USC Media and Public Relations

Featured Stories

KPCC-FM featured a $10 million gift to fund scholarships for military vets attending the USC Marshall School and USC Viterbi School. USC Trustee, alumnus and former Marine William Schoen and his wife, Sharon, made the gift. It's the latest increase to a scholarship fund they established in 1986. Another KPCC-FM story featured the gift, noting that 120 veterans at USC are on full scholarship now. USC Marshall School Dean James Ellis said veterans come out of the military with significant technology and planning skills. "Our goal is to get them back into the mainstream of the job market once they're given the education that then goes with what the military gave them," he said.

Los Angeles Business Journal reported on The Village at USC project and the benefits it would bring to the community. The development will include 5,200 beds, a half-million square feet of classrooms, 350,000 square feet of shops, restaurants, groceries, a multiplex theater, a hotel and a conference center. "What we are offering here is an opportunity to really transform the area by giving the neighborhood what it needs, what it deserves and what it wants," said USC Senior Vice President for University Relations Thomas Sayles. The story added that the project would create 4,000 permanent and 8,000 temporary jobs, with a local hiring initiative benefitting community members as well.

The Wall Street Journal featured research by Anupam Jena, a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, finding that a majority of parents don't fill their kids' asthma prescriptions. Jena and colleagues analyzed insurance claims for nearly 9,000 U.S. children between 1997 and 2007, finding medication adherence was lower when asthma drug costs increased. Jena said one reason the adherence is so low is because people with asthma don't experience daily symptoms, so they forget to fill prescriptions or think it isn't vital. Figuring out why adherence is low is "not even a million-dollar question, it's a billion-dollar question," Jena said. The story was also covered by Reuters and HealthDay News.

The Wall Street Journal highlighted research by Nathanael Fast of the USC Marshall School finding that those in power tend to condescend to their subordinates when they feel insecure about their own competence. Receiving gratitude from those same subordinates appears to reduce the critical or rude behavior. The research was published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Los Angeles Times covered the USC Dornsife/LA Times poll finding that a narrow majority of California voters support a ballot initiative to reform term limits. About 51 percent of voters favor Proposition 28, which would shorten the term limits for legislators but allow them to spend their entire tenure in one legislative house. The Orange County Register ran an editorial on the poll finding that a majority of California voters would be okay with Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative. Sixty-four percent of respondents approved of it. The poll was also covered by Associated Press (more stories here and here), UPI, Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, LA Weekly and Talking Points Memo.

The Huffington Post included USC in a list of top "dream colleges."

Computer World featured the USC School of Social Work and USC Rossier School's mobile apps, which allow students to access materials for their online classes. The apps were developed by 2tor and allow students to keep up with coursework. The story notes that the app is even more effective for tablet users, who can use it for videoconferences or to see multimedia content. "We've become a national model for social work and there's a possibility of reaching an international market," said Paul Maiden of the USC School of Social Work. The online social work program has doubled in 18 months, now reaching 1,200 students out of 3,000 total.

GOOD featured EdMonth at USC, a student-led movement and discussion on education in America. "We are trying to bring as much national attention to education, making it the 'next big thing' for our nation's youth to rally behind," said freshman Kevin Sanchez, one of the event's organizers.

Colombia Reports (Colombia) highlighted research by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the USC Viterbi School on how 3D printing could be used to quickly and affordably build housing for displaced persons. Khoshnevis recently attended TedxMedellin at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

East Valley Tribune highlighted a lecture by Tracey Fullerton of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The story noted that in 2008, Fullerton became the holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair of Interactive Entertainment, and is director of the Electronic Arts GameInnovation Lab.