A mural commemorating the 10th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act will grace the Ed Roberts Campus in a few years. The campus at the Ashby BART station, is proposed for the future home of a number of agencies which support people with special needs. 

Friday, a group of disabled and able-bodied children and teenagers worked together on tiles which will become part of the campus’ Disability Civil Rights Mural. 

The roughly 80 youths are part of the city’s “inclusion” recreation program aimed at bringing together young people with varying abilities. 

“One of the things that I have done for many, many years is art projects, because they create a level playing field,” said Elaine Belkind, coordinator of the Inclusion Program. 

The mural, put together like a quilt, will feature hundreds of square one-foot tiles made by disabled and non-disabled people alike.  

Integrated Arts, a Berkeley-based organization, is coordinating the mural and holding events through several agencies around the Bay Area for people to create squares. The fact that the mural is created by people with disabilities and able bodied people together goes along with the Inclusion program’s structure, where the breakdown of children is about half with disabilities and half without. 

“The kids without disabilities, a lot of times they are very surprised to learn that some of their disabled friends can do things that really amaze them,” Belkind said. “One young man who has some behavioral disabilities is a very skilled artist, and he can draw all the Pokemons. And all his peers are impressed with that.” 

“People learn that it is OK to be different and that diversity is a good thing.” 

The mural will eventually go up in a passage way between the Ed Roberts Campus and the Ashby BART station. However, since the Ed Roberts Campus will not be constructed for several years, the mural will be displayed elsewhere in the meantime. 

One of the sites where the mural will most likely be found is in Berkeley City Hall. A cross-country trip to display the work is also possible. 

“It’s like the AIDS quilt,” said Frances Valesco, the mural coordinator. “It’s a great way to commemorate the ADA. When you think about it, it’s hard to believe that 10 years ago there was no disability act in the United States.” 

Those interested in creating a tile for the mural are welcome to drop by the Integrated Arts studio at 933 Parker Street on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. Call (510) 841-1466 or e-mail ADA_Mural@integratedarts.org for more information.

Saturday, August 12

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky  

Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100–$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Movie Night at Underhill 

9 p.m. 

Mad Max and The Road Warrior.  

Underhill parking lot (College Ave. and Channing Way) 

The weekly event is sponsored by people protesting the university’s plans to build a parking structure rather than housing on the Undershill site. 

http://www.bclu.org/underhill/ 

Call: CREW-CUT 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools and expert guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Green Party Consensus  

Building Meeting 

6 p.m. 

2022 Blake St. 

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation. 

415-789-8418 

Rhyme and Reason Open  

Mike Series 

2:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave. 

The public and students are invited. Signups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m. 

234-0727 or 642-5168 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Public Health Nursing, Ombudsman Inc., Adult Protective Services, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs. Entertainment provide by "SBSC Fantastic Steppers Tap Group." Free gift drawing for senior participants and lunch and socialization. 

644-6109 

Understanding Your Child’s  

Temperament 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

Rona Renner, RN, will explain the different temperament factors that parents and caregivers can look at to understand techniques that will work best in working with an individual child. Free. 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

“How to Deal with the Physical and Emotional Aspect of Pain” with Dr. Francine S. Frome, Ph.D., Psychologist, 

601-0550 

“101 Great Hikes of the San  

Francisco Bay Area” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Discover the natural beauty of the Bay Area from challenging hikes atop Mount Diablo to seashore strolls at Point Reyes. 

843-3533 

“Psychic Phenomenon, ESP, etc.: Are they real?” 

7 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone regardless of age, religion or view point. 

527-5332 

Wednesday, Aug. 16

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Human Welfare & Community  

Action Commission Meeting 

7-10 p.m. 

South Berkeley Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

Issues on the agenda include the use of child care training stipends. 

665-3475 

Citizens Human Commission  

Meeting 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Agenda items include a euthenasia policy and the commission’s role in plans for a new shelter. 

Thursday, August 17

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and  

Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s cicl rights marches, women’s issues-all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15, 2000 

1-800-OAK MUSE 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

Call 548-4110 

Friday, August 18

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community, focusing on the issues facing the Dineh (Navajo).  

548-2220, ext. 233  

Saturday, August 19

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in  

My Bath!” Take a dip with Frog and Toad. 

Re-opening of the United  

Nations Association Info  

Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location behind Andronico’s University Ave. Market. 

841-1752 

Sunday, August 20

Cuba from the Inside 

Berkeley Fellowship Hall 

Cedar and Bonita 

7 p.m. 

Benefit screening of Fidel: A New Documentary by Estela Bravo. Special guests will include Karen Wald, a Havana-based writer, journalist, teacher and foreign correspondent. 

Among the topics she will discuss are human rights, religion, health care, education, economics, race relations and US-Cuba relations. 

Sliding scale $10-$25 per person. 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics  

11:00 a.m.-noon noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering brake adjustments. Bring your bike. Tools and guidance provided. 

527-7377

Whales and quails and bears – oh my! 

Would you believe that a century ago all of the above exotic beasties wandered the streets (or waterfronts) of Berkeley? Well, it’s true. And we’ve got the news articles to prove it.  

Turn-of-the-century Berkeley was a city on the move, a “thriving metropolis” of 15,000 souls (up from a mere 12 – not 12,000 but 12 -- in the mid 1850s). Yet despite all the trappings of modern life – automobiles, streetcars, indoor plumbing – the city was still often visited by vestiges of its past.  

“Sometimes I think all this development is like erasing somebody’s face, like smoothing over and erasing all the features from the city’s face,” says Richard Schwartz, whose new book “Berkeley 1900” is a compilation of over 650 turn-of-the-century Berkeley Gazette articles reporting on day-to-day life during the city’s adolescence. “(Turn-of-the-century Berkeleyeans) stood on one of the cusps of history. They stood on a ridge looking back at the past and seeing agrarianism, farms with animals and wild animal life. Looking on the other side of the ridge they saw the town’s future with houses taking over for farms, no more wild animals, industry and technology.” 

Schwartz, a Philadelphia native who moved west to Berkeley in 1973 and hasn’t looked back, never intended to pen “Berkeley 1900.” All the building contractor and local historian intended to do when he walked through the doors of the Berkeley Historical Society in 1997 was watch a grainy old film of a trolley car rolling down city streets. What he found instead, however, was a stack of century-old, mildewed newspapers waiting to be thrown out.  

Schwartz volunteered to take custody of the papers, began perusing his catch and found he couldn’t put them down.  

“I don’t need to know any more about Shattuck, Hillegas, Blake and Durant. Here are stories about people just like me, working people whose lives are illuminated for just one moment,” says Schwartz. “It was my job to save these stories from turning into dust. I started copying at the copy store every night after work. I ended up with 30 piles on my living room floor.” 

Those 30 piles became the 30 chapters of “Berkeley 1900,” separated by subject matter such as “Animals,” “Saloons and the Temperance Movement,” and, a particularly explosive section, “Powder Mills,” The lush foliage thriving atop Albany Hill was originally planted as an explosion break between the city and the mills, which used to be located near the present site of the Albany Race Track.  

Schwartz’s painstaking compilation and its delightful photographs of semi-developed Berkeley reveals volumes about a town with a foot planted firmly in both the past and present.  

A 1905 article informs of the aforementioned bear, “about the size of a full-grown Newfoundland dog” scaring the fertilizer out of local residents, along with four-and-a-half foot long snakes emerging from the barns on Durant and Shattuck avenues, or pods of lively whales lifting trading ships out of the Bay waters.  

When monster snakes weren’t emerging from Berkeley’s notoriously muddy streets, antediluvian motor cars, animal carts, key route trains and overly aggressive pedestrians crowded them to the breaking point. Schwartz’s book is overflowing with articles recounting train accidents, primordial road rage, pedestrian mishaps and, most notably, runaway horses terrorizing the city streets. The powerful animals usually ran rampant until a brave individual chased them down. 

“One lady was holding the reins in one hand just flying down Shattuck trying to pass a bundle off to anyone who could grab it. Someone got it and it turned out it was her baby,” recounts Schwartz. “The shoeshine guy stopped the horses. That was the day his life was in the paper.” 

Turn-of-the-century Berkeleyites undertook a number of heroic deeds. They extinguished burning buildings, saved strangers from train wrecks and pulled oblivious toddlers out of the paths of oncoming trolleys. The well-armed locals also, however, filled themselves and each other full of lead by accident and on purpose. And, most bitterly, the disdain the town’s Anglo population felt for racial minorities is lucidly caught in the overtly racist tone of the century-old articles. 

“A Chinaman would just as soon kill a man as be friendly with him and his religion bears him out in this,” reads a sobering editorial that ran on March 3, 1900. “The Chinaman should be kept under strict and rigid laws and not allowed the freedom he at present enjoys.” 

The way in which the articles Schwartz has compiled are written often tells more about society than what they were actually written about. In addition to Asians, African-Americans, Gypsies, Italians (“dark-skinned foreigners”) and Greeks (“objectionable peanut vendors”) also felt the scorn of the local press.  

“One of the main things these articles presented to me was how fear of losing your livelihood leads to hate,” says Schwartz. “What Asians went through 100 years ago is a much-neglected chapter of Berkeley history. Maybe we would do well to know why.” 

Not every aspect of the city’s past generates pride, much as the book’s many photographs of unspoiled wavy fields and grassy mountains may induce a touch of sorrow as well. We have progressed – but at what cost?  

“When you drive through Sonoma and Vacaville and see all the open land, it forces you to be reminded that Berkeley was once a frontier as well,” says Schwartz. “It’s amazing how different and the same things were at the same time. And that’s not something you can resolve. You hold them both. Both are true.  

“That’s what this book is here to do,” continues the author. “To bring the little people’s story to light as best as I could.”

Patients got care during strike 

Editor: 

During the two-day strike by Local 250 on August 2 and 3, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center employees worked very hard to ensure patients come first. The overwhelming majority of our employees and clinicians chose to come to work – including more than 30 percent of our Local 250 employees – they kept a promise to our patients that we will be here to care for them, whenever they need our help. 

More than 650 inpatients were cared for each day of the strike. Nurses, physicians, volunteers, and employees from departments throughout the hospital worked together to make patients comfortable and secure.  

Our caregivers know that anyone who is hospitalized never forgets that hospital stay. It is a critical time for those who welcome a new baby into the world, sit by the bedside of a loved one or suffer the loss of someone close.  

What would have happened to even one of the patients who needed our hospitals if care were unavailable to them?  

Hospitals and the care provided can never stop. For example, during the two day strike, on August 2 and 3: 

• 51 babies were born during that two day period. We were here for those new families. 

• 7 new babies were admitted to our Newborn Intensive Care Nurseries. We were here for those vulnerable infants. 

• 409 people were cared for in our Emergency Departments. We were here, helping patients get the urgent help they needed. 

• 133 surgeries were performed. We were here, helping patients receive the care they deserve. 

• 52 patients reside in our subacute unit. We were here, watching over them and making them more comfortable. 

What would have happened to even one of these patients had we not been here for them? 

The medical staffs of our hospitals are very grateful that so many of our health care workers came to work to care for those who needed our care. You kept the promise — you put patients first.  

Barry Horn, MD, President, Alta Bates Medical Staff 

Sam Dong, MD, President, Summit Medical Staff

MUSEUMS 

Habitot Children’s Museum 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

“Back to the Farm.”  

Ongoing 

An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more.  

Cost: $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under.  

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

647-1111 or www.habitot.org 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St.,  

549-6950 

Free. 

Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” 

Through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. 

“Spring and Summer.”  

Through Nov. 4. 

“Chagall: Master Prints and Posters, Selections from the Magnes Museum Collection.”  

Through Sept. 28. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley 

“Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment,” through Sept. 17.  

An exhibit of rare and exquisite works featuring more than forty mandalas and related objects including sculptures and models of sacred spaces. 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” through Sept. 3.  

An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. 

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

An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist’s classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously.  

“Hans Hoffmann,” open-ended.  

An exhibit of paintings by Hoffmann which emphasizes two experimental methods the artist employed: the introduction of slabs or rectangles of highly saturated colors and the use of large areas of black paint juxtaposed with intense oranges, greens and yellows to simulate the effect of nature at its most unbridled.  

The Asian Galleries  

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.  

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.  

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. 

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. 

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

642-0808. 

UC Berkeley Museum of  

Paleontology 

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley 

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.  

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon,” ongoing.  

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. 

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California. 

Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

642-1821. 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst  

Museum of Anthropology 

Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College  

Avenue, Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29.  

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.  

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.  

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. 

This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. 

$2 general; $1 seniors; $0.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

643-7648. 

Mills College Art Museum 

5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland 

“The 100 Languages of Children,” through October.  

An exhibit of art by children from Reggio Emilia, Italy. At Carnegie Building Bender Room. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 

430-2164. 

The Oakland Museum of  

California 

1000 Oak St., Oakland 

“Helen Nestor: Personal and Political,” Aug. 17 through Oct. 15.  

An exhibit of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the 60s civil rights marches, and women’s issues. 

Artist Reception, Aug. 17, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

“California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle,” through Oct. 1.  

An exhibit of 18 paintings and drawings by the Bay Area artist dating from 1965 to 1997. 

SPECIAL EXHIBIT – “Meadowsweet Dairy: Wood Sculpture,” through Sept. 15.  

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

TURES – Free after museum admission unless  

noted.  

“Family Workshop: A Sense of Place,” Aug. 20, 2 p.m.  

Create landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. For reservations 238-3818. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org 

MUSIC 

The Greek Theatre 

Gipsy Kings, Aug. 18, 8 p.m.  

$27.50 to $65. Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road, Berkeley.  

444-TIXS 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

Eric Bibb, Aug. 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Phil Marsh, Aug. 15. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Terre and Maggie Roche, Aug. 16. $15.50 to $16.50. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Naugahide with Billy Wilson, Aug. 15, 9 p.m. $8. 

Henry Turner Jr. and Flavor, Pope Flynn, Aug. 16, 9 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dead DJ Nite with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

August 11: Hellbillys, Riffs, Menstrual Tramps, Fleshies, Shut Up Donny.  

August 12: Excruciating Terror, Plutocracy, Chupalabre, Creation Is Crucifiction, State Of The Union. 

August 13: Converge, Hope Conspiracy, Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, Orgin. 

August 18: Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. 

August 19: Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

Aug. 13 at 4:30 p.m.: Barbara Colson Trio and Nannick Bonnel Trio 

Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.: “Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai 

Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m.: Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle” 

Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.: Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing” 

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle” by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht’s epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24-Sept.r 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

“Murder at the Vicarage” 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Av.  

Agatha Christie’s “Murder At The Vicarage,” presented by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, the city’s oldest theater company, will be on stage Friday and Saturday evening through August 12, plus a special Thursday evening performance on Aug. 10. Admission is $10, with discounts for groups of 15 or more. 

For reservations call 528-5620. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thrusday 1-7 p.m, Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appoinment.  

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m. SPECIAL EVENTS AND LECTURES – Free after museum admission unless noted.  

“Family Workshop: A Sense of Place,” Aug. 20, 2 p.m.  

Create landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. For reservations 238-3818. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org 

MUSIC 

The Greek Theatre 

Gipsy Kings, Aug. 18, 8 p.m.  

$27.50 to $65. Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road, Berkeley.  

444-TIXS 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

Eric Bibb, Aug. 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Phil Marsh, Aug. 15. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Terre and Maggie Roche, Aug. 16. $15.50 to $16.50. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Naugahide with Billy Wilson, Aug. 15, 9 p.m. $8. 

Henry Turner Jr. and Flavor, Pope Flynn, Aug. 16, 9 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dead DJ Nite with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

August 11: Hellbillys, Riffs, Menstrual Tramps, Fleshies, Shut Up Donny.  

August 12: Excruciating Terror, Plutocracy, Chupalabre, Creation Is Crucifiction, State Of The Union. 

August 13: Converge, Hope Conspiracy, Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, Orgin. 

August 18: Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. 

August 19: Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

Aug. 13 at 4:30 p.m.: Barbara Colson Trio and Nannick Bonnel Trio 

Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.: “Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai 

Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m.: Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle” 

Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.: Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing” 

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle” by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht’s epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24-Sept.r 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

“Murder at the Vicarage” 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Av.  

Agatha Christie’s “Murder At The Vicarage,” presented by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, the city’s oldest theater company, will be on stage Friday and Saturday evening through August 12, plus a special Thursday evening performance on Aug. 10. Admission is $10, with discounts for groups of 15 or more. 

For reservations call 528-5620. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thrusday 1-7 p.m, Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appoinment.  

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m.  

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com, or berkeleydailyplanet@yahoo.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least four days in advance.

At the second hearing in a week on a project to build a 35,000 square-foot synagogue and school for the Congregation Beth El at the Napoleon Byrne landmark site at 1301 Oxford St., friends and foes of the plan went before the Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday to formally comment on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report. 

Project consultants will consider the comments given Thursday, those presented at the Monday evening Landmarks Preservation Commission public hearing and comments written by Sept. 8. They will address the comments in a Final EIR. The Planning Commission will rule on whether the Final EIR is adequate. The decision can be appealed to the City Council.  

ZAB Chairperson Carolyn Weinberger urged speakers to focus on aspects of the draft EIR that they thought were positive, or facets that needed improving. 

The project brings benefits 

Buzz Yudell, the project’s architect, said that the model of site answered four key issues revolving around the project. 

“It provides for good traffic flow, it restores Codornices Creek, there is open space parking and fits into the neighborhood scale,” he said. 

But Boardmember Gene Poschman recalled when the previous owners, the Chinese Christian Missionary Alliance Church, were denied by the ZAB a permit for a small school and 21 parking spaces in 1992. 

“We just want consistency,” said Allan Gould, of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association. “My main concern is putting a parking lot on Codornices Creek.” 

Historic status raises questions 

Monday, Landmarks Commission members said the draft EIR was inadequate. They said the EIR would have had to show that the Byrne site was not a historic resource under the California Environmental Quality Act. They said the EIR failed to analyze appropriate alternatives. 

Landmarks Commissioner Carrie Olson said that the site is considered a historic resource because it was landmarked in 1975, and re-affirmed to be a historic resource without structure by the Landmarks Commission in 1990. 

The Byrne mansion, built in 1868, was partially destroyed by a fire in 1984. Another fire a year later damaged the mansion further, and the house was razed in 1988. 

In 1990, the site was removed from the National Register at the request of the Chinese Christian Missionary Alliance Church. That same year, Olson said, the Landmarks Commission surveyed the site and found that it was still had historic resource status without structure. It remains on the state and city historic resource list. 

Olson said that the draft EIR didn’t reference the original 1975 document declaring the site a landmark or the subsequent 1990 documentation, nor did it address alternatives for building on the site. 

She added that it didn’t include the full impact the building would have on the historic resources, such as the historic gate leading to the property, a cast-iron fence and a small concrete wall along Oxford Street, certain trees on the property and Codornices creek. 

The draft EIR states that the “original nomination (for landmark status) indicated that the resource listed in the register was the building itself.” And it says that the overall standard for integrity is that a property must retain “the essential physical features that enable it to convey its historic identity.”  

Since the property owner asked for it to be removed from the National Register in 1990, and the eligibility requirements for the national and California register are nearly identical, the removal of the grounds from the National Register strongly implies the site’s ineligibility for the California register, the EIR says.  

Nonetheless, in the city, and in the state, the site is considered a landmark. 

In considering landmark status, Olson said the Landmarks Commission “generally think of more than a building, we think of its setting on the land.” 

Congregation says process moving forward 

The congregation took the Landmarks Commission decision with a grain of salt. Harry Pollack, a past president of Beth El and a volunteer with the congregation said that there are many complexities involved, and he’s happy the application is at this point. 

“There were many productive comments at the (ZAB) meeting. People made suggestions about the good things and the areas that need improvement (in the draft EIR),” he said. “I’m sure the consultants and the staff will deal with these appropriately.” 

Pacific Management Consultants drew up the draft and will work on the Final EIR. The city selected PMC, but Beth El picks up the tab for the work.  

Pollack said that the congregation outgrew its 50-year-old building on Vine Street about a dozen years ago, and that the site at 1301 Oxford is “the perfect fit.” 

“There just isn’t enough room for our many programs,” he said. “We have to double-up and triple-up our classrooms.” 

The proposed building would have space for 650 families. There is room only for 250 families on Vine Street. It would include a sanctuary, a chapel, a social hall, 14 classrooms, a 7,500 square nursery school and administrative offices. 

The creek’s health must be addressed 

Critics of the project say that the site not only is of historical significance, but the resultant traffic, noise and parking problems will be detrimental. And they say that it will compromise the ecologically sensitive Codornices Creek greenbelt corridor. 

The current plan for the site calls for building a driveway over a culverted part of the creek. But speakers before the ZAB called for the creek’s restoration. 

Project opponents say the city has an obligation to protect the creek under Berkeley’s Creek Ordinance of 1995. 

One of the goals of the ordinance is the “restoring of creeks by removing culverts, underground pipes and obstructions to fish and animal migration,” it says. 

According to the UC Berkeley biologist Tom Dudley and members of Friends of Five Creeks, Codornices Creek is a spawning and rearing habitat for the Steelhead trout, and the fish currently exist in population levels high enough for spawning and rearing. The Steelhead trout is federally listed as a threatened species. 

Ann Riley, of the Waterways Restoration Institute said that full restoration and daylighting of the culverted section of the creek at the site would provide “maximum environmental benefits for the creek...(and) this channel configuration would also be suitable for fish passage.” 

The LOCCNA says that they have proposed alternatives to current plan, such as underground parking. They contend that the planned 35 spaces are not nearly enough for 650 families. 

Opponents say that despite repeated requests from the community for changes, the project remains nearly identical to the plan Beth El drafted more than two years ago. 

Pollack contends that though the creek wouldn’t be daylighted, the draft EIR shows that the creek “would be in much better shape with our project.” 

He added that one of the key issues is that the ZAB will have to grapple with is that a project of this size requires balancing a variety of facts. 

“We own the land and we have an obligation to follow the rules of the city and not harm the neighborhood,” he said. “These are difficult complicated matters and we want to work hard to be good neighbors.” 

“It’s painful for everyone that there are any bad feelings, but we’re trying to minimize that,” he said.

It was suspected that arson claimed the oldest and grandest Italianate villa in Berkeley the Byrne House – in January of 1985, says Susan Cerny in the book “Berkeley Landmarks.” 

She said it “had the romantic look of an abandoned and decaying Southern mansion, which was so unusual in Berkeley; it was illustrated in many books about Berkeley and East Bay architecture.” 

The 18-room Byrne House was built in 1868 by Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne, a former plantation owner from Missouri, who came to California in 1858 with his family. According to Cerny, Byrne’s family consisted of his wife and her mother and aunt, four children, two freed slaves – possibly the first black people to live in Berkeley – and a herd of cattle. 

When the 827 acres that surrounded the house turned out to be unsuitable for farming, he bought Venice Island in the Sacramento Delta. Unfortunately for Byrne, the island flooded and he was forced to sell his Berkeley land and his home to Henry Berryman in 1880. 

Cerny wrote that Byrne and his family moved into a house nearby and gave up farming to become postmaster in 1880. Landmarks Commissioner Leslie Emmington-Jones said she believes that he was Berkeley’s first postmaster. 

According to some accounts, Cerny writes, Byrne was the first to plant eucalyptus trees in Berkeley and some of the large old trees in Live Oak Park. 

Byrne died in 1905. 

About 1900, the house was bought by the Mendill Welcher family, who dubbed it “The Cedars.” Cerny says Welcher was a mathematics professor at the University since 1869, and his son went on to become the state superintendent of schools. 

In the 1940s the house and grounds were offered to the city for a park. Cerny wrote that the city declined and the land was donated to the Christian Missionary Church.  

Emmington-Jones said that the Robinson family, whom she thought was entrusted to the land by the Church, made the stipulation that only places of worship could be built upon the land. The Chinese Christian Missionary Alliance Church was the last to inhabit the site. Congregation Beth El bought the property about four years ago said Harry Pollack, a past president of Beth El. 

Cerny wrote that in the late 1970s, efforts were made by several community groups to preserve the house, which had become neglected and dilapidated. She said that work was well underway when the first fire damaged most of the house in December of 1984. Another fire a month later damaged it beyond repair.

Hundreds of activists are coming together this week at UC Berkeley to discuss ways to save communities from dioxins, a chemical which the Enviornmental Protection Agency and others say causes birth defects, cancer and other illnesses. 

The four-day-long People’s Dioxin Action Summit was coordinated by a number of environmental groups from around the country and is hosted by San Francisco’s Greenaction. It began Thursday afternoon and wraps up Sunday morning in various buildings on the university campus. The goal is to educate many about dioxins and have those people get the word out to others. 

“The focus is to come up with strategies that incorporate everybody’s viewpoints,” said Susan Chiang, director of Greenaction. “The goal is to eliminate dioxins.” 

Next week, Dioxin 2000, an annual international conference will be held in nearby Monterey. There, many of the top scientists from around the world will discuss their research and the latest information on dioxins.  

The summit in Berkeley was held this week so that many of those scientists can attend both events. 

Robert Shimek, an indigenous person who lives on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, said that low income communities suffer the most from dioxin pollutants because of their limited resources and education on the subject. 

“This education is especially important for the indigenous people, because of our cultural practices and ceremonial practices we are at higher risks,” said Shimek, a special project coordinator from the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Getting fish, for example; we were instructed by our elders to catch fish, and they were instructed by their elders, and so on. The fish are contaminated by various pollutants, including dioxins.” 

Many indigenous people also live in poverty, and are not able to stay away from dioxin-filled products or are unable to learn more about dioxins. While this puts them at a higher risk of being affected by dioxins, it is also a reason for those attending the summit to learn about the chemicals and teach the lower income communities. 

Dioxin is a by product of industrial processes that uses chlorine, including bleaching paper, manufacturing petroleum and producing some plastics. 

Most people consume dioxin in their diets, as it is most commonly found in meat and dairy products. It enters plants and animals through the air and water and moves along the food chain. 

“It is really great to see all these activists and health agencies talk about poisons in the air and talk about solutions,” said Charlotte Caldwell, an organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, attending the summit from Bemidji, Minn. 

Over 350 people from more than 20 different countries are participating in the workshops and tutorials, many of which cover how to do research on dioxins and to inform others about dioxins. Today there will be several strategy sessions on minimizing the release of dioxins, where everybody is encouraged participate. 

“I took a class on using the Internet to research health issues, and it was very interesting,” Shimek said. “The more we educate ourselves, the better off we will be.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The question weighing on the minds of representatives from civil rights and activist organizations speaking at a press conference at the Federal Building Thursday, was how to maintain the well-being of protesters on the streets of Los Angeles, during next week’s Democratic National Convention. 

Two Berkeley-based groups, the Ruckus Society, which teaches non-violent strategies to activist organizations, and Project Underground, an environmental organization, joined a number of organizations including Rainforest Action Network, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Ella Baker Human Rights Center and the National Lawyers Guild at the media event. 

Mary Ann Manilov of the Ruckus society read a statement from the organization’s director, John Sellers, who had been jailed in Philadelphia, during the Republican Convention. First held on $1 million bail, Sellers walked free earlier this week, when his bail was reduced to $100,000. 

The Ruckus Society leader claims he was not a participant in the protests, but had trained activists before the convention. Police, however, claimed he had orchestrated the protests. 

“Next week thousands of non-violent activists will take to the streets of Los Angeles to reclaim the democracy and justice we have been guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” says Sellers statement. “They will be following in the footsteps of the Abolitionists, the Suffragettes and the Freedom Riders. Will we allow them to be criminalized and locked away from sight? Or will we honor their courage and sacrifice? I guess it depends on what kind of country we plan to leave for our children.” 

The six groups joined 15 others in signing a letter addressed to Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic National Committee, the Los Angeles Police Commissioner and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordian asking them to work to ensure the groups’ rights to free speech and their right to protest. 

“We’re here to point out how police are using repressive tactics against protesters,” said Medea Benjamin, a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate and founder of Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based organization that promotes people-to-people ties around the world. “We’re telling the LAPD to respect the civil rights that we’re trying to wrest back from the corporations that bought them.” 

“It’s strange that protesters have become demonized. That we’re the ones trying to subvert the democratic process,” she said.  

Berkeley’s Project Underground is a human rights group supporting communities resisting mining and oil exploitation. Carwil James, an oil campaigner for the organization said there “is a real danger of the criminalization of protesting in the U.S.” 

“So many communities depend on (American citizens) influencing the institutions that control their lives.” 

James said his organization will participate in a mass demonstration with the U’Wa people of Colombia. The U’wa tribe has been fighting Occidental Petroleum’s environmentally destructive plan to drill in their homeland. 

A website (www.starhawk.com/uwa) that chronicles the people’s struggle says that all 5,000 of their tribal membership would commit suicide if Occidental is allowed to drill. 

Vice President Gore owns stock in the company and his father was a vice president and board member, James said. 

Many people, however, do not view the protesters as innocent. 

Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney recently asked Congress to create a committee to investigate the organizations and involved individuals and urged the FBI and the Justice Department to stop out-of-state activists from even getting to the convention center, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.  

But Benjamin said that the plan is to keep the protests as peaceful as possible. 

“We can’t account for every protester or infiltrators,” she said. 

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the California National Guard is prepared to deploy as many as 3,000 soldiers to quell any civil disobedience that may occur. And Benjamin says she’s heard reports that the department is bulking up on tear gas and pepper-spray. 

The LAPD did not return repeated calls. 

“They didn’t use pepper spray and tear-gas in Philadelphia, and we certainly hope it isn’t like Seattle,” she said referring to the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle where police used both pepper spray and tear gas on civilians. 

Benjamin said the protesters will also use the courts. The ACLU of Southern California is seeking a temporary restraining order demanding that the Los Angeles police immediately stop the harassment of protesters at their organizing headquarters, the ACLU announced Thursday. 

A report issued by the organization said protesters have been targets of police surveillance, selective enforcement of traffic laws and police visits without warrants. 

“An alarming pattern of police harassment and intimidation of demonstrators in Seattle and Philadelphia raises serious concern as to whether the planned protests at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles will be similarly targeted by the LAPD,” said Alan Schlosser, Managing Attorney for the Northern California ACLU. “Even if demonstrations include civil disobedience, that does not mean that the Constitution can be suspended and open season declared on political dissenters.” 

Stella Richardson of the ACLU said that a team of attorneys from the organization will be present during the convention. And, like in Philadelphia, they will go into holding cells of those arrested to make sure that protesters rights aren’t being violated.  

Friday, August 11

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Opera: “A Tribute to  

Tchaikowsky” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Critical Mass bicycle ride 

5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley BART 

Mass community bicycle ride. All ages, all abilities. Celebration after the ride with food, libations, live music, bicycle videos. The ride gathers every second Friday of the month. 

273-9288 

http://www.bclu.org/couch/ 

Saturday, August 12

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky  

Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100–$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Movie Night at Underhill 

9 p.m. 

Mad Max and The Road Warrior.  

Underhill parking lot (College Ave. and Channing Way) 

The weekly event is sponsored by people protesting the university’s plans to build a parking structure rather than housing on the Undershill site. 

http://www.bclu.org/underhill/ 

Call: CREW-CUT 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools and expert guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Public Health Nursing, Ombudsman Inc., Adult Protective Services, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs. Entertainment provide by "SBSC Fantastic Steppers Tap Group." Free gift drawing for senior participants and lunch and socialization. 

644-6109 

Understanding Your Child’s  

Temperament 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

Rona Renner, RN, will explain the different temperament factors that parents and caregivers can look at to understand techniques that will work best in working with an individual child. Free. 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

“How to Deal with the Physical and Emotional Aspect of Pain” with Dr. Francine S. Frome, Ph.D., Psychologist, 

601-0550 

“101 Great Hikes of the San  

Francisco Bay Area” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Discover the natural beauty of the Bay Area from challenging hikes atop Mount Diablo to seashore strolls at Point Reyes. 

843-3533 

Wednesday, Aug. 16

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Thursday, August 17

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s cicl rights marches, women’s issues-all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15, 2000 

1-800-OAK MUSE 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

Call 548-4110

Vice President Al Gore 

Los Angeles Police Commissioner 

The Democratic National Committee 

Mayor Richard Riordan 

Dear Sirs,  

We, the undersigned groups, are preparing to go to Los Angeles to engage in peaceful protests at the Democratic Party National Convention in order to call attention to the corporate corruption of our political system, as manifested the neglect of issues ranging from sweatshop labor to environmental destruction to the failed “war on drugs.” 

As peaceful organizations with a long-term dedication to human rights and democracy, we are deeply disturbed by events in Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia, the CityAttorney, and the Philadelphia Police Department have created a serious civil liberties crisis by arresting protesters on preposterous charges, fixing astronomical bails and physically abusing jailed activists. We see these actions as a concerted attempt to harass activists, to disrupt our movement, and to stigmatize peaceful protestors. Philadelphia, the birthplace of the government and the Constitution, has now become a center of anti-constitutional repression. 

The violation of basic civil liberties includes the arrest of approximately seventy people who were building puppets and art for street theater in a Philadelphia warehouse. A number of activists were arrested while not engaged in protest-related activities. This act of singling out key organizers and the excessive, $1 million bail set for John Sellers of the Ruckus Society of Berkeley and for Kate Sorenson, a community organizer with ActUP Philadelphia, are age old police control tactics. Both Mr. Sellers and Ms. Sorenson face a variety of trumped up charges and many counts of conspiracy (see attached statement by Mr. Sellers). We find this remarkable since the Philadelphia protests took place with virtually no violent conflicts and almost no property destruction. Thousands of protestors engaged in several days of peaceful protest including mass marches and acts of peaceful civil disobedience. Since there is no basis in fact for the charges brought against them, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Philadelphia authorities hope to criminalize protesters and to stigmatize those who engage in the exercise of their rights to speak out, to assemble, and to dissent. 

There is also another dangerous aspect to the Philadelphia developments. Philadelphia authorities such as Police Commissioner John Timoney have called for Congress to create a committee to investigate the organizations and individuals behind these protests. Why a Congressional committee? All of our activities have been conducted in public, our demonstrations and non-violence code attached below have been widely publicized, and our activities have been peaceful. We see the call for congressional investigations as the opening wedge of a new era of McCarthyism. Just as Senator Joseph McCarthy used the cry of “communists in government” to whip up hysteria that ruined the lives of tens of thousands, so today the Philadelphia authorities are attacking contemporary activists in an attempt to repress the right of people in the United States to exercise their constitutional right to protest. 

As we head for Los Angeles, we want to make it clear that we will not accept the attempt of authorities in any city to limit our right to protest peacefully. We have the constitutionally guaranteed right to peacefully assemble, the right to freedom of speech, and the right to petition our government. We intend to exercise these rights. 

We call upon Al Gore, the Democratic National Committee, and other leaders of the Democratic Party to speak out in defense of our right to protest at the party’s convention. Like the discussion inside the convention, the dissent outside forms part of the legitimate debate in our society without which there is no democracy. 

We demand that Mayor Richard Riordan, the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department work to ensure our right to exercise our rights to free speech including the right to protest. We will be in Los Angeles to speak out and will not be intimidated by the new strategy to destroy our movement for social, economic and environmental justice. 

Global Exchange 

JustACT: Youth Action for Global Justice 

Project Underground 

Bay Area D2K 

Critical Resistance 

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights 

Art and Revolution 

National Lawyer’s Guild (LA and Bay Area) 

Alliance for Global Justice 

Nicaragua Network 

Campaign for Labor Rights 

Institute for Food and Development Policy  

AmazonWatch 

Americans for Democratic Action 

Forests Forever 

Bread and Roses Community Fund 

American Lands Alliance 

Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment

Tom Holmoe is a man under pressure. 

Holmoe, the Cal head football coach, is in the fourth year of a five-year contract, and his teams have yet to achieve a winning record or reach a bowl game. And Holmoe feels this year is his make-or-break season. 

“This season is my last chance to prove myself here,” he said at a press conference Wednesday. “We have to win this year.” 

Those are pretty dire words coming from a coach with a contract that runs through next season. But Holmoe refused to back down from his self-imposed deadline of this season. 

But here’s the kicker: Holmoe has had an contract extension on his desk, needing only his signature to become official, since the end of last season. Cal Athletic Director John Kasser has said the offer is open-ended. Yet Holmoe said he will not sign the extension unless the Bears win this year. 

“We haven’t played as well as we can the last couple of years, especially last year,” he said. “In my mind, I haven’t earned the extension. And I can’t take something I haven’t earned.” 

Holmoe’s expectations for the upcoming season seem to be quite a bit higher than what many predict for the Bears, which is a battle with Washington State University to stay out of the Pac-10 cellar. Not to mention that all three non-league opponents, Utah, Illinois and Fresno State, are coming off of bowl seasons and have raised expectations. 

Holmoe even held out the possibility of a Rose Bowl berth for the Bears. 

“I’d say that there isn’t one team out there that can go wire-to-wire in the Pac-10,” he said. “I mean, (conference favorites) Washington and USC are both good squads, but they’re not the dominant teams they were in an earlier era.” 

He pointed out that many of the Pac-10’s Rose Bowl teams of the past decade have been picked to finish in the bottom half of the league before the season. 

“Look at Stanford last year, or Washington State (in 1998) or Arizona State (in 1997). They weren’t picked to win the conference,” he said. 

The key to a winning season for Cal is the offense, which was the worst in the Pac-10 last season. Kyle Boller started at quarterback as a true freshman, and his inexperience showed, as he threw 15 interceptions and completed just 38.6 percent of his passes. 

But Holmoe came to his prize recruit’s defense, saying the problems can’t all be blamed on the young quarterback. 

“There were times the receiver ran the wrong timing route, and Kyle ended up throwing up a pop-fly for the safety to intercept. You can’t blame Kyle for that. But he never said anything to the media, or even to the coaches. He took it all on himself,” Holmoe said. “The kid is so tough, he a real champion.” 

A full spring practice season to work with his receivers has helped Boller immensely, according to Holmoe. 

“He had to come in last year and just concentrate on preparing for each week’s game, instead of learning the offense at a regular rate. He’s really learned so much more since last season,” Holmoe said. “There’s no question in my mind, he’s going to be a hell of a player.” 

That said, the Bears will lean heavily on the running game early in the season, with four starters returning on the offensive line and good depth in the backfield with Joe Igber, Joseph Echema and Saleem Muhammad. In fact, the Bears are so deep at tailback that Marcus Fields, who led the team in rushing in 1998 and gained 123 yards against Rutgers in last season’s opener, is being moved to receiver to give Boller more options in the passing game. 

With improvement from the offense, Holmoe is confident the Bears can be competitive in the Pac-10. The defense got a huge boost when preseason All-American defensive end Andre Carter turned down a chance to be a first-round draft pick and decided to return for his senior season. 

“I can’t say enough about Andre. He’s really a great example of the term ‘student-athlete.’ He’s a great player and an even better leader,” Holmoe said. 

Holmoe also stressed that the special teams should be a strength this year, with punter Nick Harris joining Carter on many preseason All-America lists. 

“People don’t talk about special teams that much, but it’s a huge part of the game. So there are three parts to successful team: offense, defense and special teams. Last year we had two out of three, which isn’t bad. But this year we need all three to come through.” 

The defense should be good enough to keep the Bears in most games, but the offense will have to come through for the season to be a successful one by any standard.

Leonard Schwartzburd is a psychologist. He knows more about anxiety than radiation. 

So he understands the fear that the antennas planned around the corner from his house atop the Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue are causing for himself and his neighbors. 

On a recent walk past the theater, Schwartzburd observed the yellow notices posted on the building informing passersby that soon Nextel Corporation would affix antennas on the building. 

These are the telecommunications devices which make cell phones and pagers work. 

“There was no information about safety (on the notices),” Schwartzburd said. “These are heavy-duty transmittal devices for radiation.” 

Schwartzburd said he and his neighbors have a right to know if a potentially dangerous source of radiation is coming next door. 

In Berkeley, antennas are approved administratively. Those on top of the theater have that approval. Citizens, however, may appeal the decision to the Zoning Adjustment Board. 

That’s what Schwartzburd and his neighbors plan to do. They have until Aug. 15 to file the appeal. That will set in motion a public hearing before the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Vivian Kahn, interim deputy director of planning, says a city has only minimal power to regulate the antennas. 

A city cannot prohibit them, but can regulate them for aesthetics, she said. The antennas atop the Oaks Theater, for example, will be hidden from public view. 

Cities can also dictate where the devices are cited. Berkeley’s 1996 “Wireless Telecommunications Antenna Guidelines” does just this. 

“Wireless communication antennas are discouraged from being located on buildings containing residential uses in residential zones and on residential uses in any zoning district, because of the visual impacts and because the use is inconsistent with the purposes of the residential zoning districts, which is to recognize and protect the existing pattern of residential development in the city’s residentially-zoned areas, in accordance with the city’s General Plan.” 

Schwartzburd, who owns a cellular phone, agrees that antennas should not be banned. But he argues that Solano Avenue, adjacent to a school and residences, is not an appropriate location. 

Besides, Schwartzburd is not nearly as worried about what the antennas look like, as what they might be doing to the community’s health. 

“There is research evidence, in a field in which there is still some controversy, indicating that under various conditions such radiation is a health risk for cancer and other harmful biological effects,” says a leaflet Schwartzburd and his neighbors have distributed in the area of the theater. 

The city, however, can play no role in regulating the safely aspects of the antennas. That is the purview of the Federal Communications Commission.  

“This is an area where the federal government has taken a hard line,” Kahn said. “There are a lot of limitations.” 

Cities cannot require more review than the Telecommunications Act of 1996 demands, she said. 

“We can require that an applicant demonstrate (the antennas are) in compliance,” she said. 

Nextel Corporation, the company locating the antennas on the theater, had a consultant send Schwartzburd a report indicating the compliance of the devices. 

“(The) exposure levels are in full compliance with current FCC public safety standards and are, in fact, substantially lower than the prevailing public health and safety standards would allow,” wrote Jerrold T. Bushberg of Health and Medical Physics Consulting. Bushberg is a clinical professor in the department of Radiology, school of Medicine at UC Davis and the director of the Health Physics Programs of UC Davis’ Department of Environmental Health and Safety. 

Schwartzburd says the national standards are probably OK. But, he said he wants to know who checks to make sure that the antennas, in fact, emit the degree of radiation that the telecommunications company says they do. 

And, he argues that nobody is looking into the cumulative effects of multiple antennas. “On Solano Avenue, three blocks west of the Alameda, there’s an office building with big ugly antennas.” Schwartzburd said. 

When asked about calculating the cumulative effects, Rhodes said it would be a difficult task to gather the information about where all the antennas in the city are located. That’s because antenna permits are filed with the building permit. There is no separate list kept of these antennas. 

“This is the first time anyone has raised the issue,” Rhodes said. 

At some point, he added, the city will put that information onto the city’s computerized mapping system. 

He added, however, that the cumulative effects are not relevant. Once a person is more than 10 feet from the antenna, the radiation level is not a danger. “It’s dispersed so broadly in the atmosphere,” Rhodes said, noting, however, that in Europe the standards for emitting radiation are more stringent. 

Meanwhile Schwartzburd and his neighbors are studying the question and banning together in anticipation of the hearing that will follow the appeal. 

“I don’t know if the amount of radiation is enough to bother us,” he conceded. But the time the community gains from delaying the approval and the understanding they could get in the meantime – including how to fight the antennas – could calm the anxieties. 

But for the moment Schwartzburd says, “As a psychologist, I can tell that (the proposed antennas) have created a lot of anxiety in people.”  

A neighborhood meeting to meet with representatives of Nextel is tentatively set for 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Call 524-0121 for information. have until Aug. 15 to file the appeal. That will set in motion a public hearing before the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Vivian Kahn, interim deputy director of planning, says a city has only minimal power to regulate the antennas. 

A city cannot prohibit them, but can regulate them for aesthetics, she said. The antennas atop the Oaks Theater, for example, will be hidden from public view. 

Cities can also dictate where the devices are cited. Berkeley’s 1996 “Wireless Telecommunications Antenna Guidelines” does just this. 

“Wireless communication antennas are discouraged from being located on buildings containing residential uses in residential zones and on residential uses in any zoning district, because of the visual impacts and because the use is inconsistent with the purposes of the residential zoning districts, which is to recognize and protect the existing pattern of residential development in the city’s residentially-zoned areas, in accordance with the city’s General Plan.” 

Schwartzburd, who owns a cellular phone, agrees that antennas should not be banned. But he argues that Solano Avenue, adjacent to a school and residences, is not an appropriate location. 

Besides, Schwartzburd is not nearly as worried about what the antennas look like, as what they might be doing to the community’s health. 

“There is research evidence, in a field in which there is still some controversy, indicating that under various conditions such radiation is a health risk for cancer and other harmful biological effects,” says a leaflet Schwartzburd and his neighbors have distributed in the area of the theater. 

The city, however, can play no role in regulating the safely aspects of the antennas. That is the purview of the Federal Communications Commission.  

“This is an area where the federal government has taken a hard line,” Kahn said. “There are a lot of limitations.” 

Cities cannot require more review than the Telecommunications Act of 1996 demands, she said. 

“We can require that an applicant demonstrate (the antennas are) in compliance,” she said. 

Nextel Corporation, the company locating the antennas on the theater, had a consultant send Schwartzburd a report indicating the compliance of the devices. 

“(The) exposure levels are in full compliance with current FCC public safety standards and are, in fact, substantially lower than the prevailing public health and safety standards would allow,” wrote Jerrold T. Bushberg of Health and Medical Physics Consulting. Bushberg is a clinical professor in the department of Radiology, school of Medicine at UC Davis and the director of the Health Physics Programs of UC Davis’ Department of Environmental Health and Safety. 

Schwartzburd says the national standards are probably OK. But, he said he wants to know who checks to make sure that the antennas, in fact, emit the degree of radiation that the telecommunications company says they do. 

And, he argues that nobody is looking into the cumulative effects of multiple antennas. “On Solano Avenue, three blocks west of the Alameda, there’s an office building with big ugly antennas.” Schwartzburd said. 

When asked about calculating the cumulative effects, Rhodes said it would be a difficult task to gather the information about where all the antennas in the city are located. That’s because antenna permits are filed with the building permit. There is no separate list kept of these antennas. 

“This is the first time anyone has raised the issue,” Rhodes said. 

At some point, he added, the city will put that information onto the city’s computerized mapping system. 

He added, however, that the cumulative effects are not relevant. Once a person is more than 10 feet from the antenna, the radiation level is not a danger. “It’s dispersed so broadly in the atmosphere,” Rhodes said, noting, however, that in Europe the standards for emitting radiation are more stringent. 

Meanwhile Schwartzburd and his neighbors are studying the question and banning together in anticipation of the hearing that will follow the appeal. 

“I don’t know if the amount of radiation is enough to bother us,” he conceded. But the time the community gains from delaying the approval and the understanding they could get in the meantime – including how to fight the antennas – could calm the anxieties. 

But for the moment Schwartzburd says, “As a psychologist, I can tell that (the proposed antennas) have created a lot of anxiety in people.”  

A neighborhood meeting to meet with representatives of Nextel is tentatively set for 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Call 524-0121 for information.

When the Democratic National Convention rolls into Los Angeles next week, over 10,000 police and security guards will be ready to control the crowds as thousands of delegates, politicians, observers and protesters flock to the area. 

Berkeley activists will be both inside and outside the convention, catching the action first hand. 

Larry Buchalter, activist on disability issues, and UC Berkeley student Noah Schubert are just two of those Berkeleyans who will be in the heat of the action inside the convention center. 

Buchalter is a member of the Credentials Committee, which verifies delegates. 

He had hoped to be selected as a delegate but others, received more votes and will be seated as delegates from the Bay Area. Some of them include David Stein from the Monclair Greater-Oakland Democratic Club and Assemblymember Dion Aroner. 

Still, Buchalter is planning on making an impact. 

“I am hoping to do work on getting progressive ideas heard and onto the platform,” he said. “I don’t know how successful I will be, but I’m going to work very hard to try.” 

Buchalter, who uses a wheelchair to get around, said he will be representing Democrats with Disabilities and discussing their needs, which includes improving wheelchair access, implementing American with Disabilities Act standards around the country and building affordable, accessible housing. 

He stressed that the disabled community should vote for Al Gore, because he “at least talks about disability issues.”  

Buchalter also said that the next president will likely have the opportunity to appoint several justices to the Supreme Court. He said that Gore’s choices would be more liberal than George W. Bush’s, which would likely benefit the disabled community. 

Schubert, heading into his senior year at UC Berkeley recently finished his term as president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats, a university-affiliated club. 

He will be meeting with a dozen or so club members and other Young Democrats of America from across the country. 

“I have been actively involved in party politics for a while,” he said. “I am looking forward to hearing the democratic speakers. I think it should energize democrats to go out and vote for the party in the November election.” 

Schubert will be volunteering at the convention and working with the several hundred Young Democrats, helping communication with the media. 

One factor the people attending the convention will have to deal with is heavy security and protests. 

Secret service agents will control the building and hotels where delegates are staying. 

Thousands are expected to take to the streets outside the Staples Center, the downtown site of the convention, and participate in protests. Police have already advised downtown businesses to expect the worst and consider closing down shop during the week. 

“As long as everybody is peaceful, they have a right to be there and protest,” Buchalter said. “I would like to see our party take some of (the protesters’) ideas into consideration. I don’t know if that will happen, though.” 

Schubert agreed that the protesters have a right to voice their opinions and said that the Democratic Party has traditionally supported free speech. 

“The protesters are welcome, as long as they are non-violent,” Schubert said. “I don’t think it will be too much of a problem, everyone should be getting along fine and the convention should go smoothly.” 

Since security will be so tight and the number of tickets to the event is limited, not everyone who wants to will be able to attend. 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said she would like to go as an “excited observer,” but has not gotten a ticket yet. 

“I’m a sucker for democracy,” she said. “I love political speeches and seeing how the whole thing works.”

Clerical workers at UC Berkeley say they will not give up until they get what the want. 

They spent their ninth consecutive Wednesday lunch break marching around California Hall, where the office of Chancellor Robert Berdahl is located. They hope to pressure the administration for a wage increase they say would bring them closer to market level salaries. 

While negotiations continue at the UC President’s office in Oakland, the clerical workers, currently working under an old contract, say they may go on strike later this month if new contracts aren’t approved soon. 

“We were kind of hoping that we could march once and get it over with,” said Kathleen Parsons, who works in the molecular and cell biology department. “We have realized that it was going to be a long struggle.” 

Some 75 people showed up at the noontime rally, wearing shirts saying “I work for free on Friday,” carrying signs and clanging noisemakers of all kinds to make as loud of a statement as possible. 

The group circled the building twice, walked to the nearby Faculty Club and returned in time to make it back to their various offices. 

Meanwhile, 15 of the demonstrators hopped a van to Oakland and met up with another 50 people outside UC president Richard Atkinson’s office, where they also demonstrated. 

“The demonstrations in Oakland went great,” said Nick Slater, in a phone interview later Wednesday afternoon. Slater is a UC clerical employee who organized the trip to Oakland. 

“We were asked to leave by security, but we refused because we were on a public sidewalk.” he said. 

The union is asking for a retroactive raise of six percent for last year and five percent for this year. They contend market-level salaries on average are 21 percent higher than what UC workers earn, and many complain that their pay is not high enough to meet the cost of living in the Bay Area. 

Clerical Union Employees President Eleanor Levine contends that the money is there. The university has $1.9 million in surplus from last year that could be used to give clerical workers their raises, she says, adding that money is being used for construction at various campuses. 

The university, which did not return calls, is now offering clericals a 4.5 percent increase effective Oct. 1 and an additional 1 percent effective April 1, 2001. It is offering no merit increases, however, and the union says it ought to. 

The demonstrators argue that while UC will not grant the 18,000 clerical workers represented by CUE the salary increases they are asking for, it gave its top-level administrators 24 percent increases over the last two years. 

“They take care of their own and we are like the worker bees,” said Jane Fehlberg, an administrative assistant who was on a six-week hunger strike earlier this summer but now fasts on Wednesdays. 

“I didn’t think they would let me go that long (on a hunger strike) but they did. They don’t care, that is clear.” 

The clerical employees are beginning to get some support from other university-related unions and other faculty. Lunchtime demonstrations began in June with only a dozen or so people, but have grown each week and included as many as 200 people. 

Fehlberg said the demonstrators may put on political theater in future weeks. 

“There’s something good about (demonstrating),” Parsons said. “We are getting people moving around and actually doing stuff. People who were afraid to speak out or didn’t know what to do, were just frustrated. They thought their only alternative was to quit. Now people are a little more bold.” biology department. “We have realized that it was going to be a long struggle.” 

Some 75 people showed up at the noontime rally, wearing shirts saying “I work for free on Friday,” carrying signs and clanging noisemakers of all kinds to make as loud of a statement as possible. 

The group circled the building twice, walked to the nearby Faculty Club and returned in time to make it back to their various offices. 

Meanwhile, 15 of the demonstrators hopped a van to Oakland and met up with another 50 people outside UC president Richard Atkinson’s office, where they also demonstrated. 

“The demonstrations in Oakland went great,” said Nick Slater, in a phone interview later Wednesday afternoon. Slater is a UC clerical employee who organized the trip to Oakland. 

“We were asked to leave by security, but we refused because we were on a public sidewalk.” he said. 

The union is asking for a retroactive raise of six percent for last year and five percent for this year. They contend market-level salaries on average are 21 percent higher than what UC workers earn, and many complain that their pay is not high enough to meet the cost of living in the Bay Area. 

Clerical Union Employees President Eleanor Levine contends that the money is there. The university has $1.9 million in surplus from last year that could be used to give clerical workers their raises, she says, adding that money is being used for construction at various campuses. 

The university, which did not return calls, is now offering clericals a 4.5 percent increase effective Oct. 1 and an additional 1 percent effective April 1, 2001. It is offering no merit increases, however, and the union says it ought to. 

The demonstrators argue that while UC will not grant the 18,000 clerical workers represented by CUE the salary increases they are asking for, it gave its top-level administrators 24 percent increases over the last two years. 

“They take care of their own and we are like the worker bees,” said Jane Fehlberg, an administrative assistant who was on a six-week hunger strike earlier this summer but now fasts on Wednesdays. 

“I didn’t think they would let me go that long (on a hunger strike) but they did. They don’t care, that is clear.” 

The clerical employees are beginning to get some support from other university-related unions and other faculty. Lunchtime demonstrations began in June with only a dozen or so people, but have grown each week and included as many as 200 people. 

Fehlberg said the demonstrators may put on political theater in future weeks. 

“There’s something good about (demonstrating),” Parsons said. “We are getting people moving around and actually doing stuff. People who were afraid to speak out or didn’t know what to do, were just frustrated. They thought their only alternative was to quit. Now people are a little more bold.”

Thursday, August 10

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force-LBNL 

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church, Large Assembly Room 

2345 Channing Way 

The agenda will include a public comment session, consultation of Draft Comment on the Sampling Plan and Review of Comments. 

486-4387 

Community Dance Party 

7:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Dance instruction included with admission. 

Cost: Teens, $2; adult non-members, $4 

841-1205 

“Climbing California’s Peaks”  

7 p.m. 

REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Join Harrison Hood of Hood Mountain Adventures will show slides of some of his favorite California climbs, including Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen. 

527-7377 

Ballroom Dance with Roman Ostrowski 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Zoning Adjustments Board 

7 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The agenda includes a public hearing to accept comments on the adequacy of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Congregation Beth El Synagogue and School proposed for 1301 Oxford St. It also includes a request by Smart and Final wholesale grocery store to sell distilled spirits for off-site consumption. 

Friday, August 11

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Opera: “A Tribute to Tchaikowsky” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Saturday, August 12 

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky  

Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100–$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike.  

527-7377 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Public Health Nursing, Ombudsman Inc., Adult Protective Services, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs. Entertainment provide by "SBSC Fantastic Steppers Tap Group." Free gift drawing for senior participants and lunch and socialization. 

644-6109 

Understanding Your Child’s  

Temperament 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

Rona Renner, RN, will explain the different temperament factors that parents and caregivers can look at to understand techniques that will work best in working with an individual child. Free. 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

“How to Deal with the Physical and Emotional Aspect of Pain” with Dr. Francine S. Frome, Ph.D., Psychologist, 

601-0550 

“101 Great Hikes of the San  

Francisco Bay Area” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Discover the natural beauty of the Bay Area from challenging hikes atop Mount Diablo to seashore strolls at Point Reyes. 

843-3533 

Wednesday, Aug. 16

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Thursday, August 17

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s cicl rights marches, women’s issues-all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15, 2000 

1-800-OAK MUSE 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

Call 548-4110 

Friday, August 18

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community, focusing on the issues facing the Dineh (Navajo).  

548-2220, ext. 233  

Saturday, August 19

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in My Bath!” Take a dip with Frog and Toad. 

Re-opening of the United Nations Association Info Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location behind Andronico’s University Ave. Market. 

841-1752 

Sunday, August 20

Cuba from the Inside 

Berkeley Fellowship Hall 

Cedar and Bonita 

7 p.m. 

Benefit screening of Fidel: A New Documentary by Estela Bravo. Special guests will include Karen Wald, a Havana-based writer, journalist, teacher and foreign correspondent. 

Among the topics she will discuss are human rights, religion, health care, education, economics, race relations and US-Cuba relations. 

Sliding scale $10-$25 per person 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11:00 a.m.-noon noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering brake adjustments. Bring your bike. Tools and guidance provided. 

527-7377

Need help on Claremont 

The Daily Planet received the following letter addressed to Councilmember Polly Armstrong: 

Dear Councilmember Armstrong (Polly): 

As one of our constituents who is more frequently a pedestrian than a driver – I try to walk as often as possible – Claremont Avenue is now more dangerous than before it received all the “attention.” 

Within the last ten or so days it has become even more dangerous to cross Claremont and Ashby on foot than before the left turn lane was established. Walking up Claremont and crossing Ashby to walk donw Russell to get to Chery, there is now almost no time to walk before the red hand goes up and the traffic light is red. 

I will really be in fear when the days once again grow shore and I am walking home from work up Ashby. I should not have to be forced to drive. 

I know you have been working very hard on this issue. Please let me know in writing what steps you are taking to remedy this. Perhaps Caltrans can extend the amount of “walk” time for safety reasons. 

Thank-you very much for your attention to this serious matter. 

Kathy Zatkin 

Correct courtyard dangers 

Editor: 

Thank you for your Aug. 4 story on Hayden Perry, a neighbor of mine. Hayden died as a result of a fall in the Redwood Gardens courtyard, as your article relates. I am not privy to the facts of his death beyond this, but I can speculate of the many trip hazards in the courtyard, one may well have caused Hayden’s fall. 

For example, not 20 paces from where he was found is an area of concrete paving marked off with black and yellow caution tape. It oulines the location of another resident’s fall. Several weeks have passed and this dangerous location has not been repaired yet. 

There are other areas of uneven interior and exterior surfaces, grade changes and threshold transitions throughout Redwood Gardens which resent similar hazards to residents. 

Colleen Campbell of the Alameda County Emergency Medical Services quotes National Center for Injury Prevention and Control research that falls are the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. Of 240,000 falls annually, 75 percent occur in the older adult population.  

Unsafe physical conditions, such as those existing at Redwood Gardens, may cause falls, with injury, medical expense, confinement, or death likely consequences. In the face of these grim data, the Redwood Gardens administration might respond scornfully, as the administrator did in a February letter to me, that “(W)e have had very few slip and trip accidents on the property.” 

“Very few” is too many. (The complete correspondence is posted on our Free Speech Board.) 

The building code doesn’t exist that would approve raw threshold transitions and unleveled walking surfaces or countenance their being swathed in caution tape. Perhaps one day, all these taped areas will be repaired. Until then, the black and yellow stripes serve only as legalistic traps. (”If you fall, it’s your fault because we’ve warned you”) or memorials to the fallen.  

Ms. Fore, the ball is in your courtyard. 

Requiescat in pace, Hayden. 

Kinsey Marshall 

The preliminary hearing in a felony drug possession case involving an Oakland medical marijuana club was once again postponed yesterday in Berkeley’s Superior Court when a key prosecution witness was not available to testify. 

The witness, a drug crimes expert with the state Department of Justice, was expected to testify that ten pounds of marijuana found in a van belonging to defendant Michael Fenili in March was intended for sale and distribution, not personal use. 

The defense claims the contraband was to be used by patients in a medical marijuana network run by Oakland-based First Hemp Bank. 

With the state’s chief witness unavailable, assistant District Attorney Colleen McMahon and defense lawyers for Fenili and co-defendant Celina Perez agreed in court yesterday to re-set the preliminary hearing in the case for Sept. 6 at 9 a.m. The preliminary hearing, in which the state must show it has sufficient evidence to proceed, had already been postponed twice. 

Meanwhile, First Hemp Bank co-founder David Clancy, who claims the seized marijuana belongs to him, filed a motion yesterday asking the court to return the contraband so it can be distributed to patients in the organization’s network.“It’s personal property,” Omar Figueroa, Clancy’s lawyer, told the Daily Planet. “It’s medicine and the patients will ingest it,” he said of the marijuana, which now sits in an evidence locker.  

In June, Berkeley Superior Court Judge Jennie Rhine denied a similar motion filed by Figueroa on behalf of First Hemp Bank, ruling that over 20 bags of pot confiscated in the March 26 arrest of Fenili and Perez must be preserved as evidence in the case.  

Jamie Elmer, Fenili’s lawyer, said he had hoped to use yesterday’s preliminary hearing to put on testimony from 22 “patient-caregivers” in the medical marijuana network. Elmer will try to convince Rhine that the criminal case should be dismissed because Fenili was serving as a “primary caregiver” under the Compassionate Use Act, which permits distribution of marijuana to patients who have received a doctor’s prescription. 

Elmer said yesterday that his client was not willing to discuss a plea bargain with the DA’s office. “The [medical marijuana] defense is pretty much all or nothing,” he said yesterday. “Our clients have felt fairly strongly that this was not a crime,” he said. “They are willing to go to the mat, so to speak.”  

District Attorney McMahon said Wednesday she could not comment on the case. But she indicated that calling an expert narcotics witness was routine at a preliminary hearing to establish possession with intent to distribute. “It’s something that an expert must testify about,” she said. “Every time we have a possession for sale case I have to qualify an expert to provide that testimony.” 

Defense lawyers said yesterday that a ruling last month by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco has brightened prospects for the medical marijuana movement. On July 14, Breyer reversed an earlier decision he had made against pot clubs by ruling that Oakland’s Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative could resume distributing marijuana to patients who would otherwise “suffer imminent harm.”  

“Judge Breyer’s ruling is narrower than Proposition 215 because it only applies to people that have no alternative,” Clancy attorney Omar Figueroa said yesterday. “But it does show that the federal government recognizes medical necessity,” he added.  

But Fenili attorney Elmer said a medical marijuana defense could nevertheless be difficult to establish. “The courts don’t look too kindly on the defense,” he conceded. “It’s a tough case given the laws and the ways the courts are dealing with it.”

Editor:  

This is in response to issues raised in Steve KoneffKlatt's letter to the editor on Saturday, August 5.  

Mr. KoneffKlatt said he called a few department heads, the city manager, a council person and myself to get information on why it took “a long time” for a fire truck to respond to a burning mattress near his residence on Parker Street. Mr. KoneffKlatt’s perception was that there was “no emergency plan to cover potential problems” during the reconstruction of College Avenue. 

As Public Works Project Manager for College Avenue street reconstruction, I am the person most intimate with how the plan was devised and how the plan is proceeding. Both myself and our department's public information officer attempted to telephone Mr. KoneffKlatt to respond to his concerns. Neither of us received a return call.  

The City is very concerned with addressing issues before they become a problem. In preparation for this project, Public Works met with several city departments, including the Police, Fire, Health & Human Services departments, and Solid Waste and Streets Divisions of my department.  

We discussed and created alternative plans to provide basic city services such as early morning refuse pick-up, street sweeping, traffic circulation, on-street parking, and access and egress of emergency vehicles. 

In checking with the captain at Fire Station No. 3, it was determined that the fire was reported being in the 2600 block of College Avenue instead of the actual Parker Street address (east of College Avenue). The captain reported that it took the fire truck no more than 60 seconds longer to get to the Parker Street address (about a city block away) due to this miscommunication. 

Fire House No. 3, located on Russell Street east of College has been informed daily of the work status on College Avenue so that alternate access routes are provided for emergency vehicles. Before College Avenue construction began, some of the concrete bollards at the intersections of Piedmont/Parker and Piedmont/Derby were either relocated or removed to allow fire trucks and other emergency service vehicles through existing traffic diverters going north.  

All the traffic diversion barriers sprinkled throughout the neighborhood certainly impact a quick and direct route to an emergency.  

Neighborhoods with as many diverters also pose an additional difficulty in planning emergency access routes. However, emergency access issues were addressed and planned for, even with the difficulties. Indeed, Public Works spent more time with the Fire Department in coordinating this effort than any other department we worked with. 

We knew from the beginning that this would be a highly visible project.  

And, of course, there are challenges in trying to control every variable that has the possibility of occurring. The city, however, has done its homework in coordinating and facilitating the project's operation, eliminating as much disruption as possible to the neighborhoods. But after all, this is construction, and by its very nature there are going to be impacts. 

Despite Mr. KoneffKlatt's perceptions, public safety vehicles were given top priority on College Avenue during this project as they are given top priority on the streets of Berkeley throughout the year.  

Glenn Carloss 

Project Engineer, College Avenue Project

Berkeley High School students may feel a little like “1984” protagonist Winston Smith this year if the School Board OKs security cameras for the school.  

Superintendent Jack McLaughlin laughed at the Orwellian comparison and said that cameras have been encouraged by the Police and Fire departments since the April 5 fire that caused $2 million in damage. 

“I would never use the word surveillance,” he said. 

The cameras will be on the board’s agenda Aug. 16. It is up to the board to make the ultimate decision on whether to have them installed. 

McLaughlin said that it will be the first time the board has discussed putting cameras in the high school and he hopes that it will be authorized at the meeting. 

McLaughlin said the Fire Department already has the locations for the cameras mapped out in the hallways and stairwells. He guessed the cost of implementing the security cameras to be “around $30,000,” although the number of cameras in question is yet to be determined. 

Sophomore Maggie Grove said the thought of being watched is “kind of unpleasant.” 

“I think it’s kind of an invasion of privacy. People walk around and socialize in the hallways,” she said. “I can see how it’s a good thing because of the millions of fires, though.” 

“(So far) none of the security measures have helped anything,” she said. 

McLaughlin said the cameras would no doubt be a deterrent to vandalism and other crimes. 

He added that the Fire Department has also made other suggestions, such as lettering buildings so they are easily identified. 

“They’re bringing us up to speed to protect the students,” he said. said the thought of being watched is “kind of unpleasant.” 

“I think it’s kind of an invasion of privacy. People walk around and socialize in the hallways,” she said. “I can see how it’s a good thing because of the millions of fires, though.” 

“(So far) none of the security measures have helped anything,” she said. 

McLaughlin said the cameras would no doubt be a deterrent to vandalism and other crimes. 

He added that the Fire Department has also made other suggestions, such as lettering buildings so they are easily identified. 

“They’re bringing us up to speed to protect the students,” he said.  

Nine months of protests ended in July with an agreement to unionize the workforce at the Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel, but a contract has yet to be signed. 

So organizers say they plan to keep protesting until they have a contract. 

Stephanie Ruby, the lead organizer for the Hotel Employee and Restaurant Employee Local 2850, said Boykin Hospitality, the Cleveland, Ohio-based owners of the Berkeley Radisson and 33 other hotels, hasn’t come to the bargaining table. 

Bob Boykin, president of Boykin Hospitality, said that it’s a scheduling problem and that talks will begin this month, though he’s not sure of the exact date. “We’ve just been scheduling around vacation conflicts with the lawyers and (union) members,” he said.  

“It came down to our representatives and the union’s finding a common time when they can agree to a date. That’s really the facts as we’re aware of them,” he said.  

Ruby said she hasn’t heard from them. 

She said that Boykin Hospitality has taken a sophomoric stance to wait until they received all notification and forms from the National Labor Relations Board before they would negotiate. 

“The decision was made a long time ago and everything has been sent out by the NLRB,” she said. “We don’t think it’s in good faith. They’re stalling.” 

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent Federal agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act, which governs employer and employee relations and spells out guidelines that employers must follow. In May, the board issued a 30-page complaint citing 130 violations by Radisson management ranging from bribery to threatening workers.  

The board began investigating charges of unfair labor practices at the Radisson and determined that the management was, in fact, at fault in many instances. 

A formal hearing date before an administrative judge had been set, but Boykin settled with the NLRB on July 14, two weeks before the hearing. As part of the agreement, Boykin agreed to recognize the union and work out contracts for the workers, Ruby said. 

The NLRB could petition to hold Boykin Hospitality in contempt of the settlement if they don’t come to the negotiating table.  

Boykin said he is adamant – his company does not want to fight the NLRB and will negotiate. 

“It’s fine if they want to unionize,” he said, explaining that he would have preferred holding off for a formal employee vote, rather than the “card check,” – a count of cards of workers supporting unionization. 

“But it just wasn’t worth the effort to fight it,” he said. 

Further, he argued that the complaints were linked to the move to unionize the hotel. 

“We have never had any significant claim of unfair labor practices during the 24 years we have owned (the Radisson). And during the one year that the employees want to unionize, we have over 100,” he said. “It seems to me that there would have been a lot more activity prior to (this year).” 

Ruby said that the company is still exploiting its employees and is retaliating against the union. She said that a Union Committee leader, a Radisson employee, has been repeatedly kept off of the work schedule. 

“It’s for no good reason,” she said. “This individual had filed a sexual harassment suit against the company. We think its retaliation.” 

Radisson General Manager Brij Misra was out of town and unavailable to respond to the charges. He told the Daily Planet, after the hotel agreed to recognize the union in June, that he was ready to work for the best interest of both the hotel and the associates. 

Ruby said that the long standing boycott of the hotel, recognized by Berkeley city government and other groups, will continue until the workers have a contract. 

Protesters are going to keep the Radisson’s “feet to the fire” by continuing to protest, she said. Last Friday, workers and supporters staged a “human billboard” protest along University Avenue that reminded passers by that the boycott was still in effect. 

They plan to hold another rally on Sunday. 

Daily Planet Staff 

The Berkeley Police have charged John Everett Lewis of Richmond with the murder of Doran Williams, 48, of Berkeley after Lewis allegedly punched Williams and caused him to hit his head on the pavement and slip into a coma from which he never recovered. 

Williams was taken off life support and died around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

Lt. Russell Lopes said that the alleged offense occurred Aug. 2 around 8:30 p.m. when Lewis accosted Williams and an argument ensued in the parking lot of the Stanford Liquor store at 3400 Adeline St. Lewis than retaliated by striking the victim in the face and knocking him down causing him to hit his head, Lopes said. 

Williams was rushed to Highland Hospital where he underwent surgery and was placed on life support. 

Lopes said the Berkeley Police picked Lewis up Friday on charges of felony assault and parole violation. The charges were updated to murder Tuesday.

A permit to alter the facade of the old Houston’s Shoe Store on the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue was issued a decade ago, but the remodeling was never done. 

Now, ten years since the permit was issued, Transaction Companies Ltd. – new owners of the Shattuck Hotel building in which the space is located – are remodeling it. But not without objections from the city’s vocal preservationist community. 

Members of the Landmarks Commission said they fear the renovation may compromise a piece of Berkeley’s architectural heritage. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

At its meeting Monday night, commissioners said they and staff will ask John DeClercq, senior vice president for Transaction Companies Ltd., to meet with them in hopes of saving some of the original facade design. 

Reached Tuesday afternoon, DeClercq said he had not yet received the invitation. 

City Planning Manager Mark Rhodes said that the company has no legal obligation to change the plans even though the building is a landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

“The Landmarks Commission approved the alteration in 1990, and it has had other building permits taken out on other aspects of it,” Rhodes said. “And what we did was issue a building permit that was consistent with the previous approval.” 

However, some commissioners argue that though the permit responsible for constructing the Shattuck Cinemas was a good idea 10 years ago, it may need some fine tuning this millennium. 

Preservationist Leslie Emmington-Jones said she didn’t think a 1990 decision was necessarily something that was valid in 2000. 

“The clunky features of Taco Bell - we know how to do better than that,” she said referring to the storefront adjacent to the one being remodeled. 

Preservationists say the 81-year-old Mission style landmark is an authentic example of turn of the century California architecture and has a lot to offer the Shattuck Avenue streetscape. 

“I’m afraid it’s lost its traditional features,” Emmington-Jones said. 

“It could have been very elegant in a restored streetscape on Shattuck.” 

Formerly Houston’s Shoes, the retail space will become home to another shoe store, the Shoe Pavilion, DeClercq said.  

Commissioner Carrie Olson remembered the arcade that was unique to Houston’s and Hink’s Department Store.  

“It had an area where you could walk through and look through the display windows,” she said.  

“You actually stepped off the sidewalk and walked past the displays before you went inside.” 

Anthony Bruce, the Executive Director of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association said that the 1920’s style arcade was lost when the interior was gutted.  

The Shoe Pavilion facade will look exactly like Starbucks, Taco Bell and Mel’s Diner, Olson said, with the windows up against the sidewalk. 

“There won’t be any clever display spaces. It’s a lost art. Now people just put up signs,” she said. “I’m sure it will look nice, benign. It will be a loss.” 

Olson said that they have sent a letter to City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque to see if the master plan had any consideration of the original design. 

DeClercq said that the Commissioners and others would be pleased to know that the facade will be a little more historical looking than the other businesses. 

“(Shoe Pavilion) is extending and matching the wood awning for a more historical and ‘village-like’ look,” he said. 

“And the clock in front of the building is being restored by Measure S funds and will remain a part of the historical facade.”  

Rhodes said that the Planning Department had “no legal basis for not issuing the permit.” 

“We had to issue the permit because it was exactly specific to the plan the Landmarks Commission approved,” he said.

Wednesday, August 9

Health and Your Environment 

5-7 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

“Health and Your Environment” is sponsored by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Children’s Hospital and Alta Bates Associates. 

Call 549-1564 

Community Action Team  

7 p.m. 

Progressive Missionary Baptist Church 

3301 King St. 

The agenda includes an update regarding the disparity study – a study that shows the great difference in health between the African American flatlands’ community and the Caucasian community in the hills. The team is developing an action plan to address the disparity. 

Berkeley Library Board of Trustees 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Library 

1125 University Ave. 

Among the items to be discussed are the branch ADA requirements and building projects and the bond issue for branch renovation. 

“The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-On Traveler” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Judith Gilfors, author of “The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-On Traveler,” presents a demonstration on how to pack for three weeks, two climates in one manageable carry-on bag. 

843-3533 

Chinese Calligraphy with Mrs. Jou 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Thursday, August 10

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force-LBNL 

5:30 p.m. pre-meeting rally by Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste 

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church, Large Assembly Room 

2345 Channing Way 

The agenda will include a public comment session, consultation of Draft Comment on the Sampling Plan and Review of Comments. 

486-4387 

Community Dance Party 

7:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Dance instruction included with admission. 

Cost: Teens, $2; adult non-members, $4 

841-1205 

“Climbing California’s Peaks”  

7 p.m. 

REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Join Harrison Hood of Hood Mountain Adventures will show slides of some of his favorite California climbs, including Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen. 

527-7377 

Ballroom Dance with Roman Ostrowski 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Zoning Adjustments Board 

7 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The agenda includes a public hearing to accept comments on the adequacy of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Congregation Beth El Synagogue and School proposed for 1301 Oxford St. It also includes a request by Smart and Final wholesale grocery store to sell distilled spirits for off-site consumption. 

Friday, August 11

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at (510) 223-6539. 

Opera: “A Tribute to Tchaikowsky” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Saturday, August 12

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky  

Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100–$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools and expert guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Public Health Nursing, Ombudsman Inc., Adult Protective Services, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs. Entertainment provide by "SBSC Fantastic Steppers Tap Group." Free gift drawing for senior participants and lunch and socialization. 

644-6109 

Understanding Your Child’s  

Temperament 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

Rona Renner, RN, will explain the different temperament factors that parents and caregivers can look at to understand techniques that will work best in working with an individual child. Free. 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

“How to Deal with the Physical and Emotional Aspect of Pain” with Dr. Francine S. Frome, Ph.D., Psychologist, 

601-0550 

“101 Great Hikes of the San  

Francisco Bay Area” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Discover the natural beauty of the Bay Area from challenging hikes atop Mount Diablo to seashore strolls at Point Reyes. 

843-3533 

Wednesday, Aug. 16

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto at 223-6539. 

Thursday, August 17

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s cicl rights marches, women’s issues-all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15, 2000 

1-800-OAK MUSE 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

Call 548-4110 

Friday, August 18

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community, focusing on the issues facing the Dineh (Navajo).  

548-2220, ext. 233  

MUSEUMS 

Habitot Children’s Museum 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

“Back to the Farm.”  

Ongoing 

An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more.  

Cost: $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under.  

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

647-1111 or www.habitot.org 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St.,  

549-6950 

Free. 

Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” 

Through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. 

“Spring and Summer.”  

Through Nov. 4: 

“Chagall: Master Prints and Posters, Selections from the Magnes Museum Collection,” Through Sept. 28. 

MUSIC 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Eric Bibb, Aug. 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Phil Marsh, Aug. 15. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Terre and Maggie Roche, Aug. 16. $15.50 to $16.50. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva,  

Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Naugahide with Billy Wilson, Aug. 15, 9 p.m. $8. 

Henry Turner Jr. and Flavor, Pope Flynn, Aug. 16, 9 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dead DJ Nite with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

August 11: Hellbillys, Riffs, Menstrual Tramps, Fleshies, Shut Up Donny.  

August 12: Excruciating Terror, Plutocracy, Chupalabre, Creation Is Crucifiction, State Of The Union. 

August 13: Converge, Hope Conspiracy, Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, Orgin. 

August 18: Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. 

August 19: Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

Aug.10 at 7 p.m.: Vocalists Anna Albanese, Debbie Moore and Cindy Jones 

Aug. 13 at 4:30 p.m.: Barbara Colson Trio and Nannick Bonnel Trio 

Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.: “Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai 

Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m.: Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle” 

Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.: Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing” 

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle” by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht's epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24-Sept.r 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

“Murder at the Vicarage” 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Av.  

Agatha Christie’s “Murder At The Vicarage,” presented by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, the city’s oldest theater company, will be on stage Friday and Saturday evening through August 12, plus a special Thursday evening performance on Aug. 10. Admission is $10, with discounts for groups. 

For reservations call 528-5620. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thrusday 1-7 p.m, Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appoinment.  

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m.

Tuesday was the first day of school for Francis Lynch. 

Dressed in a white sweatshirt, Lynch, whom everyone calls Frank, stepped onto the Berkeley High School campus at about 1 p.m. – and immediately assumed the role of principal, with a campus tour, folks stopping by to congratulate him and a flood of calls from the press. 

Born in New York and growing up in Seattle and Palo Alto, Lynch, 53, comes to Berkeley after being a superintendent in the West Sonoma County High School District and King City Union High School District. He was a high-school principal in Petaluma for nine years and taught high school for a number of years earlier in his career. 

Why would anyone take on the job of BHS principal, a school that has had five people in that post over the last decade? 

Lynch hadn’t known about the swift turnover until a reporter brought it to his attention, but it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. 

“I’d better get a multi-year contract,” he joked. 

He’d taken on the job because of Berkeley’s reputation – “It’s wonderful reputation; students with high test scores; a community that’s very involved,” he said. 

What about the kids that fail, the divide between those who succeed and those who don’t? 

The answer is “more time on task – Saturday, summers, after school,” he said. 

Lynch acknowledged that four years is a short time to work with students who come into high school ill-prepared, but he’s ready to work with them as well as the high achievers. 

Lynch didn’t flinch at the rather long list of problem areas he’d be facing. One is that BHS departments become a unit – a fiefdom, some say – unto themselves and don’t cooperate for the greater good of the school. 

“It’s a major concern,” he said. But one can understand how things get that way, with English teachers talking to other English teachers about what they’re doing and math teachers talking to other math teachers. 

“It’s not because they don’t want to collaborate,” he said. “The job of any principal is to bring them together.” 

That doesn’t mean holding endless meetings. “The question will be for me to give them something to collaborate on.” 

As for the fires on campus, Lynch said there’s no magic answer. “I don’t know how you prevent fires unless you have every square foot of campus covered by an adult,” he said. “Arson is arson. It happens in the community.” 

Lynch said he hasn’t worked in a district as diverse as Berkeley, but he was superintendent in King City, which he said was 88 percent Hispanic. 

The biggest challenge, Lynch said, will be “gaining credibility as a person. It will take a while. Staff will have to get to know me.” 

He believes he can gain staff confidence by providing the resources teachers need to do a good job. “It won’t happen overnight,” he said. 

He said he puts a value on diversity, particularly in an urban setting. Youngsters from a setting such as Berkeley have a better grasp of life, he said. 

Lynch’s enthusiasm for the job appeared boundless. “Being in education is wonderful,” he said. “I like kids.”time to work with students who come into high school ill-prepared, but he’s ready to work with them as well as the high achievers. 

Lynch didn’t flinch at the rather long list of problem areas he’d be facing. One is that BHS departments become a unit – a fiefdom, some say – unto themselves and don’t cooperate for the greater good of the school. 

“It’s a major concern,” he said. But one can understand how things get that way, with English teachers talking to other English teachers about what they’re doing and math teachers talking to other math teachers. 

“It’s not because they don’t want to collaborate,” he said. “The job of any principal is to bring them together.” 

That doesn’t mean holding endless meetings. “The question will be for me to give them something to collaborate on.” 

As for the fires on campus, Lynch said there’s no magic answer. “I don’t know how you prevent fires unless you have every square foot of campus covered by an adult,” he said. “Arson is arson. It happens in the community.” 

The biggest challenge, Lynch said, will be “gaining credibility as a person. It will take a while. Staff will have to get to know me.” 

He believes he can gain staff confidence by providing the resources teachers need to do a good job. “It won’t happen overnight,” he said. 

Lynch said he hasn’t worked in a district as diverse as Berkeley, but he was superintendent in King City, which he said was 88 percent Hispanic. 

He said he puts a value on diversity, particularly in an urban setting. Youngsters from a setting such as Berkeley have a better grasp of life, he said. 

Lynch’s enthusiasm for the job appears boundless. “Being in education is wonderful,” he said. “I like kids.” 

Monday morning, Lynn Kleinn and her neighbors put their bodies on the line for the protection of vegetation that serves as a natural barrier between her Alvarado Road neighborhood and the Claremont Hotel parking lot. 

Kleinn described it as “bodily standing amongst the trees,” forcing the workers to stop chopping down the myrtles and rose bushes in the thicket. The Claremont Hotel is “pushing their agenda on how they’re going to mow over the neighborhood,” she said. 

Ted Axe, vice president and general manager of the Claremont, however, says that his company is just following the directions of the Oakland fire inspector. The hotel sits mostly on the Oakland side of the Oakland-Berkeley border.  

Axe said that the area owned by the hotel was in violation of the law and was a potential fire hazard. 

Kleinn said that the neighborhood intervention was short-lived because the workers went back to their chopping just as soon as they left. 

Axe said that Oakland Fire Inspector Camille Rogers walked through the area with contractor Arthur Young and pointed out exactly what she wanted done.  

He said she called for removal of “select vegetation.” He said he thought the law called for the removal of any dead vegetation or plants 6-inches above the ground, known as a “fire ladder” because a fire could start in the small brush and work its way upward. 

Axe said that he hopes to compromise with Rogers on behalf of the neighbors, and said she is supposed to come to the site Tuesday morning to determine what stays and what goes. 

Kleinn fears that it will all go. 

“They’re not removing select vegetation, they’re removing vegetation wholesale,” she said. 

Monday afternoon, the crew had stopped work by 3 p.m., after trimming a small portion of the area 10-feet back from a chain-link fence that runs along Alvarado Terrace. 

“We’ve just removed grass and dry stuff in this area,” said Antonio Ramas, an employee of Arthur Young’s Debris Removal. “We’re waiting for the Fire Inspector to tell us what to do with the rest.” 

Ramas said the plan was to clear out the entire area 50-feet from the fence. 

Contracting with Young’s Disposal Service instead of an arborist is another indication that the Claremont Hotel doesn’t care about their concerns, Kleinn and her neighbors say. 

Another neighbor, Barbara DeZonia wrote to Axe, contending that the workers showed up and began “totally denuding (the area) with no consideration for the aesthetics, privacy, ambiance or ecological conservation of the neighborhood.” 

“No prior thought or planning was given to noise considerations from your lot, overview/ecological impact or the fact that the neighborhood as a whole considered this area a lovely natural landmark of the area,” the letter says. 

Kleinn said that the East Bay Conservation Corps had trimmed the area in the past, and said that EBCC Project Manager Betsy Reeves told her that she had been asked to place a bid on the contract by Rogers, but wasn’t chosen. 

Axe said Rogers also asked Young to bid. 

“They are simply carrying out the mandate,” he said. 

Axe said he wants to do what he can to compromise with the neighbors. Besides asking to meet with Rogers, he said he is willing to put up a screen or a meshing along the fence to block the view of the lot and plans to have meetings with the neighbors so he can address their concerns.

Tuesday, August 8

Introduction to Reiki with Teji 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

“A new model of learning” 

7:30 p.m. 

Cafe de la Paz Banquet Room 

1600 Shattuck Ave. 

A talk by Dean Whitney and Liz Freeman of the Brain Integration Group, discussing how the new “high touch” brain integration modalities work to stop learning disabilities in children and adults. Call: 415-381-2488. Free. 

Wednesday, August 9

Health and Your Environment 

5-7 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

“Health and Your Environment” is sponsored by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Children’s Hospital and Alta Bates Associates. 

Call 549-1564 by August 4 

Chinese Calligraphy with Mrs.  

Jou 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Community Action Team  

Meeting 

7 p.m. 

Progressive Missionary Baptist Church 

3301 King St. 

The agenda includes an update regarding the disparity study – a study that shows the great difference in health between the African American flatlands community and the Caucasian community in the hills. The team is developing an action plan to address the disparity. 

Berkeley Library Board of  

Trustees 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Library 

1125 University Ave. 

Among the items to be discussed are the branch ADA requirements and building projects and the bond issue for branch renovation. 

“The Packing Book: Secrets of  

the Carry-On Traveler” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Judith Gilfors, author of “The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-On Traveler,” presents her popular demonstration on how to pack for three weeks, two climates in one manageable carry-on bag. 

843-3533 

Thursday, August 10

Environmental Sampling  

Project Task Force-LBNL 

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church 

Channing Large Assembly Room 

2345 Channing Way 

The agenda will include a public comment session, consultation of Draft Comment on the Sampling Plan and Review of Comments. 

486-4387 

Community Dance Party 

7:45 p.m.-9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Dance instruction included with admission. 

Cost: Teens, $2; adult non-members, $4 

841-1205 

“Climbing California’s Peaks”  

7 p.m. 

REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave 

Join Harrison Hood of Hood Mountain Adventures will show slides of some of his favorite California climbs, including Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen. 

527-7377 

Ballroom Dance with Roman  

Ostrowski 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Friday, August 11

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. (510) 223-6539. 

Opera: “A Tribute to  

Tchaikovsky” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Saturday, August 12 

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky  

Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100-$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools and expert guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs.  

644-6109

An overflow audience squeezed into Intersection’s tiny theater space in San Francisco’s Mission district last week to see Campo Santo theater company present a superb world premiere production of Denis Johnson’s first play “Hellhound on My Trail.” 

Johnson is probably best known for his interlocking stories “Jesus’ Son” that were adapted into an art house film currently running in movie theaters, and featuring Billy Crudup, Dennis Hopper, Holly Hunter and Samantha Morton. 

The author of six novels and five books of poetry, Johnson has also worked as a journalist for the “New Yorker,” “Esquire,” and “Rolling Stone.” 

Showcased by Campo Santo in an excellent production, “Hellhound on My Trail” is a very fine piece of work by someone who may turn out to be a very important American playwright. That’s how good a play this is. 

“Hellhound on My Trail” is a slowly unfolding present-day mystery that takes most of the evening to figure out. It is divided into three acts that on first glance seem unconnected to each other. Each act contains a different pair of characters. 

In the first act, a young professional woman (Alexis Lezin) in a business suit plays cat-and-mouse with a Mrs. Danvers-like interrogator (Anne Darragh). At stake is some kind of scandal in a federal food inspection investigation, though it is not too clear. 

The two women go back and forth, turning the tables on each other. After a while, it starts to feel like some sort of kafkaesque lesbian stand-off. 

In the second act, a man (Michael Torres) and woman (Delia MacDougall) pick each other up in a hotel coffee shop. They, too, and turn out to be players in the intrigue of the first scene, but higher up on the food chain. The intrigue appears to reach the highest levels of government. 

In the third act, a rowdy bad boy (Sean San Jose) wakes up in a nondescript motel room with an empty bottle of tequila and a hangover. 

In the room he finds a gun, a bullet hole in his shirt, and nine ounces of cocaine. For a long time, he can’t remember anything he’s done on the bender of the last few days. A resident of Ukiah, California, he is surprised to find himself in Houston. 

Later, he discusses the Dead Sea scrolls with an intruder (Brian Keith Russell) who barges into the room, and who is either an FBI agent, or a cult religious fanatic. 

As “Hellhound on My Trail” evolves, there are layers within layers of the story that materialize. As we come to understand the relationships among all six characters, a larger moral story emerges. 

The currencies of sexual and political intrigue in “Hellhound” are intertwined, and the relationships between the two are presented by Johnson in fresh and exciting ways. 

In part, the play is about the on-going search for scapegoats, and the need to blame, in the social and political worlds. With that orientation towards conflict, it is impossible to tell who did what, and who is responsible for what. 

In addition to creating an overall story, Johnson also manages to steer each of the three acts individually through its own set of mysteries, to achieve its own epiphany. 

Val Hendrickson’s rich and fluid direction has given the actors in this production deep internal lives, with a lot of subtext and a lot of intriguing and mysterious reactions going on between the spoken lines. 

The acting is very good from all six performers. It’s rare to find a small theater production in the Bay Area so richly performed. 

Alexis Lezin gives a complex and riveting performance as the professional woman under interrogation in the first act. In the second act, Michael Torres is charming and personable, but dangerous, as federal investigator Jack Toast. 

Campo Santo’s design work is strong--lights (Jim Cave), costumes (Suzanne Castillo), sound (Drew Yerys) and original score (Marcus Shelby) all work together. 

James Faerron’s set is quite striking. Windows downstage left and right plunge upstage center with a highly exaggerated angle of perspective. In the first act, with the addition of well-used wooden furniture, it is an schoolish bureaucratic interrogation room. In the second act, a hotel coffee shop. In the third act, a no-frills Texas motel. 

This Campo Santo/Intersection production may be the birth of a new force in American theater. Go see the play. 

“Hellhound on My Trail,” runs Thursday through Sunday, and selected Wednesdays, through Aug. 20, at Intersection, 446 Valencia Street (at 15th Street), San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 626-3311. Thursday performances are “pay what you can.”  

Intersection is a small space, the show is not running for very long, and performances will probably sell out. If you plan to attend, make reservations.

Monday evening Superintendent Jack McLaughlin was directed by the school board to give a call to the successful candidate for the job of principal of Berkeley High School. 

The board interviewed three candidates in a closed session meeting that lasted almost six hours and unanimously selected one person, said board president Juaquin Rivera. 

The name of the candidate will be released once the person has negotiated a contract. That could be as soon as today. 

“We are all excited about the possibility,” Rivera said. 

Board member Terry Doran was also upbeat. “I thought that all three candidates were better than (principals) we had in the past,” he said. “All had unique skills to do the job. Each has different skills.” 

The candidates were not daunted by the troubles of the past year that included a grade-tampering scandal and fires. 

“They were all very upbeat and looking for a challenge.”

Five years ago, one wouldn’t have known a creek rushed beneath the Berkeley-Albany border. 

However creeks’ aficionados proved otherwise, as they dug into an asphalt lot, and exposed Codornices Creek, buried in a concrete tube for 50 years, two blocks north of Gilman Street, between Eighth and Ninth streets. 

Saturday, Ecocity Builders, the nonprofit which played a major role in “daylighting” the creek, held a picnic at the site where volunteers had opened up the creek. Organizers brought the group together to enjoy the free-flowing water, to thank those who helped restore it – and to ask for more. 

They want to open up other culverted creeks in Berkeley. 

“Maybe at the turn of the century, the developers said ‘there’s a creek,’ and they thought it was unsightly and something to pave over and build over,” said Kirstin Miller, Ecocity Builders treasurer. “Well that was then and this is now. We realize that it is more aesthetically pleasing and it’s more healthy and beautiful to have nature in the city, and we can.” 

The project began in 1995, when Berkeley’s Urban Creeks Council negotiated with the owner of the land and the cities of Albany and Berkeley to dig up the lot and open the creek. Over the next three years, about 375 volunteers helped, bulldozing the land and planting trees and flowers. 

Today the creek is hidden in thick greenery. All the plants were put in by volunteers. The tallest trees, which measure almost 30 feet, were small shrubs when they were planted. Fish, birds and other creatures have all started using the creek as their habitat. 

“The volunteers were always four or five to maybe 15 people on a Saturday,” said Ecocity Builders president Richard Register. “And we just kept slowly working with picks and shovels and wheelbarrows.” 

The Ecocity Builders’ mission is to develop Berkeley into a more ecologically sound city. They would like to restore more of the natural vegetation that existed in the city decades ago and contain most of the modern building within a few city centers. 

“Part of what Ecocity Builders is interested in is looking at land use patterns for our city,” Miller said. “How do we build on this land, and how do we build in a way that makes more ecological sense?” 

Codornices Creek is just one of 10 creeks in Berkeley.  

Register said he would like the city to consider opening all of Strawberry Creek, from the University of California campus to the Bay and place a walkway/bike path along it as part of a move to shift away from automobile transportation as much as possible. 

“We are looking at ways to shift development to areas where it is appropriate and then open up space in areas where it is appropriate to have open space,” Miller said. 

Register said that if the majority of the city’s buildings were located in downtown Berkeley and a couple other areas along transportation corridors, rather than being spread over the entire city, that would cut down on traffic and the number of cars needed and increase the amount of open space in other parts of the city. 

The group has drawn up an Ecocity Zoning Map of Berkeley, which shows where it believes the best places are for development and for open areas. 

“We are trying to think through ways that the city can be much more pedestrian, transit and bicycle oriented and much less dependent on cars,” Register said. “So you have higher density, much more mixed-use centers. The density is important, but the diversity is much more important, so you can have people in walking range of all sorts of things they need to do.” 

For now, Codornices Creek is a start, and based on the reaction of many people who attended Saturday’s picnic, it is a positive start. 

“There are a lot of places, it looks like, in this city where we can do things like this, so I say why not?” said Gil Friend, who lives not far from the opened creek and who attended the picnic. 

Ecocity Builders will have a fundraising and awareness-raising event with live music and a raffle Aug. 27 at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. Register can be reached at 649-1817.

Monday, August 7

School Board Meeting 

1:30 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

After a 10-minute public comment period, the school board will meet in closed session to discuss the top two candidates for principal of Berkeley High School 

Sewing with Grace Narimatsu 

9 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Landmarks Preservation  

Commission Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

Issues on the agenda include the Civic Center Historical District and the Congregation Beth El Environmental Impact Report. 

705-8111 

Tuesday, August 8

Introduction to Reiki with Teji 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, August 9

Health and Your Environment 

5-7 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

“Health and Your Environment” is sponsored by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Children’s Hospital and Alta Bates Associates. 

Call 549-1564 by August 4 

Community Action Team Meeting 

Aug. 9 

7 p.m. 

Progressive Missionary Baptist Church 

3301 King St. 

The agenda includes an update regarding the disparity study – a study that shows the great difference in health between the African American flatlands community and the Caucasian community in the hills. The team is developing an action plan to address the disparity. 

“The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-On Traveler” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Judith Gilfors, author of “The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-On Traveler,” presents her popular demonstration on how to pack for three weeks, two climates in one manageable carry-on bag. 

843-3533 

Chinese Calligraphy with Mrs. Jou 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Thursday, August 10

Environmental Sampling  

Project Task Force-LBNL 

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church 

Channing Large Assembly Room 

2345 Channing Way 

The agenda will include a public comment session, consultation of Draft Comment on the Sampling Plan and Review of Comments. 

486-4387 

Community Dance Party 

7:45 p.m.-9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Dance instruction included with admission. 

Cost: Teens, $2; adult non-members, $4 

841-1205 

“Climbing California’s Peaks”  

7 p.m. 

REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave 

Join Harrison Hood of Hood Mountain Adventures will show slides of some of his favorite California climbs. 

527-7377 

Ballroom Dance with Roman  

Ostrowski 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1701 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Friday, August 11

Opera: “A Tribute to Tchaikowsky” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

Saturday, August 12 

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Something From Nothing.” Soup from a stone? A tailor whose wardrobe grows as it shrinks? Meet some folks who don’t need a lot to have a lot, and see Frog and Toad and their ice cream mix-up. 

The Fellowship of Humanity 

11 a.m. 

411 28th St. at Broadway 

Oakland 

Staring with Mark Hertsgaard’s “Earth Odyssey,” Florence Windfall, Master of Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, contemplates the tragic end of nature. Can it really happen? 

451-5818 

9th Annual Rubber Ducky Derby 

6 p.m. 

Waterworld USA 

I-680 and Willow Pass Rd. 

The Rubber Ducky Derby raises funds for Children’s Hospital. Donations are $5 for each duck. Six ducks can be sponsored for $25. For a donation of $100-$499, a duck will be entered in the special Duckling rack. A donation of $500 ensures the donor “Quacker Backer” status. 

869-4912 

www.rubberduckyderby.com 

Sunday, August 13

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair Clinics 

11 a.m.-12 noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering drive train maintenance and chain repair. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools and expert guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Tuesday, August 15

Senior Resource Fair 

9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis Street 

Participants include the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Center for Independent Living, Alameda County Commission on Aging, Community Energy Services Inc., Center for Elders Independence, Crisis Support Services, Social Security Administration, Lifelong Medical Care, Family Care Giver Alliance, Public Health Nursing, Ombudsman Inc., Adult Protective Services, Elder Abuse Prevention, Berkeley Fire and Police Department of Community Services and Senior Programs. Entertainment provide by "SBSC Fantastic Steppers Tap Group." Free gift drawing for senior participants and lunch and socialization. 

644-6109 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

“How to Deal with the Physical and Emotional Aspect of Pain” with Dr. Francine S. Frome, Ph.D., Psychologist, 

601-0550 

“101 Great Hikes of the San  

Francisco Bay Area” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Discover the natural beauty of the Bay Area from challenging hikes atop Mount Diablo to seashore strolls at Point Reyes. 

843-3533 

Thursday, August 17

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s cicl rights marches, women’s issues-all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15, 2000 

1-800-OAK MUSE

BANANAs best for NIMBYs  

Editor: 

Berkeley desperately needs more rentals. City policy regarding new construction has, however, been swayed by vocal NIMBY groups. These Not-In-My-Back-Yard factions materialize on an ad hoc basis all over town every time anyone comes forth and presents a plan to construct multifamily housing anywhere in town. 

There are always some existing residents who will be affected by the project and mount a protest. 

So decisive is the influence of these various groups on council members and their commission appointees, that a general policy declaration would be in order. I would like to suggest “The City of Berkeley has gone BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything).”  

Peggy Schioler 

Berkeley 

Rent board cause of renter grief 

Editor: 

Too bad William Inman’s recent portrayal of Randy Silverman (”Homeless reporter painfully lands Berkeley apartment,” Aug. 5) omitted the real reasons behind Inman’s struggle to find housing. Inman need look no further than Silverman and his colleagues on the rent board for the chaos that potential renters find these days. 

For years, Silverman has fostered a climate of hostility toward rental housing providers and has supported draconian regulations that have hurt students, removed thousands of units from Berkeley, and virtually guarantee no turnover whatsoever in more than half of Berkeley’s apartments. 

The leading cause of Berkeley’s housing shortage is not directly related to the overall causes plaguing other east bay communities. Instead, the leading cause is people like Silverman, who continue to promulgate irrational, destructive policies and ordinances that are purely anti-housing. Silverman has never done anything to improve the situation facing people like Mr. Inman. He is most proficient, however, at exacerbating the chaos. 

Mr. Silverman’s latest hate crime against rental housing providers will only bring further destruction to rental housing and nothing but aggravation to those searching for housing in Berkeley. Silverman’s eviction control measure was approved by the City Council recently in the wee hours of the morning with no public input after Councilmember Linda Maio, herself a landlord, conveniently exempted her rental dwelling from the ordinance. 

Inman and others like him, in search of that elusive apartment in a nice Berkeley neighborhood, can look forward to many more years of frustration as long as people like Silverman and Maio are in control. 

Leon Mayeri 

Berkeley 

Rent control cause of renter grief 

Editor: 

I was touched by William Inman’s story about trying to find an affordable place to live. I too tried setting out to find a new place to live, only to be sent home packing by the extremely high costs. I was dumbfounded when I heard the price of a small studio apartment in Beverly Hills. I, like your author, thought it would be nice to live there.  

The weather was good. There were job opportunities, (though unlike William, I was unemployed). Yet there was little opportunity for me as I tried to find an affordable place. 

Looking back I realize that lots of other people had the same idea about my proposed new home, and that the high demand had increased the price of the limited supply. It’s too bad everyone can’t live in Beverly Hills, I thought. 

Well, everyone can’t live in Berkeley either, even if it is a city that prides itself on inclusion. Over the years, controls on rents have caused landlords to sell their properties in search of better investments. 

Most of the time, these rentals were sold to people who really wanted to live in the homes. This decreased the stock of rental housing, even as demand seemed to increase. (Just watch that supply and demand thing in action.) The less housing there is available, the higher the price for it.  

Unwittingly, the proponents of rent controls exacerbated the problem.  

There is a housing shortage in Berkeley. But no set of ill thought out laws will correct the problem in the long run. If you provide a friendly business environment for landlords, you will get more of them.  

Though you may think landlords are bad, the more of them that there are, the more rental housing we will have, and rents will stabilize without the “assistance” of any board. 

Tom Nemeth, a landlord (though never in Berkeley) 

Oakland 

Walkers for “cure” need facts, not lip service  

Editor: 

After losing my wife to breast cancer, it is with much interest I read the letter touting the Avon-sponsored breast cancer walk written by Barbara Scheifler, Mary Zoeller and Ellie Goldstein-Erikson (Letters, Aug. 5). 

Although their intentions are highly admirable, the results of their actions will amount to nothing more than feeding the corporate machine that has been a major obstacle in understanding health and disease today.  

The corporate message is clear: continue toxic drug therapy, mutilating surgery, radiation and more; continue pushing mammograms as the only sensible choice; never investigate causes. 

Do these walkers know that many of the same companies which profit from chemotherapy drugs (including the Bay Area’s own Zeneca), also profit from the sale of pesticides with known links to breast cancer?  

They have, in effect, made millions on both ends while women continue to drop like flies of the disease. 

Some of these same companies also sponsor walks and races for “the cure” to whitewash their deeds. Today, anything remotely connected with cancer cures or cancer treatment translates into big money. 

It is important to note that in the case of Avon, it is mandatory that walkers have health insurance and agree to raise $1,800 prior to the event. If you can’t raise it, you must donate it.  

Even more noteworthy is the fact that 65 cents to the dollar raised from the Avon Walk, never gets close to any breast cancer organization. The remaining small change (35 cents on the dollar) feeds “the war on cancer;” a misguided, endless war that has been lost long ago, yet the money continues to flow for a “cure.” 

Perhaps these Avon-walk participants should ask Avon where the $7 million went. 

In short, these walkers are being used; tricked into thinking they are doing something to help find “a cure” for breast cancer, when, in reality, they are unwittingly taking part in one of the cruelest marketing ploys since Joe Camel.  

Michael Bauce 

Berkeley

With one week to go for candidates for school board, rent board and City Council to file their formal intentions to seek office, only one candidate had completed the process by Friday afternoon.  

That was Carol Hughes-Willoughby, a pastor and after-school care worker who has filed papers to run for City Council in southwest Berkeley’s District 2.  

The incumbent in the district, Councilmember Margaret Breland, has taken out papers to run, but has not yet returned them. Others running in District 2 include neighborhood activist Betty Hicks, Jon Crowder, a former candidate for mayor and Gina Sasso, who has run for the District 2 office previously. 

Incumbent Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek could face two opponents in the District 3 race: Marcella Crump-Williams and James Peterson, who is Shirek’s appointee on the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Peterson, said, however, that, although he’s taken out the papers, he’s not sure if he’ll complete the process and run. “It’s not a fete accompli,” he said. 

In District 5, Councilmember Diane Woolley has pulled out of the race. Last week preservationist Carrie Olson took out papers to run against AC Transit Director Miriam Hawley. Since Woolley is not running, candidates have until Aug. 16 at 5 p.m., instead of Aug. 11 to take out and return election papers. 

In District 6, Incumbent Betty Olds has taken out papers and so has city planning activist Norine Smith.  

One new candidate, Walter Maurice Mitchell, took out papers to run for the two open school-board seats last week, but other obligations from his church took precedent, so he will not run, he said. So, thus far, it looks as if the race will be run by incumbent Joaquin Rivera, John Selawsky, Irma Parker, Sherri Morton and Donald Read. Papers in this race can be taken out and returned by Aug. 16, since incumbent Pamela Doolan is not running again. 

The four members of a “progressive” rent board slate are thus far unchallenged. They include: incumbent Max Anderson, Matthew Siegel, Judy Ann Alberti, Donald Read and Paul Hogarth.

Turning loose 3,500 hungry teenagers into the city’s small downtown area at lunchtime has created friction between the students and businesses. 

So the city, working with the Berkeley Unified School District and the Downtown Berkeley Association have made plans to sell food at Berkeley High School in the fall. 

The city has asked only Berkeley merchants to participate in the vending, because “they are the businesses that are affected by the students in the first place,” Mayor Shirley Dean said. 

Some eight businesses expressed interest in setting up a quasi-food court in the courtyard between the school and the Community Theater, Dean said. “We’ve been all working together for several weeks to get this worked out.” 

Said Gharbiyeh of E-Z Stop Deli at 2233 Shattuck Avenue, is one of the businesses asked to participate. It’s “good for the High School and good for the city,” he said. “We’d like to be part of it.” 

Dean said that businesses have complained to the city and the School District about students they contend are wreaking havoc downtown during their lunch break. 

Theresa Rye, a shift manager at Mel’s Diner at 2240 Shattuck Avenue said she’s been thinking about looking for another job before school starts. 

“I’ve been working here for four years and I’m fed up,” she said. “They come in here and hang out, yell across the restaurant, bang on the windows and don’t pay for their food some times. I won’t miss their business.” 

Allen Martinez, owner of Baskerville Hot Dogs on Milvia Street has another view, however. The students aren’t near as troublesome as they were 10 years ago. 

“These kids are good kids,” he said. 

Martinez suggested having two staggered lunches instead of one. 

“There are just too many kids coming out at once. Anywhere you go there are long lines,” he said. 

He said that he enjoys serving the students and he didn’t expect he would lose much business because of the on-campus vendors.  

Construction of a new cafeteria is scheduled to start this fall, Dean said. The old cafeteria was torn down in the early 90’s because it was seismically unsafe. 

She said students would be able to purchase food and eat it on campus or across the street in Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Students would still be allowed to leave campus. 

Dean said she is also helping to coordinate communication between the merchants and school district, so that merchants know when there is an assembly and other events during which students leave campus. 

“It gives (merchants) some way to do some planning,” she said.