UCI’s New Game Face; Oscar Winner in Focus at Chapman

A sign of the times: UC Irvine’s men’s basketball team didn’t make much of a ripple in the media—print, new, social or otherwise—considering they were the last Southern California squad standing in the post-season this year. The Anteaters had the spotlight to themselves after UCLA stumbled through the regular season and the recently revived USC hoops program checked out of the NCAA tourney in the first round. UCI made it to the CollegeInsider.com, a secondary post-season tournament, dropping the final to Columbia in a game that got a spot below the fold on the OC Register’s sports page, a brief notice deep inside the L.A. Times, and for-the-record notations on various sports websites … Contrast that with the coverage of last week’s announcement that UCI will launch an e-sports program with an arena, live webcasting studio, and as many as 10 academic scholarships for its competitive gaming team (see related news item, page 6). The development was a magnet for coverage online—naturally—crossing over from the world of sports to business and the broader culture, trending for a spell on Facebook and spawning stories on the likes of websites for ESPN, Fox Sports and the Sporting News, Forbes, Smithsonian Magazine and KPCC, not to mention a slew of gamer, tech and finance sites and blogs … The annual Women In Focus luncheon and panel discussion at Chapman U.’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts isn’t until April 8, but it’s already off to a good start. Panelist Nicole Rocklin will arrive as an Oscar winner for her work as one of four producers of “Spotlight,” which took Best Picture this year. Call that another feather in the caps of WIF sponsors Twyla Reed Martin, Eve Kornyei Ruffatto, Harriet Sandhu, Bonny Schumacher, Laurie Rodnick and Joyce Tucker, who present this year’s confab with a theme of “Changing the Status Quo” … A nod to St. John Knits CEO Bruce Fetter on his range. The boss of the label known for classically tailored power suits for high-profile women has joined the board of American Apparel, which has toned down its once-racy advertising but remains the stuff of tabloid headlines. It’s notable in any case that SJK has long wanted to add 20-somethings —a segment L.A.-based American Apparel knows well—to its fan base …The check-out crews at Super Irvine on Culver Drive don’t seem thrilled with their new, bright orange uniform smocks, but the Insider thinks the Persian-flavored grocery chain is on target. Anyone else notice the bold shades of orange in this spring’s fashion palette? … You don’t have to be in the world of fashion to grace the cover of a slick magazine—just ask Cecilia Eiroa, a graduate of Concordia U in Irvine who’s now a PhD candidate in analytical environmental radiochemistry at Washington State. She appeared on the front of the spring edition of CUI Magazine with fellow alum Grace Chong, who’s after a PhD at USC. Eiroa isn’t the only member of her family getting ink lately—look to the right on this page and you’ll find a photo of her father, Fernando, who runs Palace Entertainment and is a CUI trustee … Retail watch: Word on the street around the charming Washington Square residential district between downtown Santa Ana and Santa Ana College—and just south of très élégant Floral Park— has folks pulling for a Ralphs or Trader Joe’s to take the spot of the Kohl’s that’s set to close at 17th & Bristol.