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Jody Murray

ϰٿ campus photo of sign

New SSHA Dean Thanks Helping Hands Along a Remarkable Journey

He studied in hallowed halls of academia. His highly respected research takes him halfway around the globe into societies both foreign and familiar. In his newest role, he leads the largest school of a research university less than two decades old but soaring in reputation and influence.

Yet if you ask about his journey, he uses a surprising word.

“I’m accidental in every possible way,” he said. “Professor. Administrator. Statistically, I shouldn’t be in this position.”

ϰٿ Arts Opens Season with LitFest, Musical Tribute to Railroads

A celebration of stories and a concert highlighting the history of San Joaquin Valley’s railroads are the opening acts of the .

Merced LitFest and Train Station Trios reflect the season’s varied offerings. Gallery exhibitions, concerts, theater performances and a film festival are scheduled on and off campus through May 2025. The creators and their work provide a multilayered experience of the Valley’s people, culture and landscape.

Study: People Facing Life-or-Death Choice Put Too Much Trust in AI

In simulated life-or-death decisions, about two-thirds of people in a ϰٿ study allowed a robot to change their minds when it disagreed with them -- an alarming display of excessive trust in artificial intelligence, researchers said.

Human subjects allowed robots to sway their judgment despite being told the AI machines had limited capabilities and were giving advice that could be wrong. In reality, the advice was random.

It’s a ‘Welcome’ Party at ϰٿ Scholars Bridge Crossing

ϰٿ said “welcome” to its 2,400 new students Tuesday as only ϰٿ can, with a joyous and colorful Scholars Bridge Crossing ceremony that symbolizes their transformation into Bobcats at the San Joaquin Valley’s only research university.

Hundreds of those first-year or transfer students gathered in yellow T-shirts on the lawn next to the Pavilion dining hall in preparation for the crossing.

First Responders Conduct Successful Simulated Emergency at ϰٿ

First responders from across Merced County converged on ϰٿ Thursday for what they said was a highly successful response to a simulated emergency.

Police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and medical personnel assembled at the university’s library to carry out incident duties and protocols. The ϰٿ Police Department and Office of Emergency Management led the simulation — a yearly exercise at the university designed to enhance and evaluate the agencies’ collaboration and incident effectiveness.

Psychological Bias Links Good Deeds with Religious Belief, ϰٿ Research Says

Experiments conducted by ϰٿ researchers find that people who perform good deeds are far more likely to be thought of as religious believers than atheists. Moreover, the psychological bias linking kindness and helpfulness with faith appears to be global in scale.

From Bakersfield to a ‘Peaceful’ Place to Pursue Science, Medicine

This is part of a series of profiles of new ϰٿ Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2024 semester.

San Joaquin Valley native Anmol Kaur is well on her way to making a splash in the worlds of science and medicine. The Bakersfield resident, coming to ϰٿ as a first-year student, parlayed strong experiences in high school into a slot in the second SJV PRIME+ medical education cohort.

Kaur is poised to follow a path taken by her parents, who both have careers in medicine.

Study Examined How Jewish Israelis React to Human Rights Criticism. Then Oct. 7 Happened.

A ϰٿ professor and his co-researchers set out to measure how Jewish Israelis react to different sources of criticism about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Does disapproval from internal voices move public opinion? Voices from abroad? What about reproval from the diaspora — people who live outside Israel but have religious, ethnic or national ties?

They collected data from a carefully designed survey of more than 2,000 and submitted the findings for peer review in December 2022. Months later, the paper was returned for edits.

Study Offers Steps to Speed Up Research Money to Community Partners

A study of fast-tracked government funds for relief during the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered bottlenecks at federal, university and community levels that undermined partnerships. Researchers, including ϰٿ Professor , made several recommendations to strengthen financial partnerships that underlie community-based participatory research.

Lighting the Path: Thank You and Farewell to Charles Nies

It’s spring break 2009 and Jane Lawrence is rushing across campus, the words from the phone call still ringing in her ear. The unimaginable ishappening and she musttell Charles Nies,

First Lady Michelle Obama iscoming to ϰٿ as commencement speaker.

Lawrence, the vice chancellor for student affairs, finds her associate vice chancellor in his office. With the campus quiet and students gone home, Nies had brought his two young daughters to work.