Senator Boxer Visits UC Merced

UC Merced received its first visit by a U.S. senator Wednesday, as Sen. Barbara Boxer met with Chancellor Dorothy Leland, learned about the work of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), interacted with faculty and student researchers and spoke to a select group of students and news media.

Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said the nation needs to create jobs by increasing its use of clean energy technology, which is one of UC Merced’s primary areas of research.

“We can and we must ensure that America is the leader in clean energy technology,” Boxer said. “You’re right in the middle of this, right here.”

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UC Merced Campus Emerging as Force for Change in State

With student enrollment expected to top the 5,000 mark this fall, faculty research projects winning major new grants and making national headlines, and intercollegiate athletics about to begin, UC Merced begins its seventh academic year with rising expectations and a rapidly evolving profile within the San Joaquin Valley, the state and the UC system.

“We’ve definitely turned an important corner in our development,” said Chancellor Dorothy Leland, who succeeded Steve Kang as UC Merced’s top administrative officer on July 1.

“After many years dedicated to building a strong foundation, attracting great people and putting excellent academic and research programs in place, our young campus is quickly emerging as a significant force for change at a critical time in California’s history.”

This year’s freshman class consists of approximately about 1,400 students from every corner of the state. Exact enrollment numbers and geographic distribution won’t be tabulated until the fall census is completed in October. Eighteen new faculty members also have been added this year, giving the campus 144 ladder-rank professors and 120 lecturers.

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UC Merced Professors Coauthors Study Building on Plausible Scenario for Origin of Life

A relatively simple combination of naturally occurring sugars and amino acids offers a plausible route to the building blocks of life, according to a paper published in Nature Chemistry co-authored by a UC Merced professor.

The study, "A Route to Enantiopure RNA Precursors from Nearly Racemic Starting Materials," shows how the precursors to RNA could have formed on Earth before any life existed. It was authored by Jason E. Hein, Eric Tse and Donna G. Blackmond, a team of researchers with the Scripps Research Institute. Hein is now a chemistry professor with UC Merced. The paper was published online Sunday.

Biological molecules, such as RNA and proteins, can exist in either a natural or unnatural form, called enantiomers. By studying the chemical reactions carefully, the research team found that it was possible to generate only the natural form of the necessary RNA precursors by including simple amino acids.

"These amino acids changed how the reactions work and allowed only the naturally occurring RNA precursors to be generated in a stable form," said Hein. "In the end, we showed that an amazingly simple result emerged from some very complex and interconnected chemistry."

Tulare County Valedictorians Continue Friendship, Academic Dreams at UC Merced

Stephanie Ruiz and Marisela Torres have been friends since seventh grade, and they share dreams that include college degrees and teaching careers.

So it’s no surprise that these Tulare County valedictorians have something else in common: UC Merced.

Both graduated in May from Granite Hills High School in Porterville. Thanks to hard work and advanced placement classes, Ruiz and Torres carried grade-point averages over 4.0 and represented their class as two of the three valedictorians.

Torres said she and Ruiz became friends in middle school as they bonded over schoolwork, a love of math and career goals. Both will be the first in their families to earn four-year degrees — encouraged in part by their parents.

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