1989 TRIVIA QUIZ

OK, news junkies, here’s one for you: Which landmark Orange County institution hired Ollie North’s former courier to the Contras as a fund-raiser? Lincoln Savings & Loan? Bzzzzt! Sorry. The Performing Arts Center? Nope, wrong again. Bzzzt! The Crystal Cathedral? Yes! Ding-ding-ding!!! This is serious trivia--the heart of the third annual Times Orange County Trivia Quiz. As a close reader of the news, though, you already know what kind of year it was. A year when an 11-year-old hopped in a plane to fly around the world. When a Costa Mesa family said a Japanese spy from a giant automotive corporation joined their household and studied their every move. When citizens from the county -- once known as a bastion of the John Birch Society -- said they liked Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev better than President Bush. But now, let’s find out what you really know about 1989 before it gets bulldozed into the landfill of history. A few of the questions have multiple correct answers for extra points. Winners receive one season pass to the Diamond Lane. Losers get two. Ready? Begin.

1. Which of these events did NOT take place during the round-the-world flight of 11-year-old Tony Aliengena? *a. He gave a 1,000-foot-long “friendship scroll” to Soviet President Gorbachev. *b. He told Soviet reporters that flying is “basically boring.” *c. His father crashed the plane in Alaska. *d. He was honored by President Bush in Washington.

2. Jodi Argleben took her baby girl to Canada: *a. To get the infant a heart-lung transplant. *b. To keep the baby from being adopted by the Aleut Indian tribe. *c. To take a vacation. *d. To seek political asylum.

3. In 1989, baseball star Wade Boggs and Margo Adams, the former Miss Stanton: *a. Put aside their differences and got married. *b. Were spotted punching each other and pulling each other’s hair in Civic Center Plaza. *c. Settled Adams’ palimony lawsuit against Boggs on secret terms. *d. Sold their love story to Sports Illustrated for $500,000.

4. Why did county workers pile rocks underneath bridges that cross the Santa Ana River? *a. The county had its first series of flood warnings and wanted to be prepared. *b. The county wanted to get rid of dozens of homeless who used the bridges as shelter. *c. Moss was beginning to grow under the bridges, leading to dangerous cracks in the concrete. *d. Joggers were running under the bridges, causing neighbors to complain.

5. In 1989, the Costa Mesa City Council did NOT vote to: *a. Place warning signs at locations around the city’s borders stating that the city will enforce all state and federal laws regarding illegal aliens. *b. Withhold city funds from nonprofit groups that refuse to screen out illegal aliens. *c. Give police the power to arrest day laborers who “intend” to solicit work in certain areas of the city.

*d. Cancel the lease of a well-regarded city charitable agency under pressure from nearby residents.

6. Which of the following did Irvine city officials NOT do in 1989? *a. Come up with funds to keep duck hunters out of the city’s marsh. *b. Ban compounds that eat holes in the ozone layer. *c. Set quotas for low-cost housing. *d. Declare the city a nuclear-free zone.

7. According to a 1989 United Way of Orange County study, which social issue was found NOT to be a serious problem by community leaders? *a. Substance abuse. *b. Race relations. *c. Low-cost housing. *d. Transportation.

8. What percentage of its general-fund budget did Orange County allocate for the arts? *a. 8%. *b. .08%. *c. 0%. *d. 5%.

9. At his sentencing for 16 gruesome sex murders, Randy Kraft was told to: *a. “Burn in hell.” *b. Make reservations at San Quentin State Prison while he awaits execution. *c. Serve 200 hours of community service. *d. Consider revealing the names of his additional victims.

10. How many abortion foes were arrested on March 23 after blocking the entrance to a Cypress family planning clinic? *a. 57. *b. 139. *c. 214. *d. 350.

11. County officials reported a new high in abandoned, abused and neglected infants in 1989. Most abandoned babies were: *a. Left with sitters by parents who never returned. *b. Left in dumpsters. *c. Left in baskets on doorsteps. *d. Left with relatives who turned them over to authorities.

12. Now that state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) has resigned, he will: *a. Become a consultant for women’s self-improvement seminars in Japan. *b. Become president of a manufacturers’ trade organization in Sacramento. *c. Become vice president of a savings and loan in Irvine. *d. Become a lobbyist for a toy maker in San Francisco.

13. What Irvine-based financial institution is expected to have produced the costliest failure in history, and who headed it? *a. Lincoln National Bank, W. John Keating *b. Lincoln Savings & Loan, Charles H. Keating Jr. *c. Lincoln Trust Co., John W. Booth *d. Lincoln Capital Savings Bank, George F. Kennedy

14. How much did the operator and his family earn during the five years they ran the financial institution? *a. $43 million. *b. $430,000. *c. $3.4 million. *d. $34 million.

15. Left-handed pitcher Mark Langston became the highest-paid player in baseball after he signed a contract with the California Angels for: *a. $5 million a year. *b. $16 million over five years. *c. $16 million a year. *d. $12 million over five years.

16. How much money did Santa Ana sweatshop seamstress Juana Valladares and her family, including her 7-year-old son, earn for each pair of designer shorts they sewed? *a. $3.75. *b. $1.50. *c. 74 cents *d. 49 cents

17. What is Furon? *a. A gaseous compound used as a refrigerant. *b. One of the Great Lakes. *c. A thin mattress that can be used as a bed or chair. *d. Fluorocarbon Co.’s new name.

18. A state Department of Education study showed most Orange County students: *a. Are out of shape and cannot meet even minimum physical fitness standards. *b. Don’t know whether New York is on the East or West Coast of the United States. *c. Don’t know who Manuel Noriega is. *d. Would rather be shopping.

19. The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of Anaheim lashed out against which of the following in his statewide campaign for “traditional values”: *a. The state Board of Education and Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, who he asserted are trying to teach human evolution as scientific fact in the classrooms at the expense of creationist theories. *b. “Militant” homosexuals, who he accused of trying to force their “immoral life style” on heterosexuals. *c. Pro-choice supporters, who he says ignore the sanctity of human life at its conception. *d. All of the above.

20. With the controversial home drug test kit being marketed by the Mission Viejo-based Athletes for a Strong America, parents are encouraged to check their children for signs of drug use by: *a. Examining the base of their fingernails. *b. Testing their urine. *c. Examining their eyes. *d. Looking up their noses.

21. Where in Orange County did President Bush give a national address on drug abuse? *a. The Ritz-Carlton. *b. The Performing Arts Center. *c. Coto de Caza. *d. Rancho del Rio.

22. Tucked in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, the 827-acre Robinson Ranch made headlines because: *a. It became California’s first legalized brothel. *b. It celebrated its 100th anniversary with a square dance, beef barbecue and fireworks. *c. It was bought by an Orange County developer from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was accused of favoritism. *d. It was used as the set and background for a TV movie about Ollie North.

23. Supervisor Don R. Roth came up with a new plan to deal with the county’s overcrowded jails. He proposed: *a. Building a new jail in Gypsum Canyon near Anaheim Hills. *b. Reducing drunk driving to a misdemeanor. *c. Building a new regional jail in Riverside County. *d. Turning animal shelters into holding tanks.

24. When he received the Nobel Peace Prize, Tibet’s Dalai Lama was: *a. Staying with a catsup heir in Big Canyon, Newport Beach. *b. Shopping for sandals at the South Coast Plaza. *c. Meditating at the Ramakrishna Monastery in Trabuco Canyon. *d. Touring the TRW laser facility near San Juan Capistrano.

25. Which event occurred in Orange County in the name of religion? *a. The display of a preserved fetus in a miniature coffin at Anaheim’s Melodyland Christian Center. *b. A public prayer that God kill enemies of the Tustin-based Trinity Broadcasting Network. *c. $40 ocean voyages to meditate with dolphins. *d. All of the above.

26. “The Tell,” a public artwork in Laguna Canyon, is made of: *a. 2 million aluminum cans. *b. 40,000 family snapshots. *c. 127 derelict automobiles. *d. 2,589 unsold copies of Laguna Beach detective novels.

27. Several county high school sports teams played most dramatically in courtrooms, not playing fields. Which did NOT occur: *a. Huntington Beach High’s football team won a court order placing it back in the postseason playoffs, even though the team had been disqualified for using an ineligible player. *b. Brea-Olinda and Fountain Valley high school football players did not know until hours before the playoffs began whether they would get to play because of court actions brought by other teams. *c. Less than three hours before a game was to begin, the parent of a high school football player rushed into federal court in Santa Ana to file a lawsuit to stop the game. *d. Mater Dei High School’s basketball team won a court order changing all its two-point shots to three-pointers, resulting in seven more victories over the course of the season.

28. The director of which county arts institution did not resign in 1989: *a. Laguna Art Museum. *b. Newport Harbor Art Museum. *c. Bowers Museum. *d. Historical and Cultural Foundation of Orange County.

29. What county freeway had car-pool lanes added to it in 1989? *a. Riverside (91). *b. Costa Mesa (55). *c. San Diego (405). *d. Santa Ana (5).

30. The Boomerang, a new ride scheduled to take off at Knott’s Berry Farm this spring, will: *a. Simulate a jeep trip into the Australian outback. *b. Suspend riders on a rope and dip them into a rushing river. *c. Flip riders upside-down six times. *d. Put riders into crocodile-shaped bumper cars.

31. 150 guests at Disneyland on March 18 were treated to which one of the following: *a. A party for Mickey Mouse’s 50th birthday. *b. A harrowing wait in the air of up to four hours, trapped in Sky Way buckets. *c. A glimpse of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who visited the park during his trip to the United State. *d. Wet clothes when the waterways of the new Splash Mountain ride were overfilled.

32. Measure M, a countywide ballot proposition defeated on Nov. 7, would have: *a. Raised sales taxes by 1%. *b. Imposed slow-growth regulations. *c. Provided earthquake relief money. *d. Raised sales taxes by a half-cent for transportation.

33. Homosexuals and religious fundamentalists clashed over all these EXCEPT: *a. A gay pride festival in Santa Ana. *b. Newport Beach sex education classes. *c. The ballot box in Irvine. *d. A bar in Laguna Beach.

34. What did Soviet researchers come to the TRW facility near San Clemente to study? *a. The latest in nuclear weapons. *b. “Star Wars” laser technology. *c. A top-secret credit-reporting computer. *d. Digital recording techniques.

35. The crunch on space and personnel in backlogged county courts got so bad in 1989 that all of the following happened, EXCEPT: *a. With the juror pool drained to zero, one unsuspecting woman in the court cafeteria was led away by bailiffs with a dish of Jell-O still in her hand to serve as a potential juror. *b. The presiding Superior Court judge had to temporarily abandon his usual administrative duties and hear a case himself for the first time in years to meet a legal deadline for trying three drug-dealing suspects. *c. With all the large courtrooms filled, a judge, jurors and lawyers had to take over the Board of Supervisors, meeting room to accommodate all the players in a particularly large fraud trial. *d. People bringing civil claims faced a wait of up to five years before they could expect to reach trial.

36. Which of these alleged prostitutes became part of a state judicial investigation into allegations of improprieties at Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach? *a. Cara Lott. *b. Sidney Biddle Burroughs. *c. Della Christine Johnson. *d. Lady Chatterly.

37. What’s wrong with Medflies? *a. They spread cancer. *b. They come from Club Med. *c. They reproduce indiscriminately. *d. They destroy crops.

38. In the hills and canyons northeast of Mission Viejo, environmentalists and Trabuco Canyon residents consider one of the significant threats to the area’s bucolic character to be: *a. Bicyclists riding on Live Oak Canyon Road. *b. Hikers scouring the ridgelines. *c. A proposed religious complex on Santiago Canyon Road. *d. An infestation of Gummi Bears.

39. During the last year, Orange County and the Sheriff’s Department got into high-tech crime-fighting. What was authorized? *a. A DNA lab. *b. Laser guns for sheriff’s deputies. *c. Night-vision goggles to spot drug traffickers. *d. Personal computers from the Soviet Union.

40. Name one place in the county where a shooting did NOT occur in 1989: *a. Freeway. *b. High school drama classroom. *c. John Wayne Airport. *d. Mall.

QUIZ ANSWERS 1. A and D. (Gorbachev was too busy, and apparently so was Bush.) 2. B 3. C 4. B 5. A 6. D 7. B 8. C 9. A, B and D. (The father of a victim told Kraft A. The judge offered the other two.) 10. D 11. A 12. B 13. B 14. D 15. B 16. D 17. D 18. A 19. D 20. C 21. D 22. C 23. C 24. A 25. D 26. B 27. D 28. A 29. C 30. C 31. B 32. D 33. D 34. B 35. C 36. A and C 37. D 38. C 39. A 40. C