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City leaders react to Lee’s vote against war

By Jon Mays Daily Planet staff
Monday September 17, 2001

Reaction to U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee’s lone Congressional vote against the use of force against terror in the wake of the Sept. 11 tradedy was swift this week.  

Lee has a history of supporting peace and said she based the decision to vote against the on her conscience, moral compass and God. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she respects Lee’s sincere conviction but added that she disagrees with it. 

“It appears as if this country is taking its time to establish who did this and those people need to be brought to justice,” Dean said. “I don’t think we should be bombing the heck out of another country and I don’t think that’s on the table. But terrorism has got to be stopped.” 

However, Councilmember Kriss Worthington said stopping terrorism should not come at the expense of civil liberties. He also said America needs to proceed cautiously and not get caught up in pro-war sentiment. Worthington agreed with Lee’s vote.  

“It was a courageous display of leadership to raise concerns about how the U.S. responds,” Worthington said. “It’s very easy to jump into the hysteria, to be gung-ho for any war, anywhere.” 

Dean said that she has been moved by the amount of patriotism and emotional outpouring throughout the city and believes that the people of Berkeley are most likely talking about the Sept. 11 tragedy more than other communities. 

“Two things struck me today – The number of flags and the number of people who stood hugging,” she said. “The hugging really really struck me hard. People are hurting and they want justice. They do not want revenge. There is a difference


Out and About

Compiled by Guy Poole
Monday September 17, 2001


Monday, Sept. 17

 

Women’s Classics Book Group 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

A new group will discuss “The Golden Notebook,” by Doris Lessing. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Rite of Christian Initiation for  

Adults Inquiry Program 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Mary Magdalen Parish 

2005 Berryman St. 

A program to learn everything you wanted to know about the Catholic Church but never had the chance to ask. 526-4811 

 

Dancing 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Seniors citizens can practice social dancing to taped music. 644-6107 

 

The Alternative Lifelong  

Learning Book Club 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Tracy Chevalier’s “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” will be discussed. Readers with limited vision are encouraged to attend. 644-6107 

 


Tuesday, Sept. 18

 

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. 525-3565 

 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia  

Support Group 

12 - 2 p.m. every third Tuesday 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

“Natural approaches to FM” with Dr. Julie Orman, network chiropractor. 

601-0550 www.arthritis.org 

 

Crime Prevention 

11:50 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

A Police Department representative will provide crime prevention literature on fraud, burglaries and other public safety matters. 644-6107 

 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday.  

655-8863 

 

Lead-Safe Painting and  

Remodeling Class 

6 p.m. - 8 p.m. 

Claremont Branch, Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave.  

How to paint and remodel your older house without disturbing the lead-paint. Sponsored by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. Free. 567-8280 www.aclppp.org 

 

Wings in the Night—A  

Celebration of Bats 

2:15 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St. 

The Berkeley Garden Club with Rehab Education Director for the California Bat Conservation Fund, Patricia Winters. 524-4374 

 


Wednesday, Sept. 19

 

Free Prostate Cancer  

Screening 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

At-risk men may obtain a free prostate cancer screening by appointment. 

869-8833  

 

Fire Hill Station  

Neighborhood Meeting 

7 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St.  

6th Floor Conference Room 

Hill Fire Station meeting to review plans. 981-6341 

 

Berkeley Communicator  

Toastmasters Club 

7:15 a.m. 

Vault Cafe 

3250 Adeline 

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month. 527-2337 

 

Baby Bounce and Toddler  

Tales 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2090 Kittredge St. 

This participatory program for families with children up to age 3 presents multicultural stories, songs and fingerplays as entertainment. 644-6095 

 

Support Group for  

Family/Friends  

Caring for Older Adults 

4 - 5:30 p.m. - third Wednesday of each month 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Third floor, Room 3369B (elevator B) 

The group will focus on the needs of the older adult with serious medical problems, psychiatric illnesses, substance abuse, and their caregivers. Free. 802-1725 

 

Gay/ Bi Men’s Book Group 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

Will discuss “Bastard Out of Carolina” by Dorothy Allison. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Socratic Circle Discussions 

5 - 6 p.m. 

1309 Solano Ave. 

Cafe Eclectica 

Does your brain need a workout? All ages welcome. 527-2344 

 

What You Need to Know  

Before You Build or Remodel 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Preview of the Homeowner’s Essential Course – learn to solder pipe and more. By Glen Kitzenberger. Free. 525-7610 

 

A Taste of the World: Cultural  

Understanding Through Food 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Enhance your cooking skills and experience the cuisines of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and Israel with Chef Daniel Herskovic. All classes are “hands on.” Class includes meal and cooking lesson. $25. Every Wednesday through Nov. 1. 655-8487 

 

Graduate Theological Union  

Fall Convocation 

3:30 p.m. 

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Chapel 

2770 Marin Ave. 

Annual GTU gathering which celebrates the beginning of the academic year. This year’s speaker is William M. Sullivan, Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 649-2464 

 

Natural History of East Bay  

Hill Paths 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

Panelists will be Malcom Margolin, publisher of Heyday Books; Richard Schwartz, author of Berkeley 1900, a portrait of the city drawn from Century-old newspaper stories; Steve Edwards, director of the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden. 524-4715 www.internettime.com/bpwa 

 


Thursday, Sept. 20

 

Free Prostate Cancer  

Screening 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

At-risk men may obtain a free prostate cancer screening by appointment. 

869-8833 

Trekking and Travel in the  

Himalayas 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Arlene Blum presents slides from her recent traverse through the Himalayas and provides guidance on selecting and preparing for trekking adventures. Free. 527-4140 

 

AC Transit: Short Range  

Transit Plan 

7 - 9:30 p.m. 

Albany City Council Chambers 

100 San Pablo Ave. 

An extensive outreach campaign to find out what you think regarding AC Transit policies. 891-4860 www.actransit.org 

 

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 

 

Women’s Consciousness- 

Raising Group for the New  

Century 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

Cross-generational group and discussions of everything from race, age, class, and sexism to the various waves of feminism in the past.  

559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 


School districts, auditors, and accountability

By Ann-Marie Hogan
Monday September 17, 2001

Berkeley’s school district is threatened with “negative certification” because of budget inaccuracies; Emeryville School Board directors are recalled, after reports of deficit spending and inappropriate expenditures by the Superintendent; Peralta District students start school without textbooks. Students, parents, teachers and taxpayers can’t help wondering “why can’t they get it right?”  

As the daughter of a California elementary school teacher, I’ve watched the damage that’s been done to our state’s educational system by inadequate funding, the increasing challenges of educating today’s students, and state and federal “unfunded mandates.” 

As a city department director and elected official, I’ve learned that accomplishing the most basic tasks of administration in a public sector environment requires a struggle with forces, systems, and policies that appear mysterious if not downright irrational from a business perspective. As a member of the National Association of Local Government Auditors, I’ll state the obvious, from the auditors’ perspective: local school systems need an independent performance audit function.  

Most cities of Berkeley’s size and larger, and many school districts, include a performance audit function, according to Mark Funkhouser, city auditor for Kansas City, in “The Spread of Performance Auditing in American Cities.” This internal performance audit function is in addition to undergoing an annual financial audit from an outside contractor/accounting firm. The annual financial audits take a broad look at whether the numbers in the financial statements are accurate. Performance auditing, in contrast, speaks to classic problems in public administration: efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in the delivery and administration of programs and services.  

An independent performance audit provides an objective and systematic examination of evidence in order to prepare an independent assessment of management’s performance. By audit standards (set by the U.S. Comptroller General), the agency’s auditor must be independent of the administration, reporting to the legislative body (city council or school board) or directly to the public (elected). This ensures that honest and forthright reports are provided to the public, and to those with the authority to implement the changes.  

How can an independent performance audit function improve a school district’s efficiency and accountability? By identifying problems and making recommendations resulting in improvement in service delivery, cost savings, and improved accountability.  

BUSD: A performance auditor could review budget estimates, follow up reports on systems weaknesses identified in the annual financial audit, evaluate the computer systems, and examine recruiting and retention of qualified staff. (See Departmental Budget Monitoring report on the City Auditor’s website)  

Emeryville: Not only budget deficits but reports of inappropriate expenditures were discovered too late. An annual financial audit can’t be expected to uncover details about expenses, and is typically completed substantially after the end of the fiscal year. An independent internal reviewer was clearly needed to surface the problems without censorship before it was too late to take action.  

Peralta: Delays in obtaining textbooks and supplies are a chronic problem in schools. Independent performance audits of purchasing practices are the best solutions.  

A competent and independent audit function in every school district won’t solve all the school district’s problems. But, without an objective and careful ongoing evaluation of an organization’s internal controls and operational effectiveness, school boards will not have the information they need to make the difficult decisions needed for real improvement.  

The key to a successful audit program is the willingness and capacity of responsible officials to support ongoing independent evaluation, and to take action to make agreed-upon changes. Auditors, elected officials, and operating management can work together to address problems before they become crises in our school districts, just as they do in cities and other districts.  

Questions? Comments? Ideas for the Audit Plan? Please e-mail the City Auditor at hogan@ci.berkely.ca.us, mail to 12180 Milvia Street, 3rd floor, 94704. Audit reports available on line at Ci.berkeley.ca.us/Auditor.  

Ann-Marie Hogan is the city auditor for the city of Berkeley. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Arts and Entertainment Calendar

Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

924 Gilman Street Sept. 21: Slow Gherkin, 78 RPMS, Enemy You, Wisecracker; Sept. 23: 5 p.m. Subtonix, Running Ragged, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 28: Erase Errata, The Intima, Ibobuki, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 29: DS-13, Beware, Blown To Bits, (+t.b.a.); Most shows are $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

 

Albatross Pub Sept. 19: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro, performance showcase with open mike. Sept. 17: Marc Hofstadter (book party); Sept. 24: Jim Watson-Gove; All shows free, 7 - 10 p.m. 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212, tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Crowden School Sept. 23: 4 p.m. “Sundays at Four Concert” Jeremy Cohen’s jazz violin. Admission $10 (free if under 18) 1475 Rose 559-6910 

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; Sept. 3: 2 - 8 p.m. Big West Coast Harmonica Bash, afternoon benefit for Red Archibald. $10 donation; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

 

Freight & Salvage Sept. 18 Spencer Bohren, $16.50, Sept. 19: David Tanenbaum & Peppino D’Agostino, $16.50, Sept. 20: Steve Tilston & Danny Carnahan, $16.50; Sept. 21: The Waybacks, $17.50; Sept. 22: The Bluerass Intentions, $17.50; Sept. 23 Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, $16.50; Sept. 24: April Verch, $16.50; All shows start at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

Jack’s Bistro Sept. 22 & Sept. 28: 9 p.m. Tomas Michaud’s New World Flamenco Quartet, Jack London Square. 444-7171 www.starland-music.com 

 

Jupiter Sept. 18: The Goodbye Flowers; Sept. 19: New Monsoon; Sept. 20: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Sept. 21: Netwerk: Electric; Sept. 22: New Garde Philosophers; Sept. 25: Craig Graham Trio; Sept. 26: Starvin Like Marvin; Sept. 28 Anton Schwartz Quartet; Sept 29: Modern Gypsies; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

 

La Peña Cultural Center Sept. 11 & 12: 8 p.m. Irakere, $22; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 www.lapena.org 

 

Music Sources Sept. 30: 5 p.m. Ole Scarlatta! Portuguese and French keyboards and fortepiano joined by Jason McGuire on flamenco guitar, $18 General, $15 members, seniors, students. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

 

Sedge Thomson’s West Coast Live Radio Show Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave.; Sept. 29: Nancy Miford, author of “Savage Beauty.” West African folk music with The Nigerian Brothers. Blues roots piano by Caroline Dahl. The Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. All shows 10 a.m. - noon. 252-9214 www.wcl.org 

 

"A Benefit Concert for Devi-ja"  

Sept. 16: 4 p.m. Proceeds of this concert will help Violinist Devi-ja Delgado Croll and her family. Performers will include: Ali Jihad Racy, Zakir Hussain, Vince Delgado, Mimi Spencer, Shirley Muramoto, Matt Eakle, Dahlena, Carnaval Spirit and others. $20 Donation. St. John's Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 415-457-8427 vince@vincedelgado.com 

 

The 1st Annual Guinness & Oyster Festival 2001 Sept. 22: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Free. Cake, Mingus Amungus, Ponticello, Stolen Bibles, Alamo 66 w/ Destani Wolf, The Culann’s Hounds. MLK Jr. Civic Center Park 

 

 

“The Complete Shostakovich String Quartets--Part One” Sept. 29: 10 a.m. Quartets III & IV; Oct. 20: 10 a.m. Quartets V & VI. Performed by the prize-winning Alexander String Quartet with Robert Greenberg. $ 30, $84 for the Trio of concerts. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org. 

 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra Sept. 17, 24: Hertz Hall 

 

Magnificat Sept. 29: 8 p.m. First Congregational Church. The San Francisco early music ensemble of voices and period instruments present their thenth anniversary season with music of seventeenth century composers. Tickets $12-$45 (415) 979-4500 for more info 

 

 

American Ballet Theatre Sept. 19, 20: 8 p.m.: Mark Morris, Paul Taylor and Natalie Weir; Sept. 21, 22 8 p.m., Sept 22 2 p.m., Sept 23 3 p.m.: David Briskin conducts Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. Zellerbach Hall Tickets $36, $48 and $64. 

 

“Hecho En Califas Chicano-Latino Teatro Festival” Sept. 21, 22, at 8 p.m. Sept. 16 & 23 matinees. The Alameda Civic Light Opera’s fifth summer season ends with the musical of Frances Hodson Burnett’s classic story of life, death, purpose and hope. Adults $22, Students 18 and under $14. Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central Ave., Alameda. www.aclo.com 

 

“Le Cirque des Animaux” Sept. 29: 8 p.m. Hausmusik presents a wacky baroque musical cabaret on the subject of animals. Parish Hall of St. Alban’s Espiscopal Church, 1501 Washington St. (not wheelchair accessible). $18 general admission, $15 seniors, students and SFEMS members) 527-9029 

 

“Murder Dressed in Satin” by Victor Lawhorn, ongoing. A mystery-comedy dinner show at The Madison about a murder at the home of Satin Moray, a club owner and self-proclaimed socialite with a scarlet past. Dinner is included in the price of the theater ticket. $47.50 Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison St., Oakland. 239-2252 www.acteva.com/go/havefun 

 

“Twelfth Night” Sept. 18 - 23, 25 - 30, Oct. 2 - 7, Tue. - Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m., Student Matinees: Sept. 18, 20, 25, Oct. 2, @ 1 p.m. California Shakespeare Festival presents William Shakespeare’s comic tale of romance, loneliness, love and glory. Directed by Jonathan Moscone. $12 - $41. Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, Highway 24, Gateway Exit, one mile east of the Caldecott Tunnel. 548-9666 www.calshakes.org


Panthers win a squeaker over El Cerrito

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

Tailback George scores three TDs for St. Mary’s 

Minutes after getting his first win as a head coach, St. Mary’s Jay Lawson had a huge grin on his face. 

The first words out of his mouth were, “I’ll take it.” 

Lawson’s team had just wriggled out of a tight spot thanks to a sloppy play by their opponent, El Cerrito, at just the right time. After Gaucho running back Jamonte Cox scored his third touchdown of the day with 3:12 left in the game to pull his team to within one point at 28-27, El Cerrito holder Greg Murray let the point-after snap slip through his fingers, pretty much handing the game to the Panthers. 

Lawson, who took over the head job at St. Mary’s this season after 12 years under former head coach Dan Shaughnessy, knew his team had narrowly avoided a second-half collapse that could have cost them the victory. 

“When they scored, we were concentrating on getting our offense ready, figuring out how to score and get ahead again,” Lawson said of the fateful PAT attempt. 

The Panthers were ahead 28-14 at halftime thanks to some brilliant running by tailback Trestin George and a repeat performance on special teams by Courtney Brown. George scored three touchdowns in the first half, including a 71-yard run to give the Panthers their first offensive score of the season near the end of the first quarter.  

That run, on which George was freed by a spectacular block by offensive lineman Julian Taylor, tied the game at 7-7 after Cox had put the Gauchos up with a 5-yard touchdown run. The showdown between George and Cox, both considered among the top backs in California, was one-sided in favor of George, who ended the day with 161 yards on 23 carries and a 35-yard touchdown catch off of a screen from quarterback Steve Murphy.  

Cox had a subpar game despite his three rushing scores, gaining just 62 yards on 21 carries. His longest run was for 10 yards, and he only his only big play was a 56-yard catch. Cox also fumbled the ball four times, although only one resulted in a turnover. It was a key blunder, however, as the senior fumbled the ball just before crossing the goal line, and the ball was recovered by St. Mary’s defensive lineman Jonathon Tarranto in the end zone. 

“We were looking for Cox to get the ball off tackle and on screens, and we geared our defense to stop him,” Lawson said. 

The Panthers used solid support from their outside linebackers to contain Cox, forcing him into the teeth of their huge defensive line. Linebacker Omarr Flood was impressive, making three tackles for loss on Cox. 

George, on the other hand, seemed unstoppable for much of the game. He took the opening kickoff 89 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the run was called back on a clipping penalty. His most spectacular score was his shortest, as the senior took a handoff from 10 yards out and was met by two El Cerrito defenders in the backfield. George took the hit and spun away to the left, then weaved his way through several more Gauchos before crossing the goal line. 

“I had to make some big plays today after what happened last week,” said George, who was held to 59 yards by Bishop O’Dowd in the season opener. “Big players make big plays, and we’ve got a lot of big players here.” 

Falling precisely into that category is Brown. A week after scoring the lone St. Mary’s touchdown in the loss to O’Dowd on a kickoff return, Brown made a repeat performance. After the Gauchos had pulled to within 21-14 late in the second quarter, he took the kickoff at the 10 and burst through the first wave of defenders, then broke to the left sideline and out-ran everyone to the end zone. 

“I told (Brown) he’d better not let me down next week,” Lawson joked. “Touchdown returns are part of the game plan now.” 

Although the Gauchos looked thoroughly deflated by Brown’s quick strike, they came out of halftime with renewed fire. They buckled down on defense to stop the Panthers’ big plays and didn’t allow a score in the second half. And one breakdown by the St. Mary’s special teams was all they needed to get right back in the game. 

After a Gaucho drive stalled at midfield, the punting team came on. A St. Mary’s player tipped the punt, which quickly died on the ground. St. Mary’s defensive back Kenny Griffin unwisely tried to pick the ball up and fumbled it on the 15-yard line, where it was recovered by a pile of Gauchos. 

El Cerrito nearly failed to capitalize, as two successive penalties put them in a 4th-and-14 situation, but quarterback Randy Gatewood found James Cannon for 19 yards and first down. Two plays later Cox rumbled for a score from a yard out, cutting the deficit to 28-21. 

“That fumble really gave them new life,” said Lawson, whose team struggled on special teams most of the game. “We had started shooting ourselves in the foot, and (El Cerrito) got it going in the third quarter.” 

After a St. Mary’s turnover on downs with 8:17 left in the game, the Gauchos put together their most impressive drive of the day, running the ball 10 times for 62 yards and Cox’s final touchdown. But after the mishandled snap kept the lead in St. Mary’s hands, George conjured up one final burst of brilliance, taking the kickoff back 49 yards to the El Cerrito 38. He then got a key first down with a three-yard run on 4th-and-1, allowing the Panthers to run the clock out. 

NOTES: George, who is being recruited by most of the Pac-10, said he is currently favoring the Washington Huskies and USC Trojans. He said he will make a decision by early February... After fumbling the ball seven times against O’Dowd, the Panthers forced seven fumbles by the Gauchos. They only recovered one, however... St. Mary’s quarterback Murphy completed just four of 12 pass attempts, but made them count, averaging 31 yards per completion. Receiver Chase Moore had three catches for 93 yards.


What Lee said on house floor

Barbara Lee
Monday September 17, 2001

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions across the world. 

This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction. 

September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. 

I know that this use-of-force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage a war even without this resolution. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. There must be some of us who say, let’s step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today — let us more fully understand its consequences. 

We are not dealing with a conventional war. We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this spiral out of control. This crisis involves issues of national security, foreign policy, public safety, intelligence gathering, economics, and murder. Our response must be equally multifaceted. 

We must not rush to judgment. Far too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that women, children, and other noncombatants will be caught in the crossfire. 

Nor can we let our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers inflame prejudice against all Arab Americans, Muslims, Southeast Asians, or any other people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. 

Finally, we must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target. We cannot repeat past mistakes. 

In 1964, Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson the power to “take all necessary measures” to repel attacks and prevent further aggression. In so doing, this House abandoned its own constitutional responsibilities and launched our country into years of undeclared war in Vietnam. 

At that time, Sen. Wayne Morse, one of two lonely votes against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, declared, “I believe that history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution of the United States ... I believe that within the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to make such a historic mistake.” 

Sen. Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today. And I fear the consequences. 

I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it in the very painful yet beautiful memorial service today at the National Cathedral. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, “As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.” 


Compelling reason to revert to elections based on geography

Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

Editor: 

Of the 58 counties in the state of California, only five counties (Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Clara) contain “whole” senate districts (19). Those exact same five counties, also contain (41) whole state assembly districts. Combined with partial districts that is a “”majority” of the state legislature in 5 counties. 

The properties taxes raised in all the other fifty-three counties can be easily-raided (i.e. ERAF/Edison bailout) if and when those state legislators, of the above five counties, precisely legislate for their respective populations. 

The above is compelling reason to reverting back to having “one” of California’s legislative bodies elected, on the basis of geogrophy, not population, similar to the U.S. Senate election process. 

Thank you for allowing me to correct my earlier misstatement. 

 

John Bauer,Martinez


Shore clean-up nets an odd bounty

By Jennifer Dix Daily Planet Correspondent
Monday September 17, 2001

“This is a life-changing activity you’re doing today,” Patty Donald told volunteers assembled near the Berkeley Marina Saturday, as they prepared to spread out and pick up garbage along the coastline. 

Donald, a naturalist and coordinator at the Shorebird Nature Center, warned volunteers the experience might be “sometimes horrifying,” as they encountered tons of plastic litter, garbage and other debris that collects along the East Bay shoreline.  

Still, she assured them, “It’s amazing what a group of people can do in three hours.” 

And for many of those people, there was nowhere they would rather have been on Saturday morning. In the wake of the terrorist attacks that shook the nation last Tuesday, many volunteers were anxious to undertake any activity that made them feel useful and took their minds off the horror.  

“I bet many people are happy to be out here today,” said Oakland resident Bob Moorehead, who joined his friend, Berkeley retiree Walt Rowson as they headed out over the area known


Conservatism is for heroes’

Tim Plume
Monday September 17, 2001

Editor: 

As our US population races toward the half gig goal, we may need more natural resources now in reserve in forests and parts. Shall we put off that day or shall we start reckoning now? 

China cut their forests centuries ago and they don’t seem to miss them so much. Maybe we too can go on without such distracting, dreamy luxuries. Deserts can seem beautiful if that’s all you’ve got. We’re behind China and India in population; don’t we want to win the race? If we wait too long, China may grow sronger. Will we then lose our place in the world order? 

Do we want to stay on top or can we be happy as number two, three or four? When you’ve seen one tree that’s the whole scene. 

We need many mega-suburbs or consumers and their cars. Only with cavernous homes can consumers surge and swell toward the half gig goal. Two by four farms look lovely on the books. Roadless wilderness can only attract outlaws and our enemies. 

Soon, the decision must be made; leave them roadless or demolish the devil’s wilds. 

Worshiping trees is like worshiping earthworms. Just remember, conservationism is for wimps. Conservatism is for heroes. A gig is young hero talk for a billion. 

After achieving half a gig in our US, there’s the whole gig goal for the 21st century. 

Tim Plume 

Berkeley 


Rep. Lee has history of opposing the use of force

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

WASHINGTON — The only member of Congress to vote against using force against terrorists was also the lone House opponent of using U.S. troops against Serbia three years ago. 

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., came to Congress in 1998 promising to trim defense spending. She said Friday that she opposed the measure backing the use of military force by President Bush after relying on her “moral compass, my conscience and my God for direction.” 

“Our deepest fears now haunt us,” Lee said, referring to the hijacked planes that terrorists plunged into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, leaving thousands missing. “Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States.” 

The resolution was approved Friday 98-0 by the Senate and 420-1 in the House. 

When Lee voted against the use of American troops in Serbia in 1998, she argued that the measure gave President Clinton too much authority without congressional approval. 

Lee, 55, represents Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., an overwhelmingly Democratic district. 

A former social worker, she served in the California Assembly and Senate after working for Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Calif. She replaced him when he retired. 

 

 


Star fire 100 percent contained

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO – The El Dorado and Tahoe National Forests fire has been 100 percent contained. The fire had been burning on 16,761 acres and cost a total of $26.5 million. 

“This does not mean that the fire is out,” said Karen Durand, a spokeswoman for the Foresthill Fire Information Center. “It means we’ve got good control of the fire.” 

About 622 firefighting personnel have been working on the fire, which also is known as the Star fire. Durand said she expects the fire will be controlled by Sept. 19. 

The Fire Information Center reported that fire behavior on Saturday was minimal and that efforts to stabilize soil conditions and improve roads continue. 

All restrictions and closures in the area remain, however some may change in the next week, Durand said.


Alleged drug den bursts into flames

Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

SAN JOSE – A couple allegedly cooking methamphetamine in a San Jose motel room were burned as the chemicals burst into flames. 

Chad Gulmon, 28, threw the chemicals and the beakers out the second-story window of the Extended Stay America motel on San Ignacio Avenue. Gulmon tried to swallow a bag of methamphetamine. Police struggled with him to retrieve them. 

Gulmon was hospitalized with second and third-degree burns. Karin Burns, 32, was booked after being treated for burns to her hands. 

Two San Jose police officers and a sergeant who struggled with Gulmon were also released from a local hospital after being treated for chemical exposure.


Richmond prep school opening delayed

Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

 

RICHMOND – The grand opening for Towers Prepatory School, a charter school, has been delayed because of a lack of construction fund and a place to build. 

Charter schools such as Alternative Education Learning Center and Towers Prepatory School are started by parents, teachers or community groups who want an alternative to traditional public schools. 

To operate, they must have the endorsement of a school district to operate but are not required to follow most education codes. They receive state funding based on attendance, just like traditional public schools. 

However, they do not receive extra money for facilities and cannot use the state and local bonds that fund most school construction projects. 

The school’s directors have had real estate deals fall through, and hope the West Contra Costa school board will grant an exemption. The school’s charter was approved last year with the condition the school find a site by Sept. 1, 2001. 


Pacifica fined for environmental violations

Staff
Monday September 17, 2001

 

PACIFICA – The state is fining the city $209,000 for five years of environmental violations at the now-closed Sharp Park wastewater treatment plant and the year-old Calera Creek plant. 

Pacifica will receive a mix of mandatory and civil penalties for 623 violations of water quality standards from 1996 to 2000. Calera Creek has committed at least 24 additional violations the first six months of this year. 

The city has agreed to pay the money, which waives its right to a hearing before the California Regional Water Quality Control Board that was scheduled for Wednesday, said City Manager David Carmany. 

According to state records, there were 579 days between October 1996 and December 1999 when the Sharp Park plant dumped water that contained excess pollutants or was not treated properly into the Pacific Ocean. 

The pollutants included total coliform, which indicates fecal bacteria, ammonia and chlorine residue. 

The state says the Calera Creek plant has dispensed effluent to a man-made wetlands for the past year.


Report says FBI was warned two hijackers were already in U.S.

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

LOS ANGELES – The FBI was warned three weeks before the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that two suspected Osama bin Laden associates, who later turned out to be among the suicide hijackers, were in the United States, according to a report Sunday. 

The FBI began to search on Aug. 21 for Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi, who authorities believe helped hijack American Airlines Flight 77 and crash it into the Pentagon, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday, citing intelligence and law enforcement sources. 

But the FBI did not ask for help from the field office in San Diego, where the men had been living, until a day or two before Tuesday’s infernos in Washington and New York, FBI sources told the Times. 

The failed manhunt began after the CIA warned that Al-Midhar might have a link to the terrorist bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole last October in Yemen. Bin Laden is the prime suspect in the Cole bombing and in Tuesday’s attacks. 

Al-Midhar appears in a secret videotape made last year at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a suspect in the Cole bombing. The CIA on Aug. 21 asked the FBI to find Al-Midhar and an associate, Alhamzi. 

There was no indication from the CIA or elsewhere that Al-Midhar and Alhamzi were planning the hijackings. 

“We videotaped the meeting,” a U.S. intelligence official told the Times. “Afterwards, they split up and went their way.” 

Asked why no one was apprehended after the meeting, the official said, “Here was a bunch of guys who we believed were dirty, but we didn’t have anything on them.” 

U.S. authorities later determined that Al-Midhar and Alhamzi had flown into Los Angeles International Airport early last year, and into the New York area earlier this year. The FBI checked hotel records in Los Angeles and New York but found no trace of either man, the Times said. 

A law enforcement source told the Times on Saturday that the CIA first contacted the FBI’s New York City office. FBI agents in New York gave the two names to the bureau’s Los Angeles office only days before the attacks, and the San Diego office received the names a day after that. 

The law enforcement official portrayed the information as sketchy and “very, very late.” 

Both men were placed on a U.S. immigration “watch list” in late August, but immigration officials quickly determined that they already had entered the United States. At various times in the past year, both men have lived in San Diego and Phoenix. 

Alhamzi was renting a room in San Diego at the time of the Cole attack. It is unclear whether Al-Midhar was living there then or had just moved out. Abdussattar Shaikh, who said he rented rooms to Alhamzi and Al-Midhar, said the two had told him they were friends from Saudi Arabia. 

Despite what the FBI called an “aggressive” effort, the bureau failed to find the men until their names surfaced on the passenger manifest of American Flight 77, which killed at least 190 people when it rammed the Pentagon. 

“When you have somebody who comes into this country without any information to go on as to where they were going, who they’re staying with or anything — when you have none of that and, as it turns out you only have two weeks to work with, the likelihood of finding him was very small,” a government official who asked not to be identified told the Times.


Muslim store owner killed after confronting customers

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

SAN GABRIEL – A grocery store owner was shot and killed after an apparent confrontation with customers escalated into violence, officials said. 

The shooting took place at 3:15 p.m. Saturday when the victim, Adel Karas, 48, of Arcadia, confronted two unidentified men as they picked up several unknown items from the store. Karas suffered gunshot wounds to the upper torso when gunfire erupted as the suspects approached the counter, said Deputy Ronald Bottomley of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 

The two suspects fled in a copper-colored Honda driven by a third person, Bottomley said. 

Karas was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena where he was pronounced dead at 3:26 p.m. 

Family members of Karas, who is a Coptic Christian from Egypt, believe the killing took place because the suspects assumed Karas was Muslim. They believe he was a victim of a backlash attack motivated by Tuesday’s terror attacks in the East Coast. 

Several apparent backlash assaults and threats have been reported across the country against people of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian descent. 

“When we went to the store ... we saw all the cash in the register,” said Karas’ cousin, Nash Eskander. 

There was nothing of value in the store that would push someone to killing, Eskander said. 

Police officials, however, said the shooting is being investigated as a robbery. 

“Right now the homicide detectives are investigating the case,” said sheriff’s Deputy Brian Lendman. “It appears to be a robbery that had tragic results. We have no information to the contrary.”


Terrorist attack spurred decrease in crime statewide

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

Crime rates, traffic levels drop after Tuesday’s events 

LOS ANGELES – The terrorist attacks that devastated the nation’s largest city sent California residents scurrying home, cleared the region’s congested freeways for a time and, apparently, even prompted crime rates to plummet. 

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department estimated crime has fallen some 50 percent below normal rates for this time of year since Tuesday’s tragedies. 

“People are coming together, and the bad guys don’t seem to be doing bad things,” Deputy David Cervantes said, noting that statistics are similar to lower winter rates. 

“I believe that it could be one of two things, it could be that people are staying home and watching their TV,” he said. “There’s (also) a sense of unity and something to look forward to and people are setting aside there difference and getting together.” 

Most precincts in the Los Angeles Police Department reported criminal activity has remained normal since Tuesday, but some stations have noted a slight decrease. 

Things have been “slower than usual” at the Police Department’s West Los Angeles station, said Sgt. Ron Bremer, who noticed that there were “fewer bodies being booked.” 

“Most of the bad guys are probably too scared to do anything with the police presence out there,” he said. 

The North Hollywood area has also been quiet since Tuesday, said Sgt. Gary Patton, who attributed the reduction to the city’s state of tactical alert. 

“Everybody seemed to be outside waving flags,” he said. “Everybody’s emotionally drain.” 

In neighboring Ventura, Kern, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, law enforcement officials say the number of reported crimes has remained the same. 

In San Francisco, complaint calls to the police were about the same as usual for a Saturday night. 

There had been 2,620 calls to the San Francisco Police Department by 7:50 p.m. Saturday, down only slightly from 2,692 calls by the same time a week earlier. 

But Sgt. Peter Thoshinski, working the phones at the city’s Southern Station, said things appeared more subdued than usual for his nightclub and warehouse district. 

“It’s a little bit slow for a Saturday evening,” Thoshinski said. 

He did mention a disconcerting incident involving one of his Pakistani officers that occurred in the days following the terrorist attack. As the officer drove to work, a fellow motorist made an obscene gesture to him and swerved to run him off the road, Thoshinski said. 

The Pakistani officer, not in his police uniform at the time, was able to avoid being hit by the irate motorist and was not injured.


Thousands of reservists prepare for call up

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

Volunteer Californians could be headed to East Coast for aftermath 

SACRAMENTO – A contingent of mortuary specialists and chaplains left Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield early Saturday for the East Coast, the first of thousands of California reservists expecting to begin military duty in days and weeks ahead. 

Thirty two specialists in the grim, but necessary job of identifying human remains flew to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base, preparing to meet up with counterparts from 10 other units around the nation. 

Their task: to help with what’s expected to be several thousand deaths from Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. 

As they departed, thousands of other Californians were packing, spending time with their loved ones and preparing to follow President Bush’s call for up to 50,000 military reservists. 

“We’re all volunteers and we love our country,” said Lt. Col. William Conrad, a Modesto City Council Member and father of two who has already reported to the California National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field in Mountain View. 

Conrad is one of 21,000 California reservists attached to the state’s Army and Air Force National Guard. Another 7,500 belong to the U.S. Navy Reserves. 

In San Bruno, reservist and single mother Kate MacKay recounted a conversation with her 11-year-old son, saying, “I told him I had to do it for him because this has to stop.” 

President Bush is mobilizing reservists for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, for medical support, communications, transportation and civil protection while the regular military fulfills his promise of a war against terrorists. 

Military officials say it will be several days before they know who will be called up. 

In Simi Valley, Steve Timbol, a police officer and National Guardsman called his commanding officer at Channel Islands Air Force Base near Oxnard on Tuesday, asking “What do you need me to do?” 

Timbol is already serving as a military policeman on the base, leaving his wife, Dorina, with two children and anxieties about the future. 

“Everything in my life is on hold,” she said. “You are dealing with the fear that if something happens, your kids will be without a father. To me that’s the most frightening part of it, not knowing what to expect.” 

Los Angeles police officer Ken Williams, one of 663 reservists in the Los Angeles Police Department, said, “After 12 years in the military I know what it’s about. When the country needs us we gotta go. I feel bad for all the families that had people killed. It was a sad situation.” 

Employers are legally bound to hold jobs open for reservists until they come home. Some companies, such as United Parcel Service and Colton-based Slater Bros. make up the difference between their workers’ military and civilian pay and continue full benefits for their families. 

Slater Bros. chief Jack Brown, who counts about 200 reservists among his 13,000 employees, said, “I think the most important thing an employer can do right now is to reassure their reservists that if they are called their families will be able to maintain their lifestyle.” 

In San Diego, Bill Butler a veteran of four tours in Vietnam and 30 years as a U.S. Navy reservist, said he’s ready for another assignment. “All of us have volunteered; some of us more than once. We know what is necessary, to go in harm’s way. We know our jobs. We know the risk.” 

Scott McMillan of San Jose said the same before shipping out of Travis Air Force Base Saturday with his fellow mortuary specialists. McMillan, who helped after the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, said, “You get images back. Smells will trigger things that will make you go back...I’m not looking forward to it, but because I’ve done it already I’m not as anxious as I was the first time.” 

In Pittsburg, Air Force reservist Sean Poynter doesn’t know if he’ll be called up. But he said he hopes the American flags he sees flying stay up for a long time. 

“It’s nice to know if I get called up that all Americans are out there and that all Americans support what we’re doing.”


Apple fights to regain ground in education market

By May Wong AP Technology Writer
Monday September 17, 2001

SAN JOSE – In education, ’A’ has long stood for Apple. But nowadays, ’B’ is for the big school battle with ’C’ the competition — Dell Computer Corp. 

With technology boot camps for teachers and computer-leasing programs for parents, Apple Computer Inc. has been fighting hard to regain ground after losing its lead in education sales to Dell two years ago. 

It’s had some success: Apple boosted its market share from a low of 19 percent in the fourth quarter of 2000 to more than 23 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to International Data Corp. 

Still, Dell had 37.5 percent in the second quarter. 

Apple, the first computer maker to focus on the education market, gets an estimated 40 percent of its revenue from schools. But it has had trouble fighting Dell’s knack for keeping prices low and shipping supplies fast — the same advantages that give Dell the overall crown in worldwide PC sales. 

And in an increasingly un-Apple world in and outside of schools, even Mac loyalists in the education community are skeptical Apple will ever reach the 45 percent market share it enjoyed in 1996 — before Dell and other Microsoft Windows-based PC companies revved up their school marketing initiatives. 

“It’s incredible they’re still alive and kicking in the schools at all, considering that 95 percent of the world is behind Bill Gates,” said Christopher Werler, founder and president of Teacher Street, an education software publisher. 

Today, 75 percent of the software Teacher Street sells to schools is for Windows users — a complete reversal from when most developers wrote educational programs for Macs only, Werler said. 

Apple officials know they face an uphill battle. 

“We hear from educators and parents — ‘I want my student to be trained on computers that they’ll be using at work,”’ said Cheryl Vedoe, hired last year as Apple’s vice president of education marketing to bolster school sales. 

Apple has largely become a niche provider catering to graphics professionals, with less than 5 percent of the overall domestic PC market — compared to 24 percent for Dell and 13 percent for Compaq Computer Corp., according to Gartner Dataquest. 

PC makers are increasingly going after sales to schools because education is one of the few market segments still growing despite the computer industry slump. 

“It’s not necessarily an Apple issue: it’s that the competition has grown,” said David Daoud, a PC-education analyst for IDC. 

Apple must also contend with the marketing muscle of Microsoft, which last month kicked off a 30-city tour to promote learning tools it has developed that include its new Encarta Class Server, lesson-management software that runs only on Windows operating systems. The Redmond, Wash.-based giant also is talking up multimedia applications like movie editing — an area in which Apple remains strong in classrooms with its popular iMovie software. 

In the past year, Apple has lowered its prices to compete better and launched a program for parents to lease laptops for eventual purchase through schools. In March, Apple acquired PowerSchool, a maker of Web-based software that automates administrative tasks like grading and attendance. 

In hopes of showing that its computers provide the better learning platform for students, Cupertino-based Apple held a three-day meeting with a national school superintendents’ group and eight technology boot camps for teachers around the country this summer. 

“We try to convince schools that the highest rule for technology should be as a tool for teaching and learning ... and that’s not necessarily the best tool for accountants and aerospace engineers,” Vedoe said. 

Apple needs more customers like the Englewood School District in Colorado, which has 1,500 computers — 70 percent are Apple and 30 percent Windows-based. 

Two years ago, when technology director Dale Stout started to upgrade the district’s computer systems, some teachers, parents, and technology consultants tried to pressure him to convert entirely to Windows PCs. 

“They were saying we should prepare our students for what’s being used in the real world,” Stout said. “In reality, the two systems are so close together, it really doesn’t matter which one you use.” 

So he decided to get Apple computers for use where they work best — with easy-to-use learning and graphics tools — and Windows-based PCs for science and engineering. 

But more often than not, school districts are choosing one platform over another — and migrating away from Apple. 

Michigan’s Rochester Community Schools decided to switch this school year to Dell, buying $8 million worth of equipment upgrades and services for its 14,000 students. School officials cited cost as a reason. 

At California’s San Lorenzo Unified School District, officials last year looked only at non-Apple systems for a $25 million project to equip its students with wireless laptops. The district chose Dell after the company agreed to subsidize one-fifth of the project’s cost and “sat at the table” with the district from the beginning of the planning process, said assistant superintendent Arnie Glassberg.


City copes with tragedy

By Hank SimsDaily Planet staff
Saturday September 15, 2001

With attacks in mind, city searches for normalcy 

 

On the streets, in the schools and in its civic buildings, Berkeley marked the end of an extraordinary week and tried to find a way back into daily routines Friday. 

A small fire broke out in a dumpster at John Muir Elementary School on Claremont Avenue, but teachers and principal Nancy D. Waters were able to bring it under control before the fire department arrived. 

Children spent the day writing their hopes on strips of white cloth, then hanging them on the school’s fence.  

“I wish the world were peaceful again,” wrote fourth-grader Maya Franklin. “I wish that the crash would never happen again.” “I wish people would stop fighting with other people,” said others. 

“We wanted to get them thinking about a calm, safe world,” said teacher Sally Lappen, who thought of the idea after she remembered a similar Japanese ceremony she had seen on television.  

The son of Carol Hathaway, a John Muir art teacher, is a student at Hunter College in Manhattan; several people laboring at the site of the World Trade Center are sleeping in empty rooms at his dormitory. Hathaway and her students spent the day painting thank-you cards to send to the rescue workers. 

“I think we all kind of feel like we wish we could help, but we can’t,” Hathaway told her class. “So what we can do is thank the people who are helping.” 

Children sketched the vases of flowers that had been placed on their tables. They folded their drawings over to make cards and wrote messages inside: “Thank you.” “We love you.” 

Principal Waters spent a lot of time in classrooms, checking in on teachers and students. 

“We haven’t talked about how tragic it was,” she said. “We’ve just tried to rekindle a sense of pride in America and put the children’s thoughts in a direction of hope.” 

At the end of the day, Waters sent a note home with John Muir students, telling them about the fire and assuring them that it was handled without incident.  

Meanwhile, across town in north west Berkeley, neighbors of the city’s Fire Station 6, decorated the bell outside the station with candles, flowers and messages of gratitude. 

“We, your community, suffer with you the loss of your fellow firefighters in New York, Washington and around the country,” said one. “We grieve with you and honor you daily. We walk in respect for your fallen comrades. God Bless America, and you.” 

And around noon, the city’s civil servants gathered to share a moment of silence at the Peace Wall in Martin Luther King Civic Center Park. For 15 minutes or so, they wandered about, looking at the thousands of tiles on the wall, painted by people around the world, each offering a vision of peace. 

Workers from the city attorney’s office wore red, white and blue ribbons. Others wore the American flag on their lapels, or on their shirts and sweaters. 

City Manager Weldon Rucker, one of the organizers of the ceremony, said that he was gladdened to see so many city staff members come out of their offices.  

“I thought it was important,” he said. “It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s something.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio, a native New Yorker, praised the people around her. 

“The city has been terrific,” she said. “We are a wonderful city. Everyone has been very kind to one another.” 

“We need to make sure that we continue to hold life sacred, even if others don’t.” 

At 12:15 p.m., Rucker, Maio, Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Kriss Worthington stood together in front of city staff. Rucker addressed the crowd. 

“I think that we, as an organization, have really suffered this week,” he said. “Yet we have continued to run the city.” 

“Let us have a moment of solidarity, and unity.” 

Around 200 city employees joined hands and bowed their heads.  

After a few minutes, Rucker looked up and waited for others to finish their thoughts. 

“Thank you all for coming,” he said.


Calendar of Events & Activities

Staff
Saturday September 15, 2001


Saturday, Sept. 15

 

The 2001 International Coastal Cleanup 

9 a.m. - noon 

Sea Breeze Market and Deli 

Corner of West Frontage Road and University Avenue 

Last year, more than 1,030 volunteers picked up 30 tons of garbage in the Berkeley area. Nation-wide over 850,000 volunteers hauled in more than 13.5 million pounds of trash. Please arrive promptly at 9 a.m. to sign appropriate waivers, free cup of coffee and safety talk. 644-8623  

www.oceanconservancy.org 

 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class 

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. 

997 Cedar St. 

Basic personal preparedness class. Free to anyone 18 or older who lives or works in Berkeley.  

644-8736 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire.oes.html 

 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

10 a.m. - noon 

“Art on the UC Campus,” the campus contains more than a century of outdoor sculpture. Tours are restricted to 30 participants and require prepaid reservations. $10. 848-0181 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

 

Bonfire of Reflection 

6:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Marina  

An evening of reflection by the fire. Come for Havdalah. Bring something to burn as a way of letting it go. Share your voice as we sing of seasons, remembering and change. Come with food, drink, and musical instruments. 

Follow signs to the Olympic Circle Sailing Club on Spinnaker Way. At the sign of the Sailing Club, turn left into the parking lot and look for a fish wind sock. 848-0237 

 

Vocal Jazz Workshop and Jazz Jam 

9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Albany Adult School 

601 San Gabriel St., Albany 

Workshops introduce beginning and intermediate jazz singers to solo jazz repertoire and vocal jazz harmonies. 524-6797 richkalman@aol.com 

 


Sunday, Sept. 16

 

Peace Walk 

6 p.m. 

Meet at Russell Street and College Avenue 

Neighborhood walk for peace. Bring peace signs and musical instruments.  

665-1933 

 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between Third and Fourth streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and  

specialty foods.  

654-6346 

 

K’tanim, A Celebration of  

Jewish Learning for Families with Young Children - Birth to 3 Years Old 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Nurture your child’s joy of Jewish learning. Learn about Jewish ritual and celebration through family activities, songs, stories, crafts and discussion. $10 per session.  

549-9447 x104 

 

Time, Space, and Knowledge 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Ken McKeon on “Activating Vision.” Free.  

843-6812 

Healing Into the New Year: An Experiential Workshop on the Psychological and Mystical Dimensions of the High Holidays 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish  

Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Using Hasidic teachings and stories, music, and guided meditation, participants will be guided through an inner journey of healing and renewal in preparation for the High Holidays. 848-0237 www.lehrhaus.org 

 


Monday, Sept. 17

 

Women’s Classics Book Group 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

A new group will discuss “The Golden Notebook,” by Doris Lessing. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Inquiry Program 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Mary Magdalen Parish 

2005 Berryman St. 

A program to learn everything you wanted to know about the Catholic Church but never had the chance to ask. 526-4811 

 

Dancing 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Senior citizens can practice social dancing to taped music. 644-6107 

 

–compiled by Guy Poole 

 

 

The Alternative Lifelong Learning Book Club 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Tracy Chevalier’s “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” will be discussed. Readers with limited vision are encouraged to attend. 644-6107 


Fly a flag, Berkeley

David Gee
Saturday September 15, 2001

Editor: 

I think that I am now past the shock and horror of Tuesday's events. Now I am mad. I ask that each and every single one of you Berkeley residents put up a flag on your car, your house, your shopping cart, or whatever, and support our country in getting through this difficult time. It was sure nice to see that flag hang off the construction of the new bridge over I-80 as I was heading home from work.  

The time has come to support our leaders and our nation regardless of our political beliefs and factions. Support your country by raising that American flag. 

 

David Gee 

Alameda 


ArtsWeekend

Saturday September 15, 2001

924 Gilman Street Sept. 15: Tragedy, Run For Your Fucking Life, Funeral, plus assorted punk rock movies: Behind the Screams, Brainbox, Kamala’s Revenge and others; Sept. 16: 5 p.m. The Influents, The Thumbs, One Time Angels, Agent 51; Sept. 21: Slow Gherkin, 78 RPMS, Enemy You, Wisecracker; Sept. 23: 5 p.m. Subtonix, Running Ragged, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 28: Erase Errata, The Intima, Ibobuki, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 29: DS-13, Beware, Blown To Bits, (+t.b.a.); Most shows are $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

 

Albatross Pub Sept. 19: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473  

albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

 

Ashkenaz Sept. 15 9:30 p.m. African Rhythm Messengers and Victor Sila, $11; Sept. 16: 7 p.m. Mexican IndepenDance Celebration with Grupo Tamunal and Mariachi Las Palomas, $8; 1317 San Pablo Ave. 594-1400 www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro, performance showcase with open mike. Sept. 17: Marc Hofstadter (book party); Sept. 24: Jim Watson-Gove; All shows free, 7 - 10 p.m. 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 16: 7 p.m. Tania Libertad, $18 - $30; Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212, tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Crowden School Sept. 23: 4 p.m. “Sundays at Four Concert” Jeremy Cohen’s jazz violin. Admission $10 (free if under 18) 1475 Rose 559-6910 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

 

Freight & Salvage Sept. 15: Vocolot, $17.50; Sept. 16 Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem, $16.50; Sept. 18 Spencer Bohren, $16.50, Sept. 19: David Tanenbaum & Peppino D’Agostino, $16.50, Sept. 20: Steve Tilston & Danny Carnahan, $16.50; Sept. 21: The Waybacks, $17.50; Sept. 22: The Bluerass Intentions, $17.50; Sept. 23 Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, $16.50; Sept. 24: April Verch, $16.50; Sept. 26: Clive Gregson, $16.50; Sept. 27: Dick Gaughan, $18.50; Sept 28: Jenna Mammina, $16.50; Sept. 29: The Nigerian Brothers, $16.50; Sept. 30: Vasen, $17.50; All shows start at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

 

Jack’s Bistro Sept. 22 & Sept. 28: 9 p.m. Tomas Michaud’s New World Flamenco Quartet, Jack London Square. 444-7171 www.starland-music.com 

 

Jupiter Sept. 15: Kooken & Hoomen; Sept. 18: The Goodbye Flowers; Sept. 19: New Monsoon; Sept. 20: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Sept. 21: Netwerk: Electric; Sept. 22: New Garde Philosophers; Sept. 25: Craig Graham Trio; Sept. 26: Starvin Like Marvin; Sept. 28 Anton Schwartz Quartet; Sept 29: Modern Gypsies; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

 

Music Sources Sept. 30: 5 p.m. Ole Scarlatta! Portuguese and French keyboards and fortepiano joined by Jason McGuire on flamenco guitar, $18 General, $15 members, seniors, students. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church Sept. 15: George Brooks and Shweta Jhaveri with Uttam Chakraborty on drums. $18 - $25; 2727 College Ave. 843-9600 www.harmoniventures.com 

 

Sedge Thomson’s West Coast Live Radio Show Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave.; Sept. 29: Nancy Miford, author of “Savage Beauty.” West African folk music with The Nigerian Brothers. Blues roots piano by Caroline Dahl. The Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. All shows 10 a.m. - noon. 252-9214 www.wcl.org 

 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presents “Handel’s Acis and Galatea” Music Director, Nicholas McGegan. Sept. 15: 8 p.m.; Sept. 16: 7:30 p.m. $34 - $49 First Congregational Church, Dana & Durant, 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org 

 

"A Benefit Concert for Devi-ja" Sept. 16: 4 p.m. Proceeds of this concert 

will help Violinist Devi-ja Delgado Croll and her family. Performers will include: Ali Jihad Racy, Zakir Hussain, Vince Delgado, Mimi Spencer, Shirley Muramoto, Matt Eakle, Dahlena, Carnaval Spirit and others. $20 Donation. St. John's Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 415-457-8427 vince@vincedelgado.com 

 

 

 

 


Message of cancellation from the Arab Film Festival

Saturday September 15, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO - The organizers of the Arab Film Festival would like to express their sadness around Tuesday’s tragic events in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh. These tragic events affect all Americans, including Arab-Americans. The Arab Film Festival extends its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims. It is very regrettable that so many innocent individuals have lost their lives or have been injured. 

The Arab Film Festival decided to cancel the second half of its 2001 event, which was to open in Berkeley, Sept. 12, in sympathy with the victims of Tuesday’s tragic event and for the safety of the audience and volunteers in the event of possible hate crimes. 

The Arab Film Festival strives to educate the Bay Area community by enhancing public understanding of Arab culture and heritage, therefore providing alternative representations of Arabs that contradict the stereotypical images frequently encountered in the American mass media. 

Perhaps, at a moment like this, the need for such an educational forum is even more necessary. 

The Arab Film Festival urges the mass media not to rush to judgment, for whoever committed these acts does not represent its community. The Festival hopes that the communities in the Bay Area and elsewhere will not fall victim to the general stereotypical thinking and assume that all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. 


Logan piles on big plays to beat ’Jackets

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 15, 2001

Berkeley scores first touchdown of season in loss 

 

The Berkeley Yellowjackets went into Friday night’s football game against James Logan hoping to pull an upset. But halfway into the first quarter, they were just hoping not to get embarrassed. 

The visiting Colts scored touchdowns on three of their first eight offensive plays to pull out to a 22-0 lead with just six minutes gone in the game, and didn’t let up until the final whistle, winning by an eventual score of 42-6. 

Logan scored on plays of 70, 62, 51 and 44 yards in the game, killing the ’Jackets with their big-play ability. Those four plays represented 227 of Logan’s 332 total yards, and Colt quarterback Brandon Ting threw for only 162 yards in the game, but they came on just four completions. 

On the opening drive of the game, Ting found his twin brother Ryan behind the Berkeley defense for a 62-yard touchdown pass on the second play, and the Colts made the two-point conversion for a 8-0 lead before the fans were even settled into their seats. 

The ’Jackets couldn’t get a first down on the ensuing drive, and punter Curtis Goodwin watched the ball sail over his head on the snap. Goodwin recovered the ball, but was smothered on the 5-yard line, and Logan running back Johnathan Ugay plowed through the middle for a touchdown seconds later. 

Disaster hit Berkeley again on the next drive. Germaine Baird had a nice return to midfield, but fullback Nick Schooler fumbled a pitch from quarterback Raymond Pinkston on the first play, and Joshua Mayfield recovered the ball for Logan. Ugay found a seam and rumbled for a 44-yard touchdown soon after, and Logan was up by 22 points and looked to be on the way to completely dominating the ’Jackets. 

“Big plays killed us today, but we didn’t let down today. That’s a positive sign,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said after the game. 

Berkeley finally found the end zone for the first time this season, taking advantage of three Colt penalties and some nice passing by Pinkston to drive the ball inside the 10. Pinkston finally dove into the end zone on a sweep from three yards out. 

The ’Jackets finally caught a break when Logan’s Ernesto Munoz fumbled the following kickoff, and Robert Hunter-Ford recovered for Berkeley on the Logan 37. Momentum seemed to be swinging the home team’s way, but it quickly went back to the other side. Pinkston lofted a long pass that wideout Lee Franklin came down with in a crowd in the end zone, but the officials called the play back for offensive pass interference. The ’Jackets sagged after losing that score, and didn’t mount another serious drive until the game was nearly over. 

“Looking back, that call was huge,” Bissell said. “It was a big momentum switch. That’s a tough play to call back.” 

Berkeley ended up punting the ball away, and the Colts put on their first long drive of the game, covering 64 yards in 10 plays and ending with Ryan Ting finding the end zone on a nine-yard sweep, making the score 28-6 at halftime. 

Last week, Foothill High decided to take it easy in the second half with a big lead on the ’Jackets. Not so for Logan. They kept on going for the big play, and they got two more in the second half. The twins hooked up again early in the third quarter, this time for a 70-yard touchdown, then running back Rodney Roy broke loose for a 51-yard run for the final score of the game. 

“Our defense was good except for a few plays,” Berkeley defensive end Akeem Brown said. “We just had guys making mental mistakes, being in the wrong place.” 

Berkeley’s pain only got worse as the game went on. Several starters went down in the second half, including Baird, who hurt his leg early in the third quarter. Without their best ground threat and behind by a bunch, the ’Jackets were forced to go to the air. Pinkston played bravely, completing 15 of 32 for 159 yards, but was forced to scramble around a lot by the Logan defensive line. He ended the game by twisting his ankle on the final play. 

“It hurts when you see your starters go down,” Bissell said, noting that Baird is expected to be ready for next week’s game. “It limits what you can do out there.” 

Things don’t get any easier next week for the ’Jackets, as they head down to Dos Palos, yet another team that beat them last season and will be heavily favored against Berkeley. 

“Such a tough pre-season schedule can be demoralizing,” Bissell said. “But hopefully the tough games will bring our level up.”


Community claims victory in tritium facility closure

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Saturday September 15, 2001

Causing a citywide sigh of relief, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory officials announced Friday that the lab’s radioactive tritium facility has lost funding and will close by early December. 

According to a joint press release from LBNL and the National Institutes of Health, the NIH has withdrawn the facility’s $1 million annual funding because of a shortage of physicists, too few tritium-related research projects and the NIH’s intention to invest in other forms of cell-imaging techniques.  

But several city officials said the announced closure was the result of intense public pressure put on the lab by the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, an organization spawned from a Berkeley neighborhood group.  

LBNL spokesperson Ron Kolb said the facility will close in December after which a six-month dismantling of tritium labeling equipment, much of it radioactive, will begin.  

“It will take another year after that to decontaminate the place before the building can be used again,” Kolb said. 

He added the facility’s four employees have been given their severance notices and that the laboratory is trying to place them in other laboratory departments.  

The National Tritium Labeling Facility, which is managed by LBNL, provides medical researchers with the radioactive isotope tritium. The lab attaches the tritium to pharmaceuticals and other medical compounds, in a process known as labeling, so they can be accurately traced as they course through the human body. 

The facility, which opened in 1982, has been controversial since 1996 when a neighborhood group, the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, began asking questions about how LBNL stores and disposes of tritium. The group was also concerned about the labeling process which requires the release of varying amounts of tritium through an emissions stack. The stack is located 500 feet from the Lawrence Hall of Science, which is visited by an average of 150,000 children each year. 

Last year the City Council commissioned a study of the tritium facility by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, in Heidelberg, Germany. The $33,000, 53-page report, evaluated the level of public exposure to tritium and assessed potential health risks. The final version of the report was released on Aug. 23. 

Dr. Bernd Franke, who prepared the report, concluded that data, provided by the facility, showed tritium emissions were lower than the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended exposure levels. But Franke suggested the laboratory deploy more tritium air monitoring equipment around the facility. 

Franke also challenged an LBNL report that claimed the labeling facility posed no, or very little, risk in the event of a fire, earthquake or other disaster. 

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for the closure of the tritium facility in 1996 and again in 1998.  

“I’m really greatly relieved that we will have this potential danger closed down,” said Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who represents District 8 where the facility is located. “Nobody doubts the good work being done with tritium, but it doesn’t belong in a dense urban area known for fires, earthquakes and landslides. It belongs in the desert where less damage is possible.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean also expressed relief. “I can’t help but feel relieved by (the news),” she said. “I had been reassured by recent studies that the facility wasn’t a huge threat, but the City Council took the stance that the facility should be closed.” 

Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring said the closure is a victory for the neighbors who were tireless in their efforts to close the facility. 

“The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste wrote countless letters, visited congresspeople, senators and lobbied and lobbied and lobbied,” Spring said. “This is just a tremendous victory for the community.” 

CMTW member Gene Bernardi, who began challenging LBNL activities in 1992 over hazardous waste storage, said the news was stunning. “I’m incredulous, but delighted if it’s true,” she said. “I think they must have finally come to their senses.” 

Pam Sihvola said the committee has been working day and night to close the facility since 1996. She said she was very grateful to the City Council and all the other organizations that have lent their support.  

“Victory, victory for the community,” Sihvola said. “The message here is that great things can be accomplished when the community holds together.” 

Sihvola added that the dismantling process will be closely monitored by the CMTW. 

Community Environmental Advisory Commissioner L.A. Wood, who has worked for the closure of the facility, said at first it was difficult just learning about the complexities of tritium and the procedures involved with the labeling process.  

“In 1996 no one understood anything about tritium,” Wood said. “But all the work over the years finally reached a critical mass and closed the facility.” 

Both Dean and Armstrong said the closure of the tritium facility will allow the good work the LBNL does to be put in the spotlight. Armstrong commended the lab’s breast cancer research and its development of energy efficient technology.  

“There are a lot of good people there who are doing a lot of good work,” she said.  


Letter from Bhutan

Tshewang Dendup Thimphu, Bhutan,
Saturday September 15, 2001

Editor: 

The phone rings every now and then. My digital answering machine has run out of memory. I spent Tuesday night answering numerous calls from family, friends and strangers. They wanted me to put into perspective what they were seeing on cable television. They thought I was the person to ask for. After all I had spent two years studying broadcast journalism in a reputed American university (UC Berkeley). The live coverage from Fox TV, CNN and the BBC had half of Bhutan glued to the sets. They could not figure out what they were seeing on the monitors. My father who takes care of a temple could not believe in the first place, that a building 110 stories high, existed. I did a terrible job explaining the tragedy to him. New York, Manhattan, Wall Street, the Pentagon, hijacking, jumbo jets, terrorism, Air Force One and a host of other terms were beyond his comprehension. My dad has never set foot inside an aircraft.  

On Wednesday morning, the streets of the capital city of Bhutan, Thimphu wore a deserted look. School children were returning from their schools. The morning rush hour traffic was gone because the offices were closed for the day. The national flag flew at half-mast. The local soccer match was postponed. The government had declared a national day of mourning. 

In the afternoon, I went with my crew to cover a somber and solemn ceremony at the inner sanctum of a temple located in the building of the central government. His Majesty the King and the government had invited all Americans living in Bhutan to light butter lamps for the souls of the victims of the terrorist attacks. 

On the hand polished floors of the temple, monks in their maroon robes chanted prayers in their sonorous voices. 

Most of the Americans I spoke to after the ceremony were moved by the gesture of the Bhutanese people. We talked about the core of the Buddha’s teachings; ahimsa, non-violence. In prayer and in shock, the Bhutanese are trying to understand the enormity of the terrorist attack. For many Bhutanese, the scale of the crime and the intentions of the perpetrators of Tuesday’s horrible attack, will continue to remain beyond the grasp of their imagination. 

Hundreds of years ago, many Bhutanese used to trek for months to go to Tibet and India to study in the renowned Buddhist universities. A sizeable number of Bhutanese study in the United States. From Berkeley in the West Coast to Columbia in the east, the United States has provided numerous citadels of learning to Bhutanese scholars. Today, they lead the country as ministers, doctors, engineers and computer programmers. 

Many of them, including myself were beneficiaries of the generosity and friendship of the American people. I also remember the time when East Timor became an independent sovereign nation. I met a woman from Oakland who had left the confines of her cushy life in America to help the East Timorese resistance. 

Yes, there are Americans who care about peace in world, the greenhouse gas effects and the upsurge in violence at home and abroad. 

Today I work as head of the news division in my station. My two years in America gave me invaluable insights into my own culture and the global one. It also allowed me to accept the world’s only superpower as an imperfect entity. Humane too, with the ability and the capacity to do more in the fight against hunger and poverty in the world. And last but not the least, I also saw in the eyes and the faces, in the convictions and actions of my friends, the will and resolve to do good. In these trying times, for both the people of the United States and the world, the only solace that I seek is in the words of my son; “I hope God forgives whoever committed these terrible crimes.” 

 

Tshewang Dendup 

Thimphu, Bhutan,  

UC Berkeley, class of 2001 

 


Cal soccer games set for Monday

Daily Planet Wire Services
Saturday September 15, 2001

Both California soccer teams were scheduled to play Bay Area teams on the road Sunday. Due to Tuesday’s national tragedy, both games have been rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 17.  

The Cal women’s team travels to Santa Clara for a 7:30 p.m. tilt at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Cal men’s squad plays San Jose State at Spartan Stadium, also at 7:30 p.m.


Campus stands with Muslims

By Chris O'Connell Special to the Daily Planet
Saturday September 15, 2001

While there have been many reports of insults and crimes against Muslims in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, members of the UC Berkeley community stood in solidarity with the Muslim community Friday afternoon. 

Six hundred people gathered to take part in an open campus Jumaa – a Friday prayer ceremony – in the Pauley Ballroom of the Martin Luther King building on campus. They came both in a show of unity against recent attacks on Muslims, and in remembrance for the those killed in New York and Washington D.C.  

Citing “many, many instances of harassment” that have occurred against Muslims across the country since Tuesday, Hatem Baziah, a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley who gave the sermon, said the ceremony was intended as spiritual refuge for the community as a whole. 

“In times of crisis and tragedy, people need a place where they can process and deal with complex emotions.”  

Non-Muslims outnumbered Muslims two-to-one at the afternoon event which was sponsored by the Muslim Students Association and the student government.  

For many, it was a new experience. 

Patricia Mueller-Moule, a doctoral student at UC Berkeley who has never attended a prayer ceremony before, said she wanted Muslims to know that they are respected members of the community.  

“By coming here we are showing solidarity with a group that has been wrongly equated with terrorists.”  

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl, who spoke before the prayer ceremony, stressed the need for unity in the wake of Tuesday’s events. 

Berdahl said he attended the community prayer sessions, “for the same reason everyone else did. Out of a need to feel a part of a very diverse human family that’s been vastly injured this week.” 

Recitations of the Qu’ran were in Arabic, and translated into English. 

In his sermon, Baziah stressed that while the suspects in Tuesday’s attacks may be Muslim, their political views are in the minority. 

“If the reports are accurate, some Muslims have committed this act. It doesn’t represent Muslims in general, rather it was isolated individuals.” 

Likewise, he added that the recent acts of harassment against Muslims have been perpetrated by isolated individuals.  

“These people who committed these acts are in the minority, similar to those who committed the attacks in New York and Washington.” 

Muslims attending the event said they were overwhelmed by the tremendous support from the campus community. 

“Berkeley has taken the initiative to involve and invite everyone in prayer. Hopefully, this forum and this event will set a precedent for the rest of the country,” said Muslim Student Association member Wajahat Ali. 

 

 


A Sikh mourns the tragedy, fears blind hate

Narinder Singh
Saturday September 15, 2001

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to friends and fellow Americans: 

The wake of Tuesday’s terror has left me, as it has many of you, shocked and stunned. Upon seeing the World Trade Center collapse, I sat in disbelief and numbly tried to find and locate all of my friends and loved ones in New York. My mind searched for an alternative that was less horrible that what was unfolding before us. 

As an American, I mourn for all of those effected by this horror. I am also anxious for justice to swiftly reign upon those who have perpetrated this horrific act. 

Yet I find myself distracted from this purpose. As all of you know I am a Sikh. My faith preaches central tenants similar to all of your faiths: remembrance of God, the virtues of honest living, and necessity of sharing with others. It is separate and distinct from other faiths of the region including Hinduism and Islam. 

My religion also requires that I wear a turban and keep my hair and beard unshorn. Given the images of the suspected terrorists that have been shown and the rage our nation is feeling, I find myself and many people I care for at risk in the only country I have ever known and loved. Acts of violence have erupted against Muslims and people like the Sikhs, who are confused as such, across our country. This blind expression of hate sows the same seeds from which grow the acts of madmen. They represent individual acts of terrorism. 

It is as I hear repeatedly of these acts of violence that I am distracted from remembering those who have truly suffered. With each incident I feel robbed of my right to grieve over our loss. As one who has seen in my parents’ country the alternative to the precious freedom of America, I cherish what we have in America, and I struggle fearing that that may be in jeopardy. 

I ask that all of you spread to your friends, the media and others around you, the very values that America holds dear. It is through these values that we will prevail over even these difficult times. I ask that each of you help me guard these values so that we do not become that which we guard against. 

May God guide our spirit and actions, 

Narinder Singh 

Vice President, webMethods Inc. 

Berkeley 

 


Beth El synagogue-school compromise called ‘miraculous’

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Saturday September 15, 2001

After a contentious two-year land-use battle, the City Council approved a “miraculous” compromise between a coalition of environmentalists and a group of neighbors that opposed a proposal to build a synagogue, school and social hall at 1301 Oxford St. 

In one vote Thursday evening the council certified the Beth El Congregation project’s Environmental Impact Report, overturned the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s vote against an alteration permit and approved the project’s use permit. The actions clear the way for groundbreaking on the 30,000-square-foot project, which Beth El members say will likely take place next year. 

The City Council was minutes away from voting on the divisive issue at its July 24 meeting when mediator Peter Bluhon, of the Bluhon Planning Group, presented the council with a single, well-worn, piece of paper which contained a tentative compromise and the still-drying signatures of the opposing sides. 

The mayor and each of the councilmembers said they were relieved they did not have to settle the issue that had engendered such strong feelings on both sides and threatened to divide the community for years to come.  

Both sides agreed to finalize the language of the compromise and return after the council’s summer recess for formal approval. 

The council agreed to the formal compromise Thursday by an 8 - 1 vote with Councilmember Kriss Worthington voting in opposition. Worthington said he wanted to support the compromise but could not because he still has reservations about the EIR.  

“I thought the mediator did a phenomenal job and the two sides deserve enormous praise for being able to come together on an agreement, but unfortunately the city process for Environmental Impact Reports is not adequate,” he said.  

The Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association opposed the project, which will be built on an unoccupied two-acre lot in a quiet residential neighborhood. They argued that it was too large and would permanently preclude the possibility of daylighting Codornices Creek, which runs across the north side of the property, partially through a culvert. 

Because of concerns about the creek, LOCCNA garnered the support of local and regional environmental groups.  

Beth El members argued the project was taking up even less space than zoning laws permitted and that they needed all of the proposed square footage to accommodate a congregation that had grown out of its present site at 2301 Vine St. 

Since July 24, the two sides reached a compromise, which includes an overall reduction to the size of the project by 2,000 square feet, the inclusion of a public overlook near the creek and a change in the location of the main gate. 

Because of Beth El’s long history of local community involvement, the congregation was widely supported by a number of local religious organizations. 

LOCCNA representative Alan Gould and Beth El member Harry Pollack each addressed the council.  

Gould said LOCCNA was still concerned about issues related to parking, hours of operation, lighting and some details about the creek.  

“We have worked hard on this agreement,” Gould said. “But it is not the end yet.” 

Pollack said part of the negotiations included the establishment of joint committees that have developed a good working relationship.  

“We will continue to work together and that’s one of the most important parts of this agreement.” 

After the council approved the permit, Mayor Shirley Dean called Bluhon’s success in facilitating a compromise “miraculous” and called on him to stand in the council chambers for a round of applause.  

 

 


GTU community searches for answers

Saturday September 15, 2001

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to members of the Graduate Theological Union Community: 

The tragic events of the last few days have made an indelible imprint on each of our lives. We are living through a time when our beliefs and assumptions about our personal and collective lives have been challenged and perhaps forever altered. The different faith communities and traditions that make up the Graduate Theological Union are each dedicated to finding ways to understand the meaning and significance of these horrific events and to respond. It is a time for those of us here at GTU to gather to mourn and grieve the loss of precious human lives, to support one another at this time of great crisis, and to affirm our common commitment to find the grounds for hope and the courage to act that will carry us into a future filled with God's promise.  

The seminaries and faith communities that comprise the GTU will be gathering in the next days and weeks for shared worship. The dates and schedule of these services are attached to this e-mail. All are invited to attend these events. In addition, as part of the GTU Convocation next Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m. in the PLTS Chapel, there will be an opportunity to reflect on the issues of this past week. In the coming weeks we will also begin a series of focused discussions among the member schools as to how to best develop our scholarly and pastoral academic programs and resources in light of our world situation.  

In the days to come the public discourse and conversations about present events will be challenging and pointed. As theological institutions, we are uniquely suited to help shape and inform the way we as a community talk and think about the issues at hand. It is important that we spend our time together in the next weeks and months to reflect on what we are going through as a community, and develop ways of thinking about how we will respond in our future work together.  

As the presidents of the GTU Consortium, we invite the entire GTU community to extend prayers to those who have experienced the loss of loved ones. To this end, we ask that any GTU community member who has lost a close friend or relative in these tragedies to notify his or her school so that we can let the entire GTU community know whom to pray for in these days. We also lift our prayers for all those killed or injured, for their families and friends, for those who perpetrated the attacks, and for those who are most vulnerable at the present time. We are dedicated to ensuring that our work together reflects the hope we all share for a future filled with hope and promise. 

 

James A. Donahue, president, Graduate Theological Union 

William Cieslak, president, Franciscan School of Theology: Joseph P. Daoust, president, Jesuit School of Theology; James Emerson, president, San Francisco Theological seminary; Timothy F. Lull, president, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary; William McKinney, president, Pacific School of Religion; Donn F. Morgan, president, Church Divinity School of the Pacific; Rebecca Parker President, Starr King School for the Ministry; Keith A. Russell, president, American Baptist Seminary of the West; Antonius Wall, president, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology 

 


Old City Hall a symbol of Berkeley’s essence

By Susan Cerny
Saturday September 15, 2001

Historians, preservationists, urban planners, and tourist boards search for symbols to identify the essence of a built environment. In Paris it is the Eiffel Tower, in San Francisco it is the Transamerica pyramid, for the Bay Area it is the Golden Gate Bridge.  

A symbol of a place may be buildings or objects, man-made or natural features. They often “tower” above the rest of the landscape. Across the nation, city halls were deliberately intended to be symbols of place with a dome or cupola rising above all the surrounding buildings.  

Berkeley’s “Old” City Hall was completed in 1909. (Sather Tower was not built until 1914.) When City Hall was completed, its design, scale and elegant silhouette reflected Berkeley’s growth from a town to a city. It set the stage and became the keystone for the future civic center. 

It is an example of Beaux-Arts Classicism, using decoration derived from Greek and Roman sources in a symmetrical arrangement. It was designed by John Bakewell and Arthur Brown, Jr. who studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, after graduating from the University of California in the 1890s. They established a partnership in 1906 and the Berkeley City Hall was one of their earliest commissions. Other works by the firm include the more elaborate San Francisco City Hall (1912-1916), and the San Francisco Opera House (1932).  

Bakewell and Brown’s design was selected as the winner of a 1907 competition to replace the original Town Hall (Samuel and J.C. Newsom, 1884) which had burned in 1904. The new town hall was begun in June of 1908 and dedicated in August, 1909, as City Hall.  

As the keystone to the future Civic Center and in anticipation of a larger complex, the “new” City Hall was constructed a few feet to the north of the previous building so that it was on axis with the block to the east. Thirty-three years later Civic Center Park would finally be built on this block. 

“Old” City Hall remains a source of great civic pride and continues to be identified as the symbol of the City of Berkeley, even though city offices are now located in the former Federal Land Bank Building on the east side of Civic Center Park. The building served as the home of Berkeley city government from 1909 to 1977, and City Council meetings are still held here.  

The City Hall cupola and spire, like the university’s Campanile, is a landmark visible from great distances. The building looks east toward downtown Berkeley and to the university and hills beyond.  

It is now used by the Berkeley Unified School District as its main administration building. The cupola was restored in 1991. City Hall was, appropriately, the first building to be designated a city landmark in 1975.  

 

 


Judge OKs venue change

By Kim Curtis Associated Press Writer
Saturday September 15, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO – Acknowledging it would be “extremely difficult” to find a fair and impartial jury here, a judge agreed Friday to move the trial of Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel outside San Francisco. 

The couple face manslaughter charges in the January dog-mauling death of a neighbor, 33-year-old Diane Whipple. Knoller also faces second-degree murder charges because she was in the apartment hallway with the two dogs when they attacked. 

Judge James L. Warren, who said extensive publicity most likely would force the trial to Southern California, also pushed back the trial’s start date, from Oct. 22 to Jan. 21, to accommodate the change. 

Prosecutors did not object to the change of venue. Lawyers were expected to meet next week to discuss possible counties where the trial could be held. 

The judge also granted the media’s request to release most of the grand jury transcript, which had previously been sealed. 

Roger Myers, the lawyer representing several media organizations including The Associated Press, said he was pleased the nearly 1,000-page transcript would finally be released to the public, but was disappointed it took nearly five months. 

Warren decided to keep about a dozen pages sealed, saying that material was “inflammatory and inappropriate.” 

“The damage to the defense and the ability to have a fair trial would be immense,” he said. The court is expected to release the transcript next Thursday. 

Also Friday, the judge denied the media’s request to lift a gag order in the case, saying the “spin conferences” often held by lawyers in the court’s hallway would “poison the jury pool.”


Frantic final day for 2001 legislative session

By Jennifer Kerr Associated Press Writer
Saturday September 15, 2001

SACRAMENTO – A $200 million program to help the state’s neediest schools won approval Friday as the California Legislature rushed to pass hundreds of bills. 

Lawmakers also gave driver’s licenses to immigrants seeking citizenship, state identification cards to medical-marijuana patients and rest breaks to shepherds. Also awaiting votes before adjournment, likely to be in the middle of the night, was a rescue plan for Southern California Edison. 

However, a proposed $12 billion school and college construction bond, which lawmakers had resurrected the night before, was apparently being shelved until lawmakers return in January. That means it cannot make the March ballot, but could be put on the November 2002 ballot. 

While legislators toiled, Tuesday’s terrorist attacks were never far from their minds. 

Gov. Gray Davis joined the Assembly for a brief memorial service that included a procession of lawmakers handing in letters they had written expressing their feeling about the attacks. The letters will be printed in a special Assembly Journal. 

“Here in California, our job is to keep the peace and preach tolerance,” said Davis, adding everyone should “stand behind the president” as he weighs future actions. 

The Senate, decked with 40 large flags at each senator’s desk, observed a minute of silence and sang “God Bless America.” 

Lawmakers approved a bill to send $1 million from the California Victim Compensation fund to a similar program in New York to help victims of terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. 

The new school-improvement program, supported by Davis, would provide grants of $400 per student to schools with the state’s lowest test scores. They will have nearly four years to improve scores or face sanctions as severe as closing the school. 

It also expands the state’s current improvement program for schools with scores in the bottom half of the state, doubling funding for those at the very bottom. 

The author, Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the schools would focus on proven strategies: reading, parent involvement and hiring and keeping of qualified teachers and principals. 

“We have an unprecedented opportunity here to invest $200 million in helping our neediest children,” he said. 

The Senate approved the program 27-8 and the Assembly 76-0. 

The Legislature approved a bill that would let an estimated 1.5 million immigrants apply for California driver’s licenses. The bill partly reverses a 1993 bill that blocks non-citizens from getting licenses. 

Immigrants would be allowed to submit their application for citizenship as proof of residence in the country and substitute a taxpayer identification number for the required Social Security number. Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Commerce, said licensed drivers are more likely to be insured drivers. “It’s an issue of safety, and at the same time, it’s the right thing to do.” 

However, Assemblyman Bill Campbell, R-Villa Park, said Tuesday’s events show it should be more difficult to get a license now because “I do believe we are at war; we should not be facilitating anybody to be coming at us from any direction.” 

The bill passed the Senate 22-7 and the Assembly 51-19. 

People certified by their doctors as needing marijuana for medical reasons could get a new state identification card under a bill approved by a 41-28 vote of the Assembly. It was returned to the Senate. 

The purpose, explained Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, is so police will know the person qualifies under Proposition 215, the initiative approved by voters, to use medical marijuana. 

The cards would be voluntary. Any unauthorized person using such a card to get pot could face a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail. 

Passed by a 41-28 Assembly vote, the shepherd bill would give people who watch sheep some of the basic working conditions that other workers have in state law. 

 

 


Pros and cons of front wheel drive

By Tom and Ray Magliozzi
Saturday September 15, 2001

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Except for the most expensive cars these days, almost all cars are front-wheel drive. But unless one lives in a snowy or icy climate, I can't see any advantage to front-wheel drive -- except to the repair people, who get to charge more to fix them. Am I missing something? If one lives in a warm-weather climate, is there any reason to buy a front-wheel-drive car? -- Roger 

TOM: Not really, Roger. As long as you can afford the payments on a Mercedes S430. 

RAY: As you say, most reasonably priced cars ARE front-wheel drive. So if you choose not to buy a front-wheel-drive car, you pretty much limit your choices to little sports cars, trucks and expensive sedans. 

TOM: But you're right about front-wheel drive. It has only a few real advantages. Its primary advantage is that it provides better traction in rain and snow, since the weight of the engine presses down right over the driven wheels. 

RAY: And, since the front-wheel-drive design crunches all the mechanical parts up front, it also allows the overall size of a car to be smaller, which usually means improved fuel economy. Plus, placing the transmission up front leaves more room in the passenger compartment, since it eliminates the "hump" that covers the drive shaft. So front-wheel drive does have a few pluses. 

RAY: But it also has one significant disadvantage: It's harder to work on. Since everything is jammed up front, you have to be Houdini to reach certain things, like water pumps, cylinder-head bolts and sometimes even spark plugs! And the longer it takes to reach things (i.e., the more parts that have to removed first to get there), the more you pay your mechanic in labor charges. 

TOM: In contrast, we had a rear-wheel-drive '79 Caprice in the shop the other day. And there was so much room up front that I was able to climb into the engine compartment, close the hood and take a nap. 

RAY: Oh, is THAT where you were on Tuesday? 

TOM: Yeah, until about 4 o'clock, when Craig started it up and the fan blade turned my coveralls into shorts. 

RAY: Well, for that reason -- among others -- we don't recommend sleeping in the engine compartments of rear-wheel-drive cars. But they're great as long as rain -- and more importantly, snow -- is not a big issue for you, Roger.  

 

 

 

 

Got a question about cars? E-mail Click and Clack by visiting the Car Talk section of cars.com on the World Wide Web. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*** 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

I recently bought a new 2001 Jetta GLX and drove it at 80 mph for the first 700 miles. I was told that this was not good for my new engine. Is this true? And if so, what damage have I done to my new car's engine? -- Oliver 

TOM: I wouldn't give it a second thought, Oliver. Just forget all about it. It's not even worth worrying about. 

RAY: I mean, if you're really interested, you can read the owner's manual, where it specifically warns you not to do this because it prevents the piston rings from seating correctly and leads to oil consumption. 

TOM: In case you haven't run across it yet, the owner's manual is a little book about half an inch thick -- with large print -- and it's probably sitting at the bottom of your glove compartment. Lots of new cars come with them. 

RAY: But don't go through any trouble to read it, Oliver. It's not really important. When your Jetta is burning a quart of oil every 400 miles and your dealer says he doesn't know why, you will.  

*** 

Keep your car on the road and out of the repair shop by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" Send $3 (check or money order) and a stamped (57 cents), self-addressed, No. 10 envelope to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. 

*** 

Got a question about cars? E-mail Click and Clack by visiting the Car Talk section of cars.com on the World Wide Web. 

(c) 2001 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman 

Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. 


Wall Street faces uncertainty when trading resumes

By Amy Baldwin AP Business Writer
Saturday September 15, 2001

NEW YORK — When Wall Street resumes trading — presumably on Monday — the stock market will face extraordinary circumstances and even greater uncertainty than usual. 

The market is on edge as it waits to see how investors react on the first day of trading following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. 

Analysts said traders might refrain from making any major moves, mindful that thousands of people are believed dead. However, many investors, worried about the future of the market, the economy and the country, probably want to adjust their portfolios. 

Federal regulators, cognizant of the anxiety, announced steps Friday aimed at stabilizing the market. 

“The fear factor right now is extremely high. Many people are of a mind to just get out of the market while they can,” said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president of Fahnestock & Co. “Conversely, professionals and experienced investors know that patience pays off. So, hopefully the fear factor could be somewhat limited.” 

The market has been closed since the attacks as the exchanges, big investment firms and Securities and Exchange Commission dealt with how to resume trading in an orderly fashion. Equipment had to be repaired before the New York Stock Exchange, located in the heart of the financial district near the World Trade Center site, could be reopened. 

And brokers and investment bankers whose offices were destroyed or damaged had to scramble to find temporary space to do business. 

Perhaps the market’s biggest unknown is whether fearful investors will rush to dump shares. 

“How bad is it going to be? Will there be a big selloff?” are the questions on Wall Street, said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. 

Hogan said he doubts there will be a selling frenzy, calling it inappropriate in light of the tragedy. 

“Everyone is going to sort of keep their head down, be careful and not make big bets,” Hogan said. He also said that with the market having been closed since Monday, investors might be less likely to make emotional decisions. 

“There has been time to let calmer heads prevail,” Hogan said. “We are going to get back to business as usual to the best we can, and I think that will sort of put a floor in the marketplace.” 

The SEC, trying to ensure that trading will be as orderly as possible, said Friday it was relaxing some trading rules to make it easier for companies to buy back their own shares. When firms repurchase stock — which many did after the 1987 crash — investors are often reassured, believing that the nation’s companies are expressing confidence in themselves, the market and the economy. 

Some companies have already announced plans to buy back their stock, including Cisco Systems, which said Thursday it will repurchase up to $3 billion worth during the next two years. 

Analysts also pointed out that the market has other safeguards to keep it from falling too sharply, the circuit breakers that halt trading after the Dow Jones industrials fall 850 points, 1,750 points and 2,600 points. 

History also seems to be on the side of the market. 

While the Dow typically dropped about 2 percent in the first session and first week following major tragedies in the past — from the sinking of the USS Maine in 1898 to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center — it turned higher in subsequent months and years, according to Markehistory.com, an Internet firm that sells market research to institutional investors. 

“Short-term, there is uncertainty, pessimism, and worry as we emotionally rally out of the tragedy,” said Gibbons Burke, editor of Markethistory.com. 

An indication of investors’ nervousness came from overseas trading. Stock prices fell initially after the attacks and then rebounded. But Friday, with the resumption of New York trading approaching, prices were down sharply in Europe. 

But analysts believe national pride might help support the market. 

“There seem to be a lot of patriots who are determined to make sure that these terrorists are not successful in shutting down our capitalist markets,” said James O. Collins, chief executive officer of Insight Capital Research and Management in Walnut Creek, Calif. 

Some individual investors also say patriotism will move them to buy stocks. 

“What better way to respond to this terroristic attack?,” asked Jim Lawrence, a networking equipment salesman in San Francisco, who has $2,000 to invest and planned to spend the weekend researching stocks he’ll buy. 

“These terrorists were trying to destroy our economic system, as well as break our spirits. I think we can make our country stronger by investing in the stock market right now. It will show the world that we are resilient.” 

The stock market ended this past week mixed after trading only Monday. 

The Dow was essentially unchanged Monday when it slipped 0.34 percent to 9,605.51. But the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.68 to 1,695.38, a gain of nearly 0.5 percent. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 20.62, or 1.9 percent, to 1,085.78. 

The Russell 2000 Index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, fell 4.46, or 1.0 percent, to 440.73. 

The Wilshire Associates Equity Index, the market value of New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq issues, was $10.10 trillion Monday, up $37.96 billion from the previous Friday. A year ago the index was nearly $14 trillion., 

——— 

Business Writer Michael Liedtke contributed to this report 


Kennedy plans new project

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Friday September 14, 2001

Prolific downtown developer Patrick Kennedy submitted plans this week for one more five-story, mixed-use building. This one is proposed for the site of Darling Flower Shop on University Avenue. 

If approved, the Touriel Building, at 2008 University Ave., will have 32 units of one and two-bedroom apartments, 17 parking spaces and 1,630 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The commercial space will be occupied by the family-run Darling Flower Shop, which has operated out of the site’s existing buildings for more than 60 years. 

“This is the archetypal infill housing project,” said Kennedy, who is the president of the real estate development company Panoramic Interests. “It’s right in the thick of things and will appeal to people who work in downtown Berkeley, and students.” 

City Planning Manager Mark Rhodes, said the project was just submitted and won’t begin to work its way through the city’s approval process for another two months. He said the project will be considered first by the Landmarks Preservation Commission because of the age of the existing building, which will have to be razed to make room for the new one.  

According to a historical study prepared for the project by San Francisco company Page and Turnbull, the site is


Out & About

Staff
Friday September 14, 2001


Friday, Sept. 14

 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: women’s humor. 549-1879 

 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

 

City Commons Club 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

“The Way We See the Media” with Arnold Lee, Publisher and Co-Founder of The Berkeley Daily Planet. 848-3533 

 

Mexican Independence  

Celebration 

12:30 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 6th St. 

Mexican Folklore senior singer, Ruben Martin, Pianist Sra. Ruth Batres, Marcos Gutierrez, Anthropologist Sonia Garcia. 644-6037 

 

Scottish Dancing 

8 p.m. 

Grace North Church 

2138 Cedar St. 

Free introductory party with live music. 653-7507 

Celebrating Our Power 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

An evening of music and inspiration co-sponsored by the Ecology Center and Plight of the Redwoods Campaign. Performers Hali Hammer, Green and Making Waves will join Activist Redwood Mary and special guests. 548-2220 

 


Saturday, Sept. 15

 

The 2001 International  

Coastal Cleanup 

9 a.m. - noon 

Sea Breeze Market and Deli 

Corner of W. Frontage Road and University Avenue 

Last year, more than 1,030 volunteers picked up 30 tons of garbage in the Berkeley area. Nation-wide over 850,000 volunteers hauled in more than 13.5 million pounds of trash. Please arrive promptly at 9 a.m. to sign appropriate waivers, free cup of coffee and safety talk. 644-8623 www.oceanconservancy.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness  

Class 

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. 

997 Cedar St. 

Basic personal preparedness class. Free to anyone 18 or older who lives or works in Berkeley.  

644-8736  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire.oes.html 

 

Berkeley Historical Society  

Walking Tour 

10 a.m. - noon 

“Art on the UC Campus,” the campus contains more than a century of outdoor sculpture. Tours are restricted to 30 participants and require prepaid reservations. $10. 848-0181  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

 

Bonfire of Reflection 

6:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Marina  

An evening of reflection by the fire. Come for Havdalah. Bring something to burn as a way of letting it go. Share your voice as we sing of seasons, remembering and change. Come with food, drink, and musical instruments. 

Follow signs to the Olympic Circle Sailing Club on Spinnaker Way. At the sign of the Sailing Club, turn left into the parking lot and look for a fish wind sock. 848-0237 

 

Vocal Jazz Workshop and Jazz  

Jam 

9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Albany Adult School 

601 San Gabriel St., Albany 

Workshops introduce beginning and intermediate jazz singers to solo jazz repertoire and vocal jazz  

harmonies. 524-6797  

richkalman@aol.com 

 


Sunday, Sept. 16

 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between 3rd and 4th streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. 

654-6346 

K’tanim, A Celebration of Jewish Learning for Families with Young Children - Birth to 3 Years Old 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Nurture your child’s joy of Jewish learning. Learn about Jewish ritual and celebration through family activities, songs, stories, crafts and discussion. $10 per session.  

549-9447 x104 

 

Time, Space, and Knowledge 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Ken McKeon on “Activating Vision.” Free. 843-6812 

 

 

–compiled by Guy Poole 


Beyond bin Laden – why are we so hated?

William O. Beeman Pacific News Service
Friday September 14, 2001

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – The United States risks a severe miscalculation in dealing with the destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon on Tuesday. This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an “act of war.” It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize. 

The root cause is not terrorist activity, as has been widely stated. It is the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world. Until this central cancerous problem is treated, Americans will never be free from fear. 

Merely locating and hunting down a single “guilty party” in this case will not stop future violence: such an action will not destroy the organization of terrorist cells already established throughout the world. Of greater importance, it will do nothing to alleviate the residual enmity against America. 

The perpetrators of the original attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught and convicted. This did not stop the attack on Tuesday. 

The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden, or his surrogates. He has been mischaracterized as an anti-American terrorist. He should rather be thought of as someone who would do anything to protect Islam. 

Bin Laden began his career fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979, when he was 22 years old. He has not only resisted the Soviets, but also the Serbians in Yugoslavia. His anger was directed against the United States primarily because of the U.S. presence in the Gulf region, more particularly in Saudi Arabia itself – the site of the most sacred Islamic religious sites. 

According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War America co-opted the rulers of Saudi Arabia to establish a military presence in order to kill Muslims in Iraq. In a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious legitimacy to attacks on Americans in order to stop the United States from “occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places.” His decree also extends to Jerusalem, home of the sacred Muslim site the al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Bin Laden will not cease his opposition until the United States leaves the region. Paradoxically, his strategy for convincing the United States to do so seems drawn from the American foreign policy playbook. When the United States disapproves of the behavior of another nation, it “turns up the heat” on that nation through embargoes, economic sanctions or withdrawal of diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq following the Gulf War, America employed military action, resulting in the loss of civilian life. 

The State Department has theorized that if the people of a rogue nation experience enough suffering, they will overthrow their rulers, or compel them to adopt more sensible behavior. 

The terrorist actions in New York and Washington are a clear and ironic implementation of this strategy against the United States. 

Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from his training camps in Afghanistan. A true ideologue, he believes that his mission is sacred, and he wants only to see clear results. For this reason, the structure of his organization is essentially tribal, or cellular, in modern political terms. His followers are as fervent and intense in their belief as he is. 

They carry out their actions because they believe in the rightness of their cause, not because of bin Laden’s orders or approval. 

Groups are trained in Afghanistan, and then establish their own centers in places as far-flung as Canada, Africa and Europe. Each cell is technologically sophisticated, and may have a different set of motivations for attacking the United States. 

Palestinian members of his group see Americans as supporters of Israel in the current conflict between the two nations. In the Palestinian view, Ariel Sharon’s ascendancy to leadership of Israel has triggered a new era, with U.S. government officials failing to pressure the Israeli government to end violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members will not cease their opposition until the United States changes its relationship with the Israeli state. 

Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world has an absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our own. A despicable act of terror such as that committed in New York and Washington is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at U.S. actions that seemingly limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and revenge, this conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren will be fighting. 

 

This is the first in a series by PNS contributor William O. Beeman, a specialist on Middle East culture at Brown University who has written extensively on Iran, where the Islamic Revolution began in November, 1978. Beeman has worked for the past four years in Tajikistan, where he has monitored developments in Afghanistan. 


’Jackets’ tough preseason continues against Logan

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 14, 2001

Berkeley High hosts Colts in rematch 

A week after taking a 37-0 beating at the hands of Foothill High, the Berkeley High varsity football team will try to regroup this Friday for their second game of the season. It won’t be easy, however, as the ’Jackets play host to South Bay power James Logan, a team that beat them 52-27 last season. 

Logan runs Neal Fromson’s fly option offense, an attack based on misdirection that thrives with quick backs. The Colts have a tremendously deep offense, led by quarterback Brandon Ting and running back Rodney Roy. Those two gave Berkeley fits last year, and could thrive again this season against the inexperienced ’Jacket defense. 

Most of Berkeley’s offense against the Colts last year came from star running back Ramone Reed, since graduated. Berkeley has an explosive replacement in Germaine Baird, but Baird had a disappointing debut against Foothill, carrying just eight times for 76 yards and fumbling the ball away on his first carry. Head coach Matt Bissell will likely give the ball to Baird more this week, as a big day from the senior is probably the team’s best hope for an upset win. 

Quarterback Raymond Pinkston had a fairly impressive debut, completing half of his passes against Foothill and hitting five different receivers. But the offense lacked the threat of the long ball, as Pinkston’s longest completion went for 15 yards. Wide receiver Lee Franklin, the team’s best deep threat, had an off day, with just one catch for positive yardage and two drops. As with Baird, Franklin needs to have a big day on offense for Berkeley to threaten Logan. 

For a defense that gave up 37 points, the Yellowjackets didn’t actually have that bad a day against Foothill. Other than two runs for 52 and 30 yards, they were good against the ground game, as huge tackles Jamal Johnson and Juleen Jacobs clogged the middle. Defensive end Greg Mitchell also had a solid day, but the other end, Akeem Brown, went down with an injury early in the game and wasn’t a factor. Against Logan, it will be imperative that the linemen fill their holes to let the linebackers roam free of blockers to decipher the complex Colt offense. 

The Berkeley secondary came out slowly last week and it cost them, as Foothill quarterback Billy Andrade piled up 132 first-half passing yards. Cornerbacks Justin Cain and Shawn Brown looked hesitant to play press coverage, instead backing off and allowing easy completions that turned into long gains.  

Franklin had a solid game at safety when he played, but will be needed to expend more energy on offense this week, while partner Craig Hollis looked tentative, completely missing an open-field tackle on a 30-yard Foothill touchdown run. The entire secondary will be counted on to help out stopping the run against the Colts.


Berkeley comic shows the lighter side of temping

By Peter Crimmins Daily Planet Correspondent
Friday September 14, 2001

When big business discovered the financial potential in hiring a temporary workforce, the march of organized labor was set back a few steps. In “Haiku Tunnel,” comedian Josh Kornbluth grasps that the thwarted professional ambitions in the temp market, the denied employee benefits with no investment in the process of production, is a boon for artistic temperaments.  

The son of communist parents and long-time Berkeley comic monologist developed his one-man show “Haiku Tunnel” 10 years ago at the Marsh in San Francisco. He has since performed it in many venues across the country and included it in his published collection of writings “Red Diaper Baby.” It’s the story of a man who champions the detached freedom of being a temp. 

Trotsky should be rolling in his grave.  

Kornbluth and his brother Jacob have padded the one-man show with a supporting cast, stretched out a few subplots, and brought “Haiku Tunnel” to the big screen. Their first film (and they hope not their last) opened in San Francisco Thursday and will come to Berkeley Sept. 21. 

Sitting in a production office at the bottom of Potrero Hill in San Francisco, Josh and Jacob reminisce about the days, not so long ago, when they were toiling as temps and writing on the side, and hearing of other temp slaves using this disassociated employment phase to pursue personal ambitions. 

“There’s something about being a temp and not really connecting to your work,” said Jacob. “You have the possibility, at least in your own mind, that tomorrow or the next day or whenever you are going to be the thing you are actually going to be, that thing is going to be amazing.” 

The name of the film comes from a job the main character, called “Josh Kornbluth,” had in his temp past. During a stint entering specs for a Hawaiian engineering project he discovered the Zen of temping: with no connection to anyone in the office, free to come and go, not worried about the past or future while jacked into his Walkman doing data entry, the world became weightless and nothing mattered to him. 

“We sometimes refer to the period of time he spends there as the unbearable lightness of temping,” said Josh. “He was totally temp and he realizes later that he was miserable when he was totally temp. So if he thinks in his mind that that’s what he wanted, maybe now he has to rethink things.” 

When “Josh Kornbluth” takes a temp job at a law firm called Skyler and Mitchel (S&M) he is offered to go “perm.” A long-term job forces him to actually get to know his eccentric co-workers personally and to become intimate with the Xerox machine and developing a late-night, confessional relationship with a voicemail system.  

The mole hills-into-mountains squabbles with people and machines at S&M are the stuff of comic pot shots and there is an implied class struggle of the haves (lawyers) and the have-nots (their secretaries) but it isn’t given a dramatic punch because the bosses are not painted as belligerent ogres.  

The real enemy in “Haiku Tunnel” is “Josh Kornbluth,” himself, struggling to adjust his disaffiliated worldview to the idea of permanence. Josh and Jacob’s story of a man overcoming temping and its psychological consequences is a personal revolution instead of a social one.  

“We’re political people fundamentally. We’re not anti-politics,” explained Jacob. “But the thing we wanted to do with this story is focus the narrative very much on the secretaries. To tell the story as honestly as possible from what we felt was, and when you’re honest about it very little of your life intersects with the boss.” 

There are letters that stack up 17 high on the corner of “Josh’s” desk. They go unmailed for a week, and are the proverbial monkey on the secretarial back. Obsessively neurotic that they have not been mailed out and yet perversely comforted by their presence, Josh’s unnatural relationship with the letters propels the character through increasingly absurd antics. As a plot device, the innocuous envelopes’ refusal to be posted evokes a visceral sinking feeling that is both comic and dreadful. 

The real Josh wants to make it abundantly clear to potential future employers that this is not typical behavior for the once (and future?) office worker. 

“That’s the kind thing that if they ever do need to re-enter the secretarial market, which could happen within weeks since the opening is imminent, I just want people to know that that is not something I would actually do. I would not do something bad like that.” 


Arts and Entertainment Calendar

Staff
Friday September 14, 2001

 

924 Gilman Street Sept. 14: Groovie Ghoulies, Kevin Seconds, Sidekicks, Secretions, Miso Militia; Sept. 15: Tragedy, Run For Your Fucking Life, Funeral, plus assorted punk rock movies: Behind the Screams, Brainbox, Kamala’s Revenge and others; Sept. 16: 5 p.m. The Influents, The Thumbs, One Time Angels, Agent 51; Sept. 21: Slow Gherkin, 78 RPMS, Enemy You, Wisecracker; Sept. 23: 5 p.m. Subtonix, Running Ragged, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 28: Erase Errata, The Intima, Ibobuki, (+t.b.a.); Sept. 29: DS-13, Beware, Blown To Bits, (+t.b.a.); Most shows are $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

 

Albatross Pub Sept. 19: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

 

Ashkenaz Sept. 14: 9:30 p.m. Zigaboo Modeliste & The New Aahkesstra, $10; Sept. 15 9:30 p.m. African Rhythm Messengers and Victor Sila, $11; Sept. 16: 7 p.m. Mexican IndepenDance Celebration with Grupo Tamunal and Mariachi Las Palomas, $8; 1317 San Pablo Ave. 594-1400 www.ashkenaz.com  

 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro, performance showcase with open mike. Sept. 17: Marc Hofstadter (book party); Sept. 24: Jim Watson-Gove; All shows free, 7 - 10 p.m. 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 16: 7 p.m. Tania Libertad, $18 - $30; Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212, tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

 

Freight & Salvage Sept. 14: Ray Wylie Hubbard, $16.50; Sept. 15: Vocolot, $17.50; Sept. 16 Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem, $16.50; Sept. 18 Spencer Bohren, $16.50, Sept. 19: David Tanenbaum & Peppino D’Agostino, $16.50, Sept. 20: Steve Tilston & Danny Carnahan, $16.50; Sept. 21: The Waybacks, $17.50; Sept. 22: The Bluerass Intentions, $17.50; Sept. 23 Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, $16.50; Sept. 24: April Verch, $16.50; Sept. 26: Clive Gregson, $16.50; Sept. 27: Dick Gaughan, $18.50; Sept 28: Jenna Mammina, $16.50; All shows start at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

 

Jack’s Bistro Sept. 22 & Sept. 28: 9 p.m. Tomas Michaud’s New World Flamenco Quartet, Jack London Square. 444-7171 www.starland-music.com 

 

Jupiter Sept. 14: Carlos Washington & Giant People Ensemble; Sept. 15: Kooken & Hoomen; Sept. 18: The Goodbye Flowers; Sept. 19: New Monsoon; Sept. 20: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Sept. 21: Netwerk: Electric; Sept. 22: New Garde Philosophers; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church Sept. 15: George Brooks and Shweta Jhaveri with Uttam Chakraborty on drums. $18 - $25; 2727 College Ave. 843-9600 www.harmoniventures.com 

 

Sedge Thomson’s West Coast Live Radio Show Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave.; Sept. 29: Nancy Miford, author of “Savage Beauty.” West African folk music with The Nigerian Brothers. Blues roots piano by Caroline Dahl. The Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. All shows 10 a.m. - noon. 252-9214 www.wcl.org 

 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presents “Handel’s Acis and Galatea” Music Director, Nicholas McGegan. Sept. 15: 8 p.m.; Sept. 16: 7:30 p.m. $34 - $49 First Congregational Church, Dana & Durant, 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org 

 

"A Benefit Concert for Devi-ja" Sept. 16: 4 p.m. Proceeds of this concert will help Violinist Devi-ja Delgado Croll and her family. Performers will include: Ali Jihad Racy, Zakir Hussain, Vince Delgado, Mimi Spencer, Shirley Muramoto, Matt Eakle, Dahlena, Carnaval Spirit and others. $20 Donation. St. John's Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. 415-457-8427 vince@vincedelgado.com 

 

The 1st Annual Guinness & Oyster Festival 2001 Sept. 22: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Free. Cake, Mingus Amungus, Ponticello, Stolen Bibles, Alamo 66 w/ Destani Wolf, The Culann’s Hounds. MLK Jr. Civic Center Park 

 

“The Complete Shostakovich String Quartets--Part One” Sept. 15: 10 a.m. Quartets I & II; Sept. 29: 10 a.m. Quartets III & IV; Oct. 20: 10 a.m. Quartets V & VI. Performed by the prize-winning Alexander String Quartet with Robert Greenberg. $ 30, $84 for the Trio of concerts. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 845-8542  

www.juliamorgan.org. 

 

“Hecho En Califas Chicano-Latino Teatro Festival” Sept. 14 - 15; 8 p.m. Original members of El Teatro de La Esperanza. Chicano Theater began out of the need to express the realities of the fields and barrios of Aztlán in the Chicano-Latino community. $10 - $20 La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, 849-2568, www.lapena.org  

 

“Winesburg, Ohio: Tales of the Grotesque” through Sept. 16, Wed. - Sat. 8:30 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. The Shotgun Players and Word For Word team up for a production of Sherwood Anderson’s deceptively simple tale of neglected souls who fade into the shadows around us. $22, Wednesdays are “Pay What You Can.” Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave. 655-0813 www.shotgunplayers.org 

 

“The Secret Garden” Sept. 14, 15, 21, 22, at 8 p.m. Sept. 16 & 23 matinees. The Alameda Civic Light Opera’s fifth summer season ends with the musical of Frances Hodson Burnett’s classic story of life, death, purpose and hope. Adults $22, Students 18 and under $14. Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central Ave., Alameda.  

www.aclo.com 

 

“Twelfth Night” Sept. 15 & 16, 18 - 23, 25 - 30, Oct. 2 - 7, Tue. - Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m., Student 


No new fast food on San Pablo Avenue, commission advises

By Hank Sims Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 14, 2001

The city’s Planning Commission advised the City Council to ban further drive-through restaurants on San Pablo Avenue Wednesday. 

At its regular meeting, the nine-person commission unanimously approved a measure that would ask the council to ban new drive-throughs and change the permitting process for quick-service restaurants on San Pablo. 

The proposal originated almost a year ago, when a group of residents along the San Pablo corridor successfully defeated a proposed development at the corner of San Pablo and Ashby avenues that included a Carl’s Jr. restaurant. Councilmember Margaret Breland, whose West Berkeley district includes the corner of San Pablo and Ashby avenues, supported the drive-through ban.  

The Planning Commission’s action Wednesday is in keeping with the larger plan to revitalize San Pablo by encouraging pedestrian traffic and mass transit through the corridor. 

Ted Burton, project coordinator for the city’s Office of Economic Development, has been closely involved with the effort to improve San Pablo Avenue. He commended the Planning Commission’s action.  

“(Drive-through restaurants) make a break in the streetscape, increase traffic and aren’t that nice to look at,” he said. 

The commission also voted to impose new restrictions on new “quick-service” and “carry-out” restaurants on San Pablo. In the future, such establishments will have to demonstrate that they are designed on a “pedestrian scale,” and are congruent with the residential character of the neighborhood. 

In addition, the commission recommended that proposals for new “quick-service” restaurants – which, unlike “carry-outs,” have tables – will have to be approved by the Zoning Adjustment Board, rather than city staff.  

Rob Wrenn, a member of the Planning Commission, said that the proposed rules will enhance the character of the neighborhood. 

“It allows greater scrutiny of design-related things,” he said. “People can open new restaurants, but if something like a McDonald’s or Jack-in-the-Box comes along, it would be difficult to get that approved.” 

“Drive-throughs are inherently detrimental to the kind of development we are trying to do on San Pablo. We don’t want to see it become more of a suburban, strip-mall, car-oriented area.” 

John McBride, a member of a Delaware Street community group that supported the proposal, said he was “very pleased” by the commission’s action.  

 


Call for help in promoting peace

Suzan Bollich
Friday September 14, 2001

Editor: 

This is a call in response to my fear, my sadness, that the United States President, and his many supporters, locally and globally (the United Nations) will commit obligatory military retaliation, possibly with nuclear weaponry. I fear that a gravely enormous, overarching deadly means of misguided aggressive retaliation is immanently probable. To this end, I ask your help now in promoting community peace before the United States and other countries commit war on soon to be identified targets. Acting now for peace on the community level will create more peaceful communities in times of near-future aggression. 

Please join me and others in a counter response to violence by promoting deep peace in your local communities and neighborhoods. Today, I heard accounts of local aggression on people of color, and those appearing Mid Eastern. I heartily believe that the promotion of strong peace efforts now will deter future community separation, such as acts of aggression due to misguided hatred, and people fighting people out of fear.  

I ask you now to plant seeds of peace, for peace in your local communities. This can be done through loving actions such as organized peace walks, community prayer circles, looking into other's eyes--really seeing others, going gently, and directly speaking kind words of peace. We must plant seeds of peace. Do so in the checkout lines, in your workplace, with people on the streets, with your neighbors. Please act boldly for peace now. Peace begets peace. Please devote your every mindful action to the cultivation of other's and Earth's peace.  

Please join with family, friends, with the person next to you in the cafe, offering intentional words and prayer for deep peace. Please be with deep peace, carry peace on your shoulders, practice peace in your words and actions, touch peace with your delicate finger tips, hold peace in your eyes, listen to Earth's peace. Please stand, sit, walk, talk, and make love unabashedly in peace, for peace. 

Join me and other Peace Walkers Sunday the 16th at 6 p.m. for a peace walk commencing and ending in the Elmwood district at the corners of College and Russell. 

May all act in Peace, 

Suzan Bollich 

Berkeley


Panthers look to fix problems, rebound against El Cerrito

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 14, 2001

When the final whistle blew at the St. Mary’s-Bishop O’Dowd varsity football game last Saturday, the Panthers were on the losing end of a 27-6 score. They had been dominated on defense and self-destructed on offense, out-gained by nearly 200 yards on the day. 

But with just a few fixes, the Panthers could get right back on track this weekend against El Cerrito. 

The most obvious area for St. Mary’s to improve is holding onto the ball. Seven fumbles, including four botched snaps, helped kill any offensive momentum the Panthers managed to build against O’Dowd. Tailback Trestin George, expected to lead the team after a breakout junior year, put the ball on the ground twice, losing one, and the only option play the St. Mary’s coaches called resulted in another turnover after quarterback Steve Murphy threw a blind pitch while being hit. All seven of the mishaps were preventable. 

One can count on George to tighten his grip on the ball. One of the most highly-regarded backs in California, he certainly realizes that no college wants to give the ball to a running back who can’t hang on to it. Last week will likely serve as a motivator for George to have a big game against the Gauchos on Saturday. 

Another certainty is that the Panthers spent a lot of time in practice this week working on the exchange from center Rodny Acda to Murphy. The two have never worked together before this season, with Murphy playing quarterback full-time for the first time, so only a lot of snaps will smooth out the timing between them. 

Another key to the Panthers getting into the end zone, which to offense failed to do against the Dragons, is getting the ball into Chase Moore’s hands. The senior tight end/receiver has the potential to be a game-breaker with his combination of size and speed. He had a 62-yard touchdown catch called back on Saturday on a questionable offensive pass-interference call, the only big play the Panthers mustered on offense against O’Dowd. If Murphy can find Moore matched up against a smaller defensive back, all he has to do is put the ball up for grabs and let Moore use his rebounding skills, developed during his time with the St. Mary’s state championship basketball team last season. 

On defense, St. Mary’s must improve against the run. St. Mary’s gave up 250 yards on the ground to O’Dowd, most of them coming behind massive right tackle Michael Gray, so they appear to be vulnerable to strong rushing attacks. The Panthers are fortunate that El Cerrito doesn’t have Chijioke Onyenegecha to run the ball again this year. The tailback scored four touchdowns against them as a senior last year, but the Gauchos don’t have anyone at that level this season.  

The Gauchos linemen don’t pose nearly the threat that Gray did. Look for the St. Mary’s defensive line to perform much better against El Cerrito behind the play of juniors Leon Drummer and Julian Taylor. If those two can plug holes in the middle, it will allow the Panthers’ fast linebackers, such as Omarr Flood and Sean Rogan, to run sideline-to-sideline and make plays.


Muslims cautious despite positive UC reaction

By Sasha Khokha Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 14, 2001

UC student Hooma Multani ignored her family’s warnings Thursday morning to stay home because they feared her headscarf might make her a target for anti-Muslim sentiment. 

As Multani walked across the UC Berkeley campus, a stranger rushed toward her. And hugged her. “She thanked me for coming to class,” Multani said, obviously relieved.  

“We’re fortunate to be in a community like this,” she said. “People at Berkeley are generally more supportive, not closed-minded. Of course, a few people continue to talk out of ignorance, with hateful thoughts or words.” 

Some of those hateful words were directed at Multani and others during an interview as they sat at the Muslim Students Association table in UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Thursday. “We should kill the Muslims with a nuclear bomb,” said an elderly man walking by.  

“Thanks for your comment,” Multani and another woman said, explaining that the same man had made a similar remark on Wednesday. For the most part, Muslim students said they feel safe on campus, thanks to a supportive response by administrators, faculty, and students. Concern over violence against Muslims has intensified since U.S. officials named Muslim leaders as prime suspects in Tuesday’s terrorist attacks against the United States.  

The Muslim Students Association addressed their main concern – attacks against Muslim women wearing headscarves – by setting up an escort service with Muslim men accompanying women between campus and their apartments and to grocery stores. 

For its part, the university administration is creating a hotline for students, faculty, and  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Motivations are comprehensible

George Palen
Friday September 14, 2001

Editor, 

The tragic loss of life Tuesday in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania is numbing. One cannot begin to understand the hurt that the terrorist attack brings upon people of America and the world.  

One can understand, though, the motivations behind the attack. And while I was truly saddened by the tragedy that occurred in the planes and the Pentagon and World Trade Center, I was also, once again, disappointed at the reactions by both the White House and the mainstream press. In painting this tragedy as a story of good against evil, we in America refuse to own up to the destruction that we are causing the rest of the world. We are refusing to take on the responsibilities incumbent of the most powerful nation in the world.  

While the party directly responsible for the hijackings has not come forth, we must in America bear some of the responsibility. We are a country, especially since George W. Bush moved into the White House, that refuses to make compromises with anyone. We have pulled out of middle east peace talks. We have backed out of the Kyoto protocols. We refused to discuss racial equity issues in South Africa. The Bush administration has insisted that the world play by our rules, no matter how unjust.  

Today”s society is one of oppressors and the oppressed. Those with power in America are using that power to gain more power and are doing so with little regard for any lives that get in the way. We should not be surprised at the violence that happened on Tuesday. In fact that violence is no different than the destruction that the United States has visited upon Nicaragua, upon Iraq, upon the Palestinian state, upon the rainforests in the Americas, upon countless societies and environments of the world plundered in the name of economic growth. Tuesday”s violence is no different than the oppression that we visit upon the poor in our own country when we deprive them of health care, environmental safety, welfare and indeed dignity with which to run their lives. Tuesday’s violence is no different with one exception: those in power in America control the media. They control the message. They get to say who is right and who is wrong. 

Let us learn a lesson from Tuesday’s tragedy. Let us realize that every person in this world deserves power over his or her own life, and that a healthy society allows for mechanisms in which that power can be expressed. Let us stop relying on military answers to human problems. Let us stop insisting that the winners are those with the most power and money. Let us stop pretending that the ends justify the means. Let us start to build a world where justice is universal, where human life is valued over corporate profit, where reason and compassion take the place of death and destruction.  

As we saw Tuesday, global power exercised in the absence of global responsibility brings about violent retribution. Let us not kid ourselves into thinking that increased security will provide us with a safe country in which to live. Only when we allow for justice in the world, when we allow for human concerns to be addressed with honor, dignity and respect, will we live in a world where people do not see the need to resort to terrorism. 

Let us find safety in justice, not in oppression. 

George Palen 

Berkeley 

 


Cal-Rutgers football game rescheduled for Nov. 23

Daily Planet Wire Services
Friday September 14, 2001

The University of California and Rutgers University have reached agreement to play their postponed football game on Friday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST) at Rutgers Stadium, the two schools announced jointly today.  

The game was originally scheduled for this Saturday, Sept. 15, but was postponed due to the terrorist attacks on the East Coast this past week.  

“The tragic events of this week have dictated that we play this game during the Thanksgiving weekend,” said Cal athletic director Steve Gladstone. “We felt strongly that our student-athletes deserve the opportunity to play their full schedule.”  

“We are very pleased that we were able to find a date that accommodates both institutions,” said Rutgers AD Robert E. Mulcahy III. “I want to thank California for their sensitivity in this process. The California officials have been extremely cooperative, particularly in this trying time.”  

All tickets for the originally scheduled Cal-Rutgers game will be honored on Nov. 23. Cal fans who cannot attend the rescheduled game can obtain a full refund by calling the California ticket office at 1-800-GO BEARS.


Motivations are comprehensible

By Kimberlee Keala Bortfield Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 14, 2001

Two weeks ago, Carl Rosato's booth at the Berkeley Farmers' Market was filled with peaches. By last Saturday, Rosato had pruned his peach trees, and the trimmings were stacked next to a sign that read: “Great wood for barbecues, the fireplace, and for warming your heart with the memories of the summertime.” 

September is the beginning of the end for Rosato and others who sell their fruit at the more than 350 farmers' markets across the state. 

While it is peak season with both summer and fall fruit vendors crowding into the open markets, the number of farmers will soon fall off and the produce will change. Berkeley’s market has about 50 vendors and 3,800 people a day during the summer months, but by December the numbers drop. 

For Rosato, who attends 12 markets a week from June to September earning at least $20,000, the winter brings plenty of work. Once the market circuit is over, his projects begin. 

“There's a zillion projects to do,” Rosato said. “I have to fix the tractor and set up a new cold-storage system.” 

When Rosato is not working on his 15-acre, Woodleaf Farm in Oroville, he is consulting or teaching organic farming at Butte College. He also supplements his income by growing persimmons and mandarin oranges, and is interested in starting apples and pears. 

This winter, Rosato will plant 12 acres of cacao in Ecuador, which will be made into chocolate. 

“I do okay,” Rosato said of his various jobs. “It's not an easy way to get a retirement plan.” 

At the Star Valley Farm booth on Saturday, Kyra Brown had crates of sugarplums, dried apricots and bottles of apricot juice. Brown said she sells peaches, plums and apricots at four or five markets a week during the summer. Unsold fruit is then taken back to the Solano farm, dried in the sun or turned into juice, and resold. 

While the dried fruits and juice provide her with a year-round income, she said that she makes more money from the fresh fruit, especially from the apricots which peak in June. By November, she will be going to the market just once every other week. 

For Amy Foster of Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, however, September marked not the end but the beginning of her market circuit. Every Saturday from Labor Day weekend through December, she comes to the Berkeley Farmers’ Market to sell a variety of Asian pears and apples. Her method of generating interested customers – let them sample everything. 

“Some people never had Asian pears and apples before,” Foster stated. “And some people are always coming back, especially when the summer fruits are tapering off.” 

Once her off-season begins in January, Foster will prune trees, maintain the orchard floor, and ward off frost and insects. 

“There’s not much income in the winter except for juices and dried fruits,” she said. “Hopefully, it’s enough.”


Enron Corp. agrees to turn over documents to Senate investigators

By Jennifer Coleman Associated Press Writer
Friday September 14, 2001

SACRAMENTO — Enron Corp. agreed Thursday to release company documents to a Senate committee investigating possible price manipulation, ending the committee’s quest to cite the energy company for contempt for not complying with a subpoena. 

The Senate Rules Committee heard arguments from Enron and the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market over whether the energy company should be found in contempt. 

In June, the select committee subpoenaed Enron files as part of its investigation into record-high prices in the state’s wholesale electricity market. Enron sued to quash the subpoena, a motion a judge rejected. 

The judge agreed, however, that Enron was entitled to a protective order for documents revealing sensitive trading and financial information. 

Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, chairman of the select committee, said late Thursday that Enron agreed to the same confidentiality agreement accepted by several other generators. With that agreement, Dunn said, the committee would withdraw a report that recommended Enron be found in contempt. 

He said he expects documents to be transferred immediately. 

Dunn had argued the subpoena also covered nonconfidential documents, and since the energy company also refused to release those papers to the committee, it was in contempt. 

He asked Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, chairman of the rules committee, to approve fines against Enron for each day they didn’t comply with the subpoena. The daily fines would start at $1,000, doubling each day for 10 days. Then the company would be fined $1 million a day. 

Enron lawyer Michael Kirby said the company had put 49,000 nonconfidential documents in a depository in Sacramento so committee investigators could review them. 

But Dennis Murphy, a lawyer for the select committee, said Enron didn’t tell investigators where the depository was located. The committee discovered the address in documents filed by Enron for the court case, he said. 

“We’ve been trying to get into the depository for a week. They have not allowed our people in there to verify what documents are in there,” he said. 

Kirby disputed that, and blamed the committee for delays in turning over the balance of the documents. The two parties haven’t met since the judge ordered the protective order, and Kirby said it was the committee that refused to work out the order’s details. 

Dunn said the law requires Enron to produce the documents before it was entitled to a protective order. 

Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine, said Dunn’s push to have Enron found in contempt “smacks at this point of Enron being punished for exercising their right to go to court.” 

A contempt report on Reliant Energy has also been sent to the Senate. A contempt finding against Mirant Corp. was later reversed when the company opened a document depository in Sacramento for the committee’s investigators. 

If the full Senate imposes sanctions against Reliant or Enron, it will be the first time since 1929, when the Senate voted to jail reluctant witnesses during a committee investigation of price fixing and price gouging involving cement sales to the state. 


Campus Muslim students braced for backlash

By Malcolm Gay and Turaya Bryant Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 14, 2001

There was only one topic of conversation in a swarming Sproul Plaza Tuesday morning: the terrorist attacks on some of the country’s most symbolic buildings. People spoke to family members through cell phones, pairs of students quietly wept, hands flew and words were fast as emotion-laden arguments erupted throughout the crowd.  

But as the initial horror turns to grief, UC Berkeley’s Muslim community has an added concern: fear of a violent backlash to media portrayals of Muslims as irrational zealots. “Every time something like this happens they pin it on Muslims,” said Nadia Yousef, her head covered in a traditional Islamic scarf. “I was told to be careful on campus.”  

Yousef, 19, is one of about 500 Muslim students on the Berkeley campus. “I’m concerned about attacks on the Muslim community,” she said, adding, however, “I’m not that worried about my own personal safety.”  

But leaders of the Muslim Student Association said they see harassment as a real threat. “Most of our concern is for our Muslim sisters,” said Basin Elkarra, 21, association president. Anticipating intimidation, the MSA has set up a network of members to escort Muslim women walking alone. In an attempt to bridge the prejudicial gap they say the attacks have formed, the MSA and other campus groups are also planning an inter-faith prayer session for today. They are also planning a blood drive with the student government for next week.  

Elkarra said these activities are to build solidarity between Muslims and non-Muslims.  

Nonetheless, the group is planning for the worst. A few people have approached the MSA’s information table on campus angrily blaming them for Tuesday’s tragedies, he said. “We’re staying in groups right now.”  

But these instances are rare, he said, noting that people have approached him expressing remorse and compassion.  

University officials said there are systems in place to aid students who are victims of harassment. But in light of Tuesday’s tragedies the university has stepped up its efforts. “We’re going to set up a seminar on safety tips for Muslim women,” said Dean of Students Karen Kenney. “We would do the same for any community that expressed the need.” Kenney also said that the university is in the process of enhancing its system for reporting and responding to harassment claims. Efforts include a 24-hour harassment report line, as well as on-site counseling services in residence halls.  

Campus police said they have also stepped up security in light of Tuesday’s events. “We have extra officers on the campus,” said UC Police Captain Bill Cooper. Cooper added that the campus police are always prepared for incidents of harassment, though they are now on heightened alert.  

The students emphasized that the alleged acts of isolated Muslim terrorists do not reflect the ideas of the majority of Muslims. “Islam condemns the loss of innocent life at any time,” said Elkarra, adding that any attack upon a non-occupying force is not justified within the teachings of the Koran. 

Many students expressed a sense of injustice as well as concern. “As an American citizen they should investigate and bring the culprits to justice,” said Aadil Khan, 18. “If it’s government-sponsored, I’m a proponent for an eye for an eye. That military action should take place. But if it’s individuals they can’t take action against the country.”  

Khan added that American foreign policy is often perceived by other cultures as arrogant and meddling.  

“I can understand why other countries would have animosity toward the U.S., but I don’t think that justifies this type of attack,” he said. 


Berkeley High teens sorting out emotions after attack

By Carole-Anne Elliott Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 14, 2001

Two days after the worst terrorist attack to ever strike Americans, students at Berkeley High School were still working through their thoughts about how Tuesday’s events will change their lives. 

Like generations of Americans who look back to the Challenger explosion, the Kennedy assassination and Pearl Harbor as pivotal events, today’s students have had television images of commercial airliners slicing into New York’s World Trade Center forever seared into their consciousness. 

“This is our war,” said sophomore class president Bradley Johnson.  

Though Berkeley High appeared very much as usual Thursday, with students filing to class and laughing with friends over lunch, Tuesday’s events were still on their minds. A memorial altar went up outside the Community Theater, where students could donate money, leave flowers and write their thoughts on huge sheets of paper. 

“The Gulf War wasn’t a big thing for us,” said Johnson. His generation was “too young, and it was ‘push-button.’ This is our first look at what terror is … We know now what it is to be afraid.” 

Freshman class president Lawrence Taylor said, “People were ignorant to the fact of what really happens out there and now, people will be opening up. Kids are going to start saying how it was great when we didn’t have to worry about this.” 

Freshman Geoff Shames is convinced “this country’s going to war.” Senior Vasya Fukson is bound for the U.S. Marine Corps after a recruiter called Tuesday to ask if he wanted to reconsider his decision not to enlist. 

Student Activities Director Christine Nyanda said some of her students have asked, “If the war happens today, are we going to perish?” 

The concerns on Tuesday were more immediate and being in school was rough, said sophomore Claudia Hernandez. “When you think about it, an airplane could fly really fast from there to here,” she said. “It was hard. You couldn’t concentrate because you (wondered), is anything else going to happen?”  

“A lot of people (were) thinking, ‘Are we going to have the Transamerica building bombed? The Golden Gate Bridge? The San Francisco financial district – will it be hit?’” Johnson said. 

Still other students seemed unfazed. 

“OK, it happened, but it can’t happen to me,” is how School Safety Officer Billy Keyes interpreted the reactions of some teens. “Because this is a television age and to a certain extent, it’s still television. 

“Visually, they’ve seen this before,” Keyes said. “That’s why I think the kids are handling it OK.” When they start hearing body counts, he said, “that’s when the kids’ll say, ‘Oh, this is serious.’” 

Most students in Joanna Sapir’s social studies classes haven’t shared their thoughts, she said, but some are coming around. “One talked about (the realization process being) slow for him – he only just realized there were people in the planes,’” she said. 

Others are further along. 

“I want to go to college in New York,” Hawkins said. “I want to travel the world and now it’s going to be so hard to travel anywhere.” 

“It’s terrifying,” she said. “It just really gets you thinking about what you want to do with your life … It’s going to be in everybody’s mind. It’s going to be something that we know for the rest of our lives.” 

 


Critics call redistricting plans too pro-incumbent

By Steve Lawrence Associated Press Writer
Friday September 14, 2001

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers approved redistricting plans for the Legislature and California’s congressional delegation Thursday, sweeping aside complaints they would help incumbents at the expense of other interests. 

“I suspect that most of these districts have been designed so we won’t have to worry about elections for the next six to eight years,” Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City, said as lawmakers debated new lines for the Assembly. “Everybody wins.” 

Assembly members voted 65-8 Thursday to approve new lines for their house and a state tax board, and a few hours later adopted new state Senate and congressional districts, 58-10. 

The Senate passed the Senate and congressional plans Wednesday night 38-2, and approved the new Assembly and Board of Equalization districts Thursday 40-0 without debate. 

The votes sent the proposals to Gov. Gray Davis, who is expected to sign them into law. 

The plans will probably help Democrats maintain their big majorities in the Legislature and the congressional delegation for the next decade while allowing Republicans to tighten their hold on the seats they have now. 

Democrats currently have 26 of the Senate’s 40 seats, 50 of the Assembly’s 80 seats and 32 of the state’s 52 seats in the House of Representatives. 

California will get a 53rd congressional seat starting in 2003 because of the population growth revealed by last year’s census. That new district, in the Los Angeles area, is also expected to go to a Democrat. 

There seemed to be some chance early in the week that legislative leaders wouldn’t be able to agree on new lines because of a dispute over how to draw a few Senate and congressional districts. 

But Senate leaders removed a major stumbling block when they agreed to redraw a San Diego-area district in a way that could help one of Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg’s lieutenants win a congressional seat. 

Critics charged that the new districts — particularly the Senate and congressional lines — would go too far to promote the political ambitions of most incumbents at the expense of regional and ethnic interests. 

“What happened to drawing lines for the people of the state rather than ourselves?” Leslie said. 

He said the state should create a nonpartisan commission to draw new districts after each federal census instead of leaving the task to lawmakers. 

“I think the process brings out the worst in the Legislature,” said Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, D-Davis, saying the lines would protect “most of us from the challenge of a competitive election.” 

But Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, defended the plans. 

“This is a political process, a political process that has a legal right and obligation and imperative to protect incumbency,” he said. 

Much of the opposition, Cedillo implied, came from Assembly members disappointed they didn’t have a clear shot at a Senate or congressional seat. 

“There are 80 people who should aspire to hold 40 seats on the other side of the building,” he said. 

Assemblyman Rod Wright, D-Los Angeles, said the Senate and congressional plans were “the best legal compromise that we are going to be able to achieve.” 

He said legislators critical of the plans would be more unhappy if the state Supreme Court took over redistricting. 

Thomson and Assembly members Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, and Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, said the Senate plan unnecessarily cut up their parts of the state to provide populations for inland seats. 

“The central coast should not be an organ donor for the rest of the state,” said Jackson. 

“This is not about me; this is about process and outcome,” said Keeley, whose interest in a Senate seat could be thwarted by the new lines. 

Cedillo said the plans would increase the number of seats held by women and Hispanics in the Senate and Congress while going a long way to protect so-called communities of interest, but other lawmakers said they didn’t go far enough. 

Jackson said the Senate plan could actually result in fewer women winning legislative seats. 

Alan Clayton, research chairman for the California Latino Redistricting Coalition, said his organization would ask the U.S. Justice Department to go to court to challenge several districts in the legislative and congressional plans on the grounds that they weaken Hispanic political clout. 

Kathay Feng, an attorney at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, praised some parts of the Assembly plan for its impact on Asian and Pacific Island voters but criticized others. 

She said her organization hadn’t decided to take any legal action. 

 


U.S. response to terror attacks raises legal issues

By Martha Mendoza AP National Writer
Friday September 14, 2001

Amid calls for a swift and powerful retaliation to the terrorist attacks, legal scholars say complex issues are at stake: Must Congress declare war? Should the United Nations be involved? And perhaps most importantly, how does a democratic nation respond justly to such an inhumane attack? 

“If we were to bomb civilian targets deliberately, which is what they did to us, that would be an unjust response. It would be illegal and a crime against humanity and we’re not going to do that,” said law professor Abraham Sofaer, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. 

President Bush called the attacks “the first war of the 21st century” on Thursday and his administration labeled fugitive Osama bin Laden a prime suspect. The United States promised to wage all-out retaliation against those responsible and any regime that protects them. 

Congress will take up separate legislation next week to support Bush’s use of force against those responsible. 

Legal analysts said they hope politicians are careful with their rhetoric, and their actions. 

“I certainly hope we don’t get into this whole declaring war business,” said Sofaer. “It’s a rallying call politically, but under the United Nations charter, there’s not supposed to be anything like war anymore,” he said. 

The notion of war, said Sofaer, entails taking over another country. Self defense, on the other hand, is simply protecting one’s own interests. 

“We’ve been attacked. We have the legal authority to act in self defense. And we must act,” he said. 

But there are striking issues about what that action should be. 

“There is no doubt that the people who did this are war criminals, but if it turns out they were acting largely in an isolated fashion, it might be more appropriate to capture them and try them than to bomb a country,” said Harold Hongju Koh, a professor of International Law at Yale University who served as an assistant secretary of human rights under the Clinton Administration. 

“This is a challenge to our open society,” he said. “Will we respond within the framework of law or will we respond within the framework of vengeance?” 

Amnesty International on Thursday called for “justice, not revenge” to prevail. The organization reiterated its deepest sympathy for the victims of the heinous attacks and called upon the leaders of governments and community groups around the world to ensure respect for human rights in their wake. 

“It is important for us all to see that hatred does not become the order of the day; that fear does not become an excuse for the violation of rights and that we all remember our common humanity,” Amnesty’s statement said. “We must be compassionate in our support for the victims, determined in our search for justice and vigilant about the rights of all people.” 

The 19-nation NATO alliance declared Wednesday that the attack can be considered an attack on the alliance as a whole. This could mean NATO support for future U.S. military action against those responsible, but the level of that support must be negotiated. 

Legal experts lauded the NATO move as well, and said it would behoove the Bush administration to involve the United Nations Security Council as well. 

But Michael lgnatieff, a professor of human rights policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, said the United States is fully within its rights, according to United Nations charter, to take unilateral military action in self defense without U.N. Security Council approval. 

“Involving the U.N. is useful to building international support and legitimacy for American military action,” he said, “but the U.S. can and should go it alone if it needs to.” 

Jonathan Greenberg, Academic Director of Stanford Law School’s Program in International Legal Studies, said civilized nations fighting terrorists face a daunting challenge. 

“Terrorism is the deliberate attacking of civilian targets. That’s what happened yesterday, with the most horrifying results. But we can’t retaliate against civilian targets under international law,” he said. “If we decide to retaliate, it must be against the people or organizations responsible for committing or organizing these acts of terror, and that’s going to be very difficult.” 


Lawsuits targeting airline industry expected over terrorist hijackings

By David Kravets Associated Press Writer
Friday September 14, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — With so many unanswered questions about the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, one fact is clear: There will be lawsuits targeting the airline industry following Tuesday’s hijacking of four passenger flights. 

Terrorism attacks have led to protracted legal action against airlines in the past. One example is the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 

The suits from Tuesday’s hijackings may not come immediately as lawyers could decide to wait for the government’s investigation. But what the government learns, including who was behind the hijackings, will set the legal stage. 

“The critical issue is how these weapons got on the flight,” said Frank Pitre, a Burlingame attorney and aviation law expert. “Legally, security is a combined venture between the airport, security screening company at the airport and the airlines.” 

The four hijacked planes, two of which slammed into the World Trade Center in New York, one at the Pentagon and the fourth in a remote field outside Pittsburgh, carried 266 people. In all, thousands were feared dead. 

The lawsuits would most likely target American Airlines and United Airlines, the two carriers whose planes were hijacked, experts said. The airports and the security teams at Logan International Airport in Boston, Dulles International Airport in Washington and Newark International Airport in New Jersey may also be sued because that is where the ill-fated flights departed, these experts said. 

Other potential litigation targets include those who are found responsible. If they are associated with a government, that government could be sued and its assets that are in the United States could be frozen. 

That was the case in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, where a luggage bomb killed 270 people. Family members of the victims are seeking $2 billion from Libya for its alleged role in the plane’s explosion. Lawsuits against Pan Am led to its bankruptcy. 


Don’t let sprinkler systems leave you high and dry

Associated Press report
Friday September 14, 2001

There’s no watering down the popularity of home lawn sprinkler systems, but homeowners can oversee installation without getting financially soaked.  

It takes understanding of watering system options and a rational approach to dealing with installation contractors. "If homeowners would take the time to look at the fundamental aspects of the job, the installation would go smoother, they’d spend less money and conserve water," says Sharon Mertins, a watering system expert for the Home Service Store.  

Mertins says automatic spray systems are by far the most popular. Water pressure forces sprinkler heads to pop up to spray a 17-foot- diameter section or full circle for a preset time. Rotary and drip systems are other, lesser-used options.  

"Rotary systems are great if you have a large unobstructed yard," says Mertins. Rotary heads provide a mammoth 70-foot swath of coverage. Drip systems conserve water although these are limited to reaching root systems in flower beds.  

The one system Mertins steers clients away from is a manual system which is more expensive to install. Whatever system fits the bill, says Mertins, "It all depends on water pressure. If you don’t have adequate pressure, you’re sunk."  

The main water line in a home creates more pressure than systems connected to a sewer meter. Spray systems boost pressure through a sequence of smaller and smaller diameter pipes as water nears the sprinkler head.  

Contractors bid installation several ways. Most charge by the station the area covered by a spray head – rather than running foot of pipe. Some installers bid on yard size or by materials and labor multiplied by a profit margin. Typical installation time for an average yard is 140 hours. Any bid will include variables unique to each yard. Water-blocking obstructions, soil, slope of lot or labor-intensive work to run pipe beneath or around objects can increase your costs.  

Mertins advises homeowners to ask for all-inclusive bids. "Make sure everything is included so you won’t have surprises at the end," she says.  

A turnkey bid isn’t the only thing homeowners should demand from contractors. In a move to manage water resources, more than 30 states require that irrigation installation be done by licensed contractors. Homeowners should ask to see the installer’s license. References and experience also count, says Mertins.  

The homeowner also should insist that installers assume responsibility if utilities such as phone, gas and electricity lines are severed.  

Contractors should also perform a back-flow inspection as part of their bid. Back-flow devices, also known as double checks, keep water flowing in one direction and stop the return of water into a city water system.  

Mertins says homeowners should stipulate contractor grade materials be used throughout, especially if the installer must make a sudden trip to a home store for additional parts. Most home stores sell homeowner-grade materials that last one to three years. Contractor grade materials of neoprene cost no more but will last the typical life of a watering system, 12 to 15 years.


Sweeheart deal for San Francisco Barbie

The Associated Press
Friday September 14, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s estimated $7.6 billion tourism machine has a new ambassador. She is 11 inches tall, doesn’t speak a word and is hardly a symbol of social progression. 

But the “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” Barbie — all dolled up for the job of marketing tool and collectible plaything — looks unfailingly confident in her high-society fashions despite the troubled economy and the downturn in visitor spending. 

The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau hopes to make about $100,000 during the next few months from trademark-licensing rights on the doll’s name while also tapping legions of future visitors. 

Tourism Barbie wears an impressively detailed, tailored cinched-waist jacket in satiny gold with faux-fur cuffs, a full black skirt, and seams on the back of her hose. She is made to look as if she’s off to afternoon tea circa 1940. 

Never mind that her heels would make a trek up Nob Hill treacherous in any era. 

This limited-edition Barbie is the product of brainstorming by San Francisco’s imagemakers at the visitors bureau and top executives at the $4.7 billion-per-year Mattel Corp. and South San Francisco’s See’s Candies. 

One of the world’s top destinations, San Francisco gets showered with nearly continuous publicity within the travel world. Still, the visitors bureau is always coming up with its next packageable attention-grabber, from embossed San Francisco pens to “I Love San Francisco” plush toys. 

The joint-venture Barbie doll is carrying a See’s shopping bag in one hand and a black purse in the other. She will be priced at $28 starting this month at See’s Candies’ 200-plus stores and airport chocolate kiosks in 14 states including California, Washington, Oregon, Utah and New Mexico. 

She also will be available for the same price at San Francisco’s Hallidie Plaza visitors center and is already advertised on the visitor’s bureau Web site (www.sfvisitor.org) alongside an “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” camera ($19.50) and wristwatch ($44.50). 

Mattel doesn’t disclose production details, but the doll’s handlers at See’s and the convention bureau say 100,000 “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” Barbies will be available. 

Last year, See’s and Mattel sold a special See’s-design Barbie dressed in the company’s trademark women’s uniform, a white dress with black trim and bow tie. It was the first cooperative venture by the two companies. 

“We didn’t advertise it. We just had it” in stores, said Richard Van Doren, marketing vice president at See’s, which tallied about $330 million in overall sales last year. 

Van Doren was skeptical at first when Mattel approached him: “I said, ’Look, I’m in the candy business.”’ 

He acquiesced and was dumbfounded when nearly 100,000 See’s Barbies, priced at $26 each, disappeared from See’s store shelves within just a few months. 

See’s had to have tapped new customers by luring them into its stores to buy the doll, Van Doren said. “It might have brought the collector in who never had been in a See’s Candies shop.” 

Mattel has struggled in recent years to re-energize the flagging sales growth of its most famous doll. As Barbie turned 40 in 1999, Mattel was fighting near-stagnation of sales, even after Barbie’s popularity had climbed dramatically from the 1980s. 

While 100,000 Barbies register only a blip on Mattel’s screen, the company was looking for new outlets and jumped at the chance to market a second See’s San Francisco doll. 

“This enables us to distribute Barbie Dolls in locations where one would not normally expect to find Barbies,” said Suzanne Schlundt, Mattel’s director of Barbie marketing. 

The visitors bureau wasn’t in on last year’s See’s Barbie experiment. But See’s and the bureau are veteran marketing partners, and the idea of tourists returning home to far-flung locales with San Francisco Barbies in their suitcases was an enticing public-relations opportunity. 

Last year, Brian Baker, the bureau’s marketing vice president, looked into how the agency could tap into the Barbie action by licensing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to See’s and Mattel. The bureau owns trademark rights to the phrase (though not to the song by the same name). 

The bureau could make close to $100,000 on the licensing rights, said John Marks, bureau president. 

That could buy a few full-page national ads selling the city, he said. But the bigger payoff would be the lasting impression of the dolls themselves, which could become collectors’ items or be cherished for years by children, also known as future tourists. 

“It’s never too early to start building brand awareness,” Marks said. 

The Barbie packaging itself is an advertisement for the city and See’s. It comes with postcards of the Golden Gate Bridge and a cable car. 

Just how collectible the doll will be is largely a matter of guesswork, said Barbie aficionado Patrice Krems Walcoff, a San Rafael insurance broker and Barbie collector. She owns 1,500 Barbies and is the immediate past president of the San Francisco Fashion Doll Club. 

Value to collectors depends on, among other factors, the sale price, production volume, quality, packaging and pure luck, Walcoff said. 

“The face, believe it or not, has a lot to do with how much it appeals to collectors. There are certain collectors who absolutely refuse to buy anything contemporary.” 

This doll’s face is contemporary though her clothes have a retro look. She will come in two versions that Mattel describes as Caucasian and ethnic, which in Barbie’s world means light-brown skin with black hair. 


Officials silent on building delays

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

The $30 million Central Library renovation, which was originally scheduled to be completed by January, is now millions over budget, eight months overdue and library officials are not saying why. 

Despite the uncertainties surrounding the project, the new director of the Berkeley Public Library, Jackie Griffin, will ask the City Council tonight to authorize a $1 million increase to a line of credit for the project raising the city’s liability to $1.2 million. 

“The big deal is that it appears there’s no completion date,” said Mayor Shirley Dean. “I was assured there would be city oversight of this project and now I’m told there is no officially-scheduled completion date and I want to know why.” 

Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz said library officials have not given the city a status report since early July.  

Griffin did not return calls to the Daily Planet on Wednesday and renovation project manager, Elena Engel, did not keep a scheduled telephone interview to discuss the long construction delays or the millions in budget overruns. 

Tom Arntz, of Novato-based Arntz Builders, said completion delays were the result of unforeseen construction problems and an unusually high number of changes to project plans by the library. Arntz Builders also has a $29 million contract with the Berkeley Unified School District for a construction project at Berkeley High School. 

The main funding source for the Central Library project, at 2090 Kittredge St., came from $49 million in Measure S bond money, approved by voters in 1996. Measure S funds also helped pay for the renovation of the recently-completed Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center building and other improvements downtown. 

Originally, when the project was being promoted to city voters, the total cost of the library renovation and expansion was $30 million. Last July in a presentation to the City Council, Engel estimated the construction phase of the project was $2 million over budget.  

According to a renovation timeline published in March, 1997, a month before construction began, the project was scheduled to be completed as early as last January. But Arntz said they will not be finished until November at the earliest, making the project 10 months overdue. 

“It’s very difficult to estimate when a construction project will be finished,” said John Rosenbrock, the city’s manager of capital projects. 

Rosenbrock said it is common in renovation projects, especially projects like the Central Library, which require a lot of detailed finish work, that small projects pile up and cause completion delays. 

He added that there were unforeseen delays during the early and middle phases of construction including a structural problem with the foundation of the building adjacent to the library and a plasterers’ strike followed by a painters’ strike.  

But Rosenbrock said despite unforeseen problems, there have been issues with Arntz Builders, which may have added to project delays. “I can’t get into them now because they are the subject of negotiations,” he said. 

Arntz said there are always problems with renovation projects but the Central Library renovation was additionally burdened by an unusually high number of plan changes. 

“We have 460 change order items on this job,” he said. “Each of these changes has to be addressed.” 

Arntz said the city’s unwillingness to pay overtime to the construction workers has added to the project delays.


Cal cancels all games through weekend

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

Cal Chancellor announced the cancellation of all of the school’s athletic contests through the upcoming weekend due to Tuesday’s national tragedy. 

“I am shocked and greatly saddened by the tragic events today in New York and Washington, D.C.,” Berdahl said. “There may be no day in our recent history in which this nation has felt a greater loss. At this moment, we must come together to provide each other with comfort and caring support.” 

Affected Cal teams are football, women’s volleyball, cross country, men’s water polo and men’s and women’s soccer. 

The Bears’ football team was scheduled to board a charter flight from Oakland Airport Thursday morning, bound for Newark, N.J., in preparation for Saturday night’s game against Rutgers. Cal Athletic Director Steve Gladstone said the school intends to re-schedule the game if at all possible, but the schools do not share an open date before each team ends its season on Nov. 17. 

Cal head coach Tom Holmoe had a voluntary practice on Tuesday, with regular practice resuming Wednesday. 

“I think that for us to go out and practice today would be a little too much,” Holmoe said Tuesday. “The kids are a little sensitive. Some of the kids are sensitive to this issue and are scared and nervous and in their lifetime, in my lifetime, in all of your lifetimes, we’ve never seen this. So to go about business as usual today is not appropriate, I don’t believe.” 

Holmoe also said he had talked to many of his players about the situation. 

“A lot of the players have come by, all day long, all morning long,” he said. “Players have been in the office and we’ve have had the news on and we’ve followed the reports closely. Players are talking about it like everyone else.”  

Besides football, other Cal sports affected by these cancellations are: women’s volleyball, which was slated to host Arizona State Friday and Arizona Saturday at Haas Pavilion on campus, cross country, which was to compete in the Fresno Invitational Saturday, men’s water polo, scheduled to play at the Southern California Tournament in Los Angeles Saturday and Sunday, men’s soccer, slated to play at San Jose State Sunday, and women’s soccer, scheduled to play at Santa Clara on Sunday. 

The Cal Athletic Ticket Office will make refunds to fans who purchased advance tickets to the Cal-Rutgers football game. Call 1-800-GO BEARS for more information.


Guy Poole
Thursday September 13, 2001


Thursday, Sept. 13

 

 

Help Save the West Berkeley Shellmound 

2 p.m. 

U.S. Post Office Building 

201 - 13th St., Oakland 

Bring as many people as possible to make a statement before the Court in Oakland in defense of protective landmark status to the oldest dated mound site in the Bay Area. Landmark status is currently being contested by the industrial property owners who originated this lawsuit against the city of Berkeley. Time and place may change, call ahead to confirm: 841-8562  

 

Joint Design Review Board and Zoning Adjustment Board Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

6:30 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Public Comment on Green Building Initiatives, Workshop on Green Building and follow-up  

discussion and introduction of draft revision to incorporate green design guidelines. 

 

Special City Council Meeting 

City Council Chambers 

7 p.m. 

The City Council holds a meeting rescheduled from Tuesday. 

 

Orangutans in the Wild: Travel in Borneo 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Photographer and writer Christine Krieg will give a slide show of her travels to the Tanjung Puting National Park on the south coast of Central Kalimantan. Free.  

527-4140 

 

Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater 

1930 Allston Way 

Renowned Vietnamese poet, peace activist and Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn will give a public lecture. 433-9928 

 

People's Park Community  

Advisory Board 

7:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Unit 1 Residence Hall Rec. Room  

2650 Durant Ave. 

Monthly meeting, community invited. 642-7860  

 

CLGS Lavender Lunch: Uncovering Early Queer Religious History 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

Mudd 100 

Jim Mitulski of the San Francisco Public Library speaks on “Uncovering Early Queer Religious History: The council on Religion and the Homosexual.” Informal brown bag lunch. 849-8206 www.psr.edu 

 


Friday, Sept. 14

 

 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: women’s humor.  

549-1879 

 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

 

City Commons Club 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

“The Way We See the Media” with Arnold Lee, Publisher and Co-Founder of The Berkeley Daily Planet. 848-3533 

 

Mexican Independence  

Celebration 

12:30 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 6th St. 

Mexican Folklore senior singer, Ruben Martin, 644-6037 

 

 

 


Nightmare begins for American Arabs

Corey Wade
Thursday September 13, 2001

The phone invaded my sleep like a nasty alarm clock expediting the end of my dream. Mom told me planes were crashing in huge explosions that had devastated the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. My great aunt believed it the beginning of an all-out war. 

I rushed into the family room and turned on the TV to the repetitive horror of a commercial airplane bursting into one of the almighty Twin Towers. America was under attack. 

I rang Mom back. Word was out that the assailant was probably Arabic, a reaction we knew to be grounded more in hysteria than fact. She confided, “I hate being Middle Eastern today,” six words that made me realize how serious the backlash was to come.  

Flipping the TV back on, I saw kids waving Palestinian flags wildly while cheering with their parents. Interviewed experts said Arabic terrorist groups were the only known organizations to use suicide bombers. Small headlines ran on the bottom of a screen about a Palestinian Liberation Democracy group claiming responsibility. Photos of Osama bin Laden, the Islamic fundamentalist held accountable for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, flashed before us. The face, religion and ethnicity of the enemy was unveiled.  

My roommate returned home from a shortened workday and asked what I thought of the celebrations in the Middle East. I told him they made me disgusted and unnerved, while coming to the realization that they were no different from anyone else. Explaining similarities between them and us threw him off balance. I had to defend my comment by noting the jovial attitude of too many Americans after we had taken innocent lives in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Wrinkles expanded on his forehead. To avoid further conflict, I explained how their psyche was different than ours, how when a powerful country which continually oppresses another finally takes a blow, cheers are for the symbol of the loss of invincibility, not the toll of the dead. 

With all becoming heated, I left to meet my partner, an African American, to play tennis for a breather. After five minutes of mutual venting in the car, she told me I had better watch myself, scolding that I had better sympathize with the victims. I told her I did, but since I couldn’t do anything to bring back their lives, my efforts were more focused on innocent Arab-Americans whose safety was now at risk.  

She glared in disbelief. Ugly words filled her mouth, and retaliatory words mine, hurling back and forth until four in the morning when sleep overcame us.  

I awoke the next day, fearing the worst. A calm reverberated on TV for most of America. There weren’t more attacks, the country was coming back to normalcy, extra precautions were taken to ensure national security. For Arab-Americans, it was only the beginning. 

Phone calls, chat lines, and racial slurs called for the boycott of Arabic owned businesses, the burning of mosques and death to all Arabs. Someone who looked Arabic was refused a bathroom key by a guest-services manager. The windows were shot out of a Texas mosque, and in Dearborn, Mich., two men were arrested for reportedly assaulting an Arab-American man. Police protection was beefed up in New York and Detroit to protect large Arabic neighborhoods. And the fear of concentration camps, in memory of Pearl Harbor, became embedded in us all.  

It was time to move on. I couldn’t wallow in uncertainty. Knowing I had to pretend all was well, I biked to my office eyeing subdued faces in cars, wondering if my appearance fit their vision of the enemy. Was my beard long enough for my Arabic roots to shine through or was my skin still white enough to escape their gaze? And what of the dark-skinned Arab-Americans being sneered at in restaurants; what of the innocent Arabs in countries now threatened to be bombed?  

On Sept. 11, 2001, International Peace Day, a nightmare occurred that no one will ever forget. But the daymares that Arab-Americans are living, and the aftershocks to come, will only be resolved and overcome by the efforts of us all.  

 

Corey Wade lives in Oakland.


Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

Dance 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 19 - 20: 8 p.m. American Ballet, “Bruch Violin Concerto,” “Jabula,” “Gong,” and “Black Tuesday.”; Sept. 21: 8 p.m., Sept. 22: 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sept. 23: 3 p.m. American Ballet, the full-length 19th Century “Giselle” $36 - $64; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212, tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Sept. 14: 7:30 “Eyes of the Spider”, 9:20 “Serpent’s Path”; Sept. 15: 4:30 p.m. “The New God”, 7:00 p.m. “Seance”, 9:05 p.m. “Looking for Angel”; Sept. 16: 3:30 p.m. “Alphaville”, 5:30 p.m. “Solaris”; Sept. 17: 7 p.m. “Charcoal People”; Sept. 18: 7:30 p.m. “Mike Kuchar’s Feverish Spell”; Sept. 19: 7:30 p.m. “What About Me: The Rise of the Nihilist Spasm Band”; Sept. 20: 7, 8:30 p.m. “Exilée; Sept. 21: 7 p.m. Films of Fritz Lang: Tom Gunning Lecture, 8 p.m. Metropolis, Joel Adlen on piano; Sept. 22: 2:30 p.m. Donald Richie Reading and Booksigning, 4 p.m. An Actor’s Revenge, 7 p.m. Bad Company, 9:05 p.m. Unchain; Sept. 23: 5:30 p.m. Last Year at Marienbad; Sept. 24: 7 p.m. Chile, Obstinate Memory and For These Eyes; Sept. 25: 7:30 p.m. Alternative Requirements 2001, Artists in Person; Sept. 26: 7:30 p.m. Touch Tones; Sept. 28: 7 p.m. Ugetsu, 8:55 Sansho the Bailiff; Sept. 29: 7 p.m. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Part I, Joel Adlen on piano; Sept. 30: Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Part II, Joel Adlen on piano; general admission $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

 

The Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Cinema Sept. 15: “Harold and Maude”; Sept. 22: “Airplane”; The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. $5 donation. Movies start at 7 p.m. 901 Gilman St. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

 

Exhibits 

“Ten Years Here” Exhibit celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Turn of the Century Fine Arts. Through Sept. 14, Sat & Sun 1-5 p.m. 2510 San Pablo Avenue 849-0950 

 

“The Political Art of: Diego Marcial Rios” Through Sept. 20, Addison Street Window Gallery, 2018 Addison St. hdrios@msn.com 

 

Women’s Cancer Resource Gallery “Catastrophe, Crisis, and Other Family Traditions” The photography of Jessamyn Lovell. Through Sept. 26; “The Arthur Wright and Gerald Parker” Reception Sept. 8. Through Sept. 26; Tues. - Thurs. 1 - 7 p.m., Sat. 12 - 4 p.m. 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307 www.wcrc.org 

 

Bahman Navaee is exhibiting his Mix Media paintings. Sept. 15 through Sept. 29: Persian Center, 2029 Durant Ave.  

“Debbie Moore’s Autobiographical Paintings” Through Sept. 30 at Good Vibrations. Portraits of the artist’s sensual explorations spanning 25 years and reflecting changing ways of intimacy and body play. 2504 San Pablo Ave. 848-1985 

 

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10-year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Through September. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.  

 

“Squared Triangle” Through Oct. 5: noon - 6 p.m. A minimalist art exhibit featuring three Bay Area artists working in different mediums while achieving the same elegant simplicity. The Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.com 

 

“Inside Editions” through Oct. 12: Nine printmakers exhibit their work. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tue. - Fri. Free. Kala Art Insitute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 kala@kala.org 

 

“Census 2000: Asian Pacific Islander Americans” through Oct. 13; Wed. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Asian Pacific Islander American artists in roughly the demographic proportions indicated by the recent census. Free. Pro Arts, 461 Ninth St., Oakland 763-9470  

 

“MWP Perspectives” Jon Orvik: One artist’s journey. Sept. 8 through Oct. 27 Tues. - Fri. 12 - 5 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 12 - 4 p.m. Solo artist exhibiting his journey through metal, wood and paint. Adapt Gallery and Design, 2834 College Ave. 649-8501 www.adaptgallery.com  

 

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Opening Reception Sept. 5: 6 - 8 p.m. open to the public; Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Sept. 15 through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Opening reception Sept. 15, 5 - 8 p.m. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Sept. 16 through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

 

“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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9, 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Sept. 14: 7:30 p.m. Marny Hall, “Queer Blues: The Lesbian and Gay Guide to Overcoming Depression”; Sept. 15: 2 p.m. Kimeron Hardin, “Queer Blues: The Lesbian and Gay Guide to Overcoming Depression”; Sept. 15: 7:30 p.m. Kathleen Jacoby, “Vision of the Grail”; Sept. 21: 7:30 p.m. Deborah Kesten, “The Healing Secrets of Food”; Sept. 22: 7:30 p.m. A special All Poetry Dyke Open Myke, to participate call 655-1015 or feroniawolf@yahoo.com; All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Cody’s on 4th Street Sept. 13: Kenneth C. Davis, “Don’t Know Much About...”; Sept. 20: 7 p.m. Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef, “The Naked Chef Takes Off”; Sept. 22: 10:30 a.m. Cody’s for Kids, Walter the Giant Storyteller; Sept. 25: 7 p.m. Nancy London looks at “Hot Flashes, Warm Bottles: First-Time Mothers Over Forty”; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

 

 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Sept. 8: 7:30 p.m. Dave Eggers talks about “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”; Sept. 10: 7:30 p.m. Peggy Orenstein talks about “FLUX: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World”; Sept. 11: 7:30 p.m. Simon Winchester discusses “The Map That Changed The World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology”; Sept. 13: 7:30 p.m. Geraldine Brooks reads from “A Year of Wonder: A Novel of the Plague”; Sept. 16: 7:30 p.m. David Bank looks at “Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumble the Future of Microsoft”; Sept. 17: 7:30 p.m. Aldo Alvarez describes “Interesting Monsters”; Sept. 18: 7:30 p.m. Clarence Walker discusses “We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism; Sept. 19: 7:30 p.m. Douglas Coupland reads “All Families Are Psychotic”; Sept. 24: Theodore Roszak discusses “Longevity Revolution: As Boomers Become Elders”; Sept. 25: Ken Croswell discusses “The Universe At Midnight: New Discoveries Illuminate the Hidden Cosmos” with a slide show presentation; Sept. 27: Bill Ayers talks about “Fugitive Days”; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

 

Cody’s Other Venues - Sept. 20: 7:30 p.m. Cody’s presents an evening with Margaret Atwood in conversation with professor Robert Alter. $12. First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way; Sept. 28: 7:30 p.m. Cody’s presents a Community Forum on Race and the Achievement Gap at Berkeley High School. Little Theater, Berkeley High School.  

 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Sept. 18: Ben Brose and Jen Iby followed by open mike reading. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland 465-3935 ksdgk@earthlink.net 

 

Lunch Poems Series Kick-Off Sept. 6: 12:10 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. UC Berkeley campus figures from a wide variety of fields read and discuss their favorite poems. Free. In the Morrison Library in the Doe Library at UC Berkeley. 642-0137 www.berkeley.edu/calendar/events/poems/ 

 

Spasso Sept. 10: Sharron Jones-Reid, Fruit of the Spirit poets, acoustic musicians, comedians, rappers, performance artists, writers. All welcome. 6021 College Ave. Free admission. 

 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival Sept. 8: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. An environmental poetry festival with a day of poetry, music and environmental activism featuring Gary Snyder, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Haas, Francisco X. Alarcon, and Earll Kingston as John Wesley Powell. Strawberry Creek Walk at 10 a.m. Oxford and Center. Festival at Civic Center Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Center Street. Free. 526-9105 www.poetryflash.org 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Fridays 9:30 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment. Call ahead to make reservations. Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

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  

 

 

Museums 

 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, 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. $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  

 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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 will close its exhibition galleries for renovation. It will reopen in early 2002. On View until Oct. 1 : “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture.” “Sites Along the Nile: Rescuing Ancient Egypt.” “The Art of Research: Nelson Graburn and the Aesthetics of Inuit Sculpture.” “Tzintzuntzan, Mexico: Photographs by George Foster.” $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 Avenue. 643-7648 or www.qal.berkeley.edu/~hearst/ 

 

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summer-long seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Science in Toyland,” through Sept. 9. Exhibit uses toys to demonstrate scientific principles and to help develop children's thinking processes. Susan Cerny’s collection of over 200 tops from around the world. “Space Weather,” through Sept. 2. Learn about solar cycles, space weather, the cause of the Aurorae and recent discoveries made by leading astronomers. This interactive exhibit lets visitors access near real-time data from the Sun and space, view interactive videos and find out about a variety of solar activities. “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. “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Space Weather Exhibit now - Sept. 2; now - Sept. 9 Science in Toyland; 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  

 

Oakland Museum of California “After the Storm: Bob Walker and the Art of Environmental Photography,” through Sept. 16; “Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks,” through Sept. 23; Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, noon - 5 p.m., Closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 general; $4 youths (6-17), seniors and students with ID. Free for museum members and children 5 and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month. 10th & Oak streets, Oakland. 238-2200 www.museum.org 


Alta Bates Summit plan to consolidate meets opposition

Hank Sims Daily Planet staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, the largest hospital system in northern Alameda County, announced Wednesday that it would seek to consolidate services at its two facilities in order to reduce financial losses. 

The former Alta Bates hospital’s main campus is located in Berkeley at 2450 Ashby Ave., and the former Summit Hospital’s campus is at 350 Hawthorne Ave. in Oakland. 

The consolidation plan – details of which have been the subject of rumor and speculation – would create “Centers of Excellence” that specialize in cancer, heart disease and obstetrics, among others, in one of the two hospitals, while discontinuing care in the other. 

Alta Bates Summit CEO Warren Kirk said that the hospitals have lost $25 million so far this year. 

Meanwhile, opposition to the plan has been mounting, as East Bay elected officials take their concerns public and the union representing service workers at the hospitals plan a campaign against the proposal. 

“It’s outrageous that a non-profit organization of this scale can discontinue services like this without any public consultation,” said Fred Seavey, research director for the Service Employees International Union Local 250, which represents 1,100 Alta Bates Summit workers. 

“We’re concerned not only about the impact on jobs, but because we have tens of thousands of members who are consumers of health care services.” 

Under the plan, child delivery and cancer treatment wards would be located exclusively at Alta Bates, while heart disease treatment and orthopedics would be treated at Summit. 

Critics of consolidation say that the plan breaks a number of promises made to the community when Alta Bates Summit was created, and predicted that the quality of care would deteriorate. 

Berkeley’s Alta Bates Medical Center merged with Oakland’s Summit Medical Center in December 1999. At that time, Summit joined Alta Bates as an affiliate of the Sacramento-based Sutter Health Network. 

The merger was opposed by a number of labor and community-based organizations, which feared that it would lead to a reduction in service at both hospitals, and possibly, the eventual closure of one or the other of them. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a federal suit to block the deal, but was unsuccessful. 

A brochure that was distributed by both hospitals as part of a public relations campaign in 1999 promised East Bay residents that “both hospitals would continue to provide emergency, critical care... and maternity services.” The announcement on Wednesday said that Summit Alta Bates would close Summit’s maternity ward. 

Supervisor Keith Carson attended a conference between Alta Bates Summit management and East Bay lawmakers a few weeks ago. According to Carson, the meeting was called by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, to address changes in management at the hospital. 

Carson said he pressed Sutter CEO Van Johnson to address consolidation at the hospital, but received what he called a “non-answer.”  

“I really feel that they had some idea about what was going to happen, and unfortunately they chose not to share it,” he said. “That doesn’t make me feel that we’ve gotten a good start as honest partners.” 

“True partnership means both sides have co-equal parts in the process – and this has been a one-sided process.” 

Carson said that he received a fax from Alta Bates Summit management on Tuesday – “interesting timing,” he said – that outlined the consolidation plan. 

“(It) became all too clear by Tuesday’s situation in New York, if something happens to the Bay Bridge, or if we have an earthquake or fire, we have a responsibility to be sure that all people receive care,” he said. “That responsibility must be carried by public clinics, non-profit clinics and all the hospitals.” 

Carolyn Kemp, Alta Bates Summit spokesperson said the hospital made the decision to consolidate services after reading the recommendations of The Hunter Group, an independent consultant it hired to study its operations. The hospital has declined to release the Hunter report. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, one of the leaders in the opposition to the merger in 1999, decried Alta Bates Summit’s decision not to make the report public. 

“They say that they’re going to make all these decisions that affect all these people, and you’re going to have to take their word for it,” he said. 

Alta Bates Summit officials contend that the combined facilities would mean a higher quality of care for patients. 

“I think that this is an incredible opportunity for the East Bay,” Kemp said. “Our goal is to provide services that are second to none in the Bay Area, and I think this is definitely something we should be looking at.” 

Supervisor Carson said that the public needed to have a bigger voice in decisions like these, which affect public health and government services.  

“For the good of all people in the East Bay – whether they go to Alta Bates or Summit, or Highland or Kaiser or Children’s – we have to sit down and see how this is all going to work out,” he said. 

SEIU Local 250 will demonstrate outside Summit Medical Center Monday at noon. Community representatives and elected officials, in addition to union leaders, are expected to speak. 


Cal golf finishes fourth in North Carolina

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Led by Top-10 finishes from Walter Chun and Peter Tomasulo, the Cal men’s golf team placed fourth at the Mid Pines Intercollegiate hosted by UNC Greensboro, its first tournament of the 2001-02 season.  

Chun shot rounds of 72, 67 and 70 to place sixth with a 7-under-par total of 209. Tomasulo was just a shot back at 210. In addition, Scott Carlysle came in below par with a 1-under 214.  

Texas Tech’s Kyle Willmann won the tournament at 10-under 206, defeating Geoffrey Harris of Old Dominion in a playoff.  

As a team, the Bears ended the 54-hole event at 6-under-par 858. Texas Tech claimed top honors at 844, followed by San Diego State (847) and Coastal Carolina (856).  


Change is up to us

Redwood Mary Berkeley
Thursday September 13, 2001

Editor: 

We all have the power and responsibility in our hands to stop the perpetuation of the cycles of violence and the economics of exploitation that create unspeakable suffering or we can continue on with the politics and economics that lessen and cheapen our human condition. Our political agenda from local to global, must move from provocation and the hubris that our fast track corporate globalization is the way to go with its extracting the energy and even blood of many to keep an economic machine going that few are actually benefiting from. Too many are being pushed to the edge along with the very ecosystems of life that support us. Financially and emotionally there is suffering as people have to keep cutting back – financially and in time we spend in building a supportive community while corporate profits obscenely rise.  

We here in the industrialized north live a lifestyle that has become the anomaly in a world where three quarters of the world’s population do not get enough to eat. We live in a world where corporate dream schemes are forcing people off their land and have the gall to patent the genes of plants, seeds and life itself. 

I still hold the vision that we can turn this around peacefully and not fall into the divisions caused by blaming and hate that comes after tragedy. I deeply hold the hope that we do not go along with the fear that is being generated to continue down the same path of bullying be it with words, economic or with nuclear threats. I hold a prayer that we can each look deeply into our own hearts, whether we are a governmental employee or work in the trades, whether we are a bus driver, a deli clerk, student or in scientific research – no matter what we do for a living – and ask what are we willing to do to take the higher ground, and to use our precious words to speak and teach a new vision that holds the value of the humans spirit and the earth as a sacred trust and not a commodity of economic profit schemes. How can we bring honor back to our daily relationships with each other? 

Instead of taking part in speculations about today's horrible tragedy (where terrorism is daily life for many around the world) I found a quiet space and turned to some readings that I found solace from including: 

“The only way to have peace is to teach peace. By teaching peace you must learn it yourself, because you cannot teach what you still dissociate from. You can’t teach peace with a barrel of a gun.” As Gandhi said an eye for an eye and we all become blind. Gandhi also said “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” 

 

Redwood Mary 

Berkeley 


Therapists offer free help for stress

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

Persons experiencing stressful reactions in the aftermath of Tuesday’s attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., can have a free session with a local psychotherapist. 

The best reaction to the events is talking about it, said Ernest Isaacs, of the East Bay Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. 

“My clients in the last two days have told the story over and over of how they first learned about it,” he said. “It is important to come to terms with what is happening.” 

People should be talking to their friends, neighbors or families. 

If, by next week, people continue crying a lot, have irrational fears for their personal safety, or have nightmares, they should consider taking advantage of the offer to “debrief” with one of the therapists who have volunteered their services, he said. 

To make an appointment, call 433-9499. 

 

(SIDE) 

The city has produced two informational sheets on coping with stress in the aftermath of Tuesday’s violence, one deals with children’s reactions and the other with those of adults. 

 

Talking to children about Tuesday’s events: 

Most if not all of your children will have heard about the events of Tuesday morning in New York City, Washington D.C. and the East Coast. Children will have many questions, as these events are difficult for children as well as 

adults to understand. They also may show signs of being frightened and upset. 

You may notice the following normal reactions in your children. 

• Reluctance to be separated from you.  

• Problems going to sleep.  

• Increased fears that may not appear to be related to national events.  

• Stomachaches or headaches.  

The following may be helpful in talking to your child about the events. 

• Children need to be reassured about their immediate safety. Remind them that you and the other adults who take care of them put children’s safety first. 

• Reassure children about your own safety at work. Also address their safety at school. Younger children may not understand that these events are far away. Try to give them a sense of the distances involved. (For example, explain that it would take many days to drive to New York or Washington, D.C.)  

• Provide a simple explanation of events. Younger children in particular may not be able understand what has happened or may have an inaccurate understanding. It is helpful to ask what they were told or heard on TV.  

• Ask children what they have heard or what they think about events. Being able to talk to adults about what is on their mind will have a comforting effect. If you cannot answer a question it is OK to say you don’t know.  

• Allow children to talk about the feelings they have and other people have about what happened.  

• Limit or eliminate children’s exposure to television and radio coverage of the news. Graphic images are upsetting and scary.  

 

 

Coping with critical incident stress 

People can take steps to help themselves; family members, and each other cope with critical incident related stress 

• Within the first 24 to 48 hours periods of strenuous physical exercise alternated with periods of relaxation will alleviate some of the physical reactions to a stressful situation.  

• Structure your time by keeping busy.  

• Remind yourself that you are normal and having normal reactions. Don’t label yourself as “crazy,” “wacko,” “weak” or “unfit.”  

• Talk is one of the most healing medicines. Talk to people you know care about you. People do care.  

• Be aware of numbing the pain with overuse of drugs or alcohol. Don’t complicate things further with substance abuse problems.  

• Keep your life as normal as possible.  

• It is all right to spend time by yourself.  

• Help your co-workers as much as possible by sharing feelings and checking out how they’re doing. (Respect their feelings of not wanting to talk about the incident)  

• Do things that make you feel good.  

• Realize that those around you are also under stress and may not act or react in a manner you would normally expect.  

• Keep a journal. Writing during sleepless hours may help.  

• Don’t make any big life changes, buying that Ferrari or house you’ve always wanted, going to Reno to get married suddenly, etc.  

• Do make as many daily decisions as possible, which will give you the feeling of control over your life.  

• Consult a mental health professional if you need assistance.  

Contact the city’s Mobile Crisis Team at 644-8566 for additional information.  

 


Berkeley high school games on schedule

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

Neither Berkeley High nor St. Mary’s College High will postpone or cancel any athletic events this week, according to athletic department sources. 

“As far as I know, we’re still playing all of our games,” Berkeley High Athletic Director Robert Traum said Wednesday. “We played a volleyball game here yesterday with the principal’s knowledge and good wishes.” 

The decision to play Friday night’s football game against James Logan was made by principal Frank Lynch. 

St. Mary’s High will also play their full schedule of games this week, including a Saturday football game at home against El Cerrito, according to the school’s athetic director, Jay Lawson.


Reflections on a day of great tragedy

Tom Lent Berkeley
Thursday September 13, 2001

Editor: 

What goes around comes back around. Let us think and reflect deeply before we react.  

Why did this happen? 

What goes around comes back around.  

What have we done to help create a world where people can feel so desperately impassioned to carry out such horrific acts? 

What can we do so that thousands of innocent people did not die today in vain? 

What goes around comes back around.  

What kind of world do we want to create? 

What can we do to stop the cycles of violence - from our communities to our country”s foreign policy?  

How can our reaction to this unspeakable tragedy help bring us closer to a peaceful world? How can we respond with love? 

We will all face choices in the coming days in how we handle this tragedy. How we talk about this with our family, friends and neighbors is important. Whether we choose to shut down in agony, or to breed disempowerment through cynicism, or to promote retribution in anger, or to struggle to reflect creatively on how we can create a different world is important. Collectively our choices in how we interact with those around us will have an impact that will spread and create the world that will follow today.  

Tom Lent 

Berkeley 


Lawrence Livermore Labs beef up security after terror attacks

By Bruce Gerstman Special to the Daily Planet
Thursday September 13, 2001

LIVERMORE – Guarded by University of California Protection Service officers wielding M16 rifles and wearing bullet-proof vests, all gates of the one-square-mile facility known as the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories were moved to the outer perimeter of the property. The lab was closed to visitors, permitting truck deliveries only after the vehicles had been searched. 

In addition, more than two-thirds of the 7,800 workforce at the labs was given the option of staying at home Tuesday after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

Managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy, the Labs are one of the principal development and research centers for nuclear weapons in the United States. 

Despite the heightened security, the Labs and the Department of Energy consider the response Tuesday lower than the lowest state of emergency. “There is no direct threat against the lab, and these are just precautionary measures,” said John Belluardo, spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration. 

However, the Laboratories activated the Emergency Management Center, a small cement building, which acts as central control for communications and security activities for the entire facility. Full of computers and a wall-sized screen showing the day’s schedule, representatives from each division – Plant Engineering, Hazard Control, National Security, and more – create strategies for the Labs and communicate with each office on the premises.  

“We chose to activate (it),” Belluardo said. “We were not directed to activate the center.” 

Representatives from the Labs and the Department of Energy hesitated to discuss possible scenarios in the case of a terrorist threat. “We feel confident that we can protect our employees,” said Dick Van Slyke, the Labs’ Safeguards and Security Division leader. 

The last time the Labs activated the command center was Dec. 31, 1999 in anticipation of problems associated with Y2K. Prior to that, it was activated more than 10 years before on Thanksgiving in 1988 after a car bomb exploded in a parking lot on the premises.  


Tragic event no reason for more military dollars

Bruce Joffe Oakland
Thursday September 13, 2001

Editor: 

In the aftermath of this unspeakable tragedy, literally before the dust settles in New York, Senators and Congress are rallying to support the Pentagon. “More money for defense” is their slogan. But in our haste to do something, let’s not leave reason behind. Let us ask why, with close to $300 billion a year, our intelligence and defense agencies could neither know about nor prevent this terrorism.  

Why should those who waste taxpayer money on $ 900 toilet seats and phony interceptor missile tests be given even more money? Effective defense requires competence and integrity. 

 

Bruce Joffe 

Oakland 


Police Briefs

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

A man is suspected of hitting a clerk with a tire iron at the Beacon Gas Station at 450 University Ave. Monday at about 11:30 p.m. 

The attack allegedly took place after an altercation at the gas station between the two suspects and the victim. The victim was transported to Alta Bates Medical Center, according to Lt. Cynthia Harris, police spokesperson.  

*** 

Police are looking for a man suspected of attempting to carjack a vehicle on the 800 block of Shattuck Avenue at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. 

When the victim stopped the car at her home, she noticed a car behind hers, Harris said. Its occupant came over to the car and unsuccessfully attempted to take the keys, Harris reported. Police are looking for a suspect. 

*** 

On Sept. 5, a suspect entered the Wilderness Exchange at 1407 San Pablo Ave. at about 5 p.m. and was making small talk with the clerk while looking at jackets, according to Harris. At one point he allegedly showed the clerk he had a gun in his waistband and walked out with the jacket. 

 


Authorities focus on several terrorist groups

By Karen Gullo Associated Press Writer
Thursday September 13, 2001

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities investigating Tuesday’s devastating attacks are focusing on multiple separate terrorist groups, some tied to Osama bin Laden, law enforcement officials said Wednesday. 

Members of one organization may have entered the United States through Canada, authorities said. 

The FBI has identified most of the hijackers who commandeered and crashed four airliners, and suspected accomplices, officials said. At least five people were detained; others were interviewed in the hunt for accomplices. No one has been arrested. 

A number of the suspected hijackers were trained as pilots in the United States. Their names were not immediately disclosed by authorities. 

Intelligence officials are pursuing “numerous credible leads,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said. 

“The Department of Justice has undertaken perhaps the most massive and intensive investigation ever conducted in this country,” he said. 

FBI agents obtained information from Internet providers, conducted searches, and questioned people in Florida and Massachusetts. Early evidence, including communications among bin Laden supporters, indicated the attacks were tied to the wealthy Arab and accused terrorist. 

Ashcroft said authorities were conducting interviews and reviewing airline manifests, rental car records and pay phone records. He said between three and six hijackers, armed with knives and box cutters, seized control of the four commercial jets. Two hit New York’s World Trade Center, a third smashed into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. 

For some of the suspected accomplices, “we have information as to involvement with individual terrorist groups,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said. He declined to say which groups or whether they were connected to bin Laden. 

Officials said authorities were gathering evidence that the terrorist cells may have had prior involvement in earlier plots against the United States. That includes the USS Cole bombing in Yemen and the foiled attack on U.S. soil during the millennium celebrations. 

“This could have been the result of several terrorist kingpins working together. We’re investigating that possibility,” one law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. 

Mueller said agents have followed leads that the hijackers or their associates had been in Florida, Boston and Providence, R.I. He said authorities are “attempting to recreate the travels” of the suspected attackers. 

Some 4,000 special agents and 3,000 support personnel are assisting in the investigation, and 400 FBI laboratory specialists are at the crime scenes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. 

Evidence has been collected at the Pentagon and Pennsylvania site, but investigators have not yet been able to start work at the World Trade Center, where the search for survivors continued. 

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were investigating whether one group of hijackers crossed the Canadian border at a checkpoint and made their way to Boston, where an American Airlines flight was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. 

The officials confirmed a car believed to belong to the hijackers was confiscated in Boston and contained an Arabic language flight manual. 

Abu Dhabi Television in the United Arab Emirates reported that two men with Saudi Arabian passports and international drivers licenses issued in the UAE were linked to the Mitsubishi sedan found at the Boston airport. 

Law enforcement officials said that the FBI on Wednesday afternoon searched two hotel rooms in the Boston area believed to have been used by the hijackers. The officials found information linked to a name on the manifest of one of the hijacked flights. They declined to identify the man. 

A Venice, Fla., man said FBI agents told him that two men who stayed in his home while training at a local flight school were the hijackers. Charlie Voss said the agents identified the men as Mohamed Atta and one known as Marwan. 

The FBI in Miami issued a national bulletin for law enforcement agencies to look out for two cars. Records with the Florida Division of Motor Vehicles show that one of the vehicles the FBI was pursuing — a 1989 red Pontiac — was registered to Atta. 

The FBI has already received more than 700 tips from a special Web site seeking information on the attacks. 

Agents served search warrants on major Internet service providers in order to get information about an e-mail address that may be connected to the attacks. 


Help for kid and adult stress stress

Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

The city has produced two informational guides on coping with stress in the aftermath of Tuesday’s violence, one deals with children’s reactions and the other with those of adults. 

 

Talking to children about Tuesday’s events 

Most if not all of your children will have heard about the events of Tuesday morning in New York City, Washington D.C. and the East Coast. Children will have many questions, as these events are difficult for children as well as adults to understand They also may show signs of being frightened and upset. 

You may notice the following normal reactions in your children. 

• Reluctance to be separated from you.  

• Problems going to sleep.  

• Increased fears that may not appear to be related to national events.  

• Stomachaches or headaches.  

The following may be helpful in talking to your child about the events: 

• Children need to be reassured about their immediate safety. Remind them that you and the other adults who take care of them put children’s safety first. 

• Reassure children about your own safety at work. Also address their safety at school. Younger children may not understand that these events are far away. Try to give them a sense of the distances involved. (For example, explain that it would take many days to drive to New York or Washington, D.C.)  

• Provide a simple explanation of events. Younger children in particular may not be able understand what has happened or may have an inaccurate understanding. It is helpful to ask what they were told or heard on TV.  

• Ask children what they have heard or what they think about the events. Being able to talk to adults about what is on their minds will have a comforting effect. If you cannot answer a question it is OK to say you don’t know.  

• Allow children to talk about the feelings they have and other people have about what happened.  

• Limit or eliminate children’s exposure to television and radio coverage of the news. Graphic images are upsetting and scary.  

 

 

Adults coping with critical  

incident stress 

People can take steps to help themselves, family members, and each other cope with critical incident related stress. 

• Within the first 24 to 48 hours periods of strenuous physical exercise alternated with periods of relaxation will alleviate some of the physical reactions to a stressful situation.  

• Structure your time by keeping busy.  

• Remind yourself that you are normal and having normal reactions. Don’t label yourself as “crazy,” “wacko,” “weak” or “unfit.”  

• Talk is one of the most healing medicines. Talk to people you know care about you. People do care.  

• Be aware of numbing the pain with overuse of drugs or alcohol. Don’t complicate things further with substance abuse problems.  

• Keep your life as normal as possible.  

• It is all right to spend time by yourself.  

• Help your co-workers as much as possible by sharing feelings and checking out how they’re doing. (Respect their feelings of not wanting to talk about the incident)  

• Do things that make you feel good.  

• Realize that those around you are also under stress and may not act or react in a manner you would normally expect.  

• Keep a journal. Writing during sleepless hours may help.  

• Don’t make any big life changes, buying that Ferrari or house you’ve always wanted, going to Reno to get married suddenly, etc.  

• Do make as many daily decisions as possible, which will give you the feeling of control over your life.  

• Consult a mental health professional if you need assistance.  

Contact the city’s Mobile Crisis Team at 644-8566 for additional information.


State lawmakers begin final days with memorial service

By Jennifer Kerr Associated Press Writer
Thursday September 13, 2001

SACRAMENTO — The California Legislature, its schedule shaken by the terrorist attacks, opened its three final frantic days Wednesday with a memorial service and a promise to “go on with the business of the people.” 

Lawmakers quickly approved a bill to allow people annoyed by telephone solicitors to put their names on a new state “do-not-call” list. 

The Senate and Assembly had canceled sessions Tuesday because of the attacks, despite facing a Friday deadline to pass hundreds of bills on subjects ranging from redistricting to energy. 

Lawmakers opened Wednesday’s floor sessions with a 30-minute joint memorial service featuring prayers by religious leaders from a dozen diverse faiths and the singing of “America the Beautiful” 

“We will not let these acts of terrorism bring our country to a halt,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys. 

“We will go on with the business of the people. That is what we were elected to do. That is what our democracy calls on us to do,” he said. 

Dr. Irfan Haq of the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims said he wanted to share the grief of the Muslim community. 

“As Muslims we do not condone violence,” he said. “What has happened has happened to members of our human family.” 

“Those who have done it must suffer and are going to suffer,” said Darshan Singh Mundi of the Sikh Temple of West Sacramento. 

“To not become like the enemy we despise, that’s part of the challenge now; to not become consumed by hatred,” said the Rev. Dexter McNamara, director of the Interfaith Service Bureau. 

The Assembly also plans to publish a special publication with letters written by lawmakers expressing their feelings and will put letters from constituents in the state archives and possibly on the Assembly’s Internet site. 

The “do-not-call” list bill was approved by a 59-12 vote of the Assembly and returned to the Senate for a final vote on amendments. Gov. Gray Davis has said he will sign it. 

The attorney general would create the new list by January 2003 and residential and cellphone customers could pay $1 to be put on it for three years. Telephone solicitors would be required to buy copies of the list; those who called people on it could face fines of $500 for the first violation and $1,000 for subsequent ones. 

Companies would be allowed to call people on the list if they had an “established business relationship” with them. 

“This is an invasion of people’s homes,” said a supporter, Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine. 

An opponent, Minority Leader David Cox, R-Fair Oaks, said people can put themselves on existing industry-run lists and can just say “no, I’m not interested” when solicitors call. 

Friday is the scheduled end of the 2001 session. However, it can be extended with a vote of both houses. The special session called by Gov. Gray Davis last winter to consider energy measures does not have to end Friday. 

Other issues before lawmakers include a rescue plan for Southern California Edison, redrawing the Assembly, Senate and congressional districts to reflect the census population changes, restoration of community-college budget cuts, school bonds and a $200 million program to help the lowest-performing schools. 


Major bill action by California Legislature

Associated Press
Thursday September 13, 2001

Here are some major bills considered Wednesday by the Legislature: Bills Passed 

— Allows people who don’t want to receive calls from telephone solicitors to pay $1 to put their names on a state “do-not-call” list; SB771; 59-12 in Assembly; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Requires credit card issuers to tell cardholders cost and time to pay off balance if they make minimum payments; AB 865; 24-12 in Senate; to Assembly for vote on amendments. 

- Provides $11,000 for law students who practice public-interest law to pay off college loans; AB 935; 23-12 in Senate; to Assembly for vote on amendments. 

- Allows Department of Correction to move up to 15 death-row prisoners to California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom to relieve overcrowding and curb institutional violence at San Quentin; AB 1460; 29-3 in Senate; to Assembly for vote on amendments. 

— Delays the date for the requirement that new school buses have seat belts from 2002 to 2004 or 2005, depending on type of bus; SB569 in Assembly; 56-5; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Abolishes the current Dental Board of California and creates a new one on Jan. 1, 2002, with new regulatory duties; SB134; 74-0 in Assembly; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Requires property owners who are selling to disclose any large releases of chemicals used to make methamphetamine on the property; SB189; 46-18 in Assembly; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Requires state education officials to write content standards for physical education, outlining what children in each grade should learn; AB367; 77-0 in Assembly; to governor. 

— Creates a new Asian Pacific Islander Anti-Hate Crimes Program within the state Department of Justice; AB1312; 70-1 in Assembly; to governor. 

— Requires the state to develop new standards for how much arsenic can be in drinking water; SB463; 47-19 in Assembly; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Gives Los Angeles Unified School District $2 million to try giving new teachers with emergency permits a 30-day training program before school starts; SB321; 44-25 in Assembly; to Senate for vote on amendments. 

— Requires principals to provide missed homework assignments to students who are suspended for more than five days and allows school districts to include in their school reports a breakdown of suspensions and expulsions by gender, age, race, primary language and learning disability; SB320; 56-18; to Senate for vote on amendments. 


State economy will suffer from attacks, economists say

By Gary Gentile AP Business Writer
Thursday September 13, 2001

LOS ANGELES — The terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center could hurt the already fragile state and national economy by dampening consumer confidence and business travel, top economists said Wednesday. 

But it remained unclear whether the attacks would drag California and the nation into a full-blown recession. 

“The human loss is catastrophic. The economic impact is harder to assess,” said Tom Lieser, senior economist of the Anderson Forecast at the University of California, Los Angeles — a leading economic barometer. 

Lieser and Edward Leamer, who were presenting the quarterly forecast at a UCLA conference, said the state and nation are already in the beginning stages of a recession and that Tuesday’s attacks could hurt the state’s strong tourism industry, which has helped the state weather the current downturn, they said. 

Economists say they will be watching consumers in the coming months to see if they resume spending or pull back and deal a crippling blow to the economy. 

“So much hinged on consumer confidence and what you have today is an unknown villain and a very high level of uncertainty and I think most people are going to put away their wallets for a while,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “The state is on a knife’s edge. It depends on what consumers do.” 

Foreign investment in the United States could also suffer if the dollar becomes weak and investors seek safer havens, Anderson economists said. 

“A lot of our expansion in recent years has been funded by the investments of foreigners who have willingly held our dollar-denominated securities when they might have gotten a better return elsewhere,” Lieser said. “It was an intangible perception that the dollar was the safest place to park your money. There are fewer guarantees going forward that that will stay the case.” 

Lieser and Leamer join other prominent economists who worry that the attack could cause a ripple through the economy as foreign tourists stay home, hurting amusement parks, car rental agencies and hotels. State residents could also stop spending and the state’s technology companies, already reeling from declining stock values, could be further hurt if investors flee for safer investments. 

“If this was the event that tipped global investors back toward Europe or emerging markets and it does this rapidly, we could have a rapid depreciation of the dollar and the Federal Reserve would be caught between a rock and a hard place, wanting to raise interest rates to defend the dollar, which could cause inflation,” Leamer said Tuesday. 

In the Anderson Report, which was released Wednesday and prepared before Tuesday’s attack, both Lieser and Leamer predicted a mild and brief recession for the state and nation. 

In his report on the state’s economy, Lieser said higher power costs would lead to reduced business investment and significantly reduced consumer spending. That, combined with a housing crisis throughout the state, will lead to a mild recession that should last no longer than early 2002, Lieser said. 

 


Attacks could trigger temporary energy price hikes

By Karen Gaudette Associated Press Writer
Thursday September 13, 2001

Energy analysts say California utility customers could see a temporary boost in their natural gas bills in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks after a summer of low prices. 

Though the nation’s power grid and pipeline distribution system were not disrupted, the possibility that the United States will retaliate sent prices for crude oil up $2 to $3 on European futures markets Wednesday morning. U.S. markets remained closed. 

But, even if prices rise, analysts expect the hikes to be short-lived. 

“I personally think any kind of run-up in oil prices or natural gas prices here domestically would just be in the short term, unless there was an extended retaliation in a Middle Eastern country,” said Mark Easterbrook, an energy analyst for Dain Rauscher Wessels in Dallas. 

Easterbrook predicted any rise in energy prices could return to previous levels within a week because the vast majority of the nation’s natural gas supply is produced domestically. 

The Independent System Operator, which manages California’s power grid, has been checking in with oil refineries, energy sellers, hydroelectric dams and power distributors to ensure operations were running smoothly. 

The ISO had not reported any problems, said California Energy Commission spokeswoman Claudia Chandler. 

The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., had not yet noticed price spikes for natural gas or electricity, spokeswoman Christy Dennis said Wednesday. 

Natural gas is the primary fuel for most of California’s hundreds of power plants. Soaring fuel prices last winter drove electricity prices to more than nine times their previous levels. 

Prices have fallen steadily over the summer as conservation and cool weather lowered demand and natural gas sellers boosted supply with increased drilling and underground storage. 

Chandler said natural gas sellers around the state have stowed away 10 percent more supply in underground storage facilities than at this point last year, which would help guard against price shocks. 

Easterbrook said electricity costs also should remain stable because the country generates most of its electricity from domestically produced fields such as natural gas, coal and renewable energy. 


Former Cal rugby player among hijacking victims

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 13, 2001

One of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Pittsburgh after being hijacked in Tuesday’s tragedy, was a former Cal rugby player, and both his mother and former coach believe he may have been part of an effort against the terrorists. 

Mark Bingham, 31, was a member of the Cal rugby team from 1988 to 1991, and last spring attended a reunion of the 1991 national championship team on the UC Berkeley campus. 

“It was great to see Mark again, to renew my friendship with him,” said Cal rugby head coach Jack Clark, who coached Bingham during his Cal career. 

Clark said Bingham, a public relations executive who lived in San Francisco, did a lot of traveling back and forth from the East Coast for business. 

Bingham called his mother, Alice Hoglan, from the plane early Tuesday morning. Hoglan, a United flight attendant, said her son told her the plane had been taken over by three men who said they had a bomb. Hoglan believes her son may have made an effort to foil the hijackers’ plot. 

“He was probably close to where the hijackers did their thing,” Hoglan said. “It gives me a great deal of comfort to know my son may have been able to avert the killing of many, many innocent people.” 

A phone call by another passenger shortly before the plane crashed indicated that there may indeed have been a group of passengers who were readying to attack the terrorists. 

Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., 38, called his wife moments before the hijacked plane crashed in rural western Pennsylvania with 45 people aboard. 

“He said, ‘I know we’re all going to die – there’s three of us who are going to do something about it,”’ Burnett told his wife, Deena, according to a reverend at the family’s church who counseled the wife. “He then said, ‘I love you, honey,’ and that was the end of conversation.” 

Clark said it wouldn’t surprise him if Bingham had been part of the group. 

“That would be consistent with my memory of Mark,” Clark said. “He was a brave young man. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he put up some resistance.” 

Hoglan spoke from her home on Wednesday, where friends and family had gathered to mourn Bingham’s death. 

“(Mark) had friends who were Islamic, friends who were Jewish. He was just a man of the world. This house is full of his friends here now,” Hoglan said. “We loved him very much. He was just the light in our lives. I’m very proud he was my son.”  

– The Associated Press  

contributed to this report.


Mourners gather at vigil

By John Geluardi and Hank Sims Daily Planet staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

The Berkeley community came together at churches, Civic Center Park and Sproul Plaza to express grief and gain strength in the face of Tuesday’s brutal attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. 

About 300 people gathered at the Peace Wall steps in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park for a multi-faith prayer vigil, which organizers said would begin the healing process in the aftermath of a series of devastating terrorist attacks. 

Those who attended the early evening vigil, many clutching candles, joined hands in prayer and sang spiritual songs. Several city officials, including Mayor Shirley Dean, City Manager Weldon Rucker and councilmembers Linda Maio, Polly Armstrong and Kriss Worthington were present at the event.  

The vigil was led by 20 religious leaders from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist faiths. Prior to the vigil, Pastor Kim Smith of the Trinity United Methodist Church, said the show of solidarity among the faiths was important to bring the community together in a time of spiritual and emotional suffering. 

“The full faith community has much in common and what we have in common is that we pray for peace,” said Smith, who was an organizer of the event. “We believe prayer is action and we’re going to take action here tonight.” 

Many of those in attendance said they were left feeling confused by the attacks and came looking for understanding and support. 

“I felt so helpless at home and wanted to be with other people, to have a community to share this tragedy with,” said Nadja Lazansky, who attended the vigil with her 9-year-old daughter Rachel. “It was very uplifting and personally I feel better.” 

Prior to the vigil, religious leaders offered a special welcome to Iftekhara A. Hai, director of the United Muslims of America. They said his presence was especially significant because of media speculation that the perpetrators of the attack were members of a radical Muslim group.  

Hai, who denounced the attacks as a crime against humanity, said one reason he came to the vigil was to reach out to the larger community because he is concerned that Muslim Americans, who he said are horrified by the attacks, may feel isolated. 

“I as a Muslim American am with you,” Hai said. “Even if it is my Muslim brothers who are responsible.”  

Pastor Marvis Peoples of the Liberty Hill Baptist Church said it is critical for all religious faiths to join in praying for the nation. Peoples said he is concerned about how the United States will respond to the attacks.  

“There will be turbulent days ahead and whatever action is taken it has to be with humanity,” he said. “You can’t fight evil with evil.” 

The Rabbi Ferenc Raj, of Congregation Beth El, said a multi-faith demonstration of peace is critical after a tragedy of such a large scope. “Our prayers are stronger than the bombs and stronger than any terrorist attack,” he said. “We are indeed united and this is the most important thing.”  

*** 

As the Civic Center vigil came to a close, over at Sproul Hall more than 2,000 UC Berkeley students and members of the community gathered for an 8 p.m. candlelight vigil in Sproul Plaza. A series of speakers at the open-mic event mourned the victims, cautioned against the urge to retaliate and asked Americans to consider their own government’s responsibility for the tragedy. 

Mostly, though, they simply and movingly expressed their grief.  

“It says something about us that we can come together and mourn, despite our differences, together as the campus community,” said Wally Adameyo, president of the Associated Students of the University of California. 

Counselors were placed throughout the crowd to speak with people who felt overwhelmed by events. The crowd was told that volunteers with green armbands were there to keep the peace, and to try and mediate any disputes between people that might erupt from the vigil. In the end, there was no need.  

“We’re just trying to provide a forum for people to speak, peacefully,” said Hanna Song, a representative of student government, which had sponsored the vigil. Speakers were told that “profanity, personal attacks and racist remarks would not be allowed.” 

Adayemo was one of the first to speak.  

“This is probably the worst event of our generation, and how we respond to it will define how we are looked at in the future,” said Adameyo. 

“It says something about our generation that we would rather mourn than be violent; we would rather have peace than war.”  

Robert M. Berdahl, chancellor of the UC, read the first stanza of the “Second Coming,” a poem by William Butler Yeats: 

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere  

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;  

The best lack all conviction, while the worst  

Are full of passionate intensity.  

He then read from messages left by mourners on Sproul Plaza Tuesday, and concluded that “Yeats was wrong. The best do not lack conviction, and they are full of passionate intensity.” 

“Let us light these candles tonight with resolve that we will illuminate the ignorance with intelligence, hatred with love. Fiat lux.” 

Other speakers received loud cheers when they denounced the U.S. government for creating an atmosphere of violence in the world. 

“The little terrorists are sick people, and they take their cues from the big terrorists – like the ones that live in the White House,” said a student. 

A man on vacation from New York City said that he had spent the day in shock, but despite his horror he felt he had to put the attack into perspective. 

“Sometimes you forget that this happens every day in other parts of the world,” he said. “It’s what the U.S. government calls ‘state-sponsored terrorism. Well, the chickens have come home to roost.” 

“We need to look around here, where the problem originated.”  

“There was nothing accomplished by the violence today, and there will be nothing accomplished by the state-sponsored violence that is being urged on us.” 

A member of the Students for Justice in Palestine read a statement prepared by the organization today. The SJP, it said, condemned the attacks and stood in solidarity with the victims of violence in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania and Kabul. It also said that “no student of Arab or Middle Eastern dissent should be subjected to harassment because of this.” The SJP member said that she knew that two students wearing head scarves were verbally assaulted on Sproul Plaza Tuesday, and that other students had received “racist and threatening phonecalls.” 

A man who identified himself by saying that he worked in Sproul Hall and was “almost as old as your parents” delivered an apology to the students on behalf of people his age. 

“I’m sorry that my generation gave yours such a violent world,” he said. “You deserve better. Hopefully you’ll be able to do better.” 

 

 


Calendar of Events & Activities

Staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

Wednesday, Sept. 12 

Police Review Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Among other items, the commission will evaluate charges of discrimination and talk about recruitment efforts. 644-6716 

 

Women’s Group 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

“In the Name of Salome” by Julia Alvarez. New members welcome. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Commission on Disability Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

6:30 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Promoting the total integration and participation of persons with disabilities into all areas of economic, political, and community life. 

 

Homeless Commission Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

7 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Discussion regarding enforcement of the Lodging Law, status of UA Homes and the Commission’s work plan for the remainder of the year. 

 

Waterfront Commission Meeting 

Marina Office Conference Room 

7 p.m. 

201 University Ave. 

Discussing Boating and Waterways Loan as well as Water Transit Authority and Prospects for a Berkeley Ferry. 

 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2090 Kittredge St. 

This participatory program for families with children up to age 3 presents multicultural stories, songs and fingerplays as entertainment. 644-6095 

 

Fishbowl: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Opposite Sex, but Were Afraid to Ask 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Dating, relationships, religions, sexuality and values. An opportunity to ask anonymous questions in a confidential and supportive environment. Social and Single. $8. 848-0237 

 

Housing Summit 

1 - 4:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

A panel discusses creative housing solutions for seniors and persons with disabilities. 841-4776 

 

Summit On Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 

7 - 9:30 p.m.  

St. Paul’s AME Church 

2024 Ashby Ave. 

Community Action Team invites members of the Berkeley community to participate with elected officials in this working meeting on racial and ethnic health disparities in Berkeley. 665-6809 

 

Socratic Circle Discussions 

5 - 6 p.m. 

Cafe Eclectica 

1309 Solano Ave. 

Does your brain need a workout? All ages welcome. 527-2344 

 

Topher Delaney: Ten Landscapes 

7:30 p.m. 

Builder’s Booksource 

1817 Fourth St. 

An exploration of her art of gardening and landscape architecture. 

845-6874 www.buildersbooksite.com 

 

Making Additions Match - Avoiding the Tacked-On Look 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Seminar taught by architect/ columnist Arrol Gellner. $35. 

525-7610 

 

A Taste of the World: Cultural Understanding Through Food 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Enhance your cooking skills and experience the cuisines of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and Israel with Chef Daniel Herskovic. All classes are “hands on.” Class includes meal and cooking lesson. $25. Every Wednesday through Nov. 1. 

655-8487 

 

Planning Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Zoning ordinance amendments re: Prohibitions and restrictions related to carry-out or quick service restaurants on San Pablo Ave. Public Hearing. 

981-6900 

Thursday, Sept. 13 

Help Save the West Berkeley Shellmound 

2 p.m. 

U.S. Post Office Building 

201 - 13th St., Oakland 

Bring as many people as possible to make a statement before the Court in Oakland in defense of protective landmark status to the oldest dated mound site in the Bay Area. Landmark status is currently being contested by the industrial property owners who originated this lawsuit against the city of Berkeley. Time and place may change, call ahead to confirm. 841-8562  

 

Joint Design Review Board and Zoning Adjustment Board Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

6:30 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Public Comment on Green Building Initiatives, Workshop on Green Building and follow-up discussion and introduction of draft revision to incorporate green design guidelines. 

Special City Council Meeting 

City Council Chambers 

7 p.m. 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The first of two public hearings to consider proposals to amend Council District boundaries based on the 2000 census figures. This meeting will replace the regular Tuesday night City Council meeting. 

 

Orangutans in the Wild: Travel in Borneo 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Professional photographer and writer Christine Krieg will give a slide show of her travels to the Tanjung Puting National Park on the south coast of Central Kalimantan. Free. 527-4140 

 

Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater 

1930 Allston Way 

Renowned Vietnamese poet, peace activist and Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn will give a public lecture. 433-9928 

People's Park Community  

Advisory Board 

7:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Unit 1 Residence Hall Rec. Room  

2650 Durant Ave. 

Monthly meeting, community invited. The PP CAB reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs, and improvements. 642-7860  

 

Friday, Sept. 14 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: women’s humor. 549-1879 

 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 644-6107 

 

–Compiled by Guy Poole 

 

 


City, schools, university react quickly to attacks

By Judith Scherr, Hank Sims and John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

City officials held what City Manager Weldon Rucker characterized as a mini-Emergency Services meeting Tuesday morning to plan the city response to the attacks in New York and Washington.  

“Operations are open,” Rucker said. “There’s a heightened sense of security.” 

More police officers than usual would be in uniform, Rucker said. Police were preparing for possible local reactions, such as a vigil, which did take place, or a demonstration, which did not. Morning shift police officers came in earlier than usual. 

Additional police patrolled Berkeley High and the middle schools.  

Public works and parks officials were assigned to work around city buildings to be “our eyes and ears,” Rucker said. 

The scheduled City Council meeting was postponed until Thursday. “That would (have been) another area that we would have to secure,” Rucker said. 

The city manager described the situation as an “almost psychological event,” with people possibly reacting in fear. The city’s mental health workers were put on alert. 

City staff reported to work as usual, but Rucker said if any felt they “couldn’t handle it, they can go home.” 

Firefighters were also put on alert, but not on the highest stages of alert. The extra engines were on the ready with nine additional firefighters and additional managers, according to Assistant Fire Chief David Orth. 

A bomb scare at Fourth Street and Virginia Avenue was a false alarm, according to police. 

 

Schools stay open 

City schools remained open. Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence, said they were operating as usual, although all out-of-town field trips were canceled.  

Psychologists were on call in case students needed to talk about the day’s events.  

By 11 a.m., fewer than 10 students had been taken out of school by their parents, Lawrence said.  

Calls to a number of elementary schools revealed that at Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary School the attendance was below normal levels and that some parents had taken their children out of classes. A school secretary said that upper-grade students – those in fifth and sixth grades – were given time in the morning to ask their teachers questions about the attack. 

John Muir, Jefferson and Emerson Primary Schools reported that attendance was at usual levels and classes were being conducted as normal. 

Lawrence said school staff has been thoroughly trained in emergency procedures and that an evacuation plan for each of the schools is in place should it be necessary.  

Matthew Mock, director of children’s mental health services for the city, was out taking the pulse of the schools. And distributing a piece his staff had written on how parents can talk to their children about the events of the day – that includes limiting television-watching, he said. 

“My own (9-year-old) daughter asked if they were going to come and hurt our school,” he said. 

Mock said his child understood that the buildings bombed were very important ones and “for her, (her school is) a very important building.” 

He said he explained to her that it was far away. 

Mock’s hand-out explains that normal reactions to the event in children might be problems going to sleep, reluctance to separate from parents and stomachaches or headaches. 

Children need to be assured about their own safety and that of their parents, the paper advises. Explain the events in a simple way and allow children to talk about what they are feeling about the event. 

 

University closes Sather Tower 

The UC Berkeley campus stayed open on Tuesday, but according to campus spokeswoman Maria Felde professors were given the option of cancelling their classes. 

Captain Bill Cooper of the UC Police Department, said that the campus police had called in eight off-duty officers to work Tuesday, and had increased foot patrols of the campus. 

Only one building on the campus was closed: Sather Tower, popularly known as the Campanile. According to Felde, the tower was closed as a preventative safety measure. 

“Of all the places on campus, the Campanile was the one place that could be a target for someone who wanted to make a statement,” she said. 

Cooper agreed, and said that closing the tower cost the campus little. “It’s a high-profile landmark that’s not used for any academic or administrative functions,” he said. 

 

State shuts down services 

State services were shut down. Workers at the California Department of Health Services on Berkeley Way began leaving the building around 10:30 a.m., as word began to spread that Governor Davis had ordered all “non-essential” state facilities closed. 

Security in the building had been tightened as early as 9 a.m. Two entries in the building were closed, and extra security personnel were posted in the lobby. They were “checking and re-checking everyone coming through,” according to one DHS employee. 

The DHS Berkeley office is home to the agency’s “bioterrorism specialists,” among other functions. Lea Brooks, spokesperson for the department, said that the bioterrorism unit would remain on duty throughout the day, either in the field or at the agency’s new Richmond building, which Brooks described as “super-secure.” 

Outside the Berkeley Way office, Fern Orenstein, a DHS trainer and consultant, met with people from around Northern California who were scheduled to participate in a workshop on AIDS and domestic violence. Orenstein and her partner had decided to cancel the workshop even before she had heard the Berkeley Way building would be closed. 

“We had scheduled a workshop on domestic violence today – I’ll remember that for a long time,” said Orenstein. 

A delivery truck parked outside the south entrance to the building elicited a series of nervous jokes from conference attendees, who stood around outside talking about the crisis before going home. 

 

Hospital is prepared 

Alta Bates/Summit Medical Center was operating Tuesday on “heightened awareness,” with security personnel particularly vigilant – watching “suspicious” people and looking at unusual packages, according to hospital spokesperson Carolyn Kemp.  

Kemp said the day shift was present at the hospital as usual, but staff was anticipating that there may be evening personnel who would not be able to get to the hospital or those who wanted to stay at home with their families.  

 

Hanging out with friends 

Berkeley residents Jason and T.J. Angell, brothers originally from New York, went to the Triple Rock Brewery on Shattuck Avenue to sit with about 20 others who sipped beer and watched news reports on the attacks.  

“We came down here so we could talk to people,” said Jason. “It was very helpful to be with people who were equally anxious and frustrated about this whole thing.” 

The brothers said they were able to verify the whereabouts of almost all of their friends and family except one friend who worked in the World Trade Center. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Bush says terrorists will be brought to justice

Staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

By Tom Raum 

Associated Press Writer 

 

WASHINGTON — President Bush and congressional leaders sought to calm a shaken nation and show the government was functioning and determined after Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attacks. From the Oval Office, Bush pledged to “find those responsible and bring them to justice.” 

As fires still smoldered at the Pentagon less than a mile away, Bush told the nation, “Our way of life, our very freedom, came under attack” when highjacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and severely damaged the Pentagon. 

Administration officials and members of Congress said early evidence pointed to suspected fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden, who has been sheltered in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban rulers denied such suggestions. 

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, cited “strong information” implicating bin Laden. The official said Bush is considering a wide range of military options targeting bin Laden and, perhaps, Afghanistan. 

Retaliation is not imminent, but Bush is determined to act as swiftly as possible, the official said. 

Law enforcement officials trying to piece together a case linking bin Laden to the attacks were focusing some of their efforts on possible bin Laden supporters in Florida. They were aided by an intercept of communications between his supporters and harrowing cell phone calls from victims aboard the jetliners before they crashed. 

“The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger,” Bush said in his Oval Office address. 

Thousands died in the attacks, he said. 

“We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them,” Bush said without elaboration. 

As the president spoke, military police in combat fatigues guarded streets in the center of Washington and patrolled in armored vehicles. Major thoroughfares that normally have a steady flow of cars were almost empty. 

Bush began the day in Florida. For security reasons, he was taken to air bases in Louisiana and Nebraska before returning to Washington at dusk. 

Bush and other top administration officials and congressional leaders of both parties presented a united front in the face of what Attorney General John Ashcroft called “one of the greatest tragedies ever witnessed on our soil.” 

Across the Potomac at the Pentagon, which was still partly ablaze, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said, “The Pentagon is functioning. It will be in business tomorrow.” Officials put the number of dead and wounded at the Pentagon at about 100 or more, with some news reports suggesting it could rise to as many as 800. 

“Make no mistake about it, your armed forces are ready,” said Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., standing at twilight with dozens of other lawmakers on the steps of the Capitol, said it was still not clear who was responsible “but we have our suspicions.” 

“And when that is justified ... we will act. We will stand with this president ... and we will stand as Americans together throughout this time.” 

The lawmakers then sang, “God Bless America.” 

The plane that hit the Pentagon tore through at least three of the rings of the five-ring Pentagon, hitting Navy and Army portions of the building, according to Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. 

“Pieces of the airplane were all over. I can’t see how there would be anything left of the people on the plan, given the crash site, with the fireball and all,” Skelton said after a briefing at the Pentagon. 

Other lawmakers were briefed by law enforcement officials late Tuesday said that knives seemed to be the weapons by the hijackers in three of the four planes, based on cell phone calls. 

Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., said law enforcement officials estimated three to five terrorists were on each plane. 

The fourth hijacked plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, after making a U-turn toward Washington. 

A senior administration official said the plane that crashed near Pittsburgh was viewed at the time as a potential threat to the White House and was a major reason for the evacuation of the presidential mansion shortly before the plane crashed. It was not known whether the White House, or perhaps Camp David in the Maryland mountains near the Pennsylvania border, was indeed the target. 

Hastert and other top congressional leaders were taken to the safety of a government bunker in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, about 75 miles west of Washington. Once the military and the Secret Service issued a green light, the congressional leaders and the president headed back to town. 

“None of us will ever forget this day,” a solemn Bush said in his Oval Office address, which lasted about five minutes. 

Among foreign leaders expressing support and sympathy was Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. officials said. Putin sent Bush “a powerfully friendly communication,” said one official. 

Israel offered a special emergency force designed to deal with the aftermath of a terrorist attack. The unit includes doctors, special technicians and trained dogs. But the administration did not take Israel up on the offer immediately, said Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Regev. 

Earlier, Bush told his national security advisers in a telephone conference, according to spokesman Ari Fleischer, “We will find these people and they will suffer the consequences of taking on this nation. We will do what it takes. No one is going to diminish the spirit of this country.” 

Explosions were heard Tuesday night near Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, but U.S. officials denied any responsibility. “In no way is the U.S. government connected,” Rumsfeld said. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested U.S. officials had knowledge of an interception of a telephone conversation with two affiliates of bin Laden “who acknowledged a couple of targets were hit.” 

In an interview with The Associated Press, he declined to be more specific about the nature of the interception. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said the federal government was making emergency medical supplies available in both New York and Washington, and sending “disaster mortuary response teams” to both scenes. 

The government ordered all civilian air traffic halted until noon Wednesday, at the earliest, after directing all planes in the air to land after the attacks. 

Roads leading out of Washington became clogged with commuters as the government sent home all nonessential workers. Inbound lanes on bridges leading into Washington were closed. Workers traveling out of the city over the Potomac River could see dark plumes of smoke still rising from the Pentagon. 

States of emergency were declared in the District of Columbia and in neighboring Maryland and Virginia. 

The White House was evacuated, as had other top federal buildings, including the Capitol, the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. 

Bush was in Sarasota promoting his education program at the time of the attacks. He took part in telephone conferences with his national security team during the day, and called New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani from his plane. 

Cheney remained in a nearly deserted White House, in a secure basement bunker, with a few other top aides, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. 

Black-uniformed Secret Service agents with machine guns patrolled the White House grounds. Fighter jets circled over the city. 

Bush ordered the nation’s military to “high-alert status.” 

Rumsfeld, in his Pentagon office when a jetliner blasted a gaping hole in the west side of the building, rushed to the scene and helped injured co-workers before seeking the security of a basement command center. 

The plane took out a huge section of one of the Pentagon’s five sides, sending up plumes of black acrid smoke and hampering rescue efforts. 

At the first reports of attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, Bush told his school audience that “we’ve had a national tragedy” and said he had to hurry back to Washington. 

However, he first went to the air base in Louisiana, then to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command. Military fighter jets escorted the presidential aircraft. 

Several lawmakers compared the attacks to the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II. 

The tragedy reached inside the Justice Department, where Solicitor General Theodore Olson learned his wife was aboard the American Airlines jetliner that crashed into the Pentagon. 

Barbara Olson, a former congressional staffer and Republican activist, was headed to Los Angeles and called her husband as her plane was being hijacked, officials said. 

Responding to criticism of the intelligence community for failing to predict the attacks, CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said, “The CIA has worked diligently and relentlessly to try to counter terrorism.” 

“Our resources are being devoted to determining who was responsible for these horrendous attacks,” Mansfield said. 


Professors warn against drawing early conclusions

By Rachel Searles and Jason Allen Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 12, 2001

As government officials and media pundits scrambled to determine who was behind Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many Berkeley-based professors said they were reluctant to draw conclusions, and expressed anger that Arab groups were immediately considered suspect. 

Afghanistan expert Shahwali Ahmadi, Professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Near Eastern Studies, declined to comment on the allegations, angrily slamming the phone down after saying, “You’re automatically assuming that there is a Middle Eastern connection. Call me back when you verify it.” 

“Everybody is in shock,” said Rutie Adler, professor of Hebrew in the Department of Near Eastern Studies. “Because the first thing the American media says is that it’s Palestinians.” 

“It’s like what happened with Oklahoma,” said Adler. Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, rumors were quick to fly that Arab terrorists were behind the attacks. These early allegations later proved unfounded with the arrest of Timothy McVeigh. 

Early Tuesday, Reuters reported that two Arab satellites had received anonymous claims of responsibility from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction. The group’s leader quickly denied any involvement. 

“It’s unlikely” they were involved, said Robert Blecher, a Berkeley resident who is a lecturer in the History Department at Stanford and an expert on the Middle East. The Democratic Front split from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and then distanced itself from the Popular Front after a series of hijackings in the 1970s, he said.  

“I suppose it would be fairly easy to concoct the idea that the Palestinians would want to retaliate for the murder of Abu Ali Mustafa,” said Blecher, referring to a leader of the Popular Front killed last month. However, given their size and profile, its unlikely that either Palestinian group would have been able to execute such a complicated attack, Blecher said. 

By Tuesday afternoon, NBC and CNN reported that government officials had focused speculation on Osama bin Laden because of his role in the 1993 bombing on the World Trade Center. Bin Laden’s group denied the accusations. 

“As an Arab living in this country, I resent that one is always asked to condemn Arab nations,” said Asad Abu Khalil, a fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor at Cal State Stanislaus. “There are always assumptions that Arabs did the deed. They don’t ask Presbyterians to take responsibilities for the actions of all Christians.” 

Abu Khalil said he was reluctant to speculate who might be behind the attacks, but he mentioned that when Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested, he said he had a plan that entailed hijacking five planes. 

“It’s a horrible tragedy,” said Adler. “But as Americans, maybe it will make us look at ourselves. We should realize that this is happening to people other places in the world all the time.” 

“Are we so arrogant as a country that we can’t think what we have done for years and years to make other individuals hate us so much?” added Adler. 

UC Berkeley’s Near Eastern Studies Department was practically deserted, although radios and TVs tuned into the news blared from a few faculty offices. “We aren’t ready to speculate,” said Professor John Hayes. “We’ve all been hassled by the media today.” Department manager Yvonne Rosby said many faculty members had not shown up Tuesday. 

Faculty at UC Berkeley’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies refused interviews, and said that it was too early to issue a statement of response. 

 

 

 

 


Mother of San Francisco victim believes son died a hero

By Michelle R. Smith Associated Press Writer
Wednesday September 12, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO — The mother of a San Francisco man believes her son died a hero aboard one of the airplanes hijacked and destroyed by terrorists. 

Mark Bingham, 31, was sitting in seat 4D in the rear of First Class on United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. The plane crashed into a grassy field outside Pittsburgh, and Bingham’s mother believes he helped prevent the hijackers from reaching their intended target. 

“The fact that he was so close to the action, it is likely that he was able to get at these guys,” Alice Hoglan said. “He was probably close to where the hijackers did their thing. 

“It gives me a great deal of comfort to know my son may have been able to avert the killing of many, many innocent people.” 

Hoglan, a flight attendant for United, described her son as cerebral and sensitive, but also athletic. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and was on the rugby team the year it won a national title, she said. 

He was once attacked on the street in San Francisco and wrestled his attackers to the ground, Hoglan said. 

Federal officials have said the intended target of the plane may have been Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. Flight 93 was the only one of the four planes that missed its target Tuesday. 

Bingham called his mother early Tuesday morning from an airphone on the plane. He began their conversation with the words, “Hi Mom. This is Mark Bingham,” providing a clue to his state of mind as he spoke. 

Hoglan said her son told her the aircraft had been taken over by three men, who said they had a bomb. He mentioned no other weapons. 

She believes the call was made 10 to 15 minutes before the plane crashed. 

Bingham owned a public relations firm, The Bingham Group, with offices in New York and San Francisco. He was splitting his time between the two cities. 

“He was coming home,” Hoglan said. 

Hoglan was surrounded by her son’s friends Tuesday at a relative’s home in Saratoga. 

“He’s a very delightful man,” she said. “I’m pleased that he was my son, and the last thoughts were of his family.” 


Tragedy hits close to home for many of city’s residents

Staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

By Carlos Cruz and Hadas Ragolsky 

Special to the Daily Planet 

 

When her mom woke her up yesterday morning Trish Plunkett feared for the worst. 

“You never want to wake up to your mom crying on the phone,” said the UC Berkeley lecturer. “When I heard her voice I knew something bad had happened. So I prepared myself for bad news.” 

Plunkett’s brother, Rob, works at the World Financial Center connected via a walkway to the World Trade Center’s two towers, which were destroyed Tuesday morning at about 6 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Rob was at work when two hijacked airplanes crashed and demolished the towers in what seems to be a terrorist attack. 

“My brother called my mom and she called me to relay the message,” said Plunkett. “It was early in the morning and I didn’t know what had happened so the whole thing was news to me. He called to tell us not to worry about him.” 

Their relief was short lived. The twin towers collapsed. Plunkett and her mom did not hear from her brother for another 30 minutes. Again, he was okay.  

Thousands of others, however, were not so lucky. It became clear that although the terrorist hits were against buildings in New York and Washington, D.C., the tragedy would spread to Berkeley and the Bay Area as residents here tried to find out what had happened to family and friends who lived or worked in or near the site of the terrorist attacks.  

Employees at the Berkeley office of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter located on Shattuck Avenue were in a state of shock.  

“We don’t have a branch of Morgan Stanley in New York any more, it was blown up,” said one cashier at the Berkeley office. Morgan Stanley’s home base is located at the World Trade Center and Berkeley’s management tried all morning to get in touch with employees, colleagues and customers there.  

“Our headquarters was destroyed,” said Krittibs Ray who works at the Berkeley Morgan Stanley. “It’s extremely evil. All morning long I was on the phone with people from New York. I believe a client of mine died but I don’t know for sure. I tried to call his wife, his son, his daughter but I couldn’t reach anyone.”  

Ray said that he knew of no one from the Berkeley branch that was visiting the New York office.  

“I’ve been in this building so many times,” he said referring to the World Trade Center. “I could have been there myself. It’s extremely depressing.” 

Frankie Ross, financial advisor from the Berkeley branch of Merrill Lynch, said their main office in New York was also destroyed in the attacks.  

“I have friends who work in that building,” he said. “Our chairman, our president, all those people … I’m not sure what the situation is.”  

Kristen Ziazie, a UC Berkeley junior, found out about the attack when her mother called her after her first morning class. 

“When I got home this morning I didn’t know what had happened so when my roommate told me my mom had tried calling all morning I became very scared,” she said. But she too got good news by the end of the morning. Her sister, Sarah, who works five blocks from the World Trade Center, had been spared.  

 

 

 

 

 


Fireman, canine companion flying east to assist in rescue

By Hank Sims Daily Planet staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

Two members of the Berkeley Fire Department are about to fly east to assist in search and rescue operations in either New York or Washington, D.C. 

The two are Darren Bobrosky, an apparatus operator at Fire Station 5 on Shattuck Avenue, and Bobrosky’s partner, a 6-year old, highly-trained German Shephard named Dylan. 

Bobrosky and Dylan are both members of an Urban Search and Rescue team based in Oakland. The team, which works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been placed on alert and is expected to fly out of Travis Air Force Base today. 

Reached at his home Tuesday evening, Bobrosky said that he has been on the phone all day, talking with other members of his team and trying to get solid information about when and where they would be traveling. 

Bobrosky said that while there was no time certain for his departure, all indications were that they would be leaving within 24 hours. 

“I’m nervous, but this is what we’ve been trained to do,” he said. “I just wish we were going right now.” 

Throughout Bobrosky’s conversation with the Daily Planet, Dylan could be heard woofing in the background. 

“He’s ready to roll,” Bobrosky said. 

USAR teams are special task forces organized by FEMA to assist in rescue operations when a major emergency – an earthquake or other natural catastrophe, or a terrorist attack – strikes an American city. Each team has 56 members, which include structural engineers, paramedics and radio operators as well as dog handlers. Every member of a USAR team has been certified by FEMA as an emergency response specialist.  

Bobrosky said that there are only 100 dogs in the country to have undergone the rigorous training – which can take several years – that urban search dogs receive. He said that Dylan has been trained specifically to “recognize the scent of live human beings” through as much as 100 feet of rubble, and to give a distinctive bark when he does.  

“The dogs do this job better than any kind of machinery, or technology,” Bobrosky said. “They’re as close to 100 percent accurate as you can get.” 

Though they have been certified USAR specialists for three and one-half years, this will be the first emergency that Bobrosky and Dylan will have worked on. Bobrosky said that Dylan didn’t require much equipment – a harness to lower him into broken concrete, a blanket to keep him warm – but that what he needed was packed and ready to go. 

“We’re as prepared as we can get, and we are ready to help,” he said. 

Bobrosky credited the Berkeley Fire Department for its support of his emergency rescue work. He approached the BFD about developing a canine search capability several years ago and he said that the department has supported him throughout his training.  

“I appreciate all the support that he BFD has given to me and to the USAR,” he said.


Pearl Harbor comparisons may be off base

By Chris O’Connell Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 12, 2001

Early reports of casualties resulting from Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon brought quick comparisons to the attack on Pearl Harbor that thrust the United States into World War II.  

Historians and public policy experts, however, say the attacks differ in many ways. Most notably, they say, there is no immediate and apparent enemy to retaliate against.  

Early reports suggesting more than 10,000 dead as a result of the attacks also exceed the 2,390 people who died at Pearl Harbor. 

One thing that is apparent, however, is the momentum building for reprisals against those who perpetrated the acts. 

“If there have been 10,000 people killed, the response is going to be ‘let’s find the guys and clobber them,’” said Michael Nacht, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Policy and a former member of the National Security Council under the Clinton Administration. 

President Bush’s statement proved Nacht correct. “(We’ll) hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts,” Bush said. 

Diane Clemens, UC Berkeley professor of history, compared Pearl Harbor to Tuesday’s attack. Pearl Harbor “was the attack of an organized government under the regular rules of war,” she said. 

However, the attacks Tuesday morning were by an “unseen, unknown, undeclared enemy on American soil against American citizens,” Clemens said. It was “much more heinous than traditional warfare.”  

This, she said, makes swift action similar to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s request for a declaration of war against the Japanese the day after Pearl Harbor almost impossible. 

“Immediately after Pearl Harbor, a state of war was in existence, much like now. Then, the day after, Congress simply declared war. A de facto state of war was brought into existence, but it’s not locatable.” 

On the other hand, speaking to CNN, Senator Chuck Hagel, of Nebraska, underscored what he saw as the similarities between Tuesday’s events and the attack on the U.S. Naval base the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, calling them a “second Pearl Harbor.” 

Nacht thought that such comparisons with Pearl Harbor are mistaken. 

“It’s not a very good analogy,” he said. “This is different. We are not at war with any sovereign government. It may take forever,” to find the party responsible for the actions. 

“This is a highly diversified and fractional threat, and it’s here.” 

Because the group or groups which perpetrated the hijackings of the four planes are probably loosely organized, Nacht said any future attempts to prosecute them in an international tribunal will be very difficult. 

“You’d be very hard pressed to find the evidence you need to say ‘We’ve got it, let’s go get them.’” 

Barbara Metcalf, professor of history at UC Davis, said that the instinct to blame and vilify must be avoided. “We should be cautious about pointing fingers, not the least because we don’t know who the enemy was.” 

Metcalf, who teaches Muslim studies said that she most feared reprisals against certain communities similar to Japanese Americans interred during World War II. 

“The worst thing that could happen is that everybody assumes this is an Islamic group.” 


Airport screeners on the bottom of the employment heap

Gina Comparini Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 12, 2001

The terrorist attacks that closed airports here and across the nation came at a time when the Service Employees International Union has a major drive underway to organize luggage screeners at Oakland, Seattle-Tacoma and Los Angeles International Airports. 

“It’s hard to comment right now, this is such a tragedy,” said SEIU organizer Andrea Dehlendorf as she watched the news of the explosions from her home in the East Bay. 

Screeners are the first line of resistance against terrorist attacks that originate at airports. From 1990 to 1999, screeners located nearly 23,000 firearms and explosive devices, resulting in more than 9,400 arrests, according to a June 2000 U.S. General Accounting Office report to Congress on airport security. 

An estimated 18,000 screeners work at the nation’s airports, employed by almost 100 different security companies, according to the GAO. 

SEIU is targeting approximately 400 workers on the West Coast employed by Huntleigh USA, a subcontractor of Southwest Airlines. About 100 of those workers are at Oakland Airport, Dehlendorf said. 

Many of Huntleigh’s security employees, who make as little as $7 an hour and do not receive benefits, are responsible for everything from detecting explosives in luggage to screening boarding passengers for hand weapons, according to the union. 

The Federal Aviation Administration and airlines share the responsibility of screening passengers and carry-on baggage and the agency has long expressed concerns about the screeners’ ability to detect dangerous objects. In a June 2000 report to Congress on airport security, the GAO noted serious concerns by airline regulators about the impact of low pay, poor training and high turnover on this workforce.  

“Not only has turnover been an historical problem, but it is worse today than it was in the past,” the GAO said, noting that in 1994 the turnover at some U.S. airports was 100 percent in a 10-month period. The federal watchdog agency said high turnover rates mean that “checkpoints are rarely staffed by screeners with much experience,” reflecting both the low pay and monotony of the job. Screeners “who do not have the necessary knowledge, skills, or abilities to perform the work effectively” are often expected to work for wages lower than those paid in some airport fast food restaurants, the GAO said. 

Over the past three years, the SEIU has successfully organized Globe and Argenbright employees at Los Angeles International Airport, Dehlendorf said, adding that those workers now earn $9 an hour and receive benefits. She said Huntleigh is resisting the union and has refused to speak to SEIU officials. 

Officials at Huntleigh USA could not be reached immediately for comment, and Brandi King a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines headquarters in Dallas said the carrier could not comment about the wages Huntleigh pays security workers. 

But SEIU officials have maintained that the carriers themselves do have responsibility for how their subcontracted employees are paid. “Those workers are providing a service to Southwest,” Dehlendorf said following a Labor Day weekend rally at Oakland Airport that drew more than 100 picketers. “Working conditions directly affect Southwest, so they should care.” 

“Our position all along has been that wage and benefit standards for the workers who are responsible for security at airports are substandard,” Dehlendorf said. “We just hope that there are people who will listen to the screeners, who have a lot of suggestions about how they can do their job better.”


Former Secretary of State Shultz: ‘retaliate vigorously’

Staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

STANFORD (AP) — Former Secretary of State George Shultz said the United States should respond aggressively to Tuesday’s terrorist attacks and must not let them change the nation’s way of life. 

“This is an act of war by somebody,” said Shultz, who was President Reagan’s secretary of state from 1982 to 1989 and now is a fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. 

Shultz said he expected the nation will find out soon who was responsible for organizing the attack. 

“I think we should retailiate vigorously ... making it as clear as possible to the people who do this the cost is going to be very high,” he said. 

Shultz also said the United States needs to strengthen its intelligence-gathering abilities overseas. 

“We have to look to the quality of our human intelligence. An awful lot of terrorist incidents don’t take place because of intelligence that allows you to do something about it,” he said. 

“Human intelligence is hard, it’s something that doesn’t come easily for us. You find yourself associating with some unseemly characters. It’s a tough kind of business.” 

Shultz said that while he was in office, national security experts were more concerned about terrorist acts against Americans overseas than on U.S. soil. But while Tuesday’s attackers “did something that was unexpected, turning commercial airplanes into bombs, I and many others have been saying it’s a tough world out there.” 

Even so, he added: “It’s important that we not allow this to disrupt our lives unnecessarily. And I don’t think it will. We’re resourceful, dynamic people.” 


Arab-Americans report threats in wake of attacks

Staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

By Erica Werner  

Associated Press Writer 

 

LOS ANGELES – Arab- and Muslim-American groups in California reported threats and outbursts of hatred on Tuesday in response to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. 

“We have been receiving very intense threats on our answering machines at our offices,” said Michel Shehadeh, West Coast regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “It’s from people we don’t know. They don’t know who we are. They just targeted us because we are an American-Arab organization, and that is the scary part. 

“We feel very vulnerable right now.” 

California is home to an estimated 750,000 to 1 million Arab-Americans, more than any other state, though Michigan has a higher concentration, Arab-American groups say. There are 5 million to 6 million Arab-Americans in the country. 

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Bush administration officials said Saudi exile Osama bin Laden was their top suspect. Arab- and Muslim-American groups in California unanimously condemned the attacks, but feared they would be targeted in reprisal. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says more than 200 Arab- and Muslim-Americans were victimized after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by Army veteran Timothy McVeigh. 

Shehadeh said his group had received dozens of messages containing death threats, obscenities and racial slurs. The Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, the Islamic Networks Group in San Jose and other groups reported similar calls. 

Gov. Gray Davis cautioned against such a response, saying, “We do not want Americans turning on Americans. We do not want reprisals within our borders.” 

FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said the agency was not investigating any specific incidents but that threats against the Arab-American community had been foreseen. 

Southern California’s oldest mosque, the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, shut its doors Tuesday morning for everything but prayers and requested police protection. 

The center also closed its four elementary and middle schools in Southern California, sending 500 students home until Thursday at the earliest, said Omar Ricci, spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council. 

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. It may be under the cover of darkness that someone’s going to try and come and do something,” Ricci said. 

In Northern California, Santa Clara County officials were investigating a series of threats against a Pakistani market, said Jim McEntee, director of human relations. 

The Arab-American Congress of Silicon Valley condemned the attacks in a statement and called for a swift government response. 

“Finally, the Arab-American Congress of Silicon Valley is calling upon all media to please refrain from speculation about who may be responsible, and to remind their audiences that the victims of today’s action, in all likelihood, include Americans of Arab descent,” the statement said. 


Attacks send wave of fear through California

By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press Writer
Wednesday September 12, 2001

Californians abandoned offices, raced home to families and prayed for victims in a wave of fear, anxiety and grief after four airliners bound for the state were hijacked Tuesday and turned into devastating terrorist weapons in attacks in the East. 

Landmarks from San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid to Disneyland were shuttered, and security was heightened from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Mexican border. Airports were closed and evacuated, stranding travelers. 

The San Ysidro port of entry east of San Diego, the world’s busiest land border crossing, was closed for nearly two hours Tuesday night following a bomb threat, said Lauren Mack a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service office in San Diego. It was reopened after a sweep by bomb-sniffing dogs turned up nothing. 

Traffic at the crossing backed up into Tijuana, Mexico, earlier Tuesday as federal agents carefully searched each northbound vehicle before letting it through. 

The state remained free of attacks, but an emotional wound was opened as the enormity of the destruction at New York City’s World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the vulnerability of the nation became apparent. 

“They brought America to our knees and it scares the hell out of me,” traveler Beth Tabler of San Diego said at Lindbergh Field, where her flight to Cleveland was canceled. 

“It’s beyond comprehension,” said George Straight, a loan officer in Tustin. “The actual effect of the attack, the loss of life is beyond comprehension.” 

Three of the hijacked flights were bound for Los Angeles and one was headed to San Francisco. Officials expected the passenger lists would show many Californians. 

“This is a time for prayer and for coming together as a country,” Gov. Gray Davis told a press conference in West Sacramento. 

Richard Garcia, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, said the agency did not know who was involved in the attacks but had collected a “massive” amount of information. 

“We did not have any specific information on any threats dealing with the West Coast, but we also didn’t have any information about the East Coast,” Garcia said. 

The daily hum of California life came to an abrupt halt: Theme parks closed down and planned public gatherings such as the Latin Grammys, scheduled Tuesday night in Inglewood, next Sunday’s Emmy Awards and sporting events were postponed. 

Local military bases were under heightened alert. Special measures were taken to protect California’s electrical grid, water distribution system and key bridges, Davis said. 

California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick said authorities had received threats in the state “but none of them have been verified so we are not aware of any real threat to our people.” 

Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid were among facilities and buildings closed as the attacks sent shock waves the length of the state. Both were among sites mentioned as possible targets in a recent terrorism trial in Los Angeles. The roads and terminals of Los Angeles International, which handles more than 67 million passengers a year, were eerily silent after the morning evacuation. 

Only two or three families of crash victims came to Red Cross grievance counselors, spokeswoman Lourdes del Rio Valdes said. Red Cross officials also said they were setting up a shelter for stranded travelers who didn’t have hotel rooms. 

Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla, speaking for the city leadership because Mayor James Hahn was stranded in Washington, said authorities had received “no credible threats” against the city. Police Chief Bernard Parks sought to reassure citizens but he had to concede uncertainty. 

“We certainly have no guarantees, but we’re certainly looking at all of the precautionary measures to ensure that the community is as safe as possible,” Parks said. 

Security cordons were established around federal, state and local government buildings. Coast Guard vessels escorted ships entering California ports. Landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge remained open but security was heightened. 

“It’s unbelievable, it’s like a movie,” sheriff’s Deputy Mazen Barbari said while standing guard in front of San Francisco City Hall. 

California Highway Patrol officers, sheriff’s deputies and heavily armed FBI agents wearing bullet proof vests dotted the perimeter of the Federal Building in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. A police helicopter circled overhead. 

Norma Gonzales, a UCLA Medical Center worker, waited anxiously for her car pool back to her home in San Bernardino. 

“I want to go home and be with my baby. It’s like Pearl Harbor,” she said. 

The pandemonium at ground zero of the attacks was more than 40-year-old Virginia Roberts could take as she stared, transfixed, at a TV at an Irvine gas station. 

“I just want to go home,” she said. “I’m scared. I’m scared for everybody,” Roberts said. 

“I just want to go home because I don’t feel safe here,” Elaine Galicia, office assistant for state Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Commerce, said as officer workers filed out of the Capitol in Sacramento. 

Downtown Los Angeles’ business core emptied rapidly, leaving few people other than security guards by late morning. A recorded phone message at the Building Owners and Managers Association said that by 10:30 a.m. more than 60 Los Angeles-area buildings had closed. 

“It’s a ghost town, man,” cab driver Adrian Escalante said as he waited in vain with other cabbies for fares on Grand Avenue. 

“There’s so many ways we’re vulnerable; that’s what’s frightening,” guitarist Eric Henderson said as he waited at Los Angeles’ Union Station for a train home to Laguna Beach. 

Californians also responded to a call for blood donations, with hundreds lining up at a San Francisco center. 

As phalanxes of television sets broadcast terrible scenes into an Orange County electronics store, Dennis Loi, 35, could only shake his head. 

“I’m nervous. What’s next? What is going to happen next?” he said. “That’s all I can think about.” 


Attacks may push teetering U.S. economy into recession

By Martin Crutsinger AP Economics Writer
Wednesday September 12, 2001

WASHINGTON — The terror attacks in the nation’s business and government capitals may well push the teetering economy into recession, analysts suggested. The Federal Reserve said it stood ready to pump extra money into the economy if needed to try to avert such a development. 

The Fed’s promise to supply additional money to the banking system was similar to a pledge it issued on the morning after the October 1987 stock market crash. That action, only two months into Alan Greenspan’s tenure as chairman, was credited with keeping the economy out of recession. 

However, private analysts said the Fed’s magic of lower interest rates and ample supplies of cash to the banking system may not be enough to overcome Tuesday’s series of attacks, which occurred at a time when the economy was already struggling and consumer confidence was faltering. 

“The economy has been on a high-wire act straddling between a recession and anemic growth. Now the terrorists have cut the wire underneath our feet,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. “The United States and the rest of the world are likely to experience a full-blown recession now.” 

The concern is that consumers will cut back further on their spending. 

Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity. Even before Tuesday’s attacks, signs of trouble were evident as Americans grew more worried about their jobs with each new rash of layoff announcements. 

The government had reported last Friday that the unemployment rate shot up to 4.9 percent in August as job losses in manufacturing climbed above 1 million. 

The overall economy grew by just 0.2 percent in the April-June quarter, the poorest showing in eight years. Before the terrorist attacks, many analysts had been forecasting a rebound to around 1.5 percent growth in the gross domestic product for the current quarter, helped by seven interest rate cuts from the Fed and nearly $40 billion in tax rebate money being mailed to Americans. 

But economists said the terror attacks, in addition to hurting consumer confidence, could disrupt the economy in a variety of ways, including severely curtailing air travel, which especially would harm areas that depend on tourism. 

“There is no economic good that comes out of this. It is just a question of how bad will it be,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. “It is now likely we will get a negative GDP number for the third quarter, given all of the economic disruptions that this is creating with a shutdown of the transportation system and the financial markets.” 

The Fed’s promise to supply extra money to the banking system is an attempt to assure depositors that no bank will get caught without adequate resources to meet its normal operating needs. 

Zandi predicted the Fed would follow that with further cuts in interest rates. 

The Fed already had reduced its key benchmark rate, the federal funds rate, seven times so far this year, the last cut occurring at its Aug. 21 meeting. 

The Fed next meets on Oct. 2 although some analysts said the central bank may feel a need to deliver a positive jolt to markets with an intermeeting rate cut, something it has already done twice this year. 

Greenspan, who had been attending a banking conference in Basel, Switzerland, was on a plane returning to the United States when the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center occurred. His commercial flight, along with other international flights to the United States, was diverted. A Basel police official said Greenspan’s flight had returned to Switzerland. 

Fed spokesman Dave Skidmore said Greenspan was on the ground at a location he refused to disclose for security reasons. Skidmore said Greenspan was being kept fully apprised of developments through a monitoring team assembled at Fed headquarters in Washington operating under the direction of Fed Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson. 

William McDonough, president of the Fed’s New York regional bank, who was with Greenspan at the Switzerland conference of the Bank for International Settlements, said Fed officials were striving to make sure essential banking operations were not disrupted. 

“The New York Fed will make every effort to conduct business as normal,” McDonough said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires. “I am sure that central bankers everywhere will do everything possible to maintain calm and seek to ensure the world economy functions smoothly in the face of this horrendous deed.” 

As the Fed sought to reassure the country that the nation’s banking system was safe, Harvey Pitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, issued a statement saying that the closing of financial markets on Tuesday was a “temporary phenomenon. Trading will resume as soon as it is practicable to do so.” 

Officials said late Tuesday that the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market and the American Stock Exchange would remain closed at least through Wednesday. 

 


Attacks could have long-term impact on world markets

By Carole-Anne Elliott Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 12, 2001

While most people are thinking about the tragic loss of life during the events Tuesday, some are looking at what the loss will mean to the U.S. economy. 

It will take generations to replace skills lost of workers killed Tuesday, one expert said. “Those are very specialized people,” said Richard K. Lyons, professor of finance and economics at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. 

The Berkeley offices of Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley had major offices at the World Trade Center. Other financial corporations among the 63 registered security brokers at the World Trade Center include Charles Schwab, Raymond James and Dean Witter Reynolds. 

“Even if we get the stock exchange up and running,” said Lyons, “building up that stock of people and skills is a generational thing. That’s the longer term impact.” 

The American Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market all closed Tuesday after the tragedy. Markets were to remain closed for a second day today, an occurrence not seen since President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, said Andrew Leckey, director of the business reporting program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Officials “didn’t want to start up the other markets with just chaos reigning,” Leckey said. 

According to CNN’s Financial Network, futures of Standard & Poor’s 500 index, Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all fell just before the markets were closed. Abroad, markets plunged in Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and London; stocks in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Mexico also fell, the network reported. 

What the effect of the attacks will be on the markets, said Alan Auerbach, chair of UC Berkeley’s economics department, is “hard to know.” 

“If we got into a phase of having substantially reduced international trade because there’s a lot of pressure to protect international shipping and international flights,” then the markets could be harmed for some time Auerbach said. 

But some experts think the markets will be able to rebound. “The market always surprises you,” Leckey said. “It’s something that people will work very hard to get up and running again.” 


City attorney upholds bicycle restrictions

By John GeluardiDaily Planet staff
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Two years after a Critical Mass ride ended in eight arrests and 36 citations on the University Avenue overpass, the City Council will review an opinion by the city attorney tonight, which upholds the prohibition of bicycle traffic on the span. 

On Feb. 13, the council requested the city attorney’s opinion on the recommendation of the Police Review Commission, which investigated bicyclists’ complaints of police misconduct during the arrests.  

The PRC did not find any evidence of police misconduct, but, based on the opinion of local attorney David Beuvais, did recommend the council verify the legality of prohibiting bicyclists on the University Avenue overpass, the Solano Tunnel and the Ashby Underpass.  

The PRC also requested the Berkeley Police Department be required to write police reports on all accidents involving automobiles and bicycles whether there’s an injury or not.  

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque discounted Beuvais’ interpretation of the law. In her June 1 opinion, she cited the 1952 Grade-Separation Law, part of the Berkeley Municipal Code, and argued that bicycle traffic is legally prohibited on the roadways in question.  

City Manager Weldon Rucker agreed with the city attorney in a September staff report. 

“The concern of the city is the safety of bicyclists,” he wrote, “(and) all of the specified roadways are dangerous for bicyclists.”  

The report also points out that the Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, which is near completion, will provide a safe route across the freeway back and forth from the Berkeley Marina. 

Director of the Bicycle Civil Liberties Union Jason Meggs said the city attorney’s ruling presents a problem because the almost-50-year-old Grade-Separation Law, which prohibits bicycles on the overpass, is written to cover any street that passes over another. 

“According to the letter of the law, the new bicycle and pedestrian bridge would be illegal for bicyclists and pedestrians because it passes over the freeway,” said Meggs who wrote a proposal to rescind the law. Meggs said the law also applies to several other roadways in Berkeley.  

But Deputy City Attorney Matt Orebic said the Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge will not be affected by the law because the grade separation law specifically refers to “streets” and the bridge is not considered a street. 

“The only way to interpret this law is by common sense,” Orebic said, “and it’s clear the bridge won’t require an amendment to the Grade Separation Law.” 

In addition the PRC asked that the BPD be required to Grade Separation Law.” 

In addition the PRC asked that the BPD be required to write police reports on all accidents involving cars and bicycles including non-injury accidents.  

The city manager said in the September staff report that Berkeley police are currently required to write reports on all injury accidents including those involving bicyclists. But the report said the police do not have the resources to write reports on non-injury accidents. 

“Expanding report requirements to non-injury accidents would place an undue burden on the patrol fleet and remove officers from patrol duties in order to accomplish this task,” the report said. 

Meggs, who said he was recently involved in an accident with a tow truck while riding his bicycle, said he was skeptical of the city manager’s reasoning. 

“That’s a convenient excuse,” he said. “When someone is assaulting you with a deadly weapon, you better believe there needs to be a report written.” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he had not yet taken a stance on the city attorney’s opinion. However, he did say the city needs to work harder to be friendly to bicyclists and transit users.  

“The city gives lip service to having a transit first policy but there are hundreds of little impediments that discourage people from using bicycles and public transportation.”


Guy Poole
Tuesday September 11, 2001


Tuesday, Sept. 11

 

City Council meeting 

7 p.m. 

Old City Hall 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

 

Ecology of Mediterranean  

Climate Streams 

5:15 - 6:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

212 O’Brien Hall 

Part of the California Colloquium on Water lecture series. Vincent H. Rash, professor of entomology and parasitology will give a lecture including questions and answers. 642-2666 lvida@library.berkeley.edu 

 

Berkeley Housing Authority Homeownership Program 

4 - 6 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Town Hall Meeting, find out what the Section 8 Homeownership Program means to you. 548-8776 

 

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. 525-3565 

 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street.. 548-3333 

 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every  

Tuesday. 655-8863 

 

Dateline: Israel 2001: A Middle East Update 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Informative and timely presentation on the current situation in the Middle East with Professor Ze’ev Brinner. 848-0237 

 

Nutrition talk 

11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

City Nutritionist Natalie Krelle-Zepponi will speak about farm-fresh foods. 644-6107 

 

Freedom From Tobacco: A Quit Smoking Class 

6 - 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Free to Berkeley residents and employees. 644-6422 quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

 

Free Legal Workshop 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave.  

“Too Sick to Work: Cash Assistance and Health Insurance if Cancer Prevents You from Working.” This workshop will provide information about state and federal disability programs that provide cash benefits and health insurance to people unable to work due to a serious health condition.  

601-4040 x303 

 


Wednesday, Sept. 12

 

 

Police Review Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Among other items, the commission will evaluate charges of discrimination and talk about recruitment efforts. 644-6716 

 

Women’s Group 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. 

“In the Name of Salome” by Julia Alvarez. New members welcome. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Commission on Disability  

Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

6:30 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Promoting the total integration and participation of persons with disabilities into all areas of economic, political, and community life. 

 

Homeless Commission Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

7 p.m. 

1901 Heast Ave. 

Discussion regarding enforcement of the Lodging Law, status of UA Homes and the Commission’s work plan for the remainder of the year. 

 

Waterfront Commssion  

Meeting 

Marina Office Conference Room 

7 p.m. 

201 University Ave. 

Discussing Boating and Waterways Loan as well as Water Transit Authority and Prospects for a Berkeley Ferry. 

 

Fishbowl: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Opposite Sex, but Were Afraid to Ask 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Dating, relationships, religions, sexuality and values. An opportunity to ask anonymous questions in a confidential and supportive environment. Social and Single. $8. 848-0237 

 

Socratic Circle Discussions 

5 - 6 p.m. 

Cafe Eclectica 

1309 Solano Ave. 

Does your brain need a workout? All ages welcome. 527-2344 

 

Topher Delaney: Ten  

Landscapes 

7:30 p.m. 

Builder’s Booksource 

1817 Fourth St. 

An exploration of her art of gardening and landscape architecture. 

845-6874 www.buildersbooksite.com 

 

Making Additions Match - Avoiding the Tacked-On Look 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Seminar taught by  

architect/ columnist Arrol Gellner. $35. 525-7610 

 

A Taste of the World: Cultural Understanding Through Food 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Enhance your cooking skills and experience the cuisines of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and Israel with Chef Daniel Herskovic. All classes are “hands on.” Class includes meal and cooking lesson. $25. Every Wednesday through Nov. 1. 655-8487 

 

Planning Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Zoning ordinance amendments re: Prohibitions and restrictions related to carry-out or quick service restaurants on San Pablo Ave. Public Hearing. 

981-6900 

 


Thursday, Sept. 13

 

 

Help Save the West Berkeley Shellmound 

2 p.m. 

U.S. Post Office Building 

201 - 13th St., Oakland 

Bring as many people as possible to make a statement before the Court in Oakland in defense of protective landmark status to the oldest dated mound site in the Bay Area. Landmark status is currently being contested by the industrial property owners who originated this lawsuit against the city of Berkeley. Time and place may change, call ahead to confirm: 841-8562  

 

Joint Design Review Board and Zoning Adjustment Board Meeting 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

6:30 p.m. 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Public Comment on Green Building Initiatives, Workshop on Green Building and follow-up discussion and introduction of draft revision to incorporate green design guidelines. 

 

Special City Council Meeting 

City Council Chambers 

7 p.m. 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The first of two public hearings to consider proposals to amend Council District boundaries based on the 2000 census figures. 

 

Orangutans in the Wild: Travel in Borneo 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Professional photographer and writer Christine Krieg will give a slide show of her travels to the Tanjung Puting National Park on the south coast of Central Kalimantan. Free. 527-4140 

 

Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater 

1930 Allston Way 

Renowned Vietnamese poet, peace activist and Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn will give a public lecture. 433-9928 

 


Friday, Sept. 14

 

 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: women’s humor. 549-1879 

 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 

 


Saturday, Sept. 15

 

 

The 2001 International Coastal Cleanup 

9 a.m. - noon 

Sea Breeze Market and Deli 

Corner of W. Frontage Rd. and University Ave. 

Last year, more than 1,030 volunteers picked up 30 tons of garbage in the Berkeley area. .Please arrive promptly at 9 a.m. to sign appropriate waivers, free cup of coffee and safety talk. 644-8623 www.oceanconservancy.org 

 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class 

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. 

997 Cedar St. 

Basic personal preparedness class. Free to residents 18 or older who Berkeley. 644-8736 

 


New hope for new ally

Richard Berkeley Berkeley
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Editor: 

I was so happy to read Richard Register’s letter in the Daily Planet. His appreciation of the sunrise and simultaneous “... Bay waters in view shimmering in bright turquoise and teal,” from the roof deck of his new home, the Gaia Building, really gave me new hope. 

For it is certain that anyone as sensitive as Mr. Register to the aesthetic value and health benefits of sunlight will fight tooth-and-claw, with every weapon at their disposal, and to the very death, to defeat the proposed 5-story building at the corner of Acton and University. As the proposal will of course take one-half of every day’s sunlight from the homes of the poor who live at Erna P. Harris Court, directly west of the proposal. 

Welcome to the fight, Mr. Register. And I am as pleased as you that nobody can, any longer, call you “hypocrite”! 

Richard Berkeley 

Berkeley 


Staff
Tuesday September 11, 2001

 

Albatross Pub Sept. 11: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; Sept. 13: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 19: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro, performance showcase with open mike. Sept. 17: Marc Hofstadter (book party); Sept. 24: Jim Watson-Gove; All shows free, 7 - 10 p.m. 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 16: 7 p.m. Tania Libertad, $18 - $30; Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212 tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; Sept. 3: 2 - 8 p.m. Big West Coast Harmonica Bash, afternoon benefit for Red Archibald. $10 donation; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

 

Freight & Salvage Sept. 11: Don Walser, Slaid Cleaves, $16.50; Sept. 12: Andy Irvine, $17.50; Sept. 13: Piper Heisig birthday revue and fund raiser w/ Kate Brislin, Sylvia Herold, Tony Marcus, Carlos Reyes, and Radim Zenkl, $16.50; Sept. 14: Ray Wylie Hubbard, $16.50; Sept. 15: Vocolot, $17.50; All shows start at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

 

Jupiter Sept. 11: Len Patterson Trio; Sept. 12: Bitches Brew; Sept. 13: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Sept. 14: Carlos Washington & Giant People Ensemble; Sept. 15: Kooken & Hoomen; Sept. 18: The Goodbye Flowers; Sept. 19: New Monsoon; Sept. 20: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Sept. 21: Netwerk: Electric; Sept. 22: New Garde Philosophers; All music starts at 8 p.m. 2181  

Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

 

La Peña Cultural Center Sept. 11 & 12: 8 p.m. Irakere, $22; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 www.lapena.org 

 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church Sept. 15: George Brooks and Shweta Jhaveri with Uttam Chakraborty on drums. $18 - $25; 2727 College Ave. 843-9600 www.harmoniventures.com 

 

Sedge Thomson’s West Coast Live Radio Show Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave.; Sept. 29: Nancy Miford, author of “Savage Beauty.” West African folk music with The Nigerian Brothers. Blues roots piano by Caroline Dahl. The Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. All shows 10 a.m. - noon. 252-9214 www.wcl.org 

 

Squelched.com Presents “Jim Short” Sept. 11: 8 p.m. Jim Short is an Australian expatriate who grew up in Texas. Also appearing: Rob Cantrell, Luke Filose and Sean Keane. Blake’s on Telegraph, 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 show@squelched.com 

 

“Hecho En Califas Chicano-Latino Teatro Festival”  

Sept. 14 - 15; 8 p.m. Original members of El Teatro de La Esperanza. Chicano Theater began out of the need to express the realities of the fields and barrios of Aztlán in the Chicano-Latino community. $10 - $20 La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, 849-2568, www.lapena.org  

 

“Winesburg, Ohio: Tales of the Grotesque” through Sept. 16, Wed. - Sat. 8:30 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. The Shotgun Players and Word For Word team up for a production of Sherwood Anderson’s deceptively simple tale of neglected souls who fade into the shadows around us. $22, Wednesdays are “Pay What You Can.” Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave. 655-0813 www.shotgunplayers.org 

“The Secret Garden” Sept. 14, 15, 21, 22, at 8 p.m. Sept. 16 & 23 matinees. The Alameda Civic Light Opera’s fifth summer season ends with the musical of Frances Hodson Burnett’s classic story of life, death, purpose and hope. Adults $22, Students 18 and under $14. Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central Ave., Alameda. www.aclo.com 

 

“36 Views” Sept. 12 through Oct. 28: Tues. 8 p.m., Wed. 7 p.m., Thu. 8 p.m. w/ 2 p.m. matinee every other Thu., Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 8 p.m. w/ 2 p.m. matinee every other Sat., Sun. 2 p.m., 8 p.m. Written by Naomi Lizuka, Directed by Mark Wing-Davey. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

 

“Murder Dressed in Satin” by Victor Lawhorn, ongoing. A mystery-comedy dinner show at The Madison about a murder at the home of Satin Moray, a club owner and self-proclaimed socialite with a scarlet past. Dinner is included in the price of the theater ticket. $47.50 Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison St., Oakland. 239-2252 www.acteva.com/go/havefun 

 

Cal Performances Sept. 19 - 20: 8 p.m. American Ballet, “Bruch Violin Concerto,” “Jabula,” “Gong,” and “Black Tuesday.”; Sept. 21: 8 p.m., Sept. 22: 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sept. 23: 3 p.m. American Ballet, the full-length 19th Century “Giselle” $36 - $64; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph, 642-0212, tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

 

Films 

 

Pacific Film Archive Sept. 10: 7 p.m. “Orfeu”, Sept. 11: 7:30 p.m. “The Film of Maya Deren”; Sept. 12 7:30 p.m. “Autrian AudioVisions”; Sept. 14: 7:30 “Eyes of the Spider”, 9:20 “Serpent’s Path”; Sept. 15: 4:30 p.m. “The New God”, 7:00 p.m. “Seance”, 9:05 p.m. “Looking for Angel”; Sept. 16: 3:30 p.m. “Alphaville”, 5:30 p.m. “Solaris”; Sept. 17: 7 p.m. “Charcoal People”; Sept. 18: 7:30 p.m. “Mike Kuchar’s Feverish Spell”; Sept. 19: 7:30 p.m. “Wht About Me: The Rise of the Nihilist Spasm Band”; general admission $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

 

The Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Cinema Sept. 15: “Harold and Maude”; Sept. 22: “Airplane”; The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. $5 donation. Movies start at 7 p.m. 901 Gilman St. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

 

Exhibits 

 

“Ten Years Here” Exhibit celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Turn of the Century Fine Arts. Through Sept. 14, Sat & Sun 1-5 p.m. 2510 San Pablo Avenue 849-0950 

 

“The Political Art of: Diego Marcial Rios” Through Sept. 20, Addison Street Window Gallery, 2018 Addison St. hdrios@msn.com 

 

Women’s Cancer Resource Gallery “Catastrophe, Crisis, and Other Family Traditions” The photography of Jessamyn Lovell. Through Sept. 26; “The Arthur Wright and Gerald Parker” Reception Sept. 8. Through Sept. 26; Tues. - Thurs. 1 - 7 p.m., Sat. 12 - 4 p.m. 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307 www.wcrc.org 

 

“Debbie Moore’s Autobiographical Paintings” Through Sep. 30 at Good Vibrations. Portraits of the artist’s sensual explorations spanning 25 years and reflecting changing ways of intimacy and body play. 2504 San Pablo Avenue 848-1985 

 

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10-year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Through September. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.  

 

“Squared Triangle” Through Oct. 5: noon - 6 p.m. A minimalist art exhibit featuring three Bay Area artists working in different mediums while achieving the same elegant simplicity. The Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.com 

 

“Inside Editions” through Oct. 12: Nine printmakers exhibit their work. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tue. - Fri. Free. Kala Art Insitute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 kala@kala.org 

 

“Census 2000: Asian Pacific Islander Americans” through Oct. 13; Wed. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Asian Pacific Islander American artists in roughly the demographic proportions indicated by the recent census. Free. Pro Arts, 461 Ninth St., Oakland 763-9470  

 

“MWP Perspectives” Jon Orvik: One artist’s journey. Sept. 8 through Oct. 27 Tues. - Fri. 12 - 5 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 12 - 4 p.m. Solo artist exhibiting his journey through metal, wood and paint. Adapt Gallery and Design, 2834 College Ave. 649-8501 www.adaptgallery.com  

 

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Opening Reception Sept. 5: 6 - 8 p.m. open to the public; Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Sept. 15 through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Opening reception Sept. 15, 5 - 8 p.m. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Sept. 16 through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

 

“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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

 

Readings 

 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival Sept. 8: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. An environmental poetry festival with a day of poetry, music and environmental activism featuring Gary Snyder, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Haas, Francisco X. Alarcon, and Earll Kingston as John Wesley Powell. Strawberry Creek Walk at 10 a.m. Oxford and Center. Festival at Civic Center Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Center Street. Free. 526-9105 www.poetryflash.org 

 

Boadecia’s Books Sept. 8: 7:30 p.m. Simone Martel reads from “The Expectant Gardner,” Joan Drummond Miller, Julie Houy, and Carolyn Livingston, “Beyond Bingo;” Sept. 14: 7:30 p.m. Marny Hall, “Queer Blues: The Lesbian and Gay Guide to Overcoming Depression;” Sept. 15: 2 p.m. Kimeron Hardin, “Queer Blues: The Lesbian and Gay Guide to Overcoming Depression;” Sept. 15: 7:30 p.m. Kathleen Jacoby, “Vision of the Grail;” Sept. 21: 7:30 p.m. Deborah Kesten, “The Healing Secrets of Food;” Sept. 22: 7:30 p.m. A special All Poetry Dyke Open Myke, to participate call 655-1015 or feroniawolf@yahoo.com; All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

 

Cody’s on 4th Street Sept. 13: Kenneth C. Davis, “Don’t Know Much About...”; Sept. 20: 7 p.m. Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef, “The Naked Chef Takes Off”; Sept. 22: 10:30 a.m. Cody’s for Kids, Walter the Giant Storyteller; Sept. 25: 7 p.m. Nancy London looks at “Hot Flashes, Warm Bottles: First-Time Mothers Over Forty”; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

 

 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Sept. 8: 7:30 p.m. Dave Eggers talks about “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”; Sept. 10: 7:30 p.m. Peggy Orenstein talks about “FLUX: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World”; Sept. 11: 7:30 p.m. Simon Winchester discusses “The Map That Changed The World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology”; Sept. 13: 7:30 p.m. Geraldine Brooks reads from “A Year of Wonder: A Novel of the Plague”; Sept. 16: 7:30 p.m. David Bank looks at “Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumble the Future of Microsoft”; Sept. 17: 7:30 p.m. Aldo Alvarez describes “Interesting Monsters”; Sept. 18: 7:30 p.m. Clarence Walker discusses “We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism; Sept. 19: 7:30 p.m. Douglas Coupland reads “All Families Are Psychotic”; Sept. 24: Theodore Roszak discusses “Longevity Revolution: As Boomers Become Elders”; Sept. 25: Ken Croswell discusses “The Universe At Midnight: New Discoveries Illuminate the Hidden Cosmos” with a slide show presentation; Sept. 27: Bill Ayers talks about “Fugitive Days”; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

 

Cody’s Other Venues - Sept. 20: 7:30 p.m. Cody’s presents an evening with Margaret Atwood in conversation with professor Robert Alter. $12. First Congregational Church 2345 Channing Way. Sept. 28: 7:30 p.m. Cody’s presents a Community Forum on Race and the Achievement Gap at Berkeley High School. Little Theater, Berkeley High School.  

 

Lunch Poems Series Kick-Off Sept. 6: 12:10 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. UC Berkeley campus figures from a wide variety of fields read and discuss their favorite poems. Free. In the Morrison Library in the Doe Library at UC Berkeley. 642-0137 www.berkeley.edu/calendar/events/poems/ 

 

Spasso Sept. 10: Sharron Jones-Reid, Fruit of the Spirit poets, acoustic musicians, comedians, rappers, performance artists, writers. All welcome. 6021 College Ave. Free admission. 

 

 

Tours 

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Fridays 9:30 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment. Call ahead to make reservations. Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

 

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  

 

 

Museums 

 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, 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. $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  

 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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 will close its exhibition galleries for renovation. It will reopen in early 2002. On View until Oct. 1 : “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture.” “Sites Along the Nile: Rescuing Ancient Egypt.” “The Art of Research: Nelson Graburn and the Aesthetics of Inuit Sculpture.” “Tzintzuntzan, Mexico: Photographs by George Foster.” $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 Avenue. 643-7648 or www.qal.berkeley.edu/~hearst/ 

 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Science in Toyland,” through Sept. 9. Exhibit uses toys to demonstrate scientific principles and to help develop children's thinking processes. Susan Cerny’s collection of over 200 tops from around the world. “Space Weather,” through Sept. 2. Learn about solar cycles, space weather, the cause of the Aurorae and recent discoveries made by leading astronomers. This interactive exhibit lets visitors access near real-time data from the Sun and space, view interactive videos and find out about a variety of solar activities. “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. “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Space Weather Exhibit now - Sept. 2; now - Sept. 9 Science in Toyland; 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  

 

Oakland Museum of California “After the Storm: Bob Walker and the Art of Environmental Photography,” through Sept. 16; “Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks,” through Sept. 23; Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, noon - 5 p.m., Closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 general; $4 youths (6-17), seniors and students with ID. Free for museum members and children 5 and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month. 10th & Oak streets, Oakland. 238-2200 www.museum.org 

 

The UC Berkeley Art Museum is closed for renovations until the fall. 

 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694.


Maio speaks out on Commissioner Craig’s dismissal

By Hank SimsDaily Planet staff
Tuesday September 11, 2001

In her first interview with the press since removing a popular member of the Commission on Disability, Councilmember Linda Maio defended her actions and denied that she acted at the behest of another councilmember. 

Maio dismissed Karen Craig, her representative to the city’s commission for the last four years, in a letter sent just before she left for vacation last month.  

“I think Karen has been a real fighter for the disabled,” said Maio. “I think she can continue to be that. But as far as the commission goes, I think we need a different approach.”  

Maio stated that Craig’s relationship with Easy Does It, a non-profit organization that provides emergency services for the city’s disabled population, led to her decision to have Craig replaced. Specifically, Maio said that Craig, an outspoken member of the commission, hindered EDI’s ability to aid the disabled by relating to the organization in a confrontational way. 

“The way the commission chose to deal with EDI is to continuously call them before the commission to grill them,” Maio said. “It was getting exhausting.” 

Maio said that EDI, which over the years has had trouble filling its board of directors and keeping executive personnel, is an organization that needs nurturing. 

“That’s what I hoped the commission would do – help them, bring them along,” she said. “I explained this to Karen. She seemed not to be able to understand this.” 

“I’m not saying that EDI is a perfect organization – it’s not. They’re a young board and they need to grow up and mature. They need an attorney on the board. They need someone with business skills.” 

EDI and the commission have differed over a number of issues, including the definition of “emergency services” and EDI’s “overuse policy,” which limits the number of hours that EDI spends with each client. 

Craig and her supporters deny that the EDI issue was the true reason she was replaced. Over the last month, they have blamed Councilmember Dona Spring, who they say personally dislikes Craig and resents her influence, with pressuring Maio to remove her. Maio denies these charges. 

“I can’t say that Dona didn’t influence me, because she did,” Maio said. “But Karen was my appointee, and I didn’t take action because another councilmember asked me to.”  

“It was my own decision, and I take full responsibility for it.” 

In an interview Monday, Craig repeated her accusations against Spring. She said the fact that she, among all the commissioners, was singled out, was evidence that Spring was involved in her removal. 

“I was one of the nine people who voted on all of the issues. I was not the ringleader,” she said. “There were people on that commission just as outspoken as I was.” 

Craig said that she feared for Berkeley’s political climate in the wake of her removal.  

“I have grave concerns about the future of the Commission on Disability – or any commission – when anyone who speaks out or asks very hard questions can be gotten rid of,” she said 

“I don’t want the COD to wind up being a commission of ‘good little crips.’ We have to speak out.” 

Meanwhile, volunteers led by Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, the chair of the Commission on Disability, are circulating a petition asking the city council to restate Craig. 

“Our aim is to get Karen back on the commission, and to show that she has lots of support in the community,” said Rodolfo-Sioson. 

“I just don’t see how taking Karen off the commission helps anyone in the community. I don’t think it’s going to reduce tension between EDI and the commission. Karen has been so effective on the commission – losing her, (over) this whole Easy Does It controversy, is a real blow.” 

Rodolfo-Sioson said that she also wants to call attention to the “way commissioners can be removed when they are outspoken and have unpopular opinions.” 

“I was expecting this kind of response,” Maio said of the petition drive, “but I’m just going to have to weather it.” 

Maio said that she has received many letters from disabled people in support of her action, but are asking Maio to keep their names confidential because they fear being “shunned” by the disabled community.  

“Her detractors will not identify themselves, because they’re afraid of reprisal,” she said. “To a person, people are asking that they not be identified.” 

“In the end, I really feel it was the right thing to do,” said Maio. “It’s absolutely not personal. It’s about a difference of opinion, a difference of approach between Karen and me.” 


It just ain’t necessarily so

Michael Larridi Berkeley
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Editor: 

The fact that you have a disclaimer, “opinions expressed in letters... do not necessarily represent the views...” does not excuse you from printing complete fantasy. The are no rebates to the highest 1 percent; everyone who payed taxes gets the same amount of rebate. The 1 percent mantra was from the failed Gore Campaign it does not apply here., furthermore, I did not think there were those left who believed that there’s such a thing as a Social Security trust fund. It is a shoe box full of I.O.U’s from the general fund! If I wrote that the Earth was flat, would you print it? 

Thank God that the surplus is gone. A little fiscal restraint is now in order. If you put the $9 billion in the context of the $2 trillion budget it is like being $9 off in a $2 thousand budget. 

Michael Larridi 

Berkeley 


City Council returns to work tonight

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Tuesday September 11, 2001

The City Council gets back to business tonight after being on break since July 24. Some of the issues the council will be considering are finalizing the use permit for the Beth El synagogue and school, increasing funding for the overdue library renovation and a city policy requiring all public and private construction projects to study “green” building options. 

 

Beth El 

The council will conduct a public hearing on parking issues related to the Beth El proposal to build a synagogue, school and social hall at 1301 Oxford St. Then it will consider overturning the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s denial of a permit to alter a historic landmark, paving the way for it to approve the project’s use permit. 

On July 24, just as the council was preparing to vote on the controversial use permit, a private mediator announced that the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association, which opposed the project, and the Beth El Congregation had reached a tentative compromise.  

Beth El and the LOCCNA have held additional meetings since July 24 and the result has been the submission of revised building plans that reflect the compromise. If both parties are still in agreement the council is expected to approve the revised use permit. 

Some of the compromise plans Beth El agreed to include reducing the gross floor area, scaling down the social hall and moving the Spruce Street exit approximately 50 feet to the south.  

 

Overdue library renovation 

According to a city manager staff report, the council is being asked to authorize an increase in the loan limit for the renovation of the Central Library.  

The limit would be increased by $1 million raising the estimated cost of the project to $23.5 million.  

The developer of the project, Arnst Builders, is now six months behind schedule and it is unclear when the project will be completed.  

The increase in funding raises the city’s liability to $2.1 million. 

Most of the funding for the project came from the 1996 voter-approved Measure S, which provided $49 million for the Central Library, the renovation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center and other improvements in the downtown area. 

 

Green buildings 

The council will likely ask the city manager and Energy Commission to study a city policy that would require all major public and private construction and reconstruction in Berkeley be evaluated for green building options.  

If the new policy is instituted, anyone building in Berkeley would be required to have the project analyzed for use of renewable energy sources such as solar electricity, and “green” building options, such as types of building materials. 

The recommendation, submitted by Mayor Shirley Dean, calls for a staff report on the plan in February. The recommendation also asks the city manager to consider technical assistance and a fee credit to “small private owners.” 

“This policy would, over time, substantially contribute to the energy independence of Berkeley and its residents,” Dean wrote in her recommendation. “While such a policy may at first seem onerous or expensive, depending on how the policy is implemented, most improvements in building and health are initially seen in this way, yet are prized at a later date.” 

The City Council will hold an executive session, closed to the public, at 5:30 p.m. at 2180 Milvia in the sixth floor Conference Room, where the city attorney will discuss the status of two lawsuits. Council will also hold a conference with a labor negotiator to discuss the city’s contract with the Berkeley Police Department union. 

There will be 10 minutes allotted for public comment prior to the closed session meeting.  

 

 


Jr. college cuts hurting at Laney

Lily Leung Alameda
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Editor, 

Thank you for your recent coverage highlighting $98 million in cuts to the community colleges. We are experiencing these cuts especially hard at Laney College. 

Since Paralta Community College District lost $687,843 from instructional equipment, our students will be suffering with outmoded computers. This will make a genuine difference in their educational experience. 

Our students will also suffer the loss of funds in scheduled maintenance. Roofs need repair, fire alarms need replacing, library materials will not be updated, and deteriorating buildings need attention. 

I respectfully request that the Legislature and Governor Davis restore this vital funding by supporting SB735. California’s community colleges provide open access to all. Our colleges train new workers and retrain those workers that have been laid off. In a time of economic uncertainty, community colleges are the key to kick-starting California’s economy. 

Lily Leung 

Alameda 


Elephant mother kills own baby at Oakland Zoo

Associated Press
Tuesday September 11, 2001

OAKLAND, (AP) — Preliminary results show Dohani, the Oakland Zoo’s prized African elephant calf, died Sunday of a series of injuries inflicted by his mother, Lisa. 

Dohani was born Aug. 30, weighing 320 pounds and standing 3-foot-6, and was just the seventh African elephant born in captivity in North America since 1984. Only three have survived. 

The young calf had two broken ribs, a damaged lung and a wound on its chest, which may indicate that his mother gored him with her tusk, said the zoo’s executive director, Joel Parrott. 

Parrott said the injuries appeared to be an accident and not a sign of aggression. Parrott said the calf was very healthy and 24-year-old Lisa was bonding with him very well. 

Zoo officials found Dohani dead in his pen early Sunday morning. Lisa was standing guard over him. 

Parrott said Lisa is going through a grieving process and is still very attentive to the calf — who has been returned to her pen after the necropsy. 

The zoo plans to bury the calf next to Smokey, his father, who died in March and was one of the last three breeding bull elephants left in the United States. 

Lisa rejected her first baby, in 1995, forcing keepers to raise the animal until he died 11 months later. Lisa lost a second calf in 1998 due to a salmonella virus.


Leave our Social Security alone

Dorothy Headley Berkeley
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Editor: 

“Need to save Social Security, economy, America” was the headline of an article in the Planet (8/23/01) which must have raised hackles on many of us who remember when Social Security was born in 1936. How the rich fought it! That they still hate it is clear.  

The Bush committee to “strengthen” it is not telling us how remarkably effective and vitally essential it is to millions of families. Rather, in its August report this committee worries about how little Americans are saving and how “educational” it would be for the poor to have the opportunity to invest part of their Social Security benefits in the market. 

Let us risk our savings, our IRAs, in the market whenever we please, but leave Social Security alone! It will be fine for dozens of years. Thoughtful people will make adjustments when needed without destroying the whole safety net as is now being so eagerly (and so deviously) proposed. 

Dorothy Headley 

Berkeley


Sexual exploitation of children at record high

By Clauder Marx Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

WASHINGTON — Sexual exploitation of children has grown to record levels and the growth has gone mostly undetected, according to a study released Monday. 

The report estimates that approximately 326,000 children in the United States are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. 

Richard J. Estes, the report’s main author, said much of the exploitation is done by family members, friends and acquaintances of the children. 

“We always told kids not to talk to or take candy from strangers. That’s still good advice but we need to make them aware about everything,” he said. 

The report was issued by the National Association of Social Workers and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work. 

Estes, a professor of social work at the University of Pennsylvania, said that many youth involved in commercial sexual activities had been victims of sexual abuse at home. He said 40 percent of girls and approximately 30 percent of the boys on the street who are doing prostitution had been victims of sexual abuse at home. 

Most of the children in the study were white youths who had run away from middle-class homes. Less than a quarter of the children in the report were from impoverished homes, Estes said. 

The study — titled “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico” — found gaps in policies and services intended to combat sexual exploitation of children and help the victims. 

For the project, researchers selected 28 cities in the three countries, based on their size and for being known as having problems with the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Seventeen cities were chosen in the United States. 

The researchers examined public records and interviewed about 1,000 children, law enforcement officials, and human services groups. They used previous data and field research from 288 federal and local agencies to extrapolate their findings to the U.S. population. 

“This looks like it’s the most comprehensive study yet,” Eva Klain, of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, told USA Today in Monday’s editions. 

The study found that 95 percent of the commercial sex that boys engaged in was with men, and it found that at least 25 percent of girls in gangs had sex with other members as part of the gang rites. 

Married men who have children of their own are one of the most common customers who pay the children for sex, Estes said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

National Center For Missing and Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com 

UPenn: http://www.ssw.upenn.edu 


Tradeoffs for preserving shore

Paul Kamen Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Editor: 

The Sierra Club and the Citizens for the Eastshore State Park make a strong and valid case for habitat preservation along the shoreline of the new park. But should we really be painting all of the various bodies of water within the Eastshore State Park boundaries with the same broad brush? 

The problem, as accurately noted in the Sierra Club's newsletter, is that the area offers outstanding recreational opportunities. Many of these recreational opportunities are water-based. Arguably the most valuable open space in this park is the water, not the land, and there is considerable demand for greater access to various forms of recreation involving non-motorized motion over water. 

There is a sublime satisfaction in simply floating on water and directing one's own course. At the most basic level, this can be achieved by providing good launch facilities for kayaks, and entry-level rental rowboats for casual visitors. This is the kind of activity that cements one's relationship to the natural value of the shoreline, and ultimately broadens the constituency of the various environmental activist communities. 

So when we propose to limit human access to virtually all of the water area in the Eastshore State Park, and severely limit recreational support facilities on the shoreline, we have to take a close look at what we might be trading away.  

There is broad consensus that motorized uses are out of the question. At issue is the accessibility of the North Sailing Basin, and possibly other areas of the waterfront, to small watercraft propelled by muscle or sail. 

Also at issue is whether we view water-borne recreation as something we can do right at our doorstep, or something that involves driving a considerable distance in a vehicle large enough to carry our equipment.  

The North Sailing Basin is the protected body of water between Cesar Chavez Park and the North Basin Strip (where pumpkins and Christmas trees have been sold). It is perfect for entry-level rowing, beginning small boat sailing, and as a launch site for other watercraft that venture further out into the open Bay. It has been identified by the Eastshore State Park planning consultants as the body of water with the least importance as wildlife habitat and the most suitable for recreational uses. 

There is also a population of diving ducks in the North Sailing Basin during winter months. Similar wind-protected sub-tidal habitat can be found in parts of the Emeryville Crescent, to the east of the Emeryville Marina, behind the Brickyard Peninsula, in the South Sailing Basin, on the north side of the Albany Bulb, behind the breakwater off Battery Point, and in the very large protected area in the lee of Brooks Island.  

It is also important to note that in the South Sailing Basin, which already hosts a number of very active sailing, kayaking and windsurfing programs, there appears to be no significant interference between ducks and watercraft.  

All the evidence points to compatibility between non-motorized watercraft and diving ducks.  

What are we really trading away if we limit human access to the water? 

In this case, I believe we are trading away something more important than the few percent of parkland needed to support recreational activities, and more important than the relatively insignificant interference with an even smaller percentage of the winter duck population's habitat. We are trading away our fundamental relationship to the Bay, and the unique opportunities that floating on water provides for spiritual sustenance and environmental connection.  

The plan for the Eastshore State Park should allow, encourage and support a wide range of non-motorized active water-related uses in the North Sailing Basin.  

Paul Kamen 

Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission 


Democrats’ dispute threatens to leave redistricting to court

By Steve Lawrence Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

SACRAMENTO (AP) — A dispute among Democrats threatened Monday to torpedo legislative and congressional redistricting plans and toss the politically potent job of drawing new lines to the state Supreme Court. 

Democratic leaders in the state Senate and Assembly said they were at odds over how to draw a few key congressional and state Senate districts — in the San Diego and central coast areas — with time running out on their 2001 session. 

“Either the Legislature’s going to do the job or the courts are going to do it for us,” said the chairman of the Senate elections committee, Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland. 

He said turning the job over to the state Supreme Court “could be very negative for all of us.” 

Legislators are supposed to redraw legislative and congressional districts every 10 years to bring them into line with population changes revealed by the new federal census. 

But twice in the last three decades — in the 1970s and 1990s — the Supreme Court oversaw the process because the Legislature’s Democratic majorities and Republican governors could not agree on redistricting plans. Six of the seven seats on the court are filled by Republican appointees; one seat is vacant. 

Where district lines are placed can determine if one party or the other dominates the Legislature and the state’s delegation to the House of Representatives for the next 10 years. 

Democrats can control redistricting this year because they again have big majorities in both the Senate and Assembly and Democrat Gray Davis in the governor’s office. 

But pressures created by legislative term limits have helped create splits between Democrats in the houses, with Assembly members pressing their leadership to provide seats they can run for in the Senate and Congress. 

Perata warned the dispute could undo bipartisan agreements that could avoid an attempt by the Republican Party to persuade voters to overturn any plans passed by lawmakers. 

Lawmakers are running out of time to resolve the dispute because they are scheduled to adjourn for the year on Friday. They can extend their session, but they’re also facing deadlines for candidates to file for the March primary. 

Perata said the dispute boils down to differences over how to draw a congressional seat along the Mexican border. 

Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, says Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-san Diego, wants to create a heavily Latino congressional district for himself by linking Imperial County with parts of San Diego County now represented by Filner. 

That could jeopardize the chances of Filner, who has beaten Vargas in two previous Democratic primaries, of winning re-election. 

The redistricting plan backed by the congressional delegation and state Senate leaders would link Imperial County with coastal parts of San Diego County represented by another Democrat, Susan Davis. 

Vargas wouldn’t discuss the dispute, but he is in a key position to determine the outcome. He’s one of six legislators — three from each house — on a joint committee charged with putting the final touches on the new districts. 

The other Assembly Democrat on the committee, Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, said Vargas isn’t the stumbling block, that he had problems with the proposed congressional lines before he appointed Vargas to the committee. 

“The district Filner holds should include Imperial and the district Susan holds should have the western piece,” Hertzberg said. 

The speaker also said he has concerns about the Senate plan, in particular its impact on one of his top lieutenants, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, who is termed out of the Assembly next year and is interested in running for the Senate. 

Under the current Senate plan, Keeley would live in a district that won’t have an election until 2004 and would be composed mostly of voters he doesn’t represent now. 

Senators serve staggered, four-year terms, so only half of the house’s 40 seats are up for election every two years. 

Perata said Keeley would have a good chance of winning that Senate seat, but Hertzberg said the way that district was drawn would not be “satisfactory.” 

Meanwhile, groups representing Latinos and Asians criticized revised redistricting plans that lawmakers unveiled over the weekend, saying they would dilute the power of minority voters. 

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said it would challenge the plans in court unless there were “significant modifications.” 

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On the Net: Read the plans at www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov/erca 


Nevada’s agricultural boss concerned with medical marijuana

By Scott Sonner Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

RENO, Nev. (AP) — As Nevada’s top agricultural official, Paul Iverson is in charge of everything from pesticides and predator control to weeds and wild horses. 

But Iverson admits he’s a bit apprehensive about moving from his already varied domain of livestock brands and African honey bees to another, more daunting role — the state’s chief enforcer of a new medical marijuana law. 

Iverson raised his concerns while listing his many jurisdictions in an address to the Nevada Indian Agriculture and Environmental Summit, which convened last week in Reno. 

In the six years he’s had the job since transferring from the Department of Minerals, Iverson said he’s been especially perplexed by his oversight of petroleum weights and measurements at gasoline stations. 

“You ask me why it’s in the Agriculture Department? I don’t know,” said Iverson, administrator of the Nevada Department of Agriculture. 

“I wonder why I just inherited the medical marijuana law. I get to decide who can dole out medical marijuana,” he said. 

Nevada will become the ninth state to offer a state-run medical marijuana program effective Oct. 1. The Board of Agriculture approved the new regulations last week allowing physician-approved patients to grow and use the drug. 

The state Department of Agriculture will oversee the program, which allows people who suffer from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, muscular dystrophy, seizures or severe nausea to obtain a doctor’s signature to register. 

They will be allowed to have up to three mature marijuana plants and four immature plants at one time to be used for medicinal purposes. Also, they can only possess up to an ounce at a time. 

Members of the Board of Agriculture, among others, expressed misgivings about the program. They worried about possible abuses of marijuana and trying to administer the program since the Legislature provided no additional money for it. 

“I’m glad I’ve got 31 years in with the state because I’m not so sure how long my future will last,” Iverson said with a laugh. 


Lawmaker believes Bush won’t fight effort to end ban on travel to Cuba

By Traci Carl Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

HAVANA — A U.S. congressman who sponsored an amendment to end the ban on travel to Cuba said Monday he believes President Bush won’t fight the measure. 

At the end of a three-day visit to the island, Rep. Jeff Flake said he believes his amendment prohibiting the U.S. Treasury Department from spending money on enforcing the travel ban has growing support, especially after the international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez. 

“I think a lot of people saw that the Cuban-American community was just over the top,” the Arizona Republican said. 

Flake has predicted that Americans will be able to freely travel to Cuba by year’s end. His amendment to a Treasury spending bill has passed the House of Representatives, and a similar measure is planned in the Senate. 

Bush might fight the measure if it were an independent bill, Flake said, but it will be difficult to veto an entire spending bill. Bush has said he wants to maintain current U.S. policy toward Cuba. 

“I have a hard time believing the president really feels this in his heart,” Flake said. “Some people speculate the administration would be relieved to have this behind them.” 

Some Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in supporting an end to the travel ban. Flake argues the four-decade embargo has done little to bring democracy to communist Cuba, and that increased contact with Americans would do more. 

Flake said the Cuban government seems ready for American tourists. 

“The Cubans certainly are building a lot of hotel rooms that won’t be filled by Canadians,” he said. 

Most U.S. citizens are prohibited from traveling to Cuba under laws that bar them from spending money here. Those who violate the ban are subject to fines of up to $55,000. 

Journalists, humanitarian workers and academic researchers can receive special licenses, however. 

The Cuban government has long criticized the U.S. embargo and generally doesn’t oppose American tourists who visit secretly. Cuban officials often don’t stamp passports of Americans. 

During his three-day visit, Flake said he ran into several U.S. business officials who were researching possible partnerships with the Cuban government in case the embargo is lifted. 

Flake said he believes business people will become a stronger lobbying group. “There is no reason to allow the Canadians and the French and the Italians to get into partnerships and get a start before the Americans,” he said. 

 


US cooperation with Peru, Colombia still in limbo

By Ken Guggenheim Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

LIMA, Peru — Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday he has “the expectation and hope” that the United States will resume drug surveillance cooperation with Peru and Colombia. 

The cooperation has been suspended since April 20, when a plane carrying American missionaries was misidentified as a possible drug flight and shot down by the Peruvian air force. A woman and her infant daughter died. 

Powell said no decision has been made on resuming the cooperation. U.S. officials will soon begin reviewing two investigations into the downing to see if cooperation can resume without putting innocent lives at risk. 

“We will make a judgment as to whether or not we now have in place satisfactory procedures that will allow us to move forward in a safe way, in a way that accomplishes the mission of interdicting this kind of traffic and a way that does not ever again allow the set of circumstances to arise which cost the lives of two innocent people,” he said. 

Powell spoke to reporters on his plane shortly before arriving in Peru to attend an Organization of American States foreign ministers meeting. The ministers are to approve a charter setting democratic standards for the OAS’ 34 member nations. 

Powell will also visit Colombia on Tuesday and Wednesday, in a show of support to Colombian President Andres Pastrana in his fight against leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers and a struggling economy. 

On Monday, the Bush administration designated a Colombian paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces, as a foreign terrorist group. Financial support for the group is illegal under the designation and American financial institutions are required to block its assets. 

Both Colombian and Peruvian officials are expected to urge Powell to resume drug surveillance cooperation. The cooperation, along with Peru’s policy of shooting down suspected drug flights, is credited with that country’s sharp reduction in production of coca, the raw material for cocaine. 

Peru has said that drug flights have increased since the shootdowns were halted, but U.S. officials say they have no evidence of that. 

A joint U.S.-Peruvian report found that miscommunications and a failure to follow proper procedures led to the accident. 

Another report, by a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Morris Busby, explored whether the cooperation should be resumed and under what circumstances. It has not been released. 

Powell said officials will review those reports before deciding whether to resume cooperation. 

“I can just express the expectation and the hope that we will be able to restart,” he said. 

At the OAS meeting, Powell and the other foreign ministers are expected to approve a charter requiring that OAS members maintain democratic policies or face possible suspension from the organization. 

“We’re essentially putting down membership rules,” Powell said. “If you want to be a democratic nation in this hemisphere, how the other democratic nations expect you to behave and what the standards are with respect to elections and representative government.” 

Powell will also meet with President Alejandro Toledo to show U.S. support for Peru’s democratic transition. Toledo’s election followed the 10-year presidency of Alberto Fujimori, forced from office by a corruption scandal after winning a third term in widely criticized elections. 

In traveling to Colombia, Powell said he wants to show the Colombian people “that the United States is standing with them in this troubled time that they have where their democracy is at risk, their economic viability is at risk because of narcotrafficking.” 

He will review U.S.-Colombian counternarcotics efforts under a $1.3 billion aid plan approved last year and discuss the Bush administration’s proposal for $882 million in follow-up aid. On Thursday, he meets with U.S. lawmakers to discuss the proposal. 

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Leftist guerrillas partly finance their 37-year insurgency by protecting drug traffickers. Colombia’s poverty is seen as contributing to both the insurgency and the trafficking. 

Much of the U.S. aid has been for Colombian military anti-drug battalions. Some Democrats oppose it because of the military’s link to human rights violations, questions of the safety of aerial drug eradication and fears the United States will be drawn deeper into the Colombian conflict. 

Paramilitaries are blamed for most of the rights abuses. In putting them on the terrorist list, “I hope this will leave no doubt that the United States considers terrorism to be unacceptable, regardless of the political or ideological purpose,” Powell said in a statement. 

Some Republicans say the United States should directly help Colombia fight the guerrillas instead of limiting military support to anti-drug units. Powell said the administration has no plans to change its policy. 


Police investigating shooting death of Emeryville resident

Bay City News
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Emeryville Police Department homicide investigators today are trying to piece together the events that led to the shooting death of a 33-year-old Emeryville man outside his home early this morning. 

A police department spokesman says Hamilton Billy Greene was found laying in a pool of blood in front of 4369 Adeline St. at approximately 12:37 a.m. Monday. Police say Greene died of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Through interviews with other residents of Greene's Emeryville neighborhood, officers learned that the victim went with neighbors to see a movie in Berkeley that ended at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The neighbor said the victim drove his own car, returned home and was shot as he was entering his apartment. Some neighbors reported hearing a couple gunshots at around 12:30 a.m. 

Anyone with any information surrounding the circumstances of the death is urged to contact the Emeryville police detectives at 596-3774. 


Assembly restores funding to community colleges

Associated Press
Tuesday September 11, 2001

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill Monday night to restore $98 million for community colleges that was vetoed in the state budget by Gov. Gray Davis. 

The Democratic governor has agreed to put back some of the money, but has not yet determined an amount he can support. 

The cuts for the state’s 1.5-million student junior college system were among budget vetoes Davis said were necessary to balance the state’s $103 billion state budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year, given the state’s slowing economy. 

The cuts, which hit community colleges more than the state’s other two higher-education systems, caused an outcry around the state. Lawmakers of both parties support the restoration. 

“The community colleges and the people that attend the community colleges are the sleeping giants of education,” said Assemblyman Robert Pacheco, R-Walnut. “They have awakened to what is rightfully theirs.” 

The bill was approved by a 77-0 vote and sent to the Senate. 

 


Starbucks denies use of ephedrine in tea

Associated Press
Tuesday September 11, 2001

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Starbucks Corp. has released a statement denying that the company added the stimulant ephedrine to its tea products without warning consumers. 

The Seattle-based coffee company was sued last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by a group that claimed the chemical was placed in Starbucks’ Tazo Chai Tea product without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Starbucks officials said that as a matter of policy it normally does not comment on pending litigation, but felt that it was important for customers to know that ephedrine has never been used as an ingredient in Tazo’s Chai Tea or any other Tazo product. 

“We have tested Chai Tea for the presence of ephedrine and the results have been conclusively negative,” the statement obtained Monday said. “There is no basis for the claims raised by the plaintiff and we intend to vigorously defend the lawsuit.” 

The 20-page suit sought an injunction barring use of the additive and did not seek cash damages. 

Ephedrine has been used by dieters to increase metabolism and is popular with athletes because it can increase performance. It also is used to treat asthmatics. The stimulant, however, has been linked to strokes and heart attack, and is blamed for the deaths this year of several college football players. 

The lawsuit was filed by the newly formed Berkeley-based Council for Education and Research on Toxics. 


Districts must show ‘diligent search’ for credentialed teachers

Associated Press
Tuesday September 11, 2001

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Districts seeking emergency permits for teachers who don’t meet state qualifications would have to show a state agency they had made a “diligent search” for qualified teachers under a bill approved Monday by the state Assembly. 

“We want to make sure districts take every step to hire credentialed teachers before they hire teachers on emergency permits,” said a backer, Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-La Canada-Flintridge. 

Districts that cannot find teachers who have full state credentials must apply to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for an emergency permits for people who have not met requirements. 

Nearly 40,000 of the almost 300,000 state teachers are on emergency permits. Schools with large numbers of poor or non-English-speaking students and low test scores are more likely to have large numbers of such teachers. 

Liu said the bill would discourage districts from hiring emergency-permit teachers “to save money” by paying lower salaries. 

The bill was opposed by Assemblyman Phil Wyman, R-Tehachapi, who said remote rural districts have trouble finding credentialed teachers. Under the bill, “state government is coming in and saying ’You’re not diligent enough,”’ he said. 

The bill was approved 58-13 and returned to the Senate for a vote on amendments. 


Qwest Communications to cut 4,000 jobs

By Jon SarcheAssociated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

DENVER (AP) Qwest Communications International announced Monday it would cut 4,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, and said the nation’s economic slowdown would mean lower-than-expected sales and earnings through at least the first half of 2002. 

Chairman and chief executive Joe Nacchio said he expected high single-digit percentage sales growth next year, compared with a previous forecast of about 15 percent growth, and projected earnings growth would slightly outpace revenue growth. 

“This is a reflection of the times and it’s not easy to do,” Nacchio said. “I’m disappointed we couldn’t outrun the economy forever.” 

Analysts said the Denver-based telecommunications company continues to perform well, but its financial forecasts were based on assumptions made when the economy was stronger. 

“We think they’re the right numbers now,” said Andrew Hamerling of Banc of America Securities. “We think they might even be conservative.” 

In afternoon trading, Qwest shares rose $1.56, or 8.6 percent, to $19.70 on the New York Stock Exchange. Qwest shares have fallen about 63 percent from a 52-week high of $52.88 in October. 

Qwest said it expected 2001 revenue of about $20.5 billion, about $1 billion less than it previously estimated, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $8 billion, down from $7.36 billion last year. Qwest had a net profit for 2000 of $995 million on revenues of $18.95 billion. 

To help offset the expected declines in revenue and income growth, Qwest said it would reduce its work force from 66,000 to 62,000 by the end of March 2002. It also will eliminate 1,000 staff positions while adding 1,000 sales executives in its global business unit. 

To make the job cuts, Qwest will not fill open positions and will continue streamlining operations, a process that began with the June 2000 acquisition of US West, said Qwest spokesman Tyler Gronbach. About one-third of the job cuts will be in Colorado and surrounding states, Nacchio said. 

The company also plans to cut capital spending in 2001 from about $8.8 billion to $8.5 billion and reduce its capital budget from about $7.5 billion to about $5.5 billion. That should result in positive cash flow by the second quarter of 2002, six months sooner than previously announced, and allow the company to borrow less than it had expected, Nacchio said. 

Analysts had mixed views on the announcement. 

“By Qwest coming out this morning and giving, I think, a good description of what’s going on today and what’s going on next year, it provided some level of comfort and assurance that even at that price, the stock was quite attractive,” said analyst Frank Governali of Goldman, Sachs & Co. 

Analyst David Bench of Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder in New York attributed the rise to bargain hunting. 

“It’s just a bounce,” he said. “The bad news is out and people are looking at this as a time to get in. We think that’s premature. We see a continued downturn in the market and don’t see a reason to pick it up.” 

During a conference call, Nacchio cited declining economic conditions, including high unemployment, slow growth in the gross domestic product, low consumer confidence and other indicators. 

He said sales of new phone lines have been anemic, and he wants to put Qwest in a conservative position to ensure continued growth until the economy begins to turn around. 

“The economic recovery, when it comes, will be later than most people believed 30 days ago and I believe more moderate,” Nacchio said. “Therefore I want to position us to be able to go through that period of time with a strong balance sheet, strong cash position and in some ways, certain good fortune that we spent as much capital as we did earlier on certain strategic platforms.” 

Qwest is expected to earn 40 cents per share for the year ending Dec. 31 and 57 cents per share in 2001, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

 


Choking hazards for children persist in marketplace

By Darlene Superville Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

WASHINGTON — Every year, more children die from choking on toys and their parts than from any other injury involving toys. Yet nearly every week the government recalls another plaything or clothing item because they have parts small enough to kill. 

Sixteen children under age 12 died from toy-related injuries in 1999, the most recent federal statistics show. Nine choked. 

Among the casualties: a 17-month-old boy from Chillicothe, Ill., who choked on a miniature pool ball; and an 11-year-old Lubbock, Texas, girl who sucked in a latex balloon. 

The hazard has become more noticeable at fast-food restaurants that give away toys with their kids’ meals. Millions have been recalled in the past few years. 

Consumer advocates say manufacturers should do more to guarantee toy safety, such as improve testing. Toy makers say they already follow strict standards and don’t know what more to do. 

In the middle is the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has no authority to test products it regulates before they land on store shelves. 

“All of these manufacturers should be testing the product and subjecting it to the type of use and abuse that it’s going to receive by children,” said Mary Ellen Fise of the Consumer Federation of America. She blames many of the recalls on companies’ failure to test their products fully. 

Alan Schoem, director of the safety commission’s compliance office, said toy makers always could do more and better testing. But he said the system, as it is, works. 

Schoem said a new program is getting information to parents quicker. It has cut the time before a recall is announced to weeks instead of months. More than half of all recalls are now done using the newer procedure, he said. 

But consumer advocate Fise said the maximum fine for companies that break the law by not reporting problems with their products should be increased from $1.65 million, pocket change for many businesses. 

“That might help send a message to companies to be more diligent,” she said. 

Toy makers and importers are being vigilant about product safety, said Aaron Locker, a lawyer for the Toy Industry Association. The trade group’s 250 member companies account for 85 percent of U.S. toy sales, worth about $23 billion in 1999. 

“Who in their right mind ... would want to bring in a toy that’s going to be banned and have to be recalled?” Locker asked. “Doesn’t make sense.” 

He noted, however, that products not up to U.S. standards sometimes get through customs. 

And despite the testing these products go through to meet federal and industry standards, items that clear the lab can be found later to have dangerous hidden hazards. 

Unlike the Food and Drug Administration, which tests medical devices before doctors can use them, the safety commission has no similar authority over any of the 15,000 types of products it regulates. That places the burden for product safety on the industry. 

Locker said the toy industry has a set of voluntary safety standards that are followed by most U.S. toy makers and importers. It also conducts annual toy-safety seminars in the United States and China, where about 70 percent of the toys sold in America are made. 

The government also sends staff to China regularly to explain U.S. toy regulations. 

Choking was responsible for more than half, or 117, of the 190 toy-related children’s deaths reported to the government between 1990 and 1999. 

At fast-food restaurants, more than 37 million giveaways have been recalled since 1999, including more than 25 million plastic balls holding a popular Pokemon toy distributed by Burger King; it was linked to the suffocation deaths of two infants. This year, more than 7 million giveaways have been recalled. 

Federal law bans small parts in newly bought toys meant for children younger than 3. 

A law signed by President Clinton requires choke-hazard warnings on all toys with small parts intended for children ages 3 through 6, and on small balls, marbles and balloons. 

And toys or toy parts that come loose during testing should be checked using a test cylinder 1 1/4-inches in diameter, half an inch smaller than the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper. Anything that passes through the cylinder cannot be sold for children under 3. 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission spends about half its roughly $52 million budget on children, and recalls of children’s products represent about half of the 300 or so recalls announced annually. Of those, about one-third are for possible choking hazards, officials say. 

But recalling a product should be a last resort, said Rachel Weintraub, of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which releases an annual Christmastime report on unsafe toys. 

Her advice: Don’t assume toys are safe because they’re in stores. 

Choking hazards are most serious in children under 3 because they’re most likely to put things in their mouths. 

To that end, one company is developing an alternative to latex balloons, blamed for the most choking deaths in children because they break into small pieces when popped. 

Marketing Innovation Enterprises, of New York, is working on “Myloons,” made of a high-density polyethylene that is designed not to break into little pieces. 

 


Tougher standards on arsenic sought

By John Heilprin Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 11, 2001

WASHINGTON — A National Academy of Sciences report shows that the Environmental Protection Agency has greatly underestimated the cancer risks of arsenic in drinking water, according to EPA officials and other environmental experts familiar with the report. 

The report being issued to EPA Administrator Christie Whitman this week, which has been kept under wraps, says the cancer risks are much higher than the agency had previously acknowledged under the Clinton and Bush administrations, the officials said Monday. 

For the first time, the Bush EPA is conceding it will be hard-pressed not to accept arsenic standards for drinking water at least as stringent as those adopted by the Clinton administration but put on hold by the Bush administration. 

“This makes it more difficult,” Whitman spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said Monday. “Their study reinforces the cancer risks. ... If anything, they believe that there is more risk than the EPA thought previously.” 

In particular, the 189-page report reinforces that the cancer risks are high even for low levels of arsenic in tap water. The current standard of 50 parts per billion of arsenic in drinking water has been in place since 1942. 

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. 

One of former President Clinton’s last actions, three days before leaving office in January, was to adopt a tougher standard of 10 ppb, but the Bush administration suspended that, citing the high costs to local communities of implementing that standard and calling for additional study while questioning the scientific basis for the Clinton rule. 

The standard was suspended until next February, leaving in place at least for the time being the 50 ppb arsenic standard. The Bush administration had said the EPA lacked evidence to justify the $200 million annual cost to municipalities, states and industry of meeting the Clinton standard by 2006. Whitman also had convened an EPA working group to study costs to local communities. 

Now, however, the academy report says that even at 3 ppb, the risk of bladder and lung cancer is between four and 10 cancer deaths per 10,000 people, according to one person who’s seen the report. The EPA’s maximum acceptable level of risk for the past two decades for all drinking water contaminants has been one in 10,000. 

“It really is a bombshell because it says EPA severely underestimated the cancer threat by several fold,” said Erik D. Olson, a senior lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group whose lawsuits forced the Clinton administration to propose a new standard. “The bottom line is that they clearly should be going below 10 parts per billion in the new standard.” 

While the report makes no recommendations more specific than that the standard should be set lower than 50 ppb, its authors studied the health effects of establishing a standard of 3, 5, 10 or 20 ppb — as was requested by Whitman. At each level, the study found, the cancer risks were much higher than the EPA had estimated. 

The report points to health effects other than cancer that should be considered, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. It also rejects arguments by industry and some local water utilities that there is a clear, safe threshold below which arsenic does not cause cancer. 

Lawsuits by NRDC since last year initially prompted the Clinton administration to propose a standard of 5 ppb, but after industry protests it was set at 10 ppb. NRDC is now suing the Bush EPA over its decision to suspend the Clinton arsenic rule and for ignoring a June 22 congressional deadline for having a new plan to reduce arsenic levels. 

Congress amended the 1974 Safe Water Drinking Act last fall and ordered the EPA to adopt a new arsenic standard by this summer. 

Six Democratic senators have publicly announced they would file papers in support of NRDC’s lawsuit, but the court has not yet set a timetable for those papers to be filed. 

The lawsuit alleges the administration violated provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Administrative Procedures Act by suspending the Clinton standard. It is being taken up in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 

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On the Net: EPA Office of Water: http://www.epa.gov/ow 

Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org 


Opinion

Editorials

Legislators settle on Bay Bridge retrofitting deal

The Associated Press
Monday September 17, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO – Lawmakers in Sacramento have decided on a Bay Bridge earthquake retrofitting deal that requires the state to pay about 40 percent of the $1.46 billion needed for the project. 

The state will also need to cover up to $448 million in unanticipated expenses. 

“This is the best deal we could arrive at to move forward,” said Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Walnut Creek. 

The deal follows weeks fraught with debate, as well as a standoff that might have put an end to the legislation entirely. Southern California representatives tried to insert amendments into AB 1171, Assemblyman John Dutra’s (D-Fremont) bill. The bill proposed paying for $2 billion in costs to retrofit seven state toll bridges, including the Bay Bridge. 

Dutra threatened to withdraw the measure after Southern California representatives attempted to put in amendments. Southern California representatives said they were concerned the bill would hurt projects in their areas. 

This agreement outlined that the state would use $642 million in federal bridge funds and rely on revenue bonds from bridge tolls. Bay Area representatives prevailed on the means of funding unanticipated expenses, but they didn’t get as much state funding for the project as they wanted. 

Also, under the new agreement, the state can raise tolls if the bridge is damaged from an earthquake or another unforeseen event. 

Bay Area legislators were pleased they had come to an agreement. 

“We’re going to have a bridge,” Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, said. “We had to get this thing built. We were teetering on the edge of another delay.”


Unknown number of FBI agents to protect airports

Bay City News Service
Saturday September 15, 2001

The San Francisco division of the FBI said today that agents will be placed at all three major Bay Area airports as a precaution. 

Spokeswoman Patti Hansen said an undisclosed number of agents will be present at San Francisco International Airport, San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport as commercial air traffic resumes following Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the East Coast. 

“They are just going to be there, just in case there's a need,” she said. “The FBI is there to assist in investigation of any suspicious activity that might occur.” 

She said the decision to post agents was not triggered by any particular incident at the airports. “We just want to be prepared,” she said. 

Hansen said the Federal Bureau of Investigation will work with officers from the San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland police departments, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines. 

Hansen would not disclose how many agents will be posted at the airport, whether they will be identifiable through uniforms or badges, or what exactly they will be looking for. 

“The are trained to handle any kind of federal violation,”she said. “If there were an incident at the airport, they are right there, if there is a suspicious activity, they will be right there.” 

If a suspicious package were to be found inside someone's luggage, for example, FBI agents could respond immediately instead of making a 20-minute or longer trip to the airport from their downtown offices in San Francisco and Oakland, she said. 

Hansen said she was not aware of any plans for agents to board planes. 

“They are just going to be at the airport,”she said. 


Handgun safety bill sent to governor

Associated Press
Friday September 14, 2001

SACRAMENTO (AP) — State lawmakers sent to the governor Thursday a sweeping handgun bill that would require gun buyers to pass a written test and demonstrate to a safety instructor that they know how to operate the gun. 

The Senate bill by Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, also would require handgun buyers to provide a thumb print, proof of residency, identification and a handgun safety certificate. 

The bill’s requirements would take effect Jan. 1, 2003. 

A second, identical bill was approved Wednesday by the Senate and is awaiting approval in the Assembly. Scott’s bill, which passed on a 23-13 vote in the Senate, was approved in the Assembly late Wednesday night by a 41-31 vote. 

The bill, supported by state sheriffs, police chiefs and the Police Officers Research Association, also requires handgun owners to renew the certificates after five years if they want to buy another handgun. 

“One of the requirements is you have to have the proficiency to handle these firearms,” Scott said. 

Sen. Maurice Johannessen, R-Redding, ridiculed the bill as he did an identical Assembly bill on Wednesday. 

Earlier in the week, he called the bills “foolishness,” and asked supporters if they “really believe this will stop criminals.” 

Gov. Gray Davis now has until Oct. 14 to sign the bill. 

He has vetoed gun bills in the past, saying he opposes new gun control laws until the impact of existing measures is studied by law enforcement. 

However, he strayed from that policy in July, signing legislation expanding prosecution of adult gun owners if children bring their weapons to school. He said at the time he made the exception in the wake of two school shootings this year in Southern California. 

Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said Davis has no formal position on the current legislation “but he’s definitely looking at them with an open mind.” 

 


President Bush brands attacks ‘acts of war’

By Ron Fournier AP White House Correspondent
Thursday September 13, 2001

WASHINGTON — President Bush branded the attacks in New York and Washington “acts of war” on Wednesday and braced a shaken nation for a long fight against the terrorists who orchestrated them. The manhunt took investigators from Florida to Canada and along the Internet. 

“This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil,” said Bush, as officials revealed that the White House, Air Force One and the president himself were targeted a day earlier. “Good will prevail.” 

The known toll rose amid the rubble at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, where rescue teams searched for survivors. A few were found in New York, but thousands of people were believed killed. 

Bush asked Congress to provide billions of dollars for rescue and for national security needs, promising to spend “whatever it takes.” He mulled a range of military options to punish the terrorists and any nation harboring them, while officials pointed preliminarily to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and a deadly coalition of groups. 

America’s NATO allies bolstered Bush’s case for military action, declaring the terrorist attacks an assault on the alliance itself. Bush sought to build a global alliance with phone calls to leaders of France, Germany, Canada, Britain and Russia; he talked twice to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“An attack on one is an attack on all,” said NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson. “The parties will take such action as it deems necessary, including armed force.” 

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld predicted “a sustained and broadly based effort” against the terrorists when they’re identified. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Bush will oversee “a long-term conflict.” 

Bush said: “This battle will take time and resolve.” 

Attorney General John Ashcroft said teams of three to six terrorists hijacked four planes and, using pilots trained in the United States, put the aircraft on their deadly courses. 

Two struck the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed short of its target in Pennsylvania. 

Ashcroft said the White House and Bush’s plane also were targeted by terrorists, offering the theory as others raised questions about Bush’s actions Tuesday. The president zigzagged around the country aboard Air Force One — from Florida to a Louisiana military base and then a base in Nebraska — before returning to the White House in early evening. 

Officials did not detail the “specific and credible evidence” they said they had of the intended targets. 

Twenty-four hours after the attacks, the fire was finally out at the nation’s military headquarters in Arlington, Va., where 100 or more were believed to have been killed. In New York, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said 359 police and firefighters were unaccounted for, a tiny fraction of the total presumed dead there. 

In support, Bush toured the smoldering Pentagon, saying the devastation made him sad and angry. “The nation mourns,” he said, “but we must go on.” First lady Laura Bush visited victims in an area hospital. 

“I pray a lot,” said Betty Smith of La Crosse, Wis., who hadn’t heard from her son stationed at the Pentagon. 

“I talk to friends when it gets real bad, and sometimes I cry,” she said. 

Fingers were pointed at U.S. intelligence efforts. 

“It’s an indictment of our intelligence system that we had no forewarning,” said Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness. 

Defending his agency, CIA Director George J. Tenet said that while U.S. intelligence didn’t stop the “latest, terrible assaults,” it had stopped others. 

The nation struggled to return to normal. 

Government offices reopened and a bipartisan group of lawmakers joined Bush at the White House in a display of national unity. Limited air travel was restored to allow stranded tourists to return home, but regular flights were still banned. 

After jacking up their prices Tuesday, several gas stations lowered their rates after federal officials threatened to take action. 

Most schools and many businesses were closed in Washington. The nation’s stock markets were to remain closed until at least Friday. 

“The America in which we woke today is far different from the one in which we woke yesterday,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. 

Episodes of patriotism punctuated a day of high security and tension. 

As National Guard troops patrolled the nation’s capital in camouflage-colored Humvees, a McDonald’s restaurant near the White House lined its counters with American flags poked through paper cups. 

Switzerland lowered its flags to half-staff in a show of support as leaders across the globe raised their voices against terrorism. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, often at odds with the administration, donated blood for the victims. 

Fear spread beyond America’s borders. Threats of terrorism emptied skyscrapers in Malaysia and the Culture Ministry in Romania. 

On Capitol Hill, Congress passed a resolution declaring the country was “entitled to respond under international law.” 

Bush himself talked of war, though he did not seek a declaration from Congress. That would leave the question: Who is the United States at war with? 

The attacks “were more than acts of terror,” Bush said. “They were acts of war.” 

White House officials suggested it was premature to say whether Bush would seek a declaration of war. “We will continue to work with the Congress on the appropriate language at the appropriate time,” spokesman Ari Fleischer said. 

Bush said he would ask Congress for an undetermined amount of money to rescue victims and “respond to this tragedy.” 

In a sign of how suddenly the political winds had shifted, aides suggested the Social Security surplus — politically untouchable just a few days ago — could be tapped to get Bush the money he needs. 


Red Cross Blood Bank overloaded with eager donors

Hank Sims Daily Planet staff
Wednesday September 12, 2001

OAKLAND – The American Red Cross Blood Bank on Claremont Avenue was mobbed Tuesday afternoon, as concerned and grief-stricken East Bay residents showed up to offer their help in the only way they knew how. 

At 2 p.m., around 250 people were waiting their turn for an appointment with one of the 12 Red Cross workers on hand to take blood donations. Some stood in a line that ran out the door and around the corner onto College Avenue, while others sat in the lobby watching the news.  

Michelle Joyce, a Berkeley social worker, waited in the donors’ line for over two hours before dashing across the street for a moment to pick up a newspaper.  

“I saw on the TV that there was a blood shortage, so I thought I’d come down,” said Joyce. “It seemed more useful than sitting at home.” 

Cynthia Carlson, the Claremont office’s supervisor of donor recruitment, welcomed the attention that the crisis brought to blood donation, but doubted that her office would be able to process everyone who came Tuesday. 

“Lots of people came in today, but we need people all the time,” she said. “We’d like people to hold off and come in a week or so from now.”  

Carlson said that it is usually difficult to arrange blood drives at places of business, but that a number of companies have faxed and e-mailed her today offering to host a mobile Red Cross unit.  

“Unfortunately, it takes a crisis like this for the message to hit home with people,” she said. 

The Red Cross will hold blood drives at various locations on the UC Berkeley campus next week. People who can donate are urged to register for an appointment on the Red Cross’ Web site, www.beadonor.com.  

Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean said Tuesday that she is trying to organize a drive at Alta Bates Hospital next week. A scheduled drive will be held at Berkeley Firehouse No. 2, 2029 Berkeley Way, Sept. 28.


Community Action Team set to present findings on city’s health

By Imran Vittachi Special to the Daily Planet
Tuesday September 11, 2001

Sarena Chandler, 17, had imagined she knew everything about the realities of life in her west Berkeley neighborhood. 

But her ideas came into focus this summer when she and other residents of the low-income area walked their neighborhood to take a closer look at what was happening on the streets. 

A senior at Berkeley High School and student member of the school board, Chandler began to see a different reality. 

She said the walk that took her through her neighborhood, “caused me to realize that the problems are deep-rooted.” 

Chandler said she was taken aback watching small children head to the local liquor shop for soda or junk food.  

“You are what you eat, and if all we eat is Cheetos, then we're going nowhere,” she said. 

The walkers would also observe the smallest details of communal life. They noted cracks in the sidewalks, uneven pavements, or street signs that dangled dangerously overhead - all hazards that needed fixing, she said. 

The “community walk-through” program in which she took part, was launched in south and west Berkeley by the Community Action Team, a citizen-based group formed in 1999 in response to a city Health Department study that singled out Berkeley as having the worst low birth-weight gap between African-American and white babies in the country. The organization wanted to take stock of the neighborhoods for clues on how the city might improve the health of those who live there. 

Community Action Team representatives will present the neighborhood walk-through findings Wednesday evening.  

“We need to get the community more involved,” said Candace Miles-Threatt, who leads the CAT’s south Berkeley component with technical help from city health officials. “A lot of my neighbors have no idea about the racial and health disparities. It's important that we fight this battle because we know our neighborhood better than anyone else.” 

For Chandler, this irony hit home while she walked through her community armed with pen and clipboard. She is convinced that the health of south Berkeley children partly explains why black and Latino students in her school district generally lag behind white and Asian-American students. 

“We believe that racism, poverty, poor education, and (the