Cal Poly faces major budget cuts

Author

Carly Heltzel
February 12, 2025

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m taking a drivers quiz about the state’s trickiest traffic laws. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Cal Poly’s budget may be slashed by $24.2 million for the upcoming school year, a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide spending cut proposal. The CSU faces an ongoing 7.95% reduction, which equals $375.2 million and the equivalent of supporting 36,000 students. Cal Poly’s president said if the cuts are realized next year, it would be “extremely detrimental” to the university and system. Some of the potential impacts would be layoffs as well as reduced student services and course offerings.

2.

An atmospheric river has arrived. The first bits of rain began last night but the most substantial rains seen this season are arriving later today and heavily by tomorrow. The National Weather Service has already warned of flooding across the Central Coast, especially in hilly regions or those with burn scars. Winds are predicted to gust up to 60 mph in SLO County, heightening the risk for downed trees and power outages. Thursday morning will bear the brunt of it.

3.

SLO County’s district attorney accused its judge of giving special treatment to a probation officer accused of embezzling $100,000 from the worker’s union. When the officer was initially arrested, she was bypassed from being booked at the jail and having her mugshot taken. Also, her bail was reduced from $1.8 million to $100,000, which she then paid. The DA got into a lengthy social media debate in which he said the judge was treating her differently from a “‘regular’ citizen” in an unethical manner. However, a private attorney in the county said of the judge’s decision: “There’s nothing unusual about it.”

4.

A white 15-year-old is suing the UC for discrimination after getting rejected from a mentoring program meant to uplift minorities interested in healthcare at UCSF. The lawsuit alleges the girl received an interview for the program based on her application but was rejected after the interviewers “pressed” her on her race. It also alleged the rejection was solely based on her being white and treated her as a “faceless member of her race.” Her family is asking for compensation and a ruling that the program violates the 14th Amendment. 

5.

This flu season is the worst California has seen in years — every flu season since 2020 has peaked before January. Tests are returning a 27.8% infection rate, with the rate still on the rise into February and predicted to stay there in the coming weeks. The cases are also more severe as shown in a recent surge in hospitalizations for flu cases. Ten kids have died this season in California, including three teens in San Diego. A potential cause? Children’s vaccination rates dropped about 5% from last year. Experts say that the rise in recent cases means it’s still worth it to get vaccinated if people are not already.