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.

U.S. Latino economic output surpasses $3 trillion mark | KABC-TV

Latinos are a giant powerhouse in America, and data shows just how much money they contributed to the U.S. economy. A new report by California Lutheran University and UCLA shows Latinos in the U.S. propelled the overall economy forward during the COVID-19 pandemic. (UCLA’s Dr. David Hayes-Bautista was quoted.)

Mexican music’s regional roots go from invisible to invincible | ABC News

According to Steven Loza, author of “Barrio Rhythm” and professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, regional Mexican music is a general umbrella descriptor for localized genres from Mexico like banda, norteño, ranchera, mariachi, corrido and more. He explained that many of these sounds originate from the Mexican cancion and son, two genres that came up by the 19th century.

America’s poor math skills raise alarms | Associated Press

“The advances in technology that are going to drive where the world goes in the next 50 years are going to come from other countries, because they have the intellectual capital and we don’t,” said Jim Stigler, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies the process of teaching and learning subjects including math.

Is it time for a federal gag order on Donald Trump? | Los Angeles Times

(Commentary by UCLA’s Harry Litman) It’s been clear for some time that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan will jail Donald Trump for contempt or impose other severe penalties for his behavior only if he leaves her no choice. Based on the former president’s response to the Justice Department’s motion for a limited gag order in the Jan. 6 case, it seems that’s exactly what Trump is aiming to do.

Biden makes history by joining autoworkers on the picket line | NBC News

“Biden’s visit is a symbolic win for the striking workers and organized labor more generally,” said Tobias Higbie, a labor historian at UCLA. “Last year Biden pushed a settlement in the pending rail strike that was seen as going against workers’ demands. The logic of that action suggested that Biden saw a tension between workers’ interests and the health of the wider economy, which is pretty much the employers’ message. This is a different approach.”

Does the First Amendment confer a ‘right to compute’?  | Scientific American

(Commentary by UCLA’s John Villasenor) Since late 2022, visitors to New York’s Museum of Modern Art have been mesmerized by Refik Anadol’s 24-foot by 24-foot artificial intelligence–generated artwork “Unsupervised.” It is a stunning work to contemplate, and all the more so given the realization that artists have just begun to scratch the surface on ways to use AI in their work.

Does it matter which COVID-19 booster shot you get? | Time

Looking more specifically at how the mRNA and recombinant protein vaccines work, Dr. Otto Yang, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, says there may be a difference between the two technologies in how the immune system sees SARS-CoV-2.

Californians’ struggle for clean water is getting harder | Los Angeles Times

“It’s a bit of a ticking time bomb,” said Gregory Pierce, director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab at UCLA. With new regulations slated to take effect in the next few years, many systems will need to take urgent and proactive steps or “they’ll be out of compliance and be failing.”

Playtime with dad brings kids better grades at school | HealthDay News

One theorist of child development said that play is the work of the child, and it truly is, said Lisa Cies, a child life specialist at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Cies was not involved in this study. “Children use play for so many developmental tasks. They use it to learn how to engage with others. They use it to learn about their world and just how things work. ‘Oh, if I drop this spoon off my highchair tray, what happens to it physically and then who picks it up and, oh, it’s a game,’” Cies said.

Teen boys with high blood pressure face danger later | HealthDay News

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles reviewed the findings. “Higher blood pressure is associated with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and premature cardiovascular death,” he said, adding that this study helps highlight that the increased risk can be identified in adolescents.

What are the best ways to gain weight? | U.S. News and World Report

Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center, assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and author of “Recipe for Survival,” recommends small, frequent meals punctuated with high-calorie, nutrient-dense snacks.

New York has tools it’s not using to solve migrant crisis | Bloomberg

Following a campaign by law scholars making this case, the University of California announced in May that it would grant equal access to employment opportunities to all students, including undocumented immigrants who until now have been barred from taking jobs at campus coffee shops, as research assistants or even as medical residents. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the University of California Los Angeles and one of the leaders of the effort, says he hopes the first UC hires of undocumented kids under the new policy will happen in January.