An Army Base Isn’t As Safe As You Think

The Recent Shootings Remind Us That Fort Hood Has Similar Problems to the Rest of America

How could this have happened at Fort Hood again? That’s the lingering question after the shooting that took place two weeks ago in which three people were killed and 16 injured. Talking heads emphasize that last word to remind us of the mass shooting at the base in 2009, when 13 were killed and 30 injured. There’s no easy answer to why it happened again, but it’s worthwhile for us to consider what life on a large Army post is like—and how the Army handles soldiers with mental health issues.

Mass …

by Mike Stajura | April 17, 2014

UCLA Vice Chancellor Youlonda Copeland-Morgan

Call Me Yo

March 31, 2014

Youlonda Copeland-Morgan is associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at UCLA. Before participating in a panel on how to make higher education more inclusive, she revealed her nickname, what she …

Your Toddler May Soon Be Fat Again

We Have No Clue Why Childhood Obesity Rates Plummeted—Or Why They Rose in the First Place

by Abigail C. Saguy | March 13, 2014

Late last month, a New York Times headline announced: “Obesity Rate for Young Children Plummets 43% in a Decade.” The story, pegged to a study published by researchers at the …

The Racism That Changed My Life

My L.A. Childhood Was Tough. But Seeing the Struggles of South Africans Inspired Me to Help Kids in My Own Backyard.

by D’Artagnan Scorza | February 28, 2014

I first learned black history from Ms. Gilliard, my teacher at 96th Street Elementary School in Watts, who selected me to present the “I Have a Dream” speech in a …

You Call It a College Campus. I Call It Another Planet.

Can Universities Around California and the Country Do a Better Job of Welcoming Diverse Student Bodies?

by Sarah Rothbard | February 19, 2014

The University of California (UC) system has struggled to reflect the state’s ethnic diversity since California eliminated race-based affirmative action in 1996. Last fall, a video created by a group …

Can SoCal’s Most Reluctant Patients Get Preventive Healthcare?

Try Speaking Their Language. And If You Build a Health Fair, They Just Might Come.

by Anderson Nguyen | February 3, 2014

I met Mr. Pham two years ago as he sat in line at a health fair in Garden Grove and anxiously tapped his feet. I was a volunteer that day, …

Out of the Army—and Out of a Job

Military Drawdowns Overseas Mean More American Veterans Struggle to Find Meaningful Work at Home

When I Got Sent to Anchorage Instead of Pyongyang

During a Bloody War in Korea, Army Life in Alaska Postal Unit 50 Was Pretty Good

The Joys of Basic Training, 1951

Becoming a Soldier in a Time of War

When Terror Enrolled at Santa Monica College

A Year After a Devastating Shooting, a Professor Tells His Story—and Those of His Campus—as the Community Continues to Heal

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