Stein quashes controversy at Irvine

Celebrity personality Ben Stein received an enthusiastic standing ovation from a packed Irvine Auditorium last night as he walked onstage in his trademark quirky suit-and-sneakers ensemble.

Stein took the lecture -- sponsored by Connaissance, a division of the Social Planning and Events Committee -- as an opportunity not only to discuss his view on America's current war on terrorism, pose trivia questions to the audience and display his deadpan humor, but also to defend his recently tarnished name.

The student newspaper at Loyola University Chicago, which will today print a statement acknowledging that it quoted him out of context, reported him making controversial comments about racial backlash discrimination against Arab Americans.

"If someone calls me a racist, I have to defend myself," said Stein, explaining why he chose to address the issue in his talk. "My character is very important to me."

He said he was misquoted by the Loyola Phoenix, and claimed that he simply meant that "being yelled at isn't as bad as being murdered."

In his defense, Stein gave examples throughout his lifetime of confronting and combatting racism -- being called anti-Semitic epithets as a child in Silver Spring, Md., being spit upon while picketing in front of segregated venues in high school and being tear-gassed by police while marching for civil rights during his years at Yale Law School.

"I'm not saying this to make you feel sorry for me," Stein said. "But [civil rights] has been a cause in my life."

After a brief trivia quiz modeled after questions from his Comedy Central game show "Win Ben Stein's Money," Penn's fall speaker went on to discuss his proactive stance on America's new war on terrorism.

"We have to stamp out the killers right now, and do everything possible to make sure they don't get their hands on nuclear weapons," Stein said.

Although Stein was an antiwar advocate in his younger days, he said that the situation is different now.

"I was in the antiwar movement... but that was about a war far away," Stein said. "This is a war at home.... This is a war we cannot afford to lose."

He blames the terrorist attacks not only on those who executed them, but also on the deficiencies in various areas security in the United States.

"Our own carelessness and fecklessness is part of" the problem, he said.

He brought up poor airline security as a primary cause.

"I'd be mad at the airports, and their cheapness and stinginess, hiring incompetent people -- drug addicts -- who let this happen," he said.

After yet another round of trivia, Stein returned to the dry, comical material with which most students -- knowing him primarily as the monotonous economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off -- were familiar.

Stein joked about the laziness of his son, rules on "how to ruin your life," and tips for America's college students.

He ended with a pearl of wisdom he borrowed from a former "student" of his, actor Matthew Broderick, who played Ferris Bueller in the '80s classic.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it," he quoted. "So everyone slow down, because life is great."

Following his talk, Stein fielded questions from the audience, with topics ranging from backlash discrimination to what it was like to have porn star Jenna Jameson on his show. He also greeted fans afterward to sign autographs and take photographs.

Connaissance Co-Director Samantha Cohen said she was very pleased with Stein's speech.

"I think it went amazingly well," said Cohen, a College senior. "He handled the controversy surrounding his arrival very well."

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