Lee praises tightened airport safety 

OAKLAND – U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee’s Monday morning press conference at the Oakland International Airport was billed as a briefing on measures to enhance airport security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

But Lee, the sole member of congress to oppose the Congressional resolution giving the president the power to go to war, fielded a number of questions on her vote as well. 

“I stand by my position,” said Lee, who represents Berkeley and Oakland, explaining that she thought the resolution modified the principle of governmental checks and balances. “I didn’t believe Congress should be taken out of the loop.” 

She explained further: “While we’re grieving, let’s step back. Let’s see the implications of our actions.” 

The Oakland airport had a new look Monday morning. Parking near the two terminals has been eliminated and lines to the security station snaked out the door and along the side of Terminal 2.  

There are 23 Alameda County Sheriff’s Department officers now stationed at the airport, and the Oakland Police Department’s contingent has increased from eight to 21 officers, Airport Director Steve Grossman said. 

“There is a new normal,” Grossman said. 

“I’m impressed with what the port and the airport are doing to ensure security,” Lee said. 

Still, she’s pushing for more.  

“I want the federalization of security personnel,” she said, underscoring her support for the Airline Security Bill which passed in the Senate 100-0 and is now before the House of Representatives.  

The legislation would authorize the Federal Aviation Administration to assume responsibility for all aviation-related security at all U.S. airports and calls for: 

• Strengthening and locking aircraft cockpit doors to prevent entry by non-flight deck crew members. 

• Authorizing deployment of federal marshals on domestic commercial air passenger flights and all international flights. 

• Making the FAA responsible to screening air passengers and property boarding each aircraft. 

• Allowing the use of Passenger Facility Charges to pay for some of this increased security. 

Lee said she hopes airport security can move toward screening all, rather than just some, baggage. 

These measures will make people want to fly again, Lee said, noting that Oakland flights are back to 90 percent capacity. 

Enhanced security will also include Oakland’s waterways and port. 

At the same time, Lee said she was very concerned with keeping a balance between enhanced security and individual freedom. 

And she said she was concerned about the shift of priorities to war-time expenditures on the federal level. Naming affordable housing, Social Security, and schools, she said: “I do not want to see them shortchanged.” 

HelioTrope, a local medieval ensemble, presented a concert of luscious melodies at Trinity Chapel Saturday night. Some were sung and some were played on a bevy of exotic instruments.  

Before the composers of the Renaissance invented the composition techniques of polyphony and harmony, medieval composers needed to rely on the strength of naked melodies to carry their pieces. These ancient tunes are either powerfully direct or curiously turned and embellished. 

HelioTrope drew from the diverse repertories of troubadours and Andalusian Arabs, in addition to some settings of modern poets in an authentic medieval style. It was a rare treat to hear poems of e.e. cummings and Theodore Roethke sung using ancient melodies, bridging a gap of centuries in a blend that is completely postmodern. 

In addition to modern poetry with medieval tunes, HelioTrope played modern melodies for some ancient verses. Many troubadour manuscripts contain no music notation, so performers are invited to fit existing tunes to the lyrics, or to compose new melodies in the ancient style. The band members are quite adept at this high art. The oud player, Tom Chandler, has mastered this Arabic version of lute so thoroughly that he mixed and blended styles; playing troubadour tunes with Arabic flavor and Arabic tunes in troubadour style.  

The exotic and rare hurdy-gurdy added a delightful region of the aural palette not often represented. Ethan James is a world renowned virtuoso on this instrument which is now mostly associated with French folk music, but was once a staple throughout Europe.  

The vielle wizard, Shira Kammen, breathed passionate life force into the seemingly austere melodic lines of the troubadours. Kammen’s warm, rich tone found the heart of these tunes and sang their soulful stories. Her vielle wept and sighed like a gypsy fiddle, and she even sang a couple of tunes herself.  

Complex, but subtle rhythmic support, was provided by Tobias, a young master percussionist who plays a variety of hand drums, including dumbek, tar and riqq.  

The center of the ensemble was the singer Joyce Todd, who demonstrated her linguistic breadth by singing the program in Arabic, Spanish, Provencal and English.  

Her voice is ideally suited to the troubadour style. She controls her vibrato expertly, using it sparingly as an ornament, rather than applying the common classical warble, which disguises the difficulties of matching pitches in ensembles of instruments with different tuning strategies.  

This pure stream of melody was performed with pure intonation and plenty of heart. The setting ideally suited the style and size of the ensemble.  

Trinity Chapel’s resonance and intimacy highlighted the sustained emotional content of these seeds and fruits of European courtly love.  

The dance melodies might have been more appropriately performed around a gypsy campfire, but this allowed the audience to travel in reverie through space as well as time.  

Future events at Trinity Chapel include a concert by UC Berkeley's Collegium Musicum Friday night. They will perform a selection of John Dowland's compositions for broken consort, including his "Lachrimae" suite, various pavans, galiards, and other Renaissance dances. The historically-informed performance will include the Renaissance Fiddle Band and the Consort of Viols, as well as other instrumentalists and singers.  

Saturday there will be a performance of "The Space Between" featuring Pauline Oliveros, founder and champion of the “deep listening” school. The audience will be asked to listen deeply as the program highlights the relationships between three different tuning systems.  

Oliveros’ accordion, custom-retuned in just intonation, will explore relationships with a piano in modern 12-tone tuning and a Japanese shakuhachi, whose tuning matches neither of the Western instruments. Oliveros focuses on the subtle interplay of the small spaces between the three tunings. Fans of international microtonality should not miss this.  

For other events at Trinity Chapel call 549-3864.

MUSIC 

924 Gilman St. Oct. 19: W.H.N.?, Jellyroll Rockheads, Ex-Claim, Crucial Attack, Sharp Knife; Oct. 21: 5 p.m. Throwdown, Martyr A.D., Bleeding Through, Everytime I Die, Fate 13; Oct. 26: Influents, Plus Ones, Divit, Summerjack, Robot Adrenaline, Claredon Hills; Oct. 27: (Halloween show, $1 off if you’re in a (non-punk) costume!) Babyland, Tsunami Bomb, Scissor Hands, Dexter Danger; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

Ashkenaz Oct 13: Clinton Fearon, Dub Congress; Oct 16: Danubias; Oct 17: Cajun Cayotesl Oct 18: Greatful Dean DJ Night; Oct 19: Swing Session 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com 

Blake’s Oct. 15: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 16: Black Dog Band featuring Peanut McDaniels, $4; Oct. 17: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 18: Ascension, $5; Oct. 19: King Harvest, Sfunk, $5; Oct. 20: Psychokinetics, $5; Oct. 22: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 23: Felice, $3; Oct. 24: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 25: Psychotica, $5; Oct. 26: Planting Seeds, $6; Oct. 27: Felonious, $6; Oct. 29: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 31: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances 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 

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 

Shafqat Ali Khan Oct. 20: 8 p.m. Concert of classical Ragaa, Sufi, Urdu, Persian Ghazel, and other popular musical styles from India. $20 general admission, $15 students. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

Theater 

“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 

“Swanwhite” 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 

“Orestes” Through Oct. 21: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. An adaptation of the classical play by Euripides that incorporates passages inspired or taken from various 20th century texts. Written by Charles Mee, Directed by Christopher Herold. $6-12. Zellerbach Playhouse on the UC Berkeley campus 642-8268 

“Approach” Through Oct. 27: Thur. - Sat., 8 p.m. An examination of the search for intimacy as our most precious form of survival. Written by Susan Wiegand, Directed by Katie Bales Frassinelli. $15 general admission, $10 students and seniors. Eighth Street Studio Theatre, 2525 8th St. 655-0813 www.shotgunplayers.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 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m, matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Films 

“Lisa Picard is Famous” Through Oct. 19: Mocumentary chronicles New York actress who hopes to get more than a fleeting taste of fame when a racy cereal commercial brings her unexpected national notoriety. Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-3456 

“Loaded Visions” Oct. 17: 8 p.m. Experimental short films by Antero Alli (Eight Videopoems and “Lilly in Limbo,” plus live music from Sylvi Alli). $5 - $10 sliding scale. La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 www.verticalpool.com 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Oct. 15: 7 p.m., Genesis; Oct. 16: 7:30 p.m., La Région centrale; Oct. 17: 7:30 p.m., Video in the Villages and Amazonian Trilogy; Oct. 19: 7:30 p.m., Jungle Secrets, Yãkwa; Oct. 20: 3:30 p.m., Berkeley High/Bay Area Film Festival; 7 p.m., The Testament of Dr. Mabuse; 9:20 p.m., The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse; Oct. 21: 3:30 p.m., Kiss and Film, 5:30 p.m., Harakiri; Oct. 22: 7 p.m., The Closed Doors; Oct. 23: 7:30 p.m., Super-8mm Films by Theresa Cha; Oct. 24: 7:30 p.m., The Rainy Season and Wai’a Rini; Oct. 26: 7:30 p.m., The Passion of Joan of Arc, 9:15 p.m., Vivre sa Vie; Oct 27: 7 p.m., New Music for Silent Films by UCB Composers; Oct. 28: 5:30 p.m., Vampyr; Oct. 29: 7 p.m., A Time for Drunken Horses; Oct. 30: 7:30 p.m., An Evening with Leslie Thornton; Oct. 31: 7:30 p.m., 9:20 p.m., Saudade do Futuro. 

2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Exhibits 

“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  

“Cut Plates and Bowls” Annabeth Rosen, “Just Jars” Sandy Simon Through Nov. 3; Saturdays 10 - 5 or by appointment. Trax Ceramic Gallery, 1306 3rd St. 526-0279. cone5@aol.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. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” 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. 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 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Oct. 19 - Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. 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 Oct. 18: Patricia Nell Warren reads from her novel “The Wild Man”, Oct. 22: J.M. Redmann reads from “Death By the Riverside”; 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 Oct 18: Tamora Pierce talks about “Protector of the Small”; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Oct 15: Amir Aczel poses The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World; Oct 16: Kip Fulbeck talks about “Paper Bullets”; Oct 18: Suzanne Antoneta & micah Perks talk about “Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir” and “Pagan Time: An American Childhood; All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Oct. 16: 7 - 9 p.m. Steve Arntsen and Kathleen Dunbar followed by open mike reading. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland 465-3935 ksdgk@earthlink.net 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Oct. 20: Miriam Ching Louie reads from “Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Factory”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong 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. 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  

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

Wednesday, Oct. 17

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 

Golden Age Party 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Party for the over 90 club and any who wish to attend. Swing Notes, a women’s acappela group will entertain and there will be refreshments. 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave. 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov. 28 

Conversation: Rosemary  

Radford Reuther and Carolyn  

Merchant 

5:30 - 8 p.m. 

#1 LeConte Building, UC Berkeley 

“Women, Religion, Science, and the Environment.” 649-2490 

Thursday, Oct. 18

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Cecile Andrews, author of Circles of Simplicity, Return to the Good Life, speaks on “Rekindling Conversation.” 549-3509 www.seedsofsimplicity.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 

Friday, Oct. 19

Cooperative Center Federal  

Credit Union 

Grand Opening Celebration 

4 - 7 p.m. 

2001 Ashby Ave. 

A family affair with food, entertainment and a special treat for the kids. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, honorary chairperson, is scheduled to attend. Faith Fancher is the mistress of ceremonies. 415-346-0199 

YAP’s FNL Teen Club: “Pop  

Ya Colla! Dance” 

7 -11 p.m. 

1730 Oregon St. 

Young Adult Project presents dance for 13 to 18 year olds only. Must have B.U.S.D. I.D. “No haters, no problems.” 644-6226 

Saturday, Oct. 20

Earthquake Retrofitting 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Office of Emergency Services 

812 Page St.  

Free classes in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). 981-5605 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us 

BART Job Fair 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

BART will be recruiting to fill approximately 160 jobs that will be opening up next year. The jobs to be filled are in accounting, planing, engineering, insurance, purchasing, police, maintenance and electronics. 

Sunday, Oct. 21

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 

Halloween Magic 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond JCC Auditorium 

1414 Walnut St.  

Los Angeles Magician and Comedian “Hotei the Magic Guy.” For kids 2 to 12 and their parents. $7. 236-7469 www.thebuddyclub.com 

A year ago, on October 9, 2000, my stepfather, Joseph Carleton, died at the age of 67 after a four-month battle with stomach cancer. On this anniversary, I find myself reflecting on how I came to love Joe. 

I’ve sometimes thought that men who marry women with small children must really be in love, because they’re so often entering hostile territory. When Joe first started dating my mother, Ruth, in the mid-1960s, I didn’t like him very much.  

My brother, Jeff, and I met the news of Joe’s engagement to my mother with sullen silence. In addition to the intrusion into our relationship with our mother, I guess we feared being disloyal to our father. And Joe’s flaws as a stepparent mirrored the negative stereotypes of his profession, mechanical engineering: he could be perfectionistic, remote, and overly critical. I remember him going in after we bathed to make sure we hadn’t used too much water (he’d feel the inside of the tub for wetness and warmth to check the level). 

The year 1968 was a turning point, not only for our country – with the Vietnam War raging, the anti-war and civil rights movements filling the streets, the assassinations, and the violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago – but also in my feelings towards Joe. Although I was only 10, I was well aware of the events of the times. 

One memory stands out. It was April, and I was sitting on the couch in our living room. The front door opened, and I heard a sound I had never encountered before. Joe was sobbing as my mother rushed to meet him. I remember worrying that something had happened to Joe’s mother, my new grandmother.  

“They’ve shot him,” I heard Joe say to my mother, and they held each other tightly as they cried together. Then they joined me on the couch to tell me that the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. had just been killed. I remember Joe piling us all in the car that evening to take us to the one black Baptist church in Palo Alto for an impromptu service, where we were among a handful of white people in a sanctuary overflowing with grief-stricken parishioners. 

Although I already respected my parents’ political involvement on an intellectual level, this was the first time I understood that the motivation for it was deep love. Joe’s work in the civil rights movement came from his heart. 

Over the years, I’ve seen that all the hard work Joe did for many causes came from the same place. His work as an environmentalist and conservation chair of the local Sierra Club chapter stemmed directly from his love of nature; his involvement in the anti-war movement arose out of a heartfelt belief in peace and a fierce patriotism that required him to speak out when he saw his country doing wrong; and his support of farmworkers and the civil rights movement came from a true love of justice. 

I came to see that Joe used his mind and intellect to serve his heart, as he fought for the things he believed in. He was also willing to be of service in smaller ways, fixing an elderly friend’s refrigerator, or going miles out of his way to help a stranger whose car had broken down. And although he was sometimes emotionally distant, Joe was always there to lend a hand when I needed it. 

Now, as our world faces uncertain times, I find myself really missing Joe. I know Joe would be acutely concerned about our nation’s safety and security, and that he’d want the perpetrators of the crimes of September 11 brought to justice, but I also know without a doubt that he would be committed to working for peace and that he’d never stand by silently while our civil liberties were eroded. And his deepest motivation would be love. 

Nancy Carleton is a long-time community activist who has served as chair of the Zoning Adjustments Board and as vice chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission. She is currently active in the growing peace movement. 

Like public and private buildings around the country, City Hall instituted a slew of new security measures Monday in an attempt to make the building safer, while not disrupting public business.  

“All government agencies from the federal to local levels are operating with heightened awareness,” City Manager Weldon Rucker wrote in a Sept. 12 memo to city councilmembers. “Many have implemented considerable security measures as a result of the Sept. 11 events. As part of the city’s overall effort to review, update and exercise our emergency procedures, I will be implementing a new building safety and security plan.” 

All visitors to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center building will now be asked where they are going, then lobby staff will call ahead to that department to announce their arrival. Visitors will wear a name tag, which will include the floor and department they intend to visit. 

In addition, a plainclothes Berkeley police officer will be stationed in the lobby for at least the rest of this week. 

City Communications Manager Stephanie Lopez said the measures are designed to be helpful as well as security conscious.  

“Since the Civic Center reopened (early this year) we’ve needed to update our building plan for how we service the public,” she said. “People should expect to come to the Civic Center and have a safe and pleasant experience while here.” 

Lopez said the city manager’s safety measures are based on common sense. She said public buildings in other cities, such as San Francisco and Oakland, have implemented more intrusive safety measures including metal detector stations and parcel and bag searches. No additional funding will be needed for the new safety measures, she added, since more staff or equipment will not be used. 

Other safety measures include a tow-away zone around the perimeter of the Civic Center and closure of the public rest rooms in the rear of the building until further notice. 

According to the city manager’s memo, all the city’s buildings will be reviewed for safety measures. 

The general response among councilmembers and their aides was favorable to the new safety measures. 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley said she had not yet heard complaints from any of her constituents and that the new measures made city workers feel safer. 

“I suppose some people will be upset by the new security at first but it makes people working in the building feel unafraid,” she said. 

The mayor’s executive assistant, Tamlyn Bright, said the new safety measures are a welcome feature.  

“I think these are appropriate actions and I’m very happy that we are responding the way the rest of the country is,” she said. “This is the least we can do.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio’s aide, Calvin Fong, said the building was a little too open before – at least once a week there is someone wandering around the hallways with no apparent business in the building. He added that people frequently walk into the office.  

“It’s kind of irritating when people come walking right into the office unannounced,” he said.  

Councilmember Betty Olds said she thought the new measures were OK but the tow away zone outside the building was “going too far.” She said she was concerned about older residents who now have to park blocks away to come to the Civic Center. 

Berkeley Resident Frankie Fraser, who had business in the city clerk’s office Monday, said she approved of new safety measures.  

“I think it’s great,” she said. “Especially after you travel abroad and see that this type of thing is common procedure there. We just aren’t used to it yet.”

Editor: 

The Oct. 2 action by Berkeley Councilmembers Kriss Worthington, Linda Maio, Dona Spring, Maudelle Shirek and Margaret Breland to draw new council district boundary lines presents a classic how-to manual in the art of Back Room Dealing. It’s Gerrymandering 101 as follows: 

1) Proclaim yourselves champions of open government and letting the sun shine into all city decisions so that you can act otherwise. 

2) Meet privately behind closed doors with four members of the City Council of the same political persuasion. Be sure this closed-door group is all the same politically. After all, your purpose is to extend your power, not build consensus.  

3) Hammer out a proposal that gives your group the biggest political advantage, ignoring public comment from other groups, like the students, even though you have said you are their friend. Remember, your political purpose comes first. 

4) Keep your proposal a secret by not releasing it until just before the council votes. Show it to a few political friends who are not on the council so they can speak in favor of it. Show it ahead of time to the person who will provide the necessary fifth vote so she won’t have to ask many questions. Don’t show it to the other councilmembers until well after the meeting has started. Certainly don’t show it to the public! 

5) When your proposal is distributed, be sure that it does not come with annoying facts or numbers like those that you insisted be attached to all the other proposals people have been discussing for weeks. 

6) Be sure the motion to approve this new proposal cannot be understood by anyone including Councilmembers and staff. This is best accomplished by including in the motion only census block numbers, not street names. Since no one knows their census block numbers, they won’t be able to figure out how the proposal affects them. 

7) When you approve the proposal, repeatedly say it “meets all criteria,” even if you present no evidence that it does. Claim how wonderful it is. Saying it is the best proposal helps deceive people.  

8) Claim loudly you have student interests at heart by spreading their influence over two Council districts rather than one. Never admit you have reduced District 7’s 18-24 year old registered voters to 45 percent and achieved only 50 percent in District 8: neither percentage being even close to the 55 percent students currently hold in District 7. 

9) Assert that Councilmember Worthington represents students. Ignore comments by current students that they want one of their peers as their representative. 

10) Ignore pesky homeowner neighborhoods in District 8 that are now being pitted against students. They don’t vote for you anyway. 

11) Claim a student should sit on the Council, even though it is likely the door on such a reform has been closed due to the fact you have significantly increased tensions between student and homeowner interests. 

12) When other Councilmembers lodge objections, dismiss them as “sour grapes.”  

But why am I surprised. Kriss Worthington, along with his Assistants, David Blake and Becky O’Malley have been practicing the technique for years. I tell my students at San Francisco State University that in Berkeley we call this style of politics “citizen participation”and deny its existence, while in Chicago it is admitted and referred to as machine politics.  

David Tabb 

Berkeley 

The City Council could find itself the subject of national media attention again if it approves a controversial recommendation by Councilmember Dona Spring, who is asking the council to send letters to congressional representatives and the president calling for an end to U.S. bombing in Afghanistan.  

Berkeley has been in the national eye twice since the Sept. 11 attacks, once over the temporary removal of American flags from fire department vehicles during a protest and once over a controversial statement by a councilmember – a misquote according to Councilmember Dona Spring, picked up by a Wall Street Journal Web site columnist. The quote had Spring saying the United States is a terrorist country, while Spring said she meant that the Afghanis would believe the United States was a terrorist country for dropping bombs on Afghanistan. 

Spring placed the resolution to call for an end to the bombing on the agenda at last week’s meeting as an emergency item, but it failed to get the six votes it needed to be put on the agenda. The nine-member council voted in favor of the item 5-4, with Mayor Shirley Dean and councilmembers Betty Olds, Polly Armstrong and Miriam Hawley voting in opposition.  

Tonight the item needs only five votes to gain approval. The five-member progressive faction, which includes Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, and councilmembers Spring, Kriss Worthington, Linda Maio and Margaret Breland, is expected to approve the item.  

Counter terrorism equipment 

The council is expected to authorize the city manager to join with the cities of Albany and Emeryville to accept a state grant from the Office of Emergency Services to respond to chemical or biological terrorist attacks. 

The grant will reimburse the city for $54,000 worth of equipment including portable decontamination showers, shelters and antidote kits. 

The fire department has been planning to purchase this equipment for the last six months, but according to a department staff report, Fire Chief Reginald Garcia is asking the council to expedite the purchase “in light of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11.” 

Capturing the wind 

The council is expected to waive fees and expedite permits for a nonprofit advocacy group to erect a wind monitoring station on an unused section of the Berkeley Pier.  

Local Power wants to place the equipment on the pier to test the feasibility of wind-powered, energy-producing technology. The Waterfront Commission has already approved the project.  

The proposed section of pier is ideal for the project because it’s among the windiest sections of the San Francisco Bay, according to the recommendation submitted by Councilmember Linda Maio.  

The report goes on to say that conventional electricity production accounts for about 30 percent of global warming, making it the largest single contributor. While on the other hand, wind power is the greenest electricity source available and is economically competitive with coal and other carbon-based sources of electricity. 

The equipment will be in place for approximately 18 months. The associated costs to the city is approximately $675. 

Un-reinforced masonry 

The council will be presented with an status report by the Planning and Development Department regarding the remaining un-reinforced masonry buildings in the city.  

Since the Un-reineforced Masonry Building Ordinance went into effect after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, 100 of the city’s 301 un-reinforced buildings have been seismically upgraded. That leaves 201 to go, according to a recently prepared Planning Department report. The report also mentions that retrofitting work on some of the remaining buildings has already begun or are near completion.  

According to the report, there are four buildings considered in the highest risk category and another 21 in the medium risk category.  

The privately-owned building highest on the city’s priority list is the California Theater at 2115 Kittredge St. The city’s concern stems from the large numbers of people who attend films there and the historical status of the building itself.  

Because the building is on the State Historic Building Resources Inventory, the Landmarks Preservation Commission had to approve the retrofit plans, which it did in August. According to the report, the theater operator has committed to completing the retrofit by the court-ordered deadline of December. 

City-owned businesses on the URM list include the former Fire Administration Building at 2121 McKinley St., the Facilities Maintenance Building at 1326 Allston Way and the Live Oak Recreation Center at 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Green building 

The City Council will likely approve and increase in funding for the Green Building Design Assistance Program. The city's housing department is asking for an increase of $5,580 to add building assistance consultations and sessions for private and commercial builders. If the increase is approved, the budget for the program through December 2002 will be $95,000. 

The Green Building Design Assistance Program was established to assist builders make preliminary design decisions about energy systems, building design and environmentally conscious building materials. 

For more information about the program call 705-8187. 

Other items to be considered include: 

• The second reading of the newly-drawn council districts.  

• A charter amendment that, if approved by city voters, would create a student-dominated district, which would likely result in a student being elected to the city council. 

• Authorizing the city manager to accept a $100,000 grant from the Alameda County Public Health Department to launch a smoking prevention campaign aimed at college students. 

• The conversion of all city vehicles to fuel sources that are environmentally friendly.  

Not for the public 

A closed session meeting will be held prior to the regular City Council meeting to continue contract negotiations with the Berkeley Police Association. The council will also hear from legal counsel about a litigation against the city by the 620 Hearst Group, which is currently in Alameda County Superior Court. 

The public will allot 10 minutes to make comments to the public prior to the closing of the meeting, which will be held 2180 Milvia St., in the sixth floor conference room at 5:30 p.m.  

The City Council meeting will be held tonight at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The meeting will also be broadcast live on KPFA Radio, 89.3 and Cable B-TV, Channel 25.

Editor: 

Are students really under represented? Aren't they allowed to vote? 

If students get their own district, shouldn't others, like public employees or seniors? 

Don't students live all over the city, as well as in neighboring cities? Should districts in those cities be gerrymandered as well? 

Everyone else has to deal with the current political system (as imperfect as it may be). People join associations (neighborhood, professional, etc.), alliances, clubs, non-profits etc., to promote their causes. To legislate special political privilege to citizens of a particular occupation is simply unfair to others. 

I. Dayrit 

Berkeley 

Conductors of a citywide survey on the homeless will present their results to the city council tonight, indicating a strong demand in Berkeley for a legal campground, an expanded shelter system and storage facilities. 

Members of the non-profit organization, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, interviewed members of the city’s homeless population. The 100 respondents were found in shelters, on the streets, and at service-provider centers.  

“Sleep deprivation is the No. 1 problem people talk about,” said Michael Diehl, a community organizer for BOSS.  

He added that of the 52 people who reported sleeping either outside or in a vehicle, 70 percent said they do not have a safe place to sleep. 

Diehl said the survey was conducted, in part, to justify the city council’s April 28 approval of the Homeless Human and Civil Rights Resolution, which made the enforcement of Penal Code Section 647(J) a low priority. The law states that it is a misdemeanor to lodge “in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it.”  

Critics charge that the law prohibits sleeping anywhere in public.  

“In essence, homelessness itself is criminalized by punishing people for doing things in public because they don’t have a place to do it in private,” said Tirien Steinbach of the East Bay Community Law Center. “Sleeping, drinking, eating, or littering. Things that are basically because of homelessness, there isn’t a choice where people do these things.”  

Steinbach was not involved in the survey. 

Of the survey’s 100 respondents, 61 percent were male, 39 percent female. Sixty-one percent of respondents were African-American, 27 percent white, 7 percent other. According to Diehl, the remaining 5 percent of respondents did not fill out this portion of the survey.  

Just under half of the respondents reported having a physical disability, 42 percent reported mental health problems, 36 percent of respondents reported using drugs, while a quarter said they frequently used alcohol. 

While 7 percent of respondents did not finish high school, 81 percent reported having received a GED or higher level of education. The remaining 12 percent did not fill out this section of the survey, Diehl said.  

A vast majority of individuals surveyed said they were unemployed. Just less than half said they did not have a safe place to store possessions. Diehl said storage facilities are key in finding work and creating stability for the homeless.  

“When people are looking for work they lose their papers,” he said, adding that storage lockers would allow them a place to store resumes, clothes, and other possessions. 

The survey also showed more than three-quarters of those asked said they would use a public campground within Berkeley city limits if available.

Most realtors optimistic in housing market outlook, despite economic climate 

Elizabeth Kim, a Berkeley teacher is house hunting with her husband. Like other home buyers, Kim, 29, is taking advantage of a market with interest rates at a 30-year low. 

“I do find myself hoping the economy will get worse. It’s like I’m taking advantage of the craziness of the world,” said Kim. 

The government is helping home buyers like Kim with interest rates as low as 6.25 percent on a 30-year loan. Buyers are also finding that the slowdown in the economy and the attacks on the East Coast which shook things up even further reduced the number of people able to put their money down on a home. 

Still, a possible recession may not be enough to put a home in the East Bay into the hands of the average resident. 

To buy a home, buyers will need to fork over an average $500,000, according to a June report from the California Realtor’s Association, a trade group. 

Realtors today say almost half of all buyers coming to them are looking for homes costing between $350,000 and $500,000. 

Kim said she is willing to buy a home that costs around $700,000. However, she said, she has looked at homes in neighborhoods like El Cerrito for a better deal. But even then, other prospective buyers overbid them by 15 to 20 percent. 

Ira Serkes, a realtor and author of “How to Buy a Home in California,” said last year’s market was unhealthy. Homes were overpriced because sellers received as many as 15 to 20 bids.  

Today, the market is still active, but he said he is now seeing an average of only three to five bids on a home. 

“I’d call this year’s market healthy,” he said.  

Serkes said prices are remaining stable so far and he’s not seeing a precipitous drop. 

Simon Chen, owner and broker of Realty World Abacus in Fremont, said some sellers are keeping homes off the market in hopes of better economic times.  

This lowers available inventory, Chen said, and may be making it harder for buyers to find affordable homes. 

According to a broker’s report, which lists new homes, there were 180 homes that went up for sale last week. This year, only 164 were listed in the report. 

Chen added that buyers shouldn’t expect a significant drop in the prices of homes; the mean price of a home is going up. 

“That’s because in this area, and all over California, it’s still an attractive place for people to live,” Chen said. 

Ann Tham, an Emeryville resident, was looking at an open house when the realtor told her the asking price was $730,000. 

“It’s ridiculous,” Tham, 33, said. “The property tax is my whole income.” 

Tham, who earns $70,000 a year wants to buy a home to receive a tax break, but knows she can’t afford it. 

“I’m just hoping that the market will go down,” she said. 

Nancy Wallace, a professor who lectures on real estate at UC Berkeley, said prices may fall in the housing market after a significant number of potential buyers are laid-off from their jobs.  

“The best indicator for housing prices will be the unemployment index,” she said. 

The commercial real estate market is also suffering. According to Wallace, there’s a 20-percent vacancy rate in the office space market in San Francisco.  

“The Bay area’s labor market has been seriously hit by the economic downturn,” she said. “People are already losing their jobs and leaving the area.” 

Other economists remain optimistic. 

The increase in government expenditure and tax cuts will boost the economy, said Robert Kleinhen, a San Francisco economist. 

He said we should begin to see a turn-around as soon as November. 

For now though, Wallace said prices have fallen in the South Bay. The market in the East Bay is doing well because it’s less expensive and has amenities, such as public transportation. 

If homes do become more affordable, it will eventually be good news for buyers who can stick out a recession, she said. 

Chen said he is already seeing the benefits of a softening economy on the real estate market. 

He said people who are in today’s market are those who want to sell their homes for a healthy profit, but aren’t looking to cash in. 

“Right now, the people who have unrealistic expectations and want to sell to get rich are staying out of the market,” he said.

SACRAMENTO, — Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation Sunday providing about a dozen rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples to more than 16,000 registered gay, lesbian and senior domestic partners in California. 

Davis also signed twin handgun bills late Sunday that would require gun buyers to pass a written test and demonstrate to a safety instructor that they know how to operate the weapon. 

The domestic partners bill lets those who register with the California Secretary of State’s Office make medical decisions for their incapacitated partners, sue for wrongful death, adopt a partner’s child and will property to a partner. 

“This bill marks a stellar advance for lesbians and gays in California,” said its author, Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco. 

Davis said, “This bill is about responsibility, respect, and most of all about family — and it’s about time.” 

Supporters call Davis’ decision the biggest expansion of domestic partner rights in the country, putting the state alongside Vermont and Hawaii for acceptance of same-sex couples. 

Opponents label it an assault on traditional marriage and family values. In March 2000, more than 60 percent of California voters said that marriage should be between a man and a woman. 

“In one fell swoop, Gray Davis has cheapened every marriage in the state, undermined the vote of the people, pandered to the special interests, frivolously spent taxpayer money and broken his written promise to the citizens of California,” said Randy Thomasson, director of the Campaign for California Families. 

The group rallied in six California cities last week, asking Davis to veto the bill. 

The bill, which goes into effect, Jan. 1, also allows an individual to relocate with a domestic partner without losing unemployment benefits, use sick leave to care for a family member and administer a partner’s estate. 

Davis spent Sunday considering more than 200 bills and was expected to work until the early hours of Monday morning. 

Late Sunday, he signed identical Senate and Assembly bills that require handgun buyers to provide a thumb print, proof of residency, identification and a handgun safety certificate. 

The gun bills’ requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2003. 

Davis also signed a measure to limit the sale of “junk food” in elementary schools. 

The measure by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, restricts sales of soda at middle schools to after lunch and increases the money schools are paid for lunches for poor children. 

Davis deleted $5.5 million in the bill for grants to local school districts to implement and monitor new nutrition standards. He said the use of federal funds should be explored. 

Davis has vetoed several bills that involved new spending, citing the state’s growing budget crunch. 

He also signed 13 crime bills Sunday while racing toward a midnight bill-signing deadline, including one to fine adults who leave young children alone in cars. 

Davis also signed a bill to make registered sex offenders provide yearly fingerprints, photo and vehicle information. Another allows prosecutors to weigh old drunken driving arrests when trying people arrested again on the same charge. 

Current law allows prosecutors to overlook drunken driving arrests more than 10 years old. 

The governor also signed a bill cracking down on unlicensed workers who help people who can’t leave their homes. The bill, by Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes, D-Fresno, lets people receiving in-home services know if their worker has been arrested before taking the job. 

Davis spent Sunday considering more than 200 bills and was expected to work until the early hours of Monday morning. 

Legislators sent the governor 1,000 bills when they adjourned their 2001 session Sept. 15. Davis had until midnight to sign, veto or let them become law without his signature. 

Most bills take effect Jan. 1. 

RENO, Nev. — All six people exposed to anthrax in a letter at a Microsoft office in Nevada have tested negative for the deadly, inhaled version of the disease, state officials said Monday. 

The nasal swab tests for the final two people came back negative Monday, Washoe County District Health Officer Barbara Hunt said. The other four had tested negative on Sunday. 

State officials were waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to complete tests on the anthrax sample from the letter at Microsoft Licensing in Reno to determine whether it is a disease-causing strain or a harmless vaccine strain. Results were expected Tuesday, Gov. Kenny Guinn said. 

Hunt said the test result was a secondary concern because no one had shown signs of illness. 

“The negative nasal swab tests, combined with the physical condition and location of the letter, indicate that this is a very, very low risk situation even if the CDC results indicate that the anthrax isolate did contain a disease-causing strain,” Hunt said. 

“It is a great relief,” Hunt said. 

Health officials will monitor the six people for the less dangerous form of anthrax, which can result in skin lesions but is highly treatable, she said. 

State officials also were testing a vial filled with powder found aboard an America West flight from Phoenix that was isolated after it arrived at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Officials suspect the material is harmless and could be a hoax. 

Ten passengers and crew members were subjected to decontamination procedures by a hazardous materials team at the airport early Monday morning, spokesman Adam Mayberry said. The FBI and Federal Aviation Administration were notified. 

An FBI spokesman said Monday from Las Vegas that the agency is investigating whether the letter that tested positive for anthrax was contaminated before or after it was sent to Malaysia then returned to Microsoft in Reno. 

“It is too early to tell,” FBI spokesman Daron Borst told The Associated Press. “Anything is possible at this point.” 

Borst said the FBI will release additional information “if we develop anything that is a public safety issue,” but otherwise won’t be making any statements on the progress of the investigation. 

“If the CDC test comes back positive for the content of anthrax, then yes, it will be considered a criminal investigation,” he said. 

The anthrax was found in the letter on a pornographic picture, which apparently had been cut from a magazine. 

Guinn ordered new training for state employees Monday to help recognize suspicious-looking envelopes and packages. Regular mail was being delivered by the U.S. Postal Service as usual. 

Officials at the state Emergency Operations Center in Carson City said they have turned over about three dozen suspicious envelopes picked up from people in northern Nevada and delivered them to the state health lab in Reno for testing. 

Guinn said Microsoft had sent a check in the letter to a vendor in Malaysia. The letter was returned and the check was still in the letter, along with pornographic material. The vendor wasn’t identified. 

Microsoft representatives contacted U.S. health officials Wednesday after an employee became suspicious about the returned envelope. 

Malaysia’s foreign minister said Monday he believed that the letter did not originate in Malaysia.  

He suggested it might have been tampered with before it was sent to Malaysia. 

“I think definitely there is no truth that the thing originates from Malaysia,” Syed Hamid Albar told reporters after holding talks with a senior U.S. government trade representative. 

Syed Hamid said he told U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick that Malaysia was concerned that unverified anthrax information could cause fear in other countries. Zoellick later met with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. 

The Malaysian government has pledged to prosecute anyone shown to be involved in the Nevada anthrax letter, and to cooperate fully with U.S. investigators. The government has appealed to the FBI for all relevant information. 

“We do not know exactly how the thing originates,” Syed Hamid said. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft officials sought to reassure employees returning to work Monday. About 600 employees work in the Sierra Pacific Power headquarters building in Reno where Microsoft Licensing Inc. leases office space. 

Counseling sessions were held with workers over the weekend and were continuing Monday. 

“What we are trying to manage now are not the medical issues — which the local health officials have done a good job with — but those legitimate emotional concerns that people have,” Sierra Pacific President Jeff Ceccarelli said. 

Dan Leach, a spokesman for Microsoft, said there did not appear to be any great anxiety on the part of 140 Microsoft workers at the office. 

“Any risk is obviously an emotional concern,” he said. “But the people I have talked with seem to be handling it well.” 

All six people being tested — five Microsoft employees and a family member — had some form of contact with the contaminated letter. 

Hunt said the letter contained such a small amount of anthrax that it’s difficult to know whether it was deliberately placed on the picture. 

“There’s always a chance it came from contaminated soil and ended up on the picture accidentally,” she said, adding it’s a matter for law enforcement authorities to decide. 

Borst said it’s too early to tell whether terrorists sent the letter, but “anytime you send anthrax through the mail, the intent is to induce fear and that’s a form of terrorism.” 

LOS ANGELES — Country Joe McDonald is being sued for allegedly stealing the tune of his 1965 protest song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-Rag” from a 1926 song by famed jazz trombonist Kid Ory. 

The suit was filed last month by Ory’s daughter, Babette Ory, in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Ory claims McDonald stole the tune to her father’s “Muskrat Ramble” and argues that McDonald’s infringement was intentional 

According to the suit, Ory notified McDonald in July that his song infringed on her father’s copyright, but he continued to perform it. Under copyright law, the suit can ask for damages for performances of the song only in the past three years and for any performances since its filing. 

“Damage for intentional infringement can be up to $150,000 for every time the song has been performed over the past three years,” Ory’s lawyer, Neville Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times. “McDonald released it on a record, sang it on a TV series, ’Tales of the City’— it’s hard to tell how much that will amount to. His song is an American classic, it’s just too bad that it infringed on another one.” 

The suit asks for unspecified damages and an order barring McDonald from performing the song. Ironically, it comes just at the time when the recording may be gaining new popularity because of the military action in Afghanistan. 

McDonald, head of one of the leading psychedelic political bands of the 1960s and a solo artist since 1970, conceded that he’s been a fan of Kid Ory but denied he copped the tune.

LOS ANGELES — Country Joe McDonald is being sued for allegedly stealing the tune of his 1965 protest song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-Rag” from a 1926 song by famed jazz trombonist Kid Ory. 

The suit was filed last month by Ory’s daughter, Babette Ory, in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Ory claims McDonald stole the tune to her father’s “Muskrat Ramble” and argues that McDonald’s infringement was intentional 

According to the suit, Ory notified McDonald in July that his song infringed on her father’s copyright, but he continued to perform it. Under copyright law, the suit can ask for damages for performances of the song only in the past three years and for any performances since its filing. 

“Damage for intentional infringement can be up to $150,000 for every time the song has been performed over the past three years,” Ory’s lawyer, Neville Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times. “McDonald released it on a record, sang it on a TV series, ’Tales of the City’— it’s hard to tell how much that will amount to. His song is an American classic, it’s just too bad that it infringed on another one.” 

The suit asks for unspecified damages and an order barring McDonald from performing the song. Ironically, it comes just at the time when the recording may be gaining new popularity because of the military action in Afghanistan. 

McDonald, head of one of the leading psychedelic political bands of the 1960s and a solo artist since 1970, conceded that he’s been a fan of Kid Ory but denied he copped the tune.

LOS ANGELES — A report on fuel-cell vehicles commissioned by a coalition of government agencies, automakers and other companies concludes that bringing the low-polluting technology to market in California will require an expensive effort that probably won’t be profitable for at least a decade. 

But regulators, industry officials and environmentalists were heartened by the 258-page report, which they called their first comprehensive blueprint for moving fuel cells out of the laboratory and onto the streets. 

“It’s a revolutionary technology. Clearly if it’s going to replace ... the internal combustion engine, we’re certainly going to have many challenges,” said Alan C. Lloyd, chairman of the California Air Resources Board. “But I don’t see any show-stoppers.” 

A fuel cell is a battery powered by the energy generated when oxygen and hydrogen combine. When pure hydrogen is used, the only byproduct is water. 

Only a scattering of fuel-cell vehicles has been produced so far, but state air board rules will require some public transit bus fleets to use fuel-cell buses in demonstration projects by 2003. 

The report released Tuesday by the California Fuel Cell Partnership — which includes the air board, the U.S. Department of Energy, most major automakers and other governments and companies — examined what it would take to put 40,000 new fuel-cell vehicles on the road every year by 2010 or later. 

If needed improvements in fuel-cell technology are developed, “all other challenges to (fuel-cell vehicle) commercialization can be overcome, albeit in some cases with high cost, difficulty and risk requiring public support,” according to the report, written by Bevilacqua-Knight Inc., a Hayward, Calif., consulting group. 

ompanies building the estimated 500 fueling stations needed to support 40,000 California fuel-cell vehicles a year would go about 10 years before the operations started making money, and it would take several years after that to recoup infrastructure investments, said study author Bob Knight. 

“It’s going to be difficult to convince fuel providers that this is a good thing to do,” Knight said. “Government is likely to have to play a bigger role to contribute to this transition ... than they’ve ever done before.” 

Government funds and incentives would be needed to help reduce the financial risks automakers and fuel providers would assume by producing fuel-cell vehicles and facilities, the report found. 

The report examined all the ways the hydrogen needed for fuel cells could be produced, including electrolysis, natural gas, gasoline, ethanol and methanol. All methods need more research before they’re inexpensive enough to be used on a large scale, and all have unique pros and cons. 

Electrolysis is potentially the cleanest way to make hydrogen — depending on how the needed electricity is produced. But setting up 500 fueling stations to dispense hydrogen gas would cost an estimated $235 million. 

Infrastructure would be cheaper for fuel-cell vehicles that used gasoline, ethanol or methanol, but the cars themselves would be more expensive because they would need not-yet-perfected equipment to convert the fuel into hydrogen. 

Even if fuel-cell vehicles ultimately cost about the same as their internal-combustion counterparts, it will be a challenge to convince consumers to try something new, Knight said. 

“It’s not completely clear why a person would want a fuel-cell vehicle instead of a conventional vehicle. It’s very different in a way that could make buyers uncertain, so it’s going to have to have some very appealing aspects to it,” Knight said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

www.fuelcellpartnership.org 

RENO, Nev. — All six people who had contact with a suspicious letter sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office have tested negative for the inhaled form of anthrax, Nevada health officials said Monday. 

Health officials said they will now monitor the six — five Microsoft employees and a family member — for the less dangerous form of anthrax, which is contracted through the skin but is treatable with antibiotics. 

No one has become ill. 

“The negative nasal swab tests, combined with the physical condition and location of the letter, indicate that this is a very, very low risk situation,” said Barbara Hunt, Washoe County’s district health officer. 

State officials were waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to complete tests on the letter’s contents to confirm whether it was contaminated with anthrax. Results were expected Tuesday, Gov. Kenny Guinn said. 

Microsoft officials contacted health officials last week about the letter, which had been sent to the Microsoft Licensing Inc. office. 

Guinn said Microsoft had sent a check in the letter to a vendor in Malaysia. The letter was returned with the check, along with pornographic material. The vendor wasn’t identified. 

An initial test on the letter’s contents produced results “consistent with it being anthrax,” health officials said. The subsequent test was more specific to anthrax, but came back negative. A third test on the pictures tested positive for anthrax, Guinn said. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A majority of California public schools scored better on standardized tests this past academic year, but the results still fell far short of academic performance goals set by the state. 

State school Superintendent Delaine Eastin announced the results Monday from more than 6,700 schools, where the Academic Performance Index will be used to divvy up $257 million in funds this year. 

The state calculates the index based on the Standardized Testing and Reporting exam, or STAR test. Education officials track changes in each school’s rating as part of recent school reform efforts. 

During the 2000-01 academic year, 20 percent of public schools reached the state-set performance target, up from 17 percent the year before and 12 percent in the 1998-99 academic year. State education officials attributed this year’s rise to the nearly three quarters of schools that increased their index scores over 1999-2000. 

But the gains appeared to be wider than they were deep. 

Just 57 percent of schools increased their scores at the rate set by the state — down from 71 percent during 1999-2000. 

Eastin put a positive spin on the decline. 

“An outstanding number of schools showed major gains on their 1999-2000 API reports,” she said, “and this could not be expected every year.” 

The index ranges from 200 to 1,000. Legislation passed in 1999 offers schools that score below 800 incentives to improve their performance each year. That improvement must equal 5 percent of the gap between the score and the performance target. So, for example, a school that scored 600 on the index in 1999-2000 would have to increase its score by 10 points — 5 percent of the 200-point difference between 600 and 800. 

Schools that cannot show that one-year improvement lose access to the extra state money. Those that underperform over several years may face local review or stiff state sanctions. 

To be eligible for extra state funds, a school’s index must rise both across the board and within specific racial populations. 

Two Los Angeles County schools provide a good example. 

Monroe Elementary in Lakewood and Ramona Elementary in Bellflower both scored 579 in 1999-2000. Last academic year, Monroe scored 626 and Ramona scored 623 — gains of 8 percent that should have qualified both schools for extra state money. 

But Ramona did not qualify for funds, because its scores among black students rose only five points. Those scores would have had to rise nine points to qualify, according to Pat McCabe, the department of education analyst who designed and tabulated the index. 

High schools are finding it particularly difficult to meet the state goals, the new results show. 

While nearly two thirds of elementary schools and half of middle schools made such improvements, barely a quarter of high schools did. 

“We continue to be concerned with the lack of progress at the high school level,” Eastin said, adding that a new high school exit exam may soon boost scores. 

Nearly 4.5 million public school students in second through 11th grades took the STAR test last spring. The exam has two main parts: the national Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 9) and questions written for California schools based on state standards of what each grade should learn. 

While 57 percent of schools did meet growth targets, only about 48 percent are eligible for extra money in 2001-02 under legislation Gov. Davis signed Sunday. Among the reasons for the difference is that not enough students took the test at some schools, said department of education spokesman Doug Stone. 

Davis said Monday he thinks the tests are a good way to assess schools. 

“This public index encourages schools to stay focused on progress,” Davis said. “Our schools, students and teachers are working hard to meet the challenge of higher expectations.” 

Sometimes, though, the index may not accurately measure a school’s progress. 

Take Bodega Bay Elementary School, which fell from a 718 score in 1999-2000 to 581 last year — a 137 point drop that was the state’s largest. 

The kindergarten through fourth grade school has only 37 students, a population small enough that a few poor performers can skew the results, said Stephen Rosenthal, superintendent of the district that oversees the school. 

“Next year, we may increase 200 points because of one or two kids,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not fair.” 

With a score of 975, Faria Elementary School in Cupertino topped the list. 

Principal Dolly Travers credited the school’s “academic and traditional environment” for high scores among the 379 students tested. But she also said the scores only go so far. 

“We don’t get too carried away by this,” Travers said. “The kids are most important. They’re more important than the API.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

Department of Education’s: http://api.cde.ca.gov/ 

LOS ANGELES — Displays of patriotism have a limit in what Los Angeles police officers can wear on their uniforms, and some of them aren’t happy about the restrictions. 

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, some officers began wearing flag pins and other patriotic decorations around their badges to show support for New York City officers who died in the tragedy, as well as for the country in general. 

Recently, Deputy Chief Michael J. Bostic, who runs the Los Angeles Police Department’s human resources bureau, reminded them that only one flag lapel pin is allowed on their uniforms. It is the one containing the “DARE America” flag, which also promotes the department’s anti-drug program, Bostic said in a memo issued at the end of last month. 

“A couple of officers have been making waves about it, saying the policy has stifled their ability to display their patriotism,” Lt. Horace Frank, a police spokesman, said Monday. 

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Frank added, saying the department encourages displays of patriotism “but with the caveat that our officers be uniform in their appearance.” 

He noted that police officials have also approved an American flag decal for patrol cars and other department vehicles. 

Don Lint, director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said that isn’t good enough for many officers, adding at least 70 have expressed their unhappiness to him about the restrictions. 

“Officers are upset with the DARE pin because it’s promoting the program, it’s not promoting the ’United We Stand’ theme that the country is looking for right now,” Lint said. 

The union, which represents more than 8,000 officers, has ordered 10,000 American flag pins with the words “Remember 9-11” at the bottom. 

Lint said he hopes to discuss the new pins with Bostic but so far hasn’t been able to reach him. 

OAKLAND — Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., has opened a field office in Oakland. 

The only California field office will expand the reach of the organization’s work on its core issues, which include campaign finance reform, food and automobile safety, prescription drug pricing and corporate responsibility. The new office also puts Public Citizen in a prime location for its work on international trade and energy policy. 

Public Citizen was founded in 1971 by consumer advocate Ralph Nader to fight for consumer interests in the legislatures, courts and regulatory agencies. Nader left the organization in 1980. The non-profit also has a Texas field office which opened in 1984. 

The organization has five policy groups. 

Congress Watch tracks congressional actions on health policy and campaign finance reform and monitors attacks on the civil justice and regulatory systems. The Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program is devoted to studying nuclear safety, food irradiation and energy issues. 

Global Trade Watch campaigns for social and economic justice in international trade agreements. The Health Research Group works for prescription drug safety and healthcare delivery, and the Litigation Group fights in the courts for corporate and government responsibility. 

SAN JOSE — A hang glider spotted the car of an elderly couple Monday who had been missing since late last week after their car ran off the road into dense brush. 

Mark Cogan, 81, and his wife Dvora, 80, were sighted off Skyline Boulevard. Both were suffering from dehydration and were being held overnight for observation at Stanford Medical Center. 

A man who was hang gliding noticed the car, which was not visible from the road, and called 911, said Officer Joseph Deras of the San Jose Police Department. Park rangers found Mark Cogan, who is partially blind, trying to climb a cliff to look for help. 

Deras said Dvora Cogan is legally blind. The couple originally is from Russia. 

They reportedly called relatives from a cell phone Thursday night to report their car had run off the road near the San Tomas Expressway. Police searched the area extensively over the weekend with no luck. 

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Monday ordered the return of passports taken from nine Greenpeace protesters and one free-lance journalist arrested in July following a demonstration against the “Star Wars” missile defense system. 

The defendants — from Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia, India and the United Kingdom — will now be able to travel home before returning to Los Angeles for the trial scheduled for Nov. 20. 

They and seven others, including another free-lance journalist, were arrested after the group allegedly rowed rafts into an exclusion zone near Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast base on July 14. 

They are charged with conspiring to violate a safety zone, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of entering military property without permission. If convicted, they each face up to 6 1/2 years in prison and about $250,000 in fines. 

Also on Monday, the 17 defendants pleaded not guilty to charges in a second superseding indictment, which is factually the same as the previous one, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Following their arrest, the six defendants from the United States were given immediate bail and those from other countries had their passports seized and all but one had their travel restricted to central California, Greenpeace officials said.

LOS ANGELES — A lawsuit filed by power supplier Duke Energy against the California Independent System Operator and another state agency in hopes of getting paid for electricity will continue, a judge ruled Monday. 

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter refused to dismiss the lawsuit, saying he wanted to proceed and have the parties work out the issues. 

In a lawsuit filed in February, Duke claimed it provided millions of dollars in energy to cash-strapped California utilities under orders from the ISO without ensuring that it would be paid. The action also named the state Department of Water Resources, which is in charge of buying wholesale electricity for the utilities. 

“The power is just going out there and is being taken,” said Seth Ribner, a lawyer for Duke. “You have to pay for power because it is unconstitutional to steal it.” 

Cal-ISO, manager of the state’s power grid, argued that Duke failed to state what specific violation it is accusing the grid operator of committing. The DWR, in charge of buying wholesale electricity, contends it only backs the transactions and is not actively involved in them. 

Both parties asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. 

John Saurenman, a lawyer for the DWR, also argued that the lawsuit was premature, adding that officials are implementing a process to pay energy suppliers. 

“This is not a case whether Duke will get paid,” he said. “It is simply when and how.” 

If Duke cooperates, it could be “paid in full by the end of the year,” the attorney said. 

LAS VEGAS — Three employees of a Las Vegas hobby rocket company and three firefighters were treated for burns and smoke inhalation after a warehouse explosion just after noon Monday. 

A 65-year-old man and a 24-year-old man were reported in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns, while a 52-year-old man was in fair condition with first- and second-degree burns, a University Medical Center spokesman said. 

“The three male firefighters were treated and released for smoke inhalation,” said hospital spokesman Rick Plummer. 

Employees working next to AeroTech Inc. reported hearing two explosions come from one of the rocket company’s warehouses, Las Vegas fire spokesman Steve La-Sky said. 

“People in the auto shop next door said the first explosion rocked the building and cracked their wall,” he said. “They said they ran out of the building after the first explosion.” 

That’s when La-Sky said the second and larger of the explosions created a 100-foot fire ball. 

“It’s amazing we have no fatalities,” he said. 

Three AeroTech employees who were originally reported missing were found, La-Sky said. Two were burn victims and the third was uninjured. 

About 50 firefighters and 12 units put out the three-alarm blaze by 1 p.m., La-Sky said. But by late afternoon, the fire reignited and firefighters remained on the scene waiting for the fire to burn itself out after failing to contain with water using ladders. 

About 2,500 pounds of ammonium perchlorate, a powder form of a chemical used in rocket fuel, and about 800 pounds of magnesium were stored in AeroTech’s warehouse making it too dangerous for fire crews to fight the blaze from the ground, La-Sky said. 

Authorities began evacuating residents living within a one-mile radius of the burning warehouse after 6 p.m because of the hazardous chemicals. 

Fire investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fires and the amount of damages, La-Sky said. 

It was the second workplace explosion to rock the state in a month and it renewed calls for strict oversight of companies handling hazardous materials. 

On Sept. 17, a series of explosions at Depressurized Technologies International, an aerosol recycling plant in Minden, left one man dead and four others hospitalized. 

Workers’ rights groups say earlier reforms involving businesses dealing with hazardous materials are not being taken seriously. 

State regulatory changes made after two deadly blasts in 1998 seem to have been forgotten, said Tom Stoneburner, director of Reno-based Alliance for Workers’ Rights. 

“We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and get it right,” he said. “We can’t keep exposing our workers to these kinds of things when we send our families off to work every day.” 

In 1998, an explosion at Sierra Chemical, an explosives manufacturing plant east of Reno, killed four workers and injured six, while the another explosion at Pacific Engineering and Production Co. in Henderson, killed two people and injured more than 300. 

“We thought we had fixed it (through legislation),” Stoneburner said. “Then along comes the blast at DTI in Minden.” 

Stoneburner’s group is part of a coalition that has asked Gov. Kenny Guinn to establish a commission to investigate workplace safety. 

Michael Hillerby, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, said a commission wasn’t necessary. 

“We have very good laws that protect workers,” he said. “Anytime anything happens it encourages all the parties involved to take a closer look, but a commission isn’t a magic bullet to make things better. Accidents, sadly, are going to happen.” 

According to its Web site, AeroTech is the largest supplier of technically advanced rocket motors for the hobby rocket market. 

The company also produces rocket motors for the motion picture special effects industry that have been featured in films including “Star Trek: Generations” and “Tomorrow Never Dies.” 

SAN LUIS OBISPO — A parole hearing for one of the men who kidnapped and buried a busload of school children 25 years ago was postponed Monday. 

Richard Allen Schoenfeld requested his parole hearing be put off because his father recently died and he didn’t have time to prepare, according to Denise Schmidt, a spokeswoman for the Board of Prison Terms. 

The hearing has not been rescheduled, she said. 

Schoenfeld was arrested about two weeks after he, his brother James and Frederick N. Woods, all scions of wealthy San Francisco Peninsula families, commandeered the bus on July 15, 1976, near Chowchilla in the San Joaquin Valley. 

They transferred their hostages to two vans, drove about 100 miles north and put them in a moving van they had buried in a quarry owned by the Woods family in Livermore. 

While they were trying to arrange for the ransom, bus driver Ed Ray and some of the older boys dug their way out of the truck and summoned help. 

Richard Schoenfeld turned himself in six days after the kidnapping. He has been denied parole 16 times. 

On one side is a massive fiscal stimulus effort of tax cuts and spending increases. On the other is the fear and uncertainty of the public about a war without precedent. 

This is the battle of the home front, the war to keep the economy strong and ward off or mitigate impending recession. 

No greater economic power has been assembled before in the lifetime of most adult Americans, since government-decreed fiscal and monetary efforts are augmented by manufacturer, retailer, airline and hotel discounts. 

And, at least for the time being, a surprising decline in the prices of gasoline and heating oil has reduced tensions on business and home budgets, freeing funds for saving or spending. 

Aiding the effort are interest rates that in some instances already have effectively dropped to zero when adjusted for inflation, and prices that have remained stable for months at relatively reasonable levels. 

The signals so far are mixed. Unemployment is creeping higher, but late reports of a decline in jobless claims is encouraging. Although stock prices remain volatile, they rebounded after initially plunging. And while retailers endured a terrible September, carmakers held their own. 

Early indicators, however, might not be reliable, since the shock effect could only have been negative. Businesses and consumers might reassess their possibilities, especially as the economic lures become clearer. 

Immediately after the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center a survey of small business attitudes showed many canceling their hiring and capital spending plans, and expressing deep pessimism for sales. 

But, as economist William Dunkelberg told Congress, “At least 85 percent of small-business owners benefit from income tax relief, which would provide a broad base for economic recovery.” 

Such relief and more is now in the works, and Dunkelberg, chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business, indicated that such measures could greatly change confidence, hiring and spending. 

How quickly all this could occur is still up in the air; there is a necessary time lag between enactment of economic lures and their impact, and additional economic deterioration could occur in that time. 

“Things are only starting to get worse,” economist Peter Hooper of Deutsche Bank told clients. In the year’s final quarter, he said, “we think the economy could contract twice as much” as in the earlier quarter. 

Such negative comments are based on hard experience in months past when, through interest rate cuts, the Federal Reserve sought and failed to stir the economy. Eventually, such lures are likely to pay off. But when? 

The stock market is another story, since it peeks into the future more than it deals with the present. In each of the past nine recessions it has bottomed at least four months before the economy. 

Watch it for signals. While, sadly, it has shown a high degree of fallibility, it is after all activated by institutions and people who are willing to put their money on the line. 

Already there are signs it sees something better out there in the immediate future, and the unprecedented number of lures dangling before the economy suggest it may not be seeing things.

SAN FRANCISCO — A major credit agency placed San Francisco International Airport on its “negative” outlook list Monday in anticipation of steep declines in passenger volume amid widespread anxiety raised by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Fitch Inc. predicted the San Francisco airport will suffer a 25 percent drop in domestic passengers and a 15 percent decline in international traffic for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30. 

The agency expects the downturn and increased security costs to saddle the airport with a $100 million budget shortfall that will force management to slash expenses, lobby for money from the federal government and possibly raise its fees. 

Airport officials didn’t immediately return calls Monday. 

Fitch’s decision to change the San Francisco airport’s credit outlook from “evolving” to “negative” doesn’t immediately affect its bond rating, which remains at “AA-.” 

Fitch also issued negative warnings on several other major airports, including: St. Louis, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tenn. and Charlotte, N.C. 

All are suffering from the aftershocks of the Sept. 11 attacks, but the San Francisco airport is facing additional pressures caused by the technology industry downturn, which already had cut into business travel, according to Fitch. 

The San Francisco airport also is facing intense competition from nearby airports in Oakland and San Jose, where discount carrier Southwest Airlines operates its regional hubs, said Fitch analyst Jessica Soltz. 

Fitch hasn’t changed its outlook on the San Jose and Oakland airports.

SUNNYVALE — Getting behind a growing trend in Web commerce, Yahoo! Inc. plans to soon launch a new shopping category that will offer used and clearance merchandise at set prices. 

Items for sale in Yahoo’s new “warehouse” category will be featured in search results and on the site’s shopping pages, complementing auctions, virtual “stores” that sell new products and regionally based classified ads for goods and services. 

Sellers in the Yahoo warehouse will be able to type in numbered product codes on their books, compact discs and other discount merchandise to call up descriptions of the items. Yahoo will not charge to list items but will take a yet-to-be-disclosed commission on successful sales. 

A similar system was started in 1999 by Half.com, which was bought last year by eBay Inc. and is being incorporated into eBay’s site to satisfy the growing interest in its “buy it now” feature. Amazon.com also lets companies and individuals sell used merchandise at set prices. 

Yahoo’s warehouse, scheduled to be rolled out by the end of the month, “is an outgrowth of what consumers have started to tell us over the last six to 12 months,” said Brian Fitzgerald, a Yahoo senior producer. “Consumers absolutely want this sort of control and choice.”

SAN FRANCISCO — With demand for its business software evaporating, fallen Internet star Commerce One Corp. said Monday it will shed 1,300 jobs, or nearly half its work force. 

The Pleasanton-based company said 700 of its 2,800 employees will be laid off. The cuts began Monday, Commerce One spokesman Andrew McCarthy said. 

Another 600 jobs will be jettisoned by spinning off operations unrelated to Commerce One’s primary product — so-called “business-to-business” software designed to create online exchanges for corporate customers. 

The spin-offs will be concentrated among several small consulting companies that Commerce One acquired in a $1.65 billion purchase of AppNet Inc. last year, McCarthy said. 

Commerce One has been retrenching much of this year. The company began the year with 3,700 employees. 

The latest purge is long overdue, said industry analyst Bob Austrian of Banc of America Securities in San Francisco. 

“The demand for the company’s product has already shown its true colors,” Austrian said. “Management is slowly aligning its costs with the reality of its revenue.” 

The company provided an inkling of the job cuts last week when it warned that its third-quarter revenue would range from $80 million to $83 million, well short of the $100 million in revenue that management had forecast in July. 

Commerce One also said it will lose 24 cents to 25 cents per share, worse than the consensus loss estimate of 23 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

In last year’s third quarter, Commerce One lost 9 cents per share, excluding one-time charges, on revenue of $113 million. Through the first half of this year, the company had lost $2.57 billion on revenue of $271.5 million. 

Commerce One’s comedown largely reflects the growing disillusionment with business-to-business software, which initially enthralled investors by promising to revolutionize the way companies bought and sold goods. But the software hasn’t lived up to the hype, causing businesses to delay purchases and investors to dump the stocks of companies specializing in the sector. 

Commerce One’s shares gained 21 cents to close at $3.50 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock, which went public in July 1999, peaked at a split-adjusted $135.63 in early 2000. 

To weather the turbulence, Commerce One has deepened its ties to German software giant SAP, which invested more than $200 million for a 20 percent stake in the company. The investment stirred talk that SAP eventually will take complete control of Commerce One. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.commerceone.com 

WASHINGTON — Breast cancer risk increases by 8 percent to 60 percent for women who work the night shift for many years, according to two studies that suggest the bright light at night diminishes the body’s supply of melatonin and increases estrogen levels. 

Researchers said the fact that two independent studies, using different methods, found roughly the same results suggest strongly that working the graveyard shift for long periods of time may lower the body’s resistance to breast cancer and, perhaps, to other types of cancer. 

“We are just beginning to see evidence emerge on the health effects of shift work,” said Scott Davis, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and first author of one of the studies. He said more research was needed before a compelling case could be made to change night work schedules, however. 

“The numbers in our study are small, but they are statistically significant,” said Francine Laden, a researcher at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston and co-author of the second study. 

Both studies appear Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 

“These studies are fascinating and provocative,” said Larry Norton of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “Both studies have to be respected.” 

But Norton said the findings only “hint” at an effect on breast cancer rates from nighttime work and “raises questions that must be addressed with more research.” 

In Davis’ study, researchers explored the work history of 763 women with breast cancer and 741 women without the disease. 

They found that women who regularly worked night shifts for three years or less were about 40 percent more likely to have breast cancer than women who did not work such shifts. For women who worked at night for more than three years, the relative risks went up to 60 percent. 

The Brigham & Women’s study, by Laden and her colleagues, found only a “moderately increased risk of breast cancer after extended periods of working rotating night shifts.” 

The study was based on the medical and work histories of more than 78,000 nurses from 1988 through May 1998.  

It found that nurses who worked rotating night shifts at least three times a month for one to 29 years were about 8 percent more likely to develop breast cancer.  

For those who worked the shifts for more than 30 years, the relative risk of breast cancer went up by 36 percent. 

American women have a 12.5 percent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Laden said her study means that the lifetime risk of breast cancer for longtime shift workers could rise above 16 percent. There are about 175,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed annually in the United States and about 43,700 deaths. Breast cancer is the second only to lung cancer in causing cancer deaths among women. 

Both of the Journal studies suggested that the increased breast cancer risk among shift workers is caused by changes in the body’s natural melatonin cycle because of the bright lights during the dark hours. 

Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland during the night. Studies have shown that bright lights reduces the secretion of melatonin. In women, this may lead to an increase in estrogen production and increased estrogen levels have been linked to breast cancer. 

“If you exposed someone to bright light at night, the normal rise in melatonin will diminish or disappear altogether,” said Davis. “There is evidence that this can increase the production of reproductive hormones, including estrogens.” 

Davis said changes in melatonin levels in men doing nighttime shift work may increase the risk of some types of male cancer, such as prostate, but he knows of no study that has addressed this specifically. 

Both Laden and Davis said the melatonin-estrogen-breast cancer connection is still a theory that will require more research to prove or disprove. 

Dr. S. Eva Singletary, a breast cancer specialist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said the two studies show “a small relative increase in breast cancer risk, but nothing to become alarmed about.” 

More study is needed to precisely define the risk of shift work and how that compares to other known breast cancer risk factors, such as family history, smoking and obesity, said Singletary. But she said the finding does suggest the need for women who work night shifts to be particularly prudent in following breast cancer screening recommendations calling for regular mammograms and medical exams. 

——— 

On the Net: 

American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org 

Journal of the National Cancer Institute: http://jnci.oupjournals.org/ 

National Cancer Institute: http://www.nci.nih.gov/ 

WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency hopes to clear the lungs of millions of children exposed each year to secondhand smoke through a public relations campaign that encourages parents who smoke to light up outdoors. 

The EPA has found that children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from bonchitis and pneumonia, wheezing and coughing spells, ear infections and more frequent and severe asthma attacks. 

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. 

It has been classified by the EPA as a known cause of lung cancer in people, resulting in several thousand lung cancer deaths in non-smokers each year. 

Joining the EPA in the $1.5 million campaign Tuesday are the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, the Consumer Federation of America and the National Association of Counties. 

The counties’ organization, for example, agreed to help gather parent signatures to commit to smoking outside as part of the overall public relations health campaign. 

The consumer group said a new survey indicates that 70 percent of parents who smoke and who claim to have been previously unaware of the harmful effects would take their tobacco outside to protect their children. 

“We don’t think the public is very aware of how many children are involuntary victims of secondhand smoke,” Jack Gillis, the group’s public affairs director, said Monday. 

The National Cancer Institute has said there are links between secondhand smoke and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, new cases of childhood asthma and behavioral and cognitive problems in children. 

It was 10 years ago when 25 lives were lost and over 3,000 homes, businesses and buildings were demolished by the devastating fire that swept through the East Bay hills region.  

In remembrance of the tragedy, California’s 2001 Wildfire Conference was held at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland where the three-day event gave representatives from different agencies, cities and universities an opportunity to talk about many of the lessons learned from previous fires and to share information on fire prevention and readiness. 

“The idea is really to empower people and agencies and to make a difference to the potential threat of fires,” said Kenneth S. Blonski, fire mitigation advisor for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Forest Products Laboratory. 

Blonski said the conference, which started Wednesday and ended Friday, was an opportunity for attendants to share valuable, life-saving information. However, the biggest challenge is figuring out ways to educate the public and to encourage them to change their behavior to become fire safe. 

Monday, Oct. 15

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 

Emergency Preparedness  

Workshop 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

Anna Swardenski speaks to help seniors and people with disabilities be more prepared in case of an emergency. 

Franciscanism, Understanding  

the Vision 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Franciscan School of Theology 

1712 Euclid Ave. 

Graduate Theological Union presents seminar exploring the lives, times and writings of and about Francis and Clare of Assisi. 848-5232 

Rent Stabilization Board 

7:05 p.m. 

City Council chambers 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

Public Hearing on the 2002 Annual General Adjustment. 

Interfaith Couples Look at  

Love and Choices 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Two films to stimulate discussion about interfaith families, love and identity. $25 per couple. 548-0237 

Tuesday, Oct. 16

Crabby Chef Competition 

4 p.m. 

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto 

1919 Fourth St.  

Top East Bay chefs compete to create the best crab dish. Free.  

5 - 7 p.m. Fund-raising Reception for the Visual and Performing Arts Group of Berkeley High School. $25 donation. 845-7777 

Similarities between Jewish  

and Deadhead Spirituality 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

It’s been observed that a disproportionate number of deadheads are Jews. Dr. Leora Lawton, researcher of deadhead culture, explores the fascinating parallels between Jewish and deadhead rituals. $25 public, $15 members. 548-0237 

The Berkeley Garden Club 

2:15 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

“Yearlong Garden Color with Bulbs” with Retired Director, Regional Botanic Gardens, Wayne Roderick. The program includes slides of flowering bulbs ideally suited to the East Bay climate. 524-4374 bgardenclub@aol.com 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

noon - 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight way 

“Herbal Alternatives and Drug Interactions for Fibromyalgia.” 601-0550 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

531-8664 

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 

Israel and Palestine: Why the  

Oslo Peace Process Failed 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Speaker Joel Beinin is a Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University: “The Oslo Declaration of Principles... was supposed to bring peace and stability to the Middle East... the entire region is more unstable than a decade ago. Why have the hopes of so many people for a just peace been disappointed?” He will also address the relationship between U. S. policy, the Arab-Israel conflict, and events of this kind. 863-6637 

Wednesday, Oct. 17

 

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 

 

Golden Age Party 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

Party for the over 90 club and any who wish to attend. Swing Notes, a women’s acappela group will entertain and there will be refreshments. 

 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov 28 

 

Conversation: Rosemary  

Radford Reuther and Carolyn  

Merchant 

5:30 - 8 p.m. 

#1 LeConte Building, UC Berkeley “Women, Religion, Science, and the Environment.” 649-2490 

 

---

Thursday, Oct. 18

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 

Friday, Oct. 19

Cooperative Center Federal  

Credit Union 

Grand Opening Celebration 

4 - 7 p.m. 

2001 Ashby Ave. 

A family affair with food, entertainment and a special treat for the kids. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, honorary chairperson is scheduled to attend. Faith Fancher is the MC. 415-346-0199 

YAP’s FNL Teen Club: “Pop  

Ya Colla! Dance” 

7 -11 p.m. 

1730 Oregon St. 

Young Adult Project presents dance for 13 to 18 year olds only. Must have B.U.S.D. I.D. “No haters, no problems.” 644-6226 

Saturday, Oct. 20 

Earthquake Retrofitting 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Office of Emergency Services 

812 Page St.  

Free classes in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). 981-5605 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us 

BART Job Fair 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

BART will be recruiting to fill approximately 160 jobs that wukk be opening up next year. The jobs to be filled are in accounting, planing, engineering, insurance, purchasing, police, maintenance and electronics. 

Sunday, Oct. 21

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 

Editor: 

On Sept. 12 nearly 40 residents of Strawberry Creek Lodge joined together to express our support to Rep. Barbara Lee for her courageous act in standing as the sole voice in Congress in saying “no” to giving President Bush open ended funding for wiping out whole countries “harboring” terrorists. 

In the wake of the escalating frenzy for war from the White House, the halls of Congress, the military, the media and those who stand to profit, the people of our country are being rapidly brain-washed. It is time to slow down this barrage and let the voices of reason be heard through the media. 

Please publish the contents of our message to Rep. Barbara Lee which follows. 

“We the undersigned residents of Strawberry Creek Lodge congratulate our courageous representative, Barbara Lee for her vote in opposition to the war powers resolution. We agree that the perpetrators of the terrorist bombings must be brought to justice, but we believe that more killing can only result in the death of innocent people. In addition we have to ask, what is it in U.S. foreign policy that results in such blind hatred toward the United States?” 

Your paper has the duty to reflect feelings and opinions of readers who are opposed to bombing other countries thus causing a long and deadly war. 

Sept. 11 should remind all Americans that violence begets violence. Those behind this fearful terror must be found and punished. The frightening war propaganda should be restrained now. Please join us in calling for “Justice not Vengeance.” 

Robin Hipolito 

For the Legislative Committee 

Strawberry Creek Lodge 

Berkeley 

By Jared Green 

Daily Planet Staff 

The Cal Bears gave their worst performance of a dismal season on Saturday, putting up a lackluster effort in losing, 48-7, to Oregon. The Bears were shut out until a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Kyle Boller to Joe Igber, and the defense allowed 463 total yards to the Ducks, including 257 yards on the ground. 

“I’m completely flabbergasted by our total lack of execution,” Cal offensive coordinator Al Borges said after the game. “There’s no excuse for playing like that.” 

The Bears were equally helpless on offense, defense and special teams. Quarterback Kyle Boller followed up his outstanding effort in a loss to Washington two weeks ago with a terrible game, completing just 18 of 40 pass attempts and getting yanked in the fourth quarter. The Bears turned the ball over five times, including interceptions on backup Eric Holtfreter’s first two series in the game and a fumbled punt by return man Ray Carmel.  

On defense, Cal missed a busload of tackles, including one play that looked like a Three Stooges schtick, as Oregon wide receiver Sami Parker took a simple out pattern and scored a 37-yard touchdown while three Bears fell over each other trying to tackle him. 

That score was one of three for the fifth-ranked Ducks in the first quarter, giving them a 21-0 lead and snuffing any Cal hopes for an upset. Harrington scored on a two-yard sneak to open the scoring, and running back Onterrio Smith went in from the same distance on a sweep as the quarter wound down. 

“The first couple of series, everything they did was right,” Cal head coach Tom Holmoe said. “On defense, it seemed like every time we called a play they were right on it.” 

Even when the Bears caught a break, they couldn’t take advantage. Oregon tailback Maurice Morris dropped a pitch early in the second quarter, and Cal freshman defensive end Lorenzo Alexander was there to fall on it at midfield. But the Bears went three-and-out, missing their best chance to score before halftime. 

Carmel’s fumble came with just 1:28 left in the half, and Oregon linebacker Wesly Mallard recovered on Cal’s 24-yard line. Four plays later, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington found tight end Justin Peelle for a 16-yard touchdown pass as Cal safety Bert Watts slipped down on the coverage, and the Ducks had a commanding 28-0 halftime lead. 

Oregon scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter as the Ducks piled up 140 rushing yards in the period, including a 40-yard scramble by the slow-footed Harrington. Morris scored from 13 yards out shortly afterward, juking Cal safety Dewey Hale out of his shoes on the way to the end zone. Wideout Keenan Howry then scored on a 25-yard reverse, using a nice lead block from Harrington to get around the corner. 

“I’ll do anything I have to in order to win the game,” Harrington said of his block on the 280-pound Alexander. 

Although the announced attendance at the game was 34,452, Memorial Stadium emptied quickly after halftime, as the Cal student section found more enjoyable entertainment outside the stadium. By the fourth quarter, the only noise was coming from the sizeable Oregon contingent.  

The deserters missed Cal’s lone score, a six-yard pass from Boller to Igber that capped a 69-yard drive. Morris put the final nail in Cal’s coffin soon after, however, on an 11-yard scoring run. 

NOTES: This Saturday’s game against undefeated UCLA means Cal has yet to face a team with a loss coming into the matchup. The Bears’ first six opponents are a combined 32-2 so far this season... Oregon freshman Ramone Reed, who starred for Berkeley High last year, had 3.5 tackles on Saturday, including a hit on Charon Arnold on the opening kickoff. Reed narrowly missed a sack on Holtfreter late in the game.

Just as the dust was settling after the City Council brouhaha over the redrawing the lines of the city’s eight districts, a councilmember is calling for a charter amendment that would create a student-dominated district. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who represents heavily student-populated District 7, put the item on the City Council’s agenda for tomorrow night because the city attorney deemed a student-proposed redistricting plan was inconsistent with the City Charter during the recent redistricting process. 

“If students really want to see this happen then at least they

Editor: 

Aware that I was in Cuba on Sept. 11, two well-educated professionals after my return separately asked me whether celebration there followed the attacks. Troubled by the question, I explained that the Cuban response I observed was profound shock at the magnitude of the disaster, followed by expressions of compassion for all victims. Condemnation of terrorism was explicit. 

Ironically, the government of Cuba offered medical supplies to the rescue operations, a gesture I assume not fully reported here. Many of us on the Global Exchange Reality Tour had brought medical supplies as donations, which Cuba itself chronically needs because of the U.S. embargo. 

Clearly, lack of information, as well as misinformation, shape American attitudes toward this small country of approximately 12 million people. Among many of its achievements, in the two largest cities, Santiago and La Havana, I witnessed neither homelessness nor begging, certainly a model for our country to emulate. 

Jack W. Fleming 

Berkeley

QB Murphy passes for two TDs, runs one in for Panthers 

After crunching out algebraic equations all morning Saturday, St. Mary’s running back Trestin George stepped on the football field in a Bay Shore Athletic League game and did the same to the John Swett defense. 

George was one of six St. Mary’s players, including all three team captains, who took the SAT on Saturday morning. 

“In the morning my concentration was on the test,” said George, who piled up 133 rushing yards and scored one touchdown to help his team to a 38-3 victory over John Swett in the BSAL season opener for both teams. “I had to get my work done but when I stepped out in the field it was all business.” 

“That’s what St. Mary’s teaches,” said linebacker Omarr Flood, who took the test and also had a standout defensive performance with one sack. “To be 100 percent both in the classroom and the football field. We came out and played four quarters of football and dominated. It’s traditional St. Mary’s football.” 

St. Mary’s scored on five of its first seven possessions while holding John Swett to a mere field goal. 

“We were worried about Trestin,” John Swett head coach John Angell said. “He’s a good runner. Every coach in the league will be worrying about him. We tried stopping the run and the pass got us.” 

Lawson said John Swett was stacking the line with nine defenders trying to stop George.  

“We threw early to take advantage of them stopping the run,” he said.  

On its first possession St. Mary’s scored when quarterback Steve Murphy connected with wide receiver Ryan Coogler on a 32-yard touchdown pass. The drive took just four plays. 

On its next possession St. Mary’s running game opened up another scoring opportunity. Again, it was Murphy throwing a 27-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Coogler. George had five runs for 51 yards on the drive. 

George said it was a mistake to focus solely on him. 

“They came into the game thinking all they had to do was stop me, but we have to many weapons,” he said. “If they focus on the run we beat them with the pass. If they focus on the pass with beat them with the run. (We’re) like the St. Louis Rams.” 

After Swett’s first two possessions resulted in punts, kicker Morgan Edwards kicked a 32-yard field goal for the team’s only score of the game. 

John Swett’s defense seemed to run out of gas in the second half as each of St. Mary’s scores came off very short drives. 

The first score came just four plays into the half. After faking a hand off to George, Murphy ran a quarterback keeper up the middle, broke five tackles and ran 41 yards for the touchdown. 

The second score consisted of just two plays. The score came when George ran wide to the left, broke one tackle and had a wide open 52 yard touchdown run. 

The third score in the second half came when Julian Taylor ran up the middle, broke one tackle and found himself in the open field for a 39-yard touchdown run. Wide receiver Courtney Brown caught the two point conversion to make it 38-3. 

The win raised the Panthers’ record to 2-4, while Swett fell to 1-5. 

“I told my players before the game that as far as we were concerned we were 0 and 0,” said Lawson, St. Mary’s head coach. “Our mission is to go 5 and 0 and go to the playoffs. This one is done. Now we’re getting ready for (next week’s oppenent) St. Patrick’s.” 

John Swett head coach John Angell said his team struggled because injuries are catching up on his team.  

“A lot of the kids were trying to play hurt,” he said. “With a small school there’s not much you can do when two or three starters go down.” 

Despite the loss, Angell was happy with his team’s performance. 

“St. Mary’s is one of the top teams in the league,” he said. “I feel we did pretty good. We’re in the process of rebuilding.” 

In an earlier game St. Mary’s junior varsity scored 22 points in the second half to beat John Swett 22-12.  

Before the celebration began, before Saturday’s heat began to oppress, an elder Native American man sat in the shade of his booth playing along on a set of pan pipes.  

The tune? “Dirty Old Town,” made famous by the Pogues in the 1980s, but now wafting over to the park courtesy of a Farmer’s Market chanteuse. 

The man was getting into the sprit of the Tenth Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Pow-Wow and Indian Market, held in Martin Luther King Civic Center

Editor: 

The first step in winning the war against terrorism seems to be the lynching of the usual suspect, Osama bin Laden. President Bush wants him captured “dead or alive.” The Taliban has asked to see what evidence there is that he is responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11 — a reasonable request when extradition is demanded. They are arrogantly told, “We don’t have to show you any stinking evidence.” Which probably means there isn’t any. 

The second step may be the launching of an unwinnable, Vietnam-type war on Afghanistan, which the Russians couldn’t conquer in ten years. Terrorism may be one of those social problems that cannot be solved by the simple use of extreme military means. Which makes it all the more important to wonder why nobody is asking some basic questions, like why do millions of people all over the world hate our guts? And what can we do about it? 

The answer lies in what the bean-counters tell us every year: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This applies to countries as well as individuals. This is the way capitalism, for which the U.S. is the loudest proponent and the principle beneficiary, really works. 

The poorest countries cannot raise their living standards because they live at subsistence levels and produce no surplus with which to invest in industrialization. The vast natural resources of the under-developed world are not used to help its inhabitants, but are siphoned off to further enrich the industrial nations. 

To begin to change this situation requires the elimination of the profit system and the re-organization of the entire world under the widest possible democracy and equality, in all lands, at all levels. To secure lasting peace, we must establish universal justice. The working people, not the generals or politicians, must take the lead in this. 

Meanwhile, stay out of airplanes, tall buildings, and busy bridges. 

Marion Syrek 

Oakland

CORVALLIS, Ore. - No. 12 California swept the opening weekend of Pac-10 play with a 2-0 shutout of Oregon State Sunday afternoon. With the Bears’ second shutout of the weekend, they improved to 10-2-1 overall. The Beavers fell to 7-4-1 and 0-2 in league play.  

“We’re very pleased with two shutouts on the weekend,” said Cal coach Kevin Boyd.” Oregon State is a good team and played tough. It was pretty even at the half. The second half we stepped up our play a little bit. Our center mids starting taking over and our forwards got a little more active and we created some nice chances. We are pleased to be 2-0 in the Pac-10 after the first weekend and feel like we played very well.”  

After a scoreless first half that saw Cal outshoot Oregon State, 5-4, the Bears quickly got on the scoreboard early in the second half. In the 47th minute, midfielder Brittany Kirk took a pass from Kim Yokers and scored what eventually was her second game-winning goal of the weekend.  

Forward Krysti Whalen added an insurance goal in the 57th minute for her first goal of the season. Kassie Doubrava sent a long through ball to Whalen, who beat the goalkeeper on a one-v-one opportunity.  

The Bears outshot the Beavers 13-9 overall. Cal goalkeeper Mallory Moser had to make two saves to secure her fourth shutout of the season. OSU’s keeper Gabby Nejedlo made one save.  

Cal returns home Friday to host Washington at 3 p.m., at Edwards Stadium.

The Berkeley Unified School District is shrinking the number of non-credentialed teachers in its classrooms, thanks partly to state programs that improve retention rates by enabling more on-the-job training. 

“It’s much better than it has been,” said Dr. David Gomez, the district’s associate superintendent for administrative services. “The area of difficulty remains the single-subject areas, especially math.” 

In the 1998-1999 school year, according to a state report, the Berkeley Unified School District had 43 teachers without credentials. This year, said Rosalind Sarah, the district’s director of new teacher programs, “we might have at a district level only 25 teachers who are not credentialed.”  

All the elementary school teachers have some form of credential this year, she said, whereas “half a dozen” lacked them last year. 

In addition, she said, about 130 of the district’s approximately 650 teachers are in second-tier training programs. 

Sarah attributed the improvement partly to school districts’

An open letter to President George W. Bush:  

I have heard you say we should get the terrorists “dead or alive.” I totally agree with that. But does the word terrorist not include those who have taken part in state terrorism, the ex-dictators and their generals who have committed crimes against humanity and have found a safe haven in this country? Does it not include Americans of past administrations, such as Henry Kissinger? Does it not include your generals and advisors who are knowingly killing innocent people in Afghanistan who are already suffering so much under the Taliban?  

Roger Van Ouytsel 

Berkeley

LOS ANGELES – The University of California women’s volleyball team lost to No. 3 ranked USC, 3-0 (30-25, 30-26, 30-19), Saturday night at the Lyon Center on USC’s campus.  

The Bears were led by freshman Mia Jerkov’s 13 kills, while junior Reena Pardiwala also had a strong night, recording nine kills, a team-high .615 hitting percentage (nine kills, one error, 13 attempts) and a team-high 11 digs.  

USC (12-1 overall, 7-0 Pac-10) was led by sophomore April Ross, last season’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, who had 13 kills. The Trojans are alone in first place in the Pac-10.  

“The way our team sustained our level of play and effort, I felt we won some battles tonight,” said head coach Rich Feller. “Overall, I think we had a good effort this weekend playing against two of the top teams in the nation in UCLA and USC.”

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, an Argentine who won the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize urged students and others who gathered to hear his lecture Wednesday afternoon at Stephens Hall in UC Berkeley to be active in seeking alternatives to war. 

“It’s hard to talk about peace when it seems the world is falling apart,” Esquivel said in Spanish with a translator working at his side. 

“Let’s be realists. We should demand the impossible. We have to make possible what seems impossible.” 

Esquivel, who was invited by the Center for Latin America Studies and others, was originally to give a global view of human rights but instead talked about the U.S. attacks against Afghanistan. 

Expressing his solidarity with the United States, Esquivel emphasized theneed to reflect on the causes of this conflict. 

On the same day as the attacks in New York and Washington DC , 35,650 children died of hunger and nutrition.  

“But with that action nobody got upset,” he said. “None of the countries had moved, the [United Nations] didn’t set a resolution, the Pope didn’t say anything. What’s happening in our society, what happening to us human being?” 

Following his own tradition, Esquivel joined other Latin American’s Nobel Laureates earlier this week at a session of meetings with UN officials, including Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the president of the UN assembly Dr. Han Seung-Soo in New York. 

“I woke up in the middle of the night from the sound of helicopters and I was wondering whether I was in Latin America or New York,” he said, referring to the new security measures in New York. 

Esquivel, a sculptor and painter by profession, devoted his life to promoting human rights, peace and justice. The 70-year-old activist became active in Latin America nonviolence movements in the 60s as a member of Christian non-violence movement. In 1974 he founded an ecumenical human rights organization called the Service for Peace and Justice. 

When the Argentine military began a policy of systematic repression in the 1970s Esquivel supported the families of victims and contributed to the formation and strengthening of ties between popular human rights organizations. 

Esquivel paid a high price for his actions. He was detained twice, first by the Brazilian military police and again in 1976 in Ecuador. In 1977, Esquivel was held and tortured at the Buenos Aires Federal police headquarters for 14 months. 

The Nobel Laureates in New York urged UN officials to strengthen the role of the UN in the recent conflict. ”In the work that has been done for the last 50 years, important mechanisms were founded which can be implement also over super powers like the US,” he said. 

The Nobel winners also asked UN officials to call a special session of the general assembly on terrorism. 

“What we need to find is the different kinds of terrorism,” he said. “In Latin America we suffered military dictatorships, wasn’t it terror? But there are other forms of terrorism — market terrorism, economic terrorism. Those 35,650 children who died, what kind of terror are they are victims of? When we look on the silence terrorism of poverty, we have to understand it’s also terrorism.” 

“The U.S. government needs to change its policies to the rest of the world, to other countries,” he said. “Now bin Laden who use to be an ally is enemy number one. He was prepared and trained (by the U.S.) to fight the Soviets. Saddam Hussein was also prepared and trained and equipped to war against Iran, Now number two enemy who used to be number one but was lowered. Noriega in Panama, another creation of the CIA, once the U.S. changed its opinion about him, it started to bomb Panama.” 

According to Esquivel, more than 80,000 Latin American military officers were trained in US camps in Latin America or in the United States. Many later become part of repressive military regimes. 

“Latin America is remilitarizing,” he said, “The US put new bases almost in every country around Latin America. What are they are there for? To protect the interests of the people? No. They are there to protect he economic interests of the States.” 

When asked for proposals for action, Esquivel focused on the need of information.  

“Be sure you have good information, accurate information and spread that around,” he said. “You can join other universities and communities to see how you can join actions. The notion that the war is unavoidable is out there and it doesn’t leave any space to other ideas.”

Editor: 

I would like to congratulate all of the Berkeley students who came here seeking activism. Now you have a cause to fight for. You don’t need to apply the critical thinking you are taught in the classroom. Just follow the leader. What the heck, it's Berkeley. This is what you came here expecting. And you got it. Beware of thinking. It ruins the fun. 

Sura Rahman 

Berkeley

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The California men’s cross country team finished second at the Cal Poly Invitational with 93 points. Host Cal Poly won the competition with 48 points.  

On the women’s side, the Bears placed seventh with 175 points, while Cal Poly won with 43 points.  

Cal Poly’s David Jackson won the men’s race in 26:14.6. Corey Creasey led the way for the Cal men, finishing seventh in 27:08.3. Carlos Carballo was the Bears next fastest runner, clocking in at 27:45.9 in 14th place.  

Kareen Nilsson, an unattached runner, won the women’s race in 17:39.4. Leading the way for the Bear women was Erin Belger, finishing 23rd in 19:41.4.

OAKLAND – A BART strike starting Tuesday is very possible, according to an official with one of three unions representing BART employees who says it’s likely that workers will vote to turn down BART’s “best and final offer’’ Monday after months of contract negotiations. 

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3993 will vote on the issue tomorrow in Oakland, and AFSCME President Norma del Mercado said she is recommending the contract be turned down. 

“I’m recommending a no vote,’’ del Mercado said last week, explaining that although the latest offer by BART calls for a 22 percent pay raise, the issue is not about money. 

“We have no argument against the wage and benefits package. It’s that our main issues were never addressed,’’ she said. “Our number one issue is the basic right to protect our jobs and (BART) has never addressed that.’’ 

The union alleges its members are passed over for promotions that go to consultants and contractors. A court-ordered cooling-off period that bars the union representing some-230 employees to strike expires at midnight tomorrow. BART issued its final offer to the union last Thursday. 

BART’s two larger unions, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 and Service Employees International Union Local 790, approved their contracts last month. The two unions representing some-2,600 employees say they will honor AFSCME’s decision and strike as well if the 230-member union rejects the offer.

About 150 people attended a workshop Thursday intended to gather community input on two development plans for the Eastshore State Park, an eight and a half mile piece of land that stretches from the Richmond Bay Marina to the Bay Bridge.  

One includes more preservation and the other stresses development of the land’s recreational facilities. Both plans were developed by Wallace Roberts & Todd, the planning firm hired by the East Bay Regional District. 

Ned MacKay, public information supervisor for the East Bay Regional Park District, said the 1,800 acres of shoreline was bought in 1998 from the Catellus Corporation to preserve it for public use. The planning process, which began in January 2001, is headed by the East Bay Regional Park District, California State Parks and the California State Coastal Conservancy. 

Stephen Hammond, Director of Planning for Wallace Roberts & Todd, said plan A involves removal of exotic plant species, improving creeks into the bay and wetland preservation. The plan includes passive recreational use, such as hiking, bird watching and kayaking.  

Hammond said Plan B includes development for facilities such as boat launches, turf areas for sports, restrooms, parking, picnic areas, concession stands, equipment storage and paved roads. 

Paul Kamen, chair of the Berkeley Waterfront Commission said he strongly prefers plan B because it allows for active recreational use. 

“My biggest fear is that we will have a water front park that ignores the opportunities offered by the water,” he said, referring to kayaking and entry-level rowing for casual visitors. “My goal is that every afternoon during the summer kids will be able to ride their bicycles to the waterfront and get involved in dragon boat racing.” 

In a letter to the Daily Planet published Sept. 11, Kamen said “…the most valuable open space in this park is the water, not the land. ... There is a sublime satisfaction in simply floating on water and directing one’s own course.” 

Sarah Wagner Ginskey, a 32-year-old artist who lives in Berkeley, said she wants to encourage people to pick the plan with the less intense recreational use. 

Ginskey said she hikes every day. Most of her paintings are inspired by California’s native landscape and wildlife, she said. Before the meeting she passed out literature on wildlife conservation. The handout included some of her art work, including a picture of a Burrowing Owl. 

“Nearly 90 percent of our Bay’s wetland and wildlife areas have been lost,” she said citing Save The Bay, an environmental group. “There is so little habitat left in the Bay Area. People should think in the long term. In the last 200 years we have drastically changed this region.” 

Osha Neumann, a 62-year-old lawyer and mural painter who lives in North Oakland said neither plan works for him.  

“Leave it alone,” he said referring to the parkland. “It’s the last piece of wilderness on the bay. When you destroy wilderness you destroy a non-renewable source.” 

Despite their input, residents were told by planning manager, Donald Neuwirth, that public comment would be one of several factors in the final outcome of the general plan for the state park. 

“Community involvement in the planning process is very important,” said Donald Neuwirth, planning manager. “[However] people should not feel this is a head count or an issue of names signed on a petition but rather there’s laws, regulations and financial considerations.” 

The Eastshore State Park is part of the state park system and must adhere to its policies, procedures and overall mission, said Larry Trong, a member of the planning team.  

“We also have to consider state law as mandated by the California Public Resources Code,” he said. 

Under Section 5003.03 (h) of the code, the park shall be “…a recreational facility harmonious with its natural setting.” 

Curt Gray, a trade show installer in his 40s, said he did not know how much of an impact the community will have in the general plan of the park. 

“I have participated in many public forums,” he said. “Some of which community input had an effect on the end result and others that did not.” 

Mark Irwin, a mechanical engineer who lives in Oakland said the planning team is trying to incorporate as much public sentiment as possible. He said, “The fact that they are having this forum is a plus.” 

Irwin said he spends 50 percent of his recreational time sailing and wind surfing in the state park. However he does not like either of the two plans. 

“They’re both about development,” Irwin said. “I rather leave it the way it is.”  

The next regional workshop is scheduled for February 2002. Community members with comments or questions can contact the Eastshore State Park information line at (888) 988-PARK or visit www.eastshorestatepark.org. 

Shell Mound, UC Berkeley buildings among subjects 

Berkeley Landmarks is a surprisingly intriguing book. Not bad for 300 pages documenting almost every building and site of historic, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance in a 16 square-mile perimeter. 

These landmarks were selected by a Landmark Preservation Commission, created in 1974, which has by now identified 237 buildings or sites as city of Berkeley Landmarks or Structures of Merit. These landmarks include City Hall, subdivisions, pathways between streets, buildings on university grounds named for wealthy donors, glades and large rock outcroppings.  

Few areas representative of Berkeley’s unique political identity are described, but the book’s text still contains fascinating history. 

The area we call Berkeley was originally home to the Ohlone People, c. 3700 BC to 800 AD, who settled at the foot of the freshwater creek now known as Strawberry Creek. The riverbanks were lined with willows and outlying areas were rich in deer, seals, otters, fish, birds and shellfish. 

The remains of the Berkeley Shell Mound, which contained large quantities of artifacts such as bone tools and the remains of a sweat house, are today located approximately between University and Hearst avenues, and Fourth and Second streets. 

The town of Berkeley was incorporated in 1878. The town was named in honor of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, Ireland, who came to America early in the eighteenth century with the goal of establishing colleges. 

Berkeley Landmarks contains numerous maps and 19th century photos which document the above-mentioned history and more. University Avenue once had horse-drawn streetcar service, which led to a ferry to San Francisco. In the early 1900s there was an electric trolley line on San Pablo Avenue. West Berkeley was once a major industrial area and home to the Standard Soap Company, now known as the Colgate/Palmolive /Peet Company. Berkeley beach was located at the foot of Cedar Street. 

Remarkable architects such as Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, Charles Keeler and many dozens of others helped transform Berkeley’s early Bay Region architecture, making it an icon of the building-with-nature philosophy epitomized by the Hillside Club. 

Many of these architects and designers were originally attracted to Berkeley by the University of California at Berkeley, which offered the first classes in architecture west of the Mississippi. Berkeley Landmarks contains a section listing biographical info on local builders, designers, and architects. 

But Berkeley Landmarks primarily describes the design and ownership histories of many distinctive Berkeley Colonial Revival style houses, Redwood frame cottages, stucco bungalows, Italianate Victorians, Pioneer Victorians, Craftsman Bungalows and more. 

You can also learn the design and ownership history of gathering places such as Ashkenaz (modeled after old Polish synagogues), Toverii Tuppa (which means “Friends Meeting Hall” in Finnish), Bowen’s Inn (which is said to be the oldest surviving structure in Berkeley), the Claremont Hotel (built to provide a destination for riders of the new electric rail lines), and the West Berkeley Macaroni Factory. 

The design history of less glamorous structures are included as well. Many one-story bungalows were originally tract houses built for the sudden influx of World War II workers.  

Today, few Berkeley residents design their own homes. At least we can read about those who could design and put together their own homes, such as Joseph Alphonso, a Portuguese cabinetmaker who constructed his own home on Delaware Street, and James L. Swink who put up the elegant Colonial Revival Swink House on Shattuck Avenue, which is still proudly standing two doors down from Chez Panisse. 

LOS ANGELES – The economic impact of the terrorist attacks is beginning to take a toll in California, which had held steady before Sept. 11 amid a national downturn in consumer and business spending. 

Earlier this year, strong tourism and business travel had offset troubles in the technology and international trade sectors. But tourism has plummeted in the past month, leaving thousands of hotel, restaurant and airlines workers without jobs or working reduced hours. 

Those job losses won’t be seen in official government statistics until November, but economists say California’s economy will almost certainly enter a mild recession in the final quarter of 2001 and may not recover until at least the middle of 2002. 

“There is no question that our economy is now experiencing the full impact of the national economic slowdown,” Gov. Gray Davis said Thursday while ordering state agency heads to prepare to cut their budgets by 15 percent in the next fiscal year. 

Another indicator of the slumping California economy came when new unemployment numbers were released Friday showing a slight increase to 5.4 percent in September. The figure reflected a 0.5 percent jump from September 2000. The jobless rate for August was 5.3 percent 

Those figures, however, were based on surveys conducted on or before Sept. 11 and do not reflect dramatic job cuts in the tourism industry that have been so severe that Standard & Poor’s recently placed Anaheim’s bonds on “credit watch.” Anaheim is the West Coast’s largest convention city. 

With such a huge economy, California would rank as the fifth largest in the world if it stood alone. Thus, the fear is that a recession here would shake the national economy. 

“Two large sectors of the national economy slowing down – California and New York – will definitely have an impact on the United States,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. 

The high-tech Silicon Valley area has suffered sharp job losses and drops in home values all year and will likely feel even greater pain in the coming months. Unemployment there reached 5.9 percent in September – a huge rise from the 1.3 percent last December. 

But the latest worry is tourism. 

From San Francisco’s Pier 39 to hotels in posh Beverly Hills, hundred of housekeepers, cooks and other low-wage workers have lost their jobs or seen their hours cut severely as tourists stay away and airlines cut flights. 

San Francisco’s city budget may come up $100 million short by the end of the fiscal year due, in part, to reduced tourism and the resulting decrease in hotel bed taxes and just about every tax that fuels the city’s $5.2 billion annual budget. 

In Anaheim, at least seven conventions that were expected to draw a total of 35,000 people were canceled in the days after the attacks. Economic losses were estimated at about $12 million. 

Hotels across California have seen some of the lowest occupancy rates in a decade and have moved quickly to lay off workers. About 25 percent of hotel union members in the state have been laid off and another 15 percent have had hours reduced, union officials said. 

In Santa Monica, nearly 200 people showed up this week at a relief center opened by the union representing hotel and restaurant workers. Volunteers helped workers apply for unemployment benefits and food stamps and distributed bags of groceries. 

Rhina Gonzalez and her husband, Cesar Perez, both lost their jobs as housekeepers in area hotels after Sept. 11. The two have four young children. 

“This is very scary for me,” she said. “I have to bring Christmas to my kids. I have to buy presents. I have to give them a nice Christmas, the same as other years, and I can’t.” 

Some economists predict the economic impact of the Sept. 11 attacks, while sharp, will be temporary. 

California still has about 200,000 more jobs today than it did at the same time last year and some jobs are expected to be created as the result of increased defense spending, said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, a Palo Alto research firm. 

Levy said that even if the state should lose 300,000 jobs – far more than even the most dire estimate to date – that would only result in an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent. 

While far higher than the all-time low unemployment rate of 4.5 percent reached earlier this year, it would be far less than the 9.7 percent in the early 1990s when the state lost more than 500,000 jobs in the last recession, Levy said.

SAN JOSE – Eighty passengers and five crew members were held aboard a United Airlines jet for three hours after a man reportedly stood up in mid-flight and spilled a substance that later turned out to be confetti from a greeting card. 

Police, FBI and emergency crews met the plane at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday and set up a decontamination tent for the passengers of United Airlines Flight 1669 from Chicago. Passengers who noticed the envelopes contents apparently became alarmed, fearing it could have been a toxic agent, according to. 

“The substance being found in the airplane appears to be nothing more than confetti that spilled out of a greeting card,” said FBI spokesman Andrew Black. “Now we have an airplane on the runway with 80 plus passengers who are not very happy right now.” 

The man’s identity and nationality were not released, but Black said he is a longtime San Francisco Bay area resident. 

Someone aboard the plane told a crew member the man had dispersed the powder into the air vent system, setting emergency crews in motion in San Jose where the plane was destined. Once the plane arrived, fire department personnel took air samples from inside the United Airlines Airbus 319 craft to determine if any toxic agents were present, said San Jose Police Department Rubens Dalaison. 

They also played it extra safe with the man who spilled the confetti. Fire department personnel boarded the plane, took the man off, stripped him of his clothing, washed him down with detergent and dressed him in a hazardous materials suit that prevents vapors from passing out of it. 

San Jose Fire Department battalion chief Kevin Conant said his department has been busy responding to numerous calls of mysterious powders. 

“We’ve investigated everything from beach sand to baking powder to confetti,” Conant said. “We’re taking all these incidents seriously. We’ll send all the resources required and investigate it as a credible threat.” 

The man who spilled the confetti and the witness who noticed it and reported it to the plane’s crew were questioned by police. Some passengers said Americans are getting a little too jumpy when it comes to anthrax scares. 

“I think people are paranoid. I think false calls are being made,” said Angela Johnson, one of the passengers who sat for hours aboard Flight 1669. 

The incident came as anthrax scares spread throughout the United States. In Boca Raton, Fla., five more tabloid employees at the American Media Inc. building tested positive for exposure to anthrax, a company spokesman announced Saturday. 

At Washington’s Dulles International Airport, a spokeswoman said a powdery substance found in a restroom on a United Airlines plane from London was being tested at an Army laboratory in Maryland. 

Spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said the flight was met Saturday by a hazardous materials team and FBI agents, who determined that 17 people out of 216 passengers and 14 crew members had used the bathroom. 

The 17 passengers were detained and preliminary decontamination steps were taken on them, which Hamilton said consisted for most part of washing their hands.

OAKLAND – Mothers and pastors led about 600 concerned community members on a procession to end violence in East Oakland. 

The marchers stood at the intersection of 71st Avenue and Hamilton Street. Police say seven people have been killed in this part of Oakland over the years. 

The procession followed a coffin Friday night that was carried by young men. They carried it to show that all young men in the area aren’t involved in drugs, they said. 

Residents said the area is the marketplace for many drug dealers who come from other neighborhoods.

HAYWARD – Federal Aviation Administration rules restricting flights near the Golden Gate Bridge have grounded some who scatter the ashes of people’s loved ones. 

Mother and son, Kathy and Darrin Silver, who run Ash Scattering by Air in Hayward, haven’t flown since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

The business’ Cessnas are parked at the Hayward airport, which means they can’t take off at all. 

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the Bay Area’s most popular aerial scattering sites. The FAA has not said when it will clear certificated pilots to fly in air spaces surrounding major metropolitan areas. 

In the meantime, the Silvers are storing the ashes in a locked safe at the Hayward Executive Airport. 

REDWOOD CITY – Redwood City’s waterfront is one of the last large parcels in town, and developers are eyeing it. 

Several developers want to build more than 2,000 housing units and 3 million square feet of office space. 

But environmentalists worry that developing the roughly 150 acres of bayfront property could harm some of the San Francisco Bay’s remaining wetlands. The marshlands are a source of food for migratory birds and micro-organisms that are food for other plants and animals. 

No formal proposals have been submitted to the city yet. In the next few months, consultants are expected to return to the city with development proposals.

A Berkeley woman, a member of Women in Black, contacted by the FBI in connection to the Sept. 11 attacks, compared looking to her organization for clues to the attackers, with looking for alligators in Montana. 

Kate Raphael tells the story this way: “I got home from work on Monday, Sept. 24 and there was a message on my voicemail from the San Francisco office of the FBI. They wanted to ask me questions, they wanted me to call them back. I didn’t want to do that.” 

An active member of Women in Black, Raphael describes the organization as an international network of mostly Jewish, mostly lesbian “feminist, anti-racist, anti-militarist” women who oppose the occupation of Palestine and the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.  

“We are opposed to all forms of war and extreme nationalism,” Raphael said. When they are demonstrating, members of the group wear black and stand in public places. 

Instead of returning the call, Raphael contacted National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Lederman who called back in her place. Lederman learned that Raphael was contacted because of her involvement with Women in Black. The bureau wanted to talk to her about the Sept. 11 attacks and find out who she might know in the Middle East. 

Raphael says the call mystified her. “It’s very puzzling to me and more puzzling as time goes on. I thought it was the beginning of a wave of calls.” But no other Women in Black activists have been contacted, to her knowledge. “That makes it more confusing to me,” she said. 

And she wonders why the FBI thinks her organization would be able to provide insight to Sept. 11.  

“If the FBI really believes that the Women in Black, a mostly Jewish feminist lesbian (group) would know about fundamentalist men in the Middle East,” that would be surprising, she said. “It’s like an alligator hunter going to Montana. It’s his job to know there are not alligators in Montana. It speaks really badly about (the FBI’s) ability to do their jobs. Women in Black are about as far away as you’re going to get. I ask myself, why me?” 

Raphael’s attorney said the FBI made a critical mistake. After Raphael was contacted and the message left on her answering machine and Lederman contacted the bureau informing them that she was Raphael’s attorney, the FBI should not have called Raphael back. They should have dealt solely with her, Lederman said. But they did call Raphael again, saying she would be subject to being subpoenaed by the Grand Jury in New York that is investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Raphael says she thinks the Grand Jury has better things to do than to actually subpoena her. If they do, Lederman said they’ll go to federal court to have the subpoena quashed. “In general, no one is obliged to answer questions from the FBI unless ordered by the court,” Lederman said, adding that, if people are contacted by the FBI, they should talk to the National Lawyer’s Guild at 415-285-1055 to get help.  

“I’m not going to be intimidated,” Raphael said. 

On Oct. 17, 7-9 p.m., the Middle East Children’s Alliance is holding a forum called, “Know your rights,” geared to those people who may be called by the FBI. The forum will be held at St. Joseph the Worker’s Church at 1640 Addison St. 

Saturday, Oct. 13

Shelter Operations 

9 a.m. - noon 

Office of Emergency Services 

997 Cedar St. 

Free classes in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). 981-5605 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Neighborhood Parents  

Network 

10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

College Avenue Presbyterian Church 

5951 College Ave. 

North Oakland and Berkeley Area Preschool Panel Discussion and Fair. School representatives will discuss the differing philosophical and theoretical thoughts of varying preschool models. $10, $5 for NPN members. 527-6667 www.parentsnet.org 

Optimal Fertility with Acupuncture and  

Herbal Medicine 

1 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave.  

This workshop will explore how Chinese medicine works to improve fertility, and how acupuncture, herbs and nutrition can be combined with Western fertility treatments, including IVF. $25, advance registration required. 595-1175 

Farmers’ Market Fall Fruit  

Tasting 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center St and Martin Luther King Way 

Free samples the whole range of fall fruit. There will be a wide variety of apples, pears and persimmons at a central location for taste-testing. 548-3333 

Pow Wow and Indian Market 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Civic Center Park 

Enjoy Native American foods, dancing and arts & crafts in Berkeley’s tenth annual Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration, this year honoring Mille Ketchesawno. 

595-5520 

Optics Fair 

noon - 4 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Explore the world of the unseen at the first-ever LHS Optics Fair featuring a variety of microscopes, binoculars, and hand lenses to try out and compare. Parents, teachers and children age 6 and up. 642-5132 

Sunday, Oct. 14

Donna Lerew’s 70th  

Birthday Concert 

8 p.m. 

Unitarian Universalist Church  

One Lawson Rd., Kensington 

The distinguished Bay Area violinist celebrates her 70th birthday with a retrospective concert featuring Musica Viva String Quartet and Rose Trio. $10. Free parking. 525-0302 

Judaism and Christianity: Facing the Facts 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Explore the history of the Jewish-Christian experience with Rabbi Shelly Waldenberg, teacher of Jewish Studies at Holy Names College and local Catholic High Schools. $10 public, $5 members. 548-0237 

Monday, Oct. 15

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 

Emergency Preparedness  

Workshop 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

Anna Swardenski speaks to help seniors and people with disabilities be more prepared in case of an emergency. 

Franciscanism, Understanding the Vision 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Franciscan School of Theology 

1712 Euclid Ave. 

Graduate Theological Union presents seminar exploring the lives, times and writings of and about Francis and Clare of Assisi. 848-5232 

Interfaith Couples Look  

at Love and Choices 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Two films to stimulate discussion about interfaith families, love and identity. $25 per couple. 548-0237 

Tuesday, Oct. 16

Crabby Chef Competition 

4 p.m. 

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto 

1919 Fourth St.  

Top East Bay chefs compete to create the best crab dish. Free.  

5 - 7 p.m. Fund-raising Reception for the Visual and Performing Arts Group of Berkeley High School. $25 donation. 845-7777 

Similarities between Jewish  

and Deadhead Spirituality 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

It’s been observed that a disproportionate number of deadheads are Jews. Dr. Leora Lawton, researcher of deadhead culture, explores the fascinating parallels between Jewish and deadhead rituals. $25 public, $15 members. 548-0237 

The Berkeley Garden Club 

2:15 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

“Yearlong Garden Color with Bulbs” with Retired Director, Regional Botanic Gardens, Wayne Roderick. The program includes slides of flowering bulbs ideally suited to the East Bay climate. 524-4374 bgardenclub@aol.com 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

noon - 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight way 

“Herbal Alternatives and Drug Interactions for Fibromyalgia.” 601-0550 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

531-8664 

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 

Israel and Palestine:  

Why the Oslo Peace Process Failed 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Speaker Joel Beinin is a Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University: “The Oslo Declaration of Principles... was supposed to bring peace and stability to the Middle East... the entire region is more unstable than a decade ago. Why have the hopes of so many people for a just peace been disappointed?” He will also address the relationship between U. S. policy, the Arab-Israel conflict, and events of this kind. 863-6637 

Wednesday, Oct. 17

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 

Golden Age Party 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

Party for the over 90 club and any who wish to attend. Swing Notes, a women’s acappela group will entertain and there will be refreshments. 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov 28 

Conversation: Rosemary Radford Reuther and Carolyn Merchant 

5:30 - 8 p.m. 

#1 LeConte Building, UC Berkeley 

“Women, Religion, Science, and the Environment.” 649-2490 

hursday, Oct. 18

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 

Friday, Oct. 19

Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union 

Grand Opening Celebration 

4 - 7 p.m. 

2001 Ashby Ave. 

A family affair with food, entertainment and a special treat for the kids. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Honorary Chairperson is scheduled to attend. Faith Fancher is the Mistress of Ceremonies. 415-346-0199 

YAP’s FNL Teen Club: “Pop Ya Colla! Dance” 

7 -11 p.m. 

1730 Oregon St. 

Young Adult Project presents dance for 13 to 18 year olds only. Must have B.U.S.D. I.D. “No haters, no problems.” 644-6226 

Saturday, Oct. 20

Earthquake Retrofitting 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Office of Emergency Services 

812 Page St.  

Free classes in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). 981-5605 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us 

BART Job Fair 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

BART will be recruiting to fill approximately 160 jobs that wukk be opening up next year. The jobs to be filled are in accounting, planing, engineering, insurance, purchasing, police, maintenance and electronics. 

Sunday, Oct. 21

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 

Halloween Magic 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond JCC Auditorium 

1414 Walnut St.  

Los Angeles Magician and Comedian “Hotei the Magic Guy.” For kids 2 through 12 and their parents. $7. 236-7469 www.thebuddyclub.com 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Fall House Tour 

1 - 5 p.m. 

St. Clement’s Episcopal Church 

Claremont Blvd. & Russell St.  

This year’s tour “Around the Claremont Hotel” features ten houses in the historic neighborhood of residences and gardens that surround the landscaped park of the hotel. There will be a reception at one of the houses. $30. 845-8507 

Monday, Oct 22

Franciscanism, Understanding the Vision 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Franciscan School of Theology 

1712 Euclid Ave. 

Graduate Theological Union presents seminar exploring the lives, times and writings of and about Francis and Clare of Assisi. 848-5232 

Interfaith Couples Look at Love and Choices 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Two films to stimulate discussion about interfaith families, love and identity. $25 per couple. 548-0237 

Tuesday, Oct. 23

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

531-8664 

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 

Similarities between Jewish and Deadhead Spirituality 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

It’s been observed that a disproportionate number of deadheads are Jews. Dr. Leora Lawton, researcher of deadhead culture, explores the fascinating parallels between Jewish and deadhead rituals. $25 public, $15 members. 548-0237 

Wednesday, Oct. 24

The meetings of the Police Review Commission scheduled for Sep 26 Oct 10 have been canceled. A special PRC meeting will be held Oct 3 at South Berkeley Senior Center. Regular PRC meetings will resume on Oct. 24 

Free Legal Workshop 

7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center 

3023 Shattuck Ave 

This workshop will provide information about State and Federal disability programs that provide cash benefits and health insurance for people unable to work due to a serious health condition. 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov 28 

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 

The name Claremont did not originate with the development of the hotel or the early subdivisions, but appears on an 1888 map with its present name. In an Oakland Times article from July 20, 1882, the area is already referred to as Claremont: “Here is a beautiful spot lying east of Telegraph Avenue beyond Temescal called Claremont.... (The) elegant homes in this pleasant retreat are standing in the center of flower beds surrounded by shade trees.” 

Claremont Avenue was originally a section of Telegraph Road.  

In 1858 the first intercontinental telegraph cable line was brought over the hills from Oakland along this route because Claremont Canyon was the lowest pass in the central Contra Costa Hills.  

Although the route was steep it also became the main highway to Martinez where it met the ferry boats to Benicia.  

It remained the main route over the hills until the first tunnel was opened in 1903, directly above the present Caldecott Tunnel. Farms, ranches, and later, country estates, were eventually established along this road.  

Expansion of electric streetcar service made the development of the hillside areas possible. Beginning around 1892 Francis Marion “Borax” Smith, and Frank Havens, a San Francisco attorney, began buying independent transit rail lines in the East Bay.  

Through their purchases they created the Oakland Transit Consolidated, which became known as the Key Route System.  

The trains and ferries he had consolidated and expanded into the Key System continued to run until 1958. The construction of the Claremont Hotel began in 1906 as part of the plan to provide a destination, and therefore passengers, for the new electric rail lines.  

The hotel did not open until 1915 for reasons that are not clear, but include a financial downturn in 1907 resulting from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.  

Claremont Park was opened in 1905 and the opening of Claremont Court was announced in 1906.  

Credit is given to Duncan McDuffie for choosing far sighted designers for the layout of these residential subdivisions. Undoubtedly McDuffie was inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted that roads should express the natural contours of the land, and creeks should remain open and natural with native trees and vegetation preserved.  

Susan Cerny writes Berkeley Observed in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.  

On October 21, the Association will sponsor a house tour of homes around the Claremont Hotel. For further information please call 841-2242 or 841-1055.

We killed 4 U.N. land mine workers in our night raids. We bombed them. They were staying in a building they had rented. It used to be a communications center. 

We can aim bombs to land within 30 feet of their target. With global positioning instruments we can send the bombs with the precise coordinates for longitude and latitude. We’ve spent the past four weeks gathering “intelligence.” Before we dropped the bombs, you might think we’d call the U.N. and say “Where are your people?” Or the U.N. might have called the Pentagon and said “Our people are here and here and here.” Intelligence. Actionable intelligence. 

Were our maps out of date? We didn’t know the U.N. had moved into the communications center? You might think after we had bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade we might make sure the maps were up to date. Intelligence. Actionable intelligence. 

You might think we might learn from experience. But all our experience of war suggests we don’t. My Lai. No Gun Ri. Hiroshima. Bataan. Stalingrad. Trench warfare. Wounded Knee. Fredericksburg. Antietem. Napoleon at Moscow. That in itself could be actionable intelligence. We’d learn that war and intelligence never go together. The whole thing is an oxymoron. 

Two months before Sept. 11 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced a bill (H.R. 2459) to establish a Department of Peace. Apparently it hasn’t passed yet. Let’s sign on as cosponsors. 

Land mines. People have been starving in Afghanistan for the past ten years because all the arable fields have been mined. Ten to 12 people a day were being injured or killed by land mines even before we started bombing the people who were trying to clear the minefields. Intelligence. 

Land mines. We are one of the countries that haven’t signed the land mine treaty. Our land mine manufacturers might get mad. No more campaign contributions from them. Actionable intelligence. 

Why aren’t landmines biodegradable? Why don’t they obsolesce so they can’t keep killing and crippling children year after year? Actionable intelligence. 

Bumper sticker with a picture of the earth and the caption: “Immediate Family.” We can call the Pentagon and say “Our people are here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.” That’s actionable intelligence.  

Lee Helena Lawrence, former faculty member at Harvard University, is a psychologist living in Moraga 

Last Sunday the Crowden School presented the second of its chamber music concert series called “Sundays at Four.”  

The concert featured the world-famous cello master Laszlo Varga, who was principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic and has a distinguished career as recording artist, teacher and soloist. 

He was joined by Roy Malan, concertmaster for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra; Benjamin Simon, director of the Crowden School and violist in several orchestras and quartets; and Karen Rosenak, a pianist with deep roots in many local ensembles and universities.  

In short, this was an all-star line-up, perhaps a surprise for such a seemingly humble venue.  

This concert was likely the best bargain of Berkeley’s classical music season in terms of quality chamber music for a modest admission ticket.  

These masters made us realize why the classics are so highly valued.  

They began with a gorgeous reading of Beethoven’s Piano Quartet in Eb Major, Opus 16.  

Lacking a true slow movement, this work focuses on the elegant charms of the tempo “Allegro, ma non troppo.” Without resorting to the easy but cheap affectation of romanticizing the classics, the string players took turns with the graceful themes and showed us a delightful series of developments and variations.  

Then Varga played a pair of cello sonatas with piano accompaniment, one by Brahms and one by Debussy.  

His rich sonority would have been a treat no matter what he played, but this program nicely highlighted the wonderful quality of his sound. The Brahms sonata was like a trio of lovely alto arias, while the Debussy piece excitedly explored many moods and techniques, all of which were firmly anchored by the luscious tone.  

Without a doubt, the excellent acoustics and relative intimacy of the Crowden School’s auditorium contributed substantially to the overall satisfaction of the concert: after all, chamber music was not written for the concert hall.  

Next month’s concert (November 5) features a return of Sunday’s featured violist, Benjamin Simon, whose program will range from the sublime J.S. Bach to the ridiculous P.D.Q. Bach.  

Simon promises to present “the viola as you’ve never heard it before!” The concert on Dec. 9 will be a showcase for some of the Bay Area’s best young musicians. On Feb. 3 of next year the Pacific Piano Quartet will take the stage to present Faure and Brahms.  

On March 17 Joan Jeanrenaud, founding cellist of the Kronos quartet “plays some crazy modern stuff” according to the program notes. 

The Crowden School Faculty Showcase will be on May 5. The series will finish with the Francesco Trio on June 2. Mark your calendars so you don’t forget these top-notch chamber music concerts.  

All proceeds from ticket sales go to the Crowden School’s scholarship fund.

924 Gilman Street Oct 13: Dead and Gone, Cattle Decapitation, Vulgar Pigeons, Wormwood, Antagony; Most shows are $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Ashkenaz Oct 13: Clinton Fearon, Dub Congress; Oct 14: Open Stage; Oct 16: Danubias; Oct 17: Cajun Cayotesl Oct 18: Greatful Dean DJ Night; Oct 19: Swing Session 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com 

Blakes Oct. 13: Ten Ton Chicken, Blue Tulip, $5; Oct. 14: Ted Ekman Solo & Band, $5; Oct. 15: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 16: Black Dog Band featuring Peanut McDaniels, $4; Oct. 17: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 18: Ascension, $5; Oct. 19: King Harvest, Sfunk, $5; Oct. 20: Psychokinetics, $5; Oct. 22: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 23: Felice, $3; Oct. 24: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 25: Psychotica, $5; Oct. 26: Planting Seeds, $6; Oct. 27: Felonious, $6; Oct. 29: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 31: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Through Oct. 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 

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 

Jupiter Oct. 13: J Dogs; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

Live Oak Concerts Oct. 14: A Harvest of Song, an evening of premiers of works, $8-10. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Synchronicity Oct. 14: 2 p.m. Piano and percussion duo fuses classical and jazz music into a visual experience. $10 adult, $5 child. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

Shafqat Ali Khan Oct. 20: 8 p.m. Concert of classical Ragaa, Sufi, Urdu, Persian Ghazel, and other popular musical styles from India. $20 general admission, $15 students. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

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

“Swanwhite” 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 

“Orestes” Through Oct. 21: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. An adaptation of the classical play by Euripides that incorporates passages inspired or taken from various 20th century texts. Written by Charles Mee, Directed by Christopher Herold. $6-12. Zellerbach Playhouse on the UC Berkeley campus 642-8268 

“Approach” Through Oct. 27: Thur. - Sat., 8 p.m. An examination of the search for intimacy as our most precious form of survival. Written by Susan Wiegand, Directed by Katie Bales Frassinelli. $15 general admission, $10 students and seniors. Eighth Street Studio Theatre, 2525 8th St. 655-0813 www.shotgunplayers.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 

“Faye Sings Lady Day” Oct. 13: 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., Benefit concert for the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley. $10 - $15. Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. 849-9940  

“Lisa Picard is Famous” Through Oct. 19: Mocumentary chronicles New York actress who hopes to get more than a fleeting taste of fame when a racy cereal commercial brings her unexpected national notoriety. Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-3456 

“Loaded Visions” Oct. 17: 8 p.m. Experimental short films by Antero Alli (Eight Videopoems and “Lilly in Limbo,” plus live music from Sylvi Alli). $5 - $10 sliding scale. La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 www.verticalpool.com 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Oct. 13: 3:30 p.m., Films of Fritz Lang: Discussions with Anton Kaes; 7 p.m., The Nibelungen: Siegfried’s Death; Oct. 14: 3:30 p.m., L’Atalante; 5:30 p.m., The Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge; Oct. 15: 7 p.m., Genesis; Oct. 16: 7:30 p.m., La Région centrale; Oct. 17: 7:30 p.m., Video in the Villages and Amazonian Trilogy; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“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  

“Cut Plates and Bowls” Annabeth Rosen, “Just Jars” Sandy Simon, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3; Saturdays 10 - 5 or by appointment. Trax Ceramic Gallery, 1306 3rd St. 526-0279. cone5@aol.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. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” 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. 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” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. 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 

Boadecia’s Books Oct. 18: Patricia Nell Warren reads from her novel “The Wild Man”, Oct. 22: J.M. Redmann reads from “Death By the Riverside”; 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 Oct 18: Tamora Pierce talks about “Protector of the Small”; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Oct 15: Amir Aczel poses The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World; Oct 16: Kip Fulbeck talks about “Paper Bullets”; Oct 18: Suzanne Antoneta & micah Perks talk about “Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir” and “Pagan Time: An American Childhood; All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Oct. 16: 7 - 9 p.m. Steve Arntsen and Kathleen Dunbar followed by open mike reading. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland 465-3935 ksdgk@earthlink.net 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Oct. 13: Leonard Chang reads from “Over the Shoulder”; Oct. 20: Miriam Ching Louie reads from “Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Factory”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong 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. 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  

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

The Berkeley Yellowjackets ran roughshod over Alameda on Friday night, racking up 482 rushing yards on the way to a 48-14 home victory. 

Senior tailback Germaine Baird led the attack with 184 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries, his best output of the season. Backups Craig Hollis, Roger Mason and Mario Mejia also scored rushing touchdowns for the ’Jackets. 

Berkeley (2-3 overall, 2-0 ACCAL) won the game easily despite committing 190 yards worth of penalties, a large percentage of which were for unsportsmanlike conduct and other extra-curricular infractions. 

“I’d like to think this game was an anomaly,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said of his team’s penalties. “We’ve had very few penalties until now. We told our players to be aggressive, but apparently we need to tell them when to not be too aggressive.” 

Berkeley penalties negated several big gains, including an interception return by safety Nick Schooler that looked like a touchdown. But Juleen Jacobs was called for roughing the passer on the play, negating the turnover. 

The ’Jackets ran up more yards in penalties than they allowed the Hornets to gain on offense. Alameda (2-3, 0-2 ACCAL) managed to gain just 183 yards, including just 29 on the ground. Berkeley’s linemen constantly knocked their opponents off the ball on both sides, although the offensive line was called for holding four times. 

“We definitely executed well today, running our plays right,” lineman Matt Toma said. “It just seemed like we would open a huge hole, the back would break downfield, and we’d look back and see a flag on the weak side. But we dominated the line of scrimmage tonight.” 

Early in the game, however, it was the Berkeley passing game that gave them a quick lead. Quarterback Raymond Pinkston connected for long touchdowns on his first two passes. The first came on the fourth play of the game’s opening drive, a 38-yard toss that wideout Lee Franklin came down with in a crowd. 

After Alameda’s first drive resulted in a loss of 19 yards, Berkeley got the ball back at midfield. Pinkston needed just three plays this time, hooking up with Sean Young down the left sideline for 44 yards and a score, and the ’Jackets were up 12-0 after just six minutes of play. 

“(Berkeley offensive coordinator Charles) Johnson told us their DBs couldn’t stay with us, so we went right after them,” Franklin said. 

Alameda’s next drive looked doomed as well, as two plays were stuffed and the Hornets faced third-and-17. But quarterback Tom Gay looked off Berkeley Schooler before finding Drew Kocal on a quick slant for 55 yards. That big play gave Alameda some life, and Gay found running back Jay Castro on an out pattern for a touchdown. 

Berkeley’s next drive stalled at the Alameda 29, and the Hornets marched down the field for another score. Gay connected on two passes, Castro picked up 17 yards on a draw, and Berkeley helped out with a 15-yard facemask penalty to put the Hornets on the two-yard line. Gay then hit Tavis Vee on a wide receiver screen for the touchdown, and the point after gave Alameda a 14-12 lead. 

But that would be the last time the Hornets scored, and Berkeley just started piling up the rushing yards. Running back Aaron Boatwright got the ball rolling with a 34-yard scamper on the following drive, and Baird put the ’Jackets ahead for good with an 8-yard touchdown sweep.  

Berkeley nearly scored again before halftime, as Franklin made a tremendous one-handed catch to put them inside the 20 with seven seconds left, but an attempted quarterback throwback was snuffed out by the Hornets, and Berkeley went into the locker room with a 20-14 lead. 

The ’Jackets headed into the second half roaring. After forcing a three-and-out by Alameda, Mason scored on a 34-yard run right up the middle, trucking over the last Hornet defender. The Hornets couldn’t pick up a first down on the next drive either, but a blocking in the back penalty on the Berkeley punt return put the ball on the Berkeley 8-yard line. The Berkeley coaches then used all their backfield weapons to break Alameda’s spirit, using five different runners on an eight-play, 92-yard drive that ended in a 14-yard touchdown for Hollis. 

“We blessed with a bunch of great athletes,” Johnson said. “We might even have too many good guys at running back. But they all understand that if they do their jobs, they’ll all get a chance.” 

Hollis, who finished the game with 96 yards on 11 carries, is a junior and has shown flashes of talent that could make him one of the regions top runners next year. Despite splitting his backup duties with Boatwright, Mason and Mejia, he is the front-runner to replace Baird as the main man next year. 

“Right now my job is just to back Germaine up,” Hollis said. “But next year should be my year.” 

Berkeley’s next score came on their lone passing play of the second half, a 62-yard bomb from Pinkston to Young as time ran out in the third quarter. Young has scored on three long plays in Berkeley’s last two games, and his coaches consider him to be one of the best deep threats in the league, a realization Young seems to finally be making himself. 

“I think I can keep doing this if I keep trying really hard,” the soft-spoken junior said. “Our passing game is going pretty good with me and Lee.” 

Mejia capped the scoring with a 35-yard run with four minutes left in the game. 

“We’re finally coming together as a team,” Pinkston said. “We’re like a family now. It’s all love.”

The City Council narrowly approved a controversial redistricting plan Tuesday that has moderate councilmembers accusing progressives of manipulating a census undercount to add an extra 4,500 students to District 8. 

The progressive council block – Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and councilmembers Dona Spring, Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington and Margaret Breland – acknowledged the imbalance in District 8, in the southeast section of the city. But they argued the chosen plan, drafted by two progressive residents, is the most consistent with the City Charter, which requires districts be redrawn to maintain the original districts that were drawn in 1986. 

The council approved the first reading of the new district lines by a vote of 5-4, with moderates Mayor Shirley Dean and  

councilmembers Polly Armstrong, Betty Olds and Miriam Hawley voting in opposition. The council will vote on the second reading of the new boundaries at next Tuesday’s meeting. If the council approves the second reading, the new boundaries will go into effect 30 days later. 

Moderates contend the approved plan was designed to weaken Armstrong’s popularity, by using the census undercount to put a large number of students, who are inclined to vote progressive, in her district. 

Progressives argued that the staff-produced plan, known as Scenario 5, that moderates preferred, would have weakened Worthington in District 7, by breaking up the Bateman neighborhood, a stronghold of support for him. 

The two council factions argued bitterly prior to voting on the plan, drafted by Michael O’Malley and David Blake. Blake is a former aide to Maio.  

Moderates suggested that a progressive-forged “back-room deal” during a meeting the day before the plan’s initial approval on Oct. 2.  

“Moderate councilmembers ought to reflect very carefully about the perception of this plan,” Dean said. “It needs to be fixed otherwise (the council) will forever be suspect.” 

Progressive councilmembers, which have a majority on the nine-member council, argued the plan is consistent with the City Charter and that moderate charges are baseless and the result of sour grapes because the plan they favored was not approved. 

“The moderates have been screaming bloody murder and foul play because students were redistricted into District 8 instead of homeowners,” Spring said. “This is the only plan that creates districts where no incumbent councilmember, progressive or moderate, is prejudicially favored to be removed from office.” 

The bitter conflict is largely due to what city officials estimate to be an undercount of 4,500 people - mostly students - by the 2000 U.S. Census. The undercount primarily occurred in districts 7 and 8.  

Despite solid evidence of the census blunder, the City Charter requires the council to redraw district lines so that each of the city’s nine districts have equal populations based on the current census whether it’s flawed or not.  

So, based on the census, the new council districts have close to 12,800 residents in accordance with the City Charter. But “real” numbers, based on the 1990 U.S. Census and the UC Housing Office, suggest that District 8 far exceeds the other seven districts with a total of 17,100 residents, of which 55 percent or 9,700 are students. 

Further complicating the issue, the city is currently disputing the official count with the U.S. Census Bureau and if the count is adjusted to reflect the actual population, the charter would require the council to scrap the approved plan, which has inspired the worst acrimony between the two council factions is recent years, and begin the redistricting process anew. 

Prior to the vote, Armstrong, who represents District 8, wanted to make sure the record reflected the new plan’s defiance of the intention of the charter by creating a population imbalance. 

“This plan goes in with eyes wide open, understanding (the progressives) have moved 5,000 (Armstrong’s estimate) extra people into District 8,” she said. “I want to make it clear that District 8 will have 5,000 more people when the dust clears.” 

Also prior to the vote, Maio said she was troubled by the population imbalance but chose to support the progressive plan and called the moderates’ charges of a back-room deal a “red herring.”  

“I felt very supportive of (the progressives’) issue because they have been very supportive of issues that matter a lot to me,” she said and then added. “I do acknowledge that approved plan puts a larger number of people into Polly Armstrong’s district.” 

In an Oct. 12 press release, Maio said the approved plan is the best plan given the restraints of the charter because it does not distort existing boundary lines and does not create a disadvantage for any sitting councilmember.  

Maio said she supports redrawing the district lines if the census is corrected to reflect the actual populations in districts 7 and 8. 

“We may be embroiled in another redistricting debate in just a few months,” she said. “Something to look forward to!”

Editor: 

It appears I was one of the few who wrote to the city in support of Bette’s Diner getting access to the space formally occupied by Made to Order. I too am a fan of Hopkins Bakery, but come on, this is America, NOT the people’s republic of Berkeley as some outsiders think.  

Capitalism and a free economy are live and well here, or at least should be. Hopkins should welcome the competition which adds to the district rather than cower and complain that Bette’s should not get a permit.  

I guess they got their “just deserts” with La Farine coming in, a 100 percent bakery operation! Be careful what you ask for, Hopkins! 

Dana Tillson 

Berkeley

The Cal women’s soccer team got back to their winning ways on Friday, beating Oregon 3-0 in the Pac-10 opener for each team at Pape Field in Eugene. 

The Bears improved to 9-2-1, 1-0-0 in the conference while Oregon drops to 6-3-1 and 0-1-0.  

Cal scored its first goal on a 20-yard shot from Brittany Kirk in the 10th minute on an assist from Kassie Doubrava.  

Despite the field position being equal for much of the game, the Bears added a second goal in the 54th minute by All-American Laura Schott, who ranks 16th in the nation in goals.  

The Ducks gave up the match’s final score to Doubrava in the 65th minute on an assist

Early on Oct. 20, 1991, John Traugott was finishing up a morning run in the Berkeley hills. The UC Berkeley English professor was rounding a curve a few blocks from his house when he noticed the eastern sky turning orange.  

Traugott had seen that same orange sky in 1970, when a wildfire devastated the East Bay hills.  

“I immediately knew what it was,” Traugott said. “And I knew the whole place was going to go.” 

The firestorm he saw would eventually raze his home on Alvarado Road and more than 3,000 others in Oakland and Berkeley. The concrete of Traugott’s patio turned to dust. Heavy iron cooking pots melted into mush.  

But perhaps most painful to Traugott, he lost two manuscripts of unfinished books that he had spent years creating. He has spent the last 10 years trying to create them again.  

The firestorm of 1991 wrenched many things from its victims. Thousands lost their homes, dozens lost their lives. But for many of the artists, writers, photographers and academics who populated the hills of the East Bay, they say the loss that truly broke their hearts was their work.  

On that morning, Traugott felt paralyzed by the enormity of the fire and the impossible decisions it demanded.  

“I was wondering what to do,” he said. “I couldn’t think of what to take out. So I just sat there.” 

Traugott was alone – his wife Elizabeth was in Chicago. Unable to react, he sat in his kitchen for about a half-hour, munching toast and drinking coffee, watching the orange sky grow darker. Distraught and disoriented, he finally managed pull himself out of his funk enough to do something.  

“I decided I’d get a suitcase and put something in it,” he recalled. “Then I went downhill to the Claremont hotel, and I opened up the suitcase and there wasn’t anything in it. I forgot to put anything in it – I was totally confused.” 

Eventually, he thought to retrieve the computer he said contained the two manuscripts – a book of essays on Jonathan Swift and a book about 18th century writers Samuel Richardson and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. He walked back through the bushes, grabbed the computer and put it in his car before the house burned.  

But the computer was full of smoke, which can destroy the data inside. He later took it to a specialist who tried to salvage it, but who actually did more damage to it, Traugott said. By then, there was nothing left of the manuscripts.  

“They’re both gone,” he said. “I couldn’t go back and redo the research – I just didn’t have the energy at that point. So these two books are being rewritten from the top of my head, totally.” 

But Traugott, age 70, said he wonders whether he will ever finish the work.  

“I’m trying to finish it, but it goes so slowly. There are times when I can’t work on the books, because, I don’t know, I’ve done it before. It’s so fatiguing to try and recover these things.” 

*** 

For others in the Berkeley Hills, remaking what was lost was never even an option.  

Nancy Pollack, a painter and sculptor, had been in Hawaii when the fire hit. She lost a life’s worth of work when her house on Gravatt Drive burned. Strangely, Pollack, a self-professed packrat, felt the loss as a sort of liberation.  

“I never cried,” she said. “And I’m so emotional – I cry at everything.” 

Since there was no way remake years of original art, Pollock said she took the opportunity to start anew.  

“I said, gee, I can be anything I want. I don’t have a past,” she said. “I thought, maybe I won’t even have some of the same challenges. Maybe I won’t have trouble with the right-hand corner of my paintings any more.” 

Among her first projects after the fire, Pollock took the few items still recognizable after the blaze and worked them into sculptures: a set of blackened silverware mounted on a bronze-colored base, shards of clay pots arranged around an odd deck of cards that miraculously survived.  

“I don’t take myself that seriously anymore, because hey, poof, it’s gone,” she said.  

*** 

Jeremy Larner, a novelist, poet and Oscar-winning screenwriter who lived on Grand View Drive, drove to safety with his computer. In the confusion of the moment, Larner had grabbed not just the hard disk containing eight years of work, but made several trips to get the heavy computer components.  

“It’s interesting what you take when you run out of your house,” he said. “It was ridiculous for me to carry out my computer printer.” 

What he did not think to grab were 30 years worth of notebooks and a filing cabinet containing two manuscripts, including an unpublished novel. But, like Pollock, he said he felt almost unburdened by the loss.  

“The funny thing is that I was relieved,” he said. “I never missed them. Whatever was in those notebooks belonged to somebody I no longer was.”  

Larner would later write about going back to where his house had stood, and finding the filing cabinet: 

“Inside, I see a miracle – a sheaf of papers. I see letters, print – the lost manuscripts! I strain against the metal till I can wedge my hand inside. And the pages turn to dust in my fingers.” 

In the last ten years, many fire victims have rebuilt their houses and their lost work. John Traugott’s once-verdant backyard had been reduced to cinders, but now it blooms again, complete with towering redwood trees that have grown entirely since the fire.  

“It all came back,” said Traugott. “That’s been the most satisfying thing about the recovery. Ashes are good for growing.” 

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Councilmember Dona Spring regarding a statement on terrorism. 

I was born in (what was then called) Palestine in 1941, grew up with many Arab friends, studied and lived in the United States since 1966. I do understand why so many Americans are so misinformed about the forces that shape and motivate people in the Middle East to do terrible things to each other and the steps that one can take to avoid the disasters. The main problem is that our assumptions of “cause and effect” or “action and reaction” is invalid, because of our cultural and other differences in our basic thinking. We can't assume how terrorists will react even to our most primitive attempts to communicate with them. They read red in our blue. 

They expect us to think and act like them. They want to teach not to learn. Look at Sadam Hussein; he could have had it so much better just for trying to get along. We do need to minimize confrontation on any level and use a very strong hand when we find ourselves against the wall. America is against the wall. "Soft power" may be interpreted as a weakness - and will invite more killing. Any signal that you may give to the al Qaeda that there is a “force” in this country, which is “on their side,” will endanger our freedom a lot more than one can imagine. They may interpret dissent as an approval of their acts. Please, re think your position on this painful subject. 

G. Stavi 

Berkeley 

Ed note: Spring maintains that she was misquoted in the Daily Cal and did not say the United States was a terrorist nation.

KENT, Ohio - No. 14 Kent State broke a 1-1 deadlock with two second-half goals to defeat No. 20 California, 3-1, Oct. 11 at Dix Stadium. Junior Megan Spurling scored two goals to lift the Golden Flashes to their fourth straight victory.  

The first half scoring started quickly. Spurling rebounded her own saved shot and put it in the back of the net at 32:18. Cal (6-4) quickly answered when it converted on one of its two penalty corners of the night. Danya Sawyer controlled Nora Fedderson’s saved shot and scored the first goal of her career with 21:50 left in the first half.  

In the second period, Kent State (7-5) converted on a direct corner. Junior Helen scored with assists from sophomore Arlette van Cleeff and junior Kristen at 20:28. Spurling ended the scoring on a 2-on-1 break with van Cleeff.  

Junior keeper Emily Rowlen made five saves against three goals allowed before being relieved by freshman Kelly Knapp with 10:43 left in the game. Knapp made two saves on the night. The Golden Flashes had 12 penalty corner chances compared to two for Cal.  

The Bears travel down state to visit Ohio State on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Library Gardens development, a five-building, 176-unit residential complex to be built behind the Berkeley Public Library, was approved by the Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday night. 

The project is the latest, but certainly not the last, of the major housing projects planned for the downtown area.  

A number of developers have recently set their sights on downtown – currently, there are at least four mid-sized to large housing developments apart from Library Gardens working their way through the city’s planning and permits process, for a total of 267 new apartments and condominiums. 

The rush to downtown seems to come in anticipation of the city’s new General Plan, which, if it is approved as expected next month, will place an emphasis on new housing construction in the center of the city. 

John DeClercq, senior vice president of TransAction Companies, which led the Library Gardens project, didn’t get the “9-0” vote he had hoped for from the ZAB, but he did come close. The board voted 7-1 on the project, with board member Carrie Sprague dissenting and board member Lawrence Capitelli absent. 

Sprague did have praise for Library Gardens’ “clever design,” but she said on Friday that out of concern for the neighborhood, she could not countenance the project’s intensive construction schedule. 

“They were very insistent that they wanted to work all day,” she said. “That’s the main thing I was worried about.” 

Library Gardens, with its 134,000 square feet of new floor space, is the largest housing development in Berkeley in recent memory. But it appears that much more is soon to follow in the downtown area, with the result that the economic and social dynamics of the city may be dramatically altered. 

The final draft of the Berkeley General Plan (July, 2001) calls for an increase in housing downtown in response to two needs: the housing crisis in the city and the Bay Area, and the ongoing revitalization of downtown. 

Steve Barton, director of the city’s Housing Department, said on Friday that he was pleased with the approval of Library Gardens, and that he looked forward to similar projects. Too often, he said, people want affordable housing but do not want either sprawl or greater density in urban areas. 

“People are in favor of housing in the abstract, but not in any particular place,” he said. “So it’s nice that in Berkeley there’s a general consensus to build new housing downtown.” 

Barton said that the housing crisis threatened the very character of the city, and that increased housing supply was one of the only ways that Berkeley could preserve its culture.  

“Often people here are not making as much money as they could if they wanted to,” he said. “People in Berkeley choose to work in research, or for a nonprofit, or in the arts, etc. That’s Berkeley’s role in the Bay Area, and if rents are not affordable, it is threatened.” 

The draft General Plan emphasizes residential development in the downtown partly because it well-served by mass transportation and partly because it could contribute to the area’s renaissance. Shattuck Avenue was once the unequivocal center of the city, but in the 1980’s it was injured, like many downtowns, by the nationwide exodus of people and business to the suburbs. 

Though revitalization programs in the 1990’s have been partly successful, the area still has not recovered its former glory. The downtown accounts for only 10 percent of all retail sales in the city – a figure equivalent to that of Telegraph Avenue, and dwarfed by West Berkeley’s 50 percent. 

Now, the hope is to invigorate the downtown by moving more people into the neighborhood. In the words of the Downtown Berkeley Association, “new permanent housing will increase street life, pedestrian traffic and a sense of community... and will generate increased demand for retail businesses – some of which are currently unavailable in the downtown.” 

If new residents are brought in, the thinking goes, new commercial and retail space will follow. The plan is reminiscent of Mayor Jerry Brown of Oakland’s pledge to bring in 10,000 new residents to revitalize the downtown of his city. 

Though the plan does enjoy widespread support, some people are beginning to voice their concerns. 

Carrie Olson, a long-time Berkeley resident and a member of the city’s Design Review Committee, said Friday that she wants to make sure that the diversity of downtown is preserved. 

“I want the growth to be sensible,” she said. “I want to have a mixed community in the downtown, a community that represents Berkeley as a whole.” 

Olson said that the Design Review Committee recently gave the ZAB an unfavorable report on one of the larger new projects being proposed for downtown. The units in the building were too small to support families or older couples, who usually want more living space than students. 

“If we end up with just students downtown, we will get another version of Telegraph Avenue,” she said. “Some of the new projects may not do their best to discourage that.” 

Olson said she was somewhat suspicious of the notion that increased housing would necessarily bring more retail opportunities, or more liveliness generally, to the downtown.  

“What works about a successful urban space – like some parts of Paris – is that you can go downstairs, out on the street and find what you need to cook dinner,” she said. “That doesn’t exist in the downtown right now.” 

“Part of the city’s responsibility is to make sure those services – grocery stores, laundries, drug stores, all the things you need for daily life – will be there.” 

But Victoria Eisen, the principal planner for the Association of Bay Area Governments’ Smart Growth Strategy project, said that Berkeley’s strategy to promote housing downtown fits perfectly with the vision of “Smart Growth” her group is developing. 

“It’s true that when people move into these units right now, there may be not be a supermarket you can walk to,” she said. “What Berkeley and other communities are doing is to bring in residents to support existing services, and hopefully attract new services.”

Editor: 

Thank you for regularly including coverage on a local and national level about the conflict in Afghanistan. With government attempted censorship of the press, it becomes all the more important to keep this crises on the frontpage. Please continue to list, in your Out and About section, any vigils, protests, teach-ins, etc. that are planned and I think many readers would appreciate a list of relevant web sites.  

Diana Perry 

Berkeley

LOS ANGELES, CA - The University of California women’s volleyball team (5-8, 1-5) lost to No. 5 ranked UCLA (10-3, 5-3), 3-0 (31-29, 30-12, 30-21), Friday evening at Pauley Pavilion. The Bears, who have never defeated the Bruins in women’s volleyball (0-41), were led by freshman Mia Jerkov’s 12 kills, while sophomore Gabrielle Abernathy added 11 kills and a .300 hitting percentage, and junior Reena Pardiwala had a team-high 14 digs.  

UCLA was led by senior Kristee Porter’s 20 kills and .500 hitting percentage (20 kills, four errors, 32 attempts).

Editor: 

As long-time Berkeley residents, who have spent years living in Latin America and Asia, we urge the Daily Planet staff and readers to write and speak out against the “Ugly American,” “shoot-em-up justice” of President Bush that is likely to cause the death of many more innocent civilians. The U.S. should use the rule of law and international agreements to insure security for all nations. This will be the best guarantee of our own country’s security. 

Anna Marie Taylor and Richard Lerner 

Berkeley

One month after the September 11 attacks, Berkeley businesses are still reeling from the economic impacts of a tragedy that made people afraid to fly, reluctant to spend money and sometimes too depressed to enjoy restaurant meals or theater shows.  

Berkeley’s hotel occupancy rates are down 30-40 percent, said Barbara Hillman, Berkeley Convention and Visitor’s Bureau President. This decline began before Sept. 11, she said, but the post-attack travel slowdown “added fuel to the fire.”  

“Everybody’s been hit,” Hillman said. “But you can’t force people to take vacations, you can’t make people fly.” 

Jobs for hotel workers around the Bay have often been the first casualties in hospitality industry cutbacks. Half of the employees at the Berkeley Marina Raddison have had their hours cut, said Wei-Ling Huber of Local 2850, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union. 

Officials said Berkeley’s restaurants and performing arts venues also took financial losses following the attacks. Hillman estimated that the city’s restaurants lost 40 percent in sales in the weeks after Sept.11. Bill Lambert, manager of economic development for the city, said that in the 30 days since the tragedy, there has been a “steep drop-off” in non-season ticket holder sales at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.  

Local merchants in Berkeley’s commercial districts are planning promotions to encourage more sales. “We’re thinking of a ‘Shop Local’ campaign,” said Lisa Bullwinkel, Executive Director of the Solano Avenue Association and a board member of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.  

Bullwinkel said that merchants are planning promotions to encourage Berkeley locals to stay at Berkeley hotels. “People want to be connected with their families right now,” she said. “Hotels might offer packages for families who live in town, encouraging them to get out of the house for the weekend and spend time together.” 

But local officials say they don’t think that these economic losses will impact the city revenue. As San Francisco braces for a tax revenue crunch because of a slumping tourist industry, Berkeley officials say they are more concerned about a general economic downturn than direct financial losses related to the Sept. 11 attacks. 

When compared to San Francisco, “we have significantly fewer hotels and the hotel tax is less a piece of our overall budget,” said City Budget Manager Paul Navazio. 

Berkeley is home to only about 1,000 hotel beds, and hotel taxes generate just 1 percent of the city’s overall funds. 

Navazio anticipates that Berkeley’s budget will be well-insulated from the losses directly related to the attacks. “Our community is relatively less dependent on travel, tourism, and airlines, but like everyone else, we are impacted by general economic cycles,” he said. 

Other sources of tax revenue, including business licenses, parking fines, property taxes, and sales taxes, generate far more income to support city services. In the 2002 budget, sales taxes are expected to generate $14.8 million for city coffers, and parking fines $7.4 million. Hotel taxes are projected at just $3.7 million. 

“The Berkeley economy and tax base has less volatility” than other cities, Navazio said, because the largest employers, UC Berkeley, the city, and the school district, “don’t hire and fire in cycles.” Berkeley’s retail mix of boutiques and independent businesses, unlike stores like Costco, Target, or Home Depot, also tend to provide sales tax revenues that fluctuate less dramatically, he said. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said that the council had already anticipated a general financial downturn before Sept. 11. “When we did the budget this year, we didn’t add a lot of new spending,” he said. “The budget is based on pretty fiscally cautious numbers to begin with.” 

Worthington said the Council built in reserve funds larger than “any time in history,” about 6 percent of the city’s general funds.  

Both Worthington and Navazio said they did not anticipate dramatic cuts in the city’s budget based on a decline in revenues. “We might make some small adjustments,” Worthington said.  

“But our bigger problem is the state and federal budget,” which allocates money to Berkeley for programs like homeless services or the city’s health department, Worthington said. Because of Sept. 11, Congress “may divert money away from social services and use the military as an excuse.”

Copwatch, a Berkeley-based civil liberties organization, held a forum Thursday night to discuss the controversial PATRIOT Act before Congress. 

In light of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has sought to pass the Provide Accurate Tools Required to Intercept Terrorist (PATRIOT) Act to combat potential terrorism in America. Copwatch believes the bill is unconstitutional.  

“We felt it was necessary to break down the changes that will take place,” said Andrea Prichett, founding member of Copwatch and organizer at the event. 

There were close to 40 people in attendance at the forum which was held at Dwinelle Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. 

The act would give the government the authority to conduct secret searches and intrude into other private sectors of American lives, Prichett said. 

Those who favor the act, however, point to the Sept. 11 attacks and say the precautions would help such acts from recurring.  

They also note that two-thirds of the Americans polled after the attacks said they would accept fewer civil liberties for stronger security measures. 

Copwatch representatives, however, said they believe otherwise. 

“They are not making our lives secure, but are putting are lives in danger,” said Gerald Smith, a member of Copwatch who spoke at the forum. 

Jason Cox, a member of the National Lawyers Guild and a speaker at the forum, called the bill provisions “draconian” and “a right-wing prosecutor’s dream list.” 

The forum ended with a question and answer session about civil liberates in general in relation to dealing with the local authorities – Copwatch’s specialty.

SAN FRANCISCO — Unable to rally support for a strike, the union representing 27,000 workers at Northern California’s two largest grocery chains on Friday reluctantly accepted a contract that labor leaders described as a setback for employees struggling to afford the region’s high housing costs. 

The change of heart by the United Food and Commercial Workers union ends weeks of bickering between the management and workers at 294 Northern California supermarkets run by market leaders Safeway and Albertson’s. The chains, which had been negotiating as a team, characterized the contract proposal as their “last, best” offer. 

The contract will raise workers’ wages by an average of 10 percent, or $1.50 per hour, over three years. The union wanted raises of $2.40 per hour over three years. The initial raise of 50 cents per hour is retroactive to July 1. 

The contract is expected to set the standard for thousands of other clerks at rival supermarkets in Northern California. The workers at Safeway and Albertson’s stores in the Sacramento area accepted a nearly identical contract in July. 

Less than three weeks ago, the union recommended that the San Francisco Bay area workers reject the contract and prepare to strike. 

More than 61 percent of the workers voted against the contract in results announced earlier this week. But union rules prohibit a strike unless at least 66.7 percent of workers reject a contract. Labor leaders said Friday the strike would have been authorized with overwhelming customer support if not for the anxieties raised by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. 

The contract is “not fair and not adequate,” but labor leaders felt they had no negotiating leverage without the power to strike, said Ron Lind, a spokesman for the UFCW. 

“The reality is that a strike is our only weapon,” Lind said. “If you don’t have that, there isn’t much you can do.” 

Pleasanton-based Safeway and Boise, Idaho-based Albertson’s had little to say about the labor agreement. “We look forward to continuing to serve our customers,” the chains said in a statement. 

During a press conference with labor leaders Friday, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown applauded the workers for not “disrupting the food supply systems” so soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

“It is not the time to militantly pursue their legitimate and justifiable claims,” Brown said. 

Labor leaders said employees need more money to live in the San Francisco Bay area, where the cost of a mid-priced home increased 66 percent to $476,000 since the workers signed their previous contract in 1997. Accepting the new contract means the store workers will have to live in less expensive outlying areas and drive even farther to their jobs, Lind said. 

The current pay for the Northern California retail clerks ranges from $7.75 per hour to $17.58 per hour, making them among the best paid in their profession, according to management. Less than two-thirds of the store workers log 40-hour weeks, according to union officials. 

Accepting the 10 percent raise represented a “great sacrifice” by the store workers, said Walter Johnson, secretary treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council of the AFL-CIO. 

“I want to thank them for having the courage to do that,” Johnson said. 

On The Net: 

http://www.safeway.com 

http://www.albertsons.com

SACRAMENTO — A traditional family coalition, claiming to represent a majority of the state’s opinion, rallied at the Capitol on Friday, asking the governor to veto a domestic partners bill. 

The Campaign for California Families opposes a bill to provide gay and lesbian couples and senior heterosexual couples a dozen of the same rights given to heterosexual married couples. Supporters call it the biggest expansion of domestic partner law in the country. 

Campaign leader Randy Thomasson said Friday, “All over the state people are finding something awful is happening in the Capitol.” 

Thomasson, standing with 40 supporters after similar rallies in five other cities this week, said Gov. Gray Davis should veto the bill for reasons he’s used with others: that it’s a drain on the budget. 

“He has a choice to be a man of his word and fiscally responsible, or he can become the biggest hypocrite in the state,” Thomasson said. 

The Campaign claims the bill would cost the state $1 million per year, but the proponents say it would save money in tax benefits. 

Davis has until midnight Sunday to sign or veto the bill. 

Supporters of the legislation by Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, say it’s only fair that gay partners get more of the same rights as heterosexual married couples. 

Eric Astacaan of the California Alliance for Pride and Equality, said, “These are critical tools that couples need in times of crisis.” 

Among them are rights to make medical decisions for incapacitated partners, sue for wrongful deaths, act as conservators and adopt a partner’s child. Other rights include sick leave to care for a family member and provide partners with employer-based health care coverage. 

Astacaan said, “They are very basic. You would think with all the things that are happening right now these things would not rile people up.” 

The domestic partner bill follows Migden’s 1999 legislation creating a registry for domestic partners at the Secretary of State’s office. More than 16,000 people signed up, giving them rights to visit partners in the hospital and negotiate state health benefits for partners. Astacaan said the city of San Francisco and corporations such as American Airlines, Microsoft, Intel and Apple offer health benefits for domestic partners. 

Thomasson said Migden’s bill undermines a March 2000 vote in which most voters said marriage should be between a man and woman. 

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon also called on Davis to veto the bill. 

Read AB25 at www.assembly.ca.gov.

SACRAMENTO — Legislation to give California’s worst public schools an extra $200 million to try to boost student test scores was signed into law Friday by Gov. Gray Davis. 

Davis also approved another education bill that will allocate $80 million a year for four years to train teachers and instructional aides how to meet new state math and reading standards. 

“We intend on training every teacher so our children can be successful,” said Kerry Mazzoni, Davis’ education secretary. 

But the governor vetoed bills to  

train substitute teacher, increase physical education classes, allow more school districts to receive busing money and  

extend a program that provides schools with $250 million a year to buy  

instructional material.  

The bills were among dozens of measures that the Democratic governor considered as he worked toward a Sunday deadline to sign or veto bills approved by lawmakers in the last hectic days of their 2001 session. 

Any bills not acted on by then will become law without his signature. 

The school improvement measure, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, will allow approximately 500 schools with the worst test scores to qualify for $400 per pupil for three years. 

The money will be in addition to other state support, said Andrea Jackson, a spokeswoman for Steinberg. 

Schools in the program will have to develop plans to boost students achievement, attract and retain good teachers and principals and increase parental involvement. 

Steinberg said the bill will give those schools “the flexibility to focus on the particular learning needs of their student populations.” 

The teacher training bill, by Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin, D-Duncans Mills, will provide 120 hours of training for 176,000 teachers and 22,000 classroom aides in reading and math instruction. 

Davis vetoed a bill by Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, that would have extended the instructional materials program another four years, from 2002-03 through the 2005-06 fiscal year. 

He said providing students with appropriate textbooks and other instructional materials was one of his highest priorities, but that the state couldn’t afford the additional expense. 

Davis cited the slump in the economy and state revenues to also veto bills that would have doubled physical education requirements for seventh and eighth graders, set up at least three programs to train substitute teachers working at low-performing schools and allow more school districts to receive student transportation money from the state. 

Davis also signed legislation Friday to: 

— Set up a state-maintained list of potential organ and tissue donors that could be tapped by federally designated organ procurement organizations and tissue banks. 

— Allow the state Medical Board to fine doctors up to $2,500 if they fail to tell their female patients how to detect gynecological cancers. 

— Require the installation of solar energy systems on all state buildings and parking garages. 

— Give local governments more clout to force property owners to clean small contaminated urban parcels commonly known as brownfields. 

— Require large air districts to use at least half of the $48 million appropriated to three diesel-emission reduction programs in low-income communities with high levels of pollution. 

NEW YORK — An assistant to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw contracted the skin form of anthrax after opening a “threatening” letter to her boss that contained a suspicious powder, authorities and the network said Friday. 

Officials quickly said there was no known link to either the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the far more serious inhaled form of anthrax that killed a supermarket tabloid editor in Florida last week. The 38-year-old NBC employee was being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover. The letter was postmarked Sept. 20 and opened Sept. 25, authorities said. 

A federal criminal investigation was launched to find the source of the anthrax, and health officials scrambled to retest the powder to see if contained the germ. Initial tests had been negative, but authorities said the sample was so small they were reluctant to interpret the results. 

The letter to NBC and a letter containing an unknown powder received Friday by The New York Times both were postmarked from St. Petersburg, Fla., said Barry Mawn, head of the FBI office in New York. The Times’ letter was postmarked Oct. 5. 

There was some similarity in the handwriting on both letters, Mawn said, declining to discuss the contents. Both were anonymous letters with no return address. 

The case sent a chill through a city still reeling from the World Trade Center disaster. Emergency rooms reported a higher number of patients asking for anthrax tests or requesting antibiotics. News organizations across the country shored up mailroom security. And the postmaster general advised everyone to watch for suspicious letters and packages. 

There have been anthrax scares from Connecticut to Nevada over the past week but no known cases except in Florida and New York. 

President Bush said the government was doing all it could to protect the public. 

“The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let terrorists lock our country down,” Bush said, addressing the anthrax case at a White House event celebrating Hispanic heritage. “They will not take this country down.” 

The anthrax case – the nation’s fourth in a week – was reported early Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after tests were completed on a skin sample from the victim. Further tests on the envelope and its contents were under way. 

“The most likely explanation is it was linked to this particular letter,” said Dr. Steven Ostroff of the CDC. “It makes sense.” 

The CDC said it was possible the NBC employee was contaminated by something other than the envelope. NBC News reported that the envelope also contained a “threatening” letter. 

NBC employees were evacuated from part of the 70-story GE Building in Rockefeller Center, which is home to Brokaw’s “Nightly News,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” 

“Living in New York and working in this building for this company, you’re already on edge,” said Brian Rolapp, 29, a business development manager for NBC. “I think everyone is a little startled that it’s this close to home.” 

The “Nightly News” was broadcast Friday from the ground-floor “Today” show studios, instead of its usual third-floor home. 

At the end of the broadcast, Brokaw, who has appeared on NBC’s evening newscasts for the last 18 years, thanked viewers for their concern and then spoke of his colleague. 

“She has been — as she always is — a rock. She’s been an inspiration to us all,” he said. “But this is so unfair and so outrageous and so maddening, it’s beyond my ability to express it in socially acceptable terms. So we’ll just reserve our thoughts and our prayers for our friend and her family.” 

Later, in an interview on “Dateline NBC,” Brokaw said he would protectively take the anthrax antibiotic Cipro, and believed most of his staff would too. 

“The chances of anyone else contracting this are very low,” Brokaw said Friday night. “But this is the ultimate nightmare. We just have to stay focused on what we know and not what we don’t know.” 

A few blocks away, one floor of The New York Times building was cleared after Judith Miller, a reporter who co-wrote a recent best seller on bioterrorism, opened a letter containing a powdery substance a spokeswoman said smelled like talcum powder. 

In a story on the Times’ Web site, Miller was quoted as saying the letter “contained future threats against the United States.” 

Executive Editor Howell Raines said initial tests indicated the powder did not pose any immediate problem. Air tests for radioactive and chemical substances were negative. 

The Associated Press, located across the street from NBC, temporarily closed its mailroom. Other media organizations modified mail security procedures. 

The skin and inhaled forms of anthrax are caused by the same bacterium. The only difference is whether the microscopic spores enter the skin through a cut or are inhaled into the lungs. It takes more than 8,000 spores to cause the inhalation form of anthrax. Neither form can be spread directly from person to person. 

When caught through the skin, anthrax is a much less serious disease. The first symptoms are reddish-black sores on the skin. If the disease is caught at that point and treated with antibiotics, it is easily cured. Even without treatment, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only one case out of 20. 

Dr. Scott Lillibridge, the bioterrorism chief for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, said the NBC employee is believed to have handled the envelope on Sept. 25. Three days later, she noticed a dark-colored lesion, Lillibridge said, and on Oct. 1 began taking the antibiotic Cipro for another infection. 

When the lesion started developing characteristics of anthrax, “a very alert and astute clinician” ordered skin tests, CDC Deputy Director David Fleming said. The results came back Friday. 

NBC said it had immediately contacted the FBI, the CDC and the New York Department of Health after the envelope arrived. 

Although the complaint was received the day the letter was opened, the FBI didn’t respond until a day later, Mawn said. Tests were delayed by two or three days because FBI agents were unable to speak with Brokaw’s assistant, he said. 

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said all network employees exposed to the powder will be tested for anthrax and treated with Cipro. 

“People should not overreact to this,” Giuliani said. “Much of this is being done to allay people’s fears.” 

Giuliani said there appeared to be no connection between the two New York letters and an FBI warning issued Thursday about additional terrorist action at home or abroad. 

Last Friday, a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of the more serious inhaled form of anthrax. The American Media building where Bob Stevens, 63, worked was sealed off after anthrax was found on his keyboard. 

Traces of anthrax were later found in the mailroom. Two other employees turned out to have anthrax in their nasal passages, but neither has developed the disease. Both are taking antibiotics, and one has returned to work. 

In Florida, FBI agent Hector Pesquera said test results of 965 people who were in the building recently found no new infections. Pesquera said investigators are still trying to determine how the anthrax got into the building. 

SACRAMENTO — California Highway Patrol officials briefed state mailroom workers Friday on how to handle increasing fears about the spread of the anthrax. 

Gov. Gray Davis requested a series of training sessions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick. On Friday, Davis directed all state government mailroom workers to suspend opening mail until they have received the training. 

“We are not doing this out of fear of any specific threat,” Helmick said. “We are not aware of any specific threat to a state building or state employees or to anyone for that fact.” 

About 50 people who handle mail for top-ranking state officials attended Friday’s briefing in the governor’s office. An additional briefing will take place Saturday for other state workers and a training video also will be made available, according to Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio. 

“Although no reports of anthrax have been received in our state, it is critical that all Californians be alert,” Davis said in a statement issued Friday. 

Vince Curry, CHP’s hazardous material training officer, told the group about telltale signs of suspicious packages, such as unusually large amounts of postage, a lack of return address and sloppy or overseas addressing. 

He also provided educational materials to the group about the anthrax bacteria, its causes and treatments. 

Helmick said rubber gloves will be provided to workers who handle mail. And he advised workers to immediately report suspicious packages or letters to authorities. 

“The less contact you have with the substance, obviously, the better,” he said. 

All state employees who handle mail are trained when they’re first hired about how to spot potential bombs and other threats, Helmick said. 

In this busy bill-signing period, the governor’s office alone receives about 25,000 pieces of mail a week, aides said. 

Armando Pacheco, an office assistant for the State Department of Insurance, attended the briefing. 

“It’s pretty scary to think that you are the first person to know what’s going on,” he said. 

——— 

On the Net: The FBI’s Web site includes tips on what to do if you receive suspicious mail at http://www.fbi.gov/. Davis has posted information from the FBI and state Health and Human Services Department at http://www.my.ca.gov 

WASHINGTON — The tourism industry came to Capitol Hill, looking for help to deal with big losses after the terrorist attacks. 

Senators listened Friday as travel agents, hotel operators, government officials and others painted a dire picture of the nation’s $528 billion tourism industry. They asked Congress for grants, government-backed loans and federal spending to promote travel. 

Senators were receptive, though it’s unclear how much they can do.  

Expenses still are mounting from the military campaign in Afghanistan, tens of billions already have been set aside for the airlines and to help clean up and rebuild New York City, and others – from insurance companies to Amtrak to local water suppliers – want billions more. 

“It’s very important for us to act and to act boldly,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on tourism. 

Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., warned that Congress probably won’t be as quick with money for tourism as it was with the $15 billion airline industry bailout. 

Though he said he was sympathetic, Fitzgerald, the only senator to vote against the airline bill, said the tourism industry simply doesn’t have the “raw political clout” on Capitol Hill to get the kind of assistance the airlines got. 

Congress is considering a pair of tourism-related measures: a bill sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that would create a $60 million travel promotion bureau in the Commerce Department, and another sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to give a tax credit for personal travel. 

The tourism industry is vital to the country’s economy, employing almost 8 million people and generating more than $170 billion in payroll. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, though, waves of canceled trips, tours and vacations have forced tens of thousands of layoffs. 

Hawaii, a tourist magnet that normally welcomes 20,000 travelers every day, has seen a 40 percent drop in visitors, said Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono. “Hawaii could face the steepest economic decline in our recent history,” Hirono said. 

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams gave a similarly bleak assessment of tourism in his city since the attacks. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has emphasized New York City’s dependence on visitors. 

Bill Marriott, chairman and chief executive of Marriott International Inc., said reservations at Marriott hotels worldwide fell by 94 percent following the attacks. 

“Our big city and resort convention hotels have been hit the hardest, with massive group cancellations,” Marriott said. He predicted a wave of hotel and motel closings as companies fail to meet debt payments. 

Across the country, half the hotel industry’s 2 million workers have been either laid off or have seen their work week cut to just one or two days. 

“This is not getting better,” said John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union. He added that the impact will be especially felt in urban areas and among the working poor who provide much of the labor. 

Kyl said his Travel America Now Act, with the tax credit of $500 a person or $1,000 a couple for all personal travel taken between Sept. 11 and the end of the year, offered a “good policy prescription” to the ailing travel industry. 

“It is immediate, specific and quick,” he said. “The whole idea is to provide a quick incentive to get people back to traveling again.” 

Boxer’s bill, the Rediscover America Act, seeks to replace an office, dismantled years ago, that oversaw a federal program to promote domestic tourism and travel from overseas visitors.

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday quickly approved anti-terrorist legislation pushed by the Senate and White House to increase the government’s power to spy on, detain and punish suspected terrorists. 

Before passage, however, the House insisted on changing the Senate package to put a five-year expiration deadline on the most intrusive of the new measures, including roving wiretaps, because of misgivings about civil liberties. It also dumped a Senate money-laundering provision, which is moving separately through the House. 

House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said he hoped the Senate would accept the House changes and send the bill to President Bush. Bush was pleased with the House passage, on a 337-79 vote. 

“I commend the House for passing anti-terrorism legislation just one day after the Senate took action,” he said in a statement. 

“The House and Senate bills are virtually identical. I urge the Congress to quickly get the bill to my desk. We must strengthen the hand of law enforcement to help safeguard America and prevent future attacks – and we must do it now.” 

Despite the presidential plea, possible delays loomed. “We will not support a counterterrorism bill that does not have money-laundering provisions in it,” Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said. “Whether it’s done in conference or whether it’s done in the House of Representatives, it must be done, and we will insist that it be done.” 

The Senate approved its version 96-1 late Thursday night. Both the House and Senate anti-terrorism measures would expand the FBI’s wiretapping authority, impose stronger penalties on those who harbor or finance terrorists and increase punishment of terrorists. 

Members of the House Judiciary Committee were unwilling to give police some of the powers the Senate did, however, such as allowing secret “sneak and peak” searches of suspects’ homes. 

Until Friday, the House also had put the burden on the government to prove that an alien suspect was a terrorist instead of making the suspect prove he was not. Also dropped was an earlier House insistence that police get a court order before seizing business and phone records in terrorism investigations. 

The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the legislation.  

“Most Americans do not recognize that Congress has just passed a bill that would give the government expanded power to invade our privacy, imprison people without due process and punish dissent,” said Laura Murphy, director of the the group’s Washington office. 

With the Senate gone for the weekend and no final resolution possible, Democrats argued that the House should wait until Monday before passing the 175-page bill so that members could read it. 

“This could be the Gulf of Tonkin resolution for civil liberties, instead of a measure meant to fight terrorism,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Because of a reported attack on two U.S. warships, Congress gave President Johnson a free hand in August 1964 to strike back at attacks on U.S. forces in Southeast Asia, which Johnson used to greatly expand the Vietnam War. 

With the government daily looking at new terrorist threats, however, Republicans argued there was no time to wait. 

“This is the same bill that the Senate passed last night. It’s the same bill that has been available for a few weeks,” said Rep. David Weldon, R-Fla. “These are not new issues.” 

Differences probably will have to be worked out among House, Senate and White House negotiators, but key lawmakers promised finding a compromise won’t require the year it took to finish anti-terrorism legislation after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. “We will complete that conference quickly,” said the Senate Judiciary chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. 

House Republicans continued to balk at considering legislation Bush requested for improving security at airports and aboard airliners. 

The Senate passed legislation Thursday that would make passenger and security gate baggage screeners at all major airports federal employees. Some House GOP leaders vigorously oppose the idea but admit they have fewer votes than those who support it. 

“I’m not taking the Senate bill up, period,” said Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska. 

After Bush administration officials agreed earlier to the Senate language on federalizing aviation security workers, White House officials said Friday they now don’t like it and want the Senate to reconsider. 

“It’s fair to say the president has broad authority here, and if the Congress is unable to act, the president does want to make certain that aviation security is attended to,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. 

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., head of the Transportation aviation subcommittee, said he would introduce his own bill that puts the federal government in charge of supervising but not hiring airport screeners. 

The new House anti-terrorism bill is HR 3108. The Senate bill is S. 1510. 

On the Net: Bill texts: http://thomas.loc.gov 

SEATTLE — A federal prosecutor who headed a prominent gun control group in his spare time was shot in his home and died early Friday. 

Thomas C. Wales, 49, died about 1:15 a.m. Friday at Harborview Medical Center. He had been shot in the neck and the side late Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said. 

Details about the shooting were sketchy. The Seattle Times quoted unidentified federal sources saying the shots were fired from outside, through a basement window into a home office. 

No arrests had been made, police spokesman Mark Jamieson said. 

A neighbor, Emily Holt, said she heard the shots Thursday night and saw a man walking away. 

“He wasn’t running, just walking real fast. He got into his car,” parked about a block away under a tree and a streetlight, Holt said. 

Wales was a member of the fraud unit in the U.S. attorney’s office here, specializing in prosecution of banking and business crime, spokesman Lawrence Lincoln said. He had been in the office since 1983. 

He also was board president of Seattle-based Washington Ceasefire, a gun-control group that sponsored a failed initiative in 1997 that would have required handgun owners to undergo safety training and use trigger locks on their weapons. 

Attorney General John Ashcroft mourned the “tragic death in the Justice Department family.” 

Gov. Gary Locke said he respected Wales’ “tireless gun-control advocacy and work to prevent violence.” 

His death was “a terrible loss to our movement,” said a statement from Michael T. Barnes, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 

The National Rifle Association mounted a $2 million campaign against Initiative 676, which had the support of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and other prominent state residents. 

“We don’t know who killed Tom, or why, but we know that our community has lost a kind, compassionate man and ... our nation has lost a courageous leader in the movement against gun violence,” said a statement from Bruce Gryniewski, Ceasefire’s executive director. 

Federal agencies were assisting Seattle police in the investigation. Officials with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms declined to comment. 

Neighbors in the wealthy Queen Anne Hill neighborhood said they heard shots shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday. 

Wales’ former wife, Elizabeth, a former Seattle School Board member, was in Europe with the couple’s adult son and daughter, The Times reported, quoting federal sources. The couple divorced a few years ago but were on friendly terms, neighbors said. The ex-wife continued to maintain an office in the home. 

On the Net: 

Washington Ceasefire: http://www.waceasefire.org

BOSTON — In a ruling aimed at bringing the law in line with advances in science, Massachusetts’ highest court unanimously declared Friday that a couple whose twins were born to a surrogate mother were the children’s legal parents from the moment of birth. 

The Supreme Judicial Court, in a 7-0 ruling, urged the Legislature to enact new laws to address “the medical, legal and ethical aspects” of new types of reproductive technology. 

Marla and Steven Culliton had gone to court before the twins’ July 23 birth, asking that their names be put on the original birth certificates. A Family Court judge refused to allow it, but ordered that the birth certificates be left blank until the issue was settled. 

The high court’s decision Friday allows the Cullitons’ names to appear on the original birth certificates. 

Up to now, in Massachusetts, as in many other states, only the woman who gives birth is presumed to be the mother and can have her name on the original birth certificate. The genetic parents then have to go to court to obtain a new birth certificate with their names on it. They sometimes need to adopt their own child. 

But Justice John M. Greaney, writing for the court, said existing adoption laws were not written to address situations like the Cullitons’. 

The Cullitons’ lawyer, Mellisa R. Brisman, lauded the ruling as a “great victory for reproductive rights.” 

The Cullitons did not immediately return a call for comment. 

In agreeing with the Cullitons, the court noted they were the sole genetic parents of the children, that the surrogate agreed with their request, and that no one, including the hospital, contested the complaint. 

The Cullitons hired the surrogate after Ms. Cullion suffered six miscarriages. The woman was implanted with an embryo created from the couple’s sperm and egg. 

The Cullitons had asked that their names appear on the birth certificate immediately, and that they be recognized as the legal parents from the moment of birth. 

They argued that genetic parents should have the right to decide how and when to tell children about their being born to a surrogate. 

But Family and Probate Judge John Cronin questioned whether he had the authority to order such a step, and sought clarification from the high court.

WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. and the Environmental Protection Agency are joining in a decade-long project to develop a high-mileage hybrid vehicle, probably an SUV, that runs off hydraulic fluid, officials announced Friday. 

Hydraulic hybrid technology was developed and patented by EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., and refined under a cooperative agreement with Ford. 

Company officials said they felt compelled to explore beyond just proven technologies. “Hydraulic hybrid technology holds great promise for our customers and for our society,” said Gerhard Schmidt, a company vice president. EPA and Ford will share financing and personnel. Costs are expected to run in the millions of dollars, but exact amounts pledged under the agreement are considered proprietary, Ford spokesman Jon Harmon said. 

Though the Treasury would help pay the bill, Ford would have exclusive rights to the technology and hopes to put a pilot fleet of vehicles on the road by the end of the decade. The technology could improve significantly the fuel economy of light-duty trucks and sport-utility vehicles, the EPA said. Harmon said a large SUV probably will be the first vehicle Ford builds using the technology. The vehicle’s power train has a high-efficiency engine and a unique propulsion system that uses hydraulic pumps and storage tanks instead of electric motors and batteries used in electric-gas hybrid vehicles, officials said. 

Energy is stored as compressed hydraulic fluid, and similar to the electric-gas hybrid system, applying the brakes saves energy that can be used to power the vehicle, according to EPA and company officials. 

Other research companies involved in the project are FEV Engine Technology Inc., a German firm with a technical center in Auburn Hills, Mich.; and Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. 

——— 

On the Net: EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory: http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/01-nvfel.htm 

Ford announcement: http://media.ford.com/newsroom/breakingNews.cfm? and click on item 

GREER, S.C. — Small businesses are trying to balance patriotism with capitalism as they look for the edge necessary to make it through rough economic times. 

From letting people take a sledgehammer to a car with Osama bin Laden’s name on it, to offering a $9.99 oil change only to American-made cars, they are coming up with creative business ideas while trying to avoid the appearance that they’re cashing in on patriotism. 

Sales at used car lot Thoroughbred Inc. have been down 30 percent since last month’s terrorist attacks, finance manager Hugh Williams said. 

Williams was trying to come up with an idea on how to get customers to the James Island lot and how to help out the local high school when he came up with Bash bin Laden Day. 

“We’re going to have Mr. bin Laden or whatever that idiot’s name is all over it and charge $2 to hit it with a sledgehammer,” Williams said. 

The lot will donate a junked car to the football team and let people take a whack at it.  

The car will debut at James Island’s homecoming game on Nov. 2 before it gets bashed the next day. 

Williams said the lot is running radio ads to drum up interest. 

“People can take out their frustrations on this guy and help a good cause, too,” Williams said. 

Places like Greenville Army Store has seen a marked increase in business since the attacks, owner Jeff Zaglin said. 

Some hot sellers include gas masks and U.S. flag patches, but Zaglin said he’s also seen an increase in military-style clothes for the 13-and-younger crowd. 

Dave Engelmann is seeing a lot more people in his motorcycle shop, but they aren’t buying his custom machines or leather biker clothes.  

It’s the U.S. flag magnets and the pro-American stickers that are flying off the front counter. 

At Stivers Lincoln-Mercury in Columbia, anyone with an America-made car can get an oil change for $9.99. The normal price is $24.95 

“We’ve effectively tripled our oil change business,” said Stivers. The $9.99 price is a loss, but “it’s our way of trying to help the economy.” 

Stivers, whose lot is peppered with U.S. flags and pro-American slogans, never worried for a moment he was going too far to cash in on this wave of patriotism. 

“We sell to a very patriotic customer base,” Stivers said. “Our demographic is people over 55. A lot of them served in Vietnam, a lot of them served in Korea and a lot of them served in World War II.” 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

My son and I were with our mechanic, Jeff, one Saturday morning when he was changing the oil in our minivan.  

Before he even touched the drain plug with a wrench, Jeff asked us where the oil had been changed last, because he saw red silicone around the drain plug.When he got the plug off, he saw why the silicone was there. The threads on the plug were stripped. The other garage had glued it in with the silicone instead of replacing it.  

I took the stripped plug back to the other shop, and they said they glue in stripped drain plugs all the time, and there’s nothing wrong with it.  

Is gluing in a stripped drain plug with silicone a normally accepted automotive practice? Do you gentlemen do it in your shop? — Ethan 

TOM: No, it’s not, and yes, we do. 

RAY: Just kidding, Ethan. We never glue in drain plugs, and neither does any other reputable shop. Gluing in a drain plug is bogus. Or, as my brother likes to say, bo-o-gus! 

TOM: Silicone is oil-resistant, but eventually it’s going to break down and fail. And when it does, the drain plug is going to fall out.  

And if it happens to fall out while you’re driving, it’s goodbye, motor. 

RAY: Sometimes drain plugs get stripped. And it might not have been the fault of that last shop (its oil change might simply have been the straw that broke the camel’s back). But once it’s discovered, it HAS to be fixed correctly. 

And if it’s just the drain plug itself, you can replace it for a few bucks. 

TOM: More often, though, the threads in the oil pan that the drain plug screws into are what get stripped.  

If it’s the oil pan, there are still a number of pretty simple options: There are oversized plugs you can buy, rethreading kits with inserts or self-tapping plugs. And there are rubber expanding plugs that are almost foolproof – i.e., we even let my brother install those. 

RAY: But I wouldn’t go back to those guys again, Ethan. They tried to cut corners on you, and they could have cost you a lot of grief and money. You’re lucky that Jeff caught it in time.  

••• 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

I need your help. My friend absolutely refuses to turn on his headlights until it is so dark that he HAS to have them on to see.  

He says the lights use a lot of energy and cut his gas mileage.  

I say that this is bunk, and I would rather burn a little extra gas than get clobbered by someone who doesn’t see me in the near dark. How can I convince my friend that this is not safe? — Rollie 

TOM: I’m not sure you should, Rollie. I mean, this is a perfect example of Darwinism at work.  

The idea is that the less capable members of the species die off and the more capable live to reproduce.  

And maybe this is nature’s way of protecting future generations from the equally dumb progeny of your pal here. 

RAY: You’re absolutely right, Rollie. Using the headlights does use energy, but it’s such an insignificant amount that you’d be hard-pressed to ever notice a difference in mileage.  

I mean, it’s a small fraction of a mile per gallon. 

TOM: You’re also right that the headlights serve two important purposes: They allow you to see, and they allow you to BE seen. 

And that’s why more and more cars have daytime running lights – essentially, headlights that are on all the time for additional visibility. 

RAY: I suppose if you really want to try to save this guy, you might show him a mock-up of his tombstone. It can read: “Here lies Shmendrick, hit by a UPS truck at dusk, but he saved two ounces of gasoline over his lifetime!”  

Got a question about cars? Write to Click and Clack by e-mail at the Car Talk section of cars.com

Stocks reacted to the first batch of third-quarter earnings results this past week with surprising strength despite the expected dismal news. 

The question is whether Wall Street can keep up that positive momentum as the bulk of earnings reports pour in during the next two weeks and after news of an anthrax case in New York City shook markets Friday. 

Investors will hear from many of the nation’s biggest companies next week with AOL Time Warner Inc., Gateway Inc., Citigroup Inc., Pfizer Inc., General Motors Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. all scheduled to report. 

In the market’s favor is that well before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks investors had extremely low expectations for the third quarter and had bid stocks sharply lower. Likewise, stock market strategists had lamented that there were few safe havens for investors, and reduced expectations across all sectors. 

“What we see analysts doing to this (third) quarter is turning it into a kitchen-sink quarter. They are throwing everything in,” said Chris Wolfe, equity market strategist for J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “It’s a bad quarter.” 

Analysts said ample warning of bad business helped the market on Wednesday shrug off Motorola Inc.’s disappointing earnings and 7,000 additional job cuts. But the bad news for stock prices as they try to move higher is the political uncertainty that continues to weigh on Wall Street, threatening to wipe out any advances. The market showed its vulnerability to fears of additional terrorist assaults Friday, initially falling on news of a fourth anthrax case before recovering. 

Another negative factor is the quality of upcoming third-quarter earnings reports, analysts said. Unlike the results that have already been released, those that come out in the next few weeks will take into account business for the three weeks following the attacks. 

“The third-quarter expectations had been drifting down anyhow. So, the whole profit picture had been eroding, but that trend just fell off a cliff,” after the attacks, said Charles H. Blood Jr., senior financial markets analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 

The earnings results released this past week by 54 companies within the Standard & Poor’s 500 index essentially met Wall Street’s expectations, Blood said. But for the most part, the results were not affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, because most companies were reporting for quarters that ended Aug. 31, he added. According to research by his firm, Blood said earnings expectations for S&P companies have been slashed 9.7 percent since the attacks in New York and Washington. Analysts now expect the nation’s biggest companies to post a combined earnings per share figure of $10.95, down from $12.13 anticipated just before the attacks. 

That said, the question on Wall Street is whether investors are adequately braced for even worse-than-expected results, or whether they still have a lot more selling to do. 

“The answer to that is going to be in the words of the reports rather than the numbers,” Blood said. “What investors are going to look at is how back the (post-attack) shock reaction was and where companies are in terms of bouncing back.” 

Analysts caution investors against reading too much into earnings reports, particularly negative ones. 

“The best we can hope for is that we decide it doesn’t really matter. Investors are supposed to discount earnings,” Blood said. In the near term, analysts expect the market to be sector-driven. Industries are likely to fall quickly in and out of favor as their bellwether companies issue their earnings. 

“It’s a tough market,” said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum. “You have sectors rotating every other day. ... That creates a lot of anxiety among investors.” 

For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 224.39 points, or 2.5 percent, despite falling 66.29 to 9,344.16 Friday. 

The Nasdaq gained 98.10, or 6.1 percent, for the week after inching up 1.93 Friday to 1,703.40. The S&P 500 ended the week up 20.27, or 1.9 percent, after declining 5.78 Friday to 1,091.65. 

The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 13.62, or 3.3 percent, for the week, finishing Friday down 2.45 at 428.59. 

The Wilshire Associates Equity Index – which represents the combined market value of all New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq issues – ended the week at $10.049 trillion, up $212.010 billion from last week. A year ago the index was $12.803 trillion. 

Amy Baldwin is a business writer for The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The economic impact of the terrorist attacks is beginning to take a toll in California, which had held steady before Sept. 11 amid a national downturn in consumer and business spending. 

Earlier this year, strong tourism and business travel had offset troubles in the technology and international trade sectors. But tourism has plummeted in the past month, leaving thousands of hotel, restaurant and airlines workers without jobs or working reduced hours. 

Those job losses won’t be seen in official government statistics until November, but economists say California’s economy will almost certainly enter a mild recession in the final quarter of 2001 and may not recover until at least the middle of 2002. 

“There is no question that our economy is now experiencing the full impact of the national economic slowdown,” Gov. Gray Davis said Thursday while ordering state agency heads to prepare to cut their budgets by 15 percent in the next fiscal year. 

Another indicator of the slumping California economy came when new unemployment numbers were released Friday showing a slight increase to 5.4 percent in September. The figure reflected a 0.5 percent jump from September 2000. The jobless rate for August was 5.3 percent 

Those figures, however, were based on surveys conducted on or before Sept. 11 and do not reflect dramatic job cuts in the tourism industry that have been so severe that Standard & Poor’s recently placed Anaheim’s bonds on “credit watch.” Anaheim is the West Coast’s largest convention city. 

With such a huge economy, California would rank as the fifth largest in the world if it stood alone. Thus, the fear is that a recession here would shake the national economy. 

“Two large sectors of the national economy slowing down – California and New York – will definitely have an impact on the United States,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. 

The high-tech Silicon Valley area has suffered sharp job losses and drops in home values all year and will likely feel even greater pain in the coming months. Unemployment there reached 5.9 percent in September – a huge rise from the 1.3 percent last December. 

But the latest worry is tourism. 

From San Francisco’s Pier 39 to hotels in posh Beverly Hills, hundred of housekeepers, cooks and other low-wage workers have lost their jobs or seen their hours cut severely as tourists stay away and airlines cut flights. 

San Francisco’s city budget may come up $100 million short by the end of the fiscal year due, in part, to reduced tourism and the resulting decrease in hotel bed taxes and just about every tax that fuels the city’s $5.2 billion annual budget. 

In Anaheim, at least seven conventions that were expected to draw a total of 35,000 people were canceled in the days after the attacks. Economic losses were estimated at about $12 million. 

Hotels across California have seen some of the lowest occupancy rates in a decade and have moved quickly to lay off workers. About 25 percent of hotel union members in the state have been laid off and another 15 percent have had hours reduced, union officials said. 

In Santa Monica, nearly 200 people showed up this week at a relief center opened by the union representing hotel and restaurant workers. Volunteers helped workers apply for unemployment benefits and food stamps and distributed bags of groceries. 

Rhina Gonzalez and her husband, Cesar Perez, both lost their jobs as housekeepers in area hotels after Sept. 11. The two have four young children. 

“This is very scary for me,” she said. “I have to bring Christmas to my kids. I have to buy presents. I have to give them a nice Christmas, the same as other years, and I can’t.” 

Some economists predict the economic impact of the Sept. 11 attacks, while sharp, will be temporary. 

California still has about 200,000 more jobs today than it did at the same time last year and some jobs are expected to be created as the result of increased defense spending, said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, a Palo Alto research firm. 

Levy said that even if the state should lose 300,000 jobs — far more than even the most dire estimate to date — that would only result in an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent. 

While far higher than the all-time low unemployment rate of 4.5 percent reached earlier this year, it would be far less than the 9.7 percent in the early 1990s when the state lost more than 500,000 jobs in the last recession, Levy said. 

UNITED NATIONS — In an era of spreading global terrorism and widening conflict, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday for their roles at the “forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world.” 

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, marking the centennial of the prize, said its choice was designed “to proclaim that the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations.” 

Annan said he was awakened in the early hours Friday by a phone call, which typically would have meant “something disastrous.” 

“But, of course,” he said, “it was a wonderful way to wake up.” 

“I think the timing couldn’t be better,” he told reporters who thronged his house on Manhattan’s tony east side. “I think it’s a great shot in the arm for us.” 

For an organization that has struggled financially and often been the target of vicious criticism, especially among conservative U.S. politicians, the award was a dizzying achievement. Delight spread among the 52,100 U.N. employees in offices and hotspots from Geneva and Lebanon to East Timor and Sierra Leone. 

In its citation, the Nobel committee said, with the Cold War done, the United Nations was finally playing its intended role “at the forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world, and of the international mobilization aimed at meeting the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges.” 

The secretary-general, it said, “has been pre-eminent in bringing new life to the organization.” 

When Annan, a 63-year-old Ghanaian, became secretary-general in 1997 – the first leader to be elected from the ranks of U.N. staff – it was a time of turmoil, both inside and outside the organization. 

The United States had just blocked his predecessor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt from serving a second term, seeing him as anti-American. The United Nations had failed to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the July 1995 Serb slaughter of Muslims in a U.N.-declared “safe zone” in eastern Bosnia. 

Five years on and with Annan at the helm, the United Nations is playing major peacekeeping roles on many continents. At Annan’s urging, the 189 U.N. member states pledged to cut in half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day, to ensure primary education for every child, and to start reversing the AIDS epidemic – all by 2015. 

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the secretary-general has been galvanizing support for a global coalition to eliminate what he calls a scourge against humanity. He said Friday he expects that coalition to hold firm and become a key diplomatic player in sensitive Mideast peace negotiations. 

During his first term, Annan began overhauling the cumbersome and often lethargic U.N. bureaucracy, a key U.S. demand which led to settlement of a long dispute with Washington over the payment of U.N. dues. 

For the first time, Annan openly admitted past U.N. failures. 

He has won high marks for focusing the global spotlight on poverty, human rights abuses, Africa’s conflicts and the AIDS epidemic – and for his character and moral leadership. 

But he has also faced criticism for trying to negotiate with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and for standing by as U.N. peacekeepers were kidnapped in Sierra Leone. 

Nonetheless, he was unanimously reelected to a second term in June, six months before his first term expired at the end of this year. 

Created from the ashes of World War II by 51 nations as a shell-shocked world’s hope for peace, the United Nations remains the unique global gathering place for nations – rich and poor, large and small – to try to settle international problems. 

President Bush called Annan and told him “what a magnificent honor” it was to have won the 100th peace prize, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said in Washington. 

Even Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican and longtime U.N critic who only recently made peace with the organization, praised the award. 

“I extend my heartiest congratulations to my friend, the distinguished secretary-general, Kofi Annan,” Helms said in a statement from Washington. “It’s significant that the secretary-general is being honored at a time when the world is gravely challenged in almost every respect.” 

That challenge was on Annan’s mind when he dedicated the award to the staff, and above all “to our colleagues who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of humanity.” 

“The only true prize, for them and for us, will be peace itself,” he said. 

Nearly 200 U.N. humanitarian workers have been killed throughout the world in the past decade and 1,650 U.N. peacekeepers from 85 countries have died in the line of duty since 1948. 

After congratulating staff members who cheered him in the lobby of the landmark 39-story U.N. headquarters building, Annan urged them to return to their offices – to start working on the world organization’s next Nobel Peace Prize. 

For the soft-spoken secretary-general, the award marks the peak of a nearly 40-year career at the United Nations. 

He joined the organization in 1962 as an administrator with the World Health Organization in Geneva, and served in Africa, Europe, and New York in almost every area of the organization, from budget management to peacekeeping. 

U.N. agencies and people connected to it have won seven Nobel Peace Prizes, but this is the first to the world body itself. In 1961, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was awarded the prize posthumously after his death in a plane crash on a peace mission to Congo. 

The laureates were chosen on Sept. 28 and picked from a field of 136 nominees submitted before a Feb. 1 deadline. Last year, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung won for his reconciliation efforts with North Korea. 

Thirty-four past laureates were expected in Oslo for centennial celebrations leading up to the Dec. 10 awards ceremony. 

The prizes were created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in his will and are always presented on the anniversary of his death in 1896. 

The coveted peace award caps a week of Nobel announcements, starting Monday with the naming of medicine prize winners and followed by physics, chemistry, economics and literature. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Nobel site, http://www.nobel.se 

U.N. site, http://www.un.org 

A Berkeley woman, a member of Women in Black, contacted by the FBI in connection to the Sept. 11 attacks, compared looking to her organization for clues to the attackers, with looking for alligators in Montana. 

Kate Raphael tells the story this way: “I got home from work on Monday, Sept. 24 and there was a message on my voicemail from the San Francisco office of the FBI. They wanted to ask me questions, they wanted me to call them back. I didn’t want to do that.” 

An active member of Women in Black, Raphael describes the organization as an international network of mostly Jewish, mostly lesbian “feminist, anti-racist, anti-militarist” women who oppose the occupation of Palestine and the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.  

“We are opposed to all forms of war and extreme nationalism,” Raphael said. When they are demonstrating, members of the group wear black and stand in public places. 

Instead of returning the call, Raphael contacted National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Lederman who called back in her place. Lederman learned that Raphael was contacted because of her involvement with Women in Black. The bureau wanted to talk to her about the Sept. 11 attacks and find out who she might know in the Middle East. 

Raphael says the call mystified her. “It’s very puzzling to me and more puzzling as time goes on. I thought it was the beginning of a wave of calls.” But no other Women in Black activists have been contacted, to her knowledge. “That makes it more confusing to me,” she said. 

And she wonders why the FBI thinks her organization would be able to provide insight to Sept. 11.  

“If the FBI really believes that the Women in Black, a mostly Jewish feminist lesbian (group) would know about fundamentalist men in the Middle East,” that would be surprising, she said. “It’s like an alligator hunter going to Montana. It’s his job to know there are not alligators in Montana. It speaks really badly about (the FBI’s) ability to do their jobs. Women in Black are about as far away as you’re going to get. I ask myself, why me?” 

Raphael’s attorney said the FBI made a critical mistake. After Raphael was contacted and the message left on her answering machine and Lederman contacted the bureau informing them that she was Raphael’s attorney, the FBI should not have called Raphael back. They should have dealt solely with her, Lederman said. But they did call Raphael again, saying she would be subject to being subpoenaed by the Grand Jury in New York that is investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Raphael says she thinks the Grand Jury has better things to do than to actually subpoena her. If they do, Lederman said they’ll go to federal court to have the subpoena quashed. “In general, no one is obliged to answer questions from the FBI unless ordered by the court,” Lederman said, adding that, if people are contacted by the FBI, they should talk to the National Lawyer’s Guild at 415-285-1055 to get help.  

“I’m not going to be intimidated,” Raphael said. 

On Oct. 17, 7-9 p.m., the Middle East Children’s Alliance is holding a forum called, “Know your rights,” geared to those people who may be called by the FBI. The forum will be held at St. Joseph the Worker’s Church at 1640 Addison St. 

The Berkeley Yellowjackets ran roughshod over Alameda on Friday night, racking up 482 rushing yards on the way to a 48-14 home victory. 

Senior tailback Germaine Baird led the attack with 184 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries, his best output of the season. Backups Craig Hollis, Roger Mason and Mario Mejia also scored rushing touchdowns for the ’Jackets. 

Berkeley (2-3 overall, 2-0 ACCAL) won the game easily despite committing 190 yards worth of penalties, a large percentage of which were for unsportsmanlike conduct and other extra-curricular infractions. 

“I’d like to think this game was an anomaly,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said of his team’s penalties. “We’ve had very few penalties until now. We told our players to be aggressive, but apparently we need to tell them when to not be too aggressive.” 

Berkeley penalties negated several big gains, including an interception return by safety Nick Schooler that looked like a touchdown. But Juleen Jacobs was called for roughing the passer on the play, negating the turnover. 

The ’Jackets ran up more yards in penalties than they allowed the Hornets to gain on offense. Alameda (2-3, 0-2 ACCAL) managed to gain just 183 yards, including just 29 on the ground. Berkeley’s linemen constantly knocked their opponents off the ball on both sides, although the offensive line was called for holding four times. 

“We definitely executed well today, running our plays right,” lineman Matt Toma said. “It just seemed like we would open a huge hole, the back would break downfield, and we’d look back and see a flag on the weak side. But we dominated the line of scrimmage tonight.” 

Early in the game, however, it was the Berkeley passing game that gave them a quick lead. Quarterback Raymond Pinkston connected for long touchdowns on his first two passes. The first came on the fourth play of the game’s opening drive, a 38-yard toss that wideout Lee Franklin came down with in a crowd. 

After Alameda’s first drive resulted in a loss of 19 yards, Berkeley got the ball back at midfield. Pinkston needed just three plays this time, hooking up with Sean Young down the left sideline for 44 yards and a score, and the ’Jackets were up 12-0 after just six minutes of play. 

“(Berkeley offensive coordinator Charles) Johnson told us their DBs couldn’t stay with us, so we went right after them,” Franklin said. 

Alameda’s next drive looked doomed as well, as two plays were stuffed and the Hornets faced third-and-17. But quarterback Tom Gay looked off Berkeley Schooler before finding Drew Kocal on a quick slant for 55 yards. That big play gave Alameda some life, and Gay found running back Jay Castro on an out pattern for a touchdown. 

Berkeley’s next drive stalled at the Alameda 29, and the Hornets marched down the field for another score. Gay connected on two passes, Castro picked up 17 yards on a draw, and Berkeley helped out with a 15-yard facemask penalty to put the Hornets on the two-yard line. Gay then hit Tavis Vee on a wide receiver screen for the touchdown, and the point after gave Alameda a 14-12 lead. 

But that would be the last time the Hornets scored, and Berkeley just started piling up the rushing yards. Running back Aaron Boatwright got the ball rolling with a 34-yard scamper on the following drive, and Baird put the ’Jackets ahead for good with an 8-yard touchdown sweep.  

Berkeley nearly scored again before halftime, as Franklin made a tremendous one-handed catch to put them inside the 20 with seven seconds left, but an attempted quarterback throwback was snuffed out by the Hornets, and Berkeley went into the locker room with a 20-14 lead. 

The ’Jackets headed into the second half roaring. After forcing a three-and-out by Alameda, Mason scored on a 34-yard run right up the middle, trucking over the last Hornet defender. The Hornets couldn’t pick up a first down on the next drive either, but a blocking in the back penalty on the Berkeley punt return put the ball on the Berkeley 8-yard line. The Berkeley coaches then used all their backfield weapons to break Alameda’s spirit, using five different runners on an eight-play, 92-yard drive that ended in a 14-yard touchdown for Hollis. 

“We blessed with a bunch of great athletes,” Johnson said. “We might even have too many good guys at running back. But they all understand that if they do their jobs, they’ll all get a chance.” 

Hollis, who finished the game with 96 yards on 11 carries, is a junior and has shown flashes of talent that could make him one of the regions top runners next year. Despite splitting his backup duties with Boatwright, Mason and Mejia, he is the front-runner to replace Baird as the main man next year. 

“Right now my job is just to back Germaine up,” Hollis said. “But next year should be my year.” 

Berkeley’s next score came on their lone passing play of the second half, a 62-yard bomb from Pinkston to Young as time ran out in the third quarter. Young has scored on three long plays in Berkeley’s last two games, and his coaches consider him to be one of the best deep threats in the league, a realization Young seems to finally be making himself. 

“I think I can keep doing this if I keep trying really hard,” the soft-spoken junior said. “Our passing game is going pretty good with me and Lee.” 

Mejia capped the scoring with a 35-yard run with four minutes left in the game. 

“We’re finally coming together as a team,” Pinkston said. “We’re like a family now. It’s all love.”

The City Council narrowly approved a controversial redistricting plan Tuesday that has moderate councilmembers accusing progressives of manipulating a census undercount to add an extra 4,500 students to District 8. 

The progressive council block – Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and councilmembers Dona Spring, Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington and Margaret Breland – acknowledged the imbalance in District 8, in the southeast section of the city. But they argued the chosen plan, drafted by two progressive residents, is the most consistent with the City Charter, which requires districts be redrawn to maintain the original districts that were drawn in 1986. 

The council approved the first reading of the new district lines by a vote of 5-4, with moderates Mayor Shirley Dean and  

councilmembers Polly Armstrong, Betty Olds and Miriam Hawley voting in opposition. The council will vote on the second reading of the new boundaries at next Tuesday’s meeting. If the council approves the second reading, the new boundaries will go into effect 30 days later. 

Moderates contend the approved plan was designed to weaken Armstrong’s popularity, by using the census undercount to put a large number of students, who are inclined to vote progressive, in her district. 

Progressives argued that the staff-produced plan, known as Scenario 5, that moderates preferred, would have weakened Worthington in District 7, by breaking up the Bateman neighborhood, a stronghold of support for him. 

The two council factions argued bitterly prior to voting on the plan, drafted by Michael O’Malley and David Blake. Blake is a former aide to Maio.  

Moderates suggested that a progressive-forged “back-room deal” during a meeting the day before the plan’s initial approval on Oct. 2.  

“Moderate councilmembers ought to reflect very carefully about the perception of this plan,” Dean said. “It needs to be fixed otherwise (the council) will forever be suspect.” 

Progressive councilmembers, which have a majority on the nine-member council, argued the plan is consistent with the City Charter and that moderate charges are baseless and the result of sour grapes because the plan they favored was not approved. 

“The moderates have been screaming bloody murder and foul play because students were redistricted into District 8 instead of homeowners,” Spring said. “This is the only plan that creates districts where no incumbent councilmember, progressive or moderate, is prejudicially favored to be removed from office.” 

The bitter conflict is largely due to what city officials estimate to be an undercount of 4,500 people - mostly students - by the 2000 U.S. Census. The undercount primarily occurred in districts 7 and 8.  

Despite solid evidence of the census blunder, the City Charter requires the council to redraw district lines so that each of the city’s nine districts have equal populations based on the current census whether it’s flawed or not.  

So, based on the census, the new council districts have close to 12,800 residents in accordance with the City Charter. But “real” numbers, based on the 1990 U.S. Census and the UC Housing Office, suggest that District 8 far exceeds the other seven districts with a total of 17,100 residents, of which 55 percent or 9,700 are students. 

Further complicating the issue, the city is currently disputing the official count with the U.S. Census Bureau and if the count is adjusted to reflect the actual population, the charter would require the council to scrap the approved plan, which has inspired the worst acrimony between the two council factions is recent years, and begin the redistricting process anew. 

Prior to the vote, Armstrong, who represents District 8, wanted to make sure the record reflected the new plan’s defiance of the intention of the charter by creating a population imbalance. 

“This plan goes in with eyes wide open, understanding (the progressives) have moved 5,000 (Armstrong’s estimate) extra people into District 8,” she said. “I want to make it clear that District 8 will have 5,000 more people when the dust clears.” 

Also prior to the vote, Maio said she was troubled by the population imbalance but chose to support the progressive plan and called the moderates’ charges of a back-room deal a “red herring.”  

“I felt very supportive of (the progressives’) issue because they have been very supportive of issues that matter a lot to me,” she said and then added. “I do acknowledge that approved plan puts a larger number of people into Polly Armstrong’s district.” 

In an Oct. 12 press release, Maio said the approved plan is the best plan given the restraints of the charter because it does not distort existing boundary lines and does not create a disadvantage for any sitting councilmember.  

Maio said she supports redrawing the district lines if the census is corrected to reflect the actual populations in districts 7 and 8. 

“We may be embroiled in another redistricting debate in just a few months,” she said. “Something to look forward to!”

Cal women win Pac-10 opener 

The Cal women’s soccer team got back to their winning ways on Friday, beating Oregon 3-0 in the Pac-10 opener for each team at Pape Field in Eugene. 

The Bears improved to 9-2-1, 1-0-0 in the conference while Oregon drops to 6-3-1 and 0-1-0.  

Cal scored its first goal on a 20-yard shot from Brittany Kirk in the 10th minute on an assist from Kassie Doubrava.  

Despite the field position being equal for much of the game, the Bears added a second goal in the 54th minute by All-American Laura Schott, who ranks 16th in the nation in goals.  

The Ducks gave up the match’s final score to Doubrava in the 65th minute on an assist from Kirk.  

Field hockey falls to Kent St. 

KENT, Ohio - No. 14 Kent State broke a 1-1 deadlock with two second-half goals to defeat No. 20 California, 3-1, Oct. 11 at Dix Stadium. Junior Megan Spurling scored two goals to lift the Golden Flashes to their fourth straight victory.  

The first half scoring started quickly. Spurling rebounded her own saved shot and put it in the back of the net at 32:18. Cal (6-4) quickly answered when it converted on one of its two penalty corners of the night. Danya Sawyer controlled Nora Fedderson’s saved shot and scored the first goal of her career with 21:50 left in the first half.  

In the second period, Kent State (7-5) converted on a direct corner. Junior Helen scored with assists from sophomore Arlette van Cleeff and junior Kristen at 20:28. Spurling ended the scoring on a 2-on-1 break with van Cleeff.  

Junior keeper Emily Rowlen made five saves against three goals allowed before being relieved by freshman Kelly Knapp with 10:43 left in the game. Knapp made two saves on the night. The Golden Flashes had 12 penalty corner chances compared to two for Cal.  

The Bears travel down state to visit Ohio State on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

No. 5 UCLA downs Bears 

LOS ANGELES, CA - The University of California women’s volleyball team (5-8, 1-5) lost to No. 5 ranked UCLA (10-3, 5-3), 3-0 (31-29, 30-12, 30-21), Friday evening at Pauley Pavilion. The Bears, who have never defeated the Bruins in women’s volleyball (0-41), were led by freshman Mia Jerkov’s 12 kills, while sophomore Gabrielle Abernathy added 11 kills and a .300 hitting percentage, and junior Reena Pardiwala had a team-high 14 digs.  

UCLA was led by senior Kristee Porter’s 20 kills and .500 hitting percentage (20 kills, four errors, 32 attempts).

Early on Oct. 20, 1991, John Traugott was finishing up a morning run in the Berkeley hills. The UC Berkeley English professor was rounding a curve a few blocks from his house when he noticed the eastern sky turning orange.  

Traugott had seen that same orange sky in 1970, when a wildfire devastated the East Bay hills.  

“I immediately knew what it was,” Traugott said. “And I knew the whole place was going to go.” 

The firestorm he saw would eventually raze his home on Alvarado Road and more than 3,000 others in Oakland and Berkeley. The concrete of Traugott’s patio turned to dust. Heavy iron cooking pots melted into mush.  

But perhaps most painful to Traugott, he lost two manuscripts of unfinished books that he had spent years creating. He has spent the last 10 years trying to create them again.  

The firestorm of 1991 wrenched many things from its victims. Thousands lost their homes, dozens lost their lives. But for many of the artists, writers, photographers and academics who populated the hills of the East Bay, they say the loss that truly broke their hearts was their work.  

On that morning, Traugott felt paralyzed by the enormity of the fire and the impossible decisions it demanded.  

“I was wondering what to do,” he said. “I couldn’t think of what to take out. So I just sat there.” 

Traugott was alone – his wife Elizabeth was in Chicago. Unable to react, he sat in his kitchen for about a half-hour, munching toast and drinking coffee, watching the orange sky grow darker. Distraught and disoriented, he finally managed pull himself out of his funk enough to do something.  

“I decided I’d get a suitcase and put something in it,” he recalled. “Then I went downhill to the Claremont hotel, and I opened up the suitcase and there wasn’t anything in it. I forgot to put anything in it – I was totally confused.” 

Eventually, he thought to retrieve the computer he said contained the two manuscripts – a book of essays on Jonathan Swift and a book about 18th century writers Samuel Richardson and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. He walked back through the bushes, grabbed the computer and put it in his car before the house burned.  

But the computer was full of smoke, which can destroy the data inside. He later took it to a specialist who tried to salvage it, but who actually did more damage to it, Traugott said. By then, there was nothing left of the manuscripts.  

“They’re both gone,” he said. “I couldn’t go back and redo the research – I just didn’t have the energy at that point. So these two books are being rewritten from the top of my head, totally.” 

But Traugott, age 70, said he wonders whether he will ever finish the work.  

“I’m trying to finish it, but it goes so slowly. There are times when I can’t work on the books, because, I don’t know, I’ve done it before. It’s so fatiguing to try and recover these things.” 

*** 

For others in the Berkeley Hills, remaking what was lost was never even an option.  

Nancy Pollack, a painter and sculptor, had been in Hawaii when the fire hit. She lost a life’s worth of work when her house on Gravatt Drive burned. Strangely, Pollack, a self-professed packrat, felt the loss as a sort of liberation.  

“I never cried,” she said. “And I’m so emotional – I cry at everything.” 

Since there was no way remake years of original art, Pollock said she took the opportunity to start anew.  

“I said, gee, I can be anything I want. I don’t have a past,” she said. “I thought, maybe I won’t even have some of the same challenges. Maybe I won’t have trouble with the right-hand corner of my paintings any more.” 

Among her first projects after the fire, Pollock took the few items still recognizable after the blaze and worked them into sculptures: a set of blackened silverware mounted on a bronze-colored base, shards of clay pots arranged around an odd deck of cards that miraculously survived.  

“I don’t take myself that seriously anymore, because hey, poof, it’s gone,” she said.  

*** 

Jeremy Larner, a novelist, poet and Oscar-winning screenwriter who lived on Grand View Drive, drove to safety with his computer. In the confusion of the moment, Larner had grabbed not just the hard disk containing eight years of work, but made several trips to get the heavy computer components.  

“It’s interesting what you take when you run out of your house,” he said. “It was ridiculous for me to carry out my computer printer.” 

What he did not think to grab were 30 years worth of notebooks and a filing cabinet containing two manuscripts, including an unpublished novel. But, like Pollock, he said he felt almost unburdened by the loss.  

“The funny thing is that I was relieved,” he said. “I never missed them. Whatever was in those notebooks belonged to somebody I no longer was.”  

Larner would later write about going back to where his house had stood, and finding the filing cabinet: 

“Inside, I see a miracle – a sheaf of papers. I see letters, print – the lost manuscripts! I strain against the metal till I can wedge my hand inside. And the pages turn to dust in my fingers.” 

In the last ten years, many fire victims have rebuilt their houses and their lost work. John Traugott’s once-verdant backyard had been reduced to cinders, but now it blooms again, complete with towering redwood trees that have grown entirely since the fire.  

“It all came back,” said Traugott. “That’s been the most satisfying thing about the recovery. Ashes are good for growing.” 

The Library Gardens development, a five-building, 176-unit residential complex to be built behind the Berkeley Public Library, was approved by the Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday night. 

The project is the latest, but certainly not the last, of the major housing projects planned for the downtown area.  

A number of developers have recently set their sights on downtown – currently, there are at least four mid-sized to large housing developments apart from Library Gardens working their way through the city’s planning and permits process, for a total of 267 new apartments and condominiums. 

The rush to downtown seems to come in anticipation of the city’s new General Plan, which, if it is approved as expected next month, will place an emphasis on new housing construction in the center of the city. 

John DeClercq, senior vice president of TransAction Companies, which led the Library Gardens project, didn’t get the “9-0” vote he had hoped for from the ZAB, but he did come close. The board voted 7-1 on the project, with board member Carrie Sprague dissenting and board member Lawrence Capitelli absent. 

Sprague did have praise for Library Gardens’ “clever design,” but she said on Friday that out of concern for the neighborhood, she could not countenance the project’s intensive construction schedule. 

“They were very insistent that they wanted to work all day,” she said. “That’s the main thing I was worried about.” 

Library Gardens, with its 134,000 square feet of new floor space, is the largest housing development in Berkeley in recent memory. But it appears that much more is soon to follow in the downtown area, with the result that the economic and social dynamics of the city may be dramatically altered. 

The final draft of the Berkeley General Plan (July, 2001) calls for an increase in housing downtown in response to two needs: the housing crisis in the city and the Bay Area, and the ongoing revitalization of downtown. 

Steve Barton, director of the city’s Housing Department, said on Friday that he was pleased with the approval of Library Gardens, and that he looked forward to similar projects. Too often, he said, people want affordable housing but do not want either sprawl or greater density in urban areas. 

“People are in favor of housing in the abstract, but not in any particular place,” he said. “So it’s nice that in Berkeley there’s a general consensus to build new housing downtown.” 

Barton said that the housing crisis threatened the very character of the city, and that increased housing supply was one of the only ways that Berkeley could preserve its culture.  

“Often people here are not making as much money as they could if they wanted to,” he said. “People in Berkeley choose to work in research, or for a nonprofit, or in the arts, etc. That’s Berkeley’s role in the Bay Area, and if rents are not affordable, it is threatened.” 

The draft General Plan emphasizes residential development in the downtown partly because it well-served by mass transportation and partly because it could contribute to the area’s renaissance. Shattuck Avenue was once the unequivocal center of the city, but in the 1980’s it was injured, like many downtowns, by the nationwide exodus of people and business to the suburbs. 

Though revitalization programs in the 1990’s have been partly successful, the area still has not recovered its former glory. The downtown accounts for only 10 percent of all retail sales in the city – a figure equivalent to that of Telegraph Avenue, and dwarfed by West Berkeley’s 50 percent. 

Now, the hope is to invigorate the downtown by moving more people into the neighborhood. In the words of the Downtown Berkeley Association, “new permanent housing will increase street life, pedestrian traffic and a sense of community... and will generate increased demand for retail businesses – some of which are currently unavailable in the downtown.” 

If new residents are brought in, the thinking goes, new commercial and retail space will follow. The plan is reminiscent of Mayor Jerry Brown of Oakland’s pledge to bring in 10,000 new residents to revitalize the downtown of his city. 

Though the plan does enjoy widespread support, some people are beginning to voice their concerns. 

Carrie Olson, a long-time Berkeley resident and a member of the city’s Design Review Committee, said Friday that she wants to make sure that the diversity of downtown is preserved. 

“I want the growth to be sensible,” she said. “I want to have a mixed community in the downtown, a community that represents Berkeley as a whole.” 

Olson said that the Design Review Committee recently gave the ZAB an unfavorable report on one of the larger new projects being proposed for downtown. The units in the building were too small to support families or older couples, who usually want more living space than students. 

“If we end up with just students downtown, we will get another version of Telegraph Avenue,” she said. “Some of the new projects may not do their best to discourage that.” 

Olson said she was somewhat suspicious of the notion that increased housing would necessarily bring more retail opportunities, or more liveliness generally, to the downtown.  

“What works about a successful urban space – like some parts of Paris – is that you can go downstairs, out on the street and find what you need to cook dinner,” she said. “That doesn’t exist in the downtown right now.” 

“Part of the city’s responsibility is to make sure those services – grocery stores, laundries, drug stores, all the things you need for daily life – will be there.” 

But Victoria Eisen, the principal planner for the Association of Bay Area Governments’ Smart Growth Strategy project, said that Berkeley’s strategy to promote housing downtown fits perfectly with the vision of “Smart Growth” her group is developing. 

“It’s true that when people move into these units right now, there may be not be a supermarket you can walk to,” she said. “What Berkeley and other communities are doing is to bring in residents to support existing services, and hopefully attract new services.”

An apparent misquote thrust Berkeley – once again – into the national spotlight on Wednesday when the a Wall Street Journal Web site columnist attacked Councilmember Dona Spring for anti-war comments that she says were falsely attributed to her. 

At a press conference Thursday, Spring said she was misquoted in an article that appeared in the Daily Californian on Oct. 10. as saying “The United States is now a terrorist nation. According to the Taliban, (the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan) are terrorist attacks.”  

“I never denounced or condemned the United States,” Spring said at Thursday’s press conference. “I believe what I was trying to say was that U.S. bombing must seem like a terrorist attack to the innocent people in Afghanistan.” 

Spring received hundreds of e-mails from around the country Wednesday after a columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s Web site, James Taranto, denounced Spring’s “misquote” as “idiotic” under the heading “Berkeley’s useless idiots.”  

At Spring’s request, Taranto included a clarification letter written by Spring in his Thursday column. The Daily Californian, an independent student newspaper at UC Berkeley, also printed a letter from Spring clarifying her comments on Thursday.  

Spring asked Daily Californian Editor Janny Hu for a correction, but Hu said, after reviewing the reporter’s notes, she was standing by the quotes as printed. 

According to Mayor Shirley Dean’s executive assistant Tamlyn Bright, Dean received nearly 200 hostile e-mails from all over the country in response to the Wall Street Journal Web site column.  

Last month, Dean’s office was besieged by telephone calls after conservative radio talk show host, G. Gordon Liddy, broadcast the mayor’s office telephone number to his estimated 9 million listeners after criticizing Berkeley for temporarily removing the American flags from all fire department vehicles during a protest.  

Wednesday’s renewed national attention spurred Dean to quickly send out press releases denouncing Spring’s attributed comments in the Daily Californian. According to the release, Dean and her three moderate colleagues, councilmembers Polly Armstrong, Betty Olds and Miriam Hawley disagree with Spring’s “action and words.” 

The press release also referred to a resolution the council majority had attempted to pass last week. 

Spring had tried to put an emergency item on the council’s agenda Tuesday, which, if approved, would have had the city send letters to Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Rep. Barbara Lee and President George Bush asking them to do whatever possible to end the bombing of Afghanistan. The resolution further called for the council meeting to be adjourned “in memory of their innocent civilians in Afghanistan being harmed and made refugees due to the bombing.” 

The nine-member council failed to put the emergency item on the agenda. To add an emergency item to a agenda requires six votes – the council voted in favor of the resolution 5-4. The item will appear on next week’s council agenda. Because the item will not have emergency status at the next meeting, it will require only five votes for approval. 

Spring said she is rewording the item so that it is more sensitive to Americans who lost their lives in terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. 

In her press statement, the mayor said she and her three colleagues were “saddened that five members of the City Council would bring this issue to the council and use such inflammatory language.” It went on to say “that this is a time for reflection and more thoughtful responses and not for inflammatory rhetoric from the 60s.” 

At the press conference, Spring countered that it was irresponsible of Dean to reprint the misquote in her press release. Spring, who supports the dismantling of the Taliban, said that her resolution is only meant to express concern for innocent Afghanis who will die as a result of the American bombing. Spring added that since Sept. 11, Berkeley has unfairly become a “whipping boy” for the more conservative corporate media. 

“Anyone who questions the war effort is attacked mercilessly,” Spring said. “The hysteria is so great we are not able to have rationale debate.” 

Friday, Oct. 12

Will Star Wars Make Us Safe 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Redwood Gardens 

2951 Derby St. 

Panel of speakers will discuss President Bush’s proposed Missile Defense Program. The public is invited to contribute to this discussion. Sponsored by Women for Peace. 849-3020  

Saturday, Oct. 13

Shelter Operations 

9 a.m. - noon 

Office of Emergency Services 

997 Cedar St. 

Free classes in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT). 981-5605 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Neighborhood Parents Network 

10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

College Avenue Presbyterian Church 

5951 College Ave. 

North Oakland and Berkeley Area Preschool Panel Discussion and Fair. School representatives will discuss the differing philosophical and theoretical thoughts of varying preschool models. $10, $5 for NPN members. 527-6667 www.parentsnet.org 

Optimal Fertility with  

Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine 

1 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave.  

This workshop will explore how Chinese medicine works to improve fertility, and how acupuncture, herbs and nutrition can be combined with Western fertility treatments, including IVF. $25, advance registration required. 595-1175 

Farmers’ Market Fall  

Fruit Tasting 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Center St and Martin Luther King Way 

Free samples the whole range of fall fruit. There will be a wide variety of apples, pears and persimmons at a central location for taste-testing. 

548-3333 

Pow Wow and Indian Market 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Civic Center Park 

Enjoy Native American foods, dancing and arts & crafts in Berkeley’s tenth annual Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration, this year honoring Mille Ketchesawno. 595-5520 

Optics Fair 

noon - 4 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Explore the world of the unseen at the first-ever LHS Optics Fair featuring a variety of microscopes, binoculars, and hand lenses to try out and compare. Parents, teachers and children age 6 and up. 642-5132 

Sunday, Oct. 14

Donna Lerew’s 70th Birthday Concert 

8 p.m. 

Unitarian Universalist Church  

One Lawson Rd., Kensington 

The distinguished Bay Area violinist celebrates her 70th birthday with a retrospective concert featuring Musica Viva String Quartet and Rose Trio. $10. Free parking. 525-0302 

Judaism and Christianity:  

Facing the Facts 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Explore the history of the Jewish-Christian experience with Rabbi Shelly Waldenberg, teacher of Jewish Studies at Holy Names College and local Catholic High Schools. $10 public, $5 members. 548-0237 

Monday, Oct. 15

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 

Emergency Preparedness  

Workshop 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave 

Anna Swardenski speaks to help seniors and people with disabilities be more prepared in case of an emergency. 

Franciscanism, Understanding the Vision 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Franciscan School of Theology 

1712 Euclid Ave. 

Graduate Theological Union presents seminar exploring the lives, times and writings of and about Francis and Clare of Assisi. 848-5232 

Interfaith Couples Look  

at Love and Choices 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Two films to stimulate discussion about interfaith families, love and identity. $25 per couple. 548-0237 

Tuesday, Oct. 16 

Crabby Chef Competition 

4 p.m. 

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto 

1919 Fourth St.  

Top East Bay chefs compete to create the best crab dish. Free.  

5 - 7 p.m. Fund-raising Reception for the Visual and Performing Arts Group of Berkeley High School. $25 donation. 845-7777 

Similarities between Jewish  

\and Deadhead Spirituality 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

It’s been observed that a disproportionate number of deadheads are Jews. Dr. Leora Lawton, researcher of deadhead culture, explores the fascinating parallels between Jewish and deadhead rituals. $25 public, $15 members. 548-0237 

The Berkeley Garden Club 

2:15 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

“Yearlong Garden Color with Bulbs” with Retired Director, Regional Botanic Gardens, Wayne Roderick. The program includes slides of flowering bulbs ideally suited to the East Bay climate. 524-4374 bgardenclub@aol.com 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

noon - 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center 

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight way 

“Herbal Alternatives and Drug Interactions for Fibromyalgia.” 601-0550 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

531-8664 

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 

Israel and Palestine: Why the Oslo Peace Process Failed 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Speaker Joel Beinin is a Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University: “The Oslo Declaration of Principles... was supposed to bring peace and stability to the Middle East... the entire region is more unstable than a decade ago. Why have the hopes of so many people for a just peace been disappointed?” He will also address the relationship between U. S. policy, the Arab-Israel conflict, and events of this kind. 863-6637 

Editor: 

A second wave of terrorism is occurring in America.  

Bigotry and hatred have been unleashed against Americans of Arab, Islamic, South Asian and even Native American heritage, leaving many who look or dress differently from most white Americans afraid to leave home.  

As third generation Japanese Americans we feel a deep sense of obligation to speak out in support of Arab American community in light of the violence and hate messages being directed at them.  

We know what it is like to be the target of such feelings. In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were, our parents, friends and many of us, were incarcerated during World War II. Over two-thirds were American citizens by birth and over one-half were children. All were prisoners of war.  

Many of us carry lasting psychological and emotional effects. That is why we know this must never happen again to another group of people.  

We Americans, who strongly believe in freedom, justice and liberty for all, must not allow violence and discrimination to fall blindly on the Muslim and Arab American communities or on anyone who only looks “different” or “like the enemy.” 

Let us learn from our past. We urge everyone to take some overt action to show acceptance and support for the Muslim and Arab American communities. What can you do? 

1. Speak out whenever see an act of bigotry or hatred.  

2. Reach out to Muslims and others in your community. 

3. Urge your legislative leaders to protect the rights of Americans and immigrants.  

4. Become the person you would want to have standing up for you if such acts were directed against you.  

Members, Sansei Legacy Project: 

Sharon Senzaki, San Francisco 

Rich Tatsuo Nagaoka, St. Helena 

Dr. Kay Yatabe, El Cerrito 

Fumi Knox, Oakland 

Marion Hironaka Cowee, Albany  

Pat & Matthew Shiono, San Francisco 

Joyce Yamada, Pinole 

Carl Mune, Fremont 

Dale Komai, Mill Valley 

Grace Morizawa, Berkeley 

Marjorie Fujioka, Berkeley 

Jane Watanabe, San Francisco 

Marla Kamiya 

Carl Mune, Fremont 

Eugene Fujimoto 

Perhaps there was a time when a person could see a dollar earned and a dollar spent. Maybe, once, money could have been regarded as credit for goods or services rendered. Even if currency was ever that simple the markets today have complicated that a hundredfold. 

“Open Outcry” is a documentary by Jon Else about esoteric trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the abstract market gymnastics a dollar is put through, and, ironically, the visceral thrill of traders throwing themselves bodily into economic theory. 

The video, which will be broadcast on KQED-TV Friday at 11 p.m. and repeated Sunday at 6 p.m., is shot in the futures pits of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. For the economically ignorant, a future is a contract to buy a certain amount of goods on a certain date at a certain price. For example, cattle. Beef can be bought in advance, then that futures contract can be traded over and over until the date of delivery.  

Of course, the traders on the floor are interested in trading, not delivery, of beef. You will never see a cow in the cattle futures pit, only people frantically yelling numbers at each other. 

Jon Else, the head of the documentary program at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, admitted that he knows “less than the average person about capital markets,” and that “Open Outcry” is not a primer to how markets operate, but rather a peek into the experience of capitalism. Because unless you look very closely and very carefully, capitalism can look like chaos. 

With hundreds of people wearing colored jacket smocks crammed in a space about the size of a tennis court, each gesticulating wildly and screaming out numbers, the futures pits appear to be a lawless melee. But there is a system, and Else’s camera seems to be working on the assumption that if you look at something long enough, eventually you’ll figure out what’s going on. 

Capital markets would not be too difficult to understand if futures trading were limited to hamburger beef, and such things a person could physically touch. The trouble comes in trading intangibles like interest rates, or rates of interest rate change differentials.  

“When they get into things like trading options on futures on Eurodollars, which are in fact interest rates on currency held outside the United States, I have to check out,” said Else. “That’s not a hamburger to me. That goes somewhere into a world that’s way, way beyond hamburgers.” 

The 50-minute film is made up of 10 long camera shots (actually, 11 shots if you look for the hidden edit), each between 10 and 15 minutes long. Considering the average sustained camera shot in a typical TV sitcom is roughly three seconds, these marathon shots panning the active pits are both a meditation on money and a nearly scientific observation of group activity.  

“All of the skills that those traders use are cave man skills,” said Else. “Who can do lightening-fast calculations in their head? Who has a loud voice? Who is tall? Who has sharp elbows? Who has physical strength and agility? Who has the ability to stand on their feet without taking a leek for six hours at a time? There are not a lot of places in life to test all those evolutionary skills every day. I think that’s part of the attraction.” 

The apparent irony is the way the film shows us the traders on the floor going through physically grueling all-day combat for split-second trades on items that only exist in theory. Of course part of the attraction is the enormous amount of money that can potentially be made on the floor, but in the heat of the trading frenzy we can see how money can slip loose from the idea of credit for goods and services to become a factor manipulated by the trading process. 

“Actually, I went in kind of cynical,” said Else about how he first approached the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a documentary subject. “I went in with a vague sense that the capital markets in general and the stock markets were somehow tainted with evil, that somehow their only reason for being was for rich people to get richer. With that particular market, I came away with the impression that that was distinctly not true.” 

Although the documentary does not explain for the layperson how trading works it does raise the cultural question of what is the nature of money as a social and political force. Through voice-over we hear traders postulating that money is fascistic in that it adamantly seeks its own stability. Or, that money is essentially democratic, and handling it in these markets is not dependent on race or creed or background. 

“I sort of looked for a way to poke a hole in that argument, in my own mind,” said Else. “But looking at the floor, there, I couldn’t. Money really is, for better or worse, blind. Money is always looking for the highest return, like a very aggressive piece of DNA.” 

By the end, the idea money has lifted itself off of dead presidents and become like a biological force of nature. The control of markets, or when markets go out of control, assumes the tricky ethical dilemma of Dr. Frankenstein.

924 Gilman Street Oct 12: One Line Drawing, Funeral Dinner, Diefenbaker, Till 7 Years Pass Over Him; Oct 13: Dead and Gone, Cattle Decapitation, Vulgar Pigeons, Wormwood, Antagony; Most shows are $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Ashkenaz Oct 12: Sambo NGO; Oct 13: Clinton Fearon, Dub Congress; Oct 14: Open Stage; Oct 16: Danubias; Oct 17: Cajun Cayotesl Oct 18: Greatful Dean DJ Night; Oct 19: Swing Session 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com 

Blakes Oct. 12: !Tang, Roux, $6; Oct. 13: Ten Ton Chicken, Blue Tulip, $5; Oct. 14: Ted Ekman Solo & Band, $5; Oct. 15: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 16: Black Dog Band featuring Peanut McDaniels, $4; Oct. 17: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 18: Ascension, $5; Oct. 19: King Harvest, Sfunk, $5; Oct. 20: Psychokinetics, $5; Oct. 22: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 23: Felice, $3; Oct. 24: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Oct. 25: Psychotica, $5; Oct. 26: Planting Seeds, $6; Oct. 27: Felonious, $6; Oct. 29: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 31: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances 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 

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 

Jupiter Oct. 12: Japonize Elephants; Oct. 13: J Dogs; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

Live Oak Concerts Oct. 14: A Harvest of Song, an evening of premiers of works, $8-10. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Rebecca Riots Oct. 12: 7:30 p.m. $20-23. Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 339-1832 

Synchronicity Oct. 14: 2 p.m. Piano and percussion duo fuses classical and jazz music into a visual experience. $10 adult, $5 child. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

Shafqat Ali Khan Oct. 20: 8 p.m. Concert of classical Ragaa, Sufi, Urdu, Persian Ghazel, and other popular musical styles from India. $20 general admission, $15 students. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

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

“Swanwhite” 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 

“Orestes” Through Oct. 21: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. An adaptation of the classical play by Euripides that incorporates passages inspired or taken from various 20th century texts. Written by Charles Mee, Directed by Christopher Herold. $6-12. Zellerbach Playhouse on the UC Berkeley campus 642-8268 

“Approach” Through Oct. 27: Thur. - Sat., 8 p.m. An examination of the search for intimacy as our most precious form of survival. Written by Susan Wiegand, Directed by Katie Bales Frassinelli. $15 general admission, $10 students and seniors. Eighth Street Studio Theatre, 2525 8th St. 655-0813 www.shotgunplayers.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, D$10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Faye Sings Lady Day” Oct. 13: 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., Benefit concert for the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley. $10 - $15. Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. 849-9940  

“Lisa Picard is Famous” Oct. 12-19: Mocumentary chronicles New York actress who hopes to get more than a fleeting taste of fame when a racy cereal commercial brings her unexpected national notoriety. Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-3456 

“Loaded Visions” Oct. 17: 8 p.m. Experimental short films by Antero Alli (Eight Videopoems and “Lilly in Limbo,” $5 - $10 sliding scale. La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 www.verticalpool.com 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Oct. 12: 7 p.m., Hiroshima mon amour; 9 p.m., India Song; Oct. 13: 3:30 p.m., Films of Fritz Lang: Discussions with Anton Kaes; 7 p.m., The Nibelungen: Siegfried’s Death; Oct. 14: 3:30 p.m., L’Atalante; 5:30 p.m., The Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge; Oct. 15: 7 p.m., Genesis; Oct. 16: 7:30 p.m., La Région centrale; Oct. 17: 7:30 p.m., Video in the Villages and Amazonian Trilogy; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Exhibits 

“Inside Editions” through Oct. 12: Nine printmakers exhibit their work. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tue. - Fri. Free. Kala Art Institute, 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  

“Cut Plates and Bowls” Annabeth Rosen, “Just Jars” Sandy Simon, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3; Saturdays 10 - 5 or by appointment. Trax Ceramic Gallery, 1306 3rd St. 526-0279. cone5@aol.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. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” 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. 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” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. 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 Oct. 12: Susan Gaines reads from her novel “Carbon Dream”; Oct. 18: Patricia Nell Warren reads from her novel “The Wild Man”, Oct. 22: J.M. Redmann reads from “Death By the Riverside”; 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 Oct 12: Cody’s For Kids- Rosemary Wells and Bunny Party; Harruet Lerber surveys “The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You’re Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted Betrayed or Desperate; Michael Chabon talks about The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; Studs Terkel reads from “Will the Circle be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and hunger for Faith; Oct 18: Tamora Pierce talks about “Protector of the Small”; 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Oct 12: Elizabeth Royte examines “The Tapir’s Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of the Tropical Rainforest”; Oct 15: Amir Aczel poses The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World; Oct 16: Kip Fulbeck talks about “Paper Bullets”; Oct 18: Suzanne Antoneta & micah Perks talk about “Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir” and “Pagan Time: An American Childhood; All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Oct. 16: 7 - 9 p.m. Steve Arntsen and Kathleen Dunbar followed by open mike reading. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland 465-3935 ksdgk@earthlink.net 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Oct. 13: Leonard Chang reads from “Over the Shoulder”; Oct. 20: Miriam Ching Louie reads from “Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Factory”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

Susan Griffin Oct. 12: 7 - 10 p.m. Presents slide show and discusses her latest book “The Book of Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues”. $10 refundable with book purchase. Gaia Arts and Cultural Center, 2116 Allston Way 848-4242  

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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong 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. 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  

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

Coming off of their toughest league match of the season, the Berkeley Yellowjackets resumed their demolishing of the ACCAL with a 15-6, 15-12, 15-3 win over El Cerrito. 

After winning a tense, five-game match against Encinal on Tuesday, Thursday’s game was a reminder of just how dominant the ’Jackets can be. They completely dominated the net, even when star middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young was in the back row. Opposite hitter Amalia Jarvis led the team with six kills, Guilliard-Young had five kills and fellow middle blocker Vanessa Williams had three to go with two blocks and three aces. 

A pleasant surprise for the ’Jackets (6-0 ACCAL) was the play of backup setter Emily Friedman. The senior had been lobbying for more playing time at other positions, and Berkeley head coach Justin Caraway finally gave in and let her play defensive specialist on Thursday against the Gauchos (4-2 ACCAL). Friedman answered the call with 10 digs and eight assists, splitting time between the two positions. 

“Emily did a really good job of stepping into a new position,” Caraway said. “She showed she can play in different spots.” 

Berkeley came roaring out of the gate for the first game, recording nine kills, nine digs and three aces to take a quick lead. They also dominated the third and final game of the match, with Guilliard-Young making three kills. 

The only rough patch the ’Jackets went through was in the second game, but Caraway refused to blame Tuesday’s drama for the bad game. 

“If we were going to have a letdown today, it should have come right away in the first game out,” Caraway said. “We just didn’t pass very well, and our mental focus was non-existent.” 

Caraway can afford to be hyper-critical of his team given their dominance of the ACCAL. In fact, he is almost forced to focus on the bad stretches rather than the good, since Encinal is the only league team to take a game from Caraway’s squad this season. Unless Encinal can manage to win the rematch later this year, the ’Jackets will almost surely have their second straight undefeated ACCAL season. 

“We’re focusing on having Encinal at home and getting ready for the Northgate/Acalanes tournament in a couple of weeks,” said Caraway, who has scheduled several tough tournaments for his team to compensate for the lack of competition in league play. 

The ’Jackets next face an away match at De Anza on Tuesday.

Berkeley High School Principal Frank Lynch will leave Berkeley to become superintendent of the Del Norte County Unified School District, perhaps as soon as Nov. 1. 

In a phone interview at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Barbara Williams, executive secretary to the Del Norte County board, said the school board vote in Lynch’s favor was unanimous. Williams added that a Nov. 1 start date was possible, but unconfirmed.  

Lynch was in Crescent City on Thursday to attend the board meeting. Earlier in the day, Berkeley Superintendent Michele Lawrence described his departure as “pretty firm.” 

“Certainly he will be missed,” Lawrence said. “I think in his time he helped heal the school, and helped begin its recovery, and I’m much appreciative of that.” 

School Board President Terry Doran said the board and the superintendent had been preparing for the possibility of Lynch’s departure since he announced he had applied for another job in August. 

“We feel we’re prepared to have an administrative structure at the school that will allow the school to function well and complete the WASC process,” Doran said, referring to the accreditation board, which will re-evaluate Berkeley High next fall.  

Lynch began work at the district on Aug. 8, 2000.

Editor: 

In 1950 a transfixed nation watched Senator Joseph McCarthy wave a list of “known Communists and their sympathizers.” The list was never divulged publicly, though those at political or social odds with the Senator were successively fingered, and their lives ruined, as so too were many of their acquaintances. 

Today we're offered a list headed by Osama Bin Laden, a man declaring hatred of our country's policies and encouraging the use of deplorable tactics against us. His admitted role in training the killers of eighteen U.S. servicemen in Somalia makes him a convenient and deserving target of our wrath. Of concern in charging him in the latest attacks, however, is that we're shown evidence only that Bin Laden applauded them, and, may have met a couple of the terrorists. Our government's claim that we have stronger, unrevealed, evidence against him doesn't hold water. Were the security of either an informant or our technology actually the issue, our search for Bin Laden would have been both short and successful. 

The reality is, that, had we actual proof of Bin Laden's complicity, short of being plastered across every newspaper in minute detail, it would be conveyed to the leaders of the world to gain the unanimous, unconditional, support that hasn't materialized. 

Has Bin Laden committed acts that warrant his punishment? Assuredly. Was he in contact with, and encouraging, the terrorists? Possibly. Did he actually orchestrate the attacks on September 11? Doubtful. I fear his name appears on a list we've seen before. 

Chris Rasmussen 

Berkeley

Officials from Berkeley High and De Anza High have agreed that the school’s football teams will make up their cancelled game if the North Coast Section pushes back the beginning of the playoffs. 

Friday’s game was cancelled when no officials showed up for the 7 p.m. varsity kickoff. According to a source close to the situation, Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League officials botched the scheduling of officials. 

The NCS playoffs are scheduled to begin on Nov. 16. The Fremont Athletic League has already requested that the playoffs be moved back due to the cancellation of games after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The FAL cancelled all games that weekend, although most other games in Northern California went ahead as planned. Berkeley High, for instance, played James Logan High on Sept. 14. 

In a meeting earlier this week, ACCAL officials decided to throw their support behind the FAL’s plan in order to allow the Berkeley-De Anza game to be played. 

If the NCS does decide to move the playoffs back at its next meeting on Oct. 19, the Berkeley-De Anza game would be played on Nov. 16. 

Moving the playoffs back would also mean moving the date of the championship games from Nov. 30 or Dec. 1 to Dec. 7 or 8. That would take football, a fall sport, even further into the winter sports schedule, a serious inconvenience for student-athletes who play both football and a winter sport. 

“I really don’t know what’s going to happen,” Bissell said Wednesday. “No determination has been made what will happen if the game isn’t made up, and unless the NCS pushes the playoffs back, I don’t see how that will happen.”

West Berkeley artists and artisans who fear the effects of office development in their neighborhood took a stand at the regular meeting of the Planning Commission on Wednesday. 

The commission spent nearly all of the meeting listening to residents speak about a proposed year-long moratorium on new office space in the mixed-use/light industrial zone of West Berkeley. 

Wednesday night marked the second time in the last year the Planning Commission has considered the moratorium. The commission passed the moratorium earlier in the year, but the City Council later directed it to reconsider the issue in light of the fact that the public had not been properly notified of the proposal. 

Unlike the public hearings on the moratorium held in January, the majority of the speakers were artists and representatives of west Berkeley art co-operatives. Art and artisanal studios are considered “light industry” in the West Berkeley Plan, and they are accorded special protections. 

Many artists who spoke Wednesday night said that the conversion of former industrial or artisanal buildings into offices was putting pressure on their landlords to raise rents, brought too much traffic into the neighborhood and generally destroyed the character of the community. 

Thirty-one people spoke at the public hearing Wednesday night; around two-thirds of them said they favored the moratorium. 

Sharon Siskin, a visual artist and a member of the Nexus art co-operative, set the tone for the evening when she told the commission that office development in the neighborhood is squeezing out the art community. 

“Development is rampant and impinging rapidly on our spaces at Nexus,” she said.  

“These spaces, like all the others being built in our neighborhood are most likely going to result in more commercial office spaces, more traffic and parking problems, more pollution and more restrictions on available work space for artists and craftspeople.”  

“It seems to me that without careful scrutiny of future building projects, and care for saving the spaces that already exist, that the arts – a precious resource that Berkeley can not afford to loose – will be forever lost in Berkeley.” 

Claire Cotts, a painter who has a studio in the Durkee Building at 800 Heinz St., said that between traffic problems and the increasing rents that artists must pay to compete with office space, many young people are giving up on Berkeley entirely. 

“Most artists just graduating from school are having to find places farther away, in Rodeo or somewhere,” she said. 

Peter Dayton, another Nexus artist, said that “You could turn Berkeley into Palo Alto if you want, but I think that would be a disaster.” 

A few people spoke in favor of the moratorium from the traditional manufacturing perspective. Susan Libby, the founder of Libby Labs, said that Berkeley often functioned as an “incubator space” for young industrial or technological businesses. She thought that if office development in the West Berkeley area were to continue, industry would continue to feel rent pressure and may be compelled to relocate. 

Most of the jobs at her laboratory, she said, are blue-collar jobs that pay living wages.  

“If you really want these kind of jobs in Berkeley, you need to have space for them,” she said. 

Rhiannon, the president of the Oceanview Tenants’ Association and a member of the West Berkeley Project Area Commission, said that manufacturing should be a city-wide priority. 

“Manufacturing is the only real provider of good, well-paying jobs for unskilled workers,” she said. 

Several opponents of the moratorium, among them Miriam Ng, a member of the board of directors of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, said that the recent economic downturn obviated the need for a moratorium.  

“The rules for conversion are so stringent that we should be giving a medal to people who want to convert,” she said. “You’re sending a message that you don’t want business here. When the economy changes, no one will want to come here.” 

One of the principal reasons for the proposed moratorium was a recent plan for a 500,000 square foot office building that would have been built at the 15-acre American Soils site near Aquatic Park. Charles Jones, owner of the American Soils site, said at the meeting that that deal was dead, and that he had no plans to sell his property, but that he opposed the moratorium nevertheless. 

However, he proposed a few “loopholes” that could be included in the moratorium if it does pass. He said that there should be an exemption for existing businesses that wish to expand their office space “so they don’t move away to Richmond,” and another exemption for solar-powered businesses. 

“Since the federal government will support tobacco growers but not solar businesses, we should start at the local level,” he said. 

The Planning Commission will likely vote on the proposal at its Nov. 14 meeting.

Editor: 

Now more than ever it is critically important to address our energy and climate problems. There can be no better way to honor the dead and injured of 9/11 than to act to reduce what is arguably the biggest driving force behind our foreign relations policies that have led so much of the world to hate us: our addiction to oil. 

It is a multiple win. We can reduce global tensions at the same time that we improve our economy and save ourselves from far greater death tolls from pollution and climate change simply by taking aggressive action to improve our energy efficiency and increase our use of renewable energy sources. 

Let’s make sure that energy and climate change issues are not pushed aside in the war against terrorism. Instead they should be an important part of our response. This is something we can act on independently as a nation – with actions like increased fuel efficiency and appliance standards, renewable energy portfolio standards and incentive programs – and internationally with the rest of the world – by rejoining the Kyoto process to make global climate change agreements that will work.  

Urge your congressional representatives to get the clean sustainable energy agenda back on track in Congress and the President to rejoin the world community on climate change. Let us do it in the honor of those who died on 9/11 and those whose lives are daily threatened both by oil politic related violence and by the environmentally damaging effects of our energy use. 

Tom Lent 

Berkeley

John H. Mitchell, who taught in the Oakland public schools for 34 years, is one of California’s luckier retired teachers: the longtime Berkeley resident doesn’t have to sell his house and move somewhere cheap. 

“We owe $520, and it will be paid off in August,” said Mitchell, president of the East Bay chapter of the California Retired Teachers Association. 

Others have not been so lucky, especially in the Bay Area. Stories abound of retirees receiving less than $1,000 a month because inflation has diminished retirement pensions that were low to begin with, compared to those of teachers retiring now. 

“The teachers, they lived here and taught here for 20 or 30 years, they want to stay here,” said Mitchell. A folk-singer on the side, he played with Pete Seeger at the 1963 U.C. Folk Festival and now entertains at assisted living facilities for the elderly. 

Last month, a bill intended to help the most elderly of the state’s retired teachers – some 16,000, according to the CRTA – passed both the state assembly and senate with overwhelming support. 

“It would help mostly those teachers over 80 years old,” said Mitchell, who is 77. 

“Typically these are not only the oldest teachers,” said Ed Ely, spokesperson for the CRTA, “but they’re the poorest, because they retired when teachers’ salaries and pension benefits were substantially lower than they are today.” 

The pension adjustments, called “purchase power protection” in official jargon, are drawn from a state fund reserved specifically for this purpose. The $800 million Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account draws on federal land sales and, Ely said, could fund AB135’s provisions for 30 years. 

Sponsored by assemblymember Sally Halvice of Los Angeles County and co-sponsored by Berkeley Assemblymember Dion Aroner, the bill would guarantee that retirees receive 80 percent of the value of their benefit at the time of retirement, rather than the current 75 percent. 

“It means somebody who retired earlier is going to get more tacked onto their retirement,” Mitchell said. 

Still, AB135, now sits on Gov. Gray Davis’ desk – a potential victim of statewide belt-tightening amidst lowered economic prospects, as well as labor politics. “One of the bill’s problems is that the PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) will want the same thing,” Mitchell said. 

The governor has until Monday to act, and it will become law if he neither signs it nor vetoes it. 

Teachers who retired before 1985 were largely passed over last year when a projected $12 billion surplus in the state teachers’ pension fund set off a round of new laws to increase retirement benefits.  

For the first time, because of the changes, teachers who served more than 25 years have their pensions computed based on the teaching year in which they received their highest pay. (Pensions were previously calculated based on the average of the highest three years in a row.) Service in summer school and some extracurricular teaching also became eligible for credit toward pensions. 

Teachers who stayed in the classroom the longest are now awarded flat bonuses of $200 a month for 30 years, $300 a month for 31 years, and $400 a month for 32 years or more. Another law provides an “ad-hoc” increase of 1 to 6 percent to retirement benefits, depending on length of career. 

Ely said that as a result of these changes, “a teacher now probably has a 30-40 percent better retirement than a teacher who retired 20 years ago or more.” 

Mitchell and other long-time retirees did benefit from one of last year’s laws: Medicare payments, previously $300 per person covered, are now taken care of by the state. 

“I figure I paid $10,000 or $20,000 dollars for medical insurance before they did this,” Mitchell said.  

The long-term goal of the CRTA, Ely said, is to push the purchasing power protection up to 100 percent of a retiree’s highest annual salary. 

Mike Steinman, a spokesperson for Assemblywoman Sally Havice, said he had no indication of where the governor stood on the bill. It has support from both main teachers’ unions, seniors’ organizations, the Association of California School Administrators, and the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, he said. 

“This is really just a very incremental leap, but it helps,” said Steinman. “It will make a difference in the long run to those who have more than earned this.”

Editor:  

The recent news story that a top bin Laden aide toured California was both shocking and depressing. It seems that our absurd “bring ‘em on in” immigration policy and our very lax airport and airline security has led directly to the Islamic terrorist bombings of the World Trade Center in New York City. Under the guise of ever-more “diversity” and “multiculturalism” we have allowed hundreds if not thousands of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists into our country. Our border controls have been a bad joke: terrorists and their sympathizers come and go willy-nilly. These terrorists must think that we are the world’s biggest saps.  

Our traditional so-called “melting pot” of immigrants has turned into a festering cauldron filled with a hate-America brew. If it is too politically incorrect to only stop immigration by Arabs and other Muslims, then we should simply stop all foreign immigration until we can root out all the present generation of immigrant-terrorists. 275,000,000 Americans should be enough to program our computers and leaf-blow our gardens.  

The next act of Islamic terrorism may not just take out a few skyscraper buildings and kill several thousand people: it may be to detonate a small nuclear weapon smuggled in and use it to destroy a whole American city, kill many thousands of people and render a large area as a radioactive wasteland. Let’s slam the immigrant door shut now before we suffer a horrific disaster on the level of the nuclear reactor meltdown at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. 

James K. Sayre, Oakland

On George A. Akerlof’s first day as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley 35 years ago, a colleague asked him to name 10 economic ideas he was interested in pursuing.  

On Wednesday of this week, Akerlof’s ninth idea earned him academia’s highest accolade – the Nobel Prize.  

Like many great ideas, Akerlof’s ground-breaking economic theory, which was based on the used-car market, was formulated over a working lunch in a Berkeley restaurant. 

Recalling that lunch on Wednesday night as colleagues from all over the campus gathered to toast him at the Lawrence Hall of Science, Akerlof still seemed stunned at winning the award. 

With what colleagues described as characteristic modesty, he attributed his success in large part to the nurturing and open-minded environment at the Berkeley campus. 

“I owe everything to Berkeley,” Akerlof said. “It has been an excellent community which encourages creativity.” 

He said the economics department is a haven for innovative thinking. 

“It’s a friendly, collegial place, which values quality over quantity,” he said. 

Akerlof, 61, was named the 2001 co-winner of the Nobel prize in economic sciences on Wednesday in recognition of his watershed work called “The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism.” 

His paper, which was published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1970, showed how ill-informed buyers could undermine prices in the used-car market because they were suspicious that every car they looked at was a “lemon.”  

Sellers react by taking their quality cars off the market, because wary buyers aren’t willing to pay what the car is worth, and the quality of the market drops until it totally breaks down. 

His essay ran counter to conventional economic wisdom. It laid the foundation for a general theory of how people with differing amounts of information affect a wide range of markets. 

“His research was a big break from traditional economic theory with far-reaching implications in such diverse areas as health insurance, financial markets and the labor market” said David Romer, an economics professor at UC Berkeley. 

Professor Eugene Smolensky said this year’s award, along with the one Ackerlof’s colleague Daniel McFadden won last year for work on the development of statistical tools that measure individual decision-making, was recognition for an important new direction in economic thinking. 

“Their work is rooted in markets as they actually operate rather than in some idealized notion of how they operate,” said Smolensky, an economist and former dean of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.  

“That notion was good enough when economists were asking if capitalism was better than socialism. Now that we are more interested in predictions about real world behavior, Ackerlof and McFadden have given us the theory and the tools to understand it.” 

Gia Calvillo, a doctoral student who worked under Akerlof during her first year, said her now-famous professor is a wonderful, creative and open minded person. 

“The first semester (for a graduate student) is brutal,” she said. “If it wasn’t for him I might have quit.” 

Despite the worldwide acclaim surrounding his Nobel Prize, Akerlof has remained modest about his achievements. 

The day he won the prize, he went to teach his afternoon seminar at the Department of Economics as usual. A French scholar made a presentation about income inequality in the United States, and professor Akerlof sat among the students and took part in the back and forth as they debated the idea. 

Today, when Akerlof meets with a fresh batch of graduate students for the first time, he remembers how he got his start at Berkeley. 

He always asks them to think of 10 ideas that they want to investigate. 

“He has always devoted his energy to teaching students how to be creative and think outside of the box,” Calvillo said.

Take a walk around downtown at lunchtime and you’ll see many of Berkeley High School’s 3,400 or so students. 

But when it’s time to be back in class, not all of them will be at their desks. 

It’s only seven weeks since school began and already 250 students have been singled out at the high school for poor attendance. Some have already racked up 30 or 40 absences. 

Without divulging more comprehensive figures, school officials acknowledge that truancy has been a problem for years. They have begun implementing a new policy to address it. Components include “downtown sweeps” and a formal “Check and Connect” program to recruit parents and other students to keep truants in school. 

But the new policy is up against a student culture in which almost everyone cuts class to some degree, and where skipping, students say, is incredibly easy to do.  

“A lot of times people cut because they’re not doing anything in class that day, or they have a substitute and there’s absolutely no reason to go,” said senior Sam Black, who has skipped occasionally. Others skip more frequently “because they’re not doing well in the class and their way of dealing with that is, ‘if I don’t go I don’t have to deal with the class.’” 

“It’s like a snowball,” Black said. “Once they start skipping then there’s no reason for them to go to class anymore.” 

“It’s so easy,” said senior Anna Sorenson, who, when she occasionally wanders the halls, is rarely asked why. “You can just say you’re late for class.” 

“It’s even easier to walk right off campus because there’s this big hole,” said senior Sarah Goodin, referring to a passage way beside the Berkeley Community Theater on Allston Way. Just a short walk east are tempting fast-food restaurants, movie theaters and CD and clothing stores. 

The school plans to work with Berkeley Police, UC Berkeley police and downtown’s Berkeley Guides to do “post-lunchtime sweeps” of the downtown area. They can check IDs of anyone under 18 and return them to school, though without using the “paddy wagon” tactics that landed an official apology from Berkeley Police in January 2000. 

“We’re trying to train kids that they’ve got that time (away) and then to come back,” said Vice Principal Lawrence Lee. 

But the sweeps policy does not appear to be in effect. “There are no sweeps,” wrote Board of Education Vice President Shirley Issel in an e-mail Friday, “and I see few kids wearing (mandatory) ID tags = no enforcement. The truancy policy is in process and the lack of enforcement is very disappointing to me.” 

Issel said she’s not holding out much hope for Check and Connect, either. That program, however, appears to be having at least some small success. 

Earl Bill is the new program’s coordinator. He ran the school’s on-campus suspension program for the past 10 years, and now holds court in room H-105 of the cavernous H building, where his desk has neither a computer nor a phone. 

Check and Connect was conceived around the idea that its coordinator would have access to a computer database of student attendance records. With the click of a mouse he would be able to print out a daily record of who’s cutting class. The records are on a nearby computer, but there isn’t a printer connected to it. 

“I have around 250 names,” Bill said, “but without access to a printer I can’t (print out) the student’s schedule.” 

So, he does it the old-fashioned way. He’s gone to teachers and guidance counselors to ask them to report to him on a daily basis, who is not coming to class, and he also hears from security staff.  

On a first violation – for missing at least three classes – a student is sent to Bill and told that by law he has to be in school – that his attendance is being watched and that his parent can be fined or jailed if he continues to skip class. A letter also goes home to his parent or guardian. Bill’s new job started Sept. 5; 150 letters went out two weeks later. 

By the time a second violation occurs – for three more absences – the student must carry a card that has to be initialed by every teacher of every class on his schedule that week. Bill has the teachers’ own initials on file to detect forgeries. A second, different letter goes home. 

On the third strike, the parent is brought before Bill, the parent resource coordinator and the vice principal. By this time the student has bucked both the attendance checks and his contract to go to class. The parent learns that, unless there are outside problems warranting intervention by a health professional, the school district’s child welfare services will intervene and can notify the district attorney for prosecution. 

“After that many chances the kid can’t say that, ‘Nobody gave me a chance, nobody told me about this,’” Bill said. 

Check and Connect appears to be working. Hard numbers are making an impression with students. “They say, ‘I haven’t missed that many classes,’” Bill said. “I say, ‘Are you counting?’” End-of-the-week attendance is up, and Bill sees students in classrooms more and in hallways less. 

Word is getting around, both at home and at school. “You don’t have to do a lot of work,” Bill said. “You just send out about 10 letters and parents start talking.” Their children, he suspects, mention the letters nervously to their friends, too. 

Still, it’s an uphill battle. Students flat-out tell Bill they’re used to walking off campus whenever they want to. “I have 12th graders now who are very critical because they’re cutting every day,” Bill said. “And they think they’re going to graduate.” 

A printer and a phone, Bill said, would help. 

“If they know that things are not working, it doesn’t take them long to say, ‘Hey, something has broken,’” Bill said. “If they think it’s broken, they’re going to continue to do it.”

Millie Ketcheshawno, a Native American filmmaker who died last year, will be remembered during the 10th annual Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow and Indian Market to be held Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. 

Ketcheshawno, who participated in the Indian occupation of Alcatraz Island during the 1970s, worked with the National Park Service to create the “We Hold The Rock” exhibit and video that are shown each day at the park, said Craig Glassner, a park ranger with the Golden Gate National Recreation area on Alcatraz.  

The occupation by Indians of All Tribes, which began on Nov. 20, 1969, was the most significant event in Alcatraz’s history and was pivotal to the creation of self-determination, the policy that recognizes tribal autonomy and self-rule, said Glassner, who will present a letter of appreciation to Ketcheshawno’s family for her contribution to the exhibit. The occupation ended in 1971 when federal officials removed participants from the island, Glassner said. 

“I want to recognize Millie not just for the work she did historically for native peoples but for assisting us in making sure that the story would be told to us, our children and our children’s children,” Glassner said. 

The free event, sponsored by the city of Berkeley and the Indigenous Peoples Day Committee, celebrates native culture through food, dance, ceremony and art. It will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  

A grand entry ceremony will introduce elders and dancers in traditional regalia. Native groups represented will include Seminole, Kiowa, Miwok, Lacota, Black Feet and Comanche, said Shar Suke, a Pow Wow coordinator and Oneida/Cherokee. She expects about 1,000 people to attend. 

“The grand entry will get the Pow Wow off to a good start,” she said, noting that people should pay attention to the Master of Ceremonies, who will announce when it is appropriate to take photographs. 

Dancers, drummers and singers from across the Bay Area will perform, as well as some from Arizona, Oklahoma and Maryland, Suke said.  

The original goal of the event was to educate the public about native issues and culture, Suke said. A table will display information about Native American issues, such as land disputes. Native Americans can also learn about health services that address diabetes risk, substance abuse and safe sex, she said. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Park is located between Center Street and Allston Way, and one block west of the Berkeley BART station. Parking is limited and attendees are encouraged to bring their own seating. All drums are invited.

Marcelle Ching’s fourth and fifth graders were forming a line according to birthdays, from January to December. One student wanted to place a reporter in the lineup. 

“When is your happy birthday?” he asked in heavily accented English. 

This was an exercise in counting and repeating months of the year in English, something Ms. Ching’s students were practicing for only the third time since their classes at Malcolm X Magnet School started a week earlier. They are students of a Newcomer class, part of a year-long pilot program in English-immersion. It is for immigrant students in the Berkeley Unified School District who speak little to no English. 

“They are all very active learners,” said Ching of her 18 students. About two-thirds are Spanish-speaking, while others come from Germany, Bulgaria, Yemen, Korea and Brazil.  

The teachers and administrators hope that this new program will be a more effective way to teach the district’s new immigrant students. Prior to this, most newcomers were placed in classes with native English-speaking classmates and a teacher with Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) certification.  

SDAIE-certified teachers are trained to make the regular curriculum accessible to English learners by using special teaching methods and strategies. The English learners were also pulled out of class twice a week for 45-minute lessons with an itinerant English Language Development (ELD) instructor.  

The newly-arrived Spanish-speaking students were often enrolled in Spanish-English dual-immersion programs – a program where the students begin speaking mostly Spanish in kindergarten and over five years speak and learn mostly in English. Many students entered the program at higher grade levels, where more advanced English is used. Some of these students, according to Newcomer instructor Kathleen King, would just sit through the English instruction and wait for the Spanish sections.  

“There’s not a lot of ELD taught in bilingual classes,” said King, who has also worked as a dual-immersion teacher. 

Plans to introduce a Newcomer program, which is a recommendation in the district’s Bilingual Master Plan, had been discussed for years in the instructional services department of the school district. However, it was not until this summer that concrete action was taken. Two classes at the Malcolm X school site were approved, one for second-third graders and one for fourth-fifth graders. Participation in the program is an option for all immigrant students regardless of where they live, and children who live outside the Malcolm X zone receive transportation. 

According to State and Federal Projects Manager Carla Basom, who took over the Newcomer Program in late July shortly after she joined the staff, the decision to pilot the program was partly financial, as it is more cost efficient to pay two Newcomer teachers rather than four itinerant ELD teachers. It will also provide immigrant students with stronger English skills than the pull-out method, which she acknowledged as the “least effective” way to teach ELD.  

Spanish-speaking students still have a choice between the Newcomer program and the dual-immersion program, where, because part of the instruction is in their native language, they will learn subject content more efficiently.  

“Obviously (in the Newcomer classes) they don’t have the vocabulary for a lot of the concepts, so you spend a lot of time teaching the vocabulary in English,” said Basom. Which program they choose depends on many factors, including how quickly the child can learn English and the child’s native language literacy. 

The district hopes that giving students this choice will provide programs that work for all immigrant students. “We’re trying to deliver the best instruction program to kids that we can,” said Basom. 

After a week and a half of classes, the students in Ms. Ching’s class were already showing signs of progress. “This is only the third time we’ve gone over the months of the year, and they’ve grasped it really quickly,” she remarked after the students successfully organized themselves by birthday.  

An important part of the class work for the day was learning how to follow directions: draw a circle, underline, make an X. “I’m acclimating the students to follow the directions they’re going to see in their workbooks,” explained Ching. The curriculum of the Newcomer classes is meant to gear students toward fitting into regular classrooms with a SDAIE-certified instructor. 

In the transitional Newcomer program, students should be prepared to join an SDAIE class by the end of one year. ELD instructors will return a student sooner if the student tests proficient and is deemed ready. A study of newcomer programs by Monica Friedlander of the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education at George Washington University, says students should stay in the program no longer than one year “in order to minimize the period of isolation from a mainstream program.” 

Newcomer students at Malcolm X are encouraged to interact with students from the other classes, and the ELD instructors coordinate activities with teachers of mainstream classes. “I want them to get a sense that they’re part of a greater group of kids,” said King, who teaches the second and third grade Newcomers. This interaction also gives them a chance to practice their new English with native peers.  

The district is also preparing the mainstream teachers for the Newcomer students. Using funds from a Title VII grant, the district will employ trainers to give  

these teachers SDAIE training on methods for teaching classes of mixed native and non-native English speakers. This involves modifying speech, using visuals and other media, and putting lessons into a context that is understandable for the non-native students.  

“It’s hard teaching in California nowadays,” said Basom. Under California law, all teachers must be certified to teach English learners by the year 2005. Basom said that being able to effectively teach English learners is “very complex and really requires ongoing training.”  

ELD instructors hope that the SDAIE training will help mainstream teachers deal with the problems of their immigrant students, which in the past were often left for the itinerant teachers to handle. King acknowledged the trouble with teaching a group of students with varying levels of English. “It’s very difficult to address all the students’ needs well.” 

Approximately four out of 10 people who took advantage of National Depression Screening Day in Berkeley Thursday showed indications of post-traumatic stress disorder. Counselors say the high rate may be a result of anxiety about the Sept. 11 attacks and the possibility of others. 

The screening in Berkeley was part of an 11-year-old nationwide effort in which psychologists and therapists give free anonymous counseling at more than 4,500 sites. The event coincided this year with the one month anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. 

In consideration of those attacks, the screening added eight questions to assess post-traumatic stress. One, for example, asked “In the past week, to what extent have you lost enjoyment for things, kept your distance from people, or found it difficult to experience feelings?”  

“In the wake of the events that happened on September 11th, we felt the need to address people’s emotional responses,” said Katherine Cruise, communications manager for the Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health, Inc.  

Nationwide, more people were expected to attend the annual screening because of the events of the past month. “I think it’s had a huge impact on people,” said Cruise. Although many of those who lost friends and family or who witnessed the tragedy and its aftermath will be encouraged to seek counseling, Cruise said that those who were not directly affected are also at risk for depression.  

“For the rest of us who are all across the country, watching these indelible images over and over again on TV, watching those images can cause nightmares, insomnia or anxiety.” She added that uncertainty about what is coming next can also contribute to these symptoms.  

Some 30 counselors worked in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to assess the approximately 100 people looking for help. The majority of clients were students. Each person filled out a set of questionnaires designed to reveal signs of clinical depression or any related mental illness. In a 20 minute meeting, counselors then advised these individuals whether they should seek help and referred them to other services. 

“We’re giving them resources and letting them know what’s out there,” said Oakland psychologist and screening organizer Lesley Parke.  

UC Health Services counselor Susan Bell said that since the September attacks that office has seen an increase in students suffering from anxiety. In some cases the events of Sept. 11 exacerbated existing symptoms. Although more students have sought counseling, she wasn’t sure what had caused the increase. “The numbers are higher this year, but we don’t know if that is directly related to the attacks,” she said. 

However, Parke said that the attacks did trigger a doubling in the number of students who wanted to volunteer at the event.UC Berkeley has been a screening site for the event for the last five years, sponsored by the Alameda County Psychological Association, University Health Services, the Association of Psychology Undergraduates and the Students for Mental Health Awareness. 

According to the National Institute for Mental Health, every year approximately 18.8 million Americans, or about 9.5 percent of the population age 18 and older, suffer from a depressive disorder. The symptoms include the following: feelings of sadness, hopelessness or worthlessness, difficulty concentrating, constant fatigue, unexplained aches and pains, and thoughts of death or suicide. People who are aware of these symptoms in themselves or in their friends or family are encouraged to call the Alameda County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Access Program at 1-800-491-9099.

SAN FRANCISCO — Extending San Francisco International Airport’s runways by filling in part of the bay could be consistent with smart growth depending on the increase in air travel during the next few decades. 

But a panel of airport land use and growth experts said Thursday that has become harder to predict after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the resulting drop in air travel. 

The idea of filling in between 500 and 800 acres of the bay has drawn criticism from neighbors, environmentalists and even windsurfers who say it will hurt the life and tides of San Francisco Bay. 

Proponents of the plan say it’s consistent with smart growth – which calls for growing in and around urban centers instead of sprawling – because it would use existing transportation infrastructure.  

Also, it would stall the need to build another airport on the fringes of the Bay Area. 

But opponents say filling in the bay would further harm an already damaged resource and would cause an imbalance of housing and jobs on the San Francisco peninsula because a larger airport would bring more workers who would need more housing in an already crowded area. 

Opponents also said the plan would only alleviate airport capacity problems for about 10 years. They point out planning has been done up to 2020, but it probably would take a decade to get approval and build any project. 

Officials have proposed the expansion because the airport is plagued by delays, especially during foggy weather.  

The airport has two sets of runways that intersect and are only 750 feet apart, making it difficult or impossible for planes to land simultaneously in bad weather. 

The Federal Aviation Administration requires runways to be 4,300 feet apart for simultaneous landings in bad weather. 

The plans would reconfigure the runways, increasing the distance between them, at an estimated cost of $2 billion to $3.5 billion. 

But some opponents think it’s premature to build runways into the bay. 

“I don’t think smart growth can coincide with building them now, before we know if the other (no-build) alternatives can work,” said panelist Stuart Cohen, chairman of the Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition. 

The plans are far from being finalized. The airport is a little more than halfway through the environmental studies for the plans and is considering other options that don’t include building into the bay. 

After the environmental reviews, the plans will be open for public comment, followed by the necessary approval from 30 state and federal regulatory agencies. 

Some of the no-build options include doing nothing, using technological advances to help manage operations and managing demand, such as with pricing regulations and other incentives. 

Passenger volume at the airport has dropped since last month’s terrorist attacks, but airport officials believe the volume will increase by the time the runway project is ready for construction. 

But it’s still hard to know how much that increase will be, said panelist Geoffrey Gosling, a professor in the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. 

“The implications of recent events are not yet clear,” he said. “However, I think it would be very surprising if the forces that have caused air travel to grow in the past couple of years suddenly come to an end.” 

Typically, about 105,000 passengers pass through the San Francisco airport every day, but in the week following the attacks, that number dropped by 40 percent to 50 percent. 

A month later, the airport has about 25 percent fewer passengers than normal. 

A plan completed late last year by a regional air transportation committee concludes that, in the next 20 years, there will be a 60 percent increase in air operations in the region, where there are three major airports. And at San Francisco International, another 63,000 people per day are expected by 2020. 

“The thing we have to keep in mind is air travel is going to return,” said airport spokesman Ron Wilson. “It’s going to take a while, and we have to look long range and plan for the future.” 

SACRAMENTO — Citing a slowing economy and fiscal fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Gov. Gray Davis on Thursday ordered state agency heads to prepare to cut their budgets by 15 percent next fiscal year. 

Only public safety and firefighting departments would be spared from cuts. 

“There is no question that our economy is now experiencing the full impact of the national economic slowdown,” Davis said. 

He ordered state agencies to submit budget cut proposals to his office by Oct. 22, and said he will convene a special meeting of his cabinet the following day to discuss the proposals. 

The state is facing its bleakest fiscal picture and deepest budget cuts since the recession of the early 1990s left California with a $14 billion budget hole. 

“We’re under no illusions, it’s going to be very painful and there are going to be some very difficult choices,” said Sandy Harrison, a spokesman for Davis’ Department of Finance. 

Davis will consider each department’s proposal on a case-by-case basis when crafting his budget plan for the 2002-03 fiscal year, Harrison said. Davis will release his budget plan in January. The state’s fiscal year begins July 1. State officials were stunned Thursday by the announcement, and some said 15 percent cuts could mean staff layoffs and reduced services. 

“It’s very depressing, and if we in fact have to accommodate a 15 percent cut in our budget, it’ll be devastating to the program,” said Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission. 

Doug Stone, spokesman for the California Department of Education, said, “Fifteen percent isn’t just a matter of further belt tightening, it goes to hitting the bone.” 

Roy Stearns, a deputy director in the state parks department, agreed, saying that 15 percent “is a sizable amount, and we’ll have to look at it very closely.” 

But Stearns and Douglas acknowledged that cuts will be unavoidable in the current fiscal crisis. 

“I also understand the sad condition of the economy and the country right now, and if the cuts are necessary then we all have to do our part,” Douglas said. 

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, an Arleta Democrat who chairs a special budget committee, said his panel will hold hearings in November to address the cuts. 

California is not alone in its budget troubles. 

Several states, including Florida, Nebraska and Connecticut, are calling or considering special legislative sessions to deal with steep revenue losses in the current and coming fiscal years. 

“This year has been unlike any other year, except for perhaps the ’90-’91 recession,” said Arturo Perez, a budget analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Davis has said he may ask the California Legislature to convene a special session, and he is planning a summit with business and labor leaders to discuss the effects of the Sept. 11 attacks on California’s economy. 

He said the terrorist strikes likely will damage an already-slow economy that was particularly hard-hit by the recent implosion of the high-technology industry. 

Davis previously had asked departments to prepare for budget cuts of up to 10 percent. He also vetoed several dozen bills this week he said would have increased state spending. 

The state’s budget contains a $2.6 billion reserve, the largest in two decades, but the sagging economy is projected to cut state revenues by far more. Revenues were down by more than $1.1 billion in the first three months of the fiscal year. 

Now, the attacks have “injected even more uncertainty into our economy and we must prepare for greater revenue reductions as a result,” Davis said in his memo to the cabinet. 

In addition, Davis is struggling to find a way to repay the more than $6 billion the state spent this year to buy electricity on behalf of three cash-strapped utilities. The state Public Utilities Commission last week derailed his proposal to repay the state’s general fund with long-term borrowing. 

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On the Net: This year’s budget can be found at http://www.dof.ca.gov 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A few weeks ago, online access to federal criminal filings suddenly stopped. Though court records remain publicly available on paper at courthouses, they were deemed too public when it came to the Internet. 

The U.S. Judicial Conference’s decision drew criticism from First Amendment advocates. Yet it is only the latest manifestation of a privacy-vs.-access debate becoming more common as government agencies – the keepers of public information – confront Internet age challenges. 

The conference, a 27-judge panel that sets policy for federal courts, cited privacy and safety concerns in cutting off Internet access to the criminal records. 

“A lot of court records have unevaluated, raw stuff,” said Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of the Privacy Journal newsletter in Providence, R.I. “I think it is very dangerous to put that kind of information on the Web.” 

Smith maintains that Internet records are palpably different from written records because they “are available anonymously ... to people who have to show very little need to know beyond idle curiosity.” 

But Charles Davis, who heads the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said the new policy reflects an unfounded fear that “electronic information is more dangerous than paper information.” 

Before the Internet, public records often gathered dust – and people who really wanted to review them had to travel to a reading room and show their faces to a clerk. That system tended to favor the rich and well-connected over the poor. 

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, some government agencies have pulled potentially sensitive information from the Web. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, for one, no longer offers detailed reports on chemical plants on its Web site for fear terrorists could use them to plot attacks. Anyone wanting a report must visit a government reading room and offer identification. 

The appearance online of other public records has already stirred considerable controversy. 

In New York City, a nonprofit group posted voter registration records on a Web site, allowing anyone offering a last name and a birth date to retrieve voters’ home addresses and political affiliations. 

Even though the information has long been available on paper, the group decided to block access to the records after complaints from city residents. 

And in another case involving the courts, the Judicial Conference initially denied crime news site APBnews.com the ability to post financial disclosure reports on about 1,600 federal judges. 

The conference said posting such records created security risks even though the courts routinely gave copies to anyone who requested them – after first notifying the judge involved. The conference later agreed to permit posting. 

In deciding to bar federal criminal filings from online posting, U.S. District Judge Charles H. Haden II, a member of the Judicial Conference, cited reports that prison inmates had  

used them to identify other prisoners who had cooperated  

with prosecutors. 

“It has resulted in some instances in beatings or worse within the prison system,” he said, declining to provide specifics. Computers are frequently available in prison libraries. 

Haden said his Charleston-based judicial district had already concluded that some material, such as pre-sentencing reports, contains many private details that ought not be available electronically. 

But he said other districts had not considered the issue. 

“That’s why the conference’s criminal law committee wants to study this further, to come up with appropriate protocols,” Haden said. 

Haden believes the Judicial Conference ultimately will decide to make criminal court records available on the Internet, with a few deletions for privacy concerns. A review is expected within two years. 

In the meantime, the conference voted to permit electronic access to civil and bankruptcy court records, with some deletions, such as Social Security cases. 

Online court records have been available for as many as 13 federal district courts in 10 states through a service called PACER. The criminal filings were quickly dropped after the decision. 

Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman of The Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va., said the importance of absolute public access to criminal court records should trump any other concerns. 

“Freedom of speech is meaningless unless we have the maximum amount of information from our government,” he said. “That’s what makes ordinary citizens partners with their elected leaders. That’s access.” 

McMasters said if privacy concerns can be addressed with civil records, “you can do the same thing with criminal court records.” 

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On the Net: http://www.uscourts.gov 

The anthrax that killed a Florida man was not stolen from a Department of Energy laboratory. It most certainly was not manufactured from scratch by terrorists. 

And now some scientists are saying it may not even have any connection to Iowa, as earlier reported. 

As misinformation and theories abound about the origin of the anthrax found in the offices of a Boca Raton, Fla., supermarket tabloid, scientists are using new methods to compare the genetic fingerprint of the anthrax spores to known strains of the bacteria. 

Microbiologist Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University has created a genetic profile of the anthrax discovered there and is now comparing it to other strains, said Martin Hugh-Jones, a close colleague of Keim and a professor of epidemiology at Louisiana State University. 

Using genetic fingerprinting, “you can pinpoint a strain of anthrax to its geographic origin or perhaps even to its laboratory origin,” said Scott Layne, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Los Angeles. 

So far Keim has declined to talk about his work, citing national security concerns. 

“I’ve seen many reports in the media saying that we’re involved in this investigation but I will assure that there’s been no confirmation of that from anyone at this university,” Keim said during a briefing at the school’s Flagstaff, Ariz., campus Thursday. “It would be irresponsible for me to confirm that type of situation given that there’s an ongoing criminal investigation.” 

But Hugh-Jones said that if the bacteria used in Florida belonged to any well-known strain, Keim would have identified it right away. 

“From all the fancy footwork, it’s clear that they didn’t get an exact match,” Hugh-Jones said. 

He and other experts declined to speculate how long it could take to identify the Florida strain that killed Robert Stevens, a photo editor for The Sun. Anthrax spores were also found on Stevens’ computer keyboard, and two of his co-workers were found to have inhaled some of the spores. They are being treated with antibiotics. 

The FBI is investigating how and why the anthrax got into the newspaper offices, but they said they could not tie it to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. 

Earlier this week a federal official who asked not to be identified told The Associated Press that the Florida anthrax was similar to a strain collected in Iowa during the 1950s. That led to speculation that the attackers could have used the “Ames strain,” an especially virulent form of anthrax taken from a sick animal at Iowa State University about that time. There were even erroneous reports that it might have been stolen from an Iowa laboratory. 

But the FBI put those stories to rest on Thursday. 

“At this time there is no information concerning any link to Iowa,” said Larry Holmquist, an FBI spokesman in Omaha, Neb. 

Vito Del Vecchio, a bacteriologist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said Thursday that federal authorities have asked him to apply a second DNA fingerprinting method to the Florida samples, an indication that their identity probably has not yet been pinpointed. 

Keim and Hugh-Jones have been working for about eight years to create DNA fingerprints of as many anthrax strains as they can. So far, they have succeeded with more than 400 strains, a fraction of the many hundreds that are thought to exist. 

In May 2000, the researchers published an anthrax family tree in the Journal of Bacteriology that showed the genetic relationships of 89 strains. Hugh-Jones said that tree could be enormously valuable in narrowing down potential sources of the anthrax. 

“Even if it’s not exact,” Hugh-Jones said, “we can say, ’OK, if it’s between this and that, this is where we’ll find it.’ ” 

Even a decade ago it would have been very difficult to identify an anthrax strain with such precision. But DNA fingerprinting gives such a distinctive result that it amounts to a smoking gun. 

“I think it would be very dangerous for anybody to be found with this,” Hugh-Jones said. “They’d have an awful lot of explaining to do.” 

WASHINGTON — In a stark warning, the FBI said Thursday it has received information there may be additional terrorist attacks inside the United States or abroad in the next several days. 

The bureau said its information does not identify specific targets, but it has asked local police to be on the highest alert and for all Americans to be wary of suspicious activity. 

“Certain information, while not specific as to target, gives the government the reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against U.S. interests overseas over the next several days,” the FBI said in its warning. 

“The FBI has again alerted all local law enforcement to be on the highest alert and we call on all people to immediately notify the FBI and local law enforcement of any unusual or suspicious activity,” it said. 

President Bush said he had personally reviewed the intelligence that prompted the FBI alert. 

The intelligence represented “a general threat on America,” he said at a news conference Thursday night. 

In a taped interview for ABC’s “Nightline,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said, “I think the next several days are obviously important partially because of the environment in which we find ourselves in the initial response period” in Afghanistan.” 

Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said the department had received new intelligence within the past few days about a potential attack and decided to alert the public as well as law enforcement agencies. 

“We realize the importance of the public accurately understanding the kinds of alerts we are sending out to law enforcement,” said Tucker. 

She said since Sept. 11 the FBI has sent law enforcement agencies five or six alerts. One that urged extra security and vigilance over crop-dusting operations was eventually made public. 

Ashcroft has also warned Americans about possible attacks in retaliation for the U.S.-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan. 

“We asked everyone to be on the highest alert and we’re asking everyone to do that again,” said Tucker. She added, in words similar to Ashcroft’s this week, “Americans should go on with their lives, there’s no reason people should live in panic.” 

It was the FBI’s second request this week that law enforcement move to its highest state of alert. The first was on Sunday. 

Thursday’s statement was the first to suggest attacks might occur within several days. 

Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller have said they intend to alert Americans to any credible threats about future terrorist plans. 

In recent days, the FBI has asked supervisors of water supplies, nuclear and electric power plant operators, owners of crop dusters and drivers of hazardous waste trucks among others to increase security to ward off attacks. 

“We are working to do everything possible and we would enlist the help of citizens in that,” Ashcroft said earlier Thursday, before the FBI warning was issued.

The Associated Press 

KABUL, Afghanistan — The first daylight raid on the Afghan capital in the 5-day-old U.S.-led air campaign sent shoppers scattering in panic Thursday, jumping on donkey carts and bicycles to flee heavy explosions. In the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, a hit on a munitions dump set off a series of deafening blasts – and an exodus of civilians toward the Pakistani border. 

U.S. planes returned to the skies over Kabul late Thursday, and a huge fireball lit up the sky over the eastern part of the city in the direction of a training base of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network. 

Huge detonations accompanied by a howling wind could also be heard Thursday evening from the Afghan side of the border in the Pakistani frontier town of Chaman, about 70 miles south of Kandahar. 

One month after the terror attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Pakistani officials acknowledged for the first time that U.S. planes and personnel were on the ground as part of the American-led campaign against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden and that the United States had been granted use of two key bases. 

But the air campaign is so controversial in Muslim Pakistan that the government publicly denied there were any American military personnel in the country. Pakistani officials who confirmed the American presence were careful not to categorize them as military personnel. 

Pakistan stressed that its territory would not be a staging ground for military strikes against neighboring Afghanistan. Assistance to the United States has stirred up an angry backlash against Gen. Pervez Musharraf from militant Muslim parties. More than 15 U.S. military aircraft, including C-130 transport planes, arrived over the past two days at a Pakistani base at Jacobabad, 300 miles northeast of the port city of Karachi and about 150 miles from the Afghan border, said Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.  

The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said of the arrival of U.S. personnel, “When the Americans enter Afghanistan, here will start the real war – not now.” 

In London, the head of the British armed forces, Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, said U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan could last into next summer, unless the country’s ruling Islamic militia surrenders bin Laden. 

“It could be a very short haul ... (or) we must expect to go through the winter and into next summer at the very least,” Boyce said. 

The Taliban claimed at least 115 people had been killed in overnight strikes late Wednesday and early Thursday, including 100 in a village near Jalalabad and 15 who died when a missile hit a mosque in that northeastern city. 

No independent confirmation of the Taliban claims was possible. 

The southern Afghan city of Kandahar, home base and birthplace of the Taliban, has been hammered repeatedly in the U.S. raids, and it took another pounding Thursday. Warplanes again targeted a compound near the airport where bin Laden followers had lived. 

Also hit was a munitions dump outside a Taliban base, causing huge explosions that sent many Kandahar residents fleeing. “People ran without looking back,” said Abdul Gharrar, arriving at Pakistan’s Chaman border crossing hours later.