It’s just past 11 a.m. on Friday, March 30, when Balinda Floyd, secretary to Berkeley High School Principal Frank Lynch, announces to the people clustered around her desk that there’s been yet another school shooting — this time in Gary, Indiana. 

“A kid walked into class and shot a 16-year-old boy,” Floyd said, reading from her pager. 

But no one asks for details. No one has time. 

Already there’s been a brawl in the girls’ locker room that took most of the school’s seven safety officers to break up. The girls involved have been ushered into separate vice-principal’s offices. They’re being interview one-by-one by Barry Wiggan, the school’s security supervisor, and officers from the Berkeley Police Department. 

Already the safety officers have pulled one student from class after he allegedly threatened his classmates. The student had to be brought into the school’s administrative offices, a cluster of temporary trailers, by force. 

“This is like Good Morning Vietnam,” Safety Officer Mary Reynolds said, referring to the movie starring Robin Williams to no one in particular as the police radios crackle in the background. 

But it’s just another Friday at Berkeley High. 

After a Berkeley High student told a special committee of school administrators and Berkeley city councilmembers last month about groups of Berkeley High students who allegedly terrorized the school through violence and intimidation, administrators have made improving safety at the school a top priority. 

“(The student) described conditions that are intolerable, and conditions that we intend to address,” said Stephen Goldstone, Berkeley Unified School District interim superintendent, at the school board’s April 4 meeting. 

Goldstone and Lynch have met with Berkeley Police Chief Dash Butler and others in recent weeks to come up with plans to improve the campus environment. A School Safety Committee made up of teachers, parents and students will meet weekly to identify and brainstorm solutions to the school’s most challenging safety issues. 

Some changes have already occurred. After five Berkeley High students were assaulted on campus Friday, March 23, by teenagers believed to be from another town, Lynch invited a group of concerned parents to begin patrolling the campus themselves during the difficult hours after lunch. 

“We kind of put our foot on the accelerator,” Lynch said. “We said, ‘Let’s stop talking about it. Let’s do it.’” 

But until there are more sweeping changes instituted, the situation at Berkeley High is much the same. And school safety officers are anticipating more fights and discipline problems as the days get hotter. 

“The tempers are quick on hot days,” said Reynolds. “The guys are more aggressive because the girls have got more showing.” 

Berkeley High’s safety officers are charged with patrolling the campus throughout the day, removing disruptive kids from class, breaking up fights, and getting kids to go to class, among other things. Most school discipline matters are handled through suspension, either on campus or off. If a student’s offense rises to the level of a crime it is promptly turned over to Berkeley Police. 

The number of crimes reported on the Berkeley High campus has grown in leaps and bounds over the last three years. In 1998, Berkeley police records show 36 crimes reported on the campus — including nine thefts, seven cases of burglary from cars and four batteries. In 1999, records show 69 crimes — including 13 thefts, 12 batteries, two assaults on school employees and two assaults with a deadly weapon. In 2000, records show 92 crimes — including 14 thefts, 13 batteries and six cases of arson. 

But for school safety officers, such statistics are irrelevant because they say Berkeley High is not nearly as bad as some schools. 

“We haven’t had to deal with some of the serious things you see on the television set,” said Safety Officer Billy Keys. “We deal with the usual things that happen at any high school.” 

The single biggest nuisance on campus, Keys and others said, are just the run-of-the-mill fights that break out when someone, for one reason or another, gets his or her feelings hurt. Fights not considered a crime are not tallied in police statistics. 

“It’s the follow through on what’s taken place (in the kids’ lives) over the weekend,” Lynch said of the fighting. “We’re dealing with the aftermath.” 

For Keys, it is unrealistic to think that the school can prevent these types of skirmishes. 

“Is it right? No. Should it happen? No. You going to stop it? No,” Keys said. 

In the 1980s, Keys remembered that Berkeley had 13 campus monitors — instead of seven safety officers — to stop problems before they start at various parts of the campus. 

“This kind of set up is kind of ridiculous,” Keys said, referring to the fact that today there are only seven safety officers for 3,200 students spread out across a 17-acre campus. 

As much as they can, safety officers said they try to prevent problems by building relationships with students, both to keep the kids out of trouble and to keep themselves informed. 

“We have ingrained ourselves in the school so we’re able to see things when they come and respond appropriately,” Keys said. 

Reynolds said it is a matter of simply communicating with the students. 

“I love the kids and I try to reach them in any way I possibly can. ... I let them vent. A lot of times they just need somebody to help them … somebody to care,” Reynolds said. 

From the perspective of the safety officers, a number of things need to happen for Berkeley High to become a safer, more stable environment. 

For one thing, many said, it will help when the construction on the school’s east side is completed because students will actually have a library and student union to hang out. More space equals less tension, the officers said. 

Also, the officers said, the school needs set strict standards for attendance and make sure all teachers adhere to them. Many of the problems occur when kids are loitering around campus with nothing to do but start trouble, the officers said. And all too often the safety officers themselves can’t compel the kids to go to class because they might have a semi-legitimate excuse, like a free period due to error in their class schedule, or special permission from a teacher to skip class, to leave early or to arrive late. 

For Safety Officer Jason Howard, attendance isn’t the only area where enforcement is unreliable. In part because the school changed principals a number of times in the ’90s, enforcement of discipline in a number of areas has been varied and inconsistent, Howard said. 

“If we have a set of rules that don’t bend, don’t break, and for staff and students there consequences to things that happen, I think we’ll have a better school,” Howard said. 

Lynch said the school is consistent with its suspension policy but acknowledged that classroom discipline may vary from teacher to teacher. 

Students are “disruptive,” Keys said, in part because the school is not meeting their needs. The time has come to acknowledge that different kids have different needs and create school programs that reflect that, Keys said, pointing to the Rebound program, a intensive program to help freshman failing English and Math catch up to their classmates, as an example. Berkeley High already has three “small learning communities” and is moving towards creating a fourth. School officials are also considering an official move to the “small learning community model,” which would create more schools-within-a-school for different groups of students.  

“We have to have programs that deal with all of our students,” Keys said. “If the only thing we’re going to do is provide discipline, we’d be running around in circles.” 

Monday, April 9

Ask the Doctor 

10:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Dr. McGillis will speak and answer questions on radiologically, hormonally, and genetically modified foods.  

644-6107 

Tuesday, April 10

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 

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  

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

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 

Living with HIV 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Bldg., Room 100 

Joe MacMurray will offer reflections on his personal experiences as an HIV-positive man who is preparing for ordained ministry in the Metropolitan Community Church.  

849-8206 

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 www.pacificcenter.org 

Sunrise Business Mixer  

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.  

Skates on the Bay  

100 Seawall Drive  

Wake up and smell the coffee at this mixer sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Complimentary breakfast provided by host Skates on the Bay. Free to chamber members.  

RSVP, 549-7003 or e-mail chamber@dnai.com  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia. 

548-3333 

Magic Brown  

2:30 p.m. 

South Branch Library  

1901 Russell St.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free. 

649-3943 

Magic Brown  

7 p.m. 

North Branch Library  

1170 The Alameda 

Similar program to above. Free. 

649-3943 

Seeds of Fiction  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Berkeley author Dorothy Bryant will speak on seeds of fiction and drama. Free. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, April 11

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 

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 

Magic Brown  

11 a.m.  

West Branch Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

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. 

Bicycle Maintenance 101  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

REI bike technician Paul Ecord will show attendees how to perform basic adjustments on bikes and how to keep them in good condition. 

527-4140 

Magic Brown  

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943

Army’s campus visit was enlightening 

Editor:  

Ben Lumpkin’s article on the visit of the U.S. Army’s $3.2 million Armor Adventure Van to the Berkeley High campus was comprehensive and well done.  

I know because I took two short trips through the van myself and spent two hours around the van. I was flying a United Nations flag, handing out a homemade UN leaflet and carrying a “spur-of-the-moment” sign reading, “reach beyond your/our limitations — work and pray for peace and the United Nations.”  

A few brief conversations with students, staff and Army personnel were interesting and satisfying. I was especially interested in the one staff Sgt.’s saga from birth in Korea, moving to the U.S., joining the Army, returning to Korea in the Army and spending three months in Africa as a UN Blue Beret.  

I was also pleased to see copies of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors leaflet “Warning: Joining the Military is hazardous to...your education...your future...people of color...women...your civil rights...your health...the environment...our lives.”  

Bill Trampleasure 

Berkeley 

Israel has a right to defend itself from hostility 

Editor: 

Unfortunately, “Ralliers Protest Inhumanity of Mideast Conflict” (Daily Planet, April 1) is filled with many incorrect statements. 

Saying that there were “100 activists” at Tuesday’s protest is a gross overstatement. There were clearly no more than thirty or forty, and in fact, at the beginning of the protest pro-Israel demonstrators outnumbered those from the Palestinian side. 

Second, and most alarming, is Amy Gerber’s statement that “There’s been 52 years of brutal occupancy.” While the West Bank and Gaza have been occupied for 53 years, Israel has only done so for the past 34. Until 1967, Palestinians were occupied by their Arab “brethren.” Jordan occupied the West Bank, and Egypt Gaza. In many cases, especially Gaza, Palestinians were submitted to much more deplorable conditions than under Israeli occupation. 

Finally, Israel has offered to end its occupation, just as these groups demand, under one condition: Peace. When the Palestinian side is prepared to stop its violence and return to the negotiating table there will be justice for all. Until then, Israel, just like every other nation, has the right to defend itself against constant sniper fire, mortar shelling, and terrorist bombings against innocent civilians. 

David Singer 

UC Berkeley student 

Sunshine removal, Nextel antennas connected? 

Editor: 

“Sunshine Ordinance pulled from agenda” (Daily Planet, March 30) was a disquieting headline. Given recent experience with the Nextel stealth application to install 12 RF radiation emitting antennas on the roof of the Oaks Theater I am led to raise some questions. 

I ask if Council Member Polly Armstrong’s action in removing the ordinance is coincidental in light of her action on the Nextel application. She was the only member of the Council who voted against holding a public hearing on the Nextel application after it was brought to light. She seemed to be suggesting that there was something about the process which allowed applicants to expect approval and that it was somehow owed to them. I wrote and asked her if she knew of any Government official, either staff or elected, who had led Nextel to believe, prior to completion of the application process, that the application would be approved. She didn’t respond. This raises a question about why Councilmember Armstrong has not shown the minimal respect due a citizen raising a legitimate question. I wonder why a politician would do that.  

I first began to seriously wonder what is going on, early in the process of community opposition to the Nextel application, when a threat against the use of my own property was made by a ranking zoning official involved in the Nextel application. This led me to wonder what kind of pressure he was under in the matter. 

How did a finding, absurd on its face, creep unnoticed into the Antenna Moratorium Ordinance which weakens the Solano Avenue Ordinance? How did the Solano Avenue Ordinance apparently get amended without community knowledge to allow antenna siting on the basis of an administrative use permit in violation of other sections of the ordinance requiring a public hearing? 

Armstrong, and perhaps others, say they oppose the Sunshine Ordinance because it might make government process more cumbersome, inefficient and costly. Baloney! Since when has an informed electorate been an impediment to government — or perhaps I should say honest, open and democratic government.  

Leonard Schwartzburd 

Berkeley 

Protest doesn’t represent entire Jewish community 

Editor:  

There has never been a monolithic voice in the Jewish community about any political or social issue.  

That is the essence of Judaism.  

Therefore you must realize that the small group of people who protested the buying of Israeli matzah only represented themselves, not the entire Jewish community.  

The headline, “Israeli Matzoh Boycott Reveals Rift in Jewish Community” (Daily Planet, April 2) is not true.  

Thalia Broudy 

Berkeley 

Organization bought land after campaign 

Editor:  

I am writing this letter to correct statements made about myself and the property at 2517 Sacramento St. (formerly the Outback Clothing Store).  

In her letter, “Conflict of Interest” (Daily Planet, March 27), Ms. Merrilie Mitchell erroneously states that Affordable Housing Associates, or I, was the owner of the 2517 Sacramento Street property that City Councilmembers Margaret Breland and Maudelle Shirek used for their campaign headquarters from September through November 2000.  

Affordable Housing Associates wants to make it clear that we were not the owners of the property during this time. AHA closed escrow and became the owner of the property on December 6, 2000. As such, we had no involvement in however the previous owner made use of the space before this date.  

Since we were not the owners of the property, we disagree with the charges of unfair campaign practices and/or conflict of interest in regard to the use of the former Outback Clothing building.  

Ali R. Kashani 

Executive Director 

Affordable Housing Associates 

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 “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; “A Passion for Art: The Disaronno Originale Photography Collection,” Through April 18 Featuring the work of photographers worldwide who have demonstrated passion and excellence; $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. 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!.” 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” 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. April 13: The Locust, Dead & Gone, Honeysuckle Serontina, Tourettes Latrec, Last Great Liar; April 14: The Oozzies, 16, The Red Light Sting, Powers of Darkness; April 20: The Blast Rox, The Sissies; Uberkunst; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, Thee Impossibles 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 10: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; April 12: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz April 7, 8:30 p.m.: Paul Pena, Big Bones, Zulu Exiles; April 10, 8 p.m.: Spiritual Corinthians; April 11, 9 p.m.: Swamp Coolers w/Richard Hon, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; April 12, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; April 13, 9 p.m.: Omaya, Prophets of Rage, Nameless & Faceless, DJs Riddim & Poizen. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com

Panthers win boys, girls titles; ’Jackets stung by injuries 

Despite some disappointing events and a controversy to end the day, the St. Mary’s track & field team swept the 22nd Annual Oakland Invitational Relays on Saturday, winning the team titles for both boys and girls. 

The event, held at Edwards Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus, is one of the top meets in Northern California every year. But despite the far-flung competitors, coming from as far away as Oregon and Los Angeles, it was the hometown Panthers that came out on top. 

The boys’ team just edged Edison (Huntington Beach), 74.5 to 72, even with the absence of star hurdler and sprinter Halihl Guy for the morning events. Guy was busy taking his college entrance exams, missing the 4x100-meter relay and looking shaky in his signature hurdle races. In his first event of the day, the 110-meter hurdles, he pulled up short after hitting two of the hurdles and falling behind. 

“I thought I false started. But he never stopped the race, so I kept going, but it threw my steps off,” Guy said, allowing that his test might have been a factor in his performance. “I didn’t know what to concentrate on, my meet or my test. So I had to do both. It took a lot out of me today to be sitting there for four hours.” 

After running the anchor leg for the Panthers’ winning 4x200-meter relay, Guy was ready to run the 300-meter hurdles. He was facing stiff competition from Sheldon’s Trae Gaulman, and again hit a hurdle hard, slowing him momentarily. But he came on strong in the home stretch, and Gaulman hit the next to last hurdle and slowed down. Guy won the race with a time of 38.5 seconds, and he was all smiles.  

“I let (Gaulman) get out in front of me because I knew he would die at the end,” Guy said. “I knew I had enough strength left to go get him if I needed to, and that’s what I did.” 

But moments later, that smile was wiped off his face by a disqualification by one of the judges for a trail-leg violation on two of the hurdles. Guy was ready to write it off as a learning experience, but luckily for him, his coaches weren’t so ready to give up. St. Mary’s assistant coach Don Lawson had one of the hurdles in question on tape, and showed it to a meet official. Along with the fact that Guy had hit the other hurdle with his trail leg, the tape was enough for the judges to reinstate him. 

“They said there was a trail leg violation on hurdle four and hurdle five. He was hugging the inside of the lane with his lead leg, so his trail leg had to be right over the hurdle,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “We started going through the tape, and he clearly went over hurdle five. He hit hurdle four so hard he almost fell, so he couldn’t really have gone around it.” 

Guy was good-natured throughout the ordeal. 

“I’m still mad, because they’re playing with my feelings,” he said with a grin on his face. “I’m glad they filmed me and could use the tape. I’m glad they protested for me, because that’s one more medal I have now. I would’ve just said ‘Oh well.’ But this was kind of a warmup for next weekend.” 

The Panthers will head down to the Arcadia Invitational, considered the top meet in California, this weekend. 

The Panthers won Saturday despite a disappointing effort by their two star triple jumpers, Asokah Muhammed and Solomon Welch. Prohibitive favorites coming into the meet, they were upset by De La Salle’s Peter Frances. Welch settled for second, while Muhammed, who has the state’s top triple jump this season, finished third. That result, combined with Guy’s hurdles adventures and a few other subpar performances, had Lawson shaking his head, especially considering the team’s strong showing at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. 

“Our expectation every meet is to have guys come in and run well and compete well, and in some events we didn’t compete very well,” Lawson said. “I don’t know if we’re looking forward to Arcadia or living off of the Stanford meet, but we’re definitely going to have to readdress being focused.” 

On the girls’ side, thrower Kamaiya Warren had another dominating performance, winning both the discus and shot put, contributing 20 points to her team’s total of 58. Warren has yet to lose in either event this season, and she is finally getting the idea that she might be one of the best in the state. 

“I’ve come to the realization that I’m actually good,” Warren said. “My parents and coaches have been telling me that I can be the best, and I’m finally starting to see it.” 

“Kamaiya’s throwing well consistently right now,” Lawson said. “She’s finally getting the confidence to do well every week.” 

Other highlights on the girls’ side were Quiana Plump finishing second in the long jump, and Danielle Stokes and Tiffany Johnson taking third in the 110-meter hurdles and the triple jump, respectively. But Johnson also false-started in the 100-meter dash. 

“I think (Johnson) got too anxious about the other big-time runners that were in her heat and just got a little jumpy,” Lawson said. “Those are the girls she needs to be able to run with. Some of them are making that move up to that next level of competition, and it’s taking her a while to get ready for that mentally.” 

Lawson feels his team will be peaking for the Arcadia meet this weekend, after a tough schedule has kept them off-balance. 

“We’re trying not to have everyone get up for their event every week for eight weeks, so we’re moving people around,” he said. “We’ll run our regular events in Arcadia, then get some rest in Davis (the following weekend at the Wilson Invitational). We’ll be emotionally up this week.” 

The defending meet champion Berkeley High girls’ team suffered through a rough day Saturday, managing just 10 points and seeing two stars go down to injuries. Sprinter Katrina Keith pulle dup lame in the 100-meter dash, and Rebekah Payne had to pull out after a quadricep injury suffered during the 4x100-meter relay.

Once Californians see their whopping utility bill increase as soon as next month, consumer activists say more people will get involved in the struggle to take over Pacific Gas and Electric through eminent domain.  

“Doubling bills. That’s what it takes, to really hit people in the pocketbook. PG&E has already depleted our entire state surplus and the state is spending $50 million a day to buy electricity,” Green Party activist Medea Benjamin said. “People will feel it directly starting in May. That’s when we’ll see a real rate-payer revolt.” 

Benjamin made her statement after speaking to nearly 40 people gathered at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Sunday afternoon. People were gathered at the church to hear a progress report from both Medea Benjamin and Charles Kalish, of the Citizen’s Power Lobby, on what they can do to stop the embattled utility from continuing to turn a profit at the expense of its customers.  

The speech came just days after Pacific Gas and Electric decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while awarding bonuses to its top executives and Gov. Gray Davis’s admission that substantial rate hikes are necessary.  

Sending PG&E’s economic dealings into bankruptcy court may be the best thing for public accountability of the privately-held utility, Benjamin said. Only through court action, Benjamin believes, can the people ensure that the state is the first debtor repaid and that PG&E’s parent company be accountable for its California subsidiary’s debt. Ultimately, Benjamin said, consumers need to push for ownership of the company instead of paying to supply its power. 

“There needs to be lots of pressure. How much more evidence do we need that this company is bankrupt in all senses and that we need a public power system?” she said. 

Compensating employees prior to filing Chapter 11 is not uncommon and the U.S. bankruptcy court in San Francisco approved the outstanding payments to employees. However, Benjamin said the bankruptcy announcement and the bonuses were the ultimate slap in  

the face. 

“I can’t think of anything they could have done worse than reward the people who ran the company to the ground, depleted our state surplus, who inflicted and who will inflict great pain on the consumers,” she said. “It’s outrageous, unacceptable and criminal.” 

The Social Action Committee of the church sponsored the event and has been holding rallies and protests during the state’s energy crisis. Most recently, the group has called for the state to purchase PG&E through eminent domain and has supported a city of Berkeley study to gauge the feasibility of running its own utility through the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  

Ann Fagan Ginger, executive director of the Meikle John Civil Liberties Institute, said the committee’s efforts are targeted at building community and neighborhood groups that will work towards the goal of public ownership of the utilities.  

“It’s a people’s movement. We really do expect public power to be publicly owned and not for the profit of private companies,” she said.  

Despite the modest turn out at the event, Benjamin said she was pleased by the number of interested people. Kalish, however, said he remembers the 60,000 people who marched in San Francisco during the Gulf War.  

So far, he said, this crisis has not received the inflamed attention it deserves.  

“This place should be teeming with people and it’s not,” he said. “It hasn’t hit people in the pocketbooks yet and when it does, people will be in the streets. This is a war.” 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Six national champions were crowned Saturday night in the individual event finals of the 2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio, including one competitor from Cal.  

Cal sophomore Michael Ashe successfully defended his 2000 high bar championship with a 9.512. Ashe was the only repeat individual event winner. Raj Bhavsar represented Ohio State at the top of the award stand. Ohio State’s Daren Lynch captured the vault title with a 9.500 and Raj Bhavsar, also of Ohio State, won parallel bars (9.412). Chris Lakeman of Penn State was the national champion on rings with a 9.550. Clay Strother of Minnesota was the lone competitor to take home two event titles, winning in floor with a 9.525 and pommel horse with a 9.662.  

In addition to Ashe’s title on the high bar, he also finished fourth on the pommel horse (9.100). Freshman David Lloyd Eaton finished two spots below Ashe on the Pommel horse, bringing home a sixth-place finish (8.500).

The Housing Advisory Commission considered loan requests Thursday for two housing projects that would increase the affordable housing stock by 43 units. 

Affordable Housing developers Jubilee Restoration and Resources for Community Development, requested $379,000 for the purchase of an empty lot at 2575 San Pablo Ave. Their proposed project is for 25 new units of affordable senior housing. 

The other loan request for $737,530, by Affordable Housing Associates, is for an existing 19-unit apartment building at 2500 Hillegass St. If AHA receives the loan, the units will be transformed, over an estimated two-year period, into section 8 housing as the current tenants move out. Section 8 is a federal housing program that gives needy families monthly checks for as much as two-thirds of their rent. 

The developers were requesting funds from the state-funded Housing Enabled by Local Partnerships program. HELP projects approved by HAC are then forwarded to the city manager for approval. 

The commission unanimously approved Jubilee’s and RCD’s request but sent AHA’s request back to a subcommittee requesting more documentation and clarification.  

HAC Chair Daniel Rossi said he was unsure what the social benefit of the project was. “Unless there’s a imminent threat of conversion or the rents getting jacked up,” he said. 

AHA project manager Benny Quan said about half of the tenants are over 50 and the others are recent graduates or young professionals. He said most of the current tenants would likely move out within the next two years. 

“Young professionals tend to be transient and as they move out, the units would be made available to section 8 tenants and those earning 50 percent of median income.” 

AHA Director Ali Kashani said the organization has already secured a loan for 70 percent of the purchase price from the Bank of Alameda. AHA has also requested HELP funds for the remaining 30 percent plus additional funds for moderate property improvements, Kashani said. 

“The Bank of Alameda was a great help in getting us loan approval quickly and giving us a very favorable interest rate,” he said. 

The commission sent the loan request back to a HAC subcommittee until a termite report can be completed with the request AHA present the social value of the project in more compelling terms. 

“This puts us in a bit of bind with the seller,” Kashani said. “We will have to re-negotiate the closing date.” 

The commission approved the Jubilee and RCD loan for the entire purchase price of a vacant lot at 2575 San Pablo Ave. despite concerns of Commissioner Eugene Turitz who questioned Jubilee’s ability to complete three other projects the developer already has on its plate. 

Turitz said the other projects don’t seem to making progress and questioned the developer’s “capacity” to complete the proposed 25 units at 2575 San Pablo Ave.  

University of California at Berkeley researchers have created the world's smallest-of-its-kind engine, which they say could one day be used as an efficient power source for mobile electronics. 

It is called a rotary internal combustion engine. It is made of steel, although the researchers hope to use it as a prototype, out of which one day they will create an even smaller engine made with silicon. This one is not much bigger than a stack of pennies. 

What it does is produce a motion from a controlled combustion, that much like a car's engine, is produced when a fuel is combined with oxygen in a chamber.  

The energy released makes the movement of a rotor, which can be hooked up to any number of devices, like the gear systems that make wheels turn in automobiles. 

But unlike most cars, where combustion takes place with pistons and cylinders, this engine has a flat, peanut-shaped chamber and a triangular rotor. As the rotor rotates, its edges partition areas of the chamber, where the combustion occurs. The Mazda Rx-7 is an example of one of the few cars that run with this technology. 

This mini-engine runs on liquid hydrocarbon fuels, such as butane or propane. 

With a shot's glass-full of the fuel, the engine can keep working for two hours. Like a car's engine, the engine created at UC Berkeley produces carbon dioxide and water. According to the researchers, however, the discharges would not create substantial pollution -- about the same amount created by one and a half persons at rest. 

They are, however, developing a small catalytic converter to minimize exhaust.

There will be closures on Interstate 80 tonight due to work on a bicycle/pedestrian bridge set to connect the city with the marina.  

Motorists should expect closure of eastbound I-80 lanes four and five at 11:45 p.m. Monday night, between Ashby and University, with a full freeway closure of all lanes of eastbound I-80 at Ashby from 2 to 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. During the full freeway closure, traffic will be detoured to the Ashby off-ramp, westbound on Ashby, northbound on San Pablo, then westbound on University, and then diverted back to westbound I-80.  

The University off-ramp from eastbound I-80 will be closed from 11:59 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. The Ashby on-ramp for eastbound I-80 will be closed from 10 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.  

Also expect closures of westbound I-80 lanes one and two from 11:59 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Tuesday. 

All of the above closures may be repeated overnight Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday due to unforeseen circumstances. All freeway lane and ramp closures and detour routes will be clearly marked to advise motorists.  

Traffic delays are expected, and motorists are advised to use alternate routes if possible.

SAN FRANCISCO – As a reward for “staying the course” the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. awarded about 6,000 bonuses and raises to midlevel managers and other employees hours before the utility filed for bankruptcy, a newspaper reported. 

PG&E Corp. Chairman Robert Glynn issued an internal memo late Thursday that incentive payments denied in January would be awarded to eligible employees at the subsidiary utility. 

The payments were made in time for many of the bonuses to be deposited into workers’ bank accounts before the utility filed for Chapter 11 Friday morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday after obtaining a copy of the memo. 

Gov. Gray Davis issued a brief statement Saturday in response saying “PG&E’s management is suffering from two afflictions: denial and greed.” 

Glynn applauded the employees’ “efforts, teamwork and dedication during the past year, and particularly throughout the ongoing energy crisis,” he wrote. 

“Thank you for staying the course.” 

The bonuses and raises were earned as part of the company’s incentive program. In January, the amount owed to employees who met their department objectives was estimated at $83 million, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman Ron Low said Saturday. 

The amount paid out was less than the earlier estimate because top-level company executives were exempt from payment. Low did not have a dollar figure for the amount paid out but said it was based only on department objectives met by employees. 

Low said the money came from a combination of a $1.1 billion tax refund, paying power generators only what the company receives in rates and cash conservation within the company such as halting the installation of underground distribution lines. 

The raises and bonuses were given to secretarial staff, midlevel managers and other support staff. No money was distributed to rank-and-file union members who already received a wage increase earlier this year as part of their contract, Low said. 

The performance-based bonuses can equal up to four weeks of an employee’s regular salary, said company spokesman John Nelson. 

Annual raises average 3 percent of an employee’s salary and are meant to balance cost-of-living expenses, he said.

Small cryptographers’ meeting turns into a huge affair in S.F. 

SAN FRANCISCO – Ten years ago, when most people still thought of computer hackers only as the nerdy henchmen to villains in science fiction movies, a group of less than 100 cryptographers got together in a Silicon Valley hotel to share ideas. 

Now the Internet is a pervasive part of life, a platform where $657 billion worth of commerce was transacted last year, according to Forrester Research. With that figure expected to increase 10 times by 2004, online security has become a mainstream concern. 

For evidence, just look at what happened to that small cryptographers’ gathering. 

It has exploded into a mammoth trade show and conference that is bringing more than 10,000 people to a San Francisco convention center this week. They will peruse exhibits by 250 security companies, chatter at a “cryptographers’ gala” and gather for a closing ceremony featuring comedian Dana Carvey. 

Lecture topics range from the arcane — one is titled “On the Strength of Simply Iterated Feistel Ciphers with Whitening Keys” — to the straightforward, like “Authenticity in e-Business.” 

The RSA Conference, named for the Bedford, Mass.-based security company that puts it together, began Sunday and runs through Thursday. In another sign that security has become important business, the sponsors include Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Compaq. 

“I think the RSA thing has come of age, and people are taking the whole topic seriously,” said Michael Ruehle, president and CEO of BioID America Inc., who plans to show off new technology from his company that scans a user’s face, voice and lip movements to ensure proper access. 

Biometric devices, which grant or deny access to users based on ironclad personal characteristics, have been available for years. But despite the glaring problems with passwords — they are easily stolen or forgotten — biometrics have yet to move into widespread use because of their high cost and varying reliability. 

However, they could get a boost from the federal electronic signatures law that took effect last year. The measure grants legal legitimacy to documents approved or digitally “signed” online. That is expected to drive up demand for anything used to initiate a digital signature — such as fingerprint readers and other biometric devices, or “smart cards” that have identification information embedded in them. 

Security experts expect biometrics soon will be commonly built into cell phones, handheld computers and anything else connecting to computer networks. Ruehle hopes to strike up partnerships this week to speed that process along. 

“These products are starting to be integrated into real-world environments,” Ruehle said. “They’re not just add-ons. We’re striving to make that functionality transparent to the end user.” 

The most immediate challenge for Internet security and cryptography is online fraud, which by some estimates takes place eight to 12 times as much as it does in the real world. 

“The anonymity and ubiquity of the Internet that make it so attractive to users and the market place are the same qualities that make it difficult to secure,” said Mike Houlahan, a vice president of Arcot Systems Inc., a Silicon Valley company that makes software designed to limit access to computer files and networks. 

Fighting back is no easy task, which makes the security conference a vital place for sharing information. 

Marina Donovan, an RSA Security Inc. vice president who is managing the conference, expects a great deal of discussion on developing an industry standard for securing transactions over wireless devices. 

“That impacts everybody, even my mother,” she said. “Security is a mainstream issue. People need to know how to do business online with confidence.”

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and the Youth Speaks open mike poetry slam is in full swing at South Berkeley’s La Peña Cafe.  

One teenager after another steps to the stage – “the holy ground of poetic truth,” they call it – to spill their innermost feelings about race and racism, sex and love, politics and police.  

One after another they “spit” their “pieces,” some standing stock-still in front of the microphone, their spiral notebooks trembling in their hands; others dancing around the stage MTV-style, booming out their words to a rapid-fire, hip-hop cadence. 

The poems are mournful (“There is no hope to fight for/There just isn’t”); angry (“Your perspective of the world is emaciated, and everything you said about me will soon be reciprocated”), and bitter (“This is the land of the free, the home of the brave/No this is the land of the lost, the home of the American slave.”) 

The poems are introspective (“I wish I had a troubled life, then I’d have something to write about”), humorous (“I am deep poet/I take...dramatic...pauses”) and uplifting (“The content that lies beneath the skin is what truly matters, and I’ve learned all that from experience.”) 

Whatever words are pumping through the microphone, the audience sits in rapt attention, laughing and clapping and  

listening as one. And no matter how gloomy the poems, the poets leave the stage smiling, exchanging high fives and soaking up the hoots and hollers of appreciation. 

“I’ve seen a lot of kids come in timid,” said Safahri Ra, a teacher with Youth Speaks. “But over time they get so much love that you see those same kids, six months later, if that, coming hard. They’re so influenced by the whole thing. 

“It allows them to speak freely without any judgment,” Ra said. “It allows them to speak for themselves.” 

In addition to hosting the monthly poetry slams, Youth Speaks runs after-school programs, school assemblies and teacher workshops throughout the Bay Area, all aimed at promoting creative writing for youth. 

“It’s all about teen-aged expression,” said James Kass, Youth Speaks executive director. “We’re all about creating a space where young people can have their voices entered into the dialogue.” 

The atmosphere on Wednesday was supportive. Cries of “’Give it up,’ for first-timers” were common. If a poet hesitated or lost his place, reassuring voices would pipe in from the sidelines: “Take your time.” “You got it.” 

And if the applause at the end of a performance wasn’t deafening, well then there were the exhortations of emcee Chinaka Hodge, a Berkeley High junior, to get things back on track. 

“Number one, my man Adam just ripped it,” Hodge said at one point during the night, after a poet introduced as simple “Adam from the burbs” finished his piece. “He comes on a regular basis and you need to give it up louder for him.” 

But the crowd this Wednesday didn’t need much encouragement to make noise. Early Thursday morning Hodge and five other winners of the Bay Area youth poetry slam finals, held at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts this February, would be off to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the fourth annual National Youth Poetry Slam and Festival. Wednesday night was the send-off party, and the mood was one of celebration. 

“Make sure you bring it, make sure you sing it,” Ra rhymed to national poetry slam contestants, in an impromptu performance at the end of the night. “Make sure you say shit that you do, don’t just let any kind of words get channeled through you.” 

There is a long a respected tradition of spoken word poetry in the Bay Area, but among youth poets (13 through 19 years old), Berkeley High School is the undisputed powerhouse this year. No less than four of the six Bay Area contestants at this year’s National Youth Poetry Slam are Berkeley High students, including junior Chinaka Hodge, sophomore Nico Cary, and freshmen Gabe Crane and Katri Foster. 

Poetry has become ingrained in the Berkeley High culture, said Berkeley High teacher Rick Ayers, through monthly poetry slams held right on campus. 

“Instead of poetry being marginalized...it’s become a very hip thing to do,” Ayers said. 

“Over the years we’ve developed a tradition and bred a crew of really confident writers,” Ayers added. “It’s one of the examples of how Berkeley High is on the cutting edge in terms of cultural issues.” 

Berkeley High sophomore Adarius Bell started spoken word performing three months ago when his friends pushed him up onto the stage at a Berkeley High poetry slam. 

“I bought a poetry book a couple of months ago and I’ve filled it up pretty much,” Bell said at La Peña Wednesday, flipping through a dozen poems he’d written out in neat, careful lines. “I need to stop and start doing some homework.” 

Bell said he thinks his English grades have actually gone up as a result of his involvement in the poetry slams. But that’s not why he does it. 

“I go to get heard,” Bell said. “I like the whole scene. I like everybody in it. I never dislike anybody’s poetry.” 

Sophomore Nico Cary echoed these sentiments. 

“You really get to feel people, you know,” Cary said. “They share intimate things with you, and that’s something you really can’t get anywhere else.” 

For Pecolia Manigo, a senior at San Francisco’s Independence High School, youth poetry slams give youth a chance to air issues that adult society is too often ready to brush under the rug. 

“It empowers (youth) because there is not a mike in society for youth...As soon as it becomes something (adults) don’t want to hear, that mike gets shut off.” 

Pecolia, who volunteers at a middle school teaching kids how to organize to make themselves heard around important political issues, said a big part of what youth need today is a way of taking negative feelings and emotions and channeling them into something positive. 

“Adults say they’re about youth empowerment, but they’re not,” Pecolia said. “They don’t understand the things that youth today go through. 

“One of the biggest things that as youth we face is the whole stereotyping of us,” Pecolia continued. “Baggy jeans means you’re in a gang, or hip hop is something negative. (Or) when we get on a bus people not wanting to sit next to us ‘cause they think we’re gonna rob them...” 

Finally, for some youth, poetry is what keeps them going. 

Berkeley High’s Hodge turned to spoken word performing during her freshman year, she said, when she was “going through a rough time about my self identity.”  

If it weren’t for the chance to let off steam at poetry slams, Hodge said, she might not be able to cope with the stresses of high school. 

“I wouldn’t make it,” she said Wednesday night, shaking her head.  

And then she went home to get some sleep before the trip to Ann Arbor. 

Saturday, April 7

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Earthquake Retrofitting Class  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Building Education Center  

812 Page 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 

Inside Interior Design  

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A look into the world of interior design with certified interior designer and artist Lori Inman. $35 

525-7610 

Small Press Distribution  

Open House 

Noon - 4 p.m. 

Small Press Distribution  

3141 Seventh St. (at Gilman)  

With poetry readings at 2 p.m. with featured poet Clark Coolidge and others. Free  

524-1668 

Straw Into Gold 

9 a.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

A rummage sale and intergenerational open mic. coffee house. All proceeds benefit the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Free 

841-4824  

Plants of the Bible Tour 

1:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

Explore the gardens with docents who will point out plants mentioned in the bible.  

643-1924 

Sunday, April 8

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult. www.cal-sailing.org  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Tibetan Yoga and Healing  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Kum Nye teacher Jack van der Meulen will present this Tibetan yoga and will demonstrate several exercises for self-healing. Free 

843-6812 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House  

3 - 5 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

A free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture which will include a prayer wheel and meditation garden tour, Tibetan yoga demonstration, discussion of how useful ancient teachings are in contemporary society, and more. Free 

843-6812 

A Humanistic Passover Seder 

6 p.m.  

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Kol Hadash will read from the Humanistic Haggadah, and will eat with friends and family. Miriam Solis will lead the group in song.  

$20 - $45  

925-254-0609 

Monday, April 9

Ask the Doctor 

10:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Dr. McGillis will speak and answer questions on radiologically, hormonally, and genetically modified foods.  

644-6107 

Tuesday, April 10

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 

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  

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

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 

Living with HIV 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Bldg., Room 100 

Joe MacMurray will offer reflections on his personal experiences as an HIV-positive man who is preparing for ordained ministry in the Metropolitan Community Church.  

849-8206 

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 

Sunrise Business Mixer  

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.  

Skates on the Bay  

100 Seawall Drive  

Wake up and smell the coffee at this mixer sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Complimentary breakfast provided by host Skates on the Bay. Free to chamber members.  

RSVP, 549-7003 or e-mail chamber@dnai.com  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Magic Brown  

2:30 p.m. 

South Branch Library  

1901 Russell St.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

Magic Brown  

7 p.m. 

North Branch Library  

1170 The Alameda 

Similar program to above. Free 

649-3943 

Seeds of Fiction  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Berkeley author Dorothy Bryant will speak on seeds of fiction and drama. Free 

644-6107 

Wednesday, April 11

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 

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 

Magic Brown  

11 a.m.  

West Branch Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

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. 

Bicycle Maintenance 101  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

REI bike technician Paul Ecord will show attendees how to perform basic adjustments on bikes and how to keep them in good condition. Demonstrations of how to clean/replace a chain, adjust derailleurs and replace brake and derailleur cables. Free  

527-4140 

Magic Brown  

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

Thursday, April 12

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Alice Rogoff and host Dale Jensen.  

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. 

Humanist Forum  

7 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity  

390 27th St. (at Broadway)  

Oakland  

“The future of religion: Dialog and discussion.”  

451-5818 

Free Smoking Cessation Class  

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  

Six Thursday classes through May 17.  

Call 644-6422 to register and for location  

Plants of the Bible Tour 

1:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

Explore the gardens with docents who will point out plants mentioned in the bible.  

643-1924 

Friday, April 13

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 

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.  

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.  

Call 644-6226 

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more. Fridays through May 11.  

$10 per individual session 

Pre-register: 642-5461  

Yiddish Conversation  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Allen Stross. Free 

644-6107 

Turning terrible 2 today 

By Judith Scherr, editor 

In the Daily Planet’s first days, there was no thick red wool carpet covering the office floor. Bathrooms were yet to be completed. A web of telephone wires and computer cords slung here and there confounded the fledgling staff, as the Planet’s founders doubled as paper boys, carting news boxes to their corners and handing out first issues of the paper – eight pages strong – to a skeptical public. 

When I came on board as a reporter a month or so after the first issues rumbled off the now-defunct Pizzazz Press in San Jose, people in the community were still taking bets about whether the Planet would survive another day, week or month. 

But soon the former 2-pound infant, breathing on its own, left the incubator. The bathrooms were completed. A coffee-maker was purchased – it uses fair trade, organic only, of course – and you, the community began to fall solidly in step behind the paper, telling us how thirsty you had been for local news, while demanding more and better. 

When we were about six months old, the City Council honored us for our work. At about a year, the San Francisco Bay Guardian gave us its Best of the Bay award, calling the planet the “best newspaper that could.” And recently, the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists honored us with a Freedom of Information “watchdog” award for our stories revealing instances when city government locked out the public from its deliberations. 

We’re still growing in many different directions at once, albeit not nearly as fast as you the readers would like us to. (Yes, that IS a preposition at the end of the sentence – how many e-mails will I get??) We’ve added a reporter to keep a vigilant eye on the city’s schools. Another part-time reporter is following traffic and transportation issues. We’re beefing up our arts and entertainment section. There’s so much more to come. 

Turning 2, with editions such as this one – Volume 3, Issue 1 – as large as 36 pages, and our eight-month-old sister paper in San Mateo rapidly catching up, we’re not becoming complacent. Quite the contrary.  

Like the toddler who investigates everything from the spider on the floor to whatever’s hidden on the highest shelf she can climb to; like the 2-year old who throws a tantrum at closed doors and won’t take “ no” for an answer, we intend to punch up our investigations and amplify our “scrappy” attitude. All the while, we’ll bring you more profiles of local news-makers and unsung heroes, and the day-to-day news that makes you want to involve yourselves in the planet of Berkeley. 

We know you our readers will be there in your valuable role as critics, friends and supporters – even if we never get that carpet. 

Enforcement is not enough 

Editor: 

I couldn’t disagree more with John Cecil’s letter of 4/4/01 and agree more with Zack Wald’s comments on pedestrian safety. 

For those who missed it, Zack was quoted as saying that relief for pedestrians from the dangers of automobiles will come only by creating a “...vision of how we want to share the roads, that the long term goal should be a change in the culture.” Cecil responds by reminding us that culture does not kill pedestrians, autos disobeying existing laws do. Cecil seems particularly concerned that Zack’s long-term visions trivialize the lives of people who have died on Berkeley’s streets. 

Cecil’s main point is that all we need to do is turn Berkeley into a police state, and our problems would be solved. He reminds us how few traffic officers Berkeley has, and that with more, there would be less need for engineering and education, two important issues for Zack. I wonder if Cecil has any clue how much money it would cost to hire enough traffic officers to control speeding on all our streets. Engineering and education can help control speeding all the time and everywhere in the city. But traffic cops are only effective where they are stationed and only when they are there. 

Studies have repeatedly shown, according to the Institute of Transportation Studies, that when enforcement leaves, the cars do speed. You simply can’t hire enough cops. More is needed, and that’s where re-engineering our streets and beefing up educational efforts come in. 

But Zack is right, beyond engineering and education, we need a change in culture so that people don’t speed because they feel it is wrong and dangerous to do so – a culture where people get an uneasy feeling when the speedometer goes above the speed limit; a culture where people are uncomfortable when they see other motorists speeding. Unfortunately, this is not the case because American culture breeds disrespect for speed limits. As a result, many people don’t feel it is wrong to unnecessarily endanger the lives of pedestrians by speeding down the street. It is this culture that results in way too many tragic and needless deaths. 

While Cecil seems to remember Sharon Spencer’s death, I wonder how many people can name the last five pedestrians killed in this city. If people can’t remember, who’s trivializing their lives? 

Cecil’s right about one thing, the culture isn’t pulling the trigger, but it sure makes it cool to buy the gun. 

Dave Campbell 

Berkeley 

We need a plan for pedestrians 

Editor:  

John Cecil’s letter about pedestrian safety says we should put all our funding into more law enforcement. We do not need to fund engineering, because “for the almost 25 years I have lived in Berkeley, there has been a full-time traffic engineer.” (Letters, April 4) 

Yes, but traffic engineers are trained to keep automobile traffic flowing, and they ignore pedestrian safety. I was at one meeting where Berkeley’s traffic engineer analyzed a change in a downtown intersection. His study projected the impact of five different scenarios on automobile traffic in every lane of every intersection within two blocks. But it did not say a word about the effect on pedestrians. This was at a time when Berkeley was doing planning to make downtown more pedestrian friendly.  

I am all in favor of more enforcement, but enforcement is so expensive that there are limits to how much we can do.  

There are many traffic engineering measures that will do more to reduce accidents than enforcement at much less cost. They range from traffic calming devices and street redesign to simple measures, such as making turn-radiuses tighter, removing free-right turn lanes, and adding zebra-striping at pedestrian crosswalks.  

Berkeley has a traffic engineer. But if we want to make the city safer, we also need a pedestrian planner.  

Charles Siegel 

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 “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; “Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience” Through April 29.“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; “A Passion for Art: The Disaronno Originale Photography Collection,” Through April 18 Featuring the work of photographers worldwide who have demonstrated passion and excellence; $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!.” 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” 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. April 7: The Plus Ones, The Evaporators, The Pattern, Dukes of Hamburg, The Goblins/Disgoblins/Skablins/ Gothblins; April 13: The Locust, Dead & Gone, Honeysuckle Serontina, Tourettes Latrec, Last Great Liar; April 14: The Oozzies, 16, The Red Light Sting, Powers of Darkness; April 20: The Blast Rox, The Sissies; Uberkunst; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, Thee Impossibles 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 7: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; April 10: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; April 12: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz April 7, 8:30 p.m.: Paul Pena, Big Bones, Zulu Exiles; April 8: “A Little Houseboat Music for Annie” a benefit to help Oakland’s Annie Clark replace her houseboat with performances by Michael James Quartet, The Wild Buds, Jim Stice Orchestra, Nova Trova and Ray Cepeda and the Neo-Maya Experience; April 10, 8 p.m.: Spiritual Corinthians; April 11, 9 p.m.: Swamp Coolers w/Richard Hon, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; April 12, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; April 13, 9 p.m.: Omaya, Prophets of Rage, Nameless & Faceless, DJs Riddim & Poizen; 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  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 7: Eric Lowen & Dan Navarro; April 8: Martin Simpson & Jessica Radcliffe; April 10: Kevin Burke; April 12: Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Julian Smedley & Allison Odell; April 13: Ray Wylie Hubbard; April 14: Dix Bruce & Jim Nunally, Eddie & Marthie Adcock; April 15: K. Sridhar w/Debopriyo Sarkar; April 17: Brigitte Demeyer; April 18: Rick Shea w/Brantley Kearnes; April 19: Joe Louis Walker, Rusty Zinn; April 20: Michael McNevin 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. 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  

Cal Performances April 13 & 14, 8 p.m.: Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and the Paco de Lucia Septet $20 - $40; April 18, 8 p.m.: Soprano Dawn Upshaw & Pianist Richard Goode perform Haydn, Mahler, Bartok, Ives, Beethoven and Debussy $30 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley; April 22, 3 p.m.: Violinist Gill Shaham and Pianist Orli Shaham perform Coplan, Faure, and Brahms Hertz Hall 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for 20 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. 925-798-1300 

“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.  

Dastan Ensemble with Namah Ensemble April 15, 8 p.m. Dastan Ensemble is a Persian classical music ensemble founded in Germany in 1991. Namah Ensemble is a group of four to six dancers who communicate the mystical Persian tradition to everyone. $25 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Jazz Singers’ Collective April 19, 8 - 10 p.m. With Mark Little on piano. Anna’s Bistro 1801 University Ave. 849-2662 

Kensington Symphony Orchestra April 21, 8 p.m. Featuring UC Berkeley student and soprano, Vanessa Langer performing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G and other selections. $8 - $10 First Baptist Church 770 Sonoma St. Richmond 251-2031 

Sharon Isbin April 22, 4 p.m. A rare Bay Area appearance in a benefit concert for the Crowden School. $20 - $30 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 559-6910 

Kids Carneval! Brazilian Dance for the Whole Family April 22, 2 p.m. The Borboletas Children’s Dance Troupe will transport children and their families to Brazil and promises to have the audience dancing in and out of their seats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300  

Alla Francesca April 25, 8 p.m. Performing French and Italisn love songs of the 14th century $28 First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way 642-9988 or e-mail: tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Bella Musica April 28, 8 p.m. & April 29, 4 p.m. Hear how various composers through the ages view the plight of the lovelorn, from the ardent exclamations of Morley’s “Fire, Fire” to the intoxication of the “Coolin” by Samuel Barber. $9 - $12 St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 Addison St. (at McGee) 525-5393 or www.bellamusic.org 

Music from the Mediterranean and Beyond April 29, 2 p.m. Zahra combines Arab folk roots with the groove and influencs of modern music $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 www.juliamorgan.org 

People’s Park 32nd Anniversary Festival April 29,12:30 - 6 p.m. Performances by, among others, Rebecca Riots, X-Plicit Players, Shelley Doty X-tet, with special guests Wavy Gravy, Frank Moore, Stoney Burke, Kriss Worthington and many more. Also including skateboarding demos, animal petting farm, puppets, and “surprises.” People’s Park Haste St. & Telegraph Ave. 848-1985 

Tribu May 17, 8 p.m. Direct from Mexico, Tribu plays a concert of ancestral music of the Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, Zapotec, Purerpecha, Chichimec, Otomi, and Toltec. Tribu have reconstructed and rescued some of the oldest music in the Americas. $12 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Satsuki Arts Festival and Bazaar May 19, 4 - 10 p.m. & May 20, Noon - 7 p.m. A fundraiser for the Berkeley Buddhist Temple featuring musical entertainment by Julio Bravo & Orquesta Salsabor, Delta Wires, dance presentations by Kaulana Na Pua and Kariyushi Kai, food, arts & crafts, plants & seedlings, and more. Berkeley Buddhist Temple 2121 Channing Way (at Shattuck) 841-1356 

Himalayan Fair May 27, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. The only such event in the world, the fair celebrates the mountain cultures of Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Ladakh, Mustang and Bhutan. Arts, antiques and modern crafts, live music and dance. Proceeds benefit Indian, Pakistani, Tibetan, and Nepalese grassroots projects. $5 donation Live Oak Park 1300 Shattuck Ave. 869-3995 or www.himalayanfair.net  

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

Dance 

Movement April 26, 7 p.m. Movement will be presenting various dance styles such as commercial jazz, hip-hop, swing, lyrical, and a fusion of jazz and hip-hop. Featuring student choreography as well as professional choreography from LA and New York $5 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

Odissi Dance April 28, 7 p.m. Reputed to be the most lyrical of the seven main forms of Indian classical dance with its liquidity of movement and graceful expression. $18 - $28 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 www.juliamorgan.org  

Theater 

“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 

“quietpassages” by Cariss Zeleski April 12, 13, 19, 20 at 8 p.m. & April 14 & 21 at 7 & 10 p.m. A historical adaptation based on the autobiographical writings of French writer/actress Sidonie Gabrielle Colette. $5 - $8 UC Berkeley Choral Rehearsal Hall 642-3880 

“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 

“Death of a Salesman” Through May 5, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. plus Thursday, May 3, 8 p.m. The ageless story of Willy Loman presented by an African-American cast and staged by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. $10 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 528-5620 

Films 

“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 

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour April 7 & 8, 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. Including films from Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, England, and the U.S. which reflect a wide range of mountain experiences, from mountain sports to mountain culture and the environment. $12 - $15 Wheeler Auditorium UC Berkeley Tickets available at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-7377 

“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 

Films of Julio Medem April 13, 7:30 p.m. & April 14, 7 p.m. Medem is recognized as one of Spain’s leading filmmakers. On April 13, “The Cows” and “The Red Squirrel” will be shown. April 14, “Earth/Tierra” and “Lovers of the Arctic Circle” will show. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412  

“All Power to the People: The Black Panther Party and Beyond” April 18, 7:30 p.m. A documentary about Cointelpro, repression of the Black Panther Party and allied organizations, including those among Native Americans and Latinos. Directed by Lee Lew-Lee $5 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 433-0115 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage” Through April 14 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 

“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 

“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 

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

Art of Maia Huang & Brenda Vanoni Through April 28, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. !hey! Gallery 4920-B Telegraph Ave. (at 51st) Oakland 428-2349 

“Scenes from The Song of Songs/Images from The Book of Blessings” Landscape and still life oil pastels by poet and artists Marcia Falk Through May 2, Monday - Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday, Noon - 7 p.m.; Opening reception April 11, 7 p.m. Flora Hewlett Library Graduate Theological Union 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 

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

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts & Paintings. Through Aug. 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 

Youth Arts Festival A city-wide celebration of art, music, dance and poetry by youth from the Berkeley Unified School District. Featuring paintings, drawings, sculpture and ceramics by K-8th grade students April 18 - May 12, Wednesday - Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m.; Opening reception: April 18, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

“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 

Readings 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 9: Mark Morris visits to celebrate “Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Modertato: A Celebration”; April 11: Poetry of Kurt Brown & Al Young; April 12: Stanley Williams explores “Surviving Galeras”; April 15: Poetry of John D’Agata & Joanna Klink; April 16: Isadora Alman talks about “Doing It: Real People Having Really Good Sex”; April 17: Michael Parenti discusses “To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia”; April 19: Andrew Harvey talks about “The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Spiritual Traditions”; Poetry of Maxine Hong Kingston & Fred Marchant; April 27: Poetry of Michael Heller & Carl Rakosi; April 29: Poetry of Gloria Frym & Lewis Warsh 

1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 All events at 7 p.m., unless noted April 10: Amy Tan reads from “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”; April 20: Susie Bright discusses “The Best American Erotica 2001”; April 26: Mother of three Wynn McClenahan Burkett will read from “Life After Baby: From Professional Woman to Beginner Parent”  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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 17: Julie Lavezzo will give a packing demonstration for a three week trip with two climates; April 19: Bruce Feiler will discuss “Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses” 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. April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

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

Annual Open Mike Poetry Reading April 21, 2 - 4 p.m. In commemoration of National Poetry Month and the fourth anniversary of the death of Poet Allen Ginsberg. Students, parents, teachers, friends and neighbors are invited to read poems of short prose on any subject. Poetry Garden at John Greenleaf Whittier Arts Magnet Elementary School Allen Ginsberg Memorial Milvia & Lincoln Sts.  

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike April 21, 6:30 p.m. Open to all poets and performers, opening at it’s new home at the Berkeley Art Center. Featuring poet Giovanni Singleton. Free Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 527-9753 

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  

City Commons Club Speaker Series All speakers at 12:30 p.m. April 13: Richard Schwartz, author and historian, will speak on “Berkeley 1900 - Daily Life at the Turn of the Century”; April 20: Julius Krevans, M.D. chancellor emeritus, UCSF, will speak on “The Promises and Perils of Medical Research”; April 27: Wen-Hsing Yeh, professor of history, UC Berkeley speaks on “The Culture of China in a Changing World” $1 admission with coffee Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 848-3533 or 845-4725 

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  

Leonard Breger April 9, 7:30 - 9 p.m. Breger will critique club members’ art and will show some of his own works. Breger is known for his paintings of cut-out masonite shapes, both animal and human. El Cerrito Community Center The Garden Room 7007 Moeser Lane 524-6739 

“Is Science a Religion?” April 9, 8:30 p.m. Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford will give the lecture on behalf of Students for Nonreligious Ethos (SANE). Free to the public 2050 Valley Life Sciences UC Berkeley 

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

An Evening of Art & Politics April 20, 7:30 p.m. Speak Out presents Howard Zinn, author, playwright, and activist in conversation with poet Aya De Leon $15 - $20 King Middle School 1720 Rose St. 601-0182  

Berkeley will play host to Northern California’s top prep track & field event on Saturday, as the Oakland Invitational takes place at Edwards Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus. Both Berkeley high schools, Berkeley High and St. Mary’s College Prep, will have athletes competing. 

The Panthers have high hopes for their squad, as several Panthers are coming off of a strong showing at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. 

Hurdler Halihl Guy was voted the Athlete of the Meet at Stanford after winning the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, as well as anchoring the Panthers’ first-place 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams. Guy heads into Saturday’s action with the third-best 300-meter hurdles time in the state so far this year, and the relay teams have posted the fourth- and third-best times, respectively. 

Asokah Muhammed will be in the mix in the triple jump, an event in which he holds the first and sixth-best marks in California. He will be challenged by teammate Solomon Welch, who landed the ninth-best jump. 

St. Mary’s Kamaiya Warren has dominated the throwing events so far this season, and will look to improve on her personal bests on Saturday. She has posted the third-best throws in the state in both the shot put and discus. 

Other Panthers who have top-10 state results this year are Chris Dunbar (400-meters), Bridget Duffy (1500- and 3000-meters), Danielle Stokes (300-meter hurdles) and Quiana Plump (long jump). 

Saturday’s meet will host just one state champion from last year, Jenny Aldridge of Maria Carillo, who won the 1600-meter race at last year’s state meet. Three other athletes will bring second-place finishes from last year to the table on Saturday: Carlos Moore (Morningside–Inglewood) in the 200 meters, Jin Daikoku (Lowell–San Francisco) in the 1,600 and Sara Bei (Montgomery) in the 1,600 and the 3,200.  

Also competing Saturday will be Benson Poly of Portland, the Oregon’s defending state champion. 

The meet will start at 8:30 a.m. 

A mother, still grieving over her son’s death in a residential fire, urged the Housing Advisory Commission to require stiffer fire safety regulations for rental property. 

“You have a moral and ethical obligation to make sure students wake up in case there’s a fire,” said Scottia Evans.  

Evans lost her son Brad, 23, a UC Berkeley psychology student, in an Oakland house fire last January. 

Evans held a press conference before the regular meeting of the Housing Advisory Commission on Thursday. The commission was scheduled to discuss a proposed ordinance that would require landlords to certify annually that fire safety devices, such as smoke detectors, are in place and operational. 

The ordinance would also require landlords to have their gas appliances inspected every three years unless they install carbon monoxide detectors, in which case inspections would be required every five years. 

Landlords can either hire a private contractor to conduct the appliance and venting inspection at an average rate of $75 per hour or take advantage of free inspections offered currently by PG&E. 

The ordinance is estimated to cost the city $438,000 the first year, according to housing inspector Carlos Roma. Roma said the Housing Department will hire at least one new employee and would purchase necessary equipment such as an inspection truck. 

About 75 people attended the meeting, many of them friends of Brad Evans who came to support the recommendation and offer emotional support to his mother. The commission will vote on the recommendation at its May 3 meeting and the council will vote on it after that. 

Not including Brad Evans, who died in Oakland, eight people have died in Berkeley from residential fires and carbon monoxide poisoning since 1990.  

Three students died in a fire at the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity on Warring Street in 1990. In August 1999, another student Azalea Jusay, 21, and both her parents died in a fire on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Also in 1999, Devi Prattipati, 17, died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in an apartment building on Bancroft Way. 

Evans, a resident of Newport Beach, told the commission that the deaths might have been prevented by the presence of working fire and carbon monoxide detectors. 

“This seemingly endless cycle must stop,” Evans said. “It’s not good for the city’s residents and it’s not good for Berkeley. With all due respect it makes you look ineffective by not addressing this problem.” 

The municipal code already requires smoke detectors in all residential property. The proposed ordinance is designed to insure maintenance of the devices.  

State law precludes the city from requiring landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors, but under the ordinance, landlords would only be required to have gas appliances and venting systems inspected every five years, rather than every three years, if they installed the gas detectors. 

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced when any fuel is incompletely burned. There are about 200 carbon monoxide deaths each year in the United States from poisoning associated with home fuel-burning appliances, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Landlords would also fill out and submit to the Housing Department a yearly Certification Safety Check List, which would verify detection devices were in place and operational.  

The Housing Department would randomly select properties for inspection to verify safety devices were in working order. During the first year of implementation, landlords would not pay the cost of random inspections. 

However, if a property is found to be in noncompliance, the landlord would be fined $200 and another $200 each time the property is re-inspected until the violation is corrected. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington told the commission the amendment was the most effective way to keep the cost to landlords low. 

“We have to have the intelligence to take precautions at the lowest possible cost,” he said. “This is not a ‘beat-up-landlords ordinance.” 

Berkeley Property Owners Association President Robert Cabrera, who worked closely on the amendment with the Housing Advisory Commission, said his organization supports the ordinance. 

“We were very pleased to be part of the solution to this problem,” he said. “We totally support this amendment.” 

Leslie Kline, a student and friend of Brad Evans, told the commission that she would like to more dialogue between landlords and tenants.  

Kline, and several roommates, rented an older home in Berkeley in August. She said that the landlord did not tell them about a living room furnace that had an exposed flame. 

“Students are often on their own for the first time and may not be familiar with all the housing safety issues they should be,” she said. “If landlords put together a simple check list of the things they know are potentially hazardous in their properties, it would help.” 

The commission is expected to vote on the recommendation next month. If approved, the council could adopt the ordinance as early as July. 

Evans said there have been enough student deaths by fire in Berkeley. “I hope you will honor my son and somehow give sense to his death by requiring the installation and inspection of these detectors,” she said. 

Prep of the week 

Jeremiah Fielder – St. Mary’s 

If you’re a senior who just helped lead his basketball team to a state championship, what’s your next move? Most people would probably take some time off to bask in the glory. But Jeremiah Fielder got to take just one day off. 

Winning the CIF Division IV title with his St. Mary’s teammates on a Saturday, Fielder was on the baseball diamond that Monday, instantly transforming into the starting shortstop for the Panthers. He missed about three weeks of baseball, and is still playing catchup at the plate. 

“I didn’t get to work on my hitting very much during the winter, because I was concentrating on basketball and it was always raining,” Fielder said. “Defensively, I’m doing well, but I’ve got to start hitting. “ 

The senior bats second for the Panthers, and will be a key in the team’s effort to make the Bay Shore Athletic League playoffs. St. Mary’s is currently just 2-2 in league play after dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker to Salesian on Wednesday. 

But Fielder’s smooth play at shortstop hasn’t skipped a beat, as he has yet to commit an error this season. That means he’s a defensive gem in two sports, as he often drew the opponent’s toughest player on the basketball court. That allowed his more heralded teammates, such as star guards DaShawn Freeman and John Sharper, to concentrate on scoring. The basketball coaches were always quick to praise their lone senior starter’s willingness to sacrifice his statistics for the good of the team. 

“All I had to do was tell Jeremiah to stop a guy, and that guy would be handcuffed for the rest of the game,” head coach Jose Caraballo said. 

Fielder said that while winning a state championship on the court was a great experience, he was really itching to get back on the diamond. 

“Baseball’s my main sport,” he said. “Basketball was fun, but I’m ready to come out here and do my thing.” 

The Panthers were just 2-5 before the return of Fielder and fellow basketball player Chase Moore and are 3-2 since, including a big win over Berkeley High. According to their baseball coach, Andy Shimabukuro, Fielder brings more than just talent to the field. 

“Jeremiah brings an energy to the team that can’t be duplicated,” Shimabukuro said. “He’s a real leader of the team.” 

Watching Fielder on defense, one sees that spark flowing from him to his teammates. He’s constantly talking and moving, keeping up a running dialogue with center fielder Omar Young. The Panthers are clearly a different team than at the beginning of the year. 

“I think it hurt the team,” Fielder said of his prolonged absence. “We’re a real solid club right now.” 

And with some big-time championship experience under his belt, Fielder feels qualified to assess his team’s chances on a larger scale. 

“I think we’ve got the kind of team that can go all the way, really,” he said. “If we come out and play like we can, we’re one of the strongest teams in NorCal.” 

While the hospital workers’ union has signed contracts with some 30 medical centers in Northern California, agreement is yet to be reached with Sutter Health, including Berkeley’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. 

Service Employees International Union Local 250, which represents workers such as dietitians and hospital aides, says its workers will hold a three-day strike, April 16-18, the seventh walkout since July. Alta Bates’ administrators say they are ready and patients won’t suffer. 

The means of worker control over staffing levels is a key sticking point.  

Hospital administrators have agreed at the negotiating table to form a committee with employees to determine staffing levels.  

But Sal Rosselli, SEIU 250 president, says the committee is set up for only six months and should be permanent. “It’s about staffing,” Rosselli said. “It’s about giving the workers a voice.” 

Alta Bates Summit spokesperson Carolyn Kemp argues that other hospitals have contracts in which SEIU agreed to a temporary staffing committee, and that the agreement with Alta Bates should be no different. Rosselli counters that the other hospitals have contracts in which the committee is, in fact, permanent. The Daily Planet was unable to look at the question independently before deadline. 

Rosselli further argues that other workers such as respiratory therapists wish to join SEIU 250 and that Alta Bates’ management is using heavy-handed techniques to discourage them from doing so, such as meeting with the workers one on one to talk about the union. 

Kemp contends that hospital management follows National Labor Relations Board guidelines which disallows that kind of one on one exchange and that Rosselli’s putting out the argument at this time is a “red herring.” 

As for pay and benefits, Kemp points out that “they are offering these employees better than all their colleagues in the area.” Rosselli doesn’t disagree. “Our fight with Alta Bates is not over wages and benefits,” he said. 

Kemp said the hospital will be staffed during the strike action. “We can’t walk out on our patients the way the union walks out,” she said.

Cal freshman swimming standout Natalie Coughlin notched another accolade for her outstanding 2000-01 season as she was named both the Pacific-10 Conference Newcomer of the Year and Swimmer of the Year. It was the first time in Pac-10 history someone has been named to both awards. Coughlin is also the third consecutive Cal swimmer to earn Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year honors (Marylyn Chiang in 1999, Haley Cope in 2000) under head coach Teri McKeever.  

Coughlin had what was arguably the greatest freshman campaign of any collegiate swimmer in NCAA history. She was named the 2001 NCAA Swimmer of the Year after winning the national title in the 100-meter fly and the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, while breaking NCAA records in all three events. She swam an NCAA record 51.18 in the 100 fly; an NCAA, American and U.S. Open record 51.23 in the 100 back; and a NCAA, American and U.S. Open record 1:51.02 in the 200 back.  

Coughlin helped the Bears to three second-place NCAA finishes in the relays as well. She swam the butterfly leg of the Bears 400-meter medley relay that set an American record with a time of 3:34.83, and on Cal’s 200-meter medley relay that placed second and also an American record with a time of 1:38.44. Finally, she swam the second leg of Cal’s 200-meter freestyle relay that set a new school record with a time of 1:30.05.  

Coughlin went on to win USS National Swimming titles last week in Austin, Tex., in both in the 100-meter butterfly (59.38) and the 100-meter backstroke (1:01.32). Coughlin will represent the United States at the 2001 World Championship, July 22-29 in Fukuoka, Japan.

Bacon Hall was built in the 1880s. When the campus opened in 1873, there were only two buildings ready for occupancy: North Hall, where the Bancroft Library now stands, and South Hall. Bacon Hall was built a few years later and housed the University Collections and the library. Behind Bacon Hall is the Mechanical Arts Building, which is also no longer standing.  

The Campanile (Sather Tower) was built in 1914 in front of Bacon Hall and between North and South halls in what had been a grassy area. Bacon Hall was demolished in the early 1960s. Birge Hall was built in its place. 

Susan Cerny writes Berkeley Observed in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association

Senior forward Sean Lampley, the 2001 Pac-10 Player of the Year who led the conference in scoring with 19.5 points per game, was named Cal’s Most Valuable Player at the team’s annual banquet Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.  

Lampley, who earned the team honor for the second consecutive year, finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,776 points. In addition to his Pac-10-leading scoring average, he pulled down 7.2 rebounds per game and dished out 3.3 assists per game during the 2000-01 season.  

Other awards handed out went to Ryan Forehan-Kelly (Defensive Player), Brian Wethers (Improved Player), Dennis Gates (Inspirational Player & Outstanding Student Athlete) and Morgan Lingle (Hustle and Spirit Award & Outstanding Student Athlete). 

Forehan-Kelly also claimed the defensive award last season. This year, he averaged 7.2 ppg and 2.7 rpg while also picking off 38 steals. Wethers upped his scoring average to 8.5 ppg from 5.5 ppg last year and ranked among the Top 10 in the league in field goal shooting at 51.7 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas and Electric, California’s largest utility, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection Friday despite months of efforts by state officials to bail out the cash-starved company. 

The company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., says it had run up an $8.9 billion deficit buying electricity as of Feb. 28. Along with other California utilities, it has been pinched by skyrocketing wholesale power costs and the state’s 1996 deregulation law that prevents it from fully passing those costs on to customers. 

As of March 29, the utility – which has 13 million customers – had $2.6 billion in cash and outstanding bills of $4.4 billion. 

Shares of PG&E Corp. were halted on the New York Stock Exchange, where they last traded at $11.36, down 2 cents. 

“The regulatory and political processes have failed us, and now we are turning to the court,” said PG&E Corp. chairman Robert D. Glynn, Jr. “We expect the court will provide the venue needed to reach a solution, which thus far the state and the state’s regulators have been unable to achieve.” 

The bankruptcy came the morning after Gov. Gray Davis, in a statewide address, proposed relieving utilities’ debts by giving them a share of a record rate increase approved last week by state regulators and by continuing to negotiate state acquisition of their transmission lines. 

“It comes as a complete surprise,” Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio said of the bankruptcy filing. 

Davis’ negotiating team met with PG&E on Wednesday and planned to have more talks, Maviglio said. The governor was in San Diego on Friday morning and planned to issue a statement shortly. 

Davis aides were meeting with the attorney general’s office and bankruptcy lawyers retained by the state to discuss the implications of PG&E’s filing, Maviglio said. 

Filing for bankrupcy court protection allows the utility to protect its assets from creditors, but could devastate PG&E Corp.’s already shellshocked shareholders and also could hurt the company’s 20,000 employees. 

The preliminary bankruptcy filing lists debts as of early September, long before wholesale energy prices skyrocketed and the company incurred its biggest debts. 

In the filing, the utility’s top creditor is listed as Bank of New York, which was owed $2.2 billion as of September. The now-defunct California Power Exchange was owed $1.96 billion, and Bankers Trust Co. of New York was owed $1.3 billion. 

Other creditors include banks and energy companies that sold power to PG&E. 

The first meeting of creditors was scheduled for May 8 with a representative of the U.S. Trustee’s office. The case was assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali. 

Consumer activists were quick to pounce on the news as more evidence that the utility is not getting enough help from its parent company, which has profited during California’s energy crisis. 

“It’s obviously a business decision. The parent company has $30 billion, much of which it has siphoned out of the utility coffers. It would have bailed the utility out,” said Harvey Rosenfield of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. 

“PG&E promoted deregulation and reaped the rewards, and its shareholders have to bear the consequences of deregulation. This definitely indicates a lack of confidence in the governor’s nonplan last night and should obviate any need for a bailout.” 

The bankruptcy doesn’t affect another PG&E Corp. subsidiary, National Energy Corp., which has been cashing in on the high wholesale electricity prices even as the utility sank into deeper financial trouble. 

From the start of 1998 through September 2000, PG&E Corp. had reported operating profits of $4.9 billion. Deregulation took effect in March 1998 

PG&E Corp. said its subsidiary was forced into bankruptcy because of “unreimbursed energy costs, which are now increasing by more than $300 million per month,” state regulatory decisions that are hurting the company and “the now unmistakable fact that negotiations with Gov. Gray Davis and his representatives are going nowhere.” 

Southern California Edison, the state’s second-largest utility, would not say whether it would follow PG&E’s lead, but issued a statement suggesting it has no immediate plans to seek bankruptcy protection. 

“We at Southern California Edison continue to believe that working out a comprehensive solution to our current crisis is a preferable course to take,” the statement said. “PG&E’s decision today does not change our position.” 

The stock of parent company Edison International was down $3.44, or 27 percent, to $9.20 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Sempra Energy, the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric that serves 3 million customers in the San Diego area, also was getting hammered on Wall Street. It was down $1.53, or 6 percent, to $22.62 per share. Sempra is not facing the same financial pressures as PG&E and Edison. 

Word of the bankruptcy sent lawmakers in Sacramento scrambling to figure out how it will impact the state’s efforts to solve California’s power crisis. The state, faced with the prospect of rolling blackouts this summer, already has been buying energy on the utilities’ behalf. 

The governor also has signed contracts and agreements in principle to secure the state’s long-term power needs, committing $53 billion that eventually must be paid back by taxpayers and utility customers. 

MARTINEZ — Three friends accused of killing a retired Concord couple and 22-year-old Selina Bishop, daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, appeared in court to schedule a preliminary hearing. 

Glenn Helzer, 30, his brother, Justin, 29 and housemate Dawn Godman, 27, were arrested eight months ago and charged with extorting $100,000 from Ivan Stineman, 85, and his 78-year-old wife, Annette, then killing them and Bishop, Glenn Helzer’s girlfriend. 

The dismembered remains of Bishop and the Stinemans were discovered in duffel bags in the Mokelumne River in August. 

Bishop’s mother, Jennifer Villarin, 45, and her mother’s companion, 54-year-old James Gamble, were found shot to death Aug. 3 at Bishop’s home in Marin County. 

The trio, who appeared in court Thursday, also is charged in Contra Costa Superior Court with those two slayings.  

They have pleaded innocent to all charges. 

The amount of evidence, more than 10,000 pages and thousands of physical exhibits from several police agencies, prompted defense attorneys to request more time to prepare for the hearing. 

“This is an investigation the likes of which has not been seen in this county,” said Dan Cook, one of Justin Helzer’s attorneys. 

Defense attorneys have not yet seen the physical evidence, which includes “everything from the mundane to the ridiculous,” said Suzanne Chapot, Glenn Helzer’s attorney. 

Authorities spent days last summer combing the trio’s house and they seized numerous items including duct tape, stained carpet, a machete and a manual for an electric saw, according to court records. 

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County residents are less healthy than other people in California and the rest of the country, a survey released Thursday concludes. 

The telephone survey of 8,400 Angelenos by the county’s Department of Health Services found that residents report an average of 6.4 days a month of poor health, including 2.4 days in which sickness affects their work and recreation. 

That’s 8.5 percent higher than the statewide average of 5.9 days a month, and 16.4 percent higher than the national average of 5.5 days a month of poor health. 

Dr. Michael Hirt, internist and medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, said he isn’t surprised by the results in a county full of long commutes, unhealthy air and drive-through dinners. 

“Despite the fact that we’re the nation’s fruit and veggie basket, we don’t eat enough vegetables here,” Hirt said.  

“We don’t exercise as much here as other parts of the country, we’re stressed out – and you combine those things together and it starts to wear away at people’s good health.” 

The survey found a strong connection between income and health. More than nine of 10 people making more than three times the poverty level said they believed their health was good to excellent; only 62 percent of people living below the poverty level agreed with that statement. 

In addition, people with more education reported being healthier than those with less, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health and county health officer.  

He said the links between health, poverty and education show that improving public health education and socioeconomic conditions are essential. 

The survey is part of an effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to gauge the health of Americans, said Dr. Paul Simon, the report’s author and a health department epidemiologist. 

“We’re the first county that’s done it in the country with these measures. This is sort of new territory,” Simon said. 

He said no other cities or counties have comparable data yet, but added that state health officials are conducting similar surveys with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

GLENDALE — As much as $4 million will be spent for a study to determine if chromium 6 causes cancer when it is ingested in drinking water, federal officials announced Friday. 

Chromium 6 is a proven carcinogen when inhaled, but there is debate within the scientific community about whether it causes cancer when ingested. National Toxicology Program officials agreed to do the study after receiving a request from Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank. 

“We are dealing with imprecise information on a matter of great public concern,” Schiff said. 

Officials announced the chromium 6 study at a Superfund treatment plant in Glendale that removes industrial solvents from groundwater in the east San Fernando Valley but not heavy metals like chromium 6.  

Schiff is also lobbying for a pilot treatment plant to be built to remove chromium 6 from the water. He has asked the federal government for $3 million to augment $6 million from the city of Glendale for the facility.  

Chromium 6 pollution is a major problem in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere in the state because of its use in aerospace and other industrial processes, Schiff said. 

Concerned about possible health problems, Glendale has been dumping millions of gallons of chromium 6-tainted drinking water into the Los Angeles River, which carries it to the ocean. 

Although the water meets the current state standard of 50 parts per billion of total chromium, a state agency has proposed much tougher limits.  

In addition, Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation last year that gives the state Department of Health Services until January 2002 to determine the threat of chromium 6 throughout the state and to issue a report to the governor and Legislature. 

The debate over the effects of chromium 6 acquired a high profile thanks in part to t“Erin Brockovich,” about a 1996 case in which residents of the San Bernardino County town of Hinkley won a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric.

MALIBU — The Illinois governor who ordered a moratorium on executions told California law students Thursday that his state isn’t the only one that should re-examine the way it uses the death penalty. 

Gov. George H. Ryan, who placed a moratorium on executions after finding out that 13 death row inmates were wrongly convicted, stopped short of calling unfair use of capital punishment a national problem, but said other states probably have situations similar to Illinois. 

He urged law students at Pepperdine University to examine more closely a judicial system that, in his words, has “too many questions that need answers.” 

While visiting the Malibu campus, the Republican governor explained how he ordered the moratorium in January 2000 and appointed a commission  

to review his state’s death  

penalty system. 

“How can Illinois come so close 13 times to killing an innocent person?” he asked rhetorically. 

Ryan, who said he supports capital punishment in certain cases, said death penalty candidates often are minorities who have been represented by unqualified defense attorneys who either have been disbarred or suspended from practicing law at some point in their careers. 

“I don’t know how that happens,” he said. “It would be like a pharmacist operating in a drugstore without a license.” 

Ryan also said the system often relies on jailhouse informants for convictions and noted that even reliable witnesses sometimes make mistakes. 

The Illinois governor called for the allocation of government funds to give state-appointed public defenders access to the same state-of-the art technology used by the private sector in defending death penalty cases. 

“Technology, like DNA testing, can protect the innocent as well as the guilty,” he said. 

Ryan said many police department forensic science teams still operate with outdated equipment and procedures, but should have the best and most technologically advanced labs possible. 

The commission Ryan appointed to review the death penalty system in Illinois has yet to return with a report.

LOS ANGELES — An Algerian man was convicted Friday of terrorism for bringing a car loaded with explosives from Canada to the United States in what authorities said was a global plan to bomb buildings at the time of millennium celebrations. 

Ahmed Ressam, 33, stood stoically with his eyes downcast as a clerk read the federal court jury’s verdict – guilty of nine criminal charges including an act of terrorism transcending a national boundary. 

He also was found guilty of placing an explosive in proximity to a ferry terminal, using false identification documents, smuggling, transporting explosives and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. 

In addition to the nine charges, the jurors found that his actions were committed in connection with a crime of violence. 

It was Ressam’s second conviction of the day. Earlier, in Paris, a French court convicted and sentenced him for belonging to support network for Islamic militants. 

The eight women and four men of the U.S. jury deliberated for just over 10 hours in two days of talks. At one point they asked for a list of all the evidence in the case so that they could easily find items they were interested in. 

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said he relayed a request to the jury to speak to the press but the panel unanimously declined. 

“You are one of the nicest and most attentive juries I’ve had in 20 years,” the judge told them. “It makes me proud to be an American.” 

The judge scheduled sentencing for June 28 in Seattle. Ressam could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison. 

Ressam sat quietly with his lawyers after the verdicts were read and appeared upset. 

Defense attorney Michael Filipovic said, “We’re obviously disappointed with the results. There will be an appeal.” 

Ressam was arrested on Dec. 14, 1999, by U.S. Customs inspectors at Port Angeles, Wash. Inspector Diana Dean began to question him because he appeared nervous and was sweating. Ressam bolted but was chased down blocks away. 

Asked if the verdict sent a message to would-be terrorists, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Diskin said, “Perhaps the message is don’t come in contact with Diana Dean when crossing the border.” 

Diskin said he believes the conspirators were going to do further work on the explosives which would have required several days before they were detonated – a process which would have brought them close to New Year’s Eve. 

Diskin and co-prosecutor Andrew Hamilton credited forensic evidence with making their case.  

They said they still do not know the exact details of the plot but that it appeared Ressam planned to leave the Seattle area shortly after the car was delivered.  

The Canadian government, which did much of the investigation in Montreal and Vancouver, issued a statement saying the trial’s outcome was the result of strong U.S.-Canadian cooperation. 

“Canada like other countries, is continuing to adapt in order to deal with terrorist threats,” Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay said in the statement. 

The prosecutors presented evidence that West Coast sites were possible targets but they did not try to prove the explosives were to be used at any specific location. 

Ressam’s defense called him an unwitting courier and blamed co-defendant Abdelmajid Dahoumane, who is in custody in Algeria and will be tried there on charges of participating in terrorist organizations. In Paris, Ressam was given a five-year prison sentence after being tried in absentia. That trial drew a picture of a web of Islamic militants with unclear connections who cross paths around the world.  

\Ressam was among two dozen people stood trial. Seventeen were handed sentences of between six years and 16 months. 

U.S. officials believe Ressam was trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and is linked to Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa. But prosecutors were barred from bringing bin Laden’s name into the trial for lack of proof. 

The prosecution did bring in testimony by Abdel Ghani Meskini, an Algerian who was seized in New York after Ressam’s arrest.  

Meskini pleaded guilty to conspiracy last month and agreed  

to cooperate. 

Meskini’s testimony suggested Pakistan was a route to Afghanistan and its training camps, and prosecutors were able to introduce plane tickets showing that Ressam went to Pakistan in 1998. 

After the verdict, the prosectors declined to say whether they thought Meskini helped to convict Ressam. 

“I think Meskini is very intelligent,” Hamilton commented. “It’s a shame he hasn’t utilized his talents better.” 

Mokhtar Haouari, another Algerian arrested in Canada following Ressam’s arrest, is awaiting trial in New York. 

And Jordanian authorities this week named two more fugitive suspects linked to a terrorist conspiracy to stage attacks in the United States and Israel during millennium celebrations. Six men have already been sentenced to death in the case.

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — Some gardeners snub forsythia as too common, but its golden effulgence in early spring taunts them. It seems to be saying, “What else is there around?” 

The profusion of yellow blossoms cheers hearts, heralding the arrival of a new season in the sun. 

Living in the country, I’m particularly fond of the tall, graceful varieties that burst into bloom when trees are still bare and snow may be lingering. Even before that, I cut branches of forsythia in late winter and bring them indoors for forcing. In a week or so, they flower and brighten any room. 

Outdoors, the blooming season lasts two or three weeks. After the flowers die, the thickly branched bushes play useful roles as screens and windbreaks.  

But they need careful pruning, which should be done just after the flowers fade. Once a year, the oldest stems should be cut about four inches from the ground. 

Smaller varieties, some no taller than a foot, grace gardens everywhere to provide colorful accents or serve as hedges. 

A native of China and eastern Europe, forsythia gets its British-sounding name from William Forsyth, an 18th century Scottish horticulturist who gained eminence in London’s gardening world. But actually he had no connection with forsythia.  

His name was bestowed on the plant as an honorific by a Danish botanist, Martin Vahl, a common practice in horticulture. 

Forsyth was an imaginative and controversial fellow. He was known as the originator of the first rock garden in Britain, which he built in Chelsea from old stones from the Tower of London and lava from Iceland.  

But he fell into disfavor over a concoction he invented which was supposed to heal wounds in trees. It was made of cow dung, lime, wood ash and river sand and its healing properties were soon disputed. 

A closer connection to the plant was Robert Fortune, a Scottish explorer and Forsyth contemporary who brought samples of it and other exotic plants from China back to Britain. It quickly became popular because of its hardiness and easy cultivation. But some gardeners got tired of it and called it vulgar. 

As anyone can see, its merits have endured over time, however, and it has become a symbol of spring, whether or not you want to have it in your own garden. 

Forsythia may be started from cuttings or layering or bought from nurseries as young shrubs. They make fast growth, as much as two feet a year, depending on the variety. Some reach 10 feet in height. 

To start from cuttings, you take slips from new growth, root them in a planting medium and then transplant them.  

The other method, layering, is done by bending a living branch of the bush to the ground, making a slanting cut in it and burying it slightly, pinning it in place with a hairpin. A few months later, you sever the new plant from the parent. But it’s best to wait a year before transplanting it to a permanent site. 

Gardeners without parent plants or wanting to skip these steps will find wide-ranging selections of forsythia, also known as golden bells, offered by nurseries. One of the best sources is Wayside Gardens of Hodges, S.C., Tel. 800-845-1124; www.waysidegardens.com. Their prices range from $19.95 apiece to $209 for a dozen. 

A variety called Meadowlark is described as a boon to Northern gardeners to combat hard winters that sometimes reduce flowering. Developed in the Dakotas, this variety has proven bud-hardy in temperatures as low as 35 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. The shrubs eventually reach a height of 6 feet to 9 feet. 

Another variety, Spring Glory, grows about six feet tall and is hailed as unsurpassed for its profusion of blooms, as many as twice those of other varieties. It also is recommended for wintertime forcing indoors. 

On the compact end is Gold Tide, a European dwarf of Spring Glory. It grows only 20 inches tall, but with a spread four feet and a mass of flowers.

If your lawn has bare patches, early spring is a good time to fix them. Seed that is planted early gets established before hotter, possibly drier weather arrives and before crabgrass and other weeds can get the upper hand. 

Before patching a lawn, stand back and take an objective look at it. Perhaps the whole lawn needs to be redone, not just spot-patched. Also assess the cause of the bare spots.  

If, for instance, skunks or moles have been digging around for grubs, avoid future problems by first dealing with the grubs or their furry predators. 

The first step in patching a lawn is buying seed. Don’t grab that old bag of grass seed in the garage. Go out and buy some fresh seed. Don’t let economics dictate your choice.  

Buy quality seed similar to the kind that is already planted, which should be adapted to the amount of sun, traffic, and maintenance your lawn receives. If the bare spots are depressions – caused by tire ruts, for example – you will need some fill soil. Mix up equal parts of good garden soil and peat moss, leaf mold, or compost. Before you dump this mix into the rut, loosen the soil that is already there by sticking a garden fork straight down into the ground and shimmying the handle back and forth.  

Then fill in the depressions to about an inch higher than ground level to allow for settling. Tamp the soil with the back of a rake as you fill. 

Next, whether or not you had to fill a depression, scratch up the surface with a metal rake and give the soil a gentle, but thorough, soaking. Then sprinkle grass seed over the surface of the prepared ground.  

Don’t skimp. Lightly rake the seeds into the soil.  

For even better results, sift some of that previously mentioned soil mix through a half-inch wire mesh right over the seeds, burying them an eighth to a quarter-inch deep. 

To keep the seedbed moist, and the seeds and bare dirt in place, cover the patched area with a layer of cotton cheesecloth. The seedlings will push up through holes in the cheesecloth, and the cheesecloth will eventually rot away.  

Keep the seedbed moist for the next few weeks, and you will soon have a turf strong enough to withstand hot weather and choke out summer’s crabgrass. 

Lee Reich is a columnist for The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has decided against giving the Justice Department control of a benefit program for sick nuclear workers, a senator who represents some of the ailing workers said Friday. 

“We got an assurance from the White House that they are not going to transfer it there,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. 

Bingaman was one of the authors of the new entitlement program, which later this year is supposed to start offering $150,000 and lifetime medical care to Cold War-era workers exposed to health-robbing levels of radiation, silica or beryllium. 

He was among many worker advocates on Capitol Hill who strenuously objected when the White House circulated a proposed executive order transferring the new program from the Labor Department to the Justice Department. 

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao insisted her department was not the one best suited for the job. She got backing from three influential congressmen, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who heads the committee that oversees the Labor Department. 

But Bingaman also played some quiet hardball. 

Without publicly revealing his strategy, he used his right under Senate rules to block pending nominations to Labor Department posts. 

The senator said he didn’t even know the names of the nominees whose confirmation he threatened to sidetrack, but let the White House know he “didn’t want to go forward with any nominations there in the Department of Labor until we got some assurance that this wouldn’t be going to Justice, where the history of efforts like this has been miserable.” 

The Justice Department runs a program that gives one-time payments to former uranium miners and people who lived downwind of nuclear test blasts who later became sick as a result of their unprotected exposure. 

Its small claims staff and lack of branch claims offices were two of the reasons the new program’s authors said they preferred it to be run from the Labor Department. 

“We take that as wonderful news,” said Lowell “Pete” Strader, legislative director for the union that represents workers at 11 sites in the nuclear weapons complex. “We knew Justice wasn’t prepared to handle the program.” 

Bingaman said discussions had not been completed and the administration had not decided whether the Labor Department or some other agency would head the new program. 

“They are still uncertain what exactly will be done with the program to make it work, but they are committed to making it work,” the senator said. “They will meet with us here when Congress returns after this recess to let us know what their plan is.” 

Bingaman also was careful to avoid claiming credit for the administration’s apparent change of heart.  

“I don’t know at what stage decision-making was at in the White House before I spoke to them,” he said. 

The Office of Management and Budget, which has been mediating the inter-agency dispute, did not return a call seeking comment. 

The new program is for workers who contracted cancer or lung disease because of exposure while on the payrolls of private companies that did work for the bomb program. 

Some worked on federal property, others at factories that had government contracts. 

The Energy Department preliminarily identified 317 sites in 37 states where exposed workers might qualify for benefits. 

A toll-free number set up by that department to field requests has logged more than 19,000 calls. 

The toll-free information line is 1-877-447-9756. 

On the Net: 

Energy Department’s original announcement of new program: http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases01/janpr/pr01009.htm 

Justice Department program’s claims summary: http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/reca/awards.htm

Joint commission could resolve dispute as both sides still refuse to budge 

WASHINGTON – President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin were reviewing drafts of a letter Friday that would have a joint commission resolve a dispute over a U.S. spy plane and its 24-member crew, as the two sides moved toward a diplomatic resolution. 

With Bush administration optimism rising, Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said the formula for a solution was being outlined in the letter. It would give both the Americans and the Chinese an opportunity to air their cases. 

The proposal is designed to lead to the release of the 24 American crew members held since Sunday by the Chinese. By all accounts, they are being well-treated, but their 6-day detention has roiled an already touchy U.S. relationship with China. 

A photograph of 11 of the crew members, taken during their first meeting with U.S. diplomats last Tuesday, was distributed by the Pentagon to family members “so they could see their loved ones,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The photograph showed the 11 sitting at a table, looking forward with  

little expression. 

Without referring directly to the strategy to have the United States and China air their versions of the U.S. surveillance flight, President Bush said “we’re making progress” in negotiations. 

The president’s appraisal reflected a growing expectation that a deal would emerge from a flurry of diplomatic activity. Two U.S. officials, in fact, suggested the crew could be released this weekend. 

Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after a CIA and Pentagon briefing that the two sides were drafting a letter “that will contain exchanges of views” on how the Navy spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter collided over the South China Sea. 

The letter, Warner said, was being upgraded from the ambassador and foreign minister level to review “both by our president and the president of China, so it will reflect a common understanding.” 

He said there would be no U.S. apology in the letter. “I believe the ambassador and others expressed regret for loss of life. That will be embraced in the letter,” Warner said. 

A senior administration official said the letter would bear the signature of the U.S. ambassador, retired Adm. Joseph Prueher, not Bush, but Bush directed that it be drafted and would approve final language. 

Another official cautioned that in negotiations obstacles and hurdles frequently develop. 

The likeliest arrangement for a resolution is to have the two sides make their cases about the collision of the U.S. plane and a Chinese fighter jet at a special meeting of a joint maritime commission set up three years ago to enhance safety on the seas, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. 

In this way, the United States and China could air their positions. China says the plane violated Chinese airspace and sovereignty. The United States denies the allegations. 

Earlier Friday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States and China were exchanging “rather precise ideas” for the release of the 21 men and three women. 

The crew met Friday with an American general on Hainan island, the second such meeting since the collision and the first since negotiations intensified Thursday.  

Another was scheduled for Saturday. 

“They’re housed in officers’ quarters and they’re being treated well,” Bush said. “We know this is a difficult time for their families and I thank them for their patriotism and their patience.” 

“We’re working hard to bring them home through intense negotiations with the Chinese government and we think we’re making progress,” Bush said. 

The United States and China were exchanging “rather precise ideas” for the release of the 21 men and three women, Powell said. “I’m encouraged because there has been movement,” he said. 

“All of the crew members were in fine shape,” he said. “They are in good health. They are in high spirits. Their morale is good.” 

Bush and Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, the U.S. defense attache in Beijing, spoke for about 10 minutes after Sealock met with the crew, and the president “was very heartened” to hear the crew was in good condition, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. 

Asked if the United States had insisted on the crew’s release, Powell said: “We are in very intensive discussions and negotiations and exchanging ideas and papers, and there has been movement. But that’s as far as I’d like to go right now.” 

Powell’s glowing account of the condition of the crew appeared designed both to assure families and as a gesture to the captors. 

He said they were even receiving catered meals. 

Late Friday, the Chinese ambassador, Yang Jiechi, met at the State Department with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is playing a leading role in the negotiations. Boucher called the meeting “part of our continuing diplomatic exchanges” and said there would be further meetings in Washington and Beijing overnight and over the weekend. 

While Powell did not specify what mechanisms were under discussion to free the servicemen and women, several administration sources mentioned the agreement signed by the two countries in 1998 to strengthen military maritime safety. 

The agreement provides for investigation of incidents by a commission.  

China could thereby claim the United States had implicitly conceded wrongdoing with use of the surveillance plane, while the Bush administration could continue to maintain the crew had done nothing illegal.

Efforts to find hostage from Oakland unsuccessful after delay of beheading 

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – Thousands of soldiers combed a southern island for elusive Muslim rebels Friday but reported no fighting as the guerrillas apparently fled deeper into the jungle or hid among the local populace. 

The military intensified an operation against the Abu Sayyaf on Friday, a day after the rebels backed off a threat to behead a U.S. hostage to mark President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 54th birthday Thursday. 

Military officials said some 1,500 special forces soldiers joined 2,000 infantrymen in the operation on Jolo island Friday, about 580 miles south of Manila. 

But Col. Juvenal Narcise, spokesman for the military operation, said soldiers encountered no rebels or any sign of U.S. hostage Jeffrey Schilling since the assault began Tuesday. The army raided one former rebel camp on the south of the island Thursday only to find discarded pots and pans. 

Soldiers say the Abu Sayyaf rebels, thought to number 1,200 on Jolo island, are fleeing advances or dropping weapons to blend in with the local populace when endangered. 

The operation started after Arroyo declared “all-out war” on the Abu Sayyaf when they threatened to behead Schilling, a 25-year-old Oakland, California man, as a “birthday gift” to her. 

Minutes before the execution deadline on Thursday, Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya announced he would not immediately behead Schilling. But he warned he still might kill him if the troops don’t halt their offensive. 

The stay of execution will not affect the military operation, military officials said. 

The guerrilla band, which says it is fighting for a Muslim homeland, operates mainly on the southern islands of Jolo and Basilan. 

The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of the three major insurgency groups in the Philippines, shot to international renown last year after seizing dozens of hostages, many of them foreigners, in daring raids.  

It released all but two hostages – Schilling and Filipino dive resort worker Roland Ulla – for reported multimillion dollar ransoms. 

Military officials have been puzzled by Schilling’s relations with the Abu Sayyaf. 

Schilling, a Muslim convert, was taken by the rebels after he visited their camp in Jolo on Aug. 31. Schilling was accompanied by wife Ivy Osani, Sabaya’s cousin. Osani was freed after the rebels seized Schilling.

Chicago touts its cosmopolitan lifestyle and Lake Michigan. Dallas boasts of no state corporate or income tax and lots of political clout. Denver points out its breathtaking mountain vistas and highly educated workforce. 

And they all have plenty of Starbucks coffee. 

All three cities are wooing Boeing Co., which after 85 years is moving its headquarters out of Seattle. 

The winning suitor will get just 500 front-office employees – a small blip in employment in cities so large – but there is a hint of more jobs down the line. And there is the prestige of winning over the biggest airplane manufacturer in the world. 

“This is a very big opportunity for our state,” said Jeff Moseley, executive director of the Texas Department of Economic Development. 

Boeing chief executive Phil Condit last month announced plans to move headquarters out of Seattle to save money and to be more central to its operations in 26 states, which include Texas, Colorado and Illinois. 

In choosing its new home, Boeing plans to consider access to air and ground travel, the business climate and other economic considerations, and quality of life. 

Since they learned that they were on the short list of contenders, all three cities have formed committees of business and government leaders to craft economic incentives to present to Boeing. 

Their master strategies are secret, but some campaigning has begun and city leaders have held news conferences to talk up their cities. 

Dallas gathered some of the area’s sports heroes to shower Condit with gifts, including a cap from Dallas Stars hockey star Mike Modano and a letter from Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez. 

“I moved to Dallas-Fort Worth to improve my future,” wrote Rodriguez, who left the Seattle Mariners to sign a record $252 million contract with the Rangers. “So should you.” 

Not to be outdone, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb have formed the Boeing 100, enlisting the help of retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, brewing magnate Pete Coors and former United Airlines chief Gerald Greenwald to lure Boeing. 

In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley has been leading his city’s lobbying effort. 

Boeing officials plan to visit Chicago April 18-19, Dallas April 24-25 and Denver May 1-2. A Boeing relocation committee that includes Condit and other executives is expected to announce its decision later in May. 

Most believe incentives such as tax breaks and fee rebates will be a secondary consideration for Boeing. 

“The incentives are not going to make or break the deal,” said James Mejia of the Denver mayor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade. “They’re more symbolic.” 

With each city having strengths that appeal to Boeing, aerospace analysts and government and business officials in the three cities can only guess as to which factors will carry the day, and there appears to be no clear front-runner. 

“Denver, in terms of lifestyle, would look to be a closer match to what they have in Seattle,” said Cai Von Rumohr, a Boeing analyst with SG Cowen Securities in Boston. But “obviously they’re not making (the move) for lifestyle reasons, otherwise they would stay in Seattle.” 

“I would think Dallas might win on politics.” 

Each city has certain advantages. 

Is sunshine important to a company that sprouted in the rainy Northwest? Denver has 251 days of it per year, compared with 226 in Dallas and 197 in Chicago, according to a University of Utah study. Seattle has 156 sunny days a year. 

How about boating, so popular in Seattle? Chicago wins with its many marinas along Lake Michigan, though Denver isn’t far from whitewater rafting on the Colorado River and Dallas has plenty of water skiing on 10 nearby reservoirs. 

Educated work force? Colorado has the highest percentage of college graduates among states, according to census estimates.  

More than a third of Coloradans over 25 have a college degree, compared with 27 percent in Illinois and 23 percent in Texas. 

Political clout? Dallas boasts a Texan in the White House, as well as the House majority leader and majority whip.  

Five Texans are on the House Armed Services Committee, influential in shaping the military contracts so important to Boeing. 

Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois is House speaker and three Illinois representatives serve on Armed Services. 

Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard is chairman of a key subcommittee on the Senate’s armed forces panel. 

Lifestyle? Denver talks up its proximity to the Rockies for hiking, skiing and camping. On a few days a year, the ambitious athlete can ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon. 

“Our quality of life and workforce is what we’ll use to compete,” Mejia said. 

Chicago sings of 7,000 acres of parks, several world-class museums, a diversified economy and cultural diversity. 

“There is great quality of life and extraordinary restaurants,” said Frank O’Connor, executive director World Business Chicago, a nonprofit organization working on luring Boeing. “ 

We’re a genuinely global city. We answer our 911 in 150 languages. You can get Pakistani produce, you can get whatever it is that you need.” 

Dallas emphasizes its political pull, which may be helpful in the company’s struggle with Lockheed Martin Corp. for the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter program under consideration by the Pentagon. And Starbucks? 

Denver has two dozen of the java-jolt outlets, while Dallas has 31 and Chicago 93. Seattle, where the coffee trendsetter is based, has 85. 

CHOOSING A HOME 

In choosing its new home, Boeing plans to consider access to air and ground travel, the business climate and other economic considerations, and quality of life. A decision is expected later in May. 

• Dallas gathered some of the area’s sports heroes to shower Condit with gifts, including a cap from Dallas Stars hockey star Mike Modano and a letter from Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez. 

• Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb have formed the Boeing 100, enlisting the help of retired Denver  

Broncos quarterback John Elway, brewing magnate Pete Coors and  

former United Airlines chief Gerald Greenwald to lure Boeing.

WASHINGTON — Drivers could face a new round of surging prices at the gas pump this summer, the government says, citing tight supplies through the year’s heaviest driving season. Last year price spikes reached $2 a gallon. 

The Energy Department’s forecast also anticipates continued high natural gas prices that are likely to fuel steeper electricity costs across much of the country. Many power plants run on natural gas. 

The government’s seasonal forecast predicted a high probability that motorists this summer will pay on average more for gasoline than the $1.53 cents a gallon they paid last summer. 

How much more will depend on supply and distribution problems, the department said. Average gasoline prices nationwide this week were about $1.44 a gallon, according to the government survey. 

With current inventories tight, the gasoline markets will be “vulnerable to sharp price run-ups if supply disruptions or bottlenecks occur,” said the report, issued Friday by the Energy Information Administration. 

It said that by the end of May, the beginning of the summer driving season, gasoline inventories are expected to be about 200 million barrels, or 9 million barrels below what they were at the same time last summer. 

Even with refineries churning at top capacity, the low stocks “are expected to remain low throughout the driving season” making the market vulnerable to unexpected problems such as refinery or pipeline disruptions. 

Gasoline price flare-ups are likely to be regional and not nationwide, the report said. One irritant is low stocks of additives used to make cleaner “reformulated” gasoline, which accounts for about a third of the gasoline sold and is required in areas with serious smog problems. 

A Federal Trade Commission report on last summer’s gasoline price spikes in the Midwest, where prices soared for a time well past $2 a gallon, recently warned that prices could surge again this summer. One reason is that smaller gasoline inventories give little margin to deal with unexpected refinery problems or pipeline disruptions. 

The FTC investigation, which focused on the Midwest market, found no evidence of industry collusion, although it said some companies took advantage of last summer’s tight supplies to maximize profits. 

The industry may be better prepared for problems in the Midwest this summer, and a major pipeline that shut down last year has resumed full operation, the Energy Department report said. Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency has eased its ethanol standard making it easier to blend cleaner reformulated gas in the region. 

At the same time, though, the report noted that Midwest gasoline supplies are lower now than they were a year ago and a major Illinois refinery that operated last summer has since shut down. 

Ethanol is produced from corn and is widely used as a gasoline additive in the Midwest. Elsewhere the additive is usually MTBE, derived from natural gas. MTBE production in January fell to the lowest level since 1995 and has not rebounded adequately because of the high demand for natural gas as a fuel. 

The energy outlook report said the economic slowdown had been expected to ease the squeeze on crude oil supplies.  

However, it said crude oil inventories remain tight because of the recent decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production by 1 million barrels a day, beginning in April. 

Although the winter heating season is over, natural gas prices probably won’t ease but will remain at more than twice what they were in 1999 at about $5 per thousand cubic feet, the government analysts said. 

They also warned that natural gas prices, which spiked to as much as $10 per thousand cubic feet this past winter, could rebound sharply again this fall, depending on the severity of next winter. 

A particular worry is the low level of natural gas stocks in underground storage. If natural gas demand is strong for electricity generation this summer, stocks could fall further. Low inventories and an early cold spell last fall were blamed in part for the unexpectedly sharp price spike late last year. 

On the Net:  

Energy Information Administration: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/whatsnew/newwhatsnew.cfm

NEW YORK — One of the greatest fears on Wall Street is that the past few weeks of earnings warnings and triple-digit declines have just been a rehearsal — and that the market is likely to endure more turmoil this month when companies actually issue their first-quarter reports. 

The numbers that will start trickling in during the coming weeks are expected to be the weakest year-over-year quarterly results in about a decade. And while investors might think they’re prepared for the worst, analysts expect Wall Street to react badly. 

“We have not entered the phase yet where the market is going to disregard bad news,” said A.C. Moore, chief investment officer for Dunvegan Associates in Santa Barbara, Calif. “There is a time when the nervous selling has been done, and when there is a scintilla of improvement ahead and when bad news tends to roll off. But we’re not there yet.” 

A big question at this point is, what constitutes good or bad news? 

If companies can simply meet lowered expectations, investors might consider that positive news, analysts say.  

It’s less clear whether investors will drive prices higher based on such reports, and, if they do, whether those gains can last. 

“Six months ago, if you just said you were going to meet expectations, your stock would have been trashed,” said Ronald J. Hill, investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “Now meeting expectations is the best anyone can hope for. ... Just making numbers is probably going to be viewed as good news.” 

This past week, Dell Computer proved that just standing by weaker estimates can be enough to propel stocks higher. 

Desperate for good news, investors sent the Dow soaring 402 points Thursday after Dell said it still expects to earn 17 cents a share on $8 billion in revenue. And the Nasdaq had its third-biggest one-day percentage gain. 

Wall Street was so hungry that investors ignored Dell’s note of caution that there’s a month left in its first quarter, which ends May 4, and that it cannot offer earnings projections for the remainder of the year. 

“The market was looking for some reason to bounce,” said Charles White, portfolio manager for Avatar Associates, who called Thursday’s run-up a bear market rally. 

Friday’s trading session seemed to confirm that the Dell-inspired surge was indeed a bear market rally – another spate of warnings brought the Dow lower for the week. 

And as for truly good news – in other words, better-than-expected earnings – it sounds like investors can pretty much forget about it. 

“There is a small chance you will get many upside surprises,” Hill said. “There will be companies like Circuit City, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy, all of which beat estimates, but they will be in the distinct minority.” 

Investors who are also looking for companies to say outlook for future profits is improving are likely to be disappointed, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer for First Albany. 

“We’ll be left with the view that the future is very, very unclear or cloudy,” he said. 

Like the Dow, the market’s other major indexes ended the week with losses. 

The Nasdaq fell 119.90, or 6.5 percent for the week. It closed at 1,720.36 after slipping 64.64 on Friday. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500, the market’s broadest measure, lost 31.90, or 2.7 percent, for the week. It closed at 1,128.43 after losing 23.01 Friday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which measures the performance of smaller companies stocks, declined 15.87, or 3.5 percent, for the week. It closed Friday at 434.66 after falling 10.07. 

The Wilshire Associates Equity Index — which represents the combined market value of all New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq issues — ended the week at $10.32 trillion, off $327.4 billion from the previous week. A year ago the index stood at $14.341 trillion. 

End adv for weekend editions 

NEW YORK — For the purposes of raising or lowering the price of a stock, a rumor is often as good as a fact. And the makeup of the current market makes it a setup for rumors and so-called informed opinions. 

Lucent Technologies knows a thing or two about the situation, its shares briefly plunging almost 30 percent last Wednesday on rumors it would file for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy law. 

The swift decline was halted only after company officials issued a statement calling the speculation “baseless and irresponsible.” Even then, however, the stock failed quickly to regain all that was lost. 

Today’s marketplace is a setup for such shenanigans. News not only travels in a flash but reaches more eyes and ears than ever before because of a proliferation of electronic devices. 

The makeup of the marketplace is a factor. Millions of new, small and sometimes gullible investors are active investors and traders, and many still have the ambition of making a quick, easy, clean killing. 

In fact, there is a new urgency in the marketplace. If a year ago the goal was to make an easy fortune, now it’s to recoup at least some of what was lost. And so eyes and ears are alert for rumors, opinions and advice. 

Strange, after a year in which so many “experts” were shown to be fools or spinmasters looking after their own interests, there are more experts than ever. 

They broadcast their views on TV, pose for magazine covers, dispatch communiques to the media, and fill mailboxes with newsletter promotions suggesting that you too can enjoy 500 percent profits by subscribing now for a limited time at this low, low price. 

That’s half the problem. The other is that investors look, listen, buy and too often lose, seldom wondering why the advice peddler must sell subscriptions at a discount, or why he has to labor at writing a newsletter instead of simply clicking a key to make 500 percent profits. 

Examination might show that the letter writer never made 500 percent profits – never picked or owned the 500 percent stocks – but simply illustrated his brochure with examples of stocks that did enjoy such gains, subtly suggesting his stock picks might do the same for you. Because of “the frenzied atmosphere of hype,” editors of The Babson Staff Letter caution that the “current environment is very different, and riskier on a short-term basis,” from conditions before the 1990s. 

It expressed the intensity of its concern by turning over its entire letter of March 30 to excerpts from a book by Howard Kurtz, “The Washington Post” media reporter. 

Kurtz’s book, published by Simon & Schuster, is aptly entitled “The Fortune Tellers,” significantly subtitled “Inside Wall Street’s Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation.” 

Amid the daily deluge of spin, rumor, touting, speculation and manipulation, including manipulation of the media, says Kurtz, “there’s one inescapable problem: Nobody knows anything.  

“All of them – the journalists, the commentators, the brokers, the traders, the analysts — are feeling their way in a blizzard, squinting through the snow, straining amid the white noise to make out the next trend or market movement or sizzling stock.” The message is clear: Listen and learn but defer decision-making to nobody else. Make your own decisions, slowly. Do your homework. You can see through the whiteout as well as those who call themselves experts. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

The Berkeley High boys’ lacrosse team started off the second half of their league season with a bang, thoroughly dominating favored Marin Catholic, 13-3, for their third straight win. 

When the two teams met nearly a month ago, the Wildcats came out on top 14-5. According to Berkeley head coach John Rubin, the turnaround between the first game and Thursday’s was all about the ’Jackets. 

“Everyone played their best game today, offense, defense, guys off the bench,” Rubin said. “That was about twice as well as we’ve ever played.” 

The key to that improvement was the health of star attacker Nick Schooler. Schooler scored six goals in the game, including five in the first half, for his highest scoring game ever. Schooler has been held back by a nagging ankle injury since the beginning of the season, and is finally fully healed. 

“I had a dream last night, that I was out there making good cuts and scoring goals,” Schooler said. “I just came out hard, and had my best game.” 

Schooler got help from midfielder Stefan Isaksen, who scored five goals and had one assist. Isaksen was the team’s leading scorer while Schooler was hurt, but he said he knows his place is in a supporting role. 

“Nick’s the better player, he’s just been hurt,” Isaksen said. “We can help take the pressure off of each other.” 

Isaksen kicked off the scoring halfway through the opening quarter, then Schooler went to work. He drove through two Wildcat defenders for his first goal, then pulled off a spectacular play that set the tone for the entire game. When the Marin Catholic goalie made a lazy pass from his crease, Schooler snagged the ball while fully extended, then went 40 yards with the ball before putting it in the net for a 3-0 Berkeley lead. The Wildcats looked stunned to be down to a team they had dominated just weeks ago, and were rocked back on their heels.  

“I think we really took them out of their game in the first quarter, and they just never recovered,” Rubin said. 

But Berkeley attacker Joe Rabinowitz missed two point-blank chances, and Marin Catholic managed to pull back a goal just before the end of the period. 

But Schooler wasn’t entertaining any thoughts of a comeback. He slammed home a pass from teammate Jesse Cohen early in the second, then used a nifty spin move to get free for another goal a minute later. By this time the Wildcat defense was keyed on him, and Isaksen took advantage. Strolling with the ball far from the Marin Catholic goal, he casually dropped the ball. When his defender came out at him, however, Isaksen picked up the ball and blew by him for another goal. 

Not to be outdone, Schooler again spun through the Wildcat defense for a goal. Isaksen answered right back with a solo effort from long range to give the ’Jackets a 8-1 halftime lead. 

Both teams bunkered in on defense in the third quarter, and the only score came from Berkeley’s Andrew Moskovitz. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, it was obvious that Berkeley had done away with any sense of superiority the Wildcats may have had. Marin Catholic started committing frustration fouls, and Schooler took advantage. He scored his sixth and final goal of the game with a two-man advantage.  

“Nick’s an exciting player, and he pumps our guys up,” Rubin said. 

The Wildcats managed two goals in the period, but were the victims of one final humiliation with just seconds left on the clock. Isaksen was holding the ball well outside the crease with time running down, and Rubin told him to take one more shot. As instructed, Isaksen whistled a rifle shot into the upper corner of the goal, and stood as is disbelief of what he had just done. 

“That was just a fun shot. I didn’t think it would go in,” Isaksen said. “It was a real crowd-pleaser.”

Friday, April 6

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 

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.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more.  

Pre-register by calling 642-5461 

$20 for all five sessions, $10 per individual session  

Taize Worship Service  

7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Loper Chapel 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Dana St.  

An hour of quiet reflection and song. 848-3696 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Don Giovanni, Pt. 1  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Saturday, April 7

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Earthquake Retrofitting Class  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Building Education Center  

812 Page 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 

Inside Interior Design  

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A look into the world of interior design with certified interior designer and artist Lori Inman. $35 

525-7610 

Small Press Distribution  

Open House 

Noon - 4 p.m. 

Small Press Distribution  

3141 Seventh St. (at Gilman)  

With poetry readings at 2 p.m. with featured poet Clark Coolidge and others. Free  

524-1668 

Straw Into Gold 

9 a.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

A rummage sale and intergenerational open mic. coffee house. All proceeds benefit the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Free 

841-4824  

Plants of the Bible Tour 

1:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

Explore the gardens with docents who will point out plants mentioned in the bible.  

643-1924 

Sunday, April 8

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult. www.cal-sailing.org  

Tibetan Yoga and Healing  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Kum Nye teacher Jack van der Meulen will present this Tibetan yoga and will demonstrate several exercises for self-healing. Free 

843-6812 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House  

3 - 5 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

A free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture which will include a prayer wheel and meditation garden tour, Tibetan yoga demonstration, discussion of how useful ancient teachings are in contemporary society, and more. Free 

843-6812 

A Humanistic Passover Seder 

6 p.m.  

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Kol Hadash will read from the Humanistic Haggadah, and will eat with friends and family. Miriam Solis will lead the group in song.  

$20 - $45  

925-254-0609 

Monday, April 9

Ask the Doctor 

10:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Dr. McGillis will speak and answer questions on radiologically, hormonally, and genetically modified foods.  

644-6107 

Tuesday, April 10

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 

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  

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

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 

Living with HIV 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Bldg., Room 100 

Joe MacMurray will offer reflections on his personal experiences as an HIV-positive man who is preparing for ordained ministry in the Metropolitan Community Church.  

849-8206 

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 

Sunrise Business Mixer  

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.  

Skates on the Bay  

100 Seawall Drive  

Wake up and smell the coffee at this mixer sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Complimentary breakfast provided by host Skates on the Bay. Free to chamber members.  

RSVP, 549-7003 or e-mail chamber@dnai.com  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Magic Brown  

2:30 p.m. 

South Branch Library  

1901 Russell St.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

Magic Brown  

7 p.m. 

North Branch Library  

1170 The Alameda 

Similar program to above. Free 

649-3943 

Seeds of Fiction  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Berkeley author Dorothy Bryant will speak on seeds of fiction and drama. Free 

644-6107 

Wednesday, April 11

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 

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 

Magic Brown  

11 a.m.  

West Branch Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

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. 

Bicycle Maintenance 101  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

REI bike technician Paul Ecord will show attendees how to perform basic adjustments on bikes and how to keep them in good condition. Demonstrations of how to clean/replace a chain, adjust derailleurs and replace brake and derailleur cables. Free  

527-4140 

Magic Brown  

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave.  

Pamela Brown, a magician and storyteller, will tell stories of tricksters and fools from around the world, interspersed with magic tricks. She will be teaching the audience tricks to take home with them. For kids, 5 - 10 years old. Free 

649-3943 

Thursday, April 12 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Alice Rogoff and host Dale Jensen.  

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. 

Humanist Forum  

7 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity  

390 27th St. (at Broadway)  

Oakland  

“The future of religion: Dialog and discussion.”  

451-5818 

Free Smoking Cessation Class  

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  

Six Thursday classes through May 17.  

Call 644-6422 to register and for location  

Plants of the Bible Tour 

1:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

Explore the gardens with docents who will point out plants mentioned in the bible.  

643-1924 

Friday, April 13  

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 

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.  

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.  

Call 644-6226 

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more. Fridays through May 11.  

$10 per individual session 

Pre-register: 642-5461  

Yiddish Conversation  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Allen Stross. Free 

644-6107 

Saturday, April 14  

Ethics of Globalization  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

Seaborg Room, Men’s Faculty Club 

UC Berkeley  

A one-day conference that will address ethics and globalization by focusing on three areas which bear much of the weight of globalization: International financial institutions and the flow of capital, immigration and refugee flows, and the role of private and local capital and political action. Free and open to the public.  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Eggster Hunt & Learning Festival  

10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.  

West Campus, UC Berkeley  

In front of Life Sciences Building  

A day of egghunts, cultural performances, educational booths, arts and crafts, games and entertainment. Free for all and handicapped accessible. Proceeds benefit five non-profit Bay Area children’s organizations.  

643-2033 

Before the Build  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A free lecture by builder Glen Kitzenberger on what you need to know before you build or remodel your home. Learn to solder pipe and more. Free 

525-7610 

Choosing to Add On 

Noon - 2 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A free lecture by author and instructor Skip Wenz on the pros and cons of building an addition. Free  

525-7610 

Safety and Preparedness Fair  

11 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Civic Center Park  

Allston & MLK Jr. Way  

Have your blood pressure checked, your kid’s fingerprints taken, and your bicycle licensed for free, and all in one place. The fair, sponsored by the Police Department, Fire Department/Office of Emergency Services and Project Impact, will also feature representatives from the Red Cross, PG&E, the U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations.  

From Athens to Berkeley  

11 a.m. - 10 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle Hall  

UC Berkeley  

A marathon day of performances, discussions and lectures around the Berkeley’s Rep’s production of the Oresteia. Designed to provide context and ancillary dramaturgical support to enhance patrons theatre-going experience of the play  

648-2963 

Sunday, April 15  

The Buddhist Prayer Wheel  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Instructor Miep Cooymans will talk about prayer wheels and how to participate in their creation . Free 

843-6812 

Rotating Green Panels 

3 - 10 p.m. 

7th Floor, Eshleman Hall  

UC Berkeley  

The start of UC Berkeley’s week-long annual whole-earth event. Starting at 3 p.m., a series of hour-long panels on issues including electoral reform, free trade, and nuclear energy. At 6 p.m., an opportunity to dance and check out display posters created for the celebration.  

Monday, April 16  

Dino Safari 

1 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Learn how paleontologists sift through evidence to make predictions about the size and behavior of dinosaurs. Included with museum admission. 

$3 - $7  

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 

Before the Build  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A free lecture by builder Glen Kitzenberger on what you need to know before you build or remodel your home. Learn to solder pipe and more. Free 

525-7610 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Systematic Theology  

7 p.m. 

PLTS  

2770 Marin Ave.  

Great Hall  

Conversation with Dr. Oswald Bayer, professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tuebingen, Germany.  

524-5264 

Design Ideas for Vista? 

7 p.m.  

North Berkeley Community Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Vista President Ione Elioff, representative from Ratcliff, a Bay Area architectural design firm, and Peralta Community College District officials, will be present to hear suggestions, answer questions, and present draft design plans for the facility.  

981-2852 

Energy Crisis  

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

7th Floor, Eshleman Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Get the professional point of view about our energy debacle. Speakers include, Laura Nader, Ignacio Chapela, and Medea Benjamin. Free  

Tuesday, April 17 

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 

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 

Real Deal Seminar 

12:45 - 1:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd 103  

Bill O’Neill on “Ethics of Social Reconciliation and/or Human Rights.” Bring a lunch.  

849-8229 

Intelligent Conversation  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will center on the question of how your life conflicts with your ideals. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free  

527-5332 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Chaos Theory  

7 p.m. 

CDSP  

2451 Ridge Rd.  

Common Room  

Dr. Laurie Freeman on “Method in Science and the Humanities: What Does Chaos Theory Have to Offer?”  

848-8152 

Problems Abroad 

7 - 9 p.m. 

200 Wheeler Hall  

UC Berkeley  

A presentation on the impact of the war on drugs on Columbia by the Columbia Coalition. Free 

Fibromyalgia Support Group  

Noon - 2 p.m.  

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus  

2001 Dwight Way  

This session will be a rap session.  

601-0550 

Wednesday, April 18  

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 

Stroke Prevention  

10 - 11:30 a.m.  

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Summit North Pavilion  

350 Hawthorne Ave.  

Oakland  

Cardiovascular Nurse Practitioner Debbie Seneca will speak about stroke prevention, as well as the warning signs of stroke and what to do if you suspect that someone is having a stroke. Free 

869-6737 

Art & Jam  

5 - 7 p.m. 

30 Wheeler Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Ryan Buckley and Dave  

will play songs to sing-along to. Free 

Thursday, April 19 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Garrett Murphy and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

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

Call 869-2547 

LGBT Catholics Group  

7:30 p.m. 

Newman Hall  

2700 Dwight Way (at College)  

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Catholics group are “a spiritual community committed to creating justice.” This meetings discussions will center on “Eroticism and Spirituality.”  

654-5486 

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

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

Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

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

869-8833 to register  

Celebrating Our Past, Envisioning Our Future 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave.  

The PSR Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry hosts its first annual conference which will address racism and heterosexism; being “out” in ministry; queer spirituality; queer and Asian; queer theory and comparative religions and other topics. This is a two day event.  

849-8206 

Light Search & Rescue 

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 

EcoCity Message of Curitiba, Brazil 

7:30 p.m. 

Chan Shun Auditorium  

Valley of Life Sciences Building  

UC Berkeley  

The chief representative of the policies, designs, planning and projects that have made Curitiba the ecological development model to the world will share strategies for long term success of cities on planet Earth.  

$5 - $10 donation  

649-1817 

Chiapas Support Committee 

7 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

The delegation to Mexico will report back about the EZLN march and its aftermath with video footage, first-hand accounts, slides and more.  

654-9587 

Estate Planning for the Living 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave.  

Norlen Drossel, an estate planning attorney, will cover such topics as the difference between a will and a living trust, durable power of attorney for health care, and other topics of importance to those who don’t plan on dying.  

601-4040 x302 

Exploring Grand Staircase  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Liz Hymans, a leading panoramic photographer in the U.S. will share slides and stories of the making of “Hearst of the Desert Wild,” which celebrates the spirit of Grand Staircase - Escalante. Free  

527-4140 

Free Smoking Cessation Class  

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  

Six Thursday classes through May 17.  

Call 644-6422 to register and for location  

Friday, April 20 

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 

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  

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

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 

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.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more. Fridays through May 11.  

$10 per individual session 

Pre-register: 642-5461  

Trash Bridges 

1 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley  

Join Trash Bridges, garbage detective, in this Science Discovery Theatre performance as he explores how recycling, reusing, reducing and composting can help us tackle the ever-increasing garbage humans create. Free with museum admission.  

642-5132 

Saturday, April 21  

California Native Plant Sale  

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Regional Botanical Garden  

South Park Drive & Wildcat Canyon Road 

Tilden Regional Park  

A variety of plants will be for sale and proceeds benefit Botanic Garden programs.  

841-8732 

Family Farm Day  

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market  

Center St. at MLK Jr. Way  

As a complimentary event to Earth Day Berkeley, taking place in Civic Center Park, this will be a chance to see what life is like on a farm. Farm equipment, an observable beehive, human powered hayrides, sheep, and more. Free  

548-3333 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Building a Garden at Cragmont Elementary  

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Cragmont Elementary School  

1150 Virginia St.  

Volunteers are asked to help students and staff of Cragmont make planter boxes, weed, trim, plant trees and more. The garden will be used in the schools environmental education program.  

Call Ellen Georgi 525-6058  

Run for Life  

8 a.m.  

UC Berkeley Campus 

An event to “Celebrate the Spirit of Goodness in Children.” Includes a 3K, 5K, and 10K course for walking or running around UC Berkeley. Culminating in a celebration in the newly renovated Edwards Track Stadium. Sponsored by Nantucket Nectars.  

$18 - $25 per person 

866-786-4543 or www.runforlife.net  

I-House Spring Festival  

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. . 

International House  

2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft)  

A celebration of cultures from around the globe. Featuring delicacies from India, the Netherlands, Turkey, Taiwan more. Performances of traditional dance on five stages.  

$3 - $5  

642-9460 

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike  

6:30 p.m.  

Berkeley Art Center  

1275 Walnut St.  

Open to all poets and performers, opening at it’s new home at the Berkeley Art Center. Featuring poet Giovanni Singleton.  

527-9753 

Berkeley Earth Day  

11 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

Civic Center Park  

Allston & MLK Jr. Way 

Beginning with an Eco-Motion parade, with kids and adults using forms of non-polluting transport. The Earth Day Fair will feature music, revolutionary comedy from Sherry Glaser, and speaker Rachel Peterson from Urban Ecology. Also, a climbing wall, kid’s making area, vegetarian food and beer, crafts, beeswax candle making and much more. Free 

654-6346 

Albany Senior Center White Elephant Sale 

9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. 

Friends of Albany Seniors 

846 Masonic Ave.  

Albany  

524-9122 

Sunday, April 22 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

The Value of Meditation  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Bob Byrne will discuss how you can bring the benefits of meditation into your life. Meditation instruction will be included. Free 

843-6812 

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn how to repair a flat tire from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike. Free  

527-4140 

Salsa Lesson & Dance Party  

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Mati Mizrachi and Ron Louie will teach how to kick up your heels and move your hips. Israeli food provided by the Holy Land Restaurant. Novices are encouraged to attend.  

$10  

237-9874 

Plants of the Bible Tour 

1:30 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden  

Explore the gardens with docents who will point out plants mentioned in the bible.  

643-1924 

Monday, April 23  

Cold War Civil Rights 

4 p.m.  

Harris Room  

119 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley 

Mary Dudziak, USC, will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Free  

Tuesday, April 24  

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 

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 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Wednesday, April 25  

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 

The New Math  

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 common misunderstandings in the economics of development. Free 

Thursday, April 26 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Ray Skjelbred and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Fire Suppression Class  

1 - 4 p.m. 

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 

Trail of a Lifetime  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Deborah Brill and Marty Place hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, from the snowy northern terminus in Canada’s Manning Provincial Park, to the Mexican border. They will share highlights of their 2,658-mile trip and will give you tips on how to plan a trip of your own. Free 

527-4140  

Free Smoking Cessation Class  

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  

Six Thursday classes through May 17.  

Call 644-6422 to register and for location  

Free Blood Pressure Screenings  

Noon - 1 p.m.  

Alta Bates Summitt medical Center  

2450 Ashby Ave.  

Health Education Center, Room 203  

Samuel Merritt College 

A screening for individuals with a potential risk for high blood pressure.  

869-6737  

Plan Reading Seminar 

7 - 10 p.m.  

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Conducted by Andus Brandt.  

$35  

525-7610 

Friday, April 27  

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  

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 

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more. Fridays through May 11.  

$10 per individual session 

Pre-register: 642-5461  

Lost in Dreamland?  

10 -11:30 a.m.  

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

Sum

Over 30 disability organizations handed out information about resources for the disabled and offered education for the nondisabled during Thursday’s second annual Disability Awareness Day on the UC Berkeley campus. 

The event, organized by the Disabled Student Union, was held outside Sproul and Dwinelle halls where students, faculty and the public strolled in the sunshine among the 20 booths set up to raise awareness about the disabled community. 

The participating organizations promoted resources for the disabled, offered the nondisabled an insight into being blind or reliant on a wheelchair, and encouraged employment and volunteer work in the disabled community. 

“One of our objectives is to provide information about resources in the community because Berkeley is a very resourceful city for the disabled,” said Christina Rubke, who helped organize the event. “We also want to raise awareness about disabilities. There are tons of them out there and there’s nothing to be afraid of.” 

The Center for Independent Living was  

promoting attendant job opportunities. Attendants assist disabled individuals with daily tasks including running errands, light housekeeping and cooking and personal care such as dressing and grooming. 

Former UC students established CIL in Berkeley in 1972. CIL offers the disabled assistance with housing, employment and financial benefits counseling. 

Sean Reidy, coordinator for personal assistance services at CIL, said that there used to be an abundance of attendants in Berkeley but now there’s a shortage.  

“There’s not as many people who want to work as attendants,” he said. “Part of the reason we’re out here today is to get the word out.” 

Reidy said fewer people are aware of attendant work or they have misconceptions about the nature of the work.  

CIL has launched an information campaign called FAQ, which answers questions job seekers might have about attendant work. (See: www.cilberkeley.org.) 

Some of the misconceptions include a belief the job requires special training. In fact, many attendant jobs require little or no training. According to a CIL fact sheet, many disabled people consider attitude more important than training. 

CIL Executive Director Jan Garrett said attendant work offers some attractive benefits for students such as flexible schedules, casual environment and the opportunity to work with interesting people. 

“There are even some opportunities for travel,” said Garrett, who relies on a wheelchair. “I’m going to Europe next year and I’m bringing an attendant, all expenses paid.” 

The Disabled Student Union provided five wheelchairs for those who wanted to experience getting around campus without using their legs. Others donned blindfolds and made their way around the busy campus. The “Adopt a Disability” program was organized by DSU member Andy Berk.  

“What we want to get at is that using a wheelchair is not a terrible burden,” Berk said. “It’s really quite easy, we do it every day.” 

In exchange for agreeing not to use their hands, participants were given a wheelchair, a guide and an obstacle course. The first task was to get on and off a bus by using the disabled lift. Then they entered Dwinelle Hall where they took the elevator to Floor E.  

Participants had to ask passersby to open the doors. At the elevators they asked another passerby not only to push the button for them but also to hang around so they could select the desired floor. 

Lisamaria Martinez, who is legally blind, completed the obstacle course twice and then offered her services as a guide. 

“Its really fun,” she said as she zoomed off to guide another temporarily disabled person, her cane leading the way. 

Other information booths included Protection and Advocacy, which helps the disabled with legal issues such as discrimination in housing, transportation and employment. 

Canine Companions for Independence were also present to promote their puppy-raising program. CCI is looking for people to raise puppies from the time they are eight weeks old until they’re 13 to 18 months. The puppy trainers provide basic house training and then they are turned over to professionals who teach them personal assistance skills. 

“It’s really a great program,” said a smiling CCI volunteer Laurie Monserrat. “Just when they stop crapping all over the house and eating your things and you’re thoroughly in love with them, you have to give ‘em up. But you feel really good about it.” 

Not parking 

Editor: 

A letter from Roger Marks on April 2 called attention to construction that has begun at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Oxford Street. He mistakenly assumed that this will be a UC parking lot. In fact the work being done is a project by EBMUD to build a pumping station at that corner. This is a project that has been publicized and has had community input over the past two years. Anyone with questions about the EBMUD construction should contact Gretchen Grover, EBMUD Community Affairs, at 287-2053. Mr. Marks also states in his letter that UC plans to raze a research garden on the west side of that block. That is also not true. It is unfortunate that Mr. Marks did not call the campus to check his facts before sending in his letter. For information on campus construction projects and facilities plans, please call 643-4793 or visit the UC Berkeley Capital Projects web site at www.cp.berkeley.edu. 

Irene Hegarty 

UC Community Relations 

More parking, more congestion 

Editor: 

According to the Downtown Business Association letter by Deborah Badhia (4/3), the Transportation Demand Management study “focuses on transit, hence the name.”To me, it focused on transportation, hence its name; and there was definitely more in it about parking than about transit.  

More downtown parking would relieve congestion only if it got more cars off the road. The only way that can happen is if the number of people driving about looking for parking is reduced because people find their parking quickly. Otherwise, more parking attracts more cars, and cars are what make congestion. 

If we who live, shop and work in Berkeley are serious about reducing congestion and its attendant pollution, we have to agree to have fewer cars on the roads. The DBA is convinced that customers come by car, so “transportation” means parking, not bus stops or bike racks. 

The Badhia letter speaks of “..those who cannot take transit..” Who “cannot” take transit? Not disabled people; they ride buses. Not UC students; they have a class pass. Not poor people, for sure. I think the people who “cannot” take transit are the ones we see in long lines of cars on Shattuck, University, College and Telegraph, all alone in their big vehicles. 

The TDM report indicated that a small increase in “mode shifting” (more bus and bike, less single-occupant car) would cover the likely increase in parking needs. A substantial mode shift would eliminate much of the present need for parking. 

Downtown parking should not be reserved for commuters, but for visitors and shoppers.  

Visitors are temporary, and may come from some distance, so they “cannot” use transit. The same may be true of shoppers who come from outside Berkeley. But Berkeley residents should be able to use transit. Shoppers need a way to get purchases home. A delivery service would take care of a that – how about using Pedal Express? 

I think the claim that most people “cannot” use transit is a feeble excuse for not doing what we should to cut back on congestion. 

The end result would give us all a much more pleasant and healthful life-style.  

Steve Geller 

Berkeley 

Community Relations, 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  

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 “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; “Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience” Through April 29. This conceptual artist and pioneer of video, installation, and Internet art presents three installations; “Ernesto Neto/MATRIX 19” A Maximum Minimum Time Space Between Us and the Parsimonious Universe, Through April 15. Made from disposable materials such as styrofoam pellets, glass, paper, paraffin wax, and nylon stockings, Neto’s sensual sculptural works provoke viewers to interact with his art; “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; “A Passion for Art: The Disaronno Originale Photography Collection,” Through April 18 Featuring the work of photographers worldwide who have demonstrated passion and excellence; $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” 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. April 6: Link 80, Lucky Strike, 5th Wheel, Kung Fu Chicken; April 7: The Plus Ones, The Evaporators, The Pattern, Dukes of Hamburg, The Goblins/Disgoblins/Skablins/Gothblins; April 13: The Locust, Dead & Gone, Honeysuckle Serontina, Tourettes Latrec, Last Great Liar 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 7: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; April 10: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; April 12: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz April 8: “A Little Houseboat Music for Annie” is a benefit concert to help Oakland’s Archway School’s art teacher, Annie Clark, replace her houseboat, which was destroyed in a fire in February - performances by Michael James Quartet, The Wild Buds, Jim Stice Orchestra, Nova Trova and Ray Cepeda and the Neo-Maya Experience; April 29: Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band; 1370 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 7: Eric Lowen & Dan Navarro; April 8: Martin Simpson & Jessica Radcliffe; April 10: Kevin Burke; April 12: Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Julian Smedley & Allison Odell; April 13: Ray Wylie Hubbard; April 14: Dix Bruce & Jim Nunally, Eddie & Marthie Adcock 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. 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  

Cal Performances April 13 & 14, 8 p.m.: Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and the Paco de Lucia Septet $20 - $40 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

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

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for 20 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. 925-798-1300 

“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.  

Dastan Ensemble with Namah Ensemble April 15, 8 p.m. Dastan Ensemble is a Persian classical music ensemble founded in Germany in 1991. Namah Ensemble is a group of four to six dancers who communicate the mystical Persian tradition to everyone. $25 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Jazz Singers’ Collective April 19, 8 - 10 p.m. With Mark Little on piano. Anna’s Bistro 1801 University Ave. 849-2662 

Kensington Symphony Orchestra April 21, 8 p.m. Featuring UC Berkeley student and soprano, Vanessa Langer performing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G and other selections. $8 - $10 First Baptist Church 770 Sonoma St. Richmond 251-2031 

Sharon Isbin April 22, 4 p.m. Isbin won a Grammy earlier this year for her album “Dreams of a World: Folk Inspired Music for Guitar.” She will be making a rare Bay Area appearance in a benefit concert for the Crowden School. $20 - $30 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 559-6910 

Kids Carneval! Brazilian Dance for the Whole Family April 22, 2 p.m. The Borboletas Children’s Dance Troupe will transport children and their families to Brazil and promises to have the audience dancing in and out of their seats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300  

Bella Musica April 28, 8 p.m. & April 29, 4 p.m. Hear how various composers through the ages view the plight of the lovelorn, from the ardent exclamations of Morley’s “Fire, Fire” to the intoxication of the “Coolin” by Samuel Barber. $9 - $12 St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 Addison St. (at McGee) 525-5393 or www.bellamusic.org 

People’s Park 32nd Anniversary Festival April 29,12:30 - 6 p.m. Performances by, among others, Rebecca Riots, X-Plicit Players, Shelley Doty X-tet, with special guests Wavy Gravy, Frank Moore, Stoney Burke, Kriss Worthington and many more. Also including skateboarding demos, animal petting farm, puppets, and “surprises.” People’s Park Haste St. & Telegraph Ave. 848-1985 

Tribu May 17, 8 p.m. Direct from Mexico, Tribu plays a concert of ancestral music of the Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, Zapotec, Purerpecha, Chichimec, Otomi, and Toltec. Tribu have reconstructed and rescued some of the oldest music in the Americas. $12 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Satsuki Arts Festival and Bazaar May 19, 4 - 10 p.m. & May 20, Noon - 7 p.m. A fundraiser for the Berkeley Buddhist Temple featuring musical entertainment by Julio Bravo & Orquesta Salsabor, Delta Wires, dance presentations by Kaulana Na Pua and Kariyushi Kai, food, arts & crafts, plants & seedlings, and more. Berkeley Buddhist Temple 2121 Channing Way (at Shattuck) 841-1356 

Theater 

“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 

“Death of a Salesman” Through May 5, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. plus Thursday, May 3, 8 p.m. The ageless story of Willy Loman presented by an African-American cast and staged by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. $10 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 528-5620 

Films 

“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 

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour April 7 & 8, 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. Including films from Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, England, and the U.S. which reflect a wide range of mountain experiences, from mountain sports to mountain culture and the environment. $12 - $15 Wheeler Auditorium UC Berkeley Tickets available at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-7377 

“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 

Films of Julio Medem April 13, 7:30 p.m. & April 14, 7 p.m. Medem is recognized as one of Spain’s leading filmmakers. On April 13, “The Cows” and “The Red Squirrel” will be shown. April 14, “Earth/Tierra” and “Lovers of the Arctic Circle” will show. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412  

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage” Through April 14 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 

“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 

“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 

“The Art of Meadowsweet Dairy” Objects found in nature, reworked and turned into objects of art. Through May 15, call for hours 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 Through April 28, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 or www.traywick.com 

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts & Paintings. Through Aug. 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 

“Scenes from The Song of Songs/Images from The Book of Blessings” Landscape and still life oil pastels by poet and artists Marcia Falk Through May 2, Monday - Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday, Noon - 7 p.m.; Opening reception April 11, 7 p.m. Flora Hewlett Library Graduate Theological Union 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 

Readings 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 9: Mark Morris visits to celebrate “Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Modertato: A Celebration”; April 11: Poetry of Kurt Brown & Al Young; April 12: Stanley Williams explores “Surviving Galeras”; April 15: Poetry of John D’Agata & Joanna Klink; April 16: Isadora Alman talks about “Doing It: Real People Having Really Good Sex”; April 17: Michael Parenti discusses “To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia”; April 19: Andrew Harvey talks about “The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Spiritual Traditions”; Poetry of Maxine Hong Kingston & Fred Marchant; April 27: Poetry of Michael Heller & Carl Rakosi; April 29: Poetry of Gloria Frym & Lewis Warsh 

1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 All events at 7 p.m., unless noted April 10: Amy Tan reads from “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”; April 20: Susie Bright discusses “The Best American Erotica 2001”; April 26: Mother of three Wynn McClenahan Burkett will read from “Life After Baby: From Professional Woman to Beginner Parent”  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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. April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

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

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike April 21, 6:30 p.m. Open to all poets and performers, opening at it’s new home at the Berkeley Art Center. Featuring poet Giovanni Singleton. Free Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 527-9753 

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  

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  

“The Gene’s Eye View of Creation” April 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 

Leonard Breger April 9, 7:30 - 9 p.m. Breger will critique club members’ art and will show some of his own works. Breger is known for his paintings of cut-out masonite shapes, both animal and human. El Cerrito Community Center The Garden Room 7007 Moeser Lane 524-6739 

“Is Science a Religion?” April 9, 8:30 p.m. Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford will give the lecture on behalf of Students for Nonreligious Ethos (SANE). Free to the public 2050 Valley Life Sciences UC Berkeley  

With a big meet this weekend, the St. Mary’s track & field team rested most of its stars, but still managed to wipe up the floor with the opposition in its final league meet on Thursday. 

The Panthers’ boys beat St. Elizabeth’s 74-11, while the girls’ beat Holy Names 62-11. The boys won every event, while the girls dropped only the 4x100-meter relay. 

Kamaiya Warren continued her dominance in the throwing events, winning both the shot put and discus by large margins. Phil Weatheroy pulled off the same double on the boys’ side. 

The Panthers, along with the Berkeley High team, will compete at the OAL Invitational on Saturday at Edwards Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus.

Two Berkeley School Board members spoke out against a recent visit by an Army recruitment “van” to the Berkeley High Campus at the board’s regular meeting Wednesday night. 

The Army’s $3.2 million Armor Adventure Van, an 18-wheeler that features electronic simulators that give students a chance to “fire” an M-16 rifle or sit behind the wheel of the army’s most technologically advanced tank, came to the Berkeley High campus Monday as part of a regional effort to attract new recruits. 

Board Directors Joaquin Rivera and John Selawsky said the presence of weapon simulators on a high school campus were totally inappropriate. 

“I’m somewhat appalled at the message we’re sending our kids,” Selawsky said. “At the same time we’re saying we don’t condone violence and weapons on campus we’re allowing a van with simulated electronic weapon devices as a play thing for our kids.” 

Rivera also took issue with the Army’s policy of discriminating against gays and lesbians. “In this district we have an  

anti-discrimination policy that the army does not meet,” he said. 

Selawsky said Thursday that he will bring a proposal to the board’s May 2 meeting that, if passed, would prevent weapons simulators of any kind from ever being allowed on Berkeley Unified School District sites.  

But board Director Shirley Issel said Friday that she worries the board may go too far in its reaction of the Army’s recruitment visit and “set a poor example for our students about tolerance of diverse points of view.” 

While Issel acknowledged the deep concern among many Berkeley residents about the van’s visit to Berkeley High, she said there are also many people who believe deeply in the Army and view it as “the protector and defender of our country and its values.” 

“Many of our students will choose to go into the military, and we need to remember that when we try to sort out the legitimate concerns that have been raised,” Issel said. 

In other news Wednesday, the board awarded a contract for a major renovation of King Middle School, one of the district’s oldest facilities. The $18 million project includes the modernization and seismic, structural upgrade for the school’s main building, construction of a new amphitheater, and a new fire alarm system throughout the campus. 

Board President Terry Doran, absent from the meeting, is helping to chaperone a student trip to Cuba. 

Not long ago my disabled husband and I attended The Ed Roberts Campus Community Meeting at the South Berkeley Senior Center. In attendance were disabled people from around the East Bay and homeowners who are concerned about plans to build a facility in their neighborhood that caters to the disabled community. 

The Ed Roberts Campus will be home to nine non-profit organizations that work with the disabled: BORP, (recreational opportunities); CforAT and CTP, (job training skills); CIL, (daily living resources); DRA, DREDF and WID, (disabled civil and world rights); TLG, (children with disabilities); WWI, (makers of wheelchairs for third world countries). On the drawing board are plans for a 98,000 square foot building to be erected above the parking lot of the Ashby BART Station. Existing parking spaces will be saved, plus more underground parking will be added.  

The city of Berkeley wants the project to proceed. Many of the neighbors do not. They expressed concerns about traffic, safety, property values, and blocked views. They asked why the project couldn’t be built at the MacArthur BART station or on the west side of Martin Luther King where business is poor. “It’s an area that could use a lift,” a man said.  

When one of the neighbors who supports the project suggested that what she was hearing was “not in my backyard” there were loud disclaimers from around the room.  

“It’s not that we don’t want disabled people in our neighborhood,” an able-bodied homeowner explained. “It’s just that those blue disabled placards allow them to park all day in front of our houses.” Another voice shouted. “It’s not that I don’t want the campus near my home, but aren’t people in wheelchairs afraid of being mugged?” Someone asked, “Do disabled people use BART? How does a blind person do it?” A voice added, “Why do you want to ghettoize disabled people? They shouldn’t be clumped together.” “Who owns the air rights to above the station?” someone interjected. “I think the people who used to live there, before BART came in, still own the air. You need to check with them to make sure it’s okay.” 

Project representatives answered each question.  

“People with disabled placards are allowed to park in legal spaces for as long as they need to, but we can come up with restrictions that will limit the amount of outsider parking in the neighborhood.” Heads that could move in the disabled community nodded in agreement. But there were mumbles of skepticism from the neighborhood residents. 

“There are probably some disabled people who are afraid of being mugged, just as some able-bodied persons are, but crime can happen anywhere. The majority of our clients will use the facility during weekday hours.” A deaf woman used sign language to explain that she wasn’t scared. A homeowner said she’d been mugged in her own yard. 

“Disabled people use public transportation. Our clients tend to be on the bottom end of the economic scale. Many of them cannot afford specially equipped vehicles, private drivers or taxis. For a lot of people with disabilities, the stations on the BART line are as far as they can get.” “Are you sure?” asked a woman. “I never ride BART. It doesn’t go anywhere I want to go.” 

“We don’t think the campus will ghettoize us. We’ll be able to share our resources. Clients will receive assistance from multiple organizations housed in the facility.” “I don’t understand why you want to be together,” said a woman in the back. “You should spread yourself out for more visibility.” 

“We don’t know who owns the air rights, but we’ll find out.” “You better,” warned a neighbor. “I think you may be stealing.” 

The evening dragged on. A woman in a wheelchair raised her hand to speak. Before she said two words someone yelled, “We can’t hear you, stand up.”  

And that’s when it became clear to me that any neighborhood, including the one on the east side of the Ashby BART station, could benefit from an Ed Roberts Campus being built nearby.  

*To learn more about the Ed Roberts Campus go to: www.edrobertscampus.org. To learn more about the neighborhood’s concerns go to: www.ercneighbors.com. 

Susan Parker is a writer who lives in North Oakland. 

Friday 

Baseball – Berkeley at Alameda, 3:30 p.m. at Alameda High School 

Softball – Berkeley at Alameda, 3:30 p.m. at Alameda High School 

Baseball – St. Mary’s at St. Patrick, 3:30 p.m. at St. Patrick High School 

Softball – St. Mary’s vs. St. Patrick, 3:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s High School 

Swimming – Berkeley at Encinal, 3:30 p.m. at Encinal High School 

Saturday 

Track & Field – Berkeley & St. Mary’s at OAL Invitational, 8:30 a.m. at Edwards Stadium

The loss of the ComputerWare store at Bonita and University avenues – the Bay Area chain went belly up at the beginning of the week – may be one sign that the high-tech downturn is making its way to the East Bay.  

Bill Lambert, who heads Berkeley’s economic development efforts, predicts that because of the city’s diversified economic base, Berkeley won’t get badly damaged in the downswing. 

“It won’t have a dramatic impact,” he said in an interview Thursday. 

But in the short run, the economy’s decline has “already had somewhat of an effect,” Lambert said.  

One year ago, there was no vacant office space. Now there’s an 11 percent vacancy rate in West Berkeley, he said.  

“Downtown is still strong,” he said, noting that brokers have told him that rents have dropped significantly in Emeryville, but stayed strong in Berkeley. 

Dick Odenheimer, a broker and partner with MRE Commercial Real Estate in Emeryville, agrees with Lambert on the basic long-term stability of Berkeley’s economy. He pointed to the  

university, noting that it drives much of the employment. “There are so many spin offs,” he said.  

Still Odenheimer has seen the negative signs: “I had five bankrupt tenants in the last few months,” he said, further noting, “We have way less demand than we have seen in the last couple of years.” 

ComputerWare was a 17-year-old Macintosh only retail store, which began with a single, tiny storefront in Palo Alto. Since 1984, the company had grown to 10 stores scattered around the Bay Area. 

The end came Monday night, when the chain’s primary investor, Knightsbridge Holdings of Las Vegas, abruptly pulled its funding. 

Even management employees at the chain’s headquarters didn’t know of the shutdown until they reported for work Tuesday and were told to clean out their desks, according to an online posting from one such employee. 

An inventory liquidation sale is going on at ComputerWare’s Sunnyvale store, but all the others are shut down. 

“Regrettably, after 17 years in business, we are unable to continue,” says a flier posted on the Berkeley store, signed only, “Your friends at ComputerWare.” 

Even though Lambert insists downtown Berkeley office space is strong, next to the empty ComputerWare store is an equally empty United Airlines ticket agency. It left at the end of January. Also bound to hurt the University Avenue area is last week’s closure of the UC Theater. 

On the plus side, however, is the second Berkeley Repertory Theatre stage that recently opened on Addison Street, one block south of University, and other nearby entertainment venues under construction. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story. 

By Erika Fricke 

Daily Planet Staff 

A discussion about government assistance for affordable housing at the UC Berkeley Journalism School Wednesday highlighted the paradox that most “affordable housing” subsidies go to middle-income home owners, while more and more Californians are left without the option of homeownership. 

The numbers tell the story in stark detail. John Landis, a professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley, said that approximately 65 percent of government funding for housing goes to home owners in the form of tax deductions for mortgages, property taxes, and capital gains from selling one’s home.  

A comparatively paltry 22 percent is spent on building and subsidizing affordable housing. Those percentages calculated into real numbers for 1999 come out to $110 billion spent on middle and upper income housing, and $27 billion for affordable housing.  

The program of tax relief for homeownership began at the time the tax code was implemented in 1915, said John Quigley, professor of economics and director of the program on housing and urban policy. He said there was “not one word of debate” on the record giving a reason for providing mortgage interest deductions.  

The belief in the importance of homeownership in the United States runs all the way back to Thomas Jefferson, speakers said. 

People believe homeownership creates better citizens. “Somehow if you’re a homeowner you’re a better citizen, more likely to vote, with lower (venereal disease) rates,” Quigley said. But, he noted that belief has not been supported by any study looking at citizenship and homeownership. Once you control for other factors, homeowners are simply not better citizens than non-homeowners, he said. 

Many in the audience touted the benefits of homeownership, including the ability to build equity over the years. As one Berkeley homeowner said, “If you look at the length of a person’s work life, that’s 30-35 years. At the end of a life’s work you don’t have anything to show.” 

“Owning a home is one way that the average bloke can get out from under the thumb of the guy who’s going to push them around,” he said, referring specifically to landlords. 

The problem is that for California, more and more people are being priced out of the market for homeownership. Currently, 22 percent of Californians need housing assistance. That’s about 2.4 million people. If the percentages stay constant, in 20 years, said Landis, 3.7 million people will need housing assistance. But with government assistance focused on homeownership, less than a quarter of those who are forced to rent are getting federal housing vouchers to help them find shelter. 

One further problem, said Gideon Anders, executive director of the National Housing Law Project, is that most of the subsidies do not serve the poorest of the poor, those who make 35 percent of the median income. 

Instead, he said, they provide subsidies to people who are not so badly off. The only government project that has ever provided housing for the very poor was the public housing projects. And they are no longer used as a means of providing housing to low-income residents.  

“The projects get starved in terms of security forces,” he said, until crime becomes so bad that even residents agree the project should be taken down. 

Instead affordable communities are built that provide housing to those who make about 60 percent of the median income, he said.  

Landis said that the very low-income, ones who were left behind by the market, or are recent low-income immigrants to California only make up about half of the people in need of assistance. The other half simply can’t find a house within their budget. “The biggest problem we have is we’re not producing enough of homes at market rate,” he said. 

California wildlife regulators took a major step Thursday toward putting the coho salmon north of San Francisco Bay on the state’s endangered species list, but stopped short of ordering an immediate listing. 

The unanimous action by the state Fish and Game Commission makes the coho a candidate for listing and triggers a yearlong review of its status. 

Commissioners also adopted regulations that essentially maintain the status-quo for 120 days for timber companies and landowners who would be most affected by the protection of the fish. 

Had they not adopted the regulations, the fish would have received immediate protection that would have outlawed the taking of any fish in the area. 

“It’s disappointing there won’t be an immediate change in how operations are conducted,” said Kathy Bailey of the Sierra Club. “However, it looks like the board is serious about trying to do something.” 

A dramatic decline in the population of coho prompted the calls last year for the state to list the species as endangered. But critics said such action would spawn unnecessary bureaucracy to protect the fish the federal government already considers threatened. 

Commissioners listened to five hours of testimony on the petition to list the coho. 

Mark Rentz, vice president and council of the California Forestry Association, told the board too little was known about the coho’s population trends to act on the petition. He also said biologists were at odds over how many of the fish exist. 

But Larry Week, chief of the Department of Fish and Game’s Native Anadromous Fish and Watershed Branch, said although exact numbers are not known, the population has clearly been declining dramatically over the last 50 years. 

“We believe there has been an overall, significant population decline,” he said. 

Tom Weseloh, who submitted the original petition on behalf of an environmental coalition, agreed. 

“This is not a population that has hit a low yet stable population (plateau). It is disappearing as we speak.” 

Coho salmon south of San Francisco Bay have been considered endangered by the state since late 1995. The federal government has considered them threatened in the Central Valley since 1996, and in Northern California since 1997. 

Department staff estimated the number of naturally spawned salmon returning to California waters had dropped by 1993 to 1 percent of levels in the 1950s. 

Department staff say in the 1940s and 1950s, some 500,000 native coho were returning to California. Today, they’re seeing only 5,000 return. 

If the salmon are added to the list next year, the species’ well-being would have to be considered whenever the state reviews proposals that could affect its habitat. 

That includes water diversions, timber harvests, gravel mining and other land or water uses, officials said. A listing also could prompt more studies and habitat restoration or protection programs. 

Commercial and sports fishermen are not affected. They have been forbidden from taking the fish for the last five years. 

Critics say the action by the state would not offer significant protection, but would make life more difficult for landowners in Northern Coastal California. 

On the Net: 

Department of Fish and Game: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ 

Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/

SAN FRANCISCO — Uninsured motorists injured in an auto accident caused by a government agency’s negligence cannot collect damages for pain and suffering, a divided California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. 

The high court said 1996 voter-approved Proposition 213 precludes such awards against the government, although the measure does allow uninsured motorists to collect damages to recover medical expenses, lost wages and other out-of-pocket costs. 

In the second time the court has ruled on Proposition 213, the justices ruled 5-2 that the measure prohibits most uninsured motorists from collecting damages for pain and suffering even if the accident was not the uninsured’s fault. Pain and suffering awards can run to hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars. 

Justice Stanley Mosk, in a sharp dissent, said the proposition only was intended to immunize insured drivers from paying such damages. He said the court’s majority is wrongly interpreting the measure by granting immunity to government agencies, the bodies responsible for ensuring  

safe roadways. 

“Compensating the victims of injuries caused by unsafe design or maintenance of public streets for pain and suffering operates as a strong incentive for cities and counties to prevent or abate dangerous conditions, thus minimizing risks to the public,” Mosk wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Joyce L. Kennard. “It also serves the important social goal of compensating injured persons for damages caused by the negligent acts of public entities.” 

Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote that the majority’s view on Proposition 213 was fair. What would be unfair is holding a government agency liable for huge pain-and-suffering awards for uninsured motorists, he said. 

That is because governmental bodies must pay for damage to city property caused by an uninsured motorist involved in an accident, Baxter wrote. Siding with the uninsured motorist, he said, would undermine the proposition’s goal “to prevent such drivers from being rewarded for their irresponsibility and law breaking.” 

It is a violation of California law to drive without proof of auto insurance. Proposition 213 passed after it was estimated that one-fourth of the driving public does not have auto insurance. was intended to limit the courthouse rights of the uninsured. 

The case decided Thursday involved a 19-year-old uninsured motorcyclist who suffered severe injuries during a 1991 auto accident in Fontana. After waiting years for a trial, a jury found Fontana and San Bernardino County responsible for half the accident because of their negligence in roadway maintenance. 

The motorcyclist’s trial came months after the 1996 proposition became law. The court did not concern itself that his injuries occurred five years before the measure’s passage. 

The hedges and weeds that obstructed the roadway and partly caused the accident have since been cleared. 

“Whether he had insurance or not, it was still an unsafe roadway,” said Wayne McClean, the motorcyclist’s attorney. 

In all, the jury awarded the injured motorcyclist $455,000. That money, to pay for Russell Day’s lost wages and medical expenses, is not enough to cover future surgeries Day will need, McClean said. 

Dennis E. Wagner, San Bernardino County deputy county counsel, said he was pleased with the decision. 

“Frankly, I’m assuming that perhaps government entities around the state will have a sigh of relief regarding this issue,” Wagner said. 

Still, in 1999, the high court said uninsured motorists could collect damages for pain and suffering from an automobile manufacturer in a product liability case. 

The case decided Thursday is Day vs. Fontana, S084616. 

LOS ANGELES — A political activist organization with ties to the Reform Party said Thursday it will try to get Tuesday’s mayoral election postponed due to alleged campaign finance violations by the state Republican and Democratic parties and two of the leading candidates. 

Jim Mangia, a Reform Party member who headed the party faction that challenged presidential nominee Pat Buchanan last year, said he will file a lawsuit against the state’s two leading parties for “illegally corrupting and tainting the Los Angeles mayoral race” and against two campaigns for conspiring with the parties to violate campaign finance law. 

The announcement came amid rising tensions in the tight mayoral race, which was marked by an off-stage shouting match this week between real estate broker Steve Soboroff and City Attorney James K. Hahn as they prepared to debate one another. Hahn called on Soboroff to reveal who is funding the Republican Party’s member communication campaign in support of Soboroff, while Soboroff described Hahn as “desperate.” 

The argument hit at the heart of Mangia’s complaint, which alleges the mayoral campaigns of Soboroff and former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa have violated the new campaign finance measure known as Proposition 34. 

Mangia’s coalition, which he says is represented by a pro bono attorney, alleges the parties violated the law by using funds to promote Soboroff and Villaraigosa without immediately reporting the source of income. 

He also accused the parties of allowing donors to earmark funds for candidates, which is illegal. 

“To allow the election to go forth under the present circumstances would confront L.A. with a mayor whose election would have been the product and result of fraud and corruption and create a debacle much worse than the situation we have witnessed in the recent presidential election in Florida,” said Mangia, president of the Coalition for Political Reform. 

Mangia said he planned to file his lawsuit Friday or Monday in state court and seek an injunction to postpone the election if the city Elections Division doesn’t do so. 

Elections Division spokeswoman Kristin Heffron said it is outside of the division’s authority to halt the election unless a judge orders so. Barbara Freeman, spokeswoman for the city Ethics Commission, said she was prohibited from commenting on whether there was is a pending investigation into the claims. 

Both parties denied accusations Thursday that they violated Proposition 34, maintaining that they never accepted earmarked donations and have every right to spend money to communicate with their members about the mayoral race. 

Villaraigosa’s spokeswoman Elena Stern described the announcement Thursday as a ploy to distract people from recent poll numbers that show Hahn’s lead over Villaraigosa and Soboroff diminishing. She said it seemed like more than a coincidence that the lawsuit announcement came on the heels of Hahn’s criticism of the party contributions to Villaraigosa and Soboroff’s campaigns. 

“His accusations against the Democratic Party serves as somewhat of a sour grapes distraction from that movement,” she said. 

Hahn spokesman Kam Kuwata said he had not seen the complaint, but that “the spirit of the law is clear to us – that full disclosure of money into the campaign is what voters wanted, what various legislative bodies have wanted.” 

Tony Miller, a campaign finance reform proponent who opposed Proposition 34 as insufficient, argued that the measure is vague and should be addressed in the courts. 

“We pointed out during the Proposition 34 campaign the danger in this regard and the fuzzy interpretation which could allow for the very abuse which we see right now,” he said. “I certainly don’t think it’s what the people intended when they voted for Proposition 34.” 

Fifteen candidates are vying for the nonpartisan seat. If no single candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will face one another in a June runoff. 

LOS ANGELES — The conspiracy case against an Algerian accused of smuggling explosives into the country went to the jury Thursday after prosecutors accused him of being a determined terrorist and the defense suggested he was an unwitting courier. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hamilton told jurors to look at Ahmed Ressam’s behavior after his arrest, efforts he went to in buying bomb timer components and the dozens of fingerprints he left everywhere. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Ressam’s actions in this case were not spontaneous. They were the result of careful planning by a number of individuals and that’s what a conspiracy is,” Hamilton said. 

Ressam was arrested on Dec. 14, 1999, by U.S. Customs inspectors at Port Angeles, Wash., when he arrived by ferry from Canada. The government alleged that bomb-making materials found in his rental car were intended for attacks on West Coast sites, possibly during millennium celebrations. 

Ressam faces a sentence of up to 130 years in prison if convicted. The jury spent three hours behind closed doors before concluding its first day of deliberations. 

In his closing statement, Hamilton said law enforcement stopped a terrorist attack which could have destroyed buildings and injured many people. 

“The evidence has established that Ahmed Ressam is a trained terrorist,” Hamilton said. “His plan was to tear down the very fabric of our society. He must be held accountable for his actions.” 

But federal public defender JoAnn Oliver argued that Ressam was incapable of carrying out sophisticated plots and was the victim of co-defendant Abdelmajid Dahoumane, who “shadowed him every step of the way.” 

“This is somebody who is not a smooth, planned-out operator,” she said of the slender, 33-year-old Ressam. 

“When he’s left alone to cross the border, with Mr. Dahoumane not shadowing him, he’s not able to do anything right,” she said. 

Algerian authorities say they have Dahoumane in custody and he will be tried there on charges of participating in terrorist groups. 

Oliver did not deny that Ressam’s car was filled with explosives but she suggested he was not part of a conspiracy, even if one existed. 

“You do not have any evidence, concrete, of what that was about and whether Ahmed Ressam knew anything about it,” Oliver said. 

“The government has appealed to emotion, sensationalism and fear to allow you, the jury, to take the facts that are provided and jump to other speculative conclusions.” 

Oliver said there was considerable reasonable doubt on many of the issues. She pointed to the fact that a Los Angeles map found in Ressam’s Montreal apartment was entered in evidence although forensic experts differed on whether there were markings on it when it was discovered. 

During testimony, an FBI agent insisted there were circles drawn around specific locations including Los Angeles International Airport. 

Oliver noted there were no traces of explosives found in a motel room occupied by Ressam and Dahoumane in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the government claimed the explosives were made, and she said Ressam’s association with Algerians listed in an address book proved nothing. 

“A person does not become a conspirator merely by associating with members of a conspiracy,” she said. 

Hamilton dismissed the mystery surrounding the Los Angeles map. 

“We don’t know what Mr. Ressam’s targets were, but that’s why terrorism is so frightening,” he said. “Anything could have been a target.” 

Oliver attacked the government for using as its key witness Abdel Ghani Meskini, an Algerian who was seized in New York after Ressam’s arrest, pleaded guilty to conspiracy last month and agreed to cooperate. 

Oliver called Meskini a liar, cheat, thief and opportunist. 

Hamilton countered that jurors should consider that “terrorists don’t hang out with choir boys and Boy Scouts.” 

During testimony the prosecution had difficulty drawing connections to an international conspiracy and was barred from mentioning alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden on grounds it would be prejudicial without sufficient proof. 

However, prosecutors were able to introduce plane tickets showing that Ressam went to Pakistan in 1998. Meskini’s testimony suggested that was a route to Afghanistan and training camps there. 

The prosecution’s trial brief, which the jury did not see, said Ressam went to Afghanistan via Pakistan in March 1998 and learned how to create homemade explosives in a jihad training camp. 

Hamilton told the jury that Ressam had a return trip ferry ticket and airplane tickets to both London and Paris when he was arrested. 

“Mr. Ressam had more escape options built into this plan than James Bond,” Hamilton said. “He had the option to flee from the United States before the bombs went off.” 

Two Earth First! activists were arrested Thursday for trespassing on Humboldt County land owned by Pacific Lumber Co. 

Activists have blocked the company’s access road to the area in remote Humboldt County since November, according to spokesman Josh Brown. 

Sheriff’s deputies arrested two people, whose names were not immediately available, according to Detective David Walker. A third protester was being removed from a junked car and was expected to be arrested. 

The trio was inside the car, which had its wheels and floor removed, with their arms locked into a steel pipe embedded in cement, Walker said. 

“They were trespassing,” Pacific Lumber spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkel said. “They’re breaking the law. They don’t belong there. There are other avenues of protesting and it was important for us to gain access to our privately owned property.” 

Bullwinkel said protesters recently threatened the company’s wildlife biologists. 

“We need to get some wildlife studies done,” she said, adding that Pacific Lumber wants to resume logging operations immediately. 

Earth First! wants to stop Pacific Lumber from harvesting the 3,000 acres of old growth Douglas fir in the Mattole River watershed west of Scotia. An elaborate blockade has been set up for 128 days. 

“It’s a huge phenomenal chunk of Douglas fir on geologically young ground,” said Paul Mason with the Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center. ”(Pacific Lumber) has these proposals to do serious liquidation of remaining old growth fir in the lower fork of the Mattole.” 

EPIC had sued to block logging in the area, but its request for an injunction was denied in November. 

Area residents such as David Simpson, who’s lived in Petrolia since 1970, are concerned about erosion, water quality and a depleted salmon population. 

“Our position is not that we want to see all logging stopped,” Simpson said. “We need to implement good forestry here. Because there’s so little left we want to protect the old growth. ... Pacific Lumber has pushed and pushed so there’s very little way for anyone to interpret that what they’re doing is good for the territory.” 

SACRAMENTO — About four-fifths of California’s ninth graders took the English half of Gov. Gray Davis’ new state high school graduation test last month, state school officials said Thursday. 

An estimated 395,000 of the state’s 480,000 public school freshmen took the test on March 7, the state Department of Education said. 

An estimate is not yet available on how many took the math half of the new test on March 13. State Superintendent Delaine Eastin told local officials in a letter this week that she anticipates that number could be higher. 

Education officials had worried that participation last month might be low because of confusion over whether or not the test will count for the ninth graders who took it. 

The high number of test takers will give state officials and the testing company more information about the quality of the test, officials say. 

Students who took the test will not know whether or not they passed until August. The state originally had planned to send out scores next month, but is delaying that until after the state Board of Education sets a passing score this summer. 

The Legislature two years ago approved Davis’ proposal that high school students pass a new English and math test to graduate, beginning with the class of 2004, today’s freshmen. 

The law allows ninth graders to voluntarily take the test, and those who get a passing grade will not have to take it again. All 10th graders who have not passed must take it next year. Students will have several other chances to take the test before graduation. 

However, Davis proposed in December making this year’s test only a practice for the ninth graders. He said court decisions have said it is better to have all students subject to the test take it at one time, such as in 10th grade, to have a complete sample of students. 

A bill to make the test a practice exam this year failed in the Legislature, just two days before the English exam was given. That means the test counts this year for the ninth graders. 

Eastin said the test company will be consulting with a panel of teachers, administrators, parents and community members to help set the passing grade. 

She plans to give the state Board of Education a recommended passing score at its June meeting. Student results would be sent to schools by Aug. 15, she said.

SACRAMENTO — The state has taken over the management of three nursing homes where investigators found evidence of patient neglect, health officials announced Thursday. 

The three include the Lodi Health Care Center in San Joaquin County and the Crescent Care Center of Yucca Valley and Crescent Alzheimer’s Care Center, both in San Bernardino County. 

The TLC Health Care Inc. homes are also the subject of the state’s first-ever civil enforcement action for poor patient care, according to Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s office. 

The civil action seeks $2 million in civil penalties and restitution of at least $50,000 to the Medi-Cal program. Criminal action could be pursued after more investigation, Lockyer spokeswoman Sandra Michioku said. 

A state law that took effect in January empowers the Department of Health Services to more quickly take over management of nursing homes that fall short of state quality-of-care standards. 

The attorney general’s complaint against TLC, filed in Riverside County Superior Court, alleges violations in 37 different categories of state and federal law. 

Investigators said they found residents at the three homes suffering from severe bed sores, dehydration, malnutrition, poor hygiene and injuries from falls that required surgery. 

Owner Rocky Lemon abandoned the California facilities, stopped paying bills and cannot be located, said Lea Brooks, a Department of Health Services spokeswoman. 

Oklahoma and Texas have taken similar actions against several TLC nursing homes in those states. Several other states are also pursuing investigations against nursing homes owned by Lemon. 

Lemon did not immediately respond to messages left at his Pacific Palisades house and cellular phone Thursday by The Associated Press seeking comment. 

TLC Health Care Inc. is based in Oklahoma, DHS officials said. There was no phone number listed. 

Tim DeGusti, an Oklahoma attorney who has represented TLC Health Care, said he was unaware of the California allegations and did not know how to reach Lemon. 

In a written statement to an Oklahoma newspaper, Lemon denied running shoddy facilities in Texas and Oklahoma. He said the homes didn’t have enough money to operate but he denied that patients were treated poorly. 

California health officials began monitoring the three facilities after receiving complaints that food and supplies were running low and paychecks had bounced, Brooks said. 

“We literally had bills not being paid. The staff really stayed because they care about the patients,” Brooks said. 

The civil action also accuses Lemon of poor patient care at Crescent Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Indio in Riverside County, which has been sold to another company and has made improvements. 

The Ensign Group, based in San Juan Capistrano, will manage the three nursing homes until a new owner can be found, Brooks said. The company manages 19 nursing homes in four states, including two in California. 

The new state law requires targeted nursing homes to pay for the managers. 

Darren Burgess, Oklahoma Health Department assistant deputy commissioner for protective health services, said authorities there also have uncovered incidents of nursing staff walking off the job, of payroll checks bouncing and of phone service being turned off. 

“Had not new management stepped in, we would have considered temporary managers or even closure,” Burgess said. “We are aggressively monitoring the former Rocky Lemon homes, and we’ll do everything in our power to see that there is little or no impact on patient care.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

DHS: http://www.dhs.cahwnet.gov 

BIG SUR — Five California condors stepped tentatively into the wilderness and then flew away Thursday, the latest move in a difficult effort to bring the rare birds back from near-extinction. 

The release was attended by U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who drew measured praise from environmentalists who welcomed her presence but questioned her commitment to the Endangered Species Act. 

“I think its time for freedom. Open the door,” Norton said through a radio, prompting one the birds’ handlers to pull a rope opening their pen. 

Soon the three females and two males were flying over a 4,000-foot high ridge overlooking the Pacific in the Ventana wilderness, a rugged section of California’s wild central coast. 

About 150 environmentalists, politicians and scientists gathered on a remote ridge for the big moment. The only journalist who saw it up close was AP photographer Ben Margot, who shot pictures from behind a blind about 140 feet away. 

A “mentor bird” that had been released and then captured again for the job of leading the five chicks into the wild entered the pen. Then, one by one, the mentor and the chicks stepped out into the stiff ocean breeze. 

“Most of the chicks looked around. Some hopped off onto a little perch and raised their wings, stretching them in the wind before flying away in different directions. 

“I’ll never forget the sound the wind made as they flew over,” Margot said. “Even as chicks, their wings are huge. It sounded like a huge kite going over your head.” 

Nancy Weiss, an activist with the Defenders of Wildlife, expressed hopes that Norton’s presence shows the Bush administration recognizes that Americans “want more, not less protection for endangered species, wilderness, and natural resources.” 

Norton said no decisions have been made, but she is reviewing the law. 

“What I would like to do is look at existing programs to minimize conflict within the Endangered Species Act,” Norton said. “Too often landowners are afraid to find endangered species on their land.” 

Norton said part of the reason she wanted to see the release is because she worked on lawsuits in the 1980s that led to the capturing of all condors to breed them in captivity and boost their numbers. 

The release site is nearby Fort Hunter, a military base where the Navy wants to drop more bombs. 

U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., has been a vocal opponent of the Navy’s proposed expansion, in part because of the area’s sensitive wildlife. 

“The success of bringing the condor back is because the habitat is not in conflict with different uses,” Farr said. “I’m trying to get all the secretaries out here to see what we are trying to do for restoration and preservation.” 

Norton said she was still learning about the Navy’s plan but said she is sure that steps would be taken to accommodate the condors. 

Norton, a strong supporter of property rights, has advocated that the government pay landowners for losses they might suffer from regulations that limit how they can use their land. 

But the release of condors into the wild has garnered little opposition, said Kelly Sorenson, assistant director of the Ventana Wilderness Society, the group that released the condors Thursday. Condor releases also are done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Peregrine Fund. 

After Thursday’s release, the total wild condor population is 51, including 24 in California and 27 in Arizona.  

Their habitat is the mostly coastal mountain ranges from Canada to Mexico, and they nest in caves or crevices on steep cliffs. 

The bird, a large scavenger related to the vulture, was first put on the endangered species list in 1967.  

In 1890, there were an estimated 600 condors, but that number dropped to an all-time low in 1982, when there were only 22 in existence. 

To preserve the species, all condors were taken out of the wild, with the last one being caught in 1987.  

The program to release them back into the wild, primarily in national forests, began in 1992, and now there are a total of 160 in the wild and in captivity. 

The goal is to have 150 condors in the wild, with 15 of those being breeding pairs.  

The condors being released Thursday all are 1 year old. 

While the reasons for the condors’ decline are numerous, two major causes were poisoning and shooting. The birds are susceptible to lead poisoning, which they sometimes ingest from carcasses of animals that have been shot. 

Also, the condors breed infrequently — laying eggs only every other year. 

Since the rerelease began, 117 have been sent into the wild, but 42 of those have died and 26 have been brought back into captivity because they had too much interaction with humans. 

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis for the first time Thursday endorsed rate increases for customers of two strapped utilities, while urging conservation and defending his handling of the state’s energy crisis. 

Davis, addressing Californians in a televised speech, also lashed out at federal regulators for refusing to cap soaring wholesale electricity prices that have pushed the state’s two largest utilities close to bankruptcy. 

“In January, with the feds still refusing to do their job, California stepped in to purchase the power the utilities could no longer afford to buy,” Davis said. “We didn’t take over to save the utilities. We took over to keep the power on and the economy strong.” 

California has been hit by severe electricity shortages and rolling blackouts the past few months. The problem is blamed on several factors, including deregulation of California’s electric industry that did not let investor-owned utilities recoup rising costs from customers. 

Davis, who repeatedly has said the state can resolve the power problems without rate hikes, told viewers he now thinks rate increases are necessary. 

His new stance comes after the state Public Utilities Commission last week approved rate increases of up to 46 percent for customers of Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. 

The commission has not yet decided how to spread the rate increases among the utilities’ customers. 

Davis said he will propose a tiered rate plan that will mean a 26.5 percent rate increase for the average Edison or PG&E customer. Under the governor’s plan, the heaviest power users would see an average 34.5 percent rate increase. 

“The more you use, the more you pay,” he said. “Conservation is our best short-term weapon against blackouts and price gouging.” 

Edison and PG&E customers already saw rate hikes of 9 to 15 percent in January. Another increase of 10 percent is scheduled for next year. The governor’s plan assumes that rate increase will take effect. 

According to the Davis administration, the governor’s plan would let Edison, PG&E and the state’s third investor-owned utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, make a total of $8 billion in debt payments over a decade. 

Davis’ plan would shift the burden of the PUC rate increase to heavier residential, commercial and industrial power users while largely sparing agricultural users, who would only see increases of 5 to 15 percent. 

“We are going to take the governor’s proposal under advisement and give it a lot of weight, I suspect,” PUC Commissioner Carl Wood said, adding that he expects a commission decision within the next 45 days. 

Davis said the state’s power crunch and high wholesale costs are the result of a “flawed deregulation scheme” signed into law in 1996 by then-Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. 

Edison, PG&E and the San Diego utility say they have lost more than $14 billion since June due to soaring wholesale power costs. 

More than $13 billion of that comes from Edison and PG&E, who have been barred under the state’s deregulation law from recovering the rising costs from their customers. 

The state began buying power for all three utilities in early January and has dedicated $4.7 billion in taxpayer money to the purchases since January. That money will eventually be recouped from ratepayers. 

Davis urged Californians to help cut power use 10 percent to fend off rolling blackouts this summer, when residents will turn on their air conditioners and demand will rise sharply. 

The Legislature on Thursday afternoon sent Davis proposals that would spend $1.1 billion on conservation programs for consumers and businesses. Davis plans to sign the measures next week. 

Davis – facing mounting pressure from Republicans and fellow Democrats to resolve California’s energy crisis – delivered his speech from behind a desk, with his hands clasped in front of him. 

He assured residents the state will survive the crisis. 

“We are Californians. We’ve withstood earthquakes, floods, fires and droughts,” Davis said. “Yes, this is man-made, but with your help and God’s blessing, we’ll get through this as well.” 

He said he would stand by his plan to help restore the utilities to financial health by negotiating state acquisition of their transmission lines.  

Davis said his plan would require them to sell low-cost power to the state for a decade and drop lawsuits seeking to double their electric rates. 

PG&E, which unlike Edison has yet to agree to a transmission deal in principle, said Davis’ speech fails to offer a “comprehensive solution” to the energy crisis. 

Davis urged Californians to help cut power use 10 percent to fend off rolling blackouts this summer, when residents will crank their air conditioners and demand will rise sharply. 

The Legislature on Thursday afternoon sent Davis proposals that would spend $1.1 billion on conservation programs for consumers and businesses. Davis plans to sign the measures. 

He listed actions he has taken to try to solve the power crisis, including negotiating long-term contracts to purchase power and trying to speed power plant construction. 

The speech, the first such message Davis has delivered besides his annual State of the State address, comes as the GOP and even fellow Democrats criticize the governor’s handling of the crisis. 

Consumer groups, angered by the rate increases, are promising a revolt at the polls in 2002, planning to roll back the rate hikes through an initiative that would share the ballot with Davis, who is up for re-election then. 

Consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield said Davis is failing to protect utility customers. He compared power suppliers to blackmailers charging an “extortionary price for electricity.” 

“Nothing the governor has said tonight will do anything to stop the profiteers,” said Rosenfield of the Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights in Santa Monica. 

Power supplier Duke Energy said it has done nothing wrong and doesn’t deserve criticism for the wholesale prices. 

“We are running our power plants at historically high levels to keep consumers’ lights on,” Duke said in a written statement. 

What's Next: 

• The Davis administration continues negotiations with Edison, PG&E and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. over state acquisition of their  

transmission lines. 

• FERC holds a conference Tuesday in Boise, Idaho, on Western 

energy issues. 

• Edison and PG&E are expected to file their 2000 earnings reports April 17. 

• The Assembly plans to resume hearings in its inquiry into  

California’s highest-in-the-nation natural gas prices April 18. 

The problem: 

• High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission glitches 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 nearly $14 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. 

• The Public Utilities Commission has raised rates up to 46 percent to help finance the state’s multibillion-dollar power-buying. 

• Even before those increases, California residents paid some of the highest prices in the nation for electricity. Federal statistics from October show residential customers in California paid an average of 10.7 cents per kilowatt hour, or 26 percent more than the nationwide average of 8.5 cents. Only customers in New England, New York, Alaska and Hawaii paid more. 

The 72-0 roll call by which the California Assembly voted Thursday to approve an energy conservation bill by  

Sen. Byron Sher, D-Stanford. 

Asemblymember Aroner (Berkeley) :Yes 

State Sen. Perata (Oakland): Yes 

——— 

On the Net: 

www.governor.ca.gov 

Read the conservation legislation, SB5x by Sher and AB29x by Kehoe, at www.sen.ca.gov 

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders after he learned that Israeli soldiers fired on a convoy carrying Palestinian security chiefs. 

“We wanted to ensure that escalation would not ensue,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. 

The incident came after high-level security officials from both sides held inconclusive talks in Israel about how to halt the bloodshed in the region. 

A U.S. representative attended the meeting “to facilitate, to monitor and to report back any developments” to Powell, Boucher said. “We think they had a positive and useful exchange, but I’m not in a position to go into detail on that particular meeting.” 

Powell first spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after hearing early Thursday morning that the convey returning to Gaza after the talks was fired upon. 

Boucher said details about the shooting were not clear, but Powell received assurances from Sharon that the convoy was not being singled out. 

“Israel does have a responsibility to provide  

for the safety and security of Palestinian officials traveling to and from the security meetings,” Boucher said. 

Powell then called Palestinian Yasser Arafat and was heartened that Arafat apparently had spoken with Sharon about the incident. 

“We would encourage that kind of cooperation,” Boucher said. But he noted that during such a volatile period, “public statements from both sides should highlight the need for utmost restraint to prevent deterioration of the serious situation on the ground.” 

The Bush administration has said the United States will not mediate as actively as it did under former President Clinton. Instead, the nation will rely on the Israelis and Palestinians to take the lead in direct talks. 

The United States was able to bring both sides in the issue “get together and talk to each other” Wednesday night in Israel, Boucher said. 

“That’s what we’re doing. That is, we think, the most useful thing for us to do right now,” he said. 

A coalition of lawmakers sent Bush a letter Thursday asking him to re-evaluate the United States’ relationship with the Palestinians, blaming them for the disintegration of peace talks in the region.  

The letter, signed by 209 representatives and 87 senators, asked Bush to consider closing the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington and stopping U.S. aid to the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON — Senate and White House negotiators agreed Wednesday to a plan that takes money from persistently failing schools and gives it to families for tutoring programs. 

The plan attempts to restore vestiges of President Bush’s school voucher proposal without directly giving money to private schools. It also includes provisions, supported by centrist Democrats, that would force failing schools to give students the option of transferring to another public school. As a last resort, the failing school would be reopened as a charter school with a new staff and curriculum, two Senate sources familiar with the negotiations said. 

The Senate will debate the education package later this month. 

Bush’s original proposal would have allowed the families to use their share of the federal funds given to low-performing schools for tuition to private schools, for transportation to other public schools, or for other educational services. 

In a compromise worked out by Senate and White House negotiators this week, the parents could use some of the money only on supplementary afterschool, weekend or summer tutoring programs, sources said. 

The programs could be run by community-based groups, for-profit businesses or local school districts. 

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., had tried to attach the tuition voucher plan to the education bill in committee, but withdrew it in the face of almost certain defeat. At the time, he left open the possibility of introducing a voucher amendment when the bill reached the Senate floor. 

Democrats have raised the possibility of a filibuster over vouchers, saying they would drain money from struggling public schools. 

But in negotiations this week, the two sides agreed on some of the top goals of Bush’s education agenda, including testing, more school accountability and block grants for schools to upgrade their teaching skills. 

One of the Senate sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the block grant program, if approved by Congress and signed into law by Bush, initially would be tried in a limited fashion. 

In another compromise, lawmakers agreed to include charter school and public school choice plans championed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. 

“It was incumbent on us, if we didn’t like vouchers, to come back and provide an answer,” a Democratic aide said. 

The two sides were still negotiating Thursday on the actual amount of money the Senate would propose for education spending, a Republican Senate aide said, adding that disagreements over funding could affect some Democrats’ support of the proposals. 

“If you don’t get agreement on funding levels, then you have to worry that support for the bill might not be as strong,” he said. 

The president has promised to boost spending on education and has proposed a $44.5 billion budget for the Education Department, an 11.5 percent increase over the original budget proposal for this year. 

Democrats want to double the education budget over the next 10 years. The Senate on Wednesday approved an amendment by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, that would increase funding for education by $250 billion in that period. 

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has said he wants to take up the education bill on April 23, when the Senate returns from its two-week Easter recess. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month unanimously approved a bill that closely resembles Bush’s education blueprint. It includes giving schools increased flexibility for spending federal dollars in exchange for more accountability, requiring them to test students annually in math and reading from third through eighth grade. 

The committee rejected a proposal from Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., that would have required schools to set aside $1.5 billion for teachers’ professional development, and an amendment from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., that would have provided $2.4 billion to reduce elementary school class sizes through third grade. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: http://labor.senate.gov 

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration backed away from a proposal to ease salmonella testing requirements on meat for school lunches, saying it was overruling lower level Agriculture Department officials. 

The administration reversed course Thursday after the proposal made front-page news, provoking criticism from consumer groups already angered by President Bush’s withdrawal of a standard for the amount of arsenic allowable in drinking water – a standard issued by President Clinton. 

“It makes for a very tough morning when you open most newspapers in this country and find a front-page story that your administration is relaxing standards on the safety of school lunch programs,” said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who favors testing. “That’s a hard one to sell.” 

The proposed changes were on the Agriculture Department’s Web site on Wednesday, but were gone by Thursday morning. 

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the changes “were released prior to receiving an appropriate review.” 

Thus, the procedures, which require meat bought for government school lunch programs be tested to ensure it is salmonella-free, will remain. The bacteria usually cause only mild intestinal symptoms, but about 600 people die from it each year and children are especially vulnerable to serious infections. 

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said news reports of the proposed changes prompted Veneman to accelerate her decision-making process and her announcement. As of Wednesday, she had not made up her mind, he said. 

Fleischer denied that political considerations drove the decision. 

“The secretary made her decision based on the merits and based on protecting schoolchildren,” he said. 

Fleischer said the proposal announced by the agency on Wednesday originated in “the lower level of the Department of Agriculture.” 

Critics have increasingly been charging that in his early decisions, Bush has favored corporate interests. 

Last month, after heavy lobbying from the coal industry, Bush abandoned a campaign pledge to limit power plants’ emissions of carbon dioxide. 

The American Meat Institute, an industry group, had attacked the salmonella testing rules as having “no basis in public health.” The industry pressed Veneman to overturn them, as did the American School Food Service Association. 

About 5 percent of the beef offered to USDA over the past year tested positive for salmonella and was rejected. 

Before last year, the government would buy meat from any plant that was federally inspected. 

Instead of salmonella tests, the Agriculture Department had proposed tightening the processing standards that slaughterhouses and processing plants would have to meet to continue selling ground beef, pork or turkey to the government.  

Plants would have been tested for general bacteria counts as an indicator of overall plant cleanliness. 

The new rules would have required slaughterhouses to put carcasses through at least two antimicrobial rinses.  

Beef also would be tested for deadly form of E. coli, as well as general bacteria levels. Plants with consistent problems were to be dropped as suppliers. 

Consumer groups immediately assailed the proposed changes Wednesday. 

“This decision means that neither federal inspectors nor the companies involved will test for a potentially deadly pathogen in meat going to millions of schoolchildren nationwide,” said Carol Tucker Foreman, who oversaw USDA’s food-safety programs during the Carter administration and now represents the Consumer Federation of America. 

Thursday, she praised the administration. 

“I have to thank the Bush administration for seeing the folly of their ways and reversing this decision,” she said

NEW YORK — Ah, spring. Cool breezes, blue skies, daffodils – it’s so lovely outside. 

But what about inside? It’s hard to get into the spring spirit when the house is littered with blankets, thick drapes cover the windows and dust bunnies are lurking in every corner. 

A house in spring should feel “light and airy, less cluttered,” says Rachel Ashwell, founder of the Shabby Chic stores in Los Angeles and Chicago and host of “Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic” on E! and style. networks. She also is featured in the book “Designers in Residence,” which showcases 18 designers’ personal styles. 

“It’s about what you’re taking away rather than what you’re bringing in,” says Ashwell. 

She suggests rolling up rugs and taking down drapes as the first order of business: “Pack them up and send them off to the dry cleaners.” 

If you feel too exposed without drapes, Ashwell says voile panels can be pinned over windows for a simple, no-fuss covering. Voile is a light, semitransparent fabric. 

And if your hardwood floors are not quite up to snuff, Peri Wolfman, vice president of product design for Williams-Sonoma, suggests a thin, natural-fiber rug. 

Light-colored slipcovers on furniture can make a room seem brighter, according to Ashwell, and replacing duvet covers with light bed coverings such as thin blankets and quilts is a cool option for the bedroom. 

Ashwell also suggests moving green plants, which have probably been indoors all winter, to the deck or yard to give them some natural light. Fresh-cut daffodils or colorful weeds are good replacements. (See, weeds are good for something.) 

Wolfman, who co-authored the book “A Place for Everything,” suggests searching flea markets for “spatterware” jugs. The heavy, ceramic containers covered in spattered paint can be filled with colorful hydrangeas. 

Tricia Foley and Mary Baltz, who also are featured in “Designers in Residence,” say displaying branches, including pussywillow, forsythia and apple blossoms, is a colorful way to bring spring indoors. 

Peggy Kennedy, editor in chief of Victoria magazine, suggests throwing out any dried flowers that are hanging around the house. They don’t have the fresh, youthful feeling of springtime, she explains. 

Get rid of any leftover winter holiday decorations, too. 

For the dining room, Kennedy says a floor-length voile tablecloth gives an air of breeziness and color. 

Baltz notes that people want their lives to be simpler, and their houses should reflect that, especially in spring. 

“People don’t want a lot of things around them if they’re not useful or pleasing to they eye.” 

And pleasant splashes of color can help evoke the change of seasons. “Celadon, celery green, hyacinth blue ... really the first colors you think of naturally in spring,” Baltz says. 

Although she admits that “painting” is an intimidating word to those who are not particularly crafty, she says putting a layer of paint on something – shutters, a small table, a wall – gives a quick change in atmosphere. 

New houseware accessories also can bring an aura of spring into a room. Wolfman suggests buying some new dish towels, and using them as big napkins – or “lapkins” – for a fresh spring table. 

After cleaning off your surfaces and doing some simple brightening up, there’s only one thing left to do: scrub. 

A good, thorough spring cleaning is not just essential for aesthetic purposes, it’s healthy. 

Jeff Wald, an allergist in Overland Park, Kan., says people with allergies should have “polished surfaces” in their home. Dust mites and pet allergens, which wreak havoc on allergy-sufferers, will not accumulate as well on hard wood, ceramic tile or linoleum. 

Mold is another allergen that can build up in a house all winter, according to Wald. A musty smell can indicate a mold problem. 

Although he says a “deep cleaning,” is advisable, he warns that getting into your house’s nooks and crannies can stir up mold and dust mites. 

He suggests wearing a mask or taking allergy medicine, or – better yet – have someone without allergies do the cleaning.

Did you know you can order art-quality photography at a pittance from the Library of Congress, or that you can turn a flea-market find into a lamp with decorative mountings available at almost any lamp shop? 

Or that white boat-enamel paint is the secret to giving vintage furniture a high-gloss finish? 

You can accomplish these quick decorating projects and many more usually in an hour or two – or at most an afternoon. 

Here are a few of the easiest ideas: 

• Order archival prints by famous American photographers from the Print & Photography Reading Room of the Library of Congress. Check the Web site, www.loc.gov/rr/print. The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston is another source of American history-based photography prints and can be reached by calling (617) 929-4500. 

• Look for interesting, one-of-a-kind objects, perhaps from your own collection, that can be made into lamps at a lamp shop. If it is impractical to drill holes for wiring, use decorative mounting sold at lamp shops and attach to a base. Dress up a plain shade with hand-sewn or hot-glued trims. Beaded trim offers a fashionable look. 

• Clean up and repaint country or cottage furniture for a more contemporary look. Sand to remove the remnants of peeling paint. Prime and repaint with shiny white enamel. To enhance the shine, replace hardware with sleeker styles. 

• Plan how accessories and collections are displayed. For the most effective presentations, group all of one collection together rather than scattering it around a room. Whatever you collect will look more important and interesting when it is arranged together. Consider less than obvious places, such as lining your stairs, to display your treasures. 

• Collect objects, such as painted metal tole trays, plates, old leather, books, boxes, baskets and small unframed painting for backgrounds and elevations. For example, lean a tray or unframed painting against the back of a bookshelf and display an object or framed family photograph in front. Or use books to raise small objects, such as framed snapshots or tiny vases, so they are more visible. Purchase miniature easels or plate stands for displays. 

• Be on the hunt for affordable accessories that enhance the personal style of your home. The secret: scour flea markets and tag and garage sales for interesting items, such as alarm clocks, teapots, crockery or vases that appeal to you. Narrow your collecting to one material, color or group. 

• Make the most of family photographs and snapshots. Choose one material, such as silver-plate or brass, for your frames and group framed pieces on a skirted table in your living room. Or mix snapshots with books and other family memorabilia in a bookcase. 

• Pick a theme with easy-to-find motifs and objects for a quick decorating starting point. For a country-French look, shop for figurines of farm animals, such as roosters and pigs, often associated with the style. 

• Use your wedding or other special-occasion presents every day. Don’t put away your good vases or save serving pieces for holidays. Instead, fill them with flowers from the market or your garden for a polished finishing touch. Remember the design rule of an odd number of elements, such as a vase, lamp and plate on a stand, for harmony. 

• Substitute accent pillows from a linen outlet or discount store for pillow inserts, even if you plan to cover them with new fabric. Then you have two pillows for the price of one. As a further budget-stretcher, sew covers from fabric remnants or from oversize dinner napkins. 

MANILA, Philippines — In the face of a last-ditch military offensive, Muslim rebels retreated from their threat to kill an American hostage Thursday and send his head to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a birthday present. 

Just minutes before the threatened execution, Carol Schilling was hooked up on live radio with the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group that has held her 25-year-old son, Jeffrey, since last August. 

Carol Schilling, a YMCA accountant from Oakland, had been told twice before that her son’s execution was imminent. 

But this threat had been the most specific – beheading at 5 p.m. Thursday, Arroyo’s 54th birthday. Similarly, two Filipino school teachers held by the group were killed last April to mark then-President Joseph Estrada’s birthday. 

Fearing the worst, Carol Schilling flew to Manila for the first time. 

Just before the deadline, the Radio Mindanao Network got through to Abu Sabaya, a rebel spokesman who spoke on a satellite phone from the remote jungles of Jolo island in the southern Philippines. 

Carol Schilling wasn’t sure she heard correctly when Abu Sabaya said over the crackling connection that the beheading was off – for now. 

“The execution has been suspended already,” Sabaya repeated. “If you want to solve this problem just call (Arroyo) to back off the military operations, otherwise we might be provoked to execute Jeffrey Schilling.” 

After a brief pause, the pragmatic-sounding Mrs. Schilling said: “I’m helpless in the ways of government but I will do whatever I can.” 

Carol Schilling, 51, used the next few minutes of their shaky connection to read off names and phone numbers of government officials, pleading with Sabaya to phone them in an effort to negotiate. 

Both the Philippine and U.S. governments expressed thanks that Schilling had been spared, but reiterated their refusal to pay ransom for hostages. Abu Sayyaf, thought to number about 1,200, has sought $10 million for Schilling. 

“This was the right decision,” a U.S. Embassy statement said. “We urge (Schilling’s) prompt release so he can go home with his mother and be with his family.” 

Earlier in the day, Carol Schilling went on radio and TV to plead for her only son’s release, as did his tearful Filipino bride, Ivy Osana.  

She had taken Schilling to meet Sabaya – her cousin – who then refused to let the Muslim convert leave. 

“We call him our gentle giant, and we want his great big bear hug,” Carol Schilling said on radio. 

At the same time, the government was on the offensive, pouring helicopter gunships, armed personnel carriers and troops into Jolo, a volcanic island, to search for guerrilla hide-outs. 

The rebel group, which claims to seek an independent Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines, became famous last year after seizing dozens of hostages, many of them foreigners, in daring raids.  

Most were released, reportedly for multimillion-dollar ransoms negotiated by Libyan officials. Only Schilling and a Filipino dive resort worker remain in captivity. 

Although her fledgling government is in the process of setting up peace talks with communist rebels and another Muslim rebel group, Arroyo ordered “all-out war” against Abu Sayyaf on Monday when they threatened to behead Schilling as her “birthday gift.”

“Border guards and search lights and escape attempts and death in the middle of Berlin,” said a Berliner, remembering the days of the Berlin Wall in “After the Fall.”  

“I don’t think there’s any way to reproduce that except on a Hollywood film set, and that’s something entirely different.” 

“After the Fall,” a new documentary by Joris Ivans about the psychological wall that still exists as a phantom of the wall. The unnamed citizen touches on a key factor of documentaries, a genre of filmmaking that has always existed in the shadow of its more popular cousin, the narrative movie. 

Beginning today the Fine Arts Cinema presents CIRCA NOW, a four-week series of new and classic documentaries which offer stories as dramatic as Hollywood features, but dramatic in a way that’s entirely different. 

Through the gorgeous nighttime cinematography of Erik Black, “After the Fall” shows Berlin’s incredible building boom under construction. Since the wall fell an estimated 50,000 new buildings are going up.  

The overwhelming visual evidence of the formerly divided city to catch up with the rest of the Western world is offset by the city’s residents who have concerns about the wholesale eradication of the wall that had once been a immovable presence. 

The palpable sense of history weighing heavily in the space that used to be Potsdammer Platz brings it’s own drama to “After the Fall,” the same dramatic presence Wim Wenders took advantage of in his fiction film “Wings of Desire” in 1987. The screening of “After the Fall” on April 12-14 will be accompanied by the 1927 silent film “Berlin, Symphony of a Great City” with live music by accordion master Maorgani. 

On American soil, the social phenomenon of the suburb has been exploited in countless narrative films (“Slacker,” “Judy Berlin,” “SubURbia”). In “Wonderland” (screening April 22 – 24) a documentary about Levittown, N.Y., John O’Hagan uses wide-angle lenses to place the homeowners of America’s first pre-planned city among as much wood paneling and cookie-cutter architecture the screen will hold. 

Built to satisfy the homeowning needs of soldiers returning from WWII, Levittown has produced the wonderfully weird and the weirdly weird. Comic artist Bill Griffith (“Zippy the Pinhead”) and rock ’n‘ roller Eddie Money (“Two Tickets to Paradise”) hail from L-town. But filmmaker O’Hagan (not himself a Levittown alumnus) prefers the lesser-known but no less luminary senior residents who fixate on commemorative plates, knick-knack ghosts, all-wood furnishing, and the habits of other Levittown residents. 

O’Hagan said in 1996 when his film premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival that he began every interview with the same questions and was getting the same boring answers.  

“But after about five minutes of talking people really started talking about the things in their daily lives that kept them going.” 

“I think this film could be made in Beverly Hills and you’d find the same eccentricities and fetishes, fantasies and collections. Everyone has these things about their character that are interesting.” 

Berkeley-based filmmaker Alan Snitow, who made “Secrets of Silicon Valley” (screening through April 11) with his partner Deborah Kaufman, also seeks out small details in people’s lives – their habits, possessions, language – to find cinematic drama. The documentary about the underclass and unacknowledged blue-collar workforce behind the economic explosion of Silicon Valley’s high-tech computer companies starts with the language of exuberant hype computer company executives knit around themselves.  

Snitow said this is one of the reasons he makes documentaries. “You can take what is in the media, what is given, and you can slowly unravel it until you see how much fantasy, mythology, cultural icons – all of those little phrases that cover enormous meanings, whole people’s lives, people’s work, situations that you don’t want to deal with, questions of class that the entire society is in denial of.” 

“But you have to unravel these things in order to be able to get down to that level to be able to see things differently.” 

Filmmaker Jon Else was once sitting in a production of “La Traviata,” the Giuseppe Verdi opera, when he began to see things differently. An admitted opera hater, he focused his attention on the stagehands changing sets between scenes. His realization of the inherent drama in backstage craftsmanship eventually became “Sing Faster: the Stagehand’s Ring Cycle.”  

The enormous thematic sweep of Richard Wagner’s17-hour opera of vengeful gods has long been a target for filmmakers looking to deflate pomposity, such as Chuck Jones in his Bugs Bunny masterpiece “What’s Opera, Doc?” and Francis Ford Coppola use of “Flight of the Valkeries” for comedic effect in “Apocalypse Now.”  

Here, Else shows the stagehands playing poker backstage while recalling the story of the opera as if it were Jerry Bruckheimer action-suspense film (á la “Gone in 60 Seconds”). 

“Sing Faster” screens April 25 – 27, paired with “Step Across the Border,” a documentary about avant-garde musician Fred Frith. 

Peter Crimmins is the producer of “Film Close-Ups” on KALX radio in Berkeley.

SAN FRANCISCO — Jennifer Walker isn’t the typical dot-com casualty. The former marketing coordinator possesses no high-tech skills, isn’t consumed by the Internet and is the family breadwinner supporting a husband and 4-year-old son. 

Walker was a rank-and-file worker in a dot-com world ruled by programmers and software engineers. And now that the dot-com frenzy has fizzled, she and other nontechnical workers are finding themselves in even more difficult spots. 

Nontechnical workers once thrived in this market, making above-average wages and even shunning employers who didn’t pay the dot-com premium. 

Now, many are finding that those giddy days are gone. More than 250 dot-coms have shut down since January 2000, 70 percent of them in the last few months, according to Webmergers.com, which tracks and values Web companies. 

The downturn has led to some 66,000 dot-com layoffs nationwide since December 1999, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago job-placement consulting firm. 

No one has tracked how many of these pink slips have gone to nontechnical workers, but people like Walker, who earned $38,000 a year at ThinkLink, a San Franciso telecommunications startup, are particularly vulnerable. 

“I just bought a car,” said Walker, 26. “My bills need to be paid, and I need to have child care.” 

ThinkLink folded in February, leaving her with a small severance package, worthless stock options and $200 a week in unemployment benefits. Her husband, Michael, makes $24,000 a year as an apprentice plumber, and the family has relied on her job for health insurance. 

“There are so many marketing people out there and administrative people out there definitely taking salary cuts,” said recruiter Christy Zeri, who started her own business after getting laid off in January from Bravo Marketing, an agency that operates as a high-tech vendor. 

“There’s a definite need for engineers and (information technology) professionals,” but nontechnical jobs are “just really few and far between,” she said. 

At one time, Zeri said, some administrative assistants were demanding salaries up to $60,000. Now, she said, they’re lucky to get half that amount. 

“They job-hopped and started making more money and outpriced themselves in the market,” she said. “People on the East Coast completely thought we were living in a dream world out here.” 

For some rank-and-file workers, it was never about getting rich or climbing a career ladder. It was simply about eating, paying the rent and otherwise surviving in one of the country’s priciest cities. 

Shannon Light, 22, moved here from Winston-Salem, N.C., last August hoping to save enough money for school. She got a job making $30,000 as a receptionist at a dot-com she declined to identify. 

Although she scraped bottom each month just to pay her bills, life became a real nightmare in January. 

“They called us down for a meeting and told us the dream was over,” Light said. “They laid everyone off. One hundred people. The company is gone.” 

“They said we are not getting paid for the past three weeks,” she said. “We got no severance pay.” 

She was out of work for three weeks before getting another job as a receptionist at a marketing company. In the meantime, she paid her bills and rent with her credit card. 

“When you live paycheck to paycheck, that’s what you do,” Light said. 

One upside for nontechnical workers: They are not confined to the dot-com arena, and their newly acquired skills are transferable. 

Naomi Funahashi, 22, jumped from a $35,000 dot-com receptionist job at North Systems to a comparable position as an executive assistant/office manager at a business magazine in San Francisco. Still, the transition wasn’t easy. 

“Once I got canned, I had to go to my parents and ask them for money,” Funahashi said. “Rent in the city is not cheap.” 

Raul Keally, 29, is trying to avoid the layoff trap. His bosses at AdTraffickers told him in January that the company was running out of money. He began searching for another advertising job, but gone are the days of posting resumes online and having an answering machine full of inquiries after the first hour. 

Keally, who makes about $40,000 as an account manager uploading ads on Web sites, has applied for about 10 jobs, none of them at dot-coms.  

“There’s a lot of competition and a lot of people in my same spot,” he said. “When one job opens up you kind of get lost in the shuffle, it seems.”

WASHINGTON — As pay phones rapidly vanish from the American landscape, the government wants to give companies incentives to maintain the service for people who don’t have cell phones. 

The Federal Communications Commission set up a clear system Thursday to ensure that pay phone businesses get compensated when people make toll-free, dial-around or prepaid calls. 

That action could prevent pay phone providers from being shortchanged some $300 million a year and sends a signal that the government is committed to keeping the industry alive, trade officials said. It ultimately could influence decisions of telephone providers, already feeling heat from the greatly expanded usage of cell phones, about whether to pull out of the pay phone business. 

“There were pay phone providers wondering whether anyone cared about pay phones,” said Vincent Sandusky, president of the American Public Communications Council, a trade group representing 1,600 independent carriers who operate about 500,000 pay phones. 

Each time a caller uses a calling card, a 10-10 number or a prepaid card to make a long-distance call, the pay phone operator is supposed to get 24 cents from the phone company handling the call. 

The call may travel a winding road to get to its destination, being passed off between different long-distance carriers, resellers and local phone companies.  

So who’s responsible for paying the pay phone provider? 

Finger-pointing among telecom industry players has meant that 20 percent to 50 percent of revenues for those types of calls go uncollected, the APCC says. 

Incurring such losses provides just one more reason for pay phone companies to get out of the business. Plummeting prices of cell phone calls and exploding growth in numbers of subscribers poses another serious challenge. 

The number of pay phones nationwide has dwindled from 2.6 million to 2.1 million in the past five years, since lawmakers freed telecom services to become competitive. Early this year, BellSouth Corp. said it would get rid of all 143,000 of its pay phones by the end of 2002. 

Seeking to boost competition in the pay phone market, the FCC clarified Thursday that the first long-distance carrier to handle the call must compensate the pay phone provider. Then that company can turn around and recoup costs from resellers who package long-distance phone service, sell directly to the consumer and make the profit. 

The long-distance carrier also needs to track the calls to see if its completed and provide figures on how many calls it receives from a particular provider’s pay phones. 

With the FCC settling the issue of who must compensate them, providers can make a better business determination about whether operating their pay phones are profitable, Sandusky said. 

Pay phones have long been seen as not only a convenience but a public safety issue. Despite the growing popularity of cell phones, pagers and other devices, wireless service is spotty and unreliable in some part of the country. 

——— 

On the Net: Federal Communications Commission site: http://www.fcc.gov 

NEW YORK — Stock prices shot higher Thursday, propelling the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 400 points, after Dell Computer and Alcoa gave Wall Street its first really good earnings news in months. 

The advance was a welcome relief for a market yearning for an end to Wall Street’s protracted slump. But some analysts, noting that most first-quarter earnings reports will still be disappointing, cautioned that the market remains vulnerable to declines. 

The index’s run-up was its second-largest daily point gain, after the 499.19 it rose on March 16, 2000. Despite the big advance, the Dow has gained less than 40 points this week, having plunged 392 over Monday and Tuesday. 

News that Dell expected to meet its previous earnings estimates got an enthusiastic welcome on Wall Street, which has been pounded in recent months by seemingly endless profit warnings and layoff announcements. The tech bellwether, whose previous warnings sent stocks tumbling, said late Wednesday it still expects to report about $8 billion in revenue and earnings of 17 cents a share. 

Dell, the nation’s top producer of desktop and laptop computers, surged $3 to $25.19. 

Aluminum producer Alcoa, a Dow stock, added to the market’s upward momentum, announcing Thursday it earned 46 cents a share in the first quarter, 2 cents more than analysts expected. Alcoa rose $1.95 to $37.50. Other Old Economy stocks advanced, including Dow stock 3M, up $4.61 at $103.23. 

“Hopefully this will be a catalyst,” for stocks to move higher, said Barry Berman, head trader for Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. But, he added, “I’m not sure how much good news you need. You just need to get through this first-quarter reporting period and see a stop in the daily battering of bad news.” 

Dell’s news helped other tech issues move higher.  

Dow stock Intel, which announced last month it was cutting prices on some of its chips to reduce inventory, rose $3 to $25.63. Intel supplies Dell with chips. 

Yahoo! climbed $2.75, a 22 percent increase, to $15.25 after its stock was upgraded by Lehman Brothers. 

Wall Street analysts have said it will also take some solid, positive earnings news from companies to help stocks rebound. And with companies’ bad news still outweighing the good, some analysts cautioned Thursday against holding onto hope that the market is headed for recovery. 

“I don’t know that it sets the stage for a brand new bull market,” said Charles White, portfolio manager for Avatar Associated. “Bear markets have rallies in them. It’s not uncommon for a market to rally 10 or 15 percent and for it to be a false move.” 

White also pointed out that many companies including Dell have said they don’t know how to anticipate future earnings. While standing by its expectations for first-quarter results, Dell cautioned that there is still a month left in its quarter and offered no comment on how it expects to perform for the entire year. 

Meanwhile, Federal Express, down 63 cents at $38.97, had some sobering news, saying it is lowering its fourth-quarter earnings estimates. FedEx offered no specific figures. 

Many blue chip and tech stocks, however, appeared poised to make a strong advance Friday. IBM, for example, rose $1.29 in extended-hours trading, building on the $6.21 climb to $98.21 it made in the regular session. Philip Morris was up 77 cents in after-hours dealings after advancing 61 cents to close Thursday at $46.23. 

For stocks to sustain an advance, White said, “It’s going to be more about what (companies) can say about the future.” 

The market was so focused on the brighter spots that it ignored a negative unemployment report. The Labor Department announced earlier that new claims for state jobless insurance jumped by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000 last week to their highest level since 1998, indicating softer demand for labor. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange where consolidated volume was 1.59 billion shares, compared with 1.51 billion on Wednesday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller company stocks, advanced 18.99 to 444.73. 

Stocks posted strong gains overseas, as well. Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 1.1 percent. In Europe, Germany’s DAX index soared 3.2 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 advanced 1.6 percent, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.7 percent. 

On the Net: 

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

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

Everything was fine until someone mentioned the towels. 

“Towels?” said Gail Murphy, a look of concern flashing suddenly across her face. “I didn’t know they were supposed to take towels.”  

Bottled water, yes. Toilet paper, yes. Bug spray, yes. But towels? 

Murphy was one of dozens of Berkeley parents gathered in San Francisco’s International Airport late Tuesday night to watch 73 Berkeley High students depart for the mother of all field trips – two weeks in Havana, Cuba, and rural areas nearby. 

The trip’s organizers, San Francisco-based Global Exchange, estimate that this is the largest group of American high school students ever to travel to the island nation, which they say is one of the last socialist countries in the Western Hemisphere. 

Murphy said her ninth-grade son had been somewhat cavalier about making sure he had everything he needed. 

“He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it (in Cuba),’” Murphy said. “But I told him it’s not going be that way.” 

There are no Walgreens in Cuba, Murphy observed wryly.  

But Murphy said she’s not nervous. 

“He’s going be okay,” she said. “This guy’s got it together. 

“Am I anxious? Yes. I’m anxious for him to have a great time” 

In less than an hour the students would board an 11:30 p.m. flight for Mexico City, where they would change planes for the final leg to Havana. They were scheduled to arrive in Cuba about 7 a.m. Wednesday. 

The United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba for more than 30 years and U.S. law restricts travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. Nevertheless, Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based organization that is sponsoring the Berkeley High trip, has taken thousands of U.S. citizens on educational trips to Cuba over the last 10 years.  

As they waited for everyone to check in for the flight, the students huddled around luggage carts, flipping through their passports and talking excitedly about what lay ahead. 

“We’ve heard mixed stories,” said ninth-grader Craig Long. “Some people say you shouldn’t go to Cuba, and others say it’s great. I want to see for myself.” 

Part of the Communication Arts and Sciences small learning community at Berkeley High, the students have been trained in how to use modern media tools to promote social justice. They will visit schools and hospitals in Cuba, gathering information and building relationships. When they return to Berkeley High they will present what they have learned to the rest of the school and to the community through a series of forums. 

“For me it’s seeing the students become more worldly and having the opportunity to see a very different society and make comparisons (that’s exciting),” said Berkeley School Board President Terry Doran, one of 15 chaperones for the trip. “I think the most fascinating thing will be to listen to the students after they return,” he said. 

The students prepared for the trip by reading extensively about Cuba, watching videos and meeting with a number of Cuba experts the CAS teachers managed to bring to Berkeley High.  

Since last year’s Elian Gonzalez custody struggle placed Cuba at the center of the international stage, the students will have a unique opportunity to study the difference between the way the media view Cuba and the way Cubans see the country, said parent Leander Murphy, husband of Gail Murphy. 

“You hear this, you hear that, but is that the way it really is?” Murphy asked Tuesday, as some of the students began making their way out to the Mexicana Airlines gate. 

“Even to travel period is a great experience,” Murphy said. “But to got to Cuba, where there’s been so much controversy, and to see first hand (what it’s like), you really can’t beat that.” 

Berkeley High teacher Bill Pratt, who originally proposed the trip last year, said parents and students were in festive mood Tuesday in part because they had already accomplished so much just by making the trip happen. 

“Even before we leave I think we’ve already had a lot of success because the community has come together in an incredibly remarkable way,” Pratt said. 

Pointing to parent Laura Singh, who volunteered to serve as treasurer for the Cuba trip project, Pratt said, “If she hadn’t stepped forward and made this huge commitment, then the trip wouldn’t have happened.” 

Pratt said the trip’s organizers were determined from the outset that all students who wanted to go to Cuba would be able to go, regardless of whether they could raise the $1,800 needed to cover their travel expenses. Parents and students organized benefit concerts, bread sales and car washes to raise more than a third of the trip’s $145,000 cost, Pratt said. They also rounded up medical and school materials – in chronic short supply in Cuba due to the U.S. embargo – to deliver in Havana. 

“From each according to ability; to each according to need,” Pratt said, paraphrasing one of Karl Marx’s most popular aphorisms. “We organized a trip to a socialist county along socialist principles.” 

Doran, who visited Cuba in 1993 as part of another educational trip, said he thought Berkeley High students would be surprised to see how much Cuba looks like their own campus in terms of its racial composition. 

Cuba is 51 percent mixed ethnicity, 37 percent white and 11 percent black. Berkeley high school is 37 percent white, 37 percent black, 11 percent Latino and 5 percent mixed ethnicity. 

The Cubans will give the Berkeley students a warm welcome, Doran said. 

“They’re very proud of their country and they want to show it off,” Doran said. “And they assume that Americans coming there are genuinely interested in their society.” 

With this group, it’s a pretty safe assumption. 

“Cuba is a completely different thing,” said ninth-grader Devin Thompson, who was wide-eyed and eager Tuesday night despite having risen at 7 a.m. to begin preparing for the trip. “Your brain just goes like ‘Whoa!’ when you see it.” 

“Short of getting to Africa, this may be the closest I get to home,” said parent chaperone Michael Miller, an African-American, Tuesday. “It’s going be amazing, from the plane ride (there) to the plane ride (back), and then beyond that.” 

Thursday, April 5

Berkeley Metaphysical  

Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

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

Call 869-2547 

Word for Word  

3:30 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave. 

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

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

869-8833 to register  

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. 

Lavender Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd 100  

Rev. Nancy Wilson on “Queer Church: The Early History of the Metropolitan Community Church.”  

849-8206 

LGBT Catholics Group  

7:30 p.m. 

Newman Hall  

2700 Dwight Way (at College)  

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Catholics group are “a spiritual community committed to creating justice.” This meeting is titled “Inspired Utterance Night.”  

654-5486 

Bicycle Touring in Europe  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Independent bicyclists and budget travelers Tim O’Mahoney and Kathie Strell will give a slide presentation of their three month, 2,000-mile journey through France, Switzerland and Austria. Learn to execute your own bicycle tour. Free 527-4140 

Taking Care of Your  

Large Intestine  

1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  

Summit South Pavilion  

3100 Summit St., 3rd Floor Auditorium  

Oakland 

Harvey Olsen, gastroenterologist, will discuss Colorectal cancer, a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. 869-6737  

Disability Awareness Day  

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

Sproul & Dwinelle Plazas 

UC Berkeley  

An opportunity to learn about disabilities, to find resources for yourself or someone you care about, and to celebrate the achievements of people with disabilities. One of the major focuses of this years awareness day is on “hidden disabilities.” Free 666-9647 

Ballroom Dance Lessons 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Roman Ostrowski. 644-6107 

HAM Radio Earthquakes 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center  

997 Cedar St.  

A free lecture by seismologist Bob Uhrhammer regarding earthquakes. The annual HAM radio emergency services presentation.  

Friday, April 6

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755  

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.  

Call 644-6226 

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. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more.  

Pre-register by calling 642-5461 

$20 for all five sessions, $10 per individual session  

Taize Worship Service  

7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Loper Chapel 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Dana St. (between Durant  

& Channing)  

An hour of quiet reflection and song.  

848-3696 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Don Giovanni, Pt. 1  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Saturday, April 7

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Earthquake Retrofitting Class  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Building Education Center  

812 Page 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 

Inside Interior Design  

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A look into the world of interior design with certified interior designer and artist Lori Inman. $35 

525-7610 

Small Press Distribution Open House 

Noon - 4 p.m. 

Small Press Distribution  

3141 Seventh St. (at Gilman)  

With poetry readings at 2 p.m. with featured poet Clark Coolidge and others. Free  

524-1668 

Straw Into Gold 

9 a.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

A rummage sale and intergenerational open mic. coffee house. All proceeds benefit the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Free 

841-4824  

Sunday, April 8

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Tibetan Yoga and Healing  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Kum Nye teacher Jack van der Meulen will present this Tibetan yoga and will demonstrate several exercises for self-healing. Free 

843-6812 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House  

3 - 5 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

A free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture which will include a prayer wheel and meditation garden tour, Tibetan yoga demonstration, discussion of how useful ancient teachings are in contemporary society, and more. Free 

843-6812 

A Humanistic Passover Seder 

6 p.m.  

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Kol Hadash will read from the Humanistic Haggadah, and will eat with friends and family. Miriam Solis will lead the group in song.  

$20 - $45  

925-254-0609 

Monday, April 9

Ask the Doctor 

10:30 a.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

Dr. McGillis will speak and answer questions on radiologically, hormonally, and genetically modified foods.  

644-6107 

Standardized tests will yield results 

Editor: 

I am not a teacher and therefore cannot directly comment on the opinions of Professor Kohn who argues against standardized testing. But I do know that the Oakland public schools rank near the bottom in a state that ranks near the bottom in the country in public school performance.  

I do know that a dear friend of mine who tried being a substitute teacher in an Oakland High School was shocked when out of a class of 25 high school math students only one could correctly subtract 11 from 7 and come up with the correct answer.  

And I do know that in Europe where there have been standardized tests for years, the students consistently graduate with better skills and more knowledge than American students.  

Therefore as a grandparent of a child in a California public school and a person who was only licensed in her profession after a standardized test I say to the Professor Kohns of this world – you are just wrong. Look at the facts. Your way of doing things does not work. More money thrown into your already crumbling system will just not solve the problem. Maybe standardized testing will.  

Gessica Johnston  

Alameda 

Thanks for youth court story 

Editor: 

I really liked the article on March 30 about the Youth Court. It sounds like a wonderful institution which can help kids stay out of trouble, and that’s the kind of thing I like to know about. 

Please write more long articles about what’s going on in Berkeley – they’re very interesting to read. 

Avi Rappoport 

Berkeley 

Council not staff should make  

medical pot decision 

Editor, 

I echo the frustration expressed by Robin M. Donald (Letters to the Editor March 30.) 

The recent action on medical marijuana by the City Council represents continuing dysfunctional governance where marijuana policy is involved. Decisions are made by the unelected city employees – not the Council. In this most recent round the police and the city manager prevailed with a 10-plant limit that originates in their fantasies – not the federal empirical program upon which Oakland’s are based.  

While professing caution about plant amounts the city manager, city attorney, public health officer, and the police are reckless about enforcement of the law. General Orders and Training & Information bulletins that are normal police administrative products are lacking for both medical marijuana and marijuana in general.  

Excessive initiative in police officers’ hands invariably leads to failure to enforce the law. The fiefdom of the police subculture continues to make its own laws as it arbitrarily selects which laws it will enforce. Efforts of oversight continue to fail to control this coven of criminality behind badge and office. Review of the enforcement of marijuana laws that on the books specify lowest priority discloses a sorry record that stains retiring Chief Butler’s record. He has presided over the largest increase of marijuana cases ever. 

The only solution is the use of Planning and Management Systems and Outcomes Management Overview that would better implement and comply with ordinances and resolutions. But don’t hold your breath because of the dedication by the unelected factions in city government to maintaining status quo and hegemony. (PAMS/OMO may be read on my web site mikuriya.com/althealth.) 

A charter revision initiative is the only medicine to remedy the gridlock that continues to frustrate all who participate in Berkeley’s flawed governance and continues to thwart the will of the voters. 

I am changing my letter of recommendation and approval to specify possession and cultivation limits per the Oakland guidelines. 

Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D. 

Berkeley 

Response to Palestinians should not be Israel boycott  

Editor: 

While the “Jews for Divestment” may have noble intentions, their actions don’t make much sense in light of the events of the past nine months.  

Last July, Ehud Barak attempted to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by offering Yasser Arafat an extraordinary peace deal. Arafat responded with violence. Why reward him for this by boycotting Israeli matzoh?  

Jonathan Bresman 

Berkeley.  

Anxious for UC Theater return 

Editor: 

What makes “the largest screen in Berkeley” a dinosaur? The Jewish Film Festival and other attractions regularly sold out at the UC. The Pacific Film Archives, the other great treasure of Berkeley, also home of sell-outs, should be on campus. Why mix it with a commercial venture - if one fails, the entire undertaking is threatened. We all understand the concept of monoculture. 

What normally occurs in a situation like this is the city gains control of the property, and an RFQ is issued so that qualified professionals (architects, planners) may evaluate prospects for re-use and revitalization. I’m sure this process is underway already. What we read from your report is one developer speculating how city funds may be used to finance a private enterprise, without considering the opinions of other local arts directors. If you went to the trouble of contacting representatives of PFA and Berkeley Symphony, what else did they say? Why so much airtime for Kennedy again? 

Please report all the facts - we are all anxious for the return of the UC as a first-run art and foreign film house. There is no stronger and more sophisticated film audience as in Berkeley - and don’t think for a minute that we will tolerate “funky couches” and pizza-eating kids chattering during the film either. 

Tracey Bornstein, Architect 

Berkeley 

Recuse, recuse, recuse 

Dear Editor: 

I read in Tuesday’s Daily Planet that the City Attorney has advised Miriam Hawley to recuse herself from voting on the proposed mixed use development at 2700 San Pablo Avenue. According to the article, the City Attorney determined that Hawley has a conflict of interest because Hawley once publicly stated that transit corridors should have development that supports transit. 

Unfortunately, this is not Hawley’s only conflict. She has now publicly stated that “we have a good and conscientious City Attorney.” Hawley should recuse herself from any discussion about whether to follow the City Attorney’s advice. 

Following a similar line of reason, Council members who have commented on Berkeley’s fine views of the Bay should recuse themselves from all decisions relating to building height. 

Sincerely Conflicted, 

Jonathon Kass 

Berkeley

The recent downturn of the stock market evidenced the volatility of the new economy, and allowed those without the speed, courage, or resources to make buckets of money on tech stocks to smile smugly at investors with their now droopy portfolios.  

As bottoming-out gives way to re-examination, a new documentary about the economic explosion in Silicon Valley offers a look at the underbelly of the industry. “Secrets of Silicon Valley,” by Berkeley-based filmmakers Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow, examines the labor base and community impact of an economy propelled by hype. 

“Secrets of Silicon Valley” screens for a week beginning today at the Fine Arts Cinema, the first of a series of documentaries presented as Circa Now, a four-week program highlighting the aesthetic and social legacy of the documentary genre. 

“For most people, if the NASDAQ is rising, if people are getting really rich, then that is all the proof you need that they are right about their entire worldview,” Snitow said. “It’s as if the entire society had suspended critical faculties during the time the stock market was rising." 

The film opens with a montage sequence of the language the technology industry has been cooing itself with for years: revolution, unbounded growth potential, evolutionary development. Synergy. 

“We even went so far as to meet with a linguistic professor here at UC Berkeley to talk about some of the metaphors that people are using,” Kaufman said. “Particularly the one that says the market is a force of nature, as if it’s this uncontrollable thing that people have no power over.” 

Kaufman, who built the Jewish Film Festival in 1980 and left to pursue filmmaking in 1993, said that although a lot of the salesman-speak of the New Economy insists it is creating something new, the practices are comparable to very old ways of doing business. 

“When we asked people for analogies to previous eras we thought people would be talking about the industrial revolution, these sweatshops; except you’ve got these high-tech sweatshops,” said Kaufman. “But one person said, ‘no, no, it’s like the Feudal era. It’s like the castle. You’ve got the brand, and if you’re protected you’ve got the knights inside doing the designs for Hewlett-Packard and doing the sales, and outside are all the serfs that are unprotected outside the moat.”  

“And that’s all the working people who live all over the rest of Silicon Valley but don’t live in Atherton or Woodside, but live in Milpitas and Fremont and Union City and everyplace else.” 

Kaufman and Snitow found Raj Jayadev, a factory-line worker packaging Hewlett-Packard printers for shipping. Jayadev is one of the thousands of Silicon Valley temporary laborers who haven’t felt the stratospheric successes of the companies they work for 

Jayadev has no job security or benefits, and suffers from respiratory problems associated with the cardboard packaging he handles daily. In the film he takes part in an organizational effort to unionize Hewlett-Packard’s temporary work force. 

The film also follows Magda Escobar, the director of a community service organization called Plugged In, assisting low-income East Palo Alto residents with computer training and online technology. A portion of Plugged In’s budget comes from fund-raising events like the Sand Hill Challenge, a downhill soapbox derby for the area’s high-tech companies. 

“What was kind of startling about the race was the companies – we’re talking about enormous wealth here – they pay about $3,000 to join the race, and that’s the money that goes to the charities,” Kaufman said  

The Challenge’s participants include engineers from Lockhead and the Stanford Linear Accelerator. “But some of them are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build their soapbox cars.” 

The disproportionate distribution of funds can be explained by a company’s need to network with other technology companies during the race, and an unbridled competitive drive for bragging rights. 

“A lot of these people who participated in the film are quite brilliant but also quite cut off from the daily realities of the people working in the Valley, working two or three jobs and living in apartments with two or three other families,” Kaufman said. “It’s a completely different reality.” 

“Secrets of Silicon Valley” was shot over the last three years, and completed before the NASDAQ plunge. Snitow and Kaufman captured the technology industry at the height of its success and it could do no wrong. In the film Avram Miller, former vice president of Intel who now works as a venture capitalist, said the speed of business favors intuition over analysis. It’s an economic vision Snitow does not condone. 

“If you have no time to think and no time to analyze, then you have no time to analyze what’s going on behind the curtain…It may be for a lot of people they didn’t have time to look because things were going so fast in this flexible, 24/7 economy. But you lose a great deal if you don’t take the time to stop and look and think about it.” 

Peter Crimmins is the producer of "Film Close-Ups on KALX radio in Berkeley.

The St. Mary’s track & field team had a good day at the Stanford Invitational last weekend, led by Halihl Guy, who was selected as the Athlete of the Meet. 

Guy finished first in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles, as well as running the anchor leg for the Panthers’ first-place 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Joining Guy inthe winner’s circle for the relays were Asokah Muhammad, Courtney Brown and Chris Dunbar. Dunbar also won the 400-meter dash, and Solomon Welch won the triple jump with a leap of 46 feet, 3 1/4 inches. 

On the girls’ side, St. Mary’s Kamaiya Warren won both the shot put and discus. In addition, three St. Mary’s records were broken, but none of the competitors won their events. Tiffany Johnson took fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.08, and the Panthers’ 4x100 and 4x400 relays both came in third, despite setting new school records.

Chocolate factory finally set to open its doors in May 

Any day now, John Scharffenberger promises, the chocolate factory will open.  

Really. 

And when it does, Berkeley will be home to one of the country’s premier chocolate manufacturers. Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, established in 1996, is moving its production from South San Francisco to a 25,000-square-foot brick factory on Heinz and Seventh streets. The turn-of-the-century building was originally a sulfur factory. It has adapted to several industrial uses over the years and most recently served as the home of the now defunct Kona Kai Coffee. 

(Kona Kai’s owner was recently convicted of fraudulently substituting other coffee beans for Kona beans.) 

The new facility will allow the public to get up close and personal with the “bean to bar” chocolate-making process. It will offer free behind-the-scenes tours, a store that sells the gourmet dark chocolate. Eventually, a cafe will open, but not until the fall. 

Perfection takes time. Scharffen Berger originally hoped to open its new quarters in fall 2000. Then it was going to be February, then March. Now they are confident of opening in May. Scharffenberger said updates can be found at the Web site www.scharffen-berger.com. 

Whenever opening day arrives, Scharffenberger said it won’t be one minute before his demanding standards and that of his business partner, Robert Steinberg, are satisfied.  

Right now, the large brick factory building in southwest Berkeley is abuzz with the grinding of gears and machinery, as the chocolate makers test out the various equipment, using second-rate cacao beans for test runs. There is definitely a hint of Willy Wonka at the Scharffen Berger plant, with its enormous machines connected by tubes and pipes. A red pot-bellied roaster stands next to a postwar “bean cleaner” from Germany, which glows with colored lights and dials, looking like a contraption from Jules Verne. Most of the equipment is vintage chocolate-making machinery from Europe, dating back a half-century or more. “We’re on a shoestring budget,” Scharffenberger explains. 

That may come as a surprise to consumers, who can expect to pay nearly $4 for a single 3-ounce chocolate bar. Scharffen Berger turns out only a tiny fraction of the millions of pounds of chocolate produced annually by such industry giants as Hershey, Nestle or Mars. Each batch is individually produced from beans imported and hand-selected for quality, and bars are hand-wrapped on the premises. It’s a highly labor-intensive process, meaning that consumers can expect to pay more than for mass-produced Hershey bars. 

Still, if you look at it a certain way, you’re getting more bang for your buck – or more taste per bite – with gourmet chocolate, Scharffenberger says. Without the additives and sweeteners found in many cheaper confections, Scharffen Berger has a rich, intense, concentrated flavor. Many chocolate-lovers find that a smaller portion satisfies their craving. “You get a lot more chocolate in our bar than in others,” says Scharffenberger.  

A winemaker by trade, Scharffenberger was brought into the chocolate business by his friend Steinberg, who loved European chocolate and dreamed of creating an American product that could stand up to the best that France and Belgium had to offer. The pair approach chocolate making with the same criteria used to judge fine Zinfandel. Aroma, flavor, balance and overtones are all important.  

There is also great importance placed on climate and growing conditions of the cacao bean. Scharffen Berger is one of fewer than a dozen American chocolate makers operating today who actually create their own product from beans – and it is the first new manufacturer to open in the United States in the past 50 years. The company gets its supply from some 20 small plantations found near the equator, including Venezuela, Madagascar, Trinidad, Ghana and Papua New Guinea. Fair trade, or paying the growers a living wage, is very important to Scharffenberger, a self-described hippie who created his own major in biogeography at UC Berkeley about 30 years ago. 

As with Scharffenberger’s earlier ventures, including the Scharffenberger Cellars winery (sold in the mid-’90s to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton), the chocolate business has been a runaway success. Julia Child pronounced the chocolate superb, and chefs around the country have been inspired to create desserts using the sweet dark confection, Scharffenberger says. The local company expanded quickly, and Scharffen Berger is now available in all 50 states and several countries, sold mostly through gourmet food suppliers and stores. Company sales totalled $3 million in 1999, which was up 300 percent from the previous year. At this pace, Scharffenberger said he has simply outgrown his 5,000-square-foot San Francisco facility. 

Scharffenberger predicts that in Berkeley, the company will be able easily to triple its annual production and expand its products into other chocolate goodies. The small staff of 22 is expected to grow, and the company has added a third partner, John Wais, who oversees operations at the new factory. Wais formerly ran a family-owned steel company in Pinole. Scharffenberger describes him as a “foodie guy, with a great palate.” 

Meanwhile, as they tinker with the equipment in Berkeley, the South San Francisco factory continues production of the acclaimed dark chocolate Scharffenberger says one professional chef describes as “pure unequalled bliss.” 

Once the machines are running smoothly, they will have to see how the chocolate turns out. Even with top-quality ingredients, it takes a few runs to work the kinks out. “The first couple of batches – you can’t eat them,” Scharffenberger says. “Then the next few, we’ll give to the food banks.” Only when he’s satisfied that everything’s running smoothly and he’s producing the rich, fruity dark chocolate he says his customers have come to love will he shift production entirely to the new factory. 

Scharffenberger still has a hand in the wine business, as co-owner of Lonetree Winery in Philo. But his enthusiasm for chocolate knows no bounds. “It’s a blast,” he says. “In the champagne business, there’s a kind of culture of exclusivity. I’m not into that. I mean, I went to Berkeley. I’m a hippie.” 

The St. Mary’s baseball team nearly played a great game on Wednesday against BSAL rival Salesian. But one inning of defensive carelessness led to the Panthers going down, 2-1, to the league leaders. 

St. Mary’s starting pitcher Anthony Miyawaki threw a gem, allowing just four hits while going the distance. But in the top of the fourth inning, his defense let him down. Third baseman Tom Wright made a great diving stop on a Derek Yow grounder to start the inning, but threw high to first and Yow was safe. After the next batter grounded out, Dar Sefidi hit a single to right-center. But right fielder Chase Moore let the ball get by him, and Yow scored all the way from first. Miyawaki then made his one big mistake of the game, and Peter Callegari followed with a booming triple over Moore’s head to plate Sefidi, and the Bulldogs had all the runs they would need. 

“Anthony pitched a great game. Our offense is supposed to be our strength, but it just didn’t happen today,” St. Mary’s head coach Andy Shimabukuro said. “If you told me before the game they would score two runs, I’d have said we’d win.” 

Salesian (4-1 BSAL) starter Randy Renn was just as good as Miyawaki on Wednesday, and his defense never stumbled behind him. Renn held the Panthers (2-2) to six hits, and the Bulldogs threw out two St. Mary’s runners in the final two innings. In the sixth, Miyawaki drew a walk to start the inning. Alex Tapp was sent in to pinch-run, and he reached second base on a fielder’s choice. Right fielder Jeff Marshall punched a single into right field, but Tapp was cut down at the plate by five feet, killing the rally. 

In the seventh, St. Mary’s catcher Ryan Badaho-Singh started things off by raking a shot off of the left-field fence. But the Bulldog relay throw got Badaho-Singh at second. Center fielder Omar Young followed with a nearly identical blast off the wall, but cautiously stayed at first, and the Panthers couldn’t get him around to score. 

“They made great plays,” Shimabukuro said. “We’d send those runners again and see if they could make those plays again.” 

The Panthers only run came in the third inning, as Young walked, stole second and was brought home by first baseman Joe Starkey. 

The loss puts the Panthers in the middle of the pack in the BSAL, and they will have to win games down the stretch just to get into the postseason. 

“I guess now we’re just battling to get into the playoffs,” Shimabukuro said. “If we get there, we can play with anyone. That’s our goal right now.”

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University has sent a letter of regret to the widow of a former professor who was forced to resign almost 50 years ago on suspicions he was a Communist. 

Ann Fagan Ginger, widow of Raymond S. Ginger, told the Boston Herald in Tuesday’s editions that the three-paragraph letter falls woefully short of the apology she had sought. Ginger lives in Berkeley and directs the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. 

“It’s the arrogance of power,” Ginger said. She has sent another letter asking for a full inquiry into the 1954 incident. 

Harvard officials would not comment to the Herald on the matter. 

“Harvard took an action in the case of Mr. Ginger that many thoughtful people today, looking back, would not find appropriate,” said Harvard’s letter, written by Sharon Gagnon, president of the board of overseers. 

“It is also clear that you and your family experienced hardship and anguish as a result, and for that (Harvard’s president) joins me in extending to you the university’s genuine sympathy and regret.” 

Ann Ginger, 75, a civil rights attorney, asked Harvard last fall for a public inquiry into the school’s actions against her husband and other faculty during the Communist era. 

Raymond Ginger was among those investigated in the 1950s because they were suspected of siding with Cold War enemies. Many were blacklisted, refused jobs or fired. 

Although Ginger was a respected assistant professor of history at Harvard, officials there forced him to make a choice: reveal whether he was a Communist, or immediately resign. Ginger took the latter option. He died in 1975. 

Young team going through tough ‘rebuilding year’ 

Last season’s Berkeley High boys’ volleyball team posted a respectable 6-6 mark in the East Bay Athletic League. Fifth-year coach Justin Caraway knew that this season would be a bumpier ride, also known in the sports world as a “rebuilding year.” 

Not only did the Yellowjackets move into the newly-formed, ultra-competitive Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League, but the team also lost five of its six starters to graduation at the end of last year. 

“I have no experience on this team,” Caraway said. “I knew coming in that this would be a rebuilding year.” 

Caraway added that without a junior varsity team to act as a training ground for his varsity squad, it’s difficult to piece together a team with experience. Sophomore setter Robin Roach is the only returning starter from last year’s team.  

A strong De Anza team defeated the inexperienced ‘Jackets 15-4, 15-2, 16-14 Tuesday afternoon in Berkeley. The Dons took just over 35 minutes to win the first two games, but Berkeley stayed competitive in the third and even had multiple opportunities to avoid the sweep. The loss drops Berkeley to 0-11 overall and 0-1 in the ACCAL. 

Game Two was tied at 2-2 when De Anza’s John Lahip took control. Serving from the near side, Lahip recorded 12 straight points to give the Dons a commanding 14-2 lead. A Berkeley side-out stopped the run, but De Anza quickly regained possession and closed out the game on the next serve. 

“We spend 80 percent of our practice time serving and passing,” Caraway said. “The fact that we’re not able to do it effectively in the match is disappointing.” 

Berkeley controlled much of Game 3 after De Anza opted to play its reserves. The ‘Jackets jumped to an 8-3 edge behind a string of well-placed serves by James Larson. Berkeley led by as many as six, at 14-8. But after the ‘Jackets squandered three game points, the Dons went on a tear. De Anza scored the last eight points of the game en route to a 16-14 victory.  

“We played better in the third game,” Caraway said. “We were mentally in the game enough where we could make it competitive.” 

But the coach wasn’t completely impressed with his team’s lackluster performance. 

“Are there teams in this league we can beat? Probably,” he said. “But with the way we played tonight, not a chance.” 

And there’s also that pesky problem of inexperience that undoubtedly played a part in the ‘Jackets inability to close out the final game. 

“A lot of these players are first year players,” Roach said. “We’ll learn a lot from this season and will be better next season.” 

Caraway agrees: “The encouraging thing is that they’re young,” he said. “We should have a solid team next year if everyone comes back.” 

Berkeley plays at Encinal on April 5 before taking a week off for spring break.

The city is hammering out an amendment to the municipal code that will govern development above buried historic resources such as the West Berkeley Shellmound.  

The proposed ordinance, written by the Planning and Development Department, has instigated a wrestling match with some commissioners on the Landmarks Preservation Commission over which government body will review and approve certain development permits.  

According to Interim Deputy Planning Director Vivian Kahn, the Planning Department wants to retain the authority to approve smaller projects and alterations, such as buildings under 1,000 square feet, excavations under 12-inches deep and certain paving projects. 

“The LPC meets once a month and that could mean an unreasonable delay for property owners who want to put in a wall or a shed or other projects that don’t require much excavation,” she said. 

The draft ordinance requires the LPC to review large projects. 

LPC Commissioner Becky O’Malley said that the Planning Department is trying to streamline the approval process. She said it’s more appropriate for the LPC to make most the permit decisions about development on archeological sites. 

“They want to make it easier to build on the site,” O’Malley said. “The LPC’s first duty is to protect cultural resources for the public at large and making things easier for developers is secondary.”  

Kahn said any staff-approved permits would still be subject to appeal. 

When the City Council approved the subterranean West Berkeley Shellmound as a historical landmark in November, it became apparent there were no provisions in the municipal code to oversee development on historical resources below ground. 

As a result, the Landmark Preservation Commission and several archeologists proposed a code amendment to give the Planning Department and the LPC guidelines for approving building and alteration permits over subterranean landmarks. 

The shellmound, bounded by Interstate 80, Fourth Street and University and Hearst avenues, was approved as a city landmark largely because of its subterranean archeological resources. The site is the repository of artifacts of the Ohlone Indians, who populated the Bay Area for 5,000 years. 

Until A.D. 800, Native American shellmounds were common sights around the Bay. The mounds were characterized by large piles of shells that could be as high as 15 feet. The area surrounding the mounds was frequently the site of daily routines, such as hunting, fishing and cooking. They were also used as burial grounds, according to Stephanie Manning, who wrote the 75-page document on which the LPC based its designation of the West Berkeley Shellmound as a landmark.  

Currently the West Berkeley Shellmound is the city’s only subterranean archeological landmark. But according to Kahn, there are several other potential sites in Berkeley that could become archeological landmarks. 

Dan White, one of the owners of Truitt and White Lumber Company, which is located on the shellmound, said he did not oppose the site’s landmark designation, but he is concerned the amendment will unfairly restrict development on his property.  

“A regulation is appropriate but it has to allow routine operation,” White said. “We should be allowed to develop the property as anyone else can provided we demonstrate we can deal with the subterranean deposits in an appropriate manner.” 

Manning argued that the Planning Department is asking for permit authority over relatively large projects. 

“They want to approve any structures up to 1,000 square feet,” she said. “My home is 875 square feet and that would be a large structure on the landmark site.” 

O’Malley agreed that the Planning Department should have permit approval on some projects but said the threshold still needs to be worked out.  

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will discuss the draft ordinance at its next meeting on May 7.  

David “Tinker” Juarez admitted he doesn’t know what he’ll do after his career as a professional mountain biker is over. But for now, the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team member loves to race and enjoys encouraging younger cyclists. 

He and Carmen d’Alusio, former national champion road cyclist, spoke to the Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Team Tuesday afternoon.  

They came to help the team promote the newly formed NorCal High School Bicycle Racing League. 

The league, formed this year by the Berkeley High team and its sponsor, math teacher and cycling enthusiast Matt Fritzinger, has managed to recruit students from 23 high schools.  

The students compete, both individually and as teams, in a series of six races.  

Individual and team race results will be tallied at the end of the season and awards will be given to top competitors. 

The two professional cyclists came to Berkeley High to encourage the team and to share insights learned from nearly 40 years of combined cycling experience.  

Juarez began his career as a BMX racer in 1973, turning professional in 1975.  

Although his career took a downturn in the early ’80s, he said he would ride to stay out of trouble. 

“I was always a troublemaker anyway. The bike kept me out of trouble,” Juarez said.  

He took to mountain biking in 1986, having a natural affinity for dirt and said he was able to grow with the sport.  

D’Alusio started her career in biking after an injury kept her from competing in track during her senior year in college.  

She said she met a group of local cyclists and traveled with them, learning as she went.  

“I already had an athletic background so I had quick successes,” d’Alusio said Tuesday.  

She has competed professionally for 10 years.  

When asked by Berkeley High team member Jan Kaspar about nutrition, d’Alusio said she tries to eat food that “burns clean.” She said she avoids fatty foods and sugars, eating more fruits, veggies and rice.  

Juarez said he has always had a bad habit of eating junk food, a holdover habit from his BMX days, but said he has learned a lot about healthy eating from his teammates.  

Both athletes compete on the team named after its sponsors: Volvo-Cannondale. 

Ian Richards, Berkeley High team captain who helped start the team three years ago, said he hopes to turn professional and asked Juarez how he has managed to continue after 25 years of racing without “burning out.” Juarez said he thinks of racing as his job and always looks for new ways to make it an enjoyable one.  

“I always try to get better, to always have new challenges,” said Juarez. 

When asked what he thought about the NorCal High School Bicycle Racing League, he said he thought it was good to have an alternative to the usual offerings at most high schools such as football or baseball.  

He also said it was great that Berkeley High supports the team financially. “The kids are motivated. It’s a really neat thing.”  

The team’s Web site is www.bhsracing.com.

TRENTON, N.J. — Shares of Lucent Technologies Inc. plunged as much as 30 percent Wednesday to an all-time low before the telecommunications giant strongly denied rumors it plans to file for bankruptcy reorganization. 

“Chapter 11 rumors are absolutely false,” said Bill Price, director of corporate media relations at the Murray Hill-based company. “They are ridiculous and (are) pushing people into a panic that does not exist.” 

The market rumors helped send Lucent’s already battered stock plummeting, before it recovered somewhat after the company issued its denial. In heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Lucent were off 45 cents, or 6 percent to $7.40. 

In a statement Wednesday morning, Lucent chief financial officer Deborah Hopkins called the rumors “baseless and irresponsible,” 

“We are already seeing positive impacts from our comprehensive restructuring program,” Hopkins said. “Our $6.5 billion lines of credit provide the financial resources and the financial flexibility to execute our turnaround plan.” 

The telecommunications equipment maker declined to say whether or not it has tapped those lines of credit. 

Hopkins said the company would detail its progress on that plan in late April, when it reports the results for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Saturday. 

Lucent’s early drop to $5.50 a share briefly pushed the stock to its lowest level ever since the company’s spinoff from AT&T Corp. in April 1996. In the initial public offering, the stock debuted at the equivalent of $6.38 per share, adjusted for two stock splits and the recent spinoff of Lucent’s telephone-making business, now called Avaya. 

The current stock price is less than 10 percent of Lucent’s $84 high in December 1999. 

The latest downturn for the stock, which is among the most widely held in the country and had been long a favorite of analysts, follows a string of strategic missteps and profit disappointments that has led to the ouster of Lucent’s chief executive and a major restructuring. 

In January, Lucent announced plans to eliminate about 10,000 jobs worldwide through layoffs and attrition, and to remove 6,000 others from its payroll by selling operations at two plants to contract manufacturers. 

“We have the financial flexibility to execute our turnaround,” Price said. “Nothing has changed.” 

In February, Lucent secured the credit lines to help execute its restructuring plan and cover debt payments. Lucent’s debt totaled a whopping $8.1 billion at the end of last year. 

Late last month, Lucent sold 600 million shares of stock in Agere, its network component business that is being spun off, in an initial public offering that brought only $6 per share – just one-third of the price Lucent had initially forecast.  

Then on Monday, Lucent said it would sell 90 million more shares of Agere to retire about $520 million in short-term debt. 

Lucent plans to spin off the 16,500-worker Agere unit, based in Allentown, Pa., by the end of the summer. 

The spinoff, layoffs and attrition are expected to leave the company with a total of about 90,500 employees. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.lucent.com 

Emboldened by their recent success in getting merchants along Telegraph Avenue to take down 30 percent or more of their tobacco advertisements, a group of Willard Middle-schoolers took their anti-tobacco campaign a step further Tuesday, asking merchants to put up anti-tobacco posters in place of the advertisements. 

It’s all part of 12-week anti-tobacco, after-school program led by Sandra Meucci, a sociologist, volunteer Marcus Bouligny, and some students from a class Meucci teaches at UC Berkeley on tobacco and culture. 

In its second year, Meucci said the program, which meets Tuesday afternoons, aims to go beyond traditional anti-smoking messages delivered to youth. Meucci begins by educating students about the dangers of tobacco, but then she helps them internalize the message by involving them in a campaign against tobacco in their own community. 

“My strategy is to get them to be part of a social movement,” Meucci said. “If they see it as something where they are being a consumer of an industry they don’t like, then they’re much less likely to buy the product.” 

Meucci said it is particularly important to get the anti-tobacco message across to middle school-aged kids, who are likely to experiment with smoking and could become addicted if they do. 

“This is the age of initiation right here,” Meucci said Tuesday, surveying the Willard Middle School students. “Twelve and 13 years old is where we first see kids experimenting.” 

Although teen smoking rates are down considerably from 15 years ago, they have begun inching up again in recent years, Meucci said. The 18 to 24 age group in particular is bucking the national trend of lower smoking rates, Meucci added. Thirty-eight percent of 18 to 24 year olds smoke, compared to 20 percent of the adult population, she said. 

The Willard Middle School students have visited seven stores to date along Telegraph Avenue. They’ve had notable success in getting merchants to remove tobacco ads. 

“I’m always shocked by the merchants’ reaction to us in terms of being supportive,” Bouligny said. “Most of the merchants just started taking stuff down right there.” 

The shift manager of Berkeley Market, on Telegraph Avenue near Dwight Way, who would give his name only as Mohammed, said he was sympathetic to the students’ cause. 

“It does have an impact,” he said of the tobacco ads. “It’s like a TV commercial. Particularly in American culture. People, what they see, they buy.” 

Kamal Ayyad, owner of Fred’s Market, on Telegraph, removed a large Camel placard from the wall above his cigarette shelf in response to the students requests. 

“The kids did their homework, so I tried to help them out,” Ayyad said. “I’m happy to take it down anyway. I want the kids to feel good and I want to be part of the community.” 

Some may be more earnest than others in their support of the students, Meucci said, after discovering Tuesday that the Berkeley Market had apparently put a tobacco ad back up after the students’ last visit. 

“What we’ve learned is you really have to be vigilant,” Meucci said. She said merchants are sometimes pressured by tobacco distributors to put up ads for their products. 

“There is a strong bias in this country is favor of looking at advertising as free speech,” she added. 

UC Berkeley Student George Martinez, one of the student mentors in the afterschool program, said educating Willard students is the bottomline for the program. 

“We’re mostly educating the kids about tobacco and letting them know that it’s not necessarily as edgy and cool as the media portrays it,” Martinez said.  

They’re preaching to the choir with Willard sixth grader Ashley Hilliard. Asked why she doesn’t smoke, Hilliard said: “I thought it was bad for my health – and it looks nasty!” 

Wednesday, April 4

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 

Word for Word  

3:30 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 649-3943 

The Voiceless Poor  

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. Free 

April Birthday Party  

1:15 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

UC dancers will entertain and refreshments will be served. 

644-6107 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

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

Call 644-6226 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For an appointment, 644-6107. 

“Women’s Scholarship as  

Prophetic Voices” 

6:30 - 9 p.m.  

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Dinner Board Room  

The Annual Women’s Theological Forum. 649-2490 

Sproul Standup Comedy  

Protest  

Noon  

Upper Sproul Plaza  

UC Berkeley  

The Heuristic Squelch is sponsoring a protest, calling for an increase in cleavage, popsicles, and black light posters of David Horowitz. Featuring comics Bruce Cherry, Rob Cantrell, drop-in guests, and up and coming UC student comedians. Free  

Thursday, April 5

Berkeley Metaphysical  

Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

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

Call 869-2547 

Word for Word  

3:30 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave. 

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

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

869-8833 to register  

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. 

Lavender Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd 100  

Rev. Nancy Wilson on “Queer Church: The Early History of the Metropolitan Community Church.”  

849-8206 

LGBT Catholics Group  

7:30 p.m. 

Newman Hall  

2700 Dwight Way (at College)  

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Catholics group are “a spiritual community committed to creating justice.” This meeting is titled “Inspired Utterance Night.”  

654-5486 

Bicycle Touring in Europe  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Independent bicyclists and budget travelers Tim O’Mahoney and Kathie Strell will give a slide presentation of their three month, 2,000-mile journey through France, Switzerland and Austria. Learn to execute your own bicycle tour. Free 527-4140 

Taking Care of Your  

Large Intestine  

1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  

Summit South Pavilion  

3100 Summit St., 3rd Floor Auditorium  

Oakland 

Harvey Olsen, gastroenterologist, will discuss Colorectal cancer, a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Olsen will explain changes in lifestyle and simple tools for early detection that can save thousands of lives a year.  

869-6737  

Disability Awareness Day  

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

Sproul & Dwinelle Plazas 

UC Berkeley  

An opportunity to learn about disabilities, to find resources for yourself or someone you care about, and to celebrate the achievements of people with disabilities. Free 666-9647 

Ballroom Dance Lessons 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Roman Ostrowski. Free 

644-6107 

HAM Radio Earthquakes 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center  

997 Cedar St.  

A free lecture by seismologist Bob Uhrhammer regarding earthquakes. The annual HAM radio emergency services presentation.  

Friday, April 6

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 

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 to 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. Call 644-6226 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

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.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more.  

Pre-register by calling 642-5461 

$20 for all five sessions, $10 per individual session  

Taize Worship Service  

7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Loper Chapel 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Dana St. (between Durant & Channing)  

An hour of quiet reflection and song.  

848-3696 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Don Giovanni, Pt. 1  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Saturday, April 7

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Earthquake Retrofitting Class  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Building Education Center  

812 Page 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 

Inside Interior Design  

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A look into the world of interior design with certified interior designer and artist Lori Inman. $35 

525-7610 

Small Press Distribution Open House 

Noon - 4 p.m. 

Small Press Distribution  

3141 Seventh St. (at Gilman)  

With poetry readings at 2 p.m. with featured poet Clark Coolidge and others. Free  

524-1668 

Straw Into Gold 

9 a.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

A rummage sale and intergenerational open mic. coffee house. All proceeds benefit the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Free 

841-4824  

Sunday, April 8

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Tibetan Yoga and Healing  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Kum Nye teacher Jack van der Meulen will present this Tibetan yoga and will demonstrate several exercises for self-healing. Free 

843-6812 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House  

3 - 5 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

A free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture which will include a prayer wheel and meditation garden tour, Tibetan yoga demonstration, discussion of how useful ancient teachings are in contemporary society, and more. Free 

843-6812 

A Humanistic Passover Seder 

6 p.m.  

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Kol Hadash will read from the Humanistic Haggadah, and will eat with friends and family. Miriam Solis will lead the group in song.  

$20 - $45  

925-254-0609 

Schilling’s mother asks captors for compassion 

Carol Schilling, mother of Jeffrey Schilling, held captive in the Philippines, sent the following letter to the Daily Planet which she said she planned to read over Radio Manila on Tuesday. 

I have received reports that the Abu Sayyaf have threatened my son's life again. I am very distressed by this latest threat. I want to talk with my son.    

Jeffrey, I love you and I am praying for your protection and for your deliverance from this terrible ordeal. Hold fast to your belief in God.  

 Know that Ivy also loves you very much. Your friends and family are praying for your safety and for your immediate return to us. God bless you and keep you safe from harm.  

People of the Philippines, I know that many people have already suffered and died from the conflict in the Southern Philippines. I do not understand the politics of this situation. I had hoped that recent troop withdrawals would bring about a resolution to this crisis, both for the people of Mindanao and for my son.   I oppose killing people for any reason. My personal spiritual belief is for peace. I believe that God wants us to love one another.  

Abu Sabaya, I call upon you and the Abu Sayyaf to spare my son. He has already suffered tremendously at your hands.   There is nothing to be gained from harming Jeffrey. Please release him immediately. In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate, I call upon you to show mercy and compassion to Jeffrey by releasing him safely and unharmed.  

Carol Schilling 

Oakland 

Still venues for good cinema - use or lose them 

Editor: 

Rita Wilson is right on the mark about supporting the Fine Arts Cinema. She should have added the Pacific Film Archive too. Having started the U.C. Theatre, I will miss it as much as anyone but I feel Berkeley is lucky to still have two of the most adventurous venues for film and video operating in the country.  

It isn’t enough to tell people how much one admires a theater and its programming. You must attend regularly and bring your friends. Take chances on something different. And the local media needs to know you want to read more about non-traditional programs while the theaters are still open. If only some of the energy spent writing countless words about the loss of the U.C. Theatre would have been expended on the movies playing there, the place might have survived. 

Gary Meyer 

Berkeley 

Return the UC Theater to local control 

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Mayor Shirley Dean, written before the March 29 closure of the UC Theater. 

I write as one who has enjoyed many hundreds of films of all sorts at UC Theatre since Gary Meyer started 25 years ago to show different double bills every night. 

It will be a great loss to Berkeley culture and to all those who love movies as art as well as entertainment should the UC Theatre close. I hope the city will support the effort to return the UC Theatre to local ownership and the great tradition it established for varied film programming over the past 25 years, so that we may continue to see films new and old, American and foreign, feature films and documentaries, local, low-budget, and great old Hollywood films of earlier decades--on the big screen and in the company of others who love this art form. 

Charlene M. Woodcock 

Berkeley 

Culture doesn’t kill pedestrians, autos do 

Editor: 

The Zack Wald quotes in the 3/28/01 Planet article on the Council’s discussion of the need for increase enforcement of traffic laws, could be dismissed as the nonsense they are if it were not for the existing situation. Automobiles on Berkeley’s streets are killing people. Wald suggests that relief will come only by creating “... a vision of how they want to … share the right of way. The long term goal should be a change in the culture…” His statement implies that the current culture is one that supports pedestrian death in our streets by cars. The culture didn’t kill the pedestrians, autos disobeying existing laws did. Wald attempts to minimize the impact of increased enforcement. The mere presence of a police car drastically changes the behavior of drivers, clearly it is effective. Wald also makes a silly comparison with success in other cities of programs that only succeed when you combine engineering, and education with enforcement. Wald desperately needs to do his homework; if he had he would find that cities of similar size have double the number of traffic officers as Berkeley. Berkeley’s unique features such as the barriers and our high level of congestion suggests that Berkeley may require more traffic enforcement than normal.  

Before we jump on Wald’s new vision bandwagon, we should remember what we learned in high school: we cannot abandon existing state and federal laws. Thus to create a less restrictive “vision,” may challenge Berkeley’s ability to receive State and Federal transportation funding. Berkeley will improve safety for all the community by enforcement of existing law. Courteous drivers, driving at the speed limit, yielding to pedestrians, cyclists observing the “rules of the road” as required by the California Vehicle Code, will help protect the Pedestrians using the crosswalk, rather than risking their lives. Safer streets benefit us all, even the motorists.  

While no one can argue with the value of engineering and education as components of the traffic safety issue, we should remember that for the almost 25 years I have lived in Berkeley, there has been a full time traffic engineer, and that the need for education was the immediate response by the city traffic engineer to the tragic death that occurred when Sharon Spencer was killed in her wheel chair, in a crosswalk, by a car. That was almost 1 and one-half years ago.  

Zack Wald’s silly generalizations are insulting because they trivialize the lives of the people that have died on Berkeley’s streets. Enforcement will change the automotive behavior that takes lives. Given the increasing occurrence lethal and other accidents, The Berkeley City Council is creating a Budget where they decide who dies.  

John Cecil 

Berkeley 

Where’s the principal’s principles? 

Editor: 

What is this? The high school principal brings in a simulator so the kids can practice gunning down a whole bunch of people? I’m disgusted – if this is an example of Mr. Lynch’s judgement, we need to start looking for a new principal right away.  

Becky O’Malley 

Berkeley 

Gaia stands tall, but not 116 feet 

Editor:  

I would be grateful for the opportunity to clarify several misrepresentations in Art Goldberg’s recent editorial regarding the Gaia building.  

The Gaia building is seven stories high, not eleven as Mr. Goldberg claims, with the roofline located at the council-approved height of 87 feet. The Gaia project includes two mezzanines: one at the first level and one at the seventh. Mezzanines are not considered stories under the city’s zoning ordinance, and both mezzanines are inside the approved 87-foot height limit. 

Per the building code, the highest point of the Gaia building, at the top of its elevator tower, is 107 feet high, not 116 feet as claimed by Goldberg. This height is required to provide elevator access to the roof deck and management offices – as required by the American with Disabilities Act, and is allowed under the zoning ordinance and the building code. The determination of maximum building height doesn’t include accessory structures such as elevator towers.  

The Gaia building was granted two additional floors in exchange for the long-term guarantee of a cultural use at the building’s ground level. Contrary to Mr. Goldberg’s assertion that “there is no obligation at this point that any type of cultural center will actually occupy street-level space,” the Gaia building’s ground floor space is restricted to a cultural use in perpetuity. Moreover, the ZAB must approve each subsequent cultural user in this space. Regrettably, Gaia went out of business before the Gaia cultural center became a reality. Nevertheless, we are happy to announce that we are currently in lease negotiations with the Shotgun Players, Poetry Flash, and other arts related users and local non-profit organizations. 

Amidst the ongoing campaign of misinformation fueled by Mr. Goldberg and others about the number of stories in Gaia and the height of the project – all conforming to the limits approved in the project almost three years ago – we sincerely hope that the public not lose sight of the big picture: The Gaia project locates 91 units of much needed new, accessible housing near transit, the UC campus, and shopping, with 19 of the 91 units for low income residents. 

Gaia’s high density, its efficient use of land, and its on-premises electric vehicle car-sharing program make it one of the more environmentally sound development projects in the city’s history. We hope that with live theater, poetry readings, a café, and other activities, it will be one of the livelier additions as well. 

Evan McDonald 

manager, Gaia Building Project Manager 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership. April 6: Link 80, Lucky Strike, 5th Wheel, Kung Fu Chicken; April 7: The Plus Ones, The Evaporators, The Pattern, Dukes of Hamburg, The Goblins/Disgoblins/Skablins/Gothblins; April 13: The Locust, Dead & Gone, Honeysuckle Serontina, Tourettes Latrec, Last Great Liar 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 4: Whiskey Brothers; April 5: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 7: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; April 10: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; April 12: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz April 8: “A Little Houseboat Music for Annie” is a benefit concert to help Oakland’s Archway School’s art teacher, Annie Clark, replace her houseboat, which was destroyed in a fire in February - performances by Michael James Quartet, The Wild Buds, Jim Stice Orchestra, Nova Trova and Ray Cepeda and the Neo-Maya Experience; 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  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 5: Battlefield Band; April 6: Garnet Rogers; April 7: Eric Lowen & Dan Navarro; April 8: Martin Simpson & Jessica Radcliffe; April 10: Kevin Burke; April 12: Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Julian Smedley & Allison Odell; April 13: Ray Wylie Hubbard; April 14: Dix Bruce & Jim Nunally, Eddie & Marthie Adcock 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. 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  

Cal Performances April 13 & 14, 8 p.m.: Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and the Paco de Lucia Septet $20 - $40 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

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

Berkeley High Jazz Lab Band & Steel Band April 5, 7 p.m. $3 - $8 Berkeley High School Little Theater  

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for 20 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. 925-798-1300 

“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.  

Dastan Ensemble with Namah Ensemble April 15, 8 p.m. Dastan Ensemble is a Persian classical music ensemble founded in Germany in 1991. Namah Ensemble is a group of four to six dancers who communicate the mystical Persian tradition to everyone. $25 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Jazz Singers’ Collective April 19, 8 - 10 p.m. With Mark Little on piano. Anna’s Bistro 1801 University Ave. 849-2662 

Kensington Symphony Orchestra April 21, 8 p.m. Featuring UC Berkeley student and soprano, Vanessa Langer performing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G and other selections. $8 - $10 First Baptist Church 770 Sonoma St. Richmond 251-2031 

Sharon Isbin April 22, 4 p.m. Isbin won a Grammy earlier this year for her album “Dreams of a World: Folk Inspired Music for Guitar.” She will be making a rare Bay Area appearance in a benefit concert for the Crowden School. $20 - $30 St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 559-6910 

Kids Carneval! Brazilian Dance for the Whole Family April 22, 2 p.m. The Borboletas Children’s Dance Troupe will transport children and their families to Brazil and promises to have the audience dancing in and out of their seats. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300  

Bella Musica April 28, 8 p.m. & April 29, 4 p.m. Hear how various composers through the ages view the plight of the lovelorn, from the ardent exclamations of Morley’s “Fire, Fire” to the intoxication of the “Coolin” by Samuel Barber. $9 - $12 St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 Addison St. (at McGee) 525-5393 or www.bellamusic.org 

“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 

“Moment’s Notice” A monthly salon devoted to improvised music, dance & theater April 7, 8 p.m. $7 Western Sky Studio 2525 8th St. 540-7782  

“Death of a Salesman” April 6 - May 5, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. plus Thursday, May 3, 8 p.m. The ageless story of Willy Loman presented by an African-American cast and staged by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. $10 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 528-5620 

“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 642-1412 

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour April 7 & 8, 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. Including films from Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, England, and the U.S. which reflect a wide range of mountain experiences, from mountain sports to mountain culture and the environment. $12 - $15 Wheeler Auditorium UC Berkeley Tickets available at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-7377 

“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 

Films of Julio Medem April 13, 7:30 p.m. & April 14, 7 p.m. Medem is recognized as one of Spain’s leading filmmakers. On April 13, “The Cows” and “The Red Squirrel” will be shown. April 14, “Earth/Tierra” and “Lovers of the Arctic Circle” will show. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412  

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay; April 5: Herbert Bix talks about “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan”; April 9: Mark Morris visits to celebrate “Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Modertato: A Celebration”; April 11: Poetry of Kurt Brown & Al Young; April 12: Stanley Williams explores “Surviving Galeras”; April 15: Poetry of John D’Agata & Joanna Klink; April 16: Isadora Alman talks about “Doing It: Real People Having Really Good Sex”; April 17: Michael Parenti discusses “To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia” 

1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 All events at 7 p.m., unless noted April 10: Amy Tan reads from “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”; April 20: Susie Bright discusses “The Best American Erotica 2001”; April 26: Mother of three Wynn McClenahan Burkett will read from “Life After Baby: From Professional Woman to Beginner Parent”  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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”; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 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. April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. 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  

California Colloquium on Water Scholars of distinction in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, law and environmental. 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  

“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 

Leonard Breger April 9, 7:30 - 9 p.m. Breger will critique club members’ art and will show some of his own works. Breger is known for his paintings of cut-out masonite shapes, both animal and human. El Cerrito Community Center The Garden Room 7007 Moeser Lane 524-6739  

A consultant told a mostly skeptical audience Monday that current tritium emissions, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, are not substantial enough to pose a health risk. 

Dr. Bernd Franke, a research biologist with the institute of Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg, Germany, was hired by the city in December 1999, to determine if there are substantial health risks posed by atmospheric tritium releases by the National Tritium Labeling Facility located within the LBNL.  

Franke told about 150 people at a special meeting of the Community Environmental Advisory Commission that he could not find evidence of dangerous amounts of the radioactive material being released into the air.  

“I would let my own kids go to Lawrence Hall of Science,” Franke said.  

LHS, located about 500 feet from the tritium emissions stack, sponsors a variety of youth workshops and exhibits and is attended by nearly 150,000 children each year.  

According to Franke’s report the 1998-1999 exposure rates to humans living and working near the lab was well within the limit set by the Clean Air Act. Franke said there is not reliable data for previous years.  

The Clean Air Act sets an exposure standard of 10 milirems of tritium in a one-year period. Franke’s report estimated the exposure rate to be less that 1 milirem. 

Tritium is a radioactive isotope that is used primarily for drug research. It is also used as luminescent material for watches, exit signs and other forms of lighting. 

The labeling facility has special  

clearance from the Department of Energy to warehouse large quantities of tritium. The facility releases small amounts of tritium into the atmosphere as a matter of procedure each time it performs tritium-related experiments. 

Gene Bernardi, of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, which opposes the facility, said Franke’s $30,000 report was flawed and did not accurately measure tritium emissions.  

“What does it mean that there’s tritium in the groundwater and vegetation?” Bernardi said during the public comment period.  

Franke said that tritium levels in groundwater and vegetation near the lab were less than 1 curie. He said the amount was insignificant and if the tritium in the water and vegetation were to suddenly become airborne, which is where it’s most hazardous, it would amount to less than 2-3 days allowable emissions from the facility. “It’s really a very insignificant amount,” Franke said. 

Bernardi remained unconvinced. On Tuesday she said 20,000 picocuries is the EPA limit for drinking water and the groundwater near the release stack has been measured to contain as much as 850,000 picocuries (1 curie equals 1 million picocuries). 

Bernardi said she is convinced tritium releases are directly connected to high levels of breast cancer and infertility in the neighborhoods surrounding the lab. Several people who live near the facility described incidences of cancer in their families and neighbors.  

Mike Bandrowski, EPA radiation program manager, said the Agency of Toxic Substance Disease Registry conducted a cancer cluster study that showed cancer rates around the lab were normal. 

However Bernardi said she received a letter from the Department of Public Health dated April 1, 1999 that claims the rates of breast cancer were higher than normal during 1998-1999 in census tract 4001, a residential tract near Strawberry Canyon, southeast of the lab.  

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste has aggressively campaigned for the closure of the facility for five years and the City Council has twice adopted resolutions calling for its relocation. 

Owen Hoffman, a consultant hired by the laboratory, said he concurred with Franke’s findings. Hoffman said he also discovered safe levels of tritium were being released into the atmosphere. 

“The rates are the lowest I’ve ever seen but I have to say it’s the largest gap between low rates and high outrage I’ve ever seen,” Hoffman said referring to the vocal opponents of the tritium facility. 

Roger Byrne a biologist who is working with the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste disagreed with Franke’s findings. Byrne said Franke should have paid more attention to high levels of tritium discovered in rainwater in 1994.  

Franke said the 1994 studies did not provide reliable data and any conclusions he might arrive at based on the study would be unreliable. 

“You can’t squeeze the truth form poor data,” Franke said. 

Byrne also criticized the monitoring methods used by the lab saying the monitors were poorly placed. 

Most public comments indicated skepticism of Franke’s findings.  

Berkeley resident Patricia Sun referred to an “unplanned release,” which occurred on March 7. According to a LBNL memo, 4.7 curies of tritium were released into the atmosphere in 4.5 hours. Many neighbors of the lab were upset that the incident was not publicly reported. It has also raised concerns that “unplanned releases” might be a common occurrence that the lab neglects to report. 

“It’s things like this, that make people insecure because the government has lied to us many, many times before,” Sun said. 

Seth Katzman, a resident who raised two children in Berkeley, said he was one of the few residents who supported Franke’s report during public comments. “Smoking, gun shot wounds and car accidents worry me more than the risk of tritium exposure, he said. “Decisions should not be made of fear but reason.” 

The Environmental Sampling Project Task Force will be monitoring tritium in the area around the lab for the next 12 months. Based on the results, Franke will complete his final report, which will include an estimate of heath risks from the tritium labeling facility. 

While some 100 activists rallied at the downtown Berkeley BART station against what they called the “brutality” of the Israeli government, eight people draped themselves in Israeli flags and blasted the Palestinians as the cause of the violence in Israel and Palestine. 

“It’s an emergency,” Berkeley attorney Osha Neumann told the crowd, describing a recent visit he made to the Middle East. “I saw Jewish boys patrolling (the Palestinian town of) Ramallah with clubs – and the clubs had nails on the ends of them.” 

Some of the demonstrators volunteered to lie down on the plaza and others outlined them in colored chalk.  

The outlines were named after Palestinians who died in the violence the past week and included a 75-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy. Demonstrators said almost 400 Palestinians have been killed, 94 of them children; more than 60 Israelis have been killed. 

“How can we as American Jews sit by and not do everything we can do for justice,” said Penny Rosenwasser of the Middle East Children’s Alliance. 

On the outskirts of the demonstrators, members of the Israel Action Committee of Berkeley with Israeli flags draped around them engaged some of the demonstrators in dialogue. “I want to send out the truth of what’s being done,” said David Singer, a freshman at UC Berkeley. “(Israelis) only shoot when they are shot at. The truth is, Israel has used excessive restraint.” 

“According to President Bush, as well as several members of his cabinet, the violence is being perpetuated by the Palestinian Authority and their refusal to peacefully negotiate an end to this conflict,” according to literature distributed by the Israel Action Committee. 

Sarah Tuttle-Singer, a member of the committee, argued that the Palestinian children killed, were killed in crossfire, not deliberately. 

But demonstrator Amy Gerber said that that’s a distortion portrayed by the media. The media say “Arabs are killed in crossfire and Israelis are killed by Palestinian gunmen,” she said. 

“There’s been 52 years of brutal occupancy,” said Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, comparing the Palestinian territory to the former South African Bantustands. “It has got to end.”

BERKELEY — Black and Hispanic admissions to the University of California increased in the first year of a program guaranteeing a spot for the top 4 percent of high school graduates. 

UC officials say they don’t yet know if the new program was directly responsible, although it seems likely since the plan boosted applications from those groups. 

Figures released Tuesday on the Fall 2001 freshman class continued a four-year trend of steady increases in black and Hispanic enrollment, following sharp drops immediately following the end of affirmative action. 

Admissions of underrepresented minorities – blacks, Hispanics and American Indians – for the fall semester are up by about 17 percent, from 7,336 last year to 8,580. Proportionately, underrepresented minorities make up 18.6 percent of in-state freshman admissions, compared to 18.8 percent in 1997, the last year race and gender were taken into account. 

Officials also don’t know how much of the rebound is due to changes in the state population and how much to recruitment and other outreach efforts. 

Recent census figures show the Hispanic population in California grew 43 percent over the past decade and is projected to make up 33 percent of graduating high school seniors this year.  

Hispanics comprise nearly 15 percent of UC in-state freshman admissions this fall. 

No one group held the majority in admissions, although whites were the largest contingent, at about 38 percent, followed by Asians at 34 percent. Blacks made up 3 percent of admissions and American Indians .05 percent. About 2 percent of those admitted checked the “Other” box and nearly 4,000 – 8 percent of the grand total – declined to state race or ethnicity.  

Census data show the state is about 47 percent white, 32 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian, 7 percent black and 1 percent American Indian. 

Flagship Berkeley admitted 271 black students, a 43 percent drop from the 1997 total of 271. UC-Riverside, meanwhile, admitted 567 blacks this fall, an 89 percent increase over the 1997 total of 300. 

“We still have a serious problem at selective UC campuses,” Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, an ex-officio regent, said in a statement. 

On the other hand, Regent Ward Connerly, who wrote UC’s race-blind policies, saw the admissions figures as proving “conclusively that the university is achieving an integrated student body without the use of preferences based on race or ethnicity.” 

Bustamante, who was not on the UC Board of Regents for the 1995 vote to drop affirmative action, is part of a growing faction that wants to see that vote rescinded, possibly as early as May. The repeal would not restore affirmative action, outlawed by the 1996 state ballot initiative Proposition 209. But it is viewed by proponents as an important gesture to minorities. 

Underrepresented minorities admitted to UC are likely to be wooed by a number of private colleges; UC will get a clearer idea of their incoming class next month when responses are due. 

Although race can’t be used as a factor, UC has implemented a number of other programs aimed at increasing enrollment of underrepresented minorities. 

One such approach is the 4 percent plan championed by Gov. Gray Davis. That program promises eligibility to students who finish in the top 4 percent of their class, based on their performance in UC-required courses. 

UC reported that 96 percent of students eligible under that plan have been admitted to one of the campuses of their choice. The remaining students will be offered a place elsewhere in the system. 

Officials say they don’t know yet whether the program affected admissions, but believe it was responsible for the record number of applications this year. 

UC estimates the program had the greatest effect in rural areas, increasing applications by 11 percent, as well as at urban schools, where applications increased nearly 6 percent. The program is believed to have increased applications from underrepresented minorities by 13.6 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.ucop.edu 

Two unarmed youths allegedly stole $2 and a bag of marijuana from a man standing at a bus stop near the intersection of Haste Street and College Avenue Friday, according to police. 

Police said the two approached the man and asked him for money. When the victim said he had none, one of the youths began forcibly searching his pockets, said Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes. They found $2 and a bag of marijuana that the victim was carry for medical purposes, Lopes said. 

The victim notified UC Berkeley police of the crime immediately. UC police nabbed one of the suspects a few minutes later. The victim identified the suspect as one of the alleged robbers. 

The suspect, a 17-year-old male, was charged with one count of strong-arm robbery. 

••• 

A domestic dispute turned into a brawl early Sunday morning as witnesses tried to stop a man from beating his girlfriend, police said. 

Just after midnight Saturday, a group of people stepped outside a restaurant on the 2000 block of Addison Street to smoke, Lopes said. They saw a couple on the opposite side of the street engaged in a heated argument, Lopes said. 

When the man allegedly began beating the woman the witnesses yelled at him, telling him to stop, Lopes said. But then the woman who was allegedly under attack ran across the street and attacked a female witness, apparently in defense of her male companion, Lopes said. 

As other witnesses tried to separate the two women, the man who had been arguing with his girlfriend took a crowbar out of his car and ran across the street, Lopes said. He allegedly struck two of the witnesses in the back with the crowbar, Lopes said. 

Police arriving on the scene separated the various victims and suspects. The man with a crowbar was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Lopes said. His girlfriend, the alleged victim of the domestic dispute, was charged with hiding evidence when she attempted to conceal the crowbar from police. 

••• 

A Berkeley High student leaving the campus about lunchtime Monday was robbed by three high school-aged youths, one of them armed with a pistol, police said. 

Lt. Lopes said the suspects do not appear to be Berkeley High students. 

The three youths approached the student near the intersection of Bancroft Way and Milvia Street and asked him if he had change for a $10 bill, police said. When the student said he didn’t, one of the suspects reached out to search his pockets. Lopes said the student tried to resist the search at first, but gave in when one of the suspects pulled back his coat to reveal the butt of a handgun in his belt.  

The suspects got away with about $40 and the victim’s pager, Lopes said. Berkeley Police are investigating the robbery. 

••• 

A woman was hit by a car at about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning while crossing Ashby Avenue at Pine Street. 

Officer Gary Romano described the accident as “minor,” but noted the woman was transported to Alta Bates Hospital by ambulance. “The driver was caught with a glare of the sun in his eyes,” Romano said. He said the woman who was hit was a neighbor of the driver. 

SACRAMENTO — The state’s top school official wants to spend an additional $60 million a year to put more counselors in California’s public schools to try to avoid student violence. 

California last year had the worst counselor-to-student ratio in the country, said state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin. She wants to bring that ratio up to the national average. 

Eastin made the proposal Tuesday as she and Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that 34 school districts will be dividing $10.8 million to improve school safety by putting more police on campuses. 

Both officials said last month’s shootings at two San Diego County high schools underscore the need for additional school safety efforts – particularly by providing kids with more concerned adults to talk with about their problems. 

“We have worked hard since Columbine, but we clearly have more to do,” said Eastin. She referred to the nation’s worst school shooting, which took place on April 20, 1999, in a Colorado high school. Ten students and one teacher were killed by two student gunmen, who then killed themselves. 

In response to Columbine and a string of school shootings that preceded that, California lawmakers created and enhanced a number of programs aimed at giving schools more resources to prevent and address violence. 

The Assembly Select Committee on School Safety heard suggestions from school officials, teachers and parents Tuesday about improving those programs and adding others. 

The committee’s chairwoman, Assemblywoman Sally Havice, D-Cerritos, said at the end that a real need is “making sure people are aware of what’s available.” 

Among the programs was the School Community Policing Partnership Program, whose latest recipients were announced Tuesday. That program gives districts up to $325,000 each to be spent over three years to develop partnerships with law enforcement agencies. 

Lockyer said putting cops on campuses on a regular basis not only improves security, but also gives students a “long-term counselor, friend and role model.” 

Eastin agreed that police at schools can help students. 

“Children have too few people they can go to to converse and to connect,” she said. 

However, she said California public schools also need to restore the counselors that were dumped during budget problems of the past two decades. Last year California schools had one counselor for every 979 students, the worst ratio in the country. 

Eastin is proposing that the state spend an additional $60 million each year for five years to bring California up to the national average of one counselor for 561 students. 

That proposal is not part of Gov. Gray Davis’ 2001-2001 budget plan, which the Legislature is currently considering. 

The money could be added to the budget in May, when the state has a better idea of revenues after tax returns are filed. However, the ongoing power crisis could make it difficult for lawmakers to increase any spending. 

The addition of more counselors was eagerly embraced by several people testifying before the Assembly committee. 

George Martinez, a math teacher at Santa Cruz High School, said counselors and similar workers “are the grownups in our institutions that kids come to trust and tell them when there is a potential problem.” 

“There needs to be more adult contact with students,” said Peggy Dial of the California PTA. 

Students and school officials who attended the news conference with Lockyer and Eastin agreed that schools need more counselors.  

“The more and more counselors we have at school, it becomes easier to make the schools safer,” said Robin Klingler, 17, a junior at Kinney High School in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb. 

Kinney counselor Rogeen Cortrite said she doesn’t have enough time to see all the students who sign up to talk with her each day and must try to determine whose needs are the most urgent. 

“If you have a student in crisis and you have to tell them to come back in two weeks, it’s a very scary thing,” she said. 

Eastin said the two San Diego County schools where violence struck last month were able to get police response in 90 seconds – compared with 45 minutes at Columbine – because they had crisis response plans. 

Two students were killed and 13 wounded in a shooting spree March 5 at Santee High School in San Diego County. A 15-year-old student is charged in that shooting. 

On March 22, five people were wounded at nearby Granite Hills High School. An 18-year-old student has been charged with that shooting. 

BRIEFLY  

Before Columbine: 

• All public schools have had to develop safe school plans since 1998. They must also have civil defense and disaster preparedness plans and test them at least two times each school year. 

• All public schools have had to report crimes to the state annually since the 1995-1996 school year. 

Post-Columbine state funding: 

• The Legislature’s 1999 School Safety and Violence Prevention Act gave school districts money, based on their enrollment, that they could use as they saw fit for security and violence-prevention programs. They got $101 million in 1999-2000, $72 million this fiscal year and are scheduled to get $72 million in 2001-2002. 

• Other state programs that districts can apply for include the $10.8 million for school-police partnerships announced Tuesday; $280,000 for conflict resolution training; $18 million for early interventions for potential juvenile delinquents; $3 million to help new schools develop their safety plans; $2 million for tolerance education; and $120,000 for student leadership programs. 

• The state’s 2000-2001 budget also includes $245 million in school improvement-student achievement block grants that districts can use for school safety, among other potential uses. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Read about school safety programs at the attorney general’s site: 

http://caag.state.ca.us/cvpc 

and the superintendent’s site: 

http://www.cde.ca.gov/spbranch/safety 

PALA — An Indian tribe prepared Tuesday to open the state’s first new permanent casino complex since last year’s passage of an initiative legalizing tribal gambling. 

The Pala Band of Mission Indians scrambled to finish its casino ahead of a May 15 deadline for tribes to begin operating slot machines, despite signs that regulators may extend the date. 

“We couldn’t take the risk,” said Jerry Turk, the Pala project manager. “If you lose (the slot machines) you’ve got nothing. That’s why other projects are also rushing along.” 

Pala expected more than 3,000 guests and customers for Tuesday night’s opening of its 185,000 square foot casino, set amid hills, pasture and orchards in northern San Diego County. 

The $115 million, 24-hour Pala casino is among a wave of similar projects expected around California now that tribes can legally offer Nevada-style slots and house-banked card games because of Proposition 1A, which voters approved last year. 

Other new casinos include a $90 million project of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Rancho Mirage, 120 miles east of Los Angeles, scheduled to open Friday. 

Pala, and three others planned nearby, will tap into a market of some 2.4 million adults from San Diego to the suburbs of Los Angeles. The Pala tribe plans to spend $20 million for marketing in its first year, Turk said. 

In the year since Proposition 1A’s passage, a number of tribes that already had more limited gambling expanded their operations. Others have built temporary structures while they seek financing for more ambitious projects or finish construction. 

But the 800-member Pala is the first tribe to go from zero gambling to having a completed permanent structure with all the trappings of a Nevada casino, including six restaurants and a 2,000-seat theater for live music alongside the gaming floor. 

“It was a long time coming,” said King Freeman, the vice chairman of the tribe, which operates the casino in a partnership with Turk and Anchor Gaming of Las Vegas. 

Under gaming agreements that 62 tribes signed with Gov. Gray Davis, slot machines had to be in operation by May 15 or they risked losing the machines. 

But the California Gambling Control Commission is still developing rules for casino operations and is likely to extend the deadline, said Robert Traverso, the agency’s interim director. 

Still, without a formal decision to suspend the deadline, tribes will rush to finish construction on projects around the state, said Susan Jensen, a spokeswoman for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. “The majority of tribes are still sticking with the May 15 deadline,” she said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Pala Band of Mission Indians: http://www.palaindians.com/ 

California Nations Indian Gaming Association: http://www.cniga.com/ 

SACRAMENTO — Despite speculation that President Bush would brush off the Golden State after his overwhelming loss here, he has tapped several Californians to serve in his administration – from national security adviser to top technology posts. 

Three of the Republican’s Cabinet members hail from California – more than any other state including Texas. 

Among them: Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi. 

A former Stanford University provost, Condoleeza Rice, is Bush’s national security adviser. And at least a dozen other Californians have headed to high-profile White House posts. 

After Bush lost California’s 54 electoral votes to Democrat Al Gore despite spending more time and money campaigning here, some political observers predicted the state would lose the VIP treatment it got from the Clinton administration and have to fight for federal spending including transportation money, disaster relief and defense contracts. 

“California was good to President Clinton and President Clinton was good to California,” said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. “Whenever the governor asked, he came through.” 

While the verdict is still out on the Bush administration, Maviglio said having Californians in top policy positions is key. 

“That’s all important – being able to make our case whenever possible and getting in the front of the line for funding,” he said. 

Despite California’s Democratic leanings – Democrats hold legislative majorities and every statewide office except secretary of state – there are several political reasons Bush cannot afford to shun the nation’s most populous state. 

California is a source of lucrative campaign donations and rising numbers of Latino voters, is a battleground in the fight over House and Senate majorities and has the most electoral votes. 

“Ignore California and do so at your own peril,” said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at Claremont Graduate University. 

A pair of coups came when Bush named Veneman as secretary of agriculture, the state’s largest industry, and Mineta to oversee transportation, one of California’s most pressing issues. 

Now in particular, California may need help from Washington. 

The state is reeling from an energy crisis that includes the nation’s highest natural gas costs, high wholesale electricity prices and a tight power supply that has led to rolling blackouts four times this year. 

“I imagine right now California wishes that they had the secretary of energy,” said David Lanoue, a political science professor at Texas Tech University. 

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who has joined Davis in unsuccessfully pushing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to cap the West’s wholesale power prices, said the Bush administration is giving the state the cold shoulder on energy. 

She criticized Bush’s appointments of two allies from Texas and Pennsylvania to FERC and called a March 27 meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney “disappointing.” 

“There was really no overture. No ’We’re here to help. We’re here to listen to you,”’ Feinstein said after the meeting. 

And despite Davis’ urging, Bush refused to extend emergency federal orders requiring natural gas and electricity wholesalers to continue selling to California despite concerns about the ability of its two largest utilities, both nearly bankrupt, to pay for it. 

Democratic leaders, facing Republican attempts to pin blame for the energy problems on Davis and other top Democrats, spent much of the party’s state convention last weekend bashing Bush. 

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said the president “has told California to drop dead” regarding energy. 

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius countered that Bush has tried to help the state, including issuing orders easing the construction of new power plants and forming an energy task force led by Cheney. 

“The administration is, to the extent that it can in a situation like this, doing what it can to help California,” he said. 

He said earlier that Bush chose appointees he has faith in. 

Suggestions that Bush might ignore California are “misplaced fears,” Lisaius said: “The president is the president for all 50 states.” 

Despite disagreement on energy, Maviglio said Bush has been mostly receptive to the governor. 

First lady Laura Bush made California the site of her first official trip. And Bush’s appointments – coupled with his inclusion of funding for a key California water pact in his budget plan – hint that the state won’t be ignored. 

Silicon Valley executives form the backbone of Bush’s high-tech team. 

California venture capitalist Floyd Kvamme is an adviser on science and technology policy. 

Bush also brought in Ruben Barrales, who headed a high-tech nonprofit community and business group, to head the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Lezlee Westine, former co-CEO of TechNet, a network of about 250 high-tech executives, as director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. 

“The president clearly understands the importance of technology and the new economy,” Barrales said. 

Bush also hired several high-profile Hispanic Republicans from California. 

They include Barrales; Los Angeles businessman Hector Barreto to head the Small Business Association; and former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez, Laura Bush’s press secretary. 

Political scientists say the appointments reflect Hispanics’ growing visibility in politics and an effort to woo Latino voters. 

Many Latino appointees will likely campaign in California for Bush’s re-election, Pachon said. 

Democratic strategists reject the idea that the Bush presidency alone can improve the GOP’s standing with California voters. 

“No Republican party that is anti-choice, anti-public education, anti-environment is going to make any inroads in California other than with the hard-core right-wing,” Democratic spokesman Bob Mulholland said. 

The Brookings Institution is keeping track of Bush appointments at http://www.brook.edu/ 

APPOINTEES 

• Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. The Sacramento attorney, a Modesto native, was California’s agriculture director from 1995-January 1999, appointed by then-Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. 

• Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. The former Clinton administration commerce secretary is the first Cabinet member to go directly from a Democratic president’s Cabinet to a Republican’s.  

• Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, a Vietnam veteran and attorney from San Diego. He has served as deputy secretary and counsel to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. 

• National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, a Stanford University professor and former adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the administration of Bush’s father. 

• Small Business Association Administrator Hector Barreto. The Glendale resident is president of Barreto Insurance and Financial Services in Los Angeles and serves on the board of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

• Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Ruben Barrales. He headed a nonprofit community and business group called Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. 

• Presidential adviser on science and technology policy Floyd Kvamme, a California venture capitalist. 

• Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison Lezlee Westine, former co-CEO of TechNet, a network of about 250 high-tech executives. 

• French Ambassador Howard Leach, a San Francisco banker, Republican donor and former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. 

• First lady Laura Bush’s press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez. Rodriguez served as deputy mayor under Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.  

• Margita Thompson, spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife, Lynne Cheney. Thompson was a California spokeswoman for Bush’s campaign. 

• Brian Jones, nominated as general counsel at the Department of Education. Jones is a San Francisco attorney who served as then-Gov. Wilson’s deputy legal affairs secretary. 

• Patricia Lynn Scarlett, president of the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, nominated as assistant interior secretary for policy, management and budget.

NEW YORK — Wall Street fell back into a deep slump Tuesday as a relentless stream of earnings warnings sent the Dow Jones industrials tumbling as much as 350 points and the Nasdaq composite index down more than 100. 

The escalating dispute between the United States and China over a grounded U.S. spy plane added to the market’s nervousness. 

Tuesday’s decline showed that Wall Street is still mired in the pessimism over earnings and the economy that dominated the month of March, pummeling stock prices and sending the Dow briefly into bear market territory. The edginess also reflected nerves about China’s demand Tuesday that the United States stop surveillance flights after a collision between the U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. 

“I can’t pin this on any one specific event,” said Charles G. Crane, strategist for Spears, Benzak, Salomon & Farrell, a division of Key Asset Management. “Certainly, there’s concern about what’s going on in China. But this mostly is the ongoing reports and worries about what the first quarter is going to look like and how it will set the tone for the rest of the year.” 

Investors Tuesday appeared to brace themselves for this month’s first-quarter reports, their anxiety intensified by the latest round of earnings warnings. The markets fell at the beginning of the session and selling accelerated as the day wore on. 

Ariba slipped $2.00 to $4.44, a 31 percent decline, in a loss that began late Monday after the business transaction software company reduced its quarterly outlook and said it will cut 700 jobs because of a dropoff in sales. BroadVision, another provider of e-commerce to business, fell $1.53, or 34 percent, to $2.97 after lowering its quarterly expectations, citing sluggish demand. 

These companies joined a variety of other businesses, including high-tech concerns and blue chip stalwarts such as American Express and Procter & Gamble, that have warned of disappointing earnings this year. 

“It’s the continued earnings surprises on the downside,” said Matt Brown, head of equity management for Wilmington Trust. “What hurts even more is the outlook – right now there’s no visibility as to when this economy is going to turn around.” 

Market watchers said the lack of any reason to buy was further depressing stocks. The Federal Reserve isn’t expected to cut interest rates for another month and investors are worried stock prices will fall further when earnings reports start. 

Then there is the issue of income taxes, which are due April 16. 

“It’s just seasonally a time where investment decreases in financial markets owing to the need of cash tax payment,” said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates. 

The Dow is now down 19 percent from its closing high of 11,722.98 reached in January 2000, while the Nasdaq is off nearly 67 percent from off its March 2000 peak of 5,048.62. The S&P is down more than 27 percent from its March 2000 high of 1,527.46. 

Analysts have stopped predicting when stocks are going to stop falling, instead telling investors that the market recovery will be gradual. Nearly all agree the market is oversold and say the market — and investors’ — psychology will have to improve before stocks prices do. 

“A year ago, exuberance and greed masked a whole lot of risk,” said Crane, the Spears, Benzak, Salomon & Farrell strategist. “Now, desperation and fear are masking a whole lot of opportunity. An investor would be wise to pay heed to that.” 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers more than 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.62 billion shares, compared with 1.25 billion Monday. 

The Russell 2000 index dropped 12.80 to 426.96. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.4 percent. European markets were mainly lower, however. Germany’s DAX index fell 3.6 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 closed down 2.8 percent, and France’s CAC-40 slipped nearly 4.0 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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

SPOKANE, Wash. — Northwest labor organizations have launched an effort to make electricity-gobbling aluminum smelters energy self-sufficient within five years. 

The United Steelworkers of America, which represents most of the hourly workers at Northwest aluminum smelters, made the proposal in a letter to the Bonneville Power Administration last week. 

If adopted, the measures would bring about voluntary reductions in energy use, “save jobs, protect the environment and ratepayers, and improve the long-term social and environmental health of the Pacific Northwest,” labor officials said. 

A key to the plan is to make smelters – users of vast amounts of federally produced electricity – completely energy self-sufficient by 2006. 

“This is what we felt ... was the approach BPA ought to take to try to balance all the interests,” David Foster, director of the Steelworkers’ District 11, said Tuesday from his Minneapolis office. “It’s a historic step on the labor movement’s part ... to advocate setting up a system in which the aluminum industry is no longer dependent on federal power in the Northwest.” 

The labor alliance proposes a two-tiered rate structure that would sell BPA customers about 75 percent of the power allocated for the 2001-2006 period at $23.50 per megawatt hour, with additional power requirements selling at a higher rate. 

The plan would encourage conservation and provide rate caps to protect low-income  

residential customers,  

the alliance said. 

It calls for development of new sources of energy generation, with an emphasis on renewable resources, such as wind power. 

Scott Lamb, a spokesman for Kaiser Aluminum Corp., said the idea “sounds nice in theory,” but is difficult in practice. 

“It’s a concept that sounds good, and we’ve been looking at various options that might help us bring generating capacity to bear,” Lamb said. “The problem is, if you are talking about non-hydro resources in the Northwest ... you would end up with a plant that would be generating electricity that is still prohibitively expensive for the manufacture of aluminum.” 

BPA spokesman Ed Mosey said the labor coalition’s proposal echoes the agency’s call for the aluminum industry to plow profits it made from recent resales of federal power into new generation and to “remove itself from federal power sales in five years.” 

But the proposed tiered rate plans doesn’t sit well with other users of federal hydropower, such as public utility districts and electrical cooperatives, he said. 

“If the aluminum industry and its workers would get together with other customers and convince them a two-tier rate structure is going to be an advantage to them, that would be great,” Mosey said. “But the other customers are dead-set against it. To their view, it shifts costs onto them and away from the aluminum industry.” 

The Washington State Labor Council and the Oregon AFL-CIO have signed on to the effort to wean smelters off the region’s hydropower system and save aluminum industry jobs. 

A recent report by the state Office of Financial Management included a worst-case scenario that shows rising energy prices leading to the loss of half of the aluminum industry jobs in Washington. 

The BPA estimates that its power rate for aluminum smelters, now about $22 per megawatt hour, will jump to $41 per megawatt hour for the next two years. Aluminum company officials say no smelter in the region will make a profit once power rates top $35 per megawatt hour. 

Contracts that take effect Oct. 1 obligate BPA to deliver about 11,000 megawatts, but the agency has only enough generating capacity for about 8,000 megawatts, meaning it has to buy the remainder on the expensive spot market. 

At full capacity, the region’s aluminum smelters use about 3,000 megawatts of power annually. The BPA has committed to selling only 1,500 megawatts to aluminum plants in the next five years. 

Foster said the labor plan would reduce aluminum industry consumption by about 400 megawatts. 

On the Net: 

Bonneville Power Administration: http://www.bpa.gov 

Office of Financial Management: http://www.ofm.wa.gov 

WASHINGTON — Segregation persisted in big cities over the past decade amid the nation’s growing racial and ethnic diversity, according to a report that provoked calls for stronger enforcement of laws against housing discrimination. 

Distinct living patterns continued to hold sway in large urban centers where most of America’s blacks, Hispanics and Asians are located, said the report released Tuesday by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. 

With forecasts suggesting even greater diversity in the future, advocacy groups urged federal and local governments to step up enforcement of fair-housing regulations and upgrade education in minority neighborhoods. 

Blacks and whites were most likely to be segregated in the Detroit metropolitan area, the study said, while whites, Hispanics and Asians were most likely to live separately in New York. 

It is “troubling at a time of massive demographic change, when the need for Americans to communicate across racial and ethnic lines is greater than ever before, that we are less likely than ever to live in diverse neighborhoods,” said Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy organization. 

The Bush administration is committed to stepping up enforcement of fair housing laws, a spokesman for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez said Tuesday night. 

Recently released Census 2000 data showed that Hispanic, black and Asian population growth far outpaced that of whites over the 1990s. The Hispanic population drew virtually even with non-Hispanic blacks as the nation’s largest minority group. 

The Census Bureau considers “Hispanic” an ethnicity, not a race; therefore, Hispanics can be of any race. 

Data from the once-a-decade head count also showed more minorities moving from cities and into suburbs. Many of those suburbs were becoming just as racially divided as urban areas, said State University of New York at Albany professor John Logan, who wrote the report. 

Logan said among the country’s top 50 metropolitan areas, many of the least segregated ones for blacks were in the South. Many blacks had moved from that region early last century to escape racial discrimination. 

Still, “the bottom line of the last decade is that there has been very little change in underlying levels of segregation,” Logan said. 

Among other findings in metropolitan areas: 

• The typical white lived in a neighborhood that was 80 percent white, 8 percent Hispanic, 7 percent black and 4 percent Asian. The typical black lived in a neighborhood that was 51 percent black, 33 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. 

• There was a 10 percent decrease between 1990 and 2000 in black-white segregation in metro areas where blacks made up no more than 3 percent of the population. 

• Over 24 million blacks lived in areas where they made up more than 10 percent of the population. Black-white segregation levels in those areas declined 3 percent, which Logan said was not significant. 

Similar trends also were evident within the Hispanic and Asian populations, though Asians were more likely to live in more diverse communities. 

Advocacy groups placed part of the blame on federal and local governments, calling for stronger enforcement of fair housing laws and regulations. 

“The white public tends to believe that the problem has been solved,” said Gary Orfield of Harvard. “There has never been more than a very small enforcement effort,” he said, and the isolation of minority families has always been high. 

Despite Detroit’s population loss over the last decade and its tag as “the most segregated city,” Mayor Dennis Archer said recent economic improvements have highlighted his goal to “make it as attractive as possible so that whoever wants to come and live here can enjoy themselves, irrespective of color. 

“We celebrate that diversity,” Archer said. 

On the Net: Census Bureau site: http://www.census.gov/ 

Civil Rights Project at Harvard: http://www.law.harvard.edu/groups/civilrights/ 

State University of New York at Albany’s Mumford Center: http://www.albany.edu/mumford/census/ 

The U.S. Army’s $3.2 million Armor Adventure Van came to Berkeley High Monday as part of a three-day tour of East Bay High Schools intended to show students what today’s army is all about – and to encourage them to join. 

An 18-wheeler with a life-like painting of a tank on the side, its cannon blazing, the Armor Adventure Van tours the country to help out with the Army’s recruiting efforts. Inside a high-tech multi-media presentation allows high school and college students to experience simulations of everything from a M-16 rifle to some of the army’s most high-tech equipment.  

The van drew large crowds all day Monday. Some students said they were considering careers in the military, others came to protest the van’s very presence on campus. The majority of students said they came because they were eager to play with the Army’s latest hardware. 

Entering the van in groups of 25 at a time, the students watched a video on the history of armored warfare in the U.S. Army, from George Washington’s cavalry to today’s tank battalions. They squeezed off round after round in a M-16 simulator and took turns in the driver’s seat, the “gunner” seat and the command seat of a simulated M1A1 tank, the Army’s most advanced armored vehicle.  

“I shot all of them, you know what I’m saying,” sang Berkeley High Junior Eugene Fortune as he left the van. “I got skills.” 

A hunter, Fortune challenged one of the Army recruiters to a friendly shooting competition with the M-16 simulator. Little did he know that the recruiter was a trained Army sniper. 

Fortune said he might join the Army after he graduates from Berkeley High. 

“They pay for college,” he said. “That’s cool.” 

Berkeley High junior Natasha Mark said she is leaning toward the Marines, but nevertheless enjoyed her time in the Army’s Armor Adventure Van. In one of the displays, Mark typed her Berkeley address into a computer and watched in amazement as it drew a map of the world with the location of her house marked by a red star. 

Berkeley High Senior Arthur Quinn said he thought many Berkeley students would come away from the van with a better understanding of military life. 

“A lot of kids were saying, ‘Let’s go inside and shoot people,’ ” Quinn said, although none of the simulations involved shooting at people. 

“Most people don’t know what they army is,” Quinn said. “They actually show them what it is they do.” 

More than a dozen students turned out to protest the van’s presence. Some carried doctored military posters, including one with a picture of a young Navy seaman with the words “I’m oppressed” scrawled across his sailor’s cap. 

Although she didn’t protest, student Anna Leff-Kich said she could understand why some students would be upset by the presence of the Armored Adventure Van right in the center of the Berkeley High campus. 

“All the stuff going on, all the school shootings, and they come in and say, ‘It’s fun to play with guns,’” Leff-Kich said. 

Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch said he invited the recruiting van to campus because the Army is an equal opportunity employer with career opportunities that could appeal to some Berkeley High students. 

Lynch said he warned the recruiters that they might get “a little heat” from protesters, but the recruiting officers seemed surprised by the anger of some students. 

“They don’t like the army here,” said one camouflaged-clad recruiter, shaking his head. 

Pointing to places where students had smeared food and written obscenities on the van, Army Staff Sgt. Simon Choe said “This is ridiculous, these kids.” 

“We came here because of the kids,” said Choe, a native of Korea who credits the Army with providing him a good education in the United States.  

“If they don’t want to join the service, that’s fine,” Choe said. “But that’s not the way.” 

Berkeley High teacher John Fike said he was a student at Berkeley High in 1979 when a large group of student protesters actually drove an Army recruiting van off campus. 

“That was also Berkeley in the ’70s,” Fike said. “Maybe times have changed. 

“It’s ironic and unfortunate that, for a lot of kids, the military is a real option” because it helps pay for education, Fike said. 

Berkeley School Board President Terry Doran said he was “disturbed” to learn of the recruiting van’s presence on the Berkeley High campus Monday. 

Army recruiting officers have visited the campus regularly since the seventies, Doran said, but they, like other recruiters, were simply given a room where interested students could meet with them. 

“I don’t think we’ve ever had any kind of occupational recruitment of that nature coming on campus,” Doran said of the Armor Adventure Van. “This, to me, is much more aggressive recruiting by the Army than I feel is appropriate.”  

Doran also questioned the appropriateness of having weapon simulators on any high school campus, where the students are a “captive audience.” 

Tuesday, April 3

“Great Decisions” – Conflict Resolution in Africa  

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 526-2925 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2 - 7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

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 

Mandarin Lessons 

1:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Cecilia Wan. Free 

644-6107 

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 

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 

Intelligent Conversation  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will be about financial planning, investments, tax, and the stock market. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free 527-5332 

Community Organization  

12:45 - 1:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd 103  

A “Real Deal” seminar with Don Stalhut and David Mann on community organization. Bring a lunch. 849-8229 

Wednesday, April 4

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 

Word for Word  

3:30 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

The Voiceless Poor  

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.  

April Birthday Party  

1:15 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

UC dancers will entertain and refreshments will be served. 

644-6107 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

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

Call 644-6226 

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

Call Maggie for an appointment, 644-6107. 

“Women’s Scholarship as  

Prophetic Voices” 

6:30 - 9 p.m.  

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Dinner Board Room  

The Annual Women’s Theological Forum.  

649-2490 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Sproul Standup Comedy  

Protest  

Noon  

Upper Sproul Plaza  

UC Berkeley  

The Heuristic Squelch is sponsoring a protest, calling for an increase in cleavage, popsicles, and black light posters of David Horowitz. Featuring comics Bruce Cherry, Rob Cantrell, drop-in guests, and up and coming UC student comedians. Free  

Thursday, April 5

Berkeley Metaphysical  

Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

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

Call 869-2547 

Word for Word  

3:30 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave. 

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

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

869-8833 to register  

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. 

Lavender Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd 100  

Rev. Nancy Wilson on “Queer Church: The Early History of the Metropolitan Community Church.”  

849-8206 

LGBT Catholics Group  

7:30 p.m. 

Newman Hall  

2700 Dwight Way (at College)  

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Catholics group are “a spiritual community committed to creating justice.” This meeting is titled “Inspired Utterance Night.”  

654-5486 

Bicycle Touring in Europe  

7 p.m.  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Independent bicyclists and budget travelers Tim O’Mahoney and Kathie Strell will give a slide presentation of their three month, 2,000-mile journey through France, Switzerland and Austria. Learn to execute your own bicycle tour. Free  

527-4140 

Taking Care of Your Large Intestine  

1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  

Summit South Pavilion  

3100 Summit St., 3rd Floor Auditorium  

Oakland 

Harvey Olsen, gastroenterologist, will discuss Colorectal cancer, a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Olsen will explain changes in lifestyle and simple tools for early detection that can save thousands of lives a year.  

869-6737  

Disability Awareness Day  

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

Sproul & Dwinelle Plazas 

UC Berkeley  

An opportunity to learn about disabilities, to find resources for yourself or someone you care about, and to celebrate the achievements of people with disabilities. One of the major focuses of this years awareness day is on “hidden disabilities.” Free  

666-9647 

Ballroom Dance Lessons 

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

With Roman Ostrowski. Free 

644-6107 

HAM Radio Earthquakes 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center  

997 Cedar St.  

A free lecture by seismologist Bob Uhrhammer regarding earthquakes. The annual HAM radio emergency services presentation.  

Friday, April 6

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.  

Call 644-6226 

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.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

A class for those 50 and over which introduces participants to an array of exercise options. Demonstration and practice will include strength training, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and more.  

Pre-register by calling 642-5461 

$20 for all five sessions, $10 per individual session  

Taize Worship Service  

7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Loper Chapel 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley  

Dana St. (between Durant & Channing)  

An hour of quiet reflection and song.  

848-3696 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Don Giovanni, Pt. 1  

1 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St.  

The opera.  

644-6107 

Saturday, April 7

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

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

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Dramatic group Word for Word returns to the library with a brand new play for children, the Russian folktale “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave.” 

Call 649-3943 

Earthquake Retrofitting Class  

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Building Education Center  

812 Page 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 

Inside Interior Design  

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

Building Education Center  

812 Page St. 

A look into the world of interior design with certified interior designer and artist Lori Inman. $35 

525-7610 

Small Press Distribution Open House 

Noon - 4 p.m. 

Small Press Distribution  

3141 Seventh St. (at Gilman)  

With poetry readings at 2 p.m. with featured poet Clark Coolidge and others. Free  

524-1668 

Straw Into Gold 

9 a.m.  

Berkeley Fellowship  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

A rummage sale and intergenerational open mic. coffee house. All proceeds benefit the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. Free 

841-4824  

Sunday, April 8

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

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

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

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

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Tibetan Yoga and Healing  

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

Kum Nye teacher Jack van der Meulen will present this Tibetan yoga and will demonstrate several exercises for self-healing. Free 

843-6812 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House  

3 - 5 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place  

A free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture which will include a prayer wheel and meditation garden tour, Tibetan yoga demonstration, discussion of how useful ancient teachings are in contemporary society, and more. Free 

843-6812 

A Humanistic Passover Seder 

6 p.m.  

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin Ave.  

Albany  

Kol Hadash will read from the Humanistic Haggadah, and will eat with friends and family. Miriam Solis will lead the group in song.  

$20 - $45  

925-254-0609 

Save Jeffrey Schilling 

Editor:  

Tienaman Square. The massacres in Brazil during elections. The supposed tyranny of Fidel Castro. All modern day representations of a nation’s wrath against its own people. And all acts that aroused the disgust and derision of the U.S. But no one has to ask, of what price is a human life. Is ten equal to one, a dozen to a thousand? If the worth of a human life can be manifested in the form of a product or sum, then the life of Jeffrey Schilling simply did not add up. Having been held prisoner by Filipino rebels since August of 2000, any hope for his release seems bleak, as there are few powers actually endeavoring to ensure his safe return.  

Now, unless you’re conscious of this situation, you may ask yourself, where is the U.S. in all of this? Schilling is an American citizen, and in that, allotted the basic rights of all U.S. citizens: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet at present, these rights are being blatantly ignored. The U.S. has denied hostage negotiations with the rebels, rejecting the $10 million ransom set for Schilling’s safe return. Now this begs the question, why would America so apathetically deny the safety of one of their own? Is $10 million really so much? Apparently so, since from the beginning all talk of negotiation has been denied under government policy.  

As unsavory as the fact may be, we must at least acknowledge the aspect of race. Schilling is a bi-racial, middle class citizen. If it was a matter of commodification or restitution, then it is doubtful Schilling would ever be “worth” $10 million dollars. Now I, as much as the next person, would love to believe that America has transcended racial biases, but it would be the height of naiveté to make such claims. Few would have the political ignorance, if not the wanton stupidity to claim that this government values the existence of a chief executive equal to that of a middle class African-American. It’s a cruel fact of life, but this is reality ladies and gentlemen.  

I cannot, in good conscious, portray Schilling as an idiom of patriotism or archetype of flawless moral character. There were allegations that he was in some way affiliated with the rebel group that abducted him. But the only thing regarding his relationship with the group that has actually been proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that he is now being held captive and his safety is in no way ensured.  

At this point, one must come to at least sympathize with the plight of Mr. Schilling. The prospect of U.S. intervention into this matter any further then its current ankle deep immersion would be wishful thinking. At present, his story is scarcely broadcast on the evening news, obscured by the concurrent power crisis and gas shortages. It should come as no surprise to me really, everything has a dollar sign, and if you can’t ante up then you’re out of the game. At best I can hope that, if Schilling is executed, it won’t be in vain, that the eyes of this nations’ citizens can finally become pellucid and, at the cost of blindness, saturate the reality ensconced within the mise-en-scene of capitalism. That you pay your money, and you take your chances.  

Daryl Hall 

Berkeley 

Parent likes downtown housing 

Editor  

I am writing as a proud parent of a UC Berkeley graduate who is disabled and chose to live in Berkeley. She is trying to live on her own and be as independent as possible. After graduation it took her over a year to find housing. The housing she found is barely accessible and quite a distance from where she would like to live. The GAIA building which Patrick Kennedy built is accessible, affordable and is in an area she would like to live.  

Patrick Kennedy should be applauded for helping the disabled community find decent affordable housing in Berkeley and not ridiculed for the work he is doing. I want to publicly thank him.  

Joseph Rizzo 

More parking, less congestion  

Editor: 

RE: Response to the Daily Planet article “Study Claims There’s Not a Crisis in Parking” (3/21/01) 

The Daily Planet’s1 3/21/01 headline “Study Claims There1s Not a Crisis in Parking” demonstrates a great leap faulty in logic. The public acceptance of the Transportation Demand Management Study does not equal an agreement that there is no “parking crisis.”  

The article took selective information to make this conclusion. Whether or not we define the current situation as a “crisis”, there is a large constituency that can make the case that more parking is needed in the downtown, and that it won’t necessarily add to the congestion.  

By acknowledgement of the consultants, the TDM was not a comprehensive parking assessment. In fact, the consultants recommend that the city conduct a parking assessment study. The TDM only measured employee parking, not visitor or event parking which is significant and impacts the economic success of our arts and commerce establishments. At peak hours, and during special events, visitors have difficulty finding one of the 2,500 parking spaces available. It is of note that the consultants stated that adding some new parking might decrease congestion because cars will find a space more quickly.  

The TDM assumes “slow growth in the next ten years”. However, the consultants admitted that they did not have information on the downtown’s commercial, arts, and housing usage and development and did not take into account the following: an estimated 400 new downtown housing units in planing stage or under construction; our steady decrease in commercial vacancy; the fantastic (and expanding) arts and non-profit organizations with regional draws (like YMCA, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, etc); and recent public and private investment ($130 million) that has resulted in streetscape improvements, and building renovation and construction that is attracting new tenants and shoppers to our district. 

To some, the TDM seems to assume that the status quo is acceptable. Many downtown stakeholders do not agree. The top priority of the downtown arts and commerce community is improved visitor and customer access for those who cannot take transit, or for night time travelers and others for whom transit is not available or safe. Our district has experienced a decrease in parking spaces while we have an increase in usage (as mentioned above). Additionally, surrounding neighborhood residents are impacted by the 2,000-5,000 estimated daily parkers. The consultants say that even with transit and parking strategies working together, it is unlikely that the neighborhood parking can be eliminated. In the core, garage managers clarified that the 85 percent peak usage is “full” because they save the other 15 percent of spaces for monthly parkers. Visitors do not have access to these parking spots. These communities of people find the status quo “not acceptable.”  

The Transportation Demand Management Study focuses on transit, (hence the name) and considers parking issues, but not in sufficient depth for making conclusions about our “crisis”. However, the study does recommend that 915 parking spaces be added by 2010 and also recommends that the city should conduct a parking assessment study that does take “missing” data into account. An added note is that an increase in parking spaces (and even a new garage) is recommended in the approved 1990 Downtown Plan. For the retail and cultural sectors to flourish over the long term, there will have to be a net increase in available parking spaces. 

The Downtown Berkeley Association supports the recommendations of the TDM Study.  

Deborah Badhia 

Executive Director 

D.B.A.

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership. April 6: Link 80, Lucky Strike, 5th Wheel, Kung Fu Chicken; April 7: The Plus Ones, The Evaporators, The Pattern, Dukes of Hamburg, The Goblins/Disgoblins/Skablins/Gothblins; April 13: The Locust, Dead & Gone, Honeysuckle Serontina, Tourettes Latrec, Last Great Liar 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 3: pickPocket ensemble; April 4: Whiskey Brothers; April 5: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 7: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; April 10: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; April 12: Keni “El Lebrijano”; April 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz April 8: “A Little Houseboat Music for Annie” is a benefit concert to help Oakland’s Archway School’s art teacher, Annie Clark, replace her houseboat, which was destroyed in a fire in February - performances by Michael James Quartet, The Wild Buds, Jim Stice Orchestra, Nova Trova and Ray Cepeda and the Neo-Maya Experience; 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  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 3: Nerissa Nields & Pam Houston; April 5: Battlefield Band; April 6: Garnet Rogers; April 7: Eric Lowen & Dan Navarro; April 8: Martin Simpson & Jessica Radcliffe; April 10: Kevin Burke; April 12: Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Julian Smedley & Allison Odell; April 13: Ray Wylie Hubbard; April 14: Dix Bruce & Jim Nunally, Eddie & Marthie Adcock 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. 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  

Cal Performances April 4, 8 p.m.: Pianist Chucho Valdes $18 - $30; April 13 & 14, 8 p.m.: Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and the Paco de Lucia Septet $20 - $40 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

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  

Berkeley High Jazz Lab Band & Steel Band April 5, 7 p.m. $3 - $8 Berkeley High School Little Theater  

Hillbillies From Mars April 8, 2 p.m. Rocking the Bay for 20 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. 925-798-1300 

“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.  

Dastan Ensemble with Namah Ensemble April 15, 8 p.m. Dastan Ensemble is a Persian classical music ensemble founded in Germany in 1991. Namah Ensemble is a group of four to six dancers who communicate the mystical Persian tradition to everyone. $25 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Jazz Singers’ Collective April 19, 8 - 10 p.m. With Mark Little on piano. Anna’s Bistro 1801 University Ave. 849-2662 

“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 

“Moment’s Notice” A monthly salon devoted to improvised music, dance & theater April 7, 8 p.m. $7 Western Sky Studio 2525 8th St. 540-7782  

“Death of a Salesman” April 6 - May 5, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. plus Thursday, May 3, 8 p.m. The ageless story of Willy Loman presented by an African-American cast and staged by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. $10 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 528-5620 

“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 

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour April 7 & 8, 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. Including films from Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, England, and the U.S. which reflect a wide range of mountain experiences, from mountain sports to mountain culture and the environment. $12 - $15 Wheeler Auditorium UC Berkeley Tickets available at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-7377 

“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 

Films of Julio Medem April 13, 7:30 p.m. & April 14, 7 p.m. Medem is recognized as one of Spain’s leading filmmakers. On April 13, “The Cows” and “The Red Squirrel” will be shown. April 14, “Earth/Tierra” and “Lovers of the Arctic Circle” will show. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412  

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 3: Ann McGregor, Dick Meister, Cindy Wathen, and George Ballis give accounts of living and working with Cesar Chavez; April 4: Poetry of Carole Simmons Oles & Matthew McKay; April 5: Herbert Bix talks about “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan”; April 9: Mark Morris visits to celebrate “Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Modertato: A Celebration”; 

1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 All events at 7 p.m., unless noted April 10: Amy Tan reads from “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”; April 20: Susie Bright discusses “The Best American Erotica 2001” 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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 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,” a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

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  

Rhythm & Muse Open Mike April 21, 6:30 p.m. Open to all poets and performers, opening at it’s new home at the Berkeley Art Center. Featuring poet Giovanni Singleton. Free Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 527-9753 

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  

“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 

Leonard Breger April 9, 7:30 - 9 p.m. Breger will critique club members’ art and will show some of his own works. Breger is known for his paintings of cut-out masonite shapes, both animal and human. El Cerrito Community Center The Garden Room 7007 Moeser Lane 524-6739  

The city may have improperly raised the fee for historical landmark review by as much as 10 times the amount prescribed by a city ordinance. 

The Planning and Development Department currently charges $500 to review a structure as a potential historical landmark and $650 to review a district, such as the Berkeley Shellmound.  

According to a city ordinance written in 1974 and modified in 1985, the fee for review should be $50 for a structure and $100 for a district.  

According to the City Attorney’s Office, the fees, if written in the ordinance, can only be increased by an amendment to the ordinance, which in this case has not occurred. 

The City Council adopted the higher fees as part of a Consolidated Fee Schedule in June. The schedule included all the application fees the Planning Department charges except those related to seismic upgrades.  

The department, which oversees all the development in the city, from a residential bathroom addition to seven story office buildings, charges fees according to the amount of work planners must do to review the project. 

For example, the department charges $650 for an application to add a bedroom to an existing home. The fee to significantly change the use of an existing property, such as building a 20-unit residential building on the site of a former gas station is $2,258, according to the Current Planning Fees Schedule. 

Deputy City Attorney Zack Cowen said the fee for historical landmark review stands apart from other fees, in that the fee amount was written into the actual ordinance.  

“If the fee is part of the ordinance it should not be raised,” he said. 

Vivian Kahn, deputy directory of planning, said the fees were raised by a City Council vote after a public hearing was held. 

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “Every year when we raise fees we do it in accordance with state law. We did hold a public hearing and the City Council did adopt the raises.” 

It remains unclear if the fee hikes are legal, because the City Council never adopted an amendment to the ordinance, specifically raising the landmark review fees. 

Prior to the August fee hike, the landmark review fees were already higher than the amounts specified in the ordinance. The cost of a structural review was $80 and district review was $180. Kahn said she did not know when the previous increases were implemented or if they were made by an amendment to the ordinance. 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association member Becky O’Malley said the fee hikes seem excessive. “Even if they could raise the fee from $50 to $500, there’s no justification for charging so much,” she said. “The fee was intentionally kept low because the city wanted to encourage the landmarking of the city’s architectural resources.” 

Kahn said the landmark review fee is still lower than other planning fees, considering the amount of staff time that goes into the review of the applications. “The average time spent on a district review is 13 hours and 10 hours for structures,” Kahn said. “That begins to add up at $100 per hour.” 

Berkeley resident Richard Wessell wanted to submit an application for a north Berkeley residential building to be reviewed as a potential landmark, but changed his mind when he learned of the high fees. He said high application fees for adding a bathroom is different because such a project adds value to a home but landmarking often doesn’t. 

“I was surprised by the fee,” he said. “$500 is real money and I think it would discourage most people from participating in the landmark process.” 

Kahn said the department does not charge a fee when the application is submitted by a commissioner on the Landmarks Preservation Commission or by a Planning and Development employee. 

THE RATES 

• $500 to review a  

structure as a potential  

historical landmark  

• $650 to review a district, such as the Berkeley  

Shellmound.  

• According to a city  

ordinance written in 1974 and modified in 1985, the fee for review should be $50 for a structure and $100 for a district.  

• The City Council adopted the higher fees as part of a Consolidated Fee Schedule in June. The schedule included all the application fees the Planning  

Department charges except those related to seismic upgrades.

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste brought out its big – uh – guitars at a Monday afternoon rally/press conference where their “shut down the labs” message came through in song and speeches. 

“I’m sad to say, it leaked one day,” sang activist folk-artist Carol Denney. “We had to live with the tritium trickle down.” The Funky Nixon Band was also on the scene, in front of the North Berkeley Senior Center. Several dozen supporters showed up to underscore the message. 

The occasion was an unveiling of a report by Bernd Franke, a consultant hired by the city to look at the way the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory measures tritium emissions at its National Tritium Labeling Facility. 

Tritium is a radioactive substance the labs use in medical research. The tritium is released into the air regularly from the labs, which are run by the Department of Energy and overseen by the University of California. Scientists at the labs say the emissions of tritium present no more of a danger to humans in terms of radiation exposure than taking a trip by airplane to New York. But the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste claims there is no safe level for tritium. 

Franke, of the Institute for Ecology and Environmental Research in Heidelberg, Germany, said the law allows for an amount of radiation that is an “acceptable risk.” He said he agrees with the law, but if the activists disagree with it, they should target the statute. 

To prove the point that the labs are a danger to the community, members of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste distributed copies of a memo noting an “Unplanned release from the National Tritium Labeling Facility.” The release took place at about 7:30 p.m. March 7 and was observed by a worker who monitors releases from his home computer. The release was stopped by midnight, according to the memo. The release of 4.7 curies was below the internal reporting level of 25 curies, according to the report.  

Paul Lavely, director of the office of radiation safety for UC Berkeley, described the release as “a very small increase” over the regular emissions. He noted that “The system worked. We were able to stop it.” 

In a written statement, the activists said this release is “especially troubling in the current context, when there is a great deal of citizen concern in Berkeley about the tritium facility – one would suppose that the authorities and managers of the Lab would be especially careful to avoid such accidents....” 

Councilmember Dona Spring addressed the gathering, reminding people that the city had voted twice to shut the labs down, but that it was overridden by the DOE. “With all of us working together, we’ll shut them down,” Spring said. 

An article in Wednesday’s Daily Planet will highlight Franke’s report.

The UC Theater’s dead. Long live the theater. 

The marquee that once called crowds to Felinni flicks and Cannes Film Festival champions is empty. The flowers that fans left taped to the box office window after the theater’s last show on Thursday have died. 

While local folk mourn the loss of the 83-year-old arts and oddity cinema – including nearby eatery owners whose patrons often came downtown for a UC Theater show – others are germinating ideas for the theater’s reuse.  

And they’re pointing to the city’s deep pockets to fund the venture. 

Meanwhile, the movie theater business is not booming. A recent Wall Street Journal article cites the “cinema business meltdown,” and the glut of movie screens. Silver Screen Cinemas, which own the Landmarks Theaters – the owner of the former UC Theater – and United Artists Cinemas are among movie-house businesses to file for bankruptcy. 

There’s plenty of competition for the theater, with some 25 screens in or near downtown Berkeley, said local developer Patrick Kennedy, who points out that the theater’s single screen makes it a dinosaur. 

In the Elmwood area, the merchants got together a number of years ago, and saved the small Elmwood Theater. But the area around the UC Theater isn’t strong enough economically to support a Business Improvement District, such as was formed in the Elmwood to save the theater, according to one city insider who asked that his name be withheld. 

There are other possibilities – one is transforming the theater into a combination restaurant-theater, better known as a “cinema-grill,” Kennedy said. At the Parkway Theater in Oakland, people, with kids in tow, watch films seated on funky couches and armchairs, eat the pizza they’ve ordered and enjoy the flicks. 

Kennedy has a number of other ideas to reuse the theater. He’s like to see it as the new home of the Berkeley Symphony. Symphony spokesperson Catherine Barken-Henwood said the theater’s bad acoustics would make that a not-so-good idea. 

But Kennedy’s not dissuaded. “I think it could be a focal point for (Berkeley’s) arts revival,” he said. 

Other possibilities Kennedy’s thinking about and talking to others about is transforming the huge theater into small 50-75-seat theaters. One of those theaters could be the future home of UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archives, Kennedy said. But PFA spokesperson Shelley Diekman said she hadn’t heard anything about that.  

There could be theater performing space in the venture, as well. “People talk about the lack of performing space,” Kennedy said. 

A barrier to reuse would not only be the cost to remodel the structure, but paying half the $600,000 retrofit cost for the brick building. The building is owned by Quality Bay Construction, Inc. No one from QBC has returned the Daily Planet’s numerous calls. 

When the Landmarks Theaters controlled the UC Theater, its lease with QBC required payment of half the retrofit costs. Many speculate that these costs, plus dwindling numbers of patrons at the theater, caused the theater’s eventual demise. 

Costs of reuse “might require a huge subside from the city,” Kennedy said. 

SAN DIEGO — Researchers have discovered the sites of 430 former lead smelting factories spread among 35 states, most apparently unknown to government regulatory officials despite the risk they may harbor hazardous levels of the toxic metal. 

The sites, some adjacent to residential areas, all housed factories where lead was recycled from automobile batteries, wheel weights and cable housing between 1931 and 1964. 

William Eckel, an Environmental Protection Agency scientist, said he found a total of 640 sites by combing through old industrial directories. When he crosschecked those sites against federal and state databases, he said, he discovered at least 430 were unknown to either federal or state officials. 

“They’re not in the business of doing this kind of research,” said Eckel, who spent six years on the independent project for his doctoral thesis in environmental science and public policy. 

Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Chris Paulitz said the agency had not yet reviewed Eckel’s report. 

“It’s impossible for us to comment on a study we haven’t even seen,” Paulitz said. 

In eight sites in Baltimore and Philadelphia where Eckel did cursory testing of the soil, he found three had lead levels that exceeded those allowed by federal law for industrial sites. Seven had levels that exceeded the residential maximum. 

“These are not places that have gone away,” Eckel said. “In some places, the contaminants remain.” 

Lead poisoning can cause a variety of ailments, ranging from lowered IQs and learning disabilities to seizures and death. Children can ingest or inhale the toxin if they come into contact with lead-fouled soil. 

The sites likely remained unknown because lead smelting operations housed there had ceased before the advent of regulatory bodies like the EPA, formed in 1970. 

The sites found by Eckel include locations in most large U.S. cities, including Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh and San Francisco. 

While many are in what remain today strictly industrial areas, others are not. A survey done by a reporter of a half dozen of the sites located in and around Los Angeles found in some cases the former factories had been converted to other uses, including a seafood restaurant and artist lofts. 

Eckel stressed that those sites and the hundreds of others are not necessarily hazardous, but should be investigated. In many cases removing any contaminated soil, or simply paving over it, can reduce any potential risk, even where industrial buildings have been adapted for new uses, said Ron Baker, a spokesman for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. 

“You don’t expect someone to show up at a seafood restaurant with a back hoe,” Baker said. 

In Philadelphia, however, Eckel found a site that had been occupied by the North American Smelting Co., apparently for more than a century before moving to Delaware in the 1970s. The site, now an empty lot, lies across the street from a residential neighborhood. When he tested the lot’s soil, Eckel said, he found lead concentrations that far exceeded the level permissible for a residential area. 

“I wouldn’t want those levels in my yard for sure,” said Eckel, who did the research with his thesis adviser at George Mason University, Gregory Foster, and Michael Rabinowitz, a geochemist with the Woods Hole, Mass. Marine Biological Laboratory. 

The results, presented Monday at the 221st meeting of the American Chemical Society, are published in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

PRETORIA, South Africa — Pharmaceutical firms suing the South African government say officials have rejected or ignored their offers to provide cheap or free AIDS drugs, countering the country’s claims that it needs to import cheaper generic alternatives because it cannot afford the patented drugs. 

“To the extent that prices of medicines do enter considerations, it is clear they cannot play a significant role because the government declines to use these products, even where they are offered for free,” the Sunday Independent newspaper quoted Mirryena Deeb, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, as saying in an affidavit filed in the Pretoria High Court Friday. 

About three dozen drug companies, including some of the world’s biggest, have asked the court to overturn a law that would allow the government to import cheap generic medications in an emergency. 

The case is seen as a watershed in efforts to get AIDS medicines, known as anti-retroviral drugs, to poor countries.  

Hearing is to resume April 18, and a judgment may not come for months. The losing side can appeal. 

The drug companies have argued that the Medicines Control Act – signed into law in 1997 but never put into force because of the court challenge – undermines their patents, gives the health minister unfettered power to control the import and pricing structure of medicines and is unconstitutional. 

South Africa has the world’s largest population of people with HIV and AIDS. An estimated 4.7 million people, or 11 percent of the population, are infected, and few can afford treatment, which costs between $10,000 to $15,000 in Western countries. 

Anti-retroviral drugs were not available in the public health system because the government had tried to manage the HIV/AIDS epidemic without them, said the manufacturers association, which represents the drug companies. 

Deeb said an offer made last May by Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche of Switzerland, Bristol-Myers Squibb of New York, Merck and Co. of New Jersey and Britain’s Glaxo Wellcome to work with governments and cut drug prices in developing countries had never been taken up. 

“The South African government has not yet even initiated discussions ... to procure the medicines in question at the very substantial savings that the offers entail,” she said. 

In February, South Africa’s Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang accused the companies of not disclosing the prices they would charge. 

Ayanda Ntsaluba, the director-general of the Health Department, had acknowledged an offer from Boehringer Ingelheim to supply its anti-retroviral drug Viramune free for five years, the Independent said.  

The drug, which contains nevirapine, a chemical that can prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, has yet to be registered by the Medical Control Council. 

Bristol-Meyers Squibb had also offered a combination of its drugs Videx and Zerit at the discounted price of $1 a day, but the Health Department had not responded, the paper said. 

THE CASE 

The case is seen as a  

watershed in efforts to get AIDS medicines, known as anti-retroviral drugs, to poor countries. Hearing is to resume April 18, and a  

judgment may not come for months. The losing side can appeal.

In its feverish quest to develop magical electronic devices during the great expansion, America overlooked and bypassed some of the more mundane ingredients of a sound economy. 

Such as adequate power.  

It developed the computer and the Internet and hundreds of ingenious electronic devices – and the factories to make them – but it failed to develop enough power to keep the lights on everywhere. 

It created amazing global positioning devices to track the shipment of goods, but it failed to keep the interstate highway system up to date and in good repair. And urban traffic, says a highway group, is worse off. 

Railroad modernization also lagged. Japan and France, most notably, ran high-speed trains years before Americans inaugurated the Acela bullet train on just one corridor, from Washington to Boston. 

Bigger and faster aircraft were built, but technological ingenuity was insufficient to the task of finding room over the busiest airports to avoid time-consuming traffic snarls, especially in inclement weather. 

And now the ultimate delinquency: The high-tech industries have created wireless communication marvels able to turn on your oven and access the Internet, but we may not have enough radio spectrum for them. 

Three Federal agencies report that there just isn’t enough room on the radio spectrum to easily accommodate these wireless devices without cutting the share assigned to schools and national security. 

Potential shortages of the sort now facing the nation were recognized long ago, but the country, totally engrossed in the marvelous, profitable and forever-new world of electronics, didn’t have time for such worries. Amtrak now says it can develop additional corridors, but that it might require $10 billion over 10 years. 

The Road Information Program, financed mainly by highway builders, says one-third of 850,000 miles of urban roadways are in poor or mediocre condition, costing drivers an average of $141 a year in wear and tear. 

And the nation’s power system – 3,000 plants and 201,243 miles of high voltage transmission lines – even now may be near its limits, posing a monumental challenge to a quickening pace of economic expansion. 

It could mean that America’s high-tech geniuses will be faced as much with correcting the omissions of the past as with the possibilities of the future. 

And with getting the most out of each strand of wire, each fraction of the radio spectrum, each gallon of gasoline, and each mile of rail and pavement. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

SAN JOSE — Online auction powerhouse eBay Inc. is telling users their personal data would be shared if eBay is bought out or merges with another company. 

The new privacy policy takes effect May 15, but eBay already has placed notices about it on its site, which counted 22 million registered users at the beginning of the year. 

The new policy makes clear, however, that eBay or its subsidiaries “could merge with or be acquired by another business entity. Should such a combination occur, you should expect that eBay would share some or all of your information in order to continue to provide the service.” 

The notice on the site said the change was being made in light of the Federal Trade Commission’s objections to Toysmart.com’s plans to sell its customer records after it went out of business. Toysmart’s records eventually were destroyed. 

An eBay spokesman did not return a call seeking further comment. 

In a separate update to the site’s user agreement that also takes effect May 15, eBay noted that it is not an auctioneer in the traditional sense but merely a platform for buying and selling goods. 

The statement does not reflect a change in eBay’s official stance, but merely seeks to clarify what the company sees as its role. EBay has used that description in defense of suits brought by people who claimed they were defrauded by sellers on the site. 

EBay noted in its annual report filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its “future success will depend largely upon sellers reliably delivering and accurately representing their listed goods and buyers paying the agreed purchase price.” 

Davis became fall guy, insider says 

SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. insiders say the utility’s bankruptcy filing was timed to put maximum blame on Gov. Gray Davis and avoid being disadvantaged by the governor’s apparently successful negotiations with Southern California Edison, a newspaper reported Sunday. 

PG&E Corp. Chairman Robert Glynn decided days before Davis’ televised address on the energy crisis Thursday evening to file for bankruptcy immediately thereafter, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing unidentified sources inside the utility. 

Davis was not made aware of the company’s plans — which included giving last-minute raises and bonuses to 6,000 top PG&E executives and workers — until after it filed for protection Friday morning. 

After months of contemplating bankruptcy, sources told the Chronicle that this was the most advantageous time for the utility to move forward with its plan. Any further delay, and it might have been pressured to forgo $9 billion it hopes to recoup from California ratepayers. 

“We had this thing ready to go long before that,” PG&E spokesman Greg Pruett said of the bankruptcy filing and its timing to Davis’ speech. 

Glynn told a different story on Friday, blaming the filing on the inability of Davis and other state lawmakers to reach a political solution. 

“We listened carefully to the (governor’s) statement and the commentary that followed, and this decision is the result,” Glynn said. 

Davis later lashed out at PG&E, declaring that his administration has “moved heaven and earth” to try to avoid Chapter 11 for the utility serving 13 million Californians. 

“PG&E’s management is suffering from two afflictions: denial and greed,” Davis said in a statement Saturday. 

“The governor was led to believe that we were dealing in good faith, and clearly that was not the case,” added Steve Maviglio, the governor’s spokesman. “Instead of looking in the mirror, they pointed fingers.” 

Some say the proposed state bailout for the utilities — the key part of which was a cash infusion in exchange for the state’s purchase of their transmission lines — had grown too cumbersome and would be a hard sell to lawmakers. 

SoCal Edison had reached a tentative agreement in February to sell its lines to the state for nearly $2.8 billion, and was about to agree to drop its lawsuit seeking to make consumers pay for past electricity costs racked up during the rate freeze, the Chronicle reported. 

Negotiators from the governor’s office and SoCal Edison met Sunday in San Francisco to discuss the “few remaining issues” involved in an agreement to keep the utility from bankruptcy. 

PG&E had balked at selling its lines and dropping the suit, and its negotiations had grown to include land deals, changes in regulatory laws, multi-billion dollar bond offerings and potentially huge rate increases — demands that Davis might not have the clout to deliver. 

“Although a reasonable deal could have been reached, it’s unclear whether all the parties in the state would have signed on,” said Paul Patterson, an energy-industry analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. 

PG&E hired bankruptcy lawyers from New York in August. They were first there to help resist filing for Chapter 11, but their focus shifted as the utility’s debt grew. By the first of the year, sources told the Chronicle the lawyers had drawn up papers and were ready to file for bankruptcy at any time. 

If SoCal Edison agreed to drop its cost recovery efforts of $4.2 billion before PG&E filed for bankruptcy, PG&E would have faced pressure to do the same, and would have had a difficult time publicly defending its efforts to recover the $9 billion in debt it took on buying energy for customers whose rates have been capped. 

“It’s possible they would be seen as a spoiler if Edison has a deal in place and then PG&E filed for bankruptcy,” Patterson said. 

Now PG&E’s fate is in the hands of federal bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali, a legal process that could take years to conclude. Montali will provide a framework for the utility’s creditors to collect some of their money, while allowing PG&E to operate normally. 

The judge also has the power to order consumers to pay PG&E’s debts. 

In filing for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection, PG&E said it also has $2.6 billion in cash and bills of $4.4 billion.

SACRAMENTO — In a move that could raise the state’s power costs, federal regulators ruled Friday that electricity suppliers cannot be forced to sell to the California grid if the utilities getting the emergency power can’t afford to pay for it. 

Lawyers for the state, the suppliers and the California Independent System Operator, keeper of the power grid, were reviewing the decision to determine whether it means the state must now back the ISO’s power buys on behalf of cash-strapped Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric Co., California’s two biggest utilities. 

The ISO buys last-minute power on the utilities’ behalf to fill gaps in the grid and avoid blackouts. But PG&E, which filed for federal bankruptcy protection Friday, and Edison haven’t paid for that power for several weeks. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s ruling, combined with a previous appeals court decision, likely means the state will have to pay generators any price negotiated by the ISO, said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Gov. Gray Davis, adding that the effect would be minimal. 

The Davis administration did not say Friday whether it would go to court to challenge the FERC ruling. 

Representatives of several generators suggested they will continue selling power to the ISO despite the FERC decision. The ruling affirmed a February commission opinion. 

“Since the power crisis began we have remained ready, willing and able to honor dispatch requests from the ISO,” Reliant Energy Western Region President Jack Farley said in a statement. “We simply want assurance of payment for the power we provide.” 

The suppliers contend a state law authorizing the Davis administration to buy power for Edison and PG&E customers also requires the state to cover the ISO’s emergency purchases on the utilities’ behalf. 

Davis has argued it does not and accused wholesalers of trying to lock the state, already paying roughly $45 million a day to buy power for Edison, PG&E and a third investor-owned utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, into the most expensive power market they can. 

“We wish that the FERC would act as quickly on a decision to cap rates as they did in this decision,” Salazar said. 

Davis’ opposition to backing the ISO’s purchases has come despite the view of the legislation’s sponsor that the bill requires it. 

Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, has said the law was intended to give wholesalers a creditworthy buyer for their electricity. 

A federal judge in Sacramento ruled last month that he had no authority to force the state to back the ISO’s purchases, and ordered Reliant Energy to keep selling to the ISO pending FERC’s ruling. 

However, an appeals court ruled Thursday that Reliant does not have to sell to the ISO without a guarantee it will be paid. 

Several suppliers, including Reliant, had asked FERC to step into the dispute. On Friday, it affirmed its Feb. 14 ruling that the recipients of the ISO’s emergency power buys must be creditworthy, and ordered California grid officials to comply. 

Duke Energy spokesman Tom Williams said the ruling may entice more generators to sell to California if they are guaranteed payment. 

“I would hope that this would add to the viability of the ISO because people won’t be afraid to sell to them for fear of not being paid,” Williams said. 

On Feb. 22, generators including Duke, Reliant, Dynegy Power Marketing Inc., Mirant, El Segundo Power, Long Beach Generation, Cabrillo Power, Duke Energy, and Williams Energy filed an emergency motion contending the ISO was failing to follow FERC’s earlier order. 

FERC agreed Friday, saying the ISO misinterpreted its decision and that even when acquiring emergency power to avoid blackouts, it must have creditworthy buyers. 

FERC Commissioner William Massey reluctantly concurred with the ruling, but issued a statement warning it may prevent the ISO from maintaining the reliability of California’s power grid. 

——— 

On the Net: 

FERC: http://www.ferc.fed.us/electric/bulkpower/ER01-889-001.pdf 

California ISO: www.caiso.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — A Delta flight from Atlanta to Japan was forced back to the United States after Russian air traffic controllers said it didn’t have permission to fly through their airspace. 

Delta Air Lines Flight 55, carrying 203 passengers and 15 crew members, was about 20 minutes into Russian airspace when the controllers notified pilots the flight lacked proper clearance, a Delta spokesman said. 

About 9 hours into the flight, the plane had to turn around and fly 5 more hours to recross the Pacific and land in San Francisco early Thursday morning. 

“I’m not afraid. I miss Mommy,” said 7-year-old Ai Csuka, whose reunion with her mother was delayed by a day. 

Csuka and her father, who teaches at a language school in Japan, boarded a United flight late Thursday morning for what they hoped was the final leg of their journey. 

Robert Usov, a spokesman for the civil aviation sector of the Russian Air Traffic Control Center in Moscow, said Delta had failed to send a request in time for permission to fly through Russian airspace but that it was given special clearance by Moscow. 

“The flight wasn’t in our plan. However, we decided to let the plane (fly) through our airspace and gave corresponding orders to the Khabarovsk regional air traffic control center. I don’t know what the problem was but, I repeat, we let the Delta flight in,” Usov said. “Maybe there was some misunderstanding.” 

Top officials at the office in Khabarovsk, the control site for flights entering or leaving Russia over the Pacific route, weren’t available for comment. 

Alexander Lebedev, duty officer at the Moscow control center, said he couldn’t comment on why the plane was turned back. Lebedev said Thursday’s and Friday’s flights would be allowed to pass “as a charter” to enable Delta to finish all the necessary formalities. 

“It was an isolated incident,” said Delta spokeswoman Alesia Watson. “Something happened that just normally doesn’t happen. It was an odd set of circumstances and steps have been taken to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.” 

Delta has three other flights each day to Japan that traverse Russian airspace. None of those flights were affected, Watson said.  

Thursday’s flight took off at about 10:30 a.m. EDT from Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. 

Frustrated passengers from the aborted flight were given hotel rooms and a $6 meal voucher. They were rebooked on other flights to Japan starting Thursday morning, most traveling aboard two United flights. 

“Basically, I could have driven here a lot faster if I had a car,” passenger Bill Reilly said as he left the plane in San Francisco. 

Another passenger on board the Delta flight, Mark Matthews of Macon, Ga., said there was some concern about the safety of the re-routed flight, given the current standoff between the United States and China over the return of 24 military crew members detained since a mid-air collision. 

“I didn’t see any MiG 29s on our flanks, but I’m sure it did cross everybody’s mind,” Matthews said. 

In 1983, Soviet fighter planes shot down a Korean Airlines passenger jet after it strayed into Soviet airspace. All 269 people aboard that flight died. 

Faced with a critical shortage of teachers for English as a Second Language classes, adult schools throughout the East Bay are holding a job fair tonight, from 7 to 8:30, at the Contra Costa County Office of Education, 77 Santa Barbara Rd., Pleasant Hill. 

“The students are just bulging through the walls, we have so many people taking our ESL classes,” said Kay Wade, evening ESL coordinator at Berkeley Adult School on University Avenue. 

Wade said the Berkeley Adult School has seen its ESL enrollment grow from about 1,000 students a day last year to about 1,500 students a day this year.  

The school’s 40 ESL teachers have to teach classes of 45 adults or more in classrooms designed for junior high students, Wade said. 

“Lots of times we don’t even have places for people to sit,” Wade said, explaining that the ideal ESL class size would be in the 25 to 30 student range. 

Applicants for ESL teaching jobs must have completed a master’s program to become credentialed ESL teachers, Wade said.  

A specialist will be on hand tonight to tell interested people how to obtain credentials, she said. 

Most ESL teaching positions are part time, Wade said.  

Berkeley ESL students are from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America, among other places, Wade said. Many are UC Berkeley staff or their spouses, she said. 

“It’s just a fabulous job,” Wade said. “It’s like visiting another country without having to leave home.”  

To get to the Contra Costa County Office of Education from Berkeley take Highway 24 east to the Pleasant Hill Road exit. Travel north on Pleasant Hill Road and then veer right onto Geary Road. Take Geary Road to Monte Cresta Road and turn left.  

For more information on the job fair, call Kay Wade at  

644-6130.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis urged lawmakers Tuesday to quickly approve $1.12 billion in energy conservation incentives to ease a warm-weather power crunch he said could hit as early as next month. 

The Assembly Appropriations Committee approved one conservation bill after changing it, over the author’s objections, to limit how much agricultural customers could have power shut off during rolling blackouts. 

The chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee put off a vote on another conservation measure at least until Wednesday, saying senators needed more time to study the legislation. 

Davis met for about two hours with Senate Democrats and urged them to pass the conservation bills this week so the programs start working as soon as possible.  

The two bills have been moving slowly through the Legislature for the last month. 

The governor’s office announced later in the day that Davis had requested time from television stations for a five-minute statement Thursday evening on the energy situation. Aides said Davis would make an “important announcement.” 

Meanwhile, Davis also launched a public relations effort Tuesday, sending national and state media an update on his efforts to solve the energy crisis. The two-page debut explained that the state has entered into 19 long-term contracts with power suppliers. 

The governor said the state could face its biggest power shortage in May or June because new power plants capable of producing 4,000 megawatts of electricity won’t be coming online until late in the summer. 

“Usually, the challenge is in August and September,” he said in a dimly lit hallway outside the Senate lounge. “This year it may well come in May or June.” 

He said he hoped to avoid more rolling blackouts, but he added, “We are hoping for the best and planning for the worst.” 

One of the conservation bills, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would allocate $408 million for energy efficiency and conservation programs, including $50 million for rebates for consumers who buy new, more energy-efficient refrigerators. 

The bill also includes $60 million to distribute subcompact fluorescent lights and other energy-saving devices through community organizations. 

\• $50 million for grants or loans to low-income residents or small businesses to make buildings more energy efficient. 

• $50 million for large businesses that install electricity meters that charge the customer more for power during peak demand periods. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee discussed the bill for more than an hour Tuesday but put off a vote at least until Wednesday. 

The other measure, by Sen. Byron Sher, D-Stanford, was sent to the Assembly floor Tuesday by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

It would allot $710 million for conservation and efficiency efforts, including $240 million to help low-income Californians weatherize their homes and pay their natural gas and electricity bills. 

It also includes $50 million for incentives for agri-businesses to buy energy-efficient equipment and $50 million to install energy-saving technology in state buildings. 

Sher objected to an amendment added by the committee to allow officials to cut off power to agricultural customers no more than four hours a day and 20 hours a month during power emergencies. 

Sher said the amendment had no place in a conservation bill. 

The committee’s chairwoman, Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, said the amendment was pushed by Assembly leaders and refused to change it. 

The meeting with Senate Democrats was the second that Davis has talked behind closed doors with lawmakers to discuss the state’s energy crisis. He met with Assembly Democrats last week and plans to sit down with Assembly Republicans on Wednesday. 

In a speech Saturday to the state Democratic Party convention, Davis said Republicans caused the state’s power problems by pushing for utility deregulation. He also complained they had not offered a “constructive, comprehensive solution to the problem.” 

Asked what he would tell GOP lawmakers Wednesday, the Democratic governor said he would “explain the challenge and just tell them they can be part of the solution or part of the problem.” 

Although there were some raised voices during Tuesday’s meeting, Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Martinez, said the session with Davis was “very positive” and that he was “much more confident” about how the state is dealing with its power problems. 

“We got some good information we had not had before,” he said. 

But Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Daly City, said Davis and his aides didn’t know if the state’s two biggest utilities had followed a Public Utilities Commission order to set aside money to repay the state for its power purchases. 

She said if the utilities go bankrupt “that money could be sucked up” by other creditors. 

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered “all-out war” on a band of Muslim extremists Monday, hours after they vowed to behead a U.S. hostage to mark the president’s 54th birthday. 

“We will pursue every one of them relentlessly,” Arroyo said of the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines. “We shall annihilate them. We will never, ever negotiate with them.” 

The attack order comes as Arroyo prepares for peace talks with communist rebels of the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a larger Muslim rebel group. 

Hours before Arroyo’s announcement, Abu Sabaya, an Abu Sayyaf leader, told the local Radio Mindanao Network that his men will kill Jeffrey Schilling on Thursday evening, the president’s birthday. 

Abu Sayyaf beheaded two Filipino hostages last year, on April 19, as a “birthday gift” to then-President Joseph Estrada as he turned 63. 

The Abu Sayyaf has set, and missed, several self-imposed deadlines to kill Schilling, a 25-year-old resident of Oakland in recent months. Schilling has been held captive since August. 

Sabaya tried to convince authorities Monday that he is serious this time. “We are not joking,” he said. “You better inform his mother in the U.S. about his execution so she may talk for the last time to her son.” 

In an e-mail message, Schilling’s mother, Carol Schilling, appealed to the rebel leader “to spare my son. He has already suffered tremendously at your hands. There is nothing to be gained from harming Jeffrey.” 

In contrast to her conciliatory statement to other insurgents, Arroyo said Monday that any Abu Sayyaf member who voluntarily surrenders will face charges anyway. The government has offered amnesty in the past to surrendered members of other armed groups. 

“They are a money-crazed gang of criminals,” Arroyo said. “They have no ideology.” 

Arroyo said she talked to U.S. officials in the Philippines before ordering the assault and they backed the action. 

Military Chief of Staff Diomedio Villanueva said Monday the Abu Sayyaf has 1,200 armed members. 

Abu Sayyaf, which says it is fighting for a Muslim homeland, operates mainly on the island of Jolo, about 580 miles south of Manila. 

Estrada ordered a mass assault last September, using the navy to blockade Jolo while artillery and bomber airplanes pummeled the island to make way for mass infantry attacks. Some 80,000 civilians were displaced and the military said it killed more than 150 rebels. Sporadic clashes have continued since Estrada’s one-month assault. 

Arroyo’s administration is scheduled to start peace talks April 27 with communist rebels of the New People’s Army, which is fighting nationwide to overthrow the government. Arroyo said her government will also start peace talks with the MILF, fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern region of Mindanao, within three months. 

Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of the three major insurgency groups, shot to international renown last year after seizing dozens of hostages, many of them foreigners, in daring raids.  

It released all but two hostages — Schilling and Filipino dive resort worker Roland Ullah, for reported multimillion dollar ransoms. 

In his latest comment, Sabaya said the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Philippines, Al Ghamby, could save Schilling’s life if he visits the rebels before Thursday. 

He did not say why he wanted to speak to Ghamby. The embassy wasn’t immediately available for comment. 

Military officials have been puzzled by Schilling’s relations with the Abu Sayyaf. 

Schilling, a Muslim convert, was taken by the rebels after he visited their camp in Jolo on Aug. 31. Schilling was accompanied by girlfriend Ivy Osani, Sabaya’s cousin. Osani was freed after the rebels seized Schilling.