STANFORD – Although the gap is closing, top-ranked Stanford still has it all over archrival California. 

Casey Jacobsen hit three 3-pointers and scored 19 points, and Jarron Collins had 18 points and six rebounds as Stanford beat Cal 84-58 Wednesday night to remain unbeaten. 

The Cardinal (16-0, 5-0 Pac-10) weren’t really threatened while beating the Golden Bears for a school-record eighth straight time, but the rivalry isn’t nearly as one-sided as it was in recent years. 

Cal (11-5, 3-2), which lost for just the second time in 12 games, stayed with the Cardinal until the second half, when Jacobsen’s outside bombs and the inside play of twins Jarron and Jason Collins became too much. 

Jason Collins had 15 points for the Cardinal, who put the game away with a 16-2 run that gave them a 26-point lead midway through the second half. Still, Solomon Hughes led a late 14-6 Cal run that forced Stanford coach Mike Montgomery to re-insert his starters in the final minutes. 

Brian Wethers had 18 points and Sean Lampley added 14 for the Bears, who looked nothing like the team that lost 101-50 to the Cardinal last season at Maples Pavilion – Stanford’s biggest win in the rivalry’s history. 

Stanford moved within two victories of matching the best start in school history and won its third straight since taking over the nation’s top ranking. The Cardinal and No. 9 Georgetown (16-0) are the only remaining undefeated Division I teams. 

Stanford’s normally staid home court had plenty of energy for the 233rd meeting between the Bay area rivals. Cal’s band was crammed into the back rows of one corner of the small gym, and Stanford students paraded the Axe – won by the Cardinal in the schools’ annual football matchup – during the first half. 

The teams were caught up in the intensity as well. The officials called needless technical fouls on Jarron Collins and Cal’s Dennis Gates after the two collided and exchanged harsh words in the first half, and Ryan Mendez exchanged shoves with Joe Shipp moments later. 

The always-entertaining Stanford student body was in top form, ragging Cal with chants of “NIT!” and “Cal needs Marsha!” moments after a woman named Marsha made three straight 3-pointers to win $1,000 in a school promotion. 

Both teams play host to non-conference opponents on Saturday. New Mexico visits Stanford, while South Florida goes to Berkeley.

Bill Clinton came from the trailer-park American South, from people that genteel southerners like to call "trash." But however often late-night comics scorned him as "Bubba," William Jefferson Clinton transformed himself into the president of America's middle class – that was his triumph and his limitation. 

Other recent American presidents have come from backgrounds as humble as Clinton’s. Think of Lyndon Johnson or Jimmy Carter.  

But Clinton's home life was never less than what pop psychologists call “dysfunctional.”  

Zama had several husbands who became stepfathers with fists and red eyes. 

Who can blame the boy for running so far from such a past? Who can guess what the child knew, very early, about losers in America and about standing on the outside, nose pressed against the glass?  

The boy we see, young Billy Clinton of the photographs, already was fixed on his hero, the golden John Kennedy. 

The price that the man, President Clinton, would pay for running so far and so fast is that he would never achieve a great presidency.  

To become a great president, one must touch the lives of all people, most especially the very poor and hopeless. 

Clinton lacked the secular populism of Lyndon Johnson. He also lacked areligious language about poverty.  

It's hard to imagine him, in retirement, working alongside Jimmy Carter, building houses for the destitute in Tijuana. 

Eight years ago, the novelist Toni Morrison called Clinton America’s first African-American president.  

Her’s was an interesting conceit. But Clinton, more truly, was our first “middle-class African-American president.” 

I do not mean to diminish Clinton by saying this. Truly, Clinton crossed some new racial border.  

But one sensed that his ability to trespass the racial border in America allowed Clinton to ignore the border of class in America. 

In fact, at the start of Clinton's presidency, there were nearly a million persons in American prisons.  

As his presidency ends, that number has grown to more than two million.  

Is it necessary to add: Most of those in America's jails are black and lower class? 

We of the middle class don't go to jail in America. We get several months of “community service” or we get methadone treatment centers. Or we get good lawyers. 

For all of his intimacy with black America and maybe because of that intimacy, Bill Clinton never challenged the black bourgeoisie's support of programs like affirmative action.  

In my opinion, what is flawed about affirmative action is that it benefits the non-white middle class, lets 

the middle class benefit from being “minorities,” because of a numerical tie to the excluded lower class. 

On the other hand, perhaps the best thing Clinton ever gave the poor in America was a lack of sentimentality.  

Just as it took the anti-communist Nixon to make a diplomatic breakthrough to China, it took a president with a distinctly unsentimental regard of the working class to reform welfare so radically. 

One sensed the cruel depth of Clinton's lack of sentimentality also in his sexual treatment of white southern women with big hair.  

He used them, and then he debased them, and then, when he couldn't get rid of them, he paid them off.  

He allowed his henchman, James Carville, to wonder aloud about all the things a hundred dollar bill might pick up in a trailer camp. 

Clinton’s sexual appetite turned middle-class in the course of his presidency. 

He ended up playing Big Daddy in the Oval Office to an over-ripe daughter of Beverly Hills. Then he lied to America; then he apologized to America. Then he bombed a foreign country to help us forget. 

And just as Clinton’s black civil rights supporters downplayed the growing numbers of incarcerated Americans during his tenure, middle-class feminist groups wanted to turn to other matters than presidential misbehavior.  

Feminist groups were more interested in abortion and glass ceilings. 

His best friends were movie stars -- gaudy, vulgar and noisy. And the Lincoln bedroom seemed always occupied by some nouveau riche, someone like himself, who had re-invented himself.  

The Republican party, especially its fierce Protestant right flank, never understood the affection Americans of the middle class had for him.  

Clinton was a scoundrel, yes, everyone agreed. But just as we do not expect to be judged harshly for our misbehaviors, we would not judge Clinton harshly. 

Maybe he should “seek treatment” for his sexual misbehavior? 

In the end, he became a globalist who rarely evoked a sense of home.  

Who knows where he will live after the White House? What matters to most middle-class Americans is that he made money for us.  

He flattered our needs and so we flattered him. We called him a genius. 

So self-preoccupied are we as middle-class Americans we assume that what benefits us must benefit the nation. And besides, any discussion of class bothers us.  

We prefer to talk about identity politics – about race and sexual identity.  

It is hard for us in the middle class in America to care that the population group with the lowest level of participation in the recent presidential election was the poor. 

We of the middle class think little about them, as little as Bill Clinton talked about them. Truly, he was our president, the president of the American middle class.  

And we are going to miss him!

Thursday, Jan. 18

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicty,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” Work less, consume less, rush less, and build community with fri ends and family.  

Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Ayodele Nzinga and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Combating Congestion  

1 - 5 p.m. 

Pauley Ballroom 

Student Union Building  

UC Berkeley 

A one-day transportation conference featuring transportation finance the relationship of growth and congestion. Call 642-1474  

Become Berkeley City Smart 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore  

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose)  

In a slide presentation & talk, Berkeley resident, restaurant and movie critic John Weil takes attendees on a unique tour through the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Berkeley and Oakland. Free 

Call 843-3533  

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 25 Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Veterans Memorial Building  

1931 Center St.  

Any woman who has had a relative serve in the U.S. military is invited to attend and join the auxiliary.  

Call 916-372-8364 

Journey Across China 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Eugene Tsiang, Shanghai native, will give a slide presentation on his two-month journey last spring by train and four-wheel drive vehicle across China’s Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang Provinces. 527-4140 

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us  

“Origin and History of the Pathways” 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Recreation Center 

1200 Shattuck Ave.  

Paul Grunland, board member of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, will speak on the history of Berkeley’s pathways. Free 

Call 527-2693 

Telegraph Area Association 

Economic Development Committee 

3:30 p.m. 

Sather Gate Garage Conference Room  

2431 Channing Way  

To be discussed will be a holiday marketing update, Telegraph power outages, and the Sather Gate parking garage. 649-9500 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Friday, Jan. 19

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. 549-2970  

“Evidence-Based Practice - How it May Effect You” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon 

12:30 p.m. speaker  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Eileen Gambrill, professor in the department of social welfare at UC Berkeley with speak. 

$11 - $12.25 with luncheon, $1 with coffee, students free  

848-3533 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Pardon Leonard Peltier  

Prayer Circle 

Noon - 1:30 p.m. 

Oakland Federal Building  

Clay (between 12th & 14th) 

Oakland 

The Pelltier Action Committee are asking President Clinton to pardon political prisoner Leonard Pelltier.  

Call 464-4534 or e-mail: thepac2000@hotmail.com 

Saturday, Jan. 20

On Death & Dying 

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Buddhist Temple  

2121 Channing Way (between Shattuck & Fulton)  

Kathleen Gustin, Zen priest, and Rev. Ronald Nakasone of the Graduate Theological Union speak at this workshop designed to help those considering their own ending or that of loved ones.  

$20 (box lunch included) 601-5394 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Corinne Innis Reception 

5 - 7 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave.  

Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. 548-9286 

Free Tae-Bo Classes for Adults  

10 - 10:45 a.m.  

Frances Albrier Community  

Center  

2800 Park St. Call 644-8515 

Free Martial Arts Classes for Kids  

11:15 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Community  

Center  

San Pablo Park  

2800 Park St.  

Classes taught by Michael Johnson, a fourth degree black belt. Ages 5 - 7, 11:15 a.m. - Noon; Ages 8 - 12, 12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.; Ages 13 to adults, 1:15 p.m. - 2 p.m. 

644-8515 

Building And Remodeling 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Glen Kitzenberger discusses what homeowners need to know before building or remodeling.  

Skip Wenz discusses the pros and cons of building an addition. Free 

Call 525-7610 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave.  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe, includes puppets with such conditions as cerebral palsy, blindness and Down syndrome.  

Bengal Basin Seminar 

3 p.m. 

Warren Hall, Room 22 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Third International India Bangladesh Symposium for reducing the impact of toxic chemicals on the Bengal Basin. With World Poet Rabindranath Tagore.  

Call 841-3253 

Sunday, Jan. 21

Live Oak Concert 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St.  

The music of J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi played by the trio of Marvin Sanders, flute, Becky Lyman, harpsichord, and Alexander Kort, cello.  

$8 - $10  

Call 644-6893 

Saying No To Power 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Bill Mandel, author and activist talks about his new book.  

$4 - $5  

848-0237 

Single Parents and Step & Blended 

Family Interfaith Fellowship 

4 - 6 p.m. 

Beth El Synagogue  

2301 Vine St. (at Spruce)  

An interfaith and very open group that welcomes parents and their children of all affiliations and orientations. This meetings discussion topics will be a supportive and advice oriented look at dating.  

Monday, Jan. 22

Berkeley Rail Stop Community  

Design Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center  

1900 Sixth St.  

The public is invited to suggest ideas and comment on plans for design-development at the rail stop/transit plaza area of West Berkeley.  

Call 644-6580 

Urban Homelessness  

& Public Policy Solutions 

9 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Alumni House  

UC Berkeley  

This day-long conference will include key scholars, service providers, and policymakers in the homelessness field. Some of the subjects to be covered will be: Homeless population dynamics and policy implications, health issues in homelessness, and legal and political issues in homelessness. Free and open to the public.  

For more info, visit: http://urbanpolicy.berkeley.edu/homeless.htm 

Building or Remodeling? 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Glen Kitzenberger discusses what you need to know before building or remodeling. 

Call 525-7610 

Tuesday, Jan. 23

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

PSR’s Annual Earl Lectures 

9 a.m. - 10 p.m.  

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

2345 Channing Way  

Celebrating their 100th anniversary of lectures, this year will focus on Christian mission in a pluralistic age. This year there are 28 workshops and three panels of national religious leaders and scholars. Free  

Call 849-8274 

Wednesday, Jan. 24

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Thursday, Jan. 25

Spirits in the Time of AIDS 

6 - 8 p.m. 

Pro Arts Gallery  

461 Ninth St.  

Oakland 

Pro Arts reception for the opening of their new exhibition seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people who are affected by them.  

Call 763-9425 

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Climbing Mt. Everest  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Bob Hoffman, organizer and leader of four environmental clean-up expeditions on Everest, will give a slide presentation on the Inventa 2000 Everest Environmental Expedition’s recent ascent. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Glenn Ingersoll and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Women in Salsa  

8 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave.  

Orquesta D’Soul, a San Francisco based band, is hosting this benefit featuring the musical talents of local bay area women in salsa.  

$8 in advance, $10 at the door 

Call 849-2568 or visit www.lapena.org 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe vet and St. Stupid’s Day creator, Ed Holmes, and 84-year-old Bari Rolfe, a mime for over 30 years, give dialogues on satire.  

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission  

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St.  

Discussions will include review of the initial environmental study and recommendations on a request to establish a public market. Also, consideration of a petition requesting that diagonal parking and parking meters not be installed on Fifth St. 

Take the Terror Out of Talking 

12:10 - 1:10 p.m. 

Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way  

State Health Toastmasters Club is hosting an open house to celebrate Toastmasters International Week and to kick-off the start of “Speechcraft,” a six-session workshop to help participants overcome nervousness and learn basic public speaking skills.  

Call 649-7750 

Friday, Jan. 26

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

“The Aftermath of the National Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon 

12:30 p.m. speaker  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Susan Rasky, senior lecturer at the graduate school of journalism at UC Berkeley will speak.  

$11 - $12.25 with luncheon, $1 with coffee, students free  

848-3533 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Saturday, Jan. 27

Clori, Tirsi & e Fileno 

8 p.m. 

Crowden School  

1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 

Teatro Bacchino, the Bay Area’s Baroque Opera company, will be performing Handel’s story of jealousy in love. Pre-concert talk 45 minutes before the performance.  

$15 - $20  

Call 658-3382  

“Waiting for Godot” 

8 p.m. 

La Val’s Subterranean  

1834 Euclid (at Hearst) 

Presented by Subterranean Shakespeare and directed by Yoni Barkan, director of last summer’s “A Midsummers Night Dream.”  

$8 - $12  

Call 234-6046 

Cuddly, Soft, Furry Things & Friends 

10 - 10:50 a.m. & 11:10 a.m. - Noon  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

A special workshop for two - three year-olds to meet, pet, and feed rabbits, doves, and snakes.  

$22 - $25, $10 for additional family members, registration required  

Call 642-5134 

Book Publishing Seminar 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Regent Press 

6020-A Adeline St.  

Mark Weiman presents an overview of the business of book publishing oriented towards the author considering self-publication. From page layout to promotion and distribution, Weiman will cover all practical aspects of independent book publishing.  

Call 547-7602 or e-mail: regent@sirius.com 

Free Tae-Bo Classes for Adults  

10 - 10:45 a.m.  

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park 

2800 Park St.  

Call 644-8515 

Free Martial Arts Classes for Kids  

11:15 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park  

2800 Park St.  

Classes taught by Michael Johnson, a fourth degree black belt. Ages 5 - 7, 11:15 a.m. - Noon; Ages 8 - 12, 12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.; Ages 13 to adults, 1:15 p.m. - 2 p.m. 

644-8515 

One-Day Travel Careers Class 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista College  

2020 Milvia St.  

Room 210 

Learn about new employment opportunities in travel in the 21st century. Class will include a look at salaries, travel benefits, necessary education and preparation required. Bring payment by check to the class.  

$5.50 for California residents 

Call Marty de Souto, 981-2931  

Intuitive Healing 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

1502 Tenth St.  

Marcia Emery, Ph.D., will discuss the deeper meaning of illness, the way to tune into any body part to heal it and your intuitive X-ray or body scan ability. 

$85 

Call 526-5510 

Sunday, Jan. 28

Clori, Tirsi & e Fileno 

7 p.m. 

Crowden School  

1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 

Teatro Bacchino, the Bay Area’s Baroque Opera company, will be performing Handel’s story of jealousy in love. Pre-concert talk 45 minutes before the performance.  

$15 - $20  

Call 658-3382  

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Finns in Berkeley and Co-op Beginnings 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

1931 Center St.  

A panel discussion on Finnish and Co-op history and on the Consumers Cooperative of Berkeley.  

$10 donation  

Call 848-0181 

Mediterranean Plant Life 

3:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

200 Centennial Drive  

Peter Dallman, author of “Plant Life in the Mediterranean Regions of the World,” will motivate attendees to look closely at California native plants and experiment with dramatic and drought-tolerant species in their own gardens.  

Call 643-2755  

.

A city program that encourages and assists low-income breastfeeding mothers is receiving a $500,000 grant to expand their growing services. 

For the past 10 years, the Berkeley Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program has helped more than 2,600 women understand the health and psychological benefits of mother’s milk over storebought formula.  

With the new grant from the California Endowment, Ellen Sirbu, program director, said she’ll be able to more than double the peer counselors to 12 and provide even more services to this area’s low-income mothers.  

With more resources and numbers, Sirbu said counselors will be able to provide postpartum services at Alta Bates Hospital instead of waiting for mothers to find the program on University Avenue near Interstate 80. 

“It sounds crazy that women need help with breastfeeding because you may think, ‘how did they survive before?’ But maybe they don’t have the support at home,” Sirbu said.  

Leticia Mendoza, a mother of four, has family in Mexico so she wasn’t able to turn to them for support when her first child was born nine years ago. 

“When you have your first baby, you don’t know anything,” she said. “You have a lot of questions when you have the first baby – you’re not sure if you have enough milk or how often you should feed.” 

Part of the program’s philosophy is to keep new mothers informed of basic nutrition and the benefits of breast-feeding, according to Sirbu.  

“Over the years, breastfeeding has become more fashionable,” Sirbu said.  

Still, a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services states that only 64 percent of women breastfed during the first six months of pregnancy in 1998. The same study reported that African-American mothers breastfed 45 percent of the time, Hispanic women breastfed 66 percent of the time and White women breastfed 68 percent of the time. 

Sirbu wants to increase that number because she said breastfeeding creates a bond between mother and child, delivers the mothers immunities to the child, reduces risk of breast cancer and saves money that would be spent on formula. 

Berkeley City Councilmember Dona Spring said the program is also an excellent way to provide early parenting skills and nutrition information.  

“Even educated women don’t know about nutrition. I know a woman who is a college graduate and she lives on cokes and cookies,” Spring said. “That high sugar diet is passed on to the baby. Part of the training is to show that alcohol and smoking also affect the babies health and it’s such a critical time to get nutrients to build their systems.” 

Playing against a winless John Swett (Crockett) team, the St. Mary’s boys’ soccer squad survived a sluggish first half to rout the Indians, 6-1, on Wednesday. 

“We wanted to try some new things this game, and we didn’t stay organized on defense in the first half,” said St. Mary’s head coach Teale Matteson, who was missing three key starters for the match due to injury. 

Senior forward Pat Barry scored both St. Mary’s goals in the first half, but the Panthers’ defense split wide open for the Indians’ Morgan Edwards, who headed home a cross past St. Mary’s goalkeeper Mark Pankow to keep the game close. 

Leading just 2-1 at halftime against the overmatched Swett team, the Panthers (5-7-2 overall, 4-0-1 BSAL) poured on the offense in the second half, scoring four goals and keeping the ball for most of the half.  

The Panthers were clearly the better team, but weren’t able to translate their superior skill into a convincing lead until midfielder Zack Huddleston took a feed from forward Kyle Davies and beat Swett goalkeeper Mike Edwards on the near post in the 55th minute, followed by a penalty kick that was earned and converted by midfielder Bryan Warren, giving the Panthers a 4-1 lead. 

Barry completed his hat trick minutes later off of another assist by Davies. Barry has been coming on strong as of late, and Matteson said the senior has earned some good fortune with hard work. 

“Pat’s really coming alive, it’s been nice to see,” Matteson said. “He’s playing really smart soccer right now, and his example is leading the others. Our younger players see his how his hard work over the past four years is paying off, and it shows them what they can accomplish as well.” 

A 78th minute goal by defender Nolan Horinouchi capped the scoring. 

The Panthers are now set up for a showdown with Kennedy High on Jan. 26. They are the only teams left in the BSAL with no losses. St. Mary’s only blemish in league play is a tie with Piedmont two weeks ago, while Kennedy beat Piedmont 4-1 this week. Both schools figure to run the remainder of the BSAL schedule without a loss, and their matchup should decide the league’s regular season champion. 

Matteson said that while the newly-formed BSAL does have some competition problems with only three teams having a realistic chance at the title, he purposely gave his team a rough preseason schedule to compensate. 

“We knew this would happen. You’d like to see parity for the sake of competition, but there’s not as much parity with the new league,” he said. That’s why we went out of league for good competition. Now we have seven losses, but we’re undefeated in league.”

The City Council has called for a moratorium on massage parlors on University Avenue saying there are already more than enough and that they don’t fit in with a family-oriented atmosphere.  

The recommendation, from Councilmembers Dona Spring and Margaret Breland, was sent to the planning commission which will consider a possible moratorium on the parlors, which Spring said are often associated with the adult entertainment business.  

The commission will consider other solutions besides a moratorium including a complete ban on adult-oriented businesses or a more stringent application and permit process. There are currently no pending applications for new parlors on University Avenue, according to planning department officials. 

The council approved the referral by a vote of 7-1, with Councilmember Betty Olds voting against. Mayor Shirley Dean was not present. 

Spring said the parlors don’t fit in with the still pending University Avenue Plan which calls for prohibiting new liquor stores, auto shops and adult-oriented businesses. Acting Director of Planning and Development, Wendy Cosin, said the plan should be adopted by next year. 

Spring said there are already four adult-oriented establishments in a four block area and there is no need for anymore.  

“We’re building a lot of residential apartment buildings along University and we should be encouraging more community-oriented businesses like grocery stores, dentist offices and all-purpose book stores,” she said. 

The four existing businesses mentioned in the recommendation were Tiki’s Hawaiian Massage, Auquette Massage, The Berkeley Sauna and Berkeley Massage and Self Healing Center.  

Spring said the healing center was a reputable business and that there was no massage offered at the Berkeley Sauna though they are both adult-oriented businesses. 

She said she knew less about what occurred at Tiki’s Hawaiian or Auquette Massage. “I don’t know what they do. I just know they’re not a family oriented businesses, all you see is men coming and going from them.” 

Councilmember Olds strongly opposed the moratorium saying that the parlors may not fit in with the University Plan but are still tax paying businesses. 

“They still provide services for a lot of people because they stay in business,” she said. “This is yet again another case of Big Sister telling everybody what to do, how to run their business and its disgusting.” 

She added that many massage establishments are legitimate and should not be discouraged. 

Spring said she put the recommendation on the agenda when a University Avenue neighbor called her to complain that a massage parlor had opened up in an commercial space that had previously been a dentist’s office.  

According to Cosin, the business does not have a license to operate as a massage parlor. “The use was described as skin, face and body care at the time the permit was issued,” she said. 

A woman who answered the phone at the alleged massage parlor, the Thai Body Works, said the business does not offer massage, only facials. However, a nameless company with the same address using the same phone number is listed in the massage section of the San Francisco Chronicle’s classified section among other massage advertisements with names like “Beautiful Loving Massage,” “Green Door Massage,” and “Kitty’s Massage.” 

Cosin said the issue has not yet been placed on the Planning Commission’s agenda. 

Berkeley police arrested two suspects Tuesday night for a pair of armed robberies and believe the suspects may be connected to a series of recent robberies in Berkeley and Oakland. 

Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes said two males, ages 15 and 16, from Richmond were arrested Tuesday night after two armed robberies occurred in the area south of the UC Berkeley campus.  

Lopes said robbery detectives have considered the possibility that the suspects are linked to two other robberies that occurred in Berkeley last weekend as well as “a couple dozen” robberies in Berkeley and Oakland over the last two months. 

“We are confident that they are responsible for a whole slew of robberies,” Lopes said. 

Lopes said the two suspects confronted three people in their late teens at the corner of Channing Way and Fulton Street on Tuesday night at 8:45 p.m. He said they produced what appeared to be hand guns. The suspects allegedly took everything in the victims’ pockets and fled by foot. While running from the area, Lopes said the suspects confronted a 20-year-old woman in front of 2404 Fulton St., drew their guns on her and robbed her. Witnesses saw the suspects then get into a white car, Lopes said. 

Officer Hugh Salas was patrolling the area and saw a white vehicle driving without its lights on before the robberies were reported. He pulled the car over for vehicle code violation without knowing of the robberies. While Salas was talking to the two men in the car, the robberies were reported to the police department and came over Salas’ radio. 

The suspects were arrested and taken into custody, where they remain while detectives examine other recent robberies. Upon inspection of the guns, they were found to be replicas of semi-automatic hand guns. 

Lopes said the men could be responsible for two consecutive robberies that occurred on Monday night in Berkeley and another the previous day. 

At about 8:30 p.m. Monday, two men robbed a Domino’s Pizza delivery man at gun point. The victim had just completed a delivery when he was confronted by three males while returning to his car. Two of the suspects are described as black males in their early 20s, average height and build. About 30 minutes later a UC Berkeley student walking home was confronted by three people who fit the same description, less than four blocks away from the previous hold up. Similarly, two of the suspects held the student at gunpoint while the third took his belongings. 

Two pedestrians were approached by two suspects at Shattuck Avenue and Bancroft Way on Sunday at 2:30 a.m. The suspects both drew guns and took the victims’ wallets before fleeing by foot. That robbery is also being linked to Tuesday’s arrests.

Berkeley took a step closer to sprouting advertising-bus shelters along AC Transit routes Tuesday when the City Council authorized the city manager to enter an agreement with advertising agency. 

After voicing concerns about maintenance and the nature of advertising on the 125 backlit mini “billboards,” the City Council unanimously approved the resolution to enter into an agreement with Lamar  

Outdoor Advertising of Alameda County. Mayor Shirley Dean was not present. 

AC Transit entered into an umbrella agreement with Lamar to build shelters in seven cities including Berkeley, Emeryville and Albany. Each city must sign its own agreement with the agency before the project can proceed.  

Lamar will construct and maintain the $8,000 shelters. Each will have two advertising spaces, four feet by six feet, that will be illuminated by florescent lighting. They will also be outfitted with garbage cans and transit maps. 

Councilmember Dona Spring sought reassurances from Brendan Marcum, Lamar General Manager, that the advertising shelters will not advertise alcohol, tobacco or firearms.  

Marcum assured the council that Lamar would conform to city regulations on the advertising subject matter. 

“We respect the regulations of the city in which we operate,” Marcum said. “And I have to add that I have never been approached by those types of companies wanting to advertise.” 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said she was prepared to support the recommendation but had recently heard that Lamar had a reputation for maintaining the shelters for just the first year. Soon after, Armstrong said they often fall into neglect. 

Marcum said the contract with AC Transit specifically calls for the shelters to be washed with an all-purpose detergent every two weeks and washed with a high-pressure spray once a month. He said the shelters would also be kept free of graffiti and debris. 

The shelters have been supported by the Commissions on Aging and Disabilities, which have assisted Lamar with choosing locations. 

Berkeley resident L.A. Wood said he remains skeptical about the shelters and would like to see a public hearing process established so neighbors can have a say in where they are built. 

“I always thought Berkeley should have a more traditional look,” Wood said. “These thing are modernistic and ugly.” 

The final locations of the all 125 shelters has not been determined yet. But Marcum said Lamar is ready to begin building the first shelters as soon as the city signs a Transit Shelter Implementation Agreement. 

Two times a week Vanessa Coveau commutes from her home in Fremont to Berkeley, where she takes classes at Vista Community College.  

The 21-year-old uses a wheelchair for transportation because she has Cerebral Palsy – a disorder that limits her ability to move and speak. 

Like so many disabled people in Berkeley, Coveau has had trouble finding a personal attendant to help her with her daily activities. The struggle that the disabled community has had in finding qualified personal attendants in past years has led The Berkeley Center for Independent Living to make it a top priority. 

“Without an attendant it complicates things,” said Lucy Coveau, Vanessa’s mother.  

Vanessa’s attendant had to quit the job for personal reasons in October, and she was left searching for a replacement for several weeks. The CIL formed the Personal Assistant Services Crisis Team last summer that is trying to spread the word that disabled people are having more difficulties than ever in getting attendants to help them with everyday chores such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. 

“There hasn’t been a big difference yet, but we just started our push in the last few weeks,” said Jan Garrett, executive director for the Berkeley CIL, the first independent living center in the world. 

Garrett said disabled people in Berkeley have usually found help from Cal students wanting to make a little extra money with a part-time job, but the supply of college students has diminished in the last decade. She attributes the decline of attendants to the improved economy, among other things. 

“In the ’60s and ’70s people knew (the attendants program) existed and through word of mouth people would find out about being an attendant.  

In the ’80s and ’90s people didn’t know this existed and they could get better jobs that pay more money.” 

Scott Luebking, is in charge of technology for the crisis team, said the attendant situation has gotten so bad recently that there have even been cases of attendants stealing things from the disabled people who hired them.  

He said many disabled people are considering moving into nursing homes. “That is contrary to what the idea of independent living is,” Luebking said. Like many of the people who are looking for attendants, Luebking uses a wheelchair to get around. 

“Because of the attendant shortage, finding good people is hard and we are hiring people who are less than appropriate,” Luebking said. 

One step the crisis team has made to recruit attendants is drafting a set of frequently asked questions about what services the attendants have to partake in.  

The FAQs can be found on the CIL web site at www.cilberkeley.org along with a free e-mail group that disabled people can use to contact potential attendants. The team is also attempting to get the word out about needed attendants to people who are less likely to use the Internet. About 20 to 25 businesses from Berkeley and Oakland have each donated 500 to 3,000 printed copies of those FAQs, which the team has posted in envelopes around the university and local community colleges. 

In return, the CIL, which is working with no budget, doesn’t have to spend any money on publicity. The goal of such publicity is to end misconceptions about helping the disabled.  

Luebking said one reason for there being fewer attendants now is because people think they need to have prior experience to take on such a job.  

He said people do not have to be medically trained for many attendant positions.  

“If you are afraid or uncomfortable with somebody, then you won’t want to work with them,” he said. 

Some attendants are hired to help bathe or feed the disabled, but many just run errands or clean houses. 

The crisis team also wants people to be aware of the benefits of becoming an attendant.  

Most attendants get paid above minimum wage, and pre-medical students can put the experience on their résumés and work adjustable hours. Most disabled people pay the attendants themselves based on the type of work they do.  

Some attendants are paid through the county government or private insurance providers. 

“It is good because it gets the community involved,” said Garrett, who hopes the other 350 independent living centers in the country can follow Berkeley’s model.  

NEW YORK — The confidence of the American household is something to behold. 

Even if it did slip in December on the cold reality of an impending sharp economic slowdown, it remains high as a kite in spring. 

This in spite of a stock market that since last March has subtracted $1.9 trillion from household wealth, a sum that in earlier years would have been incomprehensible, even in terms of the federal budget. 

The blow hasn’t exactly been shrugged off, but in other years it might have been a fatal blow. In 2000, however, there were few if any signs of panic.  

And only in December did the worries clearly manifest themselves. 

The wealth decline began last March, but sales of new and existing homes continued at record-high levels. For the second year in a row car and light truck sales exceeded 17 million units. 

And investors kept investing. 

The public did pull back some in December, when retailer expectations weren’t met. But what could retailers have expected, when the stock market decline alone had taken nearly $50 billion out of consumer spending. 

That $50 billion sum was a huge bite out of the so-called wealth effect, the factor that, as so many economists explained, allowed people to feel secure about borrowing and spending even as they failed to save. 

The $50 billion figure, calculated by Standard & Poor’s economist David A. Wyss, is based on what he estimates is the propensity of households to consume wealth at a 2.5 percent rate. And even with that much cut out, retail sales didn’t decline – only failed to meet hopes. 

Even today, Wyss points out, consumer sentiment is at a higher level than at any time before 1999. Currently, the University of Michigan survey is in the high 90s. In the past, pre-recession readings were in the 70s. 

And now, perhaps as unrealistically optimistic as the earlier beliefs that the economy would expand indefinitely, ordinary folks are looking for signs of an upturn.  

Even before a soft landing is achieved. 

Specifically: expectations of a tax cut, confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, signs of bottom-fishing in stocks, continued interest in real estate, and borrowing to sustain life styles. 

And those consumers who delve deeply into the economic numbers might even be encouraged by the realization that, while the economy has lost its bullish power, it may still be expanding, albeit at a slowed rate. 

Wyss, for one, cites a slowdown from a 5.1 percent expansion rate in 2000 to perhaps 2.7 percent in 2001 as enough to cause real pain. 

But others might prefer to observe that such a slowdown would still be an expansion rather than a contraction. And that what we call a slowdown today is about the average expansion that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press.

OPEC set to trim crude oil production in February 

VIENNA, Austria — OPEC announced Wednesday that it will trim its official crude oil production by 5 percent next month — a move likely to anger the cartel’s biggest customers but one that won’t necessarily hurt consumers at the gasoline pump. 

The cuts, to take effect Feb. 1, are aimed at keeping crude prices firm ahead of an expected slowdown in U.S. economic growth and diminishing seasonal demand for refined products such as heating oil. Delegates of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries approved details of the cuts during a formal meeting at the cartel’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria. 

The 1.5 million-barrel-a-day decrease in production is sure to disappoint the governments of many oil-importing nations. 

CNN cuts 400 jobs,  

refurbishes structure 

NEW YORK — In its biggest shake-up since being founded 21 years ago, CNN is revamping its newsgathering structure, cutting some 400 jobs and appointing three senior news executives. The network has been struggling with a ratings slump and is gearing up for life under the newly created AOL Time Warner Inc. media empire. 

The shake-up announced Wednesday, which comes less than a week after CNN parent Time Warner closed its merger with America Online, will concentrate CNN’s sprawling news operations under a central authority to coordinate coverage for its various TV outlets and associated Web sites. 

Proposal for biotech food information on the Net 

WASHINGTON — Seeking to ease public anxiety about genetically engineered food, the government proposed a mandatory review process for new biotech products that will include posting scientific data on the Internet. 

The Food and Drug Administration relies on biotech companies for voluntary consultation with the agency before the release of new biotech crops. 

In addition to the proposal Wednesday for mandatory review, the FDA also is proposing voluntary labeling guidelines for foods that claim either to be nonbiotech or to have special biotech ingredients. 

Companies would have to notify FDA of new biotech products at least four months before they are to be put on the market. 

Class-action suit brought against Verizon Wireless 

WASHINGTON — Verizon Communications is being sued by customers frustrated when it took weeks or months to get their high-speed Internet access installed. The class-action effort is an attempt to stop Verizon from signing new subscribers as well as to force compensation of existing customers. 

The complaint, filed this week in Superior Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Verizon was aware that it would be unable to provide high-speed service as promised and knew that its customers would experience significant disruptions and significant delays in obtaining technical support. 

The claim alleges that Verizon signs up over 3,000 new customers per day while knowing that the company cannot support so many. 

— The Associated Press 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday approved WorldCom Inc.’s acquisition of Intermedia Communications Inc. — a deal that seeks to boost the data and Internet operations of the nation’s No. 2 long-distance carrier. 

The merger, which received clearance from antitrust authorities last year, still awaits approval by regulators in some states. 

WorldCom announced its plans to acquire Intermedia for $3 billion not long after antitrust regulators scuttled WorldCom’s planned merger with rival Sprint Corp. last year. 

NEW YORK — Investors went on a technology buying spree Wednesday, but retreated on second thoughts about the market’s actual strength in a decelerating economy. The Nasdaq composite index ended the day with a moderate gain, but blue chips closed lower. 

The pullback reflected Wall Street’s concerns as weak earnings reports flow in. Although many expect the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates again later this month, some question whether it will be enough to reinvigorate the economy and company profits. 

“Are we in a slowdown? Are we in a recession? No one knows,” said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities. “The market is discounting for what it can see, but it can’t really see that well going forward. That’s the reason why investors are hesitating.” 

After months of worrying about how moderating economic growth would affect corporate profits, investors had a mixed reaction when some of those reports were actually released. Early in the session, they appeared to shrug off a handful of gloomy forecasts, but by late in the day, the jitters returned. 

Sector bellwether Intel slipped 88 cents to $30.50 after initially rising on an earnings report that met expectations but forecast a 15 percent revenue drop for the next quarter. Analysts said the report wasn’t as bad as investors feared, but not good enough to keep the stock up. 

— The Associated Press 

After the market closed, Apple Computer released earnings that failed to meet already reduced earnings expectations. The stock rose 88 cents in after-hours trading as investors digested the news; it had fallen 31 cents to $16.81 in the regular session. 

Still, analysts were cheered that investors didn’t respond to weak earnings with massive selloffs. 

“Perhaps we’re getting to the time when for most companies, excluding some technology stocks, the bad news seems to be built into the stock price,” said James Meyer, director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to have a bull market.” 

“We have to decipher whether we’re in a typical slowdown that might last for two or three quarters ... or whether the decline is going to be longer and the turnaround will be a bit later.” 

Wall Street’s hopes for another interest rate cut got a possible boost from a Federal Reserve report Wednesday showing output at U.S. factories plunged by 1.1 percent in December, the biggest setback since the end of the last recession in 1991. The hope is that the data — the latest sign that the economy is slowing — will persuade the Fed to lower interest rates when it meets later this month. 

In another report, the Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index showed inflation at the consumer level rose a moderate 0.2 percent in December amid a drop in gasoline prices. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 13 to 11 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.62 billion shares, ahead of the 1.44 billion reported Tuesday. 

The Russell 2000 index was up 0.18 at 493.46. 

Overseas, stocks were higher. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.6 percent. Germany’s DAX index was up 2.3 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 gained 1.9 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 2.1 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com 

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com 

Power officials brought California back from the brink of rolling blackouts Tuesday afternoon, but Berkeley city officials were already doing all they could to set a good example and conserve energy. 

“We’re trying all the energy savings ideas we can think of placing setting thermostats lower for heating and higher for cooling,” said Renee Cardinaux, director of Berkeley Public Works. “We’re already cutting back on energy this year so there’s very little to cut back on.” 

While residents stocked up on candles and blankets, Berkeley Police said they were prepared to haul portable stop signs out of storage to areas where stop lights are out.  

“We have a standard plan should we lose power because of a huge storm or involuntary blackouts,” said Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes, adding that police and fire headquarters would not be affected by the blackouts. 

“We don’t consider this an emergency because we’re still able to provide services we always do,” he said.  

The California Independent System Operator declared a Stage 3 emergency yesterday morning after power reserves dipped below one and a half percent. If power reserves are depleted, then the ISO institutes rolling black-outs for hours at a time. Cold weather, increased energy consumption and a much-criticized deregulation of power utilities have contributed to the current energy crisis. Most recently, out-of-state suppliers have been fearful of selling energy to California energy companies because of their fragile financial situation.  

But conservation efforts combined with the shut-down of two large water pumps that send water to Southern California and the purchase of some power from the Pacific Northwest, ISO spokeswoman Lori O’Donley said the lights will remain on – for now. 

“We’re not anticipating any black-outs,” she said.  

Although this is the second time this week that a Stage 3 emergency has been declared, Stage 2 alerts – in which power reserves dip below 5 percent – are becoming a daily occurrence.  

When a Stage 2 is declared, Berkeley Energy Officer Neil De Snoo said the city dims its street lights and shuts off ball field and tennis court lights. Electric vehicles are unplugged and in city offices, De Snoo said lights are shut off and office equipment is programmed to sleep when it is not used.  

De Snoo said the conservation efforts have reduced the city’s base power load by 30 percent and reduced its use during peak hours by 40 percent. 

“It’s tricky, but there’s really a lot that can be done,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of peripherals in offices and if they’re not turned off, they’re drawing juice.” 

At Berkeley’s Alta Vista Hospital, administrators are cutting power use by shutting off office lights at 6 p.m., said spokesperson Carolyn Kemp.  

But even in a major disaster, Kemp said generators keep the hospital prepared to operate without power for days. 

“We can’t close ventilators down in certain areas,” she said. “We remain full-service because we have to.” 

Workers at A Honey Rest Home on Mc Gee Avenue said they stay prepared for any emergency – including possible black-outs. 

“We have flashlights, candles and canned food,” said Ophelia Montro, manager of the care facility. “We have enough heaters for everyone.”  

Wednesday, Jan. 17

Berkeley Communicators  

Toastmasters 

7:15 p.m. 

Vault Restaurant  

3250 Adeline St.  

Learn to speak fluently without fear or hesitation.  

Call Howard Linnard, 527-2337 

Your Justice System at Work 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

West Oakland Senior Center  

1724 Adeline St.  

Oakland  

Judges of the Superior Court, attorneys, and other justice system representatives will be present to hear the concerns of the public and to answer their questions. 268-7610 

Stagebridge Free Acting  

& Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit  

www.stagebridge.org 

Environmental Sampling  

Project Task Force  

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley 

2345 Channing Way  

Discussions will include the Berkeley Lab responses to comments on the Tritium sampling and analysis plan.  

Genetically Modified Food Teach-In and Strategy Session 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Teach-in led by the Genetic Engineering Education Network, followed by a general strategy session and discussion of upcoming events by the Organic Consumers Association Organizer Simon Harris, Ecology Center’s Steve Evans, and other local activists.  

Call 548-2220 x239 

Telegraph Area Association 

Community Planning Committee 

9 a.m. 

TAA 

2509 Haste St.  

To be discussed will be southside planning position for TAA to support and strategy to increase faculty/staff housing in southside.  

Call 649-9500 

Telegraph Area Association 

Membership Committee 

9 a.m. 

2509 Haste St.  

To be discussed will be a review of workplan objectives and a review of workplan goals.  

Call 649-9500 

Thursday, Jan. 18

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicity,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Ayodele Nzinga and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Combating Congestion  

1 - 5 p.m. 

Pauley Ballroom 

Student Union Building  

UC Berkeley 

A one-day transportation conference featuring Martin Wachs, of UC Berkeley, speaking on transportation finance and Elizabeth Deakin, also of UC Berkeley, speaking on the relationship of growth and congestion.  

Call 642-1474  

Become Berkeley City Smart 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore  

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose)  

In a slide presentation & talk, Berkeley resident, restaurant and movie critic John Weil takes attendees on a unique tour through the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Berkeley and Oakland. Free 

Call 843-3533  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwirght 

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 25 Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Veterans Memorial Building  

1931 Center St.  

Any woman who has had a relative serve in the U.S. military is invited to attend and join the auxiliary.  

Call 916-372-8364 

Journey Across China 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Eugene Tsiang, Shanghai native, will give a slide presentation on his two-month journey last spring by train and four-wheel drive vehicle across China’s Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang Provinces. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us  

“Origin and History of the Pathways” 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Recreation Center 

1200 Shattuck Ave.  

Paul Grunland, board member of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, will speak on the history of Berkeley’s pathways. Free 

Call 527-2693 

Telegraph Area Association 

Economic Development Committee 

3:30 p.m. 

Sather Gate Garage Conference Room  

2431 Channing Way  

To be discussed will be a holiday marketing update, Telegraph power outages, and the Sather Gate parking garage.  

Call 649-9500 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Friday, Jan. 19

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

“Evidence-Based Practice - How it May Effect You” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon 

12:30 p.m. speaker  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Eileen Gambrill, professor in the department of social welfare at UC Berkeley with speak. 

$11 - $12.25 with luncheon, $1 with coffee, students free  

848-3533 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Pardon Leonard Pelltier Prayer Circle 

Noon - 1:30 p.m. 

Oakland Federal Building  

Clay (between 12th & 14th) 

Oakland 

The Pelltier Action Committee are asking President Clinton to pardon political prisoner Leonard Pelltier. Today is the last day Clinton can pardon Pelltier.  

Call 464-4534 or e-mail: thepac2000@hotmail.com 

Saturday, Jan. 20

On Death & Dying 

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Buddhist Temple  

2121 Channing Way (between Shattuck & Fulton)  

Kathleen Gustin, Zen priest, and Rev. Ronald Nakasone of the Graduate Theological Union speak at this workshop designed to help those considering their own ending or that of loved ones.  

$20 per person (box lunch included) 

Call Ken Kaji, 601-5394 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Corinne Innis Reception 

5 - 7 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave.  

Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings.  

Call 548-9286 

Free Tae-Bo Classes for Adults  

10 - 10:45 a.m.  

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park 

2800 Park St.  

Call 644-8515 

Free Martial Arts Classes for Kids  

11:15 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park  

2800 Park St.  

Classes taught by Michael Johnson, a fourth degree black belt. Ages 5 - 7, 11:15 a.m. - Noon; Ages 8 - 12, 12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.; Ages 13 to adults, 1:15 p.m. - 2 p.m. 

644-8515 

Building And Remodeling 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Glen Kitzenberger discusses what homeowners need to know before building or remodeling. Skip Wenz discusses the pros and cons of building an addition. Free 

Call 525-7610 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave.  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe, includes puppets with such conditions as cerebral palsy, blindness and Down syndrome.  

Bengal Basin Seminar 

3 p.m. 

Warren Hall, Room 22 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Third International India Bangladesh Symposium for reducing the impact of toxic chemicals on the Bengal Basin. With World Poet Rabindranath Tagore.  

Call 841-3253 

Sunday, Jan. 21

Live Oak Concert 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St.  

The music of J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi played by the trio of Marvin Sanders, flute, Becky Lyman, harpsichord, and Alexander Kort, cello.  

$8 - $10  

Call 644-6893 

Saying No To Power 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Bill Mandel, author and activist talks about his new book.  

$4 - $5  

848-0237 

Single Parents and Step & Blended 

Family Interfaith Fellowship 

4 - 6 p.m. 

Beth El Synagogue  

2301 Vine St. (at Spruce)  

An interfaith and very open group that welcomes parents and their children of all affiliations and orientations. This meetings discussion topics will be a supportive and advice oriented look at dating.  

Local juice may preclude PG&E dependency 

Editor:  

Cogeneration (cogen) is electricity generation right on-site at local apartment houses, hospitals, schools, malls, and factories using the aleft over heat for heating or airconditioning buildings. It is double use of the energy with 80 percent efficiency in contrast with the 35 or 40 percent at remote central power plants where the heat has no use and is deliberately wasted, as can be seen by the tall cooling towers of nuclear plants.  

There is also an energy loss of from 8 to 15 percent carrying the electricity over tower lines long distances. Cogen is much more likely to be able to be used after a big storm or earthquake when tower lines may fall down and should be in police and fire buildings. Cogen is a form of competition for the monopoly electric utilities and has been discouraged by both PG&E and So. Cal Edison, who claim it may ‘damage’ their networks. Actually excess juice from cogen can be fed easily back into the network.  

In U.S. cogen is about 7 percent of the total electricity, while in Germany and Sweden it is as much as 35 and 50 percent. Cogen is an old concept, a 1907 text discusses it. Cogen can be completely automatic, starting or stopping as needed. It is a very efficient and dependable source of energy at individual sites. Many engine manufacturers publish extensive data about use of their product for cogeneration.  

Charles L. Smith 

Berkeley 

Liars can take pets anywhere 

Editor: 

I was startled by the one-sided tone of your article “Service animals provoke quandary” (1/12/2001). Your reporter John Geluardi presented Michael Minasian’s unsupported claims that he is disabled and that his dog King is a service animal as fact, and repeated Minasian's tendentious reading of the Justice Department's guidelines regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act as if it were not debatable. 

As Minasian would have it, anyone wishing to bring a pet into a restaurant need only claim that they are disabled and that their pet is a service animal. Under the ADA, he believes, neither restaurant staff nor police can require any further explanation or documentation. In other words, people willing to lie could take their pets anywhere. 

In reality, the Justice Department's ADA guidelines are not so categorical. The relevant phrase reads, “documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal.” The case of a person with no apparent disabilities whose putative service dog is performing no apparent service seems like precisely the kind of reasonable exception to the general rule that prompted the guidelines’ authors to say “generally may not” rather than “may never.” 

Robert Lauriston 

Berkeley 

Green Party is moving ahead 

Editor: 

In the noisy, disconcerting aftermath of the November 7 general election, which saw an unceasing five week legal struggle in Florida, pitting the Democratic and Republican parties against one another, an important political milestone was achieved that, until now, has remained below the mainstream media’s radar screen.  

In a January 3 profile of Sebastopol, California’s newly elected Green Party City Council majority, The New York Times confirmed that many greens, progressives and independents have known that the green party now ranks as the nation’s third largest political party in terms of total number of elected offices held. This development is significant.  

Since gaining ballot status nearly twelve years ago, the Green Party has grown exponentially in the number of candidates fielded and/or elected across the country. During the 2000 election cycle, 33 Green Party candidates won elections in a dozen states, giving the party elected officials in a total of 21 states. Over 200 Green Party candidates completed for elective offices during 2000. 

The Green Party’s electoral successes reflect a strategy to build power from the local level — the greens in office all serve in municipal, county or regional governments, from mayor in five California cities, including Santa Cruz and Santa Monica, to the drainage/flood control commissioner of Charlevoix, Michigan.  

In Northern California, greens won a large number of races. In San Francisco, two former Democratic Party candidates, Supervisor Matt Gonzalez and School Commissioner Mark Sanchez, switched to the Green Party. In Berkeley, greens hold seats on the city’s three most important elected bodies: City Council, School Board and Rent Stabilization Board.  

Meanwhile, in Oakland, unsuccessful Green Party City Council at-large candidate Rebbecca Kaplin captured 44 percent of Oakland’s total vote against an entrenched Democratic Party incumbent, an impressive achievement given that Oakland voters are overwhelmingly registered democrats.  

As the Green Party prepares for the 2002 election cycle, the party’s prospects are indeed promising — with the organizational collaboration of Green Party 2000 presidential candidate Ralph Nader, the party will continue to build electoral strength at the local/regional level and establish a foundation for challenging the Democratic and Republican parties in future elections, including state and federal offices.  

The Green Party, to use an old expression, is in for the long haul, with an unshakable commitment to the years and decades ahead. For more information, contact www.greenparty.org 

Chris Kavanagh 

City of Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission 

Berkeley 

A wonderful  

community! 

Editor: 

Our daughter, Mary Fran Stevens and her roomates survived a fire on Hearst Avenue that destroyed all their belongings on Jan. 8. When we received that dreaded call in the middle of the night we really didn't know where to turn. As a mother 5,000 miles away in Virginia, I agonized over this tragedy, but have been reassured that everything will be all right thanks to the compassion and generosity of Mary Fran's newly found community of friends.  

The outpouring of support —from housing and clothes to hugs after sifting through the charred remains — is truly inspiring. I want to thank everyone in the neighorhood and especially Mary Fran's friends at the Berkeley Repertory Theater for being there for our dear and only child. 

Margie Stevens 

Montross, Virginia  

Thank you 

Editor: 

I wish to thank the Daily Planet and the 138 voters in November’s District five city council race.  

That’s two percent of the vote my first time out, per vote expenses of campaign: 53 cents. Roughly figured, if I had the same size campaign budget as Mim Hawley (congratulations Mim!) it would give my campaign over 50 percent of the voters citywide.  

This, of course, has the little wheels in my brain revolving with ideas about Berkeley’s 2002 political season. Berkeley, thanks for the kind and real.  

Mark Fowle 

2000 District Five City  

Council candidate 

Berkeley 

The Department of Parks and Waterfront is asking a consultant to suggest ways to prevent foul smelling algae and attract more wildlife to the three lagoons at Aquatic Park. 

The City Council has approved a plan to enter into a $70,000 contract with Laurel Marcus and Associates to develop a Natural Resource Management Plan to reduce algae blooms by increasing the lagoons circulation with the bay. The consultant will also include a plan to enhance bird and other wildlife in the park, according to Waterfront manager Cliff Marchetti. 

Laurel Marcus and Associates will manage a team of environmental consultants, including water scientists and landscapers, to determine a workable plan. 

The park was developed in the 1930s during construction of Interstate 80 and consists of marshlands, lawns and pathways which wind along a large lagoon and two smaller ones. The park is on the west side of the freeway between the Ashby and University avenue exits. 

When the park was developed, concrete tubes were placed beneath the freeway to allow bay water to flow in and out of the lagoon. The five, 24-inch wide tubes that service the main lagoon were poorly placed, according Mark Liolios, a member of Friends of Aquatic Park. In addition, he said the tubes often become clogged and have to be cleared with high-pressure spray. Because of their location under the freeway, Caltrans is responsible for tube maintenance. 

“It has been historically hard to maintain good quality water because the lagoons are relatively large, isolated bodies of shallow water,” Marchetti said. 

There are several options the team of consultants will consider. They range from replacing the tubes to placing additional tubes at more strategic places. Marchetti said replacing the tubes would be extremely difficult because of their location under the freeway. There are no cost estimates for any of the possible fixes. 

The lagoon becomes susceptible to algae growth if the lagoon is not constantly refreshed with bay water. The bay provides the lagoon with cold temperatures, salt and oxygen which reduces algae growth and helps support wildlife. 

Algae blooms deplete the water of oxygen and if the lagoon does not have access to the bay, it results in the suffocation of lagoon fish, according to Liolios. 

“About four years ago, after Caltrans stopped cleaning out the tubes there was a red tide that killed hundreds of striped bass, some as big as 30 inches long,” he said. “Caltrans is now back on a regular schedule of cleaning out the tubes.” 

Another goal of the consultants will be to suggest way to attract more birds to the lagoons. Currently there a variety of birds that feed and nest around the lake. “Depending on the time of year, Ducks, egrets and Cormorants can be seen around the lagoon,” Liolios said. 

He added that one possibility to attract more birds is creating manmade islands in the lagoon that would provide nesting birds with a predator-free environment for nesting. 

Principal Frank Lynch arrived at Berkeley High School in August, to facilities burned down from arson and a provisional school accreditation.  

Before the new principal has been allowed to get his bearing with the current problems, he’ll be faced with more change.  

This upcoming semester he’ll be working under an interim superintendent, with a parental mandate to fix the gap in achievement between white students and students of color at Berkeley High.  

In the meantime, construction on school buildings will bring noise, dust, and loss of power and water. 

Lynch said he hadn’t realized the extent of the troubles that beset Berkeley High when he took the position. “In the first couple of days I was like, Oh my gosh," he said.  

But after four months in school Lynch has had more time to assess Berkeley High from the inside. 

“It’s an interesting place,” he said.  

While seeming to face a perpetual string of crisis situations, the new principal has continued implementing plans to improve the atmosphere at Berkeley High. 

An immediate issue facing Lynch is parents’ demand to do a wide scale intervention for 250 Berkeley High ninth-graders, many of them African-American and Latino, at risk of failing a class. The parent group – Parents of Children of African Descent – are bringing the gross disparity in grades between white students and students of color at Berkeley High to the attention of the community. 

“The diversity of the school is its strength and weakness,” said Lynch. 

He agreed that the student achievement gap as the single most important issue facing the school. "Everything else is tinkering around the edges,” he said. “Whatever we do it has to be focused on student achievement.” 

To Lynch, all components of creating a functional school are inextricably linked to that end result – achievement.  

Security is a case in point. Lynch said that security, and the perception of a safe school, is necessary for students to benefit from education.  

“If kids don’t feel safe here,” he said. “They can’t perform the way they need to be performing.” Related to questions of security is the fact that students who feel afraid “don’t come,” said Lynch, creating empty seats and a day’s educational loss. 

But rather than getting trouble-making kids off-campus, Lynch believes the school should be better about keeping them on campus and supervised.  

“I would say the biggest problem is attendance,” he said, adding that attendance and security function in tandem. Students perpetrating the most egregious discipline offenses, fighting or setting fires, are often students that aren’t in the classroom, but should be. 

Lynch said that although students may arrive on the school grounds, they don’t always make that crucial step though the door of the classroom.  

“They’re truant in the sense that they’re not in class,” he said. “They’re hanging around.” 

This next semester Lynch hopes to enforce attendance policies more aggressively by changing the system of parent notification. Currently a voice dialing system automatically calls parents when their students are absent, and a letter is sent home.  

But, said Lynch, “It doesn’t take kids long to figure out (the system).” Messages left on answering machines get erased by students before parents can hear them. Letters may just disappear. Lynch said for any parental contact to happen, “it has to be a human.” 

“I want an old fashioned truant officer who will go around, pick kids up and go to their home,” he said. “You need someone who can make the home contact.” In the mean time he hopes a personal phone call, at home or at work, will serve the purpose. 

While returning to the basics to solve attendance problems, Lynch is bringing new concepts to Berkeley High to try and change the structure of the school. One proposal is block scheduling for two of the five days per school week. 

Instead of going to eight classes, students would attend four classes one day, for double periods, and then would take the remaining classes the following day. Lynch said that the more substantial instruction time would allow teachers to create longer projects without needing to assemble and disassemble them within one class period. An additional benefit, he said, is the increased face time between students and teachers which allows them to get to know each other better. The block scheduling proposal will be voted on by the teachers, and students are invited to provide input. 

Like the new surveillance cameras to be placed on campus, and the construction set to begin this semester, many changes coming to Berkeley High have long been in the works.  

One of the projects Lynch endorses involves creating small schools within the larger high school. Berkeley High has already received a grant to begin planning various possibilities for smaller schools. The only existing small school, Communications Arts and Sciences, is so popular that students must compete to grab one of the 60 slots available per year. 

But no matter how popular any one concept is, one of Lynch’s tenets is to reaffirm the diversity that exists in the Berkeley High community, by providing may different learning environments. “I want to provide options,” he said. “I don’t honestly believe in a community as diverse as this that everybody wants to go in the same direction.”

At the meeting of the Board of Education tonight, Berkeley Unified School District officials are expected to announce the name of the interim superintendent who will oversee the district when the current superintendent, Jack McLaughlin, leaves at the end of January. 

The interim superintendent will hold the position until a permanent superintendent is selected.  

The school board is currently conducting a nationwide search and the selection is estimated to take place by July 1.  

The board interviewed candidates in closed session last Friday, and will discuss the appointment of a new superintendent in closed session, beginning at 6 p.m.  

School Based Dental Program 

Staff will present the Healthy Start Dental Program to offer dental services to Berkeley first, second and fifth graders.  

According to reports from the county and state, 37 percent of second graders and 43 percent of tenth graders suffered from untreated dental decay. Although dental sealants – which protect teeth with extra covering – can prevent the large majority of dental decay, less than 10 percent of Alameda county 15 year olds have received that treatment.  

The Healthy Start dental program would provide education and on-site dental exams and services to students in school, as well as community referrals for outside dental care. 

Intervention Proposal 

Parents of Children of African Descent, a Berkeley High parents group, will present their proposal to intervene on behalf of students failing one or more classes in their first semester at Berkeley High.  

The group hopes to implement a comprehensive plan to affect the vast gap in student achievement between white students and students of color at the high school. They are asking for support and resources from the board of education and the community at large to implement their plan, which would create a intensive math and reading courses, and provide individual case management for each failing student. 

Two Way Immersion Program 

The board will review proposals on how to extend the two-way immersion program, teaching students in both Spanish and English, during the fourth and fifth grades at Rosa Parks and Cragmont elementary schools.  

Currently the immersion program serves native English and Spanish speakers at Rosa Parks, Cragmont and LeConte schools. 

Expulsion closed session 

Also in closed session tonight, the board will discuss the expulsion of eight students from the Berkeley Unified School District. Prior to the case being reviewed by the board, each student’s case was reviewed by an expulsion committee, which can then recommend either expulsion, or suspension of expulsion.  

“There’s clearly some situations that require a school district to recommend expulsion,” said Alex Palou, former director of student services, in an interview earlier this month. But, he said, “It’s a measure of last resort.” 

After the expulsion committee reviews a students’ case, the board of education reviews it, and can determine whether or not to expel the students. If a student is expelled from the district, the district is required to find a new place for the student in another school district, or in the Rock LaFleche Community Day School, which provides services to troubled youth.  

The most a student can be expelled from district is two semesters for any one incident, at which point the school district is required to accept the students again. 

The board will meet in public session at 7:30 in the Board meeting room on the second floor of the School District building, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

KPFA radio will continue its live broadcast of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft through Thursday.  

The broadcast of the hearings began Tuesday morning. 

Phil Osejueda, assistant general manager and development, said the broadcast is in the tradition of other controversial hearings KPFA has broadcast, dating to the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.  

“We feel that a lot of listeners are interested in this particular situation,” he said. 

When asked what he thinks about John Ashcroft, Osejueda said, “He has too much baggage. He has a lot of opinions that are contrary to laws that are on the books right now.”  

He went on to say that he believes Ashcroft could have trouble enforcing laws that go against his own morals.  

Conservatives, however, have argued that Ashcroft’s clean record proves he will uphold all the laws in the United States.  

Bob Strawn, representative of the Northern Alameda County Republican Committee, did not return calls for comment. 

The coverage of the confirmation hearings will be anchored by Larry Bensky, a familiar voice on KPFA, who most notably covered the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987.  

During the broadcast Tuesday, Bensky said he believes it should be KPFA’s mission to bring important events like the Ashcroft hearings to the people. Bensky called Ashcrofts nomination, “the first controversy of the Bush administration.”  

Bensky will also welcome a variety of progressive analysts and commentators during the broadcasts.  

The live broadcast will likely get under way by 7 a.m. KPFA is located at 94.1 FM. The broadcast can also be heard on the Internet.

The Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley has acquired personal papers of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize. 

Included in the collection are manuscripts of poems and speeches, family photos, awards, journals and 50 year's worth of her correspondence with her publishers. 

Brooks, who died in December at the age of 83, gave her blessing to the university's acquisition of her papers. In 1997, she read at the university's Wheeler Auditorium. At that time, more than 700 people were turned away, and Brooks signed books until midnight.  

The granddaughter of a slave, Brooks appeared on the literary scene in the post-Harlem Renaissance period. Her poetry promoted an understanding of African American culture, and although it explored issues of racism and poverty, those issues did not limit her poetry, says former poet laureate and Berkeley professor Robert Hass. 

``If any one American writer naturalized the facts of black life, looked at it as lives people led, lives that happened to be inescapably caught in a racialized world but not absolutely defined  

by that fact, it was she,'' he said. ``This curiosity, this art without a social agenda, was a kind of declaration of independence.'' 

According to Berkeley professor Susan Schweik, Brooks used traditional forms for radical, innovative ends, and mentored black and women poets, and pioneered writing of race and gender issues. 

Her poem ``The Mother'' is believed to be the first poem written in the United States to talk about abortion. She read that poem at a gathering of American poets honored at the White House in 1980 by then-President Jimmy Carter. 

Brooks was prolific, and her writing includes children's books, an autobiography, one novel, a collection of poetry about South Africa and other volumes of poetry, including ``We Real Cool,''  

which was published in 1966. 

Brooks, who is said to have started her writing career as a child by sending poems to her local community newspaper to surprise her parents, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her second book of poetry, ``Annie Allen.'' That book was a series of poems about a girl growing up in Chicago. 

The Berkeley collection, which was retrieved from one of Brook's homes in the South Side of Chicago, is made up of 22 boxes of uncatalogued material from the 1930s to 1980. 

The materials will add to the Bancroft Library's African American writers collection, which was launched in 1978 and provides access to thousands of books, manuscripts, correspondence  

and other rare works by black authors. 

SACRAMENTO — Environmental and health groups Tuesday urged the state’s smog board to reject staff recommendations that could cut California’s electric vehicle mandate more than 75 percent. 

The American Lung Association, the Planning and Conservation League and other groups said the staff proposals went too far and clashed with the board’s decision last September to keep the mandate with some modifications. 

“It compromises the whole integrity of the program,” said Jamie Knapp, a spokeswoman for the California ZEV Alliance, a coalition of environmental and health groups. 

Steve Douglas, director of environmental affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the staff proposals would not go far enough “to reduce and mitigate the high cost of (electric) vehicles and batteries.” 

The mandate requires that at least 10 percent of the new cars and light trucks offered for sale in California by major manufacturers emit little or no pollution, starting in 2003. 

Zero-emission vehicles – currently that means battery-powered electric vehicles – would have to make up at least 4 percent of new autos, although manufacturers could reduce that number by offering them for sale before 2003 or making cars that get more than 100 miles between charges. 

Manufacturers also could delay compliance for a year by producing two years’ worth of the vehicles by the end of 2004. 

The regulations would require production of about 22,000 electric vehicles a year.  

There are roughly 2,300 on the road now, not counting gasoline-powered cars that have been converted to run on batteries. 

Automakers contend the electric vehicles will be difficult to sell or lease because of their higher cost and relatively short range between charges.  

They have lobbied for repeal or a significant reduction in the mandate. 

Environmental and health groups say the electric vehicles now on the road are popular with their drivers and that the mandate is continuing to force improvements in range and will eventually drive down vehicle cost. 

The staff of the Air Resources Board suggested allowing manufacturers to meet a greater share of the mandate by selling vehicles that use other emission-cutting technology, including so-called hybrids that have both gasoline and electric motors. 

That change, coupled with other manufacturer incentives proposed by the staff, would reduce the number of battery-powered vehicles required to as few as 4,650 in 2003, said Knapp. 

The board is scheduled to consider the staff recommendations at a hearing on Jan. 25. 

“Petroleum fuels will never lead us to a clean air future,” Ken Smith, a spokesman for the American Lung Association, said at a news conference outside the ARB offices. “Petroleum is very similar to tobacco. We are addicted to it. We have to get off it.” 

An ARB spokesman, Jerry Martin, said the staff proposals were designed to make the mandate workable, not to respond to auto industry concerns. 

“I don’t think the staff is any more affected by automakers than they are by environmental groups,” he said. ———— 

On the Net: 

www.arb.ca.gov and www.cleancarpledge.org. 

SACRAMENTO — Former Deputy Insurance Commissioner George Grays, accused of keeping $170,900 from a state insurance department fund, pleaded guilty Tuesday to mail fraud and money laundering charges. 

Grays, charged Tuesday morning, was the only person prosecuted so far in a Northridge earthquake-related scandal that drove him and elected Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush from office last year. 

Prosecutors say Grays personally benefited from his control of the California Research and Assistance Fund, a foundation created by Quackenbush with about $12 million in insurer settlement money. 

Quackenbush let a half-dozen insurers accused of mishandling claims filed after the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake escape up to $3 billion in fines by contributing to the fund. He has acknowledged that though the fund was supposed to finance earthquake research and assist consumers, none of the $6 million it spent went for either purpose. 

Grays inappropriately directed $263,000 from CRAF to Skillz Athletic Foundation, then received $170,900 back from Skillz in a kickback scheme, prosecutors say. Skillz ran a sports camp attended by Quackenbush’s children. 

Grays pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, charges that together carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and roughly $1 million in fines. 

He is cooperating with state and federal investigators, who continue probing the creation and use of the fund, defense attorney Bill Portanova said. 

U.S. District Judge David Levy released Grays on his own recognizance pending sentencing April 12. Grays declined to comment to reporters at the federal courthouse in Sacramento. 

An Assembly committee investigating the creation of CRAF found that the idea to divert the insurers’ donations to CRAF and other nonprofit funds came from Grays. There is evidence “Mr. Grays actually controlled and ran CRAF,” frequently from his insurance department office next to Quackenbush’s, the Assembly Insurance Committee said in an August report. 

Grays resigned in April. He refused to answer questions at an Assembly committee hearing, invoking his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Quackenbush, one of only two Republicans to hold statewide office in California, resigned in July under threat of impeachment. He and his family later moved to Hawaii. 

Quackenbush has denied wrongdoing, but admitted that none of CRAF’s spending went to the earthquake research and consumer assistance it was supposed to finance. 

Instead, it paid for ads featuring the elected commissioner – which critics said were intended to raise his profile for a potential run for governor – and donated to charities with no connection to quakes, including the Skillz Athletic sports camp attended by his children. 

SACRAMENTO — Sacramento County supervisors Tuesday approved a preliminary pact with the East Bay Municipal Utilities District that could end a decades-old dispute over American River water rights. 

The county, the district, the city of Sacramento and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will spend six months working out details of the agreement to build and operate a joint pumping station to take water from the Sacramento River near Freeport. 

The dispute dates to a 1970 federal agreement giving the East Bay district the right to take nearly 49 billion gallons of water annually from the American River for its 1.2 million customers. Environmental organizations, along with Sacramento officials, successfully fought the district with a series of lawsuits, claiming the diversion would hurt recreation and fishing. 

Under the new agreement, the utility would pump up to 100 million gallons a day from the Sacramento River and divert it to the Folsom South Canal through a new pipeline. 

Sacramento County would take up to 70 million gallons a day for the southern part of the county, and the city of Sacramento 10 million to 15 million gallons a day for residents in the southern part of the city. 

The cost of the project will depend on size of the pipeline, said Keith Devore, the county’s water resources director. The county and city also will build a joint water treatment plant nearby, he said. 

Environmentalists want to make sure the diversion doesn’t hurt the Sacramento River or the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in dry years, said Jim Jones, who filed the first lawsuit 27 years ago on behalf of the Save the American River Association. 

“We have a lot of hard work ahead,” Jones said. However, he added, “I feel good about this.” 

The agreement comes after eight months of talks. Details were hashed out during a meeting last month in the Washington, D.C., offices of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. 

The utility district board will consider the preliminary agreement at a Jan. 23 meeting. 

SACRAMENTO — California declared another electricity emergency Tuesday as several plants fell short of natural gas and its two largest utilities edged perilously close to insolvency. 

State power regulators declared a Stage 3 power alert, anticipating electricity reserves below 1.5 percent for the second time in less than a week. 

Rolling blackouts were avoided after huge state pumps that move water from Northern California to the south were turned off temporarily, conserving enough electricity to power 600,000 homes, said Kellan Fluckiger, chief operating officer of the Independent System Operator. 

But imports were running about half of what they were last week, when California narrowly avoided blackouts, Fluckiger said. Then, about 4,200 megawatts was coming into the system from elsewhere, mostly the Pacific Northwest. 

On Tuesday, imports were running about 2,200 megawatts, he said. The Folsom-based ISO manages about 80 percent of the state’s electrical transmission lines. 

In Sacramento, the Legislature pondered a rescue plan in which the state would buy electricity from wholesalers and sell it to utilities at a reduced rate, perhaps a fifth of the going market rate, under long-term contracts. An Assembly committee approved it Tuesday afternoon; the full Assembly was to consider it Tuesday night. 

The legislative action came as Southern California Edison declared itself unable to pay hundreds of millions in wholesale electricity bills, and SoCal Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. took another hit on Wall Street. 

SoCal Edison, which serves 11 million people, said it cannot pay $596 million in bills for wholesale energy and debt service, including $215 million to the California Power Exchange. 

The Power Exchange was considering whether to make the utility buy its power elsewhere and an electricity supplier threatened to force SoCal Edison into bankruptcy if it failed to pay its bills. 

The exchange, or “PX,” is the official clearinghouse of electrical power bought and sold in California. SoCal Edison’s decision gave the exchange, created by California’s 1996 deregulation law, the authority to seize Edison’s contracts to satisfy the debt. 

The PX could take over Edison contracts and sell them if the utility failed to post an immediate sum, perhaps $1 billion, with the PX, exchange spokesman Jesus Arredondo said. 

“They aren’t likely to do that if they don’t have the $215 million. So the scenario is that we begin the proceeding of determining what requirements for collateral we have,” Arredondo said. “We aren’t taking over any power plants, but they do have contracts.” 

Arredondo said no decision had been made to take over any of Edison’s contracts or any other assets. 

“The situation is very fluid. Negotiations are continuing,” he added. 

The default prompted Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the credit ratings of SoCal Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to junk-bond status. 

S&P said SoCal Edison’s delinquency also tainted PG&E. With just $500 million in cash left as of Jan. 10, PG&E faces due dates on bills totaling $1 billion during the first two weeks of February. 

“The downgrades reflect the heightened probability to the utility’s imminent insolvency and the resulting negative financial implications for affiliated companies,” the credit-rating agency said of PG&E. 

PG&E, restructured with the approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to insulate assets in the event of a bankruptcy, faces a $580 million bill on Feb. 1, a bill similar to that owed by SoCal Edison.  

PG&E has about $500 million in cash on hand. 

Between them, PG&E and SoCal Edison have lost at least $10 billion in wholesale energy costs that they have not been able to pass on to their customers because of a rate freeze imposed as the state phases in deregulation. 

California’s electricity crisis began this spring after San Diego Gas and Electric Co., its rate freeze lifted, began passing on the increased costs of wholesale electricity to its 1.2 million customers, whose bills doubled and tripled. 

The utility was the first to complete the transition to deregulation under the 1996 law, which took effect in January 1998. 

Under deregulation, investor-owned monopoly utilities were required to sell of their power plants and buy energy on the open market.  

The idea was to lower prices through competition, and have the utilities pass on those savings to customers. 

But wholesale electricity prices rose dramatically since June, in part of because of a hot summer and a cold winter. In 1999, they averaged perhaps 3.5 cents a kilowatt. Now, they are running about 30 cents, and sometimes far higher. 

State officials believe power producers exploited flaws in the market and charged huge prices for wholesale electricity. 

Demand has remained high, supplies are strapped because no new power plants have been built in the state in a decade and imports are tight because others states are fighting over the power. 

In addition, spiraling prices for natural gas are forcing power plants to raise their prices; most power plants are fired by natural gas. 

On the Net: 

California Independent System Operator: http://www.caiso.com

SANTA CLARA — Giant semiconductor manufacturer Intel Corp. eased past Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings, but warned of an uncertain near future given the slowing economy. 

Helped by strong investment gains, Intel reported income for the quarter ending Dec. 30 of $2.2 billion, or 32 cents per share. Excluding acquisition-related costs, income was $2.6 billion, or 38 cents per share, up from $2.4 billion, or 36 cents per share, in the year-ago period, the company said Tuesday. 

Analysts were expecting comparable results this quarter of 37 cents per share, according to a survey by First Call/Thomson Financial. 

Revenue for the quarter was $8.70 billion, compared to $8.21 billion in the year-ago period. 

Shares of Intel finished regular trading down 75 cents to $31.38 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In after-hours trading, shares crept up to $31.94. 

“This was a year of record annual revenue and earnings; yet, slowing economic conditions impacted fourth-quarter growth and are causing near-term uncertainty,” said Craig R. Barrett, president and chief executive officer. 

As a result, Intel officials said they expect first quarter revenue to decline by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter, though they maintained a positive outlook. 

“We’re trying to invest to ensure that we can increase the differentiation from our competitors,” Intel chief financial officer Andy Bryant said in an interview. “But when the economy turns up, we’ll have the products that consumers will want.” 

Intel, which serves as a bellwether of the general health of the personal computer industry, had joined other PC makers in December in lowering its earnings forecasts, saying poor PC sales worldwide would lead to flat growth for the fourth quarter. 

“They’re going to be held up by the same downside of the economy that PC makers are struggling with,” said industry analyst Jack Gold of the Meta Group. “The issue is, what else do they (Intel) have on the horizon to make up for the downturn in PCs? The answer is: not a whole lot.” 

Added analyst Jonathan Joseph of Salomon Smith Barney: “The outlook is fairly somber. But it does tell us something we already know – that the PC market is fairly weak.” 

On the Net: www.intc.com

Palm Inc. chief technical officer resigns position 

SANTA CLARA — The chief technology officer of leading handheld device maker Palm Inc. has resigned, company officials said Tuesday. 

Bill Maggs resigned late Monday “to pursue outside opportunities related to the next phase of the Internet,” company spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said. “He’s helped us identify a terrific roadmap and exceptional technology choices.” 

A replacement has not been named. Maggs has not made his specific plans public but will continue to consult with Palm for an undetermined period of time. The resignation comes as the Santa Clara-based company prepares to release a new operating system for personal digital assistants and increases efforts to license the Palm OS to other mobile device makers. 

Unsold goods pile up, show economy is weaker 

WASHINGTON — Inventories of unsold goods at U.S. companies piled up in November as sales fell for the second straight month, adding to mounting evidence of a slumping economy. 

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that stockpiles of goods on shelves and backlots nationwide rose by 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted $1.22 trillion in November. Sales dropped by 0.3 percent to $896.3 billion. 

The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures how long it would take businesses to exhaust their inventories at November’s sales pace, rose to 1.36 months, the highest since April 1999. 

Number of TV stations owned by minorities drops 

WASHINGTON — The number of television stations owned by minorities has dipped to the lowest level in at least a decade, while minority ownership of radio stations increased slightly in the past two years. 

The Commerce Department report highlighted the impact that industry consolidation and limited access to investment capital have had on ownership diversity. Separately, a federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out rules requiring broadcasters and cable companies to widely disseminate information about their job opportunities in an effort to reach more minorities and women. 

Companies, Feds team up to catch computer hackers 

WASHINGTON — Nineteen of the nation’s top technology firms – including archrivals Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM – have teamed up with the federal government to catch hackers. 

The competitors vowed to share intelligence with each other about product vulnerabilities and hacker trends in order to shore up public confidence in e-commerce and protect the over $7 billion in business-to-business revenue over the Internet. 

NEW YORK — Investors awaiting the release of Intel’s earnings took some bets on blue chip stocks Tuesday, but otherwise traded cautiously in high-tech and Internet sectors. 

When Intel released its results after the market closed, Wall Street’s reaction was muted. After reporting better-than-expected earnings but predicting tough months ahead, the chip maker’s stock held steady – as did PC makers Dell and Gateway. 

Analysts said the reaction suggested that the market had already priced in the effect the decelerating economy would have on Intel’s price. 

With fourth-quarter earnings reports beginning, Wall Street spent the session focused on earnings outlooks rather than specific quarterly results, which in many cases have already been factored into stock prices. 

Pharmaceutical and manufacturing stocks advanced, while technology issues languished on concerns about what Intel’s earnings forecast would look like. 

“We would expect to see investors rotate away from technology stocks, leading up to a major bellwether announcement like Intel’s,” said Matt Brown, head of equity management at Wilmington Trust. “The tone on technology has been negative for awhile. No one knows how deep this slowdown is going to be and Intel’s forecast may give us a better idea of what to expect.” But investors appeared unsure of how to react when Intel’s news finally came, sending shares as high 

Intel traded up to $32 in after-hours trading, after finishing down 75 cents to $31.38. The chip maker’s fourth-quarter results beat analyst estimates by a penny, but the company warned that first-quarter revenues will be down 15 percent because of the soft economy and seasonal factors. 

“Everyone knew that they were going to say the first quarter was going to be bad,” said Gary Kaltbaum, a technical analyst at JW Genesis. “All the bad news had already been built into Intel’s stock price. But there was no good news in this report to make the stock go up.” 

After reviewing a case in which police officers pepper sprayed a mentally disturbed man, the Police Review Commission has recommended the department call mental health specialists when dealing with similar situations in the future.  

The City Council will consider the recommendation at tonight’s regular meeting. The case came before the PRC after a man with a history of mental illness was arrested by police in the north Berkeley area. To restrain the man, police used both pepper spray and physical force.  

After reviewing the case, the PRC determined the situation could of been handled in a more humane and sensitive fashion if the Berkeley Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team had been present. The PRC unanimously approved the recommendation in May with commissioners David Ritchie and Jackie DeBose absent. 

“This is something I would guess the police do as a matter of routine anyway,” said Councilmember Polly Armstrong, a former member of the PRC. “When I was on the commission, the police were eager to call the mental crisis unit.” 

The PRC said in its three-page recommendation that the Mobile Crisis Team does in fact respond to many such requests from police but suggests they “be called to assist in all cases involving mentally disturbed persons.” 

The Mobile Crisis Team is on call from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the recommendation is designed to make sure police use extreme caution with disturbed suspects. 

“What they’re proposing is very small steps to ensure the police department is sensitive to the needs of people who are mentally ill,” he said. “And certainly having social workers do social work is more effective than having police do it.” 

Due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, police department spokespeople did not return calls to the Daily Planet yesterday. 

The PRC also recommended the police department re-train officers in pepper spray use and the fire department and the Alameda County Emergency Medical Services develop protocol for assisting people who have been pepper sprayed. 

The City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The meeting will also be broadcast on KPFB Radio 89.3 and Cable B-TV channel 25. 

Tuesday, Jan. 16

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 531-8664 

“Travel as Pilgrimage” 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore  

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose)  

Various travel writers discuss the spiritual aspects of travel. Free 

Call 843-3533  

Avalanche Safety Course  

6 - 9:30 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Dick Penniman, internationally known avalanche instructor and consultant, presents a slide lecture and video presentation on the fundamentals of avalanches and rescue techniques.  

$20 (877) SNO-SAFE 

Berkeley Intelligent  

Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

This twice-monthly group seeks to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is the role of the U.S. in global politics and priorities. Call 527-9772  

Disabled American Veterans, 

Chapter #25 Meeting  

7 p.m.  

Peking Express Restaurant  

2068 Center St.  

Call 916-372-8364 

Wednesday, Jan. 17

Berkeley Communicators  

Toastmasters 

7:15 p.m. 

Vault Restaurant  

3250 Adeline St.  

Learn to speak fluently without fear or hesitation.  

Call Howard Linnard, 527-2337 

Your Justice System at Work 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

West Oakland Senior Center  

1724 Adeline St.  

Judges of the Superior Court, attorneys, probation officers, sheriff’s officers and other justice system representatives will be present to hear the concerns of the public and to answer their questions.  

Call 268-7610 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Environmental Sampling  

Project Task Force  

6:30 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

of Berkeley 

2345 Channing Way  

Discussions will include the Berkeley Lab responses to comments on the Tritium sampling and analysis plan.  

Genetically Modified Food Teach-In and Strategy Session 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Teach-in led by the Genetic Engineering Education Network, followed by a general strategy session and discussion of upcoming events by the Organic Consumers Association Organizer Simon Harris, Ecology Center’s Steve Evans, and other local activists.  

Call 548-2220 x239 

Thursday, Jan. 18

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicity,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Ayodele Nzinga and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Combating Congestion  

1 - 5 p.m. 

Pauley Ballroom 

Student Union Building  

UC Berkeley 

A one-day transportation conference featuring Martin Wachs and Elizabeth Deakin, both of UC Berkeley. Co-sponsored by the Institute of Transportation Studies and the UC Transportation Center.  

Call 642-1474  

Become Berkeley City Smart 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore  

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose)  

In a slide presentation & talk, Berkeley resident, restaurant and movie critic John Weil takes attendees on a unique tour through the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Berkeley and Oakland. Free 

Call 843-3533  

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 25 Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Veterans Memorial Building  

1931 Center St.  

Any woman who has had a relative serve in the U.S. military is invited to attend and join the auxiliary. 916-372-8364 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Journey Across China 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Eugene Tsiang, Shanghai native, will give a slide presentation on his two-month journey last spring by train and four-wheel drive vehicle across China’s Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang Provinces. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us  

Friday, Jan. 19

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

“Evidence-Based Practice - How it May Effect You” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon 

12:30 p.m. speaker  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Eileen Gambrill, professor in the department of social welfare at UC Berkeley with speak. 

$11 - $12.25 with luncheon, $1 with coffee, students free  

848-3533 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Saturday, Jan. 20

On Death & Dying 

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Buddhist Temple  

2121 Channing Way (between Shattuck & Fulton)  

Kathleen Gustin, Zen priest, and Rev. Ronald Nakasone of the Graduate Theological Union speak at this workshop designed to help those considering their own ending or that of loved ones.  

$20 per person (box lunch included) 

Call Ken Kaji, 601-5394 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Corinne Innis Reception 

5 - 7 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave.  

Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings.  

Call 548-9286 

Free Tae-Bo Classes for Adults  

10 - 10:45 a.m.  

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park 

2800 Park St.  

Call 644-8515 

Free Martial Arts Classes for Kids  

11:15 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Community Center  

San Pablo Park  

2800 Park St.  

Classes taught by Michael Johnson, a fourth degree black belt. Ages 5 - 7, 11:15 a.m. - Noon; Ages 8 - 12, 12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.; Ages 13 to adults, 1:15 p.m. - 2 p.m. 

644-8515 

Building And Remodeling 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Glen Kitzenberger discusses what homeowners need to know before building or remodeling. Skip Wenz discusses the pros and cons of building an addition. Free 

Call 525-7610 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave.  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe, includes puppets with such conditions as cerebral palsy, blindness and Down syndrome.  

Bengal Basin Seminar 

3 p.m. 

Warren Hall, Room 22 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Third International India Bangladesh Symposium for reducing the impact of toxic chemicals on the Bengal Basin. With World Poet Rabindranath Tagore.  

Call 841-3253 

Sunday, Jan. 21

Live Oak Concert 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St.  

The music of J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi played by the trio of Marvin Sanders, flute, Becky Lyman, harpsichord, and Alexander Kort, cello.  

$8 - $10  

Call 644-6893 

Saying No To Power 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Bill Mandel, author and activist talks about his new book.  

$4 - $5  

848-0237 

Single Parents and Step & Blended 

Family Interfaith Fellowship 

4 - 6 p.m. 

Beth El Synagogue  

2301 Vine St. (at Spruce)  

An interfaith and very open group that welcomes parents and their children of all affiliations and orientations. This meetings discussion topics will be a supportive and advice oriented look at dating.  

Monday, Jan. 22

Berkeley Rail Stop Community  

Design Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center  

1900 Sixth St.  

The public is invited to suggest ideas and comment on plans for design-development at the rail stop/transit plaza area of West Berkeley.  

Call 644-6580 

Urban Homelessness  

& Public Policy Solutions 

9 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Alumni House  

UC Berkeley  

This day-long conference will include key scholars, service providers, and policymakers in the homelessness field. Some of the subjects to be covered will be: Homeless population dynamics and policy implications, health issues in homelessness, and legal and political issues in homelessness. Free and open to the public.  

For more info, visit: http://urbanpolicy.berkeley.edu/homeless.htm 

Building or Remodeling? 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Glen Kitzenberger discusses what you need to know before building or remodeling. 

Call 525-7610 

If you’re angry, do something about it 

Editor:  

I am a recovered liberal. There are many reasons why I am a recovered liberal, but I guess the most obvious one is that I feel that the whole idea of liberalism simply doesn’t work.  

About ten years ago, when I was on welfare in upstate New York, I was walking with my friend Allen and we were talking about a certain woman who lived in my building.  

She, like me, was on welfare. Unlike me, she had a son who had a variety of behavior problems due to her ex-boyfriend molesting him. This woman, who I will call Mary, came from a very dysfunctional background. Mary herself had been the victim of incest along with many of her brothers and sisters.  

As my friend, Allen, and I were walking along I had casually mentioned that I felt sorry for Mary. My friend Allen went on the offensive by saying, “Nancy, how is feeling sorry for her benefiting her?” He then went on to say how arrogant and presumptuous I was to say that about another human being.  

I became immediately angry and defensive. Remember, I was a liberal then. I went through the whole liberal monologue of saying things like:  

“What do you mean I am not helping her!,” “What could I do for her?” and “I’m in the same boat as she’s in!” The last one was not true.  

I didn’t agree with Allen and was offended that he thought I was being unkind, but I kept turning what he said over and over in my mind. Especially the phrase, “How is feeling sorry for her benefiting her?”  

Much to my chagrin, I had to get really honest with myself and admit that it didn’t benefit her or anyone else for that matter. An amazing thing happened. I actually changed my behavior and mentality; what a concept! 

The next time I saw Mary, I offered to baby-sit for her. The next time I headed to the grocery store I stopped by her apartment to see if she needed anything. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t.  

After awhile I noticed something profound. My feelings of sorrow dissipated. The relationship we now had resembled a friendship. Even though we were not intellectually compatible, we could still benefit from one another’s company. Sometimes, all she needed was someone who would just listen to her talk about her past trials and tribulations.  

When I was a liberal, my mentality when I heard something tragic on the news was: “But somebody should do something!” or “That’s not my problem.”  

My point is that it is not enough to feel compassion for people on welfare or the homeless or inner-city youth. You must do something. And before you can use the overused liberal excuse of “But I don’t have time!” know that you do have time. You have time to watch crappy television shows, gossip about people at work, talk about the latest celebrity wedding or baby, and be in yet another co-dependent relationship.  

You could just as easily eliminate any or all of these things that don’t benefit anyone, especially yourself, and do any one of the following: donate blood, help an overworked single parent by offering to baby-sit, clean out your clothes closet and donate all the things you never wear to charity, offer to clean an elderly persons apartment for free, run an errand for someone who doesn’t have a car, volunteer for a nonprofit, buy a new pillow for a homeless person.  

Are you angry that the world has gone to hell in a hand basket? Are you angry enough to do something about it? If not, then maybe you’re not that angry.  

Nancy Muldoon 

San Francisco 

Just say no to Donald Rumsfield 

Dear Editor: 

Donald Rumsfeld must not be confirmed for Secretary of Defense. He 

harbors a single-minded compulsion to expand and deploy the National Missile Defense system, usually referred to as “Star Wars.” 

This project reflects a backward-looking mentality, yearning for the days of the Cold War, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were racing to see who could build the most missiles capable of destroying all life on earth. Star Wars was expensive, wasteful, dangerous, and impractical then, and even moreso now, when no nuclear nation threatens us. I believe Rumsfeld’s real agenda is to funnel billions of dollars back into defense industries. This is bad fiscally because is drains resources from more productive uses in the economy. This is a bad politically because it reverses three decades of international treaties to reduce nuclear stockpiles. It is bad ecologically because even accidental discharge of these weapons would wreak terrible havoc on the environment. 

Rumsfeld was nominated for the post because President-designate Bush campaigned on the issue of deploying Star Wars. That is precisely the reason why the Senate should reject Rumsfeld. The Senate doesn’t need a “nannygate” excuse when the majority of the Americans whose votes were counted voted against Bush, and his father’s failed policies. 

Bruce Joffe 

Oakland 

Bush Presidency is like Mexico’s election debacle 

Dear Editor:  

Allow me to explain why I will protest the George W. Bush inauguration on January 20. My role as election observer in Mexico from 1994 to 2000 educated me to the many degrees of legitimacy and illegitimacy possible in an election. As official foreign observer for the 1994 Mexican presidential election, I witnessed physical intimidation of the opposition, ballot box stealing, and the shock of seeing computers in the State of Veracruz vote return center that had cables going through newly punched holes in the wall into a building next door. Return center authorities told me the building was abandoned and that no one was permitted to enter.  

In 1994, the new Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo was sworn in amidst some grumbling, but also with much denial, and with talk of how the electoral results must be accepted for peace and to keep the country functioning.  

Between 1995 and 2000, I timed history research trips to Mexico to coincide with state elections for which I observed the process. With each passing year the campaigning and voting appeared less manipulated, there was increased media openness toward opposition parties, and there seemed to be less fear among the populace in publicly supporting an opposition party. Finally, on July 2, 2000 I saw a presidential election that I had to conclude was essentially open and fair. To me, Mexico had become a democracy.  

Then I experienced November 7, 2000 in the U.S. While it appears that the extent of the fraud in the decisive state of Florida did not appear to match 1994 in Mexico, it did appear to be at the 1995 or 1996 levels.  

That is not legitimate enough. I consider my country no longer be a democracy. I must protest this situation. That is what I saw some people do in Mexico in 1994.  

Theodore G. Vincent  

Berkeley 

The writer is the author of “Black Power and the Garvey Movement” and the forthcoming “The Legacy of Guerrero: First Black Indian President of Mexico.” 

About 70 parents and community members came together Monday to challenge the boundaries of the possible and save 250 struggling Berkeley High School freshmen.  

The “stone soup” event was organized by Parents of Children of African Descent, a group of parents concerned about the high failure rate of African American students, in particular the 50 percent of African-American ninth graders that are failing one or more classes during their first semester of high school. 

Stone soup refers to a meal where everyone brings one ingredient to create soup for the community. These parents want Berkeley to provide each of the components of an intervention plan to help the ninth-graders, of all ethnicities, struggling to succeed. 

They want to provide each student with a “learning partner” who will keep the student on task and hold him accountable for every assignment. They want kids who are struggling in Algebra to have double math classes and they want literacy classes for students reading below grade level. They want counselors, volunteer tutors and student mentors.  

And they want it all by January 30, the beginning of the next semester. 

The proposal sounds impossible, but parent Katrina Scott-George urged Berkeley to make the impossible happen. 

“It’s impossible that parents came together over winter break to create a 20-page plan. It’s impossible that we organized this event in a week. It’s impossible that Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa,” she told the audience made up of parents, local politicians and supportive community members. “It is not impossible to work with 250 kids that are failing and help them succeed.” 

Parents cited statistics from the Class of 2000 to prove the urgency of their point: The number of African-Americans in prison has quadrupled, while the number in higher education has only risen 29 percent; Of 272 African-Americans in one Berkeley High class, 113 had a grade point average below 2.0, compared to 22 of the 286 white students who had a similarly low GPA. 

Parents want the community to understand that these figures represent a crisis. But, said parent Arnold Perkins, “crisis means opportunity.” 

Recognizing that creating a resource intensive project would require vast amounts of community support, parents hoped to turn it over to the Berkeley community, urging it to take care of its youth. 

Community members, including members of the school board and city council came out in droves to offer resources and ideas. 

John Selawsky, director on the Board of Education, said, “I think It’s a great proposal. I think it’s really really important that it be implemented as much as possible as soon as possible.”  

He said hiring personnel to fill the various teaching and counseling positions as the biggest obstacle to implementing the proposal. But, he said, that there were certain problems that could be solved without money, like tightening attendance policies.  

Sheila Jordan, Alameda County superintendent, felt that many existing resources can be targeted towards the parents’ plan to make a significant difference. She said that canvassing the community, UC Berkeley, local nonprofits and already existing school programs is the best way to find resources to focus on the students. 

“Everything is not in terms of dollars, it’s hard to ask for money,”Jordan said. “But if you have resources out there, they can be directed to the project.” 

Ninth-grader Bradley Johnson supported the parent’s efforts, but said that even a community of adults needs extra support.  

“ I think the next step is to get some of the students involved,” he said. “If you approach a problem from all sides, it’s easier to kill it.” 

Johnson said students can help address student culture – one of the major issues affecting student’s efforts to succeed.  

“It’s going to take peer pressure,” he said. “One way of getting peer pressure is getting some of the leaders in the cliques at Berkeley High School to sign on. If you reach out to a small number of students the rest will follow.” 

Most importantly luncheon attendees felt overwhelmingly positive about the excitement and giving spirit. In two hours, the group raised $2,000 for the students and received a large stack of pink, blue and green letters, where community members wrote down their offers of volunteer hours and support.  

Selawsky felt that the community energy represented a challenge to the city wide institutions to examine the education disparity. “It’s a kick in the pants to a lot of business as usual,” he said. 

Members of Parents of Children of African Descent prided themselves on providing the pants-kicking.  

“We wanted to demonstrate that we, as African-American parents, care about our kids,” said parent Valerie Yerger. “We are taking responsibility – individually and collectively.” 

The length of the line outside bookstores on Bancroft Way Monday was clear indication that classes were beginning at the University of California today. A worker at one store across from the campus expected crowds throughout the week and said the best time to avoid a line is as early as 8:30 a.m.

A recommendation from Mayor Shirley Dean requesting that PG&E implement a power-reduction plan for Berkeley residents and businesses will be tabled, said Councilmember Linda Maio. 

The recommendation called for the California Public Utilities Commission to require PG&E to set a goal for conservation of electricity and gas consumption and to notify each energy customer with specific methods of reducing energy use. 

Maio said she will pull the item from the agenda because the city, rather than PG&E, should be conducting a public awareness campaign to reduce energy use.  

“We should be responsible for our own public awareness campaign,” Maio said. “We can’t just can’t give the ball to PG&E.” 

Maio suggested the city make use of the existing recycling program to distribute information about energy reduction. She also said that the city should be working with legislators to initiate a statewide reduction program similar to those currently under way in Washington and Oregon states. 

Dean’s recommendation also called for an investigation into creating a Berkeley Power Authority for purchasing low-cost electricity and financing conversions to alternative energy sources like solar power.  

Dean is currently in Washington, D.C., attending the annual Conference of Mayors and will not attend tonight’s council meeting. 

Smoke shop moratorium 

There are two tobacco shop moratoriums on the agenda for tonight’s meeting. One is from Councilmembers Dona Spring and Margaret Breland, the other from Mayor Shirley Dean.  

Both recommendations were spawned by the recent opening of the University Smoke and Gift Shop on Durant Avenue, which Dean’s recommendation said was mistakenly given a zoning certificate. The owners of the shop also have a shop on University Avenue, near Shattuck Avenue and are in the process of opening two more, one on Shattuck near the UA Theater and the other near the 7-11 on College Avenue. 

Both items call for an immediate emergency moratorium on smoke shops. Dean’s recommendation calls for the city attorney to draft an permanent ordinance regulating the opening of new shops that are “substantially devoted to the sale of tobacco and tobacco products.” 

Massage Parlor Moratorium 

Councilmember Dona Spring has put a recommendation on the agenda calling for a moratorium on massage parlors on University Avenue.  

Spring said in her recommendation that there are already four massage parlors on the busy street and residents in the area want the city to encourage more neighborhood-serving businesses. 

Transit Shelters  

The council is expected to authorize the city manager to finalize a contract with and advertising agency to build 125 bus shelters that will display advertisements. 

The arrangement is part of a larger agreement between LAMAR Transit Advertising in which the agency will build “advertising shelters” in seven cities. Berkeley is the only remaining city to finalize the deal. 

In addition to the shelters, the city of Berkeley will receive a percentage of advertising revenue estimated to be about $46,000 per year. LAMAR will be responsible for building and maintaining the shelters. 

Sewer repairs 

Councilmember Betty Olds has recommended the city manager make sewer line repairs within 100 feet of all creeks.  

Olds’s recommendation cites a overflow near Codornices Creek last month in which a sewer line became clogged from tree-root infiltration. The result was “gallons of polluted overflow went directly into the creek.” 

Olds calls for older pipes to be replace with PVC pipe, which is resistant to roots. There was no estimate of cost included in the recommendation. 

SAN JOSE — 3Com Corp., a struggling maker of computer network equipment, said Monday it plans to lay off workers as part of a plan to save at least $200 million a year. 

3Com, which has been hurt by a slowdown in spending from telecommunications companies, plans to decide by the end of February how many job cuts will be necessary, spokesman Mike MeCey said. 3Com employs 11,500 people worldwide. 

“We’re not taking this decision lightly,” he said. “The company is in the process of determining where the savings can be achieved.” 

Santa Clara-based 3Com also will trim travel spending and other discretionary costs, find ways to save money on manufacturing and purchasing and might sell off plant equipment and property, MeCey said. 

All that is in addition to 3Com’s plans, announced last month, to create a wholly owned subsidiary that will build networks for enhanced voice and data services over the Internet – what are known as IP services. 

3Com will take a charge of $40 million to $60 million in this quarter to institute the restructuring. The company expects the changes will save $200 million to $225 million per year. 

3Com has not turned a profit since it spun off its division that makes the popular Palm line of handheld computers last year. CEO Bruce Claflin said last month the company hopes to get back into the black in the first quarter of fiscal 2002, which ends this August.  

Wall Street is expecting the same. 

3Com shares lost 31 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $10.38 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday, the last day of trading before the announcement.

Steve Goldstone, named interim superintendent of the Berkeley Unified School District Wednesday night, said he may be interested in becoming the full-time superintendent even though he came out of retirement to take the job. 

“That door is being kept open by the district,” he said. “We’ll see if there’s a fit.” 

Goldstone’s three page resume includes 20 years as superintendent at five school districts throughout California.  

He began his career as a teacher at the Santa Monica and Los Angeles Unified School Districts in 1964.  

Most recently, he served five years as superintendent in the Vallejo City Unified School District. Goldstone, 62, retired in August last year. 

District officials have been looking for a replacement for current superintendent Jack McLaughlin after he accepted a position as Nevada’s state superintendent of schools Dec. 13.  

Mclaughlin will hand his office keys to Goldstone at the end of this month.  

Goldstone said his first order of business will be to learn more about the needs of the people in the school district. 

“It’s always been my style to have a lot of meetings so we can share our ideas,” he said.  

“I have a slogan I like to follow and that’s, ‘Working together for the success of all students.’ ”

The trial of a San Francisco police officer charged with assaulting a Berkeley woman during a domestic incident during which he allegedly bound her hands with a nylon strap began in Oakland Superior Court Tuesday, as prosecution and defense lawyers met privately with the judge to discuss evidence. 

Michael Cardoza, the lawyer for 52-year-old San Francisco motorcycle officer James McKeever, said Tuesday he would ask Oakland Superior Court Judge Carlos G. Ynostroza to exclude evidence that McKeever was involved in a separate assault in Texas shortly after the alleged Berkeley incident. 

McKeever was arrested at a home on Seventh Street in west Berkeley in August after police responding to a 911 call discovered McKeever’s one-time girlfriend with a broken tooth and her hands tied behind her back.  

He was charged with battery and false imprisonment.  

Two weeks later, McKeever was allegedly involved in a separate assault on his stepdaughter at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. He was charged with felony assault on a child by Texas authorities.  

Cardoza said the Texas incident was not relevant to the trial set to begin in Oakland.  

"There’s no reason to introduce it but to prejudice the jury," Cardoza said. "What does it have to do with this?"  

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Tara Desautels declined to comment on the case Tuesday, citing the possibility that the court might impose a gag order on the jury.  

Fort Worth attorney Carole Kerr, who is representing McKeever in the Texas case, did not return calls. 

The DA is expected to argue that testimony about the Texas incident is relevant and should not be kept from the jury.  

Although the 36-year-old, woman who police say was assaulted by McKeever, appeared in Berkeley Superior Court for a hearing in the case in October, her name has been deleted from court documents to protect her privacy.  

The woman told the Daily Planet in October that she is active in Berkeley politics and community affairs.  

She said she and McKeever, who is married, have had an on-and-off relationship for several years.  

Cardoza said he intends to show that the alleged victim in the Berkeley incident was actually responsible for the altercation that led to the charges against McKeever. 

"I’ve got two witnesses that say this woman is emotionally unbalanced, that she has attacked McKeever on other occasions," he said.  

McKeever told Berkeley police after his arrest that the woman slapped and kicked him, and he tried to restrain her. According to a police report, McKeever outweighs the woman by about 100 pounds and is nearly a foot taller than her.  

McKeever, who has served on the San Francisco police force for 26 years, was suspended by Chief of Police Fred Lau in September pending an investigation by the Police Commission into the incidents. McKeever was reinstated but has been reassigned to a desk job.  

Dressed in a black suit, McKeever waited alone in an otherwise deserted sixth floor courtroom in downtown Oakland Tuesday morning, while lawyers for the defense and prosecution met in the judge’s chambers.  

Lawyers in the case said they expect to begin picking a jury Tuesday and that testimony in the case would begin later this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Nestles SA deal includes takeover of Ralston Purina 

NEW YORK — Ralston Purina Co. has reportedly accepted a $10.1 billion takeover offer from Nestle SA, the Swiss food giant whose products include the Friskies and Alpo pet food brands. 

The deal is expected to be announced Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. 

Nestle will pay $33.50 for each share of Ralston, a 36 percent premium to the St. Louis-based company’s closing stock price Friday of $24.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Nestle and Ralston Purina on Monday refused to comment on reports that a deal was in the works. 

Motorola lays off workers to help increase profits 

CHICAGO — Struggling Motorola Inc. said Monday it is halting cellular-phone manufacturing at its plant in Harvard, Ill., and laying off about 2,500 workers in an effort to improve sagging profits. 

The announcement came less than a week after the Schaumburg, Ill.-based tech giant, which also is a leading semiconductor manufacturer, pledged more cost-cutting measures in 2001 to try to revive its slumping cellphone business. 

The approximately 2,500 manufacturing jobs being eliminated represent nearly 2 percent of its work force of 130,000. 

Motorola said in a statement that the move is “part of a long-term, company-wide strategy to improve supply-chain efficiencies, consolidate manufacturing, improve financial performance and build on company strengths.” 

Intel prepared to acquire computer gear company 

SANTA CLARA — Chip-making giant Intel Corp. has agreed to acquire Xircom Inc., a maker of mobile computing gear, for about $748 million, the companies said Monday. 

The acquisition, expected to be completed by the end of March, will supplement Intel’s desktop computer and server-based business, Intel officials said. 

Xircom, based in Thousand Oaks, makes network adapters, modems, and cards that connect mobile computers to local or corporate networks and the Internet. The company, which has 1,900 employees worldwide and generated $492 million in revenue last year, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel.