In an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” UCLA’s Richard Hasen joins host Terry Gross to unpack the ramifications of President Trump’s SAVE Act, legislation that would require documentary proof of citizenship, making registration and voting much more difficult. Hasen, who is also the founding director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law, discusses how we got here, the barriers the act would pose to voters, the realism of the act making 2026’s election timeline, and whether such a move is constitutional. Read more about UCLA in today’s NBC News, Wall Street Journal and other outlets.  

More highlights from UCLA in the News: March 4, 2026

California’s economy growing faster than the nation | Times of San Diego

The latest UCLA Anderson Forecast finds the California economy is growing faster than the nation, though this hasn’t been reflected in new hiring. The forecast released early Wednesday estimates California’s fourth-quarter growth at 3.8% annualized, well above the initial 1.4% U.S. GDP estimate. “The state has now grown faster than the nation for four consecutive quarters,” the UCLA economists noted.

The latest in the Iran conflict | KTLA-TV

“We don’t know why we’re there. We don’t exactly know how we’re going to know if we’ve accomplished anything, since we don’t have a war plan or a war goal at the present time that’s been enunciated,” said UCLA’s James Gelvin (approx. 1:55 mark).

UCLA treats antisemitism as the threat it is | Wall Street Journal

(A letter to the editor from UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk) Eradicating antisemitism has been my top priority since joining UCLA in 2025. Among other actions, we have recruited an associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety, established an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism with dedicated resources, reorganized our Office of Civil Rights and appointed a Title VI/Title VII officer. We have strengthened our time, place and manner policies to safeguard both free expression and campus operations. We are also supporting and partnering with community organizations engaged in the fight against antisemitism.

ChatGPT Health ‘under-triaged’ half of medical emergencies in a new study | NBC News

Dr. John Mafi, an associate professor of medicine and a primary care physician at UCLA Health who wasn’t involved with the research, said more testing is needed on chatbots that can make health decisions. “The message of this study is that before you roll something like this out, to make life-affecting decisions, you need to rigorously test it in a controlled trial, where you’re making sure that the benefits outweigh the harms,” Mafi said.

TikTok’s new favorite drink? It’s hot water | New York Times

Dr. Folasade May, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said she was unfamiliar with hot water’s star turn on social media. Many of her patients have mentioned that they have an easier time passing bowel movements after drinking warm water (often with lemon) first thing in the morning.  

Shia LaBeouf and the history of gay and trans panic defense | Out

Research documented by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that the gay and trans panic defenses were invoked at least 104 times across 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 1970 and 2020. Charges were reduced in roughly a third of those cases.

LA County expands parking restrictions for RVs and large vehicles | LAist

Chris Tilly, a UCLA professor of urban planning, wrote that the ordinance would destroy residences of many people who have no other housing alternatives. Tilly noted that large RVs had parked near his Venice home “on many occasions.” “But we got to know the RV owner, as well as being familiar with the survey results from the recent UCLA report on vehicle residents, so we understand that these are people doing their best to survive under difficult circumstances,” Tilly wrote in a public comment. “Please do not make their lives worse.”