SPPD In the News

SPPD Ranks Among Best Public Affairs Schools in U.S.
The USC School of Policy, Planning and Development ranked seventh overall among "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs, according U.S. News & World Report. In addition, SPPD also earned high ratings in several academic specialty areas.
» Read more about SPPD's rankings.

New Center to Study Immigrant Integration
The School of Policy, Planning, and Development and USC College have created a new center addressing the urgent need for knowledge about the successful integration of immigrants. SPPD Dean Jack Knott and College Dean Howard Gillman made the announcement during a recent conference, "Immigrant Integration and the American Future: Lessons From and for California."
» Read the complete article.

SPPD Students Sweep Fellowship Awards
In an unprecedented sweep, all three recipients of the William A. Carlson Fellowship award – presented by the California Redevelopment Agency in March – are current students at SPPD.
» Read the complete article.

Latinos May Help Support Economy and Social Security System, According to Myers
SPPD Professor Dowell Myers was cited in a Wall Street Journal story on Hispanic demographics in the United States. As Americans age and the baby boom generation retires, Latinos may help buttress the economy and the Social Security system, the article stated. The ratio of senior citizens to working-age people age 25 to 64 will grow to 411 seniors per 1,000 working-age people in 2030, from 250 per 1,000 in 2010, according to Myers.
» Read the complete Wall Street Journal article.

Gordon Discusses Replacing Carpool Lanes with Toll Lanes
Professor Peter Gordon wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times supporting the conversion of some carpool lanes on Los Angeles freeways into toll lanes. "[N]ot pricing road access is demonstrably unfair," Gordon wrote. "[W]e know that if price does not ration, something else will. When we refuse to price highway access, rationing of available road space is done by overcrowding, and everyone complains about the resulting congestion," he added. "Forgoing the pricing option leads to trouble, but some always believe they can resort to something 'fairer' instead. They never have."
» Read the complete Los Angeles Times article.

Melnick Examines Effects of Hospitals' Aggressive Price Hikes
Professor Glenn Melnick was quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about some hospitals that are raising prices in an effort to collect more from government programs. "One of the biggest implications of these rising charges is that while they were driven by hospitals trying to increase their revenue from Medicare and Medicaid, they have this very nasty effect of generating highly excessive prices for the uninsured," Melnick said. The high charges undermine people's faith in hospitals and health care, he added. Melnick is the Blue Cross of California Chair in Health Care Finance and director of the International Public Policy and Management (IPPAM) Program.
» Read the complete Fort Worth Star-Telegram article.

Jeffe Weighs In on Political Future of Former Gov. Jerry Brown
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe was quoted about Jerry Brown, California's former governor and current attorney general, in a recent Press-Enterprise story. Brown's possible run for governor in 2010 depends on whether he can crack down on problems at Indian casinos and simultaneously solicit tribes' political support, the story stated. "If questions are raised about the appropriateness of that relationship and they aren't responded to . . . it's dangerous for the candidate," said Jeffe, a senior fellow in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. "In politics, perception is reality."
» Read the complete Press-Enterprise article.