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 7/14 to 7/16/2012
Featured Stories
The Chronicle of Higher Education reviewed "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox," a biography of Marilyn Monroe by Lois Banner of the USC Dornsife College. The book investigates Monroe as a post-feminist figure. "Banner's version is more complete, more sensitive, more entrenched in archival data than any before, and yet the 'real Marilyn' remains elusive, as she always will," the story stated. The biography draws on Banner's 10 years of archival research, which she also used to produce the book "MM — Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe." Banner said that the new book acts as a corrective to the traditional views of Monroe as a dumb blonde, exploring her radical politics, her spirituality and her concern over racial strife. The Buffalo News also reviewed "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox."
The Chronicle of Higher Education featured Kenneth Hayworth, a former USC graduate student who is searching for a way to preserve the human brain and have it digitally uploaded to a computer. Hayworth began his studies at USC in 2003 and joined the lab of Irving Biederman of the USC Dornsife College, where he conducted fMRI research on the human visual system. "It was immediately clear to everyone in the department that Ken is an extraordinary engineer, scientist, and deep, creative thinker," Biederman said.
USA Today highlighted USC Viterbi School graduates who are staying in the Los Angeles area to work at local tech startups, in what's become known as "Silicon Beach." Ashish Soni of the USC Viterbi School, executive director of Digital Innovation, said in the past, many graduates would go straight to Seattle or San Francisco. "Our vision for the school is to support the local ecosystem and our community, so this is fabulous," Soni said. "The frequency of students staying in Los Angeles has definitely grown over the last two years."
Los Angeles Times reported that dentists from the Ostrow School of USC will participate in a dental care service effort for homeless veterans in Compton. Ostrow School dentists are participating in the Stand Down project for the second year in a row. USC dentists have also cared for vets in Northern California and on campus. "On our first trip, we were just blown away by the degree of dental need among the veterans," said Thomas Levy of the Ostrow School. Santosh Sundaresan of the Ostrow School, director of the USC Mobile Dental Clinic, said that dental and eye care problems are hidden issues for homeless vets. "There just isn't much public perception that these are problems," he noted.
CNN ran an op-ed by Madhu Thangavelu of the USC Viterbi School about the need for a U.S. Department of Space to oversee international space exploration. Such an agency would prevent logistical headaches by coordinating global space projects and private space companies, Thangavelu wrote. He noted that a USC team project presented a case for a Department of Space operating with a budget of $60 billion, of which NASA should have $20 billion. "It is possible for small companies like Aerovironment or SpaceX to innovate and field systems at a fraction of the cost and overhead of larger corporations," Thangavelu wrote. He added that the USC graduate students he works with are more comfortable with the changing world of space exploration — for them, "the globe is smaller and vibrant with possibilities."
Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Neal Gabler of the USC Annenberg School about millennials losing interest in older films. Gabler wrote that for the younger generation, movies aren't art — they're more like fashion, something that serves a social purpose and can be bonded over, but which changes from season to season. "What this points to is that movies may have become a kind of 'MacGuffin' — an excuse for communication along with music, social updates, friends' romantic complications and the other things young people use to stoke interaction and provide proof that they are in the loop," Gabler wrote.
Columbia Journalism Review featured Geneva Overholser of the USC Annenberg School as one of 40 women who have changed the media business in the last 40 years. Overholser is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former editor of The Des Moines Register.
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV ran a column by Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School about corruption in California cities and how the cities contrast with the fictional town of Mayberry from "The Andy Griffith Show." "The culture of responsibility, at least for the public good, has withered," Jeffe wrote.
Experts Quoted
The New York Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about proposed reforms to the office of the presidency.
Los Angeles Times quoted Malancha Gupta of the USC Viterbi School on the likelihood of Canada's plastic money melting during everyday use.
Los Angeles Times quoted Robert Hernandez of the USC Annenberg School about the social media celebrity of "Glen Bearian," a bear spotted around Glendale.
Los Angeles Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about political partisanship damaging both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Reuters quoted Jill McNitt-Gray of the USC Viterbi School on how Olympic gymnasts perform midair twists.
The Atlantic quoted Andrew Lih of the USC Annenberg School about the difficulty of becoming a Wikipedia administrator today.
Al Jazeera quoted Josh Lockman of the USC Gould School about the legal implications of the Syrian conflict being declared a civil war.
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV interviewed Erroll Southers of the USC Price School about security at the 2012 London Olympics.
The Plain Dealer quoted David Carter of the USC Marshall School about sports leagues wanting to avoid going dormant in order to maintain fan interest.
News at a Glance
Los Angeles Times mentioned a mural painted in the children's wing of the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.