Cal Poly's first ever "Field Quarter" is this spring

Author

Carly Heltzel
February 27, 2026

Good morning. It’s Friday, and I’m reading about a new phenomenon where people identify as animals in Argentina. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Cal Poly is holding its first ever Field Quarter, a class in which students leave SLO for weeks at a time to study reptiles, birds and plants at state and national parks. For around 40 students, this will be the only class they take next quarter, allowing them to leave for longer periods of time. Previously, three professors taught the bird, reptile and plant courses with less field trips individually, but now they’ve combined them to study all three on more trips.

2.

A Central Coast board voted to approve a five-year permit for Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant to release billions of gallons of wastewater into the ocean every day. This is a crucial step in the potential extension of the plant. The permit sets limits on the amount of certain pollutants that can be released and requires PG&E, the plant’s operator, to monitor impact to the adjacent habitats. It also certified that a 20-year permit would comply with the Clean Water Act.

3.

Current or former federal immigration agents would not be allowed to work in California schools if a proposed bill passes through the California legislature. The bill, titled “MELT ICE,” would encompass universities like Cal Poly, too, and include positions with university police departments. One student said that ICE agents “uphold a system of oppression” in their jobs and thus agrees they shouldn’t be in schools.

4.

Teachers across the state are striking, or probably about to be. The California Teachers Association has been organizing systematic strikes to call attention to teachers’ needs for a salary and benefit boost. From San Francisco to San Diego, teachers went on strike, planned to go on strike or are planning to strike, with more coming. “The conditions have been ripe for a long time,” the union’s president said. 

5.

Caltrain — a Bay Area transit route and a popular option to ride up the peninsula for a Giants game since it drops you two blocks from Oracle Park — just won an award for an anti-Dodgers ad it made last year. The video shows two Giants fans in orange and black decide not to take the train up, only to find their clothes swapped out for Dodgers blue the second they get in a car. Then the narrator reads “Driving is for Dodgers fans.”