TITLED FRESHMAN: Charlotte Anne Lopez of Vermont...
TITLED FRESHMAN: Charlotte Anne Lopez of Vermont has become one of the most celebrated teens ever to hold the title of Miss Teen USA. A foster child who grew up in six different families, she’s spent her reign this past year speaking out about problems foster children face. Now Lopez, who handed over her crown Tuesday at this year’s pageant, is college bound--to UC Irvine. . . . A spokesman says Lopez will study performance arts and psychology this fall.
CHINA CLIPPER: Irvine’s AST Research is already the largest seller of personal computers in China and a PC maker there as well. Next week, AST Chairman Safi Qureshey joins Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and others on a trade mission to China. . . . Qureshey’s people are promoting it as a chance not just to boost sales, but human rights as well. With PCs, “people have more access to information and therefore are more likely to promote change,” says a spokeswoman.
PAST LEGEND: Maybe Gary Davidson of Newport Beach, who now builds retirement homes, doesn’t come to mind for your own list of sports legends. But Sports Illustrated has devoted six pages to him in its 40th anniversary issue out this month. . . . It calls Davidson, the businessman who founded the old American Basketball Assn., the World Hockey Assn., and the World Football League, “one of the most influential figures in the history of professional sports.” Davidson says about the piece: “They over-recognized me. But that’s OK.”
NO HOLDS BARRED: Lawyers love competition, even outside the courtroom. At a major Orange County bar luncheon today at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine, huge bins will be set up by the local Food Distribution Center as part of the second annual food drive by lawyers here. . . . Who collected the most last year? The 55-lawyer Newport Beach branch of O’Melveny & Myers pretty much lapped the field. Its lawyers collected 1,487 pounds.
