Academic Senate

Special education committee to meet The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Special Education Community Advisory Committee will hold its first public meeting of the 2004-05 school year at 7 p.m. tonight. The meeting will take place in the district board room at 2985-A Bear St., Costa Mesa. Committee chair Sandi Ames and director of special education Patrick Ryan will discuss new special education changes, including new staff and new strategies to enhance communication and coordination and new methods to bolster the Individualized Education Program process.

Bristol offramp from San Diego Freeway reopens The Bristol Avenue offramp from the northbound San Diego Freeway reopened Tuesday, four months ahead of schedule. The new Avenue of the Arts offramp is expected to open soon. The southbound Costa Mesa Freeway to the northbound San Diego Freeway connector, which was reduced from two lanes to one, will return to full capacity by Thanksgiving. The closures were necessary to allow for construction that will eventually improve the traffic flow at one of the 10 busiest interchanges in the nation.

Marisa O'Neil High school students hoping for future University of California letters will have to hit the books a little harder. Starting in 2007, the UC system will require a minimum grade point average of 3.0 -- up from 2.8 -- for prospective freshmen. UC Regents voted on the adjustment Thursday based on an earlier recommendation by the Academic Senate of the University of California. Individual campuses, especially popular ones like UCI, will have their own admissions criteria above that.

1. Rep. Chris Cox is rumored to be a candidate for what federal office? A. President of the United States B. FBI director C. CIA director D. Federal judge 2. The jury in the high-profile, gang-rape trial of Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann last week ruled not guilty 11-1 on what count(s)? A. rape by intoxication B. oral copulation by intoxication C. all 24 counts D. A and B. 3. The Academic Senate of the University of California voted unanimously last week to recommend raising minimum GPA eligibility requirements to what?

Hermes scarf printer to demonstrate craft Upscale retailer Hermes will host a scarf printing demonstration series today through Thursday at its South Coast Plaza store.   Guests will get to meet the scarf designer from the Hermes Ateliers in Lyon, France, and learn about his technique. The craftsman will demonstrate how to make two different scarves, one of which was chosen to honor the recent opening of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The store will host the demonstration at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. each day. OCC to vote on faculty, staff of the year Orange Coast College announced its nominations this week for faculty member of the year, staff member of the year and part-time faculty member of the year, in an annual competition voted on by staff and students.

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA - The interim title from Fred Hokanson's job has been removed as Orange Coast College announced Tuesday he is the school's Athletics Director and Dean of Physical Education. Hokanson, who held the position on an interim basis since January, after his predecessor, Jane Hilgendorf, retired, says he is focused on maintaining, what he called, "the Orange Coast College tradition." "We are the best community college in Orange County," Hokanson said.

Christine Carrillo Vanguard University will offer its first women's studies minor for the 2004 spring semester, an area often neglected at Christian schools. The new minor, offered through the school of humanities, will focus on areas of women's study ranging from women's roles in literature, history, leadership and religion. It will be offered as an interdisciplinary minor. "We have a number of reflections of [the Assemblies of God] heritage and this will be another reflection of that heritage," said Elizabeth Dermody Leonard, professor of sociology and co-director of the university's Center for Women's Studies.

On a lovely recent noonday, I went to UC Irvine with my rabbi, Mark Miller, to meet colleagues, including our Episcopal campus minister, The Rev.'d Martha Korienek, for a midweek opportunity sponsored by the Academic Senate to affirm that people of different faiths and spiritual practices are safe and welcome to practice their religion on that campus. It was called "Stand Together for Tolerance." Throughout it I kept thinking, tolerance isn't enough. We need to be mutually respectful!

UC IRVINE — Three self-proclaimed former terrorists visited the Bren Events Center on Wednesday night to urge students to condemn Islamic fundamentalism, comparing America's modern enemies to the Nazis and calling on Muslims to take a stand against human rights abuses in the Middle East. The appearance by Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani and Kamal Saleem, who bill themselves as the "3 Ex-Terrorists," capped a day when UCI held events centered around tolerance and racial and religious differences.

Deirdre Newman The Coast Community College District Board of Trustees succumbed to intense pressure from the teachers' union Wednesday night and decided to pull a proposed 14% raise for seven top administrators from its agenda. Union President Tina Bruning raised concerns earlier in the week that the raise was badly timed with the state's budget crisis and would violate the public trust after a $370-million facilities improvement bond was passed last month.