A park is a beautiful thing. It goes through the seasons with grace and ease as it sheds the colors of the previous months. It stands as a place of sanctuary and peace, blocking the city sounds of cars, buses and sirens. It contains childhood memories, family reunion photo-ops and a jogger's moment of zen. A park, whether it be Central Park or in South Central, L.A., is a beautiful thing.
While we see the best players in college sports coming from the top programs across the nation, many of the players in the professional ranks don't necessarily come from those schools. Pro Bowl wide receivers Chad Johnson and Steve Smith came from Santa Monica Community College, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Ben Roethlisberger came from the University of Miami in Ohio and there are plenty more to be named.
Travel a few miles up the 55 North and the prim, polished, perfectly planned community of Irvine transforms into the graffiti-ridden, overpopulated metropolis of Santa Ana. According to School Data Direct, a service of the Council of Chief State School Officers next door to one of the most affluent, first-rate research universities in California, the Santa Ana Unified School District stands as one of the lowest-ranked school districts in Orange County. We remain aware of these curious socio-economic contrasts, yet the question remains – what can we do?
This country's legal system operates on the code of innocent until proven guilty. While this might be applied with the law, you almost never see it in everyday life.
Where I ate: McCormick & Schmick's, 2000 Main Street, Irvine. What I ate: 1/2 pound cheeseburger and fries, and an order of Haystack Onions. What it cost me: $1.95 for the cheeseburger and fries, $1.95 for Haystack Onions and $2.75 for a drink, plus tax.
