USC Media and Public Relations

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USA Today featured Bandit, a socially assistive robot created by the USC Viterbi School. Bandit motivates and corrects physical therapy patients as they carry out exercises. USC and the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center launched a study this month to compare improvements in stroke patients working with robots and those working only with humans. "It may seem counterintuitive to say, 'Do we want robots in people's lives?'" said Maja Mataric of the USC Viterbi School. "But I think that's going back to people's natures. We're very social creatures."

Los Angeles Times ran a review of "A People's Guide to Los Angeles" by Laura Pulido of the USC Dornsife College and colleagues, a historical guide to cultural struggle and social change in L.A. The guide highlights spots like the Black Panther Party's former L.A. headquarters, where the group and city police had a four-hour shootout in 1969. Pulido said that the book is the culmination of 15 years of work. "This project helped me embrace much more deeply other versions of L.A. history and geography," she said.

Los Angeles Times ran a Q&A with Craig Stanford of the USC Dornsife College, co-director of USC's Jane Goodall Research Center, about the killing of a baby chimpanzee by an adult male chimp at the Los Angeles Zoo. Stanford said that unfortunately this is something that does happen among chimps. "It could be because the male views the baby as future competition," he added. Another Los Angeles Times story quoted Stanford.

U.S. News & World Report featured a study by Tatiana Melguizo of the USC Rossier School and a colleague, finding that minority college students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields typically earn more than their peers. "The premiums for majoring in STEM fields are huge," Melguizo said.

Forbes ran a Q&A with Paul Orfalea of the USC Marshall School, a USC alumnus and founder of Kinko's. Orfalea said he was inspired to start his business after seeing the long lines of students in front of Xerox machines in university libraries. "Anywhere there's a long line, there's opportunity," he said. Orfalea overcame dyslexia and ADHD, and went on to found not only Kinko's but the philanthropic Orfalea Foundation.

Associated Press featured work by the USC Annenberg School's Innovation Lab to make the AIDS Memorial Quilt digitally accessible. The project, coordinated by Anne Balsamo of the USC Annenberg School, lets users view specific panels from the quilt and the people they are dedicated to. Users can post stories and comments alongside the online quilt.

RTT News featured work by researchers at the USC Viterbi School and other institutions, who found a way to transmit data at speeds up to 2.56 terabits per second using twisted beams of light. "You're able to do things with light that you can't do with electricity," said Alan Willner of the USC Viterbi School.

Business Insider ran a column by Ira Kalb of the USC Marshall School on the reasons for Apple's success. Kalb wrote that while the media touts the company's platform control, Steve Jobs' obsession with detail and his genius, these are all cases of selective memory. The real cause for Apple's success is its marketing, he added. "Unlike the old days when rivals positioned Apple advantages as negatives, Apple has learned to communicate its unique advantages as benefits to customers," Kalb wrote.