USC Media and Public Relations

Los Angeles Times ran an editorial supporting The Village at USC, a development project that will include retail and housing for students. The story stated that the plan will provide thousands of new beds for students, relieving pressure on local housing stock while enhancing the students’ university experience. “No big university can fully control its impact on a neighborhood,” the editorial stated. “But USC and its neighbors are offering a good template for how to work together so that both communities thrive.”

City News Service featured a $25 million gift by Leonard D. Schaeffer, Judge Robert Maclay Widney Chair and Professor at USC, to benefit the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, run jointly by the USC Price School and the USC School of Pharmacy. “As health care assumes an increasingly prominent place in public policy discussions, the USC Schaeffer Center will play an even more central role, while offering a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective,” said USC President C. L. Max Nikias. “Leonard Schaeffer has demonstrated a life-long commitment to relevant, evidence-based health policy research,” said Dana Goldman of the USC Price School and the USC School of Pharmacy. The center’s researchers have analyzed preventive care, insurance competition, the fiscal futures of Social Security and Medicare, and malpractice claims. San Fernando Valley Business Journal also featured the gift.

The Wall Street Journal highlighted the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab’s Twitter sentiment analysis tool, which has studied more than 40 million tweets. The political season has given the research team new opportunities, including analyzing the presidential debates. “If we can crack through political sarcasm, everything else will be easier,” said Jonathan Taplin of the USC Annenberg School. His team and a crowd-source volunteer crew help by labeling certain tweets as sarcastic. Sarcasm “is one of the toughest problems in computing,” said Shrikanth Narayanan of the USC Viterbi School.

CBS News Los Angeles affiliate KCBS-TV featured research by USC Dornsife College Dean Steve A. Kay on the body’s natural rhythms and peak times for completing certain tasks. Kay said that the best time for exercise is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., while the best time to negotiate a deal is 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Negotiating involves a particular brain region, he explained. “It requires our ability to read how another person is reacting to us, and that is best just after we get up.”

L.A. Observed reported that Alice Schoenfeld of the USC Thornton School, a professor of violin instruction and performance for more than 50 years, made a gift of $3 million to create the new Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Symphony Hall at the USC Thornton School.

U.S. News & World Report featured research by Eric Rice of the USC School of Social Work and colleagues, finding that teens with smart phones are more likely to have sex and meet others online for sex. Healthline reported that 47 percent of students with smart phones said they were sexually active, versus 35 percent of those who didn’t have a smart phone. “As society is starting to be more comfortable with online dating, with adults meeting each other through partner-seeking websites, it’s important to understand the extent to which teenagers are adopting these behaviors as well,” Rice said. The research was also covered by Forbes, Daily Mail (U.K.), Indo-Asian News Service, Kompas (Indonesia), Newsbeast (Greece), two stories in The Inquisitr (second link here), KPCC-FM’s “On Central” and Fox News West Palm Beach, Fla., affiliate WFLX-TV.

Salon featured work by Maja Mataric of the USC Viterbi School and USC postdoctoral student Eric Wade on Bandit, a robot designed to help stroke victims. The appeal of Bandit is that people respond to him and are encouraged to keep working toward their recovery, the story noted. “People will try to hug the robots,” Wade said. “There is a vast gap in human care for all ages and various special needs. The notion that people should do the caring is not realistic,” Mataric said. “There simply aren’t enough people.”

Los Angeles Times cited the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, which found that negative ads have eroded support for a proposition requiring labeling of genetically modified food. Los Angeles Times cited the poll and quoted John Matsusaka of USC’s Initiative and Referendum Institute about slipping support for Proposition 30. The poll was covered by another Los Angeles Times story and San Jose Mercury News.

The Baltimore Sun ran an op-ed by J. Patrick Whelan of the Keck School of USC and a colleague about health policy’s effects on economic competitiveness. “The economic competitiveness of the United States, which undergirds our military strength, is critically dependent on solving the challenge of rising health care costs, as President Bill Clinton discovered when the new movement toward health care capitation (the HMO revolution) was a major factor in the remarkable economic expansion of the 1990s,” Whelan and colleague wrote.

DailyFinance featured research by Richard Green and Gary Painter of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and a colleague, finding that children growing up in owner-occupied homes do better in school. The children of homeowners also appear to be 5 percent less likely to experience teen pregnancy.

Los Angeles Times quoted Martin Kaplan of the USC Annenberg School on whether the movie “SEAL Team Six,” depicting the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, will influence the presidential election.

The Globe and Mail (Canada) quoted David Carter of the USC Marshall School about the NHL’s plan to cancel the Winter Classic.

Bloomberg Businessweek quoted Preston Marshall of the USC Viterbi School about President Obama’s goals regarding sharing of airwaves. Marshall helped write a presidential advisory report on the subject.

Entertainment Weekly quoted Stanley Rosen of the USC Dornsife College about Chinese and Korean directors seeking crossover appeal in America.

The Huffington Post cited Margaret Gatz of the USC Dornsife College regarding the impact of isolation on the elderly.

KPCC-FM’s “Take Two” interviewed Thomas Hollihan of the USC Annenberg School about political ads for the presidential candidates and for state propositions.

KPCC-FM interviewed Courtney Brunious of the USC Marshall School about TV distributors signing a deal with Time Warner Cable to broadcast Los Angeles Lakers games.

KCET-TV interviewed Estela Bensimon of the USC Rossier School about Proposition 30 and community colleges.

La Opinion quoted Paul Urrea of the Keck School of USC about the age at which children are mature enough to transition from glasses to contact lenses.

EmaxHealth ran an interview with Steven Mittelman of the Keck School of USC about obesity being linked to leukemia risk.

Financial News (U.K.) mentioned that USC alumnus George Lucas’ Lucasfilm Foundation gave $175 million to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006. Business Insider and DailyHerald also ran stories.

The Huffington Post mentioned that tech company 2U helped develop online master’s programs at the USC Rossier School and the USC School of Social Work. The USC Rossier School’s Master of Arts in Teaching program received the 2011 International Award for Innovative Practices, the story noted.

HealthDay News covered research by Edy Soffer of the Keck School of USC, analyzing electrical stimulation treatment for unresolved reflux symptoms.

International Business Times cited a report by Mark Latonero of the USC Annenberg School about online sites tied to human trafficking.

KPCC-FM highlighted research by Pia Pannaraj of the Keck School of USC finding that school-based vaccination programs result in fewer sick children and higher attendance rates.

The New Paper (Singapore) mentioned that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger founded the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy.

Long Beach Press-Telegram mentioned that Arturo Aguayo, USC director of liquidity/financing, will receive the Long Beach Community Hispanic Association’s Humanitarian Award.

The Orange County Register highlighted research by USC and other universities on California’s public education issues.

Truthdig ran a column by Richard Reeves of the USC Annenberg School about the issue of race in the 2012 presidential campaign.

EmaxHealth covered “The End of Illness” by David Agus of the Keck School of USC.

Morning Sentinel highlighted an event with Josh Kun of the USC Annenberg School on the sonic resonance of place, space and identity.

Education Week reported that Katherine Strunk of the USC Rossier School provided input on a report about the strength of U.S. teacher’s unions.

EmaxHealth noted that Arnold Kegel, inventor of the Kegel exercise and perineometer, was a professor of gynecology at the Keck School of USC in the 1940s.

Quill & Quire (Canada) mentioned that Vanessa Ruth Schwartz of the USC Dornsife College is a juror for this year’s Cundill Prize in History at McGill.

Bloomberg Businessweek mentioned that USC issued century bonds in 2011.

Metro (U.K.) mentioned that actor Bryan Cranston visited the USC Dornsife College’s Department of Chemistry to prepare for his role as chemistry teacher Walter White on “Breaking Bad.”

Inc. mentioned that Aaron Levie, co-founder of Box, founded the company while he was a student at the USC Marshall School.