UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. See more UCLA in the News.
LAUSD graduation rates met with skepticism | Los Angeles Times
“While I am pleased to see the data showing that students are doing well academically, it completely flies in the face of data that suggests students had fallen behind due to the pandemic,” said Tyrone Howard, professor of education at UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies. “It would be good for LAUSD to help the public understand the two narratives and how they coexist. ... It is a big disconnect that is hard to comprehend.” (Howard was also interviewed by KCBS-TV about the district holding “acceleration days,” approx. 1:15 mark.)
At least 2 U.S. children have died from strep A | NBC’s “Today”
Because a viral infection can make a bacterial infection more likely, parents of kids who recently had a viral illness should be vigilant about possible group A strep infections, Dr. Ishminder Kaur, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, tells Today.com.
Especially among women, alcohol abuse increased during pandemic | CNN
Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles showed pictures of alcoholic drinks to people who are and are not addicted while scanning their brains. Regions of the brain associated with craving, pleasure and reward lit up significantly more in those with an alcohol use disorder. “It’s much more of a medical and brain disease than we initially thought,” Lara Ray, a clinical psychologist who runs the UCLA Addictions Lab.
Mayor orders L.A. to speed up affordable housing approval | LAist
If the city is able to execute her directive, Bass’ order would significantly shorten existing approval timelines. A recent UCLA study found that even fast-tracked affordable housing developments near transit lines currently take nearly 500 days to secure city approval.
Experts discuss Brittney Griner’s road to recovery | Los Angeles Times
“This is a long-term recovery,” said Paul R. Abramson, a professor of psychology at UCLA who has worked with victims of wrongful detainment.” … “Whatever facilitates stability, seek it. You want to go back to your life, go back to play basketball, go back to whatever you’re doing, so you fill your time with productive things and find the strength within you.”
White House tries a new tack to combat homelessness | NPR
But identifying those most at risk of losing housing can be a major challenge. Los Angeles County is trying out a computer model, developed by UCLA, that tracks data from eight different agencies. Caseworkers reach out to those who are flagged as struggling and then spend several months offering financial assistance and other support to stabilize the situation.
L.A.’s rich scramble to sidestep new ‘mansion tax’ | Los Angeles magazine
“If potential profits go down [for developers], landowners might be incentivized to sit on their land instead of developing it or selling it to a developer,” Shane Phillips, House Initiative Project Manager for UCLA’s Lewis Center, tells the Times. “I’m not concerned for the welfare of landowners, but we have to acknowledge the economic reality that these people have choices. And we’ve made the choice to develop less compelling in some cases.”
Reactions to Twitter’s new policy | San Francisco Chronicle
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, a frequent tweeter of California weather and climate news, encouraged his 76,400 followers to refer to a post he already had up referencing his other accounts on YouTube and Mastodon. “I only have the bandwidth to be active on one text-centric social media account at a time. Currently, that is still Twitter,” he tweeted. “But I am reluctantly prepared for that to be elsewhere if my hand is forced.”
Addiction recovery prizes prompt Medicaid fraud probe | California Healthline
The federal government doesn’t have a rule limiting the size of financial awards or guidelines detailing best practices, said Richard Rawson, professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. “People don’t know where to look to understand this method, so states and providers make it up as they go along,” said Rawson, who has studied such incentives for about 20 years.
Some claim culture affects our basic visual perception | ScienceDaily
Research claims made over recent years that people of East Asian and European descent perform differently on a well-known visual perception test as a result of fundamental cultural differences may be overstated, according to UCLA psychologists. … “If culture influences even the most basic visual functions, then all studies must take into consideration the cultures of the participants and the fact that findings might not apply to other cultures,” said Zili Liu, a UCLA psychology professor and the current study’s corresponding author.
When will fusion energy be available? | Inverse
You may be wondering how nuclear fusion power compares to sources like solar, wind, and geothermal. Unlike some of these forms of power, “it can be deployed where and when you need it,” says Troy Carter, a plasma physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles. The ingredients can be sourced around the world: There’s lots of the hydrogen isotope deuterium in seawater and freshwater, and lithium from seawater can be used to make the isotope tritium.