When the California Hall of Fame was created in 2006, it was assumed that there would be controversy about the selections because the state is world known for its star power and diverse reservoir of talent.

But to provide value to society, a Hall of Fame must also have credibility and make its selections on consistently applied standards.

On Wednesday, the California Hall of Fame honored its newest inductees: scientist Gregory Bateson, actor Warren Beatty, designers Charles and Ray Eames, community organizer and social activist Dolores Huerta, NFL legendary quarterback Joe Montana, the four brothers of Warner Bros. Studios, and Ishii, California's most famous Indian.

All are worthy -- although the Hall of Fame's preference for entertainment figures continues to crowd out qualified individuals from other fields.

Our preference is that the selection committee look to the past before choosing people early or midway through their careers -- as has happened with the inductions of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg (2011), tennis star Serena Williams (2011) and golf great Tiger Woods (2008).

Our thinking is twofold: the stories of young inductees -- positive or negative -- have yet to be fully written and deserving people are overlooked as the Hall seeks to adorn its walls with contemporary star power.

Guy W. Johnston, of Fresno, wrote in a letter to The Bee in 2009: "Bob Mathias is not in the California Hall of Fame? How can that be?

"When he won the Olympic gold medal for the decathlon in 1948 at the age of 17, he was the hero of every teenage kid in America, if not in the whole cotton-pickin' world. And to repeat in 1952, an almost impossible feat, was icing on the cake!"

Mathias also appeared in films and represented the Tulare area in Congress. He was a Marine, a goodwill ambassador for the United States and the first director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Mathias, who died in 2006, should have been ushered into the California Hall of Fame long ago, and so we renew our request that he be among next year's inductees.

Minus Mathias, the Hall is putting its credibility and reputation at stake.