COVID delta variant rise looms as K-12 schools prepare to reopen
USC experts assess the impact of the variant on school reopenings and employee vaccination mandates as the country attempts to curb outbreaks and avoid more pandemic shutdowns.
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Kendall Ellis wins bronze in the mixed 1600m relay; several Trojans advance
Ellis ran the second leg for U.S. team in the new event. A USC track and field athlete has now won at least one medal at every Summer Olympics since 1904, except for 1908 when no Trojan competed.
USC scientists explore the regenerative potential of the inner ear
Overcoming a newly identified natural barrier to sensory cell regeneration may be a first step in returning inner ear cells to a newbornlike state.
USC at the Tokyo Olympics
Learn more about the Trojan Olympians we’re all cheering for this year and get details on how and when you can watch (all events are being livestreamed online):
This track star is heading to the Olympics — and getting his master’s from USC
Isaiah Jewett, who will be a part of the men’s track and field team in Tokyo, is earning his online degree in project management to pursue another career goal: working in the anime industry.
USC beach volleyball star primed for Olympics breakout
Kelly Claes and her partner, Sarah Sponcil, have already made history as the youngest duo to represent the U.S. in beach volleyball. Now, they’re ready to show the world why they deserve their spot.
Alumni bring athletes’ Olympic stories home to NBC local stations
Brad Luck and Fernando Hurtado talk about the differing paths that took them from USC Annenberg to Tokyo.
Record number of USC athletes — the most of any university — headed to Tokyo Olympics
In its history, USC has sent more athletes to the Olympics and won more medals and gold medals than any other U.S. university, with a Trojan winning a gold in every Summer Olympics since 1912.
Celebrating 5 remarkable Trojan Olympians — past and present
Learn more about Nia Ali, Jeff Float, Katinka Hosszu, Felix Sanchez and Louis Zamperini, all of whom call USC Dornsife their academic home.
What would the ancient Greeks think of an Olympics with no fans?
A USC professor of classics thinks they’d find it absurd: The ancient Olympics were never solely about the athletes, but about an experience shared by all who attended.
The Wall Street Journal
Social media manager — the most millennial of jobs — comes of age
Some social media veterans have been at their jobs for 15 years at this point and have unprecedented sway. “These jobs are way beyond entry-level positions now,” says USC Annenberg’s Daniela Baroffio.
KCBS-TV
Is it a cold or COVID? How to react to similar symptoms
Among vaccinated people, symptoms of a common cold and COVID-19 are similar, notes Anjali Mahoney of the Keck School of Medicine of USC: “So even if you have symptoms, mild symptoms, I wouldn’t assume that it’s a cold. I would assume you need to get tested and quarantine.”
Forbes
Why employee well-being in becoming non-negotiable
“Customization and personalization is how HR will evolve now and in the future,” says USC Bovard College’s Solange Charas. “Organizations that aren’t actively embracing an employee-centric business model will soon find that their competitive advantage will erode.”
Forbes
Americans don’t understand their Social Security benefits
Nearly 1 in 4 people said the benefits they received at retirement were substantially different than what they expected — usually dramatically less, notes Maria Prados of the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.
MarketWatch
How the wealthy use debt as a tool
Wealthy individuals use debt as a financial strategy, which USC Gould’s Edward McCaffery says runs counter to how nearly everyone else thinks about it: “They’ve been trained since birth, they’ve been trained in the womb, ‘Never a borrower nor a lender be, debt is bad, debt will cripple you.’ ”
BBC News
UFOs: ‘These objects show physics we don’t understand’
“Many of us suspect there’s a lot more going on that we are not privy to,” USC’s Madhu Thangavelu says of the U.S. government’s recent report on UFOs.
Insider
Reasons you keep getting those mysterious bruises
USC’s Sharon Orrange notes that blood thinners like aspirin keep blood from clotting easily or quickly. That allows for more blood to leak out, making it appear as if you have larger bruises.
The New York Times
Why young adults are among the biggest barriers to mass immunity
Many young adults are forgoing COVID-19 vaccines for a complex mix of reasons. “For the younger generation, we now really have to build the case for them to be vaccinated,” said Sarah Van Orman, USC Student Health’s chief health officer. “I think we have a long ways to go for that.”
The Washington Post
Champlain Towers parking garage flooded often before collapse, residents and ex-worker say
“Obviously it was something wrong,” USC Viterbi’s Henry Koffman said, “especially if that engineer came out two years ago and said that there are problems and it just wasn’t properly addressed.”
BBC
The push to penalize big corporations that have huge pay gaps
More than any other country, the U.S. has a long history of both requiring CEO pay disclosure and trying to effect change around dramatic pay ratios. But USC Marshall’s Kevin Murphy notes that those attempts have all done more harm than good.
Yahoo News
How the sun can damage your eyes
The sun can be more damaging to the eyes than many realize — and the damage adds up, says Assistant Professor Annie Nguyen, an ophthalmologist with the USC Roski Eye Institute.
USA Today
Why rainbow capitalism can be harmful to LGBTQ people
Big brands roll out Pride-related merchandise each June — but USC Dornsife’s Karen Tongson says that needs to be backed up with substantive action. Otherwise, Tongson says, “it’s not going to make any difference because people are still going to suffer the same injustices.”
USC hires its first chief sustainability officer
Mick Dalrymple fills a cornerstone role for a university that’s aiming for zero waste and carbon neutrality by 2028.
USC collaborates in $20 million effort to push new frontiers in AI and optimization
The NSF Artificial Intelligence Institute for Advances in Optimization will fuse AI and mathematics to tackle tough challenges, such as food security, supply chain operations and hardware design.
A group’s moral values may help determine the likelihood of hate-motivated harmful acts
USC Dornsife researchers use geospatial modeling and psychological experimentation to predict “extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice” — malicious acts motivated by hate or bigotry.
From survival to revival: Mapping the road to a better future after COVID
The pandemic has upended lives around the world. USC experts consider: Where do we go from here?
Tokyo Olympics take center stage amid global uncertainty
After a one-year delay due to COVID-19, the Tokyo Olympics kicked off last week. USC experts discuss the Games’ public perception and possible health ramifications for their host city.
Community input helps shape advisory board recommendations to enhance public safety at USC
The report from the Department of Public Safety Community Advisory Board recommends steps aimed at strengthening trust between the university, DPS and the broader community and making security more equitable.
Bringing prisoners and students together as classmates
Residents of the California Institution for Women joined a class on memoir writing alongside USC students, facilitating empathy and new perspectives on prison.
Electric propulsion: The future of sustainable aviation
USC researchers have been awarded a new NASA grant to make air travel cleaner, greener and more adaptable.
Trojan Santo Condorelli wins silver with Team Italy in 4×100 freestyle relay at Tokyo Olympics
It’s USC’s first medal in this year’s Games and the first Olympic medal in Condorelli’s career.
USC researcher investigates environmental pollution’s contribution to birth defects
Jian Xu hopes to better understand the mechanisms behind environmental toxins increasing the occurrence of birth defects in order to develop new treatments or even prevent craniofacial birth defects.
As Raiders CEO-turned-TV analyst, Amy Trask leans on lessons learned at USC
The USC Gould alum and first female CEO in NFL history now finds herself raising formal objections on CBS Sports.
Olympic skateboarder pushes the boundaries for women and girls in her sport
USC alum Amelia Brodka will be in the thick of things when skateboarding makes its first appearance as an Olympic sport.
COVID-19 vaccination mandates for employees and students are effective against virus spread
Private sector influence plus a market demand for mandates will likely overcome state laws that have limited vaccine requirements thus far, a USC study finds.
Alum breaks down barriers for Latinos interested in law
As executive board president of the Mexican American Bar Foundation, employment attorney Nina Huerta has taken on the charge to help diversify the law profession.
The risks of antidepressant use during pregnancy
USC researchers are investigating how a popular antidepressant interacts with pregnant women’s genes to cause craniofacial birth defects.
Latinos are more likely to die from COVID-19, underlining racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes
Though the study of racially diverse Medicaid patients indicated disproportionate risk among Latinos, USC researchers say it can’t be explained by higher rates of poverty or underlying health factors like obesity.
Taking farm-to-table from Hollywood to Bollywood
Inspired by California’s vibrant food scene while at USC, alumna Shriya Naheta now delivers fresh, organic produce to thousands of customers across India.
COVID-19: Indoor masking required, effective immediately
USC is now requiring masking indoors for all individuals in university facilities, including vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
Could mapping tiny hairlike structures help treat lung illnesses?
With a $2.3 million NIH award, USC researchers will study how cilia behavior and structure impact their function, a key in improving diagnostics and treatments for lung illnesses like COVID-19.
Experimental album explores how the U.S.-Mexico border will sound in 200 years
Created by USC Dornsife fellow Jonathan Leal and producer Charlie Vela, the album celebrates the musical traditions of the Texas borderlands — and warns of the potential impact of climate change.
2 USC Gould alums make an impact with high-profile careers on the bench
A focus on others and on being of service has shaped and determined the careers of Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Ellen Biben.
Thanks to new meters, wasted water will be a thing of the past at USC
To detect leaks and promote sustainability, the university is installing ultrasonic submeters on dozens of older buildings and cooling towers.
Trojan lobbies for safer and healthier food in jails through Agents of Change
During an internship with the ACLU, undergraduate Alyssa Matias successfully worked for dietary improvements for incarcerated people in county jails, gaining real-world legal skills in the process.
Dana Goldman takes on deanship at USC Price School of Public Policy
Long a leader at USC Price, Goldman has served as interim dean since last year. He’ll head the school as rapid change creates pressing demands for public policy research and scholars.