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Taking the ball and running with it

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Times Staff Writer

Who says no to gastroenterologist-to-the-stars Gary Gitnick’s invite to a Super Bowl blast?

Not Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or Maria Shriver. Not former governor Gray Davis. Not L.A. Mayor James Hahn. Or L.A. Police Chief William Bratton. Not even California State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton.

They all showed up at Gitnick’s Encino home on Sunday for gourmet grub and a halftime program that is becoming legendary in L.A. party circles: a speech about education given by a prominent politico. (Never mind Janet Jackson’s televised “accidental” upper body exposure at the end of the halftime show. They missed it.)

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“How did he get all of these powerful people here?” Schwarzenegger asked the crowd, referring to Gitnick, chief of the division of digestive diseases at UCLA’s School of Medicine, who has counted Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, Halle Berry and Schwarzenegger among his patients. “Think about it,” the governor joked, “he’s using his profession and power at UCLA to his advantage. That’s how everyone got here. I was recently there for a prostate exam -- in a most vulnerable position -- and he said to me, ‘Will you come?’ ”

Turning down the invitation from the doctor can have “consequences that are severe,” Schwarzenegger continued, flashing his famous grin at the hundreds crammed into the sunny living room. “Remember, a few years ago Michael Ovitz said no,” he deadpanned. At this, howls erupted from the guests. “And it just so happened that Howard Dean said no,” and the doctor took him off the “tranquilizers.” More howls.

Then Schwarzenegger got down to his talk about education, a topic insisted upon by Gitnick, who along with his wife, Cherna, founded the Fulfillment Fund -- a nonprofit mentoring and scholarship program for impoverished kids.

The governor believes in “equal education for all, so that every child in California has an equal opportunity,” he said. “That’s the only way we can make sure all children will become successful. I think children should have the first run at the treasury, but at the same time, we have to think about spending our money wisely. There’s a lot of waste in education.”

Earlier, Gitnick admitted that neither he nor his wife were football fans. “For 18 years, we’ve used this party to have fun and try to get people together to talk about the problems of education,” he said as he prepared to greet guests in his marble-paved foyer. “There are a tremendous amount of children throughout California who will not be able to rise above poverty unless they use education as a stepladder.”

Arriving minutes before halftime, Schwarzenegger signed autographs and chatted with guests, including Burton, who has sharply criticized his budget. “I asked him about which restaurant he thinks does the best schnitzel in Southern California,” Burton quipped as he stood in the backyard of the 6,500-square-foot manse that was once owned by singer Aretha Franklin. “We couldn’t agree.”

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Davis and his wife also got chatty with the governor. “We’re on good terms,” Sharon Davis said of Schwarzenegger and Shriver. “We’ve already gone to dinner with them and we’re planning another get-together. We want him to succeed for the state. We live here; we want the state to do well.”

Has she given any advice to California’s new first lady? “Yes. I told her in a note, ‘Don’t read the negative press. It will make your life so much easier.’ She sent me flowers.”

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