News Scrapbook 1986-1988

*USD-t-------- / Continut'd From CI _,,,,~~ he looking for an 1rrv'frse Grecian Formula 44 reaction? How to go completely gray m 40 minutes? doesn't exempt him from the team's sharp needle. When a visitor mentioned that Col vin·s aggr ·ssivcness is atypical of freshmen. junior Mike Haupt said, "Thank goodness. ' ·

"It was a gamble," said Egan, ''But they earned it this week in pracllce " And off their performances last night, expect the freshmen to be in the starting lineup again Monday when thP To eros play host to Cal Poly Pomona. "If I'm successful al something, I've been known to abuse it," said Egan. All three freshmen made signifi- cant contribulions Colvin, the Torero ' 6-foot-8 center out of Chico High, led the winner· with 15 points. Sayers, a 6-7 forward out of Ballar- mine High, scored eight. And Thomp- son, a 6 6 guard out of Don Lugo High in Chino, scored six. Keep In mind we're talking first• year freshmen. The kind that went to proms six months ago; not the rcdshirt vari ty. Even more impressive, the fresh• men made the plays come crunch time. After 1 ading 14-3, USU gradu- ally allowed the Grizzl1 back mto the game With 3:42 to play, Montana tied the game 52-52. Then the Torero worked the ball m:1de to Colvin, who was fouled. He buried two free throws. "All of that is memory reflex," aid Colvin abiiut hitting the pr .. ure free throw. . ' I rely on that, I don't rely on emoti ." Then came the capper. With 40 ·rcond lo play, Thompson picked off an errant pas , then was fouled while attempting a layup. He made both free throws with 32 econds lo play. End of gam For Colvm this startmg status is becoming commonplace. But that

But down the corridor, assistant coach Charlie KatsiafiC'as chipped in, "You don't see him everyday in prac- tice." Colvin did make one freshman mistake. With 4:20 to play and the Toreros only up by two, Colvin went up for an apparent slam dunk. And missed. Asked if he were trying to lam, Colvin smiled and said, "No com- ment." Then he added, "My legs went dead on m"" As for Sayers and Thompson, de- ·p1te practicing with the first team since Tuesday, they weren't JOO-per- cent, phone-home-and•tell-the•folks, certain starters. "I was wondering if the coaches weren't ju t psyc-hing up the other starters," said Thompson Not until 30 minutes before game time did they know for sure. Even then, Egan didn't tell them. Instead, he brought the players in for some last-minute instruction, then pointed to a chalkboard, lo the defensive matchups for the starters. As they left the locker room, Thompson said to Sayer , "C'mon, let's have a good game and win this one. I'm tired of losing." Unlike last year when Egan used the same startmg lineup for all 30 games, he 1 n't etching this one in stone. "If you earn it, you got it," said Egan. In the meantime, the future looks bright, except that it seems to be blending with the present.

s n Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. o. 123,092)

D C5 1987

• Jl llrri '• P C

I , Toreros get fresh start gan goes with kids

Tnbune photo by Rom Galgano

top Montana'

FLOORI GIT -Toreros' guard Michael Haupt, left, can't keep his feet as he Irie to

ate DuCbesne

dog

Lo Ang I • CA (Los Angel Col Time (S n 01 go Ed .) (Cir D 0,010) (Cir. S 55 ,573) C6

•

87

Jl/~,a',

p

ry Agencies on Their Toes

Public Interest law Center Keeps Regul

, Times

By JENIFER WARRE

taff Writtr

LAW:''Center Keeps Watch Over Watchdog Agencies .,.).{,, <; s' Conti'uuld from Page 17

only pubhc members in the audience-and their writings in the center's thick journal, called the California Regulatory Law Reporter. Anchored by the reputation of Fellmeth, a former "Nader's Raider" who was appointed by the attorney general in January to analyze the State Bar's discipline procedures, the program appears to have made quile a few waves during its short life. Most recently, two students' monitoring of the BoardJ!f edical Quality Asiurance stTrred criticism of the board's treatment of foreign medical school graduates, who some say have been unfairly denied licenses to practice medicine in California. The board, orgamzed to protect consumers from negligent and incompetent physicians, has been charged with employing a double standard in evaluating medical school education in a deliberate effort lo prevent the licensure of foreign graduates. nts work. and subsequent research and lobbying by center attorneys, caught the ear of the state Senate Committee on Business and Professions, which last year issued a formal "accusation" of misconduct against the medical board and held hearings looking into the board's activities. Partial Victory In September, the center claimed a partial victory when Gov. George Deukmejian signed a bill requiring Che medical board to establish an advisory council to evaluate the applications from post-1975 Vietnamese graduates, who have had the most trouble winning licensure in the state. Meanwhile, the center has filed a $13.3-milhon class-action suit against the medical quality assurance board, alleging numerous civil rights and procedural violations in its refusal to issue licenses to the Vietnamese graduates. "The center has had a highly influential role lo play on this issue and we have been very interested in what they have had lo say," said Steven English, senior consultant to the committee on business and professions. ''The fihng of the lawsuit was a really significant action . . . I think their approach is sincere and many of their criticisms of these agencies are valid." Julie Cardenas, a 1987 graduate of the program, was at the forefront of a campaign aimed at compelling the ~artment I Please see LA.W, Page 17

According to Fellmeth, a former deputy d1stncl attorney rn San Diego, the program's goal I two-fold. "I wanted first of all to give students some m-deplh traimng in a particular area, wbich is omething they rarely get in law school" the bearded professor and veteran consum advocate said. 'The brunt ofour economy is regulated by all these powerful little boards, bu the fact is, most people-like 95%-have no idea that these things even exist.' Robert F.nm.th USD's Center for Pubhc lnte11st Law ught use the program to focus a spotltght on the state's network of regulatory agencies, which are armed with the authority to make crucial dec1s1ons but have histoncally been free of public scrutiny. "The brunt of our economy is regulated by all these powerful htlle boards, but the fact is, most people-like 95%-have no idea that the e things even eXJst," Felimeth said "Before we started keeping an eye on them, everything was done behmd closed doors, without visib11ily, without exposure. We've tried to give the public a voice in the process." Felimeth believes that many of the agencies-like Moot's Board of Fabric Care-are all but useless and could be abolished with no harm to the consumer. He contends that many of the various regulatory bodies-supposedly formed to safeguard the quality of a given profession and remedy the misdeeds of its members-actually benefit and protect the industries they ostensibly regulate 'Cartel System' "These industries want regulation because they can control competition and avoi the marketplace," Fellmeth said "The boards become a rt of cartel system. They are dommated by members of the trade they are et up to regulate. They are funded by industry dues. So you get a very uncritical per pective that does not serve the public at all." The law students, Fellmeth ays, can help alter that posture through the one-two punch provided by their presence at the boards' mcetmgs-where they are frequently the But just as importantly, Fellm t

'Th y've made a terrific contribution. These boards are nowaware they are being watched and there's been a better following of procedure, like the noticing of public hearings, in general. The agencies realize this thorn in their side is not going to go away.' Sharon Kalemkiariana second- year student who monitors the C<}Iifornia Energy Commission and the Department of Insurance. Kate Turnbull, who is in her third year of law school and has worked on the lawsuit against the Board of Medical Qualily Assur- ance, agreed. "Before I got into this, I thought public interest law was working for the,Sierra Club or something," she said. "Without this experience, I would never have understood the power of these agencies and the fact that they are not accountable and can be very dangerous if they're not watched." Fellmeth 1s clearly proud of the program, his students' accomplish- . ments and the growing reputation of the Reporter. And he is con- stantly thinking of new ways to make a mark on the regulatory law . process. His next goal? To set up an institute on the legal rights associ- ated with open meetings. Harry Snyder Consumers Union

Still, Erbin added that the pro- gram needs a bigger presence in Sacramento. "There's room for maturation," he said. Reaction Varied AF, for the center's targets, calls to a s. TpL.ig of agencies elicited a variety of responses-from impar- tiality to resentment. At the Board of Barber Examin- ers, executiv director Lorna P. Hill had a rather ho-hum attitude, observmg only that the student monitors "seem to ask a lot of questions at times when things seem to be the busiest around here." Hill was surpnsed to learn the students view themselves as watchdogs, "Who are they wa c - ing? What's their constituency? Where do they get their mandate?" she wondered. Over at the Board of Osteopathic Examiners, awareness was some- what higher. Executive Director Linda Bergmann said, "We all know when they're there, but they make absolutely no contribution whatsoever, so we don't pay much attention." But Ken Wagstaff, executive di- rector of the Board of Medical Quality Assurance, is somewhat more attuned. After all, the center has filed a lawsuit against his agency. "I think there are two centers- the one that reports on what we do and the one that brought this litigation," Wagstaff said. "The first one seems to be helping people follow what's going on with the various regulatory agencies. The other has chosen to accuse us of conspiracies and attack the policies and procedures of this board, and that's been rather upsetting to me." In addition _to its watchdog role, lhe center's program provides stu- dents with invaluable practical ex- perience often missing from a tra- ditional legal education oartic1pants say. "You get an actual picture oj vhat hese agencies do, which i 1mething you really don't under and 'Unless you deal with it," said

Utility onltor In an episode with marked im- pact on the local front. a student's monitoring of the mighty Public Utilities Commission laid t he groundwork for the creation of the Utility CcnSYmetG Aet.:.in Netwerlr- (UCAN), which has been a leader in voicing the pub! c mtere t at SDG&E rate hearmg< The student was Michael Shame. now execu- tive director of UCA "I'll ne•,er forget my first meet- mg," Shames said, recalling the 1981 experience. "I sat in the back row becat se I was embarrasied to be up tront. There was hardly :myone else there. The commis- sioners all spoke a foreign lan- guage-something that sounded like a combmallon of Portuguese and Samoan-and I thought I'd never understand it." Before long, however, Shames began to catch on. And he soon realized that the PUC was routme- ty approving DG&E rate 'nc..-eas- es, largely because no one was making convincing arguments in opposition. "There were angry ratepayers, but no one with the techmcal background necessary to sway the commissioners," Shames recalled. So Shames and the law center filed a petition askmg the PUC for the right to place mserts m utility bill envelopes to pre ent the con - sumer's side. After a year of hear- ings, the commissioners agreed to allow a new utihly watchdog group to seek members and contributions through the SDG&E b1lhngs . . UCAN was horn and has proven to be a dogged mtervenor in rate hearings before the PUC, savmg San Diego ratepayers millions of dollars in potential increases over the years "By the end of our first year we had 60 000 members and a budget of $330,000. IL was clear we were onto something," 'hames said. "If not for the cent , , one of this would have been po. ~1t- '

Smaller Agencies, Too Aside from these maJor battles, the center's students have tangled with smaller agencies a.~ well. There have been run-ins with the Board of Osteopathic Exam ners and the BQard of Chiroprac•~ • ,.miners, welf as an ongoing ~•t.h th,. Contr~tors State License Board, whlchas drawn USD's w!'a'Th because of its backlog of 14,000 consumer complaints. Another doz_en or so agencies should simply be eliminated, Fell• meth and his colleagues believe. "You may have noticed that there hasn't been a crisis in dry cleaning smce the Board of Fabric Care WllS k1lled," Fellmeth said. ··so do r

"Im pleased with the impact we've made, but it's only signifi- cant because things were so bad before," Fellmeth said. "We've come a 10J1g way, but in reality, we're only 10% of the way there." -~----~-----~---~--/2