NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.  

CSUSB professor uses community science to study the challenges of city-living lizards
KVCR
Feb. 17, 2021

Scientists have found a new way to study hard to access animals in urban areas. KVCR’s Megan Jamerson spoke with Bree Putman, a Cal State San Bernardino biology professor, about using crowd sourced data to learn more about a common, but secretive, backyard lizard. She was the lead author on a paper published in February that demonstrated the power of using this method for data collection to study the Southern Alligator Lizard.

Listen to the report and read the related article at “CSUSB professor uses community science to study the challenges of city-living lizards.”

CSUSB professor participates in a FiveThirtyEight chat on Rush Limbaugh’s influence on the GOP
FiveThirtyEight
Feb. 17, 2021

Meredith Conroy, associate professor of political science at Cal State San Bernardino and FiveThirtyEight contributor, was one of the experts participating in the website’s politics chat on the legacy of radio talk-show host, Rush Limbaugh, who died on Feb. 17. He is widely regarded an influential figure within the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

Conroy said “conservatives, and increasingly the Republican Party writ large, distrust institutions, especially the media. According to a Morning Consult poll from January, 77 percent of Republicans distrust the media, and a Pew poll showed that Limbaugh was the third-most-trusted media source among conservative Republicans. This is important to understand because it helps explain why conservative talk radio is a thing and liberal talk radio isn’t.”

Read the full transcript of the chat at “How Rush Limbaugh shaped the GOP.”

Congressman ‘has standing’ using 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act to sue former President Trump, CSUSB professor says
NBC News
Feb. 17, 2021

Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed for an article on how U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and the NAACP are using the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and others.

Thompson and the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, allege in the suit, obtained by NBC News, that Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers used “intimidation, harassment, and threats,” to stop the vote count and caused the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in the process. This, they said, violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

“I guess it tells you something when you can use a Ku Klux Klan law from the 1870s,” said Levin. “It’s part of a series of laws enacted after the Civil War. Everything old is, unfortunately, new again."

The statute was first passed following the Civil War to combat KKK violence and allow Black people to take action against hate groups who use “force, intimidation, or threat” to prevent leaders from doing the duties of their office, Levin explained. Particularly, it prohibits people from using violence and conspiracies to keep Congress members from doing their jobs. The law was passed at a time when the KKK was openly, violently terrorizing Black people and Congress members while seeking to block Reconstruction-era reforms for Black people in the South.

"Thompson has standing because they interfered directly with him working to certify the election,” Levin said.

Read the complete article at “How the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act is being used in this latest Trump lawsuit.”

CSUSB professor comments on arrest of UCLA student who the FBI says was a participant in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot
Los Angeles Times
Feb. 17, 2021

Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, was interviewed for an article about the arrest of a UCLA student for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Authorities have charged the student, identified as Christian Secor, with federal crimes. He was captured on video sitting in the chair that Vice President Mike Pence had hastily vacated after a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol, according to the FBI.

According to an FBI affidavit, Secor may be affiliated with the Groypers and was spotted in a photo at the Capitol with someone widely reported to be a member of the white supremacist group.

The “America First” flag Secor was carrying represents a Groypers subgroup led by ultra-right influencer Nick Fuentes, said Levin.

“The Groypers cannot stand other conservatives, including Ben Shapiro,” Levin said, referring to the writer whose appearances at UC campuses have led to protests. “They are Holocaust deniers or minimizers. The America First brand is rebranded white nationalism.”

Levin said the number and severity of the charges against Secor suggest that prosecutors consider him a high-value target.

Read the complete article at “UCLA student with extremist views who FBI says sat in Pence’s chair is charged in Capitol riot.”

CSUSB’s Leonard Transportation Center hosts program on pandemic’s impact on telecommuting and transportation
Los Angeles Patch
Feb. 18, 2021

Regional Mobility Dialogue Series of the Leonard Transportation Center at Cal State San Bernardino is presenting the first of six new dialogues on topics relevant to the future of transportation in the Inland Empire. The next dialogue, titled “Telecommuting During the Pandemic – Lasting Impacts on the Transportation Sector,” will be held Feb. 23, via live videoconference. Kimberly Collins, executive director of the center and a CSUSB professor of public administration, will be one of the panelists.

The series is open to the public with platinum level sponsorship from HNTB Corporation and the San Bernardino International Airport.

Read the complete article at “Telecommuting’s impact on transportation.”

CSUSB Global Access Program to host virtual event on business opportunities in Singapore
International Business Times
Feb. 17, 2021

To help U.S. manufacturers, entrepreneurs and others capitalize on an expanding market in Singapore, the CSUSB Global Access Program (GAP) Virtual Business Matchmaking & Education Zoom gathering will host a virtual gathering on March 4 from 5:30-7 p.m. Pacific time.

"We are thrilled to host this virtual platform to connect government and business leaders, service providers, entrepreneurs, investors, and student talent for global business opportunities," said Vipin Gupta, co-director of the Center for Global Management  and CSUSB professor.

This complimentary event held is hosted by the center, which is housed in the California State University, San Bernardino Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, in collaboration with the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. It is part of an ongoing initiative supporting business exploration or expansion in Singapore, South Korea and the Philippines.

Read the complete article at “Singapore manufacturing leaders in medical technology, life sciences & electronics featured in CSUSB Global Access Program March 4.”

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”