RANK: Tiny Concordia University in Irvine scores...

RANK: Tiny Concordia University in Irvine scores high in the latest collegiate rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The school, with 1,500 students, ties for fourth among regional liberal arts colleges in the West, up from 19th place last year. It tied with LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. First is Evergreen State College in Washington State. . . . Concordia, formerly known as Christ College, last year became part of the Concordia University system of 10 schools operated by the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

NEXT? UC Irvine Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening last week outlined an ambitious plan to move the campus into the top 30 nationally ranked research universities. (B1) But in the magazine’s new rankings released Saturday, Berkeley at No. 23 is the only UC campus on the top 25 list of national universities. . . .UCI once again finishes in the second grouping of schools (26th to 57th), along with UCLA and UC campuses at Davis, San Diego and Santa Barbara. No. 1 nationally: Harvard is tops among the national universities, and Amherst among the national liberal arts colleges.

BASEBALL BOYCOTT: As Shawn Atteberysees it, he is a baseball fan first and a businessman second . . . So when Major League Baseball canceled the rest of the season last week, Attebery cleaned out all of the baseball cards and collectibles in his Collectors Only shop on East La Palma Avenue in Anaheim. “I’m asking customers not to support Major League Baseball until this madness stops,” says Attebery. “I’m fed up with the whole charade.”

MARKET MADNESS: So, perhaps you’ve heard about the big supermarket merger in the works in which La Habra-based Food 4 Less would merge its Alpha Beta chain with Ralphs Grocery Co. . . . Company officials are not saying yet specifically which stores will be directly affected, but industry wags are already suggesting possible names for new supermarket combination. Topping the list: Ralpha Beta and Food 4 Ralph.