Students’ Hair Is All the Colors of the Rainbow -- as Long as It’s Blond

What about the stereotype of a UC Santa Barbara student as a surfer dude, or dudette? Well, laradio.com guru Don Barrett and his daughter Alexandra attended an orientation for the new freshman class and one school official advised students to be prepared to encounter a roommate or classmate from another culture.

How diverse is UC Santa Barbara? “As we analyze this freshman population,” the official quipped, “we find that we have 60 shades of blond this year.”

For those lacking that do-it-yourself spirit: Carl Kruse of Poway spotted a store that, he notes, “takes customer service to a unique level” (see photo).

All construction, all the time: On Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Gary Washburn found a few feet of highway between the end of one project and the start of another (see photo).

For the adventurous: August and Rena Maymudes and several other readers pointed out a service for travelers who are bored with cushy cruises (see accompanying).

But who’s complaining? Carol Martinez of the L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau chanced upon this correction: “The staff, management and editors of eTurboNews apologize for the error in yesterday’s Rail Europe ad featuring France Wine Tour. We are sorry that the subject for the eTurboNews Travel-Telegram broadcast read, ‘France Whine Tour.’ ”

Adventures in the English language: The Times received a news release about a new “open air lifestyle center” in Huntington Beach.

Translation: It’s a mall.

A guy who just can’t get enough L.A. traffic? An L.A. resident phoned the traffic tip line of KNX-AM (1070) the other night to report that the station was “coming in clear as a bell,” traffic reporter Jonathan Weiss told laradio.com. Why the big deal? The resident was phoning from Kauai, Hawaii.

For your haute-cuisine file: A reader complained to San Diego magazine that its “Best Restaurants” issue lacked a category for “Best Buffet for a Casino.” A casino buffet -- now that does sound like a gamble.

miscelLAny: Allen Wilkinson of Whittier points out that the California Business and Professions Code once required attorneys to “abstain” from “offensive” behavior. But that subsection was later ruled unconstitutionally vague by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the requirement was deleted. So, attorneys are free to be as “offensive” as they wish. Sounds like a bad-lawyer joke.