Intern Program Survives Bankruptcy That Sparked It

Three years ago, county officials were trying to figure out how to stave off total collapse following a $1.64-billion bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Chapman University professor Fred Smoller was planning what to do about the thinnest strand of silver lining he saw in the whole debacle.

Smoller sold both the university and the county on his idea: to send a handful of students into county government as interns so they could see the bankruptcy repairs firsthand. Presumably, they would wind up as leaders with the kind of smarts needed to keep a county financially afloat. Or at least become good citizens.

“We train lots of students to be better consumers, but we need to train more to become better citizens,” Smoller said.

His internships were so successful over the next three years that county supervisors have put up a small amount of financing--$30,000--to keep them going. For the first time, beginning with the spring semester, students will get not only six hours of college credit but a $1,000 stipend for their 15 weeks’ work. I’m guessing the big attraction won’t be either the credits or the money, but rather the experience and the boost it will give their resumes.

The dozen students--two with each supervisor and two with CEO Jan Mittermeier--are no longer steeped in bankruptcy issues. But during the 10 hours each week that they spend with the county, they do hear much about issues such as welfare reform and the airport.

On Fridays, they hit the classroom with Smoller. Besides running Chapman’s internship programs, Smoller is also an associate professor of political science. He talks with students about county issues and provides what he calls a “theoretical framework” for their internships.

Too many students, Smoller contends, carry the community attitude that people who work on the public payroll “are just bums.”

“After they work for the county, they learn that’s just not true,” he said. “They see a Jan Mittermeier put in a 20-hour workday and get a whole different perspective about public employees.”

It’s also important, he said, for the students to see things from the public employee’s perspective--such as having to answer calls from complaining constituents who don’t have their facts right.

A byproduct of all this is that several of those interns have gone back to work for the county after graduation from Chapman.

Smoller recently put out the word on campus that he’s taking applications for next semester for this exclusive class. Any student on campus is eligible, and there’s an information session slated for Oct. 30.

Running for a Runner: Every year, the American Heart Assn.’s Heart & Sole Classic in Irvine attracts more than 5,000 runners and walkers. On Oct. 26--a week from Sunday--the people at the Times Orange County Edition will be putting heart and soul into Heart & Sole.

Our staff will be participating in honor of our beloved colleague, Bill Billiter of Huntington Beach, who died last April. Some of you may have read in this column that Bill was the best friend I ever had in this business. He was a good friend to the American Heart Assn. too.

The Heart & Sole Classic was one of Bill’s favorite events. He never missed it, and he eagerly talked others into participating. Carrying on for him this year will be his wife, Maureen, son Steve and Steve’s wife, Laura.

I’m sure many of you will have your own reasons for running. All the money goes to Heart Assn. education or research. Call (714) 856-3555 if you want to participate or learn more.

Stacking for Fun: This Saturday is a big day for the soon-to-open Mission Viejo Library. Volunteers will be stacking thousands of books in preparation for the Oct. 25 opening.

Among the volunteers will be nine high school exchange students from all parts of the world. They are living for a year with families in the south part of the county in a program sponsored by the American Field Service, a group founded just after World War II to promote better international understanding.

Says Nancy Christensen, one of the organization’s local coordinators: “We wanted them to get hands-on experience at volunteerism.”

Available for Love: Harley is a terrific 5-year-old Dalmatian with one weak spot to go along with his black spots: He’s deaf. So the Animals Assistance League of Orange County placed him with an elderly woman who couldn’t speak. She was most grateful and joked that they were the perfect match. Peney Weaver of the league’s kennel asked the woman’s family what would happen to the dog if the woman died.

“Oh, don’t worry; we’ll always take care of him,” Weaver said she was told. But when the woman died recently, her family backed off. It was back to the kennel in Midway City, where Harley remains.

If you’d like to do a little mending of that broken promise, you can arrange to meet Harley at (714) 893-4393.

Wrap-Up: When you are a neophyte newspaper reporter, you don’t get many chances to interview the rich and famous, or even rising stars. When you do, you don’t forget.

The first such person I ever interviewed, more than 30 years ago as a college freshman, was John Denver. His only hit song at the time was one he had written for another group, “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane,” recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary.

So the songs I heard from his concert were protest songs, or songs about working people, or the unions. This was well before the many hits he recorded himself, before his big, full orchestra concerts. It was just Denver and his guitar. He was magnificent.

He was also very gracious to an interviewer he had to know was pretty new at all this. Two things I still remember from that discussion: He wanted a new Porsche. Outside of that, he said, his only career goal was to get the chance to write songs he cared about.

Denver, who died Sunday in a plane crash off the Monterey coast, certainly accomplished that.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com