Aitken Defers; Medley Shows; Hartenstein Sticks

The Insider was ready to call Wylie Aitken true to our school when it came to his role in the recent selection of Matthew Parlow to succeed Tom Campbell as dean of the Fowler School of Law at Chapman U in Orange. Parlow arrives from the post of associate dean and professor at the law school at Marquette University, where Aitken got his JD and the Insider went to journalism school. Aitken turned that aside, noting that Tom Phelps, who also served on the search committee, previously employed Parlow at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips … The search committee was headed by Argyros School of Business and Economics Dean Reggie Gilyard and included First American Financial Corp. Chairman Park Kennedy and select faculty … No problem giving Santa Ana High School’s own Bill Medley—best known for long-lasting hits “You’ve Lost that Love Feelin’” and “Time of My Life”—full credit for being true to his school, where he’s lined up to play a fundraiser for the Dollars for Scholars program to benefit music students. The concert is set for Feb. 20 at the campus auditorium that bears his name. General admission tickets are going for $40, and $50 will get you a VIP ducat that includes a meet-and-greet with the one-time Righteous Brother and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Contact Bobbie Rooker at byrooker@ att.net or (714) 542-7802 for tickets … Editor-at-Large Rick Reiff says the standing-room-only crowd at Lumberyard in Laguna Beach on Feb. 2 wasn’t just there for dinner. They were celebrating restaurant co-owner Suzanne Redfearn’s second novel, “No Ordinary Life,” about a single mom’s fight to protect her children from the predations of Hollywood. Redfearn already is at work on a third novel, which is expected to echo “Life” and her debut book, “Hush Little Baby,” with a plot centered on moms and kids on the run … Anyone else notice that Eddy Hartenstein could add to his OC ties if Tribune Publishing—the Chicago-based owner of the L.A. Times—makes good on its ambition of buying Freedom Communications and its flagship Register out of bankruptcy? Hartenstein stepped down as nonexecutive chairman of TPUB last week, with the post going to tech entrepreneur Michael Ferro, who paid $44.4 million for a 16.6% stake in the company. Hartenstein retained a seat on the TPUB board, though—a trick he also turned by in the wake of Broadcom’s sale last week to fellow chipmaker Avago (see story, page 1) … Here’s something for Aliso Viejo-based OCTANe to keep in mind as it sets out to raise $50 million for a new for-profit fund to invest in eye-related healthcare startups: Sen. Barbara Boxer sent a letter to five major makers of medical devices in the U.S., contending that “many medical devices are connected to the Internet and are susceptible to the same kinds of viruses and other cyber vulnerabilities as personal computers.” The message went to J&J, GE Healthcare, Siemens USA, Philips North America and Medtronic, which has significant operations in OC, a major hub of the medical device segment. It went on to claim that “while personal computers receive weekly software updates to help block against attacks, medical devices often do not” … See more on OCTANe’s fund in Deirdre Newman’s story on this page, and turn to page 58 for the debut of her Startups column, which will be a staple of our coverage of OC’s community of business going forward.