Professor Smoller Unfairly Criticized

* County Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes, in his Feb. 20 letter, claims that professor Fred Smoller, a member of my division at Chapman University, uses his position as a faculty member to “deliver partisan rhetoric” in the classroom. This assertion is factually incorrect.

If this charge were true, it would be a serious indictment of Smoller, of the political science department, of the social sciences division and of the university.

Each semester, faculty administer teaching evaluations in their classes. Students take this opportunity to write whatever they wish about their professors. As Smoller’s immediate supervisor, I review these evaluations each year.

If there were “countless complaints,” this is where they would show up. They are simply not there.

As department chair, Smoller has gone out of his way to bring a wide range of views into the classroom. Former Republican gubernatorial candidate and California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren teaches in his department, as does former Republican Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez.

Republican stalwart Don Segretti has lectured in Smoller’s class on the Watergate scandal. In fact, Segretti and Smoller wrote an op-ed piece together that appeared in The Times several years ago.

The simple truth is that Smoller has probably propelled more students into Republican Party politics than almost any other political science professor in Orange County.

As director of the Washington Semester and Orange County Internship Programs, Smoller has placed students with Republican U.S. Sens. Trent Lott of Mississippi and Bill Frist of Tennessee and the Heritage Foundation, not exactly bastions of “ultra-liberalism.” Each semester Fred places student interns in the offices of Orange County supervisors, all of whom are Republicans.

LELAND L. ESTES

Chairman, Social Sciences Division

Chapman University

* This is in response to Tom Fuentes’ letter Feb. 20 attacking professor Fred Smoller of Chapman University.

If the Republican Party ever wants to regain its status as the majority party in Orange County and California, then it must stop 16-year party Chairman Fuentes from criticizing every voice who expresses an opinion contrary to his own.

There are few issues more important to Orange County than establishing political leadership that will take our party in a more mainstream direction. In 1998, Republicans lost seats in both houses of the Legislature along with the governorship of California.

The same year, Republican voter registration dropped below 50%, a first for Orange County. To get that majority back, Orange County must elect leaders who focus on the “bread and butter” issues important to the lives of the average voter.

The goals of our organization, Republicans for New Directions, are quite clear: encourage and support all Republicans to be a part of the process and discourage single-issue politics.

We are working to elect candidates who will help increase Republican Party membership by creating and encouraging a bigger tent and by encouraging the inclusion of diverse points of view. We are committed to expanding the support system for the Republican Party in Orange County by attracting people who share core Republican values but don’t support single-issue litmus tests for political candidates.

Under the current exclusive leadership, the Republican Party will only become a more and more disjointed minority. More than ever, Orange County Republican voters have a need for strong, effective leaders. It has been the course of action for party officials and nominated Republican candidates to spend too much time focusing on divisive social issues--and not enough time championing the basic principles of the Republican Party.

The politics of exclusion will eventually lead to an even more irrelevant GOP minority in Sacramento, unable to address the issues important to the lives of everyday people.

The failures of current party leadership have led to losses in former Republican seats all over Orange County. This is a critical time for the Republican Party. We must elect new Republican leadership or be resigned to the continued failures of the past.

RON SHENKMAN

Chairman, Republicans

for New Directions