Optimism

The Orange Coast College football team is thinking pretty positively about the coming season. The optimism is mostly because of 11 returning starters, the most of any team in the Central Division of the Mission Conference. OCC struggled to a 4-6 record last season, the third for Coach Bill Workman. He is 17-13 overall. "I'm excited about this team," Workman said. "I think this team has more character. I think it can overcome adversity, which we couldn't do last year."

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president spoke more eloquently about the promise of this country than anything he could have said Tuesday. But his inaugural address, though less poetic and less provocative than some of his speeches as a candidate, effectively sounded the theme that the country can rebound from its current economic crisis. The speech exuded an optimism reminiscent of Ronald Reagan. "We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth," Obama said.

Now that the future is here, how fitting that researchers are finally getting a grip on optimism, the curious human habit of expecting good things to happen, often in defiance of reality. Just in time for millennial philosophizing, this hallmark of our wondering and worrying species is attracting unprecedented attention from social scientists, who are not known for accentuating the positive.

Designers have their work cut out for them for the spring 2010 season. Which is why they're laying on the charm -- love songs on the soundtrack and cutesy play suits on the runway, along with one-piece swimsuits that bring to mind classic pinups, even a majorette or two. (Well, sort of. At Alexander Wang, tinsel mini-dresses mixed it up with sportswear inspired by vintage football uniforms). So far, it's working. The collections are off to a strong start, with lots of upbeat (optimism is the new black!

It's a simple matter in our capitalist economy to explain why so many people have lost their jobs in recent months: Companies have been desperate to slash costs to protect what's left of their bottom line. When profit is under siege, labor -- most companies' biggest expense -- inevitably takes the hit. As first-quarter earnings reports roll out in the next few weeks, the numbers are expected to be disastrous. Wall Street already knows as much.

She is the daughter of Scottish immigrants, tough people whose travels across the Atlantic first took them to the austere East Coast whaling and fishing hamlets. There is a shipwreck in her family history. A relative was lost at sea. But it was on the dry land of Southern California that Roxanna Ross' life took root. Not long after arriving as a teenager, she enrolled at a high school built on a drained swamp to serve a community then known as "the celery capital of the world. " Most of the old farms in Lomita and Harbor City are gone.

Joe Saunders called the decision to shut himself down and receive a cortisone injection in his sore shoulder in early August "one of the best I've made in my career," and the evidence was on display again Sunday in the Oakland Coliseum. The Angels left-hander allowed two runs and six hits in five innings of a 5-3 victory over the Athletics in the regular-season finale, giving Saunders a 7-0 record and 2.55 earned-run average in eight starts since coming off the disabled list. "I was hurting the team in June and July," said Saunders, who closed the season with a 16-7 record and 4.60 ERA and tied Jered Weaver for the team lead in wins.

We asked several critics of the war in Iraq to name one positive development and to assess, on a scale of 1 to 10, whether life will be better for Iraqis a year from now, with 10 meaning "absolutely." Observer: Lawrence Korb Upbeat assessment: "A lot more people are going to school than were before." Level of optimism: 3 Vitae: Korb is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration.

As a once-idealistic environmental studies major who worked in that area, I cannot share Christopher Reynolds' optimism ("Snaking Into Greener Pastures," Nov. 25). Increasing foot soldiers will not cut it. You need to reach America's wealthiest, who have the power. Those on the Forbes 400 list should be invited to an annual wilderness retreat. I bet less than 1% would accept. Calvin Naito Los Angeles

Your June 8 analysis of the defeat of Measure A was informative but incomplete. There was no mention of your own editorial recommendation to vote no because (the measure) supposedly was no longer necessary, since in your opinion the county Board of Supervisors finally had gotten the message. Perhaps your editors believe that they have no influence on voters. Perhaps they hope the general public will forget The Times' optimism. ROBERT KAPCHE Fountain Valley