UCLA In the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription to view. See more UCLA In the News.
The sound of one shrimp snapping | New York Times
In the mid-1980s, Peter Narins, a neuroethologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, observed that the coqui frogs living in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains were different according to altitude. The farther up the mountain he traveled, the cooler the air became and the bigger the frogs grew. And the calls of the male frogs, which use a two-note chirp to defend territory and attract mates, varied accordingly. “The calls of the little guys at the bottom of the mountain were high-pitched, rapid calls, kind of squeaky little calls,” Dr. Narins said. “And as you went up the mountain, they became lower and lower pitched, and they became longer and longer, and they produced them slower and slower.”
Can predictive models about the pandemic be trusted? | Los Angeles Times Opinion
(Commentary written by UCLA’s Ron Brookmeyer) Much of the news about COVID-19 includes projections about where the coronavirus pandemic may be going. Many of these predictions are at great odds with each other, likely causing many to ask: How do prediction models work and can they be trusted?
How could we coax people into taking a coronavirus test? | New York Times
In March, Andrew Atkeson, an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, tried to assess the mortality rate from the new coronavirus based on what is known about its spread... He was missing one critical number: the infection rate in the general population. Three economists — Magne Mogstad and Alexander Torgovitsky of the University of Chicago and Andres Santos of U.C.L.A. — have devised a technique to provide it, by figuring out how to coax even people who believe they are healthy into taking a test for the coronavirus.
Some parts of California are pushing to lift stay-at-home rules earlier | Los Angeles Times
There are situations in which a tailored, nuanced approach may be appropriate by region, said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. First, counties would need to show there’s adequate testing available, and there’s plenty of hospital capacity. And cases, hospitalizations and deaths would need to be declining consistently before loosening the rules can begin. “So if they start to take away some of these physical distancing measures, they have some room, if you will, to start a little bit of [coronavirus] growth upwards without overloading their system,” Kim-Farley said.
The need to invest in a preventive health workforce | The Hill Opinion
(Commentary co-written by UCLA’s Jody Heymann and Aleta Sprague) As COVID-19 cases worldwide soar past the 2 million mark, every health leader is calling for the same three things: increased testing, contact tracing and quarantining of those who’ve been exposed. Alongside their clear necessity for reducing disease spread, these steps are critical to our ability to reopen the economy and keep it open once we do. But one key question remains unanswered: Who is going to put this plan into action?
What will COVID-19 mean for academic freedom? | Forbes
John Villasenor, professor of electrical engineering, law, and public policy at the University of California–Los Angeles, said it best in a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education, titled “Why I Won’t Let My Classes Be Recorded.”
Conservative activists promote protests of stay-at-home orders | Kansas City Star
Edward Walker, a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles has researched astroturfing extensively. He defines it as public activism that includes three elements: some sort of material incentive, like paying protesters; hiding the source of financial or infrastructure support; and some type of fraud like identity theft. He said this movement doesn’t exactly fit that definition. Still, Walker said the protest efforts appear to be highly organized with centralized coordination in creating websites and social media presences.
What items you need for your stay-at-home emergency kit | Fox Business
“Washing your hands with soap and water is actually very effective in disinfecting your hands, even just regular old soap that doesn’t have any kind of antibacterial properties,” Dr. John Mafi, an assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA told FOX Business.
College students shop for senior citizens free of charge | KNBC-TV
Eljie Bragasin is a molecular biology student at UCLA and joined a growing group of college students volunteering to do essential shopping runs during the coronavirus pandemic. Bragasin believes the small gesture shows seniors that they aren’t alone.
What if next flu season coincides with COVID-19 pandemic? | ABC’s “America This Morning”
“The flu plus COVID-19 at the same time, that’s a one-two punch. So we’re lucky, this year the COVID-19 arrived in March, which was the end of the flu season,” said UCLA’s Dr. David Eisenman.
Coronavirus could make mental health issues worse for Asian Americans | Philadelphia Inquirer
“When people are treated unfairly, it can create a stress response called allostatic load,” said Gilbert Gee, a professor in the department of community health sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California Los Angeles. “Allostatic load can impair the body in many ways, such as weakening our immune systems.”
Los Angeles has the worst air quality in the country | KPCC-FM
“There are many megacities in the world that have better air quality than we do because they have different geographies,” said UCLA’s Suzanne Paulson.