UCLA In the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription to view. See more UCLA In the News.
UCLA’s ‘Encounter’ is what I needed | Los Angeles Times
The occasion was “A Thousand Ways (Part Two): An Encounter,” the second offering in a trilogy by the experimental theater troupe 600 Highwaymen that is being presented by UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. The first installment, “A Phone Call,” took place in December by telephone. Two strangers were paired for a quasi-conversation, guided by the automated prompts of what sounded like Siri’s great-grandmother.
Facebook upholding Trump ban is a political blow — for now | Los Angeles Times
“His social media presence is very, very central to him being a dominant actor in U.S. politics at this time,” said Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor of information studies at UCLA and author of a book, “Beyond the Valley,” on the relationships between technology and politics.
No, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day | NBC News
David Hayes-Bautista, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the University of California Los Angeles, has written that Cinco de Mayo is very much an American holiday. His research shows that the celebration began among Mexicans in California in the mid-19th century. The Battle of Puebla, he explained, occurred at a time when the Confederacy was expanding into New Mexico and Arizona, getting closer to California (which was a free state).
Hope grows for an L.A. summer economic boom | Los Angeles Times
A UCLA forecast released in March said California’s leisure and hospitality industries would grow faster this year than any other sector, with a 10% gain as restaurants and theme parks begin to reopen.
A reminder that life after COVID-19 will be stressful for many | Medical Xpress
For some parents, schools welcoming children back for in-person instruction — even for limited schedules in many cases — has provided a long-awaited measure of relief and cause for optimism. But Bridget Callaghan, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology, said adjusting to life after COVID-19 could be stressful for many. “Parents should be patient and not expect everything to go back to how it was before,” Callaghan said. “Post–COVID-19 will be an adjustment.”
Managing social anxiety during COVID | KPCC-FM
“When you’re in a social situation and you find yourself judging yourself, holding yourself up to some rigid standard, really shift the spotlight and pay attention to the person you’re with. People are with us because of how we make them feel. Do we make them feel heard? If you are scrutinizing yourself, you are not going to enjoy the time and you are also not going to help another person feel like you’re with them,” said UCLA’s Jenny Taitz.
Beneath the Santa Monica Freeway lies the erasure of Sugar Hill | NPR’s “All Things Considered”
“They presented a kind of dizzying array of charts and graphs to insist that this was the most economically efficient route for this particular freeway. They denied any questions of race. They denied any questions of bias,” said UCLA’s Eric Avila.
Biden says inoculation campaign entering ‘new phase’ | Los Angeles Times
Robert J. Kim-Farley, an epidemiologist at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said “herd immunity” could be defined two ways: “One is markedly reducing the number of cases and eliminating large outbreaks, and the other is eliminating the virus.” “I don’t think we’ll catch the latter,” he said. “But we can catch the former.”
Possible incentives to encourage COVID vaccination | KCRW-FM’s “Press Play”
New research from UCLA suggests that offering incentives could help get more shots into weary arms. It’s a similar approach that businesses, cities, and states are taking. Those incentives can include cash, gift cards, and even free beer, says Lynn Vavreck, a professor of American politics at UCLA. She says these can be gentle nudges that can push folks who are on the fence. This is also the natural next phase of the vaccination course, she adds.
On Mother’s Day, here’s what your mom actually needs | USA Today
Traci Wells, a mother of four who is director of education for the global health program at the University of California, Los Angeles’ David Geffen School of Medicine, struggled to balance work and online schooling but said quitting her job was not an option, financially or emotionally. “I’ve loved being a working mom,’’ she said. At the office, “I’m fully engaged and present, and when I come home. ... I’m the person who didn’t check emails in the evenings or weekends unless it was absolutely necessary.’’
L.A. takes step toward ban on single-use plastics | City News Service
In October 2019, Kuehl and Supervisor Janice Hahn championed a more ambitious plan. On their recommendation, the county asked researchers at UCLA’s Luskin Center to provide a report on managing waste and set a goal of developing an ordinance by March 2020 to reduce single-use plastics throughout unincorporated areas of the county. The UCLA researchers found that plastic food service ware is rarely collected for recycling — primarily due to size, potential food contamination and undesirable materials — bolstering the argument to cut down on use. (Also: MyNewsLA.)
A turn to mindfulness amid the pandemic | KPCC-FM’s “AirTalk”
“I define mindfulness as paying attention to our present moment experiences, with openness and curiosity, and a willingness to be with that experience. So it’s really about showing up in the present moment, not lost in the past, lost in the future – but right here, right now,” said UCLA’s Diana Winston.
Research team discovers how to restrict growth, spread of head and neck cancers | Medical Xpress
Researchers from the UCLA School of Dentistry have discovered a key molecule that allows cancer stem cells to bypass the body’s natural immune defenses, spurring the growth and spread of head and neck squamous cell cancers. Their study, conducted in mice, also demonstrates that inhibiting this molecule derails cancer progression and helps eliminate these stem cells. (UCLA’s Dr. Cun-Yu Wang and Dr. Paul Krebsbach were quoted.)
Cleaner ‘bridge’ fuels are killing up to 46,000 Americans per year | HuffPost
“While natural gas burns more cleanly than coal does, its usage still results in significant co-product emissions and corresponding public health impacts,” said Eric Daniel Fournier, the research director at the University of California, Los Angeles’s California Center for Sustainable Communities, who was not involved in the study. “As gas comes to represent a larger fraction of the county’s primary fuel portfolio, it will naturally come to be responsible for a larger proportion of the health impacts from stationary sources, of which electricity production is a major contributor.”
L.A., San Francisco move into California’s loosest COVID tier | Courthouse News Service
“We’ve done an amazing job making vaccines available, but there is still work to be done,” said Shira Shafir, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, in a phone interview. “There has been a tremendous amount of guidance from federal and local health agencies who say that you can go outside without a mask and gather with people who are also vaccinated. All of that provides huge incentive to get vaccinated but there are still people who are not yet there. They still can get infected.”
McDonald’s stores collect COVID relief funds — and employee safety complaints | Capital & Main
Fast food employees are more likely to rely on government assistance and to experience poverty than the average worker. They are also more likely to live in multigenerational households, where COVID-19 can easily spread to older, more vulnerable individuals. In March, a study from the University of California, Los Angeles, and UC Berkeley Labor Centers concluded that these compounding factors increase COVID-19 risk for fast food workers and their communities.
