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News

Power crisis contributes to schools budget woes

By Ben LumpkinSpecial to The Daily Planet
Monday February 26, 2001

Skyrocketing energy costs, teacher pay raises and growing enrollments are just a few reasons the Berkeley Unified School District is facing a budget crunch in the fiscal year beginning July 1, according to a financial report released last week. 

The district could face a shortfall of nearly $5 million, according to a first estimate of the fiscal 2002 budget presented to the district board Wednesday. The board has scheduled a special meeting for March 5 to consider ways to pare back next year’s budget.  

District Interim Superintendent Steve Goldstone said the numbers represent a “worst case scenario” and are likely to improve before the final 2002 budget is presented to the board in June.  

Since 85 percent of the district’s funding comes from the state, much of the estimates are based on a preliminary state budget issued last month, Goldstone said.  

The state budget numbers have a history of improving as the date of their implementation nears, he added. In the current year, the budget proposed by Gov. Gray Davis last January grew by several billion dollars before it was implemented last summer, Goldstone said.  

But things might not turn out so well this year because of budget pressures generated by California’s energy crisis, Goldstone said. 

The district has watched its own expenditures for natural gas double during the current year and expects another 100 percent increase next year, Goldstone said. Electricity costs for the district could climb by as much as 50 percent next year, according to financial report. 

In the year 2000, the district budgeted $1.9 million for utilities expenses — including electricity, water, sewage, gas and garbage services. Next year it expects to spend $2.8 million for utilities.  

“That’s the big surprise right now,” said John Selawsky, board director. 

Selawsky said it was not unusual for the district to face multi-million dollar shortfalls in the first budget estimate, but added that this year’s numbers made him “a little nervous.” 

Selawsky said the district is facing higher health care premiums for its employees and higher salary expenses as a result of a new teachers union contract. A parcel tax created to fund smaller class sizes is no longer generating enough money to meet the district’s class size reduction needs, he added.  

“As teachers salaries increase and overhead increases ... we can fund fewer and fewer teachers out of that pool of money,” Selawsky said. 

While the district has reduced class sizes to a maximum of 20 students from kindergarten through third grade, it has yet to meet its goal of limiting higher elementary school grade classes to 25 students and secondary classes to 27 students. 

If the current numbers don’t improve, Goldstone said, the board will have to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to meet its class size reduction goals next year. 

Goldstone said the district is already looking at several ways to cut this year’s expenses to help reduce the shortfalls in next year’s budget. If employees are lost through retirement, the district may opt to leave the positions open, he said. The district’s purchases of general supplies will also be analyzed with a view to saving money. 

In the effort to balance the budget by June, Goldstone said the district will do everything it can to avoid cutting academic programs or laying employees off. 

“We want to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as we can so we don’t hurt kids,” he said.


Calendar of Events & Activities

Monday February 26, 2001

Monday, Feb. 26 

“Passages Into Aging” 

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Miriam Chaya Fields, co-producer and director, of Timbrels & Torahs, will lead in a discussion about celebrating the wisdom and inspiration of the elder years.  

$5 donation Call 549-9447 x110 

 

Black History Dance Celebration  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The Imhotet Dancers will perform. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation  

11th Annual Membership Meeting  

Rountree’s R&B Music Museum  

2618 San Pablo Ave.  

Celebrating Sunday Fourth St. Open-air Market due to open in May. 845-4106 

 

National Women’s Political  

Caucus Meeting  

5 - 7 p.m. 

2017 Stuart St. (off Adeline)  

Florence D. McDonald Community Room  

Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio will speak and ask questions. An opportunity to learn more about the NWPC.  

Tuesday, Feb. 27 

“Great Decisions” - Missile Defense  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy. $5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

City Council Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Sheryl Walton of CAT will provide an overview of the CAT and its model to the City Council and Berkeley viewers.  

 

Farmers’ Market Fat Tuesday 

Mardi Gras Celebration  

1 p.m. - Dusk 

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

With live performances by The Sons & Daughters of Orpheus and Wild Buds: West Coast Mardi Gras Band. Free and always wheelchair accessible.  

BHS Jazz Band  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A Black History celebration performance. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

Mardi Gras Improv Show  

7:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre  

1301 Shattuck Ave.  

Renowned comedians from Bay Area Theater Sports, the proceeds will benefit Good Shepard Episcopal Church in Berkeley.  

$10 - $20  

234-6586 

 

Telegraph Area Association  

9 a.m.  

TAA  

2509 Haste St.  

Discussions will include committee updates, TAA workshop, and funding/budget.  

Organizing for Public Power  

7 p.m. 

Temescal Branch  

Oakland Library, Rear Entrance  

5205 Telegraph Ave.  

Dan Berman, co-author of “Who Owns the Sun?” and advisor to Ralph Nader, Robin Davis, PG&E worker, Eugene Coyle, energy policy economist, and Gail Bateson, labor party, will discuss the electricity crisis.  

373-9219  

 

Fat Tuesday Celebration 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Peace & Justice Ministries Center 

2075 Eunice St.  

Tour the new Berkeley Peace & Justice Center after the renovations are complete. Community open house, complete with building blessing, Cajun food and jazz.  

524-1618 

Wednesday, Feb. 28  

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 

 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe founder Ron Davis and icon clown Wavy Gravy give dialogues on satire.  

$6 - $8 Call 849-2568 

 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

 

Planning Commission Public Hearing  

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The commission is holding public hearings on the Planning Commission Draft General Plan. The commission requests that all written comments on the plan be submitted by March 1. 

 

Guide Dogs for the Blind 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

T. Duncan, a low vision speaker, will talk about guide dogs. Free  

Call 644-6107 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Parent Advocacy in the BUSD 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Middle School Library 

1781 Rose St.  

Representative from various parent advocacy groups will discuss organizing strategies. Free 

558-8933 

 

Disaster Council  

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

Presentation on sheltering issues in Turkey by Doug Sandy, American Red Cross. Also, proposed budget for office for emergency services.  

 

Thursday, March 1  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Eliza Shefler and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

 

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 

 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

 

Cycling Journey  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Leo Tenenblat and Jean Philippe Boubli set off on their mountain bikes from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. They will share slides and stories of their 52-day adventure. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 

Friday, March 2  

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 

 

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  

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse 

7:30 p.m. 

Little Theater 

Berkeley High School  

2246 Milvia St.  

Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba.  

$5 - $10  

 

Colombia In Context  

9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

UC Berkeley  

A conference bringing together leading experts from both Latin America and the U.S. to discuss both the roots of the current Colombian crisis, and the future effects of U.S. strategy on the region. There will be a break between Noon and 2 p.m. 

Visit www.clas.berkeley.edu/clas 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Lockdown America 

7 - 9:30 p.m. 

2040 Valley Life Sciences Bldg.  

UC Berkeley  

Christian Parenti, author of “Lockdown America, on Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis” will speak. Free 

552-8236 

 

Saturday, March 3 

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 

 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Mary Miche, leader of Song Trek Music, will lead a sing-along that will send everyone home humming.  

Call 649-3913 

 

Residential Solar Electricity  

1 - 3 p.m. 

Ecology Center  

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Hal Aronson, director of the Solar Energy Education Program for Berkeley EcoHouse, will cover how solar electric cells work, different types of systems, and costs of a solar system. Participants will also produce electricity using photovoltaic panels and power a range of appliances.  

$10 - $15  

548-2220 x233  

 

Feathered Dinosaurs  

11 a.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley’s Dr. Kevin Padian talks about the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossils in northern China. Included with museum admission.  

$3 - $7  

642-5132 

 

“Socialism & the Struggle for Global Justice”  

10:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

200 Wheeler Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Discussions will include “Why Socialism?”; crisis in Palestine; race, class and the fall out from the 2000 elections; and fighting misogyny and sexism.  

$5 donation  

552-8236  

 

Emergency!: Personal Preparedness 

9 a.m. - 11 a.m.  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A class sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services. Free. 

644-8736 

 

Sunday, March 4  

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

 

Salsa Lesson and Dance Party  

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Professional instructors Mati Mizrachi and Ron Louie will lead you through the steps. Irsraeli food will be provided by Holy Land Restaurant.  

$10 

RSVP 237-9874 

 

Monday, March 5  

Your Legal Rights with HMOs 

6 - 7:30 p.m. 

YWCA Oakland  

1515 Webster St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Presented by the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, UCSF Cancer Resource Center and the San Francisco Bar Volunteer Legal Services, this free workshop covers what your legal rights are and how to guard them.  

Call 415-885-3693 

 

Beginning Bicyclist Workshop  

7 - 9 p.m. 

YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

Community Room 1, Main Floor  

Jason Meggs and Zed Lopez will teach you how to keep yourself and your bike safe and even how to use your bike for shopping. Free  

Call Jason Meggs, 549-RIDE 

 

“Stop Medical Apartheid” 

Noon  

Parker & Seventh St.  

Local non-violent civil disobedience in reaction to Bayer Corp. involvement in a lawsuit against the government of South Africa. Bayer and 39 other large drug companies are suing the governement to prevent them from producing generic AIDS drugs or importing them at the lowest market price. Speakers or arrestees includes Councilors Maudelle Shirek and Kriss Worthington, Father Bill O’Donnell and Rev. Mark Wilson and South African Bongane Byatai.  

Call 568-1680 

 

Self-Care and Wellness Health Fair 

Pre-Registration Deadline 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Ashby Campus, Auditorium  

2450 Ashby Ave.  

Registration deadline for the March 10 event. A day of workshops offering ways to maintain and improve health of the body, mind and spirit.  

$10 admission, $5 per workshop  

 

Tuesday, March 6  

“Great Decisions” - U.S. & Iraq 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is health, nutrition and science; bioengineering.  

Call 527-5332  

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

International Women’s Day 

11:10 a.m. 

Pacific School of Religion Chapel 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Join students, staff, and faculty in the celebration of International Women’s Day. The theme is “A Call to Place: Quilting Resistance,” highlighting women’s religious experiences and women of the world.  

649-2490 

 

Aquinas, Creation and Cosmic Evolution 

7:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Road 

Flora Lamson Hewlett Library  

Dinner Board Room  

Benedict Ashley, author, advisor to the Theological Commission of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and faculty member of the Aquinas Institute, gives the eleventh annual Aquinas lecture. Free 

883-2085 

 

Wednesday, March 7  

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 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 8 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Judy Wells and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

 

Trekking Northern India  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Professional wilderness guide Randy Pomeroy will take you on a journey from Ladakh to Rajasthan. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 

“Fifty Years in the Making” 

Boalt Hall School of Law  

UC Berkeley 

A gathering of some of the most prominent diplomats, scholars, and legal practitioners in the field of World War II reparation and restitution claims. Free and open to the public.  

 

Friday, March 9  

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 

 

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  

 

Berkeley PC Users Group 

7 p.m. 

Vista College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

E-Mail: meldancing@aol.com 

 

Europe on a Shoestring  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Scott Mcneely, co-author of the Lonely Planet book will share slides and information on some of his favorite adventures off the beaten path. Come learn about smart budget travel.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 10  

The Secrets of Sacred Cinema 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 103 

Kevin Peer, a documentary film maker for the past 25 years, gives a two-day intensive for people interested in exploring documentary filmmaking. No equipment or prior experience required.  

$200 per person and registration is required 

Call 486-1480 

 

Narratives of Public Sector Reform: A Colloquium  

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

223 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Mark Bevir of the department of Political Science of UC Berkeley, will present his paper on “Decentered Theory of Governance” and Rod Rhodes of the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne will present his paper, “Entering British Governance.” There will also be a session to discuss the broader issues their works raise.  

 

Greece Adventure 

1 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Linda Pearson of REI Adventures will introduce you to Greece in slides and discussion.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Healing Garden  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Kathi Kinney will teach how to integrate medicinal herbs into existing gardens and landscapes and how to design and maintain a practical, aromatic, easy-care herb garden.  

$10 - $15  

548-2220 x233 

 

West Coast Live  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Freight & Salvage  

1111 Addison St.  

Sedge’s guests this week will be Patrick McCabe, author of The Butcher Boy and Emerald Germs of Ireland, a capella singers M-Pact, Naturalist Claire Peaslee and pianist Mike Greensill.  

664-9500 

 

Self-Care and Wellness Health Fair 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Ashby Campus, Auditorium  

2450 Ashby Ave.  

A day of workshops offering ways to maintain and improve health of the body, mind and spirit. Learn the process one might go through when deciding to stay with self-help, when to seek out assistance, and how to integrate care.  

$10 admission, $5 per workshop  

 

Sunday, March 11 

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.  

Call 849-0217 

 

Myths & Realities of the International House  

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

1931 Center St.  

Director Joe Lurie will show a video and talk about the history and the struggle to open the International House.  

$10 donation  

Call 848-0181 

 

Walk on the Moon  

2 & 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

A mother and daughter explore their identities as they summer in the Catskills in 1969 amidst the news of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Peer led discussion to follow film.  

$2 suggested donation  

 

Energy Attack  

4 - 6 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

PUC Commissioner Carl Wood, labor journalist David Bacon and Environmentalist architect Mark Gorrell will discuss the energy crisis and how to get involved in solutions.  

549-0816 

 

Community Health & Wellness Fair 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2345 Channing Way  

Review health from a holistic perspective, personally and communally. Stop by for practical health screenings and explore wellness practices such as Taoist Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga and Rosen Bodywork in introductory workshops.  

649-1383 

 

Tuesday, March 13  

Berkeley Rep. Proscenium Opening 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

2015 Addison St.  

Featuring the premiere performance of “The Oresteia” by Aeschylus. Opening gala dinner held prior to performance. Performance will be at 8 p.m. 

Call 647-2949 

 

“Great Decisions” - International Health Crisis 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Wednesday, March 14 

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 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 15  

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 friends 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 Elanor Watson-Gove and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

 

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 

 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

 

Myanmar: The Golden Kingdom  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Philip Hassrick of Lost Frontiers will introduce you to Myanmar’s unique history and culture.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Friday, March 16  

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 

 

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  

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 17  

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 

 

Sunday, March 18 

East Bay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal  

6:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Calling for gay and bisexual men and their allies and friends to join this choral ensemble directed by J.R. Foust. There is no obligation to join the chorus after the first rehearsal.  

Call to RSVP 664-0260 or e-mail eastbaymenschorus@yahoo.com 

 

“Parenting in the Second Half of Life” 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author Roberta Maisel will discuss ways parents and their grown children can get on a positive and guilt-free path.  

848-0237  

 

Tuesday, March 20 

“Great Decisions” - Mexico Reexamined  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is death and dying in celebration of the Ides of March.  

Call 527-9772  

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Lavendar Lunch 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Bldg., Room 103  

Unitarian-Universalist minister Sean Parker Dennison discusses his experiences as a transgender minister working in parish ministry.  

849-8206 

 

Wednesday, March 21  

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 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 22  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Anna Mae Stanley and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

 

Trekking in Bhutan  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Ruth Ann Kocour and Elizabeth Rassiga will share slides of their 25-day journey along the Snow Leopard Trek to the sacred mountain Chomolhari and beyond. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 

Friday, March 23 

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 

 

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  

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 24 

Ashkenaz Dance-A-Thon 

2 p.m. - 2 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1370 San Pablo Ave.  

Join Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers along with African, Cajun, North African, Balkan, reggae, and Caribbean bands in this twelve hour dance music-fest. This is Ashkenaz big fundraiser for making improvements, including a new dance floor and ventilation system.  

$20 donation  

525-5054 or visit www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Sunday, March 25 

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 

 

Tuesday, March 27 

“Great Decisions” - European Integration  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Wednesday, March 28 

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 

 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe/Reinhabitory Theatre legends Judy Goldhaft, Jane Lapiner and Peter Berg 

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 29  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Georgia Popoff and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

 

Friday, March 30 

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  

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 


Letters to the Editor

Monday February 26, 2001

Meeting seeks input  

for seismic initiatives at UC research facilities 

 

Editor: 

The community is invited to a meeting hosted by UC Berkeley on the proposed Northeast Quadrant Science and Safety Projects (NEQSS) on Monday, February 26, 2001, 7 - 9 pm at the Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Center, on the central campus. At this meeting, UC faculty and campus representatives will discuss the new initiatives, which respond to seismic conditions and new research opportunities.  

Stanley Hall, built in 1952 and close to the Hayward Fault, is rated seismically "poor" and would be replaced. Davis Hall North is a remnant of an original building constructed in 1931. This site on Hearst Avenue at Le Roy Avenue was identified as a new building site in the campus 1990 Long Range Development Plan. 

Stanley Hall and Davis Hall North are severely constrained in their ability to meet the needs of current research efforts. Over the last 30 years, changes in technology and an increased focus on interdisciplinary research require new approaches to space utilization and structural, mechanical and utilities design. Laboratory safety and environmental regulations have also become more stringent. Both buildings would be replaced under the NEQSS proposals. 

 

Stanley Hall Replacement Building 

UC Berkeley has embarked on a Health Sciences Initiative that will reorganize campus research in the health sciences into interdisciplinary teams. The new Stanley Hall will bring together biologists, physicists, chemists, computer scientists and engineers in a collaborative setting with state-of-the-art laboratories. In this environment, researchers will concentrate on solving pressing biomedical and health problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries and new techniques to study the function of the human genome.  

 

Davis Hall North Replacement Building 

This project is the main component of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) which will house information technology research focusing on solutions to critical societal needs. The goal is to create inexpensive technologies that are widely available for practical applications in transportation management, disaster response, seismic planning, environmental monitoring, medical alert systems and energy usage. The New Davis Hall will provide space for state-of-the-art laboratories, seminar rooms, classrooms, computing facilities and offices.  

 

The other NEQSS sites include Cory Hall, the Naval Architecture Building, and a low-rise structure north of Soda Hall. 

We hope you will attend this community meeting to learn more about these exciting initiatives and proposed projects, and to provide the university with feedback and input on the scope of the environmental review.  

 

Irene Hegarty 

University of California, Berkeley 

 

 

Treasury Secretary may have link to Marc Rich  

 

Editor: 

I’m not sure if this has any news value, but it occurred to me that there is potentially a confounding connection between Marc Rich and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil. 

Marc Rich has been the head of Clarendon which is a Swiss-based trading company owned by Rich (I believe shared ownership was extended to its employees) during most of his exile. Clarendon traded in various commodities including alumina (the intermediate stage of converting bauxite into aluminum). These multimillion-dollar trades were either straight forward sales of alumina or swaps of the material to accommodate timing and location differences. 

Alcoa has been the world’s largest producer of aluminum and alumina. Paul O’Neil as chairman and CEO would have been ultimately responsible and knowledgeable of Alcoa’s activities. Although I can’t be positive, it’s possible that Alcoa has traded alumina with Clarendon in the past. This is possible despite the fact that Alcoa is the world’s largest producer of alumina and therefore not in need of purchasing any alumina. That possibility arises because of the possible need to swap alumina for the above-mentioned timing and location requirements. The former occurs when a competitor has an earlier availability of alumina and your company has a greater need for the material sooner than later. This is known as a time swap, in effect it permits you to better balance your required alumina inventory. The latter type of swap, the location or physical swap, involves an effort by the two parties to the transaction to physically swap their inventory in transit if shipping costs can be reduced (alumina tends to be produced closer to bauxite sources in order to reduce shipping costs – which means equatorial areas and Australia. Whereas aluminum is produced closer to electricity availability since electricity cannot be efficiently transported.) 

Although I’m not positive, I do suspect that Alcoa could have swapped alumina with, and purchased other commodities from, Clarendon during Paul O’Neil’s reign. In any event, it probably deserves some further investigation. 

My knowledge and suspicion is based on my many years of employment with Kaiser Aluminum’s treasury department. I approved various high value payments which included Kaiser’s payments to Clarendon for alumina and other commodities. I’ve been retired for three and half years since the department was relocated to Houston. 

 

Tom Edwards 

Berkeley 

 

Marcia Poole deserves recognition for actions that saved sex slaves 

 

Editor:  

Thank you for honoring citizens “for their extraordinary work in trying to make the city a safer place to live.”  

However, is there not one person conspicuously absent from the list? Remember Marcia Poole, who, with her brave actions, saved the lives of two East Indian teenage sex slaves? Who risked her life by interfering in the desperate actions of Mr. Reddy as he tried to stuff the bodies into his panel truck. She did not just walk by saying “this is not my business.”  

Isn’t this what you want citizens to do, Chief Butler? Why was she left out? Too close to home, Chief? Would honoring her remind you, Chief, of work left undone? Should you have investigated further, Chief, as to whether Ms. Chanti Prattipati was actually dead when Reddy arrived to get her? Why did he not call 911? Why was he carrying off all three women and where was he taking them? Are these questions your department should have investigated further? Do you feel guilty, Chief? Does Marcia Poole remind you of your dereliction of duty? Is that why you do not want to honor her?  

I would recommend to the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and City Councilmembers that Marcia Poole be honored at the very next City Council meeting. Thank you.  

 

Charlotte Collins 

Berkeley 

 


Bears down Huskies

By Ralph Gaston Special to the Daily Planet
Monday February 26, 2001

In a special night at Haas Pavilion, Sean Lampley etched his name into the California record books, and the Bears followed his strong offensive lead to defeat Washington State, 84-65, on Saturday night. 

Lampley scored 29 points for the Bears, to become Cal’s all-time leading scorer with 1,693. None was as anticipated as his short bank shot with 10:03 to play. When it fell, the crowd roared in appreciation. “I didn't know which shot was the one (record-breaker)," Lampley said. “I knew after that shot from the crowd reaction.”  

After the game, Lampley was presented a game ball by Coach Ben Braun, and took a moment to celebrate with “The Bench,” Cal’s raucous student section. “I told him to enjoy this, and not to forget about the fans,” said Braun afterward.  

The win solidifies the Bears’ (19-7) hold on fourth place in the Pac-10 and gives them 10 wins in the conference for the first time since the 1997 NCAA Tournament team. “We just need to focus on one game at a time, and let's see where everything falls,” Braun said. 

Lampley’s record breaker came in the midst of a 22-5 second half run that saw the Bears turn up their defensive pressure and steadily pull away from the outmanned Cougars.  

“We got a bit tired,” said Washington State Head Coach Paul Graham. “We’re just not as deep.” The Cougars were led by Milton Riley, who scored a career-high 21 points. 

Lampley was active from the onset, opening the scoring with a baseline jumper. The senior forward then added a three pointer from the right side and threw a long pass to Joe Shipp, who completed the play with a one-handed dunk. Lampley used quickness against bigger opponents, strength against weaker ones, and size against smaller ones.  

Graham said, “If he’s not (Pac-10 player of the Year), I don't think you'll talk about many more names before you get to his.” 

Lampley also finished with eight rebounds and two assists. 

Junior center Solomon Hughes also had a solid performance for Cal, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Hughes also had four rebounds.  

“I thought Solomon played a good first half,” said Braun afterward. 

“Without his points and rebounds early in the game, we're swimming upstream.” The Bears shot 54 percent from the field for the game. 

The Cougars were able to match Cal basket for basket in a high scoring first half. Guards Jerry McNair and David Adams combined for seven three pointers and 26 first half points, and the Cougars went into halftime trailing by only three, 45-42. However, as the second half wore on, fatigue set in for the pair, and they were held to three points in the second half combined.  

“They (Cal) just rotated more men at us, and we got a bit tired,” said McNair. The Cougars shot only 30 percent from the floor in the second half. 

The Bears travel to Los Angeles next week; they take on UCLA Thursday night and USC Saturday evening. The games are big ones for Cal, who can improve their chances for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament with a strong showing.  

“We have some big-time challenges coming up this week,” said Braun. “We know that UCLA will be ready for us because of what happened last time we played them.” The Bears defeated the Bruins, 92-63, earlier this month at Haas. 


City fails to buy KBLX land for park

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Monday February 26, 2001

The city’s effort to resurrect a deal to purchase 4.5 acres from KBLX Radio as an addition to Aquatic Park stalled when the station’s management said it wasn’t interested. 

“They just aren’t interested,” said Cliff Marchetti of the Department of Parks and Waterfront. “But they said if they change their minds, they’d let us know.” 

In December, the City Council directed the Department of Parks and Waterfront to research available funding sources and seek out the owners of the radio station — Inner City Broadcasting — to see if they were still interested in possibly selling the property. 

The site is adjacent to the south end of Aquatic Park and is bounded by the Ashby Avenue on-ramp, Bay Street and Interstate 80. The property is largely undeveloped and consists of lagoon and grassy uplands. 

According to the Parks and Waterfront Draft Master Plan, the site is an excellent candidate for habitat restoration. The plan, which has not been finalized, also suggests the city purchase the land as an addition to Aquatic Park.  

The city was considering buying the property in 1996. At that time the property was appraised at $467,000, according to an informational report prepared by Parks and Waterfront for the City Council. 

But the deal was contingent on a grant from the State Environmental Enhancement Mitigation Program. The grant was not awarded and the proposed transaction collapsed.  

According to the report, “The owner determined that it was not in the best interest of the station to sell the property at this time and took the property off the market.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


St. Mary’s wins BSAL title, earns berth to playoffs

By Tim Haran Special to the Daily Planet
Monday February 26, 2001

After St. Mary’s jumped to a 21-8 lead at the end of the first quarter in the BSAL title game against Salesian Saturday night, it appeared that the Panthers were on its way to recording yet another blowout in a season filled with lopsided victories.  

But the championship game was no rout as St. Mary’s narrowly defeated the taller Salesian team 62-59 in front of a standing-room-only crowd in Berkeley to claim the Bay Shore Athletic League title. 

“I’m just really proud of these kids tonight,” said St. Mary’s coach Jose Caraballo. “They played hard all year long and they really deserve this win. I’m sure we’ll see Salesian again." 

Saturday’s win came after St. Mary’s lost in the championship game to Salesian last year in an overtime thriller when the teams were part of the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League. The victory this year gives St. Mary’s (24-4 overall) an automatic berth into the North Coast Section playoffs where they’ll likely be the No. 1 seed in Division IV. Salesian (23-5), meanwhile, should earn the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. St. Mary’s led most of the night, but saw its lead evaporate midway through the fourth quarter when the Chieftains’ James Johnson scored two of his game-high 19 points on a drive to the basket with 2:39 remaining. The bucket capped a 16-6 fourth quarter Chieftains run and gave Salesian its first lead since the game’s opening minute.  

The teams traded hoops and St. Mary’s clung to a 60-59 lead with less than a minute left when Panthers’ forward Chase Moore scored the final two of his team-high 18 points. With 46 seconds remaining St. Mary’s now led by three and had possession of the ball. Forward Jeremiah Fielder broke free from a pair of Chieftains defenders to get an open look at the basket with 10 seconds on the clock, but he couldn’t get the shot to fall that would have clinched the win 

Following a Salesian time out, the Chieftains pushed the ball the length of the court and John Winston launched a 3-pointer that would have tied the game, but the shot fell short. 

St. Mary’s controlled the pace of the game early and jumped to an 11-2 lead that turned into a 13-point advantage at the end of one. The Panthers capitalized on its typical scrappy full-court pressure defense that forced Salesian to turn the ball over eight times in the period.  

"We had a really good first quarter," Caraballo said. "They made some good adjustments on us, but we showed that we know if it’s a close game we’ll be able to persevere and come out on top." The first-quarter dominance proved to be enough for St. Mary’s to hold on as Salesian outscored the Panthers 17-11 in the second and 20-14 in the fourth quarter. 

St. Mary’s aggressive defense resulted in Moore picking up his fourth personal foul in the third quarter and center Simon Knight fouling out midway through the fourth. Knight’s fifth foul came on a bizarre five-point play that saw Salesian drain a 3-pointer and then hit two free throws that were awarded for a St. Mary’s foul away from the ball. 

“Everybody just stepped up tonight,” said St. Mary’s guard DaShawn Freeman, who finished the game with 12 points. “Our team played with a lot of heart and we really wore out the other team. They couldn’t keep up with our pace.” 

Moore, who pulled down six rebounds and led the Panthers with 10 fourth-quarter points, recognized the value of competing down to the wire, especially with the playoffs ahead. 

“People don’t think we can handle it, but coach told us to just do it and he has confidence in all of us that we can step it up and get it done. Big-time players step up in big-time games,” he said. 

Salesian finished the night 13-of-22 from the free-throw line, but Winston missed two key foul shots with under a minute to play that would have brought the Chieftains to within a point of St. Mary’s. The Panthers, meantime, hit just 3-of-6 from the line. 

John Sharper added 10 points while Lorenzo Alexander tossed in six points and grabbed seven boards off the bench. For Salesian, Johnson led all scorers with 19, David Jobe added 13 and Winston scored 11 points. 


Celebrating Black History

By Erika Fricke Daily Planet Staff
Monday February 26, 2001

The annual Black History Month celebration at the Martin Luther King Youth Services Center Saturday opened with a libation — the tradition of giving honor to ancestors and people before you.  

Paul Cotton, on stage above the seated crowd said, “We stand on the shoulders of other people,” and recited names of famous black Americans, Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. But the thanks weren’t only for the famous. “We honor all the brothers and sisters who died. We honor all the brother and sister’s who said, Hell, No. I won’t do it.” 

Participants celebrated both ancient contemporary heroes all day Saturday.  

While Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the requisite nods of recognition, organizers took participants back to an even earlier history, with images and culture of ancient Egypt. 

“We go all the way back since the beginning of time, from the Nubians in Egypt all the way through,” said Patricia Pitre, organizer and mistress of ceremonies. “We wanted to not just say we go back to civil rights and slavery. We have to take it back to the beginning. A lot of our kids only know Martin Luther King.” 

In addition to a play showcasing ancient martial arts, posters about the Ancient Egyptian culture lined the walls.  

Off the walls, in the audience, local heroes were celebrated for their work with Berkeley children. Ivora Peazant, Percy Crawford, Charles Richardson, Norman Letcher and Essie Gaines were winners of awards for their years of community service.  

The Young Adult Project, a city of Berkeley program that provides youth services to prevent delinquency, hosted their 16th annual Black History Month celebration. 

The organizers of the Young Adult Project defined the message for this year’s celebration as “Love of Self, Love of Family, and Love of Community,” to address the concerns many older people in the African American community have for the younger ones. “I can’t expect a child to give love to another person if they don’t love themselves,” said Pitre.  

But, she said, for a community to prosper each member must take care of the others. “We need each other,” she said. 

Pitre feels that looking to young people provides direction for them.  

“The significance of us celebrating black history is for our community and family not to forget whence they came. We’re living in a society with a lot of ills, the old traditional values are fading away,” she said.  

Tyrone Ingram and Walter Fox, who videotaped the event, were only two of the more than 100 people who donated time, energy and services to make the celebration possible.  

Ingram said that supporting and celebrating real black culture was extremely important for all Americans.  

“We don’t have the real essence of black history and black culture in today’s media,” he said. “The representation we get of black society is not a positive one. It’s more hip to be gangsterish and anything that’s anti-social.” 

The celebration was dotted with few faces outside the black community. Ingram said it was too bad that more non-blacks didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about black history because the only forms of black culture that people outside the black community get is “hip-hop pop culture.”  

“We’re getting a pop-commercialized version of black culture and it’s false,” he said.  

The performers at this year’s celebration included dancers and singers, but these were liberally interspersed with speakers, story-tellers and dramatic arts.  

Pitre said she was extremely conscious of showcasing a variety of talents.  

“We’re not just musically inclined,” she said, speaking of the larger misperception of African-Americans as rap artists and athletes. “We have a lot of talents, but the children don’t have the opportunity to perform.” 

Of all the acts — the Prison to Praise Gospel singers, the Teen Club Dance Performance, and other music and poetry — 11-year-old Glorius Price liked the African storyteller best.  

“I thought it was real neat because it’s about culture and real nice things,” he said. “I like to get lots of knowledge about culture.” 

While many people in attendance were affiliated with the Young Adult Project, the celebration also captured community members and passers-by. 

Bradley Dean heard about the celebration through a friend. Wandering amongst the vendors selling African cloth, jewelry and art, he smiled at the speeches and student dances.  

History didn’t mean much to him as a kid, but he said as he got older he realized the importance of looking to the past to determine the future.  

“A lot of things we’re doing right now have been repeated,” said Dean.  

He cited prejudice and groups united against prejudice both cycle and repeat.  

“It happens and then it goes away,” he said. “My mother used to say nothing is new, everything’s been done.” 

 


Consultant who lied about endangered frogs sentenced

Daily Planet wire report
Monday February 26, 2001

An Emeryville environmental consultant has been sentenced to community service and fined in federal court for moving and harming threatened California red-legged frogs at a Concord development site. 

John Zentner, 46, was hired as a consultant for Holly Creek Estates, a 6-acre housing development to ensure compliance with federal and state wetland and conservation laws. 

Instead of informing authorities about the presence of the endangered red-legged frogs, Zentner and his employees attempted to relocate at least 64 red-legged frogs and 500 tadpoles from a watercourse and a pond area. They moved the amphibians to a portion of the pond that was to be preserved. The remaining part of the pond became part of the housing development project. 

Many of the frogs died because the preserved pond was small and shallow and within 15 feet of new homes, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs. 

U.S. Magistrate Wayne Brazil sentenced Zentner yesterday to 200 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine and three years of probation. Zentner's company, Zentner & Zentner, was fined $65,000. 

According to Zentner's defense attorney, William Goodman, Zentner plans to work his 200 hours of community service at a nonprofit environmental group in Napa. Goodman argued at the sentencing hearing that the case has damaged Zentner's reputation and business. 

Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity in Berkeley, said his group believes the conviction calls into question Zentner's work on other East Bay developments, including the Greenbriar Homes development along Tassajara Creek in Dublin and the Pine Vista Estates subdivision in Alamo. 

Zentner's attorney denied any wrongdoing with those projects. He said, ``There are no questions raised about other cases.'' 

In 1996, the California red-legged frog was declared a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  

The red-legged frog is said to have inspired Mark Twain's story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” 


Transportation planning workshop scheduled

Monday February 26, 2001

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission will hold a public workshop on the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The plan will determine the way that government funds are spent for transportation infrastructure in the nine counties that make up the Bay Area.  

Members of the public will have the opportunity to meet with commissioners and comment on issues like handling traffic congestion, balancing needs to maintain and expand public transportation systems, and ensuring transportation service for low-income and transit dependent people. The Regional Transportation Plan is updated every three years, and the 2001 plan is set to be adopted in November. The meeting will be held at the MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 8th Street in Oakland. For more information call 464-7841.


State GOP elects chairman to rally against Gov.Davis

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

SACRAMENTO — Shunning a movement to adopt a more moderate approach, California Republicans narrowly elected a conservative chairman Sunday to revive a party dogged by division and defeat. 

Shawn Steel, a health care attorney from Rolling Hills in Los Angeles County, edged out his pro-choice opponent Brooks Firestone on the final day of the state GOP convention. Steel won 53 percent of the more than 1,200 ballots cast. 

“We’ve got some unity (building) to do and that starts right away,” said Steel, adding he wants California Republicans to adopt President Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” and Ronald Reagan’s optimism. 

The vote came after a high-dollar, heated campaign that pitted moderates against conservatives – a split that has plagued the party for years. Firestone’s supporters said he spent more than $100,000 on his campaign; Steel officials did not release figures. 

The state’s GOP has lost three straight statewide elections even as Republicans won the White House and retained Congress in November. 

Steel says he must unify the party now to unseat Davis in 2002 and help Bush take the state in 2004. 

He said he will work to attract diverse voters, launch e-mail and absentee get-out-the-vote drives and help the party capitalize on a new campaign finance law that strengthens its fund-raising power. 

“He walks his talk and he’s very inclusive,” said Therese Cisneros, a state chairwoman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. 

Steel’s election suggests the party will take conservative stands, such as opposition to abortion and gun control. 

Firestone supporters wanted to lure moderates and independents, including women and California’s growing minority population. 

Despite criticizing Steel, however, Firestone said after the vote that he will work with the new leader. 

“Over the course of this campaign, Shawn and I have become friends and will work together,” said Firestone, a former Assembly member and winery owner from Santa Barbara. “United, this Republican party is unbeatable.” 

Party faithful also used the weekend to criticize the Governor’s handling of the statewide energy crisis. 

“The procrastination, the timidity, the arrogance of this administration has affected California and will do so in the long-term,” said Secretary of State Bill Jones, the only potential governor candidate at the three-day convention. 

Jones spoke Sunday morning with nearly half of the seats empty and delegates noisily filing into the convention hall.  

He said he will decide in the next three weeks whether to oppose Davis. 

Recent polls suggest Californians are happy with the way Davis has handled the energy crisis.  

Democratic spokesman Bob Mulholland said the Republicans were key players in political events that led to electricity deregulation and the crisis. 

In other matters, delegates defeated a rule change that would let representatives the state sends to the Republican National Convention be nominated at the state level instead of by the presidential candidates. Party members also approved allowing independent voters to cast ballots in their primaries. 

On the Net: 

www.cagop.org


Police investigate student’s intent in fatal crash

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

 

SANTA BARBARA — Authorities are investigating whether a University of California, Santa Barbara freshman intentionally drove his car into a crowd of people, killing four and wounding a fifth. 

David Edward Attias, 18, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Santa Barbara Superior Court on charges stemming from the Friday crash. He was being held Sunday without bail in the Santa Barbara County Jail after being booked for investigation of felony drunk driving and vehicular homicide. 

Witnesses told police they saw Attias speed down a crowded street in the university community of Isla Vista late Friday, traveling between 60 and 65 mph. Attias sideswiped nine parked cars and struck five people walking along the street. 

“I heard a car gun its accelerator and then I just heard boom! boom! boom!” UCSB student Daniel Conway told KABC-TV. 

At the scene of the accident, Attias allegedly shouted, “I am the Angel of Death,” multiple witnesses told police. 

“We are investigating the potential that it was an intentional act,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Burridge. Burridge added that Attias allegedly attempted to fight off bystanders who sought to detain him after the 11:08 p.m. crash. 

Killed in the crash were Nicholas Shaw Bourdakis and Christopher Edward Divis, both 20 and UCSB students; Ruth Dasha Golda Levy, 20, a Santa Barbara City College student; and Elie Israel, 27, of San Francisco. 

Levy’s older brother, Albert Arthur Levy, 27, remained in critical condition Sunday after undergoing multiple surgeries. 

Albert Levy was in town from San Francisco, where he lived with Israel, to visit his sister, Burridge said. 

Attias suffered only minor cuts and scratches in the crash, which totaled the black Saab he was driving. 

Investigators must wait as long as a week for the results of blood tests to determine if Attias was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash, Burridge said. 

On Sunday, bouquets of flowers lay on the street where the crash occurred, a spokeswoman for the 19,000-student university said. Plans for a campus memorial service were still being organized Sunday. 

“This terrible tragedy leaves all members of our university family stunned and saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this terrible accident,” said UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang. 

Attias has the same Santa Monica address as Daniel Attias, a Hollywood television director who has worked on “Ally McBeal” and “The Sopranos,” the Los Angeles Times reported. 

“We have no comment except for the terrible grief we feel for all the families involved,” Daniel Attias told the Times. 


Hells Angels charged in drug ring

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

VENTURA — A national Hells Angel leader and nearly two dozen others, including his son and daughter, have been arrested for allegedly participating in an extensive drug ring. 

Investigators arrested George Gus Christie Jr.; his 24-year-old son, George Gus Christie III; his 29-year-old daughter, Moriya Christie and 21 others Friday during sweeps in Ventura and Orange counties. Altogether, the Christie family faces nearly four dozen criminal charges. 

Law enforcement officials said Christie, his family and the Ventura chapter of the motorcycle club had been the target of parallel investigations by county prosecutors and the sheriff’s department for four years. 

The arrests, which end the probe, included 24 of 28 suspects, nine of which are Hells Angels. 

Prosecutors say Christie, 53, assembled a drug distribution network that relied on young Hells Angels operatives – or “HA Cub Scouts” – to sell drugs to teen-agers as they left four middle and high school campuses in Ventura and Ojai. 

Suspects typically peddled plastic bags containing two or three Valium pills to teen-agers for $1 a pill, or sold Vicodin for $3 a tablet and Ecstasy for $20 a tablet, investigators said. 

It took eight months to present the case to the grand jury, which indicted the suspects Friday on 132 criminal counts of theft, fraud, tax evasion, firearms possession, drug sales to minors and the use of a street gang in a criminal conspiracy. 

The senior Christie is charged with 23 criminal offenses that carry potential penalties of 15 to 20 years in prison.  

He and the other suspects were being held in Ventura County Jail over the weekend with bail amounts ranging from $10,000 to $1 million 

“I don’t know what the D.A. wants from me,” Christie said. “Am I a threat to this community? No.” 

Christie, his son, and three other men – William “Gunner” Wolf, 30, of Oxnard and Leonardo Martinis, 33, and Joshua Adams, 23, both of Ventura — are each being held on $1-million bail. 

“An organized criminal enterprise has been stopped from selling drugs to our children and victimizing other citizens through violence, theft, fraud and intimidation,” District Attorney Michael Bradbury said Saturday in a statement. 

Christie has always denied any wrongdoing. Earlier last week, anticipating the indictments, he told the Los Angeles Times: “I“ll save my comments for the courtroom. My lawyer and I will handle everything in the courtroom.” 

Christie, who hosted the motorcycle club’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1998, describes the Hells Angels as a recreational club. Although some members may have broken the law, the Hells Angels have never been involved in crime as an organization, he has previously said. 

Christie was acquitted in 1987 in a federal murder-for-hire case. 


Terry McMillan’s latest novel is of missed opportunities

By Sari Friedman Special to the Daily Planet
Monday February 26, 2001

Family. Can’t live with ‘em… Can’t live with ‘em. 

“A Day Late and a Dollar Short,” the latest novel from local author Terry McMillan, introduces the Prices, a family headed by fifty-five year old matriarch, Viola Price, who’s just landed in a hospital intensive care unit with severe asthma after being abandoned by her husband, Cecil. Viola’s voice is rich and powered up. She’s angry and quite vocal about it. If her life isn’t a soap opera, whose is? 

Viola Price thinks about each one of her children as she waits for her lunch tray, deconstructing them mercilessly, one by one … and then she moves on to Cecil.  

After this, the other family members get a turn. How easy it is to fall into each one of these characters. Viola’s son gets what he thinks is a Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes offer … then he realizes it’s a summons for past due child support. It’s the little things that get you down. Challenges like figuring out how to zip up your pants and stand at the same time. 

But larger challenges lurk as well. Viola’s daughter has to confront her own daughter’s story, a soap opera within a soap opera. Another daughter tries to understand herself in the context of TV sitcoms. Is she Jeannie in “I Dream of Jeannie,” or Denise Nicholson of “Room 222”? 

And each family member must face those too-real moments — Trying to act like you don’t care when a loved one leaves you, trying to live as a “female lion who don’t roar loud enough,” and trying to figure out a way to deal with another family member described “as a horsewho don’t pull his own weight.” 

“For me,” Terry McMillan says, “This novel, ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short,’ is about missed opportunities. We, as people, always seem to believe we’ll have another chance, and sometimes we don’t get the chance. So my question was, what if you don’t?” 

As Viola Price says, There’s “a whole lotta weird s--- been going on” in every family. And yet, differences aside, every one of us is hungry for love. We all get sick, can’t find our car keys, pretend, feel jealous. McMillan brings out each individual family member’s fears, hopes and dreams… balanced only by the relief inherent in knowing we have a good story. This work of fiction is simply delicious. “Ain’t no time limit on heartache,” as one character says. It’s true. 

Cody’s Bookstore is sponsoring a reading by Terry McMillan tonight at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. 

Sari Friedman, whose short fiction and poetry appears in various literary magazines and anthologies, teaches writing at several local colleges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Record industry blames Napster for low CD sales

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

LOS ANGELES — In the ongoing battle between the recording industry and Napster, industry officials have brought forth new evidence in their attempt to prove the Internet music-swapping service has cut into their business. 

Shipments of CD singles sank by 39 percent last year, according to data released by the Recording Industry Association of America. 

“Napster hurt record sales,” said RIAA president Hilary Rosen. In particular, Rosen pointed to the drop in the sales of singles, once the format that fueled the music industry, as evidence of Napster’s affect. The industry released the figures after a federal court ruled this month that the service helped users to violate music copyright laws. Financial penalties and an injunction have placed the future of the popular service in question. 

Napster chief executive Hank Barry said the association is twisting the data to support the recording industry’s claim that they have suffered “irreparable harm” at the hands of Napster users. 

“In order to argue we’ve done irreparable harm, it would be great if there were some irreparable harm to show,” he said. “We haven’t seen a credible survey yet that suggests Napster is hurting CD sales.” Some experts trace the drop in the sale of singles back to the record companies themselves.  

Singles, a mainstay of the industry in the 1950s and 60s, have fallen out of favor as a tool to inflate sales figures and influence radio programming, said Roy Lott, president of EMI Group’s Capitol label. Even so, Napster is the “prime culprit” for the drop in sales, he said. 

Industry analysts said the drop in sales can be attributed to a number of factors, including economic factors and a weak year for music releases. 

“Napster alone doesn’t seem like a fair alibi,” said Michael Nathanson, a Wall Street analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “It’s a combination of things. Softness in consumer spending. The hit titles were for such a narrow (audience) that it was a very thin year, and lastly, the Napster factor. You can’t put your finger on it.” 

“To be honest, it wasn’t a great music year,” said Andreas Schmidt, chief of the e-commerce group at Bertelsmann, which has joined forces with Napster. “There were some isolated events, but we didn’t put that much good stuff out.” 


Judge’s remarks may help Microsoft in breakup appeal

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

WASHINGTON — Microsoft will try to convince an appeals court this week that the breakup of the software giant is unwarranted in a high stakes legal showdown that may focus as much on the judge who made the ruling as the legal underpinnings for it. 

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s comments outside the courtroom – comparing Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to Napoleon and suggesting company officials were not “grown-ups” – have injected a new wildcard into the case. 

Experts say that makes the job more difficult for government lawyers who are trying to preserve their historic antitrust victory ordering the breakup of Microsoft for anticompetitive practices. 

“In conscious or unconscious ways, the court of appeals will feel fewer inhibitions to second-guess Jackson’s findings concerning crucial pieces of evidence,” George Washington University law professor William Kovacic predicted. “Nothing good will come to the government plaintiffs from all of this.” 

Microsoft has “a 50 percent chance of walking completely” thanks to Jackson’s post-trial statements, University of Baltimore law professor Bob Lande said. Before the comments, he gave the government a 2-to-1 edge. 

“Those wonderful findings of fact all have a cloud cast on them because of Jackson’s unjudicial statements,” Lande said. 

In interviews with reporters and authors writing books on Microsoft’s legal ordeal, Jackson made scathing attacks on Gates, the company’s legal team and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which was to hear the company’s appeal Monday and Tuesday. 

Jackson accused the appeals court of “making up 90 percent of the facts on their own” in an earlier Microsoft ruling, and said the judges were “supercilious” and without practical trial experience. 

The appeals court set an unusual amount of time for the argument – six hours over two days, even more than the parties requested. 

The extra time will be spent questioning Jackson’s factual findings, in which he laid out how he thought Microsoft used anticompetitive practices and harmed consumers, the appellate judges said. 

At least publicly, the Justice Department and Microsoft have both played down the significance of Jackson’s words. 

“The press was always hammering the Microsoft mistakes and having fun with them, and I think the judge piled on,” said C. Boyden Gray, a one-time adviser to former President Bush and now a Microsoft supporter. “I don’t think it will affect the outcome.” 


Terms elevate pet relationship

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Saturday February 24, 2001

A rose is a rose by any other name. Sure, but in Berkeley, Shakespeare wouldn’t be able to apply his famous saying to the special relationship between humans and their furry companions – the family dog or cat. 

Tuesday, in an attempt to reduce animal abuse through the power of language, the City Council will consider changing the legal terminology of the relationship between humans and their pets. The Citizen’s Humane Commission has recommended the council change the term “owner” in Berkeley’s Animal Ordinance, to “owner/guardian.”  

The new term will appear on license applications and even when owner/guardians receive citations for their misbehaving wards. 

The commission approved the recommendation on Oct. 18 by a vote of 4-0-3 (A temporary commission secretary did not record which commissioners voted for the proposal and who abstained). 

“The purpose is not to change the law,” said Sarah Barnes, chair of the commission. “The purpose is to make a philosophical change in how we perceive our pets.” 

According to the proposal, the commission supported the change because it wants pet owners/guardians to recognize pets as members of the family with value that extends beyond monetary worth. 

“Changing the word “owner” to “owners/guardians” may move people’s thinking of companion animals as property to an understanding that pets are almost members of one’s family and they have to be protected,” according to the proposal. 

Barnes said the idea to change the terminology was brought to the commission’s attention by the nonprofit In Defense of Animals, founded in 1983 by veterinarian Elliot Katz to end the institutionalized exploitation and abuse of animals. 

Rita Anderson, director of the IDA campaign to change pet-ownership terminology in cities around the country, said Berkeley will be the third to change its animal ordinance. Boulder, Colo., was the first last year and West Hollywood changed its ordinance terminology last week.  

Anderson said there was some opposition to the proposal in Boulder from the American Kennel Club. “They were afraid they were going to lose ownership rights, the right to trade animals for money,” she said. “Which is what we advocate, people should adopt and rescue pets not buy and sell them.” 

Barnes said there was no opposition to the proposal in Berkeley. 

She said the change in language will hopefully reduce all forms of abuse and neglect. “Basic things like not walking dogs on a regular basis to throwing puppies out of moving cars,” she said.  

Deputy City Attorney Matthew Orebic said the change to the Berkeley Municipal Ordinance will not be difficult and will have no financial impact. 

“The only change to the ordinance will be one of language,” he said. “There will be no change to the letter of the law.” 

Berkeley dog owner Ruth Hinds, who was watching her 8-month-old companion, Cosmo, romp with other dogs at the Ohlone Dog Park on Friday, said she supports the idea.  

“The idea of ownership is wrongheaded. Dogs aren’t possessions, they’re not television sets, they’re not automobiles, they’re not things,” she said. “They’re our friends and companions.” 

Moniz Franco, who was at the park with her 3-year-old collie, Bella Luna, sounded a note of skepticism. “I call myself her mom but it’s all semantics,” She said. “I could think of a few more important things the city could be doing.” 


Calendar of Events & Activities

Staff
Saturday February 24, 2001


Saturday, Feb. 24

 

Tibetan New Year’s  

Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more. $5 Call 644-6260 

 

Love of Self, Family  

& Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 

Teahouse Concert  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., D’Autremont Dining Hall 

PACTS, along with PSR’s PANA Institute and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, co-sponsor this concert to celebrate and affirm Asian and Pacific Islander Gay, Lesbian. Bisexual and Transgender people of faith and their allies.  

$5 - $10 Call 849-8244 

 

Rolling in the Dough 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

2725 Elmwood Ave. (at Ashby)  

A garage sale and bake sale to benefit the Berkeley high Girls’ Lacrosse team. Donations are welcome and should be brought to the above address between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. 

841-4281  

 

Spanish Fellowship Night 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Peace & Justice Ministries Center  

2075 Eunice St.  

A basic Spanish class and Spanish evening devotions.  

524-1618 

 

YMCA Family Center Community Open House 

3 - 5 p.m. 

2001 Allston Way  

All families are invited to visit the new Family Center, opened in January, which provides parenting information and special programs for families with disabilities, foster families, and pregnant teens and teen mothers.  

665-3238 


Sunday, Feb. 25

 

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

 

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?” This session is called “Storytelling through Textiles” and will feature talks by textile artists Kathy Rousso and Karen Hampton.  

Free Call 849-0217 

 

Authors in the Library: 

Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. FreeCall 848-8443 

 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.” Call 549-6950 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

 

La Milpa 

3 p.m. 

370 Dwinelle Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Dr. Norman Hammond, professor of Archeology at Boston University will give a slide-lecture on this Mayan city in Northwestern Belize. Free and open to the public.  

 


Monday, Feb. 26

 

“Passages Into Aging” 

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Miriam Chaya Fields, co-producer and director, of Timbrels & Torahs, will lead in a discussion about celebrating the wisdom and inspiration of the elder years.  

$5 donation  

Call 549-9447 x110 

 

Black History Dance Celebration  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The Imhotet Dancers will perform. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation  

11th Annual Membership Meeting  

Rountree’s R&B Music Museum  

2618 San Pablo Ave.  

Celebrating Sunday Fourth St. Open-air Market due to open in May.  

845-4106 

 

National Women’s Political Caucus Meeting  

5 - 7 p.m. 

2017 Stuart St. (off Adeline)  

Florence D. McDonald Community Room  

Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio will speak and ask questions. An opportunity to learn more about the NWPC.  

 


Letters to the Editor

Staff
Saturday February 24, 2001

Still in love and celebrating it 

Editor:  

Your Valentine’s Day may have been the traditional one where the girls receive a box of candy and perhaps a dozen roses or maybe only a half dozen and the married couples dine out at a swank restaurant by candle light.  

Ours was so different that it deserves mentioning. My wife, age 82, and I, age 88, have been married 52 years. I drove from Berkeley, where I was born, to Pinole as we were guests of a buffet there.  

Married couples who have been married 50 years and over are welcome on this special day, but be sure and bring your marriage license. On each table was a notice “All those who have been married 50 years or more and would like a free meal say ‘I do’.” We were treated royally and the employees were cordial.  

After the photo session, the feast was on. The food was excellent and the choices too numerous to mention. The thought of their generosity and the kindness to us elderly couples warmed our hearts.  

 

W. York Jue  

Berkeley 

 

SUVs create  

ecological crisis 

Editor: 

The other day I went out to a multiplex theater in a multiplex shopping center. Admittedly it was a holiday afternoon and the rain made such activity seem like a good idea to many of us….probably too many of us. Fighting off the usual array of Honda Civic’s, Nissan’s and the occasional Lexus for the all too occasional parking space is to be expected. But now, in the midst of daily information corroborating our complicity in global warming and a host of other environmentally destructive consumer driven activity, one has to battle the “SUV” as well. 

The SUV’s contribution to the ecological crisis has been well documented. Moreover, their insatiable appetite for energy is costing us all, as the price of fuel continues to spiral upwards. But the most immediate source of frustration and perhaps “road rage” is the impediment they present to our visual field and the inordinate amount of space they assume…even when they are simply occupying a parking place. Ever try to sliver your way into the driver’s seat of your own car when one of these monstrosities is parked by your side?  

The point is dramatically ‘driven’ home when we are engaged in battle for the increasingly spare parking space with these leviathan testaments to human arrogance and greed. They cut you off and block you out with the grace and remorse of a 300 pound linebacker making his way to a quarterback. You can barely see in front of them so you’re at an immediate disadvantage in making your move toward the next available space. It’s particularly galling when these death traps are occupied by no more than one or two people…often the case. 

If I was out on a dirt mountain road and had to deal with a caravan of SUVs loaded with families and friends it might make some sense for, supposedly, that’s what they were built for and I imagine in those circumstances they would be less likely to indulge my wrath.  

But in some conspicuously consumptive way, these carriages of injustice have become perverted symbols of status. Studies have found that women, in particular, find the elevation they experience while driving these behemoths gives them a concomitant sense of “control “ and perhaps even exaltation. Hey, the heck with the fact that they pose a tangibly greater hazard to those of us still confined to our vertically challenged means of private transport.  

It did occur to me, as I was scurrying around trying to secure that parking space that never did become available, how sweet and sane it would be to have a rapid transit system that could whisk me to the theater and avoid all this sparring with these overbloated hatchbacks posing as “sports.” Say, if we took the book value of all these “utilities” on wheels (just in one shopping center, on a single afternoon) and cashed them in we’d surely have enough capital to start building that rapid transit system…..today!  

Marc Winokur 

Oakland 

 

Affordable units to house local low-wage earners 

Editor: 

Doug Smith’s Feb. 19 letter, “Lip Service to Affordable Housing,” critical of the Berkeley City Council’s recent unanimous vote to allocate city Housing Trust Fund money for 29 affordable housing units misstated, unfortunately, several facts.  

The nonprofit development cited by Mr. Smith, University Neighborhood Apartments, will provide 29 units of deeply affordable, urban in-fill housing above ground floor commercial space along a major transit corridor, University Avenue. 

The amount of Housing Trust Fund money actually earmarked for this development is $1.8 million, not $9.6 million as stated by Mr. Smith. The HTF is a pool of Federal Block Grant dollars, developer loan repayments and city money among other sources.  

The experienced non-profit developer, Affordable Housing Associates, has estimated the total soft and hard construction costs, including land acquisition, at $9.3 million, a reasonable figure for a development of this size in the Bay Area’s expensive, new housing construction market.  

The developer will be responsible for all loan and construction costs above and beyond the city’s $1.8 million HTF contribution. 

It is crucial to bear in mind that these 29 units are targeted for Berkeley residents, including working families, who earn 30 to 60 percent of Alameda County’s median household income level. These units represent one of several in-fill, mixed-use developments along transit corridors, either in the planning stage or in the pipeline, that will confront Berkeley’s ongoing affordable housing crisis.  

 

Chris Kavanagh 

Housing Advisory  

Commission 

 

 

Another soul  

for sunshine 

Editor,  

I would like to second the Daily Planet’s call for the City of Berkeley to adopt a Sunshine Ordinance (”Planet picks up Freedom of Information Award, calls on city for better access,” 2/21/2001). Not only will it accomplish the obvious, such as increasing public access to information and meetings, but will also help to foster an atmosphere of openness among city officials, and increase public participation in the activities of our city government, helping Berkeley live up to its history as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement. 

Consider my recent experience with Captain Doug Hambleton of the Berkeley Police Department. I called the Berkeley Police Department to request a publicly available document, a list of officers’ names and badge numbers. I had seen a seemingly drunken and rowdy police officer on TV after the premiere of “Survivor” and wanted to confirm that he wasn’t a Berkeley police officer (he’s not, he is a UC Berkeley police officer.)  

My calls to the Police Department were not returned for two weeks. Finally Captain Hambleton returned my call but was badgering and disrespectful. He refused to give me the list unless I gave him an acceptable reason for wanting the list. More alarmingly, he wanted to know who I worked for and what we did, even though I told him my job was unrelated to my request for the list. Finally, after much discussion, he agreed to fax me the “public” version of the list. 

A Sunshine Ordinance would send an important message to city bureaucrats who are more often than not the gatekeepers of information. Berkeley residents have a right to public information without harassment. 

 

Karla James 

Berkeley 

 

 

 

 


Arts & Entertainment

Staff
Saturday February 24, 2001

 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm.”An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

 

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” Through May, 2002 An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. “Second Annual Richard Nagler Competition for Excellence in Jewish Photography” Through February. Featuring the work of Claudia Nierman, Jason Francisco, Fleming Lunsford, and others. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950  

 

UC Berkeley Art Museum “The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered” through March 26. An exhibit of black and white photographs that capture the fears and faith of those who traveled from Marks, Mississippi to Washington, D.C. ,with mule-drawn wagons to attend the Poor People's Campaign in December, 1967; “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exhuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience, Through April 29. This conceptual artist and pioneer of video, installation, and Internet art presents three installations. Ernesto Neto/MATRIX 19 A Maximum Minimum Time Space Between Us and the Parsimonious Universe, Through April 15. Made from disposable materials such as styrofoam pellets, glass, paper, paraffin wax, and nylon stockings, Neto’s sensual sculptural works provoke viewers to interact with his art. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. 642-0808. 

 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821 

 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history.“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing.This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648  

 

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. .Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu  

 

Music 

 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership 

Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You; March 2: Books Lie, Living Under Lies, Remnants, No Regrets, The Fadeaways, LWL; March 3: Dr. Know, The Dread, Hot Box, Anal Mucus; March 9: Dead and Gone, Sworn Vengence, Punishment, Misoura, The Computer Kills; March 10: The Varukers, 46 Short, Scarred for Life, Oppressed Logic, Faced Down; March 16: The P.A.W.N.S., Kill the Messenger, Phoenix, The Sugarlips; March 17: The Hood, Benumb, Above This World, Chrome Disorder, Eulogy 525-9926  

 

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 6: PickPocket Ensemble; March 7: Whiskey Bros.; March 8: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 10: PickPocket Ensemble; March 13: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; March 15: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 17: Maureen Brennan Group 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

 

Ashkenaz Feb. 24, 9:30: Zydeco Flames, dance lesson at 8:30 p.m.; Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Youth Balkan Dance with Denise Weiss; Feb. 25, 6 p.m.: Calif. Klezmer; Feb. 27, 8:30 p.m.: Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party with Tee Fee, costume party and king and queen to be crowned; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: “Fling Ding!” A night of Appalachian music featuring the Bluegrass Intentions; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo; March 2: Henry Clement; March 3: J.J. Malone; March 9: Ron Hacker; March 10: Red Archibald 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

 

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

 

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

 

Cal Performances Feb. 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52; March 2 - March 11, call for times: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

 

Cynthia and the Swing Set, Jubilee American Dance Theatre Feb. 24, 8 p.m. A benefit for the Crowden School and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. Guests will also have the chance to win auction and raffle items. New Orleans Cajun and Creole dinner optional. Crowden School 1475 Rose. St. (at Sacramento) $10 - $40 559-6910  

 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

 

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

 

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

 

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

 

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

 

Eric Glick Reiman, Tom Nunn, Toychestra March 4, 7:48 p.m. $8 donation TUVASpace 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr.) 649-8744 

 

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

 

Carol Denney, Folk This!, J.D. Nelson March 7, 8 p.m. CD release party for Denney’s “The Rich Will Never Be Poor” $16.50 Freight & Salvage 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 

 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

 

Theater 

 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

 

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

 

“The Oresteia” by Aeschylus March 14 - May 6 Directed by Tony Taccone and Stephen Wadsworth, Aeschylus trilogy will be the first production staged on the Berkeley Rep’s new prosenium stage. Please call Berkeley Repertory Theatre for specific dates and times. $15.99 - $117 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. (at Shattuck) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org 

 

 

Films 

 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

 

 

Exhibits 

 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

 

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February. Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

 

“Travels in Color” Wax crayon sketches by Pamela Markmann made over the past 35 years Through March 31, 5 - 8 p.m. daily Voulez Vouz Bistro 2930 College Ave. 548-4708 

 

“Chicano Art and Visions of David Tafolla” Vivid color acrylic and oil paintings with Latino imagery. March 5 - April 12, Tuesday - Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m., Saturday Noon - 4 p.m. and by appointment. Opening reception March 10, 1 - 3 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9272 or www.wcrc.org 

 

 

Readings 

 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 24, 7 p.m.: Aliza Sherman will read and sign “Cybergrrl@Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. 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. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

 

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

 

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

 

 

Lectures 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

 

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

 


Berkeley ends season with 14-game winning streak

By Tim Haran Daily Planet Correspondent
Saturday February 24, 2001

The Berkeley High boys’ basketball team capped a 14-game winning streak to end its regular season Friday by defeating the El Cerrito High Gauchos 77-62 in Berkeley.  

The win also meant the Yellowjackets captured the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League title by posting a perfect 12-0 league record while finishing 21-5 overall. El Cerrito, meanwhile, finished the year 10-16 overall and 6-6 in the ACCAL.  

Unlike in several of Berkeley’s lopsided wins this season, El Cerrito kept pace with the ’Jackets in the first half before Berkeley caught fire from the outside and outscored the Gauchos 46-35 after the break. 

“We didn’t come out with the intensity that I would have liked defensively,” said Berkeley’s first-year coach Mike Gragnani. “That enabled them to get some penetration early.” 

The ’Jackets trailed by four early before Berkeley guard Byron St. Jules scored his first of a game-high 22 points on a drive to the hoop that resulted in a three-point play with 5:22 left in the first quarter.  

St. Jules scored a quick five points and forced two turnovers in the waning seconds of the first period to give Berkeley a 16-10 edge after one. 

A balanced effort in the second quarter saw five ’Jackets score, led by St. Jules’ four. For El Cerrito, Josh McCorick sparked the team off the bench tossing in six second-period points. Kenneth Jones added another five to bring the Gauchos to within four, 31-27 at the half. 

“We can tell when we have bad warm-ups that we’re going to have a bad game,” St. Jules said. “We picked it up in the second half though and played the way we know we can play.” 

Berkeley found its rhythm to start the third quarter and made adjustments to El Cerrito’s defensive set that had caused the ’Jackets problems in the first half. 

The Gauchos played a man-to-man defense on Berkeley guard Ryan Davis and forward Louis Riordan while playing zone against the rest of the team. 

“They threw a triangle and two at us early,” Gragnani said. “We were a little confused on the court. We hadn’t seen that this year.” 

After El Cerrito scored six of the last eight points to end the first half, Berkeley countered by scoring nine of the first 12 points in the third quarter to build a 10-point cushion with 5:37 left in the period. 

“Once we cut the lead to six or eight points, Berkeley would always make a run,” said El Cerrito coach Brent Daniels.  

“We could never get over the hump.” 

The hump turned into a mountain after Berkeley knocked down three 3-pointers in the third quarter, including a buzzer beater by Riordan. 

“They did a good job of finding the open man for the three,” Daniels said. “They just shot really well in the second half.” 

In addition to St. Jules’ 22, Davis scored 18 points while Riordan added 15 and forward Ramone Reed contributed nine. 

“After we started getting some inside shots, that’s when we started looking for our outside shooters,” Gragnani said. “If we can penetrate and knock down outside shots, we’ll give teams trouble.” 

Down the stretch, the ’Jackets looked to St. Jules and Davis to lead the way.  

In the fourth quarter the tandem combined for 15 of the team’s 23 points, that included hitting several key free throws. Berkeley finished the game 13-of-17 from the line while the Gauchos connected on 10-of-13. 

Although Berkeley finished the year undefeated in the ACCAL, more important, Riordan said, is heading into postseason play with a win.  

“We didn’t want to go into the playoffs coming off of a disappointing loss,” he said.  

“I think we’re capable of playing better than what we’ve shown so far. There are stretches when we play really good basketball and if we can just make those stretches longer, I think we’ll be fine.” 

Berkeley learns its playoff fate at 10 a.m. Sunday when the seeds are announced at Dublin High. “We feel that we deserve a top-three seed,” Gragnani said.


Campus plan aims to taper truancy

By Ben Lumpkin Special to the Daily Planet
Saturday February 24, 2001

The school board, parents and many students support a plan by Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch to implement a “closed campus” for freshman next year, prohibiting the ninth graders from leaving campus during the school day. 

“Our younger kids cannot handle the freedom of going off campus,” Lynch told the school board at its regular meeting Wednesday.  

“There’s an attitude of ‘if you go to class or don’t go to class it doesn’t make any difference,’” Lynch said in an interview. “We want to provide an environment where we keep them on campus until they reach a certain level of maturity.” 

Lynch said he would like to implement a closed campus for sophomores as well by the fall of 2002 and is proposing the hiring of a truancy officer to make sure parents get the message when their kids skip class. 

Parents can be held culpable by the district attorney when their children are truant, Lynch said. But the letters and phone messages school administrators use to notify parents of their kids’ truancy are often intercepted by the youngsters themselves before parents ever see or hear them, he added. 

Board directors welcomed Lynch’s suggestions Wednesday, pointing to links between skipping classes and poor academic performance, and to the need for police to patrol downtown at lunch time to deal with trouble-making High School students. 

Board Member John Selawsky said as many as 80 percent of students flunking two or more classes at the high school had missed 15 or more days of classes because of truancy. 

“If we expect our kids to achieve and succeed, they have to be in the classroom,” Selawsky said. 

Even Student Director Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein lent his support to the idea. “Looking back, I wish we didn’t have that temptation there,” Lichtenstein said, referring to the temptation to leave campus at lunch time and not return for afternoon classes. 

Director Selawsky said in an interview Friday that he did have some concerns about the plan’s implementation, however.  

“I’m a little skeptical,” Selawsky said. “I don’t know how we’re going to close the campus for ninth graders and not for everyone else.” 

Selwasky also pointed to the fact that more than 800 freshman would have to be served lunch on campus under the plan, more kids than the school’s lunch program can serve currently.  

Some Berkeley High students are even more skeptical of the plan. 

“It’s cool to a certain extent because a lot of people don’t know how to act when they go to lunch and they mess up downtown by starting fights,” said Berkeley High junior Richard Haymon. But Haymon questioned why the plan was being proposed for freshman and sophomores only. Seniors are the biggest trouble makers off campus, he said. 

Haymon and others also worried about the quality of food students would have to eat if kept on campus.  

“There’s so much more variety of food off campus,” said junior Joy Broussard. 

“If we eat McDonald’s at home what makes you think we’re going to come to school and eat salad?” Haymon asked, calling the school district’s preference for healthy, organic foods unrealistic and wasteful. 

Freshman Michelle Lopez said she would support the plan only if it applied to all students, and not just to freshman and sophomore. As for the loss of restaurant privileges, Lopez was unfazed.  

“I could bring my own lunch to school,” she said. 


Preschool can’t make rent, closes down

By Judith Scherr Daily Planet Staff
Saturday February 24, 2001

Finding affordable quality childcare will get even harder next week, when Dragonfly Preschool shuts its doors forever. 

The childcare center that serves 31 children, from infants to 5 year olds, has a pile of debts and has determined that it can no longer operate. Dragonfly is located on the campus of the Berkeley Adult School near Bonar Street and University Avenue, but is not associated with the school district.  

“We’re one of a few which does infant care,” said Executive Director Isabelle Mousard, touting the center’s “family atmosphere” 

The nonprofit program, half of whose parents receive subsidized care, has had a hard time making its $4,000 monthly payments to the school district. “We can’t afford the overhead.” Mousard said. 

Judson Owens, the district’s general services manager explains that the program fell behind in its rent before Mousard came on board as director last summer. A payment schedule was worked out.  

Earlier, the district had allowed the program to expand to include more space in exchange for doing maintenance on the building. Owens said he cannot cut the rent for the preschool. “That would be a gift of taxpayer dollars” and illegal, he said. He said he was still interested in negotiating with the school to see if it could exchange other services with the district. 

Dragonfly Board President Dan Robinson, however, claims communicating with BUSD has been difficult. 

Mousard says the program’s cash-flow problems stem from CalWORKS’ Links program, the state’s welfare-to-work childcare reimbursement for welfare parents going to school or to work. CalWORKS does not reimburse Dragonfly regularly for services, she said. 

Wendy Norton, program director for the Pleasanton-based CalWORKS Links Program disputes the notion that CalWORKS’ is at the root of Dragonfly’s money problems. 

“We processed all payments to the Dragonfly Preschool,” she said, underscoring that reimbursement for the program is complex and depends on parent eligibility and on the childcare centers turning in their attendance sheets in a timely way. “It all affects payment,” she said. “There are multiple issues involved.” 

Norton said she was unable to disclose the particulars of the Dragonfly clients. “Each case is different,” she said. “Circumstances surrounding the cases are confidential.” 

Board President Robinson explained attendance forms are scrupulously turned in on time. The problem is that after the forms are in, the workers at CalWORKS interview the clients to make sure their use of the childcare is appropriate, so that, for example, they are in school or on their jobs while their children are in care.  

Robinson said, however, that becomes complicated. In one instance, a teen mother has difficulty fulfilling the contract with CalWORKS. The school, however, feels an obligation to take care of the preschooler. “It’s the child who would get hurt,” he said.  

Further, CalWORKS does not reimburse the childcare center during vacations. Dragonfly therefore loses money at Christmas, spring break and during the summer. 

Dragonfly’s closing, slated for Feb. 28, comes in the midst of a local childcare crunch. Within a year, Grizzly Peak Childcare, Sunflower House and Harmony Day Care, all in Berkeley, have shut down, Mousard said. 

“The recent closings have a lot to do with the childcare crisis in staffing,” said Betty Cohen, executive director for Bananas, a childcare referral and advocacy agency. 

That’s because people have a hard time finding staff who will work for the close-to-minimum wages childcare workers make, Cohen said. 

Cohen said she is working with families, trying to find childcare for them, but conceded it would be a challenge to find a center such as the one that is closing. 

“They’re losing something they really liked,” Cohen said of the parents out scrambling for care. “They’ll have to start all over again.” 


West Berkeley origins on grazing land

By Susan Cerny
Saturday February 24, 2001

Berkeley Observed 

Looking back, seeing ahead 

 

West Berkeley originated as the unincorporated community of Ocean View. 

It sat on grazing land that was part of Luis Maria Peralta’s Mexican land grant, Rancho San Antonio.  

Captain James Jacobs, who arrived from the gold fields in 1853, was the first to settle there and establish a wharf at the foot of Delaware Street. A year later Captain William Bowen built an inn on Contra Costa Road (now San Pablo Avenue) east of Jacobs’ Landing.  

In 1854 a regular stagecoach line began operation along Contra Costa Road and Bowen’s Inn became a stage stop.  

The road between the wharf and the inn was named Delaware Street and the stage stop at the inn became known as Ocean View. 

Based on comparisons with old photographs, and because of its size, style, and method of construction, the building at 834 Delaware St. is believed to be the original Bowen’s Inn.  

It was built in 1854 on San Pablo Avenue where the stagecoach stopped on its way to Sacramento and the gold fields. County records show that Captain J. S. Higgins purchased the inn from Captain William J. Bowen in 1870 and opened a grocery store in the building. The first Ocean View Post Office was established in the grocery in 1877. It was moved twice: the first time, in 1890, from San Pablo Avenue to Fifth and Delaware streets; and the second time, in 1985, to this location at 834 Delaware St.  

The building has not been substantially altered and if the date of 1854 is correct, may be Berkeley’s oldest standing structure.  

Susan Cerny, author of Berkeley Landmarks, prepares this column in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural  

Heritage Association.


Creosote leak from chimney is dangerous

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

Q: A brick chimney goes up between two unheated rooms in our attic. For the last 35 years, creosote appears to have leaked out of the chimney and stained the wallpaper. Is this dangerous, and if it needs repair, what kind of technician handles this? 

A: The problem is dangerous, and it should be looked after. The creosote indicates there are openings in the chimney wall that extend to the flue. Incidentally, the black stains you see might not be creosote.  

Creosote is formed from the incomplete combustion of wood or coal. Instead, the material might be a sooty, oily film from the incomplete combustion of fuel oil. 

Regardless, both creosote and fuel oil film have corrosive elements.  

As flue gas rises, it cools to the point that a corrosive condensate might form and adhere to the chimney liner. This corrosive material attacks the flue lining and its mortar joints. If there is no flue lining, the corrosive deposits attack the brick and mortar. Eventually, cracks will open and flue gas will escape. 

When the chimney is in the house, rather than outside, flue gases can seep through the cracks and into the attic or living areas.  

This is a fire hazard if wood framing is near the chimney, and it’s a health hazard: flue gas contains carbon monoxide. 

The safest correction is to have a new flue lining installed. Many chimney sweep companies do this.  

Check in the Yellow Pages for chimney sweeps. The company should be certified by the National Chimney Sweep Guild. 

Q: I have received conflicting advice regarding vapor barriers for crawl spaces. Some advise leaving small spaces between the sheets to allow the ground to dry out under the barrier. Others advise leaving no gaps. Also, should the barrier be extended up the concrete walls? 

A: In a crawl space, the vapor barrier is usually 4- to 6-mil-thick polyethylene sheets with overlapped joints that are sealed with heavy-duty plastic tape.  

The sheets are run several inches up the sides of the foundation and are taped to the wall. 

You should not leave spaces between pieces of the vapor barrier.  

To be effective, it must be continuous. The spaces would allow moisture vapor into the crawlspace. 

Some background is helpful in understanding how a vapor barrier works. It is installed to stop the capillary rise of moisture in the soil from becoming airborne vapor.  

It can’t prevent water from collecting in the soil under the crawl space. 

If you find that the ground in the crawlspace is wet, you should take measures to dry it out. For example, the ground should slope away from the house on all sides, foundation drains should be installed to move water away from the foundation, and downspouts should discharge water far enough from the house so it doesn’t seep into the basement. 

 

 

To submit a question, write to Popular Mechanics, Reader Service Bureau, 224 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. The most interesting questions will be answered in a future column.


Hundreds want to watch McVeigh execution

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

OKLAHOMA CITY — Constance Favorite offers a half-serious suggestion for how to accommodate the 250 people who want to watch Timothy McVeigh’s execution: Hold it in the middle of an Oklahoma field. 

Favorite says she wouldn’t look, but she would be there for the sake of her daughter Lakesha Levy, a 21-year-old Air Force airman who was among the 168 people killed in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. 

“To see it happen is not the important thing to me,” Favorite says. “It’s not anything that I need for myself. Let the people see if that’s what they need to heal.” 

The New Orleans woman is among the hundreds of victims and family members who have notified the government they want to watch the Oklahoma City bomber die on May 16 – so many people that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is considering showing the execution on closed-circuit television. 

The execution chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where McVeigh will receive a lethal injection has room for only eight witnesses representing the victims. 

“I’d like to go to Indiana” and witness the execution in person, says Kathleen Treanor, whose 4-year-old daughter and in-laws died in the bombing. “But what are my chances? I’m not setting my expectations too high. As long as I get to view it, I’m a happy camper. To see it happen is going to help me realize that this is over.” 

 

McVeigh, 32, dropped all appeals last month without explanation. And last week he let the deadline pass for asking President Bush to spare his life, saying through a lawyer that it would have been a futile gesture. 

That appeared to clear the way for the first execution by the federal government since 1963. 

Several states have shown executions on closed-circuit television to small groups of people gathered near where the executions were held. The federal government has never done so. 

Officials have not decided whether they would show the closed-circuit broadcast in Terre Haute or Oklahoma City, spokeswoman Linda Smith says. She says officials have rejected McVeigh’s suggestion, made in a letter to a newspaper, that the execution be broadcast nationally. 

Martha Ridley, whose daughter was killed in the attack, is disgusted by the idea. 

“He’s so ego-tripping,” she says. “He wants to make a martyr out of himself. If they broadcast it publicly, if they did it nationally, they would play right into Mr. Timothy McVeigh’s hands.” 

Ridley is raising her 6- and 10-year-old granddaughters, who lost their mother, Kathryn Ridley, in the truck bombing. “He’s been living six years longer than those people he took care of with that bomb,” she says. 

Jannie Coverdale, whose two grandsons died in the blast, says she would like to see the execution on closed-circuit TV. 

Coverdale says she fears that while McVeigh is alive, he can teach his anti-government beliefs to fellow inmates. 

“I don’t believe in revenge,” she says. “I don’t hate him. But I don’t trust him at all. He’s just as dangerous in prison as he would be out of prison.” 

Among the more than 1,000 victims’ relatives and survivors, there is just one who has said publicly that the government should spare McVeigh’s life. 

Bud Welch’s 23-year-old daughter, Julie, died in the Murrah building, where she worked as a Spanish-English translator for the Social Security Administration. Welch, who is Catholic, says his daughter was against the death penalty. And he says he is convinced McVeigh is suicidal. 

“The day we kill him, we’ve assisted suicide,” Welch says. 


Jeb Bush in tears over criticism of staff

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Jeb Bush wept before a black Baptist education group Friday as he introduced minority staffers and appointees he said have been ridiculed by other blacks for associating with him. 

Bush’s decision to abolish affirmative action in university admissions and state contracting prompted marches and demonstrations, including a sit-in by black lawmakers in the governor’s office suite, last year. 

Bush said he feels hurt by the criticism, not for himself but for people such as Leslie Steele, one of his press aides, and Lottery Secretary David Griffin, both black. Afterward, Bush said he teared up when he looked at Steele in the audience. 

“I saw her and I decided to speak from my heart about it,” Bush said. 

He had asked that Steele come to the podium. When she did, she handed him a tissue that he used to wipe his eyes. 

“I’m not crying for me,” Bush told Steele. “I’m crying for you, Leslie, and others who have to make the ultimate sacrifice.” 

Bush said the criticism was unfair because his initiative that replaced affirmative action has increased black enrollment at universities. He also said that minority contracting with agencies he controls is up about 90 percent and that his administration is the most diverse in Florida history. 

However, white as well as black enrollment at universities increased last fall, leaving the percentage of blacks about the same. 

The Republican governor received a standing ovation when he was introduced at the Southern Regional Conference of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education and again when he finished speaking. 

The group’s leaders support Bush’s voucher program that uses tax dollars to send children from failing public schools to private and religious schools. 

Other minority organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, have opposed vouchers because they take money from public schools. 

Bush also supports plans by his brother President Bush to pump federal dollars into faith-based social service organizations. 

“I cannot speak for every preacher here, but I can go back to Orlando with a different perspective on Jeb Bush because I sense you really care,” the Rev. Randolph Bracy told the governor. 

 


Investors give $435 million to start-up

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

SAN JOSE — A start-up telecommunications company that still has no revenues has received about $435 million in venture capital, a huge amount of money in the beleaguered high-tech industry. 

It is the third-largest amount of funding invested in a start-up, and comes despite the Nasdaq’s recent struggles. But investors say they are encouraged by the management of San Jose-based Sigma Networks, and by its product. 

And while many companies have become shy about initial public offerings, that’s not the only way venture capitalists can make money. Getting bought out by another company has a higher potential for making money, said John Taylor, vice president of research for the National Venture Capitalists Association, based in Arlingon, Va. 

“The acquisition market has been very, very strong recently,” Taylor said. “The amount of money’s actually larger for acquisition.” 

The money raised through IPOs in 1999 and 2000 was between $20 billion and $22 billion each year, Taylor said. By comparison, in the first six months of 2000 alone, the money raised through acquisition was around $36 billion. 

Sigma hopes to build a technological bridge that will improve the connections between the elaborate computing network that serves as the Internet’s backbone and the high-speed access providers that cover the last online mile to homes and businesses. 

Those connections currently are managed by phone companies and it often takes months to make them. Sigma’s technology would make it easier, cheaper and faster to make those connections. 

A number of companies are trying out the technology, including Covad Communications, America Online, Enron, Global Crossing, PSINet. 

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, a Netscape Communications co-founder who currently is chairman of Sunnyvale start-up LoudCloud, is on Sigma’s board of directors. 

The two top executives at Sigma are its chairman, Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and CEO John Peters, who joined after leaving Concentric Network. 

Peters has said the $435 million will be sufficient to help make the company profitable. 

The 10 backers of the company include Benchmark Capitalo, Cisco Systems and Salomon Smith Barney. 


State hits 30-year unemployment low

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

SACRAMENTO — The state’s unemployment rate hit a 30-year low last month as the state’s economic boom continues, the state reported Friday. 

The state unemployment rate for January was 4.5 percent, down from 4.7 percent in December, said the state Employment Development Department. 

The next-lowest unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in December 1969, although different calculation methods were used to determine the jobless rate then. 

An EDD survey showed that about 16.5 million people had jobs in California last month, the highest number ever employed in the state. That was up by 31,000 from December and by 441,000 from January 2000. 

There were 784,000 people unemployed last month, a decline of 32,000 from December and 48,000 over the year. 

That is the lowest number of people unemployed since February 1990, when it was 775,000, the department said. 

 

Of those jobless, 447,800 were laid off, 98,300 left jobs voluntarily and the rest were new entrants or re-entrants into the job market. 

The service industry experienced a loss of 40,400 jobs in January, with most declines in business, engineering, management, educational, recreation and health services. 

Retail trade employment declined by more than expected for the winter season. About 5,400 jobs were cut along with the 121,700 expected for the post-holiday season, the department said. 

Three industry divisions — mining, transportation and public utilities — added jobs last month. 

However, the good employment news was not shared equally around the state. San Mateo County had the lowest jobless rate at 1.5 percent, followed by Santa Clara County at 1.6 percent and Marin County was at 1.7 percent. 

The highest rate was 29.1 percent in Colusa County, followed by Imperial County at 21.4 percent and Merced County at 17.6 percent. 


Market Watch

The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

NEW YORK — Speculation about an earlier-than-expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve helped technology stocks stage a last-minute comeback Friday, giving the Nasdaq composite index its first positive finish in more than a week. 

The moderate gains staunched a dramatic selloff sparked earlier in the session on earnings warnings by Motorola and Sun Microsystems. But analysts cautioned that the upturn might be temporary and stocks will likely fall farther, noting that corporate profits won’t improve anytime soon and more earnings warnings are on the way. 

Blue chips’ prospects also improved late in the session, but not enough for a positive finish. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 84.91 at 10,441.90, a 0.8 percent loss, recovering from a 232-point loss. It fell 3.3 percent for the week.All three indexes are down for 2001. The Nasdaq has been the hardest hit, trading more than 55 percent off of its all-time high of 5,048.62, reached last March.“Investor confidence continues to get shaken to the bone” by these profit warnings, said Tom Galvin, chief investment officer at Credit Suisse First Boston. The Nasdaq’s positive finish marked a surprising end to trading session that started on a sour note. 

— The Associated Press 

Investors had begun selling immediately Friday after Motorola reduced its first-quarter earnings outlook before the market opened citing soft demand for its cell phones and computer chips. 

The news compounded a warning late Thursday from Sun Microsystems that the weak economic environment would hurt the network server manufacturer’s third-quarter results. 

Motorola ended the session down $1.04 to $16.25 and Sun Microsystems was unchanged at $20.81 after spending most of the day down. 

The announcements sent several other technology stocks reeling, including IBM, a Dow component, which dropped tumbled $4.90, or more than 4 percent, to $104, after investment firm Salomon Smith Barney reduced its earnings estimates for the computer maker. 

Another big loser: Texas Instruments, which dropped $2.55, or 8 percent, to $30.15. 

But by late in the session many stocks had recovered at least some of their losses. Tech stocks ending higher included Ciena, up $5.38 at $74.50, and Dow component Microsoft, up $1.25 at $56.44. 

Financial and pharmaceutical stocks remained weak, however. Banker J.P. Morgan Chase dropped $1.25 to $47.05 and Johnson & Johnson lost $1.03 to $95.49. 

The volatility was the latest indication of investors’ worries that a better economy, and stronger corporate profits, may be a long ways off. 

Analysts say the increasing signs of an economic slowdown — ranging from economic data to incessant corporate profit warnings — have made many on Wall Street hesitant to buy stocks. 

“The mood of the market is that any bad news is going to be overreacted to,” said Brian Belski, fundamental market strategist at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, who remains unconvinced that stocks have hit bottom. 

The Federal Reserve, which has already cut interest rates twice since Jan. 1, is expected to lower rates again at its meeting in late March. Wall Street was awash with speculation Friday that another cut might come sooner, a theory supported in a research note by Bear Stearns chief economist Wayne Angell, who is also a former Federal Reserve governor. 

“We need the Fed and fast. I don’t think we can wait until the March meeting,” said Matt Brown, head of equity management at Wilmington Trust. “You’re not going to get any relief from corporate earnings. The only possible hero here is the Fed.” 

Trading volume was moderate. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by nearly 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.45 billion shares, compared with nearly 1.60 billion Thursday. 

The Russell 2000 index was virtually unchanged, rising 0.19 to 477.45. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.3 percent. Germany’s DAX index closed down 3.2 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 was off nearly 1.0 percent, and France’s CAC-40 dropped 2.4 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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


Panthers maul St. Elizabeth to reach championship game

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Friday February 23, 2001

If the St. Elizabeth boys’ basketball team went into Thursday’s playoff game at St. Mary’s with any hopes of upsetting the top-seeded Panthers, they were shattered almost immediately after the opening tip. 

The Panthers took all of 10 seconds to score five points, as guard John Sharper scored an easy layup and free throw and DeShawn Freeman stole the ensuing inbounds pass for another layup. The onslaught continued for nearly the entire first quarter, as St. Mary’s jumped out to a 23-2 lead by forcing 11 Mustang turnovers. Sharper scored 11 points in the quarter and forward Chase Moore pitched in 10. 

“The kids came out and established the tempo right from the get-go,” St. Mary’s head coach Jose Caraballo said. 

Down 29-10 after the first period, the Mustangs collected themselves and managed to put together a 10-point run, committing no turnovers for the first four minutes of the second quarter. But St. Mary’s forward Jeremiah Fielder banked in a three-pointer to end the St. Elizabeth comeback, and the rout was back on. The Panthers came back with a 17-5 run to give themselves a 46-25 halftime lead. The run was highlighted by a Lorenzo Alexander rebound, which he took the length of the floor before dishing off a no-look pass for a Sharper layup. 

The Panther press took its toll on the Mustangs all game long, but they also did a good job slowing down St. Elizabeth point guard Bakari Altheimer, who scored 27 points Wednesday in the Mustangs’ first-round game against St. Joseph. The Panthers held Altheimer without a field goal until the fourth quarter, and he finished the game with just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting. 

“We didn’t want DeShawn getting in foul trouble, so we ran extra guys at Bakari,” Caraballo said. “He’s the key to that team. Without him scoring, they didn’t have much to go with.” 

Forward Dale Ingram led the Mustangs with 12 points, and guard Terrence Edmond had nine. 

Moore scored 10 points in the third quarter on his way to a game-high 22, and the Mustangs came unglued on offense again, committing 10 turnovers and falling behind 67-37. 

Most of the fourth quarter looked like a junior varsity game, as both coaches emptied their benches, using JV players called up for the playoffs. 

Moore had 10 rebounds and three steals to go with his 22 points. Sharper struggled in the second half, hitting just 2-of-8 from the floor, but still finished the game with 19 points, and Freeman added a quiet 10.


Residents fight eviction

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Friday February 23, 2001

As rents continue to rise making Berkeley affordable for financially exclusive renters, book store employee Sarah Glickstein, 62, and four others are being evicted from their longtime homes under the Ellis Act. 

Each morning for 12 years Glickstein has left her modest studio in a two-story building on a tree-lined section of Berkeley Way to walk the 10 blocks to her job at Black Oak Books where she works at the front desk. Glickstein doesn’t own a car and worries about how she’ll get to work if she cannot find affordable housing in Berkeley. “I’ve been offered places to stay, but none that I can afford,” she said. “I don’t make very much.” 

On Oct. 23, 2000, property owner John Jordon served the five tenants with eviction notices. The units are considered by state law to be off the rental market 120 days after tenants receive the notices, which in the case of Glickstein, and the other tenants of 1829 Berkeley Way, is today. 

The evictions have prompted the City Council to consider additional tenant protection laws. 

Lawrence Hayes, a renter for 11 years, said the tenants have retained Berkeley tenants’ rights attorney Tim Rumberger and have decided to attempt to negotiate with Jordon for a fair move-out payment. If that fails they will fight the eviction in court. 

Jordon is evicting the tenants under the Ellis Act, a controversial state law that allows landlords to take rental properties off the market provided they comply with a series of restrictions, including the requirement of re-renting the units to evicted tenants before putting the units on the open market. Landlords are also required to pay tenants who can demonstrate they are low-income a $4,500 moving fee. 

Rumberger said the law is abused by landlords who simply want to get longtime tenants out so they can raise the rents to increase property values. 

Tuesday, the City Council approved a recommendation requesting the city attorney draft an ordinance to protect tenants who are being evicted under the Ellis Act. Councilmembers Dona Spring and Linda Maio were prompted by the Berkeley Way eviction to submit the proposal. The council approved the proposal by a 8-0-1 vote with Councilmember Betty Olds abstaining. 

Spring and Maio would like to see landlords required to offer vacant units in other properties they own to tenants they evict under the Ellis Act. They have also asked the city attorney to determine if the city can require landlords to own a property for three to five years before they use the Ellis Act as an eviction tool. 

“I really hope we can get the mandatory three to five year restriction in order to stop speculators from buying these properties and using the Ellis Act to kick everyone out,” Spring said. 

Jordon, who insisted he is not a developer but declined to say what his profession is, said he wanted to move into the seven units on the property with his family. He said when he discovered Berkeley wouldn’t allow him to evict the tenants under owner move-in option, he was forced to use the Ellis Act to evict the tenants so he could sell the building and recuperate his losses. 

A separate building in the back of the property has three units that are currently unoccupied. 

According to Olds, there were five buildings with a total of 15 units taken off the market last year. She said the number of units removed from the market was average and didn’t indicate a serious problem. 

If the city is able to enact the extra tenant protections, it will probably not come in time to help Glickstein, who has lived in her studio unit for 20 years, or the other four tenants in her building. 

Ken Hayes, an actor who has lived the building for 12 years, said he has been unsettled since receiving the eviction notice.  

“I was very frightened at first,” he said. “The climate has changed so much, I won’t be able to find another place in Berkeley.” 

Hayes said he will do what he can to fight the eviction as a matter of principle. “There has been constant harassment since Jordon bought the property last June,” he said. 

Hayes said he has received as many as 30 notices from Jordon asking for access to his apartment for repairs. “He would either not show up or he would walk through with his girlfriend or his kids and not do any work,” Hayes said. 

Jordon said he has gone out of his way not to bother the tenants while making mandatory repairs to the building. 

“There were major roof leaks and the building hadn’t been painted in 30 years,” he said. “When I bought the property a housing inspector gave me a list of work that had to be done and it had to be done while the tenants were occupying the units.” 

Glickstein said Jordon did fix the roof and her ceiling isn’t leaking for the first time in 10 years. “I wish he was doing it for our sake but he’s not,” she said. 

Kris Eggen, who does accessibility work for an architecture firm, has lived the property for 29 years. He said Jordon has undertaken repairs on the building but only the minimum required by the city in order to serve the eviction notices.  

“The Berkeley Municipal Code requires a standard of habitability in order to evict tenants,” he said. “Our opinion is the manner in which he chose to do the repairs was very disruptive.” 

Jordon said that the atmosphere in Berkeley is harsh for landlords and creates animosity between owners and tenants. “It’s an odd system for a city that has such a shortage of housing,” he said. 

Glickstein said she tries to put the pending eviction out of her mind so she can carry on with her daily life. “This whole thing is so terrifying the only way I can deal with it is by being optimistic,” she said.  


Calendar of Events & Activities

— compiled by Chason Wainwright
Friday February 23, 2001


Friday, Feb. 23

 

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  

 

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 

 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

665-6812 

 


Saturday, Feb. 24

 

Tibetan New Year’s  

Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs. $30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or  

visit www.nukewatch.org 

 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fund-raiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5 Call 644-6260 

 

Love of Self, Family  

& Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 

Teahouse Concert  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., D’Autremont Dining Hall 

PACTS, along with PSR’s PANA Institute and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, co-sponsor this concert to celebrate and affirm Asian and Pacific Islander Gay, Lesbian. Bisexual and Transgender people of faith and their allies.  

$5 - $10 Call 849-8244 

 

Rolling in the Dough 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

2725 Elmwood Ave. (at Ashby)  

A garage sale and bake sale to benefit the Berkeley high Girls’ Lacrosse team. Donations are welcome and should be brought to the above address between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. 841-4281  

 

Spanish Fellowship Night 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Peace & Justice Ministries Center  

2075 Eunice St.  

A basic spanish class and Spanish evening devotions.  

524-1618 

 

YMCA Family Center Community Open House 

3 - 5 p.m. 

2001 Allston Way  

All families are invited to visit the new Family Center, opened in January, which provides parenting information and special programs for families with disabilities, foster families, and pregnant teens and teen mothers.  

665-3238 

 


Sunday, Feb. 25

 

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free Call 848-0181 

 

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?” This session is called “Storytelling through Textiles” and will feature talks by textile artists Kathy Rousso and Karen Hampton.  

Free  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library:  

Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of the ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.” 549-6950 

 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

La Milpa 

3 p.m. 

370 Dwinelle Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Dr. Norman Hammond, professor of Archeology at Boston University will give a slide-lecture on this Mayan city in Northwestern Belize. Free and open to the public.  

 


Monday, Feb. 26

 

“Passages Into Aging” 

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Miriam Chaya Fields, co-producer and director, of Timbrels & Torahs, will lead in a discussion about celebrating the wisdom and inspiration of the elder years.  

$5 donation  

Call 549-9447 x110 

 

Black History Dance Celebration  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The Imhotet Dancers will perform. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 

 

 


Tuesday, Feb. 27

 

“Great Decisions” - Missile Defense  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

City Council Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Sheryl Walton of CAT will provide an overview of the CAT and its model to the City Council and Berkeley viewers.  

 

Farmers’ Market Fat Tuesday 

Mardi Gras Celebration  

1 p.m. - Dusk 

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

With live performances by The Sons & Daughters of Orpheus and Wild Buds: West Coast Mardi Gras Band. Free and always wheelchair accessible.  

 

BHS Jazz Band  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A Black History celebration performance. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

Mardi Gras Improv Show  

7:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre  

1301 Shattuck Ave.  

Renowned comedians from Bay Area Theater Sports, the proceeds will benefit Good Shepard Episcopal Church in Berkeley.  

$10 - $20  

234-6586 

 

Telegraph Area Association  

9 a.m.  

TAA  

2509 Haste St.  

Discussions will include committee updates, TAA workshop, and funding/budget.  

 

Organizing for Public Power  

7 p.m. 

Temescal Branch  

Oakland Library, Rear Entrance  

5205 Telegraph Ave.  

Dan Berman, co-author of “Who Owns the Sun?” and advisor to Ralph Nader, Robin Davis, PG&E worker, Eugene Coyle, energy policy economist, and Gail Bateson, labor party, will discuss the electricity crisis.  

373-9219  

 

Fat Tuesday Celebration 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Peace & Justice Ministries Center 

2075 Eunice St.  

Tour the new Berkeley Peace & Justice Center after the renovations are complete. Community open house, complete with building blessing, Cajun food and jazz.  

524-1618 

 


Wednesday, Feb. 28

 

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 

 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe founder Ron Davis and icon clown Wavy Gravy give dialogues on satire.  

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

 

Planning Commission Public Hearing  

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The commission is holding public hearings on the Planning Commission Draft General Plan. The commission requests that all written comments on the plan be submitted by March 1. 

 

Guide Dogs for the Blind 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

T. Duncan, a low vision speaker, will talk about guide dogs. Free  

Call 644-6107 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 


Thursday, March 1

 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Eliza Shefler and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

 

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 

 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

 

Cycling Journey  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Leo Tenenblat and Jean Philippe Boubli set off on their mountain bikes from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. They will share slides and stories of their 52-day adventure. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 


Friday, March 2

 

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 

 

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  

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse 

7:30 p.m. 

Little Theater 

Berkeley High School  

2246 Milvia St.  

Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba.  

$5 - $10  

 

Colombia In Context  

9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

UC Berkeley  

A conference bringing together leading experts from both Latin America and the U.S. to discuss both the roots of the current Colombian crisis, and the future effects of U.S. strategy on the region. There will be a break between Noon and 2 p.m. 

Visit www.clas.berkeley.edu/clas 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 


Saturday, March 3

 

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 

 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Mary Miche, leader of Song Trek Music, will lead a sing-along that will send everyone home humming.  

Call 649-3913 

 

Residential Solar Electricity  

1 - 3 p.m. 

Ecology Center  

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Hal Aronson, director of the Solar Energy Education Program for Berkeley EcoHouse, will cover how solar electric cells work, different types of systems, and costs of a solar system. Participants will also produce electricity using photovoltaic panels and power a range of appliances.  

$10 - $15  

548-2220 x233  

 

Feathered Dinosaurs  

11 a.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley’s Dr. Kevin Padian talks about the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossils in northern China. Included with museum admission.  

$3 - $7  

642-5132 

 

Sunday, March 4  

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

 

Salsa Lesson and Dance Party  

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Professional instructors Mati Mizrachi and Ron Louie will lead you through the steps. Irsraeli food will be provided by Holy Land Restaurant.  

$10 

RSVP 237-9874 

 

Monday, March 5  

Your Legal Rights with HMOs 

6 - 7:30 p.m. 

YWCA Oakland  

1515 Webster St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Presented by the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, UCSF Cancer Resource Center and the San Francisco Bar Volunteer Legal Services, this free workshop covers what your legal rights are and how to guard them.  

Call 415-885-3693 

 

Beginning Bicyclist Workshop  

7 - 9 p.m. 

YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

Community Room 1, Main Floor  

Jason Meggs and Zed Lopez will teach you how to keep yourself and your bike safe and even how to use your bike for shopping. Free  

Call Jason Meggs, 549-RIDE 

 

“Stop Medical Apartheid” 

Noon  

Parker & Seventh St.  

Local non-violent civil disobedience in reaction to Bayer Corp. involvement in a lawsuit against the government of South Africa. Bayer and 39 other large drug companies are suing the governement to prevent them from producing generic AIDS drugs or importing them at the lowest market price. Speakers or arrestees includes Councilors Maudelle Shirek and Kriss Worthington, Father Bill O’Donnell and Rev. Mark Wilson and South African Bongane Byatai.  

Call 568-1680 

 

Self-Care and Wellness Health Fair 

Pre-Registration Deadline 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Ashby Campus, Auditorium  

2450 Ashby Ave.  

Registration deadline for the March 10 event. A day of workshops offering ways to maintain and improve health of the body, mind and spirit.  

$10 admission, $5 per workshop  

 

Tuesday, March 6  

“Great Decisions” - U.S. & Iraq 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is health, nutrition and science; bioengineering.  

Call 527-5332  

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Wednesday, March 7  

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 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 8 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Judy Wells and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

 

Trekking Northern India  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Professional wilderness guide Randy Pomeroy will take you on a journey from Ladakh to Rajasthan. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 

“Fifty Years in the Making” 

Boalt Hall School of Law  

UC Berkeley 

A gathering of some of the most prominent diplomats, scholars, and legal practitioners in the field of World War II reparation and restitution claims. Free and open to the public.  

 

Friday, March 9  

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 

 

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  

 

Berkeley PC Users Group 

7 p.m. 

Vista College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

E-Mail: meldancing@aol.com 

 

Europe on a Shoestring  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Scott Mcneely, co-author of the Lonely Planet book will share slides and information on some of his favorite adventures off the beaten path. Come learn about smart budget travel.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 10  

The Secrets of Sacred Cinema 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 103 

Kevin Peer, a documentary film maker for the past 25 years, gives a two-day intensive for people interested in exploring documentary filmmaking. No equipment or prior experience required.  

$200 per person and registration is required 

Call 486-1480 

 

Narratives of Public Sector Reform: A Colloquium  

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

223 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Mark Bevir of the department of Political Science of UC Berkeley, will present his paper on “Decentered Theory of Governance” and Rod Rhodes of the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne will present his paper, “Entering British Governance.” There will also be a session to discuss the broader issues their works raise.  

 

Greece Adventure 

1 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Linda Pearson of REI Adventures will introduce you to Greece in slides and discussion.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Healing Garden  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Kathi Kinney will teach how to integrate medicinal herbs into existing gardens and landscapes and how to design and maintain a practical, aromatic, easy-care herb garden.  

$10 - $15  

548-2220 x233 

 

West Coast Live  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Freight & Salvage  

1111 Addison St.  

Sedge’s guests this week will be Patrick McCabe, author of The Butcher Boy and Emerald Germs of Ireland, a capella singers M-Pact, Naturalist Claire Peaslee and pianist Mike Greensill.  

664-9500 

 

Self-Care and Wellness Health Fair 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Ashby Campus, Auditorium  

2450 Ashby Ave.  

A day of workshops offering ways to maintain and improve health of the body, mind and spirit. Learn the process one might go through when deciding to stay with self-help, when to seek out assistance, and how to integrate care.  

$10 admission, $5 per workshop  

 

Sunday, March 11 

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.  

Call 849-0217 

 

Myths & Realities of the International House  

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

1931 Center St.  

Director Joe Lurie will show a video and talk about the history and the struggle to open the International House.  

$10 donation  

Call 848-0181 

 

Walk on the Moon  

2 & 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

A mother and daughter explore their identities as they summer in the Catskills in 1969 amidst the news of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Peer led discussion to follow film.  

$2 suggested donation  

 

Energy Attack  

4 - 6 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

PUC Commissioner Carl Wood, labor journalist David Bacon and Environmentalist architect Mark Gorrell will discuss the energy crisis and how to get involved in solutions.  

549-0816 

 

Tuesday, March 13  

Berkeley Rep. Proscenium Opening 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

2015 Addison St.  

Featuring the premiere performance of “The Oresteia” by Aeschylus. Opening gala dinner held prior to performance. Performance will be at 8 p.m. 

Call 647-2949 

 

“Great Decisions” - International Health Crisis 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Wednesday, March 14 

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 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 15  

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 friends 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 Elanor Watson-Gove and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

 

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 

 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

 

Myanmar: The Golden Kingdom  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Philip Hassrick of Lost Frontiers will introduce you to Myanmar’s unique history and culture.  

Call 527-4140 

 

Friday, March 16  

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 

 

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  

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 17  

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 

 

Sunday, March 18 

East Bay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal  

6:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Calling for gay and bisexual men and their allies and friends to join this choral ensemble directed by J.R. Foust. There is no obligation to join the chorus after the first rehearsal.  

Call to RSVP 664-0260 or e-mail eastbaymenschorus@yahoo.com 

 

“Parenting in the Second Half of Life” 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author Roberta Maisel will discuss ways parents and their grown children can get on a positive and guilt-free path.  

848-0237  

 

Tuesday, March 20 

“Great Decisions” - Mexico Reexamined  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is death and dying in celebration of the Ides of March.  

Call 527-9772  

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

Lavendar Lunch 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Bldg., Room 103  

Unitarian-Universalist minister Sean Parker Dennison discusses his experiences as a transgender minister working in parish ministry.  

849-8206 

 

Wednesday, March 21  

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 

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Thursday, March 22  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Anna Mae Stanley and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

 

Trekking in Bhutan  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Ruth Ann Kocour and Elizabeth Rassiga will share slides of their 25-day journey along the Snow Leopard Trek to the sacred mountain Chomolhari and beyond. Free 

Call 527-4140 

 

Friday, March 23 

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 

 

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  

 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Saturday, March 24 

Ashkenaz Dance-A-Thon 

2 p.m. - 2 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1370 San Pablo Ave.  

Join Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers along with African, Cajun, North African, Balkan, reggae, and Caribbean bands in this twelve hour dance music-fest. This is Ashkenaz big fund-raiser for making improvements, including a new dance floor and ventilation system.  

$20 donation  

525-5054 or visit www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Sunday, March 25 

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 

 

Tuesday, March 27 

“Great Decisions” - European Integration  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

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


Friday February 23, 2001

Signs not enough 

 

Editor: 

Thank you for your coverage of bicycle transportation issues (“Bike boulevard becoming a Berkeley reality,” Feb. 21). As mentioned in the article, Palo Alto implemented the Bryant St. bike boulevard and other bicycle improvements during the 1980s. Sadly, Berkeley’s initial Hillegass/Bowditch bicycle boulevard differs greatly from Palo Alto’s successful model. Palo Alto installed motor vehicle barriers and bicycle-activated stop lights, and eliminated some stop signs in the bicycle direction of travel. These improvements make Bryant St. and other informal bike boulevards, such as Park Ave., faster, safer, and more pleasant for bicyclists. 

Berkeley’s Hillegass/Bowditch bike boulevard consist of numerous signs. It provides bicyclists no advantage over nearby side streets other than the possibility that motor vehicle drivers will be more deferential when driving on a street with bike boulevard signs. I commute once a week by bicycle through Palo Alto and always use the bike boulevards. I see no reason to use Hillegass/Bowditch. 

As Berkeley implements more bike boulevards, perhaps it can learn from Palo Alto’s time-tested success. I hope to see fewer purple signs and more real improvements such as bicycle-activated stop lights at busy intersections.  

 

Brit Harvey 

Berkeley 

 

 

Editor’s note: City planners say signs are only the first step. Vigilant citizens will make it so. 

Uncivilized are us 

 

Editor: 

“We are bombing Japan back into the Stone Age” - General Curtis LeMay, March 9/45 (before Hiroshima)... 

“We are bombing Vietnam back into the Stone Age” - General Curtis LeMay, over 20 years later... 

“We have bombed Iraq back to a pre-industrial society,” - Pentagon, after our first bombings of Baghdad.  

In view of our latest bombings, one is entitled to wonder if we have ever left the stone age.  

 

George Kauffman 

Berkeley 

 

 

 

Both bushes bomb to boost popularity 

 

Editor:  

Toward the end of his presidency, George Bush Sr. tried to boost his popularity with an incomplete war on Iraq.  

At the start of his presidency, George W. Bush also tries to boost his popularity with a war on Iraq. It needs to remain incomplete to be called “compassionate.” 

 

Max Alfert 

Albany 


Arts & Entertainment

Friday February 23, 2001

 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm.”An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

 

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” Through May 2002 An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. “Second Annual Richard Nagler Competition for Excellence in Jewish Photography” Through Feb., 2001. Featuring the work of Claudia Nierman, Jason Francisco, Fleming Lunsford, and others. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950  

 

UC Berkeley Art Museum “The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered” through March 26. An exhibit of black and white photographs that capture the fears and faith of those who traveled from Marks, Mississippi to Washington, D.C. ,with mule-drawn wagons to attend the Poor People's Campaign in December, 1967; “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience, Through April 29. This conceptual artist and pioneer of video, installation, and Internet art presents three installations. Ernesto Neto/MATRIX 19 A Maximum Minimum Time Space Between Us and the Parsimonious Universe, Through April 15. Made from disposable materials such as styrofoam pellets, glass, paper, paraffin wax, and nylon stockings, Neto’s sensual sculptural works provoke viewers to interact with his art. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. 642-0808. 

 

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808 

 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821 

 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history.“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing.This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648  

 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Math Rules!” Ongoing. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge.“Within the Human Brain” Ongoing. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. “Vision,” Through April 15 Get a very close look at how the eyes and brain work together to focus light, perceive color and motion, and process information. “T. Rex on Trial,” Through May 28 Where was T. Rex at the time of the crime? Learn how paleontologists decipher clues to dinosaur behavior. Black History Month Events, Through Feb. 24, “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Computer Lab, Saturdays 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. $7 for adults; $5 for children 5-18; $3 for children 3-4. 642-5132 

 

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu  

 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You; March 2: Books Lie, Living Under Lies, Remnants, No Regrets, The Fadeaways, LWL; March 3: Dr. Know, The Dread, Hot Box, Anal Mucus; March 9: Dead and Gone, Sworn Vengence, Punishment, Misoura, The Computer Kills; March 10: The Varukers, 46 Short, Scarred for Life, Oppressed Logic, Faced Down; March 16: The P.A.W.N.S., Kill the Messenger, Phoenix, The Sugarlips; March 17: The Hood, Benumb, Above This World, Chrome Disorder, Eulogy 525-9926  

 

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 6: PickPocket Ensemble; March 7: Whiskey Bros.; March 8: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 10: PickPocket Ensemble; March 13: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; March 15: Keni “El Lebrijano”; March 17: Maureen Brennan Group 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

 

Ashkenaz Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 9:30: Zydeco Flames, dance lesson at 8:30 p.m.; Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Youth Balkan Dance with Denise Weiss; Feb. 25, 6 p.m.: Calif. Klezmer; Feb. 27, 8:30 p.m.: Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party with Tee Fee, costume party and king and queen to be crowned; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: “Fling Ding!” A night of Appalachian music featuring the Bluegrass Intentions; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo; March 2: Henry Clement; March 3: J.J. Malone; March 9: Ron Hacker; March 10: Red Archibald 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

 

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

 

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

 

Cal Performances Feb. 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52; March 2 - March 11, call for times: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

 

Cynthia and the Swing Set, Jubilee American Dance Theatre Feb. 24, 8 p.m. A benefit for the Crowden School and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. Guests will also have the chance to win auction and raffle items. New Orleans Cajun and Creole dinner optional. Crowden School 1475 Rose. St. (at Sacramento) $10 - $40 559-6910  

 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

 

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

 

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

 

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

 

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

 

Eric Glick Reiman, Tom Nunn, Toychestra March 4, 7:48 p.m. $8 donation TUVASpace 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr.) 649-8744 

 

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

 

Carol Denney, Folk This!, J.D. Nelson March 7, 8 p.m. CD release party for Denney’s “The Rich Will Never Be Poor” $16.50 Freight & Salvage 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 

 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

 

Theater 

 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

 

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

 

“The Oresteia” by Aeschylus March 14 - May 6 Directed by Tony Taccone and Stephen Wadsworth, Aeschylus trilogy will be the first production staged on the Berkeley Rep’s new prosenium stage. Please call Berkeley Repertory Theatre for specific dates and times. $15.99 - $117 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. (at Shattuck) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org 

 

 

Films 

 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

 

 

Exhibits 

 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

 

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

 

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February. Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

 

“Travels in Color” Wax crayon sketches by Pamela Markmann made over the past 35 years Through March 31, 5 - 8 p.m. daily Voulez Vouz Bistro 2930 College Ave. 548-4708 

 

“Chicano Art and Visions of David Tafolla” Vivid color acrylic and oil paintings with Latino imagery. March 5 - April 12, Tuesday - Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m., Saturday Noon - 4 p.m. and by appointment. Opening reception March 10, 1 - 3 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9272 or www.wcrc.org 

 

 

Readings 

 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; March 24, 7 p.m.: Aliza Sherman will read and sign “Cybergrrl@Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. 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. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

 

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

 

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

 

 

Lectures 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

 

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

 


Cal women fall to UW

Staff Report Staff Report
Friday February 23, 2001

Late nine-point Washington run dooms Bears 

 

The Cal women’s basketball team couldn’t make it two upsets in a row, falling to the Washington Huskies, 78-71, in Seattle. 

The Bears, who beat Stanford last week, were down just 62-61 with 1:51 left in the game, but couldn’t pull ahead. The Huskies went on a nine-point run, with four different players scoring, and the Bears couldn’t come back. 

The Huskies (10-4 Pac-10, 17-7 overall) were led by guards Giuliana Mendiola and Megan Franza, who scored 22 and 21 points, respectively. Franza scored 30 in the teams’ first meeting, a 69-68 Washington win, while Mendiola was scoreless. 

The Bears (7-6, 11-12) got double-figure scoring from four players: guard Courtney Johnson with 16, guard Kenya Corley with 15, forward Lauren Ashbaugh with 14 and forward Ami Forney with 11. Johnson also had nine assists. 

The teams had very similar stats in the game: both teams shot 48 percent from the field and had 23 turnovers. The difference came at the charity stripe. The Huskies headed to the line 26 times, making 19, while the Bears shot 26 free throws, making 10.


School Board votes to back Rebound program

By Ben Lumpkin Special to the Daily Planet
Friday February 23, 2001

Despite the adamant opposition of two of its members, the Berkeley Unified School District board of directors voted Wednesday night to give key financial backing to a Berkeley High School program for students failing two or more classes. 

“I’m very uncomfortable supporting a recommendation that puts these kids in peril of yet another failure,” said Board Vice President Shirley Issel, who abstained from a 3-1 vote to begin paying the four non-credentialed teachers involved in the program. 

The Rebound Program was implemented in January after grade estimates 15 weeks into the last semester indicated that as many as 242 Berkeley High freshman were failing two or more classes. Under the program, 46 freshman failing multiple classes are placed in special classes designed to improve their attendance and academic performance. Instead of one period of English and math each day, they have two. Instead of one teacher for every 20 to 30 students, Rebound students have one teacher for every 10 students. 

“The teachers give questions in a way the kids can understand,” said Corinne Thompson, a member of the parent group that originally proposed the Rebound Program, Parents of Children of African Descent. “They don’t talk over their heads. They go over it again and again until they get it.” 

Occasionally, team building exercises and field trips are substituted for classes to build students’ confidence and stir greater interest in academic subjects. On Wednesday, for example, the Rebound students participated in a challenging ropes course sponsored by the Berkeley Boosters. 

“We hope that physical action translates into an emotional and intellectual awakening,” said program supporter Beth Montano. 

But some board members remain unconvinced.  

Issel cited articles on education research Wednesday night that she said demonstrate conclusively that “the most critical variable in the achievement of at risk students is the hiring of effective teachers.” 

Although the original PCAD proposal called for hiring experienced teachers for the Rebound Program, the four teachers selected are not credentialed, Issel complained. 

“(The school board) is extremely vulnerable to the accusation that we are providing the least qualified teachers to the students most in need,” Issel said. 

Board director Joaquin Rivera, who voted against pay for the Rebound instructors, agreed. 

“I think the research is clear,” Rivera said Wednesday, expressing his concern that at risk students at Berkeley High have teachers who have worked successfully with at risk students in the past.  

“The only time these teachers were ever in a classroom was as students,” Rivera said in a later interview. 

Rebound supporters counter that the teachers’ energy and enthusiasm goes a long way to make up for any lack of credentials. 

“The rebound program is nourishing souls, and God knows we need to nourish souls at Berkeley High School,” said Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein, the board’s student director and a senior at Berkeley High. 

In an interview after the meeting, Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch said the four Rebound instructors are college graduates who are eligible to be credentialed teachers and are in fact completing credentialing programs in the evenings after working with the Rebound students.  

They have also taken proficiency tests to obtain emergency credentials, Lynch said, but the results aren’t yet available. Until the teachers have emergency credentials, credentialed substitute teachers have been hired to supervise and assist them in the classroom as required by law. 

Because of the shortage of credentialed teachers, Berkeley High must hire non-credentialed teachers to meet its needs at the beginning of every year, Lynch said. These teachers are put through the same interview process used to select the Rebound teachers, he added. 

“You bet on the fact that you can read people pretty well,” Lynch said. “I think we’ve got four very good teachers.” 

In voting to pay the teachers Wednesday, school board President Terry Doran expressed total confidence in the selection process. 

“Every attempt was made to see that the program would be the best that we could put together in the time that we had,” Doran said, emphasizing the need to move rapidly to have the program in place by January.  

Doran said the teachers have a strong record of academic performance and a proven commitment to working with young people.  

Although Rebound supporters expressed satisfaction with the vote’s outcome Wednesday, many said they would like to see more support from the board in future, including more money to expand the program. 

Alex Papillon, president of the Berkeley Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, dismissed the $100,000 the board has set aside for the programs as a “paltry sum of money.” He said many more failing students at Berkeley need to brought into the program. 

“These students have experienced rejection throughout their life in public education and they have begun to turn off to public education,” Papillon said. 

Lynch said many of the students in the Rebound program today are students who habitually skipped their regular Berkeley High classes. He and others said the fact that these students are now attending class every day represents a major victory for the Rebound Program. 

Other supporters of the Rebound Program say one of its greatest strengths is that it increases parent involvement in their children’s studies. Rebound instructors call parents frequently to update them about students’ progress, they say, something that regular teachers rarely have time or inclination to do. 

“Parents feel that there is a door open for them now,” said PCAD member Debrah Watson. “They’re not afraid to come to school anymore.” 


Bears bounce back to beat Washington

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

 

Sean Lampley scored 29 points and had 17 rebounds as California easily handled Washington 82-66 Thursday night. 

The Bears were coming off of a 32-point loss to Stanford. 

Solomon Hughes added 12 points and six rebounds for the Bears (18-7, 9-4), who completed a season sweep of the Huskies. 

C.J. Massingale scored 13 points to pace Washington (9-17, 3-11), which extended its losing streak to five. The Huskies have dropped eight of their last nine games and 13 of their last 15. 

Lampley, the leading scorer this season in the Pac-10, posted his seventh double-double of the season and the 28th of his career. The senior forward connected on all eight of his shots from the floor and left to a standing ovation with just over four minutes left in the game. 

Lampley and Solomon Hughes were a combined 10-for-10 from the floor in the first half and teamed for 31 points as the Bears jumped out to a double-digit lead early and never trailed. Lampley connected on his first six field goal attempts and had 21 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave California a 47-29 lead. 

Lampley’s 3-pointer also moved him past former Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson into second place on the Bears’ all-time scoring list. With 1,664 points Lampley trails only Lamond Murray, who scored 1,688 from 1992-94. 

Washington made just three of its first 14 shots from the field (21.4 percent), while California sank nine of its first 15 (60 percent) and benefited from 14 Husky turnovers. 

Joe Shipp scored 12 points and Brian Wethers had 10 for California, which led by as many as 28 points in the second half. 

Curtis Allen and Michael Johnson added 10 points each for Washington.


Chinese church redefines itself

By Jennifer Dix Daily Planet Correspondent
Friday February 23, 2001

The Berkeley Chinese Community Church celebrated its centennial late last year.  

It began as a missionary outreach program of the First Congregational Church to Chinese students in 1900, in the days when Asians and other minorities were not allowed to mix with whites in many public places, not even for worship. The Chinese Mission School, as it was then called, offered fellowship for Chinese Christians and taught English to UC Berkeley Chinese students. It grew quickly, soon becoming an independent congregation and a center of the Chinese-American community in the East Bay.  

Many prominent members of the Chinese-American community were associated with BCCC. They include the late Alice Yu, who was the first Chinese educator to break racial barriers in San Francisco. Local personality York Jue, known for his curious sculpture garden on McKinley Street, has been a member of the church for nearly 50 years. Through the early postwar years, BCCC was one of the main centers of the local Chinese-American community. 

Today, the BCCC is balanced, not without some tension, between two generations and two cultures. There is a young immigrant congregation which attends its own Cantonese service every Sunday, while older members of the church are longtime residents who speak no Chinese. 

The senior center at the BCCC is a vital component of the church today. Founded 15 years ago by member Dorothy Wong, a retired supervisor with the California Department of Employment and Development, the center draws visitors every weekday for exercise, lunch, music and social activities. Many of the participants, such as Jimmy Chang, are not even church members. Chang, a retired butcher is at the church five days a week ”but not on Sundays,” he says. He maintains the building and runs an informal farmers’ market at the senior center, selling at cost, produce he’s bought wholesale. “I consider this my home,” he says. 

Many seniors lend their talents to the program, which runs entirely on volunteer labor. Ben Young is another retired butcher – a member of Butchers United Food and Commercial Workers Local 120, he notes proudly – who keeps busy in the kitchen on Tuesdays. Ed Young (no relation) is also frequently found in the kitchen, but he’s famous for his singing voice, which he lends lustily to group choruses of “Begin the Beguine” and “Baby Face.”  

“I love to sing,” he said. “Especially the old songs.” 

It’s clear that many of the seniors have found a family in BCCC. Some regulars come from as far away as Vallejo or Marin County. The program is immensely popular, sometimes attracting more than 100 people weekly. That’s remarkable considering the congregation only numbers about 130.  

Members said there is some uncertainty about the future of their church, which is now really two separate and distinct congregations. “We don’t see (the Chinese immigrants) that often,” said Jenny Louie, who along with her husband, Milton, has been a member of BCCC for 45 years. The Louie’s children were raised in the church, but moved to the suburbs, like so many young people, she said. They are active in their own churches now, but not those that are specifically Chinese congregations. 

“The truth is, most of our children have intermarried,” said Mabel Low, enjoying lunch at the church’s Tuesday senior-center program. Her friends Rose Lee and Bernice Young nod in agreement. Maintaining a Chinese-American identity is not necessarily the chief concern of contemporary generations. Times have certainly changed from the days when Chinese and other minorities couldn’t even worship with whites.  

When Louie looks at BCCC these days, she is not sure what will happen in another generation. “We’re trying to figure out how to grow,” she says. 

“That’s definitely our challenge,” said senior Pastor Rodney Lee. “We’re a modern church struggling to define our future.” 

At the turn of the 21st century, the BCCC is very different from the small group of foreign students that used to meet in the basement of First Congregational. Housed in a handsome building with beautiful gardens on Acton Street, the BCCC is seeking to redefine its identity for the next century.  

The congregation today consists of two distinct groups: the English-speaking and the Cantonese-speaking. The Chinese language school, originally founded to teach English to Chinese students, reversed itself and began teaching Chinese to American-born members of Chinese descent. 

Lee, who is a type of unofficial historian for the BCCC, said she remembers attending the language school as a girl. Lee’s mother wasn’t even a Christian, although she later converted, when she enrolled her daughter. “Christianity wasn’t really why they came,” Lee said. “They came because this was where the Chinese community went.” 

Today the language school has discontinued, although BCCC occasionally offers classes in Cantonese or Mandarin. In some ways, the church seems to have come full circle, with a new congregation of immigrants drawn from the UC community. 

Lee takes an optimistic view of her church’s future. She has seen many changes in her community over the decades, but they don’t faze her. Perhaps there’s a poetic justice in the peculiar tension of immigrant and American, English and Chinese-speaking generations that populate the church today. “Everything comes around again,” she said. 


SFO system will warn of quakes

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — Imagine picking up your baggage after a long flight when, over the public address system, a voice warns that a major earthquake is about to hit. 

Welcome to San Francisco International Airport of the not-so-distant future. 

Airport officials say that within a month they will install early warning sensors that go off seconds before an earthquake rumbles through. The system could be used to abort some plane landings, to shut off the airport’s jet fuel pipes, or to give passengers a chance to duck for cover, said airport emergency planner Dale Dunham. 

Dunham said it would be some time before features such as the public warning feature were in place. 

Such systems work because earthquakes send out two shock waves from their origin. The faster wave, which generally does little damage, tips off the second wave – the one that can level buildings to a single mound. 

The destructive 1989 Loma Prieta quake, for instance, rolled some 80 kilometers north from Watsonville. 

The second wave took about 40 seconds to arrive at the airport, according to Mike Blanpied of the U.S. Geological Service. But the first wave would have arrived in about 20 seconds – that 20 second difference could give airport officials valuable time to save lives and property. 

Some schools, hospitals, and nuclear plants have installed such early warning systems. The airport’s three sensors cost about $35,000, said spokesman Ron Wilson. 


Second dog in mauling case ordered destroyed

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — The second dog involved in the fatal attack on a popular college lacrosse coach was declared “vicious and dangerous” Thursday and was ordered to be destroyed. 

That decree came from Sgt. William Herndon of the San Francisco Police Department after he heard testimony Feb. 13 from several people who claimed the mastiff-Canary Island mix named Hera and another dog attacked them or their smaller pets. 

“I believe that this dog is a dangerous animal, and that it poses a significant threat and an unreasonable danger to the employees of the Department of Animal Care and Control. I order that the dog be destroyed immediately,” Sgt. Herndon said. 

But Hera’s fate is far from sealed, despite the order to put her down. Last week, District Attorney Terence Hallinan ordered Hera be kept alive, saying she might serve as evidence should charges be brought against the dogs’ owners, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller. 

San Francisco Animal Care and Control director Carl Friedman said his office would comply with the order to keep Hera alive until Hallinan’s office had completed its investigation. 

The couple lived with their two dogs Hera and Bane in the upscale apartment building where Diane Whipple was attacked by the animals Jan. 26. 

Bane was put down immediately after the attack. 

The couple has repeatedly denied any knowledge of dangerous training the dogs may have undergone when they were raised in rural Hayfork and said the attack on Whipple was uncharacteristic of the animal’s past behavior. 

But officials at Pelican Bay State Prison say Bane and Hera were part of a ring of dogs raised to fight each other and guard illegal drug operations, a canine training coordinated from behind bars by two inmates. 

Sgt. Herndon said he did not believe the testimony of Marjorie Knoller, who tearfully recalled the attack and her efforts to prevent Whipple’s death. 

“I do not believe that Ms. Knoller testified completely and truthfully during the hearing,” Herndon wrote in his ruling about Hera. 

He said Ms. Knoller’s account of the attack on Whipple, that she covered the victim with her own body but was aware of each dog’s whereabouts at all times, did not describe a complete picture of the event. 

Herndon also said the couple would create a significant risk to public safety if they were to own other dogs and ordered them to refrain from doing so for three years. 

Noel and Knoller did not immediately return calls from The AP seeking comment. The couple has the right to appeal Herndon’s decision to superior court. 


California syphilis outbreak alarms officials

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

 

 

An outbreak of syphilis in Southern California last year has provided alarming new evidence that gay and bisexual men are lowering their guard against AIDS, the government said Thursday. 

More than half of the syphilis cases in a four-county area during the first half of 2000 were in men who reported having had at least one male sex partner – up from 26 percent a year earlier. 

Health officials said the numbers are a signal that gay and bisexual men, encouraged by news of powerfully effective drug cocktails and longer lifespans for AIDS patients, are worrying less about HIV.  

Both HIV and syphilis are sexually transmitted; condoms can protect against their spread. 

HIV “is no longer perceived to be the threat that it once was,” said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “These are very serious findings.” 

The Southern California cases and similar outbreaks in other major cities came after the national syphilis rate dropped in 1999 to its lowest level on record.  

Just 6,657 cases were reported in 1999, the last year for which national figures are available, or about one case per 40,000 people. 

Syphilis outbreaks in major cities “show that the disease can make a comeback,” said Ken August, spokesman for the California Department of Health Services.  

“It’s important for health-care providers to ask patients about their behavior and to deliver a strong prevention message.” 

 

In four California counties – Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Riverside – 66 of 130 syphilis cases from January to July 2000 were in gay or bisexual men, compared with 26 of 100 cases in the same period in 1999. 

Of the 66 cases in 2000, 33 reported they had had anonymous sex, and 17 said they had met sex partners in bathhouses. Only one in five reported using a condom during his most recent sexual encounter, and two in five reported using illegal drugs. 

“These men were engaging in high-risk sexual behavior,” Valdiserri said. “When we see reports of increasing risk behaviors, that’s when we take action. We don’t wait till we see the spike nationally” in HIV. 

Thirty-four of the 66 men reported they were HIV-positive, and nine said they did not know their HIV status. 

“You’ve got people who are doing well on the (HIV) drugs and believe then that they don’t have to worry about infection,” said John Schunhoff, chief of public health operations for Los Angeles County. “Some people argue that there is burnout. They get weary of being protective.” 

The CDC recommended a search for new, innovative ways to get the safe-sex message to gay and bisexual men in large cities. 

Syphilis infections in 1999 remained concentrated in the South, with roughly one case per 22,000 people. Three-quarters of syphilis victims nationwide were black. 

About 300 syphilis cases were reported in 2000 in California. 

——— 

On the Net: 

CDC syphilis information page: http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/Fact—Sheets/Syphilis—Facts.htm 

California Department of Health Services: http://www.dhs.cahwnet.gov 


Avalanche claims lives of two skiers

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

TRUCKEE — Two teen-agers who failed to return from a skiing outing at Squaw Valley USA were found dead in an avalanche Thursday near the Lake Tahoe-area ski resort. 

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office recovered the bodies but still was working to establish the specific causes of death of the two 17-year-old California boys reported missing on Wednesday. 

Search and rescue volunteers on snowmobiles found them buried in 5- to 6-feet of snow about 11:30 a.m. Thursday between Squaw Valley and the neighboring Alpine Meadows ski resort to the south. 

“Details regarding what happened are still under investigation,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Thursday afternoon. 

The victims were identified as Bryan Richmond of Truckee and Brendan Allen of Alpine Meadows, both described as experienced skiers. 

“Brendan was just the kind of person you would want to be around,” said George Williams, a local school official. 

“He lived, loved skiing and the outdoors,” he told KOLO-TV of Reno, Nev. 

The search began about 8 p.m. Wednesday when they failed to return.  

They had told friends they planned to ski from Squaw Valley to Alpine Meadows but didn’t show at 4 p.m. as agreed to for a ride back to their vehicles. 

Avalanche dangers were rated high in most of the rugged, mountain terrain outside the developed ski areas, including around Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. 

Authorities said the accident serves as a reminder that skiing outside of ski area boundaries is always hazardous. 

“The two skiers were very experienced Alpine skiers and had skied the same route before,” said Dan Ingalls, the sheriff’s incident commander. 

“However, the activity still carries considerable risk, especially during possible avalanche conditions.”


Bush declares Iraq strike successful

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

WASHINGTON — President Bush, in his first full-fledged news conference, declared the military strike against Iraq a success Thursday despite the sub-par performance of U.S. missiles. “We got his attention,” he said of Saddam Hussein. 

Fielding questions for a half hour, the president also said he was “deeply concerned” about the FBI spy case but gave agency director Louis Freeh a vote of confidence. “I think he does a good job,” Bush said two days after FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested and accused of spying for Moscow. 

By turns confident and cautious, Bush answered more than a dozen questions after opening the White House briefing room session with a defense of his tax-cutting and budget-tightening plans. 

Bush, who will outline his budget priorities in an address to Congress on Tuesday, said he would increase spending for popular education and Medicare programs while reducing the rate of growth in the federal budget overall. 

“Some are saying it’s too small. Some are saying it’s too large,” he said of his 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal. “I’m saying it’s just right.” 

From policy in China and Colombia to President Clinton’s pardons, Bush discussed a wide range of topics. He was often repetitive, and frequently glanced down at his notes, particularly when the topic was foreign policy. 

A punctual president, Bush started and stopped the news conference on time. 

In his opening statement, he promised to offer a “reasonable and balanced budget” that will include an 11 percent increase for education and a 10 percent increase for Medicare. The higher Medicare budget is mostly automatic growth attributed to inflation and an increase in the number of people in the program, though a fraction is due to Bush’s push for a state prescription drug benefit. 

He promised to “slow the rate of growth” in the federal budget, but didn’t say what programs would be cut to do so. 

On Iraq, Bush said last week’s airstrike was ordered both to warn Saddam that he won’t be allowed to build weapons of mass destruction and to diminish Baghdad’s ability to attack patrolling U.S. and British planes. 

“I believe we succeeded in both those missions,” Bush said. 

Pentagon officials say results of the strikes were mediocre at best, with damage detected on about 40 percent of the targets. Bush said he looked forward to the Pentagon’s review. 

He said he was troubled by reports that China was helping Iraq build a more sophisticated and effective air defense. 

“We’re concerned about the Chinese presence in Iraq,” Bush said, and the administration is “sending the appropriate response” to Beijing. On that point, White House officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed the administration’s concern. 

As for the spy case, Bush declined to say whether polygraph tests should be used to root out spies in the FBI, noting the issue is part of an internal review. 

He said, “We will find spies, and we will prosecute them.” 

The president indicated the Hanssen case would not derail U.S. relations with Moscow. Bush said he would deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin “in a very straightforward” manner. 

He welcomed statements by Russian leaders suggesting they are open to discussing missile defense and other nuclear issues. Moscow has previously expressed alarm over Bush’s proposal to build a defense shield, saying it might be viewed a threat. 

“Their words indicate that they recognize that there are new threats in the post-Cold War era, threats that require theater-based, anti-ballistic missile system,” Bush said. 

Several questions posed to Bush dealt with Clinton’s last-minute pardons, including one supported by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s brother. Bush declined to give his opinion on the matter, saying, “It’s time to go forward.” But he also said Congress and the Justice Department have a right to investigate. 

Declaring he is not worried that Clinton is overshadowing his first days in office, Bush said: “I think I’ve got the Congress’ attention.” 

He said he has given his family guidance about ethical matters — “Behave yourself” — and predicted that they will. 

Bush fields questions from reporters nearly every working day at the White House, but Thursday’s session was his first formal news conference. Aides gave reporters just 60 minutes notice and chose the briefing room rather than the more formal East Room setting. 

In the 30-minute session, Bush also: 

—Said the United States’ involvement in Colombia should be limited to training to reduce drug trafficking. “I, too, am worried about ever committing the United States military to an engagement in that part of the world.” 

—Rejected a suggestion that he might be violating the Constitution by allowing religious groups to bid on some federal projects. “I don’t believe it violates the line between the separation of church and state,” he said. 


Skylights can brighten up a room during the winter

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

 

 

The short, dreary days of winter are a good time to think about adding skylights to brighten up dark rooms. Even small units make a big difference in the way rooms look and feel. 

There are many brands and several styles to choose from. But I advise my clients to stay away from inexpensive units with plastic glazing. Although they are cheaper initially, the bottom line is they don’t last and many of them leak. The better choice is a high-quality curbed skylight with energy-efficient glazing – and the factory flashing kit made for it. The kit won’t add much to the cost, but it will mean a leak-free installation. 

Skylights come as venting units, which open, or as fixed units, which don’t. A venting unit might seem like a good idea, but it is inconvenient to open and close when it’s out of reach. In fact, many customers who order them later tell me they rarely bother to track down the special rod needed to operate their windows. So unless the skylight will be easily accessible, buy the fixed unit and save yourself some money. This even applies to putting a skylight in a bathroom. But it’s essential to make sure the room has adequate ventilation so condensation doesn’t become a problem. A vent fan for a small bathroom should provide 1 cubic foot per minute of air circulation per square foot of floor area, or about eight air changes per hour. 

For more on sizing a vent fan, go to the Website of the Home Ventilating Institute (www.hvi.org). 

Old-fashioned skylights were simply a single thickness of glass in a frame, but today they come with laminated or tempered glass, and low-e and tinted coatings to control heat transmission and UV radiation. Just like windows, skylights are rated for their thermal efficiency by the National Fenestration Rating Council (ratings are available at www.nfrc.org).  

You can compare the U-values as well as heat and light transmission rates of various skylights. Even though tinted glass is available, I generally recommend that you stick with clear glass because it lets in more light. If intense sunlight does cause too much heat buildup or begins to fade carpeting and furniture inside, add a shade or screen. 

Skylights are available in sizes that fit standard 16- or 24-inch on-center framing. Adding a large skylight means that the installer will cut one or more rafters. This is not difficult when the roof is conventionally framed – rafters on the sides of the rough opening are doubled up and headers are added at the top and bottom of the opening. But a truss roof is different. Trusses are carefully engineered to carry roof loads, and modifying them in the field is a bad idea. If your home has trusses, make sure the installer sticks with units made to fit between roof members, or gangs several smaller skylights together to create a larger window. 

 


Possible suspects in Washington chopping legend

By Lee Reich The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

 

George Washington’s birthday is a proper time to think about cherry trees. According to legend, the young president-to-be cut down a cherry tree, then admitted the act to his father because he couldn’t tell a lie. Rather than question the historical truth of the story, though, let’s question just what kind of cherry tree was involved. 

Sweet cherry trees were among those ordered from Europe by the Massachusetts colony in 1629. Plantings spread, and trees became so abundant that in 1749, naturalist Peter Kalm wrote that “all travellers are allowed to pluck ripe fruit in any garden which they pass by, provided they do not break any branches.” Perhaps Washington planted a few sweet cherry trees at his farmstead along the shores of the Rappahannock River. The felled tree also might have been a tart cherry. Although native to Europe’s Caucasus Mountains, colonists in Massachusetts planted them. The tree might have made its way in the nursery trade south to Virginia a hundred years later. 

One thing is certain: the famous cherry tree could not have been one of the ornamental types commonly planted these days. These nonfruiting cherries originated in the Orient and were introduced into America beginning in the 19th century. The most famous is the Yoshino cherry, which fringes the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. Others include the Higan cherry, the Sargent cherry, and, the most widely planted today, the Japanese flowering cherry. 

Besides exotic introductions, the eastern U.S. seaboard abounded with wild cherries in Washington’s time, as it does today. Our native pin cherry is not much more than a bush, so it hardly would have a trunk worthy of legend.  

Colonists did eat the fruit of our native black cherry or, more often, concoct it with rum from the West Indies to make a cherry liqueur. But the best part of the black cherry is its wood, a hardwood which with some sanding and then oil or varnish takes on a finish that is soft brown with a hint of red. 

Now, just suppose George Washington had chopped down one of the black cherry trees. Rather than performing an act of mischief, our future president might have had some loftier purpose in mind. 

(The story, incidentally, was recorded by Mason Locke Weems in his early 19th century book about the life of George Washington.) 

Lee Reich is a columnist for The Associated Press


Bay Area musicians in Grammy winner mix

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

 

When given the chance, Grammy voters seem intent on correcting past snubs. 

Last year, it was Carlos Santana who finally won a Grammy – eight, actually – for his comeback album, “Supernatural.” This year, it was Steely Dan’s turn. 

The legendary duo nabbed three Grammys – their first ever – at Wednesday night’s ceremony, besting critical favorite Eminem for the top award, album of the year. The jazz-rock group’s biggest hits were in the ’70s, and they are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month. 

Grammy voters were also good to musician from the Bay Area and Northern California.The four artists receiving recognition at the awards ceremony were: 

• Raphael Saadiq, who was born and raised in Oakland. He shared the award for Best Male R&B Performance for co-writing Untitled (How Does It Feel) which appeared on Voodoo by D'Angelo. 

• The Deftones, a band which hails from Sacramento. The group won for Best Metal Performance with its album White Pony.  

• Metallica, long associated with San Francisco. The band won Best Rock Instrumental Performance for The Call of The Ktulu, which it performed with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra 

• Kent Nagano, who has been the conductor and music director of the Berkeley Symphony since 1978. He won for Best Opera Recording for Busoni: Dokto Faust. 

Just the possibility that Eminem might take the most prestigious award drew protests from gay and women’s groups, who objected to his violent lyrics. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation led a small protest outside the ceremony. 

Adding to the controversy was Eminem’s performance at the awards show with gay superstar Elton John. 

“The duet was so dramatic, so when he lost the best-album award a few minutes later, viewers had to feel that maybe the critics and Elton were right and Eminem was the great artist he said he was,” said O’Neil. 

Another of the best-album nominees, Ed O’Brien of the alternative group Radiohead, agreed. “I think we all feel, and I think a lot of people we’ve spoken to think that he’s made the most culturally significant album, whether it’s good or bad,” said O’Brien. 

(The other nominees for album of the year were “Midnite Vultures” by Beck and “You’re the One” by Paul Simon — a big Grammy winner in the past.) 

While Eminem’s lyrics drew the most scrutiny, Steely Dan’s album also contained some milder but controversial themes, including a cousin’s lust for his underage cousin. 

“We’d like to thank Eminem for taking the heat,” Donald Fagen, the 53-year-old other half of Steely Dan, said backstage. 

Eminem, 28, did win three Emmys, in rap categories. 

But veterans claimed the top trophies. Besides Steely Dan, Irish rockers U2, who had won seven Grammys before, including album of the year, added three more to their trophy case. Perennial Grammy favorite Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, Toni Braxton, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton also took awards. 

In the night’s other upset, veteran Southern crooner Shelby Lynne won, ironically, the best new artist award off the strength of her sixth album, “This Is Shelby Lynne.” Under loosened Grammy rules, the award can go to a performer who has made other recordings but has a breakthrough year. 

“I feel like, why not?” Lynne said backstage. “I have been around so long that to me it feels new.” 

Today’s youth sensations, Destiny’s Child, took home two of their leading five nominations. But last year’s top-selling act, ’N Sync, lost all of their categories, repeating the fate suffered by the Backstreet Boys last year. And teen-pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera also were shut out. 

Of course, not all veterans came home winners; except for her glitzy opening performance of “Music,” Madonna never walked on the stage again, shut out in her three nominated categories. 

Maybe Grammy voters will smile more kindly in another decade or two. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.grammy.org 


Venture capital funds down 33 percent

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — Investments in venture capital funds plunged 33 percent during last year’s final quarter in a retreat spurred by the accelerating pace of Internet business failures. 

Venture capitalists raised $18.4 billion nationwide in the fourth quarter, down from $27.4 billion in the third quarter, according to a report released Thursday by the industry’s trade association and Venture Economics, a research firm. 

On a year-to-year comparison, the venture capital slowdown was even more dramatic.  

In the fourth quarter of 1999, investors turned over $29.6 billion in venture capital funds. 

The deceleration in fund-raising coincided with a similar slowdown in the rate of investments in start-ups.  

Venture capitalists invested $19.6 billion during the fourth quarter, a 31 percent decrease from the prior quarter. 

Despite the drop-off late in the year, venture capitalists still raised a record $92.3 billion in 2000, a 54 percent increase from the $60 billion collected in 1999.  

Of that total, Silicon Valley venture capitalists raised $38.6 billion in 2000, including $10.3 billion during the final three months of the year. 

The money raised during 2000 likely will be invested in start-ups and other young companies during the next three to five years. 

Venture capitalists agreed the fourth quarter heralded a pivotal shift in sentiment as the market’s key players concluded that a surplus of money encouraged unwise investments in questionable businesses.  

The imprudent investing translated into the current dot-com carnage that likely will depress venture capital returns for several quarters. 

“There were a lot of businesses getting funded that weren’t really businesses at all. They were really just interesting features on a Web site,” said Alex C. Smith, managing director with Dell Ventures in Texas. 

 

After raising more than $150 billion in the past two years, venture capitalists don’t really need to raise much more money, particularly since the stock market’s appetite for initial public offerings of young companies has waned. 

Venture capitalists depend on IPOs to liquidate their investments in start-ups. 

One major Silicon Valley firm, Crosspoint Venture Partners, abandoned plans to raise $1 billion during the fourth quarter after concluding that the stock market’s demand for technology investments is unlikely to rebound soon. 

The institutional investors who provide funds to venture capitalists also have been spooked by the dot-com carnage, which only recently has stated to have an impact on returns. 

Emboldened by quarterly returns that peaked at 59 percent in 1999, institutional investors began to boost their allotment for venture capital from 1 percent to 2 percent of assets, said Gregory Sands, managing director for Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto. Now, those institutional investors are retrenching. 

“The last two years really were aberrations. It feels like we are going to go back to more normal levels of investment,” Sands said. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.ventureconomics.com 


Last McDonnell Douglas plane delivered

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

LONG BEACH — The last plane to be built under the McDonnell Douglas name was delivered Thursday during ceremonies marking the end of an era for the Southern California aviation industry. 

The event at Long Beach Airport was attended by about 1,000 people, including former employees of McDonnell Douglas, which was acquired by Boeing in 1997. 

The MD-11 cargo plane purchased by Lufthansa German Airlines was the last of the tri-jet aircraft built in Long Beach, ending a 30-year production run. 

The MD-11 was the successor to the tri-jet DC-10 aircraft designed in the mid-1960s by Douglas Aircraft Co.  

The company, which was founded by industrialist Donald Douglas, merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967. 

McDonnell Douglas once was an aviation industry giant in Southern California, providing thousands of aerospace jobs in its factories from Burbank to Long Beach to San Diego. 

The delivery of the last MD-11 took place 80 years after Douglas flew his first plane on Feb. 23, 1921. 

Douglas, a New York native, moved to California and began building his first plane in 1920 in the back room of a barber shop in Santa Monica.  

Douglas eventually opened an aircraft assembly plant in 1941 near Daugherty Field, which is now Long Beach Airport. 

Douglas Aircraft developed the twin-engine DC-3 in the early 1930s and also delivered more than 30,000 aircraft during World War II. 

Douglas in 1946 approached the military with a plan for government and industry to work together.  

The idea, dubbed Project Rand, led to the formation of the Santa Monica-based Rand Corp., a think-tank known during the Cold War years for its focus on national security issues. 

The Douglas aviation track record includes the delivery of 200 MD-11s and 646 total tri-jet aircraft. 

The industry recently has moved away from tri-jet aircraft due to advances in engine technology, said John Tom, a spokesman for Boeing. 

Boeing abandoned future production of the MD-11 after acquiring McDonnell Douglas and changed the name of the twin-engine MD-95 aircraft that was being developed to the Boeing 717, Tom said. 

“It’s the end of an aviation era. The tri-jet program was a very important program for McDonnell Douglas, Boeing and Long Beach,” Thom said.  

“But we’re not done here. We’re still building 717s and we hope to be in this business for many years to come right here at this location.”


Death of dance teacher remembered

By Ben Lumpkin Special to the Daily Planet
Thursday February 22, 2001

Students and staff of Berkeley High School gathered at the Community Theater during their lunch break Wednesday to mark the one year anniversary of the death of Marcia Singman, a dance teacher at the school for more than 30 years.  

Singman suffered a stroke last February and died a few days later at the age of 55.  

“Marcia was one of those persons who, when that person is gone, the loss is not just immediate, it’s a long term thing,” said Berkeley High vocal music teacher Wendell Brooks as he left the theater hall. Brooks was a colleague of Singman for 15 years. 

“There is no replacing the personality that she was.” 

Singman came to the school in 1968, two years after earning a bachelor’s degree in dance education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Over the years she became involved in virtually all the arts programs at the school, including piano, choral, stagecraft, jazz, orchestra and dance.  

“She influenced literally thousands of kids,” said long-time friend Sally Wolfer, who teaches drawing and painting at the school. “When she died, the whole school mourned.” 

Students and faculty gathered around a makeshift shrine with candles and flowers Wednesday to share their favorite memories of Singman, or just to meditate on her passing in silence. Many were visibly moved. 

“This was for students and staff to come and be together,” said Berkeley High Visual Arts Teacher Miriam Stahl, who helped prepare the shrine. “She was the most positive person at Berkeley High.” 

Singman was one of the most popular teachers at the school and widely admired for her unflagging energy and optimism. 

In an academic atmosphere of competing perspectives where tempers sometimes flare, Singman’s spirit of tolerance and acceptance kept her above the fray, Brooks said. 

“She never criticized,” Brooks said. “She was a focal point both for her students and her colleagues. She was sort of a center.” 

“She realized that there were people of all different levels in her classes,” said Berkeley High senior Beth Morris. Morris began taking dance because she needed a Physical Education credit and then fell in love with it under Singman’s influence. 

“She really encouraged you,” Morris said. “She was just overall positive about everybody dancing.”  

Morris said she recalled Singman exhorting students to attend upcoming dance performances and auditions in the Bay Area, or teaching dance moves she had picked up watching talented dancers perform. 

“She had no children of her own and she really made her students her extended family,” Brooks said. “She built up one of the best dance departments of any big school anywhere.” 

Wolfer said some of Singman’s students are working at major dance companies today.  

Berkeley High Councilor Susan Werd said her daughter, Lauren Nagel-Werd, was one of those students who Singman inspired to put dancing near the center of her life. Although she had no interest in dance before attending Berkeley High, dancing is one of Nagel-Werd’s favorite pursuits as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, Werd said. 

Werd recalled trying to thank Singman for her positive influence on her daughter. Singman looked her in the eye and said simply, “You know why your daughter can dance? Because she’s smart.” 

“You could never give Marcia a compliment without her turning it around,” Werd said. 

Werd and others said the fact that Berkeley High dance productions continued as scheduled after Singman’s death last year was a tribute to her giving students the poise and confidence to take charge of productions on their own. 

“She put a lot of the responsibility (for production) on students and I think that really improve the shows,” said Berkeley High senior Tetta Martin. “She pushed people to their personal limits.” 

Martin has been dancing for 12 years and is auditioning for shows in the Bay Area.  

She had experimented with choreography before she ever got to Berkeley High, she said, but her skill has improved tremendously thanks to a challenge issued to her one day by Singman. 

“She said my choreography should flow from one step to the next,” Martin said. “I didn’t even understand what she was talking about at the time, but now I do.” 


Calendar of Events & Activities

Thursday February 22, 2001


Thursday, Feb. 22

 

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 

 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo. 644-0155 

 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 527-4140 

 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test. $10  

 

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 Call 643-1924 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation. 845-9648 

 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 649-7750  

 

Lavendar Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 100 

Join GTU students David Dezern and Toni Tortorilla as they discuss some of the challenges and joys of being Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transexual and active in today’s Roman Catholic Church.  

849-8206 

 

Telegraph Area Association 

Economic Development  

Committee 

3:30 p.m. 

Sather Gate Garage Conference Room 

2431 Channing Way  

Updates on the Sather Gate Parking Advisory, PG&E, and the Southside Plan.  


Friday, Feb. 23

 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. 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  

 

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 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainqright 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

 


Saturday, Feb. 24

 

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 

Teahouse Concert  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., D’Autremont Dining Hall 

PACTS, along with PSR’s PANA Institute and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, co-sponsor this concert to celebrate and affirm Asian and Pacific Islander Gay, Lesbian. Bisexual and Transgender people of faith and their allies.  

$5 - $10  

Call 849-8244 

 

Rolling in the Dough 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

2725 Elmwood Ave. (at Ashby)  

A garage sale and bake sale to benefit the Berkeley high Girls’ Lacrosse team. Donations are welcome and should be brought to the above address between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. 

841-4281  

 

Spanish Fellowship Night 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Peace & Justice Ministries Center  

2075 Eunice St.  

A basic spanish class and Spanish evening devotions.  

524-1618 

 


Sunday, Feb. 25

 

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

 

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?” This session is called “Storytelling through Textiles” and will feature talks by textile artists Kathy Rousso and Karen Hampton.  

Free  

Call 849-0217 

 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

 

La Milpa 

3 p.m. 

370 Dwinelle Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Dr. Norman Hammond, professor of Archeology at Boston University will give a slide-lecture on this Mayan city in Northwestern Belize. Free and open to the public.  

 


Letters to the Editor

Thursday February 22, 2001

Wozniak has the real conflict of interest 

 

Editor, 

There’s a world of difference between Dr. Gordon Wozniak, head of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s (LBNL’s) Nuclear Science Division, serving as acting chair of Berkeley’s Community Enviromental Advisory Commission (CEAC), and the controversy over the four Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) members sitting on the Landmark’s Commission. ( “City attorney’s office cites commisioners’ conflict “ 2 / 7 / 01 )  

State law prohibits public officers, such as commisioners from engaging in any employment, activity or enterprise for compensation which is in conflict with his or her duties as a local agency officer.  

Dr. Wozniak‘s duties as a CEAC commissioner involve consideration of LBNL enviromental matters at almost every meeting.  

He routinely sides with LBNL on radioactive issues, such as regular radioactive tritium emissions ( next to the Lawrence Hall of Science ), large accidental tritium releases, combustion of radioactive hazardous waste and other nefarious nuclear or toxic contamination problems.  

Since three of the four Landmark commisioners are merely board members of BAHA serving without compensation ( the fourth does some staff work for pay), they clearly should not be considered as having a conflict of interest in the sense stipulated by State law.  

If they took a position on the Landmark’s Commission adverse to BAHA’s they would not threaten their means of livelihood.  

Depriving members of issue-oriented community groups, or political groups with a public stand on certain issues, from serving on city commissions would relegate the commissions’ City Council advisory functions to persons with no experience or interest in the issues at hand.  

The Daily Planet’s comparison of banning persons active in community affairs from commissioner positions to the 1950’s witch-hunts is not farfetched.  

It appears to be a blatant violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. 

Dr. Wozniak, as a City of Berkeley enviromental commissioner has clearly shown that he is there to serve the interests of his employer, LBNL, rather than those of Berkeley residents.  

At least one or two LBNL employees are present at every CEAC meeting and observe his interactions at the commission. 

Despite the City Attorney’s decision to the contrary, we understand that Dr. Wozniak plans to be at the next CEAC commission meeting and expects to be elected chair. Please attend. 

The next CEAC meeting will be Thursday at 7 p.m., 2118 Milvia St., second floor conference room. The meeting is open to the public and starts with public comment.  

 

 

Gene Bernardi 

Co-Chair Committee to  

Minimize Toxic Waste


Arts & Entertainment

Thursday February 22, 2001

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You; March 2: Books Lie, Living Under Lies, Remnants, No Regrets, The Fadeaways, LWL; March 3: Dr. Know, The Dread, Hot Box, Anal Mucus; March 9: Dead and Gone, Sworn Vengence, Punishment, Misoura, The Computer Kills; March 10: The Varukers, 46 Short, Scarred for Life, Oppressed Logic, Faced Down; March 16: The P.A.W.N.S., Kill the Messenger, Phoenix, The Sugarlips; March 17: The Hood, Benumb, Above This World, Chrome Disorder, Eulogy 525-9926  

 

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

 

Ashkenaz Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 9:30: Zydeco Flames, dance lesson at 8:30 p.m.; Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Youth Balkan Dance with Denise Weiss; Feb. 25, 6 p.m.: Calif. Klezmer; Feb. 27, 8:30 p.m.: Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party with Tee Fee, costume party and king and queen to be crowned; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: “Fling Ding!” A night of Appalachian music featuring the Bluegrass Intentions; 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo; March 2: Henry Clement; March 3: J.J. Malone; March 9: Ron Hacker; March 10: Red Archibald 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

 

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

 

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

 

Cal Performances Feb. 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52; March 2 - March 11, call for times: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36 

 

Cynthia and the Swing Set, Jubilee American Dance Theatre Feb. 24, 8 p.m. A benefit for the Crowden School and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. Guests will also have the chance to win auction and raffle items. New Orleans Cajun and Creole dinner optional. Crowden School 1475 Rose. St. (at Sacramento) $10 - $40 559-6910  

 

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

 

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

 

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

 

 

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

 

Eric Glick Reiman, Tom Nunn, Toychestra March 4, 7:48 p.m. $8 donation TUVASpace 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr.) 649-8744 

 

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

 

Theater 

 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

 

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

 

 

Films 

 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

 

 

Exhibits 

 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

 

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

 

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February. Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

 

“Travels in Color” Wax crayon sketches by Pamela Markmann made over the past 35 years Through March 31, 5 - 8 p.m. daily Voulez Vouz Bistro 2930 College Ave. 548-4708 

 

 

Readings 

 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; March 24, 7 p.m.: Aliza Sherman will read and sign “Cybergrrl@Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. 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. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

 

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

 

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

 

 

Lectures 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

 

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

 


Berkeley boys outlast shorthanded Jets 53-48

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Thursday February 22, 2001

Milton, St. Jules lead balanced attack 

 

On paper, Tuesday’s game between Berkeley and Encinal should have been a walk for the Yellowjackets. The Jets came into the game 4-7 in ACCAL play, while the visiting ’Jackets are undefeated in league play and clinched the league title last week. 

In addition, the Jets were playing shorthanded, with only six players suited up thanks to players who quit the team, couldn’t make grades or were out with an injury. Berkeley had 12 players in uniform, even with two key guards on the bench in street clothes. 

But somehow, the Jets managed to stay with the ’Jackets for almost the entire game, down just one point at halftime and getting within a three-pointer with 21 seconds left in the game. But the Berkeley boys came through like they have all season, pulling out a 53-48 win to keep their unbeaten league record intact at 11-0. The ’Jackets are 20-5 overall. 

Berkeley used a balanced attack, getting at least seven points from six different players. Guard Byron St. Jules and forward Jahi Milton led with 10 points each. 

Four of the Jets players were playing their last game for Encinal, and they came out looking to end their careers with an upset. Forwards Chris Davis and Isaac Watts dominated the boards in the first half, outrebounding the entire Berkeley squad 11-8. Davis was on fire in the first quarter, hitting all five of his shots for 10 points and a 15-13 lead at the break. He finished the game with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. 

“We came out with a lot of emotion, this being senior night and all,” Encinal head coach Dan Palley said. “Also, we didn’t play very well the first time against Berkeley, so we had even more incentive.” 

The only Yellowjacket who showed any life on offense was guard Atticus Honore, who took advantage of a rare start with seven points in the quarter. 

The Jets stayed hot in the second quarter, and point guard Mike Dinh gave them a seven-point lead with a three-pointer. But Berkeley’s full-court press began taking its toll, and guard Byron St. Jules sandwiched a pair of steals and layups around a Ryan Davis layup to pull the ’Jackets within one. Forward Ramone Reed then hit a short jumper to give his team a 23-22 lead with two minutes left in the half.  

After the break, Berkeley started to look inside on offense, putting the ball in the hands of Reed and Milton, who scored all of his points in the second half. Reed hit another short jumper, then pulled off a steal and dished to Milton for an easy basket, and Berkeley was up 39-35.  

“I told them at halftime that we can’t live from the outside, and we made the right adjustments,” Berkeley head coach Mike Gragnani said. “Jahi just put the ball in the basket in the second half.” 

But the rest of the ’Jackets were struggling with their shooting, and Encinal center Danny Delmore hit a three-pointer to give his team a 42-41 lead heading into the final quarter. 

Milton hit a jumper early in the period to grab the lead, and the ’Jackets clamped down on defense, shutting out the Jets for nearly four minutes. When St. Jules found a hole and penetrated for a layup with just 1:40 left in the game, he gave the ’Jackets their biggest lead of the night at 51-44. 

But Berkeley followed a Watts free throw with a turnover, and Delmore hit another trey to pull his team within three points. Berkeley forward Louis Riordan had to hit two free throws to ice the game with 11 seconds left.


Commission given 90 day deadline for shellmound

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Thursday February 22, 2001

The Landmarks Preservation Commission unearthed a problem when it considered awarding the West Berkeley Shellmound protective status last September - there were no city regulations for buried and paved-over landmarks. 

The shellmound was the city’s first site being considered for its buried archeological value and city planners suddenly realized there were no regulations to manage the site for potential development or city maintenance of buried electrical conduits, cable lines, water mains and sewer lines.  

In September the LPC refused to approve proposed amendments prepared by Planning Department Acting Deputy Director Vivian Khan, and an effort to amend the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance to accommodate the site stalled. Five months later, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to give the LPC 90 days to approve Planning Department amendments or come up with its own. 

“We have a Landmarks Ordinance that covers architectural structures but it doesn’t tell you what to do when you can’t see the landmark,” Khan said. “We need to set forth the procedures for excavation, grading and other soil disturbance on the site.” 

The Shellmound, bounded by Interstate 80, Fourth Street and University and Hearst avenues, was approved as a city landmark largely because of its subterranean archeological resources. The site is the repository of artifacts of the Ohlone Indians, who populated the Bay Area for 5,000 years. 

Until A.D. 800, Native American shellmounds were common sights around the Bay. They were usually characterized by large mounds of shells that could be as high as 15 feet. The area immediately around shellmounds were the site of daily routines, such as hunting, fishing and cooking. They were also used as burial grounds. 

The need for regulations and procedures for archeological sites has become urgent with Rue-Ell Enterprises’ proposal to build a 21,300 square-foot retail building that will partially encroach on the shellmound site. 

Landmarks Commissioner Robert Kehlmann said it was unfortunate the commission did not work with the amendments proposed by the Planning Department in September.  

“Staff really worked hard and came back with draft amendments and members of the LPC just kicked them in the teeth,” he said. 

Kehlmann said it was difficult for the overburdened Planning Department to take the time and put together the amendments. “Staff did their part and the amendments weren’t that far off. In the end we’ll probably approve a draft that is very similar to those we looked at six months ago.” 

Commissioner Becky O’Malley said the amendments presented to them by the Planning Department had not been reviewed by an archeologist. “We held a public hearing and there were at least two archeologists who said the draft amendments were deficient,” O’Malley said. 

She said the 90-day deadline was going to be tough to meet. “We have to get input from qualified archeologists who have enough technological knowledge,” she said. “You need scientists, not just planners, planners often just want things done from a planning perspective.


Roberson’s 39 points lead Lady ’Jackets past Encinal

By Tim Haran Daily Planet Correspondent
Thursday February 22, 2001

It took the Berkeley High girls’ basketball team nearly two minutes to score its first points against Encinal Tuesday night, a lapse that may have cost the ’Jackets its second 100-plus point game in two weeks. 

At any rate, Berkeley still managed to score the game’s first 14 points, hold Encinal to single digits in two of the four quarters, and lead from start to finish in the team’s 93-35 victory over the visiting Jets.  

The ’Jackets jumped to a 22-6 lead after the first quarter, but Encinal regrouped and kept pace with Berkeley through much of the second. Berkeley increased its lead slightly to 39-19 heading into the locker room. 

The Jets’ Jillian Dasher scored the first two points of the third quarter before Berkeley went on a 20-0 run that didn’t end until Encinal’s Amber Carswell scored a hoop with 1:22 left in the period. During the ’Jackets’ run, senior Danielle Milburn scored eight of her 14 points, while Robin Roberson added six of her game-high 39. Senior Gelater Fullwood tossed in four and junior Angelita Hutton contributed a bucket. 

It was a mind-numbing homecoming for Encinal head coach Tanda Rucker, who played on Berkeley’s 1991 state championship team. Seated on the bench beside her injured star point guard Raushanah Bashir, the coach watched in disbelief as the ’Jackets defense forced the Jets to take bad shots. 

“Encinal’s point guard was hurt and she’s an all-league player,” Berkeley coach Gene Nakamura said, referring to Bashir. “I don’t know if it would have been any closer if she had played, but we just overpowered them. We have too much team strength and depth for them.” 

The Jets lost to Berkeley by 15 points earlier this season, but without Bashir in the lineup Tuesday were no match for the ’Jackets. 

“It’s tough without our point guard; she runs the show, she sets up the players,” Rucker said. “(Amber) English and Carswell are the wing players and we had them playing point tonight, which is a brand new experience for them.” 

With the win Berkeley improves to 21-5 overall and 12-0 in the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League. Encinal, meanwhile, drops to 14-12 and 8-4 in league play.  

Berkeley junior guard Hutton sparked the offense midway through the fourth quarter with two assists to Joy White underneath. In the same two-minute stretch, Hutton recorded two steals and scored six points. 

“I thought Angelita played a great game. She had some great passes,” Nakamura said. “I asked her if she had any change left because she was throwing dimes all over the place.” 

Nakamura used Tuesday’s game as an opportunity to get his team leaders ready for postseason play. 

“In the playoffs, our senior players are going to have to play longer games and they aren’t used to that,” he said. “They’ve been playing 10 or 12 minutes. They’ve got to start cranking it up and be ready to go longer.” 

At the same time, the sizable lead against Encinal allowed the coach to play his entire bench.  

“The good thing about these games is I can play all 12 players,” Nakamura said. “During the playoffs it’s a little different when every game counts.” 

The bench contributed, but the night belonged to Roberson. In addition to scoring 39 points, the senior caused a slew of problems for the Encinal offense by cutting off passing lanes and disrupting outside shots. 

“They were having a hard time getting good shots off and they gave us the ball, we just started running by them,” Nakamura said. “We went back to half-court pressure after we built our lead. They just couldn’t stop our 1-3-1 zone.” 

After playing her last regular-season game in Berkeley, Roberson said the finality of it has yet to sink in. 

“It really hasn’t hit me yet that it’s my last league home game,” Roberson said. “I’m glad I scored as many points as I did so I don’t say ‘man, I only had 12 points in my last game.’ But it felt good.” 

Seniors Roberson, Milburn and Fullwood were recognized before the game for their contributions to the team. Nakamura was also presented with a plaque commemorating his 400 wins as coach of the ’Jackets.


Court makes ruling on ADA, states’ rights

By Judith Scherr Daily Planet Staff
Thursday February 22, 2001

The same five members of the Supreme Court who put George W. Bush in the White House decided Wednesday that persons with disabilities who work for their state governments cannot file discrimination suits against their employers under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The 5-4 ruling, a further cutback of the federal government’s power over the states, said Congress exceeded its authority when it let state workers file claims seeking monetary damages under the 1990 law. 

“We’re lucky we live in California,” said Arlene Mayerson who teaches at Boalt Law School, UC Berkeley and is the directing attorney at Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Inc.  

California has strong laws protecting disabled workers, said Mayerson, who co-authored briefs supporting the plaintiffs in the case that reached the highest court of the land. “Assuming that the Legislature doesn’t see it as an invitation to water down the legislation,” state workers in California will not be affected, Mayerson said. Workers in other states will. 

The case, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama vs. Garrett et al. concerned two Alabama residents. Patricia Garrett, a University of Alabama nurse, took a four-month leave to undergo treatment for breast cancer. When she came back to work, she was told to take a lower-paying job or quit. The second plaintiff, Milton Ash, a security guard for the Alabama Department of Youth Services, said his severe asthma was aggravated by the agency’s refusal to enforce its no-smoking policy or to repair the exhaust of the vehicle he was given to drive.  

While the lower courts said both could sue, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. 

The majority opinion of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clearance Thomas, said that states cannot be required “to make special accommodations for the disabled, so long as their actions toward such individuals are rational” and that the ADA’s legislative record fails to show that Congress identified a history and pattern of irrational employment discrimination by the states against the disabled. 

The examples offered in the case of discrimination by states “fall far short of even suggesting the pattern of unconstitutional discrimination” to justify legislation based on the Constitution’s 14th Amendment equal-protection guarantee, Rehnquist wrote for the majority. 

“In order to authorize private individuals to recover money damages against the states, there must be a pattern of discrimination by the states ... and the remedy imposed by Congress must be congruent and proportional to the targeted violation. Those requirements are not met here,” the chief justice said. 

Dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. Writing for the four, Breyer said Congress had found about 300 examples of discrimination by state governments. “Congress expressly found substantial unjustified discrimination against persons with disabilities,” he said. 

“The majority decision sets a new low in equal protection law,” said Mayerson of the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. “A state can exclude persons with disabilities based on ‘negative attitudes’ and ‘fear’ and still not violate the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law.” 

The ADA bans job discrimination against the disabled, requiring employers to offer reasonable accommodations to disabled people who are otherwise qualified to perform a job. It also bans discrimination in the provision of government programs and services. 

The law was signed by former President Bush, who filed a court brief supporting the two Alabama state employees who sued the state. Bush said the ADA let disabled people “pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom.” 

Jan Garrett, executive director of Berkeley’s Center for Independent Living said the decision makes it look as if “the Supreme Court seems to be acting in place of Congress” by weakening the ADA. 

A remedy would be for Congress to revisit and strengthen the ADA, Garrett said. But that could be dangerous, as well. “They could open up other areas,” she said. “We don’t know what the risks might be.”  

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 


State attorney general backs cannabis club against feds

The Associated Press
Thursday February 22, 2001

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is backing an Oakland cannabis distribution club in its fight with the federal government over medical marijuana. 

Lockyer filed a brief in the Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that the state has the right to enforce its medical marijuana law. The brief was filed in connection with a case scheduled to go before the Supreme Court on March 28.  

Proposition 215 allows seriously ill patients to use marijuana. However, the law does not supersede federal antidrug laws, setting the stage for a three-year battle between supporters of the law and the U.S. Department of Justice. 

The case before the Supreme Court began when the Clinton administration sued the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club and five other Northern California pot clubs in 1998. 

A federal district judge sided with the government in its efforts to halt the Oakland club from distributing the drug. But last year, an appeals court ruled that “medical necessity” is a legal defense. 

The Oakland club, the only one of the original six still functioning, is not distributing marijuana, but is issuing identification cards to be ready if it does get a favorable court ruling. 


Berkeley lab helps make murder suspect, DNA match

Bay City News
Thursday February 22, 2001

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced today that a DNA match made at the California Department of Justice DNA Laboratory in Berkeley has fingered a suspect in a 1984 sexual assault and murder. Lockyer said David James McIntosh, a convicted sex offender currently in Folsom Prison on parole violations, will be charged tomorrow in the sexual assault and murder of 13-year-old Heidi Fredette in Tehama County.  

McIntosh was identified as a suspect in Fredette's death as the result of a search of the Department of Justice's Convicted Felon Databank in January. Lockyer called the match a “cold hit,” meaning McIntosh had not been connected with the unsolved crime prior to the search. State law requires that blood and saliva samples be taken from those convicted of certain violent crimes and sexual assaults for the use of law enforcement agencies.  

Although there is currently a backlog of unanalyzed samples, the databank in Berkeley is expected to have analyzed and stored around 200,000 DNA profiles of convicted felons by July. 

Lockyer said a total of 29 convicted felons have been identified as suspects in unsolved crimes due to database searches since they began in 1994. Among those recently identified is Perry Tatmon, who was charged last week with the January 2000 rape of a developmentally disabled woman in Santa Rosa. 

Lockyer said he is sponsoring legislation this year seeking to expand the list of criminal convictions in which the collection of DNA samples can be ordered. 

 


Market Watch

The Associated Press
Thursday February 22, 2001

NEW YORK — The Nasdaq composite index fell to its lowest level in nearly two years Wednesday after an unexpected surge in inflation intensified investors’ fears about the future. 

The Dow Jones industrial average also plunged more than 200 points in heavy trading after the government reported the biggest increase in consumer prices in 10 months. 

Analysts said the data made already nervous investors even more reluctant to take strong positions in a market that might not recover for a while. 

“These inflation numbers were something that was not supposed to happen, and when you’re in a tenuous market ... investors get scared,” said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist for Weatherly Securities. “There’s just too many unknowns in front of the market at this point.” 

The tech-focused Nasdaq dropped 49.41 and its lowest close since March 3, 1999. It is now 55 percent below its all-time closing high reached last March. 

All three indexes are all down for the year. The Dow is off 2.4 percent for the year, the Nasdaq down 8.2 percent and the S&P off 4.9 percent. 

Wednesday’s losses came on a Labor Department report showing a 0.6 percent gain in its Consumer Price Index for January – chiefly because of increases in natural gas and electricity prices, which have since eased.  

Those numbers caught some market watchers off guard, although many believe that, at least for now, the data is an aberration rather than the beginning of a trend. 

“In the current circumstances, these numbers are not as big a deal,” said Merrill Lynch chief economist Bruce Steinberg. “The economy is weak and you just don’t get inflation developing in these circumstances.” 

Investors were not reassured, however. A broad stock selloff intensified late in the day after fluctuating earlier in the session. 

Financials were pulled lower by banker J.P. Morgan Chase, down $2.60 at $47.35. The Dow fell on losses in its manufacturing sectors: 3M dropped $1.98 to $111.26 and Boeing lost $1.65 to $60.20. 

— The Associated Press 

Technology also weighed down the markets as bargain hunters pushed the battered sector’s stock prices higher only to be replaced by sellers seeking to preserve their profits. 

Oracle fell 13 cents to $23, while Intel, which is also a Dow component, dropped 69 cents to $30.75. IBM’s $3.99 slip to $107.51 also hurt the blue chip index. 

Utility stocks, which are viewed as safer investment in a weak economy, fared better. Edison International rose 35 cents to $13.45 and PG&E was up 7 cents at $13.06. 

Health care stocks were also strong, led higher by Merck, up 81 cents at $78.71. 

But Wall Street was primarily in a selling mood — a reflection, analysts said, of investors’ doubt about whether the economy and whether the Federal Reserve Board is doing enough to stimulate growth. 

The Fed is expected to cut interest rates for a third time this year when it meets again next month. But investors are no longer sure the action will be enough to improve corporate profits anytime soon. 

“People are starting to get concerned that things are really bad. Even if the inflation is not a long-term story, it’s still going to hurt market sentiment,” said Hyman, the Weatherly Securities analyst. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.43 billion shares, ahead of the 1.34 billion reported Tuesday. 

The Russell 2000 index dropped 7.63 to 483.51. 

Overseas, stocks were weak. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.1 percent. Germany’s DAX index was down 1.6 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 dropped 0.1 percent, and France’s CAC-40 tumbled 1.3 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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


Buildings up, trees down

By Ben Lumpkin Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Construction means some destruction 

 

Within a month of the groundbreaking for the first new building on the Berkeley High Campus in almost 40 years, the destruction of about three dozen trees by contractors has sparked cries of “ecocide” and prompted calls for a closer examination of the building plans. 

“This could have been prevented. That building could have been configured in a way that would have saved those trees,” said former parks commissioner Lisa Stephens. 

The empty lots on the east side of the Berkeley High campus was littered with tree limbs Tuesday. Mangled trunks are all that is left of pines, sycamore and magnolia trees. 

“It’s really a shock when you see all the trees they’ve cut down,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. 

Longtime Berkeley and KPFA radio personality Larry Bensky said he was riding his bike past the campus Sunday on the way to host his weekly radio show, when “out of the side of my eye I saw this lunar landscape. I couldn’t imagine what had happened.” 

“This sets a bad example for the students,” Bensky said. “Somebody has to speak up for trees, because they’re extremely valuable and part of what we treasure about this planet.” 

Karen Sarlo, public information officer for the Berkeley Unified School District, said the district makes an effort to protect trees with historic or aesthetic value and that the 34 trees removed in this case were deemed to have neither. Only four of the trees were really large, Sarlo said. 

“The district does everything that it can to preserve trees,” Sarlo said, pointing to past projects where an effort was made to build around “significant” trees.  

But Anthony Bruce of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Organization said a number of magnolia trees that were destroyed had historic value because they were originally planted as part of a landscaped plaza on Shattuck Avenue and were moved to the campus to make way for a BART station in the sixties. 

Stephens and others said the Berkeley Unified School District never gave the public an opportunity to fully review the plans and suggest changes. 

“It isn’t just about the trees,” said Stephens. “It’s the way they do business. It was very difficult for people to get information about the planning or to have any input at all.” 

Lesley Emmington, a spokesperson for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, agreed. 

“The problem is that there’s never been a public process to look at the effects of this building,” Emmington said.  

Beyond the loss of the trees, Emmington said there were concerns that the modern appearance of the planned building may clash with the historic appearance of the nearby Civic Center, or that that the new building will be placed in such a way as to block access to the Community Theater, making an important public space far less inviting than it is today. 

Emmington, whose children attend Berkeley High School, said even the students have been kept out of the loop. 

Sarlo conceded that it might have eased concerns if an effort had been made to notify people of the planned tree demolition. In the future, she said, she will send out bulletins every two weeks to update students, teachers and the public of upcoming construction work. 

But Sarlo said the process of planning the building has been long, deliberate and inclusive. 

“You don’t just decide to build a building and then build it,” Sarlo said. “There are layers and layers of people who look at (the plans).”  

After the passage of a bond measure in 1992 to get money for the new building, the school district hired neutral observers to mediate public meetings aimed at accumulating input for the new building, Sarlo said. Notification of the meetings were mailed to people who lived near the school, to the press and other organizations, Sarlo said.  

Furthermore, said Sarlo, the plans were discussed and modified at several School Board meetings before they were finally approved. Concerned members of the public could have given their input at those meetings, for which the agendas were posted in advance on the school district web site, Sarlo said. 

Sarlo said during the planning process for the building most of the debate revolved around the pressing issues of classroom needs, building safety and amenities. 

“I’ll bet nobody asked about the trees,” Sarlo said. 

The 18-acre Berkeley High campus is “very small for 3,200 students,” she said, pointing to a state standard that recommends a high school with 3,500 students should be built in an area no smaller than 70 acres. The size of the Berkeley High campus hasn’t change in 100 years, Sarlo said, even while growing enrollment and a law requiring reduced class sizes have fueled demand for more classrooms.  

The new 64,000-square-feet building is part of a 15-year, $92.6 million plan for improvements to the high school campus. It will house much needed classrooms, administrative offices, a student union, a food complex and a new library and media center, Sarlo said. The Berkeley High library and administrative offices have been housed in temporary space or portable classrooms since a fire destroyed one of the school’s buildings last year, Sarlo said. 

“It really altered the campus,” Sarlo said. “Whatever free space we did have it’s now portables or construction.” 

Sarlo said the district values greenery and will work on a landscaping plan after more of the construction and renovation is planned and completed. 

“Until you know how the new buildings are going to look it’s difficult to do any type of landscape planning,” she said. 


Calendar of Events & Activities

Wednesday February 21, 2001


Wednesday, Feb. 21

 

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 

 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system.  

665-6812 or visit  

www.berkeleyfood.org 

 

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission 

7 - 10 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. (at Ashby)  

Review of the CM’s Preliminary Recommendations followed by deliberations and final recommendations.  

Telegraph Area Association  

Community Planning Committee Meeting 

9 a.m.  

TAA  

2509 Haste St.  

 

Telegraph Area Association  

Fund Development/Membership Committee 

3 p.m. 

2509 Haste St.  

Project budget update and funding plan for 2001-2.  


Thursday, Feb. 22

 

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 

 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 527-4140 

 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test. $10  

 

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 Call 643-1924 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 649-7750  

 

Lavendar Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 100 

Join GTU students David Dezern and Toni Tortorilla as they discuss some of the challenges and joys of being Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transexual and active in today’s Roman Catholic Church. 849-8206 

 

Telegraph Area Association 

Economic Development  

Committee 

3:30 p.m. 

Sather Gate Garage Conference Room 

2431 Channing Way  

Updates on the Sather Gate Parking Advisory, PG&E, and the Southside Plan.  


Friday, Feb. 23

 

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  

 

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 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

 


Saturday, Feb. 24

 

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 

Teahouse Concert  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., D’Autremont Dining Hall 

PACTS, along with PSR’s PANA Institute and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, co-sponsor this concert to celebrate and affirm Asian and Pacific Islander Gay, Lesbian. Bisexual and Transgender people of faith and their allies.  

$5 - $10  

Call 849-8244 

 


Sunday, Feb. 25

 

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

 

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 

 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

 


Letters to the Editor

Wednesday February 21, 2001

UC may have a conflict when it comes to biotech 

 

 

Editor: 

It must be a rough season for University of California’s apologists in their office of Community Relations.  

Not only do they have to explain UC’s refusal to grant the Depot for Creative Reuse a workable extension but now they have to rationalize spraying herbicide on Gill tract right next to an elementary school and their own family student housing. 

And of course they can’t admit that both decisions seem to correlate with UC’s deal with Novartis Corporation, a biotech conglomerate. Since the signing of this devil’s pact, UC has forged headlong toward a future of genetic engineering and chemical agriculture.  

In fact, shortly after the signing it attacked both student run programs teaching organic farming methods. 

So it’s hardly comforting when the College of Natural Resources which receives the money from Novartis Corporation “believes that there is no danger to the children” from the spraying of glysophate during school hours.  

In fact, it’s downright uncomfortable that the University of California has a financial interest in supporting rather than rigorously and unbiasedly testing this new and frightening technology of genetic engineering (that creates crops resistant to glysophate sprayings (among other frightening possibilities). 

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the building from which UC is trying to evict our beloved Depot for Creative Reuse just happens to also be used for biotech research. Smell a florescent rat? 

 

Matt Azzel 

Berkeley 


Arts & Entertainment

Wednesday February 21, 2001

 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

 

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

 

Ashkenaz Feb. 21, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

 

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 25, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

 

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances Feb. 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36;  

 

Cynthia and the Swing Set, Jubilee American Dance Theatre Feb. 24, 8 p.m. A benefit for the Crowden School and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. Guests will also have the chance to win auction and raffle items. New Orleans Cajun and Creole dinner optional. Crowden School 1475 Rose. St. (at Sacramento) $10 - $40 559-6910  

 

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison 526-5393 

 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. A program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

 

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

 

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

 

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

 

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

 

Theater 

 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

 

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

 

 

Films 

 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

 

 

Exhibits 

 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

 

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

 

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February. Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception Feb. 14, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

 

 

Readings 

 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. 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. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

 

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

 

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

 

 

Lectures 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

 

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

 


Pentagon Papers’ Ellsberg talks about secrets

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Daniel Ellsberg, former defense analyst who many say helped end the Vietnam War by leaking the top-secret Pentagon Papers, told a group of 35 people Tuesday that he still has a secret or two.  

The 69-year-old Ellsberg spoke about the reasons he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers, sharply criticized Ralph Nader for costing former Vice President Al Gore the election and spoke of his continued willingness to risk prison again for the sake of truth telling. 

The Berkeley resident was the featured speaker at the Pacific School of Religion’s Real Deal Seminar, which will feature a series of speakers through early May. The seminars are free and open to the public. 

In 1971 Ellsberg, who was a defense analyst with the Rand Corporation, was catapulted into the International spotlight when he leaked a 7,000-page document detailing the United States’ military role in Indochina to the New York Times, the Washington Post and 15 other newspapers.  

 

The top secret documents, known as the Pentagon Papers, contained evidence of historical patterns of public deception used by government officials to prolong and escalate the war in Vietnam. One example was the 1964 fabrication of an North Vietnamese PT boat attack on the U.S. Destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf.  

President Lyndon Johnson went on national television the same day of the phony attack and cited it as the reason for a drastic escalation of air strikes in North Vietnam. 

Ellsberg told the group he was philosophically inspired by the writings of Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Joan Bondurant but said he was motivated to leak the top-secret document by anti-war protesters who were burning their draft cards and going to prison rather than fight in a war they believed to be immoral. 

“I don’t regard myself as a hero but I have many heroes and among them are the 20 year olds who had gone to prison or escaped to Canada,” said Ellsberg, who describes himself as a pacifist. 

After Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press, he turned himself in to the FBI and was charged with 12 felonies for which he faced a possible 115 years in prison. 

“I expected to be sent to jail for the rest of my life,” said Ellsberg who admits he wasn’t thrilled with the idea but knew in his heart it was the right thing to do. “I knew the action would be helpful in shortening the war.” 

Four months after portions of the Pentagon Papers were published, the White House “plumbers” unit - named for role of plugging information leaks for President Richard Nixon’s administration - burglarized Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in an attempt to steal his files to publicly embarrass and discredit him. The Washington Post discovered a year later that Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman had ordered the burglary. Ehrlichman would later serve 18 months in prison for obstruction of justice. 

In May, 1973, a federal judge dropped all the charges against Ellsberg. 

“I didn’t break any law,” he said. “If I lived in almost any other country, I probably would have been put away for life or worse because most other countries have secrecy laws.” 

Ellsberg said Congress tried to adopt a military secrecy law in October as part of the International Appropriations Act. President Bill Clinton vetoed the secrecy portion of the act before it was approved. 

Ellsberg said it is likely military secrecy laws will be enacted under the Bush Administration. He said if that happens he would gladly risk going back to prison. “I have a few secrets left I would gladly divulge to test the law,” he said. “I’ll give ’em another crack at me. Let’s go to the Supreme Court.” 

Ellsberg said truth telling is critical in today’s environment of toxins and advanced war technology. He said he felt a special kinship with Jeffrey Wigand, a scientist who worked for the tobacco company Williams and Brown. Wigand divulged thousands of pages of documents detailing the tobacco company’s knowledge of the carcinogenic nature of its product. 

Wigand’s story was dramatized in the 1999 movie “The Insider.” 

Ellsberg, who clearly becomes passionate when he discusses politics, minced few words when speaking about presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Ellsberg blames Nader for Vice President Al Gore’s loss in the presidential elections in November. 

He admits he is no fan of Gore’s but believes the country and the planet would be better served by him than President George Bush. 

“I’m the first to say that both the Republicans and Democrats are wrong but to say there’s no difference between the two parties is either a brazen lie or a statement so divorced from reality it’s psychotic.” 

Nader campaigned on a platform that claimed both Bush and Gore were puppets for the same corporate entities and were nearly identical in political philosophy. Nader won approximately 100,000 voted in Florida, the state that decided the election. 

Ellsberg lives half the year in Berkeley and half in Washington, D.C. He is completing his memoirs and continues to be politically active. 

For more information about the Real Deal Seminars call 849-8229


Bike boulevard becoming a Berkeley reality

By Erika Fricke Daily Planet Staff
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Bright purple signs along Bowditch Street and Hillegass Avenue declare the streets to be “bicycle boulevards.”  

But does decreeing it make it so? While parts of the quiet residential streets seemed a bicycle haven Tuesday, the intersection at busy Dwight Way, which runs straight through the boulevard could shatter a biker’s nerve. Although another purple placard signaled the bicycle boulevard crossing, drivers on Dwight rushed by, ignoring the sign along with the cyclists and pedestrians waiting  

to cross.  

“If they really wanted to do something for cyclists they’d close off the street,” said Manuel Vallee who cycled down Bowditch to campus midday. “Having pretty signs is just manipulation. It’s all for show.” 

Berkeley officials said they hope a series of bicycle boulevards, roads particularly amenable to cyclists, will increase bike traffic throughout the city. The first part of implementation, the signs decreeing the Hillegass/Bowditch bikeway, went up last week. Rochelle Wheeler, senior planner, said that the rest of the signs should be up by the end of the year. But everyone agrees it will take more than signs to create bicycle-safe streets. 

Quoting the most recent census, Sarah Syed, program coordinator of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition said that only 10 percent of the people who live and work in Berkeley bike to work. She compared that to cities in Europe where up to 30 percent of the population bikes to work. The most recent data from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force discovered Berkeley has four times the number of bicycle injuries compared to similarly-sized cities in California. 

Bicycle boulevards are supposed to resolve the paradox. On the boulevards cyclists and automobiles are supposed to exist on an equal footing, said David Campbell, president of Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition. “The intent would be that everyone shares the road equally,” he said. “The cyclist can ride down the middle of the lane and the car is expected to pass them as they would another car. The cyclist uses the street like anybody else uses the street.” 

Cyclist Vallee was not impressed with the idea that cars and bikes could share the road. “That’s already the case according to California law,” he said. Although laws for all streets are the same, Syed hoped the signs would create an impression that cars are “guests” on bike boulevards. 

The boulevards are based on Bryant Street, a Palo Alto street dedicated to cyclists. Former Palo Alto Councilmember Ellen Fletcher was instrumental in promoting that bike boulevard. She described it as a “tremendous success.” “It has the advantage of attracting novices because there’s less traffic,” she said. “And also the gung-ho cyclists.” 

An important part of making the Palo Alto system work was removing stop signs along the bike routes so that cyclists could ride straight through, while making it difficult for cars to do the same. Traffic calming devices to slow cars, and stop signs facing cross streets make the bike boulevard work, she said. 

In Berkeley, planners chose residential, quiet streets, already equipped with traffic calming barriers to serve as bike boulevards. In addition, planners will coordinate with neighbors to choose from a “tool-kit” of traffic calming devices to ensure that traffic along bike boulevards goes slow, even when stop signs are removed. “Generally the wider and straighter a street, the faster a car will go,” said Campbell of Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley. “A traffic circle actually creates vegetation in the middle of the street that tells the motorist and everybody else that they have to slow down.”  

Other pro-bicycle techniques include lights that change to green automatically for cyclists, such as the one at Martin Luther King Jr. and Channing ways, and a painted square at the front of an intersection, where bikes can wait in front of a line of cars, and make their turns first without weaving in and out of traffic. The city expects to spend $2 to $3 million dollars on the project, much of which will go for traffic lights. 

While one passerby who was driving said that slow traffic sounded like a good idea, Joseph Johnson Sr. laughed. “I think at first people are going to be a little frustrated,” he said.  

But automobile drivers aren’t the only ones that are going to have to be convinced about the new bicycle routes.  

Tangent rode his bike Tuesday on Telegraph Avenue – on the sidewalk. “I have little to no respect for bicycle laws,” he said. “I’ve been hit too many times by cars.” He said he didn’t think anything short of getting cars off the road would create a respectful relationship between riders and drivers.  

Bike boulevard advocates hope time will prove him wrong. “In it’s inception it was a very powerful vision,” said Jen Collins, program coordinator for the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley group. “While it’s definitely moving forward, it’s being gradually watered down.” She said plans for car-free streets, and boulevards with different colored pavement have been discarded; nonetheless, she believed that changing drivers’ mentality could make a difference.  

Tuesday afternoon, the ride along the bicycle boulevard was calm: no cars double parked in the middle of the street, no buses pulled over into the bike lane. One bicyclist rode in the center of the lane, experimenting with the sensation that the road belonged to bike and rider. A block over, on busy College Avenue, cars whizzed past and signs for four different buses pockmarked the side of the road. A purple sign encouraged cyclers to detour left onto the bicycle boulevard. The advice made sense.


Ice skating club looks for continued success

By Chason Wainwright Daily Planet Staff
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Having won first place at the Pacific Coast Championships in Anaheim earlier this month, the Berkeley Ice Symmetrics precision ice skating team is hoping to win a medal at the National Skating Championships next month in Colorado Springs.  

Lise Faus, member of Ice Symmetrics, said the team’s performance in Anaheim “brought the house down.” 

“This is the first year the team has had such a positive response from judges and fans,” she said.  

Hetti Franczak, who has coached Ice Symmetrics since 1989, said the team was judged for the difficulty of its presentation. She said the Ice Symmetrics, which competed against two other teams in Anaheim, got a first place win from six out of seven judges, with the seventh giving them second place.  

The Ice Symmetrics precision skating team is made up of 20 women aged 21 to 52. Ice Symmetrics is a part of the Berkeley St. Moritz Figure Skating Club, which is made up of six precision skating teams and various figure skaters. 

Faus, like some of the other members of the team, used to skate for Walt Disney on Ice. Other women on the team skated for Ice Capades and the Charles Schultz Ice Production.  

Faus said she had to stop skating for Disney because of the wear and tear on her body. She said the lifestyle of performance skating is a lot of travel and living out of a suitcase. “It’s not an experience you want to live for very long.”  

Faus said she loves skating and finds the schedule of Ice Symmetrics practice sessions, two to three times a week, ideal. The team trains at Berkeley Iceland every Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. Sessions are open to public viewing.  

Franczak said precision skating is similar to synchronized swimming. “There’s a group of 20 skaters making patterns and formations on the ice.  

They incorporate footwork, arm movements, and head positions and it all has to be done in unison.  

They change patterns as fast as they can, making interesting variations of pattern - circles, lines, squares, and wheels.”  

Franczak said a wheel is created when you have a single line of skaters with the center skater being the pivot for the wheel.  

The skaters on the outside of the line skate faster than those on the inside. The pattern can be varied by adding additional lines called “spokes” to the wheel pattern, creating what looks like a bicycle wheel.  

Faus said the sport has grown in popularity over the past 20 years and said it’s rumored that precision skating will be featured as an event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.  

Faus said the women on the team are financing all the costs of competition, including costumes, airfare and hotel, out of their own pockets. “The team needs more ice time for practice and additional coaching fees to help bring out the talent these girls have.” 

Faus said the team is trying to raise money and find sponsorship.  

In light of the upcoming National Championships the St. Moritz Figure Skating Club is planning a fund-raising event at 7:30 p.m on March 5 at the Berkeley Iceland.  

Six precision skating teams will perform, including two teams which will join the Ice Symmetrics at the National Championships: Berkeley Blades Intermediate and Silver Stars Junior. Tickets for the gala are $5 and include dessert and coffee.


BRIEFS

Staff, wire reports
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Man robs Wells Fargo bank, amount unknown 

A man claiming to be armed, robbed a Wells Fargo bank inside Andronico’s Market Tuesday. The incident happened about 3 p.m. at the store on University Avenue. Police said they do not know how much money the man was able to get. 

In a note passed to the teller the man claimed to have a gun and demanded money, said Lt. Russell Lopes of the Berkeley Police Department. Police were unable to confirm if the man was actually carrying a gun. 

Anyone with information about the robbery can call Berkeley Police at 981-5742. 

Superintendent search tops School Board agenda 

The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education will hear a report on the search for a new superintendent at its regular board meeting today at 7:30 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting is a report on the district’s food services and a report on the First Estimated Fiscal Year 2002 Budget.  

In public hearings the board will consider whether a credentialed teacher ought to be granted an emergency permit to teach outside of her subject area, and whether the Interim Superintendent ought to request permission from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to hire teachers without “appropriate” teaching credentials.  

First winners in Berkeley recycling, sorting contest 

Berkeley's trash-sifting, prize-giving recyclers have found their first winners in Susan and Roy Bogas, who were awarded $500 this week for correctly sorting their trash.  

The Cash for Trash Contest, first introduced in 1988, is being brought back this year by the Ecology Center, Berkeley's curbside recycler for 27 years. 

Officials first selected an address at random and sifted through that house or apartment building's trash last week. The trash wasn't up to snuff, however, and the $250 prize rolled over to this week. Prizes are awarded if the trash cache is found to be properly sorted, with recyclables in the proper places. If so, the residents of the house or apartment win $250. If not, the money rolls over until next week, when a new address is chosen and those residents can win the full $500. 

UC professor wins science award for genetics work  

University of California at Berkeley Genetics Professor Gerald M. Rubin has been awarded a prize for his fruit fly research by the National Association for the Advancement of Science. Rubin, who works in the university's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, is being honored with the Newcomb Cleveland Prize for a review paper on the sequencing of the fruit fly genome published last year in Science.  

He was awarded the $5,000 prize, to be shared with about 100 co-authors of the paper, during the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Science held last weekend in San Francisco. 

 

— Staff, wire reports 

 

 

 

“The collaborative effort by academic and industry researchers was considered by our committee to represent a landmark event in the effort to understand the organization of the hereditary material at the finest structural level,” according to a statement by the science association. 


Civil rights suit filed in Oakland ‘Riders’ case

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — A new civil rights suit accuses additional Oakland police officers of wrongdoing in “The Riders” case. 

The suit, filed last Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of nine people, alleges the officers stood by and did nothing while four other officers – known as “The Riders” – committed violations of the law. 

It is the latest suit filed against “The Riders” and those who allegedly permitted their activities. 

The suit also contains new charges that one member of “The Riders” – Frank Vazquez – framed people on drug charges in West Oakland as far back as 1998.  

Vazquez fled soon after charges against the officers surfaced. Authorities believe he may be in Mexico. 

In November, Vazquez and officers Clarence Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung were charged with a total of 48 felonies and 12 misdemeanors for their alleged actions between June 13 and July 3 in which at least 10 people were victimized. 

At least 33 people have said they were beaten, kidnapped or falsely arrested on drug charges in West Oakland. 

Five officers have been accused of failing to intervene to stop the illegal conduct.  

Those include the officers’ supervisor, Sgt. Jerry Hayter, who has since been demoted, S. Amerding, James Gantt, A. McFarlane, and Martin Ziebarth. 

All five are named in the federal suit filed Friday.


Less water for farmers, more energy needed to pump it

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — A low snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and little rainfall so far this winter could mean less water this summer for farmers, who would have to pump more from wells to irrigate their crops. 

While more rain and snow are predicted, the generally dry weather could raise irrigation costs substantially for farmers as they use electric pumps to reach deeper into aquifers for water. 

“It’s kind of a double whammy,” said Frances Squire, public affairs officer for the Westlands Water District in Fresno. “They’ll be forced to pump more, which means they’ll be using more electricity, which means they’ll place more strain on the grid.” 

The strain will be even worse if there is less water to power the state’s hydroelectric plants, further reducing irrigation supplies, said Randy McFarland, spokesman for the Friant Water Users Authority and Kings River Authority in the Central Valley. 

“With the power crisis, if there’s less water available, there will be less water to generate electricity,” McFarland said. “It’ll cost a lot more to operate pumps.” 

The rainy season lasts from November to March. So far, precipitation is about a third below normal, according to the Department of Water Resources’ chief hydrologist, Maury Roos. 

While he does not expect this year to be as dry as previous drought years in California, one state estimate has the chances of getting average rainfall this year at about one in 15, Roos said. 

If the year continues to be very dry, the Department of Water Resources could consider setting up a water bank as it has in drought years, buying water from people willing to sell. But “if that happens, it will probably be too expensive for farmers,” Roos said. 

A combination of wet weather this past weekend, more power plants returning to service and a holiday weekend that lowered electricity demands resulted in the state entering the workweek with its best forecast for power in more than five weeks. 

The state had been in a Stage 3 alert for more than a month, with reserves falling or threatening to fall below 1.5 percent. The Stage 3 alert was downgraded over the weekend. 

“This was a good weekend. And the wet weather that will continue through the week is good news” for hydroelectric supplies, said Patrick Dorinson, spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, the keeper of the state’s grid. 

Kip Brundage, who farms 1,000 acres of alfalfa and oats in Gilroy in Santa Clara County, worries that there won’t be enough runoff from the mountains to replenish underground water supplies. That means he’ll have to pump harder to get water from his 35 wells. He already pays up to $25,000 a month to run them. 

“My gut feeling is we’re going to see a substantial increase, probably in the 30 to 40 percent range,” he said. “It’s going to be devastating.” 

For farmers facing higher bills, options include concentrating crops on fewer acres or letting land lie fallow. The Westlands Water District in the Central Valley, which has 540,000 acres needing irrigation, will likely get a fraction of the water its contract with the government says it is entitled to receive — enough to irrigate just 66,300 acres. 

“We’re looking at a variety of options,” Squire said. “We’re starting to discuss land retirement.” 

Jason Peltier, manager of the Central Valley Project Water Association, which supplies water to one-third of all the irrigated land in the state – about 3 million acres – said the water situation didn’t have to be so dire. 

The Central Valley Project has predicted that some farmers it serves will get as little as 15 percent of the water their contract says they can receive.  

The state water project, which supplies about 1 million acres in the San Joaquin Valley, is estimating an allocation of about 20 percent. 

“What I take from it is absolute proof that our water management infrastructure is broken,” Peltier said. “The water condition overall is not disastrous, but that forecast is.” 

Peltier blamed increasing federal restrictions on pumping, designed to protect fish. 

“We’ve had an incredible string of wet years — six of the wettest we’ve seen,” he said. “Now when we move toward something more normal, we have a disaster looming, because of the constraints on the projects.” 

But Mike Thabault, an assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento, disagreed. 

He said the service has an Environmental Water Account, which it uses to make sure there’s enough water if the service takes action to protect fish that could affect the amount of water available to users. 

“By far and away, environmental issues in the delta are not the only thing constraining water supply in California, and I don’t think it’s fair to characterize it that way,” he said. “I think we’ve done a tremendous amount of effort to insulate the water users from any additional effects from the environmental standards that have occurred.” 


Man’s ‘three strikes’ sentence upheld

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

A California man, sentenced under a “three strikes” law to 25 years to life in prison after stealing an umbrella and two bottles of liquor, lost a Supreme Court appeal Tuesday. 

The court turned down the man’s argument that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. 

Justices David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer voted to grant review. Writing for the two, Souter said, “The issue is serious, the state courts have had adequate opportunity to consider it, and the stakes are substantial.” 

Stanley Durden was convicted in Los Angeles County for stealing two bottles of liquor and an umbrella from a supermarket in 1999. Because Durden had several prior convictions, the theft was prosecuted as a felony. 

Under California’s “three strikes” law, Durden was sentenced to 25 years to life based on his four previous convictions for robbery and attempted robbery. 

A California appeals court upheld the sentence, saying he was “a serious career criminal who has demonstrated repeatedly that he has no intention of abiding by the laws of this state.” The California Supreme Court denied review. 

In the appeal acted on Tuesday, Durden’s lawyers said the punishment was “grossly disproportional” to the crime. 

“The offense was minor, petty theft, but the punishment was enormous,” his lawyers said. Durden’s prior offenses were counted twice – first to raise the petty theft to a felony, and then to sentence him under the “three strikes” law, his lawyers said. 

Prosecutors said Durden had a “serious and unending record of violent crime” and “represents a dangerous menace to the people of California.” 

 

The case is Durden v. California, 00-6479. 

——— 

On the Net: For the state court ruling: http://www.courts.net and click on California. 


L.A. FBI agent first convicted of spying

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

LOS ANGELES — The arrest of a veteran FBI agent on charges of spying for Russia recalls the arrest more than 16 years ago of Richard W. Miller, who became the first FBI agent to be convicted of espionage. 

Miller, who worked in the Los Angeles office, was ultimately convicted of trading secrets for sex with a Russian emigre and the promise of $65,000 in cash and gold. 

But the case against Robert Philip Hanssen, 56, who was arrested Sunday in Virginia, appears far different than the one against Miller, according to Miller’s attorney, Joel Levine. 

Hanssen appeared to have had more access to sensitive information than Miller did, Levine said Tuesday. 

“Miller’s access was very innocuous and in the long run it had a bearing on the case,” he said. 

Miller was arrested in October 1984 along with accomplices Svetlana Ogorodnikov and her husband, Nikolai Ogorodnikov. 

“He had an affair with (Svetlana Ogorodnikov), that’s a matter of record,” said Levine. “She was suspected of having links to the Soviet intelligence community.” 

Miller, 64, now lives in Utah, Levine said. He could not be reached for comment. 

The Ogorodnikovs each pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after reaching agreements with federal prosecutors. 

Miller was tried three times. The first ended in a mistrial. 

At his second trial, in 1986, Miller was described by one of his attorneys as “an overweight Inspector Clouseau” who “bumbled and fumbled his way through the FBI for 20 years” and let “fantasies of James Bond” get the best of him. 

The prosecution described Miller as a man obsessed with money and women, making him “a classic target for KGB recruitment.” 

Miller was found guilty of espionage and bribery, but the conviction was overturned in 1989 because polygraph findings were admitted as evidence. 

 

 


Senate approves power authority bill

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SACRAMENTO — California’s Senate gave Gov. Gray Davis more leverage in his negotiations with utility companies Tuesday, approving legislation that would allow the state to buy or build power plants. 

The bill to create a public power authority, which still needs approval from the Assembly, could involve state officials much more deeply in the energy business. 

“With the passage of this bill ... I think we can say deregulation in the state of California is officially dead,” said Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside. 

Skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices, due to high natural gas prices and scarce supplies, have nearly driven the state’s two largest utilities to bankruptcy. 

Sen. John Burton, the bill’s author, says creating a power authority will give the state more control over the wholesale market. State-owned power plants could charge lower prices, and building new plants could increase supply, easing wholesale prices. 

Ratepayer advocate Nettie Hoge – who has long campaigned for public control of the state’s power industry – called it a significant, though still tentative step. 

“The power authority bill is a placeholder, in a way, to give us the flexibility to enter the business. It still depends on whether the state has the appetite to own assets,” said Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network. 

Davis and state lawmakers are considering taking over the utilities’ transmission system, along with the responsibility of upgrading and maintaining the aging lines. The power authority would also have the authority to seize plants by eminent domain, a power the governor also has under an emergency order issued last month. 

Davis has said he’d rather negotiate a deal with the utilities for their transmission lines or other assets in return for helping the companies regain their creditworthiness. 

Sen. Steve Peace, the Chula Vista Democrat who was one of the primary authors of the state’s 1996 energy deregulation law, has avoided much of the current debate, and has sought to blame the energy crisis on federal regulators’ refusal to impose price caps on wholesale energy bills. 

But he spoke enthusiastically in favor of the public power bill on Tuesday, urging the governor to seize the state’s power plants, many of which are owned by Texas companies. 

“This is the only choice the kidnappers have given us,” Peace said. Either take control of the generation plants “or raise the Lone Star flag to the top of the Capitol and give up the ghost.” 

But if the state starts seizing plants, it could deter private companies from building more power generators in the state, having the opposite effect lawmakers were trying to achieve, said Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers. 

“That’s the big concern I have – that as California starts to creep toward nationalizing their system, they’re going to drive away the very plants they need to attract,” he said. 

PG&E spokesman Ron Low declined to comment on the legislation. SoCal Edison representatives didn’t immediately return calls by The Associated Press seeking comment. 

Administration officials continued meeting with Edison and PG&E executives in San Francisco Tuesday, negotiating the governor’s plan to rescue the financially ailing utilities, said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Davis. 

Davis has proposed buying the utilities’ transmission lines to give the companies an infusion of much-needed cash. 

The 24-14 vote on the bill by Burton, D-San Francisco, was split down party lines, with all Republican senators voting against the measure. The bill now goes to the Assembly. 

Another bill still in the Senate would give the governor the authority to negotiate the purchase of the utilities’ transmission lines – about 60 percent of the state’s power grid. The other 40 percent is owned by municipal districts and the federal government. 

California’s two largest utilities say they’ve lost nearly $13 billion due to high wholesale power prices, which the state’s 1996 utility deregulation law blocks them from recouping from customers. 

The state has already stepped in, committing $10 billion to purchase power for customers of Edison and PG&E. That and other fixes under consideration by Davis and lawmakers – including a state purchase of 26,000 miles of transmission lines – could cost consumers and taxpayers $20 billion, or roughly $590 for every California resident. 

The bulk of the money would come from bond sales to be repaid by utility customers over many years. 

Consumer advocates praised the power authority bill, saying the state should have moved toward the public power model five years ago instead of its “failed experiment” with deregulation, citing the much lower rates that municipal power customers have paid throughout the crisis. 

 

 

 

 

“The Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, have proven that publicly owned power systems can be more efficient, more reliable and more affordable for consumers,” said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. 

Also Tuesday, a federal court judge refused a power generator’s request to be paid for electricity sold to the two utilities through the nearly defunct California Power Exchange. 

Several power generators have sued the nonprofit exchange to prevent it from forcing them to pay for Edison and PG&E’s defaults. 

Under a federal tariff governing the exchange, if a buyer of power defaults on payments, every member of the exchange – including power sellers – must pay a portion of the debt. The two cash-strapped utilities have already defaulted on nearly $1 billion and will likely do the same on future payments. 

U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Moreno said he wants power companies and the exchange to agree to a standstill while FERC decides how money and debts will be allocated among exchange members. 

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday to discuss an injunction that would bar the exchange from charging the power generators their share of the default and keep generators from receiving payments until FERC rules. 


Bill delaying graduation exam for a year OK’d

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SACRAMENTO — The California Senate voted Tuesday to delay Gov. Gray Davis’ high school graduation test for a year, saying students need more time to prepare for its tough questions, especially in algebra. 

“How many of you could pass a test on algebra even if you had it recently?” Sen. Betty Karnette, a former math teacher from Long Beach, asked her colleagues. 

Only a couple of hands were weakly raised. 

Current law requires the class of 2004 – today’s ninth-graders – to pass the rigorous new test to graduate.  

The test is scheduled to be given next month for the first time to ninth-graders who volunteer, on March 7 for reading and writing and on March 13 for math. 

The bill, sent to the Assembly by a 21-13 vote, would make the class of 2005, today’s eighth-graders, the first one that would have to pass it. 

The Democratic governor is opposed to postponing the test, saying he believes today’s ninth-graders will have taken enough tough courses to pass the test by their senior year. Students are allowed to take the test several times. 

Davis and lawmakers have provided additional funds to school districts for items such as new textbooks and teacher training “to ensure that students are prepared for the exam,” Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said Tuesday. 

The postponement bill, by Sen. Jack O’Connell, D-San Luis Obispo, was originally introduced for Davis, who wants to make next month’s test only a practice exam for ninth-graders. 

The 1999 law creating the test says ninth-graders who pass the test don’t have to take it again. Davis fears that means the 10th-graders who take the test in 2002, when the state will set an official passing score, will not be a valid cross-section of students. That could leave the state vulnerable to legal challenges. 

At this point, there is no mechanism in place to determine a passing score for students who take the test this year. 

O’Connell’s bill was amended in the Senate Education Committee last month to delay the entire test for one year to make it more likely to pass legal challenges. 

Court rulings in other states with similar high-stakes tests have said students cannot be tested on things they have not actually been taught. 

Algebra, which will be on the test at Davis’ insistence, is at the heart of the concern about the test. 

More than a third of students graduating from high school do not taken algebra now.  

However, a new law that took effect in January makes algebra a requirement for graduation in all districts, beginning with the class of 2004. 

“The big picture is will this measure withstand the legal challenges we believe are going to be filed?” asked O’Connell. “We want to have a fair and valid test.” 

Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado, said when the original test bill was approved nearly two years ago, “all of us knew that the timeframe was going to be very tight.” 

A consulting company hired by the state to evaluate the development of the test last summer recommended delaying it for one or two years to give schools and students more time to prepare. 

However, Republican senators opposed delaying the test, saying the state needs to give it as soon as possible to see how well high school students are doing. 

“There’s absolutely no reason why we ought to relax any requirements,” said Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Riverside. 

The bill would also ban ninth-graders from taking the test after this year and would require the state to release some of the test questions each year so the public will know what the exam is like. 

On the Net: Read the bill, SB84, at http://www.sen.ca.gov 

Read about the high school test at 

http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/hsee


Actors save multi-faceted ‘Shrew’ tale

By John Angell Grant Daily Planet Correspondent
Wednesday February 21, 2001

Because it is a slapstick comedy about a man who tortures his wife until she becomes subservient to his every whim, Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” is a difficult play for modern audiences. 

When the play is produced, directors put much thought and energy into finding ways to reinterpret this problematic tale so that it is meaningful for modern audiences. 

UC Berkeley’s Department of Dramatic Art/Center for Theater Arts is taking a stab at it with a world premiere reworking of the story called “Shrew You!,” which opened Friday at Zellerbach Playhouse on the Cal campus. 

This gay reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s play, with S&M overtones, was adapted and directed by Reid Davis, and developed collaboratively through workshops and rehearsals with Cal actors. 

The end result is an impressive technical product. The company has come up with a lively, athletic production, using a commedia dell’arte-influenced playing style. The quality of the acting in this student production is terrific, and Davis’ direction and choreography are strong.  

But the evening gets lost in the murky uncertainties of “Shrew You’s” story. The play tries to cover too much ground, and force interpretations that aren’t in the script. It ends up feeling more like an academic exercise, or a theater class project, than a finished performance concept for a general audience. 

In “Shrew You!,” genders have been swapped in much of the casting. Men play women, and women play men.  

Three of the play’s key roles are performed by two actors each, one man and one woman. There are a male and female Kate the shrew, a male and female shrew-tamer Petruchio, and a male and female Grumio (Petruchio’s servant). 

The gay theme is set early. At the play’s beginning, Petruchio and his male friend Hortensio are shown having sex – rather wild, violent sex. Their love-making verges on a rape, of sorts, by Petruchio. 

By casting two Petruchios, two Kates and two Grumios, the company can put multiple versions of the same scene on stage at the same time. 

For example, one Kate and one Petruchio might play a given scene with wild sexual emphasis, while the other Kate and the other Petruchio might play the same scene quietly. 

Elsewhere, a scene might be played on a literal level by one actor, but with self-conscious awareness by a different actor. 

Although these techniques can provide meaningful discoveries for actors working on a script, for an audience “Shrew You!” ends up waffling around in its story and doesn’t manage to make a clear statement after three hours of playing time. 

Also, if you do not know the play beforehand, there are places where this production will be confusing. In some spots, the multiple casting devices are hard to follow. In other places, actors suddenly switch to entirely different characters without warning or explanation. Someone who doesn’t know the play will be baffled. 

Kate’s famous subservience speech at the play’s end, done tongue-in-cheek in this production, seems contrived and tacked on to the story, rather than emerging from what has happened before. 

And in “Shrew You!’s” final scene celebrating gay love, adaptor Davis has shoehorned into the story a twist that doesn’t fit well. The actors display much comic, stylized movement and skillful clowning in this production. Cal is turning out some terrific actors these days. 

There are many good performances – from Kate (Charise Green and Steven Kelly), Petruchio (Sarah Arlen and Brendan Wolfe), hobbling, raspy would-be lover Gremio (Angela Nahigian), servant Biondello (marionette-like Julia Cho), jilted gay lover Hortnesio (Danny Etcheverry), take-charge servant Tranio (J. Weekes) and others. 

For the most part, Davis’ staging is very tightly directed. 

There are extensive choreographic segments without dialogue, that are quite spectacular, such as a big fight scene at the opening of the play when Kate the shrew is introduced. Designer Raquel Barreto uses a mix of modern-day and period costuming. Sound designer Jake Rodriquez has provided effective musical backgrounds for many scenes – one particular Fellini-esque musical segment stands out–and elsewhere punctuated the action on stage with a variety of vaudeville sound effects. 

On February 23-24, in conjunction with this production, Cal will present two days of symposia open to the public on contemporary performance, literature and cultural studies.  

The February 24 performance of "Shrew You!" will be followed by a discussion of contemporary Shakespeare and performance.


Napster offers music companies $1 billion

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster Inc. offered $1 billion to the recording industry Tuesday to settle the copyright infringement suit that threatens to shut down the free Internet song-swapping service. 

Under the proposed settlement, $150 million would be paid each year for the first five years to the major record labels – Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI and Universal – with an additional $50 million allotted annually for independent labels. 

Napster CEO Hank Barry, flanked by company founder Shawn Fanning, described the urgency of reaching an agreement with the record companies that are suing Napster for copyright infringement. 

“We all ought to sit down and settle this case as fast as we can,” Barry said.  

“We’re saying this is something consumers really want. Let’s do something to keep it going.” 

Record labels urged Napster instead to accept a federal injunction ordering it to block copyright music from its service. 

“This path would be more productive than trying to engage in business negotiations through the media,” Hilary Rosen, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said before Napster made its offer public. 

The offer was announced a week after a federal appeals court signaled the end is near for Napster’s free service, saying the music industry almost certainly will win its suit against the pioneering digital entertainment company. 

Under last week’s ruling from a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the company was ordered to stop the millions of people who use it as a clearinghouse to swap copyrighted music without charge and without restriction. 

Napster, whose lawyers have said such action would be virtually impossible, has vowed to appeal to the full appeals court. 

Napster has argued it is not to blame for how subscribers use copyrighted material, citing a 1984 case in which the Supreme Court refused to hold VCR manufacturers and videotape retailers liable for people copying movies. 

But the appeals court said no such protection extends to Napster because the company knew users were swapping copyrighted songs.  

The panel also said there was evidence of “massive, unauthorized downloading and uploading of plaintiffs’ copyrighted works – as many as 10,000 files per second by defendant’s own admission.” 

Napster’s popularity exploded in 1999 after Fanning released software that made it easy for personal computer users to locate and trade songs stored as computer files in the MP3 format, which compresses digital recordings without sacrificing quality. 

The five largest record labels sued as soon as Napster took off, saying it could rob them of billions of dollars in profits. 

Napster has scrambled to make agreements with former foes like Bertelsmann Inc., the parent company of the BMG music unit.  

The German media giant has promised much-needed capital if Napster switches to a subscription-based service that pays artists’ royalties. 

Bertelsmann executives were at the news conference Tuesday at which the Napster offer was revealed. 

On the Net: 

Napster: http://www.napster.com 

Recording industry: http://www.riaa.com


Intel limits hiring and delays raises

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp. said Tuesday it will delay raises, cut back on hiring and slash spending, joining other high-tech companies in belt-tightening amid a slowing economy and sluggish personal computer sales. 

The $34 billion chip making company hopes to save “hundreds of millions of dollars” with the cost-cutting measures, Intel spokesman Robert Manetta said. Layoffs are not part of the plan. 

“The goal is to cut back so we can continue in investments that can bring us through this slowdown,” he said. 

The company will limit hiring to only “critical positions” and pare its work force through attrition. The company’s attrition rate is typically in the single-digit range, Manetta said. 

The budget for research and development and capital spending will stay on target, but discretionary spending, such as overtime and travel expenses, will be reduced by 30 percent, the company said. 

Intel also will delay springtime raises until October – when company officials hope to see a bounceback in the economy and technology purchases, Manetta said. 

Senior-level employees won’t get their raises until the fall, while non-managerial employees likely will receive half of their 2001 raises in the spring and the other half in the fall, Manetta said. 

The Santa Clara-based company, which has a worldwide work force of 86,000, is the latest to pare expenses amid diminishing personal computer sales and a slowing economy. 

Last week, Motorola Inc. announced plans to eliminate as many as 4,000 jobs from its semiconductor operations by year’s end. 

Also last week, Dell Computer Corp. slashed 1,700 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. Last month, Gateway announced plans to cut 10 percent of its work force and Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would cut 2 percent of its work force. 

Driven by the expansion of the Internet and demand for communications equipment, worldwide sales of semiconductors topped $200 billion in 2000, but record-setting sales were not expected to carry over into 2001 as the economy continues to slow and manufacturers report an excess of inventory, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. 

December sales were $17.9 billion, a 21.6 percent increase over 1999 but a 2.1 percent drop from November. The industry group said its 2001 forecast of 22 percent year-over-year growth probably will not be met. 

Intel shares closed down $2.94, or 8.5 percent, to $31.44 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, after Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jonathan Joseph said a semiconductor recovery in the second half of the year is “overly optimistic.” 

Shares dropped another 6 cents to $31.38 in after-hours trading. 

Intel’s cutbacks did not surprise industry analysts, but the fact that the tech titan did not discuss the cost-cutting measures during its earnings report last month may mean the industry’s outlook for the year remains bleak. 

“We’re seeing the belt tighten another notch. It’s slight, but it’s incrementally bad news for the overall sector,” said Dan Scovel of Needham & Scovel, Inc. “Something prompted them to do this; a sign of recovery may not be on the visible horizon at this point.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.intel.com 


Market Watch

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

NEW YORK — Skittish investors sold off technology stocks Tuesday, pushing the Nasdaq composite index down more than 100 points for the second trading session in a row and sending all three major market indicators into negative territory for the year. 

In light trading following the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend, the Nasdaq composite index tumbled. Tuesday’s loss built on the 5 percent fall the Nasdaq made on Friday, when it dropped more than 127 points. 

“There’s a bit more of the defensive flavor in the market today,” said Charles G. Crane, market strategist for Spears, Benzak, Salomon & Farrell. 

Since late last year, investors have been retreating to safer stocks, such as those in the health care and consumer product sectors. They’ve focused their selling on riskier tech stocks, where earnings have suffered the most as the economy has slowed. 

But Tuesday’s selling put all three of the three major market indicators in negative turf for the year. The Nasdaq has slipped the most, down 4.4 percent. The Dow is now off 0.6 percent, and the S&P 500 has lost 1.7 percent. 

“There seem to be new victims on the list every day,” Crane said particularly of the tech sector. 

Tuesday’s tech victims included telecommunications companies that suffered after analysts reduced their outlooks on their stocks. The downgrades affirmed investors’ fears that it will take a while for the long-battered tech sector to recover. 

Nextel Communications fell $3.13 after Salomon Smith Barney lowered its rating on the stock. The brokerage cited Nextel’s difficulties retaining customers. 

Investors were disappointed by fourth-quarter earnings results, but the reason for their selling now is that profits aren’t expected to pick up until at least the second half of the year, analysts said. 

“The anticipation of anything good happening is not there anymore and the selling continues,” said Gary Kaltbaum, technical analyst at J.W. Genesis. 

— The Associated Press 

Falling tech prices also brought the Dow lower. Intel tumbled $2.94 to $31.44, hurt as it said that decreased demand for computer chips was prompting it to enact a cost-cutting plan, which includes job cuts through attrition. 

The Dow’s losses were curbed somewhat by retailing stocks. Investors rewarded companies withstanding a slowing economy and slumping consumer confidence. 

Wal-Mart rose $1.04 to $53.40 after reporting fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations by a penny. The discount retailer said quarterly earnings topped $2 billion for the first time. 

Another Dow retailer, Home Depot advanced $1.09 to $44.09 despite warning that it is still suffering soft sales and weak prices. Its fourth-quarter earnings met analysts’ lowered expectations. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers slightly more than 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was 1.33 billion shares, down from 1.48 billion on Friday. The market was closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day. 

The Russell 2000 index, which measures the performance of smaller company stocks, finished down 8.14 at 491.14. 

Overseas markets also were mostly lower. Britain’s FT-SE 100 index lost 1.9 percent, Germany’s DAX index declined 1.0 percent and France’s CAC-40 index fell 0.6 percent. But Japan’s Nikkei index rose 1.0 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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


Domestic partner law for city contractors eyed

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Tuesday February 20, 2001

After a background report was bogged down for two years in various departments, the City Council tonight will finally ask staff to prepare a domestic partner ordinance for city contractors. 

The council first directed the city manager to prepare an Equal Benefits Ordinance report in March 1999. The report is finally complete and the council will likely ask that the ordinance be prepared for approval by April 17. The ordinance is expected to take effect by July 1. 

If adopted, the ordinance will require nearly all businesses that contract with the city to provide domestic partners benefits to their employees. Certain employers may be exempt if they don’t offer benefits to any employees or have city contracts under certain dollar amounts, according to the city manager’s report. 

The ordinance will require domestic partners receive the same benefits married employees do including bereavement leave and health and retirement benefits. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said both the progressive and moderate factions of the City Council worked hard to move the ordinance through the city bureaucracy but it was held up by former City Manager James Keene. 

“We had two councilmembers from each side write the recommendation but for some reason the former city manager squashed it for two years by sitting on it,” Worthington said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a few months after Weldon Rucker was made acting city manager the report was finished.” 

Keene told the Daily Planet in January 2000, that the report was bogged down in the Finance Department. He also said critical aspects of the report would depend on the structure of the Living Wage  

Ordinance, which had not yet been completed. 

Berkeley’s Living Wage Ordinance was adopted June 27, 2000. 

A former member of the East Bay Lesbian Gay Democratic Club, Nancy Carleton worked with a number of organizations and individuals who lobbied the City Council to adopt the ordinance two years ago. 

“The City of Berkeley was the first city in the whole world to enact a domestic partners law for city employees,” Carleton said. “It took over two years to get this far but I’m happy it’s moving forward.” 

According to the report, there are only three cities in the country that require a domestic partners policy from its contractors: San Francisco was the first, followed by Seattle and Los Angeles. 

The employers who will be affected include for-profit businesses that have a contract for $25,000 or more with the city to provide services, carry out construction projects and supply goods. Nonprofit employers who provide the same services will be affected if they have a contract with the city for $100,000 or more.  

Businesses that lease public property will have to provide domestic partner benefits if their gross annual receipts are $350,000 or more. 

According to the report, domestic partners will include any couple which signs an affidavit of domestic partnership and registers it with a government body or their employer. 

Carleton said having health insurance can save lives in cases of sudden and severe illness. “This ordinance can have a real impact on people’s lives,” she said. “It’s not just cosmetic.” 


Calendar of Events & Activities

Tuesday February 20, 2001


Tuesday, Feb. 20

 

“Great Decisions” -  

China & Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. $5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. 527-9772  

 

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 

 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m., 7 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

The “Real Deal” 

12:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Building, Room 103 

Daniel Ellsberg changed history by leaking the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Join him for a discussion about what it means to act ethically and how one person’s actions can make a difference. Free 

849-8257  


Wednesday, Feb. 21

 

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 

 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free Call 204-3443 

 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. Call 649-2523 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system. 665-6812 or visit www.berkeleyfood.org 


Thursday, Feb. 22

 

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 

 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo. 644-0155 

 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water.” Free Call 527-4140 

 

Growl & Howl of Man  

& Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation. $10  

 

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 Call 643-1924 

 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Call 649-3943 

 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation. Call 845-9648 

 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 649-7750  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 


Friday, Feb. 23

 

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  

 

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 

 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

 


Saturday, Feb. 24

 

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

 


Sunday, Feb. 25

 

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

 

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 

 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

 


Perspective

By Yoichi Clark Pacific News Service
Tuesday February 20, 2001

YOKOSUKA, JAPAN – The uproar over the sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler by a U.S. nuclear submarine has overlooked the question of whether anyone could have survived inside the sunken vessel.  

This has been haunting the relatives of the four high schoolers and five men who were trapped below deck when the Ehime Maru went down. 

Certainly, the U.S. Navy did not act as quickly as the Russians did last year after an explosion scuttled the Russian submarine Kursk in Arctic waters.  

The international media and U.S. defense experts excoriated the Russian Navy and President Vladimir Putin for presuming that no one could have survived the blast. 

In fact, there were survivors inside the Kursk, but help came too late.  

It took a full day for the Russian Navy to send a submersible vessel to search for lost crewmen. 

Moscow's failure to act immediately was seen as proof of official arrogance and bureaucratic ineptitude – yet it took the U.S. Navy six times as long to dispatch a submersible to search for the Ehime Maru.  

Six days is a long time, considering the collision site is in warm waters and close to the huge base at Pearl Harbor.  

However unlikely it is that anyone could have held out in an air pocket at a depth of 1,500 feet, an expeditious probe would have been the only way to know for certain.  

Any slower effort was tantamount to a death sentence. 

Such negligence is permanently hardening Japanese attitudes toward the U.S. Navy and its Commander in Chief.  

The American naval establishment, for all its technical gadgetry, has shown itself no less evasive and self-serving than the officers of the Russian fleet. 

To make matters worse, the Ehime Maru sinking directly adds to a pile of grievances over sexual assaults against Okinawan women by American serviceman.  

Retired admiral Richard Macke runs the USS Missouri fund-raising campaign that invited the civilians who were at the controls aboard the Greenville.  

The admiral is all-too-familiar to the Japanese. 

After three Marines gang-raped an underaged girl in 1995, Macke insulted Okinawans further by saying that the sex offenders should have hired prostitutes instead of renting a car to kidnap the girl. 

The sinking of the Ehime Maru is casting a sharp light on a long-simmering issue for the Japanese public – their country's multibillion-dollar financial support for the U.S. naval bases in Japan.  

Consuming the lion's share of base funding, the Seventh Fleet's homeport in Yokosuka is mainly used to protect American interests in the Persian Gulf rather than to defend Japan. 

Simple economic logic shows that a recession-stuck Japan has better uses for taxpayers' money – prime real estate by the crystalline waters of Yokosuka Bay could be profitably developed for civilian purposes. 

This point is brought home at the bars here, many with signs reading “No Foreigners.”  

Of course, “foreigners” is a euphemism for U.S. servicemen. 

The seizure of nearby environmentally precious woodlands to build U.S. naval officers quarters a decade ago rankled middle-class opinion.  

Older residents remember how American sailors profited from the black market during the Occupation, and stories circulate blaming U.S. sailors for a about a spate of unsolved murders. 

At times, it seems that the only defense needed by Japan is against the outrages of a reckless U.S. military. 

Ambassador Tim Foley was quick to say that the Ehime Maru sinking will not affect the U.S.-Japan relationship – easy enough for a lame-duck political appointee to say. 

Assurances about maintaining the U.S.-Japan relationship are also coming from the creaky government of Prime Minister Yoshio Mori, whose popularity plummeted to new lows over his handling of the submarine crisis.  

The sinking of the Ehime Maru is just the sort of incident that can eventually lead to a strategic reassessment and a defense policy based on democratic sovereignty rather than humiliating dependency. 

The U.S.-Japan security alliance is not a happy marriage between a geisha and the barbarian, it has been one of the most dragged-out divorce cases in recent memory.  

The only question that remains is alimony, and in the Ehime Maru case, that means massive financial compensation for the unfortunate victims and surviving kin. 

 

 

PNS commentator Yoichi Clark Shimatsu is  

former editor of The Japan Times Weekly in Tokyo.


Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday February 20, 2001

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

 

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 20: pickPocket ensemble; Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

 

Ashkenaz Feb. 20, 9 p.m.: Dan, Tom & Mary with traditional Balkan music, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 21, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

 

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

 

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

 

Cal Performances Feb. 20, 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 11, 3 p.m.: Horacio Gutierrez $24 - $42; Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

 

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

 

Young People’s Symphony  

Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

 

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

 

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

 

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

 

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Peña Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 20: Becky Thompson discusses “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

 

Easy Going Travel Shop  

& Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

 

 

 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. 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. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

 

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

 

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

 

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

 

 

Lectures 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

 

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

 

Ruth Acty Oral History Feb. 18, 3 - 6 p.m. In honor of Black History Month, Therese Pipe will present the history of Acty, who became the first African American teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District in 1943. Berkeley Historical Society Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. Admission free 848-0181 


Oakland filmmakers nominated for Oscar

Bay City News
Tuesday February 20, 2001

OAKLAND — Two Oakland filmmakers are once more in the running for Oscars in the Feature Documentary category. 

Both filmmakers live in Oakland, and their production company, Iris Films, is based in Berkeley. 

“Long Night's Journey Into Day,” by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann, looks at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, which tried to bring together the victims and perpetrators of crimes during apartheid. 

The movie profiles the cases of Amy Biehl, an American Fullbright scholar killed in South Africa; the police murders of anti-apartheid activists, including those known as the Cradock Four; and the bombing of a Durban bar. 

The story is put together from many points of view, including those of victims, their oppressors, journalists and commissioners, and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

“The personal toll that apartheid has taken on individuals on both sides of these amnesty hearings is quite extraordinary,” Hoffmann said. This is the second nomination for Reid and Hoffman, who each received 1994 Oscar nods for films they directed separately – Reid for “Straight from the Heart,” and Hoffman for “Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.” 

“Long Night's Journey Into Day” received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and the Peace Film Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.


Plentiful plans for park

Judith Scherr/Daily Planet
Tuesday February 20, 2001

The Eastshore State Park, recently purchased by the state, contains 1,800 acres of land and water that stretches along the shoreline from Richmond to Oakland. Tonight the council will consider approval of a series of meetings in preparation for a general plan for the park. A separate planning meeting is also being held tonight by the East Bay Regional Parks District at 7 p.m. at Hs Lordships Restaurant at the Berkeley Marina. The first public workshop is scheduled for March.


City to look at local Prop. 21 impacts

By Judith Scherr Daily Planet Staff
Tuesday February 20, 2001

Has Proposition 21 criminalized youth in Berkeley? Some councilmembers want the Youth Commission to take a hard look at the results of the state law that makes it easier to try teens as adults. They want to know its specific impact in Berkeley. 

During a discussion on an item that would have prohibited skateboarding at some public events, councilmembers began questioning the impact of the law on young people, said Councilmember Mim Hawley.  

“(Councilmember) Maudelle (Shirek) said she wanted to look carefully and not criminalize young people,” she said.  

The proposed ban, eventually rewritten without criminal penalties, was sparked by merchants’ concern that young people on skateboards disrupt outdoor events where pedestrians take over the streets. 

The majority of voters in both Berkeley and Alameda County opposed Proposition 21, the law which strengthens penalties against youth involved in crime. It passed statewide in the March 1999 election. 

Consideration of the skateboard prohibition then sparked the larger debate about whether Berkeley laws have caused young people to be tried as adults under Proposition 21. Hawley and Councilmember Maudelle Shirek placed a resolution on tonight’s agenda requesting that their fellow councilmembers ask the Youth Commission to prepare an investigative report on the impact of Proposition 21 on juveniles and juvenile crime in Berkeley and to determine whether there have been any recently-passed city ordinances that have had an unintended negative effect on young people. 

Two members of the Youth Commission reached by the Daily Planet, both strongly opposed to Proposition 21, say they would welcome the council turning the project over to the commission. Neither know youth who had been tried as adults. 

“The council should ask for our opinion and take it seriously,” said Commissioner Will Lerner, also editor of the Berkeley High Jacket. 

Commissioner Nick Rizzo describes himself as a “middle class white kid” whom the police don’t bother, but, like Lerner, he said it is important for the commission to take a look at the outcome of the proposition. 

The results of the study would be presented at a community forum that would include special outreach to Berkeley High School students. 

Pat Kuhi, a member of the local League of Women Voters and program director for Juvenile Justice for the statewide LWV, said collecting the data is critical. “There is very little tracking of juveniles in the justice system,” she said, adding that she does not know of any local youth who has been tried as an adult. 

The LWV opposed the proposition when it was on the ballot and has signed on as plaintiff in a case being brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California in an attempt to get the law thrown out. The suit claims the proposition addresses three separate issues, when, legally, it should address only one. It includes juvenile justice, adult crime and extended death penalties for adults, she said. 

She also pointed to a recent victory in a San Diego court, when it was established that a juvenile judge would determine whether a suspect is tried as a juvenile or as an adult. This reversed the section of Proposition 21 that mandated that the District Attorney would make the call. Kuhi said she fears the reversal might be challenged and it could go back to court.


Watch dog group calls for Tritium workshop

By John Geluardi Daily Planet Staff
Tuesday February 20, 2001

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, the community watch dog group concerned with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Tritium Labeling Facility, is calling for a workshop to examine a city consultant’s report on possible tritium releases at the labs during a major fire. 

The city scheduled the workshop. However, said Gene Bernardi of the CMTC, the session was to include scientists form the LBNL. Bernardi said the labs’ scientists would sway the others and that what the community needs is to have a discussion and analysis of the report that excludes the labs. 

She said she believes that the item will be withdrawn at tonight’s council meeting and that the Community Environmental Advisory Commission will take up the issue at its special meeting on Thursday. There is currently a presentation to the City Council of the report by the consultant scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on March 27 

Added protection for tenants 

Councilmembers Dona Spring and Linda Maio are urgently calling for the city attorney to draft an ordinance offering increased protection to tenants being evicted under California’s Ellis Act.  

The Ellis Act is a 1986 state law that allows landlords to circumvent local rent control laws and evict all of their tenants at one time and withdraw from the rental business.  

According to the written recommendation, the councilmembers are asking that a new ordinance be drawn up quickly because due to the high cost of housing “property owners who want to maximize their profits are evicting many tenants.” 

The councilmembers want the city attorney to examine the possibility of requiring landlords to own property for three to five years before evicting tenants under the Ellis Act.  

Protection down under 

The Planning and Development Department is asking the City Council take steps to develop explicit rules for the preservation of subterranean archeological resources such as the West Berkeley Shellmound. 

The staff report is asking the council to forward possible amendments to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for its input. 

According to a staff report, the lack of explicit direction for the protection of archeological resources became evident when the designation of the shellmound as a city landmark was appealed.  

The report says the need for a new ordinance has become urgent because there is currently an application pending for development within the Shellmound area and there are more expected. 

 

Tonight’s City Council meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way at 7 p.m. The meeting will also be broadcast on KPFB Radio 89.3 and Cable B-TV (Channel 25). 

 

 

 

 

 


Bar association OKs immigration policies

The Associated Press
Tuesday February 20, 2001

SAN DIEGO — The leadership of the American Bar Association voted Monday to recommend ending “zero tolerance” school discipline policies and stopping the government’s use of secret evidence in most immigration cases. 

The zero tolerance policies – which can mandate expulsion or referral to juvenile or criminal court “without regard to the circumstances or nature of the offense or the student’s history” – are unfair and inappropriate for many children, advocates said. 

“Zero tolerance has become a one-size-fits-all solution to all the problems that schools confront,” said a report accompanying the resolution adopted by the policy-making House of Delegates of the 400,000-member lawyers’ organization. “It has redefined students as criminals, with unfortunate consequences.” 

The ABA resolution, approved without a roll call vote on the closing day of the group’s winter meeting, has no legal effect, but advocates hope it will prompt schools to re-evaluate such policies maintained by many of the nation’s approximately 14,000 school districts.  

The policies typically cover weapons, drugs or violence in school. 

 

Those who oppose zero tolerance say the rules have gone too far, with occasionally ridiculous results. 

One example in the ABA report: A 12-year-old referred to Louisiana police for telling classmates in the lunch line, “I’m going to get you,” if they ate all the potatoes before it was his turn. 

Supporters of zero tolerance rules say they help keep schools safe, and that parents and law enforcement generally support them. 

The ABA’s House of Delegates also agreed to several recommendations for changing immigration law. Again, the ABA positions — these also taken without a recorded vote — have no legal bearing, but the organization likely would back them up with lobbying efforts in Congress. 

The group approved recommending changes to a 1996 anti-terrorism law that has made it far easier for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to use secret evidence against noncitizens. The INS typically has done so in cases of suspected terrorism, citing the potential damage to national security if the evidence became public. 

The ABA policy opposes secret evidence in most immigration cases. An exception would let the government supply unclassified summaries in “extraordinary cases where there are legitimate national security concerns.” 

A report accompanying the recommendation cites the case of a Palestinian academic jailed for three years in Florida without trial. Mazen Al-Najjar was released in December without ever seeing the evidence behind the government’s allegation that he was a front for Islamic terrorists. 

Legislation introduced in Congress’ last session would have repealed portions of the 1996 law, but the measures did not pass before the session ended. 

The ABA also approved a proposal calling for government-funded lawyers to represent unaccompanied children during immigration proceedings and a Justice Department office to handle the special needs of children at all stages of the immigration process. 

The group also supported another recommendation that will ally the ABA with immigrant women seeking asylum in the United States on grounds that they may face sexual persecution in their home country. 

The Justice Department already has proposed rule changes making it easier for women to make that claim. 

——— 

On the Net: 

American Bar Association: http://www.abanet.org/ 


Mediator appointed for Napster squabble

The Associated Press
Tuesday February 20, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has appointed a mediator in the case between the recording industry and Napster, the free Internet song-swapping service. 

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the two sides to meet even before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Napster last week, said Russell Frackman, an attorney representing recording companies. 

Patel appointed retired federal Judge Eugene Lynch as mediator, Frackman said. He attended a meeting with lawyers from Napster and other plaintiffs at which Lynch explored potential mediation. 

On Feb. 12, a three-judge panel ruled that Napster enables millions of Web users to trade pirated music over the Internet in a wholesale violation of record label copyrights. The judges sent the case back to Patel, asking her to focus more narrowly her July injunction ordering Napster to shut down. Courts were closed Monday and Patel could not be reached for comment.  

With Napster admitting its music free-for-all cannot continue in its current form, record labels would be well positioned during any mediation. 

“It was always our position with Judge Lynch (that) the only thing that could be mediated were damages for past infringements and the form of injunctive relief going forward,” Frackman said.  

“Any business resolution that Napster might be interested in would have to be discussed ... with individual record companies.” 

Napster attorney Lawrence Pulgram referred questions to a public relations company hired by the company. Calls to the company were not returned; a spokeswoman from another firm hired by Napster declined comment. 


Opinion

Editorials

Power problems could spread this summer

The Associated Press
Monday February 26, 2001

LOS ANGELES — As Californians brace for a summer of anticipated power shortages, their neighbors should be ready to share the pain, experts warn. 

“It could get bad all over the West this summer,” said Craig Pirrong, a finance professor who specializes in energy markets at Washington University in St. Louis. “The likelihood of outages is still greatest in California, because that’s where the major deficiency of generating facilities are. 

“But things over the entire West could be dicey this summer.” 

California twice endured short periods of targeted blackouts in January and has been coping with short power supplies for weeks. As demand rises with the temperature, energy experts predict the state will run short on power supply again, particularly in the hottest months. 

The region most likely to face similar problems is the Pacific Northwest, although other western states could be included because they share the same transmission grid. 

Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana depend heavily on hydroelectric power, an energy source facing a double challenge this year. 

The Portland-based Bonneville Power Authority has been forced to draw down its reservoirs in recent months under a federal order requiring energy suppliers to sell to power-starved California. The order has since been lifted, but reservoir levels have been left perilously low as a result. 

Because states west of the Rockies are linked through the same transmission system, problems on the grid in one area also could mean a greater likelihood of disruptions elsewhere. 

That could leave states such as Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, considered fairly safe from supply problems or soaring prices this summer, more vulnerable to outages. 

The West’s power grid is one giant circuit that works best when reserves allow power to flow at full capacity. 

If the grid section in one state is operating with low or no reserves, as it’s expected to do this summer in California, that state has less of an ability to handle emergencies, such as shorts or unexpected blackouts. 

Without energy reserves, the state could institute targeted blackouts to keep the lights on statewide. If problems are severe, the state would suck energy from the rest of the grid, potentially leading to shortages elsewhere. 

“It’s a scary thought, but the electricity is tied together like a bunch of high-tension rubber bands,” said Kellan Fluckiger, chief operating officer for California’s Independent System Operator, which manages 75 percent of the state’s transmission system. “If you fool with the tension in one place, it fools with the tension on the other end.” 

The ripple effect could hinder transmission capabilities in other states. So even though Arizona, for example, might have plenty of power, it couldn’t deliver it. 

“A limited blackout could become fairly widespread,” said Dick Watson, director of the power division of the Northwest Power Planning Council, a policy advisory board. 

A separate grid serves the East, but supply problems also are emerging in some areas there. The New York Power Authority recently spent $500 million for 11 generators to meet anticipated summer demand during peak periods. The generators will be online in New York and Long Island by June, a spokesman said. 

A nationwide shortage of natural gas, one of the main fuels firing power plants that generate electricity, also could push summer cooling bills higher across the country. 

In California, state officials are taking steps to avoid widespread problems this summer. 

Gov. Gray Davis plans to have enough power plants built in the next few months to meet demand during peak use times. 

Peak demand for power is expected to exceed supplies from May through September, according to a report by the Independent System Operator. The projected deficit will range from 3,030 megawatts in May to as high as 6,815 megawatts in June. It takes about 1,000 megawatts to serve a city the size of Seattle. 

Davis’ goal will be tough to meet by summer, however, said Judah Rose, managing director of ICF Consulting, a Washington, D.C., firm specializing in energy issues. 

“I have never seen any place in the world that has been able to solve that kind of problem in a couple of months,” he said.


Growing white asparagus, a garden delicacy

By George Bria The Associated Press
Saturday February 24, 2001

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — White asparagus, long a European delicacy, has lately become popular also in America. Home gardeners can easily grow these so-called blanched or gourmet whites as well as the better-known green and purplish spears. 

In my 40-year-old asparagus patch, I’ve raised white ones occasionally and enjoyed their delicate flavor, texture and elegant ivory look as a contrast to the green, which have a stronger, wilder taste. 

Either color, asparagus is one of the garden’s most delicious and rewarding crops, paying you many times over for the time and patience initially required to establish a productive patch. 

Flavor aside, there is little difference between white and green except in the way the spears are harvested. All it takes to make spears white is to mound earth over them as they emerge. That keeps them in darkness, blocking the sun from producing the greening chlorophyll. 

For flavor and tenderness, I’ve found the best time to harvest asparagus is when the spears are about six inches long, much shorter than the tied-up bunches sold in the supermarket. 

So if you pile earth over spears to whiten them, you should make allowance for at least a six-inch growth before their tips break the surface. That’s when you slip a knife underneath the mound and cut the spears at ground level. After cutting the spears, let the residual earth of the mounds just crumble onto the ground. 

The spears that you’re keeping green are making the same growth unshielded from the sunlight and are also ready to harvest. 

Time and again I’ve heard people say they don’t grow asparagus because it takes too long – three or four years before you start getting anything worthwhile. This is true, but the same principle applies to ornamental bushes or fruit trees, which may take even longer. 

Most vegetables are annuals. From sowing to harvesting, they do their thing in one season. Asparagus and rhubarb are perennials. Plant them once and, after they’re established, they’ll produce year after year. You can grow old harvesting asparagus that you planted when you were young. Some patches are legendary, 100 years and older, and prized so highly in the Old Country they formed part of a marriage dowry. 

Back in my 40’s, I planted 16 roots or crowns. Now in my 80’s, I count on an average of 750 spears a year from that modest beginning, with no work except a yearly fertilizing and mulching with salt hay to keep weeds at bay. 

You can start asparagus from seed, but generally people prefer the time-saver of buying roots from nurseries or gardening catalogs. Twenty roots cost about $15. All-male varieties, like Jersey Giant and Jersey Knight, are preferred nowadays to old timers like Mary Washington because of greater disease resistance. 

You plant the roots in trenches, about 2 feet apart, that you dig in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked. Asparagus is not too fussy about soil (slightly acid, pH 6.5 is best) and full sun is not needed, but the site should be well-drained and all weeds destroyed. Pick a place at one end of the garden where the eventual asparagus ferns, which can grow 6 feet tall, will not shade other plants. 

Optimally, the trenches should be 15 inches deep, but don’t despair if you can’t go that deep. The trench should be 12 inches wide. Make a ridge of soil mixed with compost or aged manure along the bottom of the trench and spread the roots, crown up, over the ridge and about 18 inches apart. Cover the roots with the soil you originally dug up and other topsoil as needed. When finished, the crowns should be about 2 inches beneath the surface. Then water the bed generously. 

The waiting then begins. A few wispy spears will appear the first year. Leave them alone to grow into ferns. A few more spears will come up the second year. Also leave them alone. You can start cutting the third year, but don’t expect too much. By the fifth year, if you’ve faithfully fertilized and regularly destroyed weeds, you should enjoy fine harvests. This is a good time to experiment with growing white ones, perhaps mounding earth over a single emerging spear or a corner of the patch. 

——— 

EDITOR’S NOTE: George Bria retired from the AP in 1981 after 40 years that included coverage of World War II from Italy. 

End advance for Thursday, Feb. 22 


State moves out of power alert for first time in weeks

The Associated Press
Friday February 23, 2001

California called off all power alerts Thursday for the first time in nearly six weeks, thanks to the availability of more imported electricity and the return to service of power plants that had been down for repairs. 

The Independent System Operator canceled a Stage 1 alert that had been declared Wednesday. Until last weekend, the state spent 32 consecutive days in a Stage 3 alert — the most severe of the alerts, warning that reserves were dangerously low and that rolling blackouts were possible. 

Until Thursday, the last time California had been free of all alerts was Jan. 13. 

“The supply picture has improved and we are glad that we’re able to come out of the emergency. However, we are looking at a long-term limited supply of electricity within the whole region,” said ISO spokeswoman Lorie O’Donley. 

“We’re coming up on the summer, our high use period, and we appreciate the conservation efforts that people have made. We hope they incorporate that into their lifestyles.” 

Meanwhile, officials said fears that natural gas supplies in Northern California would be depleted by the end of February have eased because more suppliers have agreed to deliver gas to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. – and the utility said it will pay all its suppliers Friday for gas delivered in January. 

At the state Capitol, lawmakers worked on bills they hope will result in more power plants for California. The Assembly Natural Resources Committee approved two bills, sending them to the energy committee for further hearings next week. 

One bill would require local governments in areas where power demand exceeds production to identify potential sites for new power plants. The other would speed up state approval of the remodeling of old or retired power plants. 

Gov. Gray Davis’ administration met again with utility company executives to negotiate a rescue plan for the two utilities. The governor has proposed buying 26,000 miles of transmission lines to give the utilities an infusion of much-needed cash. He also has proposed allowing the utilities to issue revenue bonds to be paid back by ratepayers over many years. 

“We’re hopeful for an announcement tomorrow,” said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for the governor. 

A federal judge is expected to decide Friday whether wholesalers can be forced to sell to the state power grid, even without a creditworthy buyer. A temporary restraining order requiring three generators to keep selling power to the ISO expires Friday. 

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. had extended the temporary restraining order by two days in order to give attorneys for the grid and the generators more time to try to reach an out-of-court-settlement, but no deal was completed by late Thursday afternoon. 

“We have not entered into any deal to make the TRO from Judge Damrell go away,” Richard Wheatley, a spokesman for Houston-based Reliant Energy, said Thursday afternoon. 

State power regulators decided unanimously Thursday that the Department of Water Resources is responsible for buying any power that two cash-strapped utilities are unable to generate or buy on their own – no matter what price wholesalers are charging. 

However, the PUC voted 3-2 against taking action to ensure that the DWR will receive a portion of ratepayer revenues from PG&E and Southern California Edison Co. to help cover the cost of buying electricity. 

The state, through the DWR, was authorized by a recent law to buy power for the two utilities, who have battled to stave off bankruptcy for weeks and have such low credit ratings that no power companies will sell to them. 

The DWR has spent about $2 billion on electricity for the customers of PG&E and SoCal Edison; the rest is provided by the utilities’ own plants or through existing long-term contracts. But the DWR has refused to buy power beyond a certain price. That means more last-minute power purchases on the expensive spot market. 

The utilities and the state disagree over how the DWR will be reimbursed — whether through state bonds or ratepayer dollars — and the extent of its power-buying role. 

In a letter filed with the PUC last week, the DWR asked state regulators to ensure that it will receive “at least a portion of its current revenue requirements from the sale of power to retail end consumers.” 

But PG&E spokesman John Nelson said Assembly Bill 1X is very clear that the DWR is buying that power to spare the utilities the extra cost to help them get out of their $12.7 billion debt. 

“We believe the draft decision undermines the clear intent of the law and what the Legislature said when it passed AB1X,” Nelson said. “If the CPUC fails to implement the law correctly it could propel the parties toward bankruptcy.” 

The author of the bill authorizing the long-term contracts said Wednesday the legislation’s intent was to fully cover the one-third of the power that utilities purchased on the spot market, either through extended contracts or through the state ISO. 

Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, said his bill was supposed to cover the full “net-short” position — or all of the power the utilities were buying on the spot market. That would include the emergency power purchases grid officials bought to avoid rolling blackouts. That is typically the most expensive power. 

“By refusing to purchase all of the utilities’ net short needs, the DWR is ignoring the intent of Assemblyman Keely’s bill,” PUC Commissioner Richard Bilas said. “DWR’s attitude is exacerbating a problem AB1X was meant to alleviate.” 

——— 

On the Net: Read the bills, AB9x by Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge, and AB36x by Assemblyman Rod Wright, D-Los Angeles, at 

http://www.sen.ca.gov 


Investors see opportunity despite gloom

By John Cunniff The Associated Press
Thursday February 22, 2001

The stock market’s plunge has left many small investors so intimidated they are likely to miss out on the beginning of the next upturn and the chance to recoup their losses. 

It is one of the tragic ironies of the marketplace, confirmed in at least nine up-down cycles since World War II.  

As opportunity improves, many small investors won’t want anything to do the market. 

This feeling of defeat isn’t limited to stocks.  

Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has, in fact, expressed fears it could affect buying and selling in general, and thus delay any recovery. 

It’s in the stock market, however, that the psychological effect is most glaring. 

In the overall marketplace, a family that buys a car at the economy’s peak may still have it when the economy tanks. 

You can’t say the same thing about a stock that was purchased at the top and sold at the bottom, an experience shared by many thousands of small investors.  

Their loss is real and extremely painful, and it leaves them in a mood that tolerates no additional chances. 

Sadly, this gloom may descend as opportunity beckons, which in the present instance conceivably could be mere weeks or a few months away.  

This assumption is based on the likelihood that the economy begins to respond to lower interest rates about six months after the first rate cut. 

Gerald Perritt, an investment advisor with a historian’s perspective, states the case succinctly: “The Fed first cut rates in early January, which would mean an economic rebound will begin in early July. 

“If the slowdown had begun sometime last November, its midpoint would occur sometimes this month. If stock prices respond like they have in the past, the bear market bottom is at hand.” 

But investing deals with the future, anticipating events rather than waiting for them to happen.  

It means that the most daring of investors is willing to buy stocks amid the thickest blanket of gloom. 

Unfortunately, this is when many small investors decide they cannot take any risk at all.  

Dump your stocks at the bottom, says Perritt, who edits “The Mutual Fund Letter,” and you lock in your losses. 

Not only that, having dumped stocks at a loss increases the odds that you’ll miss out on the first stage of the market’s recovery. That is, you might miss out on what could be the prime time to buy. 

For reference and decision-making purposes, the average post World War II recession – and this is to date only a contraction and probably won’t deteriorate into a recession – lasted 11.7 months. 

The longest, 17 months, occurred in both 1973-1974 and 1981-1982; the shortest last nine months, in 1957 and again in 1990-1991. 

But, as happened in each one of the nine cycles, the stock market bear was routed months before the recession ended. In the 1990-1991 recession, the bear market ended in November 1990, the recession not until March 1991. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press


Body found in jet’s wheel well at SFO

The Associated Press
Wednesday February 21, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — A body was found in the wheel well of a US Airways jet at San Francisco International Airport, but authorities were not immediately sure how the man died or whether he was a stowaway. 

The man was discovered a few minutes after landing late Monday. His body was found by a mechanic checking a possible hydraulic leak on Flight 741, which originated at London’s Gatwick Airport. The flight stopped in Pittsburgh before landing in San Francisco at 8:45 p.m. 

The San Mateo County coroner’s office was awaiting information from England, and expected an identification might come by Wednesday morning. London authorities believe the man may be the same person who was arrested at Gatwick on Sunday for breaching security regulations. 

An individual fitting the dead man’s description was arrested after attempting to gain access to a plane at Gatwick on Sunday, police said. He was released on bail and police were preparing to fax the man’s fingerprints to California authorities. 

“We arrested a young Afro-Caribbean man at Gatwick on Sunday for breaching security,” Police Constable Kevin Clark said. “The man found on the jet matches his description, so it could be the same one. 

“It is quite unusual for people to try and get out of the U.K. Most try to get in,” Clark said. 

The mechanic found the man in the 767-200’s center wheel well, which is about 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, airport duty manager Mike Towle said, adding that he understood the dead man was neither an employee of US Airways nor a passenger listed for the flight. 

“I’ve been here 30 years. There’s been stowaways, but not like this,” Towle said. 

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said it’s unknown where and when the man boarded the jet. Castelveter declined to say whether the airline had concerns about security at Gatwick while the issue was “still a police matter.” 

The San Mateo sheriff’s office and airline officials were investigating. The Federal Aviation Administration also had been notified. 

Stowing away in an airliner wheel well often is fatal. When the wheels retract, the area is enclosed, but it’s not pressurized, so there is limited oxygen and extremely cold temperatures. 

“If he thought he could survive a trip like that in that part of the airplane, he was sadly mistaken,” said San Francisco airport spokesman Ron Wilson. 

Attempts at such desperate activities persist, however. 

Last August, a man survived a freezing flight across the Pacific in the wheel well of an Air France jet that landed at the Los Angeles airport. The flight originated in Papeete, Tahiti. 

The following month, the body of a Russian stowaway was discovered in the wheel well of a KLM jet arriving in Amsterdam from Moscow. The 21-year-old man died from exposure. 

 

And in November, a Romanian man was discovered unconscious and suffering from hypothermia in the undercarriage of a Berlin-bound passenger jet that was forced to return to Munich after the pilot couldn’t retract the landing gear. 

“At higher altitudes you can get to almost minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit with no oxygen. So the chances of surviving something like that are totally remote,” Wilson said. 


Confidence collapsing after bullish market

By John Cunniff The Associated Press
Tuesday February 20, 2001

NEW YORK — Could those deteriorating consumer confidence figures be a measure also of how spoiled Americans have become after a decade of plentiful credit, easy payments, lots of jobs and rising stocks? 

Or do they represent instead a sense of fear absorbed from repeated reminders that a recession threatens, that inflation is on the doorstep, that unemployment will soar and that foreclosures will rise? 

Have things really gotten that bad or is the public mood more the reflection of leadership – economic, political, business, media – that has dramatized the negative possibilities at the expense of the positive? 

Something doesn’t quite jibe. The jobless rate remains at one of the lowest rates ever, cars are being sold in near-record numbers, homebuying is strong and inflation still hasn’t roared. 

Even on-line shopping, which has provoked much of the negative commentary over the past year, rose in the final quarter of 2000 to $8.7 billion, a huge jump over the previous quarter’s $6.4 billion. 

These indicators and more suggest that many people still haven’t lost their confidence, but now the question becomes one of how long they can sustain their elevated expectations against the negative onslaught. 

Such musings are pertinent to understanding how quickly consumer psychology can flip from an attitude of everything-is-possible to one of anxiety and foreboding, as expressed in the consumer surveys. 

The flip, or potential flip, has so concerned Alan Greenspan that he has now conceded that the future depends on the consumer not being scared into retreat.  

But this is the same Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who so publicly expressed his own recession fears in January. 

And so, upcoming surveys may be much more significant than those of the past.  

Conceivably, they could reflect the attitude of leadership as much as those of consumers. It depends on leadership’s emphasis. That focus could be on efforts to enhance consumer buying power, including lower interest rates, a potential tax cut, the odds against recession, the still-low jobless rate despite highly publicized layoffs. 

The positive indicators might be weakening, but they still remain among the better all-time economic numbers. And the stock market’s numbers could fall even more, but the long-term indicators still remain bullish. 

All the weakening numbers represent a descent from dazzling highs and most of them would still have a long way to go before reaching 1993 lows, which at the time weren’t considered all that bad. 

They could go even lower; there could even be a serious recession. Who could promise there won’t be? But the surprise would be if there is one. 

Standard & Poor’s economist David Wyss puts the situation in context with his February U.S. Forecast Summary. The cushions that should soften the landing might be getting thinner, he says, but they’re still there. 

“Many of the original problems that damaged consumer confidence in the second half of 2000 are now declining,” he explains, observing that “the picture still looks more like 1995 than 1990.” 

In 1990 the economy was shrinking. In 1995 it was going into a great expansion. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press