USC in the News 11/4/2009

Los Angeles Times highlighted USC President Steven B. Sample in an editorial stating that salaries of college and university presidents are rising but that "savvy leadership has a price." "Great university management draws great faculty, who in turn attract top students, fellowships and grants. Just look at USC, where President Steven B. Sample announced days ago that he will step down next summer," the article stated. "In his 19 years at the university, Sample built its academic reputation and oversaw the growth of its endowment by more than $2 billion. The school's national ranking in U.S. News & World Report rose from 51st to 26th among research universities as it drew more high-achieving students with merit scholarships."

Yahoo! News ran an op-ed by Susan Estrich of the USC Gould School about USC President Steven B. Sample and his tenure as leader of the university. "If you ever wonder whether sustained strong leadership can change institutions, look at USC. He did," Estrich wrote. "Steve Sample did a number of things extraordinarily well. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe his fundraising skills. There was, for all intents and purposes, no endowment before him. He was also the most enthusiastic salesman and promoter of a university that I've ever seen. He cut the size of the freshman class, raised the standards, started giving out merit scholarships to the top students, vastly expanded the faculty, rewarded entrepreneurship of the academic variety, and unleashed an explosion of energy and innovation on campus," she wrote. "He believed that a private university has an obligation to the surrounding community. Almost 19 years later, the neighborhood is up-and-coming, and the Trojan family is more diverse and more international than it ever was -- all while retaining the sense of close-knit connections that makes it unique."

KPCC-FM featured USC President Steven B. Sample, who announced earlier this week that he plans to step down next August. Under Sample's leadership, USC's endowment grew to nearly $4 billion, the university became the largest private employer in Los Angeles, admission standards were raised, and USC topped a list of higher education institutions that are most engaged with their local communities, the story reported. "Our academic standards are much higher than they were. I think we're respected at a different level, nationally," Sample said. "Once our SAT scores became higher than Berkeley's, that was the big turning point. No one believed that that could happen." KPCC-FM's "AirTalk" also interviewed Sample, who reflected on his service to the university, covering the sweeping changes made since his arrival in 1991, and the university's subsequent rise in reputation and rank. "During his time heading the university, it has made remarkable changes, becoming a much more selective university, particularly at the undergraduate level ... its number of international students has taken off," said the show's host. Sample said his chief challenges as his tenure began included strengthening the financial underpinnings of the university and raising academic quality. "We worked very hard at being able to offer students programs that our competitors could not or would not offer," Sample said, citing as examples the B.S.-M.D. program and the increased ability for students to take on varied majors and minors.

The Washington Post ran an op-ed by Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School about the Harvard National Leadership Index, which found that Americans' confidence in military leadership increased this year. "I have two interpretations of the 'high level of trust in military,'" Bennis wrote. "The first and perhaps most important is the quality of leadership development programs, especially in the three largest military academies, which provide the best leadership development programs in the country. As to the second reason, I pose the question: compared to what? It isn't only because the military has the most effective leadership development programs. It's got more to do with its comparison to the parlous leadership defects -- take Wall Street as an example -- so visible in most of the other institutions surveyed."

The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted Stanley Rosen of the USC College about the abrupt dismissal of Chinese education minister Zhou Ji. Rosen said that Zhou's new post of deputy party secretary at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Engineering, a less important but still significant post, doesn't suggest serious punishment. "It's a sign that he's a scapegoat, not that he's corrupt," Rosen said. "The shift reflects more the general problems that have plagued education for a long time rather than any particular corruption on Zhou Ji's part."

The New York Times, in a story on science museums, highlighted "Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens," a new biography of Frank Oppenheimer by K.C. Cole of the USC Annenberg School. The article urged readers to pick up Cole's "elegant new book." "Oppenheimer, Ms. Cole shows ... believed that reason and scientific insight would, in themselves, inspire certain social and political judgments," the article stated. "But by leaving the museum open to exploratory play, Oppenheimer also left its conclusions open to discovery."

Los Angeles Times featured the upcoming James Bond film festival, a Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative event organized by the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The event will pay tribute to James Bond producer Albert Broccoli with a three-day program of panel discussions and screenings and an ongoing exhibit of memorabilia. The story reported that Richard Jewell of the School of Cinematic Arts, who teaches a course in James Bond as a pop phenomenon, will be introducing screenings and hosting two panel discussions.

Forbes cited the recent Ballotwatch report from USC's Initiative and Referendum Institute. "Rejection of spending limits in Maine and Washington hint that voters may not be overly concerned with growth in government spending, despite a huge expansion in federal spending over the last year," the report stated.

Time mentioned USC in a story about educational institutions' rates for tuition, fees, room and board.

The State Journal-Register ran an op-ed by Richard Reeves of the USC Annenberg School about health care reform, using the example of a Canadian woman who has spoken out publicly against the single-payer health care in Canada. "The 'disgusting' thing from an American perspective is the low level of the health-care debate," Reeves wrote. "Or is it the gullibility of millions of Americans? The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, along with Fox News, has used the Shona Holmes story to attack health-care reform. True or not, it is interesting stuff, except for one thing: The American reforms being discussed are not at all like the Canadian single-payer system. So, Canadians, with longer, healthier lives, are yelling at Shona Holmes and laughing at us."

Toronto Star (Canada) cited research by Nathanael Fast of the USC Marshall School on the infectious nature of blame. Observing people blame others for their lack of success increased the likelihood that people would make subsequent blame attributions for their own failures, according to a paper written by Fast and a Stanford University colleague. "When people blame others for their mistakes, they learn less and perform worse," Fast said.

Manila Bulletin (Philippines) cited Warren Bennis of the USC Marshall School in an op-ed. The article described Bennis' take on the current business environment. "He speaks of a situation we have never seen ourselves in, when younger people know more than their seniors, where experience does not count much as a prescription for success, when the foundations of success are shifting from natural resources to human capital, and a very volatile economic and business environment," the story stated.

Los Angeles Times quoted Dan Schnur of the USC College about Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who is running for governor of California as a Republican. Whitman has already spent $19 million on her campaign for the election, still seven months away, the article noted. "If Whitman loses, then she recklessly overspent," Schnur said. "If she wins, then the extra money was obviously very well spent. We won't know the answer until election day."

San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that Charles Gomer of the Keck School of USC won re-election to the Glendora School Board, winning the most votes of all the candidates. "I have talked to a lot of voters in Glendora, and the thing I have heard over and over again is how proud people are of the district," Gomer said. "I ran on the record of the school district. It is easy to run on that."

NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV interviewed Michael Cousineau and David Goldstein of the Keck School of USC on health care reform. Cousineau was also interviewed in a second story on the NBC News affiliate.

Pacifica Radio Los Angeles affiliate KPFK-FM interviewed 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. "Very few solutions were being talked about on the airwaves. Much of the focus was on understanding the perpetrators better, which I think people should be doing, but there are a lot of students at Richmond High, and many teachers and community members, who did not participate in this and who condemn it," Astor said. "If given the opportunity to prevent it, I'm sure many of them would step forth and gladfully participate in that." He added that we should be asking how we can give students in high-crime communities opportunities to help improve safety in their schools and neighborhoods.

The Mercury News quoted Dan Schnur of the USC College in a story about Republican Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who is expected to launch her bid for the U.S. Senate this week in a challenge against incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. "There's a very strong populist anti-establishment mood in this country that's directed against both big government and big business," Schnur said. "This campaign ought to be a very helpful test in deciding which strain of animosity is greater."