In the Media, November 2011
NBC News
November 11, 2011
Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV featured the USC School of Social Work’s military social work program. The program teaches students how to work with veterans through internships in military settings like Camp Pendleton, military-impacted schools, veterans’ hospitals or homeless shelters for veterans. For retired Master Gunnery Sgt. Isaac Ford Jr., one of the program’s first students, the internship involved working with San Diego schoolchildren whose parents were in the service. “We’re preparing professionals to work with this generation of young wounded soldiers for years to come,” said School of Social Work Vice Dean and Professor R. Paul Maiden. Anthony Hassan of the School of Social Work, who heads the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, said that social work with veterans has been a neglected field for a long time. “We didn’t always talk about the military when we talked about social work, and we haven’t had people talking about it since World War I,” he noted.
Neon Tommy (Annenberg Digital News)
November 9, 2011
Eugenia Weiss was quoted in a story about soldiers returning from Iraq only to experience the difficulties of finding a job and reintegrating into society. “The estimates are that somewhere between 15 and 30 percent of veterans coming home will have post-traumatic stress disorder or mild traumatic brain injury,” she said. “Many soldiers avoid seeking help for stress disorders out of fear that it will hurt their military career or damage their social reputation. Those who actually come for treatment are usually referred by their commanders or encouraged by family members.
National Public Radio
November 9, 2011
Southern California NPR affiliate KPCC-FM covered a health care forum at USC that featured U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry as a speaker. After losing his hand while throwing back an enemy grenade, Petry received a prosthetic hand, which he demonstrated for those at the forum.
Ventura County Star
November 9, 2011
Ferol Mennen was quoted in a Ventura County Star story about the Penn State sexual abuse scandal and the adequacy of laws protecting children and mandating teachers and others to report the abuse. “We talk a lot about how valuable (children) are, but when it comes to ensuring their welfare, we do a pretty poor job of it," Mennen said. "The issue is that people don't see that the welfare of children is more important than their particular institution." She added that people don't believe people they know could be molesters. But abusers rarely are strangers — they're people children trust.
Parade Magazine
November 6, 2011
Parade Magazine noted that the Gary Sinise Foundation funds a scholarship at the USC School of Social Work, which benefits military-oriented students by teaching them the skills to help veterans. “The University of Southern California has a wonderful social work department, and I was thrilled to find out that they have a whole veterans’ initiative program there. They approached me, and I set up a scholarship that would go to a military-oriented person to learn techniques and skills to better help veterans,” he said.
National Public Radio
November 1, 2011
Southern California affiliate KPCC-FM interviewed Ron Astor on “The Madeleine Brand Show” about the Los Angeles Unified School District’s effort to reinforce positive behavior in its students and how teacher training factors in. "I think if teachers and principals and superintendents are not trained while at a university to understand the mission and the function of a school to include school safety issues and school climate and social emotional issues, programs that come in afterwards last for a much shorter period of time," he said. The story ran again during NPR’s “All Things Considered.”