Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 175, NO. 13 | Monday January 30, 2012
InDEX 2 · Quick Hits 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 9 · Crossword 12 · Sports
Movin’ up:
Daniel Zott of
Dale Earnhardt
Jr. Jr. speaks
about the
band’s rise.
“USC students should feel free
to talk about sex, pleasure and
health openly — and not only
in the context of that crazy
party last Friday.”
Victorious:
The Trojans win
their first game
in Pac-12
competition
against the Utes.
sports 12
lifestyle 5
opinion 4
weather
Mostly Sunny
hi 68
lo 54
to- tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
hi 68
lo 54
By Chelsea STone
Daily Trojan
The Dornsife College of Letters,
Arts and Sciences’ economics de-partment
opened a computerized
research lab to study economic
decision-making.
Experiments are set to begin
this semester once the lab has
built a large enough subject pool,
said Juan Carillo, a professor of
economics.
The Los Angeles Behavioral
Economics Laboratory in
Kaprielian Hall will use its 36
computer terminals to record sub-jects’
decision-making strategies.
Carrillo is one of the core fac-ulty
members for LABEL. He said
the lab will give USC the ability to
run a variety of experiments.
Researchers can test, for ex-ample,
how individuals respond
to risk and how games of strategy
work depending on the actions of
multiple people.
LABEL’s purpose is two-fold
because it can train students in
research practice while generat-ing
data.
Carrillo said students will be
able to run their own experiments
and to gain valuable hands-on re-search
experience.
Though Carrillo acknowledg-es
that these experiments could
be run in other labs, such as those
at UCLA or Cal Tech, “the quality
and amount of experiments would
not be comparable to having an
in-house lab.”
The economics department
hopes to expand the lab to include
equipment capable of recording
physiological reactions, Carrillo
said, making it one of the only
research facilities in the United
States with this comprehensive
structure.
“It would put USC on the fron-tier
of research and experiments,”
Carrillo said.
Nazmul Ahsan, a graduate stu-dent
studying economics, said he
looks forward to conducting his
own research in a lab that will set
USC apart from other research
universities.
Economics Dept.
opens research lab
The research lab, located in
Kaprielian Hall, will begin
experiments this semester.
| see Econ, page 3 |
Dornsife
By Rachel Bracker
Daily Trojan
Steve Proffitt, an adjunct professor
of journalism, never intended to go into
journalism.
Originally trained as a studio artist,
the self-proclaimed “news junkie,” began
his career by applying to make art for his
local PBS station, KERA, in Texas.
“I fell into it,” Proffitt said. “I literally
went to a public television station and
they hired me as a producer and reporter
— those were different times.”
And though news isn’t traditionally
a field for artists, Proffitt tells his
students to strive for innovation — in
identifying potential stories, thinking
about who to speak to and who to
interview, approaching interviews and
presenting information.
“I try to stress the creative nature of
journalism,” Proffitt said. “I approach it
as a creative act and try to teach it as a
creative activity.”
He said two things surprised him
when he started teaching, the first one
being that many of his students don’t
always follow the news the way he
does. Classes begin with a discussion of
current events, something his students
sometimes struggle with at the start.
“Sometimes it takes a few weeks
for them to even understand what I’m
looking for,” Proffitt said. “They may
come in with things that they read in
Gawker or some sort of entertainment
site, but I want what’s going on in Syria
and Sacramento.”
Part of this might come from his
formative years consuming media.
“When I was in college, it was the
Vietnam War, Watergate and the civil
rights movement,” Proffitt said. “There
were a lot of big things happening.”
The predominance of women in
his classes also surprised him, as the
number of women journalists continues
to rise.
Before coming to USC, Proffitt had
not taught journalism in an academic
setting, but he said that teaching is a
rewarding experience.
“It’s given me some optimism about
the future because I meet and work with
students who I think have a real future
as journalists and who, even if they don’t
become journalists, will do good and
important things,” Proffitt said. “When
you work in the news business, it’s pretty
easy to become cynical and pessimistic.”
Though the broadcast classes he
teaches focus on television, Proffitt said
he prefers radio journalism.
“I like print and I like TV, but I’m a
radio guy,” Proffitt said. “It’s the medium
I’ve been working in the longest and I’m
Professor Proffitt stresses creativity in journalism
Steve Proffitt said working at
USC has given him optimism
about the future of journalism.
People
Photo courtesy of Steve Proffitt
Radio · Steve Proffitt, an adjunct professor of journalism, works as a producer and
reporter for the Madeline Brand Show at the Pasadena National Public Radio affiliate.
Ani Kolangian | Daily Trojan
Study party
Katelyn Masket, a freshman majoring in international relations, and three undeclared freshman,
Laura Rutledge, Tessa Granowski and Ellie Duke study Sunday in McCarthy Quad, while enjoying the
weather. Though the weather was cold last week, temperatures climbed into the high 70s this weekend.
| see ProfFitt, page 2 |