From the Mercury News yesterday:

New California Secretary of Education Richard Riordan may need a lesson or two when it comes to interacting with female college students.

During a state community colleges board meeting last week in Sacramento, the affable, shoot-from-the-lip former L.A. mayor held forth with officials, including student board member Desirree Abshire. She splits her time between City College of San Francisco and the University of California-Berkeley.

Abshire told Riordan she was worried that higher tuition fees would hurt middle-income students who are out on their own and can't get aid.

"The middle income gets the short end of the stick in everything,'' Riordan said, commiserating. Then he added: "You could marry a wealthy man.''

That old-school comment caused a moment of stunned silence among audience members. But Abshire -- who said she may have set herself up earlier by joking about being a single young woman -- didn't miss a beat.

"There are no wealthy men at Berkeley,'' she said.