My team and I first heard about the horse sale through Rachel’s friend, Emma Eskildsen. Emma worked at the horse unit her senior year and heard through word of mouth that one of the horses had a rare genetic disease that caused it’s skin to peel off when ridden, or when a saddle was put on.

Jessi and I were both skeptic of getting involved with horses, since we had both had traumatic stories involving the animals. Jessi had been hassled by a man in Mexico who attempted to get her to ride a horse, and me who had grown up with a crazy horse-loving mom who tried to get me to ride when I was little even though I hated it. Rachel knew nothing about horses at all – we were off to a good start some may say.

However, we knew that the story was an important one to be told and decided to put our pasts behind us. I set out after class to go get some information on the horse sale, and to see if anyone could confirm the disease. I knew the best place to get information would be in the agricultural building on campus. I went into the office of the department of animal science to find an administrator who could point me in the right direction.

I spoke to Nicole Einfalt who seemed suspicious of my questions, and my motivation behind writing the story. She asked to see my set of questions, and got defense when she saw a question about complications with the horse sale… I could tell something was fishy. She did give me valuable information by giving me the names of the two students in charge of the horse sale: Ashlyn Frost and Annika Moe.

I contacted both students immediately for an interview, and wandered the halls until I found an open door.

I interviewed Dr. Sprayberry who is a vet on campus. She was a bit frantic because a horse had passed away earlier that day, and had yet to be examined. When asked about complications with the horse sale she said, “Not that I am aware of. Horses always get sick, or get a serious injury.” However, there was still no mention of a diseased horse.

We met in class that Wednesday and pitched our story ideas to the class. Our team grew nervous because the diseased horse had yet to be confirmed by an adult, and we were scared our story was going to fall through. After that class meeting, we all went back to the agriculture building to see if we could get more information.

We spoke with an administrator of the department of animal science that gave us attitude and contact information we already had. We spoke to Professor Burd that gave us good insight on the horse sale, and how the students work with the horses.

After our conversation with him, we returned to Dr. Sprayberry and struck gold. She confirmed that the horse had the disease, and that they were unsure if the foals had the disease or not – we had our story!

From there, we set up more interviews with Dr. Burd, an interview with the supervisor of the horse sale, Julie Yuhas, and were able to visit the class in which students care and tend for the foals.

Jessi and I spoke to Dr. Burd for about forty minutes on May 24^th and got more information about the disease. “It was interesting finding out about the HERDA disease, because I never really thought that horses have health problems like humans do. It was great to talk to Dr. Burd because he’s very knowledgable about the disease and how to care for horses in general,” said Jessi.

Rachel and Jessi headed up to the horse unit to meet with Julie Yuhas and the foaling class. Unfortunately I was unable to attend because I had class during that time. Rachel said, “I really didn’t know much about horses and I’m honestly kind of afraid of them. But being around them and the girls, even just for a few hours, made me appreciate the animals so much more and the work these students put into caring for them.”

We were able to get all the information we needed from Dr. Burd, Dr. Sprayberry and the students in the foaling class thanks to Julie Yuhas. Looking forward to reading the story written by Jessi Armstrong and the video interview by Rachel Mesaros.

Krukows Klubhouse is the premier section at Cal Poly baseball with free food and drinks and a family-like vibe. The Klubhouse is named after Mike Krukow who is a Cal Poly baseball alumni and current San Francisco Giants commentator. Our group member, Ayrton Ostly, knew at the beginning of this class that he wanted us to do a story on Krukows. While digging through Mustang News archives we were surprised to see that there have been very few mentions of the Klubhouse and it hasn’t been reported on more. Seeing this, we were really excited to dive in.

Cal Poly Mustangs home team dugout with bleacher and Krukows Klubhouse seating at Baggett Stadium.

I immediately got working on the engagement report to see what exactly people knew about Krukows and what they would like to know. I reached out on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Surprisingly, I did not get much feedback. The feedback I did receive though was strictly people commenting on Facebook saying they had no idea what Krukows Klubhouse was! Learning this and relaying it to my team members showed us the best angle for the story was to shed light on what Krukows is all about, how to become a ticket holder, and the history behind it all.

While I did lock down three interviewees for my team, we were also hoping to be able to attend a Cal Poly baseball game in the Klubhouse to get video footage and interview ticket holders. Unfortunately, due to schedules not lining up and our busy lives we weren’t able to make a game. I don’t believe that hurt our story, more that it would have been a little stronger if we had the first hand experience of attending a game.

Group member Kameren Mikkelsen, who was in charge of the multimedia portion of this story, agreed with me on this stating “my main concern with this story was that half of our team was out of town during the last home game. It definitely made it a challenging, yet rewarding experience when we got it all finished!”

We were lucky enough to be able to talk to the Director of Cal Poly Athletics, Don Oberhelman. His interview was very insightful and super helpful in regards to getting the information we needed to run with the story. He was very knowledgeable (which didn’t come as a surprise being Director of Athletics).

Cal Poly Director of Athletics, Don Oberhelman, sits down with our team for an interview. 

Team member Natsuki Nishikawa was also excited about being able to talk to Don saying “this story didn’t work quite as well as I expected, especially since none of us were actually able to go to Krukow’s and see what it’s like. But I think the interview with the Athletics Director was nice and talking to a student about his experiences there helped too.”

Speaking of students, I got us an interview with Esteban Ramos, a student who has been attending baseball games for three years now at Krukows. He explained what it’s like to attend a game by saying “it’s not just a keg frat party in college. It’s a pretty fun environment that’s family friendly. You’ll get a little bit of rowdiness, not too much, but it’s not just coming from students. It’s coming from alumni and parents too.” That was really cool for our group to hear because until learning about what it’s actually like up there, it seemed like it would just be a place to get drunk and loud.

Esteban Ramos, Cal Poly student and frequent Krukows Klubhouse attendee during our interview.
Ayrton Ostly who was in charge of the broadcast portion of this story stated lastly that “it’s been interesting to see and hear how Krukow’s is more than just an area to watch Cal Poly baseball. It’s like a social event for community members and people in general to hang out and spend time together.” I have to agree with him. Even though as I said we weren’t able to actually attend a game, we feel that our story captures what the Klubhouse is from the interviews we conducted. Our hope is that we engage readers with this story and hopefully spread the word about something so unique to our campus that everyone should have the chance to check out at least once in their Cal Poly career.

Our story was initially about the vague word “concussions” and we focused it to aim at college athletes who don’t end up going pro. Most college athletes in this category get multiple concussions and are at serious risk for brain damage, but do not get any of the financial compensation pros do.

We ended up interviewing a series Cal Poly athletes who have had multiple concussions and realized that we felt much more touched by their stories than we had first expected.

I am working on the Public Relations aspect of this story, and after getting in contact with multiple students in the Cal Poly athletic program I was amazed by how many of them were willing to interview about this subject with my team. Moreover, how many of them had additional resources they were willing to give us in order to get into contact with!

We reached out to students involved in Cal Poly Football and Cal Poly Volleyball as well as a professor in the Psychology department to get more insight on the medical view of concussions.

“[Concussions] was definitely something that was of concern when I went in there with the neurologist after my last one… But without football I wouldn’t be here.” – Noah Letuligasenoa, former Cal Poly football player

My team and I were surprisingly touched by Noah’s story as well as the story of Anna, another student we interviewed about her involvement in athletics at Cal Poly and her experience with concussions.

Hearing the touching stories of these students in great detail didn’t necessarily change our story’s topic, but it did change the view that we had on concussions before this project. Our story now has much more emotional context to it than we had ever expected, when we initially were only thinking about the construction side of the sorry.

“Thinglink is difficult to save things on and it’s frustrating using a new platform with little guidance. Therefore multimedia was challenging for this story, but in the end I succeeded in completing the second component for the project. ” – Hannah Landry, multimedia

“At first it was hard finding student sources, but in the end I think it worked out well and Professor Laver gave us some really good information.” – Natsuki Nishikawa, broadcast

Professor Gary Laver also gave us some information from the Cal Poly Psychology Department‘s point-of-view that opened our eyes to even more details that we were oblivious to before this project.

“It was interesting to interview a medical expert (psychology professor Dr. Gary Laver) and then interview an athlete right after. Laver was animated but also very concerned with the situation some athletes are in after having just two concussions. Natsuki and I interviewed Noah Letuligasenoa right after and he’d had seven in 11 years. Honestly, it was hard to maintain composure after he told us how many he’d had because I just wanted to shake my head from I learned from Dr. Laver. Between knowing the effects both Noah and Lauren will likely have to live with, this will be a story I will never forget writing. ” – Ayrton Ostly, print

Overall, this story really opened our eyes to the issue of concussions. It is one of those things you don’t necessarily think about past the surface-level… unless it happens to you.

For those who don’t know what The Sub was, it was a cultural gift store that offered an array of unique items such as swords, wigs, lava lamps and much more. It was family owned and operated. The shop was located at 295 Higuera Street and burned down unexpectedly December 26, 2015. 

“The more I learn about The Sub, the more surprised I am. It was an icon in San Luis Obispo because of the diversity it brought to the small town. It seemed to be a safe place for expression for more than one type of person. I’m upset that I didn’t get a chance to visit it when it was still around.” Mariam Alamshahi, our multimedia and print group member said.

We started contacting people right away since we knew there was a lot of information to cover. Many people we asked didn’t know what The Sub was or just briefly passed by the store in their car, but never went inside. This made it difficult to find people that could share their experiences and talk about what they enjoyed about the Sub. To gain more feedback from other people, I posted on the Cal Poly Reddit page, Cal Poly Facebook page and my Instagram.

“Covering the story on The Sub fire has been a challenging, yet rewarding, experience. I was public relations for the first two weeks of our story and I definitely realized that it isn’t easy to get people to talk to you about an ongoing investigation, which may be [allegedly] tied to a crime. But, we have been able to speak to some sources that have provided us very valuable insights.” Lauren Roberge, our public relations and multimedia group member said.

Each person we interviewed gave us a different outlook on The Sub and provided us with more detailed information. Cal Poly student Rhys Couser used to shop at The Sub.

“I bought a tye dye sweatshirt, and a tye dye t-shirt, both really cool. They had rave lamps. They had incense candles. They had weird little magnets. It was a wide variety of objects.” Couser said.

We were not really sure if we were going to be able to see the inside of the Sub, but luckily the co-owner Richard Ferris let us inside. When we got on the scene of where the Sub burned down, and it really opened our eyes. The scene was completely burned with only parts of the structure still standing. The Sub was a large location that had many different areas including a smoking section, blacklight room and a basement full of posters. Some items that still remained today were several posters in the basement, as well as several lanterns that had not been burned. It was strange being inside the building that didn’t have a roof anymore due to the damage.

“From our reporting, we’ve seen the way in which what the sub lost was more than just property-it was a whole collection of cultural relics and unique artifacts of humanity.” Annie Vainshtein, our editorial and broadcast group member said.

Overall, The Sub culturally impacted many people in San Luis Obispo and provided a variety of merchandise that could only be found at The Sub. Our group has done its best to tell the story of The Sub and hear from all different people.  It will be interesting to see what will happen next!

-Ti’l next time

Most professors spend their free time researching, spending time outside, or enjoying the day with family and friends. But Leland Swenson, a Cal Poly psychology professor, digs manmade caves. He has spent the majority of his free time in last 20 years digging and customizing “art” caves beneath his property in SLO County, California.

Once I heard about these caves, I went to my group members and asked if they would be interested on doing a story on Swenson and his impressive, and odd, hobby. Once they agreed and our topic was approved, I told Swenson it was a “go” and we planned an informal tour.

On our way to the caves, we were really curious about what it would be like. We weren’t sure if it would be dark, cold, or crammed. Mostly, though, we were excited because it was impossible to predict what we would see. It was the sort of adventure you couldn’t plan for because no one could tell you much about it. You just had to go. “The most exciting part of the project was definitely the tour of the cave. I heard about it before and honestly didn’t know what to expect. When I went down there, I was blown away,” Josh Munk said. Though we can’t take our readers for an in-person tour, we hope our reporting efforts give this bizarre art project justice.

During the first moments in the cave, I felt like I was looking into someone’s journal. The art on the walls felt very intimate yet whimsical and fun. In a way, it reminded me of the home the animated Flintstones family lived in, though Swenson’s caves were more colorful. Swenson’s explanations of each piece were highly unpredictable, too. When he would point to an art piece, before talking about it, I would try to guess what he would say. I was always off. The art was just as unpredictable as the caves.

“I think the most exciting part was getting to actually see the caves in person. When he’s telling you about it, I couldn’t really imagine it but going through it’s really awesome to see all the detail that goes into it,” said Laura Daniele. Swenson said that no one who has visited the caves has been disappointed. Now we know why.

When people hear the term “caves,” a clear picture doesn’t always come to mind. Being a modern caveman is unusual and initially raises a lot of eyebrows. However these caves are more elaborate than you might expect; not only because of how large the caves are but because of the artwork found at every turn. At one moment, you’re looking at a clay mythical god; at another, you’re looking at a clay moose with a heart and arrow above it. “One Valentine’s Day I decided I didn’t want to just do a perishable card and Debby’s favorite animal is the moose. So I created a valentine moose and on Valentine’s Day I took her down here and said ‘Here is your valentine,’” said Swenson. The individual art pieces may seem random at first glance but all were created with intent and have deep meaning. The strange items around the cave, like the skull collection that makes up the cave’s first room, are what give the caves the funky character around every corner.

“I really enjoyed getting to meet the person that actually has this reputation of building the caves. Each of the rooms seemed really sentimental to him and it’s really amazing to see somebody spend so much time on a project that symbolizes what they’re about,” said Sara Portnoy. Indeed, Swenson has poured his soul into this project. It is not only his creative outlet but a place his family can gather. His search for a deeper connection with the earth, along with his love for others, is what makes the caves such a sacred place to explore.

The question I bet you’re asking if you don’t already know: what is sour beer? Well, I’ll get there, but you will have to wait.

Brainstorming the topic of sour beer was something that took more than a little thought for our group. Once we all came to the conclusion that going downtown San Luis Obispo was an itch we all needed to scratch, there came the idea of sour beers. This was based off of The Libertine, a new brewery in downtown SLO. We were all pretty excited, “Put any beer in front of me and I’ll drink it,” said group member Marie Leleu.

Can you blame her? Any college student would feel that way. At this point, we were all eager to get started.

So, lets get into the nitty and gritty of finding out facts about sour beers and creating our story.

Alright Alright, you twisted my arm. Sour Beer is an intentionally acidic or tart beer that leaves you with a more “sour” taste. There are a wide variety of sour beer ranging from flavor to fermentation. When our group got an official definition, we dove right in to wanting to know about the behind the scenes of making sour beer.

We started to chat with people in the Cal Poly Community and those who had experience with breweries to see what people wanted to know about sour beers– if anything. A lot of what we found was that people either didn’t know what it was or they didn’t have a clue where to find it.

Don’t you worry, we were on it. We set up a meeting with one of the brewers at The Libertine, Dan Miller. When we first walked up to him, he was standing in between something that looked like this:

You could say the interview was under-whelmingly casual. What we did come to find was that Dan knew so much about the history and production of the beer.

What is the difference of “regular beer” from “sour beer” you ask? Well Dan had the answer, “The thing that separates us [Libertine] from clean beer breweries, is that we cool it down quickly and then put it in an open top fermentation vessel for about 2-3 days.” So, it’s all about the fermentation.

Now you would think that the two types of beers are very similar from what he said, however sours are also closely related to wine production. How? Sour beers are aged in oak barrels for a varied amount of time before they are brought back into retail spaces which is similar to wine. Below is a look into how The Libertine ages its beers.

You can imagine our group as starry-eyed journalists when we found out there was so much more that goes into the production of this beer. Group member Rachel Mesaros said, “It’s definitely a major commitment and clearly takes time to master.”

We wanted to tell people why it is the way it is because, well, our first impression of this story was just:

But, we wanted to give you guys the best insight to the sour beer trend. So, our group talked to people from BarrelHouse Brewery and MadeWest Brewery which are both located on the Central Coast. We were lucky that everyone was very easy to talk to and ready with a wealth of knowledge.

We uncovered that there are 6 main types of sours and about three main types of bacteria found in sour beers. Not only did we get to talk to interesting people, but we got to know more about something our whole group was curious about.

Also– Can you believe I did not even have one sour beer while covering this story? I can’t. Don’t worry, that’s next on my list.

Until next time folks~

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of reporting and scrambling for sources; but already, our group’s dynamic and reporting abilities have strengthened tremendously.

Our group decided to cover Cal Poly’s student activism for our first project; specifically, we wanted to investigate whether or not student activism has increased within the past year. When reaching out to the community, other students, like ourselves, noticed an increase in protests on campus.

“The political climate on campus has changed so much. When I was freshman, I don’t think I ever saw a student protest,” political science senior Hannah Quitugua said. “I feel like everything has really just kind of erupted and people are protesting and becoming a lot more active in that way, which I definitely think is reminiscent to the ‘60s.”

Ideally, we wanted to interview as many student activist groups as possible– like Students for Quality Education (SQE) and Queer Student Union (QSU– along with an administrator, a Women’s & Gender Studies professor, and several student activists.  We began by engaging with these communities via Reddit, Facebook and in person.

We quickly realized however that our story reporting would not go as smoothly as we had thought (but honestly, when is it ever 100% problem-free). Many of the activists groups we wanted to feature in our article did not want to talk to us. They did not like the way Mustang News had covered them in articles in the past, and because of this unexpected obstacle, finding activists that would participate was extremely difficult.

“We had a lot of difficulty with finding sources that were willing to talk to us in the beginning. Although we found an administrator and students to talk to right away, student activists were either unwilling or unresponsive,” Sophia Levin, our multimedia group member said. “In the last few days, we were able to find student activist sources who were willing to do interviews, but it made our story a little more rushed than we might have liked it to be.”

Additionally, the Mustang News article published in Monday’s edition complicated things quite a bit; it ended any hope that the unresponsive student activists groups would contact us. By Wednesday however, we were able to interview both a student activist and the president of Cal Poly Democrats.

“Despite difficulty getting in contact with a willing source, my interview with the president of Cal Poly Democrats, Liana Riley, produced the responses I had hoped for,” Laura Hoover, our group member covering the broadcast portion of this project, said. “My video successfully connects Liana’s thoughts on activism, the rise in campus protests in the past year, and footage of recent activist events on and off campus.”

After pushing past these obstacles, our group learned how to handle reporting on sensitive topics, like social justice and student activism. We did not anticipate the topic being as sensitive as it proved to be, but we adjusted to this along the way.

“This story brings up a lot of political and social opinions, which makes things sensitive, especially for interviews. When this is the case, I believe, as a writer, asking the sources general questions helps to avoid feeding into possible biases and feelings,” James Tweet, our group’s editorial reporter, said. “Along with that, I find it key to ask these same general questions to all the sources so that they can all chime in and give different perspectives on one question. By asking these same questions, the themes tend to organically come out of the sources themselves.”

Three weeks into the quarter, we are already becoming better journalists, and we are excited for our next challenge ahead.