Full Text

A welder works on the new "Milvia Buildings" at Berkeley High School.
A welder works on the new "Milvia Buildings" at Berkeley High School.
 

News

School construction delayed five months

David Scharfenberg
Tuesday September 17, 2002

Construction of the $34 million Milvia Buildings at Berkeley High School is five months behind schedule and at least one of the two structures will probably not open by next school year, district officials said. 

“We’ve been struggling with trying to maintain the schedule,” said Lew Jones, manager of facilities planning for the Berkeley Unified School District. 

Last year the project was set back when crews discovered an old PG&E storage tank, among other problems, while digging. Delays in the delivery of steel also slowed progress, he said. 

The district and the contractor, Arntz Builders of Novato, will push to open the northern building, which will house administrative offices, a cafeteria, a new library and five classrooms, by the start of next school next year, Jones said. 

But the southern building, including a new pool, dance studio, two basketball courts and a locker room, will likely open a month later, in October, he said. That won’t be a problem because the high school already has a pool and gym. 

Construction of the two new buildings on Milvia Street on the east end of campus began in February 2001 and was slated for completion in April 2003. 

Deborah Palmer, project manager for Arntz Builders, said the steel supplier, Roscoe Steel of Billings, Mont., is not to blame for the delivery delays that have held up the project.  

At the heart of the problem, Palmer said, were flaws in building plans by ELS Architecture and Urban Design of Berkeley that forced Berkeley Unified to alter its steel orders. 

Ed Noland, associate principle of ELS, said the steel issues emerged after the state’s Department of the Architect called for a stronger building. The state’s input was a “valuable process” that will ultimately ensure the safety of Berkeley High students, Noland said. 

Parents advising the district on construction said they have been pleased with the progress of the project. 

“Things are going smoothly,” said Bruce Wicinas, a member of the Citizens’ Construction Advisory Committee, noting that the project has sparked an interest in architecture and building among students. 

Bill Savidge of the Site Facilities Committee said his group is “totally excited” about the project and praised school officials for working well with parents. But, he said, last year the district was distracted by pressing issues like accreditation at Berkeley High, and did not focus sharply on the facilities.  

The parent committee, Savidge said, is pushing the district to clarify its food services plan for the new cafeteria and take a hard look at its budget for furniture in the library and common areas. 

“They have a really limited budget for furnishings,” Savidge said. 

Jones said there is probably enough money to pay for the furniture. But, he added, high school administrators, who must decide exactly how much they want to spend, have not yet come up with a figure.  

The district has several other high school construction projects in the pipeline, including a revamp of the gymnasium, an upgrade of the warm water pool and a transformation of the space formerly occupied by Berkeley High’s “B” Building, which burned down in April 2000. 

The “B” Building space is covered with asphalt and community members are pushing for a green space in its place. 

Jones said a green space is likely but said that all the projects in the pipeline are on hold until the district finishes building the Milvia Buildings. Then it must assess its construction budget and space needs at Berkeley High. 

The district has spent $50,000 on a facilities study that will analyze its space needs districtwide. Jones said he hopes to present a report at the Board of Education’s Sept. 25 or Oct. 9 meeting. 

Savidge said space allocation throughout campus could be complicated by Berkeley High’s plan to shift to a series of schools-within-a-school in fall 2003. 


Let's move past Sept. 11

Arthur B. Waugh
Tuesday September 17, 2002

To the Editor: 

The Patriot Act has been widely condemned by plenty of main streamers. In fact I am surprised it took Berkeley so long. 

Congratulations are in order. In as much as we don’t live in New York I hope we can say we have fully honored those who died and can now get on with our lives. It was not another Pearl Harbor. We are lucky the fatalities were so small, especially compared with worldwide mortalities from starvation and diseases.  

I fail to see the connection between suicide bombers and the Islamic religion just as I see no relation between pro-lifers who bomb clinics and Christianity. I am astonished that there are those in the world who would attack academics in general for asking about the cause of the bombers’ hatred. If one has cancer surely one can ask a physician where it came from.  

 

Arthur B. Waugh 

Berkeley


Local Olympic cyclist races with Armstrong in SF

M. Nicole Nazzaro
Tuesday September 17, 2002

 

Dylan Casey’s first serious bike wasn’t meant for racing.  

It was an old Cannondale, bought from a friend for $100 when he needed to get around UC Santa Barbara back in 1991.  

It was quite different from the Trek 5700 he rode on Sunday as a member of the U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team at the 109-mile San Francisco Grand Prix road race. Yes, the U.S. Postal Service team – the team with Lance Armstrong on it. 

Casey, a Berkeley native who currently splits his time between Mountain View and Gerona, Spain, rode alongside Armstrong as a team domestique – a specialist rider who chases down breakaways in a race and helps team leaders to conserve as much energy as possible in the early stages of the race. On this day, Casey’s trademark yellow shoes could be seen late into the race, as he protected team leaders Armstrong and George Hincapie, the event’s defending champion. 

Casey, who moved to Walnut Creek with his family when he was 12, has ridden with the USPS team during his professional career. He is a two-time national time trial champion (1998 and 2002), and won a third national championship in 1998 in the individual pursuit, a track race in which two riders compete against each other, starting from opposite sides of the track. His two 1998 championships gained the attention of USPS team managers, who were assembling what has become the most formidable men’s cycling squad in the world. 

And although he may be better known for his domestic cycling feats – including a stint on the U.S. Olympic team in the track racing event – Casey has also made his presence known abroad. Among his best results in Europe, home to the most competitive races in men’s world-class cycling, was a stage win in the 2000 Tour of Luxembourg. 

It’s a long way from Wildcat Canyon to Gerona. But for the down-to-earth Casey, who looks like he could be your kid brother, it’s all in a day’s work for Postal.  

“Ah, it’s just a plane ride,” he says, smiling. 

Sometimes he takes that literally. One day last month, after a snafu with an airline that delayed him in Europe then lost his luggage, Casey landed in Chicago at 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday, raced a criterium at 4 p.m., then flew back to Europe, landing in Brussels on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday he started the five-day Tour of Holland, finishing ninth overall. 

You can’t interview a USPS rider without asking The Lance Question. What’s it like to ride with a guy who will probably be talked about as the greatest cyclist ever?  

“When you’re around Lance, he seems like an ordinary, everyday guy,” Casey says. “He’s fair, he’s very honest. He knows how to bring out the best in his teammates and friends. And Lance has a certain work ethic and a vigor for life and for cycling. He exudes this aura of confidence and vitality, and that seeps into all of us.” 

Teammate Kenny Labbe says that Casey’s status as a world-class time trialist contributes greatly to a team effort in a road race like the SF Grand Prix. “Dylan’s specialty is short-distance time trials,” he says. “He’s one of the best riders in the world at the 20-30 minute distance. That skill, translated to teamwork, is very valuable. We can put Dylan at the front [of the race] to make the other guys work harder.” 

On Sunday, Casey was strongest in the final two laps of the large 10-mile circuit that makes up most of the SF Grand Prix course. At the same time that Casey protected, Hincapie attacked. He pulled away from the field just past the 3:30 mark, at one point leading by over 30 seconds. But hampered by an injury he suffered at the Clasica San Sebastian in Spain last month, Hincapie eventually pulled back, finishing 15th. Postal teammates Armstrong and Vjatcheslav Ekimov, an Olympic gold medalist and Tour de France rider, stayed with the lead pack until the final furious sprint on the Embarcadero. 7UP/Nutrafig’s Charles Dionne, an irrepressible 22-year-old native of Quebec, won the race. Ekimov finished fourth and Armstrong sixth. The top seven riders were all timed in 4:18:49. 

“It went really well,” Casey said of his race as he walked his bike back to the team truck. “I did my job well, and I rode a lot better than I think people expected me to ride.” Indeed. In a race that’s been dubbed “the toughest bike race in America” because of its inhumanly steep climbs on Fillmore and Taylor Streets, Casey finished 33rd of 132 starters, less than five minutes under the lead pack. 

Lance Armstrong made a press room of toughened pros laugh Sunday when asked what strengths Casey brings to the Postal squad. 

“Dylan is our high-tech analyst on the team – he gives us a lot of feedback on things like MP3 players and espresso makers,” Armstrong said. “I heard he took the guys out on a local ride the other day and made ‘em suffer.”  

A hint of a playful smirk crept across Armstrong’s face as he added his closing salvo.  

“Maybe that’s why we didn’t win today.”


Calendar of Community Events

Tuesday September 17, 2002

Tuesday, September 17 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support Group 

Arthritis Foundation - “Easy and Fun Things To Do In The Water” 

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Video presentation. Group meets every third Tuesday of each month. 

644-3273 

Free 

 

Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Naomi Klein, one of Ms. Magazine’s Women of the Year, will speak on her new book. 

845-7852 

 

“How to Grow Dahlias” 

1 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

A presentation by Dr. Erik Gaensler, vice president of the California Dahlia Society. 

524-4374 

Free 

 

Breast Self Exam for Seniors 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Maffley Auditorium, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

Workshop to educate women with physical limitations about accessing breast health care and do-it-yourself exam education. 

869-6737 

Free 

 

 

Simplicity Forum 

7 to 8:30 p.m  

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

A panel of people who will share their experiences and ideas for living inexpensively but richly.  

549-3509, www.simpleliving.net 

Free 

 

Wednesday, September 18 

Kick Off Party for the Berkeley Coffee Initiative 

7 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center  

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, speakers and events in support of the Berkeley coffee initiative, Measure O. 

(415) 575-5338 

$5 at door 

 

Community Prostate Screening 

Appointment required (through Thursday) 

At the Markstein Cancer Education Center, on the Summit Campus of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. 

In honor of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Week. 

869-8833 

Free 

 

Peace Walk and Vigil 

6:30 p.m. - Every Wed. 

Meet at Downtown Berkeley  

Bart Station 

Join us for a peace walk  

along Shattuck Avenue for one hour. 

528-9217 

Free 

 

Thursday, September 19  

Freedom From Tobacco 

6 to 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center  

A quit smoking class. First of six Thursday evenings through Oct. 24.  

981-5330, quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Free to Berkeley and Albany residents, students and employees. 

 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237 Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship with The Deer Park Monastery - Public Lecture 

7 p.m.  

Berkeley Community Theater  

1930 Allston Way  

Join Vietnamese peace activist Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn for a public lecture, “Deep Listening: the heart of compassionate action.” 

433-9928 

$20 suggested donation  

 

Saturday, September 21 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship with The Deer Park Monastery - Public Lecture 

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Lake Merritt, Oakland  

Join Vietnamese peace activist Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn for a public lecture; “Coming Home: a day of community and healing”. 

433-9928 

 

BREAD and Roses Garden Party 

1 to 5 p.m. 

Peralta Community Garden, Berkeley 

Hopkins & Peralta, Wheelchair accessible  

BREAD's birthday party - five years of dismantling corporate rule through local currency. 

644-0376 

$12 advance, $15 door  

low-income rate $10 

 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) 

9:15 to 11 a.m. 

St. John’s Church, 2727 College Ave. 

mtbrcb@pacbell.net 

Free 

 

Do-It-Yourself all-Natural  

Body Care from Your Kitchen 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Learn how to make your own all-natural skin care from products you might already have in your own kitchen. 

548-2220, Ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org 

$10 for members, $15 for nonmembers 

 

Third Annual David Brower  

Youth Awards 

6 p.m. 

Schwimley Theater  

1920 Allston Way 

Celebrate the next generation of environmental activists at Earth Island Institute’s award ceremony. R.S.V.P. 

(415) 788-3666, Ext. 260  

www.earthisland.org/bya 

 

Coastal Cleanup Day 

10 a.m. 

Work at the outflow of Strawberry Creek to clean up the San Francisco Bay coastline. 

info@strawberrycreek.org or 848-4008 

Fall Plant Sale 

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

200 Centennial Dr. 

Annual plant sale featuring rare and unusual plants. Members-only preview and auction from 9 to 11 a.m.  

643-2755, www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/ 

Free  

 

Memorizing Windows 

8 p.m.  

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Dancer Lucinda Weaver and writer Alan Bern host an evening of dance, poetry and stories. 

526-7901 or abbern@sbcglobal.net 

 

Sunshine Workshop 

10 a.m. to noon 

Sixth floor, City Hall, 2180 Milvia St. 

Get up to speed on open records laws, open meetings laws and sunshine ordinances. Experts, including Terry Francke of the California First Amendment Coalition, will speak. 

BerkeleySunshine@Yahoo.com 

Free  

 

East Bay Shoreline Clean Up 

9.am. to 12 p.m. 

Sea Breeze Market and Deli  

meeting/staging area. 

On the corner of West Frontage Rd. and University Ave., Berkeley. 

Arrive promptly to sign appropriate waivers , get coffee and listen to safety talk. We will provide bags, tally cards and a raffle of donated prizes; groups of ten or more need to pre-register by calling 644-8623. 

Free 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, Semptember 22 

Yoga/Tibetan Jack van der Meulen on “The Theory and Practice of Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga.”” 

3 to 5 p.m. - Introduction; 6 to 7 p.m.- Lecture by Jack van der Meulen 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place 

Kum Nye is a system of movement, breath, and awareness exercises. 

843-6812 

Free 

 

Tuesday, September 24 

Sustainable Business Alliance of the East Bay 

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

Panoramic Room of the Gaia Building in Berkeley 

Reception and talk by Mal Warwick of Mal Warwick Associates, entitled: “You Don’t Have to Choose: How One Company Does Good While Doing Well” 

282-5151 

Members $8, Non-Members $12 

 

Wednesday, September 25 

“Healing Our Hearts for the Sake of the World” 

7:30 p.m 

First Congregational Church  

2345 Channing Way 

A reading by Sylvia Boorstein. Proceeds support The East Bay Dharma Center. 

595-0408 

$5 to $10 


The price of being PC

Stream Weir
Tuesday September 17, 2002

When Berkeley needs to buy an appliance, it shops around. But not for the lowest price. 

Companies such as General Electric and Office Depot are blacklisted because they are not socially or politically responsible, according to the City Council.  

Because Office Depot refuses benefits to employees’ same-sex domestic partners, city leaders bypass the store. 

GE does business with the U.S. Department of Defense. But under the city’s no-nuclear resolution, the city does not. 

How much do these political statements cost the city? Officials will have that sum by the end of the year.  

The city is now tallying how much it spends buying from “acceptable vendors” who are not necessarily the cheapest, said Heather Murphy, Berkeley’s acting purchasing manager.  

Under city law companies must declare whether they qualify for Berkeley’s shopping list, by Berkeley’s rules, so costs associated with assessing a company’s political and social correctness are small, Murphy said. 

The only real cost of imposing the sanctions, according to officials, is the money lost when a blacklisted company offers a better price than any other vendor.  

The city has sanctions on about a dozen companies. 

Council’s most recent cause for a sanction was to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Last week, council passed a special purchasing resolution preventing the city from doing business with a company that drills for oil in the pristine coastal plain. 

Although drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge is illegal, Congress is currently rethinking the matter. 

U.S. Public Interest Research Group representative Athan Manuel said resolutions like Berkeley’s are an invaluable tool in the struggle to protect the refuge. 

“We’re trying to bring home the message that drilling in the arctic is a risky business proposition,” said Manuel, who worked with Councilmember Dona Spring to bring the resolution to the council. 

West Hollywood passed a parallel resolution. A number of other cities – including San Francisco – are considering similar resolutions, Manuel said. 

The city’s Murphy agreed that local resolutions serve a worthwhile purpose. She said management at Office Depot is negotiating a change in its spousal benefits policy that would provide for same-sex partners. 

“They’re feeling the pressure,” she said. 

Oakland and San Francisco also have sanctions against the office supply chain. 

Murphy said some of Berkeley’s most effective sanctions are the benefits sanctions and those against companies that fail to pay a “living wage.” 

Companies that contract with the city for more than $25,000 of services must pay employees a minimum wage of $9.75 an hour with benefits or $11.37 an hour without benefits. The ordinance also applies to businesses that lease city land. 

City officials are threatening Restaurant Skates by the Bay with a lawsuit because it is not paying its employees a livable wage, the city says. 

Other city restrictions prohibit: using tropical hardwoods and old-growth redwood in construction; trading with companies that do business in the Tibet region; and buying from companies that help the government build or stockpile nuclear weapons. 


A plea for Pepito's

Rebecca Herman
Tuesday September 17, 2002

To the Editor: 

I have been a resident of west Berkeley for nearly 11 years, living around the corner from Pepito's Deli. I have patronized this local treasure ever since. Maria Magana has been a well respected, long term small business owner, providing employment to numerous people, giving friendly service, great food and conscientious community contributions (supporting Rosa Parks Elementary School) for well over 10 years. 

I and many others were devastated to suddenly find Pepito’s closed and fenced in earlier this month. I then learned more from the Sept. 7 Daily Planet article by Dan Krauss. We have further learned from Maria Magana that she was in court, attempting to deal with the dispute with landlords Leo and Helena Chen, at the very moment the Berkeley Police Department served an eviction notice to the site and required her employees to leave. Pepito's has been closed ever since, extinguishing a truly bright light in west Berkeley. A large quantity of food was undoubtedly spoiled and a number of people are now unemployed.  

How does this serve an upstanding small business owner or our community? If Maria Magana was “the victim of bad legal advice” as you indicated in your Daily Planet article, why is she now the victim of a business closure, facing unemployment and uncertainty? Why could an agreement with the law enforcement agencies and individuals not be reached? If a neighborhood business like Pepito’s is not the type that the city intends to support, than what is? 

I trust that further attention and mediation will be given to this situation so that Maria Magana can resume her business. Otherwise, not only are we losing an outstanding small business owned and run by a woman of color, but we are adding to San Pablo Avenue blight with one more closed building. We do not need that. Please use the power of your position to bring resolution to the dispute between Maria Magana and the Chens.  

 

Rebecca Herman 

Berkeley


A's beat Angels 4-3 in ninth inning to tie them for first in AL West

The Associated Press
Tuesday September 17, 2002

OAKLAND — Miguel Tejada singled home the winning run in the ninth inning as the Oakland Athletics snapped Anaheim’s six-game winning streak and tied the Angels for first place in the AL West with a 4-3 victory Monday night. 

Ray Durham and Jermaine Dye homered for the A’s, who opened a key four-game series by handing Anaheim just its second loss in 18 games. Both teams are 94-56 with 12 games to go in baseball’s most competitive division race. 

Troy Glaus hit a three-run shot in the first inning to match a major league record with a home run in four straight at-bats, but that was all the offense Anaheim could muster. 

Cory Lidle pitched seven strong innings, and Billy Koch (10-3) worked the ninth for the victory. 

Glaus, who hit a career-high three homers Sunday against Texas, repeated a feat that had been accomplished 31 times before with a long homer to right. He struck out in the fourth to end the streak.


Most of "Wheeler 79" reject deal

David Scharfenberg
Tuesday September 17, 2002

At least 30 of the 41 pro-Palestinian students who took over UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall in April have decided to face official student conduct hearings rather than accept a probation deal from the university, according to student leaders. 

“I don’t feel I need to plea bargain if I’m innocent,” said Roberto Hernandez of Students for Justice in Palestine, which led the April occupation that attempted to win university divestment from Israel. 

Refusal to accept a settlement means students will face penalties approved by Dean of Students Karen Kenney after formal hearings. Student conduct boards, made up of pupils, faculty and staff, can recommend penalties up to and including expulsion, though Kenney will have final say. 

The university is offering students a one-semester probation if they choose to skip a formal hearing. Students who make it through the probationary period with no further violations would receive marks on their records but would not face suspension, expulsion or any other penalty, Kenney said. 

Kenney said a “handful” of the 41 protesters have accepted the probation offer. SJP leader Hoang Phan said he is aware of only two students who have taken the deal, and would not release their names, citing privacy concerns. 

But Neil Rajmara, the university’s director of student judicial affairs, said the number is greater than two, and added that he expects more students to accept probation in the coming days. 

Most students have until Wednesday to decide if they will take the deal or go to a full hearing. University officials hope to wrap up all cases by the end of October. 

The 41 students are among 79 protesters arrested by UC Berkeley police after occupying Wheeler Hall April 9 and demanding that the nine-campus University of California system divest from Israel. 

The UC Board of Regents, which governs the system, has come out against divestment. 

The Alameda County District Attorney dropped criminal charges against the “Wheeler 79” in June, but the university continues to pursue student conduct charges. 

Most of the students face four conduct charges: unauthorized entry onto university property, disturbing classes, disturbance of the peace and failure to comply with the directions of a university official. 

At least one of the protesters, Hernandez, is also charged with physical or verbal abuse. Hernandez allegedly assaulted a UC Berkeley police officer April 9, but was cleared of criminal charges. 

Phan said the students will exercise their right to request public hearings. 

“We’re going to call for a public hearing because students have a right to know what the university is doing to student activists,” he said. 

The chairperson of a conduct hearing, under university regulations, has a right to close the hearing to maintain order or protect the privacy rights of students involved – including any that might appear as witnesses. 

University officials declined to speculate on whether a closure might be necessary in the case of SJP hearings. But Kenney confirmed that, in the past, chairpersons have closed proceedings before they began when there was word of a large-scale protest that might disrupt the hearings. 

Phan argued that, in pursuing student conduct charges, UC Berkeley is lashing out at SJP for its political beliefs. 

“The sanctions have nothing to do with the content [of SJP’s speech],” Kenney replied. 

Officials have long held that they are pursuing student conduct charges because the Wheeler Hall activists, in disrupting classes, interfered with UC Berkeley’s core mission: the education of its students. 

Activists have countered that the disruption was minimal and that educating students was the central purpose of the takeover. 

Six of the 41 students who face charges were seniors last year, and the university has withheld their diplomas pending the completion of the student judicial process. 

The purpose of the policy is to prevent graduates from leaving the university, diploma in hand, without facing student conduct charges, Kenney said. 

But Anne Weills, one of several lawyers representing the students, argued that the withholdings are actually an attempt to “chill free speech.” 

“The university always tries to suppress students who go against the grain,” Weills said. 

Hernandez is among the six graduates, and UC Berkeley has accepted him to a doctoral program in comparative ethnic studies. Because he does not have his diploma, Hernandez is not officially enrolled, although the ethnic studies department is allowing him to take courses. 

Hernandez said his real concern is a university fellowship and loans, worth about $22,000 per year, that are on hold as the judicial process plays out. 

“If I don’t receive my fellowship, I don’t have the means to stay in the program,” he said. “I’m down to my last $156.” 

Kenney said she could not comment on individual cases, but noted that the university plans to conduct hearings for the six graduates first.


Plenty of peace on Sept. 11

Marika Kuzma
Tuesday September 17, 2002

To the Editor, 

Your article on the UC Berkeley commemoration of Sept. 11 was hardly balanced. It was not “politics as usual” across the campus. At the very same time of the official campus gathering on Sproul at noon, another official campus gathering took place at Hertz Hall, drawing an audience of 1,000 that filled the hall and spilled outside. 

One hundred and fifty students and community members performed music of various cultures and centuries ending with the Aaron Copland's setting of “simple gifts” and a Benediction written for the victims Sept. 11. The mood in the hall and its surrounding area was thoughtful and meditative. And throughout the day, a different group of students stood by the campanile intoning solemnly the names of those who died on Sept. 11. It is a shame that not just the national but also the local media are bent on presenting only the discord at our university. This caricature is not only a inaccurate, it belittles the greater spirit of our community. 

 

Marika Kuzma 

Berkeley


School district dodges new budget woes

David Scharfenberg
Tuesday September 17, 2002

A $1.4 million budget scare for the Berkeley Unified School District has vanished, district officials said. 

Last week district officials thought that a state money transfer was going to deny them access to $1.4 million this year and compound the district’s roughly $4 million deficit.  

But county officials now say districts are allowed to “spend” deferred money – if the state reimburses the district next year, according to Berkeley’s Associate Superintendent of Business and Operations Jerry Kurr. 

Because the dollars in question will not actually come from the state this year, Kurr said the district can float bonds to raise some of the $1.4 million. The district would repay those bonds once the deferred state money flows to the district during the 2003-2004 fiscal year, likely in July or August 2003, Kurr said. 

The $1.4 million budget scare arose after a district official came away from a state budget workshop last Thursday with the impression that the district would not be allowed to spend deferred dollars. 

But Kurr said that during a follow-up workshop on Friday, county officials, who have jurisdiction over Berkeley Unified, told him they would allow the practice given the state’s gloomy fiscal picture. 

“It was a one-day panic,” Kurr said. 

The state will defer about one-quarter of the district’s funding in three areas. Roughly $1 million of the $4 million Berkeley Unified receives to support its desegregation plan, $195,000 of the $725,000 the district gets in transportation dollars and $125,000 of the $500,000 it gets in “school improvement program” funds, which go to professional development and other services, will be held.  

State legislators deferred spending in these and other education programs in an effort to plug a nearly $24 billion shortfall and balance the 2002-2003 budget. Critics called the move an accounting trick. 

Some observers have raised doubts about whether the troubled state government will be in a position to repay the deferred dollars next year. 

But Bill Fong, fiscal consultant for the California Department of Education, said there is almost no chance that the state will fail to pay back the money. 


More on Maio's growth ideas

Peter Teichner
Tuesday September 17, 2002

To the Editor: 

The concept of “smart growth” referred to by Councilmember Linda Maio in her Sept. 7 letter to the editor is a propaganda tool designed by regional planners to accomplish a predetermined goal, in this case selling the urban public on the benefits of intensifying development within cities to purportedly save open space beyond the urban boundaries.  

It enables developers to purchase for a song, and develop with public subsidies, countless dozens of distressed sites that lie along the urban transit corridors. The proposed 2700 San Pablo Ave. development by Patrick Kennedy of Panoramic Interests and Reverend Gordon Choyce of Jubilee Restorations Inc. appears to be an example of one such site.  

No evidence has ever been presented that piling up housing on transit corridors can or will actually reduce suburban sprawl or alleviate traffic congestion.  

What regional and Berkeley city planners and Berkeley city councilmembers refuse to recognize is that transit corridors are integral parts of neighborhoods, often single story homes bordered by one and two story commercial strips. Over the last few years hundreds of neighbors near proposed oversized developments have told the City Council they want reasonably sized structures that fit into the fabric of their neighborhoods. They know that providing Berkeley's fair share of regional housing does not have to forfeit Berkeley's low-key urban character and our current quality of life. Two story mixed-use developments can do the job just fine and some developers are quite able to do that in Berkeley.  

Unfortunately, Linda Maio never saw an oversized development she didn't like. Or, if she said she didn't like it, she voted for it anyway. As a councilmember she should be familiar enough with the height initiative (Prop P – “P” for preservation) to know that it will not cripple Berkeley's ability to create new affordable housing. It may, however, cripple the ability of a few developers to recreate Berkeley into their own overscaled fiefdom. Prop P will put the reigns of democracy back in the hands of neighborhoods and who is better suited than that to determine the future of their environment. 

 

Peter Teichner 

Berkeley


How to be an anti-terrorism tipster

David Grary
Tuesday September 17, 2002

Because the dollars in question will not actually come from the state this year, Kurr said the district can float bonds to raise some of the $1.4 million. The district would repay those bonds once the deferred state money flows to the district during the 2003-2004 fiscal year, likely in July or August 2003, Kurr said. 

The $1.4 million budget scare arose after a district official came away from a state budget workshop last Thursday with the impression that the district would not be allowed to spend deferred dollars. 

But Kurr said that during a follow-up workshop on Friday, county officials, who have jurisdiction over Berkeley Unified, told him they would allow the practice given the state’s gloomy fiscal picture. 

“It was a one-day panic,” Kurr said. 

The state will defer about one-quarter of the district’s funding in three areas. Roughly $1 million of the $4 million Berkeley Unified receives to support its desegregation plan, $195,000 of the $725,000 the district gets in transportation dollars and $125,000 of the $500,000 it gets in “school improvement program” funds, which go to professional development and other services, will be held.  

State legislators deferred spending in these and other education programs in an effort to plug a nearly $24 billion shortfall and balance the 2002-2003 budget. Critics called the move an accounting trick. 

Some observers have raised doubts about whether the troubled state government will be in a position to repay the deferred dollars next year. 

But Bill Fong, fiscal consultant for the California Department of Education, said there is almost no chance that the state will fail to pay back the money. 


West Berkeley unites for a party

Chris Nichols
Tuesday September 17, 2002

The late Bill Hicks had a vision for his diverse, west Berkeley neighborhood. The long-time community leader and barbecue fan wanted to showcase the unique cultures of west Berkeley in one big annual blowout. On Sunday, the party began. 

At the First Annual Heritage Day, local residents, artisans, musicians and city leaders joined to celebrate, on University Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. While some residents have said the neighborhood lacks a sense of community, Willie Phillips, president of the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation, said Heritage Day might change that. 

“It's an opportunity to bring west Berkeley together,” said Phillips. “You have so many very diverse groups in the neighborhood, this event provides them the chance to share their own heritage with each other.” 

In addition to bringing cultures together, sponsors are hoping the festival will provide economic empowerment for local artisans in the mostly working-class neighborhood. 

Many vendors at Sunday's festival, including Yüksel Dinccag, a photographer and local artist originally from Turkey, sold a few items and shared a bit of their culture. 

“I want people to become familiar with Turkish art,” said Dinccag, who sells traditional Turkish head scarves along with a selection of her own photography. Embroidered with ornate and colorful borders, each scarf tells a different story.  

Pam Jackson, a veteran painter who recently moved to the Bay Area from Detroit, said she is delighted with such opportunity to showcase her paintings in Berkeley.  

“Berkeley is a fabulous place to be an artist,” Jackson said. “I think today was a great idea. [Heritage Day] creates good business opportunities for Berkeley.” 

Though business has boomed on Berkeley's retail-friendly Fourth Street, many area residents were happy to see another part of west Berkeley shine on Sunday.  

“It's small but nice,” said Berkeley resident David Sims of the afternoon celebration. “[West Berkeley] needs it. There's very little of anything here.” 

In an effort to show residents the city cares about west Berkeley, city planners attended Sunday's festival and spoke with the neighbors. 

“We have to go out and meet people and not wait for them to come to us,” said Iris Starr, senior redevelopment planner for the city. 

Displaying sketches of the city's proposed transit hub for the western stretch of University Avenue, Starr emphasized that Berkeley needs to find new ways to involve its residents, many of whom do not speak English. 

Finding such a common language is one of the goals of Heritage Day, according to organizers. Many hope the festival will become an annual event similar to south Berkeley's Juneteenth Day, a cultural celebration marking the end of slavery in the United States. 

At the very least, organizers are confident that residents will learn a bit about the rich history of the area through the festival. 

A fan of history herself, Betsy Morris, secretary for the WBNDC, said the area is not only unique for its ethnic diversity but also for its social and political tradition. 

The Socialist and Communist parties of early 20th century were formed in the area, according to Morris. In addition, the cooperative movement and a strong union affiliation developed in west Berkeley, originally known as the Oceanview district. The beginnings of today's Longshoremen's Union were at one time centered in west Berkeley as well, Morris added. 

Today the neighborhood still shows signs of its port of entry past. While much of the Japanese population has moved out of west Berkeley, a number of Japanese fish markets remain. 

Large concentrations of Latinos and blacks - relegated to the area west of San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley during segregation - still make up most of the population. 


One arrested after botched robbery

Tuesday September 17, 2002

BERKELEY – Police arrested one man and were searching for one or two more after a botched armed robbery Sunday afternoon at an electronics store. 

The Berkeley Police Department received a report at 1:34 p.m. that two or three men had robbed the Cambridge Sound Works on 2350 Shattuck Ave. in downtown Berkeley. 

After confronting the clerks with a handgun, the men apparently tied the clerks’ hands and locked them in a back room of the store, police said. 

They then loaded about $30,000 worth of stereos and TVs into the back of a U-Haul truck and fled the scene. 

Shortly after the robbery was reported a Berkeley police officer spotted a U-Haul matching the truck's description at Sixth Street and University Avenue in west Berkeley.  

The driver refused to pull over and led police on a chase through Berkeley, Oakland and into Hayward. The pursuit never exceeded speed limits, police said. 

Units from all three cities responded and the chase ended only after the U-haul plowed into a police car at a Hayward intersection. 

Police have identified the suspect in custody as 25-year-old Ricky Sanders of Hayward, who has been charged with robbery.


Alameda mayor Ralph Appezzato found dead at home

Tuesday September 17, 2002

ALAMEDA – Ralph Appezzato, the mayor of Alameda and a candidate for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, died Monday in what authorities described as a possible suicide. He was 67. 

Alameda police Lt. Bill Scott said that at 8:52 a.m., the mayor’s wife called police indicating that her husband was not breathing and needed assistance. 

Police and Fire Department personnel responded to the mayor's home in the 2900 block of Sea View Parkway. Appezzato was pronounced dead in the living room. 

“Preliminarily, it appears that the mayor may have taken his own life,” Scott said. 

Detectives from the Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit are investigating the death, Scott said. The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau will determine how Appezzato died.


Homeless coupele must leave mountain tree home

Tuesday September 17, 2002

BRISBANE — The couple’s driveway is a steep, narrow trail that winds through a sun-drenched landscape of hardy California scrub. Their front steps are rocky footholds in the earth. Their living room is nestled within the shady embrace of a sprawling oak tree. 

For a dozen years, Besh Serdahely and Thelma Caballero have lived in a pair of elaborate huts in a park on San Bruno Mountain, in a canyon flush with ferns. San Francisco Bay glimmers in the distance through leaves that buffer a breeze scented with hummingbird sage. The stillness is punctuated by birdsongs and the faraway hum of Silicon Valley’s commuters. 

But the couple may soon lose their roost. San Mateo County officials recently stapled a 30-day eviction notice to the tree, and the case will go to a judge if they’re not gone by Sept. 26. 

“Here it is peaceful,” said Caballero, shielded from the sun by a straw hat, a cream-colored man’s shirt, surplus Army pants and worn work gloves. “There are too many people in the city.” 

The hideout is just 10 miles south of San Francisco, where thousands of people without homes compete nightly for shelter, many ending up in doorways, beneath bridges and along railroad tracks. 

Serdahely and Caballero lived in the city until another hermit offered them the home he had begun to craft with discarded lumber and corrugated plastic amid the roots and branches of the 300-year-old oak. 

Authorities have known of the couple’s tree-squatting for years. They moved to evict them after a recent review of property lines revealed that the hideaway is on land owned by the county rather than the state, Deputy County Manager Mary McMillan said. 

Because of health and safety concerns, county law prohibits anyone from living in a park — especially one teeming with rare and endangered plants and insects such as the San Francisco Wallflower and the Mission Blue Butterfly. 

Until the county comes for them, the couple is staying put, content to compost their waste in their open-air outhouse and use water from a nearby spring. 

Caballero, a former housekeeper from Honduras who thinks she’s in her 40s, and Serdahely, 58, a former laborer, said they met at a San Francisco soup kitchen in the late 1980s and got married at City Hall. 

Caballero, who has schizophrenia, and Serdahely, who struggles with alcoholism, lucked into the mountain hideaway through a circle of friends they met along the railroad tracks just south of town. The original owner was moving in with a schoolteacher, and was looking for the right people to inherit the spot.


Bay Area Briefs

Tuesday September 17, 2002

Alleged gambling operation busted in Redwood City 

REDWOOD CITY – A 47-year-old restaurant manager was arrested Sunday for allegedly using a Redwood City taqueria a cover for an illegal gambling operation, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said. 

Gerardo Delrio Rivera, of Menlo Park, is accused of permitting gambling at Tacos El Camino, selling alcohol to minors, and other business violations, Lt. Michael Lopez said. 

Sheriff's deputies raided the restaurant, located at 2627 El Camino Real, at around 12:30 a.m. Sunday and allegedly found between 60 and 80 gamblers playing cards. 

Authorities seized $2,896 in cash, 30 decks of cards, 152 pairs of dice, and a two-way radio. The gambling patrons were released at the scene. 

Rivera was booked in San Mateo County jail for gambling related violations and was released after posting $10,000 bail.  

He is scheduled to appear a San Mateo County courtroom to faces the charges on Oct. 22. 

Panhandling ordinances start up in Santa Cruz 

SANTA CRUZ – The life of a panhandler in downtown Santa Cruz got a little more difficult this week. 

The Santa Cruz City Council in July passed a number of ordinances pertaining to panhandlers and loiterers in certain areas of downtown. Some of those ordinances went into effect this week, according to Trisha Husome with the Santa Cruz City Clerk's Office. 

As a result, people will no longer be able to ask for spare change or block the sidewalk within 14 feet of stores, cafes, and other downtown businesses. The practice is also outlawed at bus stops, near crosswalks, on public transportation vehicle, near banks or ATM machines or while sitting on public property such as the downtown benches. 

The council also passed an ordinance prohibiting the display of noncommercial display devices, such as the cardboard signs often used by panhandlers.  

Oakland man arrested in connection  

with slaying of grandfather 

OAKLAND – Police report that a 24-year-old Oakland man is in custody on suspicion of shooting to death his sleeping grandfather. 

Kimsoth Chea could be arraigned today in connection with the killing of Chea Prak, 79, of Oakland, according to Sgt. Gus Galindo of the Oakland Police Department's Homicide Division. 

Officers were dispatched to 1211 Eighth St. at about 1 a.m. Sunday on a report of a shooting. When officers arrived at the residence, they found the Prak shot dead in his bed. 

East Palo Alto man’s body flown  

to Greece instead of Mexico 

EAST PALO ALTO — The body of an East Palo Alto man headed to his hometown in Mexico for burial took an long, unexpected detour and instead ended up in Greece. 

Instead of finding the body of family patriarch Robert Castaneda, 68, in the casket that arrived in his hometown of Apatzingan in the Mexican state of Michoacan, weeping relatives found the body of a black man with a cigar and a book with a picture of the World Trade Center on the cover. 

Castaneda was nowhere to be found. A relative in Mexico immediately phoned family members in East Palo Alto to say Castaneda’s body was missing.


Yosemite killer Stayner found sane

Brian Melley The Associated Press
Tuesday September 17, 2002

SAN JOSE — Cary Stayner was sane when he murdered three Yosemite National Park tourists in 1999, a jury decided Monday in what means he could face the death penalty. 

The jury took less than four hours to reject the defense claim the former motel handyman was unable to understand what he was doing. 

Stayner stood for the verdict and showed no emotion as it was read. 

If he had been found insane, he would have received an automatic life sentence. The penalty phase of the trial, in which the jury will decide whether Stayner should be executed or sentenced to life in prison, begins Tuesday. 

The same jury convicted Stayner last month of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, of Eureka, and their Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, while they were staying at the lodge where he worked outside the park. 

Family members said they were relieved by the decision. 

“I always knew he was sane. Just seeing his face you can tell,” said Silvina’s father, Pepe Pelosso. “His confession speaks on its own. The cold way he expressed the killings, there is no doubt.” 

Stayner, 41, already is serving a life sentence for another 1999 slaying, that of park nature guide Joie Armstrong. He had pleaded guilty in that case in a deal that spared him from a possible death sentence. 

Defense attorney Marcia Morrissey had argued that a legacy of family mental disorders, a troubled childhood that included the highly publicized kidnapping of a brother, and voices that he said told him to “do the job” were evidence that Stayner was insane. 

Prosecutors said proof of Stayner’s sanity was in his confession to the FBI, in which he detailed his methodical efforts to cover his tracks. 

Stayner strangled Carole Sund and Pelosso and dumped their bodies in the trunk of a rental car that he later torched, burning the victims’ bodies beyond recognition. He sexually assaulted Juli Sund, slashed her throat and covered her naked body with brush on a hillside. 

The crime was unsolved for nearly six months until Stayner struck again, snatching Armstrong and beheading her near her cabin in the park. 


Pornography company offers $3 million for Napster identity

Ron Harris Associated Press Writer
Tuesday September 17, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the Internet’s leading purveyors of pornography has offered to purchase the Napster trademark and Web site address for nearly $3 million in hopes of cashing in on the bankrupt song-swap company’s notorious reputation. 

Barcelona, Spain-based Private Media Group Inc. offered to snap up Napster’s most valuable remaining asset — its unique brand identity — for 1 million shares of Private’s common stock, the bidding company announced in a release issued last week. 

The company’s chief executive, Charles Prast, said his company is interested in using the Napster trademark merely to place a familiar brand name on a peer-to-peer network for his pornography seeking customers. 

Not content to remain mired in the print pornography world, Private has branched out into the Internet and even offers adult content for mobile phones and PDAs like Palm and Pocket PC devices. 

Earlier this month, a Delaware bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of Napster’s assets to its chief investor, Bertelsmann AG. The former song-swapping giant prepared to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing into a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding.


Briefs

Tuesday September 17, 2002

Credit card scam exposes  

hole in e-commerce security 

SAN FRANCISCO — A mysterious credit card scam involving more than 100,000 bogus Internet transactions has delivered another alarming reminder about online commerce’s security weaknesses. 

Although no money was actually transferred in the scheme, more than 60,000 of the illicit transactions received authorization codes during a con job exposed late last week. 

The authorization codes verified the validity of those account numbers, opening the door for more widespread theft had the ruse not been detected. 

All the affected account numbers have been deactivated and investigations have been opened by federal authorities, said John Rante, president of Online Data Corp., a Chicago-based credit card processor that authorized the bogus transactions. 

“People have nothing to be concerned about,” Rante said. “We are cooperating with the authorities and we will catch the people behind this.”


Oakland amoung Calif. cities to lead tech industry growth

Bob Porterfield The Associated Press
Tuesday September 17, 2002

SAN JOSE — Despite a lackluster economy and continuing layoffs, California’s high-tech industry grew slightly last year with Oakland, Los Angeles and San Diego accounting for most of the new jobs, according to a report released Tuesday by an industry trade group. 

Overall, the industry grew just 1 percent, adding only 12,000 jobs to the state’s economy. Most of those jobs were created in Southern California, according to the report by the American Electronics Association. 

San Jose and San Francisco were hardest hit by reduced payrolls, although the Silicon Valley remained the nucleus of technology activity. Oakland and Sacramento saw the most growth in Northern California, generated largely by the influx of companies seeking less-expensive areas in which to conduct business. 

The American Electronics Association’s annual California “Cybercities report” surveyed eight metropolitan areas, and includes companies creating or producing high-tech products. It does not include biotechnology or the dot-com sector, which experienced a devastating implosion last year. 

The report confirms what economists and industry observers already knew: 2001 was a very bad year for high-tech. 

The survey found: 

n San Jose, which continues as California’s leading “cybercity” with 280,842 jobs, lost 4,961 high-tech jobs last year. San Francisco lost 2,139 jobs and Orange County lost 1,075. 

n Los Angeles and Oakland accounted for the largest increases in high-tech jobs with 2,764 and 2,140, respectively. San Diego saw high-tech employment jump by 1,038 jobs and Sacramento enjoyed an increase of 581 jobs. 

n San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco accounted for 658,000 of the state’s 997,951 high-tech jobs last year. 

“This isn’t news,” said Tapan Munroe of Munroe Consulting in Moraga, who attributes the high-tech employment drought to the lack of sales. “Companies over-invested in technology going back to 2000, business isn’t buying any equipment and they don’t need these guys. We’re going to get back slowly but we’ll never see the heydays of the past.” 

Although the Silicon Valley and San Francisco took the brunt of the downturn, Munroe said, the East Bay area weathered the storm better because of a more diversified economy — everything from oil refineries to biotechnology. 

While the American Electronics Association survey focused on 2001 data, the negative employment trend continued into the first half of 2002. 

“Sadly, I’ve not heard a single CEO tell me they are seeing improvement in the economy on the horizon,” said Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group, which represents 190 high-tech corporations. “Most of them are hoping to ride out the storm, but the storm continues. The water hasn’t stopped rising. We’re climbing in the boat.” 

“The outlook for high-tech jobs is pretty discouraging,” agreed Tom Lieser, a senior economist at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. “There is some indication of improvement in semiconductor sales, but high-tech companies want to be convinced of a sustainable increase in demand for their products before adding jobs.” 

Richard Carlson, chairman of Palo Alto’s Spectrum Economics, calculates that a total of 100,000 Silicon Valley jobs were lost from the beginning of 2001 to June of this year. 

“The bottom of the job market was February,” said Carlson. “The worst has passed. It’s not coming up like a skyrocket, but it is coming up. It’s stabilized as compared to dropping like a stone.” 

Carlson monitors California Economic Development Department data, statistics that are more current than those used by the American Electronics Association.


Feds may be watching Santa Cruz City Hall pot distribution to sick

Tuesday September 17, 2002

 

SANTA CRUZ – The attorney for a Santa Cruz County couple who are planning to distribute medical marijuana on the steps of Santa Cruz City Hall said that he expects federal agents to be at the distribution. 

Valerie and Michael Corral were operating a small marijuana farm for medical marijuana users in Northern Santa Cruz County that was raided on Sept. 5 by federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents. In protest of the raid, the couple and several members of the Santa Cruz City Council are planning to distribute marijuana to the sick at City Hall today. 

The couple's attorney, Ben Rice, said that he expects federal agents will be at the raid but does not believe they will make any arrests. 

“I expect the Feds will be here but just as observers,” Rice said. “They're not going to come in and arrest all of these sick, dying people on the evening news.” 

The Santa Cruz City Council has passed a resolution condemning the raid and several members of the council have indicted they plan to help distribute the marijuana today. 

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer would not comment on the administration's plans. 

“Our policy is not to confirm or deny future plans by our agents,” Meyer said. 

Meyer did say that despite the passage of California's Proposition 211 – the medical marijuana initiative – possession and distribution of the drug remains against federal law. 

“What they're doing is completely illegal,” Meyer said.


Skate Park is On

By Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Monday September 16, 2002

Berkeley went to sleep Friday night a progressive college town, but it woke up a skateboard mecca. 

The long-awaited Berkeley Skatepark, located beside the Harrison Park soccer fields, opened for business Saturday to the delight of hundreds of boys, some from as far away as Hayward. 

When the ribbon was cut, throngs of skaters exploded into the park to submerge into 8 1/2-foot bowls and hurl themselves into the foggy morning sky. 

“It’s freaking awesome,” said David O’Kefe and Ross Wunderlich of El Cerrito. 

Professionals gushed as well. San Francisco-based “THRASHER” magazine,a skating staple, has already declared Berkeley’s skatepark the best in the Bay Area. 

George Johnson of Altman General Engineering, the park’s designer, said size sets Berkeley’s park apart. At 18,000 square feet, the skatepark dwarfs other local venues. 

“It’s faster and bigger so skaters can skate with a continuous flow,” Johnson said. 

More importantly, skaters say, the park will legitimize their sport and spare them the harassment they say they have received for years. 

“Finally kids have a place to hang out where they’re not going to get hassled.” said Wyatt Miller, a Berkeley skater.  

Miller and his mother Kate Obenour started lobbying the city for a skate park after Wyatt and his fellow 12-year old friends were handcuffed and given $75 citations for skating on the UC Berkeley campus. 

“I didn’t want my son to be an outlaw,” Obenour said. So in 1997, she organized local skaters to attend City Council and Parks and Recreation Commission meetings. After two years of persistent lobbying, council approved funds for the skatepark. 

But that was just the opening saga of the skatepark’s development. 

Scheduled to open in 2001 at a cost of $380,00, the park was derailed when the original contractor, Morris Construction, hit groundwater contaminated with the carcinogen chromium 6. The city spent $265,000 to clean up the chemicals, and built a gravel base below the concrete bowls to prevent further contamination. 

In 2001, the city allocated an additional $400,000 to complete the project, with the final cost now estimated at $750,000. 

Not everyone is thrilled about the park. Some local businesses fear that an influx of kids from around the Bay Area could increase crime and vandalism in the heavily industrial neighborhood at the edge of northwest Berkeley. 

“Everyone’s kind of nervous because it’s new,” said Doug Fielding of the Association of Playing Field Users. 

But city officials say they have alleviated the concerns of local merchants.  

“We’re going to have someone there [supervising] two hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then from 6:30 until closing at 9:30,” said Ed Murphy, project manager for the city’s Parks and Waterfront Department.  

Murphy added that the police department would make frequent patrols of the park to make sure that it wasn’t being used during off-hours. 

Berkeley skaters say the park’s appeal will improve the neighborhood and provide them an opportunity to make friends with kids from other cities.  

“There’s going to be a whole community that develops here,” Miller said, adding that regulars will make sure that skaters respect the park and the surrounding area. 

Like many Berkeley skaters, 13-year old Jonah Most has skated at the Alameda skatepark, and recognized a lot of familiar faces. “It was so hard to get [to Alameda],” Most said. “It’s great to have a place now where you can just roll out of bed and come and see a lot of your friends.” 


More on housing subsidies

Chris Kavanagh Chris Kavanagh
Monday September 16, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

Ms. Rhiannon’s Sept. 4 letter “How to give a housing subsidy” responding to my previous letter on Berkeley affordable housing public policy contained several points that I would like to address. 

Ms. Rhiannon claims that “two nonprofit housing corporations... [are] self-monitoring and self-inspecting, and they receive the lion’s share of city housing funds.” These assertions are inaccurate. Based on funding allocations released from the city of Berkeley’s Housing Trust Fund (HTF) – a pool of federal, state and local revenues used to fund city-supported affordable housing developments, rehabilitation’s or acquisitions – at least a half dozen East Bay-based nonprofit housing development organizations have received HTF loans over the last decade. 

Over the last ten years, HTF funds have been widely distributed amongst these half dozen developers after undergoing a careful, democratic selection process. Each year, nonprofit developers submit affordable housing proposals before the city’s housing department and the Housing Advisory Commission, a nine-member board appointed by the City Council. The commission votes to allocate HTF funds based on each proposal’s merits, the developer’s experience/track record, and the critical housing needs each proposal addresses. All HTF-funded developments are subsequently monitored closely by the city and by state and federal monitoring agencies if their dollars are used. Also, all HTF-funded housing developments are subject to city housing ordinances, including city monitoring and inspection agencies. Additionally, there is no connection between HTF-funded developments and Berkeley’s separate Redevelopment Agency or the city’s federally-sponsored Housing Authority. 

Finally, Ms. Rhiannon claims that the Federal “Section 8” affordable housing program “limits tenant’s freedom to contact [Berkeley’s] codes and inspections or other agencies regarding repairs since tenants who complain risk homelessness.” This assertion is incorrect. Any tenant in Berkeley, including private, nonprofit or federally-subsidized units, can contact the city’s codes and inspections unit, regardless of their unit’s status. It is also a very serious violation of local, state and federal laws/ordinances to threaten a tenant with eviction if a tenant requests repairs for his or her unit. 

 

 

Chris Kavanagh 

Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission


The Bears are for real

By Larry Lage
Monday September 16, 2002

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Cal has already exceeded expectations. The Golden Bears are not content, however. 

Cal quarterback Kyle Boller accounted for four touchdowns – two throwing, one running and one receiving – as the Golden Bears humbled then-15th-ranked Michigan State 46-22 Saturday. 

The Bears moved into The Associated Press poll with a No. 23 ranking and the Spartans fell out of the Top 25. 

One season after going 1-10, first-year coach Jeff Tedford has the Bears believing. 

The last time the Bears beat such a highly ranked team was Oct. 5, 1974, when they defeated No. 14 Illinois. They’re 3-0 for the first time since 1996 – Steve Mariucci’s only season before leaving for the San Francisco 49ers – and have defeated a Top 15 team for the first time since 1974. 

Despite tripling last year’s win total, the Golden Bears were businesslike after first silencing, then emptying, Spartan Stadium. 

“I think it’s just an attitude that we’ve been trying to instill since Day 1,” said Tedford, who replaced Tom Holmoe after he was 16-39 over five seasons. “We’re going to expect to win and do things the right way. When I look at our kids, I don’t see any surprise in their faces.” 

Some picked the Spartans (2-1) to be one of the surprising teams in the nation, but what they did Saturday showed that the consistency problems the program has been plagued with for years are still lingering. 

“We didn’t coach. We didn’t play. We didn’t do anything. ... I’m mostly disappointed in myself. I’ll take the hit. Put it all on me,” Michigan State coach Bobby Williams said. 

Receiver Charles Rogers might have been the only Michigan State player who didn’t have an awful game. He caught nine passes for 166 yards and a TD. He has caught at least one TD pass in his last 11 regular-season games – one short of the NCAA record held by Marshall’s Randy Moss, Michigan’s Desmond Howard and Pacific’s Aaron Turner. 

Counting last season’s Silicon Valley Bowl, Rogers has caught a TD pass in 12 straight games. 

“I’d rather have the win,” said Rogers, who also broke the school record with his seventh straight 100-yard game. “Luckily, it wasn’t during the Big Ten season. We still have nine games left this season and still have a chance to make our run and we plan on doing so.” 

Michigan State (2-1) plays No. 12 Notre Dame (3-0) at home Saturday. The Spartans have won five straight over the Fighting Irish, who are off to their best start since 1996. 

The Bears will play Air Force at home on Saturday before beginning the Pac-10 season at home against Washington State and at Washington. 

Tedford has brought Cal immediate respect one year after the team went a miserable 1-10. The passing game was Tedford’s specialty at Oregon and Fresno State before that, and so far the Bears have outscored their opponents 91-10 in first halves and 150-57 overall. 

“We know we have the athletes to play with anybody in the country,” Ward said. “Our coaching staff has told us that, and we’re all believers. We expected to win here, so we’re not surprised.” 

Defense has been the real surprise for Cal, however. The Bears forced five Michigan State turnovers and gave up only one, and they’re plus-10 in turnover margin this season after ranking 114th out of 115 Division I-A schools with a minus-17 margin last year. 

Michigan State drove to Cal’s 1 and 2 on consecutive drives in the first quarter, but the Spartans turned the ball over both times. They also fumbled the kickoff after two of the Bears’ first-half scores. 

Cal’s first-half outburst began with Jemeel Powell’s 90-yard punt return for a TD – the Bears’ longest in 36 years – midway through the first half. 

Ward returned a kickoff 56 yards, breaking several tackles, to set up Mark Jensen’s career-long 51-yard kick, which gave Cal a 12-0 lead. 

A trick play made it 22-0 with 19 seconds left in the half. Ward, a receiver, went in motion from left to right, caught a pitch from Boller, then lobbed the ball back to the quarterback for a 14-yard TD. 

Michigan State had brief hopes for a comeback in the second half. 

On the opening drive, the Spartans went 91 yards, capped by Smoker’s 15-yard TD pass to Rogers. On Cal’s next play, Jason Harmon intercepted a pass by Boller. 

Smoker’s 2-yard pass to Jason Randall cut the deficit to 25-14 midway through the third quarter. 

The Bears quickly ended the threat with Boller’s touchdown run, James Bethea’s second interception and Boller’s two TD passes. 

“That deflated us a bit,” Williams said. 

Boller was 19-of-33 for 232 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He caught a 14-yard TD pass from receiver LaShaun Ward in the second quarter and scored the first of Cal’s three second-half touchdowns on a 2-yard run. 

“This is awesome,” Boller said. “Playing quarterback for a 1-10 or 3-7 team like I have is not fun. This is.” 


Mayor Dean sets sights on November

By Matthew Artz
Monday September 16, 2002

There was nothing moderate about Mayor Shirley Dean’s re-election campaign kickoff Sunday.  

The two-term incumbent basked in the enthusiastic support of approximately 150 supporters as she geared up for what her backers admit will be a tight race against Tom Bates. 

“We are going to win this but we are up against an incredible machine,” Dean told supporters at her still unfurnished campaign headquarters at 2200 Shattuck Ave. 

Bates, who represented Berkeley in the State Assembly for 20 years and is married to former Berkeley mayor and Assemblywoman-elect Loni Hancock, has the backing of the progressive majority of city counsel. 

Considered a moderate in Berkeley politics, Dean listed among her accomplishments: downtown renewal, improved cooperation between the city and the school board, new housing development and construction of the Interstate 80 pedestrian overpass and sports fields at Harrison Park. 

 

“This place [downtown] was a dead zone eight years ago,” she said.  

Dean noted that when she took office in 1994, Shattuck Avenue storefronts were empty and sidewalks were littered with trash and spare bicycle parts. Under her leadership, Dean said downtown has been transformed into a bustling commercial and arts district. 

Dean said that her administration has helped alleviate the city’s housing crunch by working with developers and neighborhood groups to build new units that do not detract from the character of neighborhoods. 

She also noted that city efforts to reach out to the school board were starting to bear fruit. Dean credited the city-sponsored school health clinic for a recent California study showing that Berkeley has the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the state. 

Dean, however, said Berkeley still has issues to tackle. She bemoaned the city’s playing field shortage and called for the inclusion of fields at Eastshore State Park. 

“We turn away 500 kids every year for sports teams because the council majority refuses to face up to the issue. That’s a disgrace,” Dean said. She also voiced support for additional downtown parking spaces and transportation improvements to help commuters who work in the city center. 

Dean’s election eight years ago ended 16 years of progressive rule. She said that with the progressives already enjoying a 5-4 City Council majority, a Bates victory would leave the progressive faction unchecked to pursue its agenda. 

“I’m the person with the finger in the dyke holding back the big machine from rolling over everybody,” Dean said. 

Dean successfully held back challenges from progressive Don Jelinik in 1994 and 1998, but Bates is seen as a tougher challenger. Whereas Jelinik had difficulty raising campaign funds and was considered by some as too far to the left, Bates has built a strong campaign war chest and is viewed as a moderate who can appeal to different segments of the electorate. 

According to the candidates Bates has raised $90,000 to date and Dean has garnered $65,000. Berkeley campaigning finance law forbids donations from businesses and limits personal donations to $250. 

Bates, who began campaigning in July, said he would use his contacts with state lawmakers to lobby on the city’s behalf.  

“I’m working to get people to work together to improve schools, increase affordable housing and make the Berkeley an environmental center again,” he said.


Pacifica’s radio return

Kriss Worthington
Monday September 16, 2002

To the Editor:  

 

We miss Pacifica radio. We need you. We want you. We yearn to have you back. Pacifica and KPFA reflect so much of our heart and soul and mind. Like a spurned parent, like a separated lover, like an abandoned child, the city of Berkeley begs you to come home. The departure of Pacifica from Berkeley was the single biggest loss that the city has experienced in my years in office.  

This tragic departure revealed new lows in listener disempowerment, union undercutting, worker and volunteer lockout and counterproductive conflict .  

Our 91-year-old vice-mayor was so upset she was willing to be arrested. KPFA and Pacifica symbolize so much of the progressive peaceful vision manifesting Berkeley’s concern for human rights and justice, here and everywhere. 

On City Council I fight fiercely for greater representation of people of all races, especially Asians, Latinos and African Americans who are under-represented in hirings and appointments. I fight strongly too for representation of people of all ages especially students and youth, who are severely under-represented as well. We fight for the environment, for unions, for affordable housing, to shift money from policing to youth services, for increased funding for health and education, disabled accessibility, senior’s needs and for all our progressive values. The information available through KPFA and Pacifica has been central to virtually all of the social movements and political struggles of our lifetime.  

Thousands of people are awaiting the return of Pacifica with outstretched arms, open minds and wallets, yearning to see you thrive in our warm embrace, dreaming of Pacifica’s return to its home and eager to ride in the parade to welcome you back. Just think how good that parade could be for the next fund drive.  

 

Kriss Worthington  

Berkeley City Council member


Cal soccer – men beat Denver, women tie St. Mary’s

By Jared Green
Monday September 16, 2002

 

Cal senior Pat Fisher scored his second game-winning goal in as many games to lead the Golden Bears to a 1-0 win over the Denver Pioneers at Edwards Stadium on Sunday. 

Fisher scored in the 50th minute on an assist from sophomore Calen Carr. Carr gathered the ball on the flank, juked past two defenders and put a perfect cross right to Fisher’s feet. Cal’s lone senior field player coolly slammed the ball past Denver goalkeeper Brian Lux for the game’s only goal. 

“It was pretty easy for me, I just put the ball in the corner of the net,” said Fisher, who scored his first goal of the season Friday against St. Mary’s. “Calen did all the hard work, so he should get most of the credit. I don’t even know how he saw me.” 

Cal head coach Kevin Grimes, however, praised Fisher for his overall play on the weekend. 

“Pat is definitely capable of coming up with big scores at big times,” Grimes said. “He was in position to score twice this weekend, and both times he knocked it in.” 

Cal had a few more scoring opportunities after the goal but couldn’t put another one away, and Denver rallied for several good shots in the final 15 minutes. Cal goalkeeper Josh Saunders made several nice saves, including a point-blank bullet he deflected away, to preserve his third shutout of the season. 

Sunday’s game was part of the California adidas-Legacy Classic, and Cal clinched at least a co-champion spot with the win. But for the Bears, who started the season 1-2-1, just getting two wins was plenty of reward for a hard weekend of work. 

“These are the games we have to win if we want to make the playoffs,” Fisher said. 

 

• MORAGA – Senior midfielder Brittany Kirk scored a goal with 14 seconds left in regulation to help No. 7 California secure a 1-1 tie at St. Mary’s Sunday afternoon at Garaventa Field. The tie improved the Golden Bears record to 4-1-1, and the Gaels are 1-4-1.  

“We showed great character in getting the tying goal,” said Cal head coach Kevin Boyd. “We battled to the end. We’re 4-1-1, and all six teams we have played so far have either been regionally or nationally ranked at some point this season. We’ve played a really good schedule and feel we’re doing quite well right now. We’re doing a great job playing like a team and getting results as a team.”  

Sunday was Cal’s first road game of the 2002 season and its fifth in a row without starting All-American forward Laura Schott and starting defender Kim Stocklmeir. Schott is nursing an MCL sprain and may return next Sunday against Fresno State, while Stocklmeir is out with a broken collarbone and will be out until at least mid-October.  

Kirk, who also tallied a goal and an assist in the Bears’ 2-1 victory over No. 3 Santa Clara on Friday, headed in the game-tying goal against St. Mary’s with a shot to the left corner following a scramble in front of the goal.  

The Gaels grabbed a 1-0 lead with under nine minutes to play in the game when they capitalized on a counter attack opportunity. Sarah Burgess fired a shot past Cal goalkeeper Sani Post after receiving a pass from Sarah Takekawa.  

In overtime the Bears outshot the Gaels 4-0, but neither team was able to score. SMC’s Ruth Montgomery finished the game with six saves, while Post tallied seven. 

 

Daily Planet Wire Services contributed to this story.


‘Wheeler 79’ students accept deal

By David Scharfenberg
Monday September 16, 2002

A handful of pro-Palestinian students involved in the April takeover of UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall have accepted disciplinary action, according to university officials. 

Dean of Students Karen Kenney said she could not discuss the specifics, citing student confidentiality. But she confirmed that, in some cases, the deal includes a probationary period of a semester or more. If there are no further violations, students will receive marks on their records but will not face suspension or any other penalty, she said. 

Kenney said some of the 41 students facing conduct charges, which range from trespassing to disturbing the peace to disobeying a university official, have not yet reported to her office to face those charges.  

But the university has offered similar deals, known as “informal resolutions,” to any students who have appeared and will make the same offer to the remaining students, she said. 

Students can either accept an informal resolution or take part in a hearing before a student conduct board composed of faculty, staff and students. 

The student conduct board can dismiss the charges or recommend penalties ranging up to expulsion. Kenney has the final say on any punishment. 

“We hope to resolve all these cases, one way or the other, by the end of October,” Kenney said. 

The 41 students were among 79 people arrested by UC Berkeley police after occupying Wheeler Hall and demanding that the nine-campus University of California system divest from Israel. 

UC’s Board of Regents has come out against the divestment movement. 

Last spring the Alameda County District Attorney dropped all criminal charges against the “Wheeler 79” in exchange for the payment of court fees.


Thank you to police

Laura Menard
Monday September 16, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

I am writing to express my family’s heartfelt thanks to the Berkeley Police Department and especially to the drug task force for their continued efforts in controlling the drug dealing in our tough neighborhood. As longtime residents of south Berkeley, we have experienced the difficulties of co-existing with drug dealing on our corners and the impact of crimes that occur in neighborhoods plagued with this problem. We share with our neighbors the desire to live in a safe and healthy environment. Please keep up your efforts. We have noticed the recent improvements. 

 

 

Laura Menard  

Berkeley


Sports Shorts

Monday September 16, 2002

Cardinal nip Cal water polo 

LOS ANGELES – No. 4 Cal and No. 1 Stanford duelled each other for 28 minutes, but the Cardinal came out on top by the narrowest of margins, 8-7, in the semifinal match of the SoCal Tourney at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium. The loss was the Bears’ (2-1) first of the young season while Stanford remains undefeated (5-0).  

Stanford dominated the first half of play and went into the break on top 5-2. But the Bears came roaring back to make a game of it, outscoring the Cardinal 5-3 in the second half.  

Juniors Will Quist and Attila Banhidy paced the Bears’ attack with three goals apiece and senior Andrew Stoddard added a score of his own - his fifth of the tournament.  

Junior goalkeeper Tim Kates played solidly in the net, tallying six saves. 

 

Cal volleyball wins tournament 

DALLAS, Texas - The Cal women’s volleyball team (9-0) continued its unbeaten streak and won its third consecutive tournament with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-21, 30-21) victory over host Southern Methodist (4-5), Saturday evening at the DoubleTree Invitational in Dallas, Tex. The Bears are 9-0 and have won all 27 games in those nine matches this season.  

Cal has now established a school record for consecutive games won (27, the old record was 21 set in 1993) to start a season and have tied a school record (with the 1989 squad) by starting the season with nine consecutive match victories.


Liquor stores face last call

By Sean Marciniak
Monday September 16, 2002

Today is the deadline for Faiz Aldabashi and his brother Ali to clear loiterers from sidewalks around their south Berkeley shop Easy Liquor at San Pablo Avenue and Haskell Street. If they fail, the brothers say, the state will strip them of their liquor license.  

“It’s bull,” said Faiz. 

But authorities disagree. What happens in front of a liquor store, they say, is the owner's responsibility. If the loitering continues, state officials said Easy Liquor could be the third liquor store in south Berkeley shut down or stripped of its alcohol license this year. 

In January, the city closed Brothers Liquors at 3039 Shattuck Ave., after authorities discovered various criminal activities run from the store. A few months later, J & B Liquors at 3242 Adeline St., lost its alcohol license for selling liquor to minors. 

ABC officials would not comment on the Easy Liquor case, but Ali said he was asked to clean up his store and hire a security guard.  

Ali said he has complied with ABC demands. Last week he ripped out an old cracked floor and installed a new one. He has also reduced store hours, closing at 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Additionally, he has installed four hidden cameras on the inside and outside of his store to deter criminal activity. 

But Ali is skeptical that his changes will be enough to appease ABC inspectors. 

“This place has always been a hangout,” he said.  

During a morning interview with Ali, a tall man in a hooded red sweatshirt paced in front of the store. Ali said he was a drug dealer. 

“You see that guy walking by? Do you think I could do anything?” he said after he waved to the man. “If I say anything, he’s going to get pissed off.” 

Ed Kikumoto, a community organizer with the non-profit Alcohol Policy Network, had no sympathy for Ali’s plight.  

“It goes with the territory,” said Kikumoto, who organized neighbors against Brothers Liquors. “These business owners are in a quandary because they are selling a product that gets people into trouble.” 

Faiz disagreed. “Honest to goodness, if they took away the liquor license, if we stopped selling liquor, they (the loiterers) would not leave the corner,” he said. 

The law is not on the brothers’ side. The California Business and Professions Code states that the ABC can suspend or revoke a liquor license when a store fails “to take reasonable steps to correct objectionable conditions on the licensed premises.” 

“It puts responsibility on you as a business owner… It’s a privilege, not a right (to own a liquor store),” Kikumoto said. 

ABC officials would not comment on the Easy Liquor case, but Ali said he was asked to clean up his store and hire a security guard.  

Ali said he has complied with ABC demands. Last week he ripped out an old cracked floor and installed a new one. He has also reduced store hours, closing at 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Additionally, he has installed four hidden cameras on the inside and outside of his store to deter criminal activity. 

But Ali is skeptical that his changes will be enough to appease ABC inspectors. 

“This place has always been a hangout,” he said.  

During a morning interview with Ali, a tall man in a hooded red sweatshirt paced in front of the store. Ali said he was a drug dealer. 

“You see that guy walking by? Do you think I could do anything?” he said after he waved to the man. “If I say anything, he’s going to get pissed off.” 

Ed Kikumoto, a community organizer with the non-profit Alcohol Policy Network, had no sympathy for Ali’s plight.  

“It goes with the territory,” said Kikumoto, who organized neighbors against Brothers Liquors. “These business owners are in a quandary because they are selling a product that gets people into trouble.” 

Faiz disagreed. “Honest to goodness, if they took away the liquor license, if we stopped selling liquor, they (the loiterers) would not leave the corner,” he said. 

The law is not on the brothers’ side. The California Business and Professions Code states that the ABC can suspend or revoke a liquor license when a store fails “to take reasonable steps to correct objectionable conditions on the licensed premises.” 

“It puts responsibility on you as a business owner… It’s a privilege, not a right (to own a liquor store),” Kikumoto said.


Libertarians drop Calif. governor hopeful who spat on radio host

Robert Jablon
Monday September 16, 2002

LOS ANGELES – California’s Libertarian Party voted Saturday to drop its candidate for governor because he spat on a radio talk show host. 

The party’s 15-member executive committee voted to rescind its endorsement of Gary Copeland’s campaign and to censure him for “repugnant” and unprofessional conduct. 

The Libertarian Party has about 98,000 registered members in California. 

The committee’s resolution also called on Copeland to apologize and to withdraw from the campaign. The state Legislature was urged to allow the party to remove his name from the November ballot. 

“There was just a lot of anger over what he did,” party chairman Aaron Starr said Saturday. “Everybody was quite appalled.” 

Copeland, 46, said he will continue to run. The radio host “deserved to be spat upon,” he said, and discounted the committee’s resolution. 

“It means absolutely nothing. They were not the people who voted for me in the primary. They were not the people ... who nominated me,” he said in a telephone call Saturday night from his Orange County home. 

The controversy has resulted in at least two death threats, Copeland said, but it also has given him “more press than I can handle” and donations have increased his campaign warchest from $6,000 to $20,000. 

“Now people know who I am,” he said. 

Copeland said he spat on KABC-AM radio host Brian Whitman after a Sept. 8 interview at the station’s Los Angeles studio. 

Copeland said that Whitman had applauded U.S. immigration control efforts. Copeland said he compared the efforts to the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans. 

The radio host then switched off his microphone, and when Copeland got up to leave, he heard Whitman make what he considered an insulting remark, so he spat on him. 

“He had just stepped over my line,” Copeland said. 

“Anyone who would strip the rights of minorities and espouse the greatness of government while disallowing our First Amendment rights deserves to be spat on.” 

Copeland won the party’s nomination in the March primary. The party had initially supported another candidate whose name wasn’t on the ballot after a judge ruled he didn’t qualify. 

The candidate, former Bellflower mayor Art Olivier, was barred from running for office because he failed to indicate a party affiliation on his voter registration form. 

The executive committee’s resolution asked voters to cast write-in votes for Olivier. The state Legislature also was asked to allow the party to choose future candidates at its annual convention rather than a primary election. 

“We want to be able to select the candidates who represent us,” Starr said. “Why does the state have any business telling us who we think our candidate should be?”


Officer’s absence notable in Riders case

The Associated Press
Monday September 16, 2002

OAKLAND — The alleged ringleader of a violent clique of Oakland police officers known as “The Riders” will be conspicuously absent as defense lawyers launch their case next week. 

Whether that will help or hurt the case against the four former officers accused of misconduct remains unclear. 

“My intention is to try this case as if Frank Vazquez is sitting there,” said Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Hollister. 

Hollister delivered his opening statement Thursday. Defense lawyers are scheduled to present their openings Tuesday. 

Authorities believe Vazquez, whose nickname was “Choker,” fled to Mexico to escape prosecution. 

Still, Hollister made Vazquez’s allegedly brutal leadership of “The Riders” a focal point of the trial’s first day. He outlined the accusations against Vazquez, repeated threats he made against rookie Keith Batt — who eventually turned in the four former officers — and even showed the jury of six men and six women a photo of Vazquez in uniform. 

The veteran training officer bragged about beating up a suspect after emptying a canister of pepper spray into his mouth, Hollister said, and then glossed over the incident in a police report and pressured the suspect to sign a falsified account. 

The officers, who have since been fired, are on trial for their alleged activities during the summer of 2000. They face a combined 26 felony counts, including beating suspects and falsifying police reports. 

Outside court, Hollister said he and defense lawyers for Clarence “Chuck” Mabanag, 37, Jude Siapno, 33 and Matthew Hornung, 30, agreed not to tell jurors that Vazquez is a fugitive. 

Peter Keane, dean of the Golden Gate Law School, called the decision unusual and extremely risky — for both sides. 

“The jury is going to wonder why he isn’t there: ’Where is he?’ ’Have you given him a pass?”’ Keane said.


Molotov cocktails spark fire

Daily Planet Wire Service
Monday September 16, 2002

VALLEJO – Police Department reports that a house fire that sent twin 12-year-old boys to a Sacramento burn unit was started by three or four suspects who lobbed Molotov cocktails through the home's windows. 

Police Sgt. Don Hendershot said the fire set at 913 Miller St. at about 11:30 p.m. Friday may have been in retaliation for a prior confrontation between the victims' family and another group. 

The twins are now at the Shriners Hospital burn center in Sacramento, where one boy is listed in critical condition with burns on 35 percent of his body, and the other boy is being treated as an outpatient. 

Vallejo fire spokesman Bill Tweedy said the fire destroyed the family's house and arson investigators are conducting a criminal probe. A preliminary damage estimate is at $200,000. 

The firefighters called to the blaze struck a second alarm immediately after arrival upon finding a full-blown fire in the house and flames coming out of every window. 

Everyone inside the house escaped unharmed expect for the 12-year-old twins. 

Tweedy says that firefighters had the fire under control by 12:16 a.m. but stayed at the scene throughout the morning to extinguish hot spots and assist with the criminal investigation being handled by Vallejo police. 


Police say family dispute resulted in Oakland homocide

Daily Planet Wire Services
Monday September 16, 2002

OAKLAND – A spokesman for the Oakland Police Department says an early morning homicide that claimed the life of an 81-year-old man appears to have stemmed from a family dispute now that a relative is in custody. 

Sgt. Gus Galindo would not release the male suspect's name or relation to victim Chea Prak, but he did say they were relatives. 

Prak's murder, which is the city's 81st of the year, occurred at about 1 a.m. in the 1200 block of 12th Street. 

Responding officers discover Prak dead at the scene from what appears to be gunshot wounds, Galindo said.


SF took cash that could have repaired Hetch Hetchy system

The Associated Press
Monday September 16, 2002

 

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco city officials diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System and left the aging water system vulnerable to natural disasters and decay, a newspaper reported Sunday. 

The money that could have been used to repair the aging system was siphoned off to finance city programs and salaries, according to a report by the Chronicle in its Sunday edition. 

The lack of repairs to the water system come at a time when engineers warn that a large earthquake could cause enough damage to the Calaveras Dam in Alameda County to cut off most water to 2.4 million Bay Area residents for two months. 

Some now charge that the diversion of Hetch Hetchy funds constitutes mismanagement. 

“The politicians used the Hetchy system as a money machine in the basement of City Hall,” said Jim Chappell, president of San Francisco Planning and Urban Research. “For decades, there has been gross irresponsibility in the siphoning of funds clearly needed for Hetchy maintenance.” 

City records show that $670 million went to the San Francisco’s general fund and not to make repairs on any portion of Hetch Hetchy’s deteriorating system. The diversion of money to that city fund is legal, however, and the former head of the city’s Public Utilities Commission defended past expenditures that were made using Hetch Hetchy money. 

“There is nothing wrong in my view with using Hetchy power resource to generate money for the general fund, which pays for cops, parks and recreation and everything that people hold dear,” former San Francisco PUC chief Rudy Nothenberg told the Chronicle. 

There is a proposed fix that would mend some of the water system’s ailments. This fall, San Francisco voters will be asked to approve a $1.6 million bond measure that would cover the city’s costs of rebuilding the system. 

Overall, the Hetch Hetchy rebuilding and restructuring would cost $3.6 billion, with San Francisco’s suburban neighbors raising the balance through increased water bills over the next 13 years. 

During that period, San Franciscan’s water bills would triple. 

The Hetch Hetchy system consists of 167 miles of aqueduct and is more than 75 years old. It includes 21 reservoirs, 25 tanks, two pump stations and 40 miles of tunnels. 

Several warnings to repair portions of the decaying system have been ignored, the Chronicle reported. 

In 1987, a consultant to the city PUC faulted the agency for its lack of familiarity with the condition of the system and poor planning. Seven years later, city supervisors budget analyst Harvey Rose said the city PUC lacked the basic information to prioritize what had to be done to keep water flowing through the system. 

And three years ago experts examined the system and concluded a strong earthquake would cause massive failures throughout the Hetch Hetchy.


Lights Out

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 14, 2002

Two years ago, Berkeley received a $450,000 state grant to install two sets of traffic lights along Telegraph Avenue and make several other street improvements. Today, those lights sit dark, covered with yellow caution tape. 

Delays in awarding the installation contract and routing power to the lights, located at the Russell and Stuart street corners, have played a role.  

But the real stumbling block has been a complicated, shifting debate over traffic, bike lanes, student safety and neighborhood politics. 

The city applied for the state’s “Safe Routes to School” grant in 2000, hoping that the traffic lights would protect children crossing Telegraph Avenue on their way to Willard Middle School on Stuart Street and LeConte Elementary School on Russell Street. 

But early this year, neighbors got wind of the plans, raised a series of objections and condemned the city for failing to include them in the plan to install lights.  

“The neighborhood was almost entirely left out of the loop,” said Wim-Kees van Hout, a Derby Street resident who has been active on the issue. 

In April, City Council directed the transportation department to finish installing the lights, but prohibited staff from switching them on until the completion of a thorough public process. 

In a pair of public meetings in August, run by the city’s dispute resolution service, neighbors aired a series of competing concerns.  

Some Russell and Stuart Street residents worried that traffic lights, replacing the existing stop signs, would turn their streets into major thoroughfares, with cars racing to catch green lights. 

A plan to install “right turn only” signs, advocates argued, would divert cars off Russell and Stuart Streets and eliminate the thoroughfare concern.  

But another set of residents worried that “right turn only signs” would simply push traffic onto other neighborhood streets. 

Throw in concerns about bicyclists’ safety, raised by the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, and the thicket of interests and clashing personalities became almost unmanageable. 

But in recent weeks, van Hout said, the neighbors, school safety advocates and bicyclists, after much hard work, reached consensus on a signaling plan for the traffic lights. 

The plan includes, among other things, flashing yellow lights that convert to double yellow and then red, and a separate signaling system for bicyclists and pedestrians. 

Van Hout said the agreement marks a major milestone in the process. 

“It is almost unheard of in Berkeley city politics that you have a coalition like we have now of groups that were at such loggerheads,” he said. 

But Assistant City Manager for Transportation Peter Hillier questioned the depth of neighborhood support for the “consensus” plan and argued that it poses significant public safety risks. 

“It’s confusing and it’s complicated,” Hillier said. “Because it’s complicated and confusing, people will do unpredictable things. If people do things that are unpredictable, that creates potential safety problems.” 

But van Hout argues that the double yellow system has had success at several San Francisco intersections and that a public information campaign, combined with the continued presence of a crossing guard at Stuart Street, could work to acclimate residents to the proposed signaling system. 

Hillier said van Hout’s proposed public education campaign is “unrealistic” and warned that accidents could happen while residents acclimate to the proposed system. 

Hillier raises his concerns about the neighborhood plan and details the latest city proposal, which includes a more conventional signaling plan, in a Sept. 11 letter to area residents that should hit mailboxes in the coming days.  

City officials and neighbors will discuss the competing plans in a Sept. 25 meeting at Willard Middle School, and staff plans to make a final recommendation to City Council in October. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose district includes the traffic lights, said there is “a lot of room for compromise” between the city and neighborhood plans, and urged a quick resolution. 

“I’m opposed to spending another year or two debating the specifics,” said Worthington. “I think we have a responsibility to the safety of the kids and the whole community (to turn the lights on).” 

But George Rose, a sixth-grade teacher at Willard who has long been an advocate for the lights, worries that any neighbors who do not get their way will go City Council and seek to further delay the process. 

“May main concern is how politicized this process has become,” he said. “It’s kind of sad when kids are at stake.”


Berkeley’s Sept. 11 won’t be forgotten

Christopher Cantor Berkeley
Saturday September 14, 2002

To the Editor: 

So in Thursday's Daily Planet, I was reading about how upset College Republican Bret Manley was, and about the criticism he had for the student speeches made at the Sept. 11 memorial on campus. Mr. Manley's quote was: “I thought those were absolutely inappropriate. I almost look at it as a funeral service. You don't go to a funeral service and talk about war.” 

But then I remembered the speeches that President George W. Bush gave at the memorial services that he had attended that day. I distinctly remembered Mr. Bush going to great pains to “renew our commitment to win the war,” and swearing that “what our enemies have begun, we will finish.” 

It sure is hard to imagine Mr. Manley losing sleep over the inappropriate behavior of his fellow republican President Bush. But I guess anything is possible in Berkeley. 

 

 

Christopher Cantor 

Berkeley


Churches remain important south of campus institutions

Susan Cerny Special to the Daily Planet
Saturday September 14, 2002

Until the late 1930s the blocks south of the university were a family oriented, residential neighborhood with churches of different denominations. St. Marks Church and other churches in the area are survivors of a residential neighborhood that no longer exists. When St. Marks was constructed, for example, there was a full residential neighborhood across the street, between Bancroft and Allston, where the sports facilities now stand.  

St. Mark’s Church was dedicated in February 1902, and replaced a Victorian styled, wood-frame church constructed on this site in 1877. The church is dedicated to Rev. William I. Kip California's first Episcopalian bishop.  

St. Marks is the most significant example of the Mission Revival style in Berkeley, and one of the Bay Area's most outstanding examples as well. It is the best surviving work of architect William Curlett (1845-1914), a native of Ireland who arrived in San Francisco in 1871 and established his architectural practice around 1877.  

Its square-shaped, four-story bell tower, at the corner of Bancroft and Ellsworth, is the church's most prominent feature. The tower consists of two arched entries on the first floor, with an open loggia with two arched openings on all four sides. (These openings were reopened during the church's recent restoration.) At each of the four corners are turrets with domed tops and on top of the tower is an octagonal lantern with a octagonal domed roof topped by a cross. 

On the west side of the church, facing Ellsworth Street, the Mission-styled gable end of the main sanctuary contains a beautiful stained-glass rose window by Tiffany. Another bell tower, on the southwest corner, is only two stories tall, but also has a domed roof and a simple arched entrance. The cruciform shape of the church is said to be modeled after Mission Don Carlos Borromeo in Carmel. The road screen, pulpit and lectern were carved in the interior design studios of Vickory, Atkins and Torrey. 

Along Bancroft Way (east of the main bell tower) is an open, one-story arcade resting on an arched colonnade that has a slopping shed roof. Rising behind this arcade is the large, three-story sanctuary. A second arcade connects the church to the parish house next door, which was added in 1912 and designed by Willis Polk. The arcades are a perfect design element to modify the mass and height of the sanctuary and to provide a pedestrian scale at the sidewalk.  

Susan Cerny is author of Berkeley Landmarks and writes this in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.  

 

 


The Cheap suit Serenaders

By Brian Kluepfel Special to the Daily Planet
Saturday September 14, 2002

The Cheap Suit Serenaders just weren’t made for these times. The impetus for the band came when two collectors of vintage 78 rpm records bumped into each other at an Alameda Flea Market more than 30 years ago. An animated discussion between the two men revealed a shared love for the recorded music of the late 1920s, a boom time in the music industry.  

Al Dodge and acclaimed cartoonist Robert Crumb became good friends who would complement and inspire each other. 

“Crumb and Al really hit it off,” said Robert Armstrong, Dodge’s childhood friend. “Al called me up and said, ‘Hey, Crumb really likes this old music too.’ ”As adolescents in Pasadena, Dodge and Armstrong took music lessons from a World War I veteran, learning old songs on mandolin and banjo.  

Shortly after, Armstrong moved to the Bay Area, and the trio began trading records at Dodge’s house on McGee Street in Berkeley. They then went on a one-year, sort of anthropological road trip, relying on the kindness of friends and strangers in their quest for their Holy Grail – what they thought must have been thousands of 78 records in people’s closets, cellars and attics.  

The fact that Crumb and Armstrong are both cartoonists and fans of vintage music isn’t as strange as one might think. “Certain parts of American culture have an appeal,” Armstrong said. “I could tell Crumb was influenced by earlier cartooning styles. One day, while he was looking for comics, he came across old records. We have a shared love of old culture.” 

The trio played instruments, too, and soon formed an impromptu group dubbed “R. Crumb and the Keep on Truckin’ Orchestra,” an ironic jab at Crumb’s most famous cartoon image. When Terry Zwigoff joined the group, a name change was in order, and a gig at an upscale San Francisco wedding provided inspiration for the name Cheap Suit Serenaders.  

“We were these grubby, poor guys playing a fancy wedding in Pacific Heights,” Armstrong said. “We all went to the Goodwill Store on Valencia Street and bought 10-dollar suits.” Armstrong credits Dodge with inventing the name. 

The Suits went on to record three records in the 1970s for the now-defunct Blue Goose label. Appropriately, they also made two 78 records, including 1972’s “River Blues”/”Wisconsin Wiggles.” The second 78 has a title unsuitable for print in a newspaper, but was based on an English folk record from the 1930s. 

Although the group does not focus on any one genre, they continue to find inspiration in the time period.  

“In 1926, they figured out how to make records using electronic microphones,” Armstrong said. “Record companies sent out scouts all over the country to find talent and preserved all these old regional styles that were disappearing.  

At the same time there was lots of cross-fertilization, because you could finally hear music from the other side of the country. Jazz bands influenced Hawaiian bands; the blues influenced hillbilly music. It was a good time in recording.”  

The Great Depression ensured that only the most commercial bands survived, something that still affects the music business today. “Everything is so homogenized now,” Armstrong said.  

The Suits are now far apart geographically, and only get together once a year to recreate their bathtub-gin era magic. “Everyone’s off doing other stuff,” said Armstrong.  

Terry Zwigoff produced a documentary on Crumb three years ago. Instrumentalist Bob Brozman tours the world. Crumb lives in France. And Armstrong lives near Davis, playing in three bands, painting custom guitars, and teaching children’s illustration classes. 

“We all probably wish we were living in a different day and age,” said Armstrong, 52. “There is something that is missing from contemporary music, a lyrical quality. Radio, MTV, that stuff falls flat on my ears. But I’m out of the loop—that’s young people’s music.”  

While serious about their music and collection of classic instruments, Armstrong points out that the whole exercise is fun.  

“We don’t want to seem precious. We’re not a museum recreation. We want to keep the spirit alive – there’s a certain fun encoded in the music.”


Calendar of Community Events

Saturday September 14, 2002

Saturday, September 14 

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center  

997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

 

Congressman Dennis Kuchinich  

7 p.m. 

Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley Campus, near University Avenue 

Chair of the House Progressive Caucus will speak. Keith Carson, Country Joe McDonald and performance artist Shelly Glaser will also be on hand. 

http://www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

$10 in advance, $12 door 

 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon  

 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237, Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

 

“Standing Together for Trees” 

9 a.m. to noon 

Fellowship Hall, Cedar St. near Bonita St. 

Updates on local and world forestry issues. Presentations by Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch, and Kristen Kirk or Forest Forever. 

636-7659 

Free 

 

West Berkeley Open Air Market 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between  

Third and Fourth streets. 

West Berkeley celebrates Neighborhood Heritage Day with crafts, food, live music, art and family entertainment. 

841-8562 or sfbayshellmounds@yahoo.com 

Free 

 

Sunday, September 15 

Knowledge of Freedom/Undoing Negativity 

6 p.m. 

The Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place 

Nyingma Institute instructor Abbe Blum reads from “New Beginnings” 

843-6812 

Free 

 

Bay Area Workers Democracy Network Forum 

3 p.m. 

390 27th St./Broadway St., Oakland 

The Fight Against Government Intervention - dicussing the need to build a democratic trade union movement. 

(415) 661-1371 

$5 donation 

 

Monday, September 16 

Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation (BEST) Coalition  

meeting, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Central Library, Kitteredge Street and Shattuck Avenue. 

Group joins pedestrians, bicyclists, mass transit users and land-use advocates. Topics of discussion include: Berkeley height initiative, pedestrian issues and employer incentive plans. Potluck. 

652-9462, imgreen@jps.net 

 

Tuesday, September 17 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support Group 

Arthritis Foundation - “Easy and Fun Things To Do In The Water” 

12 to 2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Video presentation. Group meets every third Tuesday of each month. 

644-3273 

Free 

 

“How to Grow Dahlias” 

1 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

A presentation by Dr. Erik Gaensler, vice president of the California Dahlia Society. 

524-4374 

Free 

 

Breast Self Exam for Seniors 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Maffley Auditorium, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

Workshop to educate women with physical limitations about accessing breast health care and do-it-yourself exam education. 

869-6737 

Free 

 

Freedom From Tobacco 

6 to 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center  

2939 Ellis St. 

A quit smoking class. First of six Thursday evenings through Oct. 24.  

981-5330, quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Free to Berkeley and Albany residents, students and employees. 

Simplicity Forum 

7 to 8:30 p.m  

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

A panel of people who will share their experiences and ideas for living inexpensively but richly.  

549-3509, www.simpleliving.net 

Free 

 

Wednesday, September 18 

Kick Off Party for the Berkeley Coffee Initiative 

7 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center  

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, speakers and events in support of the Berkeley coffee initiative, Measure O. 

(415) 575-5338 

$5 at door 

 

Peace Walk and Vigil 

6:30 p.m. - Every Wed. 

Meet at Downtown Berkeley Bart Station 

Join us for a peace walk along Shattuck Ave. for one hour. 

528-9217 

Free 

 

Saturday, September 21 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) 

9:15 to 11 a.m. 

St. John’s Church, 2727 College Ave. 

mtbrcb@pacbell.net 

Free 

 

 

Do-It-Yourself all-Natural  

Body Care from Your Kitchen 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Learn how to make your own all-natural skin care from products you might already have in your own kitchen. 

548-2220, Ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org 

$10 for members, $15 for nonmembers 

 

Third Annual David Brower  

Youth Awards 

6 p.m. 

Schwimley Theater, 1920 Allston Way 

Celebrate the next generation of environmental activists at Earth Island Institute’s award ceremony. R.S.V.P. 

(415) 788-3666, Ext. 260  

www.earthisland.org/bya 

 

Coastal Cleanup Day 

10 a.m. 

Work at the outflow of Strawberry Creek to clean up the San Francisco Bay coastline. 

info@strawberrycreek.org or 848-4008 

 

Fall Plant Sale 

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

200 Centennial Dr. 

Annual plant sale featuring rare and unusual plants. Members-only preview and auction from 9 to 11 a.m.  

643-2755, www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/ 

Free  

 

Sunshine Workshop 

10 a.m. to noon 

Sixth floor, City Hall, 2180 Milvia St. 

Get up to speed on open records laws, open meetings laws and sunshine ordinances. Experts, including Terry Francke of the California First Amendment Coalition, will speak. 

BerkeleySunshine@Yahoo.com 

Free  

 

East Bay Shoreline Clean Up 

9.am. to 12 p.m. 

Sea Breeze Market and Deli - meeting/staging area. 

On the corner of West Frontage Rd. and University Ave., Berkeley. 

Arrive promptly to sign appropriate waivers , get coffee and listen to safety talk. We will provide bags, tally cards and a raffle of donated prizes; groups of ten or more need to pre-register by calling 644-8623. 

Free 

 


Six nightmarish minutes doom Panthers to loss

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 14, 2002

The St. Mary’s Panthers played 42 minutes of pretty good football on Friday, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for six minutes of horrible football. 

Bishop O’Dowd High scored 28 points in six minutes during the second quarter that propelled the Dragons to a 28-13 win in Berkeley. Quarterback Danny Brethauer threw consecutive touchdown passes of 22 and 30 yards and running backs Tyson Butler and Zach Walker each ran for a score during the rally. 

“We really self-destructed for those eight or nine minutes,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “I though we regrouped pretty well after that, but you can’t take those minutes away.” 

St. Mary’s actually got out to a strong start, stuffing the Dragons on two straight runs to get possession on downs near midfield and scoring on a Fred Hives plunge from the 1. But after the teams traded punts, the Dragons started gaining yards in big chunks. Walker ran outside for gains of 17 and 13 and Brethauer started to find his rhythm. 

On a 4th-and-11 from the St. Mary’s 22-yard line, Brethauer dropped back and scrambled to his right away from pressure. After a few seconds, the senior signal-caller found Drew Glover in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. 

“Danny made a great play on the first touchdown,” O’Dowd head coach Paul Perenon said. “The protection broke down and he bought himself some time. That wasn’t where the play was supposed to go, but he made something out of it.” 

The Panthers went three-and-out on the ensuing series, and punter Jason Haller’s kick went just five yards to the 30-yard line. Brethauer immediately hit Jordan Murchison on a fade pattern for another touchdown, giving O’Dowd a 14-7 lead. 

Hives, who had 94 yards on 22 carries in his debut as starting tailback, coughed up the ball two plays into the next drive with the Dragons recovering on the Panthers’ 26. Butler scored on a nine-yard run moments later. Then it was St. Mary’s quarterback Steve Murphy’s turn to fumble, and O’Dowd’s Shea McIntyre picked up the ball and ran out at the 27-yard line. On the next play Walker cut a run back inside and scored through the Panthers’ defense. 

“We just made a lot of mental errors in the second quarter,” Murphy said. “I made one myself when I fumbled the ball away.” 

That was all the scoring until St. Mary’s scored a consolation touchdown on a pass from sophomore Scott Tully, who played most of the second half, to wide receiver Will Reid for a 28-yard touchdown. 

Tully was 6-for-14 passing for 105 yards in his first varsity action, while Murphy threw for just 58 yards before shifting to running back. But while Tully is taller and has a stronger arm than Murphy, the sophomore also looked anxious at times, overthrowing receivers and misreading their cuts. Don’t expect a quarterback controversy to arise, at least not yet. 

“I liked the way (Tully) stood in there and threw the ball,” Lawson said. “But he also made some mistakes. We just needed to do something to get things going, and Scott did that a little bit.” 

The Panthers have several issues to work out before next week’s game. One is protecting Murphy from pass-rushers, as the quarterback was harassed every time he dropped back to pass. He was only sacked once officially, but he was forced to scramble most of the time and even escaped one sack by pitching the ball to Hives at the last second for a short gain. Murphy is mobile but undersized, and throwing while being chased isn’t his strong suit. 

St. Mary’s will also have to do some serious work on special teams. Haller’s first three punts went a total of 21 yards, and his best effort of the day, a 34-yarder, was returned 26 yards by O’Dowd. Jon Taranto was the punter before going down for the year with a knee injury, and the St. Mary’s coaches are hesitant to use tight end Nick Osborn, who is a soccer goalkeeper, due to ankle injuries. Also, one of Brendan Slevin’s extra-point attempts was blocked. 

The Panthers will try to address their problems before facing El Cerrito next week. Murphy finished his postgame interview on a determined note. 

“This game isn’t our whole season. I wanted to win it, for sure, but it’s over,” he said. “We have to concentrate on beating El Cerrito next week. A 9-1 season wouldn’t be so bad.”


State pressures city planners

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 14, 2002

Berkeley must reduce barriers to development if it hopes to comply with the state’s housing law and retain control of its zoning ordinances, state regulators say. 

Last month the state rejected Berkeley’s plan to meet its quota of planned affordable housing – 1,269 units by 2007, saying the city is not on a track toward supplying enough housing. 

If Berkeley fails to lift development constraints, as the state is requiring, the city could be vulnerable to unwanted developments. 

City officials say that a Sept. 4 meeting between housing staff and state regulators helped bridge some of their gaps in the plan, called the housing element, but state representatives were not as optimistic. 

Cathy Creswell, deputy director for the state Department of Housing and Community Development, said that the city must simplify its approval process for housing projects, which developers say can stall housing projects for years. 

“We’re hearing that people trying to build housing are facing significant barriers,” she said. 

Unlike most California cities, which almost always approve legally-zoned affordable housing developments, Berkeley allows neighbors to petition developments they think would hinder their neighborhood or demolish historic structures.  

Developers say Berkeley residents have abused their right to influence development. 

“It’s a pity that the city has to spend thousands of hours because a few people want to stop an affordable housing project they say is unsuitable for a neighborhood,” developer Patrick Kennedy said. 

First a series of appeals delayed Kennedy’s proposed four story apartment complex and commercial space at 2700 San Pablo Ave. Now its a neighborhood group’s lawsuit. All told the project is several years behind, Kennedy said. 

But Berkeley refuses to consider changing its housing policy. 

At the recent meeting with Creswell, Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton said that to offset the city’s arduous permit process, the city offers developers some perks. Berkeley requires only one parking space per new unit of housing, while most neighboring towns, including Albany, require two. 

Barton added that the primary obstacle to developing affordable housing in Berkeley was not the permit process, but city funding, which the city is now addressing. The City Council placed a measure on the November ballot to increase home sales tax. Proceeds from the tax will go to replenish the city’s housing trust fund, which subsidizes affordable housing developments.  

Although Barton said he was optimistic that the state department of Housing and Community Development will in the end sign off on the housing element, Creswell said changes are needed. 

Little public support exists for loosening zoning approval procedures. Residents recently criticized the housing policy, saying it is too lenient. 

Berkeley debated its housing element for three years before City Council approved it last December. Any policy changes would require more public hearings and could turn into months of additional debate. 

However, if the city’s housing plan is rejected again, it risks losing significant control over new development. Without a valid housing element, a developer has more leverage to sue the city over a rejected project by saying the city cannot reject affordable housing because it hasn’t met its quota. 

Lynda Hart is one developer threatening to sue the city over a rejected project. 

“Since they don’t have an approved housing element they don’t have a leg to stand on,” Hart said recently. 


Berkeley’s Sept. 11 won’t be forgotten

Jeanne Gray Loughman Berkeley
Saturday September 14, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

Congratulations on an impressive Sept. 11 front page.  For a fleeting moment, just quickly scanning the headlines, I thought I was back in the Berkeley I once knew, the Berkeley that existed before the Sixties ruined it: patriotic (God bless our firemen and the flag), decent and moral (cracking down on massage parlors), and respectful of the law (O’Donnell goes to prison). Then I read on.  Oh well.  It was nice to imagine that my old hometown was back again, just for a minute or two.  Maybe some day… 

 

Jeanne Gray Loughman 

Berkeley


Golden Bears upset Santa Clara

By Dean Caparaz Daily Planet Correspondent
Saturday September 14, 2002

Senior midfielder Brittany Kirk had a goal and an assist to lead the Cal women’s soccer team past third-ranked Santa Clara, 2-1, Friday at Edwards Stadium. 

The seventh-ranked Golden Bears improve their record to 4-1, while the Broncos, the defending national champions, fall to 2-2. Cal beat the Broncos 2-1 last year in Santa Clara. 

Both teams were missing starters – for Cal, forward Laura Schott and defender Kim Stocklmeir were out; Santa Clara missed U.S. under-19 national team defender Jessica Ballweg and forward Bree Horvath. But Santa Clara seemed to be hit harder than Cal, as the Broncos used just one player off its bench. 

Kirk got the Bears on the scoreboard in the 23rd minute. Taking a Dania Cabello pass, Kirk spied Santa Clara goalkeeper Erin Pearson off her goalline and chipped Pearson from 20 yards out for her first goal of the season. In the 25th minute, Kirk again shot from just outside the Broncos’ penalty area, but her shot slammed off the crossbar. Cal’s Tracy Hamm pounced and struck the ball past Pearson to make the score 2-0. The goal was the freshman forward’s third this season. 

“We were a little fortunate certainly on that first goal that went in,” Cal coach Kevin Boyd. “But you create your own luck when you’re working hard, and we’re working hard. 

“I was laughing with them before the game that maybe they weren’t quite as strong in the net and that maybe we should shoot [more]. We just discussed that we want to follow up balls on the keeper because she might drop one.” 

Boyd was going to substitute Kirk out in the first half due to the senior midfielder’s chronic foot problems, but her productive minutes changed his mind. Kirk didn’t leave the match until the 71st minute. 

“We’ve been worried about her body and how it’s been holding up,” Boyd said. “But she got a goal and an assist on the second one. She was playing very well and had her confidence up. We were going to leave her until I saw her energy start to drop.” 

Santa Clara improved in the second half, picking up its pace and creating more dangerous chances than it had in the first 45 minutes. 

The Broncos finally scored in the 55th minute, taking advantage of a Cal foul on All-American midfielder Aly Wagner. Wagner took the ensuing free kick, firing it past the wall and Cal goalkeeper Sani Post into the lower right corner of the net for her third goal of the season. 

The Broncos were a bit sluggish in the first half, perhaps distracted by the recent death of Lark Chastain, the mother of head coach Jerry Smith’s wife, U.S. national team and San Jose CyberRays defender Brandi Chastain. A few of the Broncos attended Lark Chastain’s memorial service Thursday. 

But Smith wouldn’t make any excuses. 

“We had a little bit of a tough week this week,” Smith said. “I just think you have to give a lot of credit to Cal. They played really well in the first half. I thought we outplayed them in the second half but didn’t create as many chances. They were the hungrier team and wanted to win the game more than we did.”


Check overhead: Council says weapons not allowed there

By Elizabeth Gettelman Special to the Daily Planet
Saturday September 14, 2002

A Congressman crusading against weapons in space who is scheduled to visit Berkeley Saturday won’t need to worry about weapons assaults above his head. This week – in a statement of protest – the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution declaring a person’s space directly overhead a weapons-free zone. 

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio is scheduled to speak 7 p.m. Saturday at UC’s Wheeler Auditorium against Star Wars, a proposal to put weapons in space. 

This week the city also made a move to support Kucinich’s federal legislation known as the Space Preservation Act, which protests deploying weapons into space. The city’s resolution to side with Kucinich’s cause is the first formal support the Congressman has received. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who sponsored the Berkeley resolution, hopes the city’s support will help propel the debate about weapons in space to the forefront of national and even international politics. 

“Our resolution is a model for the country,” Spring said, adding that she believes weapons in space is a bad idea. 

“It continues escalation of the arms race and makes our nation even less secure,” she said. Pollution in space would also be a problem, she said. 

Kucinich’s bill is currently in the House International Relations Committee, where it has been since February. 

Many countries sympathize with Kucinich’s position against putting weapons in space, according to Carol Rosin, president of the Institute for Cooperation in Space. Although no international treaties have addressed the issue, on Nov. 29 the U.N. General Assembly voted 156-0 to take steps to address it. Meeting the consensus call last month, Russia and China issued a joint statement denouncing the deployment of weapons in space. There is a similar resolution in the works in Japan, and local resolutions supporting the Space Preservation Act are being considered in Berkeley and cities and towns across the nation. 

“Every weapon you know about will be up there [without the legislation],” Rosin said. “Along with many you can’t even imagine.” Those include psychotronic devices that can be “directed at individual persons or targeted populations for the purpose of ... mood management or mind control.” 

Kucinich’s bill does not propose to hinder industrial and military work in space, just ban weapon deployment. 

“The act allows for the military industrial complex to continue with their research and development, so long as it is not related to space-based weapons,” said Rosin.  

Kucinich’s proposal would impact space weapons construction at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, said Mary Lia Kelly of Tri-Valley Cares, a watchdog organization of nuclear development complexes. 

Production of such weapons would be halted under Kucinich’s plan, Kelly said.


How many more people?

Mark Johnson Berkeley
Saturday September 14, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

Councilmember Linda Maio makes the astonishing claim (Forum, Sept. 7-8) that Berkeley will be able to add thousands of residents without increasing the number of cars. Huh? How would that happen? It has never happened anywhere else in the world. Berkeley has no means to require new residents to take local jobs and walk to them. They are legally entitled to drive to jobs in San Jose or Redwood City. If Berkeley's population increases by 10,000 and an amazingly high 90 percent of them don't have cars, then that is still 1,000 more cars on Berkeley's streets. 

Maio also asserts that Berkeley can't be “already too dense” because the population has dropped by 8,000 since 1970. That's like saying that air pollution can't be a problem because it's lower than it was in 1970. Proponents of higher density and more crowding should tell us how many more people they want in Berkeley. Will 10,000 be enough? 50,000? 100,000? 

 

Mark Johnson 

Berkeley 


Sports Shorts

Saturday September 14, 2002

Cal men’s soccer beats St. Mary’s 4-0 

The Cal men’s soccer team recorded its second win of the season Friday afternoon at Edwards Stadium with a 4-0 victory over St. Mary’s College. The Bears improved to 2-2-1 and the Gaels fell to 1-3-1, their third straight loss for the season.  

The Golden Bears wasted no time as senior Patrick Fisher put Cal on board less than four minutes into the game, assisted by freshman Garrett Terracciano.  

Sophomore Carl Acosta started it up again for the Bears six minutes into the second half with a 10-yard shot assisted by Fisher and freshman Pieter Berger. Cal continued to press as sophomore Mike Munoz scored his second goal of the season in the 60th minute off of a pass from Calen Carr. Cal added an insurance goal as Berger scored his first goal of the season in the 69th minute, assisted by sophomore Angel Quintero. 

 

Women’s volleyball still undefeated 

DALLAS, Texas - The Cal women’s volleyball team (7-0) remained undefeated with a 3-0 victory (30-8, 30-20, 30-27) over Texas-San Antonio (1-7), Friday at the DoubleTree Invitational in Dallas, Tex. The Bears are 7-0 and have won all 21 games in those seven matches this season.  

Cal’s 7-0 record ties the school’s best start since 1993,when the Bears also started off the season 7-0 and won 21 straight games.  

Against Texas-San Antonio, Cal was led by senior outside hitter Leah Young and sophomore outside hitter Mia Jerkov with 11 kills apiece. Jerkov also had a team-best .409 hitting percentage.


City considers biodiesel

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 14, 2002

A plan to reduce Berkeley air pollution and possibly save a homeless shelter may have to wait until the city budget crisis clears up. 

In the coming weeks, advocates at the Ecology Center plan to ask the city to convert its fleet of 24 garbage trucks from diesel to cleaner biodiesel fuel. The $100,000 to $300,000 price tag, though, has some doubting that the city can afford a conversion. 

Furthermore, denying a conversion would likely further delay the expansion of a city homeless shelter at Harrison Park. 

That project is already on hold because of bad air quality. The shelter sits next to the city’s waste transfer station where its diesel trucks contribute to air pollution the city says is at “dangerously high” levels. 

Using biodiesel, made of soybean oil instead of petroleum, in the city’s sanitation trucks would reduce soot emissions and other harmful particulate matter by 80 percent, Ecology Center representatives said. The center, which provides the city’s recycling service, uses biodiesel fuel in its 10 recycling trucks. 

City Councilmember Linda Maio, who will bring the request before council, said councilmembers will likely support the idea. But the price might prohibit action, Maio said. 

“We squeaked through the budget this year to come up with another $100,000. ... It’s a matter of cost,” she said. 

Biodiesel costs roughly $1 more a gallon than regular diesel gasoline, and is only about 82 percent as efficient. In addition, because the fuel is used in just one of every10,000 diesel engines, few suppliers exist. 

This is bound to change, said Dave Williamson, recycling director at the Ecology Center. If more cities like Berkeley change to biodiesel, prices will fall and availability will rise. 

Williamson said the effort is worthwhile because the Ecology Center’s 10 biodiesel recycling trucks spare the city10 tons of pollution each year, Williamson said. 

If the city followed suit, air pollution that threatens the neighborhood near Harrison Park could be improved, he said. 

Berkeley already has committed itself to reducing citywide diesel engine emissions. The city has begun converting some of its diesel vehicles, like fire engines and school buses, to compressed natural gas engines, which are as clean as biodiesel and are more fuel efficient. 

However, the compressed gas engines cost approximately $75,000 each, so acquiring the funds could take years, Williamson said. The advantage of using biodiesel fuel is that it can be used in a regular diesel engine, so the city would not have to buy new engines. 

“We see biodiesel as a ‘bridge fuel’,” said Williamson. “It’s a way to get cities into the alternative fuel game without having to buy more trucks.” 

City Council is expected to ask city staff to estimate the cost of biodiesel conversion. A final decision is not expected until December, which environmental activists say is a dangerously long wait.  

“We know from [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] reports that the air is bad. Why wait three more months to start solving the problem,” said Martin Bourque, Ecology Center executive director. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact reporter at matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

 

 

 


How many more people?

Mark JohnsonBerkeley
Saturday September 14, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

Councilmember Linda Maio makes the astonishing claim (Forum, Sept. 7-8) that Berkeley will be able to add thousands of residents without increasing the number of cars. Huh? How would that happen? It has never happened anywhere else in the world. Berkeley has no means to require new residents to take local jobs and walk to them. They are legally entitled to drive to jobs in San Jose or Redwood City. If Berkeley's population increases by 10,000 and an amazingly high 90 percent of them don't have cars, then that is still 1,000 more cars on Berkeley's streets. 

Maio also asserts that Berkeley can't be “already too dense” because the population has dropped by 8,000 since 1970. That's like saying that air pollution can't be a problem because it's lower than it was in 1970. Proponents of higher density and more crowding should tell us how many more people they want in Berkeley. Will 10,000 be enough? 50,000? 100,000? 

 

Mark Johnson 

Berkeley 


Senior aerobics reinstated

- Matthew Artz
Saturday September 14, 2002

A senior water aerobics class canceled by the city two weeks ago was reinstated Friday. 

Seniors can attend the class for free at the West Campus Pool until November, when the pool is scheduled to close, said class member Sidney Velin. 

The four-year old class, sponsored by the Berkeley Adult School, was abruptly canceled Aug. 28 after the school was unable to pay $14,000 to the city for maintenance fees. 

Senior class members blamed the closure on the city’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront department for demanding immediate payment from the adult school, even though preserving the program would not have added to the department’s pool costs. 

- Matthew Artz


Varmints again

David Shefik Berkeley
Saturday September 14, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

“Some people” aren't trying to “turn back the clock” on civilization. On the other hand, Jenifer Steele (Forum, Sept. 6) looks at our environment as us verses them and would prefer to live in a time before bounties on animal scalps were outlawed. Enlightened Berkeley citizens understand that raccoons descend from the hills in late summer and fall when what little humans haven't already eliminated of their normal food sources dry up. True Berkeley residents know to secure their garbage can lids and put their dog food inside. There is enough room in this town for both humans and raccoons if people just use some common sense. 

Jenifer does bring up a valid point about the lack of natural predators, since humans have wiped out those “varmints” too. For the cost of just the first two or three years of what would be an endless and expensive raccoon-neutering campaign, Berkeley could afford to re-introduce a local coyote population, start bringing back bobcats and help re-establish golden eagle and other raptor populations. Natural (esp. baby) raccoon predation rates would go back up, and the rest of us would get the bonus of living with a more vibrant and diversified wildlife population. True, some Berkeley newcomers would probably pack up their poodles and koi ponds and move back to whatever sterilized and sanitized suburban or ultra-urban environments they came from. 

But Hey! Our little town is already overcrowded. We won't miss them. Obvious question: How long would it take for the Tilden Park, El Cerrito, North Oakland and Oakland hills raccoons to move into any void created by an hysterical and expensive Berkeley neutering program? Answer: days and weeks for full perimeter penetration and months-plus for full Berkeley coverage. Every year this ill-advised program would have to start from scratch. Jenifer says in her letter: “Right On!...if the City Council wants to sterilize them.” Wrong! This “idea” comes from a single councilwoman abusing her position to impress her careless out-of-town friend in a city that's already millions in the red. A simple public awareness campaign, along with free raccoon-proof garbage cans for all who want them would accomplish much more at a fraction of the cost. Jenifer's dogs are unlikely to ever bark at or challenge a raccoon again, but their wildlife-phobic owner seems to have learned little from her $110 lesson. Her ornamental non-native fish and plants are indeed fair game for hungry raccoons, regardless of the tragic loss of the oh-so-valuable time of “two very busy people.” By the way, just clean up any raccoon scat at the same time that you clean up after your dogs. Wildlife experts say that this will practically eliminate the already minuscule risk of any disease transmission. 

My previous letter was the first I'd ever written to an editor. Someone had to defend the absolute right of raccoons to coexist in our shared environment, (raccoons aren't big on writing letters). The volume of supportive e-mails, phone calls and back slaps I received for speaking up just reinforces the fact that the squeamish supporters of this inane proposal are far outnumbered by the rest of us longtime Berkeley residents who refuse to go to war against our furrier neighbors. Long live the Berkeley Raccoons. 

 

 

David Shefik 

Berkeley


UC employee unrest spreads

By Ian Stewart The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — Labor unrest spread further through the University of California’s system Friday, as lecturers from Santa Cruz joined their counterparts at Davis and Berkeley on rotating one-day picket lines. 

Accusing the administration of failing to bargain in good faith, the non-tenured lecturers staged a series of information picket lines at the Santa Cruz campus to protest working without a contract for more than two years. 

“For the past two decades they have treated us as casual labor,” complained Mike Rotkin, a longtime UC Santa Cruz lecturer. “For the past two years we have been negotiating for a new contract and gotten nowhere.” 

Lecturers from UC Davis refused to teach in May, followed by their colleagues at Berkeley earlier this month. In both instances, they held one-day work stoppages to try to force the university back to the bargaining table. 

Friday’s action did not disrupt classes, which do not begin until next Wednesday. The protests are expected to continue through the weekend, said California Federation of teachers spokesman Fred Glass. 

The university maintains it has offered the lecturers the best deal it can given state budget limitations. Lecturers are industry professionals hired to supplement the university’s tenured professors’ teaching schedules. 

“We have to wait to see what kind of budget cuts we are going to face before we can know what we can offer,” said Paul Schwartz, a spokesman for the office of the President. 

The University of California could face up to $154 million in cutbacks in the upcoming budget, Schwartz said. 

Gov. Gray Davis has until January to finalize the cuts. Statewide, California faces up to $750 million in education budget cuts. 

A state mediator has been appointed in a bid to re-ignite the stalled talks. 

If that fails, labor action could spread beyond the Davis, Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses, Glass warned. 

“There is a wave of anger washing across the UC system as lecturers take action to get the university administration to bargain in good faith,” Glass said. “It’s been two years at the bargaining table and we’ve seen little progress.” 

The lecturers have for years accused the university of exploitation. 

The Santa Cruz lecturers voted this week to form a strike committee, putting them in a legal position to walk off the job as early as Oct. 7. 

In addition to the lecturers’ labor action, clerical workers have staged similar work stoppages and protests to demand better wages. 


New landlord at Reddy tenants

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Saturday September 14, 2002

The future of Reddy Realty, Berkeley’s biggest and most infamous real estate company remained in doubt Friday. 

Residents of the Reddy’s estimated 1,000 apartment units received letters Friday informing them that the company was going out of business and was in the process of assigning their properties to an outside property management company. 

A reddy employee, however, said that the company was only changing its name and that it would continue to own the buildings. 

A city official speculated that the company planned to relinquish the management of their properties to an outside firm, but retain ownership under a new name. 

In March 2001, Lakireddy Bali Reddy, the company’s former head, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and transporting a minor for illegal sex. The charges stemmed from an investigation into the death of a young female tenant who died the previous November of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty heating unit. 

The “Reddy Realty” sign on the company’s Shattuck Avenue offices had been taken down as of Friday. The only sign on the storefront was for Jay Construction.  

 


Police Briefs

Saturday September 14, 2002

n Assault, robbery 

Three teenage boys punched and robbed a 16-year old Berkeley High School student at 12:28 p.m. at the corner of Miliva and Blake streets Thursday, police said. The victim was attacked by a group of male teenagers, police said. One member of the group asked the boy if he had any money. When the victim said that he didn’t, the suspect punched him in the throat. The victim tried to escape, but was thrown down to the pavement. Three males took the victim’s watch and CD player. Police found one suspect with the watch, but the other two are at large. 

 

n Assault 

Six or seven teenage boys attacked a male at the intersection of Russel and Grant streets Thursday morning, police said. According to police, the suspects asked the victim if he had money. When the victim said that he did not, they hit him. The victim was not robbed and did not require medical attention. The suspects were described as black males between the ages of 16 and 18.


Bay Area Briefs

Saturday September 14, 2002

Marin woman escapes injury when car plunges from carport 

MILL VALLEY – A Marin County woman narrowly escaped injury Friday morning when she drove forward instead of backward out of her carport and her Mercedes landed three feet below on top of her home's roof. 

Southern Marin County Fire District spokesman Jeff Allen said a wall on top of the roof prevented the car from falling 60 feet to the ground.  

Allen said the elderly woman was not injured during the 11:25 a.m. incident at 370 Richardson Way in the Tamalpais Valley. 

Fire crews were still trying to get the car off the roof late this afternoon by using a series of jacks and ramps, Allen said. 

Union City police investigate triple homicide 

UNION CITY – Union City police are gathering clues Friday in a triple homicide after three bodies were discovered inside a ransacked home late Thursday night. 

Union City Police Capt. Brian Foley said the three Asian victims had been beaten so badly that a cause of death is unclear. 

Foley said authorities received a call shortly before 10 p.m.  

Thursday notifying them of an unconscious woman inside the two-story house at 33056 Compton Court, which a couple had been renting since August of last year. 

The person who called 911 was the mother of a woman who had been living at the house. The mother, who was interviewed at police headquarters earlier today, was apparently concerned after not hearing from her daughter for several days, authorities said. 

When Fire Department crews arrived at the home to investigate last night, they found multiple bodies and called for assistance from police, who confirmed that two Asian men and an Asian woman, all in their 20s or 30s, were dead. 

“There were obvious signs of trauma to the extent that cause of death is difficult to determine at this point,” Foley said. 

Police said the victims may have been dead for several days inside the home, a cream colored house with a red tile roof.  

Second suspicious fire in  

five days at San Jose mall 

SAN JOSE – Arson investigators are picking through the charred remnants of a convenience store this morning as they investigate the second suspicious fire in five days at a strip mall on Tully Road. 

The fire probably began with an explosion, said San Jose Fire Department spokesman Greg Spence, because 911 callers reported hearing an explosion and firefighters also found glass shards on the roadway in front of the store. 

The fire at The Tully Road Market, located at 1709 Tully Road, was reported at 2:48 a.m. and firefighters extinguished the blaze about 40 minutes later, Spence said. 

The store is destroyed, Spence said, and damage is estimated at $175,000.


Prosecutor shows Oakland cops’ pattern of setting up suspects

By Kim Curtis THe Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

OAKLAND— In the opening statements of a trial involving three former Oakland police officers, the prosecution attempted to paint the trio as ruthless, egotistical cops out for themselves with no regard for others. 

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Hollister told the jury on Thursday that the defendants, known as “The Riders,” regularly disregarded the law when making arrests that often involved young black men. He outlined the cases of five alleged victims and showed the officers’ pattern of “hitting corners.” 

“Ride up fast,” Hollister explained. “Grab them, handcuff them and search the area.” Then make the evidence fit the alleged crime, he said. “The problem is the level of deceit and the shortcuts used in the police reports.” 

Hollister said Clarence “Chuck” Mabanag, 36, Jude Siapno, 34 and Matthew Hornung, 30, went too far in their quest to increase their arrest numbers. 

“The defendants fed off this attention,” he said. “They liked being looked up to by the younger officers. ... There’s no doubt about it — they were producing numbers.” 

The officers, who have since been fired, are on trial for their activities during the summer of 2000. They face a combined 26 felony counts, including beating suspects and falsifying police reports. Siapno faces the most serious charges, including kidnapping and assault. 

Frank Vazquez, the alleged ringleader of the group, is believed to have fled the country. 

Prosecutors wrapped up their opening statements Thursday. Defense lawyers, scheduled to make their opening statements next week, say the officers simply were doing their jobs in a tough neighborhood. All have pleaded innocent. 

Mike Rains, Mabanag’s lawyer, said outside court that the officers are scapegoats. 

“The department was saying, ’We better do something,’ and they did something,” he said. “They are scapegoats. There’s another side of this case the jury needs to see.” 

It took two months to seat the Alameda County panel of six white men and six women — who are predominantly white — for the trial, which is expected to last through year’s end. 

The scandal, which has resulted in the dismissal of about 90 criminal cases, mostly drug-related, and 17 civil rights suits by 115 people, surfaced after a then-20-year-old rookie reported what he saw on duty with Mabanag, his training officer. 

Keith Batt, now a police officer in Pleasanton, is the prosecution’s key witness. During the preliminary hearing last July, Batt painted a disturbing picture of the officers’ “stop and grab” tactics in which suspects randomly were accosted on the street, handcuffed and put in the patrol car before they were questioned about their activities. He called their methods illegal and immoral.


Weed whacker spark caused Oakland fire

The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

OAKLAND – The Oakland Fire Department has determined that a five-alarm blaze that charred 15 acres and threatened homes Tuesday was accidentally caused by a brush-clearing crew. 

“The fire was the result of what we believe is a spark generated from a weed whacker with a steel blade on it that hit a rock,'' said Deputy Chief Ron Carter. 

He said the crew had been hired to do the work by a property owner in the area.  

According to Carter, it has not been decided whether the crew or property owner could be forced to pick up the tab for putting out the fire. 

“We haven't made that determination as to whether any penalty fines or anything will be assessed,'' Carter said. 

He would not comment on reports that the property owner had been cited by the city in the past for failing to clear brush from his land. 

Fire crews are still on scene on a fire watch today, Carter said, but could clear the area tonight if it is determined safe to do so. 

A total of 200 firefighters from Oakland and other jurisdictions were brought in to knock down the blaze near Keller Avenue and Mountain Boulevard on Tuesday. Six air tankers and four helicopters also assisted in the firefighting effort. 


Arrest made in Alameda County stalking

Daily Planet Wire Service
Saturday September 14, 2002

OAKLAND – A 27-year-old Florida man charged with allegedly stalking a former college classmate over a nine-year period delayed entering a plea in Alameda County Superior Court this morning. 

Daniel Barbalace of Boca Raton was arrested Saturday and faces two counts of burglary and one count of stalking, said Deputy District Attorney Mark McCannon. Although Barbalace did not enter a plea today, his bail was increased to $150,000. 

McCannon said that Barbalace and his alleged victim, an Alameda County woman, first met in 1993 as freshmen at a college in Rochester, N.Y. 

Since then, an alleged pattern of harassment and stalking emerged. 

"He's known this woman for a nine-year period,'' McCannon said.  

"Throughout that period he had repeatedly followed her and harassed her in hopes of establishing some type of dating relationship.'' 

The woman repeatedly rebuffed his advances. 

Several years after college, the woman moved to the Bay Area.  

Barbalace allegedly tracked her down, McCannon said, finding out where she lived and worked. Then on Sept. 2, he flew in from Florida and contacted the woman on the street. He also allegedly broke into her residence and stole several items, according to authorities. 

He then flew back to Florida but returned to the Bay Area several days later and was arrested Saturday. 

Barbalace is scheduled to return to court in Oakland on Tuesday to enter a plea.


Agents raid farm, arrest medical pot grower

The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

SEBASTOPOL — A raid on a pot farm on the outskirts of Sebastopol netted federal agents thousands of mature marijuana plants and ended with the arrest of the owner of a Petaluma medical marijuana club. 

Pot club owner Robert Schmidt, 51, was being held for investigation of assaulting a Drug Enforcement Administration agent during the raid Thursday at the home he rents. 

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that a source said Schmidt was arrested after he tried to strip another agent of his firearm. 

Schmidt had rented the six-acre property since March. 

His Petaluma club, Genesis 1:29, also was raided Thursday. 

Computer hard drives were seized at the club, and crossbows and knives were seized at the ranch, agents said. 

Neighbors said Schmidt was growing marijuana for Genesis and numerous other clubs around the Bay Area that sell marijuana for medical use. 

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, an initiative allowing medical use of marijuana with approval from a physician. 

But possession of marijuana remains a federal offense, and the Justice Department has stepped up enforcement since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge last year. 

“Trust has built up between the sheriff’s department and the medical marijuana community, and the DEA, by these kinds of actions, really puts that at risk,” said Ernest “Doc” Knapp, spokesman for the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana. 

Neighbors said Schmidt told them he had more than 5,000 plants. Some said they began complaining about Schmidt a month ago.


Monaco seeks ‘silence’ in memories of Princess Grace

The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

MONACO — Below the gilded dome of the Cathedral of Monaco lies the body of Princess Grace. Flowers are arranged over the marble slab of her tomb, and a wooden plaque instructs visitors: “Silence and Respect.” 

In the two decades since her death on Sept. 14, 1982 — she died at 52 of injuries suffered in a car crash — silence and respect have been hard to come by. 

Monaco, once a sleepy resort favored by European royalty, is now a popular tax haven with celebrities, bankers and sports figures. 

Streets once known for elegance and wealth are now clogged with trinket shops and tourists, and the lives of the princess’ royal children are tabloid fare. 

Palace officials say there are no special plans to mark the 20th anniversary of her death on Saturday; only the annual private ceremony at the palace chapel. 

But Prince Rainier III — who married Hollywood actress Grace Kelly in a fairy-tale wedding in 1956 — is determined to keep her memory alive. 

He dedicated this year’s palace yearbook to Grace, filling it with her photographs and testimonials extolling her good works. The portrait of the princess on the cover is displayed on roadside billboards all over the principality. 

“Princess Grace is always present in our hearts and in our thoughts,” he wrote in the preface, praising her for “carrying out to perfection her role as spouse and mother.” 

The Princess Grace Foundation, now led by her daughter Princess Caroline, funds a classical dance school, medical research, children’s hospitals and charities. 

Streets carry her name, the National Museum houses roses bred in her honor, and the Princess Grace Irish Library has 8,500 books, including signed works by James Joyce. 

“She was very attached to her Irish roots,” said library administrator Judith Anne Gantley. “It’s a way of contributing to her memory, but in a living way.” 

Princess Grace brought elegance and charm to an already glamorous principality. Her prestige heightened with the energy she devoted to her philanthropic enterprises — and stars such as Frank Sinatra, who were attracted to the palace. 

Most media attention in recent years has been on the lives of Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie, the eldest and youngest of her three children, and Grace’s son, Prince Albert. 

Caroline’s third husband, Prince Ernst August of Hanover, has been in trouble for attacking a German photographer and beating a hotel owner. 

Stephanie’s 18-month marriage ended when her husband was photographed romancing a Belgian stripper, and she has had two children out of wedlock. 

Meanwhile, Prince Albert has played the bachelor well into his 40s. The principality had to change its succession law to allow one of his sister’s sons to take the throne should he fail to produce an heir. 

A few yards from the tomb of Princess Grace, two vending machines sell pamphlets on the cathedral — in several languages — and cathedral “souvenir medallions.” 

“The principality is the principality,” said visitor Paqui Moreno, when asked about scandals. “That doesn’t change what’s here — the views and everything are still here.” 


Burning Man attendance in Black Rock Desert sets record

The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

RENO, Nev. — For a few days last month, Nevada’s seventh largest “city” was in the Black Rock Desert. 

The Bureau of Land Management said on Friday that attendance at this year’s Burning Man event was a record, with 29,083 people tallied on Aug. 30. 

The rest of the year, Elko is the seventh largest city with 16,708 people, according to the 2000 Census. Carson City is sixth at 52,457. 

The BLM said attendance was up 14 percent from last year. 

Burning Man organizers pay the BLM $4 per person. The agency said the $572,000 collected would about equal the costs of administering the annual desert outing 100 miles north of Reno.  

The collections would equate to 143,000 people who attended the 7-day event. 

The playa where Black Rock City is located has reopened after being temporarily closed for the event. Workers are cleaning up the area, which will be inspected by the BLM early next month. 

Burning Man organizers were commended by the BLM earlier this year for their thorough cleanup efforts. 

“Burning man is the largest ‘leave no trace’ event in the world,” said Terry Reed, field manager of BLM’s Winnemucca office. 

“We have found no evidence of environmental damage caused by past Burning Man events and we don’t expect to find any this year.” 

Along with the attendance, the 239 citations issued by BLM rangers was up this year, the agency said. Of those, 136 were for drug related offenses. Of the 1,288 patient visits to the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority, 22 were drug related and 10 involved alcohol. 

Most of the visits, which were up 25 percent from last year, were related to heat, sun exposure and dehydration. Twenty-four patients were taken to Reno for treatment of head injuries and broken bones. 


motorcross is Not a crime bikers want a park, too

By Casey McKinney Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 13, 2002

Area motorcross bikers are frustrated. And they’re teaming up to take action. 

“It’s time bikers were shown the same respect as skaters,” said biker John Wold, 33-year-old graphic designer. 

Berkeley’s new $750,000 skate park is scheduled to open Saturday but bikers are not permitted to use it for their two-wheeled acrobatics. As commuters raced down Interstate 80 Tuesday evening, dozens of bikers met in a parking lot near the pedestrian bridge at Berkeley’s Aquatic Park to plot a strategy. Their goal: a new park for motorcross biking, otherwise known as BMX. 

“The city of Berkeley is a big fan of volunteer-park building,” said Stephen Swanson, the president of Berkeley Partners for Parks.“This piece of land and an adjacent smaller piece are what we are hoping will be the site of a new bike park,” he said, as bikers huddled together on an 11,000-square-foot piece of land at Aqautic Park, adjacent to the bay. 

Planning of the new park began in democratic fashion. Some bikers proposed concrete and wooden ramps. Others preferred just dirt. A fence was suggested to define the area, to protect it from vandals and keep pedestrians from wandering into the action. A bathroom or a portable toilet would also be needed. The bikers voted against electricity to keep costs down and to ensure the park would close at an early hour. 

Their motivation was part survival, part envy. Development of the new Eastshore State Park threatens a current dirt bike course called the Shady 80. Bikers are seeing other recreation groups, like skateboarders, get more attention from park and city officials. 

They think the new park can be created for about $75,000 and even less if only dirt obstacles are used. 

“All we need is to haul in some fill dirt, which contractors would donate free of charge,” said biker Jeremy Swanson. 

Bikers like Jake Taylor, who has done much of the building and maintenance of jumps at Shady 80, would gladly volunteer services at a new park. 

“We just need a water source, and maybe a tool shed for rakes and shovels,” Taylor added. 

The idea is gaining support. Kate Obenour, who was a chief lobbyist for the Berkeley Skate Park is also pushing for the creation of a bike park. So is Councilmember Linda Maio, who represents the district where the park is proposed. 

“I think when a sport arises from the youth, like this one has, we should support it,” Maio said. She suggested that perhaps neighboring cities like Albany and Oakland could invest in the project as well. 

The bikers plan to meet again at the same place 7 p.m. Sept. 24. 


How many police does it take?

Bob Moghaddacy Berkeley
Friday September 13, 2002

To the Editor: 

How many police officers will it take to cite a motorist who violates the pedestrian right of way on Adeline Street near the south Berkeley post office. 

Up to eight. 

Six on motor bikes, three westbound and three eastbound. One in a vehicle and one undercover crossing the street. Too bad for motorists that don’t recognize undercover police. 

 

Bob Moghaddacy 

Berkeley


The Backyard isn’t safe anymore

By Peter Crimmins Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 13, 2002

Wrap barbed wire around a baseball bat. Beat a friend with it onto a plywood plank doused with lighter fluid and sparked into a table of fire. Then check to make sure he’s bleeding. 

It’s all for fun and sport in the world of amateur hardcore wrestling, documented in "The Backyard," a film by Paul Hough screening at the Pacific Film Archive Sept 18. 

All around the world teenagers gather in backyards to beat the crap out of each other, using dangerous implements and moves they see on television. Some of them with ambitions to become professional wrestlers see the backyard as a kind of rudimentary training ground. Others do it just because they like it. 

Hough traveled across America in search of makeshift wrestling rings and Pits of Pain dug in vacant lots. A skinny, long-haired amateur who calls himself The Lizard talks the talk of a pro wrestler. He has the cocky showmanship for WWF but not the weight. The movie follows him out of the backyards of central California to Las Vegas where a wrestling promotion company had searched for the next big thing. 

Most other kids don’t have their sights on professionalism. They wrestle for fun and do their best to put on a show. These are not teens who didn’t make the wrestling team at school who are practicing their holds and throws at home. No, these kids use razors and thumbtacks and barbed wire for grandiose scenes of brutality. 

A pair of brothers, Bo and Justin Gates in rural Nevada worked up a whole storyline for their matches. "3 Stages Of Hell" is a three-act drama of increasing pain, wherein two rival brothers – one the mother’s favorite, the other the outcast – battle to the "death," ending with one throwing the other into a sheet of flaming plywood covered in barbed wire.  

The Gates’ mother played the part of the mother. A girlfriend videotaping the scenes cries behind the camera as her boyfriend is thrown into a pit of barbed wire. The scene, and many others in the film, is disturbing. There are no special effects. Later, while drying her eyes, Bo’s girlfriend tells Hough how proud she is of Bo’s accomplishments. 

Some parents like Bo and Justin’s mom support their sons’ hardcore interest. Granted, some wrestling involves only garbage can lids, thin plywood and sheets of corrugated tin to make a big noise. There’s no bloodshed here. But other parents are horrified when they see what their kids do. One distraught mother, after weeping after her son body-checked onto a field of thumbtacks, pleads to Hough’s camera for parents to stop the madness. Her son and his wrestling partner, meanwhile, sullenly pick up their gear and go somewhere else, away from mom’s hysterics. 

This kind of wrestling-as-bloody-spectacle is not new, said Mike Lano, Berkeley-based wrestling journalist, photographer and historian who has been covering the sport for 40 years. With Hough he’ll be presenting the film at the PFA next week. In the 1970s in Memphis, TN "garbage wrestling" became popular on the circuit, involving garbage cans and dirty tricks. Lano said this kind of hardcore wrestling settled in Japan during the 80s and came back into American professional wrestling when promoter "Cactus Jack" brought it to Philadelphia in 1993. 

Wrestling is, of course, more of a choreographed performance than a contest. "A lot of wrestlers are a team, and they are protecting each other," said Lano. The boys in the backyard have agreed to hurt each other. Although they can imitate what they see the pros doing, they don’t know how to protect each other from serious harm. 

The kids tell the camera that they are only inflicting surface damage – just a little blood, but nothing seriously crippling. In England, a group of boys taping their wrestling exploits surreptitiously use razors to cut their foreheads so that blood pours over their faces for the camera. One, while talking to Hough, had a rivulet of blood streaming down his face. "I hit a vein, obviously." 

Lano said there has been no documented case of an amateur backyard wrestler being maimed or crippled. Nevertheless, he predicted "someone is going to die. They’re not properly trained."  

Professional wrestler Rob Van Dam is featured in the film at his home. Although he deplores the potential for serious harm these kids are putting upon themselves, the backyard is clearly a place where there is a lot of enthusiasm for wrestling. Some proud parents say in the film that backyard wrestling is a show that the boys put together and promote on their own, which is better than them doing drugs or crimes. 

While watching the film the question looming over the viewer is “Why?” Why would kids want their friends to break glass over their heads, or to stomp thumbtacks into their arms, or scrap a cheese grater across their foreheads? At the end of the film Hough offers an explanation from one of the Gates brothers, who confesses that his father abused them so now violence is oddly comforting.  

That explanation, though, doesn’t ring true. When Hough asked the kids to explain themselves, their answers are stiff and forced. The truer answer seems to come from the images of the teens at play. The howls of approval at a particularly gory stunt and high-fives and the excitement of putting on a good show for the camera are the more convincing reasons why. 

Like slam dancing at a punk rock show or getting into a bar fight, amateur wrestling violence seems to be part of a young person’s aggressive energy (not exclusively male – there are girls doing this, too). The backyard barbed wire pit is another outlet for it, modeled after the professional hardcore style. 

Lano said the World Wrestling Federation recently retired its hardcore wrestling shows; amateur garbage wrestling is on the decline. "It’s grown in periods when wrestling is really cool," said Lano. As amateur wrestling lives by the sword of professional popularity, it also dies by it. "The business is very cyclical. Right now is the worst down cycle. It’s not cool." 


Arts Calendar

Friday September 13, 2002

 

Friday, September 13 

Dope Sick, Mommy’s Friend and Cellofane 

9:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

 

From Ashes Rise, Manifesto Jukebox & Submachine 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

 

Garmarna 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance, $1.50 at door 

 

Moodswing Orchestra 

9:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$11 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Saturday, September 14 

Amandla Poets 

9 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$11 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

The Cheap Suit, The Serenaders 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$18.50 in advance, $19.50 at door 

 

Tipsy House Irish Band  

9:30 p.m. 

The Albatross Pub  

1822 San Pablo Ave. 

843-2473 

$3 

 

The Good Life, Denail  

& The Velvet Teen 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

 

Lisa’s Birthday Party: The Wore,  

Lemon Lime Light 

9:30 p.m. (21 and over) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

 

Sunday, September 15 

Fairport Convention 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

Monday, September 16 

Anouar Brahem 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

 

Tuesday, September 17 

Cortableu 

8:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Wednesday, September 18 

John Dobby Boe & the Steve Slagle Trio 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

Red Archibald and the International Blues Band 

9 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Thursday, September 19 

Houston Jones 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

The influences, Plus Ones  

and The Simple Things 

9:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

841-2082 

$5 

 

Friday, September 20 

Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull  

& Barbar Higble 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

Double Fling Ding, The Crooked Jades & Bluegrass Intentions 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$12 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

New End Original, Counterfeit  

and Lo Lite 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

 

Redmeat 

9:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$6 

 

Saturday, September 21 

Memorizing Windows 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 

Dancer Lucinda Weaver and Writer Alan Bern present an evening of dance, poetry, and stories.  

526-7901, abbern@sbcglobal.net  

Free 

 

Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

Fernando, Garrison Star  

and Old Joe Clarks 

9:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$7 

 

Jack Wembly, Phemomenauts  

and Rock ’n Roll Adventure Kids 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

 

West African Highlife Band 

9:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$11 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

 

 

Sunday, September 22 

Broceliande 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

 

Dick Hindman Trio 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-$15 

 

Les Yeux Noirs 

8 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$12 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Monday, September 23 

Pieta Brown w/ Bo Ramsey 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

 

Tuesday, September 24 

Zydego Flames 

7:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Wednesday, September 25 

DP & Rythym Riders 

9:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$15 door/ Free for 12 and under 

 

Karen Casey & the Niall Valley Trio 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

 

Thursday, September 26 

Kriby Grips, Michael Zapruder, Joe Bernson 

9:30 p.m. (21 and over) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

 

Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$19.50 in advance, $20.50 at door 

 

Friday, September 27 

The Cracked Normans, Paradigm & Soul Americana 

9:30 p.m. (21 and over) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

 

Eric Bogle 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance, $17.50 at door 

 

Saturday, September 28 

Barry & Alic Oliver 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance, $17.50 at door 

 

Paradigm, Matt Easton Band 

9:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$6 

 

 

 

BACA National Juried Exhibition 

Through Sept. 21, Wed.-Sun. Noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park 

40 artists from across the U.S. including 28 Bay Area artists. 

644-6893 

Free 

 

"Before and After"  

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.  

Through Sept. 19  

Albany Community Center and Library Galley, 1249 Marin Ave. 

Jim Hair's photographs of the San Diego Hells Angels motorcycle chapter from the 1970s.  

524-9283  

 

Images of Love and Courtship 

Through Sept. 15 

Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 

Ledger paintings by Michael Horse. 

528-9038 

Free 

 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St. in Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night features Ann Weber's works made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free 

 

"Poems Form/From the Six Directions" 

Through Sept. 15 

Pusod: Center for culture, Ecology & Bayan, 1808 Fifth St. 

A visual poetry exhibition and presentation of a wedding happening, a Filipino tradition. Poetry workshops presented by Eileen Tabios 7 to 9 p.m., Aug. 14, 21 and 28. 

883-1808 

Free 

 

“Virtually Real Oakland - The Magic, The Diversity and the Potholes” 

Through Sept. 21, Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St., Berkeley 

Exhibit by Ken Burson; digitally enhanced photos of Oakland. 

644-1400 

Free 

 

Richard Misrach, Berkeley Work 

Though Oct. 13 

UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way 

On view in Gallery 2, presents two photographic series by this internationally recognized Berkeley-based artist.  

642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

$7, $5 BAM/PFA members, $4 UC Berkeley students 

 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating Sixty Years of Printmaking 

Through Oct. 16: Tues.-Fri., Noon to 5:30 p.m.; Sat., noon to 4:30 p.m. 

Kala Arts Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 

549-2977, kala@kala.org 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Thousand and One Arabian Nights 

Through Sept. 28, Fri.-Sun. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. 

Forest Meadows Outdoor Amphitheater, Grand Avenue at the Dominican University, San Raphael 

Marin Shakespeare Company’s presents this classic story with original Arabic music. 

415-499-4488 for tickets 

$12, youth; $20 senior; $22 general 

 

Henry IV: The Impact Remix 

Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. 

Sept. 13 through 21, Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m. and Sun., 7 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave. 

Impact theatre’s first Shakespeare production staring Rich Bolster as Prince Hal and Bill Boynton as Falstaff. 

464-4468, www.impacttheatre.com 

$15 general/$10 students 

 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid 

234-6046 

$10 

 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 27 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St. Berkeley 

647-2917 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10 to $54 

 

The Shape of Things 

Sept. 19 through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company  

2081 Addison St. 

Play by writer/director Neil LaBute's spins a morality tale of a young art student, his art major girlfriend, and the Pygmalion-like changes that bring into question how far one should go for love. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35  

 

Wednesday, September 11 

Poetry for Peace Benefit Reading 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Proceeds will benefit refugee relief agencies. Readings by Frances Payne Adler, Ivan Arguelles, Ellen Bass and Judy Grahns. 

845-7852  

$2 

 

Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik 

8:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

Featured poets: George McKibbins and Sean Shea.  

841-2082 

$7 door, $5 w/ student I.D. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, September 14 

Shirley Imura 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 

527-9753, sheflerium@earthlink.net 

Free 

 

Wednesday, September 18 

Poetry Flash @ Cody’s 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Readings by Meg Kearney and Cornelius Eady. 

845-7852  

$2 

 

Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik 

8:30 p.m. (21 and older) 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

Featured poet: Anthony R. Miller 

841-2082 

$7 door, $5 w/ student I.D. 

 

Sunday, September 22 

Poetry Flash @ Cody’s 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Readings by Piri Thomas and Max Schwartz. 

845-7852  

$2 

 

Sunday September 29 

Poetry Flash @ Cody’s 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Readings by Margaret Kaufman and Robert Funge. 

845-7852  

$2 

 

“Band of Outsiders” directed by Jean-Luc Godard with “No Such Thing” directed by Hal Hartley. 

Thurs., Sept. 12 through Wed., Sept. 18 

Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck Ave. 

848-1143 

www.fineartscinema.com 

$7 adult, $5 seniors, $4 children 

 

Cinema Preservation Society presents two by Deborah Dickson, Susan Froemke and Albert Maysles 

Thurs, Sept. 19 through Wed., Sept. 26 

Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck Ave. 

848-1143 

www.fineartscinema.com 

$7 adult, $5 seniors, $4 children 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Out & About

Friday September 13, 2002

Friday, September 13 

Lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Joseph the Worker Church  

1640 Addison St. 

Dr. Farmer will speak on Health Care and Human Rights: Solidarity with the Haitian People. Benefit for Partners in Health. Music by Vukani Mawethu Choir. 

558-0371 

$5 to $15 donation 

 

Saturday, September 14 

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center  

997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

 

 

 

Congressman Dennis Kuchinich  

7 p.m. 

Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley Campus, near University Avenue 

Chair of the House Progressive Caucus will speak. Keith Carson, Country Joe McDonald and performance artist Shelly Glaser will also be on hand. 

http://www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

$10 in advance, $12 door 

 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon  

 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237, Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

 

“Standing Together for Trees” 

9 a.m. to noon 

Fellowship Hall, Cedar St. near Bonita St. 

Updates on local and world forestry issues. Presentations by Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch, and Kristen Kirk or Forest Forever. 

636-7659 

Free 

 

West Berkeley Open Air Market 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between  

Third and Fourth streets. 

West Berkeley celebrates Neighborhood Heritage Day with crafts, food, live music, art and family entertainment. 

841-8562 or sfbayshellmounds@yahoo.com 

Free 

 

Sunday, September 15 

Knowledge of Freedom/Undoing Negativity 

6 p.m. 

The Tibetan Nyingma Institute  

1815 Highland Place 

Nyingma Institute instructor Abbe Blum reads from “New Beginnings” 

843-6812 

 

Monday, September 16 

Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation (BEST) Coalition  

meeting, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Central Library, Kitteredge Street and Shattuck Avenue. 

Group joins pedestrians, bicyclists, mass transit users and land-use advocates. Topics of discussion include: Berkeley height initiative, pedestrian issues and employer incentive plans. Potluck. 

652-9462, imgreen@jps.net 

 

Tuesday, September 17 

“How to Grow Dahlias” 

1 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

A presentation by Dr. Erik Gaensler, vice president of the California Dahlia Society. 

524-4374 

Free 

 

Breast Self Exam for Seniors 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Maffley Auditorium, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

Workshop to educate women with physical limitations about accessing breast health care and do-it-yourself exam education. 

869-6737 

Free 

 

Freedom From Tobacco 

6 to 8 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center  

2939 Ellis St. 

A quit smoking class. First of six Thursday evenings through Oct. 24.  

981-5330, quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Free to Berkeley and Albany residents, students and employees. 

 

Simplicity Forum 

7 to 8:30 p.m  

Claremont Branch Library  

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

A panel of people who will share their experiences and ideas for living inexpensively but richly.  

549-3509, www.simpleliving.net 

Free 

 

Wednesday, September 18 

Kick Off Party for the Berkeley Coffee Initiative 

7 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center  

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, speakers and events in support of the Berkeley coffee initiative, Measure O. 

(415) 575-5338 

$5 at door 

 

 


Daily Planet 2002 High School Football Preview Jackets hope for better finish

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 13, 2002

Last season, Berkeley High was within 24 minutes of winning the Alameda-Contra Costa Athletic League title. Tied 7-7 at halftime of the regular-season finale against Pinole Valley, the Yellowjackets collapsed and ended up losing 35-14. This year, the Jackets hope they will have the staying power to outlast the Spartans and several other contenders. 

Berkeley is the league’s deepest team, with backups that could start at most other ACCAL schools at nearly every skill position. The only real questionmark, however, comes at the most important position – quarterback. 

The battle to take snaps for Berkeley is a two-way battle between juniors Jeff Spellman and Foster Goree. Spellman, a transfer from Bishop O’Dowd High in Oakland, is the more polished of the two, while Goree is more familiar with the Berkeley offensive system after starting for the junior varsity last season. Goree looked fairly impressive during a scrimmage last week, while Spellman sat out as he waited for his eligibility to be confirmed, which it was late this week. 

While the two quarterbacks are similar in athletic ability and neither has stepped forward to claim the starting job yet, there are no plans to play both on a regular basis. Head coach Matt Bissell and offensive coordinator Clarence Johnson agree that a platoon system isn’t the ideal situation when it comes to running a team. 

“We really want to use one guy,” Johnson said. “That’s the one position where you can’t split time. It’s not good for either kid, and it’s not good for the team.” 

Whoever ends up behind center will have a plethora of weapons to utilize. The Yellowjackets are stacked at tailback once again, with Craig Hollis ready to step in as the main runner after backing up 1,000-yard rusher Germaine Baird last season. But Chris Watson is another talented back and could force his way into the lineup at some point this season. Hollis averaged 10 yards per carry last season but must prove he can be the feature back behind a line anchored by twins Anthony and Ray Cole. 

Berkeley also boasts great talent at wide receiver. Senior Sean Young averaged more than 25 yards per catch last season as the main deep threat. Young has committed to play at Cal next season and is looking to have a big year before heading east to Memorial Stadium. But Young will have to do more than just run down the sidelines this season, as neither quarterback has the arm strength of last year’s starter, Raymond Pinkston. Both Young and fellow wideout Roberto McBean will have to work on crossing routes in order o get the ball on a regular basis. 

One benefit of Berkeley’s huge student body is having a lot of student bodies in uniform. Berkeley is one of the few teams that doesn’t need to have players going both ways, giving the Jackets an advantage in both fatigue and practice time. The only player who will start on both sides of the ball is Rodny Jones, a 6-foot-5 athlete who will see time at both tight end and defensive end. Jones has the potential to be a big factor on offense as an underneath option to Young and McBean, as does senior Robert Hunter-Ford, who will also play defensive end. Both have the physical talent to be impact players, and coaches say they have improved their mental games since last season. 

“I see good things happening with those guys,” Bissell said. “Rob has shown that he now has the mental aspect of being a good player. As long as he’s motivated he’ll be a force for us.” 

The heart of the Berkeley defense will be middle linebacker Owen Goldstrom, a first-team all-league pick last season along with defensive tackle Myron Seals. If 290-pound tackle Jamal Lucas-Johnson can stay healthy this season, the Jackets will be solid up the middle. 

The talent just keeps on coming in the secondary, headed by cornerback Justin Cain. If Spellman doesn’t end up as the quarterback, he will see time at safety. With eight returning starters, Bissell is counting on the defense to carry the offense while the quarterback situation works itself out. 

Bissell will try to avoid the academic pitfalls of last season as the Jackets lost several key starters for the Pinole Valley game due to grades. As a first-year coach he went through some growing pains while learning the ins and outs of the system, and he expects this year’s team to be more successful the in the classroom. But a lot of that is up to the players. 

“We’re talking about a situation where we’re trying to reverse a trend that’s been growing for a while,” Bissell said. “There’s a culture where mediocrity in the classroom is acceptable. We’re trying to instill the idea that striving for a C is not acceptable.” 

Even if all the players stay eligible, it won’t be easy to take down Pinole Valley, which has claimed three league titles in a row. Although stud running back DeAndre McFarland is gone, the Spartans are loaded once again with a huge offensive line and big-play receiver Thomas DeCoud. Pinole Valley will be dealing with a coaching change, as Steve Alameda takes over for longtime head man Jim Erickson. El Cerrito and De Anza also return some talented players, while Alameda, Encinal and newcomer Hercules will try to climb into the top of the standings. 

“Pinole Valley is the top dog,” Bissell said. “The championship goes through them until somebody beats them.” 

Berkeley will only play nine games this season, as the scheduled season opener against Mission San Jose was canceled when the school decided to disband its varsity program.


Banks file suit over local privacy laws

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 13, 2002

Berkeley officials say they will move ahead with an ordinance that would protect consumers’ personal financial information, despite a lawsuit challenging similar laws in San Mateo County and Daly City. 

Wells Fargo and Bank of America filed suit in a San Francisco federal court Tuesday alleging that the existing San Mateo County and Daly City ordinances, which fine financial institutions for sharing consumer information without customers’ consent, violate federal law. 

The filing came just hours before the Berkeley City Council asked the city manager’s office Tuesday night to develop a similar ordinance based on the San Mateo County model. 

Councilmember Betty Olds said the city will watch the lawsuit carefully, but plans to move forward with its own ordinance.“It’s privacy,” she said. “Nothing makes us madder than having our financial secrets passed around.” 

Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan said it was too early to determine how the case might effect Berkeley’s ordinance, but said it will likely have an influence on how the measure is drafted. 

“I’m sure it’s relevant, and when we get there, we get there,” he said. 

Wells Fargo and Bank of America spokespeople said it is too early to determine whether they would pursue legal action against Berkeley or other local governments that pass financial privacy measures in the coming months. 

The city of San Francisco and Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa counties are considering similar ordinances. 

Under existing federal law, financial institutions may share or sell consumer information unless customers sign a document opting out. The San Mateo and Daly City ordinances prevent companies within their borders from sharing information unless customers opt in. Violations result in fines of up to $250,000. 

Daly City passed its ordinance after the financial services industry spent more than $10 million on lobbying and campaign contributions to defeat a similar statewide measure drafted by state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo. 

Spokespeople for Wells Fargo and Bank of America said their companies already have privacy policies that prohibit them from sharing consumers’ financial information with other institutions.  

They said the banks filed suit because the local ordinances make it difficult for them to share customer information with their own affiliates and provide quality customer service. 

For example, said Wells Fargo spokesperson Donna Uchida, the ordinances may prevent the company’s banking operation from telling its credit card operation that a customer is in solid financial standing and is deserving of a credit card. 

City Councilmember Dona Spring said the Berkeley ordinance would allow companies to share information within their own walls. 

“We have no interest in regulating banks other than protecting consumers,” she said. 

Uchida also raised concerns about scattered municipalities passing different ordinances. 

“We believe the patchwork approach... s going to confuse customers and create havoc in the marketplace,” she said. 

Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean raised similar concerns about a hodgepodge approach, arguing that the issue would best be handled on the state level. 

“What I would hate to see would be a lot of ordinances that are quite different,” she said. 

If local government does address the issue, she said, it should be done on a countywide level to ensure greater uniformity. 

But Jennette Gayer, consumer associate with the California Public Interest Research Group in Los Angeles, said local governments should take up the issue. 

“If the state can’t get it done, then local government should get it done,” she said. 

Gayer said a growing number of local laws would put increasing pressure on financial institutions to cave in to statewide consumer protections. 

Tom Casey, San Mateo County Counsel, said he was confident that the county’s ordinance is legal under federal law and said he would “vigorously defend” the measure. 


Hey you, patriotic folk

Charmaine Soldat Berkeley
Friday September 13, 2002

To the Editor: 

For all you patriotic folk out there who are gung-ho for a Middle East colonizing war, my question is, “When are you leaving?” And when you get there will you even realize your enemy is also you? 

Traditionally, the most enthusiastic are those who stay safety at home while the young and impressionable, lacking wisdom but possessing raging hormones, are sent to give their lives to fight lunatic wars. 

So, stand first in line but don’t push. Hopefully you’ll return more enlightened, but not in a body bag. 

If you must have war let it be a war against your atrophied brain. 

 

Charmaine Soldat 

Berkeley


Asteroid hunter finds Apollo-era rocket

By Andrew Bridges The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

LOS ANGELES — An amateur astronomer hunting for asteroids may have discovered a piece of the rocket that launched the Apollo 12 astronauts to the moon in 1969, a NASA scientist said Thursday. 

The object was first spied on Sept. 3 by Arizona astronomer Bill Yeung. Follow-up observations and calculations of its path suggest it is orbiting the Earth once every 48 days at a distance twice that of the moon. 

Although initially believed to be an asteroid, astronomers now suspect it is a rocket fragment, possibly the third stage of the massive Saturn V launched Nov. 14, 1969, with astronauts Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon and Alan L. Bean aboard. 

“It’s a detective story and we’re looking at the evidence here,” said Paul Chodas, an astronomer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Complex orbit calculations suggest the fragment, which stands nearly 59 feet tall, was captured into Earth orbit in April, explaining why it had not been spotted before. Prior to this spring, the rocket stage had likely spent three decades orbiting the sun, Chodas said. 

On the Apollo 8 through 12 missions, NASA designed the third stage, which boosted the astronauts from Earth orbit toward the moon, to sail past Earth’s lone natural satellite. 

That close passage by the moon was designed to swing the stage into solar orbit and away from Earth. 

The first four times, it worked perfectly, but NASA engineers made an error on Apollo 12, leaving the third stage stranded in Earth orbit. Eventually, in the early 1970s, it drifted from the Earth’s bounds and began orbiting the sun. 

In April, the Earth apparently snagged it back, Chodas said. 

Looking forward, NASA astronomers said there is a 20 percent chance the rocket will end up hitting the moon — as did the third stages of the Apollo 13 through 17 missions. 

There is also a 3 percent chance it could strike Earth, as did some Apollo stages in the 1960s. Most of the rocket body would burn up in the atmosphere, although some pieces could survive the fiery re-entry, Chodas said. 

In the past, astronomers have suspected other near-Earth bodies are actually Apollo rocket fragments. None has been confirmed, Chodas said. 


St. Mary’s not worried about replacing stars

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 13, 2002

When a football team loses three players who gained 70 percent of its yards the previous season, there’s usually not much room for optimism. So why is St. Mary’s High head coach Jay Lawson so upbeat about the upcoming season? 

“I feel better heading into this season than I did last year,” Lawson said. “We’ve got a lot of talent coming back.” 

While tailback Trestin George and receivers Chase Moore and Courtney Brown have taken their prodigious talents to college campuses, Lawson has the rest of his offense back, including quarterback Steve Murphy, who went through on-the-job training last season after moving behind center two months before the first game. 

Lawson, who took over as head coach last season, also welcomes back nine varsity linemen, an amazing number considering he will only carry 28 players on his roster. Even the loss of 280-pound junior Jon Taranto to a knee injury in a scrimmage doesn’t hurt too much with so many experienced linemen in the fold. 

Leading the charge on in the trenches will be 6-foot-6, 290-pound Leon Drummer, who has verbally committed to play at Cal next season. Drummer is following closely in the footsteps of current Cal sophomore Lorenzo Alexander, who ended his St. Mary’s career with All-America honors. Drummer has the potential to do the same and should dominate on both sides of the ball. 

Taranto’s injury did put an end to plans to play 275-pound Jarrell Booker next to Drummer on the left side of the offensive line, a sight that would have made any defensive lineman weak-kneed. Booker will switch over to the right side, providing Murphy with the biggest bookends in the Bay Area to protect him in the pocket. Throw in 260-pound Ed Cheveres and the Panthers shouldn’t have to worry much about opposing linemen getting a big push. 

The line will need to be strong following the graduation of George, who ended his St. Mary’s career with the school rushing and scoring records. Junior Fred Hives steps into George’s XXL-sized shoes, but he’s not as fast or explosive as his predecessor. Hives should excel running between the tackles, however, with a bruising running style. 

“We’re definitely going to run the ball inside more with Fred,” Lawson said. “Behind our linemen, Fred could be just as productive as Trestin.” 

Murphy should be much-improved this season, although he was impressive during the latter stages of last season while throwing 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Murphy is the unquestioned leader of the offense and has tightened his throwing motion. His improved pocket presence, combined with his speed, should make him one of the Bay Area’s top run-throw threats. 

“Murphy will be huge for us this year,” Lawson said. “He’s really improved his intangibles. By the end of last season, he was leading the team really well, and he’s a dramatically improved player.” 

Sophomore Scott Tully will also get some snaps this season as Lawson grooms him to take over when Murphy graduates. Tully is a prototypical pocket passer at 6-foot-3 and has a stronger arm than Murphy. When St. Mary’s gets out to a comfortable lead Murphy will shift into the backfield with Tully at quarterback. 

The main target in the passing game will be wideout Ryan Coogler, a speed-burner who made some big plays last season. The senior, also an outstanding track performer, will provide a deep threat to keep defenses honest. Nick Osborn moves from the interior line to take over for Moore at tight end. While not as athletic as Moore, Osborn is a better blocker and a big target for Murphy on short routes. 

With only 28 players, Lawson obviously needs most of his talented players to go both ways. Drummer and Booker will anchor the defensive line, while Coogler and Murphy will play cornerback. Murphy is a major-college prospect as a defensive back, where he was the Most Valuable Defensive Player at Cal’s summer camp. 

“I like to play both positions as much as possible,” Murphy said. “I’ll end up being a cornerback in college, but quarterback is probably more important to the team right now.” 

Lawson will balance Murphy’s offensive leadership with his defensive playmaking, along with his other two-way players. The Panthers actually had fewer varsity players last season, so there should be more chances to give Lawson’s stars a breather during games this year. 

“I think we’ve got enough players this year that we should be able to give guys a few series off in every game,” Lawson said. 

The Panthers have a tough non-league schedule, with games against Oakland Tech, McClymonds and El Cerrito. The biggest test comes today, however, in powerful Bishop O’Dowd, a traditional rival from back in the days of the old ACCAL. The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday at El Cerrito High’s field, was moved to St. Mary’s due to a field conflict. The Dragons downed St. Mary’s, 27-6, to start last season at O’Dowd’s field in Oakland, so the Panthers are anxious to get a shot at revenge. 

“I’ve been waiting for this game since they beat us last year,” Murphy said. “We’ve been working all summer to beat them.” 

St. Mary’s is the consensus favorite in the Bay Shore Athletic League, which the Panthers won with a dramatic last-minute win over rival Piedmont last season. Piedmont will look to emphasize the running game after losing quarterback Drew Olson to UCLA, where he played a key role in the Bruins’ comeback win over Colorado State last week. John Swett and St. Patrick could also challenge for the league title.


Council condemns Bush’s Patriot Act

By Kurtis Alexander Daily Planet Staff
Friday September 13, 2002

 

Berkeley’s opposition to the Patriot Act was timely. 

Just hours before New Yorkers commemorated the one-year anniversary of last year’s attacks Wednesday, city councilmembers Tuesday night adopted a resolution condemning the Sept. 11-inspired legislation. 

“Under the Patriot Act, agencies like the FBI or state police or John Ashcroft can detain people whenever they want. And detainees are not given any opportunity to defend themselves,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, author of the Berkeley resolution. 

A lack of due process and a violation of civil liberties were the reasons behind council’s opposition, Worthington said. 

Federal legislators, though, who passed the bill last October with bipartisan support, claim that expanded authority granted to law enforcement officials under the PATRIOT Act are critical to national security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Despite Berkeley’s unanimous decision to condemn the legislation, most Americans support the PATRIOT Act, said UC visiting instructor Dab Schnur of the political science department.“Council’s vote serves to illuminate how far out of the mainstream Berkeley has become,” he said. 

Coming on the eve of Sept. 11, Schnur added that the vote contained irony and a “peculiar charm.” 

For Worthington, though, the decision was within the nation’s spirit on the attack’s one-year anniversary. 

“It’s patriotic to stand up for our values and defend our civil rights,” he said. 

Before the resolution’s passage, Councilmember Polly Armstrong led efforts to water down the city’s condemnation. Two clauses in Worthington’s original draft were struck, and city opposition was narrowed to “parts of” the PATRIOT Act instead of deploring the entire piece of legislation. 

“I doubt anyone on council has even read the whole thing,” Armstrong said. She also said that the two sections removed from the original proposal were ambiguous. 

All council members seemed pleased, and many surprised, by the unanimous decision to adopt the condemning resolution. 

“It was very unusual for us,” said Councilmember Betty Olds. 

Among other things, the PATRIOT Act gives law agencies more power to detain immigrants, conduct wiretaps and monitor the Internet. 

Schnur said it was unlikely that Berkeley’s resolution against such federal policies would have any impact. 


Swapping parking spaces for playing fields

Gloria Wong Berkeley
Friday September 13, 2002

To the Editor: 

Shirley Dean has been on the Berkeley City Council for over 16 years, and now that she’s running for re-election as mayor, she suddenly has become interested in creating more playing fields, even though she knows there’s practically no room left for laying fields in our city. But wait, she says, there’s our waterfront, which is being transformed into a new Eastshore State Park. “We might start by eliminating some of the huge parking lots that are planned.” 

Surely you know, Mrs. Dean, that “huge parking lots are not being planned, and that any incremental increase in parking spaces would barely accommodate the current uses of the waterfront, let alone large new playing fields. 

So why is Mrs. Dean willing to take on the Sierra Club and other environmental groups with this nonsolution? My guess is that she figures these organizations will probably support her challenger, Tom Bates, since his credentials as a conservationists are impeccable and he was the prime mover in the State Assembly for the creation of the Eastshore State Park. So why not make a play for the soccer moms and dads? What is there to lose?  

Just our respect, Mrs. Dean. Oh, yes, and our waterfront. 

 

Gloria Wong 

Berkeley


Another obstacle for UC clericals

Jennifer Barrios Special to the Daily Planet
Friday September 13, 2002

While clerical workers sat down to discuss contracts with UC administrators Thursday – the first meeting since last month’s three-day strike – negotiators had at least one additional worry on their minds. 

Another campus union may be making the job of negotiating a pay raise for clericals, represented by the Coalition of University Employees (CUE), more difficult. 

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents service workers on campus, has a contract with the university. It gives its employees a raise if other union employees get raises. Known as a “me-too” clause, the AFSCME provision, according to AFSCME officials, goes into effect if either the Coalition of University Employees’ clericals or certain technical and health care workers on campus get more than a 2 percent raise for fiscal year 2001-2002. 

The me-too clause means that CUE is essentially bargaining for two unions – itself and AFSCME, union officials said. If CUE is successful in getting its desired 15 percent pay raise, which would cost the university $100 million over two years, the university would be forced to shell out additional millions for AFSCME employees. 

CUE, which represents 1,900 telephone operators, childcare workers, administrative assistants and other clerical workers at UC Berkeley, is pushing for its pay raise over two years. But UC is sticking to its offer of 3.5 percent over a two-year period. After months of negotiations, neither side has shown much flexibility. 

President of Local 3 of CUE Michael-David Sasson said that the me-too clause hurts CUE’s bargaining position enough so that the union has moved to file a complaint with the state Public Employment Relations Board asking the me-too clause to be voided. 

The negotiations impact 18,000 clerical workers throughout the UC system. 

"One of [CUE’s] unfair practices was that the university had agreed to another contract with another party to language that effectively tied their hands in relationship with us," Sasson said. 

But UC spokesperson Paul Schwartz denied that the “me-too” clause pertained to salary negotiations with CUE. 

Schwartz said the university’s position that a raise of 2 percent for the 2001-2002 fiscal year – part of the two-year 3.5 percent offer – is the only workable proposal. A 2 percent raise would not activate the “me-too” clause in the AFSCME contract, according to union officials. 

CUE employees have been without a contract since November 2001 and raises are expected to be paid retroactively for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. State budget cuts have limited what UC can offer, Schwartz said. 

AFSCME officials downplayed the harm done to CUE because of the “me-too” clause. They said the clause fosters fellowship between them. 

"A ‘me-too’ clause assures that low-wage workers won’t be pitted against each other," a spokesperson said. 

Margy Wilkinson, CUE’s lead negotiator, said that the provision only applies to across-the-board increases, otherwise known as cost-of-living increases, and could be circumvented through other types of raises. 

“There are many other things that the university could offer us that would not bring that into play,’ she said. “They could make adjustments without invoking the language in the AFSCME contract, including the one thing we’ve talked about a lot — merit increases.” 

The clerical workers represented by CUE were once represented by AFSCME, and though the recent strike illustrated solidarity among campus unions, the struggle for representation caused conflict in the mid ’90s. 

CUE was formed in 1995 as an alternative to AFSCME. 

“It wasn’t responsive to us and the contracts were consistently weak,” said David Kessler, a longtime library assistant at Bancroft Library who was once represented by AFSCME. “AFSCME was interested in harmony with UC and collecting dues. They were after labor peace, not labor justice,” he said. 


Disputing the housing shortage claims

lan Wofsy Berkeley
Friday September 13, 2002

To the Editor: 

As one who has developed housing in Berkeley since 1972, I dispute the self-serving arguments attributed to the developers in the Daily Planet’s article “More trouble over housing” (Aug. 31). 

The taxpayers of Berkeley have been the victims of numerous spending scams since the Rads took over the city in 1984. Much of the problem is based on the fallacious notion that a nonprofit entity is inherently good. The mafia and al-Qaida are nonprofit entities. Neither has ever declared a profit or paid taxes on income. Nonprofits are often tax dodges that prey on gullible liberals. Instead of paying taxes on income, the nonprofit disguises the income as fees, salaries and expense accounts. 

For a number of years the taxpayers of Berkeley have been subsidizing nonprofits and related developers who claim they are building “affordable housing” due to Berkeley’s supposed “critical housing shortage” (quotes from the article). 

There is no housing shortage in Berkeley, critical or otherwise. With the demise of the dot-coms and the freeing of rents in vacated units, there is a serious surplus of housing in Berkeley. This surplus will only grow because of overconstruction of housing in surrounding areas and vacancy decontrol within Berkeley. There is no ideological justification any longer for Berkeley taxpayers to subsidize developers. 

 

Alan Wofsy 

Berkeley


Judge dismisses Simon fraud verdict

By Erica Werner The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

OS ANGELES — A judge Thursday threw out a politically damaging $78 million civil fraud verdict against GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon’s family investment firm, ruling that William E. Simon & Sons and other investors were the fraud victims. 

Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant, in a written ruling, dismissed the huge compensatory and punitive damages verdict against William E. Simon & Sons and a nearly $20 million verdict also levied by a jury against another investor group. 

“This decision is of course inconsistent with the jury’s verdict,” Chalfant wrote. “The court believes in the jury system and has found that juries usually reach the same decision that the court would. Not this time.” 

Simon, who faces Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the November election, had maintained that the July 30 jury verdict would not stand. 

“Today is a new beginning for our campaign,” Simon told a press conference packed with supporters at a hotel near the courthouse an hour after the verdict was thrown out. 

“I have said all along that the jury verdict was fundamentally flawed and would be overturned and that’s exactly what happened this morning,” he said. “Now the people of California will get the kind of campaign, at least from me, they deserve.” 

A half-dozen protesters chanted “We believe the jury” outside the Omni Los Angeles Hotel and carried signs reading “It took a Wilson judge.” Chalfant was appointed the bench by former Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican. 

The jury had awarded the huge verdicts to Edward Paul Hindelang of Santa Barbara, a convicted marijuana smuggler who founded Pacific Coin, a Van Nuys pay phone company in which Simon’s firm and others invested. 

Hindelang’s attorney, Geoffrey L. Thomas, said he will appeal Chalfant’s decision. 

“It’s hard to know what the judge was going to do and this was certainly an option that we considered. It simply sets up the final phase on appeal,” Thomas said. 

Simon was not personally named in the lawsuit, but with corporate wrongdoing in the spotlight the fraud verdict was political poison that stunned the GOP and struck at a key theme of Simon’s first-time candidacy, his boasts of private-sector success. 

The verdict became another setback for his stumbling campaign, spooking donors and becoming the focus of a Davis attack ad that remains on the air. 

The lawsuit arose from a 1998 acquisition of Pacific Coin by investors including William E. Simon & Sons, the New Jersey and California firm Simon started with his brother and father, a former U.S. Treasury secretary. 

Hindelang had served 30 months in prison in the early 1980s, but the investors didn’t know that at the time, they said. 

The investors planned to grow Pacific Coin, but with the pay phone market shrinking, the company faltered, fell into debt and was seized by its lenders in December 2000. 

That same month Hindelang sued Simon & Sons, alleging the investors defrauded him by concealing a perilous and ultimately failed plan to take Pacific Coin public and make huge profits. 

The investors countersued, accusing Hindelang of committing fraud and costing them millions by hiding his troubled drug past. Simon & Sons invested $16.5 million in Pacific Coin and lost it all, and Simon personally lost $1.2 million. 

Jurors found unanimously for Hindelang and awarded him $65 million in punitive damages and $13.3 million in compensatory damages from Simon & Sons. The other investor, B-R Investors, was assessed $10.9 million in punitive damages and $8.9 million in compensatory damages. 

In his 36-page ruling, Chalfant wrote that it was “an immutable fact established by overwhelming evidence that Hindelang defrauded” the investors by failing to disclose his criminal convictions, his negotiations with federal authorities to forfeit drug proceeds and that Pacific Coin may have been founded with drug money. 

The judge wrote that investors’ testimony “that they never would have invested $26 million in Pacific Coin had they known the truth was uncontradicted and undisputable, underscoring the magnitude of Hindelang’s fraud.” 

The judge awarded the investors $125,000 to cover costs they paid for investigations of Hindelang. 


One lifeguard costs less than two

Terry Cochrell Berkeley
Friday September 13, 2002

To the Editor: 

If Willard Pool and/or West Campus Pool closes this winter, why not arrange with Berkeley Unified School District to invite displaced swimmers to both south and north pools at Berkeley High School as appropriate? If BHS again decides to use its north pool (due to the closing of Willard) then the public still should be able to use north during hours when the kids aren’t there. 

Berkeley swim programs at BHS for the public employ two lifeguards while one guard at the other pools seems to be sufficient. These two should be enough to survey both north and south pools at BHS if they’re open during the same hours. (There is a connecting door that is usually open.) This means the extra cost to the city for running two pools rather than one would be much less trifling and certainly less than operating three pools, and should be a bargain for everyone. 

 

Terry Cochrell 

Berkeley


Learn how to ‘touch and vote’

Friday September 13, 2002

OAKLAND – Alameda County Registrar of Voters Brad Clark has announced a series of demonstrations this month designed to allow voters to become acquainted with new electronic touchscreen voting equipment. 

Demonstrations of the new voting technology are scheduled to take place throughout the month at public libraries across Alameda County. 

County staff members will be available to show how the new equipment works as well as provide election information, voter registration forms and information on enlisting as a poll worker in Alameda County. 

Anyone interested in having a demonstration of the new equipment at a festival or for any group should call the registrar of voters' office at 272-6948.


Sex charges against Raiders’ Darrell Russell dropped

Friday September 13, 2002

 

ALAMEDA – A defense attorney for suspended Oakland Raiders football player Darrell Russell said this afternoon that her client has been vindicated by a prosecutor's decision to drop all the sexual assault charges he had been facing in Alameda County Superior Court. 

Russell, 26, had been accused of 25 felony sex charges for allegedly drugging a 28-year-old Sunnyvale woman in late January and videotaping two of his friends having sex with her in what prosecutors charged as rape. 

The football player was in court this afternoon in Alameda for a continuation of his preliminary hearing. But instead of having his case put over for trial, Russell heard prosecutors call for a dismissal of all charges. 

“He's very appreciative that the district attorney was willing to reexamine the evidence with the principle of justice in mind,'' defense attorney Cris Arguedas said. 

Charges against Russell's co-defendants – Ali Hayes, 27, and Naeem Perry, 25 – were also dismissed. 

Arguedas said she was not surprised by the move. 

“There was insufficient evidence to convict. That has been our position all along,'' the attorney said. “When the prosecution put on its case and it was challenged by the defense, it fell apart. There was no credible evidence to believe these crimes were committed.'' 

Attorneys for the defendants had accused the woman, a model who appeared topless in Playboy magazine, of making false rape claims against Russell, a two-time Pro Bowler, in the hopes of collecting millions of dollars from the football player, who was suspended from the NFL after testing positive for the drug Ecstasy. 

Prosecutor Kevin Murphy rested his case in the preliminary hearing of evidence in June after showing a graphic videotape of the disputed sexual encounter in which Hayes and Perry had sex with the woman while Russell operated the camera. 

The woman and prosecutors claimed she was drugged while the defense said the woman consented to have sex with them. 

Murphy could not be reached for comment this afternoon.


Wen Ho Lee case stirs nation’s Asian-Americans into action

By Deborah Kong The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

FREMONT — Cecilia Chang says she used to look the other way when people talked about “heavy stuff” — civil liberties, constitutional rights, discrimination. 

Now she carries a stack of petitions, cajoling signatures from strangers to bolster a presidential pardon campaign for her friend Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwanese-American scientist once suspected of spying against the United States. Two years ago on Friday — Sept. 13, 2000 — Lee was freed from nine months of solitary confinement as the investigation around him crumbled. 

While convicted on a single count of copying sensitive nuclear weapons data, Lee received an apology from a federal judge for his treatment. The activism his case inspired continues to flourish in Chang, along with many other Asian-Americans who have no personal connection to Lee. 

“It was really a watershed moment in terms of Asian-Americans coming of age,” said Karen Narasaki, president of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium in Washington. “For the first time, you had Asian-American professionals thinking about criminal justice and the issue of whether the government is always right.” 

In Fremont, Chang has started a new group inspired by the Lee case, Justice for New Americans. In Sacramento, activist Ivy Lee created the Chinese American Political Action Committee, which has about 30 members. And in Detroit, Marie-Ange Weng formed the Council of Asian Pacific Americans, a coalition of organizations with about 1,000 members. 

Weng helped create her group shortly after Lee was released.


Logging giant sells 731 Sierra acres to parks system

By Don Thompson
Friday September 13, 2002

SACRAMENTO— More than 700 acres purchased Thursday from the state’s largest private landowner will expand California’s park system, perhaps by year’s end, officials said. 

The 731 acres along the state-designated Wild and Scenic South Yuba River was acquired from Sierra Pacific Industries for $3.56 million by the Trust for Public Land, which will sell it to the state for the same price as soon as Proposition 40 funds become available, said trust spokeswoman Mary Menees. 

Voters approved the bond initiative in March, “and this important acquisition is already delivering on its promise,” state Resources Secretary Mary Nichols said in a statement. 

The property will expand popular South Yuba River State Park. 

The purchase was made with a low-interest loan from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.  

The trust plans to repay the loan with the Proposition 40 money, along with contributions it is seeking with help from the Sierra Fund and the South Yuba River Citizens League. 

The groups praised Sierra Pacific Industries for not logging the site for more than two years, even after a land-exchange agreement expired in December 2000.  

The Anderson-based company now will use the money to buy timberland elsewhere. 

The sale “reflects our commitment to creating a balance between wild land preservation, economic investment and responsible forest management,” company President A.A. “Red” Emmerson said in a statement. 

The land sale is part of an umbrella agreement announced last summer in which the trust plans to buy and preserve up to 30,000 acres of Sierra Pacific’s timberland. 

The trust, the U.S. Forest Service and other groups are trying to convince the timber giant to sell, trade or otherwise safeguard land it is preparing to log along a section of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.  

The timber stands on its land northwest of Lake Tahoe, near Sierra City. 


Yahoo and SBC unveil high-speed Internet service

By Michael Liedtke The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — Online powerhouse Yahoo Inc. and regional phone giant SBC Communications Inc. on Friday will unveil a high-speed Internet service designed to convince more people that broadband is worth the extra money. 

Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and San Antonio-based SBC have been working on the service since they joined forced last year. The new service, available in all 13 states where SBC provides phone service, will allow subscribers to surf the Web at speeds up to 25 times as fast as traditional dial-up modems. 

The new service’s content is supposed to be just as big of a selling point as its speed. Yahoo has developed a souped-up version of its popular Web page that will provide subscribers with a wide range of exclusive entertainment options and other applications unavailable anywhere else. 

“We have been programming to the lowest common denominator until now,” said Jim Brock, a Yahoo senior vice president who oversaw the project. “This is going to change the broadband landscape.” 

The alliance between Yahoo and SBC stems from a recognition that the fast speeds and “always on” connections provided by broadband aren’t enough to persuade most people to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for the service. 

“Broadband adoption is going to have to be content driven,” said industry analyst Mark Kersey of the La Jolla research firm ARS Inc. “There has to be something available on broadband that people can’t get on dial-up before people will pay more.” 

The average monthly charge for a digital subscriber line — one of the most widely used forms of broadband — is $51.36, according to ARS. The average monthly price for a high-speed cable modem is $45.31, ARS said. 

In contrast, the most popular dial-up services charge $20 to $24 a month. 

To promote their new service, Yahoo and SBC will offer promotional discounts of $29.95 to $39.95 per month, depending on which of three transmission speeds a subscriber wants. After six months, the subscription rate will become $42.95 to $59.95 per month. 

The companies are confident price won’t discourage subscribers. 

“This will bring broadband to the masses,” predicted Jason Few, an SBC vice president overseeing the new Yahoo service. Subscribers should be able to launch the service within a week of signing up, Few said. 

Yahoo and SBC aren’t the first formidable partners to enter the broadband market with lofty ambitions. 

Microsoft’s MSN service and regional phone carrier Qwest Communication last year rolled out a high-speed Internet service that hasn’t made a significant dent in the market, Kersey said. 

The broadband market has been growing steadily, but not at the rapid clip that telecommunication providers envisioned when they made huge investments in broadband networks during the late 1990s. 

There’s about 15.2 million broadband subscribers today, up from 9.1 million a year ago, ARS said. 

The new Yahoo and SBC service will have a big customer base to build upon. 

SBC has about 35 million residential customers in California, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Connecticut and Nevada. The company already has 1.7 million broadband subscribers and 1.6 million customers with dial-up Internet services. 

Yahoo is counting on the new broadband service to help it recover from the dot-com bust that wiped out a large chunk of its advertising revenue. The company has been trying to sell more fee-based services under a new management team led by former Hollywood executive Terry Semel. 

“We view this as a foundation for developing compelling subscription products,” Brock said. 


Web businesses take a 2nd shot at success

By Michael Liedtke The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — The Internet digital photo site Webshots seemed destined to dissolve in the dot-com meltdown a year ago as its owner, ExciteAtHome, prepared to go bankrupt. 

But Webshots’ co-founders lobbied for another try at developing the site into a profitable business — a goal that doesn’t look as farfetched as it appeared when ExciteAtHome was poised to pull the plug. 

About 150,000 new users register at Webshots each week, up 50 percent from a year ago. More importantly, a significant number of those users are subscribing to the site’s premium services, an about-face from the carefree days when At Home gave away everything for free. 

“We have a better sense as businessmen what this space is all about now,” said Narendra Rocherolle, one of the three Webshots co-founders who bought the site back from ExciteAtHome eight months ago at pennies on the dollar. 

Redwood City-based Webshots is among a handful of nearly dead Internet businesses trying to reincarnate themselves under new management teams. 

Gone is the giddiness of the bubble years; it’s been replaced by a no-nonsense approach. 

“We’ve put the crack pipe away,” said Chris Kitze, who invested $9 million of his dot-com fortune to revive Wine.com, one of the Web’s biggest busts, with a strategy that mostly promotes the sale of premium wines. 

“It used to be all about getting the ’first mover’ advantage on the Internet. Now that people have become more rational and sane, there is an understanding that it’s all about becoming the last man standing.” 

It’s been an excruciating education for some businesses on the comeback trial. 

To get its second shot, high-speed Internet connections supplier Yipes Enterprise Services went bankrupt in April after burning through nearly $300 million in venture capital. The San Francisco company had approached dozens of suitors to sell out to, but couldn’t find a white knight. 


Community colleges make cuts despite spike in enrollment

By Jessica Brice The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

SACRAMENTO — A boom in the number of college-age students and laid-off workers means enrollment at California’s community colleges is skyrocketing. 

But the spike in enrollment — the largest in 12 years — has not been met by an equal increase in state money. 

Roughly 20 of the 108 campuses have already cut classes, despite swelling enrollment. And with a bleak state budget outlook in years to come, college officials worry it will only get worse. 

Community College Chancellor Thomas Nussbaum announced this week the number of students attending state community colleges has climbed by more than 115,000, or about 6.9 percent, compared to last year. Nearly 3 million students attended California community colleges last year. 

“Our main concern is that we are not going to be able to serve all of them in the future,” Nussbaum said, adding the funding shortage could mean fee increases next year. At $11 per credit, California currently has the lowest community college fees in the nation. 

Part of the problem, school officials say, is the formula that connect enrollment and funding. Under the state’s master plan — a 1960s education blueprint that guarantees every student the right to go to college — community colleges are obligated to accept every person who has a high school or general education diploma. 

But the state only increases funding up to a maximum of 3 percent above the previous year’s enrollment. This year’s state budget included a $118.7 million increase for California’s community colleges, which equals a little more than $1,000 per additional student. 

Community colleges already get significantly less than any other public school system or university, according to Mark Wallace, spokesman for the chancellor’s office. 

On average, the University of California receives nearly $27,000 per student in state funding, California State University gets $10,905 per student, and community colleges receive $4,690 per student, Wallace said. 

“There’s a concern nationally that community colleges are not being funded adequately to keep the supply of workers flowing into the economy,” said Sharon Tate, dean at East Los Angeles Community College. “We need to have some equity in the funding formula.” 

East Los Angeles College, which has 10.25 percent more students so far this year and could see an increase of up to 30 percent, had to cut courses and increase the average number of students per class. 

Jason Delgado, 20, a student at Sacramento City College, said he has noticed larger class sizes this year, but said he didn’t have any trouble getting into the courses he needed. 

“I lucked out and had teachers that were willing to take more students than the required amount,” he said. “We brought chairs in from other rooms, and some students were sitting on desks, but it worked out.”


Argument stalls state’s water bill

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

WASHINGTON — A California lawmaker said a symbolic argument having nothing to do with water is holding up his critical water bill. 

CalFed, a program to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, would get $3 billion if the bill sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert is passed. The delta provides drinking water for two-thirds of the state and irrigation water for Central Valley crops. 

Calvert, R-Corona, has been trying to get the legislation to the House floor since March. After he helped resolve disputes over water deliveries to Central Valley farmers and a grant program for other western water projects, Calvert now says the bill is being held hostage by an argument over federal labor law. 

At least two other bills to clean polluted waterways and improve railroad tracks used by freight trains are being delayed by the same argument, according to House Democratic leaders. 

The argument is over the Davis-Bacon provision that guarantees high wages for workers on federal construction projects. Democrats on the House Resources Committee, along with a few pro-labor Republicans, tacked it on to the CalFed bill last fall. 

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, told Republicans in the spring that he would not allow a vote on any bill that has the wage language in it. 

“It’s adding unnecessary cost that otherwise might save the taxpayer money,” said Greg Crist, Armey’s spokesman. “It makes no sense to pay more in a way that’s arbitrarily set.” 

On the other side are labor unions and their supporters in Congress. 

“We are perplexed as to why any member of the committee would have opposed this amendment,” wrote Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., in a report accompanying the bill. “The Davis-Bacon law has long been a vital cog in the economic progress of this nation.” 

Calvert, who opposes the wage provision, said the entire argument is irrelevant because California labor law is more generous than federal law. 

“There are people who hold strong opinions on both sides and I’m just trying to get this bill done,” Calvert said. 

Calvert has tried to persuade labor interests that the federal provision is meaningless in California because of state law. But Kathy Roeder, spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, said unions consider it important to have Congress on record in support of the prevailing wage issue. 

Calvert also has tried to convince his own party leaders to back off their position. 

Democrats have argued that Republicans could call for separate votes on the wage language in the three delayed bills. But Republicans don’t want to put the matter to a vote at all. 

Meanwhile, time is running out on Calvert and his hope of getting CalFed through Congress and to the president. Without his bill, or a similar measure in the Senate also awaiting action, CalFed almost certainly will not get an infusion of federal money to pay one-third of its $9 billion cost. 

Calvert said he has no choice but to keep trying to break the stalemate. 

“That’s why legislating is a tough business,” he said. “I’m hoping we can use logic to move this bill ahead.” 


Jury weighing sanity of Yosemite killer Stayner

By Brian Melley The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

SAN JOSE — There are two things to consider in judging the sanity of Yosemite killer Cary Stayner: the criminal and his crimes. 

There’s his deformed head, a legacy of mental disorders, a troubled childhood and the voices that he said told him to “do the job.” There’s also Feb. 15, 1999, the day he plotted, acted and began covering his tracks in the three methodical killings. 

The defense asked jurors Thursday to focus on the killer, his twisted mind and his traumatic upbringing. The prosecution told them to look at how he killed the Yosemite National Park tourists and tried to get away with it. 

The Santa Clara County Superior Court jury was left to sort out the rest, weighing the testimony of two psychiatrists who reached opposite conclusions about whether Stayner was crazy or whether he knew precisely what he was doing when he killed — and that he knew it was wrong. 

“The thing that screams loudest from the beginning to the end of this case is that the crimes are the result of a mental disease or defect,” defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey told jurors. “These were senseless acts, they were bizarre acts.” 

Prosecutor George Williamson conceded in his closing argument that Stayner had mental problems, but he said it didn’t mean he was insane — that is, incapable of knowing he was killing or distinguishing right from wrong. 

“People who kill like this defendant are not normal,” Williamson said. “He obviously has issues.” 

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before adjourning for the weekend. Deliberations will resume Monday with testimony from a defense expert, who found Stayner insane, being read back to the jury. 

The same jury convicted Stayner last month of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, of Eureka, and their Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, while they were staying at Cedar Lodge, where he worked as a handyman outside Yosemite National Park. 

If jurors find him sane they will hear more evidence and decide whether Stayner, 41, is executed. If found innocent by reason of insanity, he will spend his life behind bars — a sentence he’s already serving for murdering park nature guide Joie Armstrong. 

Williamson, the plainspoken, Kojak-quoting, to-the-point prosecutor, said the issue of Stayner’s state of mind was a “no brainer.” 

He took less than 30 minutes to cover two months of evidence, slipping in digs along the way at the defense, which spent all Wednesday in its closing argument and another hour Thursday during its rebuttal. 

“I’m not going to stand up here and waste your time,” Williamson said. 

The proof of Stayner’s sanity came right from his own mouth, he said. 

In his confession to the FBI, Stayner detailed how he chose his victims, how he tricked his way into their room at the rustic lodge where he worked, how he used a rope to kill two of them quietly, how he meticulously cleaned up afterward and how he tried to throw investigators off his trail. 

Williamson revisited the facts in the case, repeatedly saying that “he had to have enough sense” to know his prey were in an isolated section of the lodge, to recognize they were vulnerable and to know there was no man who might stop him. 

In convicting Stayner last month, the same panel rejected defense claims that his warped mind prevented him from forming the intent required for a first-degree murder conviction. 

Williamson, who has drawn on the wisdom of the lollipop-sucking TV detective Kojak to sum up evidence, said the defense had merely dusted off that evidence for the sanity phase.


This frog has a recovery plan

By Don Thompson The Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday it has adopted its recovery plan for the threatened California red-legged frog, the amphibian believed to have inspired Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” 

Plans include protecting and restoring the frog’s habitat; monitoring its population; researching both the frog and threats to the species; and re-establishing populations within its range. 

The plan outlines what state and federal agencies should be doing, and what private landowners and organizations can do voluntarily. However, the service said there is no requirement for specific action or spending. 

The plan seems to track the draft proposal, “which is not a perfect plan but ... in general sets out a reasonable plan for recovery,” said Brendan Cummings, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The devil is in the details.” 

The frog’s range has brought it into conflict with developers, who have fought protections both within the agency and in federal court. 

Once prized as a culinary treat, the population of the largest native frog in the western United States has declined significantly since the 1865 publication of Twain’s short story about a frog named “Dan’l Webster” that could “get over more ground in one straddle than any animal of his breed you ever see.” 

Although the world frog-jumping contest is held each spring at the Calaveras County Fair, bullfrogs now are used because the red-legged frog no longer is found in the area. 

The frog’s historic range has shrunk 70 percent because of habitat loss and the introduction of new predators. The service said it still can be found in 256 streams or drainages, mostly along the north-central coast. But the Center for Biological Diversity says there are now only four places known to have populations greater than 350. 

Developers and conservationists have been fighting over protecting that land since the service designated more than 4 million acres as critical habitat in March 2001. The 4 million acres cover parts of 28 of the state’s 58 counties, from Tehama and Plumas counties in the north to the Mexican border. 


Libertarian candidate spits on radio host

Friday September 13, 2002

SANTA ANA — California’s Libertarian Party is considering dropping its candidate for governor because he spit on a radio talk show host. 

The party’s 12-member executive committee was scheduled to meet Saturday to vote on whether to rescind support for Gary Copeland, who admitted to The Orange County Register he spit on the radio host. 

“We were mortified when we first heard of this. It takes 10 votes of the executive committee, and we have the votes,” said party chairman Aaron Starr. “The party has to take a stand on this.” 

Copeland said he spat on KABC radio host Mark Whitman after Whitman switched off Copeland’s microphone during an interview Sunday at the station’s Los Angeles studio, the newspaper reported Thursday. 

The host turned off the mike when Copeland was recounting past abuses of immigrants and suggested that Whitman supported such treatment. Copeland got up to leave, heard several on-air comments from Whitman, then turned and spit on him. 

“Since I could not say what I believed, I thought I would show what I believed,” Copeland said.


Ex-nuclear worker jailed for threats

Friday September 13, 2002

The Associated Press 

 

LAGUNA NIGUEL — A fired nuclear power plant employee was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday for threatening former co-workers and amassing illegal weapons. 

David Reza pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a harassing telephone call and a felony count of possessing an assault rifle. 

Authorities said Reza called a union representative after he was fired from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in January and said: “They have taken my job, they have taken my life ... I’ll take my guns and go to San Onofre and whack a bunch of people.” 

Deputies served search warrants at Reza’s Laguna Niguel home and a storage unit in nearby San Juan Capistrano, finding 54 weapons at the house and more than 250 in the storage unit. Among them was a hand-held, anti-tank rocket launcher 

They also found 4,000 to 5,000 rounds of ammunition and four inert hand grenades lying next to a container of explosive powder. 

Reza said the weapons were antiques he had been collecting since childhood. 

Orange County Superior Court Judge Carlton Biggs ordered Reza to report to jail on Oct. 11 and placed him on three years of probation. He must stay at least 300 yards away from the power plant and cannot contact the plant’s employees. 

The 44-year-old mechanic also was fined over $2,000 and ordered to turn over most of his gun collection to a gun dealer, Deputy District Attorney Patti Sanchez said.


Bay Area Briefs

Friday September 13, 2002

CHP chase ends in SF with  

two crashes, four arrests 

 

California Highway Patrol officials said a high-speed chase across the Bay Bridge early Thursday ended in San Francisco, with two crashes and the arrest of four suspects in the South of Market area. 

The fleeing van, bearing homemade paper license plates, sped up to between 80 and 100 mph at times on the bridge, according to Shawn Chase of the CHP, before crashing just after 1 a.m. on the offramp from Interstate Highway 80 at 5th Street. Although shots were also fired there no one was injured, according to Chase. 

One of the East Bay men eventually arrested was believed to be a suspect in an Oakland homicide earlier this week, Chase said.  

But Oakland police spokesman George Phillips clarified afterward that seeming similarities between this vehicle's description and one linked to the death of John Roane in a West Oakland residence Tuesday proved to be nothing after all. 

The killer in the Roane case remains at large, Phillips said, adding that these individuals may have taken off because of unrelated warrants or some other reason. 

Before the suspects were taken into custody – and one more person inside the van got away –- the van allegedly crashed into another car by running a red light at Sixth and Folsom streets. Although a man inside the other vehicle was injured, he refused medical treatment and went home. One suspect who had gotten out of the van was also injured when the vehicle ran over his foot, said the CHP spokesman. 

The early-morning chase also led officers onto rooftops and into an auto shop in the neighborhood around Folsom before the incident wrapped up around 1:30 a.m. San Francisco police assisted at the scene. 


Bay Area Briefs

Friday September 13, 2002

Calpine says no power contract, no plant 

 

HAYWARD — Even though the California Energy Commission has licensed the 600-megawatt Russell City Energy Center in Hayward, Calpine Corp. says it won’t build the facility without a power contract. 

In announcing the licensing Wednesday, Gov. Gray Davis said the natural gas-fired plant “is necessary to improve energy reliability in the Bay Area.” The commission approved the plant, which is expected to cost $300 million to $400 million, on a 5-0 vote. 

But Calpine, which had been expected to begin construction next spring and put it into commercial operation in the summer of 2005, said low wholesale prices for electricity have made the company wary of new projects. 

“We’re not moving into new construction of plants without power purchasing contracts,” Calpine spokesman Kent Robertson said. “Current market conditions are an obstacle.”


News of the Weird

Friday September 13, 2002

Blaming it on the dog 

 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Fire Department investigator trying to find out what sparked a $5,000 kitchen fire has come up with a beastly suspicion: the doggie did it. 

Pablo Martinez believes a trash-loving chocolate Labrador retriever named Brooke started the fire by turning on the stove while jumping to get at a garbage can. 

Martinez talked with tenant Tracy Jonas and asked her to retrace some of her actions before the fire. 

Jonas and a friend had cooked hamburgers Monday night. They put the fat in a re-sealable plastic bag and placed the bag in the trash can, where they also discarded the meat wrapper. 

“I knew Brooke’s reputation. But I thought I was being wise putting the trash can on top of a counter next to the stove,” Jonas said. “I guess Brooke was a little wiser this time.” 

After Jonas and her friend left the apartment Tuesday, “the dog apparently knocked the switch on the old stove, turning on the burner while trying to jump up and get the trash can,” Martinez said. 

The dog is fine but somewhat traumatized, Jonas said. 

“I could see that she was guilty,” the woman said. “Her tail was wagging and her head was down.” 


News of the Weird

Friday September 13, 2002

Boston squash comin’ up 

 

BOSTON — In its 102 years, Symphony Hall has hosted an auto show, an escape by Harry Houdini, mayoral inaugurations and meetings of the Communist Party. 

But never, it is believed, a sporting event. Until now. 

On Thursday, the U.S. Open squash tournament is set to begin, drawing 11 of the world’s top 12 players to the venerable music hall to compete for prize money and promote their sport. 

Workmen were busy Wednesday constructing the 22,000-pound portable court and surrounding it with 550 seats. Squash — similar to racquetball but played with a smaller and less bouncy ball — is played within a glass-enclosed box. 

Things could get loud at the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra — Symphony Hall’s construction predates the science of echo-muffling concert hall acoustics. 

That’s fine with Martin Heath, of Scotland, the world’s No. 11 player. 

“That’s what you want, you want a bit of atmosphere,” Heath sai


News of the Weird

Friday September 13, 2002

Alfred in Alfred 

 

ALBANY, N.Y. — Two small colleges — each named Alfred and each sharing the tiny village of Alfred — are considering a merger, in part to stop the confusion over their shared name. 

Under the proposal, the State University College of Technology at Alfred would become a contract college within the private Alfred University located across the street. The State University of New York system would still own the grounds and employ the staff, but the private institution would handle administration. 

“It’s very confusing,” said William Rezak, the president of Alfred State. “There’s a lot of market confusion between the two of us.” 

The two schools are in Alfred, a village of only 1,000 permanent residents in western New York. The number of people in Alfred swells to 6,500 including students and people who commute into the town to work at the schools. 

Rezak said it is not unusual to have parents and prospective students show up at the wrong campus. “We get each other’s mail,” he said. 


Politics as usual during UC’s Sept. 11 tribute

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 12, 2002

Last week’s flap over red, white and blue ribbons had critics calling UC Berkeley unpatriotic. This week, however, university administrators and students put the name-calling behind them and hoped Wednesday’s commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks would be free of politics. 

Not a chance. 

While a solemn moment of silence and a handful of poignant stories about Sept. 11 made their mark on the university’s central commemorative event at Sproul Plaza, a series of political speeches and the color of commemorative ribbons generated the most reaction. 

The ribbon war began last week when UC Berkeley’s conservative student newspaper published an article about university plans to distribute white ribbons, rather than red, white and blue, so as not to offend or exclude anyone. 

After national news outlets picked up the story, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl attacked the piece in the campus journal, defended campus patriotism, and said his office would pay for red, white and blue ribbons. 

 

At Wednesday’s commemoration, dozens of students attached the red, white and blue ribbons to their shirts and backpacks. 

“I’m proud to be an American and I think it’s appropriate to wear red, white and blue,” said Jesse Gabriel, president of the Associated Students of the University of California, the undergraduate student government. 

But a group of about 20 students clad in black displayed white ribbons instead and emphasized that they were mourning the loss not only of the Sept. 11 victims, but of the Afghan civilians who lost their lives in the subsequent war against the Taliban and al-Qaida.  

“People who suffered on the day of Sept. 11, or as a result of Sept. 11, in the aftermath, weren’t all U.S. citizens,” said ASUC Sen. Mary Boktor. 

Several students scoffed at the controversy, arguing that the campus journal had distorted the story and politicized an event that should not have been political. 

But Seth Norman, managing editor of the journal, California Patriot, said the story was accurate. 

“We stand behind the reporting 100 percent,” he said. 

Defenders of the article added that the student newspaper cannot be blamed for the spread of the story to other outlets. 

The politics of Sept. 11 and its aftermath were also on display in a series of speeches that 12 students, chosen by the university, gave on Sproul Plaza. 

Joshua Braver, a freshman, warned that politics since Sept. 11 have taken a “jingoistic turn,” while graduate student Snehal Shingavi criticized President George W. Bush, who is expected to make a speech before the United Nations today calling for decisive action against Iraq in an ongoing war on terrorism. 

“Today will be a day of reflection and thoughtfulness,” Shingavi said. “Tomorrow, unfortunately, will be day of war.” 

Bret Manley, president of the College Republicans, took a different tack in his speech, focusing on the impact Sept. 11 had on bringing the nation together. 

“For the first time in my life, we were more than citizens, we were a nation,” he said. 

Manley criticized students who made overtly political speeches. 

“I thought those were absolutely inappropriate,” he said. “I almost look at it as a funeral service. You don’t go to a funeral service and talk about war.” 

The day was not focused on politics alone. In the morning, a group of about 40 people from many different faiths gathered in a “circle of remembrance” sponsored by the University Religious Council to share their reflections on Sept. 11. 

Shortly thereafter, scholars at the International House released a group of doves as a symbol of peace. 

A candlelight vigil was planned for Wednesday night. 


Honor the dead

Bruce Joffe Piedmont
Thursday September 12, 2002

Amidst the solemn recital of names remembering the people killed on Sept. 11, I feel our grieving is incomplete. Can we truly honor the humanity of our loss if we do not also honor the four thousand civilians that we killed, albeit accidentally, during our retaliation in Afghanistan? Those people were not “collateral damage.” They had names. They had families. They, too, had hopes for the future. 

 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont


Calendar of Community Events

Thursday September 12, 2002

Thursday, September 12 

Clean Elections 

7 to 9 p.m. 

A presentation on campaign finance. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

548-2440 

Free 

 

The 14th Small Business  

Development Trade Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Pauley Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, near Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley 

The event will introduce small businesses to the UC Berkeley community and give campus departments a glimpse of the services and products small businesses have to offer.  

 

Caterina Rando discusses her new book “Learn to Power Think: A Practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making” 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

559-9184, www.bookpride.com 

 

Lecture by Rev. Richard Gilbert 

Noon 

UC Berkeley Faculty Club on UC Berkeley Campus 

Visiting professor at Starr King School for the Ministry will speak on “The Difficult Art of Being Gentle in a Violent Time” 

leehenalawrence@yahoo.com 

 

Friday, September 13 

Lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Joseph the Worker Church  

1640 Addison St. 

Dr. Farmer will speak on Health Care and Human Rights: Solidarity with the Haitian People. Benefit for Partners in Health. Music by Vukani Mawethu Choir. 

558-0371 

$5 to $15 donation 

 

Saturday, September 14 

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center  

997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

Congressman Dennis Kuchinich  

7 p.m. 

Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley Campus, near University Avenue 

Chair of the House Progressive Caucus will speak. Keith Carson, Country Joe McDonald and performance artist Shelly Glaser will also be on hand. 

http://www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

$10 in advance, $12 door 

 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon  

 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237, Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

 

“Standing Together for Trees” 

9 a.m. to noon 

Fellowship Hall, Cedar St. near Bonita St. 

Updates on local and world forestry issues. Presentations by Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch, and Kristen Kirk or Forest Forever. 

636-7659 

Free 

 


Calendar of Community Events

Thursday September 12, 2002

Thursday, September 12 

Clean Elections 

7 to 9 p.m. 

A presentation on campaign finance. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

548-2440 

Free 

 

The 14th Small Business  

Development Trade Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Pauley Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, near Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley 

The event will introduce small businesses to the UC Berkeley community and give campus departments a glimpse of the services and products small businesses have to offer.  

 

Caterina Rando discusses her new book “Learn to Power Think: A Practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making” 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

559-9184, www.bookpride.com 

 

Lecture by Rev. Richard Gilbert 

Noon 

UC Berkeley Faculty Club on UC Berkeley Campus 

Visiting professor at Starr King School for the Ministry will speak on “The Difficult Art of Being Gentle in a Violent Time” 

leehenalawrence@yahoo.com 

 

Friday, September 13 

Lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Joseph the Worker Church  

1640 Addison St. 

Dr. Farmer will speak on Health Care and Human Rights: Solidarity with the Haitian People. Benefit for Partners in Health. Music by Vukani Mawethu Choir. 

558-0371 

$5 to $15 donation 

 

Saturday, September 14 

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center  

997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

Congressman Dennis Kuchinich  

7 p.m. 

Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley Campus, near University Avenue 

Chair of the House Progressive Caucus will speak. Keith Carson, Country Joe McDonald and performance artist Shelly Glaser will also be on hand. 

http://www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

$10 in advance, $12 door 

 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon  

 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237, Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

 

“Standing Together for Trees” 

9 a.m. to noon 

Fellowship Hall, Cedar St. near Bonita St. 

Updates on local and world forestry issues. Presentations by Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch, and Kristen Kirk or Forest Forever. 

636-7659 

Free 

 


spiritual theme for Berkeley Symphony’s season opener

By Jennifer Dix Special to the Daily Planet
Thursday September 12, 2002

By Jennifer Dix 

Special to the Daily Planet 

 

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra may be firmly grounded in Berkeley, but that doesn’t mean conductor Kent Nagano is always easy to find.  

“I think he’s in Berlin today,” said BSO director of development Jennifer Easton, reached a few days ago at the symphony offices. “Or he might be on a plane right now.” 

Berlin, London, or anywhere in between: take your pick. It’s business as usual for the 50-year-old Nagano, whose international reputation continues to soar even as he maintains his dedication to the Berkeley ensemble he has headed since 1978. The California native, who counts among his mentors Frank Zappa and Olivier Messiaen, has won worldwide acclaim over the past decade as a guest conductor in some of the most famous concert halls of Europe and the U.S. The Chicago Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, all vie for his talents. He’s been principal guest conductor for the London Symphony since 1990 and was director of England’s famed Halle Orchestra from 1991 to 2000. Currently he serves as principal conductor for the Los Angeles Opera and music director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, in addition to his Berkeley post. 

His admirers often wonder how long Nagano will continue to stay in the Bay Area. As one observer noted, “It's like a top-notch professional painter choosing to teach at Crossroads School instead of UCLA.” Every time a major American orchestra announces the search for a new conductor, Nagano’s local fans watch nervously to see if their native son will be wooed away. 

But Nagano, who lives in San Francisco with his pianist wife, Mari Kodama, and their young daughter, has repeatedly said publicly that the Bay Area is where he wants to be. And Berkeley’s orchestra, while not on the radar screen of most major classical musicians, offers something that many conductors might envy: a forum for experimentation. 

“The thing about Berkeley is it allows [Nagano] to do things he can’t do elsewhere,” says Easton. “He can try new things he can’t try elsewhere; this town is more open to creativity.” 

Nagano is known for varied programs that offer a sampling of styles old and new. Next Wednesday’s season opener at Zellerbach Hall is typical. It features works by Beethoven, Messiaen, and Gyorgy Ligeti, and a symphony by Galina Ustvolskaya, a Russian composer little known in the west. Each of the works has a spiritual theme or text. While some are familiar, others are little known. 

The Pacific Mozart Ensemble, a choral group directed by Richard Dick, once again joins the BSO for this innovative program. First up is Ligeti’s choral work “Lux  

 

Aeterna,” a haunting, shimmering piece based on the Latin Mass for the Dead. Stanley Kubrick borrowed this music for the soundtrack of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” 

The choral ensemble is also heard in “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” Beethoven’s only oratorio. This rarely heard work is a dramatic, emotional piece that depicts Christ’s inner struggle at the Garden of Gethsemane. Soloists include soprano Pamela Coburn, tenor Bruce Sledge, and bass Christopher Robinson. 

It is not surprising that Nagano would choose a piece by Messiaen, a composer who is a personal friend and for whose work Nagano has been a leading interpreter. “L’Ascension,” written in 1933, is a four-part instrumental work inspired by Christian scripture. It remains one of Messiaen’s most popular pieces. 

Of particular interest is a short orchestral piece by octogenarian Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya which will almost certainly be new to local audiences. Her Symphony No. 4 (“The Prayer”), described as a one-movement “pocket” symphony, is packed with dramatic force despite its brevity. Ustvolskaya, born in 1919, spent most of her life living under the Communist regime. While she was sometimes honored for her music, she frequently ran afoul of the Soviet authorities for exploring themes considered inappropriate to Communist life.  

Still living today in her native St. Petersburg, Ustvolskaya shows an independent spirit born of long years of resistance. When Nagano telephoned her to request permission to perform “The Prayer,” her first reaction was to hang up on him. He persisted, and now Berkeley concert goers will be able to enjoy this work for themselves.


High-powered Spartan offense will test Bears

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 12, 2002

Despite an encouraging start to the season, the Cal football team played to a tiny crowd of 24,619 fans at Memorial Stadium on Saturday against New Mexico State, a fact that surprised several Bears players. 

“I definitely expected more people to show up,” senior safety Bert Watts said Tuesday. “I guess we can only hope to win more games and get more fans out there.” 

The crowd, which barely filled one-third of Memorial Stadium’s seats, was concentrated in the alumni sections and student section on the sidelines, with some of the corner sections barely populated at all. When the Cal chant leaders tried to get the two sides to coordinate on a cheer, it took several tries to get things going. 

Remarkably, Saturday’s attendance was lower than any of the Bears’ home games last season, a 1-10 disaster that may still be keeping fans away. Other factors include a lack of parking in the stadium area, with fraternities nearby charging $20 or more for a spot, and lack of enthusiasm over watching the Bears play low-profile New Mexico State. 

“I can understand why people didn’t come,” said wide receiver LaShaun Ward. “When you think about it logically, they didn’t know what to expect. They probably thought the opposition wasn’t too tough, but a win’s a win for us.” 

The Bears face a sterner test this week against No. 15 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. Wideout Geoff McArthur thinks an upset of the Spartans will prove to fans that Cal might be a team worth watching in person. 

“I think if we come back off the road with a win, they’ll understand it’s not a fluke,” he said. 

Even the orgy of scoring in Cal’s 70-22 opener against Baylor didn’t attract additional fans. In fact, the attendance dropped nearly 3,000 from the first game to the second. Apparently a 48-point win wasn’t impressive enough to draw people away from their television sets. 

“I hope everyone was home watching the game on television,” Watts said. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself. I’d hate to think no one saw us win.” 

Head coach Jeff Tedford, who came to Cal from football-crazy Oregon University, wasn’t convinced the crowd was actually smaller in his second game with the school. 

“When I looked up during the game, it looked like there were more people in the stands,” Tedford said. “I was surprised to hear there were actually less than the first week. It’s not something we worry about during the game, but I was hoping there would be more people there.” 

Tedford said the home-field advantage was a big factor in the Ducks’ rise to prominence while he was an assistant in Eugene, and he hopes to build the same kind of fan base in Berkeley with some success on the field. 

“If you can create that kind of atmosphere, it can help your team a lot,” he said. “I think we’ve given the fans every reason to be optimistic at this point. We just have to do our jobs and hopefully we can win some support back.” 

One encouraging sign was the spirit of the student section for the first two games. Chants of “We love Tedford!” and “Undefeated!” have rung out late in games as students get used to cheering for a winning team. 

Watts said he has gotten plenty of support from fellow students on campus. 

“I’ve talked to a lot of other students who seem really excited about us,” he said. “I talked to people who watched the Baylor game on television and went out and bought season tickets.” 

Senior defensive end Tully Banta-Cain, who gave the crowd something to cheer about with 4 1/2 sacks against the Aggies, admitted puzzlement over the reduction in crowds despite the team’s winning ways. 

“Even last year when we were losing we were getting big crowds, and now that we’re winning we’re not. That’s pretty weird,” Banta-Cain said. “Not to dis the fans who are up there, because that shows who the true fans are.” 

NOTES: Wide receivers Chase Lyman and Junior Brignac continue to battle injuries. Brignac has an ankle sprain and Lyman a hamstring pull that will keep each out of Saturday’s game. Tedford said it’s too early in the season to consider redshirting either player... Defensive end Tom Canada continues to be away from the team with what Tedford termed “personal issues.” Canada, a senior, missed the New Mexico State game and will not travel to East Lansing... Banta-Cain’s mother, Joya Banta, produces a website that follows her son and the Cal football team through the 2002 season. It can be found on at www.joyadesigns/tully.com.


City sinks its water aerobics

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 12, 2002

Budget shortfalls threatening to close two Berkeley swimming pools have already cost 50 seniors their four-year-old water aerobics class. 

Seniors at the West Campus Pool, at Addison and Curtis streets, say the city has unfairly singled them out while it battles with the Berkeley Unified School District about pool fees. 

“This is discrimination against seniors,” said class member Sydney Vilen.  

The water aerobic classes, provided free by the Berkeley Adult School, were abruptly canceled last month after the school was unable to pay the city $14,000. 

City officials said that this year’s tight budget gave them no choice but to pull the plug on the program.  

Senior criticism of the class cancellation comes amid increasing public anger about the city’s scheduled November through April closure of the West Campus Pool and Willard Pool on Telegraph Avenue. The pool closures are also cost-saving measures. 

Under a 1991 agreement, the school district and the city are supposed to reimburse one another for use of each other’s facilities. For several years, however, neither side has bothered to make payments, said Lisa Caronna, director of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. 

But now that the city is strapped with a budget deficit it has asked the school district to pay the money it owes. Under the 1991 agreement, the school district is supposed to fund a portion of electricity, gas and water expenses for school-sponsored water programs estimated to cost about $80,000 a year. 

 

Caronna said the money is vital to the parks department, which has been asked to cut $100,000 from its budget. 

The pools cost Berkeley $800,000 a year, Caronna said, but they bring in only about $200,000.  

Adult school principal Margaret Kirkpatrick said she did not realize that the school was responsible for pool costs. She added that, due to school board budget constraints, the adult school did not have $14,000 for the program. 

Seniors say the city’s decision was punitive.“They wouldn’t even give us a grace period until November [when the pool is scheduled to close for the winter],” Vilen said. 

Caronna, though, said the budget crunch is forcing the pools to ask users for more money. 

“We are a small city and run five swimming pools so when we don’t get attendance, we look for programs that weren’t heavily attended,” Caronna said. 

At the city’s urging, other swim organizations such as the Berkeley Bears youth swim team have increased their yearly dues, from $12,000 to $22,000, to help pay for their own programs. 

The seniors, however, haven’t taken such an approach. 

One idea called for seniors to pay $22.50 a month to take the class. But the current enrollment would not pay for a teacher who was previously paid with school board grants, a pool official said. 

The senior water aerobics class was the only adult swim program the school district offered. All school district youth swim programs will continue while the city and school district discuss exactly how much money is owed for use of the city’s pools.


Firefighters say thanks

Marc Mestrovich Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227
Thursday September 12, 2002

As everyone is well aware, Sept. 11 was the one-year anniversary of tragic events. The fire service lost over 340 firefighters as a result of that tragedy. An event we as firefighters and a nation hope never to witness again. Shortly after Sept. 11 the Berkeley Firefighters Association set out to do whatever we could to assist our brothers and sisters of the fire department of New York City. As a membership, we went out to the community of Berkeley and began a campaign called, “Fill the Boot for the FDNY.” Firefighters from Berkeley were on street corners to raise donations for the families of the fallen firefighters of the FDNY. As a result of our efforts from the Fill the Boot campaign, the Berkeley Firefighters Association was able to raise $80,000. This money was donated to the Widows and Orphans Fund of the FDNY last December. 

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of over 100 members of the Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227 to thank the citizens of Berkeley and the surrounding communities, plus local merchants for their donations and hard work for our cause. The overwhelming support that we received from the community made our Fill the Boot campaign a huge success. 

 

Marc Mestrovich 

Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227


Sports Shorts

Thursday September 12, 2002

Lady Jackets start with loss 

The Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team lost its first match of the season on Tuesday, falling to Castro Valley 15-8, 15-7, 15-12. Vanessa Williams led the Jackets with five kills and 10 digs, while fellow senior Amalia Jarvis had 12 digs. 

 

Field hockey players honored 

Cal’s Michelle Wald, a senior midfielder, was named Co-Offensive NorPac Player of the Week and Kelly Knapp, a sophomore goalkeeper, was awarded Defensive Player of the Week in the first week of NorPac standings.  

During Cal’s roadtrip to the Midwest, Wald scored a pair of game-winning goals. Both goals came in 1-0 victories over cross-divisional rival Southwest Missouri and Big Ten foe Indiana.  

Knapp recorded four shutouts and made 35 saves in Cal’s first five games. She stopped a season-high 10 shots in a 1-0 win over cross-conference rival SMS. Against the Big Ten, she posted two eight save games, a 1-0 win over Indiana and a tough 1-0 OT loss to Ohio State. 

 

Alta Bates benefit this weekend 

Berkeley Tennis Club will host the 11th Annual Alta Bates Summit Celebrity Classic on Saturday. The Classic is a benefit for the Comprehensive Breast Center, a full-service, state-of-the-art breast cancer clinic at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley.  

Participating celebrities include fomer tennis pros Tracy Austin, Zina Garrison and Vic Braden. Joining them will be James McDaniel of “NYPD Blue,” Brad Sherwood of ABC’s “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, Nick Stabile, formerly of “Dawson’s Creek,” “Grounded for Life” star Donal Logue, Robert Pine, who starred on NBC’s “Chips,” actor Kirk Fox, Candid Camera host Peter Funt, KGO co-anchor Ed Baxter, and SF Chronicle Columnist Ken Garcia. Sports stars include former SF Giants pitcher Bill Laskey, former Raider Ben Davidson, Pro Football Hall of Famer Dave Casper, former baseball standout Vida Blue, former 49er and TV/radio broadcaster Mike Shumann, former Oakland A Claudell Washington, former 49ers Jimmie Johnson, Ray Wershing and Eric Wright, former slugger Dave Kingman, and Rick Barry, who hosts KNBR’s midday talk show. KTVU reporter Faith Fancher will MC the event.  

Events on Saturday include an exhibition match with Tracy Austin and Zina Garrison at 11:30 a.m., celebrity doubles matches throughout the day and a gala dinner at 7:30 p.m. at the Claremont Resort. 

The Classic is the largest event of its kind in the country and has collectively raised more than $2 million for a wide range of life-saving and -enhancing services. Tickets to watch the Tennis Classic are $25 each (children 10 and under are free); admission cost includes box lunch. For ticket information call (888) 337-8800. For more information visit www.absfdn.org.


New head of Rent Board

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 12, 2002

Jay Kelekian, who in 1994 helped lead the city’s fight against the end of statewide rent control, was named executive director of the city’s rent board last week. 

Most recently a management analyst for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department, Kelekian accepted a three-year contract to head the board which mediates conflict between landlords and tenants. He starts the job in October. 

Kelekian, a rent control advocate, was selected by a majority of pro-tenant rent board commissioners, despite landlord disappointment with Kelekian. 

“The impression we got was that he wasn’t very interested in our concerns,” said Robert Englund of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, which participated in the interview process. 

The rent board is overseen by nine publically elected commissioners and was constituted in 1980 to decide how much landlords can raise rent each year, to enforce rent control laws and to settle housing disputes. 

During the board’s first 15 years, tenant and landlord advocates battled for control of the board.  

However, after passage of the state Costa-Hawkins Act gave more power to landlords, public sentiment turned against them and pro-tenant advocates dominated the board. 

“The image most small property owners have of the rent board is that they are there to punish us,” said Englund. 

The commissioners sit as an appeals jury on disputes between landlords and tenants. Landlords say that some rent board decisions are so unabashedly pro-tenant that landlords have appealed rent board decisions to Alameda County Superior Court.  

Tenant rights advocates, however, counter that landlords have abused their Costa-Hawkins privileges. They add that the landlords’ victory in the state legislature requires the rent board to take an activist position to protect the rights of Berkeley tenants.  

Kelekian said he does not want to become bogged down in housing politics. 

“My goal will be to provide all of the board members with accountable and fair information and see that the laws are administered in an unbiased way,” he said.  

The executive director position is primarily managerial, but Kelekian will still have authority to impact policy. He will be responsible for the hiring of hearing examiners who serve as trial judges in disputes between tenants and landlords, as well as for working with rent board commissioners to set policy goals. 

Kelekian said that to deal with the increase of evictions since the end of rent control, the rent board should place greater emphasis on tenant outreach and eviction monitoring.  

Rent Board commissioners were divided on a new director. After interviewing five candidates, they decided to negotiate a contract with Kelekian by a vote of 5-4. 

The narrow margin highlights the split on the board between those who want to forcefully push tenant’s interests and those who fear that taking too strident a pro-tenant approach could embroil the rent board in unnecessary litigation with landlords. 

Kelekian’s base of support came from the activist wing of the rent board, although the entire board supported his candidacy after it was evident that he had enough support to be offered the position. 

Kelekian is no stranger to the rent board. From 1984 to 1994, he worked for the board in several capacities, and has worked as a management analyst for various city departments during the last 18 years. 

He says his familiarity with city government should help him at the rent board. 

“I hope my experience will allow me to facilitate even closer ties with other departments to create stable affordable and habitable homes,” he said.  


Get the housing element fixed

Lynda Hart Berkeley
Thursday September 12, 2002

(Note: The letter’s author proposed a development for 1155 Hearst St.) 

The state's rejection of the city of Berkeley's Housing Element, citing “too many development restrictions,” highlights the long litany of mistakes, delays, political chicanery and downright illegal actions designed to hinder the legal development of property in Berkeley. Such is unfortunate experience. 

Our original development application met all existing zoning standards until the city, in an attempt to stop our development, downzoned our property making it financially impossible for us to build any more new units. This decision is currently the subject of legal action. 

The Zoning Adjustments Board asserted that it does not need our affordable housing project (as defined by the state) to meet its state mandated goals, yet there are 4,000 families on the Section 8 waiting list, up to 3,000 homeless people in Berkeley, and the city manager is on record as stating that the city “has never met its regional fair share housing allocations.”  

The ZAB denied our application, assuming incorrectly that California Housing Law is not intended to apply to Berkeley. In fact the law states that charter cities are specifically included. There is no exception in state law for Berkeley or any other city. The City Council will have an opportunity to correct this misinterpretation and avert any lawsuit. 

Finally, we are not “trying to skirt the zoning rules.” In fact we have complied with everything the planners have requested. We are just a mother and daughter using our life's savings, attempting to comply with city and state law while enhancing a small rental property we have subsidized for 30 years.  

If the city follows the law there will be no necessity for future action to protect our legal rights and recover some of the money lost on this endeavor. Perhaps if the laws were routinely followed without delay, housing could be built in a more timely fashion to address the waiting lists of people desperate for housing. 

 

Lynda Hart 

Berkeley


Warm words for bin Laden in Britain

By Donna Abu-Nasr The Associated Press
Thursday September 12, 2002

 

LONDON — As much of the world paused Wednesday to mourn the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, a group of Islamic militants praised the “positive outcomes” of the violence they claim to reject, and offered support to the aims of Osama bin Laden. 

The fundamentalists, in what appeared to be the most radical Muslim gathering on the anniversary of the terrorist atrocities, said al-Qaida had a “rational justification” for the attacks, but denied having ties to bin Laden’s terror network. 

“The attack in New York was a counterattack for the attacks in Iraq and Palestine,” said Muhammad al-Massari, a Saudi dissident who attended the meeting at Finsbury Park Mosque in north London. 

“One Muslim decided to take action... He took one eye for a hundred. He still has 99 eyes to go,” al-Massari added and praised bin Laden as a hero “fighting for his beliefs.” 

A dozen or so men with kaffiyehs over their faces stood on the steps of the north London mosque, barring about 50 journalists from entering the building, which is widely regarded as a center of radical Islam in Britain. 

Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed said the meeting at Finsbury Park Mosque, titled “Sept. 11, 2001: A Towering Day in History,” argues that the attacks were justified because Muslims must defend themselves against armed aggression. 

“I don’t believe in using violence,” Mohammed told journalists before the meeting. “Definitely al-Qaida has got rational justification for what they did on Sept. 11. Maybe I disagree with them, but they have the right to fight back especially after they (the United States) bombed Sudan, then they bombed Afghanistan.” 

Mohammed heads Al-Muhajiroun, a militant group that recruits on university campuses and encourages members to join armed struggles abroad. It says its goal is to make Britain an Islamic state. 

A statement issued at the end of the meeting condemned “any and all aggression against the government of the Taliban” — the ousted Afghan regime. 

It accused the United States of acting as if it is “above any law” and said “the only Islamic response to such unparalleled arrogance and oppression is to do one’s utmost to resist the oppression no matter how weak one may find oneself.” 

Al-Masri, who lost his hands and left eye fighting the former Soviet-backed government in Afghanistan, said this Sept. 11 was “a day of thinking and rethinking and getting the message out. I know many Muslims are oppressed. This is not a day to celebrate,” said al-Masri, who is a prayer leader at the mosque and denies supporting terrorism. 

His funds were frozen by the U.S. Treasury for his alleged membership in the Islamic Army of Aden. That organization is linked to al-Qaida and claimed responsibility for the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, in which 17 American sailors were killed. 

He has had British citizenship since 1985, and is protected by British law from extradition to Yemen.


Thanks to the police

Tim Donnelly Berkeley
Thursday September 12, 2002

As a Berkeley pedestrian and advocate for persons with disabilities, I am moved to thank the Berkeley Police Department for their work protecting pedestrians in the crosswalk. Red flags didn't work. There have to be real consequences for unsafe drivers before more pedestrians are killed. Thank you, Berkeley police. 

 

Tim Donnelly 

Berkeley


Berkeley disability group shares insights with Costa Rican disability activists

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet Staff
Thursday September 12, 2002

This week, four women from Costa Rica’s budding disability rights movement are visiting a city that plays host to some of the world’s foremost political experts: Berkeley. 

The women, representatives of Foro por los Derechos Humanos de las Personas con Discapacidad (Human Rights Forum for the Disabled), based in Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose, hope to pick up valuable lessons about organizing the disabled so they can wage an effective political campaign on the homefront. 

The activists are currently fighting to win implementation of Costa Rica’s Law 7600, passed in 1996. The groundbreaking legislation guarantees access to public transportation, education, the workplace, recreation, health care and more for the disabled. But according to “El Foro,” as the organization is known, Costa Rica has a long way to go to make the law a reality. 

The activists’ fight currently centers on public transportation. Law 7600 gave the government seven years to create accessible bus service, but with the deadline only eight months away, none of Costa Rica’s 5,000 buses are accessible, advocates say. 

The El Foro representatives, hosted by Berkeley’s Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, or DREDF, have visited a number of local advocacy and service organizations and sat in on a disability law course at UC Berkeley Tuesday night. They said they have picked up a number of lessons that will help in their struggle. 

“I think the most important thing we’ve learned here is strategies – how to build an agenda, a communication strategy, political ways to fight,” said Catalina Derandas, an attorney with El Foro. 

But Andrea Vargas Carmiol, a student active in El Foro said the burgeoning movement has learned a more basic lesson in Berkeley, where college students helped kickstart the national push for disabled rights in the 1970s. That lesson is that building a largescale movement and creating real change is possible. 

“In the United States, the movement of people with disabilities started many, many years ago and we are just beginning,” Carmiol said. 

The relationship between El Foro and DREDF dates back to October 2000, when DREDF convened an international conference of disability advocates in Washington D.C. on the 10th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, which helped inspire similar legislation in 40 other countries. 

Derandas said Dr. Federico Montero, who would soon co-found El Foro, was in attendance and began to build a relationship between the Berkeley group and the Costa Rican movement. 

DREDF then won a $48,000 grant from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to conduct a Dec. 2001 workshop in Costa Rica. 

A second State Department grant, totaling $58,000, is paying for the current visit to Berkeley and a follow-up forum, run by DREDF, in Costa Rica this December. 


Smog beats the streets

Doug Fielding Berkeley
Thursday September 12, 2002

It saddens and angers me that the air quality issue is impacting the expansion of the Harrison House Homeless Shelter. The shelter is located on the outskirts of Berkeley in an industrial neighborhood because most of the citizens of Berkeley don't want “those kind of people” in their neighborhood. Now these same Berkeley people are telling us they are so concerned about the impact of the air quality on the well-being of the people they sent to this neighborhood that their facilities shouldn't be expanded. Boona cheema, the person who has devoted much of her life to working with homeless people said it best. “What do you think the answer is going to be when you ask a homeless mother with two kids if she would rather live on the streets or in safe, warm housing in West Berkeley?”  

The Berkeley City Council and the community should support the provision of as much additional housing for the homeless at Harrison House as is practical and desired by the people who are devoting their lives to improving the overall welfare of those people who need this type of support. 

 

Doug Fielding 

Berkeley


Bay Area Briefs

Thursday September 12, 2002

Some oil may never be removed  

from ship near Golden Gate 

SAN FRANCISCO — Divers have pumped most of the oil from a sunken ship near the Golden Gate, but they may not be able to get all of it out. 

Oil in the SS Jacob Luckenbach, which sank in 1953 after colliding with another ship, has been seeping from the freighter periodically for at least 10 years. The leaks killed thousands of seabirds, fouled beaches from Point Reyes to Monterey and stumped the U.S. Coast Guard and environmentalists before they pinpointed the Luckenbach as the culprit earlier this year. 

Since June, divers have pumped more than 55,000 gallons of oil from the freighter, which is 175 feet below the surface. 

But tanks on the starboard side of the ship are buried 20 feet deep in the ocean floor. Three cargo decks with trains, trucks and parts are stacked above them, but they’re starting to cave in, making the area unsafe for divers, said Kim McCleneghan, a senior environmental scientist with the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response. 

For those tanks, McCleneghan said the best idea may be to let sand flow in and seal any cracks, preventing the oil, which is extremely thick, from escaping. State and federal agencies and the company doing the salvage still need to discuss their options. 

Airports report less activity 

Officials say there are fewer planes flew in and out the Bay Area's three major airports Wednesday, a downturn in air traffic that airlines prepared for given the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks involving hijacked planes. 

A spokesman for Oakland International Airport said there was 30 percent less flight activity at the Oakland Airport than on a typical Wednesday. 

“It's because of the day, and what happened,” the spokesman said.  

He said that last night, Mexicana airlines canceled two flights that were scheduled to arrive in Oakland today in response to Tuesday's announcement that the United States has been put on a high state of alert against a possible terrorist attack. 

HMOs disclose plans to drop  

coverage in parts of NorCal 

SAN FRANCISCO — Tens of thousands of Medicare patients in parts of Northern California will lose coverage by two major HMOs at year’s end. 

PacifiCare of California said it will leave Contra Costa and Alameda counties on Jan. 1, a move that will affect more than 10,000 seniors. The group also said Monday it will drop another 12,000 members in Butte and San Joaquin counties. 

In addition, Health Net said it will pull out of the Livermore area, which means 460 Alameda County patients must find new coverage. 

Monday was the deadline for HMOs to notify the government whether they would continue to serve the elderly and disabled who rely on Medicare for health coverage.


State Briefs

Thursday September 12, 2002

Santa Cruz Council to pass out  

medical marijuana at City Hall 

SANTA CRUZ — City leaders plan to join medical marijuana users at a pot giveaway at City Hall next week. Their goal is to send a message to federal authorities that medical marijuana is welcome. 

The invitation comes one week after agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested the high-profile owners of a pot farm and confiscated 130 plants that had been grown to be used as medicine. 

“It’s just absolutely loathsome to me that federal money, energy and staff time would be used to harass people like this,” said Vice Mayor Emily Reilly, who with several colleagues on the City Council plans to help pass out medical marijuana to sick people from the garden-like courtyard at City Hall next Tuesday. 

City Attorney John Barisone said that although the City Council did pass a resolution denouncing the raid, there is no official city sponsorship of the event. He said council members and medical marijuana advocates are acting on their own accord in a public space. 

Judge: inmates can receive mail  

downloaded from Internet 

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has overturned a California Department of Corrections policy barring inmates from receiving mail containing printed material from the Internet. 

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, in an opinion made public Wednesday, wrote that inmates have a right to receive mail and that the government did not adequately justify the ban, first imposed in 1998. 

The case stemmed from a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that inmates were entitled to communications mailed to them regardless of whether they originated from the Internet. 

The corrections department adopted the policy on grounds that Internet-generated mail may contain hidden coded messages, which could pose a danger in the prison. 

Wilken said the department “failed to articulate any reason to believe that Internet-produced materials are more likely to contain coded, criminal correspondence than photocopied or handwritten materials.” 

Yosemite killer’s lawyer says evidence  

tips scale toward insanity 

SAN JOSE — With no dispute remaining over the guilt of motel handyman Cary Stayner and little question he suffered from mental problems, his lawyer tried to spare his life Wednesday by proving he was crazy when he murdered three Yosemite tourists in 1999. 

Defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey reviewed testimony in the sanity phase of Stayner’s death penalty trial that she said proved he was insane. 

From symptoms of schizophrenia to obsessive compulsive disorder to psychosis, Stayner suffered an illness that was greater than a sum of its parts, she said. 

His problems were so severe that psychiatrists could not agree just what afflicted him. 

“It’s just a function of the fact that Mr. Stayner has so many other problems,” Morrissey said. “It’s hard to say exactly what.”


Lab confirms LA death was West Nile

The Associated Press
Thursday September 12, 2002

 

FORT COLLINS — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory has confirmed that a Los Angeles County woman contracted West Nile virus. 

The Rocky Mountain News reported in Wednesday’s editions that researchers confirmed the case by testing a blood sample. 

The case is believed to be the first appearance of West Nile virus west of the Continental Divide. It’s a baffling finding because West Nile has not been seen in Utah, Arizona, Nevada or anywhere else in California. 

This week officials said a Houston-area man visiting relatives in Los Angeles fell ill in a probable case of West Nile virus. However, they believe the man was likely bitten by an infected mosquito in Texas. 

“How she got it, your guess is as good as mine,” lab director Duane Gubler said Tuesday. “This virus continues to surprise us.” 

Migrating birds could have carried the germ north from Central America or Mexico, Gubler said. However, under that scenario, Gubler said the virus would probably have been detected in sentinel chickens or horses. 

“California has one of the best, if not the best, surveillance system in the country,” Gubler said. 

The California woman lived near Los Angeles International Airport and worked for an air-courier company, Gubler said. 

“It’s possible, since it was in the area of the L.A. airport, that the virus came in a mosquito that hitched a ride on a plane.” he said. “It’s pure speculation.” 

No human West Nile cases have been reported in Colorado. 

Nineteen more Colorado horses tested positive for West Nile on Tuesday, bringing the statewide equine total to 117. At least 31 of those horses have died, according to the state Agriculture Department. 

Nationwide, 45 human West Nile deaths and 1,086 human cases have been confirmed this year by the CDC. 


Plan would change state superintendent’s role

The Associated Press
Thursday September 12, 2002

SACRAMENTO — California’s Department of Education would be placed under the control of the governor as part of a new legislative proposal released Tuesday to restructure the state’s education system. 

The plan is a proposed expansion of the state’s master plan for education, which guarantees every student the chance to go to college. 

Any elements of the new plan must be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor to take effect. 

But Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado, chairwoman of the master planning committee, called the plan “a comprehensive way to improve our system of public education.” 

The committee wants to make the Department of Education part of the governor’s cabinet, meaning the superintendent of public instruction would no longer be responsible for the state’s educational programs. 

Instead, the governor would be held more accountable for California’s education system, said Charles Ratliff, the committee’s senior consultant. 

“The governor has the major authority with the budget,” Ratliff said. “He’s able to veto and blue line spending items and set up budget priorities, yet he escapes any responsibility for what happens in schools.” 

But the governor has other priorities besides education, said department spokeswoman Nicole Winger, while “the superintendent acts on behalf of the public schools.” 

Although state officials said they hope the new master plan will work as well as the original, some educators have expressed skepticism. 

One strongly contested part of the plan is its recommendation to eliminate college acceptance policies that give an advantage to students who have taken advanced placement, called AP courses, in high school.


State Legislation

Thursday September 12, 2002

The following describe bills Gov. Gray Davis signed Wednesday: 

n Adds certain moving violations to existing law that requires boat operators to pass a boating safety course if convicted of specified moving violations. The bill also extends the nighttime ban on personal boat operation and excludes diveboard users from existing life jacket requirements. 

n Requires the state Department of Transportation to compile, summarize and make available highway congestion data. 

n Increases penalties against someone who falsely poses as a practicing attorney. 

n Clarifies the existing law to specifically authorize Internet bids on public works and other public contracts. 

n Simplifies the process for filing claims with the Senior Citizen’s Homeowners and Renters’ Tax Assistance Program. 


The Web mutes its colors on Sept. 11

The Associated Press
Thursday September 12, 2002

NEW YORK — Yahoo.com’s home page was devoid of its usually vivid colors Wednesday, its white background replaced with gray. Amazon.com carried drawings, essays and poetry from New York City schoolchildren. 

“I’ve learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words,” eighth-grader Stephanie wrote. “It may be the last time you see them.” 

The Internet, already home to some poignant electronic archives, marked the Sept. 11 anniversary in its own way. Some Web gathering spots emphasized the medium’s power for instant reaction to galvanizing events. Others stressed not expression, but reflection. 

Topica, which sends more than 50 million messages a day to about 4,000 corporate and community discussion lists, took down its site and suspended service for most of the day. 

Anna Zornosa, the company’s president, said Topica worried that commercial advertising, could be seen as inappropriate or insensitive on a day of reflection. 

Banner ads at AOL Time Warner sites were replaced with pictures of candles and links to a site where visitors could learn of opportunities to give money, volunteer and remember.


Police Briefs

Matthew Artz
Thursday September 12, 2002

n Vending Machine Heist 

Three vending machines at the Berkeley Adult School were broken into early morning on Tuesday. Coins were taken from all three machines. 

n Home Burglary 

A burglar kicked open a door and proceeded to steal a television and VCR from a home on the 1300 block of Hopkins street around 3:40 p.m. Tuesday. The burglar was seen escaping in a late 1980’s Oldsmobile. 

n Scooter stolen 

A sky blue 1980 Honda motor scooter, license 5U4962, was stolen from the 2000 block of Allston Way at 6:03 p.m. Tuesday. The robber was described as a black male in his early 20s wearing a white shirt with a blue Adidas logo. 


A Changed City

By Judith Scherr Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 11, 2002

When one door shuts another opens, they say. 

The cruel attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 may bear witness to this. The event has in many instances spurred positive civic action. 

Pastors, imams, rabbis and priests reacted to the hate and ignorance that emerged from 9-11 by focusing on teaching tolerance. The police department initiated hate crime education. Action taken in the face of the anthrax scare, which right or wrong has been linked to the events of Sept. 11, could strengthen local public health infrastructure. And the city’s disaster planning efforts have been stepped up.  

At the same time, the U.S. Congress reacted to Sept. 11 by passing the PATRIOT Act, which the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, says tramples on constitutional freedoms. Local organizations such as Copwatch and the Middle East Children’s Alliance have held workshops to educate the public about the act. 

On Tuesday night the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution opposing parts of the PATRIOT Act and encouraging the protection of civil rights and liberties. 

 

Casting blame on innocents 

Anecdotal reports of harassment of Muslims and Middle Easterners began soon after the attacks. At a UC Berkeley vigil on the evening of Sept. 11, one speaker reported that two women wearing headscarves were verbally assaulted on Sproul Plaza and that other students had received “racist and threatening phone calls.”  

The Associated Press reports after Sept. 11 described hate mail sent to UC Berkeley’s Muslim Student Association.  

An Egyptian man was found murdered at the store he owned in San Gabriel. In San Francisco someone left a bag filled with pig's blood on the doorstep of a community center that serves Arabs. Maha Elgenaidi, executive director of the Islamic Network Group in San Jose, reported that callers told her to “get the hell out of this country.” And that, “You people have done nothing but ruin this country, and you will all die. You don't belong here. Your religion is vile and evil.”  

A cartoon in the UC Berkeley newspaper, denounced as racist by the student government and a number of student groups, added fuel to the flames. The cartoon showed what some said were Muslims celebrating Sept. 11, because they would go to heaven for their attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The cartoonist, Darrin Bell, argued that the cartoon was intended to portray the specific hijackers and not Muslims in general. 

Wajahat Ali, a member of the UC Berkeley Muslim Student Association, was quoted in the UC paper saying: “Some sisters did not want to go to college [as a result of the cartoon].”  

Anti-war demonstrators included calls to end “the racist backlash against Arab-Americans,” according to Stop the War Coalition leader Hoang Phan. 

Heightened tensions in Palestine and Israel added to an already charged atmosphere, with a brick thrown through a glass door of the Berkeley Hillel and bomb-threat hoaxes made to a number of Berkeley synagogues.  

In April, letters with phony anthrax were sent to members of the Hispanic community. 

The rise in reported hate crimes in Berkeley has been dramatic. In 1996 there were three; there were five in 1997 and 1998, six in 1999, 10 in 2000, and 23 in 2001. Of the 23 incidents of hate crimes in 2001, 16 occurred after Sept. 11, according to a city staff report. As of mid-June of this year, there had been 28 reported hate crimes. 

 

Attacking hate crime 

And so, the city put a plan into action that include training police officers to recognize hate crimes. 

The city attorney’s office updated a training manual about hate-crime law, and the mental health division is working to sensitize police to the victims they may encounter. It is important for officers to understand why some people may hesitate to report hate crimes, said Matthew Mock, director of the Family, Children and Multicultural Services for Berkeley Mental Health. It has to do with power inequalities. Victims of hate crimes may have the experience of being treated as lesser individuals by those who have power, such as the police, he said. 

Moreover, some people may fear the police as a result of experiences in their home countries, Mock said, underscoring the importance of good police-community relations. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he’d like the city to take the next step and create a hate crimes unit within the police department, like Los Angeles and San Francisco have done. A separate unit “gives you a very specialized expertise,” Worthington said, noting that investigation of a hate crime requires officers to determine the perpetrator’s motivation. “It takes very sophisticated experience,” he said. 

Using police officers already on duty, however, means no additional costs are generated, said Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

 

What is Islam? 

After Sept. 11, many people began asking questions about Islam. While hate crimes are relatively rare, it became apparent to many members of the community that Islam was not well understood. Various community organizations and religious institutions stepped in to provide forums for better understanding. 

Khalil Bendib, a Berkeley resident of Algerian origins, a sculptor and cartoonist who co-hosts a weekly program on the Middle East on KPFA-radio spoke at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center in the spring. 

“How did I feel about the talk?” he asked. “I always welcome such interest in my culture and background. … That night at the JCC, I felt as though I had accomplished something, touched a few souls.” 

BRJCC Executive Director Joel Bashevkin said programs such as the one in which Bendib participated are “tailored toward tolerance, toward building trust.” Such programs “draw from Jewish values of tolerance and co-existence,” he said. 

Another of many cultural exchanges took place at a Sunday morning service at the Berkeley Methodist United Church, where Imam Yassir Chadly was invited to speak. The largely Japanese-American congregation had particular concerns about the “war hysteria,” said Naomi Samouthard. During World War II, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forcibly interned in camps. Samouthard said the parishioners were concerned with people “vulnerable to hate crimes.”  

“Like most Americans, most members of the congregation did not know about Islam,” Samouthard said. 

 

Libraries under attack 

One city department spurred to action after the events of Sept. 11 was the Berkeley Public Library, which sponsored a series of lectures: one on Islam, another on the history of Afghanistan and a third on peaceful conflict resolution. Through its foundation, the library also purchased a collection of books on these topics. 

But that’s not all the library has done. It has had to face the USA PATRIOT Act. In an effort to get information about terrorists before they strike, the act allows agents of the federal government to get details from public libraries about what patrons are reading. 

Because of her life’s lessons, library Director Jackie Griffin values the privacy of her patrons.  

She’s directed her staff not to respond to questions or subpoenas from the federal government, but to turn such queries over to her so she can address them with the city attorney. Meanwhile, Griffin has ensured that patrons’ records are limited. The computer server is erased daily, so that a patron’s Internet searches cannot be followed. Records of materials that library users check out are kept until the material is returned or fines are paid. After a book is returned, the name of the patron is kept with the book for 30 days or until another patron checks out book. This is so that one could look up Qu’ran, for example, to see who has checked it out. 

The library’s measures “may sound a little paranoid,” Griffin said. However, the FBI has contacted 85 libraries since the Patriot Act was approved. “I want us to be prepared.” 

 

Health Department  

addresses bioterrorism 

The fear of a bioterrorist attack took hold across the nation in the fall of 2001, when 22 people were sickened and five died from anthrax poisoning. These incidents were never directly linked to the attacks of Sept. 11 yet they disrupted the nation. The postal service and health departments dealt with 40,000 samples of white powder that contained fewer than 10 grams of anthrax, said Dr. Poki Namkung, Berkeley’s health officer and president of the California Conference of Local Health Officers. 

In response, the federal government allocated $1 billion to shore up the public health infrastructure.  

“This is the first significant money we’ve received to rebuild public health,” Namkung said. California’s share has been $100 million with $10 million going to hospitals, $30 million to Los Angeles County and $50 million divided among local public health departments. Berkeley’s share, determined on a per capita formula, was $240,000. The money will pay for programs aimed at improving communication with local clinics, bettering the clinics’ efficiency and educating the public.  

Namkung pointed to the May, 2001 meningitis scare in which one child died in Berkeley. The local health department’s job was to talk with local medical facilities and the public so that any other cases might be immediately recognized and treated, yet to avoid throwing the population into panic. “People must be informed, but not frightened,” Namkung said. 

The new funding will permit the Berkeley Health Department to address bioterrorism in a similar manner, but on a much larger scale, Namkung explained, underscoring that an improved local health department would better attack more common health problems such as the flu, which kills 20,000 in the nation each year. 

 

A more secure city  

Preparedness training in case of future attacks has taken place in a number of departments. The Fire Department has trained in “weapons of mass destruction,” which includes training its first responders, handlers of hazardous materials and ambulance personnel, according to a staff report.  

The city has held joint emergency preparedness exercises with UC Berkeley, Bayer Corporation, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. One of the critical questions to come out of a June 6 joint exercise – still unanswered – is “Who calls the shots?” said Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz. Communication is key, among various jurisdictions and among city departments. “People still have to talk to each other,” Kamlarz said. “We have to connect all the dots.” 

In the works is an update of the city’s emergency radio channel, 1610 AM. Kamlarz called it “primitive and laborious.” Staff should be able to update it quickly and easily, he said. 

Mayor Shirley Dean says she is comforted by added security at City Hall. People must now sign in with a secretary before they mount to the council offices and must check in with a secretary once they’ve reached the fifth floor. After Sept. 11 the mayor said she received “a couple of explicit death threats,” and a bulky letter addressed to the mayor of Kabul. More recently, she got a death threat from a former UC Berkeley student, saying “I have a gun with three bullets with your name on it.” The student is now in a Seattle jail waiting extradition to California. The case has nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks, the mayor said, but does highlight the overarching need for enhanced security at City Hall.  

And so, despite the ominous threat of a terrorist attack, Berkeley has emerged from Sept. 11 as a safer city – more prepared to face earthquakes, wildfires or epidemics as well as terrorists – and more determined to protect civil liberties and understand one another. 

 

 

 


Today we remember

Carolyna Marks
Wednesday September 11, 2002

The anniversary of Sept. 11 is upon us. The day we remember was dramatically significant in the life and soul of our America. Ground Zero is now sacred ground consecrated by our tears, our grief, our tremendous pain and suffering. It is the place where we became we and us and stopped being the almighty American ego. We, finally, as a culture, grew up. 

First we walked a mile in the shoes of the heroic firemen helping and encouraging everyone to exit the twin towers as quickly as possible. They might have known that there was a very strong likelihood they would not return. Then we watched as people jumped from windows and saw others who made it miraculously, safely, thankfully and God-willing, to the ground before the towers collapsed. Our collective imaginations walked the last 60 seconds of their lives. It was a powerful moment of no turning back, no interpretation, just rare raw truth and grief. There were more than 2,000 people who didn't get out at all. 

Meanwhile, we began to walk a mile with the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Then there was the mysterious plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.  

That plane had been hijacked by suicide pilots that were heading for Washington, the White House or the Senate. Heroically the passengers learned by cell phone, that the attack on the twin towers was also the work of hijackers like the ones they were, at that moment, dealing with. Knowing then that their destiny would be death, they decided to go for a heroic martyrdom that would save the capital. This knowledge and this choice that they made more than likely saved the capital and in doing so saved the United States of America. 

Back in New York, so many people's lives became a story to be told by another, by a surviving friend, co-worker, relative, in the small community newspapers and national dailies where journalists did their walking the last mile in the shoes of those lives lost. Ground Zero brought forth again the heroic, the grief ridden, those with determined or faint hope, searching for survivors. Then there were those who out of great generosity, adventure and genuine compassion, were willing to volunteer and came from all over the country, as far away as California and Florida. Willing to do whatever it took ... moving dirt and debris, serving food, extending support and prayers to the tired and grieving. 

We walked a mile with incredible rescue dogs who came from California. In Wisconsin a whole town raised money to build and replace a fire engine that had become worn out, unusable. People all over the country and the world were walking a mile in their shoes by giving donations. All of this walking had to do with what we call in the Peace Empowerment Process, the water element of peace.... identification, empathy, genuine compassion and praise. These powers were generously, tirelessly and selflessly used to express our gratitude, and genuine compassion for the families of those we lost. The power of their collective courage resulted in a genuine martyrdom of the innocents.  

September 11, 2001, resulting in Ground Zero, was all about interdependence. Power in the weeks and months that followed had nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with a community transcending opposites and differences, to express their creativity and genuine compassion. Their collective organic powers were peace, natural developed powers. 

September 11, 2002, has everything to do with the sacred responsibility of remembering, with genuine compassion and praise, for New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. We are compelled once again to answer the question "Why do they hate us, the US?" Their truthful answer will take genuine humility on our part and the courage to ask and to receive. The answer will be found if we listen with our minds open. This answer is vital to our survival as a nation and can only be found by asking, listening and by walking a mile in their shoes. 

 

Carolyna Marks is a Berkeley-based artist and sculptor and teaches her Peace Empowerment Process (PEP) to schools and community centers all over the world through her organization World Wall for Peace.


Cal’s winning, but has anyone noticed?

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Wednesday September 11, 2002

Despite an encouraging start to the season, the Cal football team played to a tiny crowd of 24,619 fans at Memorial Stadium on Saturday against New Mexico State, a fact that surprised several Bears players. 

“I definitely expected more people to show up,” senior safety Bert Watts said Tuesday. “I guess we can only hope to win more games and get more fans out there.” 

The crowd, which barely filled one-third of Memorial Stadium’s seats, was concentrated in the alumni sections and student section on the sidelines, with some of the corner sections barely populated at all. When the Cal chant leaders tried to get the two sides to coordinate on a cheer, it took several tries to get things going. 

Remarkably, Saturday’s attendance was lower than any of the Bears’ home games last season, a 1-10 disaster that may still be keeping fans away. Other factors include a lack of parking in the stadium area, with fraternities nearby charging $20 or more for a spot, and lack of enthusiasm over watching the Bears play low-profile New Mexico State. 

“I can understand why people didn’t come,” said wide receiver LaShaun Ward. “When you think about it logically, they didn’t know what to expect. They probably thought the opposition wasn’t too tough, but a win’s a win for us.” 

The Bears face a sterner test this week against No. 15 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. Wideout Geoff McArthur thinks an upset of the Spartans will prove to fans that Cal might be a team worth watching in person. 

“I think if we come back off the road with a win, they’ll understand it’s not a fluke,” he said. 

Even the orgy of scoring in Cal’s 70-22 opener against Baylor didn’t attract additional fans. In fact, the attendance dropped nearly 3,000 from the first game to the second. Apparently a 48-point win wasn’t impressive enough to draw people away from their television sets. 

“I hope everyone was home watching the game on television,” Watts said. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself. I’d hate to think no one saw us win.” 

Head coach Jeff Tedford, who came to Cal from football-crazy University of Oregon, wasn’t convinced the crowd was actually smaller in his second game with the school. 

“When I looked upduring the game, it looked like there were more people in the stands,” Tedford said. “I was surprised to hear there were actually less than the first week. It’s not something we worry about during the game, but I was hoping there would be more people there.” 

Tedford said the home-field advantage was a big factor in the Ducks’ rise to prominence while he was an assistant in Eugene, and he hopes to build the same kind of fan base in Berkeley with some success on the field. 

“If you can create that kind of atmosphere, it can help your team a lot,” he said. “I think we’ve given the fans every reason to be optimistic at this point. We just have to do our jobs and hopefully we can win some support back.” 

One encouraging sign was the spirit of the student section. Chants of “We love Tedford!” and “Undefeated!” have rung out late in games as students get used to cheering for a winning team. 

Watts said he has gotten plenty of support from fellow students on campus. 

“I’ve talked to a lot of other students who seem really excited about us,” he said. “I talked to people who watched the Baylor game on television and went out and bought season tickets.” 

Senior defensive end Tully Banta-Cain, who gave the crowd something to cheer about with 4 1/2 sacks against the Aggies, admitted puzzlement over the reduction in crowds despite the team’s winning ways. 

“Even last year when we were losing we were getting big crowds, and now that we’re winning we’re not. That’s pretty wierd,” Banta-Cain said. “Not to diss the fans who are up there, because that shows who the true fans are.”


Berkeley cracks down on prostitutes

Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Wednesday September 11, 2002

City Council voted Tuesday to clamp down on brothels that masquerade as massage parlors. 

The unanimous vote places strict restrictions on massage parlors, which are commonly fronts for prostitution, and gives the city greater latitude to shut down the its 18 established parlors if they offer sexual favors to clients. 

After police shut down two parlors on prostitution charges last year, the police department and the city attorney determined that Berkeley needed to tighten its massage parlor ordinance to more thoroughly root out prostitution.  

The new ordinance comes as merchants on San Pablo Avenue say that street walkers are at their highest level in years. Police have pledged to remedy that problem and have reported 72 prostitution arrests on that block from January through June. 

The ordinance passed by council requires that parlor employees and applicants wishing to obtain or renew a massage parlor permit undergo a criminal background check. Massage workers also must provide documentation that they have completed 500 hours of training at a licensed massage school.  

If the background check shows that an operator has a history of crimes that are of a sexual or violent nature, a permit will be refused. Additionally, the city can close a parlor after just one violation instead of two. 

The previous ordinance failed to provide a strict standard to restrict prostitution at massage parlors, said Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan. 

He noted that after a police sting uncovered prostitution at the Golden Gypsy Massage Parlor last fall, the city’s efforts to close the shop ran into red tape. Because the sting operation was the parlor’s first recorded violation, the city had to wait several months and rely on the Zoning Adjustment Board to shut down the parlor due to zoning violations.  

Massage workers were concerned about the bill’s ramifications. One worker at Tiki’s Hawaiian Massage on University Avenue said that she did not have 500 hours of schooling and that massage school was too expensive for some massage workers to complete. “Most of us here are working moms, it would cost $5,000 to get 500 hours of massage school,” she said. 

Tuesday’s vote is the latest council effort to regulate massage parlors. Last year council passed a moratorium on massage parlors on University and Shattuck avenues saying that they did not fit in with a family oriented atmosphere. 

Councilmembers said they did not expect law-abiding massage parlors to face harassment under the new ordinance. 

“We have a live and let live attitude,” said Councilmember Donna Spring. “I can think of two parlors that might be connected to prostitution, but no one has complained.” 

 


The upper limit of development

Michael Goldberg Berkeley
Wednesday September 11, 2002

To the Editor: 

Linda Maio's recent letter (Forum, Sept. 7-8) attempts to make a case that Berkeley needs to develop high density housing. But her emotional plea is poorly thought out. She laments that many people who work in Berkeley cannot afford to live here and that much of the traffic and parking problems result from people commuting here to work. She asks that Berkeley develop affordable housing for everyone who works here or grew up here. But she doesn't bother to consider the flip side of her argument: A very high number of Berkeley residents commute to work in San Francisco, Marin, Silicon Valley and other parts of the East Bay. She also doesn't consider that traffic congestion is caused by the many residents of other local cities who commute to Berkeley for the cultural events, stores and restaurants. 

Linda Maio maintains that the imbalance between jobs and housing in Berkeley necessitates developing more housing. But she fails to consider our many neighboring communities, most of which provide more housing than jobs. More importantly, I suspect that examining the statistics will show that as many as 50 percent of Berkeley residents work elsewhere. This too creates traffic and congestion. And many people who work in Berkeley also choose to live elsewhere, in more suburban settings like Lafayette, Moraga, Albany and El Cerrito. 

Fundamentally it is a mistake for Berkeley to look at itself in isolation. We need to look at the entire Bay Area as a region which should provide sufficient housing for the people who work here. But people live one place and work in another for a great variety of reasons. And Berkeley is already quite dense compared to other neighboring cities, and does provide more residential housing for its size than any other city in the Bay Area (with the exception of San Francisco). There is a genuine need for appropriate development in Berkeley but it is preposterous to demand that our city provide housing for everyone who works here or grew up here, unless we are also willing to demand that those Berkeley residents who work in other cities leave and move elsewhere. 

Clearly that is a ridiculous proposition. While reasonable people may differ on the desirable degree of density, I think we all agree that there is an upper limit to development in Berkeley beyond which it will cease to be an attractive place to live.  

 

Michael Goldberg 

Berkeley


Father Bill O’Donnell leaves for federal prison

Kim Melton Special to the Daily Planet
Wednesday September 11, 2002

Hundreds of cheering supporters gathered at St. Joseph’s the Worker Church this morning to bid farewell to Father William O’Donnell as he left to begin a six month sentence at Atwater Federal Prison in Merced County. 

O’Donnell, the 72-year-old pastor at St. Joseph’s, at 1640 Addison St., was convicted of civil disobedience and trespassing last year after leading 46 demonstrators around a chain link fence into the Fort Benning military base in Georgia. They were protesting the School of the Americas (SOA), a training facility for Latin American military personnel. 

The scene on the steps of the Berkeley church was far from somber. In fact, it resembled a festive rally more than a farewell. Laughing and smiling as he greeted the crowd, O’Donnell joked about the experience ahead. 

“God help the warden,” he said, “That judge is just silly to put a saint like me in jail.” O’Donnell acknowledged that having a jubilant crowd send him off raised his spirits. 

Dolores Huerta of the United Farmworkers was among those who showed up to wish O’Donnell farewell and to build support for further protests against the military school. “We have learned from the farmworkers movement that it only takes a few people to get organized. We must give our time and our resources to shut down the SOA.”  

The crowd, which spilled out of the church and onto Addison Street, included mayoral candidate Tom Bates. Bates said he was looking forward to praying with O’Donnell on Election Day and collecting his absentee ballot.  

Parishioners of St. Joseph’s are known for social activism. Many who attended the rally have served time in jail for civil disobedience. “One of our main missions is social justice,” said religion teacher Thea Hicks, standing among a group of students from the parish school. “We like to expose the kids to that. This is their community.” 

The congregation hopes to send 100 people to Fort Benning this year for what has become an annual protest. Each will wear shirts reading “We are here in place of Father Bill.” 

“He is a great example to live by,” said activist Owen Murphy. “He works the gospel among the people. That is what Jesus Christ did.” 

O’Donnell, who has been arrested 224 times because of his activism, is one in a long line of religious leaders who have protested U.S. military involvement abroad. 

Central America became a focus for religious leaders following the 1989 deaths of six Jesuit priests and two housekeepers in El Salvador. A 1993 Congressional investigation linked the murders to the SOA. 

Over the years, protests against the SOA were often organized to assure civil demonstrations. However, after Sept. 11, the SOA heightened security and tightened down on the demonstrations. 

“We tried to explain that 10,000 people at the school was a prime target for any suicide bomber,” said Pentagon spokesperson Kenneth LaPlante.  

Despite warnings, protesters on Nov. 1 marched as planned and many were arrested for crossing military boundaries.  

Today, the SOA is officially closed. In its place is the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which opened in October 2000. Officials say that much has changed in the military training at the institute, but activists disagree. 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, currently has 111 co-sponsors for a bill that would close the institute. 


Davis orders more security

By Don Thompson The Associated Press
Wednesday September 11, 2002

SACRAMENTO — The nation was placed on its second highest terror alert level for the first time Tuesday, and Gov. Gray Davis ordered extra security at state buildings and memorial events. 

“The reality is, all the things we could have done we’re a step ahead by doing it all last night,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick. 

The CHP began its heightened state of alert Monday night, and will remain at that level until early Friday morning. 

“So far it’s business as usual,” Helmick said. “Do all the things we’ve been practicing for the last year.” 

Davis ordered the CHP to beef up security at state buildings and to work with local police to safeguard Sept. 11 events, though he said “there is still no credible threat to the United States, as I understand it.” 

Ceremonies at the state Capitol on Wednesday will include heavy security, said press secretary Steve Maviglio, including flyovers by three combat-ready F-16 fighters, both as part of the ceremony and to provide security. 

Travis Air Force Base officials said all Air Force bases were increasing security as a precaution. 

Davis joined other governors in a conference call with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge before Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft said the nation would go to an “orange” alert signaling a “high risk” of attack. It was the first time the heightened alert was imposed since the system was developed after the terrorist attacks a year ago Wednesday. 

The threats appeared most directed against “U.S. interests overseas,” said Ashcroft, but Davis said the government was wise to take no chances since the domestic attacks a year ago. 

One of the official guidelines for an orange alert calls for government officials to be prepared to move their operations to alternate locations. California shifted its state operations to the CHP Academy in West Sacramento for a day after last year’s attacks, and is ready to do so again if needed, Helmick said. 

However, “there’s been no indication the governor wants to do that,” Helmick said. 

As part of the stepped up state actions, about 5,400 of the CHP’s 6,000 officers are working during the higher state of alert, Helmick said. That’s about 50 percent more officers on duty than usual, he added. 

Truck weigh stations are open around the clock to monitor large trucks. Local police departments also are on alert. 

Mechanical problems had grounded most of the highway patrol’s airplanes, but the manufacturer has lent the state enough planes to bring the department back to full strength, Helmick said. 

Those planes, and the department’s helicopters, will be flying around the clock to watch bridges, roads, power plants and transmission lines, aqueducts and other potential targets, Helmick said. Ground patrols also are being increased. 

Patrols by National Guard troops and other agencies will continue at the Golden Gate Bridge, which has showed up in terrorist videotapes and in threat warnings passed on by the federal government, Davis said. 

State, federal and local law enforcement will continue sharing information through the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, and CHP officers flying on in-state flights will continue providing an extra layer of security, Davis said. 

Though there are no guarantees, Davis said, “I believe we’re doing everything conceivable to provide safety to our 35 million Californians.” 

He asked residents to go about their lives even as they remember the victims and heroes of the attacks, “but to remain vigilant” and call police if they see something unusual. 

The governor also asked residents to be especially tolerant of other religions and nationalities during the memorial period. 

“This was a searing experience for all Americans,” Davis said Monday. “We hope and pray it never happens again.” 

Davis is scheduled to speak at a 45-minute ceremony at the Capitol Wednesday morning. Davis will call a statewide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. PDT, during the ceremony. 

Also, roughly 30 relatives of Sept. 11 victims from California, and five who survived the attacks on the twin towers, are scheduled to attend the ceremony.


Police Briefs

Wednesday September 11, 2002

n Armed Robbery 

Police are still looking for an adult male who allegedly robbed a woman at gunpoint last Thursday. Police said a woman returned home in her car at 9:17 p.m. on the 1800 block of Stuart Street. When she exited her car a male put a gun to her head a demanded her wallet and cell phone. The woman complied and the male was seen running westbound toward Grant Street. The suspect is described as a black male, late 20s about 6 feet tall and 210 pounds. The gun was described as a black pistol. 

n Drunk Driving 

Miguel Cervantez Diaz, 22, was arrested for driving under the influence outside 1099 San Pablo Ave. at 3:51 a.m. Sunday. 

n Stolen Laptops 

A burglar stole two laptop computers from an apartment on the 2200 block of Haste Street about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Police believe the burglar entered the home through a kitchen window. 

n Car Thefts 

A metallic blue 1966 Ford Mustang, license plate 4ACT771, was reported stolen at 12:12 p.m. Sunday from the 1900 block of California Street.  

A dark gray 1998 Toyota Camry, license plate 4AMG369, was reported stolen at 3:11 p.m. Sunday from the 2000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

 


Opinion

Editorials

Iraq accepts return of U.N.

The Associated Press
Tuesday September 17, 2002

UNITED NATIONS — Iraq unconditionally accepted the return of U.N. weapons inspectors late Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, nearly four years after the inspectors left Baghdad. 

“I can confirm to you that I have received a letter from the Iraqi authorities conveying its decision to allow the return of inspectors without conditions to continue their work,” a pleased Annan said. 

“There is good news,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said moments earlier. Sabri refused to comment further and left U.N. headquarters after a day of negotiations on the text of the letter. 

Sabri and Arab League chief Amr Moussa had met late with Annan to transmit the letter from the Iraqi government. 

Under Security Council resolutions, sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that its weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed.


Union City Police: ‘Citizens stay calm’

Daily Plan´t Wire Service
Monday September 16, 2002

The Union City Police Department sought to reassure citizens Saturday that a brutal triple homicide this week was not a random outbreak of violence. 

The police said that the murder victims, Johnny Li, 33, and Deborah Yao, 26, who were engaged to be married, and a man believed to be a friend of Li's whose identity has not been released, were specifically targeted by their attackers. 

The three were found dead Thursday night inside a two-story house at 33056 Compton Court, which Li and Yao had been renting since August of last year. The police said the three victims had been beaten so badly that the cause of death was unclear, and they had been dead for at least a day before they were discovered. 

Investigators believe that at least two attackers, most likely known by the victims, were let into the house prior to the killings.


Three held in possible terrorism hoax

By Rachel La Crote The Associated Press
Saturday September 14, 2002

NAPLES — Three men reportedly overheard talking about a terrorist plot were pulled over and detained for 17 hours Friday before authorities said the men were apparently kidding around and released them. 

Afterward, the three drove to a rest stop, where they told reporters they were medical students heading to Miami for training and denied making any comments or jokes about terrorism. Police declined to say what the men told them during questioning. 

“If this was a hoax, they will be charged,” Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter said angrily after an all-day search of the men’s two cars turned up no sign of explosives. 

It was unclear what charges, if any, the men might face in Florida or Georgia, where a woman told authorities she heard them plotting at a restaurant Thursday morning. 

At the rest stop, Ayman Gheith, who has a long beard and wore a skull cap, said the woman may have been influenced by his appearance. 

“She saw obviously the way I was dressed and maybe she put a little salt and pepper into her story,” he said. 

The men later told CNN they were unaware of any problems in the restaurant. “The words 9-11, the words September weren’t even mentioned in the conversation. Or September 13th. We were talking about what we were going to do in Miami,” Gheith said. 

The cars were stopped after the Georgia woman reported overhearing three men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent making “alarming” comments during breakfast at the restaurant in Calhoun, Ga., said Mickey Lloyd of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. 

According to authorities, one of the men said Americans “mourned on 9/11 and they are going to mourn again on 9/13.” They also said the target of “possible terrorist activities” was in the Miami area. 

Georgia officials issued an alert based on the woman’s report and the cars were stopped at 1 a.m. after one went through the Interstate 75 toll booth east of Naples, authorities said. The men told CNN they paid the toll, but that the attendant was confused about whether they had. 

The men were detained in a van while authorities used dogs and a robot to go through the cars. 

“The whole time I kept asking, ’Why are we being pulled over? Why is this happening?”’ Kambiz Butt said during the TV interview. 

Police did not tell them why they had been detained until shortly before their release, Omar Chaudhary added. 

The men are of Jordanian, Iranian and Pakistani descent — one a U.S. native, another a naturalized citizen and the third the holder of a valid visa, authorities said. 

Relatives of the men criticized the investigation, suggesting they had been singled out because of their heritage. 

“I don’t know what the lady in the restaurant heard or assumed. She must have had some kind of prejudice,” father Javed Chaudhary, a Pakistani immigrant, said from his home in Independence, Mo. He said his son is 23 and was born in Detroit. 

“I feel like we don’t have freedom here anymore. Anybody can call anybody to make any kind of accusation. And the authorities treat you like you are a criminal.” 

Hana Gheith of suburban Chicago also said she didn’t believe the report about her brother, who she said is 27. She said he was driving to Miami with friends to find an apartment before starting a training program at a hospital. 

“My brother doesn’t joke about these matters,” she said, her voice at times shaking with anger. “A lot of Muslims suffered in 9/11.” 

The woman who reported the comments is Eunice Stone of Cartersville, Ga., a 44-year-old nurse who told Fox News Network that she was eating at a Shoney’s restaurant in Calhoun when she heard the men talking. The town in rural north Georgia has a population of 10,000. 

“I thought anybody that’s laughing about 9-11, I know they have that right, but there’s something wrong with them,” Stone told Fox. She later told The Associated Press the incident was “kind of scary.” 

 

Associated Press reporters John Solomon in Washington and Brendan Farrington and Tal Abbady in Miami contributed to this report. 


Oakland police ‘Riders’ trial begins this week

By Kim CurtisThe Associated Press
Friday September 13, 2002

OAKLAND — Two summers ago, a band of four Oakland police officers who called themselves “The Riders,” patrolled the streets, administering their own brand of justice. 

Prosecutors say the officers, who since have been fired, routinely beat up suspects, concocted evidence and falsified police reports. 

Now, Clarence “Chuck” Mabanag, 36, Jude Siapno, 34 and Matthew Hornung, 30, are on trial for 26 felony charges stemming from their West Oakland patrols during the summer of 2000. Siapno faces the most serious charges, including kidnapping and assault. 

Frank Vazquez, the alleged ringleader of the group, is believed to have fled the country. 

Defense lawyers say the officers simply were doing their jobs in a tough neighborhood. All have pleaded innocent. 

Assistant District Attorney David Hollister began presenting his opening statement to the jury Thursday. 

“We look forward to finally get the opportunity to present our case,” he said. 

It took two months to seat the Alameda County panel of six men and six women for the trial, which is expected to last through year’s end. 

The scandal, which has resulted in the dismissal of about 90 criminal cases, mostly drug-related, and 17 civil rights suits by 115 people, surfaced after a then-20-year-old rookie reported what he saw on duty with Mabanag, his training officer. 

Keith Batt, now a police officer in Pleasanton, is the prosecution’s key witness. During the preliminary hearing last July, Batt painted a disturbing picture of the officers’ “stop and grab” tactics in which suspects randomly were accosted on the street, handcuffed and put in the patrol car before they were questioned about their activities. He called their methods illegal and immoral. 

Batt also hinted at a conspiracy of silence among the police brass who supervised “The Riders.” 

Police and city officials have repeatedly called “The Riders” a rogue group, but they have, nonetheless, instituted a series of protective measures, including more internal affairs investigators and more supervisors. The department also created an Office of Inspector General, an internal audit division, and has generally increased internal scrutiny. 


Two Richmond waste cleanup sites approved for development

Thursday September 12, 2002

RICHMOND – State officials have announced the completion of two waste cleanups in Richmond, laying the foundation for future development. 

Varying levels of asbestos and lead laden soil, debris and other materials have now been disposed of at both the Seacliff Marina and the Richmond Townhouse Apartment sites, allowing for future commercial and industrial development, a spokesperson for the California Environmental Protection Agency said this week. 

“We are committed to working with communities and other governmental agencies as we continue the state's efforts to restore contaminated sites to productive use,” said Ed Lowry, director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is part of the state EPA. 

A 1986 soil investigation of the Seacliff Marina site, formerly a repair and maintenance ship yard, unearthed elevated concentrations of metals and asbestos, triggering a clean-up plan that was completed in 1998. A residential request in June 2001 prompted further cleanup activities as an elevated, encapsulated mound of soil and debris containing asbestos was removed from the site. 

In the end, roughly 119,000 cubic yards of material was removed onto the adjacent Port of Richmond Shipyard No. 3 site, capped with compacted materials to prevent exposure and ultimately disposed of offsite, paving the way for approximately 11.6 acres of unrestricted land use. 

In late 1998, the Contra Costa County Health Department alerted the Department of Toxic Substances Control of high levels of lead in the soil at the Richmond Townhouse Apartments site. Once owned by the Pullman railroad manufacturing company, the 10-acre Richmond Townhouse site went through initial cleanup efforts from April to August 2000 due to years of exposure to lead-based paints. 

About 11,000 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil surrounding the five apartment buildings at the site were removed and the area was later re-landscaped and backfilled with clean soil. All lead-contaminated soils were disposed of offsite.


5-alarm brush fire burns home

Daily Planet Wire Service
Wednesday September 11, 2002

OAKLAND – The Oakland Fire Department reports that a large brush fire in the hilly Oak Knoll neighborhood was contained Tuesday afternoon after burning 10 to 15 acres. 

The fire just off Interstate Highway 580 began burning at 11:30 a.m., had threatened several homes in the area and even burned one home’s roof. 

According to Battalion Chief James Williams, more than 150 firefighters and a dozen aircraft were still working the blaze, which is concentrated in a grove of eucalyptus trees rich in oil content. Williams said oil from the leaves is producing a spectacular effect with large flames and heavy, black smoke. 

“The fire blows up quickly and then it dies down after consuming the fuel,” Williams said.