Service & Maintenance Staff
174
Student Centers
University Union (UU)
Main Libraries
Kennedy Library
Popular Places to Chill
- Dexter Lawn
- University Union
Bowling on Campus
There are 14 lanes in the University Union including four bumper lanes.
Coffeehouse on Campus
- Campus Market
- Julian's Patisserie in the library
- Peet's Coffee & Tea, located in Poly Canyon Village
- Starbucks in Campus Market
- Starbucks, located in the UU
Movie Theater on Campus
Chumash Auditorium in the University Union is actually an auditorium, not a theater, but movies are occasionally shown there. Films for Finals is a popular study break option provided by ASI.
"Green" Initiatives
Among its many initiatives, the Cal Poly Organic Farm consists of about 11 CCOF certified organic acres of land, including the Student Experimental Farm. Students can also minor in sustainable agriculture.
School Slang
- The 101: Expression used by Southern Californians for freeways. Use if you want to be identified among them.
- AACF: "Double-A C F," Asian American Christian Fellowship
- AG: Arroyo Grande, a neighboring town
- Bishop's: Bishop's Peak, the highest mountain in the area, is good for a hike.
- CCAT: "See-cat," bus system for the county
- Chumash: Auditorium in the UU used for movies, concerts, and other events
- CPReg: Online registration website
- Dexter: Dexter Lawn by the library
- Hella: "That's hella cool."
- The Mustang: Daily student newspaper that's free in bins all around campus
- The P: The large concrete "P" located on the hill above campus
- The PAC: Pronounced "pack"—the performing arts center looks like an enormous piano from the air and is impossible to miss.
- Poly Ratings: Professor evaluation website
- Red Bricks: Freshman dorms specific to major
- The Silo: Room 213 of the business building, the largest lecture hall on campus
- SLO: San Luis Obispo, about a million variations on this acronym, pronounced "slow;" (the SLO life, SLO town, SLO Transit)
- The Structure: The parking facilities next to the PAC
- The UU: University Union—encompasses the building itself, as well as the large courtyard downstairs
- WOW: Week of Welcome, a week of orientation for all freshmen before the start of fall quarter
Traditions
- Egg Drop: A yearly competition held at the Thursday night market where students compete to build the best "egg cushioner" from a selection of odd items (chewing gum, rubber bands). Entries are then dropped at successively higher altitudes until only the champion egg basket remains.
- Open House: This is a yearly tradition that happens around spring break. On the specified weekend, clubs and colleges open up food and game booths, and various activities are offered for visiting parents, students, and friends. Hands-on science demonstrations, á la Bill Nye, are offered for younger siblings, while parents can take a look at various creative and technical endeavors around campus, such as the solar racing car or architectural models. Prospective students can scout out clubs they'd like to join.
- The P: If you're a member of a campus group, especially a Greek organization, you may have the opportunity to "dress up" the P. Clubs use large white sheets to transform the P into Greek letters or an abbreviation. (Sheets could be used to add a foot to the P, making it an R.) At times, the P, which is usually white, has also been painted rainbow, red/white/blue, or black. This is obviously a more "challenging" endeavor.
Urban Legends
- One strange phenomenon of inanimate objects deals with the cafeteria trays from VG's. Although taking the trays out of the late-night dining facility is prohibited, signs begging for their return appear on move-out weeks in December and June. Piles of plastic blue trays materialize on top of garbage cans and retaining walls. It seems that many freshmen are in the habit of hoarding these trays for purposes that to this day remain unknown.
- You'll find milk cartons hanging from trees, ceramic heads staring at you as you climb stairs, plaster people-pods appear ominously in a garden, mattresses outfitted with sheets, pillows, and stuffed animals in the courtyard of the business building, a knitted afghan carefully spread along a busy sidewalk, amorphous structures of wood and string in the middle of Dexter Lawn. Are these things the result of student pranks? Hardly. Cal Poly prides itself on being a hands-on community. Class projects are often very tactile. Whether a product of an architecture assignment, an experiment in modern art, or a political statement from a cultural pluralism course, sights like these appear and disappear frequently. Most of us have no idea what they mean. But it certainly provides an entertaining antidote to the boredom of seeing the same place day after day.
Favorite Things To Do
Some options available include working out, swimming, playing racquetball at the gym, bowling, playing pool, or dancing on the DDR machine. If you prefer to be a little less active, you can sunbathe on Dexter Lawn, listen to a live local band on Thursday's UU Hour, or contemplate the latest art or architecture projects (often displayed in odd, public areas around campus, many times integrated with the scenery itself).
Clubs and Organizations on Campus
There are more than 300 student organizations on campus. The list is constantly changing, especially since it only takes a few students and a faculty adviser to get a club started! The best place to check out the current list of clubs and organizations is on ASI's website (http://www.asi.calpoly.edu/clubs).
Student Activities Offered
- Campus ministries
- Choral groups
- Concert band
- Dance
- Drama/theater
- International student organization
- Jazz band
- Literary magazine
- Marching band
- Model UN
- Music ensembles
- Musical theater
- Opera
- Pep band
- Radio station
- Student government
- Symphony orchestra
- Television station
ROTC
Air Force ROTC:
NoNavy ROTC:
NoArmy ROTC:
YesDid You Know?
Around June, couches start appearing around SLO on front lawns, sidewalks, occasionally in the middle of the street. What is this phenomenon? It's not an alien conspiracy—it's a surplus of thoroughly trashed couches that departing students are unable to foist off on new residents. Nobody seems to know where the dump is, so couches usually get a final night of serious trashing by celebrating graduates before the garbage man decides to haul them away. Other students get a little more creative; flaming couches in the middle of the street are not entirely unheard of.