USC Media and Public Relations

Featured Stories

The Washington Post featured the new USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, co-founded by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the USC Price School. Schwarzenegger has committed to funding the institute with a $20 million gift, the story reported. NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV ran an op-ed endorsing the new institute. "Universities all over the world would have happily grabbed him, and USC did L.A. a public service by keeping him at home," wrote author and scholar Joe Matthews. "Schwarzenegger should be able to draw speakers and thinkers and students and money to L.A. that otherwise might not have come." The institute was also covered by a second story in The Washington Post, The Guardian (U.K.), Kronen Zeitung (Austria), Wiener Zeitung (Austria), Politiken (Denmark), JydskeVestkysten (Denmark), ANSA (Italy), Lenta (Russia), RT (Russia), Antara News (Indonesia), CNN, Slate, two Associated Press stories (second link here), Reuters, Asian News International, San Francisco Chronicle, Voice of America, CBS News Los Angeles affiliate KCBS-TV, two stories in The Sacramento Bee (second link here), Los Angeles Business, GlobalPost, Inquisitr and FishbowlLA.

The New York Times reviewed "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox" by Lois Banner of the USC Dornsife College. "Banner presents a rich and often imaginative narrative of Marilyn's life," the review stated. "By the end, Monroe feels at once like an earthly being — an almost-friend — and an enigma, still slightly out of focus and just beyond reach." The story noted that last year Banner published "MM — Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe," a collection of memoranda found in filing cabinets formerly owned by the star. "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox" was also covered by Daily Mail (U.K.), Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, L.A. Weekly and The Record.

Latino California featured the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), noting that two of this year's graduates, twin brothers Jesus and Arnulfo Moran, are going to Harvard University and West Point. Their mother, Miriam Moran, said she began to cry when she learned about their admission. NAI's goal is to prepare low-income students in the neighborhoods surrounding USC to go to college and experience the same educational opportunities as other students, said Kim Thomas-Barrios, executive director of the initiative. Students who complete the program and are accepted to USC receive full four-year scholarships. Latino California ran an op-ed about the Morans, and how parental involvement makes the difference for immigrants trying to achieve their dreams.

NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV featured USC TRiO, a college preparatory program for area high school students who will be the first in their families to go to college. For the past six weeks, the students have been living in USC dorms and taking courses in USC classrooms. The program targets students from high schools that have high dropout rates. "You would classify them as disadvantaged in that respect, but they're really not, because they're smart, and thriving and ready to learn," said Theda Douglas, USC associate vice president for government partnerships and programs. The story reported that of the students who complete the program, 95 percent go on to four-year universities.

Inside Higher Ed featured the Delphi Project, a partnership of the USC Rossier School and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which has released a report on the need for a better higher education model to support students. Adrianna Kezar of the USC Rossier School, director of the project, said that the current system has a significant problem regarding adjuncts. "How can we better working conditions [for adjuncts] that can improve student learning?" she said. "This is an effort to look at the whole system." Thirty higher education experts are collaborating on the project.

Hoy featured The Village at USC, stating that the project will provide housing for 5,000 USC students and create 12,000 jobs. The development will also feature a shopping center and a movie theater, the story noted.

Los Angeles Times highlighted KUSC-FM, noting that the station will air the Los Angeles Philharmonic's summer Hollywood Bowl concerts. Ten of the season's broadcasts will air beginning August 11, with KUSC-FM Producer Brian Lauritzen serving as host.

NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV ran a column by Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School about the political affiliations of California and Texas. "The reality is that, in California, the Tea Party has not been the force it is in other states — like Texas — where it is helping to firm up the GOP base and supplying needed grass-roots organization and funding," Jeffe wrote.