Table of Contents

1. Sustainability leader Chris Boone installed as USC Price dean

2. Price alum pitches L.A. to the world

3. PhD student wins top prize for e-scooter travel research

4. Expert: Gutting the federal workforce will weaken accountability and integrity

5. What else is news

6. USC Price in the Media

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Chris Boone’s hardworking Canadian grandmother may not have been at the installation ceremony for the new dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy, but the late Mary Boone was there in spirit thanks to her grandson’s heartfelt remarks.

• Boone, who also holds the Price School’s C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair, made note of his grandmother and other key mentors in his life and career.
  
  
• “Achievements are never our own,” Boone said. “I am standing here because of the kindness, encouragement and sacrifices many, many people made for me.”

What’s next: Boone – an expert in urban sustainability, global environment change, urbanization and environmental justice – said he’s excited to lend his knowledge and experience to advance the sustainability efforts underway at USC.

In his words: “At Price, we have engaged in scholarship and activities for policies, and plans and guidelines that are responsive to immediate needs — but also anticipate future needs. Our goal is to solve problems, and there are plenty to solve. But our goal should also focus on problem avoidance.”

Read more about Boone’s installation ceremony.

There’s the Los Angeles most outsiders think about: palm trees, beaches and celebrities. Then there’s the L.A. behind the postcard.

• That’s the L.A. that Terri Batch focuses on. Batch, who earned a Master of Public Administration, is chief executive of Global LA, a nonprofit that works to attract foreign business investment in the City of Angels.
  
  
• In her words: “[People] don’t know Leimert Park Village (a hub of African American art and culture), Boyle Heights, parts of the valley,” Batch said. “But these different communities help make Los Angeles what it is, and they represent amazing opportunities for business and foreign investment.”

Read more about Batch’s work at Global LA.

Congratulations to Naomi Lee, a PhD candidate who won the Western Regional Science Association’s (WRSA) Charles M. Tiebout Prize for best student-authored paper.

• What she researched: Lee, who is pursuing a PhD in Urban Planning and Development, studied e-scooter travel in Oakland and San Francisco, two cities that launched and modified “slow street” programs during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve safety for pedestrian, bicycle, and scooter travel.
  
  
• What she found: Lee’s research revealed that the timing of removing slow streets played a role in whether travelers continued to use e-scooters on those roads.
  
  
• For example, slow streets that were quickly removed often saw a decline in e-scooter trips afterwards. However, later removals showed mixed results – some segments retained higher e-scooter use, while others did not experience significant changes.

Take a bow, Naomi!

Associate Professor William Resh, an expert on the presidency and policy implementation, recently testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the Trump Administration’s approach to downsizing the federal workforce.

• What he told lawmakers: “Governments that rely on merit-based civil service systems perform better. They're less prone to corruption and deliver more effective public services. By contrast, increased politicization, substituting experienced professionals with short-term political loyalists reduces efficiency, complicates long-term planning, and increases the risk of policy failures.”
  
  
• Go deeper: Resh penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times about the planned buyouts of federal workers.

Read and watch Resh’s testimony to Congress.

🎧 New PricePod: Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, explains what’s causing the housing crisis. Take a listen

🍎 Meet the Professors: Three professors who recently joined the USC Price School share a passion to help shape a more equitable society through their teaching, research, and involvement with non-profits. Read about our new faculty

💰 Economic concerns: A survey by Mark Baldassare, Senior Fellow at Bedrosian Center on Governance, reveals that Californians are pessimistic about the economic future. Watch the video

The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News and PBS News featured Shaun Harper in stories about the backlash against DEI efforts in the U.S. Los Angeles Times spoke to Harper about a directive from the U.S. Department of Education requiring schools to eliminate DEI programs.

The New York Times quoted Rosalie Pacula about how leading cannabis brands are marketing highly potent and inexpensive THC products with unproven health claims. C-Force, a new health column by celebrity Chuck Norris, spoke to Pacula for a story about alcohol alternatives.

The Conversation, Yahoo News and PBS News published an op-ed co-authored by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Bryan Tysinger and Jack Chapel explaining why rural Americans don’t live as long as people in cities.

Associated Press, Spectrum News 1, and others quoted Michael Thom about Texas lawmakers proposing more tax incentives to lure film productions.

The Washington Post mentioned research from David Brady about single parent households and poverty.

NBC News, Vox, Daily Mail, and Los Angeles Times cited Adam Rose in stories about the economic impact of the Los Angeles wildfires.

Fortune and Yahoo quoted Richard Green in a story about the Los Angeles wildfires highlighting the ongoing issue of California's housing crisis.

Medscape spoke to Karen Mulligan about drugmakers filing lawsuits over 340B, a federal drug discount program.

Yahoo mentioned Paul Ginsburg in a story about Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

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

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