Vincent Craig

Vincent Craig takes a battered old Alvarez acoustic guitar from its case and proudly points out where various country musicians have signed their autographs on its spruce top. "This is my baby," Craig says lovingly. Then, with a sly look he announces: "I do a takeoff on Navajo opera." Closing his eyes, he strums an A-minor chord and sings a quavering aria entirely in Navajo, replete with Pavarotti-like flourishes. It's called, "Grandpa, the Sheep Have Gone."

Vincent Craig's last wish was to have his ashes scattered off the New England coast. But after agreeing to donate his body to UC Irvine's medical school for research, that request vanished in the bureaucracy. Now, his family says, they have no ashes--and no closure. "I can't put my hands on anything to say goodbye to him," said Helen Veronica Craig, the widow. "To me, I feel like he's around somewhere."

Vincent Craig's last wish was to have his ashes scattered off the New England coast. But after agreeing to donate his body to UC Irvine's medical school for research, that request vanished in the bureaucracy. Now, his family says, they have no ashes--and no closure. "I can't put my hands on anything to say goodbye to him," said Helen Veronica Craig, the widow. "To me, I feel like he's around somewhere."

Vincent Craig takes a battered old Alvarez acoustic guitar from its case and proudly points out where various country musicians have signed their autographs on its spruce top. "This is my baby," Craig says lovingly. Then, with a sly look he announces: "I do a takeoff on Navajo opera." Closing his eyes, he strums an A-minor chord and sings a quavering aria entirely in Navajo, replete with Pavarotti-like flourishes. It's called, "Grandpa, the Sheep Have Gone."

Vincent Craig's last wish was to have his ashes scattered off the New England coast. But after agreeing to donate his body to UC Irvine's medical school for research, that request vanished in the school's bureaucracy. Now, his family says, they have no ashes--and no closure. "I can't put my hands on anything to say goodbye to him," said widow Helen Veronica Craig. "To me, I feel like he's around somewhere."

GETTING naked in front of a camera requires a different kind of bravery than being emotionally honest. "Black Snake Moan" cinematographer Amy Vincent captures actress Christina Ricci's ability to expose both her body and psyche in director Craig Brewer's $12 million B-movie-by-way-of-bluesy-redemption-fable premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday. But oh, how the tables turn when the time comes for Vincent to step in front of a camera.

A new medical school scandal hit UC Irvine as officials revealed Friday that they are investigating whether parts of bodies donated for research were improperly sold and whether cremated remains were returned to the wrong families. Medical school officials have fired the director of its Willed Body Program, called in the district attorney and set up a toll-free number for family members in an effort to determine whether ashes were properly returned to relatives.

A north Tustin man filed a lawsuit Monday against UC Irvine, claiming that his mother's body, donated for education and research, instead may have been sold for personal profit or otherwise mishandled. Coming just 10 days after the public first learned of an investigation over alleged mishandling of body parts at UC Irvine, the suit seeks to become a class action on behalf of other families of people who willed their bodies to the university.

A North Tustin man filed a lawsuit Monday against UC Irvine contending his mother's body, donated for education and research, instead may have been sold for personal profit or otherwise mishandled. Coming just 10 days after the public first learned of an investigation over body parts at UC Irvine, the suit seeks to become a class action on behalf of other families of people who willed their bodies to the university.

There seems to be one constant in UC Irvine's medical programs: scandal. For more than a decade, UCI officials have repeatedly ignored red flags, downplayed serious problems, misrepresented facts and punished or fired people who exposed wrongdoing, according to interviews with current and former employees, court records and UCI's own audits. And time and again, UCI's woes end up in headlines and in court.