UC Irvine Muslim students stole the day
UC Irvine's graduation ceremonies was a tense affair this year
when Muslim students chose to wear green stoles with Arabic writing
and symbols on them.
Muslim students said they were an expression of their faith, but
others accused them of aligning themselves with terrorist
organizations like Hamas, who wear the same color and use similar
symbols. University officials allowed the students to wear the
stoles, citing their 1st Amendment rights, despite calls from Jewish
groups to ban them from the graduation.
The dispute followed months of tension, most notably the torching
of a cardboard display built by Arab students on campus.
Assemblyman floats fairly controversial idea
Costa Mesa city officials and residents cried foul in April when
then-Assemblyman John Campbell suggested the state-owned Orange
County Fairgrounds be sold and the fair moved to the planned Great
Park on the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
Some of his constituents worried about what Costa Mesa would lose
in travel and tourism dollars driven by year-round events at the
fairgrounds.
After Costa Mesa's stiff opposition led Campbell to abandon the
idea, it popped up in a massive report on ways to streamline state
government and cut costs that Gov. Schwarzenegger commissioned. The
report used the fairgrounds as an example of how the state could sell
off "underutilized" properties to bring in cash.
Trustee accused of betraying public trust
Bickering became a biweekly tradition in the Coast Community
College District's boardroom this fall, when trustee Armando Ruiz
refused to admit his decision to retire from the board and run again
two days later -- as an incumbent.
Trustee Jerry Patterson and teacher's union president Dean Mancina
demanded answers, while board president George Brown felt that Ruiz
wasn't legally inclined to speak.
By retiring from the district and from an elected position at
Irvine Valley College on the same day, Ruiz cashed in on a
little-known state loophole that would allow him to double-dip in
both pensions, increasing his annual Coast pension from $5,000 to
$55,000 and his combined annual pension to about $120,000.
Fellow trustee Jerry Patterson called Ruiz out publicly in board
meetings, saying Ruiz was "intentionally misleading the voters with
his campaign designation as the incumbent governing board member."
Ruiz won reelection Nov. 2 with 40% of the vote.
The story they never wanted you to read
