After an exhausting 12-inning loss to rival Alameda the night before, the Encinal baseball team could have been easy pickings for the ACCAL-leading Berkeley Yellowjackets on Thursday. But the Jets depleted pitching staff wasn’t a factor, as starter Jason Rivera threw a complete game for the 5-2 victory. 

The loss was the first in ACCAL play for the ’Jackets, who looked frustrated at the plate all afternoon. Rivera didn’t throw very hard or have much on his breaking balls, but Berkeley (3-1 ACCAL) could only reach him for five hits. 

“He wasn’t striking people out, but we just couldn’t get a hit when we needed it,” Berkeley head coach Tim Moellering said. “His pitches might just have looked a little too tempting, even though they weren’t always strikes.” 

Berkeley ace Moses Kopner, on the other hand, was overpowering for much of the game, striking out six. But his own fielding mishaps did him in, as the Jets (3-2 ACCAL) exploded for four runs in the seventh inning. They loaded the bases on a single, a walk and a Kopner bobble on a sacrifice bunt. Up came Encinal catcher Jimmy Olson, whom Kopner had struck out in his first three at-bats. But Olson atoned by hitting a shot just inside the third base line for a bases-clearing double. Moellering lifted Kopner soon after, but reliever Sean Souders couldn’t stop the bleeding before right fielder Marcus Buckingham drove Olson home with a single. 

A weary Rivera almost let the ’Jackets back in the game in the bottom of the seventh, as designated hitter Matt Toma started things off with a double. After a Paco Flores strikeout, right fielder Bennie Goldenberg walked. John Roper scored Toma with a fielder’s choice, and DeAndre Miller singled to bring the tying run to the plate in the person of Yani Teichner. But Teichner grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game. 

A Kopner fielding error also contributed to the Jets’ only run before the final inning. Mike Jones started the fifth off with a single, and Eugene Smith laid down a sacrifice bunt. But Kopner couldn’t handle it, and Berkeley third baseman Robert Williams muffed another Encinal bunt to load the bases. Rivera brought Jones home with an RBI grounder, and Encinal had a 1-0 lead. Berkeley scratched back a run in the bottom of the sixth before the Jets blew the game open. 

Moellering said the ’Jackets sloppy play could be attributed to being on spring break. 

“Our lack of focus was evident in practice yesterday, and I think it carried over into the game today,” Moellering said. “A couple of those were good bunts that we couldn’t do anything about, but we have to make the fundamental play.”

About 100 homeless advocates rallied outside the county courthouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Way Thursday, calling for the City Council to halt enforcement of a state law that makes it a misdemeanor to sleep outside. 

The rally, organized by the nonprofit Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, was held to call attention to a resolution before the City Council Tuesday to direct police to stop issuing tickets and arresting people under State Penal Code 647j, also known as the “lodging law.”  

The lodging law gives police jurisdiction to cite and arrest homeless people for sleeping on public property such as parks and on private property such as abandoned buildings. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the resolution does not specify a set time for the moratorium but he said it should remain in effect until Berkeley can provide a bed for everyone who needs one. 

“We have keep in mind that the Emergency Shelter closes on April 15 and that will put more homeless on the street with no place to sleep,” Worthington said. “What are we going to do, arrest all those people?” 

Police Chief Dash Butler said the City Council will have to give serious thought to the results of a lodging-law moratorium and how the community will react to it.  

“I am very sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, they too often just have no place to go,” he said. “But I am also sympathetic to the plight of business owners and home owners who have people sleeping on their door steps.” 

The Emergency Winter Temporary Shelter is a joint operation between Berkeley and Oakland. For the last two years it has converted a former bowling alley on the Alameda Army Base into a 100-bed homeless shelter during the coldest months of winter. The shelter, run by Operation Dignity, provided 50 beds for each city’s homeless. 

Interim Director of Housing Stephen Barton said the city currently maintains about 200 beds for the homeless on a regular basis. He said for the city to be able to offer a bed for anyone who asks for one would require a lot of money and coordinated regional effort. 

“If Berkeley offers housing for anyone who asks for it, we’ll draw homeless form neighboring cities and the problem will never be solved.” 

The rally also called attention to the court case of Ken Mosheh, a homeless filmmaker and writer, who has been cited numerous times under the law by UC Berkeley police.  

According to a press release issued by Worthington’s office, UC police arrested Mosheh on a warrant related to code 647j citations on Oct. 27. He spent two days in the Berkeley Jail, and three more at Santa Rita before being released. He is currently challenging the constitutionality of the lodging law in Alameda County Superior Court claiming that the law violates the fundamental right to sleep. 

Mosheh said he has never been arrested or charged with a crime other than the lodging-law citations. 

Worthington said Mosheh’s case could set a precedent for the entire state.  

“Ken Mosheh is an award-winning filmmaker who happens to currently be homeless,” Worthington said. “He should not be made a criminal because he has no place to sleep and hopefully his case will call attention to the criminalization of the homeless throughout the state.” 

Mosheh’s video documentary on homelessness recently won the Associated Students of the University of California Art Studio “Ethnographic Award of Excellence.” 

The resolution calls for a moratorium on enforcement of state code 647j, which states it’s a misdemeanor for anybody “who lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it.” 

It also calls for a request for funds for detoxification facilities, rainy-day vouchers for hotels during bad weather and storage lockers where the homeless could keep their possessions. 

BOSS Community Organizer Darren Noy said he has tried to obtain the exact number of citations and arrests under the lodging law but so far the Berkeley Police Department and the UC Police Department have not provided him with those figures. 

Long-time Berkeley resident Darryl Smith, 47, attended the rally to show support for the moratorium. Smith held two green citations in each hand as evidence of police policy. Each citation charged a fine of $280, which Smith said would turn into arrest warrant because he would never be able to pay them. 

“I received both of these in March, one on the 10th and the other on the 15th,” he said. “It was raining both of those nights and I had to find some kind of shelter.” 

Smith said one citation was issued for sleeping near the Willard swimming pool and the other for sleeping in an underground garage near the UC Berkeley campus. 

Friday, April 13

Stagebridge Free Acting  

& Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755  

www.stagebridge.org 

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.  

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 

—compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

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. At this months meeting, Peter Mui, a Berkeley resident who retired at 32, will give a presentation on transforming your relationship with money and the “stuff” we buy with it.  

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  

Maria do Rocio Quandt, 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. Opening remarks by Robert Haas, former U.S. poet laureate. 

$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 

Earth Day Creek Walk  

10 a.m.  

Boogie Woogie Bagel Boy Garden 

Gilman and Curtis  

Explore history and opportunities for restoration on lower Codornices and Cerrito Creeks on an Earth Day walk co-sponsored by Berkeley Path Wanderers and Friends of Five Creeks. Bring water and snacks.  

848-9358 

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 

Health Awareness Fair  

Noon - 1:30 p.m. 

Calvary Presbyterian Church  

1940 Virginia St.  

Booths for blood pressure checks, blood sugar checks, massage therapy, geriatric medicine, HIV/AIDS, various cancers, nutrition and diet. Free 

415-454-8725 

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 

Summit North Pavilion, Cafeteria Annex A  

350 Hawthorne Ave.  

Oakland 

Dr. Jerrold Kram, pulmonologist, sleep specialist and director of the California Center for Sleep Disorers, will talk about sleep disorders and how to remedy them. Learn about snoring, restless leg syndrome, and sleep apnea. Free 

869-6737 

Saturday, April 28  

Planning Commission  

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

There will be discussion of an Ecocity Amendment before the commission.  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Berkeley Bay Festival  

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

Berkeley Marina  

The Festival, held at the Marina since 1937, has had an environmental education and boating theme for the past 22 of those years. A variety of organizations will be on hand to inform and inspire people to learn how they affect the environment and to take action. Also, live music, food, a climbing wall and free sailing. Free 

644-8623 

Sunday, April 29  

Berkeley Waterfront Walking Tour  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Led by Susan Schwartz and sponsored by the Berkeley Historical Society.  

848-0181 

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn how to maintain the drive train and to repair the chain of your bicycle from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike. Free  

527-4140 

People’s Park 32nd Anniversary Festival  

12:30 - 6 p.m.  

People’s Park  

Haste St. & Telegraph Ave.  

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.”  

848-1985 

The Reform Future 

Noon  

Fellowship of Humanity  

390 27th St. (at Broadway)  

Oakland  

Craig Wilson, anti-Buchanan delegate, will discuss the future of the Reform Party.  

655-7962 

Monday, April 30  

Politics of Permits  

7 - 10 p.m.  

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Contractor/Mediator Ron Kelly will explain how to get your permit approved.  

$35  

525-7610 

Venus & Mars  

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Rabbi Yaacov Deyo, founder of LA’s speed dating will explain how to pick a mate, make your relationship thrive and how to fight effectively.  

$10  

848-0237 

Close the Tritium Labeling Facility 

Editor: 

Bernd Franke, consultant hired by the city to evaluate emissions from the Tritium Labeling Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab concluded that for the last two years radioactive tritium dumping was reasonably measured and tolerable. Unfortunately, this was when LBNL halted most operations at the Tritium Facility after it was revealed to the public that emissions from the last 30 years had contaminated the next door Lawrence Hall of Science museum badly enough to qualify for Super Fund status. LBNL has curtailed tritium activity in preparation for its upcoming sampling investigation.  

The lab is hoping that the reduced emissions will yield favorable results and cause the facility to be removed from the Super Fund list. No evidence was presented by Mr. Franke disavowing the return to normal levels of operation at the Tritium Facility after the tests. He did acknowledge that emissions data from the last 30 years of tritium dumping was so shoddy that he could not affirm the validity of LBNL’s annual declared releases. LBNL admitted to releasing as much as 600 curies of tritiom per year, a frightening amount of this deadly radioactive killer which has been linked to leukemia, cancer, infertility and other mutations. So, minus an independent tree-ring analysis and investigation of the high levels of contamination originally reported by researchers Mencheca and Monheit, we may never know if the large amounts of missing tritium inventory was dumped along with what was admitted by LBNL. Mr. Franke did recommend more investigation of this sort, citing the limits of his contract, but the Lab prefers to stick with its phony sampling plan of which it has total control. 

Mr. Franke pointed to the grossly inadequate and non-functioning monitor system as part of his inability to analyze past tritium dumping. When asked if the removal of five monitors which reported high tritium levels was evidence of a cover-up, he responded that this was a political problem and not related to science for which he was hired. After his report became public, the Enviromental Protection Agency, which has been perfectly happy with the Tritium Facility all these years, magically produced $400,000 to upgrade the monitor system. In a blatant attempt to buy off the Facility’s critics, the EPA even offered to let the public have input.  

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste suggested several state-of- the- art radiation detectors at the LHS site along with smoke tests from the stack to prove that the tritium plume dumps directly onto the museum. The EPA rejected the requests saying that they did not want museum visitors to get the impression that the place was radioactive. They are instead opting for distant locations where the tritium plume never reaches. The community and local leaders should continue to demand the closure and clean-up of the TLF. 

Mark MacDonald 

Berkeley 

Skip Saturday mail 

Editor: 

Through “rain, snow sleet or hail,” Americans are used to getting their mail six days a week. We arrive home from work and magically our mailbox is full. It is rare that we ever see how it gets in the box, let alone talk to our mail-carrier or wonder about the logistics of getting mail Monday through Saturday.  

As someone who gets the privilege of talking to my mail carrier on a regular basis, I can assure everyone that ending Saturday service is a fair and reasonable thing to do. Mail carriers have a job that requires them to be on their feet for most of the day. Often, these days are long, especially for those working routes that have many large apartment buildings. It isn’t rare for my mail carrier to be out until six or seven in the evening even though he arrived at work before seven in the morning.  

Most residential customers, I believe, would be willing to give up their Saturday service so that our mail carriers can have a break. No one should be encouraged to work six days a week so that we can have a simple convenience that most residential customers can live without. The media is making a big deal about losing this service that Americans have come to expect. I hope that most people would agree however that it is worth missing one day of mail service so that our carriers can have a weekend. 

Beau Beresford 

Berkeley 

Family Plan should help family 

Editor:  

Are you aware that Social Security has a “Family Plan”? Since “family” is an important word in everyone’s lexicon, one would think that the Social Security Family Plan would be something that every political party would like to be a part of - use the magic word “family” and win votes. Yet for the past several years my attempts to interest my Senators and Representatives in a glaring omission in the Family Plan have met with little or no response.  

Under the current “Family Plan,” parents who take care of a handicapped child are being cheated out of spousal benefits. This is fundamentally wrong. The Family Plan must be changed.  

For 24 years I took care of my autistic, retarded son 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Without financial remuneration of any kind, I spent most of my adult life seeing that his every need was met; yet I did not accumulate Social Security Quarters to qualify for Social Security on my own.  

Under normal circumstances, when my husband retired at 65 I would have been entitled to full spousal benefits (half of his benefits). Yet because we have a handicapped child, Social Security has determined that the major portion of my spousal benefit be allocated to our developmentally disabled child. Approximately 700,000 mothers of developmentally disabled children all over America are similarly affected. This is grossly unfair. 

All other disabled people in America are eligible for Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, and Medicaid. Only parents of developmentally disabled children must give up their spousal benefits. These parents are often elderly women who, instead of entering the regular work force, have spent their lives caring for their disabled loved ones. This situation is particularly perplexing when one considers that SSI money comes out of General Revenue funds, whereas the “Family Plan” is part of the Social Security system. Please write to your Congress person and demand the Social Security Family Plan be changed. 

Ruth Beckner 

San Rafael 

415-479-9542 

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 17: pickPocket ensemble; April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz 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 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 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  

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 

Young Emerging Artists Concert April 17, 7 - 8 p.m. Works by Mozart, Brahms, Lehar, and others staged by Sharla Goodson-Sullivan, soprano and Gustavo Hernandez, tenor with Sarah Aroner on violin, Jorge Cruz on saxophone, and alumna Danica Morrison, winner of the 2000 Yamaha Young Artists Competition, on trumpet $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 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 

“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 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 528-5620 

“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 

“New World Border” April 19, 7 p.m. A film by Jose Palafox and Casey Peek about the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. Includes a Q&A panel with the filmmakers. 2040 Valley Life Science Building UC Berkeley 

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. Opening April 29, 3 p.m.: “The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” A decade of tremendous change for Berkeley as it became a “city” instead of a “town,” so much so that the Chamber of Commerce lobbied to move the state capital to our fair city. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

“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-8 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 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 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 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 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 

Holloway Poetry Reading Series April 17, 8 p.m. Ann Lauterbach and Nadia Nurhessein will read. April 25, 5 p.m. Chris Nealon reads from his new book “Ecstasy Shield” Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Department of English Maude Fife Room (315) Wheeler Hall UC Berkeley 653-2439 

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 

PSR Professor Book Release Celebration April 25, 3 - 5 p.m. Karen Lebacqz and Joseph D. Driskell, co-authors of “Ethics and Spiritual Care,” and Randi Walker, author of “Emma Newman: A Frontier Woman Minister,” will be honored at this faculty book forum. Hear reviews of the books by the authors. Pacific School of Religion PSR Bade Museum 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8252 

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. April 14 - April 29, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. See an amazing display of plants that are sources of commonly used fibers and dyes. 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. May 8, 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.: “What Makes Water Wet?” Richard Saykally, professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley (refreshments served in 410 O’Brien Hall at 4:15 p.m.) 212 O’Brien Hall, UC Berkeley 642-2666  

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  

Apparently, Major League Baseball’s desire for shorter games has affected the Pac-10. In a game that took only two hours and 15 minutes to play, USC’s Mark Prior pitched a complete game two-hitter as ninth-ranked USC (25-12, 7-3 Pac-10) defeated Cal, 1-0, yesterday at Evans Diamond.  

The loss drops Cal (21-17, 6-7) below the .500 mark in the conference. The team is now 5-10 in one-run games this season. 

The game was the complete opposite of most Pac-10 baseball games, a conference from which pro sluggers like Jeff Kent, Troy Glaus, and Mark McGwire have grown and prospered. Prior (10-1) struck out a career-high 14 batters, walking only one. The Bears did not get a runner to second base.  

“I’d like to know when the last 1-0 game happened in the Pac-10,” said Cal head coach David Esquer after the game. “Prior pitched an excellent game, as did Trevor Hutchinson.” 

Cal’s inability to generate offense spoiled a fine performance by Hutchinson (2-6). The Bears’ ace right-hander struggled in his last outing against Oregon State, but was in command on Thursday, allowing eight hits and one walk in eight innings and striking out three.  

“We’re going to need him as we go down the stretch run of the season,” said Esquer. “We need him to be tough on Friday, because everyone else’s Friday starters are going to be good.” 

The game’s lone run came in the third inning. Alberto Concepcion led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout to second by Michael Moon. Concepcion then scored on an RBI groundout to short by Jon Brewster.  

“They got themselves into a position where contact could score a run, and that’s where we got beat,” Esquer lamented afterward. 

The Bears were able to keep the Trojan offense at bay for the rest of the contest, turning three double-plays and causing the Trojans to strand three runners on base. 

For a team that has played reasonably well this season, the Bears face a number of crucial series in the next few weeks. Cal has played solid baseball against College World Series-caliber foes like Stanford, Arizona State, and now USC. For them to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1995, Esquer thinks they have to learn a bit from the battle-tested Trojans.  

“(The NCAA playoffs) would be a tremendous experience for our team; even some of the upperclassmen haven’t experienced that,” said Esquer. “USC has been through big games; they know how to concentrate in big games, how to play when they’re nervous. You can’t tell people about those experiences; they have to be there for themselves.” 

The Bears know that things get no easier against USC; up next is last season’s Pac-10 pitcher of the year Rik Currier.  

“If you can just get past USC’s starting pitching, you might find a little weakness,” said Esquer, “but it’s hard to do.”  

The first pitch for today’s game is 2:30 p.m.

Elite Filipino marines rescued Carol Schilling’s son from rebels Thursday. 

“I’m deliriously happy,” she said, in a phone interview from her Oakland home Thursday afternoon. “Friends and family and strangers have been praying for me.” 

Jeffrey Schilling, 25, had been held captive by a rebel group for more than seven months.  

Schilling got the good news in a 3:30 a.m. phone call from the U.S. Embassy. As of a 4:30 p.m. press conference in front of her Oakland home, Schilling was still waiting to hear directly from her son. She’s not heard his voice since a mid-September call. 

A Muslim convert, Schilling was taken hostage by Muslim rebels after visiting their camp in Jolo on Aug. 31. He was accompanied by his wife, Ivy Osani, the cousin of a rebel leader. Osani was freed after the rebels seized Schilling. 

The circumstances of his kidnapping led some Filipino military officials to speculate that Schilling might have been cooperating with the rebels. The rebels accused him of being a CIA agent. 

How has Carol Schilling managed to get through the long ordeal that included the threat to behead her son? 

“It’s not in Dr. Spock,” she said, or in any other parenting manual. “It’s uncharted territory.” 

Schilling, who works as controller at the downtown Berkeley YMCA, said one of the best therapies for her has been playing with Roger, her friend’s toddler. Friends brought her food and took her for long walks. Co-workers were supportive, and her supervisor at the “Y” allowed her a flexible work schedule. Above all, she credits her faith in God. 

Schilling had held off going to the Philippines herself, until she was told of the rebels’ threat to behead her son on the birthday of the president last week. She flew to the Philippines and made an appeal via radio to the rebels to spare his life.  

While she was there, Schilling said she met with the Filipino Secretary of Defense. “He felt very empathetic,” she said. 

The embassy told Schilling that before her son comes home, he would be checked out by doctors, debriefed and would meet with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She said she believed Jeffrey would be back in Oakland this weekend. 

“I’m going to tell him I love him and I’m going to give him a great big hug and then I’m going to revoke his passport,” she said with a smile at the late afternoon press conference. 

A U.S. Embassy statement expressed “its deep appreciation” to the Arroyo and the military “for their efforts over the past 7 1/2 months to free Mr. Schilling.” 

And Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, issued a statement saying: “I am relieved that Jeffrey was released and is in good health. We all look forward to his return home." 

The Abu Sayyaf, the group that held Schilling, is the smallest of the three major insurgency groups in the Philippines. It shot to international notoriety last year after seizing dozens of hostages. It released all but two – Schilling and Roland Ulla, a Filipino worker at a scuba diving resort – for reported multimilllion-dollar ransoms. 

The group claims it is fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines, but the government regards it as a bandit gang. 

Arroyo said her government will not hold peace talks with the group as it plans to do separately with the Muslim secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist National Democratic Front. 

Schilling’s only message to the rebels Thursday was a plea to free their remaining hostage, Filipino resort worker Ulla. 

“There’s no point in me being angry,” she said. “Hate the evil doing, not the evil doer.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Cal’s Jocelyn Forest and Veronica Nelson have been selected by the Amateur Softball Association as two of the 51 of the nation’s finest women’s fast pitch softball players to participate in the USA Softball Women’s National Team Camp, May 30–June 3 at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. USA Softball will select two 16-player teams to represent the U.S. in international competitions during the 2001 season.  

The players invited are a who’s who of women’s fast pitch softball, including NCAA champions, world champions and a total of 54 NCAA All-America selections. A total of 10 states from Alabama to California and 15 NCAA Division I colleges will be represented at the camp. 

Forest, a junior from Santa Maria, is currently 22-3 overall and is among the top 10 in the NCAA in wins, ERA and strikeouts per seven innings. Earlier this season, Forest had an 88 consecutive scoreless-inning streak, good enough for sixth on the all-time NCAA record book.  

Nelson, a sophomore from Oakland, tied the Cal career home run record last weekend with her 28th career homer against Oregon. The home run was her 14th of the year, tying her own Cal season home run record that she set in 2000. Nelson currently is batting .404 overall, and has drawn a Pac-10 leading 58 walks. Last year, Nelson shattered the NCAA season walk record with 87.  

Selections for the national teams will be made following the camp. The two teams will then participate in the USA Softball Shootout, a four-city west coast tour that will stop in Portland (June 8), Spokane (June 10), Sacramento (June 14) and Los Angeles (June 17) prior to leaving for the U.S. Cup in Hawaii.  

USA Softball Women’s National Teams have been among the most dominating of any sports team in history. The USA’s ability to bring home the gold in World Championships, the Pan American Games and the Olympics is unchallenged, with a total of 13.

About 50 people, from bus riders to business people, weighed in for and against the parking policy recommendations in a Draft General Plan for the city Wednesday. 

The Planning Commission met at the North Berkeley Senior Center to consider last minute changes in the language of the housing and transportation elements of the plan before submitting it to the City Council for approval next month. 

By discouraging the construction of any new parking downtown in the next five years the Draft General Plan would diminish the area’s appeal to visitors and jeopardize years of economic expansion, representatives from downtown businesses and cultural institutions told the commission in public comments. 

Many said their own patrons have complained of the lack of affordable or easily accessible parking in downtown Berkeley already. 

“People tell me they can only come at certain times because there is no parking,” said Fran Gallati of the Berkeley YMCA, adding that he is afraid the club’s membership could decline if the parking situation fails to improve. 

Susie Medak, managing director of the recently enlarged Berkeley Repertory Theatre on Addison Street, said the General Plan amounts to a “moratorium” on new parking spaces downtown at a time when cars are already overflowing into residential neighborhood streets because of a downtown parking shortage. 

Kathy Eyre, board president for the Habitot Children’s  

Museum, located on the 2000 block of Kittridge downtown, said the lack of affordable parking was the number one reason people opted to discontinue their museum memberships this year. 

Habitot Children’s Museum draws 70,000 visitors a year from throughout the East Bay and beyond, according to Executive Director Gina Moreland. Since its clientele are young parents with small children, it’s critical that they have access affordable parking as close to the museum as possible, Moreland said. 

But nearly as many people spoke out in favor of the Draft General Plan’s parking recommendations as against Wednesday. 

The downtown business people are promoting “a not very sensible parking or nothing theory,” said Berkeley resident Becky O’Malley, who has spoken out before at Planning Commission meetings about the problems of noise and air pollution caused by excessive auto traffic in Berkeley. 

Dave Campbell, of the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, said he supports a moratorium on parking “until you get good data on the real need” for parking downtown. 

And City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said if there really was a need for more parking in downtown Berkeley, private companies would be building parking structures today. 

“It makes no economic sense at all to build parking (in downtown Berkeley),” Worthington said. “If it did people would invest the money and they would make millions of dollars.” 

Worthington said Thursday that the city actually has to subsidize some existing lots to keep them in business. The city is spending “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to put new elevators in the Sather Gate parking facility, he said. 

People perceive a parking shortage in Berkeley only because they’re unwilling to park in garages and then walk to their destination, Worthington said. Instead, they expect to park as close to the business or institution they’re visiting as possible, he added. 

There are thousands of parking spaces “sitting there vacant right this minute and every night this week,” Worthington told the Planning Commission Wednesday, referring to a recent city and UC Berkeley sponsored study that found that parking facilities near downtown, like the Tang Center garage on Bancroft Way, are never completely full and have numerous vacancies in the evening hours. 

Worthington said the city “needs to look at a bunch of practical ideas” for making better use of existing parking before building new facilities.  

Planning Commissioner Zelda Bronstein said Thursday that the Draft General Plan’s parking recommendations are not so much a “moratorium” on new parking downtown as an effort to encourage the city to try alternative ways of dealing with the parking issue before investing in new parking structures that may not be needed. 

“If you build more parking garages you’re going to encourage more people to drive downtown,” Bronstein said. “Maybe that’s what we have to do, but that’s a last resort, not a first resort.” 

Specifically, the current language in the draft General Plan says “The City will not consider expanding any existing city-owned public parking lots or structures, and will not consider building additional parking lots or structures in the Southside or Downtown” until it has attempted to reduce the demand for downtown parking spaces in other ways.  

The plan recommends that the city encourage the use of public transit by giving people who work downtown an “Eco Pass” so they can ride buses for free, promoting housing around public transit centers, charging higher rates for all day parking, and creating various other incentive for people to drive less. 

The plan recommends that the city find ways to manage existing parking facilities so they better meet the needs of visitors to the city. For example, UC Berkeley has opened its parking facilities near downtown to the general public, but Worthington said there still aren’t enough signs to tell people that they can park in these garages. 

Worthington also suggested that the city could put shuttles in place to carry people from parking garages to shopping areas, theaters, etc. That way people who don’t use the garages because they are not close enough to their destination might begin using them, Worthington said.  

The plan calls for the city to evaluate the possibility of constructing “satellite” parking facilities away from the congested downtown area and then transporting people to popular Berkeley destinations by shuttle. 

Sill, Planning Commissioner Mary Ann McCamant said Thursday that the plan’s language is “too draconian” and “really ties the hands of the city” in dealing with parking. 

McCamant said she agrees that downtown is too congested and that the solution lies in getting people to rely on their cars less, but she said ruling out new parking only harms merchants without reducing congestion. 

“There are all kinds of things that are starting to blossom” in downtown Berkeley, McCamant said, pointing to Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the soon to be reopened Berkeley Public Library, and the new downtown location planned for the popular Freight & Salvage Coffee House. 

“People will not continue to come for all that if they can’t park. They just won’t.” 

The Planning Commission’s General Plan would replace the Berkeley Master Plan of 1977, serving as an updated statement of community priorities to guide city government in the years to come. The Planning Commission will continue making last minute adjustments to the language of the plan at its next meeting: 7 p.m., April 24, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Kaiser Permanente settled a lawsuit Thursday accusing it of providing inferior care to disabled patients. 

The suit, filed in July by Disability Rights Advocates in Alameda County Superior Court, charged that the nation’s largest not-for-profit health maintenance organization failed to offer accessible facilities, examination tables, toilets, scales and other medical devices for wheelchair users and other disabled persons using its California facilities. 

The suit is the latest legal challenge for Oakland-based Kaiser, which last year was accused of requiring psychiatrists to prescribe medication to patients they had not seen. In December, the health care concern, which has 6 million California clients, also was accused of unlawfully requiring patients to split pills to cut costs. Richard Pettingill, Kaiser’s president for California, said the company and plaintiffs began meeting to address the concerns of the disabled, days after the suit was filed. 

“Because our common goal is to improve access to medical care for our disabled members, I am pleased Kaiser Permanente and Disability Rights Advocates can collaborate rather than litigate to benefit our disabled members,” he said. 

John Metzler, a Benicia man who suffers from cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, was among three plaintiffs in the suit against Kaiser’s 27 hospitals and dozens of outpatient facilities throughout California. 

Because of Metzler’s disability, he said he was unable to be weighed at the Kaiser hospital in Vallejo, even though it’s critical to his health that his weight not greatly fluctuate. 

Also, sores on his body were troubling him, but doctors at the hospital were unable to examine them because the hospital did not have proper lifting equipment. 

“Our goal in bringing this lawsuit was to make the health care system truly available to people with disabilities,” he said. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Kaiser will begin removing architectural barriers to those in wheelchairs, acquire equipment helpful to Metzler and others in his situation and implement a health care training program for its workers. 

SAN JOSE — A bizarre road rage incident, in which a fluffy little dog was yanked from its owner’s car and thrown into oncoming traffic, has led to the indictment of a man already being held in jail on unrelated charges. 

The dog, a 10-year-old bichon frise named Leo, was killed Feb. 11, 2000. The dog was grabbed from the lap of owner Sara McBurnett after her car bumped another motorist’s vehicle near San Jose International Airport. 

A Santa Clara County grand jury indicted Andrew Burnett on Thursday on a charge of killing or maiming or abusing an animal, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. 

Karyn Sinunu, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara district attorney’s office, said Burnett, 27, of Santa Clara, will be arraigned Friday. He was being held on $100,000 bail in the dog-killing case. 

“He showed criminal negligence and complete disregard for the life of the animal, and it eventually was killed because of that disregard,” assistant district attorney Troy Benson said. 

Burnett has been in jail in Santa Clara County on three unrelated matters since mid-December. He is in custody on charges of grand theft, filing a false document in court, and having a dangerous weapon while in jail. His bail is set at a combined $200,000, and he is awaiting trial in those matters. 

In the first charge, he is accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools from his employer, Pacific Bell. He also is accused of filing a false document to get out of a speeding ticket, saying he was in Bosnia serving in the military at the time of the incident. Burnett left the Navy in Virginia three years ago. 

Though he declined to give details, assistant district attorney Al Weger said the investigation into the theft uncovered a lead in Leo’s case. “We think we have a very strong case,” he said. 

McBurnett was driving to the airport to pick up her husband when she said a large black truck cut her off. She said she was unable to stop in time to avoid tapping the rear bumper. 

The damage was minimal, but the man jumped out of his truck and began berating her, McBurnett said. When she rolled down her window to apologize, the man reached inside and grabbed Leo, throwing the dog into three lanes of oncoming traffic. 

“His movements, his body language. He was so aggressive. He had my dog before I could even react. It was like lightning,” McBurnett said. 

McBurnett tried to catch Leo, but the dog was struck by a car and died soon after at a veterinary hospital. 

“I keep seeing his little body going under the car. He made a sound I’ve never heard before,” McBurnett said shortly after the incident. “My heart is broken. He was my baby.” 

McBurnett, a real estate agent from Incline Village, Nev., was inundated with condolence messages from dog lovers around the country, especially after she went on Oprah Winfrey’s nationally televised talk show. 

“It touched everybody’s heart, it was a defenseless little animal that was victimized in a very serious way,” said Marcia Mayeda of the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley. “It scared a lot of people, because they feel that a person that is this violent with such a trigger temper could do the same thing to a person.” 

Citizens collected $110,000 in reward funds for information leading to an arrest of the killer of the little white dog with a black button nose. 

“I guess he has become such a symbol,” McBurnett said. “It’s so symbolic that such an innocent little fluffy ball of life could be taken with such needless violence.” 

The newest star in Barbra Streisand’s garden is not any second-hand rose. This star is a brand new hybrid tea rose named Barbra Streisand that was selected by the singer herself. 

Now available at retail nurseries across the country, the Streisand rose is a dusty, mauve-pink color that will blush to a deeper shade around the edges, depending on the time of year. 

Horticulturist Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses, who bred the new hybrid tea, says it’s also “naturally vigorous and disease-resistant” and “so fragrant it almost hurts.” Carruth gave Streisand three roses that met her criteria for color, fragrance, and style, and she grew them in her own garden for nine months before selecting the one to bear her name. 

Streisand has extensive gardens on her property in Malibu, Calif., and has been cultivating roses for some time. Dan Bifano, Streisand’s horticulturist, says she has more roses than anything else on the property, “but frankly, she loves flowers, and her landscape is flowers from one end to the other.” 

Among them are close to 1,200 roses of all types, including climbers, miniature roses, old garden roses, English roses, shrub roses, modern hybrid teas, and floribundas. “I can’t think of anything she doesn’t have,” Bifano said, adding that Streisand herself is very involved in the process. “She is in the garden almost every day,” and on occasion “actually gets down and digs,” he said. 

Rosa Barbra Streisand is a fairly upright hybrid tea, growing to a height of about 4 feet on the east coast and taller out west, with deep green glossy foliage, lots of sprays, and repeat blooms throughout the growing season that have a fairly long vase life. 

Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses, said naming roses after celebrities is back in vogue after a hiatus of some time. 

Another new trend is wild colors and large sizes that were popular a century ago. Tony Avent, the owner of Plant Delights Nursery in North Carolina, says “tacky” is back in style. “We’re sort of having a Victorian revolution now,” he said. “We’re into tacky plants and that’s why all the canna lilies are hot again now.” 

Among his nursery’s new offerings is Phlox paniculata Becky Towe. Avent said it was discovered in Britain in the garden of June Towe, who named the plant after her dog. “It has dramatic, yellow-edged leaves,” said Avent, “and the flowers are Pepto-Bismol pink.” 

Another newcomer at Plant Delights is Vinca minor Illumination, a groundcover periwinkle that Avent says “is poised to set the gardening world on fire.” It has brilliant golden leaves bordered in green and pinwheel-shaped lavender flowers in spring. Unlike the usual green-leafed species, however, it does not have an invasive habit. 

Avent is also fond of Zantedeschia aethiopica White Giant, a calla lily with spikes that are 6 to 7 feet tall. He said the plant was found as a seedling by a gardener in Oregon who “just began sharing it with people, and it sort of made it into the trade through an underground sort of way.” 

Avent’s nursery is currently growing and testing over 9,000 plants. Of those, only 700 make it into the mail-order catalog, and only a very small percentage are new. Plant Delights looks for new plants all over the world but is now doing more research in the United States. “We really think that right now places like China have become the flavor of the month for plant collectors,” he said. 

“and there is no one we can find really doing a good job here in the United States.” 

Avent is doing a lot of exploration in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas, looking for plants that are tolerant of heat and drought. He’s now testing ferns that grow in full sun and hopes to introduce them within the next few years. 

For 2001, he’s introduced a new sun-tolerant hosta called Stained Glass that he says is a “sun-loving hosta with brilliant gold, almost fluorescent leaves with a wide green border and very large fragrant flowers.” 

Heronswood Nursery in Washington state also is offering a number of new plants that fit right in with the Victorian revival. Begonia grandis Heron’s Pirouette has hot pink flowers over twice as long as the typical species that tumble down in a graceful manner. Helleborus foetidus Chedglow is a sensational new shade plant with golden foliage instead of green, and rich yellow flowers that bloom in very early spring. And Crocosmia Severn Sunrise (the Sword Lily) has blooms that are a noticeable departure from the normal golds, deep oranges and reds. This new plant produces vigorous upright stems bearing blooms of coral pink splashed with orange. 

Gardeners more interested in annual blooms should check the new selections at Thompson & Morgan. A breakthrough black-eyed susan, Rudbeckia Chim Chiminee, has unique quilled petals in shades of bright yellow, gold, mahogany and bronze that thrive in full sun and withstand stormy weather. And a new dwarf sunflower, Helianthus Dwarf Yellow Spray can be used as quick-growing, 2-foot-high hedge in beds, along borders, or in containers. 

Thompson & Morgan is also offering a special Kew Collection of limited-availability annual and perennial flower seeds that are for sale at commercial nurseries. A percentage of all sales will go to support the Millenium Seed Bank of Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The seed bank conserves rare and threatened seeds throughout the world, which may someday include many of the new selections that are just hitting the market in 2001. 

Web sites: 

Heronswood Nursery - http://www.heronswood.com 

Plant Delights - http://www.plantsdelight.com 

Thompson & Morgan - http://www.thompson-morgan.com 

PASADENA — NASA will add a giant dish to the worldwide network of antennas it uses to communicate with interplanetary spacecraft to accommodate an anticipated spike in traffic that threatens to tax the array’s capability. 

The new $30 million dish, to be built beginning this fall outside Madrid, Spain, will bolster the Deep Space Network’s ability to transmit and receive data from far-flung spacecraft. 

Without the 112-foot wide dish, the network faces demand levels that will exceed its capacity by 300 percent during certain periods between November 2003 and February 2004. 

Even with the added tracking power, National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists say they are going to lose data. 

During the four-month problem period, more than a dozen robotic probes launched by the United States, Europe and Japan are expected to perform critical maneuvers that demand careful monitoring from Earth. Three missions involve spacecraft scheduled to land on Mars, two will enter Martian orbit and two are supposed to make close passes by distant comets. 

“The good news is there are more planetary missions. The bad news is there are more planetary missions to track,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science. “If all these things work, which obviously you have to plan they will, we need more capacity.” 

There are three identical antennas in Goldstone, Calif., and one each in Canberra, Australia, and outside Madrid. 

To further relieve the crunch, the European space agency is building a similar sized dish in Perth, Australia, that it will use to track its Mars Express orbiter and the British Beagle 2 lander, both expected to arrive at the Red Planet in December 2003. 

And the Japanese will press into use a 211-foot dish it built nearly two decades ago to help track its Nozomi spacecraft as it enters orbit around Mars. NASA expects further upgrades will allow it to simultaneously downlink data from any two of the seven spacecraft expected to be operating at Mars during that time. 

“We think we’re going to squeak through here,” said Rich Miller, manager of the office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that oversees planning and commitments for the Deep Space Network. 

Hardware will not be the sole solution to the problem: representatives from various missions will spend until August horsetrading time on the network of antennas in an effort to accommodate the needs of all the various spacecraft. 

“It’s not a good position to be in, because you go in like a gorilla with the other projects and say ’we need this’ and ’we need that,’ then you go back to your own mission and they say, ’You dummy, why did you give that up?”’ said Robert Ryan, operations manager for the Stardust mission, which will fly past the comet Wild-2 in early January 2003. “It’s all a compromise.” 

NASA expects the juggling act will force it to lose some science data that it simply will not be able to downlink from the fleet of spacecraft. That has led to heated exchanges at JPL. 

“It can be stressful. Sometimes temperatures — and tempers — can rise as you are trying to negotiate through a situation,” said Belinda Arroyo, who represents several missions at the bargaining table. 

Even with careful planning, an emergency aboard one or more of the unmanned spacecraft — almost guaranteed, given the number — could further complicate an already difficult situation. 

“That’s going to be the roughest, if there’s a real problem,” said Ryan, of the Stardust mission. 

Looking toward the future, NASA may seek to internationalize the Deep Space Network and enlist more foreign resources in beefing up the global array of dishes. At present, many foreign space agencies rely on NASA support to track their missions. 

——— 

On the Net: Deep Space Network: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/ 

FOLSOM— State officials are negotiating with federal pollution regulators to keep some power plants online this summer during power emergencies even though they may exceed air emission limits. 

“Peaker plants” – small facilities that typically operate only a few hours a day during the hottest months – have been running frequently this year as state power grid officials struggle to keep the lights on. 

The peaker plants are likely to exceed federally imposed annual pollution limits next month and could be required to shut down or face federal fines and other penalties. 

Combined, the plants produce about 1,450 megawatts, enough power for just over 1 million households as California struggles with a tight electricity supply. 

The state Air Resources Board is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to let the plants continue running when they are most needed this summer. 

So far, the EPA has balked at letting the plants violate federal pollution limits, said Tracy Bibb, director of scheduling outage coordination for the California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state’s power grid. 

Negotiations so far have been at the regional level, Bibb said Thursday. 

“Our goal is to find ways to increase generation without increasing emissions,” ISO board member Cal Finney said. 

The ISO has delayed installation of pollution control equipment at five plants until winter so those plants can operate through the hot summer months. 

The ISO has also scheduled all routine maintenance shutdowns to be completed by mid-June, Bibb said. 

As the ISO continued to work with the EPA on the emission limits, the EPA reported Thursday that emissions from coal- and oil-burning power plants in California increased 93 percent from 1998 to 1999. 

The increase, EPA officials said, is mostly due to the Stockton-based Posdef Power plant, which burns coal. The plant reported a release of 90,464 pounds of ammonia in 1998. That jumped to 629,008 pounds in 1999, said EPA spokesman Adam Browning. 

Posdef officials said they thought the tests were incorrect and are investigating the ammonia release with their local air district. Ammonia is not considered a regulated pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act. 

Meanwhile, officers of six large California businesses said energy conservation is the state’s best and perhaps only hope to avoid devastating blackouts this summer. 

Representatives from Agilent Technologies, The Home Depot, Hewlett-Packard, Intel Corp., NEC Electronics and Safeway Inc. said Thursday that they are cutting back their power use in response to soaring prices and dwindling supplies. 

The trick is getting enough businesses and individuals to do likewise fast enough to forestall blackouts the business leaders said could devastate their industries. 

Agilent Technologies is spending $20 million the next two years to cut its energy use by 15 percent. Of the money, $7 million will be spent in California to install more efficient lighting and equipment. 

Also Thursday, another group of businesses joined together to create the California Alliance for Energy & Economic Stability to ask the state Public Utilities Commission to restructure its proposed rate increases to not pose serious harm to businesses. 

California ISO: www.caiso.com 

U.S. EPA: http://www.epa.gov/ 

More than three-fourths of public school ninth-graders took the new state high school graduation test last month, education officials said Thursday. 

About 350,000 of the 450,000 freshmen took both the English and math portions of the test, which were given for the first time on March 7 and 13, officials said. The relatively high participation rate encouraged state education officials, who worried that confusion about whether the test would count this year would decrease participation. 

“I think that’s a positive response to somewhat less than great circumstances,” Phil Spears, director of the Department of Education’s testing division, told the state Board of Education meeting Thursday. 

However, students who took the test won’t know until August if they passed or not. Those who didn’t pass will have eight more chances to take the test. 

In June, the state board plans to set a passing score. Students will receive those scores in August. Confusion stemmed from Gov. Gray Davis’ attempt to make the March test a practice test because court decisions have said it is better for all students to take the test at one time. But the Legislature rejected the Davis bill two days before the March 7 test. Senate Republicans said they did not want to postpone or weaken the test in any way. 

School officials reported no major problems, except for concerns about the disruption of school time for the four-hour test, Spears said. The department is exploring whether future tests can be given on Saturdays. 

Many students got tired taking the English test, which features 92 multiple-choice items and two essay questions, some school officials said. Participation in the test varied according to district policy, said John Mockler, the board’s executive director. 

Participation was higher in districts, such as Los Angeles Unified, that said all students had to take the test unless parents opted out.  

It was lower in districts that left the decision to take the test up to the students, he said. 

On the Net: Read about the high school test at 

http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/hsee 

More than three-fourths of public school ninth-graders took the new state high school graduation test last month, education officials said Thursday. 

About 350,000 of the 450,000 freshmen took both the English and math portions of the test, which were given for the first time on March 7 and 13, officials said. The relatively high participation rate encouraged state education officials, who worried that confusion about whether the test would count this year would decrease participation. 

“I think that’s a positive response to somewhat less than great circumstances,” Phil Spears, director of the Department of Education’s testing division, told the state Board of Education meeting Thursday. 

However, students who took the test won’t know until August if they passed or not. Those who didn’t pass will have eight more chances to take the test. 

In June, the state board plans to set a passing score. Students will receive those scores in August. Confusion stemmed from Gov. Gray Davis’ attempt to make the March test a practice test because court decisions have said it is better for all students to take the test at one time. But the Legislature rejected the Davis bill two days before the March 7 test. Senate Republicans said they did not want to postpone or weaken the test in any way. 

School officials reported no major problems, except for concerns about the disruption of school time for the four-hour test, Spears said. The department is exploring whether future tests can be given on Saturdays. 

Many students got tired taking the English test, which features 92 multiple-choice items and two essay questions, some school officials said. Participation in the test varied according to district policy, said John Mockler, the board’s executive director. 

Participation was higher in districts, such as Los Angeles Unified, that said all students had to take the test unless parents opted out.  

It was lower in districts that left the decision to take the test up to the students, he said. 

On the Net: Read about the high school test at 

http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/hsee 

WASHINGTON — Health care workers who handle needles will have more say about the safety of the devices they use under a new federal law that takes effect next week. 

Employers also will be required to document injuries from contaminated needles as part of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. 

Needles and other sharp medical objects potentially carry bloodborne illnesses such as AIDS and hepatitis. Up to 800,000 people are stuck by contaminated needles each year. A switch to safer needles could prevent nearly 70,000 injuries a year, the government said. 

About 50 types of specially protected needles, syringes and other protective devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Examples are retractable needles and devices that automatically cover used needle tips. 

But the American Nurses Association says just 15 percent of hospitals have adopted safer needles. 

A federal law already sets safety standards for needles and the prevention of bloodborne illnesses at health care facilities, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. 

The new law, which takes effect next Wednesday, only will reinforce the need to use safe needles to reduce injuries and will not add enforcement teeth. But it will require employers to document injuries and to seek input from employees who use the needles. 

“The most important component of this new law is that nurses will be involved in the evaluation process to ensure that we get the kind of equipment we need in treating our patients,” said Carol Bragg, a nurse at Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md. 

OSHA is planning a 90-day education effort. OSHA officials say they already cite employers that don’t use safe needles and other devices, but investigations usually are not conducted unless a complaint is received. 

“No one was very proactive until they found out the new law was going to be mandated,” said Bragg, president of her local Service Employees International Union. 

SEIU is the nation’s largest health care union representing 710,000 medical workers. Members fought for safe-needle legislation that has passed in 15 states, and pushed the effort in Congress last year. It was signed into law by former President Clinton in November

WASHINGTON — Frugal consumers made for anemic retail sales in March, and jobless claims hit a 5-year high, spurring new talk of recession. Wholesale prices fell for the first time in seven months. 

With spending by consumers accounting for two-thirds of all economic activity, the fact that they tightened their belts last month made economists worry about whether the economy might stall or slip into reverse in the current April-June quarter. 

After being flat in February, sales at the nation’s retailers fell in March by a bigger-than-expected 0.2 percent as people cut back spending on cars, building supplies, furniture, food and clothes, the Commerce Department said. Sales at gas stations also fell, reflecting lower prices at the pump. Retail figures aren’t adjusted for inflation. 

In another report, the nation’s largest retailers said their March sales fell sharply below expectations. 

Department stores, particularly Dillard’s Inc. and Saks Inc., were hardest hit, but even usually strong performers like discounters Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and Target Corp. suffered from the economic malaise. 

“Consumers had been the principal difference between an economy that is struggling and an economy that is in a recession,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com, a consulting firm. “While they haven’t packed it in yet, they are retrenching, and if that continues the economy is going to unravel.” 

On Wall Street, investors gave a positive spin to the batch of disquieting economic news, bidding stocks solidly higher amid rising hopes for another interest rate cut. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 113.47 points to close at 10,126.94. The Nasdaq finished up 62.48 points at 1,961.43, the first time since early September that the index has had a four-day winning streak. 

Stock market volatility, rising unemployment and worries about the economy are all factors that make people feel less inclined to spend, economists said. 

Most economists believe, however, that the economy still managed to grow during the first three months of 2001, but probably not by much. 

Given that the economy was booming in the first half of last year, the swiftness of the slowdown has jolted many Americans. “People see a bear market, layoff announcements, earnings warnings. These are the most difficult economic times people have generally seen in at least 10 years,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. 

Another report provided fresh evidence of how the weak economy is taking its toll on the labor market. 

The Labor Department said new claims for state unemployment insurance rose last week by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 392,000, the highest level since March 30, 1996. 

“Labor market conditions are key to the consumer outlook, and they continue to deteriorate,” said Merrill Lynch economist Gerald Cohen. 

Government officials said layoffs in the automobile industry, because of production cuts in the face of slumping demand, accounted for part of the unexpected rise. 

With employers’ appetite for workers waning, economists expect the nation’s unemployment rate, now at 4.3 percent, to rise to 4.5 percent or possibly higher in the coming months. 

Trying to stave off recession, the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates three times this year, totaling 1.5 percentage points. Economists expect another rate reduction of half a point either before or at the Fed’s next scheduled meeting May 15. 

Given that inflation remains tame, the central bank has plenty of room to lower interest rates aggressively to rejuvenate economic growth. 

In a fourth report, the Labor Department said its Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach store shelves, edged down by 0.1 percent last month. Lower prices for energy and computers outweighed higher prices for food. 

It provided a brighter reading on wholesale inflation than many analysts expected and marked the first drop in the PPI since August. In February, wholesale prices rose a tiny 0.1 percent. 

Excluding volatile energy and food sectors, which can swing widely from month to month, wholesale prices edged up an expected 0.1 percent in March, after falling by 0.3 percent the prior month. 

Energy prices, which rose 1.4 percent in February, fell 2.6 percent in March, the best showing since April 2000. Costs for residential natural gas declined by a record 4 percent, surpassing the previous all-time drop of 3.8 percent in April 1997. 

After peaking in December, natural gas prices have eased, and economists expect prices to continue to moderate or fall in coming months. That provides little comfort to consumers, who have been socked with huge bills. Costs remain much higher than they were in the winter of 1999. 

Prices for computers fell 5.9 percent in March, the second-largest decline on record. But food prices rose 1.1 percent, the biggest increase since April. 

In the retail report, car sales fell by 0.8 percent; building supply sales were down 1.2 percent; clothing and furniture sales each declined by 0.7 percent; and gasoline station sales were down 2 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Report sales report: http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/retail.html 

Jobless claims: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/news/news.asp 

PPI report: http://www.bls.gov/ 

Federal prosecutors honed in Tuesday on the two remaining defendants in the criminal case filed last year against Berkeley landlord Lakireddy Bali Reddy and four family members, alleging for the first time that Reddy’s two adult sons raped seven teenage girls from India between 1992 and 1999, and that Reddy’s older son later tried to dissuade one of the alleged victims from communicating with police. 

Reddy, a 63-year-old multimillionaire Berkeley property owner pleaded guilty on March 7 to tax evasion, immigration fraud and importation of minors for illegal sexual activity, but was never charged with rape or statutory rape, although victims included alleged minors.  

Judge Sandra Brown Armstrong was to have ruled on the plea bargain and sentenced the elder Reddy Tuesday, but because a probation department report was not ready, the ruling was delayed until June 19. 

According to a superseding indictment filed Monday afternoon by U.S. Attorney John W. Kennedy, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, 31, and Prasad Lakireddy, 42, conspired with their father since 1986 to “recruit, hire, and smuggle into the United States a number of Indian women and girls for the purpose of entering into sexual relations with them,” and also allegedly committed nine separate rapes over a span of eight years.  

The brothers were arraigned on the new charges Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Oakland. 

The government’s new indictment provides a broad context for the brothers’ alleged crimes. Prosecutors claim Reddy family employees “would procure poor and destitute young Indian girls and put them to work in menial jobs such as cleaning and gardening at the Reddy estate in Velvadam, India.” The indictment says the defendants “forced these girls to engage in sexual intercourse with them when they were visiting the estate.” Once the girls arrived in the United States, the indictment claims, Reddy and his sons “would force the girls to submit to sexual relations,” by “scolding, belittling, threatening, beating and raping the victims.” 

In one typical charging paragraph, the indictment alleges that on August 19, 1999, “Reddy and others drove Victim No. 2 and Victim No. 3 from the San Francisco Airport to an apartment in Berkeley, California, where he had sexual intercourse with each of the girls against her will.” 

The girls allegedly ranged in age from 11 to 18 years old upon their arrival in the United States. The indictment also charges Prasad Lakireddy with witness tampering for allegedly intimidating one of the victims. 

Of the five defendants in the case, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy and Prasad Lakireddy are the only two who refused to enter guilty pleas last year in exchange for a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Reddy, one of his brothers and a sister-in-law pleaded guilty in March and are awaiting sentencing.  

On Monday, federal prosecutors added numerous charges to their prior indictment against the sons, who together are now charged with 21 separate criminal counts.  

Paul Wolf, the attorney for Prasad Lakireddy, said Tuesday he was surprised by the number of new charges. “I think there’s some evidence of overcharging,” he said. “I’m surprised by the breadth and the strength of the charges and the amount of them,” he said. Wolf said he was concerned that U.S. Attorney John W. Kennedy had been influenced by public outcry over the case, which has attracted widespread media attention.  

“I’m just concerned that he’s been persuaded by witnesses and agents who believe these witnesses,” Wolf said, while praising Kennedy for his fairness. “I have some real suspicion about these witnesses,” he said, referring to the individuals identified in court documents as Victims No. 2 and 3, because, Wolf said, they have made contradictory statements.  

U.S. Attorney Kennedy declined to comment after the morning hearing. He handed out copies of the superseding indictment to several reporters. 

The government’s superseding indictment, which is based on evidence presented in secret to a federal grand jury, alleges for the first time in the 16-month investigation that Reddy or his sons knowingly conspired to import aliens for rape. 

But Wolf says the facts of the case have been grossly overplayed. The case first came to light in November 1999 when Reddy employees were seen removing the body of a girl who had died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Bancroft Way apartment, belonging to Reddy. Wolf says the employees were not trying to spirit a body away in the dead of night, but were taking the girl to the hospital. 

“The way the press reports it you would think they were trying to hide the body and that there was a murder that had gone on,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. They had already called 911. They were trying to get police assistance.” 

Dressed in a cream colored wool vest, Prasad Lakireddy stood next to Wolf as Wolf spoke briefly with a reporter after the arraignment, amiably concurring in his attorney’s comments. His younger brother, Vijay, emerged presently on the first floor of the federal courthouse clad in a sportcoat with a bright orange tie. He announced he would be riding his motorcycle home. 

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Reddy will likely receive a sentence of five to six and one-half years in prison, plus pay a $2 million fine. Vijay Kumar Lakireddy and Prasad Lakireddy, who now face maximum jail terms of many times what their father will likely receive, will be back in court on May 15 for a status conference.  

Wolf said he expected Judge Armstrong to impose a fair sentence on the elder Reddy. “I think she’s going to do the right thing,” he said. “I hope she won’t be affected by the public outcry which I think comes from a lot of ignorance and prejudice,” he said. 

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. 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

Income Tax Assistance  

9 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

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  

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 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

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 

Time for nay-sayers to accept Beth El project 

Editor:  

The rhetoric is getting ugly from opponents of Congregation Beth El’s plans to build a new synagogue just two blocks from its current location.  

A handful of people regularly write to the Berkeley Daily Planet to blast members of the congregation, staff of the City Attorney’s Office and Planning Department, and members of the Zoning Adjustments Board, which recently approved a permit for the project. These letters often contain inaccuracies and innuendo, and once their errors are pointed out, the same writers move on to decry some other perceived injustice.  

The truth is that the land on Oxford Street is zoned for a religious institution. Congregation Beth El bought the land from a church three years ago and, ever since, has been involved in scrupulously following every detail of the city’s complex, demanding, approval process.  

But, each step of the way, a few local naysayers have found flaws.  

They insisted vociferously that a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report commissioned by the city was wrong, when it concluded that the synagogue could be built without significant impact. Yet they offered no new evidence to counter the findings of the many experts who prepared the EIR.  

They cried “foul” when Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board, appointed by the City Council, approved a permit for the project after holding months of hearings and examining hundreds of pages of information. After this decision was made, opponents of the project really tossed reason and fairness to the winds.  

They accused the congregation, city staff, and some ZAB and City Council members of colluding to exercise undue “power.” Those very serious allegations, suggesting a conspiracy and verging on libel, were not backed up with any evidence, because there was none.  

Isn’t it time to turn down the rhetoric, to rely on facts and established procedures, and to let the progress work? And isn’t it time for Berkeley citizens to follow the lead of the ZAB and come together to find the best ways to make this project work for the neighborhood, for the congregation, and for the Berkeley community which, even opponents acknowledge, the congregation serves very well? 

Joan B. Ominsky 

Berkeley 

Thanks for end to estate tax 

Editor: 

I am greatly relieved that the U.S. Congress has seen the light and is preparing to extinguish the dreaded estate tax that has unfairly plagued wealthy Americans for so long. This legislation was stupidly passed by prior legislators who had the erroneous impression that it might be detrimental to a democracy to have some citizens acquire too much wealth and the power that often seems to go with it.  

Fortunately today we do not have to worry about imbalances of power and wealth and threats to the political will of average people. But – just to be safe – I think the Congress should consider a few amendments to its bill so that all Americans can benefit from its passage, not just the 5 percent or so who may have enough assets to qualify for estate tax relief.  

First, this legislation should include the provision that every American be given some land. As everyone knows this was the right granted early settlers which allowed many of them to develop real estate empires that were frequently passed on to heirs.  

Secondarily, this legislation should provide every American equal access to capital. Unfortunately, and I'm sure unintentionally, it is being unevenly and absurdly distributed to those Americans who already own substantial amounts of it. As I understand it many Americans would like to be able to borrow money to start their own businesses and experience the relative independence and potential prosperity that business ownership may afford.  

Of course this amended legislative act should also allow new business owners to control a particular segment of the market so that they do not have to compete with individuals who were either early into a market position or inherited a market position from their ancestors.  

It is also imperative that these new businessmen and women, and/or land holders, continue to benefit from the kind of tax legislation that benefits large estates and businesses that currently have access to these advantages. 

Finally, this legislation should include an excess profits tax so that all the employees, and their descendants, who have labored long and hard so that a relatively small number of people can benefit from the wealth they generated can also begin to rapidly build new estates from the unintentionally excessive profit hoarding of their benign employers. 

With these amendments our Congressmen and women may continue the proud tradition of supporting equal opportunity and the pursuit of freedom, independence, and prosperity for all. I know that they do not stand for anything less and that they are united in their opposition to recreating a feudal society where wealth and power come from birthrights rather than personal merit. 

James Cisney 

Berkeley 

Gaia: view 1 

Editor: 

Mr. Evan McDonald's April 4th letter to the editor in the Berkeley Daily Planet is full of errors.  

He says that the Gaia building’s roofline stands at a council-approved height of 87 feet. The City Council never approved a height for the roofline, it did approve a height for the building. That was 87 feet and 7 stories as stated in the use permit. If one takes the plans submitted to the city for the project, measures from the ground to the top of the building, one gets 116 feet. If Mr. McDonald wants to claim the building is only 20 feet taller than council approved instead of 29 feet taller he should describe how he is measuring.  

Mr. McDonald claims that the 7th floor loft space is a mezzanine, yet it covers about 50 percent of the room it opens up into according to the plans submitted to the city. Only 1/3 of the floor area is allowed to be covered by a mezzanine otherwise the space counts as a story. The City Council did not approve the 7th floor loft space as a mezzanine and did not authorize an area greater than 1/3 for this space. The City Council also did not approve the offices above the 87 foot level which also count as an extra floor. These offices also violate the height limit because they are not set back at least two feet from the edge of the building. Since the elevator is taller than necessary, it is not exempt from being counted as an extra floor and should actually be counted as two floors.  

The second floor, which Mr. McDonald also calls a mezzanine, also covers more than 1/3 or the room it opens up into. A staff report misstated the definition of a mezzanine, but that doesn't mean the second floor is a mezzanine. To change the definition of mezzanine council would have to pass an ordinance. This wasn't done so there are actually no mezzanines in the Gaia building. Gaia stands 116 feet and 11 stories tall, a tribute to city corruption. 

Mr. McDonald is right to suggest that we not lose sight of the big picture. Had Gaia been what it was represented to the public there would be no grounds for complaints-but then it would only be 87 feet and 7 stories tall. 

I hope there is more housing built in Berkeley, but lets not cut special deals and evade our ordinances. It is time to put an end to the corruption. It is also time to look at the low income housing! 

Tim Hansen  

Berkeley 

Gaia: another view 

Editor: 

The Daily Planet's April 4 letters page was its best ever. This was not least because of the wonderful satire contributed by Evan McDonald, manager of the Gaia Building project. Mr. McDonald told us: “The Gaia building is seven stories high, not eleven as Mr.. [Art] Goldberg claims, with the roofline located at the council-approved height of 87 feet.” 

Ha ha ha! I was already laughing so hard that I almost skipped over his punch line: 

“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... .” 

Ha ha ha ha ha! Get it? Two of the floors aren't really floors – so we should just pretend they aren't there! But wait, he topped this: 

“...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.” 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Get it? We've built at least 20 feet above “the council-approved height of 87 feet,” but we're quibbling about the last 9 feet. Haw! And wait, there's more: 

“This height is required to provide elevator access to the roof deck and management offices – as required by the American with Disabilities Act...The determination of maximum building height doesn’t include accessory structures such as elevator towers.” 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! So the 20 (or is it 29?) foot “elevator tower” doesn't count, either! And we should pretend it isn't there, and blame the ADA to boot! Haw, haw! I'm just glad I put Mr. McDonald's parody aside long enough to stop laughing and regain control, or I might have missed his wonderful final punch (actually, pun-ch) line: 

“...we sincerely hope that the public not lose sight of the big picture: The Gaia project... .” 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! No worries there. With this leviathan casting the Public Library in near-permanent shadow – and looming over the poor little landmarked buildings next door – I'm sure Berkeley residents will never, ever, lose sight of “the big picture” above Allston Way. 

Too bad April Fool's Day fell on a Sunday, so the Daily Planet didn't publish on the day that Mr.. McDonald no doubt intended his piece to appear. Still, I enjoyed his work immensely, and I hope we'll see more parodies from him in the future. But although we can all enjoy a great Swiftian parody in print, perhaps we should think seriously about whether we want to let developers pull more pranks on us like the building itself. 

Michael Katz 

Berkeley

Producing new plays is a gamble that most theater companies shy away from. At best, established theaters stage only the occasional world premiere. 

Their reasoning is that the economics of theater are so severe, it’s hard to give up the number of tickets that will be sold just by the name recognition alone that goes with producing a play or a playwright whom people have already heard of. 

Enter Berkeley’s Impact Theatre, which does things a little differently. Since 1996, Impact has been producing new plays by emerging playwrights for an 18 to 35 year-old audience, and keeping the ticket costs low. 

In five seasons, the Berkeley company has produced 10 full-length world premieres – nine by local playwrights – as well as dozens of world premiere 10-minute plays in its “Impact Briefs” series. 

Impact’s current show – running weekends at the Eighth Street Studio – is Joe Foust and Richard Ragsdale’s “Action Movie: the Play.” This is a rare Impact show that actually has been produced before, premiering in 1999 at the Defiant Theatre in Chicago. 

The play is a wild and energetic stage spoof of action movie stories, characters and cliché situations, many of its bits identifiable from specific Hollywood films. 

In “Action Movie,” an evil, murderous Viet Nam vet named Kreegar (Alex Pearlstein) evolves into a corporate tycoon who wants to take over and destroy the world. To combat Kreegar, an odd collection of characters from action movies band together and make an assault on his compound to stop this heinous scheme. 

This is a rough and wild staging, broadly performed. Director Christopher Morrison, who has a background in martial arts, has brought a lot of fighting to the show. 

These fighting scenes at their best are some of the highlights of the production, although Morrison’s traditional directing of the actors’ performances is not strong. 

The script of “Action Movie” has something to offend everyone. It is mean and sadistic – but supposedly in a funny way, I guess. 

For example, on two occasions a baby is beaten up. Later, a pregnant woman injects speed into her stomach. Elsewhere, a security guard suffocates when someone sits on her face. 

A girl scout selling cookies is sexually molested. There’s a friendly pedophilia joke. There are lots of guns in the play. 

Despite the movie’s desire to be edgy, most of the scenes and gags, recycled as parodies from other Hollywood sources, seem familiar. Shooting someone, for example, and then saying, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina,” just isn’t that funny. 

For all of its wild energy and effort, the production is bland, because there is so little art and performance skill in the actors’ relentless onslaught of noise and running around. 

Successful action sequences in movies depend on special effects, careful cinematographic choices, and thoughtful acting, directing and editing. Little of that translates to the current production. 

For a script like “Action Movie” to work, for example, it needs sophisticated comedic performances from the actors, to put real human life into the familiar and clichéd lines. 

But in director Morrison’s production, the acting is crude, consisting in large part of yelling and running, and making funny voices and twisted facial expressions. A little bit of that goes a long way. Before long, the show loses any texture, variation, or pacing and becomes one endless session of shouting and screaming. 

Although the characters in the play are different types (evil corporate boss, cop, cyborg, homeboy, army vet, security guard), the performances are all so broad and similar that most of the characters feel the same. Everyone speaks the same in-your-face hot dog language. 

Some of the performers have chops, but no one displays them very well in this production. As violent Cyborg Woman, Sarina Hart has the strongest moments of real acting. 

Sound guy Steve Klems, posted at his computer and sound station, deserves a round of applause. He makes a big contribution to the show with many bam-pow-biff sound effect – gunshots of various types, airplane noises, necks cracking, and a variety of music. 

I personally enjoy the juvenile, offensive humor that’s emerged in our culture over the last 30 years. But “Action Movie” just isn’t that funny. 

This production ends up feeling like a kids’ game of guns and kung fu – fun for the participants, obviously, but not very entertaining for a viewer. 

Dail Planet theater reviewer John Angell Grant can be e-mailed at jagplays@yahoo.com.

Stephen Goldstone, interim superintendent of the Berkeley School district since Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he has applied to become the district’s permanent superintendent. 

The Berkeley school board hired San Marcos-based search firm Leadership Associates in January to lure qualified applicants from around the country to the Berkeley post. The firm accepted applications for the job through April 6, and the school board hopes to hire a new superintendent by July. 

Goldstone, 61, began his career as a teacher in the Los Angeles area in the early 1960s. He was appointed superintendent of the Albany Unified School District in the early 1980s and subsequently served as superintendent in four other California districts, most recently the Vallejo City Unified School District. 

In a wide ranging interview Tuesday, Goldstone identified a number of the challenges that the next Berkeley superintendent will face and suggested some possible strategies for addressing them. 

A top priority for the district must be finding a solution to the achievement gap between white students and students of color, Goldstone said. 

Goldstone said the district needs to first “really analyze the information that (it) has” to determine exactly where students are achieving and where they are not. He also recommended that the district study school districts with similar demographics to find programs that have succeeded in addressing the achievement gap. 

Goldstone said Berkeley administrators need to “empower the (teaching) staff to develop programs” that improve student achievement. 

“It’s important to involve teachers early on in the process so it’s not seen as something we’re imposing on them,” Goldstone said. “Because they are the ones who are going to implement (changes).” 

Rozzana Verder-Aliga, governing board president for the Vallejo Unified School District, said Goldstone dealt effectively with the achievement gap in Vallejo by establishing teams of teachers to look at the issue of race and the ways it impacts student achievement. 

“They were looking at not only the academic issues, but what’s causing it,” Verder-Aliga said, adding that she felt Vallejo is now reaping the rewards of these efforts in the form of higher test scores. 

With 20,000 students, the Vallejo school district is twice the size of Berkeley Unified. 

Goldstone also said Tuesday that the Berkeley school district needs to reorganize to deliver support services to its schools more effectively. 

“How do we get the whole organization to be supportive of what’s happening in the schools and the classrooms?” Goldstone asked. “That’s a huge job – to be sure the district is seen as a service organization.” 

Berkeley School Board Vice-president Shirley Issel and others have complained recently that district staff do not provide data in a timely manner, making it difficult to hold people accountable at various levels of the school bureaucracy. 

Goldstone cited a recent job fair where district staff lured 250 highly qualified candidates to apply to fill upcoming teaching vacancies as an example of how district staff needs to be “proactive” to provide better support for schools. 

While Goldstone stressed that Berkeley High is one of the most impressive high school’s he has worked with in terms of its academic offerings Tuesday, he said the district must do more to improve safety for the school’s 3,200 students. 

“There’s not one kind of magic thing we can do, but a whole series of things,” Goldstone said, referring a number of fights and assaults at Berkeley High that have been publicized in recent months. “What we can’t do is just shrug our shoulders and say, ‘that’s the way it is.’” 

Goldstone also welcomed a decision by school and city officials last month to form a committee to exam safety at Berkeley High. 

“It’s a community issue not just a Berkeley High issue,” Goldstone said. “Everyone has a responsibility to provide the resources” to help improve the school environment, he said. 

Goldstone said reaching out to involve a broad cross section of the Berkeley community in improving Berkeley schools will be one of his guiding principals as long as he is in the superintendent’s office. He said the district needs to put in place a clear set of guidelines for how teachers, students, parents and others can participate in the school governing process. 

“We need to be able to articulate what that process is so people who truly want to have an impact and get involved know how that happens,” Goldstone said. 

“I really make a committed effort to get out to visit the schools; to meet with the staff, to meet with the students,” Goldstone added. “The real activity doesn’t occur in my office. It occurs in the classes.” 

Many have reported being impressed with Goldstone’s leadership of the district in recent weeks. 

“He’s really out there and trying to find out what are (teachers’ and students’ needs), and I think that really sets a tone” said Barry Fike, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, in a recent interview. 

Faced with the need to replace four district principals over the summer, Goldstone visited all four schools last week to ask what staff would like to see in their next leader. At Willard Middle School he dropped in on an evening PTA meeting to “brainstorm” what would make an successful principal at that school. 

“I didn’t expect (him) here,” said Willard parent Marge Sussman. 

“I liked the way Goldstone handled the meeting,” Sussman added, saying Goldstone had convinced her that the parents’ comments would really influence the search for a new principal. 

Goldstone’s record is not completely free of controversy, however. 

After he was selected as finalist in the search for a new superintendent in San Francisco last year, the Vallejo school governing board voted 3-2 to remove him from office two years before his contract expired. The move mystified many who credited Goldstone with passing a critical $133 million bond measure in 1997 and improving relations between teachers and administrators.  

“I’m still puzzled to this day,” said Verder-Aliga, who voted against firing Goldstone. In an interview Tuesday, Verder-Aliga said the bond measure would not have passed without Goldstone’s energetic leadership. She said Goldstone brought a great depth of experience to the job and credited him with making important strides in a number of areas. 

“It was a big loss for this district” when Goldstone left, Verder-Aliga said. “He ran this district like a business. He held everyone accountable. 

“Maybe some people didn’t like his style of leadership.” 

Vallejo governing board member Bill Pendergast, who voted to remove Goldstone, would not comment on the decision Tuesday. 

Since Goldstone was removed “without cause,” the Vallejo district paid him one year’s salary, or $121,000, in a settlement, Verder-Aliga said. 

Goldstone said Tuesday that he was ready to leave Vallejo when he did. He said he has been drawn the Berkeley school district since his years in Albany as a district with “tremendous potential.” 

City officials have decided to expand a Harrison Field air study, originally planned to measure particulate matter from auto emissions on Interstate 80, to include chrome 6 testing.  

Among other uses, chrome 6, or hexavalent chrome, is an odorless chemical used for hardening steel and making paint pigments. The compound is commonly used in aeronautic manufacturing and in electroplating shops. 

It is also a carcinogen that’s hazardous when inhaled or ingested. 

Last month, the City Council approved $39,700 for an air study at the soccer field, located at Harrison and Fourth streets, to measure possible health risks to youth soccer players and nearby residents and employees.  

City officials, including Lisa Caronna, head of the parks department, Nabil Al Hadithy, head of the toxics division and Phil Kamlarz, deputy city manager, expanded the study after Environmental Advisory Commissioner LA Wood called their attention to a 1997 air study, by Acurex Environmental Corp., which registered an unknown form of chromium at the field.  

The study will be conducted by Applied Measurement Science of Fair Oaks. 

AMS consultant Dr. Eric Winegar said the city will be charged an additional $9,000 to $13,000 for the chromium test depending on how many types of chromium and other airborne metal particles are included in the expanded study. 

In November, the city halted construction of a skateboard park adjacent to the soccer field when excavation exposed a chromium 6 plume in groundwater about 10 feet below the surface. The source of the plume was Western Roto Engravers, Color Tech located on Sixth Street, about 300 feet from the field. 

WRE Color Tech Manager and part owner Bill MacKay said he voluntarily notified the city of the plume in 1990. His company has since spent nearly $1 million cleaning up and monitoring the contamination. 

The city has taken steps to remove the contaminated groundwater at the skateboard park and, according to Hazardous Materials Supervisor Al-Hadithy, there is no connection between the plume and any airborne chromium discovered in the 1997 test. 

However Wood said he believes that the most likely source of chromium 6, if it is in fact discovered in the air at Harrison Field, is WRE Color Tech. 

“I think it’s a very fair question to ask,” Wood said. “It’s not because I want to spend extra money or single out Color Tech. I think it’s the responsible thing to do.” 

The 1997 Acurex study was completed as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Report, prior to the development of the playing field. The study did not elaborate on whether the chromium discovered at the field was chromium 6 or a benign form of the chemical such as trivalent chromium also known as chrome 3.  

MacKay said he would be surprised if his plating company was the source of airborne chromium 6. He said the building’s stack, which filters hazardous materials from shop emissions, is covered with a special filter which collects chrome 6 from the air and returns is to a storage tank. 

MacKay said the filter’s operation is recorded on a daily basis and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District examines his logs every year. He added that as part of his operation permit the stack is tested every two years by an independent consultant and the results are turned over to the BAAQMD as well. 

BAAQMD Engineering Manager Ken Kunaniec said the plating shop has a good record according to the most recent stack-testing information he was able to find, which was 1993. 

Kunaniec said California has the toughest chrome 6 restrictions in the nation at 0.005 milligrams per ampere-hour of production. WRE Color Tech never emitted more than 0.003 milligrams per ampere-hour according to BAAQMD site tests. 

MacKay added that since August 2000, WRE Color Tech lost a large contract with the state, which represented two thirds of its business. “We had to let about 40 percent of our employees go and our production has dropped way off since,” he said. 

Al-Hadithy said that the lower production would likely mean lower emissions. 

Eric Winegar, who will conduct the tests for Applied Measurement Science, said air monitoring for both auto emission particulate matter and chromium 6 should begin sometime in May. 

Figurative painter Wendy Sussman, a professor of art practice at the University of California, Berkeley, died of cancer on March 29 near her home in Oakland. She was 51.  

In her large-scale canvases, diminutive figures materialize within vast fields of layered paint, deepening the metaphysical questions her paintings raise about the pressure of time and space on our mortality.  

A passionate artist and inspirational teacher, Sussman was considered by many to be the “soul” of the Department of Art Practice.  

As a teacher, Sussman brought abstract concepts down to earth, making them profound. According to UC Berkeley undergraduate Christie Lyons, “She was one of those teachers, when you left the class, you were happy to be alive.”  

In 1986, Sussman won a Rome Prize Fellowship that enabled her to study early Renaissance painting at the American Academy in Rome. According to her husband, art critic Juan Rodriguez, Academy Fellows Martin Puryear and Bruce Nauman (both abstract sculptors), performance artist Vito Acconci, and conceptual artist Mel Bochner “had a tremendous influence on her thinking about art.”  

Aiming to become a “modern” artist, Rodriguez said, “she left the idea of the figure/ground in Rome.”  

Over the next 15 years, Sussman gradually developed a subtle and innovative form of painting in which space could not be defined as characteristically figurative or abstract. “I manipulate the ground,” she once wrote, “to resist the figure and make the figure struggle to come into being.”  

But Sussman also experienced a dramatic stylistic shift after her parents died within three months of each other in 1989, the year she came to UC Berkeley to teach. “I always considered myself a realist,” she told a writer reviewing her work in 1996.  

She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Juan Rodriguez, and their 14 year-old son, Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez. A remembrance and celebration of her life is being planned for early May. For information, contact the Department of Art Practice at (510) 642-2582.  

In lieu of flowers, donations for Gabriel's education may be sent to Squeak Carnwath, Custodian for Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez, Account #101-039818-590, c/o Douglas E. Treter, Morgan Stanley, 101 California St., P.O. Box 7805, San Francisco, CA 94120-9647.  

A demonstration will be held Thursday on the steps of the Berkeley courthouse asking city officials not to enforce a California law that makes it a crime to sleep outdoors. 

The demonstration, sponsored by Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, Poor Magazine, Street Spirit, Copwatch and others, is scheduled three days before the closure of the Emergency Winter shelter at the Oakland Army Base, which has provided shelter for 50 of Berkeley’s homeless each night since October.  

The demonstration is also designed to call attention to the second arrest of Ken Moshesh, who is currently facing jail time for sleeping outdoors. Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency spokesperson Darren Noy said Moshesh is contending that arresting or citing people for sleeping outside in unconstitutional.  

“Organizers of the peaceful, nonviolent demonstration on April 12 are hopeful that once other members of the community and the City Council become aware of the terrible harm of California Penal Code 647j, they will act quickly to restrict its enforcement,” according to a press statement from the organizers. 

The demonstration will be held at noon on the courthouse steps at 2120 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

SAN FRANCISCO — For nearly 30 years, Rhett Jackson owned one of the small, independent bookstores now embroiled in a lawsuit with Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. 

He sold his store, The Happy Bookseller, in part, because he couldn’t keep up with the four large, chain stores that had popped up in Columbia, S.C. 

Jackson was the first witness Monday in the case of 26 independent booksellers who sued Barnes & Noble and Borders claiming the superstores get illegal deals and steep discounts from publishers. 

Jackson says his sales and profits dropped drastically after the chains came to town. By 1997, after all four stores had opened, Jackson was losing money. 

“I was so discouraged,” Jackson said during a break from testifying. “I was thinking of having a fire sale and quitting. If we’d been competing with them under the same rules ... we’d have no argument with them.” 

The smaller stores, which sued in 1998, claim the growth of large bookstore chains has cost them millions of dollars they are unable to recoup without the same discounts. “The defendants received special treatment for which there is no justification or defense,” said Douglas Young, a lawyer for the American Booksellers Association, which represents the independent booksellers. “This should not be an industry where only a couple of players are allowed to dictate the terms.” 

The chains deny the allegations, and tried unsuccessfully to get the case dismissed last month. 

U.S. District Judge William Orrick Jr. allowed the suit to go forward, but decided the independent booksellers cannot win damages if they prevail. He said it would be impossible to determine how much the independents were harmed by alleged anticompetitive practices. 

Daniel Petrocelli, Barnes & Noble’s lawyer, said the decline in independent stores has other causes, such as competition from online booksellers. 

“The book business has undergone a revolution in the past couple of decades,” said Barnes & Noble’s lawyer, said Petrocelli, best known for winning a wrongful-death suit against O.J. Simpson. He cited the rise of superstores, the spacious retail outlets that offer cafes and other services. 

“People are flocking to these stores, and naturally the plaintiffs are not happy about this,” he said in his opening statement. “Any decline in the plaintiffs’ businesses resulted from a heated and healthy market.” 

The American Booksellers Association says any secret deals would violate the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 enacted to prevent large businesses from using their purchasing power to gain market advantage.  

The association has about 3,000 members, down from its peak of 5,000 five years ago. Barnes & Noble and Borders operate 937 and 335 stores, respectively, and are expanding significantly in California. 

The trial is expected to last at least six weeks. 

SAN DIEGO — Neurosurgeons have injected genetically modified cells into the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient in a pioneering procedure that holds the hope of halting or reversing brain cell loss caused by the disease. 

The 11-hour procedure at the University of California, San Diego marked the first use of human gene therapy in the treatment of brain disease, researchers said Tuesday. 

Scientists took skin cells from a 60-year-old Oregon woman in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, isolated genes that secrete a protein found in healthy brains called nerve growth factor and, on Thursday, injected two drops into her brain. She was discharged from the hospital two days later. 

“Our hope is that this procedure will be a way of delaying the progress of the disease and improving the quality of life for several years,” said Dr. Mark Tuszynski, who led the study. “It’s unlikely to be a cure.” 

Nerve growth factor received federal approval two years ago for human trials after a team of UCSD researchers showed the protein reversed deterioration in the brains of aging monkeys. Another patient will undergo the procedure in three months and researchers are seeking six more candidates for initial studies to determine whether the therapy is safe for humans. Future tests will gauge whether patients maintain their mental abilities. 

If the procedure is a success, the implanted cells could begin to improve brain function over the next few weeks, but doctors cautioned that it would take years to determine whether it is a useful therapy for the general public. 

Four million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, which causes a decline in memory and the ability to care for oneself. One in 10 seniors over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Bill Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs for the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association, was cautiously optimistic about the new procedure. 

“Anytime you start a clinical trial, you don’t know whether the benefits outweigh the risks,” Thies said. “You always want to be cautious at the beginning.” 

He noted that Alzheimer’s only afflicts humans, and doctors may not experience the same successes as they had with monkeys. He also said the complexity of the procedure may also be a downside. 

“We’re not going to do neurosurgery on 4 million people,” Thies said. 

The therapy targeted an area in the brain of the former Oregon schoolteacher known as the cholinergic system, which is important for supporting memory and brain function and deteriorates severely under Alzheimer’s disease. Doctors were able to inject the genes into an area about the size of a Tic-Tac that lies deep within the brain. 

The patient remained conscious during the entire procedure and was able to converse with her surgeon, Dr. Hoi Sang U, after the procedure. If the therapy proves to be successful, doctors said, the procedure could eventually be done on an outpatient basis. 

Doctors also were hopeful that the procedure could be used for similar treatments for other degenerative brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease or possibly even the injection of stem sells to restore brain damage, Sang U said. 

“If this (therapy) doesn’t work, we have the technology to deliver something else,” he said. 

A federal judge appeared to take a dim view of efforts to amplify Napster Inc.’s legal troubles, but didn’t immediately rule Tuesday on requests to allow thousands of music publishers, songwriters and other artists to join the case. 

The National Music Publishers’ Association asked the judge to certify its 26,000 members as a class deserving payments from Napster for copyright songs that have been illegally traded. Lawyers for another group of suing musicians also asked for class-action status. 

“I’m not going to supervise the whole world,” U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said. 

Patel also suggested she would dismiss legal action against Napster’s major financial backers, including the company’s acting chief executive, Hank Barry, and the San Francisco venture capital firm Hummer Winblad, which invested $15 million in the music file-swapping service. 

“Investment is not enough to hold them liable,” Patel said. 

Napster was back in court to defend its compliance with Patel’s order that it block the trading of copyright songs pending trial on the Recording Industry Association of America’s lawsuit, which seeks to close Napster down entirely. The RIAA says Napster hasn’t gone far enough to screen out song files to which it doesn’t have rights. 

But Napster says it’s doing all it can with limited resources. 

On Tuesday, Napster bought the assets and engineering team of Palo Alto-based Gigabeat Inc., which specializes in music-searching technologies that should help Napster filter which songs are available on its site. The cost of the deal was not disclosed. 

The Redwood City-based Napster also hired 15 more people to weed out unauthorized music, and has partnered with Gracenote, a company that tracks multiple spellings of popular song titles. Its new policy is to kick off users who continue trading music by modifying the file names of songs. 

In total, Napster says it has excluded from its index about 311,000 unique artist-song title pairs as well as 1.7 million file names corresponding to those artist-title pairs. Usage has dropped considerably since it began blocking songs last month, it said. 

Still, the two sides differ on how to interpret Patel’s order. 

Napster maintains that it must block songs only after being given an artist name, song title, file name and proof of copyright. The recording industry says Napster must search for infringing content even before receiving proper notification from copyright holders. 

A technical mediator has been appointed to help resolve the disputes. A.J. “Nick” Nichols, who served as a neutral court expert in Sun Microsystems’ suit against Microsoft, was appointed about two weeks ago, Napster confirmed Tuesday. 

The effort by songwriters Tuesday was joined by Grammy-winning songwriter Jeffrey Cohen, who has penned hits for Mariah Carey, The Pointer Sisters and Faith Evans. “I depend solely on my songwriting income to earn a living and support my family,” Cohen said. 

While Cohen thinks Napster technology is “fabulously brilliant,” he says hundreds of his songs are being downloaded for free. He wants Napster to implement a subscription fee. 

Napster is itself expected to switch to a subscription-based model soon, with the help of Bertelsmann, one of its investors. 

The end of free-music giveaways on Napster has spurred a slew of dealmaking in the ever-changing online music industry. 

The latest occurred last week, when Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. struck an alliance with Duet, the online music distribution company backed by Sony Corp. and French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal, letting users pay a fee to gain online access to thousands of songs. 

Duet will face competition from MusicNet, a subscription-based music streaming and download service also scheduled to debut this year. That service, also announced last week, is a venture between Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc. and record label owners AOL Time Warner Inc., Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group. 

SACRAMENTO — California and federal energy regulators took turns blaming each other for the state’s power crisis Tuesday during the first of three days of a House subcommittee’s hearings. 

They were joined by the panel’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento, who defended the Bush administration’s attempts to fight California’s rising energy prices. 

Ose also blamed state officials and the Clinton administration, all Democrats, for not doing enough to combat the state’s power woes when they first surfaced last year. 

Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and other California officials have said the Bush administration and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must quickly rein in power prices before this summer. 

Ose, who chairs the Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee, said the FERC acted quickly since President Bush took office Jan. 20 to order generators to justify their high electricity prices. 

PUC Chairwoman Loretta Lynch, who testified Tuesday, said her agency did act last year when it allowed utilities to enter into long-term contracts. However, those companies elected not to do that, she said. 

Kevin Madden, the FERC’s general counsel, said he estimated that long-term contracts could have saved California utilities $520 million in May 2000 alone. San Diego Gas & Electric, he said, could have saved $5 billion over a one-year period if it had entered a long-term contract with one generating company. 

“Had they done this, this is how much the consumers would ultimately save,” Madden said. 

Rep. Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who chairs the Government Reform Committee, said “everybody is pointing the finger at everybody else. I think there’s enough blame to go around.” 

Burton then blamed the FERC for not quickly forcing power generators to justify spiraling prices and said California’s grid operator, the Independent System Operator, should have explored using generators at prisons, hospitals and other facilities as stopgap measures for the summer. 

The ISO has said power generators have overcharged utilities billions of dollars more than the $124 million in sales questioned by the FERC so far. 

“The evidence is clear,” Lynch said of the alleged overcharges. “The problem is that the federal market cops aren’t doing their job.” 

ISO President and CEO Terry Winter and Lynch, along with Madden, testified Tuesday. They were joined by Central Valley farmers and food processors who said they have been devastated by high electricity prices and the uncertainties of rolling blackouts. Another witness, Lawrence Makovich of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said California fell into the energy crisis because of slow action by state regulators and the 1996 law that deregulated California’s utility industry. 

“Nobody did anything, year after year,” Makovich said. 

Ose said the hearings will likely result in federal legislation aimed at boosting supply, cutting demand and encouraging the rapid building of new power plants. He said 90 percent of the solution must come from state officials, not the federal government. 

All three House members who attended Tuesday’s hearing were Republicans – Ose, Burton, and Stephen Horn of Long Beach. 

FERC Chairman Curt Hebert is slated to testify Wednesday, when the hearings move from Sacramento to San Jose. Other witnesses at that hearing include representatives of Pacific Gas and Electric, which filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, and Southern California Edison, which agreed Monday to sell its power transmission lines to the state. 

Also Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali granted PG&E’s utility’s request to refund as much as $5.3 million in security deposits to business and residential customers. 

State regulators also gave the PG&E until April 26 to file accounting changes with the PUC, changes the utility says could prevent it from escaping a rate freeze that has been in effect since the state’s deregulation law took effect in 1998. 

Davis administration officials also continued their negotiations with San Diego Gas and Electric over the purchase of that utility’s transmission lines. 

Representatives of generators, which state officials have accused of price gouging, are scheduled for Thursday’s hearing in San Diego, along with FERC officials and representatives of SDG&E. 

While Davis and the governors of Oregon and Washington have blamed FERC for what call a regional problem requiring regional price controls, they were in the minority Tuesday in a meeting of state representatives and FERC commissioners. 

Eight of the 11 governors who sent representatives to the meeting in Boise, Idaho, have said caps would hinder expansion of energy supplies. 

California Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, called the Tuesday FERC meeting “surprisingly good.” 

The state’s delegation asked the FERC to implement cost-based pricing for 18 months. 

That, Hertzberg said, would give the measures enacted by the state time to take hold. Those measures include streamlining power plant construction, rate increases and $1 billion in energy conservation programs that Davis is expected to sign this week. 

Meanwhile Tuesday, the consumer group CAUSE, Campaign Against Utility Service Exploitation, filed a complaint with the state Audit Bureau accusing the PUC of violating the 1996 deregulation law by raising Edison and PG&E rates. 

WHAT’S HAPPENED 

• The state is under no power alerts in the early morning as reserves stay above 7 percent. 

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission holds a conference in Boise, Idaho, on Western energy issues. 

• The first of three House Government Reform Committee hearings begin in Sacramento. 

• The consumer group Campaign Against Utility Service Exploitation, or CAUSE, plans to file a complaint with the state Audit Bureau accusing state regulators of improperly raising Edison and PG&E rates while a rate freeze called for under the state’s 1996 utility deregulation law was in effect. 

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. PG&E, saying it hasn’t received the help it needs from regulators or state lawmakers, filed for federal bankruptcy protection April 6. 

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. 

——— 

On the Net: 

California ISO: www.caiso.com 

FERC: www.ferc.gov 

House subcommittee: http://www.house.gov/reform/reg/ 

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Saying there will be no let up in a military operation, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday told Muslim rebels who are holding a pair of hostages to surrender or die. 

“I have said it before and I will say again, I am not a happy warrior, but if this is what the situation calls for to defend the lives of our people and to pursue peace and order, so be it,” she said. “To the Abu Sayyaf, I say to them, if you still value your life, surrender now.” 

Arroyo visited Jolo island, where government troops killed three Abu Sayyaf rebels Monday in the first clash since she declared “all-out war” on the rebels a week ago. 

During a briefing, Brig. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, commander of the assault, told the president that six rebels have been killed, 12 captured and 45 firearms seized. 

Arroyo said she is giving the military no deadline. 

“They can stay here as long as they want to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf,” she told reporters. 

Last Thursday, Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya backed off on his threat to behead 25-year-old Jeffrey Schilling, of Oakland, who has been held hostage since last August. But Sabaya warned he still might kill Schilling if the troops don’t halt their offensive. 

Military officials said the stay of execution will not halt their assault on the guerrillas on Jolo island, about 580 miles, south of Manila. 

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 – Schilling and Filipino dive resort worker Roland Ulla – for reported multimillion-dollar ransoms. 

The Abu Sayyaf claims it is fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines, but the government regards it as a bandit gang. 

Arroyo said her government will not hold peace talks with the group as it plans to do separately with the Muslim secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist National Democratic Front. 

“They are terrorists so that is the way we deal with them. There is no peace for the Abu Sayyaf,” she said. 

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.

To the mother of one Navy specialist held in China, a U.S. apology – even an insincere one – is worth making if it gets the 24 Americans home. To the father of another, nothing that happened merits an apology. 

The Chinese are demanding the apology, but so far there is no apparent inclination in Washington to provide one for the midair collision that killed a Chinese pilot and destroyed his plane. 

Just over half of respondents in a poll out Tuesday, 54 percent, said Washington should not apologize. Four in 10 said an apology would be appropriate, according to the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll taken Friday through Sunday. 

In a possible hint of the U.S. crew’s thinking, detained crewman David Cecka of Cle Elum, Wash., wrote in a cheerful e-mail that “the crew intends to return with our country’s honor intact,” his father said Tuesday. 

Edward Briar, an analyst with the Military Research and Study Group, said that President Bush “is already beginning to look a little weak, a little ragged. An apology would be unseemly and embarrassing for the nation.” 

For Amanda De Jesus of Long Beach, Calif., it’s just a matter of words that would bring her son Josef Edmunds home. 

“We didn’t do anything wrong from what I’ve heard,” she said.  

“I think I would just say what they want us to say.” Edmunds is a Navy decoding specialist from Davis, Calif. 

Mike Cecka, pronounced SEEK-ah, said his son spoke of his country’s honor, and confirmed the crew is not being mistreated, in an e-mail he saw Monday night. 

“I personally don’t feel we have anything to apologize about,” the father said. David Cecka is an aviation electronics technician. 

There is a precedent for a phony apology, although in different circumstances. 

When North Koreans held, humiliated and beat 82 crewmen of the U.S. spy ship Pueblo for 11 months in 1968, the men were freed when the chief U.S. negotiator issued a formal apology he said later he did not mean. 

The odd solution allowed for face-saving on both sides – North Koreans had an admission of U.S. guilt for their purposes and Americans disavowed what they had said for their own domestic consumption. 

In this case, the detained Americans from the Navy surveillance plane are being treated well, U.S. officials say.  

Tensions between China and the United States are not comparable to the U.S.-North Korean hostility of the earlier time. 

U.S. officials say the facts as known do not place responsibility on the American pilot. 

William Cohen, defense secretary in the Clinton administration, says, “There should be no expression of apology unless fault has been found,” he said. 

Domestic politics also must be considered. 

“He has demanded the release of the hostages, and it didn’t happen,” Briar says of Bush. “He’s beginning to look like a paper tiger.” 

Bush has said from the outset the U.S. crew and the plane must be brought home promptly.  

He has avoided referring to the crew members as hostages. 

In the new poll, 55 percent of respondents said they considered the plane’s crew to be hostages. 

Asked about that finding, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said: “The president understands the concerns of the American people. He shares them. It’s a justifiable concern to the American people.” 

The survey of 1,025 adults was done Friday through Sunday and had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

China has continued to insist the United States apologize for the April 1 collision.  

Bush and his officials have stopped short of that, instead expressing regret over the loss of the Chinese pilot and plane. 

Some analysts say apologizing would be rash. 

“Apologies can’t be given out for convenience and then business conducted as usual,” said Thor Ronay at the Center for Security Policy, a Washington think tank.  

“You would be empowering anti-United States hard-liners in the Chinese regime and exposing the reform-minded people to ridicule.” 

The United States expressed “sincere apologies and condolences” nearly two years ago after NATO planes mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. 

Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, a China expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said the United States can’t apologize “whenever something bad happens between the nations,” and especially when the cause of the accident has not been determined. 

NEW YORK — A rebound in technology stocks set off another big rally on Wall Street Tuesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrials more than 250 points to their first close above 10,000 in nearly a month. 

But analysts remained cautious, noting that the market remains highly susceptible to more declines as first-quarter earnings reports begin. That vulnerability was underscored in extended trading when tech bellwether Motorola reported a worse-than-expected loss. 

“The bear market is still in force. This rally is a good and an important sign that maybe we’re starting to bottom, but there’s no evidence we’ve bottomed yet,” said Bob Streed, portfolio manager of Northern Select Equity Fund. 

The blue chips rose 257.59, or 2.6 percent, to 10,102.74, their first close above 10,000 since March 15. At one point during the session, the Dow was up 310 points. 

Enthusiasm for technology stocks led the rally.  

Microsoft rose $2.53 to $59.68, while Intel, which was downgraded by two investment firms Monday, jumped $1.57 to $24.77, more than recovering from the previous session’s 43-cent loss. 

And consumer product companies lagged as investors shifted their focus to technology. Procter & Gamble fell $1.64 to $58.70. 

Wall Street has alternately rallied and then fallen back during April, leaving many analysts skeptical about the durability of the market’s advances. 

The Dow had fallen below 10,000 last month amid investors’ deepening pessimism about the economy and its effect on earnings. With first-quarter earnings reports just starting and mixed signals about the health of consumer confidence and corporate profits, many analysts say it’s too soon to tell if stocks are recovering or merely staging bear market rallies. 

“I think we need a little more time. We need some good earnings, we need the negative news to kind of back off,” said Robert Harrington, head of equity trading at UBS Warburg. 

Harrington attributed much of the advance to buying by large institutions, but he said the overall market mood appears to be stabilizing. 

“As people get more confident, the demand will pick up,” he said. 

Market watchers also said the selling pressure created by investors trying to minimize their losses appears to have eased somewhat, although it is still a threat to the longevity of rallies. 

“There are lots of people who would love to sell some of their stocks at higher prices, which is why these rallies have failed in the past,” Streed, the Northern Select portfolio manager, said. 

Advancing issues led decliners more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to nearly 1.60 billion shares, compared with 1.24 billion shares Monday.

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

Although garden plants hail from all corners of the world, they have surprisingly similar soil requirements. Before planting, make sure the soil is well-supplied with air, water, and nutrients. 

Aeration must be the first consideration, because plants can’t use nutrients if roots have no air. Poor aeration occurs when water fills all the soil pores, the result of a high water table or too much fine clay in the soil. 

There are three options for dealing with a high water table: Move your garden; raise the roots above the water with raised beds; or lower the water table by draining water away in trenches or a buried, perforated plastic pipe. 

Clay soils become poorly aerated because their small pores fill with capillary water. Improve aeration by clumping the clay particles into larger units, forming larger pores from which water can drain. “Glue” for clumping together clay particles is organic matter, such as compost, peat moss, manure, rotted leaves, or sawdust. Mix an abundance of any these materials into the soil. 

Inability to hold moisture is a typical problem in sandy soils. Watering plants is one cure, but also mix plenty of organic matter into the soil. With aeration and water taken care of, now consider your soil’s fertility. Soils must supply plants with 12 essential nutrients, so test your soil with a home kit or send a sample out to a laboratory to see what is needed. 

Before fertilizing, make sure soil acidity is in the correct range, or else plants will not be able to use nutrients.  

Finally, fertilize. The three nutrients needed in greatest amounts by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The organic matter that you added for aeration and water-holding also supplies nutrients, perhaps enough so that no additional fertilizer is needed. 

Lee Reich is a columnist for The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Dashboard dining is distracting drivers, San Francisco Department of Public Health officials warn. 

A DPH study shows that eating and drinking while driving – along with cell phone use, tuning the radio and disciplining children – is keeping drivers from paying attention to the real reason they’re in the car. 

And those distractions are causing drivers to run through red lights, resulting in accidents and injuries. 

More than 25,000 citations were issued by San Francisco Police last year for red light running alone.  

A recent AAA crash study supports the DPH findings. AAA found that nearly 19 percent of distracted drivers were eating or drinking. 

As a busy lunch hour rush of cars flew past, horns blaring, brakes squealing, a new campaign aimed at getting drivers to pay attention and slow down at red lights was announced Tuesday by DPH’s Larry Meredith, Director for Community Health Promotion and Prevention.  

Meredith stood in front of a Burger King drive-through on Van Ness Street as he announced DPH’s new campaign focused on driving distractions and aggressive driving. 

The campaign will be spashed across the city on 50 billboards, 1,500 street signs, postcards and a Web site. 

and more – all with the message “Stop at the red. You’ll only kill a few seconds.” One postcard shows a man behind the wheel cramming fast-food fries into his mouth. 

“The campaign reframes the red light from that of an obstruction and source of frustration to that of an opportunity to relax, calm down and take a sip of your drink,” Meredith said. 

“We want people to be more aware that driving takes precedence over anything else they’re doing while in their vehicle and moving.” 

But whether the ad campaign will promote better driving practices among drivers in the fast lane of the fast-paced city remains to be seen. 

At least one driver doesn’t think so. 

“People are going to do whatever they want to do – unless they have a cop riding in the car. And I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Eric Stevenson, a driver on his lunch break downtown. 

Stevenson said the city could use the money spent on the billboards to instead put more cops on the street. 

———— 

On the Net: 

DPH’s STOP red light running campaign: http://www.redlightrunning.org 

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