In Wake of Recent Celebrity Suicides, Kaplan Appears on Radio Panel

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Professor of Social Welfare Mark S. Kaplan joined other experts in a recent KPCC broadcast following recent high-profile suicides that included celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and designer Kate Spade. “Suicide is a remarkable public health issue because it is to some extent a hidden problem and in some cases almost a hidden epidemic. … And it is a remarkable problem because it is also associated with firearms,” said Kaplan, who studies suicide risk among vulnerable populations. Kaplan noted that of the approximately 45,000 yearly suicide deaths, half involve the use of firearms.

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Curbed L.A. Seeks Out Monkkonen for Comment on Development Near Expo Line

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A new Expo Line plan to allow higher density residential development around five Westside stations may provide an important example of how to approach the city’s housing crisis, according to Paavo Monkkonen, associate professor of urban planning. “Look at how often a single-family home sells on a block. You’ll have a gradual change, not some crazy transition overnight,” Monkkonen said about the Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan. “But we need some proof-of-concept model because it has never happened, really.”

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Shoup Writes About How to Fix New York’s Parking Problems 

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Donald Shoup has a smart fix for New York City’s traffic woes: Sell market-priced parking permits for heavily trafficked parts of the city, then plow that money back into nearby neighborhoods. In a New York Times opinion article, Shoup, UCLA Luskin professor of urban planning and author of “Parking and the City,” writes, “Diverse interests across the political spectrum can find things to like in a parking benefit district.” He argues, “Cities can fairly and efficiently manage their curb space as valuable public real estate. … They can stop subsidizing cars, congestion and carbon emissions, and instead provide better public services.”

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Consumer Choice Has Revolutionized Electricity Business in California, DeShazo Says

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JR DeShazo is quoted in a recent column in the Los Angeles Times on the rise of community choice aggregators (CCAs) and their effects on California’s major electric utilities. “The pressure they’ve placed on the [investor-owned utilities] has produced a focus on competition that did not exist before,” said DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center for Innovation and co-author of a 2016 study on CCAs. “So a competitive dynamic already has emerged that has been beneficial to customers.” Only a small number of states have legalized these government-affiliated, non-traditional utilities, which now serve almost 2 million Californians.

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Villasenor Is Among 70+ Internet Luminaries Ringing the Alarm on EU Copyright Filtering Proposal 

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John Villasenor, UCLA Luskin professor of public policy, joined more than 70 influential tech leaders to warn the European Parliament that a copyright bill it is considering poses “an imminent threat to the future” of the Internet. At issue is Article 13, which would require Internet platforms to automatically filter uploaded content. “Article 13 takes an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the Internet, from an open platform for sharing and innovation into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users,” said the letter co-signed by Villasenor, who is also a professor of electrical engineering and management. Three weeks after the letter was published, the European Parliament voted to send the bill back to the drawing board. A revised copyright bill will be debated in September.

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Blumenberg Says Trump’s Welfare Reform Plan Misses a Key Piece: Transportation 

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UCLA Luskin’s Evelyn Blumenberg is quoted in a Washington Post article about whether a Trump administration order to toughen work requirements for welfare recipients overlooks a well-documented link between transportation and employment.  “Since the 1990s, things have become much more difficult for welfare recipients,” said Blumenberg, a transportation expert and professor of urban planning. “And I have not seen an upswell in movement for supporting the transportation part of this.” Cars play a key role in access to jobs that are “suburbanizing.” Blumenberg said, “It’s a touchy subject in transportation circles, where funds are focused on increasing access to public transit, even though poor people more than anyone need the flexibility and instant mobility of having a car.”

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Kaplan Discusses CDC Report About Suicide Rates Rising Across U.S. 

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New CDC figures documenting the growing rate of suicide may not reflect the full scope of the problem, said Mark S. Kaplan, professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin. Many suicides are actually classified as ”accidental deaths,” Kaplan, a noted suicide prevention researcher, told WebMD. “Some are classified as unintentional self-injury when, in fact, if you take a closer look, they look more like suicide,” he said. “The true incidence of suicide is unknown.” Kaplan said the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 contributed to what he terms ”deaths of despair” by suicide. Some people, he said, never recovered economically.

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