AILY ROJAN DMONDAY, MARCH 22, 2021 | STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THET UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE 1912 | VOL. 202, NO. 17 COVID-19 AT USC — March7-13 Over the week of March 7-13, the test positivity rate for PCR testing was 0.3% among students and 0.1% among employees. CURRENT TESTING NUMBERS Between March 7 and March PCR SURVEILLANCE TESTING 1, Cs Keck School of Medicine administered 10,682 PCR tests among students and employees. The results from all diagnostic tests, both surveillance and symptomatic, NEGATIVE: 6,646 NEGATIVE: 1,998 are now streamlined into one POSITIVE: 20 POSITIVE: 2 positivity rate statistic. The will report the STUDENTS Daily Trojan EMPLOYEES results every week on Sunday and can also be found on Cs COVID-19 Dashboard. Design by Samantha deNicola and Claire Wong | Daily Trojan Students create app to discover new music Discover Together considers hours over seven days to develop recommended. Recently, Discover the basic algorithm for Discover Together passed the milestone of the taste of two Spotify users Together. reaching 1,500 playlists made, and to recommend a playlist. After making a post seeking Reddy is eagerly awaiting the day help to develop the website on 10,000 playlists have been created. By KELLY SADIKUN Ladder, an online community for Narang’s most rewarding mo- Staff Writer recent college graduates to find ment after launching Discover professional opportunities, Yoon Together was when he was work- With the onset of the pandem- connected with Niyant Narang, a ing in the library with some peo- ic keeping people at home, many senior majoring in computer en- ple and heard them discussing turned toward online entertain- gineering at UCLA, and built a how much they enjoyed the web- ment and socializing — two fac- team of engineers and designers app without knowing that he was tors that inspired Trustin Yoon from Cornell University and the one of the founders of the start-up. to found Discover Together, a University of Waterloo. Starting in “Someone mentioned ‘Discover start-up web-app that transforms late summer, Yoon, Reddy, Narang Together’ without me prompting Spotify’s music recommendations and their team worked part-time … and then they were like, ‘Oh from a solo to a duo experience. on Zoom calls and Slack messag- yeah, like I love this, this is super By analyzing the features of ing to develop the web-app, which sick, I’ve done it with my girlfriend each person’s 50 most listened finally launched in February. and we’ve found so many songs songs — such as Danceability, “[Quarantine] was one of the together,’” Narang said. “There’s Vincent Leo | Daily Trojan Happiness and Energy — the reasons that we actually created a lot of times where you kind of Discover Together aims to connect Spotify users by procuring Discover Together algorithm clus- this together,” Reddy said. “We just get tired of music because a playlist filled with new music that fits the taste of two users. ters songs with music tastes the wanted to be able to connect two you’re stuck with the same songs. two users have in common and individuals that, you know, might You don’t really currently find “Right now, we want to position to a picnic or something like that, recommends music in that clus- not be able to see each other in per- anything new. I think it’s just a ourselves as a feature that dating you’d be able to listen to that close ter that is new for both users. son but wanted to keep in touch.” great way to explore, and I like apps can use for themselves,” Yoon together.” During quarantine, Yoon stum- According to Narang, Discover seeing that other people have felt said. “If you go on Tinder, there If a Spotify user wants to try bled upon the Spotify Application Together stresses the discovery the same way about it.” would be a feature, saying, ‘Oh, out Discover Together without a Programming Interface, while aspect of finding new music, while Some users have expressed do you want to make a playlist?’ partner, the service can also be teaching himself coding, and was other third-party Spotify services that they want to use Discover or something like that. I know enjoyed by making a playlist with inspired to create a social experi- recommend songs to one user that Together with more than one oth- you can see what their favorite yourself. When Narang was testing ence with music. the other likes, or finds common er person in a group, so Yoon, artists are and stuff like that, but out the service, he made playlists “My music tastes are very niche, songs between both users’ playl- Reddy and Narang are consider- kind of going a step further does with himself and found at least and I thought like, ‘oh, it would be ists. ing adding that feature. At the a great job breaking the ice, like 20 songs that he now listens to awesome to kind of experience “This is really unique in the moment, one of their future goals ‘hey, did you listen to this song on regularly, and encourages people the joy of finding a new song that sense that it’s not doing either, it’s is to be acquired by a dating app our playlist?’ That’s the kind of to try it out as well — on their I really enjoy with other people,’” direction we’re taking.” kind of a little bit of both, where since they realized that discover- own, with a friend or someone Yoon, a senior majoring in busi- Ideally, Reddy hopes that if it’s not only mixing your mu- ing music was a great way to break they’ve just started talking to. ness administration, said. “April, sic tastes, but then finding songs the ice when meeting someone Discover Together is integrat- “Music is like a universal con- May, June, like the worst months that you probably haven’t listened new for the first time, especially ed into a dating app, it will allow nector,” Yoon said. “[Discover of lockdown, [we] had to kind of to that you would still love,” said online. partners to find music and make get creative with you know, bond- Narang. Discover Together is currently meaningful memories with each Together exists] in a great little ing and socializing with other Since the algorithm analyzes partnered with a Canadian dating other. niche where we can target existing people so that’s kind of where I got each user’s top 50 songs, one chal- app called Aphrodite, which uses “You would send a request out couples so that they can have fun the idea.” lenge Reddy noticed was that less artificial intelligence to match for someone you’re talking to and make a playlist together. The Arjun Reddy, a graduate stu- relevant genres in a user’s listen- people based on things they have on Bumble or whatever, make a app is kind of intimate, like a one- dent studying marketing analyt- ing history were getting recom- in common on a form they fill out, playlist with them and [Discover on-one playlist builder. Also for ics, was already in contact with mended equally as often as more and are currently in talks with Together] will make the playl- people just meeting for the first Yoon on LinkedIn after he had relevant genres, so the team had matchSC. Reddy said that music ist you could potentially listen to time, it’s a great way to start con- published a different data science to make adjustments to factor in was a great way for two people to together, or talk about the song versation and talk about music, fa- project. After he heard Yoon’s genre relevance to ensure that only connect since sometimes it’s hard that you like on the playlist,” vorite artists and find new music idea, the two of them spent 50 the most suitable songs would be to talk to people on dating apps. Reddy said. “If you go on a date together.” INDEX 2 · News 4 · Opinion 6 · A & E 8 · Classifieds 11 · Sudoku 12 · Sports DAILYTROJAN.COM DAILYTROJAN PAGE 2 MARCH 22, 2021 | WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM NEWS NOW LEASING FOR FALL 2021 APPLY TODAY ! NEWS MARCH 22, 2021 | WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM PAGE 3 SDA creates equity, diversity, inclusion office The office was created in inclusion. In early May, the team host- communicating, it’s eating together.” Until Los Angeles County lifts coro- and forward-thinking EDI programs response to student, faculty ed a series of virtual forums that gar- Jennifer Franco, another SDA navirus restrictions, the office will as particularly integral to a school nered feedback from student, alumni, alumna, will join Dyer and Dashiell- continue to operate in a virtual set- like SDA. Dyer and Dashiell-Sparks and alumni demand. staff and faculty voices. Sparks as the third full-time staff ting — hosting online workshops, pro- The team said they hope the office can “The strong points are reimagin- member in the office. Franco, who fessional development training ses- have a powerful and lasting impact on By ELI SIMON ing and diversifying, and overhauling graduated in 2016, said she was also sions and town hall forums. However, the next generation of artists, actors, Staff Writer the curriculum to really have diverse one of the few students of color in an when on-campus operations return, playwrights and screenwriters as their — [Black and Indigenous people and otherwise majority-white graduating Dashiell-Sparks and her EDI office work shapes the entertainment indus- When Chevaughan Dyer graduated people of color] — narratives fore- from the USC School of Dramatic Arts class.