Good morning. It’s Friday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

USC used to be a haven for C students who were at times so degenerate that the school had to ban weeknight frat parties and outlaw beer sales at the Coliseum. No longer, goddammit! The incoming Class of 2030 has an average GPA of 3.92 — an all-time high for USC.

Tamara Almoayed / Annenberg Media

2.

USC and Sony Music will settle a lawsuit that accused the school’s athletics department of using copyrighted music in its social media posts. The record label originally sought tens of millions of dollars in damages, but it’s unlikely that the terms of the settlement will be made public once finalized.

Rachel Scharf / Billboard

3.

Donald Trump casually floated the idea of again sending troops to LA in a cabinet meeting yesterday. The feds, he said, can fight crime “much more effectively” than local cops — and besides, “all the time, people come up to me” to say “thank you so much” for deploying troops to American cities.

Gavin J. Quinton / Los Angeles Times

4.

It’s been an unusually active season for rattlesnakes in Southern California thanks to unseasonably warm weather. The odds of being bitten are low — and the odds of dying are lower — but two people nonetheless succumbed to fatal bites on local trails this month, prompting officials to implore hikers to remain vigilant.

Clara Harter / Los Angeles Times

5.

A USC event will offer free used clothes to students, thrift-store style, at the Sustainability Hub on April 1. It’s open to anybody but relies on donations. Want to contribute? Drop off gently used clothes by 3 p.m. today at the Sustainability Hub (STU 100) or Student Basic Needs (KOH 103).

USC Basic Needs