Category: Cal Poly

Cal Poly and their foibles

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the Fight For Local News

SLo comment on local happenings!
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, another blogger steps up to take on the world… isn’t the internet grand!

Local News folks who have had the world to themselves now have to face their latest competition… and it’s free! Here comes SLOcomment.com !

Most locals have already begin to watch as sloUncovered would break the hard stories that few others — if any — would touch!

Just as economic competition has finally come to our county… so has news coverage.

It’s a brave new world.

Roger Freberg

Are you wondering how the  Cal Poly bin Saudi Deal  is going down? Well the ’empire is striking back’ by bringing Islamic Speakers to inform and reeducate us. Thanks, SloComment.com.

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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

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Western Women’s Conference 2008

Western Women's Conference 2008Laura and I have enjoyed attending each others functions, although lately, Laura’s level of ‘activities’ has bumped upward significantly.

It’s still fun to see the ‘other half’ in action.

Laura will be speaking at this year’s Western Women’s Summit being held at the Reagan Ranch Center. Although I haven’t seen her presentation, I am sure it will be entertaining.

Part of the appeal to me will be a tour of “Dutch’s” Ranch and that should be fun.

Clare Boothe Luce Policy institute is sponsoring the event. Clare Boothe Luce was certainly interesting in her day, here are a few quotes that amused me:

I don’t have a warm personal enemy left. They’ve all died off. I miss them terribly because they helped define me.

Nature abhors a virgin — a frozen asset.

There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference.

Love is a verb

No good deed goes unpunished

Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes”

Roger Freberg

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What Cal Poly’s dance with Saudi Arabia really Costs

What does Cal Poly hope to gain? And what is the true cost?Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has decided to provide an education to male Saudi nationals in Saudi Arabia over the objections of Cal Poly faculty, students and the larger community.

The benefits are clear to the Cal Poly administrators but rather murky to the rest of us. Why are we here and what is it really we are going to get out of all of this?

It seems reasonable to look under the surface and see who and what Saudi Arabia really is. First of all, it is clear that the Saudi’s really don’t know much about the outside world… as one report states:

Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organization reporting on freedom of the press and of expression throughout the world, labeled Saudi Arabia one of the 15 “Enemies of the Internet.” Saudi Arabia is reported to have blocked over 400,000 websites

It’s also hard to grasp the plight of women in this part of the world until one looks at how women are viewed and treated at an early age. The case of 8 year old Najood Ali trying to divorce her 30 year old husband should have been a good focus for positive social change… but the Yemeni government found no compelling reasons to pursue this issue.

On a more chilling note in a CRS (Congressional Research Service) brief before Congress contained the following report:

In June 2002, in the course of briefing a high-level group that advises the
U.S. Department of Defense, an analyst from the Rand Corporation asserted
that “Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies” and added
that “the Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners
to financiers.”

So, why again is Cal Poly involved in Saudi Arabia?

Roger Freberg

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Cal Poly : learning to do Bad by Doing

Shows Us the Conteract with Saudi ArabiaWell, the ever popular and hard to find President Warren Baker of Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo decided that he was going to proceed with his scheme of doing business with one of the smaller backwater gender apartheid universities of Saudi Arabia.

Very few people haven’t heard of this idea… because it has been covered nationally…. and most think this isn’t a great plan… except possibly those hiding in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, Warren Baker promised to show the world the ‘contract’ he is offering the Saudi’s …. as he is so proud of it.

Recently, however, it was determined that he ‘misspoke’ because one of his handlers corrected the statement that no contract will be available for viewing…. ever … by anyone.

Funny, Why would anyone so proud of a contract not be willing to show both the English and Arabic versions? It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure this out.

So now Saudi Arabia has its own American University from which great things can happen.

Years from now, I hope we remember who started this.

MORE on Uncoverslo.com 

Roger Freberg