Photo by Brian de los Santos - Mustang Daily.

What is the main focus of head coach Joe Callero and the Cal Poly men’s basketball team this offseason?

Improvement.

Whether it be on the basketball court, in the classroom or as a community member, Callero said he wants his players to continue to improve in every aspect of their lives.

And they are doing just that.

On the court, the team went 12-19 this past season, compared to 7-21 the season before.

In the classroom, the entire team now has an average GPA of 2.8, with no one receiving less than a C in any class. Will Donahue, one of the team’s leading scorers early last season, was deemed academically ineligible midway through the year; he now has full eligibility.

This might be only fitting for a team constantly reminded by the words “no limits to improvement” displayed on the grease board in the locker room.

The improvement also extends to team cohesiveness. The team has arranged barbeques, hiked Bishop Peak and camped, as a way to bond.

It’s a great way to uncover other team members’ strengths, creating a mutual respect between the players, Callero said.

“It’s putting people in different positions where different guys might be better at something than they are on the basketball court,” he said.

If you talk to any member of the team, they all call themselves a family. After seeing the team improve on the court last season, Callero’s techniques prove to be working.

Upperclassmen passed the ball freely to freshmen, sharp shooters passed to the big men; each player had confidence in his teammates.

For example, while playing against South Dakota last season, senior guard Lorenzo Keeler drove to the basket with 32 seconds to spare, and instead of forcing a shot, he made an extra pass to freshman Kyle Odister, who hit a three with a few seconds left on the shot clock — propelling the Mustangs to a win.

However, with Keeler leaving — a player who averaged just over 16 points per game — comes the expectation that the other players will have to step up their game.

Notable players expected to be the new foundation of the squad are guard Shawn Lewis and forward David Hanson — both of whom tallied double digit points per game a season ago. Redshirts Amaurys Fermin and Chris O’Brien may also be asked to step in for lost starters. Also, forward Jordan Lewis, who scored a season-high 16 points against Long Beach State, served as somewhat of a sixth man last season, and may be able to climb his way into the starting lineup this season.

“Whether I’m getting more minutes or not I’m just happy to contribute,” Lewis said.

Lewis said he has been hitting the weight room and working on quickness and agility.  He’s also been working on both his jump shot and three-point shot to complement his already tough defense.

However, Lewis still knows the importance of team chemistry. “In order for us to be more successful, we (still) have to keep growing as a family,” he said.

Or as Callero puts it, improve.

Dr. Robert Glidden will serve as Cal Poly’s interim president from Aug. 1 until the position is filled permanently.

Although the three potential president candidates who visited in spring had excellent credentials, they were not the right fit for the campus, said Claudia Keith, assistant vice chancellor of the California State University (CSU) system.

“San Luis Obispo has a wonderful reputation, and Dr. Glidden as an interim president will maintain the momentum of the campus,” Keith said.

Glidden served as president of Ohio University from 1994 to 2004, where he oversaw more than six campuses. He headed strategic planning efforts that integrated the community and helped revive the institution to become one of America’s top 100 research universities.

As president of Ohio University, Glidden was a member of the Governor’s Science and Technology Council in Ohio and chairman of the Ohio Aerospace Institute. He also served as a professor and dean of the College of Music at Florida State University from 1979 to 1991 and as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs from 1991 to 1994.

Keith said Dr. Glidden’s experience at several other four-year, comprehensive universities will allow him to “hit the ground running and keep moving the campus forward.”

Glidden wasn’t actively seeking the position of becoming a CSU president, but he had previously agreed to become an interim president if needed.

“I was surprised to receive the chancellor’s call last week,” Glidden said. “In this case, my high regard for Cal Poly led me to say ‘yes’ after just a few days of consideration.”

After reading about Cal Poly, Glidden said he was impressed with the strategic planning efforts, academic ability of the students, retention and graduation rates and national and regional program rankings.

To help maintain Cal Poly’s reputation, Glidden said he will work with the faculty and staff who have brought the university to this level and figure out ways he can be helpful.

“I want to work with them to analyze what the priorities for discussion or action should be for the immediate future, and then take action to help the university prepare for a new permanent president,” he said.

Glidden said he is confident in Cal Poly’s motto and knows there are opportunities to effectively learn in this manner.

“‘Learn by doing’ is a most appropriate concept for a polytechnic institution,” he said. “It’s a hands-on, practical application of theory which tends to produce more confident, ready-to-work graduates.”

Glidden is currently receiving a crash course about Cal Poly, and after he visits the campus, he will assess the major issues. Glidden plans to be careful when making any changes, he said.

“My job will be to help the institution progress along its course, not to change its course,” he said.

The CSU presidential search committees will reconvene in September and begin reviewing resumes in fall before beginning the interview process again.

Although there is no set time frame, Keith said it is anticipated that a permanent president will be hired by the end of the school year or the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year.

“I will do my best to help provide a seamless transition from a longstanding, outstanding president to a new one, whom we hope can be identified and in place in a few months,” Glidden said.

Stock photo

Students from Cal Poly’s Sustainable Mobility civil engineering class presented proposals for a new bike path from Cal Poly through Cuesta College and Chorro Valley to Morro Bay.

The public graded each of the four groups’ proposals at an exhibition at the San Luis Obispo County Library on Friday.

Civil engineering professor Eugene Jud put the project in motion last year. He said his class is very enthusiastic about creating new ways of alternative transportation in San Luis Obispo.

“We really want to emphasize the importance of using transportation other than cars, and this is a way for the students to get real experience in civil engineering projects,” Jud said.

Each group presented plans on how to create a bike path that would be easy to ride as well as respectful of the land boundaries of Camp San Luis and the California Men’s Colony.

The goals of the proposals were to increase options for alternative transportation in Chorro Valley, create a path that would be conducive for commuting and recreational purposes and follow Governor Schwarzenegger’s mandate for reducing California’s greenhouse emissions to the 1990 level by 2020.

Each team’s proposal followed the same basic route, beginning at Cal Poly’s Alex G. Spanos Stadium to the Cuesta College campus and ending at South Bay Boulevard in Morro Bay. The groups differed on the details — some placed their path close to Highway 1 and others placed it farther away, and one group even proposed a “bike station” with showers, a cafe and a repair shop for bikers.

“Chorro Valley has several sites that we have used to base our routes on, and we all tried to come up with a plan that would really encourage more people to ride,” class president and civil engineering senior Naoki MacInnes said.

At Friday’s exhibition, the public heard each group’s proposal and graded them on their ideas for the alignment of the path, their Powerpoint presentation and how clearly they presented their proposal. David Flynn, a representative from the San Luis Obispo County Public Works, said he was impressed with all four proposals.

“I thought that the groups did a great job working around the land constraints and coming up with alternatives for commuting and recreation,” Flynn said. “An idea like this is definitely on the city council’s radar.”

Creating an extensive bike path like this presents several issues that must be dealt with before any construction can begin. The path would run through land owned by the Cal Poly Agriculture Department, Camp San Luis and the California Men’s Colony. These owners have expressed their support of the idea of a bike path, but they are also adamant about not losing any of their land in the construction.

In addition to negotiations with landowners, Jud said the biggest obstacle to the construction of the bike path is money. According to the San Luis Obispo City Council, there is not enough money in the city’s budget to build the path for several more years.

“We’ve gotten great support from the SLO city supervisors, but money is the main issue,” Jud said. “Many people think that we can begin construction tomorrow, but all we can really do is keep planning until the funding is available.”

Despite these setbacks, Jud said he has received enthusiastic support from the San Luis Obispo community for a bike path from Cal Poly to Morro Bay. Several local cycling organizations also support the idea.

Robert Davis, chair of the San Luis Obispo County Bike Advisory Committee and a member of the Morro Bay Citizens Bike Committee and the San Luis Obipso Bike Coalition, attended the exhibition and said the bike path would make the area more livable.

“I was impressed by how the students dealt with the limiting factors while still accomplishing their mission,” Davis said. “Organizations like the SLO Bike Coalition are always committed to providing these kind of bike facilities that connect parts of the county.”

The City and Regional Planning Department is surveying the rest of the community to ask for feedback and suggestions about improving cycling facilities. The department created an anonymous online survey that takes about 15 minutes to complete. Jud said student opinions are extremely valuable in determining what kind of changes should be made to local cycling facilities.

The survey is available online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HFFBKMY

The Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Club is hosting a speech by alumnus and author Brian Schwartz today.

Schwartz graduated in 1994 as an industrial technology major. He worked at IBM and several other national corporations before quitting in 2008  to begin a personal investigation of the success secrets of today’s entrepreneurs.

Schwartz has written several books, the most well known called “50 Interviews: Entrepreneurs Thriving in Uncertain Times” in which he interviewed 50 professionals in a variety of industries to learn their secrets to establishing a successful business. Schwartz refers to his profession as an “authorpreneur,” because his career combines both author and entrepreneur.

“The people I’ve talked to are so passionate about what they do, and it’s been a really interesting journey,” Schwartz said. “Many of them said that no one had ever interviewed them like this.”

Schwartz’s speech will share some of the insights he has gained through his interviews. Then he will interview two entrepreneurs to show the audience some of what he has learned. The guest entrepreneurs include Michael Rowley of the Straight Down Clothing Company and Kyle Weins of IFixIt.com, a website for online repair manuals.

Entrepreneurship club president and business senior Luke Richter said the club is lucky to hear Schwartz speak. Schwartz usually charges for his speeches, but he said he is happy to come back to his alma mater and speak to a group of future entrepreneurs.

“Brian has interacted with so many different people and really has a lot to share with us about finding and creating the right career,” Richter said. “It should be a great learning experience, even for people who don’t plan on starting their own businesses.”

The Entrepreneurship Club has nearly 150 members from several colleges. The club’s mission is to be a source of networking opportunities and support for students in every field of study. Club adviser and industrial technology professor Jonathan York said the club has been inactive for the past several years, but this year some of his students came to him asking if it could be revived.

Since being rechartered the club has been very active. In addition to hosting guest speakers the members have participated in two business competitions this year — the Cal Poly Venture Challenge and Innovation Quest, both of which give the students opportunities to interact with business professionals.

“We really encourage our members to take advantage of the opportunity to network with real professionals as well as with each other,” York said. “It’s important for students to be able to see what the real world is like before they get there.”

Schwartz said he had some trouble finding the right career after graduating from Cal Poly. However, he said the interviews he has conducted to find what makes a successful and rewarding career have been a fulfilling and valuable learning experience.

“My speeches are really about what I know now that I wish I knew then, and so much of it has come from the interviews I’ve done,” Schwartz said. “I’ve really come to learn that your career can’t be about money or power — it has to be about a calling and finding something greater than yourself.”

Schwartz’s speech will be held in Building 52, room B05 at 7 p.m..

Sophomore Whitney Sisler finished seventh and earned a trip to the NCAA Track and Field Championships on the final day of competition of the NCAA West Regional in Austin, TX on Saturday.

Sisler cleared 5 feet, 11.25 inches, improving from her previous mark of 5 feet, 10.75 inches.

She cleared the same height as the winner, Neidra Covington of TCU, but earned seventh due to more misses.

Sisler will be the lone Mustang to advance to the championships.

Junior Jasmine Pickett failed to advance; she posted a 36th place finish in the triple jump. Pickett, who earned All-American honors last year in the triple jump, had a leap of 39 feet, 6 inches.

Pickett had her season best jump of 42 feet, 4 inches at the Big West Championships.

Senior Joe Gatel, the Big West Champion in the 10,000-meter run, failed to finish the 5,000-meter race Saturday evening.

Gatel entered the race with the with a season best time of 13:57.54, a time that would have won the qualifying race to advance to the NCAA Championships.

On Friday, sophomore Tenise Brewer just missed advancing to the quarterfinal in the 100 meter hurdles while six other Mustangs competed in the second day of competition.

Brewer finished 27th, running in the first heat of the women’s 100m hurdles, and finished with a time of 13.83. The top 24 advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal with a time of 13.70 or better.

Tamika Robinson of Illinois posted the fastest time, 13.60, running in the third heat.

Brewer’s season best time of 13.79 was posted at the Mt. Sac. Relays.

The Mustangs had three athletes competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with senior Carl Dargitz posting the best finish at 21st. Dargitz finished with a time of 9:01.53, well off his season best of 8:49.29.

Senior Andy Wright finished 39th with a time of 9:13.62 while fellow senior Nathan Huerta came home 46th with a time of 9:35.51.

Also competing on Friday was freshman John Prader and sophomore Kyle Inks in the pole vault.

Pader finished 22nd when he matched his career-best 16 feet, 8.75 inches. Inks finished 32nd when he cleared 16 feet, 2.75 inches.

Three vaulters tied for first when they cleared 17 feet, 4.50 inches.

Freshman Taylor Herrera finished 35th in the 200 meter with a time of 21.55. Herrera missed in advancing to the quarterfinals with the top 24 advanced with a time of 21.29 or better.

On Thursday, sophomore Eric Suprenant and sophomore Daniel Erdman failed to move past the qualifying round in the first day of competition.

Suprenant posted a time of 53.67 in the 400m hurdles. Suprenant was the 41st qualifier in the meet.

Suprenant posted his career-best time, 52.02, at the Big West Conference Championships two weeks ago.

Erdman finished 16th in a field of 48. The sophomore posted a career-best mark of 55 feet, 9.75 inches. His pervious best of 55 feet, 9.25 inches was set on May 1.