#CalPoly

[aadamantine]

She's the head of my school's reptile lab!!!!! Dr. Taylor is sooooo cooollll!!!!!

During the warm months, our lab does "rattlecam" where you can see rattlers in the wild!

So--long story short, a FedEx driver killed a rattlesnake that happened to be on someone's porch, not causing any immediate problems. This is an all too common practice here in the United States, where a significant portion of the population has the backwards idea that "the only good snake is a dead snake" and that the only way to deal with a venomous snake in the proximity of a house, or people in general, is to kill it. Never mind that snakes tend to move on if left alone, and that there are numerous entities that can be contacted to move the snake safely to another place if so desired, and that most bites occur when someone is harassing, handling, or trying to kill the snake.

Dr. Emily Taylor of California Polytechnic State University (@snakeymama on Twitter) has requested that people contact FedEx about their recent commercial glorifying the killing of the snake, which you can view here. I've included both her and my letters to the appropriate folks at FedEx. There are options for both email and snail mail correspondence, and the more people FedEx hears from about this appalling matter, the better.

It's 2024, almost 2025. We have tons of information on rattlesnake behavior and best practices in coexisting with them (to include training your dogs in snake avoidance). We know plenty about the importance they have in local ecosystems, and the devastation that has been done through people slaughtering them, sometimes in the thousands (I wrote about the ongoing problem of rattlesnake roundups and their inherent cruelty here.) There are multiple rattlesnake species that are endangered or otherwise threatened with extinction.

The vast majority of encounters with venomous snakes are benign, and the vast majority of bites come from someone (person, dog, etc.) confronting the snake that was just trying to defend itself. We've spent a lot of time in this country defaulting to killing anything that inconveniences us, but there are better ways to live safely in proximity to wildlife that don't involve violence. It just takes a little more effort and awareness, and most importantly a significant attitude change that no longer vilifies native wildlife simply trying to live their lives.

As Dr. Taylor mentioned, if you want to contact FedEx, here are your options:

"You can help by reposting this or by emailing to express your concern about the commercial: mediarelations@fedex.com and to the CEO at FWSmith@fedex.com. Or send letters to: Fred Smith, CEO Brie Carere, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Ryan Kelly, Vice President of Marketing FedEx Corporation 942 South Shady Grove Road Memphis, TN 38120 USA"

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Why are so many Californians homeless?

12% of Americans live in California — but 30% of homeless Americans, and 50% of unsheltered Americans, call California “home.” This is the source of endless schadenfreude from “red state” partisans, and is often waved as proof of the failure of liberal policies. But the real story is both more complicated — and simpler.

UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative’s “California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness” is the largest, best study of homelessness in California in some 30 years:

https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness

Between Oct 2021 and Nov 2022, researchers surveyed a representative sample of 3,198 people, and conducted in-depth interviews with 365 more. They concluded that, contrary to popular folk-stories about “homeless migration” by out-of-staters seeking an easy life on California’s streets, “people experiencing homelessness in California are Californian.” Nine tenths of respondents were already living in California when they lost their housing.

It’s also not true that homeless people move to LA or San Francisco from out of town: three quarters of participants live in the same county they were living in when they lost their homes.

So California’s unsheltered and homeless people are Californians. They’re our neighbors. They are disproportionately racialized — 26% are Black, 12% are First Nations, and 35% are Latino. They are older: their median age is 47. They’ve been homeless for a long, long time: the median duration of homelessness is 22 months, and 36% of respondents were “chronically homeless.”

They are survivors of violence: 72% of them have experienced violent assaults in their lives; 24% have experienced sexual violence (that number goes up to 43% for cis women, and 74% for trans and nonbinary people).

They’re sick. 60% have a chronic illness. More than a third have some health condition that limits their daily living. 22% have a mobility limitation.

They’re also pregnant. A quarter of the participants who were assigned female at birth had been pregnant during their current episode of homelessness.

66% are experiencing mental illness. 48% have serious depression, 51% have anxiety, 37% have trouble concentrating, and 12% experience hallucinations.

Only 9% have received any mental health counseling.

They take drugs — but at fairly low levels. 31% take meth regularly. 11% take opioids. 16% binge drink.

They are in trouble with the law and also at risk of being victims of criminal violence. A third have been to jail at least once during their current homeless episode. 38% have been assaulted while homeless (10% of homeless people surveyed experienced sexual violence).

So how did they end up homeless? It’s depressingly easy.

It starts with getting evicted. For leaseholders in the survey, the median amount of notice they had that they would lose their homes is ten days. For non-leaseholders, the median amount of notice was less than one day.

Homeless people are poor before they become homeless. Many people’s last home was a “non-leaseholder” arrangement — they were people who lost their rented homes and moved in with family or friends. For these people, the median wage in the six months before they lost their homes was $950/month. While 43% of non-leaseholders weren’t paying any rent, the remainder were paying a median rent of $450/month. Non-leaseholders have no legal rights, and often lived in “substandard and overcrowded conditions.”

For leaseholders, the median monthly income before losing their homes was $1400/month — but their median rent was $700/month.

When a leaseholder loses their home, the cause is usually economic — they can’t afford the rent. When a non-leaseholder loses their home, the cause is usually social — a conflict within the home or “not wanting to impose.”

People about to lose their homes turn to family and friends for help, but not for-profit or government agencies devoted to helping people in their situation. 70% of survey respondents believed they could have avoided homeless with a one-time cash payment of $5,000-$10,000. 90% say a Housing Choice Voucher would have kept them from becoming homeless.

20% of people who become homeless say it was because they lost some or all of their income — often because their car broke down or got towed and they could no longer get to work. Once homeless, most survey respondents seek work — but are unable to find it, due to age, lack of transportation, disability and lack of housing.

What can we do about this? 90% of respondents say the biggest barrier to finding a home is housing costs. Half say their bad credit makes it even harder to find a rental, while a third say their criminal records also get in the way. Half also say that all the affordable housing is unsafe, or too far from their communities or care providers.

The authors have a suite of policy recommendations. For starters, we can increase homelessness prevention by giving financial support and legal aid to people facing eviction. These can be offered at “service settings” like domestic violence services, and at “institutional exits” from jail and prison. We can also make it harder to evict people.

We can expand “low barrier” access to mental heath and addiction care. We can offer training and transportation support to people in precarious economic situations, as well as help in navigating the process to get benefits.

We can offer more services to people in unsheltered settings, and embrace a racial equity approach that recognizes the racialized nature of homelessness.

And finally: we can increase the availability of housing vouchers, and the stock of affordable housing.

This last one is long overdue. America treats housing as an asset rather than a human right, creating a world of haves and have-nots. The haves are dedicated to increasing the value of their assets by restricting the supply, and by reducing the protections offered to tenants (the more a landlord can extract from tenants, the more all houses are worth, because every time one goes up for sale the bidding includes landlords who are factoring in their ability to milk flush tenants and evict broke ones):

https://gen.medium.com/the-rents-too-damned-high-520f958d5ec5

In California, the meager supply of low-income housing has been gobbled up by Airbnb, and also by unscrupulous landlords who illegally convert their low-income housing into boutique hotels, with no fear of punishment from toothless, gutless enforcers:

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-la-failed-stop-landlords-turning-low-cost-housing-hotels

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/12/because-its-too-expensive/#rents-too-damned-high

[Image ID: A homeless person's tent under a freeway underpass. From it emerges the bear from the California state flag.]

Image: Wonderlane (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/34328251571

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[xanadontit]

The ongoing saga of my brother's college application process and my resentment over how I'm included/dismissed as a member of this family continues. A two-for-one bitch fest! Keep reading if you're into that kind of thing.

My brother applied to about a million universities and got into roughly 75% of a million of them, which is great. He has some wonderful options and hopefully won't go into bonkers debt for it. He also sounds genuinely excited by the idea of getting to pursue things that interest him (computer science, robotics, engineering). Great. Love this for him.

As previously noted, my parents have been very "hey whatever, man" about this process which is lovely in theory (he doesn't need more pressure) but also creates a last minute crisis/crisis-lite when it's 11:45pm and applications are due at midnight and he's having a panic attack about if he should apply to CalPoly or something. They also decided it was pointless to tour any schools until he was accepted because they didn't want him to fall in love with a place and not get in. Which...OK. But, did he also maybe apply to places sight unseen that he wouldn't have had he even traveled to the city where the school is located (looking at you, Northridge)? Yes he sure did. I voiced my concerns about this and dropped it once it was clear that my opinion was noted and dismissed.

Now that he has just under a month to make a decision it's this mad rush to go on "real" tours (not just drive by the campus, which my stepmom thinks is basically the same thing) and make a decision and figure out what to do since he was waitlisted at his first choice but feels good about his second choice and and and. A lot of questions but instead of picking up the phone and calling the admissions office to see what's up they are doing nothing and are all out of ideas.

Maybe you can see where this is going.

Now that they're overwhelmed guess who they want to step in and help? GUESS. Why yes, it's your friendly neighborhood eldest daughter/only remotely organized person in this family. Except my job doesn't have a ton of flexibility so I can't just fly down to Long Beach or drive up to Chico on a random Tuesday, and I don't think it's my job to call UC Davis and see what's the deal with the waitlist. It just isn't! Hell, he's 18 and it's where he wants to go. Get dialing, Kid!

And of course there's the "we thought you'd want to help" guilt bullshit that compounds my frustration, but when I offer a solution or point out that Chico has their prospective student event this weekend and I could take him then it won't work because of baseball or other plans. Oh and he's spending part of his spring break on a road trip with friends so there's 5 days he won't be doing anything. I cannot bend space and time so maybe we work within the calendar days we have and make a plan and then execute it. He was accepted into four schools before Christmas and had months to schedule tours and didn't. Yes I want to help where I can but could they try not to make it such an assache?

I know in the end it will be fine or even great but in the meantime it's a hassle which it doesn't need to be which is the worst kind, to me at least.

[csolarstormhealthjournal]

Okay, so the Medicaid cuts stressed me out so much that it made me feel sick. Or that could be a coincidence. In any case, I'm starting to gain some perspective on this whole scenario of living without benefits.

To be clear, Medicaid is just the beginning if it happens and things continue the way they are. SNAP cuts/the end of SNAP is also in the bill, and Musk is suggesting that Social Security is full of fraud. So in the longterm what I'm really afraid of is losing all of our income. Diane's job comes out of Medicaid, but Dorothy and I contribute Social Security money.

That said, my family without benefits would be hard -- we'd probably sell our house -- but we might still make it work. Diane always talks about actually becoming a nurse. I can picture her training for that while working at Walmart or Del Taco or something.

In the past we talked about all of us getting jobs, but it could be a while before I get work because I'm such a wreck. That's why SSI is a good fit for me. But without it, I can imagine Diane would support me for some time, maybe while I take a few tutoring jobs here and there, until either I find an online gig, or she has a suggestion for me that works out. Ticket taker at AMC? Walmart greeter? A lifetime of living off government checks has made me really self-conscious about being a mooch, so I would try my best, but I have a really bad constitution.

And in the long run...by myself, I'm not going to be able to work the multiple jobs it takes for someone to live in California. If we're not tethered to California's IHSS, we could move to a cheaper state. But ultimately? I've always known I am a product of the state, a kind of government project that doesn't exist without the motivation to fund me.

I was reading the disability Reddit, and one of the recommendations for someone to support themselves was to get into a relationship so someone can take care of you. That's one of the reasons I haven't tried to get into a relationship. I have a pretty hard time imagining roping someone into THIS after seeing the kind of stress my closest friends went through when directly exposed to my medical life.

Nonetheless, if I can't make the kind of money I need to support myself in an SSI-less future, what would I do without my parents? At least they chose to bring me about. And they knew I was going to be handicapped and decided to go through with the whole thing. Not that I want to mooch off them either! All this time I've been mooching off the government, not my parents. And if Diane ends up working to support us for the first time the mooching will feel more personal, more direct and kind of embarassing.

I suppose what I'd do is go back to the Department of Rehabilitation - if that still exists - okay never mind - we'd try to save up to send me on back to grad school, but likely at CalState or somewhere besides CalPoly, or just go for my teaching credential and attempt to teach in grade school.

I told my counselor the other day that what really counts is that even if we lose all of the benefits and the house what counts is that life goes on. Hopefully.

I mean without Medicaid, my pain meds and antidepressant are dependant on our paycheck. Diane promised to keep buying them for me, and ideally I would if I could start affording them.

It especially makes me feel kinda sick to think of losing my doctors because they keep me alive, and I've gone through a traumatic experience where I tried to go to a local hospital for an infection, and almost died there. I need these specialists, and I can't just substitute any doctor in that field, even if they're really good, they might not have that specialty knowledge that I need.

Wait. I mean if there is no Medicaid - well hopefully California will at least offer something. At least while Social Security is around, they could still offer some watered down insurance to SSI recipients.

I don't know how getting health insurance outside of a job works, but if there are no state programs at all, that's what we'd have to do. Diane gets health insurance through IHSS, and Dorothy gets Medicaid.

And that's my perspective. It's not immediate doom but my disability and health will make things a lot harder - but I'd also have my family's help.

[mspi]

This college intern agrees

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A post shared by Benjamin The Great Dane (@beingbigben)

Not that I gave the grades, but I discussed the flaws of the papers turned in. Ohh yeah, there's nothing wrong with interning.

Poop, just realized I fell for the grad professor while discussing code. I crushed on an IT manager I later dated and was engaged to for 10yrs.

As a teen, my mom dated a young programmer in the city. She really liked him but, age wise, he was in the no-no zone for both of us. My gosh I was reading and analyzing the programming on the board as well as the intense math.

Realized that I'm 🔩🪛 big time if I have to write on boards. It was tough enough to write on paper. 👐🙋‍♂️🔥 when I wrote.

I've even apologized to a central figure of a babe in my life for not having cute writing. Block lettering was what they'd need to live with. They were cool with it since I'm an engineer and that's what we do besides typing 80+ wpm.

Kids today aren't taking it for real. The only answer my dad had for me regarding my education was to enlist and figure it out then. No wonder he was surprised when seeing the acceptance letters from UC as well as CalTech & CalPoly. Obvi he only flipped page. That's a good thing bcuz it's prob a good thing that I saw the rage he'd get if he had to pay for any of it. Even if I explained the athletic scholarships, he'd stress over my siblings he still had to cover.

Obvi he didn't cover them long. He pulled our health insurance after I rcvd the MS diagnosis. (And ppl wndrd wtf happened)

-- dnagirl

22.02.2025

[donnadsltwmart]

Shelby Daniele, a talented and accomplished track and field star and recent graduate of Cal Poly, passed away on Wednesday. Just months prior, she had proudly celebrated earning her master's degree, a testament to her dedication and hard work. Rest in peace, Shelby. Forever in our hearts. #shelbydaniele #shelby #daniele #calpoly #track #trackandfield #calpolyuniversity #california

[averyhobbs]

omg you went to calpoly? me too!! i didnt realize that when i followed you

Yes. Class of 2041 for my undergrad. I have completed a few other courses and may eventually pursue a full masters but due to the nature of the position I have been considered for I have been informed a formal master's is not necessary.

[larrytherealtorguy]

Big Sky Football Honor

Garrett, we are thrilled and honored for you to secure a spot on the Big Sky Conference’s Second Team Offensive Line! The recognition of your hard work, dedication, and teamwork. This achievement shows your passion for the sport, here is to greater success ahead. #garrettweichman #calpolyslo #calpoly #football

[maik-ol]

Chacter sheets for color are done, I have a ton more Chacter concept stuff but that's spoilers so! I'm finishing up the layout and school landscape and buildings which in telling my mom I took a ton of inspo from CalPoly humbolt because I just toured it lol so I've gone all in. Also, I forget that I set this in 2024 and like doing the math on the years the characters were born/age their all my age so that was a bit strange as I forget I wrote them at 14/15 so now being the proper age is weird.

[hhocean]

Scholarship student

Thursday, September 13, 2023 This past week we met with our most recent CalPoly Scholarship student, Eva Moylan. We’d like to introduce her to you. All of your donations made this possible! THANK YOU! Eva Moylan with male American Kestrel Eva told us this bit of information: “I am currently going into my fourth year in Biological Science at Cal Poly and for the past few years I have been part…

[dylanrichterart]

Blastover peony on the upper ribs. #spartantattooclub #sanluisobispo #slohistoricdistrict #calpoly #peonytattoo #coveruptattoo (at San Luis Obispo, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTPo8FZlU9R/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mzrfitness]

The MZR 10 Commandments! #mzrfitness . . . . . #community #fitfam #fitfluential #fitspo #shareslo #motivation #bootcamp #noexcuses #calpoly #slo #fitness #sanluisobispo #accountability #amazing #workout #exercise #acefitness #ideafit #fitnessbootcamps #personaltrainer #mikezrobinson #mzrfitnessfamily #mzrfitness (at MZR Fitness) https://www.instagram.com/p/CM7fB_SlhHz/?igshid=mx8kcokm4c96

[m-a-n-d-u-s-a]

The moment it finally hit me ☺️😄 🎉 on to the next adventure #calpolyslo #calpoly #SLO #California #Portland #Oregon #graduation #nutrition #OHSU #gayinked #gay #gayboy #gaypride #pride #gayfitness #instagay (at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)) https://www.instagram.com/p/By0Zt8DAL2I/?igshid=xwaa7840vhtj

[mspi]

Try to understand...

It's not the same for all of us. My eyes started with optical neuritis in college which led me to getting diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and rushed me to get my butt more experience withing in IT. Turns out not everyone likes going with someone with only a couple references. (Kindergarten doesn't seem to count.)

Family reference would sound like I'd be cheating since, I must admit, I wasn't sooo sure if my skills in network protocols. What's scary is that I was better at programming and reverse engineering code. Thing is, it didn't bring a smile to my face unless my cousin at UC San Diego was working with me on the projects.

Dad saw me work on code and business sites to sell some games and get offers on personalized computer systems I built for cheaper than retail prices. His cousin thought I was lounging and taking up room.

Of course I wasn't taking up room. I'm the next of kin & if the neighbors didn't call me about dad not looking so good, I could've been going to CalPoly. I can be a little grumpy if you get called up from Palm Springs to then be told I'm a lazy brat.

The witch called the 🚓 on me and I calmly let them know where I was sleeping and where all my clothes were stuffed--Tupperware bins under the couch. That's when they caught the issue. Can't believe I showed the resume with a few referrals from corporate engineers who wanted me at their very steady going company.

Meh

-- dnagirl

03.11.2023

[vaultermagazine]

@hna_trackandfield ・ Congrats to Elena on committing to Cal Poly for pole vault! We are so proud of you, Elena! We can’t wait to hear about all the great things you are going to do!!! #hnacougars #calpoly #committed https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DM88TgqRE/?igshid=v1ml8f6ftaq5

[jasonstiff]

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A post shared by Jason Stiff (@jasonstiffwx)

After a tremendous 4th quarter comeback, the Montana State Bobcats defeated the Cal Poly Mustangs 34-28 in overtime! What a game! . . . . . #California #SantaBarbara #SantaMaria #SanLuisObispo #Montana #Bozeman #MontanaState #Bobcats #CalPoly #Mustangs @msubobcatsfb @calpolyfootball #collage #football (at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SRn59FN64/?igshid=14szgdgz6b6go