UC Merced Students Clash in Month-Long Battle to Save Water

Hundreds of UC Merced students are about to learn just how far they can stretch a drop of water.

“UC Merced Water Battle 2011” begins Saturday, pitting students in the nine Valley Terrace residence halls against each other in a monthlong water conservation competition. The hall that saves the most water per person through Nov. 5 wins a pizza party and $1,000 to donate to local nonprofit organization.

About 565 students live in the Valley Terraces.

“Our challenge is to get students motivated and create awareness,” said Martin Figueroa, a junior biology major and team manager for the Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program at UC Merced.

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Largest Freshman Class in Campus History Boosts UC Merced Enrollment to Nearly 5,200

The University of California, Merced, today announced total enrollment for the Fall 2011 semester is 5,198, exceeding 5,000 students for the first time thanks to the largest freshman class in the campus’ history.

The total enrollment reflects an influx of 1,681 new students, including 1,444 freshmen, 174 transfer students and 63 graduate students. According to statistics from UC Merced's Institutional Planning and Analysis, approximately 60 percent of undergraduates are first-generation students — those whose parents did not earn a college degree.

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Winston Unveils Innovative Solar Cooling Project

Using solar thermal energy to power an air conditioning unit can be difficult and expensive. But UC Merced Professor Roland Winston and his team of student researchers, have added a game-changing advance to the process that could make it much simpler, less costly and more effective.

Winston and his team have designed and developed a system that gathers and concentrates sunlight onto specially made collector tubes. The heat generated can then be transformed using existing technology for cooling, heating and a number of other potential uses.

The key factor in their design is this: The collectors are entirely stationary. Typically, solar collectors must move and track the sun to achieve optimal energy production, necessitating additional equipment that can be costly to install and complex to maintain.

The UC Merced design — called an External Compound Parabolic Concentrator (XCPC) — generates solar thermal efficiency of 60 percent at temperatures up to 400 F, achieving thermal performance previously seen only in tracking systems. And in contrast to tracking systems that work only on clear, sunny days, the UC Merced design can work in hazy conditions because it “sees” most of the sky, allowing collection of both direct and indirect sunlight.

UC Merced Student Balances Athletics and Academics

Sophomore Alexandria Curtis is doing something most students wouldn’t even consider — competing in two of UC Merced’s first varsity intercollegiate sports this fall while juggling a full college course load.

Curtis, a literatures and cultures major from San Jose, started playing volleyball in the eighth grade, but she says she was cut from the team her junior year because she was too tall. Now, Curtis will be starting in the Golden Bobcats’ home opener on Sept. 22.

The student-athlete says striking a balance between class work, training and social activities has been the key to maintaining a 3.7 grade point average.

“My advice for students balancing their academics and whatever other things they have going on is academics is first,” Curtis said. “But also, not to immerse yourself just in academics, because that’s when you sort of lose yourself. You don’t just want to just be here going to school. You want to be able to become a part of the school and leave something behind.”

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Campus' Economic Impact on Valley Nears $650M

The University of California, Merced, has contributed approximately $650 million to the San Joaquin Valley economy since the campus began initial operations in July 2000, the university reported today.

Statewide, the value of UC Merced’s cumulative economic contribution has amounted to $1.225 billion. Both totals reflect university expenditures through June 30, the end of the campus’ 2010-11 fiscal year.

According to the campus’ Business and Financial Services unit, UC Merced has paid more than $417 million in local wages and compensation, awarded $109 million in construction contracts to local businesses and purchased $122 million in goods and services from local suppliers since July 2000. The total Valley investment of $648 million shows a growth of nearly $100 million since the end of the prior fiscal year.

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Campus’ First Varsity Sporting Events Approaching

UC Merced’s athletics program will celebrate the first varsity sporting events on campus this week, with the women’s volleyball team playing its home opener on Sept. 22 and an Athletics Kickoff Tailgate event prior to their game on Sept. 24.

The Golden Bobcats are in their first season of competition in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and the campus is gearing up for the Sept. 22 volleyball match against Pacific Union College, one of UC Merced’s opponents in the California Pacific Conference.

The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation and Wellness Center. General admission is $5. Admission is free for UC Merced undergraduates and $2 for UC Merced graduate students, high school students or students from other colleges.

Two days later, on Sept. 24, the Bobcats will take on Cal State San Marcos in a nonconference match at 5 p.m. Prior to the game, at 3:30 p.m., the Recreation and Athletics Department will host an Athletics Kickoff Tailgate.

The event will provide an opportunity for the Merced community to meet the coaches, enjoy light refreshments and learn about the Bobcat Club, the primary fundraising and support group for UC Merced athletics. Admission for the tailgate, which will be held outside the entrance to the Recreation Center, is $30 for both the event and the game or $25 for the event only.

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Impact: Engineers Building Sustainable Solutions

UC Merced is the new headquarters of Engineers for a Sustainable World, an organization committed to improving the quality of life and the prosperity of the planet in a way that's economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.

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UCSF, UC Merced to Study Anti-Tobacco Programs

Researchers with UCSF and UC Merced will examine the effectiveness of state and local antismoking programs across the United States in an effort to make sure health authorities are able to use their increasingly limited resources to support and defend the most effective approaches.

Stanton A. Glantz, UCSF professor of medicine, James Lightwood, UCSF assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, and Anna V. Song, UC Merced assistant professor of psychology, were awarded a five-year, $2.6 million grant on Sept. 1 from the National Institutes of Health to study which anti-smoking programs are working best and how the tobacco industry works to prevent states from pursuing the most effective tobacco control policies and programs.

“California’s tobacco control program has already saved California taxpayers and businesses well over $86 billion in direct health costs,” Glantz said. “With this research, we hope to inform policy makers and public health professionals how we can essentially eliminate tobacco as a public health problem in California in the next few years.”

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in California and the nation. Not all programs are equally effective in reducing smoking or bringing down health care costs. Understanding which programs are best can help inform government policy decisions and make sure money is spent on effective programs.

“We are combining modern understanding of adolescent and young adult psychology with mathematical models to understand the spread and decline in tobacco use,” Song said. “It’s similar to the way epidemiologists understand the spread of infectious diseases, with the tobacco companies playing the role of mosquitoes spreading disease.”