O.C. Gets a Bad Rap, Deserves Better

* As I travel around California and the country, I am at once amused and angered by the public’s perception of Orange County. Simply put, we are famous for two things, Disneyland and bankruptcy--with bankruptcy taking center stage. Talk about an ironic combination.

Even here at home, “Orange County bashing” has become a popular sport. Everywhere I turn, I hear rumblings about local governments in disarray. Home prices heading down the tubes. Gangs taking over the streets. Perennial gridlock. Even UC Irvine is seen as a hotbed of greed and ethical misconduct.

Listen to all this and you wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to live in Orange County. Well, I for one do live here, gladly, and I’m tired of the bashing.

Some of the biased, one-sided reporting about UCI is a perfect example. The controversy surrounding UCI’s Center for Reproductive Health is a significant issue that should, and is, being fully investigated. Yet, to many who follow the story, it seems that the best course of action is to fire the entire administration, tear the whole place down and start all over again.

To this I say, enough is enough.

UCI had a problem and the problem is being fixed. If critics want to focus on problems, then think about what this county would be like if we didn’t have UCI. Simply put, UCI is Orange County. It is excellence, intelligence, diversity, opportunity, creativity, beauty, and vision all wrapped into one.

In just 30 years, the university has quietly become one of America’s leading centers of higher education. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the university’s undergraduate program among the top 50 in the nation. Two of its humanities programs rank in the top 10. Earlier this month, two professors from UCI were awarded Nobel prizes.

In medicine, UCI is world-renowned in the areas of cancer research, Alzheimer’s disease, neurodevelopmental disorders and brain aging. On a daily basis, the UCI Medical Center provides Orange County residents with world-class care. In short, the university saves lives.

UCI is far from being an island unto itself. It has, in fact, become an economic engine for all of Orange County. The university is the county’s third-largest employer. More than half of its 54,000 alumni have remained here, contributing to our economic and cultural growth. About 1,500 students participate in internships at local corporations and agencies each year.

Stressing its entrepreneurial spirit, the university has developed strategic research partnerships with some of Orange County’s leading corporations. Simply put, UCI has become to Orange County what Stanford is to Silicon Valley and MIT and Harvard are to the Boston area.

On Friday, UCI’s value to Orange County expanded once again at groundbreaking ceremonies for the first component of UCI’s Center for the Health Sciences--the William J. Gillespie Neurosciences Research Facility.

The center will mark a significant new era in research on brain aging, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

The value and long-term benefits that will result from this world-class health center cannot be overstated.

While attending this ceremony, I was joined by many others who fully understand the important role that UCI plays in our community.

Perhaps if those who remain steadfastly critical were to support the university as those in attendance did that day, we could begin to move Orange County’s vision forward, instead of being stuck so deeply in the mud of the past.

DAVID R. DUKES

Chairman

Chief Executive Roundtable

UC Irvine