People
Incoming USC freshman makes history as youngest U.S. woman to reach top of Mount Everest
Lucy Westlake, who started climbing mountains with her father when she was just 7 years old, reached the summit early Thursday morning.
The Wall Street Journal
Below the Hollywood sign, a once-private enclave becomes a home-buying hot spot
But Hollywoodland is also a hot spot for tourists, setting the stage for conflict between residents and visitors, notes USC Dornsife’s Leo Braudy. He’s the author of The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon.
The Guardian
‘Bossware is coming for almost every worker’: The software you might not realize is watching you
It’s not just a privacy issue: Being monitored lowers your sense of perceived autonomy, which can increase stress and anxiety, says USC Marshall Associate Professor Nathanael Fast.
New Humanist
How do we warn future generations about our toxic waste?
Saving our planet may depend on communicating with people 10,000 years from now. USC Dornsife visiting scholar Vincent Ialenti says that the speed at which language evolves will make such communication difficult. The word “internet,” he notes, would mean little to someone living in the 1970s.
Deadline.com
The Batman director Matt Reeves to deliver USC School Of Cinematic Arts commencement address
The USC alum will speak on May 13 at the Shrine Auditorium. Insecure writer-director-EP Prentice Penny will receive its Mary Pickford Alumni Award.
Los Angeles Times
What Elon Musk’s Twitter move says about social media’s political tightrope
“When I look at Twitter, I don’t see a social network, I see an information network,” says USC Annenberg’s Karen North. “It’s a network of people who are communicators, either journalists or people who act like journalists conveying information to their audiences.”
The Associated Press
For Russian diplomats, disinformation is part of the job
Russian embassies around the world are prolifically using Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to undermine the international coalition supporting Ukraine. “They must know better, but that’s what it’s like living in and working for a totalitarian regime,” said Nicholas Cull, a USC professor who studies diplomacy and propaganda.
Slate
Inside L.A.’s housing crisis, from someone who lived it
Trojan Ethan Ward reports on homelessness for KPCC-FM. It’s topic into which he has special insight: Before attending USC or becoming a reporter, he lived in his car.
LAist
California’s largest cities saw significant population decline during 1st full year of COVID
Rising housing costs in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area are chasing away both California natives and immigrants, USC Dornsife Professor Manuel Pastor says.
Los Angeles Times
Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock shows toxic masculinity boiling over
Recovering from a lifetime of toxic masculinity requires men to be mindful of the ways we have been socialized to handle anger in interactions with other men, women and genderqueer persons, Executive Director Shaun Harper of the USC Race and Equity Center notes in an op-ed.
The New York Times
What’s next for the pandemic in California?
An increase in COVID cases in 2022 should be entirely different from one in 2020, says Jeffrey Klausner of the Keck School of Medicine of USC: “We’re kind of more in the realm right now of what a typical influenza season might look like.”
The Wall Street Journal
Scream or Scream? Hollywood loves sequels so much that not even the names change
Longer, more creative titles can be intimidating to some viewers and unnecessary for others, says Associate Professor J.D. Connor of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. And adding numbers to the end of sequels can discourage viewers who haven’t already seen the previous movies.
CNN
Fall asleep faster with mental tricks that calm your racing mind
One tip: “Schedule a ‘worry time’ — a period of time outside of the bedroom, outside of sleep, to worry about the things that naturally creep in your mind at night,” says USC sleep specialist Raj Dasgupta of the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
KABC-TV
How dangerous was Russia’s nuclear plant strike in Ukraine?
Perhaps the biggest issue is the plant’s power supply, said USC Viterbi Professor Najmedin Meshkati: If off-site power is cut off, the plant could be forced to rely on unreliable emergency generators that could fail or run out of fuel. That could result in a blackout that would stop the water circulation needed to cool the spent fuel pool.
KTTV-TV
USC to co-host next debate among L.A. mayoral candidates
The Center for the Political Future at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences will join the Los Angeles Times and Fox affiliate KTTV-TV in hosting the March 22 event at Bovard Auditorium. KTTV’s Elex Michaelson and Times columnist Erika D. Smith will moderate.
Fortune
Wealthier Americans are beating inflation, but the poorest are much worse off
Not everyone experiences inflation the same way, notes USC Marshall Professor Rodney Ramcharan: Higher-income Americans can scale back more easily, but if you’re already shopping at Walmart or Dollar General, there may not be a cheaper alternative.
KABC-TV
How dangerous was Russia’s nuclear plant strike in Ukraine?
Perhaps the biggest issue is the plant’s power supply, said USC Viterbi Professor Najmedin Meshkati: If off-site power is cut off, the plant could be forced to rely on unreliable emergency generators that could fail or run out of fuel. That could result in a blackout that would stop the water circulation needed to cool the spent fuel pool.
Illuminate
Yes, it’s possible to compost in your dorm or apartment — Here’s how
USC student Sasha Hederstrom has been composting in university housing, and shares her tips.
Fortune
Wealthier Americans are beating inflation, but the poorest are much worse off
Not everyone experiences inflation the same way, notes USC Marshall Professor Rodney Ramcharan: Higher-income Americans can scale back more easily, but if you’re already shopping at Walmart or Dollar General, there may not be a cheaper alternative.
Los Angeles Times
Amid Ukraine crisis, California gas prices move even higher
A cutoff of Russian natural gas could force European countries to turn to petroleum-based fuels. That could send gasoline prices up another 10%, says USC Marshall Associate Professor Shon Hiatt.
The Guardian
Why fathers face long odds of graduating from college
Some experts think that student fathers’ graduation problems are cultural. Families often pressure men — especially young dads — to be providers, says Adrian Huerta, a USC Rossier assistant professor: “That’s where education becomes a second or third or fourth priority to everything else.”
The Washington Post
New push to censor internet porn could harm marginalized groups
History shows that anti-porn laws become weapons against LGBTQ Americans, feminists and others, writes USC Dornsife doctoral candidate Quinn Anex-Ries. (The Washington Post)
The Guardian
Why are drug overdoses rising among Black and indigenous Americans?
The staggering increase highlights the shifting dynamics and focus of the opioid crisis, long considered a white, rural issue. A key contributor is the rise of fentanyl as a replacement for heroin in most of the nation’s largest drug markets, notes Ricky Bluthenthal of the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Los Angeles Times
Dr. Dre leads giant win for hip-hop in electrifying, ambitious Super Bowl halftime show
Hip-hop finally came to the Super Bowl on Sunday when USC Iovine and Young Academy co-founder Andre “Dr. Dre” Young led a team of his closest collaborators in a festive, funky, thoroughly trunk-rattling halftime show.