A group of first-grade parents at Washington Elementary School have been pressuring the district to close two bathrooms located in a “portable” building, which is accessible from the street, but invisible to teachers. They want new bathrooms built inside the classrooms. 

“Anybody on the street could walk into those bathrooms and use them and go into them when the children are in them,” said Pamela Springer, one of the parents. 

The district has already put out bids for a contractor to renovate and clean the existing bathrooms – a task another parent demanded. But Superintendent Michelle Lawrence said Wednesday that the question of their location offered no easy solution. 

“It is so incredibly crowded, so it’s not an easy issue of our just bringing in another portable and setting it someplace,” said Lawrence. “Relocating (the bathrooms) becomes a much more difficult issue.” 

The two bathrooms face McKinley Street, which is blocked off to traffic but easily accessible to the public. A five-foot-tall chain-link fence separates the building from the sidewalk, but a gate is open to the street 20 feet away. 

Rita Kimble, the school principal, said she installed that chain-link fence two years ago, when she began working at Washington. Parents had expressed concern at the time. 

“The way it was configured was to deter anybody from going into the bathrooms,” she said. 

On Wednesday afternoon, several first- and second-grade students bounded around the building in their Halloween costumes to use the bathrooms and lingered afterwards for a few moments on the stairs up to the doors, watching the sunny street. 

“It’s totally ridiculous,” said Linda Navidad Franco, who stood outside the portable structure. “(The kids) come along all the time, and we understand that the teachers can’t be with them all the time.” 

She said she told her daughter, a second-grader, never to use those bathrooms.  

“I tell her to hold it for when they go for recess or lunch,” Franco said. 

The parents started writing letters to Kimble, the first-grade teacher, Avis Minger and district administrators soon after the school year began. Aside from decrying the bathroom location, they also described the conditions inside the bathrooms in terms reminiscent of an underdeveloped country. 

“In the girls’ bathroom a door on one of the stalls in entirely missing, while in the other a long strip of rusted metal hangs off the stall door,” the parents wrote to Kimble.  

They cited flooding, lack of soap and paper, peeling paint, and faucets so tight that girls have had to ask boys to come in and help operate them. 

The bathrooms, they wrote, are “an accident waiting to happen.” 

“The health considerations are serious,” they wrote in another letter to Minger, “especially since first-grade children are still learning to wash after toileting.” 

In a letter responding to the parents, dated Sept. 11, Kimble wrote that she asked the maintenance department to “upgrade” the bathrooms last spring. She noted that flooring and painting work had already been initiated and said coded locks would be placed on the bathroom doors. 

“Children will be able to learn a simple code to enter,” Kimble wrote. “This will prevent anyone else from entering them.” 

Kimble also said she would ask teachers to take their classes to the bathroom as a group. But in a Sept. 5 letter, the begrudged parents said this idea “seemed impractical and impossible.”  

Kimble said on Thursday that the first-grade teacher was carrying-out this instruction. 

“One of the improvements (is) that actually the first graders are not going to the restrooms as frequently as they did,” said Kimble. 

Lew Jones, who has led the district’s maintenance department since last month’s departure of maintenance director Gene Le Fevre, said a bidding process was underway to hire a contractor to improve the existing bathrooms by painting and replacing the floors, doing minor carpentry, and perhaps, some plumbing. 

Jones estimated about $12,000 would be spent, but would not estimate how long the work would take. 

“I don’t think it’s that long a duration of a project,” he said. 

Franco, the second-grader’s parent, echoed many parents’ opinions on Wednesday. 

“What’s the point of fixing them when they’re still accessible to everybody?” she said. 

The bungalows were placed in their current location in 1995 as part of a two-year schoolwide renovation and seismic retrofit, said Stephanie Allen, who headed the school’s site committee during that period. The bathrooms were added within a year to handle the expanded school population, she said. 

“There is not any other place to put those bathrooms in terms of hookups, and they have to have bathrooms for the kids and staff,” Allen said. 

“These are the kinds of problems (you find) when you’re housing students and staff in portables.”

Friday, Nov. 2 

Lunch Poems Reading Series 

12:10 p.m. 

Morrison Library in Doe Library 

UC Berkeley 

Korean poet Ko Un reads selections from his poetry, short stories, fiction, criticism, essays, and children’s literature. 

National Children’s Book Week 

3:30 p.m. 

North Branch Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

City Commons Club Luncheon 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Laura Nader, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, presents “Other Civilizations.” $1 admission; 11:45 a.m. lunch, $12.25. 848-3533 

Saturday, Nov. 3

Media “Wedge Kit” Training 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

The goal of the Media Wedge Kit Training is to help participants create and insert dynamic, witty, and irresistible new language like a wedge into the mainstream media wall. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds, 548-2220 x233. 

Volunteers Needed 

Ongoing 

Help the Berkeley Public Library get ready for the opening of the new Central Library branch. Cover, clean, and dust book jackets in anticipation of their shelving in the new library. 649-3946  

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m. 

Julie’s Healthy Café 

2562 Bancroft Way 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Robert Ewing Quartet performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Meet the Innovators of Tomorrow... Today 

8 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. 

Tilden Room, 5th Floor 

MLK Student Union 

UC Berkeley 

Hear students present their original research projects in science, mathematics, and technology for the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition. (202)944-1940  

National Children’s Book Week 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Public Library 

2121 Allston Way 

3 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Community and Family Contra Dance 

7 p.m.  

Grace North Church 

Cedar and Walnut 

With music by Robin Flower and Libby McLaren, come play and dance. Easy dances for all ages. $10. 482-9479 

Gardening with East Bay  

Native Plants 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Class held offsite 

An Ecology Center sustainable living class. A hands on workshop in a local garden built from local native plants, restoration gardening, philosophy, ecology, design, local plant sources, and home propagation. Preregistration is required, 548-2220 x233. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds. 

Poetry Reading 

3 - 5 p.m. 

South Branch Public Library 

1901 Russell St. 

The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading. 527-9905 poetalk@aol.com 

Our School 

3 - 5 p.m. 

St. John’s Community Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Informative event for prospective parents. Learn their approach to education, meet the director, tour the school, and meet parents. 704-0701 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult. Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Sunday, Nov. 4

Re-Legitimizing Peace: 

Peace Making in the Middle East 

6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

International House Auditorium 

(Bancroft and Piedmont) 

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, will discuss her views on achieving peace in the Middle East and what role the United States ought to play. Free and open to the public. Center for Middle Eastern Studies, http://ias.berkeley.edu/cmes/text_only/ 

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m.  

The Village 

2556 Telegraph 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Rhythm Kitchen performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Day of the Dead: Dia de los Muertos Celebration and Commemoration 

1 - 5 p.m. 

Rosa Parks Elementary School  

Multipurpose Room (Cafeteria) 

920 Allston Way 

Rosa Parks Elementary School invites the community to a multicultural event and exhibit featuring traditional altars; entertainment by Ballet Folklorico Juvenil de Berkeley and Cuahtli Mitotiani Mexica; and delicious traditional Mexican dishes. 237-2557 

“Sundays At Four” 

4 p.m. 

The Crowden School 

1474 Rose St. 

Benjamin Simon and Friends with sublime and ridiculous viola music. $10, under 18 violists free. 559-6910 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult. Visit www.cal-sailing.org 

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

Editor: 

How do we count the living spaces in the downtown? The the building boom – the bedroom, loft, and studio building boom – now underway should leave some public record of what it has accomplished. The General Plan on page 12 in its Land Use Element gives a beginning: a table of 10 residential mixed-use projects recently or nearly finished, each one listed with an address, the project type (rental, condo) and the number of units. But a living space is better measured by the bedroom than by the unit, and with the assistance this week of two diligent city planners (this information is not usually part of the necessary public record), the bedroom count for seven of the 10 can be given: for the seven projects, 300 units and 440 bedrooms (including lofts and studios). The other three still need research. 

Among the seven projects is the Gaia building, which led in both units (91) and bedrooms (146), but its leadership may be short-lived. On Oct. 11 ZAB approved a housing project for 2020 Kittredge St. Its developers want to call it Library Gardens, but with 176 units and – are you sitting down? – 320 bedrooms, it might better be called The Village. And Gardens or Village, it will be right next to the Central Library. 

All this may be news to you, particularly the size of the project, which has moved very quietly through the permitting channels, though it has taken a year and a half. The quietness is partly due to the noise elsewhere in the Berkeley construction scene involving Gaia. But it is also because the Central Library has been absent from its home on Kittredge since October, 1998. Without patrons and supporters coming daily to Kittredge, a developer (the Use Permit application for the project is dated May, 2000) might imagine that the library building is the library. Not so: only a library in residence is a library. And a library in residence is its own best – and I think only true – spokesperson. 

What effect will this huge project have on the Central Library?  

The project is part of the larger movement toward “infilling” the downtown with mixed-use residential, a process I see having no end, since one can always find underperforming property and work to convert it. 

But infilling implies filling – with people. The downtown will suddenly have a population it has not had, and that population will be first in line to use the new Central Library. If the demand is heavy enough, Central may unofficially become Downtown, though it has been redesigned to be Central – to all of Berkeley. 

Will the extra local demand require a future expansion? My guess is that it will, in 10 to 15 years. But also, if I understand the design of the project next door at 2020 Kittredge, no expansion will physically be possible. What a problem: pressure, and no way to release it. 

Is there a way to challenge The Village? The ZAB process allows only a short appeals period, which for this project expires at 5 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 6. Someone with more insight than me into the project and the appeals process might want to take up the challenge. But Yes or No, there is a challenge here for ZAB: it is time they televised their meetings. This project may be the largest one downtown since the trenching for BART in 1971, and with 420 people (my estimate, a low one, I think), will shift the center of people gravity significantly southwest. 

Televising ZAB meetings will allow both public scrutiny and the scrutiny of the process of public scrutiny. ZAB most certainly followed the procedures, but it would have been much better if more people could have been watching and commenting. And more should be watching and commenting now and in the near future as this great change of downtown to mixed-use residential is contemplated, planned and executed. 

Fred Lupke 

Former co-chair Measure R 

Oakland

“So, you want to know the story of our Rusalka?” begins an old woman, talking to a scholar of folklore who is recording the quaint beliefs held by those in these remote mountain villages.  

“Her voice was the sound of old paper, handled seldom, in a book carefully stored in an even older library: Thin, transparent, a whisper of what once had been,” writes Berkeley author Cenizas de Rosas (a pseudonym). Much of the description in “Rusalka Moon” has just this mixture of preciousness and precision. 

The folklorist begins notetaking, and this ornate floral-smelling tale of how a certain Rusalka came into being unfolds.  

This Rusalka, a mythical creature who lives in the river and leaves at certain times in order to fertilize crops, was originally a young virgin named Valasha, who was simply too sweet for this world. 

There are a few bluntly delicious descriptions: At one point Valasha’s intended, a farm boy named Vasily Andryef, forgets he is “standing in mud and pig shit up to his ankles,” so distracted is he by the lures of going to war. Vasily’s war experiences are portrayed in unflinching detail, especially when he’s off burning and bayoneting little children and grooming his superiors’ horses. The wry and witty jokes are lovely when they appear, and there’re other nice touches, such as a child named Masla, “pat o’ butter.” 

But these pleasures come with the requisite fantasy genre clichés: “sloe-eyed maidens” and the word “silky” doing double-duty as a mood enhancer and adjective. The ground is “dappled” and blossoms are everywhere. 

But I digress.  

There is wisdom in this book, a hard-edged 21st century awareness of that sad rag, human nature, in which individuals and groups just simply won’t stop making deals with the devil or, in this case, with the Vodany, the frenzied creepy corpse-like creature that, apparently, dwells under the local river and captures the fluttering quivering souls of the drowned in order to turn them into Rusalkas.  

At one point, the villagers try to pay off the Vodany with the sacrifice of a gleaming strong horse, that they tie up and drown in a quite vividly-described passage.  

But does this bribe work? 

Of course not. 

According to this novel: “It is said that at the end of all things, the tears of Faeries will heal the world.” We’ll just have to wait for that.

924 Gilman St. Nov. 2: Mood Frye, Manic Notion, Cremasters of Disaster, Bottles and Skulls, Lorax, Sociopath; Nov. 3: Cruevo, Nigel Peppercock, Impaled, Systematic Infection, Depressor; Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 3: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Both shows 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring. com  

Anna’s Nov. 2: Anna de Leon and Ellen Hoffmann, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 3: Robin Gregory and Bill Bell, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Quartet; Nov. 4: Danubius; Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 2: Shady Lady, Buffalo Roam, $5; Nov. 3: Funk Monsters, Molasses, $5; Nov. 4: Lost Coast Band, Supercel, $3; Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Taiko Festival, $20 - $32; 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 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 2: Don Edwards $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 3: Barbara Higbie $17.50 - $18.50; All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 2: Lithium House; Nov. 3: Solomon Grundy; Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: Nov. 4: 5 - 9 p.m., Salsa, merengue, cumbia from DJs Rosa Oviedo and Chata Gutierrez, $7; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Sightlines, Pre-performance discussion with guest artists. 8 p.m., “Music Before 1850,” with Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. $32. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Distaff Singers Annual Benefit Concert” Nov. 3: 8 p.m., Distaff Singers 64th Annual Benefit Concert for the Ida Altenbach Scholarship Fund. $10. Oakland Mormon Interstake Auditorium, 4770 Lincoln Ave., 658-2921 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

Theater 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“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 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“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 

Cal Performances “The Car Man” Nov. 1: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Nov. 2: 8 p.m.; Nov. 3: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne and his company re-invent Bizet’s “Carmen,” spinning the tale of a mysterious drifter in a small mid-western town, who changes the lives of its inhabitants forever. $32 - $64; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

Dance 

“México Danza Brings the Splendor and Pageantry of the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos to the Stage” Nov. 1: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. Compania México Danza presents a cast of 20 enchanting dancers, adorned in festive costumes. $10 Calvin Simmons Theatre, Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Ten 10th St., Oakland. 465-9312 www.danceforpower.org 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 1: 7:30 p.m., Leslie Thornton Artist Workshop; Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Strange Fruit; 8:45 p.m., Facing the Music; Nov. 3: 7 p.m., Damnation; 9:25 p.m., Family Nest; Nov. 4: 3:30 p.m., I Loved You... (Three Romances); 5:35 p.m., The Making of the Revolution; Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Search” Nov. 4: 2 - 4:30 p.m., 1948 drama of American soldier caring for a young concentration camp survivor in post-war Berlin, while the boy’s mother is desperately searching all Displaced Persons camps for him. $2 suggested donation. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

Exhibits  

“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 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“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 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

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

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.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 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 3: Editor Danya Ruttenberg and contributors Loolwa Khazzoom, Emily Wages, Billie Mandel will read their selections in the new anthology, “Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism.”; Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; 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 Telegraph Ave. Nov. 1: Frederick Crews talks about “Postmodern Pooh”; Nov. 3: Ben Cheever looks at “Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Service Economy (A Personal Odyssey)”; Nov. 5: Jack Miles talks about “CHRIST: A Crisis in the Life of God”; Nov. 6: Royall Tyler presents his new translation of “The Tale of Genji”; Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m.: Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”; Nov. 8: Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 12: Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!” All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 1: Travel in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001: An Evening with Prominent Bay Area Travel Experts; Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley, Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.

Forney the lone returning starter  

SAN JOSE – Caren Horstmeyer expects her new–look Cal women’s basketball team to play small ball to start the season. 

The expected starting lineup doesn’t have much height, so the Golden Bears will have to rely on running and scrappy play to succeed. Cal got strong guard play last year from Courtney Johnson (15.2 points per game) and Kenya Corley (12.8 ppg), its two leading scorers who have exhausted their eligibility. But this year’s team will rely even more on its non–post players. 

“It might not be pretty, but the goal is, find a way to win,’” Horstmeyer said. 

The second–year Cal coach talked about her changing squad Thursday at Pac–10 Women’s Basketball Media Day at the Compaq Center in San Jose, where the conference’s teams gathered to preview the upcoming season. 

Last season, Cal had a 12–16 (8–10 in the Pac–10) record to tie for sixth in the conference. This year, Pac–10 coaches tabbed Cal to finish tied for eighth with UCLA. The media poll picked the Bears ninth. Stanford earned the top spot in both polls. 

The Bears return just one starter – forward/center Ami Forney – after losing seven seniors from last year. They bring in nine newcomers, but two of the brightest – sophomore center Olga Volkova and freshman guard Jackie Lord – enter the season recovering from ACL injuries.  

Volkova will help offset the loss of Lauren Ashbaugh, a forward/center who scored 7.8 ppg and pulled down 5.8 rebounds per game. Volkova, a 6–foot–4 Ukrainian center, injured her knee last year while playing for Merritt College in Oakland. If she does play in Sunday’s home exhibition against the Bay Area Pro Am team, she would come off the bench. 

“We know (Volkova) is an elite athlete that can give experience, smarts and then size, ability to score and good defense,” Horstmeyer said. “But right now, she’s limited to (practicing in a) half court (setting). We’re trying to get her back to full court. The status of her knee really right now is uncertain.” 

For the foreseeable future, Horstmeyer will operate with just one true post player – Forney – in the starting lineup. Horstmeyer’s other likely starters include forwards Amber White and Kiki Williams asdf

Funding would continue hotel’s emergency homeless aid  

Councilmember Linda Maio pulled a $100,000 contract to provide emergency housing off the City Council’s consent calendar Tuesday, saying she wanted to learn more about the program and its impact on the neighborhood. 

The council resolution would continue an emergency housing contract with the Flamingo Hotel, located at 1761 University Ave., to house up to 10 mentally ill homeless people. Generally, items on the consent calendar are approved unanimously in one vote, without discussion. 

“I checked with Health and Human Services to make sure the delay would cause no disruption to the program’s services,” Maio said. “But this one threw me a curve because I didn’t know what was being proposed.” 

Maio has scheduled a meeting with the Health and Human Services officials so she and neighbors of the hotel can learn more about the state program, formally known as Integrated Services for the Mentally Ill. 

The program, which provides counseling, drug rehabilitation, food and clothing to the chronically homeless, has been housing clients at the hotel since March.  

The council is now considering the contract because of a policy to approve all contracts once they go above $25,000. 

Harvey Tureck, manager of the Mental Health Division, said he is confident the contract will be approved because the program participants who use the emergency housing at the Flamingo Hotel are not troublemakers. “Mental health staff are on site every day and besides these people are mentally disabled and not likely to commit crimes,” he said.  

Tureck added that since the program began, none of the participants has been arrested. 

The recommendation was rescheduled for the council’s Nov. 13 meeting. 

If approved, the temporary hotel housing will continue to provide a much needed element in a unique $3 million program that is attempting to offer meaningful and lasting help to the most severely mentally disabled homeless, who health officials say are the hardest to reach. 

In September 2000, Gov. Gray Davis approved $56 million for similar programs in 26 counties. Berkeley received grant approval for $3 million last November to serve approximately 100 of the city’s most severely mentally ill homeless through November 2003. 

The Mental Health Division, which manages the program, has hired seven social workers who have mostly been working the streets to gain the trust of the mentally ill homeless. Tureck said trust building is essential because the people the program is meant to help are often mistrustful and wary of all government agencies. 

The need for housing this particular homeless population is especially great, because it brings some stability to what is often an otherwise chaotic existence, according to Tureck. He said the 72 clients currently being assisted by the program are now living in residency hotels, long-term care facilities and independent housing. 

Tureck said the Flamingo Hotel provides clients with much needed transitional housing until arrangements can be made for long-term housing, which is the primary goal of the program.  

“So far the results have been good,” Tureck said. “We’ve been able to move some clients into permanent housing around the county and we are currently negotiating to convert a boarding house in central Berkeley into housing for about 20 people.” 

The governor approved the bill based on three pilot programs in Stanislaus and Los Angeles counties and the city of Sacramento. 

The pilot programs cost $10 million to provide the mentally ill homeless with counseling, drug rehabilitation, housing, food and clothing but, according to organizers, it saved $20 million in other services such as emergency medical care and police services. 

Maio represents District 2, where the Flamingo Hotel is located. She said she expects the contract will be approved on Nov. 13. 

“My neighborhood has been supportive of affordable housing, which makes it a very tolerant and unusual place,” she said.

Editor: 

Unreal. 

First we get Richard Gere saying that we should love our Terrorists and now, another Democrat won’t support our President or the fight against Terrorism. What a shame.  

How dare Lee fail in her commitment to stand behind our country to fight the zealots that killed innocent men and women. I hope that the City Council in Berkeley is run out of town on a train as well as Lee, and for Danny Glover to support her is another one of the signs of how the Democrats got us into this position.  

President Bush would have never had to resort to war if the Democrats had started the man hunt and stopped Osama bin Laden when they bombed the foreign embassies. It seems that once again the Hollywood Democrats are on the wrong side of justice as well as environmental movement. Also, Democrats want their freedom, gold chains, metal cars and wooden million dollar homes but they don’t want to stand up to fight, allow miners and loggers to make a living or support our president in time of great need. Lee and the City Council should be ashamed and apologize to the families of missing loved ones and the men and women of the armed forces trying to give you back your comfort and freedom from terrorists. Don’t you understand that you are playing into the hands of Osama and the Taliban. They have no other source of weapon shipments to fight a sustained war so they are relying on the American people to fight amongst ourselves to stop the attacks. They hope to outlast us while they sit in their caves waiting for responses from people like Berkeley to cause in-house feuding, see, you are playing right into their hands.  

One last note, I sure won’t visit Berkeley ever again. Boycott Berkeley!  

Tim Barnett  

Salt Lake City, Utah

NEW YORK — Since Sept. 11, Americans by the millions have been reaching out to friends — real ones, and imaginary ones on television. 

The NBC sitcom “Friends” has unexpectedly become TV’s most popular show this fall. Rachel is pregnant, Ross is the dad, and viewers are anxious to share the experience. 

“Friends” is averaging 28.4 million viewers through five weeks, despite competing against “Survivor” for two of them. Guest shots by Sean Penn on Thursday and Brad Pitt later this month should keep those numbers up. Not bad for a show that many worried was creatively spent. 

“Nobody expects that in the eighth year of a series,” co-creater David Crane said this week. “It’s phenomenal.” 

Many suggest “Friends” is doing well because viewers crave the familiar in a time of stress — the comfort food theory. Crane believes that shortchanges the producers, writers and actors. 

“We have something to do with it,” he said. “We’re not just cozy.” 

The show does seem infused with a new energy. New York Daily News critic Eric Mink called the new season’s episodes “creative gems — funny, touching, crisply performed and produced and consistent with the characters’ long-established personalities.” 

Last spring, when a lackluster set of “Friends” episodes was beaten regularly in the ratings by “Survivor,” there were real questions about a comeback. 

“It kind of felt like the series was done — it had said what it had to say, it was good while it lasted but it was time to fold it up,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. 

And it was introducing two plot devices — marriage and pregnancy — that for many television series are signs of creative desperation, he said. 

Instead, viewers who have figuratively “hung out” with the six main characters in their carefree youth have chosen to watch them grow up. 

“They tapped into a story line back in May that was terrific, and that America clearly wanted to see,” said NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker. “We know that when Ross and Rachel hooked up for the first time five years ago that it was their single biggest year. Clearly, America loves the Ross and Rachel combination.” 

Does that mean the ratings-hungry Zucker will order that the characters played by Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer — currently on the outs romantically — get together again? He said he’s leaving it up to the creators. They’re not tipping their hands. 

“Friends” has never finished a television season atop the Nielsen Media Research ratings. Its peak was a second-place showing in 1998-99. The show was the fifth most-popular series during the last two seasons. 

For a series set in New York City, “Friends” has made only subtle references to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11: Joey wore a New York Fire Department T-shirt in one scene, and “I Love NY” was scrawled on a bulletin board in the background. 

Anything beyond that really doesn’t have a place on the show, Crane said. 

“If we had something fresh to offer, we would,” he said. “But there’s also something escapist about the show. It’s a half-hour where you’re laughing and not thinking about what’s going on in the world. That’s providing something, I think.” 

The program has always existed in a fantasy version of New York anyway, with impossibly beautiful friends living in impossibly large apartments. 

”‘Friends’ doesn’t really take place in New York,” Thompson said. “It takes place on another planet.” 

The Syracuse professor is curious about whether viewers will embrace a “married with children” “Friends.” It’s a rare show that can change its basic premise and thrive, he said. 

They may never get the chance. With the six stars’ contracts expiring after this season, it has been conventional wisdom that this would be the last year. 

Crane resists that talk. Zucker wants the show to continue. There’s some hope that Schwimmer, Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry — whose movie careers aren’t thriving and who may be enjoying the show’s new roll — would want to stay. 

The six actors banded together in past contract negotiations to demand more money. If they do it again, NBC might have a wrenching decision to make with the collapsing advertising market making money tight. 

Look for a real-life cliffhanger next May. 

“Could we do another year?” Crane asked. “Oh, yeah, in a second. If, for whatever reason, this is the last season, knowing we went out on top also feels really good.” 

Berkeley clinches 2nd ACCAL title 

Eventually, the Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team will lose an ACCAL match. But Thursday, they beat their toughest league opponent for the second time this year, extending their winning streak in league play to 24 games and clinching their second straight league title. 

The Encinal Jets took Berkeley to five games in their last meeting, but the ’Jackets simply overpowered them this time, winning in four games, 15-1, 15-8, 14-16, 15-2. Their only cold streak came in the third game, as they allowed the Jets to come back from a 14-3 deficit to win the game. 

Berkeley middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young didn’t win the statistical battle with Jackie Randolph, last year’s league MVP, but her team came out on top and she faced Randolph down several times, as three of her four blocks came on Randolph spikes.  

Guilliard-Young finished with seven kills, paling in comparison to Randolph’s 15 to go with three blocks, but the Berkeley star got much more help from her teammates. Outside hitter Vanessa Williams had 13 kills and 11 digs, while outside hitter Amalia Jarvis had eight kills. Encinal, on the other hand, had no player other than Randolph with more than three kills. 

“You just have to control Jackie when you can, and shut down everyone else,” Berkeley coach Justin Caraway said. “She’s going to get her points, but you can’t let anyone else beat you.” 

Randolph was virtually invisible in the first two games, managing just two kills and two blocks. But she did manage to ignite Encinal’s only big run, taking control of the third game with her team on the brink of being swept. She led her team back from 14-3 to 14-9 with several nice digs, then drove two kills to make the score 14-11. When Berkeley managed a side out, Randolph answered with another kill, then served the last five points of the match, including two aces. 

But the ’Jackets refused to let the collapse continue. Williams came through with three kills early in the final game as Berkeley jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. 

Caraway said his team played its best game of the season on Thursday, passing and serving better than any game this year. He even declined to rip into his players for the collapse in the third game, chalking it up to some good serving from the Jets and bad communication on his team’s part. 

“The only thing that disappointed me was that we dominated all four games, but we lost one,” he said. “We outplayed them in every facet of the game, but we just got tentative and scared for a little bit.” 

The ’Jackets have yet to lose a match in league play since joining the ACCAL last season. Caraway admitted that going undefeated two years in a row would be an impressive feat, no matter how uneven the competition is. 

“We’re sitting pretty at 12-0 right now, but we want to finish undefeated,” he said. “Can I see us losing to either of the next two opponents (El Cerrito and De Anza)? No. But you never know what will happen on any given day.”

Gov. Gray Davis set off a flurry of mildly panicked inquiries Thursday when he told reporters that terrorists may be targeting California suspension bridges for a terrorist attack somewhere between Nov. 2 and Nov. 7. 

The announcement came at a press conference in Los Angeles, during which Davis presented FBI veteran George Vinson as his new special advisor on state security issues. Davis is in Los Angeles for an economic summit to be held in Burbank Friday. 

“We have received from several different sources threats that the law enforcement agencies in general believe are credible,” Davis said, immediately catapulting himself onto television screens across the nation as cable channels broke into regular programming to announce the new terrorist threat.  

Davis also appeared on Larry King Live Thursday night and said he received warnings from three separate federal agencies. 

Oakland mayor Jerry Brown said on CNN news that the threat warnings he had received were confused.  

“I’m going to drive across that bridge unless we receive a lot more credible information than what we got today,” he said. 

Brown was asked what the point of the governor’s warning was if vehicles were not going to be searched or the bridges closed. After several attempts to explain the difficulty in balancing warnings of danger with the need to continue daily life, the former California governor finally confessed: “I don’t know what the point was.” 

While polls nationwide have shown the public coalescing behind elected officials from the president on down to city council members, there has been no similar increase in Davis’ popularity. In a late September field poll, the governor’s approval rating among Californians dropped to 41 percent, the lowest since he took office. 

“As governor, he has to take the heat for the economic crisis and the downturn in the state’s economy,” said Democratic pollster David Binder of San Francisco. 

Nearly every government agency in the state was flooded with calls from reporters and worried citizens all afternoon. They seemed caught off-guard by the statement and much less concerned about the threat than the governor.  

Caltrans referred calls to a wrong number for the California Highway Patrol; the CHP took messages and promised to return calls. Even the governor’s office had no prepared statement or staff ready to respond to questions. 

A spokesperson for the CHP said there are no plans to close any of the bridges, or to search crossing cars. In a terse written statement, the FBI stressed that “the information presented was unsubstantiated, and the reliability of the source is unknown.” 

An FBI spokesperson in the agency’s San Francisco office appeared to struggle to maintain his professional demeanor and politely refused to comment on whether the governor’s decision to make the announcement was motivated as much by politics as by security. Asked if the Davis should have made the threat public, his composure snapped.  

“Well, it’s too late now,” he said. 

Coast Guard spokesperson Barry Lane said the Coast Guard has been on heightened alert since the Sept. 11 attacks.  

“As for preparing for a new threat, we’ve been preparing for any threat,” he said. He advised the public to “just rest assured that the Coast Guard and other government agencies have everything under control.” 

Davis said people have to decide whether or not to cross the bridges, just as they have to decide if it is safe for them to fly.  

“They’ll have to make whatever choices they think are best for them,” he said. “We want them to know, if they’re going to cross these bridges that we’ve done everything possible to ensure their safety, and we have.” 

According to Davis, the threatened bridges are the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, and the San Diego Coronado Bridge. An average of 270,000 cars cross the Bay Bridge each day, and about 125,000 use the Golden Gate. 

851-4561 

Editor: 

Since the 1980s I’ve noticed the apparent misuse of the word “tolerance.” We seem to have forgotten that “tolerate” means “to put up with.” In the words of educator Jane Elliot: “People don’t want to be ‘tolerated’ - they want to be accepted.” 

O.V. Michaelsen 

Alameda 

BOONE, N.C. - No. 4 seed Davidson (5-13) gave No. 1 California (11-4) a scare as the Wildcats pushed the 17th-ranked Golden Bears into double overtime. Sara Hunt’s goal at 7:14 rescued Cal from an upset-minded Davidson squad for a 5-4 win Thursday afternoon in the NorPac Postseason Tournament at Kidd Brewer Stadium on the Appalachian State campus.  

Cal went up 2-0 with goals from Michelle Wald and Danya Sawyers in the first half.  

Not to be outdone, Davidson came charging back after the intermission with two quick goals. Less than two minutes into the second half, the Wildcats’ Amanda Strickland scored to put her team on the board.  

A minute and a half later, the Wildcats scored on a penalty corner as Kathleen Fenn belted a shot from 15 yards out.  

At 25:46, the Bears regained the lead as senior Erin Robinson scored on a corner with assists from Sara Hunt and Wald.  

The same assist duo set up the next Cal goal, as this time, Nora Feddersen connected on a Bear penalty corner with 19:38 left in regulation for sophomore’s team-leading 10th goal of the season.  

Forward Strickland completed a hat trick for the Wildcats with two more goals to knot the score again, both from assists by Elizabeth Schoening. The second came with just three minutes left in regulation. 

Cal’s unblemished overtime record (4-0) stayed intact as senior Sara Hunt one-timed a Feddersen pass on the Bears’ 11th corner of the day in double overtime.  

“I think Davidson played a good game,” said head coach Shellie Onstead. “I’ve got to give them credit for keep coming back and I just feel like our team had, I guess, our first collective bad day. We had a hard time getting on track.”

Most visitors to the city’s Permit Service Center on Milvia Street probably only want to remodel a kitchen, get a permit for electrical or plumbing work or apply for a small business license. 

Everyone who passes through, though, is bound to notice a prominently-placed sign at the counter: 

“Attention! Important information regarding applications involving medical marijuana/medical cannabis.” 

“If you plan to cultivate, store, sell, barter, give away or otherwise distribute medical marijuana/medical cannabis, you must state that you plan to do so on your permit application, and provide documentation that your proposal is in full compliance with the city’s ‘Protocols for Medical Cannabis.’”  

Vivian Kahn, acting deputy director of planning, said on Thursday that the sign, which has been in place for the last few months, is there for a reason. 

“When we get an application for zoning approval, we normally don’t require the applicant to list every single thing they sell,” she said. “But in this case, even if (medical marijuana) is an incidental activity, we want to know.” 

“To my knowledge, no one has yet come in and said they wanted a permit for this.” 

Which just shows, according to critics, that the sign is fulfilling its purpose. 

The sign is the public face of the scrap of city policy that exists for the regulation of medical marijuana clubs. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said on Thursday that after the city passed the medical marijuana ordinance – which resulted in the “Protocols for Medical Cannabis” mentioned above – in March, there were no guidelines in place for regulating medical marijuana clubs. 

“The old city manager (James Keene) killed the Proposition 215 Implementation committee we had proposed to study the issue,” he said. 

Shortly after the passage of Proposition 215, the state referendum that permitted the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the city permits department started to receive a number of applications for “hemp and incense” and “herbal remedy” stores, which were approved. Only later did the city find out that the applicants were operating as medical marijuana clubs. 

After neighbors started to complain, the city briefly considered imposing a temporary moratorium on new clubs and developing rules in the city’s zoning ordinance for where new clubs could locate. 

However, that effort was suspended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that Proposition 215 did not invalidate federal laws, under which marijuana is an illegal drug. After the ruling, current city manager Weldon Rucker advised the council against the zoning changes, as the new ruling brought both the city’s ordinance and Proposition 215 into question. 

According to Kahn and Fred Medrano, director of the Health and Human Services Department, Matthew Orebic of the city attorney’s office developed the process now in place in the Permit Center.  

Orebic could not be reached for comment. 

Worthington said that regulation through the permits department was far from ideal, but still workable. 

“It’s a reasonably practical compromise,” he said. “In the sprit of Proposition 215 we’re allowing for some way for people to get their marijuana prescriptions filled. At the same time, it would cause a lot of controversy, and a lot of unwanted attention from the federal government, if we had 100 of these things in Berkeley.” 

Some medical marijuana advocates take a dimmer view of the method. 

Chris Conrad, a cannabis expert who has testified in many court cases involving medical marijuana laws, said that Berkeley was on the right track when it was looking at broader zoning regulations. 

“Regulation through zoning ordinances is fairly rare, though I do think it is a sensible way to do it,” he said. “But Berkeley has perverted the method, because they’re looking at it as a way to limit marijuana clubs rather than regulate them.” 

Conrad said a more equitable approach would be to designate certain districts in which clubs would be allowed to operate, and to develop other guidelines, including distance from schools. 

There are three medical marijuana clubs currently in operation in Berkeley – one on Shattuck Avenue, one on San Pablo Avenue and one on University Avenue.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to residents of Berkeley and the City Council, 

How proud I am of Berkeley again - for its recent City Council resolution on bombing and for its people’s support of Rep. Barbara Lee. I lived in Berkeley for a decade during the l980s and now farm outside Sebastopol in Sonoma County. Years later, when we look back on these dark times, Berkeley and Rep. Lee will shine in history for their bravery - as Rep. Jeannette Rankin and Sen. Wayne Morse do for their opposition to previous wars. 

Many of us here in Sonoma County and throughout the United States and the world look to Berkeley for leadership. Please don’t back down! Leadership is not always easy. Though there may be some short-term economic losses for Berkeley from this mild decision speaking for our country’s conscience and soul, it will accumulate long-term moral gains. We love you, Berkeley and Rep. Lee. 

Yea Berkeley! 

Shepherd Bliss 

Kokopelli Farm 

Sonoma County

Hornets take ACCAL cross country titles 

Berkeley High cross country lost to Alameda at the ACCAL league championship meet on Wednesday, although Berkeley’s Alex Enscoe won the boys’ race. 

Enscoe, a sophomore, beat Alameda’s Yoji Reichert by four seconds to win the boys’ race in a time of 16:09. Alameda’s Nicolas Bell came in third and the Hornets won with a team score of 25, with Berkeley second at 31. 

On the girls’ side, the Hornets won going away with 15 points, with Alameda’s Corrine Roberts winning the race in 19:22. Berkeley’s top runner, Grace Nielsen, was forced to quit the race with a leg injury, leaving Elizabeth Mendelson as Berkeley’s lone finisher. 

Cal golf finishes third in Hawaii tournament 

OAHU, Hawaii – The California women’s golf team finished third at the Rainbow Wahine Fall Golf Classic with a 911 after carding a 299 in the final round of the 54-hole tournament.  

New Mexico won the tournament at the par 72, 5900-yard Kapolei Golf Course with an 884, and Arizona was second at 905.  

Arizona’s Lorena Ochoa won the individual competition with a score of 218, two strokes ahead of two other golfers.  

Junior Vikki Laing led the Golden Bears, tying for fifth with a 223 after shooting a 73 in the final round. Cal’s next best golfer were senior Anne Walker and junior Ria Quiazon, who tied for 17th at 229. Sophomore Sarah Huarte tied for 22nd at 230, and sophomore Anna Temple shot a 249 to tie for 89th.  

The Bears don’t return to competition until the spring. 

Cal picked fifth by media 

The Cal mens’ basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10 Conference this season at the conference’s annual media day Wednesday in Los Angeles. 

The 27 voting media members picked UCLA to finish first, with the Bruins getting 25 first-place votes. Stanford was picked second, USC third and Arizona fourth.

Sunday, Nov. 4 

• 1 p.m.  

Islam in the balance 

Toward a Better Understanding of Islam and Its Followers 

Bill Graham Auditorium 

99 Grove St. at Larkin, San Francisco 

A one-day symposium that includes: Imam Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Rev. Cecil Williams, Hatem Bazian 

The event will include a performance by Hamza El Din. 

$5-10 – no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

466-5205 www.islaminthebalance.org  

Tuesday, Nov. 6 

• 7 p.m. 

Dr. Hamid Mavani speaks on “Islam and Its Background” at a free lecture and discussion presented by the Berkeley Public Library. Dr. Mavani is the Religious Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, based in Oakland.  

The session is the first of a series of three events designed to inform the community about critical world issues. 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Friday, Nov. 9 

• noon 

2315 Durant Ave.  

Ameena Janadali, co-founder of the Islamic Networks Group, will speak on “Women of Islam, at the Berkeley City Club. 

Luncheon, $11-$12.25; speaker only, 12:30 p.m., $1 

Saturday, Nov. 10 

• Community Conversation: Confronting racism, finding common ground 

Rosa Parks School 

9:30- 3 p.m. 

920 Allston Way 

The event is sponsored by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters who say: “In the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies, some of our fellow residents who may look Middle Eastern or Muslim have feared and some have experienced racist remarks or actions. This has strengthened our conviction that Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville need to confront all the different kinds of racism within our communities.” 

Sunday, Nov. 11 

• Understanding Islam 

First Unitarian Church 

14th and Castro Streets, Oakland  

2:30 - 5 p.m. 

The events of Sept. 11 and thereafter have added an element of urgency to the need for a concise educational program about Islam. The program will address whether religion itself is part of the cause of the current turmoil or whether, instead, religion is being invoked rhetorically as mythic clothing.  

Co-sponsored by the Oakland Coalition of Congregations and the People’s Nonviolent Response Coalition. 

Pre-registration is required: 433-9667 

• Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace (LMNOP) invites the public on weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland every Sunday at 3 p.m. 

Meet at the columns at the east end of the lake, between Grand and Lakeshore avenues. Near Grand Avenue exit off 580 freeway. Most well-known nearby landmark: Grand Lake Theater. 

Tuesday, Nov. 13 

7 p.m. 

Dr. Wali Ahmadi, associate professor in UC Berkeley’s near Eastern Studies Department, presents “The History of Afghanistan.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Tuesday, Nov. 20 

7 p.m. 

Ann Fagan Ginger, executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute will speak on “Civil Liberties and Conflict Resolution.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860.

Editor, 

It's sad to see Berkeleyans attacking their City Council for a desire to stop the violence - over here and over there. I grew up in New York. My mother still lives there. I went to school with people buried in the rubble. Of course, its a terrible thing. The question is whether cluster-bombing Afghanistan, supporting the Israeli occupation and denying Iraq medicine for curable diseases makes it more or less likely that it will happen again.  

People keep saying they don't want to understand why. But then the United States had better be able to defend ourselves a lot better than we have been able to so far, because I doubt the attacks will stop. New recruits to the Jihad are streaming across the Pakistani border every day. A generation of Afghans and Palestinians and Iraquis holds us directly responsible for the loss of their loved ones. They're not running out of suicide bombers.  

Me, I'd rather try to figure out what we can do the change the foreign policy of our government. I much prefer that to dying over it.  

Tracy Rosenberg 

San Francisco 

Editor: 

This is to express my gratitude and support for the very reasonable resolution the Berkeley City Council recently passed regarding Afghanistan. I can't understand why anyone would object to a simple request to seek lawful ways to bring the perpetrators to justice without bombing innocent civilians, or unnecessarily risking the lives of American military personnel. 

If other city councils – and elected officials in counties, states, and Congress – would follow the courageous and wise example of the Berkeley City Council, the benefits to the country and the planet would be incalculable. 

Tara Treasurefield 

Sonoma 

A.M. Fonda, an Emeryville mailman, poet and candidate for Emery Unified School District board election, was first at the mic during Monday’s poetry reading at Spasso Coffeehouse. His fellow poets had gathered to celebrate Halloween, Day of the Dead and the Celtic new year, but Fonda wanted to talk about modern politics and real-life terror.  

Sitting in a corner wearing a faded denim jacket and white T-shirt, he told one George W. Bush joke, which involved Bush, Bill Clinton, an attractive blond and a large woman. Then Fonda read his poem, “Midnighters,” in honor of a political activist recently killed in Afghanistan:  

“Midnight watch towers rise above low hanging fog/beneath a starry canopy,” he began. “Restless souls down on their luck/disturb birds/create a ruckus in their tree.” 

Fonda said he has no problem raising tough issues, whether he is composing poetry or campaigning for a spot on the school board in the struggling district. Like the other three candidates running for seats on the board, Fonda said he wants to improve school facilities and help restore financial stability to Emery Unified, a district that in August was $2.3 million dollars in debt. 

Fonda does have some distinct issues in his platform. He wants to bring poetry to all California schools, thinks students should be studying how to balance checkbooks, and believes Emeryville can help fight terrorism by protesting the recent Berkeley City Council resolution calling for a quick end to the bombing in Afghanistan. 

“I’ve taken a real stand on the issues. I’m the only candidate urging a boycott of Berkeley,” Fonda said, adding that Berkeley councilmembers may be able to redeem themselves if they change the resolution. “The City Council would be wise, I think, to redraft the whole thing.” 

Fonda said local media made Berkeley’s resolution sound more “condemning,” than it really was, but said the council’s actions encouraged American passivity. 

“As a people we have to stand up,” he said. “We can’t wait until the next thing comes along, so that these anthrax monsters, so they don’t have a sanctuary in Berkeley.”  

He said Emeryville needs to boycott its neighbor “until reason is restored to the City Council there.” 

His pro-boycott stance has earned him criticism from local political activists, like Dana Engen, a member of the Emeryville Green Party. 

“I think its very unfortunate that he would say something like that, if he intends to represent the city of Emeryville,” said Engen, who worked with Fonda on a campaign to recall former school board candidates. “It didn’t condemn the U.S. government, it asked that the bombing end as soon as possible. It really represents to me that he’s incapable of doing a good job on the school board.” 

Competing candidates said they feel there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed by the board. After the state take-over of Emery Unified in August, three former board members were recalled. The school board recall occurred less than a year after former superintendent J.L. Handy was arrested for misusing district funds. 

“The highest priority, of course, is to make sure the students are getting the best education,” candidate Josh Simon said. “And getting the financial accountability systems in order.” 

Fonda has had previous success organizing, and his current campaign is not his first foray into local politics. He campaigned to encourage term limits for the official California Poet Laureate, a position that had been a lifetime post. Gov. Gray Davis signed the poet term-limit bill into law on Aug. 30. Fonda said he is thrilled with his political success, and is urging the governor and senate to pick a California poet quickly. The seat is currently vacant. He has visions himself with teams of other poet laureates, teaching in schools all over the state, and around the nation. 

Fonda said he wants to balance kids’ poetry education with solid math skills. 

“The thing that really interests me is teaching money management to children,” he said. “It seems like education is somewhat disjointed from reality.” 

Mayor Nora Davis said she was thrilled to have four candidates running for three seats on the school board, and said she finds Fonda a “very interesting guy.” 

However, he is the only candidate she has not endorsed for school board. 

“I’ve worked with him on a number of issues,” Davis said. “And you know, he’s a poet. But the others have been very involved. I just don’t know what his interest is in the school board.” 

Other poets gathered at Spasso this week said Fonda seemed a natural choice. 

“I think he’d be terrific on the school board,” said Holly Goodwin, the poetry reading organizer . “He’s certainly literate.” 

Among the more light-hearted fashion and Mehndi tattoo stands and the cultural events of this week’s South Asian Awareness program on the UC Berkeley campus, stood a booth dealing with one of the most serious issues facing South Asian women – domestic violence.  

Lining Upper Sproul Plaza at lunchtime, the booths were set up as part of a week of events geared to inform the public about South Asian culture. 

A domestic violence booth was sponsored by campus volunteers from Narika, a community based nonprofit organization dealing that with issue in South Asian communities in the Bay Area. Located in Berkeley, the group supports women who come from South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.  

Fliers at the booth included information on both domestic violence and hate crime awareness.  

“We decided to combine the topics because they both have the underlying theme of violence, especially against South Asians,” said Leena Kamat, a student volunteer for Narika and a senior at UC Berkeley. 

Kamat has been volunteering for Narika for more than a year now, and had joined the group with a desire to help other women.  

“Fortunately I have not been in a situation of domestic violence and I think others shouldn’t be either,” she said. 

She went on to explain the importance of recognizing that domestic violence goes beyond issues of country, race and ethnicity. South Asian women are especially at risk because of cultural attitudes about gender roles. Women are traditionally expected to be submissive and not struggle, especially with a husband. 

“We need to learn more about gender roles and how we’re socialized into believing a certain way,” Kamat said.  

She added that communication is important between partners. 

According to Narika’s experience with domestic violence in the South Asian community, women living in the United States with immigrant visas have been mostly at risk. These women are doubly jeopardized if they report incidents of domestic violence – they may be deported if their husbands abandon them and may not be accepted back into their own families after separation from their husbands.  

Because of the legal and social issues involved in such a situation, most women are reluctant to put an end to the violence, Kamat said.  

The issue of domestic violence is also not generally addressed in the South Asian community. “I think there is a lot of shame and denial surrounding this issue because sexuality and dating violence is something that is not talked about,” she said. 

The number of students, especially South Asians, stopping by the booth was limited, although many passed by and paused to either watch the dancers or to get a Mehndi tattoo.  

Kamat said this may be because there is still a lot of wariness in the South Asian community about domestic violence. 

Arti Agarwal, a third year UC Berkeley graduate student of South Asian origins, came by the booth interested in finding out more about the organization. She said she had not realized there were Narika student representatives on campus. 

“I think it’s great to have such a booth during South Asian Awareness week because it draws people and provides inspiration,” Agarwal said. She also expressed an interest in becoming involved with volunteering for the group. 

Jennifer Yin, a third-year student, commented on the importance of having such booths. This type of information is very necessary because Asian women in general don’t have many resources to deal with domestic violence, she said. She added that some communities make women feel that domestic violence is their fault.  

While there is more of an emphasis on fun during South Asian Awareness week, Kamat underscored that it is also important to let people know of the more serious issues facing the South Asian community.

BERKELEY — University of California faculty have endorsed a change in admissions policy that would look at students’ life achievements as well as their academic records. 

The systemwide assembly of the Academic Senate met Wednesday at UCLA and voted 42-0 in favor of the new approach, known as “comprehensive review.” There were three abstentions. 

The vote means the issue now goes to the university’s governing board of regents. The board is expected to vote later this month at its regular meeting in San Francisco. 

The change would not affect who gets into UC’s nine campuses. That is determined by eligibility, which depends on meeting minimum grade and test score totals or on graduating in the top 4 percent of one’s high school class. 

UC has a policy of finding a spot somewhere in the system for all eligible students. 

Where comprehensive review comes in is in deciding which student goes where, in particular, which students go to the highly competitive campuses such as Berkeley and UCLA. 

Campuses are now required to take at least 50 percent of their students based on academic factors alone. The remainder can be considered on grades plus four supplemental factors, which include such things as overcoming poverty or a difficult family situation. 

Comprehensive review would allow campuses to view all applicants on academic and supplemental factors. 

Regents set the 50 percent academics alone requirement in 1995, at the same time as they banned considering race or gender in admissions. In May, they repealed that ban. The vote didn’t restore affirmative action, banned by a state law passed in 1996. However, it did open the door to reconsidering the 50 percent requirement. 

Regents discussing the proposed shift to comprehensive review at their October meeting were wary of the change, saying they need assurance UC won’t lose its academic edge. 

“I accept the fact that we want well-rounded students, but we’re not the Rotary Club,” said Regent Ward Connerly. “We’re trying to select scholars.” 

Some have criticized comprehensive review as a backdoor attempt to reintroduce race-based admissions. 

After race-blind admissions took effect in 1998, enrollment of blacks and Hispanics dropped sharply. The numbers have since rebounded to affirmative action levels systemwide, but not at flagship Berkeley. 

But proponents counter that comprehensive review doesn’t look at race. 

Comprehensive review is the latest in a series of admissions changes or proposed changes at UC. 

In 1999, regents guaranteed eligibility to students who finished in the top 4 percent of their high school, based on UC-required courses.  

This year, they approved expanding that guarantee to the top 12.5 percent, provided students who fell in the latter 8.5 percent went to community college for the first two years, but that initiative stalled last month for lack of state funds. 

UC President Richard C. Atkinson also has asked faculty members to consider dropping the SAT I achievement test as an entrance requirement. 

——— 

On the Web: UC faculty site, http://www.ucop.edu/senate/assembly/oct2001/oct2001viib.pdf 

CHICAGO — It’s a popular science exhibit that explores the slimy, the crusty and the scaly. 

But we’re not talking sea urchins, moon rocks and dinosaurs here. 

This one’s about “grossology,” the unapologetic and sometimes stomach-churning study of body functions and fluids that are rarely talked about openly — but that kids love to giggle and squirm at. 

“Throwing up, pooping and peeing — the combination of the three are what make it a hit,” says Sylvia Branzei, a science teacher from Garberville, Calif. She wrote the book that inspired “Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body,” a traveling exhibit now visiting Chicago, Singapore and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

The interactive exhibit is a veritable jungle of giant body parts and rude noises. 

Among other things, there’s a cave-like nose that sometimes sneezes on those who dare to enter; a burp machine that allows museum-goers to pump air into a stomach chamber and then release a loud belch; and a slide shaped like a giant gastrointestinal tract that ejects kids onto a “poo poo” mat. 

Each station also has factoids that explain how the body works — with plenty of grossness piled on to keep it interesting. 

Consider this morsel: 70 out of 100 people admit to picking their noses. 

Sisters Isabelle and Austen Friend aren’t about to confess their own nose-picking habits during a visit to the exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago. But they’re more than happy to tell on each other. 

“I don’t eat my boogers. But she does,” 8-year-old Isabelle says, pointing at her little sister. 

“No, you do!” 6-year-old Austen shouts back. 

“No, you do!” Isabelle repeats — and so on and so on. 

A few feet away, at the “Y U Stink” station, Rickia Ballentine and others from her third-grade class hold their noses and wince when they get a whiff of scents they squeeze from plastic bottles. 

“Smelly feet, bad breath ...,” Rickia says, shaking her head in disgust as she  

lists off a few of them. 

Then she goes back to smell more. 

It’s just the sort of moment Branzei — who collaborated with Michigan-based Advanced Exhibits to create the show — expects. 

“Kids like the taboo of the whole thing. And our culture finds any body excretion to be taboo,” says the self-proclaimed “all-around grossologist.” 

Branzei got the idea for her book a few years back while cutting her toe nails and observing what was left behind. 

Where did it come from? And why do feet stink, anyway? 

Answering questions like those propelled her to success. Branzei’s book and exhibit have been so popular that she has written a sequel, which will soon become a second exhibit: “Animal Grossology.” 

Teachers who visit the first exhibit with their classes are raving about it. 

“There’s only so much you can do in the classroom,” says Heather Siegel, a Chicago teacher who brought her kindergarten class. “This is very hands on.” 

Not that her students always get it at first. 

When one boy  

slid onto the “poo poo” mat, Siegel asked if he knew he’d just slid through a make-believe colon. 

Hearing that, he let out a common cry at the exhibit: 

“Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — “Variety’s the very spice of life,” said 18th century British poet William Cowper. The phrase, stale now, is still hard to beat. But statesman Benjamin Disraeli tried, calling variety “the mother of enjoyment.” 

In the garden, variety is the name of the game. Horticulture teems with countless varieties and breeders tirelessly come up with “new” and “improved” flowers and vegetables. True, some gardeners stick to the “old” and a veritable cult has sprung up on the nurture of “heirlooms.” But there’s no denying the attraction and selling power of novelty. 

Foremost in the sponsorship of new varieties, a non-profit organization called All-America Selections makes yearly awards based on nationwide trials. The winners are announced early in the fall and then featured in next year’s seed catalogs. Thirteen flowers and vegetables have been picked for 2002. 

Awards don’t often come in pairs, but this time two pumpkins and two petunias have made the coveted list. Other winners are a vinca, a geranium, a cleome, a pansy, a rudbeckia, a basil, a cucumber, a winter squash and an ornamental pepper. 

One of the pumpkins, called Orange Smoothie, aims at the child market. The dark orange skin is described as ideal for painting Halloween faces. It’s small enough for young hands, weighing five to eight pounds and with a strong, long handle. The fruit mature early, about 90 days after sowing seeds. Beyond decoration, Orange Smoothie has sweet meat for pies. 

The other pumpkin, Sorcerer, is a biggie, weighing 15 to 22 pounds, but it’s produced on a compact vine. Of course, they also can be carved and painted and used for pie filling. They mature about 100 days after sowing. 

With two pumpkins and one winter squash on the winner list, it’s a good year for that related family. Advance publicity for the squash, called Cornell’s Bush Delicata, says that butter and brown sugar are optional when eating this squash because it’s so sweet. The flesh is fine textured without coarse strings and it’s rich in Vitamin A. It takes about 100 days from sowing to harvest. 

One of the petunias, named Lavender Wave, was cited for “exceptional” performance. It bears large two-inch, lavender blooms on ground-hugging plants that spread up to four feet. This petunia was described as particularly suited for sloping gardens, hanging baskets and window boxes. 

The other petunia, called Tidal Wave Silver, sports silvery white blooms with dark purple centers. The grower can decide on the height of the mature plant. If spaced six inches apart and given trellis support, they will reach heights of two and three feet. Spaced a foot apart, they’ll reach 16 to 22 inches. They’re adaptable to container culture. 

Neither petunia needs pinching nor pruning to flower all season and both resist severe weather and the disease, botrytis. 

The geranium, called Black Magic Rose, boasts an unusual bicolor leaf pattern distinguishing it from other hybrid geraniums. Each leaf has a black center, creating an exceptional dark contrast to the bright rose florets, and each floret has a small white eye. 

The vinca, Jaio Scarlet Eye, bears a rose-colored flower that distinguishes it from all other vincas. It’s described as perfect for gardeners who want prolonged garden color with minimal care. 

A distinct bicolor design features the pansy, named Ultima Morpho after the Morpho butterfly, which is blue and yellow. In the pansy, the upper petals are midblue. The lower petals are bright yellow. Rays radiate from the center.  

Mature plants spread eight to 10 inches and attain a height of five to eight inches. 

Three feet tall, the cleome, Sparkler Blush, is smaller than most and thus is suited for gardens with less space. It flowers freely all season with pink blooms. Easy to grow, it is heat and drought tolerant and adaptable to most soil conditions. 

The rudbeckia, Cherokee Sunset, offers gardeners a blend of autumn colors — bronze, mahogany, golden yellow and orange — and it flowers profusely the first year with double and semidouble blooms. They are long-lasting as cut flowers when grown in full sun. 

The cucumber, called Diva, produces all-female flowers, giving it a potential for high yields. Maturing in 58 days, it has a tender skin, sweet flavor and crisp texture. 

Ornamental as well as edible, the sweet basil, Magical Michael, features uniform-sized plants that are reliably 15 inches tall and 16 inches to 17 inches wide. The clearly defined size and shape are rare in basils. The leaves may be harvested within 30 days of transplanting. 

The “heat” has been bred out of the ornamental pepper called Chilly Chili, making it safe for children who “explore their environment,” the announcement says. The petite, two-inch peppers make lively ornamental garnishes on salads. 

——— 

EDITOR’S NOTE: George Bria retired from the AP in 1981 after 40 years that included coverage of World War II from Italy. 

End advance for Thursday, Nov. 1, and thereafter 

LOS ANGELES — The parents of every child born in California will receive a free, bilingual parenting kit in an unprecedented statewide education campaign funded by a voter-approved tobacco tax. 

The effort, spearheaded by movie director Rob Reiner, is believed to be the first in the country, officials of the California Children and Families Commission said Thursday. It is expected to benefit as many as 500,000 babies a year. 

“I am unbelievably excited today to announce the single biggest parent education program in the history of this country,” Reiner, the commission’s chairman, told a news conference at a family center where the kits were unveiled. 

Each one includes a guide containing a list of organizations helpful to new parents, as well as information on such subjects as childproofing a home and finding quality child care. 

The kits also include a series of celebrity videos taped in both English and Spanish on topics such as child care, safety, nutrition and discipline. 

The videos, done by such celebrities as Gloria Estefan, Maria Shriver, Phylicia Rashad, Andy Garcia and Jamie Lee Curtis, are available in both English and Spanish. 

Garcia, who narrated a Spanish tape on safety, said he was proud to be part of the program. 

“What a noble thing to be doing,” he said. “If one life is saved, it’s worth it.” 

A pilot project showed 94 percent of parents who used the tapes found them helpful, with 74 percent reporting they would be “very likely” to use them again, commission officials said.  

Forty-eight percent of new mothers reported changing their thoughts on child-rearing as a result. 

Jessica Roosinisalda, who has a 1-month-old son, said she wished she had the information sooner. 

“Had I had the manual, it would have been a lot easier those first few days,” she said. 

The kits are being paid for by the 50-cents-a-pack tobacco tax voters approved in 1998. 

The commission has projected a first-year cost of $25 million, with $15.6 million dedicated to advertising alone. 

The campaign will include a series of television, radio and newspaper ads in 11 languages encouraging parents to get the kits. 

They will be distributed at family centers and hospitals throughout California in the weeks ahead. Close to 40,000 will be handed out in Los Angeles County alone in the coming weeks. 

Reiner, who spearheaded the campaign to pass the tobacco tax initiative, said the kits will fill a key need in building a solid future for children. 

“We know based on years of research that the earliest years are the most critical,” he said. “We need to get this information to parents and give them the tools that they need.”

A 50-state survey conducted over the last two weeks confirms the latest economic worries: state revenues are down, budget cuts are needed, and strains on government services are worsening. 

Adding to the gloom, the results don’t fully capture the economic damage following September’s terrorist attacks, the National Conference of State Legislatures said in the report released Thursday. 

“Policy-makers are bracing for the worst,” said Corina Eckl, one of the report’s authors. “What they’ve seen for the first few months is pretty bad...But the real question is how long and how deep this downturn is going to be.” 

The report said it found the “harshest fiscal conditions in a decade.” At the Federation of Tax Administrators, a group that monitors state economies, Executive Director Harley Duncan said 20 years might be more on target. 

The aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks adds a great deal of uncertainty to the fiscal outlook. “We really don’t have any experience with this kind of economic shock,” Eckl said. “This is new ground.” 

The conference contacted legislative fiscal directors in every state, trying to gauge the substantive ways states’ economies weakened in July, August and September — the first three months of most states’ fiscal years. A report a few months ago documented the softening that began last winter. 

The new report found: 

—Revenue growth continues to fall, with 44 states reporting their already scaled-back hopes were set too high. 

—Costs rose faster than expected, too, with 19 states reporting they were spending faster than their budgets anticipated, and an additional seven expecting overruns in some programs. Higher Medicaid costs were a big worry for many. 

—Budget cuts were passed or on the table in 28 states. 

That meant nearly $1 billion in cuts in Michigan; in Florida, lawmakers approved $800 million in cuts, a half-billion less than the shortfall. In Utah, the governor and lawmakers are squabbling over how to cover a $177 million shortfall. 

Colorado and Missouri both ordered widespread cuts to government programs, but spared K-12 education. In Idaho, education was cut, though not as deeply as other programs. 

Many states were worried that job losses would add to government demand for unemployment, welfare and Medicaid. 

A very few positive spots remained: Louisiana, Montana and Texas benefited from energy-related taxes. Alabama, Nevada and New Hampshire reported revenues in line with or above projections. 

To add to the overall worry, the new data didn’t reflect sales tax returns since Sept. 11 for most states — an important source of government funds for 45 states, and one that is very sensitive to weaker consumer confidence. 

“As more collection figures become available — especially post Sept. 11 data — the revenue picture is expected to get worse,” the report said. “Many states are waiting to see the effects of declining consumer confidence, widespread layoffs and corporate downsizing on state coffers.” 

Duncan, who before joining the tax administrators’ group worked on state finances in Kansas and South Dakota, said he hadn’t seen the new NCSL report, but it confirmed the other data he’d seen. 

And, he said, “the pace of deterioration that occurred between Sept. 11 and now — I’ve never seen anything go that far and that fast.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

National Conferences of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org 

NEW YORK — Three major television networks are suing the maker of the first Internet-ready personal digital video recorder, saying the ReplayTV 4000 lets people make and distribute illegal copies of television programs. 

NBC, ABC and CBS filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in California against SONICblue Inc., claiming the ReplayTV 4000 would violate their copyrights by allowing users to distribute copies of programs over the Internet. 

The networks also complained that technology in the personal video recorder can automatically strip out commercials. 

In a joint statement, the networks said the device “violates the rights of copyright owners in unprecedented ways” and “deprives the copyright owners of the means by which they are paid for their creative content and thus reduces the incentive to create programming and make it available to the public.” 

The ReplayTV 4000 has not yet been released for sale to the public, and the networks are asking the court to prevent the device from coming to market. SONICblue, which is based in Santa Clara and acquired ReplayTV Inc. this year, was planning to begin sales in mid-November. 

SONICblue officials said they have not seen the lawsuit but stressed that they took precautions against a Napster-like unfettered distribution of television programming. 

The company limited the number of times — to 15 — in which a user could send a particular show to another ReplayTV 4000 owner, or so-called “TV buddy.” A recorded show could only be sent — or resent to another user — a maximum of 15 times. 

“I think we’ve treaded softly,” SONICblue’s chief executive Ken Potashner said. 

The product also supports a digital rights copy protection technology made by Macrovision, giving broadcast networks the option to use that technology to restrict consumers from sending copies of a show over the Internet. 

The ReplayTV 4000 is a souped-up version of digital video recorders which were first introduced to consumers in 1998 by ReplayTV and rival TiVo Inc. So-called DVRs allow consumers to store hours of TV offerings on built-in hard drives, and while watching live television, users can pause, rewind, even do instant replays. 

The networks, some of which have invested in ReplayTV, did not object to earlier versions of the ReplayTV recorder or devices by TiVo. Both allow users to fast-forward through commercials but — unlike the ReplayTV 4000 — do not include technology to automatically delete the ads or share the files of the recorded shows. 

“We do have an investment. However we never consented or would consent to the misuse of our copyrighted works,” said Michelle Bergman, a spokeswoman for Disney, also a plaintiff. “We made clear we expect the use of copyrighted materials to be licensed and this technology does not allow for that. We’re protecting ourselves.” 

Digital video recorders devices have yet to take off — there are only an estimated 750,000 users. 

Analysts say the lawsuit marks the broadcast networks’ pre-emptive strike against a technology that is expected to flourish and could raise the same kind of thorny piracy issues that plagued the record industry after Napster helped popularize the practice of song-swapping over the Internet. 

The ReplayTV 4000 “is not going to impact the revenues of networks today but they care about what the technology could do to them by 2003 and 2004,” said Carmel Group analyst Sean Badding. 

“The networks will have to figure out a way to adjust to it, or capitalize from it,” he added. 

SAN JOSE — Business software maker BEA Systems Inc. said Thursday it will lay off about 300 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force, by year’s end, joining the long list of Silicon Valley firms that have trimmed payrolls to offset declining sales. 

The San Jose-based company revealed the cutbacks in an announcement warning that its profit for the quarter ended Oct. 31 will fall shy of Wall Street expectations. BEA said its earnings from operations will be 5 or 6 cents per share, below the consensus estimate of 8 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Until the tech slump of the past year, BEA was one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing companies. It provides a software platform that helps run applications more quickly and smoothly. 

BEA will record a charge of $15 million to $20 million to cover severance pay and other costs incurred in the layoffs. The company also said it will absorb a $110 million charge to account for the diminished value of past acquisitions and investments.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Sun Microsystems Inc. will lay off about 250 people in Colorado as it cuts its global work force because of the soured economy. 

Almost all the cuts will be at Sun’s business park in Broomfield, Sun spokesman Prentiss Donohue said. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is cutting about 3,900 of its 43,000 employees overall. 

Donohue said the actual number layoffs in Colorado won’t be known until next week, but about 235 will come at the Broomfield office.  

Affected employees began receiving notices Tuesday, he said. 

Scores of technology firms in Colorado and across the United States have laid off employees in response to the economic downturn. The Sept. 11 attacks further hurt demand. 

Unlike many other firms, Sun refrained from layoffs until later in the year. But demand for its servers, storage and software programs declined through 2001. 

In mid-October, Sun reported a loss of $180 million on revenue of $2.86 billion, down sharply from net income of $510 million on revenue of $5.05 billion for the same quarter last year. 

Sun’s stock was trading at $10.64 on Thursday, up 49 cents, or 4.83 percent.

LOS ANGELES — A hearing was ordered Thursday to determine whether the guilty plea by a former Symbionese Liberation Army radical for a 1975 attempted bombing was valid, given her public declarations of innocence. 

The order from Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler came one day after Sara Jane Olson entered the plea. She then walked outside the courtroom and insisted she had done so because the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had made it impossible to get a fair trial. 

“I pleaded to something of which I’m not guilty,” she said. 

Fidler set the hearing for Tuesday. A court spokesman said he didn’t know whether the hearing would be private or held in open court. 

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before,” said Michael Latin, one of the prosecutors. “I’ve been in situations where a defendant comes back and asks to withdraw a plea, but that is not what’s happening here.” 

He said the prosecution had not asked for the hearing. 

Olson, 54, made no reference to the attacks as she admitted to possessing bombs and attempting to explode them under police cars in two incidents — one at the Hollenbeck Police Station in Los Angeles and another near a House of Pancakes restaurant in Hollywood on Aug. 21, 1975. 

Neither bomb went off. Prosecutors said one of them was one of the largest pipe bombs ever built in the United States and would have injured many people. 

Prosecutors dismissed three other charges in exchange for Olson’s plea, but did not guarantee her a specific sentence. Her lawyers said they expected her to get about five years in prison, but she could be sentenced to life behind bars Dec. 7. 

After the hearing, Olson said the esteem of law enforcement authorities has risen since the attacks and she had to consider the possibility of being convicted. She said her lawyers advised her that her chances of a lesser sentence would be better if she pleaded guilty. 

Defense lawyer Shawn Snider Chapman said Olson had been so ambivalent about pleading guilty that she did not make the final decision until just a few minutes before the hearing. 

The trial was to have provided an ending to the SLA’s violent history and perhaps a finale to a story which once riveted America. The SLA had gained national notoriety after the 1974 kidnapping of media heiress Patty Hearst. 

Olson, whose given name was Kathleen Soliah, was accused of targeting police officers in retaliation for the deaths of six SLA members in a 1974 shootout and fire at a Los Angeles house. 

She vanished a short time after the attempted bombings. She was indicted in 1976 but remained a fugitive until her June 1999 capture in St. Paul, Minn., where she was living under the assumed name she later adopted. She had built a life as a wife, mother of three children and sometime actress. 

Even before Fidler’s move, legal experts said Olson’s actions were surprising. 

“I don’t think it’s a very smart thing to do,” said Loyola University Law professor Laurie Levenson. 

“At minimum, she will get a tongue lashing,” Levenson said. “But the court is going to say, ’Ms. Olson, if you are innocent, let us do what we do best and give you a trial.”’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The federal government has ordered Ohio and 13 other states to make their Megan’s laws stronger or risk losing millions in grant money. 

Making their laws consistent with the federal Megan’s Law is one of 17 requirements for states to receive a federal grant that pays for crime prevention and victims’ assistance programs in communities nationwide. 

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance notified the states in June that they would lose 10 percent of their annual grant beginning next year if they did not change their sex-offender registration laws by October. The National Criminal Justice Association, which is working with the states on the problem, said it is uncertain if any of the 14 met the deadline. 

For Ohio, which receives about $19 million a year, the loss would be nearly $2 million. 

“It might not seem like a lot, but communities are counting on this money for programs that have proven to be a success,” said Domingo Herraiz, director of the Ohio Department of Criminal Justice Services. 

Sheriffs and police departments can use the money to pay for task forces, community policing efforts, victims’ advocacy projects or treatment programs for drug- and alcohol-addicted offenders. 

All 50 states and the federal government have passed some type of sex-offender registration law since 1994 when 7-year-old Megan Kanka, was raped and murdered by a convicted sexual offender who lived near her family’s New Jersey home. 

States had until last month to change their laws to require sex offenders to register with local authorities for life. 

In some states, sexual offenders are required to register for only a certain length of time, not life, and can ask a court to terminate the registration order, which also is against the federal law. 

“Some states have faced difficulty because their Legislatures didn’t want to change the law. For the most part, that’s been the problem,” said Cabell Cropper, executive director of the National Criminal Justice Association. 

Besides Ohio, the states are Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington. 

Virginia said it believes its law was already in compliance. 

Tela Mange, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the state had made the necessary changes by the end of the legislative session in 1999. She said officials were trying to find out why the state is listed as non-compliant. 

In Ohio, only offenders labeled sexual predators are required to register for life, and they can petition a court to throw out that designation. Habitual sexual offenders must register with authorities for 20 years, and sexually oriented offenders for 10 years. 

Officials said the state is trying to round up support for the changes among lawmakers and sheriffs and has asked the government for more time. 

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gays may be entitled to the estates of partners who die without wills, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday. 

The decision came as the justices ordered a new trial for Frank Vasquez, who is claiming the $230,000 estate of his longtime partner. A lower court had found the claim invalid because same-sex marriage is illegal in Washington. 

“Equitable claims are not dependent on the ‘legality’ of the relationship between the parties, nor are they limited by the gender or sexual orientation of the parties,” Justice Charles Johnson wrote in the unanimous decision. 

Vasquez, 64, shared a house, business and financial assets with Robert Schwerzler until Schwerzler died without a will in 1995. 

Vasquez claimed the estate, which consisted mainly of the house, and was challenged by Schwerzler’s siblings. The siblings said they never saw the men display affection, that Vasquez was apparently a housekeeper, and that he did not accompany Schwerzler on trips. 

“They literally wanted to put Mr. Vasquez out on the street with nothing,” said Terry Barnett, Vasquez’s attorney. Vasquez is illiterate and disabled because of a childhood head injury, according to court records. 

Ross Taylor, an attorney for Schwerzler’s siblings, said he hopes to disprove Vasquez’ version of the relationship at the trial, thus avoiding the question of whether he is entitled to the estate. 

“My clients do not think their brother was a homosexual,” Taylor said. 

A trial judge ruled that Vasquez was entitled to the property under a legal concept that protects the interests of unmarried people in long-term relationships. An appeals court reversed the decision, saying the concept does not apply to same-sex couples because they cannot legally marry. 

The state’s highest court rejected that conclusion but ordered a new trial because some facts of the case are in dispute. 

“It’s a tremendous affirmation of one of the most basic principles,” said Jenny Pizer of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights organization 

NEW YORK — Geraldo Rivera is quitting his prime-time talk show on CNBC to become a war correspondent for Fox News Channel, saying Thursday he couldn’t bear to stay on the sidelines during a big story. 

Rivera’s last CNBC show after seven years will be on Nov. 16. He said he’ll be leaving for Afghanistan the next day. 

His legal affairs talk show is one of CNBC’s highest-rated programs, although down from its heights during the O.J. Simpson trials. His 10 years as a syndicated talk show host ended in 1998. 

Rivera, who exercised an exit clause in his NBC contract, said he wanted to do more reporting but it was difficult when he was committed to a talk show four nights a week. 

He was particularly frustrated recently when he asked to do a special for NBC on why Muslims hate America, and was told he couldn’t leave the country, Rivera said. 

“That’s when I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,”’ he said. “I’m a reporter, that’s how I see myself. And the war on terrorism is the biggest story of our times. I’ve got to get out there. And when you’re an anchor, you’re literally anchored. I had to break the chain.” 

It’s a coup for Fox News Channel, which has struggled to keep up with CNN in international coverage. Fox recently hired a former CNN correspondent, Steve Harrigan, to report from Afghanistan. 

Fox News Channel chief Roger Ailes said Rivera “never got the respect he deserved as a newsman” at NBC. “He never was used in the way he should be.” 

Rivera did news specials for NBC and appeared on the “Today” show. But many in NBC News’ old guard were suspicious of Rivera’s tabloid TV days searching Al Capone’s vault and getting his nose broken during a chair-throwing brawl with white supremacists. 

Ailes nearly hired Rivera in 1997, but at the last minute he decided to stay at NBC. Rivera said his exit from NBC now was done in a “gentlemanly’ fashion.” 

NBC News President Neal Shapiro said: “We wish him all the best.” 

“Geraldo has had an up-and-down career,” Ailes said. “He wanted to, and decided to make money doing talk shows and other things. My own view is that does not destroy you as long as when you’re doing the news, you’re doing the news. 

“I don’t think anyone has ever questioned his ability to do news,” he said. 

Ailes said Rivera’s contract provides flexibility to use him for other things, perhaps as a talk show host again, but that’s not imminent. “Right now he’s coming in as our hot spot correspondent,” he said. 

CNBC said it will fill the sudden hole in its schedule by expanding its business programming into prime-time. 

Rivera planned to tell his viewers Thursday that he’s not the same man he was before Sept. 11, when “the maniacs tried to tear our heart out.” 

“I’m feeling more patriotic than at any time in my life,” he said. “Itching for justice, or maybe just revenge.” 

And this catharsis I’ve gone through has caused me to reassess what I do.”

Unable to agree on a compromise Tuesday, the City Council took no direct action on a recommendation from the Commission on Disability to change one of the Berkeley Free Folk Festival venues because of poor disabled accessibility. 

Instead, the council referred the matter to the city manager, who will develop an accessibility policy for all city-sponsored events. The council approved the referral by a vote of 7-1-1 with Councilmember Betty Olds voting in opposition and Councilmember Miriam Hawley abstaining. 

“It seems that the Berkeley Free Folk Festival was singled out from other city-sponsored events and that’s not good for anybody,” Councilmember Linda Maio said. “It’s better having a policy that is applied to everybody across the board.” 

The City Council does not have the authority to cancel or move the festival but it could have withdrawn its annual contribution of $3,000. It did not do so, however. 

The city manager will develop an accessibility policy for other city-sponsored events such as the Juneteenth, Earth Day and Cinco de Mayo festivals. 

The Commission on Disability unanimously approved a recommendation on Sept. 12 asking the council to move the folk festival, which is being held on Nov. 17 and 18, from the Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center on San Pablo Avenue. According to commissioners, Ashkenaz has poor accessibility at its entrance and bathrooms and no disabled access to the stage. 

The festival is also being held at the Freight and Salvage on Addison Street. 

The council first approved the referral to the city manager and then attempted to take specific action on the Berkeley Free Festival. 

“I am really concerned about this,” Mayor Shirley Dean said. “This has been a long-standing dispute that needs to be settled.” 

The festival, which began in 1996, was moved once before from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall for similar accessibility problems. 

In an attempt to find some resolution to the issue, Commissioner on Disability Marissa Shaw presented the council with a compromise that would allow the festival to go ahead as planned this year, but require it be held in a larger, more accessible venue, such as a school auditorium next year. 

But a series of miscommunications and disagreements resulted in the council taking no further action on the folk festival. 

The compromise was first moved by Hawley but moments later she removed the motion because there was a dispute about whether an amendment by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, which would have included funding for a sound system, had been accepted. 

Worthington then made two more motions requiring a new venue for the folk festival next year and funding for a sound system, but both failed. 

“I’m really dismayed and quite shocked the council did not approve the compromise,” Shaw said. “We knew there were not enough council votes to move the festival this year and that’s why we offered the compromise.” 

Maio said just prior to voting she couldn’t support the compromise.  

“This is too hastily done,” she said. “We have a year to work out something that is well-worded. I have a problem with the process.” 

Festival Director Suzy Thompson said Wednesday that “to move the festival to a larger and institutional setting like a school would alter the festival’s nature.  

“But we’re waiting until after this year’s festival to discuss any changes.” 

Worthington, who helped develop the festival six years ago, said on Wednesday that the Commission on Disability actually made progress on Tuesday even though the council did not approve its recommendation or compromise. 

“Twice in recent months motions to move the folk festival have been withdrawn at the mere suggestion of requiring it be moved to a more accessible venue,” he said. “Last night, even though the council couldn’t agree, there was a clear willingness to approve a recommendation to move the festival (next year).” 

Worthington said the community got a clear message that the festival should be moved and he was sure it would not be held at Ashkenaz next year. “I understand the commission is frustrated but they deserve a great deal of praise for their persistence.”

After missing Cal’s last two games due to a back injury, junior quarterback Kyle Boller has been allowed to return to the field by team doctors. But head coach Tom Holmoe said it isn’t a sure thing that Boller will start against Arizona on Saturday. 

“We think he’s back, but I don’t think it’s a great idea just to rush him back into it right away,” Holmoe said. “I’d rather see how things progress.” 

Holmoe said the key to Boller’s return would be a good showing in practice this week. Boller, who has been the starter for three years, usually takes a large majority of the snaps in practice, but redshirt freshman Reggie Robertson, who got his first career start last weekend against Oregon State, will take about half the snaps this week in case Boller isn’t ready to go on Saturday. 

Holmoe confirmed that Robertson has moved past senior Eric Holtfreter on the depth chart. Holtfreter started two weeks ago against UCLA but was ineffective. Robertson came in late in that game and looked impressive, leading to the freshman’s start against the Beavers. 

“Reggie’s had some good things happen the last two weeks and gives us enough cause to think that he can go play some of this game,” Holmoe said. “Then we have Eric Holtfreter available if need be.” 

Robertson was ineffective last week against Oregon State, completing just 12-of-32 for 120 yards and an interception while underthrowing several deep balls. But his struggles were somewhat mitigated by the poor playing conditions due to a downpour that made the ball slippery. 

“(Robertson’s) completion percentage wasn’t good,” Holmoe said. “But you’re dealing with a wet field, wet ball, receivers slipping, balls flying. It would be good to see him in another situation, nice weather.”  

Boller’s big arm presumably would be appreciated by new deep threat LeShaun Ward, who finally made the move to wide receiver from cornerback against Oregon State. Ward caught four balls for 55 yards against the Beavers, along with a 39-yard gain on a reverse, but Robertson underthrew the junior a couple of times when Ward was open deep, a problem Boller doesn’t have to worry about with his cannon. 

Ward is the fastest player on the Cal team, and having him as a threat should cause opponents to at least worry about the deep ball, which hasn’t been a factor without Ward playing offense. 

“One of the things in contemplating moving LaShaun over is that he would give us that big play threat,” Holmoe said. “We threw a couple more (long passes) at him. If anything, even if we didn’t complete them, at least it stretches the defense. It gives people a feeling now that we are going to do that.” 

Also in flux for the Bears is the tailback position. Starter Joe Igber is out for the season with a broken collarbone suffered against Oregon State, leaving Holmoe with just two healthy tailbacks on the roster, true freshman Terrell Williams and walk-on Michael Sparks. 

“Losing Joe is very tough,” Holmoe said. “To me, you lose one of your key ingredients on the team, and that’s a kid that everybody loves. We’ll lose him and that will be a big loss.” 

Williams has been a nice surprise so far this season, stepping into the backup role when Joe Echema was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. The freshman has played in every game, rushing for 266 yards on 63 carries. He ran for 104 yards last week after stepping in for the injured Igber in the first half. 

Another option at tailback is senior Marcus Fields, who has been one of Cal’s best weapons at the fullback position. Fields is second on the team with 20 catches. He was a tailback early in his career, rushing for 734 yards in 1998 as the starter, but moved to fullback after being supplanted by Igber the next season. Holmoe said Fields will likely see some time at both positions on Saturday, but expect Williams to get the lion’s share of carries. 

“Marcus will obviously help us,” Holmoe said. “You could see at the end of the game when Joe went out, Marcus was in there on a couple of plays as a single back.” 

Holmoe said the Bears may resort to the option to take some pressure off of the replacement players on offense. It’s a play they have rarely used this season, and Robertson is the only quarterback with much experience running it. 

“Reggie’s the guy that can run it better than the other guys, but Kyle has run some nice plays out of it and so has (Holtfreter),” Holmoe said. “In the next four weeks, it might be something that will play a little bit bigger role, knowing that we have to find a few other ways to compensate for the loss of (Igber).”

Thursday, Nov. 1

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College of Alameda Hosts 11th Annual Citywide College Night 

6:30 - 8:30 

College Gymnasium 

555 Atlantic Ave. 

College of Alameda hosts representatives from over 70 public and private colleges and universities for a night of information-sharing and inspiration.  

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Public Works Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Agenda includes drafting policy on naming of public facilities from the Parks and Recreation Commission. 981-6400 

Justice for Tenants Rally and  

Picket 

4 – 5:30 p.m. 

1942 University Ave. 

Lacking affordable housing, renters are being pushed over the edge.... Join the tenant fight back. Free food and music, 367-1225. 

Harris Seminar 

noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Susan Hammer, former mayor of San Jose. 

642-4608 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission 

7 p.m. 

Planning and Development 

First Floor Conference Room 

2118 Milvia St. 

6 p.m., Presentation from Lawrence Berkeley Lab On Site Restoration. Procedure for CEAC Agenda and Council Reports, Green Business and Green Building positions. 705-8150 

Housing Advisory Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St.  

Presentations and discussion of various proposals received for funding under the Housing Trust Fund Program. 981-5411 

Volunteers Needed 

Ongoing 

Help the Berkeley Public Library get ready for the opening of the new Central Library branch. Cover, clean, and dust book jackets in anticipation of their shelving in the new library. 649-3946  

Kayak Adventures on the  

Seven Seas 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Olaf Malver will share slides and stories of his sea kayaking adventures around the world: Turkey, Indonesia, Antarctica and more. Free. 527-4140 

Holiday Art Fest 2001 

6 - 8 p.m. 

Pro Arts Gallery 

461 Ninth Street, Oakland 

There will be live music and refreshments to celebrate the start of annual exhibit and sale of unique gifts and specialty items designed by Bay Area artists. 

Friday, Nov. 2

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Lunch Poems Reading Series 

12:10 p.m. 

Morrison Library in Doe Library 

UC Berkeley 

Korean poet Ko Un reads selections from his poetry, short stories, fiction, criticism, essays, and children’s literature. 

National Children’s Book Week 

3:30 p.m. 

North Branch Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

City Commons Club Luncheon 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Laura Nader, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, presents “Other Civilizations.” $1 admission; 11:45 a.m. lunch, $12.25. 848-3533 

Saturday, Nov. 3  

Media “Wedge Kit” Training 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

The goal of the Media Wedge Kit Training is to help participants create and insert dynamic, witty, and irresistible new language like a wedge into the mainstream media wall. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds, 548-2220 x233. 

National Children’s Book Week 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Public Library 

2121 Allston Way 

3 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Gardening with East Bay  

Native Plants 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Class held offsite 

An Ecology Center sustainable living class. A hands on workshop in a local garden built from local native plants, restoration gardening, philosophy, ecology, design, local plant sources, and home propagation. Preregistration is required, 548-2220 x233. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds. 

Poetry Reading 

3 - 5 p.m. 

South Branch Public Library 

1901 Russell St. 

The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading. 527-9905 poetalk@aol.com 

Our School 

3 - 5 p.m. 

St. John’s Community Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Informative event for prospective parents. Learn their approach to education, meet the director, tour the school, and meet parents. 704-0701 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Sunday, Nov. 4

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Re-Legitimizing Peace: Peace Making in the Middle East 

6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

International House Auditorium 

(Bancroft and Piedmont) 

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, will discuss her views on achieving peace in the Middle East and what role the United States ought to play. Free and open to the public. Center for Middle Eastern Studies, http://ias.berkeley.edu/cmes/text_only/ 

“Sundays At Four” 

4 p.m. 

The Crowden School 

1474 Rose St. 

Benjamin Simon and Friends with sublime and ridiculous viola music. $10, under 18 violists free. 559-6910 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org 

Family Musical Education 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St. 

A child-centered presentation for the whole family by local classical musicians to learn about rhythm and meter. $10 per family. 527-6202 

Editor: 

I am appalled by the vitriolic reaction to the Berkeley City Council’s decision to send a statement to President Bush opposing the bombing of Afghanistan, a decision widely condemned as unpatriotic. To me, this demonstrates insulting presumptuousness about the feelings and motivations of those council members who voted for the resolution and individuals who support it. You may passionately disagree with their reasoning, but condemning sincere and conscientious opposition to public policy as unpatriotic is dangerous and oppressive. Acting on one’s conscience shows integrity and does not equal lack of patriotism. A core value of this country is respect for and protection of minority views, no matter how unpopular. Let’s hope we get out of this mess with that value intact. 

Sonja Fitz 

Berkeley 

MUSIC 

924 Gilman St. Nov. 2: Mood Frye, Manic Notion, Cremasters of Disaster, Bottles and Skulls, Lorax, Sociopath; Nov. 3: Cruevo, Nigel Peppercock, Impaled, Systematic Infection, Depressor; Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 3: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Both shows 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring. com  

Anna’s Nov. 1: The Irrationals; Nov. 2: Anna de Leon and Ellen Hoffmann, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 3: Robin Gregory and Bill Bell, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Quartet; Nov. 4: Danubius; Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 1: Ascension, $5; Nov. 2: Shady Lady, Buffalo Roam, $5; Nov. 3: Funk Monsters, Molasses, $5; Nov. 4: Lost Coast Band, Supercel, $3; Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Taiko Festival, $20 - $32; 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; Oct. 19: Little Jonny and the Giants; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 1: Si Kahn $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 2: Don Edwards $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 3: Barbara Higbie $17.50 - $18.50; All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 1: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 2: Lithium House; Nov. 3: Solomon Grundy; Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series Nov. 1: 8 p.m., Singer/songwriters Faith Nolan and Megan McElroy, $14; Nov. 4: 5 - 9 p.m., Salsa, merengue, cumbia from DJs Rosa Oviedo and Chata Gutierrez, $7; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Sightlines, Pre-performance discussion with guest artists. 8 p.m., “Music Before 1850,” with Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. $32. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Distaff Singers Annual Benefit Concert” Nov. 3: 8 p.m., Distaff Singers 64th Annual Benefit Concert for the Ida Altenbach Scholarship Fund. $10. Oakland Mormon Interstake Auditorium, 4770 Lincoln Ave., 658-2921 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

THEATER 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“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 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“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 

Cal Performances “The Car Man” Nov. 1: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Nov. 2: 8 p.m.; Nov. 3: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne and his company re-invent Bizet’s “Carmen,” spinning the tale of a mysterious drifter in a small mid-western town, who changes the lives of its inhabitants forever. $32 - $64; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail. com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre. 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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

DANCE 

“México Danza Brings the Splendor and Pageantry of the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos to the Stage” Nov. 1: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. Compania México Danza presents a cast of 20 enchanting dancers, adorned in festive costumes. $10 Calvin Simmons Theatre, Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Ten 10th St., Oakland. 465-9312 www.danceforpower.org 

FILMS 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 1: 7:30 p.m., Leslie Thornton Artist Workshop; Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Strange Fruit; 8:45 p.m., Facing the Music; Nov. 3: 7 p.m., Damnation; 9:25 p.m., Family Nest; Nov. 4: 3:30 p.m., I Loved You... (Three Romances); 5:35 p.m., The Making of the Revolution; Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Search” Nov. 4: 2 - 4:30 p.m., 1948 drama of American soldier caring for a young concentration camp survivor in post-war Berlin, while the boy’s mother is desperately searching all Displaced Persons camps for him. $2 suggested donation. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

Exhibits  

“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 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“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 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

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

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.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 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 3: Editor Danya Ruttenberg and contributors Loolwa Khazzoom, Emily Wages, Billie Mandel will read their selections in the new anthology, “Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism.”; Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; 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 Telegraph Ave. Nov. 1: Frederick Crews talks about “Postmodern Pooh”; Nov. 3: Ben Cheever looks at “Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Service Economy (A Personal Odyssey)”; Nov. 5: Jack Miles talks about “CHRIST: A Crisis in the Life of God”; Nov. 6: Royall Tyler presents his new translation of “The Tale of Genji”; Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m.: Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”; Nov. 8: Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 12: Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!” All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 1: Travel in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001: An Evening with Prominent Bay Area Travel Experts; Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley, Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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 Unified School District has won a second Magnet Schools Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which will spread $1 million among four schools. The award will help the schools buy equipment and materials based on a specialized theme of instruction that is integrated throughout the curriculum.  

“I’m very pleased that we could qualify for that money,” said Michelle Lawrence, the district superintendent.  

“I think it supports the creativity that is so much a part of our organization.” 

The grant serves four schools. It renews one school’s funding received in 1998, while the three other schools will receive new funds.  

Three other schools, selected in 1998, are not part of the grant. They have spent their grant funds and are now facing cut-backs. 

The grants bring the name “magnet” with the funding – Le Conte Science Elementary Magnet will make science the centerpiece of its studies; Thousand Oaks Arts and Technology Magnet will emphasize visual and performing arts; and Washington Communications and Technology Magnet will focus on communications and media. 

The City of Franklin Micro-Society K-8 Magnet, with renewed funding, will continue its centerpiece project – a model city, that teaches the art of citizenry.  

It is scheduled to hold an “election” next week. 

Irving Phillips, the district director of magnet programs, said it was a special honor that Berkeley was chosen again. 

“It’s tougher the second time, it really is,” he said, because a district not only has to demonstrate need, but to show success from the first time around. “Our grant application was about 350 pages.” 

In addition to City of Franklin, three other Berkeley schools had received funds from a three-year grant first awarded in 1998. Rosa Parks Environmental Sciences Magnet, Malcolm X Arts and Academics Magnet, and Longfellow Arts and Technology Magnet Middle School all hired instructors, trained staff, and bought equipment. 

Longfellow Principal Bill Dwyer said his school’s share went for computers and technology education, staff training “to use the arts as delivery of skills and concepts related to mandated state standards” and arts purposes. 

Theater props and a “follow spot” stage light purchased with grant money are being used in this year’s production of “Antigone,” Dwyer said. Last summer, five teachers received hands-on instruction in arts education from a program called the Lincoln Center Arts Integration Process. Another program taught students “how to legally and effectively access the Internet to improve both writing and research skills,” Dwyer said.  

Rosa Parks also received a $150,000 grant from the Bayer Corporation when the magnet schools grant came through in 1998, said Kathy Freeburg, the school’s curriculum coordinator. After a $50,000 splurge on a new computer lab, most of the money went to instructors, from science to gardening and cooking, she said.  

“The main thing is that the students are studying the same topics at the same time, so the teachers are collaborating more and it’s also being used in the language arts,” Freeburg said. 

So what happens to a magnet school when the magnet grant runs out? 

Dwyer and Freeburg both said while the nomenclature is here to stay, the money will be missed. 

“We are continuing to promote the program (because) the magnet focus of arts and technology is used in recruiting teachers who have backgrounds in our area of specialty,” Dwyer said. 

However, he said, “the key piece to it was we had four staff positions funded by the magnet grant, and all we were able to continue out of that with the district picking up the funding was a .6 position.” 

That part-time job has been filled by a voice and general music instructor, he said, “so despite the loss of funding for positions, we were able to move the choral music program ahead.” 

Rosa Parks’ money, Freeburg said, is also “gone,” but the school will continue to call itself a magnet. 

“It’s part of our name,” said Freeburg. “The whole idea of magnets is that you have a specialty that’s maybe not true at other schools.” 

Without the grant, Freeburg has gone from full-time to half-time in her coordinating position (she also teaches fourth grade), and a full-time computer instructor is also no longer around. 

“We’re trying to work on sustainability, not just writing grants but finding ongoing contributors,” Freeburg said.  

The federal government launched the Magnet Schools program in 1984. Its official goals are to reduce minority group isolation, raise achievement levels to close the “achievement gap,” develop an innovative curriculum, and promote early career awareness. 

Freeburg said the magnet program had helped the school become “a little more balanced ethnically and achievement-wise.” 

“We’ve had a lot of different programs, and I can’t say the science program did it all,” she said.

Cal basketball recruit Julian Sensley failed to get a qualifying score on his latest attempt at the SAT, the San Francisco Chronicle reported this week. 

Sensley, currently a part-time student at Diablo Valley College in Stockton, has one more chance to pass the SAT in time to enroll for Cal’s spring semester. Sensley will take the test on Nov. 10. If he passes, he can enroll and be eligible in time for Cal’s Dec. 21 game against Mount St. Mary’s. 

A native of Kailua, Hawaii, Sensley was rated the No. 6 prospect in the country by ESPN.com.

Editor, 

The Berkeley City Council’s next gesture should undoubtedly be a resolution calling for the immediate imposition of Rent Control in all Afghan towns and villages. Why? Because of that famous quote by Henry Spencer: “Rent control is second only to bombing as a way of destroying a city.” 

Leon Mayeri 

Berkeley

The fungus that causes Sudden Oak Death, a virulent disease which has killed tens of thousands of trees in northern California since 1995, was recently discovered on the UC Berkeley campus, school officials reported on Wednesday. 

According to Jim Horner, campus landscape architect, the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum was discovered to have infected a bay laurel tree, a buckeye and a rhododendron near the university’s Faculty Glade. 

The discovery, made by Dr. Matteo Garbelotto of the College of Natural Resources, is the first time the fungus has been found in the East Bay lowlands. In August, several live oak and bay laurel trees bordering Crow Canyon Boulevard, in the hills outside Castro Valley, were found to be suffering from the disease. 

Some experts fear that the discovery could mean the fungus is already widespread in the Berkeley area. 

“The fact that they found this on campus means that it’s most likely already in and around Berkeley – probably up in the hills there,” said Bruce Hagen, an urban forester with the California Department of Forestry who has studied Sudden Oak Death extensively.  

Garbelotto, one of the leading researchers on the disease, said he expected this to be the case. 

“The most likely explanation is that it’s widespread in the county but is not yet killing the oaks,” he said. “The other would be that this pathogen was introduced in particular spots, by birds or some other carrier, and the campus happened to be one of them.” 

In addition to oaks, the fungus can live and spread on a number of different species of trees and shrubs, including madrones, manzanitas, huckleberries and certain maples. 

Many of these species are not affected as severely as oaks by the disease. The fungus may just infect their leaves and not their trunks, as in the case of oaks. The campus’ infected plants on campus all showed symptoms in their leaves. 

Garbelotto said those species may manifest the symptoms of infestation long before it shows up in neighboring oak trees. Non-oaks may show signs of infection just 72 hours after exposure to the fungus, whereas the disease can gestate in oak trees for months or even years before any symptoms appear. 

Garbelotto said he expects to begin testing trees around the city very soon. 

“I have received some reports of suspicious trees in the Berkeley hills,” he said.. 

Many experts warned, however, that the disease is nearly impossible to identify on sight. Garbelotto said samples from the trees on campus were tested three times before a diagnosis was confirmed. 

“The thing about Sudden Oak Death is that there are many other diseases that look like it,” said Jerry Koch, a forester with the city. “That’s why you have to have a lab test to confirm that a tree has this particular fungus.” 

Local agencies involved with the disease have been preparing for an onslaught of Sudden Oak Death around Berkeley, but they have not developed a detailed plan to respond if it does strike.  

“We’re in the early stages of the research as to how this spreads and what we can do to slow it down,” said Koch, who had attended a seminar on the disease in September. 

Koch said the only immediate action the city could take is to determine if any trees are infected and isolate them. He said if more cases are found, the city would have to make sure that chips from removed or trimmed trees not be moved to a different location. 

Ned MacKay, spokesperson for the East Bay Regional Parks District, said coincidentally, a parks district workshop on Sudden Oak Death, which had been planned for many weeks, was held Wednesday at the Oakland Zoo. 

According to MacKay, the EBRPD had just issued a new policy to help contain Sudden Oak Death if it is found in the park system. The policy banned the cutting of downed logs into firewood, so that people wouldn’t be tempted to carry it off and unwittingly spread the disease. 

Lisa Caronna, director of the city’s Parks and Waterfront department, said her department had no immediate response to the discovery of the disease. 

“We’re going to be implementing whatever best practices that are recommended by the experts,” she said. 

Garbelotto said he would be hanging informational fliers around the campus, warning students not to take plant material from the campus into their homes.  

“Students need to be responsible and not to bring the pathogen into their neighborhood,” he said. 

Maggie Kelley, director of monitoring for the California Oak Mortality Task Force, said citizens should be on the watch for the disease in their communities. 

“The risk is pretty high,” she said. “Once this gets established in an area, it can spread pretty quickly. In Berkeley, the conditions are right, and the host materials are there.”  

“We always encourage people to look out, but we also want them to be educated about the look-alike diseases out there.” 

Concerned citizens may learn more about the disease on the Oak Mortality Task Force’s web site, www.suddenoakdeath.org. If you have a tree that you believe may be afflicted, read about the symptoms particular to that tree. If you still believe the tree might carry the disease, contact the Natural Resources Advisor for the UC’s Cooperative Extension program at (408) 299-2635. 

ditor: 

Here is another voice – and vote – in favor of being able to park a car in downtown Berkeley. At the very minimum the number of parking places should stay at the current level. A better solution is a prompt and professional study of the short term parking needs in all of Berkeley’s retail and commercial districts. 

That study should include an analysis of the changing demographics of Berkeley. The U.S. Census shows that between 1990 and 2000 Berkeley has had: 

• An 8 percent increase in the number of children under 5 years of age. Getting around Berkeley by bus or bicycle when you have an infant or toddler is at minimum difficult. It can be dangerous. 

• A 60.6 percent increase in the number of residents between the ages of 45 to 64 years of age. While some of these folks probably take public transportation regularly, it’s unrealistic to expect them to ride bicycles to Safeway or the Berkeley Bowl. 

• A 9 percent increase in the number of residents over the age of 65. These are people who know they are no longer as strong or vigorous as they were a few short years ago. Their increased concern about their physical safety can make a bus stop appear very dangerous. Yet these are the very people who are natural patrons of, and donors to, Berkeley’s Arts District.  

If you endorse the Planning Commissioner’s view of Berkeley you are voting to make life harder for all of the mothers and fathers of young children, all the seniors, all the disabled in our city. Or does our Planning Commissioner want a city made up only of 1) people young and healthy enough to ride bicycles everywhere and 2) people who have plenty of extra hours in their days so they can take the bus to the grocery store? 

The Parking Needs study should also take note of an increase in the population of Berkeley. These additional people are probably the reason so many of us find it harder to find parking places when we want to visit the YMCA, go shopping or eat in a restaurant in the downtown area. If the city government wants Berkeley residents to continue to buy their groceries, their medicines, their clothes, their books, and get their haircuts in Berkeley then it needs to recognize the genie is out of the bottle. And until there are millions of “extra” dollars to radically upgrade public transit in this area the genie will stay out of the bottle. 

Jenny Wenk 

Berkeley 

A new energy-efficient Berkeley Lamp was presented to the city Wednesday by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Charles Shank.  

Thirteen fluorescent desk lamps were donated to the city’s engineering offices and will be used in a pilot program where the lamps’ energy consumption will be monitored for one year. 

Based on four years of research and testing at LBNL, the Berkeley Lamp is a “Trojan Horse for energy efficiency,” said an enthusiastic Michael Siminovitch, one of the project designers. 

“Most office lighting is profoundly challenged, and people are very sensitive to their environment. User control and preference is the Trojan Horse for getting energy efficiency to the market place,” said Siminovitch. “Usually, energy efficiency means a penalty of either the amount of light or control.”  

The lamp is reported to be as bright as a 300-watt halogen torchiere and a 150-watt incandescent lamp combined at full power, but uses a quarter of the energy. 

The lamp’s efficiency lies in the control of the immediate environment. At the heart of the Berkeley Lamp is a patented Septum Dish, which looks like a metal cereal bowl, dividing two 55-watt CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), sending light up and/or down. Two dimmer switches control either the torchiere or desk style of lighting.  

Siminovitch said the lamps were first designed to meet the needs of the hotel and residential market, but they are finding their place in the office, especially where there are no windows and the only light source is overhead fluorescent lighting.  

Berkeley Energy Officer Neal De Snoo led a tour of the city’s engineering office where the 13 Berkeley Lamps were the only source of light. 

“This office alone will save the city $915 per year,” said De Snoo. “This office produced 6 tons of carbon dioxide per year (using overhead fluorescent lighting). It will now produce 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide.” 

“The light is very nice, a much warmer feel,” said Wendy Wong, an assistant public works engineer who works in the office.  

She was not a fan of fluorescent lighting, but said she is a fan of the lamp.  

There are about 1,000 Berkeley Lamps currently in use in California. For more information see www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ energy.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter sent to the mayor and council: 

The loss of thousands of jobs in the dot com industry, a national recession, and high California electric prices were bad enough, so when tragedy struck this September 11th, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the economy would suffer.  

Whether or not a boycott in response to the Council’s resolution on Afghanistan would have been a significant factor, or would even have materialized, is an open question, but one thing is certain: by publicizing the threat of a boycott with inflammatory rhetoric, press conferences and appearances on national TV, the Mayor has guaranteed businesses will suffer more losses then would otherwise have been the case.  

Seeking publicity that can do nothing but hurt Berkeley means the mayor is either foolish or making a deliberate decision. As someone who has watched council business for years I can assure you that the mayor is not a fool. She has every right to publicly disagree, if she wants to, with a resolution that calls upon the United States to end the bombing “as soon as possible.” We can differ, respectfully, without grandstanding. 

But going to the media and talking up a boycott of Berkeley based on a political calculation that she can convince retailers to blame political opponents for what is likely to be a slow Christmas season should not be tolerated. FOR SHAME: seeking to exploit the grief and anger we feel over the tragic deaths of 5,000 people for cheap political gain. It is deplorable, it is indecent, and it crosses the line. 

Perhaps the mayor’s political calculation is correct, and people angered at the loss of business will blame their plight on those who supported the anti-war resolutions, but it seems obvious to me that the mayor of any city should be urging people to support its economy, rather than publicizing calls for a boycott of this fine city.  

The mayor owes us all an apology. She owes an apology to local merchants, who will lose income because of her efforts to publicize the idea of a boycott. But most of all, she owes an apology to the nation and to those who loved and cared for the 5,000 people who lost their lives, whose memory she has exploited by taking a cheap shot to achieve crass political gains.  

Elliot Cohen 

Berkeley 

Thursday, Nov. 1 

• 7 p.m. 

The first Bay Area Appearance of members of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan 

Mills College 

Campus Chapel 

5000 Mac Arthur Blvd. 

Sunday, Nov. 4 

• 1 p.m.  

Islam in the balance 

Toward a Better Understanding of Islam and Its Followers 

Bill Graham Auditorium 

99 Grove St. at Larkin, San Francisco 

A one-day symposium that includes: Imam Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Rev. Cecil Williams, Hatem Bazian 

The event will include a performance by Hamza El Din. 

$5-10 – no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

466-5205 www.islaminthebalance.org  

Tuesday, Nov. 6 

• 7 p.m. 

Dr. Hamid Mavani speaks on “Islam and Its Background” at a free lecture and discussion presented by the Berkeley Public Library. Dr. Mavani is the Religious Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, based in Oakland.  

The session is the first of a series of three events designed to inform the community about critical world issues. 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Friday, Nov. 9 

• noon 

2315 Durant Ave.  

Ameena Janadali, co-founder of the Islamic Networks Group, will speak on “Women of Islam, at the Berkeley City Club. 

Luncheon, $11-$12.25; speaker only, 12:30 p.m., $1 

Saturday, Nov. 10 

• Community Conversation: Confronting racism, finding common ground 

Rosa Parks School 

9:30- 3 p.m. 

920 Allston Way 

The event is sponsored by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters who say: “In the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies, some of our fellow residents who may look Middle Eastern or Muslim have feared and some have experienced racist remarks or actions. This has strengthened our conviction that Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville need to confront all the different kinds of racism within our communities.” 

Sunday, Nov. 11 

• Understanding Islam 

First Unitarian Church 

14th and Castro Streets, Oakland  

2:30 - 5 p.m. 

The events of Sept. 11 and thereafter have added an element of urgency to the need for a concise educational program about Islam. The program will address whether religion itself is part of the cause of the current turmoil or whether, instead, religion is being invoked rhetorically as mythic clothing.  

Co-sponsored by the Oakland Coalition of Congregations and the People’s Nonviolent Response Coalition. 

Pre-registration is required: 433-9667 

• Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace (LMNOP) invites the public on weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland every Sunday at 3 p.m. 

Meet at the columns at the east end of the lake, between Grand and Lakeshore avenues. Near Grand Avenue exit off 580 freeway. Most well-known nearby landmark: Grand Lake Theater. 

Tuesday, Nov. 13 

7 p.m. 

Dr. Wali Ahmadi, associate professor in UC Berkeley’s near Eastern Studies Department, presents “The History of Afghanistan.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Tuesday, Nov. 20 

7 p.m. 

Ann Fagan Ginger, executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute will speak on “Civil Liberties and Conflict Resolution.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the Chamber of Commerce: 

In this time of agony and anger over the attacks on Sept. 11, it is truly moving to have the Berkeley City Council pass a resolution urging restraint of our overwhelming military attacks on the wretched of Afghanistan. 

I support and salute those council members and their citizen supporters who voted on the resolution. I will gladly make purchases in Berkeley. I will not support a boycott. 

Let’s not respond with Taliban-like zeal to events but, rather, look at the reality of our actions in the world. 

Michael Mora, 

Palo Alto 

SAN FRANCISCO — A spring frost and summer heat spikes led to a lower wine grape yield this year, but it also helped vines intensify the flavor in the grapes that survived the temperature extremes. 

The total statewide crop for 2001 is expected to be 3.1 million tons when harvesting wraps up.  

That’s down 6 percent from last year’s harvest of 3.3 million tons, a record high, despite 40,000 new acres coming into production this year. 

Abnormal weather damaged fruit, with little rain, a frost in April, hot weather in May and June and cool weather in July and August. But cool fall weather has helped balance out the flavor of the grapes, according to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. 

And the glassy-winged sharpshooter, the insect that spreads the vine-killing Pierce’s disease that has affected Southern California vines, has been controlled with a wasp that lays its eggs in the sharpshooter’s eggs. 

“It’s gotten rid of about 85 percent of the eggs,” said Gladys Horiuchi, a spokeswoman for the Wine Institute. 

Consumers should benefit because there’s still an abundant supply of grapes and prices have gone down. That means wineries will be able to blend better grapes into their wines, Robert Smiley, dean of the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management, said in a recent survey.

LOS ANGELES — Former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive Sara Jane Olson pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing bombs with intent to murder policemen during the violent era of the 1970s revolutionary group. 

Olson, however, immediately asserted outside court that she was innocent and only pleaded guilty because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. 

“I pleaded to something of which I’m not guilty,” she said, adding it became clear the attacks would affect a jury and were “going to have a negative effect on my trial.” 

With law officers gaining rising esteem, Olson said, she had to consider the possibility of being convicted and sentenced to life in prison. She said her lawyers advised her that her chances of a lesser sentence would be better if she pleaded guilty. 

The surprise plea came in an agreement which does not guarantee Olson a specific sentence. Her lawyers said they expected her to get about five years in prison, but the judge warned her that she could be sentenced to life behind bars. 

“Are you pleading guilty freely and voluntarily?” asked Deputy District Attorney Eleanor Hunter as she outlined the agreement in court. 

“I am,” Olson said in a strong voice during a brief hearing in open court. 

She specifically admitted possessing explosives devices and attempting to explode them in two incidents — one at the Hollenbeck Police Station in Los Angeles and another near a House of Pancakes restaurant in Hollywood on Aug. 21, 1975. 

In return, the prosecution dismissed three other charges. 

Defense lawyers and prosecutors had spent some four hours in the judge’s chambers before the agreement was announced. 

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said that most of the discussions centered on the difference of opinion between the two sides as to how much time Olson would have to serve in prison. 

The agreement calls for Olson to surrender to the California Department of Corrections on Jan. 8 with a recommendation from prosecutors that she be allowed to serve her time in Minnesota near her family. 

Her husband, Dr. Fred Peterson, her mother, Elsie Soliah, and her daughter Sophie Peterson, sat in the front row of the courtroom as the plea was entered. Earlier, her daughter had been in tears, hugging her mother as she entered the courtroom. 

The plea ended a court case which harkened back 26 years to the era of the revolutionary SLA which kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. The case against Olson, 54, was resurrected with her arrest 2 1/2 years ago. 

The plea followed many delays in bringing the case to trial, and a recent failed defense bid to put the trial off until next year because of concern that jurors might be biased because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

A grand jury had accused Olson of attempting to murder officers in retaliation for the deaths of six members of the radical group who died in a shootout and fire in 1974. The bombs did not explode. 

She was indicted in 1976 under her given name, Kathleen Soliah, but remained a fugitive until her June 1999 capture in St. Paul, Minn., where she was living under the assumed name Olson. 

Her arrest came soon after the FBI offered a $20,000 reward on the 25th anniversary of the SLA shootout and her case was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.” 

Olson vanished shortly after the attempted bombings. She maintained later that she had nothing to do with it and was not in the area when the bombs were planted. She also contended she was never a full-fledged member of the SLA, but was merely a friend of some of the revolutionaries. 

Her brother, Steven Soliah, was tried and acquitted in a related 1975 bank robbery in the Sacramento area. 

While a fugitive, Olson married an emergency room doctor, had three children and lived the life of a volunteer and community activist in Minnesota. 

She lived in an upscale neighborhood and did not avoid public attention. Her community theater roles even drew notice from local reviewers. 

The SLA, a violent band that used a seven-headed snake as its symbol, made a name for itself with the kidnapping of the then-19-year-old Hearst from her Berkeley, Calif., apartment in February 1974. 

Hearst soon joined the SLA and took the name Tania, and two months after her abduction was photographed holding a rifle during an SLA bank robbery in San Francisco. She was later arrested and imprisoned until President Carter commuted her sentence. 

In the meantime, six heavily armed members of the SLA, including its leader, an ex-convict who called himself Cinque, died in a May 17, 1974, shootout and fire that consumed a Los Angeles residence where police learned they were hiding. 

Hearst later wrote a book in which she implicated Olson in SLA crimes. She had been reluctant to come to Los Angeles and testify against Olson, saying she had put the days the SLA behind her and did not want to dredge up unhappy memories. 

The prosecution said it had plans to bring up every crime committed by the SLA, including the 1973 killing of Oakland schools Superintendent Marcus Foster. Olson was not charged with that crime or any others aside from the attempted bombings, but prosecutors maintained her association with the group showed her violent intent. 

East Bay tour operators who deal in the exotic say their clients, at least those still traveling, are sticking to destinations closer to home.  

“The focus is rediscovering America,” said Rick Snodsmith, sales manager at Berkeley-based Backroads. Snodsmith said his company has felt the sales crunch and, like others, Backroads is adding domestic trips and delaying foreign ones.  

“People think: ‘We were thinking of going to the Loire Valley, but we’re going to keep it close to home this year,’” he said.  

And to adapt to such thinking, Backroads has added three more Wine Country trips, each accommodating 40 to 50 guests on a bike tour through Napa and Sonoma.  

Backroads offered almost 1,000 guided trips last year, ranging in price from about $1,000 for a four-day biking and camping excursion around the San Juan Islands, to about $4,000 to hike, bike and raft through Nepal for nine days.  

But since the attacks, Snodsmith said many clients have stopped flying far, and he predicts trip sales for Backroads will follow the industry’s downturn, sliding 25 to 40 percent for the year.  

The American Society of Travel Agents, a nonprofit association with about 30,000 member travel agencies, reported that agencies lost $1.36 billion in commissions and fee income since the attacks. The organization estimated total revenue will plummet 50 percent between this October and December 2002 – an estimated loss of $4.4 billion for agencies around the nation.  

“People are scared,” said Robin Gorman, director of marketing for Mountain Travel Sobek in El Cerrito. And that’s coming from a company known for serving the more courageous travelers. They offer 21-day hiking trips through Tibetan villages to the 18,450-foot base camp of Mt. Everest ($3,500) and others that voyage around Antarctica for 21 days ($10,000).  

Though sales are down about 20 percent, according to Gorman, Mountain Travel Sobek is confident their clientele will continue to travel.  

“Every trip is going,” she said. “They may not be as full.”  

Even Mountain Travel’s 30-day Pakistan trip scheduled for July is still on. In fact, she said, since Sept. 11, three people signed up for the trek from Islamabad up to the base camp of K2 at 15,000-feet.  

“There’s no need to cancel,” said Gorman, “because it’s not happening for another eight months.”  

Others feel differently. Some companies are delaying or canceling trips. At Backroads, Snodsmith said he is comfortable holding off on some trips, like those to China, Nepal and India. He said they can make up the losses when clients book in other areas.  

Wilderness Travel of Berkeley has also canceled trips. They offer a variety of Middle East adventures, and have cut ones such as their “Iran Unveiled,” in which clients spend 18 days touring medieval and ancient cities like Bam and Esfahan ($3,900 - $4,200).  

Even Mountain Travel is promoting closer trips.  

“South America feels closer to home,” said Gorman, whose Mountain Travel Web site promotes mostly Latin American trips.  

Backroads and Wilderness Travel, another Berkeley retailer, have found sales increasing for this area too.  

Despite cancellations and lagging sales, customers will find few bargains among adventure companies.  

“You can’t entice people with money and discounts to travel who don’t want to travel,” Gorman said. “Discounting is not something we do.”  

Discounting only cheapens the brand, according to Yasmine Ahmed, president and CEO of The Adventure Collection, a group of eight luxury adventure travel companies, including Backroads. Staying away from discounts “may hurt our short-term business, but over the long term it will actually help the overall industry,” she said.  

However, according to Louise Smith, marketing manager at Wilderness Travel, clients independently might find discounts in airfare, which the tour operators exclude from their packages.  

But spending money is not the problem for their demographic, generally 35- to 60-year-olds who have discretionary income.  

“We’ve learned that customers say, it has nothing to do with price, it’s about: ‘Am I feeling good about leaving home right now?’” Ahmed said.  

Despite a lagging economy prior to the attacks, most of these travelers answered yes to that question, and sales are better than last year. Some customers fear neither the economy nor flying. Laura Harrison, a stockbroker in San Francisco, booked her biking excursion in Southern Tuscany after the attacks.  

“The food is great.” Harrison said. “The countryside is beautiful. The people are friendly.”  

It will be Harrison’s sixth trip with Backroads since 1994. “I wouldn’t be eager to travel internationally now,” she said, “but I think you need to get on with your life, and by May things will be fine.”  

Eventually, people will want to travel again, said Snodsmith, who saw a similar trend during the Gulf War. He said guests moved their trips to North America at the time, and many stopped traveling altogether.  

After a while, he said, “there was a huge growth spurt. They got tired of it and said, ‘Forget it, we’re going.’”

SAN FRANCISCO — NextCard Inc., the nation’s largest online credit card issuer, disclosed Wednesday that federal regulators clamped down on its operations as its loan losses mount, prompting the company to put itself up for sale. 

The crackdown occurred after regulators conducting a routine exam concluded NextCard doesn’t have an adequate financial protection against the trouble brewing in its $2 billion loan portfolio. 

The regulators declared NextCard as “significantly undercapitalized” — a scarlet letter that freezes the company’s growth and means management won’t be able to make major decisions without government approval. 

Unable to raise the $140 million it would take to satisfy regulators, NextCard hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to sell its credit card business, including 1.2 million accounts, to a “larger, more established financial institution.” 

Wednesday’s news devastated NextCard’s stock. The company’s shares plunged $4.48, or 84 percent, to close at 87 cents Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. The stock peaked at $53.12 in late 1999. 

As of Sept. 30, NextCard’s book value was about $185.9 million, or about $3.50 per share, based on estimates provided the company. NextCard’s management also believes the company’s online databases and insights accumulated over the past four years also will raise the sale price. 

The company collected more than $300 million from investors in its initial and secondary public offerings in 1999. NextCard’s market value stood at $46 million Wednesday. 

Investors have little confidence that the company will fetch much in an auction, partly because the depth of its loan problems remains murky, said industry analyst Meredith Whitney of Wachovia Securities. 

“Regulators did this in such a rash manner that things have to be pretty bad,” Whitney said. 

“Right now, there is just no confidence that this company knew how to underwrite loans.” 

Regulators are forcing NextCard to tighten its underwriting standards as part of the new restrictions on the company. 

The doubts shadowing NextCard are similar to those dogging Providian Financial Corp., a major credit card provider that recently jolted investors by revealing a number of problem loans to customers with troubled borrowing histories. 

NextCard CEO John Hashman spent 11 years in Providian’s management and the company’s chairman and founder, Jeremy Lent, formerly worked as Providian’s chief financial officer. 

Some of NextCard’s loan problems may be tied to its Internet business model. Analysts have long feared that NextCard’s promise to quickly issue credit cards on the Web would limit the company’s ability to screen out unworthy borrowers and fraudulent applications. 

As part of the bank exam, regulators forced NextCard to reclassify some of its previous fraud losses as loan losses. 

NextCard also continued to grow rapidly even as the economy deteriorated, doubling its customer base in the past year. 

“The Internet is a good way to service financial products, but it has yet to be proven that it is a good way to originate financial products,” Whitney said. 

Wednesday’s developments turned NextCard’s third-quarter earnings release into a footnote. The company reported a loss of $53.1 million, or $1 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $20.3 million, or 38 cents per share, last year. 

In light of the regulatory actions, NextCard said it will stop providing forecasts about its future results. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.nextcard.com 

Attention, customers: terror and germs are now in stock. 

After weeks of delay in receiving highly publicized books on the Taliban, Islam, biological warfare and terrorism, Berkeley booksellers are receiving their shipments and reporting strong sales. 

“This is all people are buying right now,” said Rose Katz, manager of Black Oak Books on Shattuck Avenue. 

Of Black Oak’s 20 bestsellers for October, seven are directly related to the Taliban, Islam or the Middle East. Ahmed Rashid’s “Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism in Central Asia” is the store’s best-selling title, and Karen Armstrong’s “The Battle for God” is No. 2. 

“We’ve sold close to 200 copies of the Taliban book,” said new-book buyer Nick Setka, “and we’re selling 10 times as many (than usual) of the other books that we’ve gotten in.” 

In contrast to Black Oak and Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue – which are displaying a staggering 60 related titles on one table – tiny Collected Thoughts on Euclid Avenue has just a few titles immediately visible. 

“We don’t have the space for a comprehensive selection,” said manager Peter Palmquist.  

But a bigger problem for booksellers has been the wait for book orders. 

For four days after the Sept. 11 attacks, customers bought nothing but newspapers, Palmquist said. Owner Lorraine Zimmerman used that time to figure out what books she should have on hand.  

“I just closed the store one night and perused the history sections,” she said. “I took out everything I had and it went really quick.” 

Zimmerman and other booksellers used their own knowledge plus lists compiled by newspapers, book distributors and industry associations to create their orders. Customers listening to media reports came in with specific requests, too. 

But copies of books like “Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire” by Chalmers Johnson were nowhere to be found.  

“The stocks had just depleted from all the warehouses,” Palmquist said.  

Collected Thoughts was able to get in “Taliban” only by asking University Press Books for some of theirs.  

All 10 copies were sold within a week, Palmquist said, “which for us is pretty good.” The store has 40 more on backorder. 

One store that was prepared – if not with quantities, then with selection – was University Press Books on Bancroft Way. The store sells new and used scholarly books from 100 different university presses.  

“It’s not like we had to scramble to find something,” said manager Christine Creveling. “We just went upstairs and brought it down.” 

Rashid’s Taliban book is published by Yale University Press. Copies on hand were gone in a week-and-a-half, Creveling said, and the store made a rare request that its reorder be shipped directly from the bindery, instead of through a distributor.  

In all of 2000-2001, the store sold four copies of the book. Since Sept. 11, 31 copies have gone out the door.  

The store is having similar success with Mark Juergensmeyer’s “Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence,” published by the University of California Press.  

“We couldn’t give (that) away a year ago,” Creveling said. 

“At a time like this, people are really struggling for informed answers and that’s what these books are providing them with,” said Amy-Lynn Fischer, sales manager for the University of California Press. 

Unlike more mainstream titles that have print runs in the tens or hundreds of thousands, most scholarly books get printed in quantities of just a few thousand. The hardcover printing of “Terror in the Mind of God,” Fischer said, was just 2,000 copies. The first paperback edition – 5,000 copies, printed in August – sold out soon after Sept. 11, and another 12,000 copies were immediately reprinted and sold. The press already has “substantial backorders” for another 20,000. 

Jeanne Guillemin’s “Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak” is the publisher’s other “bestseller,” its initial 4,000-paperback printing giving way to a 12,000-copy reprint, of which, Fischer said, about 5,500 are already spoken for. 

“We don’t often see sales like this,” Fischer said. “It’s a whole new ear in bookselling; nobody really knows how to do this in university publishing. We’re not used to bestsellers.” 

Fischer said it was hard to get excited about book sales at a time like this.  

“I had a very hard time sending out that e-mail to all of our vendors,” she said. “To announce: ‘“Terror in the Mind of God,” it’s available and you should put it on your bookstore shelves.’ It’s a tough thing to feel like you’re taking advantage of in a way.” 

Clay Banes, manager of Pegasus Books on Shattuck Avenue, agreed. While the store, which sells mostly used books, is still waiting for copies of “Taliban” and Judith Miller’s “Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War,” it has purposely kept its Sept. 11-related offering small.  

“We didn’t want to just cash in,” Banes said. “We thought, ‘let’s do a little research and find out’” what’s good. “We wanted it to be something that we felt we could be behind.” 

“Germs,” “Taliban” and Yossef Bodansky’s “bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America,” are selling at Barnes&Noble. But not doing too well is John Pynchon Holms’s “Terrorism: Today’s Biggest Threat to Freedom,” a mass-market paperback with the World Trade Center’s twin towers on the cover. 

“That’s the only insta-book I’ve really seen,” said store manager Joe Battaglia, adding that “sensationalism and exploitation” of events surrounding Sept. 11 seem to be absent. “I think publishers are being respectful.” 

Other titles selling in Berkeley are on bestseller lists of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, but not necessarily on national lists. Pema Chodron’s “The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times” and Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames” are No. 4 and No. 7, respectively, on the association’s Oct. 22 list. Neither appears on the Oct. 29 bestseller list of the publishing industry’s trade magazine, Publishers Weekly. 

“We’re probably the strongest independent market in the country, and I think those books are selling better in the independents than they are in the chain stores,” said Hut Landon, the association’s executive director. “I guarantee you (the Hanh book) is on the list as a result of what happened.” 

Many booksellers said customers come into their stores as a way of coping with such tragic events. Creveling remembered one man who didn’t buy anything.  

“He said, ‘I just want to know that all of this is here,’” she said. “‘I can’t deal with it now,’ he said, but when he was ready, he would. 

“It was funny,” Creveling added. “We all understood.” 

Wednesday, Oct. 31 

Yoga for People with HIV/AIDS 

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. 

Center for AIDS Services 

5720 Shattuck Ave.  

Free Kundalini Yoga class for people with HIV/AIDS. Mats provided, you may bring a towel. Eating within an hour of class is not advised. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

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 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave. 

For families with children 3 years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov 28. 

Volunteers Needed 

Ongoing 

Help the Berkeley Public Library get ready for the opening of the new Central Library branch. Cover, clean, and dust book jackets in anticipation of their shelving in the new library. 649-3946  

Thursday, Nov. 1 

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Public Works Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Agenda includes drafting policy on naming of public facilities from the Parks and Recreation Commission. 981-6400 

Justice for Tenants Rally and  

Picket 

4 – 5:30 p.m. 

1942 University Ave. 

Lacking affordable housing, renters are being pushed over the edge.... Join the tenant fight back. Free food and music, 367-1225. 

Harris Seminar 

noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Susan Hammer, former mayor of San Jose. 

642-4608 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission 

7 p.m. 

Planning and Development 

First Floor Conference Room 

2118 Milvia St. 

6 p.m., Presentation from Lawrence Berkeley Lab On Site Restoration. Procedure for CEAC Agenda and Council Reports, Green Business and Green Building positions. 705-8150 

Housing Advisory Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St.  

Presentations and discussion of various proposals received for funding under the Housing Trust Fund Program. 981-5411 

Kayak Adventures on the  

Seven Seas 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Olaf Malver will share slides and stories of his sea kayaking adventures around the world: Turkey, Indonesia, Antarctica and more. Free. 527-4140 

Holiday Art Fest 2001 

6 - 8 p.m. 

Pro Arts Gallery 

461 Ninth Street, Oakland 

There will be live music and refreshments to celebrate the start of annual exhibit and sale of unique gifts and specialty items designed by Bay Area artists. 

Friday, Nov. 2 

National Children’s Book Week 

3:30 p.m. 

North Branch Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

City Commons Club Luncheon 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Laura Nader, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, presents “Other Civilizations.” $1 admission; 11:45 a.m. lunch, $12.25. 848-3533 

Saturday, Nov. 3  

Media “Wedge Kit” Training 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

The goal of the Media Wedge Kit Training is to help participants create and insert dynamic, witty, and irresistible new language like a wedge into the mainstream media wall. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds, 548-2220 x233. 

National Children’s Book Week 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Public Library 

2121 Allston Way 

3 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Gardening with East Bay  

Native Plants 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Class held offsite 

An Ecology Center sustainable living class. A hands on workshop in a local garden built from local native plants, restoration gardening, philosophy, ecology, design, local plant sources, and home propagation. Pre-registration is required, 548-2220 x233. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds. 

Poetry Reading 

3 - 5 p.m. 

South Branch Public Library 

1901 Russell St. 

The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading. 527-9905 poetalk@aol.com 

Our School 

3 - 5 p.m. 

St. John’s Community Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Informative event for prospective parents. Learn their approach to education, meet the director, tour the school, and meet parents. 704-0701 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

Time for city teach-in 

Editor: 

As an inhabitant of the planet earth, a citizen of the USA and a resident of Berkeley I thank the Berkeley City Council most gratefully for their recent vote on stopping the bombing of Afghanistan.  

Now that the Berkeley City Council has garnered national attention I think they should go a step further and contribute to widening, or should I say surfacing, the public debate about the United States “war” on Afghanistan. I use the term “war” judiciously, in quotes, because being that we’re the richest country of the world bombing the hell out of one of the poorest countries of the world I think it could more correctly be termed a massacre. For all the defense department denials which assert that we are not inflicting significant civilian casualties I think there is enough credible independent confirmation that, in fact, we are killing many civilians – at least a number of whom are too poor and helpless to escape the bombing, including the elderly and children. It reminds me of another of our country’s most glorious moments where, in the Gulf “War,” our troops dispatched a decimated, retreating Iraqi army, in the words of one of our soldiers, “like shooting fish in a barrel.” Is there any question that our current strategy will bring anything more than further hatred and the likelihood of more violence toward our country? Our distinguished leaders tell us to expect this.  

I believe these are extraordinary times and as such they demand extraordinary measures and that this “war” does in fact have a direct bearing on the City of Berkeley’s day to day business. Each one of those not-so-smart bombs and missiles, all the fuel for those billion dollar bombers and dozens of navy ships, and all the other expenses associated with this endeavor are going to add up to quite a tab at the end of the “fun and games.” That is, if there is an end. With the Afghan winter fast approaching our military offense will become severely impeded there and from recent days’ news reports it appears Bush, Rumsfeld and Company are looking to keep the ball rolling by initiating military actions in the Philippines and very likely Iraq. While it may be argued that a certain number of our citizens will score big on newfound employment in the arms industry, I believe the cost of the “war” will have a dramatic negative impact on our nation’s ability to maintain and sustain its current standard of living. In all likelihood there will be severe cutbacks in federal subsidies to states and cities in the realm of housing, social services, education and infrastructure programs.  

Therefore it behooves the City Council to discuss this issue now and make their voice heard by the nation and federal government. 

I’d like the City Council to host a teach-in, town hall type meeting to broaden the public’s awareness about the “war” from the view of those educated persons who represent an anti-war sentiment and have pretty much been shut out of the mainstream media-which has become a cheering chorus for our government’s policy. I envision the format of a City Council meeting held at a very large capacity auditorium – I don’t think the Berkeley Community theatre will be large enough. It would be a one or two day event. The invited speakers would be given 20 to 40 minutes to present their views at the microphone (the podium of which would be turned around to face the audience). Then they would answer questions from the audience and the Council. Here are some of the people I’d like to see give their views: Ralph Nader, Howard Zinn, Retired Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll and others. 

I think it highly unlikely that the national media could ignore the event or distort the collective message. I really doubt the accuracy of recent polls saying 90 percent of the American public is willing to see its sons and daughters come home in body bags for a reckless military endeavor with no clear achievable goals. I think there is a vast sea of public opinion waiting to be guided by the a loud collective enunciation of good old fashioned American common sense. How about it Berkeley City council? 

Peter Teichner 

Berkeley 

Sanity in city 

Editor: 

Here’s my support for you in your passing of the Afghanistan resolution. At least one city could be sane. 

Ed Light 

Eureka 

Dreaming of democracy 

Editor: 

We need to start referring to George Bush’s war on terrorism as the “so-called war on terrorism.” Here are the facts. On September 13, Bush called for war on terrorism, bin Laden, and his organization. Bombing started on Oct. 7, as the CIA tracked the location of Mohammed Omar, leader of the Taliban. Omar wasn’t bombed. The CIA admitted (on Oct. 15) that they didn’t have the authority to kill him. 

Since then many bombs were dropped, inflicting major damage to “military targets” and also to Red Cross shelters and food storage warehouses (oops, Sorry!). Then, on October 23, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld back-peddled on the original reason for this war saying that maybe we won’t be able to get bin Laden after all. A day later (Oct. 24) Navy Rear Admiral Stufflebeem admitted that, gee, these Taliban are tougher than we expected. 

Now (Oct. 27), we learn that Afghan resistance fighter, Abdul Haq, called for CIA assistance as the Taliban were closing in on his fighters. The CIA didn’t come to his rescue. Future Afghan resistance fighters may well think twice about who is backing them up. Perhaps they should consult with the widows of the Kurd resistance fighters in Iraq who were similarly abandoned by Bush’s father during desert storm.  

Two conclusions can be drawn. First, the bombing is likely to stop soon because it is clear the Pentagon has run out of targets when (Oct. 27) they intentionally bombed the same Red Cross food warehouse for a second time. Starvation is now forecast for over 200,000 Afghanis. This, presumably, is the reprisal for 6,000 Americans killed on Sept. 11. 

The net result will be a massive increase of volunteers into the ranks of the Taliban. Second, this war, and our government, are being run by incompetent nincompoops. I wish we had a democracy where leaders were elected by the majority of votes. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

Halloween  

redistricted 

Editor: 

It was the time of year when a big pumpkin-colored moon rises up in the dark evening sky. And the cold nights cause apples to sweeten and crisp and smell delicious. When little goblins and angels anticipate their special day to “trick of treat.” But there are devilish details in this picture of Berkeley, October 2001. You can almost see the Cheshire cat smile lingering on while someone slips strangely shaped amphibians into a steaming brew. A gang of jolly pirate circles ‘round a big map of Berkeley, singing lustily:  

“Who put the gerrymanders in Blake/O’Malley’s cauldron?” 

Nobody answered, as the fun had just begun, 

They were carving up the city, 

As they sang this little ditty, 

“The gerrymander’s in Blake/O’Malley’s cauldron!” 

Note: They moved over 4,000 students into Council District 8 and then gerrymandered the entire city to their advantage!  

Merilie Mitchell 

Berkeley 

Council kudos 

Editor: 

I read about the City Council’s action to publicly renounce the U.S. crusade of violence. This is a rare occurrence and I applaud it! Thank you for your courage! 

Jon Fader 

Indianapolis, IN 

More council kudos 

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter sent to the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce: 

As a former Bay Area resident, I applaud the City Council’s courage in speaking out against the bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Please lend them your support. Thank you. 

John Wages 

Tupelo, MS 

Neighborhood store good for residents 

Editor: 

Regarding the article this past weekend about the ZAB meeting, I find that the proposed "solutions" to targeted problems surrounding Brothers Liquors miss the mark. I have lived one block from Brothers Liquors for just over a year. I find the establishment to be a convenient and friendly place to pick up a last minute grocery item or snack. 

I love this neighborhood and do not want it to be the victim of gentrification.  

Sure, I have walked by Brothers Liquors and seen people standing outside (though not visibly causing trouble).  

I also see people loitering in the two gas stations a block away at Shattuck and Ashby asking if they can wash people’s windshields. Each time I go to the Berkeley Bowl a couple of people try to sell me the latest issue of Street Spirit. Is there an outcry to shut down the gas station and the grocery store? 

Let’s not be hypocritical as a community. Shutting down a local market is not going to solve any problems.  

I am very disappointed in the city’s misguided efforts to "help" my neighborhood.  

Rather than blame the proprietors of the market for misconduct of people in the surrounding area, why can we not expect local law enforcement to make it safe and possible for them to conduct their legitimate business? 

Liz Gill 

Robert Mann 

Berkeley

Author Sandra Cisneros has a way of giving voice to adolescent angst or fervor. I remember, as a teacher, my earnest freshmen at Maybeck High School in Berkeley using chapters from Cisneros’ signature work “House on Mango Street” for journal topic ideas. Her protagonist, 11-year-old Esperanza Cordero, is wonderfully vibrant, spunky and encouraging to young writers, especially women.  

On Thursday, Nov. 1 her book, “The MacArthur Genius” (1985) will be featured in the Lunch Poem Series at UC Berkeley from 12:10 to 1 p.m. At the free reading at Zellerbach Playhouse, Cisneros will share her poetry – a voice she is perhaps not as well-known for, even though she has a master’s degree from the University of Iowa in poetry.  

Cisneros was a visiting fellow at Berkeley in 1988 and she hasn’t read on campus in quite some time.  

Her reading is cause for celebration too. The author has just completed a nine-year journey into a new novel, “Carmelo.”  

Cisneros credits her father for inspiring her to write because he did not understand why she didn’t want to marry someone who’d take care of her and have babies. 

She says: “When I wanted to study it was all right, he thought I would just study and get married. But when he saw that I was taking my career seriously, to the point of not marrying and quitting jobs to continue the writing and taking time off to write (he was convinced). He saw me packing up and making sacrifices that women make for husbands. I always called the writing my husband. I also call ‘him’ the wife-beater. The writing has been that, abusive and supportive and loving and also a very difficult marriage, and my father just couldn’t understand why I just couldn’t settle down with someone who’d take care of me, and have kids.” 

Cisneros was partly shaped as a writer by being the only girl out of seven kids, and because her Chicana mother spoke only English and her dad Spanish. 

“I started writing out some real place of impotence and I still do,” she said. “I go to my desk out of desperation. You know you read the paper and you think, ‘What are we doing bombing Afghanistan?’ and you feel so impotent. There are these foolish people making decisions for you, so there’s that feeling of impotence that follows you to the page if you’re honest. 

“I didn’t write because I wanted to become famous,” she continued. “I did the writing because it was the only way I was going to go to sleep.”  

Although best known for “You Bring out the Mexican in Me,” Cisneros says she feels closer to her second collection of poetry, “Loose Woman” because she never planned to publish it.  

“When you are not thinking about publication you allow the poem to take you where you need to go, so I still feel that poems need to come from that place,” she said. “That they are so dangerous you can’t publish them in your lifetime. I think that’s when you truly have left all of the censors. Poetry forces you to sort of sit down and think about what are your most important issues?”  

Cisneros is a diligent writer, and poetry is difficult and time consuming because she confronts private issues. She takes few breaks, and sometimes with a lot of guilt.  

“I’ve always said that writing a poem is like when you wash laundry and all the clothes get stacked up on one side and the buzzer goes off – to me that’s what a poem demands,” she said. “A spin cycle that has been put to a halt and the buzzer is going off and it’s an annoying buzzer and you have to attend to it immediately. Poems take you and you don’t even know what you are writing until you’re through. 

“(They are like) a smudge of emotion that clarifies itself with language,” Cisneros continued. “I haven’t a clue what it is that’s tugging at the end of it the fishing line. It’s just something that’s tugging. Prose has been my soapbox where I say what I have to say. Poems are much more personal to me.” 

Writing is so consuming for Cisneros, it takes her a while to change gears. She only just began preparing for the Nov. 1 reading in Berkeley. 

Thursday, Nov. 1 falls on the eve of the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Cisneros, who recently lost her father, said she plans to read essays on the topic as well as a poem.  

“My father’s death transported me (with) some of the most important spiritual lessons of my life. His voyage was made with this book, so Day of the Dead is especially significant to me right now.” 

The Lunch Poem series features two poets this month: Sandra Cisneros on  

Thursday, Nov. 1 and Korean poet Ko Un on Friday, Nov. 2, at Morrison Library of Doe Library near the Campanile. Thursday, Dec. 6, join Beat poet Gary Synder in Zellerbach Playhouse. Call (510) 642-0137 for information about the series.  

Football and soccer kept Rudy Vasquez running during his first few months at St. Mary’s High School. Before that it was roller and ice hockey, and even before that it was basketball. 

A track and cross-country coach caught a glimpse of Vasquez training for soccer as a freshman and convinced him to try a sport where running was the focus.  

“He told me: ‘You’re running’,” Vasquez remembered the coach saying. “I wanted to run track, but it wasn’t until he told me I was doing it that I finally did.” 

Soon, Vasquez began competing in the mile and two-mile events and became a tri-sport athlete his freshman year. During his sophomore year, Vasquez dropped football and added cross-country to his athletic resume. It wasn’t difficult for the comparatively small cornerback to realize he was better suited for other sports. 

“For me football was fun,” he said, “but I wasn’t thinking about playing another year. I just wanted to say I did it.” 

After a season of running track, Vasquez challenged the uneven-surface, 3.1-mile cross-country races in the fall. He immersed himself in the sport and said he’d spend two-thirds of his time either running, thinking about running or writing about running.  

“That’s what I write stories about in English,” Vasquez said. “About how I did at a certain race.” 

Vasquez finished second at the North Coast sectionals as a sophomore and qualified for state where he placed in the top 20. In the spring he returned to the track team and ran a speedy 4:29 mile. 

As Vasquez’s cross-country experience grew, his results kept improving. Last year as a junior he won an NCS title and placed 10th in state.  

Despite numerous individual honors, Vasquez said his thoughts while running often reflect upon the team aspect of cross-country racing and motivate him to move faster.  

“I’m thinking I need to run harder for myself and if I do that I’ll help the team improve,” he said. “You have to run for yourself first, but running better helps out the team. They go hand in hand.” 

Now that he’s a senior on a team filled with freshmen and sophomores Vasquez has become a leader that the younger runners look to for guidance and inspiration. 

“He brings experience and leadership to this team,” said Richard Boulet, St. Mary’s first-year cross-country coach. “I really count on Rudy because I’m not here all the time and I ask him to act as a coach.” 

Several universities have recruited Vasquez as a distance runner, and he’s narrowed it down to Western schools, particularly Cal, UC Irvine and Arizona. Vasquez wants to attend a school where he can study to become an engineer and where he can contribute to a top-ranked cross-country program. 

“I want to talk to the Cal coach a little more, but they have a highly rated school and their (running) program is pretty strong,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Arizona yet, but I’d like to see what they have to offer.” 

Vasquez began distance running three years ago, but with his extensive athletic experience he gathered long before his first cross-country race has helped him develop his skills as a runner. 

“A lot of people think that you run cross-country because you can’t do anything else,” Boulet said. “But the best runners are the ones who are the best all-around athletes.” 

The 5-foot-8, 128-pound senior’s raw talent combined with his dedication to the sport made him one of the state’s top cross-country runners last season. But Vasquez said there’s something more to his success. 

“It takes a lot of heart to be a good cross-country runner,” he said. “When it comes to running, it’s whoever has got the biggest heart, whoever wants it more and whoever has the desire to be a champion.” 

Three head coaches have led the St. Mary’s cross-country team since Vasquez started running. Even though their philosophies remained similar from year to year, Vasquez still had to adjust to three distinct coaching methods and personalities. 

“Rudy has adapted really well to each style,” said Dennis Mohun, who coached Vasquez last year. “He’s taken the best out of each coach and that’s just made him a great runner.” 

This season St. Mary’s is considered to be the second-best team behind Piedmont High School in the Bay Shore Athletic League. Defeating the Highlanders in head-to-head competition would be a bonus, but two other meets rate higher for the team. 

“I only care about two races – North Coast and State,” Boulet said. “But what I’ve told these guys throughout the year is that results matter, but what’s more important to me is the effort. I want to see them all spent at the end of the race.” 

Vasquez, who has been running in some fashion most of his life, gives a full effort in practice and during races but when the time’s right he enjoys resting his legs like anyone else. 

“The funny thing about being a distance runner is that you turn lazy when you’re not running,” he said. “People will ask me if I want to walk a couple blocks somewhere and they’ll look at me funny when I tell them no.”

Halloween is showing a less deadly face this year. 

Images of real-life death and destruction, along with taut nerves over everyday safety concerns, have dimmed the appeal of bloody costumes and spooky strangers in the night, some educators and parents say. 

“I think there does seem to be a more dampened nature to it,” said Dr. Matthew R. Mock, program supervisor of family youth and children services for Berkeley. He attributed this to the awareness that “people did actually die in a gruesome kind of way.” 

In an e-mail to the Berkeley High School community, co-principal Laura Leventer said students “should be respectful of September’s tragedy by avoiding scary costumes or pranks.” 

District-wide, said Leventer, “I think everybody’s putting something out about basically just being respectful.”  

She said on the block where she lives, “they put out a letter to everyone in the neighborhood to keep in mind the new tenor, not to scare people too much, that kind of thing.” 

Mock said some parents he had talked to were paying more attention to their teenagers this year than in the past. 

“There’s just a little bit more of being aware of their behaviors, being aware of certain partying or the things they might do,” he said. 

May Lynne Gill, the parent of a student at Cragmont Elementary, said the school had always disapproved of children carrying fake weapons on Halloween, but that “it’s specifically more so now.” 

“The kids aren’t responding the same way the parents are,” she said. “I think parents, when they see costumes with blood – personally, I’m appalled. I like it even less than I did in the past. But I don’t think the kids are affected. I think they’re still in their zone.” 

Mock said among kids he has observed – including his own daughter – this year’s costumes are “more on the good side: Firefighters, police, cheerleaders, and superheroes rather than two-headed or headless persons or something like that.” 

The two elementary schools that responded to the Daily Planet’s unscientific survey of Halloween plans indicated a determination to make the day fun, in spite of current events. 

“Our plans are the same,” said Brenda Stanford, the Berkeley Arts Magnet School secretary. “We’ll still have a parade unless it rains, in which case our kindergarten through third grade will parade inside our school building.” 

Malcolm X Elementary Principal Cheryl Chinn said Halloween would be exactly as it always was this year. And according to the district’s public information consultant, Marian Magid, Thousand Oaks Elementary plans to carry out its annual Halloween parade with special relish because it is the first time since the opening of the school’s new facility. 

Halloween has its origins in the Celtic belief that the dividing line between the physical and spirit world are suspended on Oct. 31, “All Hallow’s Eve,” otherwise known as All Saints’ Day. This rupture, the belief went, allowed the spirits of those who passed away in the previous year to come back in search of bodies to possess. The custom of wearing costumes arose as a way to ward off those spirits. 

At Halloween Headquarters on University Avenue Tuesday, midday shoppers kept the registers ringing with armfuls of plastic and polyester costume gear. Aisles were, as ever, outfitted with fire chiefs’ hats and facial-burn makeup kits. 

“My family’s more concerned about the fact that I’m going to a crowded place,” said shopper Marie Louise Cremer, a UC Berkeley graduate student in information management and systems. 

“It’s the idea of totally hiding your identity,” she said. “I guess there’s more suspicion around people who try to hide their identity at the moment.” 

Lauren Greenberg, the store’s assistant manager, said some people were more enthusiastic about Halloween this year – not to make light of the recent events, but “as a way of coping with it.” 

The sale of many American flags is “definitely a new thing,” she said. “There’s also a Statue of Liberty costume we couldn’t keep in the store,” she said. 

“I think at least in our family we are trying to make it the same as usual, even maybe a little more overboard, to kind of make up for” the current atmosphere, said Alan Mayer, an Albany resident who said he was helping build a haunted house at his son’s middle school. 

I guess there’s just more tension,” said Chinn. “People aren’t as relaxed about it anymore.”

The West Berkeley Shellmound, a city landmark, will shrink a little in November.  

Earlier this month, in response to a petition brought by landowners, Judge James A. Richman of the Alameda County Superior Court ordered the city to revise the Shellmound’s designated boundaries to exclude four properties west of Second Street. 

The City Council must remove the landmark status from the properties in question before Nov. 16.  

The petitioners, who included Richard and Charlene DeVecchi, White West Properties and the 620 Hearst Group, a consortium that owns the property at that address, charged that the archaeological map the city used to determine the area covered by the Shellmound – which now lies underground – was based on “arbitrary and capricious” data. 

The city’s own maps, they argued, showed there was no record of the Shellmound ever extending onto their properties on what is now the west side of Second Street. 

Richman’s ruling does not question the landmark status of the Shellmound as a whole, and it leaves the door open for the city to redesignate the four properties if more proof can be found. 

However, the principal forces behind the Shellmound may not mount a campaign to re-list the four properties. 

“I don’t think this a bad outcome at all,” said Becky O’Malley, a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. “It recognizes the commission’s authority to designate the Shellmound. It just means the boundaries on Second Street have to be fine-tuned.” 

“We’re going to have to give it a little thought and see if we want to fight for redesignation,” said Stephanie Manning, an activist who fought for the Shellmound’s landmark status. “It’s a time-consuming and costly process, and I’m not a rich woman.”  

The Shellmound was a center of Native American communities up until around 800 A.D. It served as burial grounds, landmarks and centers of villages. The remnants of the West Berkeley Shellmound, which was first built more than 5,000 years ago, mostly lie underneath Truitt & White Hardware and Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto’s parking lot, just west of the Fourth Street shopping district. 

More than 400 such sites, some up to 30 feet tall, are known to have existed around the San Francisco Bay in centuries past.  

Chris Carrigan, attorney for the petitioners, said he was pleased by the judge’s decision, and believed that it didn’t infringe on the Shellmound’s role as a cultural and spiritual resource. 

“I see this as a win-win case, and you don’t often see that,” he said. “All the important cultural resources are preserved, and the boundaries are still generous. 

“As a Native American myself, I think that’s the right decision.” 

O’Malley noted that if the petitioners do decide to build on their properties, they may still be required to verify that there are no archaeological resources on the site. 

Having just returned from a national security summit for civic leaders in Washington D.C., Mayor Shirley Dean and several top-ranking city officials held a press conference Tuesday to discuss preparation strategies for possible terrorist attacks. 

Joining Dean were Councilmember Miriam Hawley, Fire Chief Reginald Garcia, Police Capt. Bobby Miller and the city manager’s chief of staff, Arrietta Chakos. 

“Many people haven’t realized this yet but local police, fire and health departments are going to be the first responders in this war,” Dean said. “That was the big pow (of the summit).” 

Dean said the summit resulted in a National Action Plan to help communities across the country prioritize strategies for responding to local terrorist attacks.  

One of the most serious issues facing cities is the cost of increased security measures. Dean said city economies around the country are strained because of an economic downturn, which has been accelerated by the Sept. 11 attacks. Cities will require federal assistance to help pay for added security measures such as police and fire training, protection of water supplies and emergency response equipment. 

Dean said cities will have to lobby for the extra funds because so far the federal government has not allocated substantial funds for local agencies.  

“Of the $10 billion federal anti-terrorism budget identified by the Office of Management and Budget, only 4.9 percent is allocated to state and local first response activities,” Dean said.  

Berkeley does not have any obvious, high-profile terrorist targets such as the Bay Bridge or the Port of Oakland. But Dean said if there were terrorist attacks anywhere in the region, Berkeley’s financial contribution to mutual aid “could impact our budget seriously.” 

Locally, Dean said Berkeley still needs to be alert because of a jet fuel pipeline that crosses the western part of the city. There are also many industries that store large quantities of hazardous materials near residential areas. 

Garcia and Miller said there is currently no estimate on the cost of added shifts for police and fire personnel, nor other security measures, which have been implemented since Sept. 11.  

“The city manager’s budget department has been keeping track and there should be a report soon,” Garcia said. 

Miller said extra police costs to the city include a uniformed officer in the lobby of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center as well as responding to 76 calls of suspicious letters or packages. Miller said 32 of those calls involved a suspicious substance or powder. He said none of the calls were determined to be serious. 

Dean said the city’s Health and Human Services Department will also have to be trained and prepared to respond to large-scale biological or chemical attacks. 

“Health is every bit as important in making our city safe as police and fire, so training for not just our Health Department employees but for our local medical personnel, emergency personnel and citizens is vital,” she said. 

Dean said the city’s Community Emergency Response Training program, which already provides residents with fire and earthquake training, will be expanded.  

“The public should also be educated in basic life saving techniques so that bystanders can provide assistance to those injured until help arrives,” Dean said. “Berkeley needs to step up its already impressive record in this regard.”  

Another aspect of the National Action Plan is local economic security for workers who have been effected by the economic fallout of the terrorist attacks. According to the NAP, the fallout has most effected the travel, hotel and restaurant industries. “The result is that busboys, dishwashers, maids, cleaning people and baggage handlers are the first to go,” Dean said.  

She went on to say that a proposed $60 million federal recovery package will not be adequate to help the unemployed because it relies too heavily on tax cuts. 

The NAP calls for direct worker assistance including expansion and extension of unemployment insurance benefits, funding for job training programs, free or low-cost health insurance for low-income families and health insurance subsidies for unemployed workers. 

On the home front, Dean said residents can prepare for a potential terrorist attack by storing seven days worth of food and water. Also it is important to be familiar with the addresses of neighbors who are disabled or elderly because they will likely be the first to need assistance in the event of an emergency. 

“These are things we’ve been saying all along,” Dean said. “Now we’re just saying it with more urgency.” 

For more information about the city’s Community Emergency Response Training call 644-8736 or visit the city’s Web site at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/cert.html.

On Sept. 12, Ahmad Esmatyar took down the sign in front of his food stall at the Emeryville Public Market, afraid the words “Afghan Cuisine” would hurt his sales. 

Customer Jon Zalon, a regular, noticed.  

“I felt sorry for them,” he said Thursday, digging into his lentils and rice. 

Other customers have too. Instead of a backlash, Esmatyar has seen an outpouring of support from customers, and a sales increase by 20 to 25 percent in recent weeks. 

The Afghani refugee had been nervous about business since Sept. 11, he said, wiping his apron with curry-stained hands. 

But his customers are “very kindly people,” he said, adding that old ladies coming from church on Sunday have brought him candies and flowers.  

Others have dropped-off flyers saying: “We are your friends. We wish you happiness and peace.” 

Two Jordanian-American customers said they chose to eat at Esmatyar's stall as a way to show support to the Afghani community.  

“We were debating Mexican, Japanese, Thai,” said Monadel Herzallah, who drove from San Francisco to eat at the market. But once they noticed the Afghani stall, it made “a lot of sense.” 

Pamir Afghan Cuisine is the closest restaurant to Berkeley specializing in Afghani food. But without the sign, and despite the giant TV screen blaring CNN coverage of Afghanistan, some customers at the Public Market don’t even know what they’re eating. 

Now, the stall is adorned with a listing of menu specials, and several American flags. The restaurant’s name is visible on only one easy-to-miss sign tacked to an inside wall.  

Some customers confuse it with the Indian food stall across the way; there are 14 stalls in the market, ranging from pasta to Korean barbecue. 

“I didn’t even know” it was Afghani food, said Keith K., from Richmond, munching on chicken curry. “I thought it was Indian. The food still tastes good.” 

The cuisine is similar to Indian food, but the names and some of the spices are different. At lunch hour, customers descend on the food stall to sample its spicy chicken curries, lamb kabobs and veggie karahis (stir-fried vegetables over rice). They wash it all down with a sweet purple Afghani tea.  

Many of the market’s customers are computer programmers and software engineers who work at nearby dot-coms. A group of young employees from IDB Systems, a local software company, shared a table. A few had plates from Pamir, but they didn’t know it was Afghani food. 

If they had, they might have saved themselves a trip across the Bay. A few weeks ago, the company went out to dinner at an Afghani restaurant in San Francisco to show their support, said Carolyn Jackson. 

Paul Thibault, who works for AT&T, said he knew the food was Afghani. But it was the samples of chicken kabab, not necessarily notions of consumer support for Afghanis, that drew him in.  

“The food looked good, and appetizing,” he said.  

Customer H. Sezen said he empathizes with the discrimination Afghanis may be feeling; as a Muslim, he’s been uncomfortable too.  

But he’s not going to eat more Afghani food just to show his support, he said, because you can’t just buy according to current events. Quality has to come first.  

“What if they don’t have good food?” he said. 

Esmatyar said he had heard of cases in which South Bay Afghani restaurants had rocks thrown through their windows. 

But Esmatyar says he has not received threats.  

“The situation is no good, but if we’re not safe in America, we’re not safe anywhere,” he said. 

“I pray with all my heart for the American soldiers, that their mission is successful,” he continued. “I want to write a letter to Bush and tell him he’s doing a good job.” 

Esmatyar said he thinks the U.S. action in Afghanistan is long overdue.  

“Afghanis have been suffering before Sept. 11,” he said, referring to the war fought with the Soviet Union, and the Taliban’s rule. 

Esmatyar came to the United States as a refugee 20 years ago, fleeing the Soviet invasion. He opened the restaurant 12 years ago, and has worked there seven days a week ever since. 

He loves this country, he said, because even though he has to work hard, he has everything he needs.  

“At 2 a.m., the shops are open, you can get milk. What other country does this?” he said. 

Esmatyar said his regular customers have been pressuring him to put the sign back up.  

“I’ll do it when I find out more about what’s going on,” he said, gesturing at the big screen TV. “I’m gonna do it.”

Halloween Night at Old East Campus 

6 - 9 p.m. 

1950 Carleton St. 

For children ages 5 - 12, accompanied by parent. Art and craft activities, games, and limited treats. Sponsored by Berkeley Recreation Programs Office and Young Adult Project. $1. 981-5147 

CarnEvil, A Haunted House in Berkeley  

7 - 10 p.m. 

1818 Fifth St. 

CarnEvil is a neighborhood haunted house with three floors of good, old-fashioned fright complete with scary clowns, freak show, evil fortune teller, a haunted midway and much more. 644-3305 www.berkeleyhauntedhouse.com

A gunman took over a College Avenue store Monday evening, robbing it and four individuals, according to Lt. Cynthia Harris of the Berkeley Police Department. 

Around 6:30 p.m., a man entered the Ovation Clothing store at 3206 College Ave. carrying a dark-colored handgun. He ordered one employee to usher another employee and two customers to the back of the store, then he took money from the cash register. Afterward, he went to the victims and ordered them to hand over their money.  

The suspect then ordered the victims into the store’s bathroom and told them to lock it from the inside, after which he fled the store. 

The suspect is a dark-complected African-American male, with a muscular build, in his late 20s to mid-30s, between 5-feet, 9 inches and 6-feet 1-inch in height and between 170 and 225 pounds. He was wearing a black cap, black pants, a black leather jacket and a mustache. 

Anyone who may have been a witness to this crime or may have any other information is asked to call the BPD Robbery Detail at 981-5742. 

A Kensington man was robbed on Solano Avenue Monday evening, according to Harris. 

The victim was walking near the corner of Ensenada Avenue at 6:35 p.m. when a man walked up behind him and told him to hand over his wallet. The suspect simulated a pointed handgun beneath his jacket. The victim handed over his wallet, cell phone, checkbook and shoulder bag, and the suspect fled. He was later reported in an off-white, late-’80s-early ‘90s truck or SUV. 

The suspect is described as a dark-complected African-American male between the ages of 40 and 45, 5-feet, 8 inches tall and around 150 pounds. He was wearing a black jacket and dark pants. 

A man was robbed Sunday evening after his car overheated on Telegraph Avenue, according to Harris. 

The victim, seeing that his car was smoking, pulled into the Andronico’s parking lot at 2655 Telegraph Ave. around 8:15 p.m. When he got out to take a look, he was approached by a man who pointed a long-barrel revolver at him. The suspect told the victim to take everything out of his pockets. The victim complied, and the man took his money and fled on foot. 

The suspect is described as an African-American male, around 18 years of age, 6 feet, 3 inches tall and around 180 pounds. He was wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans and an American flag bandana. After fleeing, the suspect was seen in the company of five other African-American males who were not involved in the robbery. 

Police were called to the Habitot Museum on Kittredge Street Sunday afternoon after a pre-teen child was seen with a toy gun, according to Harris. 

A group of children were asked to leave the museum after running around and creating a disturbance. Upon leaving, one of the people in the museum reported seeing a gun in a child’s hand. Police arrived, determined the weapon to be a toy and took no further action.  

– Hank Sims

SAN JOSE — Santa Clara County has become the second California county to ask Gov. Gray Davis to halt all executions. 

The county’s board of supervisors passed the non-binding resolution 4-1 on Tuesday. The city and county of San Francisco has approved a similar resolution, as have the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and Santa Cruz. 

The supervisors are requesting that all executions stop until studies on fairness in sentencing and the risk of executing innocent people are completed. Supervisors said Santa Clara County’s increasingly diverse population prompted them to consider the number of minorities sentenced to death there. 

Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, said the way the death penalty is used “doesn’t work.” 

Supervisor Dan Gage cast the lone “no” vote. He said he understands that the way the death penalty is implemented may need modification, but said he is against a moratorium on the death penalty while it’s being studied. 

A recent Field Poll found that as many as 73 percent of Californians support a moratorium. Similar measures have passed in more than 30 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

SAN JOSE — Nearly two dozen cattle killed by anthrax in a remote area of Santa Clara County do not pose a threat to the general public, and the deaths were not related to terrorism, authorities said. 

The 21 cows and bulls died Oct. 20-28, and about 120 cattle have since been vaccinated. State officials called it California’s worst outbreak in 17 years. 

Anthrax spores occur naturally in soil around the world, and animals contract the disease by ingesting the spores. The disease is not uncommon in animals, State Veterinarian Richard Breitmeyer said Monday in a written release. 

The Santa Clara cattle were exposed “by eating dirt, primarily,” said Greg Van Wassenhove, Santa Clara County’s agricultural commissioner. 

With pastures brown and parched, “The stubble is so short out there that cattle are ingesting soil,” he said. 

The state has regular procedures to handle cases of anthrax in livestock, but because of the incidents on the East Coast, the FBI has been notified. 

Four people at the ranch came into contact with the blood of the infected animals while assisting in a necropsy, and they have been given antibiotics as a precaution. Also, 10 employees of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, where the anthrax diagnosis was confirmed, also have been placed on antibiotics as a precaution. 

There have been 10 known cases of anthrax in the past 10 years in the state. In 1991, an anthrax incident killed 28 cattle in Contra Costa County, and in 1984, an anthrax incident killed 43 cattle and 135 sheep in San Luis Obispo County.

CONCORD — The only maternity ward in Concord, Contra Costa County’s largest city, has closed. 

Citing the birth center’s annual losses, including $4 million last year, the John Muir/Mount Diablo Health System board voted in June to close the unit based in Mount Diablo Medical Center. Since then, through a series of legal moves, the hospital survived five scheduled closure dates, until Monday. 

Ninety percent of Concord women have been delivering their babies at other hospitals, according to the private nonprofit system, which says that it lost $39 million last year. John Muir Medical Center and Mount Diablo Medical Center merged in 1997. 

For months, Mount Diablo supporters have said that closing the birth unit ultimately will lead to the death of the Concord hospital by choking off its supply of new patients. 

“We have no plans to close Mount Diablo Hospital,” said Steven Bauer, an attorney for the health system. 

SAN JOSE — The city’s redevelopment agency has abandoned its recommendation for underground structures as a solution to address the parking crunch in the downtown area. 

Executive Director Susan Shick said public support was limited. Preservationists also opposed the plan. 

Pat Curia, president of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose said they hated the thought of tearing up historic St. James Park and Plaza de Cesar Chavez for construction that would have lasted at least 18 months. 

Shick reached her conclusion after studying the latest downtown parking management plan, a 136-page report by Santa Monica-based Kaku Associates. 

The parking plan recommends the city build five garages for 4,130 cars and proposes specific locations for three: north of the Hotel De Anza, on the Greyhound bus terminal site, and behind the Tech Museum. 

Two other garages would be built through public-private partnerships with developers who pursue projects at two locations: near South Second and East Santa Clara streets, and near South Second and East San Carlos streets. The exact locations have not been determined. 

The five garages are estimated to cost $145 million, which would be financed through the sale of bonds. Those bonds would be paid off with revenue from the parking garages, redevelopment funds and parking rate increases.

UNION CITY — As news emerged last week that former Afghan guerrilla leader Abdul Haq was executed by the Taliban, his 16-year-old son and crowds of others began mourning half a world away. 

Abdul Majeed Arsala, a junior in high school in Union City, has been surrounded by hundreds of Afghans and others who have gathered to mourn Haq’s death, said Rona Popal, an organizer from the Afghan Coalition in Fremont, the nation’s largest Afghan community. 

Arsala has lived in Union City for the past two years with Haq’s nephew, Khushal Arsala. 

“This is not just my family’s tragedy, but the tragedy of the nation,” Khushal Arsala told The Oakland Tribune. “It is a loss for humanity.” 

Haq was hanged Friday at the Rishkore barracks near Kabul after sneaking into Taliban-held territory to rally Afghan tribal leaders and others to form a new government. He was a member of Afghanistan’s majority Pashtun tribe and did not belong to the northern alliance. He was seen as a key to U.S. efforts to persuade Pashtun leaders to abandon the Taliban. 

Haq, 43, had been a leader in Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union’s 1980s invasion. 

U.S. officials say they knew of Haq’s mission, but neither endorsed nor supported it. Washington has confirmed it ordered airstrikes to try to save Haq, but that they were too late. 

Abdul Majeed Arsala moved to the Bay Area after witnessing his mother and young brother being gunned down in their home in 1999. The assassins were aiming for Haq. 

Although suspicion for those killings fell on the Taliban, Haq at the time said he had no proof of who might have been behind the killings. 

”(Haq) is someone who we admire so much, it is just an honor to be in his family,” said Mohammad Arsala, Haq’s cousin in Hayward. “He gave every sacrifice he could for his country. He lost his foot, he lost his family and, most importantly, the ultimate sacrifice of his life.” 

A memorial will be held Sunday for Haq at a mosque in Hayward. Taliban officials initially told the family they would hand over the body for burial in Pakistan, but family members later were told Haq had been buried in his home village of Surkhrud.

SAN FRANCISCO — John Newton Rosenkrans, a San Francisco Bay area toy company executive and heir to the Spreckels sugar fortune, has died of heart failure. He was 73. 

Rosekrans died in Paris on Oct. 27. 

He was the great-grandson of Claus Spreckels, who founded a successful sugar company. Rosekrans himself went on to found Kransco Group Co. with longtime friend John Bowes in 1963. 

Kransco originally focused on making floating furniture for swimming pools, but by the 1990s had acquired several companies and branched out by selling Hula Hoops, Frisbees, Hackey Sacks and other toys.  

The men sold the company in 1994 to Mattel Inc. 

Rosekrans grandmother, Alma Spreckels, built the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and donated it to the city. 

Like his grandmother, Rosekrans was a patron of the arts. He and his second wife, Dodie, built an outdoor sculpture farm, named Runnymede, at a family property in Woodside. Runnymede has 140 works of contemporary art. 

Rosekrans spent much of his time in San Francisco, but frequently lived at his homes in Paris and on the Grand Canal in Venice. 

He is survived by his wife, two sons, John Rosekrans, of Mill Valley, and Peter Rosekrans of Woodside; two stepsons, John Topham and Ned Topham of San Francisco; two brothers and four grandchildren. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A state appeals court said Tuesday that San Francisco voting laws must a0llow for write-in candidates during runoff elections for mayor or other city offices. 

San Francisco currently allows write-ins only during city election primaries. The race for office goes to a runoff between the top two vote vote-getters if nobody from the primary field secures a majority of the vote. 

The 1st District Court of Appeal said San Francisco’s runoff practice violated the California Constitution and the federal First Amendment rights of speech for voters and write-in candidates. During runoffs, San Francisco provides no line for write-in candidates. 

A lower court had dismissed the suit stemming from the 1999 mayoral election, which Willie Brown won. The suit was brought by Michael Edelstein, a write-in candidate for the office. The case does not affect the election’s outcome. 

The court noted that the California Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that write-ins should be allowed during runoffs in San Diego municipal elections. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled otherwise in a Hawaii case in 1992. 

The 1st District urged the California Supreme Court to revisit its 1985 decision to clarify the conflict. 

The case is Edelstein v. Fado, A093007. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Salmonella-contaminated eggs may be identified within hours, rather than days or weeks, using a rapid-detection technique developed by germ warfare researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

The DNA-based detection system distinguishes a deadly salmonella strain from the many benign forms of the bacteria, according to a paper to be published Thursday in a scientific journal. 

Most large processors spray eggs with chlorinated water heated to around 110 degrees, which is hot enough to kill salmonella. Still, an estimated one in every 10,000 eggs on grocery store shelves is infected with salmonella enteritidis, a significant source of food poisoning that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, headache, nausea and vomiting when undercooked eggs are eaten. 

Approximately 1.4 million people nationwide fall ill each year due to salmonella, 300,000 of which are affected by the enteritidis strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Healthy people usually recover, but the disease can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and for people with weakened immune systems. The government estimates that a consumer eats undercooked eggs 20 times a year. 

Federal officials hope to cut salmonella food poisoning from eggs in half by 2005 and eliminate it totally by 2010 through the Egg Safety Action Plan, a joint effort of the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The plan includes safe handling warnings and new refrigeration requirements. 

Bacteria can be on an egg’s shell, since the egg leaves a hen’s body through the same passageway as feces. Many benign bacteria closely resemble the pathogen, including many strains of salmonella. Because of this, it currently takes at least two tests and several days for inspectors to determine if suspect chickens and eggs are truly infected with the pathogen. 

By comparing the genomes of the benign salmonella with the bad salmonella, lead researcher Gary Andersen and his team were able to pinpoint a tiny fragment of DNA unique to the pathogen. The scientists then dropped that unique DNA strand — a “DNA signature” — into a culture of suspected salmonella enteritidis to see if they would bind. Binding indicates the presence of the pathogen. 

“We’re making Caesar salads safe to eat,” joked Andersen, who is using the same comparative genomic methods to develop a similar test for anthrax, plague and other pathogens thought to be used in biological weapons. 

Lawrence Livermore is developing a handheld detector fueled by Andersen’s technology. The lab also has licensed the DNA signature technology to biotechnology company Cephied, which is developing its own germ warfare detector. 

Using DNA signatures, scientists are able to determine with one test and within hours if suspect eggs are contaminated. 

“It seems to work very well,” said Richard Walker, an inspector with the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory. Walker said he’s been using Lawrence Livermore’s test alongside traditional tests in the field the last six months. 

Still, Walker said the detection technology would need to be evaluated and approved as an alternative to conventional testing by the FDA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. 

The lab’s research is to be published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

LOS ANGELES — Laws making it a crime to bring false accusations against a peace officer but not anyone else are unconstitutional because they represent a selective prohibition that inhibits free expression, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday. 

The 2nd District Court of Appeal’s ruling speaks directly to California Penal Code sections 148.5, filing a false report of a criminal offense, and 148.6a1, knowingly filing a false charge of police misconduct. 

Shaun Stanistreet and Barbara Joyce Atkinson were convicted in 1998 of the two misdemeanor counts after they accused an Oxnard police officer of lewd conduct at a gathering of at-risk youth attending a Police Activities League meeting. The accusation was proved false. 

In overturning the convictions on a 3-0 vote, an appeals court panel ruled that Ventura County prosecutors did not establish “that officers lack effective means to rebut groundless complaints.” 

“Internal oversight procedures may quickly screen out spurious complaints such as those filed by Stanistreet and Atkinson,” the justices added. 

Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Michael Schwartz said prosecutors plan to appeal to the state Supreme Court. 

The appellate court acknowledged that law enforcement officers “confront the worst that society has to offer” and “risk their lives to provide citizens a safer and better place to live,” but concluded that isn’t a justification for limiting the public’s Constitutional right to free expression. 

“The importance of providing to citizens free and open access to governmental agencies for the reporting of suspected illegal activity outweighs the occasional harm that might befall a defamed individual,” the justices said. 

A similar case at the Solano Superior Court in Fairfield was dismissed two weeks ago. Two women driving to Reno, Nev., were stopped by a California Highway Patrol officer for speeding. Kimberly Joan Reed and Rita Lena Jamerson later filed a complaint that the officer was discourteous. 

Using a tape recording of the stop, the CHP said the officer had acted professionally and that the complaint was false.  

Criminal charges were brought against them. But Solano County’s judge said the charges against the women were unconstitutional. 

The state Legislature revised citizen complaint procedures about law officers after the Rodney King beating off March 1991. In response to a number of false allegations that came up as a result of the revisions, the Legislature put this section into effect.

LOS ANGELES — The Police Commission on Tuesday condemned a city councilman’s reference to Police Chief Bernard C. Parks as “Osama bin Parks.” 

“On Sept. 11, Chief Parks led the Los Angeles Police Department in assessing the threat of imminent danger from terrorist attacks and deploying city resources for the public good,” a commission statement said. 

“To compare him to a murderous madman like Osama bin Laden at a time of national crisis is insulting and offensive. The board of the Los Angeles Police Commission would like to state for the record that the chief does not deserve this type of vilification.” 

Third District Councilman Dennis P. Zine said Tuesday that Parks has not accepted his Oct. 22 apology, in which he wrote: “I would like to apologize. During a lighthearted fund-raising event, I made reference to your name and that of ’Osama.’ I did not intend any ridicule to you or your position as chief of police.” 

Zine was an LAPD officer for 33 years and a police union official before he was elected to the City Council this year. He has been a longtime critic of Parks, who has been on the force for 36 years. 

A Zine spokeswoman asserted last week that the councilman’s remark was a joke among a few friends. 

The remark came amid a flap involving the Police Department’s refusal to allow officers to wear any American flag lapel pins on their uniforms other than an approved pin honoring the DARE national anti-drug program. 

On Tuesday, the chief reaffirmed his refusal to accept Zine’s apology. 

“He should apologize to the 6,000 families who lost loved ones during the Sept. 11 attacks. That’s who Councilman Zine should apologize to,” Parks said at a news conference on an unrelated subject.

BILLINGS, Mont. — The use of American Indian mascots for sports teams can demean a culture still fighting discrimination and can be a barrier to learning, a panel of experts told a gathering of Indian educators Tuesday. 

“We ... have a multiethnic society, and we basically still are culturally illiterate,” Jeff Sanders, who teaches Native American studies at Montana State University-Billings, said. 

The chants and caricatures often associated with teams with Indian nicknames are distracting and humiliating for Indians, Charlene Teters said in a forum during the National Indian Education Association conference. 

To simply tolerate it, “you get sick,” she said. 

But fighting back means fighting strong opposition, with die-hard sports fans loathe to see the names of their favorite teams changed, and division even among Indians, experts said. 

Teters said she’s not afraid of the debate in Indian communities. “Ignorance continues to be our biggest enemy,” she said. 

Michael Jetty, an adjunct professor of multicultural education at Montana State University, said he roots against teams with Indian mascots, “because the bottom line for them is money. And if they’re losing, they’re not making money.” 

The issue is an important one, Jetty said. “It’s an issue of people treating people with respect.” 

Jetty said, however, some reservation schools continue to use such team nicknames. 

John Orendorff, a counselor at a high school in Los Angeles, said he and his son should not have to see derogatory signs if they go to local sporting events. Similar references to other groups of people would not be tolerated, he said. 

“My fear is that Indians are seen as less than human,” he said. 

The message sent by mascots and nicknames is a confusing one for Indian children, Orendorff said. 

If he roots against a team called the Indians, “what does that do to my son?” he said. “He’s wondering, Who’s an Indian?”

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. chairman William Clay Ford Jr. took over as chief executive of the struggling automaker Tuesday after the ouster of Jacques Nasser, becoming the first Ford in 22 years to run day-to-day operations. 

“We’ve been given an amazing legacy, and we’re going to build an even better one,” said the 44-year-old great-grandson of Henry Ford. 

Nasser’s fate had been the subject of widespread speculation as the world’s second-largest automaker lost sales amid the Firestone tire debacle and questions about the quality of its vehicles. 

Ford complimented his predecessor, saying Nasser “made many significant contributions to our business operations around the world, and we all appreciate his dedication.” He said the job “is not something I sought, but something the board thought was necessary.” 

Nasser, 53, earned the moniker “Jac the Knife” for his prodigious cost-cutting. He took over as CEO in 1999 when Ford was poised to overtake General Motors as the world’s top automaker. 

But last year, Ford was shaken by the news that people were dying in accidents when the treads separated from Firestone tires, most of which were installed on Ford Explorers. Federal authorities say there is no evidence the Explorer’s design was at fault, but the automaker has reportedly spent millions to settle more than 100 Firestone-related lawsuits. 

Just last week, Ford settled a lawsuit over allegedly faulty ignition systems for vehicles dating from 1983 to 1995. The plaintiffs said the settlement could cost Ford as much as $2.7 billion for repairs, a figure the automaker disputed. 

Nasser resigned Monday afternoon during a meeting with Ford. 

“This seemed to be the right time,” Ford said. “Outside events like Firestone weighed heavily on management distraction.” 

Ford stock was down 9 cents to $16.12 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the announcement. 

“Obviously management thinks it was the right thing to do,” said Jim Hall, vice president of AutoPacific, an industry consulting firm. “But it’s a tough time for any kind of shake-up. During economic times like these you want continuity.” 

The last time a Ford ran daily operations at the company was in 1979, when Henry Ford II resigned. 

Ford Jr. faces a rebuilding task. 

Ford’s market share is down, slipping during the first nine months of 2001 to 22.6 percent from 22.8 percent a year ago. 

Sales of Ford vehicles through September were down 11 percent from the first nine months of 2000, a record sales year for the industry. In the third quarter of 2001, Ford lost $692 million after earning $888 million a year earlier. 

Looking for ways to save money, Ford announced in August it would cut 4,000 to 5,000 salaried positions by the end of the year through voluntary buyouts or early retirement packages. More restructuring moves are expected. 

The management shake-up includes the elevation of North American group vice president Nick Scheele to chief operating officer. Known as “Mr. Fixit,” Scheele was brought in last July in the first sign that Nasser’s job was on the line. 

Nasser’s ouster ends a 33-year career with Ford.  

He was the executive out front, pleading the automaker’s case during the Firestone debacle that began last fall when Bridgestone/Firestone recalled 6.5 million tires and the safety of Ford’s most popular SUV was called into question. 

Nasser was convinced the tire maker was producing an inferior product, and he launched a $3 billion program in May to replace 13 million tires that were not part of Bridgestone/Firestone’s original recall. The tire maker responded by severing its nearly 100-year old relationship with Ford. 

The tire replacement program was viewed as a public relations coup for Ford, but its cost blew a hole in the automaker’s second-quarter earnings. Ford and its CEO took another hit when two influential industry reports showed the company losing ground in productivity and quality.

NASHVILLE, Tenn — Teen-agers may have outgrown their fear of ghouls and goblins, but health officials believe their haunted house has something far scarier: gonorrhea and genital warts. 

Hoping to combat one of the nation’s highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, city health officials have staged the “STD Free! Haunted House.” 

As visitors make their way through a dimly lit, S-shaped maze, they view startling, full-color photos of canker sores and genital warts on male and female genitalia infected with syphilis, chlamydia or gonorrhea. An empty casket at the end sends a message that death awaits anyone who does not practice safe sex. 

“We want to scare their pants back on,” said Elizabeth Frazier, a registered nurse at Tennessee State University’s health center. “We encourage abstinence. But if they can’t do that, then use protection.” 

Lynnette Whitlow, program specialist for the city health department, said some football players could barely get through last year’s haunted house. 

“Guys would come up and say nothing scares them,” Whitlow said, “then before they could get around the corner ... I could hear them screaming.” 

The haunted house was developed three years ago after Nashville reported the second-highest rate of syphilis in the country — 250 cases, or 45 cases per 100,000 people. 

Haunted house visitors are given “goody bags” filled with brochures on sexually transmitted diseases, and can get a free STD test once they complete the maze. 

Last year, more than 1,600 visited the haunted house and 60 students were tested for HIV and syphilis. 

“I think it will have a positive effect and deter freshman like myself from making mistakes,” said Jordan Williams, a freshman from Toledo, Ohio, who planned to take a tour when the house opened Wednesday. “I don’t know if it will make people abstain, but I do think they will consider using protection.”

WEST HOLLYWOOD — The most popular outfit at public Halloween bashes around the nation is expected to be a police uniform — but it won’t be a costume. 

After FBI Director Robert Mueller warned this week of the possibility of more terrorist attacks, law enforcement officials planned to increase their presence at public Halloween parties around the nation. 

More than 200,000 costumed revelers are expected to pack the city streets in West Hollywood on Wednesday night. Scattered among them will be 100 members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — “a deputy on every corner,” said Sgt. Gary Griffith. 

“Obviously, based on all the media and the announcement coming out of the federal government, we have increased the number of deputies working the assignment,” Griffith said. 

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, fears of further violence have led police to focus on large gatherings of people, from airports to sporting events to shopping malls. 

In Miami, police planned to double their presence at the annual Coconut Grove Halloween block party, which draws as many as 15,000 people, said Delrish Moss, a police spokesman. 

Even that won’t be enough for some, said Chastity Medina, 27, who works in an accounting office at a Miami law firm. 

“None of my friends are going because they’re scared, and I am not going alone. They’re afraid some type of terrorist attack is going to happen,” Medina said. 

In New York, Halloween comes the same week as the annual marathon and the World Series. The Police Department said it will be security as usual for the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, with 2,000 officers on duty. 

In San Francisco, city officials have tried to discourage partygoers from flocking to the Castro District. They have urged people to attend the city’s official Halloween event at the Civic Center instead. The predominantly gay Castro neighborhood’s Halloween festivities draw as many as 500,000 people. 

Terrorist threats won’t quench the Halloween spirit of Noah Bishop, a 22-year-old West Hollywood bartender. 

“The community has lived in fear of different, random stuff for so long, from gay-bashing to HIV. I think we’re over it,” Bishop said. “We’re just tired of living in fear.” 

Les Hall, a 27-year-old waiter who works nearby, said he isn’t taking any chances with his costume. He plans to wear a gas mask. 

“That way,” he said, “I’ll be ready for everything.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Pledging to make the next generation of consumers better educated about money than their parents, Wells Fargo Bank has introduced a financial literacy program aimed at students in fourth grade and above. 

The San Francisco-based bank, which developed the curriculum with the nonprofit group Operation Hope, plans to educate 100,000 students in classrooms across the country during the next year. 

In addition to sending 200 employees to teach the basics of money management, Wells also is dispatching 45-foot-long buses equipped with computer terminals that provide wireless Internet access to a new Web site devoted to the program, dubbed “Banking On Our Future.” 

The site features an animated money management primer for fourth and fifth graders, as well as more advanced sections for junior high and high school students. 

Wells CEO Dick Kovacevich described the project as the most ambitious financial literacy program undertaken by a major U.S. bank. 

“We know this is something that students are going to eat up,” Kovacevich said in an interview Tuesday. 

Although they agree schools need to do a better job educating kids about money management, consumer activists are leery of Wells’ involvement in the program. With $298 billion in assets and 5,400 branches, Wells is the largest bank headquartered west of the Mississippi. 

“It’s like the fox guarding the chicken coop when you send banks into the classrooms,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington, D.C. “We have seen banks all over college campuses trying to sell their credit cards, and now it looks like we are going to be seeing them all over our playgrounds.” 

Wells isn’t trying to promote its own products through the programs, Kovacevich said. 

“We have been doing this in a minor way for years,” he said. “We just thought it was the right time to put this together in a major way. It’s in everybody’s best interests if people are better educated about money.” 

The Wells brand appears on credit cards, checks and financial statements displayed as part of the online education program developed with Redwood City-based SmartForce. 

The bank’s self-promotion is troubling, said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a Portland, Ore., consumer group that has fought to keep corporate influence out of classrooms. 

“Financial literacy is a noble goal, but this program has no place in schools. This is just a Trojan horse for marketing credit cards and other products,” Ruskin said. 

Recent surveys have documented the financial illiteracy of most students when they graduate from high school. 

High school seniors scored 51.9 percent — a failing grade — in a money management test taken last year by the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Last year’s results represented a decline from the average score of 57.3 percent — also a failing grade — in the previous test taken by the coalition in 1997. 

Only a handful states, including Idaho, Illinois and Pennsylvania, have introduced financial education into their curriculum, JumpStart said. 

With so much ground to make up, Wells’ project should be embraced instead of reviled, said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. The congressman hopes to include a financial literacy grant program in an education bill under consideration by lawmakers. 

“Adults aren’t doing a good job demonstrating their own financial aptitude,” Pomeroy said. “We can’t afford to live in an economy with low savings rates and high default rates (on credit card loans). Wells understands that an informed consumer is the best business plan of all.” 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.bankingonourfuture.org 

http://www.commercialalert.org 

ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. is buying juice maker Odwalla Inc. in a $181 million deal that gives the world’s biggest soft drink company a stronger foothold in the market for noncarbonated beverages. 

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Odwalla will become part of Coke’s Minute Maid juice division. California-based Odwalla makes juice blends, smoothies and fortified health drinks and will retain its current management. 

Don Short, chief executive of Minute Maid, said acquiring Odwalla strengthens Coke’s opportunity for growth in new beverage categories. 

“Odwalla’s talented and proven people have built unique brands with loyal followings,” he said in a statement. “The innovation and expertise of the Odwalla team coupled with our innovation and logistics network are key to expanding the brands they have created and nurtured.” 

Odwalla, based in Half Moon Bay, Calif., markets its drinks under the Odwalla and Samantha labels. Its chief executive Stephen Williamson said he felt “the entrepreneurial spirit of Odwalla will be nurtured by the opportunity for growth that this new relationship presents.” 

Coke recently scrapped a deal with Procter & Gamble to market products such as Minute Maid juice and Pringles potato chips jointly. 

Odwalla posted $98 million in revenue for the first nine months of fiscal year 2001. It had revenue of $93 million for all of 2000. 

Coke will pay $15.25 a share in cash for all of Odwalla’s outstanding common stock. The boards of Atlanta-based Coke and California-based Odwalla approved the deal Tuesday. 

In morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Odwalla shares climbed 27.8 percent, or $3.29, to $15.12. Coca-Cola shares were down 77 cents at $47.84 on the New York Stock Exchange. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.cocacola.com 

http://www.odwalla.com 

SAN JOSE — Adobe Systems Inc. will lay off about 150 people, or about 5 percent of its worldwide work force, and lower its revenue and earnings targets for the current quarter and fiscal year 2002. 

The desktop publishing software maker said Tuesday it expects revenues for the fourth quarter ending in November to range between $275 million and $285 million, down from its previously lowered target of between $310 million and $320 million. 

Earnings per share for the quarter is now expected to be 20 cents to 22 cents, the company said. 

Before the announcement, Wall Street analysts were expecting the San Jose-based company to earn 26 cents per share for the quarter, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. 

“This is a much tougher year than we certainly expected,” Adobe chief executive Bruce Chizen said at the company’s fall financial analyst meeting. “There isn’t as much revenue and not as much revenue growth as we have anticipated.” 

Chief financial officer Murray Demo cited continued weakness in Japan and the United States. Sales also slowed after the Sept. 11 attacks, making October the weakest month of the fiscal year for Adobe, he said. 

Chizen remained bullish on the company’s long-term growth opportunities but said the outlook for next fiscal year 2002 “will be as it as today — weak.” 

The company expects to incur up to a $10 million restructuring charge from the layoffs, which will start this week and continue over the next few weeks. 

Out of respect for its employees, the company said it was postponing a groundbreaking ceremony for a third office tower. The event was to take place Wednesday. 

Construction of the new building, however, will continue as planned, the company said. 

Shares of Adobe fell $1.59, or more than 5 percent, to $28.75 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In extended trading, the stock plunged $4.70 to $24.05. 

The company plans to release its fourth-quarter results on Dec. 14. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court temporarily has blocked a settlement between California’s second-largest utility and state power regulators that would keep electric rates at record highs for the next two years. 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a consumer advocacy group, The Utility Reform Network, two weeks to argue against the settlement. 

That settlement would help Southern California Edison pay $3.3 billion of its estimated $6 billion debt, by continuing to charge Edison customers higher rates imposed last May. 

The deal also would require Edison shareholders to forego $1.2 billion worth of dividends over three years and have Edison use its available cash to pay the remainder. 

Consumer groups, including TURN and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, say the deal unfairly makes ratepayers carry the burden of the utility’s debt, and that the Public Utilities Commission, members of Gov. Gray Davis’ staff and Edison lawyers should not have negotiated in secret. 

“This order confirms that there are substantial questions about the legality of what the CPUC has done,” said TURN Executive Director Nettie Hoge in a written release.  

“The appellate court wants to see ratepayers protected while those questions are answered.” 

But PUC officials said Tuesday the settlement likely will go forward despite the stay. 

U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew previously said the agreement was “fair, adequate and reasonable to the parties, the shareholders and to the public and is not a bailout by any means.”  

It is he who would have to overturn his previous ruling for the stay to become permanent. 

“The court has not decided anything on the merits of the stay, or the merits of the case,” said PUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper. “TURN jumped the gun in appealing to the 9th Circuit. We are confident that the settlement agreement is the right thing for consumers, and that Judge Lew will make the appropriate ruling.” 

If the settlement goes forward, Edison has said it believes it will accumulate enough cash and gain financing by the middle of the first fiscal quarter of 2002 to pay its debt to banks, bondholders and power generators. 

The PUC has said the ruling was fair to ratepayers and should allow Edison to pay its debt by the end of 2003. The ruling also would allow the commission to retain authority over Edison, in contrast to a bankruptcy reorganization plan proposed by PG&E to cope with its financial troubles. 

The Edison deal was negotiated over 10 days this fall to keep the Rosemead-based utility from following Pacific Gas and Electric, the state’s largest utility, into bankruptcy. 

PG&E and Edison blame their financial woes on California’s 1996 deregulation law that prevented them from passing on skyrocketing wholesale power costs to ratepayers. The state stepped in, buying billions of dollars in power for the cash-starved utilities. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Southern California Edison: http://www.sce.com 

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

The Utility Reform Network: http://www.turn.org 

As dating and relationships become more common in the early teen years, Berkeley High students have been raising awareness about domestic violence by conducting peer education in middle school classes. 

At Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School on Monday, Kate Aughenbaugh’s seventh-graders heard how to recognize the warning signs of an abusive relationship, how to respond when a friend is in one, and what forms domestic violence can take – from physical to mental and emotional. 

“I see so many people who are in these situations and they need this, but they’re already in high school and they’re in the middle of it,” said Maeve McGovern, a junior who co-led the class with junior Molly Baldridge. 

Asking questions first, and then unfurling posters to explain the answers, the peer educators taught the class how to identify domestic violence, distinguish it from non-threatening arguments, and recognize that it takes many forms: Physical, verbal, mental, emotional and sexual. 

“It can also be where a lady batters a guy,” one boy offered, to nods of approval from the teachers. 

McGovern counted off the students from one to three, then asked everyone numbered one to rise. 

Now, one in three kids are at risk of being abused in a relationship by age 21,” she said. “How does that make you feel?” 

“Sad,” said one voice. 

Citing a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Family Violence Prevention Fund’s August newsletter said one in five of high school girls report being physically or sexually abused by a partner – with the incidence rate much the same across racial and ethnic lines. These young women experience higher rates of substance abuse, eating disorders, and other problems, the newsletter said. 

Leuckessia Herse, the teen program coordinator at A Safe Place, an Oakland nonprofit giving outreach to schools and public agencies, said teens are especially vulnerable to getting trapped in bad relationships for two reasons: They don’t always recognize they’re in them, and if they do, they don’t know where to turn. 

“A lot of teens out there are pretty frustrated, they don’t feel like they can express what’s going on with them, and they don’t feel like they can be understood and have some action taken behind it,” Herse said. 

Teens are having relationships earlier than they used to (in order) to make up for the attention and companionship that have missed because “between family, friends and community, something is falling short,” Herse said. 

“Having a lack of those things is causing a lot of the issues with violence,” she said. “People who have been abused are abusing back. It seems like it’s a part of the whole cycle of violence, which is another thing we try to talk to them about.” 

At the classroom presentation on Monday, the cycle of violence was illustrated as three stages on a circle diagram: During “tension-building,” the abusive mate gets angry over small things and may be jealous. “Acute battery,” the second phase, sees open abuse. Then comes the “honeymoon” – remorse, presents, promises. 

“Which two might fade away over time?” Baldridge asked. 

Most students responded correctly. Sometimes, only the abuse is left. 

Shannon Singleton-Banks, the peer education coordinator at Berkeley High, said her student volunteers taught seventh and eighth graders at Berkeley Alternative School, Longfellow Middle School, and King in the last few years, as well as at Berkeley High. 

At Willard Middle School, she said, teachers give domestic violence education.  

Banks’ biggest challenge, she said, “is to get the guys to come and be a part of this peer education thing,” Banks said. 

Debbie Arthur, who coordinates the domestic violence prevention program for the Berkeley Department of Health and Human Services, said peer education was especially valuable for domestic violence because “young people, as opposed to turning to adults for advice, sometimes turn to their peers.” 

“We’re basically talking about power and control, and how they can be used to intimidate people, and also about attitudes and beliefs that we have in terms of how we treat each other and how does that play out in the school community,” Arthur said. “Relationship violence often starts during the teen years and may continue into the adult years as domestic violence, and it’s this continuum that we really want to prevent.”

Tuesday, Oct. 30

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

Berkeley Organization for  

Animal Advocacy presents: 

7 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

2305 Tolman 

Dr. J. B. Neilands, Cal Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, will discuss his involvement in the animal rights movement and provide insight on the alternatives to animal experimentation on campus. 

925-462-7927/ www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa 

Low-cost Hatha Yoga Classes 

6:30 -8 p.m. 

James Kenney Rec. Center 

1720 Eighth St.  

The city is offering low- cost Hatha Yoga classes for adults. Taught by certified instructor. Drop-ins are welcome. Bring a mat or towel. $6. 981-6650 548-3333 

California Politics Seminar 

noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Chuck Rund, President of Charlton Research. 

642-4608 

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 

Aids in South Africa 

7 p.m. 

150 University Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Zackie Achmat, a South African AIDS activist, will discuss the struggle of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa to obtain life-saving drugs. $ 5-10 Suggested donation. 415-621-6196  

Wednesday, Oct. 31

Yoga for People with HIV/AIDS 

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. 

Center for AIDS Services 

5720 Shattuck Ave.  

Free Kundalini Yoga class for people with HIV/AIDS. Mats provided, you may bring a towel. Eating within an hour of class is not advised. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

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 

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.November Out and About Calendar 

Thursday, Nov. 1

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Justice for Tenants Rally and  

Picket 

4 – 5:30 p.m. 

1942 University Ave. 

Lacking affordable housing, renters are being pushed over the edge... Join the tenant fight back. Free food and music, 367-1225. 

Harris Seminar 

noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Susan Hammer, former mayor of San Jose. 

642-4608 

Kayak Adventures on the  

Seven Seas 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Olaf Malver will share slides and stories of his sea kayaking adventures around the world: Turkey, Indonesia, Antarctica and more. Free. 527-4140 

Holiday Art Fest 2001 

6 - 8 p.m. 

Pro Arts Gallery 

461 Ninth Street, Oakland 

There will be live music and refreshments to celebrate the start of annual exhibit and sale of unique gifts and specialty items designed by Bay Area artists. 

Friday, Nov. 2

National Children’s Book Week 

3:30 p.m. 

North Branch Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Saturday, Nov. 3

Media “Wedge Kit” Training 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

The goal of the Media Wedge Kit Training is to help participants create and insert dynamic, witty, and irresistible new language like a wedge into the mainstream media wall. $15 non-members, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds, 548-2220 x233. 

National Children’s Book Week 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Public Library 

2121 Allston Way 

3 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Gardening with East Bay  

Native Plants 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Class held offsite 

An Ecology Center sustainable living class. A hands on workshop in a local garden built from local native plants, restoration gardening, philosophy, ecology, design, local plant sources, and home propagation. Preregistration is required, 548-2220 x233. $15 non-members, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds. 

Poetry Reading 

3 - 5 p.m. 

South Branch Public Library 

1901 Russell St. 

The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading. 527-9905 poetalk@aol.com 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Editor: 

I am proud to live in Berkeley. I am proud to be a citizen of the city whose congressional representative resisted assigning unlimited discretion for war and peace to the president, and whose Town Council recommended stopping a brutal and largely gratuitous military exercise. 

I am not proud of the many, many leaders of this country who have labeled any analysis of the etiology of the nature of the events of Sept. 11, as condoning the attacks, and as disloyal. 

In her strikingly courageous refusal to follow the moment’s common will, Barbara Lee was the true and loyal citizen, at that moment the most loyal citizen of this constitutional democracy. She was the only one to show by voting that an undefined sequence of military commitments of such importance and complexity must be openly tested and discussed. Instead of publicly castigating the council “radicals” for their support of Lee and of continued bombing in Afghanistan, the mayor could well have shown respect for council resolutions with which she disagrees. 

Civil liberties, open discussion, a multitude of perspectives, opinions, voices, have been the essence, and, so far, the salvation of this country. The threat now is not book-burning, and scissors. The threat is more insidious - a total and freely offered submission of will. The will not to see. The will not to know. The will not to discuss. It extends from New York Times’ relative suppression of accounts, figures, or images of the assault on Afghanistan and its censorship of comments by bin Laden, to hysterical verbal whip-lashing of unpatriotic “traitors,” and to many instances of physical attack on Middle Easterners, any Middle Easterner. From Council to Congress, elected representatives must remember and support the principles of social and economic justice, protection of the environmental conditions of life, a fair and reasonable technical and social infrastructure both locally and globally, the freedom to think, talk, and criticize... They must continue to support the principles for which, presumably, they were elected. 

Now is the time for the concept and observance of The Loyal Opposition to be honored here. 

Ariel Parkinson 

Berkeley 

924 Gilman St. Nov. 2: Mood Frye, Manic Notion, Cremasters of Disaster, Bottles and Skulls, Lorax, Sociopath; Nov. 3: Cruevo, Nigel Peppercock, Impaled, Systematic Infection, Depressor; Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 3: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Both shows 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring .com  

Anna’s Nov. 1: The Irrationals; Nov. 2: Anna de Leon and Ellen Hoffmann, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 3: Robin Gregory and Bill Bell, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Quartet; Nov. 4: Danubius; Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Oct. 30: 7:30 p.m., Bluegrass Benefit Concert for the NY Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, Mike Marshall, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin, Bluegrass Intentions, Kathy Kallick Band, Detour; $20. 1317 San Pablo Ave., 525-5099 www.ashkenaz.com 

Blake’s Oct. 29: The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Oct. 31: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2; Nov. 1: Ascension, $5; Nov. 2: Shady Lady, Buffalo Roam, $5; Nov. 3: Funk Monsters, Molasses, $5; Nov. 4: Lost Coast Band, Supercel, $3; Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $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; Oct. 19: Little Jonny and the Giants; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 1: Si Kahn $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 2: Don Edwards $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 3: Barbara Higbie $17.50 - $18.50; All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 1: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 2: Lithium House; Nov. 3: Solomon Grundy; Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series Nov. 1: 8 p.m., Singer/songwriters Faith Nolan and Megan McElroy, $14; Nov. 4: 5 - 9 p.m., Salsa, merengue, cumbia from DJs Rosa Oviedo and Chata Gutierrez, $7; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

The Stork Club Oct. 30: 9 p.m., Simple Things, Tombshakers, Ultrafiend, $5; Oct. 31: Oppressed Logic, Eddie Haskells, TBA, $5; 2330 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland. 444-6174  

Yoshi’s Restaurant and Jazz Spot Oct. 29: 8 & 10 p.m., The Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra, $10. 238-9200 www.yoshis.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Sightlines, Pre-performance discussion with guest artists. 8 p.m., “Music Before 1850,” with Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. $32. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Distaff Singers Annual Benefit Concert” Nov. 3: 8 p.m., Distaff Singers 64th Annual Benefit Concert for the Ida Altenbach Scholarship Fund. $10. Oakland Mormon Interstake Auditorium, 4770 Lincoln Ave., 658-2921 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“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 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“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 

Cal Performances “The Car Man” Oct. 30, 31: 8 p.m.; Nov. 1: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Nov. 2: 8 p.m.; Nov. 3: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne and his company re-invent Bizet’s “Carmen,” spinning the tale of a mysterious drifter in a small mid-western town, who changes the lives of its inhabitants forever. $32 - $64; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30. Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; 

UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail. com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.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 

Pacific Film Archive Theater 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 

“The Search” Nov. 4:30 p.m. 1948 drama of American soldier caring for a young concentration camp survivor in post-war Berlin, while the boy’s mother is desperately searching all Displaced Persons camps for him. $2 suggested donation. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

“African Harmonies,” the artwork of Rae Louise Hayward Through Oct. 31: Hayward’s art celebrates the beauty of African culture: its people, sculpture, textiles, jewelry and music. Tues. - Thurs. 1 - 7 p.m., Sat. noon- 4 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 3023 Shattuck Ave., 548-9286/ www.wcrc.org 

“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 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“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 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

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

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.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 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 3: Editor Danya Ruttenberg and contributors Loolwa Khazzoom, Emily Wages, Billie Mandel will read their selections in the new anthology, “Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism.”; Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; 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 Telegraph Ave. Oct. 29: Arturo Pérez-Reverte reads from “The Nautical Chart”; Oct. 30: Ruben Martinez recounts “Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail”; Oct. 31: Barry Lopez reads from “Light Action In The Caribbean”; All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

“Michael Moore” Oct. 29: 7:30 p.m. Author and film maker reads from his new book “Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation”. $12-15. Sponsored by Cody’s. First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Oct. 25: A Storytelling Pajama Party, 6 - 7 p.m.; Oct. 27: 4th Annual Habitot Halloween; Oct. 28: Family Arts Day; Oct. 31: Sugar-Art Halloween Frosting; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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 City Council will hold the first of two public hearings tonight on the Draft General Plan that, once approved, will govern city development for the next 20 years. 

City staff and planning commissioners expect some aspects of the draft plan to elicit controversy, including downtown parking, rent control and a proposed amendment by a nonprofit environmental development group that calls for the possibility of increased height limits downtown. 

The 191-page draft plan, prepared by the Planning Commission, is the result of two and a half years of public discussions and contains input from hundreds of Berkeley citizens and a variety of city commissions and boards.  

The council won’t weigh-in on the plan until after the second hearing on Nov. 6. The state requires the council to approve the General Plan by Dec. 18, the last council meeting of the year. 

The General Plan is a document of goals, objectives and policies, which govern land use, transportation and environmental management. 

Berkeley’s General Plan has not been updated since 1977, and Senior Planner Andrew Thomas said many of the goals of the old plan remain in the new draft although they reflect updated methods, concepts and theories. 

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the draft plan on July 11. But among the 600 policies approved, the commission was unable to agree on two issues: parking and rent control. 

The draft plan calls for a two-year moratorium on public parking studies, while seeing whether the city can make better use of existing parking.  

Business owners and arts groups in the downtown area believe a lack of new public parking will harm both existing businesses and the burgeoning Downtown Arts District. 

“We know that there is going to be more demand for short-term parking and the draft plan is asking: ‘Can we accommodate (automobiles) with our current parking supply before taking on the very expensive proposition of building more?’” Thomas said. 

Thomas added that the council may amend the draft plan to add a provision requiring that no downtown public parking is lost. 

He pointed to a city transportation report, the Transportation Demand Management study, which calls for getting traditional long-term parkers – usually people who work in the area – to take public transit or some other form of transportation, thereby freeing up parking spaces for theatergoers, shoppers and restaurant patrons. 

Another controversial issue might be a single sentence in the plan that supports the repeal of a 1995 Costa-Hawkins Bill. This state law allows landlords to increase residential rental rates when rental units become vacant. The policy in the draft plan would have no direct impact on the state law, but some city landlords object to its inclusion in the General Plan. 

Furthermore, Ecocity Builders, a nonprofit agency dedicated to creating open space in urban areas by increasing residential density along transportation corridors, is asking for four amendments to the plan. To support the proposed amendments, Ecocity Builders will submit a petition with more than 100 signatures from nonprofits, educational institutions and businesses, said Ecocity Builder President Richard Register. 

One amendment calls for establishing a Transfer of Development Rights policy. A TDR would allow developers to increase height limits in the downtown in exchange for purchasing and razing existing buildings in environmentally sensitive areas, over creeks for example, and then turning over the restored open space to the city. 

The draft plan sets a height limit in the downtown area for no more than seven floors. If the TDR amendment is approved, it would allow 10 or 11 story buildings Register said. 

“Biodiversity is extraordinarily important for the health of the Bay and for teaching our children how life systems work,” Register said. “If we are going to restore creeks we are going to need to remove occasional buildings and with a TDR policy you can also increase housing.” 

According to Thomas, the Planning Commission did not include the TDR policy in the draft because it did not want to create controversy by increasing height limits in the downtown area. 

“They didn’t want to get into the question of raising the height limits because the issue had been so controversial,” Thomas said. “This is the fourth draft of the plan and the first two recommended raising height limits but the public response against it was very strong. People came unglued.” 

The plan sets an ambitious goal to create 6,400 permanent affordable housing units during the next 20 years through acquisition of existing housing and new construction. Currently there are 1,600 units of affordable housing in Berkeley.  

The plan also reaffirms policies of dense in-fill development in the downtown area and along transit corridors.

When you pass a resolution you are assuming to speak for the citizens of your city. I can't imagine that an entire city is as blind to the truth as its elected representatives. 

In case you pull your head out of the sand in the near future, maybe you will realize that our enemies do not want to smoke a joint with you, or ask for your forgiveness, they want to kill us, all of us, you included, including your children and/or your grandchildren. Maybe you should go to New York City and witness the absolute carnage, to breathe in the smell of death, and help pickup the body parts of those that were murdered by our enemies. 

If you can't accept this and want to continue to be traitors to this country, maybe you will consider giving up your citizenship and try living in a country that will kill you simply for opening your stupid mouth. 

Charles Guion 

Baton Rouge, LA 

The number of assaults around Telegraph Avenue, south of the UC Berkeley campus, rose sharply last year, according to the latest available police crime statistics. 

While the city police department numbers point to felony rates dropping in parts of Berkeley, those same statistics reveal that the number of aggravated assault cases around north Telegraph Avenue nearly quadrupled between 1998 and 2000, doubling between 1999 and last year. 

Berkeley Police were unable to explain the sharp increase. 

“The figures are of deep concern (to us),” said Kathy Berger, executive director of the Telegraph Area Association, a grouping of residents and businesses. 

According to police department statistics, robberies, burglaries, and auto thefts have dominated crime in the neighborhood which is heavily populated by university students and encompasses Census Tract 28. Assault cases jumped to 104 in 2000 for that census tract from 50 in 1999 and 27 in 1998. The increase was sharper than in other census tracts of the city. Tract 28, which represents 6,407 people or 7.1 percent of Berkeley’s population, is bounded by College Ave., Oxford St. and Dwight Way.  

Last year, 7.6 percent of the city’s top eight major crimes took place in that area, a marginal increase from the previous year. This year’s overall crime rate, police statistics show, was identical to 1998: 7.6 percent. 

In the lexicon of criminology, “aggravated assault “ is one of those loosely defined terms where the crime can be treated as a felony or misdemeanor, depending on its gravity. 

Assault is not considered as serious as murder or rape. But the California attorney general’s office thinks it’s serious enough to rank it among the state’s top eight offenses. 

“If I say to you that I’m going to punch you in the face, and I move my fist toward your nose, and I hit you, that’s assault, “ said Susan Underwood, a legal expert with the attorney general’s crime prevention division. “If I say to you that I’m going to punch you in the face, and I move my fist toward your face but I stop myself from punching you – that’s still assault.” 

I am so proud of my city standing up in the face of the lockstep jingoistic insanity going on in this country. I feel glad that Berkeley is so far ahead of its time, looking so very many years into the future, when the rest of humanity catches up (if it survives) and learns that acting righteous and keeping one's boot on the neck of those born by some chance in another place isn't what gets us the most security. 

In Truth, Justice -- and the real American Way. 

Mandeep S. Gill 

U.C. Berkeley Graduate Student 

Palo Alto,  

Students and law professionals who attended the fifth annual National Latino and Latina Law Students Conference this weekend at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Law School agreed the field is hurting from a lack of Latinos. 

“There isn’t a level playing field in our courtrooms,” said Jessica Delgado, a public defender in Monterey. 

The situation is particularly dire in California, which has a population of more than 10 million Latinos. 

According to the California La Raza Lawyers Association, out of 1,600 superior court trial positions only 72 are held by Latinos. Furthermore, only 4 percent of the state’s attorneys are Latino. Therefore, clients who want a Latino lawyer have an especially small pool to choose from. 

Almost all who came to the conference expressed concerns that ranged from the number of Latino judges to universities’ admission policies. 

Margaret Montoya, a professor at University of New Mexico’s School of Law, said Latinos living in California make up one-third of its population and should expect to see a good representation of lawyers and judges they can turn to. 

“Supporters of legislation like Proposition 209 say that race is a proxy,” she said. “But we need to tell them that we are coming from a world view from which we understand the world and can help.” 

Gabriella Gallegos, 25, a student, said the university’s law school was once one of the most diverse schools in the country, and Proposition 209 has helped to change that. 

This year, only 17 of the program’s 299 enrolled students, identify themselves as Latino. 

But, Victoria Ortiz, an assistant dean, said the real problem of diversity in the school wasn’t admitting students. She said there was little money for scholarships to offer applicants. 

Out of 28 Latino students who were admitted but chose not to enroll, 27 went to Stanford, Ortiz said. Students chose Stanford over Berkeley because they received more scholarships to fund their education, she added. 

Yet, Delgado indicated that the issue wouldn’t be resolved by bringing in more judges and lawyers of Latin descent. She said there are many other challenges, which undermine the quality of representation the system offers clients. 

Delgado said she often sees Latino judges sentence clients more harshly than their white counterparts. 

“The benefit for the client whose case is being heard by a Latino judge is that the color of their skin and background should resonate with that judge,” she said. 

Delgado, who said she is often mistaken as an interpreter, also said the challenges she faces make the work of defending clients extremely difficult. She said she has had to convince judges, colleagues and even clients that a Latina could do the job. 

“I’ve had clients request a white male to be their attorney because they think a lawyer from that background will have better rapport with a judge,” said Delgado. 

Richard Paez, a judge with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, said he didn’t apply a different standard to determine decisions on cases brought against Latino clients. 

“When you take an oath at the federal level, you swear to judge the case that’s being advocated in your courtroom fairly,” he said. 

Nonetheless, he said, he can’t help but draw on his experiences and background to judge cases. However, he’ll use his knowledge to apply it on cases across racial and economic lines, he said.  

Panelists told students that forums like the weekend conference were important to bring about change. 

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a speed bump, but don’t misunderstand me,” Delgado told students. “I love what I do.” 

She said she feels elated when she wins small victories for a client whose rights have been trampled on. 

“You can affect people’s lives in a variety of different ways,” she told students. 

Valeriano Salcedo, a superior court judge in Tulare, said institutions of higher education needed to work on the K-12 grades, which can act as a “feeder system for students to enter competitive law programs.” 

Some professionals who attended the conference indicated that changing the status quo in law schools can impact the number of Latinos in those institutions. They said students are in a position to challenge university officials into changing the system. 

William Kidder, a researcher at Boalt Law School, said across the country there is a direct correlation with student activism and universities’ hiring of Latino professors and admission rates of Latino students. 

“The things that you do, at whatever school you’re going back to, can play a pivotal role in your school’s policy.”

Margo Shafer is right - the bombing of Afghanistan by U.S .government forces is our problem. I commend Councilmember Dona Spring for bringing this forward for debate. It is not true that it is happening “over there” so that it doesn’t affect us “over here.” Citizens must get good information in order to make good decisions and participate fully to ensure a democratic government. We are part of a global community, and should be informed and interested in government policy which does not directly affect us in our local community.  

The United States has hundreds of thousands of tons of depleted uranium piled in heaps outdoors at DOE facilities. It is 99.5 percent of what is left when the most fissionable isotope (one of three) is extracted from naturally occurring uranium. The extracted uranium is used in nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors. The 99.5 percent that is discarded cannot be put back into the mines it came out of because, after crushing and processing, the volume is greater than before it was removed from the mines. 

The Department of Defense got the bright idea of using DU in weapons because (1) it is very dense giving it greater penetrating power to destroy tanks etc. (2) it is pyrophoric – upon impact, it explodes into fire and smoke creating submicroscopic radioactive particles which travel great distances and can remain suspended until “rained out” of the atmosphere, (3) it is radioactive and will continue acting internally long after the battlefield has been cleared - with delayed effects which continue acting on soldiers and civilians the rest of their lives (4) it is cheap and passes the responsibility for disposal from DOE on to civilians (that means us) and the environment. The half life of uranium is 4.5 billion years - in 10 half lives radioactivity becomes an insignificant amount. In 45 billion years it will no longer be a danger. In other words - it’s “fun” for the DOD, it’s “cheap” for the arms manufacturers (at good profits), and “good riddance” says DOE. 

The United States has manufactured, used, tested DU in 39 states. The cleanup bill - just for the DU - at the Jefferson Proving Ground in Indiana would be $7.8 billion. It has not been cleaned up, but DOD has closed it. Communities living near these test ranges will continue to be exposed and suffer health problems. The Sierra Army Depot in California, for 40 years, has burned millions of tons of old munitions – including 20 times more DU than used in the Gulf War. The radioactive ash full of heavy metals, phosgene gas and dioxins contaminated local communities as well as Native American communities downwind - especially the Pyramid Lake Paiute reservation. The health problems in those communities has been horrendous. The Sierra Army depot burned old munitions in open pits - and was the single largest contributor to air pollution in California - 17-23 percent. 

Did anyone in this city know that, or do anything to inform the citizens? I doubt that anyone was aware or informed. Several months ago I made a short presentation to the Peace and Justice Commission. Norman Harry, former Pyramid Lake Tribal Chairman, and Senator Harry Reid worked with others to shut it down. Less than a month ago Lassen County refused to renew the burn permit for the Sierra Army Depot - finally. 

The United States has used DU weaponry in the Gulf War, Kosovo, Serbia, Vieques Island, Torishima Island near Okinawa, Japan, and sold it to at least 23 countries. Israel uses it nearly daily on the Palestinians. It is in the arsenal the United States is using on Afghanistan. It can be detected on gamma meters in Greece and Bulgaria on windy days. It’s the weapon that “keeps giving”... 

Leuren Moret 

Berkeley 

Editor: 

I wanted to reach out. There have been losses lately. Four people I love and like have suffered deep personal losses in a matter of days. The country has suffered a loss, and the world trembles and shakes. My heart is heavy. I have lost my dream that there could be a solution of courage, of existential acts which would transform. We are bombing the life out of Afghanistan, a land of my youthful romantic visions shaped by the pages of Mitchner's “Caravans.”  

Killing is horrible, but doing it without intimacy, without the mindfulness of what we do, from the air where those ordered to go cannot touch or be touched, I feel that is obscene. And the men and women who send them are even more removed. I hate it. 

Where is our courage? It is not Afghanistan which threatens us, that is simply the place the Saudis have bought to attack us from, perhaps in the hope that they can free themselves before their oil runs out and we don't need them any longer. Perhaps to cover that there are powerful and controlling forces in their midst which hate us because we are not them. Perhaps both. After all, the Saudi Royal Family is large and has to prepare for its future. 

Osama bin Laden is a front man, formidable but a front. The corrupt and cruel regimes of the Middle East are interested only in their own wealth and power. It's different there you know. In the West our power seekers, though selfish, identify with the nation and it's institutions. In the Middle East the nation identifies with the Power Man, and they don't get to vote him out.  

We know this---but we satisfy our primitive talonic need by bombing Afghanistan. Bush said, Turn him and his lieutenants and his thugs over and we''ll stop what we're doing to your country. “To your country!” he said. I am ashamed. The most powerful most technologically advanced country in the world crushing to dust a country where they have mostly stones.  

I hope to hell that we give them what they need to rebuild. But now, right now we have dropped 650,000 single day food packs. Are we rushing to send vast ship loads of our surplus grain, which we have sometimes allowed to rot? Doesn't our American spirit demand of us that we feed hungry people dislocated by our warfare, as the winter’s ice looms. 

Where is our courage? We have been attacked ruthlessly and the best we can do is bomb Afghanistan and sneak around on the ground at night blowing up small arms and killing some more pawns, while most of the real terrorist supporters and most of the rest of the world applaud politely. And while the worst thugs in Iraq thumb their noses at us, and in Iran they smile hardly even up their sleeves, at our seeming impotence. And maybe they tremble secretly at our raw power and our willingness to use it ruthlessly.  

The Taliban are thugs but... Where is our courage? I have been sitting with this for days. It helps to write. I feel a little more angry and a little less blue. 

Leonard Schwartzburd 

Berkeley

Among the questions before the council tonight, is a $100,000 contract with the Flamingo Hotel to provide emergency housing for homeless people who are seriously mentally disabled.  

The funds will come from state grant money the city received last November. In the past the city’s Mobile Crisis Team has been able to house people at the Flamingo Hotel on an emergency basis. 

According to the report the contract with the Flamingo is stop gap measure until long-term housing is arranged. 

Homeless survey finds services lacking 

The council will hear a report on the status of homeless people residing in Berkeley. The report is based on a survey by Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, a nonprofit organization that provides shelter and services for the homeless in Berkeley and Oakland, of 100 homeless men and women. 

The report concludes that Berkeley’s estimated 1,200 homeless are regularly harassed by the police, have insufficient access to shelter, health services and education. 

Among the solutions suggested in the report are that the city add to the number of shelter beds, create a detoxification facility and designate a legal camping area in the city limits. The report also asks for greater investigation of the relationship between the homeless and the Berkeley Police Department. Chief Dash Butler will be present to respond to some of the conclusions in the report. 

Relocating the folk festival 

The Commission on Disability is requesting the council relocate Berkeley’s annual Free Folk Festival to a location more accessible to diabled people. 

According to a COD report, the stage of the current location, Ashkenaz, has an inaccessible stage and the entrance ramp is of an unsatisfactory design.  

The report also claims the venue’s bathrooms, though recently improved, are still awkward to use. Access to them is more difficult during events when the narrow hallway outside the bathroom is crowded with people.  

The report suggests that the current venue does not adequately accommodate the growing number of people who attend the popular festival each year. 

It suggests moving the festival to one of Berkeley’s schools as a possible solution. Some schools have accessible auditoriums and space for workshops and related festival activities. 

Traffic safety for school kids 

The council will consider a recommendation from Mayor Shirley Dean to review the school traffic safety plans. According to the recommendation, the council approved a proposal over a year ago that required each Berkeley school, public and private, to submit a safety plan for picking up and dropping off of children.  

But Dean said there is little evidence that the plans are in effect. The recommendation contends that a police officer, who once enforced a 10-minute parking limit on Ellis Street near Malcolm X School, is no longer there and children continue to cross Ashby Avenue at Ellis Street instead of walking one block west where there is a traffic signal. The report also describes a child struck by a car while crossing Ellis Street to reach a school yard.  

Public hearings 

The council will hold four public hearings, beginning with a proposal to increase parking fees at the Center Street Garage.  

The council will hear public comments on the formation and taxation of businesses in the Downtown Berkeley Business Improvement District. 

It will also hear an appeal of a declaration by the Zoning Adjustments Board that a property at 2507-09 McGee Avenue is a public nuisance.  

Finally, there will be a public hearing on the Draft General Plan and an Environmental Impact Report on the plan. Another public hearing will be held on the draft plan on Nov. 6. 

The council will also look at authorizing: 

• The acceptance of $800,000 in state grant money to construct the Berkeley Bay Trail. The additional funds will make the total state contribution to the project $3.5 million. 

• The city manager to develop a charter amendment to allow the redistricting process to occur after the decennial census is complete and any under or overcounts are adjusted. The recent redistricting process was marred by a Census Bureau undercount of nearly 4,500 people, mostly students in districts 7 and 8. 

• Six months of supplemental military leave benefits to employees called to active duty in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Berkeley Housing Authority 

The Berkeley Housing Authority, which is made of the City Council and two affordable housing residents, will meet in the Council Chambers at 6:30 p.m. just prior to the regular City Council meeting. The BHA will discuss a report detailing an increase of 17 rental units to Berkeley’s section 8 housing program over the last three months. In order for the program to remain viable and to avoid financial cuts by the Office of Housing and Urban Development, the BHA has to reach a goal of 1,620 section 8 leases. Currently there are 1,270. 

The BHA will also discuss a report on the status of Section 8 Resident Council and the Public Housing Resident Council. The council and board are made up of section 8 and public housing residents. According to the report, the effectiveness of the resident councils is impeded by an inability to work together. In addition many of the board’s and council’s meetings have been canceled because not enough members show up to legally take action on items on their agendas.  

Housing Director Stephen Barton will also ask the BHA to approve a $90,000 contract with AA-1 Construction to provide building maintenance for city-owned public housing. 

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

WASHINGTON — After meeting Monday with federal officials, Gov. Gray Davis said he hopes to get approval within 30 days to allow California Highway Patrol officers to serve as sky marshals on flights within the state. 

The governor also wants federal approval to expand the duties of National Guard troops at California airports to include random searches of checked baggage. Currently, they are limited to checking carry-on bags at security checkpoints. 

Davis met in Washington Monday with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Federal Aviation Administration chief Jane Garvey, whom he described as receptive to his ideas. 

“Both proposals were received with interest,” Davis said. 

Davis first made the sky marshal proposal a month ago, explaining that CHP officers take 7,800 work-related flights a year. The highway patrol officers’ union has raised questions about the idea, but has not voiced opposition. 

Davis described both proposals as essentially free. CHP officers would serve as marshals only on flights they already would be taking, and airports would not need more National Guard troops to expand the reservists’ duties. 

The governor headed from his meeting with transportation officials to tour the Pentagon crash site. He also will visit the World Trade Center site in New York on Tuesday. The itinerary for his East Coast trip also includes a visit to his mother in Florida and two campaign fund-raising events in New York. 

Davis was not the only California official on attacks-related business on the East Coast. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was in New York on Monday to testify before the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, and to present $244,305 to New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. 

The money, for the survivors of the police and firefighters who died in the collapse of the Trade Center buildings, was raised by the sheriff’s department through the sales of memorial bracelets and bumper stickers. 

SAN DIEGO — Authorities detained 21 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Monday. 

The men and women came in two groups at the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego and are being held while the immigration service decides whether any qualify to remain in the United States, INS spokeswoman Lauren Mack said. 

Because of privacy laws, the INS can’t disclose whether any in the group are seeking political asylum, Mack said. 

By far, most illegal immigrants caught at the border in San Diego are Mexican. Authorities occasionally stop people from other countries, but it is rare to encounter a large group from Sri Lanka in Southern California, she said. 

The Sri Lankans arrived on foot in two groups. Sixteen arrived Saturday and five more Sunday. 

They told authorities they traveled by plane from their South Asian island nation to Jordan, then came to Mexico by ship. Each paid between $19,000 and $31,000 for the journey. 

Last year, nine illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka who came individually or in small groups were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, Mack said. 

Sri Lanka has been plagued by an 18-year civil war in which at least 64,000 people have died. 

Militants among the 3.2 million Tamils of the island-nation off the southern tip of India are leading an often violent campaign for a separate homeland. They allege that Tamils are discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese, who comprise 14 million of the country’s 18.6 million people.

LOS ANGELES — Napster won’t let the music play until some time next year. 

The embattled song-swapping service’s chief executive, Konrad Hilbers, told a technology conference Monday that the company must still license more major record label music before it can go back online. That will probably be in the first quarter of next year, he said. 

Napster has been off-line since July in an effort to comply with a federal judge’s order that the free music trade be halted. Hilbers said Napster will replicate its popular file-sharing service in a secure environment while pressing for licensing deals with major labels. 

He hopes a settlement of the suit his company faces can help Napster recreate the song downloading magic that brought the company 60 million users at its peak. 

“Music, I think, makes close friends of people with nothing in common but a shared love of Incubus or Jerry Garcia’s Grateful Dead,” Hilbers said. 

Whenever Napster’s new service does come back online, Hilbers reiterated that digital song downloads will include technology that prevents unlimited copying and free distribution. 

All five major labels have vowed to come out with subscription online music services before year’s end. Sony and Universal have partnered to form pressplay while MusicNet is the joint venture of Warner, BMG and EMI. 

Analyst Phil Leigh, of Raymond James and Associates, said even if Napster remains on hold until early 2002 it could possibly time its re-emergence successfully. 

Leigh said Music Net and pressplay could serve to warm up consumers to the idea of subscribing for online music, to the benefit of Napster’s relaunch. 

“It doesn’t hurt Napster if they come in later when the offering becomes more attractive,” Leigh said. 

Jim Griffin, cheif executive officer of Cherry Lane Digital, said at the conference that the online music industry is not quite ready for prime time. He said the industry still needs a large pool of money and a fair way of dividing those funds up among copyright holders and music publishers. 

He said subscription online music businesses and major record labels would need to ignore many of the traditional models that worked for the recording industry in the past. Whatever business models emerge, they’ll be worlds apart from their predecessors, Griffin said. 

“It will not be about control. It will not be about clinging to content,” Griffin said. 

He predicts that subscribers will pay by the month, not per song, for downloaded and streaming music.  

Griffin believes wireless broadband access is a key component to the success of online music, a notion that dovetails with the goals of Evolab, a company he founded that focuses on wireless media services. 

Listen.com is making another play at the changing music landscape. Once merely a directory of legally downloadable music, the service is about to be reborn and will launch a new streaming music platform called Rhapsody. 

Rhapsody, set to launch in about two weeks, is an application where users can store and access streaming song playlists for a subscription fee set by independent distributors. 

But the same problem exists for Rhapsody, as with many others — no big name content. So far, Listen.com only has signed licensing deals with 37 independent labels to provide music content to the Rhapsody service. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.napster.com 

http://www.listen.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — The top lawyer for the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance is at the center of an ethical controversy, and experts say the watchdog agency must be careful in its handling of the issue. 

Victoria Henley, the commission’s chief counsel and top administrator, is accused of having a conflict of interest when she handled disciplinary action against a judge her husband was suing. 

How the commission, which is responsible for disciplining judges, handles the controversy could affect its integrity, experts say. The commission has already requested that an independent investigator handle the case. 

“That was the right thing to do,” Steve Barnett, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall law school told the Los Angeles Times. “The commissioners should be commended for the speed with which they acted on this.” 

In December, Henley and her staff accused Sonoma County Judge Patricia Gray of unfair campaign practices during her 2000 re-election campaign and began disciplinary proceedings. The charges claim she unfairly accused her challenger, deputy public defender Elliot Daum, of condoning the actions of those he defended in court. Gray lost the election. 

The commission could bar Gray from serving as a judge again if it sustains the disciplinary charges. 

But Gray’s lawyer says Henley should have disqualified herself from the proceedings because her husband, Alameda County lawyer Michael Boli, filed a malpractice suit against Gray for a 1994 civil case she handled while still a lawyer. 

Boli had already filed the suit against Gray when the disciplinary proceedings were launched. The suit is still pending. 

Gray’s attorney accused Henley of using the disciplinary proceedings against Gray to enhance the outcome of the civil suit if it’s decided in favor of Boli’s clients. 

WASHINGTON — A new anti-viral drug is being added to the arsenal of anti-AIDS medications. 

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has approved Viread for use in combination with other drugs in fighting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. 

The drug blocks reproduction of the virus, the agency said. Its technical name is tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. 

AIDS survival rates have increased in recent years as combinations of drugs are used to battle the virus. 

FDA noted that the virus mutates rapidly, however, and often develops resistance to drugs. That makes development of new medications necessary. 

The FDA said it approved the new pill after two clinical trials on more than 700 people who showed increased HIV despite treatment with other drugs. They showed significant reductions in the amount of HIV in their blood during the trials, the agency said. 

The new drug is taken as a single pill once a day. Supplies should be available by the end of this week, according to the manufacturer, Gilead Sciences of Foster City, Calif. 

Gilead spokeswoman Amy Flood said a year’s supply of Viread would cost $4,135, but added that much of that probably would be covered by insurance. 

In clinical trials the most common side effects of Viread were moderate diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and flatulence. Viread is a type of drug known as a nucleotide analog. Its action is similar to nucleoside analogs, which the FDA said have been connected to some serious liver conditions.

Armed man killed 

SAN JOSE — An armed man who barricaded himself in his home Sunday afternoon and held police at bay for more then 10 hours as crisis negotiators tried to contact him, was shot and killed, San Jose police said Monday. 

According to police, the armed man left his house at about 3:25 a.m. Monday and walked about 50 yards toward a group of officers. He then raised his rifle and pointed it at the policemen. 

An officer fired a round from his rifle and struck the suspect in the chest, a police report said. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene. 

The wife of the man called police at about 4 p.m. to report her husband was on pain medication, was hallucinating and had fired at least two shots from a gun in the garage. 

The man refused to respond to negotiators trying to contact him by phone and a bullhorn, the police report said. 

The Homicide Unit of the San Jose Police Department is investigating the incident. The name of the officer, as well as the name of the suspect and his wife, have not been released. 

Adoptive parents, fathers eligible for  

extension 

STANFORD — The faculty Senate unanimously has voted to include adoptive parents and new fathers on the list of those eligible for tenure clock extension. 

If the changes are to be instituted next January, the board of trustees must approve the revisions during its next meeting in December. 

The current policy applies only to birth mothers, and has been in place for three years. 

Under the revised Faculty Tenure Policy clause, new parents would be able to apply for the extension for up to one year after the birth or adoption of a child.  

In cases of adoption, the child usually must be no older than 5. 

SAN FRANCISCO — More than one third of eligible utility customers answered Gov. Gray Davis’ call to cut electricity use by 20 percent and earned a 20 percent discount on their power bills, utilities said Monday. 

Combined, the customers will save millions of dollars on their electric bills, and by reducing their power use kept themselves from being charged record rate hikes passed by the state Public Utilities Commission in the spring. 

To get the discount, customers of all sizes had to trim their power use by 20 percent or more during any one of the four qualifying summer months — June through September. 

A third of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s 4.6 million electric customers saved a combined $120 million on their electric bills.  

At Southern California Edison, more than 373,000 customers saved a combined $855,956. About 374,000 San Diego Gas and Electric customers earned a combined $6.24 million. 

Californians slashed their power use so much they were lauded by state and utility officials as a chief reason the state weathered the summer heat without having to shut off the lights.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A leading bioterrorism expert has cautioned against the freewheeling exchange of scientific ideas, saying unfettered public access unwittingly could help terrorists. 

“We should be cognizant of the power of our own science,” Thomas Inglesby of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense told doctors gathered Sunday at the Infectious Disease Society of America Conference. 

Inglesby said the same biotechnology research used to create disease-fighting drugs could make it easier for terrorists to develop biological weapons. Scientists soon will complete the genetic mapping of flu viruses, and Ingelsby warned that such information should not be shared publicly on the Internet. 

Meanwhile, most of the doctors attending the four-day event in San Francisco were preoccupied with how to distinguish early onset of anthrax from normal colds and flu, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Julie Gerberding, acting deputy director of infectious disease control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, discussed the latest anthrax treatment guidelines via satellite hookup Sunday. 

The doctors were told that none of the patients with anthrax had a runny nose, a typical symptom of flu or cold. 

“Usually, inhalation anthrax shouldn’t cause runny nose or sinus congestion,” Northwestern University Medical School Professor Tina Stosor told the San Jose Mercury News, “but the verdict’s still out on that.”

SAN JOSE — Police are looking for a 22-year-old suspect in the shooting death of a rookie officer. 

DeShawn Campbell of San Jose likely will face murder charges in Sunday’s death of 24-year-old Jeffrey Fontana, according to San Jose Police Sgt. Steve Dixon. 

Police believe Fontana had stopped a vehicle in an upscale neighborhood in San Jose early Sunday and was shot while approaching it. 

Residents called to report an officer on the ground near his patrol car. Fontana was pronounced dead at the scene, Dixon said. 

Police said Fontana, who was working his regular beat, never called for help and there was no record of a traffic stop. 

Fontana had just finished his 16-week field training and had been patrolling on his own in the last two weeks before being gunned down.  

He had been a member of the force for less than a year. 

MARIPOSA — The triple murder trial of Yosemite killer Cary Stayner will be moved out of this tiny community, away from the rugged mountains where he allegedly preyed on women, a judge ruled Monday. 

Judge Thomas Hastings agreed with the defense and prosecution that extensive news coverage of the case — including Stayner’s confession to four killings — would make it difficult to find a fair jury in this Sierra Nevada foothills county. 

Stayner, who appeared in court Monday with his head freshly shaved, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing three Yosemite tourists who were staying at Cedar Lodge, where he worked on the outskirts of Yosemite as a handyman. 

He is accused of killing Carole Sund, her daughter, Juli, and friend Silvina Pelosso in February 1999. 

The parents of Carole Sund said they were surprised by Stayner’s scalped look. Carole Carrington said he looked crazy. 

Defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey said outside of court that Stayner has shaved his head throughout his life as a result of a chronic hair-pulling disorder. 

He has always appeared in court with a crop of thinning hair. 

“It was a just a shock,” Francis Carrington said. “It looked like a long-term convict or something.” 

Stayner, 40, already is serving a federal life sentence for murdering Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong in July 1999. 

Hastings, a Santa Clara County judge assigned to the case, set a hearing for Dec. 17 to consider where to hold the trial. 

Prosecutor George Williamson recommended Sacramento, Santa Clara and Colusa counties. Morrissey suggested San Francisco or Los Angeles because they have larger jury pools. 

Court administrators will confirm which counties have adequate security, staff and courtrooms available for a trial starting Feb. 25.  

The court then will notify lawyers of the possible sites so they can conduct telephone polls or other research to determine how widely known the case is in those counties. 

Morrissey also said she would be filing motions to dismiss the charges against Stayner, and would seek to suppress witness statements. 

Morrissey left the court without making further comment. She said in the past she would seek to bar evidence of Stayner’s lengthy recorded confession to FBI agents. 

The tape of the confession was played at a hearing in June, with Stayner describing the methodical killings in graphic detail. 

He said a longtime fantasy of killing came alive the night of Feb. 15, 1999, when he saw “easy prey,” the mother and two teens, through the window of Room 509. 

Stayner went to the door and said he had to check a leak in the bathroom. Once inside, he pulled a gun and tied them up. He strangled Carole Sund, 42, and Pelosso, 16, in the room and put them in the trunk of their rental car. 

“I had no feeling, like I was performing a task,” he said about killing Carole Sund, the first of his victims. 

After repeatedly sexually assaulting Juli Sund, 15, he drove her to a remote lake and slashed her throat. He abandoned the rental car and torched it. 

He said it was the first time he ever felt in control of his life. 

Stayner was caught six months later at a nudist colony, after investigators found the headless body of Armstrong in a creek near her cabin in the park. Stayner was arrested after confessing to all four killings.

SACRAMENTO — California will spend more than $1.1 million to boost security at the state Capitol in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks, legislators decided Monday. 

“Like it or not, the Capitol is a potential target,” said Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, chairman of the Joint Rules Committee that oversees security there. 

The state will spend $700,000 to install airport-style metal detectors and X-ray machines at four entrances to the building, eliminating public access at two additional existing entrances. The main and most ornate entrance to the Capitol will be reserved for tour groups. 

Officials said the new equipment will speed searches that have been conducted by hand since the Sept. 11 East Coast attacks, though it may be another two months before the machines are in place. 

In addition, an X-ray machine used to screen mail will be moved from its current location beneath the governor’s office to the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento, at a cost of $410,000. 

Legislators also are considering buying an irradiation machine that could kill anthrax and other bacteria in mail, but will first see what steps the U.S. Postal Service takes so as to avoid duplication, Cardoza said. 

Sixty large concrete flower planters already have been placed around the Capitol as a barrier to vehicles. The committee plans a public hearing Nov. 13 to consider whether they should be replaced by permanent metal posts or similar devices. 

The planters cost $10,000 to $15,000 but can be used at other state facilities if they’re not needed at the Capitol, said CHP Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick. 

Cardoza estimated the state is spending $5,000 to $10,000 on other security measures, though some are as cheap and easy as locking previously unlocked doors.  

All told, the committee considered 25 precautions at its four-hour closed door meeting, the remainder of which were not made public for security reasons. 

“We don’t want to let the bad guys know what our points of vulnerability are,” Cardoza said. 

The security precautions were endorsed by Assembly members of the Joint Rules Committee, while Senate members still must be polled for their approval. 

Meanwhile, Helmick said the CHP has spent more than $17 million since Sept. 11 on increased security statewide, including more flights over aqueducts, power lines and patrols of bridges and dams. 

To pay the increased cost, Helmick said he is cutting back equipment, travel and training, though most training was postponed anyway because the officers are needed for the beefed up security patrols. 

SALT LAKE CITY — National Guardsmen patrolling the airport with M-16s were not part of the original plan for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Then came Sept. 11, and the Salt Lake Games would never be the same. 

With the games scheduled to start 100 days from Wednesday, Olympic organizers who overcame scandal and financial problems now have just one overriding mission — protecting 2,500 athletes and the fans who come to watch them. 

Unlike the bloody history of the Summer Games, the Winter Olympics have never been disrupted by terrorist attacks. If they are in Salt Lake City, those who are running them know well that both the city and the games may be forever scarred. 

“If you don’t have a safe games, there’s nothing you can do to redeem yourself,” said Mitt Romney, who heads the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. 

About the only thing that will still be the same for 17 days in February is that the world’s best skiers, skaters and jumpers will be competing for Olympic gold. 

But getting in to see them will now take more patience, and new security measures will mute some of the festivities that normally surround an Olympics. 

Some residents who were once proud their city landed the games are now fearful that they will become a target. 

“There is an awful lot of people that if they can find a way to get out of town for three weeks are out of here,” attorney Bruce Baird said. “I think it is just dawning on people what it might be like.” 

Indeed, the enduring image of the Feb. 8-24 games for those attending may be one of tall fences topped with razor wire and standing in long lines to empty pockets and purses into large plastic tubs for security checks. 

At the downtown high-rise where Baird has his office, workers were evacuated last week in a pre-Olympic drill. 

“The attacks have changed people’s psyche. Nobody before thought it was possible,” said Robert Flowers, who heads the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command, the security umbrella for the games. “We weren’t talking about anthrax in Olympic venues before. Now we are. It caused us to take some things more seriously.” 

Before last month’s terrorist attacks, Olympic security officials thought they had built a strong, multifaceted plan at a cost of some $265 million. 

Now the tab is over $300 million, thanks to the addition of 2,000 National Guardsmen to help guard venues and materials and the need to buy more metal detectors, security fences and surveillance equipment. 

Some 10,000 security personnel will be on guard, outnumbering athletes 4-1. Another 5,000 SLOC workers will help guide ticket holders through metal detectors and other detection equipment and make sure they aren’t carrying backpacks or other items that might conceal a weapon. 

In the sky, U.S. Customs helicopters and radar planes will patrol, along with F-16s from nearby Hill Air Force Base. Extraordinary air security measures will likely include the closure of Salt Lake International Airport to air traffic during the opening and closing ceremonies and airspace restrictions at other times. 

On the streets, health officials will have stocked up on antibiotics, and portable decontamination units will be ready to speed to venues should suspicious substances be found. 

Experts will monitor the air for chemical and biological contamination, and thousands of volunteers have been trained to respond to any type of threat. 

“If there’s something found or spotted, we’ll have someone on the scene in minutes and we’ll know how to handle it and what to do,” Flowers said. 

The FBI will have 1,000 agents in Utah to investigate and respond to any threats. Last week, teams of Secret Service agents practiced for various scenarios in Salt Lake City. 

“The intent was to dial up the stress levels,” said Mark Camillo, Olympics coordinator for the Secret Service, which has overall responsibility for the games’ security. 

Indeed, organizers say about the only thing that hasn’t been planned is what to do if the games are canceled. SLOC has $150 million in cancellation insurance from an earlier policy, but Romney said nothing short of a world war could stop the games. 

SLOC has gone so far as to reserve charter planes to bring athletes to the United States should the world’s air travel system be in turmoil. 

“The circumstances that suggest you couldn’t go forward with the games are unthinkable in my view,” Romney said. “There is no Plan B. You proceed with the games almost regardless of the turbulence.” 

Organizers say they hope much of the security will be unobtrusive and barely noticeable, outside of the security fences and checkpoints and the bomb-sniffing dogs at competition sites. 

Much of the armed security will be in plain clothes to blend in with the crowds, while some 1,900 state and local police officers and 500 volunteer officers from around the country will be outfitted in yellow and black uniforms. 

With new plans in place, they’re now trying to convince both foreign governments and Olympic ticket holders that the safest place to be in February may actually be Salt Lake City. 

Romney said only 15 people asked for refunds in the wake of the terrorist attacks, and that the head of the Iranian Olympic committee wrote him a three-page letter congratulating him on the steps taken to protect athletes. 

At a security briefing Monday, Danish International Olympic Committee member Niels Holst-Sorensen said the plans are detailed and thorough. 

“Everything is very well in hand,” he said. 

The extensive plans, though, don’t stop security officials from fretting. A lone man was responsible for the Atlanta bombing that killed one and injured dozens of others, and they worry as much about that as they do about any large organized attack. 

“No one can have 100 percent security. It’s not possible,” Flowers said. “But if we feel we can’t give reasonable protection then we’d ask them not to hold the games.” 

Romney doubts terrorists would make the Olympics a target. 

“Attacking a group of young athletes from around the world doesn’t seem to be a good public relations move to me,” Romney said. “The terrorists didn’t attack the United Nations, they attacked symbols of America. I don’t think they would want to attack the Olympics.”

DETROIT — The company that runs the Dish Network is poised to become the nation’s leading provider of home satellite TV service after reaching a deal to acquire rival DirecTV from General Motors Corp. 

EchoStar Communications Corp. is buying Hughes Electronics and its DirecTV subsidiary from GM for approximately $25.8 billion. The deal, struck Oct. 28 during a weekend session of GM’s board, came after News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch abruptly pulled a longstanding offer for Hughes off the table. 

With 10 million subscribers, DirecTV is the nation’s largest provider of home satellite television service. EchoStar’s Dish Network is a distant No. 2 to with 6.7 million. The combined 16.7 million subscribers would be slightly fewer than those of AT&T Corp., the leading cable TV provider. 

The new EchoStar would control nearly all of the U.S. satellite TV market, but GM said the new entity would have 17 percent of the total pay TV market while cable companies control 80 percent. 

Charles Ergen, chairman and chief executive officer of EchoStar, told reporters and analysts Oct. 29 that the deal would create “a true competitor to cable.” 

Ergen also said the new company would be able to reduce costs by sharing satellite spectrum, bargaining for lower programming costs and having one standard for set-top boxes. 

The new company would retain the EchoStar name, and DirecTV would become a brand for its services and related products. The deal must be approved by federal regulators and GM shareholders. 

Under terms of the deal, GM would technically spin off Hughes and merge it with EchoStar. A majority of EchoStar’s shareholders already have given their approval. 

EchoStar is offering 0.73 EchoStar shares for each share of Hughes. Based on EchoStar’s closing stock price Oct. 26 of $25.26, the deal values each share of Hughes at $18.44 — a 20 percent premium to Hughes’s closing share price of $15.35. 

EchoStar is also offering a $600 million breakup fee to Hughes in the event that the deal is turned down by regulators. 

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2002, the companies said. Hughes will control 54 percent of the stock, while EchoStar shareholders will maintain a 36 percent interest in the new company. 

GM president and chief executive officer Rick Wagoner said the deal would provide “significant benefits to Hughes, EchoStar, millions of present and future DirecTV customers, and shareholders of both GM and EchoStar,” 

Ergen said consumers would benefit from the company’s ability to increase the number of markets served with local channels via satellite and more high-definition TV offerings. 

In midday trading Monday, GM Hughes shares fell 67 cents to $14.6,00378 on the New York Stock Exchange, where News Corp. stock was off $1.91 at $27.14. EchoStar shares slipped 18 cents to $25.08 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. 

Ergen will remain chairman and CEO of the new company. The board of directors will have nine members, five of whom would be independent directors. 

Aside from DirecTV, Hughes also provides high-speed Internet service through DirecPC and its PanAmSat unit distributes entertainment and information to cable television systems, TV broadcast affiliates, telecommunication companies and corporations. 

Opposition to the transaction is likely to come from consumer groups who fear domination of the home satellite TV market by one company. 

Last week, the president of the National Consumers League asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to look into the possible implications of an EchoStar takeover of DirecTV. 

GM wanted to sell off Hughes in order to focus on its core automotive business. 

Murdoch and GM had been in talks for more than 18 months, but when the automaker’s board failed to make a decision Oct. 27, Murdoch ended his bid for the company. 

Murdoch coveted DirecTV as an adjunct to the satellite TV services News Corp. operates overseas. Acquiring DirecTV would have given him a global satellite television network. 

EchoStar came into the picture last spring. Over the summer the company proposed a stock swap and assumption of almost $2 billion in debt for Hughes. 

Despite its market-leading position with DirecTV, Hughes lost $227.2 million in the third quarter and $481.6 million through the first nine months of the year. The company announced plans in August to lay off 10 percent of its 7,900 workers. 

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On the Net: 

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com 

EchoStar Communications Corp.: http://www.dishnetwork.com 

Hughes Electronics Corp.: http://www.hughes.com 

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SAN FRANCISCO — Mirroring the technology industry meltdown, venture capital investments and fundraising continued to evaporate in the third quarter, dissolving hopes for a turnaround early next year, an industry report said Monday. 

Venture capitalists invested $7.7 billion in start-ups in the three months ended Sept. 30, a 73 percent plunge from the same time last year when the industry reached its quarterly high-water mark of $28.5 billion, according to statistics compiled by industry research firm Venture Economics for the National Venture Capital Association. 

It marked the industry’s lowest investment amount since the first quarter of 1999, when start-ups received $7.2 billion. 

The about-face has been especially dramatic in Northern California, the Silicon Valley home of the nation’s most prominent venture capitalists. Northern California start-ups received $2.36 billion in the third quarter, down from about $10 billion a year ago. 

This year’s steep decline stems largely from the frenetic pace of venture capital investment in 1999 and 2000. During the previous two years, venture capitalists invested $161 billion as they chased after stock market jackpots. Despite the drastic slowdown, 2001 still will represent the venture capital industry’s third-largest investment year. 

But with the level of investment falling for the fourth consecutive quarter, venture capitalists are becoming increasingly somber as they gird for even more erosion in the months ahead. 

Most venture capitalists don’t expect the industry to bounce back for another 12 to 18 months, said John Taylor, research director for the National Venture Capital Association, the industry’s main trade group. 

“Anyone expecting a quick turnaround is sadly mistaken,” said Jim Breyer, managing partner with Accel Partners, a major venture capital firm in Palo Alto. 

In another sign of the industry’s retrenchment, venture capitalists raised $6.2 billion for future investments during the third quarter, a 78 percent decline from the $27.6 billion collected at the same time last year. It represented the lowest amount of venture capital raised since the third quarter of 1997, when $2.6 billion trickled in to the industry. 

Venture capitalists aren’t raising more money largely because they still have so much left over from last year, when institutional investors and other money managers turned over $106.8 billion to the industry. 

Venture capitalists still have an estimated $45 billion to $50 billion remaining from their past fundraising efforts, Taylor said. 

With the stock market turning a cold shoulder to tech companies, venture capitalists are spending most of their time and money nursing their existing investments. The triage is forcing venture capitalists to impose harsh expense reductions that frequently include layoffs, a process that is “emotionally difficult,” said Howard Cox, a general partner with Greylock Financial in Boston. 

“One of the new roles venture capitalists are taking on today is as outplacement (specialists) helping the former employees at their portfolio companies find new jobs,” Cox said. 

Venture capitalists also are expected to fall by the wayside if the technology industry’s carnage continues, as most analysts predict. 

“There will be a significant shakeout in the venture capital business, just as there already has been a significant shakeout in the companies that we have invested in,” Breyer predicted. 

Spooked by a slump that already has saddled the industry with its worst losses ever, venture capitalists are throttling back on their technology investments. Internet businesses accounted for 27 percent of the venture capital invested in the third quarter, down from 46 percent of investments last year, according to Venture Economics. 

Meanwhile, venture capitalists are becoming more intrigued with start-ups involved in biotechnology and medical products.  

These “life sciences” companies received 14 percent of venture capital in the third quarter, up from roughly 7 percent last year

SAN FRANCISCO — Stanford University attracted more money from private donors than any other U.S. school last year, according to a new survey by the Chronicle for Philanthropy to be released later this week. 

Stanford raised $580.5 million during the 2000 fiscal year, which university officials attributed to the then-robust stock market. The sum ranked Stanford eighth nationwide among hundreds of competing charitable organizations. 

Harvard University, the only other school in the top 10, raised $485.2 million. 

“Stanford had a phenomenal year,” said David Glen, associate vice president of the school’s Office of Development. “We are very pleased with the results.” 

The figures came from the Chronicle’s annual survey of the top 400 nonprofit fund-raisers. To make that list, a charity needed to raise nearly $31 million from individuals, corporations, foundations and other private sources. 

The Salvation Army ranked first for the ninth consecutive year, pulling in $1.44 billion. The rest of the top 10 were: 

— Fidelity Investment Charitable Gift Fund: $1.1 billion 

— YMCA of the USA: $812.1 million 

— American Cancer Society: $746.4 million 

— Lutheran Services in America: $710.3 million 

— American Red Cross: $637.7 million 

— Gifts In Kind International: $601.9 million 

— Stanford University: $580.5 million 

— Harvard University: $485.2 million 

— Nature Conservancy: $445.3 million 

Glen said Stanford, like any institution, has peaks and drops in donations from year to year, and said the $580 million reflected the school’s best year to date. He said the total was a combination of smaller gifts, not any one large gift in particular. Stanford was 19th in the previous year’s survey. 

Stanford’s 2000 fiscal year ran from Aug. 31, 1999, to Aug. 31, 2000. 

In May of this year, Stanford received $400 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the second-largest donation to an institution of higher learning. 

Over the weekend, Gordon and Betty Moore and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation gave the largest donation — $600 million over 10 years to the California Institute of Technology. Gordon Moore was a co-founder of Intel. 

Around the country, charities have raised more than $1 billion to aid victims and support recovery from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, undercutting charities not playing a direct role in the relief effort. 

Groups raising money for causes such as the environment or AIDS research are postponing fund drives and scaling back programs as a result. 

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On the Net: 

http://www.philanthropy.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Examiner editor and publisher Ted Fang has been ousted by his mother, who put her own name on the masthead of the Oct. 29 edition. 

Florence Fang issued a four-paragraph statement Oct. 26 saying she had taken over as the newspaper’s editor and publisher while Ted Fang “had been relieved of all his operating duties and responsibilities for the Fang family newspapers.” 

Those duties included publisher of the San Francisco Independent and its related newspapers, giveaway weeklies delivered to doorsteps in the city and some suburbs. She said her son will remain on the Examiner’s board of directors. 

“Ted will continue to have the opportunity to consult and advise us on strengthening our businesses, and at the same time be free to pursue other interests,” Florence Fang said in the statement. 

Florence Fang is chairwoman of the Examiner’s corporate parent and the family business, ExIn LLC. 

Ted’s brother James Fang remains publisher of AsianWeek, another family paper, and Examiner Editor in Chief David Burgin “is taking more of a role in the other newspapers,” said the Examiner’s executive editor, Zoran Basich. 

Florence Fang’s office said she would have no additional comment, and calls to Ted Fang were referred to the Examiner, who said he was unavailable. Calls to his attorney, Darrell Salomon, were not returned. 

The Fangs acquired the Examiner’s name and some other assets last year from the Hearst Corp. for a token amount. The deal also included a subsidy from Hearst of up to $67 million over three years. Hearst had to give up the paper it founded in 1887 to satisfy antitrust concerns raised by its purchase of the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Ted Fang vowed to preserve a “second daily newspaper voice for the city.” The Examiner, which has a staff of about 50, hasn’t had an official circulation audit. 

Recently, the Examiner’s general manager, advertising director, circulation director and chief financial officer have left. 

Also, seven construction companies that installed the paper’s newsroom in a Fang family-owned building say they haven’t been paid, and have filed more than $1.4 million in liens against ExIn LLC, the Chronicle reported. 

Basich, who edited the paper’s editorial page before he was promoted in September, said the contractor lawsuits are “completely unrelated” to the reorganization. 

+++++ Two advertisers pull out of New York Post in protest over cartoon 

NEW YORK (AP) — Two advertisers have pulled out of the New York Post, saying they were offended by an editorial cartoon depicting Mort Zuckerman, publisher of the rival New York Daily News, as sealing an envelope bound for the Post that contained anthrax. 

The cartoon appeared Oct. 20, a day after the Post revealed that Johanna Huden, an assistant at the paper’s editorial page section, had developed anthrax on her skin after handling a suspect letter. The Post said Oct. 24 that a mailroom worker had also developed symptoms, including a sore, that were consistent with skin anthrax. 

The first panel in the two-part cartoon showed Post editor Col Allan sitting behind a desk, with a chart behind him showing increased circulation, being asked by another man: “What sort of twisted sicko would send us anthrax???” The next frame shows Zuckerman licking an envelope addressed to the Post, with a jar labeled “Anthrax” on his desk. 

Charles Chalom, who owns five area car dealerships, said Oct. 24 he decided to pull his regular advertising from the Post, which amounts to about $250,000 a year. He said it was the first time in 30 years he has suspended advertising from the newspaper. 

“They took it too far this time. This is way out of line,” Chalom said. “You’re telling the public that he’s a terrorist. It’s a time to stand together and fight a common enemy.” 

Harold Bendell, who owns about a dozen car dealerships in the New York area, has also pulled his advertising from the Post, citing the same reason. He said he normally spent up to $1 million a year on advertising in the Post. 

Zuckerman, a real estate developer who also owns U.S. News & World Report, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Post did not return a call seeking comment on the advertisers. 

+++++ WSJ editor who escaped collapse now in intensive care 

NEW YORK (AP) — A Wall Street Journal editor who was caught in dust and debris after the World Trade Center collapsed has been hospitalized for a week in intensive care with complications related to vasculitis. 

Rich Regis, 49, the deputy national editor, underwent surgery last week at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Westchester, said Journal spokesman Steve Goldstein. Regis has been treated for kidney failure, a perforated colon and sepsis, all apparently related to vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels, Goldstein said. 

The hospital, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., declined to give his condition but confirmed that he is a patient in the ICU. 

“We don’t know whether this could have been caused by anything he might have inhaled Sept. 11 or if this is a totally isolated case,” said Goldstein. “He was at the scene, but so were a number of other people who are doing just fine.” 

Regis originally sought treatment several weeks ago for swelling of the legs. He was diagnosed with vasculitis, which can be life-threatening if the blood vessels are located in vital organs. 

He arrived at the Phelps emergency room with additional symptoms last week. 

“He is doing better and we hope that he will continue to improve,” Goldstein said. 

Goldstein said anthrax has been ruled out. 

Journal employees were forced to flee their offices at the World Financial Center when the nearby twin towers collapsed, and many were caught in the choking ash and storm of debris as they escaped. 

+++++ Daily in Portland, Maine, ceases publication after 13 issues 

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Portland Morning Sun suspended publication Oct. 25 after 13 issues. 

Edward G. Pickett, the Morning Sun’s editor and publisher, said individuals who were expected to invest in the paper after it launched backed out because of the unstable economy. Without more funding, the paper could not make it through the initial startup period. 

The paper, which was published Monday through Friday and distributed for free, debuted on Oct. 8 with a circulation of about 5,000 in the Greater Portland area. It had local reporters and carried news stories from The New York Times and The Associated Press. 

The paper’s largest competitor was the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, which is owned by The Seattle Times Co. and has a daily circulation of about 75,000. 

Pickett, owner and publisher of the Portland Business Journal, said advertising revenue was increasing. He said the newspaper might return at a later date. 

+++++ Auburn students will no longer elect weekly’s editor 

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Students at Auburn University will no longer elect the editor of The Auburn Plainsman, one of the last major campus newspapers still choosing its editor by popular vote. 

The student senate and a communications board voted in recent weeks to quit electing an editor at the 22,000-student campus, turning the selection over to a committee instead. 

Ed Williams, a journalism professor and faculty adviser on the Board of Student Communications, said the board will meet next month to decide on the makeup of the committee, the standards for candidates and the process of selecting one as editor of the weekly. 

He said the decision to switch leaves the University of Texas as “the only major college newspaper that elects its editor.” 

The Auburn Plainsman has been critical of some members of the Auburn Board of Trustees in recent years. The Board of Student Communications, which includes student leaders and faculty members, voted three years ago to censure then-editor Lee Davidson for the paper’s coverage of trustee Bobby Lowder, a Montgomery banker accused of trying to micromanage the school, a claim he denied. 

Williams said the change, which the board approved Oct. 11 and the student senate made final Oct. 15 in a 23-5 vote, was not in response to the paper’s coverage of trustees. “That was never even mentioned,” he said. 

Williams said the issue was thoroughly researched and the main objective was to get the editor’s post out of the political arena so candidates “won’t have to walk around, wear T-shirts and ask for votes” in a campaign alongside student government hopefuls. 

The Auburn Plainsman has a circulation of 18,000 and a $400,000 annual budget that includes no financial support from the university. It has been well regarded over the years, winning a number of national Pacemaker awards from the Associated Collegiate Press, including one when Davidson was editor. 

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SANTA CLARA — EBay Inc. executives affirmed their aggressive long-term growth targets Monday and detailed plans to expand the sales of cars and other high-ticket items on the trading Web site. 

At the company’s annual meeting with financial analysts, chief executive Meg Whitman said she is even more confident than she was last year that revenue can reach $3 billion by 2005. 

One reason is that the company’s 24 international sites are not yet as profitable as eBay expects they will be in coming years. 

“We are really proud of the foundation we have built,” Whitman said. “It was in 2001 that eBay really hit its stride.” 

The chief financial officer, Rajiv Dutta, said he expects revenue to grow about 50 percent next year, to between $1.05 billion and $1.10 billion, with earnings per share of 70 cents to 73 cents. 

The average estimate on Wall Street was for earnings of 73 cents per share next year, excluding charges, on $1.03 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. 

“The long-term potential of this business ... is nothing short of outstanding,” Dutta said. 

EBay shares fell $4.48, nearly 8 percent, to $52.52 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares were down to $52.36 in the after-hours session. 

Executives said they will push to make eBay a more mainstream Internet shopping option, encouraging people to make the site their first choice for Web commerce rather than a place to turn mainly for hard-to-find items. 

They said they would concentrate on increasing auctions and fixed-price sales in key categories such as automobiles, computers and real estate. 

In hopes of becoming a “major player” in online auto sales, eBay will soon add a short-term warranty to cars bought on the site and make it easier for buyers to have roving mechanics certify cars, said Simon Rothman, head of eBay Motors. 

EBay already had said it would combine its separate Half.com site into eBay.com in the coming months to increase its listings of items at set prices. Executives said Monday that Half.com will be renamed eBay Express Buys. 

Analysts said they were impressed that the company was able to stick to its long-term targets while still taking a conservative approach to its finances. 

“It’s a cash machine,” said Jeetil Patel, Internet analyst for Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. “Despite the economy, these guys are able to grow on a global basis.”

SAN JOSE — Openwave Systems Inc., a leading provider of software behind Internet-surfing cell phones, met Wall Street’s reduced expectations in its fiscal first quarter but will cut about 300 jobs. 

The Redwood City-based company said Monday the job cuts are part of a plan that will save at least $20 million per quarter. The company has about 2,300 employees. 

Openwave, formed in last year’s merger of Software.com and Phone.com, has been hard hit as wireless carriers reassess plans to introduce next-generation features, such as high-speed Internet access and messaging. 

“Openwave is realigning our operations to navigate the unprecedented uncertainty of the telecommunications market,” said Don Listwin, the company’s chief executive. 

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company lost $170.5 million, or 99 cents per share, compared with a loss of $168 million, or $1.04 per share, in the same period a year ago. 

Excluding special items, the company lost $5.9 million, or 3 cents per share, which met the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

The company posted first-quarter revenues of $117.2 million, compared with $80.8 million in the same period last year. 

Officials also lowered their estimates for the second quarter. Per-share loss is expected to be between 6 cents and 19 cents. Sales are expected to be about $100 million, plus or minus 15 percent. 

Analysts were expecting the company to break even on a per-share basis in its fiscal second quarter. 

Shares of Openwave fell $1.02 to $8.99 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. After its loss was announced, it lost another $1.96, or 21 percent.

The Berkeley Unified School District’s two classroom technology coordinators have their work cut out for them. 

Under state law, they must write a detailed report by Jan. 1 explaining how the schools will spend public money on computers, digital cameras and related teacher training over the next three years. 

The problem is, with a big federal grant due to dry up at the end of the school year, they have to plan for things there may not be any money for. At the same time, they must not ask for so little that they miss out on some unexpected windfall. 

“How to ask for money without asking for money?” said Janet Levenson, who oversees the tech programs for the elementary and middle schools. “At this point I don’t think we can ask for anything that requires funding, so what we’re looking to do is sort of write it as a ‘plan to plan.’” 

The technology coordinators are on a tight timeline. They must draft the report by Nov. 26 and submit it for approval at the Dec. 5 school board meeting to meet the state’s Jan. 1 deadline. 

Ironically, as times change and the Internet craze of the 1990s seems like ancient history, Levenson and Carolyn Gery, Berkeley High’s technology coordinator, are also finding their mission hampered by the district’s recent success in rapidly bringing computers to every classroom. 

“Over the last year and half we’ve gotten completely wired and we’ve seen huge numbers of computers coming onto the campus,” said Gery. 

Now, Gery said, there is a minimum of two computers per classroom, plus myriad printers, scanners, digital video cameras and an instructional technician at each site to troubleshoot and help integrate the new technology into the curriculum. 

Statewide, 90 percent of schools were connected to the

Editor: 

Our City Council’s vote regarding current military action in Afghanistan is best understood as a further expression of self-righteous ideologues. Berkeley is dominated by a political machine rooted in the extremist politics of three decades ago. It is a politic that thrives on symbol versus content, and slogan versus thoughtfulness. Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring, Maudelle Shirek, Margaret Breland and Linda Maio are the predictable spokespersons for leftist and often anti-American views. They object to the “anti-American” characterization, asserting that, “dissent is an American value.” Indeed it is. However, their anti-Americanism is not revealed by mere dissent but rather by their fundamental and consistent framing of political events in a way that fixates on and exaggerates America’s errors and mistakes. They ignore our nation’s profound success, accomplishments and contributions to human kind.  

Even at a time when America has been brutally attacked by an enemy that intentionally targets innocent civilians, these symbolic grandstanders cannot resist the opportunity to make a statement contrary to the policy of our nation. They are more outraged by our efforts to defend ourselves than they are by the murder of nearly 6,000 innocent people in our capital and in the heart of one of our great cities. It is one thing for them to express their views as individuals but to arrogantly adopt an official city position is a profound affront to many of Berkeley’s citizens. Undoubtedly these elitists imagine themselves to be the moral conscience for the rest of us. In fact, they are simply ignorant or prejudiced, failing to grasp what the simplest and most ordinary person has understood: our enemy is unyielding, uncompromising and utterly intolerant of any view or culture other than their own. It is an enemy bent on killing anyone with whom it disagrees. 

This is not the time for further cultivation of the same old self-doubt and self-criticism of which the far left is so adept. For elected leaders to engage in such actions at so grave a period in our history is, at best, seriously irresponsible. If our City Council felt compelled to make some statement, it should simply have expressed support for our soldiers who are now in harms’ way, defending not only our rights but our lives. 

The extreme left fails to note that the United States provides more free food and medicine to the world than any other nation. They fail to note that it is the United States and its Western allies who have developed the technologies that allow for global communications, travel, the mass production of vaccines and medicines and the mapping of the genome. These extremists act as if all nations have a free educational system, walk-in emergency rooms, or curb cuts for people in wheel chairs. They forget that we were the first nation to create laws to protect endangered species and are one of only a handful of nations that even thinks about animal rights. We are a humane and self-critical nation that constantly struggles to be more tolerant and fair. Because of our stature, power and ideals we are called upon to participate in the world in a broader and more exposed fashion than any other country in human history. By our necessary broad participation we run the risk of more mistakes. But our City Council and the left in general fail to recognize this context, our risks, and ultimately our generosity. Instead, they behave as apologists for terrorists and the self-righteous critics of America.  

As a 20-year resident of Berkeley, a veteran of the anti-war movement, and a Democrat, I fully support our war efforts and am sickened by the pathetic action of our City Council. Perhaps it is time for a recall. 

John Koenigshofer 

Berkeley

924 Gilman St. Nov. 2: Mood Frye, Manic Notion, Cremasters of Disaster, Bottles and Skulls, Lorax, Sociopath; Nov. 3: Cruevo, Nigel Peppercock, Impaled, Systematic Infection, Depressor; Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 3: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Both shows 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com  

Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Oct. 30: 7:30 p.m., Bluegrass Benefit Concert for the NY Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, Mike Marshall, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin, Bluegrass Intentions, Kathy Kallick Band, Detour; $20. 1317 San Pablo Ave., 525-5099 www.ashkenaz.com 

Blake’s 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 Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $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; Oct. 19: Little Jonny and the Giants; Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 1: Si Kahn $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 2: Don Edwards $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 3: Barbara Higbie $17.50 - $18.50; All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 1: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 2: Lithium House; Nov. 3: Solomon Grundy; Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series Nov. 1: 8 p.m., Singer/songwriters Faith Nolan and Megan McElroy, $14; Nov. 4: 5 - 9 p.m., Salsa, merengue, cumbia from DJs Rosa Oviedo and Chata Gutierrez, $7; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

The Stork Club Oct. 30: 9 p.m., Simple Things, Tombshakers, Ultrafiend, $5; Oct. 31: Oppressed Logic, Eddie Haskells, TBA, $5; 2330 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland. 444-6174  

Yoshi’s Restaurant and Jazz Spot Oct. 29: 8 & 10 p.m., The Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra, $10. 238-9200 www.yoshis.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Sightlines, Pre-performance discussion with guest artists. 8 p.m., “Music Before 1850,” with Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. $32. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 though Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“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 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“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 

Cal Performances “The Car Man” Oct. 30, 31: 8 p.m.; Nov. 1: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Nov. 2: 8 p.m.; Nov. 3: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne and his company re-invent Bizet’s “Carmen,” spinning the tale of a mysterious drifter in a small mid-western town, who changes the lives of its inhabitants forever. $32 - $64; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30. Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; 

UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.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

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As long as defenses keep zeroing in on Ken Simonton, Oregon State will keep throwing the ball to James Newson. 

And that might be just what the Beavers need to achieve their goal of qualifying for a bowl game, which can only be accomplished by winning three of their last four games. 

Newson had his second straight outstanding game, catching eight passes for a career-high of 166 yards as Oregon State prolonged California’s misery with a 19-10 victory Saturday. 

“We’re going to ride on his back for a while,” said quarterback Jonathan Smith, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 234 yards and a 14-yard first-quarter touchdown to Newson. “With the way they’re playing the run, we’re going to keep throwing it.” 

Simonton added 110 yards rushing for the Beavers (3-4, 2-3 Pac-10), but he fumbled at the end of a 55-yard gain in the third quarter, and otherwise Cal (0-7, 0-5) kept him under control. 

Terrell Williams, playing in place of injured tailback Joe Igber, gained 104 yards for the Golden Bears, who have lost 10 straight games dating to last season, when the Beavers started the skid in Berkeley. Cal has four games left to avoid its first winless season since 1897. 

“We’re just trying to finish this season,” freshman quarterback Reggie Robertson said. “I didn’t have a doubt in the world that we were going to win this game. I still believe that we should have, but we didn’t.” 

To make matters worse, Igber has a broken clavicle in his right shoulder and might be out the rest of the season; he was hurt before a