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Hope for homecoming 

Editor: 

There has been no new news today. 

My son (Jeffrey Schilling, kidnapped in the Philippenes) has not been seen. There is no evidence that he has been harmed. 

I believe with all my heart that he is still alive. 

Carol Schilling 

Oakland 

Nader ignores minorities 

Editor: 

Many earnest activists for Ralph Nader may feel hurt and confused over the lack of support for his candidacy from minorities and women’s groups. 

One source of rejection is LA OPINION of Los Angeles, the nation’s top Spanish language daily. 

The paper generally supports the left at home and abroad. Regular columnist and self-proclaimed marcher in the streets for decades, Rudolfo F. Acuna, declares that neglect of Latinos by the Greens forces him to stand aside from Nader in the election. Being a subscriber to LA OPINION I come to the conclusion that Anuca’s charge of lack of attention is only half the reason LA OPINION turns away from Nader. Nader’s neglect, by the way, can be seen on his official web site, where he has 49 lines on Foreign Policy and 5 lines on immigration and no section specifically for Latinos, or for that matter, for African Americans or Asian Americans either. 

For Acuna and other activists associated with LA OPINION, Nader is all the more easily rejected because the democrats, for this election at least, appear to offer a genuine alternative. LA OPINION overflows with upbeat stories about the politicization of Latinos throughout California, and how their votes for democrats can swing elections to throw out a number of Republican congressmen who supported racist legislation against immigrants in recent years. The paper’s feature stories tell of newly-registered voters who have not forgotten 187. 

And LA OPINION has run a number of articles on meetings called to build coalitions between Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans.  

Their focus, for better or for worse, is work within the Democratic party. 

Latino activism is energized by life or death situations, as in the white ranchers who hunt humans on the Arizona border. LA OPINION expresses much worry over the immigrant situation.  

Although Gore has kept his mouth shut on “diversity” and such, LA OPINION writers seem to feel that he can be worked with on critical issues for which Bush will stand aside. 

From my reading of LA OPINION I conclude that quite aside from votes for Nader possibly putting Bush in office, those votes make worse the divide between laboring minorities and white coffee-house intellectuals who wish they had contact with minorities beyond that with their waiter, gardener or nanny.  

Yes, DEM stands for Don’t Expect Much, but we should not elect the GOP. a.k.a. Greed Oppression and Poverty. 

Ted Vincent 

Berkeley 

No connection at all 

Editor:  

While we wish all the candidates for District 5 the bet of luck, we wish to clarify that Mark Fowler had no connection whatsoever with Free Radio Berkeley.  

Carol Denney 

Berkeley 

Piedmont developer doesn’t live with results 

Editor: 

RE: Developer Patrick Kennedy’s letter to the Editor of Sept. 15. 

I believe Candidate Carrie Olson and most residents of Berkeley know a simple truth that seems to elude Mr. Kennedy: in general, the higher and larger is a development, the less desirable are its impacts and the resulting ambience.  

Mr. Kennedy points out that by... “adding multi-family apartments in single family neighborhoods, Ms. Olson’s solution would exacerbate neighborhood parking problems.” Is Mr. Kennedy now acknowledging that his proposed oversized four story structure for 2700 San Pablo Ave. will exacerbate traffic and neighborhood parking problems?  

Until now, Mr. Kennedy has had difficulty recognizing that Berkeley’s major transit corridors go through and are part of neighborhoods which are predominantly composed of one and two story residences. Any assertion by developer Kennedy regarding the need for increased density and taller buildings in Berkeley ought to be tempered by the awareness that as a privileged resident of Piedmont he’ll never have to live with the results of his oversized profit-making endeavors.  

His altruistic pretension of serving the needs of Berkeley will be credible when he begins building toward fulfilling, Piedmont’s fair share of affordable housing in his own neighborhood. 

Peter Teicher 

Berkeley 

Editor, 

The Olympic Oath was modified for the opening ceremony to include a new 

phrase forswearing the use of drugs. Fair enough. But the IOC seems to 

have neglected an equally important phrase: not to accept bribes from 

cities that want to host the Olympic games. Did the IOC somehow forget to 

include that phrase in their oath? 

Bruce Joffe 

1615 Broadway, Suite 415 

Oakland, CA 94612 

510-238-9771 

Dear Berkeley Daily Planet, 

I've moved to Berkeley in 1979 for college. Over the years, I've moved 

out of town a few times, but always came back to the Bay Area. I have 

seen Berkeley change so much over the years and the thing that I really 

noticed was the dying of the sense of community that made Berkeley so 

popular and famous in the past. 

When I found the Berkeley Daily Planet, I was pleasantly surprised to 

see that it specifically covered news in the Berkeley area and the 

coverage helps re-establish that sense of community. The news articles 

are excellent and the quality of writing keeps improving with every 

issue. 

I especially love the "Out & About" section. I hope that section 

expands and covers some of the UC and local high school activities as 

well.  

Keep up the good work! 

--  

Bruce Satow 

The Daily Planet Received this letter directed to District 5 council candidate Carrie Olson: 

Dear Carrie Olson, 

I am not a rabbit. Small apartments are not rabbit warrens as you have said outright or intimated many, many times. All you 

against “high-rise” transit centers, all you privileged characters who 

bought houses in Berkeley when they were cheap, all you who made your big money fair and square or inherited your money or place in your house from your parents in this insanely expensive real estate market or have connections in town who have found rare inexpensive deals.... You've got yours and your interests appear at first glance to be antithetical to the following: everyone desperate for housing or housing security including students, elderly, disabled, low to moderate income people, and transit users, environmentalists, bicyclists, community gardeners, creek lovers and just about everyone else. In fact, higher density housing near transit serves us all. It would seem ironic, but it is actually normal three-dimensional geometry that higher density centers, at second glance, make neighborhoods quieter and more pleasant too. 

When Carrie Olson calls the Gaia Building a “rabbit warren for students” when hundreds of students are desperate for housing, it's her privilege denying housing to hundreds of students, and deprecating students at the same time. Not very democratic for a candidate for what should be a democratic City Council. Most people who live in low density Berkeley neighborhoods live so far away from downtown they can't even see it from their property, yet many noisy among them work to prevent a kind of building that could provide realistic housing for others. Let's be clear about this being strictly a (not necessarily rich) elite, a privileged class against those needing shelter and the full range of benefits of life in Berkeley. Berkeley's pretty good about providing cultural services and some low income benefits to its own, but the low-rise, don't-build-adequate-housing faction is definitely against all those people and interests listed above and that faction is very restrictive as to who “its own” are going 

to be. 

> Three times I have seen Councilmember Kriss Worthington say publicly (because he thinks it is politically popular) “taller buildings don't mean more housing.” Well of course not if they are office buildings, but that's not what people are supposed to understand, or of course not if they are $3,000 a month apartments and you are talking to lower income people. 

A building the size of the Gaia building with its 91 “rabbit warren” units compared to small one story houses is equal to the restoration of 30 blocks of creek restoration (60 units), 15 community gardens expanded by one whole property (15 units) and 16 properties worth of expanded parks for picnics, Frisbee, 

volleyball, views (16 units).... or in whatever other permutation. This 

means those with very suburban low density tastes could actually get 

quieter neighborhoods with less cars and more parks and nature. Or, a building the size of the Gaia Building simply makes it possible for 

about 150 people who previously were excluded from Berkeley to enrich our downtown, support BART and AC Transit and lend us their talents and citizenship and solve their own problem of housing. 

To make it personal, if not for “substandard” “undersized” units in 

town I would have had to leave years ago.  

Reminder: though I've lived in many small places here I am not a rabbit. And remember, all those other people who need housing ? they are not rabbits either. 

Richard Register 

Berkeley