Officials see UC Merced helping spur Valley business

The San Joaquin Valley, a region stretching from Stockton to Bakersfield, has starved for a major research university of its own until UC Merced was founded in 2005. The Valley, more than any other area in the state, is economically and educationally depressed. The wealth a world-class research university typically brings would help reverse that trend that for decades has diminished the Valley's influence in the state. When the world thinks about economic and cultural powers in California, Silicon Valley and Hollywood -- not the Valley -- are what usually come up.