Good afternoon! Happy post-Spring Break.

 

In this edition of The Price Post, an outstanding alum will be our commencement speaker, a student drafts a bill to help police officers, and a professor explains which pandemic policies actually worked.

 

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Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Commencement ceremony for the USC Price School.

• Jackson made history as the first African American and the first Mexican American woman to serve as chair of the NEA – the federal government’s largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide.
  
  
• She’s also a Price alum, who earned a Master of Public Administration in 1989.
  
  
• Under Jackson’s leadership, the NEA has worked with other federal agencies to explore how arts and culture can contribute to public health, community engagement, social connectedness and climate resilience, among other policy goals.

 

In her words: “As these graduates embark on their careers, I’m thrilled to share what I’ve learned working in government, philanthropy, and nonprofits, including the role the arts can play in enriching our lives, communities, and nation.”

 

Mark your calendars: Jackson will address more than 6,000 USC Price School students and their families at The Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on May 10, 2024.

Get to know Chair Jackson

 

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe in 2020, governments implemented policies that would come to define life for the next few years: Mask mandates, stay at home orders, vaccines and boosters.

 

• But did these policies work? Some were more effective than others in slowing the spread of the virus and saving lives, according to Professor Neeraj Sood, our latest guest on the PricePod.

 

What worked: The global vaccination campaign saved 2.4 million lives, Sood’s research found.

 

• What didn’t: Shelter-in-place orders and mask mandates were less effective – yet disrupted children’s education and the economy, Sood noted.

 

Why it matters: “The lesson for a future pandemic is: Let’s get our act together so that we can get vaccines and treatments out sooner,” Sood said. “Stay at home orders didn’t have an effect on excess mortality. They didn’t save lives. But we know they reduced our quality of life.”

 

Listen to the podcast

Travis Norton, a graduating Doctor of Policy, Planning and Development, has become a leading expert in understanding how police respond to mass shootings, identifying issues and potential solutions to better prepare first responders.

 

His research found that there is often a problem with leadership during shooting responses. “In my dissertation, half of the incidents that I have investigated don’t even have an identifiable person in charge,” Norton said.

 

• Why it matters: "Norton’s work has the potential to serve as a template for how agencies handle future active shooter events," said Erroll G. Southers, USC Price School Professor of the Practice in National and Homeland Security.
  
  
• “Essentially, if you’re responding to an active-shooter event, you’re going to be a novice,” Norton said.

 

Making an impact: Norton helped draft a California bill that would, among other things, mandate that law enforcement agencies identify an incident commander during an active shooting.

 

Read more about Norton’s important work

 

From humble beginnings, alumna Domenika Lynch has ascended to a distinguished career that has taken her to the power corridors of Washington, D.C.

• Lynch overcame several challenges early in life, from being an immigrant child and a teen mother to battling cancer after earning her Price degree in 1998.
  
  

Now, she’s a national Latina leader and advocate for the Hispanic community.

• In 2016, Lynch was appointed president and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit founded by Hispanic members of Congress.
  
  
• Today, Lynch serves as an executive director at the Aspen Institute, a renowned global nonprofit.
  
  

What she’s accomplished already: Lynch has overseen policy advocacy, public affairs campaigns, and raised over $40 million to increase economic opportunities for U.S. Latinos. 

• What’s next: “I want to change the systems that keep people of color locked in the cycle of poverty,” Lynch said. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Price.

 

Read Lynch’s story

 

🏠 The Politics of Housing: Price faculty hosted a conference examining political factors affecting housing policy, from contentious public meetings to the role of racial fears. Read more

 

🚴 Coming soon – bike lanes: Los Angeles is poised to build more bus and bike lanes, as well as wider sidewalks, after voters approved a ballot measure. METRANS Director Marlon Boarnet explains what to expect. Read more

 

🏥 Congratulations Nina:  Nina Nguyen, a student working to help people with medical debt, won the Fawn Lopez Health Advocacy Communication Excellence Award. Read more

 

🌎 Clearing up climate graphics: A USC-led study reveals that some graphics developed for reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are too complex. Read more

The New York Times quoted Christian Grose about the state of the U.S. Senate race in California. Newsweek, CalMatters and Los Angeles Times also interviewed Grose about the primary election.

 

BBC’s Health Check podcast covered Neeraj Sood’s study showing why doctors in India don’t prescribe an effective treatment for diarrhea.

 

Los Angeles Times published an op-ed co-authored by Mindy Romero about political misinformation created with artificial intelligence.

 

The New York Times featured Michael Thom in a story about states offering tax credits to lure film productions.

 

Los Angeles Times interviewed Erroll Southers about his role overseeing the L.A. Police Department.

 

Yahoo News and The Conversation published an op-ed from Erin Duffy arguing that medical debt buyout programs are only a partial solution.

 

Los Angeles Times talked to Dowell Myers about rent prices finally falling in L.A. LAist talked to Myers about older Angelenos owning more homes than young parents who need larger properties.

 

STAT News quoted Genevieve Kanter about a study showing that some nonprofit hospitals spend less on charity care than they receive in tax breaks.

 

Palm Springs Desert Sun spoke to Frank Zerunyan after an Imperial County candidate said she was offered $50,000 to not run.

ABC7 and KCAL in Los Angeles interviewed Adam Rose about the Baltimore bridge collapse.

 

This represents only a portion of recent USC Price faculty media.

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