Category: politics

Posted on

Cal Poly Students elect ‘Saudi Deal’ Critic as President

I LooOoooOOve Cal Poly Engineering!Cal Poly students elected vocal ‘Saudi Deal critic’ Angella Kramer overwhelmingly as student body President at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

In a daring move on the day of election, the two college presidents of the Cal Poly Democrats and Cal Poly Republicans came out with a personal strong endorsement letter in the student newspaper of Angela Kramer:

“….and (she) stood up at ASI board meetings when all others remained silent. An important example of this lies in the recent student outcry over the pending contract with JUC in Saudi Arabia. Students wanted a forum to have their concerns addressed when previous attempts to talk about the issue were shut down. Angela was the only member of the Board of Directors who stood up in public repeatedly, not only against discriminatory programs, but also in support of the rights of students to be heard by members of the Cal Poly administration, including President Baker.”

Not everyone at every university is so quick to sell their principles for some quick cash. Some folks have begun to rethink their positions, even at UC Berkeley:

UC Berkeley’s civil and environmental engineering department declined to join KAUST.

There is much different between us and the Saudis and although one wants to be accepting; however, we must recognize that tolerance only goes to the point of sacrificing who we are. We are a free nation, they are not. Women have a place in our world, women are cattle in theirs. There are more comparisons equally disturbing.

Just say no to the Saudis.

Roger Freberg

What Cal Poly’s Dance Really Costs
Cal Poly: Learning to do Bad by Doing!
at the Cal Poly Gender Apartheid Oasis
Cal Poly degrees for sale!
Cal Poly’s REAL Responsibility is at home!

The WORLD to Cal Poly: the Saudis are a BAD Deal!

Posted on

A Cal Poly Professor visits Ronald Reagan’s Ranch!

the Ronald Reagan Ranch

This past weekend, we were given an opportunity to visit Ronald Reagan’s California Ranch nestled in the hills above Santa Barbara.

While at the Reagan Ranch Center we had an opportunity to meet some of the people responsible for putting the site together, along with one of the key donors. Five wonderful meals later ( prepared by ‘Stan’ the caterer) we headed back to home in San Luis Obispo.
CLICK here to watch Laura’s Presentation

Interesting, informative, thought provoking and entertaining… it was a great weekend.

Roger Freberg

Posted on

Cal Poly’s Real Responsibility is at Home

Osama Bin Laden loves Cal PolyJust a few weeks ago or so, Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo confirmed that they had reduced the student population by 1100 or so. This was said to be due to the state budgetary ‘shortfall’ . (they’re getting more, just not as much as they were asking… in bureaucratic terms, this is referred to as a ‘short fall.’)

Now, the bureaucrats are planning to spend the taxpayer’s scarce resources teaching male-only students Engineering in Saudi Arabia. This according to one quote will ‘set terrorism’ back. Huh? If only it were true, I might agree if we were teaching philosophy or western literature or even if there was a ‘student’ exchange.

By the way, engineering are the skills one needs to know if one wants to blow up a building.As a reminder, Bin Laden was also an engineer.

Today, Cal Poly Provost William W. Durgin spun a great yarn in our local paper ( tough to find it on-line… but here it is ) entitled: “Cal Poly – Saudi Deal will adhere to U.S. Laws and reap untold benefits.” Why does this sound like a line from the evil Prince John in the tale Robin Hood,” Golden Days are ahead, Sir Guy!” ?

So, let’s take a little look at some of the Cal Poly spin:

Durgan: “JUC’s provost has advised us that the college will offer engineering to men and women as student and industry demand emerges.”

Translation: female engineering students and faculty are as likely to participate as finding snow in Saudi Arabia

Durgan: ” Project faculty and staff will be Cal Poly employees selected by the university.” Continue reading “Cal Poly’s Real Responsibility is at Home”

Posted on

Nancy Reagan & John McCain

the new Reagan Coalition
Nancy Reagan has endorsed John McCain  reinforcing a recognition that John McCain has inherited the mantle of the “Reagan Coalition.”

Mrs. Nancy Reagan summarized her endorsement as follows:

“My husband and I first came to know him as a returning Vietnam War POW, and were impressed by the courage he had shown through his terrible ordeal. I believe John’s record and experience have prepared him well to be our next president,” she said.

Independent Democrat minded Joe Lieberman has also endorsed John McCain!
John McCain pulls together liberals, moderates and many conservatives… it’s about time we all pull together!

John McCain’s Web Site! 

Roger Freberg

Posted on

The World to Cal Poly, “the Saudis are a Bad Deal!”

Who thought this was a good idea?Unless you have been living in some sort of backwater or under a regime intolerant of diverse opinions, you no doubt have heard that Cal Poly is trying to put together a ‘deal’ with their new friends in Saudi Arabia. Here’s the deal:

Saudi Arabia is looking to mine the high-tech expertise of American universities. The country recently set its sights on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which would set up an engineering program in Saudi Arabia. But the lucrative contract comes with a caveat: The Saudi university doesn’t allow women in its engineering courses. That doesn’t sit well with Cal Poly students, who circulated a petition demanding further discussion.

The world has also been listening, and they haven’t said “no”… they’ve said “HELL NO!” Here’s what others are saying!

LISTEN HERE to NPR !

3/13/08 — NPR’s Calif report that has a 5 minute segment (really good and wraps up with Stanford’s Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Dr. Charles Hill who collapses Provost Durgin’s propositions in the concluding analysis.


Minding the Campus– American Campuses in the Mid-East:not for everyone.

03/13/08 –“U.S. universities pride themselves on their tolerance – religious, ethnic, gender-based, sexual orientation-based, whatever. But when it comes to lucrative consulting fees for partnering with universities in Mideastern countries where none of the above categories of toleration seems to exist, the campus open-mindedness apparently evaporates, and a strange variety of mulitculturalism takes over.”

Other print media has also been very explicit on their objections to the deal:

Bill Morem’s “the Devil is in the Details!” Don’t forget to check out all the comments.. locals are not happy, either!

Los Angeles Times

Inside Higher Education

United Press international

Fresno Bee “stirring passions in treatment of women”

Cal Poly College Republicans

MSNBC “women get the cold shoulder”

Karin’s Blog at the L.A.Times

… uncoveredslo.com the folks who first broke the deal on the news locally!


Cal Poly students Recent Protest at the Impromtu Senate Meeting with Warren Baker

CLICK Here for PICTURES

News From England on the Saudis. CLICK Do we really want to be them?

The only question remains: where do you stand?

Roger Freberg

PS. Want more fun? Check out what you local campus folks make as a ‘base salary’ !
for example: Dean Mohammad Noori $ 213,036.00

Podcast: Play in new window | Download