USC Media and Public Relations

CNN ran an op-ed by Edward McCaffery of the USC Gould School about golfer Phil Mickelson considering leaving California because of high tax rates. “The problem — and it is the same problem as with Mitt’s taxes — is that we are taxing the wrong thing, in the wrong way,” McCaffrey wrote. “In sum, we tax work, not wealth. This is backward.”

ABC News’ “World News” featured research by Scott Wiltermuth of the USC Marshall School finding that the acquisition of power makes people think they’ve attained greater “moral clarity.” “We wondered if this explains some of the behavior we see in Congress, where people in power see the world in stark black and white terms,” Wiltermuth said.

Slate featured research by Stacy Smith of the USC Annenberg School and colleagues, finding that the number of female directors for films at the Sundance Film Festival stayed essentially the same over a decade. However, the story reported that women are still having trouble getting into the Premiere category. “Given that Premiere films often have higher budgets and more prominent talent attached, this downward trend in female involvement is likely due to [this festival section] moving from the independent space toward more commercial fare,” Smith and colleagues wrote.

The Verge featured research by Shrikanth Narayanan and Krishna Nayak of the USC Viterbi School, Dani Byrd of the USC Dornsife College and a colleague, studying human beatboxing with an MRI scanner. The researchers plan to study how the sounds produced by beatboxers differ from those of normal human speech. The work was also covered by Animal New York.

Los Angeles featured archival images from the USC Libraries’ Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. The collection includes the briefcase of the late Ruben Salazar, a noted L.A. journalist during the 1950s and ’60s. Salazar was the “only Latino journalist covering Latino issues that I could identify at the time,” said Felix Gutierrez of the USC Annenberg School.

The Washington Post, in an Associated Press story, quoted Thomas Anthony of the USC Viterbi School about the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification process for the Boeing Dreamliner airplane.

CNTV (China) interviewed Stanley Rosen of the USC Dornsife College about the relationship between Hollywood and China.

Bloomberg Businessweek quoted Edward Kleinbard of the USC Gould School about corporate tax breaks affecting energy companies.

KPCC-FM quoted Jody Armour of the USC Gould School about the a lawsuit filed by the family of late USC alumnus Junior Seau against the NFL.

Daily Breeze quoted David Carter of the USC Marshall School about the forthcoming Los Angeles Dodgers channel.

California Watch interviewed Lawrence Picus of the USC Rossier School about financial compensation for school superintendants.

CNET quoted USC graduate student Jason Goldman about the use of Facebook profiles in mental illness diagnoses.

ABC News New York affiliate WABC-TV stated that sportswear company Zaggora supported clinical research at USC on clothing worn while exercising.