The Yanni Effect

In 1993, Gordon Shaw and two UC Irvine colleagues said they had discovered a connection between intelligence and classical music. In a published letter to the science journal Nature, the three said they had exposed 36 UCI students to various aural stimuli—including a tape of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. After 10 …

Letters

Contact us via phone (714-825-8432), e-mail (le*****@******ly.com), regular mail (Letters to the Editor, OC Weekly, P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627) or fax (714-708-8410). Letters will be edited for clarity and length. All correspondence must include your home city and a daytime phone number. DUH, SCOTT! As Christopher Cox's Libertarian opponent in the 47th …

Teppan-Out

If your idea of an authentic Japanese meal involves sitting around a Teppan-Yaki table and watching a knife-wielding chef's floorshow-with the requisite grand finale of flipping a piece of shrimp into his apron pocket-then chew on this: Teppan cooking is more or less a Japanese take on Western food. Outside hotels or other touristy spots, …

I will wear a suit

“There's a dead guy I want you to photograph,” OC Weekly editor Will Swaim tells me. I ask for some background, and he tells me that the dead guy in question is Harold Ezell. “Wasn't he the Reagan-appointed Immigration and Naturalization Service chief who said, 'Illegal aliens shouldn't be deported; they should be deep fried'?” …

Shantae Molina is Innocent

Photo by Jack GouldAs an Orange County jury prepared on Aug. 14 to announce its verdict in State of California vs. Molina, homicide prosecutor Robin Park inhaled deeply, grabbed the arm of her investigator, and nervously whispered, “Okay.” It seemed the usually hard-charging Park was hoping that a last-minute act of willpower might conjure up …

Ice Box Memories

Photo by Patricia InsheiwatMy vividest memories of growing up in Orange County include Thrifty's drugstore, Lucci's Deli and my hunt—still ongoing—for the best frozen dessert. Raised in the crime-plagued Huntington Continentals (at Brookhurst and Adams), I climbed the cinder-block fence behind Grant's (now Mervyn's) and went to Thrifty's for the 15-cent triple-scoop ice-cream tower. A …

All That Glistens

The Irvine Co. has always kept generous friends in influential positions. When the company needed unswervingly pro-developer appointments made to the county's Board of Supervisors and superior court, Republican governors Ronald Reagan, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson routinely obliged with the likes of 5th District Supervisor Tom Wilson and Judge David Sills. When the company …

Sage Advice

Photo by Keith MayIn 1998, Greenbriar High School in Evans, Georgia, declared March 20 “Coke Day.” It was part of the school's effort to capture the Atlanta soft-drink maker's $500 top prize in a contest to find the local school most enthusiastically promoting Coca-Cola. Greenbriar encouraged students to dress in red and white. Chemistry classes …

Drug Stink

Photo by Daniel C. TsangA recent drug sting in Irvine netted authorities three suspects, 11 marijuana plants and 11 grams of pot in a plastic bag. But it also turned upside-down the life of an innocent UC Irvine student when his over-the-counter pain relievers were mistaken for the club drug Ecstasy. Filipino-American student activist Burt …