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 10/30/2012
The New York Times featured “The Pivot,” a documentary by Mike Chinoy of the USC U.S.-China Institute about the U.S. turning its attention to the Asia-Pacific region. This latest in a series of documentaries produced by Chinoy features a range of American diplomats and scholars with experience in the region. Chinoy said that the re-emphasis on that region is largely seen in mainland China as an attempt to contain it.
The Wall Street Journal’s “MarketWatch” featured research by Richard Green and Gary Painter of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, finding that children growing up in owner-occupied homes do better in school. “Does buying a home make you a better person? No, but the discipline associated with saving for even a small down payment and subsequently managing a house is, on average, associated with the discipline needed to promote better outcomes for children,” Green said.
EFE (Spain) featured “Mission: Admission,” a Facebook-based game developed by Zoe Corwin of the USC Rossier School, Tracy Fullerton of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and colleagues. The game is designed to teach high school students how to prepare and apply for college. Corwin said that the team developed the game because for many first-generation and low-income students, applying to college can be an intimidating and overwhelming process. Fullerton added that especially in light of the high number of college students per counselor in many schools, game-based learning allows young people to learn about college earlier.
MundoFox Los Angeles affiliate KWHY-TV featured the 10th annual Bridge to Health Fair, a free event hosted by USC and White Memorial Hospital that brings health education to local Latino communities. Cesar Armendariz, director of USC Health Sciences Campus Community Outreach, said that screening services for osteoporosis and diabetes and cholesterol testing were made available, as were flu vaccinations. The Ostrow School of USC offered free dental exams, and the USC School of Pharmacy offered consultations. A team of roughly 150 pharmacy students and teachers administer all the vaccines and examinations, Armendariz said.
Reuters highlighted the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, which found that support for Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 has dropped to 46 percent. “Jerry Brown has successfully convinced Californians that putting additional money into public schools is a good thing, but he has not yet convinced them that the state government can spend the money effectively,” said Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College. The poll was covered by another Reuters story, KPCC-FM, NPR News San Diego affiliate KPBS-FM and The Salinas Californian.
Variety featured a forum hosted by the USC Gould School, which included a Q&A with 20th Century Fox CEO Jim Gianopulos. The forum was part of the 2012 Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, which included several daylong panels about entertainment business affairs and the legal community. The Hollywood Reporter also covered the event.
Bloomberg Businessweek ran a column by Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School about Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Institute. Bennis wrote that this program is “redefining the arc and concept of a lifelong professional education,” granting fellows access to a broad range of faculty, the opportunity to audit most of Harvard’s graduate and undergraduate courses, and various other campus resources. Bennis wrote.
The Denver Post highlighted the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab’s Twitter sentiment analysis tool. Jonathan Taplin of the USC Annenberg School said the sentiment analysis tool allows researchers to study interest in movies before they come out. Taplin’s lab also analyzed up to 2,000 tweets a second to assess responses during the presidential debates. “We’ve built a natural language processing engine, which takes every word in the sentence of every tweet and tries to understand the overall sentiment of the tweet,” Taplin said.
NPR News’ “Science Friday” highlighted the artificial intelligence work taking place at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. One computer reads blogs and makes real-world associations; for example, if there is more information about car accidents on rainy days, the computer can learn that those things are correlated.
L.A. Observed ran a Q&A with Andrew Allport of the USC Dornsife College about his collection of poetry, “The Body | Of Space | In the Shape of the Human.” Allport said that the manuscript changed after the unexpected death of his father in 2008. “Instead of starting a new manuscript, which might have been less effort, I began replacing poems, and the book gradually shifted in tone as the feeling of elegy took over, becoming darker and more emotionally direct,” he noted.
Financial Times (U.K.) quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about California’s role as a trendsetter and what that means if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative passes.
Agence France-Presse quoted Jody Agius Vallejo of the USC Dornsife College about Latinos’ role in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Bloomberg Businessweek cited Dowell Myers of the USC Price School, John Pitkin of USC’s Population Dynamics Research Group and a colleague, who predicted that nearly 70 percent of Latinos who came to the U.S. during the ’90s will own a home by 2030.
Asian News International quoted Karen North of the USC Annenberg School about the addictive nature of Facebook.
NPR News’ “All Things Considered” interviewed Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School about presidential leadership.
NPR News San Diego affiliate KPBS-FM interviewed Kevin Starr of the USC Dornsife College about ballot initiatives being driven wealthy private investors.
U-T San Diego quoted Pedro Garcia of the USC Rossier School about school superintendants’ salaries.
McClatchy Newspapers quoted Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School about women focusing more on the economy than on women’s issues during the 2012 presidential election.
KQED-FM interviewed Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about California voters’ reluctance to vote for Propositions 30 and 38.
Evansville Courier & Press cited Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School regarding newspaper endorsements in presidential campaigns.
North County Times quoted Anne Crigler of the USC Dornsife College about political advertising sponsored by Rep. Brian Bilbray.
The Hill quoted Dan Schnur of the USC Dornsife College about House Speaker John Boehner attending a political fundraiser.
The Washington Post, in an Associated Press story, cited USC’s Initiative and Referendum Institute about the ballot measures up for vote on November 6.
Chicago Sun-Times cited a report by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC and Mexico’s Colegio de la Frontera Norte, finding an apparent rise in the number of migrants crossing illegally into the United States. The report was also covered by The Press-Enterprise and Hispanic Business.
Bloomberg Businessweek cited a study by the USC Marshall School and the University of Michigan’s Ross School finding that Norwegian mandates regarding female representation led to younger, less experienced corporate boards.
Daily Herald highlighted a study by the Keck School of USC, the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and the University of Chicago on the effect of vitamin B6 among women with breast cancer.
Reuters mentioned that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger founded the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. Postmedia News (Canada) and Metro (U.K.) also ran stories.
BBC News (U.K.) ran an op-ed by USC graduate student Jason Goldman about animal species that enjoy dancing.
PBS News’ “MediaShift” ran an op-ed on election data by USC Annenberg School doctoral student Mark Hannah.
Chicago Sun-Times mentioned that director and USC alumnus Robert Zemeckis helped found USC’s Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. Star-Tribune also mentioned the center.
Wired mentioned USC research on humor.
LAist mentioned that the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar was held at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library this past weekend.
Deseret News ran a photo of Elyn Saks of the USC Gould School, author of “The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.”
Arizona Daily Star mentioned that Martin Kaplan of the USC Annenberg School appeared on PBS News New York affiliate WNET-TV’s “Moyers & Company.”
San Francisco Chronicle mentioned that the Wheelz car-sharing service is available at USC.