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STORY BY Charlie Wiltsee and Dylan Allen DESIGNED BY Liz Ridley

STORY BY Grace Bennett, Paige Teraji and Madison White DESIGNED BY Aviv Kesar

STORY BY Adilene Gomez Santiago and Aidan Dillon DESIGNED BY Isa Cordovez

QUARTER

How Cal Poly’s program set me up for college success

OPINION BY KAYLIE

WANG

DESIGNED BY AVIV KESAR

I started college a month early. It was the best decision I’ve made at Cal Poly so far.

Through the Quarter Plus program, I took eight units (two general education courses) in the four weeks before my first year at college. In a small cohort of roughly 200 freshmen, the program allowed me to ease into college.

After completing a short application, I was notified that I had been accepted. I was blocked into two classes: Western Art (ART 112) and Public Speaking (COMS 101). My classes were very doable, but students taking other classes were stressed with exams.

Many students I’ve talked to have not heard of the Quarter Plus program. Luckily, one of my childhood friends went through Quarter Plus the year before me. She introduced me to the program and encouraged me to participate.

One of the main reasons I chose Quarter Plus was because I wanted to gradually transition into college. Instead of immediately moving in

with 5,000 other first-years, I had time to adjust while barely any students were on campus.

I was intimidated by the transition from a public high school with 2,000 students to a large public university with about 22,000 students, according to Cal Poly’s university website. During the four weeks of the program, the only students on campus were Quarter Plus students, the football team and other students from summer programs.

Everyone participating in Quarter Plus was housed in elewexe, one of the yakʔitʸutʸu buildings. Since it was just a small group of students, I felt very comfortable walking up to people or sitting with new people at the Vista Grande dining hall during meals.

Quarter Plus was also just fun. I often heard students say that Quarter Plus felt like summer camp. All of our classes ran on the same schedule, and we were sent weekly sign-up surveys for fun activities like hiking to the Architecture Graveyard at night, spending a day at Avila Beach, buying groceries at Target or arts and crafts.

Signing up for Quarter Plus also

felt like a no-brainer since my high school ran on a semester system, so I would have had a three-month summer break. Quarter Plus meant I moved into college around the same time as my friends from home, so I didn’t feel lonely before my school started.

When I started fall quarter, I felt a great sense of comfort recognizing familiar faces around campus. I started the year with several friends, and caught up with people I met from the program.

KAYLIE WANG

Opinion Columnist

Additionally, I was able to get ahead by earning some GE credits and learning good study habits on a reduced schedule. Every class was assigned at least one learning assistant, another older Cal Poly student in charge of running study sessions during the week. The small class sizes and the study sessions allowed me to feel comfortable asking for help. The learning assistants were very approachable, and I received a lot of college advice (like about when to secure off-campus housing) just by talking to them. Before I knew it, the four weeks flew by and I had to pack up, say goodbye to my roommates and move to another dorm. When school was starting up, I felt overwhelmed. Suddenly, more dining options were available instead of only Vista Grande, club events were constantly happening and there were so many more people on my dorm floor and around campus.

I don’t think I reached out to as many people in the first week after move-in because I was used to living in my previous dorms. It felt strange to have to meet so many more people. It was quite bittersweet to watch the campus liven up, because as

much as it was exciting, I missed the energy of Quarter Plus.

While it initially felt like my worst fear came true — not being able to connect with people at the start of college — the best part of Quarter Plus was meeting so many amazing people. When I started fall quarter, I felt a great sense of comfort recognizing familiar faces around campus. I started the year with several friends, and caught up with people I met from the program.

There are even a few people who live on my floor and building who participated in the program with me. We don’t have classes together anymore, and we’re no longer confined to a small social group, but it’s still reassuring to know I can always feel comfortable striking up conversations with them.

If you’re an incoming first-year, I cannot recommend Quarter Plus enough. Four extra weeks of school may seem like a nightmare to some, but it is worth the chance to slowly transition into a new chaotic college environment. I will cherish the precious memories I made and the people I met during my experience, and I know you will too.

KAYLIE WANG | MUSTANG NEWS Starting my college career early through Quarter Plus helped me ease into college and feel less overwhelmed.

Kaylie Wang is an English freshman and Mustang News opinion columnist. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.

“You see the Cal Poly students just in awe of everything because we go to a PWI [predominantly white institution], so this is never our surrounding,” Glover said. “So we were all like in heaven.”

She asked her dad for connections, including Zeta and Cal State Long Beach 2005 alum Mosi Odum. With the help of Odom and family members, Glover wrote a mission statement to Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong detailing her motivation for bringing the sorority back to Cal Poly.

“We as humans have a need for connection, and I intend to help fellow Black students nurture the cultural side of this need by providing them with not a restrictively Black space, but an intimately Black one,” she wrote in her mission statement.

Glover learned she needed five girls to restart the sorority. She gathered prospective members and engaged interest with small events. As time went on, some had to drop out due to scheduling issues or other sorority requirements such as GPA.

Finally, six months later, the Zetas were officially reinstated on campus.

“It’s always such a cliche thing when people are like you can do anything you put your mind to, and all the things like that,” Glover said. “But I was definitely living that moment like it was just because I wanted to see it happen and it was really, really fun.”

THE PHI BETA SIGMAS COME BACK TO CAL POLY

A similar journey took place for Tyrone Butler and Aaron Price Jr. when reinstating the Sigmas.

Butler, a computer science junior and president of Phi Beta Sigma, noticed a gap in Greek life during his sophomore year.

Butler said that after one of his

friends dropped his fraternity due to scheduling issues, he saw how he felt disconnected from that community.

“It was kind of a joke at first, like, we should just start our own fraternity,”

Butler said. “And then when I really thought about it, I was like, if we can do it, then we might as well do it.”

Like Glover, he had grown up hearing about the Divine Nine and became determined to bring one of these fraternities back to campus.

After hearing Glover speak about bringing the Zetas back during a Black Student Union (BSU) meeting, he asked her about bringing back their brother fraternity, the Sigmas.

Butler started recruiting friends and interested members. Last November, the Sigmas were officially reinstated.

Butler said he sees the fraternity as a true representation of their motto:

“Culture for service and service for humanity.”

“I wanted something of our own where new freshmen that are Black they can at least have some culture here,” Butler said. “And so I feel like that would make them feel more comfortable coming into their first year and knowing that they have their own people here to connect with.”

Price Jr., an electrical engineering junior and a member of the Cal Poly Men’s Basketball team, was hesitant to join a fraternity at first, having to find time between his basketball schedule and other commitments. Once he heard that his roommate, Butler, was trying to bring back the Sigmas, he remembered the colors his cousin used to wear while attending university in Ohio.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute, Sigma.

Like, y’all wear blue and white?’” Price Jr. said of his initial conversation with Butler about joining the Sigmas. He was instantly reminded of his cousin and the way he would tell stories to Price Jr. about his time as a Sigma.

“Okay, well maybe this is something I need to make time for,” Price Jr. said.

As both the Zetas and the Sigmas continue to grow and host events, leaders say they hope to show current and future students of color that they will have a community at Cal Poly.

According to Cal Poly records from October 2024, only 0.76% of the total undergraduate student population was Black or African American.

“You didn’t have to tell me, once I first got here, that Black people hadn’t even made up a percentage of

the population yet,” Glover said.

After years of absence, the students of Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Beta fraternity hope to continue this legacy at Cal Poly for future generations.

“We’re a family at the end of the day,” Butler, a founding member of the Sigmas, said. “We will always be here, no matter what if you do want to join this, or if you don’t, you can always have somebody to reach out to.”

If you’re looking to get involved with the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity find them on Instagram @calpolysigmas or send them an email at calpolysigmas1984@gmail.com.

If you’re looking to get involved with the Zeta Phi Beta sorority find them on Instagram @calpolyzetas or send them an email at calpoly. zphib@gmail.com.

I wanted something of our own where new freshmen that are Black they can at least have some culture here.

TYRONE BUTLER Computer Science junior

@ CALPOLYSIGMAS ON INSTAGRAM | COURTESY

(Left to right) Zion Hall, Jordan Powell, Tyrone Butler Jr., and Aaron Price Jr. helped found the Phi Beta Sigma chapter at Cal Poly.

@ CALPOLYZETAS ON INSTAGRAM | COURTESY

(Left to right) Kylynn Mireles, Deja Jones, Nailah DuBose, Kiola Edwards, Shanterria Allen, Maya Glover helped recharter the Xi Xi chapter of Zeta Phi Beta at Cal Poly.

Engineering team builds device for blind and visually impaired marching band

STORY BY GRACE BENNETT, PAIGE TERAJI AND MADISON WHITE

KESAR

When Emma Merriman was a high school senior in Minnesota, she flipped through a Cal Poly engineering magazine and an article about the club EMPOWER caught her eye.

Since fall quarter, the mechanical engineering sophomore has led a small team of students in building a device that will help people who are visually impaired compete in marching band.

“I’m doing the projects that I saw

If you can get a group of blind people to line up in a row while they are playing drums, that’s incredible

RJ LENHART

“I’m actually helping people in our community live better lives, and it’s so exciting to be able to do that.”

EMPOWER is a student-run nonprofit that uses engineering to improve the quality of life for individuals with physical challenges. The acronym stands for Endeavors to Move People Onward with Engineered Results.

Now, two years later, Merriman spends several hours a week in the TECHE Lab, a workshop in the Cal Poly Engineering IV building, accomplishing her goal of participating in EMPOWER and serving the community.

One of the band’s prospective musicians in those magazines,” Merriman said.

The team of six students is building headbands to be worn by blind and visually impaired musicians under their marching band hats to help them stay in the correct positions while they march.

Each headband will have four vibration points — on the front, back, left and right — that vibrate when the musician is out of position based on data points communicated through a Bluetooth server, Merriman said.

The device uses negative feedback; if a musician is too far to the left, the left side of the headband will vibrate, indicating the musician should move to the right. The buzzing technology is called haptics, which Merriman

compared to a cell phone vibrating when it receives a notification.

In recent years, EMPOWER teams have made prosthetics, wheelchairs and other accessibility innovations. However, what Merriman and her team are designing this year is uncharted territory: they were asked by an out-of-state organization to build a feedback system for musicians in a visually impaired marching band.

“Nothing of this magnitude has been done before [at EMPOWER],” Merriman said.

With a large-scale project, one of the team’s biggest challenges is funding.

According to Merriman, it costs between $135 and $165 to build one device. The team aims to build 27 devices by June.

The project received $550 from EMPOWER’s club funds, Merriman said. In addition, the music teacher who commissioned the project started a GoFundMe, which has raised $500 as of April 1. That leaves the team between $2,595 and $3,405 short.

Despite challenges with funding, the team has worked to meet EMPOWER’s deadlines throughout the year. They spent winter quarter preparing to present their work to the club’s board members at a design review in March.

Merriman said she felt optimistic about the presentation afterwards.

“I think we made great progress,” Merriman said. “The board received it well, and I’m starting to see that this project could definitely be finished, which is exciting.”

The project began in Washington — over 1,000 miles north of Cal Poly — when Brent Boon, a retired Boeing employee and current music teacher, had an idea.

Boon teaches music to blind and visually impaired people at the Pacific West Music of the Blind, a nonprofit based in Washington. He said he came up with the idea to form a blind and visually impaired marching band while watching a halftime show performance during a football game.

After talking with dozens of technology companies in the Seattle

EMMA MERRIMAN | COURTESY Design rendering of the headband.

PAIGE TERAJI | MUSTANG NEWS EMPOWER team members hold up the prototype of their device at a presentation on March 1, 2025.

A GLIMPSE OF

KCPR sent reporters to Rolling Loud, a two-day

and

This

festival filled with music, attractions

culture.

year, the event was hosted in Inglewood, California.

Radio personality of Power 106 FM is caught by attendees at the GoPuff stage, where he stops and takes photos with fans.

Up-and-coming artist Elijah Banx is currently signed to Kurt Alexander, a radio personality and host for KRRL 92.3 FM, better known as “Big Boy.”

A gravitation ride was exclusive to the VIP area. On day one of Rolling Loud, Ski Mask The Slump God debuted his single with Kyle Richh, “Spin.”

VIP attendees waited in line to get a free glitter or rhinestone application at Bunny’s Bae Bar, provided by Loud Bunny Beauty.

PHOTOS BY ADILENE GOMEZ SANTIAGO AND AIDAN DILLON

DESIGNED BY ISA CORDOVEZ

‘I

wake

up and it’s

Cal Poly cuts swim and dive program amid budget changes

STORY BY CHARLIE WILTSEE AND DYLAN ALLEN DESIGNED BY LIZ RIDLEY

Eight days into her tenure as a Cal Poly swim and dive captain, Jen Reiter walked into Fisher Science Building’s lecture hall fearing the worst.

All 57 teammates filed in just a few minutes before 7:30 a.m., awaiting Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman.

Less than 24 hours earlier, the team was notified via email that their morning practice would be canceled. There was no warning or explanation.

On a normal morning, they would have been in the waters of the Anderson Aquatic Center. Students walking past the Olympic pools on their way to class would see the splashing water, the athletes’

fluttering arms along with some brief glimpses of their green swim caps.

But on Friday, March 7, the water sat still.

Just 22 days earlier, the team had concluded a record-breaking season, culminating in two individual gold medals at the Big West Championships in Houston, Texas.

Both the men’s and women’s teams secured program records throughout the 2024-25 season. The men’s team also finished with its first undefeated conference season in program history and achieved the highest GPA among men’s sports at Cal Poly during the fall quarter.

Instead of their regular Friday morning practice, Reiter and her teammates’

worst fears were confirmed in Fisher Science hall when Oberhelman announced the discontinuation of Cal Poly’s swim and dive program.

Just a few hours after waking up, their sport was gone.

“Thursday, I went to practice, and there was nothing wrong,” Reiter said. “We’re talking about the end-of-theyear banquet. We’re talking about what we’re going to do during spring quarter. Then Friday morning, I wake up and it’s just completely gone.”

Upon hearing the news, many athletes broke down in tears.

“Disbelief, shock, true sadness,” Reiter said. “I could see all the emotions across everyone’s faces.”

Now having to navigate uncharted

waters with their lifelong sport taken away, the team turned towards launching all possible fundraising avenues and rallying the community in order to combat the growing financial changes faced by Cal Poly.

FINANCIAL JUSTIFICATIONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY

The announcement was made public an hour after the meeting in a schoolwide budget email, titled “Follow-Up on Budget and Organizational Changes.”

In the email, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong pointed to “mounting NCAA legal issues” and a “shrinking state budget,” which has created “unavoidable financial realities.”

One of those legal issues is the looming House v. NCAA settlement.

The class-action lawsuit, which was initially filed in 2020 against the NCAA, seeks name, image and likeness damages along with an injunction to lift restrictions on revenue sharing with student-athletes.

The settlement is pending approval, but according to an FAQ released by the university on March 7, Cal Poly is estimated to lose nearly $500,000 per year in damages due to the $2.8 billion settlement.

If approved, the NCAA and every Division I conference will begin backpay compensation for student-athletes from 2016-2021, and the new revenue-sharing agreement will go into place ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

With the settlement around the corner, Cal Poly’s decision represents a broader trend.

This year, California schools such

as San Francisco State, Sonoma State, and Loyola Marymount have each made significant cuts. Sonoma State fully discontinued its athletics department in January, while Loyola Marymount cut six nonrevenue sports in September.

Thursday I went to practice, and there was nothing wrong. We’re talking about the endof-the-year banquet. We’re talking about what we’re gonna do during spring quarter. Then Friday morning, I wake up and it’s just completely gone.

JEN REITER

Junior, Women’s Swim Team Captain

In the FAQ, Athletics states they currently have “no plans to discontinue any other athletic programs.” Swim and dive, a nonrevenue sport, relies on school funding and alumni and donor donations to fund their expenses as opposed to ticket and merchandise sales.

ALEX SEYBOLD | COURTESY

Now, navigating their program cut, the team turned towards launching all possible fundraising avenues to combat the growing financial changes.

Given the financial changes across the NCAA landscape, the coaching staff fears for the future of other nonrevenue sports across the country.

“It’s disheartening to think nonrevenue sports always have that looming over them, that they could go at any time,” co-interim head coach Traci Granger said. “Nonrevenue sports are doing it for the fun and the joy of representing their schools.”

Additionally, the nearly 8% cut for the Cal State system funding is significantly impacting Cal Poly, as they are set to face a $24.2 million reduction in state funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Originally, according to the Athletic’s FAQ, fundraising was dismissed as “not a viable solution for the long-term.”

According to swimmers present in a meeting with President Armstrong on March 19, that stance was reversed when he informed the team that $25 million would be required to reinstate the program. Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier later confirmed this figure.

The university declined to comment on why $25 million was the number set and directed further questions to the FAQ.

Lazier explained that the fundraising is split into two parts. They have until April 15 to raise $10 million, and

if that mark is reached, the university will grant them 60 days to raise the next $15 million.

With the team still processing their emotions, they have turned to raising $10 million in less than a month’s time.

“We’re going to prove we can save this team,” junior men’s captain Alex Seybold said. “This group of people has more grit than anybody I know, and we’re not going to stop until we’ve done everything we can.”

ATHLETES TURN THEIR HEARTBREAK INTO ACTION

Given 28 days to raise $10 million, the athletes quickly launched a GoFundMe and a Change.org petition. As of April 6, the GoFundMe has raised over $73,000, and the petition is close to 20,000 signatures.

According to an Instagram page dedicated toward saving the team, they’ve raised $2.1 million in total as of March 21. Almost half is from an anonymous donor who gave $1 million.

The $2.1 million includes all fundraising streams, previous swim and dive endowments and the anonymous donation.

The program has garnered attention from the broader swim community, with support from Olympic gold medalists Missy Franklin, Ryan

Murphy and Abbey Weitzel – none of whom attended Cal Poly.

Although the number set by the university is daunting, it’s not the first financial battle the team has faced.

According to Seybold, the swim and dive team was “underfunded” at the beginning of the year and was asked to raise $80,000 to help cover their operating budget of $200,000 for the 2024-25 season.

In just two nights of fundraising, they raised $85,000, Reiter said. The university referred to the FAQ on why the $80,000 was needed, even though that number is not mentioned there.

Reiter also said they were not told at any point during the season that more money beyond the $85,000 was needed.

The swim and dive program’s game-day operating expenses were over $246,000 in the 2022-23 season, according to Equity in Athletics Data Analysis. The men’s expenses were over $125,000, while the women’s were just under $121,000.

Looking at the Big West Conference, Cal Poly’s expenses were in line with the other programs, except for Hawaii, which spent significantly more. These numbers exclude scholarships and salaries.

Glenn Perry, who graduated from Cal Poly in 1985 and was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame for swimming in 2013, states a “lack of leadership from the athletic department” is the main problem at hand.

“It’s disheartening to think nonrevenue sports have that looming over them, that they could go at any time.”

TRACI GRANGER Co-interim head coach

He explained the $80,000 at the beginning of the season was the only time the alumni and donors were given a set amount by the athletic department to raise for Cal Poly swim and dive. According to Perry, the alumni and donors were never told the team was in impending trouble.

“What has the athletic department done to motivate alumni and donors to raise funds over the last 10 to 15 years?” Perry said.

In the FAQ, Athletics stated the opposite, claiming they have been working to “raise private funds to support swimming and diving for many years.”

A PROGRAM ACCUSTOMED TO CHANGE

Uncertainty is nothing new to this team, which has experienced changes in coaching, conferences and budgets over the last few years. It’s the team’s second consecutive season with interim head coaches, as former head coach Phil Yoshida was placed on indefinite leave following allegations of verbal and emotional abuse and retaliation in September 2023.

This past season marked their return to the Big West Conference after leaving it for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2011.

Despite the constant changes, the 2024-25 season was one of the strongest in Cal Poly Swim and Dive’s history.

“We were able to turn a season with a financial issue at the beginning into the best season in school history,” Seybold said.

Many of the athletes were preparing to swim and dive for the rest of their collegiate careers as a Mustang. According to the FAQ, currently enrolled athletes can either stay on

scholarship through the rest of their time at Cal Poly or enter the transfer portal.

According to the current swimmers, the high school recruits committed to Cal Poly will not have their offers honored.

Junior men’s swimmer Drew Huston, one of the two gold medalists, was the first player to transfer. He announced his decision via Instagram on March 27 that he’d be going to USC.

At the Big West Championships, Huston and junior men’s swimmer Evan Yoo won conference titles, Huston winning in the 200-yard backstroke and Yoo in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Yoo transferred to Cal Poly from Army for his junior year before the season and, in just one year, set three individual program records and was a part of two relay program records.

Nobody knew the conference championships would be their final meet wearing the green and gold.

“They did not have the opportunity to know their last swim would be in

Houston, and it will scar many of them for the rest of their life,” Perry said.

As a former student-athlete, Perry emphasized the effort required to excel both athletically and academically.

“You have no idea the pain they go through or the sacrifices they make to get the highest GPA of any sports program on campus,” Perry said. “They perform brilliantly in the classroom, and they perform brilliantly in the pool.”

Alongside recording the highest GPA out of all men’s sports during the fall quarter, the men’s team set eight new program records over the season.

The women’s team also added program records in the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.

Other team accolades included Big West Freshman of the Year for Sam Seybold, Alex’s brother. Interim co-head coach Kim Carlson won Big West Coach of the Year as well.

Their resounding success this season added to the shock felt when

the announcement was made.

“The emotion in that room was palpable,” Seybold said. “A lot of us were crying.”

“In the end, the question is, What do you want your legacy to be? I think everybody would love to have a legacy that collectively came together and saved Cal Poly swimming.”

GLENN PERRY

Cal Poly Swim Alumni, Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame

There hadn’t been any official word from their coaches or the athletics department, but the signs, including the canceled practice and their coaches similarly being left without an explanation, pointed toward the end of the team.

“They had no warning,” Granger said. “They were very disheartened. After such a great season, I don’t think they could believe it was happening.”

Granger has been a part of the Cal Poly swim community since 1978 and was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2024.

She and her counterpart Carlson’s contracts will not be renewed, according to the FAQ. They were set to end in April.

Full-time diving coach Laurel Abernethy will not return either. All three are now unlisted on the swim and dive roster on GoPoly.

Even though the athletes in the program have lost their sport and access to the Anderson Aquatic Center and weightlifting facilities, they have not lost the bonds created

through swimming.

“We’re all a family because of swimming,” senior women’s swimmer Summer Cheng said. “Just seeing all your friends and teammates in the morning is something special that not many people get to experience, and it’s a privilege to experience it here at Cal Poly.”

Unable to swim in their own pool, the team has turned to the Cal Poly Recreation Center’s lap pool along with local club pools offering them access. According to Seybold, many of the athletes are still training for national, international and pro meets in the upcoming months.

Despite the constant uncertainty, Perry insists the student-athletes and community should “not lose hope.” The team is embodying the message loud and clear as they attempt to raise the $10 million by April 15.

“In the end, the question is, What do you want your legacy to be?” Perry said. “I think everybody would love to have a legacy that collectively came together and saved Cal Poly swimming.”

ALEX SEYBOLD | COURTESY

Cal Poly swimmers cheer their teammates on.

PCV single bedroom housing fees by year

Cost has increased an average of 9% every year since 2017

JOHN WASHINGTON | MUSTANG NEWS

Source: Cal Poly University Housing

MUSTANG NEWS | COURTESY

PCV currently houses second-year students and transfer students but will be opening up one of its nine apartment buildings to first-year students next year, according to Koberl.

to accommodate demand from first-year students and continuing students who want to live on campus, according to Koberl. About 20% of the existing rooms at PCV will be configured as double suites, specifically in the Buena Vista and Corralitos buildings, Koberl wrote.

“Affordability is a key priority when setting rates,” Koberl wrote. “With higher occupancy, Housing is able to offer more competitive pricing, benefiting all students, especially those with the highest financial need.”

The university’s Housing Grant Program gives students with the highest financial need a $1,000 grant, based on their estimated family contribution, according to Koberl. Additionally, many Scholars have some or all of their living costs covered by financial aid.

But some students found more financial freedom after moving away from campus.

“Living off campus this year, my refund from financial aid is much greater now,” Mejia said. “I’m able to use it in other ways.”

“It’s vastly cheaper to live off campus,” said Johnny Jue, a mechanical engineering junior and Cal Poly Scholar who lived at PCV last year. “If I knew everyone was getting exemptions, I would have applied for exemption.”

To become exempt from living on campus sophomore year, students must prove to University Housing that their status meets certain requirements. Students may be granted exemption if they are a military veteran, married, older than 21, studying abroad, have independent status, live locally with a guardian, have a disability or if they demonstrate a financial hardship, according to the University Housing website.

Though it was opposed by the ASI student board in 2015, the administration continued to go through with the two-year housing program, citing statistics of increased graduation rates when students live on campus.

“When new construction is complete, University Housing will be able to accommodate all secondyear students on campus, connecting them to the community at large, including co-curricular resources and services to better support their retention and academic success,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said in a press release in July 2024.

Both Mejia and Jue believe students should at least have the option of living off campus. When Jue found out next year’s cost — a $2,000 jump from what he paid just last school year — he couldn’t believe it.

“Oh my God,” Jue said. “I thought they were accepting more students, so wouldn’t it decrease, in theory?”

BIKE LANES AND BLIND SPOTS: SLO makes push for safer cycling

STORY BY RJ POLLOCK AND MADISON WHITE DESIGNED BY JULIA HAZEMOTO

Beckett McVoy was pedaling down Marsh Street in the designated bike lane as vehicle traffic rushed past him on the left. He had ridden down this stretch countless times before, but today was different.

As he approached an intersection, a car began turning right as he continued straight. Before he could react, the car clipped his bike. The impact knocked him off balance, leaving him shaken but unhurt.

“I didn’t fall, luckily,” McVoy said.

It was not the first time the political science junior and Cal Poly Cycling president had experienced a close call, and it likely will not be the last.

The City of San Luis Obsipo’s goal is to eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities through the Vision Zero Action Plan, city Active Transportation Manager Adam Fukushima said. His role focuses on improving infrastructure for non-motorized travel, such as biking and walking.

“Traffic fatalities and injuries are

unacceptable, and these aren’t just accidents,” Fukushima said.

A big factor is excessive speeding, he added, which can be countered with measures like narrowing roadways to decrease vehicles’ speeds.

“It makes it easier for people to stop if they see a risk and be able to react in time,” Fukushima said.

The Public Works Department’s three Complete Streets projects are part of the Vision Zero Action Plan. The projects will implement features including protected bike lanes and improved pedestrian crossing and paving.

The Higuera Complete Streets project is designed to make the heavily trafficked corridor safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The city is working on the final design after conducting two years of public outreach and plans to begin construction in the fall, Fukushima said.

The city is also looking to add more protected bike lanes on Foothill Boulevard.

“We’ve heard concerns from the community about the difficulty of the Santa Rosa-Foothill intersection,” Fukushima said.

The intersection is part of Highway 1, a state route which the city does not have jurisdiction. Fukushima said the city is trying to work with Caltrans on solutions.

For longtime residents like Bike SLO County Executive Director Rick Ellison, the transformation of San Luis Obispo’s bike network has been noticeable.

“The city has done a masterful job of taking a nearly 100-year-old infrastructure and making it safe for bicycles,” Ellison said. “It’s night and day from 20 years ago.”

Since 2015, San Luis Obispo has been given gold status as a bicycle-friendly community from the League of American Bicyclists, a national nonprofit that advocates for bicyclists. The organization determines the status of American cities based on categories including engineering, education and accessibility. Of California’s 50 bicycle-friendly cities ranked by the League, only seven have gold status.

Still, the work is not finished. Cyclists continue to report dangerous intersections, visibility issues, and conflicts with vehicles. McVoy,

who has been hit by a car twice while riding in San Luis Obispo — once on a skateboard and once on a bike — said he believes the city is on the right track.

Traffic fatalities and injuries are unacceptable, and these aren’t just accidents.

ADAM FUKUSHIMA

San Luis Obispo Active Transportation Manager

“If they keep expanding the network, a lot of the current issues will be resolved. Right now there’s

growing pains,” McVoy said.

For everyday riders like Thomas Welheim, who rides his bike for work, the improvements are noticeable but not perfect.

Wilhelm works for Bread Bike, a local bakery that delivers fresh baked goods throughout San Luis Obispo exclusively by bicycle. His job requires him to navigate the city’s streets weekly, carrying bread, pastries and other baked goods to customers. While the growing bike infrastructure helps make his deliveries safer, he still encounters challenges with traffic visibility and drivers not anticipating cyclists on the road.

“Having the bike lanes around town really helps me along my delivery routes,” Welheim said. “It makes me feel safer, yet I still worry about cars being able to see me enough.”

As more bike infrastructure projects move forward, riders like McVoy and Welheim will be the first to feel their impact — for better or worse. Until then, cyclists remain cautiously optimistic as they navigate the city’s streets, hoping the next close call won’t be their last.

OPINION

Here’s why ditching your AirPods might help

Ash Pickett is a Business Administration junior and opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.

ear. A combination of early-morning brain fog and slow reaction time meant the AirPod was effectively drowned in a bowl of swirling water and Colgate.

After the incident, I stuck it in rice and went about my day. I was a little concerned that going on a run without the AirPod would be painful, but it turned out to be just fine. Just as my walk to school — which I do without AirPods — is completely fine.

All of winter quarter, I’ve walked to and from school without AirPods in: no music, no podcast, no calls. From these 20-minute intervals, I’ve seen

without realizing I was ever walking.

People don’t spend enough time alone with their thoughts these days, and it’s stiffling our creativity and time spent practicing critical thinking. Everywhere I look around campus, students have their heads down and AirPods in, blasting music to tune out the sound of their own thoughts. I encourage you to set aside time to think and be with yourself. Then go one step further and make it a routine part of your day. Being a college student means being constantly overwhelmed by the cacophony of a busy schedule.

from some kind of inspiration. Let your time alone with yourself help you cultivate that inspiration, then direct it toward whatever it is you’ve been putting off.

from the physical movements and environment around me, so I’m never overly bored. You can apply that in your day to whatever suits you.

but there is harm in losing time with yourself to a life lived at breakneck speed. Think about something you’ve been wanting to try for a while but haven’t gotten around to. Is it trying out a new hobby, starting a big project, reconnecting with your creative side or maybe reaching out to an old friend?

Oftentimes, we don’t allow ourselves the time to even think about these lost ideas, much less expand on them and grow them into fully formed plans. When an author sits down to write or a painter begins work on a canvas, it typically comes

To spend more time with your thoughts, first figure out what will work best for you. In my case, I walk to school every day, and I love to hike.

So if I find myself alone on either of those two ventures, I opt out of wearing AirPods and let myself swim in my thoughts. You might find time to practice this while going on runs, picnicking at the beach or sitting on the lawn between classes.

Inevitably, boredom will hit you. It’s no big secret that boredom is the door to creativity. Allow yourself to wallow in and appreciate that feeling, and be patient.

The reason I prefer walking and hiking is because I get stimulation

I want to say that I love music and podcasts as much as the next person. I don’t necessarily think anyone needs to sacrifice those from their day-to-day life to make time for their thoughts. All I ask is that if you see there’s a time where you can let yourself sit in silence, and let yourself be bored — in due time, you may just see some incredible results. We have the power to craft our lives to create the best versions of ourselves. In a world where constant chatter overwhelms our thoughts, it’s nice to take a step back. I hope you all can find a way to do so. Give it a try and ditch the AirPods, just for a bit.

APRIL 10-12, 2025

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