SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco Bay area environmental advocacy group sued the Department of Energy Wednesday, claiming the department plans to ship radioactive material in unsafe containers to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. 

DOE spokesman Joe Davis would not comment Wednesday on the lawsuit or the shipment specified in the suit, but said that, in general, the DOE follows strict guidelines whenever shipping radioactive materials. 

“We have an incredible safety record,” he said. “We will only transfer if we can do so safely.” 

The suit alleges the DOE has “improperly granted itself a national security exemption” in order to bypass laws requiring it to study the potential environmental impacts of transporting plutonium in the proposed containers. 

The DOE wants to ship the plutonium as part of the massive cleanup of the Rocky Flats Technology Site in Colorado, a facility that was once used to produce components for nuclear weapons. The facility, which was shut down in 1989 after 40 years of production, is scheduled to be cleaned up by 2006. 

The group, represented by the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice, argues the plutonium should be shipped in containers that could withstand an accident that might occur during transport. 

Trent Orr, lead attorney in the suit, said the group hopes to get a ruling restricting the DOE from making the shipments until an environmental impact study is conducted, determining the safest way to transport the plutonium. 

“The chances of an accident are relatively remote,” Orr said. “But if it does happen...potentially hundreds or thousands of people could be exposed.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — Health care costs and the quality of schools are the most important issues for California voters, not gubernatorial candidates’ views on abortion, according to a Field Poll released Thursday. 

Sixty-nine percent of registered voters questioned by the Field Institute said they were extremely concerned about health care costs. Sixty-eight percent put public schools on the same anxiety level. 

Only 33 percent said they were extremely concerned about abortion, which has been the most visible issue so far in clashes between Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and his top Republican opponent, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. 

The public health system (57 percent), higher education (55 percent), cost of electricity (53 percent), illegal drug use (53 percent), crime and law enforcement (52 percent), the cost of living (52 percent), taxes (51 percent), creating jobs in new industries (50 percent) and protecting the environment (50 percent) also ranked high among voters’ concerns. 

The poll questioned 1,022 voters between Jan. 23 and Jan. 27 about how concerned they were about 28 issues and problems facing the state. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. 

Democrats and Republicans had somewhat different priorities. 

Democrats ranked health care costs, public schools, the public health system, protecting the environment, air and water pollution and homelessness and poverty as their most important concerns. 

Republicans listed public schools, crime and law enforcement, illegal drug use, health care costs and illegal immigration as their top issues. 

Voters’ concerns about several issues declined since the Field Poll’s last issues survey, in November 1997. Illegal drug use, crime and law enforcement, illegal immigration, air and water pollution, race relations, unemployment and welfare were among those issues that dropped in importance. 

Concerns about health care costs jumped from 55 percent in 1997 to 69 percent this year, although in the earlier survey voters were asked about health care, not health care costs in particular. 

The concern about public schools remains about the same, with 69 percent expressing extreme concern about that subject in the 1997 poll. 

The poll questioned voters about several issues for the first time, including the public health system, the cost of electricity, and terrorism and security, which was of extreme concern to 47 percent of those questioned. 

Stop the insanity – Don’t use your mouth to siphon  

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Is there a way to siphon liquids – like gasoline and antifreeze -- from a car without putting your mouth on the siphoning tube? – Joyce 

RAY: Yes. When you're siphoning a fluid, you need a way to fill the siphon tube to get the flow started. And while it's tempting to put your mouth on the tube and suck the fluid into it, when you're dealing with toxic substances, that's a very, very bad idea. If you need evidence why, look no further than my brother. 

TOM: Yeah. They had me do all the siphoning at the garage until I figured out that it wasn't the pork sandwiches from Izzy's that kept causing me to excuse myself during tune-ups. 

RAY: The only realistic approach is to buy a ready-made siphoning tube that has a squeezable vacuum pump at the end. You put one end of the clear tube into the gas tank or the radiator overflow tank, and then you squeeze the pump at the other end to create suction. The pump has a check valve, so each time you squeeze, the tube fills up a little more. Once the tube is full and the liquid is flowing, it should keep flowing for as long as the receptacle remains lower than the reservoir you're drawing from and as long as the flow is uninterrupted. 

TOM: You can get these "siphons" in any auto-parts store or the auto-parts section of a jumbo mart. They cost a buck or two, and they're cheap junk, but you use them once and then throw them away. 

RAY: And if you have any brains at all, you won't need them more than once, because after having to use one once, you'll always remember to look at your gas gauge.  

Dealer’s explanation sounds fishy 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

About a month ago, we bought a new Ford Taurus wagon from a local dealer. It was a demonstrator model and had about 6,000 miles on it. The dealer agreed to do some minor repairs that we noticed, and he said that if we noticed anything else in the next few weeks, to bring it to his attention. After about two weeks of driving, I saw that moisture kept forming on the inside of the right front headlight. My husband talked to the salesman about it, and the salesman said that because it is a halogen bulb, the headlight can't be sealed too tightly. He said that otherwise, it would heat up so much that the inside of the headlight would melt. When my husband related this story to me, I asked "Well, does that mean the other headlight is going to melt, since it's obviously sealed tightly enough to keep out water? And shouldn't other people's headlights be melting, since I don't see moisture forming in their headlights?" Could you please explain what's going on? – Susie 

RAY: I guess you didn't hear the end of the dealer's sentence, Susie. He said, "If you notice anything in the next few weeks, bring it to our attention. And THEN we'll tell you to get lost." 

TOM: The salesman was either lying to you, or he's afflicted with Male Answer Syndrome: the need by many men to provide an authoritative-sounding answer despite the fact that they have no idea what they're talking about. My brother and I both have it (as you shall see below). 

RAY: This might have been exacerbated by Commissioned Salesperson Syndrome: the willingness of a salesperson to do or say anything to make a sale. And conversely, to do or say anything to get rid of anyone not actively involved in buying something. 

TOM: The salesman has got his headlight in his taillight socket, Susie. The entire headlight fixture is sealed tight at the factory. Why is it sealed? So moisture won't get in and shorten the life of the bulb! 

RAY: My guess is that you need a new headlight lens, Susie. What happens sometimes is that the headlight lens gets cracked. The cracks are usually very small and difficult to see. They usually come from pebbles and other debris that come up off the road. You often see this in older cars that have been pounded by road debris for years, but it can happen to a car of any age. 

TOM: When you drive at 60 mph in the rain, water gets forced through those invisible cracks, and it forms a film of moisture on the inside of the lens. Once it's in there, it can't escape, because there's no equivalent force pushing it out from the inside. 

RAY: So here's what you do, Susie. Drive backwards at 60 mph ... 

TOM: No. Go back to the dealer and ask him to replace the headlight lens on the right side. Insist on it. He owes it to you.  

Having dealer fix  

throttle vs. throttling dealer 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Our 1999 Cadillac DeVille is subject to the accelerator sticking in the "up" position. The service technician tells me it happens because of carbon buildup in the throttle body. Supposedly, cleaning of the throttle body is a maintenance item (at $110 per). I had the 15,000-mile maintenance performed at 12,800 miles, and the accelerator began to stick again at 20,000. Am I faced with a $110 bill for cleanup every 8,000 miles? – Jacque 

TOM: Well, one possibility is that if the dealer says it's a $110 maintenance item every 8,000 miles, then that's what it is. And I'm sure everyone considering buying a Cadillac would be interested to know that this is a scheduled maintenance item that was accidentally left out of the owner's manual. 

RAY: On the other hand, there might just be something wrong with your particular car, Jacque. It's possible that your throttle plate is particularly tight, and that when even a small amount of carbon builds up (which it does on all cars), the plate starts to stick. So one solution would be for the dealer to replace the throttle body – under warranty. He'll be reluctant to do that, I'm sure. 

TOM: The other solution would be to take the dealer's advice and have the throttle body cleaned every time you change your oil. But I wouldn't pay the dealer $110 to do it. Cleaning the throttle body involves removing the air cleaner and spraying the inside of the throttle body with a life-threatening solvent. We charge $20 for that. 

RAY: So if your dealer can't provide a more permanent -- or at least longer-term -- solution, I'd take it to an independent shop that won't overcharge you.  

Shedding light on a foggy issue 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Do fog lights work? Do they help you see through the fog, or do they just light up the fog? Are yellow fog lights better than clear fog lights? Should they be mounted low on the vehicle to search forth underneath the fog cloud? I am so confused – you might even say I am "foggy" on the fog-light issue. Therefore, I ask you to search through the fog of your collective brain cells and enlighten the world to the truth about fog lights. – Pat 

RAY: Great question, Pat. How I wish this were the only subject we were foggy on! 

TOM: There are many different kinds of lights that people put on the front of their cars these days. There are driving lights, fog lights, Velux motorized sky lights ... we've seen 'em all. Most of them are purely decorative. And many are used and/or aimed incorrectly, and they simply blind oncoming drivers. 

RAY: But fog lights, when used and aimed correctly, might be useful to some drivers. As you probably know, if you project light directly into the fog, it bounces off the fog droplets and reflects in all directions, making it even harder to see. That's why you use your low beams in fog rather than your high beams. 

TOM: Fog lights are low-mounted lights (bumper level or below) that project light that's cut off at the top. So the light pattern on a good-quality fog light goes straight out at bumper level and down, but not higher than that. 

RAY: The reason for this is that fog tends to hover about 12 to 18 inches off the ground. So by projecting light in that fog-free pocket, you can illuminate the road a greater distance from your car and therefore see farther ahead. Some people swear by fog lights. Others claim that they don't really make much difference. 

TOM: So the question becomes, to yellow or not to yellow? There's a lot of debate about this, but the research says that yellow lights are no better than white lights at penetrating fog. The theory bandied about was that yellow light has a longer wavelength and is therefore less likely to be reflected by the fog particles. Turns out, this is complete poppycock. 

RAY: Apparently, the fog particles themselves are so big that they reflect all colors of light. Basically, all light bounces off of them, so using yellow light instead of white light gives you no advantage. 

TOM: Plus, in order to get yellow light, what fog-light manufacturers do is put a yellow lens over a white light. That cuts your light output by 20 percent to 30 percent, which is counterproductive. 

RAY: So if you live in a coastal area where fog is a real problem and you want to give fog lights a try, we'd suggest a set of high-quality, white fog lights that are professionally mounted to be sure they're aimed correctly. And don't forget to check their aim periodically. Since they're mounted low, they can be knocked out of alignment when you run over things like snow banks and stalled Toyotas.

When you walk into a store or some other commercial building and look up at the ceiling and see something that looks akin to a tic-tac-toe board, chances are you are looking at a suspended ceiling. 

It gets its name from the way it is held in place. Some refer to it as an acoustic ceiling, because it contain panels that “deaden sound.” Another term is a “T-bar ceiling.” The channels that make up the grid that hold the panels in place are T-shaped. 

The suspended ceiling is one of the easiest and inexpensive ceilings to install — especially when the task calls for a flat surface that can be used to hide an existing ceiling or unsightly building components at roof or ceiling level. 

Although suspended ceilings are typically used in commercial applications, you can take advantage of one in your home if, for example, you are building a music studio, a hobby center, a computer room or office or for some other use where a quick and easy to install a ceiling is needed to lower a higher ceiling or is needed to conceal mechanical devises, cables, piping, ducts or other overhead equipment or machinery. The neatest thing about a suspended ceiling is that it can be removed without major damage to the existing structure. 

Installing the ceiling is easy. But first you will need the following tools: 

—A long level (a 3-footer will do, but the longer the better). 

—Hammer and nails or a screw gun and screws. 

—A measuring tape. 

—A razor knife. 

—A hacksaw. 

—Wire cutters and a pair of pliers. 

The suspended ceiling materials you will need include: 

—Three kinds of track. 

—Runners. 

—Wall angles. 

—Crossties. 

—Bailing wire and hooks or eyes. 

—The panels of your choice. 

Before purchasing the track, you will need to select the panel style, color, and the panel size. When it comes to suspended ceilings, size is really important. The bigger the panel, the fewer tracks are needed and the quicker the installation. However, keep in mind that in small rooms large ceiling panels can make the room seem smaller. There are two basic sizes that are readily available: 2x2 foot and 2x4 foot. As you might have already guessed, the 2x2 panels take twice as many crossties as the 2x4 panels. Keep in mind that the most popular light fixtures for suspended ceilings are 2x4. Loudspeakers, smoke alarms, heat register supplies and returns all fit into any size. 

Wall angle pieces are attached to the wall, continuously, all the way around the room at the exact same height. Professional installers use laser levels to establish a height (elevation), but you can get away with a regular level or a measuring tape. Once the perimeter is attached, then the runners are placed. Placing runners is simple if you hang wires above each course first. Wires are attached to the existing ceiling by twisting each one around a screw eye. Runners interlock with the perimeter track and each other end to end while the wires are threaded through the track to raise or lower them, maintaining a level plane. 

You can install all of your runners first and then the crossties. But we like to complete the grid as we go installing light fixtures, ducting and other elements that will connect to the grid. 

The last step is to install the panels. Sliding them into place is a bit tricky at first time but once you get the hang of it, the process goes quickly. 

Keep in mind that installing a suspended ceiling is like installing floor tiles. Some measuring is appropriate so that perimeter panels will be reasonably uniform in width. Without this consideration, a course of full tiles could exist at one side of the room with just a narrow slit at the other side. Planning is important here. 

When we did the ceilings in the showroom of our remodeling company offices, we used wallboard everywhere except in the main area where the ceiling was 20 feet tall. We selected 2x2 panels with a deep texture because we wanted an interesting look. However, fancy suspended ceilings aren’t one bit better than the simplest ones. Not in any way. So, choose what makes you happy and enjoy. 

For more home improvement tips and information, visit our Web site at www.onthehouse.com.

We’re outdoors a lot — in the yard, on picnics, hiking and camping. Those are places where it’s easy to accidentally disturb a beehive. Such an accident can be serious, especially when bees attack in numbers. You can spot, avoid and survive killer bees the same way you do less-violent common honeybees. At home, fill open cracks with steel wool or caulk, and cover larger holes with window screen. Outdoors, expect to find them in places such as holes in trees or in wood piles or rock piles. Also, under picnics tables, in drain pipes, sheds and in water meters. Watch for bee activity and listen for the buzzing that tells a hive is near. Watch children and keep pets on a leash. If you are attacked, don’t flail or run. Hide in a dense bush instead.

Q. Gary asks: Why is water seeping around the bottom of the water closet and how do we remedy it? 

A. With a toilet, if water is anywhere but in the tank or the bowl it’s reason for concern. Water at the base of a toilet can be caused by a hairline crack in the tank or bowl; a sweating tank due to condensation; leaking supply water (valve, hose or connections); leaks where the tank connects to the bowl or a faulty wax ring. The wax ring is used as a water seal between the discharge port at the underside of the toilet and the toilet flange connected to the sewer pipe. Over time the wax ring can become compressed — especially if the toilet is not securely anchored to the toilet flange — and a leak results. 

Use a few drops of food coloring in the tank and bowl to determine if the toilet is cracked. If the dye test reveals a crack, replace the tank or the entire toilet. If the leak is confined to the area immediately around the base of the bowl, chances are good that a new wax ring is needed. You’ll need to remove the toilet to replace the wax ring. 

Begin this project by arming yourself with an open-ended wrench, a crescent wrench, a pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a hacksaw. Turn off the water supply to the toilet. Turn the little valve that is located below and behind the toilet clockwise until it stops. Flush the toilet and remove any water that may remain in the tank or bowl with a small cup and a sponge. Once all the water has been removed, disconnect the water-supply line at the base of the tank. This can be achieved by backing off the nut in a counterclockwise direction. 

Unfasten the toilet from the floor. Most residential toilets are anchored with a couple of fasteners called closet bolts. You might find that your toilet has four of these. They are concealed with either porcelain or plastic caps. A toilet rarely is anchored to the floor. In most cases, it is bolted to the toilet flange. 

Pry the closet bolt caps off with a screwdriver and remove the nuts that remain with an open-ended wrench, turning counterclockwise. We suggest you have another person help you lift and carry out the toilet. 

What remains on the floor will be some of the wax ring. Remove it with a putty knife. 

With the toilet on its side, affix the new wax ring to the exhaust port of the toilet with the plastic throat facing away from the toilet. Replace the old and rusted closet bolts with news ones. Attach the new ones to the closet flange in an upright position. 

Pick the toilet up and, without allowing the bottom to touch the floor, align the holes in the base of the toilet with the closet bolts, and gently lower it until it completely seats. Install the nuts onto the closet bolts being careful not to tighten them too much; doing so could result in a broken toilet.  

Place the bolt caps over the nuts. If the bolt caps don’t properly seat, chances are the bolts are too long. Shorten them by cutting with a hacksaw. Reattach the water supply line to the tank with the new nut and washer provided with the toilet and turn the water on. 

——— 

For more home improvement tips and information, visit our Web site at www.onthehouse.com. 

Despite its tropical origins, pineapple is easy to grow indoors A fresh pineapple fruit brings a bit of the tropics into your home. And the plant will keep it there long after you’ve taken your last bite of the fruit. 

Despite its tropical origins, pineapple is easy to grow indoors. It is a bromeliad, a plant family that well adapted to the parched conditions of most homes in winter. 

Start your plant from the leafy crown capping the fruit. Give it a twist, peel off a few lower leaves to bare the base of the central stem, then set it aside to dry out and heal over. 

Pineapple thrives in very porous soil.  

Make whatever potting soil you use for your other plants more porous by mixing it with equal parts of perlite or coarse sand.  

Or concoct your own mix using three parts of perlite or sand to one part of peat, with a little garden soil thrown in. Also add some sulfur or coffee grounds to make any potting soil more acidic. 

When you’re ready to plant, cover the drainage hole of a flowerpot with a square of window screen, then fill the pot with the potting soil. A clay pot is better for a pineapple than a plastic pot because clay pots “breathe” through their pores and they’re heavier, and thus less likely to topple with a leaf-heavy pineapple plant. 

Stick the base of the leafy crown into the potting soil just deep enough to hold it upright. Top the soil with a thin layer of gravel to prevent the soil from washing around as you water, and to provide a decorative backdrop for those bluish leaves.  

Water thoroughly, but don’t do it again until the soil is bone dry.  

Roots eventually will start to grow. Then fill the pot. 

Treat your plant well and it can bring a taste of the tropics to you again — by eventually bearing fruit.  

Good treatment means, in part, periodic fertilization. Splash some diluted fertilizer solution on the leaves also; pineapple plants love to “eat” with their leaves.  

Also keep the plant in bright light: a sunny window indoors in winter, and dappled shade outdoors in summer.  

And be careful not to over-water. 

Sometimes a healthy plant needs to be coaxed into bearing fruit.  

Do this by putting the plant into a bag with a ripe apple or banana for a week.  

Ethylene gas released by the ripening fruit induces flowers which can eventually ripen into delectable fruits.

LAS VEGAS — In jeans or in white, pregnant or pushing a suitcase, brides and their grooms rushed to the county courthouse on Valentine’s Day, eager to exchange vows in the city of quickie, no-frills weddings. 

“We just came in off the plane,” David Lendosky, 48, of Turtle Lake, Wis., said Thursday, hauling two bulging suitcases up the stairs of the Clark County Courthouse. 

Lendosky and his bride, Mary Eichholz, 45, skipped hotel check-in and went straight to the long line at the Marriage License Bureau. 

“We thought it’d be different,” Eichholz said of marrying in Las Vegas. 

That’s a sure thing in a city where you can wed in a taxi at a drive-up window, get a marriage license any hour of the day on weekends and holidays and take advantage of the most liberal marriage laws in the nation — no blood tests or waiting period for the $50 license. 

“No movie stars came,” said Cheryl Vernon, license bureau supervisor. “Actually we’re kind of slow today. Yesterday was horrendous.” 

Last year, 1,065 marriage license were issued on Valentine’s Eve and Day in Las Vegas. Vernon expected this year’s total to be lower. 

“They’re all crazy,” she said. 

Wesley Williford, 38, of Temple, Texas, and his bride, Amber Pollitt, were hoping a Las Vegas wedding would bring them some luck. It’s the third marriage for each. 

“Quick, easy and we had to get away,” Williford said. “We brought some friends to gamble with. Marriage is a gamble, isn’t it?” 

Pollitt, 28, wasn’t paying attention. She was too busy filling out paperwork. 

“Let’s see, my divorce was final, March?” she asked. 

Wedding chapels lining Las Vegas Boulevard put out red ribbons, balloons and signs advertising “I do” specials. 

“We are just having a wonderful, awesome time,” said Charolette Richards, a minister and president of A Little White Wedding Chapel. “I just married this couple in their car!” 

The chapel booked 150 weddings for Thursday, each lasting a few memorable minutes. “We are into the serious part of marriage,” Richards said. 

On the Strip, 107 couples brought to town by a Los Angeles radio station exchanged nuptials at the same time under the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino. 

Ryan Fender, 36, and his bride, Penny Saylor, 28, of Dallas opted for a wedding in the sky with a minister and, of course, Elvis. 

“We are a fun-loving couple, thrill-seekers if you will,” Fender said after the couple’s hot-air balloon wedding. 

And in the city of assembly line nuptials, why not a mass wedding reception? 

A local company, Vegas Receptions, recruited brides waiting at the license bureau and invited them to toast to their future with fellow brides in a banquet room at the Greek Isles hotel-casino. 

For $35 a person, newlyweds get a first dance, bouquet and garter toss, a cake and Elvis. 

“Instead of them going to a buffet in their wedding dress, we’ve developed a place where they can all party together,” said Brian Mullin, company president. 

But even in the self-proclaimed wedding capital of the world, love isn’t always in the air. 

“You don’t want to get married?” a woman asked her boyfriend after he walked away from the waiting line at the courthouse. “It’s Valentine’s Day!”

LAS VEGAS — One of the busiest holiday weekends on the Las Vegas Strip could get an extra boost this year thanks to Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, tourism officials say. 

“President’s Day weekend is typically one of the strongest holiday weekends in Las Vegas,” said Kevin Bagger, senior researcher for the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority. 

The authority predicts an estimated 278,000 visitors will come this weekend to gamble, eat and shop — comparable to the 2001 holiday. 

“Having all those dates — Chinese New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day — close together makes for a good week in Las Vegas,” said Rob Powers, authority spokesman. Chinese New Year began Tuesday. 

The steady year-over-year number is good news for the tourism-dependent city that saw a dramatic drop in visitation after Sept. 11, in part because of a drop in commercial airline travel and a weak economy. 

“If we end up attracting the same number as last year, we’d be happy with that,” Powers said. “We’re still in a recession, so if we can say we’re looking for the same size crowd in town as we were a year ago, that would be a very good sign.” 

Hotel room occupancy is expected to be down about 2 percent to 96 percent, visitors authority figures show. 

“But we have 1.9 percent additional rooms this year,” Bagger said. 

Park Place Entertainment Inc., which owns and operates Caesars Palace and Bally’s/Paris Las Vegas hotel-casinos, among others, says its five Las Vegas resorts should be full this weekend. 

“A lot of people get married on Valentine’s Day and stay the weekend or they got married on Valentine’s Day and come for their anniversary,” said Debbie Munch, Park Place spokeswoman. 

The economic effect of last year’s holiday weekend was $186.4 million, not including gambling. The authority isn’t predicting this weekend’s impact because visitor spending has changed since Sept. 11, Bagger said. 

“Spending patterns among our visitors continue to fluctuate,” he said. 

And while many of the city’s nearly 127,000 rooms remain empty on weekdays, Bagger said signs point to recovery. 

More visitors are expected to continue to arrive by car than by air as McCarran International Airport’s numbers indicate. 

Over the holiday weekend, the airport is expecting a slight decline in passengers — about 80 percent of which are visitors, spokeswoman Debbie Millett said. 

“Right now we think we’re down a little bit from last year, but it’s hard to predict,” she said. 

In December 2001, there were 6.4 percent fewer seats on airplanes — 63,194 each month — coming into Las Vegas than there were a year ago, according to the airport’s Web site. 

What’s not hard to predict are long lines at the airport’s security checkpoints during peak travel days. 

“We’re telling passengers to arrive at least two hours early during peak times, but it’s going to fluctuate,” Millett said.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court nullified as many as 100 logging permits, a decision mainly affecting tree harvesters in the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska. 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that environmentalists and others should have been given a legal forum to protest new rules allowing the companies to produce more wood waste in estuaries and coastal zones than previously permitted. 

At issue are the federal permits to run so-called “logging transfer facilities.” The facilities are estuaries or other coastal areas into which harvesters dump their logs before they are shipped away. The logs are tied together to form log rafts and they are transported floating in the water to market, a process that can cause pollution from bark and other wood debris in coastal inlets. 

Two years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency issued new guidelines that permitted harvesters to increase the amount of waste, but did not give environmentalists an opportunity to oppose the new measures. The three-judge panel pointed out that, had the government imposed stricter rules, logging interests would be making the same argument. 

“If the EPA had reached the opposite conclusion, and had added additional requirements to the final permits, Alaksan logging interests would surely have taken the position that notice and comment had been inadequate,” Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote for the San Francisco-based court. 

Sharon Buccino, a Natural Resources Defense Council attorney, said that the transfer facilities, which she called “logging dumps,” kill marine life and ruin coastlines. 

“The ultimate goal is to preserve the ability of Alaskan natives and others to continue to use these waters for a variety of uses: subsistence fishing, commercial fishing, recreation and ecotourism,” she said. “The timber companies should not be allowed to monopolize this public resource.” 

The permits in question will not be voided until the court’s decision becomes final in about a month or so. The court instructed the EPA to renew the permit-formulating process and allow the public the “ability to comment on whether the proposed permit complied with water quality standards.” 

Bill Dunbar, an EPA spokesman in Seattle, said the agency was reviewing the decision and declined comment. 

John Peterson, a Ketchikan, Alaska, attorney representing the pro-logging group, Alaska Forest Association, which opposed the environmentalists in the case, declined comment. John Tillinghast, a Juneau, Alaska, lawyer for logging concern Sealaska Corp., which sided with the forest association, did not return phone calls. 

Generally, under most of the previous permits, logging groups were allowed to cover one acre of an estuary’s floor with up to 10 centimeters of waste. The new rules eliminated the one acre rule and said the so-called “zone of deposit” could comprise a company’s “project area,” which could be several acres. 

The case is Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA, 00-70890. 

LOS ANGELES — Construction activity in California declined 13.1 percent last year as the slumping economy scared off lenders, an industry report shows. 

Builders received $20.4 billion in funding for residential and commercial projects in 2001, compared to $23.5 billion a year earlier, according to a report released Thursday by DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate information service. 

Demand for new homes and commercial buildings remained firm, especially with interest rates low. But the sagging economy has made banks and other lenders more cautious, DataQuick said. 

In the early 1990s, lenders supported many projects only to see the market crash during that recession. 

“They burned themselves back then with ... overexuberance,” said John Karevoll, a DataQuick analyst. 

Today, builders are selling nearly everything they’re putting on the market but didn’t know the market would stay so strong when they did their planning, said Mike Ela, DataQuick’s president. 

“There’s a good chance building activity will pick back up this year,” he said. 

The San Francisco Bay area, where the collapse of Internet companies ended a frenzied few years of construction, returned to a more normal pace ln 2001, said John Karevoll, a DataQuick analyst. 

Construction activity in the nine-county area fell 28.4 percent last year from the 2000 figure. 

San Francisco County’s 59.2 percent decline led the state, followed by Marin County at 54 percent and San Mateo at 50.8 percent. 

Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, saw construction activity dip 26.7 percent to a still-sizable $1.39 billion. 

In Southern California, Los Angeles County dipped 10 percent while neighboring Orange County saw a 32.2 percent decline, partially because of the tech industry decline. 

However, counties bordering those dense urban regions continued to grow, attracting people unable to afford homes in the more expensive markets. 

For example, San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles reported a 25.3 percent jump to $1.16 billion. 

In the farming areas of the Central Valley, Merced County’s construction activity jumped 57.3 percent to $153 million and Madera County’s total increased 50.7 percent to $53 million. 

North of San Francisco, Napa County, center of the state’s wine industry, reported a 51 percent jump in construction activity to $124 million. 

DataQuick’s figures are based on analysis of loan deeds filed for residential and commercial projects. 

OAKLAND — After a report suggested the East Bay Municipal Utility District could beat Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s rates, the public utility is considering adding electricity to the water and sewer service it provides to 1.3 million customers. 

The EBMUD board voted unanimously Wednesday to continue its expansion study to determine whether it should resemble utilities that provide residents with a variety of services, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Alameda Power and Telecom. 

The study, by consultants R.W. Beck, Inc., proposed three pathways EBMUD could take. 

—It could buy electricity and use PG&E to deliver it, though the arrangement called aggregation, is currently prohibited by state law. 

—It could offer renewable sources of electricity, such as wind and solar power. 

—It could take over PG&E’s East Bay infrastructure and generate and sell its own electricity. 

PG&E would support the first two efforts but opposes the third, said PG&E spokesman Jason Alderman. The utility helped defeat two ballot measures in San Francisco last year that would have created public power agencies. 

The board has spent $100,000 studying the issue, but still has no estimates of how much the undertaking would cost or how it could be financed. Critics urged EBMUD to stop spending money and focus on its current role — providing water to much of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. 

“Others have tried this and failed miserably,” William Glass, a San Leandro developer, told the board. “Focus on what you do best.” 

Customers have asked EBMUD to consider becoming an electricity provider rather than relying on PG&E after soaring power costs last year prompted state energy regulators to issues record electric rate hikes. 

“There is no better institution to do this than EBMUD,” said Cynthia Cohen of Berkeley, a longtime public power advocate. “They’ve got the experience.”

PALO ALTO — They share a name, but that’s about it. Hewlett-Packard Co. wishes Walter Hewlett would just go away. 

The eldest son of one of the company’s revered co-founders, the 57-year-old Hewlett has picked a fight with fellow HP board members over its $23 billion plan to buy Compaq Computer Corp. 

The battle by Hewlett and other family members to torpedo the merger — one of the most intriguing episodes in Silicon Valley history — goes to a shareholder vote on March 19. Both sides are campaigning for support with full-page newspaper ads, letters, charts — and some unkind words. 

The company has dismissed Hewlett as an “academic and musician” with no real business experience. HP insiders complain that the usually reserved Hewlett surprised them by turning so vigorously against the rest of the board. 

The first part of the characterization is a big understatement: Hewlett earned master’s degrees in engineering and operations research at Stanford and a doctorate in music. He plays 10 instruments and writes software that digitizes classical scores. 

With the determination he has shown in several marathons and a 139-mile “Death Ride” bicycle race in the Sierras, Hewlett is not backing away from his attacks on the deal, even as some analysts now predict it will succeed. 

In an interview this week, Hewlett was tough as usual on HP chairwoman and chief executive Carly Fiorina, whose fate hinges on the hotly contested merger. 

“I think that Carly has been overly optimistic about what she can do with Hewlett-Packard,” he told The Associated Press. 

“She first proposed that we expand the company by buying PricewaterhouseCoopers, now she’s proposing that we expand the company by buying Compaq. I think she’s trying to build the company with some large-scale strategy plan instead of blocking and tackling and building the company the way it should be built.” 

Hewlett’s criticism of the PricewaterhouseCoopers bid — which ended in 2000 when Fiorina and the consulting firm could not agree on a price — is curious, since he supported that move. 

It is not the only contradiction surrounding Hewlett, a multimillionaire who lives in a modest Palo Alto neighborhood not far from the small garage where his father, William Hewlett, and partner David Packard launched their pioneering company in 1938. 

For one, Hewlett originally voted for the Compaq deal before it was announced on Sept. 3. He has said he was told that a non-unanimous board vote might force HP to pay more for Compaq. 

HP attorney Larry Sonsini said Hewlett was never told that. 

Hewlett also helped the merger plans along by helping to craft the $370 million package of bonuses that important HP employees can get over the next two years if they stay with the company after the deal closes. 

The plan calls for Fiorina to get an $8 million post-merger bonus, though she has turned it down. 

Hewlett said he was merely doing his job as one of the three HP directors on the board’s compensation committee. 

Even so, Hewlett’s diligence as a director is in dispute. HP has chastised him for missing three board meetings last July. 

In one meeting, while Hewlett was fulfilling a long-held commitment to play the cello at an exclusive retreat, HP’s bankers made a financial case for buying Compaq. Several directors began that day with serious doubts about the wisdom of the deal but hashed it out in detail and emerged with a positive opinion, according to people who were there. 

“I don’t even think Walter understands how much work went into this,” said George Keyworth, HP’s longest-serving director. “The truth is, Walter wasn’t there during the crucial parts of the discussion.” 

Hewlett counters that he has done ample research to conclude that the Compaq deal is too risky and would increase HP’s exposure to the weak personal computer market and low-margin technology services business. 

“I’ve been a close observer of Hewlett-Packard for more than 50 years and I’ve been on the board of directors for 15 years,” he noted. “I can say that I really understand HP and the businesses it’s in.” 

He advocates taking smaller steps, investing more heavily in digital imaging, the company’s core business, and finding other ways to make PCs profitable — ideas HP dismisses as “platitudes.” 

Asked whether he is driven partly by a sense — voiced by David Packard’s son — that the founders would not have approved of such a blockbuster move, Hewlett said his only motivation is that the deal is bad for shareholders. 

Beyond the handful of large investors who have spoken out against the deal — including the Hewlett and Packard families, who collectively control 18 percent of HP stock — Hewlett says six others have privately told him they also will vote it down. 

Only two big investors have told him they support the acquisition, he said. 

Fiorina says quite the opposite: that investors and analysts are beginning to understand the deal is motivated by long-term trends that will force HP to dramatically improve its position in business computing and high-tech services. 

People who know Hewlett say HP may be underestimating him. 

“He’s very smart, very up to date on what’s going on in the business world,” said Dick Jenrette, who co-founded the Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette investment firm and serves with Hewlett on Harvard’s board of overseers. “He’s got very deep convictions.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

Pro-merger site: http://www.votethehpway.com 

Opposition site: http://www.votenohpcompaq.com 

A recent study of the Writers’ Room, a one-year-old Berkeley High School program, which provides students with one-on-one writing coaches, suggests it is having a significant positive impact on students’ skills. 

The study, a January self-assessment supervised by BHS co-principal Mike Hassett, graded rough drafts and revisions of English papers on a six-point scale, taking into account organization, style and grammar. At least two people read, and independently graded, each paper. 

The report found that each of the 33 students in the study gained at least one point after working with a writing coach and writing a revision, while 36 percent gained two points or more. 

“We’ve got a very successful model here,” said Mary Lee Cole, Writers’ Room project director. 

The program, based on a similar project in Montclair, N.J., began in February 2001 with 35 volunteers working with 180 students. This year the Writers’ Room, which serves mostly ninth-graders, has 95 coaches on board serving 800 pupils, about one-quarter of the school’s population. In September, the program expanded to King Middle School where 25 coaches work with 100 eighth-grade students. 

Eventually, Cole hopes to provide volunteer writing coaches for every middle school and high school student in the school district, but is currently focused on expanding the program to cover all eighth and ninth graders. 

Writing coaches work in teams of about 10, with one lead coach who helps to mentor new coaches as they enter the program. Coaches see roughly 12 students per year, and work with each student about six times per semester, pulling them out of normal class periods. 

At the high school, the program deals primarily with ninth-grade English students. But the Writer’s Room also provides tutors in a few science and history courses in the upper grades, and in three Advanced Placement Demonstration Project classes, which target African-American and Latino students.  

Cole said the key to the program’s success is one-on-one attention. “A lot of kids don’t have any adult to just sit down with them and listen to them,” said Cole. “Suddenly, here was someone who was interested in what they had to say, to help them find their voices.” 

“Since the teacher has so many papers to look at, she doesn’t pay so much attention to my paper...and my parents aren’t great writers either,” said Maria Wahlstron, a ninth-grader who participates in the program. “I’ve learned a lot about writing, and I’ve analyzed my writing a lot more.” 

Priscilla Myrick, a volunteer writing coach, said the program works because it builds on students’ skills. 

“We’re taught to identify the strengths of the writing as opposed to taking the traditional red pencil and telling the students what they’re doing wrong,” said Myrick, also the parent of a BHS sophomore. “I think that changes the dynamic of the whole relationship.” 

Ellen Felker, another volunteer coach, added that tutors’ independence help to win students’ trust. 

“We’re not the teachers, were not the parents,” she said. “We have nothing to do with their grades. I think that helps kids to go along with it.” 

Mary Flaherty, an editor and reporter who volunteers as a coach, said the benefits go beyond improving writing skills. “When you learn to write clearly, you learn to think,” she said. 

Allison Johnson, chair of the BHS English Department, said the program has made a difference in her classroom. She said that students left to their own devices will often just correct typos when moving from a rough draft to a revision. 

“Now I’m actually seeing structural changes in their final drafts,” she said. 

The Writers’ Room is sponsored by a $30,000 grant from the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project, a group that distributes revenue from a special local tax. Cole, through the Community Alliance for Learning, a non profit she founded this summer, has also raised about $15,000 this year through various small grants. 

Cole said the district, which has made the Writers’ Room a cornerstone of its high school literacy effort, will eventually need to provide sustained funding for the program. 

“How can this be part of the district plan, and they’re not putting money in?” she asked. 

Still, with the district facing a budget crisis and millions of dollars in cuts, Cole does not expect funding anytime soon. 

“I understand the budget crunch, and I see this as a goal down the line,” she said. 

Those interested in volunteering as a writing coach should call Berkeley School Volunteers at 644-8833.  

Berkeley High boys’ soccer coach Janu Juarez named three captains at the beginning of the season: seniors Chris Davis and Liam Reilly and sophomore Kamani Hill. The trio proved worthy of the honor on Wednesday night, as each had a hand in two goals of a 3-0 Berkeley win over Washington High in the first round of the North Coast Section 3A playoffs. 

Berkeley came into the game as the 10th and last seed of the playoffs, with the visiting Huskies the No. 7 seed. The ’Jackets only got a berth because they won the ACCAL title, also earning themselves a home game. But they used that home-field advantage well on Wednesday, skipping long passes along the artificial turf and playing the bounces more consistently than their opponent. 

“We had home-field advantage tonight, and that was huge,” Davis said. “I’ve been on varsity for four years, and we’ve only lost one game here.” 

Washington looked shocked by Berkeley’s speed and accurate long balls, perhaps because they cruised to a 2-0 win over the ’Jackets during a tournament earlier this season. But Berkeley didn’t have the services of Hill or Davis in that game, and they made the difference on Wednesday. 

Although the Huskies had some early chances on offense, Berkeley started attacking down the flanks with Reilly and right wing Willie Vega to pressure the Washington defense. Vega gave forward Giovanni Garcia-Perez and excellent service 20 minutes into the game, but the wide-open Garcia-Perez hit his shot right at Washington goalkeeper Nick Data. 

Nine minutes later, Reilly hit a long left-footed free kick that found the head of the leaping Hill, and the sophomore drove the ball past Data for the game’s first score. 

The ’Jackets would get another score before halftime, as Davis put a high ball behind the defense. Reily rushed past his defender, then hit a volley that rocketed into the back of the net before Data could react. 

For Reilly, Davis and Berkeley five other seniors, Wednesday was the first chance at post-season glory. The ’Jackets haven’t been to the NCS playoffs in five years, so the seniors knew they had to come prepared. 

“I felt it all day, just this tingly feeling in my spine,” Davis said. “We’ve waited a long time for this.” 

“We had so much energy today, it was unbelievable,” Reilly said. “There was nothing in my head today. I just floated around.” 

Hill missed a penalty kick just before halftime, and Juarez was worried that his team might let the Huskies get back in the game. But he didn’t have to worry, as the game’s final goal came in the 51st minute. Davis hit another precise through pass, this time to Hill. Berkeley’s leading scorer sliced past two defenders, then coolly put the ball past Data.  

The Huskies had no answer for Berkeley’s blistering pace, and they got off just three shots on goal in the second half despite pushing more and more players up as time ran down. Berkeley defenders Victor Mendoza, Sam Geller, Roberto Meneses and Chris Darby swarmed any Washington attackers who made it past midfield, giving them no room to maneuver. After a near-disaster against Richmond last week that could have kept them out of the playoffs, the ’Jackets were ready for anything. 

“We used low pressure on them for the first few minutes, then cranked it up to high pressure for the rest of the game,” Mendoza said. “We shut them down all over the field.” 

Berkeley now faces second-seeded Castro Valley on Saturday. Heading into yet another game as the underdog, the ’Jackets sounded anything but meek. 

“They brought their whole team down here to watch us today, so they know what we’re going to do,” Hill said. “We’re gonna bring it to them, so they’d better watch out.” 

Juarez sounded even more confident than his players. 

“This draw couldn’t have been better for us if we penciled it in ourselves,” he said. “I’ve seen Castro Valley play. Unless they’ve done some big things, they’re in big trouble.”

Editor: 

Shame on Rob Browning for not revealing, in his letter to the Planet (2/7/02), that he is City Councilmember Linda Maio’s husband. 

He is high in his praise for Maio and mean-spirited in his criticism of those who voted differently, yet he never fesses up to being Maio’s husband. 

My wife, councilmember Betty Olds and her colleague Councilmember Polly Armstrong received several phone calls and e-mails urging them to vote against spending more than half a million dollars of taxpayer’s money to replace the communication tower. 

Their votes against further expenditures on the tower represented the opinions of their constituents who elected them to office. 

Olds and Armstrong agree that public money would be better spent to help people in need with housing and services. 

Rob Browning should have the decency to identify himself as Maio’s husband when he sings her virtues in the press. Not to do so is cowardly and deceitful to the public. 

Walter Olds 

Berkeley

Thursday, Feb. 14

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Get Connected: Cooking from the Heart 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Join Pastry Chef Daniel Herskovic, as he instructs how to create a sumptuous meal. $25 includes meal and lesson. 601-7247, dherskovic@yahoo.com 

Exploring Old Neighborhoods in the East Bay and Marin 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

A slide presentation showcasing historic houses, beautiful gardens, parks, waterfalls and more. 527-7377 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School Arts and  

Academics School 

1731 Prince St., Room 105A 

For grandparents and relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517. 

Valentine’s Day Party 

6 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship  

of Unitarian Universalists 

1606 Bonita Ave. 

Potluck dinner at 6 p.m.; open mike at 7:30 p.m.; dance music from 9 - 11 p.m. 540-0898, pubsol@pacbell.net. 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Discussions and Actions include: Regulation and Filing Manual language addressing procedure to retire campaign debt and redesignate surplus campaign funds to a new bank account for future elections; Annual Report to the City Council; Election of Chair and Vice-Chair. 981-6950, attorney@ci.berkeley.ca.us.  

Valentine’s Day Love-In 

6 p.m. 

Telegraph Ave. at Haste St. 

Come join into the street corner LOVE-IN, where friends, lovers, mates, and acquaintances will meet to embrace, kiss, and make-out, or watch the sunset and flirt in suggestive attire, contributing to the amorous feelings  

of Valentine's Day at dusk. 848-1985, www.xplicitplayers.com. 

People's Park Community Advisory Board 

7:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Unit 1 Residence Halls Recreation Room 

2650 Durant 

Monthly meeting, community invited. The PP CAB reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs and improvements. 642-7860, http://communityrelations.berkeley.edu 

Friday, Feb. 15

Berkeley Women in Black 

noon - 1 p.m. 

Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft 

Standing in solidarity with women in Israel and Palestine to urge the end of Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza. 548-6310, www.wibberkeley.org. 

Hip-Hop Music Workshop 

6 - 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Community Church 

1802 Fairview Ave. 

Friday Night Art and Dinner Program for youths ages 5 to 14 years old. Hands on experience in various artistic styles. 6 - 7 p.m. art, 7 - 8 p.m. dinner. 652-1040. 

Still Stronger Women 

1:15 - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Life of Isadora Duncan, plus film on contemporary creative, therapeutic dances. 232-1351. 

Saturday, Feb. 16

Puppet Show 

1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health, Children’s Hospital Oakland 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

Includes puppets from diverse cultures and with such conditions as cerebral palsy, blindness, and Down syndrome. Free. 549-1564. 

Launch Party for War Times 

4 p.m. 

Mandela Village 

1357 Fifth St., West Oakland 

A new national anti-war newspaper covering an alternative truth. 869-5156. 

BANA, Berkeley Alliance of  

Neighborhood Associations 

9:30 - ll a.m.  

Live Oak Park, Fireside Room 

l30l Shattuck Ave. 

Neighbors are welcome to network and connect on issues with groups across the city. 848-3l75, HCMuir@mindspring.com. 

Judi Bari Takes on the FBI 

7:30 p.m. 

Unitarian Fellowship 

Cedar and Bonita St. 

Benefit for the Judi Bari suit against the FBI. $5 - $15. 415-927-1645. 

Habitual Avoidance of Intimacy? 

5 - 6:30 p.m. 

Twelve-step meeting for sexual, social, and emotional anorexia. Open to anyone who wants to recover from habitual avoidance of intimacy. Call first, 548-1285. 

Fundraiser for BHS Common Ground Costa Rica trip 

9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

1924 Cedar St. 

Humongous multi-family Berkeley High School indoor garage sale. Marciagoodman@aol.com. 

Sunday, Feb. 17

Jewish Learning Seminar 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

K’Tanim: A Celebration of Jewish Learning for Families with Young Children, Birth to 3. Family activities, songs, stories, crafts, and discussions. $10. To register call: 549-9447 x 104. 

Plant Meditations: Cultivating Your  

Relationship with the Healing Power 

of Herbs 

7:30 p.m. 

The Berkeley Psychic Institute 

2018 Allston Way 

Spend the evening exploring the many ways of communicating with the healing presence of the plants. $10 donation, 644-1600. 

Monday, Feb. 18

BART Operates Regular Saturday  

Service for “President’s Day 

Beginning at 6 a.m. until midnight on all five lines. 465-2278. 

The East Bay Coalition Against the War Movie/Speaker and Discussion Night 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity  

390 27th St., Oakland 

We will show the Noam Chomsky Video on 9/11 and the War on Terror. Plus guest speaker, Denny Riley, Vietnam Veteran and a member of the Veterans Speaker's Alliance. The film and speaker will take about one to one and a half hours. The rest of the time will be devoted to small and large group discussion about our current struggle in response to “the war on terrorism.” 

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Berkeley Garden Club  

Hosts “Crystal Palaces” 

1 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St. 

Ann Cunningham, author of “Crystal Palaces” will present slides of glass houses from the turn of the century to the present. Scott Medburry, Director Strybing Arboretum & Botanic Garden, will talk about the history of San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers including an update on its recent renovation. 524-4374. 

21st Century McCarthyism & The Rise of the Global Police State 

6 - 8 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Wheeler Auditorium 

The following speakers present their interpretations of Sept. 11 and its aftermath: Angela Davis, Diane Clemens and Jennifer Terry. Sponsored by the Departments of Women's Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, & Ethnic Studies, and Professors for Peace. xperales@uclink.berkeley.edu. 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 525-3565. 

Wednesday, Feb. 20 

Staying Connected: Building A Secular Jewish Life 

7:30 - 9:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

An evening of discussion and song with a Klezmer/Yiddish musician. $5. 848-0237 x 127 

Institute of Government Studies 

4 p.m. 

119 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley Campus 

Gerald Gamm lectures as part of the Historical Institutionalism Seminar. 642-4608, www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Colonial Courts, African Conflicts,  

and the End of Slavery in the French Souda 

4 - 6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

3335 Dwinelle, Level “C” 

A talk by Richard Roberts of Stanford University. Sponsored by Department of History, Department of African-American Studies, and Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

924 Gilman Feb. 15: One Time Angels, Eleventeen, Audiocrush, Counterfit, Bikini Bumps; Feb. 16: Iron Vegan, Nigel Peppercock, Lost Goat, Iron Lung, Depressor; Feb. 22: Oppressed Logic, Deface, Edddie Haskells, Throat Oyster; Feb. 23: From Ashes Arise, Artimus Pyle, Brainoil, Down in Flames, Dystrophy, Scholastic Deth; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

The Albatross Feb. 14: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 18: Paul Schneider; Feb. 19: Carla Kaufman and Larry Scala; Feb. 20: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 21: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 23: 9:30 p.m., Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 26: Mad & Eddie Duran; Feb. 28: Keni “El Lebrijano”; All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless noted. 822 San Pablo Ave., 843-2473, albatrosspub@mindspring.com. 

Anna’s Bistro Feb. 14: Graham Richards Jazz Quartet; Feb. 15: Ann’s Jazz Standards, Hideo Date; Feb. 16: Robin Gregory, Ducksan Distones Jazz Sextet; Feb. 17: Acoustic Soul; Feb. 18: Renegade Sidemen w/Calvin Keyes; Feb. 19: Ed Reed; Feb. 20: Bob Schoen Jazz Quintet; Feb. 21: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Feb. 22: Fourtet, Hideo Date; Feb. 23: Vicki Burns & Felice York, Ducksan Distones Jazz Sextet; Feb. 24: Christy Dana Jazz Quartet; Feb. 25: Renegade Sidemen w/Calvin Keyes; Feb. 26: Con Alma; Feb. 27: Mainstream Jazz Quintet; Feb. 28: Junebug; Music starts at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., 1801 University Ave., 849-2662. 

Ashkenaz Feb. 14: Ascension, $5; Feb. 15: KGB, Solemite, $7; Feb. 16: SFunk; Feb. 17: Roots Science; Feb. 18: The Steve Gannon Band, Mz. Dee, $4; Feb. 20: Hebro, $3; Feb. 21: Ascension, $5; Feb. 23: Tang; Feb. 24: Famous Last Words; $3; Feb. 25: The Steve Gannon Band, Mz. Dee, $4; Feb. 26: Boomshanka, Rare Form, $3; Feb. 27: Mindz Eye, $5; Feb. 28: Ascension, $5; 2367 Telegraph Ave., 877-488-6533. 

Cal Performances Feb. 17: 3 p.m., Opera vocalist, Ewa Podles, performs works by Rossini, Chopin and Brahms. $42. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, 642-9988 

Cato’s Ale House Feb. 17: Phillip Greenlief Trio; Feb. 20: Anton Schwartz Trio; Feb. 24: Blue and Tan; Feb. 27: Vince Wallace Trio 

Club Jjang-ga Feb. 16: Deducted Value, Dopesick, Luxt, Karate High School, Forcing Bloom; Feb. 23: Cheapskate, Eddie Haskels, Resiteleros, Dead Last; 261-1108, savageproductions1@yahoo.com. 

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

Jupiter Feb. 14: Spectraphonic; Feb. 15: Forest Sun; Feb. 16: Michael Bluestien Trio; Feb. 20: Joshi Marshall Duo; Feb. 21: Spectraphonic; Feb. 22: Ben Graves Group; Feb. 23: Brenden Millstein Quartet; Feb. 27: J Steinkoler Duo; Feb. 28: Spectraphonic; All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m., unless noted. 2181 Shattuck Ave., 843-7625, www.jupiterbeer.com. 

Live Oak Concerts Feb. 15: Merlin Coleman with Dan Cantrell, Darren Johnson and Ron Heglin, $10; Feb. 16: Marvin Sanders, Karen Ande, JungHae Kim, $12; All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., 644-6893. 

Old First Concerts Feb. 16: 8 p.m., The Duke and The Lady-Faye Carol, $12; Feb. 17: 4 p.m., Miriam Abramowitsch and George Barth, $12; Old First Church, 1751 Sacramento St., 415-474-1608. 

The Rose Street House of Music Feb. 14: 7:30 p.m., “Escape-from-V-day Musical Extravaganza,” with Rebecca Hart, Nicola Gordon, Marca Cassity, Christene LeDoux, Helen Chay, Eileen Hazel, Irina Rivkin; 1839 Rose St., 594-4000 x687, www.rosestreetmusic.com.  

The Starry Plough Feb. 14: 9:30 p.m., The Dan Lange Band, Blue Eyed Devils, Missin’ Cousins, $4; Feb. 15: 9:30 p.m., Dickle Brothers, Rube Waddell, Brian Kenney Fresno, $6; Feb. 16: 9:30 p.m. Camper Van Chadbourne, Dandeline, $7; Feb. 17: 8 p.m., Irish Music Session; Feb. 20: 8:30 p.m., Poetry Slam, $5; Feb. 21: 9:30 p.m., Jon Langford, Rico Bell, $12; Feb. 22: 9:30 p.m., 20 Minute Loop, Kirby Grips, She Mob, $6; Feb. 23: 9:30 p.m., Eric McFadden Experience, Mark Growden, $6; 3101 Shattuck Ave., 841-2082. 

Tuva Space Mar. 21: 8 p.m., Blues Translation; Mar. 22: 8 p.m., Electro-Acoustic Quartet; Mar. 23: 8 p.m. Solo Guitar Performance, 9:30 p.m. Country, Folk, and Blues Standards. $8 All shows $8. 312 Adeline St. 649-8744, acme@sfsound.org 

“The Sex Indie-stry Show” Feb. 14: 9 p.m., The Pre-Teens, Bitesize, Good for You, Shmoogie, and The Clarendon Hills all perform in a benefit for COYOTE, a rights advocacy group for sex workers. $6. The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, www.stjamesinfirmary.org 

“Concherto Night” Feb. 16: 8 p.m., Empyrean Ensemble perform new American and 20th Century works. $14 -$18. Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave., 925-798-1300, www.juliamorgan.org 

“Love is in the Air” Feb. 16: 6 p.m., Oakland Lyric Opera presents an evening of dinner, candlelight and flowers accompanied by a musical showcase of Broadway tunes, Italian street songs and nostalgic cabaret music. $65 including tax and tip. Sequoya Country Club, 4550 Heafey Rd, Oakland, 836-6772 

“Judi Bari Takes on the FBI” Feb. 16: 7:30 p.m., Alice Littletree and Sherry Glaser perform separately in a benefit to raise money for Judi Bari’s suit against the FBI. $5 - $15 sliding scale. Unitarian Fellowship, Cedar & Bonita St., 415-927-1645 

“Bosch Sisters” Feb. 20: 7:30 p.m., Swiss sisters perform piano concert featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Debussy and Poulenc. Donations suggested. UC Berkeley International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. 642-9490 

“Free Men! Free Women!” Feb. 22 through Feb. 23: 8 p.m., Wing It performs a new a combination of dance, song and story. $12. First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, 814-9584 

“John Glennon and Erika March” Feb. 24: 5 p.m., A program of French music including the works of Francois Couperin, Chambonnieres, and Muffat. $15 - $18. MusicSources, 1000 The Alameda, 528-1685 

“Cosi Fan Tutte” Feb. 22 through Mar. 3: The Berkeley Opera will perform Mozart’s classic opera. $10 - $30. Call for specific dates and times. Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. 841-103, www.berkeleyopera.com 

“La Tania” Feb. 14 through Feb. 16, 6 p.m., 7:15 p.m., Acclaimed Flamenco Dancer, La Tania, performs with members of her dance company. $55 dinner included. Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662, www.cafedelapaz.net 

“The Ravel Project and Other Performances” Feb. 15, Feb. 16: 8 p.m., Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre will premiere the Ravel Project on February 15th and perform separate selections on February 16. $24 - $46. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, 642-0212 

“Here..Now” Feb. 19 through Feb. 24: Tues. - Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m., 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., 8 p.m., Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs three distinct programs featuring the West Coast premiere of “Here...Now”. $24 - $46. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, 642-0212 

Theater 

Word for Word double bill Feb. 1: 7 p.m., Feb. 2: 5 p.m., Feb. 3: 2 p.m.: Julius Lester’s short children’s play “John Henry”; Zora Neale Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits.” Both children and adults will view John Henry together, then the children leave the theatre to participate in art exercises that help them enter the spirit of the play. Meanwhile, the adults remain in the theatre to view The Gilded Six Bits. $16 adults, $11 children. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.com. 

“Unmasked!” Feb. 1: 8 p.m., Feb. 2: 8 p.m., Feb. 3: 5 p.m.: An evening of two short student-directed plays, “The Lesson” by Eugene Ionesco and “Beyond Therapy” by Christopher Durang. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theather, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany, 559-6550 x4125, theaterensemble@hotmail.com. 

“James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet” Feb. 5: 8 p.m., Originally conceived as a radio play, John Cage’s imagined conversations between 15 artistic and cultural figures, their dialogue, historical materials, and musings that Cage simply made up. Director Laura Kuhn, Composer Mikel Rouse. UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall, 642-0212, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. 

Oakland Magic Circle hosts its 34th annual Installation Banquet and Stage show, Feb. 5: 7 p.m. Dinner, 8 p.m. Show, Dick Newton, Timothy James, Peter Winch, Dan X. Solo, $20 Adults, $15 Children; Bjornson Hall, 2258 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, 420-0680. 

“Every Inch a King” Through Feb. 9: Thur. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m.; Three sisters have to make a decision as their father approaches death in this comedy presented by the Central Works Theater Ensemble. $8 - $18. LeValls Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-138, www.centralworks.org.  

“The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek” Through Feb. 10: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., playwright Naomi Wallace’s story about Dalton, a 15-year-old who dreams of escaping to college, and Pace, the town’s 17-year-old tomboy. Stuck in a town with no real prospects, the pair begins a deadly contest of chicken with the daily express train. Directed by Søren Oliver. $30-$35. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. 

"Human Nature" Feb. 16: 8:30 p.m., X-plicit Players, $15; Art-A-Fact, 1109 Addison St., 848-1985, www.xplicitplayers.com. 

“Sisters” Through Feb. 16: Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., The Prozorov sisters look at the gap between hope and fulfillment in their lives. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattack, www.actorsensemleofbkerkeley.com. 

“Night, Mother” Feb. 8, Feb. 15 - 16, Feb. 22 - 23: 8 p.m., A drama exploring one young woman’s decision to take control of her life with one furious and heartbreaking act. Directed by Bahati Bonner. $12, $8 seniors. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 496-1269 x1950, nightmother@onebox.com 

“Culture Clash in AmeriCCA” Through Mar. 3: Check theater for specific dates and times. The comic trio Culture Clash present their latest collection of political, ethnological and socialogical humor written for and about Berkeley. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Rhinoceros” Through Mar. 10: Check theater for specific dates and times. An absurdist tragic-comedy about a small provincial town whose citizens slowly but surely transform into large cumbersome rhinoceroses. Directed by Barbara Damashek. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2976 www.berkeleyrep.org. 

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

Film 

Pacific Film Archive Feb: 14: 7 p.m., The Perfumed Garden; Feb: 15: 7 p.m., Rendezvous in Paris, 9:05 p.m., Autumn Tale; Feb. 17: 3 p.m. The Testimony of Taliesin Jones, 5:30 p.m., The Atonement of Gosta Berling; Feb. 19: 7:30 p.m., Prisoners of War; Feb. 20: 3 p.m., The General, 7:30 p.m., Kristin Lucas Simulcast Town Meeting; Feb. 21: 7:30 p.m., Kristin Lucas Workshop; 2527 Bancroft Way, 642-1412. 

“Human Rights International Film Festival” Feb. 22 through Feb. 24: Nine provocative films will be shown, many followed by question and answer sessions with local and visiting filmmakers. Check theater for films and times. Pacific Film Archive, 2527 Bancroft Way, 642-1412  

Exhibits  

“Rhythms” Through Feb. 2: Art installation of sculpture, neon, music and video projections by Kati Casida; Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St., 845-5373 

Pro Arts: “Juried Annual 2001-02” Through Feb. 2: Exhibition of painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography and more by Bay Area and regional artists; Pro Arts, 461 Ninth St., www.proartsgallery.org. 

“All Grown Up” Through Feb. 2: New paintings and drawings by Amy Chan. Thurs. 1 p.m. - 8 p.m., Fri -Sun 1 p.m. -6 p.m., 21 Grand Ave., Oakland, 444-7263. 

“Water Media” Through Feb. 8: An exhibit by Christine “Caipirinha” Mulder. Capoeira Arts Cafe Gallery, 2026 Center St., 666-1349 for hours. 

“New Work by Dennis Begg and Steve Briscoe” Through Feb. 9: Dennis Begg’s sculpture. Steve Brisco’s paintings. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Traywick Gallery,1316 10th St., 527-1214. 

“Enduring Wisdom: Artwork and Stories by Homeless and Formerly Homeless Seniors” Through Feb. 15: 18 homeless and formerly homeless elders reveal how they learned and applied wisdom that is timeless. Mon. - Fri. and Sundays 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.; Free. St. Mary’s Center, 635 22nd St., Oakland, 893-4723 x222. 

“Envisioning Ecology” Through Feb. 15: Paintings by Michelle Waters. Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., 548-2220 x233. 

“The Other 364 Days: A Day in the Life of the Queer Community” Through Feb. 16: An exhibit of black and white photographs by East Bay photographer Limor Inbar-Hansen. Mon. - Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Sat., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St., 644-1400, limor@indelible-images.com. 

“Adventures in La Land” Through Feb. 23: Installations by Suzanne Husky and Paintings by Amy Morrell. Tues. - Sat., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; 4920 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 428-2349. 

“Transformations: Through the Eye of a Needle” Through Feb. 23: Two-person exhibition by Rebecca Bui and Linda Lemon including procelain and fabric dolls and mixed media works on handmade paper. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland, 836-0831, www.artolio.com 

“Ton of Joy” Through Mar. 1: Group show of twelve painters and sculptors: Simone Anders, Susan Brady, Erin Fitzgerald, Karen Frey, Kei Hanafusa, Nancy Legge, Burke Rainey, Robin Sebourn, Kristen Throop, Clay Vajgrt, Whitney Vosburgh, Ann West; Mon. - Sat., 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Hollis Street Project, 5900 Hollis St., Emeryville. 

“Celebrating the African Diaspora” Through Mar. 1: A Black History Month Exhibit celebrating the contributions of Africans in America and throughout the Diaspora. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; University of Creation Sprituality, 2141 Broadway, Oakland, 835-4827 x31 

“Ansel Adams in the University of California Collections” Through Mar. 10: A selection of photographs and memorabilia presenting a different perspective on Adam’s career as one of the leading figures in American photography; Through Mar. 24: “Migrations: Photographs by Sebastiao Salgado,” over 300 black-and-white photographs of immigrants and refugees taken by the Brazilian photographer. Wed. - Sun. 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., $4- $6. The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way, 642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. 

“A Retrospective Show” Through Mar. 13: The Women’s Cancer Resource Center “The Art of Living Black,” an Open Studios event for local African American artists. The Gallery features a retrospective show of the work of the late Jan Hart-Schuyers. Mon. - Thurs. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sat. 12 - 4 p.m., Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 3023 Shattuck Ave., 548-9286 x307, www.wcrc.org. 

The Richmond Art Center Through Mar. 16: “The Art of Living Black 2002: The sixth Annual Bay Area Black Artists Exhibition and Art Tour,” group exhibition of 81 artists; “Introspección Dual: Recent Painting by Verónica B. Rojas and Santiago Gervas”; “Transmutations: Recent work by Tim Jag”; “The NIAD` Family,” Artwork from the National Institute of Art and Disabilities; “Still Here,” collaborative art project about AIDS in the 21st century; “Girls in the Hall,” artwork by girls incarcerated in the San Francisco juvenile justice system; Tues. - Fri., 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Sat. noon - 4:30 p.m.; The Art of Living Black Art Tour Weekend: Mar. 2 and 3, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.; 2540 Barrett Ave., 620-6772, www.therichmondartcenter.org. 

“Stas Orlovski” Feb. 16 through Mar. 23: New work by Stas Orlovski featuring a series of large paintings and drawings examining the relationships between body and landscape and eastern and western aesthetics. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St., 527-1214 

“Average Female (Perfect)” Through Mar. 24: Manhattan-based artist Sowon Kwon projects footage of the first ever perfect-scoring gymnasts: Romanian, Nadia Comanece and Russian, Nelli Kim at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Kwon superimposes over the gymnasts a hand-drawn outline of the “average” female body to direct the audience’s attention to the gymnasts’ movements throughout their performances. Wed. - Sun 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., $4 - $6. University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way, 642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

"Earthly Pleasures" assemblage and photographs by Susan Danis, Through March 30: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Mon. - Sat.; Sticks, 1579 B, Solano Ave., 526-6603.  

“Domestic Bliss” Through Apr. 4: Collection of abstract paintings and mixed medium by Amy St. George. Albany Community Center Foyer Gallery, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany, 524-9283. 

Trillium Press: Past, Present and Future Feb. 15 through April 13: Works created at Trillium Press by 28 artists. Tues. - Fri. noon - 5:30 p.m., Sat. noon - 4:30 p.m.; Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave., 549-2977, www.kala.org.  

“The Legacy of Social Protest: The Disability Rights Movement” Through April 30: The first exhibition in a series dealing with Free Speech, Civil Rights, and Social Protest Movements of the 60s and 70s in California. Photograghs by: Cathy Cade, HolLynn D’Lil, Howard Petrick, Ken Stein. The Free Speech Cafe, Moffitt Undergraduate Library, University of California-Berkeley, hjadler@yahoo.com.  

“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, www.atelier9.com. 

“Jurassic Park: The Life and Death of Dinosaurs” Feb. 2 through May 12: An exhibit displaying models of the sets and dinosaur sculptures used in the Jurassic Park films, as well as a video presentation and a dig pit where visitors can dig for specially buried dinosaur bones. $8 adults, $6, youth and seniors. Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Dr., above the UC Berkeley campus, 642-5132, www.lawrencehallofscience.org 

“The Image of Evil in Art” Feb. 7 through May 31: An exhibit exploring the varying depictions of the devil in art. Call ahead for hours. The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., 649-2541. 

“The Pottery of Ocumichu” Feb. 7 through May 31: A case exhibit of the imaginative Mexican pottery made in the village of Ocumichu, Michoacan. Known particularly for its playful devil figures, Ocumichu pottery also presents fanciful everyday scenes as well as religious topics. Call ahead for hours. The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., 649-2540 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Feb. 9: 7:30 p.m., Loolwa Khazzoom reads from her new book “Conseqence: Beyond Resisting Rape” which takes a street savy look at street harassment. The evening will include a screening of the film “War Zone” and several spoken word presentations. Free. 398 Colusa, Kensington, 595-4642 

Cody’s on Fourth St. Feb. 15: Nuala O’Faolain talks about “My Dream of You”; Feb. 19: Tracy Hogg will tell “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers”; Feb. 21: Dan Bessie discusses Alvah Bessie’s Spanish Civil War Notebooks; Feb. 27: 6 p.m., Rodney Yee brings “Yoga: The Poetry of the Body”; Feb. 28: Rosemary Wells talks about children, children’s books, and the importance of reading; All events begin at 7 p.m. unless noted and ask a $2 donation. 1730 Fourth St., 559-9500, www.codysbooks.com.  

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Feb. 7: Mark Kurlansky considers “Salt: A World History”; Feb. 11: Edward O. Wilson discusses “The Future of Life”; Feb. 12: Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé offer “Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet”; Feb. 15: Cindy Engel describes “Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn From Them”; Feb. 19: Robert Cohen reads from “Inspired Sleep”; Feb. 22: “The Whole World is Watching,” a panel discussion with Harold Adler, Leon F. Litwack, Charles Wollenberg, Hollynn D’Lil, Ronald J. Riesterer and Cathy Cade; Feb. 25: David Henry Sterry describes “Chicken: Self-portrait of a Young Man for Rent”; Feb. 26: Carter Scholz reads from “Radiance”; All events begin at 7:30 p.m. unless noted and ask a $2 donation. 2454 Telegraph Ave., 845-7852, www.codysbooks.com.  

Coffee With a Beat Feb. 2: Julia Vinograd, Shauna Rogan; Feb. 9: Sydney Bell, Debrale Pagan; All readings 7-9 p.m., free and followed by open mike. 458 Perkins, Oakland, 526-5985.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore Feb. 5: William Chapman presents slides and reads from his book, “The Face of Tibet”; Feb. 7: A panel of female travel writers read from their works published in “The Unsavvy Travelers”, a chronicle of hilarious tales of cathartic misadventures on the road; Feb. 19: Christopher Baker, author of “Costa Rica: Moon Handbook” presents a slide show demonstrating what makes the Central American country so appealing; Richard Sterling, author of Lonely Planet’s “World Food: Greece”, presents a culinary tour revealing the culture and character of Greece through the medium of her cuisine’s; Feb. 28: Terrence Ward reads from his book “Searching for Hassan: An American Family’s Journey Home to Iran”; All readings are free and start at 7:30 p.m., 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose, 843-3533. 

Shambhala Booksellers Feb. 3: 7 p.m., William Peterson will read from his latest book “Voices in the Dark: Esoteric, Occult & Secular Voices in Nazi-Occupied Paris 1990-1994”. Free. 242 Telegraph Ave., 848-8443 

Poetry 

Poetry Flash @ Cody’s Feb. 6: Adrianne Marcus, Diana O’Hehir; Feb. 10: Cathy Coldman, Judith Serin; Feb. 13: Murray Silverstein, Gillian Wegener, Helen Wickes; Feb. 17: Sharon Doubiago, Doren Robbins; Feb. 20: Linda Elkin, Steve Rood; Feb. 27: Stephen Kessler and John Oliver Simon; All events begin at 7:30 p.m., $2 donation. 2454 Telegraph Ave., 845-7852, www.codysbooks.com.  

Tours 

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park Small locomotives, scaled to size. Trains run Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting. 486-0623. 

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. 

Museums 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. 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. 

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. - 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.  

Oakland Museum of California Feb. 14: 1 p.m., Diane Curry shares her experiences researching photographic archives for the history of Oakland, free; Feb. 17: 12 - 4 p.m., A family program in which artists engage families in creative projects inspired by the work of California African American artists; 2 - 3 p.m., Artist Raymond Howell discusses his creative process and artistic techniques. $6 general, $4 seniors and students with ID. 10th & Oak St., 238-2200, www.museumca.org 

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, www.lhs.berkeley.edu. 

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

Two Berkeley citizens will be leaving for Japan on a mission of peace today. 

Leuren Moret and Robert Rose, members of the Citizens Environmental Advisory Commission and the Peace and Justice Commission were invited to attend the “Linking Peace and Life Conference,” which will be held in Tokyo on Feb. 17. 

Moret and Rose are both active members of the Berkeley peace movement, but they are also sweethearts. 

The two were appointed to their commissions by Councilmember Dona Spring, who has been an active figure in the budding Japanese peace coalition. 

Moret said on Tuesday that they were invited and sponsored by the National Assembly of Exchange for Peace and Democracy, a Japanese anti-war non-governmental organization. 

“My purpose on this trip is to inform and encourage as many citizens and activists as I can — to act locally but to think globally,” she said. 

Moret and Rose will be in Japan the same time as President George W. Bush, who will be kicking off a tour of Asia on Feb. 17. The president is expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to discuss the Japanese contribution to the rebuilding of Afghanistan. 

The conference comes at a time when Japan is debating the future of its military, Moret said. Koizumi recently came out in favor of revising Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, an anti-war provision, which was placed there after World War II. 

Spring received a visit from two members of the Japanese parliament after her proclamation against the war late last year. She said the Japanese peace movement was born in response to that. 

“There are issues Japan has in the Asian continent,” she said. “It would like to flex some military muscle.” 

Moret said she would give a speech on why Berkeley took an active role in opposition to the recent war in Afghanistan — through the actions of the City Council and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. 

“It will be about the unique combination of things in Berkeley that made these things possible,” she said.  

Rose was appointed to the Peace and Justice Commission only recently. He said Berkeley holds high stature in the global anti-war movement. 

“People are going to be turning to Berkeley for answers in the near future,” he said. 

In addition to attending the peace conference, Moret and Rose will carry a letter from Spring to representatives from Sakai, Berkeley’s sister city in Japan. 

“We would be deeply honored if other elected officials and community groups in Japan and throughout the world would consider endorsing the ‘Berkeley Resolution’ along with Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan,” the letter reads. 

Koyu Furusawa, a visiting professor of environmental socioeconomics at UC Berkeley and a Japanese citizen, showed up at a Tuesday event to see Moret and Rose off. 

Furusawa said he has participated in anti-war demonstrations in Berkeley and hopes to “stop war in Japan and the U.S.” 

“In Japan, we are very stimulated by Berkeley’s activities,” he said. 

Contact reporter Hank Sims at hank@berkeleydailyplanet.net

Freshman Dea Wallach scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period to give the Berkeley High girls’ soccer team a 1-0 first-round 3A North Coast Section playoff victory over Castro Valley on Wednesday night. 

Junior forward Annie Borton dribbled down the right side before hitting a cross to wide-open Wallach. The freshman calmly took a touch to settle the ball, then slid it past Castro Valley goalkeeper Melissa Onstad to put Berkeley up a goal in the 93rd minute.  

“That was one of those goals you don’t want to miss,” Wallach said. “It was wide open.” 

Although Castro Valley would threaten the ’Jackets’ goal several times before the final whistle, they couldn’t punch one in. 

“That was a long game to play, and our team stepped up big-time,” Berkeley head coach Suzanne Sillett said. “The game started opening up as it went on. I just didn’t want a shootout.” 

What was a tightly played affair in the early stages turned into a sloppy game of kickball at the end of regulation, as both teams tired and started to push forward to get the deciding goal. In the final three minutes before overtime, each team got off four shots. Castro Valley’s Brooke Katich looked like she had a breakaway, but Berkeley defender Rebecca Williams chased her down to snuff the chance. Then Berkeley midfielder Veronica Searles put forward Maura Fitzgerald through, but Fitzgerald hit her shot right at Onstad and the game went into extra time. 

Neither team got off a shot in the first 10-minute overtime period, and Wallach’s shot was the first of the final period. 

The win was especially satisfying for Sillett and the three returning starters from last season. The ’Jackets lost 1-0 to Amador Valley on a late goal in the NCS first round a year ago, a tough loss that has inspired the ’Jackets this season. 

“It’s so nice to finally win an NCS game,” said Borton, one of the holdovers from last season. “It was really hard to lose that way last year.” 

Sillett was impressed by her team’s composure down the stretch, if not their play at the game’s start. 

“We looked terrified for the first 10 minutes,” she said. “But we settled down nicely and came up with a big win.” 

Berkeley may have started slowly, but they had the run of play for most of the game. They outshot Castro Valley 7-1 in the first half, with Fitzgerald getting a couple of good shots off and Wallach just missing on a Borton cross. They continued to apply the pressure in the second half, with Borton and Fitzgerald causing havoc up front. 

“I felt like we were pretty much in control of the game,” Borton said. “We gave them a couple of scary chances, but when we played our game we got things going.” 

The ’Jackets move on to play the No. 1 seed in the region, EBAL champion California. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. at California High. 

“Unfortunately, our reward now is to play the top seed at their place,” Sillett said. “But we’re sure happy to be going there instead of going home.”

Editor: 

Forum correspondent C.M.Woodcock (Feb. 11 Forum) is on the right track to chide UC Berkeley’s transportation director for suggesting more parking lots.  

A better idea is to provide public transportation for faculty and staff.  

My suggestion is to offer various-sized campus buses at commuting hours so faculty and staff can leave their cars at home.  

An additional transportation solution would be to ban student cars. UC Davis and many other universities and colleges do this.  

Their students manage to walk or ride bikes.  

Thus, faculty, staff, and student cars would not take up city parking spaces near campus – or precious spaces on campus. 

Eleanor Gibson 

Berkeley 

As Washington lawmakers strategize about increasing efforts abroad to wipe out terrorism, several East Bay activist picketed outside the Oakland Police Department demanding its end here. 

“Who’s the biggest terrorist, don’t you tell no lies? John Ashcroft and the FBI,” chanted about two dozen members of the All People’s Coalition on Tuesday evening before marching to City Hall to continue their protest at a pending council meeting. 

The group claimed there were several detainees at the North County Jail a few blocks down from the 455 Seventh St. location, and they were there to pressure City Councilmembers to end their participation in the Anti-patriot Act. 

“We want Oakland to take the lead of other cities like Portland, and say ‘we are not going to be a party to these civil liberty violations,’” said Coalition President Olefundi Bakari. 

The coalition has been in communication with various members of Oakland’s City Council including Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. De la Fuente is also the chair of the city’s committee on community and economic development. 

“He said he would think about it, but since then has not returned our phone calls,” Bakari said. 

Little information is available about how many, if any detainees are actually in custody at the Oakland site. 

In December U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld set up several key principles which were to be followed — including “the presumption that suspects are innocent until proven guilty and there would be a requirement of a unanimous verdict for the death penalty,” according to documents taken from the U.S. Defense web site.  

Additional measures include the fact that tribunals would be open to the public unless classified information was discussed and there would be an allowance of hearsay evidence. 

But since embarking upon the rounding up of detainees to be questioned in relationship to terrorist activities, specific information about who and how many are in custody has been difficult to ascertain. 

Officer Kevin Cartensen of the Oakland Police Department said he is not aware of there being any political detainees at the facility. 

He would not comment any further on the demonstration, other than to say that a few officers were being dispatched strictly as a safety measure.  

“[Protesters] will probably leave in a little while,” Cartensen said. “And we have police officers standing by to make sure everything is kosher.” 

But according to Bakari the Oakland Police Department has a contract with the Federal government and the north county facility undoubtedly has some of the 1,500 nationwide detainees locked up there. 

“They are being taken off the streets, away from their families. They are not being arrested. Sometimes they are not being given access to legal representation,” Bakari said. “We don’t know how many exactly, but we get calls from family members who tell us their loved ones are missing and it’s obvious.” 

De La Fuente was unavailable to comment. 

Contact reporter: devona@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

A controversial penalty kick just seconds before halftime gave Piedmont a 1-0 playoff win over St. Mary’s on a cold Wednesday night, ending the Panthers’ season. 

The loss in the first round of the 2A North Coast Section playoffs gave St. Mary’s a final record of 9-10-2 on the season. Piedmont improved to 10-6-3 and will play a second-round game against Las Lomas on Saturday. 

Piedmont also avenged a 1-0 loss to St. Mary’s during the regular season. In the earlier meeting, Piedmont missed a penalty kick that would have tied the game. 

This time, Piedmont’s Gabe Arce-Yee converted the 45th-minute penalty kick past goalkeeper Nick Osborn after the referee ruled that Stephon McGrew fouled the Highlanders’ Brian Trowbridge just inside the penalty area. Trowbridge had made a 50-yard run down the left flank before encountering McGrew. 

“I thought that Stephon was just still going forward, and the guy dove after that,” St. Mary’s coach Teale Matteson said. “The fall was not affected by that. [The referee] was on top of it. He called what he saw.” 

“I thought it was outside the box,” Piedmont coach Pat Keohane said. “I didn’t know it was inside the box.” 

Trowbridge’s run was one of many Piedmont had on the night. The Highlanders’ Simon Campodonico, in particular, tore down the flanks time and time again, as St. Mary’s played with its four midfielders close to the middle of the field. In the earlier meeting between the schools, Piedmont could not take advantage of the flanks on the narrow confines of St. Mary’s field. Piedmont’s field is wider than St. Mary’s field, but Matteson wouldn’t use that as an excuse. 

“It was a non-factor,” he said. “We made the adjustments.” 

Osborn did not save the penalty kick, but he was the Panthers’ best player in the game. Of his several saves, none was more brilliant than the one in the 58th minute, when a perfect Piedmont free kick found the head of Campodonico, whose header was going into the goal before Osborn somehow dove to the right in time to deflect the ball wide of the goal. In the process, the keeper banged his head into the goalpost, and the match had to be stopped for a couple of minutes before Osborn was judged ready to play.  

“Their keeper is a pretty awesome guy,” Keohane said. “That was a great save.” 

Osborn saw plenty of the ball because Piedmont had most of the possession in the game. The Highlander midfielders and forwards made the Panthers chase and chase and chase while creating numerous chances. St. Mary’s, playing for the counterattack, had only a handful of chances. When St. Mary’s did get the ball in attacking position, forwards Pat McMahon and Andrew Nackerud was usually surrounded by defenders and took a tough shot that was off the mark. 

“I thought their backline was vulnerable,” Matteson said. “They played a couple of offside traps that prevented us from being able to get a line on the goal. We didn’t quite have our midfield control at the point where we could get the shots off that would have really tested their keeper.” 

The Panthers’ last chance came on a long ball that Daniel Penza launched from just inside his team’s half to teammate Luis Perez on the left flank. Perez’s shot deflected off of a Piedmont player over the goalline for a St. Mary’s corner kick. Andres Alegria took the ensuing corner, which a Piedmont defender cleared to midfield. St. Mary’s defender Brendan Slevin lofted the ball back into Piedmont’s penalty area, but goalkeeper Brett Baker caught it. 

“Great season,” Matteson said. “Good experience. It’s too bad we couldn’t move onto a second-round postseason game. That was our goal, and we’d liked to reach it next time.”

Editor: 

On behalf of the patients, care givers, and physicians represented by the Alliance of Berkeley Patients (ABP), I would like to express our outrage at the DEA's attack on medical cannabis patients and providers.  

Tuesday's raid at a medical cannabis dispensary in San Francisco and several area homes and businesses makes it clear that the DEA has no regard for the will of the voters or the laws of our state. 

California voters know that medical cannabis helps alleviate pain and suffering for thousands of our friends and loved ones. Federal officials must realize that we will not tolerate a federal crack down on medical cannabis. 

We urge President Bush and DEA Administrator Asa Huthchinson to abandon this misguided attack on California patients and adopt a federal policy based on compassion, cooperation, and common sense. 

Don Duncan 

Alliance of Berkeley Patients 

Berkeley 

When most of us daydream about vacationing, the scene is usually set with plenty of sunshine, white sandy beaches and exotic fruit cocktails festooned with paper umbrellas. 

Few of us, especially since the Sept. 11 tragedies, would think of actually spending precious vacation time on a humanitarian mission in the heart of a Muslim country. Even more so, a country the president of the United States recently singled out as a member in the “axis of evil.” 

But that’s exactly what Berkeley’s Current Planning Manager Mark Rhoades and Electronic Media Manager Patrick DeTemple will be doing for the next eight days.  

The two leave this afternoon for Iran, where they will join other volunteers to deliver 400 critically-needed wheelchairs to hospitals and humanitarian organizations.  

“We think it’s a great cause,” said Rhoades, who will be accompanied by his wife, Erin Banks. “We’re looking forward to experiencing a whole new culture and religion.” 

Rhoades and DeTemple are involved with the Wheelchair Foundation, a nonprofit founded two years ago by philanthropist Kenneth Behring. In the short time since its inception, Behring’s organization has delivered more than 35,000 wheelchairs to disabled people in 80 countries. 

Rhoades and DeTemple first became interested in the nonprofit last year when they attended a fundraiser organized by Soheyle Modarressi, president of the Oxford Development Group. 

Modarressi, a native of Iran, had recently taken a trip home where he visited a hospital with more than 700 patients and only two wheelchairs. After returning he heard about the Wheelchair Foundation and decided to do something.  

Modarressi organized the fundraiser with the help of the Persian Center and Ahmad Behjati, the owner of the Sante Fe Grill. About 150 people attended the event, which raised $75,000.  

The Wheelchair Foundation matched those funds, and together they purchased 1,000 new wheelchairs. Last November, the first 500 wheelchairs were delivered to Iran. Rhoades and DeTemple will be accompanying the second shipment. The cost of a single new wheelchair is $150.  

“This is a clear and straight forward charity,” said DeTemple. “It’s a clear response to an important need.” 

Wheelchair Foundation organizers have set a goal of providing wheelchairs to the estimated 100 million people worldwide who do not have use of their legs.  

“People get very excited about this program because for a relatively small amount of money you can have a profound and lasting impact on a person’s life,” said Fred Gerhard, the distribution manager for the Wheelchair Foundation. “The results are very tangible, you literally transform a person’s life in a second.” 

Both Rhoades and DeTemple said they’ve been concerned since President George Bush designated Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, as part of the “axis of evil” during his State of the Union address on Jan. 29th. Bush accused the three countries of producing weapons of mass destruction. 

Bush’s comments have stirred angry responses from Iranian leaders and heated anti-American rallies throughout the country last Monday during the 23rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. 

Undaunted, both DeTemple and Rhoades said they don’t expect to encounter any hostility although they have some anxiety about the trip. 

“I suppose I could of done without the developments of the last 10 days,” said DeTemple. 

For more information about the Wheelchair Foundation call (925) 275-2170. Or go to www.wheelchairfoundation.org.  

Contact reporter: johng@berkeleydailyplanet.net

Editor: 

An urban tree emergency is rapidly developing. Many of the trees that were planted a century ago have developed problems in their old age. They need to be taken down safely before they come down unexpectedly and do extensive damage. 

I suggest that there should be an organized and systematic effort to identify, prioritize, and anticipate the trees which are likely to come down. 

The annual conferences and the Tree Failure Reporting system of UC Co-op Extension have been a good first step about the problem.  

Tree diseases are killing different kinds of trees. Old dead trees should be taken down promptly. One park agency contracted with a tree removal firm that did the job just for the wood. This might be done on private property in the cities. 

Skilled woodsmen know how to make trees fall a so they will do the least damage. Climbing trees to take them down is slow and dangerous. 

The necessity for this tree harvest cannot be ignored. 

Charlie Smith 

Berkeley 

Today is Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2002. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union. 

On this date: 

In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France. 

In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state. 

In 1899, Congress approved, and President McKinley signed, legislation authorizing states to use voting machines for federal elections. 

In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. 

In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its first president was Maude Wood Park. 

In 1929, the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down. 

In 1945, Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador joined the United Nations. 

In 1962, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House. 

In 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police. 

In 1990, 94 people were killed when an Indian Airlines passenger jet crashed while landing at a southern Indian airport. 

Ten years ago: American speed skater Bonnie Blair won her second gold medal of the Albertville Olympics, in the 1,000 meters event. The former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan rejected a proposal for a unified army, sharply rebuffing Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. 

Five years ago: American Airlines and its pilots union continued contract talks as the clock ticked down to a midnight strike deadline. (The pilots did strike, but President Clinton immediately intervened, ordering a 60-day “cooling off” period.) 

One year ago: A Palestinian crashed a bus into Israeli soldiers and civilians standing at a bus stop in Azur, Israel, killing eight. (The driver, Khalil Abu Olbeh, was later sentenced to eight life terms.) The Kansas Board of Education approved new science standards restoring evolution to the state’s curriculum. 

Today’s Birthdays: TV personality Hugh Downs is 81. Actress-singer Florence Henderson is 68. Country singer Razzy Bailey is 63. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 59. Movie director Alan Parker is 58. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 58. Actor-dancer Gregory Hines is 56. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is 55. TV personality Pat O’Brien is 54. Magician Teller (Penn and Teller) is 54. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (Beausoleil) is 51. Actor Ken Wahl is 45. Actress Meg Tilly is 42. Singer-producer Dwayne Wiggins is 41. Actor Enrico Colantoni is 39. Actor Zach Galligan is 39. Rock musician Ricky Wolking (The Nixons) is 36. Tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 35.

Editor: 

After reading your article “Prop. 215, what?” many questions came to mind, and I’m hoping the Daily Planet might be able to help. As far as I knew the State of California voted yes on medical marijuana. I heard in spring of last year that the supreme court had ruled that the clubs distributing to patients were not covered under prop. 215 and that by the end of April 2001 the supreme court would rule on the proposition itself. I must have missed the news in the weeks that followed because I haven't heard either way on the subject, but I am still curious. Was the State of California unconstitutional by legalizing marijuana for medical use? Does federal drug law over ride the vote of the people? When did the U.S. people vote to illegalize marijuana? Shouldn't the law reflect the will of the people? And if it doesn’t, what exactly is a democracy anyway? Please if you have any answers to these queries, let me know. 

Isaac Jones Berkeley 

OAKLAND – The streets of Oakland’s Chinatown were strewn Wednesday with the red flakes of firecracker wrappers used to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese New Year. But Chinese who’ve celebrated the New Year in China said the day barely seemed like a holiday.  

“In China you get seven days off to celebrate,” said Lilly Chen, 30, who was working Wednesday at the Great Wall, Co. gift shop on Webster. “In the U.S.: none.”  

Stores in China usually close for the holiday, which is traditionally reserved for visiting, feasting, worshipping and gift-giving with family and friends.  

In Oakland, however, capitalism trumped tradition and many stores remained open including the banks, which posted their next holiday as President’s Day.  

“We’re here trying to make money, trying to work,” said Helen, a salesperson working at Kim Phuong Jewelry on Franklin who asked that her last name not be used.  

The two other jewelers on Kim Phuong’s block were also open.  

“Holidays mean more persons around,” Helen said. “We want to make money.”  

She and her coworker laid six lottery tickets on their New Year’s altar, hoping the gods would bless them with a win. 

Chinese-American families had the chance to celebrate New Year’s Eve by having dinner together, and last weekend the city hosted a festival that featured a dragon dance, martial arts shows and food.  

This weekend, a parade is scheduled that will feature a lion dance, said Chen. But many said they felt robbed of a genuine New Year’s Day experience.  

In China, “Kids run around in the streets,” said Warren Kwong, owner of Shoe House on Ninth Street. “People dress up. But here it’s just like usual.” 

“If you take the day off, you go get some tea, some dim sum,” said Milton Fong, owner of Mei Wei Flowers, which opened on Chinese New Year for the first time in 28 years yesterday. “But there is no lion dance, no special firecrackers.” 

“Back there (in China) people were just way more hyped up about it than over here,” said Raymond Wu, owner of a RKI Innovations Group, a company that imports blankets.  

Firecrackers ward off evil in traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, but California law prohibits using them without a license. So many of the East Bay’s Chinese Americans curtailed, and in some cases forewent, using them in their festivities. Restrictions like these make it difficult for them to carry on their tradition, some have said.  

“You’re in the minority,” said Miranda, a shopper who asked that her last name not be used. “You’re not in the majority. You have to do what they say.”  

“Americans – they understand the holiday,” said Kwong, but he added, they don’t give you the time off or the firecrackers to celebrate it. 

Holidays also need people and many said that it’s hard to feel the day is special when no one is celebrating it outside of Chinatown.  

“If you want to take a count of people celebrating, you go from here (Harrrison) to Broadway,” Wu said. “You go back to China the whole country is celebrating.” 

Some said the United States should make the day an official holiday.  

Blacks, she said, have Martin Luther King’s birthday, which everyone celebrates.  

“They should have a day – Chinese New Year – day off,” said Phyllis Lau, who was working at United Commercial Bank yesterday. “It’s a very big holiday.”  

About 10 members of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste demonstrated outside the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday afternoon to call attention the oxidation of tritium just down the hill at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

The protesters were wearing raingear fashioned into costume Hazmat suits, which came in handy during the afternoon rains. 

LBNL is oxidizing about 5 liters of mixed waste, which includes tritium. The lab’s goal is to heat the mixed waste until the organic materials are burned away, leaving only the tritium. The isolated tritium can then be shipped to a low-level waste site where it will be buried and allowed to decompose naturally. 

According to the lab, the experimental process is safe and will only release a small percentage of the tritium into the atmosphere, an amount well below EPA standards. 

CMTW are skeptical of the lab’s claims and point to an incident in 1998 in which elevated levels of tritium were released during a similar process. 

The protest was also timed to coincide with a visit by the Environmental Protection Agency, which was surveying two tree groves between the Hall of Science and the laboratory. The tree groves are being sample to determine if they contain tritium. 

The Lawrence Hall of Science is visited by over 150,000 children each year.

LOS ANGELES — Californians lined up at liquor stores and supermarkets Wednesday in a last-minute rush to buy tickets for a $136 million SuperLotto jackpot. 

“The first thing I would do is rent a limo to drive me up to Sacramento to claim my prize,” said Derrick Bean, 36, of Los Angeles. “I wouldn’t want to fly. I would want to take my time and drink champagne the whole way.” 

Californians developed Lotto fever after no ticket matched all six numbers in Saturday’s $88 million drawing, making Wednesday’s Lotto the second-largest in state history. The biggest, $141 million, was won last year by Al Castellano of San Jose. 

When Wednesday’s winning numbers were drawn at 8 p.m., many stopped what they were doing to watch on television. The numbers were one, four, 19, 28 and 46 and the “mega number,” which was also four. To win the jackpot, a person must hold all six. 

Unless the winner comes forward, it won’t be known until Thursday if any tickets sold contained all six numbers. 

In Hawthorne, hundreds lined up at Bluebird Liquor, which is listed as one of the state’s luckiest retailers on the California Lottery’s Web site. The store has sold three winning tickets for jackpots in the past decade, ranging from $1.2 million to $16 million. 

Lucretia Payne of Los Angeles has purchased Lotto tickets at several locations statewide, but always comes to Bluebird when the jackpot is big. “It’s like going to Vegas and going to the hottest machine,” she said. “Your odds are better.” 

How much of the jackpot a winner would actually take home would depend on whether the ticket holder — or holders — chose the cash option or 26 annual payments at the time of purchase. 

The cash option would result in a lump sum payment of about $67.5 million — or $49 million after taxes. The 26 annual payments would start at about $3.3 million and grow to $6.8 million, before taxes. 

At Bluebird, some customers rub two bluebirds perched on a cigarette display near the Lotto machines for luck. 

As dozens packed into the small store, owner Frank Kumamoto joked, “We do sell whiskey, too.” 

People spent close to 90 minutes waiting to get into the store Wednesday afternoon. Many talked about how they would spend the money if they won. 

Emily Baltazar, 26, and Katherine Lopez, 26, both of Pasadena, mapped out what they would do if they won millions. 

“I would retire,” said Baltazar. “That sure sounds nice.” 

Lopez said she would buy a house and help out her parents. 

David Campion, 39, of Lakewood attended Ash Wednesday Mass before stopping by Bluebird Liquor and said a little prayer for Lotto luck. “Whoever wins, hopefully they need it and they will help others. Hopefully, it’ll be me.” 

At the Cutting Board Deli in downtown Los Angeles, owner Anne Wu said she had sold more than 4,500 tickets for Wednesday’s drawing, compared to about 1,200 for a normal jackpot. 

——— 

On the Net: 

California Lottery: http://www.calottery.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — The father accused of starving his 19-month-old son to death and neglecting a dozen other children was also investigated 12 years ago for the mysterious death of an infant daughter. 

San Francisco police investigated in 1990, but authorities listed the cause of that child’s death only as “sudden death in infancy” with no outward signs of bodily injuries. 

The child was kept in a crib for three days before authorities were notified. The mother told police she waited “since it takes that length of time for the soul to leave the body,” according to the coroner’s report. 

Police asked cult expert Margaret Thaler Singer to interview the baby’s mother after she fled Wright’s home. Wright was already keeping at least three other women through a mixture of charm and psychological coercion, Singer said. 

The mother said Wright was attractive because of his strong convictions, which included the promise to “help them work off their white karma,” according to Singer. 

Wright, who is black, told the white women in his home that white men in America oppressed black men and that the way to cleanse themselves was “by taking care of him physically, financially, sexually,” Singer said the woman told her. 

Wright later moved his family to a Marin County suburb, where the group grew to four women and 13 children before one of the children died in November. 

Wright, 45, and Carol Bremner, 44, were part of a living arrangement that included Deirdre Wilson, 37, Kali Polk-Matthews, 20, and Mary Campbell, 37. All five were to enter pleas in Marin County Court Wednesday, but a judge rescheduled that hearing for Feb. 21. 

Wright, Bremner, Campbell and Wilson were arrested Friday after being indicted on one count of second-degree murder and multiple counts of child endangerment. Polk-Matthews, also arrested Friday, faces similar, lesser charges. 

Polk-Matthews is not known to have any children. Campbell was shown by DNA test results to be the mother of the child that died in November. 

The surviving 12 children were taken from their secluded Marin County home following the infant’s death. Authorities discovered the children — ranging from 8 months to 16 years — malnourished with several of them suffering from rickets, a softened-bone condition rare in the United States. 

Outside court Wednesday, Bremner’s lawyer said the health troubles were minor, and any vitamin deficiency was probably due to a strict vegetarian diet. 

Attorney Jack Rauch said Bremner led a normal life but the group was secretive because they knew outsiders would frown on their relationships. 

“My client has been together with the gentleman for 20 years,” Rauch said. “She’s raised two happy, healthy teen-age daughters who are very devoted to her.” 

The children were apparently home schooled, Rauch added. 

San Francisco police were familiar with Wright before recent events. He was the focus of a 1993 child neglect report in San Francisco by a next-door neighbor. 

Investigating officers said there were no obvious signs of abuse or malnutrition on any of the children, but after they left, Wright threatened to kill the neighbor, according to police reports. 

Charges were eventually dropped against Wright and Wilson, who allegedly tried to stop officers from arresting Wright. 

The youngest of the defendants in the most recent case is Polk-Matthews, who graduated from exclusive Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco in 1999 with childhood friend, Heather Pon-Barry. 

Pon-Barry said she last spoke to her friend over dinner in the summer of 2000, when Polk-Matthews told her she was “very interested in purifying her body.”

LOS ANGELES — A terminal at Los Angeles International Airport was evacuated for an hour Wednesday when a cylinder was found in a planter near a second-floor entrance. The plastic object turned out to be harmless and no flights were delayed. 

Airport police described the cylinder as similar in size and appearance to the housing of vehicle location transponder systems, which are used by transportation companies and the airport, said Nancy Castles, spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports. 

The city Police Department, which sent a bomb squad to inspect the object, identified the cylinder as a noise detection instrument used to monitor sound levels. 

The discrepancy could not be immediately resolved. Both agencies agreed, however, that the object was not a threat. 

“We quickly determined it was not dangerous,” said Officer Guillermo Campos, a spokesman for city police. 

Castles said commercial vehicles that serve the terminals have transponders so that companies can track them. The airport also uses transponder equipment to count those vehicles to assess fees, but the cylinder was not airport equipment, she said. 

Castles said the airport does not use noise monitors in the central terminal area. 

The Tom Bradley International Terminal was evacuated at 7:20 a.m. Hundreds of travelers left the building as police cars and the bomb squad arrived. 

“Everybody just basically started going down the steps on either side of the lift and quite calmly proceeded to the exit,” said Anton Schwpers, 44, of South Africa, who arrived from Hawaii with wife before flying on to London. 

Other airport buildings remained open for arrivals and departures. 

Joey Sanchez, 20, who works in a sunglasses store in the terminal, said many of the evacuees were fellow employees. 

“There’s also been a lot of cutbacks on a lot of flights, usually at that time the airport is jumping, but today that was not the case,” Sanchez said. 

The evacuation came a day after the FBI’s most recent warning about possible terrorist activity in the United States. 

The agency warned of a possible attack “on or around” Tuesday, based on information obtained from interviews by U.S. officials with detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan. 

Attorney General John Ashcroft urged Americans to adopt “the highest state of alert” in the search for 17 men possibly linked to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, believed responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. 

“We certainly want to err on the side of caution,” police Lt. Horace Frank said. 

Frank said evacuees were moved to other parts of the airport. 

The international terminal was evacuated on Dec. 25 after someone reported finding a “suspicious package” that turned out to be wrapped Christmas presents. 

SACRAMENTO — After months of scraping for money, the project to link California’s major urban areas with trains traveling at more than 200 mph may be headed back on track, despite a worsening state budget. 

During the 2001 energy crisis, Gov. Gray Davis cut the project’s budget to only $1 million, barely enough to pay for the state’s high-speed rail board and its small staff. But there was no money for environmental impact statements needed before the state could consider laying tracks, and legislators failed to find more money. 

This year, however, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks disrupted the state’s airline system, Davis has sought the full $8.46 million requested by the board. Project supporters are hopeful that lawmakers will agree, despite a projected $10.5 billion revenue shortfall in the coming fiscal year. 

“All of a sudden the governor loves us,” said Mehdi Morshed, the board’s executive director. 

Morshed said the $8.46 million would let the board complete at least a draft environmental impact report by June 2003. Then would come more detailed planning to pinpoint potential routes and clear the way for construction, probably in segments, Morshed said. 

“When you get to the project level then you actually have to do engineering work and figure out exactly where it is within an inch. How many feet from (existing) railroad tracks it is? What kind of sound wall do you need?” 

The 700-mile, $25 billion system would link California’s major urban areas with trains traveling at top speeds of more than 200 mph. Supporters see it as a much-needed alternative to highways and airlines as the state’s population grows an estimated 65 percent by 2040. 

Until this year, Davis’ support had been lukewarm at best. Shortly after taking office in 1999 he referred to the project as a space-age “Buck Rogers” system and said he’d prefer to improve commuter trains. 

In 2000 he approved $5 million to begin environmental studies although rail planners initially sought $10 million. 

Last year planners requested $14 million to continue the studies but initially got only the $1 million from the state to pay for board expenses. 

The planners eventually managed to scrape together about $4 million for environmental work by scrounging state and federal money. They also cut costs by dropping dozens of potential routes from consideration and settling on electric- and diesel-powered trains instead of the futuristic magnetic levitation system. 

Sandy Harrison, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance, said in the past the administration has questioned how much the board actually needed for its work in a particular fiscal year. But Davis decided to support the $8.46 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to let the board finish its impact statement, Harrison said. 

Spokeswoman Hilary McLean said Davis has always supported high-speed rail. 

“If you look at his budgets over the last several years he has clearly demonstrated a commitment to providing California commuters with options,” she said. 

She said the Buck Rogers comment was just an “off-the-cuff remark” apparently generated by the overall cost of the project. 

The real test for the project will come after Davis unveils revised revenue projections in May and lawmakers focus on exactly how much they’ll have to cut. But Davis’ support makes the project “much more viable,” Morshed said. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — They showed up, unannounced, to call John Walker Lindh a traitor. The mother, father and widow of slain CIA officer Johnny Micheal Spann have a score to settle — and no hesitation about saying so. 

“John Walker is a traitor because of the way he lived,” Spann’s mother, Gail, said Wednesday. “If you go back from the time he was 16 years old and just go through his history, you know, what more could I say? It’s so simple and I hope that all Americans will feel the same way that I do.” 

She and Spann’s father, Johnny, had traveled from Winfield, Ala., to see how Lindh would respond to the allegations against him. The elder Spanns watched quietly alongside Spann’s widow, Shannon. Their presence in the small courtroom and before reporters outside afterward made a dramatic statement as Lindh proclaimed himself innocent of conspiring to kill Americans and supporting the Taliban and terrorist organizations. 

Spann and Lindh crossed paths in November in Afghanistan, in a prison where the young American Taliban soldier was being held with fellow fighters. 

Spann and another CIA agent tried, apparently unsuccessfully, to interrogate Lindh. Later that day, during an armed rebellion in which the prisoners took control of the compound, Spann became the war’s first combat casualty. 

Lindh, meanwhile, disappeared with other captives into a prison basement where he was discovered almost a week later. 

Spann’s death left three young children without a father, including his and Shannon’s 8-month-old son. Gail and Johnny Spann also now are raising their son’s two young daughters from his first marriage, orphaned when their mother died of cancer five weeks after Spann was killed. 

Though the government’s indictment does not directly accuse Lindh of killing Spann, it cites his presence at the bloody uprising as a reason for the murder conspiracy charge. If convicted on all 10 counts, Lindh could end up with multiple life sentences. 

Spann’s widow said that would not be enough for a man who “dedicated his life” to waging war against the West and Americans. Shannon Spann — a CIA employee herself who lives in northern Virginia — would rather see Lindh accused of treason, which could result in his execution. 

“We expect Mr. Walker to be held personally responsible for all of the things that he has done,” she said calmly. “Certainly I should have preferred the death penalty myself.” 

The defense contends Lindh intended to fight the anti-Taliban northern alliance, not Americans. 

But Spann’s family made it clear that is not their view — and said they hope the court will agree. Spann’s father said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” he considers Lindh responsible for his son’s death as an accomplice. 

“We sent our sons and our daughters and our husbands and our wives and our fathers and our mothers to a faraway land to fight this terrible evil so we could continue to live and enjoy the freedom that we live in today,” Johnny Spann told reporters. “As we all know, freedom’s not free. Bodies have come home draped with flags. Mike’s was the first. ... Americans will not tolerate traitors.”

CENTURY CITY — As a mother, First Lady Laura Bush said she feels sympathy for the American Taliban’s parents, but said they also serve as a valuable example of how important it is to pay attention to adolescents. 

She described John Walker Lindh’s predicament as a “sad” journey, saying his story provides a couple of lessons for parents. 

“Make sure your children are mature before you allow them to do certain things,” Bush told the San Francisco Chronicle. Her remarks came Tuesday at the Town Hall of Los Angeles. She had previously only expressed sympathy for Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker. 

Having spoken frequently on family values, her comments about Lindh came after she had criticized Lindh’s parents for being too lenient. The Marin County couple allowed Lindh to go to Yemen alone at 17 to study Arabic. 

Lindh trained in an al-Qaida camp in Pakistan and stayed after he was told Osama bin Laden “had sent forth some fifty people to carry out 20 suicide terrorist operations against the United States and Israel,” the indictment charges. 

If convicted, Lindh faces up to life in prison. 

“As all parents know, there’s a certain time when children are not going to do what their parents want them to,” said Bush, whose own teen-agers’ foibles have been the subject of news coverage. ”(They) get to a certain age where it doesn’t matter what you say to them.” 

Lindh pleaded innocent Wednesday to conspiring to kill Americans. He appeared in court in Alexandra, Va. on a 10-count indictment that included charges of aiding a terrorist organization. 

“In some ways, it’s sort of the extreme of what American parents want their children to do ... travel the world,” Bush said.

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told the Bush administration Wednesday that congressional support for its trade policy could melt away if it fails to protect the U.S. lumber and steel industries from cheap imports. 

“It is clear that in both of these areas — lumber and steel — other countries are simply taking advantage of us,” Baucus, D-Mont., said at a Finance Committee hearing. 

The administration has been negotiating with foreign governments to try and stop cheap lumber and steel products from being dumped in the U.S. market. Grant Aldonas, Commerce Department undersecretary for international trade, assured the committee that the administration is working diligently to make certain trade laws are obeyed. 

On March 21, the U.S. government is expected to wrap up its investigation into Canada’s alleged unfair export of softwood lumber, which is commonly used in home-construction. The Commerce Department could issue duties in May. 

The U.S. industry has accused its northern neighbors of dumping cheap wood and taking advantage of unfair government timber subsides — accusations the Canadians deny. 

As the March deadline looms, Aldonas said the administration is sending a delegation to Ottawa next week to continue talks with Canadian officials. 

“We are going to make progress on doing something fundamental,” Aldonas said after the hearing. “We recognize the deadline. The question is: can we push ahead?” 

Both the lumber and steel industries have gotten the ear of Congress members who want to make sure constituents in their states aren’t hurt by how the administration negotiates the trade disputes. 

The United States is in talks with foreign governments, including Japan and China, about their steel trade. Separately, President Bush could decide in March to use tariffs or other measures to curb imports. 

Aldonas said the talks alone don’t suggest that other countries are fairly going to shoulder the world’s burden of excess steel. “The real question is: Are other countries going to belly up to the bar and share their fair share?” 

Baucus said the situation isn’t “rocket science.” 

“It is government policy in every government to have a strong steel industry,” he said. “It’s machismo,” which creates an excess capacity on the market. 

FALLBROOK — Firefighters appear to have finally gained the upper hand on a blaze that destroyed 36 homes and consumed 5,000 acres in the town known as the “Avocado Capital of America.” 

The fire, 90 percent contained late Tuesday, was expected to be surrounded by Wednesday night, authorities said. The blaze did most of its damage in its first few hours Sunday as it exploded in canyons about 40 miles north of San Diego and quickly roared down on dozens of homes. 

On Tuesday, firefighters felled dozens of charred oaks and eucalyptus trees while damage assessment teams stepped over mounds of avocados covered in ash in order to survey the destruction. 

Thirteen people, including two firefighters, were injured. Suppression costs topped $1.1 million, most of which will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, authorities said. 

The damage also included 17 outbuildings, 22 vehicles, one motor home and two fire engines, according to the California Department of Forestry. 

More than 500 firefighters remained on the line Tuesday, aided by 11 helicopters. But those numbers were expected to shrink as the fire burned uninhabited areas of the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. 

The cause remained under investigation. 

Authorities believe it began at Evans Ranch, a 25-acre persimmon and avocado grove where the manager and his son burned wood cuttings Friday. 

“We’re certain this is the area of origin,” said CDF fire investigator Tom MacPherson. 

But Luis Rueda, 19, said the fire he set with his father “was completely extinguished by 3 p.m.” 

Peter Lissaman, 70, who moved into his home two months ago, said he watched the fire break out Sunday in an area where people had been burning trash two days before. 

“I think somebody is very culpable in this,” he said. 

Farther north, a 2,400-acre fire in Anaheim Hills was expected to be contained by Wednesday night and put out by Friday, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Stephen Miller said. 

The fire was started Saturday by sparking power lines, which were knocked down by fierce Santa Ana winds, he said. One firefighter sprained an ankle fighting it, and suppression costs totaled about $461,358. 

SAN JOSE — First-quarter profits at Hewlett-Packard Co. more than tripled on strong computer and printer sales to consumers, beating analysts’ recently raised forecasts Wednesday. Even so, executives said HP still needs to buy Compaq Computer Corp. to solve long-term problems. 

HP is fighting hard to rally support for the $22.6 billion Compaq deal against intense opposition from dissident director Walter Hewlett, who said the strong earnings report proved that HP would be fine without taking on Compaq. 

Chairwoman and chief executive Carly Fiorina carefully used the earnings report to tout HP’s execution in a tough atmosphere and to lament the company’s holes — notably in business PCs, networked data-storage systems and low-end servers. 

“These results demonstrate we know our business — better than anyone else,” she said. “The simple fact is, HP has a lot going for it, but there are also significant areas where a lot more is needed. And with Compaq, we have a detailed plan, not just platitudes, to address them.” 

In the three-month period ending Jan. 31, HP reported net income of $484 million, or 25 cents per share, compared to $141 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. 

Revenue dropped 8 percent to $11.4 billion. 

Excluding acquisition-related charges, HP said it earned $564 million, or 29 cents per share, down from $812 million, or 41 cents per share, a year ago. 

Analysts were expecting earnings excluding charges of 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. The estimate had been 16 cents until last week, when HP said consumer demand for printers and computers had been surprisingly strong. 

Indeed, the company’s printers, digital cameras and consumer PCs were among HP’s best performers in the quarter, which included the holiday shopping season. Margins and revenues in high-tech services also rose, but servers and data storage continued to slump. 

HP shares rose 21 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $20.98 on the New York Stock Exchange in advance of the earnings report, and were up to $21.05 in the extended session. Compaq gained 28 cents, 2.5 percent, to close at $11.40, and hit $11.65 in after-hours trading. 

HP said its outlook for the rest of the year remains cloudy because of unpredictable market conditions and weak technology spending by businesses. Second-quarter revenue is expected to be down modestly from the first quarter, with margins and expenses about flat. 

Even the impending earnings report didn’t quiet the infighting over the Compaq acquisition Wednesday, as six HP directors accused Walter Hewlett of going too far in his criticism of Fiorina. 

The directors sent Hewlett a letter complaining that he has mischaracterized the amount of time HP spent formulating its long-term strategy before the Palo Alto-based company decided to buy Houston-based Compaq. It also said he has suggested falsely that the board has just rubber-stamped Fiorina’s decisions. 

“You have insulted our personal commitment and fiduciary responsibility which each of us take very seriously,” the letter said. 

Hewlett, eldest son of an HP co-founder, threw some punches too. He ran a full-page newspaper ad that said complex technology mergers never work out and that HP is overpaying for Compaq. 

He also called for HP to adopt a more measured approach, with smaller acquisitions, key investments in printing and a goal of “profitability, not scale in PCs.” 

“We believe that trying to out-Dell Dell, while at the same time trying to out-IBM IBM, is a strategy that will leave HP doomed to be a leader in nothing,” Hewlett said in a statement. “No company can successfully be all things to all customers.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.hp.com 

Pro-merger site: http://www.votethehpway.com 

Anti-merger site: http://www.votenohpcompaq.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday launched its biggest weapon yet in its battle to dominate the emerging Web services market. 

In a keynote speech before thousands of developers at the VSLive! 2002 Conference, Microsoft’s chief software architect Bill Gates pitched the company’s new Visual Studio.NET as “the most comprehensive development tool of all time.” 

Visual Studio.NET is a bundle of tools Microsoft bills as the cornerstone of its .NET strategy — its vision that one day all business and personal data will be automated and accessible via the Internet. 

Microsoft hopes to encourage people to use its software products and platform to build this massive Web services world. Launching the developer tool kit was the first major milestone. 

Under development for more than four years, the new set of Web tools aims to help developers build Web service applications on the .NET platform. The tools compete with Microsoft’s existing products as well as rival technologies — including Sun Microsystems — that are based on the popular Java programming language. 

While Visual Studio.NET uses Microsoft’s own software programming languages, including a new Java-like language dubbed C (pronounced C-sharp), Microsoft claims the developer product has a key advantage over rivals: It supports 20 programming languages, including Java. That means developers can easily use their existing skills to build Web service applications. 

Gates also touted the tool as highly efficient, noting with a smirk that the product has garnered several awards even before its launch. He presented videos featuring customers, including Loreal and Merrill Lynch, describing how the Visual Studio.NET and .NET framework tools cut down their coding time by 20 percent to 50 percent. 

Momentum is building for the product, Gates said, citing how more than 3.5 million beta test versions already have been distributed. 

The company expects 2 million developers to adopt the technology within the year, which would make it the fastest growing developer tool ever, said Tom Button, Microsoft’s vice president of developer marketing and enterprise tools. 

Analysts so far are impressed with the product and deem it a “credible threat” to Java-based products. 

“It is significantly more advanced and more capable than any of the tools in the Java world,” said John Meyer, senior analyst with the Giga Information Group market research firm. 

Winning the trust of consumers and businesses to rely on Microsoft’s products and services also will be critical, especially as Microsoft works to recover from security holes and flaws found in its other products. 

Gates acknowledged the inherent security challenge for the Web services’ strategy: “We think of all these services as reliable and trustworthy as phones or electricity are today,” he said. “There will be a lot of hard work on the part of Microsoft here.” 

———— 

On the Net: 

http://www.microsoft.com/net 

Protesters in SF advocate for medical marijuana, while the DEA raids Bay Area clinics and scares Berkeley patients 

Agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency swooped into the Bay Area on Tuesday, raiding medical marijuana facilities in Oakland and San Francisco and arresting four men. 

The raids, which occurred just as the federal government asked citizens to be on the highest alert for imminent terrorist attacks, set the stage for DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson’s long-planned speech at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club Tuesday evening. 

The raids have left local medical marijuana patients frightened, according to one caregiver, and the local clubs scrambling to ensure that their patients have access to marijuana in the event that the DEA conducts additional raids in Berkeley. 

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized medical marijuana in the state. The federal government has not accepted the validity of the law, and conducted crackdowns on medical marijuana clubs in West Hollywood in October. 

The main raid occurred at San Francisco’s Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana facility on Sixth Street between Market and Mission streets. Agents took 630 marijuana plants from the site and arrested Richard Watts, the club’s executive director.  

Also among the arrested was renown marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal of Oakland, a long-time columnist for High Times magazine and the author of several marijuana-related books. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Rosenthal was charged with cultivating more than 100 plants.  

A second man, Kenneth Hayes of Petaluma, was arrested in Canada and charged with being Rosenthal’s accomplice. 

In a separate case, James Halloran of Oakland was arrested and charged with cultivation of more than 1,000 plants.  

It is unclear whether Rosenthal, Hayes and Halloran were connected with the Harm Reduction Center or any other medical marijuana club. 

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer told the Associated Press that the arrested were drug “smugglers.” 

“They all are connected with marijuana smuggling,” Meyer said. “We’ve said all along the cultivation and distribution of marijuana is illegal regardless of state or local law. Our job is to enforce federal law.” 

Debbie Goldberry of the Alliance of Berkeley Patients said that their club, which has offices on Ashby Avenue, has long had an emergency action plan in place, in the event of a DEA crackdown.  

“We’re very well prepared,” she said. “We have a phone bank, we have lawyers that are willing to represent the cause. Our main concern is that our patients do get their medication even if our offices are raided.” 

Goldberry said that medical science had long established that marijuana had medicinal properties, and that the federal government’s persecution of patients was obstinate and unjust. 

“The fact that they keep doing this despite the science, despite the will of the people, is absurd,” she said. “We’re getting a little bit fed up.” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said on Tuesday afternoon that he would be going to a 5 p.m. San Francisco rally outside the Commonwealth Club. Most members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors were expected to attend. 

“The U.S. government is facing budget problems just like everyone else,” Worthington said. “It’s a colossal waste of money to do what they’re doing.” 

Hutchinson’s Commonwealth Club speech, entitled “Let’s Don’t Punt on the Third Down,” was supposed to be on the future of the DEA and its relationship with drug enforcement in California. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Contact reporter Hank Sims at hank@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

Despite some sloppy play and a short bench, the Berkeley High girls’ basketball team easily beat Encinal, 64-43, in a preview of next weekend’s ACCAL championship game. 

Senior Kalyca Seabrook led the ’Jackets with 15 points, also racking up 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Classmates Sabrina Keys and Angelita Hutton were also in the spirit of Senior Night, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively. 

Encinal, which has already clinched the ACCAL regular season title, will face Berkeley next Saturday for the league’s automatic North Coast Section playoff bid. The ’Jackets (17-7) were given “competitive anomaly” status before the season, allowing them to face each ACCAL team just once rather than the usual home-and-home series, with their games not counting in the league standings. The ’Jackets are essentially an independent team, much like the football team at De La Salle High. But they will still get a shot at the league’s automatic NCS bid after each season. 

After four minutes of play, the outcome of the game was nearly certain. The Jets spotted Berkeley a 10-0 lead, committing five turnovers before getting on the scoreboard with a Marquita Price 3-pointer. That was the only basket they would score in the opening quarter, with Berkeley senior Myette Anderson giving her team a 14-3 lead with a putback at the buzzer. 

Berkeley started to relax in the second quarter, and the Jets showed some firepower with 16 points in the quarter and went into the locker room with a 26-19 deficit despite shooting just 20 percent from the floor. It helped that the ’Jackets weren’t much better at 36 percent. 

“I was a little upset with the defense we weren’t playing in the first half,” Berkeley head coach Gene Nakamura said. “They weren’t driving and they had no inside game, but we were letting them shoot unguarded from the outside.” 

Encinal actually managed to cut the Berkeley lead to three points early in the third quarter, but the ’Jackets immediately woke up and put together a 10-2 run. Although Encinal’s Shafon Rollins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, Berkeley had built a 47-33 lead that wouldn’t get any smaller in the fourth quarter. 

The Jets (18-7, 9-0 ACCAL) made their defensive strategy clear: don’t let Sabrina Keys beat you inside. The Purdue-bound forward was double- or triple-teamed nearly every time she touched the ball, and eventually resorted to heading outside for jumpers. She showed unexpected range, hitting two 3-pointers in the second half, and still managed to pull down 12 rebounds and deal out 4 assists. 

“I was getting triple-teamed all night. I didn’t have any choice but to pass or shoot from where I was,” Keys said. “But we’ll have Devanei (Hampton) back for the next game, so I’ll have more help down there.” 

Hampton,a 6-foot-3 freshman, has been out for three weeks with a knee injury. She had an MRI and has been cleared to practice later this week, but Nakamura isn’t counting on an immediate impact. 

“She’s been off her feet for three weeks. Who knows what kind of shape she’ll be in,” he said. “We’ll play with who we have at the time.” 

Nakamura’s squad, usually packed to the limit, is getting thin these days. He suited up just 10 players against Encinal, after having just eight players available for a game last week. Two players have been lost to grades, and another left the team because of scheduling conflicts. 

Encinal head coach Tanda Rucker, who played at Berkeley High in the early 1990s, said her team isn’t intimidated by Berkeley’s tradition. But she knows her team has a lot of work to do if they are to give the ’Jackets a better game next Saturday. 

“Their defensive pressure forced us into a up-tempo game, which isn’t our strength,” Rucker said. “We need to take care of the ball, and we need to box out on the inside to offset their height advantage.” 

With a spot in the postseason on the line and Hampton back in the middle, Encinal may need more than a better strategy to beat Rucker’s alma mater. 

“I feel like we’re already in the playoffs,” Keys said. “We just have to get comfortable with each other and play better than we did tonight.”

It was like his 1995 photograph of the railroad station in Bombay where a train had just pulled up: crowds of people anxious to get in. 

Only this was Wheeler Auditorium on the campus of UC Berkeley Monday night. More than 1,000 people waited for hours to hear Sebastiao Salgado, an award-winning photojournalist whose collection “Migration” is on exhibit at the Berkeley Art Museum until March 24. 

His sobering photographs of Rwandan refugees walking past bodies strewn along the road and Brazilian peasants seizing land have inspired a devoted worldwide following. The Brazilian-born Salgado spent six years traveling in 40 countries to capture the faces of the thousands crisscrossing the Third World. 

About 500 of the people standing in the lines that snaked around the hallways made it into Wheeler Auditorium. Another 100 filled three rooms upstairs where live video feeds were set up. The rest had to go home. Around 7:45 p.m., the UC Berkeley police showed up to clear out loiterers. 

The organizers didn’t expect so many to show up. Mike Hahn, a marketing intern at the Berkeley Art Museum, said that they had expected maybe 500 people to come.  

“This was not good planning,” he admitted. 

The good news is that there is another Salgado event. Tonight, Salgado will participate in a panel discussion in the Maude Fife Room, 315 Wheeler Hall, at 4 p.m.  

The lecture will also be Webcasted on media.berkeley.edu. 

Organizers tried to appease the grumbling crowds that lingered after the doors to the auditorium had closed. They had handed out 100 free tickets to the screening, but were mobbed by outstretched hands.  

The hundreds who had to leave with nothing were very disappointed. Some who had been standing in line since 6 p.m. did not make it into the auditorium or get tickets to the movie. One woman came all the way from Sacramento and complained about having to wait hours for her husband to pick her up. 

Daffodil Anjemi had come from Burlingame to see Salgado. When she arrived in Berkeley at 7 p.m., she said it was “mayhem.” 

When she went upstairs to the extra rooms, she could not fit into them either.  

She sighed. “I’ve been following him since I saw his exhibit in Madrid last year.” 

Wednesday, Feb. 13

Near-death Experience Support Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Church 

1606 Bonita Ave. 

International Association for Near-Death Studies offers a supportive environment for the exploration of near-death experiences. 531-6393. 

Peace Walk and Vigil 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Bart Station 

Peace walk and vigil to demonstrate opposition to war and the U. S. bombing of Afghanistan. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil.html.  

Debate on Prop. 45 

4 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

2050 Valley Life Sciences Building 

Dan Schnur, No on 45 spokesperson will debate Mary Bergan, president of the California Teachers on Proposition 45.  

Thursday, Feb. 14

Get Connected: Cooking from the Heart 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Join Pastry Chef Daniel Herskovic, as he instructs how to create a sumptuous meal. $25 includes meal and lesson. 601-7247, dherskovic@yahoo.com 

Exploring Old Neighborhoods in the East Bay and Marin 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

A slide presentation showcasing historic houses, beautiful gardens, parks, waterfalls and more. 527-7377 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School Arts and  

Academics School 

1731 Prince St., Room 105A 

For grandparents and relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517. 

Valentine’s Day Party 

6 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship  

of Unitarian Universalists 

1606 Bonita Ave. 

Potluck dinner at 6 p.m.; open mike at 7:30 p.m.; dance music from 9 - 11 p.m. 540-0898, pubsol@pacbell.net. 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Discussions and Actions include: Regulation and Filing Manual language addressing procedure to retire campaign debt and redesignate surplus campaign funds to a new bank account for future elections; Annual Report to the City Council; Election of Chair and Vice-Chair. 981-6950, attorney@ci.berkeley.ca.us.  

Valentine’s Day Love-In 

6 p.m. 

Telegraph Ave. at Haste St. 

Come join into the street corner LOVE-IN, where friends, lovers, mates, and acquaintances will meet to embrace, kiss, and make-out, or watch the sunset and flirt in suggestive attire, contributing to the amorous feelings  

of Valentine's Day at dusk. 848-1985, www.xplicitplayers.com. 

People’s Park Community Advisory Board 

7:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Unit 1 Residence Halls Recreation Room 

2650 Durant 

Monthly meeting, community invited. The PP CAB reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs and improvements. 642-7860, http://communityrelations.berkeley.edu. 

Friday, Feb. 15

Berkeley Women in Black 

noon - 1 p.m. 

Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft 

Standing in solidarity with women in Israel and Palestine to urge the end of Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza. 548-6310, www.wibberkeley.org. 

Hip-Hop Music Workshop 

6 - 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Community Church 

1802 Fairview Ave. 

Friday Night Art and Dinner Program for youths ages 5 to 14 years old. Hands on experience in various artistic styles. 6 - 7 p.m. art, 7 - 8 p.m. dinner. 652-1040. 

Still Stronger Women 

1:15 - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Life of Isadora Duncan, plus film on contemporary creative, therapeutic dances. 232-1351. 

Saturday, Feb. 16

Puppet Show 

1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health, Children’s Hospital Oakland 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

Includes puppets from diverse cultures and with such conditions as cerberal palsy, blindness, and Down syndrome. Free. 549-1564. 

Launch Party for War Times 

4 p.m. 

Mandela Village 

1357 Fifth St., West Oakland 

A new national anti-war newspaper covering an alternative truth. 869-5156. 

BANA, Berkeley Alliance of  

Neighborhood Associations 

9:30 - ll a.m.  

Live Oak Park, Fireside Room 

l30l Shattuck Ave. 

Neighbors are welcome to network and connect on issues with groups across the city. 848-3l75, HCMuir@mindspring.com. 

Judi Bari Takes on the FBI 

7:30 p.m. 

Unitarian Fellowship 

Cedar and Bonita St. 

Benefit for the Judi Bari suit against the FBI. $5 - $15. 415-927-1645. 

Habitual Avoidance of Intimacy? 

5 - 6:30 p.m. 

Twelve-step meeting for sexual, social, and emotional anorexia. Open to anyone who wants to recover from habitual avoidance of intimacy. Call first, 548-1285. 

Fund Raiser for BHS Common Ground Costa Rica trip 

9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

1924 Cedar St. 

Humongous multi-family Berkeley High School indoor garage sale. Marciagoodman@aol.com. 

Sunday, Feb. 17

Jewish Learning Seminar 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

K’Tanim: A Celebration of Jewish Learning for Families with Young Children, Birth to 3. Family activities, songs, stories, crafts, and discussions. $10. To register call: 549-9447 x 104. 

Plant Meditations: Cultivating Your  

Relationship with the Healing Power 

of Herbs 

7:30 p.m. 

The Berkeley Psychic Institute 

2018 Allston Way 

Spend the evening exploring the many ways of communicating with the healing presence of the plants. $10 donation, 644-1600. 

Monday, Feb. 18

BART Operates Regular Saturday  

Service for “President’s Day 

Beginning at 6 a.m. until midnight on all five lines. 465-2278. 

The East Bay Coalition Against the War Movie/Speaker and Discussion Night 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity  

390 27th St., Oakland 

We will show the Noam Chomsky Video on 9/11 and the War on Terror. Plus guest speaker, Denny Riley, Vietnam Veteran and a member of the Veterans Speaker's Alliance. The film and speaker will take about one to one and a half hours. The rest of the time will be devoted to small and large group discussion about our current struggle in response to "the war on terrorism." 

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Berkeley Garden Club  

Hosts “Crystal Palaces” 

1 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St. 

Ann Cunningham, author of “Crystal Palaces” will present slides of glass houses from the turn of the century to the present. Scott Medburry, Director Strybing Arboretum & Botanic Garden, will talk about the history of San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers including an update on its recent renovation. 524-4374. 

21st Century McCarthyism & The Rise of the Global Police State 

6 - 8 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Wheeler Auditorium 

The following speakers present their interpretations of Sept. 11 and its aftermath: Angela Davis, Diane Clemens and Jennifer Terry. Sponsored by the Departments of Women's Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, & Ethnic Studies, and Professors for Peace. xperales@uclink.berkeley.edu. 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 525-3565. 

Wednesday, Feb. 20

Staying Connected: Building A Secular Jewish Life 

7:30 - 9:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

An evening of discussion and song with a Klezmer/Yiddish musician. $5. 848-0237 x 127 

Institute of Government Studies 

4 p.m. 

119 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley Campus 

Gerald Gamm lectures as part of the Historical Institutionalism Seminar. 642-4608, www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Colonial Courts, African Conflicts,  

and the End of Slavery in the French Souda 

4 - 6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

3335 Dwinelle, Level "C" 

A talk by Richard Roberts of Stanford University. Sponsored by Department of History, Department of African-American Studies, and Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

Editor: 

I have been conducting an education survey by asking the average, taxpaying Californian; What percentage of the $100 billion state budget goes to public education? The answers are generally in the 5 percent to 15 percent range.  

When I inform them that the answer is 58.4 percent ( 46 percent K-12 and 12.4 percent UC system) the first reaction is disbelief and a demand of proof. After I produce the proof ( easily found on the Internet) they are usually speechless. I typically wait a few moments for the truth to sink in, and then add the fact that the 58.4 billion dollars does not include any Federal education funds or any of the many school bond measures or all the local parcel taxes that get passed each year! This is when they usually say “What the hell are they doing with all that money?” Good question. We should all be asking the same question. Perhaps Loni Hancock, who headed the Western Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton Administration could tell us. Perhaps Charles Ramsey, a member of the West Contra Costa Unified School Board could tell us why he wants to modify Prop. 13 and make it easier to pass local parcel taxes. For all our Billions of dollars, our education system is at the bottom of the heap. What the hell are they doing with the money! 

Michael Larrick  

Berkeley

Superintendent Michele Lawrence warned that the Berkeley Unified School District will layoff a significant number of employees next year, and she cast doubt on the fate of an under-enrolled City of Franklin School at a public forum Monday night. 

Lawrence, who is seeking $5 to $6 million in cuts in order to balance next year’s budget, added that everything from high school athletics to the number of periods offered at Berkeley High School could be on the chopping block. 

“This is big,” said Lawrence, who will propose an initial wave of cuts at the end of the week. “We all have to be prepared for it.” 

City of Franklin, currently a K-6 magnet school which is planning to extend to K-8 by 2003, has only 190 students enrolled, while other schools in the area like Jefferson, with 330, are overcrowded. 

Lawrence indicated that the district is considering a range of options for better utilizing City of Franklin and the surrounding schools. 

Joaquin Rivera, vice president of the Board of Education, got more specific. “Something has to be done in terms of either increasing enrollment, or possibly closing the school,” he said. 

Barbara Penny-James, principal of City of Franklin, declined to comment on the possible closure of the school but suggested that a scheduled June upgrade of the facility and the addition of a “dual-immersion” English-Spanish language program in kindergarten next year might attract more students.  

School board member John Selawsky said layoffs will happen across-the-board, including laborers, teachers and administrators.  

By law, the district must notify certain types of teachers and administrators by March 15 if it intends to lay them off next year. Because the extent of the district’s deficit did not become clear until January, Lawrence and her administrative team have been scrambling in recent weeks to pull together a list of layoffs.  

Lawrence said the district will hand deliver a significant number of notices by the March 15 deadline, but said she hopes to withdraw some of those notices by the end of the year, when the school board votes on the 2002-2003 budget. 

In order to withdraw the notices, the district would have to identify new savings between March 15 and the end of the year. Currently, the district is lobbying the state to forgive its remaining payments on a $1.1 million penalty for filing a staff development document late. 

But, Lawrence emphasized that the district is not counting on help from the state. “They’re not likely to easily forgive,” Lawrence said during Monday night’s meeting. 

Selawsky is also pessimistic, noting that the district has been trying to win forgiveness for months. 

“If it didn’t happen while the state economy was booming,” he said, “I have a hard time believing it’s going to happen when the state economy is not booming.” 

Lawrence floated several other ideas for cuts Monday night, including reductions in the high school athletic program and a cap on the number of periods that BHS students spend in the classroom. 

Science teachers and parents have expressed concerns about the cap, fearful that the high school’s successful, 60 year-old, double-period science program will suffer. 

In interviews Tuesday, Rivera, Selawsky and board President Shirley Issel said it would painful to cut double-period science, and Rivera said he hopes to retain the program at least a couple of days per week. But ultimately, all three said they would support the cap in order to reduce costs. 

School board members Ted Schultz and Terry Doran could not be reached by deadline. 

Members of the public who attended Monday’s meeting made plugs for various programs, from special education to music, offered to lobby the state on the fine forgiveness and expressed outrage at the district’s past fiscal management. 

Carole Bloomstein, librarian at Longfellow Middle School, said the district has been talking about the same financial problems, ranging from faulty payroll systems to improper management of its vacation system, for years and has not made progress. 

“I want to believe,” said Bloomstein, referring to hopes that the current administration will right the ship. “Why should we believe?” 

Lawrence said she will work to make the budget process more transparent so that the public can hold administrators more accountable. 

The superintendent will discuss the rationale for her initial wave of proposed cuts at the school board’s Feb. 20 meeting. The board will likely vote on the layoffs and a reorganization of the central office at its Feb. 27 meeting.  

Editor: 

Re: Developer Patrick Kennedy’s letter of Feb. 5, in which he invokes the NIMBY slur and disdains the Berkeley Party, Howie Muir and Carrie Olson. 

Since the NIMBY expression has often been invoked against our neighborhood near the proposed development for 2700 San Pablo Ave. other Berkeley neighborhoods facing inappropriate development, it might be helpful to be aware of its history.  

The expression of “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) had been a rallying cry for communities to defend themselves against the real peril of corporations dumping toxic contaminants into their communities.  

Typically these communities were blue collar, economically depressed and often predominantly minority. Starting around 1978, due to an alarming increase in miscarriages, birth defects and other significant health effects, the neighborhood of Love Canal in Niagara Falls, N.Y. came to realize that it was being exposed to the toxic waste of Hooker Chemical Co. (which had sold the land to the local Board of Education for $1 and a release from liability). The NIMBY defense appears to have originated with the Love Canal Homeowners Association started by Lois Gibbs. She believed that “people fighting for their own backyard is what democracy is about.” The petro-chemical industry, intent on locating oil, chemical and hazardous waste facilities in targeted communities, cleverly turned the acronym of NIMBY into a pejorative, portraying it as selfish protectionism. The grassroots environmental justice movement then changed their rallying cry to NIAMBY-Not In Anyone’s Backyard. 

I believe that most Berkeley residents desire the predominantly low-rise neighborhoods, to which they are accustomed, as well as a continuity of that scale over a period of time relative to their lives. This in large part is what gives Berkeley its appeal. There is no shame in attempting to preserve our existing quality of life while also attempting to accommodate and protect those who may be less fortunate in our society.  

These are not mutually exclusive endeavors and Berkeley preservationists recognize this. 

While self-proclaimed man-of-the-people Piedmont resident Patrick Kennedy now uses “NIMBY” in attempting to belittle and manipulate Berkeley neighborhoods into bowing to oversized development, the obvious irony should be pointed out that Mr.Kennedy can be assured of never facing a similar struggle as a protected member of his Piedmont enclave.  

For some reason the concept of “smart growth” doesn’t apply to the major traffic corridors of Piedmont. 

At least one other irony presents itself around Mr. Kennedy’s association with the dread NIMBY term and the oil industry. His proposed residential/commercial development at 2700 San Pablo Avenue, as far as is known, still appears slated to go onto a contaminated piece of land as documented by an attachment to the deed and a 1998 report on the results of soil and water sampling. The former gas station is listed as a L.U.S.T. (Leaking Underground Storage Tank) site and although it was certified “closed”, i.e. cleaned up, there is reason to believe this certification was premature.  

In July 2000, The Environmental Working Group issued a report, which details a failure of state regulators to order cleanup or take other legally binding enforcement action on more than 90 percent of the thousands of underground fuel storage tanks known to be leaking toxic chemicals into water and soil throughout the state. It further states that ... “‘closed’ cases don’t necessarily indicate cleanup or action to stop ongoing pollution. In the late 1990s, the state Water Resources Control Board fast-tracked sweetheart settlements for leaking tank sites, closing many cases without adequate review, cleanup, containment, or penalties for the responsible parties.” 2700 San Pablo may be one such example. 

Peter Teichner 

Berkeley 

The Planning Commission will hold the first public hearing tonight on the Southside Plan, the document designed to guide development in the area around upper Telegraph Avenue for about the next 20 years. 

Debate is expected to focus on whether the plan, which divides the Southside area into four separate zones for development purposes, allows for enough new housing to be built in the area. 

Andy Katz, director of city affairs for the Associated Students of California, said the ASUC had not yet taken a final position on the plan, but he did express some concern about whether it would increase the amount of housing in the area. 

“We’re going to have discussions before we come out with a final position,” he said. “The spirit of the plan is consensus, so we hope the city will work in good faith to make sure that they enact policies that alleviate the housing crisis.” 

John McBride, a Berkeley citizen who has followed the planning process closely, said that many of the properties that will become available for high-density housing under the plan are owned by the university. 

“The ball is in the university’s court,” he said. “Are they serious about housing? The sites are there.” 

Commission chair Rob Wrenn, author of the most recent draft of the plan said on Tuesday that the goal of the plan is to balance the concerns of the university, the students and local neighborhood groups. 

“We’re not trying to create as much housing as possible no matter what,” he said. “Under the plan, there’s the potential to increase the population by about twenty percent. I don’t think you can double the population without destroying the area.” 

The plan called for less dense development away from the high-density corridors of Telegraph and Bancroft Avenues. The goal, Wrenn said, is to “step down” from dense areas into existing single-family neighborhoods. 

The Planning Commission has made finalization of the plan, which has been in development for around eight years, its top priority in the upcoming months. 

The Planning Commission will meet at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave., at 7 p.m. 

Contact reporter Hank Sims at hank@berkeleydailyplanet.net

Theo Boguszewski, eighth-grader at Longfellow Middle School, is a little nervous. 

Boguszewski, who won first prize in the eighth grade life sciences category at her school’s fifth annual science fair last week, is headed to the 49th annual Bay Area Science Fair in San Francisco in mid-March. 

“I guess it seems like it’s going to be a lot of people doing really complicated projects, and that’s a little scary,” said Boguszewski, who conducted an experiment on the effects of light and heat on chicken reproduction. 

Boguszewski is one of 250 seventh- and eighth-graders at Longfellow who participated in last week’s science fair, judged by some 50 volunteers from Bayer Corporation, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Lab and elsewhere. 

Judges selected winners and runners-up in life science, physical science and social science categories, for both the seventh and eighth grades. First-place finishers will go to the Bay Area fair with a chance to advance to the statewide contest in Los Angeles in May.  

“We really encourage the kids to choose their own questions,” said Suzy Loper, a sixth-grade science teacher who helped organize the Longfellow fair. Loper said students get more excited about projects of their own choosing. 

Dante Williams, runner-up in the eighth grade life sciences category, agreed. “You can become more creative when you get to pick your project,” he said. 

Jonathan Cohen, seventh-grade science teacher, said middle school students are particularly interested in social issues, and that the social science category generates some of the most interesting experiments. 

This year some of the top projects in the social science field include a study of peer pressure, an examination of the reliability of eye witness testimony and a look into the effects of different types of dance on mood. 

“I dance numerous times a week and I knew my mood changed when I danced,” said Caitlyn Greene, an eighth grader.  

Greene, who conducted the study on mood at her dance studio, found that jazz dance makes people feel better and ballet makes dancers feel worse. But, she noted that there might be some methodological issues with her study. 

“If I went to a different studio that focused on ballet, the results would have been different,” she said. 

Annie Snow, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Longfellow, said these methodological lessons are some of the most important that a student can learn through a science project. 

“Students will say, ‘it didn’t work right,’” Snow said. “But it’s still a science project, and it’s still valid.” 

Stephanie Lowe, an eighth-grader who conducted a study on bicycle helmets and finished first in the physical sciences category, said she learned a lot through her project.  

But she has her eye on another benefit as well. “I think the Bay Area Science fair will be fun because we get to miss school and hang out,” she said.  

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2002. There are 321 days left in the year. This is Ash Wednesday. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 13, 1935, a jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed. 

On this date: 

In 1542, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery. 

In 1635, America’s oldest public school, the Boston Public Latin School, was founded. 

In 1914, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP, was founded in New York. 

In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. 

In 1945, during World War II, the Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans. 

In 1945, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. 

In 1960, France exploded its first atomic bomb. 

In 1980, opening ceremonies were held in Lake Placid, N.Y., for the 13th Winter Olympics. 

In 1984, Konstantin Chernenko was chosen to be general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee, succeeding the late Yuri Andropov. 

In 1988, the 15th winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Ten years ago: Donna Weinbrecht of the United States won the gold medal in women’s freestyle skiing moguls at the Olympic games in Albertville, France. 

Five years ago: Discovery’s astronauts hauled the Hubble Space Telescope aboard the shuttle for a one-billion-mile tuneup to allow it to peer even deeper into the far reaches of the universe. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 7,000 barrier for the first time, ending the day at 7,022.44. 

One year ago: A 6.6 magnitude earthquake shook El Salvador, killing at least 402 people one month to the day after another quake killed more than 800 people. Ivan Lendl was elected to the tennis Hall of Fame along with Mervyn Rose, an Australian star from the 1950’s. 

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Lyle Bettger is 87. Singer Eileen Farrell is 82. Former test pilot Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager is 79. Actress Kim Novak is 69. Actor George Segal is 68. Actor Bo Svenson is 61. Actress Carol Lynley is 60. Singer-musician Peter Tork (The Monkees) is 60. Actress Stockard Channing is 58. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 58. Singer Peter Gabriel is 52. Actor David Naughton is 51. Rock musician Peter Hook is 46. Actor Matt Salinger is 42. Singer Henry Rollins is 41. Singer Freedom Williams is 36. Actress Kelly Hu is 34. Rock musician Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down) is 30. Actress Mena Suvari is 23. 

WASHINGTON — One in four American Indians lives in California or Oklahoma, according to the 2000 census. Cherokee and Navajo are by far the tribes most often checked off on forms. 

A report being released Wednesday shows 4.1 million people claimed to be all or part “American Indian or Alaska Native.” In the 1990 census nearly 2 million people checked off that race, though figures are not directly comparable because of differences in the way race and ethnicity data are tallied. 

California led the nation with 628,000 people identifying themselves as members of the race, followed by Oklahoma with 392,000 and Arizona with 293,000. 

The Census Bureau used a massive advertising and outreach effort to improve its American Indian count, especially on isolated and hard-to-reach reservations. For many tribal governments, results are crucial to secure accurate funding from the federal government, said Louis Tutt, the Navajo Nation’s census liaison. 

The 2000 head count found 298,197 people who were all or part Navajo, a total that includes those people living off Navajo land. 

“We think we have reached 100 percent of the people for the first time,” Tutt said by telephone from tribal headquarters in Window Rock, Ariz. “The result of the count is very satisfying.” 

Among tribal groupings, only the Cherokee, numbering 729,533, surpassed the Navajo. Cherokee Nation spokesman Mike Miller said that while his Tahlequah, Okla.-based government took an active role during census-taking, they think their population was undercounted. 

“The paradox is that there is an undercount here in Cherokee Nation because of its rural nature,” Miller said. The Census Bureau has considered releasing a second overall population count based on adjusted data, which many Democrats say would offer a more accurate count of minorities. But last year the bureau twice recommended against adjusted data. 

The bureau cited much lower undercount rates among minority groups — on American Indian reservations, for instance — among its reasons to stick with the raw head count for redrawing political lines and distributing federal funds. 

The latest report showed that 40 percent of those who selected American Indian or Alaska Native took advantage of a first-ever option to check off more than one race on their form. Because of a long history of intermarriage between American Indians and whites, demographers had predicted that American Indians would have one of the highest percentages of people who were multiracial. 

SACRAMENTO — A California Senate committee, convinced that bankrupt energy giant Enron has destroyed financial documents under legislative subpoena, voted Tuesday to seek criminal charges against the company for concealing evidence and conspiracy. 

Committee members also voted to ask the full Senate to find Enron in contempt of two legislative subpoenas — one issued in June seeking documents related to California’s energy market and the other for testimony about destruction of documents. 

The committee voted 5-0 to ask the district attorney from either Sacramento or Orange County to investigate whether Enron intentionally withheld documents from investigators or destroyed any relevant papers. 

Lawmakers investigating California’s power crisis asked Enron for thousands of documents in June, but the company’s destruction of documents and shredding done by its accountants may have violated that order, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said. 

Last month, Enron officials ignored a committee request to testify about which documents may have been destroyed. 

Enron officials didn’t attend Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation in the Wholesale Energy Market. Calls for comment were not immediately returned. 

Last week, Enron Vice President Richard B. Sanders wrote Dunn to say there was no reason for company officials to testify because Enron wasn’t “aware of anyone from Enron who made inquiries to Arthur Andersen regarding what documents were destroyed.” 

Andersen was the major accounting firm that audited Enron’s books; Andersen officials have said their accountants shredded some Enron-related documents. 

Larry Drivon, an attorney for the committee, recommended that prosecutors also investigate whether company employees conspired to withhold or destroy documents, which would elevate the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony. 

Enron has now invited investigators to search the company’s document repositories in Portland, Ore. and Houston, Texas, for trading and policy documents they subpoenaed last year, Dunn said. 

The committee also is preparing subpoenas for testimony from Andersen regarding destruction of some Enron documents. 

“I seriously doubt that Enron will ever send us anything more significant than a picture postcard from the Cayman Islands while I’m alive, much less any of the financial documents we are seeking,” said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey. 

The committee has subpoenaed documents from a half-dozen energy companies as part of the investigation into the state’s power crisis last year, when energy prices soared. 

No company has complied fully with the subpoenas, Dunn said, but some have cooperated more than others. All have done more than Enron. 

The committee has reviewed millions of documents turned over by the energy suppliers, but hasn’t yet been given key internal documents, such as companies’ forecasts for power prices in California, he said. 

In the early 1990s, the energy industry touted deregulation as a way to cut consumer prices by increasing competition, Dunn said. But the committee investigators believe that energy companies’ internal price forecasts will show they were predicting huge revenue increases as California’s power market was deregulated. 

Last summer, the committee asked the Senate to find Enron in contempt for not providing documents. That request was withdrawn after Enron and Dunn reached an agreement  

to keep the documents confidential. 

If the full Senate votes this time to find Enron in contempt, sanctions could include fines, or stripping the company’s authority to do business in California, Dunn said. 

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

SAN JOSE — Apple Computer Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Ericsson Telephone Co. said Tuesday they have teamed up to develop a system for bringing multimedia content such as movie clips to cell phones and other wireless devices. 

Analysts say the three companies are laying their stakes — and jockeying for position against rivals Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc. — in an emerging market for video applications in wireless services. 

Boosters of the technology envision also cell phone and handheld-computer users sending personalized video clips to each other instead of text messages. 

Dubbed the Ericsson Content Delivery Solution, the system will include Apple’s QuickTime streaming video application, content-distribution software from Sun and wireless infrastructure from Ericsson. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Under the system, content providers could create video clips using QuickTime and not have to worry about reformatting it to run on different kinds of devices, said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. The content would be ready for wireless-network operators to send directly to consumer devices. 

“It’s a bridge from media organizations to the mobile networks,” said Patrick Kane, Ericsson’s vice president of strategic business and alliances. 

Kane said some wireless carriers have already shown interest, and he predicted consumers will see multimedia services offered by the end of the year. 

The cost of those services, however, remains unclear. 

“Are the services going to be affordable for consumers, and will the content be compelling enough so that consumers are willing to pay for it? It’s too early to tell,” said analyst Susan Kevorkian of International Data Corp. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.apple.com 

http://www.sun.com 

http://www.ericsson.com 

SAN DIEGO — A director of Enron was reappointed Tuesday to Qualcomm Inc.’s board over the objections of labor groups and some shareholder activists. 

At the company’s annual meeting, shareholders voted to appoint Frank Savage to another three-year term as a member of the board of directors of the San Diego-based wireless technology firm. Savage, 63, has served on the Qualcomm board since 1996. 

Qualcomm had been under pressure from shareholder activists not to reappoint Savage from the company’s board. He and other members of Enron’s board have been sharply criticized for failing to provide sufficient oversight to prevent the collapse of the energy trading company. 

Two Enron directors, Robert K. Jaedicke and Wendy L. Gramm, the wife of Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, recently resigned from the boards of other companies. 

Savage was elected along with five other nominees, including Brent Scowcroft, who served as a national security adviser in the administrations of presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford. 

Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm’s chairman and chief executive officer, told shareholders he was aware of the opposition to Savage, but that he has been “an excellent and hardworking board member” and that company officials continue to support him. 

“I do have complete confidence in his integrity,” Jacobs said. 

Savage was not at the shareholder meeting where the vote was announced because of a previous commitment, Jacobs said. The other four nominees all attended the meeting. 

Several shareholders and representatives of labor organizations, whose members hold Qualcomm stock in their retirement plans, rose to challenge the appointment. 

“Do you want to be in bed with skunks like that?” one shareholder told Jacobs during the comment period. 

Eric Grant, 72, a Qualcomm shareholder and retired attorney from Jamul, said Savage and the other Enron directors failed to protect the interests of investors. 

“I don’t think they should put a man who is tainted on the board of directors of Qualcomm,” Grant said. “I think shareholders have a right to say we could do better with somebody else.” 

The exact vote tally will not be announced until Qualcomm’s next quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The newly appointed board members will serve until 2005. 

—— 

On the net: www.qualcomm.com 

Being the daughter of a famous writer, being a BI-coastal child to divorced parents, being bi-racial and being a “movement child” of the sixties has not been easy — being Rebecca Walker has not been easy. 

The intimate details and process of which she poetically unravels in Black White and Jewish, an Autobiography of a Shifting Self, she will tell you, has not been easy for either of her parents to swallow. 

“It’s very difficult for parents to face the negative way their decisions affect their children,” Walker said of how her parents have accepted the release of her National Best-selling book. “No parent wants to hurt their child. It’s been tough. It’s been a challenge.” 

Both parents, Walker said, grew up with their own painful struggles and in a certain way have looked at the life they’ve attempted to provide for her and have wondered what on earth could possibly be wrong with your life? 

The Commonwealth Club, a public forum group, hosted Walker at Berkeley Hillel -The Reutlinger Center on Monday night where she read from her autobiography and took questions about herself and the Third Wave Foundation, a philanthropic group she founded after graduating from Yale University, Cum Laude, in ’92 for women between the age of 15-30. 

Walker’s has been a contributing editor to Ms. magazine since 1989. 

Historically her writing has engaged such topics as feminism, race, sexuality reproductive freedom and domestic violence and has been published in Essence, Mademoiselle, The New York Daily News, Harper's, Sassy, SPIN, The Black Scholar, and various women's and black studies anthologies including Listen Up (Seal) and Testimony (Beacon).  

Considered as a signature voice for the young women's movement, and named in ’96 as one of the 50 Future Leaders of America by Time magazine, Walker’s most recent writing appears to be taking a step back and inside to explore the duality of her existence — and reveals the insecurity of an adolescent who spent many years of her life looking at two cultures from the outside and longing to be apart of either. In Shifting Self she writes about what’s not so apparent about the successful, intelligent and beautiful woman the world sees.  

Years before her parents were separated, Walker details the resentment she experienced from darker-skinned black girls, setting the groundwork for her own self-discovery. 

“It does not occur to me that I’m doing something against the other dark-skinned girls.... It does not occur to me that I am somehow betraying them,” Walker writes about herself and a sense of entitlement that not being perceived as being black gave her. 

She also recalls the invisibility of not belonging and the confusion of living underneath the changing perception of others. 

“What I found in writing this book was that remembering was very painful. I found that in order for me to remember I had to let go... So it was through writing this book that I created a cohesive and surrogate Rebecca and that I was able to let go of experiences that have been so long etched onto my body,” Walker said of her book. 

Walker was born in 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi, to an interracial “movement” couple who married in defiance of Mississippi's anti-miscegenation laws — African-American novelist Alice Walker and white Jewish civil rights attorney Mel Leventhal. 

“Movement folk... In 1967, when my parents break all the rules and marry against laws that say they can't, they say that an individual should not be bound to the wishes of their family, race, state, or country. They say that love is the tie that binds.”  

But she also recalls with the same clarity and honesty the pain of her parents break-up and somewhere in the middle she says she learned when to break those rules in order to find her place in the world.  

In San Francisco her mother struggled to balance the demands of writing with the responsibilities of motherhood, and according to daughter Rebecca Walker it was at times they were so close it was difficult to discern the lines between mother and daughter and to know the limitations of being a child.  

In New York, however, her father had remarried to a more traditional homemaker and this environment she says left her feeling stifled. Walker chronicles the ambivalent relationship she has with her father's new wife, a woman whom she describes as her “white, holier-than-thou, Jewish stepmother,” but in her more vulnerable moments also calls “Mom.”  

Walker describes the paradox of these two existences in passages of the book. “...It is too hard to be the translator between two worlds," she writes. 

In addition Walker talks of difficult early years with her Jewish family, recalling a scene when her Jewish grandmother would occasionally “kvetches] about how ungrateful her daughters-in-law are and how tragic it is that she isn't ever going to have Jewish grandchildren because her sons married shiksas." And pages later revisits visiting her mother’s family in Atlanta and how that intimacy was tainted by discomfort.  

Walker writes, "How do I reconcile my love for my uncles and cousins with the fact that I remind them of pain?"  

In a recent interview, Walker elaborated on that discomfort. “It was painful for my [black] uncles to notice white attributes and characteristics in me. I brought them all this joy, but at the other end were traits [in me] that they thought were dangerous and repulsive. [On the other hand], my blackness reminds my father of a time in his life that is different from the time he lives in now. It reminds him of how committed he was to civil rights and how adamant he was about that work before he became a corporate litigator. One of the profound facts of my body is that it becomes a location, a reminder, particularly for my father, of what he lost romantically and politically."  

The Shifting Self is a story of change, of negotiating with social constructs and coming to the point where you’ve got the upperhand. 

contact reporter: 

devona@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

PARK CITY, Utah — This town knows how to host a party. 

Long before the Olympics, this mountain ski village east of Salt Lake City was one of the few places in Utah with name recognition. Three ski resorts and the Sundance Film Festival bring thousands of visitors every winter and concertgoers and arts festival patrons in the summer. 

Now, for its biggest party ever, Park City has unleashed all its practiced hospitality. Area resorts are hosting snowboarding, slalom and moguls events, with ski jumping close by at Utah Olympic Park. The city’s Old Town is hosting the fun. 

Park City is hipper, richer, smaller and cooler than its valley neighbors. With the state’s smallest percentage of Mormon residents, the former mining town has never followed Salt Lake’s conservative lead. 

Park City boomed in the 19th century — with many more saloons and brothels than churches — after silver was discovered in the hills, but it was a ghost town by the 1950s. It was revived in the 1960s when the city’s biggest mining company realized snow could be more lucrative than silver and opened a resort. 

Now, it’s one of the nation’s swankiest winter destinations. Average house prices are twice those in the rest of the state, and it’s probably the only place in Utah where Gucci bags and men in full-length fur coats don’t merit a second look. 

During the Olympics, Park City is capitalizing on its history, with entertainment ranging from dancing cowgirls to Budweiser horses trotting along historic Main Street. Sponsors hand out goodies and drinkers occasionally sneak beer out onto the street — a sight unknown in Salt Lake. 

Tight security is still evident; officers clad in yellow parkas roam everywhere. 

Tammy Smith, a police dispatcher from California here to work for the games, was in town to enjoy a day off with several colleagues. She said Park City residents and city officials have been enthusiastic. 

“They’ve made law enforcement feel very welcome. The people here are very gracious,” she said. “Everybody comes up and thanks them for being here.” 

Despite the scope of this party, most residents seem to be taking it in stride. There are crowds, but no bigger than for any other festival here. Perhaps because of the cold or the economy, the place hasn’t been overrun with hordes of visitors. 

Even this bastion of wealth shows signs of penny-pinching. Shops selling expensive wares are relatively quiet. Inexpensive eateries are packed, while upscale restaurants whose meals normally cost upward of $50 are selling pizza and pasta on the street for $6. 

“People, when they find out it’s a set menu at a certain price, would rather buy from street vendors,” said Ryan Wells, a manager at the hip Chimayo restaurant on Main Street. 

A Wasatch Brew Pub booth on Main Street featured the model who graces the company’s ads for St. Provo Girl Pilsner. Ingrid Liepnicks signed posters showing her in a revealing beer-garden barmaid outfit and saying, “I may be from Provo, but I’m no saint.” It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are supposed to forswear alcohol. 

A line of men drinking beer stretched toward the door. 

The busiest spot in town was the Roots shop, selling clothing made by the official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic team. There was a line out the door on Sunday. 

Up the street, Salt Lake City resident Mike Christy was trying to sell T-shirts reading “Polygamy is better than monotony.” He said his other T-shirt idea, five linked wedding rings with the slogan “Utah Polygamy Association: Proud supporter of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games” would have gotten him in trouble with games organizers. 

“I heard the state of Utah was going to be distancing itself from polygamy during the games,” Christy said. “I thought to myself, maybe someone less noble could get in on that and make a dime.”

Editor: 

West of the intersection of San Pablo and Marin avenues you can see a small grove of conifers, behind which lie several acres of cultivated land and a small cluster of buildings. This is the undeveloped remnant of the Gill Family Nursery, which once extended west to what is now I-80. The entire property was subsequently gifted to the University of California (the UC Gill Tract) for research and environmental studies.  

UC is now preparing to redevelop 26 acres of this land, primarily as a mixed use of campus housing, retail commercial, administrative offices, etc., ignoring the history of the area and the original intent of the gift.  

The University is also overlooking the fact that 30 percent of the food grown in this country is produced in and nearby metropolitan areas. A nearby food source means reduced transportation costs and quite often fresher food. It makes sense to better understand and improve food production in the metropolitan area to assure that it is sustainable, and focuses on the optimal usage of the soil, water and energy resource.  

The Gill Tract is ideally positioned for just such a research focus – open land, soil free from pesticides and a supportive community and nearby labor source. A university-community research garden would allow faculty researchers a nearby experimental area and an excellent extension educational opportunity.  

But why limit the Gill Tract to experimental gardens. The now empty buildings could provide classroom space for workshops and demonstrations not only by university personnel, but also by local businesses and nonprofit groups, enabling them to exhibit, demonstrate and even sell products needed by the city farmer and gardener. This could include soil and garden mix suppliers, drip irrigation and other water conservation methods (low flush, low flow, etc), vendors of solar and photovoltaic equipment, beneficial insect suppliers (ladybird beetles, green lacewings, etc.) and least toxic pesticides and fertilizers to name a few. Rather than the usual commercial mall, the Gill Tract could become a one-stop ecological/educational mall where questions relating to gardening, food production, food storage and nutrition could be answered. The potential for benefiting the community and providing leadership for other metropolitan areas is exciting. 

The area already has groups that provide gardening and other ecological information, but these remain scattered and often overlooked – city of Berkeley Ecology Center, Bio Integral Resource Center (least toxic pest controls), Tilden Regional Park and University of California Botanical Gardens (information and sources of native plants), California Native Plant Society, California Rare Fruit Growers Society, San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, among others.  

Is the life we live in our metropolitan areas sustainable, or have we already passed that point? We all agree that a proper mix of clean food, water, air and energy is essential, but how do we arrive at the proper blend on a local and regional level? The Gill Tract offers the university and community an excellent chance to answer these questions. 

Lloyd Andres 

Berkeley

Tuesday, Feb. 12

Wetland Restoration 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Martin Luther King,, Jr. Shoreline, Oakland 

Restoration activities include planting native and removing non-native plants, shoreline clean-ups, and water quality monitoring. Gloves and tools are provided. 452-9261, mlatta@savesfbay.org 

UNtraining White Liberal Racism 

7 - 9:30 p.m. 

1840 Alcatraz 

The UNtraining offers personal work for white people to address our unconscious racial conditioning. $10. 235-6134. 

Circles of Iron, Cloaks of Power: 

African Colonial Intermediaries in 

the French Soudan, West Africa,  

1890 - 1910 

4 - 6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

3335 Dwinelle, Level “C” 

A talk by Emily Osborn of Notre Dame University. Sponsored by Department of History, Department of African-American Studies, and Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

Bruce G. Friedrich 

7:30 p.m. 

First Unitarian Church of Oakland 

Hamilton Hall 

685 14th St., Oakland 

An evening of food, ideas and discussion with the Senior Campaign Coordinator for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). 914-7131, colleen@justgive.org.  

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 525-3565. 

Wednesday, Feb. 13

Near-death Experience Support Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Church 

1606 Bonita Ave. 

International Association for Near-Death Studies offers a supportive environment for the exploration of near-death experiences. 531-6393. 

Peace Walk and Vigil 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Bart Station 

Peace walk and vigil to demonstrate opposition to war and the U. S. bombing of Afghanistan. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil.html.  

Thursday, Feb. 14

Get Connected: Cooking from the Heart 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Join Pastry Chef Daniel Herskovic, as he instructs how to create a sumptuous meal. $25 includes meal and lesson. 601-7247, dherskovic@yahoo.com 

Exploring Old Neighborhoods in the East Bay and Marin 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

A slide presentation showcasing historic houses, beautiful gardens, parks, waterfalls and more. 527-7377 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School Arts and  

Academics School 

1731 Prince St., Room 105A 

For grandparents and relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517. 

Saturday, Feb. 16

Puppet Show 

1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health, Children’s Hospital Oakland 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

Includes puppets from diverse cultures and with such conditions as cerberal palsy, blindness, and Down syndrome. Free. 549-1564. 

Launch Party for War Times 

4 p.m. 

Mandela Village 

1357 Fifth St., West Oakland 

A new national anti-war newspaper covering an alternative truth. 869-5156. 

A man was wounded in the back when his Sacramento Street apartment was sprayed with about 10 bullets at 10:25 p.m. Friday. 

The shooting was the fifth reported in Berkeley in the last three weeks. 

Ramone Morales, 33, was sitting on a living room couch visiting with friends when gunfire erupted from the parking lot behind the small apartment building in the 2700 block of Sacramento Street. 

Paramedics took him to Highland Hospital in Oakland. According to hospital officials, Morales was released on Sunday after some minor surgery. 

Police said they are uncertain if the shooting was random or if the bullets were intended for Morales. 

“The case is under investigation, and right now we don’t know if Mr. Morales was the target,” Capt. Bobby Miller said adding that Morales’s was the only unit hit by gunfire. 

Miller said there were no witnesses to the shooting and currently there are no suspects. 

This incident follows a recent rash of shootings in the city. 

On Jan. 22, Rammar Johnson and Noel Turner, Jr. were found in a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds to the head at 63rd and King streets. Both men later died.  

In another incident, a man was wounded in the thigh during a domestic dispute on Jan. 28, and on Feb. 5, yet another man was wounded in the thigh by an acquaintance.  

“There is an increase in shootings from last year,” Miller said although he did not have last year’s figures immediately available. “We haven’t been able to distinguish a particular pattern or associate any of the other shootings. So far they appear to be independent of each other.” 

Miller said he was unaware if there has been a history of drug activity in the vicinity of Friday’s shooting. Councilmember Margaret Breland, who represents the neighborhood, did not return calls on Monday.  

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was alarmed to hear about the Friday shooting. 

“I’ve heard it’s possible that some of the shootings are drug related,” she said. “If that’s the case then this is a real wake up call.” 

Dean encouraged anyone who knows anything about the shooting to call the police. “The best way to fight this type of thing is with the help of the community,” she said.  

City Manager Weldon Rucker, who was on the scene of the shooting as police investigated the Friday night incident, said the recent shootings are an indication that there needs to be some changes in the neighborhood. 

“In addition to police we also plan to have City Services take a look at some of the businesses and blighted properties in the area that might be contributing to the problem,” he said.  

Editor: 

I would like to address points made by Paul Hogarth in his letter of 2/2/02. He implies that Charles Ramsey’s campaign is somehow tainted by the support of property owners whom he calls “crapacious and callous” these inappropriate comments send chills up the spine when one considers that Mr. Hogarth sits on a board which is supposed to make unbiased determinations on tenant-landlord disputes. He is a clearly and viscerally biased against property owners. 

Mr. Hogarth tries hard to portray Charles Ramsey’s support as one dimensional (real estate interests); but the standing-room-only Ramsey campaign kick off event two weeks ago told a different tale. If you wanted true diversity in Berkeley that is where you found it: African-Americans, Latinos, labor union representatives, property owners, members of the Berkeley fire department and families lined up to take their assignments to walk precincts. 

If Charles Ramsey is in the pocket of landlords and real estate interests as Mr. Hogarth would have you believe, how does he explain his endorsements by Maudelle Shirek and Barbara Lee, icons of progressive politics in Berkeley. 

Mr. Hogarth states that if any East Bay resident cares about the “housing crisis” they should vote for Loni Hancock. If my memory serves me well, it was Ms. Hancock who opposed the building of the Foothill dorms on UC property – she even went as far as standing in front of the bulldozers to prevent construction. 

Mr. Hogarth is not concerned about student housing, he merely wants more rent control. Here is the paradox: almost all of the rent control programs in the nation (including Berkeley’s started out as a response to inflation – not a housing crisis. That came later. 

Unfortunately, the more rent control a city has, the worse the housing crisis becomes, the more demand that rent control be expanded and enforced more severely (Mr. Hogarth’s and Loni Hancock’s true agenda). 

Playing the rent control card shows how out of touch with the voters the Hancock campaign is by relying on juvenile demagogues such as Mr. Hogarth.  

Mr. Charles Ramsey is a moderate with much more broad appeal in a district where Berkeley represents only one third of the electorate and where he has solid support not only from Mayor Shirley Dean, councilmembers Betty Olds and Maudelle Shirek, but from Berkeley police and firefighters as well. 

Charles Ramsey is ready to take the new 14th District into the 21st century by building bridges to the entire community, while Ms. Hancock wants to drag us back to the ‘60s with the politics of division. 

Robert Cabrera 

president 

Berkeley Property Owners Association

Licensed child care in Alameda County is both scarce and expensive, according to a report released last week by the California Child Care & Resource Referral Network, a statewide organization that conducts research on child care issues. 

According to the report, the third in a series of biannual statewide studies, the average cost of full-time care for an infant in the county is $9,501, or 19 percent of the median income. The figure rivals housing costs, falling just below the $11,050 fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in Alameda County. 

The study, based on 2000 figures, also found that child care is available for only 32 percent of the children in the county who may need it, a 7 percent increase since 1998.  

Shelley Waters Boots, research director for the Referral Network, said the modest increase in child care availability, both in the county and statewide, is disappointing given the recent economic boom. 

“Our expectations were that, because of all the increasing demand, child care would grow to reach that demand,” she said. “But, even in the best of times, the market didn’t respond the way normal markets would respond.” 

Waters Boots said high rental costs, for commercial spaces and private homes that host child care, played a role in discouraging growth.  

Judy Kriege, resource referral counselor for Bananas, an Oakland-based group that helps parents in northern Alameda County find childcare, said low salaries also contributed to the problem. 

“Child care doesn’t pay well,” Kriege said, pointing to statistics from the Referral Network report which show that statewide the average salary for a pre-school teacher is $21,130 and the average salary for an assistant is $17,420. Entry-level public school teachers, by contrast, make an average of $25,433. 

Darlene Percoats, executive administrative director of the Child Educational Center, a child care center in Berkeley, said low salaries make it difficult to find qualified staff. But no matter what the pay scale, she said, it is simply difficult to find people with a passion for the work. 

“You can find a body,” Percoats said, “but quality people who are committed to what they’re doing is something else.” 

Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, director of the Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement, a 26 year-old child care agency in Berkeley, said it is particularly difficult to find qualified bilingual staff to serve the needs of her clientele. 

But more than anything else Leyva-Cutler said she needs more funding, both to boost salaries and secure more space. “We’d like to serve more children,” she said, noting that she has 60 families on her waiting list, “but we don’t have the facilities.” 

The city of Berkeley spends over $500,000 per year on child care services, and the state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into early childhood development in California in recent years through Proposition 10, a 1998 voter-approved cigarette tax. 

Alameda County has received about $20 million per year. Over the course of 18 months in 2000-2001, through its Every Child Counts program, the county spent about $5 million on child care, including $4.1 million in stipends for child care workers who have spent at least nine months at a given center. Stipends range from $500 to $5,100, depending on a teacher’s education level. 

Percoats said the stipends have been helpful in retaining staff in the industry. But ultimately, with salaries still low, she said, it is commitment to children that keeps people in the job. 

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2002. There are 322 days left in the year. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in present-day Larue County, Ky. 

On this date: 

In 1733, English colonists led by James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, Ga. 

In 1870, women in the Utah Territory gained the right to vote. 

In 1892, President Lincoln’s birthday was declared a national holiday. 

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded. 

In 1915, the cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C. 

In 1924, George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered in New York. 

In 1940, the radio play “The Adventures of Superman” debuted on the Mutual network with Bud Collyer as the Man of Steel. 

In 1942, painter Grant Wood, creator of “American Gothic,” died in Iowa City, Iowa, a day before his 51st birthday. 

In 1973, the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place. 

In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice. 

Ten years ago: Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton released a letter he’d written as a student in 1969 in which he said he had decided to give up a draft deferment in order to “maintain my political viability.” President Bush formally announced his bid for re-election. 

Five years ago: The highest-ranking official to flee communist North Korea, Hwang Jang Yop, asked for political asylum at South Korea’s consulate in Beijing. The Clinton administration gave permission to 10 U.S. news organizations to open bureaus in Cuba. 

One year ago: The NEAR spacecraft touched down on Eros, completing the first landing on an asteroid. Scientists published their first examinations of nearly all the human genetic code. A federal appeals court ruled the Internet service Napster had to prevent users from swapping copyrighted music without charge. A computer virus pretending to be a digital photo of tennis star Anna Kournikova overwhelmed e-mail servers in Europe and North America. 

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Franco Zeffirelli is 79. Baseball Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Joe Garagiola is 76. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is 72. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell is 68. Actor Joe Don Baker is 66. Rock musician Ray Manzarek (The Doors) is 63. Author Judy Blume is 64. Country singer Moe Bandy is 58. Actress Maud Adams is 57. Actor Cliff DeYoung is 57. Actor Michael Ironside is 52. Rock musician Steve Hackett is 52. Rock singer Michael McDonald is 50. Actress Joanna Kerns is 49. Actor-former talk show host Arsenio Hall is 47. Actress Christine Elise is 37. Actor Josh Brolin is 34. Singer Chynna Phillips is 34. Rock musician Jim Creeggan (Barenaked Ladies) is 32. Rhythm-and-blues musician Keri Lewis (Mint Condition) is 31. Actress Christina Ricci is 22.

An eye for an eye, a pig for a pig 

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — A man who called a police officer a pig has served his sentence with a sow. 

A lunchtime crowd — including his daughter — jeered and joked with Steven Thompson on Friday as he stood on a city sidewalk next to a 350-pound pig in a pen for two hours, with a sign reading, “This is not a police officer.” 

Painesville Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti ordered the sentence instead of jail time following Thompson’s guilty plea to disorderly conduct. 

Thompson, 44, had used the word “pig” while shouting obscenities in a Jan. 28 confrontation with a city police officer. 

“I made a mistake, and now I’m sorry and I’m paying for it,” Thompson said in a speech next to the pen. 

His teen-age daughter and friends from her high school shouted, “Way to go, Mr. Thompson!” 

A farmer from nearby Perry loaned the city the sow, an award-winning Duroc purebred. Painesville is about 30 miles east of Cleveland. 

Occupation: criminal 

YORK, Pa. — When court clerks asked York County Prison inmate Greg Gould Jr. to list his occupation for a marriage license, he replied “criminal.” 

It was part of a ceremony Jan. 25 held in the basement of the county courthouse. 

“That was a joke. Did they write it down that way?” asked Gould, 30, who was escorted by sheriff’s deputies. 

“Well, he is a criminal,” said York County Sheriff Bill Hose. 

Gould married 27-year-old Valentina Marie Natasha Roberts, the mother of his two children. No family or friends were allowed in the courtroom where the wedding took place. 

Gould was convicted Jan. 10 of multiple robbery counts in a 1999 gas station holdup. His new wife is on probation until 2003; she pleaded guilty to supplying Gould and a co-defendant with handguns used in the robbery. 

Valentina Gould said “it isn’t tough” being married to someone in prison, and she’s standing by her husband. 

“I love him; the commitment’s there,” she said. 

Heading out 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s former first lady — not the current one — soon will sit for an oil portrait that may hang permanently in the governor’s residence. 

Frances Glendening and Gov. Parris Glendening divorced in November. But the hanging of their official state portraits will go ahead as planned, said officials with the Government House Foundation. The foundation raises money to pay for the portraits and other improvements to the residence. 

The portraits traditionally are not hung until after a governor is out of office. It is not known whether Glendening’s bride, Jennifer Crawford, 35, a former deputy chief of staff, will request a portrait of her own. 

Mike Morrill, the governor’s spokesman, said, “They just got married. It’s not the appropriate time to ask.” 

The foundation so far is not raising money for a portrait for Crawford, said board chairman William Myers. 

The former first lady is known for her work promoting the arts in Maryland. She also initiated a Maryland State Archives research project that became an exhibit highlighting the state’s other first ladies. 

The governor, 59, and Frances Glendening, 50, were married nearly 25 years. He married Crawford, the state’s 56th first lady, last month. 

Frances Glendening said she looks forward to sitting for the portrait and plans to wear “something bright.” 

——— 

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — Wanted: ornery felines. 

Researchers have begun recruiting 20 of the most foul-mannered cats in upstate New York for an experiment to see whether drugs will calm their nerves and stop fights. 

Behavior specialists at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine want to test the theory that the scrappy cats are really suffering from social anxiety. 

“We’re looking for 20 real bullies — the ones that start the fights — to see whether cat-to-cat aggression can be reduced with anti-anxiety medication,” said Tracy Kroll, a veterinary resident and researcher in Cornell’s Animal Behavior Clinic. 

The researchers will be using clomipramine, which is used in humans under the brand name Anafranil to treat panic and anxiety disorders. In dogs, under the brand name Clomicalm, it treats “separation anxiety,” when canines find the absence of their owners to be unbearable. 

“Some of the over-anxiety may be territorial or it may start when you bring a new cat into the house,” Kroll said. “Then there’s the so-called redirected aggression, when your indoor cat can’t reach a cat outside the window, so it fights with a sibling or other feline friend inside.” 

WASHINGTON — The FBI issued an extraordinary terrorist alert Monday night, asking law enforcement and the American public to be on the lookout for a Yemeni man and several associates who might be plotting a terrorist attack as early as today. 

The FBI scrambled to put the warning out after information emerged that one or more people were involved. Officials said the intelligence, while deemed credible, was not specific about possible targets. 

The alert identified one possible attacker as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, a Yemeni national born in Saudia Arabia in 1979. It listed about a dozen associates of al-Rabeei. 

The bureau planned to put photos and information on a Web site to help Americans identify the possible perpetrators. 

“Recent information indicates a planned attack may occurred in the United States or against U.S. interests on or around Feb. 12, 2002. One or more operatives may be involved in the attack,” the alert to 18,000 law enforcement agencies said. 

The alert asked police “to stop and detain” any of the named individuals in alert and that all “should be considered extremely dangerous.” 

Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Gov. Gray Davis, said all state agencies were on high alert after the FBI issued its warning. 

“We’ve been advised of the specific names on the list,” Maviglio said. 

Law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alert was prompted by recent information from interviews of detainees in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where several al-Qaida operatives are being held. 

Law enforcement officials said there was no evidence that al-Rabeei had entered the United States. The alert did not say whether the attack was planned or that it involved Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network. Before Monday, FBI and Homeland Security officials had issued three general alerts urging all Americans to be cautious and on the lookout for possible terrorist activities.

Bay Area Briefs 

Surfers swept away in riptide 

SAN FRANCISCO — Ten surfers were plucked from the Pacific Ocean after an unusually strong riptide swept them out and kept them from returning to shore. 

Two U.S. Coast Guard boats training in a nearby area were diverted to the scene Sunday to rescue the surfers, said Coast Guard spokesman Darrin Wallace. 

Wallace said nine of the surfers were picked up off about 300 to 400 yards off the coast of Ocean Beach. One surfer was taken aboard a passing sailboat about half a mile from the shore. No one was injured. 

Wallace said the surfers preferred to be dropped off a few yards from the beach where they were able to swim to shore. 

The Coast Guard also dispatched a helicopter to scan along the coast but found no one else in distress. 

Oakland library sets them free 

OAKLAND — The Oakland Public Library has forgiven almost $120,000 in overdue fines and restored borrowing privileges for nearly 58,000 patrons. 

The amnesty program was mainly aimed at a large number of middle and high school students. Officials hope that forgiving fines will bring students back into the fold. Some 20,000 students had borrowing privileges revoked because of unpaid fines for lost or overdue books. 

Once a patron accumulates $12.50 in fines, library privileges are suspended. 

The Oakland Unified School District co-sponsored the program and publicized it with banners at local high schools. 

The foundation dilemma 

SAN JOSE — The public parking garage being constructed downtown already has a problem: Its foundation was built 5 feet from where it belonged. 

As a result, the project had to be redesigned — and 20 parking spaces disappeared, leaving 755 spaces. 

The seven-story structure was approved a year ago by the City Council. 

The foundation problem has delayed the opening of the project until December — seven months late. And the garage’s estimated cost, first pegged at $31.4 million, has increased to $54.1 million. 

The contractor, Hensel Phelps Construction Co., a national firm with an office in San Jose, blames the mistake on a survey company hired to lay out the foundation. 

Jon W. Ball, vice president of Hensel Phelps, did not want to name the surveying firm or comment on the issue, saying that both companies are in the middle of a disputed resolution. 

The council is expected to vote Tuesday on another $280,000 to pay for work related to the error. 

SAN JOSE — Stanford University will require some companies that perform campus work to pay their employees a “living wage,” but student activists who have insisted upon such a rule said Monday the plan falls short of what they wanted. 

Stanford President John Hennessy announced last week that the private university will require that some subcontractors pay workers at least $10.10 an hour with benefits, or $11.35 without benefits. California’s minimum wage is $6.75 an hour. 

The policy will apply to companies that have multiyear Stanford contracts worth more than $100,000 annually and use workers not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. 

Administrators are not certain how many workers would be affected, but Chris R. Christofferson, Stanford’s associate vice provost for facilities, estimated it could be about 100. 

Students on the Stanford Labor Action Coalition complained Monday that the plan does not cover enough Stanford workers. They also said they were not properly consulted on the decision and that the living wage is too low. 

Even people making well above $10.10 an hour in this exorbitantly expensive area struggle to get by, said Molly Goldberg, a Stanford freshman in the labor group. 

She and other Stanford students will ask Hennessy to impose a “prevailing wage,” based on the average pay of similar workers in the region, and ensure a range of other perks. That would go even beyond Harvard University’s recent announcement that it would raise several hundred workers’ pay beyond the “living wage” that its students had demanded during a three-week sit-in last year. 

“We want the university to agree to a code of conduct that addresses more than the wage issue,” Goldberg said. “We want to look at things like education and health benefits, and family leave policies that we also think are important to provide to workers.” 

Stanford’s Christofferson said students’ criticism was understandable but added that the living wage policy is still being finalized, and the minimum pay requirements could rise.

SAN FRANCISCO — City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s parent corporation Monday, accusing it of driving the utility into bankruptcy through unfair and illegal business practices. 

The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, asks PG&E Corp. to return as much as $5 billion to ratepayers. That includes $4.6 billion in dividends and stock purchases Herrera alleges were illegal, plus $663 million in tax payments made by the utility to its parent. 

“What we’re alleging is that PG&E essentially defrauded California ratepayers,” said Marc Slavin, deputy city attorney. The suit alleges the parent company ignored state regulations requiring it to keep the utility financially healthy. 

Greg Pruett, a spokesman for PG&E Corp. said the issues raised already have been reviewed and found to be invalid. 

“It’s unfortunate when such a great city as San Francisco resorts to political tactics by filing this type of a lawsuit as an attempt to obstruct Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s emergence from bankruptcy,” Pruett said. 

Slavin said the city’s suit complements another one filed a month earlier before by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer. 

The utility filed for federal bankruptcy protection 10 months ago after soaring power prices drove it into debt.

SAN FRANCISCO — Jerry Roberts will step down as managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, the paper and Roberts announced Monday. 

No replacement was announced. Executive Editor Phil Bronstein appointed senior editor Narda Zacchino as assistant executive editor and Sunday editor Kenn Altine as associate managing editor. 

“Zacchino and Altine will assume many of Roberts’ responsibilities while the paper conducts a nationwide search for a managing editor,” the Chronicle said in a press release. The staff was notified Monday by memos sent by Bronstein and Roberts. 

Roberts’ departure is effective March 1, although Monday was to be his final day in the Chronicle news room. 

“The first thing I’m going to do is take a family vacation in Mexico, and then come back and take a good look at several opportunities that I’m lucky to have in teaching, writing and broadcasting,” Roberts said in his memo. 

Roberts, 53, joined the Chronicle in 1977 and served as reporter, political editor, political columnist and city editor before being named managing editor in 1997. In November 2000, the Hearst Corp., which previously owned the San Francisco Examiner, took control of the Chronicle and installed Bronstein as executive editor. 

Roberts’ departure follows that of Matthew Wilson, who resigned as vice president of news and associate publisher in July. Wilson was the Chronicle executive editor before the Hearst Corp. took over the paper. Sharon Rosenhause, who served as the Examiner’s managing editor under Hearst and as editor of Hearst’s afternoon Chronicle, resigned in March to become managing editor of South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.sfgate.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — PayPal Inc. warned Monday its popular online payment service is about to be shut down in Louisiana by that state’s banking regulators, casting another cloud over the company’s widely anticipated initial public offering of stock. 

The imminent shutdown of PayPal’s service in Louisiana was disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission documents. They detail the risks the Palo Alto-based company faces as it tries to overcome the stock market’s distaste for unprofitable Internet companies. 

PayPal had hoped to sell 5.4 million shares at $12 to $14 apiece last week, but a patent infringement lawsuit filed by CertCo Inc. threatened to short circuit the company’s online payment service. That prompted investment bankers to delay the IPO until this week. 

In a counterclaim filed Monday in Delaware, PayPal sought to invalidate CertCo’s patent claim and alleged the New York-based company waited until the last minute to file its complaint to disrupt PayPal’s IPO. 

The delay forced PayPal to disclose several new developments, including word that Louisiana regulators sent a Feb. 7 letter ordering the service to stop brokering payments between online buyers and sellers until the company receives a money transmission license. 

Monday’s bad news might pressure PayPal to lower its IPO price or pull the offering, said Kyle Huske, an analyst with IPO.com. 

“Obviously, you don’t want these kinds of negatives to come out in a panicky market like this,” Huske said. “It’s tough to say what will happen now. It’s all going to depend on the fortitude of the investors that they had already lined up for the IPO.” 

With the latest revisions to its outlook, PayPal now hopes to set the IPO Thursday, paving the way for the company’s shares to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. 

At the current target price, PayPal’s IPO would raise more than $60 million. As of Sept. 30, the company had $138.6 million in the bank and its losses have been steadily diminishing over the past year. 

In its SEC filing Monday, PayPal said it will comply with the Louisiana order forcing it to suspend business in that state when management receives the notice. The company also said it may appeal the Louisiana order in an administrative hearing. 

PayPal’s Louisiana customers accounted for 0.9 percent of the service’s payment volume during the first nine months of last year, according to the SEC documents. The company makes its money by collecting a commission based on the dollar amount of most transactions completed on its e-mail service. 

Although Louisiana represents a small portion of PayPal’s overall business, the company’s regulatory problems in that state might not be isolated, management conceded in Monday’s filing. 

Besides Louisiana, New York also has notified PayPal the company is running an unlicensed banking business. The New York regulators still haven’t ordered PayPal to stop doing business there, which accounted for 6.4 percent of the payment volume handled by the company during the first nine months of last year. 

PayPal said regulators in nine other states and the District of Columbia have indicated the company needs a license to run its online payment service. Those states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and Vermont. 

The company said it has already filed, or plans to file, applications in those states and the District of Columbia. Based on management’s analysis, the company also has decided to seek money transfer licenses in Connecticut, Minnesota and North Carolina. 

PayPal already is licensed in Oregon and West Virginia. 

If state regulators determine PayPal has been running an illegal banking business, the company could face substantial fines dating back to when the service began with 24 users in October 1999. The service had ballooned to 12.8 million accountholders as of Dec. 31. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.paypal.com 

http://www.certco.com 

SANTA CLARA — Intel Corp. introduced a family of microprocessors Monday that promise to improve the performance and increase the battery life of handheld devices such as cell phones and palm-sized computers. 

The Intel PXA250 and PXA210 processors will enable improved music, movies and games on next-generation gadgets, which are expected to become popular as wireless networks are upgraded in coming months. 

“We want to make this explode and be the next $100 billion market,” said Mark Casey of Intel’s handheld-computer division. “To make that happen, you need good clients and a fast wireless connection.” 

The PXA210 will run at speeds up to 200 megahertz and will be used in cell phones, entry-level handhelds and wireless devices. The larger PXA250 will run at clock speeds up to 400 MHz and be part of high-end handheld devices. 

Products built with the new processors are expected to be available by the middle of this year. 

The technology, which is called XScale, is based on the StrongARM architecture that Intel acquired as part of a settlement with Digital Equipment Corp. in 1997. 

Cambridge-based ARM Ltd. licenses its chip designs to semiconductor companies, which then manufacture the processors. 

Intel StrongARM processors are now found in most handheld computers using the Windows CE operating system. 

Most Palm OS-based systems use Motorola Inc.’s Dragonball processor. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Intel: http://www.intel.com 

ARM Ltd: http://www.arm.com 

LOS ANGELES — Shares of Toymax International Inc. were up 38 percent Monday after it agreed to be acquired by Jakks Pacific Inc. for more than $54 million in cash and stock. 

Shares of the Plainview, N.Y.-based toy company were up $1.17 to $4.22 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of Jakks, based in Malibu, Calif., were down 24 cents to $18.56. 

Jakks announced Sunday it will pay $3 per share in cash and $1.50 in stock to acquire the 64 percent of Toymax controlled by its two founders. The remaining shares will be acquired from stockholders later in the year. 

There is no danger the deal could be in jeopardy if Toymax stock rises above the $4.50 purchase price, according to William Gibson, an analyst for Banc of America Securities, because Jakks signed a definitive agreement with the founders of Toymax. 

Gibson said the purchase, which makes Jakks one of the country’s largest toy companies, was a good deal at a good price. 

“Jack doesn’t overpay,” Gibson said, referring to Jakks co-founder and chief executive Jack Friedman. “He buys right and he’s doing it again” 

Jakks announced Monday it has signed a deal with The Walt Disney Co. to develop arts and activities products and junior sports toys based on Disney characters, including Winnie the Pooh, as well as characters from new films.

College Freshman Derek Moser tried to capture a pose of the golden-brown King Cheetah lounging on a table in front of his anatomy and life drawing class.  

"I’ve drawn human models, cadavers," Moser said. "This is my first time drawing an animal. It’s different, it’s really neat." 

The brown-eyed Kgosi, handled by trainer Rob Dicely, sat for several minutes on the line of tables meant to elevate him. Then he rose and walked back and forth, licked his master’s palm and at times, just stared at the American flag outside the window. Moser’s job was to try to catch the almost three-year-old, 100 lbs, wildcat in action.  

"You have a pose, then they move," he said. "So, you kind of draw from imagination." 

As part of the class, students also had three other surprises in store for them – a Siberian lynx, a brown mountain lion, and a snow leopard cub, all courtesy of "Leopards Etc.," an organization that runs a wildcat compound in Sonoma county. 

Art instructor Catherine Firpo uses the animals once every quarter to pose for three of her classes. The exercise, she said, enables students to draw quickly, and capture the figure in action and right proportion. The exercise is also special on another level. 

"I want the students to understand the species and honor them," Firpo said. "We are detached from nature and this forces us to remember there is a world out there." 

To make sure this happens, Dicely and his wife offer a lecture while the students draw.  

On Tuesday, they learned the cheetah’s small ears and powerful muscles help him reach a speed of 45 miles per hour in two seconds. And, Dicely told them, the cheetah devours his prey in less than an hour and provides no defense for his food if it’s snatched by other wildcats. 

The Dicelys routinely show their animals at various schools and colleges to educate the public. They say the live climbing and leaping demonstrations help spread awareness about the animals’ plight. 

On a 22-acre compound in Occidental, the Dicelys have raised 24 cats in captivity. They include cheetah, blank panther, snow leopard, and lynx, among others. 

"I feel strongly that these are the ambassadors for the ones left in the wild," Barbara Dicely said. She said she doesn’t advocate raising wild animals as pets and added that her animals regularly help raise money for nonprofit organizations.  

Student Vonetta Patrice wasn’t too bothered by the captivity issue. Sitting in the back and moving her pencil in quick, short strokes, Patrice, just remembered the majesty of the wildcats.  

"The wildcat is really gracious and beautiful," she said. "Seeing it live, you get a better appreciation of the animal."  

Editor: 

UCB Transportation Director Nadesan Permaul is out of touch. UC Berkeley needs to work to replace single-driver cars with efficient, affordable, user-friendly public transportation for staff and faculty. UCB needs more student housing, not more parking lots. Berkeley's clogged and dangerous traffic and pollution result largely from dependence on cars for transportation to campus. We will all benefit if University staff and faculty leave cars at home and use public transportation. 

C. M. Woodcock 

Berkeley

Monday, Feb. 11

Perfect Couples 

5 - 7:30 p.m. 

2576 Shattuck Ave., Suite 7 

A group for singles who don’t want to be. For men and women in their 20’s and 30’s. $30 per session, 8 week commitment. Catherine Auman, MFT. 848-3511. 

Writing an Ethical Will Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Writers of ethical wills hope to convey what they have learned in life. All writing levels and native languages welcome. $30. To register call: 848-0237 X127. 

An Evening of Music, Song, and Speech 

7 p.m. 

AK Press 

674-A 23rd St., Oakland 

Progressive minded singers and organizers will perform and speak. $5. 208-1700, molly@akpress.org 

Institute of Government Studies 

12 p.m. 

119 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley Campus 

Per Petterrson lectures as part of the Positive Political Theory Seminar. 642-4608, www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Tuesday, Feb. 12

Wetland Restoration 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline, Oakland 

Restoration activities include planting native and removing non-native plants, shoreline clean-ups, and water quality monitoring. Gloves and tools are provided. 452-9261, mlatta@savesfbay.org 

UNtraining White Liberal Racism 

7 - 9:30 p.m. 

1840 Alcatraz 

The UNtraining offers personal work for white people to address our unconscious racial conditioning. $10. 235-6134. 

Circles of Iron, Cloaks of Power: 

African Colonial Intermediaries in 

the French Soudan, West Africa,  

1890 - 1910 

4 - 6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

3335 Dwinelle, Level "C" 

A talk by Emily Osborn of Notre Dame University. Sponsored by Department of History, Department of African-American Studies, and Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

Bruce G. Friedrich 

7:30 p.m. 

First Unitarian Church of Oakland 

Hamilton Hall 

685 14th St., Oakland 

An evening of food, ideas and discussion with the Senior Campaign Coordinator for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). 914-7131, colleen@justgive.org.  

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 525-3565. 

Wednesday, Feb. 13

Near-death Experience Support Group 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Church 

1606 Bonita Ave. 

International Association for Near-Death Studies offers a supportive environment for the exploration of near-death experiences. 531-6393. 

Peace Walk and Vigil 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Bart Station 

Peace walk and vigil to demonstrate opposition to war and the U. S. bombing of Afghanistan. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil.html.  

Thursday, Feb. 14

Get Connected: Cooking from the Heart 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Join Pastry Chef Daniel Herskovic, as he instructs how to create a sumptuous meal. $25 includes meal and lesson. 601-7247, dherskovic@yahoo.com 

Exploring Old Neighborhoods in the East Bay and Marin 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

A slide presentation showcasing historic houses, beautiful gardens, parks, waterfalls and more. 527-7377 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School Arts and  

Academics School 

1731 Prince St., Room 105A 

For grandparents and relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517. 

Saturday, Feb. 16

Puppet Show 

1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health, Children’s Hospital Oakland 

2230 Shattuck Ave. 

Includes puppets from diverse cultures and with such conditions as cerberal palsy, blindness, and Down syndrome. Free. 549-1564. 

Launch Party for War Times 

4 p.m. 

Mandela Village 

1357 Fifth St., West Oakland 

A new national anti-war newspaper covering an alternative truth. 869-5156. 

Sunday, Feb. 17

Jewish Learning Seminar 

10 a.m. - noon 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

K’Tanim: A Celebration of Jewish Learning for Families with Young Children, Birth to 3. Family activities, songs, stories, crafts, and discussions. $10. To register call: 549-9447 x 104. 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 525-3565. 

Wednesday, Feb. 20

Staying Connected: Building A Secular Jewish Life 

7:30 - 9:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

An evening of discussion and song with a Klezmer/Yiddish musician. $5. 848-0237 x 127 

Institute of Government Studies 

4 p.m. 

119 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley Campus 

Gerald Gamm lectures as part of the Historical Institutionalism Seminar. 642-4608, www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Colonial Courts, African Conflicts,  

and the End of Slavery in the French Souda 

4 - 6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley  

3335 Dwinelle, Level "C" 

A talk by Richard Roberts of Stanford University. Sponsored by Department of History, Department of African-American Studies, and Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

Thursday, Feb. 21

Purim Lecture 

7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Discover the deeper meaning of Purim as Rabbi Alexander Sheinfeld uses the lens of Kabbalah to explore what Purim has to do with being Jewish and with being human. $10, $8 members. 848-0237 x127 

Zimbabwe Wildlife 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Julie Edwards of Rhino Girl Safaris gives a slide presentation showcasing Zimbabwe’s remarkable variety of birds and mammals, and discusses the future of wildlife and the safari industry in Africa. 527-7377 

Travel Photography Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. 

An intensive workshop that focuses on travel photography, with an emphasis on film and equipment security, light and weather conditions, methods to make the most of well-known sites, and ways to approach and photograph strangers. $15. 843-3533 

Friday, Feb. 22

---

Grand Canyon Splendor: Rafting the Colorado 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Halfway through the third quarter on Saturday night at Contra Costa College, the St. Mary’s Panthers were digging themselves into the deep hole. They had already blown a halftime lead and were down, 42-38, to archrival Salesian. But St. Mary’s head coach Jose Caraballo still had an ace up his sleeve: DaShawn Freeman. 

Normally St. Mary’s starting point guard, Freeman missed the first half of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. He played only three minutes of the first half on Saturday after getting sick late in the week. But when his team needed him, he answered the bell. 

With Freeman back in the game directing traffic on offense and creating havoc on defense, the Panthers (22-2, 10-0 BSAL) ripped off a 19-0 run to take control of the game. When Freeman left the game after just eight minutes of action, St. Mary’s had turned a four-point deficit into a 62-46 lead, ensuring they would stay undefeated in BSAL play with an 70-57 win. 

“I felt it when I came in the game. We just got an energy surge,” Freeman said. “We were just in the moment, and it seemed like everybody was everywhere for us.” 

Saturday’s game was the fourth time the Panthers have beaten Salesian (14-7, 7-3) in the last two seasons, with each game a tightly-contested affair. 

Freeman played just over 12 minutes of the game, but he made the most of his time with 13 points, 4 steals and 4 assists. Backcourt mate John Sharper struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-11, but made up for it by being perfect from the free-throw line. Sharper hit all 14 of his foul shots, giving him a game-high 24 points to go with 6 steals. He carried the Panthers in the first half, scoring the game’s first six points with Freeman saving his energy for the end, and was unusually aggressive against the Chieftans, resulting in his numerous trips to the charity stripe. 

“I didn’t even know I shot that many times,” Sharper said when told of his perfect effort. “I’ve never shot that many free throws in one game before.” 

The Panthers needed everything they got from their backcourt, because Salesian dominated the paint. The Chieftans won the rebounding battle 40-21 and held St. Mary’s big men Chase Moore and Simon Knight to a combined 11 points and 8 rebounds. But when Freeman came in the game for a four-guard setup, Salesian couldn’t match the speed of the Panthers’ defense. 

“We had a lot of speed in there, because we needed to change the tempo of the game,” Freeman said.” 

Sharper also did a superlative job on defense against Salesian star John Winston, who finished with just 9 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Sharper and Freeman both play on the same AAU team with Winston, so they had a special insight into how to slow him down. 

“They did a great job on John tonight,” Salesian head coach Bill Mellis said. “But they also stopped our other scorers, so I think John felt more pressure to put more on his shoulders.” 

Winston’s night was nicely summed up by a play with the game already decided. Down 14 points, Winston swiped the ball from the Panthers in the open court and had an easy score. But he tried to take his frustrations out on one dunk, and he bounced it off the back rim and all the way to center court, where St. Mary’s Moore calmly collected it. 

Salesian was led by Brandon Jones’ 13 points, with Kyle Lankford helping our with 11 points. 

Saturday’s game was held at Contra Costa College rather than Salesian’s tiny gym, but even with the extra room the crowd was standing-room-only, and the organizers were forced to turn people away after the game started. Saturday also marked the first appearance of “The Rock,” a golden basketball trophy that will pass between the schools with each year’s regular-season game. 

“It’s a great rivalry, and this was a good game,” Caraballo said. “We’ll probably see them again in the playoffs.” 

Berkeley, which has a long history of firsts in accessibility issues, is among the 10 finalists for the National Organization on Disability’s first annual Accessibility America contest. 

“Berkeley has been on the forefront of disability access issues for a long time,” said Mayor Shirley Dean. “We still have lots to do but if we keep doing a little bit every year, as we have been, we’ll get there.” 

Berkeley and nine other cities were chosen from 65 contest entries. The other cities include Irvine, Cailf., Eugene and Portland, Ore. and Houston, Texas. 

The NOD will present the mayor of the winning community with a check for $25,000, which will used for additional accessibility projects. A panel of five judges will chose the winner on Tuesday. Berkeley residents were among the first in the country to organize. 

Editor: 

Parents of today's teens and pre-teens may remember a children's television show with a similar title which aired for a few seasons in the mid-1990s. In that animated series, title character Carmen Sandiego, the world's greatest thief, was on the loose and it was up to the ACME Detective Agency to solve her clues and track her down.  

Most of the time, the wily thief managed to stay far enough ahead of the crime fighters at the detective agency where she formerly worked to elude capture. 

Today's version is not for children and certainly no laughing matter.  

The world's most wanted man, the man with bounties on his head in the tens of millions, and the man who plotted the murder of over 3,000 Americans has eluded capture. 

The most recent hope that bin Laden may have been struck was last week when a CIA-operated unmanned spy plane, armed with Hellfire missiles, scored what appeared to be a direct hit on three white-robed men in Afghanistan. CNN reported that one was believed to be a senior leader of al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization headed by bin Laden. 

However, the question on everyone's mind remained unanswered. 

“We just simply have no idea” if bin Laden was among those killed, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.  

President Bush last week praised the military for how much progress has been made in the war on terrorism. But in the same breath, he said defensively that the capture of bin Laden is not the prime barometer for success. His tune has changed since Sept. 17, when he said that bin Laden was “Wanted, dead or alive.” 

Despite the current public statements to the contrary, the Bush administration would dearly love to have the al-Qaeda leader in either condition. Like a fisherman focused on a prize catch, the collective U.S. consciousness is frustrated by the one that got away. Therefore, last week's report from CIA Director George Tenet that nearly 1,000 al-Qaeda operatives have been arrested or detained in 60 countries since Sept. 11 went largely unnoticed and unheralded. 

Tenet warned that despite the progress, “operations against U.S. targets could be launched by al-Qaeda cells already in place in major cities in Europe and the Middle East. Al-Qaeda can also exploit its presence or connections to other groups in such countries as Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

“I must repeat that al-Qaeda has not yet been destroyed,” he said. 

Al-Qaeda's strength is fueled, in part, by its members' notion that its leader has been blessed by Allah. In their eyes, how else could one man elude the full effort and resources of the evil West, which has surveillance cameras capable of reading automobile license tags from space? It merely adds legendary and mythical qualities to bin Laden's image of never staying in one place long enough to become a fixed target. Even when it looked like he was trapped in Tora Bora in December, somehow he eluded capture. 

Characters of myth, legend and animation achieve more than mortal man. The U.S. has to knock bin Laden out of the former classification and into the latter as soon as possible. Each day that goes by without some determination of bin Laden's fate or location strengthens the belief and resolve of his followers. 

So when Bush, Rumsfeld, Tenet or any other administration official downplays the need to find bin Laden, know that in reality it remains job number one. He is a formidable foe and his eventual capture, dead or alive, will break the resolve of whatever active al-Qaeda cells remain. 

Tom Mitsoff 

Berkeley

Cal in four-way tie for third place in Pac-10 Conference 

Freshman Amit Tamir scored a career-high 39 points to lead Cal out of a deep hole and defeat Oregon, 107-103, in double overtime on Saturday night at Haas Pavilion. 

Shantay Legans also scored a season-high 22 for the Golden Bears as they rallied to knock off the No. 13 ranked Ducks, who held a 19-point lead in the first half. The win marked the Bears’ greatest comeback since they trailed Arizona State by 20 in a 95-78 win in 1994. 

The win improves Cal’s record to 17-5 overall and 8-4 in the Pac-10, while Oregon falls to 17-7 and 9-4 in conference. Cal is now in a four-way tie for third place – with Stanford, UCLA and USC – while Oregon falls behind Arizona into second place. 

The Ducks could still be in first if they could have held on their big first-half lead. Guards Luke Jackson and Frederick Jones were thorns in Cal’s side all night, scoring 29 and 23 points, respectively. Jackson and Jones kept bringing the Ducks back almost every time Cal threatened to win the game. 

But in the end, the Ducks’ duo was no match for Tamir and Legans. Tamir scored the first five points of the second overtime period and Legans the next eight to build a 102-95 lead for the Bears. Tamir capped the night with one more free throw and forward Joe Shipp stole the ball from Jones to finally put an end to the Ducks. 

“I’m so happy for our guys,” Cal coach Ben Braun said. “They work so hard. Oregon’s a terrific team. They showed you that. They worked so well in the first half. I give our guys credit because we had to withstand a furious assault from them.” 

Both teams shot well for the game, with Cal shooting 57.1 percent to Oregon’s 55.7 percent. 

Oregon held a 13-point lead at halftime, thanks to lights out shooting mainly from Jackson and Jones. Overall, the Ducks shot 66.7 percent in the first 20 minutes and made 7-of-11 three-point shots in the half. Jackson, a big guard who was a big matchup problem defensively for Cal and Joe Shipp in particular, led the Ducks with 13 points in the half, while Jones had 10. 

“[Jackson] is so effective off at getting off the dribble,” Braun said. “At the same time he gets the shot off, because he’s 6-7. He’s a tough matchup. Freddie Jones is a terrific player. He’s really improved his shooting. He’s so dangerous because he can knock down the three now. When you jam him, he’s an explosive a player as there is, because he can get to the rim as well as anybody in our league.” 

But Cal’s defense held the Ducks to just 42.9 percent shooting in the second half, while the Bears clawed their way back with 62.1 percent shooting. They slowed down Jackson and Jones, at least for a little while, by using different defenders against each and then went on a 23-8 run. Cal made a concerted effort to push the ball up court, which led to some easy baskets including layups for Legans and Shipp. A Ryan Forehan-Kelly three capped the run at the 12:22 mark and gave Cal the lead at 58-56. 

Tamir scored 19 of his points in the second stanza. His 39 points were the fifth-highest total in Cal history and the most since Ed Gray scored 48 points against Washington State in 1998, 

“Amit Tamir has a lot of experience,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “His body has been through a lot of games and he’s a veteran, experienced player that knows how to get it done. If Luke Jackson or Freddie Jones were his age, they would’ve had an easier time with him. Tamir stepped up with some big buckets tonight.” 

“As Oregon was pulling away,” Braun said, “Amit, I thought, very calmly but routinely, took some shots that were there and he made some big plays for us. He seemed to give our team confidence. He and Shantay generated a lot of enthusiasm and made the guys around them better.” 

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, came home to the most gorgeous weather – and the cheeriest group of well-wishers when she and Loni Hancock, a candidate for the state Assembly, appeared at their joint campaign office on Saturday. 

“I could not have wished for a better day to walk the streets of Berkeley,” said Patrick Campbell, a Hancock staffer and former Associated Students of the University of California president, as he exhorted around 40 Hancock and Lee supporters to spend the afternoon going door to door. 

The get out the vote effort was held at the joint Lee-Hancock HQ at 2472 Shattuck Ave. and was planned in coordination with a recent mailer called “the East Bay’s Progressive Team.” 

“This district is very important in terms of progressive politics,” Lee said. “We need to send a message to Sacramento and the rest of the country that we still prefer to build schools over prisons, health care over bombs.” 

“Loni will embrace this in the assembly, just as she has embraced it all her life.” 

Lee is heavily favored over Kevin Green in her 9th district congressional bid. Hancock, on the other hand, faces stiff competition from Charles Ramsey, an El Cerrito attorney and member of the West Contra Costa school board, and Dave Brown, former chief of staff for Alameda County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker. 

“This race is not going to be a slam-dunk,” she said. “I have two very well-funded opponents and only three weeks left (before the March 5 primary).” 

Hancock emphasized her commitment to progressive positions on education, the economy and the environment in a short speech to her troops. 

The County Board of Education and County Office of Education have the responsibility to educate the most at risk students in Alameda County.  

The students are either expelled from local schools or incarcerated. The overwhelming majority of them are African American and Latino.  

This is an awesome task. Yet for years, the County Board of Education refuse to provide Special Education services, used Special Education dollars to support other programs, and maintained a nine percent reserve in the budget, when only three percent is required by the State. The lack of Special Education services to students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) is a gross violation of Federal and State statutes, and worse yet, a violation of the students' civil rights to a free and equal public education. In addition, the use of Special Education funds to support other programs is fraudulent. Clearly, students have not been the focus for the Board. 

In 1999, the County Office of Education administration started to provide Special Education services to students in County programs and schools and comply with the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. 

When I was elected to the County Board of Education District 3 with 62 percent of the vote, my constituents gave me a mandate clamoring for change. 

Therefore, I was determined to have the Board focus on students. But since July 1, 2000, the Board's majority has consistently engaged in petty politics of division and intimidation to squelch any opposition. I am now even more determined to focus the Board on students after eighteen months filled with acrimony and receiving an e-mail message from Jerome Wiggins, Trustee Area 1, expressing his disappointment with my support for his opponent Jacki Fox Ruby. Trustee Area 1 covers Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, and North Oakland. 

The First Amendment grants us freedom of speech and association. We are free to support any political candidate and issue, and belong to any political organization. But Mr. Wiggins, a resident of Berkeley, the cradle of freedom of speech, has resorted to insults and intimidation to stop me from exercising my rights under the First Amendment. Clearly, he is out of touch with the communities he purports to represent. 

As a member of the Metropolitan Greater Oakland Democratic Club, I have been active to gain votes for candidates I support for the March 5 election. Mr. Wiggins may disagree with my support for his opponent, but his uncivil demeanor is unacceptable.  

Enrique E. Palacios 

Trustee, 

Area 3 

Alameda County Board of Education 

Hayward

Today is Monday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2002. There are 323 days left in the year. 

Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 11, 1861, President-elect Lincoln departed Springfield, Ill., for Washington. 

On this date: 

In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his party — giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.” 

In 1847, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. 

In 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City. 

In 1937, a sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union. 

In 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II. 

In 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what had turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. 

In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran. 

In 1989, the Rev. Barbara C. Harris became the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, in a ceremony held in Boston. 

In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity. 

In 1993, President Clinton announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation’s first female attorney general. 

Ten years ago: Secretary of State James A. Baker III, on a tour of six former Soviet republics, visited Armenia, where he heard an appeal from the republic’s president for U.S. help in resolving a bloody feud with neighboring Azerbaijan. 

Five years ago: In a display of bipartisan unity, President Clinton and congressional leaders agreed to focus the new Congress on balancing the budget and other issues ranging from cutting taxes to solving the capital city’s myriad problems. Space shuttle Discovery was launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. 

One year ago: Two space commanders opened the door to Destiny, the American-made science laboratory attached the day before to the international space station. The East NBA All-Stars defeated the West squad, 111-to-110. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh was demolished to clear the way for new separate baseball and football stadiums nearby. 

Today’s Birthdays: Author Sidney Sheldon is 85. Former Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen is 81. Actor Leslie Nielsen is 76. Actor Conrad Janis is 74. Actress Tina Louise is 68. Actor Burt Reynolds is 66. Songwriter Gerry Goffin is 63. Singer Bobby “Boris” Pickett is 62. Bandleader Sergio Mendes is 61. Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Clay is 60. Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is 51. Actor Philip Anglim is 49. Actress Catherine Hickland is 46. Actress Carey Lowell is 41. Singer Sheryl Crow is 40. Actress Jennifer Aniston is 33.

Jean Chen is trying to teach a class about HTML, but there’s a DJ next to her and the music is getting louder by the second. Chen ignores the intrusion until her students can no longer hear her voice. "Could you please turn it down,” she shouts and then, without missing a beat, turns back toward her class of five teenagers.  

Surrounded by wall murals, the teens sit at a square table snacking on peanut butter sandwiches and cups of soup. Chen, dressed in baggy jeans and a t-shirt like her students, explains to them what the different HTML codes mean.  

“What do you mean, ‘a table within a table’?” asks a student. Chen draws it on a piece of paper and the student gets it.  

This is a typical afternoon at the Youth Radio headquarters where Chen trains students in Web site development. Before the dot.com bust, she worked at snowball.com putting together a teen Web site. “Here I have direct interaction with teens,” she said. “At snowball, interaction felt almost manufactured.”  

The Web design program is based on the radio classes where students go through a 10-week training program and learn how to report, write and produce their own radio shows. The only difference is that during this 10-week period, the students in Chen’s class learn how to create web pages.  

On a recent Thursday, the students were in their third week of design class, and the Web pages were simple. One showed a picture of the group, the team logo and a few links to favorite Web sites.”They’ve just started, give them some time,” Chen said. 

Once they graduate from the Web design or radio program, Cari Campbell, the DJ, Web radio and digital audio instructor, teaches the students studio techniques and how to record music onto a computer to be put on the web.  

The Web radio shows were started to absorb many of the 800 or so graduates of Youth Radio who wanted two things: to stay at the station and more music.  

Web radio was the answer and has been a part of the organization since July of 2001. Web radio allows for more students’ voices to be heard. The Youth Radio programs air about 5 hours a week total on KZQZ ,KQED, KCBS AND KPFB. 

“With the Web we always have an outlet,” Chen said. “No matter what, you can get your stuff out there.”  

Before they are able to record, students write a proposal outlining the type of  

Web show they want to produce. 

“It makes them think ‘what is my show all about?’” Campbell said.  

The students’ shows range from world music to the all-Michael-Jackson mix.  

The projects for the last class can be viewed at http://www.youthradio.org/webradio/index.shtml. 

When the students have recorded the show on the computer, they edit it together with Campbell, and once it’s finished it is put on the Web. The 30-minute shows stay up on the Web site for as long as possible. “People’s shows stay up until a new thing takes its place,” Campbell said. 

Web radio is now having the students record their own talk shows, where topics range from cell phones to relationships. 

“It’s like a round table,” Campbell said. “They have a topic. They write their show and they talk about it.” 

Eventually, Youth Radio would like to begin live streaming of their shows on the Internet, where listeners can log in and hear live broadcasts of shows, which is currently not being done. Broadcasting live, however, is expensive. “Mainly it’s about getting someone to donate the live servers,” Campbell said. “You need a connection of servers throughout the United States.” 

For Beverly Mire, Youth Radio Deputy Director, the most important thing is that the kids are enjoying it. 

“The kids are totally into it,” Mire said. “It will be one of my dreams for Web radio to be on the air live.”  

BERLIN — Marlene Dietrich was not the femme fatale she played in her films, but was an emotionally distant woman and a harsh disciplinarian with her only child, her grandson said Sunday. 

Yet this is not the side of the German-born actress and singer that her grandson, director J. David Riva, chose to explore in a documentary. 

“Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Story” focuses on her hatred of the Nazis and her passion for the Allied effort to defeat Hitler’s Third Reich. 

Germans have long seen Dietrich, who died in 1992, as a symbol of resistance to Hitler — or a traitor. 

A star in pre-Nazi Germany, the beautiful blonde whose father was a Prussian general symbolized the Nazi ideal of the “Aryan” woman. Her decision to become a U.S. citizen and work in Hollywood after the Nazis took power in 1933 was a blow to Hitler and his propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. 

Riva, 40, said he culled World War II footage of Dietrich to make a film he hopes will give a fuller picture, especially to Americans. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A strange relationship between a man and four women he lived with has been marred by tragedy. The five adults face a Monday arraignment on charges related to an infant’s death and the mistreatment of their 12 other children. 

Winifred Wright, 45, Carol Bremner, Mary Campbell, 37, Deirdre Wilson, 37, and Kali Polk-Matthews, 20, were arrested Friday for the November death of a 19-month-old baby. 

The 12 other children, ranging in age from 8-months to 16-years-old, were found malnourished at the Marinwood home. A majority of them suffered from rickets, said Marin County Sheriff’s detective Fred Marziano, lead investigator on the case. 

Wright, Bremner, Campbell and Wilson each face one count of second-degree murder and multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Polk-Matthews faces one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of child endangerment, Marziano said. 

Police began investigating the large family in November after four women brought a baby to Kaiser Hospital in San Rafael, where he died from “severe malnutrition and neglect,” according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Department. Test confirmed that Wright had fathered all 13 children with Bremner, Campbell and Wilson, Marziano said. 

University of California Berkeley student Woody Hartman’s tic-tac-toe skills will be tested when he matriculates to Hollywood Squares as a contestant, beginning Tuesday, February 19.  

The nationally syndicated Squares can be seen locally each Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. on San Francisco station KPIX-TV (CBS). 

Hartman, a mechanical engineering major, participates in the University of California Rally Committee and is a member of the Associated Students of the University of California. In addition to his studies, Hartman enjoys snowboarding, camping, hiking and film making. 

The participating student contestants recently traveled to Hollywood’s CBS Television City to play the popular game, where each was paired off to compete against a student from a rival university.  

“Talking to the stars was the most rewarding thing about my Hollywood Squares experience," said Hartman. When it came to preparing for the fast-paced game, the UC Berkeley student noted, “I watched the show as much as possible and studied tic-tac-toe strategies.”

LOS ANGELES — Jakks Pacific Inc., which makes World Wrestling Federation action figures, is buying Toymax International, Inc., which makes kites, water toys and other products. 

Based on the number of Toymax shares outstanding on Sept. 30, 2001, the deal is valued at $54.7 million in cash and stock. 

The two-step transaction will give Jakks control of the company by the end of February, when Jakks acquires approximately 64 percent of Toymax’s outstanding shares from the company’s principal stockholders. 

Jakks will pay $3 per share in cash and the remainder in shares valued at $1.50 each. 

Toymax will become a wholly owned subsidiary in the second quarter of 2002, when the remaining shares are acquired. 

Jakks said it will trim some of Toymax’s products, but said no immediate layoffs are planned. 

Jakks has been growing steadily since it was founded in Malibu in 1995. Earlier this year, it bought Kidz Biz Ltd., a toy distributor based in the United Kingdom, for an undisclosed price, as the first step in a planned European expansion. 

The company’s highest-profile products are the dolls based on WWF personalities such as “The Rock.” But it also makes Remco die-cast vehicles and Child Guidance educational toys. 

Jakks’s Flying Colors division, which makes crafts and activity sets, just signed a deal with Miramax to make memo pads, portfolio folders, theme books and other products for “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams,” the sequel to last year’s successful “Spy Kids” movie. 

“We are still aggressively seeking new acquisitions,” Stephen Berman, Jakks Pacific president, said Sunday. “We hope that within the next three years, we will be a $1 billion company in terms of revenue.” 

Toymax makes “Go Fly a Kite” brand kites, Funnoodle pool and water toys and accessories, and markets toys such as “Creepy Crawlers” under the Toymax brand. Shares of Jakks were up $1.27 to $18.80 and shares of Toymax were up 43 cents to $3.05 at the end of regular trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. 

Hours after Governor Gray Davis released an advertisement slamming Richard Riordan, the GOP front runner in the gubernatorial race, for his shifting views on abortion issues, Riordan launched a counterattack of his own. 

“Enron’s Favorite Governor, Gray Davis,” Riordan said last Monday, calling for Davis to return the more than $15,000 accepted from Enron between 1996 and 2000.  

But many are still talking about Davis’ television ad, which broadcast segments of a 1991 Riordan interview, in which the former Los Angeles mayor told a reporter that he agreed with the Catholic Church’s stance on abortion.  

“Being fairly liberal-minded, I surprise myself at my emotions on the abortion issue,” Riordan said during the interview. “Because I feel very—I think it’s murder.” 

Some say he has already lost support among women voters. Female leaders gathered in Sacramento on Monday to question him about his stance on abortion. Riordan and his campaign staff insist that he is pro-choice, regardless of his personal views. Carolina Guevera, deputy director of communications of Riordan For Governor, yesterday called Davis’ ads “a carefully orchestrated attack.”  

She said Davis knows Riordan has won over people who usually support Democrats. 

“That conversation was over 10 years ago,” Guevera said of Riordan’s statement on abortion. “It was taken out of context. The mayor (was) expressing his views as a Catholic.” 

She said Davis’ early attack—a month before Riordan faces challengers Bill Jones and Bill Simon in the March 5 primary election—shows that the governor considers Riordan a strong threat.  

Guevera also said Davis is trying to distract Californians from unemployment rates, the deficit, and campaign contributions from Enron. 

But Roger Salazar, Davis’ press secretary, said the advertisement is merely a way to provide voters with the facts. 

“People should know what he has said,” Salazar said. “And whether his rhetoric now matches that.” 

Last month Davis released another advertisement attacking Riordan, which detailed thousands of dollars in contributions that Riordan made to anti-abortion groups. For example, he gave $10,000 to Americans United for Life, a group devoted to making abortion illegal. 

“Abortion is a violent deception that results in two victims: the child whose life is destroyed, and the woman who suffers devastating physical and psychological harm,” the group’s Web site reads. 

Davis supporters say Riordan has flip-flopped on death penalty and minimum wage laws as well. 

“There are a whole range of issues in which he’s changed his mind, or he’s just saying what he’s saying to get elected,” Salazar said. “Or maybe he’s just lost his marbles.”  

Riordan is one of many California Republicans who have struggled with the abortion issue.  

In California, a predominantly pro-choice state with the highest abortion rate in the nation, many anti-abortion Republicans now avoid discussing their beliefs This worries pro-choice activists. 

“We’re not in a position where we can comment on Riordan’s views,” Dunlap said. “We don’t have a record from him. He considers himself pro-choice, but there is documented proof of him donating to pro-life groups.” 

The group endorsed Governor Davis. Riordan is not considered “100 percent” pro-choice.  

Belle Taylor-McGhee, the executive director of CARRAL, said many candidates claim they oppose abortion, but promise to uphold the law if elected.  

“Our position is to make sure they don’t get that opportunity,” she said. 

SANTA CLARA — Digital photography is constantly improving, allowing, for instance, 3-megapixel cameras to drop in price from $1000 a year ago to under $500 today. 

Now Santa Clara-based Foveon Inc. hopes to shake up the digital camera industry with a new kind of image-sensing chip it claims could double the quality of pictures at either the same cost or less for camera makers. 

Foveon will announce Monday that its new X3 image sensors captures true colors as never before. 

If the breakthrough technology is ever widely used in products, analysts say consumers could one day see higher-performance cameras without paying more. 

The chip achieves a technological “holy grail in digital photography,” said Alexis Gerard, president of Future Image Inc., a digital imaging research consulting firm in San Mateo. “And it will simplify the design of digital cameras which will reduce their costs.” 

For the past few years, the camera industry has been racing to achieve higher pixels, which translates to sharper pictures. The highest-pixel point-and-shoot cameras are now at 5 megapixels. 

But until now, image sensors inside the cameras can only partially capture the three primary colors — red, green and blue. Except for high-end professional cameras which use multiple chips to carry out the task of achieving true-color capture, most digital cameras resort to using software to help it extrapolate the colors for the picture. 

Foveon claims its X3 technology attains higher quality for each pixel itself by capturing the three primary colors completely and all at once. It does so by stacking three photodetectors in the silicon at each pixel. 

Foveon’s first camera-maker customer will be Sigma Corporation, which will use the X3 chip in one of its professional camera models, due to be introduced later this month. 

But some analysts question whether the major camera manufacturers, such as Sony, Olympus, Nikon, Canon and Fuji, will want to invest in Foveon’s new technology. 

“Competitive market pressure will impede the penetration of the product,” said Chris Chute, a senior analyst of the digital imaging industry for the International Data Group market research firm. 

Camera makers are constantly churning out new models, and changing chip technologies will slow the production process, Chute said. 

The San Francisco Airport Commission wants the Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution that authorizes the $19.3 million purchase of several explosive detection systems to improve the airport’s security.  

The money is coming from the city, but will be reimbursed by the federal government. 

Board president Supervisor Tom Ammiano said the resolution to spend the funds should take only a couple of weeks to approve. The airport has four CTX-9000 explosive detection systems in place now. These were purchased in May 2000, under a similar arrangement between the city and the federal government.  

The new machines will be in place by the end of the year.  

“It will take a minimum of six months to purchase and build, and then several more months to install, put on line and test,” said Ron Wilson, an airport spokesperson.  

Unlike the existing Stage 1 x-ray machines, which scan like a two-dimension x-ray, the new machine will automatically evaluate each bag for the presence of explosives and provide a more detailed x-ray.  

The machines comply with the increased security measures called for in the newly enacted Aviation and Transportation Security Act.  

“The reimbursement agreement for eleven additional CTX systems at SFO will allow SFO to meet 100 percent of the screening needs of all airlines operating at the international terminal, both present and in the future,” according to a letter written November 29, 2001 by Airport Director, John L. Martin. “This will allow the Airport to utilize 100 percent three dimensional CTX scanning in the new terminal.”  

San Francisco International Airport experienced a breach in security on Wednesday, January 30, when a rookie checkpoint screener’s mistake shut down the United’s terminal for approximately an hour and caused the evacuation of thousands of travelers. In that instance, an explosive trace detector was used to identify the presence of explosive materials, but due to lack of training, the screener failed to report the security breach quickly.  

In theory, scenes like that will be rare once the new machines are installed, Wilson said. “By the time the machines are installed, security screening will be managed by the Federal government,” he wrote in an email responding to questions. “They will be responsible for the training and hiring of screening personnel.”  

Question: 

I moved out of my apartment last month after living there almost three years. My roommate – who also signed the lease – stayed and found someone to replace me. Although the landlord has approved of my replacement, he refuses to take my name off the lease and put the new person on. Am I still responsible for rent if the new person fails to pay? Doesn’t the landlord have to put the new person’s name on the lease? 

Answer: 

If the lease you refer to is the one you signed three years ago, and assuming it is for the typical one-year term, it has converted to a month-to-month rental agreement. This means once you give your landlord 30 days’ notice that you’re moving, you are free from your obligation to pay rent when the 30 days are up, even if you are still named on the original lease. If the landlord accepts rent directly from the new person, she has gained all rights and assumed all obligations under the rental agreement, even if she is not acknowledged as a tenant in an amendment to the agreement. 

However, if you signed annual leases each year, then you remain liable (with your roommate) for rent payments until the lease ends. By approving a replacement, your landlord has agreed to either a sublease or an assignment of the lease. Under a sublease, your replacement is a subtenant who pays her share of rent to you or your roommate; but you remain responsible for paying the full rent to the landlord, even if the subtenant doesn’t pay you. Under an assignment, you have given the new person all your rights to live in the apartment for the rest of the lease term. Your replacement will pay rent directly to the landlord, but unless the landlord releases you in writing (which effectively takes you off the lease), you are still liable for rent if she defaults.  

Question: 

I’ve been paying rent to my landlord by check since I began renting from her two years ago. Yesterday my landlord called to tell me that she wants me to start paying rent with a cashier’s check, even though I’ve never bounced a check. She says she has had problems with other tenants’ checks so she wants everyone to pay the same way. Can she require this of me? 

Answer: 

It depends. In Berkeley, a landlord cannot make a substantial change in the terms of a lease or rental agreement, so if your agreement allows for rent to be paid by personal check, the landlord cannot change that provision. But if your agreement requires payment by cashier’s check, the landlord may be able to enforce the original terms of the agreement. 

You can e-mail the City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board at rent@ci. berkeley.ca.us with your questions, or you can call or visit the office at 2125 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA. 94704.

Experience or new blood? That was the question at the heart of a debate on Proposition 45 in Professor Alan Ross’s “Election 2002” class at UC Berkeley Wednesday. 

The measure on the March 5 ballot would allow termed-out state legislators to seek four more years in office if a number of voters in their district, equivalent to 20 percent of those who voted in the last general election, sign a petition to get the incumbent on the ballot. 

Members of the state Assembly are now limited to three, two-year terms and state senators are limited to two, four-year terms. 

Mary Bergan, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which is supporting Prop. 45, said the measure is important because it would create a more seasoned legislature. 

“Just as in teaching, we think that in legislating, experience counts,” said Bergan. “We have, in many ways, a real revolving door in Sacramento. 

“(The state legislature) deals with a lot of very, very complex issues,” she continued. “They’re not mastered overnight.” 

But Dan Schnur, a political science professor at UC Berkeley and spokesman for the “No on 45” campaign, said the measure is simply designed to prolong the careers of out-of-touch career politicians. 

“A career politician can’t understand, like a citizen politician can understand, the wants and needs and dreams of ordinary people,” he said, arguing that the legislature benefits from a regular influx of community activists and businesspeople with recent, “real life” experience. 

Schnur cautioned that, if voters pass Proposition 45, politicians will only seek further term extensions. 

“They’re asking for four years,” he said. “But do you think someone who’s been in office since 1964 is going to say, ‘thanks for the four years, I’m going home to find a regular job?’ ” 

According to a Field Poll released last week, only 19 percent of California voters said they had heard anything about Proposition 45. 

When they were read the measure, 52 percent supported it and 37 percent opposed. But when they were told that Proposition 45 might cost California counties several hundred thousand dollars to implement, the numbers changed dramatically. Only 40 percent supported and 45 percent opposed. 

The Field Poll also recorded continued support for the concept of term limits, first enacted in California in 1990. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they like the idea of term limits, with 31 percent opposed. 

After the debate, Schnur said public support for term limits will work in his favor, but acknowledged that a massive fund-raising deficit could work against the “No on 45” campaign. 

“If we only get outspent four to one, we can beat this thing,” he said. “If we get outspent seven or eight to one, it’s going to be tough.” 

According to the latest figures available from the state, proponents of Proposition 45 have a multi-million dollar advantage, and are outspending the opposition by well over the eight to one ratio cited by Schnur. 

Charles Ramsey, running for the 14th District state Assembly seat to replace termed-out legislator Dion Aroner, said he supports Proposition 45. 

“I think term limits have been a disaster for the citizens of California,” he said, arguing that veteran lobbyists know more about the ins and outs of the legislature than representatives. 

But Schnur argued that when both legislators and lobbyists have been around for a long time, they tend to develop cozy relationships. 

“People who find that a compelling argument can vote people out,” said Loni Hancock, another candidate for state Assembly who supports Proposition 45. “Now, you have a situation where legislators are learning on the job and lobbyists are the ones with the institutional memory.” 

Dave Brown, the third candidate for Aroner’s seat, also supports the ballot measure, arguing that it may represent “the best of both worlds.”  

With more terms, Brown noted, a legislator could serve 10 years in the Assembly and 12 years in the Senate, for a full 22 years in office, creating a number of legislators with extensive experience. 

At the same time, he argued, there would be a consistent flow of new voices into the chamber.

Stop! or I’ll dry you 

PENSACOLA, Fla. — A school crossing guard last year discovered he could slow down speeders by taking aim at them with a hair dryer resembling a radar gun. 

Now, he’s got the real thing. 

Six fifth-grade students at Suter Elementary School sold lemonade and collected donations to raise $93.93 for the radar gun that they presented to Dale Rooks on Monday. 

“It looks just like a hair dryer, and I don’t mean that to be funny,” Rooks said. 

Rooks still cannot write tickets, but he can tip police to any habitual speeder he identifies with the radar gun, police Capt. John Mathis said. 

“We’d try to assist in actually clocking that individual,” Mathis said. “Any effort he can do to assist us is certainly welcome.” 

Not a lucky day for 

one lottery thief 

LITTLE FERRY, N.J. — A man who allegedly stole dozens of lottery tickets from a Little Ferry store was captured several hours later when he tried to cash in a winning ticket at another local business. 

Tyrone Bennett, 39, of Paterson, allegedly took the tickets from the Village Market store on Saturday after he used a rock to break a window. Investigators recorded the serial numbers of the stolen tickets and alerted state lottery officials about the theft. 

Several hours later, Bennett allegedly brought the winning ticket to another unidentified store and tried to claim a $12 prize. 

The store’s lottery computer recognized the stolen ticket and told the clerk not to pay the money. The clerk, though, asked Bennett to fill out a claim form and he complied, listing a local address where he was staying. 

Bennett was arrested within the hour and charged with theft, burglary and possession of stolen property. 

Spelling lesson 

MADRID, Spain — The government couldn’t help but chuckle last week when students opposed to reforms aimed at raising education standards released a flier calling for demonstrations with a glaring spelling mistake. Now it’s the government’s turn to blush. 

A letter written in Catalan, signed by Environment Minister Jaume Matas and sent to tens of thousands of homes in northeastern Spain, contained 13 spelling errors and two geographical errors. 

The letter defends a controversial hydrological project in which water is to be diverted from the Ebro River, which flows through the Aragon and Catalonia regions, to the Mediterranean coast. 

Education and Culture Minister Pilar del Castillo, the architect of the education overhaul, reacted to the flier by saying, “Students who call demonstrations are the ones who get the worst grades.” She has said repeatedly in recent days that Spain’s schools are churning out uneducated young people. 

Responding to minister Matas’ multiple slip-ups, a Socialist Party leader in Catalonia, Jaume Antich, said: “Are you trying to prove Pilar del Castillo right when she talks about low cultural levels? In view of this letter, I don’t know if you’d pass the exam she wants to reinstate.” 

——— 

STUART, Fla. (AP) — A jury has awarded $50,000 to a couple who sued officials in the town of Sewall’s Point for displaying a picture of their house at City Hall with the words: “Our view of the hillbilly hellhole.” 

Residents Blaine and Sally Rhodes had asked jurors to award them more than $15,000 in the defamation lawsuit against Mayor Don Winer and clerk Joan Barrow. 

The suit claims Winer and Barrow ridiculed and harassed the Rhodeses and invaded their privacy by displaying an 8-by-10 photo of their house, given to the officials for Christmas in 1998. 

The photograph of the back of the Rhodes house showed a damaged floating dock hanging from a tree. 

“It’s a great burden off my shoulders,” Blaine Rhodes told television station WPTV. Government officials “have to be held accountable for their actions, just like you and me.” 

The Rhodeses’ neighbor, Jann Levin, took the photograph and wrote the caption. She has reached an undisclosed settlement with the couple. 

Michael Piper, attorney for Sewall’s Point, said the caption was “a classic statement of opinion, and opinion is not defamation.” 

A missing heart 

CORAZON, N.M. — The U.S. Census Bureau has missed a lonely heart in northeastern New Mexico. 

The bureau reported in February that there were only four communities in the nation with the word “heart” in their names. 

Corazon wasn’t on the list. 

Corazon — Spanish for “heart” — is in San Miguel County, about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas. 

But there isn’t much left of the community — mostly rubble and old wooden rafters. 

A book called “The Place Names of New Mexico” says Corazon had a post office from 1903 to 1909. 

“People in Las Vegas have heard about the ruins out there, but they don’t talk a lot about it,” said Gus Pacheco, an area resident. “And there are fewer and fewer old-timers around here. We have a funeral almost every month.” 

For the record, the four “heart” places listed by the bureau were Heart Butte, Mont.; Sacred Heart, Minn.; South Heart, N.D.; and Heartwell, Neb. 

Get the public out on their porches 

ERIE, Pa. — Fences may make good neighbors, but a city councilman says front porches make better neighborhoods. 

Jim Casey wants Erie to study whether the city should require all new homes to be built with front porches. 

“The public today, they’re all withdrawing into their homes because of television, computers and all these other sophisticated mechanisms we have,” Casey said. “We need to get out and meet our neighbors. If porches can help us get back to that good quality of living, then good.” 

Homes with porches look nicer and encourage neighbors to interact, Casey said. 

Erie’s City Council is expected to consider the idea Wednesday. 

One Erie builder called Casey’s idea “off-the-wall.” 

“We have enough regulations as it is,” said Charles Buckeye of Buckeye Builders. 

Porches should be a homeowner’s choice, he said, adding that each owner’s lifestyle is different.  

He’s got a porch, he said, but when he finds the time to sit down, it’s usually in the backyard. 

——— 

LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — It’s not your ordinary lawn ornament. 

Since 1947, Henry Marek has kept a World War I-era cannon in his front yard. 

Marek obtained the cannon in 1942 for $25 as scrap from the Work Projects Administration. Over the years it has become a Mason County landmark. 

But a Defense Department worker happened to notice the cannon last week, knocked on Marek’s door and told him that the cannon is government property. That means it could be seized and destroyed. 

That’s when Marek brought out his heavy gun — U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who has ridiculed the government’s sudden interest in the weaponry. 

“This cannon has been in the community for more than 50 years without a problem,” Hoekstra said Monday in a news release. “And the only problems surrounding this cannon now are being caused by the government.” 

Hoekstra said the cannon’s breech was welded shut and its barrel was cut, making it unusable as a weapon. His office contacted the Defense Department and expects a quick resolution to the matter. 

“At a time when the Defense Department is fighting a war against terrorism, it seems strange they would want to fight Mr. Marek over an 80-plus-year-old cannon that was long-ago disabled,” he said. 

——— 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Take that, Osama bin Laden. 

A bill introduced Monday in the Minnesota House would put bin Laden’s image on a state lottery scratch-off ticket. Players would discover any winnings by scratching off “and thus obliterating,” as the bill notes, bin Laden’s face. 

Sixty percent of the proceeds — the maximum allowed under the state Constitution — would go to anti-terrorism efforts. 

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Rich Stanek, is a Minneapolis police officer who also is pushing for a broad new state security plan. It has a price tag of $25 million to pay for training and equipment, although a state budget deficit has made funding scarce. 

Stanek said he’s gotten nothing but positive reactions to the bill. 

“Can you imagine the guys sitting in the American Legion, how they’ll respond?” asked Stanek. “They might go out and buy 100 tickets.” 

If the bin Laden idea falls through, Stanek said he still wants a themed lottery ticket. Like what? “Three cruise missiles is a winner. I don’t care.” 

BEIJING — The Chinese-speaking world ushered in the lunar Year of the Horse with dancing dragons, caroling soldiers and all-night fireworks barrages. 

As midnight on Monday approached — and with it the year 2002 by the traditional lunar calendar — the growing crescendo of fireworks explosions in Beijing sounded like the unbroken roar of a jet engine. 

The night sky burst with red, yellow and green as residents set off private displays all over the capital, ignoring a ban that outlawed fireworks in all but a few public places. 

The celebrations picked up again Tuesday morning. In Longtan Park on Beijing’s south side, thousands beat drums and gongs while watching lines of red and blue-dressed dragon dancers. 

On Monday night, China’s leaders formally celebrated in the Soviet-style Great Hall of the People in Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square. The hall was decked in bright red — the traditional color of celebration and of the Communist Party. 

Menfro soil is salt of the earth 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — State Sen. David Klindt considers himself a down-to-earth type of guy. So much so that he thinks Missouri should have an official state soil. 

As a House member a couple of years ago, Klindt sponsored legislation to designate a variety of dirt called “Menfro soil” as Missouri’s official soil. The bill never came to a vote then, but on Thursday his proposal went before a Senate committee. “Menfro soil is one of the more widely known soils in the state,” said Klindt, a farmer from northwest Missouri. “In fact, the state Capitol sits on it, and it runs along the Missouri River bluffs.” Menfro is a deep, well-drained, moderately permeable soil found along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and their major tributaries.  

Great Olympic rip-off 

SALT LAKE CITY — If you’re going to the Winter Olympics, bring a warm coat — preferably with deep pockets. 

With the games opening Friday, prices in downtown Salt Lake City are soaring like an Olympian off the 90-meter ski jump. A pint of beer almost doubled to $6.25 at the Port ’O Call restaurant. A downtown parking garage is boosting its day rate to $30, from $5. And dinner specials at the Metropolitan are $95 a person — triple what its most expensive entree used to cost. “It’s called Olympic greed,” said Michael Taylor, who runs the garage, located two blocks from the Salt Lake Ice Center. “It’s all about making money.” While Olympic organizers have discouraged price gouging, Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce President Larry Mankin makes no apology for the dramatic markups. 

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by success in Afghanistan, some lawmakers are beating the drum for quick action to get rid of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. They take a different view of other nations singled out by President Bush as trouble. 

Saddam should be removed, and soon, of Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said Sunday. “He is a time bomb.” 

An Iranian official, speaking for a government also labeled part of an “axis of evil” by Bush, bristled at the president’s threatening language but pledged cooperation in keeping al-Qaida terrorists out of his country. 

“What we have experienced in the past couple of weeks has been a great deal of U.S. rhetoric, outright animosity and hostility, that has been put by various U.S. officials against my country,” Javad Zarif, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for international affairs, said on “Fox News Sunday.” 

But he said al-Qaida terrorists are “enemies” of Iran and if any are found in his country, “we will return them to their own countries or to the government of Afghanistan.” 

Bush’s State of the Union speech, lumping Iran, Iraq and North Korea together as an axis threatening international security, continues to resonate — through Congress and around the world — almost two weeks after its delivery. 

North Korea called off a visit by a group of former U.S. ambassadors in reaction to Bush’s harsh words, two members of that unofficial delegation said on the weekend. 

The trip had been arranged at North Korea’s invitation as a way to expand informal dialogue. 

Lieberman, like many in Congress and apparently Bush himself, does not think all three “axis” countries pose equal threats or deserve the same response. There are “different gradations” of what the United States should do, the senator said. 

North Korea can be dealt with diplomatically, the Iranians “need us to be very tough” and in Iraq, Saddam can’t remain in power, he said. 

“We know that he has the means or the motivation to do us harm,” Lieberman said. “We know that he has weapons, chemical and biological weapons. We have reason to believe he is developing nuclear weapons.” 

Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, agreed, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Saddam was an “evil force.” But he cautioned that the focus should remain on terrorism; otherwise America might lose coalition allies.