UCLA in the News August 26, 2024

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.

Union members aren’t just voting on labor this year | NBC News

“Trump exploited that open door,” said Tobias Higbie, a professor of history and labor studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, referring to Democratic policies that embraced free trade and lighter regulation at a time when unions were on the wane. And while labor has been flexing more political muscle lately, it remains a heterogeneous cohort of 14.4 million people all heading to the ballot box with a range of interests and preoccupations. “The idea that the working class is naturally united is mistaken,” Higbie said.

Disability rights activists condemn ableist Gus Walz backlash | Salon

Catherine Lord, the George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education at UCLA’s Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, also reminded the public to not armchair diagnose Gus Walz. “If Gus chooses to identify himself as ‘neurodivergent’ that is a separate issue,” Lord said. “He may be in a great position to help all the other people who are neurodivergent if he wants to do so but it should be his decision. And maybe it will help somebody understand being different in some ways doesn’t prevent good things.”

Gender-based issues mire OC congressional race | Orange County Register

But Richard Hasen, a professor at UCLA School of Law, said the positions attorneys take while representing their clients don’t necessarily reflect their personal views. ”An attorney who takes on a client must zealously advocate for a client and take positions, consistent with the attorney’s ethical obligations, to put forward arguments in the client’s best interest,” Hasen said. “Such positions do not necessarily reflect the personal views of the attorney. This is especially true of criminal defense lawyers but can apply in other contexts as well.”

Asian foster kids face housing insecurity as young adults | AsAmNews

A recent report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research used 2022 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data to show the mental health effects of housing instability on adults apart from the impact of being in and exiting the foster care system.

The American West’s megafires are silencing birds | LAist

“Because birds are so sensitive to air pollution, we expect that birds are especially vulnerable to smoke,” said Olivia Sanderfoot, a lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. “During the window in which our sites were impacted by smoke, we did see the biodiversity index and the acoustic complexity index decline, and it stayed reduced after the event.”

Two epicenters led to Japan’s violent Noto earthquake | ScienceDaily

Led by Lingsen Meng, a UCLA associate professor of earth, planetary and space sciences, UCLA graduate student Liuwei Xu and UC Santa Barbara geophysics professor Chen Ji, an international team of researchers from the United States, France, China and Japan analyzed geospatial data and recordings of seismic waves to understand the relationships between the swarm of smaller tremors and the larger earthquake that followed them. They identified a previously unknown barrier in the region of the swarm. (Meng was quoted.)

Now is the time to plan COVID, flu and RSV vaccinations | KABC-TV

“Last year, about 20,000 people I believe, according to CDC statistics, in the U.S., died of flu,” said Dr. Otto Yang, the associate chief of infectious diseases at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “About 75,000 people died of COVID.”