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In this edition of The Price Post, a student discovers a family heirloom during a capstone project, a survey suggests voter turnout may be lower among people of color, and a professor changes the way high schoolers learn history and culture.

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In Los Angeles and Santa Monica classrooms, students now use maps that not only show them where places are – but when.

• With the click and drag of a mouse, high schoolers can see L.A. County before European settlers, with cities like Inglewood, Carson or Long Beach marked by their indigenous names: Tajuata, Swaanga and Wa’aachvet.
  
  
• Another map shows students how L.A. urbanized over time, from a sparsely populated area in the 1890s to the bustling metropolis of 2010.

These digital maps – developed by Annette M. Kim, director of Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB) – have helped 18 teachers create innovative lesson plans for science, history and ethnic studies.

Why it matters: With the ability to visualize the languages and cultures connected to L.A., the maps help teachers comply with a new California law requiring American cultures and ethnic studies education in high school. Students, meanwhile, get practice conducting research.

• “These interactive maps are really engaging to the students,” Kim said. “They get excited about finding where they are on the map, seeing their cultural background and are curious to explore other cultures and places.”
  
  

Read more about Kim’s work with high schools and see the maps for yourself.

A new USC survey finds that eligible turnout will likely be much lower for voters of color this November, compared to turnout of white voters.

• Conducted by the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID), the study also found that voter turnout may be lower than it was in the previous presidential election in November 2020.
  
  

The findings: Nearly three quarters (74.8%) of white non-Latino eligible voters said they were “extremely likely” to vote – the highest proportion of any racial or ethnic group examined by the survey.

• That’s 13.7 percentage points higher than Asian American, Asian Islander, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI), the group with the second-highest proportion choosing this option.
  
  
• Black and Latino eligible voters said they were “extremely likely” at lower rates – 55.2% and 52.4%, respectively.
  
  

Why it matters: “These survey findings tell us that, again, voters of color will be underrepresented at the ballot box in an important presidential election. Historical and current barriers to voting for communities of color continue to have an impact at the ballot box,” said Mindy Romero, director of the CID and the study’s lead author.

Read more abut the survey.

Ernesto Corona has long felt that his father – labor organizer Humberto “Bert” Corona – didn’t get the recognition he deserved.

• From the 1940s to 1960s, the Mexican-American activist and USC alum was an early organizer of undocumented workers and founded one of California’s oldest Latino political organizations, the Mexican American Political Association.
  
  
• “I don’t think he’s spoken about enough despite the impact he’s had on so many labor leaders, Chicano leaders, and Latino leaders,” said Ernesto Corona, who just earned his Master of Nonprofit Leadership & Management (MNLM). “I think he really deserves a statue in the city of L.A.”
  
  

Imagine Corona’s surprise, then, when he stumbled upon a museum exhibit honoring his father while working on his capstone project – in which students tackle real-life policy challenges to complete their degrees. The students were checking out the museum when Corona discovered his dad’s exhibit.

In his words: “When they were giving the tour, I was like, ‘Oh, this is my father. This is incredible – or fate,’” Corona said. “Being able to share that experience really encouraged me to support LA Plaza even more.”

Read more about the memorable capstone project.

Four years ago, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett received some of the worst news imaginable: her son, Eliot, was diagnosed with a fatal neuromuscular disease.

• In her quest to save her son, she learned of a gene therapy that ultimately helped Eliot, but she ran into roadblocks that made it difficult to access this life changing treatment. You can read about her story in The New York Times.

On the PricePod, Currid-Halkett discussed the obstacles that prevent some patients from obtaining rare disease treatments. She was joined by Alice Chen, an associate professor of public policy who testified before Congress about making rare disease treatments accessible.

In her words: “I almost had a nervous breakdown. It was so unbelievably stressful,” Currid-Halkett said of convincing insurers to cover the treatment. “Afterwards, when it all was approved eventually, I thought: ‘God, most people don’t have the kind of access I have. They are not able to navigate the system the way I am. They don't have influential people in their social network who know how insurance works.”

Listen to the podcast.

What else is news?

🍎 Making the Grade: The USC Price School hosted a webinar on California’s top education issues, featuring LAUSD’s superintendent and state Board of Education president. Read more

🚙 Congestion Pricing Pause: Our experts weigh in on New York’s decision to shelve its plan to charge drivers for entering Manhattan’s business district. Read more

🤖 Elections in the Age of AI: Mindy Romero led a discussion about how voters can identify AI-generated content and the potential threat AI could pose to democracy. Watch the discussion

Los Angeles Times published an op-ed from Annette M. Kim about how L.A. ethnic communities keep their identities.

Associated Press talked to Jeffery Jenkins about Hakeem Jeffries’ rising power in Congress.

Newsweek interviewed Rosalie Pacula for a story about differences in cannabis prices among states with legal marijuana.

Los Angeles Daily News quoted Mindy Romero about how the guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump could galvanize his supporters. CalMatters spoke to Romero for a story about the cost of producing state election guides.

The Hill interviewed Shaun Harper for a story about University of North Carolina cutting funds for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. AOL and Raleigh News & Observer quoted Harper in a story about the origins of DEI  programs.

Detroit Free Press spoke to Alexandra Graddy-Reed for a story how a local nonprofit could have missed an alleged $40M fraud

Newsweek featured Dowell Myers for a story about California’s recent population decline. 

The Denver Gazette talked to Christian Grose about President Joe Biden’s fundraising haul from Hollywood donors.

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

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