EDITORIAL

The message was loud and clear. And nobody accepted it.

Pepe Serna’s litany before 200 Latino youths -- that only a handful of

them would go to college, most of the girls would become teen mothers and

only one of them was really worth anything -- met with defiance, just as

it should have.

And the third Latino Youth Conference this week will help them prove

Serna wrong. Between the career advice and the motivational speakers, the

conference offered the students a chance to stretch their horizons and

imagine what they can become.

The speakers -- including Frank Gutierrez, owner of Muebleria Vallarts,

and Superior Court Judge Frances Munoz -- were living proof that those

horizons are endless.

The youths also had among them three fine examples: Roy Alvarado

Leadership Award winners Hilario Arriaga of Estancia High; Zhaira Franco

of Costa Mesa High, and Claudia Flores of Newport Harbor High.

With continued efforts, the number of students deserving of that honor

can only grow. And our community will be a better place as a result.

Bay studies crucial to estuary’s long-term survival

The words “baseline study,” “watershed analysis” and “environmental

impact report on permanent dump site designation,” probably don’t mean

much to the average person. When people read those words in a newspaper,

they are easy to gloss over.

But news this week that nearly $1.5 million was awarded to Orange County

to complete these studies is something that every Newport Beach resident

should pay very close attention.

The baseline study will determine for government agencies what the bay

looks like at its optimum health. Without this study, it is difficult to

know which steps should be taken to make the bay better. What’s more, its

completion means the federal government will kick in 65% of the cost of

projects to help the bay achieve that optimum health.

When asked where their water comes from, most people would say “from the

tap,” which proves that the concept of a watershed is relatively foreign

to the average resident. But to Upper Newport Bay, the watershed -- all

of the upstream areas that contribute to the storm water runoff, sediment

and pollutants that flow into the bay -- couldn’t be more important. The

other study that the federal money will help to complete is an

examination of the bay’s watershed in an attempt to figure out the best

ways to prevent or limit all that “bad stuff” from entering the estuary

at all.

The last study -- and perhaps the most important in the short term --

will allow a temporary dredging dump site in the Pacific Ocean off the

Newport Beach coast to become permanent. When scooping up the muck that

has built up on the bay’s floor becomes necessary again, a nearby dump

site will greatly reduce dredging costs.

Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson, Congressman Christopher Cox

(R-Newport Beach) and others who fought for this crucial funding, deserve

a pat on the back for having the knowledge and foresight to realize the

importance of good, long-term management of this precious resource.