USC in the News 7/21/2009

The New York Times quoted Muhammad Sahimi of the USC Viterbi School about possible disagreements within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps regarding the handling of the controversial Iranian election. "I have received reports, at least part of the top commanders in the Revolutionary Guards are not happy with what is going on," Sahimi said. "There are even reports of some who have protested." The story also cited an essay Sahimi had written about the rise of the corps.

Los Angeles Times reported that USC, UCLA and Caltech have teamed with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Clean Tech alliance, with the goal of creating a clean technology corridor along the Los Angeles River. The alliance and the resulting research will make the city the capital of the new green economy, said L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. USC is exploring the project's warehouse site for use as an institute devoted to making data centers more energy-efficient, the story noted. Xinhua News Agency (China), CW News Los Angeles affiliate KTLA-TV, and Contra Costa Times also covered the alliance.

USA Today noted that the first smaller, regional conference put on by TED ("technology, entertainment and design") was held at USC in March. The event drew a capacity crowd of 1,200 students, faculty and business leaders, who attended talks by such speakers as Melissa Etheridge, the widely carried story noted.

Los Angeles Times featured a study by the Keck School of USC on overweight youth. In a survey of 617 students aged 11 to 13, the researchers found that overweight kids were more likely to have overweight friends than were other students of normal weight. "These results have two important implications: the social contagion of obesity may start at a young age, and social affiliations by obesity status may have far-ranging consequences for adolescent development," the researchers wrote. A widely carried Indo-Asian News Service (India) story also featured the study.

Los Angeles Times, in a story about female sportscasters and sexism, mentioned an interaction between a USC football player and ESPN's Erin Andrews.

Health Magazine, in a widely carried story, featured an asthma study led by Rob McConnell of the Keck School of USC. Children with stressed-out parents and exposure to air pollution have a higher risk of asthma than those who are just exposed to air pollution, the researchers found. "These results suggest that children from stressful households are more susceptible to the effects of traffic related pollution and in utero tobacco smoke on the development of asthma," McConnell said in a widely carried story in The Herald (U.K.). The study was also featured by the Mirror (U.K.), the Daily Record (U.K.) and Asian News International (India).

Financial Times highlighted a method of "printing" houses, developed by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the USC Viterbi School. Khoshnevis' biggest machine can now produce structures roughly 33 feet wide by 98 feet long, and he has a patent on a skyscraper-printing machine, the story reported. The difficult economy has made progress somewhat slow in the real estate sector, Khoshnevis said. "The construction companies are all excited about it but they say: 'Why should I pay for testing?'" he noted. Khoshnevis' goal is to build a house for one-fifth the cost of a normal one, the article stated.

The Hindu (India) highlighted a study by the USC Annenberg School's Center for the Digital Future, which found that U.S. families are spending less time together as Internet use increases. In 2008, 28 percent of people reported spending less time with their household members as a result of Internet distractions.

Coventry Telegraph (U.K.) noted that linguist Paul Frommer of the USC Marshall School helped develop the fictional language for James Cameron's upcoming movie, "Avatar." The language is a mix of Polynesian and African dialects, the story reported.

Associated Press highlighted work by Costas Synolakis of the USC Viterbi School, in a story on a new forecast of one million deaths along the Bay of Bengal should there be a tsunami-triggering earthquake off the coast of Myanmar. Synolakis and others had earlier presented findings showing that there was a threat of a quake-generated tsunami in the Bay of Bengal, but that the worst impact would be in Sri Lanka, Synolakis said.

Reuters featured a study led by Robert Kloner of the Keck School of USC showing that fans of losing Super Bowl teams have a higher risk of death than fans of winning teams. "Death from heart attack was greater during the losing Super Bowl days," Kloner said. This story was carried widely.

The Boston Globe cited Christopher Stone of the USC Gould School in a story on whether nature has legal rights. Stone is generally credited with making the first legal argument that it does, the story stated. In 1972, he wrote a commonly cited article titled "Should Trees Have Standing?", which laid out the case for expanding rights. In one 1977 case, activists attempted to stop the killing of baby seals by arguing that the loss of seals caused aesthetic and educational damage to people. "The seals are being bludgeoned to death and somebody's saying, 'I want to be seeing seals.' That's not what it's about," Stone observed.

Wired quoted Costas Synolakis of the USC Viterbi School about a new paper suggesting that the tsunami risk along the West Coast is higher than once thought. "California, and particularly San Francisco, is most vulnerable from tsunamis originating from earthquakes in the Aleutians, among all possible tsunamis emanating from the different subduction zones around the Pacific," Synolakis said. Synolakis is director of USC's Tsunami Research Center, the story noted.

The Sacramento Bee ran an op-ed by Dan Schnur of the USC College about the state's budget woes. "It's certainly a problem that California can't balance its budget in one year, but the much bigger problem is that we won't admit that we can't," Schnur wrote. "This budget crisis is not a one-year phenomenon, but rather the culmination of several years of fiscal irresponsibility, each year's unacknowledged deficits being piled on top of those that came before. So it's unrealistic to pretend that the entire $26 billion problem can be solved at once."

The San Diego Union-Tribune featured Kevin Starr of the USC College and his new book, "Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963." Starr contrasted that period, in which politicians were adept at compromise, with state politics today. "California is on the verge of becoming a failed state, ... the first failed state in America," he said. "We're talking about a big crisis coming up because people can't cut deals. The voters turn down all the propositions and say you guys do the job." Starr's next volume in the series will deal with 1964 through 1980, the story reported.

Star-Tribune reviewed "A Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson" by Peter Mancall of the USC College. "Mancall's knowledge of early Atlantic explorers is not thin ... and his facility with primary sources is astounding," the reviewer wrote. "The story of Hudson's last voyage becomes, in his experienced hands, a lucid, fascinating lens into early Atlantic explorations."

Albany Democrat-Herald featured a new study by scientists from USC, Oregon State University, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Colorado at Denver, and the Oregon National Primate Research Center. The researchers identified a possible reason why oral contraceptives are less effective in obese women. It takes an average of twice as long for oral contraceptives to reach therapeutic potency when obesity is a factor, and thus obese women who recently started on the pill may become pregnant, the researchers found.

The Cincinnati Enquirer quoted Todd Boyd of the USC School of Cinematic Arts about African American comedian Tyler Perry. Boyd lamented the buffoonish characters in Perry's movies and TV series, the story stated. "Tyler Perry has gone backwards," Boyd said.

Maeil Business Newspaper (South Korea) highlighted USC's participation in a campus being built at the Incheon Free Economic Zone in South Korea. USC is among the universities expected to sign formal agreements to launch courses on the campus, the story reported.

Public Agenda (Ghana) noted that USC Center on Public Diplomacy Web resources are among the findings when one Google-searches the topic of public diplomacy in Africa.

Metro quoted Karen Sternheimer of the USC College about the differing reactions to Michael Jackson's death. "While there are certainly millions of fans from all walks of life mourning [Jackson's] passing, the meaning ascribed to his life can differ based on the cultural lenses through which people see him," Sternheimer said. "While many fans might have not thought of race as a salient issue in his celebrity, for others race might play a bigger role."

The Orange County Register reported that a professor affiliated with UC Irvine and USC was the victim of a vandalism attack by animal rights activists. The Orange County Register also ran a second story on the subject.

Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate about the failed Newhall Ranch development, a poor investment choice which cost the California Public Employees' Retirement System almost $1 billion. "I would have said that Newhall Ranch was going to be a winner," Green said. "If I thought that at the time, criticizing others for doing the same would be unfair." This story was carried widely.

CBS Radio Philadelphia affiliate KYW-AM featured a USC project which will use text messages to encourage obese teens to exercise. The project will be deployed to roughly two dozen high school kids by the end of the year, the story reported.

The Star-Ledger reported that Richard Meyer of the USC College was scheduled to speak at the symposium "Art in Depth: Andy Warhol," to be held at the Newark Museum. Meyer would address Warhol's admiration for low culture as a way to understand his creative legacy and continued relevance to contemporary art and curatorial practice, the story noted.

The Sun quoted Priscilla Wohlstetter of the USC Rossier School about the impact of the tough economy on charter schools. "Charter schools have the cost of running the school, plus they have the issue of revenue sources drying up," Wohlstetter said. "They're feeling the heat because one, there is more cost involved in charter schools and two, their revenue sources don't have as much money." This story was carried widely.

Daily Breeze reported that during the 1984 Olympic Games, gymnasts were housed in the USC dormitories.

Daily Breeze quoted Michael Brennan of the USC Gould School about a convicted murderer who is claiming he should be spared execution because he is mentally disabled. Brennan said he wasn't aware of any California case in the last seven years in which the death penalty was overturned because of a mental retardation finding.