CMC In The News

In an op-ed for Nikkei Asia, Prof. Minxin Pei wrote that while the Chinese “government has strong incentives to hide the catastrophe” of Covid, it won’t be able to hide the death toll. Due to the widespread availability of digital technology, “Chinese people now can easily document and disseminate the true extent of the devastation caused by the Covid surge,” Pei wrote. “Despite censorship, savvy social media users are able to post pictures and video clips that put the lie to the official propaganda that only a tiny number of people have died of Covid.”

NBC4 shared the news that Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Parade^® float won the Golden State Award for most outstanding depiction of life in California. KFI-AM and Yahoo! Finance also featured the honor.

The Claremont Courier featured Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Parade^® entry. “The float—a first for CMC—honored the school’s 75^th anniversary and featured Mt. Baldy. The theme focuses on the college’s mission to graduate students who will live thoughtful, productive lives and develop responsible leadership.”

Newsweek interviewed Prof. Hilary Appel about Russia’s war in Ukraine. "The first few days in February 2022 failed to achieve the downfall of the Zelensky regime, as hoped for by the Russian government," Appel said. "Yet it is important to recall that the most important advances leading to the control of nearly 20 percent of Ukraine's territory occurred early in the war.”

KTLA featured the decorating of CMC’s Rose Parade^® float and highlighted the float’s design, including the College’s iconic buildings and public art. KCAL also featured CMC’s float as it was being decorated.

CBS8 in San Diego featured the Kosmont-Rose Institute 2022 Cost of Doing Business Survey, which found that California is one of the costliest states. “California continues to be an expensive place to do business,” said Prof. Ken Miller, who is the director of the Rose Institute for State and Local Government. “Taxes are higher in California, regulations and utility costs, and license fees, all those kinds of things tend to be high in California.”

The High Desert News also featured the survey.

KABC in Los Angeles interviewed Prof. Ken Miller about the impact of California’s minimum wage increase. "Employers are facing higher rents, higher wage costs, high regulatory costs, so it's very difficult for businesses to do business in this state," said Miller, who is the director of the Rose Institute for State and Local Government.

Newsweek interviewed Prof. Jack Pitney about the feuds within the GOP. “Republicans have always faced factional infighting at all levels of politics," Pitney told Newsweek. "At various times, it has been House versus Senate, purists versus pragmatists, or simply one ambitious leader versus another."

KDAF in Dallas featured the 2022 Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey, which found that Texas is one of the least costly states to do business in, while California is one of the costliest. “Doing business in Southern California has many benefits, but the costs make it increasingly hard to pull off,” said Ken Miller, director of the Rose Institute for State and Local Government, and an author of the survey report. “Rising home values, office rents, labor costs, and burdensome new state and local laws were variables to watch this year as these costs continue to escalate.”

Prof. Minxin Pei published an op-ed in Bloomberg, “Why Didn’t China Prepare Better for Covid Chaos?”

“The trauma of China’s exit from Covid Zero represents a major policy failure that did not need to happen,” Pei wrote. “The country had plenty of time to prepare for this moment and could easily have applied the lessons learned from other countries, such New Zealand and Australia, that adopted and then abandoned similarly strict pandemic restrictions.”

The Associated Press interviewed Prof. Jack Pitney about how San Bernardino County voters approved a ballot proposal to explore seceding from California.

“A lot of Californians are unhappy in many ways,” said Prof. Jack Pitney, citing record gas prices, the rising cost of living, and real estate prices that make home ownership unattainable for many working-class families.

“The vote on secession was like smashing the china. It’s a way of getting attention but in the end it doesn’t accomplish much,” Pitney said.

An obituary published in The Claremont Courier paid tribute to Professor Ward Elliott, who died on Dec. 6, 2022, at age 85. A beloved professor at CMC, Elliott inspired the minds and spirits of generations of students through his teaching, mentorship, and sing-along parties at his home.

The Claremont Courier reported on the unveiling of CMC’s 2023 Rose Parade^® float design at Family Fun Day on Dec. 11. The design, with the theme ‘launching responsible leaders,’ was visible in a detailed rendering.

 The Claremont Courier featured CMC’s float entry in the 2023 Rose Parade^®, sharing the float’s design elements, which include “snow-capped Mt. Baldy, public art, iconic buildings, a creative take on CMC’s book and globe logo, and Southern California native flora.”

Prof. Minxin Pei published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times arguing that the Chinese government must order “the immediate approval and import of mRNA vaccines” to quell protests over the country’s “rigid ‘zero-COVID’” policies.