Former captive chows down on fried chicken on first leg of journey home 

MANILA, Philippines – An Oakland, Ca. man rescued from Muslim rebels who threatened to behead him arrived safely in the northern Philippines on Friday, a day after elite troops rescued him in a raid on a southern island. 

Jeffrey Schilling, 25, voraciously consumed fried chicken, fried fish, an omelet, rice, a sandwich and chunks of mango with his bare hands Friday morning in his first meal in freedom. Schilling was held hostage by Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels for more than seven months. 

Government troops and police rescued Schilling on Thursday after they stormed a guerrilla hide-out on the island of Jolo. 

A Philippine military video showed Schilling drinking coffee and chatting with army officers after he rode an attack helicopter from a remote jungle to an army base in the town of Jolo on Friday. 

From Jolo he flew in a military transport plane to Manila, where he arrived fit and alert and dressed in Philippine army camouflage fatigues, to greet Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and a U.S. embassy official. Schilling, who weighed 250 pounds before his capture, was notably slimmer and sported a closely trimmed beard. 

Schilling later flew to a military hospital in the northern city of Baguio where he was to meet President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. 

The Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group threatened to behead Schilling on April 5 as a “birthday gift” to Arroyo, who turned 54 that day. The rebels had demanded $10 million in ransom from the Philippine or U.S. governments. 

Arroyo responded to the threat by ordering “all-out war” on the group, based on the island of Jolo, about 580 miles south of Manila. 

The military last week poured 3,000 troops into the steamy jungles of Jolo and then sent in 1,800 reinforcements early Thursday. 

The troops found Schilling when raiding a guerrilla hide-out in the island’s Luuk area on Thursday afternoon. 

Rebel chief Abu Sabaya and other leaders are still at large, Philippine military Chief of Staff Diomedio Villanueva said late Thursday. 

He said the military will continue their assault until all guerrilla leaders are captured. There are thought to be some 1,200 Abu Sayyaf fighters. 

“They must surrender if they value their lives,” Arroyo told DZMM radio on Thursday. “This is a fight to the finish.” 

Schilling’s relieved mother, Carol Schilling, said Thursday she was looking forward to her son returning home. 

“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 told The Associated Press from California. 

Schilling said she talked to her son Thursday about 10:30 p.m. 

“He sounded composed and practical. He is looking forward to spending time with friends and family when he returns home,” she said. 

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

The strange circumstances of his kidnapping led some local military officials to speculate that Schilling might have been cooperating with the rebels. There were unconfirmed reports that he was seen, armed, on rebel patrols. 

Schilling’s wife, who says she suffered a miscarriage in Schilling’s fourth month of captivity, said Friday she is “very happy that he has been rescued. I will have inner peace now.” 

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the United States was “grateful” to Arroyo, the Philippine government and the country’s armed forces for freeing Schilling. 

“The Philippines deserves full credit for this successful outcome,” Reeker said in a statement Thursday. “The United States looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the Philippines to combat terrorism and prevent future terrorist acts.” 

The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of the three major insurgency groups in the Philippines, shot to international notoriety last year after seizing dozens of hostages, many of them foreigners, in daring raids. With Schilling’s rescue, only Roland Ulla, a Filipino worker at a scuba diving resort, remains in captivity. 

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. 

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 

Planning for Seedsaving 

1 - 3 p.m.  

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave.  

Interested in the life cycle of common vegetables? This workshop also gives heads up on what work and materials are involved in raising different crops.  

548-2220 

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. Free. 

525-7610 

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

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

Late-night parties at new Beth El bad for neighbors 

By Susan Schwartz  

I am a member of Congregation Beth El, and I live across the street from the synagogue’s proposed new site at 1301 Oxford Street. I look forward to the Congregation’s move.  

Living next to Live Oak Park, as I do, I enjoy the sounds of celebration and a sense of closeness to vital urban institutions. 

However, I am concerned that present plans do not also offer reasonable protections for the peace and quiet of neighbors. They offer half–truth and misstatement instead. 

An example is the recent Notice of Decision and proposed Use Permit, which state that Beth El is compatible with the neighborhood and will cause no additional burdens. Why?  

Since Beth El now is only a few blocks away, the neighborhood “has been, and is currently, subject to any impacts caused by the anticipated level of Beth El’s activities” and on Fridays and Saturdays, “the facilities are usually empty by 10 p.m.” 

But this is not true, as the same document makes clear. In place of its long–established 10 p.m. closing time, Beth El and the city propose 11 p.m. closing except on Sundays. On Mondays through Thursdays, activities would be generally limited to classes, meetings, and religious services, but on weekend nights the facility would be rented out for members’ private parties – something that does not happen now.  

Beth El particularly expects income from members’ Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties, large catered dances for 13–year–olds and adults with live bands or disc jockeys, at which kids do not stay indoors and do not leave quietly. (I have hosted two and seen many.) Given the numbers of kids at Beth El and the results of polling parents (including myself), Beth El’s new facility would be rented out for these parties on a majority of weekends.  

This nighttime party rental would be a major addition to Beth El’s present schedule of year–round nursery school with enrollment about 60; after–school and Saturday religious school with more than 100 kids per day; Sunday morning teen program with enrollment over 260; summer camp for 300 children; potlucks; carnivals; bazaars; kids’ social evenings and overnights; adult classes, lectures, and social activities; and planned new activities including wedding receptions and after–school and vacation day care. Beth El also plans outdoor private social activities, apparently with no limits on hours or amplified sound.  

In addition to the major new party–rental facility and later closing, the proposed use permit sets opening hours at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday – an hour or more earlier than at present.  

No Berkeley school, community center, or religious institution in a single–family neighborhood has such hours and such a level of activity seven days a week.  

Even the Julia Morgan Center, which combines school and performance center on busy College Avenue, has a use–permit ban on private parties. 

Beth El’s hours and rules of operation are particularly important because this use permit will be the first under the federal Religious  

Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, passed in fall 2000. Under this law, government may not discriminate against an institution because it is religious – for example, setting stricter zoning rules or shorter hours than are allowed for schools or community centers.  

Government also may not discriminate among religious institutions. This is important to more than we few neighbors. If Beth El can operate from 7 or 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and rent out its facilities for large private parties right next to homes, so can any other group calling itself religious, anywhere in the city. 

Berkeley should ask the following questions (all apart from Beth El’s obvious right to hold religious services on the rotating Jewish calendar): Does any institution, no matter how meritorious, require hours that barely give neighbors time for sleep if they time it just right? (Bedroom windows are above any sound walls, and walls won’t muffle traffic, car doors slamming, and people talking on the street. Nor will Beth El’s 32 parking spaces, many unlikely to be used because they are tandem, accommodate crowds  

of the size these activities attract.)  

• Could not the synagogue give its neighbors one morning’s rest – opening at 10 a.m. on Sundays, like Live Oak Recreation Center? 

• On Sunday evenings, when Beth El now has no activities later than 6:30 p.m., could it not be gracious enough to close at 7 p.m., leaving parking and quiet for the long–established chamber–music concerts at the Berkeley Art Center, in Live Oak Park across the street? 

At the coming City Council meetings, we will learn the answers.

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. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins, and become little “dump” workers. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” Through May, 2002 An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950  

UC Berkeley Art Museum “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; “Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience” Through April 29. This conceptual artist and pioneer of video, installation, and Internet art presents three installations; “Ernesto Neto/MATRIX 19” A Maximum Minimum Time Space Between Us and the Parsimonious Universe, Through April 15. Made from disposable materials such as styrofoam pellets, glass, paper, paraffin wax, and nylon stockings, Neto’s sensual sculptural works provoke viewers to interact with his art; “Ed Osborn/MATRIX 193” This Oakland-based artist will use low-tech gadgetry to turn the museum into a sound sculpture as part of his site-specific installation Vanishing Point; “A Passion for Art: The Disaronno Originale Photography Collection,” Through April 18 Featuring the work of photographers worldwide who have demonstrated passion and excellence; $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. 642-0808. 

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

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821 

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

Lawrence Hall of Science “Math Rules!.” 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 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 14, 8:30 p.m.: Edessa, UCLA Balkan Band, Vassil & Maria Bebelekov; April 15, 6 p.m.: East Bay Kindershul Benefit with California Klezmer; April 17, 9 p.m.: Tom Rigney & Flambeau, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; April 18, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; April 19, 9 p.m.: Blues for Choice with Craig Horton Blues Band, Rabia, Steve Gannon, Mz Dee, Georgia Freeman, Mark Naftalin, RJ Misho; April 20, 9:30 p.m.: Tamazgha; April 21, 9:30 p.m.: West African Highlife Band, dance lesson at 9 p.m.; April 22, 2-6 p.m.: Free Cajun, Zydeco and Waltz Dance Workshops; April 22, 7 p.m.: KPFA Legal Defense Benefit with Venusians and DJ Dragonfly; April 24, 9 p.m.: Zydeco Flames, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; April 25, 8 p.m.: Fling Ding with Crooked Jades, Bluegrass Intentions, clogging lesson; April 26, 10 p.m.: Dead DJ night with digital dave; April 27, 8 p.m.: Musicians for Medical Marijuana Benefit featuring Fact or Fiction with Martin Fierro, Shelly Doty X-Tet; April 28, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, 8 p.m. dance lesson; April 29, 9 p.m.: Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band, DJ Edwin The Selector; 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 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 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; April 28, 8 p.m.: Vanguard Swing Orchestra, UC Berkeley Big Band $18 - $30 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 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 ConcertApril 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 

Shotgun Players April 19, 20 7 p.m. Preview of Black Box Productions’ double-bill: “Slings and Arrows: Love Stories from Shakepearean Tragedie” writen and directed by Rebecca Goodberg and developed by the ensemble and “The Glass Tear” conceptualized and directed by Christian Schneider. Discussions with the audience will follow each show. The show opens April 21 and continues Thursday-Sunday through May 5. $10 La Val’s Subterranean Theatre 1834 Euclid Ave. 655-0813  

“The Magic Flute” April 20, 25, 30 7:30 p.m. UC Berkeley’s Cal Opera and B.A.C.H. present an updated version of Mozart’s classic. Proceeds benefit new developments for the Longfellow Jr. High theater. $10 Longfellow Jr. High 1500 Derby St.  

Kensington Symphony OrchestraApril 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 

Jeanne Starkiochmans April 21, 7:30 p.m. Belgian-born Bay Area resident performs works by Claude Debussy on the piano. $25-$35 Scottish Rite Auditorium, Oakland 

The Pirate Prince April 21, 22, 29, 8 p.m. Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sunday The first production for the new Hillside Players. Princesses, pirates, witches and modern diolgue in a family-geared show. Free admission, reservations required Hillside Club 2286 Cedar St. 528-2416  

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 

Community Music Day at the Crowden School and Crowden Center for Music April 28, 1-5 p.m. Music and dance performances and storytelling. Families can make their own instruments, watch a master violin maker at work, or go to the Instument Petting Zoo to try playing different instruments. Rose Street at Sacremento in Berkeley. Free. Call 559-6910.  

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 Thirty-second 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 

Community Women’s Orchestra Family Concert April 29, 4 p.m. Conducted by Ann Krinitsky, featuring works by Rossini, Richter, Beethoven. Free or by donation. Piano solo by Dr. Pearl Toy. Malcolm X School 1731 Prince St. 653-1616 

Chamber Music from Crowden School May 1, 7 - 8 p.m. The final installment of the Young Emerging Artists Series, Crowden presents some of its most talented string-instrument players. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 www.juliamorgan.org 

May Day Celebration May 1, 7:30 p.m. Part of LaborFest’s annual Labor Cultural Arts Festival features a screening of Sri Lankan “Slaves of Free Trade” by Yappa Kashyapa. Also, poet Jack Hirschman, singers Carol Denney, Larry Shaw, Pam Pam, The La Pena Choir, report on Kurdish prisoner and legislator Lela Zana, video on Korean Daewoo auto workers. $7 donation goes to Sri Lankan Women’s Free Trade Zone Center. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck 415-642-8066 www.laborfest.net  

Music & Dance of Bali May 5, 8 p.m. & May 6, 2 p.m. Gamelan Sekar Jaya, the Bay Area 45-member ensemble, will perform music and dance from Bali under the direction of Balinese guest artists I Made Subandi and Ni Ketut Arini. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 www.juliamorgan.org 

Berkeley Potters Guild Spring Show and Sale May 5, 6, 12, 13, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fifteen artists open their personal studios to the public and offer pieces for sale. Berkeley Potters Guild 731 Jones St. 524-7031 www.berkeleypotters.com  

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 April 14, 8 p.m. Final show. 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 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 

“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 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 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage” April 14, Final show. 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 Distance Between Us” Through May 4 The photographs of Mimi Chakarova depicting South African townships, inland parishes in Jamaica and her most recent work in Cuba. Photographs about people and their incredible will to survive regardless of the circumstances. Graduate School of Journalism North Gate Hall UC Berkeley 

“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  

“Alive in Her: Icons of the Goddess” Through June 19, Tuesday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photography, collage, and paintings by Joan Beth Clair. Opening reception May 3, 4 - 6 p.m. Pacific School of Religion 1798 Scenic Ave. 848-0528 

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 

Images of Portugal Paintings by Sofia Berto Villas-Boas of her native land. Open after 5 p.m. Voulez-Vous 2930 College Ave. (at Elmwood)  

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 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 

“Justice and Human Rights Since the Return of Democracy in Chile”  

April 17, 7 p.m. Chilean Judge Juan Guzman, in charge of the criminal investigation of former President Augusto Pinochet will speak. Booth Auditorium Boalt School of Law UC Berkeley  

“Hunting T. Rex” May 6, 2 p.m. A talk by Dr. Philip Currie, curator of dinosaurs, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. Currie asks the question: Was there social interaction amongst the Tyrannosaurs? $3 - $7 Lawrence Hall of Science UC Berkeley 642-5132 or visit www.lawrencehallofscience.org 

Berkeley 1900 May 7, 7 p.m. Richard Schwartz, author of Berkeley 1900, a book about life at the turn of the 19th century, will speak at the Friends of Five Creeks’ monthly meeting. Albany Community Center (downstairs) 1249 Marin 848-9358  

STANFORD – Junior Jocelyn Forest pitched a two-hitter, but the No. 4 California Golden Bears fell to the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal, 5-2, in game one of a Pac-10 three-game series. Forest allowed five runs, only two earned, as Cal committed two errors on the day, allowing Stanford to score three unearned runs. The Bears fall to 43-5 overall and just 2-4 in the Pac-10, while the Cardinal improves to 37-4-1 overall, 6-1 in the conference.  

The Cardinal jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on no hits and two-unearned runs.  

The Bears tied the game in the fourth when junior Candace Harper ended Cardinal hurler Dana Sorensen's no-hit bid and shutout with one swing of the bat, sending a shot well over the left-center field fence to cut the Stanford lead to, 2-1. Then stepped to the plate, sophomore Veronica Nelson. With a 2-0 count, Nelson instantly broke her own single-season home run record and set the new Cal career homer record with one swing of the bat, tying the game at two apiece, giving her 15 round trippers on the season.  

That would be all the runs the Bears would score, as Stanford put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth on two hits, the only hits allowed by Forest, to break the 2-2 tie for the eventual, 5-2, final.  

Sorensen earned her 21st win on the season for Stanford, also pitching a two-hitter, while striking out five Cal batters.  

Forest falls to 22-4 in 2001, with a game-high nine strikeouts on the day.  

Cal gets back into action tomorrow for a doubleheader versus the same Stanford Cardinal. Game one is set to begin at 1 p.m., and will be televised on Fox Sports Net on a taped delay basis at 4 p.m.

At about 10:30 p.m. Thursday the phone rang. It wasn’t another reporter. Carol Schilling finally heard her son’s voice. 

“Hi mom. I love you.” 

What more could a mother want? Especially of a son who had been held captive in the Philippines for more than seven months. 

In a telephone interview Friday afternoon, Schilling said she and Jeffrey Schilling, 25, talked about normal things – the new car Carol Schilling’s thinking of buying, the friend who sold his house, the birth of his new cousin Molly-Rose. 

“He sounded composed,” said Schilling who works as a controller at the Berkeley YMCA . “It was great.” 

Schilling said her son still had to meet with people at the U.S. Embassy before coming home. “He’s exhausted,” she said.  

“They may not tell me (exactly) when he’s coming home,” she added.

Thursday, the Cal baseball team couldn’t score a run, falling to USC 1-0 in a rare pitchers’ duel. On Friday, they just couldn’t score enough.  

The Bears had USC starter Rik Currier on the ropes early, but failed to deliver the knockout blow. Jon Brewster’s two-run single kick-started a four-run fourth inning that powered the Trojans (26-12, 8-3 Pac-10) to a 5-3 victory over Cal (21-18, 6-8) yesterday at Evans Diamond.  

Currier (7-1) withstood a rough start to throw seven innings for the victory. Fraser Dizard pitched the final two innings for his fifth save.  

The Bears struck early in the game, but squandered opportunities to put USC away. Cal rapped three straight singles in the bottom of the first; the third, by Brian Horwitz, drove in Ben Conley with the Bears’ first run. But the Bears would leave the bases loaded as Spencer Wyman struck out looking and Clint Hoover grounded to third to end the inning. 

Horwitz drove in another run in the second with a sac fly, but the ensuing throw from Persell was re-directed to third, nailing Conley as he tried to advance and ending the inning. In the next inning, the Bears scored their third run on Wyman’s RBI single. Cal had runners at first and third with no outs, but were unable to push any more runs across. The Bears left five runners on base in the first three innings, and left nine on overall. 

“Again, we didn’t take the game when we had the chance,” said cal head Coach David Esquer.  

Jason Dennis (3-3) pitched well for the Bears. After giving up a leadoff triple to Seth Davidson (who scored), Dennis retired 11 consecutive Trojan batters. His streak ended when he hit leftfielder Josh Persell with a pitch, but Dennis then picked Persell off at first base to end the fourth inning. “I felt good, and my stuff was pretty good,” said Dennis afterwards. 

In the fifth, things turned against Dennis. Alberto Concepcion led the inning off with a walk, and advanced to second on Bill Peavey’s single. Abel Montanez then laid a perfect bunt down the third base line for a single, loading the bases with no outs. After Brewster’s single tied the score, Michael Moon chopped a ball to Carson White at second. White bobbled the ball, causing his throw to arrive late at first, again loading the bases. Dennis then walked in a run and allowed a sac fly before working his way out of the inning with USC taking the 5-3 lead. 

“Jason (Dennis) hurt himself with a couple of walks, but otherwise he threw well,” said Esquer afterward. “Our pitching has been pretty good, but since we play in a lot of close games, our mistakes are magnified.”  

Brian Montalbo threw two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief for the Bears. 

Cal had one last chance in the final inning. Jackson singled with one out, and reached second John Baker was hit by a pitch. With two outs, the fastball-hitting White was at the plate- exactly the scenario Esquer wanted.  

“(The coaching staff) said at the beginning of the inning that we wanted Carson to get to the plate,” Esquer said.  

White smacked Disard’s fastball deep into right-centerfield, but Brian Barre caught it just in front of the wall for the game’s final out.  

Cal has now lost every series in Pac-10 play with the exception of the Washington series. The Bears play the finale against the Trojans today at 1 p.m.

Berkeley may not seem like a high priority target for terrorists wielding weapons of mass destruction, but just in case it is, the fire department wants to be prepared.  

The City Council will consider an alliance with the cities of Emeryville and Albany to apply for a grant of $120,000 for the purchase of supplies and equipment specifically for “responding to incidents of terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.”  

Berkeley’s portion of the grant will be $54,000. 

The tri-city alliance will apply to the governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which distributes U.S. Department of Justice funds for equipment for emergency response to large-scale attacks. 

According to the council report approved by Fire Chief Reg Garcia, the fire department is currently unable to properly respond to “terrorist acts of biological, chemical or hazardous materials.” 

OES spokesperson Sheryl Tankersley said there is about $4.1 million in federal grant funding available in California.  

“The money is to buy equipment that will protect and decontaminate first responders, such as firemen and other emergency service providers, in the event of a widespread chemical disaster,” she said. 

Garcia said there is no reason to anticipate a terrorist attack. He said the equipment is to make sure the fire department is able to respond to any situation that might arise.  

“Other cities an counties have already taken advantage of the grant,” he said. “The City of Oakland, the Alameda Fire Department and the City of San Jose all have a cache of this type of equipment.”  

One item the fire department will purchase is antidote kits, which will allow fire fighters and rescue workers to inoculate themselves against anti-nerve agents and other biological hazards, according to the council report.  

The kits were issued to soldiers during the Persian Gulf War. 

Other items include decontamination equipment such as mobile showers, contamination suits and breathing apparatus.  

Mayor Shirley Dean said she thinks it’s a good idea for the fire department to have access to all kinds of emergency equipment. 

“Looking at the list of items, I’d say it wouldn’t be used for terrorism; it would more likely be used in case of some kind of toxic spill,” she said.  

More than 80 percent of Berkeley students in grades seven through 12 are happy at their schools, but nearly half of them said they would put little effort into class work if not for the need to get “good grades”. 

These are some of the findings of a Youth Culture Survey released by the Berkeley Unified School District last week, part of a long-term effort to address the achievement gap between white students and students of color in Berkeley schools.  

Last year, only 55 percent of African American graduates from Berkeley High met the academic requirements to be eligible for the University of California or California State University systems, compared with 78 percent of white graduates, to cite just one measure of the achievement gap. 

After years of innovative programs failed to have the desired impact on the achievement gap, the Berkeley school district joined a consortium of 15 urban-suburban school districts in February of 1999 known as the Minority Student Achievement Network.  

A group of districts with connections to major research universities – and more financial resources than the average school districts in their respective states – the consortium aims to pool research to better address the achievement gap. 

The Youth Culture Survey is a critical first step, according to a report by BUSD staff, because it helps identify the different variables that affect the academic achievement of students of color from one district to another; variables such as peer culture, teacher expectations, parent involvement and curriculum design.  

Working with MSAN “has enormous potential to help us get some perspective on the achievement gap issues that we have in our community,” said Berkeley school board Vice-president Shirley Issel in an interview last week. 

“What are attitudes about learning? What are the aspects of youth culture that lead some kids to commit to a high achieving academic path?” 

One of the most disquieting findings of the Youth Culture Survey in Berkeley, said Issel, was that more than 45 percent of respondents cited as a reason for not working hard in school: “I could get a good grade without studying.” 

Forty-six percent of all students surveyed said their minds “wander” in class “often,” “usually” or “always”. 

If it is true, as these responses suggest, that nearly half of Berkeley students in grades seven through 11 are only marginally engaged by the school curriculum, then the school board needs to learn who these students are and find ways to address their needs, Issel said. 

Other survey findings may trigger debate among school administrators during the months ahead.  

At a time when assaults and fights at Berkeley High have become a community focus, the survey found that only 23 percent of students agreed with the statement “I do not feel safe in this school.” 

In the area of curriculum and grades, only 28 percent of students said they believed all their teachers knew how well they were capable of doing academically.  

While 44 percent of students said their English teachers managed to make the subject interesting more than 65 percent of the time, only 27 percent of students felt the same way about their math teachers. 

In a finding that will no doubt concern librarians, nearly 40 percent of survey respondents said they spend more than three hours a day “watching TV, listening to music, or playing with video games”. 

Other findings in the survey suggest, however, that Berkeley students feel little peer pressure not to do well in school. Asked how often they “didn’t try as hard as (they) could at school because (they) were worried about what (their) friends would think,” nearly 80 percent of the survey respondents marked “never.” 

As reasons for working hard, 59 percent of students cited wanting to “impress” their parents, compared to just 39 percent who said the subject was “interesting” to them. 

In Berkeley, 2,899 out of 3,745 students in grades seven through 11, or 77 percent, completed the survey. One hundred and fifty-eight Berkeley High seniors completed the survey. 

The survey respondents were 49 percent white, 37 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic, 18 percent Asian and 11 percent Native American. 

Berkeley High and Berkeley middle schools are already using the survey results to help with strategic planning. A comparative analysis of survey results from different MSAN districts will be presented at the consortium’s annual conference in Cambridge, Mass. this summer. 

But Berkeley school board director John Selawsky warned last week that the board needs to determine which students make up the 23 percent of seventh through 11th graders who failed to respond to the survey before they give too much weight survey’s findings. 

The oldest school building standing in Berkeley is located at 1814 Seventh St. and was built in 1887. The simple, one-and two-story wood-frame building, with clipped gable ends, has tall sash windows and horizontal board siding. Although now used as a residence, it retains much of the character of the original school building. 

The school was designed by architect/builder Alphonso Herman Broad. Broad came to Berkeley in 1877 and became the superintendent for the reconstruction of the Berkeley schools after the 1906 earthquake. He was a prominent Berkeley citizen and one of the first trustees of the Township of Berkeley. 

He also designed the original buildings for Whittier, Le Conte and Columbus schools, but none of these are still standing. Among his buildings that are still standing is the Haste Street Building of McKinley School at 2419 Haste Street built in 1906.  

Susan Cerny authors this history series with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association 

A team of recycling advocates in Berkeley is sifting through residents’ trash, hoping to find only garbage that is free of recyclable materials so they can hand over a hefty cash prize. 

But according to the folks at the city’ s Ecology Center, seldom has such pure trash been discovered so far. The Bogas family of North Berkeley recently won $500 by recycling everything that the Ecology Center picks up. 

Others whose trash has been tested have done well – but not as well – at managing to recycling nearly all types of paper and cardboard, as well as bottles and cans that are eligible for the curbside recycling program. They won $50 apiece. 

Since not all the money allocated has been spent in the program Ecology Center operates with the City of Berkeley’s Senior Recycling Supervisor, the reward for the most energetic recyclers keeps growing.  

It now stands at $1,600. Berkeley’ s cash-for-trash program is in effect until mid-July.

Sunday, April 15 

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  

TREES Forum  

12:30 p.m. 

2400 Ridge Rd.  

Hewlett Library  

Board Room  

Michael Warburton on local environmental issues.  

E-mail: trees@gtu.edu 

Thursday, April 19  

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 

Haas Lecture on Business and Environment 

12:45 - 2 p.m. 

Cheit Hall 230  

Haas School of Business 

UC Berkeley 

Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute will speak on “Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution”. For more information contact Eric at strand@haas.berkeley.edu. 

Energy Forum 

3 p.m. - 5 p.m. 

Sibley Auditorium 

Bechtel Engineering Center 

UC Berkeley 

Panel discussion entitled “Re-De-Regulation: Planning, Learning, Blundering and the Future of Electricity in California”. Followed at 6 p.m. by Dr. Rosenfeld (see below). Free admission, limited seating.  

642-1640 

Energy and Environment 

6 p.m. 

Sibley Auditorium 

Bechtel Engineering Center 

UC Berkeley 

Dr. Arthur H. Rosenfeld, State of California Energy Commissioner will give a lecture on “Easing California’s Electricity Shortage with Buildings that Respond to Real Time Prices”. Free admission, limited seating. 

642-1640 

Friday, April 20 

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 

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 

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  

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 

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 

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 

Saturday, April 28  

Berkeley Bay Festival  

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

Berkeley Marina  

160 University Ave.  

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 

On April 22 Americans will be celebrating the 31st anniversary of Earth Day. In 1969 Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, frustrated by the lack of political attention to the state of the environment, took a lesson from the anti-Vietnam War “teach-ins” that were taking place across the country.  

He announced that the following spring a national grassroots demonstration would take place in celebration of the Earth and in protest of the destruction being caused to it. The community response was phenomenal: the first Earth day celebration, on April 22, 1970, drew over 20 million participants from coast to coast, according to the Earth Day Network website. Politicians took notice, and by the end of 1970 had founded the Environmental Protection Agency and passed the Clean Air Act.  

Within three years the United States also had the Clean Water Act, the Endagered Species Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act on the books. On the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, 200 million people in 140 countries demonstrated in support of the environment.  

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge delayed a decision for a second time Thursday in the case of a gay U.S. Air Force doctor who was discharged and ordered to pay back $70,000 the government spent sending him to medical school. 

John Hensala, 36, a San Francisco psychiatrist in private practice who sued last May, said he shouldn’t have to repay the money because he wanted to serve but the Air Force refused to let him because he announced he was gay. 

Hensala was honorably discharged after telling his superiors in 1994 that he is gay. He claimed he wanted to serve honestly and had no reason to believe he would be automatically discharged after his announcement. 

The Air Force contends Hensala announced he was gay simply to avoid active duty military service, and has asked for the case’s dismissal. 

Hensala’s lawyer, Clyde Wadsworth, said the Air Force has a discriminatory policy of ordering gays to pay back tuition costs. 

He said the Air Force’s own guidelines for investigating whether a service member announced he was gay just to avoid service are discriminatory. 

“The recoupment guide ... says these statements of an officer’s willingness to serve are not relevant,” Wadsworth argued in court. “Short of recanting ... the gay service member can’t say anything to rebut the presumption that he’s coming out to avoid service.” 

But the Justice Department’s lawyer, Daniel Bensing, says the Air Force only ordered recoupment in 23 of 27 cases similar to Hensala’s. 

In three cases, the Air Force’s investigation determined the individual was not coming out as gay to avoid military service. 

One person was under psychiatric care and came out as part of treatment, a second person was outed by another service member and a third person was determined to be a good doctor and valuable to the service, Bensing said. 

“It’s not that there’s nothing the service member can say to avoid recoupment,” Bensing argued. 

“Nothing in the supplemental record supports there is a blanket policy of discrimination,” he said. “The Air Force ... does have a policy of aggressively seeking recoupment.” 

U.S. District Judge William Alsup asked Bensing to provide additional information about the three cases in which repayment was not sought. 

In January, Alsup delayed his decision on the Air Force’s request for dismissal when he asked for information about other people who were discharged for being gay and whether they were asked to pay back education money.

SAN FRANCISCO – NBC is being sued over its acquisition of its money losing Internet subsidiary NBC Internet. 

The shareholder class action suit, filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses NBC Internet, NBC, its parent, General Electric, and top company officers of setting an unfair price for shares in its acquisition of NBC Internet. 

The companies announced April 9 that NBC Internet would be shut down and its assets integrated into NBC. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of NBC Internet would receive $2.19 per share.

SAN FRANCISCO – An arraignment for two lawyers charged in the dog mauling death of their neighbor was delayed for a second time Friday because new attorneys for Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel haven’t had time to review the case. 

The arraignment now is scheduled for April 25. It originally was set for March 29, but was delayed then because another attorney said he hadn’t had time to review the case. 

At Friday’s five-minute hearing before Judge Philip Moscone, Knoller was represented by public defender Jan Lecklikner and Noel was represented by private attorney Bruce Hotchkiss. 

At the earlier hearing, the two lawyers were represented by George Walker. But Walker removed himself from the case Wednesday when the couple couldn’t raise the $50,000 he required to question witnesses. 

Knoller faces a second-degree murder charge in the Jan. 26 death of Diane Whipple. Knoller and Noel both face charges of involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a human being. 

The lawyers also face two civil suits. The wrongful death suits were filed by Diane Whipple’s partner, Sharon Smith, and by her mother, Penny Whipple-Kelly. 

Smith’s attorney, Mike Cardoza, said he believes the delays are tactics by Noel and Knoller to let the case fall out of public memory and he pressed prosecutors to push for a quick trial. 

“Remember, the people have a right to a trial, too,” Cardoza said. “It’s easy to lose sight of what this case is about ... to bring Sharon to court and say to them quietly, ‘They took someone I love.”’ 

At the request of defense attorneys, Moscone temporarily sealed the grand jury transcript. A hearing on the issue will be scheduled. 

“It’s time for the spin machine to be shut down,” Knoller’s attorney said. “This is a criminal case that should be tried in the courts.” 

But assistant district attorney James Hammer said the only spinning has come from Noel and Knoller, who, until recently, had spoken often in public about the case — including their insinuations that Whipple’s actions led to the attack. 

“There’s been one machine in this case, that’s Noel and Knoller. They have spun repeatedly what happened the night of Diane Whipple’s death. They have fed the press,” Hammer said. 

Knoller, 45, and Noel, 59, remain in jail in lieu of bail. Knoller, who faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, is being held on $2 million bail. The bail for Noel is $1 million. 

The couple was caring for the two Presa Canario-mastiffs when the dogs — a 120-pound male named Bane and a 113-pound female named Hera — fatally mauled Whipple, 33, a St. Mary’s College lacrosse coach. 

Prison officials say the animals were part of a dogfighting ring run out of Pelican Bay State Prison by inmates Paul Schneider and Dale Bretches, who are serving life sentences without parole. 

In one of the case’s many strange twists, Noel and Knoller adopted Schneider as their son in a procedure that became official just three days after Whipple’s death.

SAN JOSE – A former telephone repairman pleaded innocent Friday to killing a woman’s little dog by throwing it into traffic after a minor fender bender. 

Andrew Burnett, 27, faces up to three years in prison if convicted of killing, maiming or abusing an animal. He already is jailed on unrelated charges. 

Trial is set to begin June 4. 

The dog’s owner, Sara McBurnett, said a man became enraged when she got into a minor accident with him in February 2000 near the San Jose airport. 

When he approached her car, McBurnett said, she rolled down her window to apologize. The man reached in and snatched her dog, Leo, threw him into oncoming traffic and fled. 

“He was so aggressive,” McBurnett said at the time. “He had my dog before I could even react. It was like lightning.” 

The small white dog, a bichon frise that McBurnett called “my best friend for 10 years,” died later at a veterinary hospital. 

McBurnett was inundated with condolence messages from dog lovers around the country, and $110,000 in reward money was collected. 

Police said for months there was not enough evidence to bring charges, but a Santa Clara County grand jury indicted Burnett on Thursday. Prosecutor Troy Benson said new evidence had surfaced, but he would not be more specific. 

Burnett has been jailed since December on charges he stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment from his former employer, Pacific Bell, and lied to get out of a speeding ticket. He also faces three years behind bars in that case, Benson said. 

Burnett appeared in court Friday with a public defender. Burnett said nothing other than to enter his plea, mostly staring straight ahead as he sat wearing an orange jail shirt and khakis. 

Another hearing was scheduled for Wednesday to give Burnett an opportunity to retain his own attorney.

Ford Motor Co. must replace defective ignition devices on an estimated 2 million California vehicles prone to stalling, a judge ruled Friday. 

The order, which would cost Ford an estimated $300 million, came months after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Ballachey ordered the vehicles recalled as part of a statewide class-action suit that could develop into a national recall. 

Ballachey, who ordered replacement of the devices based on advice from a court-appointed expert, found that Ford concealed the shabby parts from government inspectors. 

Even with the fix, which may not happen for more than a year as the legal wrangling continues, the cars still may stall in traffic. But plaintiffs’ attorneys and consumer groups said it was the best of three recall options. 

“It’s problematic, but there is less likelihood that they will stall with the new modules,” said Jeff Fazio, the lead attorney in the case against Ford. Fazio called Friday’s ruling a victory for Ford owners in California. 

The Detroit automaker denies the devices are defective and stall, but has settled hundreds of wrongful death, injury and other suits in connection to allegations of Ford vehicles stalling. 

The Alameda County Superior Court suit challenged Ford’s placement of the thick film ignition (TFI) module, which regulates electric current to the spark plugs. In 300 models sold between 1983 and 1995, the module was mounted on the distributor near the engine block, where it was exposed to high temperatures. 

Ballachey, the nation’s only judge to order a vehicle recall, found last year that Ford was warned by an engineer that high temperatures would cause the device to fail and stall the engine. 

Internal documents show that Ford confirmed the problem in internal studies, and could have moved the module to a cooler spot for an extra $4 per vehicle. 

Ballachey said Ford concealed the information from federal safety regulators, who were studying hundreds of complaints about Ford vehicles stalling. The government found no safety problems with the modules, but a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official said the government would not have closed the case if Ford had given the agency key documents unveiled in the class-action case. 

“Had that information been in hand, I would not have closed either investigation without appropriate resolution,” said Michael B. Brownlee, the former director of the NHTSA’s defects investigative arm. 

Under the recall proposal, Ford would replace the older modules with modern, heat-resistant versions. But they still would be placed along the distributor and exposed to high temperatures, which could cause them to stall. 

Nevertheless, Fazio and consumer groups agree with the method. A second option, mounting the ignition devices in a new location, could take years to engineer — whereas a new, modern ignition device could be mounted immediately. 

“When cars are stalling on the highway, time is of the essence,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Auto Safety. 

A third option, for Ford to buy back affected vehicles, would not be fair to the poor because they would only get fair market value and might not be able to afford a new car, analysts said. 

Regardless, Ford said it would appeal the recall order, which affects all 1983-1995 Ford models in California — an estimated two million cars and trucks. The automaker said judges do not have the same power as does the NHTSA to order a vehicle recall. 

“We don’t think there’s anything that needs to be replaced. Our ignition system is as good as anybody’s,” Ford attorney Warren Platt said after hearing the judge’s order. 

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

In court papers, Ford said it would cost about $150 per vehicle to replace the ignition device. That’s about $3 billion to fix every affected vehicle nationwide, although recalls usually reach only about 60 percent of affected vehicles. 

The automaker also could be exposed to millions in punitive damages, but none of the suits has progressed to that stage. 

The case is Howard vs. Ford, 763785-2.

HALF MOON BAY – Organizers of the annual big wave surfing contest at the once-secret ocean spot known as Mavericks officially called off this year’s competition. 

The window of opportunity to hold the contest passed the surfers by this year without the perfect waves taking shape. 

“A great deal of hard work and camaraderie went into the preparation for this event. We had every base covered and we were ready to go, but Mother Nature did not cooperate,” said contest director Jeff Clark. 

The contest draws big wave surfers from around the world willing to ride towering water walls at Mavericks that often reach 60 feet high. 

Mavericks gained international attention after champion surfer Mark Foo died there after getting crushed by a 30-foot wave on Christmas Eve, 1994. 

Contest organizers wait for months for the perfect weather conditions. The swells that cross the Mavericks surf spot grow tall over the shallow sea floor, making for enormous wave faces.

Brown gives S.F. sales pitch 

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Willie Brown treated several hundred convention planners to a distinctively San Francisco sales pitch Thursday, portraying the city as an anything-goes place. 

“For many of you,” the mayor told the crowd at a posh hotel ballroom three blocks from the White House, “as I look around and observe you, you’ve got no shot at heaven. None.” 

“But San Francisco is close,” he said. “You can lie and cheat and steal, ... and we don’t ask you about those things.” 

Convention planners bring millions of visitors to the city each year and are accustomed to speeches of big-city mayors extolling the virtues of hotel space and convention facilities. 

Brown also mentioned the city’s various alternative lifestyles. 

“Those of you who wear white shirts and red ties, blue suits and regular shoes, and all those kind of things for the public to see, but there is a different side of you. Well, San Francisco caters to you,” Brown said. 

Woman punished for ham battery 

PLEASANTON – A Livermore woman involved in a grocery store brawl over a free ham has been sentenced to time served, a fine and 40 hours of community service. 

Rachel Cheroti, 33, pleaded no contest to a charge of battery on a police officer. Charges related to two store employees were dismissed. 

She was sentenced Wednesday to the three days she spent in jail after the Sunday night melee. She also must pay fines totaling $350, perform community service, apologize to the people involved and attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week. 

Cheroti showed up at a Ralph’s market in Livermore, spent $48 and demanded a free ham, which the store was giving away for purchases totaling $50 or more. 

The store agreed to give her the ham. But she got rowdy when the manager refused to give her more hams for money she says she spent for earlier purchases. 

She rammed the store manager with a grocery cart and wrestled with other employees. An officer sent to quell the brawl was slightly injured. 

Commission to consider store earthquake safety 

SAN FRANCISCO – After viewing a dramatic video of toppling water heaters, a state safety commission heard proposals Thursday to protect shoppers and workers from falling merchandise during earthquakes. 

During the hearing professor Andre Filiatrault, from the University of California, San Diego, ran several videos showing what happened when Home Depot steel storage shelves filled with paint cans, tiles roofing, and other various merchandise were tested on an earthquake-shaking table. 

The shaking table simulated the force on the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and a number of boxes could be seen tumbling from the shelves, including several that contained heavy water heaters. 

When the boxes were shrink-wrapped in plastic, however, the boxes did not fall, he said. And the racks did not collapse.

SAN FRANCISCO – One in four tenants evicted from their San Francisco apartments over the past two years was a senior citizen, a study found. 

As a result of the state’s Ellis Act, a wave of evictions sweeping the city has taken a disproportionate toll on seniors —many of whom have lived in their buildings for years and paid lower rents than the average market rate, the San Francisco Tenants Union said. 

The law allows landlords to sell their buildings and drop out of the rental market. 

The union has said seniors were most likely to be evicted as a result of rising rents in the city during the current housing crisis. The group sent questionnaires to 1,253 tenants served with eviction notices over the past two years. Nearly 400 were reached. 

About 27 percent of those evicted were age 60 or over. However, 1990 census results show seniors account for only 16 percent of the city’s renters. 

Last June, 83-year-old Teruko Kanba was given one year to find another place to live under the Ellis Act. Her time is almost up. 

Kanba has lived in her Baker Street home for nearly half a century.  

Besides memories, she has furniture and keepsakes in the flat she once shared with her parents. And she admits she’s not likely to find another place as cheap as her current $500 rent in San Francisco. 

“I’m going to have to either put some of it in storage or get rid of it,” she said. “It’s really difficult for me to even think about it, but the reality is, I’ll have to move.” 

The union has campaigned for tighter controls on the sale of rental housing as “tenancies in common.” The study may add ammunition to the union’s fight. 

“Tenancies in common” allow a group of people to buy a building as a collective.

Companies branching out to other products to stay in business 

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American handgun market has dropped off so steeply that some industry experts worry it may never fully recover. 

Observers and critics cite a number of factors for the decline, including tougher rules for purchasing handguns, a possible growing disenchantment with firearms due to the stream of horrific workplace and school shootings, and the fact that Americans may already own all the handguns they need. 

The handgun business is “a dying industry,” declares Cameron Hopkins, editor-in-chief of American Handgunner magazine. 

“It seems to me like everything’s wrong with the handgun industry,” says Dave Tinker, founder of the Firearms Business newsletter. 

Combined production for domestic and overseas handgun sales tumbled by 52 percent between 1993 and 1999, according to an Associated Press analysis of the latest data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. 

And industry experts foresee more rough going in the future for the country’s 50 handgun manufacturers, many located in New England’s Connecticut River Valley, where firearms have been made since George Washington established his armory there during the Revolution. 

Handgun imports also are way down, ATF figures indicate. 

Among the possible factors: 

— The market may be saturated. Handguns aren’t like cars that wear out in a few years or have built-in obsolescence. John Rosenthal, chairman of Stop Handgun Violence, says makers have “oversaturated the male market and failed in engaging women.” Larry Flatley, who runs specialty manufacturing for Smith & Wesson handguns, prefers to call it a “mature industry.” 

— The number of licensed gun dealers has plummeted — 104,000 today, down from a peak of 284,000 in 1992. The decrease came after the ATF, hoping to eliminate small-time dealers selling guns out of garages and basements, toughened certification requirements. 

— Stiffer rules for buyers. The Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 — the Brady bill — imposed nationwide background checks on buyers. Industry officials believe some potential gun-buyers have stayed away because they consider the checks intrusive. “I don’t know anybody else that buys anything else that has to be scrutinized by the FBI to buy it,” says Bob Morrison, vice president of Miami-based handgun maker Taurus International Manufacturing. 

— The crime rate is down. Last year’s national murder rate hit a 33-year low. Burglary fell 10 percent just since the previous year. “Most people who buy handguns do so for self-defense, so the handgun market is far more responsive to at least the public perception of the prevalence of crime,” says Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. 

— The shooting sprees that have made front-page headlines may have eroded public acceptance. Philip Cook, a Duke University expert on the industry, says that “having handguns in your home is no longer seen as something that’s your personal business.” 

Separate from the ATF numbers, the number of handguns produced for the military also is down dramatically. The latest figures from the Defense Department show that average yearly handgun purchases from 1993 to 2000 fell 80 percent compared to the previous eight-year period. 

Greg Fetter, a defense analyst in Newton, Conn., attributes the drop to “the smaller armed forces and the greatly diminished threat” in the post-Cold War era. 

Experts forsee the handgun industry now becoming more specialized, supplying mainly police, as well as some hunters and target shooters. 

“I think the era of the mass marketing of handguns is going to end,” says Tom Diaz, a Violence Policy Center analyst who once was a handgun instructor in the military. 

“You’re not going to have the size of the market you had in the ’70s and ’80s ever again,” says Dave Simard, who oversees Smith & Wesson’s police products other than handguns. “It’s just a different world.” 

The crash does not extend to shotgun and rifle production, which rose by about 8 percent between 1993 and 1999 to 2.8 million annually, ATF figures show. 

The handgun decline follows about 30 years of growth, fueled initially by worries about crime and civil disturbances in the turbulent 1960s. Another expansion came as violent crime surged during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. The market cooled during the recession that coincided with the first Bush administration, but recovered and reached a historic peak before the steep decline began. 

The 1.3 million handguns manufactured in 1998 was the lowest figure in 31 years. Production bounced back somewhat in 1999, but industry executives say that only interrupted, but did not stop, the slide. 

As handgun sales declined, a shift in strategy by gun control advocates also has taken a toll on the industry. 

For decades, gun control advocates concentrated on lobbying Congress and state legislatures to change the laws to restrict who could purchase guns and what kinds of guns they could buy. Then, in the late 1990s, gun control advocates added a new strategy — suing gun manufacturers. 

Since 1998, 32 cities and other government bodies have sued, accusing gunmakers and sellers of negligence by producing guns prone to accidents and doing too little to keep weapons away from criminals and children. The suits sought reimbursement from gunmakers for the high costs of policing violence and of treating gunshot victims. 

Some suits were dismissed, but others remain active. If the gunmakers should lose some of them, liability could run into billions of dollars. 

“All we need is one victory,” says Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York, one of the states that has sued. “That could change the industry.” 

Colt Manufacturing, one of the most venerable companies in the industry, decided to virtually leave the retail handgun business in 1999, largely because of the lawsuits. The Hartford, Conn., company now focuses its handgun marketing on soldiers and police, and on selling replicas of its historic firearms to collectors. 

Smith & Wesson, long the industry leader, tried a different strategy. Rather than fight in court, the Springfield, Mass., manufacturer negotiated a government settlement, agreeing last year to include safety locks on all its guns, as well as to a series of other safety features and marketing changes. 

When the other gunmakers decided not to follow Smith & Wesson’s lead, gun advocates blamed the company for selling out, and its sales suffered. 

However, even before the agreement, Smith & Wesson’s business was withering, its handgun production falling from 680,717 in 1995 to 343,064 in 1998, according to ATF figures.

Up to three cameras allowed 

LOS ANGELES – TV coverage will be allowed at Sara Jane Olson’s trial on charges of trying to bomb police cars in 1975 to avenge the shootout deaths of Symbionese Liberation Army members, a court spokesman said Friday. 

Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler, who rejected the latest motion to delay the trial, is expected to issue a written ruling on television coverage next week, court spokesman Kyle Christopherson said. 

The issue of cameras in court has been controversial in Los Angeles since the televised O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1994-95. Olson lawyer Shawn Chapman was a member of the defense team in that case. 

The district attorney’s office opposed televising Olson’s trial. Court TV and others fought for the admission of cameras to a trial they said was of great public interest. The defense favored admitting cameras. 

“The judge has told us there will be up to three fixed cameras mounted on the walls with no wires showing,” Christopherson said. 

The TV cameras will not be allowed to swivel and pan the courtroom but will have fixed views of the lawyers’ podium, the judge’s bench and the witness stand. Still photo cameras also will be allowed. No camera operators will be allowed to move about the courtroom, Christopherson said. 

During a hearing Friday, the judge denied a defense bid to delay the trial for five months. He said he will begin hearing pretrial motions on April 30 and hopes to call prospective jurors a month after that. 

He rejected Chapman’s arguments that she had inadequate time to examine 40,000 pieces of evidence including thousands of pages of documents turned over by the prosecution. 

“I’m overwhelmed,” Chapman said. “I’m working as hard as I possibly can. ... I cannot represent my client in a case this serious without being ready.” 

The judge said the defense had been given additional staff by the court. 

“I understand this is a daunting task,” Fidler said. “But at this point you have a staff greater than anyone in the county.” 

Deputy District Attorney Eleanor Hunter argued that much of the material turned over duplicates other evidence. But she conceded she may have more evidence to disclose to the defense in the near future. 

Fidler ordered prosecutors to meet with defense attorneys and tell them exactly what evidence they will present and which witnesses they plan to call. 

Chapman said her pretrial motions will consume a month of court time. 

The case is complicated by the prosecution’s plan to exhume the detailed history of the SLA, detailing crimes before Olson allegedly joined the group. Although they concede she was not involved in kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst or the killing of an Oakland school superintendent, they say evidence of those crimes will show the nature of the SLA. 

Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, is charged with placing pipe bombs under two police cars in retaliation for a 1974 police shootout in which six SLA members died. The bombs did not detonate. Olson has said she had nothing to do with the bombs. 

Olson, who attended the hearing, was living as a Minnesota housewife and mother until her arrest in June 1999 after her picture appeared on “America’s Most Wanted.”

Criminals, victims sometimes put in same cells in current California penal system 

LOS ANGELES – Many California courts cannot separate criminals from victims because they lack adequate security and are in need of extensive repairs that will cost nearly $3 billion over 10 years, a state task force reported Thursday. 

The three-year study found that 21 percent of all California courtrooms are deficient in some way, mostly due to poor security. The task force will issue a final report in October and send it to the Legislature. 

“A courthouse’s ability — or inability — to separate adversarial parties or criminal defendants from their opponents and victims . . . can have a dramatic impact on public safety and the integrity of the judicial system,” the task force said Thursday in calling for the costly repairs and renovations. 

In Los Angeles County, 20 of 69 court buildings had insufficient security while five of 12 courts in Orange County were marginally deficient, according to the task force. In Riverside County, six of 21 were said to be deficient and one was even ranked among the five worst in the state. 

One of five buildings in Ventura County were found to be marginally deficient, while in San Diego five of 22 were listed below par. 

The report recommended security improvements at court entrances, separating defendants from staff and the public, and providing more space for juries. It also called for structural improvements such as reroofing old buildings, replacing ventilation systems, bringing buildings up to modern fire and earthquake standards, and providing better access for the disabled. 

The state assumed funding for trial courts in 1998, but left building operations in the hands of the counties. The task force was appointed to help the Legislature decide whether the state should also take over the care of the buildings. 

The report recommends such a transfer, estimating the state will need to spend at least $281 million each year for 10 years to fix the problems. 

In addition, the operation and maintenance of the buildings will cost about $140 million each year, the report said. 

What’s more, the state needs to spend $104 million a year over the next 20 years on new buildings to accommodate its growing population, according to the report. 

California currently spends about $2.3 billion a year, or 2.7 percent of its budget, for courts.

Davis wants $500 million more 

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gray Davis has asked state lawmakers to approve spending $500 million more to buy power for two struggling utilities, bringing his total requests to $5.2 billion. 

The good news is the state’s spending has slowed, said Department of Finance spokesman Sandy Harrison. 

The bad news is the pace is likely to pick up again, said Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio. 

Davis had been asking for an additional half-billion dollars about once a week since January to buy power for bankrupt Pacific Gas and Electric and credit-poor Southern California Edison. 

But his last request lasted the state 16 days, as temperatures cooled and prices fell. 

An order a week ago by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will likely reverse the trend even before hot weather returns, Maviglio said. 

FERC ruled that the overseer of the state’s power grid, the California Independent System Operator, must have creditworthy buyers for the last-minute power it acquires to fill gaps in the supply and avoid blackouts. 

That could add $5 million to $8 million more a day to state power purchases that had been in the range of $45 million to $50 million a day, Maviglio said. 

As a result, “we’re probably going to ramp up again” on state spending, he said. That will get even worse this summer, as supplies dwindle and prices soar. 

No decision has been made whether to appeal the FERC order, he said. 

Meanwhile, FERC has ordered generators who have sold electricity to the state to share power purchase information with the federal agency, which will then supply the information to a House subcommittee that held three days of hearings this week on California’s energy problems. 

In addition, FERC Secretary David Boergers said the commission wants the information to study how successful Davis has been at negotiating long-term contracts and insulating the state from having to buy power on the expensive spot market. 

Davis has fought disclosure of the information, saying it would drive up the price of the power the state is buying by telling generators how much the state is willing to pay. 

But Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chairs the House Government Reform Committee, and Rep. Doug Ose, R-Calif., who chairs its energy policy subcommittee, threatened to subpoena the information if it wasn’t provided voluntarily. 

Both sharply criticized the Democratic governor’s attempts to keep the information secret. News organizations and Assembly Republicans have also sought the information without success, contending there should be public scrutiny of the power purchases. 

FERC ordered the generators to submit the information by the end of business Monday, but promised to keep it secret and submit it to the House subcommittee under a seal of confidentiality. 

Davis will begin lobbying lawmakers next week to support his agreement to purchase Edison’s power transmission lines as a way of helping the company pay off its debt. 

The governor announced a deal for the state to buy the power lines for $2.76 billion, but lawmakers of both parties have challenged the plan. They question in particular if it makes sense for the state to buy Edison’s portion of the transmission system now that PG&E’s part is locked up in bankruptcy proceedings. 

Davis will meet Monday with legislative leaders, Tuesday with Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats, and Wednesday with Senate Democrats. 

Developments in California’s energy crisis 

FRIDAY: 

— Gov. Gray Davis asks state lawmakers to approve spending $500 million more to buy power for two struggling utilities, bringing his total requests to $5.2 billion. 

— The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders generators who have sold electricity to the state to share power purchase information with the federal agency, which will then supply the information to a House subcommittee that held three days of hearings this week on California’s energy problems. 

— A business group, the California Alliance for Energy and Economic Stability, says a proposed restructuring of the state’s electric rate structure by the state Public Utilities Commission’s would hurt the state’s economy by putting a greater rate burden on businesses. 

— Southern California Edison is granted a stay in a federal lawsuit it brought against the PUC seeking to raise rates. Edison says both sides agreed to stop discovery and postpone hearings on all motions while the state considers an agreement brokered by Davis last week. Either side can request that the stay be lifted with five days notice. 

— A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles agrees to consider whether the dozen or so cases filed against Edison by small power generators should be consolidated into one case. The companies say they have not been paid for power delivered to the utility since November. 

— Edison says it has sent $206 million in payments to all small power generators that have provided the utility with estimates of their April bills. Under a PUC plan, Edison and PG&E were required to pay the so-called “qualifying facilities” by Monday. 

— The state is under no power alerts as reserves stay above 7 percent. 

WHAT’S NEXT: 

— Davis will lobby legislative leaders on Monday, Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats Tuesday, and Senate Democrats Wednesday to support his agreement to purchase Southern California Edison’s power transmission lines as a way of helping the company pay off its debt. The governor wants to buy the power lines for $2.76 billion, but lawmakers of both parties have challenged the plan. 

— An Imperial County judge could rule Monday whether Edison must pay CalEnergy, a geothermal power producer, $140 million in past payments. CalEnergy has already been granted the right to break its contract with Edison and sell power on the open market. 

— Edison and PG&E are expected to file their 2000 earnings reports April 17. 

— The state Senate starts hearings April 18 in its inquiry into allegations that electricity suppliers illegally withheld power to drive up California’s wholesale prices. Wholesalers deny such accusations. 

— Also April 18, the Assembly plans to resume hearings in its inquiry into California’s highest-in-the-nation natural gas prices. 

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

Electricity and natural gas suppliers, scared off by the two companies’ poor credit ratings, are refusing to sell to them, leading the state in January to start buying power for the utilities’ nearly 9 million residential and business customers. The state is also buying power for a third investor-owned utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, which is in better financial shape than much larger Edison and PG&E but also struggling with high wholesale power costs.

Panel denies pay raises to Davis, state officials 

SACRAMENTO – There will be no pay raises for Gov. Gray Davis or state lawmakers this year. 

The California Citizens Compensation Commission voted Thursday to deny pay increases to lawmakers and state constitutional officers such as the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state treasurer. 

Commission members said they decided against raising state officials’ and lawmakers’ pay because of the slowing economy. They noted that the panel approved a 26 percent pay increase in 1998. 

Consumer activists had objected to any pay raise this year, citing the cost and uncertainty of California’s energy crisis. 

California officeholders are among the nation’s highest paid state officials. 

The governor currently earns $175,000 a year. Lawmakers make $99,000. 

Four of the commission’s seven members attended the annual meeting. The vote against pay raises was unanimous. 

State jobless rate inches up from three-decade low 

SACRAMENTO – California’s unemployment rate inched higher in March after hitting a three-decade low the month before. 

The state’s March jobless rate hit 4.7 percent, up from 4.5 percent in February, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. 

Despite the rise, March’s unemployment still was less than a year earlier. Also, surveys of employers and households showed the number of jobs in the state hit an all-time high and a record 16.5 million Californians were working in March. 

The largest gains came in business services and restaurants and bars. 

The number of people unemployed in California in March reached 808,000 — 28,000 more than February but down 43,000 since March the year before. Of the unemployed, 535,300 were laid off, 70,500 left their jobs voluntarily and the rest were new entrants or returning entrants to the job market. 

Agency: Need for water system improvements shouldn’t hurt state’s credit 

SACRAMENTO – The need for $17.4 billion over 20 years to improve the state’s water systems likely will not affect California’s credit ratings, a rating agency said Thursday. 

A report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that $150.9 billion in improvements will be needed nationwide. 

California has the most costly improvement needs, followed by New York at $13.1 billion and Texas at $13 billion. 

Improvements are needed to maintain distribution and treatment facilities and to protect public health, the EPA report said. 

California’s improvement needs are mostly in large water systems that serve more than 50,000 customers — which will mean a lower cost per household, the report states. 

The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s said California’s credit ratings will not change because the report does not call for any major repairs that the state did not already anticipate. 

Lawmakers want to thwart phone campaign attacks 

SACRAMENTO – Two state lawmakers want to make it illegal to place anonymous campaign phone calls, similar to attacks made in the waning days of the Los Angeles mayoral race. 

Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Assemblyman Herb Wesson, D-Culver City, each are proposing separate bills to require political phone banks to identify the candidate or proposition they represent. 

The measures follow at least two incidents before the Los Angeles primary, held Tuesday, in which voters received misleading information from anonymous phone recordings. 

“It just runs contrary to our belief in fair play,” Brulte said. 

Similar bills introduced in 1996 and 1997 by Brulte never made it to the governor’s desk, but he said he hopes the recent incidents will help this time.

Current violence a long time coming; 15 blacks, 0 whites killed by cops in five years 

CINCINNATI – The racial tension that erupted in violence in the streets of Cincinnati this week has been building for years. 

Blacks have long complained that they are harassed by police and that their neighborhoods are neglected economically. They note that 15 blacks — and no whites — have died in confrontations with Cincinnati police since 1995. Four of those deaths have come since November. 

“All this has been festering for some time,” city historian Herbert Shapiro said Friday after three days of riots followed the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. 

The city along the Ohio River has grabbed ugly headlines before — for the racial slurs of Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, for example, or the trampling deaths of 11 people at a concert by The Who in 1979. 

But Cincinnati is in the spotlight this week because of violence that has injured dozens, caused thousands of dollars in damage and led to more than 150 arrests. 

Behind the riots is a discord between police and blacks that dates to the Civil War, when Cincinnati became a hotbed for runaway slaves. Blacks now make up 43 percent of the population but only 28 percent of the city’s 1,000-member police force. 

Black residents are congregated in rundown areas like Over-the-Rhine, where the riots broke out among pawn shops and mom-and-pop markets that line the cramped streets.  

Whites live in quaint historic districts or, more often, in distant suburbs outside the city of 331,000. 

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Cincinnati Black United Front sued Cincinnati, accusing the police department of failing to end 30 years of police harassment of blacks. 

“Outside of Oakland (Calif.), I don’t believe there is a city that has this many people dead at the hands of police,” Kweisi Mfume, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday while touring the streets of Over-the-Rhine. 

City officials insist no bad practices or wrongheaded policies are involved. 

“The fact is, Cincinnati police do not use force as often as other police departments, and do not shoot as often,” Mayor Charles Luken said. 

City officials claim they have made strides in race relations. They created a citizen police review board and last month adopted a requirement that officers record the race of every driver during traffic stops as a hedge against racial profiling. 

But members of the seven-member citizen board complain that the police do not communicate with them and that they lack authority to properly investigate complaints. 

The National Coalition for Police Accountability, a Chicago-based watchdog group, has fielded no more than a dozen complaints about Cincinnati police over the past decade. 

“But that doesn’t mean misconduct isn’t occurring, just that we’re not hearing about it,” said Mary Powers, the group’s national coordinator. 

Those who study police practices give Cincinnati good ratings, and some observers say similar violence could break out in any big city because it is deeply rooted in national racial and economic problems. 

“There’s no insurance against this happening in any city in the United States because there are so many issues that come into play,” said Sylvester Daughtry Jr., executive director of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. 

Cincinnati fulfilled the commission’s standards for accreditation, which few big-city police departments do. Appropriate use of force is one of the tests. 

But flashpoints persist in neighborhoods like the one where white officer Stephen Roach chased and shot 19-year-old Timothy Thomas on April 7. 

“One spark, and everything is lost,” said James Fyfe, a professor of criminal justice at Temple University in Philadelphia and a former New York City police officer. 

Mob violence after Thomas’ death prompted Luken to impose the city’s first curfew since riots broke out in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 

The slaying has also focused attention on the other deaths. 

Of the 15 blacks to die in confrontations with police in the past six years, 13 were armed. In most incidents, the men first shot at or threatened police officers. 

Still, two of five officers involved in a November arrest were indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault after Roger Owensby Jr. died of asphyxiation while in police custody. 

The Justice Department is looking into Owensby’s death. It is also investigating allegations of patterns of police misconduct in at least 15 police departments, but Cincinnati is not one of them.

GARDEN GROVE – Estela Cuevas had been trying to get tickets to the Crystal Cathedral’s “Glory of Easter” pageant for three years, so she jumped at the chance when a friend nabbed some this year. 

“It was beautiful and it touched my heart,” Cuevas, 57, said after attending one of this year’s 22 performances. “It made me feel alive.” 

Cuevas is one of more than 880,000 people who have seen the play at the Crystal Cathedral since its debut 18 years ago. Performances in the 2,980-seat church often sell out and officials estimate millions more have seen it through cable, satellite TV or on videotape. 

Using professional actors in lead roles, Hollywood effects and a 124-foot-long stage, the $3 million production continues to draw big audiences to the towering glass and steel sanctuary. 

“It’s the story of the passion of Christ,” said the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, pastor of the 10,000-member Protestant church. “It’s taking a classic play of suffering and splitting it into a contemporary scene and venue.” 

The “Glory of Easter” tells the story of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, the last supper, his trial, crucifixion and resurrection. The play debuted two years after the success of the “Glory of Christmas,” a musical about the birth of Christ that still goes strong each November and December. 

“I liked that I saw everything at once,” said Cuevas, who plans to return next year. “I don’t have to go to church every week to get part of it. I feel like I can be part of it.” 

Church officials say the play has become part of their mission to reach out to the community. “The arts are a great tool of evangelism,” said Dorie Lee Mattson, the production’s assistant director. 

“When you invite people to church they don’t know what’s expected of them or they think you’re trying to convert them,” said Trudy Miller, 72, a church member and volunteer actor. “But if you invite them to a play, that’s something nonconfrontational.” 

An underpinning of the cathedral productions’ draw is the popularity of the 74-year-old Schuller, who began preaching atop a drive-in theater concession stand some 40 years ago and went on to become a household name through his “Hour of Power” broadcasts. 

“We like Dr. Schuller’s preaching,” said Jim Singer, 60. “He says to look positively at things even when it’s something negative.” 

Singer and his wife, Sandie, 61, said they made a special effort to visit the Crystal Cathedral while on a long drive back to LaBelle, Fla., after visiting their son in Sacramento. 

They were able to see the show on short notice because friends had extra tickets. “It was wonderful and so well done,” Sandie Singer said. 

The director and writer of “The Glory of Easter” is Paul David Dunn, who happens to be Schuller’s son-in-law. While the story comes from the Bible, Mattson said the production “takes advantage of technology” as well as the sight and smell of peacocks, pigs, horses and donkeys to make it vivid for audiences. 

“The images are so strong,” said Terry Yang, 36, of Diamond Bar, referring to special effects that enable angels to fly above the audience, bring on an earthquake that shakes the rafters and pump smoke and flash lasers across the stage. 

Schuller, who’s trying to raise $14 million to finance a third theatrical production for a story about creation, predicts “The Glory of Easter” will remain popular.  

He attributes its success to the cathedral’s location, just a mile from Disneyland and accessible by freeway. 

His staff, however, thinks people watch the show for intangible reasons. 

“You can publicize the special effects,” said spokeswoman Cindi Palomarez. “Ultimately, it’s the message that’s the draw.”

Summer blackouts could have an effect on tourism 

SAN DIEGO – Mickey Mouse will have his fingers crossed this summer. 

Disneyland, Sea World and other major California tourist attractions are preparing for anticipated summer blackouts, while tourism officials move to reassure potential travelers to the nation’s most-visited state that the power will stay on. 

“Hopefully, like for Y2K, the planning will just be planning, and we won’t have to implement,” said Bob Tucker, a spokesman for Sea World in San Diego, the state’s No. 3 tourist attraction with more than 3.5 million visits last year. 

Officials in California’s $15.4 billion tourist industry are concerned because peak tourist season from Memorial Day to Labor Day coincides with the time state regulators predict overwhelming demand for electricity and more rolling blackouts. 

Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld — the state’s top three attractions with a combined 22.7 million visits last year — could all be hit by power outages this summer, according to representatives of those parks and utility officials. 

Blackouts are a possibility that theme park officials don’t want to discuss in detail, fearing that would add to tourists’ concerns. 

But tourism officials say the parks would likely get a warning from power providers, and signs would go up alerting visitors about ride closures and other problems. Backup generators would switch on at the three biggest parks. 

At SeaWorld, for example, generators can handle 20 percent of the park’s power needs for about eight hours. Less-popular attractions, such as water rides on a cool day, would be closed quickly. 

In the worst cases, roller coasters and other rides are designed to return to starting points if power is cut, ensuring that visitors don’t spend too much time on Space Mountain. 

Disneyland, the state’s leading attraction with 13.9 million visitors last year, gets its power from the city of Anaheim, not Southern California Edition. Chula Castano-Lenahan, a spokeswoman for the Magic Kingdom, said that lowers the risk of blackouts because the city has a more stable power supply. 

She declined to discuss contingency plans for the park. 

State tourism officials insist that disruptions caused by blackouts will be minimal, but the parks aren’t taking any chances. Marketing departments are launching programs to ensure visits don’t drop off; and lights and unused equipment are already being switched off in “backstage” offices as part of escalating conservation efforts. 

Lobbyists for Universal Studios Hollywood are working to have the theme park added to a bill that could help the power stay on. 

The legislation, Assembly Bill 54X, would allow the state’s No. 2 attraction, with 5.2 million visits last year, to buy power from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which has a more stable supply than Edison, the park’s current supplier. 

In a marketing offensive, SeaWorld will send 10 Volkswagen Beetles customized to resemble killer whales on a tour of the West this summer. 

“It’s letting people know that we’re here,” Tucker said. “It’s an extra initiative that we came up with because we felt this year we had to be a little more proactive.” 

SeaWorld saw its electricity prices triple last year as San Diego underwent deregulation. The park absorbed the costs by scaling back expenses and hiring fewer workers, keeping the cost of admission at $41.95, Tucker said. 

Hoteliers say their businesses are seriously threatened by the power crisis. 

The threat of blackouts this summer “can only have a chilling effect on families who are now planning their summer vacations,” said Samuel A. Hardage, chairman and chief executive officer of Woodfin Suite Hotels. “Most tourists would rather not run the risk of being stuck in a hotel elevator.” 

Woodfin Suites, like many hotels around the state, has imposed a $4 per night power surcharge on its California hotels in response to electricity bills that Hardage said have increased 313 percent. Other hotels around the state have started imposing surcharges ranging from $1 to $3 per room per night, said Rick Lawrance, president of the California Lodging Industry Association. 

Summer is the off-season in the desert oasis of Palm Springs, where temperatures soar into the triple digits. 

Some hotels say that given the added cost of power, it makes sense to close. For the first time, the Palm Springs Marquis, a 165-room luxury hotel, is shutting from July 1 to Aug. 25 due to the power crisis. 

Around the state, hotel operators say they are already seeing a decline in occupancy, forcing them to cut rates on rooms. Unless the power crisis is quickly resolved, Hardage said, “skyrocketing utility bills will force us and other hoteliers to look to our labor force to bring costs into line.” 

The California Division of Tourism has distributed a letter on its Web site, as well as in overseas offices and tour agencies, telling potential visitors that disruptions will be minimal and essential services are exempted from power outages. 

“California is faced with a very real energy challenge, but the lights are on and our welcome to visitors is as warm as ever,” wrote Caroline P. Beteta, executive director of California Travel & Tourism Commission. “No one can pull the plug on the extraordinary experience visitors have come to expect in the Golden State.”

SANTA CLARA – Leading Internet portal Yahoo! Inc. has said it will remove pornographic products from its shopping, auctions and classifieds Web pages. 

The move is in response to concerns voiced by its customers following the company’s expansion of its online offerings of pornographic videos this week. 

The company has said that it has offered adult products through Yahoo! Shopping for two years and has controlled access to them. Yahoo also expanded efforts to block underage shoppers, requiring buyers to register an e-mail address and enter a credit card number to verify shoppers’ ages.

NEW YORK – Investors’ bear market-ravaged portfolios haven’t kept them away from financial advisers – Wall Street’s recent fluctuations have many people looking for suggestions about their next move. 

“I think the market’s convinced a lot of people that it’s not as easy to do it on your own as you might think,” said Gary Fry, a Dallas-based broker for Merrill Lynch. Fry said he’s seeing an increase in business from investors who might not have sought professional advice in the past. 

“It’s not brain surgery, but it takes some expertise,” he said. 

Many individual investors have shied away from the market for months, discouraged by the bear market in technology and other stocks that has sliced into many stock portfolios. But now, some investors are going back in. 

This past week, the pressure on technology appeared to ease somewhat, with issues like Cisco Systems and JDS Uniphase notching double-digit percentage gains. Those advances appeared to encourage some investors, although stock market experts say most of the buying on Wall Street is still being done by professional money managers, not individuals. 

Income tax filing season is partly responsible for the recent increase in brokers’ business. At a Charles Schwab & Co. branch in Denver, 20 people waited in the lobby Thursday to invest in Individual Retirement Accounts and get a tax deduction before this year’s April 16 deadline. 

“It’s the tax advantages, but people are more interested in stocks than they were a few months ago,” said Katie Cyester, a Schwab planner. “There’s the feeling that the market is probably near its low, so they feel comfortable investing.” 

Ray Mignone, a certified financial planner in Great Neck, N.Y., said he recently started moving more of his clients’ cash into equities, although he’s not expecting an immediate payback. 

“This is mostly for the long term,” he said. “If you have over five years before you need the money, this may be a good time to buy.” 

But many investors remain more skittish than enthusiastic about the market and the economy’s prospects. 

“You have some people looking at their portfolios and saying, ’Well, I bought CMGI at $140 and now it’s less than $3 a share, What should I do?”’ Cyester, the Denver planner, said. 

“My clients are worried. We have a big Chrysler plant here that’s talking about 1,000 job cuts and my small business owner clients are telling me they’re worried about cash flow,” said Toni Kofoed, an American Express adviser in Rockford, Ill., who has fielded calls from investors wondering if they should liquidate their assets. 

Still, she says, “Most of the people I work with haven’t wavered from their regular investments, but maybe they’ve gotten more conservative and have put more cash aside.” 

All the advisers say their clients are more receptive than ever to diversifying their portfolios, especially those who have only been in the market for a few years and might have focused heavily on technology stocks. 

“We try to come up with a game plan and stick to it,” said Fry, the Dallas broker, describing the longer-term strategies he devises for his clients. “Sometimes people do have an emotional attachment to stocks, but it’s my job to make sure their portfolios are diversified.” 

What investors want to know now is where the market’s headed – a question advisers can’t answer. 

“I see people who feel that we’ve kind of reached a bottom and they call me to verify and get my opinion,” Kofoed, the Illinois planner, said. “I try to tell them about what to watch for, but it’s really hard to know.” 

The trading week ended Thursday, with the markets closed for Good Friday. 

The Nasdaq composite index rose 241.07 or 14 percent for the week, its largest percentage gain since the 5-day trading week ending June 2. It closed at 1,961.43 after a 62.48-point climb Thursday, the index’s longest winning streak since the four days ending Sept. 1. 

The Dow Jones industrials closed up 113.47 at 10,126.94 Thursday, giving the blue chips a gain of 335.85, or 3.4 percent, for the week. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500, the market’s broadest measure, advanced 55.07, or 4.9 percent, for the week. It closed at 1,183.50 after closing up 17.61 on Thursday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which measures the performance of smaller companies stocks, rose 5.77 to 455.02 Thursday, creating a gain of 20.36, or 4.7 percent, for the week. 

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 $10.853 trillion, up $534.15 billion from the previous week. A year ago the index stood at $13.335 trillion.

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.”

S. Stephen Nakashima announced his resignation Friday as a member of the University of California Board of Regents. 

Nakashima, 79, cited the death of his wife in 1999 and his failing health as reasons for his decision to step down. His resignation is effective immediately. 

Board of Regents Chairman S. Sue Johnson lauded Nakashima for his years of service on the board. 

“Stephen Nakashima has been a dedicated representative of the people and University of California,” Johnson said. “The entire UC community is extremely grateful for his many years of devoted service, and we wish him well.” 

Nakashima was first appointed to the board by former Gov. George Deukmejian in 1989. He was reappointed by former Gov. Pete Wilson in 1992 to a term expiring in 2004.

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.