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In this edition of The Price Post, a pollster explores happiness, an alumna gives back to USC Price, and researchers reveal that people are more familiar with tried-and-true names for climate change – including “climate change.”

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Politicians and environmental advocates have used more heated rhetoric lately to emphasize the importance of climate change, calling it  “climate crisis,” “climate emergency,” and “climate justice.”

• But a new USC study suggests that a gentler approach is more effective.

The findings: People are not only more familiar with “climate change” and “global warming,” the terms generate more concern than their overheated alternatives.

• Close to 90% of respondents were familiar with “climate change” and “global warming.”
  
  
• By contrast, only 33% of the respondents recognized “climate justice.”
  
  
• “Climate change” and “global warming” were also rated as most concerning and most urgent. “Climate justice” performed the worst overall, with ratings for “climate crisis” and “climate emergency” falling in between.

Why it matters: “Terms that are familiar are more likely to resonate with people. It’s harder to feel concern about something you’re not sure you’ve heard of,” 

said Wändi Bruine de Bruin, Provost Professor of Public Policy, Psychology, and Behavioral Science and the study’s lead author.

Read more about the study.

Are you feeling happy today? California lawmakers want to know.

• A new legislative committee is taking on an unusual public policy challenge: They want to make California residents happier.
  
  
• Mark Baldassare, Senior Fellow at the USC Price School’s Bedrosian Center on Governance, recently testified before the committee and shared his insights into how Californians are feeling.

In the latest episode of the PricePod, Baldassare discussed his research into happiness, his advice to lawmakers, and why policymakers should care about how happy – or unhappy – constituents feel.

Why it matters: “The thing about happiness is that it’s a measure that combines psychological, social, economic and political dimensions,” said Baldassare, who is statewide survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California. “It’s a good basis for which to understand where people are on various topics in any of those domains, in terms of how they are feeling about life in general.”

Take a listen

Cara Esposito is an alumna, Adjunct Associate Professor and Chair of the Board of Councilors for the USC Price School of Public Policy.

• She may be the school’s number one fan, too.

“Price changed my life,” said Esposito. “Price, to me, is the greatest school that has ever existed.”

That’s high praise from a polymath with a passion for education, whose resume includes a Bachelor’s of English from Harvard University and a law degree from Loyola Law School. Not to mention a career as a deputy district attorney and executive director of the Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation, which administers millions of dollars for projects across Los Angeles.

In an interview, Esposito shared how USC Price changed the trajectory of her career, why she loves teaching and what sets USC Price apart from the other impressive institutions in her life.

• “The students at Price are very special,” she said. “There’s just a belief that we can do better and they will do better. It’s a different ethos. There is a consistent effort to be inclusive, to be collaborative, to be impactful, to be supportive. I have never seen that in any other institution I’ve attended.”

Read more about the USC Price mainstay.

The USC-Yale Roybal Center for Behavioral Interventions in Aging has received a 5-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Why it matters: The center researches and tests ways to address overuse and underuse of health services in aging populations, which are significant problems that often lead to adverse outcomes for older patients.

The funding will support trials focused on reducing inappropriate prescribing to older patients discharged from emergency departments, as well as encouraging older adults to designate a healthcare proxy to make medical decisions when they are unable to do so for themselves.

Read more about the Roybal Center.

Assistant Professor Bryan Tysinger and his colleagues were awarded a $249,992 grant by the USC Office of Research and Innovation (OORI) President’s Sustainability Initiative Large Program Award.

Professor Richard K. Green was named a non-resident fellow of the Urban Institute and became a member of the World Cities Summit Knowledge Council by the Singapore Center for Sustainable Cities.

Associate Professor William G. Resh won the Student Empowerment Innovation Award and was awarded a $15,000 grant from the USC Office of Research and Innovation. He also received the 2024 Herbert Kaufman Best Paper Award from the Public Administration Section at the American Political Science Association.

The New York Times quoted Dowell Myers about the growing number of Americans who identify as more than one race.

Los Angeles Times spoke to Paul Ginsburg about how a Harris Administration might handle hospital mergers. The Times also featured Ginsburg in a story about wellness clubs for the wealthy.

CalMatters interviewed Mindy Romero about whether young voters will impact California elections.

Bloomberg talked to Christian Grose about Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden campaigning together. Spectrum News 1 featured Grose in a story about recent presidential election polls.

WRCB-TV in Chattanooga quoted Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about consumers going into debt to travel.

Los Angeles Times spoke to Richard Green about the hidden role public pensions play in raising rents.

The Conversation published an op-ed by Wändi Bruine de Bruin arguing that If you want Americans to pay attention to climate change, just call it “climate change.”

Smart Cities Dive quoted Marlon Boarnet for a story exploring whether L.A. can go “car free” during the 2028 Olympics.

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

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