Animal rights group targets USC
Tomo Chien
April 21, 2025
Good morning. It’s Monday, and Dr. B is my new hero. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
An animal rights group that has long criticized USC for its treatment of lab animals is urging the National Institutes of Health to revoke the university’s funding. If successful, the move would cut off all federal support for USC’s lab-based animal research — though experts say the NIH is unlikely to do anything.
2.
Faculty senates at Big Ten schools are backing a “mutual defense compact” that would pool legal resources to fight the Trump administration. Notably, the faculty votes are nonbinding, and university leadership would have to buy into the plan for anything to happen. USC’s senate votes on the matter in May.
3.
Trump officials said they accidentally sent Harvard the list of demands that has since set off an escalating showdown. Some sources said it was sent prematurely. Others said it was never supposed to be sent. Regardless, the White House appeared to double down, and now plans to pull an additional $1 billion in funding.
4.
An unknown vandal chainsawed dozens of trees in downtown this weekend, and the absurd images of the damage have gone viral on social media. Police said they have no information about the incident, though locals were quick to point out that downtown’s abundant security cameras should help catch the culprit.
5.
For years, an Oregon sheriff claimed in sworn court testimony that he was a USC Marshall graduate — until the local district attorney busted him for lying this weekend. Sheriff Kent Vander Kamp blamed “the lady” he hired on Fiverr to design his resume for the error, though he acknowledged that he read it out loud in court.