Opinion: In today’s pages: The people’s park and the Padilla verdict
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Loyola Marymount’s Ruben Martinez remembers the public history of Griffith Park along with his personal memories:
The history of Griffith Park is a faithful mirror for the history of the city. Over the decades, its crowds have been drawn from just about every culture and class -- a curious, sometimes tense mix. When my father was growing up here, the Griffith Park pool was segregated (as were all city pools), with signs announcing the one day of the week that ‘blacks and Mexicans’ could take a dip. On Memorial Day in 1961, a riot began at the merry-go-round when a black youth was accused of getting on the ride without paying; the LAPD ultimately blocked all park entrances and loudspeakers blared orders to disperse. But over the generations, the people of Los Angeles have made the park their own.... Perhaps what made Griffith Park a great public space in the many decades before the fire can never be captured in a bureaucratic exercise like a master plan.
Columnist Joel Stein offers his tips to Hollywood stars facing an interview with a print journalist. And American University’s Stephen I. Vladeck points out the real precedent in the Jose Padilla case.
The editorial board thinks it’s about time the Food and Drug Administration took a closer look at kids’ cough medicines, which many studies have shown to be ineffective or even harmful. The board also comments on the Padilla verdict, and Google’s decision to allow subjects of news stories to comment on them.
Readers consider Gregory Rodriguez’s claim that diversity may not be the answer. See why Jeff Poggi of Angelus Oaks says ‘It seems unfathomable that the normally astute and observant Gregory Rodriguez can get this latest take on diversity’s problems so wrong.’