Page One

Pedestrians should take responsibility  

Editor; 

Drivers are not the only ones who need to take some responsibility for pedestrian/vehicle accidents.  

Many pedestrians will start strolling leisurely across a heavily-trafficked street with the red don’t-cross figure steadily lit. Others cross, equally leisurely, in the middle of a street, without even bothering to look and see if cars are coming. 

Equally, drivers don’t yield to pedestrian right of way when they have the green light, probably at least in part because of the behavior of pedestrians. 

Once again I repeat a recommendation I first made many years ago and have made several times since: at major intersections, institute the “Barnes dance.”  

Named for former Baltimore and New York City traffic commissioner Henry Barnes, it involves turning all the lights at an intersection red simultaneously so pedestrians can cross every which way.  

When the lights are turned to green for each of the two directions in succession, pedestrians WAIT. What I believe makes this work is that pedestrians don’t have to play dodge-em with cars and drivers get a fair chance to complete a turn, right or left, without having to wait for pedestrians.  

Joann Lee 

Berkeley 

Remember when cars stopped for pedestrians? 

Editor: 

You have done a great public service by printing on the front page of Vol. 2 Issue 297 regarding the long-neglected but extremely serious problem of pedestrian safety while crossing certain streets in this town. 

There was a time, in California, when as soon as a pedestrian stepped off the sidewalk automobiles stopped. 

Those days are long gone. Now, for example, to get across the street from the clearly marked pedestrian crossing between the French Hotel and the Post Office across the street is more dangerous than some of the “EXTREME SPORTS” events , we see on the TV. 

How many more people have to be killed before some long overdue action by the police? 

If the cops would stop hiding in the bushes in some remote street corner to catch someone who has not come to a 100 percent stop at a street sign, and would begin catching drivers who run red lights and endanger foot traffic crossing busy crossings I for one could feel safer than I do now. 

Max Stec 

Berkeley 

Less homework makes for lighter backpacks 

Editor: 

I find it very surprising that Berkeley parents are only now seeing the great problems of hefty backpacks and shoulder bags for young students. 

But what is more surprising is that parents are equating the problem to the number of books their children need to take to classes instead of looking at real solutions to the backpack issue. 

A former B.U.S.D. student myself (Oxford School), I think it would be more appropriate if, instead of giving students roller cases to carry books in, that parents demand that after school programs which long have been the haven of the recess-seeking child switch to more of a homework club format, allowing students to keep heftier books at school- in lockers. 

The backpack issue is not new, but it certainly has brought the painful back-small child issue to a hysteria level in recent weeks. What next? 

Parents demanding nap time for overworked high school students? 

John Parman 

Ashland, Oregon 

First mourn, then go somewhere else 

Editor: 

I’ve spent many good hours at the UC Theatre throughout the years. I’m sorry it’s closing.  

But the quote from Janet McColl, “We have no other venue in the East Bay...” is absolutely not so. We have been very lucky to have the wonderful art films and warm atmosphere in the Fine Arts Cinema on Shattuck these last few years, sometimes with live music. Let’s keep that going!  

Rita Wilson 

Berkeley  

Opera in English good for laughs 

Editor: 

It’s rare for me to laugh out loud at an opera but I did at Berkeley Opera’s performance of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” March 25. Not only did my friends and I laugh at all the sly jokes but also at all the comic turns and steps that the cast played so naturally and easily. The visual and verbal jokes were done with marvelous timing and just rolled with Mozart’s magical and comic music.  

I marveled that I was having a better time in this small theater (the Julia Morgan Center) than in London’s or Berlin’s much grander opera houses, with famous singers. Perhaps it was easy to laugh because I could understand the jokes and the convoluted plot because of the brilliant new English libretto (by Sherwood Dudley based on the original libretto of Lorenzo Da Ponte).  

The whole show was perfect: the cast, the direction, the music, the costumes.  

Especially wonderful were Shawnette Sulker as Susanna and Sonia Gariaeff as Cherubino. There will be more performances this weekend of “Figaro”, including today and tomorrow. Don’t miss this marvelous show, Go! 

Ying Lee 

Berkeley 

Continuing failure of governance is eroding Pacifica 

The following letter by Beth Lyons of New York was forwarded to the Daily Planet by Councilmember Kriss Worthington. It is Lyon’s letter of resignation from the Pacifica Board which governs the five Pacifica radio stations, including Berkeley’s KPFA. 

To: David Acosta, Chairperson, Pacifica National Board (PNB) 

Since I was seated on the Pacifica Board in June 2000, I have witnessed a conjuncture of crises resulting from management decisions, which have been executed at many levels.  

These crises include, but are not restricted to, the still unresolved concerns at KPFA; the treatment of Amy Goodman, the sole remaining host of Democracy Now!; the terminations of the Station Manager at WBAI, Valerie Van Isler, Program Director, Bernard White and producer, Sharan Louise Harper; the banning of long-term volunteers, including thirty-year veteran producers Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash; the resignations of Juan Gonzalez and Mario Murillo (from Wake Up Call); and, most recently, the on-the-air interruption and severance of an interview with Congressman Major Owens, a senior ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

As a board member, I do not categorize these situations as “day-to-day management” decisions outside of my purview. Each has risen to the level of policy, due to the lacunae in the prudent, sound judgment and democratic decision-making processes, which are consistent with the mission of Pacifica, as described in its Articles of Incorporation and demonstrated during more than five decades of broadcasting. 

The continuing failures of governance and management (which start with, but are certainly not limited to, the national level) are eroding Pacifica. 

This situation demands that a Pacifica national board member exercise constant vigilance and diligence to fulfill her fiduciary responsibilities, and her accountability to the listeners, supporters, communities and unpaid and paid staffpersons who have kept Pacifica on the air for more than half a century.  

I can no longer, for personal reasons, carry out these obligations and responsibilities. Therefore, I am submitting my resignation, pursuant to the Pacifica Foundation By-Laws, Article Eight, Section One, effective March 25, 2001. 

My brief tenure on the PNB has affirmed my conviction that Pacifica is uniquely positioned on the cutting edge as one of the few remaining media venues for people, ideas, struggles - both domestically and internationally - which can not be voiced and can not be heard in the increasing corporatized, conglomeratized and globalized media. Contrary to those who contend that Pacifica is an anachronism in need of radical alteration in its form and substance, Pacifica Foundation and its networks, defined by and committed to the original mission, are a vital necessity in this 21st century. 

As Frederick Douglass stated, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.”  

Make no mistake, the fundamental struggle here is one of power, 

Who controls Pacifica and how will that control be exercised?  

As I stated in Houston, the PNB was presented with a window of opportunity to re-affirm Pacifica’s original objectives, and I urge the PNB to exercise its leadership and accountability affirmatively and constructively to that end. The Board’s responsibilities to the mission of Pacifica demand no less. 

Lastly, I want to thank the WBAI Local Advisory Board which nominated me for the privilege to serve as a board member.  

I especially want to express my deepest respect and admiration for Pete Bramson, Leslie Cagan, Rabbi Aaron Kriegal, Tomas Moran and Rob Robinson, who enabled my individual work to become a contribution to a larger whole. 

Beth S. Lyons 

New York