Daily Pilot columnist calls for more to be done to make college admissions equitable to all
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 20. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
Not long after the Los Angeles Times published its Oct. 22 investigative piece citing one instance after another about wealthy and well-connected parents who have been able to essentially buy an offspring’s admission to the undergraduate program at USC (a well-documented look that goes beyond the infamous Operation Varsity Blues scandal involving Newport Beach college counselor Rick Singer), Daily Pilot columnist Patrice Apodaca, a Newport Beach resident herself, picked up the thread in an opinion piece she wrote, “College admissions remain unfair to many deserving applicants.”
Although it seems like it happened far more recently, we are five years out from Singer’s guilty plea in Operation Varsity Blues and nearly two years out from his sentencing. It’s Apodaca’s take that the news about the scandal has led to some good changes to college admissions, but we’re still not to the point where every kid who aspires to a higher learning experience can get into a college fair and square, no bribes from Mom or Dad needed.
“The good news is that California passed a law set to take effect in September 2025 that will make it the fifth state in the nation to ban legacy admissions and only the second to extend that ban to private universities,” Apodaca points out.
“Yet we’re still a long way from a transparent, equitable college admissions process, one isn’t tainted by cynical commercial motives,” she writes. She is clearly skeptical the day will ever come when insatiable universities across the nation will turn their backs on hefty donations from parents in exchange for finding a spot for an otherwise underqualified student.
“[Universities’] attempts to portray Operation Varsity Blues as a rogue operation involving a few bad apples obscures the bigger picture, which is that college admissions aren’t nearly as meritorious as we imagine or want them to be,” Apodaca opines, and she’s concerned that money-hungry schools will always find a way to do some quid pro quo, or “side doors,” as she calls it, and less privileged students will continue to get a raw deal.
If her fears turn out to be accurate, it’s my hope The Times revisits the situation with another in-depth look at the issue. The futures of too many kids hang in the balance.
MORE NEWS
• Attorney, former mayor of Santa Ana and former U.S. Congressman Jerry Patterson died at his Fountain Valley home Nov. 8, the Daily Pilot reported. Patterson had just celebrated his 90th birthday Oct. 25 with his family. At the time of his death, he was Coast Community College District trustee about to finish his fifth term on the Board of Directors next month. A celebration of life will take place Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. at Community United Methodist Church, 6652 Heil Ave., in Huntington Beach.
• The Buena Park City Council last week agreed to enter into exclusive negotiations with Boardwalk Enterprises, which operates Butterfly Wonderland and Odysea Aquarium in Scottsdale, to create a butterfly aquarium on the site occupied for 43 years by Movieland Wax Museum. The city purchased the land for $9 million two years ago after an earlier attempt to create a butterfly palladium on the 9-acre Beach Boulevard parcel went nowhere.
• As the has county continued tabulating ballots cast in the Nov. 5 election, fortunes have changed in two local Congressional races. Republican Scott Baugh conceded to Democrat Dave Min for the 47th District seat held by Katie Porter and Democrat Derek Tran, as of yesterday morning, was leading Republican incumbent Michelle Steel in the 45th District by a very slim margin, just 102 votes.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
• Firefighter Andrew Brown, who suffered spinal cord injuries in a September freeway rollover when he and other members of the Orange County Fire Authority’s Santiago Hand Crew were headed home after battling the Airport fire, was released from a Colorado rehabilitation facility Friday. Brown said he had feared being permanently paralyzed when his crew truck crashed. On Friday he walked off a plane at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana to applause and cheers from family and fellow firefighters.
• In case you haven’t had your fill of news on of the many recent lawsuits that Huntington Beach has been involved with in one way or another, here are two updates in separate cases that might interest you:
— The Daily Pilot learned that the operators of Pacific Airshow quietly dropped its suit against Kim Carr, who was mayor the year the final day of the show was canceled due to the 2021 oil spill. Carr did not act unilaterally on calling for the cancellation; she was one of several people who decided that for public safety reasons it had to be done. No longer a member of the H.B. City Council, Carr has maintained all along (and her belief was backed in the courts) that Pacific Airshow had no legitimate reason to sue her because elected officials operating in their capacities are immune from private lawsuits. By extension one might assume the same could be said for the separate lawsuit Pacific Airshow filed against the city for the same cancellation. You may remember the city settled that suit in 2023 with what many believe was a hefty, multimillion-dollar gift of public funds to the company rather than seeking dismissal of the suit. Carr is incredulous about that and calls that settlement “a sham.”
— An Orange County judge gave the city a courtroom victory last week when he dismissed the state’s lawsuit against H.B. over its new voter identification ordinance. Judge Nathan Vu’s action allows the city to move forward with a series of amendments to its city charter to enact the stipulations of its Measure A, approved in March by 53% of those who voted.
• Orange County Judge Kimberly Menninger on Friday sentenced Samuel Woodward to life in prison without parole for murdering Blaze Bernstein, a gay former schoolmate in January 2018. According to the L.A. Times article on the sentencing, Menninger said during the sentencing hearing evidence showed that Woodward’s crime required planning and went beyond “a fit of rage.” Woodward was living with his parents in Newport Beach at the time of the killing; Bernstein had been visiting his family’s Lake Forest home from the University of Pennsylvania during the school holidays.
• One worker was killed and another was hospitalized following a midmorning accident Thursday at Villa Park High School, authorities said. The accident occurred when bleachers in the auditorium, which were being upgraded, collapsed, several news outlets reported.
• Police on Monday arrested Victoria Vu, 43, who is suspected of attempting to stab a child to death at the Westminster Civic Center Sunday afternoon and seriously injuring the girl’s father, who helped defend her, according to a City News Service report.
• It was reported by CNS Saturday that a 37-year-old female choir teacher at Santa Ana High School, Orange resident Yessenia Navarro Garcia, was arrested on suspicion of having sexual relations with a 17-year-old male student. Police made the arrest after responding to a 6 p.m. call Friday about an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and a student. Garcia’s bail was set at $100,000.
SPORTS
• Shortstop Kevin Newman and the Angels agreed Thursday to a $2.75 million, one-year contract, Associated Press reported. Newman will get a $2.5 million salary next season, and the deal includes a $2.5-million club option for 2026 with a $250,000 buyout. He most recently played on a one-year, $1.7-million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
• Newport Harbor High’s boys’ water polo team won the CIF Southern Section Open Division title at Mt. San Antonio College, beating JSerra, 11-10. The Sailors’ Lucca Van Der Woude scored the final two goals, including the game-winner from about 5 meters with 54 seconds left.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Pacific Symphony announced last Wednesday that Alexander Shelley will be its next artistic and music director beginning with the 2026-27 season. The 45-year-old Shelley, a native of England, will serve as music director designate in 2025-26, after Carl St. Clair completes his tenure with the symphony, and will assume full artistic leadership the following year.
• Costa Mesa residents and boating enthusiasts Dan Salazar and Ann Johnson recently finished the 6,000-mile Great Loop voyage aboard their 25-foot Walkaround power boat — the Rum Runner. The journey “circumnavigates the eastern United States and Canada, taking boaters up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, through New York’s canal system into the Great Lakes, then down an inland river system, across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida’s southern tip,” according to the Daily Pilot feature story on the couple’s adventure.
• Five years in the making, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opened Friday at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, replacing Splash Mountain. The latter featured references to the 1946 film “Song of the South,” which some consider racist, so, during a time of cultural reassessment, Disney officials began planning for the Tiana ride, inspired by the film “The Princess and the Frog,” to take its place. In other local amusement park news, Knott Berry Farm’s Sol Spin ride got stuck for more than two hours Monday, City News Service reported, leaving about two dozen riders suspended several stories in the air until park workers managed to manually lower the ride to the ground.
• The L.A. Times’ travel section gave the nod to a beloved Orange County city in its latest “Things to Do” article titled “From mission bells to hidden gems, discover San Juan Capistrano, the O.C. town as old as the U.S.” You can take a look at it here.
• Love hosting Thanksgiving gatherings at home but not interested in being the chef? TimesOC writer Sarah Mosqueda has come up with this list of 11 businesses that would be happy to sell you restaurant-quality prepared foods to take home and heat up. She also offers words of advice: Don’t wait too late to place your order or you might miss out on a delectable feast.
• Mosqueda also wrote an article on the latest addition to the Burritos La Palma chain, at at 1170 Baker St. in Costa Mesa. Among the many accolades the business has received over the years, it earned a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin guide for five consecutive years from 2019 to 2023.
CALENDAR THIS
• Heritage Museum of Orange County in Santa Ana is the venue this Friday and Saturday for the outdoor event dubbed Creep it Real Festive, TimesOC reported over the weekend. This is for those who like to mix a bit of spookiness into their holiday season. It will feature an assortment of vendors, food trucks, live bands and spooky surprises. Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. both days and tickets cost $17 and up, although kids 10 and under will be admitted free. This is a pet-friendly event.
• The Orange County Youth Symphony & String Ensemble Fall Concert will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday in the concert hall at Soka University in Aliso Viego. Tickets, available at this site, are $18; seniors, students and members of the armed forces will be given a 10% discount. The concert is presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and will be conducted by Johannes Müller Stosch.
• Winter Fest OC opens Friday at the Orange County Fair & Event Center and runs on select dates through Jan. 5. Visitors will find more than over a million lights, snow play, carnival fun, food and more. Learn more about the event and buy tickets for it here.
Until next Wednesday!
Best,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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