Faculty pushes back on AI initiative

Author

Carly Heltzel
February 10, 2025

Good morning. It’s Monday, and I’m reading about the lyric Kendrick Lamar left out of his Super Bowl halftime show yesterday. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Many professors are not happy with the CSU’s decision to supply all its students with ChatGPT Edu, an advanced model of ChatGPT with heightened security controls. The faculty association said in an email it hopes to meet with the CSU to discuss the impact this sweeping policy would have on learning. Others expressed concerns over student privacy. One professor said it is “mind-boggling” that the CSU didn’t consult the numerous faculty experts at its disposal before announcing the program.

2.

Fifty protesters gathered outside SLO’s Tesla dealership to protest Elon Musk’s involvement in the U.S. government. The group specifically cited Musk’s role in shutting down numerous federal agencies and his team’s brief access to the U.S. Treasury computer system, both of which the organizer described as illegal. Signs read “NO TO (F)ELON,” “Error 404 democracy not found” and “Deport Mu$k Back to Mars.” 

3.

Patients say medical specialists are difficult to access in SLO County. The Central Coast has only 109 specialists per 100,000 residents compared to LA’s 131 and the Bay Area’s 160. Beyond sheer availability, anecdotes of insurance hurdles, empty phone lines, rushed appointments and more paint a grim picture of medical access in the county. “If a patient is not willing to advocate for themselves, there is no one else that’s gonna step in and do that,” said one patient who has been battling prostate cancer for nine years.

4.

SLO County’s first battery plant will start running soon in Nipomo despite opposition from the community. The energy storage plant would supply 100,000 homes with up to four hours of electricity per day. The goal is to stockpile energy for the state’s grid during high production times to increase the supply’s reliability. Several residents said they had no concerns — or were not properly informed — during the initial 2023 project approval. But last month’s Moss Landing battery plant fire is linked to residents getting sick and heavy metal contamination in the area.

5.

The allure of living tucked away in LA’s hillsides and canyons evidently conquers the ever-increasing fire risk that those same areas present. These regions are also some of the few nuggets of nature residents get in a sprawling, concrete-ridden metropolitan area. Rather than forcing relocation, LA tightened its restrictions and invested in fire infrastructure such as new stations, helicopters and a reservoir. Now, after decades of devastation and a hillside community turned to ashes last month, experts are wondering if Californians will ever learn.