons. “Only two out of my four professors check the passes and my bigger lecture hall classes don’t check them,” Surrillo said. Lewis Call, the president of Cal Poly’s California Faculty Association chapter, wrote to Mustang News in an email that it’s not practical to expect
professors to check campus passes at the beginning of each in-person class. So far, he has heard that it can take too long to check campus passes for large lectures and professors don’t want to have to enforce something like that. “Some faculty don’t like the idea of acting as ‘pass police,’” Call said. “They feel that it’s not really part of a faculty member’s job, and that it would be better to have paid staff checking the passes.” Students also noted how, besides the lack of enforcement, the daily screener is not effective since it is entirely dependent on students faithfully self-reporting symptoms. “I feel like it’s not effective because at this point people aren’t even reading what they are clicking on,” food science junior Olivia Davis said. “They’ve memorized which buttons to press without paying attention.”
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SEMESTER SWITCH HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS
NEWS
MUSTANG NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
BY BEN ANDERSON AND CATHERINE ALLEN
California State University (CSU) Chancellor Joseph Castro expects Cal Poly to transition to semesters by the start of the 2025-26 academic year, according to an email sent out by University President Jeffrey Armstrong. “Almost a decade ago the CSU Chancellor’s Office asked all quarter-calendar campuses to transition to a semester calendar,” Armstrong said in an Oct. 18 campuswide email. “Today, Cal Poly is the last CSU campus remaining on a quarter system.” As opposed to quarter terms, a semester schedule consists of two, 15-week terms in the fall and the spring. Students would take an average of 15 units each semester, and classes typically start in late August and end in May. In an email to university faculty, Academic Affairs said they will spend the rest of this school year and next summer gathering “best practices” from CSU campuses that have recently made the change, as well as creating plans for overcoming challenges specific to Cal Poly. Castro, who was appointed as Chancellor in 2020, said that over the past decade, five CSU campuses have successfully transitioned from quarters to semesters: CSU Bakersfield, CSU Los Angeles, CSU San Bernardino, CSU East Bay and Cal Poly Pomona. “Their experiences have confirmed that although the transition will require work, it is possible to do it while taking the interests and concerns of all stakeholders into account,” Castro said. According to Academic Affairs, a conversion plan is expected to begin in Fall 2022. “Over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, we will need to map our curriculum to the semester system
TIANA REBER | MUSTANG NEWS Students gather around Dexter Lawn in between classes.
and design our current and new courses to account for this change,” Academic Affairs said. Come the 2024-25 school year, those curriculum plans will be reviewed by the Academic Senate, according to Academic Affairs. In an Oct. 13 letter to Armstrong, Castro echoed something he says Armstrong has stated on many occasions: “Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing – Ready-Day-One experience will not be complete until Cal Poly better represents the demographics of California.” A few years ago J. Armstrong was a “strong advocate for retaining the quarter system,” Castro said in his letter. When the semester debate picked up in 2012, there were six of the 23 CSU campuses on quarter calendars.
Now, Castro said, the issue extends beyond the Cal Poly campus community. “If this were an issue that only affected your campus, I would be inclined to leave it alone,” Castro said. “But because the question of Cal Poly’s calendar affects students at other CSU campuses and at California’s community colleges, I cannot treat it as a purely local concern.” The CSU system will pay for the vast majority of the direct costs to achieve this transition as they’ve done in the past. SEMESTER STUDENTS
TRANSITION
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Armstrong and Castro noted that aligning with community colleges
was one reason it’s important to switch to semesters.
I share Castro’s concern about Cal Poly being perceived – rightly or wrongly – as needing to address issues of equitable access and student success. JEFFREY ARMSTRONG President of Cal Poly
Of the 116 community colleges in California, 113 are currently on the semester system. For transfers coming from semester-system community colleges, Castro said Cal Poly’s semester system would help facilitate a more equitable transition with course requirements and credits, while also creating opportunities for dual enrollment. “I share [Castro’s] concern about Cal Poly being perceived – rightly or wrongly – as needing to address issues of equitable access and student success,” Armstrong said. Business finance senior Ian Linde transferred from Santa Rosa Junior College to Cal Poly at the beginning of the 2020 fall quarter. Linde said the transition was somewhat difficult, mainly because of the pandemic, but has found communities on campus
and in Greek life. “For me, junior college was really a stepping-stone to Cal Poly,” Linde said. “I knew I wanted to go here and decided to make the move even with COVID-19 going on.” Linde said that going from semesters to extremely fast-paced quarters was a huge transition and not an easy one. “So many first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented-minority students begin their careers at a community college and then transfer to a CSU campus to finish their baccalaureate degree,” Castro wrote.
Every barrier we can remove, consistent with providing excellent education, means that equitable access to the CSU is improved. JOSEPH CASTRO CSU Chancellor
JASON LINN History Lecturer
CURRICULUM CHANGES
research papers, it will be nice to only do it two times a year, instead of three.” Linn said he is excited for the extended courses and is ready to create new lectures on topics he wasn’t originally able to add in the quarter system due to time constraints. For students who will be affected by this change, Linn said that those in the classes of 2026 through 2028 will have to “bite the bullet.” Linn also said he believed there would perhaps be a drop in
Pros & Cons of Switching + + -
enrollment and increase in retirements leading up to Fall 2025. Linn said he’s also worried about seniors scrambling to get all their required classes in. “In the fall, I often get seniors who need my class to graduate but cannot enroll because the class is full from freshmen block enrolled in it,” Linn said. “I tell these seniors to chill because the class will be offered
in the winter. Now, I worry that the required class[es] will only be offered once a year in the fall.” The semester switch benefits university administration, too, according to Castro. Tasks like calculating academic progress, completing financial aid and hiring part-time faculty will be done twice a year rather than three times and will be more aligned with the other campus
calendars. “As stewards of public funds, and of funds paid by our students as tuition and fees, we have a duty to be as efficient and prudent as possible,” Castro said. Carley Epple contributed reporting to this article.
NEWS
The university has previously noted two benefits of quarters: the fast pace and an ability to take a wide variety of classes. Castro said that to help keep those benefits intact, courses can be “broken into shorter lengths during a given semester.” One example of this is Cal Poly’s current summer quarter system, which offers classes that are five, eight and 10 weeks long. “Students would of course not be set back in their academic progress, but would have their units converted
Cal Poly SLO is now the only of 23 CSUs on quar ter system.
TUESDAY,NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Each quarter I memorize between 150 and 200 students’ names — that is a Herculean task. But, it will become easier when I only need to do it twice a year.
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MUSTANG NEWS
“Every barrier we can remove, consistent with providing excellent education, means that equitable access to the CSU is improved.” Castro’s decision to use semesters is also backed by the benefit to students coming from semester-based high schools. For biological sciences freshman Caleb Barajas, the quarter system’s fast pace is a double edged sword — it allows students to “learn a good amount of information” quickly and get out of a class sooner if they don’t like it. But at the same time, Barajas said adjusting from a Zoom-based semester system in high school to the quarter system was difficult and can be improved with Cal Poly’s semester conversion. “I feel it was a real jump in pace,” Barajas said. “I believe a semester system will really help the high school to college learning transition.”
from quarter to semester units and academic departments would be careful in planning programs to ensure full coverage of the relevant material,” Armstrong said. Armstrong said some fast-paced courses will be retained by having terms of variable lengths, similar to what summer classes already look like. “Faculty would spend the same number of hours in the classroom over the academic year as they do now, would have a similar number of minutes of lecture to prepare each week, would probably do less grading (two sets of exams rather than three), and would no longer have to spend Spring Break frantically preparing for a new term,” Armstrong said. Cal Poly history lecturer Jason Linn said he was able to find both pros and cons for the situation. “Summer of 2025 I will be busy revising lectures and prezis,” Linn said. “No one will be happy about the shortened Summer 2025 break.” However, in its entirety, Linn said that he indeed looks forward to it. He expects short term pain, but long term benefits after the first year. When talking about the change to his courses in a semester system, Linn said he was hopeful. “Each quarter I memorize between 150 and 200 students’ names — that is a Herculean task,” Linn said. “But, it will become easier when I only need to do it twice a year. Same thing with grading final exams and
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THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND “SQUID GAME’S” ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
ARTS & STUDENT LIFE
MUSTANG NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
BY NAOMI VANDERLIP
A group of 456 individuals desperately indebted in South Korea are thrown into a deadly tournament of children’s games. Rivaled with the promise of money, each other’s brutality and the imminence of death, only one will win. This is the premise of the South Korean Netflix series phenomenon “Squid Game.” The fictional drama has been viewed by 111 million accounts since debuting on Netflix on Sept. 17 and is the “biggest-ever series at launch” from Netflix, as reported by CNN. Despite the positive reviews and impressive numbers, there has been backlash around its English subtitle translations. The controversy began with a TikTok post from fluent Korean speaker Youngmi Mayer, who pointed out “botched” subtitles that changed the show’s meaning for English-speaking viewers — erasing cultural nuance, missing metaphors and Korean idioms. Liberal arts and engineering studies senior Angellia Seguin said there is a dilemma with globalization, particularly with the spread of foreign media. “[People] are getting exposure to other media, but at the same time, they’re also missing so much of that culture,” Seguin said. Seguin said that Netflix’s translation was inauthentic to the original Korean script, with deeper meanings
lost in translation and even “simplified for the English viewers.” The TikTok user, Mayer, recalled that when a character in the show tried to convince others to play the game with her, closed-caption subtitles read: “I’m not a genius, but I still got it worked out.” However, according to Mayer, the character actually says: “I am very smart, I just never got a chance to study.” The more accurate translation emphasizes the wealth disparity in Korean society — a common trope in Korean media. Other examples of inaccurate translations include the meaning behind the world gganbu, a Korean word to convey allyship. In English, the subtitles read, “we share everything,” yet in Korean, gganbu means “there is no ownership between me and you.” Also, the first episode of the show was titled “Red light, green light,” yet in Korean it is titled “mugunghwa kkoci pieot seumnida.” Mugunghwa is the Korean national flower and when in bloom, the players must freeze. Communications studies professor Maria Subert said that instead of losing opportunities for cultural awareness, it goes even further. “Language is a philosophy; language is a core worldview; language is creating something that is powerful there and is powerful
here,” Subert said. “So when you mistranslate, you harm something — losing something is more neutral.” Subert said language is hurt by misrepresenting the original language and translating it into English poorly, sometimes on an elementary basis — diminishing both of their values simultaneously. She said much of this mistranslation boils down to a lack of respect and that, throughout this process of cultural exchange, there should be less hierarchical communications and more dialogue. “You need to know the taste, their ethics, the political system,” Subert said. “It is not the show’s role to be counter argumentative.” Creating a product for the global market that will be enjoyable to those across cultures is a hefty ask, according to English professor Paul Marchbanks, who also teaches film. “It still has the flavor of a culture; it’s going to have recognizable tropes and so on,” Marchbanks said. “You’re using actors and settings and things which are particular, so you get a sense of the local flavor.” Marchbanks said the economic aspect is one that cannot be
overlooked, particularly when talking about a global product. “When we sacrifice the beauty of a culture for the sake of the bottom line, we’re commodifying art further than it normally is commodified,” Marchbanks said.
When we sacrifice the beauty of a culture for the sake of the bottom line, we’re commodifying art further than it normally is commodified PAUL MARCHBANKS English Professor
He recounted other movies in which nuance gets “thrown out the window” because he said oftentimes simplicity overrides complexity. Moving forward, Marchbanks suggests a more thorough, cooperative approach to translation. “Fidelity, for certain forms of cultural expression, is more important than cutting corners,” he said. Computer science junior and vice president of Cal Poly’s Dongali, a Korean culture club, Won Kim, said inaccurate translations created missing opportunities for cultural awareness. “The language [used in the show]
isn’t just limited to what they’re talking about, it’s also nuanced in the culture that it’s embedded in,” Kim said. “Not being able to understand that is also reflective of not being able to understand Eastern culture.” Yet, Kim said he ultimately grants translators some slack, as cultural context is difficult to learn, let alone interpret to an audience. Kim said some things can only be understood through organic experience — like differences in greetings or how friends converse. “Translation is still a very difficult thing to do when both sides don’t know each other’s story,” Kim said. “They don’t know the culture that they’ve been raised in, the society that they’re in, the political atmosphere of that place; those all contribute to how people speak and that’s something very hard to explain, let alone [in a] single series.” He said audiences should be more understanding — as translators are still navigating the world of global media. “The whole idea that you can try to grasp perfectly like the ideas and the values of a certain society, from a different standpoint, [and not offend anyone] — that itself is pretty selfish,” Kim said. Instead of seeing this mistranslation as a wholly negative, Kim sees another side. “This is a good step; the fact that people are catching translation errors in the first place, shows that people are even remotely more interested in translations,” Kim said. Having a conversation about criticism lends way to progress, he said. “At the end of the day, the best way to learn, if you’re not in that place, is to talk with someone who is and have that back and forth,” Kim said.
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SERIOUS AND ONGOING
HOW CAL POLY NOTIFIES STUDENTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTS
BY CHLOE LOVE JOY AND SAM RIORDAN
NEWS
MUSTANG NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Editor’s note: This story discusses themes including sexual violence. Environmental, management and protection freshman Lauren Tillotson was shocked to receive the first Clery Act notification in her inbox on Oct. 5, which notified students of a rape in Architecture Graveyward. Within a week, a second email arrived with news of another on-campus sexual assault. “It made me pretty uncomfortable knowing just how often it happens,” Tillotson said. “The descriptions were like “5’7” and “5’10” male” and you look around and it’s like, it could be anyone.” On Oct. 10, the university sent the second email informing the campus community that another rape had occurred within the same week with different descriptions of the suspects. Tillotson said that she didn’t find the description from the recent assault very helpful, given that the description was vague enough to describe many individuals both on and off campus. The university distributed the notifications in compliance with the timely warning function of the Jeanne Clery Act, which requires university officials to notify the campus community when certain crimes occur. Clery Director and Title IX Coordinator Maren Hufton said that the Clery Act is a consumer protection law that requires higher education institutions to make disclosures about crimes reported on campus. The purpose of the act is “to inform our customers, our consumers — parents and students and visitors to our campus — about whether they want to come to our university or
even visit the space,” according to Hufton. The Clery Act does not prevent crime, but rather serves as a “transparency function,” Hufton said. During a presentation led by Safer for alarmed parents following the second reported rape, the confidential resource center outlined the criteria for Clery Act crimes that would warrant a timely warning. “The parameters of a timely warning are actually extremely narrow,”
The purpose of the act is “to inform our customers, our consumers — parents and students and visitors to our campus — about whether they want to come to our university or even visit the space.” MAREN HUFTON Clery Director and Title IX Coordinator
Assistant Director of Wellbeing Kara Samaniego said. First, campus security authority needs to be aware that a crime has occurred. The crime must also be a Clery reportable crime. Clery Act crimes include criminal offenses, such as sexual assault, homicide or robbery, hate crimes and offenses under the Violence Against Women Act.
The crime must also have occurred in Clery geography. At Cal Poly, Clery geography is anywhere on campus or any other university-controlled property. This includes officially registered sorority and fraternity houses. Lastly, the threat must be considered “serious and ongoing.” Cal Poly’s Chief of Police George Hughes, in collaboration with Maren Hufton, determines whether the threat is “serious and ongoing” on a case-by-case basis. Chief Hughes said that the police will talk to whoever they need to in order to determine the presence of a serious and ongoing threat. “It’s not that we make these decisions in a vacuum,” Hughes said. “It really comes down to what information we can get and how quickly we can get it.” Sometimes, the police department does not have enough information to discern if a crime falls under the Clery Act, such as when the location is unknown. Sometimes, police are able to mitigate a serious threat, so it is no longer a present danger. Other times, the information the police have about a Clery Act crime cannot be released to the public “Sometimes, we just can’t put out a lot of information,” Hughes said. “When we can’t put out information for whatever reason — whether it be for the integrity of the investigation or privacy laws — people are going to always think of the worst.” Hughes said the information that can be provided to students is determined on a case-by-case basis. “It depends on the incident itself,” Hughes said. “If we have an ongoing investigation, which we do in these matters, I cannot release anything that could jeopardize the integrity of that investigation.” Releasing too much information
could hinder identifying a suspect, according to Hughes. Hufton said that the university does not release information about cases of sexual assault unless there is a requirement to do so. She said it is a “tremendous misfortune” that members of the campus community may assume Cal Poly responds to sexual assault allegations from a PR standpoint because that’s not generally what she thinks about when following processes and procedures required by the law. “We strive to keep everything as private as possible,” Hufton said. “That’s a victim’s right.” Hughes said until the recent notifications there has not been a crime that falls under the criteria for the Clery Act since 2018. University Spokesperson Matt Lazier said that the recent notifications relating to sexual assault do not correlate to rising rates of sexual assault. “It’s a mistake to look at reports that are based on circumstances of individual cases and use that as an interpretation to mean that the rates of crimes are going up,” Lazier said. “You’re talking about apples and oranges there.” Moreover, students may not be notified when reported cases have been solved, even when such cases have been made public in compliance with the Clery Act. Following a timely warning, campus officials will determine whether or not it is in the best
interest of students to update them on whether the suspect has been apprehended. Hufton said the university is not required to notify students when a suspect has been identified following a timely warning. After a sexual assault has been reported to the police department, Hughes said the police investigate the crime and fulfill the duty of a mandated reporter. Investigations following a reported sexual assault are centered around the needs of the victim. “[The criminal investigation] is driven by the survivor and how willing he or she is to have an actual criminal investigation,” Hughes said. Lazier said that overall, the message is that cases are dealt with on a caseby-case basis and that the university has the interest of the campus community and those involved in these cases in mind. “We’re trying to balance the privacy issues, the safety issues and the integrity of the investigation to reach a resolution that keeps everyone safe and holds people accountable for things they’ve done wrong,” Lazier said. Tilletson, “the freshman student,” said her friends are a lot more cautious when deciding to go out, and carrying pepper spray is the new normal. “The people I’ve talked to are just unsettled by [the unsolved case],” Tilletson said. “It’s kind of unnerving.”
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MUSTANG NEWS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
NEWS
FOR N A E SC ANC H C A IN! TO W
ASSOCIATED STUDENTS, INC.
The annual audit of the Associated Students, Inc. and the University Union for fiscal year 2020–21 has been completed. Public information copies of the financial statements are available at the ASI Business Office (Bldg. 65, Rm. 212) and at the Kennedy Library (Bldg. 35). Click here to view online at asi.calpoly.edu Experience life outside of the classroom.
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24TH ANNUAL CULTUREFEST:
The University Union(UU) was packed with music, booths and food in celebration of Cal Poly’s 24th annual Culturefest on Saturday, Oct. 23. Lined up with Mustang Family Weekend, students and their parents could be spotted enjoying the day’s festivities hosted by the Multicultural Center. “I think it’s really making the cultural presence known at Cal Poly,” architecture junior and co-president of the Multi-Racial Student Association Zoe Paris said. “Even though it is a predominately white institute, the fact that we have these celebrations that highlight people of color and other organizations on campus is really nice.” Cal Poly is the only predominantly white institution (PWI) in the entire Cal State University system, as previously reported by Mustang News. The PolyView Fall quarter census as of 2020 shows that 54.04% of students self-reported “white” as their ethnic origin. “Especially with this being a PWI, it’s really important for students to be able to see the different cultures that are on campus and the different identities that they might belong to,” biomedical engineering sophomore Janet Velasquez said. “I feel like it might help them feel more welcomed knowing that these people do exist on our campus, and that there are safe spaces for them to come and talk about their identities, be with other people who match their identities.” Velasquez was one student representing the Pilipino Cultural Exchange club at CultureFest. She serves as one of the club’s membership coordinators and helps run
THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION AT A PRIMARILY WHITE INSTITUTE
their big-little program, which connects new students with “bigs” that can help them navigate the club and student life at Cal Poly. “The whole point is to be an exchange, so people of all identities and ethnicities are welcome,” Velasquez said. “I myself am hispanic, so I was a little nervous at first because I feel like going into new cultural clubs, if you’re not a part of that cultural identity it can be a little difficult, but they make it such an inclusive and safe space for you to come and join and be involved.” According to Ethan Nagamine,
NEWS AND PHOTO
MUSTANG NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
BY CHLOE LOVEJOY
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Club Ballet Folklorico de Cal Poly performing at Culturefest Club Ballet Folklorico de Cal Poly haciendo danza por CultureFest.
I myself am hispanic, so I was a little nervous at first because I feel like going into new cultrual clubs, if you’re not a part of that cultural identity it can be difficult, but they make it such an inclusive and safe space for you to come and join and be involved.
Nguyen is web developer for Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, an Asian-interest sorority at Cal Poly. The proceeds of their booth were going towards their philanthropy centered around breast cancer awareness. For CultureFest, the sorority was vending Spam Misubi, freshly prepared by their members and assembled at the event. “We started preparing pretty much in the summer, just so that we could make sure we were organized with
the food, and to get ingredients and figure out shifts,” Nguyen said. The Multi-Cultural Center collaborated with ASI events to host guest musician Madame Gandhi in the UU plaza. The concert was followed by several club-hosted performances, including the Kasa Dance Crew, a non-audition group affiliated with the Korean American Student Association. The club posted a full video of their CultureFest performance to their Youtube channel.
JANET VALASQUEZ Biomedical Engineering Sophomore
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Sisters of Sigma Omega Nu Latina Interest Sorority, Inc. selling frescas con crema Hermanas/Miembras de Sigma Omega Nu Latina Interest Sorority, Inc. vendiendo fresas con crema.
President of Hui O Hawai’i, their club has been preparing for CultureFest since the start of the academic year. With the help of their faculty adviser, Nagamine and his fellow club members were able to sell shave ice, as many other booths also sold goods as a fundraiser for their individual club efforts. Computer science junior Jenisa
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Latinos in Agriculture selling Tostilocos Latinos in Agriculture vendiendo Tostilocos.
LA 24° CELEBRACIÓN ANUAL DE CULTUREFEST BY CHLOE LOVEJOY El artículo fue originalmente escrito en Inglés. La traducción en Español fue hecha por José González.
LA IMPORTANCIA DE REPRESENTACIÓN EN UN INSTITUTO PREDOMINANTEMENTE BLANCO
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Students dancing in the University Union during CultureFest Estudiantes bailando en la plaza de la University Union durante CultureFest
requisito de hacer audición, parte del Korean American Student Association . El club subió un video completo de su baile de CultureFest a su canal de Youtube.
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc selling duros at CultureFest Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. vendiendo duros por CultureFest
orden, y adquirir los ingredientes y averiguar los horarios,” dijo Nguyen.
JACKIE ESPITIA | MUSTANG NEWS Latinx Business Student Association selling pepinos lokos and agua de jamaica El Latinx Business Student Association vendiendo pepinos lokos y agua de jamaica
NEWS AND PHOTO
JANET VALASQUEZ Estudiante de Ingenieria Biomédica de segundo año
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Yo misma soy hispana, entonces estuve algo nerviosa al principio porque siento que al integrarte a nuevos clubes culturales, si no perteneces a esa identidad cultural puede ser algo difícil, pero ellos logran crear un sitio seguro e inclusivo para que te presentes y te ingreses y te involucres
El Multi-Cultural Center colaboró con ASI Events para presentar la música Madame Gandhi en la plaza de la UU. El concierto fue seguido por varios bailes, incluyendo el de Kasa Dance Crew, un grupo sin
MUSTANG NEWS
La University Union(UU) estuvo llena de música, puestos y comida para celebrar el año 24 de CultureFest de Cal Poly el sábado, 23 de octubre. A semejante tiempo que Mustang Family Weekend, estudiantes y sus padres se pudieron ver gozando de las festividades presentadas por el Multicultural Center. “Creo que la presencia cultural de Cal Poly está aumentando”, dice estudiante de arquitectura y copresidente de la Multi-Racial Student Association Zoe Paris. “Aunque sea un instituto predominantemente blanco, el hecho que tenemos estas celebraciones que destacan gente de color y otras organizaciones del campus es bien alegre.” De las universidades que pertenecen al sistema de Cal State University, Cal Poly es el único instituto predominantemente blanco (IPB) , como se ha reportado antes por Mustang News. El Censo del trimestre de otoño 2020, PolyView, demuestra que 54,04 % de estudiantes se identificaron “blanco” como su origen étnica. “Justo por ser un IPB, es muy importante para los estudiantes ver las varias culturas del campus y las diferentes identidades a las que pertenecen,” dice estudiante de ingeniería biomédica de segundo año Janet Velasquez. “Siento que quizás les ayudará a sentirse más cómodos al saber que esta gente sí existe en el campus, y que hay sitios seguros para que ellos lleguen y hablen acerca de sus identidades, estar con con gente de semejante identidades.” Velasquez fue uno de los
estudiantes en CultureFest como representante del club Pilipino Cultural Exchange. Ella tiene papel de coordinadora de membresía para el club y ayuda a administrar el programa de big-little, cuyo función es conectar a los nuevos alumnos con “bigs” que les ayudan a orientarse en el club y a ser estudiante en Cal Poly. “La intención es un intercambio, así que gente de toda clase de identidad y etnia se sienta bienvenida,” dijo Velasquez. “Yo misma soy hispana, entonces estuve algo nerviosa al principio porque siento que al integrarte a nuevos clubes culturales, si no perteneces a esa identidad cultural puede ser algo difícil, pero ellos logran crear un sitio seguro e inclusivo para que te presentes y te ingreses y te involucres.” Según Ethan Nagamine, Presidente de Hui O Hawai’i, su club se ha estado preparando para CultureFest desde el principio del año académico. Con la ayuda de su profesor-asesor, Nagamine y los demás miembros del club lograron vender shave ice, tal como otros puestos que vendieron sus propios bienes para recaudar fondos por los esfuerzos de sus clubes. Estudiante de informática de tercer año Jenisa Nguyen es la desarrolladora web para Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, una sororidad de interés asiático en Cal Poly. Los fondos de su puesto iban hacia sus metas filantrópicas con énfasis en aumentar el conocimiento del cáncer de mama. Por CultureFest, la sororidad estuvo vendiendo Spam Misubi, recién hecho por sus miembros y arreglado en el evento. “Empezamos a prepararnos más o menos en el verano, solamente para que estuviésemos seguros que tendriamos toda la comida en
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A LOOK AT THE SEASON AHEAD AS BASKETBALL TIPS OFF Men’s Basketball
Cal Poly men’s basketball is gearing up to return to the hardwood for their 2021-22 season. In a 2020-21 season riddled with stoppages and restarts due to the pandemic, the Mustangs finished just 4-20 overall and 1-15 in Big West play, the program’s worst conference record ever. Despite the difficult season, the Mustangs did get a win over CSU Fullerton in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament. “We’re just trying to build off that [win],” head coach John Smith said. “We feel that we’re in a good position, in terms of building the program, of where we’re trying to go.” Cal Poly has seven returning players from last year’s squad, in addition to the four Division-1 transfers and two freshmen. Highlighting the returners will be junior forward Alimamy Koroma, a Big West honorable mention a year ago, and senior forward Tuukka Jaakkola. “Although we’re playing fast and trying to get up the floor and get early shots, we would love to go and get early shots through [Koroma and Jaakola],” Smith said. “Anytime you can score on the inside, it breaks a defense down.” Two of the transfers who have
SPORTS
MUSTANG NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
BY DEREK RIGHETTI
K YLE CALZIA | MUSTANG NEWS
joined Cal Poly reached the NCAA tournament at their previous schools. Graduate guard Jacob Davison comes from Eastern Washington, where he averaged 9.8 points per game. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman guard Julien Franklin made 21 appearances for Oregon State last season. Returning and looking to lead the offense is sophomore forward Brantly Stevenson, who averaged 6.7 points per game last season. With their freshman season being in the midst of COVID-19, Stevenson and the rest of the current sophomore class were forced to adjust to collegiate-level play during the season, since preseason practices and games were canceled last year. “I learned so much from last year,” Stevenson said. “In terms of growth, I think I’ve mentally and physically grown exponentially.” Sophomore players like Stevenson have never had the opportunity to play in front of crowds in their collegiate career, another obstacle for players who made their first appearances last season. “Playing in front of no crowd is tough,” Stevenson said. “The fans, they’re a huge part of the game.”
Cal Poly is scheduled for 13 non-conference games starting on Nov. 9, including one against topranked UCLA, and will begin Big West play on Dec. 30.
Women’s Basketball BY GWENDALYN GARCIA
The 2021-22 Cal Poly women’s basketball team has their eyes set on proving themselves and reaching the Big West Championships with an evolved roster. With the loss of their top -two scorers from the year prior, Sierra Campisano and Abbey Ellis, the Mustangs will have nine returners and eight newcomers, including six freshmen and two Division-I transfers. Even with roster changes, head coach Faith Mimnaugh isn’t worried about the team’s chemistry. “Our chemistry, considering how many new players we have, makes me very pleased with the direction we’re headed,” Mimnaugh said. Mimnaugh said she is looking forward to seeing her team of “talented, energetic, high basketball IQ players” perform as a committee that shares the ball and spreads points around. This play style will be key for this team, as Campisano and Ellis took the majority of shots and averaged 15.8 and 15.3 points per game, respectively.
“I don’t believe any of our opponents will be expecting very much of us because of the loss we suffered with our personnel and them not knowing how talented our newcomers are,” Mimnaugh said. “However, that’s our advantage. If they underestimate us, I think we have the potential to do some prizes on the floor.”
If they underestimate us, I think we have the potential to do some prizes on the floor FAITH MIMNAUGH Head Coach
Junior guard Maddie Willet, who averaged 7.8 points per game last season with the Mustangs, said she has found herself in a position to lead the team towards success. “With a whole new team, I’m real-
ly excited to see what we can do this season,” Willet said. “As an upperclassman, I’ve found myself in more of a leadership position to guide us through it.” When asked about the team’s determination leading up to the start of the upcoming season, Willet re-emphasized the sentiments of Mimnaugh. “Our team’s goal is to get up the ranks toward winning the Big West championships,” Willet said. “As a whole, we’ve really bought into that, making it really special and unique for us all to be so completely determined to do so.” In looking forward to the start of the season, graduate forward Kirtsy Brown spoke directly to the students of Cal Poly. “I’m excited to just have fans back at the games,’’ said Brown. “That’s definitely what we missed out on last year. Fans bring a whole different energy, both home and away.” Last season, the team began play without fans due to COVID-19 precautions, but this season Motts Athletics Center is open to the public who comply with their guidelines. Their season is set to tip off on Nov. 10 against Santa Clara, with conference play starting on Dec. 30. “We’re a whole different team,” Brown said. “I think we’re really gonna shock some people when they come out to see us play.”
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