UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue V

MAGAZINE

Global Arts Program A Kinetic Crowd-Pleaser Page 11

INSIDE:

BOBCATS POUNCE ON LOCAL REAL ESTATE Page 18

STANDOUT PLAYERS IN WATER POLO & VOLLEYBALL Page 22

Spring/Summer 2024 Volume XIX, Issue 5

T he signs of UC Merced's robust growth are springing up everywhere and they are extremely exciting to see. One of the examples I nd the most encouraging is that more students are making this campus their choice for a UC education. e university saw a

double-digit rise in the number of applications this year — nearly 33,000 prospective rst-year and transfer students applied to UC Merced for the fall 2024 semester, a 12% increase from last year’s applicant pool. e number of rst-year applicants rose by 14% over last year, out-of-state applicants increased by 21% and the number of international applications surged 58% over last year. Across the University of California system, UC Merced received the highest percentage of rst-year applications from rst-generation students (53%) and students from underrepresented groups (53%) — particularly Hispanic applicants, who made up 46% of UC Merced’s prospective student body, also a systemwide high. We are still less than 20 years old, yet we are a top-30 public university and among the highest ranked for creating social and economic mobility for our students. It is no surprise that more young scholars and their families see their paths to brighter futures running through our campus. In this issue, you can read more about one of the other signs of our vigorous growth — new construction plans and new facilities, including our Medical Education Building, the opening of our biosafety level-3 laboratory, where we can advance knowledge about infectious diseases such as Valley fever, the Merced Promise Housing for community college and transfer students, the Classroom and O ce Building 3, and the new Field Education and Research Center near the entrance to the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. e Field Education and Research Center will be in place this fall and will provide a place for researchers and students to stage their projects and an unprecedented opportunity for visitors from the community — including thousands of schoolchildren — to gather, view and learn about the amazing nature reserve adjacent to our campus. I want to thank everyone in the community and, indeed, the region for joining our journey of growth and transformation. Fiat Lux, Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D. Chancellor Chancellor Muñoz welcomes crowds to Bobcat Day, the annual campus open house at which prospective students and their families visit and tour UC Merced, meet students, faculty and staff and decide whether they want to be Bobcats, too.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHANCELLOR

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ON THE COVER: Local vocalist Cheryl Lockett performs during the annual Global Arts Studies Program faculty concert at the Multicultural Arts Center in Merced.

MAGAZINE

Spring/Summer 2024 Volume XIX, Issue 5

In this Issue:

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz Vice Chancellor/ Chief External Relations Officer E. Edw. Klotzbier Assistant Vice Chancellor and Senior Advisor, External Relations Danielle Armedilla

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CalTeach Creating Lifelong Learners

Working Toward a Climate-resilient Water Future ree Essential Reads about Sustainability by ree Important Women Campus Growth includes Medical Education, Housing, BSL 3 lab and Vernal Pools Reserve

Editor Senior Writer and Public Information Officer Lorena Anderson

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Writers

Jim Chiavelli Juan Carlos Flores Patty Guerra Alyssa Johansen

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Jody Murray Sam Yniguez

Selections from the exhibit “Afterlife: A World Without End.”

Photographers Veronica Adrover Melvin Diaz Alfaro

Zachary Silva Sam Yniguez

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Cover Story: UC Merced Arts O ers Something for Everyone In a Contentious Political Landscape, Students Learn How to be Objective Bobcats Bring Fresh Approach to Local Real Estate Scene Bobcat Athletes Earn their MVPs in Water Polo and Volleyball

Graphics / Design / Printing Colemar Design Dumont Printing, Fresno Mailing Address UC Merced External Relations 5200 Lake Road Merced CA 95343

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Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of any material printed in this magazine. Any omissions will be righted in subsequent issues if notice is given to the editors.

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Chicanx artists displayed their work at UC Merced Art Gallery this spring.

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CalTeach Makes STEM Comfortable and Fun for Future Teachers and Young Learners By Juan Carlos Flores Since its inception in 2006, the UC Merced CalTeach program has helped strengthen the pipeline of quali ed educators throughout the Central Valley and beyond by recruiting and preparing undergraduate students for teaching careers in science and math. During the past 18 years, the program has also established a bridge to the community by o ering numerous hands-on learning opportunities for elementary, middle and high school students — all led by undergraduates. “ is partnership with K-12 institutions enables UC Merced undergraduates to grow academically and professionally

by working with children and teachers from local schools,” said applied mathematics Professor Mayya Tokman, faculty director for CalTeach. “At the same time, CalTeach’s work bene ts education in the region as a whole and helps the campus create and maintain essential links with the community at large.” CalTeach provides direct pathways to a teaching credential in California and o ers two education minors. CalTeach is composed of academic teacher-preparation programs, Teacher Professional Development Institute, multiple internships, Learning Lab, Bobcat Summer STEM Academy and Solar Car Challenge. All of these initiatives are designed to help undergraduates not only become experts on the content they’re teaching, but also provide insight on student behavior, human nature and more. For current and future students looking to become leaders in the classroom, CalTeach Program Director Chelsea Arnold said, the program at UC Merced can help get them there.

“We’re rm believers in that ‘grow your own’ mentality where, in order for teachers to get back to their communities, we need to get them here to the campus and engaged in the mission of education,” she said. “ ere’s a lot more that goes into being good in your content area and being a good teacher. You have to have this whole-systems approach to education, so CalTeach really tries to help them navigate that path and nd themselves in it.” e Learning Lab is one of the most popular components of the program as evidenced by the high number of visitors since its establishment in 2020. e state-of-the-art space on campus serves as an outreach science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) hub for K-12 classrooms that o ers fun and exciting STEM activities. During the sessions, kids build roller coasters out of foam tubes and marbles, as well as racing cars out of empty juice cartons, plastic caps and balloons. ey think it’s all fun and games, but in reality, they’re getting immersed in the world of engineering and physics. “ ere’s no other UC campus that has a scienti c laboratory dedicated to K-12 STEM outreach. So, in that sense, no one is doing outreach the way that CalTeach is doing it at UC Merced,” said Mariah Gonsalez, special programs coordinator for CalTeach. “We get to serve thousands of students every single year using the lab, and it’s beautiful that our undergraduates are a major part of that.” In the 2022-23 academic year, more than 2,100 K-12 students and over 100 teachers participated in the Learning Lab, while 23 undergraduate students and ve College Corps fellows took part in the teacher training program. For the current academic year, more than 4,100 students are expected to visit the Learning Lab, and over 35 new interns and fellows are expected to participate in the teacher training program.

DONOR IMPACT

At the Learning Lab, K-12 students get lessons in science and engineering through fun, hands-on activities such as this one, in which they construct roller coasters out of foam tubes.

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Academy and helping with the interactive weeklong sessions for kids. Biviana Oseguera has been working in the CalTeach Learning Lab for two years as a fellow through the College Corps program. With her STEM-based lessons and love for research, the h-year physics major from Merced takes pride in knowing she is instilling a sense of excitement and curiosity that extends CalTeach is rooted in the joy I nd when students show genuine fascination with STEM, mirroring my own childhood curiosity,” Oseguera said. “CalTeach beyond the classroom. “My connection with

educators to ensure they have needed classroom support. Advocates have also been pivotal in providing philanthropic support that enabled CalTeach to create and operate programs that o ered math and science teachers access to professional development opportunities. Initial funding from longtime UC Merced partner Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU) allowed CalTeach to establish its Summer Institute for Valley Teachers. “Teachers and school administrators founded EECU, and so education is an important part of our history,” said EECU President and CEO Elizabeth J. Dooley. “We support the CalTeach program because it provides innovative resources and services to help solve the shortage of teachers in STEM elds. CalTeach encourages students to combine their passion for STEM with a career in teaching, where they can in turn inspire the next generation of innovators — and that bene ts us all.”

Learning Lab visitors conduct scientific experiments, top, and build race cars out of juice boxes, bottom.

has not only impacted students I’ve taught but has ignited my passion for inspiring the next generation of STEM enthusiasts. I’ve come to appreciate the in uence that mentorship and educational support can have on shaping the future of aspiring scientists and engineers.” A er graduating in the spring, Oseguera plans to continue in academia and would love the opportunity to teach at an undergraduate level to help students nd the paths they want to take, while also introducing programs like the Learning Lab. CalTeach’s ability to continually evolve and expand its o erings has been made possible in no small part through the generosity of UC Merced donors committed to the program’s mission. Scholarships provide direct funding to students enrolled and participating in CalTeach as well as to early-career

Irvin Mendoza hadn’t given much thought to becoming a teacher during his rst few years at UC Merced. e fourth-year psychology major from San Jacinto joined CalTeach 2½ years ago as a social media intern and later became an instructor in the Learning Lab. In that time, he started understanding how much impact he was having on the young learners and how much they were in uencing him. “I knew CalTeach was doing something right when students who feel like they have never been good at school nally nd interest in something that we teach them,” said Mendoza. “Our students leave the classroom with smiles on their faces and tell us how much of a good time they had during their visit. It’s moments like these that have pushed me to want to become a teacher.” His time with CalTeach will continue even a er he graduates in May. He plans to keep serving his community by working in the Bobcat Summer STEM

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Innovation and Persistence Helping Build a Climate-resilient Water Future

OPINION

By Joshua Viers, associate vice chancellor for interdisciplinary research and strategic initiatives An invisible water surcharge is quietly reshaping the landscape of agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley. Under the in uence of climate change, our warming planet is extracting more moisture from the soil and cultivated plants into the atmosphere. For this region — a global powerhouse in the production of fruits, nuts and vegetables — the increase in evapotranspiration elevates what is already an unprecedented challenge: California water demand exceeds supply in many places. In the San Joaquin Valley, an overreliance on depleting groundwater aquifers and highly variable surface water from runo and imports from other regions is prompting deep conversations about the sustainability of agriculture, which could not only impact the global fruit and nut supply, but also the economies of our local communities. California water management strategies have long been anchored around the concept of stationary hydrologic patterns. In other words, the past can

be used to guide the future. We now know that the dynamic nature of hydrologic processes, a challenge to manage historically, are being exacerbated by extreme variations in precipitation, now swinging from prolonged dry years to pronounced wet ones. Marked increases in evapotranspiration rates, diminished snowpack stores and increased variability in snowmelt runo are sparking reevaluation of water resource management strategies. Further, the San Joaquin Valley epitomizes the broader challenges faced by California. As the state implements its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the region will need to reduce its demand broadly, resulting in a 10-20% reduction in cropped acreage. Scientists and engineers at UC Merced, through the Secure Water Future program, are tackling key components of this challenge to better inform and support decision-making about the equitable allocation and use of limited water resources. By enabling more precise measurements in crop evapotranspiration, soil moisture conditions and groundwater levels,

we can identify opportunities for changes in practice. In some cases, these changes include shi s to more drought tolerant crops and cropping patterns, in other cases it’s identifying the technologies and locations needed to actively manage aquifers through recharge. e team is also exploring the socioeconomic dimensions of water markets, which provide a mechanism for the voluntary reallocation of scarce water to other users and uses. Such markets can o er a exible strategy for users to manage sudden shi s in water availability during droughts. With proper design and execution, water markets can facilitate adaptation to increasingly variable supply. In all cases, better data, which is openly accessible and transparent, can promote better decision making across all sectors and users. UC Merced is helping our region build a more climate resilient water future through innovation in water measurement, management and markets. Joshua Viers is also a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the faculty program director for Secure Water Future.

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THREE ESSENTIAL READS | Sustainability By Professor Katherine Steele Brokaw

“ e Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California,” by Mark Arax About: Fresno native Arax is one of the most important writers of the American West. is book has been called his “crowning achievement,” and it documents the complexities of California’s water system, from the sustainable ways Native American tribes used snowmelt and rivers through to the construction of water projects and pumping of groundwater that puts today’s farmers and residents at considerable risk as drought and ood become more frequent in our warming world. Campus Connection: Arax has visited UC Merced several times and recently met with my eatre and Ecology students this fall, inspiring their work on a class-produced play about California’s environment.

“Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds,”

“Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment,” by Sandra Steingraber About: Steingraber has been hailed as the next Rachel Carson, and her powerful and precise writing is a product of the fact that she double majored in English and biology in college, and has both a master’s of ne arts in poetry and a Ph.D. in biology. Steingraber was diagnosed with cancer at age 20, and in this book, she uncovers links between exposure to pesticides and other chemicals and the prevalence of cancer in her native Central Illinois and other areas of the country. Why this book is important: e book makes a powerful case for the intimate connection between environmental injustice and public health. In 2016, all of UC Merced’s rst-year students read “Living Downstream” before meeting Steingraber when she gave a lecture on campus. Steingraber was one of our inspirations when designing UC Merced’s new environmental humanities major, launching this fall.

by adrienne maree brown About: is is a wonder of a book, in which brown looks to the natural world — and its constant state of ux — to come up with models for the kinds of strategies we humans need to adapt for “radical self-help, society-help and planet-help.” She imagines ways to create more just futures by emulating the communities formed by plants and animals, and by looking at the utopian ideas of Black science ction writer Octavia Butler. Why this book is important: I have taught chapters of this book in many of my courses and our students nd it a helpful, upli ing antidote to climate anxiety: brown shows them that nothing is inevitable, and there is always another way.

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A rendering of the planned Medical Education Building shows how it fits with existing campus architecture.

We feel confident that every student we take into this program has the capability to do the work and become a great doctor. — Dr. Margo Vener

Medical Education at UC Merced is in the Process of ‘Building the Middle’

e San Joaquin Valley PRIME Plus Program — SJV PRIME+, familiarly known as the “B.S. to M.D.” pathway — is an academic partnership with UCSF and UCSF-Fresno. It o ers a cohort of Central Valley students preferred admission to medical school, assuming they hit all their academic marks. Dr. Margo Vener, UC Merced director of medical education, noted that the second cohort of 15 students has been admitted for fall 2024, following the inaugural cohort that just completed the rst year of classes. For four years, students take an intensive undergraduate pre-med course and earn their baccalaureate of science (B.S.) degree at UC Merced. A er graduation, students stay at UC Merced to complete their rst 1 ½ years of medical school. For their clinical years, medical students transition to UCSF Fresno for their nal 2 ½ years at the Fresno campus. Because UC Merced and UCSF-Fresno are regional medical campuses of UCSF, when students graduate, they will receive their M.D.s from UCSF but will have earned their entire B.S. and M.D. degrees in the Valley, staying close and connected to the communities they hope to serve.

e B.S. program is established, and UCSF has been o ering medical education since 1864. What UC Merced is developing is that “middle” — the year and a half of doctor training that will be conducted in the campus’s new Medical

Education Building. Rigorous Training

Vener explained that in the UCSF medical curriculum known as “Foundations 1,” rst- and second-year medical students attend classes, study in labs such as anatomy and microbiology, engage with scienti c questions, and gain core doctoring skills through patient simulation while at UC Merced. In “Foundations 2” and “Career Launch,” third and fourth-year students will do clinical rotations and engage in direct patient care through the Fresno campus. UC Merced is on track to deliver Foundations 1 by fall 2027. To do so, Vener is overseeing the hiring of faculty who can deliver the rigorous education required. “ ese will be teaching faculty in foundational science, such as biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, immunology, population health and more,” she said. “We are in the middle of that hiring process, hoping to send out o ers to start July 1.”

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e rst group of medical education faculty — Vener expects to hire about ve — will arrive with a “tripartite job” — learning the UCSF education system, along with some teaching at that campus; holding classes at UC Merced; and “of course, scholarly academic work.” In keeping with the community orientation of the B.S. to M.D. pathway, the rst faculty member hired specializes in community engagement. And she is someone quite familiar with UC Merced and the region — as a six-year project scientist in the Health Sciences Research Institute at Merced, which she joined a er working as an administrator, instructor and researcher at UC Davis. Rosa Manzo, Ph.D. — a native of Fresno County — said her work will focus on building community engagement research opportunities with federally quali ed health centers and local partners, along with curriculum, for the future doctors. She will build on networks she has established throughout her work at UC Merced, in part aided by grants from Genentech, Inc. “Making those connections from the classroom to the community” will help ensure the students become “more culturally competent physicians,” she said. New medical education faculty will be creating a unique path in establishing medical education at UC Merced. While learning the UCSF Foundations 1 curriculum, they will be based at UC Merced; this will allow them to build a community of medical educators in the Valley. “We will be embedding them at UC Merced so that they truly understand the strengths, challenges, and needs of the Valley and of our students,” Vener said. at grounding should help them add some “SJV gems to the UCSF curriculum.” at’s the rst faculty recruitment phase of her own tripartite job. She hopes to bring on a second cohort of educators in 2025 — “any additional teaching faculty we need, but the majority will be clinicians” — and then “phase three is looking for ad-hoc instructors” who can instruct in speci c medical elds. New Department, New Home UC Merced’s Academic Senate has begun the process of consider ing a new Department of Medical Education in the School of Natural Sciences — an academic home for these new teachers. In Foundations 1, Vener said, students will take classes four days per week at UC Merced and the h day will be entirely clinical to learn key doctoring skills. Each ursday, students will be paired with physician-coaches in Fresno and join “very small groups” of fellow students “talking to patients, working as part of a clinical team to address clinical problems.”

“ e coaching program is a hallmark of UCSF,” said Vener, who taught at the campus for 20 years before joining UC Merced. e established clinicians work with students “on their professional identity and growth” as well as medical education, and stay with them until they graduate with their M.D.s. ose students will soon have a physical presence on campus. Groundbreaking for the new Medical Education Building — which will also incorporate UC Merced’s legacy public health and psychological sciences faculty and students as well as the Health Sciences Research Institute, on three oors of classrooms, labs and o ces — is scheduled for this spring during the UC Board of Regents in meeting in Merced. Construction on the 150,000-square-foot structure, behind the Arts and Computational Sciences Building, is slated for completion in fall 2026. e building’s foyer will be dedicated to Fresno developer Ed Kashian and his wife Jeanne, who made a $5 million gi to support SJV PRIME+. Meanwhile, the rst cohort of B.S. to M.D. students — all recruited from the Central Valley — is o to a solid start. “ ey are doing great, and they’re super enthusiastic,” said Vener. “Remember — we feel con dent that every student we take into this program has the capability to do the work and become a great doctor. Students join this program because they are dedicated to becoming doctors for the Valley. Our job is to give them the training they need to make their dreams into reality so they can become the skillful, humane physicians that the Valley deserves.”

Architects have offered a vision of the space in front of the new Medical Education Building.

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Watch Us Grow: New Buildings Going Up e groundbreaking of the Medical Education Building in May marked the beginning of a series of new buildings at UC Merced, the rst new structures since the Merced 2020 Project was completed. “ is new phase of construction is both another sign of our robust growth and a way to prepare for even more growth,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz. “ ese buildings are readying UC Merced for more students, more faculty, more programs and more visitors, and will move this campus forward as a more welcoming place to learn, research, live and work.” e 203,000-square-foot building will host faculty and students from the SJV PRIME+ program, the Health Sciences Research Institute, and the

departments of Psychological Sciences and Public Health. It is scheduled for completion in fall 2026, a er groundbreaking this spring. On a shorter timeline is the Field Education and Research Center — opening this fall 2024. e center will be adjacent to the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. e open-air pavilion will provide a shaded space for visitors to gather and learn about the vernal pools while also protecting the natural environment. Currently, about 55 percent of the reserve’s use is educational. Students from UC Merced, nearby state and community colleges and K-12 schools participate in hands-on learning experiences and eld research while visiting the reserve. e highly sustainable building — o the electric grid — will have solar panels to provide light, a rainwater capture system and three bathrooms with composting toilets. e university has also been allocated grant funding for the Promise

Housing project. Under the terms of the grant, UC Merced and Merced College would jointly build the 488-bed residence hall for community college and transfer students. e Promise Housing facility is intended to o er rooms on UC Merced's campus to income-quali ed community college students who have met the academic requirements of the Merced Promise transfer agreement between the schools. e housing development arose from conversations between Merced College President Chris Vitelli and Muñoz about addressing an acute housing shortage that particularly a ects low-income residents in the region. e Promise Housing project would o er students extremely a ordable housing while attending college and remove them from competition for market-rate housing in the region. Finally, planning has begun for a future classroom and o ce building to provide more instructional and faculty o ce space to accommodate projected enrollment growth.

Promise Housing will benefit transfer students.

A rendering of the new Field Education and Research Center, opening this fall, which will provide space for visitors and researchers to learn more about the endangered vernal pools environment.

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UC Merced’s Valley Fever Research Tackles an Important — and Local — Problem By Patty Guerra

Valley fever (scienti c name coccidioidomycosis) is a fungal infection found in the soil and dirt of the San Joaquin Valley and other places across the southwest. It spreads among animals and humans through inhaled fungal spores and can cause symptoms ranging from mild u and rash to ulcers, skin lesions and potentially fatal meningitis. And it’s on the rise. According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), cases of Valley fever tripled between 2014 and 2018, and between 7,000 and 9,000 cases were reported each year from 2018 to 2022. Evidence shows that as many as 80 percent of San Joaquin Valley residents are exposed to the fungus that causes Valley fever. UC Merced’s Health Sciences Research Institute has been researching Valley fever, and working toward better

outcomes for those a ected by it, since 2013. e recent completion of a Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) laboratory, the highest-level containment facilities currently operated by the University of California, on campus will facilitate this and other vitally important research. In announcing the BSL-3 laboratory, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said, “ e research performed here will advance our understanding of infectious diseases, with a particular focus on Valley fever, a longtime scourge of those who work the land in California and the American Southwest. is signi cant work will do so much to improve the daily lives of so many in our region and boost the agriculture industry that is vital to our economic future — as well as to mark UC Merced as a global leader in public health research.” One of the problems with Valley fever is it’s really di cult to diagnose.

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Each year, more than 20,000 cases are reported in the United States, but UC Merced researchers estimate the fungus is infecting more than 150,000 people. Many cases go undiagnosed because people don't seek to nd the cause of their illness. Most people who contract Valley fever don’t know they have it. “It presents like the everyday u,” said molecular and cell biology Professor Clarissa Nobile. And even its symptoms can be misleading — for example, nodules that form on the lungs can show up on an X-ray looking like lung cancer. O en, doctors will rule out other illnesses before concluding the patient has Valley fever — and during that time the fungal infection can spread. “It can take weeks, because there isn’t a de nitive diagnosis for it,” Nobile said. Her lab is working on diagnosing Valley fever. Speci cally, Nobile’s research is focused on identifying proteases, enzymes that cleave other proteins, that are produced by the Valley fever fungus when it infects the human body. Using this information, Nobile’s lab is developing uorescent reporter substrates, which would then light up when they are cleaved speci cally by the fungal proteases. “ e idea is you would take blood from a patient and run it through our kit, and you’d be able to de nitively diagnose within seconds,” she said. “ e work is still in the research and development phase. We’ve started designing our substrates; the next step is to test them.” Early detection can be crucial. Because Valley fever is a fungal infection, and there are only four major classes of antifungal drugs used to treat such infections, Nobile said, if the infection is resistant to one, there aren’t many others to choose from. And when it’s misdiagnosed, the treatment can actually make the patient sicker, explained immunology Professor Katrina Hoyer. If a doctor assumes that the respiratory problems a patient has are caused by something like pneumonia, antibiotics might be prescribed. ose do nothing to ght a fungal infection, and can cause rash, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and occasionally severe allergic reactions. And in the meantime, the fungal infection is not being treated,

and can spread systemwide. ough most people do clear the infection on their own without treatment, in some cases it can make a patient sick for six months to a year, and in others it can cause lifelong complications. Hoyer’s research is focused on understanding how the host responds to the fungus, and whether there is a way to predict if a patient will develop acute or chronic illness. “ en clinicians can use that information to inform treatment strategies,” Hoyer said. “Do they want to be aggressive, or take a watch-and-monitor approach?” e work Nobile, Hoyer and their fellow researchers are doing is only becoming more important, as Valley fever is outgrowing its name, and cases are spreading outside of the area where it’s typically seen due to climate change. ough the infection is not contagious from person to person, the conditions where it can thrive in the dust are becoming more prevalent. is also has led to an increase in awareness of Valley fever, and in turn of more funding from the National Institutes of Health. Hoyer, who moved to the area 11 years ago, said living in an area that’s impacted by Valley fever makes her work that much more personal. ough Kern County has the highest rate of infection in California, Merced County reported 81 cases in 2021, the most recent year data is available, according to the CDPH. “It’s relevant to my local community,” she said. “It has a direct impact on the people I’m friends with. “Everyone who grew up here has a family member or knows someone who has had Valley fever.”

Visitors tour the new BSL 3 lab.

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From Exhibits to Award-winning Films

COVER STORY

e Arts at UC Merced are Vibrant On & O Campus

By Sam Yniguez On a brisk March evening, the award-winning documentary “Sansón and Me” informed audiences at e Mainzer eater in downtown Merced. e lm about a young immigrant’s journey from Mexico to California and subsequent life-sentence conviction was the centerpiece of the h day of UC Merced Professor Yehuda Sharim’s eight-day Human Rights Film Festival. e following week, a group of high school students took a eld trip to the UC Merced Art Gallery to view its latest exhibit “A erlife: A World Without End.” e display features works of highly regarded Chicanx artists, some of whom are highlighted in art history textbooks. Across campus, another exhibition featuring local artist Rubén A. Sánchez was wrapping up its run at La Galería — the university's

newest art gallery. Sánchez’s struggle to pursue his artistic ambitions while working in the elds to make ends meet was also documented in one of Sharim’s lms, which has garnered international acclaim. ese recent examples highlight the e orts of UC Merced’s Global Arts Studies Program (GASP) to enrich the lives of UC Merced students and the surrounding community. Making Room For The Creative When the university opened its doors in 2005, many expected there would be a STEM-focused educational impact on the area, dotted by opportunities such as the recent Mother-Daughter Science Camp that saw local fourth- and h-graders and their moms spend the day on campus participating in STEM-related activities. But over the years, UC Merced has also nourished the community’s artistic side through classes, lectures, exhibitions and performances — all thanks to the e orts of a small but proud group of arts faculty members. GASP has been around almost as long as the campus has, but in 2016, those faculty members made a conscious e ort to sculpt an arts department unlike any other. Realizing how each of their disciplines are closely related, they created a major that combines all of them — thus, facilitating a “global” approach to the curriculum.

Intriguing pieces by a variety of artists have recently been showcased at both the UC Merced Art Gallery and La Galería, the campus’s newest exhibit space. Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz has made a noticeable investment in the arts for the university and the community.

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“We engage with the arts globally on a number of di erent levels,” said UC Merced music and dance Professor David Kaminsky. “‘Globally’ in a sense of the various cultures around the world, and, ‘globally’ in that we engage in multiple di erent art forms and how they interact with each other. And we don’t privilege any particular part of the world or teaching style over another.” UC Merced music Professor Jayson Beaster-Jones explained that they didn’t want to duplicate programs at other universities. “As artists, we recognized that the arts themselves aren’t actually that separated, only by ideological terms,” he said. “Take opera for example. Not only is it acting, singing and dance, but it’s also stage design, costume design, lighting, sound and so on. “We believe it’s important for our students to see art from a variety of perspectives and how interconnected it all is,” Beaster-Jones continued. “ is is the ideology we all bought into.” Aditi Chandra, professor of art history and visual studies at UC Merced, acknowledged that, from the outside, it may look like they threw all the arts together for lack of a plan, but reiterated Beaster-Jones’s point about it being very intentional. “At other universities, you’ll nd a department where there’s an art history program here and a musicology program over there, and they’re all working in silos,” she said. “Having them all together allows us to push the disciplinary boundaries and, as a result, the collaboration amongst faculty happens organically.” Beyond University Borders is collaborative spirit extends to the community where GASP has taken on an active role in the local arts scene. One of the more visual manifestations is UpstART, a performance-based series led and curated by UC Merced

art faculty members. is is the group responsible for bringing household names such as Los Lobos and Bobby McFerrin to Merced, and plans are in the works for more world-class acts that, if not for their e orts, may not otherwise come to the area. GASP enjoys propping up local talent just as much, if not more, than bringing performers from elsewhere. A shining example of this took place in February when long-time Merced performer Cheryl Lockett was the special guest vocalist at the annual faculty concert held at the Multicultural Arts Center (MAC) in downtown Merced. “I love this community and I love the fact that the UC is positioned to bring in artists and create projects the community can be a part of,” said Continuing Lecturer in music Jenni Samuelson. “I think that’s something our department does really well, and I think the arts are a great conduit for community engagement.” Investing In The Arts e core of the faculty concert band — which includes Beaster-Jones, Kaminsky, Samuelson and UC Merced music Professor Patricia Vergara — strives to upli local musicians. Visual arts Lecturer Richard Gomez aims to do the same for area muralists.

collaborating on a theme with the community and engaging with the local artists. Gomez — who prefers bringing his brand of art into marginalized communities that tend to be overlooked — said that, before working in any space, it’s imperative to get buy-in from the community in which the piece will reside. “I, as an artist, do not have the right to go into a town and put up a piece that I’m into but has no relationship to the community,” he said, adding that there are sections in all of his murals for the community to add content that may not even be a part of the larger image. “ at’s what makes the mural e ective,” he said. “And the more participation we get, the more successful a mural is.” Gomez said there has been a noticeable investment in the arts at UC Merced since the arrival of Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz. It’s a sentiment echoed by the university’s Executive Director for the Arts Collin Lewis, citing the recent additions of highly-visible art installations on campus, murals and the establishment of La Galería as testaments to Muñoz’s leadership. And, as the university’s footprint on the local art scene grows, Lewis believes its responsibility to connect with the entire community does as well.

Gomez has been producing murals up and down the Valley since 2010 with the assistance of his students. Taking his class “outside of the four walls” is a hallmark of his course and it involves much more than painting. Students participate in the entire process, which includes scouting locations,

A recent exhibit at UC Merced Art Gallery showed off the work of Chicanx artists.

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“We’re privileged to have a very culturally diverse population at UC Merced as well as in the larger Merced community, so we have an obligation to highlight all of their valuable contributions to the arts,” he said, adding that the university continues to work on bridge building — due to the campus’s location on the outskirts of town. Because of the physical distance, Lewis said, “we have to work hard on providing the community reasons to come to the campus. And we’re also aware that not everyone can come out, so we try to meet people where they are by holding events in the community like Yehuda’s lm festival.” A couple annual events that take place later in the spring have become highly-anticipated engagements. Professor Katherine Steele Brokaw’s Shakespeare in Yosemite holds productions by e Immortal Bard set against a picturesque backdrop in Yosemite National Park and with an environmentally conscious twist. And Sameulson’s Children’s Opera has been bringing thousands of kids to the university for the past 15 years. is spring, Samuelson received a grant to take the show on the road for the rst time to tour schools all around the Central Valley. Art Is For Everyone A driving force behind all this work is a concerted e ort to make the arts accessible to the greater community. Because of its history, there exists a tendency to think of the arts as “an elitist preserve,” Chandra said. And because most UC Merced students are rst-generation, she believes they may have had less or no access to the arts. Additionally, the notion of pursuing artistic aspirations — let alone an art degree — might be frowned upon by their parents in favor of more traditional pursuits. One of the ways the department addresses this is via the GASP internship; a requirement for the major that sends students into the community to work in the local arts scene and get hands-on experience. A recent production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” directed by Samuelson and hosted at the MAC, provided students with a variety of jobs — from stage and prop managers to designing and painting sets. Students also have the UC Merced Art Gallery and La Galería at their disposal and get to learn the ins and outs of putting on an exhibit, sometimes featuring their own work. “I’m really proud of the program and how it provides practical experience for the students while getting them involved in the local art scene,” said visual arts Associate Teaching Professor Tonya Lopez-Craig, who also runs the GASP internship. While only one semester of the internship is required, Lopez-Craig

A student gallery visitor finds a piece that speaks to her.

said it’s not uncommon for students to take it multiple times. What she really enjoys is seeing students from other majors come out of their shells over the course of the semester. “It happens all the time,” she said. “ ey come to me and say, ‘I am not creative, I won't do well.’ I tell them that they are but just don’t know it, and we’re able to bring that out of them.” “We all have a spice to add to the caldo,” added Gomez, referring to the Mexican soup known for its abundance of ingredients and iterations. “Some kids like to lm and edit — perfect. We need to document all of our projects. Whatever it is, we can use it.” And because of the way the major is structured, Vergara said, students are being prepared for a variety of careers outside the arts including the elds of marketing, communications and technology. “We know parents worry about this, but because we take a very holistic approach to humanities through the arts, we believe the students are being prepared for pretty much any career,” she said. “Everyone needs to be able to articulate thoughts and understand messages and how to get them across. And nowadays, with technology, it’s all about how we are communicating with each other.” While unorthodox, the GASP experiment that began eight years ago shows no signs of slowing down. Members of the department are proud of all that the young department has accomplished in a short amount of time and the partnerships it has formed with the local art scene. Comparisons have been drawn to another institution that is blazing its own trail in the Central Valley. “GASP is a vibrant and vital part of our university,” said Lewis. “It’s unique, revolutionary — and very UC Merced.”

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Faculty Group Serves up a Smorgasbord of Sounds for the Region By Sam Yniguez If you ask one of UC Merced's faculty musicians to describe the genre attendees will hear at one of their performances, don't expect a straight answer. “ e short answer is that it’s a potluck,” said music and dance professor David Kaminsky, who plays utes and brings a Swedish musical background to the table. “Everybody brings something, and like with most potlucks, you don’t tell people what to bring. ey just show up with what they show up with and it always works itself out.” e group’s rst concert was held in 2018, sparked by the arrival of pianist Patricia Vergara to GASP. Vergara — whose expertise is jazz and Brazilian music — played professionally for over 20 years and was touring all around the world at one point. Needless to say, the professor was happy to be a part of a new ensemble at UC Merced. “ ere was a lot of talking about music and writing about music, but we were all very eager to play,” said Vergara, adding that the group was very ambitious that rst year, holding a spring and fall concert. A er realizing how much went into putting together an event with a slate of performances, they scaled back to one show per year. “It requires a lot of logistical work,” said music Professor Jayson Beaster-Jones, an accomplished saxophonist who is uent in jazz and Indian popular music. “From writing arrangements and getting the musicians in line with them, it takes far

longer than you can imagine. And all this happens outside of our day jobs so we’re working weekends and whatever spare time we have to prepare.” en there’s the matter of nding time to rehearse. “Every year, we say we’re going to start sooner, and before you know it, we’re six weeks out and realize we need to get on the ball,” said Beaster-Jones. “And some years require more work than others to pull together the program. It really depends on how ambitious David is feeling.” “It’s true,” responded Kaminsky. “I’ve brought in some ambitious arrangements before, but I have since learned my lesson.” Soprano Jenni Samuelson, a continuing lecturer, is the fourth member of the concert band core. e group held its annual performance in February at the Multicultural Arts Center in Downtown Merced. For each of the shows, members like to invite local talent — a bass player, a drummer — to ll out the ensemble. A guest artist has also become a staple of the concerts, the most recent being local recording artist and instructor Cheryl Lockett. e band also likes to incorporate student musicians and dancers in the act,

providing them with valuable experience performing in front of an audience. ese types of collaborations usually end up being quite memorable. “One of the most really powerful memories for me was when we ended a show with the entire Latin American drum ensemble playing and a recently graduated rapper performing on top of that,” said Beaster-Jones. “It was loud, and it was awesome.” e “core four” — all of whom have music degrees under their belts — agreed that, in addition to providing attendees with a great time and celebrating di erent cultures, a big reason why they perform as music faculty is to show that UC Merced is a place where music, and the arts for that matter, is thriving. “If you go into the Arts and Computational Sciences (ACS) building, you’ll see and hear all kinds of student music groups, dance groups, martial arts groups, art clubs and others working on their cra ,” said Vergara, adding that there’s also a recording studio students have access to as well as a student record label they have created. “ e ACS has become a real hub for the arts on campus,” she said. “And the concerts are one of the ways that we get to share that with the community.”

Part of the GASP faculty performs at the annual concert.

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Taking the Politics Out of a Contentious Political Season

Professor Nate Monroe, left, works with Associate Director Adam Gray at the new Center of Analytics and Political Engagement.

By Alyssa Johansen

When UC Merced’s Center of Analytics and Political Engagement (CAPE) Director Professor Nathan Monroe and Associate Director Adam Gray were eager college interns just starting their careers, they said those rst political seasons felt “special” and historic. “But, big picture, it was not an unprecedented time. e whole political landscape was not shi ing under our feet,” Monroe said. “ at is not true for the students now.”

at is because of how information is being used, misused, misrepresented, reported and saturated, Monroe said, along with how candidates act and respond, o en contributing to the partisanship that now dominates American politics. en, add to all that the impact of ever-changing social media trends and algorithms. “Because of the way those formats work, each individual is seeing less and less diverse information and seeing more and more information speci cally targeted to us, whatever our perspectives are,” Gray said.

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Amid what Monroe describes as an unprecedented presidential election year that will present the same two major-party candidates from four years ago, CAPE hopes to train students to cut through the contention and nd common sense and, perhaps, common ground. “At a time when partisanship is so intense and people seem so divided and entrenched in their ideological positions, our goal is to try to help students have a pragmatic understanding of the way that politics and policy intersect,” he said. “Not to say that we want to undermine convictions or ideological beliefs. But there is another layer of approaching politics that is deeper and beyond partisanship.” The Local Landscape Monroe calls the Central Valley the November general election’s epicenter of congressional politics. at is especially true for CAPE students, who have a front-row seat for what has been called one of the most competitive congressional districts in the nation. Gray, a former member of the state Assembly, will face o against Republican incumbent John Duarte for U.S. House District 13, which includes portions of Merced, Madera, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Fresno counties. It is a rematch of the 2022 race, which separated the candidates by less than half of a percentage point. e decision by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Baker eld to retire from Congress last year a ects all congressional races in the Central Valley — contests that will be critical in deciding the majority in the House of Representatives, Monroe said. “ e vacuum created by not having McCarthy as part of the Republican ticket up and down the Central Valley a ects all of the other Republican candidates in terms of fundraising and in the way they have to relate to certain Republican positions in their campaigns,” Monroe said. CAPE, located on the rst oor of the Social Sciences and Management building, aims to engage the campus community in politics by connecting students with related research experience, making appearances in the news media to make sense of political developments, bringing political debates and speakers to campus, and serving as a clearinghouse for political internships and positions in campaigns. Alexandra Rizo, a CAPE member and fourth-year political science major, said when she makes ballot selections this fall, the Central Valley native will choose candidates who

Monroe and Gray are ready to work with students.

can do bipartisan work. She is urging her peers across the spectrum of political engagement to vote, too. “ ere are some elections that have been lost by very few votes — especially local,” Rizo said. ird-year student Ananya Veerapaneni is double-majoring in political science with aspirations to attend medical school, and her political priorities re ect that. “I just really hope that someone can address the social determinants of health between the Central Valley and the rest of California and take care of the housing crisis that we have here,” Veerapaneni said. Around election season, initiatives and candidates are important conversations in her home. Veerapaneni’s parents recently became citizens and are new to voting in U.S. elections. When their ballots arrive at their home, they have questions. “Being a rst-generation student, I take a lot of pride in being able to research that and discuss it with my family — what it means and what it would mean for us to vote a certain way. A lot of UC Merced students are similar in that sense,” she said. “Most of us form political ideals that we go home and share with our families. e school does a really good job of educating us properly to consider all angles and all factors.”

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