In a Mercury News commentary piece co-written by UCLA’s Ramesh Srinivasan, the professor of information studies warns of the hidden environmental toll of AI data centers and the risks associated with AI’s rising surveillance of individuals’ data. Srinivasan, who is the founder and director of the Digital Cultures Lab at UCLA, and his co-writer urge that there are ways to wield technology responsibly that benefit all, offering some insights into a possible blueprint for change. Read more about UCLA in today’s New York Times, CBS News and other outlets.
More highlights from UCLA in the News: March 2, 2026
UCLA Health receives $100M for mental health treatment | Inside Higher Ed
UCLA Health has received the largest single gift in its history devoted to mental health care: $100 million to expand mental and behavioral health services at the health campus, in part by supporting construction of a new neuropsychiatric hospital. (UCLA’s Johnese Spisso was quoted. Also: Los Angeles Sentinel.)
Trump justifies Iran attack as Congress, others raise objections | Los Angeles Times
Benjamin Radd, a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, said that whether or not Iran represented an “imminent” threat to the U.S. depends not just on its nuclear capabilities, but on its broader desire and ability to inflict pain on the U.S. and its allies — as was made clear to both the U.S. and Israel after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which Iran praised. (Radd was also featured by KTTV-TV, KNBC-TV, and KABC-TV. UCLA’s James Gelvin was featured by KTTV-TV.)
Iranian Americans in LA find hope in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran | New York Times
“This is a global moment,” said Sharon Nazarian, 58, a political scientist at UCLA and a local philanthropist whose Jewish family fled Iran when she was 10 amid death threats. “There’s a lot of fear, a lot of mixed emotion, but also a lot of hope. Our hearts are all shivering.”
Trump administration labels Iran a state sponsor of wrongful detention | CBS News
The Iranian diaspora living in the United States is estimated to number over 600,000, according to the UCLA Center for Near East Studies — all of whom could be significantly affected by the imposition of expanded travel restrictions to Iran.
The big problem with tariffs isn’t the rates. It’s the corruption | New York Times
(Commentary by UCLA’s Kimberly Clausing and Shane Ball) President Trump is resurrecting his tariffs, after a Supreme Court ruling that struck down many of those he levied during his first year back in office. This means higher costs for American consumers and businesses and more economic uncertainty.
Gas tax study bill supported by rural groups who say they need it | CalMatters
In 2017, then-Gov. Jerry Brown championed a 12-cent gas excise tax hike that tied the tax rate to the state Consumer Price Index, while facing a $59 billion backlog in deferred highway and bridge maintenance and $78 billion in deferred costs for local streets and roads. It was evidence that California leaders only implement such policies when “we have no choice but to do this because we are desperate for the revenues,” said Brian Taylor, a professor of urban planning and public policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
These Black women invented some of the most important things ever | BuzzFeed
[Patricia] Bath would continue on her path of success by becoming the first Black woman ophthalmologist at UCLA. It was there that she noticed a troubling issue: that individuals in underserved communities had higher rates of blindness. She then set out to close that gap and launched a concept called community ophthalmology, which combined eye care with public health for vulnerable populations.
Where Altadena’s Black families stand after fires | USA Today
The Black community in Altadena was shrinking prior to the fire, Odigie said. Before one of California’s most destructive fires scorched the region one year ago in January, affecting Black households particularly hard, and before investors began purchasing lots in the wake of the fire, Odigie said. A UCLA data brief found that the Eaton Fire disproportionately impacted Black households in Altadena.
Bacteria play previously unknown role in kidney stones | Science Alert
“This breakthrough challenges the long‑held assumption that these stones develop solely through chemical and physical processes, and instead shows that bacteria can reside inside stones and may actively contribute to their formation,” says urologist Kymora Scotland, of the University of California, Los Angeles. “By uncovering this novel mechanism, the study opens the door to new therapeutic strategies that target the microbial environment of kidney stones.”
Ivermectin is making a post-pandemic comeback, among cancer patients | NPR
During the early years of the pandemic, prescriptions for ivermectin surged to 10 times pre-pandemic levels — as doctors prescribed it off-label. Prescriptions were especially high across the South and among older patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, says Dr. John Mafi at University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in geriatrics and tracked ivermectin prescriptions.
Can you have a gun if you smoke a lot of pot? Supreme Court to decide | USA Today
Adam Winkler, a UCLA School of Law professor, said the confusion has opened the door for judges to impose their own preferences. Judges appointed by Democratic presidents are upholding gun laws even when there’s weak historical evidence while Republican-appointed judges are striking down laws for lack of a historical “twin” — even though the Supreme Court has said that’s not the standard, Winkler said.
Tune in, turn on, then what? | New York Times
In 2023, UCLA published a study of the sexual attitudes of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 24, and found a divide around depictions of sex and romance onscreen. Almost half of participants said that sex scenes were “not needed for the plot” of a film or TV show, and many called for more nonromantic scenarios and asexual characters.