UCLA scholars described the latest Hollywood Diversity Report findings as a “wake-up call for domestic film studios” in an article for Forbes. The report, released just ahead of the 98th Annual Academy Awards, analyzes the state of diversity in Hollywood using data across various media. The study was also featured by the Los Angeles Times, Variety, TheWrap and LAist. Read more about UCLA in today’s NBC News, Bloomberg Law and other outlets. 

More highlights from UCLA in the News: March 12, 2026

Federal distrust prompts moves to protect polling places | Associated Press

Any state measures intended to counter federal election law will face legal hurdles because of the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law supersedes state law. “It could set up a direct clash between state governments and the federal government. We don’t know exactly how that’s going to go,” said Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law. “Given the supremacy clause, there’s only so much states can do.” (Hasen was also featured by PBS.)  

Left wing answer to the Federalist Society is trying to rebuild | Bloomberg Law

Scott Cummings, a University of California, Los Angeles, law professor who’s spoken at chapter events, said [the American Constitution Society] needs to prioritize what speaks to upcoming generations of lawyers in this moment “as the world shifts so dramatically and mainstream institutions are being tested.”

Most LA voters undecided about mayor’s race | Los Angeles Times

“This is a wide open race,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a former city council member and LA County supervisor who runs the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “The general narrative [of the poll] is that the mayor is not popular for somebody going into reelection, but the majority of people have not made up their mind whether they’ll come back to her or go to someone else.”  

Chinatown, a place for outlandish yearnings, improbable dreams | Los Angeles Times

(Commentary by UCLA’s Xuan Juliana Wang) I am walking through Dynasty Center, warmed by the morning sun. The season’s rainstorm brought a sky as blue as a newborn’s eyes, but water vapor is still rising from the multicolored canopies. Stalls with vendors selling densely packed sun-faded souvenirs is the Chinatown setting I’ve been walking through for as long as I can remember, from New York up to San Francisco and back to LA.  

RFK Jr.’s shoulder surgery: What to know about rotator cuff injuries | NBC News

(Article by UCLA’s Dr. Akshay Syal) Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. underwent surgery Tuesday for an injured rotator cuff. The 72-year-old is expected to return to work Monday, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, although doctors say recovery can be slow and painful.  

Kurdish gains in Syria at risk of disappearing | The Conversation

(Commentary by UCLA student Lily Hundy) Days into the United States and Israel’s war against Iran, Trump officials and Kurdish leaders began openly musing about whether Iran’s Kurdish minority should seize on the dire situation facing the Islamic Republic and engage in armed operations against the state.

Is China leading the world on addressing climate change? | LAist’s “AirTalk”

“The Trump administration is really rolling back a lot of the climate regulatory efforts. Part of the focus of my book is how this affects how we see China, what it does on the environment,” said UCLA’s Alex Wang.

Lawmakers seek protections for countertop manufacturers | KFF Health News

Jane Fazio, a pulmonologist at UCLA, recalls seeing advanced fibrosis in otherwise healthy workers. “They have families. They were working full-time,” she said. Some experienced respiratory failure within a few years.  

Schools across the U.S. feature a teacher shortage | Spectrum News 1

“Teaching is a difficult and demanding profession. I think post-pandemic, it has gotten even harder,” said UCLA Tyrone Howard (approx. 2:10 mark).