Good morning. It’s Monday, and I hope you had a grand Thanksgiving. On to the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

College applications were already hard enough. But a new trend is sweeping through admissions offices: the so-called “disagreement essay,” which asks students to show how well they handle opposing viewpoints. “We call it the hot, new ‘It Girl’ of college admissions questions,” one consultant said.

Roshan Fernandez / The Wall Street Journal

2.

The owner of the Felix Chevrolet dealership near USC wants to build a seven-story hotel on the property’s back lot. Plans for the Felix Gardens Hotel call for 216 rooms, a pool, and ground-floor restaurant space.

Steven Sharp / Urbanize Los Angeles

3.

Dutch Bros opened to much fanfare just south of campus on Saturday, marking the start of the coffee chain’s expansion into LA. The storefront, located near the Chipotle on Figueroa Street, is open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

ABC7

4.

You might not know it, but college radio is alive and well. Some 1,000 stations still broadcast from college campuses (including USC’s KXSC), which students say can surface under-appreciated artists free from the tyranny of streamers. “Do we want a robot to tell us what we’re going to like?” said one Loyola Marymount University student.

Nathan Deuel / The New York Times

5.

Hinge released its annual dating report, whose headline findings include several game-changing tips such as ask your date questions and consider being emotionally vulnerable. Also of interest: 3 in every 5 college-age daters reported using AI to aid their dating lives.

Anna Iovine / Mashable