According to their own reports, San Jose State University and San Francisco State University own AR-15s even though Cal State’s policy does not authorize it. Cal State spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said these AR-15s are standard issue, which would exempt them from the reporting requirement, even though San Jose’s report classifies them as specialized firearms and university police departments determine what equipment is standard issue. San Francisco’s semi automatic rifles are standard issue and won’t be listed in the annual report going forward, university spokesperson Robert King said. Campus police also must submit their yearly report to their district or state governing boards. Chico State and Cal State Northridge police said their reports are sent to the Cal State chancellor’s office, which the systemwide policy requires. But Klarissa Garcia, executive assistant to the chief of police at Cal State Dominguez Hills, said her department does not submit its report to any governing body.
Multiple police departments said they did not hold a campus forum in 2025, including Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal State Sonoma, nor did they respond to inquiries about when the required public meeting was held. Many departments said they held meetings, but did not answer questions about how they publicized them, or said they posted announcements on social media without any record of it on their accounts.
But following CalMatters’ inquiries, several campuses — as well as the Cal State system — said they are hereafter committed to following the military equipment transparency law in its entirety. In addition, some are downsizing their inventory.
New research examines what California gray wolves are eating
New research from UC Davis shows California gray wolves are eating cattle more than anything else, and their presence is causing significant stress among livestock.
Researchers examined wolf scat samples collected from members of the Lassen and Harvey packs in northeastern California. They found 72% of scat contained cattle DNA either through predation or scavenging.
UC Davis Professor Tina Saitone, who led the study, said it’s unusual and more in line with wolf diets in Europe. One driving factor is the scarcity of wild prey in California compared to other parts of North America that have elk, moose, or bison. “Mule deer populations have been in decline since the 1960s for a variety of reasons, right? Vehicle collisions, wildfire, predators including bears and mountain lions and now wolves,” she said. “And so obviously that deer population is under a lot of pressure.”
Saitone said wolf conservation is in part successful because of livestock producers
A second study measured the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, present in tail hair samples of livestock. “Mammals as they have higher levels of stress, they actually deposit cortisol in their hair follicles. So, as hair grows on a continuous basis, we get a picture of their stress-related experience over time,” Saitone said.
It marks one of the first times that’s been done to study how reintroduced predators reshape livestock physiology. It found herds living among wolves had cortisol levels nearly 60% higher than those in control herds.