San Fernando Valley : New Math Eludes Governor’s Wife

California First Lady Gayle Wilson was no slouch in the classroom in her day, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in biology from Stanford University the same year that Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act. But even that prestigious credential did not help her much Tuesday during a tour at Cal State Northridge.

Gov. Pete Wilson’s wife spent about 45 minutes observing a program that trains high school math teachers in the latest high-tech instructional methods. She came away impressed--and admitting that classroom technology has passed her by.

“I’m the first one to tell you I’m a computer illiterate,” the governor’s wife conceded to a group of high school teachers and their students. Recalling her 1960-64 stint as a Stanford student, she added, “It isn’t anything like what I was using when I was in college.”

Each time she ventured outside, Wilson was heckled by about 75 students protesting her husband’s stances against illegal immigrants and affirmative action.

“We are angry . . . at her husband’s efforts to discriminate against us,” said junior Enrique Castrejon, a leader of the protest.

Aides to the governor, who has become a frequent target of such protests, tried to put the best face on the peaceful demonstration. “Can you imagine if it was the governor?” said Wilson spokeswoman Lisa Wolf. “It would have been thousands.”