Trojan brings a reformer’s zeal to government service
As director of the Dream Keeper Initiative, Saidah Leatutufu-Burch is leading efforts to promote prosperity in San Francisco’s Black communities.
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Joel Curran appointed USC’s senior vice president and chief communications officer
The public relations and higher education innovator looks forward to leading communications that support the university’s world-class research.
Advancing computer vision one pixel at a time
What happens when a rabbit jumps in front of a self-driving car? Perhaps nothing bad, thanks to research from USC Viterbi’s Information Sciences Institute and the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Happy birthday, Tommy! Trojan Shrine was unveiled 93 years ago
The icon, modeled after a number of USC football players, represents the five qualities of a Trojan: faithful, scholarly, skillful, courageous and ambitious.
Musical numbers: The deep relationship between music and math
USC experts explain how math and music intertwine in creative expression — from Coltrane’s Circle of Tones to the shared skills required for both.
U.S. News & World Report
Legal pot: More potent than ever, largely unregulated
Some states cap the number of ounces or grams consumers are allowed to buy — but even a little cannabis can amount to a lot of THC, said Rosalie Liccardo Pacula of the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Today.com
Are makeup wipes doing more harm than good?
With makeup wipes, “you’re wiping things on the skin to get the oil, makeup and dirt off,” says dermatologist Nada Elbuluk of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “But you’re leaving some of the residue from the wipes on the skin. And that’s something that needs to be cleansed off as well.”
SciTechDaily
Why some people feel lonely, even in a crowded room
A study led by USC Dornsife’s Elisa Baek found that lonely individuals process the world around them differently than other people.
The New York Times
Want to make a change? Consider your ‘possible selves’
If you’re dreaming of a different career, enroll in a course, shadow someone, take up a hobby or a side job. Making the transition “requires you to say now, today, this week, these are the steps I can actually take” to attain that goal, says USC Dornsife’s Daphna Oyserman.
Los Angeles Times
On eve of Festival of Books at USC, L.A. Times Book Prizes presented in ceremony at Bovard Auditorium
Among the winners were widely known historians and journalists, including biography winner Beverly Gage, for G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, and Dahlia Lithwick, whose Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, won the current interest prize.
U.S. News and World Report
How to teach young people about antisemitism
Teachers and parents can look for age-appropriate resources — such as the that USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education prepared in partnership with Nickelodeon.
Los Angeles Times
‘Against their will’: Proposed law would make it easier to detain people with mental illness
A section of the bill cites the inability to attend “to necessary personal or medical care” and “to self-protection or personal safety” as evidence of grave disability. But Elyn Saks of the USC Gould School of Law asks, “What constitutes personal care? And how do we distinguish mental illness from eccentricity or neurodiversity? Who makes that determination?”
The New York Times
What is the ideal retirement age for your health?
Some people can’t continue to do manual labor at age 65, says Dean Pinchas Cohen of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. But for workers in knowledge-based fields such as management, business and finance, education and health care — some 45% of us — a retirement age under 65 “makes no sense.”
The New York Times
Geothermal power, cheap and clean, could help run Japan — so why doesn’t it?
“It’s domestic, it’s renewable — it’s all the things Japan needs,” USC Dornsife’s Jacques Hymans says. But across the nation, local governments have introduced new restrictions.
Los Angeles Times
How I helped TV’s ‘Perry Mason’ find the real Latinx L.A.
USC Dornsife’s Natalia Molina describes her work as a historical consultant on the HBO series, which is set in 1930s Los Angeles.
USA Today
Is there an alternative to statins for high cholesterol?
Some people can’t take statins because of side effects. “If they go home and don’t take it, it’s not doing any benefit,” said cardiologist Eugene DePasquale of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “It’s really important to have an alternative.”
(USA Today)
NPR
Hollywood gets wildfires all wrong — to the frustration of firefighters
A study from the climate change storytelling consultancy Good Energy and USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center found less than 3% of the more than 37,000 analyzed movie and TV scripts written between 2016 and 2020 made any reference to climate change. But scenes featuring discussions about climate change or fire control methods, such as raking leaves off a lawn, don’t exactly make for scintillating screen time.
After years of uncertainty, members of the Class of 2023 finally enjoy their moment in the sun
COMMENCEMENT: Family and friends fill the University Park Campus as a record 20,000 degrees are conferred. It’s a day to remember.
Baccalaureate speaker Rick Caruso: ‘I see a resilience in you’
COMMENCEMENT: The USC trustee shares very personal stories of life, faith and overcoming adversity.
Graduating computer science student develops empathetic robots for therapy
COMMENCEMENT: Chris Birmingham was inspired by his own health crisis.
Enterprising Trojan empowers student entrepreneurs
COMMENCEMENT: Graduating USC Viterbi senior Sarah Hakim helped create Trojan Marketplace, a student-run market featuring exclusively Trojan-owned small businesses.
Trojan’s love letter to Central Asia makes you the hero of Kyrgyzstan
COMMENCEMENT: In tribute to his homeland, graduating computer science student Omar Uraimov unveils first video game set in Kyrgyzstan at USC Games Expo.
High-flying Frisbee ace is on a path to research
COMMENCEMENT: Mork Class of 2023 senior and USC Ultimate Frisbee captain Hari Sridhara recently won a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship.
Public relations grad crafts multimedia campaigns for music, health policy and more
COMMENCEMENT: Progressive degree graduate Jonathan D’Aguilar creates a diverse portfolio of work, including his own music brand and a health policy campaign for the USC Schaeffer Center.
The watchwords for one master’s graduate and future diplomat? Try, and try again
COMMENCEMENT: Bella Chavez is headed to the Philippines for an internship in public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
Double-major looks to make a difference coupling communication and politics
COMMENCEMENT: Hunter Hinson talks about the people and experiences that have left a mark on him, a thesis that earned him the prestigious USC Discovery Scholarship Distinction and Prize, and where the future may take him.
Top industrial and systems engineering student is fierce advocate for mental health
COMMENCEMENT: After overcoming a difficult sophomore year, Claire Barbrack is passionate about speaking out on mental health issues and raising awareness of eating disorders.
Specialized journalism graduate pursues his passion for photography
COMMENCEMENT: To reach his goal of becoming a conflict photographer, Yannick Peterhans realized he had to become a better journalist and utilized a master’s degree in specialized journalism to get there.
Military veteran wants to change the world with better communication
COMMENCEMENT: Former U.S. Navy Blue Angels team member Amber Lynn Scott, who is receiving her doctorate this week, became interested in studying high reliability organizations for her dissertation to make a positive impact for military and first responders.
It’s a whole new world for digital media management graduate Kelley Chan
COMMENCEMENT: During a 3-month-long trip across Southeast Asia, she is finishing up her last class as she prepares to graduate from the Digital Media Management online master’s program.
USC Price student switched careers to give back to the community
COMMENCEMENT: MJ López, a soon-to-be Master of Public Administration, helps young people from disadvantaged communities develop soft skills and find jobs.
Heavy drinking poses even greater risk for 1 in 3 Americans
A USC study shows that metabolic syndrome — a cluster of conditions that raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other health problems — more than doubles the risk of advanced liver disease among heavy drinkers.
With operatic flourish, activist Dolores Huerta and younger cousin receive USC doctorates on same day
COMMENCEMENT: Hers is an honorary degree; his is a doctorate of musical arts. The conferral is a prelude to an operatic interpretation of Huerta’s remarkable life, which the composer calls “a microcosm of loss and perseverance.”
How to write a commencement address
COMMENCEMENT: Natalia Molina, keynote speaker at USC Rossier’s doctoral hooding, discusses crafting a commencement address, the importance of the humanities and writing history from the bottom up.
Latina doctoral candidates are first in their families to pursue PhDs; now they’re set for USC graduation
COMMENCEMENT: Online retreats provided strong connections and mutual support during daunting years of study, research and writing.
Immigrant adults with liver cancer have higher survival rates than those born in the U.S.
Research from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center identifies a previously unrecognized disparity in survival after a diagnosis of liver cancer across all major racial/ethnic groups.
Valedictorian Isha Sanghvi targets health inequity post-commencement
COMMENCEMENT: While at USC, the Bay Area native maintained the nonprofit she founded in high school and co-founded an organization that improves health equity for unhoused people.
Can AI teach your child perseverance?
A team of researchers including USC’s Emmanuel Johnson has been awarded a $20 million grant to fund a new artificial intelligence institute focused on AI in education.
Graduating human biology major creates opportunities for North Korean refugees
COMMENCEMENT: USC Dornsife senior Woori Lee established a nonprofit that provides aid and resources to individuals like her grandfather who fled the authoritarian nation.
How their mother’s love helped scholars bloom
In celebration of Mother’s Day, USC faculty members reflect on the ways their moms encouraged and inspired their academic careers.
Salutatorian Liam Tsao continues branching out of his comfort zone to take on new challenges
COMMENCEMENT: The USC Dornsife senior hopes to use his social policy experience in legislative work or community organizing before going to law school.