News

“Sigh.” This is the general sentiment sweeping campus at this time of the quarter, encapsulated in a single word, which, when expressed, is merely an audible release of all our distress and anxieties into the brisk December air.

But, is this feeling of accumulating heaviness merely due to the molasses-like crawl of finals week inching closer on the calendar? No; seeping in with the cold, there is that pervasive sense of wistfulness, even melancholy, and an odd longing that signals one thing:

The holidays are here.

Maybe you’ve seen their huge “W8” signs scrawled on the pavement in chalk. Maybe you’ve walked by their group meetings. Maybe someone in your dorm has been trying to get you to go to their meetings. Whatever your situation, you’ve probably run across the Campus Crusade for Christ at some point in your college career.

A new poolside recreation area will open on campus the beginning of winter quarter.

The parcel, located at the Cal Poly Rec Center pool, will feature a shaded picnic area, outdoor showers and a space for a portable barbecue. A construction team recently tore down the pool area’s east wall to incorporate the beach volleyball courts into the location.

Ray Allen, husband, father and former Cal Poly professor, passed away last Thursday of natural causes. He was 90 years old.

Allen was born Aug. 10, 1916, in Geyserville, Calif., and died Nov. 30 in Atascadero.

He is survived by his wife, Gail Blodgett-Allen; two sons, Carl and Barry Allen; and three daughters, Suzi, Mary and Nanette.

The 2007 Cal Poly Rose Float, titled “Arctic Antics,” will be viewed around the world via satellite TV on the morning of Jan. 1, 2007. The float will depict a group of penguins and polar bears ringing in the New Year with a luau, a scene that celebrates the Rose Parade theme of “In Our Good Nature.

At the last CSU Board of Trustees meeting, the requested budget for the 2007-08 school year was passed. The budget included the request for no student fee increases. However, the budget still needs to pass through many more processes.

“This is all based on state funding,” said Paul Browning, media relations specialist for the CSU Chancellor’s Office.

A Cal Poly civil engineering class has created plans to improve public transportation in San Luis Obispo.

The “SLO South 2050: Sustainable Mobility” exhibition took place Wednesday night at the City-County library.

Sustainability means “to create a world where our children can also live, and not just us,” civil engineering professor Eugene Jud said.

Authorities are conducting an investigation into a home invasion robbery which occurred on Nov. 26 at about 10 p.m. on the 1200 block of Fredericks Street.

According to a press release, three masked, black males entered the residence of the four victims, one holding a baseball bat and another a rifle.

On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 11, psychology junior Ryan West was walking to a friend’s house near the student apartments on the Foothill Boulevard side of the railroad tracks when he was struck by an oncoming train at the railroad crossing near the California Boulevard intersection.

Nearly half of college students surveyed by Greenfield Online, an independent data collection firm, do not think their high school prepared them enough with the organizational skills needed to succeed in college.

The same survey found that 87 percent of students believe their grades would be improved if they were more organized and better able to manage their time.

The Academic Senate Executive Committee has officially proposed changing Cal Poly’s mission statement. The new mission statement was written after consultation between the administration, faculty and staff.

The new statement emphasizes Cal Poly’s polytechnic, hands-on approach to learning, as well as the importance of a well-rounded education and involvement in one’s community.