Content about Central Valley of California

The city of Merced has been entertaining the idea of opening a hookah lounge and dance club—which quite a few Bobcats have spoken out in favor of—for the past month.

Unfortunately the proposed location of the potential new hangout spot, a store front on Main Street, was a major issue in the process. Many members of the community believe that the lounge will pose more threats than benefits to those occupying the very family-oriented area of Main Street..

A few business owners on Main Street discouraged the creation of the hookah lounge as well.

Merced falls, without a doubt, on the small end of the college town scale.  Yet, this small town has still managed to pack a few surprises and hide a couple gems here and there.  So if you are in desperate need of somewhere to be or something to do that is as unrelated to the UC Merced campus as possible, you might just be in luck. 

The 2012 Spring Concert was brought to UC Merced by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) on Friday, April 27.The performances took place across the Scholars Lane Bridge in the South Bowl.

The show opened with select members from Living Legends, a hip hop group from California.  They were followed by singer/songwriter, John West from Louisiana. The main act was Travis Porter, a rap group famous for the songs “Bring it Back” and “Make it Rain.” Travis Porter is a hip-hop act from Decatur, Georgia, comprised of stepbrothers Ali and Quez.

The Recreation Center has announced the signing of three new players to UC Merced’s women’s basketball team. These players come from different walks of life, but share the same love, passion and drive for basketball. The first to be signed was Texas All-State Guard Samantha Oshiro. With two state championships under her belt, the Bobcats can use her leadership for the coming school year.  Oshiro is a versatile player and can knock down open shots.

Research week, April 16-19, was an opportunity for faculty and students to share their work.

The four-day series, which occurs every academic year, provides all who are interested in research and scholarship with information about how to broaden one’s horizon and gain some experience in a chosen field of study. Some of the events are open to the general public as well.

Sacramento native Kevin Pham was chosen as the first head coach for the UC Merced Women’s Basketball Program.

For two years at UC Berkeley, while working towards a degree in Economics, Pham served as student assistant for women’s basketball. His experience gave him the opportunity to work with some of the best guards in the Pac-12. 

The annual UC Merced Bobcat Art Show is now in its seventh year. The art show has been around since our campus opened in 2005. Gail Benedict is the creator and founder of the show. She is a painter herself, and thought that bringing something like this to UC Merced would be very exciting. The showcase first began accepting submissions from students, staff, faculty, and family because Gail was unsure how many submissions she would get. That is why the original name was the Bobcat Family Art Show.

UC Merced's Green Campus program recently won our campus a finalist spot in a national sustainability competition. The program, the White House-endorsed Campus Champions of Change Challenge, asks competing campus representatives to submit a report of an activity they have done recently to promote sustainability; the five campuses with the greatest conservation won, and were invited to attend a special event today, March 15, at the White House.

The UC Merced Men’s Volleyball Team hosted the Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League (NCCVL) Tournament from March 3-4 on Hostetler Court.

The court was split in half, which created space for two games to be facilitated at the same time. The two-day event proved to be difficult, but the Bobcats pulled through. The Division II Tournament is comprised of two divisions, the North and South.  The Bobcats are a part of the South division, and so played six teams over the weekend.

Last year, UC Merced began its first Green Campus Program. The program was supported by a product called AquaCue, where people have full access to information regarding their water usage. UC Merced partnered with AquaCue, so that students could see just how much water they use via their computers and cell phones. This program saved over 90,000 gallons of water, thereby prompting the university to participate on the national level.