USC in the News 10/31 to 11/2/2009

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that USC President Steven B. Sample, who has led USC since 1991, plans to step down next August. The story stated that during Sample's tenure, USC reached a number of milestones that have improved its academic prestige, civic engagement and financial footing, including the growth of its endowment from $460 million to a high of $3.7 billion in 2007, and a rise in the U.S. News & World Report college rankings from No. 51 to No. 26. "It's a time for fresh leadership," Sample told the Los Angeles Times. "I don't mean to sound self-congratulatory, but we've had a good run. And so, why not quit while you're ahead? I think I'm still pretty high-energy compared to most university presidents. But I think a new president might bring a lot more energy, and that would be great." Sample added that he was proudest of the improvements made in USC's undergraduate course offerings and the academic quality of its students, achieved partly by cutting the size of the freshman class and increasing the selectivity of the university's admissions. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, described Sample as a towering figure in American higher education and "the perfect example of the benefits to a university that derive from long, continuous service by a leader." Sample, who currently teaches a course called "The Art and Adventure of Leadership" with Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School, said he would like to continue teaching part-time after stepping down. Ed Roski, chairman of the USC Board of Trustees, said that USC Executive Vice President and Provost C.L. Max Nikias would be a candidate for the position, but that the search for a new president would be open and thorough. The announcement was also covered by Inside Higher Ed, the Associated Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, United Press International, Los Angeles Daily News and Buffalo Business First.

The Chronicle of Higher Education highlighted Jerry Lucido, USC vice provost for Enrollment Management and Policy, in a story on how colleges are organizing their efforts to improve retention. Lucido spoke about this topic at recent a session of the College Board Forum, presenting data from a survey conducted by USC's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice in partnership with the College Board Study on Student Retention and the Project on Academic Success at Indiana University at Bloomington. The survey found that while nearly three-quarters of colleges had a designated retention coordinator, that responsibility worked out to an average of about a third of one full-time job. Scott Schulz, program director of the Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, said that having a person designated as the retention coordinator whose full-time job is not to organize retention efforts may be a way for colleges to say they are paying attention to the problem without actually doing much.

The Chronicle of Higher Education featured a study by Adrianna Kezar of the USC Rossier School and Rossier School graduate research assistant Cecile Sam. The research found that if adjunct faculty members want to improve their working conditions, they might be better off focusing less on bread-and-butter concerns and more on securing their place at the table. The study examined 30 North American colleges and concluded that adjuncts had made the most progress at colleges where they tried to transform the campus climate to be more inclusive of them, rather than simply fighting to change one employer practice at a time. Kezar said she was surprised at the extent to which mobilization was hindered by adjunct faculty members themselves, many of whom had absorbed the negative images that full-time faculty members had of them and didn't think they deserved better working conditions.

The Washington Post ran an op-ed by Mary Sarotte of the USC College about the reunification of Germany. "Once events make their passage from news of the day into history books, it is hard to imagine that they could have happened any other way. They're history, after all. And 20 years later, the fall of the Berlin Wall seems like that kind of history -- a world-changing event that we commemorate and celebrate, its heroes and villains well established, its images and significance clearly comprehended," Sarotte wrote. "But the real story of the wall coming down is a lot less tidy than it may appear in the rear-view mirror. The 'decision' to open the border was not a conscious choice at all. Instead of a reassuring victory for the forces of freedom, it was a chaotic and potentially violent mess." The Washington Post also ran an online Q&A with Sarotte in which she discussed her upcoming book, "1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe."

CNN ran an op-ed by Ron Avi Astor of the USC School of Social Work about the recent case in which an alleged high school gang rape was observed by bystanders who did nothing to stop the crime. "Research shows us that students often know ahead of time when and where violence will flare up on campus. Strong social networks and the widespread use of cell phones and text messaging rapidly convey such information," Astor wrote. "This dynamic can fuel violence, as officials say it did at Richmond High School. It can also prevent violence. Thousands of potential school crimes, including violent ones, have been averted on campuses across the country because students alerted school officials before the crime occurred. ... Unfortunately, the public is largely unaware of these frequently heroic acts by high school students and their teachers because they don't often get national media attention."

The New York Times quoted John Matsusaka of USC's Initiative and Referendum Institute on debate as to whether the names of petition signers for a Washington State anti-gay-marriage initiative should be made public on the Web. This debate is so new that its broad implications remain unclear, Matsusaka said. The fact that the Internet is involved makes the disclosure potentially much more potent, he added.

The New York Times quoted Naj Meshkati of the USC Viterbi School about the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their destination last week. "What happened in the case of Northwest is one of the perils of cockpit automation," Meshkati said.

The New York Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC College about the lack of major Democratic candidates for California governor to run against Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown. "A lot of Democrats want to be governor," Schnur said. "They just don't want to run against a candidate with 103 percent name recognition and all the money he will ever need to run a campaign."

The New York Times cited Karen Sternheimer of the USC College in a story on schools that are preventing or discouraging students from doing sexually suggestive moves at school dances. Parents will always find something to object to when it comes to kids and music, Sternheimer has said. She also pointed out that the increase in suggestive dancing in recent years corresponded with sharp declines in teen sexual activity, pregnancy and rape.

Los Angeles Times featured the USC West Semitic Research Project, which documents texts and objects from ancient Israel and the Near East. The project uses cutting-edge lighting and imaging techniques that are credited with revolutionizing the study of ancient texts, the story stated. Over the last three decades, the USC project has produced thousands of sharp images of inscriptions and other artifacts, such as Dead Sea Scrolls and papyri written by Jews in Egypt. "A picture is worth a thousand words," said Bruce Zuckerman of the USC College, who founded the project. "Sometimes big issues in history can turn on the interpretation of a single letter."

The Chronicle of Higher Education included USC in a list of educational institutions' rates for tuition, fees, room and board.

The Chronicle of Higher Education included Stephen Ryan of the Keck School of USC in a list on the compensation of former officers at private colleges.

The Washington Post reported that actor Dennis Hopper is being treated for prostate cancer through a special program at USC. United Press International, the New York Post, The Miami Herald, The Arizona Republic, The Kansas City Star, The Columbus Dispatch, The Capital and La Opinion also covered the story.

The Washington Post quoted David Carter of the USC Marshall School about a plan by businessman Ed Roski, chairman of the USC Board of Trustees, to house a new NFL team in City of Industry, Calif. "He has the land and he has the complete clearance and the green light to move his stadium forward. No one else has that," said Carter, who has consulted on this and other NFL stadium proposals.

The Times (U.K.) quoted Nicholas Cull of the USC Annenberg School and Tara McPherson of the USC School of Cinematic Arts about the proliferation of Western TV shows. Cull said that the U.K. series "Pop Idol" has given many people in the Middle East their first taste of voting. "Today they cast their votes in popular entertainments, tomorrow they could be demanding to vote for their leaders," Cull said. Television can provide teachable moments, such as when a bully is defeated by a community of schoolchildren, McPherson added.

U.S. News & World Report, in a HealthDay News story, highlighted work by Zhong-Lin Lu of the USC College and colleagues which demonstrated the workings of a curveball in baseball. Their animation of the curveball took first place in the Best Visual Illusion of the Year contest, the story noted. When batters try to gauge their approach to the ball, they must make a mid-swing switch between peripheral and central vision, the researchers found. "Physically, there is no such thing as a breaking curveball," Lu said. "It's mostly in the hitter's mind." Chicago Sun-Times also featured the work.

Houston Chronicle quoted John Matsusaka of USC's Initiative and Referendum Institute in a story about a movement to allow ballot measures in Texas. Initiatives and referendums can only influence state and local governments, Matsusaka noted. "Because the tea party movement is largely focused on federal taxes and spending, I don't see it having a big [effect] on efforts to bring the initiative and referendum to states like Texas," Matsusaka said. "If the Texas government becomes the target of tea party protests, however, I could imagine that providing fuel to those pushing initiative and referendum."

The Washington Times cited research by Michael Cousineau of the Keck School of USC. The study, a collaboration between USC's Center for Community Health Studies and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, found that L.A. taxpayers would save $20,000 a year in public services for every homeless person moved off the streets and into permanent housing.

Los Angeles Times quoted Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropping out of the California gubernatorial race. "Voters are a little chary of electing another novice," Jeffe said. "Where are you going to get that experience? In one of those six-year Assembly people who have nowhere else to go? I don't think so."

ABC News Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV featured research by Jaimie Davis of the Keck School of USC which found that eating just a little more fiber could have a big impact in trimming belly fat, which is the type of body fat associated with the most risk. The young people who upped their fiber intake for the study experienced a 4 percent decrease in belly fat, while those who ate less fiber saw a 21 percent increase.

Los Angeles Daily News reported that experts from USC, Cornell University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are helping the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power determine the causes for the recent surge in water main breaks.

Contra Costa Times mentioned USC in an article about Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell, who is a contender to replace former LAPD Chief William Bratton. The article reported that on the night of his selection as finalist for the top spot, McDonnell kept his appointment to appear at a USC Annenberg School graduate class. The story cited USC graduate student Kevin Grant, who reported from the Annenberg School's Neon Tommy newsroom that McDonnell told the class he expects to step into a very difficult budget situation if he is named chief.

Contra Costa Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC College in a story about San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropping out of the California gubernatorial race. "Running for another constitutional office would be a very smart career move," Schnur said. "He's still a young man and serving four or eight years in another office would certainly give him plenty of time to run for governor or U.S. Senate."