New Nikias book out tomorrow
Tomo Chien
March 02, 2026
Good morning. It’s Monday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
Former USC President C.L. Max Nikias’ new book, “American Trojan,” releases tomorrow. It has already generated buzz (and some eye rolls) among USC leaders for its supposedly unapologetic take on his transformative but scandal-ridden presidency. The book’s summary describes USC as a bastion of “academic integrity” amid campus ideological wars.
2.
The USC men’s basketball team took the extraordinary step of dismissing its lead scorer ahead of the final, pivotal week in its season. The circumstances of Chad Baker-Mazara’s unusual departure were not immediately clear, but the LA Times reported that an unspecified “accumulation of issues” led to his ouster.
3.
The Undergraduate Student Government hauled a senatorial candidate before a panel to investigate an anonymous, online allegation that she voted for herself on another student’s phone. (She was exonerated after four friends testified to her character.) Expect more rulings from USG ahead of its delayed release of election results tomorrow.
4.
John Mayer, the Grammy-winning guitarist, will speak at Bovard Auditorium today in an “intimate conversation and live masterclass.” Reservations for the free event are full, but if you weren’t able to nab one, the event listing suggests joining the standby line at 3:30 p.m. to grab unclaimed tickets.
5.
Bigger, beefier food delivery robots are coming to the streets of LA. Coco, the UCLA-founded company behind the robots often seen around campus, is releasing a second-generation bot that’s fully submersible and compatible with snow tires. “We want it to have a lot more reliability in the most extreme conditions,” Coco’s CEO said.
