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.
Most mask guidelines for vaccinated are lifted | Los Angeles Times
“I am very excited that we have reached this momentous time when those who are fully vaccinated can now get back to virtually pre-pandemic activities without concern of disease themselves,” UCLA medical epidemiologist Dr. Robert Kim-Farley said. “However, they still need to realize that if they are around unvaccinated people that may be vulnerable — the elderly, those with medical conditions — they still need to practice caution in that setting.” (Also: UCLA’s Anne Rimoin was quoted by Insider.)
How to safely reopen schools | KPCC-FM’s “Take Two”
“I think there is still a lot of hesitancy on the parts of some communities, about whether or not it’s time to come back. You know, some communities have been particularly hard hit by COVID, and still feeling the effects of that. There’s uncertainty about safety,” said UCLA’s John Rogers (approx. 2:00 mark).
“I think there’s a larger elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. Which is the fact that in many communities — in this state, Black and brown families in particular — schools weren’t that great, prior to the pandemic. Schools didn’t serve them adequately, prior to the pandemic,” said UCLA’s Tyrone Howard (approx. 4:12 mark).
UCLA receives grant to fund innovations for health equity | Scienmag
UCLA Health has received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to scale healthcare innovations for COVID-19 response and recovery and to support health equity through BioFutures, a new LA County workforce development program for diversity in the biosciences. (UCLA’s Desert Horse-Grant, Jennifer McCaney and Johnese Spisso are quoted.)
Handling work stress in the age of COVID | Medium
(Commentary co-written by UCLA’s Pouran Faghri) Research has shown, long before the pandemic, that work stressors (sources of stress at work) including, high job demands, low job control, long working hours, and imbalance between efforts and rewards, can negatively impact mental and physical health. During the pandemic, many of these work stressors have intensified including lack of social support (due to lockdowns and social distancing) and balancing work and family life, especially for working families with very young school-age children.
The case for quoting the n-word in university classrooms | Washington Post
(Commentary co-written by UCLA’s Eugene Volokh) We believe that the campaign to make certain words taboo — literally unsayable — dangerously encroaches on academic freedom and freedom of expression. It also diminishes the opportunity for students to learn lessons useful to their future professional careers and to their roles as citizens. (That is true both of racial slurs and of other slurs.) Any word emerging in court proceedings should be repeatable in a law school classroom.
Why society is obsessed with what older women wear | USA Today
Juliet A. Williams, a professor at UCLA’s Department of Gender Studies, says, the image of a carefree, confident woman who is playful with her look is “threatening in our society” because it signals “breaking free of the constraints of beauty.” These constraints can influence how women dress, how they speak and what they say, which leads to the “persistent subordination of women,” according to Williams.
Why are some zebras being born without stripes? | CBC Kids News
Brenda Larison, an assistant adjunct professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that as the population has decreased, more and more zebras with abnormal patterns are popping up in some areas. “The ones that we studied have spots on the saddle or [a] kind of faded area on the saddle instead of stripes.” She said there are other types of abnormal patterns that look even stranger.
A possible cure for ‘bubble baby’ disease | Forbes
In the SCID study, the UCLA and Great Osmond researchers used these same viral vectors, called lentivirus vectors, in their treatment. They removed blood-forming stem cells of each patient, then used a disabled AIDS virus to insert the healthy genetic material the patient was lacking. When the cells were returned to the patient through an intravenous infusion, the retrovirus did its trick with the new material — replicating quickly throughout the body, essentially curing the child of the disease. Whether the cure will last a lifetime is still to be seen, but at least at the three-year mark the results are very encouraging.
Chile constitution could set new gender equality standard | Guardian (U.K.)
Aleta Sprague, a legal analyst at the World Policy Analysis Center [at UCLA], said the assembly has “a lot of potential” for gender equality: the new constitution will be the first drafted in the wake of the global #MeToo movements and a wave of feminist activism across Latin America, which has led to protests against femicide and in favour of legal abortion across the region. “At this moment, there’s a growing recognition of the full range of rights (necessary) to securing gender equality,” she said, citing women’s bodily autonomy and freedom from violence as examples.
5 reasons to consider chaga mushrooms | The Healthy
The findings are intriguing: White blood cells are the body’s main defense against viruses and bacteria, according to Dana Hunnes, Ph.D., senior dietitian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. They help your body fight off bacteria and viruses, keeping you healthy. The same research found that chaga mushrooms reduced and prevented the production of cytokines, which are markers for inflammation.
California drought brings major wildfire concerns | CNN
“There’s no sugar coating it. It looks like fire season 2021 is going to be a rough one in California, and throughout much of the West, unfortunately,” warns Daniel Swain, climate scientist for UCLA and The Nature Conservancy. “A combination of factors — including short-term severe to extreme drought and long-term climate change — are in alignment for yet another year of exceptionally high risk across much of California’s potentially flammable landscapes,” Swain says.
UCLA Architecture and Urban Design’s summer programs | Archinect
This summer, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design’s notable summer programs welcome individuals interested in exploring design and learning introductory skills in architecture in a new virtual format. By offering two programs created for high school students and adults, the Teen ArchStudio and JumpStart programs provide participants with a glimpse into studio culture at one of the leading public universities in the world in addition to earning University of California (UC) course credit. (UCLA’s Julia Koerner was interviewed.)
Americans facing unprecedented utility debt | Grist
A new report from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles measured the extent of the debt that has accumulated in unpaid bills for families in Los Angeles struggling to keep the lights, gas, and water on through the pandemic. The report, which used public data collected by the California State Water Resources Board about Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in November 2020, found that one-quarter to one-third of households in Los Angeles have utility debt.