Each year, USC programs and faculty research are highlighted in print, broadcast and online stories throughout the world. Highlights of recent news coverage are compiled by USC Media Relations.
USC in the News 6/13/2012
Featured Stories
The Wall Street Journal highlighted a study by Travis Longcore of the USC Dornsife College, finding that North American communications towers are responsible for an estimated 6.8 million bird deaths each year. Longcore's study recommended that the steady red lights used to guide pilots away from towers be changed to flashing lights, which seem to distract birds less. Last month, the Federal Aviation Association determined it would be safe to switch the lights. "Towers are nowhere near the top of the list as a source of bird mortality, but we are needlessly killing birds," Longcore said. "We are just asking towers with solid red lights on them to turn those lights off. That's pretty simple."
United Press International featured research by Daniel Lidar of the USC Viterbi School, Paolo Zanardi of the USC Dornsife College and Silvano Garnerone, formerly a USC postdoctoral researcher, on how quantum computers can improve Internet search algorithms. The researchers generated models of the Internet simulating a few thousand Web pages. The simulations showed that quantum computers could rank important pages faster than traditional computers could. "As the Internet continues to grow, the time and resources needed to run the calculation — which is done daily — grow with it," Lidar told TG Daily. The research was also covered by The Register (U.K.), MIR 24 (Russia), Ars Technica and ScienceDaily.
The Huffington Post reported that USC was included in a list of the most gay-friendly college campuses. The list was compiled by Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting LGBT-friendly environments at colleges and universities.
Scientific American ran a column about Karl Huggins of the USC Dornsife College, director of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber located at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center. Huggins has made many major contributions to diving, including a set of decompression dive tables and a decompression algorithm used in EDGE, an electronic diving computer. The column was written by USC students Kaitlin Mogentale and Nicole Matthews.
Experts Quoted
The New York Times quoted Martin Kaplan of the USC Annenberg School about TV taking over from movies when it comes to portraying real American life.
Los Angeles Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about the effects of the Los Angeles County Unified School District's shortened school year.
Los Angeles Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez taking a paid leave of absence while under investigation.
Education Week quoted Henry Jenkins of the USC Annenberg School about the "gamification" of education.
Fox Business interviewed Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School on how managers need to encourage discussion and hear dissenting views.
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV interviewed Thomas Ward of the USC Dornsife College about a spike in gang crimes in Anaheim. O.C. Weekly also quoted Ward.
Ventura County Star quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College on how California's top-two primary system incentivizes politicians to move toward the center. The Record Searchlight also cited Schnur.
The Sacramento Bee quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about Gov. Jerry Brown's approach to welfare reform.
The Bay Citizen quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about the revelation that solar panel maker Solyndra shed nearly 1,900 jobs when it closed, more than previously reported.
News at a Glance
The Huffington Post highlighted the "Easterlin paradox," named after Richard Easterlin of the USC Dornsife College, which indicates that happiness doesn't continually increase along with a country's average income.