Participants fight pollution, traffic congestion 

Volunteers for Berkeley’s Safe Routes to School Program encouraged more than 3,000 elementary school students to walk, bike, carpool or bus to school Friday – the day before Earth Day – to help cut traffic congestion and air pollution in the city. 

Washington School, across Martin Luther King Jr. Way from Berkeley High, was one of six elementary schools where volunteers set up a smorgasbord of free fruit and bagels to reward kids arriving via environmentally-friendly transport. 

“Cars pollute the air,” said Washington student Ryan Neal, when asked why he chose to ride his scooter to school during an unrelenting rain shower Friday morning. 

Fourth grader Cidnee Bess agreed, but she said she prefers carpooling to school because it makes her feel safer. 

Walking to school, “You don’t know if you’re going to get kidnapped or not,” Bess said. 

A more immediate danger, according to Safe Routes to School volunteers and others, is the risk of being hit by a car.  

“Any transportation besides cars is hard,” said Washington parent volunteer Nicole Welch Friday. “(Drivers) are to the point where they don’t really care about people walking across the streets.” 

According to a May 2000 report by the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force, Berkeley ranks first among 44 California cities of similar size in the number of pedestrians an cyclists injured through  

collisions with cars.  

Pedestrians and bikers between 10 and 17-years-old are twice as likely to be hit by cars as other age groups, the report said. More than half of all such accidents take place within a quarter mile of schools, and students attending schools located on arterial streets – such as Washington School – are even more at risk.  

Along Martin Luther King Jr. Way alone there were more than a dozen cases of 10- to 17-year-olds being hit by cars between 1994 and 1998, according to Berkeley Public Health Department statistics. 

“Almost anywhere along Martin Luther King Jr. Way people have problems just because of the traffic volume,” said Safe Routes to Schools program director Sarah Syed. “People run lights, drive erratically.” 

The problem may be compounded for Washington students because of the preponderance of teenage drivers in the area traveling to and from the high school across the street, said Oakland resident Barbara Davis, who works near Washington and often walks her godson to school there. 

“Young people driving to the high school are looking for parking spaces, like we all are,” Davis said. “The first thing on their mind is, ‘Oh, there’s a space, I’d better hurry up and get it.’” 

Until the city makes streets around schools more pedestrian and bike friendly, argued Syed, most parents will probably opt to drive their kids to school each day, contributing to street congestion. 

A recent study by the Berkeley Safe Routes to Schools program found that 57 percent of Willard Middle School students are driven to school every day, not counting car-poolers. That compares to 15 percent who walk everyday. 

“We just haven’t invested in making walking and biking attractive to people,” Syed said . 

The Safe Routes to School program received a $25,000 planning grant from the California Department of Health Services last fall to, among other things, reduce school-related traffic congestion by improving the safety of students who walk to and from school. 

Program volunteers are working with a number of school sites to identify dangerous intersections and possible ways of making them more pedestrian friendly. Some possibilities include: using strategically-placed concrete islands that keep traffic as far as possible from sidewalks and shorten the distance pedestrians must cover when crossing streets; or using a sort of “smart” traffic light that would spot pedestrians waiting to cross streets and warn approaching cars with a flashing red light. 

Known as Hawkbox Crosswalks, these lights have been proven 93 percent effective in stopping cars in other states, according to a study by the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center. If the city of Berkeley installs such lights in would be the first city in California to do so, according to Syed.  

With grants totaling nearly half a million dollars from the city, the Safe Routes to Schools Program is already working with Willard Middle School and LeConte Elementary School to improve dangerous crossings along Telegraph Avenue. Syed said the program plans to apply for another $400,000 from the California Department of Transportation to help other schools make similar improvements.  

In the meantime, the group is focused on less capital intensive strategies for making it safer to walk and cycle to school, such as encouraging parents to take turns accompanying groups of students. 

“It really turns into something where you need a community effort of walking people to school,” said Washington parent volunteer Philip Morton, who often bikes to school along side his fifth-grade daughter.  

Describing the ordeal of crossing traffic-laden arterials such as Sacramento Street and getting through intersections such as the one at Allston Way and California Street on Friday, Morton said: “You sort of peak out and make sure the cars see you. You make eye contact to make sure they stop.” 

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. Please bring boxes for carrying your plants home.  

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 

Hands-On Seed Cleaning 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

924 Gilman St.  

Covering a variety of techniques and methods. At noon there will be a seed and plant swap, so bring envelopes to gather seed in.  

548-2220 

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. 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 

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 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m.  

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level 

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe which includes puppets from diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida, will perform. Free  

International Tour Directing? 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

Learn about careers in tour leading: Dealing with guides, hotels, airlines and other suppliers, and much more. Learn what qualifications are needed and where the jobs are/aren’t.  

$5.50 for California residents 

981-2931 

Green Building  

9 - 11 a.m.  

642 Hearst Ave.  

A free seminar for builders, contractors, architects and others interested in preserving natural resources. Presented by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board, the seminar will focus on applicable alternatives to traditional products and practices.  

649-2674 

Open Mike Poetry Reading  

2 - 4 p.m.  

John Greenleaf Whittier  

Arts Magnet  

Elementary School  

Allen Ginsberg Memorial  

Milvia & Lincoln Streets  

644-3971 

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?” $10 per meeting 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. 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 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwrgiht 

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  

Gypsy Day Celebration  

Noon - 1 p.m.  

Lower Sproul Plaza  

UC Berkeley  

Rromani music and dance featuring Nadia Hava-Robbins, Rromani dancer and poet from the Czech Republic. Followed by a human rights presentation by Voice of Roman president Sani Rifati. Free  

981-1352 

Lavender Seniors Panel Presentation 

1:30-3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1902 Hearst St. 

Discussion on how agism and homophobia affect seniors 

667-9655 

Senior Housing in Berkeley Forum 

2 - 4 p.m. 

Redwood Gardens 

2951 derby St 

Is Senior Housing safe? Is it permanent? An open forum held by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project, senior housing residents sill discuss concerns. Followed by Housing Clinic to respond to individual questions. 

1-800-773-2110 

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 

National Organization for Women Meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore 

6536 Telegraph Ave.  

261-1642 

Peaceful Assembly of 10,000 

7 - 8:30 p.m.  

North Gate 105  

UC Berkeley  

A celebration of the second anniversary of April 25, 1999 when 10,000 Falun Gong followers assembled. Sponsored by the Cal Human Rights Campaign.  

chinahumanrights2001@yahoo.com  

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 

Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Sandra Weese of SEIU Local 250 and two hospital workers will tell about their campaign to improve staffing ratios and conditions in California Nursing Homes.  

548-9696 

Gaia adds needed housing 

Editor: 

In response to some of the shortsighted criticisms of the erection of the “GAIA Building” at 2116 Allston Way in downtown Berkeley, I would like to mention some of it's benefits.  

As an eight-year resident of Berkeley, I have seen housing become increasingly scarce. Now we find ourselves in an actual housing crisis that has been met with little action.  

One of the few people who have risen to the challenge of providing housing to Berkeley residents is Patrick Kennedy. Though Mr. Kennedy's building stands slightly taller than some of downtown Berkeley's other buildings, it is by no means an eyesore with its Mediterranean Renaissance facade similar to other historical buildings in the area. The city’s readiness to work with Mr. Kennedy should be no surprise, as the 91 living units he is providing are badly needed in our community. With the influx of “dot-com” money and a rapidly growing economy, rent has increased at an alarming rate leaving many low-income families behind.  

Many important members of our community have been forced to leave because of their inability to keep up with this swiftly changing market. Given our current housing situation I see Patrick Kennedy as an advocate for improving the lives of Berkeley's residents by providing affordable housing, as well as adding interest and beauty to the skyline.  

Dina Valicenti 

Berkeley 

Gaia should be called Dubya 

Editor: 

Gaia Books is no longer in business so a new name is required for the building on Allston Way. I believe that the Dubya Building is the most appropriate designation.  

Just compare its construction with the Florida election. In both, an entity with a four letter name and an initial G was defeated. The rules were creatively interpreted and manipulated in both cases with some assistance from government employees and elected officials. And before any rumor starts, I absolutely deny that Mayor Dean is related in any way to Patrick Kennedy! 

Now, if only Mr. Kennedy can persuade Mr. Bush to initiate the building with a bottle of high arsenic water . . . . Bush in Berkeley? 

S.K. Sachs 

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. “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; “Ricky Swallow/Matrix 191,” Including new sculptures and drawings; April 22 - May 27 $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; children age 12 and under free; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; 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  

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 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, The Lawrence Arms; April 27: Atom & His Package, Phantom Limbs, Har Mar Superstar, The Frisk, Shubunkins; April 28: 7 Seconds, Throwdown, Vitamin X, Over My Dead Body, Breaker Breaker; May 4: Plan 9, Zodiac Killers, Reverend B. Dangerous Freakshow, Dory Tourette & The Skirtheads, Knockoffs; May 5: Shikabane, Phobia, Harum Scarum, Vulgar Pigeons, Insidious Sorrow 525-9926  

Ashkenaz 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  

Eli’s Mile High Club Door open at 8 p.m. April 21: Jimmy Mamou; April 27: Carlos Zialcita; April 28: J.J. Malone; May 4: Henry Clement; May 5: Terry Hanck; May 11: Jimmy Mamou; May 12: Fillmore Slim 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland 655-6661  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 21: Peter Apfelbaum; April 22: Mary Schmary; April 24: Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain; April 25: An Evening Honoring Kenny Cahn with Caren Armstrong, Doug Blumer, John Lester, Christie McCarthy, The Urban Accoustic Dude and others; April 26: Cheryl Wheeler, Steve Seskin; April 27: Sol Y Canto; April 28: Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo; April 29: Bryan Bowers; April 30: Sharon Shannon; May 5, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with author P.D. James and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser; May 12, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with authors Adair Lara and Janis Newman, and the Accoustic Guitar Summit guitar quartet. 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. April 22: Alan Hall & Friends; May 6: David Creamer Trio; May 13: Michael Zilber Group 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Cal Performances April 28, 8 p.m.: Vanguard Swing Orchestra, UC Berkeley Big Band $18 - $30; April 29, 3 p.m.: Mezzo-Soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson sings Handel, Lieberson, and Schumann $28 - $48 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  

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 

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 dialogue 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 Italian love songs of the 14th century $28 First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way 642-9988 or e-mail: tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Rome Wasn’t Burnt In A Day” April 27, 7:30 p.m. Earth First! campfire singer/songwriter Danny Dolinger playing songs of love, revolution, bravery, cowardice and group hygiene. $5 Unitarian Fellowship Hall 1924 Cedar (at Bonita) 548-3113 

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.  

Russian Chamber Orchestra April 28, 8 p.m. Featuring Piano Soloist Yakov Kasman, Soprano Svetlana Niktenko, and the Konevets, a vocal quartet from St. Petersburg. First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way 415-478-2277 

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. 525-5393 or www.bellamusic.org 

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

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

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  

La Compagnia Rossini May 2, 7:30 p.m. The vocal ensemble from eastern Switzerland, with Director Armin Caduff, will perform works of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, as well as Swiss folk songs. $10 - $15 2345 Channing Way 415-788-2272 x102 

Live Oak Concert May 5, 7:30 p.m. Featuring Stephanie Pan, soprano, Mirta Wymerszberg, baroque flute, Karen Ande, viola de gamba, Meg Cotner, harpsichord performing the music of Vivaldi, Bach, Boismortier, and Ortiz. $8 - $10 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“The Children’s Hour” May 5 & 12, 8 p.m. and May 13, 4 p.m. The Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Arlene Sagan will perform Julian White’s piece along with Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia and selections from Randall Thompson’s Frostiana, poems of Robert Frost set to music. Free St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 Addison St. 528-2145  

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 

Music of the Big Band Era May 6, 2 p.m. Featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Claude Thornhill, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Stan Kenton. $15 Longfellow School of the Arts 1500 Derby St. (at Sacramento) 420-4560 

Juanita Newland-Ulloa & Picante Ensemble May 13, 3 p.m. Romantic songs from South America. Luncheon served at 1 p.m. at the Valparaiso Cafe. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

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 

UC Dance Theater Spring 2001 Season Program A: April 27, 28, 8 p.m. and April 22, 7 p.m. A premiere of “Soulmate” by Marni Wood, “New Work” by Anne Westwick and “New Work” by Christopher Dolder with original music by Edwin Dugger. Program B: April 21, 28, 29, 2 p.m. and April 21, 8 p.m. “Esplanade” by Paul Taylor, reconstructed by Mary Cochran, “American Decades” by David Wood, “Le Matin sans Minuet” by Christopher Dolder, and “Treading” by Christopher Dolder $6 - $12 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 

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 

Reflejos de Mexico April 28, 2 p.m. The dance troupe celebrates the vast richness of the Mexican culture. Park of Dance Week. $10 - $12 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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 

Music and Dance of Bali May 5, 8 p.m., May 6, 2 p.m. Forty-five member ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya presents rhythms of Balinese gamelan in an orchestra of gongs, drums, flutes and bronze metallophones accompanied by several of Bali’s skilled dancers. $8-$16 Saturday, $5-$10 Sunday Julia Morgan Theatre 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

www.juliamorgan.org  

Theater 

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 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 

“Big Love” by Charles L. Mee April 25 - June 10 Directed by Les Waters and loosely based on the Greek Drama, “The Suppliant Woman,” by Aeschylus. Fifty brides who are being forced to marry fifty brothers flee to a peaceful villa on the Italian coast in search of sanctuary. $15.99 - $51 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 

Shotgun Players “Slings and Arrows: Love Stories from Shakespearean Tragedies” written 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  

“Conversations in Commedia” April 25, 7:30 p.m. Part of a series which pairs radical theater elders from the area who have long histories in commedia. This week features “Doc” Mozzarelli and The Amazing Zuccini, moderated by UC Professor of Drama Mel Gordon. $6-$8 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 849-2568 

“Epicenter” April 26-28 7:30 p.m., April 28 2 p.m. Premiere of 21-year-old Jonathan Whittle-Utter’s play billed as “A Psychodrama of Paradigm Shifts.” A student production about a troubled marriage, secret society warfare and the end of the world, the degradation of western philosophy. $8-$10 Zellerbach Room 7 Studio (underneath the auditorium) UC Berkeley Campus 444-7063 www.BayStage.com  

the far side of the moon May 3 - 5, 8 p.m. May 5, 2 p.m. and May 6, 3 p.m. A solo performance by Canadian writer, actor and director Robert Lepage with an original score by Laurie Anderson. $30 - $46 Zellerbach Playhouse Bancroft at Dana UC Berkeley 642-9988  

Films 

San Francisco International Film Festival Through May 3 Thirty-five features and more than two dozen short films from twenty-seven nations will be shown. $9 Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-5249 

“Slaves of Free Trade” May 1, 7:30 p.m. Also poet Jack Hirschman, singers Carol Denney, Larry Shaw, Pam Pam, and the La Pena Choir. Also a report on Kurdish prisoner and legislator Lela Zana and a video on Korean Daewoo auto workers. A May Day celebration. $7 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck (at Prince)  

Exhibits 

“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 

Magnolias Art & Folk Music Weekend April 21 & 22, Noon Handpicked stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, mixed media and ceramics by Lawanda Ultan. Jessica Bryan, former director of the Berkeley Free Folk Festival, will perform a Celtic and folk music April 22, 2 - 4 p.m. Free Magnolias Flower Shop 2216 San Pablo Ave. 548-6789 

“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. 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 Sands of Time” Arab/Muslim sculptures and ceramics of Khalil Bendib. April 21 - May 5, Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. or call for appointment Mussi Artworks Foundry & Gallery 719 Heintz Ave. Space 10 644-2735 

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 through May 12, Wednesday - Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m.; Opening reception: April 18, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

“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  

“Scapes/Escapes” Ink, Acrylic, Mixed Media by Evelyn Glaubman May 1 - June 1 Tuesday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. Gallery of the Center for Psychological Studies 1398 Solano Ave. Albany 524-0291 

“Elemental” The art of Linda Mieko Allen May 2 - June 9, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Reception: May 2, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 www.traywick.com 

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  

“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 

“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) 

Quilt Show through May 12. M-Th, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri-Sat, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Twenty-second annual show displays over 60 quilts. Berkeley Public Library’s North Branch. 1170 The Alameda 644-6850 

“Tropical Visions: Images of AfroCaribbean Women in the Quilt Tapestries of Cherrymae Golston” Through May 28, Tu-Th, 1-7 p.m., Sat 12-4 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 ext 307 

Readings 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 22: Poetry of Maxine Hong Kingston & Fred Marchant; April 23: Janis Cooke Newman discusses “The Russian Word for Snow”; April 24: Chitra Divakaruni reads “The Unknown Errors of Our Lives”; April 25: Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel discuss “Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect”; April 26: Maud Casey and John Searles read from “The Shape of Things to Come” and “Boy Still Missing”; April 27: Poetry of Michael Heller & Carl Rakosi; April 28: Christopher Hitchens discusses “The Trial of Henry Kissinger”; April 29: Poetry of Gloria Frym & Lewis Warsh; April 30: Jamling Tenzing Norgay discusses “Touching My Father’s Soul” 

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”; April 30, 11 a.m.: Anthony Browne will chat about writing and illustrating children’s books  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533 All events at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise May 1: Andrew Horvatt will discuss “Japanese Beyond Words”; May 3: Char Miller, editor, will discuss “Water in the West: A High Country News Reader” and “Fluid Arguments: Five Centuries of Western Water Conflict”; May 3: Conner Gorry will discuss the Lonely Planet published “Guatemala”; May 10: Gray Brechin talks about “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin”; May 23: Jon Bowermaster discusses his book “Birthplace of the Winds: Adventuring in Alaska’s Islands of Fire and Ice”; May 29, 7 - 9 p.m.: Travel Photo Workshop with Joan Bobkoff. $15 registration fee  

“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 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 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 

Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai April 29, 10:30 a.m. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld, co-translators of Yehuda Amichai’s “Open Closed Open,” will read their translations from the Hebrew. Book signing to follow. $4 - $5 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237  

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. Through 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 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  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Free Lectures All lectures begin at 6 p.m. April 29: Barr Rosenberg on “The Ornament of the Middle Way”; May 6: Sylvia Gretchen on “Faith, Doubt, and Refuge in Buddhist Practice”; May 13: Abbe Blum on “Tapping Into Creativity”; May 20: Miep Cooymans and Dan Jones on “Working with Awareness, Concentration, and Energy”; May 27: Eva Casey on “Getting Calm; Staying Clear”; June 3: Jack van der Meulen on “Healing Through Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga)”; June 10: Sylvia Gretchen on “Counteracting Negative Emotions” Tibetan Nyingma Institute 1815 Highland Place 843-6812 

“The New Economy” April 25, 6:45 p.m. Dick Walker, UC Berkeley professor and chair of the California Studies Center, will discuss current work force issues, the class divide, and future trends. Free South Berkeley Library 1901 Russell St. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

West Coast Regional Spartacist Educational April 28, Noon Jon Wood, of the Spartacist League, will speak: “Defend the Gains of the Cuban Revolution”; 3:30 p.m.: George Foster, central committee, Spartacist League, will speak: “For Socialist Revolution in the Bastion of World Imperialism” 60 Evans, UC Berkeley 839-0851 

“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 

Peopling of the Pacific May 11, 8 p.m. Dr. Patrick Kirch, department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley, will review results of archaeological research in the Pacific Islands, providing a current overview of Oceanic prehistory. 370 Dwinelle Hall UC Berkeley 415-338-1537  

When Kyle Boller takes the first snap of Cal’s spring football game on Saturday, he won’t be facing UCLA or Stanford; his teammates will be on the other side of the ball. But Boller will be taking his first shot at mastering Cal’s new offense, implemented by new offensive coordinator Al Borges. 

Boller came to Cal two years ago with sky-high expectations, one of the top quarterback prospects in the country after dominating at Hart High School in southern California. Thrust into the spotlight in the Pac-10 opener as a true freshman, he led the team to a win over Arizona State. But his career since that game has been slowed by injuries, lack of offensive weapons on which to rely, and his own inexperience. 

Boller’s struggles during his freshman season, cut short by a separated shoulder, were understandable; no true freshman could have been expected to come in and dominate. But last year was touted as his coming out season. While Boller did improve his numbers across the board, his 15-13 touchdown to interception ratio was still one of the worst in the conference. Worse, he showed little understanding of how to run an offense, struggling to hit recievers in stride and managing the clock poorly in several games. 

The hope this year is that Borges, who worked wonders with quarterbacks at Oregon and UCLA before coming to Berkeley, can teach Boller the nuances of playing quarterback. No one questions Boller’s arm strength or desire. 

“This is a guy who is a sponge, just dying to learn something new every day,” Borges said. “He wants to be critiqued, and I know anytime there’s a guy who wants to understand what he’s doing wrong, he’s going to get better.” 

Borges is known for his daring play-calling, and that should fit well with Boller’s style. He’s mobile enough to get outside the pocket, and has shown the ability to throw on the run. Saturday’s game should be a good indication of whether or not head coach Tom Holmoe can expect a big improvement for Boller’s junior season. 

Boller should have a full complement of receivers to target in the spring game. Derek Swafford has been struggling with a hamstring injury, but is expected to play. Borges said several receivers have surprised him in spring practice, especially senior Sean Currin, a former walk-on, and sophomore Geoff McArthur. 

The defensive backfield, on the other hand, will be without several key players. The entire projected starting four may not play, as cornerbacks Jemeel Powell and LaShaun Ward are hobbled, along with safeties Nnamdi Asomugha and Bert Watts. That should make Boller’s job a bit easier, but defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich is quick to praise his backups. 

“We’re down three safeties and three corners, and we’re still lining up fairly efficiently, and still playing decently,” he said. “That tells me that Jeremy Drake, Perron Wiley, Ryan Gutierrez, James Bethea and Mike McGrath are getting a lot of reps that will benefit us down the line. If you told me that we had to start the season with those guys, we wouldn’t be terrible.” 

The spring game will also mark the first real action for freshman quarterback Reggie Robertson. Robertson redshirted this year, and will be behind senior Eric Holtfreter next season, so the Tucson native doesn’t figure to play much next season. But Borges is optimistic that he will be a big factor for the Bears in the future. 

“(Robertson) is a different package than our other guys,” Borges said. “He’s a very athletic kid. If Reggie were to play, the offense would shift gears a little bit. We’d want to get him on the perimeter a little bit, running the ball, he can do a little option.” 

But Borges emphasized that Robertson needs more work before he’s ready. 

“Reggie’s going to be a good quarterback, but he probably needs another year in the weight room, doing those kinds of things before he’ll be as good as he could be, but I’ve got great hope that he will add another dimension to our offense if he’s ever in the game,” Borges said.

Energy alternatives presented to Council 

The City Council looked into Berkeley’s future last Tuesday, and the light that showed the way was powered by renewable energy.  

In anticipation of converting city buildings to photovoltaic power, a representative from a Berkeley solar product company presented the council with new power-generating devices that are being used on large commercial and government buildings. He said they would save tax dollars and help break dependence on fossil-fuel-generated energy. 

“There is a unique opportunity to move ahead with these types of systems,” said Mark Bronez, director of major accounts for the Powerlight Corporation. “The photovoltaic equipment cost has come way down and installation methods have been greatly improved.” 

Photovoltaics is a process that transforms the sun’s energy into electricity.  

Bronez said the technology hasn’t changed since the 1950s when it was used to power satellites, but the equipment is now affordable.  

“In the ’60s, it was used to power remote installations like oil rigs, antennas, and research centers in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “But now the price has come way down to the point of making it feasible for the average homeowner and small business person to install it.” 

Bronez said the new installation methods have added benefits. “With the flat-roof product, you don’t have to penetrate the roof to install the system, which cuts down on potential leaks,” he said. “In addition the panels protect the roof, nearly doubling its life.” 

Bronez said changes in temperature cause roofs to expand and contract causing damage that can result in leaks. He said the Styrofoam-encased solar panels protect roofs from temperature changes thereby extending their lives. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said the presentation was a good introduction to a potentially new power source for city buildings. “I think people had to be reassured that the solar systems are functional and affordable,” she said. 

Dean said long-term savings to the city are nearly guaranteed. “The amount we save depends on how much energy rates go up,” she said. “And it doesn’t look like they’ll be coming down anytime soon.” 

Energy Officer Neil De Snoo, who organized the presentation to the council, said if the city funds the conversion to photovoltaic power, the first buildings to receive the systems will be the ones that get the most sun.  

“Possibly the Civic Center Building or the North Berkeley Senior Center,” he said. 

Daniel Kammen, Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley, said that switching to photovoltaic power is a good first step but cities, business owners and homeowners should pursue a strategy of energy diversification. 

“All of the new technologies together, wind, photovoltaic, and conservation need to be applied in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.  

Kammen there are 70 proposed power plants in the western states and 95 percent of them generate electricity with fossil fuels. 

“We have very few energy choices right now and they are mostly controlled by the fossil fuel energy cartel,” he said. “We need to create as many options as possible.”  

The long winter of weights, sprints, and tests is over. After months of being paraded around like show ponies, the National Football League is ready to select a group of fortunate football players into their select club. Among the hundreds of college hopefuls stand a handful of players from Cal, hoping to continue their careers on the pro gridiron.  

Andre Carter- 6’4”, 260 lbs., Defensive End (San Jose) 

“With most guys, when they first come to play (college) ball, they look about the same,” said punter Nick Harris. “With Andre, he looked different. You knew immediately that he was going to be a real player.”  

Carter did not disappoint in his stellar career at Cal. Though the team struggled, Carter excelled, finishing his career with 59 tackles, 13 sacks, his second All Pac-10 selection, and a spot on the first-team All-America squad.  

Despite solid performances in college, Carter was scrutinized by pro scouts because of his size; he played the 2000 season at 260 pounds, and dropped to 249 in late February.  

“I was working out to gain speed, and that’s why the weight dropped,” Carter explained.  

Nevertheless, teams at the combine in Indianapolis were disappointed, and Carter’s stock dropped. Still, scouts are a bit leery about his weight. In the April 15 edition of The New York Times, Carter is listed as a “mistake” pick for the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the fourth selection.  

“He’s not as big as other defensive ends might be, but he’s got the passion, amazing strength, and speed,” says Cal head coach Tom Holmoe. “We’re talking about a consensus first-team All-American, and a Nagurski Award finalist, all Pac-10…the guy is just a player.” 

Now a sculpted 255 pounds, Carter is intent on finishing his American Studies degree requirements and graduating. As for the draft? “I’ve done everything I can do,” said Carter.  

Actually, Carter has done more than enough. 

Reed Diehl- 6’4”, 300 lbs., Center (Irvine) 

Reed Diehl reads the stock market like a seven-man defensive front. Bull or bear market? Gap-control or blitz package? Bail out or go long? Run block or cut block? Reed Diehl has the talents to read both. As a child playing football, Diehl knew that he wanted to play in college. As the son of an investment banker, Diehl began reading the Wall Street Journal at the age of 12, and is prepared for a career in finance. The only thing between Reed Diehl and that career is an oblong leather sphere that he just can’t stop trying to protect.  

“I love everything about football,” explained Diehl. “Even if my body’s completely sore, from head to toe, I love to come to practice.”  

Diehl’s love for the game had him scuttling along to every position on the offensive line; he played all six (including tight end) in his career at Cal.  

Because of Diehl’s constant movement, and the occasional untimely injury, he is not as well known as other centers in the draft. However, he turned some eyes in a March workout, when he ran a 4.85 in the 40-yard dash, the fastest of any center in the draft. 

Nick Harris- 6’3”, 225 lbs., punter (Avondale, Ariz.) 

“Apparently, NFL teams don’t draft kickers early, so I know better than to expect a call on Saturday,” said Harris. A Ray Guy award finalist, Harris’ 41.5 yard per punt average led the Pac-10, but it was his performance against Illinois on September 16th that had scouts drooling: nine of 12 punts resting inside of the Illini 20-yard line, five of them inside the Illinois’ five-yard line.  

“If I had a Heisman vote, I’d vote for Nick Harris,” said Illinois head coach Ron Turner at the time. “I’ve never seen anyone kick like that.”  

Soon, fans of the NFL will see Harris kick like that on Sundays.  

Keala Keanaaina-6’3”, 255 lbs., H-Back, San Mateo CC (San Mateo) 

It was frustrating for Keala Keanaaina. He transferred to Cal from junior college in San Mateo, and lost time to a knee injury. Keanaaina then got healthy, but had to watch as the ’99 Bears struggled on offense with freshman quarterback Kyle Boller. He was an afterthought until Marcus Fields went down for the 2000 season with an injury. Suddenly, Keanaaina was counted on big-time, and the H-back delivered with 15 catches. Now, Keanaaina has only a long-shot dream to catch on in the NFL- a hope that seemed non-existent not too long ago.  

“I’m just happy to be living out a dream, to try to play professional football,” said Keanaaina.  

Though physically gifted, Keanaaina lacks the game experience NFL scouts covet, so his road to the NFL will be as an undrafted free agent. 

Chidi Iwuoma- 5’9”, 185 lbs., cornerback (Pasadena) 

Iwuoma, while lacking the flash of contemporaries like Deltha O’Neal or young Jemeel Powell, was Cal’s most effective cover corner. “Really, Chidi was more consistent than Deltha when they played together,” said Coach Holmoe. Though Iwuoma may not be drafted, his consistency and athleticism should earn him a free agent tryout with an NFL team. 

Jacob Waasdorp- 6’2”, 280 lbs., defensive tackle (Lancaster) 

Undersized for his position, Waasdorp relies on a active motor for success in the trenches. He has been recognized by his peers as a two-time all Pac-10 selection, and his grit in the trenches has been key to the recent success of the Cal defense. He is also a long-snapper, a skill that will help him to possibly stick on an NFL roster. 

Students from the Communications Arts and Sciences academy at Berkeley High School have returned from their two-week adventure in Cuba.  

The Daily Planet ran the first part of a log written by history teacher and chaperone Tom Kordick and follows it today with the log through April 12. The final part will run Monday. 

Monday, April 9 

Today quite a few of the students hit a wall. Either fatigue, upset stomachs, or just the fact that they had been with their friends for a week straight. Our group visit to the Art School of Havana was canceled, so the kids had the morning off.  

In the afternoon the three groups went to three different community centers around Havana. Each neighborhood has some sort of center where educational and employment opportunities are presented, cultural awareness programs are established, and the youth can dance and watch videos. The centers seemed like a place where a bond could be created that unites the people of each neighborhood. In the evening, most of the students and chaperones attended a jazz concert at La Zora y El Cuevo, where a native of Berkeley, Pablo Menendez, was performing. The place was hopping. We rolled in pretty late.  

Tuesday, April 10 

Boy am I tired. That seemed to be the phrase of the day. Our morning activity was canceled, so a hastily arranged trip to a Rum Factory took place. The tour was a bit of a downer for the kids. They seemed to think that they would be allowed to have a slam festival, whereas we told them otherwise.  

In the afternoon we traveled an hour out of Havana, where we checked into Julio Antonio Mila International Camp. This is a camp where the Cuban Solidarity Brigades from around the world come to stay. Some brigades come to work in the fields or build residences and some come to engage in the Cuban culture. This camp was an eye-opener for many. From the communal sleeping arraignments, to the Turkish toilets, to the limited shower water, to the bugs, lizards, ants and other creatures, the camp was an introduction to how many Cubans live on a daily business. Also, the food service and quality was new to most of the group. I thought that the three days at the camp would turn out to be an extremely beneficial experience for the students.  

That evening, a group of local school children, ages 6 to 18 performed a variety of different Cuban dances and songs for us. This was so beautiful. The Cuban teachers told us how long they had rehearsed for this and that much work took place in preparation. It showed. Our kids were most impressed and honored by this show. Afterwards there was dancing and interaction amongst the students. 

Wednesday April 11 

The kids woke up to a severe lack of shower water and a breakfast of a roll, caffecito and juice (both which would occur daily and serve as a reminder of how the Cuban people are effected daily by the United States’ (embargo). The three groups would visit three different doctors’ offices in Caimito and Guanajay. In Cuba, there are family doctors that are given houses that also serve as offices for visits. Each family doctor services 120 families that surround his neighborhood. People do not need an appointment and the clinics will serve anyone in need of emergency care. If someone needs care that the family doctor can’t provide, the person goes to a clinic or to the municipal hospitals.  

The Berkeley High students brought many basic medical supplies to these different clinics. They were deeply appreciated by the Cuban people.  

After this activity we spent time at the local farmer’s market, enjoying the locally grown pineapples, oranges, and other goods. The afternoon was spent at Playa Salida, enjoying the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Michael Miller, father of Makenda and one of our chaperones walked out to the point of the Bahia and serenaded us and all the others enjoying the beach, with the sweet sounds of his saxophone.  

In the evening we boarded our bus for what we thought was the weekly CDR meeting in Caimito. The CDR, or Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, was formed in 1960 by Castro in response to the growing counter-revolutionary movement from within and outside of Cuba. The growing threat of CIA activity against the Cuban people, including the March 5, 1961 bombing of the La Coubre in Havana Harbour, was to be the key reason for the creation of these committees. Every Cuban has the right to join this volunteer force at the age of 16. It is not mandatory and is now that the threat against the revolution has diminished, its purpose is to continue creating a sense of a strong community through renovation projects and work.  

As we pulled our three buses into the main street of Caimito, we were met by a crowd of more-than 300 people who had planned a party in the honor of the Berkeley High students. WOW! There was a small marching band, along with what turned out to be a great big block party. Their was a 70 year old grandmother salsa dancing with Kendall Murphy and I was mobbed by all the young kids because my digital camera and it’s viewfinder were a hit with the young one’s. Kaylan Clemons was parading through the street with a group of young girl’s in tow. Bill Pratt, CAS teacher and the trip leader, talked briefly to the townspeople about how great it was to be amongst them and that we were extremely grateful for the reception we were receiving throughout all of Cuba. Bill also donated some of the money raised by the CAS kids towards educational programs within the town. There was poetry about Camilio, Che and Fidel, along with songs and dance. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and promised to stay in touch. Each student and teacher received Cuban Proclamations stating that we were brothers of the revolution and friends forever with the Cuban people. This was truly one of the highlights of the trip. 

Thursday April 12 

In the morning we walked to the local secondary school, where the principal, teachers and students met us. The school was decorated with murals and thoughts from the revolution. We had an introduction and description of the school from the administration and were allowed a Q and A session with some of the student body representatives, teachers and the principal. We were in an incredibly crowded, hot and stuffy room, yet the Berkeley High students asked some really wonderful, well thought out and intelligent questions. You would have been proud. Following this we were given a tour of the school and we would split up into three groups and visit different classrooms. In a chemistry class, we witnessed a wonderful exchange of questions and answers. The subjects discussed varied from school violence, the Cuban Revolution, baseball, school violence in America, education, dancing, movies and so on. The two groups seemed as one. Maybe our government should be witness to this.  

In the afternoon we met with a local representative from the Cuban Women’s National Committee. She briefly introduced the organization to us and then launched into a fascinating Q and A about issues that are relevant to women in Cuba and around the world. The subjects covered were divorce, a women’s right to choose, single mothers, women’s roles in the government, and a host of other issues. After this was the much hyped and heralded Cuba vs. The United States baseball game. When we arrived on 4/10, word got out that we played baseball. So a challenge was thrown down to the team from camp. I don’t know what we were thinking. These guys were going to throw a serious case of whoop ass on us. However, we were lucky in that our 4 p.m. game was right after they had a league game. So they were tired and the boys and girls were excited. Through the valiant efforts of Kory Hong, Emily Schmookler, Andy Turner, Joanna Letz, Zachary Cohen, Emiliano Carrasco-Zanini, Christina Harrison, Chris Watson and others we entered the bottom half of the ninth with a 7-4 lead. However, with two base runners on, a Cuban gentleman who bore a striking resemblance to Mo Vaughn, crushed a three run shot to tie the game. After the end of the 11th inning, we agreed to end in a 7-7 tie. I believe that though the efforts by the young Berkeley High squad were valiant, the Cuban team some how played less than they normally would. This was a great time for all. 

That night we invited students from the surrounding area to come for dancing, music and the chance to interact with each other. This was quite fun and a memorable experience.

Berkeley High will be the site of the Seventh Annual Academic & Athletic Showcase on Saturday night, featuring the best senior basketball players from around the Bay Area. 

The girls’ game will tip off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys’ game at 8. There will be a slam dunk contest and three-point competition between the games. 

The Showcase is unique in that every player must have at least a 2.8 grade-point average, or be NCAA qualified (2.5 GPA and 820 SAT score), to participate. Among the girls committed to play are Berkeley’s Robin Roberson, Alhambra’s Jessica Jones and Amador star Mia Fisher. 

On the boys’ side, De La Salle’s Joe See, Bakari Altheimer of St. Elizabeth and Pittsburg’s Trimaine Davis will take part. 

Admission to the event will be $5 at the door.

Berkeley Observed 

Looking back, seeing ahead 

The Italianate-style house once at 1313 Oxford St. was built by Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne about1880. Behind the house were the grassy north Berkeley hills. Surrounding the garden was a white picket fence to keep cows out of the flower or vegetable beds. This style of house was very popular in the 1880s, but only two are still standing in this north Berkeley area. One is located at 1423 Oxford St. and the other is at 1427 Walnut St.  

Byrne was an early settler to Berkeley. In 1859 he brought his family, two freed slaves – the first African Americans to live in Berkeley – and a herd of cattle to California from Missouri. By 1860 he had purchased over 800 acres of land along Codornices Creek for a farm. Byrne must have been successful as a farmer because in 1868 he built a grand house (also no longer standing) just down the street from the one at 1313 Oxford St. 

The lure of richer farm land in the San Joaquin Delta enticed Byrne to start a second farm on Venice Island. But after three years of building dikes and preparing the soil this enterprise failed when the river flooded and ruined the dikes.  

When Byrne returned to Berkeley he began selling off pieces of his Berkeley property. He sold his large house to Henry Berryman, an enterprising Berkeley developer, around 1880 and built this smaller house down the street. Byrne served as the postmaster of Berkeley from 1885 until his death in 1905.  

Byrne’s wife Mary, who died in 1874, wrote letters to her family about her journey west and life in California. Many of these letters survive in the Bancroft Library on the UC Berkeley campus. 

Susan Cerny writes Berkeley Observed in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. BAHA will hold its annual house tour May 6. Call 841-2242 for information.

SAN FRANCISCO — At a time when many activists fear the environment is threatened by the Bush administration, the Sierra Club – the nation’s oldest nonprofit environmental group – is rejecting criticism that it is slow and ineffective. 

Despite such accusations from other environmental groups and from within its own ranks, Executive Director Carl Pope said the club’s strength comes from its important role as liaison between radical activists and the overall system. 

And now, after a 40-year national discussion about goals for the environment, which started when Americans began to rethink their ideas about environmental protection, Pope said the time has come to work toward achieving those goals. 

“We don’t want this continent to become a second Europe. We want wildness.  

“We want corporate, social and political leaders to pay attention,” Pope said. 

“I think the environmental debate in this country is over – we know what we want. Now that we know that, how do we get it? That’s going to be hard.” 

Many believe the Sierra Club, especially under the new administration, needs to use its strength and name recognition to be a force for environmental protection.  

But while critics say the 650,000-member Sierra Club is effective when it does make a decision, they claim that often takes too long. 

“They literally can move mountains,” said Mark Palmer, a club member and assistant director for the International Marine Mammal Project of the Earth Island Institute.  

“They really do talk through things and really do have a lot of involvement at various levels of the organization.  

“But, at some point, that needs to move forward.” 

The club, founded in 1892, has played a prominent role in American environmental policy, helping to enlarge the Grand Canyon National Park, for example, and to pass the National Environmental Policy Act and create the Environmental Protection Agency. 

But some claim that the club’s decisions, when they come, don’t go far enough. 

“It’s a big organization, and if it really wanted to throw its weight around, it could have a big difference,” said Paul Watson, founder and president of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which deploys ships around the world to oppose such things as illegal fishing.  

He also is a member of the Sierra Club. 

“I think the organization tends to be overly cautious, overly conservative and more concerned with marketing trips and products than with making changes,” Watson said. 

On the other hand, the Sierra Club’s place closer to the middle ground is an asset to getting things done, said John Grasser, spokesman for the National Mining Association. 

“We’ve got to work together if we’re going to make any progress,” he said.  

“There’s got to be a middle ground on these issues, and that’s the trick right there.  

“When you get groups that are too radical, and you’re polarized, that helps no one. I think they’re one of those that’s willing to come to the table and work on the issues.” 

The tension between the two sides gives the Sierra Club its strength, Pope said. 

“I think we need organizations whose strength is, they are completely inside the process. I also think we need organizations that are on the outside being way, way ahead,” he said. 

“I think the Sierra Club is an organization that straddles that. We’re not in the drawing rooms, and we’re not in the streets. We’re knocking on doors to point out to people what’s going on in the streets.” 

And the club’s role in this new century will be to keep an eye on government, Pope said. 

“This blind mantra that markets are always smarter than government isn’t true,” he said. “In California today, you have a singularly odd combination of dumb markets and dumb government.” 

The organization could have significant impact. 

“If you want to get environmental legislation passed and you don’t have the Sierra Club behind you, you’re moving uphill because they still are the largest environmental lobbying presence in Washington, D.C.,” said Mikhail Davis, director of the Brower Fund at Earth Island Institute. 

David Brower, who founded Earth Island Institute, was a pioneer in the environmental movement and a Sierra Club member starting in 1933. 

He served as the Sierra Club’s first executive director from 1952 through 1969, developing it into one of the nation’s most powerful environmental groups.  

He also embodied the tension within the club, resigning three times from its board to protest its actions before his death in November. 

Now, with a new administration, the club’s goal of preserving wildness will be more difficult, Pope said, pointing to President Bush’s desire to drill in search of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

“The American people have an enormous battle on their hands, to prevent the new administration from foreclosing the options and rights of their children and grandchildren to a continent that still contains wildness,” he said. 

15 MOST ENDANGERED 

The Wilderness Society’s “15 Most Endangered Wild Lands,” released Friday: 

• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska 

• Copper River Delta, Chugach National Forest, Alaska 

• Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska 

• Greater Grand Canyon Ecosystem, Ariz. 

• San Joaquin Roadless Area, Inyo National Forest, Calif. 

• Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge, Calif. and Ore. 

• White River National Forest, Colo. 

• Big Cypress National Preserve, Fla. 

• Badger Two Medicine/Rocky Mountain Front, Mont. 

• Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument, Mont. 

• Greater Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks,  

Mont., Wyo. and Idaho 

•Upper Bald River Roadless Area,  

Cherokee National Forest, Tenn. 

• Utah Wilderness, Utah 

•Kettle River Range Roadless Areas,  

Colville National Forest, Wash. 

• Red Desert, Wyo.

Oakland residents get $500,000 in settlement 

OAKLAND – Three dozen east Oakland residents will receive $500,000 from their former landlord in a settlement of a lawsuit alleging that he failed to exterminate pests and fix their appliances and that he berated them after they complained. 

The plaintiffs filed suit in October 1999, accusing John Argyropoulos, 64, his wife, Lillie, and his nephew, Steven Kizanis, 40, of breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence for not doing enough to provide habitable living conditions at four buildings. 

The couple’s attorney, Fred Feller of Berkeley, said Thursday that most of the money will be paid out of insurance funds and that the settlement was not an admission of liability. 

The money will be divided among the plaintiffs based on how long they lived there and the extent of their alleged problems. 

Stanford students protest lack of diversity 

STANFORD – About 150 Stanford University students gathered in White Plaza on campus Thursday with signs and shouts to protest what they see as the administration’s lack of commitment to cultural and racial diversity at the school. 

Among students’ concerns was that the administration’s response to racist graffiti found on campus last month was “delayed and inadequate,” according to a flier passed out at the rally. 

Julie Lythcott-Haims, assistant to the president, attended the rally and said the administration thinks its response has been appropriate. Stanford President John Hennessy and others have written letters to the Stanford Daily condemning the graffiti and vowing to find those responsible. 

Marc Wais, dean of students said graffiti found on walls and in classrooms was reported March 15. Campus police are still investigating the graffiti; Hennessy said Thursday that police believe it was the work of one person. 

Illegal immigrant arrested after INS meeting 

SAN FRANCISCO – A Fiji woman was arrested last week after attending an Immigration and Naturalization Service meeting with her husband. 

Gina Balawanilotu-Roach, 32, has been on the agency’s deportation list for a year. Her attorney and her husband do not contest that, they simply want the INS to let her return home while she works to change her status based on her marriage to a U.S citizen. 

Balawanilotu-Roach fled her native Fiji in 1990, three years after a bloodless coup. Her husband, Morry Roach told the Contra Costa Times she left because she felt threatened over her activism on behalf of Fiji’s repressed Indian population. 

Two bids for political asylum failed, as did a final appeal, heard just weeks before her 1998 marriage to Roach, an electrical designer for a Walnut Creek engineering firm. 

A stay of deportation from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals kept the Oakland teacher off the expulsion list for three more years, but the court rescinded the order last year.

SAN FRANCISCO – Five works by Mexican muralist Miguel Covarrubias are destined for storage on Treasure Island, in the middle of San Francisco Bay, over the protest of the Mexican government. 

The murals, measuring up to 15 feet high and 24 feet long, have been on display in San Francisco’s Ferry Building, but were removed during the past two months for renovation of the 101-year-old building. 

The Mexican government wants the five murals restored and displayed, and to have San Francisco Port officials find the sixth mural, which disappeared after being sent to New York City for exhibition and has never been found. 

“I want to express our concern on behalf of the Mexican government about what is happening with these murals,” said Lilia Aguilera, executive director of the Mexican Cultural Institute, affiliated with the Mexican Consulate. “The people from Mexico ask the city of San Francisco to value these pieces of historic art, not only as treasures to the city, but as treasures to the world.” 

Covarrubias, a noted muralist, magazine illustrator and anthropologist, painted the murals for the 1939-40 World’s Fair on Treasure Island. 

They are valued at more than $1 million each and are to be kept in a secure warehouse maintained by San Francisco International Airport on Treasure Island.

Several factors coming together to create a  

projected crisis 

SACRAMENTO – In the coming months, California could see prices double or triple those of last summer, when soaring wholesale electricity costs drove three utilities to the brink of financial ruin. 

A drought in the Northwest has cut hydroelectric supplies, and that problem will worsen. Forecasters also predict a hotter than average summer, and competition from other states has already caused the price of summer power to hit new heights. 

These factors, analysts say, will drive up costs for electricity on the spot market, where the state already buys about one-third of the power for two cash-strapped utilities. Those costs will hit $1 per kilowatt hour and maybe $2, said Peter Navarro, a University of California, Irvine, economist. 

Navarro, who collaborated with the Utility Consumers’ Action Network for a report on summer power forecasts, looked at prices from last summer, those on the recent spot market and electricity-supply limits this year to calculate summer peak prices. 

With consumer rates capped at about a dime per kilowatt hour, that leaves a growing gap the state will have to fill with a dwindling power allowance. 

To cover the difference, the state could issue additional bonds or raise rates, but both options put ratepayers on the hook for the costs. 

Since January, the state has authorized $5.7 billion to buy power for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison. The two utilities’ credit was cut off after high wholesale costs led them to amass nearly $14 billion in debt. The state’s 1996 deregulation law means they can’t pass those costs on to their customers. 

The state will be repaid by $10 billion in bonds expected to be issued in May. PG&E and Edison customers will pay off the bonds. 

Officials expected the $10 billion raised by the bonds to last until September, if the state spent less than 25 cents per kilowatt hour, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said. But the state has already paid more than that, as figures from March show the Department of Water Resources paid a 29-cent average. 

In a recent letter, Angelides told Davis the bonds wouldn’t last long with high prices. 

Although Davis hasn’t released details on the state’s power buys, Navarro said he’s determined that recent wholesale prices have ranged between 25-50 cents per kilowatt hour, a figure that electricity traders for Duke Energy and the defunct Power Exchange confirmed. 

Prices will rise even more when summer demand increases power use by about 50 percent, Navarro said. 

Even those planning ahead for summer are facing high costs, industry experts say. Power bought this week for delivery in June, July and August, cost between 48 cents per kilowatt hour from the Northwest to as high as 68 cents per kilowatt hour from Arizona. 

A report by the Western Systems Coordinating Council, which oversees grid operations in the West, says generation resources for California “are NOT expected” to meet projected peak demands and reserve requirements this summer without causing interruptions. 

The report, and California ISO, estimate the state could fall up to 3,500 megawatts short during peak hours. That’s enough power for roughly 2.6 million households. 

So, grid managers will have to depend on imports, which a drought in the Pacific Northwest may make hard to find. 

Because there’s less water to run through its hydroelectric dams, the Bonneville Power Administration reports it won’t be able to spare any power. That utility normally exports 1,000-2,000 megawatts of electricity to California during peak times. Instead, BPA spokesman Ed Mosely said, Northwestern utilities may import power too, especially in the late summer when water levels drop. 

Because California normally pays more for power, it attract imports, said Tom Williams, spokesman for Duke Energy. But higher prices outside the state may lead power there, which may force California to pay even more for imports. 

Those prices could hit records, unless the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reverses its position and imposes regional price caps, Navarro said. 

Without price caps, Navarro said, “it’s civil war.” 

High power prices have stung all Western states, said Jesus Arredondo, spokesman for the Power Exchange, the group that formerly ran the state’s day-ahead power trading market but has filed bankruptcy. 

Generators will lean toward selling to utilities in states without California’s financial problems, Arredondo said. 

Despite speeding up the permitting and construction of power plants, Davis appears short of his goal of having 5,000 new megawatts available by summer. The California Energy Commission now estimates 3,000 megawatts of power from new plants will be online by July. 

Even that power, Arredondo said, may not stay in California. “If prices are higher outside the state, where is it going to go?” 

So far, the Davis administration believes the state will survive the summer through strategic buys, a strong conservation plan and increased supply, said Joseph Fichera, a Davis financial adviser. 

Few, however, seem to share his optimism. The WSCC report said projected energy use this summer is expected to be 4 percent higher in the West this year.  

Weather forecasters predict a hotter summer that will boost energy use.

EL CAJON – A state law allowing prosecutors to charge a teen-ager as an adult for allegedly killing two students at his high school is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the state Constitution, defense attorneys argued Friday. 

Attorneys for Charles “Andy” Williams said Proposition 21, approved by California voters last year, wrongly gives prosecutors the power of judges, said defense attorney Jo Pastore of the San Diego County Public Defender’s office. 

“The district attorney has made a sentencing decision ... when they decide to file a case in adult court,” she said. 

His attorneys are seeking to have the 15-year-old’s case sent to juvenile court. 

Williams is charged with 28 felonies, including two counts of murder, for the March 5 attack in which he allegedly opened fire at Santana High School in the San Diego suburb of Santee with his father’s .22-caliber revolver. 

His lawyers said it would be cruel to send him to an adult prison if ultimately convicted, although prosecutors said Williams would be separated from the adult population. 

Williams’ attorneys also said Prop. 21 violates the state Constitution’s requirement that initiatives address a single subject. Prosecutors, however, argued that the initiative addresses the general topic of juvenile crime. 

They also said it reflects the public’s growing outrage over youth violence and that it would be wrong to charge Williams as a juvenile. 

“He exhibited the kind of heinous, violent conduct that our society demands be treated as criminal and not the dalliances of a juvenile,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristin Anton. “The defendant chose to take a gun to school. He chose to load and reload the gun several times.” 

Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos took the arguments under consideration and said he would issue a ruling April 27. 

Even if Exarhos agrees with defense attorneys and places Williams in juvenile court, the teen could still wind up in adult court. Prosecutors can ask a juvenile court judge to rule that Williams be charged as an adult. 

Williams made his third appearance in court during the hearing, wearing an oversized orange jumpsuit. He said nothing, keeping his eyes down while occasionally glancing at the judge and TV cameras. 

About 20 teen-agers and adults who see Williams as a victim of bullying gathered outside the courtroom. Supporters said he should not be tried as an adult. 

Friends and fellow students said Williams was relentlessly teased for being skinny and having big ears, had recently been in a fight and had his skateboard stolen twice. 

“I look at Andy and I see me at his age,” said Joe Ellis, 18, of Solana Beach. “I feel for him. I know what he’s going through.” 

Williams’ supporters have created at least two Web sites and sent hundreds of letters and e-mails to him through his attorneys, said Linda Miller, a spokeswoman for the public defender’s office, which represents him. 

Steve Trotto, a real estate investor from Shrewsbury, Mass., founded the Save Andy Williams Coalition and plans to move to San Diego to monitor the trial. 

“There’s no excuse for what he did. He took two young precious lives,” said Trotto, who added that he endured similar abuse in high school. But “everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon because it’s so easy to send kids to adult prison.” 

Friends and family of the two boys killed at Santana, Bryan Zuckor and Randy Gordon, attended the hearing. Zuckor’s aunt, Carol Lynn Briens, said Friday she has collected more than 1,600 signatures on a petition to have Williams tried as an adult. 

“The most cruel and unusual punishment that directly resulted from Williams’ own hands was that Williams decided on his own to inflict the death penalty on two innocent juveniles,” she said. 

If he’s sent to juvenile court, she said, the message to other abused and harassed youths would be, “Go ahead and kill, you’ll feel better in the long run.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Mail-bomb charges were filed in the case of a San Jose student killed when a robotic toy dog exploded. 

Anthony Chang, 30, of Las Vegas, Nev., and David Lien, 33, of Milpitas, have been charged with three counts, including mailing an explosive and conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Chang remains at large. 

Patrick Hsu, 18, a freshman from University of California, Santa Barbara, was killed February 10 on a visit home for the weekend when he put the batteries in a toy robotic dog he received in the mail. The toy was actually a bomb, and it exploded when the batteries caused it to detonate. 

Chang was previously married to Hsu’s sister, Wendy. An affidavit filed in the case by a U.S. Postal Inspector said Chang had threatened to harm her brother if Wendy Hsu ever left him. She filed for divorce in December 2000. 

The two men face a maximum penalty of death or life in prison if convicted.

LOS ANGELES — When UCLA senior Mark Leverette’s job search began last October, he had dreams of using his business economics degree to land a job complete with a signing bonus and a padded benefits package. 

Seven months later and still jobless, the 22-year-old Berkeley native says he’ll settle for anything, including part-time work through a temporary employment agency. 

“I don’t have a 4.0 GPA next to my name, but I’m smart and not afraid to try new things,” Leverette said. “I have a passion for business consulting, but at this point, that’s not an option. I just want a job. I don’t care where.” 

Leverette isn’t the only college senior having trouble finding a job. 

Thousands of students who expected multiple job offers have had to broaden their searches just to find one interested company. Recruitment on college campuses has dwindled, and employers are canceling interview sessions. Despite several years of economic growth and a low unemployment rate, seniors are facing a tougher job market than friends who graduated just a year ago. 

“Last year, seniors could post their resumes on the Internet and then sit back and wait for the offers to roll in,” said Jens Nilsson, a recruiting specialist at Management Recruiters International Inc. in Portland, Ore. “This year, they have to work harder. They can’t be picky. Potential and talent aren’t always enough.” 

But the situation is not nearly as bleak as it was during the recession of the early 1990s. After an increase in 1989, overall hiring fell nearly 30 percent until 1994, when a small gain was reported. Experts estimated last fall that overall hiring this year would increase by nearly 25 percent, similar to the steady growth companies have embraced over the last few years. 

More recent projections say overall hiring will increase by only 18 percent, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Economic woes have forced some companies to reconsider. 

Although a hiring increase still is good news, experts are worried competition will be fierce. With company cutbacks putting thousands of experienced workers back in the job pool and older people postponing retirement until the stock market improves, graduates with little experience may be overlooked. 

Rogelio Casas, a 21-year-old USC senior, is experiencing this firsthand. 

A fine arts major and experienced graphic designer, Casas, of Los Angeles, said he’s tired of handing out resumes, searching Internet job boards and  

calling companies to ask if they’re hiring. 

“I just want a job,” he said. “I want the paperwork in hand.” 

Casas had an interview last week for a job designing toys at Mattel Inc. He’s also pursued offers to assist artists on large projects. “I just don’t want to end up selling art from the back of a van,” he said. 

Although big-city universities aren’t having trouble attracting corporate recruiters, some smaller and out-of-the-way campuses are. 

More seniors are attending job fairs hosted by the UCLA Career Center, reports Kathy Sims, the center’s director. 

But even UCLA knows the importance of cracking down.  

There’s a strict no-show policy for students who sign up for interviews with visiting companies. One no-show can result in the loss of career center privileges. Being late to an interview more than twice can have the same effect. “We have a lot of aggressive students,” she said. “We can’t afford to let wasted time go by.” 

Sims, who also works for the National Association of Colleges and Employers, said colleges that are miles from big cities are losing recruiters because of budget cutbacks. Seniors are forced to do all the work themselves, she said. 

“It’s healthy for seniors to ask themselves, ’Should I be nervous?”’ Sims said. “They should be.” 

One of the reasons employers are approaching this year’s graduating class with added caution is the threat of layoffs and future company problems. 

“The early ’90s taught us that you can’t pick up and dispose of people just like that,” said Christine O’Rourke, executive director of human resources for Indiana-based Koetter0 Woodworking Inc. 

With the company’s future in question, it isn’t smart to hire new people, she said. “It isn’t right.” 

Yet most graduating seniors, who were raised during the height of the economic boom, aren’t ready to concede that this year’s slowdown will have  

a long-term effect on their  

career prospects. 

Economics student Leverette, who has worked as an intern for a dot-com and for Merrill Lynch & Co., said he isn’t concerned. 

“I have a lot to offer a company,” he said. “Something will fall in my lap when I least expect it. That’s the way it works.” 

And if it takes a while, “I can always move back home and bum around till I find a job,” he said. 

Art student Casas also isn’t worried about his upcoming graduation. His friends are starting to get jobs, and he said his time will come. “This is the power month,” he said. “I want, I need to get a job this month. If not, well, ask me in May how I feel.”

DIAMOND BAR — Southern California air quality officials voted Friday to require school bus operators to buy alternative-fuel vehicles rather than diesel buses, a move that some school district officials said will force them to take money from students. 

“One of two things will happen: We’ll be forced to run old, dirty vehicles longer, or we’ll eliminate transportation altogether,” said Bill McKinney, director of transportation for the Temecula Valley Unified School District. 

That would raise pollution overall, he said, because every school bus not on the road represents about 50 students who must be driven by car to school. 

Environmentalists and public health advocates hailed the unanimous decision by the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, saying the language in the regulations ensures the money to pay for them won’t come out of school districts’ general funds. 

“This is a huge step forward toward protecting the health of our kids,” said Gail Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council. 

The rule will require operators of fleets of more than 15 school buses to purchase only alternative-fuel school buses – most likely natural gas – when they replace vehicles. 

Money to pay for natural gas buses, which are about 30 percent more expensive than their diesel equivalents, will come from several sources, including a $50 million a year state fund for cleaner school buses and possibly funds the district receives from power plant operators that pollute over their limits. 

If funding falls short, school districts and private fleet operators will be able to buy cleaner burning diesel engines that rely on low-sulfur fuel and exhaust traps that catch much of the toxic soot and other pollution the engines create. 

A motion by governing board member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich to allow districts to choose between “green diesel” and natural gas failed 2-10. 

The South Coast Air Quality Management District spans all or portions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, a region of some 15 million people.

SACRAMENTO — A judge ruled Friday against Sacramento teachers who challenged the rules for Gov. Gray Davis’ most lucrative rewards program for test-score improvements. 

About 30 teachers from Jedediah Smith Elementary in the Sacramento City Unified School District filed the lawsuit last winter, saying a requirement for two years of improvement was unfair. 

The lawsuit led the state to hold up the rewards, which range from $5,000 to $25,000 per teacher for the $100 million Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Act. 

Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian gave the teachers time to appeal, so the money cannot be distributed for the next 60 days. 

The money is expected to go to teachers and administrators in about 200 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 30 high schools in the bottom half of the state’s scores that improved the most between 1999 and 2000, state education officials said Friday. 

Last summer, the state Board of Education approved rules for the rewards that also required test scores to have improved between 1998 and 1999. 

Eligibility for the large reward should be based on more than one year of improvement, the board determined. 

“This requirement serves the educational needs of children in the state’s most underachieving schools,” Marsha Bedwell, the state Department of Education general counsel, said Friday. 

Jedediah Smith’s Academic Performance Index, based on scores from the statewide test, went up 147 points in 2000, one of the state’s highest increases. However, the school’s test scores did not rise between 1998 and 1999. 

Michael White, the attorney for the teachers, argued that the 1999 law creating the program didn’t require schools to improve between 1998 and 1999, but that rule was added after the fact by the board. 

The Sacramento district asked the state board for a waiver to allow the school’s teachers to be eligible for the rewards.  

The board last week rejected that request and a similar one for Vista High School in San Diego County.

SACRAMENTO — Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to be charged with felonies when they are caught with concealed or loaded weapons, according to a state report. 

Young people are more likely to face felony charges, and men are far more likely than women to be charged with felonies, according to the report by the California Department of Justice. 

The study compiles charges for the first six months of a new law allowing a felony to be charged against anyone caught carrying a concealed or loaded weapon, if the person is not registered as the gun’s owner. 

The statistics come amid a growing debate over allegations that police engage in “racial profiling,” targeting nonwhites for traffic or other stops. 

Department spokesman Mike Van Winkle said justice officials haven’t looked for an explanation for the statistics provided by local police agencies. 

“We just present the data that’s provided,” he said. “There are other people who make the judgments.” 

The statistics show: 

• Under one section of the law that took effect Jan. 1, 2000, blacks were charged with felonies 53.5 percent of the time and Hispanics 51.4 percent, while whites faced felonies 36.5 percent of the time. 

Under a different section of the same law, blacks faced felony charges in 58.3 percent of cases and Hispanics in 58.3 percent, while whites were charged with felonies in 32 percent of cases. 

• Those under age 30 were more likely to be charged with felonies, while those over 30 were more likely to be charged with misdemeanors. 

• More than 95 percent of those charged either as felons or misdemeanants were men. The few women who were charged were more likely to face misdemeanors. 

A felony is punishable by prison time, while a misdemeanor can bring up to a year in a county jail. 

Officials with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not return telephone messages left by The Associated Press Friday afternoon, while an employee at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund said no one was available to comment. 

The measure’s author, Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, defended it as necessary to plug a loophole in previous state law. 

“Before my legislation, criminals could be charged with felonies for carrying a switchblade, but only misdemeanors for carrying loaded guns,” Scott said in a statement Friday. “That just didn’t make sense.” 

Larry Todd, past president of the California Police Chiefs Association and chairman of the group’s firearms committee, called the law “one of the most significant pieces of gun control legislation that ever passed in California.” 

In the first six months, 1,149 felony charges were filed under the law. 

Van Winkle said the department did not collect comparison figures for misdemeanors and felonies in the years before the law took effect. 

Scott said such felony charges previously were rare and could only be brought when prosecutors could prove the weapon carrier was already a felon, had a previous weapons conviction or was a documented street gang member. 

California Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. attorney Chuck Michel and other gun advocates said they don’t have problems with the law if police are using it to target criminals. 

But they said the report does not contain enough information to determine whether otherwise law-abiding citizens are facing felony charges as a result of the new law. 

ROHNERT PARK — Aletha Willis was a typical 3-year-old. She loved the television show “Blue’s Clues” and being the center of attention. She played the tambourine and sang in church. She rarely got sick, other than two ear infections. 

But the little girl was stricken a month ago with an unusually bad case of the flu – or so her grandparents thought. She died last week. 

Experts now believe the girl died of meningoencephalitis, a disease that causes fatal swelling of the brain and spinal cord. 

How she got the disease is uncertain, although state Health Department officials say it’s likely her brain was attacked by a parasite, an amoeba called Balamuthia mandrillaris. 

“The antibody test was positive and some sort of parasite has been seen in the spinal fluid,” said Dr. Carol Glaser, a researcher for the state Health Department in Richmond. “Everything is leaning toward this, but until all the data is in, we have to be very careful.” 

Frank and Teresa Peters first took granddaughter Aletha to their family doctor with flu-like symptoms on March 22. Two days later, after her temperature reached 103 degrees, they took her to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. 

She was admitted and treated for dehydration. The next day, she had a seizure. Tests indicated meningitis and her treatment was adjusted. She started eating and she looked better. But, within a day, her condition deteriorated again. Doctors sedated her for more tests and she fell into a coma and suffered another seizure. 

Doctors did more tests and began treating Aletha for for tuberculosis and meningitis. She died April 11. 

“I still can’t believe she’s gone,” Frank Peters said Friday. He and his wife were raising Aletha for their daughter, who has been “in and out of trouble” and currently lives in Hayward. “If it’s so rare, how did she catch it?” 

Experts say only about 70 cases of Balamuthia infection have been reported worldwide. 

“It’s a great rarity,” said Dr. Allan Ropper, chief of neurology at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, who has studied the parasite. “This organism seems to be free-living in water and it may in fact be around us in many, many places. Why some people get it is unclear.” 

Scientists only identified the amoeba, which is found in soil and fresh and salt water throughout the world, about 10 years ago. It’s not only tough to identify, it’s also tough to treat. 

“Even when a diagnosis is made in life, which it rarely is, the treatment is relatively ineffective,” Ropper said. “My reading of the literature suggests there is no good treatment.” 

But the Peters family wants answers. 

“How could she have caught it?” Frank Peters said at the family’s small apartment in Rohnert Park, about 50 miles north of San Francisco. “Apparently it’s raised up its head. It fooled all the doctors. Now she’s gone and we’re hoping we can do something.” 

The couple wants the health department to test the potting soil Aletha pretended to plant flowers in, the duck pond at the park where she played, the sand at the playground – anything, anywhere to help keep other children safe. 

“If I would’ve known, I would’ve taken precautions,” said Teresa Peters, tears welling in her eyes. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

WASHINGTON — Companies owned by women are receiving just 2.5 percent of the government’s nearly $200 billion a year in contracts, and Congress says that’s not nearly enough. In fact, lawmakers declared five years ago the percentage must be doubled. 

It hasn’t happened. 

By all accounts, the government-wide numbers won’t change much until there is a sizable increase at the Defense Department, which controls the lion’s share of federal contracting. 

And at the Pentagon, a decade of military downsizing has slashed the pool of specialists who match businesses with contracts. 

That matters because small companies can get lost in the labyrinthine world of federal contracts. By helping a company navigate what’s available and what’s required to get it, these specialists can cut years off the process. 

“To get business, you have to get certified, but you can’t get certified until you actually have business,” said Lydia Schmitt, a plastics engineer who formed her own company, LPS Injection Molding, about six months ago in Girard, Kan. 

Schmitt wants to become a subcontractor for a corporation that does business with the Defense Department, such as Boeing Co., Raytheon Aircraft Co. or any of the other aerospace companies in Wichita, Kan. 

Preliminary steps, such as certifying that a potential contractor does good work, can become huge hurdles. 

Patricia Pliego Stout says she spent six years seeking Pentagon business for her San Antonio-based travel service company. 

Finally, in mid-March, Stout learned she had been awarded the travel services for Oklahoma City’s Tinker Air Force Base. The work will boost her staff at The Alamo Travel Group from 20 to 27 employees. 

A government contract “builds up your image as a contractor; it gives you security,” said Stout, a board member of the National Women’s Business Council and a leader of the National Association of Women Business Owners. 

Women own an estimated 38 percent of all businesses in the United States, but they received 2.5 percent of the $189 billion in federal contracts awarded in fiscal 1999, the most recent year for which data are available. 

According to a recent study by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, federal contracting with firms headed by women has grown in some agencies, notably the departments of Veterans Affairs, State and NASA. 

The government will never meet its 5 percent target unless the goal is met by the Defense Department, which in fiscal 1999 achieved only about 2.5 percent. 

Robert Neal, the Pentagon’s director for small and disadvantaged business utilization, acknowledged that adding acquisition specialists might help. He said it’s tough to make the case for hiring them. 

“Folks are looking at new planes, or improvements in our technology to deliver weapons of mass destruction,” said Neal, who oversees about 500 such specialists. “When I look at and request increases for personnel, and they look at that relative to mo dernizing our weapons systems, I don’t fare very well in the discussion.” 

Congress may need to restore a requirement that the Pentagon employ a set number of small business specialists, said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee. The rule was eliminated with 1994 legislation intended to streamline contracting. 

“It simply isn’t enough to set a goal and hope agencies attain it,” Bond said. 

Lawmakers did take a step toward boosting the number of women contractors last year by adding women-owned businesses to a government “mentor-protege” program that matches major contractors with smaller companies, Neal said. 

“We think that’s going to help substantially,” he said, explaining that larger businesses can show a small firm ways to make its prices more competitive with other contractors. “It gives us the opportunity to take, for lack of a better term, a diamond in the rough and really polish it up.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

Pentagon’s small business contracting site: http://www.sadbu.com 

Small Business Administration, Office of Women’s Business Ownership: 

http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/ 

Kansas Womens Business Center: http://www.kansaswbc.com 

General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov 

At the rate of a campus a day, the president of the National Organization for Women has been touring colleges for weeks, spreading the message that abortion rights are under siege. 

Over the same span, abortion foes have displayed graphic 6-foot-by-13-foot signs at four state universities in the Carolinas, depicting aborted fetuses and Holocaust victims. To organizers of the Genocide Awareness Project, abortion is systematic mass murder. 

As rival forces in the abortion debate weigh the impact of the Bush presidency and prepare for expected battles over Supreme Court nominations, college students have become a prime target of mobilization efforts. 

Abortion-rights advocates believe that many college-age women – born after the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalized abortion nationwide – need to be jarred out of complacency. Several major groups are cosponsoring an “Emergency Action for Women’s Lives” rally Sunday in Washington, and hope to draw many students. 

“Men and women in my generation have largely taken reproductive rights for granted,” said Victoria Steinberg, 21, a Harvard senior who has co-chaired a campus abortion-rights group. 

“With a second Bush in office, students my age are afraid for the very first time that they will lose these rights if they don’t raise their voices,” she said. 

NOW’s president, Patricia Ireland, has met with students on about 30 campuses in the past month, warning of actual and possible moves by the Bush administration and Congress to limit access to abortion and birth control. 

“They are so shocked when they learn some of the details,” Ireland said. “I want them to think of these as fundamental rights that, when threatened, need to be defended.” 

Gregg Cunningham also wants to shock students. He hopes their jaws drop when they see Genocide Awareness Project photographs showing bloody, aborted fetuses. 

“Once these pictures are in your head, you can’t get them out,” said Cunningham, who oversees the project as executive director of the anti-abortion Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. 

The display has toured more than 30 state university campuses since 1998, including the recent swing through North and South Carolina. 

Private colleges can ban the exhibit, but Cunningham’s group has been allowed access to state universities, in part by threatening to sue for infringement of freedom of speech. 

Cunningham said he cannot gauge nationwide campus sentiment on abortion, but believes many students read his group’s literature. 

“This is an opportunity for us to have some influence as these kids are deciding what they think about important issues,” he said. 

A like-minded organization, Missionaries for the Preborn, also has been exhibiting pictures of aborted fetuses on campuses. One anti-abortion activist was sprayed with red paint by a University of Iowa student during a confrontation April 6. 

Some campuses are more receptive to anti-abortion messages than others. Liz Dahl, news editor of the University of Eastern Michigan’s student newspaper, said there is an assumed abortion-rights consensus on campus that inhibits students with different views. 

“There’s a silent minority of people who are pro-life who don’t feel comfortable voicing their opinion,” she said. 

Women aged 16-25 are the target of an ad campaign launched this month by the Pro-Choice Public Education Project, a coalition backed by many abortion rights groups. Several student newspapers, including those at Columbia University and New York University, rejected the ads because of policies that prohibit political advertising. 

Teresa Wagner, a legal expert with the conservative Family Research Council, guessed a majority of American college students remain supportive of abortion rights, but less zealously than in the past. 

“The current crop is more ambivalent,” said Wagner, who often airs her anti-abortion views at college forums. “They’re not sure that abortion is a good thing, and even if they do, it’s not the kind of thing they want to take to the streets about.” 

Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, agreed that abortion has been a relatively low-profile campus issue in recent years. She hopes that will soon change. 

“Students have been hepped up over many issues, like sweatshops, and this one has been tucked away in their consciousness,” she said. “But now there is a mushrooming sense of alarm.” 

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration rejects the Kyoto global warming treaty “under any circumstances” and sees little chance that new talks this summer will produce a suitable substitute, a State Department memo says. 

Despite comments by a top U.N. official that the administration might be shifting its position, the cable to diplomatic and consular posts also said negotiations to ratify the 1997 treaty do not appear to be leading to agreement. 

“Certainly not as early as the July meeting in Bonn,” said the cable, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The cable was sent April 1, three days after President Bush announced his rejection of the treaty, and offers “talking points” for diplomats to explain the administration’s position. 

A State Department official had no comment Friday. 

The cable drew strong criticism from environmental groups. Some said the document shows the administration’s negative policies are based on ideology, not science as Bush contended. 

“It is shocking to see in black and white that the administration has no basis for its policy beyond rhetoric and ideology,” said Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist Daniel Lashof. “The Bush administration has turned the United States into a rogue nation by rejecting the treaty.” 

The climate treaty reached Kyoto, Japan, in 1977 aims to reduce levels of “greenhouse gases,” which many scientists think are causing Earth to get warmer with potentially disastrous consequences. The pact sets goal for industrialized countries to cut heat-trapping emissions by 2012 an average 5.2 percent below 1990 levels. 

On March 28, Bush sparked an international outcry when he said the treaty was unworkable and discriminates against the United States, and he would not submit it to the Senate for ratification. He also reversed a campaign promise to treat carbon dioxide from power plants, a major target of the treaty, as a pollutant and a source of global warming. 

“Does the United States oppose the Kyoto protocol under any circumstance?” the State Department “talking points” document asked. “Yes, we oppose the Kyoto protocol because it exempts many countries from compliance and would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy.” 

On Wednesday, however, Dutch Environmental Minister Jan Pronk told reporters in Washington the administration appeared to have toned down its criticism and no longer insists the Kyoto treaty is dead. Pronk chairs the U.N. agency trying to put the global warming treaty in force. 

“I don’t hear it anymore. I think it was a premature statement,” Pronk said after meeting with administration officials. 

Much of his analysis was based on the assurance from administration officials this week that the United States would have its own plan to combat global warming before the talks are reopened in July in Bonn, Germany. 

Pronk said he has proposals of his own to address the American objections and plans to discuss them Saturday at a meeting in New York with officials from 30 to 40 industrialized countries. 

A Bush administration official denied on Friday that the United States has a timetable for concluding a review of climate change being done by Vice President Dick Cheney, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman and the secretaries of the Treasury, State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce and Energy departments. 

No industrial country has ratified that treaty. An effort at The Hague, Netherlands, to come up with a plan last November for implementing the accord collapsed in a disagreement between the United States and Germany over trading pollution credits. 

“Given the long list of outstanding, difficult issues, and the fact that few, if any, parties were engaging in any reassessment of their positions after the Hague, there seems little likelihood they could all be resolved in two weeks of negotiations in July,” the State Department memo said. 

In rejecting the treaty, Bush insisted developing nations must be included in its mandatory cuts on carbon dioxide emissions. Negotiators in Kyoto specified that because major industrialized countries are the worst polluters, they should be assigned most of the emission cutbacks. 

In the United States, carbon dioxide emissions have continued to grow since the treaty was signed. They are now almost 15 percent above the levels of 1990. 

——— 

On the Net: EPA global warming site: http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming 

QUEBEC — Police in riot gear clashed with protesters in a haze of tear gas Friday as leaders of the Western Hemisphere’s 34 democracies sought to advance plans to create the world’s largest free-trade zone. 

President Bush, attending his first international summit, held out the promise of a region of 800 million people “that is both prosperous and free.” Yet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez complained that many of the lofty goals set at a similar summit in 1994 have not been met. 

Quebec City was tense and largely sealed off under tight security as the third Summit of the Americas got under way with arrival ceremonies, opening festivities and clashes between police and protesters. 

Demonstrators tore down some sections of the concrete and chain-link security barricade near the summit site and pelted police officers in riot gear with cans, bottles, hockey pucks, rocks and stuffed animals. Police officers, who lobbed canisters of tear gas at the protesters, formed a line and marched on the demonstrators to force them back. 

The summit drew an alliance of labor, environmental and human rights organizations and student activists in protest of the free-trade plan, capitalism and globalization. 

“If they are protesting because of free trade, I’d say I disagree,” Bush said. “I think trade is very important to this hemisphere. Trade not only helps spread prosperity but trade helps spread freedom.” 

The disruptions caused a delay of at least an hour in the summit’s opening ceremony. They also fouled up Bush’s plans to meet his counterparts in small groups. 

Bush met with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien as scheduled, but waited to begin his first huddle with Andean leaders for some 20 minutes because the presidents of Brazil and Bolivia could not make it through the security lockdown. Both joined the meeting later. Bush’s meeting with seven Central American heads of state also was thrown off schedule. 

And a meeting with leaders from Caribbean nations had to be canceled when they were unable to get to his hotel through the protests and tear gas, Bush aides said. Bush watched some of the street demonstrations on television in his hotel room. 

Chavez, after meeting with Bush, said the goals of the 1994 summit in Miami had not been realized. “We have advanced very little – almost not at all – in the social objectives,” Chavez said. “From Miami, they said we had to fight without rest for the education of children. But now there are more children without schools than before in Latin America and the Caribbean.” 

Seeking to prevent a repeat of violent demonstrations that shut down a 1999 international trade conference in Seattle, thousands of police and troops stood guard and merchants boarded up their shops. 

While all 34 summit countries have endorsed the goal of a free-trade zone stretching from the Arctic Circle to Cape Horn, differences remain as to the pace and terms of this economic integration. 

Still, “This is a remarkable achievement, one that would have been unthinkable just 15 years ago,” Bush said on the White House lawn as he left Washington. 

He noted that every nation in the hemisphere except Cuba is now a democracy. Cuban leader Fidel Castro was not invited to the gathering. 

Bush received a red-carpet welcome at Quebec’s airport, with red-jacketed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers standing at attention in a brisk wind. Then, he was whisked by military helicopter into the secured area of the city. 

“We are seeking new markets, to increase our business and generate new jobs,” Colombian President Andres Pastrana told reporters. He said free-trade could help ease drug trafficking in his country. 

It was Bush’s second international trip. His first was in February to Mexico. 

Bush campaigned on elevating the importance of Latin America and has made a hemispheric free-trade zone a top foreign policy goal. “Our goal in Quebec is to build a hemisphere of liberty,” Bush said before departing the White House. “We must make real progress.” 

For the United States, the hemispheric pact would expand an existing free trade pact with Mexico and Canada to include Central and South America. 

A Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005 was endorsed at the first hemispheric summit in 1994 in Miami and reaffirmed in 1998 in Santiago, Chile. However, progress has been slow, partly because Bush lacks full negotiating authority from Congress to move ahead. 

“There’s been a lot of wasted time,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who was attending the summit sessions. “I think we’re finally getting the ball off the ground.” 

The leaders at the summit also were expected to address issues ranging from toughening the war against drugs to improving education, health care and Internet access in rural communities. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Main site: http://www.americascanada.com 

AFL-CIO page: http://www.aflcio.org/globaleconomy/index.htm 

Anti-free trade activists site: http://www.stopftaa.org/ 

GENEVA — The top U.N. human rights watchdog censured Russia on Friday for alleged abuses in Chechnya after last-minute attempts to reach a compromise failed. 

Twenty-two members of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, including the United States, voted ’yes’ to a European Union resolution condemning Russian actions. Twelve members voted against and 19 abstained. 

Russian troops have been trying to stamp out a guerrilla war in the breakaway province. The rebels drove them out of Chechnya in a 1994-96 war, but the troops returned in September 1999 after rebels twice invaded neighboring Dagestan and after a series of fatal apartment bombings that Russian officials blamed on the insurgents. 

Russia’ military claims the fighting is winding down, but clashes continue daily and there have been complaints of human rights abuses and killings  

of civilians. 

The resolution’s supporters included Canada, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, while Russia won the backing of China, India and Nigeria. 

The resolution condemned Russia for “attacks against civilians,” breaches of international law, summary executions and “forced disappearances.” 

It also attacked the actions of Chechen rebels, who are accused of torture, taking hostages and the indiscriminate use of land mines. 

On Wednesday, the 53-member body had delayed voting after the EU asked for more time for last-minute negotiations. 

Ahead of the vote, Russian representative Oleg Malunov said EU criticisms failed to reflect the reality in Chechnya. “This resolution does nothing to solve the situation,” he told the commission. 

Last year, attempts to produce a compromise statement also failed and Russia became the first permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to be censured by the commission for human rights abuses.  

The other four permanent members are China, the United States, Britain and France. 

Human rights campaigners welcomed the commission vote, but called for more international scrutiny of Russia. 

“The shabby investigations into abuses launched by Russia shows that only an international inquiry can establish the truth,” said Joanna Weschler, U.N. representative of Human Rights Watch. 

Earlier Friday, the EU won 21 votes in favor of a resolution condemning Iran’s human rights record, with support from the United States, Canada, Japan and Latin American countries. Seventeen countries — including Russia, China, India and Indonesia — voted against, with 15 abstaining. 

The EU resolution to the commission cited the imprisonment of journalists, crackdowns on demonstrations and “unsatisfactory compliance with international standards in the administration of justice, in particular public and especially cruel executions.” 

It also criticized Iran for failing to cooperate with U.N. human rights experts, who have been denied access to the country since 1996. 

But Iranian Ambassador Ali Khorram attacked the resolution. 

“The real aim of the sponsors ... is not the promotion of human rights, but rather ... yet another means of domination over the developing countries,” he told the commission. 

Earlier this week, China blocked a U.S. resolution to condemn its human rights record. The commission also voted 50-1 to censure Israel for allowing Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, with only the United States taking Israel’s side. 

A resolution condemning Cuba’s human rights record passed 22-20 with 10 abstentions. 

Censure by the U.N. body brings no penalties but draws international attention to a country’s human rights record. 

———  

On the Net: 

Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.unhchr.ch 

Group hopes to join instant messaging game 

Instant messaging is one of the Internet’s most popular activities, a staple for gossipy teen-agers and procrastinating office workers. 

It also has a well-documented problem: The most popular messaging services don’t work with each other. It’s as if people with Sprint long-distance couldn’t call AT&T customers. 

Fixing that problem isn’t proving to be easy. And while the Internet’s biggest players are fighting over the mess, they could be leaving an intriguing opening for a 45-employee company in Denver called Jabber.com. 

Jabber.com has created an “open-source” form of instant messaging, meaning any programmer can see how it works and design applications that work with it. 

While the big players fight over consumers, Jabber is using its open-source technology to reach for a largely untapped market with real money in it — selling instant-messaging services to large companies. 

“We don’t need to beat AOL and Microsoft and I don’t think we’ll beat them,” chief executive Rob Balgley said. “We’re targeting a part of the market they’re not serving.” 

Founder and general manager Andre Durand talks even more expansively about Jabber’s potential. He believes the 13-month-old division of Webb Interactive Services Inc. might even be able to force America Online to make its dominant service work with the competition. 

“Within six to eight months, Jabber will exert pressure and come up under AOL,” Durand said. “AOL users will want to be able to get in touch with Jabber users.” 

Instant messaging, or IM, lets users chat over the Internet, almost in real time because the notes skip steps e-mail messages have to traverse. 

America Online’s three instant messaging services — the kind its subscribers use, the version anyone can download and a service AOL owns called ICQ — had 50.7 million user accounts that saw action in March, while the Microsoft Network had 16.2 million and Yahoo had 11.5 million, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. The numbers include some duplication, since people often subscribe to more than one service. 

Each company runs its own proprietary instant-messaging system, which is why users of AOL’s IM programs can’t chat with Yahoo members, for example, unless they open a separate Yahoo account. 

A handful of companies, including Jabber, have come up with instant-messaging applications that mimic the big services and let outsiders in, but AOL has repeatedly blocked them, citing its users’ privacy and security. 

The answer might seem simple: Get everyone to agree on an industry standard for instant messaging, just like the one for e-mail. 

But AOL contends that technical issues have gotten in the way. Federal regulators overseeing AOL’s merger with Time Warner gave the company time to sort those problems out rather than instantly demanding that AOL open its IM service up. 

Still, spokeswoman Kathy Kiernan says AOL supports making its services work with the competitors. The company expects to begin testing a solution this summer, she says. 

The competitors believe AOL has dragged its feet to preserve its domination. Yahoo, Microsoft, Excite, AT&T and some smaller messaging providers are part of a coalition called IM Unified, whose members hope to make their systems interoperable with each other’s this summer. The IM Unified members hope to form a block of users AOL can’t ignore. 

Complicating the picture, the Internet Engineering Task Force, a coalition of experts on Web technology, also is trying to hammer out a standard for instant messaging everyone can agree on. 

For the most part, Jabber is staying on the sidelines of the discussions and going about its business selling its instant-messaging application to Internet service providers and large companies. Instant messaging can help companies improve their online customer service, or let employees collaborate from different locations. 

Jabber uses XML, an increasingly popular programming language that facilitates communications between computers. 

This gives Jabber’s technology potential uses far beyond instant messaging. Servers from different companies could transmit all kinds of information, including voice or video transmissions. 

Among Jabber’s customers is Re/Max International Inc. The Denver-based network of real estate agents recently switched over from a Microsoft-based IM system because it could not handle enough traffic, according to Kristi Graning, Re/Max’s vice president for Web services. 

Jabber executives say they have bigger deals all but lined up over the next few months, each worth $250,000 to $1.5 million. In hopes of bringing those along, Jabber released a new message program Thursday that encrypts corporate chats to make sure they stay private. 

Lydia Loizides, an analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix who follows instant messaging, said most IM providers have yet to capitalize on business applications.  

Jabber.com should be attractive to companies watching their budgets because an open-source program is far less expensive to deploy and maintain than proprietary systems, she said. 

“There is a sweet spot that I think people are kind of starting to eye,” Loizides said. “I think (Jabber) may be well-positioned to go in early and get some good accounts.” 

Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at Gartner Inc., was less optimistic about Jabber’s chances, given that the bigger companies could soon move into the space. 

“It seems to be tough for me to see a way they’d be successful long term,” he said. “Microsoft is going to be all over instant messaging.” 

Jabber executives realize they can’t fly under the big shots’ radar forever. But they are confident enough that they’re trying to raise about $10 million from outside investors, in hopes of gaining independence from Webb Interactive. 

“A thousand decisions in three or four years will determine whether we’ll be a top three or four player,” Durand said. “I have a sense we are in a window of opportunity.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

Jabber.com Inc.: http://www.jabber.com 

Jabber’s site for open-source developers http://www.jabber.org 

Coalition of AOL competitors: http://www.imunified.org 

NEW YORK — It’s no longer just a place where prices jump around like corn in a popper, an indulgence of the rich but of no particular concern for most families. 

For more than half of American households, the stock market is now to various degrees the financial future, the source of tuitions, the provider of luxuries, the guardian of financial security and retirement. 

And, based not just on a trend line two decades long but on more recent developments, it is destined to encompass ever more families, making securities for many their most important asset. 

In 1980, 53 percent of the liquid assets of U.S. households were in banks, often deposited there by handing cash and a passbook to a teller. In 2000, the percentage had fallen to 20. The rest was in securities. 

That tells but part of the story. Households in 1980 owned 2.8 trillion in liquid assets; by 2000, they had amassed $17.3 trillion. In 1983, 42.4 million individuals owned stocks; in 2000, 78.7 million. 

Significant as other indicators is the makeup of ownership, which has filtered down from the rich to less rich.  

The Securities Industry Association says the typical stock owner has household income of $60,000. 

Because of this massive change, the stock market today is probably as good an economic thermometer and barometer as any other indicator, giving a fairly accurate reading of current health and a forecast of the future. 

That being so, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan could hardly ignore the gloom that had settled like a chemical fog on the market, suffocating what he had once referred to as irrational exuberance. 

Equally to be feared, the Fed suggested in its sudden, 0.5 percentage point cut in interest rates, is a situation in which consumers, most from investor households, are too depressed or even unable to spend. 

The transformation from saver to investor has come a long way, and the trend has built-in elements that assure continuance. 

It is now a way of life, with payroll withholding incentives (automatic, record-keeping, even discounts) for employee and employer alike providing a direct pipeline into mutual funds and stocks. 

Mutual funds especially have been a catalyst for the evolution of saver to investor. An idea of the role they have played is offered by the SIA in this summary: 

“It took 10 years for (mutual fund) assets to grow from $100 billion to $1 trillion in 1990.; three years to reach $2 trillion in 1993; and just over two years to reach $3 trillion in 1996. Less than four years later, assets have more than doubled to $7 trillion.” 

Increasingly, pension investments are becoming self-directed through 401(k) programs, again via automatic payroll deductions, and pressure has mounted for allowing workers to invest a portion of Social Security withholdings in equities. 

Technological advances also are part of the transition. Low-priced computers and the Internet allow individual investors to obtain massive amounts to data and easy access to the market.  

And a profusion of newer, mobile devices is likely to quicken interest and probably trading too. 

It means that the economic impact of the securities markets, especially for equities such as individual corporate stocks and mutual funds, has been hugely expanded in the past couple of decades. 

The stock market isn’t just for the rich anymore. It’s where producers and consumers interact, and how they interact is written boldly in the performance of the economy. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Wall Street ended its best two weeks of the year Friday with profit-taking from a spectacular rally that included triple-digit gains in the Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq composite index. 

Analysts weren’t alarmed by the losses, which amounted to 1 percent or less on each of the three major indexes. 

“Investors should be thrilled if the market retreats and gives up only half of the gains we saw in the last few days,” said John Forelli, portfolio manager at Independence Investment LLC.  

All five stocks are Dow components. The market began its recovery two weeks ago, with a 402-point gain in the Dow. Despite some pullbacks, it slowly gained momentum that sharply accelerated Wednesday when the Federal Reserve unexpectedly lowered interest rates for a fourth time this year. 

Wall Street’s big indicators are still registering losses for the year, but the Dow nonetheless has surged about 13 percent since reaching its lowest close for the year. 

— The Associated Press 

, 9,389.48, on March 22. The Nasdaq is up 32 percent since it closed at a low of 1,638.80 on April 4, and the S&P 500 has gained nearly 13 percent since its low close of 1,103.25 that same day. 

Analysts say the market’s steady progress, combined with its ability so far to keep most of its gains, suggests that the worst may be over. They warn more declines are likely, and that more companies might have earnings disappointments, but the growing confidence about 2002 has buyers returning to the market. 

For example, investors shrugged off Cisco Systems’ warning Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue would fall short of forecasts because of slowing demand. The stock ended the week at $19.15, up $1.17 or 6.5 percent, lifted by the Fed’s rate cut and earnings results from other tech leaders that were disappointing but not as bad as many feared. 

“Investors are leaping out on the faith that the economy is going to correct itself and you’re going to have a better 2002 even though the near-term earnings and other fundamentals are terrible,” said Jon Brorson, director of equities at Northern Trust. “People are afraid they’ll miss out if they don’t buy now.” 

Declining issues led advancers nearly 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 1.57 billion shares, compared with 1.75 billion Thursday. 

The Russell 2000 fell 5.69 to 466.71, ending the week up 11.69 or 2.6 percent. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.7 percent. Germany’s DAX index slid 0.9 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 rose 0.1 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.6 percent. 

When a high school team improves its record dramatically from one year to the next, the reasons are usually found in the maturation of players as they gain experience. But for the Berkeley High boys’ golf team, which will likely claim a share of the league title after winning just one match last season, there are three factors for the improvement, and none of them are carried over from last year. 

Probably the biggest reason for the team’s 7-1 record in the newly-formed Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League is an infusion of talent from the middle school level. Of the seven players who perform in league matches for the ’Jackets, four are freshmen. In all, coach Evan Nik Dang has six freshmen on the 12-man squad this year. That’s a pretty big step up from last season, when the team had a hard time putting together a five-man team for some matches. 

“Last year, we knew we didn’t have a chance of winning, so a lot of times people didn’t show up,” said junior Adam Breckler, the only current player who was on last year’s team. “This year, with so many guys being competitive for spots, we can concentrate on winning more.” 

That winning has undoubtedly been made easier by Berkeley’s switch from the ultra-competitive East Bay Athletic League to the ACCAL. The EBAL was full of teams from the suburbs, where golf is much more prevalent than in the urban schools of the ACCAL. In fact, only five of the nine ACCAL members even field a boys’ golf team. 

Berkeley’s main competition for the league title this year is Alameda. Berkeley has already completed the season series with the Hornets, with each team winning at its home course. Neither team has lost another league match. Both figure to win their remaining matches as well, which would leave them in a tie for the title. 

In addition to their league matches, the ’Jackets have had a chance to play at some of the best courses on the west coast, including Spyglass, Hidden Brook and Oakhurst. Those opportunities came via Dang, who is in his first year of coaching the team. 

Dang is a Berkeley High graduate (Class of ’74), and was hired shortly before the current season. That left him little time to put together a schedule for the team, but he did an admirable job, getting the team into two tournaments and dates at some great courses. As a result, there were 25 golfers at team tryouts, and Dang had the luxury of keeping the best 12, a big improvement from last season. 

“Being hired at the last minute, I had to scramble for a schedule,” Dang said. “But we got some great courses and good tournaments, which I’m sure helped attract more players.” 

Those players produced good results at the tournaments, as the ’Jackets finished third in San Leandro and sixth in Brentwood. 

The freshmen who made the team include Samson Taka Holmes, whose brother was last season’s best player. Samson saw his brother go through tough times during his Berkeley High career, and is grateful he doesn’t have to endure the same. 

“It’s a totally different atmosphere this year,” he said. “Everyone really wants to play this year.”

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 

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 

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. 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. Please bring boxes for carrying your plants home.  

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 

Hands-On Seed Cleaning 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

924 Gilman St.  

Covering a variety of techniques and methods. At noon there will be a seed and plant swap, so bring envelopes to gather seed in.  

548-2220 

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 

Albany Senior Center  

White Elephant Sale 

9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. 

Friends of Albany Seniors 

846 Masonic Ave.  

Albany 524-9122 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m.  

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level 

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe which includes puppets from diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida, will perform. Free  

International Tour Directing? 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

Learn about careers in tour leading: Dealing with guides, hotels, airlines and other suppliers, and much more. Learn what qualifications are needed and where the jobs are/aren’t.  

$5.50 for CA. residents 981-2931 

Green Building  

9 - 11 a.m.  

642 Hearst Ave.  

A free seminar for builders, contractors, architects and others interested in preserving natural resources. Presented by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board, the seminar will focus on applicable alternatives to traditional products and practices.  

649-2674 

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  

Gypsy Day Celebration  

Noon - 1 p.m.  

Lower Sproul Plaza  

UC Berkeley  

Rromani music and dance featuring Nadia Hava-Robbins, Rromani dancer and poet from the Czech Republic. Followed by a human rights presentation by Voice of Roman president Sani Rifati. Free  

981-1352 

Lavender Seniors Panel Presentation 

1:30-3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1902 Hearst St. 

Discussion on how agism and homophobia affect seniors 

667-9655 

Senior Housing in Berkeley Forum 

2 - 4 p.m. 

Redwood Gardens 

2951 derby St 

Is Senior Housing safe? Is it permanent? An open forum held by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project, senior housing residents sill discuss concerns. Followed by Housing Clinic to respond to individual questions. 

1-800-773-2110 

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 

National Organization for Women Meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore 

6536 Telegraph Ave.  

261-1642 

Peaceful Assembly of 10,000 

7 - 8:30 p.m.  

North Gate 105  

UC Berkeley  

A celebration of the second anniversary of April 25, 1999 when 10,000 Falun Gong followers assembled. Sponsored by the Cal Human Rights Campaign.  

chinahumanrights2001@yahoo.com  

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 

Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

Sandra Weese of SEIU Local 250 and two hospital workers will tell about their campaign to improve staffing ratios and conditions in California Nursing Homes.  

548-9696 

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 

Eastshore State Park Workshop 

7 p.m. 

Hs Lordship’s Restaurant 

199 Seawall Dr 

Berkeley Marina 

Discussion of planning issues and opportunities surrounding the park. 

888-988-PARK 

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 $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; children age 12 and under free; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; 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 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. “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 20: The Blast Rocks, The Sissies, Uberkunst, Audiowreck, Pirx the Pilot; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, The Lawrence Arms; April 27: Atom & His Package, Phantom Limbs, Har Mar Superstar, The Frisk, Shubunkins; April 28: 7 Seconds, Throwdown, Vitamin X, Over My Dead Body, Breaker Breaker; 525-9926  

Ashkenaz 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; 1370 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054. 

Eli’s Mile High Club Door open at 8 p.m. April 20: Little Jonny & the Giants; April 21: Jimmy Mamou; April 27: Carlos Zialcita; April 28: J.J. Malone; May 4: Henry Clement; May 5: Terry Hanck; May 11: Jimmy Mamou; May 12: Fillmore Slim 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland 655-6661  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 20: Michael McNevin; April 21: Peter Apfelbaum; April 22: mary Schmary; April 24: Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain; April 25: An Evening Honoring Kenny Cahn with Caren Armstrong, Doug Blumer, John Lester, Christie McCarthy, The Urban Accoustic Dude and others; May 5, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with author P.D. James and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser; May 12, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with authors Adair Lara and Janis Newman, and the Accoustic Guitar Summit guitar quartet. 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. April 22: Alan Hall & Friends; May 6: David Creamer Trio; May 13: Michael Zilber Group 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Cal Performances April 28, 8 p.m.: Vanguard Swing Orchestra, UC Berkeley Big Band $18 - $30 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  

“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 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 

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 

“Rome Wasn’t Burnt In A Day” April 27, 7:30 p.m. Earth First! campfire singer/songwriter Danny Dolinger playing songs of love, revolution, bravery, cowardice and group hygiene. $5 Unitarian Fellowship Hall 1924 Cedar (at Bonita) 548-3113 

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.  

Russian Chamber Orchestra April 28, 8 p.m. Featuring Piano Soloist Yakov Kasman, Soprano Svetlana Niktenko, and the Konevets, a vocal quartet from St. Petersburg. First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way 415-478-2277 

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. 525-5393 or www.bellamusic.org 

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

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

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  

Music of the Big Band Era May 6, 2 p.m. Featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Claude Thornhill, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Stan Kenton. $15 Longfellow School of the Arts 1500 Derby St. (at Sacramento) 420-4560 

Juanita Newland-Ulloa & Picante Ensemble May 13, 3 p.m. Romantic songs from South America. Luncheon served at 1 p.m. at the Valparaiso Cafe. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

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 

Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble & Art of Ballet Dance Theater April 20, 7 p.m. Part of Dance Week at the Julia Morgan Center, April 20 - 29. $16 - $18 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

UC Dance Theater Spring 2001 Season Program A: April 20, 27, 28, 8 p.m. and April 22, 7 p.m. A premiere of “Soulmate” by Marni Wood, “New Work” by Anne Westwick and “New Work” by Christopher Dolder with original music by Edwin Dugger. Program B: April 21, 28, 29, 2 p.m. and April 21, 8 p.m. “Esplanade” by Paul Taylor, reconstructed by Mary Cochran, “American Decades” by David Wood, “Le Matin sans Minuet” by Christopher Dolder, and “Treading” by Christopher Dolder $6 - $12 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 

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 

Reflejos de Mexico April 28, 2 p.m. The dance troupe celebrates the vast richness of the Mexican culture. Park of Dance Week. $10 - $12 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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 

Music and Dance of Bali May 5, 8 p.m., May 6, 2 p.m. Forty-five member ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya presents rhythms of Balinese gamelan in an orchestra of gongs, drums, flutes and bronze metallophones accompanied by several of Bali’s skilled dancers. $8-$16 Saturday, $5-$10 Sunday Julia Morgan Theatre 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

www.juliamorgan.org  

Theater 

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 20 at 8 p.m. & April 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 

“Big Love” by Charles L. Mee April 25 - June 10 Directed by Les Waters and loosely based on the Greek Drama, “The Suppliant Woman,” by Aeschylus. Fifty brides who are being forced to marry fifty brothers flee to a peaceful villa on the Italian coast in search of sanctuary. $15.99 - $51 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 

Shotgun Players April 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  

“Conversations in Commedia” April 25, 7:30 p.m. Part of a series which pairs radical theater elders from the area who have long histories in commedia. This week features “Doc” Mozzarelli and The Amazing Zuccini, moderated by UC Professor of Drama Mel Gordon. $6-$8 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 849-2568 

“Epicenter” April 26-28 7:30 p.m., April 28 2 p.m. Premiere of 21-year-old Jonathan Whittle-Utter’s play billed as “A Psychodrama of Paradigm Shifts.” A student production about a troubled marriage, secret society warfare and the end of the world, the degradation of western philosophy. $8-$10 Zellerbach Room 7 Studio (underneath the auditorium) UC Berkeley Campus 444-7063 www.BayStage.com  

Films 

San Francisco International Film Festival Through May 3 Thirty-five features and more than two dozen short films from twenty-seven nations will be shown. $9 Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-5249 

“Slaves of Free Trade” May 1, 7:30 p.m. Also poet Jack Hirschman, singers Carol Denney, Larry Shaw, Pam Pam, and the La Pena Choir. Also a report on Kurdish prisoner and legislator Lela Zana and a video on Korean Daewoo auto workers. A May Day celebration. $7 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck (at Prince)  

Exhibits 

“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 

Magnolias Art & Folk Music Weekend April 21 & 22, Noon Handpicked stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, mixed media and ceramics by Lawanda Ultan. Jessica Bryan, former director of the Berkeley Free Folk Festival, will perform a Celtic and folk music April 22, 2 - 4 p.m. Free Magnolias Flower Shop 2216 San Pablo Ave. 548-6789 

“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. 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 Sands of Time” Arab/Muslim sculptures and ceramics of Khalil Bendib. April 21 - May 5, Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. or call for appointment Mussi Artworks Foundry & Gallery 719 Heintz Ave. Space 10 644-2735 

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 through May 12, Wednesday - Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m.; Opening reception: April 18, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

“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  

“Scapes/Escapes” Ink, Acrylic, Mixed Media by Evelyn Glaubman May 1 - June 1 Tuesday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. Gallery of the Center for Psychological Studies 1398 Solano Ave. Albany 524-0291 

“Elemental” The art of Linda Mieko Allen May 2 - June 9, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Reception: May 2, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 www.traywick.com 

Berkeley Potters Guild Spring Show & Sale May 5, 6, 12 & 13, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fiftenn clay artists will showcase their work in open studios, providing an opportunity for the public to glimpse how pottery is made and perhaps purchase some originals. Jones & Fourth St. 524-7031 or visit www.berkeleypotters.com 

“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 

“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) 

Quilt Show through May 12. M-Th, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri-Sat, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Twenty-second annual show displays over 60 quilts. Berkeley Public Library’s North Branch. 1170 The Alameda 644-6850 

“Tropical Visions: Images of AfroCaribbean Women in the Quilt Tapestries of Cherrymae Golston” Through May 28, Tu-Th, 1-7 p.m., Sat 12-4 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 ext 307 

Readings 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 22: Poetry of Maxine Hong Kingston & Fred Marchant; April 23: Janis Cooke Newman discusses “The Russian Word for Snow”; April 24: Chitra Divakaruni reads “The Unknown Errors of Our Lives”; April 25: Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel discuss “Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect”; April 26: Maud Casey and John Searles read from “The Shape of Things to Come” and “Boy Still Missing”; April 27: Poetry of Michael Heller & Carl Rakosi; April 28: Christopher Hitchens discusses “The Trial of Henry Kissinger”; April 29: Poetry of Gloria Frym & Lewis Warsh; April 30: Jamling Tenzing Norgay discusses “Touching My Father’s Soul” 

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”; April 30, 11 a.m.: Anthony Browne will chat about writing and illustrating children’s books  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533 All events at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise May 1: Andrew Horvatt will discuss “Japanese Beyond Words”; May 3: Char Miller, editor, will discuss “Water in the West: A High Country News Reader” and “Fluid Arguments: Five Centuries of Western Water Conflict”; May 3: Conner Gorry will discuss the Lonely Planet published “Guatemala”; May 10: Gray Brechin talks about “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin”; May 23: Jon Bowermaster discusses his book “Birthplace of the Winds: Adventuring in Alaska’s Islands of Fire and Ice”; May 29, 7 - 9 p.m.: Travel Photo Workshop with Joan Bobkoff. $15 registration fee  

“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 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 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 

Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai April 29, 10:30 a.m. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld, co-translators of Yehuda Amichai’s “Open Closed Open,” will read their translations from the Hebrew. Book signing to follow. $4 - $5 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237  

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. Through 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  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Free Lectures All lectures begin at 6 p.m. April 29: Barr Rosenberg on “The Ornament of the Middle Way”; May 6: Sylvia Gretchen on “Faith, Doubt, and Refuge in Buddhist Practice”; May 13: Abbe Blum on “Tapping Into Creativity”; May 20: Miep Cooymans and Dan Jones on “Working with Awareness, Concentration, and Energy”; May 27: Eva Casey on “Getting Calm; Staying Clear”; June 3: Jack van der Meulen on “Healing Through Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga)”; June 10: Sylvia Gretchen on “Counteracting Negative Emotions” Tibetan Nyingma Institute 1815 Highland Place 843-6812 

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 

West Coast Regional Spartacist Educational April 28, Noon Jon Wood, of the Spartacist League, will speak: “Defend the Gains of the Cuban Revolution”; 3:30 p.m.: George Foster, central committee, Spartacist League, will speak: “For Socialist Revolution in the Bastion of World Imperialism” 60 Evans, UC Berkeley 839-0851 

“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 

Peopling of the Pacific May 11, 8 p.m. Dr. Patrick Kirch, department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley, will review results of archaeological research in the Pacific Islands, providing a current overview of Oceanic prehistory. 370 Dwinelle Hall UC Berkeley 415-338-1537  

The City Council approved a recommendation Tuesday to add the David R. Brower Center to the list of possible tenants for a proposed downtown building. 

The unanimous council vote puts the center, to be named after the internationally known environmentalist and Berkeley resident, on a list with two other preferred uses – affordable housing and commercial space for the arts. 

The venture’s organizers, which include Brower’s son Robert, say the project will be a “global center of environmental activism and awareness.” 

The structure, proposed for the city-owned lot at 2500 Oxford St. at Allston Way, now a surface parking lot, is still in the planning stages. The three possible uses, plus replacement parking, are only part of a City Council wish list. The ultimate uses of the building, which will be at least five stories tall, won’t be determined until the economics of the project can be thoroughly analyzed, according to Interim Director of Housing Stephen Barton.  

Barton said it is still unclear how much of a rent break, if any, the city would be able to give the center. The center itself would be financially self-sufficient through grants and donations, according to Councilmember Linda Maio who sponsored the recommendation with Councilmember Dona Spring. 

Brower, who was born in Berkeley and lived here until his death in November, was the first executive director of the Sierra Club and built the organization during the 1950s and 1960s. He later founded the worldwide environmental organizations Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute. 

The 50,000-square-foot center would be the local home of the Earth Island Institute and a host of small and midsize environmental organizations, according to a proposal from the Earth Island Institute, The Rain Forest Action Network and the International River Network, which are coordinating the proposed center.  

Supporters said the environmental center would be a good fit with arts organizations, also on the building’s list of preferred tenants. 

“I’m so excited, it’s really thrilling,” Maio said. “Coupling environmental organizations with the arts will enhance the synergy between the two.” 

Pointing to a series of books Brower published in the 1960s, known as the Sierra Club Exhibit Format Books, Maio said Brower was an innovator in combining the arts with environmental messages. The books had environmental themes and featured the work of photographers such as Ansel Adams and poets such as Robinson Jeffers.  

“He really understood the connection between the two long before anyone else did,” Maio said. 

Councilmember Betty Olds sounded a note of caution about the financial implications of the center’s proposed tenancy. “Sometimes we get stars in our eyes and tend to forget things,” she said. “This is one of the most expensive pieces of property in Berkeley and we don’t want to lose a financial resource and regret it later.” 

Olds, who voted for the recommendation, suggested organizers not rule out other Berkeley locations for the center. 

Robert Brower said the Oxford Street site would be an ideal location for the center. “My father would have been very pleased with the location because of its proximity to the UC campus and Berkeley High School,” he said.  

Barton said there is a Planning Commission subcommittee currently working out guidelines for the building. Once they are completed and the City Council approves them, the city will begin to seek proposals form developers.  

“It won’t be until we get to that stage that we have a better idea about what’s feasible for the site,” Barton said.  

The project guidelines are expected to come to the council some time in May. 

The Daily Planet received the following e-mail from Jeffrey Schilling, the Oakland man rescued by Filipino marines from rebels last week. 

At this time I am unable to address the media due to the stress of being separated from my wife, Ivy Osani. Once we are reunited and have some time to recover, I will address the media, if there is still interest. 

People have been questioning our motivation for going to Jolo. We went to Jolo to resolve a personal, family matter, which was made into an international circus by the greed of Abu Sabaya. Some of the relatives of my wife had been accusing us of an illicit sexual relationship. This is a serious offense in Islam, which is punishable by being whipped 100 times or being stoned to death. If the accuser is unable to produce the proper number of witnesses to corroborate their accusation, they are to be whipped 80 times and their testimony is to be forever rejected. 

Abu Sabaya has constantly accused me and my wife of an illicit relationship while providing absolutely no evidence or witnesses to confirm his accusations. He has therefore violated the laws of Islam and should be punished. 

My only hope at this time is for a speedy reunion with my wife, Ivy Osani, and my stepson. I thank everyone in the governments of the Philippines and United States of America who has helped us. I also thank all those people who prayed for me throughout the 7 plus months of my captivity. I ask you to continue your prayers for my wife, Ivy Osani, and for me, that we are swiftly reunited. 

The No. 21-ranked Cal men’s tennis team (13-7, 4-3 Pac-10) has solidified a third place finish in the Pac-10 with a 4-3 conference record. The last time the Bears finished their conference season in the top three dates back six years to 1995, when the Bears tied for third in the conference with a 5-5 record.  

That year, the Bears ended their season in the Round of 16 at the NCAA championships, while garnering a No. 13 national ranking at the end of the season. It was the second year with head coach Peter Wright at the helm. The year before, Wright was named Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year for guiding the Bears to the postseason after Cal had missed the Big Dance the previous two seasons.  

The Bears have had considerable success against teams with higher rankings, and could move up before the season’s end. On April 6, Cal handed No. 18-ranked USC a 4-2 defeat in Los Angeles. On April 16, Cal upset then No. 12-ranked Pepperdine in Berkeley, defeating the Waves, 4-3, behind four wins in singles.  

The Bears biggest win came on March 17, when Cal defeated No. 8-ranked Southern Methodist in Indian Wells, 4-3, winning the doubles point and three singles matches at No. 3, 4 and 5. Despite a loss to No. 4-ranked Texas Christian on March 27 and a season-opening loss at No. 16 Washington, the Bears only major losses have come to conference foes UCLA and Stanford, who have been ranked in the top five for a majority of the season.  

Cal will close its season this weekend with two non-conference matchups with the Los Angeles schools.

Although they are facing a “serious budget situation,” in the word’s of school district Chief Financial Officer George Sirogiannis, a majority of school board members indicated Wednesday that they would fight to maintain student-teacher ratios at current levels next year. 

At a special budget workshop Wednesday the board considered two scenarios for reducing or eliminating its $5.2 million dollar budget shortfall by June, when it must present a balanced budget to the county.  

The scenario that completely eliminates the shortfall, and even creates a $1.2 million “cushion” of surplus funds, would reduce funding for teachers’ salaries by nearly $1 million.  

If implemented, the scenario would reduce the number of teachers in the district by a minimum of 13 teachers next year, bumping up class size in grades six through 12 by one to two students, on average. Currently, sixth grade student-teacher ratios are 26-to-1. In grades seven and above, the ratio is 28-to-1. 

The reduction in teaching staff would happen as a result of  

attrition rather than layoffs, said Board of Education President Terry Doran. 

In public comments Wednesday, residents opposed any reduction in teaching staff. 

“Cuts in classroom teachers will impact the quality of our children’s education and the long-term viability of our schools,” said Carol Wilkins, a member of a district planning committee. 

A majority of board members sided with Wilkins, saying it appeared feasible to eliminate the budget shortfall without reducing the number of teachers in the district. 

“We should cut (teachers) as a last resort,” said Director Joaquin Rivera. “I don’t want to take the easy way out and say, you know, if we cut that our problems are solved.” 

Rivera questioned the need for the $1.2 million cushion in the budget scenario presented Wednesday and said that it appeared as if the board could comfortably pay the $880,000 needed to maintain current teacher staffing levels out of this amount. 

School board Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone recommended Wednesday that the board keep at least a $1 million cushion to protect the district from any unanticipated expenses in the year to come. 

If the $880,000 needed to maintain the current number of teachers has to come from cuts in other district departments and services, then keeping the current staffing levels may not be justified, according to board Vice President Shirley Issel. 

Both Issel and Doran said Wednesday that the board has cut some district services so steeply in recent years that the negative impact of more cuts “away from the classroom” could outweigh the negative impact of slightly larger class sizes. 

“In the past we’ve done a lot not to (cut teaching staff),” Issel said, adding that she has reached the point where she has “a very low tolerance for the level of dysfunction” in some district departments. 

Doran said Thursday that the district’s custodial department is operating with a “skeletal staff” and its business department is “on the edge” of not having sufficient staff to do the work. Basic classroom supplies are sometimes not available to teachers in a timely manner because the sluggish response rate of an understaffed bureaucracy, he added. 

“Class size reduction has been a very key value in this community, but I also believe that we need to think outside the box,” Doran said Wednesday. “We have seen a great reduction in the efficiency of the school district that has dramatically impacted our students.” 

Goldstone said he will report to the board at its first meeting in May on just exactly where the budget might be cut to find an additional $880,000 for teachers. As for inefficiencies in district departments, Goldstone said some of these problems could be solved through better management alone. 

“Expectations don’t cost anything,” he said. “Accountability doesn’t cost anything. That is a matter of will much more than a matter of dollars.” 

District staff also proposed cutting $1.3 million out of district maintenance expenditures next year, a move that Goldstone has said is justified because last year’s measure BB bond measure provides nearly $4 million for maintenance purposes next year. 

To increase district revenues – a less painful way of cutting the budget shortfall – district staff proposed an aggressive program for renting out district performance spaces. 

There is considerable support for the current plan for a new Beth El Synagogue on the site at 1301 Oxford St. Two large and important constituencies, however, believe that the plan can still be improved.  

Advocates of urban creek restoration see the riparian corridor running through the site as an irreplaceable ecological resource. Another constituency, which advocates historic preservation, asks us to celebrate the remaining artifacts and significance of the site as the founding location of the Berkeley’s African-American community. 

Reverend Dr. Marvis V. Peebles of Liberty Hill Baptist Church pointed out in January, that a large crosssection of faith communities in Berkeley “are enthusiastic about Beth El’s plans to build on the site where Berkeley’s first free African-American citizens lived and worked on the estate of Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne. It seems very appropriate that this land should house an institution that supports the aspirations of all people to become everything their creator intended them to be.”  

We concur. 

The older structures can be removed. But thorough historical documentation is needed before any such action is undertaken.  

The early uses of the site – the first farm in Berkeley and the home place of Berkeley’s first free African-American citizens, should be appropriately memorialized in the new building design. 

The northern section of the property is part of a continuous green corridor created by Berkeley’s strongest and most daylighted creek, Codornices. The Joint Watershed Goals, passed by Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the University of California in 1995, mandate the daylighting of the culverted section – removing all underground pipes and obstructions to fish and animal migration. 

Many neighbors and highly respected architects, landscape architects, and planners, members of Berkeley Design Advocates, have come up with schematic plans for restoring the creek.  

Nationally known creek restorer, Dr. Ann Riley, initially hired by Temple Beth El, pointed out that in daylighting the creek, the vital biological corridor around it should also be restored. She suggested that the restoration and maintenance of the creek should be an ongoing public responsibility and the Temple relieved of the burden. 

The current plan shows a road and parking over the culverted section, which would prevent the creek from ever being daylighted. A suggested alternative, to put the road and parking in the midst of an oak grove to the north of the creek, would make it impossible to restore the riparian corridor. 

There is, however, a win-win solution. The Temple could sell or grant an easement to the City for the unbuildable land over the culverted creekway and along its north bank and use the funds to build underground parking. 

Funds for restoration of creeks and creekside habitat and for acquisition of recreational land are available from various sources – CALFED, Proposition 13 Regional Water Quality Control Board Watershed grants, Proposition 12 Wetlands Riparian Funding, and National Marine Fisheries Service support among others. 

The restoration of the Codornices biological corridor would serve the Temple and neighboring community as a wonderful spiritual, educational, and recreational resource.  

The restoration of natural systems is a most profound act of historic preservation – a sacred consecration that Temple Beth El could cherish. 

A viable plan, for which the Council could grant unanimous support, would satisfy all the stakeholders.  

Creative resolution of the conflict over this site would be a tremendous victory for the synagogue and the city as a whole. Let the healing begin. 

Carl Anthony and Karl Linn are friends and colleagues who have worked together for social justice and the restoration of inner-city environments for over 40 years. Their respective communities, African-American and Jewish-American, have contributed much to the strength, vitality, and diversity of American life, so richly present in Berkeley’s civic culture. 

The very name “University of California” exudes respect and elicits images of academia’s hallowed halls. 

But not for everyone.  

There are those who argue that in recent years the public has lost confidence in the university community, which has traded free academic inquiry for meat market standards, where the quest for knowledge is sold to the highest bidder. 

A discussion on industry-academic partnerships on the UC Berkeley campus Wednesday brought out defenders of such liaisons as well as their naysayers. 

Robert Tijan, professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, is the chancellor’s science advisor and an unabashed proponent of the university-industry marriage. 

Tijan told the gathering of some 75 students and faculty in a wood-paneled conference room on the third floor of Wheeler Hall that the partnership brings the university, among other advantages, access to cutting edge technology. 

“Biology is highly technical,” he said. “We need the technology.” 

The partnership entices private science-related industries to locate close to universities, and the synergy assists academia in attracting the best minds. “They’re here because we’re here,” Tijan said. “There’s feedback back and forth.” 

There are practical, bottom-line reasons junior faculty would choose to locate where they have the opportunity to work in industry, Tijan said. “If graduate students want to build a family and buy a house” they will go where they can earn a living and do research. 

Others, however, pointed to major pitfalls in the marriage between industry and academia. 

Charles Weiner, a visiting professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who teaches courses in bioethics, pointed to the danger of conflicts of interest “when one’s professional judgment may be influenced by a financial interest in the outcome.” 

A researcher might have “a different stake in the outcome than doing good in the world,” he said. 

The drive to patent one’s findings engenders secrecy among researchers, where otherwise, the scientific community might share its work. “Informal communication is the lifeblood of science,” Weiner said. 

The partnership might skew research priorities. When biotech funds come in, other fields are ignored, he said. 

“We’re way out of balance,” he said. 

While Weiner talked about today’s problems with outside interests dictating university priorities, Laura Nader, professor of anthropology, pointed out that the university has long been under the influence of entities that give them funding.  

Weapons labs, for example, became part of the university during the cold war, when the university’s role was to “protect the interests of the ‘security state,’” she said. 

Nader addressed the negative side of the synergy between industry and the university: if the university cut its ties with industry, the corporations “would loose the (graduate students’) cheap labor,” she said. 

Nader pointed to a growing threat to independent academia from the role of drug companies in medical school.  

There is a solution, she said: “Make all corporate funding of the university anonymous gifts.” 

When it was time for the audience to chime in, most were skeptical of the public-private partnerships. 

Miguel Alteiri, professor in the College of Natural Resources, spoke out about what had happened in his department. “We used to have research into alternatives to pesticides,” he said, but private research money has taken the department in a different direction. 

A former chairperson of the former Zoology Department said as a result of the pressure of private industry’s relationship to the university, his department was a victim of “urban renewal.” They’ve “torn down zoology,” he said. “They set up a highrise – molecular biology.” 

But others argued that the university culture, by necessity, is not stagnant. In the ’60s, UC Berkeley had a large psychology department and more people were studying social sciences, one person noted, adding emphatically, “The university has to change.” 

Vice Chancellor Beth Burnside heads up a committee that is exploring these questions. She can be reached at 642-7540. Students for Responsible Research are meeting to talk about such questions Wednesday 7 p.m. April 25, 112 Hilgard Ave. 

Friday, April 20 

Trash Bridges 

1 p.m.  

Lawrence Hall of Science  

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

642-5132 

Saturday, April 21 

11a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Earth Day and annual Eco-Motion Parade 

Civic Center Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Center Street 

Beginning with an Eco-Motion parade that assembles at 11 a.m. at Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr. ways, 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 eco-art making area, vegetarian food and beer, crafts, beeswax candle making and much more. Free. 654-6346 

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 

Earth Day Creek Walk  

10 a.m.  

Boogie Woogie Bagel Boy Garden 

Gilman and Curtis streets 

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 

Green Building  

9 - 11 a.m.  

642 Hearst Ave.  

A free seminar for builders, contractors, architects and others interested in preserving natural resources. Presented by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board, the seminar will focus on applicable alternatives to traditional products and practices.  

649-2674 

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

The Berkeley Community Fund is seeking nominations for the next Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal and Berkeley Community Awards.  

The Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal, named in honor of the university president and community leader, is awarded to those who demonstrate “outstanding nonpartisan service in any field of activity which has benefited the quality of life for a significant number of people in Berkeley.” The medal has been given out every other year since 1929 and annually since 1994.  

Recent recipients of the medal include United States District Judge Thelton E. Henderson in 2000 and UC Berkeley Professor Marian Cleeves Diamond in 1999. 

The BCF also invites nominations of individuals or groups that have made a substantial contribution to life in Berkeley for four Berkeley Community Awards. Two awards are for organizations and two are for individuals. The BCF specifically asks that nominees’ work reflect the four points of the Fund’s mission: narrow the inequities within the community; create hope and opportunity for disadvantaged youth; enhance cultural and intellectual diversity, while building consensus to address common problems; stimulate public and private investments to raise the quality of community life. 

The recipients of the Berkeley Community Awards for individual achievements in 2000 were Harry Dov Weininger and Carolyn North. The two organizations, which received a cash grant of $5,000 as part of the award, to win the award in 2000 were the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program and the New Bridge Foundation.  

Nominations should be sent as soon as possible to: Berkeley Community Fund, 2320 Shattuck Ave., Suite A, Berkeley, CA. 94704. The awards will be conferred at a community dinner in October.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Highway Patrol’s commissioner ordered a ban on some car searches Thursday, a move civil liberties groups say is a tacit admission that officers single out minority drivers for unfair treatment. 

CHP Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick issued a six-month moratorium on “consent searches” – the kind that officers can conduct only if they receive permission from a driver. Officers will still search a car if they have probable cause that it was involved in a crime. 

Helmick said the moratorium does not reflect any concern that CHP officers target minority drivers. 

A team of CHP managers recommended the ban after a Monday review of search data from last July through March, he said. State police began collecting the search data in February 1999 following public and political concerns that officers stop and search Hispanics and blacks more often than whites. 

Helmick said a preliminary review of the data showed CHP officers conducted 1,370 consent searches since last July, “a very small number when you look at the almost three million traffic stops we make each year.” 

The American Civil Liberties Union says it know what’s going on – that CHP officers target minorities for searches. The group has brought a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging racial profiling by state troopers around San Jose. 

The ACLU is focusing on CHP drug task force officers. The group has interpreted data the CHP handed over as part of its case to show drug officers search Hispanics and blacks at far greater rates in some highway corridors. 

In a court filing, the ACLU said after being stopped, Hispanics were nearly four times more likely to be searched than whites in the central coast area that includes Highway 101 — and that blacks were more than twice as likely to be searched. The ACLU said CHP data show similar rates in a Central Valley area that includes Highway 5. 

“The drug interdiciton officers have the most severe rates of racial profiling,” said ACLU lawyer Michelle Alexander. “Officers are encouraged to use minor traffic violations to stop motorists and then get consent to search their cars for drugs. ... they’re operating on a hunch, on a guess, on a stereotype.” 

The ACLU has argued similar search cases against highway officers in states including Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. 

“I do not agree with their numbers, but I am not going to try that court case out of court,” Helmick said. “They’re wrong, they’re dead wrong. And I’d be more than happy to prove it.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — California’s largest utility has made it abundantly clear to Gov. Gray Davis, to Wall Street and now to a federal bankruptcy judge that it believes it should be exempt from state regulation. 

At Thursday’s meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission, the regulators were expected to have their first formal chance to respond to actions that the PUC’s general counsel, Gary Cohen, called a “declaration of war” against the commission. Pacific Gas and Electric has sought to derail a PUC investigation into whether its parent company illegally transferred millions from the utility before it filed for bankruptcy. 

In its failed negotiations with Davis for a state buyout of its transmission lines, the utility also demanded it be cut free from state regulations preventing it from raising customer electricity rates. 

And during last week’s initial round of bankruptcy hearings, one of PG&E’s first actions was to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali for a temporary restraining order against the PUC, which had ordered PG&E to reconcile its debts in such a way as to prolong the rate freeze. 

PUC President Loretta Lynch wants the commission to decide Thursday to investigate whether PG&E’s April 6 bankruptcy protection filing is enough of a threat to the PUC’s regulatory authority to prompt more PUC involvement in the bankruptcy proceedings. 

PG&E spokesman Ron Low says the utility should have been able to end the rate freeze last summer when it met a key requirement of the deregulation law by wiping out debts it incurred selling power plants. 

The PUC maintains that the utility still hasn’t met the requirement, and that the rate freeze should continue. 

Low stressed that PG&E has complied with every requirement under the deregulation law and that the PUC’s repeated investigations, audits and changing requirements have hindered the utility’s attempts to climb out of debt. 

The PUC has given PG&E until May 21 to review its finances back to the launch of deregulation, and combine two accounts the PUC set up. 

One tracks the utility’s profits under deregulation — it had about $2.02 billion on January 31; the other reflects the utility’s losses from its inability to fully pass along high wholesale power prices to those customers, which totaled $8.3 billion on the same date. 

Combining the accounts would reduce the debt the utility would recover from its customers to $6.2 billion, the PUC said. 

The Utility Reform Network, the San Francisco consumer group that pushed for the new accounting rule, says the combined accounts provide a much better picture of PG&E’s actual debt. 

PG&E calls the accounting change retroactive and illegal. 

The PUC also has other business on its agenda Thursday. 

Under orders from the PUC, California’s cash-starved utilities have begun paying a key block of power generators for future electricity deliveries. But many small power generators have not resumed production. The PUC wants to know why, Commissioner Jeff Brown said Wednesday. 

Commissioner Carl Wood wants to study what the PUC can do to force more production from “qualifying facilities” — power plants that rely on solar, wind, biomass or geothermal power or natural gas to generate around a third of the state’s electricity. 

Despite recent payments from both utilities, about 3,000 megawatts of potential QF power remains off-line, the same amount as before the PUC acted, according to the state’s grid operator. 

Many QF operators say they can’t afford to pay lenders, companies supplying them with natural gas, employees and operating expenses because of the more than $1 billion PG&E and Southern California Edison Co. still owe them for past electricity deliveries — a debt they claim the PUC has not fully addressed. 

San Diego Gas and Electric says it is current on its payments. 

Brown said the PUC did not plan to discuss the design of the tiered rate increase, which will pass along recent electricity rate hikes of as much as 46 percent to customers of PG&E and Southern California Edison Co. 

Consumers could see their bills rise as early as May 1, Brown said. 

Lynch put out a statement late Wednesday, blaming inaction by federal power regulators as the reason SoCal Edison took a large write-off of debt. 

“The company should not have to shoulder these liabilities and neither should its customers,” Lynch wrote. 

——— 

On the Net: 

California Public Utilities Commission: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov 

SAN FRANCISCO — A logging company plans to reduce clear-cutting on about 560,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada, a move greeted with skepticism by some environmentalists. 

Sierra Pacific Industries, a Redding-based timber company, announced Thursday that instead of clear-cutting the 800,000 acres it had set aside for that purpose in its 100-year plan last year, it will leave clumps of trees or trees scattered throughout its harvest area. 

Environmentalists were skeptical and at least one state agency was cautiously optimistic about what the reduction will mean to the forest land owned by SPI. 

The company’s decision was in response to complaints by local residents about the aesthetics of clear-cutting. It will entail not logging trees along public roads and scenic areas. 

The 240,000 acres left that are designated for clear-cutting will be in more remote areas, said Tom Nelson, director of forest policy for SPI. 

“We would try to put it out in contiguous blocks where there isn’t a sensitive viewshed,” he said. 

But the change is not enough, said Alex Rate of the Sierra Club. 

“What SPI has admitted is there’s only visual effects of clear-cutting,” he said.  

“We feel that drastically underestimates the effect of clear-cutting on such things as public drinking water. In this day and age, we should be talking about buffer zones along sensitive watersheds and sensitive rivers, not along scenic highways.” 

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection took a wait-and-see stance. 

“CDF will continue to closely review each timber harvest plan on a site-specific basis as the details of this strategy unfold to ensure that water quality and other environmental values are protected,” said CDF Director Andrea Tuttle in a written statement Thursday. 

SPI has 1.5 million acres of forestland in the state. 

The company said it is not sure how much it will affect its board-foot production, but estimates put it at about a 10 percent to 15 percent loss, company officials said. 

SPI also said that while the company assumed there would be some benefits to the environment from the plan, it did not focus on those in its decision to reduce the clear-cutting. 

The company maintained that clear-cutting is beneficial to encourage the growth of new trees, because it exposes them to the sunlight they need to live. 

Rate disagreed. 

“The problem is, when you clear-cut in a unit, you’re bulldozing, dousing it with pesticides and planting a single crop,” he said. “There’s no way you can simulate the characteristics of a healthy forest.” 

Rate said environmentalists would continue to push for changes in state law regarding clear-cutting. 

Company officials said the clear-cutting reduction will allow trees of different species and sizes to grow near each other, as an untouched forest. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.sierraclub.org 

http://www.fire.ca.gov 

http://www.sierrapacificind.com 

SAN DIEGO — A 15-year-old boy accused of killing two students and wounding 13 other people at his high school is drawing support from around the nation from strangers who see him as a victim of bullies who should not be tried as an adult. 

Supporters created at least two Web sites and sent hundreds of letters and e-mails to Charles “Andy” Williams through his attorneys since he allegedly opened fire at Santana High School in Santee, said Linda Miller, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County Public Defender’s office, which represents him. 

“There’s a lot of people who don’t think he should be in jail,” said Steve Trotto, a real estate investor from Shrewsbury, Mass., who is a founder of the Save Andy Williams Coalition. 

Trotto and other coalition members plan to gather for a rally Friday morning outside the courthouse in El Cajon, where a judge will hear arguments on Proposition 21.  

The juvenile justice initiative obligates prosecutors to charge Williams as an adult in the case. 

Williams is charged with 28 felonies, including two counts of murder for the March 5 attack in which he allegedly opened fire on the suburban campus near San Diego with his father’s .22-caliber revolver. He reportedly told several friends about his plans the weekend before the shooting. 

Students said he was relentlessly teased for being skinny and having big ears. He’d recently been in a fight and had his skateboard stolen twice. 

“People called him freak, dork, nerd, stuff like that,” student Jessica Moore said at the time. 

Lawyers for Williams plan to argue that Proposition 21, adopted by 62 percent of voters last year, violates the state Constitution’s requirement that initiatives address a single subject. 

The district attorney’s office maintains the initiative is valid because all its component parts address juvenile crime. 

Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos is expected to issue a ruling April 27. 

Friends and family of the two boys shot and killed at Santana, Bryan Zuckor and Randy Gordon, have attended previous court hearings and spoken publicly about their anguish. 

Zuckor’s family also has circulated a petition in support of trying Williams as an adult. 

Zuckor’s aunt, Carol Lynn Briens, said Thursday that she has collected more than 1,200 signatures on her petition. She said she wasn’t surprised by the show of support for Williams because many people had refused to sign her petition. 

“Everyone is trying to save Andy Williams, and I understand that because I’m a mom,” Briens said.  

“But if they try him as a juvenile, I think that sends the wrong message.” 

Briens said she knew of the planned rally and would ignore it Friday when she makes her way to court. 

“Everyone has their own opinion and I respect that,” she said. 

The district attorney’s office was aware of plans for the rally, spokeswoman Liz Pursell said. 

“We would hope that people would be concerned about the victims,” Pursell said. 

The public defender’s office has not solicited any support for Williams and has no connection to the planned rally, Miller said. Gifts that are sent to the boy, including books and skateboard magazines, can’t be forwarded to him in juvenile hall, she added. 

The letters can be forward, but Williams has expressed interest in letters only from family and friends, Miller said. 

The level of support is a surprise, she said. 

“It’s quite unusual that so many people have expressed support for someone in this situation,” she said. 

Trotto, 35, said he received e-mails and letters from about 350 people around the world, with many saying they sympathized with Williams because of the bullying he reportedly endured. 

“I went through a lot of the same abuse,” Trotto said. “I was beat up. I was bullied. My car was vandalized.” 

Trotto plans to move from Massachusetts to San Diego to monitor the trial and coordinate opposition to Proposition 21. 

“I don’t believe children should be tried as adults,” he said.

The homes people live in evolved out of simple need or grand design, or both, then were inevitably polished by the urge to change. 

Buildings are subject to the same whims as last season’s hemline, argues Witold Rybczynski in his upcoming, tenth book, “The Look of Architecture,” which compares architecture to fashion. 

“When old buildings are torn down, the motive may be expediency or crass commercialism, but it may also be a desire for something new. This is as true of buildings as it is of women’s hats,” he writes. 

Witold Rybczynski (VEE-told Rib-CHIN-ski) is known for his opinions about the kind of houses and community structures that people create and how they infuse them with meaning. 

Rybczynski, Martin and Margy Meyerson professor of urbanism at Wharton/University of Pennsylvania, established this reputation in a series of notable books, including “Home: A Short History of an Idea,” and “The Most Beautiful House in the World,” which describes how he personally constructed his own house – a reaction to decrees of mass builders. 

Reflecting on current styles, Rybczynski says, “Have you noticed how many young architects are using tensioned wires as balusters in stair and balcony railings? Or bare polished concrete for floors? Or covering buildings with zinc, or titanium, and other unusual metals? These are all examples of how fashion makes itself felt in architecture.” 

Rybczynski approves of a trend to intelligent planning, as exemplified in the exclusive community of Windsor in Vero Beach, on the central east coast of Florida. 

It includes a shift toward pedestrian villages, planned for people rather than for cars. Windsor demonstrates this idea with shell rock roads and narrow lanes and garages discreetly out of main view. 

“Windsor is not a true community. It is unique, being a collection of second and third homes for extremely wealthy people. I think the buildings themselves are very handsome. In addition, the town plan, by Andres Duany & Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, creates a sense of urbanity that rivals that of St. Augustine – buildings close to streets, overhanging balconies, courtyard gardens,” he says. 

At the other end of the economic scale, Rybczynski celebrates the positive inventiveness of people inhabiting Third World slums – subject of much of his work during the 1970s and 1980s studying slums, building materials and sanitation facilities of China, India Africa, and Latin America. 

He points to “the inventiveness and resilience of the persons living there,” and to “the variety of building solutions, the dynamism – I mean inventiveness – in using scrap materials and odds and ends to fashion their houses.” 

Flattened oil drums and sheets of tin are used for walls and roofs, and auto windows are used for windows. “These people are poor, but in the context of developing countries, they are not the poorest of the poor but have got a foothold in the city – they are usually from the country – and are starting the long move to prosperity.” 

These people probably are taking part in the evolution of the home, a process Rybczynski described in “Home: A Short History of an Idea.” 

For example, he notes that the chair segued from a ceremonial piece to a decorative object gracing the walls of a room and only later became functional furniture we use today. And for much of history, there were no such things as specific living rooms, bedrooms or dining rooms. Rybczynski writes that a room served all purposes, with furniture moved around to accommodate the activity of the moment. Privacy was unknown, and houses often were full of people sharing common sleeping quarters. 

Seventeenth-century Holland ushered in domesticity, as houses became subdivided with rooms for specialized purposes. Even then, “the thermal charms” of the Dutch house were still medieval, writes Rybczynski. “And the only way to achieve some comfort under such circumstances was to wear many clothes...Men wore half a dozen waistcoats, several pairs of trousers, and heavy cloaks; their wives wore as many as six petticoats under their skirts.” 

His own ventures at homebuilding were chronicled in “The Most Beautiful House in the World, describing how a workshed became a boathouse and finally his full-fledged dwelling. “It began with the dream of a boat,” he writes.

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — Chicory leads a double life. Its roots have long provided a cheap coffee substitute. Its leaves, by contrast, are upscale, enjoying trendy roles in gourmet salads. 

In the garden, the taste of the fresh-picked can be well worth the challenge of growing it. 

Latest to make a buzz in fashionable eating is a variety called “puntarella” (literally, little pointy thing) often referred to in the plural form, “puntarelle.” This is a chicory from the Rome region of Italy that looks like dandelion except for white, greenish tips. You split them lengthwise with a knife, dip them in cold water to make them curl, then serve them with a zesty dressing like anchovy. This masks the bitterness characteristic of chicories. 

Before puntarella, radicchio firmly established itself for its gorgeous Burgundy-and-cream-colored leaves that transform salads into art works. 

Then there is Belgian endive, or Witloof chicory, the tightly folded white beauties that a home gardener can grow by “forcing” endive roots in containers placed in darkness in a cellar or closet. 

Other chicories include leafy escarole and frisee, also called curly endive, with fine, frizzy leaves. 

The advent of puntarella on dining news pages sent me on a search for seeds. I learned that leaves served in New York restaurants were grown on California farms, but it took me a while to find a commercial seed source. 

Finally I located two: the Cook’s Garden of Londonderry, Vt., Tel. 800-457-9703, and a Canadian provider, Berton Seeds Co. Ltd., of Weston, Ont., Tel. 416-745-5655. I ordered packets from both on the chance that some would succeed and others fail. I plan to make both an early spring sowing aimed at a fall harvest and a fall sowing for a harvest the following spring. The plant is described as very winter hardy. 

The Ontario dealer said it’s grown successfully on Canadian farms. Judging by that, my northeastern climate should not be a problem. 

I do grow radicchio successfully, but it took me a while to find the right kind for my garden. I had no luck in several trials with an overwintering long-leaf variety called Treviso, much esteemed in Italy. I concluded that my climate was wrong or I just didn’t have the knack. I fared much better with a so-called Chioggia type that forms tightly wound, round heads and is widely adaptable in the United States for same-year harvests. 

I sow seed indoors under lights in late April and set out the plants in June. By mid-August I’m cutting heads, but they don’t have to be harvested all at once. They last in the ground for weeks. I’ve cut fine heads in October from that original June planting. Endives are rich in vitamins A, B and C. The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, thought radicchio soups were good for stomach ailments that chronically plagued him. 

Gardeners wanting to experiment with Belgian endive will add a new word to their vocabulary – chicons. 

In the chicon role, a home gardener puts roots, about seven inches long, in deep flower pots or waxed cardboard containers and loosely packs them with sand or a soilless mix. Darkness is essential in the growing site. A black plastic garbage bag could be a good substitute for a cellar or closet. You keep the pots well watered, but not drenched, in temperatures ranging between 50 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If everything goes well, in about three weeks you can boast that you’ve grown your own chicons. 

Lee Reich is a columnist for The Associated Press

NEW YORK — For parents struggling to juggle work and child-raising, the news compounded their daily dilemmas: A comprehensive study found that children who spend many hours in day care are more likely to be aggressive and defiant. 

But a reseacher involved in the study, and other child-care experts, urged parents on Thursday not to overreact. They suggested the best response would be a nationwide push for improved child-care options. 

Some parents said they don’t have the luxury of changing their lives anyway, regardless of what the experts say. Child care is their only option if they want to make ends meet. 

“This will tap right into parents’ guilt – it will feed the appetite of those who think child care is a bad idea in the first place,” said Faith Wohl, president of the New York-based Child Care Action Campaign. 

George Wiggins, a firefighter in the Louisville, Ky., suburb of St. Matthews, has sent his 3-year-old daughter to day care for the past two years while his wife attends college. There’s no other choice, and his daughter is doing fairly well, he said. 

“I’d certainly rather be able to stay with her during the day, but it comes down to what you can afford,” Wiggins said. 

The 10-year, 10-city research project, financed by a branch of the National Institutes of Health, is the largest, long-term study of American child care ever conducted. 

Some of the findings should hearten parents who rely on child care: researchers found that children in high-quality programs scored better on language and thinking tests than those who stayed home. 

But researchers also found that children spending more than 30 hours a week in child care were almost three times as likely to exhibit aggression, disobedience and defiance as those in day care less than 10 hours a week. 

Margaret Burchinal, a University of North Carolina researcher who oversaw the statistical side of the study, said she was concerned that news reports of the study might cause unwarranted parental concerns. 

“As a working mother, I was distressed,” she said. Children in day care aren’t turning into monsters, she said. 

The aggressive behaviors displayed by children in the study “were typical of what you’d expect from a normal 4-year-old,” she said. “We’re not seeing that child care produces super-aggressive kids.” 

For some parents, the study’s findings were no surprise. 

“To be honest, I actually agree with it,” said Cheryl Sullivan of Minneapolis. She recently left her retail job to give birth to a second child and sends her 3-year-old son to a day-care program twice a week. 

“The kids who are there five days a week, they’re much more attention- getting, screaming and running around,” she said. “They’re apt to be the pushers and hitters.” 

Another Minneapolis mother, Rene Myers, used to provide at-home child care to eight other children in addition to her own children. Worried her children were getting shortchanged, she has cut back to caring for only one other child even though it meant a loss of income. 

“The best place for any child is at home with his mother,” Myers said. “Mothers should take a harder look at whether they really need the extra income from a job. They want to believe they can do it all, but that’s unrealistic.” 

Several experts said the study underscored the need for policy changes, including better salaries and training for child-care workers, paid parental leave and more flexible working hours for parents of young children. 

“Child care is a reality, and millions of families need to use it,” said Gina Adams, director of child care for the Urban Institute in Washington. “The challenge is how to make it the best we can.” 

Sheila Kamerman, a social policy professor at Columbia University, said the U.S. policy of unpaid parental leave is “totally inadequate” compared with the extensive paid leaves offered by many European countries. She empathized with working mothers who read about the new study. 

“This doesn’t do anything except create anxiety, and moms are anxious enough about being good moms,” Kamerman said. “Children have been cared for by people other than their mothers from time immemorial and have grown up to be happy, responsible people.”

Now in its 44th year, the San Francisco International Film Festival is among the oldest and more reputable festivals in the world, bringing new work from around the globe to the Bay Area and unearthing historic gems from the century of cinema. It’s fitting that the festival’s only screening venue outside of The City be Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive, a world-renown institution for the preservation and progression of film. 

The festival has stretched itself in mapping out all the hills and valleys of world cinema, including American popular stars (Clint Eastwood and Stockard Channing will receive the Akira Kurosawa Award and the Peter J. Owens award, respectively), experimental artists (Kenneth Anger will receive the Persistence Of Vision Award), international masters (the SFIFF recognizes Iran as currently one of the world’s vital film communities by presenting a retrospective of the work of Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi) and a spread of documentaries, dramas, comedies, and romances as part of its 204 film catalog. 

And every year they toss in a couple of risqué films that would rattle the sensibilities of pristine audiences. Past festivals have entertained controversial, borderline sleazy fare such as the French “Ennui” (SFIFF 1999) and the Korean “Lies” (SFIFF 2000). This year the festival presents the sex/murder crime-spree film "Baise-moi," that has already been banned in France. 

The Pacific Film Archive has, however, built its reputation on a careful pursuit of aesthetic and cultural preservation and exhibition. The sex-and-violence titillation of “Baise-moi” will not be on view at the PFA; however, the films presented here will nonetheless entertain and delight while maintaining the PFA’s noble standards. 

Beginning the East Bay arm of SFIFF is a women-in-prison film “Stranger Inside” (April 20), a story of a young woman caught in the prison cycle who seeks out her mother, a "lifer" in a Federal penitentiary. The film eschews moralizing about crime and recidivism to focus on the relationships and betrayals in the inmate community.  

Also on April 20 will screen “The Big Animal,” a Polish film by Jerzy Stuhr, one of Krystof Keislowski’s actors in his “Decalogue” and “Trois Colours” films (screened last winter at the dearly departed UC Theater). Stuhr’s on-screen presence was marked by his sweet-tempered compassion and a clownish, elastic face -- qualities with which he imbues the fabric of "The Big Animal," written by Kyslowski 28 years ago and rediscovered after his death. 

Set in an indistinct Polish village at an ambiguous time, a camel wanders into the possession of low-key bank clerk named Sawicki (Stuhr). The slow, lopping gait of the animal matches the simple pursuits of Sawicki as he takes his pleasures in twilight walks around town, and playing clarinet. As the other villagers take offense at the exotic beast, the big animal becomes a large, lovable metaphor for human intolerance. 

Although “The Big Animal” is a must-see for Keislowski completists, it will appeal to general audiences for its easy grace, exploration of morality, and slow-simmer humor. Classic Japanese film buffs might be interested in “Dora-Heita,” a story of politics and samurai written in collaboration with Akira Kurosawa. The tale of a samurai magistrate’s efforts to clean up social corruption through debauchery is given a light and buoyant direction by Kon Ichawa. 

Fans of another master of international cinema – Portuguese Manoel de Oliveira – will appreciate “Word and Utopia” (April 21), de Oliveira’s new film about a 17th century Jesuit priest with the gift of gab. 

“Word and Utopia” is based entirely on the sermons, court debates, and general proselytizing of Father Antonio Vieira, a missionary in Brazil fighting against the enslavement of Indians and blacks, who goes to Portugal to argue his way through King Joao IV’s courts. The rigidly austere structure of voiceovers and arguments and sermons – never does anyone say anything informally – would be insufferable were it not for deft articulations of language, and the high-brow zeal of political and religious conviction. 

The love of rhetoric is given a populist twist in “Main-Ocean Express” (April 28), a 1985 film by the little-known but significant director from the Nouvelle Vague era: Jacques Rozier. The plot, such as it is, falls away in the wake of the driving dialogues and the motley crew of characters. A Brazilian dancer rushes to catch a train in Paris, and her limited grasp of the French language leads her into an absurd range of chatty, eccentric people. 

They argue over the validation of a train ticket, propound unrealized ambitions to overthrow all the judges and train conductors in France, and extol romantic foibles as the story shifts its focus around the cast throughout a crazy weekend adventure. 

“Main-Ocean Express” is a part of a mini-retrospective of Rozier’s work, which includes “Orouet’s Way” (April 29) and his landmark 1962 film “Adieu Philippine” (April 22) the story of a young soldier-to-be and two talentless actresses sharing a vacation in Corsica. 

In 1962, “Adieu Philippine” was the shot in the arm the nascent, reactionary New Wave movement needed to propel the popularity of its young and vibrant cinema. It has been said that Rozier’s editing and sly humor out-Godarded Godard. 

“From a strictly narrative viewpoint, ‘Adieu’ was highly imaginative, even if the subject was rather silly," said UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Bertrand Augst, via email, about Rozier. "There is no doubt that he has been seriously underrated." 

Tickets and descriptions of the 30 other film programs the PFA is offering as part of the 44th SFIFF can be found online at www.sfiff.org, or by calling 415.931.FILM. 

Peter Crimmins is the producer of “Film Close-Ups”on Berkeley’s KALX radio.

WASHINGTON — One day after the Federal Reserve provided a surprise interest rate cut, a top Fed official said Thursday that it was too soon to say that the sagging economy has bottomed out. 

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson pledged the Fed would continue to be “vigilant” in its work to prevent a recession, strongly hinting that further rate cuts were likely. 

Ferguson, who spoke to an economists’ group on central bank secrecy, sought to provide a fuller explanation of economic conditions that prompted the Fed on Wednesday to cut interest rates by one-half point for the fourth time this year. 

Ferguson noted, as the Fed did in its rate cut announcement, that the central bank was particularly uneasy at present about the outlook for business investment spending, because companies are being squeezed by declining profits and falling stock prices. 

As for consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity, Ferguson said reduced corporate earnings “have hit the stock market hard since last fall” and lower returns to stockholders could be reflected in much slower consumer spending. 

Given these threats, Ferguson said, “I think it is too early to have a strong conviction that the economy is reaching the end of this period of quite slow growth.” 

“I sense that in this economy we’ve got plenty of room” to lower interest rates further if necessary, Ferguson said in response to a question after his speech. In his remarks, Ferguson said that in the current economic environment it remains uncertain how low interests have to go to restore healthy growth. 

The Fed’s surprise rate cut this week, the second this year that came between regularly scheduled meetings, pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its third biggest point gain Wednesday, 399.10 points. Technology stocks extended their gains on Thursday. 

In economic reports, the Labor Department said Thursday the number of newly laid-off workers filing for unemployment benefits declined by 10,000 last week to 385,000 after hitting a five-year high the previous week. 

Even with the improvement, the four-week moving average, which smoothes week-to-week fluctuations, rose to 382,250, the highest level since the week of April 13, 1996. 

The weekly jobless claims report is being closely watched at present by economists for signs that layoffs have reached levels that could seriously dampen consumer spending. 

A Labor Department analyst said the Fed, as is customary, received an advance look at this week’s jobless claims report on Wednesday, 24 hours before the report’s public release.  

Private economists said they viewed the small retreat in claims last week as an encouraging sign that the economy, while sluggish, has not entered a recession. “The labor market is weak but is not collapsing,” said Karen Dexter, an economist at Merrill Lynch in New York. “Claims would need to rise into the mid-400,000 range before signaling a recession.” 

Rising layoffs have already pushed unemployment, with the jobless rate rising to 4.3 percent in March, compared to the 30-year low of 3.9 percent reached during three months last year. 

For the week ending March 31, 49 states and territories had increases in jobless claims while three had declines and one reported no change.  

The state data are not adjusted for normal seasonal variations and lag behind the national data by one week. 

——— 

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

Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov 

SAN DIEGO — Slumping sales and restructuring costs pushed computer maker Gateway Inc. deep into the red with a loss of $503 million for the first quarter. 

Sales fell 15 percent, but Gateway said with much of the restructuring behind it, the company would return to profitability by the second half of the year. 

“We’re happy with the progress we’re making on our underlying business,” said Joe Burke, the company’s chief financial officer. 

Gateway reported a loss of $1.56 per share on sales of $2.03 billion for the three months ending March 31, compared with profits of $120 million, or 36 cents per share, on sales of $2.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. 

Excluding $533 million in charges for write-down of a consumer loan portfolio and the restructuring costs, the company’s operating loss was only about $6 million, or just over a penny a share, Burke said. 

Gateway had been expected to report a loss of a penny per share, according to an average of forecasts of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Gateway has struggled in an unfriendly environment for personal computer makers in the United States as the economy cools and PC prices fall amid signs of a saturated market. 

The company sold 1.1 million computers during the three months that ended March 31, down 12 percent from a year ago. 

Gateway announced in January that it would lay off about 3,000 of its 24,000 workers and take a charge of between $150 million and $275 million during the first quarter. The company also closed 27 of its retail outlets, leaving them with 299 stores. 

Burke said no major layoffs or store closings are planned. 

In addition to the layoffs and store closings, a major factor in the one-time charges is the company’s decision to discontinue financing to customers with risky credit.  

Gateway took a $100 million charge to write down its loan portfolio. 

Gateway founder Ted Waitt returned to the helm in January after ousting former chief executive officer Jeffrey Weitzen and several other top executives. 

Gateway is hardly alone in its struggle. Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday lowered its earnings forecasts and said it plans to eliminate 3,000 management positions. Compaq Computer Corp. last month announced plans to shed 5,000 jobs. 

Gateway is the nation’s fourth-largest personal computer maker, according to Dataquest. The company had revenue of nearly $10 billion last year. 

Gateway is in a more precarious position than some other computer companies such as IBM because of its heavy reliance on the slowing U.S. consumer market, said research analyst David Bailey of Gerard Klauer Matison & Co. 

“They need to generate demand in a tough economic climate while reducing expenses,” Bailey said. “It’s a difficult task.” 

Shares of Gateway were up 72 cents to $18.02 at 4 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, but fell 27 cents in after-hours trading.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — An explosion Thursday rocked a building used by an elite Palestinian police unit, injuring three officers, as Palestinians defied Israeli warnings by firing more mortar shells at Jewish settlements in Gaza. 

Despite the mortar attacks, Israeli soldiers late Thursday began dismantling roadblocks that divided the Gaza Strip into three parts, preventing Palestinian travel, the Israeli military said. Palestinian police commander Abdel Razek el-Majaidah said Israel had informed him that travel restrictions would be eased. 

Majaidah noted that there is a standing order from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat against firing mortars or other weapons from populated Palestinian areas, to prevent injury to civilians from Israeli retaliation. 

The blast came minutes after Israel’s security Cabinet completed a special session to discuss a response to Palestinian attacks, often a signal to launch a retaliatory strike. Israel has accused Force 17, Arafat’s personal guard unit, of involvement in many attacks. 

However, Israel said it had nothing to do with the explosion. 

The blast ripped the roof off the two-story building in downtown Ramallah, where Force 17 had an office. At first the Palestinians said an Israeli helicopter rocketed the building, but there was little evidence on the ground to support the claim, and Palestinian security officials later admitted that the blast came  

from inside. 

Rubble from the roof was strewn around the area, indicating that the explosion went off inside the building. Awad Khader, who owns a shop across from the stricken building, said, “The explosion happened inside the building.” He said, “I didn’t hear any noise of airplanes in the sky.” 

Palestinian police quickly closed off the area and moved people away, but not before officers in competing security arms were seen scuffling. Police confiscated reporters’ film and videotape. 

Later Thursday, Palestinian security released a statement saying that the blast was caused by a gas leak that set fire to the building. Witnesses said no fire trucks arrived at the scene. 

Though peace talks are frozen because of the violence, Palestinian officials, requesting anonymity, said negotiator Saeb Erekat met Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Israeli officials had no immediate comment. 

Frustration appeared to be building up among Israelis and their leaders over the inability to stop Palestinian mortar attacks. 

After nightfall, two mortar shells landed in fields near Nir Oz, a collective farming village just outside Gaza. 

Two mortar shells exploded harmlessly near the Jewish settlement of Atzmona on Thursday afternoon, the military said. Overnight, Israeli forces fired on several members of the Islamic militant group Hamas who were firing mortars, seriously wounding a senior Hamas activist, Khalil Sakani. 

Hamas claimed responsibility for firing mortar shells at the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom overnight, and later released a film showing Hamas activists firing mortar rounds. 

Israel television reported that the security Cabinet, made up of senior ministers, discussed Israeli strategy following a week in which the Israelis tried occupying a sliver of Palestinian-controlled territory in Gaza to move an Israeli town out of mortar range, but hastily withdrew under stiff U.S. pressure. Mortar fire resumed from the same area hours later. 

Late Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon talked by telephone with President Bush in an attempt to overcome disagreements about the incursion. Sharon told Bush the Israeli army “will have no choice but to carry out preventive measures” if the mortar fire persists, a statement from Sharon’s office said. 

Jewish settlers, who voted overwhelmingly for Sharon in a February election, are criticizing him for failing to stop the violence. 

Despite the incursion and hasty withdrawal, Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said Israel “has the complete right according to international law” to invade Palestinian territory to defend itself. 

TORI TOKOLI, Benin — When the corn harvest is bad or a breadwinner dies, child smugglers crisscross the red dirt roads linking Benin’s villages with the big city, offering money and promises of a better life. 

They prey on villagers’ hopes for an education for their children, a good wage, a full belly. 

The odyssey of a suspected slave ship put the fate of a few score such children at the center of world attention this week. The saga ended in a confused mystery –with international aid workers unsure whether they had been mistaken all along or were duped when a cargo of men, women and children finally came to port. 

Undeniable, however, is the prevalence of child slavery in West and Central Africa. An estimate of 200,000 child slaves “is probably low,” said Nicholas Pron, a UNICEF official in Benin. 

Eugenie Zoulougbe, 35, recalls how her family relinquished her then-teen-age sister to a ring of child-traffickers more than a decade ago. Later, her neighbors gave up several sons. 

All the children ended up toiling as unpaid slaves in cocoa plantations and street markets in Ivory Coast, a West African nation hundreds of miles to the east. Months or years later, they escaped and returned home. 

“Everyone knows that if you give your child to a stranger you take the risk of never seeing them again,” Zoulougbe said in her red brick-and-tin home in the village of Tori Tokoli, an hour’s drive from Benin’s commercial capital, Cotonou. 

Uncounted others disappear regularly into a loosely organized, largely undetected web of child-trafficking that U.N. officials and aid workers say stretches from the Sahara Desert to the jungles of Congo. 

For each child, Zoulougbe says, gifts of $14 to $28 were given as “advance monthly payments” to the families. No more money ever came. 

“They give the same lies each time. Yet people will still sometimes take the chance because we are all so poor,” Zoulougbe said. 

Few other families are willing to talk about the subject – a sensitive one, however common. 

The final destination for many of the children is Ivory Coast and Gabon, two countries with relative agriculture and mineral wealth in a region of desperate poverty. Some end up picking coffee and cocoa. Others work as domestic servants. A few are sold into prostitution. 

One reason smuggling flourishes in Benin is because it bears a close resemblance to the West African practice of child apprenticeship, known in southern Benin as “vidomegon,” meaning “putting a child in a home.” 

The tradition prescribes that the progeny of poor families can be sent to stay with richer relatives or friends to learn a trade and go to school. To earn their keep, the children provide domestic services. 

Benin was known in the 18th- and 19th centuries as the Slave Coast for its central role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

Today, many of those who lure children out of the villages do so “as a business, like a used-car salesman,” said Pron, the UNICEF worker. Most children are neither paid nor allowed to go to school. 

The smugglers give the children’s families a fictitious address and conjure up false stories of good schools and a comfortable life. 

“You’d be amazed at the convincing arguments they use to lure families in,” Pron said. “These are not parents who don’t care about their children. They love them just as much as anyone else.” 

It is impossible to determine exactly how many of Benin’s children have been smuggled into slavery. 

Alfonso Gonzalez Jaggli, a delegate of the Swiss-run Friends of the Earth charity that runs children’s homes for ex-child slaves and other “trafficked children,” estimates as many as 400,000 Benin children have been taken from their families and end up in “dubious circumstances.” 

Benin government officials are outspoken on the issue of child slavery and have called for international assistance, including help in discovering whether 100-250 child slaves were being trafficked on the MV Etireno, the ship that sparked a frantic international search. 

Since the ship docked in Cotonou, 30 to 40 children have been placed in homes. Authorities launched an investigation Wednesday, saying conflicting reports meant it was too early to tell whether they were victims of child-trafficking. 

“We cannot handle this problem alone,” said Social Protection Minister Ramatou Baba Moussa. “This is bigger than Benin, and it is bigger than one ship.” 

Jaggli’s children’s center in Benin’s coastal capital now takes care of about 80 children, including 23 from the Etireno. 

Moise Andoka, a slightly built, wide-eyed boy of about 10 – he doesn’t know his age – has been at the center for weeks – ever since the minibus taxi he and several other boys were in was stopped by police at the border. Several men accompanying the boys were arrested, Jaggli said. 

The boy recounts being told by his mother shortly after his father died about a month ago that he was “going to take a trip.” The men who took him away were introduced as “uncles.” 

“I would like to go home now,” the boy said. “I would like to see my mama.” 

PRETORIA, South Africa — Pharmaceutical giants dropped a lawsuit Thursday challenging a South African law that would allow cheaper AIDS drugs to get to millions of Africans, ending an international battle that deeply embarrassed the companies. 

The lawsuit over patent rights and profit was seen by human rights groups and AIDS activists as a landmark in the effort to secure medication for the 26 million people in Africa infected with HIV. The law could allow South Africa to import or make cheap generic versions of patented drugs. 

Activists who packed the Pretoria courtroom erupted into cheers and songs when Stephanus Cilliers, a lawyer for the 39 drug companies, told the judge that “the application is withdrawn.” The drug companies agreed to pay all the costs of the case. 

“There is no doubt that they have received a black eye,” Mark Heywood of the group Treatment Action Campaign said of the companies, which include giants Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim. “And I think it will embolden people in developing countries around the world to stand up for medicines that are affordable.” 

Legal experts and AIDS activists say the law, which has been passed but not implemented, gives the government power to import or produce generic versions of patented drugs in certain circumstances. 

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the health minister, said South Africa had not agreed to any deals regarding the law, but the government reiterated its pledge to honor international trade agreements when implementing the law. 

Tshabalala-Msimang implied the ruling did not mean the government planned to immediately begin providing otherwise expensive antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients, saying it did not have the necessary infrastructure and also had some concerns about the drugs. 

The government also did not consider that the law gave it blanket authority to import or produce generic versions of the antiretroviral drugs, she said. 

The lawsuit has opened the drug companies to broad criticism since it began six weeks ago. Many have responded by drastically cutting prices on their own. But even with the severe price reductions offered by some companies, the vast majority of people suffering in Africa could not afford the medications. 

Mirryena Deeb, chief executive of the country’s Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, said the suit was dropped as a “result of a negotiating process.” She said the government had agreed to consult the companies when they draft the regulations to implement the law. 

“We are very pleased that we have found a way out of this impasse,” Deeb said. 

In a statement issued in Geneva, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations welcomed the settlement, saying the agreement balanced the health needs with respect for intellectual property rights. 

“Both the South African government and the industry agree that intellectual property protection is an essential incentive for innovation, not an obstacle to access,” the federation said. “This agreement ensures that with strong intellectual property protection, consistent with international agreements, the search for new medicines will continue unabated.” 

The companies that brought the suit argued that a 1997 South African law regulating medicines was too broad and unfairly targeted drug manufacturers. 

The government, AIDS activists and human rights groups have said the drug companies are trying to wring profits out of a public health nightmare that threatens to devastate South Africa and dozens of other impoverished countries. 

More than 25 million of the 36 million people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the world’s most impoverished regions. In 2000, 2.4 million people in the region died from the effects of AIDS. 

The World Health Organization said the agreement would enable the South African government and the drug companies to focus on implementing key parts of the law stalled by the court case. 

Some activists said their task now is to make sure the government mobilizes its resources and creates a new treatment strategy. 

——— 

On the Net: Treatment Action Campaign: http://www.tac.org.za 

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: http://world.phrma.org/index.html 

The City Council directed opposing factions in the dispute over the Beth El development to meet with a mediator and find common ground and possibly a solution to their differences. 

At issue is a proposal to build a synagogue, school and parking lot on a 2-acre historical landmark at 1301 Oxford St. Neighbors, who have come together as the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association, oppose the project. 

LOCCANA members argue the development is too large and would create traffic and parking problems in the residential neighborhood. They also claim the project’s design would preclude a culverted section of Codornices Creek from ever being daylighted. 

Beth El members counter that the design of the project is sensitive to the creek and historical elements of the property. They also argue that the proposed structure takes up a smaller-than-average percentage of the 94,000 square-foot site. 

In addition the recommendation asks city staff to return to the council next week with a tentative schedule for two public hearings regarding opposing permit decisions related to the project made by two governmental bodies. One is the Zoning Adjustments Board March 8 granting of the use permit and the other is the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s denial of an alteration permit, which would allow existing structures on the property to be demolished.  

The council approved the recommendation by a vote of 5-2-2 with Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Linda Maio voting no. Councilmembers Dona Spring and Margaret Breland abstained.  

Maio said she voted against the recommendation because it did not give the two parties enough time to work on their difference before the first public hearing, which may occur as early as May 29.  

“It seems to me there’s not enough time to find a mediator, get them up to speed on the issues and work with everybody’s schedules,” Maio said.  

Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Mim Hawley said the tight deadline would move mediation along faster. “When you have a looming deadline you tend to try and meet it,” Dean said.  

Victor Herbert, a mediator with the nonprofit Berkeley Dispute Resolution Service, said outside mediation can be expensive and not always produce results.  

Herbert said in 1990, a dispute arose between an affordable housing developer and neighbors of a proposed Section 8 housing project on University Avenue.  

“Things got so bad, the City Council ordered mediation and the mediator came back to the city with a bill for $10,000 and no agreement between parties,” he said.  

Herbert said that in the case of the Beth El dispute, the mediator should be specialized in development and urban issues. 

BDRS frequently mediates disputes in Berkeley land-use issues but has chosen not to get involved with the Beth El issue because of the complexity of the problem and the high profile political attention its has received. 

According to Interim Deputy Director of Housing and Development Vivian Kahn, it has not yet been decided who will pay for the mediation services. 

Representatives from both sides of the issue said they agree mediation would help settle differences. 

Beth El member Harry Pollock said he was not surprised the City Council wanted them to participate in mediation. “We are going into the mediation process with an open mind,” he said. 

LOCCANA member Alan Gould said mediation seems like a good idea. “I dread the idea of mediation, but it’s the only way to reach a decision both sides can be happy with,” he said.  

Gould said he didn’t want to comment on what would be a good outcome for LOCCANA, but said some of the issues he would like to have discussed are the size of the buildings and the location the parking area.  

Thursday, April 19

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 Benvenue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicity,” 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 month’s 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  

Transportation  

Commission Workshop 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A presentation of the Transportation Demand Management Study’s key findings and a discussion of Study objectives and related TDM program elements.  

Gray’s Gain, Public Pain  

7 p.m.  

2060 Valley Life Sciences Building 

UC Berkeley  

A slideshow presented by the Sierra Club California Forestry Reform Campaign. Learn how to make a difference in the fight to protect natural heritage for future generations. 

622-0290 x250 

Friday, April 20

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 

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.  

Call 644-6226 

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

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. Please bring boxes for carrying your plants home.  

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 

Hands-On Seed Cleaning 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

924 Gilman St.  

Covering a variety of techniques and methods. At noon there will be a seed and plant swap, so bring envelopes to gather seed in.  

548-2220 

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 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m.  

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level 

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe which includes puppets from diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida, will perform. Free  

International Tour Directing? 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

Learn about careers in tour leading: Dealing with guides, hotels, airlines and other suppliers, and much more. Learn what qualifications are needed and where the jobs are/aren’t.  

$5.50 for CA. residents 

981-2931 

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 

Need innovation: autos killing us 

Editor:  

There is much on this page about automobile congestion and parking issues. But nowhere do I see an open acknowledgment that automobiles are choking us to death, and the innovative and daring measures we need to take to bring them under control. I would like to propose some.  

The university could do several things:  

a) As a condition of admission to, or employment by, the University of California, prospective students or employees should be forbidden to bring cars to Berkeley.  

b) There’s plenty of land in Contra Costa. The university could acquire some and build large parking garages, running students and employees in by shuttle.  

The city could do several things: 

a) Except under exceptional circumstances, limit cars to one per household.  

b) Or, levy a special tax on additional cars.  

c) Require its employees to come to Berkeley using public transport.  

d) Close off large sections of downtown Berkeley to create pedestrian-only, car-free areas. Run frequent shuttles to and through these areas.  

e) Require residents to park their cars in their garages or driveways. This would open up much of our public streets.  

These may seem like radical measures, but does anyone doubt that they, or something like them, will have to be adopted eventually if we are to control this automobile monster? If new laws are required, the university can easily handle this through the legislature. As for Berkeley, I suggest the council pass an ordinance embodying the above suggestions and be prepared to defend it in court, if necessary.  

It will take strong measures like these to deal with the automobile pollution and congestion problem. But who can do this better that Berkeley, known far and wide for its innovative and progressive cutting-edge initiatives?  

Charlie Betcher 

President, Bus Riders Union 

Chair, Commission on Aging 

Vice-Chair, Transportation Commission 

Spy planes are not protected 

Editor:  

While commercial flights are protected by international law, spy planes such as ours, are not. The law is quite clear about this; for example: Our war in Vietnam was an “undeclared war” (we never declared war on Vietnam). Thus, under the Geneva Convention, our captured personnel could be executed as “pirates” (look it up).  

Now, as to our current spy plane, the Chinese could have executed the crew and kept the plane, but they didn’t. Thank you Viet Cong, North Vietnam, and mainland China.  

George Kauffman 

Berkeley 

Franke needs to answer outstanding questions 

Editor:  

Mr. Bernd Franke, a physical geographer hired by the city (”Some Mistrust Over Tritium Report,” Berkeley Daily Planet April 4), stated in his presentation on April 2 at the North Berkeley Senior Center: “You can’t squeeze the truth from poor data.” In that case, what could possibly have motivated Franke to do just that?  

According to the Daily Planet, Franke told an audience of 150 people at Monday’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission meeting that he could not find evidence of dangerous amounts of tritium being released. Yet, concerning the evidence Franke did find, all provided by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, he states in his own draft report Review of Radiological Monitoring at LBNL: “For 1998, the silica gel data and the real-time data measured with the Overhoff System was used instead. Due to large uncertainties present in the Overhoff data, this estimate is likely to be unreliable.”  

Franke further states that since “the Overhoff system did not continuously operate for the entire time periods in the years of 1998 and 1999 due to system malfunctions” the compliance report to the Clean Air Act was based only on silica gel sampler data. Regarding the silica gel samplers he states they “may not collect all the water in the air passing through, hence there is a chance that not all the tritium may be collected.” If you don’t know how much tritium is being released because one system malfunctions and the other is inefficient, how can you conclude the amount being released is not dangerous?  

Franke’s report reveals that the accidental release of tritium on July 24, 1998, originally reported as 23 curies, and later adjusted up to 35 curies by the Lab, was probably closer to 50 curies because the Lab only reported the tritium released from the roof stack and did not include about 15 curies which were released from the hillside stack near the Lawrence Hall of Science.  

The intent of the contract voted for by the Berkeley City Council on May 11, 1999 was that “IEER (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) play an essential role as technical representatives for both a concerned community group (Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste) and the city’s Environmental Commission....” The major concerns of the Committee have not yet been addressed: How much tritium was released into the air such that 239,000 pico curies tritium per liter were found in rain water near the Lawrence Hall of Science in 1994, and 524,000 pico curies tritium per kilogram organically bound in vegetation near the LHS in 1996? And why is there 85,000 pico curies tritium per liter in ground water near the stack?  

Considering that the maximum allowable tritium in drinking water is 20,000 pico curies these alarmingly high levels in rain water and other media are of grave concern to the community. We sincerely hope that Mr. Franke will extrapolate the tritium in air concentrations that caused these high levels and report this in his finalized version of the draft report he presented to the community on April 2, 2001.  

Gene Bernardi 

Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste 

Berkeley 

Enforce traffic laws; re-engineer streets 

Editor: 

I agree with Mr. John Cecil (April 4): Berkeley needs better enforcement of existing traffic laws. It is surprising that so few people are killed or injured on our streets. Berkeley is a paradise for traffic scofflaws of all kinds – drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. 

It may be true, as Mr. Wald said, that we need a “change of culture” to make our streets safer. I’m for that: let’s get rid of TV ads showing passenger cars (including RVs) driven at high speeds in urban and country settings. But changing a culture is something that takes years and years and years. As a solution for the problems of Berkeley today, John Cecil is exactly right: it is nonsense.  

It is true, as Mr. Campbell (April 7) asserts, that “enforcement is not enough.” But increased enforcement is the only remedy immediately available, even if it is only a partial fix. His assertion that John Cecil wants to “turn Berkeley into a police state” is a disgraceful travesty of what Cecil actually said. Cecil observed that the Berkeley police department’s traffic detail is 50 percent smaller than the traffic details in cities of the same size, and recommended that we do as other cities do. 

Other available remedies include increasing the number of parking spaces and the number of one way streets downtown. Traffic congestion would be eased considerably (making it much less dangerous) if we had alternating one way streets between Hearst and Derby, with Milvia and Oxford also one way, going in opposite directions. 

Phil McArdle 

Berkeley 

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 $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; children age 12 and under free; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; 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  

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership. April 20: The Blast Rocks, The Sissies, Uberkunst, Audiowreck, Pirx the Pilot; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, The Lawrence Arms; April 27: Atom & His Package, Phantom Limbs, Har Mar Superstar, The Frisk, Shubunkins; April 28: 7 Seconds, Throwdown, Vitamin X, Over My Dead Body, Breaker Breaker; May 4: Plan 9, Zodiac Killers, Reverend B. Dangerous Freakshow, Dory Tourette & The Skirtheads, Knockoffs; May 5: Shikabane, Phobia, Harum Scarum, Vulgar Pigeons, Insidious Sorrow 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz 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; 1370 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Door open at 8 p.m. April 20: Little Jonny & the Giants; April 21: Jimmy Mamou; April 27: Carlos Zialcita; April 28: J.J. Malone; May 4: Henry Clement; May 5: Terry Hanck; May 11: Jimmy Mamou; May 12: Fillmore Slim 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland 655-6661  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 19: Joe Louis Walker, Rusty Zinn; April 20: Michael McNevin; April 21: Peter Apfelbaum; April 22: mary Schmary; April 24: Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain; April 25: An Evening Honoring Kenny Cahn with Caren Armstrong, Doug Blumer, John Lester, Christie McCarthy, The Urban Accoustic Dude and others; May 5, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with author P.D. James and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser; 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. April 22: Alan Hall & Friends; May 6: David Creamer Trio 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Cal Performances April 28, 8 p.m.: Vanguard Swing Orchestra, UC Berkeley Big Band $18 - $30 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  

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

“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 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 

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 dialogue 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 Instrument Petting Zoo to try playing different instruments. Rose Street at Sacramento in Berkeley. Free. Call 559-6910.  

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

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

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 

Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble & Art of Ballet Dance Theater April 20, 7 p.m. Part of Dance Week at the Julia Morgan Center, April 20 - 29. $16 - $18 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

UC Dance Theater Spring 2001 Season Program A: April 20, 27, 28, 8 p.m. and April 22, 7 p.m. A premiere of “Soulmate” by Marni Wood, “New Work” by Anne Westwick and “New Work” by Christopher Dolder with original music by Edwin Dugger. Program B: April 21, 28, 29, 2 p.m. and April 21, 8 p.m. “Esplanade” by Paul Taylor, reconstructed by Mary Cochran, “American Decades” by David Wood, “Le Matin sans Minuet” by Christopher Dolder, and “Treading” by Christopher Dolder $6 - $12 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 

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 

Reflejos de Mexico April 28, 2 p.m. The dance troupe celebrates the vast richness of the Mexican culture. Park of Dance Week. $10 - $12 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted April 19: Andrew Harvey talks about “The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Spiritual Traditions”; April 22: Poetry of Maxine Hong Kingston & Fred Marchant; April 23: Janis Cooke Newman discusses “The Russian Word for Snow”; April 24: Chitra Divakaruni reads “The Unknown Errors of Our Lives”; April 25: Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel discuss “Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect”; April 26: Maud Casey and John Searles read from “The Shape of Things to Come” and “Boy Still Missing”; April 27: Poetry of Michael Heller & Carl Rakosi;  

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 19: Bruce Feiler will discuss “Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses” 1385 Shattuck Ave.  

843-3533 

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Holloway Poetry Reading Series 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 

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 

Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai April 29, 10:30 a.m. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld, co-translators of Yehuda Amichai’s “Open Closed Open,” will read their translations from the Hebrew. Book signing to follow. $4 - $5 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237  

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. Through 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  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Free Lectures All lectures begin at 6 p.m. April 29: Barr Rosenberg on “The Ornament of the Middle Way”; May 6: Sylvia Gretchen on “Faith, Doubt, and Refuge in Buddhist Practice”; May 13: Abbe Blum on “Tapping Into Creativity”; May 20: Miep Cooymans and Dan Jones on “Working with Awareness, Concentration, and Energy”; May 27: Eva Casey on “Getting Calm; Staying Clear”; June 3: Jack van der Meulen on “Healing Through Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga)”; June 10: Sylvia Gretchen on “Counteracting Negative Emotions” Tibetan Nyingma Institute 1815 Highland Place 843-6812 

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 

West Coast Regional Spartacist Educational April 28, Noon Jon Wood, of the Spartacist League, will speak: “Defend the Gains of the Cuban Revolution”; 3:30 p.m.: George Foster, central committee, Spartacist League, will speak: “For Socialist Revolution in the Bastion of World Imperialism” 60 Evans, UC Berkeley 839-0851 

“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 

Peopling of the Pacific May 11, 8 p.m. Dr. Patrick Kirch, department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley, will review results of archaeological research in the Pacific Islands, providing a current overview of Oceanic prehistory. 370 Dwinelle Hall UC Berkeley 415-338-1537  

Against a strong opponent and under an unexpected rain, the Berkeley girls’ lacrosse team put up a valiant effort Wednesday, coming up just short in a 13-10 loss. 

Jamie Lee carried the ’Jackets (5-2 NCGLA) on her back, scoring six goals and one assist, and Elena Kriefer had two goals and two assists. Acalanes (6-1) was led by Merryl Geisse’s four goals and two assists. 

The game was played in streaks, as Acalanes would go up four or five goals, then Berkeley would answer back with a couple of goals. Down by four at halftime, the ’Jackets couldn’t get closer than three in the second half. 

The game started well for Berkeley, as Krieger scored the first goal of the game less than a minute in. But Acalanes scored the next four, using their taller players to take passes in front of the Berkeley goal for easy chances. But Lee brought her team back into the game with two rugged solo goals, bulling her way through several defenders on each one. After that impressive outburst, the Dons started double- and triple-teaming Lee each time she got the ball. 

“(Lee) has great leadership, and can often swing the game for us, to get us the goals we need,” Berkeley coach Quincy Struve said. “Usually our scoring is more diverse, but Jamie did a great job today.” 

Geisse followed Lee’s goals with her own long run, during which she fended off five ’Jackets on her way to the goal. The Dons pulled out all the stops for the next two minutes, scoring two goals in 12 seconds, and seemed happy with the 7-3 lead.  

With six minutes left in the first half, they went into a stall, holding the ball in the Berkeley end but not shooting. The ’Jackets seemed afraid to be the aggressors on defense, as they had exposed their goalie to several one-on-one situations early in the game, and the half played out with little action on the field. 

“We generally play a defense where we wait for a challenge, rather than presssuring out,” Struve said. “You run the risk of getting burned when you run at people. We tend to wait and be ready to go where they’re going.” 

Unfortunately for Berkeley, the Dons came out firing to start the second half. They needed just 40 seconds to score their first goal of the half, and followed up four minutes later with another. But Krieger reeled off two quick assists, one to Elizabeth Howe and one to Lee. Lee then scored another goal on a strong solo run, and the ’Jackets were back within three. 

Once again, the Dons headed off a Berkeley comeback before it could really pick up steam. Taking less than 30 seconds to get back a four-goal lead, they quickly extended their lead to five on a fast break. Berkeley’s Kate Walstead found Krieger open for a goal to get back within four, then Lee and Geisse started trading goals. Lee broke triple coverage to score, but Geisse sliced through the Berkeley defense for an answer. Lee again waded through the Acalanes triple-team for a goal, but Geisse recovered a loose ball and fired her final goal into the Berkeley net with four minutes left to make the score 13-9. Although Lee found Sonja Graves for a goal seconds later, the ’Jackets couldn’t keep possession long enough to get any more good shots, and the Dons’ swarming defense finally stopped Lee, as she had two shots deflected before they got to the Acalanes goalie.

When a high school team improves its record dramatically from one year to the next, the reasons are usually found in the maturation of players as they gain experience. But for the Berkeley High boys’ golf team, which will likely claim a share of the league title after winning just one match last season, there are three factors for the improvement, and none of them are carried over from last year. 

Probably the biggest reason for the team’s 7-1 record in the newly-formed Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League is an infusion of talent from the middle school level. Of the seven players who perform in league matches for the ’Jackets, four are freshmen. In all, coach Evan Nik Dang has six freshmen on the 12-man squad this year. That’s a pretty big step up from last season, when the team had a hard time putting together a five-man team for some matches. 

“Last year, we knew we didn’t have a chance of winning, so a lot of times people didn’t show up,” said junior Adam Breckler, the only current player who was on last year’s team. “This year, with so many guys being competitive for spots, we can concentrate on winning more.” 

That winning has undoubtedly been made easier by Berkeley’s switch from the ultra-competitive East Bay Athletic League to the ACCAL. The EBAL was full of teams from the suburbs, where golf is much more prevalent than in the urban schools of the ACCAL. In fact, only five of the nine ACCAL members even field a boys’ golf team. 

Berkeley’s main competition for the league title this year is Alameda. Berkeley has already completed the season series with the Hornets, with each team winning at its home course. Neither team has lost another league match. Both figure to win their remaining matches as well, which would leave them in a tie for the title. 

In addition to their league matches, the ’Jackets have had a chance to play at some of the best courses on the west coast, including Spyglass, Hidden Brook and Oakhurst. Those opportunities came via Dang, who is in his first year of coaching the team. 

Dang is a Berkeley High graduate (Class of ’74), and was hired shortly before the current season. That left him little time to put together a schedule for the team, but he did an admirable job, getting the team into two tournaments and dates at some great courses. As a result, there were 25 golfers at team tryouts, and Dang had the luxury of keeping the best 12, a big improvement from last season. 

“Being hired at the last minute, I had to scramble for a schedule,” Dang said. “But we got some great courses and good tournaments, which I’m sure helped attract more players.” 

Those players produced good results at the tournaments, as the ’Jackets finished third in San Leandro and sixth in Brentwood. 

The freshmen who made the team include Samson Taka Holmes, whose brother was last season’s best player. Samson saw his brother go through tough times during his Berkeley High career, and is grateful he doesn’t have to endure the same. 

“It’s a totally different atmosphere this year,” he said. “Everyone really wants to play this year.”

A group of senior citizens recounted stories to the City Council of poor service and mistreatment by taxi drivers who they say are rude, unhelpful and overcharge. That is, of course, if they show up at all. 

The seniors were talking about Berkeley’s subsidized taxi service that provides transportation for the elderly and disabled. Taxi riders purchase discounted vouchers, which are called scrip, from the city and use them instead of cash to pay taxi fares with contracted taxi services. 

The cab companies redeem the scrip with the city once a month at 90 cents on the dollar.  

According to Commission on Aging Vice Chair Charlie Betcher, there are fewer cab companies willing to provide the scrip service. The only cab company that currently provides the scrip service is Friendly Cab, which did not return phone calls to the Daily Planet on Wednesday.  

“Ten years ago there were 10 cab companies that were contracted with the city to provide scrip service. Now there’s only one.”  

Betcher said taxi drivers are reluctant to pick up scrip fares because the elderly and disabled often go short distances and want drivers to perform other tasks besides driving such as carrying grocery bags.  

The City Council was scheduled to consider a recommendation from the Commission on Aging that would raise the redemption value of the scrip for cab drivers, redeem the scrip for cash twice a month instead of once a month and require all contracted cab companies to provide a specific portion of scrip service each day as a requirement of permit renewal.  

Magnolia Evans, 70, one of about 40 scrip-using seniors who attended the meeting, told the council she has missed doctors’ appointments because cabs show up late. “I took a cab to the grocery store and when I was done shopping, I waited three hours for the cab and it never came,” she said.  

Evans said a grocery store worker finally gave her a ride home after her shift was done.  

Ester Kassoy, 88, said she was stranded at a market and had to walk 15 blocks when a cab didn’t show up. 

“I can’t understand why a liberal city like Berkeley would allow cab drivers to treat old people this way,” she said. 

City Manager Weldon Rucker asked the council to postpone voting on the recommendation until May 8. He said officials from the Housing Department, which administers the program, need time to consider other alternatives.  

According to Interim Director of Housing Stephen Barton, one alternative might be requiring all cab companies that take fares in Berkeley to be required to provide scrip service. 

COA Commissioner Maris Arnold said the commission hopes to have a Scrip Rider Bill of Rights prepared by May 8. “We want cabs to show up when they say they will,” said Arnold. “Every cab company that does business in Berkeley should have to sign the document.”  

Rucker said he takes the situation very seriously and told seniors at the meeting to call his office if they have complaints about cab service. 

Lodging Law 

The City Council did not have time to address the Compassionate Treatment of Homeless recommendation at Tuesday’s meeting, disappointing homeless advocates who waited late into the night. 

The recommendation, submitted by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, called for a moratorium on enforcement of a state law that makes it a misdemeanor to sleep on public property as well as in abandoned buildings and automobiles.  

About 75 homeless advocates, many of them homeless themselves, attended the meeting to show support for the moratorium.  

But it became clear at 11:30 p.m. that the council was unwilling to extend its meeting to consider the issue as well as several others that remained on the agenda.  

The recommendation was moved to next Tuesday’s meeting. 

Community organizer, Darren Noy, of Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, said he was disappointed the council didn’t take action on the item.  

“They don’t want to deal with the issue,” he said. “They ignored the fact that there are people sleeping on the streets tonight who have no where else to go and they are being arrested.”  

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said that the city does not have the authority to enact a moratorium on state law but the city can make issuing citations and arresting the homeless a low priority. 

“Even if we do that,” she said, “people could still make citizens’ arrests which the police would have to carry out.”  

MORAGA – Cal allowed Saint Mary’s to score four runs in the third inning and six runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 10-6 loss to the Gaels Tuesday at Louis Guisto Field in Moraga. The Bears fall to 22-19 overall and Saint Mary’s improves to 14-25.  

Cal’s freshman starter James Holder gave up four runs to the Gaels in the third inning, yielding a fielder’s choice RBI to Mike Reardon, a two-run double to Mark Teahen and an RBI single to Brian Houle.  

The Bears responded with a run of their own in the fourth inning on an RBI bunt single by senior Rob Meyer, but then things fell apart in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cal freshman reliever Brian Montalbo gave up six runs on five hits in the fifth, but also was a victim of two Bear errors in the inning.  

Despite being down 10-1, Cal did make a game of it by scoring four runs in the sixth inning and a run in the seventh inning. In the sixth, the Bears had five straight hits against Saint Mary’s reliever Gabe Palma to start the inning, including an RBI double by Clint Hoover and a three-run homer to right field by Brad Smith, his first collegiate home run. Cal added a run in the seventh on an RBI single to left field by Carson White, but couldn’t get any closer..  

The Bears will next travel to Tucson, Ariz. for a three-game Pac-10 series Apr. 20-22 against Arizona.

As the Berkeley school board considers ways to reduce an estimated $5 million budget shortfall next year, including possibly increasing class sizes slightly for some grades, some are wondering if the district can still afford to take hundreds of students each year from outside the city. 

“The impact on the district hasn’t been quantified,” said board Director John Selawsky Wednesday. “We can tell how many kids are coming in, but nobody has really broken that down to determine what it does to class size.” 

In the current school year, 673 of the district’s more-than 9,000 students live outside Berkeley, according to district records. Nearly 90 percent of them hail from Oakland or the West Contra Costa County School District. 

“People perceive Berkeley public schools as being markedly better than some of our neighboring districts primarily because of the (level of financial support for Berkeley schools),” Selawsky explained. 

But what Selawsky and others want to know is: are the out-of-town students putting undo strain on the district’s finances? 

“This has always been an issue, particularly for property owners (who pay taxes),” said Berkeley PTA Council President Mark Coplan. “We need to have information at our finger tips to tell us what effect this has.” 

Of course, as is often the case, this is easier said than done. 

At the heart of the question, said Fred Dunn-Ruiz, manager of student services for the school district, is the issue of whether the so-called interdistrict transfer students bring in more money than it costs to educate them, resulting in a net gain for district finances. 

The lion’s share of school district revenues come from the state and are paid out on the basis of the district’s overall attendance numbers in a given year. More students means more revenue – roughly $24 more for each day those students attend school. 

During the tenure of former Superintendent Jack McLaughlin, who left earlier this year, the Berkeley school district actually had an informal policy of trying to encourage school enrollment growth in order to increase education dollars the district receives from the state, Dunn-Ruiz said. 

And, Berkeley school district enrollment growth outstripped the state average for unified school districts between 1995 and 1999, growing at more than 4 percent annually, from 8,308 students in the 1995/1996 school year to 9,400 students in the 1998/1999 school year. 

But Berkeley’s robust school programs and low student/teacher ratios can be traced, in large measure, to the millions of dollars Berkeley taxpayers shell out each year under the Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Project tax measure, passed by voters in 1994. Under that measure, Berkeley schools have $5.3 million a year to pay for additional teachers to keep class sizes small, for example. But it is a fixed number, and as district enrollment grows, the funds are not enough to meet the district’s class-size reduction goals. 

As a result of interdistrict transfer students, “we have the district gaining some money, but on the other hand it’s diluting the enrichment funds,” Dunn-Ruiz said. 

Furthermore, there is broad consensus among district administrators that Berkeley High School, with its 3,300 students, has outgrown its 17-acre campus. More than 40 percent of Berkeley’s interdistrict transfer students, or 281 kids, are Berkeley High students. Selawsky said he wanted to know how much those 281 students impact the school’s limited resources. 

“That’s the kind of information that we need,” he said. “It’s important to separate the anecdotal stuff from reality.” 

Berkeley resident Kris Hardie actually opted to send her son to Albany High school, fearing that he would not cope well at Berkeley High after his years in a small, private elementary school. 

“There are not as many issues with violence and fights,” at Albany high school, Hardie said, as she filled out transfer forms at the Student Services Office in Berkeley on Wednesday.  

“Although I know Berkeley has some great programs, so it’s kind of a trade off,” she added. 

Selawsky said he is not suggesting current interdistrict transfer students should be removed from Berkeley schools, but merely asking how interdistrict policies might be used in the future to control enrollment growth, should such an action prove desirable. 

Berkeley school district Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone said reducing the high school’s enrollment could have significant negative impacts as well.  

Since large schools such as the high school can spread out their costs, the expense of educating a few hundred more students is relatively small, Goldstone said. As a result, much of the state money brought in by interdistrict transfer students could be available to support other district programs in need of more funding, he said. 

Goldstone said district staff are working on “refining” some of the information around inter-district transfer issues to provide more definitive answers to the questions raised by Selawsky an others. The information will be presented to the school board during a public forum some time next month, he said. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Five days after he was rescued from nearly eight months in the hands of Muslim rebels in the Philippines, Jeffrey Schilling arrived home Wednesday to an emotional welcome. 

Schilling was met by his mother and a number of supporters at San Francisco International Airport before he was led by police to a waiting van. 

Schilling appeared gaunt, tired and a bit bewildered as he entered the terminal. He did not speak to reporters. 

Army troops in the Philippines found the Oakland resident barefoot and covered with mosquito bites when they rescued him Thursday on southern Jolo Island, where he had been held in a jungle since August by the Abu Sayyaf rebels. He left the Philippines for Guam, a U.S. territory 3,700 miles west of Hawaii, on Sunday after debriefings by American and Philippine authorities. 

Schilling, a Muslim convert, was detained by the Abu Sayyaf when he and his now-wife, Ivy Osani, traveled to an Abu Sayyaf camp last August. Osani, a cousin of one of the guerrillas, was allowed to go. 

However, Osani remains in the Philippines, where she is waiting for clearance to come to the U.S. It is not clear when that might happen. 

Schilling has denied links with the Abu Sayyaf and told reporters before he left the country that he wanted the military to continue assaults to annihilate the group. 

The Abu Sayyaf, one of three insurgency groups battling the government, threatened to behead Schilling as an April 5 birthday gift for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. 

Arroyo responded by ordering a massive military assault against the Abu Sayyaf, resulting in Schilling’s rescue. 

Meanwhile, the wife of the final hostage held by Muslim guerillas pleaded Wednesday for his safe return so he can see his four-month-old son for the first time. 

Joy Acune, 34, said diving instructor Roland Ullah was unaware that she was pregnant with their second child when Abu Sayyaf separatist rebels captured him, 10 other resort workers and 10 Western tourists on Sipadan island off northeastern Borneo on April 23 last year. 

All the captives except Ullah were released or rescued in stages amid protracted negotiations, with Malaysia and Libya reportedly paying millions of dollars in ransom to the Abu Sayyaf. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Survivors of San Francisco’s devastating 1906 earthquake gathered at a historic fountain Wednesday morning for a wreath-laying ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the temblor that leveled much of the city. 

In 1906, Lotta’s Fountain served as a meeting point for survivors looking for loved ones. This year, more than a dozen survivors met at there as sirens blared at 5:12 a.m., the exact time of the quake. 

Most of the survivors were toddlers during the 7.8-magnitude quake that killed about 700 people and triggered a fire that all but destroyed the city. Many remember the commotion surrounding the quake, but said they were too excited to be scared. 

Flora Allen, 98, was almost 4 years old when she was woken up by the shaking. 

“I was screaming,” she said. “I remember my mom dressing us up all nice and warm and putting us in the middle of the street, not having any drinking water, my brothers showing us at night how red the sky was because the city was burning.” 

Allen, who has lived in Mexico and throughout Latin America, now lives in Alameda and said the earthquake taught her not to worry. 

“Something’s going to happen no matter where you go,” she said. 

Bessie Shum was two when the earthquake happened. She remembers her father rushing in and telling the family there was no time to pack.  

He had to carry her mother out because, as part of Chinese tradition, her mother’s feet were bound and she could not walk. 

Others remembered what their parents told them about the quake and its aftermath. Marie Sagues, who was 2 days old at the time, said her parents and others put stoves out in the street because they couldn’t cook in the house. 

The earthquake lasted at least 45 seconds, about twice as long as is typical, and the movement traveled along an almost 300-mile long stretch of the San Andreas fault.  

Many survivors have said they heard a low rumbling that grew louder for a few seconds before the ground began to shake, said Jack Boatwright, a geophysicist for the United States Geological Survey. 

The ground shook violently back and forth and the land along parts of the fault moved as much as 26 feet, Boatwright said. Some areas sank as much as 5 feet, he said.  

The quake was probably centered somewhere off the coast of San Francisco, not under the city. 

The San Andreas fault has the potential to experience an earthquake up to 50 percent stronger than the one in 1906, Boatwright said. But there’s only a 5 percent chance that the region will experience a quake the size of the 1906 one over the next 30 years, Boatwright said. 

“That is very small,” he said. 

The survivors at Wednesday’s commemoration were treated to breakfast at the Westin St. Francis hotel, one of the few buildings that survived the temblor and is standing today. In the hotel’s lobby, photographs of the city after the quake show piles of rubble covering streets, with only a few buildings standing. 

SANTA BARBARA — Nearly two years of attempts to reach an agreement on creating no-fishing zones around California’s northern Channel Islands almost collapsed Wednesday when fishermen and environmentalists failed to reach a compromise. 

The snag occurred during a meeting of the Marine Reserves Working Group after the most conservation-minded members of the panel grew frustrated with what fishing interests were willing to give up around Channel Islands National Park. 

“I don’t know if it is realistic or ever was that all of these people can come to a consensus,” said Deborah McArdle of the California Sea Grant Program, a government group involved in the talks. 

Group members agreed to talk to their constituents about areas of agreement reached so far and meet again within the next month. 

The working group was formed by the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council in July 1999 to help create a reserve that would ban fishing in some areas of the national park. A final decision on establishing the reserve is up to the California Fish and Game Commission, Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration. 

Marine reserves are relatively rare but are on the rise, with one approved recently in the Florida Keys and several others proposed in California. 

Finding consensus on where to ban fishing proved difficult Wednesday because the areas around the islands are widely used by sport and commercial fishermen. If squid fishermen don’t use a particular spot, chances are that it’s worked by lobster trappers, sea urchin divers or kelp harvesters. 

During the hearing, computer images of proposed no-fish areas projected on a screen expanded and contracted as fishing interests pleaded their cases. Fishermen said they were willing to give up more than 90,000 acres of fishing areas, the bulk of it around westernmost San Miguel Island. 

But environmentalists pressed in vain for more protection for kelp beds and waters off sandy beaches. They cited a study by a science advisory panel that concluded that 30 percent of the area around the islands needed to be off-limits to fishing to prevent depletion of marine life. 

Many fishermen dispute that figure and have been looking to keep no-fish zones at 15 to 25 percent of the total area. 

“I think certain members of the group have come a long way, and we’re being treated like dirt because we didn’t go all the way,” said Robert C. Fletcher, president of the Sport Fishing Association of California. 

Neil Guglielmo, who harvests squid in the area said, “I just gave away two miles of very productive squid habitat and now, because we are not meeting everyone’s expectations of a Garden of Eden, it was thrown out.” 

Time is running out for the group because a state panel also is planning marine reserves and will make its own recommendation for the islands this summer if the group fails to provide any. 

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers are looking for ways to lure more qualified teachers into the schools that need them the most – those with mostly poor, minority and non-English-speaking students. 

Lawmakers spent much of Wednesday considering a variety of bills to lure more qualified teachers to these schools that, studies have shown, are more likely to have unqualified teachers and low test scores. 

Proposed solutions include higher pay, smaller class sizes, cleaner schools and other ways to make those schools more attractive to qualified, experienced teachers. The first of these bills have started to move through the Legislature’s education committees. 

Schools with the lowest scores on the statewide test are predominantly those with the poorest students, the highest numbers of minority children and the most kids who don’t speak English. 

Low-performing schools also are the most likely to have many classes taught by teachers without the state credential showing they have a college degree, have taken teacher training classes and have passed a basic-skills test. 

Currently, 37,000 of the state’s 292,000 teachers are teaching with emergency credentials, says state school Superintendent Delaine Eastin. 

Those unqualified teachers are not evenly distributed among schools, according to a study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Cruz. 

The schools tend to be those in the state’s poorest communities, where students come to school the least prepared and are most in need of the best teachers, says the center. 

Leaders of the California Teachers Association, the state’s larger teachers’ union with 295,000 school and college members, have started a bus tour this week to some of those lowest-performing schools to promote their own proposals. 

The CTA wants to make those schools attractive places to teach by giving districts money to use as needed to train teachers, reduce the sizes of more classes, improve school buildings and provide books and materials. 

CTA President Wayne Johnson, sitting in the bus near Jefferson Elementary School in Fresno, said by telephone that transferring teachers involuntarily to low-performing schools will not work. 

“We think that would probably drag a lot more teachers out of teaching,” he said. 

The committee, with CTA support, Wednesday approved a bill to gradually reduce class sizes in grades four through eight, starting with the state’s lowest-performing schools. The state’s class-size-reduction program covers kindergarten through third grades and some ninth-grade classes. 

The teacher shortage, caused by more students, teacher retirement and class-size reduction, is expected to worsen, with California needing 300,000 new teachers in the next decade. 

SANTA ROSA — Two men arrested for growing 899 pot plants were acquitted Wednesday on charges of cultivating and possessing marijuana. 

A Sonoma County jury found Kenneth E. Hayes and Michael S. Foley innocent after a day of deliberations. 

The two men had claimed they were growing the plants for the 1,200-members of a San Francisco medical marijuana club called CHAMP – Cannabis Helping Alleviate Medical Problems. Hayes ran the club. 

The pair was arrested in May 1999 after a county narcotics task force found the plants in a greenhouse near Petaluma. 

Prosecutors said Hayes and Foley grew the marijuana for profit and were not the patients’ primary caregivers.  

That definition was at issue because state law, approved by voters as Proposition 215, allows marijuana possession with a physician’s approval for medical patients and their caregivers. 

“Our contention was that you can’t be a caregiver under the definition of the statute to that many people,” said Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins. “The jury felt otherwise.”

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE — NASA on Wednesday unveiled a futuristic “scramjet”-powered aircraft designed to hurtle over the Pacific Ocean at up to 7,200 mph in a test this spring, becoming the world’s fastest air-breathing plane. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s first unpiloted X-43A will make its maiden flight in mid-May, flying under its own power for just 10 seconds and about 17 miles before coasting to a water impact off the coast of California. 

Two more X-43As will fly at six-month intervals. The 12-foot-long, surfboard-shaped planes with spatula noses and 5-foot wingspans should travel seven to 10 times faster than the speed of sound. 

“This is an aviation first in that no one has flown an air-breathing aircraft at Mach 7,” said Vince Rausch, manager of the X-43A program at NASA’s Langley Research Center. 

If successful, the X-43A will smash the speed record of Mach 6.7, set by an X-15 in October 1967. But unlike the rocket-powered X-15, the X-43A, or Hyper-X, has an air-breathing engine. It carries hydrogen for fuel, but must scoop oxygen out of the atmosphere to combust it. Conventional rockets carry both fuel and an oxidant. 

Currently, the fastest air-breathing aircraft is the SR-71 “Blackbird,” which cruises slightly faster than Mach 3.  

The X-43A should become the first air-breathing plane to go hypersonic, or faster than Mach 5. 

The government has pursued the idea of routine hypersonic flight for four decades, including an abortive $2.4 billion effort begun under President Reagan to build a “National Aero-Space Plane” capable of zipping halfway around the globe in a few hours. 

“The concept is pretty simple, it’s just that no one can seem to make it work,” said Howard McCurdy, a professor of public affairs at American University. 

The $185 million X-43A project is purely experimental. Engineers will collect flight data needed to build future planes perhaps 200 feet in length. The first piloted prototypes may fly by 2025. 

Such planes will probably never carry commercial passengers because of the high acceleration, high heat generated by friction with the atmosphere and the difficulty of turning a plane moving at those speeds. 

“This is not a very nice way to travel,” said Hans Hornung, director of the graduate aeronautical laboratories at the California Institute of Technology. 

Backers of the technology see air-breathing hypersonic propulsion as advantageous for improving access to space.  

Eliminating the need to carry oxygen could cut the weight of a space-faring version of such a plane in half. 

The X-43A, however, requires a big boost to get going. 

During the test flights, one of the same B-52s used on the X-15 program will haul the X-43A to about 24,000 feet and release it. A booster rocket will ignite to accelerate the X-43A to its test speed and altitude of about 100,000 feet.  

The X-43A will then separate from the booster and fly west over the Pacific under its own power and control. 

The X-43A needs the rocket boost in order for its specialized supersonic-combustion ramjet, or “scramjet,” engine to work. 

In normal jet engines, rotating blades do the compression work for the engine. Ramjets work through the subsonic combustion of fuel in a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft. In scramjets, however, the airflow travels through the whole engine faster than the speed of sound. 

“The analogy is lighting a match and keeping it lit in a hurricane,” said Joel Sitz, X-43A flight test project manager at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. 

In the X-43A, the shape of the plane itself forms part of the engine, with the forebody acting as the intake for the airflow and the aft serving as the nozzle. The copper engine has no moving parts other than the valves used to supply the hydrogen fuel. 

“From the nose to the tail, you basically have a flying engine,” Rausch said. 

Project officials said that using a rocket to get the X-43A up to speed is a complicated but necessary step because the scramjet propulsion system cannot be tested at such velocities in a laboratory. 

“It’s a brute-force approach to get something to test conditions,” Raush said. “For a real airplane this is a goofy way to do it, but this is research.” 

Initial plans called for the X-43As to land on San Nicolas Island, southwest of Los Angeles, but ultimately they were built without landing gear. None of the X-43As will be recovered from the ocean.

SACRAMENTO — Unchecked free-market forces drove up the price of natural gas to Southern California Edison by about $750 million over the last year, an industry consultant testified Wednesday. 

Paul Carpenter told the Assembly Electricity Oversight Subcommittee the price spikes came after the El Paso Natural Gas Co. contracted first with Dynegy and later with its own marketing affiliate, El Paso Merchant Energy, to control the pipeline capacity. 

The California Public Utilities Commission estimated a year ago that overcharges by the companies that control natural gas flow drove up prices by $100 million a year to California gas and electricity customers. 

But PUC attorney Harvey Morris said that was before last summer’s price spikes, which he blamed on natural gas suppliers using a “monopoly” to “game the system.” 

“It’s way worse than we could possibly have imagined,” Morris said after testifying before the subcommittee. “It’s obviously way higher than $100 million.” 

Natural gas rates at the California border generally tracked national prices until November, when they spiked as high as 11 times higher than the price of natural gas elsewhere in the nation, Carpenter said. 

“I have never seen gas prices like this anywhere in the world,” said Carpenter, who has been studying the energy market for 20 years for Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant The Brattle Group. The Brattle Group was hired by Edison to study the natural gas market. 

Officials with El Paso and other natural gas suppliers have denied illegally manipulating the market. They are scheduled to testify Thursday. El Paso officials did not return telephone calls for comment Wednesday. 

The committee is one of two legislative committees exploring whether illegal market manipulation in the electricity and natural gas markets has driven up California’s energy costs. 

“This is a market that is plagued by the exercise of market power,” Frank Wolak, chairman of the California Independent System Operator’s Market Surveillance Committee, told the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market. The ISO runs the state’s power grid. 

However, “there is no law against me saying, ’I’m not going to sell to you,”’ Wolak said. Market manipulation only becomes illegal when there is collusion, Wolak said, and such evidence is hard to find. 

Electricity generators and natural gas suppliers say a severe supply and demand imbalance – not market manipulation – has led to higher prices. 

“Everybody’s busy doing investigations. They’re not interested in solving the problem,” said Independent Energy Producers Executive Director Jan Smutny-Jones. 

Investigations “are wasting everybody’s time,” Smutny-Jones said, adding that previous probes and lawsuits have uncovered no wrongdoing. He said the state’s power problems came because state regulators denied utilities the chance to sign long-term energy contracts when they had the chance. 

“People have been playing by the rules,” Smutny-Jones said. 

But the Senate committee’s first witnesses are ISO officials who authored studies that claim the state paid more than $6 billion too much for power last year. 

Committee chair Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove, also has slated state Auditor Elaine Howell, who last month blamed buyers and sellers for skyrocketing electricity costs. Dunn also has scheduled future testimony from state, federal, academic and private investigators studying the power market. 

He invited five major generators to attend the committee’s second hearing next week. All five – Reliant, Dynegy, Williams Energy, Duke Energy and Mirant – say they are eager to cooperate and clear their names, Dunn said. 

Dunn asked the five for a total of 86 specific documents. If the companies feel they cannot provide documents because of legal or confidentiality concerns, Dunn said he will subpoena them. 

Smutny-Jones said investigators appear to be growing desperate to blame the state’s natural gas and electricity price hikes on illegal market manipulation instead of natural market forces. 

He cited Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s announcement last week that any informant who helped prove wrongdoing would be entitled to a percentage of the state’s recovery he estimated could range from $50 million to hundreds of millions of dollars. 

“If the state’s offering a $50 million reward, they haven’t found anything,” Smutny-Jones said. “I don’t think you’re going to find the fact that anybody did anything criminal here.” 

Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, said she believes otherwise after Wednesday’s testimony: “I think it is very clear there was some price manipulation going on.” 

But Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, isn’t sure there was anything illegal. 

“There clearly are market forces at work, that’s evident,” Campbell said. “Whether you make the jump to market manipulation ... I haven’t seen conclusive evidence that leads me to make that jump.” 

WHAT’S NEXT 

• The Assembly’s Energy Oversight Subcommittee plans to resume hearings Thursday in its inquiry into California’s highest-in-the-nation natural gas prices with testimony from gas companies. 

• Davis’ representatives continue negotiating with Sempra, the parent company of San Diego Gas and Electric Co., to buy the utility’s transmission lines. Davis says he expects to have an agreement within two weeks. 

• The state Public Utilities Commission will decide Thursday whether to investigate why a key block of power generators is staying off-line despite regulators’ order last month that they start getting paid by the state’s utilities. Independent Energy Producers Executive Director Jan Smutny-Jones says the generators can’t afford to operate because they are still owed more than a billion dollars, and because the PUC’s rates don’t cover their operating costs. 

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. 

•The Public Utilities Commission has raised rates up to 46 percent to help finance the state’s multibillion-dollar power-buying. 

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis urged state regulators Wednesday to approve the construction of a controversial power plant in southern San Jose. 

The proposed 600-megawatt power plant would provide electricity to roughly 450,000 homes in the Silicon Valley. 

“It will provide reliable energy to a part of the state that is now too dependent on outside power,” Davis said at a press conference at a Sacramento Municipal Utility District electric substation. 

Building and permitting new power plants in California is critical to pull the state from its current energy crisis, Davis said. 

“We will build our way out of this, probably by the end of 2003,” Davis said. 

Calpine Corp. has promised to provide the electricity produced at the Metcalf Energy Center plant only to the local community, Davis said. 

In November, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and the rest of the city council voted to block Calpine and its partner, Bechtel Enterprises Inc., from building the proposed $400 million, natural gas-fueled Metcalf plant. Gonzales said the plant would be too close to residential areas. 

The plant would be built in San Jose’s Coyote Valley, one of the area’s last swaths of open space. Cisco Systems Inc. also hopes to build a $1.3 billion office complex there, which some resident oppose but the mayor supports. 

Davis said all communities in the state must do their part and the Metcalf plant would be one of the nation’s most efficient. 

“They’ve made a number of concessions to San Jose,” Davis said. “The plant will be as efficient as any in the nation.” 

If the California Energy Commission approves the project this summer, it could be done by spring 2002, Davis said.

SACRAMENTO — Former vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman Wednesday jumped on the pile of key Democrats thumping President Bush for ignoring California’s energy crisis. 

“You can’t disengage from California’s problems as if they were happening somewhere else on the globe,” Lieberman, D-Conn., said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles during his three-day speaking and fund-raising tour of the state. 

Lieberman said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should impose price caps on electricity wholesalers, a move Bush opposes. 

“If FERC does not do that,” Lieberman said, then the Senate should act. He said he will support a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ordering FERC to impose caps. 

Lieberman – who said he is “not closing any doors” on a possible presidential run in 2004 – is crisscrossing the state delivering speeches and meeting with powerful fund-raisers and lawmakers. 

He is scheduled to meet separately Thursday with Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to discuss the energy crisis. 

Lieberman also is to attend a prayer breakfast in Sacramento Thursday morning with Hertzberg and Gov. Gray Davis, where Lieberman jokingly said the three will “pray together for more energy, more rain and more electric generation.” 

Later Thursday, Davis plans to meet with 25 members of the state’s congressional delegation from both parties, to discuss what the federal government and lawmakers can do to help the state. 

Davis and others have said price caps will help ease the electricity crisis that has caused rolling blackouts statewide and record electricity rate increase for many residents. 

The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., filed for bankruptcy April 6 and two other investor-owned utilities say they are drowning in debt from paying sky-high wholesale electricity prices. 

Lieberman’s trip comes at a time when Democrats are accusing the Republican president of shunning the Golden State, where Vice President Al Gore beat him by 1.3 million votes in November. 

Bush’s recently released budget plan calls for cuts in several California-oriented programs, including a more than 50 percent reduction in a program that helps states pay to incarcerate criminal illegal immigrants. It also shaves dollars from agriculture, renewable energy programs and hints at possible military base closures. 

The president also has not visited California despite traveling to 26 other states, including Lieberman’s Connecticut Wednesday, in his first three months in office. 

However, Bush’s sole Democrat on the Cabinet – Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, a former House member and San Jose mayor – defended the White House this week. Mineta told reporters Tuesday that Bush realizes the state’s political clout and the power crisis’ potential national effects. 

Bush also has appointed three Californians to his Cabinet, including Mineta, and dozens of others for key administration jobs. On Tuesday, the White House announced Bush has nominated Huntington Park City Councilwoman Rosario Marin to be U.S. treasurer. 

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius declined to say whether the president has any future plans to travel here. 

“I don’t think that the president’s travel schedule suggests the president’s opinion of one state or another,” Lisaius said. “He’s the president of all 50 states.”

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, under fire for scrapping former President Clinton’s standard for arsenic in drinking water, announced plans Wednesday to set a new standard within nine months. 

Christie Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said she was asking the National Academy of Sciences to examine the impact of a range of possible reductions. The new standard could be higher or lower than that set by Clinton. 

President Bush drew heavy criticism from environmentalists and others last month when his EPA killed a Clinton administration regulation that would have tightened the standard to no more than 10 parts of arsenic per billion in drinking water. The current standard, set in 1942, is 50 parts per billion. 

Whitman said she wanted a panel of scientists at the academy to examine a standard in the range of three to 20 parts per billion. “The Bush administration is committed to protecting the environment and the health of all Americans,” Whitman said in a written statement, promising a final regulation within nine months. 

She said the decision to seek a report from the academy would “ensure that a standard will be put in place in a timely manner that provides clean, safe and affordable drinking water for the nation and is based on the best science.” 

Senate Democrats called attention to the delay in tightening the arsenic standard, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the senior Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, questioned its legality. 

“I am troubled by the notion that EPA would ignore a federal law requiring that a new arsenic standard be established by June 22,” he said.  

“There has been no consultation with Congress and no mention of meeting the federally mandated time frame for this action to take place.” 

The Bush administration’s decision on March 20 to stop the regulation put into place three days before Clinton left office created an uproar, and the latest action drew further criticism. 

“That is a huge step backward, no matter how they try to spin it,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. “The Bush administration should be ashamed that it has taken this course and all the more ashamed 

that it was announced on this Earth  

Day weekend.” 

Whitman argued there was insufficient scientific evidence to justify the $200 million annual cost to municipalities, states and industry of meeting the new Clinton standards by 2006. 

“I have said consistently that we will obtain the necessary scientific review ... and that we will establish that standard in a timely manner,” she said Wednesday. 

In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences said that arsenic in drinking water can cause bladder, lung and skin cancer, and might cause liver and kidney cancer. 

The study found a cancer risk of one in 100 at the current 50 parts per billion standard, dropping to one in 250 at 20 parts per billion, one in 500 at 10 parts per billion and one in 1,667 at three parts per billion. 

Arsenic is both a naturally occurring substance and industrial byproduct, entering the water supply from natural deposits and pollution. It is found at high concentrations in Western mining states and other areas heavy with coal-burning and copper smelting. 

Physicians for Social Responsibility said the new study will only confirm what science has already shown: the lower the standard, the better. 

“There is no safe level of arsenic,” said Robert K. Musil, the group’s director. “A mountain of existing research - including a new report on the dangers of low-levels of exposure published just last month - shows that the safest standard the United States can adopt is the lowest one: three parts per billion.” 

The Clinton EPA had initially proposed setting the standard at five parts per billion last year in response to a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council, but then settled at 10 parts per billion. 

Environmentalists, who have argued for years that the arsenic standard should be stricter, criticized the EPA on Wednesday for putting off a final decision. 

“We’re outraged that this is going to assure a year of delays for protection of public health for millions of Americans,” said Erik D. Olson, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

He and other environmentalists said the parameters set by Whitman showed that the EPA was headed toward settling at 20 parts per billion — double the Clinton standard. 

——— 

On the Net: 

EPA Office of Water: http://www.epa.gov/ow 

Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org 

Physicians for Social Responsibility: http://www.psr.org 

WASHINGTON — A largely black congressional district can be constitutional if drawn to satisfy political rather than racial motives, a divided Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. 

Just in time for the new round of congressional redistricting, the 5-4 ruling gives states a roadmap for drawing boundaries that acknowledge race. 

The court upheld the crazy-quilt outline of a North Carolina district drawn after the 1990 Census.  

Rep. Mel Watt won the seat in 1992 as one of two blacks sent to Congress that year from a state that had not sent one since 1901. 

North Carolina said it redrew the district in 1997 to concentrate Democrats, not blacks. The state wanted to maintain an even split between Democrats and Republicans in its congressional delegation. That goal may be political, but it is also constitutional, state officials argued. 

“The evidence ... does not show that racial considerations predominated in the drawing of District 12’s boundaries,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority. “That is because race in this case correlates closely with political behavior.” 

The majority, led by the court’s more liberal members, said that North Carolina legislators were within their rights to draw a district that strings several city centers along skinny ribbons of countryside. 

“After all, the Constitution does not place an affirmative obligation upon the Legislature to avoid creating districts that turn out to be heavily, even majority, minority,” Breyer wrote.  

“It simply imposes an obligation not to create such districts for predominantly racial, as opposed to political or traditional, districting motivations.” 

State legislatures can follow North Carolina’s lead and provide alternative justification for drawing a heavily black district, while acknowledging that race is part of the equation, national participants in the current redistricting said. 

“This decision will help Democrats preserve every existing minority district and protect minority voting opportunities from Republican gerrymanders across the country,” said Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, head of his party’s redistricting strategy group. 

Republicans also said they liked what they viewed as a decision upholding the status quo. 

“I think it certainly gives them (states) some guidance. We have a district here that’s been upheld,” said Don McGahn, general counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee. 

Wednesday’s ruling marked the fourth time the high court had looked at Watt’s district. 

In a landmark 5-4 ruling in 1993, the high court said the oddly shaped concentration of black voters in a largely white part of the state might violate the rights of white voters. 

Majority-black districts were also overturned in Texas, Florida and Georgia. 

The high court underscored its reasoning in another case covering the same district in 1996.  

North Carolina then redrew the 12th the next year, making it somewhat more compact and reducing the number of blacks it contained. 

Watt won re-election in 1998, even as white voters filed and won a new challenge in federal court.  

The Supreme Court then overturned the lower court in 1999 and sent the case back. The majority reasoned, much as it did Wednesday, that opponents had not made their case that race was the overriding factor. 

This time, Breyer was joined by Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Dissenting were Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. 

O’Connor was the key swing vote. She is a former Republican majority leader of the state Senate in Arizona, and the only member of the court with a background in partisan electoral politics. 

The cases are Hunt v. Cromartie, 99-1864, and Smallwood v. Cromartie, 99-1865. 

——— 

On the Net: Supreme Court site: http://www.supremecourtus.gov 

WASHINGTON — To paint wholesaler Erasmo Hinojosa, free trade means savings for his grandchildren’s college, more weekend getaways and the possibility of an early retirement. 

To Carol Colborn, a former factory inspector, free trade means losing 33 years of seniority and being forced to accept a job with lower pay and little vacation. 

Hinojosa and Colborn are two faces of the trade debate that will be reignited when President Bush attends the Summit of the Americas in Canada this weekend. 

Bush and 33 other Western Hemisphere leaders are pushing the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, a hemisphere-wide agreement targeted for 2005. Advocates say it would boost U.S. exports and help the economy while encouraging Latin American and Caribbean countries to continue moving toward democracy and free markets. 

Opponents, including many congressional Democrats, say free-trade agreements have hurt U.S. workers by encouraging companies to cut costs and move to countries with lower wages, poor working conditions and lax environmental standards. 

For Hinojosa and Colborn, it’s an issue that goes beyond the debates in Congress or the protests that have occurred in Seattle and Washington – and are anticipated in Quebec City this weekend. Free trade has changed their lives. 

Hinojosa credits free trade for his job managing a Mexican-owned paint wholesaler and retailer in San Antonio, Texas. He’s doubled his income and declares, “I can now see a future.” 

Colborn blames it for the loss of the job she held for 33 years, at a company that makes controls for gas appliances in New Stanton, Pa., 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. 

Colborn started working at the plant when she was 22. She worked her way up to a quality control inspector, making $14.50 an hour with five weeks of vacation, 11 holidays, and both pension and 401(k) savings plans. 

But in January 2000, the plant was shut by its last owner, the British company Invensys. Colborn and her union, United Steelworkers Local 1163, say many of the jobs went to Mexico. 

A company official in Richmond, Va., Andrew Bonham, said the shutdown resulted from a consolidation following the merger that created Invensys.  

He said 50 percent of the plant’s production went to outside contractors, 35 percent to a company plant in Mexico and 15 percent to one in West Plains, Mo. 

Three months after losing her job, Colborn found work conducting quality-control audits for a subcontractor to a supermarket chain. She earns $2 an hour less, has only five holidays, one week of vacation and no pension plan other than the 401(k). 

“I’m starting at the bottom and working my way up again. What took me 33 years, now I’m starting completely over,” said Colborn, 55.  

Colborn, who is divorced, said she has to be more careful about what she buys. She planned to remodel her kitchen, but can only afford to replace some windows. 

Also 55, Hinojosa said his life has become more comfortable, thanks to his job managing the Amerimex Paint Center. 

He now hopes to retire by age 62. Before he got that job, “I believed I would be working until I died,” he said. 

Hinojosa started at Amerimex when it opened in 1995. The Mexican paint company Comex opened the store a year after the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, formed a trade bloc among the United States, Mexico and Canada.  

Though NAFTA didn’t directly affect the business, it created an environment that encouraged cross-border trade, said Brian Martin, a Comex manager in San Antonio. 

Hinojosa said his previous job managing a paint store paid $32,000 a year. Now, including bonuses, profit sharing and other benefits, he earns about $75,000. 

“That has given me a little more stability than in the other job I had,” he said. “I could not see a future. Now I see a future.”

JACKSON, Miss. — The NAACP raised the threat of an economic boycott Wednesday to drag Mississippi “kicking and screaming into the 21st century” after voters overwhelmingly decided to keep their 107-year-old state flag with the Confederate emblem. 

NAACP leaders said they will decide next month whether to lead a boycott, a tactic used by the organization against South Carolina, where a Confederate flag flew for decades over the Statehouse dome until it was taken down last year. 

“That flag has never been my flag, nor will it ever be my flag nor the flag of black people in the state of Mississippi who really understand the reason behind the Confederate flag and all of its history,” state NAACP President Eugene Bryant said. 

By nearly 2-to-1 Tuesday, Mississippi voters decided to keep their 1894 flag, rejecting a new design that would have replaced the Confederate emblem with a cluster of 20 stars signifying Mississippi’s admission as the 20th state. 

No other state prominently displays the Confederate emblem on its flag. 

“The voice of the people has been heard. The people of Mississippi do not want another flag. Mississippians are proud of their families, this state and its rich history,” said William Earl Faggert, a leader of the state Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

Mississippi NAACP official Deborah Denard said the vote means the state will have to be “dragged along kicking and screaming into the 21st century.” 

“Mississippi is kind of acting like children in that regard,” Denard said. “They know that the Confederate banner has to go eventually, but they have to cling to antiquated ideas about what constitutes honor and dignity.” 

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove supported the new flag, saying the racially divisive Confederate symbol could hurt business. After the vote, he said: “It’s important that we accept the majority vote and move forward with the business of bringing new jobs and better opportunities to all Mississippians.” 

Even though Mississippi lacks the drawing power of a major city like Atlanta, tourism-related businesses employ 94,000 people and pumped $6 billion into the state economy last year.  

Gambling at 30 state-regulated casinos accounted for $2.62 billion of that. 

A coalition of business leaders, academics and civil rights groups had pushed for a new flag, saying the Confederate X hurts Mississippi’s image. 

“We thought it was the right thing to do,” said Andy Bourland, director of the Mississippi Gaming Association. 

University of Georgia historian James Cobb – whose 1992 book “The Most Southern Place on Earth, explored social divides in the Mississippi Delta – said Mississippi’s hold on the Rebel flag could put it at a disadvantage in economic development. 

“Mississippi will be the last Confederate state – that will be the rallying cry for some,” Cobb said. 

Faggert, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, condemned the possibility of boycotts. 

“Our state had withstood yet another unbelievable assault on its culture by a few of its own citizens and other outside influence that cowered toward political correctness carried to the extreme,” he said. 

Kirk Fordice, who served two terms in the 1990s as Mississippi’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, said the world should accept the flag vote. 

“What people have to understand is that Mississippians resent the heck out of the constant drumming on the part of the media and others, day after day, that something’s wrong with you if you support the old flag,” Fordice said. “You have to change hearts, not the flag, if you want racial reconciliation.” 

The state has 2.8 million people, 61 percent of them white and 36 percent black. The vote was 65 percent to 35 percent in favor of the old flag, though in a few majority-black counties, the vote was surprisingly close. 

On the Net: 

http://www.naacp.org 

http://www.state.ms.us 

Flag history: http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/ms—flag.htm 

NEW YORK— An unexpected interest rate cut and a stream of positive earnings news sent stock prices soaring Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials leaping as much as 470 points and the Nasdaq composite barreling back above 2,000. 

Better-than-expected first-quarter profits had already sent stocks sharply higher in mid morning trading when the Federal Reserve announced it was lowering interest rates by 0.5 percentage point. The cut, the fourth this year, gave investors hope that the economy and earnings will rebound by the end of 2001. 

The market’s early, earnings-inspired gains were not a surprise; stocks have been moving higher this month, including the Nasdaq’s four-day winning streak last week, its first such advance since early September. Wall Street has been encouraged by the market’s recent stability despite poor earnings reports. 

Investors also expected stocks to recover somewhat after the major indexes suffered their worst first quarter in decades, when even the Dow industrials – considered the safest havens on Wall Street – slipped briefly into bear market territory. 

However, the rate cut was quite unexpected. Analysts said the market was particularly pleased by the Fed’s move because it was bigger and sooner than anticipated, coming ahead of the Fed’s mid-May meeting. The Fed’s decision also helped propel trading volume to record levels — an all-time best 3.18 billion shares on the Nasdaq and the second-best of 2.25 billion on the New York Stock Exchange, well ahead of 1.31 billion on Tuesday. 

“It energized the market right on the spot,” said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president for Fahnestock & Co. “The market was really waiting for a catalyst, and this Fed move appears to have been just that.” 

But analysts cautioned that the market remains vulnerable after months of losses and volatility and that it was too soon to tell if Wednesday’s momentum would last. 

“You have to take a wait-and-see attitude,” said Ricky Harrington, a technical analyst for Wachovia Securities. 

The Fed’s move came shortly after the Conference Board reported that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators, used as a forecasting tool, fell during March, signaling continued weakness in the economy. Investors have been hoping the Fed would cut rates more aggressively to stimulate the economy and ultimately send profits and stock prices higher. 

Analysts said one of the most encouraging aspects of Wednesday’s rally was the fact investors were swayed more by good news than by earnings warnings from high-tech bellwethers Cisco Systems on Tuesday and Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday. 

Cisco rose $1.35 to $18. Hewlett-Packard, which also announced it will cut up to 3,000 management jobs, rose $2.65 to $31.90. 

“The strength in tech stocks is looking much better,” said Harrington, the Wachovia analyst. “There has been a continued series of negative reports that the market has shrugged off. It is the best sign, in layman’s terms, that the market is ready to move up.” 

Some stocks, however, stumbled on weaker earnings. Gillette fell $2.50 to $26.50 after saying it missed analysts’ expectations due to increased costs, a decline in sales and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners about 2 to 1 on the NYSE. 

The Russell 2000 index rose 10.93 to 466.51. 

Overseas markets also made strong gains Wednesday with Japan’s Nikkei stock average closing up 4.4 percent. Germany’s DAX index climbed 4.0 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 rise 2,2 percent, and France’s CAC-40 advanced 3.1 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

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

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

The Federal Reserve’s enormous power over the economy was demonstrated again on Wednesday with a brief announcement that in minutes added billions of dollars to stock market valuations. 

The exultation in the stock market, depository for a large portion of the financial assets of more than 50 million households, was remarkable in itself, but more importantly as an indicator of things to come. 

Stocks don’t rise on the basis of past or present performance, but on prospects for earnings. Lower interest rates not only cut costs and so help to improve earnings, but they spur expansion plans now on hold. 

They can also be an alternative to the cost-cutting practice of mass layoffs, almost a daily occurrence among technology companies that in recent months saw their markets dry up as consumers put off purchases. 

And, equally significantly, they can lower the rates debt-ridden consumers – the latest reports show them borrowing to maintain life styles – must pay on credit-card balances, assuming banks are quick to comply. 

The broadest reaction to the cut is likely to be an improvement in mass psychology, affecting businesses, consumers and investors, all of whom have been licking their wounds and putting spending plans on hold. 

Consumer confidence had remained surprisingly strong. Business had been postponing capital spending projects, such as for new plants and equipment. 

Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, has repeatedly expressed concern about the dangers inherent in using high interest rates to restrain the economy. And those dangers seemed to have been rising. 

Bad enough that consumers, who account for two-thirds of economic activity, had lost so much of their investment and pensions assets. Now the Fed feared falling corporate earnings would cut business spending too. 

The Fed’s job is to anticipate and guide the level and direction of economic activity, balancing supply and demand in a quest for sustainable, low inflation growth.  

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Despite American criticism, Israel on Wednesday briefly re-entered the Gaza Strip and leveled a Palestinian police station on territory granted to Yasser Arafat’s government in peace agreements. 

The raid in southern Gaza came 10 hours after Israel withdrew troops from a square-mile area they had seized Tuesday morning at the opposite end of the strip. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came under criticism that he had bowed to pressure from the United States, which had denounced the land takeover. 

Israel said its actions were a response to Palestinian mortar and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians. The attacks and Tuesday’s land seizure outraged Palestinians. Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians would respond with “popular resistance” to Israel’s incursions. 

Soon after Israeli troops pulled out of the northern pocket, six mortars hit near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in Gaza. After nightfall Wednesday, five mortar shells landed at Nir Am, an Israeli village just outside the Gaza border fence, as well as near the Gaza settlement Kfar Darom, the military said. No injuries were reported. Israeli tanks fired shells at a police post in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, Palestinians said. 

Sharon’s government insisted it had planned to pull out of the northern Gaza pocket even before Secretary of State Colin Powell denounced the takeover. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres spoke with Powell by phone Wednesday and said Powell’s sharp words had resulted from a “problem with communication.” 

In a telephone call late Wednesday, President Bush carried a message of restraint directly to Sharon, the White House said, reinforcing U.S. efforts to moderate Israel’s retaliation to Palestinian attacks. 

“Both leaders agreed on the need for restraint by both parties to avoid further escalation in the area,” White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman said. 

Sharon aide Raanan Gissin said the call was aimed at clearing the air over the incursion. 

Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia praised the U.S. stand against the Israeli incursion.  

He said it showed that the United States can play an active role in Middle East peacemaking and “can impose this role on Israel.” Up to now the Bush administration has hesitated to involve itself deeply in the conflict. 

In Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Commission censured Israel for allowing Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, with only the United States taking Israel’s side. 

In Wednesday’s incursion, a tank and two bulldozers razed a Palestinian police station and farmland near Gaza International Airport in the southern Gaza Strip, then returned to Israeli-controlled territory. 

The army said shots had been fired from the position at workers at the nearby Israeli-Egyptian border fence. No one was injured in the shooting. 

During its land-seizure in northern Gaza, Israeli troops razed six Palestinian police stations and destroyed orange groves and farmland outside the town of Beit Hanoun. Hassan Shabat, returning to his farm, said he lost 5,000 chickens, the livelihood of a family of 17. 

Traces of the incursion were everywhere – tracks of battle tanks, piles of concrete rubble, dozens of weary and frustrated Palestinians shifting through the ruins. Before its troops entered early Tuesday, Israel fired a heavy rocket barrage across the Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian policeman. 

Soon after troops seized the pocket, an Israeli army commander had said troops might remain in place for “days, weeks or months.” Yet the soldiers were pulled out just several hours after Powell called the Israeli action “excessive.” 

Sharon’s aides denied there had been a hasty about-face following the U.S. condemnation, the harshest rebuke of Israel since Bush took office three months ago. 

The decision to withdraw was made at a time when Powell was still “sleeping the sleep of the just” in Washington, said Gissin, the Sharon adviser. The army said the Israeli brigadier general who spoke of a possibly extended stay of troops in the Palestinian-controlled area had “exceeded his authority.” 

But legislators from both the dovish opposition and right-wing parties accused Sharon of unfairly shifting the blame to the army officer to avoid the appearance of having succumbed to U.S. pressure. 

“Sharon is covering up an operational failure,” said Shaul Yahalom of the right-wing National Religious Party. “Instead of admitting he withdrew under American pressure he shifts the blame to .. Naveh.” 

Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip, whose communities have frequently been targeted by Palestinian mortars, complained that Sharon has not lived up to his promise to restore security. 

Yossi Yered, whose infant son was injured in a mortar attack on a Gaza settlement earlier this month, said troops should not have withdrawn from the Palestinian area. 

“Where is the feeling of security?” asked Yered. “They (government officials) talk, talk, talk and when finally they do something, they back down with their tail between their legs.” 

Military commentators called the army’s incursion a resounding failure because it did not prevent more mortar fire and deprived Israel of a major option. 

“The Palestinians know that there is no longer an (Israeli) option of going in and occupying areas they control. A card has been lost,“said Roni Daniel, the military correspondent for Israel Channel 2 TV. 

COTONOU, Benin — Police questioned passengers from a ship that sparked a frenzied hunt for suspected child slaves, seeking clues Wednesday to the status of scores of children once thought to be aboard. 

The Nigerian-registered MV Etireno, which U.N. and local officials originally thought left Benin two weeks ago with 100 to 250 children destined for the slave trade, docked in Cotonou Tuesday, but reportedly few children were aboard. 

The disembarked passengers were questioned as part of an official inquiry launched Wednesday on whether the ship carried child slaves along the coast of West Africa. 

“The captain of the Etireno and his crew are still confined aboard because we need them for the investigation,” said Martin Degan, head of the police department’s child protection unit. “That’s all we can say for now.” 

Government officials also requested foreign diplomats to supply “any possible assistance” on whether there had been any trafficking in slaves, diplomats said on condition of anonymity. 

The vessel first grabbed world headlines last week when government officials in Benin announced that a ship loaded with child slaves had been turned away from two African ports and was headed back to Cotonou. 

Benin said it had been tipped off by officials in Douala, Cameroon, where the boat had been prevented from docking last week. 

Passengers and crew of the Etireno confirmed the vessel had indeed been turned away from Douala, as well as from Gabon’s capital, Libreville – but not because it was carrying child slaves. The boat apparently didn’t have proper documents and its passengers had traveled abroad willingly, in search of work. 

The ship’s Nigerian captain, Lawrence Onome, denies he was trafficking child slaves and says he has nothing to hide. 

Some U.N. officials and aid workers speculate that the children might have been thrown overboard, although there is no evidence to suggest that. Others say the Etireno was confused with a second ship, whose name and whereabouts remain a mystery. 

“We are pleased, extremely pleased. We’ll do whatever we can to facilitate and move the process along,” said Nicolas Pron, a senior official with the U.N. children’s fund in Benin, after hearing the police inquiry had begun. 

The ferry, once known as the Nordby, was built in Denmark in 1969 and shuttled between Danish ports until it was sold three years ago to the Nigerian company, Titanic Investments, said Gert Jacobsen, a spokesman for the Scandlines shipping group. At the time of its sale, its name was changed to Etireno. 

The boat has a capacity of 400 passengers, but Social Protection Minister Ramatou Baba Moussa said its handwritten manifest listed 139 names, including seven children. 

Aid workers said they took a number of unaccompanied minors from the ferry to two children’s homes in Cotonou, where they were allowed to eat and rest before being interviewed by police. It was not immediately clear how many of the children were aboard. 

UNICEF officials said 31 children were taken from the ship and placed in homes. The Swiss-run Men of the Earth charity, which runs one of the homes, put the number at 43. 

The U.N. children’s fund on Tuesday ordered its offices along Africa’s western coast to stay alert for the possibility that the child traffickers they sought might turn up elsewhere. 

But on Wednesday there was still no news of another ship. 

Despite efforts to end child trafficking, the trade remains a serious problem on the continent, particularly in West and Central Africa. 

Parents living in some of the poorest countries on the planet are sometimes willing to sell off their own children for as little as $14 – often in the belief the children will be educated and find employment. Most end up instead as prostitutes or slaves in coffee and cocoa plantations. 

Alfonso Gonzalez Jaggli, regional delegate of the Men of the Earth, said the police inquiry into the Etireno was a necessity. 

“An international investigation would be the logical way to prove what happened to the others,” Jaggli said. “It is not possible to clear up the question of trafficking at this time.” 

Benin, a small country of 6 million people, has a history of slave trading. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was known as the Slave Coast for its role as a center of the trans-Atlantic trade. 

PRETORIA, South Africa — Pharmaceutical giants entered settlement talks with the government Wednesday, a sign they are dropping their fight against a law that could provide cheap copies of AIDS drugs to millions of South Africans. 

The suit, postponed until Thursday as the discussions continued, has deeply embarrassed the drug companies since it began six weeks ago. Many have responded by drastically cutting prices on their own. 

However, human rights groups say those prices would fall even further in the face of generic competition. 

An official with one of the pharmaceutical companies said the suit “had largely been resolved” after the South African government reached an agreement with several of the largest companies involved. 

Those companies spent much of the day convincing the remainder of the 39 companies involved in the suit to accept the agreement, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

Only technical issues, including who will pay court costs, remained to be worked out, the official said. 

International human rights groups and AIDS activists have waged a global public relations offensive against the suit, which they see as an obstacle to securing medication for the nearly 26 million people in Africa infected with HIV. 

As the case resumed Wednesday morning after a six-week postponement, Stephanus Cilliers, a lawyer for the drug companies, asked for a four-hour recess “in hopes that certain discussions that are going on will obviate the need for further ... proceedings.” 

When court reconvened at 2 p.m., he was granted a recess until Thursday morning so discussions could continue. 

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang declined to comment on the negotiations as she left the courtroom, which was filled to standing-room capacity with journalists, AIDS activists and union members expecting a settlement. 

The pharmaceutical companies had argued that the South African law, which was never implemented, was too broad and unfairly targeted drug manufacturers. 

The government, AIDS activists and human rights groups say the drug companies are trying to wring profits out of a public health nightmare that threatens to devastate South Africa and dozens of other poor countries. 

The situation has changed drastically since the suit was filed more than three years ago. At that time, the European Union and the United States backed the drug companies and the case had almost no impact on the public’s view of the drug companies. 

Since then, however, the U.S. government and the European Union withdrew their support for the case, and the pharmaceutical companies have suffered a public relations battering. 

“The pressure was just too much for them not to respond to,” said Ellen ’t Hoen, an official with Medicins Sans Frontieres. 

Zachie Achmat, chairman of the Treatment Action Campaign, a local AIDS activists’ group that had filed a brief in support of the government demanded the companies drop the suit immediately, and appealed to the government not to compromise in the talks. 

“There’s nothing to discuss. The companies must simply withdraw from the case,” he said. “We ask the government to stand fully by the legislation, not to give an inch, because the law is on their side, the Constitution is on their side, international law is on their side.” 

Members of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association held a press conference Tuesday at the gates of the proposed site of a synagogue to announce the next steps in their opposition to the project. 

At the historic wrought iron gate in front of the two-acre site at 1301 Oxford St., LOCCANA spokesperson Juliet Lamont said several groups would appeal to the City Council the Zoning Adjustment Board’s granting of a use permit for a proposed 35,000-square-foot synagogue and school. The project includes a 32-car parking lot. 

About 30 people attended the press conference including several representatives from Beth El and six LOCCANA supporters dressed in tree and fish costumes. 

According to the appeal, the permit is being challenged because of an inadequate Environmental Impact Report and ZAB’s “irregular” treatment of the project during the permit process. 

“We are formally filing the appeal on behalf of the 2,300 citizens who have signed a petition opposing the development and the neighbors who have put in their time to try and find an alternative,” Lamont said. 

Beth El spokesperson Harry Pollock said the charge of irregularities was not warranted. He said that ever since the congregation submitted its application in September 1999, the process has been above board and public.  

“This has been a very detailed process and the project has been put under a microscope from the very beginning,” he said.  

The proposed site is the former location of the Napoleon Byrne Mansion, which was a Berkeley historical landmark until it was destroyed by an arson fire in 1985. Despite the loss of the structure, the Landmarks Preservation Commission reaffirmed the property’s landmark status. 

Codornices Creek, partially culverted, runs across the northern portion of the property. Opponents say the proposed parking lot, which will be placed very near the banks of the creek, will preclude the culverted section from ever being daylighted. 

LOCCANA and 11 environmental groups including the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Sierra Club, The Golden Gate chapter of the Audubon Society and the Center of Biological Diversity, are appealing the March 8 decision by the ZAB to approve the project.  

The appeal, which was filed Tuesday, states five reasons the permit should be revoked including a poorly prepared Environmental Impact Report, violations of the California Environmental Quality Act and procedural irregularities on the part of the ZAB. 

Berkeley attorney Sharon Duggan, who assisted in preparing the appeal, said the EIR was certified despite an inadequate description of some buildings and their uses. “One example is the Social Hall that is normally 3,000-square feet but has the capability to expand to 3,600-square feet” she said. “There was no mention of that in the EIR.” 

The appeal also states that granting the permit was an abuse of discretion because “the ZAB gave this applicant preferential treatment and numerous procedural irregularities impermissible tainted the approval process.” 

“What the neighbors want is a fair forum to be heard in,” Duggan said, “and we hope the City Council can provide that.” 

Pollock said that the process has so far been fair and public. “Of all the accusations I’ve heard since we began this process, that’s the silliest,” he said. “The city has had go before numerous commissions and boards and there has been over 55 hours of public testimony and discussion, I don’t know where the irregularities occurred.” 

Addressing the group gathered at the property gate, LOCCANA member Alan Gould called attention to the “story poles,” a loosely framed structure of two-by-fours that outlines the actual height and width of the proposed project. “These poles give an idea of just how large this project is going to be,” he said.  

Pollock said the story poles show that the height and width of the frontage of the synagogue on Oxford Street is proportioned to the height of the homes directly across the street. 

“It fits perfectly into the context of the residential scale of the neighborhood,” he said. “In fact the building is set further back than most of the homes on the street and doesn’t take up the entire width of the frontage property.” 

But Gould said the building doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood. “This building will be the size of the Safeway at Rose and Shattuck,” he said. “Or another way of looking at it is it has the same footprint of a football field.” 

In a conflicting decision on March 5, the Landmarks Preservation Commission denied a Beth El application to demolish two existing structures that are standing in the way of the proposed development. Beth El is expected to file an appeal with the City Council on that decision. 

Both permit decisions have been sent to the City Council, which was expected to schedule public hearings on both issues at Tuesday night’s meeting. 

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 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. 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.” 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. 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  

Transportation Commission Workshop 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst St. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A presentation of the Transportation Demand Management Study’s key findings and a discussion of Study objectives and related TDM program elements.  

Gray’s Gain, Public Pain  

7 p.m.  

2060 Valley Life Sciences  

Building 

UC Berkeley  

A slideshow presented by the Sierra Club California Forestry Reform Campaign. They invite you to “learn how you can make a difference in the fight to protect our natural heritage for future generations.” 622-0290 x250 

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  

www.stagebridge.org 

Free Writing, Cashiering  

& Computer Literacy Class 

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  

AJOB Adult School  

1911 Addison St.  

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

www.ajob.org 

Computer Literacy Class 

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

A free class sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project. The class will cover basic hardware identification and specification, basic understanding of software, basic word-processing and basic spreadsheets.  

Call 644-6226 

Living Philosophers  

10 a.m. - Noon  

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.  

50 Plus Fitness Class  

9:30 a.m. - Noon 

UC Berkeley (varied locations)  

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

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 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Hands-On Seed Cleaning 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

924 Gilman St.  

Covering a variety of techniques and methods. At noon there will be a seed and plant swap, so bring envelopes to gather seed in.  

548-2220 

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 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m.  

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level 

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe which includes puppets from diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida, will perform. Free  

International Tour Directing? 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

Learn about careers in tour leading: Dealing with guides, hotels, airlines and other suppliers, and much more. Learn what qualifications are needed and where the jobs are/aren’t.  

$5.50 for CA. residents 

981-2931 

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 

Pedestrian-oriented environs good for mental health 

Editor: 

I’m writing as an ecopsychologist, to express what I believe to be a valuable perspective on traffic in the city. Ecopsychology is a field of study and practice that focuses on the impact of environment on the human psyche. Many ecopsychologists, including myself, agree that urban settings can often be psychologically harmful. The reason for this has to do with negative sensory input such as that from the smell of car exhaust, the noise of traffic, and the monotone dullness of gray cement. These negative sensory stimuli cause the senses to partially shut down so that they take in as little as possible of this abrasive input. When the senses shut down, parts of the psyche, including emotional and spiritual aspects also suffer because they cannot be mirrored by the environment.  

Sensory input from the natural world around us is a vital component of psychological health.  

With regard to traffic in Berkeley, I’d like to support two projects. The first is the development and implementation of a clean fuel shuttle bus system that would go to all BART stops, shopping districts, employment centers, residential areas and satellite parking lots for commuters.  

The Draft General Plan speaks of trying to attract new riders to public transportation with little success in the past few years. Speaking for myself as a typical female resident of Berkeley who also works in the city, I would use bus service to get around town if it was frequent, reliable, clean, safe and pleasant.  

Even if I thought that bus service was reliable, I would still not want to ride a bus that was noisy and smelly as are the AC Transit diesel buses. Their size and design are also problematic in that the deep cavernous interiors of the buses are intimidating to enter.  

Berkeley citizens are longing for bold solutions to traffic problems that will make the city pleasant and fun to get around in.  

The second traffic related project I want to support is a car free, pedestrian downtown. I’m aware that this idea is deemed impractical by those who quote commercial interests as fearing that their businesses will suffer if cars can’t drive to them. I believe that businesses would do much better in a pedestrian downtown.  

As an ecopsychologist, its my sense that people in Berkeley want communal spaces where human interaction doesn’t take second place to the automobile. I think this can be seen in the success stories of pedestrian commercial districts in cities around the country. A day spent in a downtown setting without cars and traffic could bring a delightful sense of freedom and even community. 

The parking problems, noise and traffic are too horrendous. But in a pedestrian downtown sidewalk patios for cafes and restaurants could expand and become destinations to spend time at rather than places to grab some easy food on a harried lunch break. The street might have outdoor entertainment; and in combination with more trees and greenery, not to mention the daylighting of the creek, our downtown could be unbeatable as a dynamic, thriving, and wonderful place to be. 

In past decades Berkeley has fallen behind other cities through its lack of ecological or environmental initiatives relating to cars and traffic. As a result we are being overwhelmed by twentieth century gridlock and pollution. Help bring Berkeley into the 21st century, and make Berkeley a place that all of its citizens can be proud of. 

Fran Segal, Ph.D. 

Berkeley 

Proposal curtails freedoms 

The Daily Planet received this letter, edited for length, addressed to the City Council, dated April 14. 

Re: Proposed adoption of a new Chapter 13.47 requiring advance notice to the Chief of Police for large events. 

At the April 17 City Council meeting, the action calendar will include an item entitled “Advance Notice to the Police Department.” We are asking you to vote against this item. 

The proposed ordinance would cover any “large event” that takes place in Berkeley that is not covered by chapter 13.44 (“march, demonstration, assembly or parade, festival, street fair, concert, block party, or any other gathering on any public street, sidewalk or alley within the City”), 13.46 (“entertainment events in residential occupancies”) or 6.46 (“park events”). 

That means it would cover any event that is not in a public park, private residence or city street. 

It would cover any event which is open to the public that is held indoors or outdoors, and it would apply to events that “can reasonably be expected to draw over 500 persons, whether or not all prospective attendees are ... able to attend.” If an event is planned at a venue that accommodates 250, and unbeknownst to the organizers, 500 people show up, this ordinance would apply. This definition of events would most certainly cover events which are political in nature. 

We also object to the city manager maintaining a list of operators and promoters since this list will most certainly include people who plan events of a political nature. Hence, the city would maintain a list of people who do political organizing in Berkeley, reminiscent of the list the FBI kept on communist party members in the fifties. 

The ordinance has a complicated notification time schedule which is burdensome. The information that event operators/promoters must provide the police department include: description of event, rules for its conduct, name address and phone number of all persons responsible for the promotion and conduct of the event, extent of advertising, expected number of attendees, and security arrangements. 

Based on these factors, the chief of police may require the promoter/operator to provide security not to exceed one security person per 25 attendees. For many events, this would be cost prohibitive. For an event for 500 people, this would be 20 security personnel. At the modest rate of $8 per hour, it would cost $1,000 for a 5-hour event. 

We are concerned that the number of security personnel required will be prejudicially applied based on the “character” of the event, i.e. the type of event, with raves, political events, or events which might be perceived by the chief as drawing people of color, being required to provide the highest attendee/security ratio. 

We are opposed to this item because it impinges on our constitutionally protected “freedom of assembly,” and can be selectively enforced.  

COPWATCH 

Berkeley 

Be TV, don’t kill it 

Editor:  

In honor of “Turn Off Your T.V.” Week, April 23 - 29, we propose a radical alternative to keeping your set off. Instead of watching television or avoiding television altogether, head down to Berkeley Community Media and learn how to make some television. There is much to complain about when it comes to the quality of television, but don’t withdraw completely from this valuable, pervasive, and exciting educational and entertainment medium - take matters into your own hands and put what you want to watch on T.V.  

Berkeley Community Media is a wonderful community media resource that not only operates public access channel 25, which is available to cable subscribers in Berkeley and airs government, educational, and an amazing variety of community-produced programming) but offers low-cost classes to the community in camera operation, editing, studio production, and more. BCM also offers fee-based taping and editing of community events, and will air the results.  

BCM is a community bulletin board, a learning center, a blank canvas for video-artists-in-waiting, a virtual campfire around which to share our stories. It has so much to offer and too few Berkeley residents know about it. Come down and visit the staff, members, and volunteers at the center at 2239 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, on the Berkeley High School campus, between Bancroft and Allston. Our hours are Monday - Thursday, 1:30 - 9 p.m., Friday, 5 - 9 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

We understand and sympathize with the grievances of the “Kill Your T.V.” faction, but we think we have a much better solution - don’t kill your T.V., be T.V.  

Sonja Fitz 

BCM Board of Directors

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership. April 20: The Blast Rocks, The Sissies, Uberkunst, Audiowreck, Pirx the Pilot; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, The Lawrence Arms; April 27: Atom & His Package, Phantom Limbs, Har Mar Superstar, The Frisk, Shubunkins; April 28: 7 Seconds, Throwdown, Vitamin X, Over My Dead Body, Breaker Breaker; 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music begins at 9 p.m. April 18: Whiskey Brothers; April 19: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Ashkenaz 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; 1370 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Door open at 8 p.m. April 13: Scott Duncan and R.J. Micho; April 14: Mark Hummel; April 20: Little Jonny & the Giants; April 21: Jimmy Mamou; April 27: Carlos Zialcita; April 28: J.J. Malone; May 4: Henry Clement; May 5: Terry Hanck; May 11: Jimmy Mamou; May 12: Fillmore Slim 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland 655-6661  

Freight & Salvage All music at 8 p.m. April 18: Rick Shea w/Brantley Kearnes; April 19: Joe Louis Walker, Rusty Zinn; April 20: Michael McNevin; May 5, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with author P.D. James and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser; May 12, 10 a.m. - Noon: West Coast Live with authors Adair Lara and Janis Newman, and the Acoustic Guitar Summit guitar quartet. 1111 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. April 22: Alan Hall & Friends; May 6: David Creamer Trio 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Cal Performances 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; 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  

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 Shakespearean Tragedies” written 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 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 

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 dialogue 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  

Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble & Art of Ballet Dance Theater April 20, 7 p.m. Part of Dance Week at the Julia Morgan Center, April 20 - 29. $16 - $18 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

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 

Reflejos de Mexico April 28, 2 p.m. The dance troupe celebrates the vast richness of the Mexican culture. Park of Dance Week. $10 - $12 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

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  

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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 

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 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 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 

Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai April 29, 10:30 a.m. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld, co-translators of Yehuda Amichai’s “Open Closed Open,” will read their translations from the Hebrew. Book signing to follow. $4 - $5 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237  

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. Through 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  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Free Lectures All lectures begin at 6 p.m. April 29: Barr Rosenberg on “The Ornament of the Middle Way”; May 6: Sylvia Gretchen on “Faith, Doubt, and Refuge in Buddhist Practice”; May 13: Abbe Blum on “Tapping Into Creativity”; May 20: Miep Cooymans and Dan Jones on “Working with Awareness, Concentration, and Energy”; May 27: Eva Casey on “Getting Calm; Staying Clear”; June 3: Jack van der Meulen on “Healing Through Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga)”; June 10: Sylvia Gretchen on “Counteracting Negative Emotions” Tibetan Nyingma Institute 1815 Highland Place 843-6812 

“The israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Report from the Israeli Women’s Movement” April 18, 7:30 p.m. Marcia Freedman, one of the founders and leaders of the Israeli feminist and peace movements, will speak Dinner Board Room Flora Lamson Hewlett Library Graduate Theological Union 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2482 

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 

West Coast Regional Spartacist Educational April 28, Noon Jon Wood, of the Spartacist League, will speak: “Defend the Gains of the Cuban Revolution”; 3:30 p.m.: George Foster, central committee, Spartacist League, will speak: “For Socialist Revolution in the Bastion of World Imperialism” 60 Evans, UC Berkeley 839-0851 

“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 

Peopling of the Pacific May 11, 8 p.m. Dr. Patrick Kirch, department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley, will review results of archaeological research in the Pacific Islands, providing a current overview of Oceanic prehistory. 370 Dwinelle Hall UC Berkeley 415-338-1537  

In a perfect world, elementary schools might look like something out of the pages of a bucolic children’s book: rabbits and ducks would gaze in benevolently at the windows, and clouds of butterflies would drift down the corridors, carried in from peripheral gardens by a sweet-scented wind. 

Nice sentiments, but hardly something to be squeezed into a perennially strained school budget, between textbooks and computers. 

Well, don’t tell that to the folks at LeConte Elementary School. 

Next to the playground for upper grade students sits a lush vegetable garden, where students harvest their favorite organically grown delicacies every day.  

Deep inside the school a courtyard garden is home to rabbits, ducks, chickens and goats – part of a 15-year-old program to teach kids growing up in an urban environment that their food doesn’t just magically appear on supermarket shelves. 

As for the perimeter of the school grounds – a chain link fence that appears to be overgrown with weeds – that’s actually a green universe of butterfly eggs whose progeny will soon flap around the LeConte playground equipment like so much May Day confetti. 

“Every time someone comes to look at (the LeConte Butterfly Garden) they say it’s full of weeds,” said LeConte parent Susan Fischer, who helped apply for a recently awarded $3,000 grant from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to expand the school’s Butterfly Garden. 

“But, butterflies like a lot of the things that we think of as weeds.” 

Take the common plantain plant for example, the sort of angry-looking weed you might expect to find widening a crack in the sidewalk in front of your house. Buckeye butterflies wouldn’t think of laying their eggs on anything other than a plantain. 

Pull out all your weedy mallow plants and you can forget about ever seeing the Westcoast Lady, Gray Hairstreak or Checkered Skipper butterflies. 

Pretty flowers are good because butterflies feed on their nectar, said Andy Liu, a landscape architecture student at UC Berkeley who volunteers his time to maintain the garden and teach LeConte students. But it’s the glamour challenged “larval host plants” that draw the butterflies on a Biblical scale, Liu said. 

“Flowers are like a gas station and larval host plants are like a bed and breakfast,” Liu said. “Of course you’re going to see cars around a gas station, but what we want to provide is subsidized housing.” 

Of the 21 species of butterflies known to dance over Berkeley lawns during late spring and summer, Liu has designed the LeConte Butterfly Garden to lure the nine most common varieties. At this very moment the plants clinging to LeConte’s playground fence could be covered with countless thousands of butterfly eggs about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Eggs lead to caterpillars, caterpillars form cocoons, and cocoons, finally, give way to the miracle of butterflies.  

For LeConte teachers, the butterflies are the world’s greatest natural occurring teacher’s aid. Kindergarten and first grade teacher Judy Maynes takes her students out to search for eggs – right around Easter, of course. The students collect a few egg-laden leaves to take into the classroom so they can witness each stage of the butterfly life cycle. The learn about the critical relationship of each species to its natural habitat. Through art projects, they depict the butterflies’ transformation. And when the day comes to release the hatched butterflies back into the air, they read poems that meditate on the importance of freedom and escape from captivity. 

After the experience, “Kids are much more observant of nature around them,” Maynes said. “They are much more respectful of natural space.” 

Whereas before kids might have stripped leaves from a plant to throw playfully at a friend, they now recognize that those very leaves might house butterfly eggs that depend on the health of that plant, Maynes said. 

“It’s an attempt to engage kids in learning about their natural environment, and learning how things are all connected,” Liu said. 

A feature of the LeConte school for nearly 10 years now, the butterfly garden has traditionally been maintained through the labor and money donated by LeConte parents and neighborhood residents. The recent grant will allow the school to build out the garden over the next year in a truly systematic way, Liu said. They even plan to put up all-weather signs to identify plants and the butterfly species they host to passersby. 

The school, after all, should be an asset for the whole neighborhood, Fischer said. 

“It’s sort of the thing that sits right in the middle of their neighborhood. It’s used in many respects as a neighborhood park.” 

Karl Reeh is president of the LeConte Neighborhood Association, which will manage the implementation of the grant for the school. He said he gets comments from other residents in the community any time there’s a change in the school’s appearance. 

“It is important for the aesthetics of the whole neighborhood that the school look as good as possible all the time,” Reeh said. 

This Saturday, volunteers are invited from 9:30 a.m. to noon to help weed out unwanted vegetation and replace it with plants preferred by butterflies . For more information call Susan Fischer at 644-4480. 

For a complete listing of California butterflies click on: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/ca/toc.htm. 

Monday night was indeed different from other tax-filing nights in Berkeley. The downtown post office stopped accepting returns at 10 p.m., leaving some 75 late-night procrastinators in the lurch.  

The Berkeley post office has a long history of staying open until midnight on tax-filing deadline day. 

“It was a business decision,” said Berkeley Postmaster George Banks. “It is simply at my discretion every year.” 

With the advent of e-mail filing, the crowds that typically surge near midnight have dissipated in the last couple of years, Banks said.  

He said he posted notices on the downtown post office doors and otherwise left it up to the office of Consumer Affairs in Oakland to alert the public. 

Berkeley residents Tom and Jane Kelly were among those milling about on the Post Office steps, tax returns in hand, after the post offices doors had been shut tight.  

Tom Kelly tells it this way in an e-mail to the Planet: “After chatting with a few people a young girl suggested that it would be quite a mitzvah if someone was to offer to take the tax returns to Oakland. Jane and I agreed and began to offer to take the returns. At first, people seemed reluctant. We were sized up carefully. As soon as one person of every age group, gender, and ethnicity turned over their returns, the flood gates opened. People started handing over their returns with many thanks and reminders of their great trust in us! One young man told us that this was his first tax return as if that would carry some extra weight. Within 10 minutes we had an armful and began to make our way to Oakland.” 

The purpose of Kelly’s e-mail was a request to let folks know that “the couple who were entrusted with the armful of tax returns on Monday, April 16, at approximately 10:30 p.m. arrived at the West Oakland Post Office by 11:15 p.m. and placed the mail in the hands of a postal supervisor who guaranteed that the returns would be postmarked before midnight. All is well.” 

Banks noted that people gathered at the Berkeley post office were so desperate to get tax forms after 10 p.m., that post office workers had a hard time closing the doors. They called police for help.  

Next year probably won’t be different from this one. The post office will probably close its doors at 10 p.m. “Maybe next year people will be more efficient,” Banks said. 

Civil Rights Lawyer Steve Rosenbaum spoke Tuesday at a rally and petition drive of students and activists in the disability community, protesting a recent Supreme Court decision that limits the American with Disabilities Act. 

“It’s ironic,” he said, because steps, which wheelchairs can’t ascend, are emblematic of the daily problems many people with disabilities face. Steps represent barriers to access – access to schools, institutions and jobs. The ADA attempted to eliminate those barriers by preventing discrimination against disabled people and ensuring access to public institutions. Now many feel the ADA is under attack, and with it the protections necessary to ensure equality for people with disabilities.  

In the case University of Alabama vs. Garrett, a nurse with breast cancer was not allowed to sue the university for damages when it discriminated against her because of her disability. The court ruled that the state’s right not to be sued in a federal court – the university is a state institution – superseded Garrett’s civil rights. 

“We’re concerned that the Garrett decision which only applies to employment could eventually be extended into other areas like education,” said Daniel Davis, co-founder of the National Disabled Student Union. “When we started to talk we realized that there was a necessity that disabled students who had quite often been very isolated needed to start to work together on a national scale.” 

The event at UC Berkeley was one of about 90 rallies at schools around the country.  

“It released a lot of energy in the community to do something to raise awareness in the community,” said Davis, who is also vice president of the University Disabled Students’ Union. “Meeting attendance basically doubled when the Garrett decision came down.”  

While the Garrett ruling was explicitly narrow, and states still must enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, Linda D. Kilb an attorney with, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc., said that the fears about civil rights erosion are justified. 

She explained that the constitution grants rights, such as free speech in the First Amendment, or equal protection in the 14th Amendment. However, Congress has often determined what those rights actually mean.  

“The 14th Amendment was passed in the wake of the Civil War, and was clearly directed at race,” said Kilb. A strict interpretation of that constitutional protection would say that equal protection can only be granted based on race alone – leaving out protections against discrimination for people based on gender, age, disability, gender or anything else.  

“Historically the civil rights movement had largely presumed that congress had a great deal of latitude in saying what things mean,” said Kilb, and Congress has used its power to expand civil rights protections. Now, she said, the court is asserting its jurisdiction, and saying that the legislature has gone too far. 

“That’s where the vigilance needs to happen now. It’s very very important that people recognize that this is a long-term trend and picture,” said Kilb. “We’re in the middle of this interpretive discussion about how broadly civil rights laws can be enacted and enforced by the federal government and the U.S. Congress, and that dialogue is one of the more significant developments in the last half century.” 

If the Supreme Court is granting more power to the states, activists said, then movements should incorporate that into their strategy. Jenny Kern, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union recommended that people focus on local legislation to ensure that rights are protected at the state level, and City Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring both spoke about the importance of California legislation to protect disability rights. “We have the power to say, in California the Garrett decision will have no effect,” said Worthington.  

The students passed around a petition asking that California protect the civil rights of people with disabilities by passing legislation which would incorporate many of the provisions of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act into a state statute, AB 677 sponsored by Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and to support AB925, a bill by Assemblymember Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley, to move people with disabilities into the workforce.  

The rally was timed to increase awareness about disability before more judges hostile to disability rights start getting appointed to the federal bench. Student co-founder Davis encouraged the audience to write their representatives and let them know that civil rights are important in any federal judge.  

Davis said April 17 has its own significance. “It’s the day after tax day,” he said impishly. “We’re reminding our elected officials that it’s only fair that if you tax people as citizens, you need to represent them and treat them as citizens.” The date also commemorates the founding of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, which fought for civil rights in the 1960s. “We wanted to hearken back to that tradition of idealistic leadership in causes of social justice,” he said. 

High school-aged assailants targeted pedestrians listening to portable CD players in a series of robberies last week, police said. 

A man walking along the 1900 block of Sacramento Street about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday was tripped from behind by three suspects, said Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes.  

As the victim struggled to get back to his feet, two of the suspects allegedly kicked and punched him while the third went through his pockets searching for his wallet. 

The victim managed to get away from his attackers without being robbed, Lopes said, and with no more serious injuries than a number of bruises and abrasions. 

But, about an hour later, two youths attacked another lone pedestrian nearby, at the corner of Bancroft Way and Jefferson Avenue, this time forcibly removing the victim’s CD player before making their escape, Lopes said. 

Thursday night about midnight a third pedestrian listening to a portable CD player was approached by two suspects near the intersection of King and Woolsey streets. As one suspect pressed an object against the back of the victims neck, possibly simulating a gun, the victim handed over his CD player, wallet and briefcase, Lopes said. 

Police have no leads in connection with the robberies, Lopes said, but they believe all three incidents may have involved the same suspects. 

When the suspects didn’t get anything in the first attack, the may have “(walked) a couple blocks away (to) do it again until they (got) something,” Lopes said. 

••• 

A 19-year-old female UC Berkeley Student leaving the International House at the corner of Bancroft Way and Piedmont Avenue Sunday night was surrounded and groped by four high school-aged youths, police said.  

The victim managed to break away from her attackers and run home, where she immediately called police, said Lt. Lopes. 

Police failed to locate the alleged attackers Sunday and have made no arrests in the case, Lopes said. 

••• 

A man found a body in some bushes near the railroad tracks at the end of Page Street Tuesday morning. 

Police called to the scene found a hand gun and a suicide note indicating that the 41-year-old man had taken his own life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

Police believe the man shot himself sometime Monday night. Although he was not a Berkeley resident he routinely visited the city for business, Lt. Lopes said.

The Berkeley school board will hold a special budget workshop tonight to consider some possible scenarios for reducing a projected $5 million budget shortfall next year. 

At the top of the agenda is the issue of how much the district will spend to hold down class sizes, said Stephen Goldstone, interim superintendent for the Berkeley Unified School District. 

In 1994, Berkeley voters approved the Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Project (BSEP) tax measure, which pulls in millions of dollars each year aimed at holding Berkeley student/teacher ratios at 25-to-1 for fourth through sixth grades and 27-to-1 for grades seven through 12. 

Because of enrollment growth since 1994, however, the BSEP money no longer covers the cost for extra teachers needed to maintain these ratios. In order to meet the ratios next year, the Berkeley school district would have to kick in an estimated $880,000 from its general fund, contributing to the overall budget shortfall for the district. 

Tonight district staff will present the school board with different scenarios for reducing or eliminating this $880,000 expense, carefully explaining each scenario’s impact on student/teacher ratios. 

Goldstone estimates that the district will need four more teachers next year than this year to maintain current ratios.  

If the district were to make no contribution to class size reduction out of the general fund it would have 15 fewer teachers next year than this year, he said. 

Tonight’s workshop is for informational purposes only, Goldstone said. The board is not expected to vote on different budget-cutting scenarios until some time in May. 

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room on the second floor of the district’s administrative offices, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

SAN FRANCISCO — As many as 2,300 health care workers continued their strike Tuesday at nine Northern California hospitals, while the state’s attorney general listened to hearings about whether their employer should be allowed to join the city’s largest charitable care hospital. 

The walkout, which began Monday and is scheduled to last three days, is the seventh such action in recent months aimed at Sutter Health.  

Members of Health Care Workers Union Local 250 of the Service Employees International Union say they’re tired of understaffing and a lack of input. 

The goal is to create staffing committees made up of union members and management to give workers more say in staffing levels and decisions made at Sutter Health-owned hospitals, according to union officials. 

Lillie Mitchell, a 16-year veteran of California Pacific Medical, stood in front of City Hall on Monday holding a union banner that said “Health Care For All.” As an environmental services worker, it’s up to her to keep patients’ rooms clean, but she says that’s impossible to do when she’s forced to clean 27 rooms a day. 

“Hotel workers only have 14 (rooms to clean). We can’t keep up the pace since Sutter came into the picture,” she said.  

“They don’t care about patients. They just fret about money.” 

Mitchell said she also can’t afford to get sick because there’s no one to cover for her, meaning untrained workers will do her job and potentially endanger patients. 

“In oncology, you can’t use certain chemicalstion of two Sutter members. 

San Francisco Public Health Director Mitch Katz said the city’s public health system is willing to come to cash-strapped St. Luke’s rescue. Katz said he’s willing to consider everything from an affiliation to a partnership. 

Striking hospitals include San Francisco’s three California Pacific Medical Center campuses, Alta Bates Medical Center and the Alta Bates Herrick campus in Berkeley, Summit Medical Center in Oakland, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo and Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport. 

On the Net: 

http://www.sutterhealth.org 

http://www.seiu250.org/

LOS ANGELES — Outraged by a recent court ruling that the Japanese government need not compensate women forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II, hundreds of activists staged a noisy protest Tuesday outside that country’s consulate. 

The demonstrators delivered a letter addressed to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori calling on his government to fully disclose war crimes committed by Japanese troops.  

They also want Japan to acknowledge its complicity in those crimes, make reparations to victims, and approve textbooks that are historically accurate. 

The protesters screamed and waved hand-painted signs while denouncing textbooks recently approved by the Japanese government that they say fail to acknowledge World War II sex slaves, forced labor and civilian massacres. 

Historians say as many as 200,000 women, mostly Koreans but also Filipinos, Chinese and Dutch, were forced into sexual slavery during World War II. 

A Japanese appeals court last month overturned a 1998 ruling ordering the government to compensate women forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers.  

The Hiroshima High Court said the government need not pay three Korean women a total of $7,260 because no serious constitutional violations had occurred. 

“The recent court decision is a brutal slap in the face to the ’comfort women,”’ said Haena Cho of Young Koreans United of Los Angeles.  

“The Japanese government’s continuing refusal to redress these women for what they have suffered during World War II demonstrates the ongoing nature of their oppression.” 

The consulate released a copy of an April 3 statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda as its response to the protest. 

Fukuda cautioned critics against interpreting textbooks that receive authorization as representative of the government’s viewpoint.  

He said any problems found in textbooks are remedied during the authorization process and maintained that process was carried out impartially in this instance. 

He also pointed to a 1995 statement by the prime minister as proof that the country has acknowledged and apologized for damage and suffering caused in the past. 

The textbooks in question have caused a public furor in South Korea, where the ambassador to Japan is now scheduled to return home Wednesday because of the dispute. South Korea is asking the Japanese government to revise the textbook, which was written by nationalist scholars and approved by education officials earlier this month. Japan has rejected the demand. 

The controversy has rekindled anti-Japanese sentiments in Korea, where 35 years of Japanese colonial rule from 1910 until the end of the World War II in 1945 remain a bitter memory. 

Some protesters also called Tuesday for a boycott of Japanese products.  

Others said Japan should be denied a position on the United Nations Security Council, a seat the country has been pursuing for years. 

More than 100 organizations signed the letter written to Mori, questioning whether a “nation that violates human rights and approves revisionist history (is) prepared” to serve on the Security Council.

SACRAMENTO — Two men accused of selling fake masterpiece paintings on an online auction site and inflating the bid prices pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud charges in federal court. 

Kenneth Walton, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud. Scott Beach, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and three mail fraud charges. 

Walton, a Sacramento attorney, was accused of having nearly 20 different eBay login identities that he used to sell paintings and bid on paintings. Those login names hosted more than 250 auctions, according to court documents. 

Beach, of Lakewood, Colo., is also accused of having many login identities that he used to drive up auction prices. 

Both men faced five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on top of restitution payments. If they cooperate with the federal investigation, they could be sentenced to probation. 

A third man, Kenneth Fetterman, 33, of Placerville is a fugitive, prosecutors said. 

Harold Rosenthal, Walton’s attorney, said his client would cooperate with the investigation but did not know where Fetterman was living. 

Fetterman has been charged with fraud and money laundering. He faces at least 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if convicted. All three men together are thought to have hosted about 1,000 auctions from late 1998 to May 2000. 

The fraudulent bidding, known as shill bidding, is forbidden by San Jose-based eBay Inc. and is generally illegal in traditional auctions. EBay’s deputy general counsel, Rob Chesnut, has said he believes this is the first criminal case to result from alleged shill bidding online. 

In the plea agreement, Walton agreed to pay about $65,000 in restitution to six people who bought the paintings. He also agreed not to challenge a decision to remove him – at least temporarily – from the State Bar of California. Beach agreed to pay about $39,000 in restitution. 

Paintings offered for sale included an orange-and-green abstract work on which Walton forged the initials “RD 52” to imply it had been created by renowned artist Richard Diebenkorn, according to court documents. 

A Dutch man bought it for $135,805. EBay later dissolved the deal and barred Walton from the Web site. 

Prosecutors accused Walton of posing as an unsophisticated art owner who knew nothing about the art he was selling. The “RD 52” painting was sold along with a Mexican voodoo mask and an unopened roll of twine, according to prosecutors. 

The indictment said the three men drove up bids together on other works presented as if they were created by Diebenkorn and artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Clyfford Still and Maurice Utrillo. 

The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS, and the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. 

——— 

Ebay: http://www.ebay.com 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was all Ku Klux Klansman Mitchell Burns could do to keep from getting sick to his stomach. 

Laid out in front of him were morgue photographs of four black girls killed when a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Their bodies were burned and mangled. 

As a Klansman when the church was bombed in 1963, Burns didn’t have much sympathy for blacks and the civil rights movement. But something within him changed when an FBI agent showed Burns those pictures and asked for help finding the girls’ killers. 

“I told them I’d help them all I could,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “It was all because of those pictures.” 

Burns became a confidential, paid informant known by an FBI number he cannot recall and a pseudonym he can – Tom Dooly. He let agents put a tape recorder in the trunk of his ’56 Chevy and went out night after night with Tommy Blanton, a fellow Klansman. 

That was nearly four decades ago, when Burns was 36. Today, at 73, he is about to testify for the prosecution in the murder case against Blanton, now 62. 

Jury selection began Monday for Blanton’s trial in the church bombing, the deadliest act of violence against the civil rights movement. A judge last week cited medical problems in indefinitely postponing the trial of another ex-Klansman, Bobby Frank Cherry, 71, who was indicted with Blanton. 

Burns – who left the Klan more than three decades ago – said he never heard Blanton or Cherry directly claim responsibility for the blast. Burns and the two other men were in different Klan groups. 

But prosecutors have the tapes and three bound volumes of reports documenting Burns’ work, and included in the printed material are potentially incriminating statements by both men, including Burns’ claim that Blanton once said: “They ain’t gonna catch me when I bomb my next church.” 

Blanton would often want to go sit outside the Sixteenth Street Church in the car after drinking, Burns said. “It was like he got a charge out of it,” Burns said. 

Burns’ voice is gravelly after years of smoking unfiltered cigarettes. He said he has never been afraid of the Klan or anyone else, but he often keeps a loaded .38-caliber revolver on his kitchen table. 

“They weren’t crazy, they were just mean as hell. I mean hate,” Burns said. 

Burns’ name surfaced last year in court files that identified him as a witness in front of the grand jury that indicted Blanton and Cherry. 

He said he is proud of what he did all those years ago as an informant, and he is ready to take the stand against Blanton. 

“I’ve got to live with myself after this is over,” he said. “I’ve got to go home and look at myself in the mirror and I’ve got to go sleep. I can’t lie and do that.” 

Burns got involved in the investigation within weeks of the bombing, which came during a tumultuous year of civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, where segregation was the law. Blanton already was a suspect, and agents were looking for anyone – particularly someone in the Klan – who could help them get close to him. 

Burns said an agent approached him after seeing him talking to Blanton at a cafe where Klansmen hung out. Burns initially refused to help investigators. But he relented after seeing those grisly photos of Denise McNair, 11, and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson. 

Burns was paid $200 a month for talking to Blanton and relaying to agents anything he could find out. Burns and Blanton were soon spending a lot of time together. When Blanton asked for help picketing FBI headquarters to protest “harassment” by agents, Burns went along. 

When Blanton wanted to go drinking, Burns offered his car and let Blanton drive. The tape machine was running whenever the two were in the vehicle, Burns said, and the radio was disabled to keep down the noise. 

Burns did not have a body microphone, so he wrote detailed reports about things that were said inside bars or elsewhere by Blanton. The alleged statements by Blanton and others could be attacked by the defense as the ramblings of boastful, drunken Klansmen. So could Burns’ extensive written reports, since many were completed after a night on the town. 

But Burns said he never got “staggering” drunk. He also denies being a racist. He said that he never participated in Klan violence and that he has a spotless record – “not even a speeding ticket.” 

Burns said practically every man he knew was in the Klan in the early ’60s, and he was only “playing a part” in using vile racial slurs with Blanton. “I had to act as mean as him,” Burns said. 

Burns said he believes the right man is about to go on trial. But he is unsure whether there is enough evidence for a conviction. 

“He never admitted he did it. It’s all circumstantial,” he said.

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp.’s first-quarter profit fell more than 80 percent, and the chip-making giant warned that the effects of the economic slowdown will continue to be felt for months to come. 

Intel’s net income was $485 million, or 7 cents a share, for the three months ending March 31. That compares with $2.7 billion, or 39 cents a share, in the same period last year. 

Exluding acquisition-related charges, Intel earned $1.1 billion, or 16 cents a share, down 64 percent from last year’s $3 billion, or 43 cents a share, the company said Tuesday. 

Analysts were expecting earnings of 15 cents a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Revenue for the period was $6.7 billion, down 16 percent from $8 billion in the same period last year. 

Last month, the company said its first-quarter revenue would be off about 25 percent from the fourth quarter of 2000. It also said it would be trimming 5,000 jobs through attrition. 

In Tuesday’s announcement, Intel said it expects second-quarter revenue between $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion. Last year’s revenue for the period was $8.3 billion. 

Analysts say Intel’s bottom line will face pressure from unprecedented price cuts planned on its high-end Pentium 4 processors. 

The entire semiconductor industry has been hit hard by the economic downturn and subsequent slowdown in demand. As a result, companies are fighting over smaller markets – and Intel so far has been lagging. 

“We had significant inventories and a downturn in demand,” said Eric Ross, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners. “Those two on top of each other really did a whammy on the market.” 

Beyond the economy, however, the Pentium 4’s sales have suffered because of its higher cost and performance issues. Critics say existing programs run just as fast on a high-end Pentium III as on a Pentium 4. 

“Cost is king, and that makes the Intel Inside brand less valuable,” Ross said. “If they don’t have the performance that’s well above the competitors, they’re going to have to drop their price down to competitors’ level in order to compete.” 

Intel’s market share has been eroding – dropping roughly 1 percent in five of the last six quarters, according to Mercury Research. 

“It had been declining slowly,” said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury. “Our estimates for Q1 showed a little bit more of a dramatic change. The industry downturn impacted Intel more directly.” 

Intel will not discuss its pricing strategy or market share, said spokesman Robert Manetta. AMD also has not disclosed whether it will match the prices set by its competitor. 

Intel’s most surprising cut will involve its yet-to-be-released 1.7 gigahertz Pentium 4. Analysts believe it initially will be priced at $700 when released Monday, and then cut to about $350 on April 29. 

That would put the pricing in line with AMD’s speediest processor, the 1.33 GHz Athlon, which currently runs for about $350. 

The pricing could result in high-end consumer PCs costing less than $2,000, which would have bought a machine half as fast six months ago. 

Intel has dominated the market with fast processors while its competitors lagged. AMD, in particular, struggled with getting competitive processors to market. 

Now, the table has turned. AMD appears to have worked through its challenges while Intel had to deal with the Pentium 4’s performance issues and a requirement that it use a more expensive type of memory. 

Intel’s bottom line will feel more of a pinch from price cuts than before because demand and margins for the company’s highest-end server and workstation processors, which earned more profit, have decreased with the economy’s slump. 

“They don’t have that fat store, that profitability to fight AMD,” McCarron said. “They’re going to feel that pinch of pricing pressure directly.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.intel.com 

http://www.amd.com 

Union activists know the drill: 

“Health care! We care!” they chant as they circle the main entrance to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.  

This is the seventh time since July that workers from the Service Employees International Union Local 250 have gone out on strike actions of short duration. They’ve been working without a contract for one year. About 2,300 Bay Area heath care workers walked out Monday. 

“Honk if you support the hospital workers,” come calls from another group stationed on Ashby Avenue, in front of the hospital, one block east of Telegraph Avenue. Drivers respond with honks and waves. 

Some thirty hospitals – Catholic Healthcare West and Kaiser Permanente hospitals among them – have settled with the union. But workers, such as Licensed Vocational Nurses, food service staff, psychiatric technicians and others at Sutter Hospitals – which includes Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and its Herrick Hospital campus – have not signed contracts. 

Questions of salary and benefits have been negotiated to the satisfaction of both sides. But staffing continues to be at issue. The unions say workers want a voice. And the hospital says it is not denying worker input. 

Alta Bates spokesperson Carolyn Kemp says the hospital welcomes employees’ participation in employee-management committees. 

When there is disagreement, an arbitrator, who is a health-care specialist, would make a final determination on staffing. 

Kemp said the hospital has agreed that there would be an arbitrator for six months, but health care workers are asking for  

arbitration to be a permanent part of  

the agreement. 

Fola Afariogun, a union spokesperson and Care Associate 1 at Alta Bates, said, for example, staffing should be three patients per nurse or LVN. He said that inside the hospital Monday, staffing was at that ratio. 

Kemp argued that if that was the fact – and she didn’t know if it was – it was because the hospital didn’t know how many workers would be out on strike and so may have overstaffed. 

Afariogun said the lower staff/patient ratio should be permanent. “It’s not going to hurt anybody. It’s going to help patients.” 

Kemp said the hospital does not disagree with the concept of employee input into staffing ratios. It “will always give the employees a voice in staffing,” she said. 

But questions on the mechanism for the employees to be heard, shouldn’t be debated in the streets. “The life-span (of the arbitrator) should be decided at the negotiating table,” Kemp said. 

Questions that are still to be worked out between union and the hospital “should be sorted out and agreed to at the (bargaining) table.” 

In addition, the two sides debated strike tactics, with the unions decrying the uniformed security officers who were videotaping strikers at a number of locations around the hospital and the hospital saying it has to do what is necessary to protect employees and patients. Kemp, who was unable to provide the name of the company that provided security, said cameras were important to document inappropriate actions by strikers. “We wished we could have had documentation” during previous strike actions, she said. 

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.  

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  

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 

The Creek  

11 a.m.  

1301 Oxford St.  

With the approval of the Use Permit for the Beth El Synagogue project by the Zoning Adjustments Board, environmental organizations, a neighborhood group and others are protesting the design. They are seeking an appeal with the Berkeley City Council of the ZAB decision. 

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. 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  

www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

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. Please bring boxes for carrying your plants home.  

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 

Hands-On Seed Cleaning 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

924 Gilman St.  

Covering a variety of techniques and methods. At noon there will be a seed and plant swap, so bring envelopes to gather seed in.  

548-2220 

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 

Free Puppet Shows  

1:30 & 2:30 p.m.  

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level 

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning educational puppet troupe which includes puppets from diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida, will perform. Free  

International Tour Directing? 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

Learn about careers in tour leading: Dealing with guides, hotels, airlines and other suppliers, and much more. Learn what qualifications are needed and where the jobs are/aren’t.  

$5.50 for CA. residents 

981-2931 

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 

Pedestrian deaths in Berkeley are a public health emergency 

Editor: 

We are co-workers and friends of Jayne Ash, a 35-year-old woman, who was killed in broad daylight in a pedestrian crosswalk on March 13, 2001. Many of us also reside in Berkeley.  

As Jayne returned to her office at the California Department of Health Services with the cup of coffee she had just purchased, she was struck by a truck in the crosswalk at Hearst and Shattuck avenues. Jayne was crossing with the light.  

She had the right of way; no matter, she was killed. 

This tragedy has been referred to as an accident. But in Berkeley, where vehicles routinely and aggressively violate pedestrian crosswalks, it highlights an important public health emergency.  

Jayne joins a growing number of pedestrians killed or injured in attempting to reach the other side of the street. Less than a year ago, a pedestrian was killed only three blocks away in the pedestrian crosswalk at Shattuck and Virginia.  

The intersection of University and Shattuck, two blocks in the other direction, has been labeled the most hazardous for pedestrians in Berkeley.  

We are all pedestrians; we are all at substantial risk of trauma, injury, and death in this city’s crosswalks. Who will be the next pedestrian maimed or killed in a crosswalk? Each of us thinks it will be someone else, that these statistics are about other people. Likely, Jayne thought so too. 

At the 3/20/01 City Council meeting, Berkeley Police Department Chief Dash Butler described the skeletal crew of motorcycle officers available to enforce traffic regulations, indicating that effective enforcement of pedestrian crosswalks is not a priority for BPD.  

Although effective enforcement of the Vehicle Code is only one part of the solution, it is imperative that drivers understand that they cannot violate pedestrian crosswalks with impunity. At present, they know they can, and they do. 

Data obtained from a member of the Berkeley Community Health Commission indicate that Berkeley ranks first in pedestrian/bike injuries and deaths among 44 cities of similar size in California.  

This statistic demonstrates a public health emergency, requiring a coordinated and effective response at all levels of government.  

Who is accountable to the pedestrians of Berkeley to ensure their safety? What are the Mayor and City Council doing to ensure that this emergency is addressed, to ensure that Berkeley’s citizens and visitors are not injured or killed in its streets?  

A five-year Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program was approved in May 2000. What is the status of its implementation? How will the effectiveness of this program be evaluated? 

It is imperative that the Council grasp the urgency of this situation. How many more pedestrians must be injured or killed to make this point?  

We have an emergency in this city, and a business-as-usual response is unacceptable. We demand that appropriate attention and resources be allocated to address this emergency. Pedestrian safety must be among the highest priorities in Berkeley.  

Jayne’s death was a tragedy, and she is sorely missed by her family and friends. We urge the Berkeley community to prevent this from happening again.  

The next pedestrian casualty could be you, a family member, a friend, or a co-worker.  

If you are concerned about your safety as a pedestrian in Berkeley, please contact your Council Member to urge the Council to take appropriate and effective action.  

You may also email the City Clerk at clerk@ci.berkeley.ca.us and request that your message to be distributed to all Council Members and the Mayor.  

In addition, when you’re driving the streets of Berkeley, remember Jayne and watch out for pedestrians.  

Joan Sprinson 

Lisa Pascopella and 22 others 

Grandfather abuelo knows best 

Donal Brown 

Pacific News Service  

My two-year-old grandson knows me by “ha, ha, ha,” a greeting we used when he recognized me before he had words. 

Now that he knows words, I am not only “ha, ha, ha,” but also “grandpa” and “abuelo0” as well. 

When I want him to give me a kiss, I say to him, “Dame un beso.” When he sings “twinkle, twinkle, little star,” it's “brilla, brilla, estrellita.”  

His first sentence was “I hit the ball.”  

He's being schooled in two languages, Spanish and English. It would have been three, but it got too hectic when Italian was added. Maybe he can learn Italian in college, like his father. 

In multicultural America, by the third generation, on average, the language of origin is lost. When I was teaching high school, the grandchildren of immigrants only shrugged when I asked if they knew Spanish, Cantonese, Polish or Italian. 

Our grandson's birthday party is at his grandmother's house and the extended Latino family is there.  

It is festive, especially the rhythmic and dulcet sounds of the mariachi. The band plays the famous song, “El Niño Perdido” – “The Lost Child” – with a distant trumpet answered by another trumpet on stage. My grandson takes some whacks at the pinata. We feast on tamales, beans and rice. 

I do not know how any of my forebears celebrated birthdays. My middle name is Flinn, but I don't think of myself as Irish. I am also descended from Mennonites, but do not participate in their culture. 

I would be like the rest of homogenized Northern European America except that I married an Italian-American and consider myself Italian by osmosis. 

Italians celebrate family ties and cement relationships with lengthy dinners.  

We tell our guests to “mangia, mangia!” – “eat, eat!” or the food will get cold. My grandson is learning to curl pasta on his fork. 

A young woman from New England who spent Christmas with us last year remarked later that she had never before spent so much time eating a holiday dinner. 

Languages preserve differences and identity and cultural heritage, but for some Americans, an unreasoning fear of strangers translates into a desire to discourage the teaching (and learning) of languages other than English.  

So the whole idea of bilingual education is under fire. 

Few students have rigorous instruction in any “foreign” language until high school. Asked if they want their children to learn English or their parents' language, immigrant parents naturally opt for English. 

However, when they are asked their opinion of bilingual programs that cultivate proficiency in both languages, parents favor those programs. 

Research has shown that in true bilingual programs, the language of origin can be maintained at no cost to English and in fact offers obvious advantages to students. 

Yet the head of my grandson's nursery school suggests the child should only speak English – apparently unaware of studies showing that bilingual children, although they may not at first perform as well as native speakers in either language, emerge not only unscathed but enriched with continued practice. 

My son and daughter-in-law will continue as before to give my grandson a bilingual education – speaking to him and reading to him in Spanish and English. 

If we give in to fears, however well intentioned, America is the loser – in richness of culture, in linguistic wealth, and especially in cohesiveness and connection. I feel happy that my grandson will be bilingual. Being able to conceptualize in two language may well make him smarter than average. 

He will certainly feel connected by two cultures, Latino and Italian, and secure in family and family traditions. 

Donal Brown taught journalism and English literature in California's public schools for 35 years. 

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1890 masterpiece “Hedda Gabler” tells the story of a big woman newly locked into a confining marriage with a small man – at a time when there were limited options for what women could do with their lives. 

“Hedda” is part of a series of plays – including “A Doll’s House”– that Ibsen wrote at the end of the 19th century about restless, unsatisfied women. These works went on to be seminal pieces in the evolution of modern drama. 

On Thursday, Berkeley’s wonderfully talented Aurora Theater opened a challenging and thoughtful production of Ibsen’s difficult and complex play, in a new adaptation by gay male New York playwright Jon Robin Baltz. 

A blueprint for the well-made play, “Hedda Gabler” is a gossipy and vicious story of domestic intrigue, well-suited to the tiny, intimate 50-seat Aurora performance space at the Berkeley City Club, where audience members sit within a foot of the performers. 

In “Hedda Gabler,” newlyweds Hedda (Stacy Ross) and George (Steve Marvel) arrive home after an awkward five-month honeymoon to the expansive and dangerously credit-financed house that scholar George hopes pay for with a pending academic appointment. 

Hedda is immediately out of sorts with her life, having married a man she doesn’t love, because it was the time in her life to get married. 

When old flames and would be lovers appear – sensing her loveless marriage – Hedda schemes desperately, vengefully and willfully to control those in her unhappy social arena. 

The play is a little bit like Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” with touches of Lillian Hellman’s “Little Foxes” and the television show "Dynasty" thrown in. 

The story hits powerfully on the polar conflict themes of money and poverty, family and orphaning, friendship and enmity, men and women, work and idleness, generosity and blackmail, creativity and ordinariness. 

The success of any production of this play turns greatly on the performance of the complex character of Hedda. As with great Shakespearean characters, an actor has options to play the character of Hedda in varying ways. 

In part, Hedda is a princess – a high-maintenance interloper into George’s stable middle-class family. She is a beautiful woman who often reacts with negativity to the kind things others say. Of one acquaintance, she remarks, “She had very irritating hair.” 

Regal and controlling, icy and manipulative, Hedda is part Strindberg vixen from hell. She has a fondness for shooting her father’s pistols at men who frustrate her. 

The trick with Hedda, for both actor and director, is to find some understanding of how much Hedda is a victim of the social repressions of the society around her, and how much she is just plain nuts. And what the connection is, if any, between the two. 

In Stacy Ross’ interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying Aurora performance, this connection and understanding aren’t quite achieved. 

In Ross’ performance, there are places where the character is psychologically unbalanced, places where she is angry, and places where she is a victim of her social circumstances, but the performance jumps back and forth among these states, and never quite finds a center. 

The viciousness, self-hatred, angry craziness and evil of the character flash from time to time, but don’t come through in full force. 

At times, this Hedda seems more like a deer caught in the headlights, than a malevolent architect of conflict. But it is hard to believe this interpretation of a character who is trapped and struggling in a world in which she is generally the most powerful person. 

Steve Marvel is wonderful as Hedda’s simple husband George, an emotional, conjugal and sexual naïf.  

A university philological aspirant, George is an amiable young man most excited by the time he spends rooting through old documents. 

Navigating cheerfully and obliviously among the conflicts between his wife and those around her, George’s capacity for emotional misunderstanding is enormous. 

Elizabeth Benedict takes a wonderful turn as George’s proper but kind aunt Julia, abused back-handedly in each of her encounters with Hedda. 

Marvin Greene is a somewhat flat and predictable as Lovborg, the reformed black sheep tempted by Hedda to travel once again to the dark side. 

Beth Donohue is believable as a nervous and fearful former schoolmate of Hedda’s, manipulated mercilessly by the control freaks around her, but holding steady in the end because of her good heart. 

Julian Lopez-Morillas turns in a marvelous performance as charming, manipulative Judge Brack, in Baltz’s adaptation a slippery bi-sexual hedonist angling for an affair with Hedda. 

Even with the limitations that this production hits, this is a fascinating evening of theater. "Hedda Gabler" is a classic story of a trophy wife at a loss about who she is and what to do with her life, who puts her intelligence into making other people unhappy. 

This turn-of-the-century, proto-Freudian theater, was written at a time when explicit psychiatric subtexts were first beginning to creep into modern drama. Nowadays, we might say that the people in this play have poorly nurtured inner children. 

Planet theater reviewer John Angell Grant has written for “American Theatre,”  

“Callboard,” and many other  

publications. E-mail him at  

jagplays@yahoo.com.

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 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 proscenium stage. Please call Berkeley Repertory Theatre for specific dates and times. $15.99 - $117 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St.  

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 

“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 

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted 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 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst  

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. 

Holloway Poetry Reading Series April 17, 8 p.m. Ann Lauterbach and Nadia Nurhessein will read. Maude Fife Room (315) Wheeler Hall UC Berkeley 653-2439 

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. 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  

The City Council will consider suggestions tonight from the Commission on Aging on ways to salvage a faltering subsidized taxi service for the elderly and disabled.  

According to the COA and the Commission on Disability, cab drivers are increasingly refusing to pick up elderly and disabled fares. Commissioners said it’s because the city’s paratransit program doesn’t pay full fare and because elderly and disabled passengers can require more work. 

COA Chair Charlie Betcher said his commission is recommending the city contract with more taxi companies, pay full fare and reimburse the companies twice a month instead of once a month. 

In a report to the council, the city manager asked the council to wait until June 12 to take action, so the implications of the recommendation can be thoroughly examined.  

Disabled or elderly Berkeley residents can purchase taxi vouchers, which are called scrips. The scrips, redeemable with four taxi companies in contract with the city, are discounted to passengers on a sliding scale depending on income.  

Instead of cash, scrip riders pay cab drivers with the vouchers, which drivers then submit to the taxi companies they work for. Then the drivers can wait up to two months for the city to reimburse the taxi company at 90 cents on the dollar. 

COD Commissioner Karen Rose said the problem became worse when Golden Gate Luxor Cab Company pulled out of its longtime contract with the city.  

“They were the number one company in Berkeley,” she said. “They showed up when they said they would and they screened their drivers so they were always friendly.” 

Rose said that the remaining three taxi companies rarely show up and if they do they’re late. Rose, who is blind, said she now has to hitchhike to work as many as three times a week. 

“I had a doctor’s appointment today and the company I called didn’t show up so I was out there on University Avenue hitchhiking with shingles all over my face,” she said. 

Mahin Rajabi, who runs Golden Gate Luxor Cab Company with her husband, Nemat Modarresi, said their small company can no longer afford to provide scrip service. “We haven’t been able to afford it for the last two years,” she said. “But we continued because we felt an obligation to our customers.”  

Rajabi said their drivers often live day to day and come to work with little or no cash. They have to buy gas for the cab and be able to pay for lunch “and all they get is paper.” 

She said the six-cab company recently lost a driver who had 14 years experience to a San Francisco cab company because he wanted to work for cash. 

“As it is, my husband drives seven days a week and we are in debt,” she said. “We will miss our regular customers, but we just can’t do it anymore.” 

The city administers the program and subsidizes half of it. The other half comes from Measure B, a countywide transportation tax, first approved by voters in 1986. Voters renewed the tax in November.  

Currently 11 percent, or $149 million, of the revenue raised by the half-cent sales tax goes to county paratransit programs including discounted taxi services and van transportation for the disabled and elderly. 

According to the Berkeley Paratransit Subsidy Services Operations Administer Gene Biggins, the taxi scrip budget for this fiscal year is roughly $175,000. 

Director of Housing Stephen Barton said the city might raise the scrip redemption from 90 cents to 103 cents on the dollar to encourage cab drivers to provide the much-needed service. 

Barton said another possibility is making it mandatory for all cab companies doing business in Berkeley to provide a certain amount of scrip service each week as a condition of renewing their taxi permit. 

COD Vice Chair Karen Craig said she would like the city to require taxi companies doing business in Berkeley to have a percentage of their fleet be wheelchair accessible vans.  

“I think the city manager should start looking into some sources for grant funding that would help the companies purchase the vans,” she said.  

One Berkeley cab driver, who asked not to be identified, said that picking up the disabled and elderly can be difficult work. “You have to help them from their house to the cab,” he said. “And then they only want to go three blocks to do the shopping, which you get to carry, all for a voucher you have to wait a month to get paid for.” 

He said that most scrip users don’t have much money so they rarely tip. 

Tonight the City Council will hear from Bobby Singer, former chair of the COA and presently head of the Elders’ Network and Esther Kassoy, 86, a frequent scrip user. The two will speak in behalf of the COA recommendation. 

Tonight the City Council will likely accept a $50,000 grant from the Alameda Alliance for Health, for a contract with Positive Outlook Consultant Services to provide substance abuse counseling to pregnant and parenting African American women. 

The program is proposed to run from May 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002.  

According to a council report approved by the Health and Human Services Director Fred Medrano, increasing women’s access to health care is a priority. The report claims proof of the department’s commitment is reflected in the city’s high rate of prenatal care. 

Berkeley is the only city in California that has reached its 10-year goal of 90-percent use of prenatal care by pregnant women, according to a State Department of Health Services study. The study shows that Berkeley’s rate for prenatal visits is 18 percent higher than the state average. Tuolumne County comes in next, with an 83.3 percent rate for prenatal care. 

According to the council report, a recent Alta Bates Hospital review of births to Berkeley women revealed an alarming disparity of infant birth weights between white and African American women.  

The same report also revealed that African American women had higher rates of drug and nicotine use during pregnancy.  

Positive Outlook was chosen because it has the widest array of services available.  

Tower study 

The council will also likely approve a recommendation to enter into a $50,000 contract with the MARCO Corporation to study safety issues concerning the Tsukamoto Public Safety Building tower, which is currently not in use.  

According to the council report approved by Director of Public Works Rene Cardinaux, San Francisco based MARCO Corporation was determined by city staff and a specially formed committee to have an acceptable amount of experience to perform the six-month study. 

The study will examine several aspects of the tower’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood including a review of possible health risks from electromagnetic radiation, spreading the tower’s multiple antennas to various locations around the city to reduce an overload of radiation and does the city in fact require all of the antennas on the tower. 

The final cost to the city will be $68,000 including administration costs.  

Beth El 

The council will consider setting two public hearings related to the proposed 35,000 square-foot Beth El Synagogue at 1301 Oxford St. 

The council may set the public hearings as a means of reconciling two opposing decisions by two separate permit boards. One is the March 8 decision by the Zoning Adjustments Board, which approved a use permit for the synagogue project and the other is the March 5 Landmarks Preservation Commission decision to deny a permit to demolish two buildings on the site that stand in the way of the proposed project. 

Neither decision has been officially appealed by the Beth El congregation nor the Live Oak Cordonices Creek Neighborhood Association, which opposes the project.  

The city manager has recommended the council certify the ZAB decision and appeal the LPO decision. 

Moratorium in the MULI 

The Planning Commission has recommended the council enact a moratorium on office development in the Mixed Use-Light Industrial District, also known as the MULI, in West Berkeley. 

The recommendation says the moratorium should remain in effect until the impact of the growing number of offices on blue-collar jobs, artists and artisans can be determined. Another concern is increased traffic congestion posed by more offices. 

The council report, approved by Planning Commission Chair Rob Wrenn, said that 348,821 square feet of office space has been developed in the MULI in the last three years.  

Special meeting 

The City Council will meet in executive session with the City Attorney at 5:30 p.m. to discuss pending litigation against the city. There will be time for public comment before the meeting goes into closed session. The meeting will be held at 2180 Milvia St. on the sixth floor. 

The regular City Council will meet in the City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way at 7 p.m. The meeting will be broadcast live on KPFB Radio 89.3 and Cable B-TV (Channel 25).

Martin Luther King Middle School has been named a California Distinguished School for 2001. 

“These Schools are leaders in the education community,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin last week, announcing the 157 middle schools and high schools that have received the “California Distinguished School” designation this year. 

More than 250 schools applied to for the honor in December of last year. Beginning in January panels of educators from around the state reviewed each 20-page application, evaluating the schools’ educational programs, learning environment, and “public confidence” – the level of family and community involvement in the school. 

“I’m glad we decided to go for it this year,” said teacher Kristin Collins. “It’s a way someone outside of ourselves can look at us and kind of validate what we’re doing...It’s a way of telling the community what’s going on here.” 

“It’s a source of pride for people who are involved with King,” said teacher Rachel Garlin. 

King was named a California Distinguished School once before, in 1996. The award goes to elementary schools one year and middle schools and high schools the next. Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary school was named a California Distinguished School last year. 

The panels of judges “look at all aspects of the school,” said King Principal Neil Smith. Last month three of them spent a day at King, talking with students and staff and inspecting the campus classroom by classroom. 

Smith pointed to a strong library staff, wide availability of computers (three per class), and an annual professional development retreat for teachers as just some of the things that set King apart. The school’s Edible Schoolyard program helps engage kids in the more practical side of learning, he said, involving them in all aspects of food preparation at the school – from the garden to the kitchen.  

Garlin said, “There are lots of opportunities for kids, before school, during school and after school, to help shape the school.” 

The school’s culture encourages involvement not just in the classroom, she explained, but on a number of levels, from the garden to the stage of a dramatic production.  

As an example of how the school goes out of its way to include all students, Garlin pointed to the fact that “gifted” classes at King are held after school and are open to all students who want to attend. 

Staff work together closely to meet the individual needs of students, Collins said.  

“We work hard trying to meet kids where they are,” Collins said. “We try not to see them as just a group of kids.” 

With about 900 students, some kids could easily fall through the cracks at King if not for the vigilance and energy of the staff, Collins said. 

“We try to know them individually, to challenge them individually, and to support them individually; to make sure they have a place to shine or belong.” 

But there are still areas where King can improve, Garlin said. 

“It’s important that we see this (the Distinguished School award) as recognition that we’re doing some of the right things, not as a stamp of approval that says our work is done,” Garlin said. 

Garlin said students’ No. 1 complaint is that the school is old and worn down. 

Smith said an $18 million renovation project scheduled to begin at King this summer while bring long overdue improvements to one of the Berkeley school district’s oldest facilities, enlarging classrooms and adding new windows and new wiring. 

Another goal ought to be the hiring of more minority teachers to reflect the diversity of the student body, said Garlin. 

Last year, King’s 900 students were 36 percent white, 31 percent African American, 17 percent Hispanic and 9 percent Asian. The school’s 57 teachers were 70 percent white, 12 percent African American, 11 percent Asian and 5 percent Hispanic. 

A love of comic books and of the history of mid-20th century New York led Michael Chabon to write “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” the book that won him a Pulitzer on Monday. 

“It’s just a time and a place I’ve always been drawn to,” said Chabon, who lives in Berkeley with his wife and two children. “I think I was always looking for a way to time-travel back there and when I somehow came up with this idea of these two comic-book creating young men ... it just suddenly seemed like that was the perfect vehicle.” 

Chabon’s book is set in New York City in 1939. The Kavalier of the title is Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has escaped from Nazi-occupied Prague. He and his Brooklyn-born cousin, Sammy Clay, go into partnership creating a comic book hero, the Escapist. 

Chabon has a history of writing about losers. This is his third novel. His first, “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” was published in 1989, and his second novel, “The Wonder Boys” was made into a movie starring Michael Douglas. 

The 37-year-old Chabon (pronounced Shay-bon) had no idea his book was up for a Pulitzer. “Did I really win?” was his first reaction. 

Hours after learning he’d won, the news was “taking a little while to sink in. But it feels really good. It felt especially good to be able to call my parents and tell them.” 

Chabon also called his 6-year-old daughter at school. 

“She was very excited,” Chabon said with a laugh. 

He is currently working on a screenplay for “Kavalier & Clay.” 

On the Net: Chabon’s homepage, http://home.earthlink.net/ 7/8mchabon/

The Supreme Court refused to let California jail inmates testify anonymously in the murder trial of two fellow prisoners. Prosecutors said the inmates needed to keep their names secret to protect their safety. 

The court, without comment, on Monday turned down prosecutors’ argument that allowing inmates to testify anonymously will not violate the fair-trial rights of two fellow prisoners charged with stabbing another inmate to death. 

Joaquin Alvarado and Jorge Lopez were charged with murder in the Feb. 6, 1993, stabbing death of Jose Uribe, a fellow inmate at the Los Angeles County Jail. Uribe was stabbed 37 times. 

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Alvarado but not against Lopez. 

Prosecutors asked the trial judge to allow three other inmates, who were in the jail at the time of the killing, to testify without revealing their names. Government lawyers said the inmates were in danger from the prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia that ordered the killing. 

A state trial judge ruled that prosecutors could withhold the inmates’ names throughout the trial, but that defense lawyers would be allowed to interview the inmates – without knowing their names – before the trial. 

The California Supreme Court ruled last August that the inmates’ identities could be withheld before the trial, but that defense lawyers must be given their names during the trial. 

The Constitution’s Sixth Amendment gives criminal defendants the right to confront the witnesses against them. The California court said that to do so effectively, defense lawyers must have the witnesses’ names. 

The state court said the witnesses’ identities could be concealed before the trial because they were “particularly vulnerable to threats, coercion or violent acts of other inmates.” The trial was put on hold to allow prosecutors to appeal to the Supreme Court. 

In the appeal acted on Monday, prosecutors said the witnesses were in “extreme danger” and that the defendants’ constitutional rights will be adequately protected by allowing their lawyers to cross-examine the witnesses in court. 

Lawyers for Alvarado and Lopez said longstanding precedent supports the California Supreme Court’s ruling. 

The case is California v. Alvarado, 00-1312. 

——— 

On the Net: For the state court ruling: http://www.courts.net and click on (name of California. 

NEW YORK — News coverage of the pre-dawn raid by federal agents who grabbed Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez resulted in two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday: a breaking news reporting award for The Miami Herald and a breaking news photography award for Alan Diaz of The Associated Press. 

Diaz’s dramatic photo captured the confrontation between a rifle-toting federal agent and a family friend clutching Elian in his arms at the height of last year’s raid. 

The double winners were the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Oregonian of Portland and The Wall Street Journal. 

Also among the winners was the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, circulation 22,000, which won its first Pulitzer for David Moats’ editorials supporting civil unions for gay couples. The civil unions eventually became state law. 

The Oregonian won the public service award for a series about the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the feature writing prize for Tom Hallman Jr.’s profile of a disfigured teen-ager who underwent life-threatening surgery to improve his appearance. 

The INS series found that the agency was detaining people for long periods without giving them access to legal representation. “I really want to thank the sources. It took a lot of courage to tell their stories to us,” said Rich Read, one of four reporters who worked on the stories. 

The Times’s David Cay Johnston won the beat reporting award for exposing loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code. The Times also won for national reporting for a series on race in America. 

The Tribune staff won the explanatory reporting award for “Gateway to Gridlock,” about the American air traffic system. 

There were two Pulitzers awarded this year in international reporting, and one of them went to Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Salopek, who wrote about political strife and epidemic disease in Africa. Salopek also won a Pulitzer in 1998 for explanatory reporting on the human genome project. 

The last time that the Pulitzer committee awarded two prizes in international reporting was in 1993 for stories about the Bosnian conflict. 

The other international reporting award went to Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal for stories about the Chinese government’s suppression of the Falun Gong movement. 

The Journal’s other Pulitzer was for commentary, awarded to Dorothy Rabinowitz for articles about American society and culture. 

The original trio nominated in commentary included two writers for The Philadelphia Inquirer: Karen Heller for humorous columns on life and culture and Trudy Rubin for analysis of the Middle East. The third finalist was Derrick Jackson of The Boston Globe for columns ranging from politics, education and race. 

The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., won its first Pulitzer, for feature photography by Matt Rainey. His emotional pictures documented the care and recovery of two students burned in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University. “I think they’re heroes,” Rainey said. 

The Ledger’s spot coverage of the fire and feature stories about the students’ recovery also were finalists in the breaking news and feature writing categories. 

THE WINNERS  

Journalism: 

•Public service: The Oregonian of Portland. 

•Breaking news reporting: Staff of The Miami Herald. 

• Explanatory reporting: Staff of the Chicago Tribune. 

• Beat reporting: David Cay Johnston of The New York Times. 

• National reporting: Staff of The New York Times. 

• International reporting (two winners): Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Salopek of the Chicago Tribune. 

• Feature writing: Tom Hallman Jr. of The Oregonian. 

• Commentary: Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal. 

• Criticism: Gail Caldwell of The Boston Globe. 

• Editorial writing: David Moats of the Rutland (Vt.) Herald. 

• Editorial cartooning: Ann Telnaes of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. 

• Spot news photography: Alan Diaz of The Associated Press. 

• Feature photography: Matt Rainey of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. 

Arts: 

• Fiction: Michael Chabon for “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.” 

• Drama: David Auburn for his play “Proof.” 

• History: Joseph J. Ellis for his book “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.” 

• Biography: David Levering Lewis for the second volume of his biography of civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, “W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and The American Century, 1919-1963.” 

• Poetry: Stephen Dunn for his volume of original verses “Different Hours.” 

• General Nonfiction: Herbert P. Bix for his book “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.” 

—Music: John Corigliano for “Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra.” 

American consumers must work four months just to pay taxes. Their mutual funds have plunged. Layoffs loom. Their utility bills are up. They are deep in debt. 

But consumer confidence is up. 

Well, yes, confidence did fall, and sharply, during the past year, but it rebounded in March even as some of the other economic indicators worsened. Business confidence, for example, remains depressed. 

Does the consumer sense something that the best trained economic eyes cannot perceive? It’s a question not to be ignored, because no matter how bad a rap consumers have taken in the past, they do have common sense. 

But as consumer confidence rises, as measured by March readings from The Conference Board, businesses are laying off workers and cutting their capital spending plans. 

The obvious but perhaps superficial explanation is that consumers expect tax refunds, a tax cut, an easing of interest rates, a pickup in business, and a rising stock market that will restore their lost wealth. 

And underlying all this appears to be an unreserved faith in the ability of Congress, the White House, the Federal Reserve and business leaderhip to restore the economy to its old robust health. 

That faith already is evident in the consumer willingness to spend at a level that dropped the savings rate to a record low of minus 1.3 early in the year, and raised the debts to 107 percent of disposable income. 

Unanswered is whether or not leadership can deliver on the hopes. 

The Tax Foundation has already concluded that President Bush’s tax plan won’t stop the tendency of the tax code to extract a growing fraction of the nation’s income over the next 10 years. 

After having been caught underestimating the economic slowdown, the Federeal Reserve aggressively lowered interest rates, but more recently has shown a reluctance to continue doing so. It still fears inflation. 

For its part, businesses aren’t showing a great deal of leadership. They are cutting inventories and reconsidering capital investments, not yet convinced that sales will rise and justify expansion. 

The latest report from the National Federation of Independent Business, which considers itself a spokesman for small-business owners, shows optimism fell again in March after having rebounded in February. 

Among the specifics of the NFIB report: hiring plans fell, both spending plans and actual outlays fell, and despite a slight improvement over February, “march still delivered one of the worst readings since 1991.” 

None of this means the consumers is wrong. But, as economist David A. Wyss sees it, business executive confidence may be more important. 

Wyss, author of Standard & Poor’s “U.S. Forecast Summary”, acknowledges in the April issue that consumer spending accounts for 64 percent of gross domestic product, but says the 15 percent accounted for by declining fixed investment by businesses is far more volatile 

He believes the turnabout in consumer confidence, “increases our hope that the economy will not fall into actual recession.” But he suggests that the March rebound could be temporary, “a false dawn.” 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

Cal Day, the University of California, Berkeley's annual open house, will host a daylong resource fair to help students and their families prepare for college.  

Called “From Kindergarten to College,” it will give parents tools to lay the groundwork for a successful college application – and a successful future on Saturday.  

Getting into college today requires more than good grades. As early as middle school, students must take the right prerequisite courses and engage in extracurricular activities. 

UC Berkeley has numerous programs for reaching out to students before and during high school.  

Campus organizations that target educationally disadvantaged K-12 students will be staffing booths in Dwinelle Plaza this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to meet students and their parents and to answer questions. 

From 9:30-11 a.m., young people and their parents are invited to attend a seminar, “College: Making it Happen,” which aims to answer questions like, “What level of math should my 7th- grader be taking?” and “How much do I need to save now to afford tuition?”  

Included will be a discussion on how to choose between California's higher education options - the University of California, California State University, and California state junior colleges. The session, held in 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, will be conducted in both English and Spanish. 

Other highlights include: 

• At 11 a.m., an ArtsBridge dance performance by Bay Area children in the Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall. 

• At 11 a.m., and 1 p.m., special Kindergarten to College tours of the campus leaving from the tour table in Dwinelle Plaza. 

• At 11 a.m., a seminar for youth entitled, “Explore Careers in Health” to learn about the Health Partnership Initiative, a new, five-year project aimed at bringing underrepresented youth into health professions. 160 Dwinelle Hall. 

• At 2 p.m., a session for high school students on the undergraduate admissions process, including how to write a personal statement. 2 LeConte Hall.

A powerful education reform movement sweeping the nation has hit Berkeley High School, and now parents are being invited to join the discussion.  

The Berkeley Unified School District has more than $100,000 to study how small learning communities might help solve pressing problems at Berkeley High like campus violence, poor attendance and high teacher turnover. 

The first in a series of Community Workshops to study small learning communities and their potential at Berkeley High has been scheduled for 10 a.m., May 19, at Berkeley Alternative High School, 2701 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

“Anyone who has a kid they’re considering sending to Berkeley High, they should be coming,” said Joan Blades, a parent activist whose volunteered to help with the small learning communities planning process. “The greatest success with this kind of transitions are the ones that have strong grassroots support, and that’s what we need to provide.” 

The federal government set aside $45 million in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings to create smaller, more personal learning communities in some of the biggest high schools in the United States. This was done by either creating schools-within-a-school with specialized curriculums or by simply restructuring the school day. 

Education research, said supporters of the Small Learning Communities program, shows that communities of less than 600 students are simply less likely to develop many of the problems that plague U.S. high schools today, from violence to achievement gaps between students of different ethnicities. 

Nearly half of U.S. high school students today attend schools of more than 1,500 students, according to Small Learning Communities program literature. 

“Research ultimately confirms what parents intuitively believe: That smaller schools are safer and more productive because students feel less alienated, more nurtured and more connected to caring adults, and teachers feel that they have more opportunity to get to know and support their students,” said one report on the program. 

(For an extensive bibliography of small schools research, visit the Small Schools Workshop at www.smallschoolsworkshop.org/info3.html.) 

Of the $45 million in grants made in the Small Learning Communities program’s first year, more than $10 million went to the state of California. The Los Angeles Unified School District alone received seven grants, one less than the entire state of Texas. And Congress has set aside $125 million to be awarded for small learning community efforts at the end of 2001 – an increase of 277 percent over this year’s appropriation. 

The Berkeley Unified School District was one of 19 California school districts to received a Small Learning Communities planning grant this year. The district has received two matching grants on top of the $47,000 federal grant, Blades said, bringing the total to $141,000. 

Blades said the money will be used to educate parents and train teachers, in some cases by sending them to see how other schools have implemented small learning communities. 

Tim Greco, an education programs consultant for the California Department of Education, said one of the reasons California schools applied so heavily for the Small Learning Communities grants is that the program gives local school districts a great deal of latitude to decide how to reduce school size. 

As opposed to pulling something off the shelf and trying to replicate it, the grant recipients are expected to come up with their own model based on what would be practical and effective for their community, Greco said. 

In the case of Berkeley High, one of the challenges will be to maintain the school’s current strengths — test scores consistently place it among the best high schools in the state — while finding ways to better serve underperforming students, Blades said. 

Grade estimates 15 weeks into the fall semester this year indicated that as many as 242 Berkeley High freshman were failing two or more classes. 

“Berkeley High is a complex entity,” Blades said. “I don’t pretend to have expertise in that area. But I have read the literature about small schools. And you just think, ‘yeah, these kids need to have a real connection with the people who are teaching them and a real connection with each other.’”  

If the community rallies behind a single model for small learning communities in the coming months, the Berkeley school district could apply to the Small Learning Community program for an implementation grant in October. The Oakland Unified School District received a $1.5 million grant from the program this year to implement its own model for more personalized education, which consists of breaking five high schools that serve 10,405 students into as many as 20 small autonomous schools.

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  

Millennial Presidency  

7 - 9 p.m. 

155 Dwinelle Hall  

UC Berkeley  

The American Presidency in the year 2001, a UC Berkeley Extension public program. Free  

642-4111 

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 

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 

The Creek  

11 a.m.  

1301 Oxford St.  

With the approval of the Use Permit for the Beth El Synagogue project by the Zoning Adjustments Board, environmental organizations, a neighborhood group and others are protesting the design. They are seeking an appeal with the Berkeley City Council of the ZAB decision. 

Wednesday, April 18

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 

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 

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

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 

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 

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

Treatment of Wozniak unfair 

Editor: 

In my opinion Dr. Wozniak is a decent person who sincerely believes in the safety of tritium. He deserves credit for having volunteered significant time over the years to the Parks Commission, and although I have always felt it was a conflict of interest to serve on a commission which investigates the violation of health and safety laws by his employers, he clearly did not deserve the shabby treatment that resulted from the City Attorney’s inconsistent legal opinions. At the March 27 City Council I stated Dr. Wozniak should be allowed to remain on the commission but be barred from participating in decisions related to LBNL, where he is employed as a nuclear scientist, but your article “City commissioner accused of chair kicking” (DP 4/2/01) makes clear to me that Dr. Wozniak must be removed from the Community Environmental Advisory Commission. 

Pushing or slamming a chair at a person objecting to LBNL’s refusal to properly locate radiation monitors clearly crosses the line. Members of the public should not have to fear violence by city commissioners who disagree with their opinions. In this case a woman who wished to participate in the meeting was effectively silenced because she had to leave and go to the hospital. Polly Armstrong’s bad judgement in appointing Dr. Wozniak to a commission that investigates his own employer, which became evident when she refused to remove him despite the disruptive effect leading to walkouts for two commission meetings in a row, should now be obvious. Dr. Wozniak has shown he can not control his temper when people criticize tritium pollution. Because his presence on the commission could have a chilling effect on the right of citizens who wish to speak out against LBNL’s tritium facility he should be removed. If Armstrong lacks the common sense to do so despite this act of violence, the council should remove him, not only because of the conflict of interest, but because his actions expose the city to liability and prove that he lacks the temperament to deal appropriately with people who criticize the tritium facility. 

Elliot Cohen 

Berkeley 

Berkeley law enforcement ignores state law 

Editor: 

Why is everybody so concerned about how the new state law about sleeping in public places is going to be enforced? Simple answer- enforce it like some other state laws are enforced in Berkeley — just choose to ignore it!  

I’ve seen Berkeley police watch drivers driving across the double yellow line to turn around in the middle of the block to get a parking place on the other side of the street — they just ignore it. I’ve seen city employees park city owned cars in red zones while getting a cup of coffee in Peet’s — the parking enforcement and the squad car totally ignore it. When was the last time anybody looked at the head shops on Telegraph selling drug paraphernalia? Wake up, Berkeley, your city officials and police ignore what they want! 

Allan Munkres 

Kensington

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 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, 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 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 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 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 22: Alan Hall & Friends 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 or visit www.jazzschool.com  

Cal Performances 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; 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  

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 

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 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 

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.

Saturday, the Golden Bears hosted the USC Trojans at Evans Diamond for the third and final time in this week’s series. Having dropped the first two games, the Bears needed a win badly to salvage the series. But Cal got off to a rough start with starter Ryan Atkinson not lasting past the first inning, and it looked like the Trojans were gearing up for a sweep.  

But by chipping away at the USC (26-13 overall, 8-4 Pac-10) lead run by run, the Bears managed to send the game to extra innings, and scratched their way to a 5-4 run victory in the tenth when designated hitter Brad Smith bounced a grounder over a drawn-in USC infield with the bases loaded. 

The Bears (22-18, 7-8) are hoping this win will be a turning point in their season, allowing them to make a late run at the post season – just as they made a late run at the Trojans on Saturday. 

Southern California started fast, ripping Atkinson for three runs on three hits in the first inning. The Bears responded with three hits of their own in the bottom half. Ben Conley and 

Conor Jackson singled with Conley scoring on cleanup hitter John Baker’s soft liner between the shortstop and third basemen.  

Trailing 3-1 after the first inning, Cal coach David Esquer decided to pull Atkinson, turning to reliever Andrew Sproul.  

“There’s no use leaving somebody rested throughout the weekend because there is no other game in the weekend,” Esquer said after the game.  

Sproul allowed only one runner in his first three innings of relief. In the fifth inning, during the Trojans second time through the order against Sproul, Michael Moon hit his second career home run off the top of the track field stands behind the right field wall, putting USC up 4-1. Moon’s home run capped the Trojan’s scoring.  

Trojan starter Anthony Reyes started shakily, allowing a run and three hits in the first inning, but settled down afterwards. Cal spent the game trying to recover from the slow start. 

Sproul gave way to David Cash in the sixth inning. Cash threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five Trojans. The two Cal relievers combined to throw nine innings, giving up just one run on five hits and no walks. The near flawless bullpen pitching allowed the Bears to stage a late inning comeback, giving Cash his third win of the season. As Cash put it, “the bullpen held on long enough.”  

Reyes didn’t allow a second run until the seventh inning, when Carson White scored on a Ron Meyer’s fielder’s choice, cutting the USC lead to 4-2. Cal scratched together another run in the eighth inning. After Conley struck out, Jackson drew a walk. Reyes, preoccupied with Jackson, threw two pickoffs to first basemen Bill Peavey. On his third pickoff attempt, Reyes threw the ball away, allowing Jackson to move up to second. Brian Horowitz hit what could have been a double play ball up the middle, only Jackson was already on second after the throwing error. Cal capitalized on the break when Baker followed with his second RBI single.  

Trailing by one in the ninth, Cal needed base runners. They appeared to have a good start when Clint Hoover grounded a ball between third and short. Trojan third basemen, Michael Moon, snared the chopper, spun and threw to first, throwing out a sliding Hoover in a close play. The call prompted Esquer to emerge from the dugout, arguing Hoover had been safe.  

When asked about the tough calls going against his team, Esquer said, “you can’t have those calls be the cause, in your mind, of why the game won’t turn out your way.”  

Heeding Esquer’s words, the Bears overcame the close call to tie the game. Meyer hit a one-out single, and Brad Smith followed with a walk, the first of the game allowed by Reyes. 

Reyes’ struggles prompted USC coach Mike Gillespie to make a pitching change. He called in Brian Bannister, who induced Jeff Dragicevich to ground out. With Cal down to its final out, Conley drew a walk, loading the bases. That brought up Jackson, who walked when Bannister missed on four of five breaking balls, forcing in the tying run. With the bases still loaded Horowitz lined out to center, ending the ninth and sending the game into extra innings.  

After Cash retired Southern Cal in order in the tenth, the Trojans handed the ball to Frank Dizard. Dizard got Baker to ground out to first. Carson White followed with a double, and Dizard intentionally walked Hoover to set up a potential double play. Pinch hitter Chris Grossman drew a walk, loading the bases and forcing the Trojans to bring the infield in. That was all Smith needed, as he chopped a 2-2 fastball over leaping USC second basemen Jon Brewster, driving in White for the game-winning run.  

Smith provided a lift to a young team that has played in tight games with some of the top teams in the country, but always seems to come up just a little short. Saturday, they finally pulled one out.

A loose coalition of local businesses and city organizations gathered in Civic Center Park Saturday for Berkeley’s first Safety and Preparedness Fair.  

Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services, the Berkeley Police Department and Project Impact — a national initiative begun in 1997 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the fair was designed to inform the public, introduce the affiliated companies and services and realize Project Impact’s mission of, “building a disaster-resistant Berkeley.” 

“It's about how to strengthen our built environment,” said Carol Lopes, Project Impact’s local coordinator. “Because we have a lot of information now. The city’s had safety fairs before. ... All these folks are partners of ours.”  

She indicated the diverse but complementary collection of interactive exhibits and information tables.  

Another organizer, OES’ Dory Ehrlich, agreed. 

“It doesn't happen all that often that city departments work cooperatively to put together a fair,” she said. 

But a safety fair is a tough sell, especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Despite the lure of a mobile climbing wall by Cal Adventures, the hospitality of Dylan, a disaster search dog and a raffle of small prizes, many locals were either preoccupied with the Easter weekend — or simply in disaster denial. Attendance was relatively sparse.  

The fair’s planners hoped for hundreds, but instead received dozens. Still, planners remained confident that informing even one person constitutes success, and that once the fair becomes an annual event, it will gain momentum. 

Many of those who did attend trickled in from the nearby farmer’s market. 

“I needed to trip over this to actually buy it,” said Oakland's Amy Hertz of the glowsticks and solar powered radio she'd purchased from the fair’s Earthquake Store outpost. “It's the kind of thing I've been meaning to do for a while, but it's never at the top of my list.”  

Hertz has lived in the Bay Area since 1987.  

“So I’ve been through the ’89 earthquake,” she said. “I take earthquakes seriously since that one.” 

She was not alone. Discussions at nearly every table — from the Red Cross to the energy office to the Tool Lending Library — revolved around the prospect of a major local earthquake.  

There is a 70 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 quake striking the greater Bay Area within 30 years, according to Project Impact, and fairgoers, whether in denial or not, seemed at least resigned to the notion that it’s just a matter of time.  

“If you're prepared for earthquakes, you're prepared for everything,” said Berkeley Fire Capt. Malcolm Green. 

No public discussion of preparedness would be complete without the Boy Scouts, of course, and members of Troop 19 were also on hand.  

“We heard about this event, and we thought it would be a good way to help the community,” said Garrison Ham, a 14-year-old star scout from Richmond. “Because that’s what we do. We hope more people will take an interest in safety.”  

Among their many local projects, the scouts have helped with seismic retrofitting throughout the community. 

Seated behind pamphlets weighed down with foundation plates, special square washers, and other retrofitting hardware, Berkeley Building Inspector Ellie Leard explained that permits for seismic work are free. Doing such work, she said, provides homeowners with safety, peace of mind and tax incentives as well.  

Foundation work, she noted, is the most important element of seismic retrofitting.  

“If they can’t afford to do all of it, what they can afford to do is better than nothing,” she said. 

Committed to making the public aware of abundant available resources, fair organizers hope it won’t take a seismic shock for people to get over their preparedness inertia.  

“We can minimize loss of lives and property through taking these actions,” said Lopes. “Seattle’s probably a poster child for mitigation,” she added, referring to the minimal damage wrought by a 6.8 quake there in February. “They had a minimum of loss there. They put in a lot of pre-disaster investment. Right now we are touting about a 38 percent home retrofit rate. We want to get that up to 60 or 70 percent.” 

Inside the home, she explained, preparedness needn’t require radical efforts or be terribly costly.  

“It’s about a hundred dollar investment for the average homeowner and involves minor adjustments and easily modified behavior. Just like we latched our cupboards when our kids were small,” she said. 

Lopes and her colleagues could at least rest assured that the fair’s attendance, however sparse, was enthusiastic.  

“I'm very glad that they have these programs,” said Berkeley's Alicia Juarez. “This was very interesting.” 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Cal volleyball player Candace McNamee has been selected as one of 14 athletes from around the nation who will train as part of the A-2 Women’s National Volleyball Team this summer at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  

The A-2 squad is comprised of student-athletes who are potential members of USA teams that will be competing at the 2003 World University Games and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.  

“This is a great opportunity for me to be able to train at a high level with some of the best college volleyball players in the nation,” said McNamee, who will be a senior setter/outside hitter for the Bears this fall. “Hopefully the experience I gain over the summer will help me provide leadership for Cal next season.”  

McNamee joins Norisha Campbell (Florida State), Lizzy Fitzgerald (Wisconsin), Tayibba Haneef (Long Beach State), Wendy Hatlestad (Pittsburgh), Brittany Hochevar (Long Beach State), Hedder Ilustre (Cal State Northridge), Jennifer Jones (Pacific), Lilly Kahomoku (Hawaii), Kristy Kreher (Notre Dame), M’Myia McQuirter (Western Michigan), Nina Puikkonen (BYU), Cheryl Weaver (Long Beach State) and Elisha Thomas (Long Beach State) as members of the 2001 A-2 team.  

McNamee was selected to the A-2 squad after traveling to Colorado Springs this past February 3-5 along with Cal teammates Leah Young and Gabrielle Abernathy and over 70 other college athletes who attended the national team tryouts. She will be leaving for the Olympic Training Center May 20 to join the other member of the A-2 squad. The A-2 squad will practice over the summer and play in exhibition matches, including competing at the Junior Olympics in early July in Salt Lake City, Utah and traveling to Beijing, China in early August.

The City Council will likely adopt a recommendation Tuesday directing the city manager to “vigorously pursue” the transformation of energy sources in public-owned buildings to renewable sources using mostly solar-based technologies. 

The recommendation, from Mayor Shirley Dean and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, outlines a series of proposed policies that would transform all city-owned buildings into users of renewable energy sources. The new policies would also encourage other public institutions including The Berkeley Unified School District, the Peralta Community College District for Vista College and the University of California to use alternative energy sources in all new construction. 

“The technology is here,” Dean said, “and it has the potential to lift us out of this insane energy situation we’re in.” 

If adopted, the city manager’s office would look into available grants and begin to identify possible funding within the city budget while considering long-term savings from conversion to renewable energy sources. 

The recommendation also asks the city manager to consider the financial implications of offering incentives to business and home owners to convert to renewable resources by extending the use of the Transfer Tax. The Transfer Tax was used to encourage seismic retrofit work at the point of sale. 

According to the council report from the offices of Dean and Shriek, a residence can be converted to solar power for approximately $10,000. The report also said there are state energy assistance programs that could reduce the cost to $3,000 to $6,000. 

“We’re also convening meetings with bankers to see if we can get them to offer some low-interest loans to help with conversion.” Dean said. 

The report said the technology is now available to allow homes to be hooked up to the power grid as well as an independent solar power system. Homeowners can install reverse meters through which they can sell extra energy back to PG&E. 

The residential system are capable of seamlessly switching to the solar energy source in case of a blackout, according to the report. 

Dean and Shirek said in their report that the energy crisis will likely get worse before it gets better. Even if the state purchases the utilities, it will still have to purchase energy from generators, many located out of state, at the same high prices PG&E and other utility companies pay. 

“Those generators mostly rely on natural gas to provide electricity,” Dean said. “Even if they do provide better service there’s still the problem of contaminated air from the energy plants. Solar power represents real freedom.”

When the St. Mary’s track & field team shows up for a meet, they usually expect to do well, with several top finishers. Even though the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday was the top meet in California, the Panthers had high hopes. But when all was said and done, they came home with some disappointing performances and just one win. 

St. Mary’s two most consistent performers this season, hurdler Halihl Guy and thrower Kamaiya Warren, both had up-and-down days. Guy helped the Panther 4x100-meter relay team to a big win at 41.78 seconds, but finished third in his signature event, the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, and dead last in the 110-meter high hurdles. Gyu actually bettered his winning time from last weekend’s Oakland Invitational in the 300-meter event, but faced stiffer competition on Saturday. Guy also ran for the second-place 4x400-meter relay squad. 

Warren threw strongly in both events, but finished fourth in the discus with a best of 151’10”, and second in the shot put with 44’09.75”. Like Guy, Warren bettered her winning marks from last weekend, but couldn’t beat the better field. 

St. Mary’s triple jumpers also finished worse than expected, with Solomon Welch, Asokah Muhammed and Trestin George coming in fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. Tiffany Johnson and Quiana Plump were sixth and ninth on the girls’ side of the event. 

Berkeley High’s Kyle Hammerquist, the school’s lone entrant in the meet, finished eighth in the discus with a throw of 154’10”.

Most people think of Greenpeace and recycling when they think of Earth Day, but UC Berkeley kicked off its Earthweek 2001 events yesterday with panel discussions on political reform and nuclear weapons.  

Now in its second year, Earthweek’s panel discussions will include a host of issues ranging from genetically-modified food and California’s Energy crisis to the war on drugs in Columbia on campus throughout the week.  

“We are raising consciousness. Which is a slow subtle process of building networks, friendships and activities that bring people together,” said Howard Chong of the Campus Green Party.  

To members of the Campus Green Party who helped organize the event, the subjects are a natural fit into Earth Day’s philosophy. 

“It’s not just the environment. It’s politics, housing, business. It’s a lot of things,” said Evan Payne of the Campus Green Party. 

This is Chong’s second year helping with Earthweek. He is also interim president of SOURCE, or Students Organized for Using Resources Conscientiously and Efficiently, and sees the Earthweek events as a way to bring global issues home while bringing attention to some issues that affect UC students and Berkeley residents directly. 

“On campus, we are offering an alternative to the ‘get a degree, make money, work and spend, two-party system lifestyle,’” he said. “This is an electoral forum. Aside from the Florida coverage, there was very little talking about alternatives.” 

Chong, 21, is the self-proclaimed “tent guy” who said he was arrested for handing out flyers on the housing crisis sitting near a tent in a UC parking garage.  

He believes that UC should take a stronger stand on solving the student housing situation that he said is reaching emergency levels. 

“The housing situation is in crisis. It needs to be subsidized, not necessarily monetarily, but it needs to be addressed,” he said.  

Chong will be a fourth year electrical engineering major this fall, but said he will most pursue a career of politics. For Chong, the Green Party is a natural fit. 

“The political arms were interested in my goals – which is to see a better world community both in touch and enlightened by its surroundings,” he said.  

Earthweek 2001 events are officially organized by the Progressive Student Alliance and are sponsored by the school, student groups and the city of Berkeley. For more information visit ucb.earthweek.org.

The No. 4 Cal Bears softball team split a doubleheader with No. 3 Stanford on Saturday in Pacific-10 Conference action in front of a standing room only crowd of 450 at Levine-Fricke Field. The Bears dropped the first game 5-4, but came back to shutout the Cardinal in game two, 1-0.  

Cal, which dropped Friday’s game between the two teams 5-4, is now 44-6 overall and 3-5 in the Pac-10, while Stanford is 38-5-1 and 7-2 in conference play.  

In Game 1, the Cardinal got on the board in the first inning with an unearned run after an error by senior Paige Bowie at shortstop, giving Stanford an early 1-0 lead.  

The third was another inning where the Cardinal was able to capitalize on a Cal error. Robin Walker’s drive to right field was dropped, and Walker ended up on second. Jessica Mendoza followed with her second single of the game. With runners on second and third with two outs, Kira Ching drove a line drive double to centerfield, scoring both Walker and Mendoza for a 3-0 Cardinal lead. 

The Bears answered in the bottom of the third with a single run. Kristen Morley led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Then Candace Harper doubled off the left centerfield wall for Cal’s first run of the game.  

In the bottom of the fourth, Stanford pitcher Dana Sorensen ran into some trouble. A walk and back-to-back singles left the Bears with the bases loaded and one out. Morley drew a walk, which scored Courtney Scott from third and chased Sorensen.  

Cal still had the bases loaded with one out, but Stanford relief pitcher Tori Nyberg forced two ground balls getting the Cardinal out of the jam.  

In the top of the sixth, Stanford extended its lead on Jenni Shideler’s two-run homer.  

All five of Stanford’s runs were unearned, due to three Cal errors.  

Cal cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth. The Bears strung together four singles, which chased Nyberg. Jaime Forman-Lau came on in relief and got out of the inning with a fly out.  

Forman-Lau earned her fourth save of the year. Nyberg, who went 2 1/3 innings picked up the win to improve to 4-0.  

Cal’s Nicole DiSalvio went the distance in the circle, giving up five runs on six hits. She struck out four in falling to 16-2.  

The second game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Scott drew a two-out walk and then Mikella Pedretti and Amber Phillips hit back-to-back singles for the only run of the game.  

The Cardinal’s only chance came in the fourth inning when Sarah Beeson’s hard ground ball was missed by sophomore Eryn Manahan at second and Ching followed with a double off the left centerfield wall. But Cal junior hurler Jocelyn Forest struck out the next two batters to strand the runners at second and third.  

For Cal, Forest pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts. She improves to 23-4 on the year. LeCocq pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up just three hits and one run. She took the loss to fall to 11-4.  

The Bears continue Pac-10 play on the road this week when they travel to No. 8 Arizona State for a single game on Friday and a pair of games at No. 2 Arizona.

Earthquakes act on structures in two ways: 

•By shaking the building itself, weakening its structure 

•By moving the ground, lifting or disrupting a building from its foundation 

Five Steps for Earthquake Preparedness: 

•Make an evacuation plan for yourself and your family or household, include a post-quake meeting place. 

•Arrange for a long-distance telephone contact, preferably out of state, with whom everyone in your family will be able to check in. 

•Prepare an emergency supplies kit — include canned food, one gallon of water per person per day, a flashlight, first aid kit, a portable AM radio with batteries, blankets, extra clothes, tools, cash, necessary medications and a fire extinguisher. 

•Prepare your home to survive a quake — Learn to turn off the utilities; secure heavy objects; latch cupboards; check walls, chimney, foundation (bolt it if you can) and roof for stability, repairing any decay; check for termites. 

•Identify the needs and capabilities of your neighbors. Learn who lives where, who has special needs (seniors, disabled, non-English speakers), who has special skills (nurses, plumbers, retired firefighters, etc.), who has important resources (a generator, tools, tents, food supplies, a ham radio). Organize a phone tree to pass on information, designate one person and two alternates to act as a disaster coordinator, make a utility map and mark gas meters, main water turn-offs, spigots and electrical boxes. 

Courtesy of OES. 

Resources to help make homes earthquake safe: 

•Project Impact Coordinator: 644-6580 

•Office of Emergency Services: 644-8736 

•City Transfer Tax Rebate Program: 644-6470 

•Retrofit Permit Fee Waivers: 644-6915 

•Berkeley Home Repair Program: 644-8546 

•Senior and Disabled Rehabilitation Loan Program: 665-3487 

•Berkeley Rental Rehabilitation Program: 665-3487 

•Tool Lending Library: 644-6101 

Websites for more information: 

•Berkeley Fire Department/Office of Emergency Services 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

•Federal Emergency Management Agency 

www.fema.gov 

•American Red Cross 

www.crossnet.org 

•US Geological Survey (recent earthquake info) 

http://quake.usgs.gov/QUAKE/CURRENT 

•Techniques for Mitigating Earthquake Hazards 

www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/fixit/fixit.html 

Outraged over a sudden multibillion-dollar increase in cost estimates to retrofit the Bay Bridge, state Sen. Tom Torlakson has called a senate hearing in Oakland to investigate the matter. 

Originally, Caltrans said Bay Bridge retrofits, including replacing its eastern span, would cost $1.3 billion. But in a report released April 6, the agency doubled that estimate to $2.6 billion. 

The skyrocketing figures have upset a number of East Bay legislators, including Torlakson, D-Antioch, and Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland. In response, the senators have called a special bi-committee hearing tomorrow in Oakland to look into the overruns.  

Torlakson is chair of the Senate Select Committee on Bay Area Infrastructure, and Perata is chair of the Senate Select Committee on Bay Area Transportation. 

“Bay area drivers deserve an explanation, because they are helping pay for this work with bridge tolls,” Torlakson said Thursday.  

There have been reports that the $2 bridge toll, which was set to expire in 2007, could be made permanent to cover the overruns. 

On Wednesday, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown said the increase “proves my point that they should have had a world-class design, like the Golden Gate Bridge, so (the cost) would have been worth it.” 

The Bay Bridge has required retrofits, including the rebuilding of its eastern span, since it was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. But costs for the fix have drifted steadily upward due to a number of planning delays, including disputes over design and a feud between Caltrans and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown over where on Yerba Buena Island the eastern span should be situated. 

That argument was settled in October 2000, when the U.S. Department of Transportation took the disputed piece of the island from the U.S. Navy, which owned the land, and gave it to the state of California. 

The Senate Select Committees Hearing on Toll Bridge Cost Overruns will be held Monday, April 16, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., at the Elihu Harris State Building Auditorium, 1515 Clay St., Oakland.

Berkeley’s Ecology Center announced Friday they will begin doing their recycling rounds with 10 new trucks that run on recycled vegetable oil. 

The renewable biodiesel fuel recycles carbon through the process of photosynthesis.  

“By using this renewable fuel, the Ecology Center hopes to do its share to reduce climate change by reducing carbon emissions,” according to a statement by Berkeley’s Solid Waste Operations department. 

The non-petroleum fuel is made from soybean oil, which will extract carbon from the atmosphere using solar energy. Next, the carbon-rich oil is processed like diesel fuel in a conventional engine, according to the statement. 

“As the truck burns the fuel, it releases the carbon again,’’ it said. 

Berkeley City Manager Weldon Rucker said the city was helping to close its own loop in the carbon cycle. 

“This will help protect our natural and economic resources, including the Sierra snow pack which provides most of our water,’’ he said.  

The city says biodiesel produces less particulates and soot.

SACRAMENTO – Several University of California campuses have not been complying with federal crime reporting laws, but there is no evidence that the schools covered up campus crime, according to a report by a UC task force. 

The report recommends several changes that UC president Richard Atkinson wants to implement to make certain the campuses are complying with federal law. 

Colleges and universities must keep and classify all campus crime statistics and make that data available to students, staff and faculty, something the UC system hadn’t done effectively, the report says. 

The flawed system was documented in a series of articles in The Sacramento Bee last September. The report prompted the federal government to begin an investigation into UC crime figures. 

The reports showed schools had been ignoring or misinterpreting the Clery Act, an 11-year-old federal law intended to increase awareness of campus crime. 

The UC report released this week includes an independent audit by George Washington University Police Chief Dolores Stafford, a nationally recognized expert on campus crime reporting. 

Her review concludes the Irvine and Riverside campuses “were seriously out of compliance.” UC Davis, while making a concerted effort to follow the Clery Act, also was not in full compliance. 

Stafford reported that crimes from branch campus locations and non-campus buildings were not included in annual crime reports at the Davis and Irvine campuses. 

She also found that in several instances burglaries were wrongly categorized as thefts and that crime statistics from residence halls were reported separately from on-campus statistics even though they should be reported as an aggregate number. 

“It is obvious that there was no intent to ’hide crime’ since some of the errors included instances where crimes were overreported,” Stafford writes in the report. “However, it is imperative that the campus make an effort to accurately report the crime statistics.” 

A spokesman for the UC Office of the President said Friday that the system will aggressively implement the task force recommendations, including calls for uniform reporting of Clery statistics and better training for officials who gather the data. 

“These are not going to gather dust on a shelf somewhere,” said spokesman Charles McFadden. 

UC officials plan to share the task force report with other colleges and universities, he said. 

Jennifer Beeman, director of UC Davis’ campus violence prevention program, said she generally agrees with Stafford’s perceptions and recommendations. 

“There’s nothing in there that anyone objects to,” she said. 

Beeman said she hopes that UC officials will devote more personnel to complying with the Clery Act. 

“People have been working above and beyond to comply with the act,” she said. “We were making every effort to do this right.” 

The UC task force recommendations include: 

— Setting up an office to ensure all campuses are using the same criteria to report crime. 

— Establishing uniform crime definitions from the FBI Uniform Crime Report, California Penal Code and the Clery Act. 

— Creating a central UC website with links to all campuses tht will serve as a clearing house. 

“There’s no question they were in violation,” said S. Daniel Carter, vice president of Security on Campus, Inc. in Tennessee. “The only question is whether or not it was intentional.” 

Carter, a vocal critic of UC crime reporting over the past year, said he was “very pleased” with the task force report because it lays groundwork for uniform reporting practices at the nine campuses. 

“They’re well on the road to doing what is right,” he said. 

But he said much of the blame for noncompliance can be placed on the U.S. Department of Education, the agency responsible for enforcing the Clery Act. 

“There has been no fear among these schools because the DOE has not been enforcing a 10-year-old law,” he said.

Four-alarm fire guts S.F. hotel on Easter Sunday 

SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly 100 people were displaced Easter Sunday following a four-alarm fire that gutted a 60-unit residential hotel in the South of Market area. 

Two residents suffered minor ankle injuries after they jumped from their second-story windows. Others suffered smoke inhalation and were treated on the scene. 

The fire sent black smoke billowing above San Francisco’s skyline at Howard and Sixth streets. 

Some residents escaped out their windows and onto the roof until firefighters helped them down. 

Firefighters battled the blaze during the morning fire, but said it continued burning due to the three-story building’s age and its numerous crawl spaces. 

Displaced tenants are being housed at a nearby Red Cross shelter. 

Firefighters are investigating the fire to determine how and where it started. 

Community of squatters found in Hayward 

HAYWARD – Hayward police this weekend discovered a small colony of alleged drug users and other squatters living illegally in an underground storage facility. 

Six people were arrested and about a half pound of methamphetamine was confiscated last week. Several handguns and $3,000 also was seized by police. 

The storage facility is located beneath a business complex. It housed at least five people, and a motorcycle shop and was equipped with beds, microwaves and refrigerators, Hayward police said. 

The area used to be offices for JC Penney when it was located on Foothill Boulevard. 

Some had lived in the storage facility up to nine months. 

Man ordered to pay $2,000 for killing dog 

MARTINEZ – A Martinez man convicted of fatally shooting his neighbor’s dog has paid $2,000 as part of his settlement. 

Timothy Mulgrew sent his check to Voices for Pets in January. A note also was included, saying the money was a donation in memory of Teddy Dempster, the neighbors’ late son who had died of cancer after picking the dog out as his pet. 

The civil settlement also calls for Mulgrew to pay the animal rights group for the cost of the black Labrador mix’s examination. 

Mulgrew shot the dog, named Cole, while it was in a creek behind his house in June 1999. 

The Dempsters sued Mulgrew for severe mental anguish. Mulgrew filed a cross-complaint accusing the family of negligence, saying the dog had entered his yard numerous times before and was a threat. 

Mulgrew was convicted last April. He received 90 days of home arrest and two years probation. 

Judge orders $1 million payment to retired Union City steelworkers 

SAN JOSE – Retired Union City steelworkers will receive back pay for their health and pension plans. 

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel ordered the release of $1 million to the steelworkers retired from the defunct Pacific States Steel Corp. 

The Union City mill shut down in 1978, and workers have been fighting for their benefits ever since. 

Patel also ordered $1 million be paid to an out-of-state environmental cleanup firm and $250,000 dollars to Hoffman and Lazear, the law firm that has represented the workers for the past 20 years. 

Patel last week ordered that Palo Alto attorney Bruce Train was overpaid. She ordered him to repay $200,000 and to drop his request for $20 million additional dollars to compensate his work. 

Boat sinks after collision with freighter 

SAN FRANCISCO – A freighter leaving San Francisco bound for Los Angeles struck a fishing boat earlier today, sinking the smaller vessel. 

The collision happened 17 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The two fisherman on board a 30-foot boat quickly put on their floatation gear before their boat sank. 

The men were uninjured and swam to another fishing boat. 

The operators of the freighter may not have been aware they struck the smaller craft, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Christian Allaire.

5,000 fewer inmates after first year of Proposition 36 

SACRAMENTO – California’s prison population will drop by more than 5,000 inmates in the first year after voters opted to send drug offenders to treatment instead of prison, according to new projections. 

The nation’s largest prison population — 160,655 inmates at the end of 2000 — will keep shrinking until 2004. Then, tough-on-crime laws will grow the population again, although much more slowly than prison officials had projected before now. 

By 2006, the population is projected to be nearly 18,000 inmates less than the California Department of Corrections had predicted just six months ago, before voters approved Proposition 36 in November. 

Despite the drop, prison officials say they need to keep building maximum-security prisons to house hard-core offenders. And officials in California’s 58 counties could see their budgets stretched considerably as they take on the burden of treating and supervising drug offenders. 

The proposition, which takes effect July 1, requires that those convicted of using or possessing drugs for the first or second time be sent to community treatment programs instead of prison or jail. 

After the first year, the department predicts its population will be 9,216 lower than it had estimated in October. Of that, the voter initiative is projected to be responsible for 5,388 fewer inmates. 

The decrease due to Proposition 21 is expected to continue in successive years, but Corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich warned that the department is entering uncharted waters. 

“Especially with Proposition 36, we just don’t know what kind of effect that’s going to have,” Heimerich said. 

The projections depend in large part on guessing how many drug offenders will qualify, and whether California’s 58 county prosecutors will refuse to negotiate plea bargains with drug dealers, knowing that a drug use or possession conviction will bring no prison time. 

“To me it sounds like the estimates might be a little aggressive,” said K. Jack Riley, director of Rand Corp.’s community justice department. “I think we’ll see uneven implementation of it across the state.” 

Riley hopes to provide guidance for other states looking to California for direction on how the drug treatment proposition works. 

Riley directed a preliminary Proposition 36 study last year, and has applied for a state grant to study its impact in the state’s nine largest metropolitan counties, with preliminary results expected by early fall. 

Steve Green, assistant secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, predicted the proposition will eventually result in longer terms for hard-core drug offenders. 

“In the long run, we think our population will go up as persons who escape prison the first time around come into the system as they commit more serious crimes,” Green said. 

Fewer drug offenders also won’t mean a dramatic cut in prison costs, Green said, because most serious drug offenders are housed in minimum security conservation camps and community correctional facilities. 

“We continue to have a serious shortage of maximum-security beds in state prisons,” Green said. “We don’t see that abating anytime soon.” 

The prison population dropped last year for the first time in 22 years. Prison officials credited a lower crime rate and a drop in parole violations. 

According to the report, the number of inmates dropped 1,345 in the last half of the year, for a net decline for 2000 of 32 inmates. That compares to an increase of 1,124 in 1999 and 4,287 in 1998. 

The decline compares to an average 14.5 percent population growth during the 1980s and average 6.3 percent increases during the 1990s. 

An economic downturn also could drive up crime rates again, as is already beginning to happen in the latest urban crime reports, Green warned. 

He said fewer parolees may be returning to prison because of new programs aimed at helping ex-convicts get jobs, and because of increased supervision of ex-convicts with two felonies — those who face life in prison for a third offense under the state’s three-strikes law. 

That law, along with other sentence increases, will eventually overcome the drop in prison population due to Proposition 36, the department report said. 

In addition, the Proposition 21 juvenile justice measure — approved by voters in March 2000 — may increase the population of adult prisons while it reduces the population of juvenile facilities. 

The initiative expands the definition of serious or violent offenses that qualify under the three-strikes law and boosts penalties for street-gang activities. However, the proposition is being challenged in court and its future is uncertain.

Schilling says he wants his captors destroyed 

MANILA, Philippines – An American who was rescued by the Philippines military after nearly eight months in Muslim rebel captivity left for home Sunday, saying he wants the guerrillas destroyed. 

Jeffrey Schilling, 25, of Oakland, casually walked into Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his American security escorts and boarded a Continental Micronesia flight to Guam. 

Looking relaxed in a white sweatshirt, he ignored reporters’ questions before passing through security, when he turned back and gave a brief statement, thanking President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and defense chief Angelo Reyes for working to liberate him from his Abu Sayyaf rebel captors. 

“I’d like them to continue the efforts against the Abu Sayyaf,” Schilling said. “There are groups which can and will be destroyed as long as the operations continue.” 

Army troops found Schilling barefoot and covered with mosquito bites when they rescued him Thursday on southern Jolo Island, where he had been held in the jungle since August. 

He first was taken to the northern mountain resort city of Baguio to meet Arroyo, who was vacationing there. He said he had lost 100 pounds of his pre-captivity weight of 250 pounds. 

U.S. Embassy spokesman Michael Anderson said Schilling, who has denied reports he had joined his captors, was debriefed in Manila by U.S. and Philippine authorities. 

Civilians on Jolo reported seeing Schilling patrolling with guerrillas and carrying a rifle. Schilling’s wife, Ivy Osani, is a cousin of an Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Sabaya, and the couple were visiting a rebel camp when the guerrillas decided to keep him. Osani was allowed to go. Schilling said he was told to carry a weapon for appearances. 

Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, armed forces chief of staff, said officials were convinced Schilling was an unwilling hostage. 

Schilling is the last of scores of foreigners seized by the Abu Sayyaf last year. The smallest of the three major insurgency groups in the Philippines took them in two daring raids in Malaysia. They then held scores of foreign journalists who went to Jolo to cover the kidnappings. 

The foreigners were freed reportedly in exchange for huge ransoms. Only Roland Ulla, a Filipino worker at a Malaysian scuba diving resort, remains in their custody. 

The Abu Sayyaf had threatened to behead Schilling — who they had vowed six times before to kill — on April 5 as a gift for Arroyo’s 54th birthday. Arroyo responded by ordering “all-out war” on the group. 

On Sunday, Arroyo delivered a strong warning and repeated she would not negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf, along with other criminals who mock the law. 

“They better beware. There will be no peace table for them,” Arroyo said. “The only peace for them is the peace of the graveyard.” 

Abu Sayyaf rebels say they are fighting for Islamic independence in the southern Philippines but Arroyo called them a “kidnap-for-ransom gang” which would be pulverized by the military if they don’t surrender. 

Arroyo has sought peace talks with another Muslim rebel group, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, along with communist rebels, who have been waging a Marxist rebellion nationwide for more than three decades.

SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials demanded the utility be cut free from state regulation and be allowed to push huge rate increases onto its customers, two weeks before negotiations with Gov. Gray Davis broke off, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. 

“Perhaps we misjudged their primary concern,” said Steve Maviglio, the governor’s spokesman. “It wasn’t resolving their credit issue. It was extracting vengeance on the PUC.” 

In addition to insisting that it be released from the state Public Utilities Commission’s regulatory grip, PG&E demanded it be allowed to buy back its power lines without competitive offers if the state ever decided to sell. In addition, it wanted to continue profiting from any telecommunications lines or antennas linked to the system, according to a Feb. 28 eight-page proposal obtained by the Chronicle. 

PG&E denies the document influenced the outcome between the utility and the state. 

“It is ludicrous to suggest that this document caused the negotiations to break down,” said PG&E spokesman Ron Low. “There were negotiations that occurred later and other documents that followed.” 

At the time of the utility’s bankruptcy filing April 6, PG&E Corp. Chairman Robert Glynn said no talks had been held for three weeks. PG&E’s proposal had been delivered about two before talks ceased. 

PG&E has said it’s entitled to recoup $9 billion it paid for wholesale power because of PUC-regulated rate caps, which kept the utility from passing high costs onto customers. 

The proposal said this money “will be fully recovered in retail rates without further CPUC review for prudence or any other purpose,” the Chronicle reported. 

The document went on to demand the PUC drop all proceedings concerning PG&E, including an investigation into whether the utility violated California law by transferring millions to parent company PG&E Corp. prior to filing bankruptcy. 

“They took a position on regulatory matters that was out of touch with reality,” Maviglio said. 

PG&E Corp. spokesman Shawn Cooper declined to comment on the proposal. 

“That document is confidential,” he said.

SAN JOSE – In an effort to ease this summer’s promised power drain, state energy officials are pushing for approval of a proposed power plant in San Jose’s Coyote Valley, despite recommendations that other sites may be more environmentally suitable, a newspaper reported Sunday. 

California Energy Commission top administrators undermined a negative environmental assessment of the project and recommended approval of Calpine Corp.’s Metcalf Energy Center over other sites, the San Jose Mercury News found, citing internal documents and transcripts obtained through a California Public Records Act request. 

But commission deputy director Bob Therkelsen denied any impartial dealings concerning the plant. 

“I would not deny that some of the staff have strong feelings,” Therkelsen said . “But I think the process allowed all perspectives to be heard.” 

San Jose City Council opposes the project because the city had planned to save the property for high-tech campuses. 

Commission administrators and attorneys directed an analyst to downplay other sites’ advantages and quieted him at a hearing when he tried to voice his concerns over the pressure that prompted him to alter his findings, the newspaper found. The commission also reversed a third analyst’s recommendation that Calpine obtain a contract for recycled water prior to construction, which could have slowed building the plant. 

A 574-page Preliminary Staff Assessment released in May identified other more “environmentally preferable” sites, including two industrial sites in Fremont. 

Therkelsen said the report was a premature draft that changed as more information became available. 

“I was concerned that the alternatives were being portrayed more optimistically than realistically,” Therkelsen said. 

Analyst Gary Walker, a 21-year veteran, reported other plant sites would be more suitable, but was later told his report was full of “bias” and “inconsistencies,” the newspaper reported. 

In an e-mail, senior commission attorney Arlene Ichien said Metcalf must be cast in a better light or it would be hard for the commission to grant approval. 

“Staff is building a strong case for finding the alternative sites feasible,” Ichien wrote. 

In a report last fall, Walker’s discussion of other sites’ advantages was ultimately replaced by a warning that the Silicon Valley is at risk for blackouts unless Metcalf is built. 

The final report recommended approval. 

Another analyst was told to change his report about how much noise the plant would create and the amount of insulation needed to quiet it, the newspaper reported. The analyst was taken off the project, and the final assessment released last October said insulation was not necessary because of the few homes near the plant. 

The five-member commission is expected to make its decision this summer during the power crisis’ peak load. There is a push to build power plants in the technology-dominated Silicon Valley, which imports most of its electricity. The plant would use 3 million to 6 million gallons of water a day, but with San Jose officials opposed to the plant, it is unclear where that water would come from. 

Calpine and its development partner, Bechtel Enterprises, wants the plant operating by 2002.

LOS ANGELES – If the 2000 census reflected the decade of the Hispanic population explosion, look for the nation’s 2010 head count to reflect the decade of the Asian population boom. 

While much has been made of the fact that Hispanics increased their numbers to 35 million, putting them almost dead even with non-Hispanic blacks as the nation’s largest minority group, it was actually Asians who had the country’s fastest growth rate in the 1990s. 

That increase of nearly 75 percent — compared with almost 58 percent for Hispanics — may have caught some pundits by surprise. But it’s actually part of a trend that’s been building for decades, says Don Nakanishi, who heads the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

“In some ways, it’s not surprising at all,” says Nakanishi, who notes the U.S. Asian population has doubled every 10 years since immigration restrictions were eased in 1965. 

“Whereas in 1970 there were 1.5 million Asian Americans in the entire United States, you now have three major metropolitan areas that each have a million and a half,” he said, citing Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. 

With those kinds of numbers bringing the overall Asian population to 11.5 million in 2000, demographers expect America to have a much different look 10 years from now. 

Indeed, while large numbers of Hispanics were migrating in the 1990s from the country’s traditional strongholds of the Southwest to other regions of the country, Asians were quietly doing the same, albeit in smaller overall numbers. 

Many in particular moved from traditional Chinatowns, Little Tokyos and Little Saigons, which were either in or on the fringes of big cities, to what had in many instances been nearly all-white suburbs or even rural areas. 

As a result, places like the New York City suburb of Fort Lee, N.J., is now 30 percent Asian and located in a state that saw its Asian population increase as much as 94 percent over the past decade. Other states with similarly sharp increases include Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. 

Typical of such migrating immigrants is Dong Hwan Park, 39, who was a chemical engineer when he moved from Seoul to Los Angeles’ Koreatown 10 years ago, coming here largely so his wife, a diabetic, could receive better medical care. 

Within a year he’d put his expertise with chemicals into creating his own pool-cleaning business. Soon after that, he bought a house in Diamond Bar, once a sleepy rural area 30 miles east of Los Angeles but now a booming suburb of 56,000 with a rapidly growing Asian population that slightly outnumbers whites 43 to 41 percent. 

“Everyday I read the Korean newspaper, I can listen to the Korean radio station, there are two Korean cable TV channels. So I am very comfortable,” he says of life there. 

The only downside, he admits sheepishly, is that there is so much Korean culture in Diamond Bar that his English language skills have probably diminished in the 10 years he’s been in the United States. 

In Northern California and suburban New York, meanwhile, many Asians have flocked to the computer and dot-com businesses, though not necessarily always in white-collar jobs. 

“Asian Americans do everything in that region,” Nakanishi said. “Everything from owning some of the most successful high-tech and dot-com and hardware-software companies, all the way to people who assemble computers and others who are simply security guards. 

“There’s been a remarkable growth and remarkable diversification of the Asian population,” he continues, adding, “That carries with it enormous ramifications for those regions and for the (new) Asian-American communities there.” 

Indeed, unless the people involved on both ends of the new migration are willing to learn lessons from the past, they can expect those ramifications to include serious tensions between the newly arriving group and the one already there, says Leland T. Saito, who has studied Asian migration patterns around the country. 

His 1998 book, “Race and Politics: Asian Americans, Latinos and Whites in a Los Angeles Suburb,” relates how a huge influx of Asians of various backgrounds into the more than two dozen cities that make up the sprawling San Gabriel Valley in the eastern half of Los Angeles County did much more than dramatically change the area’s look over the last 30 years. 

It also tested the attitudes of the large number of white residents who were already there, Saito says. 

In Monterey Park, the first U.S. city to record an Asian majority population, early Japanese residents sometimes literally had to sneak into town. 

“There were still restricted covenants attached to homes in the 1950s and ’60s,” Saito said in a recent interview. “Asian Americans sometimes had to buy homes using a white person to do the paperwork for them.” 

Although that ended in the ’60s, he noted that as recently as the mid-80s, when Chinese immigrants began flocking to the city five miles east of Los Angeles. Officials adopted a nonbinding English-only resolution and made efforts to bar Asian-language street and business signs. 

Today all that’s changed, as a car trip along one of the San Gabriel Valley’s major thoroughfares, Valley Boulevard, quickly shows. 

As one passes through such places as Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, San Marino, San Gabriel and Rosemead, all cities well on their way to having Asian majorities by the next census, signs in languages like Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and Korean are seen frequently, sometimes all on one block. 

“There aren’t many of the old businesses left,” says Norbert Lighthouse who has operated Petrillo’s Pizza in San Gabriel, now 49 percent Asian, since 1954. 

Still, he isn’t complaining. 

He welcomes the newcomers and says he’s managed to pull a fair number of them into his restaurant with a special pizza that features seven, mainly vegetable, toppings. 

“A lot of the Asian customers really go for that,” he said, laughing. “I think maybe it reminds them of some of their own dishes.” 

Overall, he says, he’s happy to see the newcomers, adding they have re-energized the city that takes its name from the San Gabriel Mission. 

“They did put money into the area,” he said. “They’re building new buildings, new centers and everything. It’s caused a lot more traffic. But hey, that’s good for our business.”

High-tech investors pay for paper profits 

SAN JOSE — Like so many others in the high-tech world, Jeff Chou watched his millionaire dreams crumble along with the plunging stock market last year. But through it all, the 32-year-old hardware engineer never expected he would have to endure a taxpayer nightmare for the rest of his life. 

Chou owes the Internal Revenue Service taxes on $6.5 million in paper profits he never saw after exercising Cisco Systems Corp. stock options last year. 

By Monday’s filing deadline, the married father of an 8-month-old daughter would have to come up with about $2.5 million to pay his state and federal taxes. Even if he were to sell his three-bedroom townhome, cash in his 401(k) account, liquidate all his assets and hand it over to the IRS, he figures he’d still fall $700,000 short. 

“There’s no chance I can pay the government back within my lifetime,” moaned Chou, who left Cisco for a job at a Silicon Valley start-up in January. “I’m not an executive. I’m just a regular engineer, and now I face potential bankruptcy.” 

Thousands of taxpayers are in similar binds after losing at the roulette many employee stockholders play with capital gains rules. But many tax specialists also blame the growing problem on the decades-old alternative minimum tax. 

Created in 1969, the AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy would have to pay some amount even if they were using many tax shelters. 

Today, the notoriously complicated AMT is increasingly snaring middle-income taxpayers and stock-options holders, forcing them to pay higher taxes. Also required is an additional, 62-line tax form — a chore the IRS estimates takes more than five hours to complete. 

“The AMT has gotten completely out of hand because it’s not capturing the people it was intended to capture,” said Bill Gale, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. 

As average investors jumped into the soaring stock market and more companies made stock options an essential part of compensation packages, tax law didn’t keep up with the changes, Gale said. 

Three years ago, 600,000 taxpayers were subject to the minimum tax. In 2001, that number is expected to hit 1.5 million. If current law remains the same, more than 17 million taxpayers will be pushed into the AMT sector by 2010, according to the Treasury Department. 

Under President Bush’s tax cut proposal, the number of those affected by the AMT could be 35 million in 2010, according to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. 

The National Taxpayers Advocate, a division of the IRS, has strongly recommended a repeal of the AMT since 1999. 

“It’s a tremendous burden,” said W. Val Oveson, the former National Taxpayer Advocate and now a managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “It’s so complicated, general tax practitioners sometimes miss it.” 

More than a dozen Democrats in the U.S. House are co-sponsoring a bill introduced last week that would provide an AMT exemption for workers who exercise incentive stock options, retroactive to last year. Rather than taxing paper gains, any taxes would come on actual gains after a stock is sold. 

Part of the reason more taxpayers are facing the minimum tax is that, while regular tax liabilities were pared over the years or adjusted for inflation, the AMT was not. The minimum tax rules also limit personal exemptions, including child credits, and deductions like state taxes. 

Chou was pushed into paying the AMT because it applies to incentive stock options granted to employees and is based on the paper gains made on the day the options are exercised, even if the stock value later drops. 

The number of employees receiving stock options ballooned to an estimated 10 million in 2000, up from 1 million in 1992, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership. 

“Stock options used to be for the highest paid in the corporations, the president and the VPs, but what happened in the dot-com era is stock options came down to the masses,” said Bob Sommers, a San Francisco tax attorney. 

Tax specialists say those who exercised their stock before the Nasdaq meltdown last spring could have sold the stock before year-end to avoid the AMT, or at least cut their losses by paying taxes on the actual capital gains. 

Many of Rich Dunham’s clients did that, but the San Jose certified public accountant said others chose not to sell, gambling that their stock was immune to further declines. Now about 10 of his firm’s 1,300 tax clients “are in real trouble and cannot pay,” he said. 

Still others were probably following what they were advised to do, said Kaye Thomas, a stock option expert and author of “Consider Your Options.” 

“For a lot of people who get stock options, all they hear is that if you exercise the option, you hold it for a year to get the best results,” he said. 

Still others couldn’t sell even if they wanted to because they were in a “lock-up” period, intended to curb trading abuses by insiders. 

Consider Sheryl Johnson, a 33-year-old marketing manager for Turnstone Systems Inc., an equipment supplier for providers of digital subscriber lines. 

Johnson exercised her options before Turnstone went public in February 2000 then watched helplessly as the DSL market went south at the end of the year, dragging her company’s stock price from $107 to $7 range today. 

Now she says she owes the IRS $250,000, and her dreams of building a nest egg and buying a home are gone. “I don’t have $250,000 lying around,” she said. 

She’s debates everyday whether to sell all her stocks, which would be enough to pay the tax bill, or hope for a stock rebound, file a tax extension and face extra penalties. 

“The closer we get to April 15, the more I think about it,” she said. “It gives me a headache every time.”

NEW YORK – Amid warnings that some states could encounter power problems similar to those in California, small business owners should start thinking now about their energy strategies for the peak usage periods of the summer. 

Businesses in some states might find they’re subject to the kinds of rolling blackouts that California suffered earlier this year. But even in states where power supplies are plentiful, electricity rates are likely to rise, which means business owners need to preserve their profits along with kilowatts. 

An Associated Press survey of power officials in all 50 states found power is expected to be tight in some Western states, and there are concerns about utilities being able to deliver electricity in some states in the Midwest and Northeast if demand is extremely high and transmission logjams develop. 

If you’re in a state where problems are anticipated, think now about how you’ll cope. For example, are you able to shift business hours away from peak periods? That might not be feasible if your business is a retail establishment or a restaurant, but if you operate, say, a medical billing service, perhaps the work can be done during off-hours. If you run a manufacturing company, does it make economic sense to pay workers a little more to work a different shift? 

You also need to think about insurance. There’s a split in opinion among insurance experts over whether sales and profits lost to power blackouts are covered under business interruption policies. 

If your business involves perishable material such as food, be sure you have a policy that covers losses from spoilage — or maybe you should think about investing in a generator to run your refrigerator. 

The problem likely to affect most business owners this summer will be rising electrical bills. Power is much more expensive these days not just because of increasing demand, but because the price of natural gas used to fire many electrical plants has surged over the past year. The AP survey found that some of the rate hikes are expected to be huge — as much as 30 percent in Louisiana, and in Rhode Island, businesses might see their rates rises as much as 46 percent. 

The Alliance to Save Energy, a not-for-profit organization, has a Business Energy Checkup on its Web site (www.ase.org) that you can use to find ways to cut your bills. The U.S. Department of Energy’s site (www.doe.gov) also has a section to help businesses. Your local utility might also have information, either on the Internet or through its public affairs office. 

But many of the things you need to do to lower your company’s electricity costs are the same common-sense steps you’d use in trimming your home utility bills. Start by looking over your entire operation and see how energy is being used — and wasted. 

First, check your appliances and equipment — especially your air conditioning system — and be sure they’re running efficiently. Are they being serviced regularly, and given necessary repairs? Would you be better off buying new appliances? If so, be sure the new ones are as energy-efficient as possible — the Department of Energy’s site has information on “Purchasing for Energy Efficiency”. 

Equally important is going over your entire office or building, and making sure that it’s well insulated and weather-stripped. If not, you’ll be air conditioning the outdoors this summer and throwing money down the drain in the process. 

Some other ways to lower your summertime energy costs: 

—Consider installing blinds or window shades to help keep the sun from heating up your business and increasing your need to cool the place. 

—If you have desk lamps that use incandescent bulbs, switch to fluorescents. They last longer, use less electricity, and don’t throw off as much heat. 

—Turn off the lights at night. If you’re worried about intruders seeing a darkened establishment, then leave fewer lights on, and use a timer to shut them off once dawn breaks. The kilowatt hours you’ll save will add up. 

Again, you might want to consider working during off-hours. Some utilities charge less for power used during non-peak periods. And if you can get more work done at night, you might find you’re using less air conditioning.

The afternoon sun bears down on Solectron’s manufacturing facility. But 30 minutes after stepping onto the roof’s new light-colored surface, there’s no noticeable rise in temperature. 

Come summer, that translates into a surface that’s up to 50 degrees cooler than last year for Solectron, which hopes to reduce air conditioning costs 20 percent to 40 percent. 

Solectron, which makes electronics for companies that outsource their manufacturing, is among the first companies to take advantage of the state’s new $40 million Cool Savings Plan. 

The program is aimed at conserving precious energy this summer while offering businesses cash to build or resurface flat roofs using reflective materials. 

It’s a concept folks in Florida, Arizona and other sun-scorched states have used for years. California legislators are hoping cool roofs will soon be the craze here by offering businesses rebates of 10 cents a square foot for roof replacement. 

For Solectron, that equals $15,000 in savings on a $750,000 repair job that it had to do eventually anyway. 

“If you can get cash back, why not?” said Bruce Field, Solectron engineering manager. “The roof will actually pay for itself over time.” 

Field said he expects a two-to-five year return on the cost of spraying 1.5-inch white insulating foam on the existing roof’s granulated cap sheet. It’s not only a great way to cut air conditioning bills, but spraying the polyurethane foam also avoids the pounding and clawing of a roof repair job that would be disruptive to the 1,300 workers inside, he said. Plus, when the job is done, there’s no old roofing to dump. 

The state Energy Commission began pushing the Cool Roofs proposal last fall, but it took California’s full-blown power crisis to get Gov. Gray Davis’ signature. The goal is to save 120 megawatts of electricity this summer. 

So far, the rebates aren’t offered to residential owners, but the commission will continue to push for that. 

If all commercial air conditioned buildings in California switched to reflective roofs, it would result in an estimated 300 megawatts to 500 megawatts of power savings at peak usage times, said Hashem Akbari, leader of the Heat Island Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

There’s evidence showing light-colored roofs also last longer, saving businesses even more in the long run, Akbari said. 

“It’s not really a new idea. Actually, it’s something we’ve found works a lot better than we thought it would,” said Danny Parker, a research scientist at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Fla. “White tile or white metal produces a 20 percent savings. Even with dark shingles, going from dark to light is a 4 percent savings. It’s a no-cost option with any kind of roofing.” 

The percentage saved varies, depending on how much air conditioners are used and whether the reflective roofs are installed on residential or commercial buildings. 

Until recently, homeowners have been reluctant to install light-colored roofs, apparently feeling that they aren’t aesthetically pleasing. But now, with the invention of reflective pigment paints, residents can have black roofs that reflect up to 25 percent of the sun’s rays, as much as white asphalt shingles, said Ken Loye of the Ferro Corp. in Cleveland, which produces Cool Colors reflective paint pigments. 

The pigments are added to paint that can go on roof tiles, shingles or other surfaces, pushing the paint price up $3 to $5 a gallon. But Loye said the savings in summer energy bills will make up for it. 

“It’s cents per square foot,” he said. “Roof temperatures can get over 190 degrees. If we can cool these things off 40 or 50 degrees, we can reflect it off before it has a chance to get in.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Two of the nation’s largest book chains, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc., settled a federal antitrust suit Thursday brought by small, independent bookstores in an accord seen as a victory for the chains. 

The 26 small bookstores, which included Cody’s of Berkeley, were represented by the American Booksellers Association which accused the book giants of using their weight illegally to demand major discounts from book publishers, a move they alleged undermined mom-and-pop bookstores which could not compete. 

But after a variety of unfavorable rulings in federal court here, the ABA dropped the suit during the second week of trial in exchange for Barnes and Borders paying about a quarter of the ABA’s $16 million in legal expenses. 

“This settlement is nothing short of a total vindication for Barnes and Noble,” said Leonard Riggio, Barnes’ chairman. 

Representatives of New York-based Barnes and of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders said the settlement, which prohibits the ABA from suing them again on the same grounds for three years, was cheaper than forging ahead with the suit even if the book giants prevailed. 

The ABA, based in New York, portrayed the settlement as its own victory. 

“The objectives of the litigation have, by and large, been achieved,” the ABA’s board of directors said in a statement. 

But industry analysts don’t view it that way. The independents wanted a level playing field, and to pay the same prices for books as do Barnes and Borders. But the suit does not require publishers to do that. 

And, even if the independents had won the suit, they could not have been awarded damages. Before trial, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick ruled that the independents were not entitled to damages because it would be impossible to determine how much they were harmed, if at all. 

“Fizzle. Fizzle. Fizzle,” said Stephanie Oda, who publishes Subtext, a Connecticut newsletter covering the bookselling industry. “Business is not fair. This is a capitalistic system.” 

The ABA argued the book giants were violating the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, enacted to prevent large businesses from using their purchasing power to gain market advantage. The book giants said they were entitled to discounts because of their ability to move large volumes of books. 

Avin Domnitz, the ABA’s chief executive, said his group will continue to press for equal treatment. 

“I want independent booksellers to get a fair deal and get offered to them what’s offered to others,” he said. “I think  

with this settlement we can move toward that mark.” 

It was not the first time the ABA has taken its claims to court. In 1998, it settled a claim with publishing house Penguin USA of New York alleging that it offered illegal secret discounts and payoffs to large book chains and book-buying clubs. 

As major bookstore chains have expanded to new territories in recent years, the number of independent bookstores has declined. From 1994 to 1997, the four largest bookstore chains – Barnes, Borders, Crown Books and Books-A-Million – expanded their collective market share from 35 percent to 45 percent, the ABA said. 

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

The case settled Thursday is American Booksellers Association v. Barnes and Noble Inc., C-98-1059.

Kids come to school on  

foot, bus, scooter Friday 

The Safe Routes to School Program is organizing an Eco-Motion Event in which seven local schools will participate on Friday in celebration of Earth Day. Elementary and middle school students will receive free breakfast and small prizes if they arrive at school on foot, bicycle, scooter, bus, in a carpool or another environmentally friendly mode of transportation. Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Berkeley Arts Magnet, Le Conte and Washington elementary schools along with Willard and King middle schools are participating.  

UC Berkeley to open  

business journalism center 

The University of California, Berkeley’s journalism school will begin offering a business writing and editing program next fall. 

The business journalism center springs from a $585,000 grant by Bloomberg L.P., which runs a news wire, television networks and a radio station, the university said in announcing the three-year grant. 

Students will take general courses in finance and markets, as well as specialized classes on reporting personal finance, technology and international business. 

— staff, wire reports 

“It will help us give future generations of journalists the tools to make sense of the topsy-turvy world of the marketplace today,” said journalism school dean Orville Schell. 

Going to work may become less onerous for disabled people if the state legislature backs AB925, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley. It was heard in the Assembly Health Committee Tuesday. 

Most folks, when they go to work, try to get their employers to pay them as much as they can. No so for the disabled.  

If they earn too much, their Medi-Cal and attendant care benefits get cut off. 

The bill “ensures that people can go to work and not lose their income and services,” Aroner said, noting that 70 percent of disabled people are unemployed. For disabled people of color, the figure goes up to more than 90 percent, she said. 

Pam Dahl, a disabled woman from Oakland, works and earns about $20,000 a year. That’s  

little enough to allow Dahl to keep her medical benefits and home health care attendant.  

The problem, as Dahl describes it, is that she’d like to get married. But under present law, her income would be added to her husband’s, and she would lose Medi-Cal and attendant benefits. 

“His income would put us over the top,” Dahl said in a telephone interview from Sacramento Monday, where she had just discussed the bill in a capitol press conference.  

Under Aroner’s bill, an individual can earn up to 450 percent of poverty rate without having benefits cut off. Currently, a disabled person can earn only up to 250 percent of the poverty rate.  

And the income of an individual’s spouse would not be added to the recipient’s income to determine eligibility, as it is today. 

AB925 also provides for one-stop centers to help disabled people get into the work force and it sets up a board that will include the disabled to oversee the effectiveness of the centers. 

“(The Employment Development Department) is not a good service provider to people with disabilities,” Dahl said.  

Dahl’s not only thinking about getting married. She’s thinking far ahead to retirement. Under current law, she’s permitted to put aside only $2,000, but under Aroner’s bill, she could save $80,000.  

“It’s not that much,” she said.

PG&E Corp., the parent of Northern California’s bankrupt utility, reported a $4.1 billion fourth-quarter loss Monday in a grudging acknowledgment that the company might not be able to charge its customers for last year’s soaring electricity costs. 

The San Francisco-based company recorded a before-tax charge of $6.9 billion to account for the difference between what it paid for wholesale electricity last year and what state regulators allowed the utility to charge its 4.5 million customers. 

After a tax benefit, the special charge produced a loss of $4.1 billion, or $11.34 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compared to a loss of $611 million, or $1.67 per share, in the prior year. 

Despite the utility’s bankruptcy, the parent company continued to portray itself as a successful business. 

“While overshadowed by the extraordinary impacts of the California energy crisis, we demonstrated continued solid performance on an operating basis,” said PG&E CEO Robert Glynn Jr., a written statement. 

If not for the one-time charge, PG&E’s fourth-quarter earnings would have been 39 cents per share. The consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call was 40 cents per share. 

The earnings report, released Monday evening, represented the first snapshot of PG&E’s finances since the company’s regulated utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 6. PG&E management has scheduled an 8:30 a.m. PDT conference call Tuesday to discuss the results with industry analysts and investors. 

Despite the charge taken in the fourth quarter, the company expressed confidence that it will prevail in its legal fight to raise rates retroactively and pass on last year’s electricity costs to its customers. 

The fourth-quarter charge “does not diminish our conviction that the utility is entitled under law to recover these costs,” Glynn said. 

PG&E is suing to recover its electricity rates in federal court. The company also has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali to overturn a California Public Utilities Commission ruling that could hurt its bid to raise rates retroactively. 

Management argues that the utility had met all the conditions needed to raise its rates as of July 2000. Regulators at the CPUC disagree. 

The issue also could affect PG&E’s earnings this year. In the first two months of 2001, PG&E estimates that the utility’s electricity costs exceeded what it could charge for retail rates by another $2 billion. 

Excluding the special charges, PG&E said it earned $925 million, or $2.54 per share, for all of 2000, a 13 percent increase from a 1999 profit of $826 million, or $2.24 per share. PG&E said the showing exceeded its goal of increasing profits by 8 to 10 percent annually. 

With one-time charges, PG&E said it lost $3.4 billion, or $9.29 per share, for all of 2000, versus a loss of $73 million, or 20 cents per share, in 1999. 

The company’s unregulated power wholesale subsidiary, the National Energy Group, contributed most of the gains last year. 

National Energy’s operating profit shot up to $162 million last year, more than doubling from $63 million in 1999. The unregulated business, now based in Maryland, also accounted for most of the company’s sales with revenues of $16.6 billion, up 43 percent from 1999. 

The parent company and National Energy Group aren’t a part of the utility’s bankruptcy. Their exclusion from the bankruptcy is expected to become a sticking point among the utility’s 30,000 creditors. 

With the PG&E’s utility in bankruptcy, National Energy has become the most valuable part of the company. Some analysts estimated PG&E’s regulated businesses may be worth as much as $12 per share if the company can keep it out of the bankruptcy proceedings. 

PG&E’s stock gained 19 cents Monday to close at $8.84. 

————— 

On the Net: 

http://www.pgecorp.com/ 

Berkeley Police officials are looking for Pauline Grana, a 79 year old, white woman with white shoulder length hair and blue eyes. 

Grana, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs about 125 pounds and has an identification bracelet with an 800 phone number. 

Dressed in a tan zip-up windbreaker outfit, a long lavender shirt and sandals, Grana was last seen at 9:45 a.m. today near her home on Vine and Grants Streets in North Berkeley. 

Police have been searching for Grana to no avail since 10:45 a.m. this morning. Anyone who has seen her should detain her and call police at (510) 981-5900.