USC Media and Public Relations

Featured Stories

The New York Times featured the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, co-founded by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the USC Price School. The story reported that Schwarzenegger will head the institute's board of advisers, which will include former Mexican President Vicente Fox. The institute will focus on finding bipartisan solutions to civic problems, including education, energy and environmental issues. Schwarzenegger will hold the position of Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC, named after the only other immigrant governor of California, John G. Downey. "From the time we immigrated here we always thought about what can we do for the state of California," Schwarzenegger said.

The Economist cited USC as a university that is thriving despite tough economic times, highlighting the school's $6 billion fundraising campaign and The Village at USC project, which will create 12,000 jobs in the local economy. "We have taken on a broader role," said Thomas Sayles, USC senior vice president for university relations. "We want to be a civic leader." The story noted that USC has more international students than any other American university and highlighted the new USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the USC Price School.

Los Angeles Times ran a column by K.C. Cole of the USC Annenberg School about the science behind human errors. The column cited research by Antonio Damasio of the USC Dornsife College finding that it can take up to six seconds for the brain to process a complex emotion.

Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about Mitt Romney's potential appeal with Jewish voters. Though Jews tend to support Obama, Romney could make inroads with the Jewish community through his strong support of Israel. Roughly 10 to 15 percent of Jewish voters have indicated an openness to support Romney, which "would not allow Romney to win anything close to a majority of Jewish voters, but it could provide his campaign with opportunities in key swing states such as Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania," Schnur wrote.

Los Angeles Times profiled KUSC-FM Producer Brian Lauritzen. "He's a sponge — he learns very quickly, at the producing level, the announcing level — at every level. Brian is an artist — he still plays the cello — so he gets creative people," said USC Radio President Brenda Barnes. Lauritzen said that, when he's hosting his show, he tries to set a scene for listeners using the orchestra tuning and applause when the concertmaster comes out. "Vin Scully once said that what he does to evoke the image of baseball is to make the ballpark atmosphere enticing," Lauritzen said. "If I can get one person into the concert hall, it's been worth it." The story noted that Lauritzen's show includes answers to listener questions by USC Thornton School Dean Robert Cutietta.

CNN ran an op-ed by Edward Kleinbard of the USC Gould School and a colleague about Mitt Romney and the "Son of Boss" tax shelter scandal of the '90s. "Son of Boss" was a prepackaged tax shelter used by Marriott International when Romney sat on the company board's audit committee. "Romney approved the firm's reporting of fictional tax losses exceeding $70 million generated by its Son of Boss transaction," Kleinbard and colleague wrote. "His endorsement of this stratagem provides insight into Romney's professional ethics and attitude toward tax compliance obligations." The op-ed was cited by two CNN stories (second link here), ABC News, PBS News' "NewsHour," The Boston Globe, National Journal and Business Insider.

Daily Mail (U.K.) featured research by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the USC Viterbi School, who theorizes that 3-D printing could be used to provide simple, mass-produced homes to replace Third World slums. The homes would be "printed" in layers, in as short a period of time as 24 hours. The technology could also be used to build structures on the moon or Mars. "The nature of the technology means it will also be possible to create curved walls and architecture that is both 'exotic' and 'beautiful,'" Khoshnevis said. The work was also covered by Press Trust of India (India), Sina (China), Panorama (Italy), Polskie Radio (Poland) and SmartPlanet.

The Globe and Mail (Canada) highlighted research by Kirk Snyder of the USC Marshall School finding that employees working for openly gay managers reported 25 percent higher engagement. "Everyone who's out of the closet has gone through a process of navigating unexpected territory and avoiding land mines. It's a developed skill that absolutely lends itself to entrepreneurial acumen," Snyder said.

CNN ran an op-ed by Elyn Saks of the USC Gould School about living and working with schizophrenia. She wrote that despite decades of struggle, including multiple hospitalizations, she has a successful career as a law professor and a strong support system. "Everything about my illness says that I shouldn't be here," Saks wrote. "But I am." She added that excellent treatment, supportive family and friends and a supportive workplace at the USC Gould School have been critical in allowing her to live her life so freely.

Inside Higher Ed highlighted a new book written by Douglas Thomas of the USC Annenberg School and a colleague. "A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating Imagination in a World of Constant Change" emphasizes the need for play in the classroom, in contrast to formalized testing.

VentureBeat featured SMASH, a program that gives low-income high schoolers a chance to study math and science at USC and other schools. The summer program was created to promote education for minority students in California.

The Huffington Post ran an op-ed by Edward Kleinbard of the USC Gould School, responding to an op-ed by former White House press officer Ari Fleischer about a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on tax rates. Kleinbard took issue with many of Fleischer's points. "I want to defend the honor of the CBO itself, since by virtue of its mission it is not able to respond directly to gross distortions of its work product," Kleinbard wrote.