Was it worth it?

The reason Merced achieved the twin distinctions of, in the early days of the housing boom, producing the most unaffordable housing in America and, in the aftermath of the Boom (aka the Bust), the distinction of frequently leading all metropolitan areas in the nation in its foreclosure rate, was very simple -- ask any developer -- UC Merced.
UC Merced swallowed the City of Merced. Only the countervaling force of the San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Authority, a seriously criminal enterprise, has saved the west side of Merced County from the dippy dither of campus life on the anchor tenant for the Boom-that-Busted. The ripples of that bust keep on moving through the public-notice pages of the Merced Sun-Star every day although in the real estate pages, were are once again beginning to see the faces of the young, dumb and pretty, recalling those halcion days when companies provided bevies of beauties geo-selected for your real estate-speculation pleasure. If you'd come from Cotija, Michoacan, a girl from Cotija was available to sell you a house on very favorable terms (for awhile) and a mortgage that was whisked nearly instantly out of Merced to a larger financial institution that bundled your little subprime in a nest of similar transactions, turned it into a derivative called a "mortgage-backed security," from whence it may have traveled on as far as Shanghai or Berlin.
But, said our leaders through their loyal mouthpiece, the McClatchy Chain's local outlet, as the sky fell and a stink began to arise from this town that was carried by jet streams here, there and everywhere derivatives were traded, we are redeemed because at least we have UC Merced. No doubt a serious burden to place on the wholly subsidized student body, but nonetheless ...
So, a recent campus rumor makes it to the local newsroom. Calls are made. The Office of Bobcatflak in charge of external relations, acknowledges that 10 dorm resident assistants have been fired after an investigation, but doesn't confirm the reason nor give the names because the alleged boozers are protected by something called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The Bobcatflakkers say that this federal law, called FERPA, protects the identities of the offenders. As near as we can tell after a half and hour with FERPA, it protects student records against various potential predators, not including the media. However, our research may not be complete but we believe the Bobcatflakkers because they have never lied to us.
But what made yesterday's Sun-Star truly pathetic was the editorial ginned up for the moment in praise of the newest UC Merced chancellor, who, like her two predecessors, walks on water, flies through the air, everything she touches turns to gold and she causes all boats to rise together.
What do you do in a town still suffering from delusions of grandeur? Watch out from student drunk drivers.
Badlands Journal editorial board
 
2-18-12
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced dorm leaders asked to resign
Many think drinking alcohol was behind school's decision…YESENIA AMARO
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/02/17/v-print/2234786/uc-merced-asks-1...
UC Merced has asked 10 resident assistants to resign. Officials wouldn’t say why they were asked to leave, but students say they’ve heard it was because they were caught drinking.
Brenda Ortiz, UC Merced spokeswoman, said the students were asked to step down from their positions on Monday and they have until Sunday to move into other housing, on-campus or off-campus.
Ortiz said she was not able to provide details as to why they were asked to resign because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
But she did say that the students were asked to resign after a three-week investigation by housing and student affairs officials. None of the students appealed the decision, Ortiz said.
Resident assistants are students who supervise their peers living in the dorms. Ortiz said there’s no age limit for the position, but all RAs must attend attend 80 hours of training prior to the beginning of the semester.
They also recieve an additional 16 hours of training in the spring, and meet once a week with their supervisors, Ortiz said. The supervisors are full-time staff members.
UC Merced has 31 resident assistants and four senior resident assistants, Ortiz said. That includes the 10 resident assistants who were asked to resign.
Each resident assistant oversees between 37 and 71 students, depending on the building, Ortiz said.
The responsibilities of the 10 resident assistants will be spread out among the other resident assistants. They won't be replaced until next school year, Ortiz said.
Omar Hashemyan, a freshman at UC Merced who lives on-campus at the Mariposa Hall, said he heard from word-of-mouth on campus that the RAs were asked to leave because they were drinking. He added he wasn’t sure if it was underage drinking. “All I’ve heard is that they were drinking and they got caught by another colleague of theirs,” he said.
Rachella Hercules, a freshman at UC Merced, said she heard a similar story. “I heard some people were caught drinking in their doorms and all got fired,” she said, who also lives on campus at the Merced Hall.
A third UC Merced student who didn’t want to release his name because his was friends with many of the RAs who were asked to leave, said they were dismissed because they did something wrong. “They were caught for something against policies that they were supposed to follow for the integrity of their jobs,” he said.
Our View: The dynamo who leads UC Merced
Among her many tasks, Dorothy Leland raises funds to help students stay in the area after graduation.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/02/18/v-print/2235363/our-view-the-dyn...
UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland stopped by the Sun-Star editorial board this week. She had some things on her mind -- campus construction and expansion, collaboration with private enterprise and Valley organizations, more funding and fewer cuts from the state government.
She gave an impressive tour of the horizon after six months on the job. She's hobnobbed with politicians from Washington and Sacramento, been keynote speaker at several top-drawer functions and still made time to walk through campus on a recent Sunday, wearing a baseball cap and informally chatting with her students.
What impressed us a lot is her clear identification with students. As a top administrator in the UC system, facing its toughest test in history, she's tasked with Herculean labors.
Fundraising on a grand scale; preserving the intimacy among students and faculty in a 5,200-student campus; trying to monetize some of the research and patents done by her faculty and students; and overseeing a lot of bright and independent people.
But when health care reporter Yesenia Amaro asked her about UC Merced medical school students, Leland showed her human side.
Fully aware of the sometimes crushing debt students leave campus with, she said she wants to ensure that those med school students get enough financial help so that they'll stay in the Valley to practice their profession.
She called fee and tuition hikes "dizzying" and added, "If there are students coming out (of med school) with too much debt, that will drive where they choose to practice. All their good intentions to come back and serve the Valley are forced to the wayside."
That's an uncommon common sense approach by someone with a thousand responsibilities. We hope the public agencies, private companies and the state itself understand that to keep competent people here, they'll have to chip in when the chancellor comes calling.