Politicians Sought Aid of UC Lobbyist

For the past decade, state elected officials have used the University of California’s capital lobbying office to make hundreds of VIP requests for student admissions, housing and other assistance at every UC campus in the system, according to records released Monday.

Dozens of politicians from both sides of the aisle have availed themselves of this unofficial channel to seek help at campuses from San Diego to Davis. They include Gov. Pete Wilson, Wilson’s education advisor, Maureen DiMarco, and Lt. Gov. Gray Davis.

Records show that those who made the most requests were former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, former Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy and a Sacramento lobbyist who is now being considered for appointment by Wilson to the university’s governing Board of Regents.

“I’m proud of that,” said Ralph Ochoa, when informed that he had made scores of requests to UCLA.

More than 1,000 requests from 114 state lawmakers and numerous other public officials are reflected in documents obtained Monday by The Times under a Public Records Act request.

The records do not show clearly how many of the requests were granted. But it appears that many, especially those for graduate school admissions, were not. For example, a 1995 request from Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) on behalf of an applicant to the UC Davis veterinary school was unsuccessful. Pringle has since been elected Assembly speaker.

Although university officials removed the names of students for privacy reasons, the records demonstrate that a little-known system that provided special considerations for VIP students at UCLA has also operated at UC’s eight other campuses and professional schools since at least 1985.

At its center is the university’s Office of State Governmental Relations, which represents UC’s interests in Sacramento and seeks to influence legislators on more than 150 bills affecting UC each year.

The office is run by lobbyist Stephen A. Arditti, who in a recent interview said he serves as a “kind of one-stop clearinghouse” for legislators inquiring about student admissions and housing.

“Sometimes they have an interest in this person and hope somehow the person will be treated favorably, but you know we wind up delivering probably more bad news than good news about these things,” Arditti said, emphasizing that he simply relays the requests and plays no part in the decisions.

UC spokesman Rick Malespina said that although the newly released documents show that some of the students were admitted to the university, there is no way to prove a “cause and effect” relationship between a legislative inquiry and the outcome.

“It could be that these people were already admitted or denied after the request came in,” he said.

The issue of preferential treatment for well-connected students erupted earlier this month when The Times revealed that several UC regents who voted to roll back affirmative action for minorities and women had privately used their influence to get relatives, friends and the children of business associates into UCLA, sometimes ahead of more qualified applicants.

The Times also reported that public officials made scores of requests specifically to UCLA, and that Chancellor Charles E. Young intervened to admit ineligible or lesser-qualified applicants--including the nephew of a wealthy Saudi Arabian sheik.

University officials say that the number of VIP requests represents a minuscule number of all applications. In a statement issued last week, Young’s office said that “in a handful of cases each year, the support of an influential person may have helped an applicant.”

“Far from being an issue of great magnitude, as The Times coverage suggests, this is a matter of very limited scope,” the statement said.

However, Arnold Leiman, Chairman of the UC Academic Council, said it is “inappropriate” and “disconcerting” that even a small number of people are admitted because of political or financial influence.

“It’s not a system we admire or hope continues,” said Leiman, who serves as the voice for UC’s faculty members. “It’s intrinsically adverse that political influence extends to the decision process of admissions.”

UC President Richard Atkinson has launched an internal review and state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) will convene hearings on the issue next month.

On Monday, Gray Davis, who himself made requests, joined a chorus of public officials calling for reforms. The Democrat, who is a member of the Board of Regents, said he will recommend at the next regents meeting that UC routinely inform the public whenever an elected official writes a letter of recommendation.

“I definitely think the regents should address the concerns raised by The Times,” Davis said. “Nobody’s track to the university should be greased; everybody ought to submit their application in the same manner to the same admissions committee.”

Records show that Davis made several requests through Arditti’s office. He said he “routinely writes letters for interns, employees and others with compelling stories.”

Records show that Wilson made at least six requests through Arditti’s office. But Sean Walsh, the governor’s press secretary, said late Monday that the Wilson may have made as many as several dozen requests directly to campus admissions officers. “The governor believes it is inappropriate to attempt to convey special preferences for those who are less qualified than others who apply to the University of California,” Walsh said. The number of VIP requests handled by the UC lobbyist peaked at about 150 in 1991; it leveled off at about 80 during each of the last two years, said university officials. An additional 48 inquiries have been made for 1996, they added.

UC officials said that their governmental relations office is supposed to serve as a focal point for legislative inquiries.

“It stands to reason that these kinds of requests would come in,” Malespina said. “There’s no reason not to be as responsive as possible, as a campus would be. . . . It’s not new or surprising that the office does this.”

Arditti said fielding legislative requests occupied only 1% of his time. “I don’t have a scorecard for this stuff,” he said, adding that “maybe a third [of the requests] result in good news.”

Records released Monday show that Arditti’s office kept detailed logs tracking every request conveyed by state officials to the university for assistance. The logs list the campuses involved in the request, public officials who made the inquiries, legislative staff contacts and the outcomes.

During the last 10 years, records show, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, now San Francisco’s mayor, made at least 113 requests, and former Lt. Gov. McCarthy made 68. Brown could not be reached for comment last night. Last week, McCarthy said he helped people only if their records looked reasonable.

Another leading requester, records show, was Ochoa, a UCLA graduate and onetime alumni regent who still has close ties to the university system.

Records show that Ochoa made at least 67 requests through Arditti’s office. Dozens were at UCLA, including ones for his two sons and the daughter of his Sacramento law partner.

As former president of the UCLA Alumni Assn., Ochoa said he gladly passes along requests to his alma mater, many for disadvantaged applicants or for students of interest to Latino and African American legislators.

“If somebody asks me on behalf of a youngster, or a youngster himself, I’m going to do everything I can to give that kid another chance,” Ochoa said, adding that not all of his inquiries were for minority or impoverished students.

Ochoa confirmed that he is among a number of candidates being considered by Wilson’s office to fill a vacancy on the board of regents. He also said that he recently has lobbied the White House in efforts to secure federal emergency quake relief for UCLA.

Wilson’s top education advisor, DiMarco, made two requests to UC in 1995, records show.

She said in an interview that one request was for an ill student who needed to transfer to UC Davis, and another was on behalf of a paraplegic student needing financial aid assistance at UC Irvine.

“I never asked for special treatment. . . . I usually don’t know how it turned out,” DiMarco said.

Asked whether this system is fair, DiMarco said, “It depends on whether the person calling is trying to exert political pressure or whether or not they are trying to ensure the student be treated fairly and according to the rules.”

Former Assemblyman Rusty Areias, a Democrat now campaigning for a Santa Cruz-area Senate seat, said he only recalled seeking help for a young woman whose father asked him for a recommendation. He said he did it as constituent outreach.

Confidential records obtained by The Times show that UCLA officials identified one of Areias’ requests as an “A priority.” After initially denying the student, who had a 3.89 grade-point average and a 1,020 Scholastic Aptitude Test score, she was admitted for winter 1994.

Times staff writers Virginia Ellis and Paul Jacobs and researcher Michele Buttelman contributed to this story.