UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. 

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Backup power and water should be required | L.A. Times

“Power redundancy, power resiliency is going to help in most fires — nearly every fire,” said Gregory Pierce, director of the UCLA Water Resources Group, which works to address water challenges in California and across the globe. There was likely some backup generation utilized in the area during the Eaton fire, he said, but more “definitely would have helped.”

Is the way Trump and Musk are running economy legal? | Marketplace

“Just to give one example, the way that Musk and the Trump administration have attempted to shut down government agencies like [U.S. Agency for International Development] and to take control of the Treasury payment system really takes away Congress’ power to make the laws, which includes the power to spend money, the power to create administrative agencies. And these actions really strike at the core of those constitutional powers that are held by Congress and not by the executive branch,” said UCLA’s Blake Emerson.

Immigrants working illegally fund programs they can't use | Business Insider

Many people working in the U.S. illegally adhere to IRS requirements because noncompliance can put them at a higher risk of deportation for themselves or family members, said Cecilia Menjívar, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in immigration policy. Paying taxes with ITINs can also help immigrants living in the U.S. illegally build a work history and show strong moral character, which could help them later in any immigration case.

Denying gender-affirming care will cost lives | KCRW

More than one executive order has been issued, says Elana Redfield, federal policy director at UCLA’s Williams Institute, a legal and policy think tank on sexual orientation and gender identity. “They create this idea that gender-affirming care is, they call it junk science,” Redfield said.

Loss of costly homes made LA wildfires financial disaster | Marketplace

A new report from the University of California, Los Angeles, contains more concrete numbers. It says the Palisades and Eaton fires likely caused $75 billion just in insured losses. That’s three times as much as the next four most destructive California wildfires combined. (UCLA’s Zhiyun Li was quoted. Also: KTLA-TV and Spectrum News 1.)

Researchers tested sandboxes for lead after the Eaton Fire | LAist

“Lead is just one of the heavy metals,” said Sanjay Mohanty, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UCLA. “When you have chromium and lead together, it's just the toxicity is much more now because your body's overwhelmed with so many metals.”

What we know about Trump’s order on trans athletes | New York Times

Transgender people make up less than 1 percent of adults in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, which studies LGBTQ issues.

Education Department removes nonbinary option from form | USA Today

A 2022 study from the University of California Los Angeles’ Williams Institute, the leading research center on LGBTQ+ law and public policy, found that queer and transgender students are four times more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to choose a college out of state to find acceptance. Attending a university out of state is typically more expensive for the average student.

Here’s how the wildfires are affecting animals | Smithsonian Magazine

Olivia Sanderfoot, an ecologist at the La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, emphasizes that smoke from this wildland-urban interface is not just any smoke: “Air pollution from more urban fires is going to have a greater health impact on birds, just as it is expected to have a greater impact on people because of all the particulates in the smoke that are so much more toxic given what’s gone up in flame: plastic, tires, flame retardant.”

World responds to Trump’s comments on Gaza | LAist KPCC-FM

“The expectation from President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu was that it was going to focus on the hostage and ceasefire deal and the implementation of that agreement. Instead, all the news now focuses on Trump’s remarks,” said UCLA’s Dov Waxman (approx. 4:00 mark. Also: UCLA’s Benjamin Radd was featured by Spectrum News 1.)  

Landslide danger | KCAL-TV

“When a house burns, then the pipes break, open up and saturate the hill. It was as if a massive rainstorm had happened right there. So, that took a preexisting condition and made it worse,” said UCLA’s Martin Hudson (approx. 1:00 mark). 

Gen Z and the American dream | Spectrum News 1

What does the American dream actually look like? Obviously to some degree it’s a subjective concept. But there’s a UCLA study that shows us how Gen Z is thinking about the American dream and how possible they think it is to actually attain. (UCLA’s Alisha Hines was interviewed.)

Eaton burn zone fire dangers | KABC-TV

“They have very deep root systems and they hold this soil in place. It’s essential on our hillside communities to have roots. They are the stabilizing component of all of our hillside communities,” said UCLA’s Stephanie Landregan (approx. 2:05 mark).