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.

MacArthur winner on the problem with search engines | KCRW-FM’s “Greater LA”

[Safiya] Noble is a UCLA professor and author of “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.” In the book, she demonstrates how search engines reinforce harmful stereotypes. “I started looking at different kinds of identities. I took them almost directly from the Census categories, and I did all these different keyword combinations,” she says. “I found over and over [that] ‘Black girls,’ ‘Latina girls,’ ‘Asian girls,’ ‘girls of color’ were almost exclusively bringing back pornography or hyper-sexualized websites.”

How pandemic life mimicked pioneer times | Scientific American

According to two studies published this year … American activities, values and relationships began to resemble those found in small, isolated villages where life is a struggle and illness and death lurk outside the door. “When survival threats increase, and the social world contracts, as it did with COVID and stay-at-home orders, we found that people very quickly adapt, and those adaptions reflect behavior and values that were very prevalent at an earlier point in human history,” says Patricia M. Greenfield, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led both studies.

Feminist self-defense practice could help climate crisis | Zocalo Public Square

(Commentary by UCLA’s Janet O’Shea) In this situation it makes sense to be scared — and to take a cue from empowerment self-defense (ESD), a feminist self-defense practice that pays close attention to the relationships among fear, anger, and action. By harnessing the power of fear, ESD shows a path forward for climate activism, too.

Health care gaps grew along racial lines in 2020 | Capital & Main

When directors at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research first studied the results of the center’s 2020 health survey in California, they weren’t shocked. It had been a pandemic year, after all; it wasn’t surprising to learn that a lot of people had avoided things like routine check-ups as they tried to stay away from clinic and hospital settings in the midst of COVID-19. But looking more closely at the survey, true disparities quickly emerged. (UCLA’s Todd Hughes and Ninez Ponce are quoted.)

Local initiative urges people to prioritize good health | City News Service

The campaign by Providence, UCLA Health, Keck Medicine of USC, Dignity Health and Cedars-Sinai features 11 Angelenos — including some famous names — who overcame health challenges as a result of timely access to preventive care … “The health of our Los Angeles community is our top priority. We are here to ensure everyone has access to the preventive health care and medical treatment they need to live to their full potential,” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and CEO of UCLA Health System.

Hollywood union votes in favor of nationwide strike | NBC News

Jay Tucker, who heads up the Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, said Friday that a strike could be “problematic for everyone involved.” “It would be tragic if a work stoppage disrupted the industry just as we are coming out of such a challenging year and a half,” he said. “We are talking about halting production on a huge segment of TV and film projects — not just in Hollywood, but across the country.”

Why California can’t stop offshore drilling | Fresno Bee

“This is a platform in federal waters, licensed by the federal government,” said Sean Hecht, a UCLA environmental law expert. “The existence of these federally permitted platforms lowers the ability of the state to address this.”

Superfoods to help you sleep | AARP

Chamomile tea has been used for decades as a sleep aid for its calming and antioxidant properties. “It comes from a flower and is full of calming scents,” says Dana Ellis Hunnes, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Chamomile also contains apigenin, a flavonoid (plant nutrient) that promotes sleepiness, she adds. 

The great book shortage of 2021 | Vox

“Containers are not moving out of ports and onto trains quickly enough,” explains Chris Tang, a UCLA business professor specializing in global supply chain management. “And on top of that, all of the warehouses in the Midwest are full. So everything is stuck.”