CSU could lose millions in research funding

Author

Carly Heltzel
February 11, 2025

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and I’m reading about whether Disney has reached the upper limit of what middle-class people can afford for a theme park ticket. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

CSUs will lose vast amounts of research funding if Trump successfully cuts $4 billion in National Institutes of Health funding. California just joined 21 Democratic states in a lawsuit to stop this from happening. The CSUs received a total of $158 million from the NIH last year. At many universities, losing this money will lead to layoffs, clinical trial suspensions and lab closures. At Cal Poly, the money was used for research in healthcare, agriculture, water, fire prevention and cybersecurity. A CSU spokesperson said pulling funding will threaten “the future of student innovation and scientific progress.”

2.

What do The Kid Laroi, John Summit, Ice Spice and Sexyy Red have in common? All are headliner options for the St. Fratty’s concert the university is hosting as a draw away from street partying (Look here for the supporting artists considered). The recent crackdown ramped up in 2023, the year that arrests at the block party shot from three in 2022 to 105 — then to 150 last March. Fines will be doubled for the weekends of March 7-9 and March 14-17 meaning any first time offenders will pay $700, and all on-campus housing damages will be doubled as well.

3.

An anonymous group is leaving notes threatening physical harm to Teslas in Arcata, where CSU Humboldt’s campus is. Then, the self-proclaimed “Students Against Nazi Extremism” dropped a manifesto off at the local news office claiming responsibility calling Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, an “overt Nazi with a history of fascist, racist, misogynist and criminal behavior.” The plan says they will begin vandalizing tomorrow, Feb. 12, in Arcata, Rohnert Park, Seaside and Hayward — all cities with CSU campuses — with the goal of creating enough shame around driving Teslas to deter any new buyers. 

4.

U.S. consumers will see prices rise after Trump implemented a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. And the story is no different in the Central Coast. Appliances such as washers and dryers will increase in price, and California’s largest import, cars, are predicted to spike as well. That means good news for the owner of a used car dealership, but generally bad news for everyone else. “Most of the cost of the tariff is borne by American consumers,” a Cal Poly Economics professor said.

5.

More of San Francisco’s homeless population are coming from outside the city than in the past decade. The most common reasons are: friends and family in the area, job opportunities, access to homeless services and looser drug laws. Mayor Daniel Lurie has brought relocation efforts to the forefront by pushing neighboring counties to build more housing and pouring resources into SF’s relocation program that sends people back to their hometown on buses. However, not many people living on the streets are interested in going home, have a home to go to or are able to last hours without going into drug withdrawals.