Twelve of Berkeley’s 16 public schools scored higher on the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) standardized testing system last year than they did the previous year, according to California Department of Education data released Thursday. But only four schools, or 25 percent, met growth targets laid out by the state. 

By contrast, nearly 70 percent of schools across the state improved their API results and 53 percent met growth targets. 

The four Berkeley schools that met growth targets were Emerson Elementary, LeConte Elementary, Oxford Elementary and Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary. 

Three of the four would be eligible for state financial rewards in a normal year but this year the state legislature, faced with a $24 billion budget shortfall, cut funding for the awards program. 

The schools that did not meet targets face no immediate state sanctions, but some schools may face federal sanctions. (See adjacent story.) 

The number of Berkeley schools reaching growth targets – for the overall school as well as for racial subgroups and the economically-disadvantaged – has steadily declined since 2000, when the API growth measures first went into effect. 

In 2000, 12 of 15 Berkeley schools met targets. In 2001, 5 of 16 hit the mark. The decline matches a statewide drop-off and Berkeley Board of Education member Ted Schultz said he was not surprised by the latest results. 

“Early on, a lot of schools were making their targets more easily because the obvious stuff was put in place,” he said. “It’s not surprising that there’s not as much improvement as in previous years.” 

The API combines results from a nationwide test, the SAT-9, and the California Standards Test in English Language Arts, tailored to California-specific curriculum standards. New tests, like the California High School Exit Exam, will be added to the API next year. 

Each school receives a score ranging from 200 to 1,000, with a statewide goal of 800. Each year, to reach its growth target, a school must increase its API score for the whole school, the economically-disadvantaged and any numerically-significant racial subgroups. 

Specifically, a school as a whole must improve its score by 5 percent of the difference between its previous API and the state target of 800. The racial and economically-disadvantaged subgroups must improve scores by at least 80 percent of the overall goal for a school. 

Eight Berkeley schools, including Berkeley High School and the now-defunct City of Franklin Elementary, improved their API scores but did not make all their targets. 

Four schools – Cragmont Elementary, Malcolm X Elementary, Longfellow Middle School and Willard Middle School – saw their API scores dip. 

Emerson Elementary is the only Berkeley school that has reached the statewide goal of an 800 score. Statewide, 20 percent of schools scored at 800 or higher last year. 

To the Editor: 

College Avenue is a great place to take an autumn walk. The restaurants are bustling, yellow leaves collect on the ground, and pumpkins peek out from storefronts. Midst all of this, drivers idle their cars in traffic while people old and young sit helplessly on benches, waiting for mythical AC Transit buses to appear. 

I believe there are several factors contributing to the traffic mess on College Avenue. First, AC Transit bus service is abysmal. The socially-conscious bus rider is rewarded by buses that arrive 15 or 20 minutes late. The line 51 buses are usually crowded and are very often so full that they cannot accept any more riders. Plus, buses get stuck in the same traffic as cars. Is it any wonder that so many people are saying no to public transit and choosing to drive in cars that are always ready to go and never crowded? 

Another factor contributing to congestion is driver-be-damned traffic engineering. Many good alternate routes around the College Avenue mess have been blocked by the city of Berkeley, so these streets sit empty while College chokes with pollution from idling engines. The city should recognize that cars are, unfortunately, a necessity for most Berkeley residents. Blocking off side streets creates some quiet for a few lucky and politically-active residents at the expense of everyone's ability to breathe cleaner air, travel more quickly, and use public streets paid for with public taxes. 

The city should also install turn lanes on College Avenue at Ashby Avenue. Traffic backs up there for blocks while frustrated motorists dodge and weave around cars trying to turn left. The installation of turn lanes would greatly reduce this problem. 

Some people argue that the solution to traffic problems in Berkeley is to curtail development. This is a hollow “not in my backyard” position that ignores the reality of outrageous rents caused by a severe market shortage of apartments and homes. The only winners in the no-development game are landlords and those lucky enough to already own a home. Everyone else loses. 

We do not have to take traffic congestion, pollution and astronomical rents for granted. The solution to these problems, on College Avenue and elsewhere, is to improve public transit and traffic management while aggressively promoting development of transit-oriented housing. 

Frank Gebauer 

Student, Boalt Hall School of Law 

UC Berkeley

Surfers all have a common bond: the love of waves. But for pro-surfer-turned-musician Jack Johnson and many of the people that have stepped into his life, the bonds go beyond that. 

“I could trace everything back to surfing, all the nice things that have happened,” Johnson said. 

His chance meetings with fellow surfers have blossomed into great success beyond the beach in an arena that was once foreign to Johnson – music. For the singer and guitarist, who is the highly anticipated act at the Greek Theatre tonight and Sunday, misfortune became fortune. When a surfing accident landed him into the hospital, a friend bought him a guitar and he discovered that he was a lot better at playing the instrument than he had ever imagined. With the support of colleagues, his musical career took form. 

Johnson started out in entertainment as a filmmaker. While he was making his feature “Thicker Than Water,” he would play the guitar for his friends during his downtime. He blew them away with his catchy songs and skilled guitar playing. One of those friends, Emmett Malloy, later became his manager. 

“I wanted to make sure this got dealt with properly so I took it upon myself. He’s a real fragile guy – if it’s not fun for him, he doesn’t want to be apart of it,” explained Malloy.  

Garrett Dutton of G. Love and Special Sauce, a blues and folk group that will take the stage with Johnson at the Greek, remembers the days when Johnson would jam with him in San Diego, after they surfed together. 

“[Johnson] did a duet with me on my record ‘Rodeo Clowns”, and producers just picked it up. “We were down in San Diego, and then he just blew up,” said Dutton. 

Dutton and Johnson have frequently performed together, well before they made careers of music. 

“I met Jack while we were surfing. We were trying new things,” reminisced Dutton. 

Both frontmen of this weekend’s acts exude guy-next-door facades. But on stage, they radiate charisma, drawing musically from blues and folk greats, but making lyrics and instrumentation their own.  

“As a kid, my mom had me practice my guitar. At 13, I was still good, so I just stuck with it,” Dutton joked. 

Johnson’s jam sessions with surfer friends paid off. Having known Ben Harper’s manager, J. P. Plunier from the beach, their relationship grew inside the studio when Johnson handed him a four-track tape of his music. One thing led to another, and he found himself touring with superstar Harper himself.  

Originally from the tropical islands of Hawaii, Johnson now spends his days in the studio or on the road, conjuring up deliciously unpretentious lyrics against a smooth, acoustic guitar sound. When his latest album “Brushfire Fairytales” hit the stores, it didn’t blow up immediately. But after national airplay, the success of the album soared to the top, selling more than 70,000 copies by the end of 2001. His style has been compared to that of Ben Harper and Willy Porter. In fact Harper is featured playing guitar on Johnson’s hit track “Flake”.  

Everything was new for the musician and manager as they started talking with major labels. They didn’t have experience in the music industry, so they just played it by ear, which ended up being a lot more fun, and lucrative. 

“We’d go into these meetings and neither one of us knew anything about the music industry. We’d just go in and sit there and talk to people. It was all just kind of fun,” said Johnson. 

Die-hard Jack Johnson fans are rather disappointed at the musician’s move towards a more “mainstream sound” in order to appeal to a wider audience, a change noticeable in his progression to Brushfire from earlier albums.  

“I liked his music better when it consisted of simple lyrics that spoke more of the mundane, unnoticed details of life,” said surfer Cindy Yang. “He’s moving away from his style from the days when he had a large independent following in San Diego into a sound that more can relate too. Although I’m disappointed, I still want to see him in concert.” 

Johnson will be performing at sold-out shows this Friday and Sunday. 

“We will play hits people know and try to mix things up. We just played a set with Jack today. Everyone’s playing well,” said Dutton.

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Homecoming Rally 

9 p.m. 

Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley 

Come rally with the Cal band, the dance team, the UC Men’s Octet, and more. 

388-4789 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Dog Wash Sunday 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kutz for Mutz  

911 University Ave.  

Get your dog shampooed while helping out rescued dogs. Proceeds benefit Smiley Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing abused or abandoned pups. 

(760) 924-3961 

$15-$30 depending on the dog. 

The Buddy Club Season Opener 

1 to 2 p.m 

The Berkeley JCC Theater, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose St. 

Audience participation shows for kids age two through twelve and their parents. 

236-SHOW 

$7 / under 2 yrs. free 

Monday, Oct. 21 

War in Iraq- Why? 

7 p.m. 

2951 Derby St. 

Women for Peace invites you to discuss war in Iraq, with an emphasis on women’s viewpoints. 

526-5094 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

Brown Bag Career Talk 

12 to 1 p.m. 

YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way 

Professional organizer Kathy Waddill hosts “Getting Paid to Help Other People Get Organized”. 

848-6370 

$3 

“What is it Like to Be a Robot?” 

8 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley 

Tom Sgouros and his robot, Judy, star in a sharp-witted “solo” theater piece in which they discuss stage magic, free will, imagination and other themes in this unique performance. 

www.sgouros.com 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565 / www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

The Independent Institute 

7 p.m. 

Daniel Ellsberg unveils new book, “Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers.” 

Zellerbach Auditorium, Bancroft Way and Telegraph 

642-9988 

Berkeley Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

What’s what on the November ballot: A rundown of state and local ballot measures. Shirley Dean and Tom Bates will debate. 

548-9696 

Thursday, Oct. 24 

Communication Components Workshop 

State Health Toastmasters Club 

Noon to 1 p.m. 

2151 Berkeley Way 

595-1594 

Free 

“How to Access Health and Medical Information Through the Internet” 

7 to 9 p.m. 

Claremont branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Learn how to effectively use free scientific databases and do health-related research using the Internet. 

Register in advance: 981-6280 

Free 

Friday, Oct. 25 

“The Library: A Community Legacy” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Anna Rabkin will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 26 

Math Made Fun - math games. 

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science  

Free with museum admission. 

Pumpkin Carving  

and Costume Making 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at  

Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Free 

Lawrence Hall of Science Family Halloween Party 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

A Halloween bash with magicians, mad scientists, wizards, and a demonstration of how to make an elephant mask. 

Reserve tickets in advance: 642-5134 

$8-$12 

Gardening With East Bay Native Plants  

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Hands-on workshop touching on many aspects of “restoration gardening”. 

Reservations required: 548-2220 x233 

$15 Ecology Center members, $25 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Spirit Day 

11 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

Construct altars in a day of reflection. 

Free. 

West Berkeley Arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Ave. between 3rd and 4th Streets 

Fun for the whole family, with local and international arts and crafts, the Berkeley Youth Chess league, Technomania Circus, live music and more. 

845-4106 

Wednesday, Oct. 30 

Premiere of “Code 33: Emergency- Clear the Air” 

5 p.m. 

Oakland City Council Chambers, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland 

A one hour made-for-TV documentary on youth and public relations. Followed by a reception and refreshments. 

887-0152 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Santo Soul, La Familia, and Marimba Pacifica 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, dancing, folkloric presentations, and a raffle. 

548-6914 

$15 

Garnet Rogers 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Visionary guitarist and songwriter. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Ian Moore, Sonya Hunter ad Blu Sanders 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$6 / 21 and over 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Charonson 

9:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center, 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Come get your groove on to this live salsa band. Dance class at 8:15 p.m. 

849-2568 

$12 / $15 with class 

Peter Case 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Singer-songwriter auteur. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Casino Royale and DJ California Kid 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$8 / 21 and over 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery 

116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 Years of Printmaking 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

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-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invited. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Gary Mex Glazner and Thea Hillman 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Poetry reading. 

525-5476 

$2 donation 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Magic School Bus Video Festival 

10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science Auditorium 

643-5961 

$8 adults, $6 youth 5-18 & seniors, $4 children 3-4, free for children under 3 

“The Undead and the Living Dead” and Bela Lugosi’s “White Zombie” 

Oct. 24 through Oct. 30 

7:30 / 8:55 p.m. 

Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck Ave. 

Double feature. 

848-1143 

$4-$9

Need a motivational speech? Bill Gaebler might be your man. 

With his Berkeley High girls water polo team down 3-0 late in the first quarter against De Anza High on Thursday, Gaebler called a timeout and gathered his team in a corner of the Willard pool. Although what he said wasn’t audible outside the meeting, whatever Gaebler said had an undeniable effect; the Yellowjackets (5-4 overall, 4-3 ACCAL) outscored De Anza 9-4 the rest of the way to claim a 9-7 win in Berkeley’s ACCAL regular season finale. 

“I just reminded the team about what we worked on in practice,” Gaebler said. “When we started to play like we practiced, we got a lot better.” 

Most of the adjustment came on defense, where Gaebler’s girls worked hard to limit the shots of De Anza stars Jenna Casady and Julie Galvan. Although the duo combined to score six of their team’s seven goals, the Jackets pushed Galvan further and further away from the Berkeley goal as the game went on and kept a tight watch on Casady, who is the league’s best scorer from the outside. No De Anza player other than Galvan or Casady scored until there were just 10 seconds left in the game. 

“Casady is probably the best player in the league, so I just told the girls to clamp down on her no matter where she was,” Gaebler said. 

While the De Anza (8-6, 2-4) attack stalled with their two best players blanketed, the Yellowjackets took advantage of their opportunities, converting all three man-up situations into goals and counterattacking well. Junior Carina Degenkolb led the way with five goals, including two power play scores, while Sade Bonilla and Lana Tilley each scored twice. Bonilla also played great defense on Galvan in the hole, and Berkeley goalkeeper Perry Kramer stepped up her game after giving up two soft goals in the first period. 

The turnaround came in the second quarter, as Berkeley scored five straight goals to take a two-goal lead. The Jackets also got a bit of luck, as three De Anza shots hit iron during that stretch. Although Galvan scored with less than a minute left in the half to pull her team within a goal, momentum was clearly on Berkeley’s side. 

The third quarter was quiet, with the teams trading goals before Galvan was ejected for an intentional foul. Bonilla scored on the ensuing power play, and the Dons never got within a goal again. 

Berkeley will likely head into the ACCAL tournament in two weeks as the No. 4 seed, with De Anza or Alameda its likely first-round opponent. Gaebler considers the tournament to be wide open, with six of the eight teams having a legitimate shot at the title.

Berkeley school officials are concerned that Rosa Parks Elementary School, despite substantial improvements in its Academic Performance Index (API) scores, could face a major shake-up next year under President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” legislation signed in January. 

The law requires schools that repeatedly fail to make adequate progress on standardized tests to undergo significant reforms, such as a replacement of large sections of the school’s staff or appointment of an outside expert to advise the school on its progress. 

Rosa Parks far exceeded a state target for API improvement last year, and met goals for all numerically-significant racial subgroups at the school. But in order to officially meet state API growth goals, a school must improve as a whole, among racial subgroups and among economically-disadvantaged students. Rosa Parks fell one point short of meeting its target in the economically-disadvantaged category. 

Rosa Parks administrators could not be reached for comment. But board of education member Terry Doran said it would be unfair to require a major overhaul at Rosa Parks because of one point. 

“It feeds my criticism of the whole testing mania in the state,” he said. “I don’t think it adequately interprets the successes we do have in our schools.” 

But state officials suggested there could be some wiggle room for Rosa Parks and the school may be able to avoid significant change. 

The “No Child Left Behind” law requires weighty reform for any schools that fail to make “adequate yearly progress” on standardized tests several years in a row. The severity of the reform mounts with each passing year. 

The California Department of Education has used API growth target figures, like those released Thursday, to determine “adequate yearly progress” up until now. Under that system, Rosa Parks would apparently face a significant overhaul. 

But California Department of Education officials said they might adjust the way they look at API and measure “adequate” progress in the coming months. A decision is expected in January. 

Furthermore, individual schools have a right to appeal individual test scores. Berkeley’s Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Chris Lim said the school district might pursue the appeal route. 

But if the current system holds, the Berkeley Unified School District would have to impose one of six reforms on Rosa Parks next year. The options include replacing large sections of school staff, putting a new curriculum in place, decreasing the principal’s authority, appointing an outside expert to advise the school on its progress, extending the school year or school day or restructuring the school’s internal organization. 

If Rosa Parks fails to meet growth targets again on the next round of tests, reform options include reopening as a charter school and state takeover. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

The Attorney General set aside guidelines that restrict the FBI's surveillance of religious and political organizations in the United States. Critics from all points on the political spectrum are concerned that this action, taken without consultation with Congress or civil liberties organizations, is severely flawed.  

This is a critical concern. Please understand, this is a threat to our civil liberties. This is specifically targeted against Arab Americans and Muslims, regardless of citizenship status. Our meetings, electronic communications, personal data, religious services, social gatherings and databases are now fair targets for investigation. 

My question is: Where are our civil Liberties going to be five years from now? 

Sam Matar 

Fremont

NEW YORK — If “The West Wing” were the real White House, glum-faced presidential operatives would be obsessing over worrisome poll numbers. 

The Emmy-winning political drama’s decline in popularity is the most puzzling and dramatic example among a handful of established NBC programs that have suffered sluggish starts this television season. 

“The West Wing” ratings are down 23 percent compared to the first three episodes last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. “ER” is down 15 percent. After a fast start with Niles and Daphne’s wedding, “Frasier” has sunk. “Providence” is off 19 percent. 

“A network always needs to be concerned about the health of their returning series, simply because they are the pillars of their schedule,” said Stacey Lynn Koerner, a television analyst for Initiative Media. “It’s a lot easier to replace a new show that is not living up to expectations.” 

ABC is still trying to recover from a ratings free fall after established hits like “The Drew Carey Show” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” swiftly lost favor last fall. 

No one suggests such a dire forecast for NBC, since it’s a solid No. 2 to CBS so far this season and No. 1 in the 18-to-49-year-old age demographic it is most concerned about. 

But the numbers have been noticed. 

“Everyone is trying to write the ‘NBC cracks’ story, but we’re in a different universe. We’re happy,” said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker on Wednesday. “There’s no question that ‘The West Wing’ is off to a slow start and ‘Frasier’ is down. Beyond that, we’re thrilled.” 

NBC is particularly pleased with its performance on Sunday nights with the new “American Dreams” and on Monday nights with “Fear Factor,” he said. And Zucker noted that “ER,” which was seen by 24.7 million viewers last week, has been able to stay among TV’s top shows despite cast defections, including Anthony Edwards at the end of last season. 

“‘ER’ is probably our biggest success story of the season,” he said. 

Theories about “The West Wing” abound: viewer exhaustion with politics, critics who say its quality has slipped. NBC is facing tougher competition in the time slot, particularly for young viewers, with ABC’s “The Bachelor” and the WB’s “Birds of Prey.” 

Even though “The West Wing” hit Nielsen’s top 10 last week, “The Bachelor” won among viewers age 18 to 49. 

“Given the tremendous competition for young adults in that hour, this is probably a realistic place for the show to be,” Zucker said. 

Ironically, the show’s slow start may end up helping NBC financially: NBC and the show’s producer, Warner Bros. Television, need to reach a new agreement to extend the show beyond this season. 

Some of the other NBC shows are showing their age. “Frasier” is in its 10th season and “ER” is in its ninth. “Providence,” which was on the fence for renewal before this season, began in January 1999. 

The age-defying “Law & Order” franchise is becoming a bigger part of NBC’s success, said analyst Marc Berman of Media Week Online.

One of Cal head coach Jeff Tedford’s main contributions to the Golden Bear defense was to insist on more help from his safeties in the passing game. But that ideal may be thrown out the window Saturday against UCLA. 

After surrendering 176 yards to USC tailback Sultan McCullough and with the sometimes-smashmouth UCLA Bruins up this weekend, Tedford will likely ask defensive coordinator Bob Gregory to sneak at least one safety near the line of scrimmage, or “in the box,” for the majority of the game. UCLA is averaging 161 yards per game on the ground, second in the Pac-10, and has a trio of talented tailbacks that can carry the ball. The breakout star thus far has been freshman Tyler Ebell, who has rushed for 322 yards in UCLA’s last two games, but backups Akil Harris and Manuel White are also capable of breaking big plays. 

Even in the pass-happy Pac-10, the running game is still a top priority for most teams. 

“Every game our emphasis is on stopping the run,” Cal linebacker Paul Ugenti said. “We want to force teams to pass on us to make yardage.” 

Of course, UCLA also has some talented receivers who are capable of making big plays as well. Moving a safety out of the coverage scheme will leave Cal’s cornerback’s in one-on-one situations against wideouts Craig Bragg and Tab Perry, as well as create a seam for tight end Mike Seidman. That trio has combined to catch 11 touchdowns this season. 

If Gregory does indeed put an extra defender in the box against UCLA, Cal’s cornerbacks are confident they handle whatever UCLA throws at them. After all, they were left in similar situations for the past two seasons in former defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich’s aggressive defense. 

“It won’t be much different from what I’m used to,” cornerback James Bethea said. “That’s all I’ve done since I got here.” 

Throwing a monkey wrench into the mix is the absence of backup cornerback Harrison Smith, who is out for the season with a broken shoulder. That leaves only special-teams maven Mike McGrath as a backup, although rover Nnamdi Asomugha has been seeing time on the corner in an attempt to match up with bigger wide receivers. 

But when Asomugha is at cornerback, true freshman Donnie McCleskey steps into the all-important rover spot, and his inexperience and lack of speed could hurt the Bears. It’s a tough call: leave Asomugha at his normal position and hope Bethea and Jemeel Powell can play big, or put in McCleskey and live with freshman mistakes. If Asomugha lines up at rover, it’s more likely Gregory will keep him back in coverage to protect his cornerbacks and hope the Bears front seven can improve on last week’s effort. 

“It’d be nice to know we have more support from the back row, but our main objective is to stop them in the front,” defensive end Tully Banta-Cain said. “Hopefully we can play well enough that we don’t need extra guys to help us.” 

Notes: Tedford said junior wide receiver Chase Lyman may finally be ready to play following a hamstring injury, but Lyman may choose to utilize his redshirt year. With starter Geoff McArthur still affected by a nagging leg injury, Lyman is needed for depth. “I think he’s ready to play, but I can’t force him to get in there,” Tedford said. “I want him to contribute to the team this season, but he doesn’t want to use a year [of eligibility] for just five games.”... Tailback Joe Echema, who was the top runner in spring camp, is on the comeback from a severe knee injury suffered in the fall. Echema had set Saturday’s game as a target return date, but likely won’t play at all this season... Tedford had an hour-long conversation with a Pac-10 official concerning the officiating at last weekend’s loss to USC. USC wide receiver Kareem Kelly was credited with a touchdown catch that was clearly a blown call, and there were several other plays Tedford felt were blown... Cal quarterback Kyle Boller will set a school record with his next touchdown pass. Boller is tied with Pat Barnes with 54.

With November election battles heating up, the five candidates for Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board may be the most confident politicians in town. 

For the second consecutive election, Berkeley landlords have opted not to oppose the pro-tenant slate for five open rent board seats. Landlords have conceded the races since, to their liking, state legislation tempered city rent control laws. 

The rent board, which consists of nine elected commissioners and a handful of full-time staff, was constituted in 1980 to govern Berkeley’s rent control laws. The commissioners decide the annual rent increases for controlled units, determine if landlords are entitled to rent increases if they make property improvements and act as an appeals court in landlord-tenant disputes. 

Although pro-tenant candidates – selected at a progressive nominating convention in April – are assured victory, they say they have campaigned hard. 

“It’s important that people know there is still rent control in Berkeley and that tenants still have protections,” said Selma Spector, who is the only incumbent running for re-election. 

Joining Spector on the pro-tenant ticket are: Howard Chong, a recent UC Berkeley graduate who was appointed to the rent board last May to replace an outgoing member; Chris Kavenaugh, a former Green Party candidate for the 8th District City Council seat; Bob Evans, a tenant’s rights attorney; and Pinkie Payne, a Housing Authority Commissioner representing residents of federally-subsidized housing. 

Front and center on all the candidates agendas is how to weaken the Costa-Hawkins Act, passed by the state legislature in 1995, ending rent control on vacant units, single family dwellings and all units built after 1995. Rent control continues on occupied dwellings, for which the rent board sets annual rent increases. 

Since Costa-Hawkins was fully implemented in late 1998, more than 50 percent of Berkeley rental units have been raised to market rents, according to Spector. The average price of a one-bedroom apartment has jumped from $763 in 1998 to $1,202 this July, according Cal Rentals which tracks rental prices paid by UC Berkeley students. 

Although the law is now seven years old, Costa-Hawkins continues to dominate Berkeley housing politics and figures prominently in November’s election. 

Robert Cabrera of the Berkeley Property Owners Association insists Costa-Hawkins has been a boon for Berkeley. He noted that since developers and landlords can now get market rents for new and vacant apartments, they have incentive to put new units on the market and make repairs to older units, which he says has reduced the city’s housing shortage. 

But rent board candidates say Costa-Hawkins has given some landlords the incentive to unfairly evict current tenants so they can turn around and charge higher, market rates to new tenants. 

Spector said she has seen a sharp increase in cases in which landlords have pretended they needed to move in to an occupied apartment or prevented tenants from replacing a roommate to force tenants to vacate the unit so the landlord can rent it at market rates. 

To combat these perceived abuses, the rent board has expanded its traditional functions and started programs aimed at making evictions more difficult and informing tenants of their rights. For instance, the rent board recently passed a rule that any roommate added within 30 days after the signing of a lease must be placed on the lease. The board also instituted a program, which was later dropped, to provide free legal representation to tenants. 

Landlords, though, say these programs and rent board judicial decisions have been blatantly pro-tenant and have undermined the credibility of the board.  

But Commissioner Howard Chong said the rent board has merely been fulfilling it’s duty to tenants. 

“The rent ordinance is pro-tenant, so our job is to provide tenant protections,” he said. 

He and his fellow candidates all want to expand pro-tenant programs. 

Pinkie Payne said she wants the rent board to broaden its outreach to non-English speaking tenants who, she said, are more vulnerable to evictions. “If they know their rights then they can fight,” she said last spring. 

Spector wants the rent board to beef up its monitoring of evictions in which the landlord says he’s moving in but doesn’t. She says often the landlord or a family member will pretend to move in to the unit, only to quickly rent it again at market rate.  

Chong said he wanted to improve the hearing process so tenants know what to expect when they argue their cases before a hearing examiner.  

Evans and Kavenaugh offered more ambitious plans. 

Evans said he wanted the rent board to prohibit rent increases when landlords have already used Costa–Hawkins to increase rents above the city average. 

Kavenaugh said he wanted to ally the Berkeley rent board with other municipal rent boards to lobby for the repeal of Costa–Hawkins. Spector said she agreed with the plan, but noted it would take years before a successful campaign could be mounted. 

Cabrera said he feared the next rent board would continue to unfairly discriminate against property owners. “The fox is still in charge of the chicken coup,” he said. “I don’t see any fairness on the horizon.”

To the Editor: 

As you know, the city of Berkeley allows for proponents and opponents of ballot measures to write arguments for and against ballot measures. The city then sends these arguments to all registered voters. 

As the authors of the rebuttal to my argument in favor of Measure O, which requires Berkeley retailers to sell only organic, shade-grown and Fair Trade coffee, you wrote “By stating that all non-certified coffee is produced under exploitative conditions, the proponent [of Measure O] is attempting to mislead voters.” 

One small problem: I have never stated that all non-certified coffee is produced under exploitative conditions. What I have said is that without certification, consumers have no idea how their coffee was produced, and it may very well have been produced under exploitative conditions.  

I deeply resent your comment that I am trying to mislead voters, and I am outraged that such a comment will be sent to every registered voter in Berkeley. As an attorney, I particularly value my reputation for honesty. I demand a public apology for your outrageous comments. 

Rick Young 

Berkeley 

Friday 

Women’s Soccer - Cal vs. Oregon, 3:30 p.m. at Edwards Stadium 

Football - Berkeley vs. Hercules, 7 p.m. at Hercules High 

Saturday 

Football - St. Mary’s vs. Kennedy, 1:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s High 

Football - Cal vs. UCLA, 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium 

Sunday 

Women’s Soccer - Cal vs. Oregon State, 1 p.m. at Edwards Stadium

Mayor Shirley Dean and challenger Tom Bates traded jabs over Dean’s student appointments to city commissions and Bates’ 1988 role in temporarily blocking construction of UC Berkeley’s Foothill Residence Hall during a sharply-worded campus debate Wednesday night. 

Dean criticized Bates, then a state Assemblyman, for using his state vehicle in March 1988 to block construction of the Foothill facility on Hearst Avenue, which currently houses 800 students. 

Dean said Bates caved to neighborhood opposition to the project instead of recognizing the urgent need for student housing. 

“Sometimes you have to stand up and say, ‘we’re going to build this housing,’” Dean said. 

But Bates said he temporarily blocked construction because the university had failed to consult the city on its plans, not because he opposed the project.  

“I support and always have supported Foothill housing,” he said. 

Bates argued that his actions forced the university to come to the table and work more cooperatively with the city. But Dean countered that the city and university were already working together on the Foothill project when Bates blocked construction. 

Both candidates told the student audience that they would push the university to build more housing close to campus if elected. 

Bates claimed that Dean has appointed only 25 students to city commissions over the course of some 20 years in city government and pledged that, as mayor, he would appoint enough students to match the student population in the city.  

Dean, who has served as a City Council member and mayor, countered that the 25 appointments came while she was mayor.  

After the debate, Dean claimed that she appointed more students while serving as a City Council member in the 70s’, 80s’ and early-90s’, but said she has not totaled up the figures. The Daily Planet could not confirm the appointees by press time. 

The two candidates also clashed on rent control, with Dean calling for an income test that would disqualify new, wealthy tenants. 

“We’re not going to subsidize people who are wealthy,” she said. 

Bates said rent control is vital in the face of “skyrocketing” rents and called for more legal defense funding for tenants facing eviction. 

Both candidates supported student calls for allowing businesses south of campus to stay open later. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

A generation of time has elapsed since the California state constitution was amended by the notorious Proposition 13, which cut and capped property taxes with attendant damage to vital social services. The children of those who voted for Proposition 13 are now grown and paying the price. 

The public schools they attended were, and are, starved for funds. Exorbitant property taxes on current home buyers compensate for the largesse extended to large corporations and old-time homeowners. Consequently, they are taxed essentially the same amount as they were 25 years ago. 

Why don’t some of the young liberal activists join together to place a repeal of Proposition 13 on the ballot?  

There surely should be enough votes for its defeat from those born too late to benefit. Law students give time to the legal problems of the poor and elderly. Is there a law against those students helping themselves and their peers? 

Judith Segard Hunt 

Berkeley

The city continued its legal fight for its living wage law last week when it filed a defense to an appeal by Marina restaurant Skates by the Bay. 

Skates, which leases city-owned property and is thus compelled by city ordinance to pay employees at least $11.37 an hour, is fighting the living wage law, claiming it violates a 34-year-old lease agreement. 

The city won the first round of legal fighting in March 2001, when a U.S. District Court upheld the ordinance. But Skates, owned by parent company Restaurants Unlimited, filed an appeal in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, prolonging the court battle. 

The appeals court decision is not expected for another year, but the city reserves the right to take independent action, including revoking the restaurant’s lease. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque refused to comment on what action the city might take. However she said the city has so far refused a request by Skates to keep its lease until the appeals court weighs in. 

Skates said in its request that it would honor the living wage law if it loses in court and would pay backpay to workers. Skates has maintained a bank account, which holds the difference between its employees’ actual wages and the living wage. 

Although City Council discussed the matter in closed chambers last week and would not disclose its course of action, Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the council remains unanimously in favor of moving forward to ensure compliance. 

The city’s living wage ordinance was passed in June 2000 in an effort to help low-wage employees afford the area’s high cost of living. The law originally only pertained to businesses with city contracts, but in September 2000 the city amended the law to include private businesses on city-owned property in the Marina that employ more than six people and generate more than $350,000 a year. 

Zack Wasserman, of Wendell, Rosen & Black LLP which represents the restaurant, says that the ordinance has created an unfair burden on businesses in the Marina, and should not apply to Skates because its 50-year lease still has 16 years remaining. 

But Andy Kahn, of Davis Cowells & Bowe, the law firm representing Local 2850 Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, doubted Skates’ appeal had merit. 

“They treat the lease as some sort of halo to protect them from city regulation,” he said, explaining that, by Skates’ reasoning, the restaurant would be immune to new environmental and safety laws as well. 

Other Marina businesses such as Hs Lordship’s and the Radisson Hotel are not affected by the ordinance, because they have unionized labor. 

Worthington was optimistic. He said that facing pressure, Skates would ultimately comply with Berkeley rules. 

Contact reporter at 

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

By Judith Scherr 

Special to the Daily Planet 

It was a time to sing, to weep, to laugh and to remember. 

Most of all, the “homegoing” service for Bishop Roy Nichols was a time to celebrate the life of a man known for at least two monumental firsts: Nichols was the first African American bishop in the United Methodist Church and he was Berkeley’s first African American school board member. 

Nichols died Oct. 9 from a stroke at 84. Services were held Thursday at Downs Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland. 

Born in 1918 in Hurlock, Md., Nichols graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and came to Berkeley in 1941, where he attended the Pacific School of Religion and earned a Divinity Degree. He became the founding pastor of the South Berkeley Community Church in 1943, a racially integrated church with white and black co-pastors. He married podiatrist Dr. Ruth Richardson in 1944. A few years later, he became founding minister at Downs Memorial United Methodist Church, a racially integrated church. 

Nichols became a force in Berkeley politics in the late 1950s. While segregation was not the law, as in the South, it dominated the then-conservative, mostly Republican city.  

As president of the NAACP, Nichols persuaded the Berkeley Board of Education to study segregation in the schools. A report, issued in 1959, pointed to the need for counseling for black students, hiring black teachers, teaching black history and other measures seeking to end discriminatory policies. 

That year Nichols lost a bid for City Council, but in 1961, won a seat as the first African American on the school board.  

“He ran for the Berkeley board of education to make a difference in the lives of children,” said Dr. Ruth Love, former schools superintendent in Chicago and former educator in the Oakland public schools. Hundreds listened at the Downs Memorial sanctuary and in adjacent rooms watching the services on closed-circuit television. 

On the school board, Nichols worked for a school desegregation plan, eventually implemented, where Burbank Junior High, now Berkeley’s adult school, became an integrated ninth grade school and the three junior high schools were racially balanced. 

Nichols, however, moved on before the realization of that plan. He became pastor at Salem United Methodist Church in Harlem, N.Y. The new post did not take him away from the burden of fighting segregation.  

“The Methodist Church had a segregated system,” Rev William James said. 

Nichols “started fighting the segregated church.” 

A key part of that fight, in 1968 Nichols got the church to approve the creation of a Commission on Religion and Race. Even some blacks feared that a desegregated church was not the answer and that African Americans would not be given leadership roles in a united church, James said.  

They were wrong. In 1968, Nichols was appointed bishop in the newly formed United Methodist Church. He served as Bishop of the Pittsburgh area for 12 years and served as bishop in New York until his retirement in 1984, after which he continued to preach and lecture in the San Francisco Bay Area. After a stroke in 1999, Nichols and his wife moved to San Jose. 

Warren and Mary Lee Widener were among the friends attending the service Thursday. Warren Widener, a former county supervisor and former mayor of Berkeley said he and his wife met Nichols in 1959, when they came to the Downs Memorial Church and took on the task of youth advisors. Their friendship continued over almost half a century. 

“He was a pastor in the old fashioned sense,” said Mary Lee Widener. “He understood human needs. He was clearly a leader and a developer of leaders. He counseled you, supported you, loved you through it all.” 

Nichols is survived by his wife, Dr. Ruth Nichols, children, Melisande Schwartzfarb of New York, Allegra Lewis of San Jose and Nathan Nichols of Washington, D.C. and five grandchildren.

n Carjacked car stopped 

Drug task force officers searched a car Tuesday evening, whose driver had illegally stopped in the intersection of 67th and Sacramento streets to talk to a passing cyclist. According to police, the search revealed that the car, a teal 1990 Honda Accord, had been reported carjacked in Sacramento. Police arrested Latisha Logwood, 19, and Nakisha Harevy, 19, for possession of a stolen car. It is not known if the women are responsible for the carjacking. 

n Egging continues 

A family on the 500 block of Woodmont Avenue reported that their house and car were egged just prior to 11:35 p.m. Sunday. According to police, this is the latest in a rash of eggings in the Berkeley hills. A teenage girl who lives in the home and attends Albany High School said that egging is a tradition during homecoming week. 

SAN FRANCISCO — The feud over Barry Bonds’ historic 73rd home run ball has gone to court, starting a flurry of arguments from both sides about what it means to be a spectator to the great American pastime and whether scuffling over baseballs hit into the stands is just the name of the game. 

The debacle started last year when Alex Popov, 38, sued Patrick Hayashi, 37, after Bonds homered on Oct. 7, 2001 to finish the season with 73 home runs. Popov claims he caught the ball but then lost it after he was swarmed by fans at Pacific Bell Park. Hayashi came up with it and was whisked away by security. 

“This is about America’s pastime and the dream of catching a ball, his dream turned into a nightmare,” Martin Triano, Popov’s lawyer, said Thursday in opening statements in San Francisco Superior Court. 

Triano said Popov’s dream was ruined when, after he caught Bond’s ball, he was knocked over and attacked by San Francisco Giants’ fans, including Hayashi, trying to get the ball. 

Hayashi’s lawyer, Michael Lee, said his client never attacked anyone and that scrambling over home run balls is just part of professional baseball’s “fan culture,” which states that a home run ball is fair game until someone has complete control of it. 

“When Hayashi reached out and grasped the loose home run ball ... it was entirely fair game,” Lee said. “Now Alex Popov wants to change the rules. He now criticizes the fan culture that he was once a part of.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants made baseball history Wednesday as fans flooded phone lines and the Internet frantically purchasing available tickets in under an hour. 

Now on record books as the busiest hour in the history of Major League Baseball's Web site, MLB.com, the 14,000 individual tickets for World Series games 3, 4, and 5 at Pacific Bell Park were met by a monstrous demand. 

According to Shana Daum, San Francisco Giants public affairs director, the web page Wednesday experienced one million hits per minute when tickets were posted – a significant traffic increase when compared to its normal 100,000 hits a minute.  

“The interest more than outweighed the supply,'” Daum said. “Fans were understandably frustrated but the demand was just too great.” 

While Daum sympathizes with disappointed fans, she noted that you don't need to be a ticket holder to celebrate postseason longevity. 

“We want everyone to be a part of the experience. Through pre-game rallies in the city and at the park, we have established a number of avenues for the community to appreciate Giants baseball,” Daum said. 

The World Series gets under way in Anaheim Saturday at 4:30 p.m. with game 2 the following day. The Giants will host games 3 and 4 on Oct. 22 and 23. If necessary, a fifth game in San Francisco is scheduled for October 24.

OAKLAND – A leader in Oakland's Nation of Islam community pleaded innocent Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court to a charge that he molested a 13-year-old girl 20 years ago. 

Yusef Bey, 66, entered the plea before Judge Allan D. Hymer in Oakland, according to Bey's attorney, Andrew Dosa of Alameda. Bey is now scheduled to return to court Nov. 14 for the setting of a pre-trial conference date. 

A complaint filed Sept. 18 charges Bey with one felony count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 in September 1981.

NEWARK — Police have arrested four men after finding a body they believe is that of a missing 17-year-old Newark boy who lived as a girl. 

Police found the body Wednesday in a shallow grave in El Dorado County after being directed to the spot by a suspect a day earlier. They were withholding the boy’s name pending identification of the body. 

The boy had been missing for two weeks. He attended a party in Newark on Oct. 3 where a witness saw him get into a heated argument and physical fight, police said. 

The teenager, who attended Newark Continuation School, had chosen to dress like a girl “for some time,” according to Newark police Lt. Tom Milner. 

“We don’t know if that’s the prime factor in the altercation or if there were other factors involved such as revenge,” he said. “These things are all definitely in play.” 

Michael William Magidson, 27, Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, Paul Richard Merel Jr., 25, and Jose Antonio Merel, 24, were arrested Wednesday and were each being held on suspicion of homicide.

Community to receive funds for public transportation study 

OAKLAND — Community groups will receive $100,000 to help increase the chances for people to tell planning agencies what they would like to see in public transportation. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission wrote the check to The San Francisco Foundation this week. It plans to award the money in grant form to various groups throughout the San Francisco Bay area to increase community involvement. 

The check comes as part of the civil penalty phase of a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the commission in February 2001. The suit claimed the commission was not complying with the Bay Area Air Quality Plan, adopted in 1982. 

The plan was designed to bring the Bay Area into compliance with federal clean air standards by increasing ridership on public transportation. It called for a 15 percent increase over 1983 transit ridership. The suit claimed that although there has been a 30 percent population increase, ridership has stayed the same. 

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson required the commission to comply with the act by 2006. 

Pacifica woman jailed for 

phony bomb threats 

REDWOOD CITY – A Pacifica woman accused of calling in phony bomb threats to the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco federal building last week is being held in a San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. 

Authorities say Anita Hanson, 44, was allegedly “very drunk” when she called 911 claiming that bombs had been placed at the two locations late Thursday night and early Friday morning. 

Several law enforcement agencies responded to both locations to investigate and discovered the threats were unfounded. The California Highway Patrol traced the calls to Hanson's cell phone and sent Pacifica police to arrest her. 

Hanson pleaded innocent Tuesday to three counts of making terrorist threats and two counts of falsely reporting the planting of a bomb.  

She returns to court for a preliminary hearing on the charges on Oct. 29. 

Back to school for 

drunk driving suspect 

SAN JOSE — For the second time in less than a year, a Campbell woman faced a judge on drunken driving charges — but this time she agreed to have her trial set in a high school cafeteria. 

On Wednesday, hundreds of students at Branham High School listened with a jury to the state’s case against Lorain Stanchina, 42. On Aug. 13, she backed into a pickup truck in a Jack in the Box drive-through and drove off when confronted by the driver. 

Car accidents are the leading cause of death among 15-to 19-year-olds, with alcohol being the primary factor, according to Paul Gratz, director of the Traffic Safe Communities Network, which coordinates the trial-at-school program. 

Santa Clara County is the only county in the state to host DUI trials at high schools. Branham is the fifth county high school to participate in the program the county hopes to expand.

San Francisco rents 

continue to fall 

SAN FRANCISCO — Summertime apartment rents remained stable in most major Western markets except California, where prices at the two ends of the state continued to shift in distinctly different directions, according to a report to be released Thursday. 

The Los Angeles and San Diego markets emerged as the hottest rental market in a quarterly survey covering nine Western states while rents in parts of the San Francisco Bay area market slumped to their lowest levels in three years. 

Outside California, rents in most Western markets changed by 1 percent or less from the same time last year, according to RealFacts, the Novato-based research firm that surveyed apartment complexes. 

As of Sept. 30, the average rent in Los Angeles stood at $1,295 and the average rent in the San Diego metropolitan area was $1,137, according to RealFacts. Both those figures represented an annual rent increase of nearly 6 percent. 

In the San Francisco metropolitan market, the average third-quarter rent was $1,632, a 12.8 percent decrease that rolled back prices to mid-1999 levels, RealFacts said. 

The San Francisco market’s seventh consecutive quarter of rent declines reflects a steep slide in the high-tech market that has dried up incomes and demand. 

Defense worker hoarding 

explosives at his home 

AROMAS — A U.S. Department of Defense worker who handles explosives at Fort Ord was accused of hoarding them at his Aromas home, a law enforcement official said. 

Authorities said Wednesday they found a cache of explosive materials Oct. 6 in sheds outside the home of Jeffrey Dean Trebler, 38, said San Benito County sheriff’s Sgt. Wes Walker. 

Deputies found the material after responding to the home on a domestic violence call.At the time, Trebler’s wife alerted them to the explosives, Walker said. 

Some of the items included rocket-launcher tubes, flash and smoke grenades and detonating cord, he said. 

“It was not a danger to the public unless improperly handled,” Walker said. “It was safely stored in the out buildings.” 

Walker said there’s no sign Trebler had plans to use what he’d collected. 

Trebler was placed on administrative leave at Fort Ord. 

He told investigators his job was to accept explosives from members of the public and then destroy them, Walker said. 

“The things he found interesting, he just took home rather than destroy,” Walker said. 

Trebler was booked for investigation of spousal abuse and was released on bail. He was not charged with explosives violations, but deputies passed what they found on to the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office. 

Reporter threatened in Los Angeles 

LOS ANGELES — A man was arrested and charged with threatening a Los Angeles Times reporter working on a story about an alleged Mafia extortion plot against actor Steven Seagal. 

Alexander Proctor, 58, of Los Angeles was arrested Wednesday outside his home. He was charged with interference with commerce by threats of violence, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Proctor was being held without bail in a downtown federal detention center. 

Authorities said Proctor allegedly broke the car window of Times reporter Anita Busch in June and left a package containing a dead fish with a long-stemmed rose in its mouth. 

A piece of cardboard with the word “STOP” was placed on her car, which was parked near her home, according to a federal grand jury indictment. 

The threats were meant to intimidate Busch in an effort to stop her from reporting the story, prosecutors said. 

“The only word he used was stop,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Saunders, the lead prosecutor. “I think it’s pretty clear.” 

The newspaper published several stories earlier this summer about the arrest of Seagal’s former partner for his alleged role in a multimillion-dollar extortion scheme against the actor by the Gambino crime family. 

The newspaper is “very pleased with the announcement of today’s arrest,” Times spokesman David Garcia said. “The safety of our reporter has always been our greatest concern.”

ONTARIO — The lure of open space and more privacy prompted Muksit Saboor, 57, to relocate five years ago from his modest home not far from the beach to inland San Bernardino County. 

“You have so much space out here, sometimes I go for days without seeing my neighbors, and I love that,” Saboor said. 

Saboor has been part of a migration trend over the past two decades that has seen residents move from Pacific coastal communities to more affordable homes in the Riverside-San Bernardino area. 

The population growth and its concomitant expansion of business has made the area the most sprawling metro region in the country, according to a study released Thursday by Smart Growth America. The group promotes the protection of open space, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing and more transportation options. 

The next two areas on the list are both in North Carolina: Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point and Raleigh-Durham. Another southern metropolis — Atlanta — is the hub of the fourth most sprawling area. 

The rankings were based on analysis of federal data for 83 metropolitan areas around the country. 

More sprawling metro areas tend to have higher traffic fatality rates and worse pollution, in large part because of an increased reliance on cars to get to work and do errands, the report said. People drive more miles and mass transit options are often limited. 

“People define sprawl and smart growth in a lot of different ways and we want to bring rigor to the debate,” said Don Chen, Smart Growth’s executive director. “What we hope people will gain is a better understanding of how sprawl affects people’s quality of life.” 

The report ranked areas by population and housing density; the mix of homes, jobs and services; the availability and use of town centers or downtowns; and the street network. 

Saboor, who lives in Upland near the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, said he’s made some sacrifices since he and his wife moved from Culver City. 

“It’s nice living out here, but obviously there are trade-offs,” he said. “I miss the diversity of Los Angeles. It’s hard to find a jazz club or soul food restaurant out here.” 

Stewart Pritikin, 65, of Ontario, has lived in the inland area for 21 years and said not enough has been done to upgrade schools, transportation, utilities and fire and police services to accommodate the growth. 

“This is one of the last few places where you can buy an affordable and attractive new home. People who move here know they will have to make certain sacrifices,” said Pritikin.

LOS ANGELES — Forty alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist prison-based gang, have been indicted on racketeering charges stemming from a series of violent crimes that included 16 murders and 16 attempted murders, federal officials announced Thursday. 

Thirty of the defendants are currently serving time in prisons around the country for other offenses. Eight other defendants were arrested Thursday, three in Southern California, while two remain at large, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office. 

The 10-count indictment was handed down Aug. 28 but kept under seal until Thursday. The indictment follows a six-year investigation and alleges that members of the Aryan Brotherhood murdered and committed attempted murder to control drug trafficking, gambling and extortion in the federal and California state prison systems, Mrozek said. 

The gang, which was founded by white inmates in 1964, has a reputation for assaulting or murdering anyone considered a threat to the organization, including those who acted as informants for law enforcement, Mrozek said. 

In addition to the arrests, officials executed 80 search warrants at residences, offices and prison cells in California, Louisiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Colorado, Massachusetts, Florida, Washington, Nebraska, Connecticut and New York.

By David Kravets 

The Associated Press 

SAN FRANCISCO — A former Enron trader accused of masterminding a scheme to drive up energy prices during California’s power crisis pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. 

Timothy Belden, the former head of trading in Enron’s Portland, Ore., office, admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces up to five years in prison and must forfeit $2.1 million. 

“I did it because I was trying to maximize profit for Enron,” Belden told U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins. 

Belden’s plea is the first prosecution of anyone related to the West’s energy crisis. It’s also the first public acknowledgment by the federal government that criminal activity helped drive up power prices, a point California Gov. Gray Davis and other lawmakers have been making since the crisis began two years ago. 

The case represents a remarkable evolution in the Bush administration’s attitude about the energy crisis. In May 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney said California was to blame for power shortages and soaring prices. “They caused it themselves,” Cheney said in an interview with The Associated Press. 

On Thursday, Republican appointees in the Justice Department said unequivocally that criminal conduct by an Enron trader helped drive up prices. 

“These charges answer the question that has long troubled California consumers: whether the energy crisis was spurred in part by criminal activity. The answer is a resounding yes,” U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said. 

Belden promised to cooperate with state and federal prosecutors as well as any non-criminal effort to investigate the energy industry. He remains free on $500,000 bail pending his sentencing next April 17. 

His knowledge should help the government unravel what happened inside other energy trading companies, including Houston-based Enron, the energy giant whose collapse last year has roiled the energy industry, said Matthew Jacobs, the federal prosecutor handling the case. 

Belden’s attorney, Cristina Arguedas, said he was following Enron’s instructions as he handled his trades and will “make amends for that by cooperating with the government and telling the complete truth about Enron’s actions in the California energy trading market.” 

“Tim Belden is not a high-level executive who was lining his pockets out of greed,” Arguedas said. “He did his job. Tim was always honest with others at Enron about his actions, and was never disciplined by Enron. 

Investigators for a state Senate committee looking into the energy market have long considered Belden a key player in Enron’s activities in California. 

Belden was “the mastermind behind the strategies described” in memos that spelled out how Enron manipulated the California market, said Chris Schreiber, an attorney working with California’s Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market. 

“He’s been on our radar for a long time,” Schreiber added. 

Belden is the third Enron figure to be prosecuted. 

Andrew Fastow, Enron’s former chief financial officer, is accused of devising the company’s complex web of off-the-books partnerships used to hide some $1 billion in debt from shareholders and federal regulators and is charged with money laundering, fraud and conspiracy. 

A once-trusted Fastow aide, Michael Kopper, pleaded guilty in August to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

For months, federal investigators have worked with a California Senate panel investigating the state’s energy crisis about evidence uncovered in its long-running investigation of market manipulation. A federal grand jury in San Francisco has been weighing criminal charges related to the energy crisis. 

Internal company memos, first released in May, describe how Belden’s trading unit took power out of California at a time of rolling blackouts and shortages and sold it out of state to elude price caps, according to documents obtained by investigators. 

Enron bought California power at cheap, capped prices, routed it outside the state, and then sold it back into California at vastly inflated prices, authorities said. The sham trades were designed to circumvent the California-only price caps on wholesale energy. 

The Enron memos detailing the colorfully named trading schemes “ricochet, “death star,” “Get Shorty” and others, provided prosecutors a road map that led to Belden’s prosecution. 

The complaint against Belden, while omitting those names, describes some of the same practices. In one strategy, Enron created false congestion on California transmission lines and then was paid to relieve it. 

In another, the company misrepresented that power sold in California came from out of state to avoid intrastate price caps. That strategy ended when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission implemented regional price caps last year. 

“The conspiracy charged in this information allowed Enron to exploit and intensify the California energy crisis and prey on energy consumers at their most vulnerable moment,” said Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, head of the Justice Department’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. 

Thompson said revenues from Belden’s trading unit rose from $50 million in 1999 to $500 million in 2000 to $800 million in 2001. 

California Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, who chairs the select committee on price manipulation, called Belden’s plea “the first of many dominoes that will fall, not only at Enron, but within other energy companies within the wholesale energy market. Tim Belden not only knows how Enron played, but how others played as well.” 

Belden worked for UBS Warburg, which bought Enron’s power trading operations early this year, but left the company in September, company spokesman David Walker said.

SACRAMENTO — The maker of Skoal, Copenhagen and Rooster brand smokeless tobacco has agreed not to hand out free samples on public grounds in California, and to reimburse the state $171,000. 

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. was giving away the samples in public areas where minors are allowed, a violation of state law, Attorney General Bill Lockyer alleged in a civil lawsuit. 

The company denies the allegations in its settlement, saying it gave away about 1,400 samples at two adults-only events it believed were in compliance with state law. Both sides said they settled to avoid the cost and delay of litigation. 

It’s the third such suit, and the third such resolution. 

In June, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. was fined $14.8 million in Los Angeles County for giving away more than 100,000 free packs of cigarettes at fairs and other public events. In July 2001, Swedish Match North America Inc. settled a suit by paying the state $375,000. 

In the pending settlement, the company agreed to a permanent injunction, and to pay $150,000 toward prevention programs. The balance of $21,000 will go to reimburse the state for its investigation.

POWAY — Computer maker Gateway Inc. posted a $46.8 million quarterly loss on Thursday and said tough market conditions would widen losses for the entire year. 

After factoring out one-time items, Gateway said it lost 15 cents a share in the third quarter, matching Wall Street’s expectations, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. 

Still, Gateway’s showing beat last year’s results. In the same period a year ago, the suburban San Diego-based company reported a far wider loss — $519 million or $1.61 per share. 

Gateway officials widened the computer maker’s pretax loss forecast to between $310 million and $330 million for the year, excluding special charges. Earlier, the company estimated a pretax loss of between $200 million and $250 million. 

“We are cautious on our outlook for the fourth quarter given uncertainty surrounding the economy and the holiday selling season,” said Rod Sherwood, chief financial officer at Gateway, the world’s No. 4 computer maker.

SACRAMENTO — California’s year-old Office of Privacy Protection and spate of laws give consumers more protection against identity theft and similar privacy invasions than any other state, according to a new ranking by a national newsletter. 

California had shared the top position with Minnesota in the most recent previous ranking in 1999 by the 28-year-old Providence, R.I.-based Privacy Journal. 

Hawaii and Minnesota also have state privacy offices, but only California’s deals solely with individual privacy, said Joanne McNabb, who directs the California office. 

A complete ranking of states is scheduled for release Monday. The journal is preparing to publish a new reference book on state and federal privacy laws that will be made available to everyone and will provide more detailed information on privacy. 

Gov. Gray Davis’ administration held a news conference and conference call with reporters to tout the ranking less than three weeks before the Nov. 5 election. 

Administration officials and privacy advocates echoed the journal’s praise for the 13 new privacy laws Davis signed last month, and additional laws since 1999 that have further strengthend consumer privacy. 

But Davis officials could not say where he stands on a bill that would have limited how companies share consumers’ financial information. 

The financial services industry spent more than $20 million in campaign contributions and lobbying expenses during its successful two-year fight against the bill, giving least $1 million in campaign contributions went to Davis.

LOS ANGELES — The all-California World Series is expected to give a big boost to tourism even beyond the borders of San Francisco and Anaheim. 

Visitor bureaus in the two host cities are already experiencing an increase in inquiries and expect thousands of visitors to occupy hotels and visit restaurants and shops, especially if the series goes for the full seven games. 

The benefits will likely extend beyond the next two weeks as the rest of the nation sees what amount to free ads for the two cities and the state. 

California tourism officials plan to run a popular television ad campaign during the games featuring celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood urging folks to “find yourself here.” Look for a split-second cameo by Michael Eisner, chief executive of The Walt Disney Co., which owns the Anaheim Angels. 

The Angels face the San Francisco Giants in the first game of the series Saturday. 

The Anaheim Hilton is hoping to attract guests by taking ads in the San Francisco Chronicle touting special room rates. Edd Karlan, director of sales and marketing for the hotel, says he expects the games to increase his business by 10 percent. 

“We’re going to do well in Anaheim because our games are all weekend games,” he said. “And yes, we’re hoping to go the full six and seven games. A long, drawn-out series will be much better for us.” 

San Francisco, suffering a tourism slump and a sluggish economy, is hoping the exposure from the World Series will boost its chances to host the 2012 Olympics. 

“We got the World Series, which will in turn help us get the Olympics,” said Lee Blitch, president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “Everything in between is simply butter.” 

One factor favoring tourism is that World Series broadcasts tend to focus more on tourist information and city vistas than other sporting events.

WASHINGTON — Six Hispanic candidates are running for Congress in California as Republicans, a symbol of hope for a party that has struggled with an anti-immigrant image. 

Few expect these Republicans to win in congressional districts in which Hispanics may be a majority but registered Democrats easily outnumber Republicans. 

Some Democratic Hispanics dismiss the candidates as window-dressing for a party still trying to recover from Proposition 187, a 1994 initiative that sought to bar most state services to illegal immigrants. The measure was pushed by then-Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and passed. 

“Why don’t we see Republicans supporting Hispanics in races where they really have a shot to win?” said Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who faces Republican Jeff Chavez in the race for her Orange County congressional seat. “The answer is they don’t really want Hispanics to win. They’re not giving them the support, the dollars, the machinery.” 

Still, as Republicans try to shake off the lingering effects of Proposition 187, they are looking to candidates whose mere presence on the ballot is a part of the GOP’s attempt to be more inclusive. 

The issue is critically important in California, where Hispanics are expected to be the largest population group within 20 years. Hispanics have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats since the mid-1990s. 

In California, where four Hispanic Republicans serve in the state Legislature, 14 Hispanic candidates are running as Republicans for Congress, the state Legislature and insurance commissioner. 

Nationwide, the Republican National Committee has identified 93 Hispanic Republicans who are not incumbents seeking local, state and congressional seats. RNC spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said the list may be not be complete, and she could not provide numbers for past elections. 

There also are 125 elected Hispanic Republicans at all levels nationwide, Castillo said. 

Maria Garcia, a 39-year-old nutritionist and mother of six children, is typical of the Republicans who are trying to make inroads among Hispanic voters. She is running in the 51st Congressional District, which includes a slice of San Diego and hugs the border east through Imperial County. 

Garcia is trying to attract Democratic voters — mainly Hispanics more conservative than Democratic incumbent Bob Filner of San Diego. 

Politically inexperienced and without financial support from the GOP, Garcia contrasts her heritage with Filner’s New York roots. 

“I fit the demographics of the district. It is majority Hispanic,” she said. “I have family on both sides of the border. I have been a frequent border crosser.” 

Luis Vega, the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, said the success of opposition parties in Latin America in breaking the dominant party’s hold on power also is awakening voters here. 

The most visible example is Vicente Fox’s election as president of Mexico in 2000, a victory that ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s 71-year hold on the presidency. 

“More people are realizing that one party is not the answer to all the problems,” said Vega, who calls himself a “neo-Republicano.” 

Democrats acknowledge they cannot lose Hispanic support and maintain their lock on elected offices in California. Only one Republican, Secretary of State Bill Jones, holds statewide office. 

But they say voters will not be taken in by symbolism and rhetorical flourishes that do not match Republican policy on such key issues as immigration and health care. 

“I think in California especially, voters are wise to that game. They know with 187 and other issues that Republicans do not produce for minorities,” said Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk, who faces Alex Burrola in the 38th Congressional District. 

Two years ago, Republican congressional candidates in California included longtime TV anchorman Rich Rodriguez and schoolteacher Gloria Matta Tuchman, a leader of the campaign to end bilingual education. 

Rodriguez ran a strong race in losing to Democratic incumbent Cal Dooley of Hanford. Tuchman won 35 percent of the vote against Sanchez in the same election in which President Bush won 29 percent of California’s Hispanic vote.

LOYALTON — The largest ranch in the largest alpine valley in the Sierra Nevada will be permanently protected from development under a conservation easement purchased by three nonprofit organizations. 

The $2.5 million easement on the 13,100-acre Sierra Valley Ranch-Bar One Cattle Co. is the first step to protecting the 130,000-acre Sierra Valley from development, the organizations said. The valley is 25 miles north of Truckee and a half-hour drive from Reno, Nev., and is ripe for development, the groups fear. 

A 1,080-acre ranch sold for $3 million in 1999, and other ranches are on the market with multimillion dollar asking prices, the groups said. 

The valley ringed by 7,000-foot peaks is the largest such valley in the Sierra, and one of the largest in the nation, the groups said. 

Most of the valley is divided into small ranches owned by descendants of the original Swiss and Italian immigrants who settled it in the 1860s. 

The easement will keep the land as a working cattle ranch while preserving “one of the most beautiful valleys in the world,” said Bar One co-owner Jack Sparrowk. 

The ranch will take steps to protect the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the American River as part of the agreement. 

The pact between the ranch and the California Rangeland Trust, the Sierra Business Council and The Nature Conservancy was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Wildlife Conservation Board. 

The rangeland trust of the California Cattlemen’s Association has similar easements on 40,000 acres and expects to announce a doubling of that acreage over the next year through pending agreements. 

The groups plan a celebratory barbecue at the ranch Friday, with a goal of persuading other Sierra Valley ranchers to sign similar easements.

SHELTER COVE — When the early sunlight washed over our beach campsite on our first night on California’s Lost Coast, we could see why it’s called one of the nation’s premier hiking routes. 

We could see, moreover, why this junction of ocean, dark sand and mountains is called “Lost.” 

It’s not really lost. It’s as isolated as a long stretch of California coast can get. 

The steep mountains plunging into a deep sea along a trail made impassable by tides has repulsed plans for highways, development and businesses. 

As the September morning sunlight burned off the mist, our group of four could see long wide beaches and mountains stretching for miles with no sign of human intervention. 

What we couldn’t see was how grueling the flat terrain can be for hikers. 

Our plan to cover the 25 miles of trail in three or four days didn’t sound difficult when we started out. 

We were soon to discover the rugged terrain that defeated road builders can leave you exhausted from boot-grabbing wet sand, scaling wet rocks and boulders and rogue waves that can send you dashing for refuge with a 40-pound pack on your back. 

An unusually warm front welcomed us with 70-degree beach weather in the morning. 

Our hired van driver was waiting near the town of Shelter Cove to ferry us on a two-hour drive to the trail’s northern end. 

This would allow us to walk the trail with the wind at our backs, and our car would be waiting for us when we reached the end of our trip. 

We rolled into the tiny community of Whitethorn to get a stove-fire permit and bearproof food canisters at the office of the federal Bureau of Land Management. 

The BLM, the agency of “leftover” lands in America’s early history, inherited the Lost Coast because the terrain was considered hostile to development. 

Congress saw scenic value to the land, and in 1970 made the Kings Range, including most of the Lost Coast, the first National Conservation Area in America as it was studied for a future wilderness. 

The woman at the BLM counter cautioned us sternly: Watch for bears and rogue waves, and study the tide book to know when to pass the three sections of trails that disappear and reappear daily with tides. 

A little more than three years ago, a rogue wave swept three members of a school group to their deaths. 

After our van drive to the northern trail terminus at Mattole south of Ferndale, we paid the driver, strapped on our packs and started out on a trail that was more sand than dirt. 

Sea lions popped from the surf to check us out. 

Lines of pelicans glided over the water. 

Waves flung big rocks around with a gurgling noise that sounded like giant ice cubes clinking. 

Driftwood and rocks covered large areas, the jetsam of fierce storms over decades. 

The abandoned Punta Gorda lighthouse gave another reminder of the Lost Coast’s isolation. 

Considered the Alcatraz of California’s early lighthouse system, it had no electric service even though it operated until 1950. 

We reached the first tide zone at the right time of afternoon to pass, but then the hiking route turned into an obstacle course. 

Our feet sunk into wet, mudlike sand that resisted each effort to pull out. 

Rock and boulder fields were taxing as well. Hikers must lunge, leap, twist and stretch on the only path between the ocean and mountains. 

We were fit but middle-aged guys reminiscing about the firm feel of a dirt trail. 

We cleared the tidal area with barely enough energy to heave our packs into one of the Tinkertoy huts, erected of driftwood as refuge from the rain and winds that blast the coast. 

I slept in one, soothed by the sound of the waves and the sight of a full moon arcing its way over the steep mountain to set into the ocean before sunrise. 

Only one other group was camping within sight. 

We marveled at how so much coast has so few signs of people. 

Our second day out had more long stretches of foot-grabbing sand, creeks to ford, and large stones. 

On the third day, we encountered the trickiest tidal zone of all. 

One member of our group had a tidal book and global positioning system device and guided us to arrive as the tide started to recede from a narrow rocky point that waves crash against. 

We waited. 

I now clearly understand why Highway 1 turns several miles inland here. When Caltrans builders reached the Lost Coast, they abandoned hope of conquering the area. 

We studied the pattern of waves and tried to time our scampers over the rocky point, one by one. 

The waves soaked my foot as I rushed over the rocks. 

We all made it past. 

A few minutes later, we met a group of young men whose timing was not as good: They were soaked to the waist. 

We were still enjoying our good luck with sunny warm weather that day when a fog bank moved in and cut our visibility from miles to yards. 

We had planned to stay one more night. 

But seeing the trail dissolve into pea soup, we decided to complete our hike early and leave the Lost Coast to the mists. 

If You Go ... 

GETTING THERE: The King Range National Conservation Area is 230 road miles north of San Francisco, and 70 miles south of Eureka. The Redwood Highway, U.S. 101, provides access to within 20 miles of the King Range. 

GENERAL INFORMATION: Bureau of Land Management advises hikers to be prepared for vigorous exercise and fierce, unpredictable weather. Travel is especially risky in winter and spring because storms can create dangerous waves and make streams impassable.  

The area is the second-wettest place in the lower 48 states.

On Monday, the lights will go on. 

For months, two sets of brand new, never-used traffic lights on Telegraph Avenue sat dark, mired in a debate over cars, pedestrian safety and neighborhood politics. But City Council voted Tuesday night to turn on the lights at the corners of Stuart and Russell streets in southeast Berkeley. 

The decision came two years after Berkeley won a $450,000 state grant to put the lights and other “traffic calming” measures in place, and two months after a set of lengthy meetings with neighbors over the impact of the lights on local traffic patterns. 

Neighbors were generally pleased with the vote to turn on the lights. But now, they’ve raised questions about the plan City Council approved Tuesday to install the other traffic calming measures, like traffic circles, covered by the grant. 

City Council decided that if transportation staff wants to put traffic calming measures in place, they must poll neighbors on the affected street and an unspecified number on surrounding streets, and win 65 percent approval before moving forward. 

Neighbors are worried that the process could lead to a hodgepodge approach. They predict that only a few streets will approve traffic calming measures, pushing vehicles to other streets where residents have not signed off on a traffic circle or alternative measure. 

“We’re stuck with a very piecemeal plan,” said Rolf Bell, a Ward Street resident. “It’s not a good comprehensive approach for the neighborhood.” 

Concerns about a hodgepodge approach motivated an alternative plan, though unsuccessful, pushed by Mayor Shirley Dean and City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, requiring transportation staff to canvass all the relevant streets in the neighborhood and then come back to City Council to present a comprehensive plan for approval. 

Councilmember Betty Olds, who voted against the alternative, said it would have unnecessarily delayed the process and argued that neighbors who have concerns will come to the council anyhow. 

“The neighbors will all know before something goes up and if they have complaints, they can come before council,” she said. 

But Worthington argued that the “piecemeal” plan is “pretty certain to engender future conflict” among neighbors. 

“The failure to do it as a (comprehensive) plan, I think, will come back to haunt us,” he said. 

Funding for the traffic calming measures and the street lights comes from a “Safe Routes to School” grant from the state. Berkeley won the funding two years ago in a push to improve safety for students walking to Willard Middle School on Stuart Street and LeConte Elementary School on Russell Street. 

But neighbors got wind of city plans for the traffic lights early this year, raised a series of objections and attacked the city for failing to include residents in the planning process. 

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

Three public meetings, mediated by the non-profit Berkeley Dispute Resolution Service, followed in August and September. 

In the midst of the process, a group of neighbors came up with an alternative signaling pattern for the Telegraph Avenue lights. But Assistant City Manager for Transportation Peter Hillier rejected the plan, saying it was too unconventional and could lead to accidents. 

Derby Street resident Wim-Kees van Hout, who took a lead role in developing the alternative signaling pattern, said he could accept a professional’s judgment about the safety of the neighborhood plan. 

But van Hout said he hopes the city, in the wake of the Telegraph Avenue process, learns to include the neighborhood from the start in future traffic projects. 

“I really hope that, in the future, the process will be more inclusive,” he said. 

George Rose, a sixth-grade teacher at Willard who has long pushed for the traffic lights on Telegraph, welcomed City Council’s decision to turn them on. 

“I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

To the Editor: 

I must applaud the recent brilliant and humane suggestion of an Iraqi official (Daily Planet, Oct. 4) for a duel between Bush and Saddam to settle their ongoing personal feud mano-a-mano. 

Of course, Bush has a well-documented history of avoiding armed combat, so maybe instead of a duel, there could be a series of competitive athletic events – a sort of personal two-man Olympics. Both men are physically fit and pride themselves in their fitness. 

This would be a great chance for the two leaders to “put-up or shut-up.” The events could include arm-wrestling, Indian-style wrestling, javelin throwing, swimming, weight lifting, horseback riding and other events. It would be a great matchup: the 65-year-old Saddam vs. the 55-year-old Bush. The winner would stay in power, while the loser would resign his position and take his gang/administration with him into exile.  

For most people of the world, this contest and its result would be a proverbial “win-win” situation, with either the bully Saddam removed from power or the bully Bush removed from power. One down and one to go… 

This traditional method of settling a personal feud would have the important virtue of saving thousands of Iraqi and American lives. 

This would be the sporting event of the decade and could be shown to millions of viewers around the world. Former U. N. inspectors could be the referees and judges, while our Las Vegas bookies would be only too happy to post betting odds on each event in the match. 

James K. Sayre 

Oakland

With his eye on the prison system Oakland singer/activist Steve Harris brings his politically-charged music and poetry to Berkeley’s La Pena Cultural Center tonight. 

His new CD and book “Black Will Not Hurt You,” which will be the focus of tonight’s show, expounds upon the social criticism delivered in his radio segment Critical Resistance on KPFA’s Hardknock Radio program. 

“I’m showing that African American males have various experiences and we are different individuals,” said Harris, explaining that his goal is to counter the negative stereotypes of being black. 

It took two and a half years for Harris to package his mission into his latest book and CD. Harris has independently published two other poetry books and three albums. 

Harris, 30, said he draws his musical inspiration from many sources including Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley and Robert Johnson. 

“My music is rock, soul and blues,” said Harris, who also plays guitar on his CD. “It’s social-conscious music.” 

Harris says he’s particular fond of the 1964 Nina Simone classic “Mississippi Goddamn” which takes a hard look at civil rights for blacks in America. “It just grooves,” Harris said. 

The politics of prisons has been a lifelong issue for Harris. 

“My father spent 12 years in prison. Most of the males in my family have been in prison for most of my life. I believe the best way for me not to go to prison is for me to work at keeping these issues out there,” he explained. 

“The word black is used in a very negative way,” Harris added. “Everything from expressions like ‘black sheep’ to how blacks are portrayed in literature. “I wanted to get away from that and say black is not harmful or bad.” 

A two-year activist with Critical Resistance, the national organization that opposes the expansion of prisons, Harris said America needs to pay attention to how the prison system is run. 

“It’s horrifying,” he said. “There are six million people in jail right now. We need to abolish prisons. It’s modern day slavery.” 

Harris, who teaches after-school kindergarten in Berkeley, said he’s excited about what he believes his work can offer the community. 

“I want to show that you’ve got to just be yourself,” he said. 

The La Pena show will also feature the acoustic alternative hip-hop duo Bridge and Tunnel.

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Speak Out: A Forum on Women’s Health Issues 

7 to 9 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

Discuss issues such as domestic violence, disparities in health care, youth health issues, and alternative health care. 

981-5106 

Simplicity Forum 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

With Stanford University’s visiting scholar Cecile Andrews, auhor of “Circle of Simplicity”. 

549-3509 / www.simpleliving.net 

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Homecoming Rally 

9 p.m. 

Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley 

Come rally with the Cal band, the dance team, the UC Men’s Octet, and more. 

388-4789 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Dog Wash Sunday 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kutz for Mutz  

911 University Ave.  

Get your dog shampooed while helping out rescued dogs. Proceeds benefit Smiley Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing abused or abandoned pups. 

(760) 924-3961 

$15-$30 depending on the dog. 

The Buddy Club Season Opener 

1 to 2 p.m 

The Berkeley JCC Theater, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose St. 

Audience participation shows for kids age two through twelve and their parents. 

236-SHOW 

$7 / under 2 yrs. free 

Monday, Oct. 21 

War in Iraq- Why? 

7 p.m. 

2951 Derby St. 

Women for Peace invites you to discuss war in Iraq, with an emphasis on women’s viewpoints. 

526-5094 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

Brown Bag Career Talk 

12 to 1 p.m. 

YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way 

Professional organizer Kathy Waddill hosts “Getting Paid to Help Other People Get Organized”. 

848-6370 

$3 

“What is it Like to Be a Robot?” 

8 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley 

Tom Sgouros and his robot, Judy, star in a sharp-witted “solo” theater piece in which they discuss stage magic, free will, imagination and other themes in this unique performance. 

www.sgouros.com 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565 / www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

The Independent Institute 

7 p.m. 

Daniel Ellsberg unveils new book, “Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers.” 

Zellerbach Auditorium, Bancroft Way and Telegraph 

642-9988 

Berkeley Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

What’s what on the November ballot: A rundown of state and local ballot measures. Shirley Dean and Tom Bates will debate. 

548-9696 

Thursday, Oct. 24 

Communication Components Workshop 

State Health Toastmasters Club 

Noon to 1 p.m. 

2151 Berkeley Way 

595-1594 

Free 

“How to Access Health and Medical Information Through the Internet” 

7 to 9 p.m. 

Claremont branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Learn how to effectively use free scientific databases and do health-related research using the Internet. 

Register in advance: 981-6280 

Free 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Four minute mile and the avenue of the stars. 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over 

Strauss-Warschauer Duo 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Klezmer music and yiddish songs. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Amy Rigby and Dwayne Jarvis 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$7 / 21 and over 

Steve Harris 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

An evening of acoustic soul and explosive poetry celebrating Harris’ CD and poetry release. 

849-2568 

$10 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Santo Soul, La Familia, and Marimba Pacifica 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, dancing, folkloric presentations, and a raffle. 

548-6914 

$15 

Garnet Rogers 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Visionary guitarist and songwriter. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Ian Moore, Sonya Hunter ad Blu Sanders 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$6 / 21 and over 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Charonson 

9:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center, 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Come get your groove on to this live salsa band. Dance class at 8:15 p.m. 

849-2568 

$12 / $15 with class 

Peter Case 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Singer-songwriter auteur. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Casino Royale and DJ California Kid 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$8 / 21 and over 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery 

116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

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-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy about a dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

“Rethinking the American Dream: Songs of the Simple Life” 

7 p.m. 

Central Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kitteredge St. 

Writer and bicyclist Tim Holt will give an informal talk based on his new book. 

981-6100 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invited. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Gary Mex Glazner and Thea Hillman 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Poetry reading. 

525-5476 

$2 donation 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Magic School Bus Video Festival 

10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science Auditorium 

643-5961 

$8 adults, $6 youth 5-18 & seniors, $4 children 3-4, free for children under 3 

“The Undead and the Living Dead” and Bela Lugosi’s “White Zombie” 

Oct. 24 through Oct. 30 

7:30 / 8:55 p.m. 

Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck Ave. 

Double feature: Vampire film with musical score performed live on accordion by Rich Kuhns, followed by Bela Lugosi’s classic. 

848-1143 

$4-$9

Someone check the fire extinguishers in the Cal locker room. They could be all used up from cooling off the Bears at halftime. 

There’s no denying that the Bears have pulled a shocking turnaround this season, going from a 1-10 embarrassment to a 4-3 record and the spectre of a bowl bid a few weeks away. 

But whatever the Bears have been doing in the locker room at halftime, it hasn’t been working. Cal has outscored its opponents 163-55 in the first half this season and haven’t trailed at halftime yet. Their three losses have all been the result of second-half collapses, both on offense and defense. 

“We’ve talked about this as a team, and we know we need to come out stronger in the second half,” head coach Jeff Tedford said this week. “But you have to give the opposition some credit too. They see things and they make adjustments.” 

According to Cal players, their coaches haven’t been making many changes to the game plan in the locker room. Then again, a halftime lead is usually a sign things are going right, so why change? 

“Normally you don’t want to make too many adjustments when you’re winning the game,” cornerback James Bethea said. “We’re doing the same things we’re having success with in the first half. We just have to keep doing it right.” 

But there’s little question that something must be done to shake the team’s second-half doldrums. They’ve surrendered more than twice as many points after the break as before it, including a complete defensive meltdown against Washington State in which the Cougars scored 29 points in the third quarter alone. 

Interestingly, teams have attacked the Cal defense in different ways in the second half. Washington State lived in the air, throwing deep to their big receivers for big plays that went incomplete in the first half. USC, on the other hand, pounded away with tailback Sultan McCullough, who picked up 120 of his 176 rushing yards in the second half of the Trojans’ comeback win. 

In all three losses, the Cal offense has sputtered just as the opposition has caught fire. 

“I think teams do make good adjustments on us,” wide receiver LaShaun Ward said. “I feel like they catch on to us a little bit. But if we keep our fundamentals and do the small things, no team can stop us, even if they change their defense.” 

This week will be a test of the Bears’ third-quarter composure, as UCLA has outscored its opponents 46-18 in that period. The Bruins, like most Pac-10 teams, are talented enough that one scheme isn’t enough to stop them for an entire game. They can pound the ball on the ground with three different tailbacks or go up top to receivers like Craig Bragg, Tab Perry and tight end Mike Seidman. Tedford and his coaching staff may want to spend a little more time making tweaks to their game plans to keep the Bruins from continuing an ugly trend.

About 60 pro-Palestinian UC Berkeley students and supporters gathered on the steps of Sproul Hall Wednesday calling on the university to drop conduct charges against 32 student activists who participated in the April 9 occupation of Wheeler Hall. 

Just across Sproul Plaza, pro-Israeli students said the relatively small gathering was evidence that the pro-Palestinian movement is losing steam. 

“They’ve lost their support,” said David Singer, co-chair of the Israel Action Committee, a student group. 

“Not at all,” responded Roberto Hernandez of Students for Justice in Palestine, arguing that poor publicity for the event had limited the turnout. 

Students and activists focused their speeches on the plight of Hernandez, one of 79 protesters who took over Wheeler Hall in April, calling on the nine-campus University of California to divest from Israel. 

The Alameda County District Attorney dropped criminal charges against the activists in June, but the university pursued separate conduct charges against the 41 students who took part. Nine have accepted a one-semester “stayed suspension,” essentially probation, leaving 32 to face student conduct hearings. 

Penalties range up to expulsion, though the administration is recommending nothing more than suspension. 

Hernandez’s student conduct hearing has begun, but is on hold until at least Oct. 28, when the courts will consider a lawsuit filed by the students’ lawyers that seeks to block the use of police reports and videos in conduct hearings. 

No other student hearings have started. 

Hernandez is one of a handful of students who were seniors when they took part in the April occupation of Wheeler Hall. The university has blocked diplomas for the former seniors until they go through the hearing process. 

Last year, Hernandez won acceptance to a UC Berkeley graduate program in comparative ethnic studies and has been attending classes this fall with the department’s permission. But he is not officially enrolled as a graduate student and has not received a fellowship that, he says, is his only substantial source of income. 

Hernandez said he faces eviction from student housing because he is unable to pay rent and is not officially a student. 

“I don’t even know where I’ll be this week,” said Hernandez, urging the university to provide his diploma and release the fellowship money. 

UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore said Hernandez’s economic situation is “unfortunate” but said the university has offered the student ample opportunity to resolve his case. 

Gilmore said Hernandez had the option to accept an informal resolution this summer. She added that university officials, in the second day of Hernandez’s conduct hearing Oct. 4, offered to work late into the night, but the student declined. 

Hernandez said he had a religious service to attend in San Jose that night and was not able to stay. He added that one of his attorneys was unable to remain on hand either. 

Singer, of the Israel Action Committee, said his group is spearheading a 20-campus effort called “Invest in Israel, Invest in Peace.” Donations will go toward building the Israeli infrastructure and funding education efforts. 

Singer declined to say how much money the campaign has raised but predicted thousands in eventual donations.

To the Editor: 

My opponent, Tom Bates, seems to think that every problem should be met with yet another committee meeting – an approach often used in Sacramento. It is a way of “acting” without really correcting a problem. Mr. Bates is ready to invite big names from Sacramento and Washington D.C. to come and discuss Berkeley schools - though his list of invitees omits mention of Berkeley's Superintendent, School Board or the students themselves. (Forum, October 12-13)  

I do not believe that we need a “summit” with a cast of outsiders to come to Berkeley and tell us how to make changes. What we need to do is roll up our sleeves as a community and start fixing the problems. Some examples come to mind. Parents at Berkeley High approached me and complained that the school's health care clinic had been omitted from the city’s annual budget. The clinic provides important preventive health care and literally saves lives. I went to work, and we restored the clinic's funding. Again, when parents complained to me about violence at Berkeley High School, I went out and helped secure a grant to increase safety on the campus.  

Understanding the need for community members to step up and help our schools, I volunteer every week as a writing coach at Berkeley High. As your mayor, in the next four years, I will work hard to restore excellence in Berkeley's public schools. By law, Berkeley’s schools are independent of the city. Nonetheless, I will continue to work with the School District's Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Lawrence, school board members, parents, teachers, staff and students to provide incentives that attract the best teachers to Berkeley. Working together, we can provide safe and clean school sites and close the achievement gap once and for all. 

Shirley Dean, 

Berkeley mayor

The Oakland Ballet’s program 2, featuring two world premieres and two company premieres, made for an entertaining evening of dance last weekend at Oakland's opulent Paramount Theatre. Of the four pieces, the most successful were Agnes de Mille's “Three Virgins and a Devil” and Mexican choreographer Gloria Contreras’ “Opus 45.” 

Continuing its tradition of historically reviving works of merit, the Oakland Ballet introduced the comic “Three Virgins'” to its repertoire, complete with original costumes and sets, and with restoration works by costumer Ginger Shane and set designer David Guthrie. Gabriel Williams was an excellent devil, both dancing and acting, and the virgins – Yoira Equivel-Brito, Erin Yarbrough and guest artist Tiekka Schofield – assimilated the de Mille style beautifully. 

Contreras’ “Opus 45” is a pas de deux danced by Williams and Schofield. This proved a great pairing of dancers and their performance was mesmerizing. 

The world premieres were not as engaging. The evening opened with “Dei Sogni Piacevoli (Of Pleasant Dreams).” The large work for 10 dancers is by Luc de Lairesse, Oakland's ballet master in chief. Dimly lit, it was difficult to tell exactly what the dancers were doing. 

The final dance, Dwight Rhoden's “Glory Fugue,” is an athletic and abstract ballet set to a pastiche of soul and classical music played at ear-splitting volume which detracted from the performance.

Chris Huffins, former NCAA decathlon champion at Cal and current assistant track & field coach at Georgia Tech, will return to Berkeley as the school’s new director of track and field and cross country, Cal Athletic Director Steve Gladstone announced Wednesday. 

Huffins, a two-time U.S. Olympic decathlete who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, replaces Erv Hunt, who recently assumed a new executive administrative role in the Golden Bears’ athletic department after directing Cal’s track and field program for 30 years. 

The 32-year-old Huffins will direct both the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs. 

“As we proceeded through a nationwide interview process for Erv’s successor, it became more and more evident that Chris Huffins was the ideal choice to lead Cal track and field into a new era,” Gladstone said. 

Huffins has served as a major college assistant coach for the past five years. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native spent three seasons at Wake Forest as the Demon Deacons’ sprint coach from 1997-99, before joining the Georgia Tech staff in 2000, working primarily with the Yellow Jackets’ multi-event, short sprinters, throws and pole vault performers the past two years. 

“This is a dream come true for me,” said Huffins. “My heart has never left Berkeley, and I look forward to building upon what Coach Hunt has achieved here at Cal and help return the track and field program to national prominence. I am also thrilled to come back and have the opportunity to complete my Cal degree, which is important to me and the university, and also sets a good example for my student-athletes.” 

Huffins majored in political economy of industrial societies at Cal from 1990-93 before leaving to train for the 1996 Olympics. He is less than one year of class credits shy of earning his degree.  

Huffins began his collegiate career at Purdue in 1988, but transferred to California two years later, soon blossoming into a national figure in the decathlon. As a Golden Bear, he first won the triple jump competition at the 1991 Pac-10 Championships, then captured both the Pac-10 and NCAA decathlon titles in 1993. 

Huffins won the U.S. National Championship in both 1998 and 1999, and finished second at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. In the ‘98 U.S. Championships, Huffins posted the then-highest decathlon score in the world. 

Huffins, a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic teams, is a former world record holder in the decathlon 100 meters. He also earned a gold medal in setting the meet record at the 1999 Pan American Games. 

As one of the current leaders of the sport, Huffins serves as assistant coach for the World Junior Championship team, as chairman of the men’s combined events for USA Track & Field, and as a member of the USATF board of directors.

Berkeley police officers and firefighters endorsed Mayor Shirley Dean Wednesday in her bid for re-election. 

“She’s always been very supportive of us. She’s really concerned about our safety and is very receptive to talking with us,” said Lt. Bud Stone, vice president of the Police Officers Association. 

Lt. Rick Guzman, president of the Fire Fighters Association, credited Dean with advocating ballot measures to fund paramedic programs and remodel fire stations, as well as praised her support of the new station planned for the Berkeley hills. 

The endorsements were not a surprise. Police and fire departments have traditionally supported Berkeley’s moderate faction and have endorsed Dean in all four of her mayoral bids. 

Dean’s main rival in the November election, progressive candidate Tom Bates, said he was not deterred by the public safety endorsements. 

“I think my endorsements are more reflective of what people want to see a candidate endorsed by,” he said.  

Bates, who represented Berkeley in the state Assembly from 1976 to 1996, has garnered endorsements from the Sierra Club, the National Organization for Women, the county Green Party, the county Democratic Party, UC Berkeley Democrats and the Alameda Council of Labor, as well as numerous state and federal officials including Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. 

Dean, though, said the fire and police endorsements could sway undecided voters. 

“I think the people who provide these services are the finest in any city and they are very well respected,” she said. 

Dean will have to rely on the prestige of the endorsements, because most police officers and firemen live outside city limits and are not eligible to vote in Berkeley. Of approximately 200 uniformed police officers, only 13 are Berkeley residents, according to Police Information Officer Mary Kusmiss. 

Dean has failed thus far to match Bates in endorsements. Including police and fire officers, Dean has also won the support of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, the Berkeley Democratic Club, state Sen. Don Peralta, D-Oakland, and more than 30 neighborhood activists. 

Dean downplayed Bates’ endorsement advantage, insisting that many of his supporters were old political allies from his time in the state Assembly, who do not reflect the views of Berkeley voters.  

Bates, however, noted that as an eight-year incumbent, Dean had failed to develop strong relationships with state leaders, who he could lobby to defend Berkeley’s interests. 

“Normally people default to the incumbent, but in this case it is a runaway for me,” Bates said. “I think that is a statement about my style of leadership.”

To the Editor: 

In her campaign for re-election, Mayor Shirley Dean wants credit for triggering downtown revitalization. In reality, Ms. Dean was a roadblock, not a beacon, for the progress of downtown and its arts district.  

Downtown renewal got rolling with a big push from the city’s office of economic development in the latter 1980s, with leadership from then-Mayor Loni Hancock. A city proposal led to the first urban Main Street program in California, and Berkeley has gone on to win a shelf-full of awards for its Main Street implementation. Retail space vacancies plunged from 19 percent to less than 5 percent before Dean became mayor. Shirley Dean’s contribution: She annually proposed to strike the office of economic development from the city budget and attacked the Main Street application.  

Dean supporters have also misrepresented the land deal that led to the expansion of the Berkeley Repertory. In reality, with critical guidance and support from then-Mayor Hancock, the office of economic development’s Dave Fogarty and I negotiated the deal to make the rep’s neighboring property available for a new theater, in exchange for reduced Rent Board penalties for the seller. The key meetings were held in my office and the details are recorded in my journal. The Rent Board merely signed off on the penalty waiver. 

Neil S. Mayer 

Founding Director, Office of 

Economic Development, 

City of Berkeley

SAN RAFAEL — A former Lucasfilm employee faces 13 felony counts of theft for allegedly stealing sound effects recordings, images, video files and the musical score to the movie “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.” 

Shea O’Brien Foley, 30, was arrested Oct. 8 in Burbank, where he worked at the facilities department of NBC studios, according to a report in the Marin Independent Journal.

If all goes well, the 69 residents of UA Homes who were displaced by fire in August will be able to return home next week. 

Officials from Resources for Community Development (RCD), which owns the burned three-story apartment building at 1040 University Ave., and property managers from the John Stewart Company announced Wednesday a tentative Oct. 22. move-in date. 

The date, though, is optimistic, said Linda Webster, director of operations at RCD, and depends on the outcome of pending safety inspections. 

“These next few days are kind of crucial,” Webster said. “Some of the last minute work is [still] being done [to make the building livable again.]” 

RCD has spent more than $100,000 to house the displaced tenants, most of whom rely on federal housing subsidies to pay rent at UA Homes, said Kerry Williams, asset manager for RCD. 

Berkeley law requires landlords to pay tenants the difference in rent when tenants are abruptly displaced and forced to pay more. 

The fire, which swept through a light well Aug. 26, still has no known source of ignition, fire officials say. Officials, though, suspect that debris found in the light well such as newspapers and an old suitcase fueled the blaze.  

The fire spread from the light well to each floor severely damaging at least eight units near the center of building. However, sprinklers kept the fire from sweeping through the rest of the structure, officials said.  

“Light wells are a problem from the past. We were lucky to hold off the fire to a localized area,” said David Orth, assistant fire chief of the Berkeley Fire Department. “The building has stood up really well.” he added, explaining that a fire of this magnitude could have brought UA Homes to the ground. 

The city has concerns about keeping the light wells at UA Homes safe in the future. 

“It certainly raises issues for future management for keeping the light well safe,” said Steve Barton of the Berkeley Housing Authority, adding that the light wells would have to be carefully monitored. “There may well need to be some further work with the tenants.”

LOS ANGELES — With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation’s capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can’t see. 

“Phone Booth,” starring Kiefer Sutherland as the shooter, was to open Nov. 15. 

But the studio decided to delay its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., according to Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman. 

A new opening date has not been set. 

Screenwriter Larry Cohen, who wrote “Phone Booth” three years ago, has said he would not mind if the studio delayed release of the film in which the shooter lures victims inside a phone booth then threatens to kill them if they hang up. 

Another movie with a similar theme, “Interview with the Assassin,” will open as scheduled Nov. 15 in New York and Los Angeles, said Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures, which is distributing the film. 

The movie, about an ex-Marine who claims he shot President Kennedy, opens in more cities Nov. 22 — the 39th anniversary of the assassination. 

“We’re monitoring the situation, but right now we plan to go ahead with the release,” Bowles said Wednesday. “Basically we’re playing it by ear, seeing what the mood of the country is like.” 

“Phone Booth” was a relatively low-cost film for Fox, with a budget of about $12 million. Colin Farrel, who co-starred as an investigator in this summer’s “Minority Report,” starred in “Phone Booth” as a man singled out for attack by a shooter who wants to punish strangers for their misdeeds. 

It was director Joel Schumacher’s second consecutive film to be delayed due to troubling similarity to news events. 

His Anthony Hopkins-Chris Rock comedy “Bad Company,” about U.S. agents trying to disarm terrorists in Manhattan, was supposed to debut last December. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, “Bad Company” was postponed for release until June, where the $70 million adventure collected only about $30 million at the domestic box office. 

Schumacher’s agent directed calls for comment back to Fox. 

Other movies delayed for months after the Sept. 11 included “Collateral Damage,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a firefighter seeking revenge for a terrorist bombing, and the ensemble comedy “Big Trouble,” which involved smugglers with a nuclear warhead on a jetliner. Both films also performed poorly once they finally debuted.

UNITED NATIONS — The United States came under a barrage of criticism Wednesday as the Security Council held an open debate at the behest of dozens of countries angry with the Bush administration’s threat to attack Iraq. 

Key U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Kuwait — which was invaded by Saddam Hussein’s forces in 1990 — came out against the use of military force in Iraq and called on Washington to give U.N. weapons inspectors a chance to disarm the oil-rich nation. 

Iraq’s other neighbors, from Iran to Jordan and the Persian Gulf states, warned that a military strike would further destabilize the volatile Middle East for years to come. 

Even close friends such as Japan and Australia refrained from supporting America’s efforts to win authorization in a new U.N. resolution for a military strike if inspections fail. 

But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan supported the U.S. search for a new resolution that would toughen weapons inspections and he urged Baghdad to use this “last chance.” 

The U.S. ambassador is scheduled to address the council on Thursday but in Washington, President Bush said world leaders needed to “face up to our global responsibilities.” 

“Those who choose to live in denial may eventually be forced to live in fear,” Bush said, as he signed a Congressional resolution authorizing him to use force against Iraq. 

The Security Council’s five permanent, veto-holding members are divided over how to proceed on Iraq now that it has agreed to the return of inspectors after nearly four years. 

The United States, supported by Britain, has spent the past month pushing for a new Security Council resolution which would authorize the use of force if Iraq fails to comply with a tough, new inspections regime. 

But France, China and Russia are opposed to any “green light,” that would allow the administration to attack Baghdad before its sincerity can be tested on the ground. 

France has garnered serious support from China, Russia and influential Arab countries for a proposal only authorizing the possible use of force if inspectors complain about Iraq’s compliance. 

Hoping to reach a compromise, the United States has been holding secret consultations with the four other major powers, to the exclusion and often frustration of other U.N. members, who feel in the dark on what could be the eve of a major conflict. 

In an effort to force a public accounting on the Iraq debate, the Non-Aligned Movement of some 115 mainly developing countries called for Wednesday’s open meeting to criticize Washington’s position and its handling of the issue here. Nearly 70 countries are expected to speak over two days. 

South African Ambassador Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo, whose country heads the movement, opened Wednesday’s debate by criticizing the closed-door process.

A 32-year-old East Bay woman was killed in a possible suicide attempt when an Amtrak passenger train struck her Toyota pick-up truck at Camelia Street in Berkeley at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. 

Donna Johnetta Bragg, 32, was thrown from the truck and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Berkeley police. 

“Pieces of the truck were scattered everywhere,” said Lt. Bud Stone who responded to the accident scene. 

Police were not classifying the death as a suicide, but there is evidence that the collision may have been premeditated. 

According to Police Information Officer Mary Kusmiss, information retrieved from the scene suggests that Bragg had just had an argument with her boyfriend, and that she had left his home in an angry state. 

Police believe that Bragg drove around the crossing gates and parked her car across the railroad tracks. 

Amtrak trains can travel as fast as 79 mph, said Union Pacific spokesperson Mike Furtney, who added that there was no way the train conductor could have stopped before hitting Bragg. 

Such collisions are not uncommon in California. Last year 73 state residents were killed when their cars were struck by oncoming trains, the highest total in the country.

OAKLAND – A 17-year-old boy suspected of shooting an Oakland police officer in the head last month made his first appearance in Alameda County Superior Court Wednesday. 

Terrence Hunter of Oakland has been charged in adult court with attempted murder of a police officer, assault with a firearm upon an officer, and unlawful possession of a firearm. 

Hunter appeared in court wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and tan pants. His hands were handcuffed to a chain encircling his waist during the short proceeding in which Judge Allan D. Hymer read the charges aloud. 

When the judge asked Hunter whether he could afford an attorney, the boy shrugged and said he could not. Hymer said he would assign an attorney from the public defender's office to the case and ordered Hunter to return to court today at 2 p.m. 

The allegations stem from the morning of Sept. 27, when Officer Ilario Juarez, 30, stopped in front of the Mosswood Motel at 683 W. MacArthur Blvd. at about 2:45 a.m. 

As Juarez, who was patrolling alone, approached a group of individuals lingering in the motel's driveway, one person immediately separated himself from the others and fired on the officer, police said. A bullet grazed Juarez's head. 

Hunter was stopped by police on the day of the shooting and later arrested when a check revealed that he was wanted on a probation violation, police said. He had been convicted of robbery in Contra Costa County last year and sentenced to stay at a group home, from which he allegedly fled.

n Carjacking 

Police are searching for two adult males who robbed a couple at gunpoint and stole their car late Wednesday at 600 Bancroft Way inside Aquatic Park. According to police, two suspects armed with black semi-automatic pistols approached the couple while they were in their 2000 Isuzo Rodeo. One suspect opened the unlocked door and threw the male victim on the ground. The other suspect escorted the female victim outside the car. The suspects then demanded the victims’ wallet, backpack and car keys. 

n Police officer hits cyclist 

A patrol officer responding to a suicide call with full siren struck a cyclist near the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Carleton Street at 3:40 p.m. Friday. According to police, the police car had just turned right onto Carlton, when the cyclist, who was riding on the sidewalk, entered the road. The cyclist collided into the right front wheel of the police car, but did not sustain serious injuries and refused medical attention.

OAKLAND – BART police say a woman was struck and killed by a train as she walked on the tracks at the West Oakland Station Wednesday afternoon. 

Witnesses told investigators that they saw the victim walking on the Concord/Fremont tracks before she crossed over to the adjacent San Francisco/Colma tracks. 

The train operator of an approaching Colma-bound train spotted the woman on the track and hit the emergency stop button before entering the station at 2:01 p.m., police said. The train was unable to stop in time and struck and killed the woman at the north end of the platform. 

The victim's identity has not been released.

ANAHEIM — With civic pride and a lot of publicity about their World Series bet at stake, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown refused to wear mouse ears. 

So if the Anaheim Angels win, Brown will don a cowboy hat. If the Giants triumph, Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly will wear a specially designed black and orange fedora. 

“I think Mayor Brown will look cute,” Daly said Wednesday. 

The cowboy hat is in homage to late Angels owner Gene Autry, who was America’s original singing cowboy. The fedora is a nod to the stylish Brown, who favors expensive suits and sophisticated hats. 

Daly also agreed to host a family from San Francisco for a weekend at the amusement parks in Anaheim if the Angels lose. Brown will do the same in San Francisco if the Giants lose. 

In addition to their hats, both mayors promised to wear the jersey of the winning team to work one day. 

“To have the World Series be an all-coast series between Anaheim and San Francisco is an absolute delight,” Brown said in a conference call with Daly. 

Surrounded by television cameras in their respective offices, Daly exchanged pleasantries with Brown. He mentioned Anaheim’s “perfect baseball weather” and ace left-hander Jarrod Washburn, who will start Game 1 for the Angels on Saturday. 

“ESPN and other sports broadcasters are predicting a six- or seven-game series,” Daly said.

BRISBANE — A woman who had lived with her husband for more than a decade in a 300-year-old oak tree on San Bruno Mountain will move into temporary housing. 

Thelma Caballero, who thinks she’s in her 40s, had lived with her husband, Besh Serdahely, in their coastal oak home for 12 years in San Bruno Mountain County Park. Late last week, Caballero chose to leave the tree house and move into a motel room with a kitchenette on the Peninsula. 

Shelter Network, a San Mateo County-based nonprofit that provides housing and services for homeless people, helped Caballero make the move.

Ferry proposal to increase service 

VALLEJO — A $665 million proposal to increase ferries traversing San Francisco Bay and to make them a better option for commuters has Solano County’s ferry service going only to Vallejo. 

Benicia had been a contender, but the state-authorized Bay Area Water Transit Authority, which is presenting its ferry plan around the region, opted not to have a terminal there. 

Seven new routes would originate at Berkeley, Richmond, Treasure Island, Antioch/Martinez, Hercules/Rodeo, South San Francisco and Redwood City and would all go to San Francisco. 

The five existing services would get more boats. The plan sees the Vallejo ferry going from serving about 1,900 commuters daily to 4,220 by 2025. That could mean adding two ferries, said Heidi Machen, a WTA spokeswoman. 

People have until Oct. 31 to comment on the ferry proposal and environmental study, Machen said. The proposal goes to the state in December. 

Principal resigns after high school melee 

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco public school spokeswoman said Wednesday that principal Juliet Montevirgen has stepped down in the wake of criticism over a melee that closed down Thurgood Marshall High School on Friday. 

At a community meeting Monday, some parents and community members clamored for Montevirgen to leave the position she assumed this fall, replacing a popular principal at the academically oriented school in the Silver Terrace neighborhood. 

Police responded to a series of fights there on Friday and within an hour or so had evacuated the school and arrested several students and one teacher on an array of charges including inciting a riot. At least four students from Marshall and 10 people from off-campus participated in the fights, according to San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Jackie Wright. 

The teacher arrested, 29-year-old Anthony Peebles, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the district. Police said he was cited and released. 

Wright said the announcement of Montevirgen's departure came this morning at a meeting with parents of freshman and sophomores, who returned to school for a half-day counseling session. Wright said the outgoing principal, who has been with the district for some-19 years, would fill another spot within the district. 

On Tuesday, seniors and juniors and their parents also had a discussion and counseling session, which emphasized the importance of nonviolent conflict resolution along with coping skills. One more meeting is scheduled this evening for any parents who were previously unable to attend. 

Today will be the first day since the upheaval in which all students will be back in their classrooms with their teachers to tackle subjects like trigonometry and U.S. history.  

“It's back to the races,'” Wright said. 

She said a man named Frank Tom, who has served as an assistant superintendent for instructional operations at the district, is expected to take over as principal on an interim basis.

SACRAMENTO — A majority of California nursing homes fail to meet federal standards and nearly half have not met minimum nurse-staffing levels set by the state, a review by a health care group found. 

The California HealthCare Foundation also found that nursing homes have a very high turnover among workers, with 78 percent of nursing staff leaving their jobs from 2000 to 2001. The foundation released the 32-month study Tuesday. 

The foundation also launched a Web site that gives details on all 1,406 nursing homes in California. The site compares homes based on complaints, citations, nursing staff turnover and other characteristics. 

“I was surprised that things weren’t better than they were,” said lead researcher Charlene Harrington of University of California, San Francisco’s School of Nursing. “We just found a lot of quality problems in the nursing homes. It’s really pretty depressing.” 

The foundation used statistics from nine public databases, including inspections and financial reports. Among the report’s findings: 

— Nonprofit homes devote more staff attention to each patient and had far fewer deficiencies than for-profit competitors. 

— Hospital-based nursing facilities performed better than freestanding ones. 

— Better staffing generally meant better care. Nursing homes reporting 4.1 hours of care per resident per day provided significantly better services, including feeding assistance and helping residents out of bed.

SAN FRANCISCO — The West Coast port shutdown was not a calamity for all involved: food banks from San Francisco to New York City are finding pantries fat with tons of perishables that never made it to market. 

Sometimes it’s pallets of bananas from Ecuador that sat a little too long off the Southern California coast; sometimes it’s greens with slightly browned leaves; sometimes it’s milk with a use-by date fast approaching. 

In every case, the 10-day shutdown of 29 major Pacific ports that ended last week has proven a surprise boon to food pantries. With some produce wilting in the backlog on the docks, some companies are opting to donate rather than ship behind schedule. 

“To get this kind of poundage of fresh fruit is a real blessing,” said Darren Hoffman at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “At least it didn’t go to waste.” 

That warehouse has already received a 16,000-pound shipment that included lettuce, cabbage and green onions — their leaves too tattered for grocery store display, but still perfectly edible. 

“Nutritionally, it’s fine,” Hoffman said. “You peel off the first leaf and bam, it looks like a million bucks.” 

On Wednesday, the food bank received 25,000 pounds — about 450 cases — of bananas from Del Monte. 

Los Angeles wasn’t alone. 

Truckloads of the bananas with a shelf life of about two weeks are chugging from Port Hueneme northwest of Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York City, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis and smaller cities in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Oklahoma. 

In all, Del Monte gave 50 truckloads — about 1,000 tons — of bananas, according to Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman with Chicago-based America’s Second Harvest, which coordinated the distribution. That single donation equaled nearly a quarter of all produce the nonprofit transported last month. 

With 30 truckloads already en route, America’s Second Harvest is finding the unexpected windfall has added unexpected costs that are straining its transportation budget. Sometimes truckers donate their services, Hofer said, but bananas are perishable and, “if it’s product that has to move, we have to pay.” 

In Seattle, a major grocery chain already donated around 250,000 pounds of dairy products including milk, yogurt and cottage cheese rather than risk it spoiling before it reached Alaska. 

The donation was particularly appreciated because, “protein is a very hard commodity to come by,” said Linda Nageotte, director of Food Lifeline, which supplies food banks in Seattle. 

The Oregon Food Bank also got a truckload of dairy products from Seattle’s docks. 

And what do the two sides locked in the labor dispute think of one fruit of their battle? 

Officials representing both dockworkers and shipping companies said they were happy someone was getting goods that might otherwise rot, and then blamed each other for the problem. 

The longshoremen’s union said that dockworkers had asked to move perishables during the 10-day lockout. 

“It’s an unintended consequence that charity is coming out of what is pure greed” from shipping companies, said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. 

Joseph Miniace, president for the Pacific Maritime Association, said the donated produce seemed awfully expensive given that the shutdown had cost the U.S. economy billions. 

Miniace had one other thought. 

“Spread the cabbage out,” he said. “Keep everybody regular.” 

Associated Press Writer Peggy Andersen in Seattle contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s a familiar story: generic upstarts shaking a long-established industry left vulnerable by expired patents on blockbuster products. 

This particular battle, though, is not being fought in the nation’s pharmacies, where giant drug companies’ profits are being co-opted by nimbler competitors offering generic — and much cheaper — versions of popular drugs. 

Instead, the fight has shifted to Sarabian Farms’ 200 acres of peaches, plums and nuts in California’s Central Valley — and the thousands of farms nationwide that use $6 billion worth of herbicides a year. 

With 70 percent of U.S. weed killer patents expected to expire by 2010, an increasing number of smaller competitors are racing to compete with behemoths such as Monsanto Co. and Dow Agrosciences for a share of that market. 

“Generic makers will never gain complete control of the market,” said agricultural chemical consultant Robert Ehn, who’s client roster includes generic companies. “But they will be big players.” 

Already, a patent on the world’s most popular herbicide — Monsanto Co.’s Roundup — has expired, forcing the St. Louis biotechnology company to slash prices dramatically to hang on to its dominant market share. 

Monsanto’s total sales last year fell one percent to $5.5 billion, due in part to the price drop. The company expects sales to be even more sluggish this year, though it also blames a Midwestern drought and Latin American fiscal crisis as aggravating factors. 

“The price erosion is expected to continue,” said Morgan Stanley analyst Leslie Ravitz. 

Monsanto has sued at least one generic competitor, accusing Chemical Product Technologies, which makes Clearout, of violating other Monsanto patents. The Georgia company countersued, accusing Monsanto of antitrust behavior. 

But nowhere is the fight nastier than in California, over oryzalin, an herbicide produced by Indiana-based Dow Agrosciences that is used by nut growers, fruit tree farmers and others to kill weeds such as crabgrass before they sprout. 

California, the nation’s most productive agricultural state, consumes half the oryzalin sold nationwide.

SACRAMENTO — The California Energy Commission and the California Power Authority have set up a program to distribute $1.25 million in grants for schools to install rooftop solar energy systems, officials said Wednesday. 

The money is from settlements reached between Attorney General Bill Lockyer and two energy companies with long-term contracts with the state. Calpine Energy Services agreed to pay $6 million and Constellation Power Source Inc. agreed to pay $2.5 million. 

Of that total, $2.75 million will be used for retrofitting schools, hospitals and other public buildings, Lockyer’s office said. The $1.25 million “Solar Schools” program will be funded by that money. 

More money could become available if Lockyer renegotiates additional long-term contracts with other energy companies. 

State energy officials also announced that nearly $2.4 million was awarded for five research projects on the production of electricity from California landfills, livestock farms and food processing and wastewater treatment plants. 

The “biogas” projects could take advantage of ample sources of the gas at landfills, dairies and swine farms. The power produced at these sites could be used to offset electricity at those sites, or could be sold to the grid. 

The Energy Commission estimates that biogas sites could have the potential to produce up to 240 megawatts. A megawatt is enough electricity for about 750 California homes.

SACRAMENTO — California is getting a $2.3 million federal grant to expand benefits and continue group crisis counseling for family members and survivors of last year’s terrorist attacks, officials said Wednesday. 

So far, the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board has received 490 Sept. 11-related claims and paid $1.6 million in medical bills, mental health counseling expenses, funeral and burial costs, and lost income compensation. The board also received 127 claims from members of the search-and-rescue teams sent to the attack sites. 

The board is allowing claims until the end of next year, extending the usual one-year deadline because of the nature of the attacks and because many potential claimants don’t know they are eligible. 

The new federal Anti-terrorism and Emergency Assistance Program money will let the board continue monthly regional support group meetings conducted by psychologists from the University of San Francisco Trauma Recovery Program. 

An initial federal grant that had been supporting the counseling will run out in December. 

“Each of the family members and survivors expressed how beneficial the counseling has been,” Gov. Gray Davis said in announcing the grant. “They have formed new, common bonds with each other, giving them strength.” 

Davis met with the families and survivors after the Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony in Sacramento last month. 

Legislation signed immediately after the attacks provides up to $10,000 in mental health treatment for search and rescue workers; adds grandparents, grandchildren, mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law to the list of family members eligible for assistance; lets relatives seek help even if the victim isn’t a California resident; and gave counties $2.575 million for trauma and tolerance counseling after the attacks. 

The board and the California State Bar Association also offered victims free legal assistance, and the board created a group Web site and newsletter for the families and survivors to share their experiences and get benefits updates. 

The board also appointed five “case managers” to coordinate benefits and services for families and survivors, search and rescue workers, and hate crime victims.

LOS ANGELES — An Orange County tourist who narrowly avoided being caught in the deadly Bali nightclub bombing that killed his friend returned to California on Wednesday, breaking into sobs as people told him, “It’s good to have you back.” 

John Frederick Parodi Jr. was in Indonesia with surfing buddies Steven Cabler and Steve Webster to celebrate Webster’s 41st birthday when Webster was killed along with nearly 200 other people in Saturday’s explosion. Cabler, 42, was injured. Parodi, who decided to return to his hotel early and was not in the club when it blew up, was not hurt. 

His eyes brimming with tears, Parodi told reporters at Los Angeles International Airport that the three had befriended two Indonesian men who rallied to help when the blast occurred.

Just two months after hundreds of UC Berkeley office assistants, childcare workers and library assistants walked off the job, the university’s clerical employees, locked in a bitter contract dispute with the university over wages and workplace safety, began a new round of voting Tuesday to authorize a second strike. 

“Even after the strike that was held in August, the university continues to engage in unfair labor practices,” said Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie of the Coalition of University Employees, which represents 18,000 clericals across the nine-campus University of California system. “They haven’t gotten the message for whatever reason.” 

But university officials, who consider the August strike illegal, warned against a second work stoppage. 

“Strikes are only going to aggravate and delay contract settlement,” said university spokesperson Paul Schwartz. “At the end of the day, we need to resolve our differences.” 

The rank-and-file has until Oct. 30 to cast a ballot on strike authorization.  

The strike authorization measure does not specify a date or duration for a second work stoppage. Instead it provides the executive board of CUE Local 3, which represents 2,300 clericals at UC Berkeley and the Oakland-based office of UC President Richard Atkinson, with broad authority to set future strike dates. 

UC Berkeley lecturers joined clerical employees in the August strike. Michele Squitieri, field representative for University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents the clericals, said it is “very possible” that the lecturers would walk off the job again if CUE launches a second strike. 

Lecturers at all nine campuses are locked in a two-and-a-half year contract squabble with the university, calling for greater job security and higher wages. 

UC clerical employees, at all nine campuses, have worked without a contract for more than a year. CUE and the university have been locked in combative talks for months. 

The union is asking for a 15 percent raise over two years and the university is offering a 3.5 pay hike, including a 1 percent raise that went into effect last year.  

Union officials contend that the 1 percent raise was part of the previous contract and that the current offer really amounts to 2.5 percent. 

Whatever the exact figure, university officials say they simply cannot afford to offer more because of limited funding provided by the cash-strapped state. 

Union officials contend that the university could tap $2.3 billion in unrestricted funds to pay for a better raise, but UC says the money is wrapped up in other projects. 

On Friday, the university set an Oct. 31 deadline for CUE to accept the 3.5 percent offer. Union officials have brushed off the deadline as a “silly, idle threat.” 

The first day of the strike authorization vote coincided with a campus demonstration that drew about 100 clericals, lecturers and labor supporters to campus. 

Speakers at the rally, including State Rep. Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley, and District 8 City Council candidate Andy Katz, called for better wages and job security. 

Activists also expressed solidarity with hundreds of clericals and lecturers in a second day of strikes on five UC campuses in Davis, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

The current struggle between the University of California and its employees, which has resulted in two recent strikes at Berkeley, Davis, Riverside, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Irvine, is not just about money. It is about the allocation of money. UC keeps saying they would like to give its employees a raise but they can’t because of state budget cuts. They are implying that they have no choice because it is “the law.” The unions are saying that paying employees from state funds is only a “tradition” which can and should be broken. 

All of this reminds me of a conversation I had with my son when he was a teenager. One day he asked me for some special basketball shoes that he said would transform him into the next Michael Jordan. I told him, “We don’t have the money.” He replied, “But what about that money you put away for a ‘rainy day?’” “That,” I retorted, “is for emergencies.” “Well this is an emergency,” he said. “No, it is not,” I replied. Things got heated at this point on the issue of allocation. Finally, my son marched off, and I thought that was the end of it. 

What happened next? Well my son went on strike . . . so to speak. I will spare you the details. Let’s just say that by the end of the week I was at my wits end. Not wanting to cave in, I sat down with my son, and we talked things over. He explained to me that these shoes were important for his morale. He had just barely made the basketball team. He wanted to do well and shoes were important. They would cushion the impact of the running and jumping. He would not stand out like a sore thumb next to the other kids on the team whose parents had more money than we did. 

By the end of the conversation, I realized we were not talking about money and shoes. We were talking about self-esteem and success. So I gave in. I went to the “rainy day” fund (even though it was sunny outside), took out what amounted to about 1 percent of the money and bought him the shoes. Karl went on to be the MVP of the basketball team and got a full scholarship to Dominican College in San Rafael. 

The point of my story is this: The unions at Cal have found the “rainy day” fund that the university says is earmarked for other things. It amounts to billions (not millions) of dollars. As hard-working employees, we want them to give us some of that money so we can pay our bills, give up our second job, and take care of our kids’ needs. 

Susan Peabody 

Boalt Hall School of Law

Wednesday, Oct. 16  

Hormone Replacement Seminar 

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

204-4422 

Reservations required. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Home Remodeling Class 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Berkeley South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 

Organized by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 

567-8280 

Free 

Berkeley NAACP Youth Council Monthly Meeting 

6 p.m. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Services Center, 1730 Oregon St.  

General membership meeting 

435-3101 

$10 membership fee 

“Alternatives to War on Terrorism: A Multicultural Perspective” 

7 p.m. 

Ethnic Studies Library, Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley 

Ethnic studies professor Ron Takaki, author of 11 books, will speak. 

Free 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Speak Out: A Forum on Women’s Health Issues 

7 to 9 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

Discuss issues such as domestic violence, disparities in health care, youth health issues, and alternative health care. 

981-5106 

Simplicity Forum 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

With Stanford University’s visiting scholar Cecile Andrews, auhor of “Circle of Simplicity”. 

549-3509 / www.simpleliving.net 

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Homecoming Rally 

9 p.m. 

Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley 

Come rally with the Cal band, the dance team, the UC Men’s Octet, and more. 

388-4789 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Dog Wash Sunday 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kutz for Mutz  

911 University Ave.  

Get your dog shampooed while helping out rescued dogs. Proceeds benefit Smiley Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing abused or abandoned pups. 

(760) 924-3961 

$15-$30 depending on the dog. 

The Buddy Club Season Opener 

1 to 2 p.m 

The Berkeley JCC Theater, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose St. 

Audience participation shows for kids age two through twelve and their parents. 

236-SHOW 

$7 / under 2 yrs. free 

Monday, Oct. 21 

War in Iraq- Why? 

7 p.m. 

2951 Derby St. 

Women for Peace invites you to discuss war in Iraq, with an emphasis on women’s viewpoints. 

526-5094 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

Brown Bag Career Talk 

12 to 1 p.m. 

YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way 

Professional organizer Kathy Waddill hosts “Getting Paid to Help Other People Get Organized”. 

848-6370 

$3 

“What is it Like to Be a Robot?” 

8 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley 

Tom Sgouros and his robot, Judy, star in a sharp-witted “solo” theater piece in which they discuss stage magic, free will, imagination and other themes in this unique performance. 

www.sgouros.com 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565 / www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 16 

Rachel Efron, Kin-fusion, and Peter Romulus 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Winners of the Freight’s “Love Song Slam”. 

548-1761 

$12.50 / $13.50 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Four minute mile and the avenue of the stars. 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over 

Strauss-Warschauer Duo 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Klezmer music and yiddish songs. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Amy Rigby and Dwayne Jarvis 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$7 / 21 and over 

Steve Harris 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

An evening of acoustic soul and explosive poetry celebrating Harris’ CD and poetry release. 

849-2568 

$10 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Santo Soul, La Familia, and Marimba Pacifica 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, dancing, folkloric presentations, and a raffle. 

548-6914 

$15 

Garnet Rogers 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Visionary guitarist and songwriter. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Ian Moore, Sonya Hunter ad Blu Sanders 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$6 / 21 and over 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Charonson 

9:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center, 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Come get your groove on to this live salsa band. Dance class at 8:15 p.m. 

849-2568 

$12 / $15 with class 

Peter Case 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

Singer-songwriter auteur. 

548-1761 

$15.50 / $16.50 

Casino Royale and DJ California Kid 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$8 / 21 and over 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery 

116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

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-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy about a dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Wednesday, Oct. 16 

Poetry Slam 

8:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

Hosted by Charles Ellik, $90 in prizes. 

841-2082 

$7 or $5 students / 21 and over 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

“Rethinking the American Dream: Songs of the Simple Life” 

7 p.m. 

Central Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kitteredge St. 

Writer and bicyclist Tim Holt will give an informal talk based on his new book. 

981-6100 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invited. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Gary Mex Glazner and Thea Hillman 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Poetry reading. 

525-5476 

$2 donation 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Magic School Bus Video Festival 

10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science Auditorium 

643-5961 

$8 adults, $6 youth 5-18 & seniors, $4 children 3-4, free for children under 3

Alameda High was supposed to be just another speed bump in Berkeley High’s road to a third straight volleyball league championship, but they turned out to be more of a traffic jam. 

The Yellowjackets, however, would not be slowed down, keeping their conference record perfect at 7-0 with a 3-1 (15-7, 14-16, 15-6, 15-6) win. It was only the second time Berkeley lost a game to a conference opponent in three years. 

“Most teams in our league don’t challenge us,” Berkeley head coach Justin Caraway said. “We struggled with our mental focus.” 

Berkeley seemed to have command of the second game after a seven-point run gave them a 7-2 lead. The Hornets battled back to tie the game at 12-12, but Berkeley seniors Amalia Jarvis and Vanessa Williams countered with a service ace and a spike respectively to give Berkeley game point. Errors on serves and returns halted the Jackets’ momentum, however, and the Hornets took the game 16-14. 

Williams said the team’s lack of focus cost them the game. 

“I felt like we were making great plays, then our communication would break down,” Williams said. 

Berkeley was on the verge of losing control of the match in the third game. Alameda battled to a 6-5 lead, but the hard-hitting Berkeley offense started to wear on the Hornets. The Jackets took advantage of five errors by Alameda for 10-0 run, capped by Jarvis’ kill and service ace, to close out the game. 

In the fourth game the Jackets responded to falling down 2-0 by reeling off seven straight points. The Hornets mounted a comeback, pulling within 7-5, but a Jarvis service ace ignited an 8-1 run for Berkeley to close out the game. 

Nadia Qabazard and Williams were both surprised at how well Alameda was able to dig their attackers’ spikes. 

“We’ve never seen a team that could dig,” said Williams, who had 16 digs of her own. 

“We couldn’t just hit the ball right into their team,” said Qabazard, who led the team with 18 digs. “We had to get a lot better at hitting certain spots in their defense.” 

Williams and Jarvis were able hit their spots in the Alameda defense, leading the team with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Jarvis added 13 digs and four blocks. 

Caraway found a hole in Berkeley’s attack that the team will have to improve on when they start the second half of league play. 

“Our serving was horrendus,” said Caraway. Berkeley, 13-8 overall, had 23 service errors in the game. “We had an off night. We are usually a really good serving team.” 

Williams, despite not feeling mentally prepared for the match, said she knew what was coming in today’s practice. 

“After all the running we will be doing tomorrow we will figure it out,” Williams said.

City Council spared two popular programs from the chopping block Tuesday, including winter swimming at Willard Pool. But as officials dealt with city budget forecasts, they agreed that additional across-the-board cuts would be inevitable. 

“The future doesn’t look that great,” said Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz.  

Berkeley will have to cut $6.4 million to balance the 2004/2005 budget, according to a city report presented Tuesday. An additional $3.1 million in savings will be needed to balance the 2006/2007 budget. 

This means the city will likely reduce employees and cut programs over the next five years, Kamlarz said. 

Despite the grim news, council opted to use $100,000 carried over from last year’s budget to keep Willard Pool open this winter and hire a new coordinator for the city’s green business program.  

Against the advice of staff, council voted 7-3 not to devote an additional $70,000 carried over to finance a study on unearthing Strawberry Creek to run above ground through the downtown or conduct a study to determine if UC Berkeley should pay more for city services. 

A final determination on those projects as well as additional funding for the city’s animal shelter were tabled until Nov. 12. 

Advocates for the salvaged programs were predictably excited. 

“There is definitely a sense that we have been given a new lease on life,” said Karen Davis of the Willard Swimmers Association, which fought to keep the pool at Telegraph Avenue and Derby Street open this winter. 

But the council is likely to leave several programs without sufficient funding in 2003. These include a plan to use environmentally-friendly fuels in city sanitation trucks, the hiring of additional traffic officers and a pedestrian safety coordinator and grants to several nonprofits that serve the city, including the City CarShare program. 

Gina Moreland, executive director of Habitot, a downtown Berkeley children’s discovery museum, was disappointed that the city planned to reject her request for $25,000 to help fund free admissions for low-income kids. 

“The city is now giving us less than 2 percent of our budget which isn’t right considering how much we serve the community and how much business we bring to downtown,” she said. 

The city’s budget shortfall is primarily due to the rising costs of the state Public Employee Retirement System, according to Kamlarz. The public retirement fund has lost investment money over the past few years and the state is charging cities more to make up for losses. 

“Retirement benefits are going through the roof,” said Kamlarz. 

To help offset the deficit, the city manager’s office has instituted a hiring freeze on nonessential city jobs and has asked council to implement a moratorium on new spending until the 2004/2005 budget is finalized in June 2003. 

Also, the city manager’s office is developing a list of further program and service cuts that it will recommend to council at a January budget meeting. Kamlarz said it was premature to discuss the programs that might be affected.  

Berkeley may actually be in worse financial shape than current estimates indicate, Kamlarz added. He said that this year’s state budget – which included funding for Berkeley – failed to reduce mounting state deficits. Consequently, upcoming state budgets would likely reduce state money given to Berkeley, he said. 

Contact reporter at matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

If the U.S. government has discovered links between al-Qaida and Iraq, that could be beneficial rather than harmful to protecting the U.S. from attack. It is in the interest of the Iraqi regime to use its power and influence to prevent further attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaida, since a terrorist attack on the U.S. would provide a splendid excuse to invade Iraq. It would be a brilliant strategy by the chiefs of the U.S. government to threaten war with Iraq with the aim of getting Iraq to become an unwitting ally against al-Qaida. It is possible that the U.S. has not been attacked because the Iraqis have helped to rein in the terrorists, in which case the best strategy is to keep threatening war without actually invading. If the US does invade Iraq without any terrorist provocation, it will have foolishly lost the use of leveraging Iraq as an unwitting ally in the prevention of another attack by al-Qaida. 

Fred Foldvary 

Berkeley 

ANAHEIM – Everywhere the Anaheim Angels go, the question is the same: Pitch to Barry Bonds or walk him? 

Listening to the talk Tuesday at Edison Field, it seems the Angels will be playing only against Bonds in the World Series, trying to devise a plan to somehow beat him, 25 on 1. 

“The last two seasons, he’s had the most incredible seasons in the history of baseball, if you look at all his numbers and all the microstatistics,” Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. 

Of course, San Francisco will have 25 players on the roster when the first all wild-card World Series opens Saturday night. But Bonds is the focus, which puts Scott Schoeneweis in the spotlight. Bonds is 1-for-7 against the left-hander with four strikeouts, no walks and no home runs. 

“The best-case scenario is to get the guys out before Barry comes up,” Schoeneweis said. 

And with no one on base, there’s a good chance Bonds will be walked. 

Bonds was walked a record 198 times during the season – and scored on just 34 of them, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Following his record 68 intentional walks, he scored just three times. 

Of course, 79 of his walks came with two outs. 

“The guys that faced the guy every day, all the time, year in, year out, they all seemed to do the same thing,” Angels pitching coach Bud Black said. “I don’t think that they’re all wrong.” 

Still, his gut feeling was Anaheim would pitch most of the time to Bonds, who has four homers and 10 RBIs in the postseason. 

In addition to Schoeneweis – Anaheim’s only lefty reliever – Bonds has faced just three other pitchers on Anaheim’s roster: He’s 4-for-7 with two homers, two walks and a strikeout against Kevin Appier; 0-for-1 against right-handed reliever Ben Weber; and 0-for-1 with three walks and no strikeouts against Troy Percival. 

“We’ll just be smart. I don’t think we’ll be scared of him and pitch around him,” said Jarrod Washburn, picked Tuesday by Scioscia to start the opener. 

“We’ll try to not let him beat us. I’ll challenge him. I’m looking forward to the challenge. He’s a great player. If there’s a situation where he can beat us, the smart thing to do is pitch around him.” 

Washburn isn’t a fan of intentional walks when no one is on base. 

“I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to be intimidated or scared by Barry Bonds. We’re going to be smart about it.” 

As workers cleaned and did some touchup paint work at the ballpark, Washburn already was looking ahead to the opener, where he could face the Giants’ Jason Schmidt. 

“I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it a lot,” Washburn said. “It’s going to be the biggest game of my life. I’m pretty sure we won’t sweep and they won’t sweep, so I’ll have another start and that will be the biggest game of my life.” 

It’s the first World Series between second-place teams, with the Giants (95-66) finishing 2 1/2 games behind Arizona in the NL West, then beating Atlanta and St. Louis. 

Anaheim (99-63) set a franchise record for wins, but finished four games behind Oakland. The Angels then upset the New York Yankees and beat Minnesota. 

Because of interleague play, the Angels and Giants have faced each other in regular-season games – but didn’t play this year. San Francisco holds an 11-5 advantage, and Bonds has five homers against Anaheim. 

“The Angels are a team that doesn’t quit,” Giants manager Dusty Baker said. “They can score a lot of runs. They don’t strike out. They can put the ball in play. They have a fundamentally sound team defensively, offensively. Good team speed, good young bullpen that nobody knows that much about, and young pitchers, which is to their advantage. 

“And most people don’t know that much about them.”

Board of Education members want a raise. But first, they’ll have to get past a skeptical public. 

On Nov. 5 Berkeley voters, flooded with months of stories about budget shortfalls and painful cuts in the Berkeley Unified School District, will cast a ballot on Measure K, which would boost school board pay from $875 to $1,500 per month if passed. 

Supporters say the raise, which would be the first since 1988, is long overdue. They also argue that the pay hike, which would go into effect in December, might attract a more diverse slate of school board candidates in the future.  

Finally, proponents note that members could divert the increase to pay for assistants. The board, unlike City Council, has no staff to return phone calls, attend meetings and conduct independent research. 

But opponents, including one member of the school board, say it is inappropriate to ask for a pay hike when the district faces a $3.9 million budget shortfall and questions about the board’s fiscal management. 

“I just don’t think this is a good time for the board to be asking for a raise,” said school board President Shirley Issel. “We’re very troubled financially.” 

“If not now, when?,” asked board member John Selawsky, who is leading the push for the pay hike. 

If the public believes that board members need to work harder and do a better job, he argued, it should compensate members accordingly and give them the resources to hire staff. 

Selawsky also pointed out that the raise would come out of city coffers, not school district funds. But Issel said the board is asking too much of the public to understand the distinction. 

Measure K has become an issue in the six-candidate race for three slots on the school board. The race features incumbents Issel and Terry Doran and challengers Derick Miller, Nancy Riddle, Lance Montauk and Sean Dugar.  

Montauk, a vocal opponent of Measure K, has argued that approval would be like rewarding Enron or Worldcom executives for their mismanagement. But Riddle takes a different view. 

“The timing’s not great, but I’m in favor of it,” she said. “It might give someone like me or another school board member an opportunity to fund a part-time aide.” 

Riddle said that, in the past, district staff has filtered the information received by board members. Part-time staffers would give members an opportunity to conduct independent research, she said. 

Riddle also said hiring aides would give the board a chance to cultivate young talent for future leadership roles. 

But Riddle was skeptical that a jump to $1,500 a month, or $18,000 per year, is enough to attract a new slate of lower-income candidates to future school board races. 

Still, Selawsky said the pay hike is justified to compensate for the long hours school board members pour into the job. 

“I do think board members put a lot of time in... $875 doesn’t begin to compensate people for the time they put in,” he said. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydaily 

planet.net

To the Editor: 

There are currently plenty of anti-war demonstrations taking place all over the civilized world. I would be so pleased to see similar demonstrations in the Arab and Islamic nations calling for an end to terrorism against occidental people, and calling for an end to the propaganda against Jews. Also I would be pleased to see anti-government demonstration in Iraq where so many people have been slain by Saddam Hussein for the last three decades. Unfortunately Israel is the only country in the entire Middle East where freedom of speech is honored. 

Howard Oggman 

Berkeley 

City Council officially slammed the door Tuesday on smokers who park themselves outside the doorways of public buildings. 

Council unanimously passed the second reading of the Smokefree Doorways ordinance, which means that beginning Nov. 14 smoking will be prohibited within 20 feet of entrances and air intake vents to Berkeley shops and office buildings. 

Smokers will still be permitted to walk past buildings with a lit cigarette, but will not be able stop within 20 feet of a door or vent. 

The law requires building managers to post city-made decals informing smokers of the new restrictions. 

A $100 fine can be imposed on a business that does not post the sign or a smoker who does not obey the law. 

Some smokers were understandably upset. 

“I think 20 feet puts me in the street,” said downtown smoker Josh Brewer last week.  

But Marcia Brown-Machen, director of the city’s Tobacco Prevention Program, said that she and the city attorney’s office reviewed similar ordinances from other California cities and the 20-foot limit is fair. 

She added that strict distance requirements are needed because cigarette smoke puffed by smokers outside offices and shops is sucked back indoors. 

“People walking through entrances where smokers are huddled feel like they are walking through a carton of toxins,” she said. 

The law will not be aggressively enforced, Brown-Machen said.  

“We’re relying on the power of the signs,” she said, noting that enforcement officials would not be deployed unless an offender was the subject of repeat complaints. 

The new smoking ban strengthens Berkeley’s already tough nicotine laws. All city-owned buildings prohibit smoking within 15 feet of doorways, and smoking is prohibited at outdoor work sites and restaurant patios.

To the Editor: 

Darcy Morrison's letter (Forum, Oct. 7) on so called “smart growth” hits the nail on the head. Densifying Berkeley will not minimize outlying tract developments. It will probably make our transportation problems even worse, and will do little to increase the stock of affordable housing. Why sacrifice Berkeley? We are doing our share to resolve these problems, but Berkeley is a small player in the overall region. 

Bob Kubik  

Berkeley

HELENA, Mont. — A U.S. senator is demanding an explanation from the National Park Service for why it cut short the season of a Yellowstone National Park ranger who earlier was ordered to stop speaking out about unscrupulous hunters. 

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said sending Bob Jackson home early smacks of further retaliation and violates the spirit of a settlement the agency reached with him late last year. 

Jackson, a 30-year park veteran, patrols a remote area of Yellowstone near the park’s southeast corner. His expertise is catching poachers and he has long criticized hunting guides he says illegally lure elk from Yellowstone by placing salt outside park boundaries on Forest Service land in Wyoming. 

In 2001, Jackson, who lives in Promise City Iowa, said park management ordered him not to speak publicly about his concerns and sent him home from his job early, telling him he would not be hired back the next season. 

Jackson filed a complaint and, under an agreement reached in December 2001, was rehired for the 2002 season to patrol the same area of the park. 

However, he said the agency asked him to leave Sept. 17, long before hunting season outside the park heats up. That was extended a couple of weeks, but only after the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility complained to the agency, he said. 

Still, he is being asked to leave much earlier than normal, Jackson contends. 

“This is a thing that is bigger than me,” he said. “It has do with a lot of the status quo with the National Park Service.” 

Rick Frost, a spokesman for the Park Service’s regional office in Denver, said Grassley and Fran Mainella, the agency’s director, had corresponded about Jackson. But Frost said he did not know the extent of the discussions and could not immediately comment. 

In a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who oversees the agency, Grassley said it appears the Park Service is still trying to punish Jackson for speaking out. 

“When someone like him speaks up about unethical practices and gets sidelined and shut out, then there are a lot of questions for the National Park Service to answer,” Grassley said in a statement. “I’m intent on stopping this kind of intimidation so other government workers who are willing to speak up about problems are not deterred.” 

Grassley accused the Park Service of lax enforcement to prevent poaching and of retaliating against Jackson for his outspoken criticism. 

“Getting rid of Mr. Jackson serves the interests of park supervisory officials who wish to avoid high-profile conflicts with poachers and negative attention,” Grassley wrote to Norton. “Mr. Jackson has proved himself to have unique skills and knowledge of the backcountry area where poaching is known to take place.” 

Jackson said the Park Service has purposely staffed the backcountry with a small number of rangers with little experience. 

“The park needed more enforcement coverage, not less like they have now,” Jackson said. “There was no intention there to have fall hunting control.” 

OAKLAND – A significant budget gap is plaguing the Oakland Unified School District and county officials have appointed a fiscal advisor while they wait to find out just how much money is missing. 

“The district is now saying that they’re still not ready to be able to release any numbers... I thought that they’d be able to close the books this week, but that hasn’t happened,” Alameda County Office of Education Superintendent Sheila Jordan said Tuesday. 

On Friday, Jordan appointed Joe Montora, deputy executive director of the independent Fiscal Crisis Management Team, to oversee any decisions that would negatively impact the budget. 

Montora is a former school superintendent and reports directly to the executive director of FCMT, Tom Henry. Jordan says together the two will work with the county to decide if a further audit is necessary. 

The reason for the budget gap is unclear at this time. 

While Jordan could not confirm that a misappropriation of funds might have occurred, she did say that “in every case revenues were overstated and expenditures were understated...it’s very clear that’s what is part of what’s going on.” 

The county had asked for an extension to approve the school district’s 2002-2003 budget. After it became clear a negative balance was anticipated, Jordan rejected the budget. 

After a definitive number is provided, Montora will begin working with the board and the superintendent on a developmental recovery plan. 

“This is not going to be solved in a minute. We’re talking about a major gap, and it’s going to take a while, to close the books, to stabilize the district, and to review,” said Jordan. 

Jordan hopes the district will wrap up its investigation by the end of the month. Then the country will decide if they need to do an in-depth audit.

OAKLAND – A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting an Oakland police officer in the head last month, police said. 

Terrence Hunter of Oakland is set to be arraigned today in Alameda County Superior Court on charges of attempted murder of a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Homicide Lt. Brian Thiem. 

Officer Ilario Juarez, 30, stopped in front of the Mosswood Motel at 683 W. MacArthur Blvd. at about 2:45 a.m. on Sept.27 when he saw a group of individuals lingering in the motel’s driveway, police said. 

When Juarez approached the group, one person immediately separated himself from the others and fired on the officer without provocation, police said. A bullet grazed Juarez’s head. 

Following the shooting, homicide investigators and officers canvassed the neighborhood. 

Hunter was stopped by police on that day and later arrested when a check revealed that he was wanted on a probation violation, Thiem said. He had been convicted of robbery and sentenced to stay at a group home, from which he allegedly fled. 

“We did not know (Hunter) was the suspect, but we had a lot of rumor information out there and he was someone we were looking at,” Thiem said. 

A week after the shooting, Officer Juarez was finally healthy enough to provide a statement on the incident and review photographs of possible suspects. 

“Juarez identified (Hunter) as the person who shot him,” Thiem said. According to Thiem, investigators have located a witness who also identified Hunter as the alleged gunman. 

Hunter had been in custody on the probation violation and was formally arrested Monday at Juvenile Hall in connection with the shooting of Juarez, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned in adult court in Oakland on Wednesday at 2 p.m. 

Thiem said investigators had probable cause to arrest Hunter within a couple of days of the shooting but waited until they had amassed proof of his alleged involvement beyond a reasonable doubt. 

When confronted with the accusation, Hunter denied any connection to the shooting, Thiem said. 

Thiem credited the arrest to tireless efforts by investigators. 

“This case was not solved by a good citizen,” Thiem said. “This was solved by cops and the investigators beating the bushes out there, making happen.” 

Thiem said Juarez could be released from the hospital this week. A police spokesman said the officer was fortunate that the bullet never penetrated the skull.

SAN FRANCISCO – Immigration activists in 12 states are rallying and lobbying congressional representatives this week in an election-season effort to generate support for legalizing undocumented workers. 

“We feel like there’s been an awful lot of unfair scapegoating of immigrants” since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which rallied Tuesday. 

Activists also visited congressional offices and held news conferences and rallies Tuesday in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tennessee, Idaho and New York. A rally in Michigan took place last month, and other events were scheduled for Oregon, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Kansas and New Jersey later this week. 

The campaign is being organized by the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support. 

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt last week introduced a bill that would grant undocumented immigrants legal status if they have been in the country at least five years, worked two years and can meet other requirements such as passing a background check. 

Gephardt admitted his proposal stands little chance of being passed by Congress this year. Referring to the upcoming elections, he said that a Democratic majority in the House would improve the chances of such legislation. 

Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., opposes granting amnesty to illegal immigrants. He said Gephardt’s proposal is an attempt to “curry favor with Democratic constituency groups,” including Hispanics. 

A Pew Hispanic Center and Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 1,329 registered Hispanic voters found 85 percent of respondents supported giving undocumented Latino immigrants a chance to obtain legal status. Hispanic voters tend to identify themselves as Democrats rather than Republicans by more than a 2-to-1 margin, the survey found. 

The timing of Gephardt’s bill is “really strategic,” said Claudia Gomez, a fellow at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Oakland. “They will be seen as supporting immigrant communities.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in San Francisco Superior Court in a legal dispute over possession of Giants slugger Barry Bonds’ 73rd home run baseball. 

On Oct. 7, 2001, Bonds swatted the historic home run at Pacific Bell Park. The stroke set the single season home run record. 

Alex Popov of San Francisco said he cleanly gloved the ball and lost it in a violent melee. Patrick Hayashi, 37, who lives in the Sacramento area, ultimately ended up with the baseball. 

Popov, 38, filed suit on Oct. 24, claiming that Hayashi was among a group of people who attacked him after he made the catch in an effort to wrest the ball from his control. Hayashi has said he was simply “in the right place at the right time.’’ 

A judge has since dismissed claims of assault and battery from the lawsuit. The core issue, specifically whether Popov gained “unequivocal dominion and control’’ of the ball, is a legitimate issue for trial, the court ruled. 

Popov’s attorneys have asked that a judge hear the case rather than a jury. A possible court trial before Judge Kevin M. McCarthy could last two to three weeks, attorneys said. 

McCarthy said the first witnesses could be called as early as Thursday afternoon. 

The disputed baseball, which could be worth a reported $1 million, is currently being held in a safe-deposit box, with the court in possession of the keys.

REDWOOD CITY – A Foster City man charged with murdering his family by driving off a cliff into the Pacific told rescuers that his foot was stuck on the accelerator, according to court records. 

Investigators think Eddie Rapoza, 35, intended to kill himself, his wife, Raye Lynn, 34, the 7- month-old fetus she carried, and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter in the Oct. 6 crash off Moss Beach. 

According to witnesses, Rapoza kept repeating, “My foot was stuck” after he was rescued. 

Investigators have not said why they think Rapoza may have tried to kill his family and himself, but have noted past cases of alleged domestic violence between Rapoza and his wife. 

Rapoza has a history of mental illness, according to past arrest warrants, including an incident in April when police placed him in protective custody after he allegedly threatened to kill himself should his wife ever leave. 

Raye Lynn died at the scene. Her daughter died Oct. 7. 

Rapoza is being held without bail in San Mateo County Jail and has not entered a plea to three counts of murder, plus a special circumstance of multiple murder that could involve the death penalty.

Former priest arrested 

for sexual assualts 

SAN RAFAEL – The San Rafael Police Department arrested a former Catholic priest Tuesday for sexual offenses he allegedly committed against a teen girl during the 1970s. 

Police said they arrested Anthony Murnig, 59, at his home in Sonoma County and then booked him into the Marin County Jail on a felony warrant. His bail is set at $1 million. 

The Marin County District Attorney was notified in May by the San Francisco Archdiocese of victims who had reported instances of sexual abuse at the hands of church officials. 

According to the Police Department, an unidentified woman reported that Murnig repeatedly assaulted her between 1970 and 1974 while he was in residence at St. Sebastian Church in Greenbrae and a faculty member at Marin Catholic High School. 

She told police that the first assault occurred in the church rectory when she was 15 and that they continued on a regular basis over the next four years at various church locations and at Murnig's home. 

Sudden Oak Death council grows 

SANTA ROSA – Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors today was expected to join a council comprised of the 12 Bay Area counties affected by Sudden Oak Death. 

The proposed California Sudden Oak Death Coastal Counties Council would work with the state’s Oak Mortality Task Force in getting their legislative delegations to fund the fight against the disease that has killed tens of thousands of oak trees and infected unrelated plant species in northern California and southern Oregon. 

The resolution before the supervisors states that “a structure is needed to coordinate the efforts of counties, cities and special districts affected by Sudden Oak Death in pursuit of the continuing government funding necessary to fight the disease.” 

Neighboring cops could shed light on bank robbery 

BURLINGAME – Police in neighboring cities may recognize at least one of the robbers who shot and killed a manager during a bank takeover in Burlingame last week. 

Investigators from Redwood City, Palo Alto and San Mateo County sheriff’s detectives are scheduled to meet with Burlingame police later this week to share information on the suspect. 

Police in the other cities recognized one of the robbers in a bank surveillance photo because of a white bandage on his nose. Burlingame police believe the robber fired the bullet that killed bank manager Alice Martel, 34, on Friday. 

Investigators say a man matching that description stood lookout during a Sept. 16 robbery of a Palo Alto restaurant. On Sept. 12, the same man, with his taped-up nose, robbed a Shell gas station in Redwood City. 

Burlingame police released surveillance photos of the three suspects Sunday. Wells Fargo is offering a $50,000 reward.

SACRAMENTO – State regulators announced Tuesday measures to add volunteers to help monitor nursing homes and to expand a consumer assistance program for residents and their families. 

The Davis administration will also seek legislation to double or treble fines for nursing homes with repeat violations, said state health officials. 

California’s Health and Human Services Agency will expand to statewide a pilot program that puts volunteer ombudsmen in nursing homes to advocate for patients, said Grantland Johnson, secretary of the agency. 

The Department of Aging’s long-term care ombudsman program currently has 1,300 volunteers who monitor patient care and complaints at nursing homes, and the expansion will add another 650 ombudsmen. 

Created in the 1970s, the program is paid for by fines collected from nursing homes, said Brenda Klutz, DHS’ deputy director for licensing and certification. 

The agency will also expand the Health Facility Consumer Assistance program, which Johnson called “a one-stop shop for help and questions on nursing homes.” 

Now a pilot program in 23 Northern California counties, the assistance enter will be able to respond to more than 200,000 calls annually once it is expanded, Klutz said. It received 2,000 in its first two months. 

“These are folks who go to facilities on a weekly basis,” Klutz said. “They’re wonderful at resolving issues. They’re community resources who help families with questions about Social Security, Medicare, and are overall resident advocates.” 

The changes are part of Gov. Gray Davis’ Aging with Dignity Initiative. 

Davis will ask lawmakers to approve doubling fines for nursing homes with B violations, those infractions that don’t cause any harm to residents, to a range of $200 to $2,000, said Department of Health Services Director Diana Bonta. 

Fines for A violations, which result from a resident being harmed or a situation that has the potential to cause serious harm, will triple for repeat violations within 24 months, she said. 

Fines for A violations can range from $2,000 to $20,000. Under the proposal, if a violation is repeated, the second fine would be treble the original amount, Klutz said. 

Additionally, nursing homes will be required to notify DHS of any pending court actions, Bonta said. 

Legislators will have to approve the proposal to increase fine, but the state can change the consumer information center and ombudsman program immediately, Klutz said.

SAN FRANCISCO – It was all smiles Tuesday at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting, where the sometimes contentious panel voted 11-0 to give the city’s Olympic bid a vital green light – three years ahead of schedule. 

“San Francisco is now poised to become the U.S. candidate city in November,” said a confident-sounding Anne Cribbs, a former Olympian who heads the Bay Area team seeking to bring the Summer Games to the region in 2012. After the U.S. Olympic Committee chooses between San Francisco and New York City in a couple weeks, the International Olympic Committee will make the final selection of the host city in 2005. 

Tuesday’s vote grants power to – in fact, compels – the city mayor to sign a contract in that year should San Francisco eventually beat other contenders such as Paris. It also removes a clause in the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee’s agreement with the city that would allow San Francisco to withdraw in case of the committee’s default. 

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who heads the board’s Finance Committee, authored the measure and said he was satisfied that the city is protected by a series of enforceable agreements with the bid committee. A deputy city attorney explained that the committee has put together a $250 million insurance fund in addition to other contractual obligations to protect city tax payers. 

Outside the board’s chambers at City Hall, Cribbs said her group has used conservative figures to come up with its $2.4 billion budget and anticipated $2.8 billion revenues. She pointed out that a key factor in keeping costs down is that the Bay Area already has 80 percent of the needed structures.  

“When you get into trouble is when you build a lot of things like in Montreal (in 1976),” she said.  

Cribbs said the U.S. Olympic Committee decision is due late in the day on Nov. 2 in Colorado Springs, Colo. She said Tuesday’s vote provides the committee “some level of comfort” that San Francisco would not back out of the deal if chosen, as Denver did several decades ago.

SACRAMENTO – More of the fastest-growing businesses, as ranked by Inc. Magazine, are from California than from any other state, negating an impression the state’s business climate is too unfriendly, state officials said. 

“Three of the top 10 fastest-growing companies in America are in California, and 58 of the top 500 are in California, substantially more than any other state,” said Gov. Gray Davis. “And even though we’re dealing with a national recession, California has maintained policies that promote growth and encourage innovation.” 

Of the 58 California companies that made the list, 23 were from the Bay Area, 17 were from Los Angeles and 11 were from San Diego. 

Texas had the next highest number of companies on the list, with 47 firms. Florida had 31 companies and New York had 28. 

The magazine ranked Outsource Group of Walnut Creek, Calif., as the nation’s fastest-growing company. Outsource, which provides professional personnel services to businesses, grew 54,330 percent in five years, with sales of $294.5 million in 2001. 

Inc. Magazine will release its list at the end of October. This is the second year that California, the nation’s most populous state, ranked first on this list. 

The state’s good showing also is contrary to the impression that California’s economy was “incredibly dependent on a smoke and mirrors, dot-com economy,” said Karen Dillon, executive editor of Inc. Magazine. “This is good evidence that there’s a lot more breadth and depth” to the state’s economy. 

California, with the fifth largest economy in the world, has a gross state product of $1.4 trillion. 

The 500 companies on the magazine’s list had an average five-year sales growth of 1,521 percent. The average figure for last year’s list was 1,933 percent. 

Average sales for the top 500 companies dropped slightly, from $24.9 million to $24.7 million, Dillon said. The technology sector remains the leading industry, with 40 percent of the firms.

SAN FRANCISCO – Pressplay, the joint online music venture of Sony Corp. and Vivendi Universal SA, has inked a deal with BMG to add its music catalog to the song streaming and download service. 

The deal, announced Monday, brings pressplay one step closer to providing content from all five major recording companies. BMG’s roster of top artists includes Christina Aguilera, Placido Domingo and The Strokes and the deal means pressplay will now have music content from Sony, Universal, BMG and EMI available to its customers. 

“The addition of this fourth major music company is another important step forward for pressplay. Following the successful launch of our latest version, which includes commercial-free radio, pressplay continues to deliver to our members the features and music they want,” said Michael Bebel, president and chief executive officer of pressplay. 

“We are pleased to make our music available through pressplay,” said Michael Smellie, BMG’s chief operating officer. “This license agreement further demonstrates BMG’s commitment to bringing music to consumers online in a way that is dynamic and respects our artists’ rights.” 

A source close to pressplay’s chief competitor, MusicNet, said it’s just days away from bringing the same Big Five companies under one corporate online roof to offer a wide array of digital song downloads. 

The source told The AP that MusicNet had completed an agreement with Universal and was poised to sign another agreement with Sony within days. 

MusicNet is the joint venture of AOL Time Warner, Inc., EMI Group PLC and Bertelsmannn AG. Neither MusicNet nor pressplay currently offers content from each of the five major companies, nor have the ventures divulged how many people have subscribed to the services.

WASHINGTON – The maker of America’s fastest train is shopping around a new product that could bring high-speed rail service to areas outside the Northeast. 

Bombardier Transportation says its new “JetTrain” locomotive, powered by a jet engine, can reach 150 mph without needing overhead electrical lines like those used by Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express. 

Bombardier led the consortium that built Acela Express, which operates in the Boston-New York-Washington corridor – the only electrified intercity corridor in the nation. 

Pierre Lortie, president of Montreal-based Bombardier, said Tuesday he is confident the equipment problems that have plagued Acela Express will not hurt sales of the new locomotive. 

He said several states are developing high-speed rail, and the company is targeting proposed high-speed lines within California, between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, between Chicago and St. Louis, between Tampa and Orlando in Florida, and between Toronto and Montreal. 

Lortie said the company could begin closing deals in the next few months. 

Bombardier has worked on the JetTrain for four years in partnership with the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration. Each side has invested about $20 million, Lortie said. 

The company says the new locomotive fits American demands because it is environmentally friendly, lightweight – thus causing less wear and tear on tracks – and capable of going into operation without major improvements to rail lines. 

“We believe JetTrain high-speed rail is the technology for America because it’s better, it’s faster and it’s sooner,” said Lecia Stewart, Bombardier’s vice president for high-speed rail for North America. 

The locomotive is powered by a Pratt & Whitney jet engine rather than a traditional diesel engine. Bombardier says it is 20 percent lighter than a diesel locomotive and can accelerate twice as quickly. It is also designed to meet stringent U.S. safety standards. 

Development of the non-electric locomotive is one piece of an ongoing effort by the Federal Railroad Administration to pave the way for high-speed rail around the nation. 

Bombardier showed off its new product at Union Station. The prototype locomotive – cherry red, with an American flag decal and the words “Turbine Powered” on its snub nose – sat at a station platform. 

The Federal Railroad Administration did not participate in the event, since it was a commercial product kickoff. But spokesman Warren Flateau said the FRA remains “very much a part of the partnership.” 

Also not represented at the event was Amtrak, which despite its financial woes remains the only current provider of regularly scheduled intercity passenger rail in the United States. Amtrak says it needs $1.2 billion from the government just to maintain operations for the next year and has shelved expansion plans, including those for high-speed rail. 

Lortie acknowledged that Amtrak could be a potential purchaser but said high-speed projects being developed outside Amtrak’s oversight are more promising. 

He specifically cited Florida, where voters two years ago passed a constitutional amendment requiring construction of a rail network, with trains exceeding 120 mph, by November 2003. 

Amtrak and Bombardier are locked in a legal battle over production delays and equipment problems that marred the introduction of Acela Express. 

Bombardier, a world leader in manufacturing regional jets and train cars, sued Amtrak in 2000, contending the railroad held up production through shifting demands and bad decisions. It is seeking at least $200 million in damages. 

Amtrak blames Bombardier and says that, under its contract, it reserves the right to seek more than $250 million in penalties. On Sept. 30, a judge denied Amtrak’s motion to dismiss the case. 

Amtrak and Bombardier continue to work together on equipment problems that grounded the Acela Express fleet for part of August. Lortie said the cracking that occurred underneath the high-speed locomotives was “an unfortunate technical issue, but I think it is behind us.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The one suspect investigators had in the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s does not match DNA evidence, a newspaper reported Tuesday. 

Traces of saliva gathered from the cryptic letters the killer sent to police do not match the DNA of the late Arthur Leigh Allen, Vallejo police inspector Kelly Carroll told the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Allen was the sole suspect named in the serial killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s. 

“Arthur Leigh Allen does not match the partial DNA fingerprint developed from bona fide Zodiac letters,” he said. 

Carroll and inspector Michael Maloney, however, recently found more evidence in the case that may help them create a full DNA profile of the person who killed five people from 1968 to 1969. The Zodiac killer used 21 coded letters to toy with police, similar to what the sniper in the Washington, D.C., suburbs currently is doing. 

One of the letters read: “This is Zodiac speaking” and “I am in control of all things.” 

Last week, the Washington-area sniper apparently left a tarot card that said “Dear Policeman, I am God” before gunning down one of his 11 victims, nine of which have died. 

In the Zodiac case, new technology enabled investigators to use brain tissue taken from Allen’s autopsy in 1992 to compare with the saliva on the letters. They didn’t match. 

Allen, a school teacher and child molester, always maintained he wasn’t guilty of the slayings in Napa and Solano counties and in San Francisco. Before he died, he told reporters he passed a 10-hour lie detector test along with being fingerprinted, interrogated and made to give handwriting samples.

LAS VEGAS – Protesters capped a weekend of demonstrations and arrests at the Nevada Test Site and the planned Yucca Mountain radioactive waste dump with a rally in Las Vegas claiming minority communities are disproportionately contaminated by federal nuclear facilities. 

Officials said 66 people were arrested or issued summonses Saturday, Sunday and Monday, including some who refused to identify themselves and remained jailed in Beatty until the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada intervened. 

“We are coming together from across the world to say no to nuclear energy and nuclear weapons,” Mildred McClain of Citizens for Environmental Justice of Savannah, Ga., said during the Monday rally outside the Grant Sawyer federal building in Las Vegas. 

About 24 black, Hispanic and American Indian demonstrators claimed increased rates of cancer, birth defects and skin disorders in minority communities near nuclear facilities in South Carolina, Washington, New Mexico and Nevada and a chemical plant in Mississippi. 

In Beatty, eight anti-nuclear demonstrators were released by the Nye County Sheriff’s Department after the ACLU intervened about noon Monday. 

Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke said law enforcers at the federal test site have long detained protesters who refuse to give their names. 

Protests and rallies are common at the gate to the test site, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

ACLU lawyer Allen Lichtenstein said the arresting officers mistakenly cited a state law requiring suspects to provide their names upon arrest. He said the law has been invalidated by federal courts. 

Most of the 66 men and women were issued trespassing summonses at gates to the test site, said Darwin Morgan, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in North Las Vegas. He said five were issued summonses for trespassing at the Yucca Mountain Project field office at the test site. 

The administration, a branch of the Energy Department, operates the test site, where 928 full-scale nuclear weapons tests were conducted from 1951 to 1992.

PORTLAND, Ore. – A man accused of conspiring to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks pleaded innocent Tuesday. 

A federal indictment accuses Ahmed Bilal and five others, including his brother Muhammad Bilal, of conspiring to wage war against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and to provide material support to the Taliban and al-Qaida. 

The indictment says three of the suspects never made it to Afghanistan to carry out their plan; it does not say whether the others did. All had ties to Portland. 

Five of the suspects, all American Muslims, are in custody in Portland; with Bilal’s plea, all have pleaded innocent. The sixth suspect, Jordanian Habis Abdulla al Saoub, is still at large. 

The case is one of two in the country against alleged terrorist cells. The other accuses six people in Lackawanna, N.Y.

SAN DIEGO – The trial of a former toxicologist accused of poisoning her husband began Tuesday with prosecutors using a series of passionate e-mails and a glass drug pipe to illustrate the twin obsessions they claim led her to commit murder: a torrid office affair and an addiction to methamphetamine. 

Kristin Rossum, 25, is accused of murdering Greg de Villers, 26, with a drug 100 times more powerful than heroin and sprinkling his body with red rose petals in a faked suicide scene that was reminiscent of her favorite film, “American Beauty.” 

Rossum gave her husband the fatal dose of fentanyl on Nov. 6, 2000, after he threatened to reveal her drug use and her affair with her superior at the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, prosecutor Dan Goldstein said. 

“She believed the only way to protect herself was to kill her husband,” Goldstein said. 

However, defense lawyer Alex Loebig said Rossum’s drug use has been exaggerated and that her affair was no secret. He contended that de Villers took his own life because he was upset over his unraveling marriage. 

“Almost any suicide is a surprise,” Loebig said in his opening statement before a packed courtroom. “Who could have known, outside Kristin, how unhappy he was?” 

Rossum will give jurors the inside story of her marriage later in the trial, which is expected to last several weeks. 

Prosecutors showed the 12 jurors a series of e-mails retrieved from Rossum’s computer that chronicled the affair with her married boss, Michael Robertson, that consumed her life. 

In one message Rossum tells her boss, “When I see you ... I see my future.” 

Robertson, who has returned to his native Australia, has not been charged and will not testify, Goldstein said, but will be a key figure in the trial. 

The prosecutor painted for jurors a portrait of a defendant who, as a daughter of a former Reagan Justice Department official, was born into a life of wealth and privilege. 

“She was affable, affluent, articulate and built to succeed,” Goldstein said. But Rossum also developed a secret addiction to the stimulant methamphetamine, which wreaked havoc on her life even as she tried to conceal it to protect her image. 

“Image was everything to her,” Goldstein said. 

During Tuesday’s opening statement, Rossum at times became tearful. She intensely scribbled notes to her attorney. When Goldstein told jurors she had used a variety of drugs throughout her life, Rossum held up a note to her attorney that read: “I never used crack ever.” 

After she met de Villers in late 1994, Rossum cleaned up her act. They married in 1999 and she landed a job at the medical examiner’s office, which failed to run a background check on her, Goldstein said. Such a check might have shown her history of drug use and a suicide attempt, he said. 

The following year Rossum began having a series of romances with her co-workers. None of them were as serious as her romance with Robertson. 

“It went from a fling to a motive within months,” Goldstein said. 

Goldstein suggested Rossum had carefully staged the crime scene in the couple’s apartment, leaving a shredded love note, a journal filled with lies, and the rose petals — all to mislead authorities. 

“She was out of control. She was using dangerous drugs. She was having an affair that had reached an apocalypse,” he said. 

Prosecutors contend Rossum stole the fentanyl used to kill de Villers from a locker at her office. But Loebig said it would be illogical for her to have chosen fentanyl because she knew investigators would find the drug in his blood. 

Rossum was fired in December 2000 because of her drug use. Robertson also lost his job for failing to report the problem. 

Rossum was arrested in June 2001. The special circumstance charge of poisoning made her eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they would instead seek a sentence of life in prison without chance for parole if she is convicted. 

Rossum was released on $1.25 million bond in January. 

Testimony began Tuesday with prosecutors calling to the stand the first paramedic to arrive at the couple’s apartment after Rossum called 911 to report de Villers was not breathing. 

Superior Court Judge John Thompson has issued a gag order, preventing anyone connected to the case from speaking publicly about it. He also has banned cameras from the courtroom.

VOLCANO, Hawaii – Mauna Loa is stirring after an 18-year pause, and an eruption could be devastating to the neighborhoods built on the giant volcano’s slopes in the intervening years, scientists said Monday. 

“There has been a substantial amount of development on what has historically been the most hazardous part of Mauna Loa — its southwest rift zone above South Point,” said Peter Cervelli, a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Service’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

“Though lava flows can reach Hilo on the eastern side of the island and the Gold Coast resorts of Kona in the west, flows are much more likely to inundate the subdivisions in the southwest rift zone — and possibly without much warning.” 

Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843. In spring 1984, Mauna Loa erupted for three weeks, sending a 16-mile lava flow toward Hilo. Since then, the USGS estimates that more than $2.3 billion has been invested in new construction along Mauna Loa’s slopes. 

“In some cases they’re building on lava flows that are less than 100 years old,” Cervelli said. 

Scientists from Stanford University recently joined the observatory in monitoring the 13,500-foot volcano, which began to stir on May 12. 

Recent geophysical data collected on the surface has revealed that Mauna Loa’s summit caldera has begun to swell and stretch at a rate of 2 to 2 1/2 inches a year, which can be a precursor of an eruption. 

“It has not erupted in 18 years but that is an extremely long pause,” Cervelli said. “We’re at a stage where it’s months to years, rather than days to weeks.” 

“Mauna Loa is capable of erupting huge volumes of lava in a relatively short period of time, and the flows can reach great distances,” said Paul Segall, a professor of geophysics at Stanford who has worked with USGS volcanologists in Hawaii since 1990. “It presents a more significant safety hazard than Kilauea.” 

Scientists are working to detect an eruption as early as possible to give people a chance to evacuate the populated areas. 

“Earthquakes will always precede the movement of magma to the surface,” said Cervelli. “In our experience, it’s going to be at least hours.

WASHINGTON – Hikers, mountain climbers, hunters and others who could find themselves lost or hurt will have a new way to call for help: a handheld device that signals the same satellite rescue system that has watched over pilots and boaters for two decades. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which runs the rescue system, plans to announce the new program Wednesday. The “personal locator beacons” will be available to the public starting July 1 and will cost $300 or more. 

“We’re going to see a lot of usage among those who spend a lot of time in the outdoors, who go into really remote places where cell phones just don’t work,” said Lt. Daniel Karlson, a NOAA spokesman. 

Karlson said outdoor outfitters will sell or rent the beacons. People taking long car trips would be better off with cell phones, he said, but they also could carry beacons in case emergencies occur where phones don’t work. 

The beacon sends an electronic SOS to satellites, which relay the distress call through an NOAA control center in Suitland, Md., outside Washington. NOAA then contacts local rescuers. 

Australia, Canada, Russia and several European countries already allow broad use of personal beacons. 

Use of the beacons in the United States has been limited to planes and ships because the agencies involved weren’t ready to coordinate a nationwide rescue system on land, Karlson said. The few exceptions included personal beacons used by Forest Service rangers and in the escape kits of NASA astronauts. 

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission approved the use of personal beacons on land. The agency said the devices will make rescuers’ jobs easier, saving lives, time and money. 

A test program in Alaska, which has allowed the use of personal beacons since 1994, has resulted in hundreds of rescues. 

“It takes the search out of search and rescue,” said Randy Crosby, who directs rescue teams in Barrow, Alaska’s northernmost city. 

In its 20 years of operation, the satellite rescue system has helped save close to 14,000 people worldwide, including about 4,300 in the United States. 

One was Mike Ryan, 46, a stunt driver from Los Angeles. In 1985, the small plane he was flying crashed, leaving him with crushed feet and ankles in a remote area of New Mexico. 

The crash set off his plane’s beacon, and rescue crews found him 17 hours later. He said it was just in time: “I had enough blood for maybe another hour.” 

The satellite rescue system was born in 1972 after a plane carrying two congressmen crashed in a remote part of Alaska. A massive, 39-day search found no trace of House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La., or Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska. 

Congress responded by requiring every U.S. aircraft to carry a transmitter that would broadcast a homing signal after a crash. 

Ultimately, the United States, Canada, France and the Soviet Union created the satellite rescue system. The operation now involves 32 countries with ground stations around the world. 

In Alaska last year, 54 people were rescued after using personal beacons. Many rescues in the state involve stranded snowmobilers. 

“They’re out in the middle of nowhere,” Karlson said. “They fire off their beacon because they know they’ve got a three-day walk and it’s 35-below out and they’d be dead in three hours.” 

A low rate of false alarms in the Alaska program is one reason the service can be extended nationwide, Karlson said. 

There are no penalties for accidental false alarms, but people who deliberately misuse the devices can be fined $250,000, imprisoned for six years and made to pay rescue costs, Karlson said. 

He said the government works to educate beacon owners so “someone doesn’t go out there and stub their toe and trip this thing off.” 

“We want this as a last resort,” he said. 

The personal beacons send out two signals, one to alert satellites that can determine a location within a couple of miles and a weaker homing signal to guide rescuers to a precise spot. Some models use global positioning technology to broadcast an even more accurate location. 

Each beacon must be registered, to let rescuers know who is in trouble and how to contact friends or relatives. Companies that rent beacons must have their customer information available for authorities.

NEW YORK — So far this season, David Letterman has gotten the prime-time help he asked for from CBS. 

Three of the top 15 shows in the Nielsen Media Research rankings last week were weeknight offerings aired at 10 p.m. on CBS — the very time slot Letterman wanted improved when he was negotiating a new contract last spring. 

There has been little immediate impact on the ratings battle between Letterman’s “Late Show” and NBC’s “Tonight” show with Jay Leno, however. 

Letterman wanted CBS to work on blunting NBC’s advantage in the 10 p.m. time slots. The theory is: If more viewers are watching CBS at that hour, they’d be inclined to stay with CBS through the local news and then Letterman at 11:35 p.m. 

CBS’ lone returning strong show in that hour is “Judging Amy,” which had 14.4 million viewers last week. 

CBS has established the Monday spinoff, “CSI: Miami,” as a top 10 show, as many analysts anticipated. More unexpected is the strong showing of Thursday’s “Without a Trace,” which drew just under 16 million viewers last week despite competing against “ER” (which had 24.7 million viewers). 

The new CBS shows on Wednesday and Friday, “Presidio Med” and “Robbery Homicide Division,” haven’t caught on, however. 

With only two weeks of late-night ratings available, both Leno and Letterman are down 12 percent in viewers from last year. Both shows had a ratings boost last fall as more viewers stayed up late after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Rob Burnett, “Late Show” executive producer, said Letterman’s show has seen some strong ratings in big cities on Mondays and Thursdays. 

“We still have a ways to go,” Burnett said. “We’re not going to all of a sudden be the No. 1 show, but it’s encouraging.” 

But NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said that because there’s been no change at all in the margin between the two late-night hosts, Letterman’s theory doesn’t hold water. 

“The fact of the matter is America decided between these two guys long ago,” Zucker said. 

In prime time, CBS won the week. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” with 30.7 million viewers, eclipsed NBC’s “Friends” as the week’s most popular show. 

CBS averaged 13.2 million viewers for the week (8.9 rating, 15 share), NBC had 12.4 million (8.3, 14), Fox, helped by the baseball playoffs, took third place with 10.1 million viewers (6.7, 11) and ABC had 10 million (6.4, 10). 

A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. 

For the week of Oct. 7-13, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 19.4; “Friends,” NBC, 16.6; “ER,” NBC, 16.1; “Law & Order,” NBC, 13.8; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 13.3; “Will & Grace,” NBC, 13.3; “Survivor: Thailand,” CBS, 12.3; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 12.1; “Scrubs,” NBC, 11.6; “The West Wing,” NBC, 10.9.

Ready to get rid of that old mercury thermometer? You may want to hold off a bit. 

On Tuesday, City Council will consider asking staff to organize a thermometer exchange in which mercury thermometer owners can trade in their ancient instrument for a shiny new electronic one. 

Despite age-old fears that if a mercury thermometer breaks in your mouth you instantly die, the measure’s sponsor, Councilmember Kriss Worthington is more concerned about what happens when the thermometer is thrown away. 

“Mercury is very dangerous,” said Worthington. 

Once in a landfill, Worthington said, mercury – a potent toxin that has been shown to cause developmental disorders in babies – can leak into outlying areas contaminating water and soil. 

When the mercury is then consumed by humans, which happens most frequently by eating contaminated fish, it can infiltrate a human fetus, said Susan Lee, environmental health associate with the California Public Interest Research Group Charitable Trust (CALPRIG). Lee noted that one in 10 women of childbearing age have dangerous levels of mercury in their bodies. 

Fear of mercury exposure has prompted a recent rash of legislative action. 

In July, California banned the sale of mercury thermometers without a prescription, and in September the U.S. Senate passed an identical bill. Worthington’s measure would also ban the sale of mercury thermometers even with a prescription. 

Worthington acknowledged a thermometer exchange might cost the city thousands at a time when funds are tight, but said the idea has merit. 

“There could be thousands [of mercury thermometers] and this gets them out of use,” he said. Worthington envisions a city exchange site where a resident brings a mercury thermometer and a city official disposes it so that there is no danger of a mercury leak. 

He noted that the city currently runs similar exchanges for batteries and lead paint. 

The effort to close the chapter on mercury thermometers is the easiest battle in the fight against mercury contamination, said Lee. Several household products also contain mercury, including fluorescent lamps and laptop computers.  

Lee said that while mercury thermometer makers are primarily located in China and India and have little domestic clout, light bulb and computer makers have so far defeated efforts to reduce mercury use in their products.  

Complicating matters, Lee said, is that fluorescent lights are far more energy efficient than standard bulbs, so politicians are hesitant to call for a ban. 

“We think light bulb companies need to develop an energy efficient bulb that is less toxic,” Lee said. 

Worthington said the city should assist in CALPRIG’s efforts. 

“If we can strengthen statewide regulations and explore innovative ways, Berkeley can go beyond the state. We can provide a model for what a city can do,” he said.

To the Editor: 

I was truly disheartened to read in the Daily Planet (Oct. 11) that the Planning Commission may be convinced to lift the three-year old moratorium on new fast food restaurants in downtown Berkeley. This is outrageous. Not only should fast food continue to be banned in downtown Berkeley, the moratorium should be extended to all city limits.  

In addition, we read articles every day about the obesity of Americans. It is my opinion that persons from the lower economic classes suffer the most from choosing the option of fast food. On the surface, it appears cheaper and more accessible than non-processed and home-cooked meals. In the end, health is impaired and physical, mental and economic costs are higher for persons who succumb to the fast food diet habits.  

Berkeley must not sell out to those merchants who recommend lifting the ban on the basis of economics. Public health and welfare should be a much higher priority than profits, and the citizens of Berkeley should demand and support the local and very diverse variety of eateries already established in this town. Let’s not succumb to the big box fast food establishments that contribute to poor health, litter and boring food choices.  

I strongly urge the Planning Commission to support the continued ban on fast food restaurants in downtown Berkeley and to please consider taking that ban to the city limits. 

M. Breunig 

Berkeley

Wednesday, Oct. 16 & Nov. 14 

Hormone Replacement Seminar 

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

204-4422 

Reservations required. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Home Remodeling Class 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Berkeley South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 

Organized by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 

567-8280 

Free 

“Alternatives to War on Terrorism: A Multicultural Perspective” 

7 p.m. 

Ethnic Studies Library, Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley 

Ethnic studies professor Ron Takaki, author of 11 books, will speak. 

Free 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Speak Out: A Forum on Women’s Health Issues 

7 to 9 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

Discuss issues such as domestic violence, disparities in health care, youth health issues, and alternative health care. 

981-5106 

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Homecoming Rally 

9 p.m. 

Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley 

Come rally with the Cal band, the dance team, the UC Men’s Octet, and more. 

388-4789 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Dog Wash Sunday 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Kutz for Mutz, 911 University Ave.  

Get your dog shampooed while helping out rescued dogs. Proceeds benefit Smiley Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing abused or abandoned pups. 

(760) 924-3961 

$15-$30 depending on the dog. 

The Buddy Club Season Opener 

1 to 2 p.m 

The Berkeley JCC Theater, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose St. 

Audience participation shows for kids age two through twelve and their parents. 

236-SHOW 

$7 / under 2 yrs. free 

Monday, Oct. 21 

War in Iraq- Why? 

7 p.m. 

2951 Derby St. 

Women for Peace invites you to discuss war in Iraq, with an emphasis on women’s viewpoints. 

526-5094 

Tuesday, Oct. 15 

Open mic 

7:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough 

3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082, Free / 21 and over 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Four minute mile and the avenue of the stars. 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over 

Amy Rigby and Dwayne Jarvis 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$7 / 21 and over 

Steve Harris 

8 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

An evening of acoustic soul and explosive poetry celebrating Harris’ CD and poetry release. 

849-2568 

$10 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Santo Soul, La Familia, and Marimba Pacifica 

8 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, dancing, folkloric presentations, and a raffle. 

548-6914 

$15 

Ian Moore, Sonya Hunter ad Blu Sanders 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-2082 

$6 / 21 and over 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Charonson 

9:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center, 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Come get your groove on to this live salsa band. Dance class at 8:15 p.m. 

849-2568 

$12 / $15 with class 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Madeline Eastman with  

the Matt Clark Trio 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

Please Pay Attention” 

Through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free. 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 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 

Alarms and Excursions 

Nov. 15 through Dec. 22 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

Michael Frayn's comedy about  

the irony of modern technology. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

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-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy exploring the interactions of a highly dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Wednesday, Oct. 16 

Poetry Slam 

8:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

Hosted by Charles Ellik, $90 in cash prizes. 

841-2082 

$7 or $5 students / 21 and over 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

“Rethinking the American Dream: Songs of the Simple Life” 

7 p.m. 

Central Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kitteredge St. 

Writer and bicyclist Tim Holt will give an informal talk based on his new book. 

981-6100 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invted. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation. 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

“Sara’s Children; The Destruction of Chmielnik” 

7:30 p.m. 

Barnes & Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 

Journalist Suzan Hagstrom will speak on her nonfiction book, which delves into the Holocaust. 

644-3635 

“A Language Older Than Words” 

7 p.m. 

2350 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

An evening with author Derrick Jensen, with music by Andrea Pritchett. 

548-2220 

$6-$10/ Sliding scale. 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

An evening with Simon Winchester 

7 p.m. 

Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center, UC Berkeley 

Join the author of bestsellers “The Map That Changed the World” and “The Professor and the Madman”, along with Don George, global travel editor for Lonely Planet Publications, for an evening of lively conversations. 

893-8555 

Free 

Saturday Nov. 9, 16 

Alice Walker and Dorothy Allison appear in support of Boadecia’s Books 

8 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda at Solano 

559-9184 

$25, sliding scale. 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Magic School Bus Video Festival 

10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science Auditorium 

Seven differen video adventures. 

643-5961 

$8 adults, $6 youth 5-18 & seniors, $4 children 3-4, free for children under 3. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Benefit screening for “Bums’ Paradise”  

8 p.m. screening followed by party with live music from Marc Black / Funky Sex Gods 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Film explores the story of the homeless men and women who turned the former Albany Landfill into a community. 

525-5054 

Sliding scale / All welcome

SAN FRANCISCO — At long last, Barry Bonds will get his chance. 

Kenny Lofton hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning that sent Bonds to his first World Series as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Monday night to win the NL championship series. 

Bonds did his part in Game 5, hitting a tying sacrifice fly in the eighth off a determined Matt Morris. And now, in his 17th season, baseball’s biggest star will finally get a chance to play on baseball’s biggest stage. 

The first all wild-card World Series will start Saturday night at Anaheim when the Angels take on the Giants. 

Bonds, often criticized for being selfish and not interacting with his teammates, led the sprint from the Giants’ dugout to congratulate Lofton. The four-time MVP was the first player off the bench to reach him. 

“We played great,” Bonds said. “We’ve got a tough series ahead of us. The Angels have been playing great in the clutch. It’s going to be down to the wire with them. 

“We’ve got some gusty guys out here, just like the Angels,” he said. “Who would’ve thought two wild-card teams would make it? That’s just amazing.” 

The Cardinals, playing on emotion since the death of Darryl Kile in June, once again could not get a big hit when it counted. 

In the ninth, Morris retired the first two batters before David Bell and Shawon Dunston singled.

The University of California, pushing to conclude a year-old contract dispute with 18,000 secretaries, library assistants and childcare workers, has imposed an Oct. 31 deadline on the employees’ union to accept a two-year, 3.5 percent salary increase. 

University spokesperson Paul Schwartz declined to discuss the steps UC would take if the clerical workers, represented by the Coalition of University Employees, fail to meet the deadline. But if contract talks linger much longer, he said, the nine-campus UC system might declare an “impasse” in negotiations, sparking possible state intervention in the dispute. 

“If contract settlement doesn’t appear to be happening in the very near future, that may be the direction we’re headed,” Schwartz said. 

Union officials, who have asked for a 15 percent pay hike over two years, dismiss the Oct. 31 deadline as a “silly, idle threat.”  

Margy Wilkinson, chief negotiator for CUE, said the union’s board will formally discuss the university’s offer next week and will likely reject the 3.5 percent increase and issue a counter offer. She declined to speculate on whether the union will reduce its current request for a 15 percent pay hike. 

Wilkinson argued that, if the union rejects the 3.5 percent increase, the university would be ill-advised to declare an impasse. 

“We really have some bargaining to do and I think it’s irresponsible to go to impasse,” she said. 

Wilkinson said the union and university are far apart on wages, but argued that the two sides are close enough on workplace safety and layoff provisions in the contract to justify further negotiations. 

Schwartz had no comment on Wilkinson’s argument. 

Under California law, if the university declares an “impasse” the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which oversees contract negotiations between public employers and their employees, will decide whether there is truly a stalemate. 

If PERB agrees that talks have deadlocked, it may assign a state mediator. If the two sides are still unable to reach a resolution, a PERB panel makes a non-binding “finding of fact” and recommends a settlement. 

The parties can accept the PERB recommendation, or the university can impose the final contract offer it made before impasse proceedings. 

The two sides have been locked in difficult contract negotiations since May 2001, with wages and workplace safety serving as the primary stumbling blocks. 

UC Berkeley clerical workers, joined by lecturers and health center nurses, staged a strike in late August. Clericals on four other UC campuses began their own two-day strikes Monday. 

The local division of the Coalition of University Employees represents about 2,300 clericals at UC Berkeley and the Oakland offices of the UC president, Richard Atkinson.

To the Editor: 

May I briefly take exception to Mark Tarses’ letter (Forum, Oct. 11) on Berkeley's coffee debate? He notes correctly that Starbucks’ claim that it purchases organic, shade-grown and Fair Trade certified coffee is misleading, since “those purchases are just a tiny percentage of the total.” Tarses then concludes that “Starbucks would be doing itself a big favor by being more candid about the issue. People don't like the feeling that they are being played for suckers.” 

I believe, rather, that some people will welcome Starbucks’ half-truth, since the illusion that Starbucks is “doing the right thing” permits them to avoid taking responsibility for their coffee-consuming actions. Coffee is to Starbucks what oil is to U.S. oil companies, on whose behalf the Bush administration proposes to go to war. In both cases, propaganda – even if we sense that it is deceptive – is found acceptable if it promises to guarantee an uninterrupted supply of a commodity upon which our creature comfort seems to depend. 

Raymond Barglow 

Berkeley

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants have announced that tickets to possible World Series games between the Giants and Anaheim Angels at Pacific Bell Park will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday morning. 

Tickets will be available for purchase only at the Pac Bell Park ticket office, through the Giants Web site, www.sfgiants.com, or by phone at (510) 762-2277. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Larry Baer, Giants executive vice president and chief operating officer, said there will be 14,000 total tickets for all three World Series games available for sale. 

World Series ticket prices range from $60 to $145, with most of the tickets available for sale in the bleacher and view reserved sections. 

Fans will be allowed to purchase a maximum total of four World Series tickets. 

Fans purchasing tickets in person may pay with cash or Visa, MasterCard or Discover. Those buying tickets via the Internet must pay using a credit card. No personal checks will be accepted. 

Approximately 7,000 tickets, 50 percent of the tickets available, will be sold in person through the Pac Bell Park ticket office at Third and King streets. Hundreds of fans have already begun lining up today, Giants officials said. A total of 1,750 wristbands will be distributed to fans in line. A random number lottery system will then be used to determine the order of the line. 

The remaining 7,000 tickets will be available for purchase through the Giants Web site or by phone. 

If the Giants advance to the World Series, San Francisco would host Games 3 and 4 and, if necessary, Game 5, on Oct. 22, 23 and 24. Fans would be refunded for any unplayed games.

Tom Bates’ campaign officials refuted allegations Monday that the progressive candidate for mayor accepted illegal campaign contributions financed by tobacco and logging interests. 

“It’s just absolute nonsense,” said campaign Treasurer Mal Burnstein. “Obviously [Dean] is so desperate she’s stooping to a new low accusing Tom of taking tobacco money.” 

Monday’s allegation was the latest in a series of back and forth claims of illegal fund raising between the two campaigns. 

The Dean campaign publicized a complaint filed by Berkeley resident Sam Herbert Monday that claims Bates’ financial reports show donations from fund-raising committees of state politicians which were funded in part by questionable corporate contributions. Herbert cited eight donations totaling $1,700 that she said violate Berkeley laws prohibiting the acceptance of campaign money from corporations. 

“It’s a straight-up violation,” Schwartz said. He explained that because campaign committee funds come from a number of donors, it is impossible to make sure that specific donations to Bates don’t come from a corporate contributor. 

Among the allegations, Schwartz notes that on June 5, 2002 logging company Sierra Pacific Industries, of Redding, Calif., gave $3,000 to the campaign committee of state Senator Wesley Chesbro of Humboldt County who, on Aug. 24, wrote Bates a $250 check from the same account. 

Had Chesbro written Bates a check from a personal account instead of from the campaign committee account, the donation would have been legal, Schwartz said.  

But Burnstein, who has worked on several Berkeley mayoral campaigns, said the Dean campaign has misinterpreted the law. 

“They’re wrong. All that has to happen is that [the contributor] has to say that the money [from a campaign committee] has come from a legal source, and they have,” Burnstein said. 

He noted that campaign committees such as Chesbro’s also receive private donations which can be legally transferred into a donation for Bates. 

As long as the contributor assures a Berkeley candidate that the donation is from a non-corporate source, the donation is legal, Burnstein said.  

Burnstein also refuted a claim filed by Berkeley resident Marie Bowman Friday claiming that Bates’ reports show he had received four illegal contributions of $500. Berkeley campaign law sets donation limits at $250. 

According to Burnstein, the $500 listed under the spreadsheet column “Per Election To Date” was the result of a computer glitch. He said the spreadsheet program erroneously added the totals of the two preceding columns into the “Per Election To Date Column,” giving the incorrect total. 

“None of those people gave more than $250,” Burnstein assured. 

Both Bowman and Herbert said they were motivated to file their claims in response to charges filed by Burnstein last month claiming Dean misclassified about $3,000 of campaign contributions as office expenses. 

“The Bates attack on Dean irritated me personally,” said Herbert. “It made me wonder if Bates was as squeaky clean by contrast.” 

In a separate charge against Dean, Berkeley resident Carrie Olson said that Dean had accepted between $550 and $700 of illegal campaign contributions from her 1998 campaign. 

The Fair Campaign Practices Commission ruled that Dean was in “probable violation” of the law, but Dean said that she was acting on the advice of the city attorney. 

The campaign commission is scheduled to hear Bowman’s complaint at a session this Thursday. Because city offices were closed Monday for Indigenous People’s Day the commission has yet to set a date to hear Herbert’s complaint.

To the Editor: 

“Recent immigrant” Beatriz Batungbakal says that it is “unforgivable” that we Americans are so “careless” in mispronouncing the names of certain Middle Eastern countries, and that we may indeed be “hurting their feelings” (Forum, Sept. 30). 

My parents emigrated to this country after World War II for more opportunities and a better life. They learned English, the language of their adopted country, started a small business and were very grateful to be here. 

Immigrants continue to arrive for the same reasons but many now come with an attitude that they are owed something somehow. Many don’t wish to learn English. Hospitals are financially obligated to provide 24-hour translation services to serve any languages that come through their doors. Just take a trip to the department of motor vehicles to note that learner manuals come in almost every language on earth. 

Saul Grabia 

Berkeley

ST. LOUIS — Marc Bulger had every reason to be jittery. 

The St. Louis Rams quarterback was making his first NFL start because of injuries to two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner and backup Jamie Martin. What’s more, he was facing the NFL’s lone unbeaten team in the Oakland Raiders. 

Well, the Raiders are unbeaten no longer. They lost 28-13 to St. Louis, which won for the first time this season after five straight defeats. 

Bulger threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score and made no turnovers. His play complemented that of Marshall Faulk, who rushed for a season-high 158 yards against the defending NFC champions. 

“I want to keep things in perspective — we are still 1-5,” Bulger said. 

Bulger, a sixth-round draft choice out of West Virginia in 2000, completed 14 of 21 passes in his NFL debut. 

“I may not be the strongest arm in the world, but I have enough juice to get it there,” Bulger said. 

His first passes on the Rams’ opening series went 17 yards to Isaac Bruce and 50 to Torry Holt before his 7-yard TD toss to Bruce for a lead St. Louis never relinquished. 

“The guy is an amazing player,” said Warner, who is out with a broken finger. “I said it Day One, the guy has as much physical ability as anyone I’ve ever seen at the position. 

It was a great statement for him today, a big confidence boost for him and the team. 

“You can’t say enough about a guy who comes in in such a big game and plays with such poise.” 

The Raiders (4-1) entered averaging 40.5 points and 461.5 yards, tops in the league. 

“We felt coming in here that we had to answer their surge of energy,” Raiders coach Bill Callahan said. “We felt that they were a team that was desperate, that was on the ropes.” 

What Oakland got was a Rams team that played as many thought it would before staggering out of the gate. 

The Raiders pounced quickly, with Jerry Rice on his 40th birthday catching a 53-yard pass from Rich Gannon on the first play. That drive died at the St. Louis 3, when linebacker Tommy Polley stuffed Zack Crockett on fourth-and-1. 

“We wanted to jump on them very quickly to put doubt back in their game,” Callahan said, refusing to second-guess himself on that failed play.  

“It just didn’t work out that way.” 

Bulger immediately went to work, orchestrating a nine-play, 97-yard drive capped by his TD toss to Bruce. 

Rice finished with 133 yards on seven catches. 

Gannon threw for 332 yards on 30-of-45 efficiency, falling short of becoming the first NFL player to have at least 350 in four straight games. He connected with Terry Kirby for a 2-yard TD to get the Raiders to 28-13 with 8:05 left. 

Callahan said he wasn’t all that surprised by Bulger given that he got the bulk of playing time during preseason and understands the system. 

“We thought that with Bulger, they were going to have to lean on Marshall,” Callahan said. “I thought single-handedly, (Faulk) gave them hope and kept them alive.” 

Two special-teams mistakes by Oakland led to Bulger’s second TD pass.

A small group of union activists held a teach-in on the UC Berkeley campus Monday, supporting hundreds of lecturers and clerical employees striking at five other UC campuses over wages and job security. 

“They supported us during their strike and we’re supporting them,” said Claudette Begin of the Coalition of University Employees, which represents about 18,000 clericals on UC’s nine campuses. 

UC Berkeley clericals, lecturers and nurses held a strike in late August when fall classes began on that campus. Strikes at other campuses did not begin until Monday because UC’s eight other campuses are on a quarter, rather than a semester system, and classes only recently began. 

About 1,000 lecturers at UC campuses in Santa Cruz, Irvine, Davis, Riverside and Santa Barbara took part in strikes Monday. Clericals joined in at all the campuses except Irvine. 

The strikes will continue today and UC Berkeley unions plan to hold a large rally in support of the work stoppages at noon. 

Clericals are seeking 15 percent wage increases over the course of two years and improvements in workplace safety while lecturers are seeking greater job security. 

“We’re saying, as a policy, it’s really unacceptable to be treating faculty as disposable,” said Michelle Squitieri, UC Berkeley field representative for the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents the lecturers.  

University officials said they are working hard to resolve the issues at the bargaining table and accused the unions of engaging in illegal, counter-productive strikes. 

“Strikes are not going to serve anyone and they are probably going to frustrate and delay contract settlement,” said university spokesperson Paul Schwartz. 

Union officials say there are about 4,000 lecturers systemwide, including those who teach just one class, while the university puts the figure at 2,500.

To the Editor: 

Darcy Morrison (Forum, Oct. 7) rails against the proponents of “smart growth” because Berkeley is too small a portion of the total region to make “an impact on the housing market regionwide.” This is an argument against personal responsibility. If you apply Morrison’s logic to other endeavors you get conclusions that even Morrison presumably will eschew. Why conserve energy or water? Why recycle or use trash receptacles? Why not lie, steal or worse if you can get away with it? 

Any one person’s contribution to these activities makes little difference to their overall level. When enough people waste, litter, lie or worse, it is easy for the individual to get discouraged and feel that their effort and honesty are meaningless. The same holds for land use policies. Berkeley and the other urban areas of the region can make a major difference in land use if they act in concert. But if Berkeley drops out, there is less reason for other cities to act in a responsible manner. If enough cities drop out then we will indeed get the sprawl Morrsion and others are resigned to. 

The real discouraging part of this argument is that sprawl isn’t worth it. Elliot Cohen (Forum, Oct. 9) claims that growth in Berkeley will increase auto traffic, but his comparison is relative to no growth anywhere in the area. Unfortunately, until U.S. population stops growing we have to put it somewhere. The data that exists (see “Location Efficiency: Neighborhood and Socio-Economic Characteristics Determine Auto Ownership and Use - ...”, by Holtzclaw et. al. in Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 25(1),pp 1-27, March 2002) suggests that directing growth to Berkeley and other urban areas instead of rural areas will result in less overall regional auto ownership and use. It is not clear whether this will also result in less local traffic, but it is very clear that it will result in less traffic regionally, less air pollution, less habitat destruction and fewer traffic accidents and fatalities. Sprawl isn’t just ugly, it’s deadly. 

Robert Clear 

Berkeley

LOS ANGELES — An Orange County man on a Bali surfing trip to celebrate his 41st birthday is missing after a bombing on the resort island, his family and friends said Monday. 

Steven Brooks Webster of Huntington Beach traveled to the Indonesian island with two friends. All three were avid surfers. 

He and friend Steven Cabler were inside a nightclub Saturday night when a car bomb ripped through the building, killing more than 180 people and injuring hundreds. 

Another friend, John Frederick Parodi Jr., left the club just before the blast. He has been trying to locate his friend, but Webster remained unaccounted for Monday. 

Parodi has searched hospitals, posted photos of Webster, handed them out to authorities and looked through body bags, said Webster’s best friend, Trent Walker, who has spoken by telephone to Parodi and Cabler. 

“He has been unable to locate him, either alive or dead,” Walker said Monday. 

Webster’s wife, Mona, said from the couple’s Huntington Beach home that she has contacted a hospital in northern Australia where severely injured victims were airlifted for treatment. 

“I’ve been on the phone with those people,” she said. “I’ve been faxing his pictures.” 

The three friends had gone out to dinner and then to the Sari Club, a popular surfer hangout, but Parodi left and returned to their hotel, said Walker, 40, of Newport Beach. Cabler was sitting next to Webster at the bar about a half hour later when the bomb exploded and the roof collapsed on them. 

Cabler was able to pull himself out of the rubble, but he never saw Webster again, Walker said. 

Cabler, 42, of Newport Beach, was treated at a hospital for third-degree burns. He was headed back to California on Monday. Parodi, 42, of Huntington Beach, was scheduled to return home Tuesday. 

“Before he leaves he wants to get closure as to whether Steve made it or didn’t,” Walker said. 

Webster, who has a 5-year-old son and teenage stepdaughter, also golfs, sails and enjoys deep-sea fishing. He had been on previous surfing trips to Mexico and Fiji, but had never been to Bali, said Stephen Quartararo, who co-owns a Newport Beach environmental consulting firm with Webster. 

The friends began thinking about the trip a few years ago. 

“When you hit 40 and you have this last big thing on your mind, you want to do it,” he said. “It was a big moment in his life. 

They were supposed to leave the island a day and a half after the bomb attack, he Quartararo. 

“We’re trying to get all the photos out and make everyone aware in the event that if they see his face, somebody will recognize him,” he said.

SAN RAFAEL — Marin County health officials and community groups soon will be polling residents as part of an effort to learn why the scenic, affluent region north of San Francisco is home to one of the nation’s highest rates of breast cancer. 

The Marin Cancer Project has scheduled 3,000 volunteers to travel door-to-door through Novato, Corte Madera and other cities on Nov. 9 to raise awareness of breast cancer’s prevalence there and ask residents for clues as to why rates have climbed. 

According to the Northern California Cancer Center in Berkeley, white women living in Marin have a 45 percent greater chance of developing breast cancer than women anywhere else in the country. A study released in July by the center found the rate increased 37 percent from 1990 to 1999 in Marin, but remained flat in the rest of the San Francisco Bay area and California’s other urban counties. 

The researchers focused on white, non-Hispanic women because fewer than 10 cases of breast cancer are found each year in Hispanics, blacks or other populations in Marin County, which is 80 percent white. 

While residents and researchers alike continue to search for an environmental cause, some scientists believe socio-economic factors contribute to the high rate. 

Marin County boasts a per capital income more than 200 percent the U.S. average, 44 percent of its adults hold at least a bachelor’s degree. 

The habits linked with such a lifestyle — bearing fewer children, having them later in life or taking estrogen and other hormones to alleviate the onset of menopause — may trigger cancer, researchers say. 

Judi Shils, founder of the grassroots Marin County Cancer Project, said the group hopes to talk with 100,000 people and collect at least $1 per person to fund an epidemiology map of cancer incidences based on 20 years of statistics gathered by the cancer center. 

“I’m watching so many of my friends getting breast cancer and so many people in our lives getting prostate cancer,” said Shils, a Marin County resident who said she founded the organization because she is tired of so many unanswered questions. 

“If there’s something we can do to move forward we have to do it.”

ARCATA — Officials planned a Town Hall meeting Tuesday to see how residents feel about a city proclamation opposing an attack on Iraq. 

City Council candidate David Meserve of the Redwood Peace and Justice Center raised the issue with the City Council last week. He told members the Veterans for Peace group will bring a proclamation to the council soon. 

The council said it would consider the proclamation, but only after a public hearing and debate. 

Berkeley, Santa Cruz and San Francisco have approved similar declarations. 

Arcata opposed the 1991 Gulf War and declared itself a sanctuary for draft and war resisters. That move was later rescinded after local criticism that the city didn’t get enough public input before voting.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE — The nation’s missile defense system was successfully tested Monday night as a Minuteman II missile was destroyed in the atmosphere by an interceptor missile. 

The test provided a colorful light show for much of California, with the launch of the Minuteman II providing a contrail that people as far north as the San Francisco Bay area and south to Los Angeles reported seeing. 

The modified Minuteman II, carrying a mock warhead and an unspecified number of decoys, was launched from this central California base at 7 p.m., sent on a 4,800-mile path toward the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. 

“This was a test of the interceptor missile designed for use against long-range missiles in the protection of our homeland,” said U.S. Missile Defense Agency Lt. Col. Rick Lehner in Washington, D.C. 

At 7:22 p.m., an interceptor missile was launched from the Kwajalein Atoll, and it hit the Minuteman six minutes later. 

“It directly collided with the Minuteman,” Lehner said. 

It was the seventh such test for the Missile Defense Agency and the fourth consecutive test to be successful, Lehner said. Of the seven tests, five in all have been successful.

Highland Hospital reports a man in stable condition Monday following a shooting in Oakland Sunday evening.  

According to a spokeswoman for the Oakland Fire Department, emergency crews responded to the 1700 block of 37th Avenue to reports of a weapons-related assault.  

Oakland police would not comment on the shooting.

MARTINEZ — The Martinez Police Department says a man was placed in custody Monday after he went on an alleged crime spree that included robbing a house, crashing a stolen vehicle into a police car and attempted carjacking. 

Police said the California Highway Patrol forwarded them a 911 call at 11:23 a.m. from a man in a residence at 2550 Franklin Canyon Rd. The man said he was being robbed and that the intruder was still inside the building with him. 

A Martinez officer arrived at the scene within one minute and spotted the suspect driving away in a stolen Ford pickup truck. Officers attempted to stop the suspect but police said he intentionally crashed the truck into a squad car and headed off on westbound state Highway 4. Nobody was injured in the crash. 

After a brief road chase, the suspect drove off McEwen Road and onto a fire trail where he was able to gain access to westbound Interstate Highway 80. 

Police said the suspect – who was by this time was being pursued by officers from Martinez, Richmond, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and the CHP – drove into Richmond from I-80 and crashed into a carport at an apartment complex on South Hampton Road. 

Following the crash, police said the suspect jumped out of the stolen truck and used a pistol in an alleged attempt to carjack a vehicle from a resident in the apartment complex. Police quickly apprehended the suspect and took him into custody. 

Police did not release the suspect's name.

HALF MOON BAY – An Oregon firefighter who grew a 1,173-pound pumpkin set a new West Coast record at the 29th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Monday. 

Kirk Mombert, 49, of Harrisonburg, Ore., claimed the grand prize and was paid $5 per pound, for a total of $5,865. 

Mombert broke the West Coast record of 1,016 pounds set at the coastal event last year by Steve Daletas of Pleasant Hill, Ore. The world record is held by a New Hampshire resident who this year grew one that weighed 1,337 pounds. 

About 500 people came to watch Monday's contest to kick off the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. There were 63 entries, with growers hailing from throughout California, Oregon and Washington. 

“This was a good year,” event spokesman Tim Beeman said. “We had four pumpkins that weighed over 1,000 pounds.'” 

The runner-up was Napa resident Pete Glasier, whose pumpkin tipped the scales at 1,096 pounds. In third place was Jack LaRue of Tenino, Wash., with a 1,036-pound pumpkin. 

Ted Krueger won $500 for entering the largest San Mateo County-grown pumpkin, which weighed in at 684 pounds. Guadalupe Haro claimed the award given to largest pumpkin entered by a Coastside resident for growing a 437-pounder in Half Moon Bay. The last time a Half Moon Bay resident won the grand prize was in 1977, when Ray Chiesa entered one weighing 200 pounds, Beeman said. 

Only the first-place pumpkin will be on display at the festival this weekend, both in the annual parade and by itself so that visitors can have their pictures taken with it. 

“I'm excited to ride in the parade with it Saturday,” said Mombert, who has entered the contest eight times and has won twice before. “I broke my own personal best, so that was great.” 

Mombert drove 550 miles Sunday to come to the contest. The bed of his Ford pick-up truck had only two-inches of space left on each side after he loaded the pumpkin with a forklift he had specially delivered from Bend. 

The task of hauling the pumpkin to the Bay Area was nothing compared with the work it took to grow a giant pumpkin, though, Mombert says. He said he spent 30-40 hours a week tending to the pumpkin that now measures 38 3/4 inches tall, 58 inches wide, and has walls 9 inches thick. 

“I do it just for the love of growing things,” says Mombert, a firefighter with the Eugene Fire Department, who described a two-week period in August when his winning fruit put on about 30 pounds a day. 

He says the secret to growing a whale of a gourd is the right seeds, well-maintained soil, lots of manure and calcium, a lot of hard work and attention to detail. 

After the festival, Mombert plans to take his prize gourd back to Oregon so a friend can carve it into a jack-o'-lantern that will likely be displayed at a Portland mall for Halloween.

Sea lions attacked after release 

SAN RAFAEL — Officials at the Marine Mammal Center have been reviewing sea lion release guidelines after a couple of the mammals were attacked by sharks minutes after their release. 

“It was a hard thing to witness,” said Doreen Moser, assistant director of education at the Marin Headlands center. 

Two 3-year-old California sea lions were released near the Farallon Islands on Sept. 29 after being nursed back to health over several months. 

A male named Edog was released first, followed by a female named Swissy. 

“Usually they will bite and let the animal bleed and come back, but this was over quickly,” Mosar said. 

Parents crowd into church to discuss high school melee 

SAN FRANCISCO – A large group of parents and community members packed a San Francisco church Monday morning to discuss their reaction to a melee and ensuing police action at nearby Thurgood Marshall High School on Friday. 

Police responded to a series of fights on the Silver Terrace campus in midmorning and within an hour or so had evacuated the school and arrested three students and one teacher on an array of charges. 

"What happened on Friday and what has been happening?'' asked Kim Shree-Moufas at the front of the gathering of more than 200, before asking members of the media to step outside the Allen AME Church. She said she had invited reporters to attend, but some felt the discussion would flow more freely without a media presence. She offered to make a summary statement and answer questions after the meeting. 

Before the announcements got under way, about 40 students made their way to the front of the church with handmade banners bearing slogans such as "Books not Guns,'' "Stop Police Brutality,'' and "Where's (Principal Juliet) Montevirgen?''  

A flier being passed out to the largely African-American crowd, which also included Latinos, and Filipino- and Chinese-Americans, asked parents to lobby the school district to replace Montevirgen, who they said made many changes this year as she assumed office at the academically oriented high school. 

Giuliani campagins with 

Simon in San Francisco 

SAN FRANCISCO — Republican candidate for governor Bill Simon appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani Monday morning at a San Francisco restaurant as part of Simon's campaign to unseat incumbent Gov. Gray Davis. 

"We're going to fight on and win,'' Simon told about 50 cheering supporters at Fior d'Italia in North Beach. "We are right in the issues. Everywhere we go people are pumped up.'' 

Simon has contended with multiple campaign controversies, the most recent of which involved an unsubstantiated accusation that Davis improperly accepted a campaign donation. 

Giuliani, who was escorted by six San Francisco firefighters, criticized reporters by saying, "What I think you're doing is spinning, spinning, spinning.'' 

Giuliani encouraged people to look beyond the controversies and to examine issues like Simon's proposals on how to turn around the state's economy and how to repair the state's energy sector.

LOS ANGELES — Bill Simon is sorry. 

He finally said so Monday morning, badgered into the admission by a talk radio host. 

The Republican candidate for governor spent the past week parsing his words carefully, saying he “regretted” wrongly accusing Gov. Gray Davis of illegal fund-raising, but never saying he was sorry. 

Simon’s aides insisted Davis owed Simon an apology for distorting his record in attack ads, not the other way around. They said Simon would never apologize to Davis. Maybe he still hasn’t. 

He didn’t say Davis’ name, but Simon broke down and did say the “s” word under nagging from KGO-AM host Ronn Owens, who insisted that a wife stood up by her husband on her anniversary wouldn’t accept “regret.” 

“To me regret and sorry are the same thing, Ronn,” Simon said. 

“Well if they’re the same thing then say I’m sorry,” Owens said. 

“I’m sorry,” Simon said, sounding more frustrated than contrite. 

“There you go. You apologize to the governor,” Owens said. 

“There you go,” Simon said. 

Simon last week accused Davis of illegally accepting a campaign check in the state Capitol. A day later he was forced to acknowledge the 1998 photographs he was using as evidence were taken in a Santa Monica home.

SAN FRANCISCO — As dockworkers finished their first weekend back to work, both the union and port operators agreed on one thing: It’s still slow going. 

Union officials blame the sluggish pace at the ports on the aftermath of the 10-day lockout, while port operators are keeping an eye out for an intentional slowdown. 

Meanwhile, in the interest of both sides, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal-OSHA, has been monitoring activity on the California ports over the weekend to make sure work is done safely and quickly. 

Shipping companies and port terminal operators said that longshoremen’s work was off about 25 percent Friday, and charged that the pace of work at the 29 major Pacific ports continued to be slow Sunday. 

“There’s no question that the ports are limping along and we are monitoring the situation and getting information together,” said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association. “We expect we can report back on that (Monday).” 

The association has the option of taking its slowdown charges to a federal judge in San Francisco to ask for relief — but the courts are closed until Tuesday. 

Union officials blamed the slow pace on a lack of train cars in Seattle and Oakland. A shortage of truck chassis have also kept the ports clogged, said Steve Stallone, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 10,500 longshoremen. 

“You can take the containers off the ships, but you can’t get them out of the ports,” he said. 

Also, he said, crowded conditions on the docks have made work very dangerous. 

“The problem becomes, where do these containers go?” Stallone said. “They just stack up in the yard. Now we’re piling containers on top of containers. Accidents have already started happening because of the congestion.” 

Port operators are more interested in documenting the supposed slowdowns by the union than clearing the docks, Stallone said. 

“We’re out there working. We’re out there risking our lives again. But all they can do is run around trying to document what we’re doing wrong,” he said. 

To make sure that longshoremen are working quickly and safely Cal-OSHA teams were deployed to Oakland’s port Friday and arrived at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach on Saturday to monitor work, said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for California Gov. Gray Davis. She said the decision was made by the state agency and that although Davis was notified, the directive didn’t come from the governor. 

“They want to make sure that safety is maintained while people try to work quickly to catch up on the backlog,” McLean said. 

McLean said Saturday it was too early to tell if there are violations. 

A federal judge approved President Bush’s request Tuesday to reopen the ports after the lockout, which was costing the U.S. economy $1 billion to $2 billion a day. An agreement was then reached to keep the docks open for 80 days, which ensures retailers will receive their merchandise during the busy Christmas season. 

Federal mediator Peter Hurtgen will talk next week with both sides about scheduling the next round of contract negotiations — the lockout came after a meltdown in contract talks. The union said it expected to talk to him starting Wednesday; association President Joseph Miniace said he wouldn’t meet with Hurtgen until next weekend. 

Atop Hurtgen’s list will be a thorny issue — how to modernize the West Coast waterfront with new cargo-tracking technology that could cost union jobs. The union says it can accept short-term cuts as long as future technology-related jobs fall under its control.

SAN FRANCISCO — While the battle between Microsoft Corp. and the open-source software movement dominates headlines, another phenomenon is shaping the marketplace — at least for servers used by businesses. 

It turns out the dueling approaches to software development are both gaining momentum at the expense of Sun Microsystems Inc. and other companies that customize hardware and develop unique flavors of the Unix operating system. 

Hewlett-Packard Co., for one, builds servers based on Unix, open-source Linux and Microsoft Windows, fulfilling the demands of customers who are often passionate about one choice or the other, said Rick Becker, HP’s chief technology officer for software. 

HP sees no conflicts in satisfying both camps as customers seek the lower cost and improving capabilities of industry-standard hardware. That spells trouble for makers of custom servers, including Sun and International Business Machines Corp. 

“People are leaving proprietary ... systems and moving to industry standards,” Becker said Monday in a presentation to technology writers and editors from The Associated Press. 

He was joined by Larry Augustin, chairman of VA Software Corp. and Doug Miller, director of Unix migration strategy in Microsoft’s server products group. 

Though the speakers agreed that industry-standard hardware is gaining strength, they disagreed on the merits of proprietary software such as Microsoft Windows over open-source Linux. 

In recent months, Microsoft has toned down criticism of open-source software, which is distributed with its programming code attached and often lets customers change it to their needs. 

Two years ago, chief executive Steve Ballmer likened it to cancer. Now, the software giant says it wants to ensure that its products play well with Linux and other open-source solutions based on standards. 

“When vendors agree to a particular standard, everybody wins,” Miller said. “It doesn’t matter what model you use. If you adhere to standards, it’s possible for everyone to get along very nicely and build a number of solutions that are compatible with each other.” 

Recent forecasts from the research firm IDC suggest both Microsoft and Linux can win over the long run. 

IDC predicts Linux hardware sales tripling to $6.5 billion in 2006 and Microsoft-based platforms increasing by nearly $5 billion to $19 billion. Still, IDC forecasts proprietary systems, such as Unix servers made by Sun, IBM and HP, will contribute about $27.7 billion. 

HP’s Becker said much of the migration to date has been in the area of low-end servers, such as those that power Web sites. 

Sun is not standing still. The Palo Alto-based company has begun selling Linux-based machines. IBM also is a major player in the Linux server business. 

“They’re trying to stop the bleeding,” Becker said. 

Linux is increasingly popular for businesses that have in the past run Sun’s Solaris and IBM’s AIX Unix operating systems. The reason is that Linux is a variant of Unix, with much the same feel and features. 

Microsoft’s Windows operating system attracts customers who want an established name in the industry, Miller said. 

“In these economic times, customers are taking a long-term view,” he said. “They can’t take risk. They need ... a platform that will be around for a long period of time.” 

Becker said Linux also is breaking into the highest-end servers — those that handle financial transactions for Wall Street and manufacturing systems for industries.

SAN DIEGO — Teams of security officers with the U.S. Coast Guard have surveyed a handful of ports nationwide to determine whether they are vulnerable to a terrorist attack, a newspaper reported Monday. 

Last month, Coast Guard officers visited harbors in San Diego; Portland, Maine; Corpus Christi, Texas and Boston, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

“These ports are vulnerable,” said Coast Guard Capt. Tony Regalbuto, acting director of port security. “We are focusing on prevention. We want to prevent someone from using our ports as a venue for terrorism.” 

The results revealed certain security deficiencies, but Regalbuto declined to elaborate, saying details of the report will be confidential. 

Regalbuto did say that some of the problems involved deployment of personnel for security purposes. 

Others relate to protective devices, including a lack of motion detectors, surveillance cameras and fortified fences. 

Security expert Thomas Sanderson said he was not surprised by the Coast Guard’s findings. 

Ports are far more accessible for terrorists than airports, he said. 

About 17 million containers enter U.S. ports annually, with less than 3 percent of them inspected, said Sanderson, deputy director of the Transnational Threats Initiative, a public policy think tank specializing in defense issues. 

To stem the terror threat from container traffic, the federal government is considering dispatching U.S. Customs Service agents. 

The agents will check containers at their point of origin, the Union-Tribune reported. 

Regalbuto said the Coast Guard will prepare a detailed report on security readiness at the ports within two months.

DENISON, Iowa — Up to 11 badly decomposed bodies, possibly belonging to immigrants who were being smuggled into the country, were found in a Union Pacific rail car parked at a grain elevator outside of town, authorities said Monday. 

All the victims boarded the train in Mexico, but their nationality was unconfirmed, said Jerry Heinauer, district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for Nebraska and Iowa. 

Heinauer said he was told by the Mexican consul that the car left Matamoros, Mexico, in June. It was parked in Oklahoma before heading to Denison, about 60 miles northwest of Omaha, Neb. 

Jose Luis Cuevas, Mexican Consul for the Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska, said railroad officials had given him the impression that the bodies had been in the rail car at least four months. 

Cuevas and Heinauer said they didn’t know if the victims were men, women or children. 

“We have notified our government and they will advise if they have people whose whereabouts are not known and that might have been heading this way,” Cuevas said. 

Workers were opening up a long line of rail cars Monday and noticed bodies inside a covered grain car parked at a grain-handling facility, said Karla Miller, spokeswoman for ADM, a grain processing and food products company based in Decatur, Ill. She said the cars, which had been in storage for several months, were being cleaned and prepared for grain shipments. 

“As the workers were opening the cars up, they discovered several badly decomposed bodies,” Miller said. “As soon as the bodies were found, we called the authorities.” 

Crawford County Sheriff Tom Hogan said the bodies were left in the rail car, which would be shipped overnight to Des Moines for examination by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the state medical examiner. He also said it did not appear foul play was involved. 

Heinauer said authorities do not yet know whether the occupants were being smuggled but said it fit the pattern of smuggling operations. 

“Unfortunately it does happen occasionally that smugglers lead migrants into the United States and then they lock them in cars so that authorities wouldn’t check the cars,” Heinauer said.

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 1,000 lecturers at five University of California campuses picketed Monday instead of teaching their classes as part of a two-day strike they hope will pressure the administration to compromise on contract issues. 

The non-tenured lecturers have been working without a contract for more than two years and say it’s time UC begins bargaining in good faith, said Kevin Roddy, president of the University Council-AFT and a lecturer of medieval studies at UC Davis. 

“We would like to be recognized as participants in the system,” said Roddy, who’s worked as a lecturer since 1976. “The chief negotiator said lecturers do not have positions, they have classes — which allows them to get rid of us at will. That is prejudicial.” 

UC has said it is cash strapped because of the ailing state budget and cannot offer lecturers more. It also feels students are the ones suffering most from the walkouts. UC estimates there are 2,500 lecturers, while the union puts it closer to 4,000 by including those who teach just one class. 

“At this point, UC has pretty much done everything it can,” said UC spokesman Paul Schwartz. “The state’s view is that the appropriate place to resolve the differences is at the bargaining table, not on the street corner or at campus plazas.” 

Schwartz added that the university system also views the strikes as illegal, but said disciplinary action, if any, would be addressed on an individual basis at each campus. 

Lecturers waved signs and marched at campuses in Santa Cruz, Irvine, Davis, Riverside and Santa Barbara. Informational fliers were distributed at Berkeley and San Diego. 

The lecturers, who are part time and full time, teach about 30 percent of the system’s undergraduate courses. In addition to more money, they are asking for job security and equal treatment, such as being able to apply for grants and serve as department heads. Lecturers currently are hired on a year-to-year basis for the first six years.

LOS ANGELES — A study of 80 men — 40 who saw combat in Vietnam and their twins who did not — suggests the size of a region of the brain involved in storing memories can predict one’s vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Previous studies have found the region, called the hippocampus, is smaller than normal in the brains of veterans who suffer from the disorder, marked by flashbacks and sometimes overwhelming memories of traumatic experiences. 

The assumption has been that stress caused the region to shrink in volume. 

Now, a study that involved 40 sets of identical twins found the smaller volume is likely inherited and not a consequence of the trauma of combat.It suggests the hippocampus can increase one’s vulnerability to the syndrome’s effects. 

“That would probably be the most likely explanation of the results,” said psychologist Mark Gilbertson of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., and co-author of a study appearing Tuesday in the electronic edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience. 

The study was sponsored by the Veterans Administration. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder has afflicted nearly 31 percent of all Vietnam combat veterans at some time, according to government estimates. 

In the new study, about half the 40 combat-veteran patients suffered from chronic, unremitting post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The other half had never been affected, nor had any of the 40 stay-at-home twins. 

In veterans who were affected, hippocampal volume was 10 percent smaller on average than in those who had never suffered from the syndrome, but who had seen combat. 

Twins of the combat veterans who reported problems also had smaller hippocampi, even though they had seen no combat. 

Most had served in the armed forces, however, Gilbertson said. 

Since identical twins have similar brain structures, the finding suggests those veterans suffering from the disorder had smaller hippocampi before they entered combat. 

The volume differences remained significant even when patients who reported childhood sexual or physical abuse were subtracted, further suggesting that a smaller hippocampus size increased vulnerability to the syndrome and was not caused by earlier trauma, Gilbertson said. 

Gilbertson cautioned that smaller hippocampus volume did not guarantee a combat veteran would suffer from the syndrome; the severity of the combat experience is still a better predictor of that outcome. 

Dr. J. Douglas Bremner of Emory University said it is still possible that environmental stresses caused the smaller volumes, ruling out a purely hereditary effect. 

Early environmental stresses were presumably shared by the twins, explaining the similarity in their hippocampus volumes. 

“It’s too early to say it’s totally genetic,” Bremner said. 

“That stress has no effect on that part of the brain,” Bremner said.

GARDEN GROVE — After weeks when nothing seemed to go right on the campaign trail, Bill Simon was finally playing to a friendly crowd: the Rip Roaring Republican Rally. 

“The people of California know what’s in my heart, they know I’m a regular guy, they know that I’m married to the greatest girl I ever could have imagined,” Simon told the gathering of mostly older women from an Orange County GOP organization. 

“The fact is this,” he continued earnestly. “We’re regular people, with a regular family and kids that say the darndest things. But our hearts are full of love ... for all of California.” 

The crowd cheered. Simon grinned in delight. But such approving audiences have been in short supply for the Republican gubernatorial nominee since his upset win in the March GOP primary to face Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in November. 

His campaign has stumbled, and neither donors nor the moderate and independent voters who could help him to victory have responded as warmly as the Orange County Federation of Republican Women in early September. 

Simon’s younger brother, Peter, said the nominee has found the campaign trail tougher than expected. But Simon said he does not regret trading in his routine of family, faith, charity and business for the harsh spotlight of a run for California’s highest office. 

“If I don’t make it, I don’t have any idea what I’m going to do, because having once had the taste of something as exciting as this, I’m not sure that going back to the old way is going to be something that will be interesting and exciting for me,” he said recently during an interview in his Santa Monica campaign office. “It’s a great thrill for me.” 

Simon, 51, stepped into politics only recently, after years as an attorney, federal prosecutor and most recently co-chairman of his family’s New Jersey and Los Angeles investment firm, William E. Simon & Sons. 

Friends and family members said they were surprised — some said shocked — when he decided to run for governor of the nation’s most populous state, his home since 1990. 

Simon’s late father, William E. Simon Sr., was U.S. Treasury secretary under presidents Nixon and Ford. But friends said Simon never betrayed political ambition or even an interest in politics. As a youth, he wanted to be a doctor. 

“I’d almost say apolitical. I never heard a word” about politics from Simon, said John Newman, a friend from Simon’s high school days in New Jersey who’s remained close to the candidate. 

Simon grew up in suburban Summit, N.J., in the shadow of his forceful and mercurial father, who made millions as a leveraged buyout pioneer after he left government. When Simon Sr. died in June 2000, he left a fortune that had been estimated two years earlier at $350 million. 

Simon was the oldest of seven siblings who lived a Norman Rockwell childhood. Their father took the train to Manhattan each morning while mom stayed home with the brood. There were family dinners and church on Sundays. Neighborhood kids crowded into the family home on Prospect Hill Avenue. 

“Plain vanilla,” Simon calls it, but he never left it behind. With his exclamations of “golly” and “gee whiz!” he sometimes seems to inhabit the 1950s still. 

“I marched on Washington twice; I grew my hair pretty long. Bill looked pretty much the same throughout,” Newman said. “I can’t really say I ever saw him rebel.” 

Simon’s sister, Mary Streep, said their father had a standing offer for the siblings: Get to age 21 without smoking or drinking, and he’d give you $1,000. 

“Billy was the only one who made it,” she said. 

The dutiful son has become a dutiful campaigner, carrying around stacks of legal pads with careful notes on everything from the state’s water problems to a debate involving then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush that he watched on tape and wants to learn from. 

Simon has convened 16 task forces focused on various issues and regularly rolls out plans on education, transportation, housing and other topics. They’re ambitious, but the details sometimes remain vague. 

The nominee never released a plan to address the state’s $23.6 billion budget deficit, contending that was the governor’s job, not his. 

A turning point in Simon’s life was his divorce from his first wife in 1984, after a five-year marriage. Devastating for an observant Catholic, the divorce also pushed him outward, and he got involved with Covenant House, an organization that helps homeless children. Charitable work would come to play a major role in his life.

SACRAMENTO — With high-tech art and music studios, ballet and tap dance classes and a theater, the Natomas Performing and Fine Arts Academy in Sacramento looks more like a private university than a public school. 

Natomas charter school director Ting Sun said the school was created as a “way for community members to bring new life into the educational system.” 

Nearly a decade after California passed one of the nation’s first charter school laws, Natomas — one of the original charter schools — will participate in a first-of-its-kind accreditation program that joins the state’s largest charter school advocacy group and a major regional agency. 

Many school officials hope the new accreditation program will counter the bad image created by a few charter schools. 

“I hope it validates a lot of what charter schools are doing,” said Rick Piercy, chair of the charter school network’s accountability committee. “It never hurts to raise the bar.” 

The program partners the California Network of Educational Charters and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of six major regional accreditation agencies in the country. 

Charter schools are public schools run by private organizations, such as parent and teacher groups or nonprofit organizations. In exchange for promises of increased accountability, the schools are allowed to bypass many of the regulations that govern other public schools. 

However, a recent string of problems with a handful of charters has prompted a new law requiring the publicly funded schools to follow extra financial requirements and obtain additional charters when opening far-flung satellite campuses. 

“The charter school movement has changed quite a bit since it started,” said Sun. “Unfortunately, because of some abuses, it has become more difficult for the mom-and-pop charters to start up.” 

The program will require schools to pass through financial and curriculum assessments. Schools that don’t pass will be denied membership into the California Network of Educational Charters, which represents about 70 percent of the state’s 436 charter schools.

PHILADELPHIA— Dom Spatano, who runs a deli in the Reading Terminal Market downtown, said Monday he has changed what he puts in his kids’ lunchboxes because of the biggest meat recall in U.S. history. 

“I stayed away from the turkey,” Spatano said of a weekend trip to the grocery store. 

Pilgrim’s Pride voluntary recalled 27.4 million pounds of sliced deli poultry Sunday over concerns about possible listeria contamination. The parent of Wampler Foods announced its decision after a strain of the potentially fatal bacteria was found at a Wampler plant in suburban Philadelphia. 

The nationwide recall covers meat processed at the Franconia plant from May 1 through Oct. 11. The plant, which has about 800 employees, was expected to be closed for at least several days for cleaning and tests. 

Earlier this year, a listeria outbreak in eight Northeast states killed at least 20 people and caused 120 illnesses. Tests thus far have not linked the strain at the plant to the one that caused the outbreak. 

Much of the meat involved in the recall already has been eaten, officials said. 

Outside a stand in the terminal Monday, Jerry Hahn, a snow-shovel salesman, bit into a turkey sandwich with bravado. He said he had been assured the stand roasted its own turkey. 

“So I’m taking their word for it,” said Hahn, 55, of Monticello, Iowa. “But I’m also the type of guy that would have flown on Sept. 12.” 

The recall covers deli meat primarily sold under the Wampler brand, though it is also sold under Block & Barrel, Bonos, Golden Acre, Reliance and a variety of private labels. The products include poultry sold freshly sliced or made into sandwiches at deli counters, and sliced meat sold in individual packages. 

“It’s all about ready-to-eat product. It just happens to be that sliced deli turkey meat is a product that a lot of people eat,” said Steve Cohen of the USDA. 

Consumers were urged by the company to return any affected meat to the store or deli where it was purchased for a full refund. Because consumers might not have access to the meat’s original packaging, the best way to know if a product falls under the recall is to ask if it comes from a package that bears the plant number P-1351 inside the USDA mark of inspection. 

Listeria can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea, according to the USDA. It can be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

PHILADELPHIA— Dom Spatano, who runs a deli in the Reading Terminal Market downtown, said Monday he has changed what he puts in his kids’ lunchboxes because of the biggest meat recall in U.S. history. 

“I stayed away from the turkey,” Spatano said of a weekend trip to the grocery store. 

Pilgrim’s Pride voluntary recalled 27.4 million pounds of sliced deli poultry Sunday over concerns about possible listeria contamination. The parent of Wampler Foods announced its decision after a strain of the potentially fatal bacteria was found at a Wampler plant in suburban Philadelphia. 

The nationwide recall covers meat processed at the Franconia plant from May 1 through Oct. 11. The plant, which has about 800 employees, was expected to be closed for at least several days for cleaning and tests. 

Earlier this year, a listeria outbreak in eight Northeast states killed at least 20 people and caused 120 illnesses. Tests thus far have not linked the strain at the plant to the one that caused the outbreak. 

Much of the meat involved in the recall already has been eaten, officials said. 

Outside a stand in the terminal Monday, Jerry Hahn, a snow-shovel salesman, bit into a turkey sandwich with bravado. He said he had been assured the stand roasted its own turkey. 

“So I’m taking their word for it,” said Hahn, 55, of Monticello, Iowa. “But I’m also the type of guy that would have flown on Sept. 12.” 

The recall covers deli meat primarily sold under the Wampler brand, though it is also sold under Block & Barrel, Bonos, Golden Acre, Reliance and a variety of private labels. The products include poultry sold freshly sliced or made into sandwiches at deli counters, and sliced meat sold in individual packages. 

“It’s all about ready-to-eat product. It just happens to be that sliced deli turkey meat is a product that a lot of people eat,” said Steve Cohen of the USDA. 

Consumers were urged by the company to return any affected meat to the store or deli where it was purchased for a full refund. Because consumers might not have access to the meat’s original packaging, the best way to know if a product falls under the recall is to ask if it comes from a package that bears the plant number P-1351 inside the USDA mark of inspection. 

Listeria can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea, according to the USDA. It can be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

LOS ANGELES — Anthony LaPaglia hit an artistic high with the 2001 film “Lantana,” in which he created a striking portrait of a police detective in full-blown midlife crisis. 

It was such a fulfilling experience that the hardworking LaPaglia, at 42, toyed with the idea of giving up acting. He was lured back after a year off, however, by the CBS missing-persons drama “Without a Trace.” 

If that makes him sound like a dilettante retiree, forget it. He’s so candid in assessing why few projects equal “Lantana” — or even try — that a listener fully believes LaPaglia would walk away from his craft. 

“Sometimes I really get the chance to do something juicy and rise to the challenge. But, to be perfectly honest, by and large most stuff being made today has no substance whatsoever,” he said. 

“Lantana,” one of the recent rare films that assumed moviegoers might be older than 25 and willing to invest time in the complex emotional lives of grown-up characters, became a benchmark for LaPaglia. 

What’s changed? “Everything. Attitude,” LaPaglia says.

If the opening hearing for 32 students who took over a UC Berkeley campus building is any indicator, the total bill for the remaining hearings will be at least $400,000, according to estimates by university officials. 

The university already faces $12,000 in hearing costs from the first trial of Roberto Hernandez, one of the members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) who face possible disciplinary measures. The university’s costs include room rental, between 15 and 20 security officers to safeguard the hearings and legal fees. 

And though costs are sure to multiply as the hearings proceed, the price of not holding the hearings may be greater. 

Berkeley alumnus Alexander Ellenberg is outraged over the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus last spring and says he may no longer contribute financially to the university if they allow such behavior on campus. 

The 32 SJP students are among 79 protesters who occupied Wheeler Hall April 9, calling on the nine-campus University of California system to divest from Israel. 

Ellenberg, who has given $25,000 to the university, is not alone in threatening to withhold donations until the university addresses last year’s protest. 

Fariba Ghodsian, an alumnus of UC Los Angeles, wants to see the university “set a precedent that this [protest behavior] is not allowed on a campus.” 

“I would much prefer to make a donation to Harvard than the UC system,” she said. “Harvard has taken a stand that this kind of behavior is not acceptable.” 

Despite cries from faculty and student groups that the university should drop the hearings, particularly after the courts dropped charges against SJP members, the university seems intent on following through with the trials. 

Hernandez and the other 31 students were cleared in June by Alameda County Superior Court for charges relating to their participation in last April’s sit-in. The university, however, has charged them with violating the Student Code of Conduct. If found guilty, they face penalties ranging up to expulsion. 

In addition to the costs associated with 32 student hearings, the university will have to pay for further litigation in Alameda County Court. Last week, SJP lawyers filed a suit against the university, alleging that it is using illegal evidence and violating its own conduct code in the hearings. 

In court, the university is represented by UC’s general counsel office, which handles all UC litigation. At least three attorneys – Michael Goldstein, Jeff Blair and Chris Patty – have been assigned the case. 

Just last Wednesday, the cost of their salary for three hours of preparation and court time was roughly $350, according to university officials. In addition, the university brought in outside counsel, Robert Patton, from Patton Wolan and Boxer, to assist. Outside counsel costs anywhere from $200 to $350 an hour. 

“This is unusual,” said UC Assistant Chancellor of Legal Affairs Mike Smith. “This kind of case may happen every five to seven years, but this is not typical.” 

Smith said the university is up against almost a dozen lawyers including several from the National Lawyers Guild representing the students pro bono. 

Another cost is the police presence. The officers each day, guarding the perimeter of the hearing cost up to $5,000 per day, according to UC Berkeley police Captain Bill Cooper. 

And according to the university’s conference services, department room rental from Clark Kerr where the hearings are being held carries a price tag between $200 and $300 for four hours, adding about $800 to the trial costs each day.

To the Editor: 

I’m amazed at Lance Montauk’s self-profile as “activist” for “fundamental political rights.” His selective logic is head-spinning. His feel-the-world’s-pain cloak is offensive on multi-levels: 1) To women: Women don’t define ourselves as potential rape-victims. Our world is not a prison; 2) To humanitarians: Touting his stint for Amnesty International is shocking. Last time I looked, Amnesty’s mission includes...‘research and action focused on...ending grave abuses...[and] freedom from discrimination.’ Lance’s thoughtful plans for the district include “dropping special education students?” Where will the brave champion of human rights drop them? The dumpster? The institution? The locked closet?; 3) To defenders of civil rights: According to Lance, the “fundamental” U.S. civil right to an education can be ditched by a local school board. Not only special ed parents, but minority parents too take heed of this twist. Lance’s “so-sue-me” quote is particularly unwise. Litigation in the BUSD was highlighted by the county as one of the disturbing trends leading to waste of district resources. Lawsuits cost money, particularly when your position is patently unwinnable; 4) And to potential patients: Thank my lucky stars Dr. Montauk was not on duty when my son was born requiring emergency care. If the good doctor wants to “drop” this special education student now, would he have withheld care of my son’s neo-natal injuries then – when he had the opportunity to really make a fiscal difference? I shudder as he cavalierly draws his line on human worthiness. 

Amnesty International’s vision, embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Lance-the-activist needs to brush up on his homework. 

Ann McDonald-Cacho 

Berkeley

Tuesday, Oct. 15 

Fall Fruit Tasting 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

2 to 7 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

Free. 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565 / www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 16 & Nov. 14 

Hormone Replacement Seminar 

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

204-4422 

Reservations required. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Home Remodeling Class 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Berkeley South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 

Organized by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 

567-8280 

Free 

“Alternatives to War on Terrorism: A Multicultural Perspective” 

7 p.m. 

Ethnic Studies Library, Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley 

Ethnic studies professor Ron Takaki, author of 11 books, will speak. 

Free 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Speak Out: A Forum on Women’s Health Issues 

7 to 9 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

Discuss issues such as domestic violence, disparities in health care, youth health issues, and alternative health care. 

981-5106 

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Homecoming Rally 

9 p.m. 

Haas Pavilion, UC Berkeley 

Come rally with the Cal band, the dance team, the UC Men’s Octet, and more. 

388-4789 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Dog Wash Sunday 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Kutz for Mutz, 911 University Ave.  

Get your dog shampooed while helping out rescued dogs. Proceeds benefit Smiley Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing abused or abandoned pups. 

(760) 924-3961 

$15-$30 depending on the dog. 

The Buddy Club Season Opener 

1 to 2 p.m 

The Berkeley JCC Theater, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose St. 

Audience participation shows for kids age two through twelve and their parents. 

236-SHOW 

$7 / under 2 yrs. free 

Monday, Oct. 21 

War in Iraq- Why? 

7 p.m. 

2951 Derby St. 

Women for Peace invites you to discuss war in Iraq, with an emphasis on women’s viewpoints. 

526-5094 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

Brown Bag Career Talk 

12 to 1 p.m. 

YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way 

Professional organizer Kathy Waddill hosts “Getting Paid to Help Other People Get Organized”. 

848-6370 

$3 

“What is it Like to Be a Robot?” 

8 p.m. 

145 Dwinelle, UC Berkeley 

Tom Sgouros and his robot, Judy, star in a sharp-witted “solo” theater piece in which they discuss stage magic, free will, imagination and other themes in this unique performance. 

www.sgouros.com 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565 / www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

The Independent Institute 

7 p.m. 

Daniel Ellsberg unveils new book, “Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers.” 

Zellerbach Auditorium, Bancroft Way and Telegraph 

642-9988 

Berkeley Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

What’s what on the November ballot: A rundown of state and local ballot measures. Shirley Dean and Tom Bates will debate. 

548-9696 

Thursday, Oct. 24 

Communication Components Workshop 

State Health Toastmasters Club 

Noon to 1 p.m. 

2151 Berkeley Way 

595-1594 

Free 

“How to Access Health and Medical Information Through the Internet” 

7 to 9 p.m. 

Claremont branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Learn how to effectively use free scientific databases and do health-related research using the Internet. 

Register in advance: 981-6280 

Free 

Friday, Oct. 25 

“The Library: A Community Legacy” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Anna Rabkin will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 26 

Math Made Fun - math games. 

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

1 Centennial Dr. - Lawrence Hall of Science  

Free with museum admission. 

Pumpkin Carving  

and Costume Making 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at  

Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Free 

Lawrence Hall of Science Family Halloween Party 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

A Halloween bash with magicians, mad scientists, wizards, and a demonstration of how to make an elephant mask. 

Reserve tickets in advance: 642-5134 

$8-$12 

Gardening With East Bay Native Plants  

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Hands-on workshop touching on many aspects of “restoration gardening”. 

Reservations required: 548-2220 x233 

$15 Ecology Center members, $25 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Spirit Day 

11 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Fourth Street and University Avenue 

Construct altars in a day of reflection. 

Free. 

West Berkeley Arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Ave. between 3rd and 4th Streets 

Fun for the whole family, with local and international arts and crafts, the Berkeley Youth Chess league, Technomania Circus, live music and more. 

845-4106 

Wednesday, Oct. 30 

Premiere of “Code 33: Emergency- Clear the Air” 

5 p.m. 

Oakland City Council Chambers, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland 

A one hour made-for-TV documentary on youth and public relations. Followed by a reception and refreshments. 

887-0152 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Four minute mile and the avenue of the stars. 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Santo Soul, La Familia, and Marimba Pacifica 

8 p.m. 

La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Music, dancing, folkloric presentations, and a raffle. 

548-6914 

$15 

Sunday, Oct. 20 

Madeline Eastman with  

the Matt Clark Trio 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Larry Schneider 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Internationally performing saxophonist. 

845-5373 

$10-$15 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free. 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

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-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy exploring the interactions of a highly dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

“Rethinking the American Dream: Songs of the Simple Life” 

7 p.m. 

Central Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kitteredge St. 

Writer and bicyclist Tim Holt will give an informal talk based on his new book. 

981-6100 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invted. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation. 

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

“Sara’s Children; The Destruction of Chmielnik” 

7:30 p.m. 

Barnes & Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 

Journalist Suzan Hagstrom will speak on her nonfiction book, which delves into the Holocaust. 

644-3635 

“A Language Older Than Words” 

7 p.m. 

2350 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

An evening with author Derrick Jensen, with music by Andrea Pritchett. 

548-2220 

$6-$10/ Sliding scale. 

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

An evening with Simon Winchester 

7 p.m. 

Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center, UC Berkeley 

Join the author of bestsellers “The Map That Changed the World” and “The Professor and the Madman”, along with Don George, global travel editor for Lonely Planet Publications, for an evening of lively conversations. 

893-8555 

Free 

LOS ANGELES – Sultan McCullough had the busiest day of any Southern California tailback in the last 15 years, and he didn’t mind a bit. 

“Somebody’s got to carry the load. It was me and I’m grateful,” McCullough said after rushing 39 times for 176 yards as the 20th-ranked Trojans rallied to beat California 30-28 Saturday. 

“I got tired, but the coaches had been saying all week, ‘Finish, finish, finish.’ And that’s what I had to do,” he said. 

Golden Bears linebacker Marcus Daniels was impressed by McCullough, a former Pac-10 champion in the 100 meters. 

“Sultan is a heck of a back. He reads and cuts well,” Daniels said. 

McCullough’s 2-yard touchdown run with 8:38 left in the third quarter gave the Trojans a 24-21 lead after they fell behind 21-3 early in the second quarter. 

Carson Palmer completed 25 of 39 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10). 

Ryan Killeen, who missed two field goals and a critical extra point in USC’s loss to Washington State last week, kicked field goals of 34, 32 and 18 yards and was perfect on PATs. 

He did miss a 38-yarder in the third quarter, but his two field goals in the fourth proved to be the difference because the Bears came back to score a touchdown with 35 seconds left. 

Before that, the Trojans had shut down Cal (4-3, 1-2) since the Bears scored their third TD three minutes into the second quarter. 

“They dominated the second half,” first-year Cal coach Jeff Tedford said after the Bears lost to the Trojans in Los Angeles for the first time since 1994, a span of five games. “The way we win games is to get turnovers and capitalize. Today, we gave the ball away twice and had key penalties.” 

The 39 carries by McCullough, who won the conference 100-meter title with a 10.18-second clocking as a freshman in 1999, were the most for a Trojans tailback since Steve Webster had 40 in a game in 1987. 

The school record of 51 carries was set by Ricky Bell in 1976. 

Cal’s Kyle Boller went 20-of-30 for 211 yards, with two touchdowns. But he was just 6-of-19 for 87 yards in the second half. He threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tom Swoboda with 35 seconds left, but the Trojans recovered the onside kick. 

McCullough’s 2-yard TD run gave the Trojans their first lead. He rushed eight times for 38 of the 68 yards USC covered on that third-quarter drive. 

The Trojans trimmed the deficit to 21-17 by halftime on a pair of scoring throws by Palmer, the first of which appeared to be a phantom touchdown. 

On third-and-goal from the Bears’ 6, Kareem Kelly made a diving catch in the back of the end zone, but the ball appeared to immediately slip from his grasp and bounce back into his arms. It was ruled a touchdown rather than an incompletion, however. 

“I’m still sticking with it was a good catch. Other than that, I have no comment,” Palmer said. 

Kelly explained: “I had the ball. The ground helped me secure the ball. I rolled over and the ref had his hands up.” 

That score at 5:29 of the second quarter came after Boller dropped the ball while scrambling and Trojans linebacker Matt Grootegoed fell on it to halt a Bears’ drive at the USC 34. 

On the Trojans’ next possession, Palmer engineered a 76-yard drive capped by his 21-yard pass to Mike Williams, who had six catches for 103 yards. 

Cal built its 21-3 lead on first-quarter touchdown runs by Joe Igber and Terrell Williams, and Boller’s 15-yard scoring strike to Jonathan Makonnen in the second quarter.

He’s the heir apparent. But he’s got a race on his hands. 

Planning commissioner Gordon Wozniak, one of four candidates vying for the 8th District City Council seat, has enjoyed the support of retiring Councilmember Polly Armstrong since the day she announced she would not seek re-election. 

“He’s very focused,” said Armstrong, one of four moderates pitted against the five progressives on City Council. “I’m more of an outgoing, press-the-flesh kind of person. He’s more of a get-the-facts, see-where-we-can-go-with-it kind of guy.” 

Wozniak, 58, a former senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, portrays himself in a similar light. 

“I’m a problem solver,” he said. “You’ve got to get into the nuts and bolts of things sometimes.” 

But, if Wozniak is focused on the mechanics of basic community matters like traffic and public safety, his position on the hot-button issue of rent control has raised some eyebrows among progressives and emboldened opponents. 

“It’s clear that Wozniak would roll back rent control,” said Andy Katz, a UC Berkeley graduate student and member of the Zoning Adjustments Board who is running for the 8th District seat and has the backing of leading progressive politicians in Berkeley. 

“I think rent control has not served the city well,” Wozniak said, arguing that small landlords have borne the brunt of locked-in low rents. 

Wozniak said he would not seek to revoke rent control for current tenants. But he has floated the idea of an income test for new renters. Low-income people would qualify for rent control, but wealthier renters would not. 

“Should we really be subsidizing all renters, or renters who really need it?,” he asked. 

Human rights consultant Anne Wagley, another candidate for the 8th District, said she opposes the proposal. 

“I’m wary of measures that threaten the limited affordable housing we have,” she said. 

Activist Carlos Estrada, the fourth candidate in the race, could not be reached for comment on the issue. 

Wozniak’s views on rent control are part of his appeal in a district, extending south of the UC Berkeley campus into the hills, that has traditionally voted on the moderate side of Berkeley’s political factions. 

With the backing of Armstrong and other leading moderates, some think Wozniak is the prohibitive favorite. 

“It really is like running against an incumbent,” said Wagley. 

But Wozniak has a history that belies the “moderate” label. Born in South Carolina to an alcoholic father, he grew up in Dubuque, Iowa in a family that struggled economically. 

One of nine children, Wozniak worked his way through Loras College in Dubuque before moving to Berkeley in 1966 as a graduate student and becoming involved in the anti-war movement. 

He met his future wife Evie Vetterlein in 1970 registering voters for Congressional candidate Ron Dellums, and in 1974, Wozniak got his Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Berkeley. 

At Lawrence Berkeley Lab, where he started as a graduate student and eventually accepted a job as a full-time scientist, Wozniak tangled with administrators over bringing local political candidates to the facility to speak to employees. In 1971 he won a law suit on the matter, filed in conjunction with a colleague and the ACLU, allowing candidates to speak to employees. 

Over the years, as he moved up the ranks, Wozniak said, he grew more moderate. But the Berkeley left, he said, moved at least as much as he did. 

“Berkeley’s left has become fragmented and gone in crazy directions,” he said. “They’ve changed as much as I’ve changed.” 

In recent years, Wozniak found himself facing off against some of the most strident activists in Berkeley over tritium emissions from Lawrence Berkeley Lab.  

Tritium is a radioactive isotope. Lab officials, backed by federal studies, said the emissions were minimal, but activists pressed to eliminate the use of tritium, arguing that caution was the best course. 

At a March 2001 meeting of the city’s Environmental Sampling Project Task Force, Wozniak kicked a chair after asking activist Barbara George to quiet down during a presentation on the issue. 

George filed suit earlier this year claiming that the chair struck her seat and caused injury, but lost in court. Wozniak says the suit was politically-motivated. 

Gene Bernardi of Citizens to Minimize Toxic Waste, which has battled the lab on the tritium issue, said the incident should disqualify Wozniak for office. 

“This is a man who gets out of control,” she said. 

But Wozniak dismissed the charge and said he does not believe the case will have a significant impact on his campaign. 

“This is a local district and one of the virtues of the district is it’s small enough that you can talk to most people in the district and they can vote for you and your program,” he said. 

So, Wozniak is walking the district every day, and talking about those bread-and-butter issues that, he hopes, will take him to victory Nov. 5.

To the Editor: 

One must ask oneself if Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo’s ideas for solutions to the growing number of California problems are so bad, so out of step with what the average Californian, why would Gray Davis go to such extremes to keep him out of the debate. Why is Gray yellow about Green? 

I have heard Camejo speak and he is offering ideas that make lots of sense. For instance, Davis bailed out the utilities for $12 billion while creating a paltry $10 million solar power fund to encourage people to put photovoltaic cells on their roofs. That’s a 1,200 to one ratio. Where would California be with $12 billion dollars of solar cells on our roofs? We would no longer have a power crisis. Camejo would invest in renewable energy sources to break our dependence on out of state blackmailers. 

Camejo is also pushing very hard for statewide instant runoff voting, so people will have the free speech right to vote for who they really like without felling conflicted. As long as we have an electoral system which only allows two parties, we will have corrupt politicians. The debate in this country must be widened.  

David Heller 

Berkeley 

Sophomore Mike Muñoz scored a dramatic overtime goal to lift the Cal men’s soccer team to a 2-1 win over Washington on Sunday. 

Muñoz took a cross from freshman forward Pieter Berger and nudged it off the right post and over the goal line in the 96th minute.  

“Certain players, when the game is on the line, they want the ball and to make a difference,” Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. “Mike is clearly one of those players.” 

Sunday’s game-winner was Muñoz’s third golden goal of his Cal career, the only three such scores Cal has recorded in that time. 

“It’s getting kind of old. It’s almost no fun anymore,” Muñoz joked. “But seriously, I totally whiffed on that ball. It went off the side of my foot because I was in a hurry, and it just went in off the post.” 

Muñoz’s goal gave the Golden Bears (9-2-1 overall) their eighth straight win, tying a school record, as well as a 2-0 start in Pac-10 play after beating Oregon State, 5-0, on Friday. That’s a big improvement over last season, when Cal started with two losses in conference play. 

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the 74th minute. Freshman midfielder Nick Hatzke gathered the ball near midfield and made a run right down the middle of the field. All three Washington defenders dropped back with Cal’s forwards, leaving Hatzke an open shot from 25 yards out. Hatzke followed the advice of several of his bench-bound teammates and launched a missile of a shot into the upper right corner of the goal past Washington goalkeeper Daniel Waltman.  

It was the first career goal from Hatzke, who has yet to start a game for Cal but has played in 11 of 12 games this season. 

“We really have about 20 starters on this team,” Grimes said. “It makes us a better team when we have guys like Nick who can come off the bench and have a real impact on the game.” 

Washington (3-5-3, 0-2) tied the game just three minutes later. C.J. Klaas launched a free kick from the left side into the Berkeley area, and freshman Kevin Murray managed to get a flick past Cal goalkeeper Josh Saunders to tie the game. It was just the eighth goal allowed by the Cal defense this season and just the fifth since a 3-0 loss to Cal State Northridge in the season opener. 

“Our defense has been rock solid,” Grimes said. “They take pride in getting shutouts. That’s their goal every game.” 

The Bears have scored at least two goals in each of their last six games, a scoring surge that has come at just the right time with Pac-10 play just starting. Muñoz said he has just done the easy part in scoring a team-high seven goals this season. 

“I’ve just been getting great layoffs this season,” he said. “I’ve got the easy job out there.”

Where would you go if the Bay Area was attacked with biological weapons? Where would you turn for information or treatment?  

After receiving a $2.8 million influx of federal funds last month, UC Berkeley has begun working to provide these answers. With the formation of the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness, UC Berkeley joins 17 other universities around the country preparing a national response to an epidemic health crisis, like small pox or anthrax infection. 

“The weaknesses of the nation’s public health infrastructure were made clear in last year’s anthrax attacks,” said Dr. Arthur Reingold, professor and head of epidemiology at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.  

The center does not yet have facilities or office space, but staff have already begun addressing its mission to teach health and law enforcement workers how to respond to bioterrorism. Ultimately, officers will also be trained on early surveillance and detection of biological weapons. 

Despite good intentions, the development of the bioterrorism centers has had its critics. They say the scope of bioterrorism is so large that isolated centers will have little impact in preparing for a specific strike. 

“Too many people in Washington feel that by dispensing billions in the wake of September's horrors, they've done their bit and all is now well,” said George Poste, a board-certified pathologist and member of the Defense Science Board of the U.S. Department of Defense. “The challenge in formulating biodefense postures is that the spectrum of risk is so broad.” 

University researchers, though, say their efforts are worthwhile. 

“All steps forward, no matter how small, are steps in the right direction,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Sarah Yang. “Any training is better than none at all.” 

Stephen Shortell, dean of the School of Public Health, said that because of the university’s knowledge base and facilities, researchers are well situated to advance the nation’s defense effort. 

“This is a primary example of the school’s commitment to moving the knowledge base from publication of research to public action,” he said.  

The Berkeley team is composed of 10 researchers who are all experts in epidemiology, the study of disease in populations. Researchers from county health departments in San Francisco and Alameda counties, as well as staff from the Public Health Institute in Berkeley will also contribute. 

The center’s grant is part of a $3 billion bioterrorism initiative launched by President Bush earlier this year. The center, which has guaranteed funding for the next three years, plans to work closely with state and local health officials, as well as the California Highway Patrol, to identify training needs. All 18 academic centers will work collaboratively. 

Government efforts to prepare for bioterrorism will only be effective if the American people are proactive in keeping themselves informed and alert, said Poste. 

“It saddens me to say this, but the vast majority of Americans, even though they were shocked by the events of Sept. 11, are quickly reverting back to worrying more about whether Mr. Combs wishes to call himself Puff Daddy or P Diddy,” he said.  

“They have lost sight of the fact that America will almost certainly be bitten again by terrorist assaults. A comfortable, complacent society that is cocooned from risk is a great target for our enemies,” Poste added.

To the Editor: 

As president of the Black Property Owners Association, I have experienced many measures designed to help tenants and property owners. However, measures enacted in Berkeley that are similar to EE, the new eviction restriction measure now on the ballot in Oakland, have been a disaster for African Americans. As a result of these measures, Berkeley is the least ethnically diverse city in all of Alameda County’s 14 cities. In short, African Americans have been pushed out and if Oakland is not careful the same process will occur there. Measure EE reduces housing affordability by limiting the supply of housing units as has happened in San Francisco and Berkeley. Who do you think will suffer in a tight housing market? The poor, the elderly, people of color, the disabled and those on the margins of society. 

Frank Davis 

Berkeley 

LOS ANGELES - The fifth-ranked Cal women’s soccer team lost its second straight game on Sunday, falling 2-0 to No. 15 USC. The Bears fell to 0-2 in Pac-10 play (7-4-1 overall) after losing, 1-0, to UCLA on Friday. The Trojans improved to 6-4-3 overall, 1-1 in the Pac-10. 

Goalkeeper Julie Peterson did not register a save, but set a school record with her seventh shutout of the season.  

USC (6-4-3, 1-1) defeated its third Top 10 team of the season (Penn State and Santa Clara). The Women of Troy dominated the contest by recording a 19-7 margin in shots, including several shots in the first half that bounced off the post and crossbar.  

Mann scored her first goal of the season on a header in the 64th minute off a cross from the right side by Hillary Schwarzbach. Fennell scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season two minutes later on a blast from 15 yards out with an assist by Jocelyn Leche. 

Fennell moved into fifth place on USC’s all-time scoring list with 51 points, surpassing Carol Hatcher.  

“We did not make any mistakes and just played harder today,” said USC head coach Jim Millinder. “We were unlucky in the first half, but got some good goals from Amy and Ali in the second half. We want to make a run for the Pac-10 title. I know our team feels that if we train hard every day, we can reach that goal.”  

Forward Laura Schott returned to Cal’s starting lineup for the first time since the Aug. 30 season opener (a 2-0 win over Ohio State) and registered two shots.  

Bears goalkeeper Sani Post made a career-high seven saves in the losing effort.  

BALI, Indonesia — Terrified tourists tried Sunday to flee this island paradise that turned into an inferno, with the death toll from a pair of bombings climbing to 187 and fears growing that al-Qaida has taken its terror campaign to the world’s largest Muslim country. 

Many of those killed by the two bombs that tore through a nightclub district on Bali island Saturday were Australians as well as other foreigners from Canada, Britain, Germany and Sweden. Two Americans were killed, while three were among the more than 300 people injured. 

No one claimed responsibility for the bombings — the worst terrorist attack in Indonesia’s history — but suspicion turned to al-Qaida and an affiliated group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to establish a pan-Islamic state across Malaysia, Indonesia and the southern Philippines. It is accused of plotting to blow up the U.S. and other embassies in Singapore. 

In Washington, President Bush condemned the attack as “a cowardly act designed to create terror and chaos” and offered U.S. help in finding the perpetrators. 

“The world must confront this global menace, terrorism,” he said. 

The attacks were on the second anniversary of the al-Qaida-linked attack against USS Cole off Yemen that left 17 sailors dead and took place amid signs of increasing terrorist activity that had led to the closure of U.S. embassies and renewed terror alerts for Americans. 

The destruction started when a small homemade bomb exploded outside Paddy’s Discotheque in the maze of clubs and bars on Kuta Beach, a popular haunt with young travelers. Shortly afterward, a huge blast from a bomb in a Toyota Kijang, a jeep-like vehicle, 30 yards down the street devastated the crowded Sari Club, a surfers’ hangout. 

A third, smaller bomb exploded outside the U.S. consular office. No one was injured in that blast. 

The second blast ripped into the open-air bar, triggering a massive burst of flames that officials said was caused by the explosion of gas cylinders used for cooking. The explosion collapsed the roof of the flimsy structure, trapping revelers in flaming wreckage. The explosions and fire damaged about 20 buildings and devastated much of the block. 

Identification of the dead was slow, since some were burned beyond recognition. 

American Amos Libby, 25, felt himself lifted off his feet as he passed the Sari Club as the bomb detonated. 

“All the buildings in the vicinity just collapsed, cars overturned and debris from the buildings fell on them,” he said, without giving his hometown. “I have never seen anything so horrible. There were so many people, 18 to 20 year old, people in pieces all over the street.” 

New Zealander Lonny McDowell, 25, was at Paddy’s when the blast blew chairs and concrete through the bar. He said he saw a man with no legs and another with a cable stuck through his stomach. 

“Who knows if this couldn’t happen again? I really don’t want to go back to Kuta,” he said looking for his airline ticket home. 

Indonesian National Police Chief Gen. Da’i Bachtiar called the it “the worst act of terror in Indonesia’s history.” 

President Megawati Sukarnoputri flew to Bali and wept as she toured the wreckage. Asked about a possible link to al-Qaida, she said: “That will be continuously investigated to that this can be uncovered as soon as possible.” She promised to cooperate with other nations to fight terror. 

U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce told The Associated Press that it was not possible yet to pin the Bali attack on al-Qaida, but noted that increasing evidence in recent weeks has confirmed al-Qaida’s presence in Indonesia and reaching out to local extremists. 

“In recent weeks, we have been able to put an end to a year of speculation as to whether al-Qaida might be in Indonesia, or relocating to Indonesia, or using Indonesia as a base of operations, after the fall of Afghanistan,” Boyce said. 

The United States and Indonesia’s neighbors have urged Jakarta for months to pass an anti-terrorism law that has been languishing in the Parliament contending there is a strong al-Qaida presence here. Without the law, Indonesia says, security forces cannot arrest suspects without clear evidence they have committed a crime. 

While its neighbors have arrested scores of militants from Jemaah Islamiyah, Jakarta has done little and denied that it is a haven for terrorists. 

“This horrible incident has only made it that much more urgent that they find some way to deal with this problem,” Boyce said. “They (Indonesians) are in the middle of doing that.” 

The U.S. Embassy was considering scaling back staff, though no decision had been taken.

To the Editor: 

Darcy Morrison (Forum, Oct. 7), in reference to previous letters against Measure P, writes “we’re being asked to sacrifice for the supposedly greater good of smart growth.” While it is true that Berkeley is only a small part of the Bay Area population, if every city used the same argument, the only place for growth would have to be farther out. New California law (AB2292) was passed just to counter the sort of down zoning proposed in this measure, and could possibly be used to challenge Measure P, should it pass. Do we want to lead? Or drag our feet? 

Good things can happen to a city that allows clustered areas of higher density. If more people were living on lower University Avenue, for example, this senior citizen would feel a bit safer walking to local restaurants and taking the bus at night (which might run more often, a separate but related issue). 

And then, there are the social implications. When housing supply is tight, prices rise, and the mix of people living here shifts. Look at Palo Alto. If Berkeley becomes an enclave for the wealthy, much of the diversity and innovative energy that characterize this city will be lost. 

Pat Boyd 

Berkeley

No. 7 Oregon 31, No. 25 UCLA 30 

PASADENA – Quarterback Jason Fife found wide receiver Keenan Howry for the go-ahead 74-yard touchdown pass on the opening play of the fourth quarter and seventh-ranked Oregon held off 25th-ranked UCLA, 31-30.  

Howry also returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and registered 171 all-purpose yards. 

No. 13 Washington State 36, Stanford 11 

PALO ALTO – Washington State’s Jason Gesser had an efficient day, passing for 297 yards and three touchdowns, as the 13th-ranked Cougars remained unbeaten in Pac-10 Conference play with a 36-11 victory over Stanford, which fell to 0-2 in conference play. 

No. 18 Washington 32, Arizona 28 

SEATTLE – Quarterback Cody Pickett threw three touchdown passes to Reggie Williams, including an eight-yarder with 2:03 remaining, to lift No. 18 Washington to a thrilling 32-28 victory over Arizona.  

Arizona State 13, Oregon St 9 

TEMPE, Ariz. - Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson was sacked seven times, including two in the final minute, as Arizona State edged the Beavers, 13-9.  

After leading the Beavers down to the Sun Devils’ nine-yard line for a potential go-ahead touchdown, Anderson was dropped for losses of six and 17 yards. There were still 19 seconds left on the clock after the second sack, but the team inexplicably did not get a play off.

The suspicious briefcase found tucked under a mailbox on Shattuck Avenue Thursday night turned out not to be a bomb, police said. 

A bomb squad was called to inspect the briefcase at about 8 p.m. when it was discovered at the corner of Shattuck and Center Street, next to what appeared to be Arabic writing on the sidewalk.  

It is not known if the writing was connected to the briefcase. The briefcase turned out to contain personal papers, according to police. 

The block of Shattuck between Center and Allston Way was closed down for an hour and a half Thursday because of the scare.  

Field hockey wins Big Game 

The Cal field hockey team remains undefeated in conference play, capturing a 2-1 win over NorPac foe Stanford Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Family Field. The Golden Bears improved their record to 8-3 (3-0 NorPac) as the Cardinal took their first conference loss, falling to 4-1 in NorPac play, 8-8 overall.  

Cal capitalized on one of its two first half penalty corners four and a half minutes into the game to give the Bears the early lead. Sophomore Anita Reyes fired a shot pass Cardinal goalkeeper Emily Zander, assisted by Danya Sawyer and Michelle Wald to begin an early celebration for Cal.  

Just three minutes into the second period, Stanford was awarded a penalty corner. The corner was not completely stopped, but Christina Williams was able to gather the ball for the Cardinal, firing one by Knapp between the pipes, tying the game at one apiece.  

With just two minutes to go in regulation time, NorPac Offensive Player of the Week Nora Feddersen, who had been tightly guarded the whole afternoon, gained control of the ball in the midst of a scramble directly in front of the goal, and shot the ball past the crowded area to the back of the cage, for her sixth goal of the season to put Cal up, 2-1.  

Water polo downs No. 3 USC 

LOS ANGELES - Will Quist and Chris Lathrop scored two goals each as the No. 5 Cal Golden Bears defeated the No. 3 USC Trojans, 5-3, in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at McDonald’s Swim Stadium. The victory was extra sweet for the Bears, as the Trojans defeated Cal, 8-7, in triple overtime last weekend, ending the Bears’ NorCal championship bid.  

Cal (9-3, 2-1) held USC (12-4, 2-1) to two goals in the match until Jeff Larson netted a goal with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the Trojans within two. But, there wasn’t enough time for the Trojans to mount a comeback however, as the Bears’ went on to win, improving its overall record to 9-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.  

Russell Bernstein played solidly in goal, tallying four saves for the Golden Bears. 

Cal spikers upset No. 20 Arizona 

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Cal women’s volleyball team (12-4, 3-4) upset No. 20 ranked Arizona (8-7, 3-4) 3-0 (32-30, 30-27, 31-29) Saturday night at the McKale Center. The Bears had lost 12 straight to the nationally-ranked Wildcats, not defeating Arizona since 1995. It was also the first nationally ranked opponent Cal had defeated since topping No. 19 Santa Clara, 3-2, Oct. 23 of last season.  

Sophomore Mia Jerkov was outstanding for the Bears, recording 26 kills with a .340 hitting percentage. Junior setter Caity Noonan added 34 assists and had a team-high 12 digs. 

The win over the Wildcats was especially sweet for Cal as it had squandered a 2-0 lead and lost a 3-2 match to Arizona State the night before in Tempe.  

“The disappointment in the desert turned into redemption, that was the word of the day for us,” said Cal coach Rich Feller. “Every member of the team believed it. This shows how strong the Pac-10 is, considering that Arizona had defeated defending national champion Stanford the night before. This also shows how good we can be.”

OAKLAND – The Oakland police were investigating a homicide Sunday morning that took place on the 5900 block of Monadnock Way in east Oakland. 

Police say the victim died of gunshot wounds, but released few other details. 

The victim was taken to Highland Hospital at about 4:30 a.m. and was later pronounced dead, police said. 

The case marks Oakland’s 87th homicide of the year, a number that is significant because it equals last year’s total number of homicides. 

The incident follows a slaying last week by a 14-year-old boy who killed his mother’s ex-boyfriend with a butcher knife. 

According to police, the ex-boyfriend had attacked the mother and the boy acted in his mother’s defense. The boy was not charged. 

Last week’s slaying took place at the 1200 block of 62nd Avenue. 

n Suspended registration 

Police pulled over a Richmond man at Sacramento Street and Alcatraz Avenue Wednesday night for having an expired registration. Upon inspection, police found a pair of brass knuckles, two shaved skeleton keys – used to steal cars – and an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine. Police arrested Miguel Perez, 24, for possession of a dangerous weapon, drugs and burglary tools. 

n Assault 

An adult male punched another male in the face four times during a free breakfast at Trinity United Methodist Church Wednesday morning. According to police, the victim reached for the suspect’s oatmeal, so the suspect began throwing punches. A church worker intervened and the suspect fled the church, police said. The victim was treated for cuts to the mouth. 

The East Bay Municipal Utility District has completed construction of an 11-mile emergency pipeline that would let water flow between Castro Valley and San Ramon. 

Prior to completion of the pipeline, if the existing Claremont Tunnel line had been damaged, as in the case of an earthquake on the Hayward Fault, customers in Oakland and Berkeley could have been without water for up to six months. 

The $45 million southern loop project was a key element in EBMUD's $189 million, 10-year plan to seismically strengthen the district's water treatment, distribution and storage facilities. 

More than 90 percent of the district's water supplies are delivered from the Mokelumne River, flowing 90 miles away in the Sierra Nevada foothills, to treatment plants in Walnut Creek and Orinda. 

The treated water serves roughly two-thirds of the district's 1.3 million customers and is delivered through the Claremont Tunnel, an underground pipe running parallel to the Caldecott Tunnel. 

The new pipeline will allow the district to move water from both east to west and west to east during emergencies. 

EBMUD spokesman Charles Hardy said the district is currently working on an environmental impact report exploring options for upgrading the seismically vulnerable Claremont Tunnel. The alternatives, ranging from retrofit to replacement, would cost between $30 million and $50 million.

Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are scheduled to unveil the first of the transit system’s new fare gates and ticket vending machines at the Concord BART Station this week. 

The new ticket machines have an ATM interface and were designed and manufactured specifically for BART by Cubic Transportation Systems of San Diego. 

The new fare gates have been in service at the Concord station for the past several months. The gates feature improved programmable screens and are equipped with smart card targets for future use in the regional TransLink program. 

The new Automatic Fare Collection equipment includes ticket vending machines, fare gates and add-fare machines. The equipment will be installed throughout the BART system and on the four-station extension to San Francisco International Airport. 

The $99.5 million Automatic Fare Collection modernization program is part of BART’s 10-year, $1.2 billion system-wide renovation program.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lately quite a few large food companies have gotten into the organic food market, giving California organic farmers, often the foes of large agriculture businesses, something of a shock. 

Companies such as H.J. Heinz Co., General Mills Inc. and Frito Lay are getting into the organic market to take advantage of a new national law that will give organic products a stamp of approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The logo means the item contains no genetically modified material, no irradiation, and few, if any, chemicals or products. The USDA will also be putting similar labels on wines made from organic grapes with little or no sulfites added. 

When the law goes into effect Oct. 21, it will be a victory for California farmers, leaders of the organic farming movement, but it will also be one that comes with skepticism. 

Some worry that offering more organic foods at cheaper prices will drive out small farmers, and others worry that the government may protect corporate agribusiness rather than smaller operations. 

“In early years, we were trying to woo bigger companies and they wouldn’t have anything to do with us,” Warren Weber, who started growing organic lettuce in Northern California in the 1970’s, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Now they’re embracing it, but you’ve got a lot of people who are very hostile to the industrialization of the organic farmer.” 

For big food companies the organic market means money. Last year, consumers spent $11 billion on organic foods and the industry has seen several years of near 20 percent growth. Now large companies want a slice of the organic pie. 

But attention should be paid to the wide range of companies vying for USDA-sanctioned organic status to see how good they are and how much they embrace farmers trying to do more than milk the latest profitable market, said Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. 

Some organic farmers aren’t opposed to the national law. For one, Kelly Shea the director of Horizon Organic, a multimillion-dollar organic farm, isn’t worried. 

“We’re always most critical about that which we love the most,” Shea said. “All it says to me is that we were right all along.” 

Still, some farmers are encouraged but skeptical. 

“These are good standards that need to be monitored,” Weber said. “If we don’t, big corporations are going to walk away with the whole organic name we created, and we will be out in the cold.” 

Dead tree-sitter identified 

SAN JOSE – The Santa Clara County coroner’s office identified the tree sitter who died Tuesday after falling from his perch as a 25-year-old Salt Lake City man. 

Robert Bryan was an activist with Earth First! who had only been in the redwood tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains for about 12 hours when he fell. 

Since August, Earth First! has been staging tree-sit protests against logging company Redwood Empire’s operation in the Ramsey Gulch area about 20 miles south of San Jose. 

Investigators still weren’t sure how Bryan fell. 

Loggers who saw him on the ground said he was not wearing a harness. 

Officials at Earth First!, which plans an October 19th memorial for Bryan, were also puzzled. 

Manager killed in bank robbery 

BURLINGAME – Police released surveillance camera photos Saturday of three bank robbery suspects believed to have been responsible for Friday’s takeover hold-up in which one bank employee died. 

The three men can be seen, without masks or disguises, on the Wells Fargo bank camera footage. The general descriptions of the men were also released and they were said to have worn common street attire and casual sports caps. 

Police also identified the bank manager who died in the robbery as Alice Martel, 34, of Millbrae. 

Martel died at Stanford Medical Center after she was shot in the abdomen. Another bank employee, a male, was shot in the left shoulder and was in stable condition. His name was being withheld Saturday. 

Police said two or three men armed with handguns came in through the back door of the bank Friday. Martel was trying to close a door to protect herself when she was hit by gunfire, and the injured man was hiding behind his desk, said Police Chief Gary Missel. 

The masked men ran out the front door and fled through Burlingame’s business district on Burlingame Avenue. 

Arrest made in bomb scare 

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Mateo county woman has been arrested on suspicion of calling in a phony bomb threat, claiming an explosive had been planted on the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Anita Hanson, 43, of Pacifica, was arrested early Friday morning after police traced the call to her cell phone. 

“Anybody who calls in a crank call is going to be tracked down and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Lt. Charles McLaughlin of the California Highway Patrol’s office in Corte Madera. 

Hanson’s cell phone was believed to have also been used an hour before the bridge threat to call in another bomb threat to the federal building in San Francisco. 

She was booked into San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of criminal threats and making a bomb threat, according to the CHP. Charges had not been filed on Friday and Hanson, also known as Anita Barbour, was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Marijuana advocate could get up to five years for growing 

SAN DIEGO – A prominent medical-marijuana advocate, who once smoked pot on the steps of City Hall here to draw attention to his cause, is facing at least five years in prison if found guilty of growing marijuana. 

Steven McWilliams, 48, pleaded innocent to federal charges Friday after being arrested by U.S drug enforcement agents. He was later released and pledged to pay a $50,000 bond if he fails to show up for court appearances. 

More than two weeks ago, federal agents uprooted 25 marijuana plants from the yard of McWilliams’ home. 

A Drug Enforcement Administration officer had previously delivered McWilliams a letter signed by interim U.S. Attorney Carol Lam warning him that he might be arrested if he did not stop growing marijuana. 

McWilliams and his partner operate a resource center and help sick and dying people legally obtain the drug under California’s Proposition 215. The state law conflicts with federal drug statutes, which prohibit the use, possession or cultivation of marijuana. 

UC Davis scales back housing plan 

DAVIS – Bowing to community pressure, the University of California, Davis is scaling back plans for a new campus housing development. 

After critics said the original project was too large, school officials released a new blueprint Friday for a compact, bike-friendly neighborhood for students, faculty and staff members. 

Officials said the new plan calls for construction of a 200-acre project on campus agricultural research land that would house 3,700 people. 

University officials have proposed the new development as a way to handle the surge of new students, faculty and staff expected in the next decade. 

University officials hope to present a final development proposal to the UC Board of Regents in November 2003. 

Housing is already a severe problem in Davis, where the rental vacancy rate hovers around 1 percent. 

Activist dies in car accident 

SALINAS – A colorful Monterey County political figure was killed when he was thrown from his car after it veered off Highway 1 near Big Sur. 

Campaign consultant Angel Garcia, 51, a former correctional officer, was a Latino Republican activist who managed numerous political campaigns through his Salinas consulting firm. 

He was the chief fund-raiser for the group fighting a Nov. 5 ballot measure intended to scrap the Salinas utility tax. Garcia also ran unsuccessfully for Assembly in 1988 and was the first Monterey County Latino to serve as a delegate to a national GOP convention — in Houston in 1992. 

California Highway Patrol officials say it is not clear what caused Garcia’s Volkswagen Beetle to swerve off the highway Friday. A witness reported seeing a motorcycle and two cars driving recklessly in the opposite direction moments before the accident. 

Investigators say Garcia was alone in the car and was not wearing a seat belt. The crash remains under police investigation. 

Pollution continues to rise 

LOS ANGELES – California has endured its worst air pollution season in several years, reversing what had been years of improvements to the state’s air quality. 

All of Orange County and parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have experienced 49 days when ozone readings exceeded federal standards, according to data collected by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. That is a 36 percent increase over last year. 

Experts said smog levels were up across the state as a result of hot, dry weather along with a series of wildfires that polluted the air over formerly smog-free places such as Death Valley National Park and the eastern Sierra Nevada. 

In the Sacramento area, air violated the federal ozone standard on 10 days – more than three times as many violations as last year, officials report.

LOS ANGELES – Nearly one-fifth of the $64 million Gov. Gray Davis has raised for his re-election has been donated by people he appointed to state boards and commissions, according to a report published Sunday. 

At least 75 of the roughly 140 boards with statewide authority include at least one Davis donor, while many have a majority who are contributors and some are filled exclusively with political donors, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of campaign finance records. 

More than 240 Davis appointees have donated directly or through spouses, close business associates and corporate and union employers. In several cases, appointees have given Davis money within weeks or days of receiving their new post. In some cases, donations were reported on the same day Davis made the appointments, the Times reported. 

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that people who are active in politics are going to want to serve on boards and commissions,” said Davis campaign spokesman Roger Salazar. 

He dismissed questions about the timing of campaign checks and appointments. “It’s making a connection that doesn’t exist,” he said. 

Several Davis appointees said making contributions helped them to get noticed by the governor. 

“If you’re someone who has been financially supportive, they know who you are,” said Norm Pattiz, who was named to the Board of Regents last October. 

Most of the appointees get little or no pay, but the positions can provide prestige within their fields. In addition, part-time board members help oversee state agencies and departments, and many cast votes affecting how tax money gets spent. Some also decide which companies are awarded state contracts. 

“It’s dynamite,” said Hollywood nightclub owner Gene La Pietra, a former parks commissioner who gave $80,000 to the governor this year. 

“You get access,” he said. “You get things done. ... It is a prestige booster.” 

Although there is no estimate of the donations given to past governors by their appointees, Davis has received a substantial amount more from the UC Regents than former Gov. Pete Wilson. 

Wilson received $138,700 during his first term from six of the 13 people he nominated for the board. Davis’ appointees have donated nearly 10 times that sum, or $1.3 million, either directly or through affiliated companies, during his first term, the Times said.

LONG BEACH – A geologist searching for earthquake faults at a construction site found something even more earth-shattering: the 100,000-year-old fossilized remains of a North American camel. 

Thursday’s discovery by Robert Lemmer yielded four vertebrae — the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, the thoracic vertebra and a neck vertebra. On Friday, another neck vertebra was discovered in a trench dug to search for quake faults in the parking lot of a bowling alley. 

Fossilized bones were covered in a plaster solution by two paleontological preparers, Howell Thomas and Doug Goodreau, and transported to a laboratory at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. 

No more remains were found in the area. 

“That would indicate it was either the kill of a predator or scavenged by something after it died, and the animal dragged off the other parts leaving the vertebrae behind,” Thomas said. “Of course, that’s just a guess. There’s no way to know for sure. But it’s a reasonable explanation.” 

Thomas determined the exact species of the camel by comparing its bones with those of another camel at the museum. 

Camels originated in North America 15 million years ago, and as they died out on this continent, they spread to Africa and into the Middle East. 

“This really puts Long Beach on the map for something we’ve never had before,” said city geologist Don Clarke. “This is the first time we’ve ever found any large land vertebrates. It’s really kind of cool.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Longshoremen are back at work after a 10-day lockout, but who’s in charge on the West Coast docks? 

Historically, while other unions have withered, dockworkers in 29 major Pacific ports have stood strong against the shipping lines and terminal operators that transport more than $300 billion worth of cargo each year. 

The balance of power changed – at least temporarily – this week when President Bush ordered dockworkers back to the waterfront. 

Although it was a lockout by shipping companies and not a dockworker strike that Bush ended, his invoking of the Taft-Hartley Act gave employers the ability to drag the dockworkers’ union before a federal judge on charges of deliberately slowing the pace of work. 

It’s powerful leverage, given that Taft-Hartley’s 80-day “cooling-off’ period lets the shipping lines clear the cargo-choked docks during the all-important holiday import and fall harvest export seasons. 

In his Saturday morning radio address, Bush said he had to end the lockout, which he said was costing the nation up to $1 billion a day in lost business and jobs. 

“We simply cannot afford to have hundreds of billions of dollars a year in potential manufacturing and agricultural trade sitting idle,” Bush said in his Saturday morning radio address. “The action I took this week will help keep our economy moving and allow labor and management more time to resolve their differences.” 

More time, but surely less motivation for a union infuriated by federal intervention. 

Bush’s action compels the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association to take part in federally mediated contract talks after a meltdown at the bargaining table over terms of a new contract led to the lockout late last month. Both sides said they expect to talk with mediator Peter Hurtgen in the coming week. 

But union officials say the government intervention has only stiffened their resistance to what they see as association attempts to shrivel their ranks by denying them jurisdiction over new jobs created by cargo tracking technology. 

The union might simply wait out the 80-day “cooling-off” period and react angrily once federal involvement goes away. 

Taft-Hartley has been used in West Coast waterfront disputes 11 times before, and has led to an immediate settlement only three times, according to David J. Olson, a political science professor at the University of Washington. 

“My guess is that instead of cooling off, things will heat up,” he says. “The animosity is going to increase, not decrease.” 

On the waterfront, longshoremen aren’t straining to pick up the pace – but they also appear to be doing enough to project the impression that they are trying, given how congested the docks have become. 

When the association said Friday that productivity was down around 25 percent, officials didn’t cite slow work rates, but rather said not enough workers showing up for some jobs. Union officials responded that they’ve asked employers to train more workers, which would swell their current ranks of about 10,500 members. 

Should the association press its case in court that longshoremen aren’t working “at a normal pace,” as required by the judge who implemented Bush’s Taft-Hartley request, union lawyers may have plausible a rebuttal. 

National labor groups say hard feelings over Taft-Hartley will invigorate their organizing for next month’s midterm elections. 

No West Coast contests are close enough for organized labor to target, said Steve Rosenthal, political director for the AFL-CIO. But he added that angry union supporters could affect elections in places as distant as Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone is in a tight race with Republican challenger Norm Coleman. Union members produced pamphlets targeting Coleman after he praised Bush’s use of Taft-Hartley. 

“You never like to say that something like this is a benefit and it certainly should never have happened,” Rosenthal said. “But do you try to make lemonade out of lemons? Sure.”

LOS ANGELES – California’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.3 percent in September from August’s revised figure of 6.4 percent, state officials reported on Friday. 

Despite the decrease, the jobless rate remained well above the 5.7 percent recorded in September 2001. 

It also was higher than the national numbers. Last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported the jobless rate fell to 5.6 percent in September. 

About 1.1 million Californians were unemployed last month, according to the California Employment Development Department. 

Of those unemployed, 650,000 were laid off, 88,700 left their jobs voluntarily and the rest were either re-entering the labor market or joining it for the first time, the EDD said. 

The largest job losses were in government, which showed a net loss of 16,000 positions on a seasonally adjusted basis. Local government led the way, losing 14,500 positions. 

Most of the 9,600 jobs added during the month were in health services, motion pictures and business services. 

“What we feel is a real positive is that the big drop was in government jobs and that private sector jobs actually showed a small gain,” said Michael Bernick, director of the EDD. 

Regionally, San Francisco and Los Angeles counties, at 6.7 percent and 6.5 percent respectively, had higher jobless rates than the state average. 

In Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, unemployment fell slightly to 7.7 percent. Santa Barbara and Orange counties posted two of the lowest rates in the state at 3.8 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.

SAN FRANCISCO — Four congregation members were injured Sunday after a fellow member drove through the front doors of the church following services. 

Haddie Ridley jumped the curb after leaving the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church. Her car hit three church members standing outside before plowing through its doors, said the Rev. Alfred Ray Gentle. 

“I was in my office and it sounded like 9-11,” Gentle said. “Dust and everything just came right in.” 

Gentle said Ridley, who is in her 80s, most likely hit the accelerator instead of the brake. 

In theory, it is the quintessence of American democracy: citizens signing petitions to place grass-roots proposals on their election ballot. In practice, voter initiatives are provoking complaints from a growing number of skeptics. 

In some states, including initiative hotbed California, activist citizens say special interest groups and politically ambitious millionaires have hijacked the process. In others, legislators who resent being circumvented are erecting ever-higher hurdles for signature-gatherers, or, as in the case of Massachusetts, simply ignoring proposals that win public approval. 

“It takes a lot of money to use the process — it’s been taken out of the average voter’s hands,” said Dane Waters, executive director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute. 

Last fall, four initiative campaigns in Oregon each spent more than $750,000 — only to fall short with voters. In California, a coalition of civic leaders, developers and conservancy groups expects to spend up to $7 million this year on an initiative that would take $1 billion a year from car sales and devote it to transportation and conservation projects. 

Next month, voters in 38 states will decide on about 200 ballot measures, according to Waters’ Washington-based think tank. However, only 53 result from citizen petitioning; the others were put on the ballot by legislators. 

The number of citizen initiatives is down from 71 in 2000 and from an all-time peak of 93 in 1996, Waters said. He attributes the drop to increased regulation of the initiative process, and to worries by advocacy groups that their proposals will be struck down on technicalities. 

Citizen initiatives are allowed in 24 states. In several of them, legislators wary of ultimatums from the public have put measures on the Nov. 5 ballot that would make signature-gathering more difficult. 

The National Conference of State Legislatures formed a task force to study the initiative process. Its final report, in July, was largely negative. 

“The initiative has evolved from its early days as a grass-roots effort to enhance representative democracy into a tool that too often is exploited by special interests,” the report said. 

“Opportunities for abuse of the process outweigh its advantages,” said the task force, advising states without an initiative process to avoid creating one. 

Oregon has been the No. 1 practitioner of the initiative system, voting on more than 300 citizen-proposed measures since 1902, more than any other state. Even there, however, complaints are proliferating that initiatives rely too heavily on paid signature gatherers hired by special interests and have burdened the state with expensive, often conflicting policies. 

This year, Oregon has only seven initiatives on its ballot, the fewest since 1992 and a drop from 18 two years ago. 

One reason for the decline: an Oregon Supreme Court ruling two years ago that stores, shopping malls and other businesses could prohibit signature gathering on their property. 

One of the initiatives on Oregon’s ballot this year would make future initiative campaigns even harder. Groups seeking to get an item onto the ballot would be prohibited from making payments on a per-signature basis to people hired to collect signatures. 

Supporters of the measure say it would reduce fraud and forgery, including abuses by professional signature collectors from out of state. Critics say the measure would lead to hourly wages for signature gatherers, pushing the cost of petitioning so high that only unions or big companies could afford it. 

In Oklahoma, a legislative proposal on the Nov. 5 ballot would raise the number of signatures required to get an item on the ballot relating to hunting or fishing. Constitutional amendments in Montana, also proposed by lawmakers, would make it more difficult to get initiatives on the ballot and require more signatures from rural areas. 

In several states, initiative campaigns are flourishing primarily because they have wealthy patrons. 

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a possible future candidate for governor, has contributed $1 million to a California campaign to bolster before- and after-school programs. Rob McKay, a Taco Bell heir, is pushing a proposal to allow Election Day voting registration in California. Millionaire software developer Ron Unz is backing measures to eliminate bilingual education in Colorado and Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts has become a distinctive battleground in the debate over initiatives. Its citizens are entitled to put proposals on either statewide or district ballots, but the Legislature is not obligated to implement recommendations that win approval. 

Items on the Nov. 5 ballot in some legislative districts would decriminalize marijuana, halt U.S. support of Colombia’s army and oust the leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. But if the past is any guide, most measures that win approval will go nowhere.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Spacewalking astronauts worked on the outdoor plumbing of the international space station Saturday, hooking up new air-conditioning lines and installing clamps to prevent pressure buildups. 

It was the second spacewalk in three days for David Wolf and Piers Sellers, visiting from space shuttle Atlantis. 

The men immediately encountered stiff joints in some of the space station’s older pipes, which contained ammonia coolant. What’s more, the areas were hard to reach. 

With his long arms, Sellers managed to pry open the joints ever so slightly and install the specially designed, pressure-relief clamps. 

“It is quite possible you’re the only person in the astronaut office who could have done that task,” Pamela Melroy said from inside the orbiting complex. 

“I’m the second-longest armed,” Sellers replied. “The other guy, we know about him. He’s a primate for sure.” 

NASA designed the clamps after ground testing uncovered a potential pressure problem in the ammonia lines of the new $390 million girder, which was delivered last week by Atlantis. Older equipment, already in orbit, also was found to have vulnerable joints. 

Engineers feared that if ammonia leaked into the joints and pressure built up, the pipes might not twist apart if a component needed to be replaced in the future. So clamps were built to prevent increased pressure – and it was up to Wolf and Sellers to install almost 30 of them Saturday. 

As expected, pressure had already built up in some of the older lines. 

Wolf successfully snapped on his first clamp, after relieving the pressure. “I felt it burp,” he said. Sellers had more trouble. “I need another third hand, really,” he said. 

Mission Control was “flabbergasted” when Wolf discovered some missing pieces in the older plumbing. “Really good work catching that,” Melroy told him. 

Altogether, 100 clamps will need to be installed, with the job spread over three shuttle visits. 

Besides making those repairs, Wolf and Sellers connected cooling-system lines for the new 14-ton girder, which has three radiators and two ammonia tanks. 

They also released the brakes on the railcar that came up on the girder, along with a set of tracks. Future spacewalkers will use the railcar to travel the length of the framework as more girders – and more track – are added. 

As they completed the railcar work, Wolf and Sellers broke into song in honor of the two women helping them from inside. It sounded something like “A Bicycle Built for Two” and drew cheers from Melroy and Sandra Magnus. 

Just then, Melroy informed Sellers that they were flying over England, where he was born. “Oh, wow,” Sellers exclaimed. The views from the spacewalkers’ helmet cameras, showing the docked Atlantis, were just as stunning. 

Fortunately, the space station’s robot arm worked fine as a work platform. The crane malfunctioned during Thursday’s excursion, and the astronauts had to lug and plug in a TV camera by hand. On Saturday, Wolf noticed a sheared bolt on the camera assembly.

LAKEWOOD — Rep. Loretta Sanchez and her sister are working toward a historic goal, becoming the first sisters elected to Congress. 

Both are considered favorites to win their respective seats in neighboring Southern California districts in November. 

While the attention has been on their relationship, political analysts say their races have another significance, the success of women and minorities. 

“It’s not just sisters. It’s really raising the profiles of Hispanic American women,” said Nancy Snow, a professor of global media and political rhetoric at California State University, Fullerton. “I think it’s just a stamp of the future for politics for women and ... minorities.” 

Rep. Sanchez, of Garden Grove, is one of the nation’s most prominent Hispanic elected officials, transforming herself from a failed city council candidate to Democratic success story when she unseated Orange County Republican Robert Dornan in 1996 in the 47th Congressional District. 

Her sister, Linda Sanchez, is running in the newly drawn 39th Congressional District, which is overwhelmingly Democratic, Hispanic and blue collar. The district includes slivers of Los Angeles and Orange counties, including the cities of South Gate, Lynwood, Paramount, Lakewood and portions of Long Beach and Whittier. 

Voter registration in the 39th District is 55 percent Democrat and 28 percent Republican. Hispanics account for 61 percent of its residents. 

Recruiting Hispanic candidates is important to both parties, and the sisters both face Republican challengers who are Hispanic. 

“In the rest of the nation, in more homogenous areas, it might be seen as a watershed. But in California, it’s the future,” Snow said. 

Rep. Sanchez faces Jeff Chavez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita. Chavez has not been actively campaigning since shortly after his March primary win, when he said he would not be able to run because of undisclosed family problems. 

Linda Sanchez, 33, a labor attorney, is running against Republican Tim Escobar, a 36-year-old businessman and an officer in the Army National Guard. Neither has held elected office. 

Escobar, of La Mirada, has put up a fight in the campaign, labeling Sanchez an outsider who moved into the district just to run. 

“If it wasn’t for her sister, she would have no political qualifications,” Escobar said. “I think we have so many more important issues than a cute novelty issue to deal with in this district.” 

Rep. Sanchez, who is nine years older than her sister, played a highly visible role in her sister’s primary election but has since reduced her involvement to focus on her own campaign. 

NEW YORK — It’s become a cliched formula for radio success: bad taste equals good ratings. No outrage seemed too outrageous if the Arbitron numbers were up — until lately. 

This month, a Phoenix disc jockey was dismissed after an offensive call to the widow of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile. The firing came just weeks after a pair of New York shock jocks were dumped for encouraging listeners to have sex in church. 

Are the days of “anything goes” radio gone? Does FM now stand for “fire me”? 

Perhaps. Radio industry veterans believe DJs are getting more cautious with their words and more aware of their actions since the crackdown on crass behavior. 

“For the stations and the shows that do those kind of stunts, there certainly has been a re-examination of conscience, attitudes and guidelines,” said Scott Shannon, morning show host at WPLJ-FM and one of radio’s most influential programmers. 

Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio, has heard the same thing in conversations with disc jockeys. 

“They’re becoming more careful,” Taylor said. “There’s a thing in their heads, the self-censoring thing: ‘Should I do that?”’ 

That thing comes too late for some. 

Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia kicked off this bout of broadcast introspection with an August stunt that grounded their nationally syndicated afternoon show.

While most of the United States will celebrate Columbus Day this Monday, Berkeley will remember the consequences of colonialism. For the past 10 years, the city has designated the Saturday nearest to Oct. 12 – the date Christopher Columbus arrived in America – as Indigenous Peoples Day. Today, more than 100 Native American groups will gather at Martin Luther King Jr. Park to dance, sing and remember.  

“Most native people felt Columbus wasn't a hero,” said Shar Suke, organizer of the event. Suke wears moccasins, along with an approximation of her traditional Oneida dress from the early 1800's. 

She is a dancer and has danced at powwows, like today’s, since she was a small child. “My mother taught me to dance, and it sustains my spirit,” she said. “It connects me to the past and the future.” 

This year's powwow, a word that in the Algonquin language means “a gathering of people,” is centered around dancing, but kicks off with a foot race. The run begins at the 3,000-year-old Ohlone shell mound ruins near University Avenue and Fourth Street and goes to Berkeley’s downtown where the rest of the day's events take place. The Ohlone burial mound is now the site of a parking lot, but the native roots run deep here – in fact, 20 feet beneath the surface. 

This sort of buried history is one reason the powwow is not exactly a celebration, said organizer Suke.“This is a healing process for a lot of our people,” she said. “We carry the genetic memory of trauma to our ancestors.”  

The modern powwow's history is rooted in government-sponsored relocation of native peoples to reservations in the 19th century. 

Grass dance societies were an outcome of the displacement, and dances were one of the few traditions that were allowed in the natives’ new homes. 

There are many different dances, for different age groups and sexes, at powwows. Attendees today might see women perform Shawl, Cloth, or Jingle dances, while the men may dance the Straight, Fancy or Grass dances. Dancers are commonly judged by a panel of experts, and winners sometimes receive cash prizes. 

“We like to compete,” said Suke. 

Suke grew up in Oklahoma learning combined native traditions of her Oneida grandfather and Cherokee grandmother. Her grandmother used to make her elk skin moccasins, but in recent years Suke has learned the craft herself. 

“When you come to the circle, it becomes an extended family, so you learn from others,” she said. 

There's a permanent reminder of the holiday in Berkeley as well. The city's Turtle Island Monument at the park, designed by Potawatomi Lee Sprague, will be rededicated today. 

Berkeley is not alone in recognizing native peoples this weekend. The cities of Sebastapol and Santa Cruz also commemorate Indigenous People's Day, while the state of South Dakota calls the holiday Native Peoples Day. 

Berkeley is world renouned as a home of knowledge and learning. Our children deserve world-class schools that live up to Berkeley’s superb reputation. Our local school district does a good job with its limited resources. However, if we are serious about bringing a world-class education to every single child in Berkeley we need to make our schools a higher priority and enlist the help of the entire community as well as our county, state and federal officials. 

That is why I am want to take the experience and relationships built over the 20 years I served Berkeley in the state Assembly and put them to work to help improve Berkeley’s schools. Within my first 100 days as mayor I will convene an education summit. It will bring together parents, teachers, principals, school administrators and school board members along with educational leaders from federal, state and county government, and the private and non-profit sectors. Some who have already agreed to attend include: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congressman George Miller (Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee), Senator Jack O’Connell (Candidate for State Superintendent of Education), Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (Chair of the Assembly Education Committee), and Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, Assemblywoman-elect Loni Hancock, President Clinton’s Regional Representative for the US Department of Education and Alameda County Superintendent of Education Sheila Jordan. 

The Berkeley Education Summit will be organized around three goals. First to get an overview of what our school district is currently doing – what is working well, what needs to be improved, and where there are gaps that a school-community partnership can help fill. Second, to look at policies and programs from the best school districts throughout the state and country for ideas that can improve our schools. Third, to call on the innovation and creativity of Berkeley people to join in a sustained effort to help every child succeed. 

Tom Bates is a progressive candidate for mayor of Berkeley.

Toward the end of the 1930s Berkeley High School undertook an extensive building program to replace older buildings and build new ones. The shop and science buildings, the Florence Schwimley Little Theater and Berkeley High School Community Theater were designed in 1938 by architects Henry H. Gutterson and William Corlett, Sr. They are the only planned ensemble of Art Deco-style buildings in the city and are significant examples of the style in the Bay Area. 

The shop and science buildings are located on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and extend the entire block between Bancroft and Allston ways. The theater buildings face Allston Way. The group of buildings forms an L shape around the academic building, constructed in 1920 and designed by William C. Hays, creating a courtyard on the interior. 

The Art Deco-style buildings are reinforced concrete finished in stucco. The term Art Deco comes from a 1925 Paris fair titled "Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes," which first exhibited art, architecture and the decorative arts influenced by new machines such as the automobile, the airplane and the ocean liner. The streamlined angular, curvilinear, and zig-zag forms did not have historical or classical references. New building techniques, such as reinforced concrete, made traditional cornices, pitched roofs, window moldings and emphatic corners obsolete.  

Decoration on the Berkeley High buildings includes bas-relief murals, lettering and stripes carved into the concrete-stucco exterior surfaces, stepped setbacks, fluted pilasters and columns, rounded bays and corners, stainless steel lettering, large deeply recessed multi-paned windows and glass block windows, curved overhangs and concrete- and brick-faced planter boxes. 

The bas-relief murals are works of art by the notable sculptors Jacques Schnier and Robert Howard. At the corner of Allston and Martin Luther King, Jr. there is a large T-shaped bas-relief by Jacques Schnier of St. George slaying a dragon. Next to the relief are the words, "You Shall Know The Truth And The Truth Will Make You Free." 

The exterior of the theater buildings and some of the landscape features have had little modification or alteration. The shop and science buildings were retrofitted and the interiors reconfigured in 1996. At that time the original cream-colored window frames were replaced with black metal frames and the cream-colored stucco was painted white. 

The work was funded by Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, commonly known as the WPA, created during the Depression. 

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

Ask any musician what kind of music his band plays. You’re likely to get “it’s hard to categorize” followed by some long dizzying string of styles like post-punk-rockabilly-surfer-metal. Even if resisting musical definitions weren’t de rigueur, most musical categories fall short in their attempt to help listeners navigate the CD bins of today’s music stores.  

The Tin Hat Trio is one of the harder musical groups to brand. Hailing from the Bay Area, this instrumental trio is as likely to pack a home crowd at the folk-friendly Freight and Salvage as it is to set up camp at New York’s Tonic, a Lower East Side haven for avant-garde improv. With the trio’s newest release “The Rodeo Eroded,” on Philadelphia-based Ropeadope Records, the trio digs into American roots music while retaining their edgy unpredictability.  

Tin Hat has built coast-to-coast success in part through its ability to satisfy the appetites of a wide range of listeners. Jazz and jam band lovers get their grooves and love the live finger-tickling virtuosity. World-music and folk lovers get theirs kicks through old-time instrument twang, tangos, country, bluegrass and acoustic blues. Alt-country fans find the right balance of rock attitude and classic Americana. 

Like Bill Frisell’s more recent work, Tin Hat dips into an imaginary American past without falling prey to white washed nostalgia. Frisell, a well respected contemporary jazz guitarist, is given tribute in the opening cut of Tin Hat’s CD. Ennio Morricone, the great Italian composer of western movie soundtracks, is also saluted in the song “O.N.E.O.” Five of the disc’s 15 tracks feature other Bay Area musicians as well as such stars as Willie Nelson, Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin and Wood) and Jonathon Fishman (Phish). 

Originally conceived as an evocation of southwestern saloon music, “The Rodeo Eroded” could just as easily pass for what Bill Laswell might have done if he were the first to get his hands on the lost cowboy film soundtracks of a forgotten Piazzolla/Morricone collaboration. Tin Hat’s CD centers around the talents of violinist Carla Kihlstedt, keyboardist Rob Burger and multi-instrumentalist Mark Orton. Orton composes nine of the CD’s fifteen pieces and his dobro, steel-pedal guitar and tenor banjo style consistently forms the rootsier fabric for the musical mischief. 

If “O.N.E.O” evokes the rickety shuffle of a saloon tack piano somewhere near Sedalia, Mo., “Happy Hour” imagines southern Spanish-tinged music. “Under the Gun,” on the other hand, invites you to a low-down hip groove – check Kihlstedt on the ragamuffin dance hall style – before fiddling whips up a faster hillbilly bounce. It is little surprise that this quirky, more bombastic piece is composed by Kihlstedt. Kihlstedt is a mainstay in Bay Area experimental music scenes and is a founding member of theatrical metal-noise outfit Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.  

The trio wears their experimental tendencies on their sleeves as impressionistic textures (“Mammoth,” “Nickel Mountain,” “Sweep,” “Interlude”) and angular composition (“Holiday Joe”) but they are also thrown off the cuff in raucous get-downs such as “Under the Gun.” 

But many will savor this album for its delicious folksy lyricism, where modernist mischief merely haunts Americana dreams and colors pop pleasures. Orton’s lush arrangement of the Tin Pan Alley-era “Willow Weep for Me,” featuring tasty singing by Willie Nelson, evokes the shimmering studio gloss of a 1930s Hollywood film. Vincente Minnelli would be proud. Orton’s gorgeous “The Last Cowboy” and “Mammoth” both mask tight dissonant clusters in simple forms and sensuous lyricism.  

Tin Hat is a tight band but still leaves room for each player’s talent to be heard. If they sound unclassifiable, somewhere between today and some cinematic southwestern yesterday, you can label them yourself when they take to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Halloween night as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Saturday, Oct. 12 

ACME Observatory Contemporary Performance Series 

8:15 p.m. 

3192 Adeline - TUVA Space 

German saxophonist Frank Gratkowski with local percussionist Marco Eneidi. 

649-8744 

$0 to $20 - sliding scale. 

Indigenous Peoples Day 

7:30 a.m. 

Shellmound run to the Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow - 1st Annual Run 

615-0603 

Free 

Autumnal Equinox Picnic 

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“Big Leaf” field in Tilden Park 

East Bay Atheists host this day of fun, food, and games. 

652-8350 

$5 donation 

“Challenging the Legacy of Columbus”: Indigenous People’s Day Brunch 

10 a.m. 

Ecology Center 

2350 San Pablo Ave. 

William Trujillo, campaign coordinator for the most powerful national campesino federation in Ecuador, will speak. 

548-2220 x233 

Sliding scale: $0-$50 

“Toward Realizing Our Dream: Overcoming the Obstacles to Korea’s Peaceful Reunification” 

1 p.m. 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library  

UC Berkeley 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaks,  

followed by guest speakers and a reception. 

See Elephants Fly 

Noon to 5 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science,  

Centennial Drive above the UC Berkeley campus. 

A day of special activities and events about the Asian elephant and the Asian cultures where these remarkable beasts live. 

643-5961  

babcock@uclink4.berkeley.edu 

$8 adults. $6 youth 5-18. $4 for 3-4. 

Indigenous People's Day Pow Wow Indian Market & Fall Fruit Tasting 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street  

at Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Free 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo Banquet  

1 p.m. 

Hs Lordship’s Restaurant,  

199 Seawall Dr., Berkeley Marina 

531-1729 

$40 reservations required. 

Celebrate the Lives of Photographers Galen Avery Rowell and Barbara Cushman Rowell 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater, 1930 Allston Way 

Speakers include Conrad Anker, Kathryn Fuller, Bob Hansen and more, with special messages from Tom Brokaw and novelist Barry Lopez 

644-8957 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture 

3 to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Center  

1931 Center St. 

Daniel Alef, author of “Pale Truth”, will give a slide lecture entitled “Historical Fiction: Telling California’s Story Through a Novel”. 

848-0181 

Free / Donations welcome 

Ursula Sherman Community Day 

10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Music, theater, dance, art, stories, cooking, and Yiddish games. 

848-0237 

Bring a donation of towels, warm blankets or travel-sized toiletries. 

October Swimfest 

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

Willard Pool, 2701 Telegraph Ave. 

Come out to swim, laugh, float and make a splash, while showing support for keeping Willard Pool open year-round. 

981-5150 

$4.20 general / $1.50 seniors and children 

Tuesday, Oct. 15 

Fall Fruit Tasting 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

2 to 7 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

Free 

Berkeley Camera Club Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your prints and slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

525-3565  

www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Wednesday, Oct. 16  

Hormone Replacement Seminar 

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center 

204-4422 

Reservations required. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Home Remodeling Class 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Berkeley South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 

Organized by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 

567-8280 

Free 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Rilo Kiley (saddle creek) and Arlo (subpop) 

5:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over 

Kira Allen 

6:30 p.m. Open mic sign-up 

7:00 p.m. Reading 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 

Presented by Rhythm & Muse 

527-9753 

Free / donations accepted 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

Jenna Mammina and Andre Bush 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Jazz standards, obscure cover tunes and original compositions. 

845-5373 

$10-$15 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

See Elephants Fly at the Lawrence Hall of Science  

Saturday, Oct. 12 

1 Centennial Dr.  

Activities and events about the Asian elephant and Asian cultures. 

643-5961 

$8 adults, $6 youth 5-18 & seniors, $4 children 3-4, free for children under 3. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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  

60 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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Oct. 6 through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Berkeley High Yellowjackets continued to run roughshod over their opposition on Friday, using a 48-point first half to propel them to a 57-0 win over Encinal High. 

Berkeley wide receiver Sean Young had 244 total yards and three touchdowns, while tailback Craig Hollis ran for 116 yards and a touchdown in the rout. Encinal (0-5 overall, 0-2 ACCAL) gained just 144 yards on offense, while Berkeley (5-0, 2-0) racked up 356 in the first half alone. The Jackets gained only 121 yards in the second half thanks to a running clock that reduced the number of plays that were run. 

The Jackets forced seven turnovers in the game, including five interceptions of Encinal quarterback Drew Dozier, who was constantly throwing on the run. Middle linebacker Owen Goldstrom and safety Chris Watson each had two picks, with Goldstrom’s coming in the span of six plays on nearly identical routes. 

“We got some real easy interceptions because of our defensive line,” Watson said. “They kept hitting the quarterback and making him throw the ball up for grabs.” 

Indeed, Dozier was constantly under heat, with Berkeley defensive end Robert Hunter-Ford recording two sacks. Hunter-Ford also got a second-quarter blindside hit on Dozier that forced the ball to pop out right to Emeka Echebelu, who ran 34 yards untouched into the end zone. That play came just after Goldstrom’s interceptions, the first of which he ran back for an apparent score, only to be called back on a clipping penalty. 

Berkeley needed just two offensive plays to score their first touchdown. After Hollis ran a sweep for 15 yards, Young took the ball on an end-around and raced 50 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Young was explosive on Friday, running the ball three times for 116 yards in the first half, including a 44-yard touchdown, and catching two passes for 89 yards. Young’s second catch was a simple slant play with 30 seconds left in the first half, but the lightning-quick receiver split the safeties and went 66 yards for a touchdown. 

“Sean’s speed was devastating today,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “He’s become an integral part of the offense.” 

Berkeley quarterback Dessalines Gant completed just two other passes before giving way to Jeff Spellman in the second half. Gant’s numbers were unspectacular, as he completed 4-of-10 passes for 139 yards, but his accuracy and control over the offense were greatly improved since his first start a week ago. It looks as if the Jackets’ quarterback controversy is over, at least for now, as Spellman didn’t throw a pass in the second half. 

“Dez has looked really good,” Bissell said. “We’ll give him the nod next week.” 

Berkeley had only two mishaps against the overmatched Jets. On a pitch play in the first half, Encinal lineman Jason Walker knifed through the line and picked off the pitch, returning it to the Berkeley 25-yard line. But Goldstrom made his second interception shortly afterward to snuff Encinal’s best scoring chance. 

Berkeley’s second turnover was cause for some laughter on the Jacket sideline. On an Encinal third-and-long late in the third quarter, the Berkeley coaches sniffed out a screen pass and dropped massive defensive tackle Jamal Johnson-Lucas back into coverage. Dozier tossed the ball right into Johnson-Lucas’ hands, not surprisingly the 300-pounder’s first career interception. Johnson-Lucas kicked it into high gear, trucking over an Encinal defender while lumbering toward the end zone. But diminutive Encinal running back Gary Mason hit him from behind and knocked the ball loose, with the Jets recovering for a very strange first down. 

“I just broke down and tried to score,” Johnson-Lucas said. “I wasn’t paying attention to the people behind me.” 

After the game Johnson-Lucas’ teammates made sure to find Mason and pat him on the back for having the courage to go up against a player who outweighs him by 180 pounds. Johnson-Lucas will surely hear about his fumble during the next week of practice. 

Berkeley will face ACCAL newcomer Hercules next Friday. The game will be played at Hercules High, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. 

Notes: Berkeley’s junior varsity fell to Encinal, 12-0.

Berkeley Native Americans celebrating Indigenous People’s Day Saturday say they don’t have to look far to remind themselves that their struggle for respect is not yet won. 

The Emeryville Shellmound – considered one of the 10 most sacred Ohlone Indian burial sites in California – is being ravaged by a new commercial development, said Kathy Perez, the Native American monitor of the project. She said construction of Bay Street, a new residential and commercial development, is causing the desecration of Ohlone burials, nearly 2,500 years old. 

“When you saw the machinery they were using to build the project – pile drivers, crawlers – you knew that the bodies beneath the surface would be crushed,” she said. 

The project, just north of Ikea on Shellmound Street, has sparked several Native American demonstrations, calling for the development to cease. But work continues at the site, which will open its first stores in November. 

Shell mounds, made from dirt and shells, served as the burial ground and sacred meeting place for Ohlones living in the Bay Area, said Stephanie Manning, who authored the measure that granted historic “landmark” status to a shell mound at Fourth Street in Berkeley.  

The Emeryville Shellmound is actually a collection of several mounds nearly all of which were leveled by development during the early 20th century. Since excavations began in the 1900s, more than 1,000 Ohlones have been found buried at the site, Manning said. 

The developer, Madison Marquette, did not return telephone calls to the Daily Planet, but Emeryville’s city manager said the city has followed all state regulations and spent additional money to protect the remains at the shell mound. 

“We worked as best we could with Kathy to protect the remains,” Flores said noting the city opted to spend money on an archeologist to remove and clean bones so they could be used for further study. 

Under California law, Native Americans cannot halt developments above ancient burial grounds. However, they must be consulted on such projects and can have monitors present at the site to safely remove the remains of ancestors to be reburied later. 

When Emeryville decided to redevelop the shell mound in 1999, the Native American Heritage Commission, in accordance with California law, assigned Perez to supervise the reburial of the buried Ohlones. 

But Perez said there were problems from day one. 

The shell mound had previously been home to paint companies that polluted the soil with arsenic, lead and acid. During the initial cleanup, Perez said that bodies of several Ohlones were so contaminated that instead of reburying them at the shell mound, the city had them burnt at toxic waste dumps. 

Flores confirmed Perez’ claim, but noted that burning was only done to remains found on the more heavily polluted northern section of development. “It was the only way we could do it,” Flores said. “It was so polluted no one could go there except in a moon suit.”  

The site, now being developed by Madison Marquette, continues to generate conflict. 

According to Perez, construction workers have used pile drivers to dig 70 feet into the ground, inevitably crushing the remains of Ohlones. She added that Native American overseers had witnessed workers recklessly removing pieces of skeletons without using proper equipment, and disrespecting the site. 

“They don’t realize they’re working at a cemetery,” said Perez. “We are not going to accept the disrespect of workers spitting out tobacco or dumping food scraps inside a burial hole.” 

Native Americans also remain at odds with Emeryville as to how the Ohlone legacy will be memorialized at the development. The current plan calls for the project to include an Ohlone mural on one of the buildings, a community room with copies of Ohlone artifacts, a city-run web site explaining the history of native Californians, an educational display outlining the history of shell mounds and preservation of a small mound. 

Perez characterized the planned testimonials as window-dressing.  

“They think they need to do a mural so they appear like they’re working with Native Americans and everything is hunky-dory,” she said. “But they’re not willing to give the Indian community any scholarships or start programs to service the Ohlone.” 

Flores, though, noted that the city was not required to build a memorial, but chose to spend roughly $2 million on the project. 

Ohlones are divided on the development, according to Manning. Of the several bands of Ohlones in the Bay Area, she said some want to make the site a memorial, others favor using it for archeological research, and others support development as long as the remains are properly reburied. 

After what Perez considers repeated violations of trust by the city and developer, she said she would like for the development to stop. “I’d like to see that whole place just vanish off the face of the earth.”

To the Editor: 

Apologists for Berkeley’s coffee initiative – mandating organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade coffee at retail establishments – keep digging themselves in deeper. Mark Tarses’ letter (Forum, Sept. 26) claims the initiative is OK because it will raise the cost of brewed coffee by only a few cents a cup. But how can you put a price on liberty? Mr. Tarses may value his at only 2 cents a cup – but the real issue is that this misguided initiative would deny consumers our right to make our own decisions about what to consume. 

And the intitative would backfire, by punishing many ethical coffee producers and vendors. Much of the specialty coffee brewed in Berkeley is already produced in exactly the environmentally-friendly and worker-friendly ways that politically correct coffee certifiers seek to promote. Yet its indigenous growers can’t get formal organic, shade-grown, or Fair Trade certification because of technicalities: language or cultural barriers, remote locations, inability to pay for inspections, or certifiers’ quotas. 

By excluding their beans from Berkeley’s charmed circle of allowable coffee, we would punish the very coffee growers and habitats we want to protect – while accomplishing absolutely nothing positive. Rick Young’s letter (Forum, Sept. 30) compares his initiative to banning leaded gas. That’s appropriate only because the hasty transition to unleaded gas was one of the environmental movement’s worst blunders. Advocates let oil companies substitute benzene, a volatile carcinogen, just when consumers began pumping their own gas. Who knows how many excess cancer cases that’s caused? When regulators’ recent oxygenated gas recipe finally eliminated the benzene, it let oil producers add MTBE -- another carcinogen, which lurks in groundwater for years. 

If you want PC coffee just ask your favorite coffee brewer to offer it. You can readily get preprinted request cards explaining why PC is good. If your coffeehouse turns you down, go elsewhere, and explain why. Rational free choice works, and exercising it can help us build a better world. But ham-handed, short-sighted restrictions hurt everyone – including their intended beneficiaries. To paraphrase many Berkeley residents’ response to an earlier government overreach: Keep your laws off my coffee. 

Michael Katz 

Berkeley 

One running back piling up yards the St. Mary’s High defense was able to handle. Two running backs piling up yards the defense was almost too much for the Panthers to handle. 

Oakland Tech High’s Marshawn Lynch rushed for a 146 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in the first half, then gave way to backup Virdell Larkins. Larkins rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in the second half for Oakland Tech, which scored 20 unanswered points over the final nine minutes to tie St. Mary’s 32-32. 

“Oakland Tech has some outsanding athletes that can score anytime they touch the ball and they never gave up,” said St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson, who said his team played their best game of the year. 

The Panthers (1-3-1) came close to losing the game when the Bulldogs prepared for an extra point to break the tie with 2:50 left in regulation. It took a meeting of three referees, who did not make a signal immediately after the kick, to decide that the extra point sailed wide.  

St. Mary’s senior Ryan Coogler said his stomach was in knots as the referees huddled to decide the fate of the game.  

“I had outside containment so I had a good view. It might have been good,” Coogler said. “One (referee) said that he thought it was no good and the other two said they had a bad angle.” 

St. Mary’s capatilized on Oakland Tech’s mistakes throughout, controlling most of the game as they built 32-12 lead. A Bulldogs mishandled punt and two interceptions led to 17 points for the Panthers.  

Coogler had one of his team’s interceptions and a 49-yard touchdown catch two plays after Oakland Tech (3-1-1) attemped an onside kick to open the second half. 

“They tried to follow me with their best athlete [Lynch], but anytime there is bump and run and no safety they know to look for me,” Coogler said. 

The touchdown pass to Coogler was one of two from senior quarterback Steve Murphy, who played all but five snaps behind center. Lawson said the two series he substituted sophomore Scott Tully in was because he wanted “to give a different look. They put guys off the ball and on our receivers and so we wanted to run the ball.” Tully has been splitting time with Murphy this season in an effort to jumpstart the St. Mary’s offense, but Murphy was excellent on Friday night, completing 5-of-10 passes for 152 yards. His first touchdown pass was a 12-yarder to Will Reid. 

Murphy, who led the Panthers to a Bay Shore Athletic League title last season, echoed the sentiments of other players on the team that the tie was a moral victory. 

“We tried to make a statement. Nobody expected us to get this,” Murphy said. “We should have came away victorious though.” 

St. Mary’s got rushing touchdowns from Fred Hives and Chris White in the first half to build their lead. 

The Panthers open BSAL play next Saturday at home against Kennedy. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Forty-six anti-war protesters were arrested Friday morning as they tried to block workers from entering the Federal Building in San Francisco, authorities said. 

The protest came hours after Congress approved the use of U.S. military might against Iraq. Both the House and Senate passed, and sent to the White House, a resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force. 

Forming picket lines around the Federal Building’s entrances at 7 a.m., about 500 protesters, mostly from sponsoring groups like Not In Our Name, Berkeley Stop the War and Global Exchange, chanted slogans like “We want peace on foreign soil – no blood for oil.” 

Their efforts succeeded in keeping most federal workers out of their offices until the protesters dissolved the lines just after 10 a.m., declaring victory. 

Many of the demonstrators had been at the Federal Building since the Congressional vote Thursday, staying in tents and sleeping bags and calling for the Bush administration to avoid the use of military action. 

Philip Batchelder, 33, a landscaper and self-described social activist from Berkeley, carried a U.S. flag with corporate logos taking the place of stars.  

“It’s supposed to signify who this war is being orchestrated for,” he said. “Killing is not the answer.” 

As federal employees started to arrive Friday morning, police officers lined up behind metal barricades. 

“I’m amused by this behavior,” said an employee of the U.S. General Services Administration who didn’t want to give his name. He called the protester actions counterproductive, saying, “they don’t go anywhere doing this.” 

After 10 a.m., some of the activists marched to Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco headquarters. Feinstein , D-California, voted in favor of the war resolution. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, did not. 

Bay Area representatives voted overwhelmingly against the bill. Only 2 of the 13 representatives, Tom Lantos , D-San Mateo and Ellen Tauscher, D-Contra Costa County, supported it. 

Organizers of the San Francisco rally insisted there was still a reason to speak up. 

“We’re protesting the whole deal,” said Aimara, a member of Not In Our Name. “People look to the Bay Area to set the precedent in resistance. If we don’t do it, they will think there is nothing to protest about.” 

“A lot of people here are very angry,” added Starhawk, an organizer and a member of Women's Preemptive Strike for Peace. 

Authorities said 44 of the arrested were to be cited and released later in the day and will be fined $25. Two others arrested were charged with assaulting a federal prosecutor and were being detained, said Esther Timberlake, a spokeswoman with the General Services Administration. 

The building houses federal courts and government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and FBI. 

Anti-war organizers said they have a much bigger rally up their sleeves for Oct. 26. They expect that the event, coordinated with a similar one in Washington, D.C., will bring as many as half a million people to San Francisco. 

-The Associated Press 

contributed to this story

To the Editor: 

We at The Berkshire appreciate your printing the Police Briefs on page 3 of the Daily Planet. We recently became members of the Neighborhod Watch Program and are able to integrate the briefs into our crime-prevention program. This brings our 90+ residents into closer contact with the activities of the Berkeley police and thereby gives us a better understanding of the nature and scope of the problems in our neighborhood. We feel there should be more news of this type in your paper.  

Phil Guba 

Chairman, Berkshire  

Residents’ Council

When Cal has the ball 

The ground game 

As usual, USC has one of the fastest teams in the country, which could give the Bears some trouble. Joe Igber’s game is based on making people miss, something that may not do him much good against the swarming USC defense. Trojan defensive tackle Shaun Cody is a monster and could get a lot of pressure up the middle to force Igber outside.  

In the trenches 

The Bears need guard Jon Geisel healthy and ready to go, as he is a big improvement over replacement David Hays. Cal has been exceptional guarding Kyle Boller this season, giving up a conference-low seven sacks. If they can continue that kind of protection against the Trojans, who are not known for their pass rush, the Bears could have a big scoring day behind Boller’s strong right arm. 

Taking to the air 

While USC leads the Pac-10 in defensive pass efficiency, they were exposed as vulnerable in last week’s loss to Washington State. Darrell Rideaux is adequate at one corner, but freshman William Buchanon should see plenty of passes thrown his way, as he hasn’t proven his coverage skills. The Bears have used trick plays with great success this season, something that could work against the attacking USC defense. One possible snag is the hamstring injuries to starting wideouts Geoff McArthur and Jonathon Makonnen. If neither is 100 percent, the Bears could stumble. 

When USC has the ball 

The ground game 

For a team with so much speed and talent, USC is remarkably bad at running the ball. The Trojans barely average 100 yards per game and run for less than three yards per carry. Tailback Sultan McCullough is explosive and has sprinter’s speed but has never been a consistent threat, while backup Malaefou MacKenzie is more of a threat as a pass-catcher. Unless the Bears leave gaping holes in the line, don’t look for the Trojans to do much damage on the ground. 

In the trenches 

USC has a fairly pedestrian offensive line, with the headliners being true freshman Winston Justice. Meanwhile, the Bears are on a roll after racking up five sacks against Washington last week and will look to tee off on USC quarterback Carson Palmer. End Tully Banta-Cain should be able to speed rush around massive left tackle Jacob Rogers, and the Bears have been improving their push in the middle 

Taking to the air 

Palmer has never been at his best when under pressure, so if Cal can get a pass rush going he can be rattled into mistakes. While wideout Kareem Kelly gets most of the headlines, Palmer spreads the ball out to his back and tight ends very well. Freshman Mike Williams, a 6-foot-5 specimen, has breakout potential but has had butterfingers so far this year. Big receivers have given Cal trouble this season, so Palmer should look for Williams early and often. 

A month into the school year, opinion is sharply divided on Berkeley High School’s controversial move from a seven- to a six-period day, and a looming teacher’s union vote threatens the very existence of the new schedule. 

Supporters of the six-period day, in place since September, say the new schedule has saved the financially-troubled district money, increased class time for students and substantially reduced gaps in pupils’ schedules, which cuts down on the number of students roaming the hallways and streets of downtown Berkeley. 

“I see a calmer campus than I did last year,” said Superintendent Michele Lawrence, who pushed the Board of Education to approve the six-period day in February. 

But critics say the increased class time has taxed overworked teachers. They also argue that the move to six periods, which eliminated hall duty for instructors, has actually increased the number of students wandering school buildings. 

“The hallways are certainly not as clear as they were,” said science teacher Aaron Glimme. 

But Lawrence said the move to take teachers off hall duty and boost their time in the classroom ultimately serves students. 

“I would much rather pay these well-trained people to impart their knowledge [than to monitor the hall],” she said. 

This summer, six months after the board approved the shift to a six-period day, an independent arbitrator ruled that the district could not unilaterally implement the change without consulting the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, or BFT. 

In six grueling sessions that concluded Oct. 7, the district and the union came to an agreement that included BFT acceptance of the six-period day. 

But if rank-and-file members of the union do not approve the deal during a two-week voting period from Oct. 14 to Oct. 25, the high school will have to return to the traditional seven-period day in the spring semester. 

District officials warn that the move to a seven-period day would be costly and present significant scheduling difficulties. 

In an informal poll this week, Berkeley High teachers approved of the deal by a narrow 62-46 margin.  

BFT President Barry Fike said some of the opposition is rooted in general concern about the six-period day. Other teachers, he said, simply have problems with the labor agreement, arguing that the union did not win enough in exchange for its support of the six-period day. 

Last year, as the board weighed the shift from a seven- to a six-period day, several community critics said they were concerned that the move would significantly reduce the number of electives available to students. 

But, according to district numbers, the shift has had a minimal effect.  

“We have more electives this year than we did last year,” said Berkeley High co-principal Laura Leventer. 

According to the district, Berkeley High has increased the number of classes available in six areas – creative arts, ceramics, beginning photography, acting, computer art and computer programming. 

Leventer said the high school has eliminated two courses altogether, a chorus offering and a multimedia course, and cut one class in five separate areas: production and acting, African-American journalism, beginning Swahili, word processing and jazz band. 

The co-principal said the high school made the reductions based upon students’ class choices, cutting when there was not enough demand to justify a class. 

But Robert McKnight, chair of the African-American Studies department, disputes district numbers. He said that, in addition to the African-American journalism and Swahili cuts, his program lost classes in three other areas – black psychology, black male-female relations and black economics. 

McKnight said the impact on students has been significant. 

“I think anytime you narrow down the classes that are available to a student, you have an impact,” McKnight said. 

Critics also raised serious concerns, last year, that the move to a six-period day would harm the high school’s successful double-period science program. 

Students attend science labs less frequently this year, but Glimme, the science teacher, said the change has been manageable. 

“I think things are going OK. It’s clearly not as good as it was last year,” he said. “But it’s a system that’s workable.” 

Students interviewed Friday did not have any major complaints about the switch to a six-period day. But tenth-grader Maya Cohn-Stone said the longer classes are not as effective as they could be because student concentration begins to wander after 20 or 30 minutes. 

Lawrence said most high schools in the state have a six-period day and urged the community to be patient during the transition and ride out the kinks. 

“I just encourage everyone to give this time and it will be getting better next year,” she said. 

But Board of Education candidate Derick Miller, who has been a vocal critic of the six-period day since last year, argued that just because the system works elsewhere, Berkeley should not necessarily adopt it. 

“We have a different community here, a different set of values,” he said. 

In the next two weeks, Berkeley teachers will decide whether they agree with the critics or supporters, and their vote will determine the ultimate fate of the new schedule. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — A man filling up his car at a Virginia gas station was shot to death Friday in what may have been the most brazen attack yet by the Washington-area sniper, committed as a state trooper investigated an accident just across the street. 

The trooper heard the shot and saw the victim fall. The gunman vanished into the gray drizzle. 

“Obviously we’re dealing with an individual who is extremely violent and doesn’t care,” Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Maj. Howard Smith said. 

Authorities did not immediately confirm the shooting was the eighth slaying committed by the sniper over the past 10 days. But like the other attacks, witnesses described a single shot, fired apparently at random at someone going about his everyday activities. And three earlier attacks occurred at gas stations. 

“The shooting certainly looks similar,” said Montgomery County (Md.) Police Chief Charles Moose, who sent investigators to the scene. 

Added Smith: “Any time we get a shooting right now we’re going to treat it as if it is connected to this case until it’s proven differently.” 

The Washington Post, in a story on its Web site Friday night, reported unidentified law enforcement sources said ballistic evidence linked Friday’s shooting to the sniper. 

The Spotsylvania County sheriff’s office, when asked about the newspaper report, said analysis of the ballistic evidence would be announced Saturday. A spokeswoman for Gov. Mark R. Warner said more bullet fragments were recovered here than from the other attacks. 

Citing witness reports of a white van carrying two people, authorities immediately blocked traffic on nearby highways and checked vehicles. The roadblocks turned stretches of Interstate 95 into a virtual parking lot, backing up traffic for miles on the eve of the Columbus Day holiday weekend. 

The roadblocks were lifted, but Smith said officers continued to pull over white vans into the night. A similar lead cropped up last week after the first rash of slayings. 

Col. W. Gerald Massengill, superintendent of Virginia State Police, cautioned the public not to focus only on white vans. 

“We don’t want preconceived notions out there, but certainly you have to play the hand that you’re dealt and the information that has come to us is white vans,” Massengill said. 

Bruce Bingham, who works at a gas station across from the Exxon station where the shooting happened, said he heard a single shot and saw an unmarked white van driving away from an intersection. Bingham said the light turned green right after the shot and he speculated that someone in the van might have timed the shooting to coincide with the light. 

The FBI identified the victim as Kenneth H. Bridges, 53, a father of six who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was co-founder of a marketing distribution company.

Lion at S.F. zoo dies 

SAN FRANCISCO — The oldest lion at the San Francisco Zoo has been put to sleep. 

Sandy, a 23-year-old female African lion, was euthanized on Tuesday because she had an acute mass in her left rear leg that was inoperable. Sandy was also being treated for arthritis, and the zoo says her quality of life was deteriorating. 

After Sandy’s death, veterinarians found that the diseased mass in her leg had weakened the bone so much that she had a fracture in her ankle bone. They also found a large mass in her liver. 

Sandy was the last in a long line of zoo lions dating to 1939. African lions typically live 10 to 15 years in the wild and up to 24 years in captivity. 

The zoo has three other lions and is working to breed them to start a new pride. 

High school melee  

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police have arrested a teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School for allegedly inciting a riot, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. 

Anthony Peebles, 29, was arrested along with some students at the school in the riot that broke out Friday morning. Conflicting reports from police said either two or three students were also arrested. 

Police believe a fight broke out between a group of about 30 black and Asian students, though they did not know the exact cause. The fight spilled out of the school, with about 400 students following the conflict onto the street. 

Police in riot gear responded and students were sent home. 

There were no injuries. 

Police spokesman Jim Deignan said officers stepped up patrols in the area and were keeping a watch out for more trouble. 

Bridge belly up 

SAN FRANCISCO – The financially strained Golden Gate Bridge District has got its hand out to bicyclists and pedestrians. 

Beginning next spring, cyclists and pedestrians wanting to cross the landmark bridge will be able to make voluntary contributions. 

The donations are part of a plan, approved Friday by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District Board of Directors, that aims to lessen the impact of the district’s projected $296 million budget deficit in the next five years, said spokeswoman Mary Currie. 

The voluntary donations have been approved for a one-year trial basis, Currie said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal officials, union leaders and the city of San Francisco hope to match hundreds of soon-to-be displaced airport screeners with jobs elsewhere in the security industry. 

Officials with San Francisco International Airport and the federal Transportation Security Administration said at a news conference Friday that the program could set an example for other airports staffed with large numbers of workers who are not U.S. citizens. 

“We all know how dedicated and hard-working (screeners) are,” said Edward Gomez, federal security director at SFO. “They are talent waiting to be tapped.” 

Under the federal Transportation Security Act of 2001, all passenger screeners at the nation’s airports must have U.S. citizenship, pass a series of skills tests and have been trained by the TSA by Nov. 19. All baggage screeners must meet the same criteria by year’s end. 

Of the nearly 1,500 passenger and baggage screeners at SFO, up to half lack citizenship and will be displaced, Gomez said. Those who already are U.S. citizens must pass the same tests as new applicants to qualify for re-hiring. 

To help workers through the transition, Local 790 of the Service Employees International Union is holding job training classes. Airport officials and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown have set up job fairs to help connect outgoing screeners with security firms including Allied and Guardsmark. 

And airport officials are tracking a group of about 70 screeners who are on the cusp of citizenship to make sure they apply for jobs. 

Regardless, times are stressful for screeners, especially those who hail from overseas, said Erlinda Valencia, a screener and shop steward for Local 790 of the SEIU. 

San Francisco is one of five airports nationwide — including Kansas City International, Greater Rochester (N.Y.) International Airport, Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Airport and Tupelo (Miss.) Airport — participating in a two-year federal pilot program allowing hiring of private firms to provide passenger and baggage screening. 

The remaining 424 commercial airports will continue to be staffed by federalized screeners trained and deployed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. 

SFO has contracted with Illinois-based Covenant Aviation Security to handle screening duties. Under the arrangement, Covenant has guaranteed all qualified screeners a job, even if that means overstaffing the airport, said Michael T. Irwin, deputy federal security director at SFO. 

But Valencia, who has held her job at the airport for more than 15 years, said she’s waiting to see how the new company runs things before she decides whether to trust the promises. 

“I know nothing about how this company treats employees, so it remains to be seen,” she said at the airport Friday, adding that regardless she was glad to hear of Covenant’s efforts to retain as many former screeners as possible. 

Irwin said Covenant, which won a $71 million one-year contract to run security at both SFO and Tupelo, impressed SFO officials with its commitment to security and its plans to have Seattle-based department store chain Nordstrom pass along its customer service skills to its employees.

The reopening of West Coast ports brought little relief to the Ross Glove Co., which has 70,000 pairs of leather gloves stitched in the Philippines still stuck on a ship in the Long Beach, Calif., harbor. 

Andy Ross, owner of the Sheboygan, Wis.-based company, doubts he can get his gloves — by rail and then by truck — into the hands of retailers such as L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer in time for the Christmas shopping season. 

“People think it’s all over, but it’s not,” Ross said. “It’s not just about getting the containers off the boats. Now it’s the infrastructure of America that’s going to be congested.” 

Whether the nation’s transportation network becomes as gummed up as Ross fears remains to be seen. But as ports from Los Angeles to Seattle crawled back to life this week after a 10-day lockout, rail and trucking officials said logistical challenges would stymie the eastward flow of goods for days to come. Experts said it would take anywhere from one to two months to empty — and reload — the ships. 

“We’ll be able to squeeze more through the system than normal, but it’s still going to take us a while” to work through the backlog, said Paul Bergant, president of the intermodal division at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Intermodal transportation refers to the movement of freight by both truck and train. 

Dockworkers were under scrutiny Friday for delays in unloading ships, raising concerns that the labor unrest remained strong. As a mountain of cargo was hauled ashore, misplaced freight and equipment-related delays added to the confusion. 

Dockworkers, whose contract negotiations had been stalled, were locked out on Sept. 29 after the Pacific Maritime Association accused them of a deliberate work slowdown. The shutdown cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion a day by most estimates. The ports were reopened, at least temporarily, by order of a federal judge Wednesday night. 

Rail companies say the biggest hurdle will be avoiding snags when sorting containers at the ports. They’re also concerned about maintaining a smooth flow of eastbound traffic so that empty trains can be brought back to the West Coast efficiently. 

Trucking companies said they were largely at the mercy of dockworkers, too. Industry officials said the waterfront congestion could be alleviated more quickly if the government were willing to temporarily loosen up on regulations that restrict the number of hours drivers can work. 

But the going has been slow so far. 

Truckers said their job was taking twice as long as usual. And the nation’s largest rail company, Union Pacific, said it was carrying 40 percent less freight than normal. 

Port officials said the goal is to get containers with military equipment and perishable goods onto trains and trucks first. 

But that may be easier said than done: Containers packed with materiel belonging to the Department of Defense are mixed in with non-military cargo on commercial liners. 

“If it’s down in the middle of the ship, it ain’t coming out so easily,” said Bill Wanamaker, director of intermodal operations at the American Trucking Associations, a Washington-based industry group.

SACRAMENTO — Household International Inc., one of the nation’s largest lenders, will pay $484 million to settle illegal lending allegations by state attorneys general and state financial regulators, California officials said Thursday evening. 

The settlement includes $90 million to California. An announcement by state officials from “close to two dozen” states is planned for 9 a.m. Friday in Chicago, though more states were considering joining the settlement Thursday, officials said. 

Prospect Heights, Ill.-based Household International is the parent company of the Household and Beneficial finance companies. Household spokeswoman Megan Hayden had no immediate comment Thursday evening. 

The settlement is larger than the $215 million Citigroup Inc. agreed earlier this year to refund in order to settle federal charges of deceptive lending. That settlement was the largest in the history of the Federal Trade Commission.

By John J. Lumpkin  

The Associated Press 

WASHINGTON – New al-Qaida strikes may be imminent on U.S. soil or overseas, CIA Director George J. Tenet warned Thursday as he defended his agency’s counterterrorism efforts to lawmakers. 

“You must make the assumption that al-Qaida is in an execution phase and intends to strike us both here and overseas,” Tenet said, noting recent attacks in Kuwait, Indonesia and off Yemen. “That’s unambiguous as far as I’m concerned.” 

Tenet’s comments came during an extraordinary session as he joined FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and National Security Agency chief Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden to answer sharp questions from the House and Senate intelligence committees, in the culmination of five weeks of public hearings on missed warnings of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

The hearing also led to new revelations regarding al-Qaida’s planning for the Sept. 11 attacks. In a written report declassified Thursday, Tenet suggests that Osama bin Laden himself may have suggested the hijackers use large planes to strike the World Trade Center. 

He also said al-Qaida will try to attack again. 

“Based on what we have learned about the 11 September, an attempt to conduct another attack on U.S. soil is certain,” he said. 

Tenet said he was meeting later Thursday with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. He said Ridge has already taken defensive measures “in specific areas where the intelligence was most credible and in sectors where we’re most worried about.” He didn’t identify them. 

But he said the current situation is comparable with what existed in the United States in the summer before the Sept. 11 attacks. 

“You must make the analytical judgment that the possibility exists that people are planning to attack you inside the United States multiple simultaneous attacks. We are the enemy, we’re the people they want to hurt inside this country,” he said. 

The nationwide alert level remains code yellow “significant risk of terrorist attacks” because officials do not have specific details on where and when an attack may occur, Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. Yellow is the third-highest of five threat levels. 

Animated and sometimes annoyed, Tenet offered his most detailed public accounting to date of what the CIA did to stop bin Laden’s terrorist network before the Sept. 11 attacks. He said his agency has saved thousands of lives by successfully stopping terrorist attacks. But he also admitted some mistakes were made before Sept. 11. 

Tenet said the CIA was convinced months before the Sept. 11 hijackings that Osama bin Laden was plotting to kill large numbers of Americans, but the intelligence available was “maddeningly short” of details that could have prevented the attack. 

“The most ominous reporting hinting at something large was also the most vague,” he said. 

In weeks of hearings, the CIA and FBI have been criticized for not making fighting terrorism a high enough priority before the attacks and for failing to share information that might have led to the terrorist plot. 

Tenet struck a defiant tone from the outset. Asked to limit his remarks to 10 minutes, he spoke for 50. When Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged him to abbreviate his remarks, Tenet refused. 

“I just have to say I’ve been waiting a year,” he said. 

Tenet highlighted agency successes, many of them long secret, including the thwarting of planned attacks in Yemen, Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East. 

Regarding criticism that the CIA should have given more warning that terrorists intended to use planes as weapons, Tenet said in seven years the agency received, and passed on, all 12 reports of such terrorist planning, even those from dubious sources. In comparison, counterterrorism officials received 20 times as many reports of potential car bombings, he said. 

Tenet also said the CIA lost 18 percent of its budget and 16 percent of its personnel in the post-Cold War cutbacks. Training new intelligence officers to replace them will take time, he said. 

But even before he spoke, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Whip, said “it’s not enough to say we didn’t have enough money or enough people. No one does. That’s always the case. It’s about establishing priorities.” 

Tenet clashed with the committees in an area where he admitted mistakes: the CIA’s failure to put two future Sept. 11 hijackers on watch lists preventing their entry into the United States after they were first associated with al-Qaida, in early 2000. They weren’t placed on the lists until a few weeks before the attacks. 

Tenet said the CIA had alerted the FBI in January 2000 that one of the hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar, had a U.S. visa; the inquiry staff director said no evidence has been found showing the FBI was told about the visa.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — U.S. troops are giving confiscated weapons and ammunition to warlords in Afghanistan, a practice that critics say strengthens private militias and undermines attempts to establish a national army. 

The national army was envisioned as a key to the stability of the fledgling government of President Hamid Karzai, which is under threat from powerful local warlords and wields little influence outside the capital, Kabul. But many of those same warlords are crucial to helping America fight the war on terror. 

“If you have forces that are in contact with the enemy, or subject to being in contact with the enemy, they need to have adequate weapons,” Col. Roger King, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said this week. He added that many of the warlords are nominally aligned with the central government anyway, though not formally part of the fledgling army. 

Every week, U.S. troops combing eastern Afghanistan find huge weapons caches. On Friday, the military uncovered an arsenal in a warehouse in Khost and filled 35 trucks with everything from 120mm rockets to anti-tank guns. 

Militia fighters traveling with U.S. troops got first crack at seized weapons and ammunition, followed by other nearby forces, King said. 

“If there’s something left after that that’s in good condition, then that comes back to the Afghan national army,” he said. Much of the ammunition is in bad condition, he said, and is destroyed by U.S. troops. 

King said he did not know how many weapons had been given to the militias and how many to the national army.

BISMARCK, N.D. — Duck hunters in two boats died in separate accidents after their vessels capsized or sank in choppy North Dakota lakes. Three bodies were recovered by Tuesday as divers continued searching for a fourth man. 

“This is not real common. It’s sad,” said Jim Carter, the hunter education coordinator for the state Game and Fish Department. 

A boat carrying Philip Fleming, 37, and Joseph J. Tonyan, 35, both of McHenry, Ill., sank in Wentz Lake in south central North Dakota, Napoleon Fire Chief Marvin Lang said. Tonyan’s body was found on the shore Monday, and divers recovered Fleming’s body on Tuesday, Lang said. 

The men were reported missing after they failed to return from a hunting trip Monday afternoon, but it was not clear when they were last seen, Lang said. 

In north central North Dakota, searchers on Monday recovered the body of George Freidinger, 70, of Mount Vernon, Ill., in Devils Lake, after his boat capsized earlier that day. Authorities were still searching Tuesday for an Iowa man who had been hunting with Freidinger, Benson County Sheriff Ned Mitzel said. 

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The longest lull yet in the Washington sniper’s killing spree brought little relief Monday as jittery residents flooded police with calls upon hearing car backfire, firecrackers or breaking glass. 

“Everyone is edgy,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is heading the investigation. “People are hearing things that may normally be overlooked.” 

President Bush said the “cold-blooded” attacks have made him sick to his stomach. “I weep for those who have lost their loved ones,” he said. “The idea of moms taking their kids to school and sheltering them from a potential sniper attack is not the America that I know.” 

Four police squad cars rushed to a Silver Spring car dealership Monday after the window of a customer’s BMW shattered when he closed the door. The man dialed 911, thinking a bullet broke the glass. 

“He had no idea what happened — he was just freaked out,” said David Earhardt, the dealership’s service manager. 

“People hear a noise, they’re going to call — they want to put an end to this just like we do,” said Prince William County, Va., Detective Dennis Mangan, whose department brought in a helicopter to search the woods before determining a reported gunshot was just a car backfiring. 

Authorities in Baltimore, meanwhile, seized a white van and found an assault rifle, sniper manual and ammunition similar to the .223 bullets used in attacks that have killed eight people and wounded two others, WBAL-TV reported. 

The van’s owner was being questioned by police Monday night. 

“At this time, the task force believes this is not related to our sniper incidents,” said Louise Marthens, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman. 

Also, FOX News Channel showed video of police in Washington, D.C., towing an abandoned white box truck from near the Sousa Bridge. The truck had a rear fender dent similar to one in a composite image that a task force investigating the shootings released Saturday. It also appeared to have a fresh coat of paint, FOX said. 

“There is nothing at this time to indicate it had anything to do with anything,” said a Washington police spokesman, Sgt. Joe Gentile. 

Monday marked the sniper’s longest break — two days and counting — since the killing spree began on Oct. 2. The sniper has shot 10 people in all.

OAKLAND — The Police Department has fired a veteran narcotics officer for alleged misconduct stemming from a 2001 case involving several hundred dollars worth of cocaine. 

The department on Friday fired John Gutierrez after a probe concluded he falsified a report about finding cocaine during a search and was untruthful about the matter in court testimony. 

The same internal affairs investigation cleared Gutierrez of allegations in other cases, including taking money and tampering with evidence, the Oakland Tribune reported. 

Gutierrez’s attorney, Rocky Lucia, said he plans to appeal the dismissal, which he called “an excessive and insupportable overreaction.” 

While Gutierrez has been on administrative leave, the department has dismissed several cases he investigated. Last October, just before his troubles began, the department named Gutierrez officer of the year. 

Police officials also transferred four other officers in an attempt to reform the narcotics unit.

Tuesday 

G Tennis - Berkeley vs. Hercules, 3:30 p.m. at Hercules High 

Water Polo - Berkeley vs. Hercules, 3:30 p.m. at Willard Middle 

Girls Volleyball - St. Mary’s at St. Patrick, 5:15 p.m. at St. Patrick High, Vallejo 

Girls Volleyball - Berkeley vs. Alameda, 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley High 

Thursday 

Water Polo - Berkeley vs. De Anza, 3:30 p.m. at Willard Middle 

Girls Tennis - Berkeley vs. Skyline, 4:30 p.m. at King Middle 

Girls Volleyball - St. Mary’s at Kennedy, 5:15 p.m. at Kennedy High, Richmond 

Friday 

Women’s Soccer - Cal vs. Oregon, 3:30 p.m. at Edwards Stadium 

Football - Berkeley at Hercules, 7 p.m. at Hercules High

Stolen flowers 

Two neighbors had their hydrangea flowers stolen from their yards Wednesday morning. A woman on the 2800 block of Prince Street reported that hundreds of her hydrangeas were clipped from her front lawn. A woman on the 2700 block of Prince Street said that her hydrangeas were clipped from both her front and back yards. She added that it was the fourth time in two years that her flowers had been stolen.