It was supposed to be a shot at revenge. Instead, it just became an extension of a painful losing streak. 

No player on the Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team knows what it feels like to beat cross-town rival Bishop O’Dowd, after Berkeley’s 16-14, 15-9, 15-2 loss on Tuesday marked the fifth straight year that the Dragons have defeated the ’Jackets. 

Last season, Berkeley (6-2) dominated its league opponents and won the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League title without dropping a match. O’Dowd (2-1), however, sent the ’Jackets packing in the first round of the playoffs. 

It’s not as if O’Dowd’s powerful offense caught the ’Jackets by surprise. In fact the Dragons’ star hitter, Nikki Esposito, played on an off-season club team coached by Berkeley head coach Justin Caraway. 

“We spent all week preparing to block her and we did a terrible job of it,” Caraway said. “She hit the ball crosscourt every time and not once did we close the block and take that away from her.” 

Berkeley’s familiarity with O’Dowd’s top weapon mattered little after poor passing handcuffed ’Jackets’ hitters. 

“I knew exactly what they had and we just didn’t execute in terms of blocking,” Caraway said. “We didn’t execute at all in terms of passing, particularly toward the end of the second and all of the third game.” 

Caraway said sloppy sets led to the ineffectiveness of Berkeley’s Desiree Young. The towering senior, who played for a youth national team this summer, had just three kills in the entire match.  

“If we can’t pass the ball and take advantage of a 6-foot-5 middle, then we deserve to lose,” he said. 

Young, who took just two swings in the second game and one in the third, notched only a single kill in the final two sets. Junior Vanessa Williams attempted three swings in the second and five in the third, resulting in two kills. 

“That is not going to get it done on a team that’s designed around the middles,” Caraway said. “If we can’t pass, the middles aren’t going to swing and my outsides aren’t strong enough to carry the offensive load when they need to.” 

Berkeley led by as many as four points early in the opening game, but Caraway said that mental mistakes and passing errors let the Dragons escape with a 16-14 win. The ’Jackets weren’t able to recover after falling behind early in the second as O’Dowd scored the final five points of the game en route to a 15-9 victory. 

The ’Jackets unraveled in the final game and quickly fell behind 7-0. Caraway benched two of his outside hitters, Ilana Baar and Gina Colombatto, and watched his team lose 15-2 in just 14 minutes. 

“They had one big hitter (Esposito) and we just couldn’t get the block closed and she just wore us down the whole time,” said Berkeley Williams, who finished the match with seven kills.  

“I thought my outside hitters did a terrible job hitting,” Caraway said. “They passed pretty well, they defended fairly well, but errors abound on the outside.” 

Caraway plans to concentrate on passing this week as the team prepares to open ACCAL competition against Richmond on Sept. 25.  

“I do not expect league play to be very difficult for us, except Encinal and even then I don’t think it will be too tough,” Caraway said. “I think we demonstrated last year, going undefeated, that we were the class of the league in terms of talent. 

“But,” he added, “if we can’t pass, on any given day anyone can beat us.”

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. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 25: Mad and Eddie Duran; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473  

albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

Anna’s Sept. 20: Jazz Singer’s Collective; Sept. 21: Anna sings jazz and blues, Fred Harris on piano, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Sept. 22: Vicki Burns and Felice York, Ellen Hoffman Trio, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet, Donald Duck Bailey on piano; Sept. 23: Ed Reed, Alex Markel’ Group; Sept. 24: The Renegade Sidemen, Calvin Keyes, Dave Rokeach and Pals; Sept. 25: Tangria; Sept. 26: Bob Schoen Jazz Quintet, Cheryl McBride; Sept. 27: David Jeffrey Fourtet, Brendan Milstein; Sept. 28: Anna sings jazz standards, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Sept. 29: Robin Gregory, Bliss Rodriguez, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet, Donald Duck Bailey; Sept. 30: Acoustic Soul; All shows begin at 8 p.m. 1801 University Ave. 849-ANNA www.annasbistro.com 

Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center Sept. 20: 10 p.m. Grateful Dead DJ Nite, $5; Sept. 21: 9:30 p.m. Hip Hop Party: Emphatics, Self Jupitor, Professor Whaley, Bas 1, DJ Riddim and DJ Malik. $10; Sept. 22: 9:30 p.m. Don Carlos and Reggae Angels, $15; Sept. 23: 8 p.m. Funky Nixons, Mokai, Green & Root’s Womyn’s Music and more, $8 - $15. 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

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

Cal Performances Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Oct. 12 - 14: Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. Ballet Nacional De Cuba, $24 - $46; Oct. 17 and 18: 8 p.m. Cesaria Evora, $24 - $36; Oct. 19: 8 p.m. Karnak, $18 - $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. 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 

Jazzschool/La Note Sept. 30: 4 p.m., John Santos and the Machete Ensemble. $15. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 510-845-5376 

Jupiter 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: moderngypsies.net; All music starts at 8 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

La Peña Cultural Center Sept. 20: 8 p.m. Correo Aereo, $10; Sept. 27: 7:30 p.m. The local Friends of the MST will host a screening of the new documentary "Raiz Forte" or "Strong Roots" to present our community with a vision of their work and struggle. A discussion will follow. $5-$10; 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 

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 

13th Annual Blues ‘n Jazz Festival Sept. 23: noon - 6 p.m. Jeffrey Osborne Jazz Crusaders with Ronnie Laws, Ricardo Scales, Sonata Pi (and more). $35, Lawn $25, Child $6 (6-12 years, lawn only). Dunsmuir House & Gardens Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. 583-1160 

Benifit Concert for the Native American Health Center Sept. 28: 8 p.m. Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ulali, Lorrie Church, The Mankillers. Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. 625-8497  

“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. 

Magnificat Sept. 29: 8 p.m. First Congregational Church. The San Francisco early music ensemble of voices and period instruments present their tenth anniversary season with music of 17th century composers. Tickets $12-$45 (415) 979-4500 

The Mike Yax Jazz Orchestra Sept. 30: 2 p.m., Longfellow School of the Arts, 1500 Derby St. 420-4560 

American Ballet Theatre Sept. 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 Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., 849-2568  

www.lapena.org  

“Swanwhite” Sept. 22 through Oct. 21: Thur. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. A new translation of the Swedish Play that asks the question what good is romantic love, directed by Tom Clyde. $20, Sundays are “Pay What You Can.” Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305, www.virtuous.com 

“36 Views” 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 

Cal Performances Sept. 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 

Pacific Film Archive 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. 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 

Nexus Gallery Sept. 26-30: noon - 6 p.m. Jan Eldridge- Large charcoal drawings and acrylic collages; Tricia Grame- visual and textural autobiography of her spiritual evolution; Tanya Wilkinson- A sensuous exploration of the possibilities inherent in the medium of handmade paper. 

“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” 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 paintings through Sept. 29: Persian Center, 2029 Durant Ave. 848-0264 

“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 

“Three Visions” Sept. 26 through Sept. 30: 12 - 6 p.m., An Exhibition of Mixed Media. Nexus Gallery, 2707 Eighth Street (707) 554-2520 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University Ave., Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

“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. 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. 21: Deborah Kesten, “The Healing Secrets of Food;” Sept. 22: A special All Poetry Dyke Open Myke, to participate call 655-1015 or feroniawolf@yahoo.com; Sept 28: The Return of Gaymes Night; Sept 29: Ellen Samuels and other contributors to “Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian & Transgender Parents. All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on 4th Street 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 has been cancelled; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Sept. 17: Aldo Alvarez describes “Interesting Monsters”; Sept. 18: Clarence Walker discusses “We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism; Sept. 19: 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”; Oct 1: Urdsula K. Le guin reads from “The Other Wind”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. 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 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore Sept. 20: 7:30 p.m. Antarctica & The Nature of Penguins, An evening with Jonathan Chester. 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

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/ 

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 “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 “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 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694.

Editor: 

Last year, Planning Department staff misled both the City Council and the citizens of Berkeley. They repeatedly claimed that the city could not regulate cell phone and other wireless transmitting antennae except for “aesthetics.” Citizens who protested that they did not want industrial-level transmitting antennae operating right next to their homes and schools were either ignored or treated with contempt. Wednesday the Planning Commission tackled the issue of how these transmitting antennae should be regulated.  

Here’s some background: a year ago a group of citizens from throughout the city joined together to investigate the mindless approval by city staff of every antennae installation in the city. We researched FCC regulations and the law, and quickly found that city employees were completely wrong in contending that the city could not regulate the antennae. In fact, the city has broad powers to regulate transmitting antenna. After numerous presentations by citizens, the City Council finally voted to declare a moratorium on additional antennae installations until the city developed its own ordinance. 

A city employee (with the assistance of lawyers from Nextel) has now developed an “ordinance” that provides no protection at all to those of us who live in Berkeley. It would allow antennae anywhere in Berkeley, based entirely on the “needs” of the industry. The proposal is vague, full of loopholes, and calls for decisions to be made solely on the basis of “data” provided by the industry, with no way for citizens to refute this “data.” 

Even more amazing, the proposal treats residents in the city differently, depending on where they live. It’s no surprise that those of us who live in the Berkeley flatlands near commercial and industrial areas have much less protection than those who live in the more wealthy areas of Berkeley like the Hills. This proposal would concentrate antennae in neighborhoods in the flatlands, and for all practical purposes exclude them from the hills.  

In contrast, our citizens group has developed an ordinance that would forbid these antennae unless they are at least 200 feet from our homes, schools, and parks.  

The city’s proposal is so industry-friendly that it even has an incredible clause that would allow industry and city staff to approve installations based on “proprietary” information from the carrier that will not be public record and will not be available to neighbors. Then after city staff has approved the installation, all this “proprietary” information will be returned to the carrier so that there will not even be any remaining documentation showing the basis for approval. This is completely unacceptable. 

The city employee’s proposal also exempts all antennae located in the public right-of-way. This means that the industry would be able to install transmitting antennae on telephone poles next to homes and schools throughout the city, without any notification to those who live next to them. This is an obvious attempt to secretly place these antennae anywhere in the city that the industry wants them, and our city staff is actually facilitating this effort. 

It’s important to note that we already have thorough coverage throughout the city for cell phones. The industry wants to build new installations in order to increase their capacity for other uses like wireless stock trading, wireless commercial and credit card transactions, and everything else that’s already covered by existing cable and phone systems. In other words, they want to subject the residents of Berkeley to industrial antennae installations right next to their homes and schools simply so they can compete against existing cable and phone lines. Our citizens group agrees that more antennae may be needed, but we firmly believe that the city must listen to the legitimate concerns of the citizens.  

The Planning Commission now has the opportunity to stand up for the citizens of Berkeley and support the ordinance developed by their own neighbors.  

Constance and Kevin Sutton 

Berkeley 

After two years of construction, Hobart Hall, the historic centerpiece of the American Baptist Seminary of the West’s complex on Dwight Way, has been renovated and rejuvenated for the 21st century.  

“Previously it was a rather dark and dreary building that also had earthquake damage from the ’89 quake,” said seminary president Dr. Keith A. Russell. “Now it’s a beautifully bright building with wonderful natural light and good modern lighting. Every floor has its own kind of pattern and its special feel to it. It’s like a wonderfully restored building where people like to come to work.” 

The four-story brick Tudor Revival building was designed by Julia Morgan and dedicated in 1921. Morgan, one of California’s most famous architects, also designed Hearst Castle in San Simeon as well as many residences and public buildings throughout the Bay Area. 

The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 only caused a few cracks and dislodged bricks, Russell said, and the renovation was undertaken primarily to modernize and brighten an aging building that lacked light, space, and modern wiring. With a $3 million budget, about half from a capital campaign and half from the sale of a nearby seminary-owned property, work began in January, 1999. 

Engineers quickly realized that the building was not unreinforced masonry, as a previous engineer had surmised, but had a concealed concrete frame.  

“The seismic retrofit was voluntary,” said R. Gary Black, an associate professor of architecture at UC Berkeley. Black heads Integral Structures, the firm that carried out the renovation, designed the St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church in Santa Rosa, and was half the team that submitted the “sail” design for the Bay Bridge’s eastern span in 1997. 

One of the biggest challenges was to install an elevator, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Black said. Because the building is a city of Berkeley historical landmark, the builders could not tear down or even modify exterior walls. Rather than take up office and classroom space, they placed the elevator shaft outside the building in a shaft of ornamental cast concrete. The elevator itself has a glass-paneled backside that allows a view of the inner courtyard, and the archway that extends from the shaft to an adjacent building gained a second-story covered walkway and lounge. 

The most daunting task was to bring more light into classrooms and gathering spaces. 

“The amount of lighting that was considered okay in 1919 was like 20 candle power,” Black said. “And today, 80 is the code requirement, and most people expect 100. So you’ve got a fivefold increase in our expectations of light inside a building.” 

The old interior paneling was of fumed oak, a dark wood stained even darker with ammonia. Renovators painted the panels in a variety of pronounced colors, from auburns to bright blues with maroon and green highlights, installed bright halogen lights, and put stained-glass panes in tilting upper windows to soften the inside light.  

“We’re trying to recreate daylight inside these buildings,” Black said. With halogen light reflecting off multicolored hand-painted friezes, he said, “we’re getting this highly colored reflected light bouncing around inside these rooms.” 

Major changes were made to the fourth floor, originally a maze of ten small, dark rooms that housed students until the early 1960s. 

“We got rid of that, cut through the ceiling, put a skylight through the roof, and put a stained glass vaulted ceiling through that space,” said Black. “(Julia Morgan) might have done the same thing herself if she didn’t have to put dormitories up there.” 

The hall, with room for 150 people, will be dedicated to Dr. J. Alfred Smith, a professor of preaching at the seminary and pastor of the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, one of the largest African-American congregations in the Bay Area. The seminary, at 2606 Dwight Way, will open its doors on Oct. 6 from 2 to 5 p.m. for a dedication ceremony and public tours. 

One room on the second floor in front was rarely used because its north-facing windows let in scant light and too much street noise. The architects installed new window painted faceted, bright acrylic friezes intended to maximize the limited sunlight. The room will be named for Billie Poole, a staff member of 25 years. 

The new Drexler Student Commons, a first-floor room previously used as a chapel, is named for Dr. Frederic Drexler, the first president of the California Baptist Seminary, which merged with the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School in 1968 to form the American Baptist Seminary of the West. The faculty commons will be named after Dr. Eldon Ernst, a faculty member for 30 years who is now retired.  

“We’re trying to honor people who are committed to us and who reflect the multi-racial, multicultural nature of our training,” Russell said, noting that half the seminary’s students are African-American and half are women. 

Cal women avenge last year’s playoff loss to Broncos 

SANTA CLARA – Revenge has never tasted so sweet for the Cal women’s soccer team.  

After an emotional week without any soccer games, All-American forward Laura Schott lifted No. 12 Cal (4-1) to a 2-1 victory over No. 3 Santa Clara on Monday night at Buck Shaw Stadium. The win avenged last year’s 2-0 loss to the Broncos (4-1) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Berkeley.  

“We’ve been playing this team tight since I’ve been here,” said Cal head coach Kevin Boyd. “We were due. It was a matter of time before we edged them out. The good thing is that they’re a very good team. We feel we’re a very good team, and if anyone wanted to watch a great soccer game, tonight, it was on.  

“We’ve got a great rivalry going, and it brings a lot of fans for both teams. Both of us want to keep that going.”  

Schott tallied what held up as the game-winner in the 83rd minute when she scored inside the box for her fourth goal of the season. Forward Kassie Doubrava and midfielder Kim Yokers were credited with assists. It was Yokers’ second assist of the game.  

“I think [Laura] had something to prove tonight,” said Boyd. “She got taken out early last year [in the playoff game], like probably 10 minutes into the game. She had her ankle done and tried to play through it the whole game, but it slowed her down. This year, I think she wanted to show what she had.”  

Senior forward Kyla Sabo scored on a corner kick from Yokers in the 19th minute of the game to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Sabo, who leads Cal with five goals and 11 points, left the game late in the second half with a leg injury and didn’t return.  

In the 38th minute, Santa Clara tied the game at 1-1 when Leslie Osborne deposited Aly Wagner’s corner kick into the back of the net.  

Cal’s freshman goalkeeper Mallory Moser played a strong game, allowing one goal and making six saves.  

The Bears conclude a five-game road stretch this weekend at UNLV on Friday and San Diego State on Sunday.

Fellowship takes stand 

The Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, meeting as a committee of the whole on Sunday, Sept. 16, after the suicidal attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, make a renewed commitment: 

• To seek the spiritual strength to live and work for peace, justice, and equality for all. 

• To oppose all acts of terrorism committed by individuals and by groups and by governments. 

• To work for social justice by communicating with our elected officials to urge them to uphold the principles of peace, the United States Constitution, and the U.N. Charter. 

• To search inside ourselves for the prejudices we all feel against “the others” and to work to overcome these feelings that can only lead to acts of intolerance and violence. 

• To reach out to people in the Arab American and Muslim communities who are being mindlessly attacked. 

• To offer information on conscientious objector status and solace to young men and women who joined the Armed Forces in order to live constructive lives and who now find that they are unwilling to continue in the Services, having discovered that they really cannot commit acts of violence against other human beings. 

• To join with other organizations that support these points. 

• To agree, within our community, to continue to agree and disagree on many spiritual and social justice questions, as we join together as a spiritual and social justice community to do our part for peace within ourselves, toward each other, and toward our neighbors and fellow creatures on this planet. 

Ann Ginger, Berkeley 

Richard Challacombe 

for the fellowship 

A protest of a “blatantly racist” cartoon appearing in the Daily Californian on Tuesday ended Wednesday morning with the arrest of 18 demonstrators who had refused to leave the campus paper’s offices. 

A group of some 150 protesters filled the sixth floor of Eshleman Hall on the UC Berkeley campus where the Daily Cal is located and demanded a written apology for printing the controversial cartoon. The cartoon, drawn by syndicated cartoonist Darrin Bell, is a satire of the terrorists who carried out the suicide attacks last week. The terrorists are depicted with long, large noses, beards, turbans and robes. While burning in hell, they say that now that they had made it to paradise, they would “meet Allah, and be fed grapes, and be serviced by 70 virgin women.”  

“It’s blatantly racist,” said Roberto Hernandez, member of MEChA de UC Berkeley, a Mexican-American student organization. “It classifies Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs as the same people and all with a sense of responsibility for what happened last week. That only increases the scapegoating and harassment of what those communities are going through. It’s complete irresponsibility to publish such nonsense.” 

In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Janny Hu, editor of the Daily Cal, defended her decision, arguing that the cartoon was no different than those running in papers across the country. “It’s meant to be satiric, a characterization, an exaggeration,” she said. 

“I don’t know what he was trying to say,” Hu said, contending that the cartoon’s interpretation is up to the viewer. “It isn’t a statement of fact.” 

Hu further argued that her decision not to apologize to the Muslim and Arab communities was an expression of what the United States stands for – freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 

Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs all over the United States have been verbally and physically abused, some even killed after last week’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Sit-in participants were members of the Muslim Student Association, the Arab Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, MEChA, the Sikh Student Association, the Afghani Student Association, Stop the War Coalition and the Black Student Union.  

Protesters recalled an incident when the Daily Californian published a full-page ad last February that said slave reparations should not be paid to blacks. African Americans, in fact, had profited like other Americans from slavery, the ad said. Conservative David Horowitz paid for the ad. After a group of black students protested, the paper printed an apology for running the ad. 

“There’s precedence for this,” said Maryam Gharavi, a film and English junior at UC Berkeley, referring to the earlier incident. “We’re not happy and we demand an apology.” 

Tuesday’s protest began when two students showed up at the newspaper office at 2 p.m. to voice concern over the cartoon. Through word of mouth the two students grew to about 150 by 10:30 p.m. Students took turns leading the group in chants. 

“What do we want?” a student with a megaphone asked the crowd. “An apology!” they answered in unison.  

The building closed around midnight and protesters could neither get in or out. Friends and supporters brought food to the protesters, but campus police refused to let them enter the building. 

Using material from symbolic green arm bands used by the protesters, a rope was created and a bag was tied at the end of it. The rope was lowered from a balcony in the sixth floor to the ground level and used to bring up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water. 

“The people here are showing an incredible sense of solidarity,” said David McClure, a junior who is a member of the Stop the War Coalition.  

It was past 1 a.m. The students had food but no response from the paper.  

“If they really wanted to apologize you wouldn’t have to interview me at 1 a.m.,” said Abdul Zahzah, a graduate in mechanical engineering. “The demands were handed to them at 4 p.m.” 

At 1:33 a.m. a newspaper staff member handed a written statement to one of the protest leaders. The room fell silent as he read: 

“The Daily Californian will not issue an apology for the publication of Darrin Bell’s work. The cartoon solely represents the perspective of one individual… Cartoons are usually exaggerated, sometimes satire and are almost always meant to spark a discussion.”  

Because its demands had not been met, the group refused to leave. At 1:40 a.m. protesters begun discussing the possibility of arrest. At 3 a.m. the Muslim Student Association decided that Muslim, Arab, and Sikh students could not risk arrest. Other students also left. The crowd of protesters that remained agreed to be passive, non-violent and cooperate with police. 

“We need to remain calm,” said Snehal. “Don’t panic. Does everybody understand the plan?” 

The group of 18 held hands in solidarity. Most had never met so they began introducing themselves.  

“We have nothing to be afraid of,” said Mark Lipman. “We’re in the right. The truth is on our side.” 

Lipman, 33, lives in Paris, France, but was visiting Berkeley as part of a book tour when the terrorist attacks occurred last week. The poet and writer said he has not been able to leave the country since. He said he will be part of the movement to prevent war until he is able to fly back to Paris.  

At 3:10 a.m. police gave protesters the option to leave the building. They did not. At 3:24 a.m. police began reading the penal code violation. 

“This is the proudest moment of my life,” said Lipman as police made the first arrest. “To be here doing this with you guys.” 

The last member of group was taken away and cited at 3:59 a.m. 

Wally Adeyemo, Associated Students’ president, said both the protesters and police handled themselves well.  

“Considering the fact that we were arresting people it’s going as well as it could possibly go,” said campus Police Chief Victoria L. Harrison. “We prefer not to arrest anyone, but we appreciate that they’re being cooperative and following the instructions of the officers.”  

After their arrest, the students were cited and freed. 

Judith Scherr, of the Daily Planet staff, contributed to this story. 

Seek justice, not revenge 

The Daily Planet received the following letter addressed to President Bush: 

Oh the grief! Oh the sadness! Oh the anger! Oh the tragedy, the pain! Oh the hatred! Oh the injustice! 

We stand on the brink of a dark, dark time of human history. We feel the extremeness of the darkest human emotions. We could not do otherwise. How human to feel these things. How justified! How justified to feel this is the time for anger, for violence, for retaliation. These are the words we hear, the words we speak, the emotions we feel. And how rightfully so!  

Mr. President, we stand at the brink of justified retribution, supported by most of the world. We have the means, supported by the outrage of the horror of the shock. You have the terrible, terrible weight of the decisions. All of this focuses on you and you feel us standing by you and you by us. No one in human history has been in this position.  

Mr. President, this place in which you stand, this time at which you live, calls for action, screams for revenge…requires strength. It is easy to wield the power and take the steps that could yield the deaths of those responsible and those that shield them. But, Mr. President, think how hollow that will feel. It will not bring back the thousands. It will not be done without causing thousands more to perish. I cannot think of a more difficult time in which to lead this country and affect this world. It is a time that calls for extraordinary strength and judgment. I urge you seek justice. But please, Mr. President. I urge you to seek justice, not revenge. I urge you to seek counsel of the Dali Lama, of Thich Nhat Hanh, of the Pope, of the goodness of man before you act, before you commit us, the world, into a downspin of violence, death, and continued terror. There are many paths, many alternatives; none of them easy. Please consider alternatives tempered by the sagacity that these men and men like them might offer.  

There is no easy path; but there is an easy reaction at this place in time. I urge you, Mr. President, to resist the easy reaction and search for the measured response. It is easy to react with violence and righteous vehemence. It is hard to act with compassionate justice. Please, Mr. President, look for actions that are as extraordinary as the time and place in which you find yourself. I do not know what this action is. But I know that it does not bring the world into a violent escalation. I urge you to take the harder, higher road. We know that revenge is not sweet. Our enemies expect a violent response. I urge you to take actions that will lead to justice and peace. 

Bill Haskell  

Berkeley 

OAKLAND – East Bay lawmakers and members of a union of hospital workers rallied Wednesday outside Summit Medical Center, promising to put all their resources into stopping the consolidation of services between Summit and Alta Bates medical centers. 

The two hospitals, which merged in 1999, announced last week that they planned to consolidate maternity services, cancer treatment, mental health and other services at just one of the two facilities. 

The announcement breaks promises made to Alameda County officials and residents at the time of the merger, those attending the rally said. In a brochure mailed to the community before the Summit-Alta Bates hospital merger, the CEOs of both hospitals pledged that the facilities “would continue to operate as full-service community hospitals.” 

Representatives of the Service Workers International Union Local 250, which represents janitorial, housekeeping, and nursing services workers at Alta Bates Summit, fear that the consolidation plan will lead to layoffs of employees and loss of services. 

Alta Bates Summit is an affiliate of Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based hospital network accused by many of Wednesday’s speakers as being the force behind the consolidation plan. 

In a letter to employees, Alta Bates Summit CEO Warren Kirk said the cuts were necessary to stem large financial losses incurred over the last year. 

State Sen. Don Perata set the tone for the rally when he addressed Sutter Health CEO Van Johnson directly. 

“We are either going to go down this road as allies or as adversaries,” he said. “The choice, Mr. Johnson, is yours.” 

Assemblymember Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley, said that the consolidation plan showed that Sutter Health was more concerned with making money than with serving the community.  

“That’s what we feared when the merger came about – decisions were going to be based on the bottom line,” she said. 

Aroner and Assemblymember Wilma Chan, D-Alameda, struck back at Sutter Health last week by introducing language that would revoke Sutter’s non-profit status in a pending assembly bill. 

Though Sutter Health is a non-profit organization, it made $111 million in profit last year, they said. 

Perata described a meeting he had organized between many of the lawmakers present at the rally and Sutter Health management in late August. The meeting, he said, was called to address concerns that arose from the abrupt departure earlier in the month of former Alta Bates Summit CEO Irwin Hansen. 

Perata said that he and many of his colleagues asked if the change in management meant that consolidation, long feared by critics of the Alta Bates/Summit merger, was in the works. Johnson denied that it was. 

“They fully agreed to uphold their agreement with the community,” Perata said. 

When Perata and his colleagues asked to be consulted if Sutter management did plan any cuts in service, he said, Johnson and new Alta Bates Summit CEO Warren Kirk agreed. At Wednesday’s rally, he called their response “disingenuous.” 

“They nodded to us as if we were some chumps just coming in out of the rain,” he said. “It appears we were being played for fools.” 

Supervisor Keith Carson, who was also at the meeting, said that Perata was “far too generous” in his characterization of the Sutter management. 

“They lied,” he said. “They are liars.” 

Carson said that after emerging from the meeting, he received a voice mail message telling him from a “very credible” source detailing the consolidation plan that was announced last week. 

The announcement proved that Carson’s source was correct, he said, and that Sutter management had withheld information from him at the meeting. 

“Even if you agree to disagree with someone, you want to have the feeling that the people you’re working with are honest,” he said. “At this point in time, from my point of view, Sutter – and Van Johnson in particular – has no credibility.” 

Aroner said that the consolidation, particularly the plan to put all maternity services at Alta Bates, will strain the resources of each hospital. 

Noting that the Summit maternity ward delivered 3,300 babies last year, she said “You can’t have 3,000 more births at Alta Bates. Where are you going to put them?” 

Aroner also feared that Alta Bates Summit would close its psychiatric services ward at Herrick Health Care in Berkeley if it did not start to make money. 

“As a person who has a family member with a mental illness, I say ‘God forbid Herrick closes.’” 

Berkeley mayor Shirley Dean echoed the sentiments of many of the other speakers when she swore to do everything in her power to fight the consolidation. 

“I’m not known for lying down in the middle of the street, but I will do it for this cause,” she said. 

“If we do not become allies, this place hasn’t seen anything yet. They don’t know the trouble that’s coming down the road.” 

Melinda Paras, executive director of Health Access, a statewide non-profit advocacy group, also promised to fight  

“They will lie to get what they want, and what they want is money,” she said. 

“Health care is not about the manufacture of widgets – it’s about service to the community, it’s about people’s lives.” 

In a telephone interview, Sutter spokesperson Bill Gleeson said that the decision to consolidate was made by the Alta Bates Summit board of directors and not by Sutter. He did say, though, that the consolidation process – what Sutter refers to as “the creation of ‘centers of excellence’” – would ultimately benefit health care consumers. 

“There was a desire, early in the affiliation process, to maintain those services, and this does represent a departure from our intent,” he said. “At the same time, it represents an incredible opportunity.” 

“The East Bay community will benefit incredibly as these ‘centers of excellence’ blossom.”  

Perata disagreed: “When they needed the community, they courted us. When they no longer needed us, they threw us away,” he said.  

“Maybe this is the way Sutter Health does business in other parts of the state, but they’re not going to do it in Oakland and Berkeley.”

We may know what drove them 

Editor:  

What could it be? What could drive twelve angry men to kill themselves and their fellow air travelers by dive-bombing into one of the symbols and centers of American capitalism, the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and the symbol and center of American defense, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.? 

Could it be the fact that America has only 5 percent of the world's population and yet consumes 25 percent of the world's non-renewable resources each year? Could it be the fact that we bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, thinking mistakenly that it was an asset of the terrorist gang of Bin-Laden. Oops, wrong, so sorry. 

Could it be that we have a vicious society that demeans and mocks honest labor and pays corporate CEOs 100 times the wages of ordinary workers?  

Could it be that our corporations (and ourselves) are destroying the natural planet in our endless search for more wealth? 

Could it be the fact that we are the only industrialized nation that lacks universal health insurance and universal health care? 

Could it be our better paid citizens that demand ever-larger monster houses and monster SUVs?  

Could it be the corporate coup engineered last December by the Supreme Court which gave the presidency to a person beholden to corporate interests? 

Could it be the arrogance of the new administration in how it deals with other countries and how it threatens to break solemn treaties about anti ballistic missiles and nuclear test bans? 

What could it be? 

James K. Sayre 

Oakland

About 45 people, including concerned parents, principals and representatives of five different city departments, attended a Safe Routes to Schools meeting Tuesday to kick off the program’s second year with a resolution that inspired one principal to break into song. 

On Sept. 12, the California State Senate approved a bill that will provide $70 million for communities statewide that want to create safer routes to schools and educate students, parents and teachers about the benefits of walking or riding a bike to school. The bill is currently being considered by Gov. Gray Davis for approval. 

SRTS organizers said they were encouraged to see such broad interest in the program from school and city officials.  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who attended the meeting, said it’s important for students to learn how to be independent of cars at an early age. 

“If you can encourage students to walk or ride their bicycles to school and then teach them how to do it safely, they will continue the habit as they get older,” Worthington said. “Tonight’s meeting was a profound affirmation by teachers, principals and parents who will work together to support Safe Routes to School programs.” 

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the city’s Planning and Development Department, Police Department, Health and Human Services and the Department of Public Works. There were also two members of the Transportation Commission and two School Board members in attendance. 

“I was very inspired with the statements of support by the city’s five departments,” said Safe Routes to Schools’ Project Manager Sarah Syed. “It was nice to see school board members inspired by the project as well.” 

The Berkeley SRTS organizers say the number of kids who walk or ride their bikes to school has dropped from 60 percent in the 1960s to only 13 percent today. The result, organizers say, is unhealthy kids, heavier traffic and a more polluted environment. 

The SRTS program, which is organized by the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, gained momentum in March 2000, with the release of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force Report. The report showed that Berkeley has the highest rates of pedestrian and bicycle injuries compared to 44 other California cities of similar size. 

SRTS works with individual schools to identify unsafe conditions and then contracts with California Department of Transportation to modify the dangerous conditions. Last year the program received $450,000 to make the routes to Willard Middle School and Le Conte Elementary safer.  

The traffic modifications, which have not yet been implemented, include the installation of traffic signals on Telegraph Avenue at Stuart Street and at Russell Street, “bulb outs” and pedestrian islands along heavy traffic routes near both schools, and fluorescent school signs. Both schools will also construct bike cages so bicycles are less likely to be stolen. 

“We will be applying for another half million (dollars) in May so we can start working on other Berkeley schools,” Syed said.  

Syed added the city’s 12 elementary and three middle schools will be served by the program according to need and how well organized parent and teacher groups are. 

Syed said that Malcolm X Elementary and Longfellow Middle School were likely candidates because they are on busy streets and Rosa Parks Elementary was also on the list because the parents and school staff are highly organized, which make implementing the SRTS program easier. 

Principals and teachers all said there is a clear need for the program. 

Julie Guilfoy, a teacher at Willard School, said the environment for students walking or riding to school is not friendly. “I ride my bike to work every day and I see kids struggling with traffic and driver road rage on a regular basis,” she said. 

Washington Elementary Principal Rita Kimball said it’s important for the community to make traveling to school safer. “We have so many kids at our school and cars travel at very high speeds on nearby streets,” she said. “The situation is not safe.” 

Kimball said other problems are created by parents dropping off and picking up their kids in front of the school. “Because of our location there is no good place for parents to drop off,” she said. “There are only four or five spaces on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, and that causes traffic problems and upsets the neighbors.” 

Kimball said another issue is providing a safe place for bicycles once the student arrives at school. She added that at least three bicycles were stolen from school grounds last year. “People used heavy-duty bolt cutters to cut through bike locks and chains,” she said. “We need bike cages so the students feel safe bringing their bikes to school.” 

Syed said all of the problems Kimball mention can be addressed by SRTS committees, which would be organized at each school. The committees would consist of school staff, parents, healthcare workers and school neighbors. 

At the end of the meeting Syed asked each of the four principals at the meeting to read aloud a portion of a resolution declaring their interests in making school routes safer. Kimball was so inspired by the meeting that she broke into song while reading her portion of the resolution. 

For more information about the Berkeley Safe Routes to School program call 548-7433.

The mood was somber at a late-afternoon rally Wednesday in front of the KPFA studios on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The horrific events of the destruction in the east reinforced the need for a strong nation-wide network of radio stations that act as an alternative to CNN and the other TV networks, radio host Larry Bensky told the crowd of about 75 people, adding, as he asked them to join hands, that he was originally from Brooklyn and personally felt the loss of the people in the World Trade Center. 

But the rally wasn’t called to talk about the terrorist hits or about the government reaction to them. People had come to talk about the state of the radio station. 

Earlier on Wednesday the Pacifica board had held a telephone meeting during which they had chosen five new board members. They include Marion Barry, former Washington, D.C. mayor, actor Dick Gregory and three other lesser-known people. 

The Pacifica Foundation holds the license to KPFA and four other stations around the country. Local station employees and supporters, and groups of Pacifica listeners around the country, have been at odds with the board for more than 18 months, claiming that it does not operate democratically, that it has squandered the listeners’ donations - the station is listener-funded – and that it has not opened its books even to its governing board to show how it spends its money. 

The new members were chosen by the board consisting of five “dissident” members – those questioning board policy – and six other members.  

Standing in the crowd outside the station, KPFA programmer Robbie Osman said that the board did not allow the “dissidents” time to submit names, but Michael Powell of Westhill Partners, the board’s public relations firm, said, in a phone interview Wednesday, that the nomination period was made clear to board members. 

“There was a 30-day notice for nominations to be filed,” he said. The board received “just those five.” 

“There was no process at all,” countered programmer Mary Berg, a speaker at the rally and a Local Advisory Board member. Normally, candidates’ names must come through the governing board or are submitted from a Local Advisory Board, but that did not happen in this case. 

Moreover, “There was no information on the candidates” at the time the board voted, Berg said. 

With the new governing board of 16 members, seven are from the Washington, D.C. area and two are from the KPFA listening area. 

“Two people from the Bay Area are not enough,” said KPFA Station Manager Jim Bennett. 

The board tries to “reach out and get geographical representation,” Westhill Partners’ Powell said, noting that, like KPFA, the KPFT station in Houston has only two representatives. 

Defending the board majority’s actions, Powell said that “the opposition is hell-bent on knocking people off the board.” There have been demonstrations at various board members’ places of work and their homes, as well as e-mail campaigns. Powell claimed that some board members had received death threats. 

“The new directors replace four previous board members who had resigned in recent months as the result of an organized campaign of threats, intimidation and harassment by a vocal minority of Pacifica opponents,” said a press release sent out by Westhill Partners. 

Supporters of the opposition to the board went to court in Oakland Tuesday to try to stop the election of the new members, but failed in their attempt. (The court heard the arguments as part of pre-trial motions for several lawsuits that listeners and programmers have filed against the board.) 

“We’re trying as hard as we know how to do what this organization was founded to do,” Larry Bensky told the crowd, noting, however, that Pacifica had not been paying the station’s bills, even though KPFA raised the amount required by Pacifica at every fundraising period. 

Bensky railed against New York station WBAI for not airing the morning magazine show, “Democracy Now!” which has been producing its shows at a community television studio, due to alleged threats against programmer Amy Goodman when she was doing the show at the station. The show, which airs currently on KPFA from 9-11 a.m., is especially important at this juncture, when people are trying to understand the destruction in the east and its aftermath, Bensky said. 

Lawyers for Goodman and for the station are talking, trying to mediate the situation, Powell said, noting that Goodman’s show “is one of the most popular shows on Pacifica.” When asked, he explained the firings of other WBAI staff as “more due to (poor) ratings.”  

There may be an emergency board meeting in two weeks to try to resolve the issues around “Democracy Now!” said Station Manager Bennett. “The board needs to get ‘Democracy Now!’ back on right now.” 

“We are the last voice there is,” programmer Mary Berg told the receptive crowd.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government plans new pollution controls on heavy machinery, yachts, snowmobiles, off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. 

The goal is to reduce air pollutants and the smog that drifts from cities toward national parks, Environmental Protection Agency officials said Wednesday. The plan would add to manufacturers’ costs, but the agency is considering ways to help lessen the impact. 

“If left unregulated, pollution from these sources will continue to increase, becoming a larger part of the overall mobile source pollution,” EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said. 

The proposal, covering several types of nonroad engines, would help limit the release of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. 

Public hearings on the proposal are set for Oct. 24 in Washington and Oct. 30 in Denver. 

Messages left Wednesday for representatives from snowmobile, ATV and yacht manufacturers were not immediately returned. 

The engines involved account for about 13 percent of the hydrocarbons, 6 percent of the carbon monoxide and 3 percent of the nitrogen oxides emitted from all mobile sources, the EPA said. 

Left unregulated would be the large diesel engines in bulldozers, tractors and other construction equipment whose emissions are sources of smog and soot, said Frank O’Donnell, executive director of Clean Air Trust, an environmental watchdog group. 

The EPA said it would regulate: 

—Spark-ignition nonroad engines rated over 25 horsepower. These usually are car engines used in heavy machinery such as forklifts, airport baggage transport vehicles and farm and industrial equipment. The government would adopt standards set by California in 1998 and make them effective nationwide in 2004. They would become even stricter after 2007. 

—Recreational diesel marine engines used in yachts and other pleasure craft. The government wants to use standards similar to those in place for commercial diesel marine engines, but give manufacturers two years to adapt emissions control technology. 

—Snowmobiles. The EPA proposes a standard to cut hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions by 30 percent in 2006 and by 50 percent in 2010. The agency said it believes that can be done by adapting technology from other engine types. 

—Off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. The government hopes to encourage engine changes starting in 2006. In 2009, these vehicles would have to meet more stringent standards. Vehicles intended for use in competition would be exempt. 

Already regulated and not included in this proposal are the types of engines used in lawnmowers, garden power equipment and some farm, construction and utility machines. 

LOS ANGELES — FedEx and Sears pulled out as “Politically Incorrect” sponsors after host Bill Maher called past U.S. military actions “cowardly.” 

Maher said Wednesday his comments were aimed at political leaders, not soldiers, and he defended his right to offer criticism in difficult times. 

“I should have been more specific,” Maher said. “I never meant to imply nor have I ever thought that our actual servicemen are cowardly. ... It’s our government, it’s our politicians, who have been cowardly in not letting the military do their job.” 

“If we don’t face our problems realistically, we won’t overcome them,” the TV talk show host added in a phone interview. 

FedEx reviewed the ABC show’s Monday edition after receiving complaints, spokeswoman Carla Richards said. The company’s 30-second spot for its FedEx delivery service, which aired during the show, has been pulled indefinitely. 

Retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co. also said Wednesday it canceled its advertising on the show after customer complaints prompted it to review the program. 

“Customers voiced a concern for bashing our leaders, our military and the country,” said Sears spokeswoman Lee Antonio. “Sears is very entrenched in the communities where we do business ... and very sensitive to where we place our advertising.” 

The company recognizes that freedom of speech is critical to America and that “Bill and his guests can say whatever they want to,” Antonio added. 

On the show’s first broadcast since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, guest Dinesh D’Souza took exception to descriptions of the terrorist hijackers as cowards. 

“These are warriors, and we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world,” said D’Souza, an author. 

Maher concurred, saying: “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.” 

In Houston, KSEV talk show host Dan Patrick said he was “appalled” by the comments on the show and told listeners to urge their ABC station to drop “Politically Incorrect,” the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday. 

“When you call our men in the (armed forces) cowards and our military policy cowardly, and when you call these hijackers ‘warriors,’ that should not be tolerated,” said Patrick, the station’s general manager. 

Maher, in turn, took issue with his critics, whom he said were willfully misrepresenting his remarks. 

“I understand people have a lot of anger and hate. They should direct it toward the terrorists and not me,” he said. “It’s amazing that I should have to point out I find that (the attacks) despicably evil.” 

During the show a chair was left empty in honor of frequent guest Barbara Olson, a commentator who was aboard the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon. 

ABC issued a statement of support for Maher’s program. 

“While we remain sensitive to the current climate following last week’s tragedy, and continue to do our part to help viewers cope with unfolding events, there needs to remain a forum for the expression of our nation’s diverse opinions,” the network said. 

A seismologist trying to predict earthquakes by focusing on fault areas that have been quiet for centuries suggests that the northern Hayward fault on the east side of San Francisco Bay may be ripe for a significant temblor. 

Max Wyss of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, contends that locked northern areas of the fault are capable of producing a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. That’s just shy of what seismologists call a major quake, one of magnitude 6.7 or greater. 

Wyss’ findings were published in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. 

The Hayward fault runs northwest along the East Bay, from San Jose through Oakland and Berkeley to San Pablo Bay. The course of the fault runs through the University of California, Berkeley — down the middle of Memorial Stadium. 

A statewide team of seismologists in 1999 said the chances are roughly one in three that the Hayward fault will see a major earthquake in the next 30 years. 

Last year, a team led by UC Berkeley geophysicist Roland Burgmann concluded that the risk lies in the central and southern reaches of the fault, and that ground motion data collected by satellite shows that pressure is not building up along the northern end. 

Wyss theorizes that areas with a history of seismic activity that have been quiet for centuries are more likely to see big earthquakes than areas where small earthquakes are common. He said last week that the seismic history of other areas he has studied — including Alaska and Mexico — backs up that theory, but he has yet to predict an earthquake using the theory. 

The northern Hayward fault has seen relatively little seismic activity and no major quakes in recorded history, but scientists estimate a major earthquake hit there between 1640 and 1776. A major quake last hit the southern half of the fault in 1868. 

Wyss said the northern part of the fault appears to be locked, setting the stage for a great release of energy, but did not offer an estimate of when a quake might hit. 

Burgmann said that although he believes his team’s research remains valid, Wyss’ approach to earthquake prediction “has promise. ... The underlying assumptions do make sense.” 

Research using Wyss’ approach will need to be applied in more places for seismologists to better evaluate it, Burgmann said. 

The field is continually improving, Burgmann said, adding that he’s confident that scientists eventually will be able to “feel the pulse of the fault.” 

SACRAMENTO — When California’s Public Utilities Commission votes Thursday, it could strip away most of the state’s deregulated energy market created in 1996. 

Replacing it most likely will be a system dominated by the governor, a new public power authority and three troubled utility companies. Other states once contemplating deregulation are backing away from the experiment that was supposed to revolutionize the energy industry. 

The PUC vote Thursday could wipe out the last vestige of deregulation — direct access, the ability of consumers to choose their electricity provider. 

Without direct access, customers will lose their ability to bypass their utility and buy power from retailers, such as Green Mountain Energy or Enron Corp. About 200,000 customers had switched utilities by September. 

Touted at its creation as a way to stimulate competition and lower electric rates, deregulation foundered after a year of price spikes, a utility bankruptcy and energy shortages that led to rolling blackouts. 

Today, California’s government is deeper into the power business than ever before and electricity deregulation is dead, said Public Utilities Commissioner Carl Wood. 

“There’s no way in the world deregulation would ever get an affirmative vote from the people or its representatives,” Wood said. 

If it acts as expected, the PUC vote will continue a trend that started in January, when the California Department of Water Resources started buying a third of the power needed by customers of the state’s three largest private utilities — Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. 

All three companies faced bankruptcy because the deregulation law wouldn’t allow them to pass on higher wholesale energy costs to customers. 

From there, the state’s foray into the power business deepened, including: 

— Spending almost $9 billion in state money on power and signing at least $43 billion worth of long-term contracts that last until 2021. 

— Committing $850 million for conservation programs and $30 million in incentives for speeding power plant production. 

— Creating the state’s first public power authority, the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, which can float $5 billion to build, buy or lease power plants. 

By creating the Power Authority, consumer advocates said, the state has traded its deregulated system for a government-run network that encourages renewable energy and stable rates. It, unlike investor-owned utilities, also doesn’t have to answer to Wall Street. 

Instead of bringing the benefits of the free market, consumer activist Harvey Rosenfield said, deregulation “brought us higher prices and the creation of a government agency to protect the people.” 

The state’s move toward long-term contracts included an order that the PUC restrict direct access so the state wouldn’t be stuck with a shrinking pool of people to pay for the energy it ordered. 

By restricting direct access, the PUC may also discourage energy retailers from ever returning to the California market, said Rick Counihan, Green Mountain Energy’s general manager. Instead, Green Mountain will “relocate to other states that are more friendly.” 

While the state has a larger role in the energy market, government’s role is tapering off, said S. David Freeman, director of the new Power Authority. 

Just because the authority can build or buy power plants doesn’t mean the state is more involved, Freeman said. “The U.S. government has a petroleum reserve, but no one says they’re in the oil business.” 

PUC Commissioner Richard Bilas disagreed, saying the authority is “even more extreme than what we had before restructuring began.” 

The authority and other parts of the state’s role comes from lawmakers reacting piecemeal to a series of crises, said Assemblyman Bill Leonard, a Republican involved in creating the 1996 plan. 

“It’s hard to know which way it’s going,” Leonard said. “The governor isn’t giving us a vision that he wants the Power Authority to be around forever. The Power Authority could take off and David Freeman would have an empire as big as the Tennessee Valley.” 

Freeman disagreed, saying the Power Authority will give “private enterprise another shot at doing the job in a way that’s fair to the customer.” 

Other states considering deregulation, Freeman said, have looked at California’s experience and reconsidered. “Some states might decide they’re OK the way they are.” 

Nevada and Oklahoma lawmakers delayed plans to deregulate their states’ electricity market, citing California’s troubles. Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin have slowed their deregulation plans. 

DAVIS — Winemaker Robert Mondavi is giving $35 million to University of California, Davis, for a new wine science institute and a new performing arts building. 

Announced Wednesday at a news conference on the campus, the donation is the largest private contribution to the university and one of the largest single individual gifts to the entire UC system. 

The university will use $25 million to establish a new Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The institute will include the current departments of viticulture, enology and food science and technology. The money will mainly build new classrooms, food-processing and winery buildings to replace buildings that are 50 years old. 

The other $10 million will go toward a new theater complex that is already under construction and slated to open in October 2002. It will be named the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. 

UC President Richard Atkinson said the gift will make the new institute “the best wine and food center in the world.” 

UC Davis’s wine program is already the world’s largest and wineries in other countries, including France, send people there to study, says UC Davis spokeswoman Lisa Lapin. 

Gov. Gray Davis, who attended the announcement, said the gift will “unleash the creative skills of UC Davis students for generations to come.” 

Mondavi said UC Davis has played an important role in his winemaking life. He received early advice from UC Davis professors and many of the company’s winemakers, including son Tim Mondavi, graduated from the wine program. 

He said convincing Americans of the important connections among food, wine and the arts “to enhance the quality of life is the passion my wife and I have had.” 

The Robert Mondavi Winery, based in Oakville in the Napa Valley, is the fifth-largest wine producer in the United States. 

A week after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., that killed over 5,000 people and left U.S. leaders promising retaliation, some Berkeley residents shifted their focus from grief to political action. 

Around 500 activists gathered at the downtown Berkeley BART station Tuesday evening for an “emergency response to the drum-beats of war” and a show of solidarity for Muslims, people of Arab descent and Sikhs.  

A series of speakers rebuked the recent statements and the apparent policies of the U.S. government. Gloria LaRiva of the International Action Center called “Cheney, Powell, Bush – all those criminal politicians.” 

LaRiva said that everywhere she has traveled – including Iraq, North Korea and Palestine – people have told her that while they love American people, they hate the American government. 

“It’s time for us to show that we hate our government as well,” she said. 

Medea Benjamin, of the human rights group Global Exchange, showed the crowd a newspaper photo of Pakistani demonstrators with a sign that read, “Americans, think why you are hated all over the world.” 

“This is a very profound picture,” Benjamin said. “Probably millions of people have seen this photo, and let’s hope it does make them think.” 

Jakada Imani of Standing to Organize Revolutionary Movement issued a call to solidarity, asking the crowd to repeat the word three times. 

“There’s not enough cops, guns or bombs to get us when we all stand together,” he said. 

Imani said the United States government brought the attack on its own citizens through what he characterized as its racist policies overseas. 

“Now those people over there are fighting for their freedom, and I’m not safe here in my own home,” he said. 

Speakers also deplored the violence committed against Muslim and Sikh Americans. 

A number of local Muslims, including two Berkeley High School students, said that they have recently been the victims of verbal harassment. They all reaffirmed their opposition to terrorism. 

“Arabs and Muslims are among the strongest opponents of violence and barbarity, if only because we are so often the target of it,” said Osama Qasam, of the San Francisco chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. 

“It’s hard for me, on a personal level, to try to prove to people that I am innocent, that I am just a human being,” said Abdul Rahman Zahzah of Students for Justice in Palestine. 

“Forty people do not represent 200 million Arabs, or even more Muslims.” 

Hira and Neelam Qureshi, sisters who are students at Berkeley High, said that they and their family have been in constant fear since the bombing, and so have many of their peers. 

Hira Qureshi said that last Tuesday night, her younger brother received an anonymous phone call asking him if he knew who was responsible for the hijackings. When his mother picked up the phone, the voice on the other end said “I hate Pakistanis.” Fearing for their safety, the Qureshis until recently sent their younger children to stay at a friend’s house. 

“It’s so hard for us to walk on the streets,” said Hira. “We can’t let our little brother and sister play outside.” 

“God bless America, God bless Pakistan,” said Neelam. “We are helping America combat terrorism.” 

Two Sikh students at Berkeley High also reported having been harassed at school.  

Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and Councilmember Linda Maio were also among the speakers. “The current terrorism is the result of frustration at the disparities of wealth and living conditions between the haves and the have nots,” Shirek said. 

Talking with reporters before her speech, Benjamin said that the government should handle the attack as a criminal matter rather than a cause for war.  

“We can’t commit ground troops because we will be decimated, as the Soviets were before,” she said. “We can’t use missiles, because we will kill innocent people. To me, in this case, justice means bringing the people responsible before an international criminal court.” 

“With the intelligence services of the United States and countries around the world, it’s very hard for me to imagine that we could not catch the people who committed this crime.” 

Penny Rosenwasser of the Coalition of Jews for Justice agreed. 

“If we can get people out into space, surely we can come up with creative ways to track down whoever’s responsible and bring them to justice,” she said. “It’ll take time, but we have to be patient.” 

“I think that’s the rational, sane response in a democracy that’s committed to human rights.” 

After the speeches, activists took their demonstration on a wide tour around the streets of Berkeley. They marched down University Avenue to Sacramento Street, headed south to Dwight Way and back up to Shattuck Avenue. 

“Off the sidewalk, into the street – overthrow the corporate elite,” they chanted. Drivers in cars passing by honked their horns and gave the demonstrators the thumbs-up sign. 

During the march, a volunteer of the International Action Center handed out fliers for an upcoming event in San Francisco.  

The IAC volunteer, a Berkeley resident who wished to remain nameless, said she started thinking of the crisis in political terms “the day it happened.”  

“The political implications were overwhelming,” she said. 

After returning to the downtown BART station, marchers held hands and formed a large circle. Some played musical instruments while others danced.  

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 

Commission on Aging 

1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Open to the public. 644-6050 

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission Meeting 

7 - 10 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Open to the public. 665-3419 

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 

–compiled by Guy Poole 

Prose Writers’ Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center Library 

1414 Walnut St.  

From Op-ed to fiction, memoir to the feature article - a community 

writers' group to support and encourage a community of interests. Workshop format. Free. 524-3034 

Remembering Church 

7 p.m. 

St. Mary Magdalen Rectory 

2005 Berryman St. 

An informal group to explore returning to the Catholic Church. 526-4811 

Special events planned in response to terror attacks 

Wednesday, Sept. 19

Teach-in 

6:30 p.m. 

2050 Valley Life Sciences 

UC Berkeley  

Speakers include: Norman Solomon, media activist, Hatem Bazian, UC Berkeley lecturer and director of the Al-Aalam Institute 

Thursday, Sept. 20

National Student Day of Action 

noon 

Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley 

343-2139 x5412 

Rally to stop the war; defend civil liberties; stop racist scapegoating; defend the Arab-American, Muslim and Mid-eastern communities. 

593-7489 

Friday, Sept. 21

Don’t Turn Tragedy into War 

7 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity 

390 27th St. 

Oakland 

Supporters include the Ecumenical Peace Institute, the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, Global Exchange, the Middle East Children’s Alliance  

Preaching and Pastoral Care in a Time of Terror 

A workshop for clergy of all faith traditions  

9:30 a.m. - 12 noon 

Pacific School of Religion 

Chapel of the Great Commission 

1798 Scenic Ave. 

In a time that presents enormous challenges for those who minister to churches, congregations, synagogues, mosques, parishes and all communities of faith, the faculty of the member schools of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley invite clergy to attend a workshop focused on providing reflection and resources for the work of ministry in times of trial and terror.  

Sunday, Sept. 23

Peace Walks  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace leads weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland every Sunday at 3 p.m. 

People meet at the columns, between Grand and Lakeshore avenues. 763-8712, lmno4p@yahoo.com

My everlasting thanks goes to you for taking such a courageous position on the House vote (H J RES 64) authorizing the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States. 

It is my firm belief that we must respond to this terrible event in a manner that considers the conditions from which it arose and does not lead us into a downward spiral of retribution and revenge. 

You will probably not hear from everyone who supports you on this issue, but know that there are many of us. 

Tom Kelly 

Berkeley

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. 25: Mad and Eddie Duran; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

Anna’s Sept. 19: Bob Schoen Jazz Quintet, Cheryl McBride; Sept. 20: Jazz Singer’s Collective; Sept. 21: Anna sings jazz and blues, Fred Harris on piano, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Sept. 22: Vicki Burns and Felice York, Ellen Hoffman Trio, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet, Donald Duck Bailey on piano; Sept. 23: Ed Reed, Alex Markel’ Group; Sept. 24: The Renegade Sidemen, Calvin Keyes, Dave Rokeach and Pals; Sept. 25: Tangria; Sept. 26: Bob Schoen Jazz Quintet, Cheryl McBride; Sept. 27: David Jeffrey Fourtet, Brendan Milstein; Sept. 28: Anna sings jazz standards, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Sept. 29: Robin Gregory, Bliss Rodriguez, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet, Donald Duck Bailey; Sept. 30: Acoustic Soul; All shows begin at 8 p.m. 1801 University Ave. 849-ANNA www.annasbistro.com 

Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center Sept. 19: 9 p.m. Andrew Carrier and Cajun Classics, $8; Sept. 20: 10 p.m. Grateful Dead DJ Nite, $5; Sept. 21: 9:30 p.m. Hip Hop Party: Emphatics, Self Jupitor, Professor Whaley, Bas 1, DJ Riddim and DJ Malik. $10; Sept. 22: 9:30 p.m. Don Carlos and Reggae Angels, $15; Sept. 23: 8 p.m. Funky Nixons, Mokai, Green & Root’s Womyn’s Music and more, $8 - $15. 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

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

Cal Performances Sept. 30: 7 p.m. Kronos Quartet, David Barron, $30; Oct. 12 - 14: Fri. and Sat., 8:00 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. Ballet Nacional De Cuba, $24 - $46; Oct. 17 and 18: 8 p.m. Cesaria Evora, $24 - $36; Oct. 19: 8 p.m. Karnak, $18 - $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 St. 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. 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 

Jazzschool/La Note Sept. 30: 4 p.m., John Santos and the Machete Ensemble. $15. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5376 

Jupiter 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. 19: 7:30 p.m. “Music From Venezuela” Student Recital, $8; Sept. 27: 7:30 p.m. The local Friends of the MST will host a screening of the new documentary "Raiz Forte" or "Strong Roots" to present our community with a vision of their work and struggle. A discussion will follow. $5-$10; 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 

13th Annual Blues ‘n Jazz Festival Sept. 23: noon - 6 p.m. Jeffrey Osborne Jazz Crusaders with Ronnie Laws, Ricardo Scales, Sonata Pi (and more). $35, Lawn $25, Child $6 (6-12 years, lawn only). Dunsmuir House & Gardens Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. 583-1160 

“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. 

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 17th century composers. Tickets $12-$45 (415) 979-4500 

The Mike Yax Jazz Orchestra Sept. 30: 2 p.m., Longfellow School of the Arts, 1500 Derby St. 420-4560 

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 Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave.,  

849-2568, www.lapena.org  

“Swanwhite” Sept. 22 through Oct. 21: Thur. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. A new translation of the Swedish Play that asks the question what good is romantic love, directed by Tom Clyde. $20, Sundays are “Pay What You Can.” Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305, www.virtuous.com 

“36 Views” 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 

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 

Pacific Film Archive 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. 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 

Nexus Gallery Sept. 26-30: noon - 6 p.m. Jan Eldridge- Large charcoal drawings and acrylic collages; Tricia Grame- visual and textural autobiography of her spiritual evolution; Tanya Wilkinson- A sensuous exploration of the possibilities inherent in the medium of handmade paper. 

“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” 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 paintings. Through Sept. 29: Persian Center, 2029 Durant Ave. 848-0264 

“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 Avenue 848-1985 

“Three Visions” Sept. 26 through Sept. 30: 12 - 6 p.m., An Exhibition of Mixed Media. Nexus Gallery, 2707 8th Street 707-554-2520 

“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. 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. 21: Deborah Kesten, “The Healing Secrets of Food;” Sept. 22: A special All Poetry Dyke Open Myke, to participate call 655-1015 or feroniawolf@yahoo.com; Sept 28: The Return of Gaymes Night; Sept 29: Ellen Samuels and other contributors to “Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian & Transgender Parents. All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on 4th Street 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. 17: Aldo Alvarez describes “Interesting Monsters”; Sept. 18: Clarence Walker discusses “We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism; Sept. 19: 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”; Oct 1: Urdsula K. Le guin reads from “The Other Wind”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. 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 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore Sept. 20: 7:30 p.m. Antarctica & The Nature of Penguins, An evening with Jonathan Chester. 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

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/ 

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 “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 “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 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694.

Berkeley High’s ID card program, created to keep out potential troublemakers, is proving slow to catch on among the school’s famously cheeky student body. 

Almost nobody in the lunchtime campus exodus Tuesday wore the tags, which came with thin metallic bead chains, nor did anybody appear to show them to a security monitor on the way back in. Amidst the hundreds of students heading toward Shattuck Avenue, only 12 were observed wearing their tags visibly – and some of those had them swinging at knee level, the chains strung from belt loops. 

In Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, the consensus among a congregated group of juniors was that the tags were being largely ignored by the student body. 

“I just sneak into school every day,” said Brett Morris, who added that he only began school this week and didn’t yet have a tag.  

“I’ve never been asked for one,” said Kot Hordynski. “The fact that there were ID tags is something I learned about in your newspaper.”  

The ID tags program was launched this fall as part of an effort to enhance security. 

“There’s been a lot of violence on campus, and this is a simple way to kind of keep people out of there who are coming on (campus) to cause trouble,” said School Board Director Shirley Issel. 

Board President Terry Doran agreed, noting that there is statistical data to back up the claim. “People recognized that it’s not possible to keep strangers off the campus because of the nature of how it’s built, and that’s what concerns people more than anything else,” Doran said. 

Doran said he envisioned the cards eventually allowing students to check out textbooks, purchase food at the dining facilities and gain entry to student productions and athletic events. 

“They’re for their safety above everything else, not to set up a police state,” Doran said. 

In the wake of the terrorist attacks last week, Principal Frank Lynch sent an e-mail to parents and the school community on Monday that touched on security issues. 

“Please remind your student to wear his/her identification,” it read. “It is very important for us to know each and every individual who is on campus.” 

Lynch and other administrators did not return phone calls by press time. 

Issel said she fully expected the ID program to be carried out. 

“Our responsibility is to follow through, otherwise it is just an empty gesture,” she said. “Kids test parents all the time to see if there’s any consequences.” 

Issel said she wanted it to become “a routine and unremarkable matter” for students and staff to wear IDs and for security personnel to wear identifying shirts, “so that the people who don’t belong are easily identifiable by the absence of their visitor pass or an ID tag.” 

At the intersection of Milvia Street and Allston Way near the school Tuesday, a large cloud of marijuana smoke drifted out the passenger-side window of a passing pickup truck, and a sunburned man walked by, muttering darkly while he fingered a piece of aluminum foil and a rolled-up dollar bill. As hundreds of kids streamed back toward the narrow campus entrance between the Berkeley Community Theater and the fenced-off acreage under construction, only one monitor was on hand to check anyone’s ID. 

“The reason a lot of students don’t like it is because it’s one step closer to wearing a school uniform,” said junior Andrew Gruen, who produced an ID tag from his pocket with a photo that bore an expression of exaggerated, cartoon-like surprise. 

Devin Miller, a freshman, said the tags were “annoying.” 

“I can see why they make us wear them, so people don’t come in and wander around, but I still don’t like it very much,” she said. “So I take it off.” 

“I feel like it’s kind of like Apartheid or something,” said Hordynski, the junior, referring to pass books South African blacks once had to carry. “If they don’t have the support of the student body, they’ll never be able to do this.”

I do not now, nor will I ever support a United States retaliatory response to the tragic events of this past Tuesday. 

On my behalf, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has spoken loud and clear in denouncing U.S. war cries. Her courageous, dissenting vote this past Friday is a shining example of one congressional representative carrying out her duty and exercising the will of her constituents. Ms. Lee’s eloquent statement before the House of Representatives and her vote to oppose the current administration’s hostile march toward war will forever prove that there are, indeed, patriotic American citizens who do not support all of their country’s actions. 

I urge you to bring the criminals to trial in a peaceful, diplomatic manner. I urge you to work with the leaders of the world to combat terrorism while preserving our civil liberties. I urge you to take a moment to reflect on the lives that will be lost as a result of a full-scale military retaliation by the United States. 

To Congresswoman Lee, for her bold stance against the horrors of war, I pledge my full support. To you President Bush, for your dismissal of any attempt at diplomatic and peaceful resolution and for your acceptance of the decision to lead the United States into war, I pledge only opposition. 

Mitch Triplett 

Albany

The City Council put a damper on the Guinness & Oyster Festival by voting down a request to waive $2,600 in event fees because the festival has a corporate alcohol sponsor. 

After some snapping between moderate and progressive council factions, progressives stuck together to vote down Mayor Shirley Dean’s recommendation. The final vote was 4-3-1, with Dean and councilmembers Polly Armstrong and Betty Olds voting to waive the event fees. Councilmember Miriam Hawley abstained.  

The festival, which is being held in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park on Sept. 22, is being promoted by the Downtown Berkeley Association as a cultural event, whose primary purpose is to promote downtown businesses, according to a Sept. 13 DBA letter that was submitted to council. The event, which is being sponsored and organized by the DBA, will present food and beer vendors and a variety of bands, including a well known band that is currently on the MTV play list. Beckett’s Irish Pub, a new business on Shattuck Avenue, is also one of the main sponsors of the event. The fees the DBA wanted waived included $2,000 for 15 portable toilets and $450 for dumpsters and trash cans. 

The request to waive city fees ran afoul of council progressives because one of the event sponsors is Guinness Beer, an international brewing corporation. A policy, approved by the council in 1995, apparently precludes the city from sponsoring events that serve alcohol unless the alcohol vendor has a brewery based in Berkeley. 

Progressives argued waiving fees for the first Guinness & Oyster Festival would be a violation of city policy and unfair to other events like the Juneteenth and Cinco de Mayo festivals which only have fees waived if there is no corporate alcohol sponsors. 

Moderates argued the festival will be good for downtown businesses and the city should support the event. Armstrong said that not waiving the fees was an attempt by some of the councilmembers to impose their morals on people who enjoy drinking beer.  

“I freely admit that I like to drink beer and listen to good music,” Armstrong said. “I’m 56 years old and this is America and it’s just not a crime.” 

Dean agreed there was more to the progressives’ opposition than simply city policy. She said there are city policies that are in place to assure responsible drinking at public events. “Nobody wants a big drunken party for crying out loud,” she said adding that “Beckett’s is a wonderful addition to the downtown and I plan to attend the festival to show my support.” 

The progressives, led by Councilmember Dona Spring, cited the city’s 1995 alcohol policy as the basis for her opposition to waiving the event fees. “My main concern is Berkeley has a policy that it will not sponsor public events, including waiving fees, if that event features alcohol products unless it is a locally-owned brewery,” Spring said. 

Prior to adopting the policy in 1995, there was a 1990 policy that precluded sponsoring any event that sold alcohol, according to Spring. “That policy was adopted because there were police problems at the Juneteenth and Cinco de Mayo festivals,” Spring said.  

In 1995 the wording of the policy was modified to allow sponsorship of events featuring locally brewed beers. 

Councilmember Linda Maio added that waiving the fees would send a mixed message to other event organizers. She said the council refused to waive fees for a Juneteenth Festival a few years ago because a large beer company was prominently displaying ads promoting beer. “It seems to me it would be selective if we waived fees for this event,” Maio said. “We have to be consistent in the application of this policy.” 

Armstrong said on Tuesday that Maio made a good point, but contended there are clauses in the city’s policy that allow fee waivers if the event promotes local businesses. “Linda’s point was fair and well taken but we have to admit there are businesses downtown and we should help them.” 

Spring said serving alcohol so close to Berkeley High School and to the Multi-agency Services Center, a homeless day center where counselors attempt to help clients with substance abuse, was unwise. Both the high school and center are right across the street from the park.  

“Allowing alcohol in the park creates a schizophrenic standard for the surrounding community and police to attempt to address,” Spring wrote in a memorandum to council. “While people are told on a regular basis in the park and surrounding area that it is illegal to drink in public, certain favored groups, are given special permission from the City Council.” 

DBA Executive Director Deborah Bahdia said while organizing the event she followed city policy very closely and made sure there were no scheduled events at Berkeley High School. 

“The park is the only place near the downtown for an event like this,” Bahdia said. “It’s close to BART and the downtown parking garages.” 

Editor: 

East Bay Congressional Representative Barbara Lee should be applauded, not chastised or threatened, for her courageous vote against the bill granting the president powers to wage war around the world. In this moment of crisis, when so many are beating the drum for war and vengeance, Lee had the wisdom to recognize that handing the president broad powers to engage us in an ill-defined and potentially long and bloody war will achieve little in the way of real justice. And she had the hindsight of history to recognize a host of possible unintended consequences in such a war – including the loss of many more innocent American and foreign lives. Please remember that only two members of Congress – including Lee’s predecessor Ron Dellums – had the courage to stand up against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964. With that courage, they planted the seed for a mass movement against another bloody and misguided war – that in Vietnam. For raising the voice of calm and reason in this most emotional period, Lee has done this country a great service. 

Eric Romann 

Oakland 

Hamilton Billy Greene was not a man who made enemies, according to those who knew him. As Greene’s friends and family began planning his memorial service, which was Sunday, they said they couldn’t imagine why anyone – even a robber – would want to murder him at his doorstep.  

Greene, a 33-year-old award-winning animator and filmmaker, was found dead early Monday morning outside his Emeryville apartment entrance. He died of a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.  

“He was just a good and gentle person. He was very remarkable in that way,” said his father, San Francisco-based poet and photographer Tinker Greene. 

“(Officers) asked if he had any gambling debts or drug involvement. But Billy wasn’t involved in anything like that.” 

On the night of Sept. 9, Billy Greene had gone to see the movie “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” with several friends, including a couple who also had apartments in the Adeline Street complex, Dylan Nolfi and Ariana Makau. 

They drove separate cars, and Greene was the last to return from the theater. Nolfi said Greene had already gone into his apartment when he heard something that sounded like gunshots.  

“What’s disturbing about it is how often we’ve actually been hearing gunshots, if those were gunshots,” Nolfi said while sitting on the apartment building’s back porch last Thursday evening. He looked exhausted, and said he hadn’t slept much since the shooting. 

Nolfi said he went to the window after hearing shots, saw nothing suspicious, and assumed the noise had been something else. Someone else flagged down a police car to report the shooting, according to Detective Dante Diotalevi of the Emeryville Police Department. He said officers arrived at 12:30 a.m. 

“I can’t go into whether that citizen heard the shots or found the body,” Diotalevi said. “But we are working on possible leads.” 

Greene’s murder is the city’s second killing this year, according to police, who say Emeryville averages at most one homicide each year. Diotalevi said police have no reason to suspect the shooting was gang or drug related, and that they are investigating the murder as a possible robbery attempt. Greene’s wallet had been handled but not taken, according to police. Friends and family don’t describe Greene as the type who would fight an armed robber. “He was artistic, quiet, and sensitive,” Nolfi said. “The kind of kid that got picked on in public school.” 

Nolfi said he was building a pinata in the shape of the handgun for the memorial service, so Greene’s friends could “destroy it.” Greene grew up in Burlington, Vermont, with Nolfi and got involved in filmmaking when he was a kid. After graduating from Hampshire College, Greene began working in “stop motion” film animation, which uses puppets photographed with incremental changes to imitate lifelike movement. Greene’s work has been featured in numerous film festivals, including the 2001 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. His film “Thought Bubble” was scheduled to play this weekend at the postponed New York Film Festival.  

Greene began his career in New York and Portland, Oregon. He moved to Emeryville five weeks ago to begin animating for “Phantom Investigators,” a new production for Warner Brothers television. Octopus Ink, the San Francisco-based production company he founded with two friends, produced a successful short film and a children’s music video for Bob McGrath of Sesame Street. Greene also played drums in numerous bands, including the San Francisco-based Poltroon. Several of Greene’s neighbors said that the murder was a mystery to them, too.  

“I’ve been living here for 30 years, and I was shocked when I read about it. We didn’t even hear anything that night,” neighbor Sylvia Chavez said. “Why would anybody do that unless it was somebody who was after him, somebody who knew him? That just doesn’t happen around here.” 

But the Web site recently set up by his friends and family (http://blackvan.net/billy) hardly portrays him as a man with enemies. In one photograph Greene sits shyly smiling as he overlooks a pair of his puppets. 

Numerous friends have compiled a list of emails on the “Billy Bulletin Board.”  

One posting by former co-worker BobD reads, “I love you Billy and I know you’re sitting quietly somewhere bringing life to puppets.” 

Police urge anyone with information about the shooting to contact them at 596-3774. 

Editor: 

This is why I love Berkeley! Barbara Lee has made me proud again to live as a free citizen of Berkeley. In the heat of the nation’s knee-jerk reaction to last Tuesday’s events, I have been told repeatedly by the news media that “America is United” in its response to “terrorism.” We may be united in sympathy with the victims; but we stand proudly in dissent against violent unthinking vigilantism, locally or internationally. In a diverse community like ours, we have lived for years side by side with muslims of all description, with Iraqis during their most difficult years of oppression (first at the hands of their own government and then, at the hands of ours), with people from the the widest array of racial, cultural, religious, linguistic, and other backgrounds. Hopefully, as an intellectually-based community, we can seek first to understand the causes of terrorist acts, and to demand more loudly than ever before that our national leaders give more than lipservice to the interests of “justice” and “freedom”. While we condemn terrorism by Islamic mujahideen, let us also condemn US-supported terrorism, and demand peace, justice and human rights for our brothers and sisters in Palestine and around the world! 

John M. Hartenstein, Esq. 

Berkeley 

Editor: 

Congresswoman Lee’s stance against War earned her one more vote today. 

Mayor Dean’s militaristic call for an unobtainable “justice” just lost her one. 

Cynthia Gong 

Berkeley  

FRESNO — Two Saudi Arabian men who attend the International English Institute were detained and questioned for a few hours before being cleared of any connection to the terrorist attacks on the East Coast last week. 

The men were stopped Sunday evening at Shaver Lake after a resident reported two suspicious men taking pictures of the dam. They were questioned by sheriff’s deputies, then turned over to the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service agents for additional questioning. 

The men told deputies they were at the dam taking pictures and sightseeing. Deputies searched the rental car they were driving and found only a digital camera and a small black camera bag. 

The men were taken to Fresno County Jail and questioned by federal authorities because they were not carrying the proper documents. 

*** 

SANTA MARIA (AP) — The 12th annual Warbird Roundup, a gathering of vintage warplanes, has been canceled this weekend at the Santa Maria airport. 

Uncertainty surrounding new regulations for general aviation and concerns about how many pilots would bring their planes led the board of directors of the Santa Maria Museum of Flight to make that decision, president Dick Weber said. 

“Everybody’s mood is really just sour right now,” Weber said. “We just figured the best thing to do is to cancel it and save it all for next year.” 

More than three dozen warbirds, ranging from P-51 Mustangs to a BT-13 trainer, had signed up to attend the event, which helps support the all-volunteer museum throughout the year. 

*** 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Airlines serving the Bay Area indefinitely will cut about 500 flights a day, mostly ones to the East Coast and shuttles to Southern California and other areas on the West Coast, in response to last week’s terrorist attacks. 

At airports in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, flight schedules have returned to about 80 percent to 90 percent of the level before the attacks. Some additional flights may resume, but most airlines say they have reached “normal” levels they will use for the rest of the year. 

American Airlines and United Airlines control more than half of all flights in and out of Northern California. 

*** 

VAN NUYS, Calif. (AP) — Eager to honor the victims of last week’s terrorist attacks, a philatelist organization says it is launching a petition for a commemorative stamp and coin. 

The International Stamp Collectors Society, based in Van Nuys, will begin a petition-signing campaign Friday at a stamp and coin show in the Glendale Civic Auditorium. 

“I think the more ways we can express ourselves, as a nation and a people, will help to pull us together during this tragedy,” said Israel Bick, executive director of the society. 

U.S. Postal Service spokesman David Mazer said the agency already has received requests to issue a stamp in honor of victims of the attacks. U.S. Treasury officials said they require a congressional order before they can issue a commemorative coin. 

*** 

OAKLAND (AP) — Federal officials have told Oakland International Airport to heighten security. 

The Oakland Police Department brought in seven officers last week to allow the airport to reopen, but the Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI told airport officials on Friday that they still had concerns about security. 

Port of Oakland officials told police they would pay for extra temporary officers, and that they plan to seek a permanent increase in manpower. 

The Oakland Tribune said an FAA report last spring criticized the airport’s security. Neither the FAA nor the Port of Oakland would confirm the existence of such a report. 

*** 

SANTA BARBARA (AP) — Several business meetings and conferences in Santa Barbara have been canceled by companies following last week’s terrorist attacks, hurting many local hotels and catering companies. 

Innkeepers said they understand the extraordinary circumstances, and many waived normal cancellation fees. Others provided stranded guests with free rooms for an extra night. 

Hotels said they continue to do strong business with tourists, and many general managers said businesses that canceled meetings were willing to reschedule. Caterers are counting on weddings and parties to make up for lost convention income. 

——— 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dell Computer Corp. is postponing conferences in New York and San Francisco so that it can concentrate on helping customers affected by the terrorist attacks. 

The company’s annual DirectConnect conferences were scheduled for Thursday in San Francisco and Sept. 28 in New York. New dates were not announced. 

——— 

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A show of 500 classic cars near the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk next month will become a benefit for New York police. 

Hot Rods on the Beach traditionally is a fundraiser for Santa Cruz police officers. In light of last week’s destruction of the World Trade Center, Santa Cruz police decided to donate the proceeds from this year’s event to families of New York police officers who were killed in the terrorist attacks. 

This year’s Hot Rods on the Beach is scheduled for Oct. 13 and 14. 

——— 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Concerned about the potential for future terrorist attacks, Los Angeles officials have recommended spending an additional $3.3 million during the next two years to solidify Civic Center security. 

“This has to be our top priority,” Mayor James Hahn said. “One of my top concerns after the attacks was how well the city was able to protect the public and our workers — from the Department of Water and Power reservoirs to the airport, and in our city buildings.” 

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who heads the committee that recommended the new security plans, said the safety of city workers and visitors in public facilities is one of the highest priorities of government. 

“At this point in history, public safety has to be paramount,” he said. 

Editor: 

Last Fourth of July, when I was walking around the town I live in, I didn’t see a single American flag flying from a citizen’s house. For the first time in years I had a feeling of sadness; I missed the so-called “good old days” of celebration, when I was a kid 60-plus years ago. Today, Monday, Sept. 17, I was attracted to the New York Times front page article: U.S. Binds Wounds in Red, White and Blue, and I read how stores in America were running out of American flags. They were flying from houses, from public buildings, from car antennas. I decided to drive around the town I live in, population 100,000-plus, and count flags.  

I counted 12 flags: three at half staff at municipal buildings, including one on a fire house; two small ones on trucks; seven on houses widely separated from each other. 

This time I’m not only sad (I was born and raised in Manhattan) but furious. In my town, flying the flag may be perceived as endorsing George W. Bush – and I and the majority of my fellow residents didn’t do that in the November election. But, to me, the flag means much more. My feeling for it is encompassed in a brief bumper sticker, prevalent around my town: “I love my country; I fear my government.” And my feeling about my town is this: dammit, fly that flag! Did I mention that I live in Berkeley, California? 

Heidi Seney 

Berkeley

SANTA ANA (AP) — More than half the prospective jurors in the case of an Egyptian man accused of molesting and murdering a boy were dismissed by a judge Monday for prejudice against Middle Easterners. 

Defense lawyers also persuaded Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Weatherspoon to delay the start of the trial of John Ghobrial until Sept. 28. 

Nearly half of the 163 prospective jurors were disqualified for strong anti- or pro-death penalty views, and the rest “appeared to be biased against Middle Easterners because of the World Trade Center” attacks, district attorney’s spokeswoman Tori Richards said. 

Ghobrial, 31, is accused of the 1998 slaying of Juan Delgado, 12. Prosecutors allege Ghobrial — a butcher by trade — molested and killed the boy, then used a meat cleaver to carve up his body before encasing it in concrete. 

Last week, deputy public defender Denise Gragg requested a delay in Ghobrial’s trial after reports of rising hate crimes against Arab-Americans. The judge denied the request on grounds there wasn’t enough evidence then to show Ghobrial could not get a fair trial. 

Ghobrial, a Coptic Christian, was granted asylum after telling the Immigration and Naturalization Service he fled Egypt to escape religious persecution. At his 1996 asylum hearing, Ghobrial said several people pushed him under a train, severing one arm. 

Prosecutors have since learned that Ghobrial did not disclose his criminal background to INS officials. Three years before he was granted asylum, Ghobrial had been arrested on suspicion of molesting and stabbing an 8-year-old cousin. The boy, who was stabbed repeatedly in the stomach and chest, survived. 

Prosecutors said they will produce evidence of the alleged 1993 attack to support their case that Ghobrial should receive the death penalty. 

Ghobrial was living in a shed he rented from a La Habra resident at the time Delgado was killed. Ghobrial has pleaded innocent to the charges. 

Editor: 

Osama Bin Laden has certainly earned our wrath, whether guilty or not of last week’s attacks. While his 1998 “fatwah” urging Muslims to kill US civilians might be viewed as merely inflammatory, his admitted involvement (training attackers) in the 1993 killing of eighteen US servicemen in Somalia would already demand his being stopped. 

Poverty stricken Afghanis could hardly resist the charismatic millionaire who offered humanitarian and logistical support in exchange for residency - and why should they? The notion of forgoing food and shelter for idealism is a conceit held by those who lack neither, and adopting the ideals of one’s benefactor is, historically, a seeming law of nature. 

Let’s say we find definitive proof that Bin Laden coordinated these latest attacks on America. And that he is hunted down and killed. Surely the death of one man won’t quell our agony, nor quench our thirst for revenge, so, we kill hundreds or even thousands of Afghan citizens, since the president’s decree condemns those who harbor him. Will we then feel avenged? How many of those guilty-by-nationality or religion must die before we’ll feel “OK”?  

Chris Rasmussen 

Berkeley

SACRAMENTO — Nine California counties, including the state’s two largest, will not be able to use punch-card voting systems beginning in 2006 and possibly 2004, says California’s top elections official. 

Some of the counties are already looking at new systems and hope voters approve a possible $200 million bond in March to give them some money to buy modern equipment. 

Secretary of State Bill Jones said Tuesday he is decertifying the Votomatic and Pollstar punch-card voting systems because they can cause problems such as occurred last year in Florida in the presidential election. 

Punch-card systems, with their hard-to-interpret hanging chads, “caused the world to wait for the results of the 2000 presidential election,” Jones told a news conference. 

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have sued Jones in federal court in Los Angeles, demanding that punch-card systems be replaced for the 2002 elections. A trial is scheduled for Jan. 14. 

The lawsuit claims the machines are not only outdated, but also discriminatory, since black and Hispanic voters are more likely to live in the nine counties using the error-prone punch-card machines. 

Attorneys for the groups are evaluating the effect of Jones’ announcement on the lawsuit, said Jim Knox of Common Cause, one of the parties. 

“We’re pleased that the secretary of state recognizes that these antiquated and inaccurate systems have got to go,” Knox said. “The question is whether we want to go through another presidential election relying on these machines.” 

Jones said the machines must be replaced by Jan. 1, 2006. He will hold public hearings over the next several months to ask county election officials and companies that make machines if it’s possible to replace the systems before the 2004 presidential election. 

The counties using the two systems are Alameda, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, Shasta and Solano. They have a total of 8.6 million registered voters. 

The cost of replacing the systems will depend on what new systems the counties choose, he said. He did not have an estimate. 

The Legislature last week voted to put a $200 million bond on the March ballot to provide counties with money to update voting systems. 

However, Gov. Gray Davis has not yet decided whether to sign it, spokesman Roger Salazar said Tuesday. 

Los Angeles County Registrar Conny McCormack estimates it will cost the state’s largest county $100 million to replace its system. It has 4.1 million registered voters. 

San Diego County, second largest with 1.3 million voters, expects to spend $40 million to $50 million, says Sally McPherson, acting registrar of voters. 

Even if voters approve the bond, the county will have to come up with $10 million to $15 million, she said. 

“The good news is we’ve got four years to figure out our best options,” she said. 

In Shasta County, with 83,156 voters, officials have not made any cost estimates or decisions, awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit. 

“Our county has been successful with Votomatic. We didn’t think there was a problem with it,” said Sally Mayr, assistant county clerk. 

Riverside County is the only one in the state using a touch-screen computer system. Twenty-four counties use an optical scan system. Twenty-four others use Datavote, a hole-punch system that Jones says does not create chads on the back of ballot cards. 

Berkeley High School is at risk of losing its accreditation. Should this happen, the consequences for our community would be disastrous. Accreditation insures that when a student transfers to another high school, or applies for college admission, credit will be given for work completed. Without accreditation, our community and other schools and colleges will have no basis for confidence in a student's grades or learning. 

Who accredits our schools? The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is one of six regional associations that employ common standards of quality to evaluate and accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States. Berkeley High School was the first California high school to get WASC accreditation.  

How does WASC work? The WASC accreditation process is on going and begins at the site with a self-study. A WASC team comprised of teachers and administrators from other schools evaluates the school based on the self-study report and their own intensive observations over four days. The commission reviews the visiting team's report and issues an accreditation term.  

What brought us to this point? The last time the commission awarded us a full six-year term of accreditation was 1990. The 1996 visiting team found serious problems, including: "the absence of an orderly decision-making process and a clearly articulated vision . . . major maintenance problems and graffiti . . . a lack of trust, cooperation and collaboration.” We received a three-year term. 

In May, 1999, the returning team found "little progress." They spelled out 11 "critical areas" to be addressed and took the "extraordinary step" of naming a team to help us. We received a two-year term. The first year of that term was consumed with fires and the next began with a newly appointed principal. Frustrated by a decade of stagnation and failed reforms, some groups lost patience with the WASC process and proposed their own solutions which further divided the staff and failed to address the "critical areas." In March 2001 we earned a one-year extension. This represents WASC's "most severe warning:" we stand to lose our accreditation.  

Why doesn't student achievement count? The outstanding performance of some students is of limited interest to WASC if the school as a whole hasn't addressed the achievement of all students. Also, WASC looks carefully at an organization's capacity to generate "continuous improvement." This capacity rests on reliable administrative systems and procedures that staff can employ to measure progress, identify problems and take corrective action. 

Doesn't the High School need fundamental reform? As I see it, developing the capacity to generate improvement is fundamental. To construe the WASC process as tangential or irrelevant is to misjudge both the seriousness of our situation and the significance of their recommendations. It's important to understand that these recommendations reflect not only WASC's views, but also a broad national consensus on what practices are best and necessary if schools are to deliver educational equity and excellence. 

What's next? Committees have been formed to address critical areas. They must: State their mission clearly, measure progress toward those goals, align curriculum and instruction with state standards, and focus professional development and student support toward academic proficiency; use standardized tests to refine curriculum. 

Articulate a governance process and use it; construct a communications system and employ it; set behavioral standards and enforce them; provide a clean, safe campus.  

To participate or learn more about this important process, please contact Vice Principal Mary Ann Valles at 644-4566.  

Additional information is also available from the WASC page on the BHS web site: http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/WASC/index.html 

.  

LOS ANGELES — Defense companies with facilities in California may get a boost from a military action against terrorism, but the state’s economy is not likely to see a long-term benefit, experts say. 

“That’s wishful thinking,” said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. 

“If there is a substantial increase in defense spending, that would presume we continued to be in the middle of a fairly high pressure crisis and I guarantee you the falloff in commercial tech purchases would outweigh any modest increases in defense,” Levy said. 

Analysts have upgraded the stocks of various defense companies with operations in the state, most notably Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. 

JSA Research analyst Paul Nisbet put Raytheon and Lockheed on his “buy” list after last week’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the thwarted crash in Pennsylvania. 

“The outlook is for much greater growth than what had appeared last Tuesday,” Nisbet said. 

Nisbet said the defense budget should rise to $350 billion in the next fiscal year and $400 billion in fiscal 2003. 

“That will be pretty evenly spread,” he said. “Some will obviously go for shipbuilding. But most of the defense electronics and space items are in California.” 

But companies such as Boeing, which would presumably benefit from spending on defense electronics, would also suffer from a slump in commercial aviation, analysts said. Many California companies are subcontractors both for Boeing’s aircraft operations and for Airbus, another commercial aircraft maker. 

Another factor that makes economic benefits for California uncertain is the nature of the war that will be fought against terrorism. 

Unlike previous conflicts, such as the Gulf War in 1991, the fight against Osama Bin Laden and others would likely not involve as many tanks, bombers and other labor-intensive weapons systems. 

“This is an evolving situation and you have to see how they determine the best way to fight it,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “You’re not going to have these huge assembly lines cranking out aircraft like sausage.” 

Shares of cruise missile maker Raytheon, of Lexington, Mass., jumped 27 percent, or $6.65, Monday to $31.50 Monday, while defense giant Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Md., rose $5.63, or 15 percent, to $43.95. 

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman rose $12.86, or 16 percent, to $94.80, while Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics rose $6.93, or 9 percent, to $82.90. 

If the country embarks on a long war with an uncertain outcome, the result could cripple the non-defense portions of the economy, economists said. 

“Everybody will stop ordering,” Levy said. “The best hope for the economy is a quick and successful end to any conflict.” 

The purpose of high school, I believe, is to prepare students for a meaningful life in the 21st century; to be a good citizen, economically self-sufficient and respectful of themselves and others. There are many paths to self-fulfillment and a productive, meaningful life. Acquiring a college diploma is only one of these. I also believe high school must inculcate honor and respect for all avenues to success, and that it is important not to denigrate any of them in the eyes of our students. Students should be encouraged to aspire towards any of the myriad of paths leading to a meaningful life that they find personally satisfying.  

The Berkeley School system is again going through the important task of rethinking the goals of a high school education, the main purpose of the accreditation process now taking place at the school. The whole school system is involved, as well as the School Board. 

At our last board meeting we were presented with the beginning elements of this process, the airing and ratification of the “Expected Schoolwide Learning Results.” According to BHS Vice Principal Mary Ann Valles, these ESLRs describe what a well-rounded person should look like and know when she or he exits high school. We were also presented, at the same time, with the first reading of the revised list of courses required for graduation from BHS, which should support the new ESLRs. 

The Daily Planet, on Sept. 7, gave a fine report on the issues and discussions that took place at our meeting, but I think, I may not have stated my position as concisely, or coherently as I would have liked. I was quoted saying, “There’s not one thing in these ESLRs about sending students to college.” I did say these words, not during the discussion about ESLRs, as reported, but rather during the discussion about courses required for graduation. The point I was attempting to make was that I do not believe that graduation requirements for ALL students should be the same as those required to qualify for admission to a four-year college. I think the ESLRs we just adopted did not say this either. The new ESLRs presume that the purpose of high school is to prepare students for successful lives after high school. That preparation may include readiness for going to a four-year college or university, but not only going to college. I believe that the ESLRs we adopted reflect this broader, more inclusive view of high school achievement, but the proposed high school graduation requirements may not, and in fact might be interpreted as contradicting the ESLRs. 

Many of my most successful students at BHS did not take all the courses necessary to go immediately to a four-year college. They were not required to take those courses to graduate and chose not to take them. Some of them went into the dot-com industry, some became workers for AC Transit, BART, the U.S. Post Office, professional photographers and skilled tradespersons. My own father I consider to have had a very successful life. He was a journeyman electrician, artist, union activist, and devoted family man. If he had been forced to take all the classes required to go to college when in high school, he would never have graduated and possibly would have never considered himself a success in life. 

Our "Expected Schoolwide Learning Results" should be reflected in our graduation requirements. What I was trying to say, at the last school board meeting, is that these requirements should not be designed to elevate one possible post high school path over any others. I believe this sets up elitist attitudes among our faculty and students, and unnecessarily dooms some students to a feeling of failure when we should be celebrating all the alternative paths to success. 

SACRAMENTO — Consumer groups and the Senate’s top Democrat said Monday there’s no need for an extra legislative attempt to save beleaguered Southern California Edison from bankruptcy. 

Although the Assembly voted to let Edison sell $2.9 billion in bonds to pay off part of its $3.9 billion debt, Senate Leader John Burton said he didn’t bring it up for a vote in his house as the Legislature prepared to adjourn because not enough senators would vote for it. 

Gov. Gray Davis promptly announced he would call the year’s third extraordinary legislative session so the Legislature could again attempt to craft a rescue plan for Edison. 

“There’s no reason to come back and stay through a third, fourth, fifth or sixth special session unless there’s a deal,” Burton said Monday. “People aren’t going to vote for something that they think is morally wrong and politically dangerous for them.” 

Several senators tried to write a less-generous version of the Assembly plan, but Edison officials said that wouldn’t help them, said Burton, a San Francisco Democrat. “Members felt that they didn’t want to vote for a bill that helped Edison that Edison didn’t want.” 

The utility amassed $3.9 billion in debt from high wholesale prices last year. Without a state-backed rescue, the company says it will have no choice but to follow Pacific Gas and Electric Co. into bankruptcy. Davis announced in April that he had negotiated a plan with Edison to buy the utility’s transmission lines and let the company issue revenue bonds, backed by consumers, to pay its debts. 

Lawmakers worked on several incarnations of the deal since then, but couldn’t reconcile the different versions that passed each house. 

The third legislative session would deal exclusively with Edison, said Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio. Assembly and Senate leaders would set the date for the session to start. 

An Edison-only session, Maviglio said, will force the Senate to focus on only that issue. “The bottom line is that it has to be legislation that gets the state out of the power business and gets Edison solvent.” 

Because the Assembly didn’t adjourn the second extraordinary session on energy, the governor would have to call a third session to compel lawmakers to return to the capital. 

If the governor does that, Burton says he’ll immediately adjourn it. 

“I don’t know what the Legislature can do. Whatever we want to do, the Edison people say it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough. They want a flat bailout,” Burton said. 

The Assembly approved a drastically changed version of the Senate bill, adding $400 million to the utility’s bonding limit and including provisions to encourage renewable energy and limit cash transfers from the utility to the parent company. 

“We sent a bill to the Senate, one to accomplish one of the objectives of the legislation, which is to put the utility back on its feet,” said Paul Hefner, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys. “I don’t know what more there is for us to do at this point.” 

Edison officials declined to comment Monday. The company had opposed the Senate’s plan to let Edison sell $2.5 billion in bonds, saying that wouldn’t keep them from bankruptcy. 

Consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield said Edison has “cried wolf” to lawmakers five times since January, setting deadlines by which it said it would file for bankruptcy 

“Now, of course, they said that they can wait until Oct. 15. I don’t think Edison has much credibility with the legislators at this point,” said Rosenfield, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. 

His organization has promised a ballot measure to overturn any legislation that helps the utility. 

Campus officials and luminaries addressed about 12,000 students and faculty at UC Berkeley’s Memorial Glade Monday, in a solemn tribute to the victims of last week’s attacks in New York and Washington. 

Classes were suspended from noon to 2 p.m. as students and faculty packed the bowl-shaped lawn, the north terraces of the main library, and the top-floor balconies of Evans Hall for songs and brief speeches. 

The central campus, normally noisy and ebullient with a fraction as many people on the lawn, was eerily silent but for the occasional tinkle of a cell phone. The expressions on the multitudes’ faces were both sad and angry. 

“We are a different people than we were a week ago,” said Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl. He called on the university to respond by recommitting itself to openness and honest inquiry. “We have been scarred by this tragedy and we have been changed, but let us resolve here today not to change too much. We are a community of learners committed to unchanging principles. We are here because we believe that education is the basis for both freedom and civilization.” 

Berdahl borrowed H.G. Wells’ maxim that history is “a race between education and catastrophe.” 

“History,” said Staff Ombudsperson Anita Madrid, “summons our generation not only to reject barbarism but to overcome it.” She called upon those gathered “to stand up for the innocent and vulnerable in our communities who may be targets of misdirected rage.” Author Maxine Hong Kingston and former U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass, both English department professors, also made urgent appeals for peace among the widely diverse peoples of the world, and of America. 

“Terrorism does not have national characteristics,” Hass said, and portrayed the heroism of the rescue workers in New York and Washington, the small acts of coming together in times of crisis, as a universal phenomenon. “We see images of Palestinians doing the same when struck on the West Bank, images of Israelis doing the same when struck in Jerusalem,” he said. “Human beings are sometimes able to turn to one another with courage.” 

“What makes this so terrible is that these were each individual lives,” he went on. He recounted the story of a businessman who survived the Twin Towers attack only because he had delayed his arrival at a business meeting to go downstairs and fortify himself with a salmon bun. 

“If somehow the mystery of the value of each individual life is not at the center of our teaching and learning, then we have failed,” Hass said. 

Academic Senate Chair David Dowall told the story of a former urban planning student at the university who he said was among the missing at the World Trade Center. (The Daily Planet could not confirm her name by press time). At his enthusiastic recommendation, Dowall said, she had taken a job there last year with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, after working on the design for a new airport in Berlin. 

Wally Adeyemo, president of the Associated Students of the University of California, remarked that the victims had “no choice of the hour of their deaths” and encouraged the contemplative crowd not to let days or even moments slip away. Unlike the victims, he said, “You have a choice... what you’ll do, what you’ll build.” 

Several small groups in the crowd clearly intended to build a campus movement against the Bush Administration’s call for open-ended war. One group, the Berkeley Stop The War Coalition, which has announced a peace rally at Sproul Plaza on Thursday at noon, handed out lapel ribbons cut from green cloth – a color signifying peace in Islam. Lindsay LaSalle, a social welfare sophomore, and Candy Tischer, a senior in French, solicited Red Cross donations in a paper Uncle Sam hat. 

Most students, however, looked on somberly or chewed sandwiches contemplatively. A young woman wiped away tears when Joanne Liu, an ASUC senator, sang “Imagine” by John Lennon. 

After the ceremony ended, the Campanile carillon bells began pealing elegiacally and conversations resumed, mundane as what to do for lunch and weighty as whether there are things worth fighting for. 

Students had passed out scores of purple irises at the ceremony’s beginning, and attendees lay them one by one along the edges of the Reflecting Pool, which is dedicated to Cal alumni who died in World War II. (Memorial Glade is dedicated to all those who served). A campus police officer strode up slowly and made a formal salute. 

“It’s so amazing to see everybody all together,” said Mike Wilson, a public health graduate student. “I can’t remember the last time this happened.” 

Wilson said he had previously served 13 years as a fireman and paramedic, spending 56 hours a week cheek-by-jowl with his colleagues, and knew of the special mourning now being endured by so many emergency workers. 

A university staff member who asked to remain anonymous commented that Hong Kingston, the author and professor, “said ‘breathe in anger and breathe out loving happiness – kind love, peaceful love or something – and it wasn’t working for me. I was breathing in peace and breathing out anger.” 

Kingston later told a reporter that her actual words were: “Breathe in the world’s pain, and breathe out the world’s love.” 

Tuesday, Sept. 18

Safe Routes to Schools Forum 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

BUSD Administration Building, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition’s Safe Routes to Schools Program kicks off with an open forum attended by principals, teachers, parents and administrators from all twelve BUSD public schools participating in the program, plus School Board members, City Councilmembers, city planning, and traffic engineering staff. Light dinner and childcare will be provided. 548-RIDE 

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 

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 

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 

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.  

Sixth 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 

Commission on Aging 

1:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Open to the public.  

644-6050 

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 

–compiled by Guy Poole 

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 

Berkeley Youth Alternatives 30th Anniversary Dinner 

6 p.m. 

Radisson Hotel, Berkeley Marina 

This event will celebrate the history and accomplishments of BYA’s service to the community. It will feature performances by youths in the Performing Arts program and Video Production program. Reservations, 845-9010. 

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Monthly meeting that features finding ways to work less, consume less, rush less, and have more time to build community with friends and family, as well as live more lightly upon the planet. 549-3509 www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Friday, Sept. 21

Dancing The Dark 

8 p.m. 

First Congregational Church 

2345 Channing Way 

An evening of spirtual-political strategy to celebrate the autumnal equinox. $15. 848-6767 x609 www.kpfa.org 

Center of Elders Independence 

11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

A representative of this organization will discuss its services. 644-6107 

City Commons Club 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

“The Promises and Problems of Stem Cell Research” with Grange Coffin, M.D., retired Physician. 848-3533 

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: movie, “Beloved,” followed by discussion of author Toni Morrison. 549-1879 

Nuclear Secrecy, Human Rights, and Mordechai Vanunu: Voices of Witness from the Bay Area and Israel/Palestine 

6:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. 

Speakers will be Maurice Campbell of the Hunters Point Community First Coalition, Robert Lipton of A Jewish Voice for Peace, and Jeanie Shaterian of the Campaign to Free Vanunu. Supper will be served. 548-3048 

Saturday, Sept. 22

1st Annual Guinness & Oyster Festival 

11 a.m. - 6 p.m.  

MLK Jr. Civic Center Park 

Cake, Mingus Amungus, Ponticello, Stolen Bibles, Alamo 66 w/ Destani Wolf, The Culann’s Hounds. Free.  

Free Emergency Preparedness Class 

9 a.m. - noon 

997 Cedar St. 

Disaster mental health class. Free to anyone 18 or older who lives or works in Berkeley. 644-8736 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire.oes.html 

What You Need to Know Before You Build or Remodel 

10 a.m. - noon 

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 

Choosing to Add On: The Pros and Cons of Building an Addition 

noon - 2 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

By author and instructor Skip Wenz. Free. 525-7610 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts Open House 

1 -4 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave. 

Free family friendly Open House and community celebration. Entertainment by Shotgun Players, Berkeley Ballet, and Berkeley Opera. Newcomers are encouraged to drop by and get to know the JMCA. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

Life from a Spiritual Perspective  

5 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Avenue 

Free talk by Dr. Richard Seader, vegetarian reception to follow, childcare, free parking under church. 707-226-7703 sfsos@aol.com. 

Sunday, Sept. 23

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th streets  

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

654-6346 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute Open House 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Free introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Culture. Free. 843-6812 

Tibetan Buddhism 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Sylvia Gretchen on “Bringing the Tibetan Wisdom Tradition into our Lives Today.” Free. 843-6812 

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - noon  

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn how to adjust your brakes from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike, tools are provided. Free. 527-4140 

Since the initial horror of Sept. 11, the drumbeat of war – on TV and in the halls of congress – grows louder by the day, as we search for quick answers and a target for our grief. 

As many of us cling to our families, our friends and our faiths, our fears grow. How many mid-eastern-looking persons who fit the “profile” of the assumed mastermind of the horrific criminal acts will be harassed, jailed, or killed in the search for revenge? How many innocent people in Afghanistan will die under our fire power? How many Afghanis will become permanently displaced persons, moving to refugee camps across borders to escape our wrath? Will civil war erupt in Pakistan, as the U.S. government pressures the Pakistani government into submission?  

Will the true criminals be uncovered, tried in courts, then punished according to law? or will we react as in the “wild” west and distribute “cowboy” justice outside the court system? 

While our questions are steeped in gloom, there are bright rays of humanity that pierce the darkness: young people of various faiths are training to help protect targeted local communities; neighborhoods are organizing marches for peace and gatherings for reflection. Mosques, churches, temples, parks and university assemblages overflow with people searching for peaceful and meaningful ways to respond to the deadly crime committed last week. 

And among the bright spots, special mention must be made of the courageous act of U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee who stood alone, deserted by the Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus, when she said a bold “no” to open-ended funding of a war against we know not whom. 

Thanks, Barbara.

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  

Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center Sept. 18: 9 p.m. Tarika, $10; Sept. 19: 9 p.m. Andrew Carrier and Cajun Classics, $8; Sept. 20: 10 p.m. Grateful Dead DJ Nite, $5; Sept. 21: 9:30 p.m. Hip Hop Party: Emphatics, Self Jupitor, Professor Whaley, Bas 1, DJ Riddim and DJ Malik. $10; Sept. 22: 9:30 p.m. Don Carlos and Reggae Angels, $15; Sept. 23: 8 p.m. Funky Nixons, Mokai, Green & Root’s Womyn’s Music and more, $8 - $15. 1317 San Pablo 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro, performance showcase with open mike. 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. 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; 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. 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. 27: 7:30 p.m. The local Friends of the MST will host a screening of the new documentary “Raiz Forte” or “Strong Roots” to present our community with a vision of their work and struggle. A discussion will follow. $5-$10; 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 

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 

13th Annual Blues ‘n Jazz Festival Sept. 23: noon - 6 p.m. Jeffrey Osborne Jazz Crusaders with Ronnie Laws, Ricardo Scales, Sonata Pi (and more). $35, Lawn $25, Child $6 (6-12 years, lawn only). Dunsmuir House & Gardens Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. 583-1160 

“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. 

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

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: 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. Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., 849-2568, www.lapena.org  

“36 Views” 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 

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 

Pacific Film Archive 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. 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 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to  

Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

Exhibits 

Nexus Gallery Sept. 26-30: noon - 6 p.m. Jan Eldridge- Large charcoal drawings and acrylic collages; Tricia Grame- visual and textural autobiography of her spiritual evolution; Tanya Wilkinson- A sensuous exploration of the possibilities inherent in the medium of handmade paper. 

“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” 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. Through Sept. 29: Persian Center, 2029 Durant Ave.  

“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. 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. 21: Deborah Kesten, “The Healing Secrets of Food;” Sept. 22: A special All Poetry Dyke Open Myke, to participate call 655-1015 or feroniawolf@yahoo.com; Sept 28: The Return of Gaymes Night; Sept 29: Ellen Samuels and other contributors to “Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian & Transgender Parents. All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on 4th Street 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. 17: Aldo Alvarez describes “Interesting Monsters”; Sept. 18: Clarence Walker discusses “We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism; Sept. 19: 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”; Oct 1: Urdsula K. Le guin reads from “The Other Wind”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. 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 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore Sept. 20: 7:30 p.m. Antarctica & The Nature of Penguins, An evening with Jonathan Chester. 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

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/ 

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 “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 “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 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694.

The City Council approved a $2 million contract Thursday with a nonprofit community energy company that is expected to install high-efficiency lighting equipment in 1,000 small businesses in Berkeley and Oakland.  

The program, funded by a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission, will be administered by the Community Energy Services Corporation, which has operated out of the city’s Housing Department since 1986. CESC will be expected to retrofit 700 small businesses in Berkeley and another 300 in Oakland with high efficiency lighting equipment by June 30, 2003. Businesses that take advantage of the program could save as much as 40 percent on their electricity bills. 

Currently CESC is assembling a group of technical experts and lighting design professionals to develop the program, which is expected to be available in January. 

“We’re going after non-residential and non-governmental businesses,” said city Energy Officer Neil De Snoo. “The ones that will benefit the most are the businesses that have long hours like book stores, some schools and laundromats.” 

He added that offices and restaurants could also benefit from the program. 

De Snoo said CESC will take a “one-stop shopping” approach to the program. The service will include a briefing on the potential savings, a cost analysis and installation of the equipment. 

“This will be designed to be as smooth and seamless as possible from the initial consultation to development of the businesses’ specifications to installation,” De Snoo said.  

The lighting retrofits are being aimed at businesses that are less than 10,000 square feet and use less than 20 kilowatts. De Snoo said the initial cost to business owners will be about 60 cents a square foot and that the typical business will recoup its investment in two years depending on energy rates.  

De Snoo said many businesses will be interested because they are using lighting systems that were installed years ago and are now outdated.  

CESC Director Nancy Hoeffer said business owners will be offered lighting schemes specifically designed to improve lighting for their businesses.  

“Retail businesses will have different needs than an office,” Hoeffer said. “We’ll look at what they have now and examine how we can provide them with the most efficiency, and the most savings.” 

Hoeffer said options for business owners will include daylight harvesting techniques which will take advantage of natural lighting as well as installation of technical equipment such as light sensors that can adjust electrical light according the amount of available natural light.  

“These lighting techniques not only save money but can improve worker productivity in offices and make products look better in retail outlets,” Hoeffer said.  

Councilmember Linda Maio said Berkeley was lucky to get such a large grant and she expects businesses to make use of the program: “I think businesses will feel well-served by the saving they will get in the long run, and it will save energy, which will help to reduce global warming. It’s a perfectly wonderful thing.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she expects the program to be popular with small business owners despite the widespread worries about the downturn in the economy.  

“This is a great program,” Dean said. “I think business owners are going to be careful because of the current economic environment, but the fact remains that anything that saves money in the current economic environment is a good thing to do.” 

Downtown Business Association Director Deborah Bahdia agreed. “We think there will be a lot of businesses interested in this program,” Bahdia said. “I have already spoken with at least two business owners that are very interested.” 

Bahdia said that the length of a business owners lease will be a key factor is selling the high-efficiency lighting systems. She said there will be little incentive for business owners who are unsure if they will be in the same location for less than two years. 

Hoeffer said that businesses which are secure in their leases can’t go wrong with investing in energy-efficient lighting. She said that after two years, businesses will recoup their investment and begin to see a return. 

“There are so many ways that businesses have to shell out capital, but this is one of the best ways because where else can you get a 40 percent return on your money?” Hoffer said.  

Marc Weinstein, owner of Amoeba Records said he installed what was considered high-efficiency lighting in his Telegraph Avenue record store 10 years ago. 

“I don’t know if they can reduce my electrical output but it they say they can save me money I’m willing to listen,” he said.

Editor: 

I wish to express my shock and deep sorrow at the needless deaths of the people in New York City and Washington D.C., those on the doomed airlines and the brave rescue workers. 

My parents are both gone now. And, when the horrific events of September 11th transpired, I asked myself, Is this what is it was like? Is this what my parents as Japanese-Americans went through after Dec. 7, 1941? I’ve heard the stories where friends and neighbors suddenly changed their opinion of you even though you had lived and worked with them for years. I’ve heard stories of vandalism, physical threats, and taunts of “why don’t you go back to your own country,” when this was your country. My aunt said that you really knew who were your true friends during that time. My parents were both interned in concentration camps in Poston, Arizona and Tule Lake, California. I have had uncles who were drafted and served in the U.S. Army. I have had relatives killed in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped.  

When I hear and read examples of ignorant people who are making attacks on innocent Arab-Americans and Muslims, I become dismayed and concerned for their welfare as a misguided few take out their frustrations.  

It is in times of crisis that our values are truly tested. I am heartened by the statements of our national and local leaders asking all Americans not to judge a people by their ethnicity or religion. We need to be reminded of this more than ever. We do not want to walk down that road again with our eyes wide open. I am hoping that Americans will not succumb to hysteria and “military necessity” in the days to follow. We have a big enough job to do as it is. 

Diane A. Tokugawa 

Berkeley 

Kimberlee Bortfeld, Carole-Anne Elliott, Bruce Gerstman, Hadas Ragolsky and Rachel Searles 

Special to the Daily Planet 

For months, Berkeley High School administrators and board members have warned that if they are unable to make the Western Association of Schools and Colleges happy, the school would lose its accreditation and its diplomas would be worthless.  

But college admissions officials from Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and both California public university systems said that high school accreditation has no bearing on admissions decisions.  

“The fact that the school might lose its accreditation would not affect an individual student’s chances for admission,” explained Michael Goldberger, director of admissions at Brown University. “We evaluate students, not high schools. In fact, we often do not know the accreditation status of the school.”  

For the University of California, which conducts its own yearly evaluation of each California public high school, it is the school’s curriculum that matters, not its accreditation status. “The university has a long-standing history with Berkeley High and its curriculum,” said Carla Ferri, Director of Undergraduate Admissions. Ferri said she was unaware of Berkeley High’s accreditation problems.  

This spring, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States, gave Berkeley High School a one-year out of a possible six-year accreditation. The decision served as a warning to many worried faculty, staff and parents that if the school does not make significant changes within the year it could lose accreditation altogether. 

“Every high school and college goes through the accreditation process,” said Principal Frank Lynch. “If you don’t have accreditation, it means that your diploma isn’t worth anything.” 

When told that college admissions directors said students would have no trouble with Berkeley High diplomas, Lynch was resolute. “Until you call every school in the country and ask them what they think, I will hold on to what the association has told me – that accreditation is important.”  

Berkeley Board of Education Director John T. Selawsky was surprised by what college officials had said. “Everybody told me that accreditation would affect students applying for college,” he said. “I didn’t question it. Now, I’m going to check it out.” 

According to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, accreditation indicates that a school has met the association’s standards and is achieving its own stated objectives. But while a loss of accreditation would undoubtedly tarnish Berkeley High’s reputation (the school has been accredited since 1967), its impact on students appears vague at best. And, most importantly, while there is concern about losing accreditation, Berkeley High has failed to make great strides in resolving problems – an achievement gap between white and minority students and a lack of school-wide vision – that the association has been pointing out since the mid-1990s. 

Dr. George Bronson, associate executive director of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, maintained that a loss of accreditation would hurt students – at least in terms of financial aid.  

“When you fill out the form for your Cal Grant, they ask you right on the form if your transcript is from a WASC-accredited school,” he said. “If it isn’t, you’re either refused the funds or you’re bumped way down the list.”  

Carole Solov, Communications Specialist at the California Student Aid Commission, however, said that students from unaccredited high schools are still eligible for Cal Grants, though the process is slightly different.  

In place of the required “verified GPA” from an accredited high school, students from unaccredited schools may “provide a test score from one of the commission's approved test alternatives.” Among the tests are the SAT and ACT, which are already required by most colleges. 

Bronson also said that the military looks unfavorably at students from unaccredited schools. However, Gil Hogue, public affairs officer with the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in Sacramento, said that an unaccredited diploma would not necessarily be a disadvantage for recruits. In such a case, the army would most likely visit the high school and determine the quality of its curriculum. Thus, a recruit could still be accepted into the army even if his diploma was not from an accredited school 

Statewide, there are approximately 900 public high schools (including K-12 schools), of which 872 are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. While accreditation is voluntary, it is not free. Schools must pay $575 a year to maintain membership with the nonprofit, non-governmental association. In addition, they pay for site visits, a required part of the three-year accreditation process. A school with a student population of 3,400 like Berkeley High pays $4,000 ($500 per visitor) for an eight-member team. The association is exclusively funded through these fees. 

Despite the costs, though, Berkeley High wants to retain its accreditation. “We’re going for a multi-year accreditation this time,” Selawsky said.  

Parents are also taking it seriously. Kristin Shepard, co-president of the Parent Teacher Student Association, said that the group mailed out copies of the last visiting report from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges to every Berkeley High household last April.  

However, it is still not clear how the accreditation process improves a school. Berkeley High has been under the association’s scrutiny since 1996 when it first lost the maximum six-year accreditation and instead received only three years. Since then, the achievement gap between students of different racial groups, one of the key issues brought up during the 1996 visit, has not narrowed, according to the 2001 Western Association of Schools and Colleges report. And since then, the association has made several trips to the school at a cost of thousands of dollars.  

For Lincoln College Prep High School, which along with the entire Kansas City School District was stripped of its Missouri state accreditation in 1999, loss of accreditation had little impact on students. Gwen Grant, President and CEO of the Urban League in Kansas City, said that there were few consequences for students, except that it might have “impacted the psyche of students who felt they were associated with being under a negative cloud.” Grant’s daughter, Lincoln class of 2000, applied to about 15 colleges and was accepted to every single one. When Grant heard about Berkeley High’s situation, she exclaimed, “That sounds so familiar!” and laughed. 

Grant said that when the district lost accreditation “lots of parents jumped ship” and sent their children to charter schools. But many ended up sending their kids right back to public schools. “They were looking for a panacea that did not exist,” she said. Later, the school got accreditation through the Northern Central Association of Schools and Colleges, the region’s counterpart to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The district must still regain its state accreditation by 2002 though, or the Missouri Department of Education will come in and take administrative control.  

California does not have a similar law that would have the state take control of a district, nor is accreditation required. Instead, the state requires that schools undergo self-conducted Program Quality Reviews at least once every three years to help them analyze student achievement and build action plans to improve performance. Schools with accreditation, however, do not have to go through the review as they already implement self-study reports through the accreditation process. 

Among the problems the Western Association of Schools and Colleges 2001 report faulted Berkeley High on was the absence of a single school-wide vision plan, a lack of collaboration among faculty and staff, and an achievement gap between white and minority students. The school has also had frequent changes in its formal leadership, with five principals in the last six years and three superintendents in the last nine months, one of whom was interim superintendent.  

The association plans to revisit the school in October 2002, and it is uncertain how the school will measure up. Administration officials, however, continue to stress the importance of having accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the only accreditation agency in the region that the U.S. Department of Education recognizes.  

When asked how the association acquired its lofty position, Executive Director Dr. Donald G. Haught said that it is largely because it was the first professional organization in the region that encompassed high schools, junior colleges and colleges. The association was established in 1962, and as an agency, gained recognition throughout its years.  

“WASC exists for a reason,” maintained Lynch. “We all pay good money for them to visit and accredit us. Accreditation validates what we are doing. It’s a good housekeeping seal of approval.” 

Editor: 

The Daily Planet received the following letter addressed to Rep. Barbara Lee: 

As one of your constituents in Berkeley, I was proud and grateful for your vote against giving Bush sweeping “war powers” at this time. It must have been a difficult decision in some ways (though in my mind, a very clear one in others), given the great pain and anger that all of us feel over the terrorist tragedy last week. 

But I - and I know many, many others - do NOT believe that this tragedy should be reciprocated with vengeance and more anger and blind aggression. That will never solve the terrorist problems we face, nor is it the path a civilized, compassionate nation should take. 

I appreciate your wanting us to take time to assess what has happened, and to devise a reasoned response. I wish more of your colleagues had done the same. 

Again, thank you for your vote. We will remember it. 

Juliet Lamont 

Berkele

A proposal to build a 44-unit residential building in the city’s Southside neighborhood is making its way through the city’s planning process. 

If approved, the project would entail moving one of the city’s designated “Structures of Merit” – the Ellen Blood House, a single-family “Queen Anne” Victorian home at 2526 Durant Ave. between Telegraph Avenue and Bowditch Street -- to another location in the city. 

David C. Ruegg and Robert A. Ellsworth, current owners of the site, applied for permission to build a five-story apartment building in June 2000. In their application, they say that the proposed building, which would include retail space at ground level, would help solve the city’s housing crunch and contribute to the Southside economy. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Blood House a “structure of merit” in September 1999. Ruegg and Ellsworth unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the City Council in October 1999. 

Carrie Olson, a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, remembered the thinking that went into the designation. 

“It’s one of the few single-family homes remaining from the College Homestead Tract,” she said. The College Homestead Tract was a subdivision of land owned by the College of California (later the University of California), which sold parcels to people eager to build a community around the nascent college. It comprises much of today’s Southside neighborhood. 

“The university has really flattened all the old houses to build parking lots and student housing,” said Olson.  

A study commissioned by the Landmarks Preservation Commission said the building “recalls (Southside’s) early character as one of Berkeley’s substantial family residential districts, where the streets were lined with the homes of prominent citizens.” 

The Ellen Blood House was built in 1891 by Gary Frise, a popular 19th century East Bay architect. 

For most of its 110-year history, the house was owned by individuals or families. The family of Perry Tompkins, an early Berkeley realtor, lived in the house for many years, as did Ruth Alice Greer, who for many years was in charge of finding jobs around the state for teachers newly graduated from the College of Education. 

Ownership of the home passed to Ruegg and Ellsworth in the 1980’s. 

The city has hired an outside consultant to perform an Environmental Impact Report on Ruegg and Ellsworth’s proposed building. The California Environmental Quality Act requires the city to consider such factors as “cultural resources” and “aesthetics” in determining a development’s environmental impact.

Editor, 

The events of 9/11 has shown the world that the fundamental religious beliefs of certain people in other countries are the exact reasons why the United States needs to stay the shining beacon of freedom for the world. 

I am totally dismayed at the letters which are published on your website. I have not been able to read your physical papers due to my present geographical location, so maybe the situation is different from my perception, but where is the condemnation of the absolutely evil act?  

It was sad enough that your congresswoman, Barbara Lee was the only person to vote against the House vote to give permission to the president for a military option, but are Berkeley and Oakland residents so far gone that you have lost any sense of right and wrong? I don’t want to believe that. 

The United States may not always be right, but no country deserved what has happened to us. I hope that the people who perpetrated these horrifying act will be found and sent to hell, which they deserve to be a permanent fixture of.  

James Tamietti 

Bellevue, WA  

Twenty members of the Berkeley Fire Department took to the streets Monday, rubber boots in hand, to ask citizens to contribute to the families of their fallen colleagues in New York City. 

The “Fill the Boot” campaign is a project of the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association Local 1227. 

“Collectively, we have lost possibly 400 firefighting brothers and sisters,” said Marc Mestrovich, BFFA Local 1227 secretary. “Even though the tragedy took place in New York, we feel it here.” 

Mestrovich said that the donations collected will be sent back with a BFD delegation that will attend the funeral for their colleagues in New York. 

Three firefighters from Station 2, 2029 Berkeley Way, stood outside the downtown Berkeley BART station Monday morning taking contributions.  

One of the firefighters, Mike Posadas, described the strain that the tragedy has placed on Berkeley’s fire department. He described a shift meeting held on Sunday, during which the normally stolid firefighters struggled to keep their feelings in check. 

“Some people were very emotional, others were keeping it inside,” he said. “Everyone’s dealing with it in a different way.” 

Mestorvich said that the executive board of the union planned the campaign early last week, shortly after it learned of the fates of those firefighters first dispatched to the World Trade Center. 

“We’re a helping group, and this is our way of helping New York through this,” he said. “If this happened in the city of Berkeley, the nation would do exactly the same for us.” 

Firefighters will be collecting at various locations around the city today: at the Berkeley BART station, Fourth Street, Solano Avenue, Bancroft Avenue at the corners of College and Telegraph avenues and at the corner of College and Ashby avenues. 

Donations can also be mailed to the California Fire Foundation, care of California Professional Firefighters, 1780 Creekside Oaks, Suite 200, Sacramento CA, 95833.  

There will be a blood drive at Fire Station 2 on Sept. 28.

Editor: 

We merely saw a small poster about a peace march Sunday at 7 p.m., starting at Russell Street and College Avenue, just three blocks from our house, so I was surprised that so many people kept joining the march. I couldn’t help but reflect on other peace marches and the atmosphere of marches in the early 1960s when we really thought our peace and love marches would touch the soul of America and help us find an early way out of the Vietnam War. Then I remembered how those marches, which started so peacefully, became violent at the time when marchers began to stop troop trains, and I felt I could no longer participate in something which would only serve to polarize public opinion. 

I began to feel a fear that this march also might be the beginning of a series of marches which would also lead to further violence, and that so few of us can imagine the ominous dangers which lie ahead for this country. However, I couldn’t help but notice that many of the cars honking as they went by were holding up a V for peace sign, and I didn’t hear any shouts of derision. How can this be, I thought. To listen to the news one would think that a person opposed to “bombing Afghanistan into oblivion if necessary” might subject himself or herself to violent retaliation. Perhaps people in general realize after all that we need to get a better perspective on terrorism before we start down a road which will lead to far worse than the road in Vietnam. Now at least we understand what could be worse than Vietnam, for after all, in the 1960s the country was not subject to terrorism on a large scale. 

Surely we must separate our sense of grief, our experience of tragedy, and all the accompanying emotions, from our determination to find appropriate responses, both in the interests of justice and in the interest of the country at large. 

Thomas de Lackner 

Berkeley

EUGENE, Ore. — A California woman was arrested after attempting to pull a turban off the head of a Sikh, police said. 

Shari Mitchell, 54, of San Rafael, reportedly approached two men Sunday at an Interstate 5 rest stop near Eugene. Believing them to be Islamic fundamentalists, she blamed them for terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

The arrest is the second in Oregon involving a backlash against Muslims and those who are mistaken for them. A 33-year-old man was arrested last week after making a threatening phone call to the Islamic Cultural Center in Eugene. 

Sikhism is a sect of Hinduism from India and is distinct from Islam, but some members are being mistaken for Muslims because they wear turbans and have facial hair. 

In the most prominent case, a Sikh in Arizona was killed Saturday, reportedly because he was dark-skinned and wore a turban. The FBI also announced Monday that they are investigating the shooting death Saturday of an Egyptian grocery store owner in San Gabriel as a hate crime. 

Reached on his cell phone Monday, Jagjit Gill, 41, of Kent, Wash., said he and his father-in-law Santokh Sing, 60, stopped at the rest area for a snack. 

When they saw Mitchell coming their way, they waved to her, Gill said. But Mitchell responded with curse words and racist remarks. 

An old man at the rest area attempted to intervene, telling Mitchell that the men had nothing to do with the attacks. 

She told the man “to shut up, these guys are murderers,” Gill said. 

She then slapped one of the men and attempted to remove Sing’s turban. 

“I told her ‘don’t touch the turban,’ ” Gill said. 

Mitchell eventually left. Police caught up to her on Interstate 5 and charged her with intimidation and harassment. She could get more than a year in jail. 

“Physically we’re fine, mentally we’re very upset,” Gill said. “We’re scared; it gets into your mind.” 

NEW YORK (AP) — A week after the horrifying fall of the World Trade Center, officials faced a crucial decision: When should they concede that rescue efforts are futile and move full-time into the grimmer task of recovering the dead? 

With only five survivors pulled from the smoking ruins — and none since Wednesday, the day after the disaster — the decision, when it comes, will be more symbolic than real. 

But freed of the responsibility of moving gingerly so that lives might be saved, heavy equipment operators and bucket brigades will be able to step up the pace of clearing a seven-story pyramid of debris. 

It will also mean that thousands of relatives and friends will have to move on, and accept that their loved ones are dead. 

The debris is being hauled by dump trucks to an area near the recently closed Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. There it is spread out and sifted by FBI agents and detectives for airplane pieces and other evidence that could help explain what occurred aboard the jetliners and help build a criminal case. 

While recognizing that the odds on finding people alive are “very slim,” as Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen said, city officials declined to say when the change in mission might occur, or even whether it would be announced. 

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Monday he is not yet ready to abandon the search for survivors. 

“I’ve been told by experts that people survive for longer periods than the six days that have gone by since the attack,” Giuliani said. “The simple reality is that we’re not going to be able to recover significant numbers of people, but we will continue to try.” 

On Sunday, workers reached the deepest part of the trade center’s underground complex, the PATH commuter train station 80 feet down. 

Allen Morrison, a spokesman for the Port Authority that operated the Trade Center complex, said it appears no one was in the station when the towers collapsed. 

“After the first plane hit, we ordered all the trains with passengers on board to return to New Jersey, then we swept the entire station for any people still there, and stationed police at the entrances to keep anyone else out,” Morrison said. 

It was not clear whether the same actions were taken at the shopping concourse just above the station. 

There are still some levels to be searched and “we need a better handle on what the conditions are within those levels,” said Peter Bakersky, the on-scene search and rescue coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

The search went on Monday without any good news. Giuliani said 5,422 people were still missing, and just 201 deaths had been confirmed. Much of downtown Manhattan, including the financial markets, reopened just blocks from the smoking ruins of the Trade Center. 

While the move from rescue to recovery is seldom sharply defined, “the political leadership has to make that determination,” Bakersky said. 

“Have we had any live victims that were pulled out? Were there any areas that they could survive in? Just because there have been none, there is still a sense of a possibility,” he said. 

A forensic pathologist who worked on the 1993 Trade Center bombing that killed six people said there was no doubt that everyone aboard the two Boeing 767 jetliners perished. But building collapses often offer hope that people found shelter in protected spaces. 

In the Trade Center’s underground passages, “it would be possible for someone to live for some time, even weeks, if they had water — rainwater or firefighters’ water — and there was no pressure on their bodies,” said the pathologist, who asked not to be identified by name. 

Many victims probably were incinerated in the fireballs of jet fuel that roared through upper floors of the towers. Many others were dismembered in the crashes or the collapses that followed. Firefighters and others at the scene have reported finding few intact bodies. 

The heat of the fire — estimated by FEMA at 1,700 degrees — would make identification difficult because it consumed smaller body parts, said Dr. Steven Symes, a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Tennessee. 

CINCINNATI — A white police officer was not following proper procedures when he shot a fleeing, unarmed black man to death, a killing that led to riots this spring, a prosecutor said Monday. 

Officer Stephen Roach, 27, was indicted in May on misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and obstruction of official business in the April 7 shooting death of Timothy Thomas, 19. 

If convicted of both charges, he could face up to nine months in jail. 

Roach agreed to have the trial heard without a jury. After hearing testimony, Municipal Court Judge Ralph E. Winkler may take the case under review and issue his verdict later. 

The death touched off the city’s worst racial violence since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968, and prompted a citywide dusk-to-dawn curfew to restore order. Dozens of people were injured and more than 800 were arrested. 

Roach was the only one of at least five officers pursuing Thomas who took his revolver out of his holster, prosecutor Michael Prisley told the judge. 

Before firing, Roach should have used other methods to stop Thomas, who was wanted on traffic violations and charges of fleeing police, Prisley said. He also should not have put his finger on the trigger before he intended to use the gun, Prisley said. 

The obstruction charge stems from the differing accounts of what happened that Roach gave to detectives investigating the shooting, Prisley said. 

Defense lawyer Merlin Shiverdecker said that in all of Roach’s accounts of what happened, he repeated his assertion that Thomas made a move to his waistband. 

“He perceived that move to the waist and feared it as a threat to his safety,” Shiverdecker told the judge. 

Testimony also got under way Monday. Three officers involved in chasing Thomas testified for the prosecution that they did not take out their guns. 

When officer Thaddeus Steele was asked how often suspects flee police in the area, Steele replied, “Every night.” 

Shiverdecker said defense witnesses, including police supervisors, would testify that Roach is a mature, dedicated officer. Other testimony would be about the poor lighting in the alley where the shooting took place. 

Thomas was the 15th black male to die at the hands of Cincinnati police since 1995. Police union officials have said 10 of those men fired or pointed guns at police officers, and two drove at or dragged officers from cars. 

The shooting led the mayor to request a federal investigation of the city’s police department, which is under way. 

Two other Cincinnati officers await trial in October in the case of another black man, Roger Owensby Jr., who died in November when police took him into custody. The coroner concluded that Owensby died of suffocation. 

RICHMOND, Va. — The Rev. Jerry Falwell apologized Monday for saying God had allowed terrorists to attack America because of the work of civil liberties groups, abortion rights supporters and feminists. 

Falwell said his comments were ill-timed, insensitive and divisive at a time of national mourning. President Bush had called the minister’s statement inappropriate. 

“In the midst of the shock and mourning of a dark week for America, I made a statement that I should not have made and which I sincerely regret,” Falwell said. 

He added: “I want to apologize to every American, including those I named.” 

In an interview Thursday during religious broadcaster Pat Robertson’s TV program “The 700 Club,” Falwell blamed the devastation on pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way. 

“All of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, ’You helped this happen,”’ he said. 

Falwell, a Baptist minister and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., also expressed a belief shared by other evangelicals that divine protection is withdrawn from nations that violate God’s will. 

However, some Christian thinkers warned there was no way to know which sin led to which punishment. On Monday, Falwell agreed. 

“When I talked about God lifting the curtain of protection on our nation, I should have made it very clear that no one on this earth knows whether or not that occurred or did not occur,” he said. 

He said if the destruction was a judgment from God it was a judgment on all sinners, including himself. 

Falwell told The Associated Press that no one from the evangelical community or the White House pressured him to apologize. 

However, he said a White House representative called him Friday while he was driving to the National Cathedral memorial service in Washington, and told him the president disapproved. 

Falwell said he told the White House that he also felt he had misspoken. 

Falwell made his apology minutes after Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network released its own statement calling Falwell’s on-air remarks “severe and harsh in tone and, frankly, not fully understood” by Robertson and his two co-hosts. 

———— 

On the Net: 

Jerry Falwell Ministries: http://www.falwell.com 

Christian Broadcasting Network: http://www.cbn.org 

SACRAMENTO — The Fresno County district attorney and firearms advocates sued the state attorney general Monday for ambiguous language in the state’s landmark assault weapons law. 

District Attorney Ed Hunt said an amendment to the 1989 Assault Weapon Control Act was incomprehensible and created confusion for gun owners and law enforcement officials. 

“Without clarification, it’s impossible to know what is legal and what isn’t,” Hunt said in a written statement. “I simply can’t do my job, and I can’t do justice under these confusing circumstances.” 

The rare suit, pitting one prosecutor against another, seeks an injunction preventing the law from going into effect and asks for an extension for gun owners to register until the law is clarified. 

The suit was filed in Fresno Superior Court by Hunt, Fresno gun shop owner Barry Bauer, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America and the California Sporting Goods Association. 

Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who heads the state’s Department of Justice, was surprised by the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Hallye Jordan. She said she never heard of a prosecutor suing another prosecutor. 

Under the 1999 amendment, Lockyer set regulations last year requiring registration of guns with military-style characteristics such as a pistol grip, folding stock, or flash suppressor. 

But gun advocacy lawyer Chuck Michel, who filed the suit, said there are inconsistencies in the law and that vague language leaves gun owners unwittingly open to prosecution. 

The Department of Justice’s definition of a flash suppressor, for example, includes weapons that don’t have the devices designed to dull the blaze of gunfire, Michel said. 

“Nobody knew what these things are,” said Michel of Los Angeles. “It’s something beyond the ken of the usual law abiding gun owner.” 

Jordan said the regulations are clear and Hunt and Fresno County law enforcement officials have never taken part in Department of Justice assault weapon training sessions. 

The department ran newspaper and radio ads, notified gun dealers and organizations, and set up a Web site and toll-free number to publicize the law, in addition to a series of public hearings on the regulations. 

Gun owners who didn’t register their weapons by the end of last year are subject to prosecution and could face a $500 fine and a jail or prison term. 

The state Department of Justice has registered 150,400 assault weapons in the last decade since passing the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989, the nation’s first assault weapon law. 

State legislators put the law on the books after a gunman, Patrick Purdy, fired a semiautomatic weapon into a Stockton school yard, killing five children and injuring 30. 

LOS ANGELES — Airport traffic throughout California remained well below normal Monday as the nation tried to get back to business after last week’s terrorist attacks. 

Flights were expected to be about 70 percent of normal at San Francisco International and 60 percent of normal at Los Angeles and San Diego airports, where passengers arrived hours early for flights amid concerns over security delays. 

Investment banker Robert Hammer, 52, of Thousand Oaks arrived at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport two hours early for a 9 a.m. flight to San Francisco. He found the terminal nearly empty. 

“I thought there would be no lines here, and I was right,” he said. 

At Los Angeles International Airport, all travelers with cars were required to park in remote lots and take shuttles to and from the terminals. 

Lines snaked out of sight at some San Francisco International ticket counters. 

“The biggest problem we’re having is people not taking small items, small knives, scissors, fingernail files, out of their carry-on bags,” Duty Manager Dennis Neves said. 

Officials at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field expected far fewer travelers than normal for weeks to come as businesses and vacationers assess the situation. 

“What I would guess is, people have been canceling their plans,” said Rita Vandergaw, spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified Port District, which manages the airport. 

An expected drop in air travel battered the stocks of major airlines, which have lost some $1 billion in the past week. 

The slide in airline and tourism-related stocks contributed to an early sell-off on Wall Street that had many — but not all — California investors nervous. 

Khajag Vosgueritchian, a Pasadena mortgage broker, was confident enough in the economy’s future that he was buying stock at a Charles Schwab office in Los Angeles. 

“I’m pretty optimistic. I’m buying today, and I’m thinking long-term,” said Vosgueritchian, who was focusing on big companies such as General Electric and Intel. 

Over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta appointed two task forces of nongovernment experts to examine improving security aboard airliners and at airports. They are due to issue a report by Oct. 1. 

“Try to check everything at the ticket counter and not carry anything onto the airplanes,” Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Harold Johnson said. 

Waits for everything — from checking in to catching a shuttle bus — were long. Most seemed to take the delays in stride. 

Arun Gollaputi, 41, of Glendale arrived at the Burbank airport at 8:45 a.m. for a 10:45 a.m. Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland. 

His wife was in tears as she dropped him off, he said. Gollaputi said he told her: “We’ve got to show these bastards we’ve got to do business.” 

All of his baggage was searched thoroughly. Security personnel even asked permission to open a sealed legal-size envelope in his luggage. 

“I want them to check. This ensures they are checking everybody else,” he said. 

Some passengers admitted to concerns about flying. 

“People were looking around and everybody was nervous,” Caner Diniz, a 37-year-old Turkish businessman, said of his fellow passengers during the 45-minute flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. 

Others believed the worst was over. 

Doug Brown, 32, of Pasadena arrived from San Francisco at Burbank on a United flight about 8:30 a.m. 

“It was pretty smooth,” he said. 

His wife, Christina, 21, was waiting. 

“It’s already happened. They already did what they wanted to do. I don’t want to think about it too much. That would be over-worrying,” she said. 

NEW YORK — The losers included airline, insurance and entertainment stocks while defense issues were among the few winners when prices tumbled on Wall Street Monday, the first day of trading after last week’s terrorist attacks. 

The selling, in record volume on the New York Stock Exchange, gave the Dow Jones industrials their biggest one-day point drop, 684.81, and left them below 9,000 for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years. 

“To buy stocks you need some kind of clarity and confidence, and right now you’ve got neither,” said Bill Barker, investment consultant at Dain Rauscher in Dallas. “The buying public is sitting on its hands. The sellers are obviously in control now.” 

Analysts were unsure how long the selling would last or how intense if might become. Following last week’s attacks, investors have more reason to worry about shrinking profits, not to mention national security. 

Monday’s selling could have been worse, something that was apparent in the number of stocks that fell vs. those that rose. The ratio of decliners to advancers was close to 6 to 1, typical of the Wall Street’s recent selloffs; in the Oct. 19, 1987 crash, the ratio was 50 to 1. 

“This is about what we could have expected,” said Todd Clark, co-head of listed trading at WR Hambrecht. 

Still, he said, “I think traders are disappointed we didn’t rally a bit in the afternoon. There was some thinking that we would do that,” Clark said. 

The Dow closed at 8,920.70, having suffered a 7.1 percent decline. Its nearly 685-point loss surpassed the previous record one-day point drop of 617.78, set on April 14, 2000. The last time the blue chips were below 9,000 was Dec. 3, 1998. 

The Dow also set a record for an intraday point decline, 721.56, beating the previous record of 721.32, also set on April 14, 2000. 

By percentage, however, the Dow’s loss was less severe, ranking 14th and equaling less than a third of the biggest-ever percentage drop of 22.6 percent in the 1987 crash. 

The Nasdaq composite index fell 115.83, or 6.8 percent, to 1,579.55, a level not seen since Oct. 14, 1998 when it closed at 1,540.97. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the broadest measure of Wall Street, declined 53.77, or 4.9 percent, to 1,038.77. 

Some market watchers said there are several reasons, including deeply discounted stock prices and patriotism, to hope for a rally. 

“I have heard brokers say their clients are saying, ‘I want to buy something to show my support in our economic systems,”’ said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities. 

Investors had to digest a great deal of news Monday, including a half-point interest rate reduction — the eighth cut this year — by the Federal Reserve before the market reopened, along with a litany of companies announcing stock buybacks to boost their share prices. 

Analysts said U.S. investors were ready to get back to trading after a four-day shutdown, anxious to adjust their portfolios amid the uncertainty about the market, the economy and the overall market. 

The stock market’s closure, necessary as damaged utility services were restored and investment firms scrambled to find alternate places to do business, was also needed to give investors some time to separate their emotions from their investments, analysts said. 

“There has been a four-day hiatus, which takes a little bit of the panic out of it. ...Of course, the Fed cutting rates, while it wasn’t unexpected, it was helpful,” Wachtel said. “It’s not going to be a disaster.” 

Analysts noted that high-tech shares fared relatively well. 

“It’s certainly a positive that what’s holding up best is the Nasdaq. If you were thinking there was panic, you would see more dumping there,” said Richard A. Dickson, technical analyst for Hilliard Lyons in Louisville, Ky. 

Airline stocks traded lower after all the major U.S. carriers, expecting a drop in business, announced reduced flight schedules. UAL, the parent of United Airlines, fell nearly 43 percent, down $13.32 at $17.50, and AMR, the parent of American Airlines, plunged $11.70, or 39 percent, to $18. 

Airlines weighed on the Dow Jones transportation index, which fell 15 percent, down 404.81 at 2,271.68. 

Other travel and leisure services suffered, including online travel agent Expedia, down $12.25 at $24. Marriott International fell $8.60 to $32.25. 

Insurers were weak as the industry faces steep losses following last week’s attacks. American International Group fell $3.26 to $71 after saying last week it expects its pretax losses from the attack to total $500 million. 

Financial companies also traded lower on the expectation that investors and consumers will invest, spend and borrow less amid greater uncertainty about the economy. Dow industrial American Express sank $4.76 to $30.25. AmEx fell further in the extended-hours session, down $1.25, after issuing a third-quarter profit warning. 

Entertainment stocks were weak as investors expect business to suffer if the economy goes into recession. Disney, also a Dow stock, fell $4.33 to $19.25. 

There were some winners, chiefly in defense and security, which could see an uptick in government spending following the attacks. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin rose $5.63 to $43.95. InVision Technologies, which makes systems used in detecting bombs, surged 165 percent, rising $5.14 to $8.25. 

Following the devastation in the Financial District, the NYSE and the Nasdaq tested their trading systems and those of their member firms to ensure they were operating properly and would be able to process trades. It was not immediately clear if there were any glitches that prevented investment firms from executing trades, although some smaller companies were still without phone service. 

In a move to support the market, the Securities and Exchange Commission eased rules governing stock buybacks by companies. Several firms announced plans to repurchase their stock as a signal of their confidence in their own shares, as well as the market and the country. 

Companies that announced buybacks included networker Cisco Systems, which fell 47 cents to $14, and Starbucks, down 94 cents at $15.51. 

NYSE volume came to a record 2.33 billion shares, nearly doubling the 1.24 billion that were traded the previous Monday and surpassing the previous volume record of 2.13 billion on Jan. 4. Consolidated volume, which includes trades made on and off the NYSE floor, totaled 2.73 billion shares, well ahead of 1.5 billion last Monday. 

The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, fell 21.69 to 417.67. 

Overseas markets were mixed Monday. Japan’s Nikkei stock, which had closed before the U.S. markets reopened, average tumbled 5 percent. European stocks rose strongly with Britain’s FT-SE 100 rising 3.0 percent, France’s CAC-40 climbing 2.7 percent, and Germany’s DAX index gaining 2.9 percent. 

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — EBay Inc. is using its auction Web site to facilitate donations to terrorist-attack relief efforts and has set a bold goal for the program — to raise $100 million in 100 days. 

The Internet company set up an “Auction for America” category Monday for people who want to sell items and donate the proceeds to victims of the terrorist attacks and their families. Items earmarked for attack relief will be free of the fees eBay normally collects from sellers. 

People also can use the category to make a cash donation without buying anything. In hopes of kick-starting the drive toward generating $100 million in donations in the next 100 days, eBay contributed $1 million of its own money. 

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged all Americans to buy and sell at least one item through the program. 

“This is something we have to do,” said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. “The creative and entrepreneurial spirit of eBay’s community is unstoppable and can do tremendous good in this time of great need.” 

EBay, the world’s biggest Internet auction site, counts 34 million registered users. Within hours of the Auction for America launch, users were offering several thousand products in the category. 

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, eBay began taking down listings for debris, videos and other items purportedly from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. EBay eventually banned the sale of all memorabilia relating to the buildings at least until Oct. 1. 

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

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 

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. 

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

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.

“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.” 

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

“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

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 

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. 

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.

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 – 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 – 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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 

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 

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 

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. 

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.”

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.  

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 

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.

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. 

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 

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.  

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 

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.  

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.”

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. 

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. 

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 

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

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 

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. 

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.

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.” 

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 

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.  

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

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.

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  

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 

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.

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.”

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. 

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. 

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.” 

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. 

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.” 

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. 

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.

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. 

OAKLAND (AP) — BART workers approved a new contract Tuesday night — one which will give employees a 22 percent pay raise over six years. 

Members of Service Employees International Union Local 790 voted overwhelmingly, 816 to 161, to approve the new contract, while Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 saw a closer approval number, 310 to 212. The contract agreement was reached between BART and the unions two weeks ago. 

“This is certainly good news for the riders,” said BART spokesman Mike Healy. “It means that service will continue uninterrupted.” 

BART’s largest workers’ unions had issued a strike notice on Sept. 1 — meaning roughly 2,800 workers could have walked off their jobs within days. 

BART, which transports more than 300,000 commuters a day, had its last strike in 1997. It lasted six days. 

ATU 1555 President Robert Smith said BART workers are committed “to keep BART running as the safest public transit system in America.” 

BART’s Board of Directors will meet Wednesday at 9 a.m. to vote on whether to ratify the labor agreement, Healy said. 

Editor, 

My wife and I commend Congresswoman Barbara Lee on her stance and recent vote against granting President Bush authority to declare “war” on terrorism.  

Like the rest of the nation, we were stunned by the horrific events of September 11. We have struggled to come to grips with the overwhelming loss of over 5,000 lives.  

We have also strived to understand the political, cultural, and religious issues that might have led anyone to commit such an act.  

Beneath all this lies a tremendous anxiety about the response of our nation – what will the United States do in response? Will more innocent lives be lost? Our fear has grown as the rhetoric of war rises each passing day.  

In a recent article, Lee was quoted as saying, “Violence begets violence, and we don’t want that to happen. That kills people.”  

Thirteen words, so simply and wisely stated. Later, the article cited Congresswoman Lee’s belief that the United States should “capture and try those who conspired in the attacks, step up security across the country and improve intelligence operations.”  

All of these measures strike us as the wisest course of action our nation can take.  

It takes a person of tremendous integrity, courage, and vision to do what Congresswoman Lee has done – to stand alone as a voice of moderation, humanity, and peace when so many voices call for rage and revenge.  

It is truly heartening to know that in the midst of all this confusion and whirling rhetoric, Congresswoman Lee has the vision to hope for – and vote for – justice and peace. 

Patrick Lohier  

Sree Devi Nallamothu 

Chicago, IL  

WASHINGTON — The FBI has meticulously pieced together a broad terrorist plot, securing evidence the hijackers trained for months or years without raising suspicions in the United States, received financial and logistical support from others and identified additional targets for destruction. 

Law enforcement and other officials familiar with the evidence said the FBI is investigating whether the terrorist network behind Tuesday’s attacks targeted more flights for hijacking beyond the four that crashed. 

Authorities have grown increasingly certain — from intelligence intercepts, witness interviews and evidence gathered in hijackers’ cars and homes — that a second wave of violence was planned by collaborators. They said Sept. 22 has emerged as an important date in the evidence, but declined to be more specific. 

Tuesday’s attacks were “part of a larger plan with other terrorism acts, not necessarily hijacking of airplanes. Those acts were going to occur in the United States and elsewhere in the world,” said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

The investigation, the largest in American history, has engulfed the full resources of the FBI, Justice Department, Customs Service, Treasury Department agencies that track assets and the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and other spy agencies. 

Officials from several of those agencies described developments in the investigation to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Most of the evidence remains sealed by court orders. A federal grand jury in White Plains, N.Y., was convened last week to weigh evidence and issue subpoenas. 

U.S. officials have made no secret they believe exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden masterminded the plot from Afghanistan and organized his and other terrorist groups to carry it out. In President Bush’s words, bin Laden is wanted “dead or alive.” 

The FBI has hinted at the magnitude of the collaboration, sending airlines, local police and border patrol agencies a list of about 200 people it believes may have information or assisted the attacks. The government has detained 75 people for questioning and on immigration charges, from California to Germany. 

At least four people on the list have been arrested as material witnesses, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. That means they are believed to have critical information about the plot and are at risk to flee. 

Several detainees have been flown to New York, where the grand jury is working and where prosecutors have significant anti-terrorism experience from earlier cases involving bin Laden. 

These detainees include Ayub Ali Khan, 51, and Mohammed Jaweed Azmath, 47, two men who left the Newark, N.J., airport aboard a flight headed for Texas about the same time as the hijackings. The men were grounded in St. Louis and then took a train toward Texas, where they were taken into custody. They had $5,000 cash and box cutters like those used by the hijackers, immediately drawing the attention of law enforcement. 

Authorities also have flown to New York a French-Algerian man who was detained last month after he sought flight training in Minnesota. The school where he offered to pay for the training was suspicious, and called authorities. The government has held Zacarias Moussaoui on immigration charges since Aug. 17. 

Two weeks before Tuesday attacks, agents had already gathered evidence tracing Moussaoui to an effort to get flight training as early as fall 2000 in Norman, Okla., officials said. 

Similarly, the FBI has traced the steps of the 19 known hijackers to flight schools across the country, from Maryland to Florida. 

The FBI is seeking as many as a dozen others who fit this profile: Middle Eastern men who came to the United States, got pilot licenses or sought flight training, like the men who flew jetliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. 

“We want to know whether there were other pilots, other teams who were supposed to take down airliners or strike Americans in other ways,” one law enforcement official said. 

Agents are investigating whether some associates of the 19 hijackers planned or did board other planes, possibly with similar plans for suicide hijackings that weren’t carried out. 

Vice President Dick Cheney hinted at such additional hijackings during a TV appearance Sunday when he said U.S. authorities believed six planes were targeted by the hijackers last week. 

Law enforcement has gathered evidence suggesting the plot was patiently hatched over many months and years, and that the terrorists spent significant time training for it and grooming supporters. 

Many of the hijackers trained or sought training in flight schools as early as 1999, and most entered the United States with legal visas. Some of the hijackers met with supporters overseas, in places like Germany and Malaysia, before returning to carry out their plan, officials said. 

“One of the keys to understanding this is the length of time these hijackers spent here. These weren’t people coming over the border just to attack quickly. ... They cultivated friends, and blended into American society to further their ability to strike,” one investigator said. 

Authorities said the fact that some of the men claimed to have connections to Middle Eastern countries friendly to the United States — Saudi Arabia, Egypt and United Arab Emirates — may have lessened suspicion. 

Some of the pilots carried identification suggesting they were connected with Saudi Arabia’s national airline. 

The FBI has pressed for evidence across the globe as to who may have assisted the hijackers, seizing bank and computer records and studying credit cards used to pay for plane tickets, rental cars and the like. 

A doctor in San Antonio, where the two Newark, N.J., passengers were heading, has been detained, as has a man in California who has been linked through financial transactions to hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhamzi, authorities said. 

Al-Midhar and Alhamzi were placed on a watch list this summer after U.S. intelligence received information they might have been meeting with suspected terrorists. By the time they were added to the watch list, they’d already entered the United States, officials said. 

On the financial trail, the Securities and Exchange Commission has received information from other U.S. regulators about possibly suspicious trading ahead of the attacks. European regulators are looking to see if bin Laden’s network sought to profit off investments related to the attacks. 

The potential collaborators are also being linked by communication intercepts — some of which have occurred since the attacks, authorities told AP. 

Those familiar with the investigation say the collaborators have communicated by cell phones that were frequently rotated and by e-mail. They also made calls on traditional phones but may have used a special telephone company code involving the pound sign to make it harder to follow their tracks, officials said. 

The complexity of the communications led Attorney General John Ashcroft to plead with Congress to pass expanded investigative authority this week. 

SACRAMENTO — California school districts that hoped for more money to build new schools will now have to wait until at least early 2003 for any new money. 

Lawmakers adjourned their annual session early Saturday morning without putting a new bond issue on the March ballot, because Gov. Gray Davis and the state’s largest teachers’ union believed the bonds would have a better chance of passing in November 2002 than in March. 

“The presumption is that the chances of passage are significantly better in a general election because of a larger turnout than in a primary,” Sandy Harrison, spokesman for Davis’ Department of Finance, said Monday. 

Legislators will return next month, but only in a special session to deal with energy issues. Other topics will have to wait until January, including the at least $11 billion bond issue. 

Dozens of districts have projects already approved by the state Allocations Board, but the state has run out of money from the record $9.2 billion bond measure voters passed in 1998. The waiting list is expected to reach almost $5 billion. 

Lawmakers are particularly concerned about the districts with crowded year-round schools and the state’s lowest test scores. 

Of the 662 schools with the lowest performance ranking in the state, 260, 39 percent, are on year-round schedules, according to a state analysis of school ratings. 

Many of the schools have more than 900 students, and almost half of the 260 schools on year-round schedules are in Los Angeles. 

Statewide, 1,492 schools in 200 districts with a total of 1.3 million students were on year-round schedules in the 2000-2001 school year, according to the Department of Education. More than 1,000 of those schools, with a total of 1 million students, were on multitrack programs that experts consider detrimental to educational improvements. 

And 239 schools were using a year-round plan called “Concept 6” where students only attend school 167 days a year, instead of the 180 days of other schools. 

These factors led lawmakers to push for another bond issue to pay more school construction. They formed a six-legislator committee to consider the bond. State education officials said in hearings that California needs at least $27 billion in new money for schools. 

After their hearings, committee members waited for guidance from Davis, which they got last Thursday, one day before the end of the 2001 legislative session. 

The Democratic governor said he would support up to $12 billion on 2002 ballots and up to $7 billion for the 2004 ballot. However, Davis wanted the 2002 measure on the November ballot instead of the March primary. 

Committee members, however, thought they had a deal to go for $11.4 billion in March 2002 and the same amount in 2004. 

Without Davis and the California Teachers Association, a major supplier of campaign money for education issues, on board for a March vote, committee members decided to wait, said state Sen. Dede Alpert, a Coronado Democrat and committee co-chairwoman. 

Also, a school bond issue in March would compete against a $2.6 billion bond proposal for parks, said Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin, D-Duncans Mills, the other committee co-chairwoman. 

“Nobody wants to be on the same ballot with a $11.4 billion school facilities bond,” she said. 

Editor: 

We have the opportunity to turn a very negative series of occurances into something very positive and beautiful...a chance to insure that victims of the Sept. 11 attacks didn’t die in vain. It’s a very simple thing, really. Focus one moment on peace. We’re unfortunately getting accustomed to stopping and devoting a minute or two of silence to mourn, why can’t we do something a little constructive with our grief?  

Yes, we are beyond angry and yes, we are beyond sad. The offenses we are feeling as a nation are still being analyzed, let alone described.  

But here is where we can have our finest hour. While the ruins still smolder and even as the death tolls rise, we can lead this world in an outpouring of something other than vengeance and bloodlust. A desire for true peace.  

These events speak of something more than racial or political blind hatred. Like all wars, they begin with a severe breakdown in communication, a loss of intent to be in coexistence with one another.  

We need a true dialog between all people about all things. We as a world need to grow up and take an honest look around. We’ve made a collective mess of it. Time to clean up our rooms and put up our toys for a while. There is only one planet that we can live upon in this galaxy that we know of...without a lot of technical mumbo jumbo, and this is it.  

Talk of war, vengeance, violence and hatred may feel good for us right now. We need to lick our wounds, we need to not feel powerless. But war is not television or the movies. Real people die. Most treaties are unstable at best when wrought by force. Economies suffer long term when stuck in war-time modes as, after a while, the war must continue in order to feed the nation’s people.  

This is not why we have children. It is good to have national pride, and a healthy sense of survival. It’s perfectly normal to feel anger and the desire to respond in kind. These are very basic, instinctual responses. But they are short term goal oriented, without consideration for long range influences.  

We can learn to do something creative instead of destructive with this complex combination of emotions. Treat the crimes as crimes, seeking the criminals and proving the actions and intents in the World Court. Let a global consensus occur that shows that as a planet, terrorism is an unacceptable form of behavior. But then, do more. Sit down at the table with those who have issues. Listen to one another as human beings, not enemies. See the commonalities beyond the differences. Learn to co-exist. We have the opportunity to transcend...to turn negativity and destruction into a positive outcome. We can move on to global cooperation. Focus on peace, just a few minutes a day.  

Rev. Sister Rosemarie, DSM  

Third Order Disciples of St. Martin de Porres  

San Francisco  

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.”

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. 

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.”