ARN Stories

An 18-year-old mother was fatally shot by a Long Beach High School safety school officer. Family and community members are outraged and demanding justice. Our reporter Jacqueline Pinedo has the story.

Two USC programs called Arts in Action and the Art and Climate Collective aim to help students create art that showcases and focuses on social and societal issues. The students’ work spans across multiple mediums, including podcasts, poetry, video and architecture. Grace Harmon spoke with leaders in each program to hear about their goals and motivations.

31 years ago, there was a devastating oil spill in Southern California, but despite the preventative measures put in place since then, there was another spill reported near Huntington Beach recently. Sophia Soo has more on the story.

As millions of users from across the world opened their phones for the occasional scroll this morning, they were met with that startling, dreaded message: “Could not refresh feed.” Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp shut down their services due to an unknown outage. How will this affect USC students, businesses, and users from around the globe relying on these outlets for communication? Shreya Rang...

2025: a year that seems way in the future, but somehow it’s a benchmark that’s already breaking barriers for USC. The class of 2025 -- also known as the current freshman class-- is the most diverse group of students this campus has ever seen. Here’s Kennedy Zak with more on the story.

Following the Title Nine investigation regarding the USC Song Girls, there have been conversations on campus amongst students and faculty on how USC addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI. Caitlin Calfo has more.

Did you know that male sperm density has declined by more than 55 percent over the last 50 years? This is making fertility, typically defined by child birth rates, plummet throughout the global west. Nico Khazzam reports.

A whistleblower exposed that Facebook had covered up research on Instagram’s negative impact on teen mental health. One study revealed that thirty-two percent of teen girls who felt bad about their bodies said that the app made them feel even worse. Staci Ramsey has more on how USC students and social media experts feel about Instagram’s impact on mental health.

Unvaccinated celebrities have been a hot topic in the news this year. In professional basketball, multiple big stars have refused to get the shot. The NBA announced a new policy on this. Aedan Henry has the story.

IATSE, the largest entertainment union in the country, voted over the weekend to authorize a strike for thousands of crew members. Months of negotiations with major producers ended unsuccessfully for both sides. Now, entertainment industry workers across Hollywood are sharing horror stories online about their work conditions to rally the troops. Alexandra Applegate reports.

Our love of fashion is weighing heavily on the planet. Americans each throw away an average of 70 pounds of clothing a year. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There’s a global movement to change this. To embrace reuse and repair our clothes. Can a person, store, or event make a dent in this global issue? Sofia Fernandez spoke with practitioners of the movement to find out.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival celebrated in China and many Asian countries.

When a movement is really important it gets its own hashtag...and here's Jack Reid on #FreeBritneySpears!

Tomorrow is International Coffee Day! Drink up! Hao Xu spoke with coffee shop owners in South LA. 

A group of dedicated musicians based at USC donate their time to try to bring some joy to cancer patients at Keck hospital. They call themselves the Medicinal Music makers. Their goal is to use music as a tool for healing and bring some happiness to the patients and caregivers in the cancer ward. Gabriella Castania produced this report.

USC requires most students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but an email sent earlier this week adds a new requirement. Students, faculty and staff will also need to get the flu vaccine before November 1st. Wilko Martínez-Cachero asks students how they feel about this.

As California lifts its rental moratorium, many households are at risk of facing eviction. With hundreds of thousands of families applying for rental assistance, California is spending nearly $1.2 billion dollars in efforts to prevent evictions. Jose Romo has more. 

For decades Los Angeles hasn’t built enough homes to meet its growing housing demands. This has created fast-rising rents and home prices and put homeownership out of reach for thousands of Angelenos. Some families have responded by leaving Southern California altogether. Earlier this month Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two reforms targeting California housing, senate bills nine and 10, into law — repo...

What team bounced back from 2 losses to start the season, and is currently on an undefeated streak? USC women's soccer! Taylor Mills has more.

On Thursday night, the School of Dramatic Arts, or SDA, will hold its first-ever in-person performance since the COVID-19 outbreak. Sarah DeLappe’s (de-lap) The Wolves, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist, follows a competitive women’s high school soccer team, navigating the transition from adolescence to womanhood. Madeline Horowitz spoke with the director, Sabra (sah-bra) Williams and actors Tali Gre...

A case of sexual harassment by a Lyft driver near campus was reported last Saturday. Students rely on this service and the university even partners with Lyft in their Safe Ride Program. The news has left students reevaluating the security of this so-called “safe ride.” Tess Patton has more. Ethan Huang and Zach Lustbader contributed to this report.

Recently, a USC student was involved in a serious accident while riding a Lime scooter. We spoke to students about the safety of these electric scooters and whether they will continue to trust them for their daily commute. Sam Reno has more.

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 9 and 10 into law in mid-September, which will allow more housing units on properties previously designated for single-family zoning, the fight over local control for land use and zoning decisions is not quite over. Alexandra Applegate reports why opponents to the bill have not lost hope yet.

Marijuana use by college students is on the rise. Alcohol consumption is going down. This is according to a recent study conducted by the University of Michigan Institute of Social Research. Jack Reid looks at why.

USC’s Green Week sets to empower, inform and engage students in sustainable practices. But the environmental initiatives taken by the university are less than impressive when compared to other institutions in the country. How are students taking steps to embody a green lifestyle?