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The Big Story: An MPA alum’s journey from Mexican immigrant to Irvine City Council
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More than 30 years ago, Betty Martinez Franco crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization, beginning an American odyssey that would turn her into the unlikeliest of politicians.
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Her journey took her to Los Angeles, where her then-husband couldn’t find work. She then moved to Washington state, where she climbed ladders to pick apples while pregnant.
- She is a domestic violence survivor who raised two kids while moving from shelter to shelter to stay away from her abusive ex-husband.
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She babysat and cleaned hotel rooms at Disney’s Grand California Hotel, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen in 2016.
- Martinez Franco made a pit stop at the USC Price School, where she earned a Master of Public Administration online in 2023. Then, she made history.
Now, she is the first Latina and Mexican immigrant elected to the Irvine City Council.
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In her words: “Every day that I come here to City Hall, I feel like the luckiest person alive,” Martinez Franco said. “I never in my life imagined that I was going to be here.”
Read her inspiring story
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Why are the 2026 midterm elections important? USC experts explain
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The midterm elections are still nine months away, but Democrats and Republicans are already jockeying for control of Congress.
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President Donald Trump recently called for a nationalization of elections, while the Supreme Court upheld California Democrats’ plan to redraw congressional districts to their advantage, responding to similar gerrymandering in Republican states.
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Meanwhile, the U.S. democratic system is under strain, with reduced public trust, low overall levels of voter turnout, and increased polarization.
To explain what’s at stake for the 2026 midterm elections and U.S. democracy, we turned to Provost Professor Jeffery Jenkins, a political historian and expert on Congress, and Research Assistant Professor Mindy Romero, Director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy.
Read their answers here
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Schaeffer research helps reshape federal oversight of pharmacy benefit managers
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Major federal actions over the past month marked a policy turning point for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), one that closely aligns with the evidence-based research led by scholars from the Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service.
What happened: President Trump signed legislation reforming PBM practices.
- The Department of Labor issued a proposal to require new PBM fee transparency.
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And the Federal Trade Commission reached a landmark settlement with Express Scripts, one of the nation’s largest PBMs, over the use of rebates in drug pricing.
What they’re saying: “A decade ago, before analysts could accurately measure actual drug prices, we undertook a fulsome examination of the entire pharmaceutical distribution system,” said Dana Goldman, University Professor and founding director of the USC Schaeffer Institute. “Since then, our researchers continued to follow the data to identify the drivers of drug spending. What they uncovered — misaligned incentives and broken markets — is now being addressed through reform and enforcement.”
Read more
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One last thing: Why do so many apartment buildings look the same?
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If you think every new apartment looks the same these days, you aren’t alone. Boxy mid-rise structures have cropped up in cities across the country, drawing the ire of neighbors and some architecture critics who find the buildings bland or downright ugly.
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Why do so many of these “podium” apartments – built in cities from Nashville to Los Angeles and which typically include retail stores or parking on the first floor – look the same?
- And does that even matter during a housing crisis when more units are needed?
To answer these questions, we spoke with Professor Liz Falletta, an architect and author of By-Right, By-Design, an interdisciplinary study of significant Los Angeles housing design precedents and their related development types.
Watch the video
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