Cal hitters chase three Cougar pitchers in first inning 

Cal scored all of their runs in an explosive first inning and cruised to a 10-1 victory over Washington State Sunday afternoon at Evans Diamond. The win prevented the Cougars (10-17, 2-1 Pac-10) from sweeping the three-game series, and gave Cal (15-13, 2-4) only its second Pac-10 victory of this season.  

“This was a big win for us,” said Cal head coach David Esquer. “We salvaged the weekend, and that’s what you have to do in the Pac-10.” 

Cal opened the game on fire, as Ben Conley, Brad Smith, and Brian Horowitz smacked three consecutive singles. Horowitz’s single plated Conley to give the Bears the early lead. After a Clint Hoover double, a triple by Conor Jackson, and a single by Carson White, the Bears had opened up a 5-0 lead and chased Cougar starter Zack Fisher (0-4), who did not record an out. When the smoke cleared, Cal had sent 15 runners to the plate, scoring 10 runs on nine hits and disposing of three Cougar pitchers – all in the first inning.  

“We swung the bats well early,” said Esquer. “The first two games of this series, (Washington State) got the jump on us. We needed an early lead today.”  

Washington State lefthander Garret Alwert, the Cougars fourth pitcher of the ballgame, retired the Bears in the first and pitched 7 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, giving up only three hits. 

Bear hurler Jason Dennis (2-1) never let the Washington State offense mount any comeback. The Cal lefthander held the Cougars to one unearned run and four hits in six innings of work.  

“He’ll get better each time he goes out there,” said Esquer. “He’s done a good job for us, especially coming off the surgery (left elbow) he’s had.”  

Washington State’s lone run came in the sixth inning, when an error by Jackson at third led to a sacrifice fly by Stephen Baile. 

Horowitz finished the day 3 for 5 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBI’s. The freshman leftfielder also extended his hitting streak to 23 games. Smith also recorded three hits on the afternoon, and Hoover drove in three runs. 

The Bears completed the series against Washington State much like the previous one against Arizona State. In both cases, Cal lost two hard-fought games to begin the series, but won the finale in a laugher to keep their pride.  

“I think we’ve played hard, but we haven’t gotten the breaks,” said Esquer. “We have to keep fighting; eventually, we’ll get them.” 

Cal finishes their homestand against Pacific on Tuesday before traveling to Washington. The Huskies were swept by Stanford at Sunken Diamond this weekend.  

“They are very well coached, and because their field is all artificial turf, it will play faster,” said Esquer. “This will be a good experience for our team.”

Nearly 50 people attended a rally at Civic Center Park Saturday afternoon to call for public ownership of the utilities.  

The rally came only four days after the City Council voted to allocate over $80,000 to study the possibility of joining a municipal utility district or taking public ownership of power by some other means. 

Organizers said the rally would apply needed pressure to keep the council focused on the option of public power. 

"We were at last Tuesday’s meeting," said organizer Richard Challacombe. "It was definitely divided. When it came to the idea of municipalization they got skittish." 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington sponsored the bill to explore public power, and has been an advocate of the public power movement. He spoke at the rally, which he considered a necessary public action, "for symbolic purposes, " to provide a strong public mandate for public power. 

"The council vote had the minimum number necessary to authorize a feasibility study," he said. "If it was that close of a vote, getting the votes to actually do it is going to be harder. We need to build the public momentum and pressure."  

Speakers reinforced the fact that public power is not a pie-in-the-sky dream, but a completely possible alternative. 

The movement to establish public power agencies began after California’s power utility deregulation showed signs of

Monday, March 26

The New House of Representatives 

Noon  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Lois Capps, congresswoman, (D., Santa Barbara), will discuss “The Makeup of the New House of Representatives.” Bring a brown bag lunch. Free 

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 

Free Writing, Cashiering & Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.org 

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 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

1 p.m. - Dusk  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Derby St. @ MLK Jr. Way  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

548-3333 

Young Queer Women’s Group 

8 - 9:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).  

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org 

Blood Pressure Testing 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Alice Meyer  

644-6107 

Wed., 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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

CA Telephone Access for Low Vision 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Frances Franco. 

644-6107 

Elder Fraud: Prevent & Public Policy  

1:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

With Berkeley Gray Panthers Leyla Zabih and Robin Vota. Free 

548-9696 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Help the Abused  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Gary Hines will discuss how to recognize if a peer is in an abusive situation and what to do. Free  

644-6107 

Special Education Parents Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

LeConte School Cafeteria  

2241 Russell St.  

Discussion of special education in the Berkeley Unified School District.  

558-8933 

Environmental Sampling  

Project Task Force  

6:30 p.m.  

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Channing Large Assembly Room  

2345 Channing Way  

Berkeley Lab responds to comments on the Tritium Sampling and Analysis Plan and discussion of the technical basis for siting ambient air monitoring stations at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

An open letter to the Board of Education 

Editor: 

I am writing to follow up on the appeal I made to the School Board last night to take a leadership position in addressing the health issue of overly heavy backpacks and their potential for causing serious, permanent injury to our children's bodies. I am requesting that the Board place this item on the agenda for the next School Board meeting and following meetings as necessary, and that this district-wide problem be addressed in a new Board Policy as quickly as possible. 

The student-parent protest at Longfellow Wednesday morning was a great educational experience for students. They weighed their backpacks, helped each other calculate their backpack's proportion of their body weight, and learned that a 15 percent or greater proportion puts them at risk for serious, lifelong, spinal, neck, and shoulder problems. They took a brief survey asking if they think their backpacks are too heavy; if they've had to see a doctor because of their backpacks; if they would use lockers or a locked room if it were available to store their things during the day; if they would use a camel, elephant, llama or horse to carry their backpacks if they were available at school; if their parents or teachers could lift and carry their backpack; and what ideas they have for solving the heavy backpack problem. 22 students took the survey; 13 had backpacks weighing 15 percent or more of their body weight. More students will participate in the survey when the weekly, parent-produced Longfellow MiniNews runs it in the next couple of weeks. Both the Berkeley Daily Planet and West Contra Costa Times ran excellent stories and photos about the protest today; the Voice may also have a story in tomorrow's paper. 

I suggest that students and their families affected by this problem be given opportunities for input, both to determine how widespread the problem is and to find out what their suggestions might be, in order to find workable solutions. I suggest that the School Site Council "Safety Committee" at each school be used to gather data and input at the site level by surveying the students and families in meetings, via print surveys, in school newsletters, etc. This data can be quickly gathered and will help the District and individual schools come up with solutions. 

Lockers are not the only possible solution to this health problem, and I have never suggested that. Many people are suggesting them. But my point is that there are a variety of solutions out there; what we need to do is to quickly identify and implement them. In the last couple of days I have heard some very creative solutions suggested by parents and students alike including: 

•Creating backpack check rooms (like luggage check rooms) 

•Subsidizing rolling backpacks for kids who walk to school 

•Offering transportation to kids who live closer than a mile to school heightening the teaching staff's awareness, so that, for example, they might stop requiring students to bring every piece of paper the class has generated since the beginning of the school year with them to class every day 

•Getting textbook publishers to offer free access on the internet, and making sure all students have internet access at home purchasing textbooks that are published in sections to lighten the load. 

I suggest that the Board act quickly on this issue, before the District becomes the target of many individual lawsuits or a class action lawsuit by families who are incurring medical and other expenses and damages due to this problem. I'm sure the District would rather spend its money on things other than lawsuits.  

I know that we can solve this problem together with and for our children. The PTA Council will be drafting a Resolution for the California State PTA and National PTA on this issue. I would be happy to help work on solving his problem and to discuss any part of this issue with the School Board. My email address is cpapermaster2@home.com. 

Cynthia Papermaster 

Berkeley 

An open letter to police chief 

and city officials  

Editor: 

I am writing with serious concern regarding the safety of your officers, and the public at large. 

On a recent evening while having a personal conversation with two citizens at the northwest corner of Durant and Telegraph, we observed one of your bicycle patrol officers repeatedly travelling past us in both directions on the roadway of Telegraph, which is a one-way street. 

The young woman who was present politely called out a warning that the officer was violating the California Vehicle Code. The officer then stopped in the middle of the street and politely informed us that the Berkeley Municipal Code grants an exception for his behavior. The officer stated that he had been told this by the city. 

The woman present clarified for him that such was true for emergencies, but that he was obviously not on an emergency call (which he agreed with). 

I then notified the officer that while the Berkeley Municipal Code does grant an exception to police officers for riding bicycles on sidewalks "who determine in good faith that riding or operating a bicycle on the sidewalk is necessary to perform official duties" (B.M.C. 14.68.130c), that there is no such exception granted (and none possible) with regards to travelling the wrong way on the roadway of a one-way street on a non-emergency basis. 

I emphasized that I was not suggesting that such behavior was necessarily unsafe if done responsibly by an experienced cyclist. However, I expressed my sincere concern that he had been misled, and that were he to be struck by a motorcar, he would be considered at fault. This is the same risk that cyclists face every day when they try to make the best of a legal system and streets system that has been generally designed without regard for the needs of our most healthy and safe vehicular mode, the bicycle. 

I have frequently complained about the lack of knowledge (and frequently, the lack of sensitivity) that Berkeley Police officers have of the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and pedestrians. In this case, it is clear that the officers themselves are being put in danger. In other cases, citizens suffer when false citations are issued, false orders are given, or police reports falsely fault a bicyclist or pedestrian who has been stuck by a motorcar. 

The city has a responsibility to educate its officers as to the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and pedestrians. 

Such education is recommended by our Bicycle Plan. 

Such education was also recommended by bicycle advocates in a series of recent meetings held with representatives of the Berkeley Police Department, the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, the Bicycle Civil Liberties Union, and participants of critical mass (including myself), mediated by a staff member of the Police Review Commission. 

I and others were very troubled to hear the BPD representative, Captain Pittman, say that motor vehicles are not a public safety hazard and require no special attention from police. He further claimed that his officers did not need any education regarding the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and pedestrians. His primary, explicit goal was to shut down or control the local monthly critical mass ride, without doing anything about the massive everyday critical mass of cars we call "rush hour,” although the number of hours increases each year. 

Since that time, many people are reporting an increased instance of citations of bicyclists, including a disabled man using his bicycle as a crutch on the sidewalk, and people locking bicycles to parking meters. While increased enforcement is recommended in the bicycle plan, education for bicyclists, reducing the fines for bicycle violations, education for police officers, creating an infrastructure that accomodates bicycles safely, and creating a bicycle diversion program (education not inCARceration) are also recommended there. So why jump directly to enforcement unless you want to persecute and punish people simply for trying to do something healthy and kind, riding a bicycle? 

On top of this, our city has been issuing illegal misdemeanor tickets for "riding" on sidewalks and parking to parking meters. Why should the punishment for such actions be so much more severe than the punishment for a motorcar that blasts through a stop sign? Unless the message is that Berkeley hates bicycling, and will do whatever it can get away with to rid the streets of these lifesaving vehicles. 

The City should IMMEDIATELY take proactive steps to correct these injustices. No officer should be lied to or endangered by misinformation. No citizen should be persecuted illegally or legally for choosing to ride a bicycle for the benefit of us all.  

Jason Meggs,  

Director 

Bicycle Civil Liberties Union 

Not all landlords are ‘profiteers’ 

Editor: 

Congratulations to the Daily Planet for its excellent coverage of last week’s public hearing on the Draft General Plan (DGP), including landlords’ en masse presentations. Chairman Rob Wrenn’s subsequent dismissal of “the myth of the wealthy tenant” was, however, quite misleading if it is not accompanied by an even stronger rejection of two other myths which permeate Berkeley’s thinking on the subject of rental housing. We refer to the popular misconceptions that tenants, as a group, are poor and exploited,while all landlords are wealthy profiteers, tainted somehow by the fact that they own rentals. The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle of this muddle of myths.  

The shortage of rental housing forces prices up – in Berkeley as elsewhere in the Bay Area. The way to bring them down is to increase supply, which could be accomplished by encouraging development and investment. Instead, the DGP offers a Ponzi scheme with the City buying up 6,500 rental units to keep them “affordable.” Where will it get the money for such an acquisition, and how would that increase the supply of rentals? 

Peggy Schioler 

Berkeley 

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. 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. “Ed Osborn/MATRIX 193” This Oakland-based artist will use low-tech gadgetry to turn the museum into a sound sculpture as part of his site-specific installation Vanishing Point. $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 infomation. “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. “Fossil Finding with Annie Montague Alexander” March 24-25, 31 & April 21; “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 March 24: Workin’ Stiffs, The Bodies, Strychnine, East Bay Chasers, For the Alliance; March 30: Deathreat, Ahimsa, F*** God In the Face, The Black, Creation Is Crucifixion; March 31: The Jocks, The Cost, The Fleshies, Quest for Quintana Roo, Chi Chi Nut Nut & The Pinecone Express 525-9926  

Ashkenaz  

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; March 25, 3 - 6 p.m.: Brassworks; March 27, 9 p.m.: Bayou Pon Pon, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 28, 8 p.m.: Fling Ding, Kathy Kallick Band, Bluegrass Intentions; March 29, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; March 30, 9:30 p.m.: Johnny Nocturne Band, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 31, 9 p.m. : SoVoSo, Kotoja; April 29: Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band; May 6, 7 p.m.: Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. March 24: Daniel Castro; March 30: Craig Horton Blues Band 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Freight & Salvage  

All music at 8 p.m. March 24: Barry & Alice Olivier; March 25: Boogie Woogie Piano Cavalcade w/Beverly Stovall, Sue Palmer, Wendy De Witt, Big Joe Duskin; March 27: Maria Muldaur; March 28: Todd Phillips, David Grier & Matt Flinner; March 29: Tom Paxton; March 30 & 31: House Jacks 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org

Cal deals St. Joe’s their first loss 

PHILADELPHIA – The University of California handed St. Joseph’s University its first loss of the season in women’s lacrosse action on Sunday afternoon.  

California took an early 2-0 lead but the Hawks responded with two goals by freshman Amie Schmoltze to tie the game with 22:36 left in the first half. California would then score five of the next six goals to take a 7-3 advantage at the half.  

The Hawks found their offense in the second half, scoring twice in the first six minutes to cut the Bears lead to three at 8-5. California (6-3) responded scoring the next two goals to extend their lead to 10-5 with 18 minutes left in regulation. SJU once again tried to make a comeback, scoring twice in a three-minute span to cut the lead to 10-7 at the 11:00 mark. The Bears proved to be too strong as they scored four goals in the last 10 minutes to seal the victory.  

California goalie Eden Coelho was the thorn in the Hawks side as she turned back 19 shots.  

Bears finish last at Pac-10 meet 

SEATTLE - The sixth-ranked Stanford Cardinal upset top-ranked UCLA to win the 2001 Pac-10 Women’s Gymnastics Championship at Washington’s Bank of America Arena. The Cardinal posted a score of 197.850, while UCLA, the two-time defending Pac-10 Champions, scored 197.800. Stanford’s score was the highest ever at the Pac-10 Championship meet. 

The Bears put up an uncharacteristically low team scores on the bars and the balance beam. Cal totaled a 47.350 points on the bars, the lowest scores since its opening meet at Denver (36.500) and a 37.900 on the beams, a season low. Bear gymnasts placed no higher then No. 10 in any event. Although junior Lindsay Baker tallied a career high of 39.250 in the all-arounds, it was only good for 10th place at the meet Saturday.  

No. 4 water polo gets two wins 

The No. 4-ranked women’s water polo team (12-6, 5-2 MPSF) grabbed two convincing victories today at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal first knocked out Pacific, 16-6, before taking on the UC Santa Cruz Slugs. The last time Cal and UC Santa Cruz met was March 26, 1997, when the Bears defeated the Slugs 27-1, the largest margin of victory and the highest recorded score in Cal history as a varsity sport. Cal would make history again today, as they shut out the Slugs, 17-0, the first shutout all season for the Bears and the second in school history as a varsity sport. The only other shutout dates back four years when the Bears defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 21-0, at the Stanford Invitational, March 8, 1997.

The City Council will try again tomorrow night to approve the Medical Marijuana Ordinance, which has been bogged down between the Community Health Commission and the city manager’s office for nearly two years. 

The City Council ran out of time last Tuesday night before it could resolve the sticking point that has plagued the completion of the ordinance. The commission and city manager have not been able to agree on how many plants are reasonable for an individual patient to grow at one time.  

The council postponed a decision until tomorrow despite outbursts by advocates who said the ordinance has taken too long as it is.  

Advocates want the council to approve 144 plants per household if grown indoors and 60 if grown outdoors. City staff including the health and police departments want the ordinance to not allow individuals more than 10 plants whether grown indoors or out. 

Advocates also endorsed a plan allowing patients to have as much as six pounds of marijuana in their possession at any one time. City staff recommended 2.5 pounds unless a doctor prescribed more. 

Councilmember Betty Olds reminded advocates in the audience that the ordinance is important and they should be patient because if the council hurried a decision it might approve the lower amount just to be safe. 

Director of Health and Human Services Fred Medrano emphasized to the council that both sides of the issue support the Medical Marijuana Ordinance. He reminded the council that 85 percent of voters approved Proposition 215, the state medical marijuana bill, in 1996 and there was no question that an ordinance “is a point of agreement.” 

But he said Prop. 215 does not recommend amounts of allowable plants and there is no exact science for local communities to determine these numbers. Medical staff thought it was wisest to keep allowable plant numbers low and “include a provision in the ordinance for additional amounts if a doctor says it’s OK,” he said.  

Police are concerned that large

Librarians, school administrators and book-lovers from across the city happily perused hundreds of donated books at the reopening of the Berkeley High School Library Thursday. 

“We finally got a library!” exclaimed on disbelieving student as he walked past the reception. 

The school’s library has been closed since a fire severely damaged the B building at the high school in April of last year. It will be housed in a temporary space for the next three years until the completion of a new building at the high school, which will include a brand new library and media center.  

The temporary space is only one quarter the size of the old library, and it will only house 10,000 of the library’s more than 25,000 books. The rest will be stored at a remote site, but they’ll be accessible to students who want to check them out within 24 to 48 hours.  

Berkeley High School

Murder trial coincides with drug center opening 

BURLINGAME – As prosecutors prepare to make opening statements in Tracey Biletnikoff’s murder trial Monday, a drug treatment center has opened its doors in her name. 

Tracey’s Place of Home is San Mateo’s only all-girl adolescent drug treatment center. 

Biletnikoff’s onetime boyfriend, Mohammad Haroon Ali, is charged with strangling her Feb. 15, 1999. He has admitted to the crime, and prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction. 

Biletnikoff, 20, had struggled with drug addiction, and in the months prior to her death she shared stories of her addiction and recovery with teen-age girls. She had gone through the Women’s Recovery Association in Burlingame where the new center also is located. It is big enough to house six girls whose expected length of stay is about a year. 

Biletnikoff is the daughter of NFL Hall of Fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, an assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders. 

Dog owner cited after attack 

ALAMEDA – Police cited a dog owner after the animal bit a man in Alameda. 

Police say the shepherd mix named Lady bit the man’s upper left thigh Saturday. He was treated and released from Alameda Hospital. 

The dog has been taken into custody by animal control until the owner can produce paperwork proving its shots are up to date. The owner was cited for not having the dog on a leash, a dog license or information about the animal’s vaccinations. 

Police did not release the names of the owner or the victim. 

Stanford hosts Holi celebration 

STANFORD – About 1,000 people danced and got filthy while celebrating Holi at Stanford University. 

Holi is the ancient Indian festival of colors that marks the beginning of spring. 

The participants wore bright reds, oranges, greens and blues in their hair, on their clothes and face. The colors were smeared by squirts from water pistols. It’s traditional to get wet and dirty during the festival. 

The event attracted people from all over the Bay area who wanted a taste of spicy curries and samosas. 

Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater honored 

OAKLAND – Mayor Jerry Brown has proclaimed Monday a day of honor to celebrate the Grand Lake Theater’s 75th birthday. 

The Oakland theater will feature free movies all day and an organ concert. The landmark’s Wurlitzer organ was built in 1926 for $50,000. It is still played at the opening of shows on Friday and Saturday nights. 

The theater was designed by Reid Brothers who also created the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. 

The free movies will feature a look at what the movie-going experience was like when the Grand Lake opened three-quarters of a century ago. 

Funeral home owners to pay $4 million 

WALNUT CREEK – The owners of a defunct Contra Costa funeral home business have agreed to pay $4 million to families whose loved ones’ remains were mishandled. 

The Rogers Family Funeral Home will refund fees to an estimated 2,000 families who are expected to file a class-action lawsuit by May 1. 

Chris and Laurel Rogers, owners of five funeral homes and a crematorium, are accused of losing, mixing up and improperly storing human remains. They allowed bodies to decompose before cremation and abandoned 10 bodies parked outside the funeral homes, according to the state Department of Consumer Affairs. 

State regulators stripped the couple of their operating license in 1998, accusing them of negligence and unprofessional conduct. 

The couple made no admission of guilt or wrongdoing as part of the settlement filed this month in Contra Costa Superior court. 

The couple’s lawyer says the two are broke and Chris Rogers is suffering from mental illness. 

Former teacher convicted of molestation 

SAN JOSE – A former San Jose teacher has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for molesting at least five students. 

Mario Otilio Duarte was a fifth grade teacher at Anne Darling Elementary School when he molested the 10- and 11-year-old girls. 

Duarte had faced a life sentence, but it was reduced after he pleaded guilty to the charges in January. He was sentenced Friday. 

Duarte had evaded San Jose police after a warrant was issued for his arrest in July. He was pulled over in New Mexico a week later after failing to signal before changing lanes.

OAKLAND — A few years ago, an author writing about death asked ailing AIDS patient Michael Alcalay how he was accepting dying. 

“I’m not accepting it,” Alcalay retorted. 

Today, he’s alive to tell that story thanks in part, he believes, to judicious doses of marijuana, the unorthodox medical approach endorsed by California’s Proposition 215. 

On March 28, Alcalay will be in the audience as lawyers try to convince the Supreme Court that federal drug bans shouldn’t come between patients and the marijuana that may be the only thing that can help their medical problems. 

It’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will rule on marijuana as medicine in general or limit themselves to a narrower look at judicial proceedings in the case. But a ruling of “Yes” on advocates’ arguments that marijuana is a medical necessity lead to widespread use of pot therapy in the nine states that have passed similar laws. 

Proposition 215 passed easily in 1996 but has been in limbo as county officials try to pick their way through a thicket of opposing state and federal laws. 

“Once the justices recognize what’s really at stake in this case, if any semblance of justice prevails then so will we,” says attorney Robert Raich, who is representing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative. 

The Oakland club was one of six sued by the U.S. Justice Department after the passage of Proposition 215, which allows people to have marijuana on a doctor’s recommendation. A federal judge shut the club down, but an appellate court reversed that. 

While the case worked its way through the courts, California’s political landscape transformed. 

In 1996, then-California Attorney General Dan Lungren, a Republican, was lampooned in the comic strip Doonesbury for ordering a raid on a San Francisco club distributing marijuana for medical purposes. This year, Lungren’s successor, Democrat Bill Lockyer has filed court papers backing the use of medical marijuana. 

“Night and day,” says a relieved Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland club. 

Jones founded the Oakland club after watching his father take the long, slow road to death by cancer. In the early days, volunteers would deliver marijuana by bicycle. Today, the club has the firm support of local officials and operates out of a clean, well-lighted storefront that has a clinical air, far removed from a head shop’s muggy gloom. The club, which has not distributed marijuana in recent years because of a court order forbidding it, has even explored the possibility of paying sales taxes. 

Advocates say marijuana is a reliable and nontoxic therapy that stimulates appetite, eases pain and wards off the nauseous side-effects of treatments such as chemotherapy. 

Alcalay, a 59-year-old physician who serves as the club’s medical director, started using marijuana medically to keep down his pills after he was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s. HIV turned into AIDS and in the mid-’90s Alcalay almost died after he picked up an intestinal bug that ran roughshod over his weakened immune system. The disease stripped 35 pounds off his 165-pound, 5-foot-10 frame and left him so miserably sick he would lie in bed for a week mustering the strength to get up and do laundry. 

He hung on, regularly taking small doses of marijuana — generally no more than two puffs. “I don’t like getting stoned. I like to be in control,” he says. The pot turned meals delivered by volunteers from something nausea-inducing to “the best thing you ever saw.” 

He lasted long enough to by put back on his feet by the advent of the powerful combination drugs that revolutionized the treatment of AIDS. 

Justice Department lawyers declined comment. They have argued that allowing clubs to hand out marijuana compromises the government’s ability to enforce federal drug laws. 

In an interesting sidelight, Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer has recused himself from the case, because his brother, Charles Breyer, was the federal district judge who first handled the case. 

Alcalay isn’t sure if the Supreme Court will support pot therapy. But he thinks it should. 

“Marijuana kept me alive,” he says. 

As it turns out, Alcalay didn’t make it into the book about dying, although he did run into the author the other day. 

“He was surprised to see me,” Alcalay says with a laugh. 

SAN JOSE – Much of cyberspace today is still two-dimensional: click on a Web site or chat room and you get text or pictures. 

But the Net could soon become more three-dimensional — allowing surfers to virtually step into a site, walk around and talk to others — if Adobe Systems Inc. has its way with a Web-authoring software tool to be unveiled Monday. 

The new product, called Adobe Atmosphere, will allow Web designers to create 3-D Internet pages where visitors can interact and chat with each other in real-time. 

An auto dealership, for instance, can have a Web site where visitors walk into a virtual showroom. A visitor — in an animated icon form — can check out cars in different rooms, talk to other shoppers, and step up to a kiosk where a salesman stands by, eager to answer questions. 

Virtual reality on the Internet is nothing new, but it has been slow to take off — limited to the endeavors mostly of small startups, some now victims of the dot-com carnage. 

Remaining 3-D Web software and service providers, including Newburyport, Mass.-based ActiveWorlds.com Inc. and San Francisco-based blaxxun interactive Inc., are making headway as technology has improved, Net-based communication has grown, and some businesses have begun to embrace some form of 3-D graphics on their Web sites. 

Still, it’s very much an uphill battle. 

“There aren’t millions of people using this technology; it’s just very early adopters,” said Bruce Damer, principal of DigitalSpace Corp., a Santa Cruz-based company that specializes in 3-D Web services. 

The economy’s downturn and the belt-tightening of companies are an added challenge, especially for a feature considered more a novelty than a practicality. 

“There’s still a great need to have a Web presence, but there may not be as much investment in the bells and whistles for the Internet,” said Lia Schubert, an analyst with Infotrends Research Group in Boston, Mass. 

Damer thinks Adobe, in putting its muscle behind Atmosphere, could make the difference that will propel widespread adoption of the concept of a 3-D Internet. 

“Adobe is a thoroughbred. It can run laps and it’s designed to get to the finish line,” he said, referring to the company’s track record with tools in managing digital content. 

San Jose-based Adobe is the nation’s leading maker of desktop publishing software. The $1.27 billion company is well-known for Photoshop, a photo editing program, and Acrobat Reader, which has become a de facto standard for document distribution on the Web. 

Atmosphere is Adobe’s first 3-D interactive Web-authoring tool. A beta, or test, version of the software will be available for free public downloads from the Adobe website beginning Monday. The beta will work only on Windows-based systems; a Mac-version will be available in the early summer, the company said. 

Adobe expects to start shipping the final product in the summer. The company has not disclosed a suggested retail price.

SAN FRANCISCO – In Houston, it’s simply known as “the power corner.” Separated by just a few city blocks, four major power wholesalers run Byzantine trading systems that sway energy prices across the nation with minimal oversight from the government. 

The Houston trading floors run by Enron Corp., Reliant Energy, Dynegy Inc. and Duke Energy represent ground zero in a power crisis threatening the quality of life in much of the Western United States this summer. 

By seizing upon the opportunities created by deregulation and leveraging the Internet, the Houston traders have introduced the ruthlessness of the free market into the once-sedate power industry. 

In the process, they have driven two California utilities to the financial brink and electrified the electricity business, just as junk bond traders ignited Wall Street in the 1980s and venture capitalists fueled Silicon Valley in the 1990s. 

After raking in billions of dollars for their companies last year, the energy traders are emerging as the first business hotshots of the new millennium. 

“They are extremely good at what they do,” said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California at Berkeley’s energy institute. 

“There are guys on Wall Street that spend all their time doing extremely complex calculations on bond yields and figuring out how to make the most money on the spreads. These traders (at the power companies) are doing the same thing with the energy market.” 

As they become more sophisticated, the power marketers are moving much of their muscle online, where they are proving more adept at e-business than most of Silicon Valley’s fallen Internet companies. 

Enron handles much of its trading business on a Web site launched in November 1999. The company describes Enrononline.com as the world’s biggest e-commerce site, based on the completion of 548,000 transactions, totaling $336 billion, with 3,000 customers in 2000. 

Following Enron’s lead, Duke, Reliant and another major California generator, Mirant Corp., banded together with Wall Street investment banks Goldman Sachs and Dean Witter Morgan Stanley to launch IntercontinentalExchange.com. 

The 7-month-old site reported daily trading volumes of 3 million megawatt hours in late February. 

San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre believes the power companies are using the password-protected online exchanges to secretly share information and control the power supply to manipulate prices. Aguirre has spent the past six months scrutinizing the trading operations as he pursues a lawsuit alleging that the power generators broke antitrust laws. 

“The whole trading thing is just a front that lets them game the market,” he said. “They can get away with it because no one (outside the industry) can figure out what they are doing.” 

Enron says its trading system, particularly the online exchange, has resulted in fairer and more efficient markets. The allegations of market abuse are “just some sour grapes from people who didn’t come up with the idea in the first place,” Enron spokesman Eric Thode said Friday. 

One of the biggest distinctions between the Texas energy traders and the Wall Street securities traders is how they are regulated. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Future Trading Commission oversee the trading of most of the nation’s key markets. But the power traders answer to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an agency with little training in the sophisticated financial instruments deployed by these marketers. 

The power traders aren’t just holding California over a barrel. Other states are paying even higher prices — a factor that will likely further reduce supplies for California in the months ahead. 

In a series of recent deals disclosed to The Associated Press by a major marketer, energy traders charged California $330 to $360 per megawatt hour for July electricity. They fetched $415 per megawatt hour in a key Pacific Northwest market and $495 per megawatt hour in a major Arizona market for contracts covering the same time. 

A similar price disparity occurred for August electricity contracts. California paid top price of $395 per megawatt hour while the Pacific Northwest market paid $460 per megawatt hour and the Arizona market paid $535 per megawatt hour. 

As the nation’s largest power broker, Enron is the kingpin of the energy traders. 

Spread through seven floors at Enron’s Smith Street headquarters in Houston, the energy specialists among the company’s 1,500 traders try to divine where prices are headed, and then swap electricity and natural gas contracts like stocks and bonds. 

“You can walk into that trading room and if you didn’t already know that you were on Smith Street in Houston, you would swear you were on Wall Street in New York,” said Shannon Burchett, chief executive officer of Risk Limited Corp., a Dallas energy consultant.

The Berkeley swim team has a rough history, losing most of its league matches in the past few years. Going up against some of the best teams in the country, this year’s seniors have known very little victory. 

But that changed big time on Friday, as the ’Jackets won every race but one against El Cerrito. With the exception of the boys’ 50-meter freestyle, Berkeley dominated the meet, their first in the ACCAL. 

“This is a very new experience for us,” Berkeley coach Keith Brooks said. “Our experience in the last few years has been with the shoe on the other foot.” 

The ’Jackets swept the top spots in 19 different races. A typical race had three Berkeley swimmers well in front, racing each other, as the El Cerrito swimmers flailed away behind them. 

“It’s nice to win and be able to care about the score,” Berkeley senior Joe Ravera said. “Freshman through junior year, we just thought the score didn’t matter because we were used to losing.” 

The ’Jackets do expect more competition from their ACCAL opponents, especially Alameda. 

“I don’t think El Cerrito is representative of the competition in the ACCAL,” Ravera said. “There are some teams that will be pretty good.” 

Standouts on Friday included Raymond Chetty, who won the 200-meter freestyle by nearly 10 seconds, and Joel Fathree, who won the 200-meter individual medley and the 500-meter freestyle. On the girls’ side, Sallie Otto won the 200-meter medley and 100-meter freestyle, and Marissa Root won the 100-meter butterfly and 500-meter freestyle.

The UC Theatre – the beloved repertory cinema on University Avenue – will shut its doors Thursday fter 83 years, according to its management. 

“We’re closing out at the end of this calendar,” said Ben S. Putnam, assistant manager.  

The UC Theatre puts out a calendar up to four months in advance announcing what movies will be shown. 

Putnam said he was not allowed to comment further, but revealed that the Shattuck Cinema five blocks away would be showing UC’s movies in the future.  

Both theaters are operated by Los Angeles-based Landmark Cinemas. Landmark is owned by Dallas-based Silver Cinemas. Mike Mullin, senior vice president of operations for Silver Cinemas did not return a phone call.  

Maren Beckman, a manager at Shattuck Cinema, confirmed that the theater would be picking up the UC’s calendar.  

At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam and the other well-dressed workers at UC were waiting for the rush before the 7:10 showing of “The Legend  

of Rita.” 

After buying two tickets for the show, Janet McColl was stunned when hearing the cinema was shutting down.  

“It’s terrible. We need this theater, this is our arts theater,” she said. “It really fills a place for showing art films and history films. We have no other venue in the East Bay – without it we’re lost.” 

In September of last year, a $600,000 state-mandated retrofit threatened a shut-down, because Landmark Cinemas said they could not pay for it. But Putnam said the announcement of the theater’s closure was made March 19. 

“The theater deserves as much dignity as it can get,” he said. “As George Harrison once said, ‘All things must pass.’”

The UC Theatre – the beloved repertory cinema on University Avenue – will shut its doors Thursday fter 83 years, according to its management. 

“We’re closing out at the end of this calendar,” said Ben S. Putnam, assistant manager.  

The UC Theatre puts out a calendar up to four months in advance announcing what movies will be shown. 

Putnam said he was not allowed to comment further, but revealed that the Shattuck Cinema five blocks away would be showing UC’s movies in the future.  

Both theaters are operated by Los Angeles-based Landmark Cinemas. Landmark is owned by Dallas-based Silver Cinemas. Mike Mullin, senior vice president of operations for Silver Cinemas did not return a phone call.  

Maren Beckman, a manager at Shattuck Cinema, confirmed that the theater would be picking up the UC’s calendar.  

At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam and the other well-dressed workers at UC were waiting for the rush before the 7:10 showing of “The Legend  

of Rita.” 

After buying two tickets for the show, Janet McColl was stunned when hearing the cinema was shutting down.  

“It’s terrible. We need this theater, this is our arts theater,” she said. “It really fills a place for showing art films and history films. We have no other venue in the East Bay – without it we’re lost.” 

In September of last year, a $600,000 state-mandated retrofit threatened a shut-down, because Landmark Cinemas said they could not pay for it. But Putnam said the announcement of the theater’s closure was made March 19. 

“The theater deserves as much dignity as it can get,” he said. “As George Harrison once said, ‘All things must pass.’”

Sunday, March 25

Women in Science  

& Technology  

1 - 4 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

In celebration of Women’s History Month, LHS presents a day to inspire and inform students. Women who work in such fields as computer graphics, geology, and astronomy demonstrate how they use math, science, and technology in their professional lives. Free with museum admission.  

Passover Family Day  

12:30 - 3 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum  

2911 Russell St.  

Create a Passover seder plate, view Magnes treasures, see “Madame Matza Ball Celebrates Passover,” a puppet show for the tikes, enjoy free refreshments, and exchange recipes. 

Beyond the Dragons  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Nyingma Institute meditation instructor Abbe Blum explores the maneuvers of mind that consistently make us miserable. Open up new possibilities for self-understanding and gain control and direction in life. Free 

843-6812 

Duck Soup Celebrates 20 Years  

1 - 6 p.m.  

Duck Soup Family Playschool  

5304 Bryant Ave.  

A big party complete with families and staff, past and present, face painting, crafts, a puppeteer, potluck surprises, storytelling and much more. 563-7430 

Monday, March 26

The New House  

of Representatives 

Noon  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Lois Capps, congresswoman, (D., Santa Barbara), will discuss “The Makeup of the New House of Representatives.” Bring a brown bag lunch. Free 

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.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Free Writing, Cashiering & Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.org 

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 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

1 p.m. - Dusk  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Derby St. @ MLK Jr. Way  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

548-3333 

Young Queer Women’s Group 

8 - 9:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).  

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org 

Blood Pressure Testing 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Alice Meyer  

644-6107 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

CA. Telephone Access for Low Vision 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Frances Franco. 

644-6107 

Elder Fraud: Prevent & Public Policy  

1:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

With Berkeley Gray Panthers Leyla Zabih and Robin Vota. Free 

548-9696 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Help the Abused  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Gary Hines will discuss how to recognize if a peer is in an abusive situation and what to do. Free  

644-6107 

Special Education Parents Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

LeConte School Cafeteria  

2241 Russell St.  

Discussion of special education in the Berkeley Unified School District.  

558-8933 

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force  

6:30 p.m.  

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Channing Large Assembly Room  

2345 Channing Way  

Berkeley Lab responds to comments on the Tritium Sampling and Analysis Plan and discussion of the technical basis for siting ambient air monitoring stations at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.  

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  

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

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 

“Yellowstone Buffalo” Screening 

7 p.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists  

Cedar & Bonita  

A compilation video exposing the ongoing slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild buffalo herd. Seventy five percent of donations go to the Buffalo Field Campaign’s front-line efforts to protect the buffalo herd. Sponsored by A First Amendment Center, Berkeley. Free 

287-9406  

Saturday, March 31  

Shelter Operations Class  

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

Cesar Chavez Day Commemoration  

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Cesar Chavez Park (Northwest Corner)  

Four fourth and fifth grade classes from area elementary schools will present the virtues of Cesar Chavez, followed by a dance by the Azteca Dance Group. Mayor Shirley Dean, School Board President Terry Doran, Fr. Bill O’Donnell, and Federico Chavez will speak.  

845-0657 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

KPFA provides  

a much-needed civic service 

Editor:  

Letters that call for the sale of KPFA puzzle me. Who would get the money? But more, what about the absence without KPFA?  

Who else covers labor news as thoroughly, or even covers it?  

Who else provides such thorough and critical opinion on U.S. foreign involvement and on what’s going on in the nature of (or lack of) human rights in all parts of the world? (You don’t have to agree with Denis Bernstein from 5 - 6 p.m. weekdays, but where else are you going to hear it?)  

What other station is so comprehensive and distinctly different, and has no advertising?  

I turn the dial. 740 AM has news repeated out of a can. There are a couple of classical music stations that do what KPFA doesn’t do. A good jazz station in San Mateo. A bunch of sports/sports talk stations. And then they all begin to blur. PBS is listenable, and limited to viewpoint: Edward Said or Norm Chomsky, two of the most alive public intellectuals, are air-brushed out. KPFA is the only media, print or air, that gives a thorough hearing to the Palestinians — otherwise I need European publications. No one else has the range of mission — or the attention to less-heard voices — than does KPFA.  

Sure, I’m white and older, and dismissed by the parent Pacifica organizations, but let me tell you, what Pacifica and others don’t realize is how lonely one can get intellectually and culturally in some place KPFA reaches that are distant from the sophisticated Bay Area. In the isolated places KPFA provides sustenance, as I know from 30 years living at the edge of the KPFA signal area.  

And even as a kid, living in the ‘50s, what a godsend to hear poetry on a radio station, and know that there were people out there who weren’t rapid anti-Communists. I’ll bet there are young people right now with very different tastes from mine or yours whose souls are nourished by KPFA. And maybe even offended by it, and by ideas they were taught not to have.  

Stephen Petty 

Berkeley 

Society’s ills are to blame for school shootings 

Editor:  

When shootings in schools become an almost daily occurrence in this enchanted land, we can only hope to understand this phenomenon by placing our hearts in the hearts of these children, by seeing the world through their eyes. 

What are they doing in these schools? What surroundings do they come from as they, with a thousand other kids they do not know, float around these prison-like buildings and playgrounds? What future do they hope for? Do these girls wish to become like their mothers? Do these boys aspire to live the life they see their fathers living?  

The hope that still lived in our hearts in the ‘60s is no more. All the new possessions acquired by their baby-boomer parents, which gave an aura of success to their life, are already accepted as natural human rights. The new world of the Internet allows each of us to live behind earphones, to listen only to the music we want to hear again and again, to talk only to people who talk and think like us. Where do we go from here?  

This evangelistic country is one big advertising fraud, and the kids know it. They have no future other than as government employees or as labor fodder for our large, globally operating corporations. These homeless enterprises roam the world looking for the cheapest unprotected workers they can find to make these products they sell, at a huge profit, at the other end of the world, to affluent consumers.  

Except for the few who will join the ranks of the rich, the many will live in poverty degraded by unemployment and deprived of any possibility of ever doing anything with their lives.  

Growing populations and urban sprawl will destroy the remaining forests and trees we need to produce the oxygen we breathe and the remaining arable soil we need to grow our food. Fertilizers and pesticides necessary to extract more food from less land accumulate and are now present in the food we eat and the water we drink and debilitate all living organisms. If this population growth and the inherent destruction of our natural environment can not be stopped and reversed, we have no future. Also, more people crammed together in a limited space means more stress, more irritation, more aggression. If this is the kind of life that these religious-right, pro-life, anti-abortion people want for their children, I don’t know, I really don’t know.  

There has been a growing tough-on-crime movement. The reasoning is simple: We are good people, hardworking, idealistic, upstanding family-oriented Americans and our life, our society is threatened by a rising horde of evil people, criminals who want to destroy all of this. These evil people, don’t ask us how they come to be here, must be exterminated, put behind bars, somehow done away with. From this mythological framework, these school killings are approached. These evil kids must be tried as adults and put to death.  

The reality is somewhat different. The American family has fallen apart. When parents and children still live together they are little connected and live in different worlds. The big schools which these children are forced to attend are not a friendly environment. Kids can be very cruel to each other. The big bullies take out their own frustrations on the smaller kids and may beat them up and make them live in constant fear. Girls may torture each other in different, vicious ways. Eventually these unhappy kids at the bottom of the heap may not be able to take it anymore and they snap, killing themselves or others.  

The life of these tormented, unwanted, unloved children in hell. And, if these children finally snap and strike back at the world, the guilt of society and parents is not alleviated by adding these children to our ever growing prison population. These kids are no criminals.  

Jan H. Visser 

Berkeley 

On the Marx 

Editor:  

Since you can’t talk on two cellular phones at the same time... 

Since you can’t wear two pairs of Levi’s at the same time... 

Since you can’t work two laptops at the same time... 

Since you can get free music via Napster anytime... 

Since computers can now talk with each other “without commands from another person”... 

Please be informed that “the anarchy of the market place” (Karl Marx, 1846) is in full bloom. 

George Kauffman 

Berkeley 

Protestors are ‘welfare junkies’ 

Editor:  

Those greedy “gimme-gimme” demonstrators recently so active in Berkeley and Los Angeles, “demanding” that the University of California regents violate the law and reverse the UC policy banning illegal racial (and racist) quotas in UC admissions, are a disgrace — just another breed of “welfare junkies.”  

They seem to believe that their skin color somehow entitles them to special consideration, preferential benefits and exclusive advantages that they are unwilling to work for and to earn through their own efforts.  

Casting themselves as “victims,” they are disgusting, sniveling brats, already too long carried by unearned handouts of the Great Society and the fruits of our liberal welfare state. Let them earn their way into UC.  

Fielding Greaves 

San Rafael

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  

UC Berkeley Art Museum “The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered” through March 26. “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. “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. “Ed Osborn/MATRIX 193” This Oakland-based artist will use low-tech gadgetry to turn the museum into a sound sculpture as part of his site-specific installation Vanishing Point. $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. “Fossil Finding with Annie Montague Alexander” March 24-25, 31 & April 21; “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 March 24: Workin’ Stiffs, The Bodies, Strychnine, East Bay Chasers, For the Alliance; March 30: Deathreat, Ahimsa, F*** God In the Face, The Black, Creation Is Crucifixion; March 31: The Jocks, The Cost, The Fleshies, Quest for Quintana Roo, Chi Chi Nut Nut & The Pinecone Express 525-9926  

Ashkenaz 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; March 25, 3 - 6 p.m.: Brassworks; March 27, 9 p.m.: Bayou Pon Pon, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 28, 8 p.m.: Fling Ding, Kathy Kallick Band, Bluegrass Intentions; March 29, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; March 30, 9:30 p.m.: Johnny Nocturne Band, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 31, 9 p.m. : SoVoSo, Kotoja; April 29: Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band; May 6, 7 p.m.: Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. March 24: Daniel Castro; March 30: Craig Horton Blues Band 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. March 24: Barry & Alice Olivier; March 25: Boogie Woogie Piano Cavalcade w/Beverly Stovall, Sue Palmer, Wendy De Witt, Big Joe Duskin; March 27: Maria Muldaur; March 28: Todd Phillips, David Grier & Matt Flinner; March 29: Tom Paxton; March 30 & 31: House Jacks 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. March 25 & 27 - 29, 4 - 10 p.m.: Student Winter Recitals; April 8: The Marcos Silva Quartet; April 15: Art Lande and Mark Miller; April 22: Alan Hall & Friends 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 25: Horizon Wind Quartet play music of Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ravel, Ligetti and others All concerts $8 - $10 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances March 24, 1 & 8 p.m.: “The King Stag: A Tragicomic Tale for the Theatre” by Carlo Gozzi $24 - $46; April 1, 3 p.m.: Pianist Richard Goode play the music of Bach, Chopin and Beethoven $28 - $48; April 4, 8 p.m.: Pianist Chucho Valdes $18 - $30 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu March 25, 3 p.m.: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio perform music of Beethoven, Ravel and Tchaikovsky $32; Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

“An Afternoon of Song” with Elaine Bernstein March 25, 2 p.m. Bernstein, soprano and Sally Munro, mezzo, with Gwendolyn Mok at the piano, will perform a variety of duets from the operas “Hansel & Gretel,” “Cosi Fan Totte,” “Der Rosenkavaher,” and “Lakme,” and more. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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  

“The Marriage of Figaro” through April 1, call for specific times $10 - $30 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Rebecca Riots March 24, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $12 - $14 Club Muse 856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 528-2878 

Benefit Concert for the Xiana Fairchild Volunteer Center March 25, 7:30 p.m. Featuring The Sick, Simplistic, Mastema, Drain, and an all-star jam with surprise guests. All proceeds to benefit the volunteer center. 18 and over show. $8 Blake’s on Telegraph 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886  

Pete Escovedo March 30 & 31, 9:30 p.m. Salsa lessons at 8 p.m. Doors 7 p.m. Pete Escovedo is leaving the Bay Area and is wishing farewell by playing these two shows. Featuring musical guests: Shiela E., John Santos, Karl Perazzo, Ray Obedio, Narada Michael Walden, and many others. $25 Kimball’s Carnival 522 Second St. Jack London Square  

“A Musical Night Out” March 31, 7 p.m. A four-hand piano concert featuring Andrew Canepa and Stephanie Smith performing the works of Dvorak, Debussy, Barber and more. $10 - $15 Pacific School of Religion Chapel 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8280  

Music in Great Berkeley Houses March 31, 7 p.m. $35 Gwendolyn Mok, piano, and Jean-Michel Fonteneau, cello, will play the music of Frank Bridge, Debussy, and Poulenc. Palache House Reserved tickets required 841-2242 

The American Bach Soloists present “How Desolate Lies the City...” March 31, 8 p.m. The cantatas of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. $20 - $37 First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way 415-621-7900 

Jesus Diaz y su QBA March 31, 9:30 p.m. Cuban timba dance music. $12 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568  

Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble Brunch April 1, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free - $40 Santa Fe Bar & Grill 1310 University Ave. 527-8245 

Berkeley Broadway Singers present “From Broadway to Brazil” April 1, 4 p.m. Berkeley Broadway Singers is a 70-member chorus led by Ellen Hoffman. They will be singing Motown classics along with class Broadway showtunes Free Saint Ambrose Church 1145 Gilman St. 524-0107 

Music on Squirrel Hill presents Trio Accorde April 1, 7:30 p.m. $10 - $15 Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley One Lawson Road Kensington 525-0302 

Emergency String Quartet & Carlos Actis Dacto Solo April 1, 8 p.m. Part of the ACME Observatory Contemporary Music Series TUVA Space 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr. Way) 649-8744 

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for twenty years, the Hillbillies fuse rock n’ roll, swing, Latin and African beats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

UC Alumni Chorus presents “Bravo! Opera!” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A veritable Opera chorus smorgasbord with Bizet’s “Carmen,” Verdi’s “IL trovatore,” and Copland’s “The Tenderland.” $8 - $12 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 643-9645 

Young Emerging Artists Concert April 10, 7 - 8 p.m. The Young Musicians Program Jazz Combo will perform jazz standards and original compositions. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra presents “Under Construction No. 11” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A concert of new works by local composers, including Mary Stiles, Mark Winges, and David Sheinfeld. Free St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave.  

Theater 

“Little Shop of Horrors” Through Apri 1, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 2 p.m., no show Friday, March 23; $12 Berkeley Community Little Theatre Allston Way at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way Call 943-SHOW  

“The Oresteia” by Aeschylus Through 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 

“The Tempest” by William Shakespeare Through April 14, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Presented by Subterranean Shakespeare and directed by Stanley Spenger $8 - $10 LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre 1834 Euclid Ave. (at Hearst) 237-7415 

Action Movie: The Play Through April 21, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. Non-stop action and martial arts mayhem with comedy, surprise plot twists, and the occasional movie reference thrown in. $7 - $12 The Eighth Street Studio 2525 Eighth St. 464-4468 

Stagebridge presents the 10th annual Family Matinee Theatre and Ice Cream Social March 25 & April 1, 3 p.m. The premiere of Linda Spector’s “Strega Nona and Other Grandparent Tales,” with a cast aged 9 - 70. $4 - $8 First Congregational Church 2501 Harrison Oakland 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org.  

“Conversations in Commedia” March 28, 7:30 p.m. Featuring San Francisco Mime Troupe/Reinhabitory Theatre legends Judy Goldhaft, Jane Lapiner and moderator Peter Berg $6 - $8 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 849-2568 

Films 

“Dreamers” through March 24 The American feature film debut of Chinese-born writer/director Ann Lu. The executive producer of the film is UC Berkeley alumnus Peiti Feng Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck Ave. 848-1143 

“Earth” April 7, 7:30 p.m. A 1930 film, set in Ukraine, by Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko with an original music score created and performed by composer and musician Adrian Johnston. $7 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Regeneration” April 8, 5:30 p.m. The first feature-length gangster movie, filmed around 1915 on the streets of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the movie will have a new original music score created and performed by composer and musician Adrian Johnston. $7 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Lost & Found” Documentaries from the Graduate School of Journalism April 15, 5:30 p.m. Three documentaries from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism explore the possibility of redemption in the face of immeasurable loss. Lisa Munoz’s “Chavez Ravine,” Kelly St. John’s “In Forever Fourteen,” and Zsuzsanna Varga’s “Screw Your Courage.” Pacific Film Archive 2621 Durant Ave. 642-5249 

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 

“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 

“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 

“Sugar N’ Spice N’ Everything Nice: Live, Loves and Legacies of Women of Color” Through April 21, Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Works by Aissatoui Vernita, Flo Oy Wong, Tomoko Negishi, Consuelo Jimenez and many others. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth Street Oakland 763-9425 

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. Through April 12, Tuesday - Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m., Saturday Noon - 4 p.m. and by appointment. 548-9272 or www.wcrc.org 

Nylan Jeung and David Lippenberger Lippenberger renders figures in acrylic and Jeung work with ink and watercolor on rice paper, using traditional eastern techniques. Through April 7, Wednesday through Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

Recent Works of Narangkar Khalsa & Pete Glover Through March 31 !hey! Gallery 4920-B Telegraph Ave. Oakland 428-2349  

“The Art of Meadowsweet Dairy” Objects found in nature, reworked and turned into objects of art. Through May 15, call for hours; Opening reception: April 6, 6 - 9 p.m. Current Gallery at the Crucible 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511  

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” The art of Amy Berk and New Color Etchings by James Brown & Caio Fonseca March 28 - April 28, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception: March 28, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 or www.traywick.com 

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts & Paintings. Through August 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541 

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 March 25: Poetry of Beverly Matherne & A.J. Rathbun; March 28: Poetry of Craig Van Riper & Jaime Robles; April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay; April 11: Poetry of Kurt Brown & Al Young 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 27: Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck, author of “The Practical Nomad” will provide essential tips, advice, and consumer skills for the independent traveler; March 29: Katherine Widing, author of “Cycling France” will give a slide presentation/talk on just that; April 3: Environmental Activist David Bolling will give a slide presentation and talk on “Living and Dying on Everest: An Inside Look at Everest Expeditions and Environmental Issues”; April 5: Mary Olmstead will discuss “Hidden Wine Country” about the Napa-Sonoma-Mendocino areas; April 11: Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Peace Corps with regional recruiter Cristina Punzalan and Susana Herrera, author of “Mango Elephants in the Sun: How Life in an African Village Let Me Be In My Skin”; April 19: Bruce Feiler will discuss “Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses”; April 26: Julie Lavezzo will give a packing demonstration for a three week trip with two climates 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 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. 

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike March 25, 2 p.m. Featuring poet Paradise Berkeley Art Museum 2621 Durant (at Bowditch) 527-9753 

“Jewish Cooking in America” March 29, 7 p.m. Joan Nathan, author of this successful cookbook and PBS television series, will discuss her new book, “The Foods of Israel Today.” $18 - $50 Berkeley Hillel 2736 Bancroft Way 848-0414 

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

“Slam the Prisons” April 6, 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. A benefit for prison activism featuring Tang, Company of Prophets, Sheryl D. Mebane and many others. Proceeds benefit the defense of New Afrikan political prisoner Khalfani X. Khaldun and the Prison Activist Resource Center. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3205 Shattuck Ave. 898-0431  

Tours 

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

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2 848-7800  

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

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

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours All tours begin at 10 a.m. and are restricted to 30 people per tour $5 - $10 per tour April 29: Susan Schwartz leads a tour of the Berkeley Waterfront; May 12: Debra Badhia will lead a tour of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Arts District; May 19: John Stansfield & Allen Stross will lead a tour of the School for the Deaf and Blind; June 2: Trish Hawthorne will lead a tour of Thousand Oaks School and Neighborhood; June 23: Sue Fernstrom will lead a tour of Strawberry Creek and West of the UC Berkeley campus 848-0181 

Lectures 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag  

April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” 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 

California Colloquium on Water Scholars of distinction in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, law and environmental design speak about water resources and hopefully contribute to informed decisions on water in CA. April 10, 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.: “Understanding the Delta - An Engineering Perspective” Richard Denton, water manager of the Contra Costa Water District; May 8, 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.: “What Makes Water Wet?” Richard Saykally, professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley 212 O’Brien Hall, UC Berkeley 642-2666  

City Commons Club Lecture Series Fridays, 12:30 p.m. $1 general Students Free March 23: Guy Colwell, master painter of Nasters, will speak on “Using Painting to Teach Art History”; March 30: Jana Grittersova, professor of International Relations, UC Berkeley will speak on “The European Union - Integration and Expansion” Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 848-3533 

“Color, Color, Color” March 26, 7:30 p.m. A lecture by Christine Barnes which looks at three characteristics of color common to all quilts: Value, temperature and intensity. Free - $3 First Unitarian Church One Lawson Road Kensington 834-3706 

“The Monster of Troy: Fossil Discoveries In Classical Antiquity” April 1, 3 p.m. Adrienne Mayor will describe some literary and archaeological evidence for discoveries of the huge fossil remains of extinct animals in ancient Greece and Rome. 370 Dwinelle Hall UC Berkeley  

“The Gene’s Eye View of Creation” April 4 & 10, 4:10 p.m. Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins, a leading thinker in modern Darwinism, will deliver a lecture “The Genetic Book of the Dead” April 4 and “The Selfish Cooperator” April 10 International House Auditorium UC Berkeley  

California senior guards Courtney Johnson and Kenya Corley have been selected to participate in the WNBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago, April 5-7, at the Moody Bible Institute. The WNBA Pre-Draft Camp offers coaches and general managers the opportunity to evaluate the skills of prospective players prior to the WNBA Draft, which takes place April 20.  

“I’m happy that they both were rewarded by getting invitations to the WNBA combine,” said Cal coach Caren Horstmeyer. “If they play their games, there are coaches that are going to see how valuable they are to a team. I believe the WNBA is going to be looking for some guards this year. I am excited for the leadership that Courtney gives and the intense ability she has to compete. There are a number of teams she can add to from a point guard/two guard perspective.”  

Johnson, a product of Antioch, earned first team All-Pac-10 honors after putting together a stellar all-around senior year. She led the Pac-10 in steals (3.18 spg) and ranked among the league’s leaders in scoring (6th, 15.2 ppg), assists (9th, 3.54 apg) and assist-turnover ratio (9th, 0.97). 

A three-year captain, Johnson concluded her California career ranked 12th in school history with 1077 points and second in school and Pac-10 history with 286 steals. She also stands among the Bears career leaders for free throws made , free throws attempted , three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted.  

“We were scared to open (our letters),” said Johnson of the invitations to the draft camp. “Once we opened them, we were just thrilled. All this time while we’ve been working out, we’ve been telling ourselves that if we get there, then we’ll do the rest. Now, we have the opportunity to prove that we’re good players.”  

Corley earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 recognition for her career year with the Bears. The Lancaster native is second on the Bears and 12th in the conference with a career-best 12.8 ppg average. She also ranks ninth in the league for free throw percentage at 72.6 percent. Corley led the Bears in scoring in eight games this season, including a career-high 25 points in Cal’s 58-57 win at UCLA (Feb. 4). In Cal’s career record books, she’s tied for 10th for three-pointers made (43) and ranks 10th for three-pointers attempted (162).  

“With Kenya, she has been one of the most incredible athletes in the Pac-10. She has the athleticism of many WNBA players and can compete at that level and do very well,” Horstmeyer said. 

“We were both expecting the worst but hoping for the best,” said Corley. “We were so nervous. My hands were sweating. I want to be able to say that when the camp is done, that I played my best. I want to go out there and show them what I can do.”

By Ben Lumpkin 

Daily Planet Staff 

Berkeley’s school board approved a new “small learning community” at Berkeley High School Wednesday despite the firm opposition of board President Terry Doran, who questioned both the merits of the program and the way it was presented to the board. 

“I really felt blindsided,” Doran said Friday, explaining that he had been told by district staff just a few days before the meeting that the board would be voting to “study” the idea of the new learning community, not to implement the new school-within-a-school.  

Indeed, the item was listed on the meeting agenda as a vote for “approval of the on-going study of the Berkeley Academic Choice (B.A.C.)/International Baccalaureate Program for the Fall of 2001.” But Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch submitted a revised proposal Wednesday night asking the board to vote for actual implementation of the program in the Fall of 2001.  

Berkeley Unified School District Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone was visibly flustered by the move. 

“I have no recommendation at this point because frankly I don’t know where we are,” he said at the outset of discussion on the item Wednesday.  

Doran said Friday that there was a group of parents and Berkeley High staff members who were opposed to implementation of the program did not come to the meeting Wednesday because he had told them there would be no vote for implementation. 

“The board did not have the benefit of a group of parents and staff who had a different opinion of what was coming before them,” Doran said. “That disturbed me.” 

But other board members said at Wednesday’s meeting that they had come to the meeting expecting to vote on the question of implementation and were eager to do so. 

“I was going to make a motion like (the revised proposal) anyway,” said Board Director Joaquin Rivera.  

“We cannot let this energy just dissipate,” Rivera said, referring to the Berkeley High teachers who had drawn up the Academic Choice proposal and stood ready to begin its implementation Wednesday. 

Even after Wednesday’s vote, the Academic Choice/International Baccalaureate program is likely to remain at the heart of a simmering debate over how education reform ought to be accomplished at Berkeley High. 

Supporters say Academic Choice, the fourth small learning community to be implemented at Berkeley High, will focus on the higher level courses already available at Berkeley High, but will enhance students experience of these classes by creating a smaller, more supportive “academic” community.  

Small learning communities are en vogue all over the country as a way to give students options in school – rather than a one-size-fits all curriculum – and to increase their sense of belonging by placing them in the more intimate setting of small groups. 

Academic Choice would also eventually include the added curriculum of the International Baccalaureate program, a prestigious program in world affairs offered to juniors and seniors in more than 900 schools around the world.  

The program will be available to Berkeley High juniors and seniors next year and will expand to include sophomores the following year. 

“What we are doing is not new,” said Robert McKnight, chair of the African American Studies Department at Berkeley High and one of the first teachers to propose the Academic Choice program last fall. “It’s an affirmation of that which works at Berkeley High.” 

McKnight and other Academic Choice supporters said education reform at Berkeley High too often begins with the assumption that the school is not working. On the country, they said, Berkeley High is one of the top performing schools in the state – for many of its students. 

Still, statements like these have prompted Doran and others to wonder why the Academic Choice program is necessary at all. The idea behind small learning communities, they say, is to explore alternative curriculums precisely for those students who don’t learn well from the existing curriculum. 

“I’m still not convinced that this is different than anything that we have now that perpetuates the achievement gap at Berkeley High,” Doran said Wednesday, referring to the well established disparity in achievement between students of color and white students on standardized tests. 

Supporters of Academic Choice said after Wednesday’s meeting the group will address the achievement gap by agressively recruiting minorities into the program. It will bring minority students into a more challenging academic program than they have typically followed at Berkeley High, where AP class enrollment is overwhelmingly white and Asian. 

“We have a very high percentage of minority students who could succeed in AP classes, but these students have not been actively sought out and encouraged,” McKnight said. “It has not been expected of them to be able to succeed.” 

Berkeley High teacher Doug Powers said Academic Choice will aim to change a “culture” at Berkeley High school that takes for granted that white students achieve at higher levels than minority students.  

“At this moment Berkeley High does not provide a good community of support for all students to achieve at the same level,” Powers said. 

Still, Berkeley High parent Iris Starr said she would have to see it to believe it.  

“These teachers have been here for how many years,” Starr asked, referring to Academic Choice supporters. “What’s suddenly changed. They’ve done nothing to bring in students of color (into higher level classes).” 

Starr said the process of a group of teachers introduce an idea for a small learning community to the board for approval without any participation from parents or students is inherently suspect because these are the very teachers who’ve been unable to solve the achievement gap in the past. 

“There’s an attitude of, ‘We’re the professionals, let us do our job,’” Starr said. “And I think that’s fine if they were being effective.” 

Starr heads a committee of parents, students, teachers and administrators which, with the help of a $50,000 federal grant, has begun a comprehensive analysis of smaller learning communities and their potential uses at Berkeley High. 

Doran, a member of the committee, said the group will come up with a number of small community models by next fall that could help reduce the achievement gap, reduce violence on campus and improve student attendance, among other goals. The information will be used to apply for a $1 million federal grant next October to implement the small learning communities in the Fall of 2002, Doran said. 

“We need to not piecemeal change the school but work together in unison to change the school,” Doran said, adding that he was disappointed that Academic Choice supporters had opted to work outside of this process. 

Academic Choice supporters respond that they were simply following the same procedures other Berkeley High teachers used to launch small learning communities in the past. 

The City Council approved funds for an air monitoring study at Harrison Park to assess the health risk to children who play soccer at the field as well as residents of the area. 

The council adopted the resolution by a unanimous vote Tuesday, which will allow the city manager to enter into a contract with Applied Measurement Science, of Fair Oaks for $39,700.  

If the study finds high levels of particulate matter the field may have to be closed on  

certain days. 

A previous air study was done at the park in 1997 as part of the Environmental Impact Report required for the city’s purchase of the property from the University of California. That study, conducted by the Acurex Environmental Corp., found normal levels of carcinogens and other toxic materials. 

But the study detected above average amounts of solid particulate matter. The report concluded the high level of particulate matter was likely from auto emissions on Interstate 80, which runs along the west side of the park.  

Particulate matter is the generic term used for a type of air pollution 

that consists of complex and varying mixtures of particles suspended in the air we breathe. Particles are present everywhere, but high concentrations or specific types of particles have been found to present a serious danger to human health.  

The property was developed into multiple soccer fields, which are used by the Alameda Contra Costa Youth Soccer League. The league is comprised of players between the ages of seven and 18. 

The 1997 study was performed over the course of two days. Critics of the study said because of the limited time, the results would not take into consideration the impact of weather conditions especially wind.  

According to a written recommendation, the new AMS study, “includes around-the-clock measurements in all weather conditions and seasons.” 

Parks and Waterfront project manager Ed Murphy said the primary reason for the new study is to determine if there are greater health risks during certain weather conditions. He said if the study shows evidence of health risk, the city’s response would depend on a health consultant’s advice. 

In addition to the unknown weather impacts, a nearby section of the freeway was widened and the council report estimates a 20 percent increase in traffic volume during peak hours. 

“We’re going to do what the health consultant recommends,” Murphy said. “Depending on how big the problem is, we’d have to warn parents who have children with respiratory diseases and possibly close the field during certain weather conditions.” 

City Hazardous Materials Supervisor Nabil Al-Hadithy said the kids who play soccer at the field are only in the area for a short period of time and the study may detect health risks for people who live in the area. 

Community Environmental Commissioner LA Wood said the 1997 study showed there were traces of chromium in the air around the field. He said he tried to get the Parks and Waterfront, the CEAC and the City Council to address the chromium but was told it was not an issue. 

Some forms of chromium can cause cancer if inhaled or ingested. Wood said the study did not specify what type of chromium it discovered. 

Dr. Eric D. Winegar, of Applied Measurement Science, who is conducting the new study, said it is likely low levels of chromium would be found in most cities – not just Berkeley. 

Winegar said the objective of the new study is to compare the amounts of particulate matter against state and local air quality standards. He said the study will estimate the amount of particulate matter in hourly averages over 24-hour periods and the real-time results will be posted on the web during the course of the study. The URL of the site has not been announced yet. 

Berkeley history buffs will have another place to collect research on the 123-year-old city once the public library unveils its local history room when the doors of its newly retrofitted home on Kittredge Street open this summer.  

In the meantime, librarians are planning on how best to organize historical material in the former magazine alcove near the reading room. The room will include maps, newspapers, city documents, yearbooks, artifacts such as matchbooks and political buttons, telephone books, postcards, posters, videos, photographs and even menus. 

“The history of the food revolution is an important part of Berkeley,” said Sayre  

Van Young, a librarian in the  

reference department.  

Van Young said the food revolution was the movement towards lighter, healthier and better food. 

“It all started in Berkeley. Berkeley has a number of nationally famous restaurants. It’s more than just Chez Panisse, which is probably internationally famous,” she said.  

Before the library moved into its temporary quarters on Alston Way 30 months ago, much of its historical material was located throughout the library and in storage.  

Right now, Van Young has a stack of boxes right next to her desk on the second level of the library.  

“Our library always collected historical material about Berkeley but no space,” she said.  

What the new local history room will provide is one central place for historical research. Amid chairs and tables, Van Young said there will be, “a great deal of marble and oak.” 

Van Young is a history buff herself – she is interested in England during World War II, specifically London and the blitz – but said the nuances of one’s hometown social history is particularly intriguing.  

The library has plenty of historical material, but Van Young said she is looking for donations of items such as business cards, flyers, magazines and postcards to make the collection more complete.  

“We’ll have every book ever written about Berkeley, Chamber of Commerce pamphlets, all sorts of really neat things,” she said. 

Because the room is in a library, most items in the collection will be printed and Van Young said she’s not really interested in displaying artifacts. She said she’ll leave that to Berkeley’s Historical Society which already runs a museum over on Center Street. 

Van Young sees the room as complementary to the society and the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. 

“Both are marvelous and focused,” she said. “We want to be colleagues not competitors.” 

Next month, the three organizations will meet to see how each can work with each other, according to Ken Cardwell, society president emeritus. 

“We’ll be glad to see it. It will be another source for people coming here to do research,” Cardwell said.

By Susan Cerny 

Until the 1920s there was no zoning; people lived very near their work, sometimes in the same building or on the same property. The legacy of this, are the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century homes, some large and others small, interspersed among warehouses and factories in west Berkeley. 

The photograph above is of the Edward Niehaus House located at 839 Channing Way. It was built in the 1880s within sight of Niehaus’ West Berkeley Planning Mill, which produced the kind of woodwork displayed on his house. It is west Berkeley's largest and most elaborate surviving Victorian.  

The house is especially distinctive because of its unique three-story tower with elaborate dormers on all four sides. The house is also richly decorated with a wide range of decorative patterns including paneled friezes, pendented brackets, fish-scale shingle patterns, latticework arches and porch railings. 

There are particularly fine sunflower relief panels on the second floor of the gable ends.  

Susan Cerny writes ‘Berkeley Observed’ for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association

SAN FRANCISCO — Just blocks from Haight-Ashbury, where free love and anti-war demonstrations reigned in the 1960s, students and faculty are protesting again, saying their voices are being silenced by the “brutal” actions of a university president. 

At stake is the future of the St. Ignatius Institute, a conservative Catholic “great books” program within the comparatively liberal Jesuit-run University of San Francisco whose faculty and students have always identified more with Vatican doctrine than university policies. 

Since its founding 25 years ago, the institute has been a significant voice for conservative Catholics nationally, even as important elements of mainstream American Catholicism tried to distance themselves from Rome. 

But the institute – which offers an alternative curriculum emphasizing “traditional Catholic theology” for about 150 of USF’s 7,000 students – also has been considered “separatist” by university administrators. 

USF’s new president, the Rev. Stephen Privett, abruptly fired its directors in January, saying that the institute must be integrated into the rest of USF and that consolidating its separate admissions and study-abroad programs would save money. 

Six of the 17 faculty members quickly resigned from the institute in protest (although they still teach at the university), and weeks of demonstrations followed, along with a letter-writing campaign and newspaper ads. 

They urged USF’s board of trustees to overrule Privett and rehire institute director John Galten and assistant director John Hamlon. 

But Privett still enjoys the support of the board, which on Friday voted 30-2 to affirm the president’s decisions. 

Privett, in a lengthy statement to the USF community, dismissed his critics as “self-appointed guardians ... of authentic Catholicism.” 

“The main reason was that in my judgment neither person had the academic credentials to run an academic program,” Privett added in an interview. “By disposition, these are not the people who are going to take the program in the direction I want it to go.” 

USF, founded in 1855, has a picturesque hilltop campus with vistas of the San Francisco Bay. Like many U.S. Jesuit universities, it prides itself on diversity and theological freedom. According to Privett, a “one size fits all” approach to theology is contrary to the Catholic tradition. 

Galten, a co-founder of the institute who has taught at USF for 24 years, said Privett’s real motivation was to squelch a prominent conservative Catholic voice at a time when Catholic universities are debating how to comply with new requirements from the Vatican. 

“What it’s really about is this battle of the church trying to restore its presence and its leadership in education. It’s about Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” said Galten. 

The Ex Corde is a decree issued by Pope John Paul more than a decade ago that laid out general principles for Catholic higher education. U.S. bishops and administrators at America’s 235 Roman Catholic colleges and universities have struggled with it ever since. 

In an effort to force compliance with the Ex Corde, the Vatican this year will begin requiring university theologians to get a mandate from the local bishop in order to teach, giving bishops, and ultimately the pope, more leverage to stem dissent against church policy. 

Most U.S. university administrators have objected, saying the “mandate” is a threat to academic freedom. 

Faculty at the Saint Ignatius Institute, however, signed the “mandatum” gladly, according to Kim Summerhays, a chemistry and computer science professor who resigned in protest. 

“We pledge allegiance, so to speak, to this magisterium of the church,” Summerhays said. 

“Our feeling is that the church has always had good reasons for the positions it’s taken on social issues, and faith and morality. Our goal is to elucidate those ... but never to publicly dissent from the church’s teaching.” 

Other prominent Jesuits reject Galten and others’ claims that Privett was making a statement to Rome by reorganizing the institute. 

“Certainly it doesn’t represent any rejection of Ex Corde Ecclesiae. I don’t think there’s any basis for that,” said the Rev. Charles Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C. 

Like the church whose twin steeples tower over the 55-acre campus, the St. Ignatius Institute is named after the saint who founded the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. 

Supporters say the “great books” program has high academic standards, following a centuries-old Jesuit curriculum. Students can take classes such as “Catholic Tradition I” and “Vocation to Marriage and Family” to fulfill general education requirements. Activities include spiritual retreats, masses and apostolic activities. 

Joe Marti, a student at USF who has completed the St. Ignatius program, said his classmates feel like they’ve been cheated. 

“The institute wants to do its own thing. It just has always enjoyed its freedom to have its own curriculum, to have its own spirituality,” Marti said. 

What worries them most is that the new director Privett installed is a junior faculty member who lacks tenure. 

“How is a non-tenured leader going to make decisions that may not be popular with the university?” Marti asked. 

Planned changes include joint activities with other Catholic Studies students at USF, eliminating exclusive Natural Science courses, adding a literature course, and a speaker series. 

Opponents of Privett’s decision say it will mean the loss of future St. Ignatius students. 

“The only reason I really wanted to go there was the St. Ignatius institute,” said Nick Campbell of El Segundo, who had planned to attend USF in the fall. “They changed all the fundamental things, so I decided I just couldn’t go there.” 

If you ask the institute students themselves, they say they’re close knit because of a philosophical agreement. “We approach faith in a similar way,” said Michael Murphy. 

That isolation was a factor in the dismissals. Privett said when the institute held masses, “they would go off campus and would not allow any official to preside, which created the perception that they were separatists.” 

Galten, who says he has battled with the university over theological differences since the institute was founded, thinks the conflict runs deeper than a problem of social cliques. 

“I just think we look too Catholic in a school that has lost much of its Catholic nature,” Galten said. “I think we look like an embarrassment.” 

On the Net: 

http://www.friendsofsii.com 

http://www.usfca.edu/sii 

http://www.usfca.edu/president/QA.html 

SAN FRANCISCO — Kris Haworth pounds away at her keyboard into the wee hours of the night, navigating a labyrinth of computer data, searching for evidence, a smoking gun. 

FBI and CIA baseball caps – gifts from friends – are propped on top of her computer monitor, and though Haworth doesn’t carry a badge, her abilities rival the best sleuths in either agency. 

Haworth, who runs Deloitte & Touche’s computer forensics lab in San Francisco, is one of a growing number of cyber avengers in the private sector, helping companies fight computer crimes that the government is ill-equipped to prosecute or that companies would rather not report in the first place. 

Companies are turning to these specialists for all kinds of private detective work: pinpointing internal sources of misstated earnings or trade secret theft; gathering evidence for hacking cases; disputing legal claims of wrongful termination or sexual harassment; or uncovering improper Internet usage by employees. 

The flourishing crop of gumshoes are armed with powerful tracking and data-mining software previously used only by authorities. Deloitte & Touche, for instance, recently added to its arsenal SilentRunner, a program first created by Raytheon Corp. for U.S. intelligence agencies. The computer surveillance tool can invisibly capture and analyze, from storage or in real-time, all activity on a company’s computer network. 

“We could find or recover anything on a hard drive,” Haworth said. “Somewhere in that system, your electronic fingerprints remain. Short of taking your hard drive and having it run over by a Mack truck, you can’t ever be sure that anything is truly deleted from your computer.” 

Some of the forensic handiwork becomes the basis of companies’ reports to federal agencies. 

A recent example: The board of directors for a $5 billion company suspected revenues were being inflated, and Haworth fished out and pieced together incriminating e-mails thought to have been deleted. Criminal indictments against several company executives followed. 

But a large portion of the work from Haworth and her corporate colleagues – many of them ex-federal agents or prosecutors – never reaches law enforcement logs or the public eye. 

“The reality is that business organizations don’t want to share information with the government and when they experience a problem from an external or internal threat, they frequently want to handle it themselves,” said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America. Companies don’t want to divulge their vulnerabilities or computer security tactics to their competitors or stockholders, and sometimes not even their own employees. 

Added Howard Schmidt, Microsoft Corp.’s chief security officer and a veteran military investigator: “All the law enforcement agencies out there don’t have the people trained to do this kind of work and to handle all the potential victims that may be out there.” 

Financial losses from computer crimes increased to $378 million in 2000 from $265 million in 1999, and 85 percent of businesses and government agencies detected computer security breaches in the year 2000, according to an annual survey by San Francisco’s Computer Security Institute and the FBI. Yet only a little more than a third of 345 respondents said they reported the computer attacks to law enforcement. 

Many times only lawyers or corporate officers know about the data electronically gleaned from these private cyber spooks and use it to either quash or spur civil litigation. 

Another case in point: A construction equipment supplier hired Deloitte & Touche when it threatened to file a trade secret lawsuit against a former high-ranking sales employee, alleging he had taken a multimillion dollar client with him when he joined a competitor. Haworth traced the former worker’s company e-mails to his outside Yahoo! e-mail account. The unauthorized e-mails contained internal copies of non-flattering company documents. The case settled out of court. 

“In my world, we find the smoking gun and give it to the attorneys,” Haworth said. 

Reliable statistics measuring the overall growth of the private computer forensic industry are hard to find, but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence. 

New Technologies Inc. of Gresham, Ore., known as NTI, was one of the nation’s first private companies to specialize in computer forensics when founded in 1996 by a group of ex-feds who were pioneers in the field, including Michael Anderson, a 25-year IRS criminal investigator who has trained thousands of law enforcement and military workers on computer-tracking techniques. 

Today, NTI trains and assists not only government agents but also hundreds from the private sector, specifically specialists at the Big Five accounting and consulting firms and Fortune 500 companies. Not a day passes without NTI rejecting a training request from other civilian workers, hoping to somehow cash in on the lucrative profession, said Scott Stevens, the company’s vice president of marketing. 

Deloitte & Touche, which charges $250 an hour and pegs the average price of a basic forensic job at $25,000, more than doubled its nationwide forensics staff from 40 in 1998 to 100 today. It opened its first computer forensics lab in Dallas in 1999; opened its second in San Francisco last month; and will open another shortly in Chicago. Still more are planned to provide the space needed to house the equipment used to gather, store, and analyze massive amounts of data taken from computer hard-drives. 

Ernst & Young started with one lab in 1998 and now has six in the United States, one in Canada and one in London. 

“We saw a growing need in the marketplace,” said Kristopher Sharrar, a former Air Force investigator and now Ernst & Young’s national leader of computer forensic services. “Businesses were getting hacker intrusions and network viruses, and our clients are now looking at us to provide litigation advisory services, and almost every time, they say we believe electronic discovery will be part of the process.” 

Computer forensics in the private sector will only grow as society increasingly communicates and carries out business on digital devices. In addition, a federal court rule adopted in December requires litigants to turn over discovery whether it’s in paper or digital format. In the past, lawyers had to hassle with getting a judge’s approval before pursuing their opponents’ digital documents such as e-mail or computer memos. 

“These developing forensic technologies are as important to discovery as the Xerox machine,” said Emmett Stanton of Fenwick & West, a Palo Alto-based law firm that represents high-tech companies. “It’s not a question of ’Will e-mail or electronic evidence be important?’ It’s a question of ’How important will it be?”’

A California judge set a Sept. 17 trial date for a case in which Ford Motor Co. is accused of equipping most of its 1983-1995 vehicles with faulty ignition devices, which made them prone to stalling. 

The move came five months after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Ballachey ordered a recall of the nearly two million cars still on the road as part of a high-profile California class action suit against the automaker. 

While the judge ordered the recall, it’s up to a jury to decide whether to award damages, which could amount to billions of dollars. 

The suit challenges Ford’s placement of the thick film ignition (TFI) module, which regulates electric current to the spark plugs.  

In 300 models sold between 1983 and 1995, the module was mounted on the distributor near the engine  

block, where it was exposed to  

high temperatures. 

Last year Ballachey found that Ford was warned by an engineer that high temperatures would cause the device to fail and stall the engine. Internal documents show that Ford confirmed the problem and could have moved the module to a cooler spot for an extra $4 per vehicle. 

Ballachey said Ford concealed the information from federal safety regulators, who were studying hundreds of complaints about Ford vehicles stalling. The government found no safety problems with the modules and Ford publicly denies any problems with the modules. 

The recall, ordered in October, has not yet happened. A plan to replace the older modules with modern, heat-resistant versions has not been approved by the judge. 

Similar suits are pending in other states and could develop into a nationwide class action suit, affecting about 20 million vehicles.

SAN FRANCISCO — In the wake of soaring HIV statistics surrounding the nation’s gay black men, a panel of educators came together Thursday to admit their failures and discuss strategies to help curb the rate of contraction. 

“These people are coming to us to get HIV testing or to get screened for (sexually transmitted diseases),” said Lucia Torian, from the New York City Department of Health. “They are in our offices. They’re in our clinics. We are even counseling them. What’s going on?” 

Torian spoke to a packed conference room as part of the 13th National HIV/AIDS Update Conference. She said a recent Young Men’s Survey in New York showed one in every three black men sampled were HIV positive, even though they had less sexual partners than white men ages 23 to 29. 

Torian said gay black men as a group held the highest rates of infection from 1989-1999. 

“This is an incidence rate in men who have sex with men that we have not seen since the late 1980s. So we have our work cut out for us,” Torian said. “And we may be on the leading edge of the epidemic.” 

San Francisco’s gay black HIV prevalence rates are comparable with an estimated 54.6 percent of the population spanning all age groups, said Willi McFarland from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. 

“It’s an astonishing figure, and we’re not entirely sure how to answer it,” he said. “It’s one of the highest for any group in the city.” Black transgender men in San Francisco have a 60 percent to 65 percent prevalence rate, McFarland said. 

Susan Kegeles, of the University of San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, spoke on the panel about ideas for a program to attract the troubled demographic. She heads the Mpowerment Project, hailed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the only effective intervention program for young gay and bisexual men, which uses peer groups in various cities to create a dialogue and a safe place for men to talk about sex. 

Now, she said, the key will be coming up with a similar program that targets and attracts the black gay community. 

“There’s an enormous complacency about contracting HIV,” Kegeles said. “It’s not a big issue anymore. People still remain healthy and strong: They think they can take two pills in the morning and two pills at night.” 

Kegeles said the gay black community hasn’t been studied sufficiently, and it needs to be examined more closely because gay black men do not necessarily frequent mainstream gay bars and other venues. In addition, she said there’s a larger stigma attached to black homosexuals. Many do not even admit they have sex with other men, Kegeles explained. 

Leniere Miley, assistant coordinator at the House of Latex Project in New York, said it’s important to seek out black gay men and educate them about the risks of unsafe sex in a message that appeals to them. He said it’s a tough job that goes far beyond simply sponsoring hip-hop dances and posters depicting black culture. 

“People have different ways of communicating and hearing things,” Miley said. “Maybe the people in the black community couldn’t hear it. It has to be tailored to the communities they’re going to.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

www.amfar.org 

VENTURA — Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, who has accused her ex-husband and ex-boyfriend of trying to blackmail her, said she was incensed to learn the two men were threatening to tell the tabloids that she neglected her three children. 

The 40-year-old mother, who became a household name after a blockbuster movie about her came out last year, cried Thursday as she testified in the extortion and conspiracy case against attorney John Reiner. 

Reiner represented her ex-husband, Shawn Brown, and ex-boyfriend, Jorg Halaby, and all three were arrested in a sting operation. 

Prosecutors maintain that Reiner and his clients tried to blackmail Brockovich and her boss, lawyer Ed Masry, for $310,000 in exchange for not telling the media that she was a bad mother and that they had a sexual relationship. Prosecutors later dropped charges against Brown and Halaby without explanation. 

Masry and Brockovich have denied having an affair. 

The film “Erin Brockovich,” which has been nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, tells the story of a divorced mother who helps secure a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric for polluting ground water. 

Defense attorneys contend that Reiner thought he was involved in a legitimate business deal, and that his clients intended to get money from Universal Studios, not Masry and Brockovich. They also have suggested that Brown never meant to attack his ex-wife’s character, but rather wanted to set the record straight that he was a good father. 

Brockovich, Masry and Halaby were portrayed in the movie and received money for their rights. In their contracts, they agreed not to say anything derogatory about the film. Brown did not have a contract and was angry that he was depicted in the movie as a deadbeat dad. 

“He was very upset,” Masry testified before Brockovich took the stand. “Jorg got money, Erin got money, I got money and he didn’t get any. There’s no question Shawn wanted money from the studio.” 

Reiner contacted Universal to ask them to give Brown a contract, but the studio attorney said he was not interested because Brown was not a character in the film and was not referred to by name. 

Brockovich, who divorced Brown in the late 1980s, said the mention of her ex-husband in the film as “useless” was accurate. She testified he served time in prison twice, had a drinking problem and rarely paid child support. Brockovich had sole custody of her children and said she closely monitored their visits with Brown. 

Brockovich also testified she was worried that Brown and Halaby were dragging her children into the demand for money. 

Brockovich testified she learned Brown had told their daughter that Brockovich only got ahead by sleeping with Masry. 

“I was terrified,” she testified, that her children “were being used as pawns.”

SAN DIEGO — With the nation’s schools facing a shortage of teachers, first lady Laura Bush urged retiring military personnel Friday to consider a new career in teaching. 

“Men and women of the United States military, you answered the call to serve your country,” she said. “As you prepare to leave the military, we ask you to turn your attention to the homefront, to Uncle Sam’s classrooms, where we need your service as teachers.” 

Bush endorsed a 7-year-old program, “Troops to Teachers,” which helps retiring military personnel obtain their teaching certificates and find jobs. 

The government plans to increase funding for the program from $3 million to $30 million, said Bush, who spoke to Navy personnel on a pier along the San Diego waterfront. 

The appearance, which included Troops to Teachers participants and their students, wrapped up a two-day tour of Southern California. On Thursday, Bush, a former school librarian and second grade teacher, visited an elementary school in Los Angeles and urged students at a college to embrace teaching as a career. 

The Census Bureau reported Friday that a record 49 million students are in the nation’s schools, the largest since 1971. The Education Department says that number is expected to grow to 53.5 million by 2005. 

At the same time, a generation of teachers who began their careers in the 1960s and 1970s are approaching retirement. 

Bush said teachers are especially wanted in the inner city and rural districts. Those with backgrounds in math, science and engineering are “desperately needed.” 

She praised military veterans as having the ideal training and experience for teaching: an ability to overcome challenges, set goals and achieve results. 

“You’re tremendous role models, with a sense of duty, honor and country that our children need to emulate,” she said. 

Nearly 4,000 people have participated in the Troops to Teachers program since it was formed in 1994, in the midst of the nation’s military downsizing. 

Participants have an average age of 41, with 85 percent of them men and 33 percent ethnic or racial minorities.

SACRAMENTO — Natural gas costs six times more in California than in neighboring states, leaving residents worried about paying their bills and businesses struggling to recoup the high costs without losing customers, lawmakers were told Friday. 

The testimony came at a hearing opening the Assembly’s investigation of the state’s soaring natural gas prices, including whether market manipulation helped drive up costs and worsen the state’s energy crisis. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customer Gladys Cook of Sacramento told the committee her natural gas bill rose from about $47 or $57 a month last year at this time to $344 in February and $112 this month. 

“It was just a terrific shock, especially after the Christmas holiday and everything,” said Cook, who lives with her 87-year-old mother, a retired teacher. Cook said they turned down the heat and water heater to try to reduce their bills. 

Natural gas that sells for $5.25 elsewhere sells for nearly $30 at the California border, said Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, chairman of the Assembly Energy Oversight Subcommittee. 

“We’re going to examine every possible reason for the price spike,” he said. 

The soaring prices are especially worrisome to growers who use natural gas to heat greenhouses in winter so they will have garden plants to sell in the spring, said Mike Vukelich, founder of the Color Spot Nurseries of Northern California. 

Vukelich said his gas bill rose from about $518,000 a month to more than $1 million for six nurseries. His company sells to large chain stores, such as Target, Walmart and Home Depot, that won’t pay more, he said. 

The cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach each filed lawsuits this week, accusing several gas companies of conspiring to drive up prices by limiting supply. 

And Sweetie’s, a San Francisco bar, filed a class-action lawsuit Friday accusing several natural gas companies of manipulating California’s natural gas market to unfairly drive up prices. 

The lawsuits say Southern California Gas Co., San Diego Gas and Electric, El Paso Natural Gas Co., Sempra Energy, El Paso Corp. and affiliated companies decided in a Phoenix hotel room in 1996 to block construction of gas pipelines that could have helped the state avoid its power crisis. 

Rick Morrow, vice president of customer service for Southern California Gas Co., denied executives at the Phoenix meeting with El Paso Gas representatives were conspiring to drive up gas prices. 

“There was no mystery to the meeting,” he said. “What is being alleged is absolutely false.” 

Morrow said his company’s customers are seeing far less of an increase in gas prices because SoCal Gas has long-term shipping contracts. 

The collusion allegations are being probed by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who is also looking into high electricity prices. Lockyer this week told state senators he has subpoenaed several documents from power suppliers; he said he could not share those records with lawmakers. 

The state Senate plans hearings next month to investigate whether electricity suppliers withheld power to raise prices. 

FERC, which Davis and many lawmakers contend isn’t doing enough to control California’s energy prices, declined to send a representative to the Assembly hearings.  

Friday’s hearing is expected to be the first of several. High natural gas prices – blamed by the state’s two largest utilities for nearly $14 billion in losses – are a key factor in the state’s energy crisis, but by no means the only one. 

A tight electricity supply, due in part to maintenance at California power plants and scarce hydroelectricity in the Pacific Northwest, has caused rolling blackouts four times this year, including twice this week. The state had sufficient power to avoid alerts Friday. 

The alternative power industry has been hit doubly hard in recent months. 

Many small natural gas-fired plants haven’t been paid by Southern California Edison since November. PG&E has been paying its alternative energy providers only about 15 cents for each dollar they are owed. 

Several of those plants shut down earlier this week because they haven’t been paid. 

The loss of those 3,100 megawatts of power – enough for about 2.3 million homes – was a major factor in rolling blackouts this week that hit Southern California for the first time. A measure aimed at putting those alternative energy providers back on the state’s power grid stalled in the Assembly on Friday. 

The bill, approved by the Senate, would direct the Public Utilities Commission to set prices for smaller renewable energy providers, including solar, wind and cogeneration plants. 

It would also let the PUC force Edison and PG&E to pay those small plants. 

Jerry Bloom, an attorney for the California Co-generation Council, said the bill wouldn’t help cogeneration plants, which typically use natural gas plus another form of energy such as steam, because the price isn’t tied to the changing price of natural gas. 

“It all but guarantees they will go out of business,” he said. 

Legislators were considering altering the bill to include different prices for cogeneration and renewable-energy plants. 

The measure failed to win a two-thirds majority in the Assembly Thursday, when Republicans balked at two other energy issues it included. 

The other sections would have put the state first in line among Edison’s and PG&E’s creditors, aiding its efforts to borrow $10 billion to buy electricity on the utilities’ behalf, and capped electricity rates for large San Diego utility customers. 

CalEnergy spokesman Jay Lawrence said alternative-energy plants are carefully watching the legislation’s progress. 

There is still talk among them about the possibility of forcing Edison into bankruptcy, Lawrence said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

California ISO: www.caiso.com 

www.assembly.ca.gov 

EL CAJON — A student accused of opening fire at his high school and wounding five people this week simulated guns with his hands and made a reference to “Columbine” in class earlier this year, another student said Friday. 

The account came as officials alleged that Jason Hoffman, 18, targeted a vice principal in Thursday’s shooting at Granite Hills High School and that he will likely be charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. 

In addition, a source said Hoffman was involved in a previous classmate assault and was ordered to enroll in an anger management program, 

Bernadette Roberts, 18, said that in January some girls were making noise in a classroom and Hoffman appeared to become frustrated, put his hands in the shape of guns and stated, “I wish I could do Columbine all over again.” 

“When he said it it really shook me up,” Roberts said. 

In 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves 

Roberts said she told her teacher and in early February met with Vice Principal Dan Barnes, who asked if she believed she needed protection. She said she declined and did not know what steps the district took. 

Officials of Grossmont Union High School District did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment Friday afternoon. 

Police Chief James Davis said investigators were aware of the report. 

“They are looking into it,” he said, but he would not comment further. 

The vice principal was not harmed in the attack, but three students and two teachers were hit by shotgun pellets, none seriously. 

Hoffman was charged when he was 14 with assault with a deadly weapon after he struck a fellow student in the head with a racquetball racket at his middle school, according to a source familiar with the case. 

But the victim was not seriously injured and the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. Hoffman was given probation and ordered to attend an anger management class, said the source, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. 

The attack at Granite Hills was the second school shooting in San Diego County this month. Two boys were killed and 13 people were wounded March 5 at Santana High School in nearby Santee, allegedly by a 15-year-old boy. 

Hoffman, shot in the jaw and buttocks by a campus police officer, was in good condition Friday at Sharp Memorial Hospital, spokeswoman Eileen Cornish said. 

The lower wound was superficial, but his jaw was shattered. He had five hours of surgery Thursday and was questioned by police afterward, Cornish said. 

He was to expected to stay in the hospital three more days. He was under guard in the intensive care unit pending a move to a private room, she said. 

Hoffman’s mother went to the hospital Thursday evening, but authorities said she could not see her son until after his arraignment, Cornish said. 

Hoffman will probably be charged with one count of attempted premeditated murder and four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, with gun allegations attached to all counts, San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst said. 

If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison plus 47 years, Pfingst said. Hoffman will likely be arraigned next week, depending on his condition. 

Officials outlined the case against Hoffman at a news conference but would not provide details of the alleged motive. 

“All we can say about the motive is that by the virtue of the charges, the focus of this individual was the vice principal,” Pfingst said. “The suspect’s actions were focused on the vice principal.” 

The police chief said Hoffman pulled up in front of the school in a pickup at 12:55 p.m. after skipping morning classes.  

He had a 12-gauge shotgun in his hand and a .22-caliber handgun in his waistband, police said. 

One shot was fired at Barnes, who escaped harm by ducking into an office. 

Officer Richard Agundez gave chase and fired up to five rounds, hitting Hoffman twice and his shotgun once, disabling it, police said. 

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Hoffman then collapsed in a street. 

The shooting lasted 90 seconds, officials said. 

Early accounts indicated that Agundez had a gunbattle with the gunman, but officials said Friday that the gunman did not shoot at the officer. 

Police Lt. Fred Morrison said investigators were trying to determine who owned the shotgun and handgun as well as a black powder, muzzle-loading gun found at Hoffman’s home. Computers were also seized there, he said. 

Friday’s classes at Granite Hills were canceled, and Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Granger Ward urged parents to come with their children when classes resume Monday. 

“I really think we need to reclaim our school,” Ward said. 

Descriptions of the suspect varied. 

The powerfully built student is a loner intimidating enough to be called “The Rock,” said Sean Connacher, 18, a senior. 

“He always just seemed like an angry person. I always saw him walking around alone with a scowl on his face,” Connacher said. “Nobody picked on this kid because he was so intimidating.” 

But he is also known as a kid so concerned about his schoolwork that he got upset with classmates who didn’t pull their weight on projects and stewed about earning enough credits to graduate. 

At the school, workers repaired damage from the shooting, replacing a window and repainting walls and a door at the administration building. 

WASHINGTON — America’s foreign-born population increased to as much as 30 million during the 1990s, the Census Bureau said in an estimate higher than previously forecast. 

The number of new immigrants who arrived in the country the past decade also may be higher than expected, according to senior bureau officials who are in the early stages of trying to determine how big a role immigration played in the 2000 census. 

The latest immigration estimate of 11 million to 12 million surpassed an earlier forecast by at least 2.5 million. Also, the revised bureau figure of at least 30 million foreign-born residents – 11 percent of the country’s 281 million people – was 1.7 million higher than previously estimated. 

Both the Census Bureau and the Immigration and Naturalization Service warned Thursday that the new estimates were preliminary and could change once more extensive data is released later this year. 

“From every indication we’ve had, we’ve done a better job of counting,” said Robert Warren, INS research coordinator. But he said that until more numbers come in, all the estimates are “highly speculative.” 

Still, the news reignited old debates over how strictly to curb immigration. Critics said tighter measures were necessary to help ease the burden on school systems struggling to meet the demands of a more diverse student population, and reduce the number of illegal workers in the unskilled labor market. 

Pro-immigration groups urged lawmakers to provide local communities and school districts with additional money for bilingual education and social services. 

“It’s in all of our interests to provide them with the tools to be full participants and full contributors to our society,” said Josh Bernstein, senior policy analyst with the National Immigration Law Center. 

Figuring out immigration is key in the bureau’s study of why the latest national head count of 281 million came in 2 million higher than a previous population estimate but 3 million below the total found in a separate survey following the census. 

Much of that discrepancy could be due to a higher-than-expected count of Hispanics, said J. Gregory Robinson, chief of the bureau’s population analysis staff. The 2000 census count of 35.3 million Hispanics nationwide was about 2.5 million higher than estimated. 

Explosive Hispanic growth was evident over the decade in traditional immigrant destinations like New York and Texas, as well as less traditional states like Iowa and Arkansas. 

Some of the increase may have been due to a massive bureau outreach campaign to immigrants to boost the level of response to census questionnaires. The census form did not ask for the respondent’s legal status. 

Therefore, it was still unclear exactly how many of the new immigrants over the 1990s were undocumented, Robinson said. “We understated immigration, but how much more it may be ... we are doing research on that.” 

A separate estimate from Steve Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, based on 2000 census and INS data placed the number of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States over the past decade at roughly 5 million, for a total of 7 million illegal aliens living in this country. 

That is higher than older estimates that have placed the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country last year at about 6 million. 

Camarota, whose group favors stricter immigration controls, said the figures once again prove the federal government must strengthen immigration enforcement at border crossings and in the interior of the country, and crack down on businesses that hire undocumented immigrants. 

The percentage of Americans who are foreign-born has steadily increased since 1970, when 4.7 percent of the population was born outside the country.

WASHINGTON — Getting immediate tax relief to Americans might not be as easy as it sounds, even if Congress and President Bush can bridge political differences and agree on $60 billion in tax cuts this year. 

Options that include withholding less taxes from paychecks, mailing more than 100 million rebate checks or even giving taxpayers a holiday all present logistical challenges. Under the best of circumstances, much of the year will slip away by the time the money reaches people’s pockets. 

“It’s hard to do. The year’s over very quickly,” said Clint Stretch of the DeLoitte & Touche accounting firm. 

As the economy falters, Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are rallying around the idea of tax relief this year. But they disagree on whether to pass cuts for 2001 as a stand-alone bill or attach them to Bush’s 10-year, across-the-board income tax cuts. 

Traveling Friday in Maine, Bush endorsed the idea of accelerated relief but insisted that Congress pass his entire tax package at the $1.6 trillion level he has insisted upon all along. The Bush income tax bill passed by the House contains less than $6 billion in tax relief for 2001. 

“I think we can accelerate tax relief, we should accelerate tax relief, and keep the size of the tax relief package at the same level,” Bush said. “I’m confident we can do both.” 

Democrats, on the other hand, want to focus on just the $60 billion for this year and debate later the other components of Bush’s plan, which they consider too large and too skewed toward high-income taxpayers. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, said Congress could pass the 2001 relief by early April. 

“We have the right idea at the right time,” Conrad said. “Let’s not hold this stimulus package hostage to a 10-year budget plan, one that is fatally flawed.” 

Assuming some agreement on a 2001 tax cut is reached, it’s likely it would be late May at the earliest – and that would be an extraordinary feat – before a bill was ready for Bush to sign. Then come a whole host of challenges. 

The most likely way to get the tax cuts out, one that has been used in the past, is for the Internal Revenue Service to issue a new set of tax withholding tables used by employers and payroll services, a process that takes six to eight weeks. The amount withheld from a worker’s pay would go down, low enough to dole out the entire year’s tax cut. 

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Jon Corzine, D-N.J., have developed a $60 billion plan in which the bottom 15 percent tax bracket would be dropped immediately to 10 percent, and that new bracket would apply to the first $9,500 in taxable income for an individual, $19,000 for a married couple. 

Those income levels, higher than those advocated by Bush, would mean a maximum 2001 tax cut of $450 for a single person and $950 for a married couple. Withholding tables would be lowered to give each taxpayer a chunk of that in each paycheck. 

“Every American family and individual who pays taxes would benefit,” said Graham, a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee. 

That plan illustrates one political pitfall of fiddling around with the withholding tables. To fit the entire tax cut in the latter months of 2001, the level of taxes withheld would have to drop sharply and then be raised again in 2002. 

To some people, that might look suspiciously like a tax increase in the new year, but Graham said people would understand the need to put some cash into the economy now. 

“We need to give the maximum kick to the economy during the last half of this year,” Graham said. “If you ask somebody, would you rather have $70 a month now and go back to $35 a month in 2002, I think they would take the $70 now.” 

Simply mailing a check to every taxpayer would appear to be simpler, but it also raises a host of problems. Would the IRS use tax data from last year’s 125 million returns or wait until after this year’s April 16 filing deadline to figure out who gets a check? What about people who moved, quit jobs, or retired? How about the estimated 8 million taxpayers who will ask for four-month filing extensions this year? 

A flat rebate amount is anathema to many lawmakers because it would bear no relationship to the amount of taxes a person paid. 

“We’ve got to base it on rate cuts rather than a specific amount,” said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. “We want to make sure we do it the right way, that doesn’t cause problems or set precedents which could come back to haunt us.” 

The least likely option appears to be a tax holiday, in which collections of either income taxes or payroll taxes would be temporarily suspended and the $60 billion merely transferred from one government account to another. That would also involve changes in withholding and raises concerns about Social Security and Medicare funds, as well as questions about whether the rich or poor benefit most. ———— 

On the Net: 

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov 

IRS: http://www.irs.gov 

MOSCOW — Russia repaid the United States in kind for expelling 50 Russian diplomats – ordering out on Friday the same number of Americans – but President Vladimir Putin tried to soften the blow, saying relations wouldn’t be hurt. 

Top Russian officials appeared to give a mixed response to the U.S.-Russian spy scandal, with the head of the influential Security Council accusing the United States of Cold War-style intimidation even as his boss took a low-key pose. 

It was the biggest such spy spat since 1986, and the Russian action was the standard diplomatic response. 

The No. 2 diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, deputy chief of mission John Ordway, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, read a “decisive protest,” the ministry said, and told that four American diplomats must leave, allegedly for spying. 

The U.S. State Department said it had been told that 46 more would be kicked out by this summer. 

Putin played down the idea that it meant a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations. 

“I do not think that it will have big consequences,” Putin was quoted as saying at a European Union summit in Stockholm, Sweden. 

But another top Russian official, Security Council head Sergei Ivanov, complained that the new administration of President Bush was flexing its muscles and portraying Russia again as an “evil empire.” 

Led by Ivanov, Russian officials had been working out what they called an appropriately “painful” response to the U.S. move Wednesday announcing the immediate expulsion of four Russian diplomats and the demand that 46 others leave by July. 

“It’s hard to call Russian-American relations good. That’s a delicate diplomatic way of putting it,” Ivanov said. 

He said Bush was imitating the Cold War style of predecessor Ronald Reagan, who kicked out 80 Soviet diplomats in two stages a month apart in 1986. The Soviets kicked out 10 Americans. 

“After coming to power, one has to show he has biceps and a torso,” Ivanov said, calling the decision an attempt “to portray the Russia as the U.S.S.R., as the evil empire which does nothing but sell missiles and spy everywhere.” 

Officials said the U.S. action was motivated by an increase in the number of Russian intelligence agents under diplomatic cover since 1997 and by the case of Robert Hanssen, the veteran FBI agent arrested on charges of spying for Russia and the Soviet Union. 

The Russian statement also accused the four unidentified Americans of spying. 

Though the number of Russians expelled was unusual, the U.S. move was a standard way for one country to express displeasure over another country’s intelligence operations. 

“There has come a time again for the exchange of moves in the standard game of spying and diplomacy,” wrote ITAR-Tass news service commentator Yury Romantsov. 

Earlier this week, Bulgaria kicked out three Russians, and the next day the Russians told three Bulgarians to leave Moscow. 

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, a top Kremlin spokesman, said Russian had chosen the “proportional” response but wasn’t totally gloomy about the state of U.S.-Russian relations. 

“We are registering positive signals, on the other hand we see sharp statements,” Yastrzhembsky said.  

He said Russia was concerned about what he said were anti-Russian statements by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as well as the Bush administration’s intention to meet with representatives of rebel Chechnya. 

He indicated it was too early to say which way U.S-Russian relations would go. However, “the Cold War is over,” he said. 

U.S. Ambassador James Collins went ahead with a train trip through Siberia and the Urals to open a so-called American Corner in the main public libraries in four cities.  

He said he had “nothing to say” about the expulsions but added that “sometimes there are difficulties, but we have serious interests that remain” in the relationship. Russian-American relations began the 1990s with euphoria over the fall of the Soviet Union and communism, but have hit a rough patch. 

Irritants have included Russian resentment over U.S. plans for a national missile defense and the NATO-led bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, along with U.S. annoyance over what it says is Russia’s help for countries such as Iran and Iraq. 

Russia has also protested the arrest of Pavel Borodin, a former Kremlin property manager, in New York on a Swiss money-laundering warrant.

NEW YORK — Wall Street ended a horrific two weeks with a show of strength Friday, boosting the Dow Jones industrials by 115 points and extending Thursday’s late rebound from a nearly 400-point drop. Technology stocks, now seen as some of the best buys in the market, led the advance. 

But while the Dow’s rise was encouraging, analysts said it was unlikely the stock market’s slide had indeed hit bottom on Thursday. 

“Let’s not mistake this for a beginning of a bull market move,” said Charles White, portfolio manager at Avatar Associates. “It’s a Friday with no economic reports and little news in the marketplace. There’s not too much to be made of what’s going on today.” 

The Dow, which until last week was resilient to the massive selloffs that devastated the Nasdaq and technology stocks over the past several months, has been stricken by fears the weakening economy is taking a heavy toll in other industries. 

But the overall market did look better Friday. High-tech issues, beaten down so badly until recently, were the market leaders Friday, but it was likely that their low prices made them look more attractive – not any shift in market sentiment about a sector still seen as highly risky. 

IBM helped lead the Dow’s advance, rising $4.58 per share to $93.68. Microsoft, also a Dow stock was up $2.56 at $56.56. 

Cellphone maker Nokia rose $1.37 to $26.37 after announcing plans to buy back up to $50 million worth of stock. 

There were still signs the market has plenty to worry about, and that blue chips, once seen as safe havens in a weak economy, are still vulnerable to declines. 

Procter & Gamble, another Dow stock, fell $2.55 to $60.20 after announcing Thursday it was slashing 9,600 jobs to restore long-term growth. General Motors fell 17 cents to $52.13, still taking some punishing for announcing on Wednesday it will temporarily halt operations at more plants as it reduces bloated vehicle inventories. 

Analysts said investors were split over whether the rally would instill enough confidence to continue the buying next week. 

“They’re not all on the same side of the fence,” said Eugene Mintz, a financial market analyst and vice president at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Some investors may be inclined to play it safe or sell, while “others are saying, ’these are good companies. I’m going to buy,”’ he said. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners nearly 2-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the shares of smaller companies, rose 10.47 to 443.27. 

Consolidated volume, which includes all NYSE-listed shares, came to 1.58 billion, down sharply from the near-record 2.04 billion traded Thursday. 

Overseas market were higher Friday. Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 2.8 percent. In Europe, Germany’s DAX index rose 2.9 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.6 percent, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.6 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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

The financial report card of American households is not good as they deal with the first substantial economic slowdown in nearly a decade. Already deep in debt, many may be forced to borrow even more. 

As 2000 ended, outstanding household debt actually exceeded disposable income by $100 billion, putting the debt-to-income percentage at 101.2, compared with just 87 percent in 1990. 

The situation poses problems for families and the economy, especially if jobs are lost. Existing strains also may be worsened if the value of collateral assets, such as homes and stocks, suffer in the slowdown. 

As debts rose during the best of financial times, economists justified the borrowing as safe because of the concurrent rise in the value of assets. But some of those assets may themselves have been inflated. 

The figures are from a review and analysis of Federal Reserve data by the Financial Markets Center, a think tank based in Philomont, Va. It shows that as the expansion faltered, debts grew in the domestic economy. 

In all, as the economy slowed to a 1.1 percent annual growth rate in the fourth quarter, household debt rose 8.2 percent, business obligations by 8.4 percent and state and local government indebtedness by 4.8 percent. Federal government debt fell 9.6 percent thanks to budget surpluses. 

The rise of debt without a spurt in economic activity, said economist Jane D’Arista, the report’s author, “suggests borrowers used some of the additional debt to consolidate and service outstanding obligations.” 

Such behavior underscores the fragile situation facing the Federal Reserve in guiding the economy through the slowdown with careful cuts in lending rates that, among other things, would make debt repayments easier. 

At the same time, it has indicated that the possibility of inflation atop the already tenuous economic situation still exists, and that overly deep interest rate cuts might reignite demand and lead to price increases. 

Meanwhile, three half-percentage point interest rate cuts in less than three months have lessened the strain on many household budgets. 

Home mortgage rates have fallen, allowing many families to refinance and cut monthly payments by $100 or more. Credit card issuers are likely to lower rates. And some retailers may even eliminate interest charges. 

But the answer to whether or not the economy averts the worst of the possibilities is likely to be found in the mind of the consumer. 

The income rise and investment gains in the expansion presented households with the chance to lower existing debts, but they chose to spend and borrow. 

The questions now are: 

1. Have they learned a lesson and will they now try to reach a balance between income and outgo? 

2. Will they instead withdraw from credit markets and prolong the downturn? 

3. Will the Federal Reserve be able to read the signals correctly and keep supply and demand at a happy balance between overpessimism and overoptimism? 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — So far, rolling blackouts have been more of an annoyance for California business owners than a serious economic problem. 

But if the blackouts continue through the summer, as many fear, the long-term impact on the state’s economy will be devastating. 

“I think it’s a disaster,” said Edward Leamer, director of the Anderson Forecast at the University of California, Los Angeles. “As long as we continue to have these blackouts or reports about them in the press, that’s a big negative as far as attractiveness to California is concerned. 

“This is a serious long-term problem for the state. It’s a public relations problem, kind of like the Tylenol scare. Unlike that, however, we’re not doing a lot to clean up this mess.” 

Leamer’s dire predictions come at a time when business owners across the state are frustrated by sudden power outages that have stopped movies mid-frame, left clothes soaking in washing machines at laundries and forced customers to navigate dark store aisles with flashlights. 

On Tuesday, in the city of Industry, Theresa Mejia said the computer screens at the exercise equipment wholesale firm where she works went blank about 10:45 a.m. 

“Everything just shut down,” she said. “We moved toward the door where there was some light and tried to do some paperwork, but there was only so much we could do.” 

At Ventura Foods in Industry, workers took an early lunch when the power was cut, then struggled with the phones after power was restored because the voice mail had to be reprogrammed. 

“This is mild weather for this time of year,” Frank Hynes, administrative manager of sales, said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the summer. They can’t just keep shutting people down.” 

At Moonlight Cleaners in Elk Grove, it took nearly an hour after power was restored to fire up the boilers and get back to businesses. 

“To me, this is nonsense,” Jennifer Ng, the store’s owner, said. “I don’t think they are saving energy at all. They are just giving us more problems.” 

In some cases, preparations made for the kind of natural disasters Californians expect came in handy during this week’s man-made emergency. 

“The store has a backup generator because the Santa Ana winds will knock energy out,” Stacy Watson, assistant manager at a Target store in Santa Ana, said. “We keep flashlights at the registers at all times and all the registers have their own battery packs.” 

When the lights went out Tuesday morning, Target workers accompanied about 50 shoppers with flashlights so they could continue shopping. The store finally closed when the cash register batteries died after about 45 minutes. 

Leamer, who will dedicate the next Anderson Forecast seminar in April to the impact of the state’s power crisis, said the state’s robust economy will not stall right away because of energy concerns. 

“There will be no smoking gun,” Leamer said. “There’s going to be a little lower investment in the summer, then a little lower in the fall. It will take some time.” 

Leamer, along with others, including many power wholesalers, said the state need to hike electric rates to force conservation and stimulate new supplies. 

“Eventually, we’re going to have prices that encourage conservation,” he said.  

“Let the market signal to all of us we have to conserve. Let the market communicate to the generators we need more capacity.” 

It’s not just the lost business due to actual blackouts that has businesses worried. 

“You bear costs even if they don’t happen because you have to make provisions for them,” Bradford Cornell, a finance professor at the Anderson School at UCLA, said. 

At the Port of Long Beach, officials are concerned that rolling blackouts could disable navigational aids, leave huge containers filled with hazardous chemicals dangling from cranes, and create other safety problems. 

Fortunately, none of those things happened this week when power was suddenly lost. But about 80 employees of the Metropolitan Stevedore Co. were idled Tuesday, costing the company about $6,000, according to Vice President Al Garnier. 

“At some point, one attempts to pass that on to customers, which makes the cost of doing business with the state higher,” he said. “There’s little we can do. Outside generation is out of the question. The horsepower need is just too high.” 

Port officials have asked the California Public Utilities Commission for an exemption from the power-saving measures. 

“We were fortunate,” port spokesman Art Wong said Wednesday. “If the situation were more widespread, potentially many more ships could have been interrupted. The more extensive, the more chance there could be an incident where people could be in danger.” 

At Bentley Mills in Industry, even 448 solar panels spread over 30,000 square feet couldn’t exempt them from a blackout. 

The panels, installed about two years ago, provide about 6 percent of the company’s energy needs. But when Southern California Edison cut power Tuesday morning, all the bright sun could do was shed some light into the dark factory. 

“Six percent is not enough to really run anything,” said Paul Paradiso, associate director of brand management at the carpet-making company. “I was on the phone and in the middle of e-mail when the whole place went black.” 

The cagey veteran versus the young buck. It’s a common story in sports. But one doesn’t often hear about it in high school tennis. 

When Berkeley hosted Alameda on Thursday, the No. 1 singles match pitted Berkeley senior Noah Farb against Alameda freshman Daniel Elefant. On a day that Berkeley won easily, six matches to one, the Farb-Elefant matchup was a good example of how experience helps. 

During the first set, Elefant was more than holding his own, matching Farb point for point. Late in the set, Elefant called four close shots out, and Farb objected each time. By the fourth time, Farb called for line judges to call the rest of the match. The delay and uproar appeared to get to the freshman, as he dropped the next four points and the set 7-5. Although Elefant came back strong in the second set, Farb won that one too, 6-4, to win Berkeley’s fourth match of the day, assuring the Yellowjackets a victory. 

“He made some questionable calls, but it really didn’t bother me,” Farb said. “I mostly did it to get in his head.” 

The senior-laden ’Jackets used their experience to win nearly every match against the younger Hornets. Alameda’s lone win came from No. 2 singles Hein Tu, who beat Berkeley’s Patrick Hamilton 6-1, 6-0. At No. 3 singles, Berkeley’s Nicky Baum downed Chris Chung, while Nate Simmons claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory for Berkeley at No. 4 singles. 

“They’re a good young team, and I was impressed with them today,” Berkeley coach Dan Seguin said after the match. “But once our guys got on track and started to execute, we took over.” 

On the doubles side, Berkeley’s top team, Gabe Zeldan and George Thomas, won easily at 6-4, 6-2. The second team, Quincy Moore and Ben Chambers, looked in danger when they lost the first set, 1-6, to Vincent Chu and Ellis Ng, but came back to win the next two sets 6-0 and 6-1. Third team Chris Lee and Jonah Schrogin won in three sets to finish the match.

Flowers and messages of farewell left at the southwest corner of Shattuck and Hearst avenues memorialize Jayne Ash, a tuberculosis controller, who died March 15 from injuries she suffered when she was struck by a truck while crossing Shattuck at Hearst. See obituary, Page 3.

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 

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 

“Jewish Holidays from a  

Secular Perspective”  

8 p.m.  

Albany Community Center  

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Hershl Hartman, international authority on secular humanistic Judaism, will speak. Sponsored by Kol Hadash, Northern California Community for Humanistic Judaism.  

428-1492 

“Turandot” 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Commission on Disability 

Subcommittee on Transportation  

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

2180 Milvia St.  

Third Floor North, Maple Room 

The subcommittee will discuss the paratransit program, pedestrian access problems, AC Transit access issues and the Berkeley program of nightlights for wheelchair users. 

Saturday, March 24

Update on Pacifica Radio 

noon-3 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House 

1111 Addison St. 

$50 donation; 548-0542 

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  

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

“LGBT Family Night at the Y” 

6 - 9 p.m 

Berkeley YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

The third annual free night for gay and lesbian families at the Y. The event will feature floor hockey, swimming, soccer, basketball and other sports, as well as arts and crafts. Free; donation requested.  

Call 848-9622 

Diabetes & Cardiovascular  

Disease Health Clinic 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church  

2024 Ashby Ave.  

Dr. Lenore Coleman, Bayer Clinical Science specialist and certified diabetes educator and Dr. Cassandra Herbert Whitman, Alta Bates Medical Associates will be available to answer questions. Free comprehensive screenings will be given people to identify cardiovascular risk factors. Free 

848-2050 

Energy Ideas for Remodeling  

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

City Energy Officer Neal De Snoo will conduct a seminar on the options available for incorporating energy efficient fixtures and systems into residential remodeling and renovation projects. Sponsored by Truitt & White Lumber Company of Berkeley. Free 

Call 649-2674 for reservations  

Visit www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy for info. on energy conservation and efficiency 

Hunger Hike in the Redwoods  

10 a.m.  

Joaquin Miller Park  

Ranger Station on Sanborn Dr.  

Oakland  

Join the Alameda County Community Food Bank for this educational hike. Enjoy the views while learning about local edible and medicinal plants. Bring a bag lunch.  

$25 donation  

834-FOOD x327 

“Five a Day from Local  

Farms & Gardens” 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Center St. at MLK Jr. Way 

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

Rally for Public Power 

2 p.m.  

Berkeley Civic Center Park  

MLK Jr. Way and Center St.  

Sponsored by the Social Action Committee of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, those frustrated with blackouts and the inaction of elected officials are called to consider a declaration invoking the power of eminent domain.  

Compassionate Listening  

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Hear Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener and three other local women report on their recent visit to Israel and Palestine. They listened to Israelis and Palestinians from a variety of political, religious and social perspectives tell their stories, hopes, fears and dreams. Donation requested. Proceeds benefit the Mideast Citizen Diplomacy.  

Live from Death Row 

2 p.m.  

YWCA  

1515 Webster St.  

Hosted by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP), “Live From Death Row” is a public forum where death row inmates meet via speakerphone with a speakers’ panel and the general public to share their experiences of living with the brutal reality of capital punishment. Includes Nobel Peace Prize nominee and San Quentin death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Williams.  

Sunday, March 25

Women in Science & Technology  

1 - 4 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

In celebration of Women’s History Month, LHS presents a day to inspire and inform students. Women who work in such fields as computer graphics, geology, and astronomy demonstrate how they use math, science, and technology in their professional lives. Free with museum admission.  

Passover Family Day  

12:30 - 3 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum  

2911 Russell St.  

Create a Passover seder plate, view Magnes treasures, see “Madame Matza Ball Celebrates Passover,” a puppet show for the tikes, enjoy free refreshments, and exchange recipes. 

Beyond the Dragons  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Nyingma Institute meditation instructor Abbe Blum explores the maneuvers of mind that consistently make us miserable. Open up new possibilities for self-understanding and gain control and direction in life. Free 

843-6812 

Duck Soup Celebrates 20 Years  

1 - 6 p.m.  

Duck Soup Family Playschool  

5304 Bryant Ave.  

Oakland  

A big party complete with families and staff, past and present, face painting, crafts, a puppeteer, potluck surprises, storytelling and much more.  

563-7430 

Monday, March 26

The New House of Representatives 

Noon  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Lois Capps, congresswoman, (D., Santa Barbara), will discuss “The Makeup of the New House of Representatives.” Bring a brown bag lunch. Free 

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 

Free Writing, Cashiering & Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.org 

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 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

1 p.m. - Dusk  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Derby St. @ MLK Jr. Way  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

548-3333 

Young Queer Women’s Group 

8 - 9:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).  

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org 

Blood Pressure Testing 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Alice Meyer  

644-6107 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

CA. Telephone Access for Low Vision 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Frances Franco. 

644-6107 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Help the Abused  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Gary Hines will discuss how to recognize if a peer is in an abusive situation and what to do. Free  

644-6107 

Special Education Parents Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

LeConte School Cafeteria  

2241 Russell St.  

Discussion of special education in the Berkeley Unified School District.  

558-8933 

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  

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

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 

“Yellowstone Buffalo” Screening 

7 p.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists  

Cedar & Bonita  

A compilation video exposing the ongoing slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild buffalo herd. Seventy five percent of donations go to the Buffalo Field Campaign’s front-line efforts to protect the buffalo herd. Sponsored by A First Amendment Center, Berkeley. Free 

287-9406  

Saturday, March 31  

Shelter Operations Class  

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

Cesar Chavez Day Commemoration  

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Cesar Chavez Park (Northwest Corner)  

Four fourth and fifth grade classes from area elementary schools will present the virtues of Cesar Chavez, followed by a dance by the Azteca Dance Group. Mayor Shirley Dean, School Board President Terry Doran, Fr. Bill O’Donnell, and Federico Chavez will speak.  

845-0657 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright

The debate on the McCain-Feingold bill and soft money reform shows how far we have strayed from the idea of one person, one vote. 

Rather than starting with that goal and considering the steps needed to achieve it, the present discussion begins by assuming that spending money to influence elections is a “right,” then asks how to limit the damage that must follow. 

McCain-Feingold attempts to close one avenue for the corrupting influence of money, but it ignores the root problem and, disturbingly, suggests that hard money (contributions directly to candidates) is somehow legitimate because it is done openly. 

Should we feel better about legislators being bought because we know who's buying? Raising hard money limits as a “compromise” for imposing soft money limits, if passed, will be a moving away from democracy because it would shift much soft money (now given to the parties) to even more valuable hard money contributions. 

Without such a trade-off, the bill would be an improvement, at least in the short-term. But even modest reductions in corruption may be counter-productive if they reinforce the legitimacy of an inherently anti-democratic system – one that led Sen. Bob Dole calling for “cleaning up the campaign sewer money” even before soft money became a major factor. 

Money and incumbency are the dominant factors in elections, and the two move like interlocked gears. 

Incumbents won more than 96 percent of Congressional contests in which they ran last year and the highest-spending candidate won 94 percent of all races. Only seven of the 432 races with an incumbent were won by a lower-spending challenger. 

In fact, for most citizens, putting a $2,000 limit per candidate, per election on hard money contributions is like placing a 60 MPH speed limit on bicycling. 

Just one-tenth of one percent of Americans made a political contribution of $1,000 or more last year, yet they accounted for 75 percent of the direct contributions received by both Bush and Gore. 

Allowing wealth to translate to political power so directly precludes a government that serves the broader public interest. 

Donors know this. A poll of major hard money donors by Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates following the 1996 elections found 76 percent confirming that “influencing policy/government” was a “very important” reason for contributing. 

And their investment was repaid with access to federal officials beyond the reach of those who rely on our voices or word processors for “speech.” 

Recent attempts to control money's influence while within the existing rules have been thwarted repeatedly – they have not only failed to improve the situation, they have not even slowed the march toward government of, by, and for money. 

In January, the Supreme Court upheld the use of severely limiting campaign contributions as a way to prevent both actual and perceived corruption, and rejected the idea that someone must document money changing hands for a specific vote to verify that corruption exists. 

A majority of the justices also suggested they were willing to reclaim democracy from moneyed interests by overruling a 1976 decision that saw money as speech. As Justice Stevens wrote, “money is property; it is not speech.” 

We must ask, first, what must be done to assure our citizens equal protection. We must redefine campaign contributions from a right to a privilege – a privilege subject to whatever limits are needed to prevent those with money from overwhelming those who lack it. 

Rather than waiting for the Supreme Court to do the right thing, Americans should demand a law that clearly distinguishes expressing an opinion – “speech” as the Constitution intends it – from spending money to amplify one's speech. Only then can we, the citizens – the demos of democracy – have government that truly represents us. 

Pacific News Service commentator Jeff Milchen is director of ReclaimDemocracy.org in  

Boulder, CO.

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. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950  

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. “Fossil Finding with Annie Montague Alexander” March 24-25, 31 & April 21; “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 March 23: 18 Visions, Walls of Jericho, Time In Malta, Undying, Betray the Species; March 24: Workin’ Stiffs, The Bodies, Strychnine, East Bay Chasers, For the Alliance; March 30: Deathreat, Ahimsa, F*** God In the Face, The Black, Creation Is Crucifixion; March 31: The Jocks, The Cost, The Fleshies, Quest for Quintana Roo, Chi Chi Nut Nut & The Pinecone Express 525-9926  

Ashkenaz March 23, 8 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Dead-A-Thon with Digital Dave, Legion of Mary, Cosmic Mercy; 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; March 25, 3 - 6 p.m.: Brassworks; March 27, 9 p.m.: Bayou Pon Pon, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 28, 8 p.m.: Fling Ding, Kathy Kallick Band, Bluegrass Intentions; March 29, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; March 30, 9:30 p.m.: Johnny Nocturne Band, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 31, 9 p.m.: SoVoSo, Kotoja; April 29: Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band; May 6, 7 p.m.: Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. March 23, 9:30 p.m.: Carlos Zialcita; March 24: Daniel Castro; March 30: Craig Horton Blues Band 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. March 23: Perfect Strangers; March 24: Barry & Alice Olivier; March 25: Boogie Woogie Piano Cavalcade w/Beverly Stovall, Sue Palmer, Wendy De Witt, Big Joe Duskin; March 27: Maria Muldaur; March 28: Todd Phillips, David Grier & Matt Flinner; March 29: Tom Paxton; March 30 & 31: House Jacks 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. March 25 & 27 - 29, 4 - 10 p.m.: Student Winter Recitals; April 8: The Marcos Silva Quartet; April 15: Art Lande and Mark Miller; April 22: Alan Hall & Friends 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 25: Horizon Wind Quartet play music of Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ravel, Ligetti and others All concerts $8 - $10 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances March 23, 7 p.m. & March 24, 1 & 8 p.m.: “The King Stag: A Tragicomic Tale for the Theatre” by Carlo Gozzi $24 - $46; April 1, 3 p.m.: Pianist Richard Goode play the music of Bach, Chopin and Beethoven $28 - $48; April 4, 8 p.m.: Pianist Chucho Valdes $18 - $30  

Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu March 25, 3 p.m.: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio perform music of Beethoven, Ravel and Tchaikovsky $32; Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

Elaine Bernstein March 25, 2 p.m. Bernstein, soprano and Sally Munro, mezzo, with Gwendolyn Mok at the piano, will perform a variety of duets from the operas “Hansel & Gretel,” “Cosi Fan Totte,” “Der Rosenkavaher,” and “Lakme,” and more. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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  

BHS Jazz Ensemble March 23, 7:30 p.m. The spring concert performance from the award-winning jazz ensemble. Proceeds benefit the students who will travel to Europe this summer to perform in Italy and Switzerland. $5 - $8 Florence Schwimley Little Theatre 1920 Allston Way  

The Berkeley Opera presents “The Marriage of Figaro” March 23 - April 1, call for specific times $10 - $30 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Solo Opera Opera Gala Concert March 23, 8 p.m. $25 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 925-685-4945 or e-mail: solomail@pacbell.net 

Rebecca Riots March 24, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $12 - $14 Club Muse 856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 528-2878 

Benefit Concert for the Xiana Fairchild Volunteer Center March 25, 7:30 p.m. Featuring The Sick, Simplistic, Mastema, Drain, and an all-star jam with surprise guests. All proceeds to benefit the volunteer center. 18 and over show. $8 Blake’s on Telegraph 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886  

“A Musical Night Out” March 31, 7 p.m. A four-hand piano concert featuring Andrew Canepa and Stephanie Smith performing the works of Dvorak, Debussy, Barber and more. $10 - $15 Pacific School of Religion Chapel 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8280  

Music in Great Berkeley Houses March 31, 7 p.m. $35 Gwendolyn Mok, piano, and Jean-Michel Fonteneau, cello, will play the music of Frank Bridge, Debussy, and Poulenc. Palache House Reserved tickets required 841-2242 

“How Desolate Lies the City...” March 31, 8 p.m. The cantatas of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. $20 - $37 First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way 415-621-7900 

Jesus Diaz y su QBA March 31, 9:30 p.m. Cuban timba dance music. $12 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568  

Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble Brunch April 1, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free - $40 Santa Fe Bar & Grill 1310 University Ave. 527-8245 

“From Broadway to Brazil” April 1, 4 p.m. Berkeley Broadway Singers is a 70-member chorus led by Ellen Hoffman. They will be singing Motown classics along with class Broadway showtunes Free Saint Ambrose Church 1145 Gilman St. 524-0107 

Music on Squirrel Hill presents Trio Accorde April 1, 7:30 p.m. $10 - $15 Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley One Lawson Road Kensington 525-0302 

Emergency String Quartet  

& Carlos Actis Dacto Solo April 1, 8 p.m. Part of the ACME Observatory Contemporary Music Series TUVA Space 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr. Way) 649-8744 

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for twenty years, the Hillbillies fuse rock n’ roll, swing, Latin and African beats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

UC Alumni Chorus presents “Bravo! Opera!” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A veritable Opera chorus smorgasbord with Bizet’s “Carmen,” Verdi’s “IL trovatore,” and Copland’s “The Tenderland.” $8 - $12 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 643-9645 

Young Emerging Artists Concert April 10, 7 - 8 p.m. The Young Musicians Program Jazz Combo will perform jazz standards and original compositions. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Under Construction No. 11” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A concert of new works by local composers, including Mary Stiles, Mark Winges, and David Sheinfeld. Free St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave.  

“Little Shop of Horrors” Through Apri 1, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 2 p.m., no show Friday, March 23; $12 Berkeley Community Little Theatre Allston Way at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way Call 943-SHOW  

“The Oresteia” by Aeschylus Through 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 

“The Tempest” by William Shakespeare Through April 14, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Presented by Subterranean Shakespeare and directed by Stanley Spenger $8 - $10 LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre 1834 Euclid Ave. (at Hearst) 237-7415 

Action Movie: The Play Through April 21, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. Non-stop action and martial arts mayhem with comedy, surprise plot twists, and the occasional movie reference thrown in. $7 - $12 The Eighth Street Studio 2525 Eighth St. 464-4468 

10th annual Family Matinee Theatre and Ice Cream Social March 25 & April 1, 3 p.m. The premiere of Linda Spector’s “Strega Nona and Other Grandparent Tales,” with a cast aged 9 - 70. $4 - $8 First Congregational Church 2501 Harrison Oakland 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org.  

“Conversations in Commedia” March 28, 7:30 p.m. Featuring San Francisco Mime Troupe/Reinhabitory Theatre legends Judy Goldhaft, Jane Lapiner and moderator Peter Berg $6 - $8 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 849-2568 

“Dreamers” through March 24 The American feature film debut of Chinese-born writer/director Ann Lu. The executive producer of the film is UC Berkeley alumnus Peiti Feng Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck Ave. 848-1143 

“Earth” April 7, 7:30 p.m. A 1930 film, set in Ukraine, by Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko with an original music score created and performed by composer and musician Adrian Johnston. $7 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Regeneration” April 8, 5:30 p.m. The first feature-length gangster movie, filmed around 1915 on the streets of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the movie will have a new original music score created and performed by composer and musician Adrian Johnston. $7 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Lost & Found” Documentaries from the Graduate School of Journalism April 15, 5:30 p.m. Three documentaries from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism explore the possibility of redemption in the face of immeasurable loss. Lisa Munoz’s “Chavez Ravine,” Kelly St. John’s “In Forever Fourteen,” and Zsuzsanna Varga’s “Screw Your Courage.” Pacific Film Archive 2621 Durant Ave. 642-5249 

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 

“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 

“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 

“Sugar N’ Spice N’ Everything Nice: Live, Loves and Legacies of Women of Color” Through April 21, Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Works by Aissatoui Vernita, Flo Oy Wong, Tomoko Negishi, Consuelo Jimenez and many others. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth Street Oakland 763-9425 

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. Through April 12, Tuesday - Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m., Saturday Noon - 4 p.m. and by appointment. 548-9272 or www.wcrc.org 

Nylan Jeung and David Lippenberger Lippenberger renders figures in acrylic and Jeung work with ink and watercolor on rice paper, using traditional eastern techniques. Through April 7, Wednesday through Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

Recent Works of Narangkar Khalsa & Pete Glover Through March 31 !hey! Gallery 4920-B Telegraph Ave. Oakland 428-2349  

“The Art of Meadowsweet Dairy” Objects found in nature, reworked and turned into objects of art. Through May 15, call for hours; Opening reception: April 6, 6 - 9 p.m. Current Gallery at the Crucible 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511  

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” The art of Amy Berk and New Color Etchings by James Brown & Caio Fonseca March 28 - April 28, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception: March 28, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 or www.traywick.com 

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts & Paintings. Through August 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541 

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 March 25: Poetry of Beverly Matherne & A.J. Rathbun; March 28: Poetry of Craig Van Riper & Jaime Robles; April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay; April 11: Poetry of Kurt Brown & Al Young 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 27: Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck, author of “The Practical Nomad” will provide essential tips, advice, and consumer skills for the independent traveler; March 29: Katherine Widing, author of “Cycling France” will give a slide presentation/talk on just that 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 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. 

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike March 25, 2 p.m. Featuring poet Paradise Berkeley Art Museum 2621 Durant (at Bowditch) 527-9753 

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

“Slam the Prisons” April 6, 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. A benefit for prison activism featuring Tang, Company of Prophets, Sheryl D. Mebane and many others. Proceeds benefit the defense of New Afrikan political prisoner Khalfani X. Khaldun and the Prison Activist Resource Center. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3205 Shattuck Ave. 898-0431  

Tours 

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

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2 848-7800  

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

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

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours All tours begin at 10 a.m. and are restricted to 30 people per tour $5 - $10 per tour April 29: Susan Schwartz leads a tour of the Berkeley Waterfront; May 12: Debra Badhia will lead a tour of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Arts District; May 19: John Stansfield & Allen Stross will lead a tour of the School for the Deaf and Blind; June 2: Trish Hawthorne will lead a tour of Thousand Oaks School and Neighborhood; June 23: Sue Fernstrom will lead a tour of Strawberry Creek and West of the UC Berkeley campus 848-0181 

Lectures 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag  

April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” 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 

California Colloquium on Water Scholars of distinction in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, law and environmental design speak about water resources and hopefully contribute to informed decisions on water in CA. April 10, 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.: “Understanding the Delta - An Engineering Perspective” Richard Denton, water manager of the Contra Costa Water District; May 8, 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.: “What Makes Water Wet?” Richard Saykally, professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley 212 O’Brien Hall, UC Berkeley 642-2666  

City Commons Club Lecture Series Fridays, 12:30 p.m. $1 general Students Free March 23: Guy Colwell, master painter of Nasters, will speak on “Using Painting to Teach Art History”; March 30: Jana Grittersova, professor of International Relations, UC Berkeley will speak on “The European Union - Integration and Expansion” Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 848-3533 

“Color, Color, Color” March 26, 7:30 p.m. A lecture by Christine Barnes which looks at three characteristics of color common to all quilts: Value, temperature and intensity. Free - $3 First Unitarian Church One Lawson Road Kensington 834-3706 

“The Gene’s Eye View of Creation” April 4 & 10, 4:10 p.m. Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins, a leading thinker in modern Darwinism, will deliver a lecture “The Genetic Book of the Dead” April 4 and “The Selfish Cooperator” April 10 International House Auditorium UC Berkeley  

St. Mary’s track team provided a lesson in dominance Thursday night as the Panthers handily defeated Kennedy and Salesian High Schools. 

In its second Bay Shore Athletic League meet of the young outdoor season, St. Mary’s boys defeated Kennedy 80-10 and Salesian 94-27. The girls, meanwhile, routed Kennedy 95-2 and Salesian 110-13. Five points are awarded for first place finishes in each event. 

“We ran well tonight,” said Jay Lawson, now in his 14th year as head coach of the Panthers. “Our boys’ team has the potential to be our best ever.” 

That’s saying a lot, considering the St. Mary’s boys have captured the section title three years in a row and took third at the state championships last year. Although the Panthers only graduated two boys from last year’s team, one of the graduates happened to be last year’s state high jump champion and the other is now a quarter-mile runner for UCLA. 

Lawson said that he rested some of his top athletes Thursday, in preparation for Saturday’s St. Francis Invitational in Mountain View. “That will be a good test for us,” he said. 

Against Kennedy and Salesian, Phil Smith had an especially strong performance, Lawson said. Not only did he break the 40-foot mark in the triple jump (40 feet, 10 inches), he also took first in the long jump with a personal-best 20 feet, 3 1/2 inches. Phil Weatheroy won the discus (149 feet, 8 inches) as well as the shot put (47 feet, 3 inches). Chris Dunbar won the 100 and 200 with times of 10:84 and 21:80, respectively. 

On the girls’ side, Kamaiya Warren took first place in the discus (128 feet, 1 inch) and shot put (42 feet, 8 inches). Riana Shaw won the triple jump (34 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches). 

Following Saturday’s meet in Mountain View, St. Mary’s heads to James Logan (Union City) on March 28. That contest, Lawson said, could prove challenging. 

“Their girls’ team is one of the strongest in the state,” he said. “We always have our hands full with their boys’ team, where 10-12 points usually separates first and second.”

The primary’s not until March 2002, but a gaggle of State Assembly wannabes are already crowding ‘round the starting gate, elbows set to jab, coffers ready to fill – term limits loom that will eject Dion Aroner from the 14th District Assembly seat next year. 

A wrinkle in the plans of some among the hopefuls, however, could be redistricting: the boundaries of the district could change before next year’s elections. 

The district runs from North Oakland through Emeryville and Berkeley and up through Albany and El Cerrito to San Pablo and Richmond. The district is heavily Democrat and most observers see the Democratic primary as the race to be won. 

Among those eyeing the seat are Jane Brunner, vice mayor of Oakland, Mark Friedman, El Cerrito city councilmember, John Delrymple, executive director of the Contra Costa County Central Labor Council, Charles Ramsey, West Contra Costa School Board director and Kriss Worthington, Berkeley councilmember.  

Supervisor Keith Carson, who ran  

against Aroner for the State Senate seat in 1998, says he won’t run and AC Transit Director Greg Harper says he’ll only run if Aroner asks him to do so. 

Jane Brunner 

Brunner, 53, won a hard-fought race for her first term on the Oakland City Council – she ran unopposed the second time. In her first race, she had the blessing – and benefit of the fund-raising capacity – of now-State Sen. Don Perata.  

“I haven’t announced,” Brunner said, when asked if she were going to make the run for assembly. “I’m considering it.” 

Like all the others thinking about the race, Brunner characterizes herself as a progressive and points to issues she’d tackle in the Assembly: affordable housing, sustainable development and schools. 

Brunner is known in Berkeley where she taught special education for a number of years. Later she became an attorney and worked for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers. Along with her duties on the City Council, she practices law with the Oakland firm of Siegel & Yee. 

She said her decision rests on whether it looks like she could raise the money she’d need for the race – Aroner spent around $300,000 when she first won her seat in 1996, after her former boss, Tom Bates, was displaced by term limits. 

“I’ll make the decision if I get a good response,” Brunner said. 

John Delrymple 

Berkeley resident John Delrymple is better known in Contra Costa County, where he heads up the Central Labor Council. 

Is he running? “I’m considering it,” he said. “I’m talking to folks about it.” 

Delrymple touts his ability to bring people together. “I’ve had very practical experience in building coalitions,” including bringing labor and environmentalists together, he said. 

Delrymple, 48, saids in Sacramento he would emphasize education, transportation and affordable housing issues. He co-chaired the Measure M committee that successfully won a school bond measure in the West Contra Costa School District. He has worked on healthcare issues, including the single-payer health care initiative. 

Before taking the helm of the Central Labor Council, he was director of the Health Care Workers Union, SEIU 250 for 12 years. 

Mark Friedman 

El Cerrito City Councilmember Mark Friedman, who turns 50 today, ran for the Assembly in 1996 and came in third, 2,000 votes after Aroner and 150 votes after attorney and TV personality Jim Rogers. Will he jump into the fray again? “I don’t know,” Friedman said. “I’ve certainly given it a lot of thought.” 

Friedman, who directs the Alameda County Children and Families Commission, says he’s torn between his job where he feels he can accomplish what he wants to do and what he feels he could accomplish in the Assembly.  

On the commission, he’s responsible for the distribution to early childhood programs of funds from Proposition 10 – tobacco tax money. “It’s a chance to make a real long-term difference in the lives of children born in Alameda County,” he said. 

Like Brunner, Friedman says he would “articulate progressive policy.” He’d concentrate his attention on health care, the environment and tax policy.  

An eventual decision to run would also depend on who else is in the race. Friedman said he doesn’t plan to get into a situation where the progressive vote is splintered. 

On the El Cerrito City Council since 1997, Friedman has served a one-year rotation as mayor. He was chief of staff for former Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan and worked for three years as an aide to Don Perata when he was a supervisor. Perata is now in the State Senate. 

“I’m a proven consensus builder,” Friedman said. “I have the ability to bring people together.” 

Charles Ramsey 

Richmond resident Charles Ramsey, an attorney, is the only one who comes out and says it: “I’m a candidate.” He’s already started collecting endorsements. They include Richmond City Councilmembers Irma Anderson and Tom Butts, as well as former Berkeley Councilmember Mary Wainwright.  

Ramsey, 38, grew up in Berkeley – he’s the son of Henry Ramsey who served on the Berkeley City Council – and graduated from Berkeley High School. Two of his possible opponents characterized Ramsey as “conservative,” but that’s not how Ramsey sees himself. “I’m a progressive,” he said, pointing to stands he’s taken on the school board, where he’s in his second term. He opposed the superintendent’s call to bring in strike-breakers during a teacher’s strike; he supports distribution of condoms in schools; he’s proud that the district gives life-time health-care benefits and domestic partner benefits to its employees. 

He says his support for vacancy decontrol is “progressive.” Vacancy decontrol, which is state law, means that when a tenant has voluntarily vacated an apartment, landlords may charge whatever the market will bear. Vacancy control “is an attempt to equalize the situation,” he said. For example it would help seniors who are property owners in need of a second income. 

On the other hand, “I do not support landlord gouging,” he said. 

Ramsey dropped out of the assembly race in 1996 after an arrest for solicitation of a prostitute. “I thought I’d better focus on my family,” he said, noting he’s married with two children. “I took care of home first.” 

Kriss Worthington 

Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, 46, says his top issues are health care, education, jobs and housing. “These are the bottom line liberal-progressive issues.”  

He said he would work on these issues in Sacramento, as he does on the local level, but he hasn’t decided whether he’ll run.  

Like Friedman, he says he won’t run against like-minded candidates for fear they would split the vote. “On the other hand I don’t want to hand the seat to someone who does not reflect the voters of the district,” he said. 

He said he hopes progressives will get together and select one candidate that can beat any conservatives in the race. That candidate wouldn’t have to raise as much money as the others, he said, as long as progressives come out to volunteer to walk precincts and work in the campaign. He points out that he won a hard race in 1996 with less money than his opponent. 

Worthington said he’s torn when he thinks about leaving politics on the local level: “I love working on the nuts and bolts – putting trash cans where they need to be,” he said. 

Redistricting 

There’s one wrinkle that could curtail the plans of at least two hopefuls: Ramsey, who lives in Richmond, and Friedman of El Cerrito. As a result of the census, the Assembly and Senate districts could be restructured. Usually, the party in power tries to draw assembly lines in its favor. Three among the potential candidates told the Daily Planet they have heard whispers that the following redistricting scenario is a possibility, although those working on the plan to reshape the district at the Assembly level say they won’t begin their work until the census figures are in. 

The scenario described is this: the West Contra Costa portion of the district - El Cerrito to RIchmond – would be lopped off and Lamorinda, which includes Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga, would be added. This would dilute the Democratic stronghold of the 14th Assembly District, but not enough for the Democrats to lose. 

The purpose of the shift would be to add the more liberal Antioch to the conservative 15th Assembly District now occupied by Republican Lynne Leach. 

Not in the running 

Among the surprises in next year’s Assembly race is who’s NOT running – or probably not running: Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Linda Maio. 

It’s been rumored for at least a couple of years that Dean was preparing for an Assembly race, but Monday, she said “No.” 

Then she backtracked, just a little: there’s “maybe a little crack” of a possibility. “I’m still kind of looking,” she said. 

Dean says she can address locally, the issues she holds dear – energy, health care, transportation. “If anything is going to happen, it will happen on the local level first,” she said. 

Similarly, Maio said “I’m not (running).” Then she said, “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’m not.” She said that were she to land a seat in the Assembly, she could “probably get a lot done on affordable housing.” 

But it’s the local level “where the activism is,” she said. “That’s where life happens.” 

And will she challenge Dean for mayor in November 2002? “I’m thinking about it.” 

Willard needs a librarian now 

Editor: 

Willard Middle School has lost its librarian.  

The district has told Gail Hojo, principal, that she cannot hire another librarian until next year because a librarian is a ‘non-mandated position.’  

Since there is a current budget deficit, there is a hiring freeze on ‘non-mandated positions.’  

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! 

I am asking all of you to contact the school board (BoardofEd@berkeley.k12.ca.us) and/or the BUSD administration to rant, rave and get this changed.  

Our children are being put in an inequitable and disadvantaged position.  

The library is a classroom. Learning how to use it a necessary skill for a decent education.  

Middle school is where students really learn how to use the library to get into college.  

I was told that Berkeley High School teachers can tell if a student came from Willard or from King just by noting their ability to use the library. 

The citizens of Berkeley have taken great pride in our fantastic public library system, donating thousands of dollars to keep it open through a special library tax, and now, thousands more to renovate it.  

It is one of the most-used libraries per capita in the United States, maybe even in the world. What is wrong with us that we can't keep our libraries open in the schools? 

We, as citizens, voted in the money to pay for the libraries in the schools when we passed the BSEP tax.  

Libraries were specifically targeted to benefit in the original measure. Some of those funds do go to our school libraries. Why are libraries and librarians disrespected by our school board and school administrators?  

Why are they being put at the bottom of the heap? This is a travesty.  

Please make our libraries and librarians a number one priority – get them off the ‘non-mandated list’ and help our kids to be great Berkeley citizens. 

Lisa Bullwinkel 

Berkeley 

Sophomore center Nick Vander Laan has been granted his release to transfer from Cal, head coach Ben Braun announced Wednesday.  

A 6-10 center from Sacramento, Vander Laan averaged 6.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg in 20.1 minutes per game for the Bears this past season. 

“Nick has requested to transfer for personal reasons, and I respect his decision to pursue his career goals,” Braun said. 

Vander Laan was facing reduced playing time next season, as recruit Jamal Sampson is expected to play right away. 

Vander Laan did not indicate which schools he is considering. 

“I decided to leave Cal for personal reasons,” Vander Laan said. “I’ve valued my experience in my two years at Cal. However, I feel it is important for me to pursue my basketball goals elsewhere.”

The City Council gave a boost to a struggling theater group by waiving the permit application fee for the transformation of a former clothing store into a temporary performance space. 

The waiver will allow the Central Works Theater Ensemble to save as much as $2,500 in application fees normally due to the Planning and Development Department. The nonprofit theater group is applying for a use permit to remodel the 5,200-square-foot store at the intersection of Sacramento Street and Dwight Way into a 49-seat theater.  

“$2,500 is a lot of money for a nonprofit theater group.” said Co-director Gary Graves. “If we had to pay that with no guarantee of the outcome, we may not have even tried.” 

The council approved the recommendation by Councilmember Kriss Worthington by a vote of 8-1, with Councilmember Betty Olds voting in opposition. Olds said on Thursday the only reason she voted against the item was because there was so little information available to the council before the vote.  

Olds said she has since discovered the Civic Arts Commission voted unanimously to approve the waiver on Feb. 28, and that had she known on Tuesday, she may have voted differently. 

Worthington said the city should provide a series of small theater and arts groups the same kind of financial support it did for the new Berkeley Repertory Theatre on Addison Street. The city donated $4 million towards the development of the new $20 million, 600-seat proscenium theatre, which celebrated its gala opening on March 13. 

“I’d invite as many arts organizations as possible to contact the City Council and ask for their fair share,” Worthington said. “If the city is going to commit to the arts then it should commit to as many modes of expression as possible.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean said the council regularly waives city permit and application fees for temporary theater groups as well as nearly all events that take place in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park. “We might be able to save everybody a lot of time if we just don’t charge these fees,” she said. 

Dean said she wasn’t sure about Worthington’s idea to match $4 million in funding for small arts organizations. “That’s fine that he wants to do that, but did he say where the money was going to come from?” she said. 

If the Central Works Theater Ensemble receives a permit to transform the building into a theater, it will perform at the location for up to two years. The property was recently purchased by Affordable Housing Associates and the director, Ali Kashani, has offered the space to the theater group for what he described as a nominal fee. 

Ultimately the building will be razed and replaced with affordable housing. 

The Central Work Theater Ensemble was formed in 1990 and primarily presents new works by Bay Area playwrights and actors, according to Graves. He said the ensemble is different from the Berkeley Repertory in that “We’re interested in producing something more intimate, affordable and homegrown.” 

Founding member and Co-director Jan Zvaifler said the group chose the name Central Works because the name is akin to Public Works, which every city needs. 

Graves said performance space in Berkeley is in short supply. “It’s a desperate struggle to find space to perform in,” he said. “We’ve performed in St. John’s on College, the Berkeley City Club, the Santa Fe Bar And Grill and our last show was in the basement theater at La Val’s Subterranean.” 

Zvaifler said the theater group was encouraged by the fee waiver. “We still have a long row to hoe but it’s been nice to discover how much support there is out there,” she said.

A program to address the high failure rate among Berkeley High School freshman – particularly students of color – has failed to yield significant gains after a year and a half, Berkeley High School teachers and administrators reported to the school board Wednesday. 

In the fall of 1999 the high school instituted Village 9, a school-within-a-school for all freshmen at Berkeley High intended to improve student performance. Village 9 offers tutoring and mentoring services to freshman. In addition, it organizes students into smaller, core groups, each with a team of three teachers, to make their first year at the 3,200-student high school less overwhelming. 

While 169 students failed freshman English in the first semester of 1999 – the first semester of the Village 9 program –167 failed the class in the first semester of 2000, said Michele Patterson, vice principal of curriculum/instruction at Berkeley High. 

In freshman math, the failure rate actually increased from 139 students failing in the fall of 1999 to 182 students failing in the fall of 2000. 

But as Patterson pointed out Wednesday, this increase is partly attributable to the fact that, in accordance with state content standards, the High School required all freshman to take Algebra this fall. In the past freshmen could choose between algebra or pre-algebra based on their level of preparation when they left middle school. The higher number of failures this year are students who may well have passed a pre-algebra class, Patterson said. 

The most troublesome numbers Wednesday, many agreed, were those showing the achievement gap between white students and African-Americans – one of the principal problems the Village 9 program was supposed to address – unchanged from this year to last. 

Ninety-seven African-American students failed freshman math in the fall of 1999, compared with just seven whites. In the fall of 2000, 97 African-Americans failed math, compared this time with 14 whites. 

In freshman English, 111 African-Americans failed in the fall of 1999, compared with 18 whites. In 2000, 92 African-Americans failed, compared with 14 whites.  

“This is a very big red flag about our achievement gap,” Patterson told the board Wednesday. 

While at least one board member reported mild disappointment with the news Wednesday, most said they were impressed and encouraged by the quality of the report. 

“I would have liked to have seen better numbers,” said Board Director Joaquin Rivera. “You always want to see better numbers. 

“But I was at least pleased to see that some of the weaknesses of the program have been identified.” 

Board Director John Selawsky said the BHS staff gave the board the kind of information they need to evaluate the programs progress – information that is often hard to come by in the district. 

“The gave us recommendations that target groups that need some extra help,” Selawsky said. “It was usable and helpful information.”  

Patterson identified a number of areas Wednesday where she felt the program could be improved.  

A back-up English class intended to keep struggling freshman from actually failing their regular English class is not having the desired impact, Patterson said. Fully 38 students who passed the backup class in the fall of 2000 still failed their regular English class, she said.  

The problem, said Patterson, is that the backup English teachers are essentially being asked to teach basic literacy, something that, as regular High School English teachers, they have never been trained to do. 

Another major problem cited by Patterson was the fact that students in the greatest need of the intervention services available through Village 9 often don’t get them because the high school doesn’t know who these students are until a couple of weeks into the school year. Middle schoolers in danger of being retained in the eighth-grade because of bad grades didn’t show up at Berkeley High this year until two weeks after the beginning of class, Patterson said, because only then did they know they had passed summer school and were eligible for high school. 

The very students for whom Village 9 is supposed to ease the transition from middle school to high school end up starting high school under the most challenging of circumstances, Patterson said. 

Patterson hopes to iron out these and other problems by next fall. 

“Any time you put a new program in place it’s going to take time to see progress and growth,” Patterson said. 

“A year from now you’ll see a significant change in the numbers. People are starting to understand what needs to be done.” 

Patterson recommended to the board Wednesday that Village 9 be enhanced by instituting a backup Algebra class; improving cooperation between Berkeley High and “feeder” middle schools; closing the campus for ninth-graders to eradicate the high rate of absences; expanding an existing mentoring program where Berkeley High seniors are assigned to counsel groups of freshman throughout the year; bringing in adult mentors to work with freshman; and creating a required summer school program for middle schoolers to prepare them for the realities of high school. 

In other news Wednesday, the board voted to enter into an agreement with the Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League to build a new softball field at Longfellow Arts & Technology Magnet Middle School; to approve a resolution calling on filmmakers and actors to support films that do not glamorize tobacco use; and to approve the schedule for the 2001-2002 academic year, setting the first day of school for August 29.

When Jayne Ash would get off from her job as a tuberculosis controller with the State Department of Health, she’d often head for the Jazz School, not far from Hearst and Shattuck avenues, where she worked. 

Her passion was playing flute and guitar and, more recently, she’d begun to do vocals, said her brother Dan Ash of San Jose.  

Jayne Ash was struck by a truck as she crossed Shattuck Avenue on March 13. She was headed back to work from a coffee break. She died two days later.  

“She was real friendly. She could talk to almost everybody,” Dan Ash said, remembering as well his sister’s love for dancing and having fun.  

A native of Flossmoor, IL., Jayne Ash had most recently lived in Raleigh, N.C. and had come west to take the state job and to be in the Bay Area. She was the director of the California Tuberculosis Controllers Association. 

On Sunday, her friends came together at Live Oak Park for a memorial. Other friends are holding a memorial in Raleigh on April 1.  

She is survived by her mother Ruth Ash; father Myron Ash and his wife Jewel; siblings Laurel, David, and Daniel; sisters-in-law Catherine Ash and Shelley Ash; nieces, nephews and dozens of loving friends in the Bay Area, Chicago area and Raleigh. 

Donations in Ash’s name may be sent to the Jazz School Educational Scholarship Fund, 2375  

Shattuck Ave., Berkeley 94704.

SAN FRANCISCO — Days before California’s next execution, the state Supreme Court upheld a prison department rule Thursday demanding spiritual advisers of condemned inmates leave the prisoner 45 minutes before the execution. 

The court ruled that the Corrections’ Department policy, in response to security concerns at San Quentin, is constitutional and that inmates do not enjoy “unrestricted” freedom of religion. 

Even so, the high court’s 7-0 decision upholds a prison department security policy that a federal judge ruled on Monday was an “exaggerated response” to safety concerns. 

Supreme Court Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote that it was the department’s right to remove the adviser from the inmate 45 minutes before an execution to protect the identity of executioners who will then begin readying the prisoner for death. 

But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that San Quentin must show witnesses assembled for the execution the inmate being strapped down and the prison officials inserting needles. 

The prison didn’t want to, citing safety concerns for the executioners. It feared they could fall victim to retribution if the assembled witnesses were to see who was doing the killing, a position Walker ruled had no merit. 

The high court’s ruling came six days before California executes its ninth prisoner, Robert Massie, since voters reinstated capital punishment in 1978. 

Massie’s attorney, Frederick Baker, said Massie will have a spiritual adviser stay with him until prison officials order the Rev. Bruce Bramlett, an Episcopalian minister of San Rafael, to leave. 

“I think (Massie) finds having the ability to discuss matters in a spiritual nature to be a comfort,” Baker said. 

And although Bramlett’s time to administer last rites is reduced to protect the executioners’ identities, Bramlett will be one of the assembled witnesses to Massie’s death and may see who the executioners are. 

“You’ve identified the irony,” said Jordan Eth, a San Francisco attorney who argued the case before the high court. 

Prison spokesman Russ Heimerich said the department has not changed its spiritual adviser policy. 

The department also has not decided whether executioners at Massie’s lethal injection will wear masks to cover their identities. 

“We haven’t concluded that yet,” he said. 

San Quentin strives to execute inmates the first minute of the day a prisoner is eligible. Massie, who killed a San Francisco liquor store clerk in 1979 after robbing him, is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. 

Under the high court’s ruling, Bramlett can remain near Massie and speak with him until 45 minutes before the execution. The prison’s chaplain, who is a state employee, can remain for another 20 minutes.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Navy has decided to do a full environmental review of its proposal to expand its practice runs at a target in Fort Hunter Liggett, about 40 miles south of Big Sur. 

The Navy is proposing to increase its practice runs, during which dummy bombs are dropped on a 500-foot diameter target of shipping containers, from as few as 200 sorties to more than 2,900. That translates to about four flights a day with three planes in each flight. 

Congressman Sam Farr (D-Carmel) has pushed for the full environmental impact statement for the proposal instead of the less comprehensive environmental assessment, which the Navy had already begun. 

The Navy made the decision “due to the high level of public interest and concern,” said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Jack Papp. 

“The Navy did not make this decision because it believes this proposal will have impact on the environment on and surrounding Fort Hunter Liggett,” he said.  

“The environmental impact statement will make that determination on whether or not there will be an environmental impact.” 

Residents and recreational users of the area along with environmentalists oppose the plan because of its proximity to the habitats of endangered and protected species, such as the bald eagle and the California condor. 

Also, they are concerned about noise levels from the jets that will come from Lemoore Naval Air Station in the Central Valley, and from aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean, as well as accidents, such as stray bombs landing in residential areas. 

Farr opposes the expanded military exercises and said he thinks a full environmental impact statement would bring serious environmental risks to light. 

“I believe that once these risks are fully revealed, it will become clear that Fort Hunter Liggett is not the right place for loud, low-flying fighter jets,” he said in a statement. 

The fort includes 165,000 acres and is used as a training ground for Army reserves and the National Guard. It is a wild stretch of oak woodlands and rolling hills once owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who sold the property to the Army in 1940. 

SACRAMENTO — California intensified scrutiny of its soaring power prices Thursday, with grid officials accusing wholesalers of $6.2 billion in overcharges and the state auditor blaming both buyers and sellers for the skyrocketing costs. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers prepared to open an inquiry Friday into high natural gas prices that have contributed to the state’s energy crisis. 

The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state’s power grid and buys emergency electricity to avoid blackouts, told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that electricity suppliers have overcharged it and the state Power Exchange $6.2 billion since May for the power the two bought on behalf of utilities. 

The excessive charges will continue during high demand this summer unless the commission steps in, the ISO said. 

Despite alleging billions in overcharges, ISO officials did not ask FERC to order refunds beyond the $555 million it requested for December and January overcharges, or accuse wholesalers of market manipulation. 

That fueled criticism from consumer advocates that state and federal regulators are letting profit-reaping power wholesalers manipulate the California market. 

“Nobody’s talking about fines,” said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. “You’ve got companies bilking the state for over $6 billion, and you’re only talking about refunds?” 

ISO officials are working with Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the state Electricity Oversight Board and the state Public Utilities Commission to determine how they could get a refund, ISO attorney Charles Robinson said. 

Former FERC attorney Stephen Angle said the possibility of the commission ordered wholesalers to refund $6.2 billion “is pretty slight.” 

FERC can only order a refund once it has made the rates subject to refund, which it did for rates only back to October, Angle said. 

In addition, FERC says it only has jurisdiction over private U.S. companies that sold power, not municipal utilities or foreign companies that California bought electricity from. The ISO report included every entity that sold power to California. 

Lockyer began investigating in August, when lawmakers asked him to look into possible collusion and price manipulation in the electricity and natural gas markets, spokeswoman Sandy Michioku said. She declined to comment on the investigation’s status. 

State lawmakers are also investigating. The Assembly energy commission plans a hearing Friday to open its inquiry into high natural gas prices, starting with testimony from utility customers. 

California’s two largest utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, say they’ve lost nearly $14 billion since June due to rising wholesale power prices.The state’s 1996 utility deregulation law blocks them from recouping the high costs from their customers. 

With both utilities denied credit by power suppliers, the state has spent about $45 million a day since early January to buy electricity for their customers. 

FERC has given several electricity wholesalers until Friday to justify $124 million in January and February power charges the commission considers excessive. Those who cannot must refund the money, FERC said. 

PG&E spokesman Ron Low said it hopes FERC reviews the ISO’s filing quickly. 

“Virtually every regulatory agency has said that California’s energy market is broken and that wholesale prices since last summer have not been just and reasonable,” Low said. 

Consumer advocate Heller said PG&E and Edison should pursue refunds from the wholesalers, not rate increases from their customers. 

The Bureau of State Audits issued a 97-page report finding several factors to blame for California’s volatile electricity market. 

California’s flawed deregulation of the market encouraged both buyers and sellers to “manipulate wholesale prices to their advantage” on real-time power markets – in the case of sellers, by understating supply and in the case of buyers, by underscheduling demand to try to win more advantageous prices, the report said. 

Other factors include: 

• A retail rate freeze that prohibited utilities from passing on soaring wholesale costs. 

ª Limits on utilities’ ability to enter long-term power contracts and a requirement that they sell their own power plants and buy electricity through the Power Exchange. 

ª The ISO’s inability to coordinate power plant outages for maintenance. 

The audit was requested by Sen. Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, one of the co-authors of the deregulation law.  

An aide said Peace was disappointed by the audit. 

Auditors failed to see “that the problem in California and throughout the West is that supplies are tight,” spokesman John Rozsa said. “There’s no market structure changes that would fix this situation.” 

Lawmakers plan to review how the audit’s findings fit with legislation they are considering, said Chuck Patilla, a consultant to Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek. 

A FERC staff report this month recommended several steps to keep wholesale prices in check this summer, when California’s demand for power is expected to rise by up to 50 percent. 

Those recommendations erroneously assume a large portion of California’s power will be purchased under long-term contracts, the ISO’s Robinson said. 

FERC is also focusing on periods when California is in a Stage 3 power alert, declared when reserves threaten to drop below 1.5 percent. The ISO believes that is too limited, Robinson said. 

California had enough electricity Thursday to avoid a repeat of the blackouts that hit the state Monday and Tuesday. 

——— 

On the Net: 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: www.ferc.fed.us 

The California Independent System Operator: www.caiso.com 

• The Assembly might meet again Friday to consider the failed bill to allow the alternative energy producers to be paid. An Assembly committee begins its inquiry into natural gas prices. 

• Generators have until Friday to appeal an order by federal regulators to refund power charges of $69 million for January and $55 million for February. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says some sales were priced too high, even taking into account high natural gas prices, air quality control costs and plant maintenance. 

•The Public Utilities Commission meets Tuesday in San Francisco to determine whether to order utilities to pay their alternative energy producers, how much the state will receive from the utilities for power it buys on behalf of their customers, whether to extend a blackout exemption to all hospitals of all sizes and whether to investigate the holding company formations of the parent companies of PG&E, SDG&E and SoCal Edison. 

The problem: 

High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission bottlenecks and a tight supply worsened by scarce hydroelectric power in the Northwest and maintenance at aging California power plants are all factors in California’s electricity crisis.  

Edison and PG&E say they’ve lost $13.7 billion since June to high wholesale prices that the state’s electricity deregulation law bars them from passing onto ratepayers, and are close to bankruptcy. 

liers, scared off by the two companies’ poor credit ratings, are refusing to sell to them, leading the state to start buying power for the utilities’ nearly 9 million residential and business customers. 

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — The weather may still feel wintry, with snow barely gone, but gardeners gladly ignore the wind chill factor to celebrate a first rite of spring – planting peas. 

And seed catalogs spur the early-bird enthusiasm by featuring newer and newer variations of a vegetable esteemed for its taste, the delicate beauty of its flowers and its antiquity. Pea seeds have been found on the site of the ancient city of Troy and in mud where Swiss lake people lived 5,000 years ago. 

They boast a page in science, too, and another in fable. Breeding peas gave Austrian monk Gregor Johann Mendel his 19th century breakthrough in genetics. And everyone remembers Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale where a princess proved she had the delicate skin of royalty because she felt a pea through 20 mattresses and 20 more feather beds. 

Peas are small, but the plants that bear them may be short or tall, bushes or vines. Many are best grown on trellises. All show lovely flowers, but the loveliest, the sweet pea, is a plant that is cultivated widely just for its masses of blooms. 

Here in the Northeast, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is the traditional day for sowing peas, but deep snow often will cause delays of even a few weeks. The point is that the pea is one of few seeds that can germinate in soil as cold as 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The fava, or Windsor bean, is another. So you sow them as early as you can in trenches about 1 1/2 inches deep. 

Pat down earth on them. In about three weeks, the sprouting seeds break ground and, if all goes well, you should be eating your first peas in June. 

As gardeners soon discover, they need to shell a lot of peas just to provide a few meals for a couple of people, not to mention a family of four. The varieties that you eat pod-and-all make peas rewarding even in small gardens. So snow peas and sugar snaps have become very popular. 

A French heirloom type of snow pea called Carouby de Mausanne caught my eye, and I’m trying some.  

It is featured as growing 6 to 8 feet tall on a trellis and blossoming with exquisite purple flowers before producing sweet flat pods excellent for fresh or stir fry eating. 

For years, I’ve had great success with a snow pea called Norli, also purple-flowering, which grows about 5 feet tall and yields abundantly. 

Conventionally, the best way to eat snow peas is when the incipient seeds barely show in the pods. But often I’ve left the pods on the vine to over-ripen and swell. Then I shelled them, discarded the toughened pods and found that the salvaged peas were pretty good cooked. 

Another edible pod variety, the sugar snap pea, preserves a crunchy, tasty pod even when the peas inside reach full size. That would seem like the best of possible worlds, but aficionados of the snow pea say its flat pod is more of a gourmet delicacy.  

If you don’t have room for both, breeders have come to the rescue by developing a “snow snap” that’s a cross of a snow and a snap. It is called Sugar Snow and, according to the catalog, you can pick them young and flat or let the peas get plump and sweeter. 

Despite the excitement over edible pod peas, some gardeners still like to grow traditional peas inside inedible pods even if space limits them to token harvests. Of these shelling peas, an old-timer named Lincoln has a loyal following for its 7-9 peas per pod, but it is not as disease-resistant as some newer varieties like Mr. Big. This is an All-America winner bearing 9-10 peas per pod. And there is also Rondo, a double-podded variety averaging 10 per pod. 

A delicacy favored by many are petits pois, French for “little peas.” Shepherd’s offers a variety called Precovelle. Steamed briefly and buttered, the tiny peas, about half the size of a regular pea, melt in the mouth. 

——— 

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, March 22 

Sunflowers have changed. It’s as if they’ve been to charm school and been taught manners, thank you! 

The crude one-size-fits-all character can still be found, but increasingly, sunflowers are wooing gardeners with their bright colors, compact habit, repeat blossoms and overall utility as a garden and cut flower. So civilized are they that sunflowers are now quite welcome as a cut flower indoors and yes, even on the dining room table. 

In earth terms, the transformation has come about in the blink of an eye, but in people terms, it’s been happening in the last four years or so, according to Alana Mezo, a senior horticulturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Ill. This marks the second year Mezo will wow visitors with big plantings of many different varieties – big, tall, skinny and bushy – of sunflowers. 

What gets a senior horticulturist at one of the nation’s finest public gardens excited about a humble plant that’s been in cultivation, feeding people, birds and animals for 2,000 years? Simply, the colors and versatility that have been added by breeders in recent years. 

Italian White is one of her favorites because it bears so many flowers and over so many weeks that it’s not unusual to see, on the same plant, flowers fresh for cutting and other flowers gone to seed and being enjoyed by goldfinches and chickadees. 

Most gardeners sow seeds directly in the garden, after danger of frost has past. Starting inside is easy and takes just five weeks to raise a plant ready for transplanting. Chicago Botanic staff does that - germinating the seed and growing the little plants in small “cells,” then moving them into a 4-inch diameter plastic pots and finally, before setting out, setting the plants outside in a protected area for several days so they can get used to the change in environment before being planted. This process is called hardening off. Typically, the germinating and growing-true-leaves stage takes two weeks and the 4-inch-pot stage three weeks. Like other seeds started indoors, a lot of light is critical, and the best way to provide this is with a 4-foot fluorescent shop fixture set 6 inches from the top of the seed tray or germinated plants, and left on 12 to 16 hours a day. 

They need a fair amount of water, especially in hot, sunny spots, because a lot of moisture is lost through the abundant foliage. Day temperatures in the mid-80s are ideal. One way of helping that along is to plant sunflowers near a south-facing building where reflective heat will keep the air a little warmer than in surrounding areas. 

A big mistake is spacing the plants too close together. Branching varieties that grow 4 to 7 feet tall should be spaced 2 to 4 feet apart. Otherwise, the plant won’t reach its branching potential. Smaller varieties can be grown closer together than that; read the seed package for specifics.  

About the only bad thing about sunflowers is that most varieties produce a lot of pollen. In the garden that’s fine. But inside as a cut flower, the pollen stains fabrics of all kinds and the stain is hard to remove. In recent years, breeders have developed varieties that produce little or no pollen and these are a great choice if the plant is being grown for cutting. 

Several pollen-free varieties are available – some names to look for are: Fantasia, Sunny and Claret. Don’t worry about remembering these names – if the variety is pollen-free, the seed package or catalog description will mention it because it is considered a big plus. 

To maintain the repeat bloom nature of many varieties, Mezo recommends deadheading the plant – simply removing spent blossoms. Doing so forces out more side shoots and more flowers, she said.

Very quietly, history is coming alive in the yards of thousands of Americans and it is a tree, not a historian, that is doing the telling – telling of patriots and battles, of musicians and industrialists, of space exploration and slavery. 

The trees are the “product” of a program created by American Forests, a nonprofit conservation group in Jacksonville, Fla.  

The program – Famous and Historic Trees (FHT) – is one of several conservation and habitat efforts spearheaded by the organization. 

FHT has identified some 2,000 trees that are in some way connected to a historic event or famous person.  

Of these, 75 different trees are offered for sale at prices ranging from $35 to $50. Most are $35. With two exceptions, all are direct descendants of trees still alive and ranging in age from about 30 to 225 years old. Among the most popular are these: 

• Johnny Appleseed Apple. In the late 1780s, John Chapman planted an orchard of his favorite apple, Rambo, at a farm in Nova, Ohio. Over time, all but one tree died, was cut down or somehow destroyed. Cuttings and seeds from the surviving tree were gathered by American Forests and grown on to develop the trees now offered in the FHT program. 

• George Washington Tulip Poplar. Washington planted this tree in 1785 at his Mount Vernon home where it survives today. It has grown so old that its blossoms each spring require hand pollination if they are to produce seeds, and that is exactly what is done to produce the seeds that are then germinated to grow the saplings offered by FHT. 

• Moon Sycamore. Stuart Roosa was one of three astronauts aboard Apollo XIV when it was launched Jan. 31, 1971. Tree seeds collected from trees across the country was part of the cargo because Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service employee, wanted to do something to honor the service.  

Among the seeds were those from an American sycamore, and back on earth, the seeds were germinated, grown on and donated to colleges and universities. The seeds produced from these trees are the ones used by the FHT to grow into saplings. 

• Others are a pin oak, sycamore, sweetgum and weeping willow from the Graceland estate of Elvis Presley, a sycamore from the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, an oleander from the Fort Meyers, Fla., home of Thomas Edison, a sycamore from the estate of Henry Ford in Dearborn, Mich., and a green ash from the birthplace of George Washington Carver in Diamond, Mo. 

To grow these trees, representatives from American Forests each year gather the seeds – in whatever form – from the original tree.  

The seeds (seeds, acorns and so on) are then germinated at a nursery in Florida and grown on as seedlings. When they are big enough – usually 18 to 24 inches tall – they are offered for sale.  

At any one time, Famous and Historic Trees has 75,000 trees in its nursery – a population that is doubling every year because of the popularity of the program, according to spokesperson Susan T. Corbett. 

By collecting seeds, and in a few cases, cuttings, the direct link to the original tree that in some way has witnessed history is maintained, she said. 

The Johnny Appleseed tree is the most notable of trees propagated by cutting, rather than seed.  

This is done to improve the performance and winter-hardiness of the tree. Most fruit trees grown by homeowners and orchardists are really two trees – the “good” variety that is grafted onto a vigorous rootstock. The Johnny Appleseed tree is grown in this way. 

Each FHT tree comes with a growing kit that includes a translucent plastic sleeve to protect it for its first few years away from the nursery, fertilizer, a stake to support the sleeve, netting to protect it from birds, planting instructions and information about the tree. It is guaranteed to grow or it will be replaced. 

Most of the trees will grow most anywhere in the country. FHT uses the United States Department of Agriculture cold hardiness map to detail specific zones where the particular tree will thrive.  

Most will do just fine in zones 4 through 8 that covers all but the most extreme climates in the country. 

How many of these trees have been set out since the program began in 1988 is not clear, but interest in the program has prompted the nursery to double its production in recent years, Corbett said. Proceeds from the program are used to improve it and fund other projects of American Forests, such as Global ReLeaf.  

That program has resulted in the planting of more than 15 million trees in some 500 urban and community forest projects. 

On the Net: http://www.americanforests.org. 

FRESNO — Often scorned at home and ignored in the United States, migrant laborers found themselves celebrated as heroes Thursday by Mexican President Vicente Fox. 

Nearly 3,000 people crowded into a convention hall to hear Fox, who praised field workers and promised to work on issues that matter most in their lives. About 2,000 more listened outside through loudspeakers. 

Fox pledged to push Mexico’s Congress to allow people to vote from outside the country, to work with U.S. officials on a solution to long-standing disputes over immigration and to make it easier for expatriates to return to Mexico. 

“You are important, believe me, very important,” Fox said, as cheers drowned out his words. 

Such talk is a change for Mexican leaders. Money sent home by expatriates is one of Mexico’s largest sources of income. But past leaders did little to court the men and women who fled their homes to work long hours and difficult jobs in the United States. 

Fox campaigned in California last May and views expatriates as a source of financial and moral support for his right-of-center National Action Party and its legislative agenda. 

“You are permanent ambassadors of Mexican culture,” he told the crowd. “You have become a link between the United States and Mexico.” 

Fox pledged Mexican consulates would do more to investigate civil rights abuses against Mexicans in the United States and said he would devote more money to rural Mexico so people might not have to leave. 

After the morning rally with agriculture workers, Fox visited an elementary school in San Fernando with first lady Laura Bush. 

Fox asked Bush to use her influence to help Mexicans working in the U.S. get an affordable university education. 

The first lady told The Associated Press afterward that the federal government should not be involved. 

“I think that’s something that’s really left up to the state,” she said. 

Gov. Gray Davis, who accompanied Bush and Fox to the school, has said it would be too expensive to offer in-state tuition to non-citizens. 

Still, Fox’s plea won repeated standing ovations from the largely Latino crowd of parents. 

About two dozen anti-immigration protesters lined the street outside the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City where Fox was due for a town hall meeting. Barry Bartindale 56, a woodworker from Los Angeles, said he was protesting “the invasion of the U.S. by Mexico.” 

Fox’s visit to Fresno also drew about 100 protesters, but with a different message. Angel Noriega said both the Mexican president and Davis could do more for immigrants. 

“Things are better than before, but we’re waiting for more,” Noriega said. 

But the majority of people at the Fresno event seemed enthusiastic, saying Fox’s visit gives overdue attention to immigrant laborers. 

“Finally, we have a president who seems concerned with the plight of poor people,” said Jessie Oviedo, 56, who came to the United States from Mexico as a child and worked as a farm laborer before eventually landing a government clerical job. 

“This is a big day for us,” said Emilio Bolanos, 80, who showed up at the convention center at 6 a.m. for a front-row seat. “President Fox represents the future.” 

Fox’s tour with Davis also represents the growing influence of Latinos in the nation’s most populous state. The governor noted that more than a third of California’s 34 million residents are of Mexican descent. 

“We are not just neighbors, we are partners, and we are partners for life,” Davis said. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre opened parts two and three of its strong, epic staging of Greek playwright Aeschylus’ 458 B.C. tragic trilogy “The Oresteia” on Wednesday in its new Roda Theater, adjacent to the company’s old space on Addison Street in downtown Berkeley. 

These two short plays, each running slightly more than an hour, are a continuation of part one of the trilogy, which opened a week earlier. All three parts of “The Oresteia”– an epic story of murder, revenge, justice and redemption – now runs in repertory through the first week of May. 

“The Oresteia” is a complicated and tangled story. In part one (“Agamemnon”),Queen Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon when he returns home from the Trojan War. 

In part two (“The Libation Bearers”), Clytemnestra’s estranged son Orestes returns home to the family compound seven years later to cut up his mother and her lover Aegithus in a bloody execution as revenge for his father’s death. 

In part three (“The Eumenides” ), the Furies haunt and torture the guilt-ridden Orestes, trying to destroy him as revenge for his mother’s murder. 

When the god Apollo protects Orestes from the crazed Furies, a debate ensues over which murder was worse: Clytemnestra’s murder of her husband, or Orestes’ murder of his mother. 

The goddess Athena then intervenes by inventing the process of trial-by-jury, putting Orestes on trial and advising the humans judging him to find balance and the golden mean in their ultimate decision. She also helps the Furies transform their rage into a positive nurturing and guardian social force. 

There are many strong directorial touches from “Oresteia” co-directors Tony Taccone and Stephen Wadsworth in the double bill of parts two and three that opened Wednesday. 

At the top of the show, in the eerie opening graveyard scene of "The Libation Bearers," Electra and a chorus of mourning servant women wail at the grave of her father Agamemnon, slowly pulling the stealthy Orestes out of his hiding place in the weeds and into their circle of revenge. 

In a bloody denouement, Orestes’ murders of Clytemnestra and Aegithus remind us where slasher movies took their inspiration. The ending of part two is chilling, as sister Electra and a chorus of servant women celebrate the murders with an angry wail. 

In part three, “The Eumenides,” there is finally some humor, after all the darkness that has gone before. 

When goddess Athena (Michelle Morain, looking a little like Dale Evans in white go-go boots) bursts in comically on the Furies’ torture of Orestes, the stage lights go bright for the first time. Breaking the fourth wall, a trial jury in modern dress is pulled out of the audience for the play’s conclusion. 

What’s so strong about Aeschylus’ story is not just the magnificence and complexity of the myth, but how personal the playwright’s telling is. Aeschylus took well-known episodes from mythology, and turned them into powerful, personalized moment-to-moment stories. 

Fittingly, the performances in parts two and three are personal ones, not stagy or oratorical.  

Duane Boutte is an intense Orestes. Derrick Lee Weeden is striking as Orestes’ companion Pylades, a character with few lines but lots of stage time as the ever watchful aide, peering into dark corners alertly, and guarding his friend’s safety. 

Jonathan Haugen is a high-strung Aegithus in part two, the lover of Clytemnestra. He returns in part three as a stubborn, but articulate god Apollo, the guardian of Orestes in his trials. The zombie Furies of part three, defending the injustice done to the woman Clytemnestra, make a big impact. 

Christopher Barreca’s scenic design has spectacular moments. In part two, Orestes creeps at the edge of a graveyard in long dry grass that crackles and breaks when he flattens himself to hide. 

In part three, the sets have moments where they steal the show, from the massive stone exterior of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, to the interior of Athena’s temple the Acropolis, to the stunning, brightly lit grassy mountain seacoast where the final jury trial takes place. 

Composer Larry Delinger’s modern, simple electronic tones and drumming provide great moments of punctuation, pushing the drama of the story forward at key points, like a good movie soundtrack. 

Peter Maradudin’s powerful lighting design yields from dark and gloomy to bright and hopeful at the play’s transformative conclusion. 

And so ends this tale of triple familicide, a story about revenge and justice, and about the transformation of anger and rage to love. 

It is a bold move for the folks at the Rep to launch their new Roda Theater with such a sober, serious and difficult show. “Guys and Dolls” this ain’t. 

But if you like your theater dark, dense, difficult and meaningful, there is an important wisdom here for the fragile, conflict-ridden and revenge-filled global village that we now live in.  

Planet theater reviewer John Angell Grant has written for “American Theatre,” “Callboard,” and many other publications. E-mail him at jagplays@yahoo.com.

SAN FRANCISCO — Concluding that the stock market’s technology craze was a fad, leading online brokerage Charles Schwab Corp. Thursday said it will jettison as many as 3,400 jobs – about 13 percent of its work force. 

In making the cuts, the San Francisco-based brokerage conceded that much of its recent prosperity stemmed from the dot-com mania that lured inexperienced investors into swapping stocks on the Internet as if they were buying lottery tickets at a convenience store. 

The giddiness has given way to gloom as the stocks of Internet start-ups and technology bellwethers have crashed. 

The past two years represented “a euphoria-led trading level that just isn’t going to return,” said Schwab President David Pottruck during a conference call. 

Charles Schwab, the company’s chairman and founder, was almost apologetic for allowing the brokerage to be swept up in the frenzy.  

As its trading volumes soared, the brokerage added 6,000 new jobs last year, increasing its staff by 30 percent to about 26,000 full-time workers. 

“We have come through a highly speculative technology bubble,” Schwab said. “Maybe I should have been a little more emphatic in understanding that this was a temporary phenomenon.” 

To make amends for the upcoming layoffs, Schwab and his wife are donating $10 million to create a fund that will pay up to $20,000 in tuition for the employees who lose their jobs.  

Schwab has an estimated $10 billion fortune, according to Forbes magazine’s most recent wealth survey. 

The company also is providing severance packages that will pay up to 10 months of salary, cover health insurance premiums and offer up to 1,000 stock options.  

Fired workers who return within 18 months will receive a $7,500 rehiring bonus. 

Even as its business suffered, Schwab had tried to avoid the layoffs by slashing management salaries, reducing bonuses and encouraging workers to take unpaid days off. 

Schwab’s problems aren’t isolated, industry analysts said. Most brokerages, particularly those that relied heavily on trades made over the Internet, are facing tough times as investors retreat from the plummeting stock market. 

Most other brokerages, though, are fooling themselves into believing that their businesses eventually will return to the glory days of 1999 and 2000, said industry analyst Mark Constant of Lehman Brothers. 

“Everyone wants to blame this on a blip in the market, but the reality is what happened the last couple years was a joke and we’re not going back to that kind of environment anytime soon,” Constant said. 

As the biggest Internet broker, Schwab has been particularly hard hit. 

In February, the brokerage’s average daily trades plunged by 31 percent from the prior year and fell 13 percent from the prior month. With trading commissions evaporating, the slowdown is taking a big bite out of the company’s profits. 

Besides announcing the layoffs, Schwab also warned that its first-quarter profits won’t meet expectations. 

The company said its profit will range between $88 million and $98 million, or 6 cents to 7 cents per share, a 66 percent decrease from last year. Excluding special charges, the company said its first-quarter profit will range between $110 million to $120 million, or 8 cents per share. Analysts previously expected the company to earn 13 cents per share. 

Schwab’s shares fell 70 cents to close at $15.20 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has lost nearly half its value so far this year. The company plans to buy back up to 20 million shares to boost its stock. 

The layoffs and other budget cuts are expected to save Schwab $40 million to $45 million beginning in the third quarter. Jobs left unfilled through employee attrition will save another $10 million in 2002. 

With trading volume in a slump, Schwab hopes to generate more income from advisory fees from customers looking for investment help amid the current market turbulence. 

Schwab customers have an average of $400,000 in assets, but only about $220,000 is in Schwab accounts, Pottruck said. The brokerage hopes to persuade customers to transfer more money into Schwab accounts by proving that it can dispense sound financial advice. Schwab is about to introduce a new advertising campaign emphasizing its advisory service. 

The big challenge will be convincing customers to pay fees for advice from a company known for its low-cost, do-it-yourself service, Constant said. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.aboutschwab.com 

SEATTLE — Microsoft warned users Thursday that an unauthorized party had obtained digital certificates that would enable someone to falsely represent themselves as the software giant and deliver a computer virus to an unsuspecting recipient. 

VeriSign Inc. of Mountain View, notified Microsoft that it issued two digital certificates on Jan. 29 and 30. Someone posing as a Microsoft employee was able to trick VeriSign into issuing the certificates, Microsoft said. 

VeriSign’s digital certificates – a key security feature of Microsoft’s Internet software – are used by Microsoft to assure the genuineness of programs. 

“The danger, of course, is that even a security-conscious user might agree to let the content execute and might agree to always trust bogus certificates,” the company said. 

Mahi deSilva, VeriSign’s vice president and general manager of applied trust services, said Thursday that the fraud was discovered almost immediately after the certificate was issued, in the course of normal auditing VeriSign does after issuing digital certificates. 

Microsoft and VeriSign were working to correct the problem, both companies said.  

Users were warned to inspect for certificates that were issued on Jan. 29 and 30, since no legitimate certificates were given on those dates, and to notify Microsoft or VeriSign if they discover them. 

The FBI has also been notified, deSilva said. 

Microsoft also advised customers to set security levels on their Internet browsers to request permission before opening downloaded documents. 

So far, VeriSign believes no one has used the certificates, deSilva said. 

The problem is serious and effects could last years, said Russ Cooper of TruSecure Corp. and editor of the NTBugTraq mailing list. 

“This is an extremely huge mistake by VeriSign,” he said. “There’s no way that this certificate should have been given to a non-Microsoft employee.” 

DeSilva, who blamed “human error” for the fraudulent certificates, said the company’s reputation shouldn’t suffer “because we found this problem. We’ve been very proactive about communicating this problem to the various authorities. We think we’ve done everything we can to be ahead of the curve here.” 

Investors didn’t agree, at least initially. Shares of VeriSign fell $1.94, or 6 percent, to $33.06 in after-hours trading after rising $2 to $35 during the regular trading session on the Nasdaq Stock Market. 

Shares of Microsoft were up 12.5 cents after closing at $54, up $3.94. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.microsoft.com 

http://www.verisign.com 

NEW YORK — Despondent investors intensified their selloff of blue chip stocks Thursday, accelerating the decline in the Dow Jones industrial average and narrowly avoiding bear market territory. 

A last-hour rally allowed the Dow to recover somewhat, but the index still closed with a loss of nearly 100 points. 

Investors are in “deep despair,” said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer for First Albany Corp. “There is a sense of giving up. They are extraordinarily depressed and demoralized.” 

Despite the late recovery, the market’s litany of grim numbers “points out how much damage has been done, and how we have gone from irrational exuberance to irrational depression,” said Alfred E. Goldman, director of market analysis for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. 

According to traditional measures, a bear market occurs when there is a drop of 20 percent over a sustained period. While the tech sector landed in bear market turf last year, Wall Street has been debating whether the broader market has also become bearish, or has just dipped into bear territory. The S&P 500 officially entered a bear market on March 12. 

The Dow, which until last week was able to resist the heavy selling that decimated the Nasdaq, has fallen to bear levels because investors believe the economy is getting much weaker, severely hampering even the most stalwart companies. 

“This is about a market that is forecasting a recession,” said Gary Kaltbaum, market technician for First Union Securities. “I know a lot of people are saying we are not in a recession, but remember, 12 months ago people were saying technology was great and wasn’t going anywhere but up.” 

The Dow was able to curb its losses as the Nasdaq advanced on a rebound in deeply discounted tech stocks. Still, Kaltbaum said, it’s doubtful the Dow will be able to sustain a recovery for quite some time. 

“You had to bounce from somewhere,” he said.  

“The Dow is in bad shape no matter what.” 

The Dow began its plunge last week when the market’s fears of a recession widened to include the possibility of a halt in growth globally, especially given news that Japan is in a state of deflation and that the country’s banking system is burdened by debt. 

Investors sold blue chips on a deepening conviction that the economy and corporate earnings won’t improve any time soon, particularly if demand for U.S. goods and services slumps abroad as well. 

The market also remains irritated by the interest rate cut the Federal Reserve made Tuesday. Investors, who wanted the Fed to reduce rates by 0.75 percentage point, don’t think the 0.5 point reduction will be enough to boost earnings and the economy. 

Among blue chips hurting Thursday was Procter & Gamble, down 45 cents at $62.75, after confirming earlier reports that it is slashing 9,600 jobs as it tries to restore long-term growth. 

General Motors skidded $1.22 to $52.30 after announcing plans Wednesday to briefly idle more North American assembly plants in the next three months as it winnows inventories.  

GM idled two assembly plants, affecting 5,600 workers, earlier this week. 

The impact of slowing demand from consumers abroad has hurt other Dow stocks. McDonald’s, which warned earlier this month that Europe’s fears about the spreading of mad cow disease will pinch profits more than expected, fell 54 cents to $25.11. 

A new report showing the economy has further slowed added to investors’ sour mood. 

Economic activity fell 0.2 percent in February, according to the Conference Board. The New York-based private research group said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell to 108.8 last month after increasing a revised 0.5 percent in January. 

The group provided little encouragement that the economy would rebound any time soon, but it did say slow growth would continue in the coming months. 

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial applications for jobless benefits edged down by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000 for the week ending March 17. Despite the drop, the figures were interpreted as showing a continuing drop in demand for workers. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was very heavy at 2.04 billion, compared with 1.56 billion on Wednesday and close to the record 2.2 billion shares traded on Jan. 3. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller companies stocks, was down 2.94 at 432.80. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed down 1.9 percent. 

Stocks dove even further in Europe. Germany’s DAX index fell 4.2 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 4.1 percent and France’s CAC-40 closed down 4.0 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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

When the two Berkeley-based high school baseball teams play against each other, the players don’t just want to do well to help their team. They want to win bragging rights over their friends on the other team. The St. Mary’s Panthers did just that on Wednesday, downing Berkeley High, 7-5. 

“You know that if you play badly, you’re going to hear about it later,” said Berkeley’s Jeremiah Fielder. “So you definitely want to bring your best game.” 

The Panthers (2-9) did just that by getting to Berkeley starter Moses Kopner, who will pitch for Stanford next season. Kopner had trouble with his control early, committing two hit batsmen and a walk to open the bottom of the first inning. St. Mary’s second baseman Chris Alfert followed with a bases-loaded infield single, and pitcher Anthony Miyawaki followed with a single to left that brought home another run. Designated hitter Joe Storno than blooped a hit into left-center to score another before Kopner settled down by striking out the next three batters. He committed a balk before getting out of the inning, however, and the Panthers had a 4-1 lead after one. 

“Moses was just getting warmed up, and he was ahead in the count,” Berkeley head coach Tim Moellering said. “But the ball found the batters’ bodies, and he got himself in a hole.” 

Berkeley’s one run in the top of the first came when leadoff man Lee Franklin pulled a double down the third-base line, went to third on an error, then stole home with two outs. That was all the offense the ’Jackets (7-4) would get in the first four innings, as Miyawaki got them to pound the ball into the ground for easy outs. He got some defensive help from third baseman Tom Wright, who made two diving stops, including stabbing a line drive to start a double play to kill a Berkeley threat in the third inning. 

The ’Jackets finally broke through for another run in the fifth inning, as shortstop Jason Moore singled to drive in Clinton Calhoun, who reached on a fielder’s choice. But Berkeley’s threat ended strangely, as DeAndre Miller was caught trying to steal home on what looked like a missed sign by catcher Paco Flores. 

The Panthers answered right back by scoring three runs in their half of the fifth. Fielder reached on an error, and Kopner loaded the bases with two more walks. Miyawaki helped his own cause again, driving in two runs with a single, and Storno hit a sacrifice fly before Kopner struck out the last two batters of the inning. 

Bad baserunning again killed a promising Berkeley rally in the sixth, as Noah Roper hit a single and was promptly picked off of first base. Designated hitter Matt Toma followed with his second double of the game, then Miyawaki walked Bennie Goldberg. Both runners scored on a single by Dominic Hunter that got by St. Mary’s right fielder Chase Moore. 

“We ran ourselves out of a couple of innings,” Berkeley head coach Tim Moellering said. “We were in the game the whole way, but things just didn’t break for us.” 

St. Mary’s got into the baserunning antics in the bottom of the sixth. With Brandon Hartoy at third and Fielder at second, first baseman Joe Starkey hit a grounder to shortstop. Hartoy got caught in a rundown and was tagged out. Starkey strayed past first base and got in another rundown, then Fielder was caught sneaking away from third. He was tagged out for a very complicated double play that ended the inning. 

St. Mary’s head coach Andy Shimabukuro decided to leave Miyawaki in the game to start the seventh inning, but it was soon obvious that the starter was tiring fast. Miyawaki gave up a single and a double to start the inning, and Shimabukuro quickly called on Storno to douse the rally.  

Storno walked the first batter he faced before getting the next three batters to earn the save. Toma hit a shot down the first-base line with two outs, but Starkey was there to smother the ball and end the game.

Thursday, March 22

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 

Ribbon Cutting & Evening Mixer  

5:30 - 7 p.m.  

National Car Rental  

920 University Ave.  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Special drawing for a weekend rental of a 4x4.  

549-7003 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Basic Electrical Theory  

& National Electrical Code 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Taught by author, speaker and retired City of Oakland Building Inspector Redwood Kardon. 

$35  

525-7610 

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

Keeping the Commitment 

12:10 - 1:10 p.m. 

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804 

The State Health Toastmasters present the sixth of six sessions to take the terror out of talking.  

649-7750 

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 

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 

“Jewish Holidays from  

a Secular Perspective”  

8 p.m.  

Albany Community Center  

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Hershl Hartman, international authority on secular humanistic Judaism, will speak. Sponsored by Kol Hadash, Northern California Community for Humanistic Judaism.  

428-1492 

“Turandot” 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Commission on Disability 

Subcommittee on Transportation  

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

2180 Milvia St.  

Third Floor North, Maple Room 

The subcommittee will discuss the paratransit program, pedestrian access problems, AC Transit access issues and the Berkeley program of nightlights for wheelchair users. 

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  

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m. - noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the  

Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

“LGBT Family Night at the Y” 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

The third annual free night for gay and lesbian families at the Y. The event will feature floor hockey, swimming, soccer, basketball and other sports, as well as arts and crafts. Free; donation requested.  

Call 848-9622 

Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease Health Clinic 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church  

2024 Ashby Ave.  

Dr. Lenore Coleman, Bayer Clinical Science specialist and certified diabetes educator and Dr. Cassandra Herbert Whitman, Alta Bates Medical Associates will be available to answer questions. Free comprehensive screenings will be given people to identify cardiovascular risk factors. Free 

848-2050 

Energy Ideas for Remodeling  

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

City Energy Officer Neal De Snoo will conduct a seminar on the options available for incorporating energy efficient fixtures and systems into residential remodeling and renovation projects. Sponsored by Truitt & White Lumber Company of Berkeley. Free 

Call 649-2674 for reservations  

Visit www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy for info. on energy conservation and efficiency 

Hunger Hike in the Redwoods  

10 a.m.  

Joaquin Miller Park  

Ranger Station on Sanborn Dr.  

Oakland  

Join the Alameda County Community Food Bank for this educational hike. Enjoy the views while learning about local edible and medicinal plants. Bring a bag lunch.  

$25 donation  

834-FOOD x327 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Center St. @ MLK Jr. Way 

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

Compassionate Listening  

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Hear Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener and three other local women report on their recent visit to Israel and Palestine. They listened to Israelis and Palestinians from a variety of political, religious and social perspectives tell their stories, hopes, fears and dreams. Donation requested. Proceeds benefit the Mideast Citizen Diplomacy.  

Live from Death Row 

2 p.m.  

YWCA  

1515 Webster St.  

Hosted by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP), “Live From Death Row” is a public forum where death row inmates meet via speakerphone with a speakers’ panel and the general public to share their experiences of living with the brutal reality of capital punishment. Includes Nobel Peace Prize nominee and San Quentin death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Williams.  

Sunday, March 25

Women in Science & Technology  

1 - 4 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

In celebration of Women’s History Month, LHS presents a day to inspire and inform students. Women who work in such fields as computer graphics, geology, and astronomy demonstrate how they use math, science, and technology in their professional lives. Free with museum admission.  

Passover Family Day  

12:30 - 3 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum  

2911 Russell St.  

Create a Passover seder plate, view Magnes treasures, see “Madame Matza Ball Celebrates Passover,” a puppet show for the tikes, enjoy free refreshments, and exchange recipes. 

Monday, March 26

The New House of Representatives 

Noon  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Lois Capps, congresswoman, (D., Santa Barbara), will discuss “The Makeup of the New House of Representatives.” Bring a brown bag lunch. Free 

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 

Free Writing, Cashiering & Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.org 

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 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

1 p.m. - Dusk  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Derby St. @ MLK Jr. Way  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

548-3333 

Young Queer Women’s Group 

8 - 9:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).  

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org 

Blood Pressure Testing 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Alice Meyer  

644-6107 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

CA. Telephone Access for Low Vision 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

With Frances Franco. 

644-6107 

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 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Help the Abused  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Gary Hines will discuss how to recognize if a peer is in an abusive situation and what to do. Free  

644-6107 

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  

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

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 

“Yellowstone Buffalo” Screening 

7 p.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists  

Cedar & Bonita  

A compilation video exposing the ongoing slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild buffalo herd. Seventy five percent of donations go to the Buffalo Field Campaign’s front-line efforts to protect the buffalo herd. Sponsored by A First Amendment Center, Berkeley. Free 

287-9406  

Saturday, March 31  

Shelter Operations Class  

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

“The spelling book is heavier than it looks,” said sixth-grader Margaret Lawrence, as she leaned forward against the weight of her giant backpack Wednesday. 

“The social studies book is a monster,” said Margaret’s mom, Melanie Lawrence, inviting a reporter to heft the bag, which indeed seemed more appropriate for a paratrooper than a middle schooler. 

A handful of concerned parents and about 20 students from Longfellow Arts & Technology Magnet Middle School gathered outside the school before class Wednesday to protest the weight of bags students must carry from class to class, and back and forth from school each day. 

According to a 1999 study by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 58 percent of orthopedists reported seeing patients who complained of back and shoulder pain caused by heavy backpacks. The physicians also reported muscle strain among children carrying heavy loads in backpacks, and warned that the trend could lead some children to develop poor posture, notably excessive slouching. 

According to the study, children carrying a backpack that weighs more than 20 percent of their body weight are at risk of injury to their shoulders and spine. 

Longfellow eighth-grader Desiree Woods doesn’t need to be told by the AAOS. Woods said she weighs 92 pounds but totes around a backpack weighing in the 20-pound range. She regularly sees a chiropractor to help deal with pain and discomfort caused by the bag. 

“My chiropractor says it puts a lot of extra strain on the lower back where it shouldn’t be,” Woods said.  

Unlike other Berkeley middle schools, Longfellow has no lockers for students to store their books, gym clothes, lunch and other items during the day when they aren’t needed. 

During the planning process for the recently completed renovation of Longfellow’s main building, which dates back to 1923, it was determined that installing lockers would detract from the building’s historical character, said Longfellow Principal William Dwyer.  

Planners were mindful of the heavy backpack problem, however, Dwyer said. They budgeted thousands of dollars to buy enough math and science books for every student to keep one at home and one at school, thus cutting down on the load they carry back and forth each day. 

But parents Wednesday said the problem has yet to be adequately addressed. They would like to see lockers put into the school, they said, or at least see the school continue to address the issue in some way. 

“Is there some backpack-management training we can give the kids?” asked Longfellow parent Cynthia Papermaster, who organized the protest. “We ought to be talking about what we can do?” 

Dwyer said the issue hasn’t come up at the school’s Site Committee meetings, but said he is considering options to address the problem, including having physical education teachers instruct students how to safely lift and wear backpacks. 

Physicians interviewed in the AAOS study recommend that children: use a hip strap for heavier bags; use both back pack straps, firmly tightened, to hold the pack two inches above the waist; place the heaviest items close to the back; bend both knees when picking up a heavy back pack; and consider purchasing a backpack with wheels. 

Better plan for Beth El possible  

Editor: 

I wish to commend David Blake’s brave comments at the last Zoning Adjustment Board meeting on March 8. He hit the nail right on the head. This project would not have been approved on the design of the project itself. 

No one questions the good works of Temple Beth El or any religious institution. I believe many people do good work whether they belong to a church or not. Does that give any one group the right to put a parking lot and road in the corridor of Codornices Creek, the most open creek in Berkeley. Does that mean one can move a mature live oak tree and transplant it somewhere else and hope that it survives? What does that teach the children? 

What the neighborhood questions is the project design and its detrimental impacts on the open Codornices Creek corridor, its riparian ecology; parking and traffic impacts on the surrounding neighborhood including Live Oak Park, Berkeley Arts Center, and Jewish Community Center; and the destruction of an historic site. People will drive.  

This area is the last remnant of one of the first farms in Berkeley. The site of the Byrne Mansion was chosen because of the proximity of the then opened creek. You can see the open green corridor clearly from aerial views. The landmark is the land itself. It is contiguous with Live Oak Park and the rest of Codornices Creek. 

I invite you to come to 1301 Oxford and Berryman Path. Look at the developer’s story poles to see the dimensions of the structure (footprint the size of a football field or the local Safeway) and the blue taped areas representing the parking lot and road which is now adjacent to Berryman Path. Imagine a seven foot stucco wall along Berryman Path. The community gardeners who once maintained the northern portion of the property did not have their lease renewed, so the area is overgrown, but its natural beauty still remains. They say that with the latest plan for parking lot and road parallel to Berryman Path, that Codornices Creek can be restored. This is dubious at best, since it would mean extremely steep banks, increased pollution in the creek, and a road between the creek and Berryman path. Cars and roadway will hang over the edge of the creek. 

I believe there is a better plan for this property that can satisfy all stakeholders. You can have enough parking, adequate space for a building, and have a beautiful open creek to be proud of. The plan that the ZAB approved is not that plan. It ignores neighborhood and several environmental organizations concerns. Don’t take my word for this. Come see the paradise. They are building a parking lot over it. 

Diane A. Tokugawa 

Berkeley 

The Berkeley High boys’ lacrosse team started its game against University (San Francisco) with a bang, with midfielder Ed Hill scoring the game’s first goal on the Yellowjackets’ opening possession. Unfortunately, the ’Jackets went out with a whimper, as they were held scoreless for the next 40 minutes and lost 11-2. 

The Red Devils (7-2 overall, 4-0 league) were led by attackers Brian Wendell and Aldis Butler, who had 10 and eight points, respectively. Wendell scored four goals, two from assists by Butler, while Butler scored three goals, one assisted by Wendell. 

Hill, one of the few ’Jackets who could maintain possession of the ball for any amount of time, scored both Berkeley goals, with the second coming late in the fourth quarter after the game was long decided. The ’Jackets looked thoroughly confused in the first quarter, as they tried a new defense, but after falling behind 3-1 and rarely invading the University goal, they went back to their man-to-man defense. 

Following Hill’s first goal, University’s Roman Adler struck back with a goal. Berkeley’s Joe Rabinowitz had a shot at point-blank range on Devil goalie Sean Koffel, but couldn’t finish it. That was the end of Berkeley’s offense in the opening period, as University held the ball in their offensive zone. Wendell scored two goals to end the period, including one power-play goal after Berkeley defender Brandon Lucker put a late hit on one of Wendell’s teammates and was assessed a penalty. 

The second quarter was much of the same, as the Devils scored four goals and killed a short two-man advantage for Berkeley. Berkeley just couldn’t connect on their passes close to the University goal, and Butler took advantage early in the quarter. A missed connection from behind the Devil goal ended up with the ball rolling free, and Butler scooped it up, made a 30-yard run and beat Berkeley goalie Mark Bloch for his first score. 

Later in the period, Butler used a solid pick to get free in front of Bloch once again, and beat him low. Wendell followed soon after with a wraparound goal, and then University put on a show, as Butler stole a Bloch outlet pass and drove toward the goal before flipping a pass behind his head to Wendell for the prettiest goal of the game. 

Berkeley came out of halftime with fire in their eyes, and they had several good shots on goal. Midfielder Stefan Isaksen juked his way to a 20-yard run that led to the doorstep of the goal, but he just missed the upper corner. Berkeley just couldn’t finish their chances, and when University’s Bingo McKenzie scored a long shot on Berkeley substitute goalie Monty Carlson, it seemed to take the wind out of the ’Jackets’ sails. University tacked on three more goals to end the game.

The City Council adopted an energy plan Tuesday that will take some of the financial sting out of the energy crisis and begin implementing programs for renewable energy and energy conservation. 

The council unanimously approved the two-year Community Energy Plan, which includes financial assistance for low-income residents, public information campaigns and materials for residents who want to make their homes more energy efficient. The plan will also explore the possibility of city or regional utility ownership. 

The council also approved $519,500 to begin instituting the plan in fiscal year 2001-2002. City staff estimates that the plan will require another $855,750 for fiscal year 2002-2003 in order to institute a series of renewable, conservation and efficiency programs.  

“The most important thing in the short term is probably the financial assistance for low-income residents,” said Energy Officer Neil De Snoo. “The long-term goal is a package of programs and each piece has an important role.” 

The council referred 50 energy initiatives to city staff and the Energy Commission at a Feb. 13 meeting. They became the basis for the Community Energy Plan. 

Energy Commission Chair Jeffrey Siegel said it was a challenge to put the plan together by Tuesday’s council meeting, and much of the credit goes to De Snoo. 

“It was very difficult because some of the ideas were contradictory and we had to come up with a document that either everybody would be happy with or nobody would,” Siegel said. 

The plan is organized in two phases – the first is designed to combat the current energy crisis, and the second is aimed at implementing plans to reduce future energy use. 

The first phase will immediately provide $49,750 for bill payment assistance for an estimated $1,400 low-income households. The average payment this year per household will be approximately $210 and is expected to be raised to $275 when additional funding becomes available next year, according to the written plan. 

Berkeley EcoHouse will begin a program at King and Willard middle schools to train students to identify inefficient home weatherization and then remedy the situation. The $20,000 program will also provide weatherization materials. 

Councilmember Linda Maio said the EcoHouse program could blossom into a larger program in which the students could possibly use their new skills to install weatherization measures in seniors’ homes. 

“It’s part of the education we have to do,” Maio said. 

The city will also launch a citywide information campaign that will include a mailing to all residents detailing ways to reduce energy use in the home and office.  

After some contentious discussion, the council also voted to fund a public power utility study. Originally the plan called for the study to be funded next year. But a motion made by Councilmember Kriss Worthington guaranteed funding in fiscal year 2001-2002. 

The $85,000 study was approved by five votes with Councilmembers Betty Olds and Polly Armstrong voting in opposition and Mayor Shirley Dean and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shriek abstaining. 

Richard Challacombe was among several members of the Social Action Committee of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in the audience to support municipalization by holding up brightly colored signs that read “Power To The People.”  

“We were very pleased that the money for the study was approved,” he said. “We don’t want to wait a year or 18 months for the ball to get rolling.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was glad the city was able to put together such a comprehensive energy plan. She pointed out that an additional energy resolution had been approved on the consent calendar – items on the consent calendar are approved unanimously without discussion – that could be a significant force in moving to solar power. It was a resolution by Dean and Shirek, to join the Bay Area Solar Consortium, which will facilitate research, development and education of solar power. The program is part of former President Clinton’s Million Solar Roofs initiative, which encourages residents and businesses to install solar panels on one million rooftops by 2010. 

Medical marijuana 

In other matters the council was unable to reach a decision on the number of marijuana plants certified individuals would be allowed to grow in their residences under the pending Medical Marijuana Ordinance. 

The item was set for next Tuesday’s meeting. 

More than 50 parents – many with their children – filled the Berkeley Arts Magnet School Auditorium Tuesday night to hear Dr. Barbara Staggers talk about strategies for better communication between parents and children. 

The lecture, sponsored by the Berkeley PTA Council, is the first in a series addressing parenting issues. 

“I want to hear what they have to say about when you should talk to kids, and when and in how much detail,” Kristin Prentice, who has two children in the Berkeley school district, said before the lecture. “I talk to my kids already, but I don’t know if I’m doing it right.” 

Staggers, director of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, has lectured all over the country on parent-child communication on tough issues like sexuality, peer pressure, drugs and violence. She began the evening by telling parents how to recognize different stages of development – early, middle and late adolescence – and respond to them appropriately. 

“You have to understand that normal development is normal” – even when it doesn’t appear that way to the adult mind, Staggers said.  

“Puberty happens.” 

Are parents frustrated by their 9-year-old’s monosyllabic answers to questions they consider important? The child may not be willfully withholding information, Staggers said, so much as reflecting his or her own bewilderment at the situation. 

For example, since early adolescent children typically don’t plan ahead but rather react to things as they occur, they might be just as surprised and dismayed as a parent when they receive a D in a class, Staggers said. 

“They really don’t know how it happened.”  

Since adolescents as a group don’t plan ahead, they won’t be prepared to respond to difficult situations faced by many children today unless parents take the initiative to prepare them, Staggers said.  

“You have to role play,” she said, advising parents to practice with their children how to walk away from a fight, or how to say no to drugs or sex, before they ever confront such a situation on their own. 

In a world where addictive drugs are readily available to youth, or where the risk of AIDS is an ever-present danger, adolescents can’t afford even one mistake, Staggers said. 

“That’s what prevents kids from using drugs: talking with their parents,” Staggers said. “Ask them, ‘Why do you want to do drugs?’ ‘What do you know about drugs?’”  

Staggers talked at length about the importance of developing clear expectations for children’s behavior and then reinforcing these expectations with appropriate punishments and rewards. 

“I see a lot of adolescents who are not parented,” Staggers said. “You cannot always be their friend, but you have to always be their parent.” 

Staggers emphasized in disciplining children, parents should find way to make it clear that they dislike the child’s behavior, not the child. 

“They cannot doubt or question whether you love them,” Staggers said. “We lose too many kids that way...Kids who look for love in all the wrong places.” 

Patricia Bandy, who attended Tuesday’s meeting with her granddaughter Brijuanaé Bandy, said in her day open communications between parents and children was the exception not the rule. Bandy said she wants to stay attuned to her grandchildren’s lives so she can overcome negative influences of the media age. 

“They’re exposed to guns, when you think they have no idea about guns,” Bandy said. “They know it all.” 

“I haven’t had these conversations with them yet. But I want to know. I want them to talk.” 

Parent Maya Karpinski agreed. 

“The media has made times faster for our kids,” she said. “You have to always keep one step ahead of the information they get.” 

At the end of the night, Staggers divided the audience into four groups, carefully separating parents from their children. She asked two of the groups to come up with a list of reasons about why it’s good to be a parent, and the other two, to form a list of reasons for wanting to become a teen. 

“If I can do this and one parent or child comes out inspired, that’s one less kid or parent that I’ll see in my clinic,” Staggers said. 

Two more Berkeley middle school students have pleaded guilty to charges they sexually assaulted a 12-year-old female classmate last fall. 

The 11- and 12-year-old Willard Middle School boys joined 13-year-old Monday in admitting they assaulted the girl both on and off campus on Oct. 25. 

The boys will be sentenced in April. 

A 13-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School student and four other boys who allegedly assaulted the same girl in November, are now awaiting trial. 

The boys’ parents have said their sons engaged in consensual sex with the girl. Police, however, called the assault a gang rape. Still, no rape or kidnap charges were filed against any of the boys. 

Initial reports on the rape may have been exaggerated, said Jon Thurston, Alameda County deputy district attorney. 

“Police made it sound like this girl was dragged around from pillar to post and raped. But that didn’t happen. The initial reports just weren’t true,” Thurston told the San Jose Mercury News. 

Still, it’s illegal to have sex with anyone under age 18. State laws say children under 14 are not capable of giving consent.

After bringing his salsa sounds to the Bay Area for five decades, a Latin jazz institution is headed south. 

Pete Escovedo, jazz pioneer and Bay Area native, is moving to Southern California to be with his daughter, singer Sheila E., and to take up his career in a more music-friendly climate, said Henry Royal, general manager of the Oakland salsa club Kimball's Carnival. 

“Due to the fact that the club scene up here didn't work out for him, he decided to pack his bags and try something new,” Royal said. 

Escovedo will be given a proper sendoff at the end of the month, with Kimball's Carnival hosting the “Farewell to the Bay Area” party.  

Musical guests such as Sheila E., John Santos, Ray Obedio and producer Narada Michael Walden are expected to attend. 

Now in his early 60s, Escovedo has had a long and highly successful career in the jazz scene, playing with the likes of Count Basie, Tito Puente, Carlos Santana, Woody Herman, Anita Baker and others. 

Born in Pittsburg and raised in Oakland, Escovedo recently settled in Alameda, starting his own jazz club, Mr. E's Spotlight on the Square. That club is now closed, Royal said. 

“It’s going to be a great loss to us, because we're not going to have the advantage of seeing Pete,” Royal said. 

The farewell party will be held Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, at Kimball's Carnival, 522 Second St., Jack London Square, Oakland. Tickets are $25.

When “Forrest Gump” was released to wild box office success in 1994, the title character was poised to represent the soul of a generation: a man who bumbled his way through every major historical event and cultural trend for 30 years.  

Isn’t it unfortunate that the slightly touched Forrest seemed oblivious to the world at large? 

Odd, because the post-war Baby Boomers are one of the most self-aware generations in history. They have had as much impact on the world as the world has had on them. Their mirror is a cultural barometer. And in that mirror they now see wrinkles. 

“I look at myself as an EveryBoomer,” said Berkeley-based filmmaker Elizabeth Sher, whose hour-long documentary “Thinner, Younger, Smoother” will be broadcast on KQED-TV at 10:30 p.m. The video looks at the cosmetic surgery industry that has grown exponentially alongside the now-aging generation – once-dangerous teenagers – with pesky crow’s feet and love handles. 

Sher, who had earned a graduate degree in fine arts at UC Berkeley and now teaches at the California Academy of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, included herself in her own video, rooting the exploration of the plastic surgery market in her own decision-making process to tightening up the bags under her eyes.  

But with testimonials from surgery patients, interviews with doctors, humorous clips from pop culture ephemera, and man-on-the-street commentary, Sher shows she is not alone in her concerns; that liposuction is not merely navel-gazing. 

“What I think is interesting is that it didn’t come out of nowhere,” Sher said.  

The film traces the advancement of plastic surgery techniques in tandem with the marketplace that is willing to buy them. 

An injection of Botox, for example, has been used for 20 years to induce controlled muscle atrophy. Now, at a beauty salon in Sausalito the image-conscious consumer can attend an informal cocktail party once a month and get Botox injections to remove lines from a worrying forehead. 

People think a furrow in their brow makes them look angry, Sher said. “But you don’t really look angry. You have a line in your forehead.” 

Candid interviews with people on the street, conducted by Berkeley’s Man-On-The-Street legend Mal Sharpe, reveal the physical effects of age are not a burden to be borne willingly. Tightening, tucking and sucking are common considerations for a demographic looking for ways to stave off aging. 

The film illustrates its points with quick snippets from American film and television of the 1950s and 1960s.  

Images of starlets and sitcoms evoke the historical context of the Boomer’s image of themselves, and the cultural flotsam that once formed their young minds. They also add a note of humor to personal testimonials and expository interviews, cuing the audience that this stuff is not without humor. 

The nature of the subject matter even undermines the shopworn documentary technique of the talking-head interview.  

What is normally a bland-but-necessary filmmaking habit of shooting a person talking about something the camera cannot see, these interview subjects are talking about their own faces. When a person scrutinizes his own forehead or her own cheekbones (a practice usually reserved for the privacy of a bathroom mirror), the viewer gets to scrutinize right along with them.  

And, yeah, that guy in Sausalito really does have a high forehead, now that you mention it. 

When exploring the self-awareness, the self-image, and self-importance of a generation, the medium becomes the message. 

Peter Crimmins is the producer of "Film Close-Ups” on KALX radio in Berkeley.

NEW YORK — Concerns over shrinking inventories of petroleum products lifted energy futures sharply higher Wednesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. 

Products futures led the way after data showed an unexpected weekly decline in stocks of gasoline and a larger-than-expected drawdown in distillate inventories. 

The Nymex rally got underway after the Department of Energy reported Wednesday morning that U.S. gasoline stocks dropped 3.4 million barrels to 198.2 million barrels and distillate stocks, which include diesel fuel and heating oil, fell 3.6 million barrels to 110.7 million barrels last week. 

Most analysts had projected an increase in gasoline stocks and a smaller draw in distillate stocks. 

Traders continue to worry that the slowing global economy will exacerbate a seasonal decline in oil demand in the second quarter, causing a supply glut and further pressuring prices. 

Those concerns have brought crude prices under pressure despite the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ agreement Saturday to cut oil production by 1 million barrels a day and the Federal Reserve’s move Tuesday to lower short-term interest rates by half a percentage point. 

In other commodities trading, May corn fell 1.25 cents to $2.1025 a bushel after setting a contract low of $2.0575. May wheat slid 4.25 cents to $2.6650, after registering a contract low of $2.62, while May soybeans fell 3.50 cents to $4.4325. 

In the corn and soybean markets the continued gains in the dollar sent prices tumbling. 

“The dollar is killing us. It’s wiping out our ability to compete,” said Jim Bower, a grain broker, and president of Bower Trading in Lafayette, IN. “We are not going to see new demand for our products (corn, beans, wheat) from our Asian customers with our dollar priced so high.” 

Cocoa futures fell on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange as speculative selling continued. 

A poor performance in the London futures market and a stronger dollar and British pound against the euro acted as a damper for the New York opening, they added. Because cocoa is priced in dollars or pounds, rises in those currencies make it more expensive to buyers. The May contract fell $29 to $957 a metric ton. 

WASHINGTON — While minorities are establishing a foothold in the business world, their companies so far are only generating a smidgen of the country’s total sales revenue, according to a new Census Bureau report. 

While 1 in 10 firms are owned by blacks or Hispanics, those businesses brought in only 1 percent of $18.6 trillion in total revenue receipts for all U.S. businesses in 1997, according to the report being released Thursday. 

That means lenders must give minority-owned businesses more leeway to turn a profit, and lawmakers must do more to educate future generations of blacks and Hispanics – the country’s two largest minority groups – to get them better prepared for the business world, said George Herrera, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

“We still obviously have a long way to go in terms of being able to have these companies grow to a larger level, but what’s encouraging is we’re getting into entrepreneurship,” Herrera said Wednesday.  

“Diversity is no long just pretty and good, but it is essential in the business world.” 

Many of the more than 2 million black- or Hispanic-owned firms are in service-oriented markets that don’t have high growth potential but still serve an essential need in communities, said Roderick Harrison, a demographer with the Center for Joint Political and Economic Studies. 

Hispanics owned 1.2 million non-farm related businesses in 1997, and generated $186.3 billion in revenue. Blacks owned 823,499 firms, generating $71.2 billion in revenue in 1997. 

There are more Hispanic firms in part because the Hispanic population is exploding across the country.  

Those businesses are filling a specialty niche that others may not be able to fill, and many offer Spanish-language products unavailable elsewhere, Harrison said. 

Meanwhile, many black-owned firms compete for business with non-black owned firms across all sectors, stiffening competition, he said. 

The figures, compiled from a survey separate from the 2000 census, were the most recent available. Because of changes in the way the survey was taken, the 1997 results were not directly comparable to prior surveys. Most Hispanic- or black-owned forms were concentrated in four states with historically high percentages of minority population: New York, California, Texas and Florida. 

Mexicans owned 39 percent of 1.2 million businesses run by Hispanics — most among the specific Latino ethnic groups — which brought in $73.7 billion in receipts. 

——— 

On the Net: Census Bureau site: http://www.census.gov 

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies: http://www.jointcenter.org/ 

U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: http://www.ushcc.com/ 

NEW YORK — Investors punished stocks once again Wednesday, directing their anger mostly at blue chips as they grappled with disappointment over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled 233 points, the sixth time in the past nine sessions that the index has dropped by triple digits. 

Wall Street’s foul mood about the economy and earnings sent the Dow lower at the start of Wednesday’s trading, and selling intensified during the last hour of the session. 

“The market is just not happy,” said Dan Ascani, president and research director at Global Market Strategists in Gainesville, Ga. “It’s very serious ... This has spread to Corporate America from the tech stock bubble burst. That’s not a good sign for the economy.” 

Stocks extended the decline they suffered Tuesday when the Fed cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage point. Investors believed that a more aggressive 0.75 point reduction was needed to boost the slowing economy and anemic corporate profits, and the Fed’s failure to deliver a bigger cut prompted the market to sell heavily. 

“Just as there seemed to be no end in sight on the upside a year ago, the market is equally dismal right now,” said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates in Santa Barbara. “Positive sentiment feeds on itself; negative sentiment feeds on itself.” 

He added that the selling was overdone given that the Fed has said it will lower rates as much as is needed to stimulate the economy. “The markets pretty much have a mind of their own. (The cut) may be exactly what the economy needs, but it’s not what the market had built into expectations,” Moore said. 

Wall Street has been increasingly downtrodden since last week’s steep drop that gave the Dow its worst-ever weekly point drop of 821.21. Investors had been bidding up safer blue chip stocks, believing they remained relatively intact and that technology issues were most vulnerable amid slower economic growth.  

— The Associated Press 

But evidence that the slowdown is affecting many other businesses has hurt blue chips. 

On Wednesday, Procter & Gamble, a Dow stock, slipped $2.70 to $63.20 on a Wall Street Journal report that the maker of Crest and Jif is considering eliminating 10 percent to 20 percent of its global work force. 

Other consumer product makers fell, including Kimberly Clark, down $2.39 at $67.01. But blue chip losses were spread across sectors. Merck fell $2.29 to $67.96, while General Motors declined $1.67 to $53.52. 

Meanwhile, the tech sector was more mixed. IBM advanced 78 cents to $89.08, while Microsoft tumbled $2.63 to $50.06. Both are Dow components. 

Despite Wednesday’s selling, some analysts were somewhat hopeful stocks will soon move higher. They noted that in Wednesday’s dealings the tech sector held up better than Old Economy stocks, which tend to fare better in bear markets. 

“Although we were disappointed (Tuesday), the people who are willing to get back in today are doing so in the most beaten up sectors, like technology and telecommunications,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analysts for Jefferies & Co. 

However, other analysts believe the weakness in blue chips means the economy has slowed more than thought and that investors aren’t finished selling. 

“I’m not sure there has been capitulation yet,” said Ascani from Global Market Strategists. “There are still too many people left over from the bull market who have held on.” 

Adding to Wednesday’s heavy selling was news that inflation at the consumer level rose 0.3 percent in February, slightly worse than the 0.2 percent increase Wall Street expected. Rising costs for food and prescription drugs accounted for the uptick, according a report issued earlier by the Labor Department. 

Declining issues widely outnumbered advancers 11 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was a heavy 1.56 billion shares, compared with 1.45 billion on Tuesday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller companies stocks, fell 8.74 to 435.74. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average soared 7.5 percent, its seventh-largest percentage gain ever and its highest close in three weeks. Stocks moved strongly higher after the Japanese government said it expects within six months to have a plan for dealing with crippling debt at the nation’s banks. 

However, stocks in Europe moved lower. Germany’s DAX index fell 2.8 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 1.9 percent, and France’s CAC-40 declined 2.2 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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

A woman upset by the apparent violation of a city agreement to save eight New Zealand pine trees in front of the Central Library, halted the destruction of their concrete planter boxes and several remaining stumps Tuesday. 

When Berkeley resident Debbie Moore heard from a friend that the trees had been cut down she immediately went to the library and climbed into a 3-foot high concrete planter box on Shattuck Avenue near Kittredge Street where she had been arrested in November 1999 during a protest to save the trees. 

“I felt utter despair when I heard,” Moore said. “I felt really threatened by the fact that the city would come in and destroy these trees after they made a contract to save them.” 

Public Works engineer Sam Lee, who is in charge of the Shattuck Avenue Redevelopment Project, said the trees were deemed un-savable by Jerry Koch, who heads the city’s forestry division. Lee said Koch ordered the destruction of the trees and their planter boxes. The trees were cut down Tuesday morning by a work crew from Bauman Landscaping Co.  

The planter boxes were not demolished. 

Koch did not return calls to the Daily Planet before press time to respond to questions on the specifics of why the trees could not be saved. 

During the planning process for the Shattuck Avenue Redevelopment Project in 1998, there was a proposal to remove nearly all of the trees along Shattuck from University Avenue to Dwight Way. A protest, known as the Lorax Protest, ensued and the City Council ultimately adopted a compromise in which certain trees would not be cut down.  

The protest was named Lorax after a 1971 Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax.” 

Berkeley librarian Elizabeth Overmyer, said the story is about a cranky tree-Nome type character who tries to alert the world that the expansion of capitalism will result in the deforestation of the planet. 

The Parks and Waterfront and Planning departments determined which trees would be saved and which destroyed according to the health of individual trees and how their presence affected the redevelopment project. 

Assistant City Manager Michael Caplan said the list of trees to be saved was contained on what was known as the “dot map.” He did not have the map in his possession and the Daily Planet was unable to review a copy of it before press time. 

Councilmember Dona Spring said the eight trees in front of the Central Library were included among those to be saved. “There’s no doubt about it, those trees were to be moved and not killed,” Spring said. “It’s very upsetting that agreements and contracts are broken and there’s no accountability in the city of Berkeley.” 

Moore spent the morning and afternoon foiling the attempts of the work crew to jack hammer the planter boxes by moving from planter box to planter box.  

Moore said the foreman of the work crew asked police to arrest her but they refused because the containers are considered public property.  

Moore said she would remain in the planter box to make sure the work crew did not destroy the tree roots. “I know it’s not very pretty now, but this stump can be planted in People’s Park and it will still grow,” she said.  

The foreman of the work crew, which cut down the trees refused to give his name or comment as did the owner of the Richmond-based landscape company. 

The planter boxes were not demolished. 

Koch did not return calls to the Daily Planet before press time to respond to questions on the specifics of why the trees could not be saved. 

During the planning process for the Shattuck Avenue Redevelopment Project in 1998, there was a proposal to remove nearly all of the trees along Shattuck from University Avenue to Dwight Way. A protest, known as the Lorax Protest, ensued and the City Council ultimately adopted a compromise in which certain trees would not be cut down.  

The protest was named Lorax after a 1971 Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax.” 

Berkeley librarian Elizabeth Overmyer, said the story is about a cranky tree-Nome type character who tries to alert the world that the expansion of capitalism will result in the deforestation of the planet. 

The Parks and Waterfront and Planning departments determined which trees would be saved and which destroyed according to the health of individual trees and how their presence affected the redevelopment project. 

Assistant City Manager Michael Caplan said the list of trees to be saved was contained on what was known as the “dot map.” He did not have the map in his possession and the Daily Planet was unable to review a copy of it before press time. 

Councilmember Dona Spring said the eight trees in front of the Central Library were included among those to be saved. “There’s no doubt about it, those trees were to be moved and not killed,” Spring said.  

“It’s very upsetting that agreements and contracts are broken and there’s no accountability in the city of Berkeley.” 

Moore spent the morning and afternoon foiling the attempts of the work crew to jack hammer the planter boxes by moving from planter box to planter box.  

Moore said the foreman of the work crew asked police to arrest her but they refused because the containers are considered public property.  

Moore said she would remain in the planter box to make sure the work crew did not destroy the tree roots. “I know it’s not very pretty now, but this stump can be planted in People’s Park and it will still grow,” she said.  

The foreman of the work crew, which cut down the trees refused to give his name or comment as did the owner of the Richmond-based landscape company.

Wednesday, Mar. 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 

Free Writing, Cashiering  

& Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.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 word-processing and basic spreadsheets. 644-6226 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107 

Chimneys From A - Z  

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Taught by Irish Sweep Sally McKnight.  

$35 525-7610 

Design Dung  

7 - 9 p.m.  

School of Journalism Library  

121 North Gate Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Part of the Terner Series, an informal salon-style discussion series, which brings together industry professionals, students, and interested community members. This session is a discussion of the failure to communicate good and bad architecture. Free 

Alzheimer’s Support Group 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers.  

Thursday, March 22

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 

Ribbon Cutting  

& Evening Mixer  

5:30 - 7 p.m.  

National Car Rental  

920 University Ave.  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Special drawing for a weekend rental of a 4x4.  

549-7003 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Basic Electrical Theory  

& National Electrical Code 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Taught by author, speaker and retired City of Oakland Building Inspector Redwood Kardon. 

$35 525-7610 

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays.  

Keeping the Commitment 

12:10 - 1:10 p.m. 

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804 

The State Health Toastmasters present the sixth of six sessions to take the terror out of talking.  

649-7750 

Friday, March 23

Stagebridge Free Acting  

& Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755 or visit  

www.stagebridge.org 

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 word-processing and basic spreadsheets. 644-6226 

“Jewish Holidays from  

a Secular Perspective”  

8 p.m.  

Albany Community Center  

1249 Marin Ave.  

Hershl Hartman, international authority on secular humanistic Judaism, will speak. Sponsored by Kol Hadash, Northern California Community for Humanistic Judaism. 428-1492 

— Compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

“Turandot” 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Commission on Disability 

Subcommittee on Transportation  

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

2180 Milvia St.  

Third Floor North, Maple Room 

The subcommittee will discuss the paratransit program, pedestrian access problems, AC Transit access issues and the Berkeley program of nightlights for wheelchair users. 

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  

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

“LGBT Family Night at the Y” 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

The third annual free night for gay and lesbian families at the Y. The event will feature floor hockey, swimming, soccer, basketball and other sports, as well as arts and crafts. Free; donation requested.  

Call 848-9622 

Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease Health Clinic 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church  

2024 Ashby Ave.  

Dr. Lenore Coleman, Bayer Clinical Science specialist and certified diabetes educator and Dr. Cassandra Herbert Whitman, Alta Bates Medical Associates will be available to answer questions. Free comprehensive screenings will be given people to identify cardiovascular risk factors. Free 

848-2050 

Energy Ideas for Remodeling  

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

City Energy Officer Neal De Snoo will conduct a seminar on the options available for incorporating energy efficient fixtures and systems into residential remodeling and renovation projects. Sponsored by Truitt & White Lumber Company of Berkeley. Free 

Call 649-2674 for reservations  

Visit www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy for info. on energy conservation and efficiency 

Hunger Hike in the Redwoods  

10 a.m.  

Joaquin Miller Park  

Ranger Station on Sanborn Dr.  

Oakland  

Join the Alameda County Community Food Bank for this educational hike. Enjoy the views while learning about local edible and medicinal plants. Bring a bag lunch.  

$25 donation  

834-FOOD x327 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Center St. @ MLK Jr. Way 

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

Compassionate Listening  

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Hear Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener and three other local women report on their recent visit to Israel and Palestine. They listened to Israelis and Palestinians from a variety of political, religious and social perspectives tell their stories, hopes, fears and dreams. Donation requested. Proceeds benefit the Mideast Citizen Diplomacy.  

Live from Death Row 

2 p.m.  

YWCA  

1515 Webster St.  

Hosted by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP), “Live From Death Row” is a public forum where death row inmates meet via speakerphone with a speakers’ panel and the general public to share their experiences of living with the brutal reality of capital punishment. Includes Nobel Peace Prize nominee and San Quentin death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Williams.  

Sunday, March 25

Women in Science & Technology  

1 - 4 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

In celebration of Women’s History Month, LHS presents a day to inspire and inform students. Women who work in such fields as computer graphics, geology, and astronomy demonstrate how they use math, science, and technology in their professional lives. Free with museum admission.  

Passover Family Day  

12:30 - 3 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum  

2911 Russell St.  

Create a Passover seder plate, view Magnes treasures, see “Madame Matza Ball Celebrates Passover,” a puppet show for the tikes, enjoy free refreshments, and exchange recipes. 

Beth El question not about good works but good development 

Editor: 

Michael Fajans’ letter in the Berkeley Daily Planet (”Beth El’s a respected part of the community,” March 19) claims that Congregation Beth El’s power derives from the “Congregation’s many and ongoing contributions to the community.” Mr. Fajans then lists a number of ways in which Congregation Beth El and its membership is involved in the community. No one is disputing the involvement or value of Congregation Beth El’s membership in the community. 

What Mr. Fajans would have us ignore by his recitation of good works is the impact that the proposed synagogue and school would have upon the immediate neighborhood. Let’s ask Mr. Fajans if the good works of Congregation Beth El’s membership will do the following: 

• Keep car fluids (leaking oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, etc.) from running off their proposed driveway into Codornices Creek? 

• Result in daylighting the culverted portion of Codornices Creek at the site of the proposed project? 

• Ensure adequate parking on site for Congregation Beth El’s activities and services? 

• Ensure that Congregation Beth El’s hours of operation not interfere with the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of our homes? 

• Ensure that traffic on Spruce Street will not become a demolition derby should Congregation Beth El’s proposed driveway exit on Spruce Street near Berryman Path as currently planned? 

These questions and others have been asked for many months now by neighbors and have gone unanswered by Congregation Beth El’s leadership. Why? 

David A. Dempster 

Berkeley, CA  

Save money, nerves: use public transit 

Editor: 

Two interesting points Steve Geller (3/14) raised in his response to our letter concerning BUSD’s request for staff permits to daily park in residential parking zones I’d like to reply to: 

First, many may not realize that residents who live in RPP zones cannot park on their streets unless they pay for an annual stickers€“only non-area residents park for free. The city’s enforcement and monitoring is sufficiently haphazard that many commuters do park for free simply by moving their cars around. 

Secondly, it is not quite so simple as the streets are public property. As we understand it, each adjacent property owner owns property to the middle of the street and the city has an easement to use the area as a public right of way. Neither property owners nor the community have weighed in on how they (we) want the public right of way used. 

We join Mr. Geller in urging better transportation incentives and alternatives and thank him for raising our consciousness. Residents and non-residents alike would be surprised how much anxiety and money can be saved by using transit. Higher costs for and less access to parking will encourage more travelers to try public alternatives. 

Wendy L. Alfsen 

Berkeley 

High Tech products don’t stand up to high standards 

Editor: 

It’s no wonder that the market is teetering away these days. An honest look at the majority of hi-tech products just don’t hold up to reasonable standards of reliability and customer support. Networks are so overloaded that one wastes as much time as one saves just trying to get through to certain sites or completing a download without an unexplainable disconnect. Junk programs proliferate and are often just come-ons to lure “users” into paying for the upgrade that, perhaps, does what it claims. Tech-Support is often a hopeless labyrnthian ride to nowhere…and when you do get to talk to someone, you’re lucky if they know what they’re talking about.  

It is obvious that too many companies have greedily taken on more customers than they are capable of handling. Moreover, their software is highly fallible and frustrating to use. But rather than ‘fess up to this, they run their predictable mantras about ‘upgrades,’ re-configurations, refreshing your drivers, etc. ad nauseum. I suppose though, they are just riding the wave of nascent 21st century avarice and greed. It is this self-centered profligacy that has led to similar crisis in housing, energy, the ubiquitous rape of our natural resources and the protection of intellectual property. 

Meanwhile, consumers and even some businesses are finally showing some hard-earned caution and are pulling back from the madness. The market, accordingly, goes south. Frankly, I need a new computer just to keep up with it all. But I hesitate…… as I know it will probably take a good month of file transfers, program loading, re-connecting and spending precious evenings ‘on hold’ waiting for someone behind some firewall to waste more of my time. 

The hi-tech boom which propelled the euphoria of the 1990’s was built on an hysterically optimistic and in many ways, fraudulent foundation. But after all the cock-a-doodle-doin’…some folks are beginning to wake up, though there’s a lot less for all of us to roost on these days. 

Marc Winokur  

Oakland 

Stock market plunge reflects Bush’s tax cut plan 

Editor, 

Last November, a majority of the voters repudiated Bush’s economic plans and voted for Gore, but Bush’s fixers made him President anyway. Now, the stock market is showing its opinion of W’s tax plan and economic priorities. 

The multi-headed Market knows that a strong middle class is much more valuable to the economy than making a few rich people even richer. If “Humpty Dumpty” gets his tax cut, all the king’s fixers and all the kings men won’t be able to put the economy together again. 

Bruce Joffe 

Oakland 

End the drug war, legalize marijuana 

Editor: 

Cannabis has no lethal dose and its pharmacological effects have never caused a single death in over 5,000 years of recorded history. 

The (unseen) driving force against medical (or unrestricted adult) legalization of cannabis is the fact that cannabis can’t be patented. This precludes the need for big business to be involved and that fact makes cannabis commercially unattractive to the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries (lobbies). It seems that if it can’t be profitized successfully the government can’t justify legalization even for the sick and dying. 

Furthermore, the war on cannabis drives the war on drugs. Without cannabis prohibition, the drug war would be reduced to a pillow fight. This is the politics and the economics of cannabis prohibition. 

Maybe the corrupt politicians and media are required to adhere to the party line of cannabis prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison and military industrial complex, the drug testing industry, the “drug treatment” industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the politicians themselves et al can’t live without the budget justification, not to mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits that prohibition affords them.  

Myron Von Hollingsworth 

Fort Worth, Texas 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership March 23: 18 Visions, Walls of Jericho, Time In Malta, Undying, Betray the Species; March 24: Workin’ Stiffs, The Bodies, Strychnine, East Bay Chasers, For the Alliance 525-9926  

Ashkenaz March 21, 9 p.m.: Gator Beat, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 22, 9:30: Groundation; March 23, 8 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Dead-A-Thon with Digital Dave, Legion of Mary, Cosmic Mercy; 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. 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. March 23: Carlos Zialcita; March 24: Daniel Castro; March 30: Craig Horton Blues Band 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. March 21: Reverend Billy C. Wirtz; March 22: Sid Selvidge, Alan Smithline; March 23: Perfect Strangers; March 24: Barry & Alice Olivier; 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. March 22, 8 - 10 p.m.: Adult Big Band; March 25 & 27 - 29, 4 - 10 p.m.: Student Winter Recitals; April 8: The Marcos Silva Quartet; 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 25: Horizon Wind Quartet play music of Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ravel, Ligetti and others All concerts $8 - $10 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances March 23, 7 p.m. & March 24, 1 & 8 p.m.: “The King Stag: A Tragicomic Tale for the Theatre” by Carlo Gozzi $24 - $46; April 1, 3 p.m.: Pianist Richard Goode play the music of Bach, Chopin and Beethoven $28 - $48 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu March 25, 3 p.m.: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio perform music of Beethoven, Ravel and Tchaikovsky $32; Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

“An Afternoon of Song” with Elaine Bernstein March 25, 2 p.m. Bernstein, soprano and Sally Munro, mezzo, with Gwendolyn Mok at the piano, will perform a variety of duets from the operas “Hansel & Gretel,” “Cosi Fan Totte,” “Der Rosenkavaher,” and “Lakme,” and more. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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  

New Century Chamber Orchestra present “Time Past and Time Present” March 22, 8 p.m. $25 - $30 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 415-392-4400 

BHS Jazz Ensemble March 23, 7:30 p.m. The spring concert performance from the award-winning jazz ensemble. Proceeds benefit the students who will travel to Europe this summer to perform in Italy and Switzerland. $5 - $8 Florence Schwimley Little Theatre 1920 Allston Way  

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 21, 7 p.m.: Gay/Bi Men’s Book Group will discuss “Lost Language of Cranes” by David Leavitt; 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 21: Poetry of James Schevill; March 25: Poetry of Beverly Matherne & A.J. Rathbun; March 28: Poetry of Craig Van Riper & Jaime Robles; April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 27: Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck, author of “The Practical Nomad” will provide essential tips, advice, and consumer skills for the independent traveler 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 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. 

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike March 25, 2 p.m. Featuring poet Paradise Berkeley Art Museum 2621 Durant (at Bowditch) 527-9753 

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

“Slam the Prisons” April 6, 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. A benefit for prison activism featuring Tang, Company of Prophets, Sheryl D. Mebane and many others. Proceeds benefit the defense of New Afrikan political prisoner Khalfani X. Khaldun and the Prison Activist Resource Center. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3205 Shattuck Ave. 898-0431  

Tours 

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

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2 848-7800  

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

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

Lectures 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag  

April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” 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 

City Commons Club Lecture Series Fridays, 12:30 p.m. $1 general Students Free March 23: Guy Colwell, master painter of Nasters, will speak on “Using Painting to Teach Art History”; March 30: Jana Grittersova, professor of International Relations, UC Berkeley will speak on “The European Union - Integration and Expansion” Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 848-3533 

“Color, Color, Color” March 26, 7:30 p.m. A lecture by Christine Barnes which looks at three characteristics of color common to all quilts: Value, temperature and intensity. Free - $3 First Unitarian Church One Lawson Road Kensington 834-3706 

One class minus  

3 teachers equals negative learning 

Parents of Willard Middle School sixth-graders are concerned that an unusually high rate of teacher turnover in sixth-grade math has left their children far behind and in danger of failure through no fault of their own. 

“I’m not sure how much they’ve lost in the course of all these events,” said Willard parent Beverly Dynes, who has a daughter in one of the troubled math classes. “I’m just at a loss right now to know what to do.” 

The problems began in the fall when the students’ full-time math teacher, Ann Strong, was replaced by a substitute, parents said. In February, yet another substitute took over the class. And then he disappeared as well. 

“It’s a very unique situation,” said Berkeley Unified School District Associate Superintendent for Instruction Christine Lim. “It’s been a series of unfortunate situations,” she said. 

Parents said the situation deteriorated over the course of the year, with math class becoming more and more chaotic for their children. 

“There’s been very skimpy homework for the last three months, which is an indication that there is not a lot going on in the class,” Dynes said. 

Paco Montfort, who has a son is in one of the math classes, said the school district ought to consider providing summer classes to help the students get caught up. 

“There are only two months of classes left,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll be prepared for seventh-grade.” 

Last week two of Willard’s most experienced math teachers agreed to teach sixth-grade math for the rest of the year, even though it means giving up a preparation period to which they are entitled under contract, said Willard Vice Principal Ellen Dean. Dean said school administrators are confident these teachers will help the students overcome any deficits they may have developed in math.  

“Certainly everyone is aware of how disruptive the program has been,” Dean said. “Every effort is being made to make sure these children finish the school year with the same preparation as other children.”  

But, while parents report being impressed with the new teachers so far, they wonder if this solution might not be too little too late. 

Rebecca Poliskin said she plans to enroll her daughter in a UC Berkeley math class this summer to help make up the deficit.  

Dynes said she cannot afford to pay a tutor to help her daughter get up to speed. She plans to work with the youngster herself over the summer but, she said, “That’s really not a good solution. I don’t even know the curriculum.” 

“I’m concerned that she’ll fall behind and become discouraged and lose confidence in her abilities,” Dynes said. “It’s more than unfortunate. It can be a turning point in a kid’s life.” 

Dynes and Poliskin expressed frustration that, despite repeated efforts, they hadn’t been able to get Willard Principal Gail Hojo to respond to their continuing concerns.  

“She refused to acknowledge that there was a problem,” Poliskin said. 

Hojo did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story. 

Lim, a former principal at Willard, said she believed the problem is being solved by the students’ current teachers, who “know the curriculum and the community” and can “hit the ground running.” 

“We have a plan for the rest of the year that is going to stick and remain,” Lim said. “And it’s a good plan.”

The much anticipated Transportation Demand Management study, jointly sponsored by the city and the university, revealed some surprising facts about the state of parking in Berkeley: “Lack of parking has more to do with perception than reality,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, a principal for Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates, the group which conducted the study.  

The $90,000, 18-monthlong study found the perceived scarcity stems from the fact that existing parking resources are poorly coordinated. Robert Wrenn, chair of the Planning Commission pointed out that evening visitors downtown complain that they can’t find parking although the Tang Center university parking lot on Bancroft Way is available – to those willing to pay the parking fee.  

“There was no time of day when the parking was completely full,” Tumlin told the audience of about thirty transportation-minded citizens during a presentation of the study Monday night. 

While UC Berkeley lots are at capacity at mid-day, only two of the four city lots are completely full, he said. 

The study also countered the notion that the city is on the verge of a major parking crisis. Downtown growth is estimated to be minimal over the next 10 years. According to the study, to accommodate an increase in the student and UC Berkeley employee population with single occupancy automobiles, 915 new parking spaces would be needed by 2010. The study also pointed out that minor increases in the use of bicycles and transit alternatives would easily accommodate the growth without requiring more parking spots. 

The question of new parking versus alternatives to the single-occupancy auto, was the center of most of the tension and disagreement amongst residents at the study’s unveiling.  

“It comes down to the values of the community; controlling parking is the tool of controlling congestion.” Tumlin said. 

Wrenn said when parking is cheap and easily available, people take their cars rather than using public transportation. When parking is more expensive and harder to find, they use other options. 

Wrenn said he believes the parking is appropriately dense. Citing the figure that parking density is usually at about 85 percent, he called that rate “good.”  

“It’s not easy to find a space but it’s not impossible.” 

Already many people in Berkeley use alternative modes of transportation to get to work or school. Only 15 percent of students, and about half of both UC Berkeley employees and other employees drive alone in their cars. But, the study suggested that those figures could decrease.  

“We need to focus the Transportation Demand Management on improving AC Transit, and the ability to walk and bike,” said Tumlin 

According to the study about 75 percent of people who work or study in Berkeley live within a seven miles of their destination. While people who live within three miles of Berkeley tend to use transportation alternatives, people living four miles or more away from their destination drive at the same rate as people coming from as far away as East Contra Costa County, he said.  

Although questions over parking caps and transit focus provoked controversy, Tumlin was surprised at how often people, “who had historically come down on the opposite sides of the fence,” agreed. The residential neighbors who want less traffic and fewer cars and the businesses that want more parking to bring people downtown both recognized that massive congestion would be a problem. Both sides want a livable city where people can live and play safely and comfortably, and they also want a vibrant and vital downtown.  

One possible mechanism to improve parking availability without increasing supply is to create a coordinating board with all the parking space owners in the city, to make sure that resources can be more flexible. One example of this, said UC Principal Planner Jennifer Lawrence, would be for the university to subsidize church parking lots that aren’t being used during the day, and offer church spaces for UC permit holders.  

But even that proposal is controversial, said graduate student Jonathan Kass, of Students for a Livable City. “There’s really a compromise in just managing parking more efficiently,” he said, because that means more cars and more traffic. 

The study, which examined the area surrounding the UC campus and the southside, did not provide any easy solutions for the community. Instead, the $90,000 Transportation Demand Management study will inform the Berkeley General Plan, the Southside Plan, and the UC development plan, all in progress. Now residents and planners must decide which options to use, according to their goals.  

Those priorities may become clearer when it comes time to allocate funds and hire people. “We need to look at it from a budget standpoint and figure out where we should put money,” said city Planning Director Wendy Cosin. “Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get specific about what we can feasibly implement and what it would cost.” 

For some, Starbucks is java heaven. For others, it’s the enemy.  

Those who hold the latter view stood with placards and information sheets outside company branches across the country Tuesday, trying to get regulars to join a one-day boycott. 

“I don’t want corporations  

taking over our local coffee shops,” said Terri Compost of Oakland, as she distributed leaflets outside the Starbucks at Cedar Street and Shattuck Avenue. The local organizing group, which had set up a sidewalk stand offering free organic tea, came together through the Ecology Center where people were meeting over concerns about genetically-engineered foods. The national boycott was organized by the Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Association. 

Boycott efforts got a little help from PG&E’s rolling blackouts, Compost said with a laugh. On a more serious note, she pointed to Starbucks’ corporate culture: a Starbucks will come into town and locate near a competitor to drive it out of business, she said.  

There are problems with the brew itself, she said. Most of the coffee carried by Starbucks is not “fair-trade” coffee, which means that a third party certifies that workers who grow it are paid a fair wage. They do carry one fair-trade coffee, but only the beans. Protesters say they should promote brewed fair-trade coffee. 

Also, milk products sold at Starbucks contain Bovine Growth Hormone which organizers claim is associated with cancer. 

Starbucks prepared its response in a document signed by Orin Smith, president and executive officer. He said the company concluded its products are safe “either because they have been approved by government agencies or conform to governmental regulations.” 

As for the Bovine Growth Hormone in milk, Smith wrote: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, American Medical Association, National Institute of Health and regulatory agencies in 30 countries take the position that milk from cows supplemented with ...(recombinant bovine somatropin) is no different from milk from untreated cows.” However, in response to concerns, the company is looking for an alternative which Smith said they expect to stock by the end of summer. 

Smith quotes Paul Rice, executive director of TransFair USA – the company that certifies fair trade coffee – saying: “Starbucks high-profile support for Fair Trade sends a powerful and visionary message to the rest of the coffee industry....”

The school board is expected to approve the 2001-2002 academic schedule for kindergarten through 12th-grade at its regular board meeting tonight. 

It will also consider passing a resolution that would call on actors and filmmakers to support films that do not glamorize the use of tobacco products, but rather “accurately” portray the “cosmetic, social and physical consequences of tobacco use.” 

Although California’s teen smoking rates are the lowest in the country at 6.4 percent, smoking in feature films is on the rise, according to a report prepared by school district staff. 

In other business, the board will consider entering into an agreement with the Albany– Berkeley Girls Softball League to build a new softball field at Longfellow Arts & Technology Magnet Middle School, decide whether to approve, in concept, a plan for working with the city and UC Berkeley to construct affordable housing for district employees over the Ashby BART station’s parking lot, and hear a status report from the district’s Energy Conservation Committee.

NEW YORK — Investors, disappointed by the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cut, turned their fury on Wall Street yet again Tuesday, sending prices skidding and leaving the Dow Jones industrials at their lowest level in two years. 

Many investors had hoped the Fed would slash rates by an aggressive 0.75 percentage point, but when the central bank announced in mid-afternoon it was lowering rates by 0.50 for the third time this year, stocks began to slide. 

The decline continued the massive selloff that last week gave the Dow its biggest one-week point drop ever. Analysts called the market’s mood about as grim as the litany of profit warnings that have pulled Wall Street’s major indexes into bear market territory. 

“Negative psychology is increasing and confidence is eroding,” said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president of Fahnestock & Co. “It is fair to say, with prices drifting downward, everything appears to be for sale from Main Street to Wall Street.” 

The Dow ended a heavily traded session down 238.35 at 9,720.76 The last time the Dow closed lower was March 24, 1999, when it dropped 154.90 to 9,666.84. 

The market was disappointed by the Fed, Ackerman said, because the central bank needed to “do something dramatic to show that it recognizes the need for improved confidence,” among consumers and investors. Many investors believed an extraordinarily large rate cut was needed to prompt consumers and businesses to increase spending and reinvigorate the economy. 

Tuesday’s drop left the Dow, which has now lost 1,137.49 over the past eight sessions, down 17 percent from its high close of 11,722.98, reached Jan. 14, 2000. 

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is off more than 63 percent from its own high close of 5,048.62, reached March 10, 2000, and the S&P 500 has lost more than a quarter of its value since peaking at 1,527.46 a year ago. 

Investors also sold amid confusion about just how much the economy is hurting, because data is unclear about the extent to which growth has slowed, said Ronald J. Hill, investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. He noted, for example, that while slumping consumer demand has created big inventory gluts, employment remains strong. 

“The market is sort of groping for a bottom. We haven’t had a real cathartic selloff, but last week felt pretty ugly,” Hill said. 

Wall Street’s pessimism has been increasing since last week’s debacle that gave the Dow its worst-ever weekly point drop of 821.21. 

The companies whose bleak outlooks helped trigger last week’s selloff also fell sharply Tuesday. Compaq Computer declined 85 cents to $17.75, while Oracle tumbled $1.06 to $14.38. 

Last week’s blue chip decline, which was also spurred by bad economic news from Japan, particularly rattled investors because such routs had been largely confined to the tech-laden Nasdaq. Investors had bid blue chips higher, believing the broader market was mostly intact despite the cooling economy. 

Now investors are worried about the degree to which non-tech companies stand to suffer from the slowing economy. Investors interpreted the slimmer cut by the Fed as reason to punish economically sensitive sectors such as financial and retailing stocks, along with consumer cyclicals like auto shares. 

General Motors, which is idling two assembly plants this week as it whittles down inventories, fell $1.10 to $55.19. 

Retailing stocks fell as investors bet that consumers would continue to curb their spending. Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged $2.40 to $41.60. 

Likewise, financial stocks traded lower on the notion that consumers and businesses will borrow less. Citigroup stumbled $2 to $44.30. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers nearly 18 to 13 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was 1.45 billion shares, ahead of 1.32 billion on Monday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller companies stock, fell 6.79 to 444.48. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average slipped 0.3 percent amid fears that deflation and banking problems would cripple the economy. 

However, stocks in Europe moved higher. Germany’s DAX index rose 2.2 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 advanced 1.7 percent, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.8 percent.

The City Council will decide tonight whether to hear an appeal by developers of a proposed four-story project consisting of 48 units of housing with a floor of commercial space at 2700 San Pablo Ave. 

The Zoning Adjustments Board denied the 44,300-square-foot project in November by a vote of 7-0 with two abstentions because it said the project was too dense and too tall. Developers argue in their appeal that the project conforms with the West Berkeley Plan, which calls for increased housing stock and more neighborhood-oriented businesses.  

It is likely the City Council will accept the city manager’s recommendation and set a public hearing on the appeal for April 24.  

The project includes 5,400-square-feet of commercial space that will likely be used as a “quick service food” outlet. In addition, the housing units will include nine units of affordable housing. 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley said she will recuse herself from voting on any aspect of the appeal at the recommendation of City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. According to Hawley, Albuquerque said she has a conflict of interest because of a letter she wrote last June to the ZAB supporting denser development along transit lines. Hawley was an AC Transit Director at the time. 

“My philosophy is that if I ask the city attorney’s opinion, I will follow her advice,” Hawley said. “I think we have a good and conscientious city attorney and if we don’t have faith in her judgment we’re in trouble.” 

During the November permit hearing, the developers of the project, Panoramic Interests and the nonprofit Jubilee Restoration, refused an offer from ZAB members to reduce the size of the project by one story, which board members said would likely be approved.  

Panoramic Interest project manager Chris Hudson told the board that the project was appropriate for the site and the developers would rather take their chances by appealing to the City Council. 

“Our plans are still the same as they were in November,” Hudson said. “We feel that the ZAB didn’t consider what the West Berkeley Plan, a plan that took 10 years and a whole lot of neighborhood input to make, calls for.” 

The project has faced strong opposition by a group known as Neighbors for Responsible Development. They submitted a petition with over 400 signatures from neighbors who are against the size of the project. 

NRD member Howie Muir said in a letter to county and state representatives that the project site is surrounded with one and two-story private homes and “the proposed design is hugely out of scale: it is too high, too massively composed, and too densely populated for its location.” 

Muir said 20 percent of the vacant and under utilized lots in Berkeley are on San Pablo and his group has fought the size of the development because they are concerned it will set a tone for future development. 

“We’d love to see development along San Pablo, just not this type of oversized design,” he said. 

Former ZAB member Ted Gartner, who voted against the project in November, said it was frustrating dealing with the developers because they resisted most of the ZAB’s suggestions. “They flatly refused to take mind of suggestions from the Design Review Board and the ZAB,” Gartner said. “Clearly they felt confident they would be able to get what they wanted from the City Council.” 

Gartner said his appointing councilmember, Margaret Breland, removed him from the ZAB in January because of differing visions about future development on San Pablo Avenue. 

Jubilee Restoration project manager Gordon Choyce said the developers have not made any plans in case the appeal is denied. “We’re pretty optimistic about the project being approved,” he said. “City staff has consistently recommended that the project be approved and we’re confident the project meets zoning requirements.” 

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 

Fibromyalgia Support Group  

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way  

Don Hill, RPH, BS, Pharmacist, will discuss “FM/A Generalized Review of Medications.” Free 

204-4503 

Young Queer Women’s Group 

8 - 10 p.m.  

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

A movie night extravaganza featuring “The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love.” Pizza, sodas, and even sushi. Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).  

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org 

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. 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 

Rethinking Creation  

7 p.m. 

Tucson Common Room  

Church Divinity School of the Pacific 

2450 Le Conte Ave.  

Dr. Sjoerd L. Bonting will speak on “Rethinking Creation: ‘Chaos Events’ and Theology.”  

Call 848-8152 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

Hewlett Library  

2400 Ridge Rd., Dinner Board Room  

Marty Kheel will present “Women, Animals and Nature: Eco-feminist Reflections.”  

trees@gtu.edu 

Debate Lobbying 

Noon  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Kevin Esterling, Robert Wood Johnson Fellow, UC Berkeley, will discuss “Does Policy Research Matter in Lobbying Debates?” Bring a brown bag lunch. Free. 

Advice for Life  

12:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Albany Senior Center 

646 Masonic Ave.  

Albany  

A series of Tuesday presentations and discussions that will cover: Memory loss, assertiveness, loss, grief, insight into life changes, opening communication in relationships, and independence in the later years. Free  

Wednesday, Mar. 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 

Free Writing, Cashiering  

& Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

Free classes offered Monday through Friday. Stop by and register or call 548-6700. 

www.ajob.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. 644-6226 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Chimneys From A - Z  

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Taught by Irish Sweep Sally McKnight.  

$35  

525-7610 

Design Dung  

7 - 9 p.m.  

School of Journalism Library  

121 North Gate Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Part of the Terner Series, an informal salon-style discussion series, which brings together industry professionals, students, and interested community members. This session is a discussion of the failure to communicate good and bad architecture. Free 

Alzheimer’s Support Group 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers.  

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 

Ribbon Cutting & Evening Mixer  

5:30 - 7 p.m.  

National Car Rental  

920 University Ave.  

Sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Special drawing for a weekend rental of a 4x4.  

549-7003 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

Basic Electrical Theory & National Electrical Code 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Taught by author, speaker and retired City of Oakland Building Inspector Redwood Kardon. 

$35  

525-7610 

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

Keeping the Commitment 

12:10 - 1:10 p.m. 

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804 

The State Health Toastmasters present the sixth of six sessions to take the terror out of talking.  

649-7750 

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 

“Jewish Holidays from a Secular Perspective”  

8 p.m.  

Albany Community Center  

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Hershl Hartman, international authority on secular humanistic Judaism, will speak. Sponsored by Kol Hadash, Northern California Community for Humanistic Judaism.  

428-1492 

“Turandot” 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Commission on Disability 

Subcommittee on Transportation  

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

2180 Milvia St.  

Third Floor North, Maple Room 

The subcommittee will discuss the paratransit program, pedestrian access problems, AC Transit access issues and the Berkeley program of nightlights for wheelchair users. 

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  

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m. - Noon  

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St.  

A free class as part of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). Sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. and the Office of Emergency Services.  

Call 644-8736 

“LGBT Family Night at the Y” 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

The third annual free night for gay and lesbian families at the Y. The event will feature floor hockey, swimming, soccer, basketball and other sports, as well as arts and crafts. Free; donation requested.  

Call 848-9622 

Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease Health Clinic 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church  

2024 Ashby Ave.  

Dr. Lenore Coleman, Bayer Clinical Science specialist and certified diabetes educator and Dr. Cassandra Herbert Whitman, Alta Bates Medical Associates will be available to answer questions. Free comprehensive screenings will be given people to identify cardiovascular risk factors. Free 

848-2050 

Energy Ideas for Remodeling  

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

City Energy Officer Neal De Snoo will conduct a seminar on the options available for incorporating energy efficient fixtures and systems into residential remodeling and renovation projects. Sponsored by Truitt & White Lumber Company of Berkeley. Free 

Call 649-2674 for reservations  

Visit www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy for info. on energy conservation and efficiency 

Hunger Hike in the Redwoods  

10 a.m.  

Joaquin Miller Park  

Ranger Station on Sanborn Dr.  

Oakland  

Join the Alameda County Community Food Bank for this educational hike. Enjoy the views while learning about local edible and medicinal plants. Bring a bag lunch.  

$25 donation  

834-FOOD x327 

“Five a Day from Local Farms & Gardens” 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Berkeley Farmers Market  

Center St. @ MLK Jr. Way 

Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Policy Council and the Ecology Center there will be cooking demonstrations and samples of healthy, nutritious food, featuring seasonal produce. Free 

Compassionate Listening  

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. (at Rose) 

Hear Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener and three other local women report on their recent visit to Israel and Palestine. They listened to Israelis and Palestinians from a variety of political, religious and social perspectives tell their stories, hopes, fears and dreams. Donation requested. Proceeds benefit the Mideast Citizen Diplomacy.  

Live from Death Row 

2 p.m.  

YWCA  

1515 Webster St.  

Hosted by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP), “Live From Death Row” is a public forum where death row inmates meet via speakerphone with a speakers’ panel and the general public to share their experiences of living with the brutal reality of capital punishment. Includes Nobel Peace Prize nominee and San Quentin death row inmate Stanley “Tookie” Williams.  

Sunday, March 25

Women in Science & Technology  

1 - 4 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

In celebration of Women’s History Month, LHS presents a day to inspire and inform students. Women who work in such fields as computer graphics, geology, and astronomy demonstrate how they use math, science, and technology in their professional lives. Free with museum admission.  

Passover Family Day  

12:30 - 3 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum  

2911 Russell St.  

Create a Passover seder plate, view Magnes treasures, see “Madame Matza Ball Celebrates Passover,” a puppet show for the tikes, enjoy free refreshments, and exchange recipes. 

Proposed regs for medical pot already found viable 

By Don Duncan  

Tonight the City Council will once again take up the issue of medical cannabis use in Berkeley (Pot growing limits on council agenda, Weekend, March 17-18, 2001). The medical cannabis ordinance before the council is virtually identical to the policy adopted by the city of Oakland more than three years ago. It allows patients to possess quantities of medication and grow a number of plants based on the Federal Investigational Use Program that currently supplies medical cannabis to nine patients in the United States.  

The Oakland protocols have been remarkably successful at protecting the health and safety of patients, while setting clear and consistent guidelines for the community. No one in Oakland – including the police department, health officials, or civic leaders – believes that the protocols have led to widespread abuse or an increase in crime. 

The Berkeley City Council has the rare opportunity to adopt a policy that has already been tested in a neighboring city. Unfortunately, the Department of Public Health has joined the City Manager and City Attorney’s office in opposing this important measure. Despite their public statements, this opposition from city staff is clearly not based on the facts. 

At a special meeting of the Community Health Commission on January 25, expert witnesses testified that the Oakland protocols were more likely to provide for the needs of patients than the arbitrary limits set by city staff in their counter-proposal. In fact, one cannabis cultivation expert dismissed the staff’s 10-plant limit as "utopian." Federal studies have shown that a variety of factors contribute to plant yields – most importantly the skill of the individual cultivator. City staff chose to ignore the testimony of doctors, cultivation experts, and patients by submitting a highly restrictive version of the ordinance. Additionally, city staff has again defied the wisdom of the Community Health Commission, which has twice voted in favor of the Oakland protocols. 

The Community Health Commission made its decision after hours of testimony and weeks of consideration. The Council should listen to the commission and adopt the medical cannabis ordinance as approved by its members. The city staff’s recommendation is arbitrary and does not protect patients. It may also leave the city vulnerable to more lawsuits and legal challenges from patients and their loved ones. 

We must urge the City Council to see past the staff’s rhetoric and remember the overwhelming mandate of Proposition 215. More than 85 percent of Berkeley residents voted to support medical marijuana. We must adopt local guidelines that protect patients and set reasonable limits. 

Don Duncan is the director of the Berkeley Patients’ Group 

Glory-seeking authorities must slow down when at the wheel 

By Raymond A. Chamberlin 

Year after year the California Highway Patrol and nearly all its local emulators around this state pursue their real-fun road game of chase a drunk, teenage thrill-seeker or whatever – anyone who is, at the time, mentally unfit to drive a car in a normal manner, let alone as chased at speeds well over double the speed limit – into any innocent bystander or other handy obstacle.  

Public safety is totally subordinated here to 'get your man', regardless of the relative risk of not doing so within the chase. That is the rule of our glory-seeking authorities. Somebody ends up killed? Just label the crazed fugitive as the murderer and the presumed cool-headed pursuers as heroes totally free of fault. 

A year and a half ago it was a woman pedestrian in Oakland at a busy hour in the morning next to a high school – knocked thoroughly dead against a gas pump. The fugitive had merely displayed unsafe driving and was not wanted on warrant for any crime. So the Oakland Police chasers made up a false and very corny story that the fugitive had threatened one of them with his vehicle.  

The fugitive ended up getting nine years for manslaughter but the woman is still very dead. 

Early this Wednesday morning, it was a man driving legally on Berkeley streets – crunched indisputably dead in his totaled automobile. The fugitive is said to have been driving under the influence and was known to have a warrant out against him for a previous DUI. The authorities are thinking of charging him with second-degree murder – whatever will improperly establish him as the killer – while these police, whose heads we’re supposed to think of as having been clear at the time, were obviously the cause of this innocent driver's death. 

Particularly, in this state, whose Southland has long been entertained by hot pursuit, we are just on the street as clay pigeons, at the mercy of our police authorities.  

We're told, though, that Berkeley's police are much more restricted as to when and how they may chase. But what is the actual legal setting that perpetuates, in this state, the equivalent of human sacrifices to the gods as once practiced in primitive societies? 

Look up California Vehicle Code Sections 17004 and 17004.7: 

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=3904613307+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve 

Those are the code sections that give the CHP and its local copycats license to kill anything in the path of anyone they take a fancy to chase. None of us who legally walk the sidewalks or drive the streets of this state will ever be safe from the police until we get the members of our Legislature to CHANGE THIS OUTRAGEOUS LAW! 

Raymond A. Chamberlin lives in Berkeley. 

Reviewer got play’s essence  

Editor: 

I have frequently admired John Angell Grant's excellent reviews but have been slow to write to you. The review of “Agamemnon” was especially fine. Without talking down to readers, Grant managed to convey the essence of the play in recognizable contemporary language. I always look forward to his reviews. 

Estelle Jelinek 

Berkeley 

$1.44 billion but not for housing  

Editor: 

No matter how you look at it and no matter how it’s raised, $1.44 billion – raised by UC Berkeley alumni since 1993 for the “New Century Plan” – is a whole lot of money. I’m still blown away, and before I get any further let me congratulate all who helped achieve that amazing feat. 

But let’s not get too carried away. Some great stuff will undoubtedly come out of that gargantuan effort, but there was also something that was noticeably lacking in everything that I read about the UC Berkeley New Century Campaign. While there were a few programs that seemed to directly benefit undergraduate students, including scholarships and research 

programs, the one program that students repeatedly say is their No. 1 priority was totally ignored. In short, where the heck are students going to live? With $1.44 billion on hand, you would think that there would some interest in beginning to address a situation that is already at crisis levels. The housing situation has reached an emergency level, but we still don’t seem to be getting much help. 

While I occasionally enjoy the benefits of the new Haas Pavilion, it seems odd that the sports facility is the headliner in the plan’s “Improving Undergraduate Life” category, while housing and so many other important student issues didn’t even receive an honorable mention. Who set these priorities, anyway? If I had anything to do with it, the basketball teams would still be playing in Harmon Gym (which some say was one of the best in the land) and all students would have close, safe, affordable housing. But, then again, nobody seemed to ask me what I thought was most important. 

Now is the time to take serious action to address the housing emergency. Actually, the time was about ten years ago, so we have some catching up to do. With $52.6 million in unrestricted gifts to the Chancellor’s Millennium Fund, Berdahl could do a great deal to help, even with just 1 or 2 percent of his stash. For example, the Cooperative Student Association, which manages all the student-run coops, offered to cover all capital costs for construction 

and expansion of student housing, in exchange for a very low lease on available university-owned land. The Berkeley community has been supportive of the idea of increasing student housing, yet Berdahl turned them down. 

The university’s obsession with cars also hurts students and the greater community. Even though nearly 3/4 of students who commute to Cal would trade in their car if they could live close to campus, the Chancellor still seems to prioritize parking over housing. 

And don’t think the housing situation is going to get any better, either. If you haven’t heard yet, a tidal wave is about to crash on our campus and across the UC system.  

Tidal Wave II is expected to increase the whole UC population by about 64,000 by the end of the decade, and bring about 4,000 more students to our own home-away-from-home. The university’s gracious 

response to absorb this increased pressure on the dwindling housing stock is a planned increase of about 900-1000 beds over that same time period. That means 3000 more people fighting over your next apartment, or backyard shack if you’re lucky. Good luck! 

David Nabti 

Student, UC Berkeley 

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  

UC Berkeley Art Museum “The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered” through March 26. “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. $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 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  

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership March 23: 18 Visions, Walls of Jericho, Time In Malta, Undying, Betray the Species; March 24: Workin’ Stiffs, The Bodies, Strychnine, East Bay Chasers, For the Alliance; March 30: Deathreat, Ahimsa, F*** God In the Face, The Black, Creation Is Crucifixion; March 31: The Jocks, The Cost, The Fleshies, Quest for Quintana Roo, Chi Chi Nut Nut & The Pinecone Express 525-9926  

Ashkenaz March 20, 9 p.m.: Brass Menagerie, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 21, 9 p.m.: Gator Beat, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 22, 9:30: Groundation; March 23, 8 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Dead-A-Thon with Digital Dave, Legion of Mary, Cosmic Mercy; 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; May 6, 7 p.m.: Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble 1370 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. March 23: Carlos Zialcita; March 24: Daniel Castro; March 30: Craig Horton Blues Band 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. March 21: Reverend Billy C. Wirtz; March 22: Sid Selvidge, Alan Smithline; March 23: Perfect Strangers; March 24: Barry & Alice Olivier; March 25: Boogie Woogie Piano Cavalcade w/Beverly Stovall, Sue Palmer, Wendy De Witt, Big Joe Duskin; March 27: Maria Muldaur; March 28: Todd Phillips, David Grier & Matt Flinner; March 29: Tom Paxton; March 30 & 31: House Jacks 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. March 22, 8 - 10 p.m.: Adult Big Band; March 25 & 27 - 29, 4 - 10 p.m.: Student Winter Recitals; April 8: The Marcos Silva Quartet; April 15: Art Lande and Mark Miller; April 22: Alan Hall & Friends; April 29: Nancy King/Rob Scheps/Glen Moore Trio 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 25: Horizon Wind Quartet play music of Mendelssohn, Rossini, Ravel, Ligetti and others All concerts $8 - $10 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances March 23, 7 p.m. & March 24, 1 & 8 p.m.: “The King Stag: A Tragicomic Tale for the Theatre” by Carlo Gozzi $24 - $46; April 1, 3 p.m.: Pianist Richard Goode play the music of Bach, Chopin and Beethoven $28 - $48 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu March 25, 3 p.m.: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio perform music of Beethoven, Ravel and Tchaikovsky $32; Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

“An Afternoon of Song” with Elaine Bernstein March 25, 2 p.m. Bernstein, soprano and Sally Munro, mezzo, with Gwendolyn Mok at the piano, will perform a variety of duets from the operas “Hansel & Gretel,” “Cosi Fan Totte,” “Der Rosenkavaher,” and “Lakme,” and more. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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  

New Century Chamber Orchestra present “Time Past and Time Present” March 22, 8 p.m. $25 - $30 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 415-392-4400 

BHS Jazz Ensemble March 23, 7:30 p.m. The spring concert performance from the award-winning jazz ensemble. Proceeds benefit the students who will travel to Europe this summer to perform in Italy and Switzerland. $5 - $8 Florence Schwimley Little Theatre 1920 Allston Way  

The Berkeley Opera presents “The Marriage of Figaro” March 23 - April 1, call for specific times $10 - $30 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Solo Opera Opera Gala Concert March 23, 8 p.m. $25 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 925-685-4945 or e-mail: solomail@pacbell.net 

Rebecca Riots March 24, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $12 - $14 Club Muse 856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 528-2878 

Benefit Concert for the Xiana Fairchild Volunteer Center March 25, 7:30 p.m. Featuring The Sick, Simplistic, Mastema, Drain, and an all-star jam with surprise guests. All proceeds to benefit the volunteer center. 18 and over show. $8 Blake’s on Telegraph 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886  

Music in Great Berkeley Houses March 31, 7 p.m. $35 Gwendolyn Mok, piano, and Jean-Michel Fonteneau, cello, will play the music of Frank Bridge, Debussy, and Poulenc. Palache House Reserved tickets required 841-2242 

“How Desolate Lies the City...” March 31, 8 p.m. The cantatas of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. $20 - $37 First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way 415-621-7900 

Jesus Diaz y su QBA March 31, 9:30 p.m. Cuban timba dance music. $12 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568  

Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble Brunch April 1, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free - $40 Santa Fe Bar & Grill 1310 University Ave. 527-8245 

“From Broadway to Brazil” April 1, 4 p.m. Berkeley Broadway Singers is a 70-member chorus led by Ellen Hoffman. They will be singing Motown classics along with class Broadway showtunes Free Saint Ambrose Church 1145 Gilman St. 524-0107 

Trio Accorde April 1, 7:30 p.m. $10 - $15 Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley One Lawson Road Kensington 525-0302 

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for twenty years, the Hillbillies fuse rock n’ roll, swing, Latin and African beats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Bravo! Opera!” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A veritable Opera chorus smorgasbord with Bizet’s “Carmen,” Verdi’s “IL trovatore,” and Copland’s “The Tenderland.” $8 - $12 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 643-9645 

Young Emerging Artists Concert April 10, 7 - 8 p.m. The Young Musicians Program Jazz Combo will perform jazz standards and original compositions. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798 

“Under Construction No. 11” April 8, 7:30 p.m. A concert of new works by local composers, including Mary Stiles, Mark Winges, and David Sheinfeld. Free St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave.  

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 21, 7 p.m.: Gay/Bi Men’s Book Group will discuss “Lost Language of Cranes” by David Leavitt; 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 March 21: Poetry of James Schevill; March 25: Poetry of Beverly Matherne & A.J. Rathbun; March 28: Poetry of Craig Van Riper & Jaime Robles; April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted March 27: Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck, author of “The Practical Nomad” will provide essential tips, advice, and consumer skills for the independent traveler; March 29: Katherine Widing, author of “Cycling France” will give a slide presentation/talk on just that 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 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. 

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike March 25, 2 p.m. Featuring poet Paradise Berkeley Art Museum 2621 Durant (at Bowditch) 527-9753 

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

“Slam the Prisons” April 6, 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. A benefit for prison activism featuring Tang, Company of Prophets, Sheryl D. Mebane and many others. Proceeds benefit the defense of New Afrikan political prisoner Khalfani X. Khaldun and the Prison Activist Resource Center. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3205 Shattuck Ave. 898-0431  

Tours 

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

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2 848-7800  

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

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

Lectures 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag  

April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” 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 

City Commons Club Lecture Series Fridays, 12:30 p.m. $1 general Students Free March 23: Guy Colwell, master painter of Nasters, will speak on “Using Painting to Teach Art History”; March 30: Jana Grittersova, professor of International Relations, UC Berkeley will speak on “The European Union - Integration and Expansion” Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 848-3533 

“Color, Color, Color” March 26, 7:30 p.m. A lecture by Christine Barnes which looks at three characteristics of color common to all quilts: Value, temperature and intensity. Free - $3 First Unitarian Church One Lawson Road Kensington 834-3706 

City Council members, community activists and others gathered late Monday afternoon to celebrate the first day of training for the Berkeley Police Department in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. 

When the training is complete, the Berkeley Police Department will be the first department in the county and possibly the world to train all its employees in LGBT issues, said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

The goal of the training is to improve the manner in which police “approach, react to, connect with and respond to the transgender community in Berkeley,” said Darryl Moore, senior management analyst for the public works department and an early advocate of the training. 

“Last year in San Francisco alone over half of all violent incidents against (the LGBT community) were perpetrated by police or security personnel,” said Catherine Ahn, a senator for the Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley. 

“How (police) treat minorities is important for everybody because it sets the standard,” said Berkeley resident Laura Mankikar, whose partner is transsexual. 

City Councilmember Dona Spring said the training is important because it will help police “understand the discrimination that (gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender) people face and the hate crimes they can be subjected to.” 

“In some places in this country gays and lesbians are losing their rights,” Spring said. “This legitimizes their gains and issues (in Berkeley). It’s really a conscious-raising event.” 

Police will be trained in groups of 25-30 over the next couple of months, Worthington said.  

The six-hour training sessions are divided into two parts. The first two hour session covers the history of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community and laws affecting this community. The second and longer segment deals the transgender community. 

“There are a lot more questions and a lot more confusion” about transgender people, Worthington said. 

Officers are given definitions of terms and overview of social issues impacting the transgender community. They study some case histories, learn how to search transgender people and place them into custody, and review hate crime and domestic violence scenarios as they might be experienced by transgender people. 

“A lot of times, not knowing, people make certain assumptions about a situation,” said Berkeley City Manager Weldon Rucker. “This gives (the police department) another level of understanding.” 

Rucker said he expected LGBT training to be instituted in other city departments in the future.  

Moore said it was particularly important for the training to be instituted for city employees who come into regular contact with the public, adding that it made sense to start with police “because they are the front line.” 

“This is not just a token training. This is almost a full day of training.” said Frank Gurucharri, executive director of the Pacific Center for Human Growth, which provides community services for gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender people. 

“When you do sensitivity training about people, they become people, and you move one step out of stereotypical relationships,” he said. 

The City Council will consider a variety of issues including the controversy surrounding Gordon Wozniak’s position on the Community Environmental Advisory Commission. 

In January City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque issued opinions claiming Wozniak’s employment as a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was in conflict with his role on the CEAC. Albuquerque suggested Wozniak resign because of the many issues CEAC considers related to the laboratory. Wozniak disagreed with the opinions and refused to resign from the commission. Two CEAC meetings ended abruptly over  

internal arguments among commissioners over his continued  

participation. 

Wozniak’s future on the commission may be determined by an amendment to the Berkeley Municipal Code, which is also on tonight’s agenda. The new sections of the code would give the council the authority to terminate appointed commissioners and board members if the council determines they were “engaged in an employment, activity or enterprise for compensation, which is inconsistent, incompatible or in conflict with his or her duties as a board or commission member.” 

If the council adopts the new ordinance and determines Wozniak’s employment is in conflict with his role on CEAC, his seat on the commission could be declared vacant.  

Since November the city attorney has said seven commissioners have conflicts of interest to some degree.  

Wood Smoke 

The council will consider a CEAC recommendation to limit the use of wood in fireplaces based on studies by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District that have determined that wood smoke particulate matter causes adverse health effects. 

The CEAC has recommended the council prohibit the installation of open fireplaces in new residential construction and require smoke-reducing equipment on all new commercial wood-burning fire places. The recommendations also called for long-term community education and an ambient air study.  

However the City Manager’s Office suggested the council not adopt the education and air-study sections of the recommendation, because those projects would be too expensive in light of other pressing environmental issues such as lead poisoning, pesticide use, polyvinyl chloride use, dioxins and automobile impact on air quality. 

Harrison Park air study 

The council will consider a resolution authorizing the city manager to contract an air study at Harrison Park with Applied Measurement Science to determine if the Interstate 80 vehicle traffic is causing a health risk to park users. 

The $39,700 study will be a follow up to another study done in 1997 by Acurex Environmental Corp. Acurex determined that the measurements of harmful materials in the air around the park, located at Fourth and Harrison streets, were normal accept for small particulate material, which was likely from automobile exhaust coming from the nearby freeway. 

Since 1997 two things have happened that warrant a new study: I-80 was widened resulting in a 20 percent increase in traffic, an the Environmental Protection Agency has revised health standard related to particulate material. 

Medical marijuana 

The council may adopt a medical marijuana ordinance tonight. It first referred the issue to the city attorney in December 1999 and it has been bouncing between the City Manager’s Office and the Community Health Commission ever since.  

The question has been how many plants will qualified individuals be allowed to grow at one time. The commission would like to allow 144 indoors or 60 outdoors. City staff has consistently advocated for much less, no more than 10 indoors or outdoors.  

Medical marijuana advocates say that more plants insure a good crop and city staff says too many plants could lead to abuse of the ordinance with surplus crop finding its way into the hands of recreational dealers.  

The police department has said they are concerned that large numbers of plants could provoke burglary and possibly home-invasion styled robberies. 

Other items on the agenda include: 

• Adoption of an ordinance that requires a two-week notice to the police department for any large indoor events. 

• Acceptance of a $50,000 donation from Albany for the construction of the Harrison Street Skate Park. 

• Adoption of a resolution in support of the University Professional and Technical Employees, CWA Local 9119 who are working without a contract. 

• A request for the city attorney to review the police department’s policy on requesting identification from members of the public. 

The council meets at 7 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Meetings are broadcast on KPFB 89.3 and TV-25.  

There is a 5 p.m. special meeting at the same place to discuss staff feedback on council priorities.

A 26-year-old woman returning home from a party was allegedly dragged behind a house by three men and forced to perform oral sex on one of them, police said.  

Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes said the victim was leaving a party March 9 with friends when they stopped at a Shell station on the corner of Fulton Street and Durant Avenue to discuss their next move. When her friends decided to proceed to another party, the victim set out for home alone, Lopes said.  

Three men walking on the opposite side of the street crossed over and forcibly carried the woman off the street about 3 a.m., police said. Then, as one man stood lookout on the street, the others forced the woman to perform oral sex. 

The three man fled when the lookout reported someone approaching, police said. Police said the victim reported the crime on March 12. An investigation is ongoing. 

••• 

After a weeklong investigation into the disappearance of a maintenance worker at Berkeley Marina Yacht rental company, Berkeley Police homicide investigators called in Alameda Country Sheriff’s Department divers to search the waters near where the man was last seen working. 

On March 15, the divers discovered the body of Berkeley resident Ronnie Smith, 34, submerged in four feet of water near the boat he had been working on, Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes said. He said investigators are assuming that Smith, a nonswimmer, fell into the water in a spot more than 12-feet deep. 

“There were no signs of foul plays,” Lopes said, adding the a preliminary report from the coroner’s office indicates the cause of death as accidental drowning.  

The investigation remains open until the results of a complete autopsy are in, Lopes said.  

••• 

In what police say may be a gang related dispute, a heated argument between two groups of youth ended in gun fire and broken windows on Sunday. 

Lopes said what started as a verbal altercation between two groups near the parking lot of H’s Lordships Restaurant on the 100 block of Seawall Drive escalated when a member of one group smashed out the windows of a car belonging to a member of the other group. 

In response to the assault on the car, an unidentified youth produced a gun and fired a series of shots into the air, causing dozens of people to flee the area in panic, Lopes said. 

By the time police arrived on the scene all suspects were gone, Lopes said. One youth was at a hospital in Walnut Creek late Sunday with an injured arm. He later told Berkeley Police he had been present during the earlier incident. Lopes said he refused to identify any of the other participants or describe what had taken place.

Some 30 students spent the night outside the mansion of University of California at Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl Monday night to urge the university to work on affordable housing issues. 

The students are part of a coalition including the university's student government, a renters' advocacy group and the public interest group CalPIRG that is urging the university to support measures that insure that housing for students is close to the campus, livable and affordable. 

The students say that the university has many options it is not pursuing to provide housing opportunities to the students, including fund-raising for housing, and changing policies that prevent the university from financing housing. 

At the moment, according to student spokesman Andy Katz, the chancellor's mansion is the only housing the university provides that is on-campus. All student housing has to be self-financed, which means that only those living in the residence halls can finance housing. 

Some of the students say that unavailable housing provides an added stress that can prevent them from achieving their full academic potential. 

SAN JOSE — Jay Harris, chairman and publisher of the San Jose Mercury News, resigned Monday, saying he hoped his action would prompt the newspaper’s parent company, Knight Ridder, to “closely examine the wisdom” of the paper’s profit targets. 

Harris, 51, who had been publisher for seven years, announced his surprise resignation in a wistful e-mail to the paper’s employees. 

“In a letter to Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder and the Newspaper Division president, Steve Rossi, I explained I was stepping down ’in the hope that doing so will cause them to closely examine the wisdom’ of the profit targets we’ve been struggling to find a way to meet,” Harris wrote. 

In a self-profile published by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Harris described himself as a “journalistic traditionalist” and bemoaned when short-term demands cause papers to sacrifice core values. 

“We all know we must make significant adjustments in the face of the currently severe economic downturn,” Harris wrote Monday. “But so far, we have been unable to find a way to meet the new targets without risking significant and lasting harm to the Mercury News – as a journalistic enterprise and as the special place to work that it is.” 

Calls to Harris’ office, as well as to a spokesman for Knight Ridder, were not immediately returned. Mercury News spokeswoman Patty Wise said the paper had no comment. 

Earlier this month, Harris had announced plans to lay off an unspecified number of employees, blaming a dramatic fall in help-wanted ad revenue and other signs of Silicon Valley’s economic slowdown. 

The paper, which has 1,700 employees, is the third-largest in Northern California with a daily circulation of 289,000. 

In a March 5 memo to his staff, Harris said that early retirement offers might help, but that “we will be unable to achieve the level of expense reduction we are seeking to achieve without layoffs.” 

A newspaper industry analyst said Monday that Harris’ resignation was unexpected. 

“He’s always been one of the company’s most highly regarded executives and has successfully run one of the company’s biggest profit centers,” said John Morton, a newspaper analyst from Silver Spring, Md. “I’m very surprised.” 

Harris has been noted for efforts to bring increased racial diversity to American newsrooms.  

In the last five years, he also launched weekly Spanish- and Vietnamese-language newspapers tied to the Mercury News. 

Harris said he will stay in the Silicon Valley area, but that he did not know what his next professional step would be. 

“I’m looking forward to a brief break from public life and a period of reflection and rejuvenation,” he wrote his staff. “I will look for another platform from which to serve the public interest. Maybe I will do some writing. I used to do that for a living.” 

Also on Monday, Knight Ridder, the nation’s second-largest newspaper publisher group, lowered its expectations for first-quarter earnings for the second time. 

After warning a month ago that first-quarter earnings would be down “modestly” from the same period a year ago, the company said that the “revenue environment continues to deteriorate, and we do not see relief in March.” 

The company now expects first-quarter earnings to fall 15 cents to 20 cents. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial had expected Knight Ridder to earn 71 cents a share in the first quarter, down from 74 cents in the period a year ago. 

The San Jose, Calif.-based company, whose newspapers include The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Detroit Free Press, said advertising revenues fell 2.7 percent in February compared to February 2000, with markets in San Jose, Philadelphia and Detroit showing the most weakness. 

Knight Ridder’s stock was off $1.13 to close at $54.36 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Other newspaper publishers have warned of lower profits in the first quarter due to a drop in advertising revenues. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, also has warned investors twice of lower profits. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www0.mercurycenter.com/ 

http://www.kri.com/ 

NEW YORK — Investors hoping for a big interest rate cut sent blue chip stocks higher Monday, helping Wall Street’s major indexes recover after last week’s beating. But analysts warned that the market’s mood will likely sour again if the Federal Reserve doesn’t deliver the aggressive action the market wants. 

Much of the gains came in the tech sector, which suffered heavy damage last week. A series of earnings warnings and cautionary statements from tech companies left the Dow with its biggest weekly point drop ever and pushed the Nasdaq below 2,000 for the first time in 27 months. 

Financial stocks also rose after Lehman Brothers upgraded its rating on Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley just days before the firms report earnings for the three months ending in February. 

But the main driver for the late rise in blue chips seemed to be hopes for a rate cut from the Fed. While a rate cut of some kind has been widely expected from Tuesday’s meeting of the Fed’s Open Market Committee, investors debated how big the cut would be. 

The most optimistic observers said the Fed might make an unusually aggressive cut of three-quarters of a percentage point, or 75 basis points. But others expected the Fed to match the two half-point cuts it made during January, and that, some market watchers fear, could lead to further declines. 

“Equity investors want to be bailed out by the Fed, but there are plenty of reasons for the FOMC not to act as aggressively as investors want,” said Charles White, portfolio manager at Avatar Associates. 

“The real risk here is that there are a lot of people looking for 75 basis points, but the higher probability is that we’ll get a smaller cut,” White said. “The question is how the market is going to react to that. I think people will be disappointed.” 

No matter what the Fed does Tuesday, some analysts warned that other lingering concerns would make a sustained comeback unlikely over the next several weeks. 

— The Associated Press 

A number of companies have announced layoffs and issued warnings about profits for the first quarter, which ends March 31, and there are still signs that the broader economy remains stuck in a slowdown. 

“I don’t see the market running away on the upside when you’ve got all this first quarter news coming out as well as guidance for the rest of the year,” said Barry Berman, head trader for Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. “On the other hand, if you start to see news that’s better than expected, you could start to see people looking for a bottom.” 

Advancing issues outpaced decliners by 7 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.32 billion shares, well off the pace of Friday, when volume was inflated by the expirations of futures and options contracts. 

The Russell 2000 index was up 9.47 at 451.27. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 2 percent during the day on growing hopes that Japanese officials may be able to prevent the country’s financial problems from deepening, but the indicator couldn’t sustain the gains and ended the down 0.34 percent. 

Germany’s DAX index fell 1.35 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 was off 0.20 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 1.10 percent. 

SAN QUENTIN – Two-time convicted killer Robert Lee Massie is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, abandoning 21 years of appeals. 

Massie, on death row for killing and robbing San Francisco liquor store owner Bob Naumoff, is to become California’s ninth condemned inmate to die at San Quentin State Prison since state voters reinstituted capital punishment in 1978. 

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday upheld a lower court’s ruling that said Massie was competent to drop his appeals and refused to block the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to review the appeals court’s latest decision. 

Massie, known as the “Dean of Death Row” because of his lengthy tenure here, gave up his appeals to protest the snail’s pace in which the state’s death penalty system moves. 

California is home to the nation’s most clogged death row, incarcerating nearly 600 condemned prisoners. Massie is the only inmate eligible to die — the others are still challenging their sentences. 

Hundreds of the condemned also have not been provided an attorney for their mandatory first appeal to the California Supreme Court, the initial stop in a maze of state and federal appeals. 

“I don’t see any use in continuing this charade,” Massie, 59, said in a recent interview. 

Charles Harris, who survived a bullet from Massie’s gun, but saw his friend Naumoff die Jan. 3, 1979 at a Twin Peaks liquor store, agrees it’s time for Massie to go. 

“I want an end of this and that’s that,” Harris said. 

California’s last state-sanctioned killing was March 15, 2000. Serial killer Darrell Rich was executed by lethal injection for throwing an 11-year-old girl more than 100 feet to her death. 

Rich, 45, was sentenced to die for the death of the girl, Annette Selix, and the murder of Linda Slavik, 28. He also was convicted of murdering two other women in and near the town of Redding during what prosecutors called a “reign of terror” in the summer of 1978. 

Massie also has killed more than once. He went on a crime spree Jan. 7, 1965, robbing and assaulting five people in the Los Angeles area. He received a death sentence after confronting a San Gabriel couple outside their home, fatally shooting Mildred Weiss. 

At one point, Massie came so close to execution he had ordered his last meal. 

But in 1972, his sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abolished the death penalty. He was paroled in 1978, when California voters overwhelmingly endorsed reinstating the capital punishment. 

A year later, Massie killed Naumoff. 

A capital crime in California is a murder in the commission of a felony, such as a rape, robbery or kidnapping. Killing a police officer and committing multiple murders also is punishable by death. County district attorneys choose whether to seek the death penalty or a life sentence in capital trials.

As thousands of students head to beaches and resort towns for spring break revelry, two dozen civic-minded University of California, Berkeley, students will pick asparagus and paint migrants' homes in Stockton and distribute health-related flyers in Delano, home of the United Farm Workers. 

The trips mark UC Berkeley's first official, independent foray into what's called “alternative spring break.” 

The national movement is devoted to blending education and community service during the traditional week off from university classes each spring.  

Several UC Berkeley students said they joined the project because they are curious to learn more about their fathers’ experiences as migrant workers. Others said they want to learn more about UFW founder Cesar Chavez and the history of the labor organization, according to Alexis Buchnam, the AmeriCorps program coordinator at UC Berkeley's Cal Corps Public Service Center. 

“I have read about the (migrant) movement and Cesar Chavez and have even heard lectures about him; however, I feel that working with farm workers and doing service in their area will teach me to appreciate their role in my life more,” said Mayra Alvarez, a 19-year-old sophomore majoring in social welfare and Chicano studies at UC Berkeley. “I hardly ever stop to recognize the work people have to do to get the fruit I so carelessly eat every day.” 

Students will work in Stockton from Monday through Friday, March 26-30, staying at a Rural AmeriCorps staff member’s home at night.  

They will spend two days painting interiors at a camp and a day working alongside migrant workers, picking asparagus. Volunteers also will have dinner with the migrants with whom they will spend the long day in the fields. 

Meanwhile, the Delano crew will sleep at a UFW retirement home for Filipino migrant workers and tour that community to learn the history of the UFW and assist with water quality surveys there. 

Upon their return to UC Berkeley, each group of university students will make presentations about Cesar Chavez in East Bay K-12 public schools. 

The groups will participate in celebrations for the March 31 state holiday commemorating Cesar Chavez, the founder of the UFW.  

The Delano group will remain in the Central Valley for the Cesar Chavez programs on Saturday, while the Stockton contingent will return to the Bay Area for an event in San Francisco. 

Chavez was a pioneer in California migrant labor who secured the first union contracts for workers that required rest breaks, clean drinking water, protective clothing to safeguard workers from dangerous pesticides, facilities for washing hands, and health benefits. Chavez died in 1993. 

Alvarez said Cesar Chavez Day has a personal significance for her, because her grandfather participated in the Bracero Program instituted by the U.S. and Mexican governments in 1942. Under the plan, 4 million Mexican migrant workers came to work in United States farm fields. Alvarez said her father also worked in the fields of California's Imperial Valley in the 1960s. 

“It is important to give Cesar Chavez the recognition he deserves; he not only motivated large numbers of people in non-violent demonstrations, he was able to start an educational process that is continually growing,” she said. 

Alternative spring break and its program oriented toward Cesar Chavez has come to UC Berkeley thanks to a $16,000 grant from California's 25-member Commission on Improvement of Life Through Service.  

It was awarded to the Cal Corps Public Service Center and the Accord For Youth AmeriCorps Collaborative of the Alameda County Volunteer Center. Cal Corps Public Service Center is a program partner and a member of the collaborative.  

It employs full-time UC Berkeley students to enhance the educational experiences of underserved youth in Alameda County. 

The UFW and Rural AmeriCorps are the sponsors overseeing the program in the valley.  

After spring break, participants each will donate four hours of labor to educate K-12 youth and UC Berkeley about the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez by working with the Alameda County Food Bank and other nonprofit agencies.

The University of California at Berkeley is turning 133 years old, and the campus is taking the occasion to celebrate its history, particularly its “Nobel” past. 

The Charter Day festivities will include a keynote address by Nobel Laureate Daniel McFadden, UC Berkeley economics professor and recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics in 2000. 

McFadden is the 17th member of the university's faculty to garner that distinction. That legacy will be honored when the university presents a slide show honoring its Nobel Prize history. 

The events begin at 10 a.m., when the school's chancellor, Robert M. Berdahl, will give a welcome speech at Zellerbach Hall. The celebratory events will also include the presentation of two awards, the Elise and Walter Haas International Award, and the Peter E. Haas Public Service award. A birthday party celebration is scheduled to take place in Dwinelle Plaza beginning at noon.

WASHINGTON — Employers can force workers to take job-related disputes to arbitration rather than to court, the Supreme Court said Wednesday in a ruling with special significance for employees who are not union members. 

The court divided 5-4 to rule that employers can use a federal law to enforce the arbitration agreements many workers sign when they take jobs. 

The court’s conservative-led majority took a narrow view of a federal law from the early days of the labor era that makes commercial arbitration agreements enforceable in federal court. The majority said an exception to the law did not apply to the case of a gay former electronics salesman who claimed he was harassed at work. 

While employees can still try to challenge the arbitration agreements, the ruling strengthens employers’ hands while giving employees fewer options to claim they were treated unfairly. 

The decision will probably increase the popularity of binding arbitration among employers, said employment lawyer Laura Allen of the New York firm Brown & Wood. “It means employers can continue doing what they’ve been doing already, only more so,” she said. 

Business groups already champion the practice as a cheaper, simpler and fairer alternative to resolving cases in court. 

Arbitration typically involves an outsider playing a role akin to a judge, but without a lot of the expensive procedures and requirements of a court proceeding, and without the unpredictability of a jury. 

Circuit City Stores had asked a federal judge to rule that the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act required Saint Clair Adams to settle his discrimination claim by arbitration. 

Adams’ lawyer, Michael Rubin, predicted the court’s ruling in Circuit City’s favor will embolden other employers to do the same thing. 

The heart of Wednesday’s case is a portion of the 1925 law that makes an exception for “seamen, railroad employees or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” 

Adams’ lawyers said the “commerce” part of the phrase applied to him, and a federal appeals court agreed. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the arbitration enforcement law did not apply to employment or labor contracts at all. 

Circuit City contended that the exception from the arbitration enforcement law was limited to workers actually involved in moving goods from one state to another, and the Supreme Court agreed. 

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court majority, said the 9th Circuit interpretation is unworkable and would spawn more lawsuits.  

He was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O’Connor. 

A broad exception would “call into doubt the efficacy of alternative dispute resolution procedures adopted by many of the nation’s employers, and in the process undermine” the Federal Arbitration Act, he wrote. 

Arbitration clauses in employment contracts typically apply to nonunion workers who sign them as a condition of employment. Critics of the practice say workers often don’t read the legal fine print and don’t realize what rights they are signing away. 

Use of arbitration in employment cases has risen in recent decades, and about 10 percent of American workers are now covered by binding arbitration. 

High technology, one of the fastest-growing areas of the work force in recent years, is overwhelmingly nonunion. Although it is not clear how many high tech workers have signed arbitration clauses, lawyers said the practice is common. 

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a dissenting opinion that accused the majority of “playing ostrich” to the legislative and historical context of the arbitration law and its consequences. 

That history includes opposition to the arbitration law from organized labor, which feared it would force courts to enforce unfair labor contracts, Stevens wrote for himself and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen J. Breyer. Justice David H. Souter filed a separate dissent. 

The majority decision Wednesday resurrects the reasons labor feared arbitration enforcement in 1925, Stevens wrote. 

On the Net: Supreme Court web site: http://www.supremeurtus.gov

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge Tuesday allowed a lawsuit to proceed against Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. filed by independent booksellers who allege the chains receive illegal preferential treatment from publishers for secret deals and steep discounts. 

U.S. District Judge William Orrick Jr. set an April 9 trial here in an antitrust suit brought by the New York-based American Bookseller Association, which represents small, independent bookstores nationwide. The suit alleges that the two major book chains, which urged Orrick to throw out the suit, use their weight illegally to demand major discounts from some of the nation’s largest publishers. That, in turn, undermines mom-and-pop bookstores that cannot acquire the same deals. It’s an allegation that the chains emphatically deny. 

Still, the judge said that while the 26 suing independent booksellers represented by the ABA could have their day in court, they cannot win damages if they prevail. Orrick said it would be impossible to determine how much the independents were harmed by alleged anticompetitive practices. 

“While we are disappointed regarding the judge’s ruling on damages, this suit was never about monetary damages,” the ABA said in a statement. “Rather, from the beginning, it has been a fight to ensure that all book retailers play by the same rules on a level playing field.” 

Mel Goldman, attorney for New York-based Barnes & Noble, did not return phone messages. 

As major bookstore chains have expanded to new territories in recent years, the number of independent bookstores has declined. From 1994 to 1997, the four largest bookstore chains – Barnes & Noble, Borders, Crown Books and Books-A-Million – expanded their collective market share from 35 percent to 45 percent, the ABA said. 

The association has about 3,000 members, down from its peak of 5,000 five years ago. Barnes & Noble and Borders operate 937 and 335 stores, respectively, and are expanding notably in California. 

——— 

On the Net: 

American Booksellers Association, http://www.bookweb.org 

Borders, http://www.borders.com 

Barnes & Noble, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ 

NEW YORK — For people who’d turn blue were an errant wind to blow away a $20 bill, investors seem remarkably detached, even blase, about seeing more than $4 trillion in equity assets disappear into the air. 

Yes, the consumer surveys say that confidence has plunged, but the actions do not confirm it. People are buying houses and cars, relaxing on cruises, flocking to casinos and generally spending more than they earn. 

The “consumer schizophrenia,” as economist David A. Wyss describes it, is causing a great deal of confusion among those who are accustomed to relying on the surveys, and perhaps even concern at the Federal Reserve. 

It leaves the Fed, for example, with the dilemma of determining whether consumers have had enough punishment and are deserving of lower interest rates, or if they still are a somewhat irrationally exuberant. 

Attitudinal plunges reflected in consumer confidence surveys cannot be ignored; the recent declines, Wyss points out, bear similarities to the declines that preceded the most recent four recessions. But neither can consumer actions be discounted – not when consumers borrow to buy. 

A possible clue may be contained in the suggestion from the surveys themselves that while people are increasingly concerned about the future economy, they may not as yet have experienced the painful effects. Jobs remain plentiful, inflation is in check, mortgage rates low, a tax cut is coming. And the future is a long way off. 

Yes, and it’s hard not believe that after nine years or so of rather good economic times, recessions are mere abstractions to millions of people rather than something they must deal with personally and painfully. They may not as yet have read the quarterly reports from their 401(k) plans and their mutual funds, but soon they will, and most of the reports will make poor reading. 

So far, the popular rational for dealing with the unpleasant facts is to say, “Oh well, I’m in it for the long term.” But that response ignores the fact that all people live in a timeframe, and that timeframe, as for retirement, may not coincide with the long term. 

Inherent in the long-term view is that the future that will be better, no matter what the consumer confidence surveys suggest. Stocks have always come back, or so it is said, and they will again, or so it is believed. 

Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman, is still a hero to millions, and there is confidence he’ll not do anything further to hurt them. He may have created this thing, and he will see that the correction causes the least pain. 

Greenspan’s obligation, however, is not primarily to stocks but to the overall economy, and while the stock market is an important part of economy, so also are such matters as inflation, government spending and the trade deficit. Difficult as it might be to accept, small investors are on their own, as they’ll realize it when they face the realities and total their losses. Sadly, they tended to be invested in the stocks that took big falls. 

The five most popular stocks among investment clubs, according to the National Association of Investors Corp., are Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., Home Depot Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Cisco alone is held by 15,480 clubs. 

In trading Monday, Cisco was down about 76 percent from its 52-week high. Intel was off 66 percent, Lucent down 85 percent, Home Depot down 39 percent and Microsoft down 53 percent. 

The reality makes hard reading. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press