News Scrapbook 1986-1988

Lo Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Co.) Los Angeles Times (Orange County Ed.) (Cir. D. 181,789) (Cir. S. 219,295) Of.C 1 11987

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P C B I ., IB88 tudents learn by onitoringOther Panels Law ~ool's ly J ENIFEH W R E~ , ?ime ; ta!! Wnter

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rogram Serves as ·unofficial Watchdog Agency d a single commissioner, who w1 leis ical school education in a deliberate the med 1 bo d to establish an and we have been very intereSle considerable power m the hccnsmg effort to prevent the licensing of ad"1sory 1 ca ar h in what they have had to say," said I . t· council to evaluate t e \ta t of agents and brokers. foreign graduates. app 1ca ':,ns from post-l 97 5 v,et- Stever Enghsh, semor consu n Last year, pressure from the The students' work, and subse- ~mese 6 raduates who have had to the committee on business a nd center and others prompted the quent resea rch and lobbying by t e moS t tr bl w' 1· ning licenses professions. "The filing of th e law- creat1·on of a Consumer Advi ory n the stat( ._ou e n JI ·gnif1cant action center attorneys, caught the ear of suit was a rea Y s, · Board allowing for pubhc input into the state Senate Committee on Meanwh . · · · 1 th mk th eir approach ,s the department's procedures. But Bu ness and Professions, which Sl3 3-milhile, the center has filed _a sincere a nd many of th e,~ c~it,cisms when Cardenas attempted to at- last year Issued a formal "accusa- ng · st the on class-action suit of th ese agencies are vahd. tend its first meeting, he wa am medical quality assur- Julie Cardenas, a 1987 graduate \ t k t1on" of misconduct against the anche boardd, 2 d\e<>ing numerous civil of the program was at the forefront barred. The center eager Y 00 up medical board and held hearings rig ts an pr 0 • . . • • the challenge, filing a suit to fore e looking into the'board's activities. its refusal to ·ocedural violations t of a campaign . h D art the department to open the me t- v· t ,ssue licenses to t e aimed at compelling t e ep - mgs. and a settlement ult1mat ly In September, the center claimed ie namese gr aduates. ment of Insurance to hold open achieved that go~Cardenas lat,•r a partial victory when Gov. George "The cente. , has had a highly meetings. Unlike most regulatory Please see w HDOG, Pa e 7 -------------D-eu~k_m_e_J•-an~ si~gn-e_d_a_b_il~l ~re_q_u_in-·n_g__ m_n70•;~rc1IiS

As for the center's targets, calls to a sampling of agencies elicited a variety of responses-from impar- tiality to resentment. At the Board of Barber Examin- ers, executive director Lorna P. Hill had a rather ho-hum attitude, observing 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 surprised to learn the students view themselves as watchdogs: "Who are they watch- ing? What's their constituency? Where do they get their mandate?" she wondered. 'No Contribution' 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 flied a lawsmt against his agency. •·1 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." Fellmeth is 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. "I'm 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 long way, but in reality, we're only 10% of the way there."

with smaller agencies as well. There have been run-ms with the Board of Osteopathic Examiners and the Board of Chiropractic Ex- aminers, as well as an ongoing tussle with the Contractors State License Board, which has drawn USD's wrath because of its backlog of 14,000 consumer complaints. Another dozen 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 since the Board of Fabric Care was killed," Fellmeth said. "So do we really need a Board of Landscape Architects? Do we need a Board of Barber Exammers and a Board of Cosmetology?" At least one legislator and the state legi.slativP vst share FeU- meth's view. Sen. :Janie! Boat- wright (D-Contra Costa) has in- troduced leg .station that wo Id lish five agencies, and the leg- islative ana:t st last year issued a report hsting about a half-dozen boards that could be eliminated without sacrificing public protec- tion. 'Out of the Wlldtrnesa' Veteran consumer groups have high praise for the center and its achievements. Harry Snyder, West Coast regional director for the Consumers Union, said Fellmeth and his students have "brought us out of the wilderness in terms of what we did about the regulatory process in California." "They've made a terrific contri- bution," Snyder said. "These boards are now aware they are being watched and there's been a better following ex procedure, like the noticing of public hearings, in general. The agencies realize this thorn m their side is not gomg to go away." Gene Erbin, legal counsel to the state Senate Judiciary Subcommit- tee, said the center "filled a big void" in the state regulatory arena by "creating a combative attitude and providing some public advoca- cy where there was very little before." Erbin, who once served as a lobbyist for the center, said its Journal, the Reix>rter, "is read in legislative offices here and is even cited by courts in some cases. People have introduced legislation ba-,ed on what they read in the Reporter." Still, Erbin added that the pro- gram needs a bigger presence m Sacramento. "There's room for maturation," he said.

Conllnued from Page 6 was named chairwoman of the board. "That was just another example of all these mini-battles we've been forced to fight to open up the state regulatory process even the slight- est bit," Fellmeth said. "These bureaucracies have been maintain- ing th status quo for years and when someone comes along and challenges them, you get real dra- ma." Utility Monitor In an episode with marked im- pact on the local front, a student's monitoring of the mighty Public Utilities Commiss10n laid the groundwork for the creation of the Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN), which has been a leader m voicing the public interest at SDG&E rate hearinl(s. The student was Michael Shames, now execu- . ec ofU . "I'll never forget my first meet- ing,'' Shames said, recalling the 1981 experience. "I sat in the back row because I was embarrassed to be up front. There was hardly anyone else there. The commis- sioners all spoke a foreign lan- guage-something that sounded like a combination 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 routine- ly approving SDG&E rate increas- es, largely because no one was making convmcmg arguments in opposition. . "There were angry ratepayers, but no one with the technical background necessary to sway the commissioners," Shames recalled. So Shame and the law center filed a petition asking the PUC for the right V> place inserts in utility bill enve.opes to present the con- sumer's side. After a year of hear- ings, the commissioners agreed to allow a new utility watchdog group to seek members and contributions through the SDG&E billings. UCAN was born and has proven to be a dogged intervenor in rate hearings before the PUC, saving San Diego ratepayers millions of dollars m potential increases over the years. "By the end of our ftrSt year we had 60,000 members and a budget of $330,000. It was clear we were onto something,'' Shames said. "If not for the center, none of this would have been possible." Aside from these major battles, the center's students have tangled

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.} San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217 089) (Cir. S. 341,840)

_c 11 1987

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or res Lo.n , .e-CJ)espite Jane Gilpin's 22 porfffs';'v\siting U§D (1-5) lost to a'oloaii, 58- 5, in women'slion- cooference play. The To led, 41-

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341,840)

DEC 13198'7

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on his quickness to drive the baseline for 19 points, with nine-for-10 shoot- ing. Junior guard Chris Childs, All- Big Sky Conference last season, con- tributed 15 points and seven assists. While Calvin's rehabilitation was set back, San Diego did get a mean- ingful contribution from one fresh- man. Forward John Sayers hit seven of nine shots and scored 15 points, though he committed nine turnovers. Guard Danny Means contributed 12 points, and Munn came off the bench in the second half to score 10. Egan and the Toreros are idle for the next six days, the better to pre- pare for their annual showdown with crosstown rival San Diego State, Sat- urday at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

pulled up to hit a basket off the break, then sank a three-pointer. Over about five minutes, Boise State's 23-point lead had been cut to 59-44 But that was about all there was for drama. Boise State forward Arnell Jones, who powered his way inside for 20 points and seven rebounds, righted his team with a six-point run, and the outcome was clinched. "That team 1s going to beat some people, and they're going to suprise some people this season," said Boise State coach Bobby Dye. "And they're probably not going to play as well as they should some nights, too. That goes along with it." Los Angeles product Wilson Fos- ter, a redshirt transfer, capitalized

The Toreros (2-3) hit better than 50 percent of their hots, but they only manag d to get 41 attempts up against a hounding defense. •·we know how to play, but we d1m't know anything :ibout compet- ing," said Egan h e team commit- ted 20 turno m the face of over- pl ym defense. 'We couldn't pre- pare r people for playing against that kf!d of mtens1ty Thidgs appeared to get worse for the T eros early in the second half, when reshman center Keith Colvin, who minutes had been few because of an nkle inJury, left with an aggra- vat101 of the spram. Bu then his sub, Jim Pelton, laid on 1p off an inbounds play, then spun for a layup and Marty Munn

USD coach Hank Egan: 'We know how to play, but we don't know anything about competing. We couldn't prepare our people for playing against that kind of intensity.'

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