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.

Three things to know about Black History Month | NPR

UCLA’s [Marcus] Hunter thinks that debate is indicative of where the country is right now. What it really says is “there’s a lot of work to still be done.” However, Black History Month has been and can continue to be a force for better understanding. “It offers a certain amount of optimism about what is possible if people actually focus on the educational importance of it,” he says.

For Black student success, L.A. school police must go | Los Angeles Times

The report by coalition leaders and academics from UCLA updates a plan of action for the nation’s second-largest school system that was released about two years ago. Unifying themes include the elimination of school police and a focus on the needs of Black students — justified, according to the authors, by the nation’s history of racism and the school district’s own history of racist practices, such as not providing culturally relevant education to Black students or ensuring that they receive academic opportunities comparable to other students. Chief among the racist policies, the report said, is the existence of a school police department.

African American studies is now an AP class | Los Angeles Times

On the opening day of Black History Month, the College Board is making history Wednesday by releasing details of its first advanced placement class on African American studies for high school students — a class that drew national attention after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned it in his state saying it pushes a political agenda. The curriculum, a year in the making, was developed with input from hundreds of African American studies experts across the country, including … Tiffany Barber, an assistant professor of African American art at UCLA. … (Barber and UCLA’s Tyrone Howard were quoted. UCLA was also cited in a New York Times story.)

Finalists for 2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards | Los Angeles Times

“Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands,” by UCLA history professor Kelly Lytle Hernandez, is among the nonfiction finalists. The MacArthur “genius” grant recipient’s work has largely focused on the Western roots of slavery and California’s legacies of settler colonialism and genocide, as well as on mass incarceration in the U.S.

Palestinians in Israel have new cause to fear future | Los Angeles Times

(Commentary co-written by UCLA’s David Myers) In recent days, there has been an alarming escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine, adding victims to what had been a deadly year in 2022. Last Thursday, the Israel Defense Force launched a raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp, killing nine Palestinians. The next day, a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem fired on Israeli Jews near a synagogue, murdering seven of them. Barely a month into 2023, these two episodes mark — and have contributed to — a new cycle of violence. 

Native Americans left out of ‘deaths of despair’ research | NPR

For more than a decade, Americans have been dying younger than people in other developed countries. Researchers attribute much of this rise in mid-life deaths to what are called “deaths of despair” — that is suicides, drug overdoses and deaths from alcoholic liver disease — among middle-aged white Americans. But a study published last week in the Lancet shows that these premature deaths have affected American Indian and Alaska Native communities far more than white communities. (UCLA’s Dr. Joseph Friedman was quoted.)

Census may change how it asks Latinos about race | Axios

The proposal suggests that the government recognizes it’s not effectively and accurately counting people, says sociologist Laura E. Gómez, a professor at UCLA and author of “Inventing Latinos.”

State lawmakers consider new concealed-carry gun legislation | Los Angeles Times

Adam Winkler, a UCLA professor and constitutional law specialist, said arguments against the number of places deemed sensitive by the California bill might raise a good point. Some places could be truly sensitive, he said, such as schools. But a judge might decide that “the cumulative effect of all of these restrictions is too much.” “I do think there is a valid concern that law-abiding people will end up violating the law unknowingly,” Winkler said.

COVID emergency declaration ends in May | KCRW-FM’s 'Press Play'

“The changes may be subtle for most people. This announcement … is about two of a handful of different federal declarations that are going to be allowed to expire or be terminated. Those two declarations primarily affect things like how we finance health care services,” says Lindsay Wiley, professor of law and faculty director of the Health Law and Policy Program at UCLA. “So the effects are going to vary depending on what kind of insurance coverage you have.”

Fact check: CO2's role in climate change | USA Today

It’s true that carbon dioxide has a higher molecular weight than oxygen and nitrogen, said Suzanne Paulson, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic science at the University of California in Los Angeles. However, it still rises into the atmosphere.

Valley fever may spread with climate change | USA Today

The fungal infection is endemic in the Southwest, with most people experiencing mild to no symptoms, said Dr. Manish Butte, professor and division chief of immunology, allergy and rheumatology in the department of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

LAPD Chief Moore appointed to another term | KCAL-TV

“He’s a very good cop. He’s also a thinker. And he’s evolved with the times, as most of us have, and he’s been chief during some very difficult times in the city,” said UCLA’s Zev Yaroslavsky (approx. 2:00 mark).

Shootings spotlight mental health among older Asian immigrants | Voice of America

A report from UCLA Medical Center says, “Embedded in collectivist culture and traditional views of body and mind as a unitary entity, older Asians … tend to [suppress or discount] psychological or emotional symptoms, which often makes it challenging to apply psychiatric diagnoses based on Western views.”

Will AI help us discover alien life? | Nature

Machine learning is also at the heart of a separate SETI effort that will launch next month. On 14 February, astronomers at the University of California, Los Angeles, will launch a community-science project in which volunteers from the public will sort through images of radio signals and classify them as potential types of interference, to train a machine-learning algorithm to search SETI data from Green Bank.

Malnutrition may worsen hospitalized IBD patients | HealthDay News

Anoushka Dua, M.D., from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, and colleagues conducted an observational study to examine trends in protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) among hospitalized IBD and non-IBD patients using data from the Nationwide Readmissions Database from 2010 to 2018 ... The researchers found that the likelihood of having PCM was 2.9 to 3.1 times higher for admitted IBD patients versus non-IBD patients.

What is free testosterone? | Men’s Health

Unbound T freely circulates, and because it’s untethered, it’s the only form of testosterone that can actually have an end-effect on your organs and muscles. “Free T is what allows you to put on muscle, to keep your libido up, to help your erections, potentially even helping to influence your mood,” says Rajiv Jayadevan, MD, assistant clinical professor of urology and male fertility expert at the Men’s Clinic at UCLA Health.

5 alternatives to keeping a journal | Self

Mind maps — which are visual diagrams of words, images and concepts — can help you become aware of different issues in your life and “get out whatever’s on your mind,” Robert Bilder, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the director of the Tennenbaum Family Center for the Biology of Creativity, tells SELF.