Los Angeles

A debate on the Holocaust, privately sponsored by a Harbor College administrator, was held at the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in Los Angeles on Friday. The Rev. John Pawlikowski, professor of social ethics at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a member of the U.S. Bishops’ Secretariat on Catholic-Jewish Relations, argued that the Holocaust occurred essentially as it is depicted by historians.

David McCalden of Manhattan Beach argued the “revisionist” view that accounts of the Holocaust are exaggerated to gain sympathy for “Zionist causes.” David B. Wolf, Harbor’s vice president for academic affairs, said audio tapes of the debate were made for classroom use at the college.

Wolf’s original plans called for a debate in front of a student-faculty audience on the Wilmington campus, but concerns that the event would attract demonstrations prompted the move to a private location.

El Camino and Harbor colleges are among eight community colleges selected by UCLA to help handle an overflow of students applying for admission to the university campus in Westwood. Under the program, about 4,500 prospective UCLA freshmen are being redirected to the community institutions for their first two years of college.

Redirected students who successfully complete the two-year program will be guaranteed preferential admission to UCLA at the junior level, officials said. To enroll in the program, students must have at least a 3.0, or B, grade-point average.

David B. Wolf, Harbor’s vice president for academic affairs, said the small classes designed for the program, along with geographic factors and lower student costs, “make the community college a viable alternative for students intent upon transferring to UCLA.”

A spokesman for the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has advised bartenders to check the identification of people claiming to be board agents inspecting a bar or other liquor outlet for compliance with state laws. Jerry Jolly, supervisor of special investigations in Cerritos, said the agency has received several reports of people impersonating its agents.

In some instances, he said, the false agents requested drinks or money as an implied condition for not reporting supposed liquor or vice violations.

“This is the sort of thing that we want to nip in the bud,” he said. “If someone comes in and says he’s an ABC or vice agent, the bartender or manager should immediately ask for a show of identification and then call us or another law enforcement agency if there is any doubt or question about who the person is.”