Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m reading about the best places to eat after hitting the beach. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

A wave of active shooter hoaxes has caused panic at roughly a dozen U.S. colleges this week, including Villanova, the University of Kentucky, and the University of South Carolina, where a congresswoman tweeted a video that misidentified a student carrying an umbrella as a gunman.

Christina Morales / The New York Times

2.

The Undergraduate Student Government will hold a special election to replace a firebrand conservative senator who resigned. Intent-to-run forms are due Sunday at noon. Some advice for candidates: Promise the people fried chicken. No matter if you can’t deliver.

USG

3.

In case you missed it: New documents filed with state labor officials show USC has laid off at least 342 employees since July. Additional headcount reductions are widely expected in the next few weeks. See a list of all known layoffs at the link below.

Tomo Chien / Morning, Trojan

4.

The Beverly Hills school board voted to display Israeli flags on its campuses to commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month in May — a decision that has spurred fierce controversy. One former parent said she worried the flags will “ignite rather than discourage antisemitism.”

Clara Harter / Los Angeles Times

5.

It’s impossible to redesign existing college assignments to prevent AI use, argues Clay Shirky, vice provost at New York University. The only option is to go medieval: oral exams and blue books. Faculty should put “more emphasis on students writing to commit things to memory, rather than to create a written artifact,” he wrote.

Clay Shirky / The New York Times