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From the Summer Olympics to papal visits to Super Bowls, the iconic peristyle of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum long symbolized many of the city's proudest hours. Now, because of the work of three Los Angeles Times reporters, the stately columns have become an emblem of one of the worst corruption scandals in recent Southern California history. The stories produced by Rong-Gong Lin II, Paul Pringle and Andrew Blankstein have led directly to the felony indictments of three public officials, the nation's No. 1 promoter of rave concerts, another prominent music executive and a government contractor. A second misdemeanor case has been filed against two other Coliseum employees. The charges spelled out in the indictments mirror the reporters' findings - tales of bribery, embezzlement, kickbacks and conflict of interest. They allege that the taxpayers who own the Coliseum were bilked out of some $2 million and perhaps much more.