Mom sues USC over bizarre wheelchair mishap
Tomo Chien
September 03, 2025
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m ogling these $3 million homes in California. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
The mother of a USC graduate is suing the school, alleging that two employees who carried her down a step in a wheelchair accidentally dropped her at last semester’s commencement ceremony. Zelda Outlaw of Georgia said she suffered a fracture in her right leg.
2.
Expect a crowd near Tommy Trojan at noon today. Several campus labor groups plan to stage a rally in support of a faculty effort to unionize. “It’s past time that USC respect the over 6,000 workers who perform the teaching and research that make it a world-class institution,” the group wrote.
3.
California is seeing a resurgence of COVID cases, and, if the Sidechat masses are to be trusted, USC is too. If you need late-night Tylenol or cough drops, consider visiting — or dispatching your roommate to — the Village’s pharmacy vending machine.
4.
Dozens of intense wildfires broke out yesterday thanks to lightning strikes in central and northern California. The town of Chinese Camp on the road to Yosemite saw extensive damage as officials warned that hot, gusty winds are raising fire risks across the state.
5.
Two USC researchers earned a plug in The New Yorker for a study that previously received scant media attention. “How funny is ChatGPT?” Drew Gorenz and Norbert Schwarz asked last July. They found that, when rated by participants, jokes and satirical news headlines written by ChatGPT often outperformed those written by humans.