Daily Planet Staff 

With some 935 bicycle accidents in the five years between 1994 and 1998 Berkeley has the dubious honor of having a bicycle accident rate that is four times higher than that of any other city in California. 

Of course, there are a lot of cyclists, too. Some 5 percent of Berkeley residents commute to work by bike. Numerous others ride bikes to school, to shop or recreate. 

With the goal of creating safe streets for cyclists, local bicycle aficionados pushed city planners to create a plan for safe bike routes. 

Tonight, the City Council will be asked to adopt the bicycle plan – a network of “bicycle boulevards,” with a bike safety education component. The council will also be asked to approve the engineering tools to make the bike boulevards work. 

The bicycle plan includes engineering a network of seven bike boulevards – Ninth Street, California and King streets, Milvia Street, Bowditch Street and Hillegass Avenue, Virginia Street, Channing Way, and Russell Street. 

The goal is to create safe streets where bicyclists will share the road with drivers, who will drive slowly and be on the alert for cyclists. 

These streets already have relatively low volumes of traffic, thanks to speed humps, traffic diverters and stop signs. 

Tonight’s action is one more conceptual step toward making the bike boulevards a reality. Once the consultants have approval to use the tools, they will go to the various neighborhoods involved and work with them to configure the actual design. 

The council will be asked to adopt an arsenal of tools that can be used along the bicycle boulevards. One is signage alerting people to the boulevards. Another is the use of various textures and colors for the pavement and/or for crosswalks, again, reminding people that they are using a bicycle boulevard. 

“Bulb-outs,” which extend a sidewalk or plaza in a bulb-like shape out into the street, are another engineering tool. Bulb-outs create a shorter distance for pedestrians to travel across the road and cause traffic to move more slowly.  

Round-abouts, popular in Europe, are another tool planners want to be able to use. Traffic signals that can be activated by bicyclists and pedestrians for ease in crossing busy intersections are another tool. The planners also want permission to remove some stop signs at four-way stops, which impede the flow of bike traffic. 

The bicycle task force, a subcommittee of the transportation committee, has thrown out one proposed tool: the “vertical deflectors.” The Commission on Disability asked that the deflectors, which include speed bumps, be taken out of the plan. They argued that the traffic-calming devices cause pain to disabled and elderly people when they are in cars or vans that ride over the bumps. They further argued that the speed humps slow down emergency vehicles. 

If the council approves the plan and environmental document tonight, the next phase of the bike boulevard project will begin. Consultants will go to the neighborhoods in question and talk about the specific tools to use in their particular neighborhood. The City Council will be asked to approve the specific plans incrementally, as neighborhoods agree to the plan and funding becomes available. 

The plan, which is to include a safety education component, is expected to cost more than $7 million to fully implement. 

Tuesday, April 4

MLK’s Legal Legacy 

12:40 p.m. 

Boalt Hall Room 121, UC Berkeley campus 

Visiting Professor David Oppenheimer will speak on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legal legacy and how the Birmingham desegregation campaign led to the introduction of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

510-642-6969 

Free computer class for seniors 

1-4 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Income tax help 

2-4 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Call ahead for an appointment. 

510-644-6107 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

The market begins its summer hours today. 

510-548-3333 

The Berkeley Medal 

4 p.m. 

The Lipman Room, Eighth Floor, Barrows Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

The Berkeley Medal, established in 1981, is bestowed on individuals of exceptionally distinguished achievements whose work or contributions to society illustrate the ideals of the university. This year’s recipient is Mario Soares, president of Portugal from 1986 to 1996 and current member of the European Parliament. This event is open to the public. 

510-643-2115 

City Council meeting 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Beginner Bicyclist Workshop 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Conference Room 1, Downtown Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way 

Find the idea of riding your bike too daunting? If you’re just starting out, or haven’t ridden in years come to the Beginner Bicyclist Workshop. This course covers all the basics. Avoid the easy mistakes that can lead from everything from bike theft to skinned knees or worse. Zed Lopez and Jason Meggs of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition will teach this course, which is free and open to the public. No preregistration is required. 

510-549-RIDE 

Wednesday, April 5

“Humanitarian Intervention” 

10 a.m.-noon 

Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

This is part of the Great Decisions program sponsored by the City Commons Club of Berkeley. The public is invited. Fee for the eight-week series is $35. Individual meetings may be attended for $5. 

510-526-2925 

Campus concert 

Noon 

Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Jolie Lin, piano solo, will perform Bach’s “Goldberg” Aria & Variations, BWV 988 in this free concert. 

Art in the Garden 

2-4:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive 

Karen LeGault, a local artist and teacher whose work has been exhibited internationally, is leading this eight-week class in drawing and painting from nature. Both experienced artists and beginners are welcome. Call ahead for more information or to enroll. 

510-643-2755 

Community Chats 

4-6 p.m. 

122 Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

This event, part of a series of workshops, is designed to raise the university community’s awareness of the health, social policy and research concerns that under-represented Bay Area populations define as their priorities. This gathering’s focus is on the Belizian, Dominican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Panamanian and Salvadoran communities. 

510-642-3785 

Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht 

7 p.m. 

Builders Booksource, 1817 Fourth St. 

Bryan Burkhart shares some of the joys of being an Airstreamer and the history of Wally Byam’s American icon. An Airstream enthusiast (owning a restored 1962 Flying Cloud), Burkhart presents photographs from the company’s archives. This free event will feature a slide presentation, talk and book-signing. 

510-845-6874; 

www.buildersbooksite.com 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. 

510-644-6870 

BUSD school board meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Board/Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Fire Safety Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

Fire Department Training Facility, 997 Cedar St. 

The commission will hear reports on the buffer zone and on undergrounding utilities. 

Southside Night Safety Shuttle Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Willard Middle School cafetorium, 2425 Stuart St. 

The University of California at Berkeley will host a meeting to discuss changes in the bus routes of the Southside Night Safety Shuttle. Lt. Adan Tejada, UCPD Community Outreach, will present the proposed changes to the routes and schedules of the Safety Shuttle in a meeting open to the public. 

510-643-5299 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Gary Thompson, Dale Pendell and Laura McCarthy will be the featured poets at the event. Thompson’s new book of poems, “On John Muir’s Trail,” celebrates the California landscape past and present in a cutback, resonant language, a poet’s eye journey through time and terrain. Widely published in literary journals and anthologies, winner of an NEA writing grant, his two previous books are Hold Fast and As for Living. Pendell is a poet and botanist who has published an award-winning book on psychotropic plants. A companion volume will appear later this year. He was founding editor of KUKSU: Journal of Backcountry Writing and has led workshops in ethnobotany and ethnopoetics at Naropa Institute. His latest book of poems is “Living with Barbarians.” McCarthy is a bookmaker and printer as well as a poet; she’s currently an MFA student in Poetry at Mills. A $2 donation is requested. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476 

Thursday, April 6

“Thursday Birdwalk” 

7 a.m. 

Tilden Regional Park, Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard 

Look for nesting birds and review last year’s data collection results. For age 10 and older. 

510-525-2233 

Lunch Poems series 

12:10 p.m. 

Morrison Room, Doe Library, UC Berkeley campus 

National Book Award finalist Carl Phillips will read his poems, following an introduction by Robert Hass. This free event is part of the Lunch Poems series on campus. 

510-642-0137 

Free computer class for seniors 

1-4 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Income tax help 

2-4 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Call ahead for an appointment. 

510-644-6107 

Asian Women in Theology 

6 p.m. reception; 7 p.m. panel discussion 

Pacific School of Religion Bade Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave. 

The panel will feature Nantawan Lewis, Metropolitan State University “Transforming the Canon of Theological Knowledge;” Seung Ai Yang, University of St. Thomas “Learning from the Tradition and History of Confucian Korea: A suggestion for Teaching and Learning in Theology;” Rita Nakashima Brock, Bunting Fellowship Program, “The Forgotten Asian Pacific Americans;” Jung Ha Kim, Georgia State University, “The First Shall be Last, and the Last, the First: The Reversed Reciprocity in Asian North America,” and Kwok Pui-Lan, Episcopal Divinity School “The Differences between Asian & Asian American Women Students.” 

510 849-0653

In regards to proposals for development of the City’s Oxford Street surface parking lot in downtown (Berkeley Daily Planet, April 1-2), it should be noted that the City Council voted in October to designate the Oxford lot as an “Opportunity Site for as much low income housing and multipurpose multicultural space as possible.” 

The Council did not call for a 330-space parking garage as proposed by developer Patrick Kennedy. From a planning standpoint, a 330-car garage is a very inappropriate use for that site. 

First, the Oxford lot is only a block away from BART and numerous AC Transit bus lines. Building a parking garage there would be contrary to the Downtown Plan’s “transit first” policy. People should not be encouraged to drive to an area that has excellent transit access. 

Second, 330 parking spaces aren’t needed at the Oxford site. The current surface parking lot is not fully utilized. The City’s 1997 Parking Survey found that the Oxford lot had a lower percentage of occupied spaces than other garages and surface parking lots in downtown. While the survey found parking occupancy rates of 83% for a weekday mornings and 85 percent for weekday afternoons for downtown off street parking as a whole, the rates for the Oxford lot were 43 percent and 42 percent. 

The parking situation is tighter at the Oxford lot today because as many as 40 of the 130 spaces in the lot have not been available to the public in recent months due to construction on the adjacent site and due to a number of spaces being reserved for holders of special permits. Even with the reduced number of spaces, the lot is only occasionally full and spaces can generally be found by shoppers. 

The Council in October called for replacing the existing parking and called for additional parking “appropriate for new development at the site.” Current zoning for the site requires 1 1/2 parking spaces per 1000 sq. ft. of new non-residential space. So 10,000 sq. ft. of new development would require only 15 additional parking spaces. 

One parking space is required for every 3 dwelling units, so 150 housing units would require only 50 more spaces. However, the current draft of the General Plan suggests eliminating the parking requirement for new housing in what it calls the “Downtown Transit Oriented District,” which includes the Oxford lot. So, it’s possible that only a few extra parking spaces for the ground floor uses would be needed. A plan that included 150 to 200 spaces would be consistent with the Council’s October action; 300 or 330 spaces is more parking than is needed or desirable or called for by the City Council. 

Third, the Downtown Plan identifies Oxford Street as a “desirable location for housing.” A project that combines housing with theater and arts-related uses would be very consistent with the Downtown Plan. However, the more space that is wasted on parking, the less space will be available for housing. The height limit for the Oxford lot, including allowable bonuses for housing and cultural facilities, is five stories and 60 ft. If three floors are wasted on parking, there will be limited space left for housing. Ideally, parking at the site should be moved underground to maximize the amount of space available above-ground for cultural uses and housing. 

In addition, it is not just housing that is needed, but affordable housing. Rents in Berkeley are soaring and market rents are not affordable to a majority of Berkeley’s current population of tenants. The Oxford lot affords the City with an excellent opportunity to create a relatively large number of affordable units. Most affordable housing projects require large per-unit subsidies from the City’s Housing Trust Fund. It would be possible to have a higher percentage of affordable units with smaller per-unit subsidies on the City-owned Oxford lot. 

The Council in October wisely called for a “thorough planning process involving all the “stakeholders” for the Oxford site. The City should allow sufficient time to make sure it gets maximum benefit from development of the site. The City should encourage competition among developers to see who can come up with the best designed project that provides the most space for affordable housing and cultural uses within the existing height limits. The City’s Request for Proposals should, consistent with the Council’s October recommendation, emphasize that housing, not a massive parking garage, is the primary desired use for the site.  

Rob Wrenn is chair of the Berkeley Planning Commission.

Daily Planet Correspondent 

SAN FRANCISCO – Latin Hustle, a trio of Chicano lesbian and gay male comedy performers, is currently running at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco its latest show “Hoodwink” – an on-again, off-again mixed bag of 20 or so skits about what it’s like to be young, brown and gay. 

“Hoodwink” is fun-loving, low-brow entertainment in the old vaudeville skit model. In this new millennium version, it contains jokes about homeboys, Impalas, oral sex, prison, crotch grabbing, body odors, Castro Street bars, Fresno, Rudy Galindo, teen-age lesbians, and hepatitis A through F. There are also a few serious moments. 

Playing a variety of bizarre characters, performers Jaime Cortez, Adriana Gordon and Al Lujan are funny people, but the quality of their material, which they also wrote, varies from segment to segment. About half the skits work. In the other half, a sketch may contain a funny joke or two, but not enough to carry the whole skit. 

In the opener, two Latino boys fool around in the dark until they’re caught by mama. This moves into a poetry slam at the Brown Beret Cabaret, which features Gordon’s celebration of her menstrual cycle in a rap titled “Luna Sea.” Her male friend dismisses the work as “cliterature.” 

In one segment, the performers operate three-quarters-sized puppets of an old gay man and a young butch lesbian discussing their love obsessions, and comparing stalking techniques. This segment might have worked better if the puppets were operated more skillfully. 

Elsewhere a man drives his yellow El Camino into a mailbox, then stresses over his effeminate son who likes to cook and his butch daughter who likes to wax the car. 

One highlight of the evening features three faces lined up at three “glory holes” in a sex club, comparing notes on the topic at hand, then bursting into song. 

In another highlight, two pregnant lesbian teen-agers with huge bellies consider rumors that eating cheese is a capitalist plot to keep poor people down. This is a very sweet and touching skit. One girl rolls her hair with Tecate cans. 

Lujan does a sad but increasing surreal stand-up segment about childhood poverty – being locked at home as a 5-year-old by his mother, searching for food under the sofa cushions, and worse. 

Some of the jokes and the takes are familiar. A wedding singer with a dildo in his pants, for example, did not seem like a fresh idea. 

Nor did a labored “Antiques Roadshow” parody that featured such finds as a limited edition sex toy. 

A segment about Kitty and Kiki’s drag fashion show labored along like a comedy segment on public access television. Vamping and drag alone aren’t enough to carry a story. 

Some wise dramaturgical help with the script would improve this show. In the current production, Latin Hustle is halfway there. 

Latin Hustle’s “Hoodwink” runs Wednesday through Sunday, through Apr. 15, at Theater Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St. (at South Van Ness), San Francisco. For reservations, call (415) 861-5097. 

There’s also a Latin Hustle party April 13 at Pan Dulce (Asia SF), 201 Ninth St. (at Howard), San Francisco. Say “Hoodwink” and you’ll get in the club free.

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY

“Rough Crossing” by Tom Stoppard, April 7 through May 6. The writers of a Broadway musical are simultaneously trying to finish and rehearse a play while crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner. 

$10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; May 4, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

AURORA THEATRE

“The Homecoming” by Harold Pinter, April 6 through May 7. A dark comedy about a philosophy professor who brings his wife home to meet his all-male family. 

$25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE

“The Alchemist” by Ben Johnson, through April 7. A scathingly satiric look at the “science” of alchemy and other scams. 

$38 to $48.50. Tuesday through Friday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Feb. 26, March 4, March 11 and March 25, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. 

(510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

SHOTGUN PLAYERS

“3 Sisters” by Anton Chekhov, through April 9. A play about three provincial sisters yearning to move to Moscow and the toy-soldier men who adore them. $15 general; $10 students and seniors. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; March 27, 8 p.m. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 Seventh St., Berkeley. (510) 655-0813. 

Subterranean Shakespeare

“Measure for Measure,” by William Shakespeare. Run has been extended through April 30. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays, at 8 p.m. each night, and Sundays at 7 p.m. $10 general; $6 students. La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. (510) 234-6046. 

GALLERIES

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“The Women’s Show,” March 3 through April 8. A group exhibit of works by six Bay area artists. 

“The Annual Staff Exhibit,” through March 31. An exhibit of works featuring ceramics, fiber, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and digital mixed media. In the Interim Gallery. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 

1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY

“Irish Stones and More,” April 1 through April 27. An exhibit of quilts by Denise Snell. 

“Down from the Attic,” April 1 through April 27. An exhibit of dolls by Gretchen Jennings. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779.  

TRAYWICK GALLERY

Dennis Begg, March 11 through April 9. An exhibit of new sculpture and installation. 

Lothar Osterburg, March 11 through April 9. An exhibit of new photography. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 

1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). 

Calendar items should be submitted at least four days in advance, or at least one week before the opening of a new museum exhibit, gallery exhibit or theatrical performance. 

Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Berkeley High boys tennis coach Dan Seguin didn’t mean it as a knock on his opponents when he announced that he would field several junior varsity players against league rival Granada today. In fact, with Berkeley’s depth, facing the JV ’Jackets may not be such a different experience from facing any other school’s varsity. 

Encouraged by a 9-0 sweep of Livermore last Thursday, in which JV players filled in at every position, Seguin decided to reward their support of the varsity once again by matching them up against the winless Matadors. No. 2 varsity singles player Patrick Hamilton and two varsity doubles teams are still expected to play, hoping to gain momentum for Thursday’s considerably more daunting matchup with Foothill. 

“They all want to play. I don’t want to keep any varsity out that needs to play,” Seguin said at Monday’s practice. “It was nice seeing the JV jump in (against Livermore). They’re ready to go, I feel confident playing any lineup.” 

With a good league record and an impressive array of non-league wins – including a defeat of James Logan High – Berkeley hopes it has done enough to attract NCS attention despite its second-place status in the EBAL. Because the team’s last two games may be its most important in terms of impressing the NCS selection committee, Seguin is careful not to overlook even a notoriously weak team like Granada. 

“I want to approach it the same as any other match,” the BHS coach said. “They have a good 1-2, and they’re definitely better than Livermore. We’ve got to work on closing, and playing more balls in the air – not giving the other team time to set up.”

Daily Planet Staff 

The Berkeley Unified School District will spend more than $1.8 million to provide portable classrooms for King Middle School students while their main classroom building undergoes major renovations. 

The transitional housing project, which includes placement of 32 portable classrooms, will be considered during Wednesday night’s meeting of the school board. Temporary housing is needed because the central classroom building needs significant seismic and accessibility improvements; the district also wants to upgrade various electrical and mechanical systems in the structure. 

But creating a “portable city” wasn’t the district’s original plan. 

When district and site administrators began discussing how to handle the renovation work at King Middle, they intended to divide the grades, keeping seventh- and eighth-graders on site, while moving sixth-graders to the Franklin School site. Franklin will have available classrooms once Thousand Oaks School moves into its new home at the end of the summer. 

But in December, plans began to unravel. Teachers argued against separating the grades, saying the move would hurt their efforts to create an effective three-year educational model at the school. 

So, the district started talking about moving all of King Middle to the Berkeley Adult School sit, which would have forced the division and relocation of that school’s programs. But that idea infuriated BAS teachers, students and community supporters, who said pushing out the adult school would prove that the district didn’t value the campus or its programs. 

During all of these community meetings, new ideas emerged for handling the King Middle project. After comparing costs and impacts on educational programs, the district determined that the best option was to do the King project in two phases and place portable classrooms around the school grounds - as long as those buildings didn’t occupy the track and field on the north portion of the campus. 

The plan being presented Wednesday night appears to meet everyone’s goals: The three grades will remain on site, the track and field will be free of portables and BAS keeps its home. The only people who might still raise concerns will be parents who don’t want their students to attend a school that is also a work zone. 

In addition to the portable classrooms, the plan calls for the placement of a restroom portable, new utility hookups, rental of two temporary storage containers, reconfiguration of the science building to house four classrooms, and other modifications to increase storage and add office space. 

The $1.8 million price tag only covers the costs of work related to the transitional housing project. The total cost for the King Middle project is expected to be at least $20 million. All funds will come from Measure A, the $158 million school bond measure approved by Berkeley voters in 1992. 

Wednesday’s board meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in Board/Council Chambers in Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The meeting is scheduled to be broadcast on B-TV, Cable Channel 25, and 89.3-FM, KPFB. 

Daily Planet Staff 

Berkeley students will present four performances of “Kiss Me, Kate” over the next two weeks at two school sites. 

The performances will be held Friday and Saturday at Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary School at 1645 Milvia St. and April 12 and 14 at Willard Middle School at 2425 Stuart St. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, young children are free. 

“Kiss Me, Kate” is the modern musical theater production of William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” The local performances will be presented by the Youth Musical Theater Commons, which includes students from Berkeley middle schools. 

Bruce Wicinas of the Youth Musical Theater Commons notes that the current project was preceded by “Middle School Musical Theater” which restored musical theater to Willard in the fall of 1997 by producing “West Side Story” in the newly rehabilitated “Metal Shop Theater.” Willard had a prior history of musical theater which ended when Howard Frieberg left the staff some years back. Middle School Musical Theater made musical theater available as a sliding-scale-tuition-financed after-school class. “West Side Story” was followed by other classic musicals staged with voice instruction, choreography, moving sets and theatrical lighting. 

Wicinas says the middle school project was actually heir to the Gilbert and Sullivan troupe, which concluded its 27-year run in Berkeley Schools at Malcolm X in 1997 with the retirement of co-founders Catherine Lynch and Arden Clute. The “G&S” program had initiated generations of kids and families to musical theater as an alternative to popular culture since its founding at Franklin school in 1971. “Middle School Musical Theater” was founded by Lynch, Wicinas and Evelyn Larsen – Wicinas and Larsen were parent managers of the G&S Troupe through its final two years.

A lot of spectators at last weekend’s high school-collegiate San Diego Crew Classic may have thought the defending national champion Cal Golden Bears were the only Berkeley squad to show up. And as far as Berkeley High boys crew coach Eric Christiani is concerned, they were right.  

Two weeks after defeating Bay Area rival Los Gatos by a gaping 20 seconds in a league race, the BHS varsity-8 boat struggled with the Classic’s pace, rowing an inefficient race in Saturday’s preliminary action, and failing to qualify for the event’s finals race.  

“We had a disappointing performance, there was a little bit of self-destruction,” said Christiani, who cited problems with the crew’s stroke rhythm. “It wasn’t their day. 

“There were a lot of teams (there), and it’s hard to stay focused, especially without experience.” 

As expected, No. 1 Cal took home the event’s collegiate title, with Marin Rowing Association completing the Bay Area sweep on the high school side. The Oakland Strokes and St. Ignatius High, both on Berkeley’s league schedule, placed fifth and sixth, respectively.  

The Yellowjackets battle both St. Ignatius and Marin in a league race this Saturday afternoon at San Francisco’s Lake Merced. Despite Marin’s dominant reputation, Christiani believes his crew can compete, if it returns to the form of two weeks ago. 

“Marin Rowing Association is very strong, it’d be great if we beat them (this weekend),” Christiani said about the upcoming tri-meet. “(My athletes are) strong enough to do much better than they presented themselves this weekend.” 

Berkeley High’s junior varsity boat made the trip worthwhile for the coach, advancing to the finals after a solid showing in the preliminary races. Though the Yellowjackets slowed down considerably in the finals race, Christiani was thrilled with the JV boat’s rapid overall improvement. 

“We had a mediocre race in the finals, but we were up against a lot of good crews – so that wasn’t necessarily an upset,” the BHS coach said. “The JV had a good (weekend). I felt they built up a lot of confidence.”

Tonight’s City Council meeting will begin after a brief Housing Authority meeting at 7 p.m. 

At its meeting, the Housing Authority will be asked to give preferential treatment to homeless persons for Section 8 – low-income housing – vouchers. 

The council agenda includes a number of items to discuss that have been languishing on the list of possible actions for weeks. They include: 

• Accepting the Redevelopment Agency’s final report. 

• Discussing pedestrian safety on Ashby Avenue. 

• Purchasing microphones and a recording devise so that more accurate records can be kept of General Plan and Southside Plan meetings. 

• Discussing support programs for small business. 

• Appointing Councilmember Betty Olds to a city manager evaluation subcommittee. 

• Giving the Peace and Justice Commission authority to review all contracts with the University of California. 

• Enforcing speed laws on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The council also plans to make a decision on a use permit for office buildings at 2336 Fifth St. 

On the consent calendar, which are items discussed with little or no comment, are a traffic-monitoring study for Alta Bates Medical Center, residential parking enforcement, hosting a panel on “the war on drugs,” and retention of a midwife panel at Alta Bates Medical Center. 

If the council gets to its new business, it will talk about establishing a task force to create a citywide transit pass, like UC Berkeley’s Class Pass. All students pay for the Class Pass, and any of them can sign up to use it. 

Another item of new business is establishing conflict of interest criteria for city commissioners. 

The meetings are scheduled to be broadcast on B-TV, Cable Channel 25, and 89.3-FM, KPFB. 

– Judith Scherr, 

Daily Planet Staff

The Berkeley High boys volleyball team thinks it has what it takes to post its first East Bay Athletic League win against Granada at home tonight. But after falling to league rival Monte Vista – another expected win – last Tuesday, the ’Jackets aren’t leaving anything to chance. 

BHS coach Justin Caraway has used the disappointing loss to the Mustangs as a motivational tool for the squad in practice this week, stressing the mental aspect of performing well down the stretch in grueling five-game matches.  

“They walked off the court knowing they could have won,” said Caraway, whose Yellowjackets fought back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game with the Mustangs, only to lose, 15-9, in the final. “I just think we need more concentration. More focus on every point.” 

At 0-4 in league, Granada is the only other winless team in the EBAL, and Caraway expects the Matadors to be easy prey, if his squad can cut down on mental errors. Monday’s practice was devoted largely to blocking schemes for use against Granada’s one-man frontcourt – middle blocker Jon Specht. 

“I’ve talked to some coaches that played Granada, and (they have) one hitter who’s very strong,” Caraway said. “He’s their go-to guy every time.  

“I think we’ll probably come out with a win.”  

Even if Granada turns out to be a pushover, the Yellowjackets will have a guaranteed challenge this Thursday, when they host undefeated Foothill at Donahue Gym. Both today and Thursday’s matchups are slated to begin at 5 p.m.

Daily Planet Staff 

When Josh Maddox hit the pillow on a Friday night, a couple of weeks ago, things seemed right with the world. 

When he woke up Saturday morning, the public safety building worksite not far from his home was abuzz with activity. By evening a 170-foot high, 20-foot wide – at the base – tower had been sunk into concrete, 25 feet into the ground. 

Along with Councilmember Dona Spring, Maddox and about 25 other neighbors, members of the McKinley Addison Grant Neighborhood Association, met with city officials to tell them what they thought of the “monstrosity” that landed without warning in their back or front yards. 

“My property value has gone down overnight,” Maddox said. “I don’t see the moon. I don’t see the sunrise. I’ve just taken a loss.” 

It looks like “something from a prison catalogue,” one of the neighbors said. Another remarked that the tower gives the residential area an industrial feel. A few dropped the word “lawsuit” – Spring said Friday that the group is talking to an attorney – and without exception, every speaker said it had to go. 

The police chief, director of capital projects, deputy director of public works and other top city brass were not unsympathetic. Still, they told the group, they have to bear the weight of responsibility of the city’s public safety needs. 

“In an earthquake or major fire, we will have the coverage we need,” Police Chief Dash Butler said. “This tower will improve police and fire response.” 

He said he understood the neighbors’ apprehensions. 

“How do we marry your concerns with ours? How do we put all that together?” he asked. 

Officials answered each of the questions. They can’t put the antenna atop the new civic center building, because when an earthquake rocks the building, the tower could topple, interrupting emergency services. That’s the advantage of setting it in concrete in the ground, they said. 

The height cannot be reduced, because the radio waves need to be able to get to the other side of the Berkeley hills, to areas like Wildcat Canyon. 

If the tower were moved, for example, to Berkeley’s industrial area, the new placement would cause radio wave interference with emergency channels in other jurisdictions. 

The explanations didn’t change the nearby residents’ minds. The sudden appearance of the tower, with no neighborhood input, infuriated them. They explained they felt the city had deceived them, especially given their close work with planners on a number of aspects of the project in its early stages. They said the city had listened to their ideas on fencing, landscaping and even the color of the building. 

But the tower, they said, had been sneaked in with no citizen review. They had believed the city when officials told that the plans were geared toward improving civic center, they said. 

But Capital Projects Manager John Rosenbrock told the group that the tower, even if it had been called an antenna, should not have come as a surprise. The plans “were noted on the (Environmental Impact Report) and shown in the drawings,” he said. “It always existed in its present state.” 

“It’s hard to believe you would want it near your house,” nearby neighbor Nancy Holland told the officials. “We have a sense of betrayal.”

Monday, April 3

Growing Gourmet 

10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Santa Fe Bar and Grill, 1310 University Ave. 

This is a free monthly event that offers hands-on training in intensive production urban gardening. The restaurant has its own 5,000-square-foot organic garden on site, which provides the chef with fresh produce. The program includes a potluck lunch at 4 p.m. Contact the garden manager, Katherine Webb, for more information. 

510-841-1110 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Berkeley Public Library, 2121 Allston Way 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. Parents also will enjoy the new stories, rediscover old favorites and learn new songs and games to share. 

510-649-3943 

Harris Seminar 

4 p.m. 

Institute for Governmental Studies Library, 109 Moses Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

David Broder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist with the Washington Post, will discuss his book “Democracy Derailed: The Initiative Movement and the Power of Money.” 

The Affordable Housing Advocacy Project 

6 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

The Berkeley Housing Authority is sponsoring a series of meetings aimed at improving authority operations. 

“New Moon Hike” 

6:30 p.m. 

Tilden Regional Park 

Hike Big Springs, view sunset city, stars and planets. Meet at Big Springs Canyon pullout off South Park Drive. If closed meet at the Botanic Garden parking lot. 

510-525-2233 

Landscape architecture and environmental planning 

7-8:30 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Robert B. Riley, emeritus professor of landscape architecture and architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will speak on “Vernacular-Narrative-Garden: Musings, Maxims, and ... ?”  

510-643-9335 

Rent Stabilization Board 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Among other issues the board will discuss funding for the Tenant Action Project and a proposal to add an office assistant and a community services assistant. 

Peace and Justice Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The commission will discuss adopting Browning, Mont., as a sister city, the development proposal for Spenger’s parking lot, establishing a Ho Chi Minh Highway or Ho Chi Minh Park Placard, 

Theater conversation 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 

“Page to Stage: A Conversation with Tony Taccone, Joan Holden and Geoff Hoyle” is a free event sponsored by the Berkeley Rep’s Hilde Mosse Programs for Education. Taccone is artistic director of the Rep, Holden is the principal playwright for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Hoyle is a comic actor who has appeared in a number of shows at the Rep. This event will focus on the legacy of comic theater in the Bay Area. 

510-841-2541 

New Century Plan workshop 

7:30-9:30 p.m. 

UC Alumni House (enter campus at Bancroft Way and Dana Street; located across from Haas Pavilion) 

Community members are invited to Workshop No. 4, which will feature a panel of representatives from Downtown Berkeley business, arts, and civic organizations. The discussion will explore ways to utilize town and gown connections to further the revitalization of Downtown Berkeley. The New Century Plan, currently being developed, will guide UC Berkeley decisions and set priorities for the future use of its facilities and properties in Berkeley and the surrounding region. 

510-643-3382; 510-643-5299 

Author reading 

7:30 p.m. 

Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 

Author Barbara Quick will read from her recent book “Under Her Wing: The Mentors who Changed our Lives.” She also will sign copies of the book. 

510-486-0698 

Tuesday, April 4

Free computer class for seniors 

1-4 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Income tax help 

2-4 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Call ahead for an appointment. 

510-644-6107 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

The market begins its summer hours today. 

510-548-3333 

City Council meeting 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Beginner Bicyclist Workshop 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Conference Room 1, Downtown Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way 

Find the idea of riding your bike too daunting? If you’re just starting out, or haven’t ridden in years come to the Beginner Bicyclist Workshop. This course covers all the basics. Avoid the easy mistakes that can lead from everything from bike theft to skinned knees or worse. Zed Lopez and Jason Meggs of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition will teach this course, which is free and open to the public. No preregistration is required. 

510-549-RIDE 

Wednesday, April 5

Campus concert 

Noon 

Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Jolie Lin, piano solo, will perform Bach’s “Goldberg” Aria & Variations, BWV 988 in this free concert. 

Art in the Garden 

2-4:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive 

Karen LeGault, a local artist and teacher whose work has been exhibited internationally, is leading this eight-week class in drawing and painting from nature. Both experienced artists and beginners are welcome. Call ahead for more information or to enroll. 

510-643-2755

It is sad that it seems that the ASUC (Associated Students of the University of California) now wants to follow in the not-so-proud recent tradition of statewide ballot initiatives. With the upcoming People’s Park referendum, the ASUC, or at least some faction within it, is manipulating simple words with supposed good intentions to dupe voters into supporting a sinister motive (a la Proposition 209, 21, 22, etc.). 

The apparently benign referendum asks, “Do you think the People’s Park area should remain a park as opposed to having UCB explore alternative uses for the space/land?” 

Seems simple enough, right? But what is really going on here? I know that the student body is highly intelligent. So let’s ask some questions in search of the truth. 

The first question all of us good learned students should ask is what does the phrase “alternative uses” mean? It could be anything. For example, the University presently uses portions of its land for such controversial activities as: nuclear research (and whatever else they do up in those hills), military training, research on animals, genetic engineering, and shady partnerships with soul-less corporations and the prison industry. 

Now most folks are going to latch onto the current housing crisis hysteria and think “alternative uses” must mean building a dorm for students. But if that was the case, why doesn’t it say so? Could it be because the University has consistently stated that they lack the necessary funds to build more student housing? Though ironically enough they do have the funds to destroy part of the Albany Village student housing complex. And even if they did have the funds, why would they build housing on the only open space with grass in the Southside area, when there are numerous other vacant lots, including many parking lots that could be converted to dorms with underground parking facilities (think Underhill!)? 

It is more likely that in the University’s eyes “alternative uses” would mean what they’ve always wanted to do (and have done on occasion). That is bulldozing the Park and making it into another one of their exclusive parking lots at the expense of everyone. 

The fact is the very existence of People’s Park just pisses certain people off and they just happen to have a lot of power. They can’t handle the fact that there’s a piece of land in this city that they don’t control. And this student referendum, with all its rhetoric of being “non-binding,” is just the first lob in a new battle in what seems like a never-ending war against the Park. They think that they can utilize the current climate of student ignorance to get what they have always wanted. 

By using the word “ignorance,” I do not mean to disparage the intelligence of the student body. I merely mean to refer to the present dearth of knowledge about the Park that has been fostered by the University. Again it is ironic that a University would embed such ignorance in its students. 

Why is it that very few students know the incredible/tumultuous ongoing story of the Park? A working class neighborhood where Allen Ginsberg and friends used to frolic. The University’s use of eminent domain to destroy that neighborhood. The resulting muddy unused lot being converted into a Park by the community on its own initiative. The destruction of that Park by the University, followed by Police and National Guard occupation of the city, including the use of live ammunition on demonstrators and observers. A helicopter indiscriminately spraying tear gas on a peaceful rally and the city at large. A prior ASUC referendum where the Park won by a landslide. The Park persevering. Free food. Music. Swings and slides. Trees. Gardens. The People’s Café. The Free Box. Volleyball courts that were forced upon the public by the University and thus never used, but cost the public $2 million. Thousands of arrests. Martial law on numerous occasions. Hundreds of injuries. And sadly two human beings killed at the hands of police officers. 

How many students have even spent time in the Park? Lounged on the grass and enjoyed the sun? Utilized the Free Speech stage? Played some ball? Threw a Frisbee? Just sat and talked with a stranger? Planted flowers? Ate nourishing free food? Again, I’d bet very few. 

Could this be because the University sends a police officer to warn every new student at Orientation about the “dangers” of People’s Park? That the UCPD releases constant propaganda about the supposed “criminal element” in the Park? That the UCPD patrols the Park relentlessly as if it was a war zone (Next time the class you want is not offered or you can’t connect to the Internet due to lack of funding, go to the Park for a while and observe how much of our money is being wasted on such an unnecessary police presence). When in reality by their own statistics there’s been more violent crime this year in Underhill Parking Lot than in the Park (Go to Sproul and look at their map if you don’t believe me.). 

Now, I am not trying to say that People’s Park is some utopia, it does have its problems. However, as we all know most of Berkeley (and this world) has its problems. And if instead of being scared away, more people were involved with the Park, we could help it grow into a much better place. 

If the ASUC really wanted to discover the students’ opinion, why didn’t they host an open forum or issue a comprehensive survey? Instead, they allowed a senator to put a vague question on the ballot without implementing any opportunities for students to become informed or express their concerns on such a complicated issue. In addition, this referendum totally ignores the non-student community, which makes up the majority of the city and users of the Park. The only way that the powers-that-be can ever be stopped is when students and non-students work together as a community to control their own destiny. Remember the Park is the only large area of grass and open space on Southside and that it is presently available to anyone to use. Again this referendum is about duplicity, not attaining any sort of concrete consensus. 

Therefore I urge everyone to use this attack as an opportunity to become informed. Learn the history and the issues. Talk to others. Go to the Park. Form your own educated opinion. If you do so, I am certain that on April 11-13 students won’t be fooled and will vote YES for People’s Park. And maybe we can all finally work together to make the Park what it was always meant to be. A place where anyone can enjoy some open space, do what they want, and escape the drudgery of modern urban life! 

John Tanghe is a Boalt Hall student and a 1998 Cal alum.

Daily Planet Correspondent 

SAN FRANCISCO – Crowded Fire Theater Company opened the Bay Area premiere Friday of “One Flea Spare,” Naomi Wallace’s celebrated, but bleak and difficult political play about class relations, at Phoenix II Theater in San Francisco. 

Set in London in 1665 at the height of the Great Plague, “One Flea Spare” focuses on four people from differing social classes who are quarantined in a house together, along with the guard who keeps an eye on them. 

Forced to live in intimate circumstances, in increasing privation, in a world of death where life is cheap, the characters undergo social, political and emotional regression in a power vacuum that is disconnected from the outside world. 

Crowded Fire’s production of this play is well performed and well directed in the intimate 30-seat Phoenix II space. 

In their few weeks of quarantine together, the characters in “One Flea Spare” share their histories. The poor people have suffered physical privation. The rich have suffered numbness of the heart. 

The master of the house (George Frangides), a shipyard owner, plays mind games with his male servant (Darin Wilson), a former sailor.  

In one wonderful scene, master lets servant try on his stockings and shoes. The power that goes with the clothes moves back and forth between the two men as they exchange the clothing. 

The mistress of the house (Tiffany Hoover) also flirts with the servant/sailor. Food and sex become bartering currencies in the deprived landscape of the plague. Sexual frustrations poke through at odd and quirky moments. 

This is a painful world without love. The rich beat the poor, and the men beat the women. 

The quarantine guard Kabe (Paul Lancour) announces periodically tallies of the newly counted dead, and sings revolutionary songs. 

A flirtatious, sociopathic family friend (Juliet Tanner) enjoys betraying the secrets of the others in this pressure cooker world. 

Playwright Wallace is a published poet. The language of the dialogue in “One Flea Spare” is heightened, and sometimes quite beautiful. It is not quite the literal and realistic dialogue one finds in a contemporary play.  

But having said all this, in the final analysis for me “One Flea Spare” doesn’t quite work.  

This intellectual story about class power and economic issues makes the same political points over and over. 

Although there is a lot of texture to the individual scenes, at times the play’s larger story seems an afterthought to the political agenda.  

None of the characters in this painful story is particularly likable, so it’s hard to care about the outcome of the story. 

In a story without love, there’s no place for the audience to breathe. 

Much of the human story in this production has been created by director Rebecca Novick’s silent moments on stage, in the characters’ reactions, and in their subtexts. 

Set designer Melpomene Katakalos’s barren room with its roof made of a ship’s rigging reflects the rat and sailing ship motifs of the play. 

Playwright Wallace, who was born in Kentucky in 1960, had her first plays produced in England, where she now lives part of the year. 

After its London production, “One Flea Spare” had its American premiere at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theater of Louisville 1996. 

It won an Obie in 1997. 

In 1999, Wallace was awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” She currently has commissions to write new work for both London’s Royal Shakespeare Company, and New York’s Public Theater. 

“One Flea Spare” plays Thursday through Saturday, through April 22, with a special Monday performance April 17, at Phoenix II Theater, 655 Geary St. (at Leavenworth), San Francisco. 

For ticket information and reservations, call 415-675-5995, or visit the group’s web site (www.crowdedfire.org).

Daily Planet Staff 

The site was different, but the sight was the same for the Berkeley High girls lacrosse team, which fell to league rival St. Ignatius for the second time this season, 11-6, on Saturday afternoon at the BHS football field.  

The Yellowjackets entered the 11 a.m. matchup with revenge on their minds – still stinging from an 11-7 road loss to the Wildcats on March 11. Though Berkeley High was able to settle down on offense and contend well with St. Ignatius in the second half, the Wildcats’ 7-3 halftime lead proved insurmountable. 

“I don’t know what it was (in the first half),” said attacker Jamie Lee, who paced the Berkeley High offensive effort with three goals. “I felt like we lost our intensity. We all have to talk it up, and tell each other, ‘we can do this, we can pick it up.’” 

The one St. Ignatius weapon with which Berkeley could not cope was attacker Lindsay Cope, who fired in an astounding six goals on the afternoon to match the Yellowjackets’ entire team total. Berkeley’s Dani Ganes added two scores to complement Lee’s three, with Caitlin Goetz rounding out the BHS scoring. Sophomore Joanna Hoch played the first half in goal for the ’Jackets, before yielding the position to junior Kristen Brasch.  

“We played a good game, but we weren’t doing our best.” BHS senior Rory Satrin said after the game. “We weren’t really giving it the spirit. We can play a good game against a fair team, but you need more to beat the best team.” 

With the loss on Saturday, the Yellowjackets still have not beaten the Wildcats in the past three years. Though St. Ignatius is a perennially strong program and generally contends for the league title, the Berkeley players were still disappointed in their inability to end the drought on their home turf. 

“I’m a senior and this is a senior-dominated team,” said a disheartened Satrin. “This was our last chance at St. Ignatius, this was our day to beat them. At one point in the first half, we were tied 2-2, and we got super confident. They just got the momentum at the mid-to-end of the first half.” 

“I think we’ve improved so much this season,” added Lee, who has been one of the Yellowjackets’ most vocal leaders on the field in 2000. “We have a bunch of good new players, and veteran players. We just have to play like it.” 

With the Berkeley High-St. Ignatius 2000 series complete, the Yellowjackets may have to wait until next season to get another shot at redemption. However, both teams are likely to qualify for the postseason, and could meet again sometime in early May. 

“If possible, I think we want that game more than any other game,” Satrin said. “They’re the big messiah of (Bay Area) lacrosse teams. We’re going to approach that game very seriously, and give it like 200 percent.” 

Sitting at 5-3 in league, the Yellowjackets return to the turf this Thursday, to take on Menlo School in a 4 p.m. road matchup.  

Berkeley High’s next three contests will be played on the road, with the ’Jackets finally returning home on April 12 to host East Bay nemesis Monte Vista.

Daily Planet Staff 

After months of complaints by parents, teachers and community members, the Berkeley Unified School Board is set to vote Wednesday on a revised retention and promotion policy. 

The original policy, approved by the board last June, has been criticized as being unfair to students, removing “social promotion” from the district without providing the necessary support programs to help academically at-risk students. 

The policy was the BUSD’s response to legislation signed into law in the fall of 1998 requiring all districts to develop new guidelines on retention and promotion. A major goal was the end of social promotion: students who are promoted to the next grade, even though they do not meet grade-level proficiency. Another piece of legislation required districts to institute support programs for students who are at risk of being retained. 

The BUSD’s policy was formed through a series of workshops and meetings involving principals, site staff, parents and community members. 

Concerns were raised in the fall about whether parents were being adequately notified about the district’s new policy after it went into effect, but the harshest criticisms arose in February after administrators determined that nearly 25 percent of all elementary students were considered “at risk” of being retained for next year. Even the administration admits holding back that many students “would widen the gap of achievement and create a poor learning environment.” 

At the March 15 meeting, the school board was presented with a revised policy that seeks to address many of the concerns raised by parents and community members, as well as those noticed by administrators and staff. 

A written report delivered that night highlighted some of the problems associated with the policy’s implementation: 

• Decentralized budgets and lack of available trained personnel for intervention programs at the elementary level 

• Inconsistent grading policies and practices, limited support systems, confusion around the “incomplete” grade, unfinished end-of-course exams, and English and math courses that are not aligned completely to the standards at the middle school level 

• Initially confusing information distributed to parents, inconsistent grading policies and practices, unfinished end-of-course exams, change of policy in mid-year and history course alignment that remains to be done at the high school level 

Chris Lim, associate superintendent for instruction, told the board that the revised policy would provide a “transition” period for many students and would modify some of practices implemented in the original plan. 

At the elementary level, only reading performance will be used to identify at-risk second- and third-graders. Math performance will be incorporated for fourth- and fifth-graders. The district also will develop a “zone intervention program” for next year, with budgets consolidated and coordinated. 

In the middle schools, the “I” – incomplete – grade will be dropped, and sixth-graders at risk of being retained will be able to make up credits through summer school, allowing them to move on the next grade. The schools also will develop an action plan for aligning math and English standards. 

At the high school level, the revised policy proposed a ninth-grade “Opportunity Program” for highly at-risk students, which will use an enhanced funding allocation from the state. 

School board members, who had heard concerns shared during public comment periods in the last couple months and at community forums, were generally positive about the proposed changes. 

“The goal of the district is not to retain kids,” Board President Joaquin Rivera said at last month’s meeting. “We want to help these kids, we want them to be successful.” 

During the public comment period, one community member criticized the retention-promotion policy in general, saying it was “criminal.” Director Shirley Issel took issue with that comment. 

“What’s actually criminal is the failure to identify and respond effectively to those kids who are failing behind,” Issel said. 

The BUSD School Board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and will be held in Board/Council Chambers in Old City Hall, at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The meeting is scheduled to be broadcast on B-TV, Cable Channel 25, and 89.3-FM, KPFB. 

Daily Planet Staff 

Police are searching for two men responsible for a home invasion robbery committed last week. 

The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Thursday at an apartment in the 1600 block of Walnut Street. Two men, one of whom was armed with a shotgun, forced their way into the apartment, according to Berkeley Police Lt. Bob Maloney. Once inside, the suspects tied up a woman, the sole occupant at the time, and gathered up various valuables, including a safe, cash and credit cards. 

The woman was not hurt in the incident, Maloney said, and was freed when her boyfriend showed up just a few minutes after the robbers left. 

The suspects are described as Caucasian men in their 20s. One was around 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with a medium build, and the other was around 6 feet 1 inch tall, with a thin build.

Cal Disabled Students’ Union will hold its inaugural Disability Awareness Day this Wednesday on the university campus. 

Disability Awareness Day, 10 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, will be an occasion to celebrate the accomplishments of forward-thinking individuals in all walks of public and private life who have worked to achieve a more inclusive society. Organizers hope the events of Disability Awareness Day will affirm the strength and vitality of the disabled community. 

Events will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be held on Sproul and Dwinelle plazas. If it rains, Pauley Ballroom in the MLK Jr. Student Union will be the site. 

Disability Awareness Day will feature prominent speakers and authors representing a cross-section of disciplines and the diversity within the disability community. Featured speakers include noted disability scholar and advocate Simi Linton, author of “Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity;” prominent German human rights lawyer and bioethicist Dr. Theresia Degener; widely published writer LeRoy Moore, who is a co-founder and co-chair of Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization; local poet Lee Williams; and Jerald Baptiste of Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living. 

Speakers will address topics such as the need for critical studies of disability, society’s role in addressing disability, and creative expression of personal experience. 

Organizers say Disability Awareness Day is the embodiment and realization of several of the organization’s primary objectives, including: to educate students, faculty, and staff about the experience of living with a disability and to inform students with disabilities about the resources available to them 

In addition to the featured speakers, events will include the Disability Simulation Program, which allows non-disabled people to “adopt” disabilities such as blindness, mobility impairments, and dyslexia; and “This Ability” Presentations of sports, poetry, music, and dance representing the breadth, depth, and diversity of the disability experience.

A small fire occurred just before the end of classes Friday at Cragmont Elementary School on Regal Road. 

The incident happened on the south side of the multipurpose auditorium, near Spruce Street, which serves as the eastern border of the campus. The source of the fire was either a cigarette butt or spontaneous combustion, said Steve Rathbone, the district’s safety officer. 

The material around that side of the multipurpose is Gorilla hair, which Rathbone compared to shredded coconut shell. He and members of the Berkeley Fire Department found four cigarette butts in the scorched area of about 12 feet by 20 feet. But, because of the low humidity Friday afternoon, spontaneous combustion can’t be eliminated as a possible cause, Rathbone said. 

The school structure was not damaged in the fire, and there were no injuries to students or staff. One firefighter sustained a minor injury.

The city-owned parking lot at Oxford and Addison streets is not yet available for development, but that hasn’t stopped Berkeley’s most prolific – and perhaps most controversial – developer from spreading the word about his plans to develop housing and provide theatre space for the Shotgun Players at the site. 

Patrick Kennedy has scheduled a two-and-a-half-hour press conference at a downtown bistro late Monday afternoon to announce his plans and, Kennedy says, to pressure the city to speed up its release of a Request for Proposals for the lot. 

Kennedy, owner of Panoramic Interests, is not shy in acknowledging the something-for-everyone approach he uses to deftly guide his projects around opponents and tie up at least five votes on the City Council. 

His plans for the Oxford lot include: 

• A 75-foot, seven-story-plus-mezzanine building, with 150 to 175 apartments on the top three floors. One-fifth to one-quarter of the units would be affordable for very low-income people. 

• A 330-space, three-story parking garage. “A mom and her three kids going to the Y(MCA) can’t take public transportation,” he said in support of doubling the parking now at the surface lot. 

• A 150-space theater for the Shotgun Players, gallery space and classrooms for the Berkeley Arts Center, and another small theater for citywide performing arts groups. 

Part of the deal which Kennedy describes as “privately financed” would be for the city to turn over its land to him. 

The developer would then build the three-story parking component, which would be a benefit for the city and its downtown merchants, shoppers and theatergoers. Kennedy says the exchange is fair because building garages are always money-losing propositions. He would charge no more for parking in this garage than the city charges in its lots, he said. 

Kennedy said he thought he would not need a variance from the city to build a seven-story project. But City Planner Vivian Kahn says that, with density bonuses for housing and the cultural element, she thinks he can build only five stories and 60 feet high. 

Kennedy says he would like to submit his proposal to the city as soon as possible, but there will not be a request from the city for proposals from developers until late summer, said Economic Development Manager Bill Lambert. 

Lambert said he is waiting for preliminary results from a parking-needs study and for an assessment of the property value. He said the project the city wants is something like the one Kennedy is proposing, with cultural uses, parking and housing. 

Once the call for proposals comes from the city, Kennedy is likely to face at least two competitors – John De Clercq of Transaction Companies and the nonprofit housing developer Resources for Community Development. 

De Clercq declined to talk about the project he has in mind. Dan Sawislak, RCD executive director, said the site “offers a great opportunity to build needed affordable housing, with retail and cultural uses.” he said. Sawislak said, however, that he hasn’t done a detailed analysis of the site. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who represents the downtown district, is no fan of Kennedy’s. She said she didn’t think the city would turn over the parking portion of the development to him, and wants to see more than the mandated 20 percent low-income housing. 

The best mix would be for the city to develop the ground floor and parking and have a nonprofit housing developer maximize the housing component, she said. 

In an attempt to get five votes from the council, Kennedy “tried to figure out what would be very sexy,” Spring said. 

Kennedy’s detractors note that the developer has used this tactic on previous projects, attracting such businesses as Anna’s and Gaia Bookstore to help generate council support. 

One of Kennedy’s strongest supporters is Patrick Dooley, artistic director of the Shotgun Players. The theater company, in its ninth year in Berkeley, has bounced around from pizza parlor basements to parking lots. Currently, the company is using space at Black Pine Circle School on Seventh Street. 

The agreement with Kennedy is that Shotgun would build its theater, which should cost them about $300,000, then rent it from Kennedy for $1 per year. 

Dooley said he has no problem with the notion that Kennedy might pick up votes because his company is in the project. 

“The arts community will get a huge benefit,” he said. 

There is another way of looking at the partnership, he said. “I’m taking advantage of Patrick Kennedy to build my theater.”

Saturday, April 1

School garage sale 

9 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Skytown Parent Cooperative Preschool, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington 

The school will hold this garage sale to benefit its programs. All donations are tax-deductible. 

510-526-8485 

Child Development 

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 

Pacific Center, 2712 Telegraph Ave. 

Learn about current ideas in the field of child development: how your child learns, developmental ages and milestones, and how you can best support the growth and development of your child. Donations are requested, but not required. This is part of the LGBTQ Parent and Prospective Parent Groups series. 

415-789-8560; familyprogram@yahoo.com 

April Fools Day celebration 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Library temporary location, 2121 Allston Way 

Pam Brown, storyteller and magician, will entertain with stories of tricksters and fools from around the world. She will perform a series of magic tricks and will teach the audience how to do some of the tricks. This free program is designed for children ages 5 to 10, and their parents. 

510-649-3943; TDD 510-548-1240 

Saturday Morning Children’s Programs 

10:30 a.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Jane Timberlake will present a performance of original songs. Tickets are $4 general, $3 for children. 

510-849-2568 

Small Press Distribution Open House 

Noon-4 p.m.  

1341 Seventh St. 

This free event will feature readings by Brenda Hillman, Marci Blackman, Mary Burger, Truong Tran and Elizabeth Willis, and guests will have an opportunity to browse through open stacks of books. 

510-524-1668 

Artist salon 

2 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park 

Mel Adamson, painting, and Lucy Snow, installation, will be featured in this salon. Admission is free. 

510-644-6893 

“Wildflower Watching” 

2-3:30 p.m. 

Tilden Regional Park 

Participants can look for blooming poppies, lupines and Indian paintbrush. For ages 8 and older. Meet at Tilden’s Big Springs Canyon if South Park Drive is open. If it is closed, meet at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden parking lot. 

510-525-2233 

Cal Performances 

8 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Juan de Marcos’ Afro-Cuban All Stars will perform. Tickets are $18 to $32. 

510-642-9988 

Bach performance 

8 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Hopkinson Smith is featured in this baroque lute performance of works by J.S. Bach. Tickets are $19 to $22. 

510-528-1725 

Sunday, April 2

“Post-April Fools Day Hike” 

10 a.m.-noon 

Tilden Regional Park, Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard 

On this hike, look for examples of deception in nature and talk about the history of April Fools Day. 

510-525-2233 

The Buddy Club 

11 a.m. 

Albany Community Center Theater, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany 

This performance will feature juggling and comedy with Hearty and Lissen, and singer Robbie Dunbar. Tickets $7 general admission, free for children under 2. 

510-652-7469 

Kurt Vonnegut Writer’s Day 

2 p.m. 

Trinity United Methodist Church, 2362 Bancroft Way 

Celebrating and sharing concerns for writers, this event features local authors reading from their works. Donation for admission. 

510-528-2942 

“Meadows Canyon Loop” 

2-4 p.m. 

Tilden Regional Park 

Take a 2.85-mile loop hike up sunny Meadows canyon and down shady Wildcat Gorge. Meet at the bulletin board at Lone Oak picnic site. 

510-525-2233 

San Francisco City Chorus 

3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way 

Larry H. Marietta conducts the chorus in a performance of Haydn’s “The Creation” with the Chamber Symphony of the West. Tickets are $15 general; $10 students and seniors. 

415-765-SONG 

Open house 

3-5 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place 

The open house will be followed by Tibetan chanting at 5 p.m. and a lecture entitled “Inner Compassion” by Sylvia Gretchen, dean of Nyingma Studies, from 6 to 7 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. 

510-843-6812 

Benefit concert 

6 p.m. 

Home of Elise Cappella and Elisha Cooper, at 77A Tamalpais 

Musicians for a Better World is sponsoring a benefit classical guitar concert for the victims of the floods in Mozambique. Leonardo García and Martha Masters will perform works by Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Johannes Brahms, and others. All proceeds go directly to Direct Relief International to help aid the victims of the floods in Mozambique. Suggested donation $10. Children welcome. 

For more information email Leonardo Garcia at mayaleo@earthlink.net 

Peltier event 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. 

Native American political activist Jean Day will discuss the ongoing, nationwide campaign to gain freedom for Leonard Peltier, a Native American leader who has been declared a political prisoner by Amnesty International. 

Monday, April 3

Harris Seminar 

4 p.m. 

Institute for Governmental Studies Library, 109 Moses Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

David Broder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist with the Washington Post, will discuss his book “Democracy Derailed: The Initiative Movement and the Power of Money.” 

“New Moon Hike” 

6:30 p.m. 

Tilden Regional Park 

Hike Big Springs, view sunset city, stars and planets. Meet at Big Springs Canyon pullout off South Park Drive. If closed meet at the Botanic Garden parking lot. 

510-525-2233 

Landscape architecture and environmental planning 

7-8:30 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Robert B. Riley, emeritus professor of landscape architecture and architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will speak on “Vernacular-Narrative-Garden: Musings, Maxims, and ... ?”  

510-643-9335 

Rent Stabilization Board 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Among other issues the board will discuss funding for the Tenant Action Project and a proposal to add an office assistant and a community services assistant. 

Theater conversation 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 

“Page to Stage: A Conversation with Tony Taccone, Joan Holden and Geoff Hoyle” is a free event sponsored by the Berkeley Rep’s Hilde Mosse Programs for Education. Taccone is artistic director of the Rep, Holden is the principal playwright for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Hoyle is a comic actor who has appeared in a number of shows at the Rep. This event will focus on the legacy of comic theater in the Bay Area. 

510-841-2541 

New Century Plan workshop 

7:30-9:30 p.m. 

UC Alumni House (enter campus at Bancroft Way and Dana Street; located across from Haas Pavilion) 

Community members are invited to Workshop No. 4, which will feature a panel of representatives from Downtown Berkeley business, arts, and civic organizations. The discussion will explore ways to utilize town and gown connections to further the revitalization of Downtown Berkeley. The New Century Plan, currently being developed, will guide UC Berkeley decisions and set priorities for the future use of its facilities and properties in Berkeley and the surrounding region. 

510-643-3382; 510-643-5299

Barge into the Kala Institute, bark out the old cliché “stop the presses!” and you very well may trigger a major shutdown. That’s because the 25-year-old art institute’s 8,500-square-foot main studio is inundated with more varieties of presses than you can shake a lithograph at. There are giant presses and baby-sized presses, venerable old presses and shiny new presses, presses used for one form of printing or another, presses used to meld one form of printing with another and even a press sporting an eye-catching, 6-foot-wide crank wheel that, over the past quarter-century, at least one artist has probably stood behind and suddenly felt compelled to lapse into his or her Long John Silver impersonation. 

“Every piece of equipment has a story,” says Kala Institute Executive Director Archana Horsting, who co-founded the institute with fellow Paris art student Yuzo Nakano 25 years back. “We saved enough to each buy one-half of a press, and got a little lumber to construct a table. A couple of artists joined us and brought some tools, rollers, that sort of thing. We jury-rigged a hot plate. We still have that first press we ever bought. We had one press willed to us, some of the larger presses we got through equipment grants, and a couple are long-term loans. Over time, we’ve built up equipment.” 

Over time, they’ve also built up clientele. The tiny art studio that Horsting and Nakano opened up as a single press in a San Francisco garage now serves roughly 80 artists a year out of its home in the former “ketchup kitchen” of the old Heinz plant on San Pablo Avenue. 

“Even though we’re on the third floor, we’re still something of an underground organization,” jokes Horsting. “The average person around here might never have heard of us. But artists in Japan, Norway, Iceland, South America and all over Asia have.” 

This international appeal is no coincidence. Horsting and Nakano aimed to create a diverse, multi-national atmosphere right from the start (in the name “Kala,” for example, the founders picked a word that has “good vibes” in Greek, Sanskrit, Japanese, Hawaiian, Turkish and Hebrew, just for starters). The idea is, if you bring artists from varying backgrounds together to work shoulder-to-shoulder in the studio, the process of osmosis ought to benefit everyone. In furthering this goal, the Institute features “artists in residence” from all over the globe. These internationals work alongside the six-to-12 artists a year who receive Kala fellowships and the dozens and dozens of others who pay a fee for the right to utilize the Institute’s numerous facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

“It’s always totally in flux,” says Kala Institute administrative assistant and self-described “Jill of all trades” Elisheva Marcus. “We’re open 24 hours a day, so you can never really predict (when people will show up).” 

Yet the Kala Institute is more than just an art studio. More than 700 students a year take the 80-plus courses offered through the Institute (in fact, Kala’s course catalog looks much like UC Berkeley’s – except it’s smaller and sprinkled throughout with much better artwork). Kala sends a number of artists into local schools and communities through its “Artist in the Schools” Program. The mural on the yet-to-be-completed downtown Berkeley Public Safety Building was painted by local schoolchildren and organized by the Kala Institute. Also, Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley kids have gone on numerous field trips to the Institute. 

And while a major focus of the Kala Institute will always be the art of printing, the studio offers artists and students alike more than just presses. The Institute is equipped with an art library, an oft-used gallery, darkroom facilities and, most impressively, a rather high-tech Electronic Media Center. Located in a large single room protected by more locks than one would expect to find on a front door in the Bronx, the media center comes chock full o’ computers, scanners, printers, video editors, digital samplers and more. 

This unusual juxtaposition of printing presses – some of which utilize processes developed thousands of years ago – and cutting edge digital equipment is the subject of the symposium the Kala Institute is planning for its 25th anniversary celebration. 

Entitled “High Touch/High Tech: Making Art in the 21st Century,” Kala has organized a number of speakers and expert panels for the April 8 event at the Oakland Museum. The number of artists and authorities in attendance will analyze the current art scene, and, of course, ponder the big question: What comes next? 

The look backwards and forwards seems to be a fitting celebration for the Kala Institute, a progressive institution based around an eons-old practice. And as is the case with so many Berkeley nonprofits born out of the 1960s and ‘70s, founders Nakano and Horsting have outlasted the lean years, and can’t believe how time has flown. 

“I think Nakano and I had no idea we’d still be doing this,” chuckles Horsting. “I guess we’re both kinda stubborn as hell.” 

For more information on the Kala Institute and the upcoming symposium call 510-549-2977 or visit the Institute’s web site at http://www.kala.org

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Rough Crossing” by Tom Stoppard, April 7 through May 6. The writers of a Broadway musical are simultaneously trying to finish and rehearse a play while crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner. 

$10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; May 4, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

AURORA THEATRE 

“The Homecoming” by Harold Pinter, April 6 through May 7. A dark comedy about a philosophy professor who brings his wife home to meet his all-male family. 

$25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BAYSTAGE 

“Tinker's Nebula” by Michael Thomas Tower, closing April 1. The story of the Creation gone awry, and learning what it means to be human anyway. 

$15 general; $12 students and seniors. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. (510) 464-3000. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“The Alchemist” by Ben Johnson, through April 7. A scathingly satiric look at the “science” of alchemy and other scams. 

$38 to $48.50. Tuesday through Friday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Feb. 26, March 4, March 11 and March 25, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. 

(510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

IMPACT THEATRE 

“Commedia 2000: Soccer Mom vs. Monster Bud,'' through April 1. A supremely irreverent look at Berkeley, the college life, and parents. $10 general; $5 students. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. 8th Street Studio, 2525 8th St., Berkeley. (510) 464-4468. 

SHOTGUN PLAYERS 

“3 Sisters” by Anton Chekhov, through April 9. A play about three provincial sisters yearning to move to Moscow and the toy-soldier men who adore them. $15 general; $10 students and seniors. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; March 27, 8 p.m. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 Seventh St., Berkeley. (510) 655-0813. 

Subterranean Shakespeare 

“Measure for Measure,” by William Shakespeare. Run has been extended through April 30. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays, at 8 p.m. each night, and Sundays at 7 p.m. $10 general; $6 students. La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Soukous Stars, April 1, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Julia Butterfly, Leslie Limbo, Jennifer Berezan and Jami Sieber, Adele Getty, April 2, 7 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Chris Grampp and Club Sandwich, April 1. $15.50. 

“Freight Piano Fundraiser,” April 2. With Barbara Higbie, Katrina Krimsky, Libby McLaren, Liz Story, Margie Adam, and Terry Riley. $17.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER 

Will Power, Marvin Sewell, Awana Nzingha, April 1, 8 p.m. The Hip Hop Blues Review performs as part of the Silver Star Series. $12. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

From Ashes Arise, Abstain, Remains of the Day, April 1. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

GALLERIES  

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“The Women’s Show,” March 3 through April 8. A group exhibit of works by six Bay area artists. 

“The Annual Staff Exhibit,” through March 31. An exhibit of works featuring ceramics, fiber, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and digital mixed media. In the Interim Gallery. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

BERKELEY ART CENTER 

“Adamson/Snow,” through April 1. An exhibit of paintings by Mel Adamson and installation by Lucy Snow. Free. Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 644-6893. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Irish Stones and More,” April 1 through April 27. An exhibit of quilts by Denise Snell. 

“Down from the Attic,” April 1 through April 27. An exhibit of dolls by Gretchen Jennings. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779.  

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Dennis Begg, March 11 through April 9. An exhibit of new sculpture and installation. 

Lothar Osterburg, March 11 through April 9. An exhibit of new photography. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

MUSEUMS 

UC BERKELEY ART MUSEUM 

“Autour de Rodin: Auguste Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. 

“2x2: Architectural Collaborations,” Jan. 22 through April 16. 

“Roma/Pacifica: The Phoebe Hearst International Architecture Competition and the Berkeley Campus, 1896-1930,” through April 23. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. (510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Dinosaurs 2000,” through June 4. An exhibit featuring 16 lifelike robotic creatures, fossils, activities to compare yourself to a dinosaur, and daily live demonstrations. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) (510) 643-7648 

JUDAH L. MAGNES MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Chagall: Master Prints and Posters, Selections from the Magnes Museum Collection.” Accompanying the exhibition is “Exploring Chagall and His Use of the Elements of Art,” a child-friendly Interactive Educational Room with five work-stations and a central activities space. Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (510) 549-6950 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). 

Calendar items should be submitted at least four days in advance. 

Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

The Yellowjackets began their second league match of the season as an underdog on Friday, hosting rival Amador Valley at San Pablo Park in Berkeley. The ’Jackets, who missed out on a month of preseason practice due to the rain, managed to plough over this obstacle with a 12-2 victory over the Dons. The game was halted in the bottom of the fifth by the umpires, due to a 10-run “mercy rule.” 

“This is the most stressful day in my 16 years of coaching,” coach Larri Gordon barked to his players before the game. “I’m on my stress reserve. This (game) is your last chance to get some respect.” 

The huge score was caused in part by the Wolves’ struggling starter – Tom Walker – who lived up to his name by walking two and hitting three batters, all in the first inning. Senior Greer Wiggins capitalized on the Dons’ pitching problems, smacking an RBI line drive to center that scored two teammates, giving Berkeley a 2-0 first-inning lead.  

The Yellowjackets had more success with starting pitcher Cole Stipovich, who gave Amador the sting, allowing just six hits and one earned run, with just 56 pitches in five innings.  

“This is the first game I pitched in league,” Stipovich said. “I’m psyched. I’m overwhelmed. The way this game turned out isn’t something I expected at all.”  

The second inning turned out to garner the largest point tally for the ’Jackets. The bases were loaded – due in part to a walk by Walker – and sophomore Julian Benavidez hit a double to centerfield and earned three RBIs. Paco Flores and Lee Franklin subsequently chimed in with an RBI to end the inning 5-0. 

“It’s my goal for us to be a sleeper in the league,” Wiggins said. “We’ll tip-toe in, tip-toe out and no one will see us coming.” 

Another three runs were knocked onto the board in the third. Benavidez played a key part again by driving in runs with a basehit to right field. In the Yellowjackets’ last chance at bat, sophomore Dan Pfister increased the score with a line drive to second which cost him an out, but earned him a sacrifice RBI. Benavidez scored Berkeley’s final run from third, on a sacrifice fly by Jay Moor. 

“It seems like one problem after another,” Dons’ coach Tom Bischofberger said. “I don’t think we should have lost to Berkeley like we did (today).” 

“I had high expectations and we were able to live up to them in this game,” Gordon said.

By Rob Cunningham 

Daily Planet Staff 

Disparity in public education remains a central part of Audie Bock’s agenda, a year after her surprise election to the California State Assembly. 

“We’ve really been mistreating our kids,” she said Friday during the weekly gathering of the City Commons Club. “(Improving our schools) requires a commitment of our taxpayer money to go into education on a much larger scale than we’re spending right now.” 

Monday marks the start of Bock’s second year representing the 16th Assembly District, which includes Piedmont, Alameda and much of Oakland. During the last year, she has gone from the insurgent challenger who shocked the East 

Bay political system to a incumbent who has to gather enough signatures by August to appear on this fall’s ballot. 

A year ago, Bock pulled an upset and won her Assembly race against former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, who used to hold the 16th District seat. She became a self-described “guerrilla legislator,” as the only member of Green Party serving in the Legislature. 

But in October, she withdrew from the Green Party in a politically risky move. Had she retained her Green affiliation, her name would have appeared on the March primary ballot. No one doubted whether Bock would win her party’s nomination. But the issue was how well she’d fare against the other candidates, particularly Democrat Wilma Chan, president of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Fund-raising squabbles with members of her own party also factored into Bock’s decision to become an independent, skip the March primary and focus her efforts on gathering signatures for that her name can appear on the November ballot. 

But Bock, a product of the Berkeley public school system, believes that her record could carry her to victory again. Granted, it’s taken time to build that record: When she arrived in Sacramento last year, the deadline had already passed for any bills to be introduced, and some of the choice committee appointments and bills that were being “reserved” for Harris weren’t passed her way. 

And Bock soon learned that as the only Green in the Legislature, she had no party caucus to help with such basic tasks as distributing press releases. 

“When you’re only one person, you can’t walk in and change the whole system overnight,” she said. “But you can be heard.” 

Being heard meant working with like-minded legislators on such issues as education, health care and social justice. She also found an ally in Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, part of a de facto progressive caucus, who gave Bock better committee assignments than previous Democrat Speakers might have. And even though she couldn’t offer any new bills, she was able to introduce resolutions, including one on the level of dioxin in the San Francisco Bay. 

The issue of education came up several times during her speech to the City Commons Club. Even though she went through Berkeley public schools, Bock chose to live in Piedmont when she moved back to the area because of the quality school system. 

She also addressed an initiative being promoted by the California Teachers Association for the November ballot. The measure would increase state per-pupil spending to at least the national average over five years. 

California ranks 40th in spending per pupil (ADA), according to the National Education Association. The state average was $5,627 in 1997-98, $1,011 lower than the U.S. average of $6,638 and just over half of New Jersey’s expenditure per pupil. 

The proposal, Bock said, was generated by individuals who volunteered for her campaign a year ago.

Any coach will tell you that, in team sports, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. The San Ramon boys tennis team learned that lesson on Friday afternoon at the Berkeley High tennis courts, winning the top two singles spots, but still falling to the notoriously deep Yellowjackets, 7-2. 

The Berkeley contingent picked up the slack for losses by Michael Ross and Patrick Hamilton, getting wins from Noah Farb, Nicky Baum, Nate Simmons and Jamie Bloomsburgh at Nos. 3-6 singles.  

Despite the absence of top doubles team Dave Grunwald and John Madigan, the ’Jackets (9-2) managed to come away with a sweep in the doubles, with the teams of Gabe Zeldin-Chris Jain, Ian Buchanan-George Thomas, and Chris Lee-Brett Cohen all winning their respective matches in straight sets. 

“(San Ramon’s) definitely a challenge. We had to be ready for them,” said BHS coach Dan Seguin, whose squad registered a 6-3 win in the two schools’ previous meeting on March 21. “We didn’t have one of our singles guys last time we played. (Our players) are looking good.” 

The win marks the second straight for the Yellowjackets since March 28’s loss to Monte Vista – a result that could cost Berkeley High its East Bay Athletic League title. The Mustangs remain undefeated in league, with just two games to play. The ’Jackets look to hold onto sole possession of second place Tuesday, when it travels to Granada to face the Matadors – a team Berkeley expects to be a pushover.  

“I might let the doubles play some singles, and (play) some JVs (against Granada),” Seguin said. “I think there are certain spots that could always be stronger, but they’re doing the right things.” 

Tuessay’s match is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. at Granada’s home courts.

Daily Planet Staff 

A carjack was the weapon of choice in a downtown confrontation between two taxi drivers Thursday night. 

The incident occurred just after 10 p.m. at Constitution Square in the 2100 block of Shattuck Avenue, where taxis frequently wait for customers. According to Berkeley Police Lt. Bob Maloney, the two drivers got into a fight over a customer, and one of the drivers pulled out a carjack. 

The driver could have been charged with brandishing – because of the threatening manner in which he displayed the carjack – and disturbing the peace. But the other driver, when he reported the incident to police, simply requested that officers talk to the man and ask him to never do it again.

The Berkeley High girls lacrosse team gets its second shot of the season at league rival St. Ignatius, in an 11 a.m. matchup this morning at the BHS football field.  

The Wildcats won a heated offensive battle, 15-11, at home against the ’Jackets on March 11, and are considered to be among the toughest teams in the league. Coming off a 10-9 win over Davis on Monday, however, Berkeley has momentum in its favor and will be looking to defend its home turf.  

“We have home field advantage this time, so it should be good,” coach Lia Farley said.  

“Hopefully we’ll play the same (as Monday) against St. Ignatius,” attacker Dani Gaines added. “Our heads are up, our spirits are high. We just have to go all out.”

The X-Plicit Players, perhaps best known for performing nude, are holding auditions and open rehearsals for new members. 

The auditions/rehearsals are being held Sundays from to 5 p.m. 

The group is seeking “adventurous folks” for “radical street theater actions, festival stage shows and indoor performance art pieces.” 

For more information on location or other details, call 510-848-1985.

ALBANY – Southern Company Energy Marketing and Albany-based Utility.com announced a partnership last week to provide Southern Company Energy Marketing’s wholesale electricity to Utility.com’s customers via the Internet. 

Through this agreement, Southern Company Energy Marketing becomes the preferred wholesale electricity provider to Utility.com, the world’s first Internet utility company. 

Southern Company Energy Marketing also has taken an equity stake in Utility.com, with the right to make an additional investment in subsequent private financings. 

“Two markets are developing along parallel lines, and that’s why this partnership makes great sense,” Gary Morsches, president of Atlanta-based Southern Company Energy Marketing said in a news release. “This move helps us reach into the retail energy markets, particularly in areas where we have strategically placed assets. This also marks our first venture into the e-commerce arena. We sell wholesale electricity in deregulated markets, and Utility.com offers electricity and other utility services to consumers and small businesses who want to buy utilities online.” 

Utility.com is currently registered to provide energy services in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Pennsylvania, and is seeking licenses to provide services to 23 states and the District of Columbia by the end of 2001. The company also provides Internet access to customers in the continental United States. 

“This partnership demonstrates the significant assets and sophisticated trading system behind Utility.com’s electricity offering,” Chris King, chief executive officer of Utility.com, said in the news release. “As we expand, we will rely on Southern Company Energy Marketing to provide us with wholesale electricity at competitive prices. Southern Company Energy Marketing will also act as a virtual wholesale back-office and provide Utility.com with forecasting, scheduling and risk management for all of Utility.com’s electrical load requirements.” 

Southern Company Energy Marketing is jointly owned by Southern Energy and Vastar Resources Inc. One of the largest energy marketing operations in the United States, Southern Company Energy Marketing provides energy marketing, risk management, trading, financial services, and other energy-related commodities, products and services to wholesale customers in North America. 

Southern Company (NYSE: SO), the largest producer of electricity in the United States, is also the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric. 

Utility.com (www.utility.com) offers electricity and Internet access and will offer gas, telephone and DSL services in the future. Utility.com is a privately held company that was founded in 1998 by energy and Internet industry experts, including idealab!, the innovator behind such companies as CarsDirect.com, eToys, GoTo.com, NetZero, PETsMART.com, and Tickets.com.