It was almost 11 a.m. on Wednesday and Tony Lacayo, seated in a van on Hearst Avenue, hadn’t received a single call from someone needing workers. 

“It is slow,” said Lacayo, program assistant for a new, city-funded program that matches local residents and contractors with the roughly 150, mostly Hispanic day laborers who line up on Hearst Avenue every day seeking work. 

Lacayo takes down the names and skills of the men who line the street looking for work every day. He then waits for calls from local residents and businesses looking for help. Lacayo said that the men generally find a day job by around 10 a.m., or not at all.  

“Last year, I’d just get off from one job, wait a little bit, and get another one,” said Angel Martinez, a laborer from Mexico. “Now, the economy is real bad.”  

A sluggish economy has placed limits on what the program, operated by the nonprofit, Berkeley-based Multicultural Institute, has been able to accomplish.  

“You’re going to have more people looking for work and you’re going to have less people looking for workers,” said Delfina Geiken, the city’s employment programs administrator. 

But the institute, which has been on Hearst Street since December, is forging ahead. Lacayo and his colleagues are setting up day jobs when they can, providing laborers with English and high school equivalency courses and serving as mediators between the workers and local business owners and residents who, in many cases, are less than thrilled with their presence. 

The program marks the latest attempt to deal with a phenomenon that dates back to the mid-1980s, when workers began congregating around Truitt & White Lumber Co., on Hearst Avenue and 2nd Street, seeking short-term work from contractors driving in and out of the lumberyard. 

The city has attempted to centralize the workers around Truitt & White and keep them away from residential areas, an effort which has faltered. One morning this week, laborers were standing on the sidewalk as far away as 7th Street, trying to catch potential employers before they made their way down toward the lumberyard. Geiken said there isn’t much the city can do to. 

“They’re not doing anything intrinsically wrong,” she said. “It’s a First Amendment issue.” 

Geiken said the city is often caught between respecting the rights of workers, most of them law abiding and peaceful, and listening to the concerns of residents and business people. 

“It’s a very difficult situation,” she said. “You’re trying to address the concerns of a lot of different stakeholders with different interests. But I think it’s a compassionate approach and I think it’s practical.” 

“The whole idea is to have people congregate in a central way and at the same time find out what’s happening with them personally and help out,” said City Councilmember Linda Maio. 

Father Rigoberto Calocarivas, executive director of the Multicultural Institute, said cultural sensitivity is necessary if the program is to succeed. 

“It’s of incredible value,” he said, noting that the Institute has brought an intimate knowledge of Latin American culture to the table. 

Berkeley’s streetside approach marks a departure from that of neighboring cities like Oakland and Concord, which have established day labor halls, attempting to draw workers indoors.  

Geiken said labor halls are expensive and meet with marginal success attracting workers who want to be out and about, making first contact with employers. 

But for the workers, most of them immigrants from Mexico and Central America, the nuances of day laborer programs are less important than getting jobs. And these days, they say, they’re lucky if they get picked up two or three times per week. 

Local business owners and residents raised concerns about loitering workers from the start, but the complaints intensified in the early-1990s with the development of the upscale 4th Street shopping area, which intersects with Hearst Avenue. 

Business owners said the workers were driving away customers and some locals complained about public urination, drug deals and heckling. But day laborer advocates said the vast majority of the workers were law-abiding and argued that panhandlers and drug dealers, with no interest in working, were to blame for most of the problems. 

City officials said they have made progress in recent months. An increased police presence, according to city officials, has helped to drive out the drug dealers and two city-owned portable toilets have eased the public urination problem.

More than a hundred adults and uncountable children braved the elements to attend the 11th Annual Youth Arts Festival at the Berkeley Arts Center at 1275 Walnut St. in north Berkeley Wednesday evening. 

Robbin Henderson, director of the center, said the wet weather diminished the turnout substantially, but that wasn’t evident in the enthusiasm and excitement of the throng of Berkeley parents, students, families, teachers and friends in attendance.  

“We’ve been doing Youth Arts Festival for 11 years,” Henderson said. "All the work, all the performers are from the Berkeley public schools, grades K through 8. There are over 1,000 pieces of art in this show and it represents every K through 8 school in the district.” 

The show runs until May 11. 

“The best thing about this show is seeing the look in every kid's face as they come in and they see their artwork hanging in the gallery,” said Sharon Badillo, Youth Arts Festival curator and program coordinator for Berkeley Art Center. “You see that over and over again. It not only happens with the kids but the parents also feel great. And the teachers feel validated. You can’t walk into the exhibit without feeling great.” 

Catherine Betts, mother of Oliver, a kindergarten student at Jefferson, said, “I think it's fantastic that people make the effort to do these sorts of things. [The kids] love seeing their work on show,” said Betts. “It validates them. Art has a very important place in the schools. That's why events like this are so important, to reinforce that.”  

Her son, a shy and sweet-voiced five-year-old, squirmed with pleasure at the attention he was getting. Oliver is a student in Anna Wong’s Chinese bicultural kindergarten class at Jefferson School.  

“The Chinese Bicultural Program is where children have opportunities to learn about the Chinese culture. They learn to sing and write and count and speak in Chinese. Even to read some basic Chinese characters," said Wong. "The class is very diverse. We get a mixture of different cultures. We get Latino, African-American, Caucasian and of course we get Asians. The children feel really good about it and it inspires them to learn more about their own native language and their own culture." 

Another teacher, Lucy Ames, who teaches Visual Arts for K-6 students at Berkeley Arts Magnet at Whittier, explained the importance of arts programming and events like the festival. 

“The classic argument for teaching art is because it helps the kids in other areas, but that's not really the argument I like to use," said Ames. "Art is part of life and it makes the kids’ lives full. Adults are amazed by what the kids can do because so many adults are not connected to their own creativity. When they see it, they just can’t believe it. So one of the messages of a show like this is not to underestimate what kids can do. Art is a way for some kids to express what they really can't express in other ways. Not every project is going to suit every student but there are times when you can see the kids just making connections. I had a student say to me the other day, ‘Hey I never knew I was good at this until I just did it!’ I'm really glad he found that out." 

Max Miller, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Washington School, wasn't showing any of his work in this year's festival but he still attended the opening and recalled exhibiting his own art in prior years. 

"I did it in kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade," said Miller. "I like art. It's pretty cool. The art classes at my school are fun." 

When asked if the arts programs should be cut because of the current budget crisis, Max replied with an empathic “No!”  

“I like clay best. You get to mold it with your hands and I like doing things with my hands,” Miller said. “My friend Charles, he likes clay a lot, too. My favorite thing working with clay is to make made-up creatures. You get to invent them yourself and you get to make them look funny or cool or scary.” 

Also in attendance was John Selawsky, vice president of the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education, and his wife, Pam Webster. 

“It’s just amazing that there's this kind of talent in the schools,” Webster said. “I don't know if it’s just me, but more than once it's brought tears to my eyes just looking at this work.” 

When asked to comment on the layoff notices that recently went out to approximately 200 BSUD staff, including most art and music teachers, Selawsky pointed out the difficulty the district faces.  

“We need more money from the state. The state's been under-funding us since Prop 13, especially the arts," Selawsky said. "Anything that's considered a luxury, arts, music, libraries, any of that stuff has been under-funded for 20 or 30 years now.”

CESAR CHAVEZ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read recently in the Berkeley Daily Planet that the city is considering renaming a Berkeley street in honor of Cesar Chavez. While I greatly respect the accomplishments of Cesar Chavez, and believe that he is certainly a figure worth honoring, I would have to take issue with the idea that Berkeley should name a street after him. 

I believe that if we are going to assign new names for our streets, they should reflect the unique history of Berkeley. Although most Berkeley citizens likely agree that Cesar Chavez was an extraordinary labor organizer and human being, he has no unique ties to Berkeley. 

Our City has an exceedingly rich history of public figures that could be honored by having streets named after them. How about “Glenn Seaborg Blvd.” to honor the internationally known outstanding scientist, educator and Nobel Prize winner? Or “David Brower Street,” to honor one of the worlds best known and accomplished environmentalists? Or “Malvina Reynolds Way,” to honor the celebrated activist folk singer and song writer who immortalized the “Ticky, 

tacky ... little boxes on the hillside?” Or even “Joseph Charles Street”, to honor the famous “waving man of Berkeley” who brought joy and a smile to countless thousands of Berkeley residents? 

The idea of renaming a Berkeley street for Cesar Chavez shows a real lack of imagination on the part of city leadership. If there is a real desire to rename our streets, at least we should use the opportunity to celebrate the leaders, activists, scientists, and celebrities who called Berkeley their home. 

Joel Myerson 

• 

WHY INACTION? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following letter originally was submitted to The New York Times in response to the front page article on April 12, “In Baghdad, Free of Hussein, a Day of Mayhem”: 

Why have U.S. troops done so little to stop the widespread looting and chaos in Iraq’s cities? Perhaps their inaction is part of the Pentagon’s brilliant war plan. After all, once Iraqis get a taste of such anarchy they’ll be happy to welcome whatever puppet government the U.S. installs, as long as it restores law and order. And Iraqis will not soon demand the withdrawal of U.S. troops from their country. 

Martin Schiffenbauer 

• 

RAW DEAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The confusion around BUSD’s current budget and the one for the coming year is great. We, Beebo Turman and Bobbie Dunston, don't understand why the top-level administration staff have such high salaries, while asking for teacher lay-offs and staff reduction of hours.  

In San Francisco, the Superintendent has announced she’s taking a pay cut because of their fiscal crisis. Why isn’t the same thing appropriate in our district? Why do we need a third associate superintendent, at $155,000 a year? 

When Laney College faculty members were told they had to reduce classes by 10 percent to accommodate their budget deficit, one department head said he would be happy to do that if the administration also agreed to cut their costs by 10 percent. 

The teachers, custodians, food service workers, maintenance workers, after school care workers, and other staff members put in long hours with the students, making sure that no child is left behind in the "learning ladder." It has yet to be explained exactly what are the "administrative increases of about $400,000" that the district says will be part of next year's budget.  

Fresno and San Francisco school districts have shown that there can be significant savings from administrative expenditures. Berkeley has only announced teacher and certified staff cuts. 

If there are some good reasons for increases in administrative costs and salaries, then BUSD should explain them fully. If the district has a plan to reinstate teachers and staff when times are financially better, then we haven't heard of it. Until then, we feel irate that the teachers and staff are getting a raw deal, and are not being treated in a fair and honorable manner. 

Beebo Turman, School and Community Garden Organizer 

Bobbie Dunston, Food Service Satellite Operator 

• 

MAYOR BATES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his article, “Bates Gets Mixed Reviews In New Role as Mayor” (April 11), David Scharfenberg distorted my position on the matter. 

I explicitly requested of Mr. Scharfenberg that if he gave my criticisms regarding Tom Bates as mayor that he also balance it and give my praise for him as well. The article unfortunately gave only criticisms and none of the many positive things that I said about Mayor Bates in the interview. If I am a "leading critic" of Bates, then he is in good shape because I appreciate the overall job he has been doing as mayor.  

Mr. Bates ran for office because hundreds of people in the community, including myself, asked him to serve. Now Bates is doing this sometimes thankless and difficult job without financial remuneration, and he has dedicated his mayoral pay to hiring a school district liaison so that his office can work to increase opportunities for Berkeley’s youth.  

I also pointed out that Bates’ years of legislative experience working with elected and community leaders is proving to be very helpful to Berkeley in these tough legislative times. He pulled off a remarkable feat just before getting elected by forging a compromise between environmentalists and playing field advocates at our East Shore State Park. The compromise was to locate playing fields on the North Basin Strip and to leave the Albany plateau as open space. He then had the political moxie and connections to secure the funding in Sacramento to purchase the property. 

In addition, Mayor Bates’ recent votes on two land use matters pertaining to 1155 Hearst St. and for an EIR on the Seminary project on Benvenue Avenue, demonstrate that he can be sensitive to neighborhood concerns. I also relayed to Mr. Scharfenberg that I have been receiving reports that the mayor’s streamlining permitting task force has been more balanced in its approach and is not just pro-development. (Perhaps a major difficulty with his article is that Mr. Scharfenberg did his main interview with me so many weeks ago that the quotes he used were not current or in context.) 

Despite my few differences with Mayor Bates, I think we are fortunate that he is willing to sacrifice his time and energy for service to our community. 

Dona Spring 

City Councilmember 

• 

SJP CRITICISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am still reeling with laughter several hours after reading Henry Hart's condemnation of the UCB Jewish students' protest at a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) rally on April 9. Mr. Hart termed the Jewish students' relatively low key protest “vulgar” and voiced his hope to “see a respectful enrivonment thrive here in the East Bay and especially at the university.” Alas, in his defense of free speech and the SJP, Mr. Hart is the “pot calling the kettle," for no group in Berkeley has abrogated free speech with greater virulence than his friends in the SJP. 

Remember, dozens of SJP members were cited by the university for disrupting classrooms. Moreover, the SJP last year shouted epithets at Jewish students commemorating the Holocaust in Sproul Plaza. For many in the SJP, said commemoration of the vilest tragedy experienced by any ethnic group smacked of little more than a joke and they treated it as such. Finally, think back to two years ago when members of the SJP blocked the doors to Berkeley Community Theater, keeping those who wanted to hear Benjamin Netanyahu from entering the building. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators were so threatening that the police felt compelled to cancel the former Israeli Prime Minister’s speech. 

Reflective of democratic Israel, Jewish students at UCB have never kept demonstrations nor speakers hostile to Israel from expressing themselves.  

Alas, the same could not be said for the SJP, whose actions in torpedoing free speech, to say nothing of the very process of education at UCB, echo in full measure the repressive regime of their champion, Yassir Arafat. 

Daniel C. Spitzer 

The Planet encourages Letters to the Editor. Send them to opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com, or to 3023A Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA, 94705. Include address and phone number. 

S.F. International Film Festival showing The Century of the Self (Parts 1 and 2) at 4 p.m., Blissfully Yours at 7 p.m., and Infernal Affairs at 9:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

The Anarchists, directed by Yu Young-Sik, in Korean with English subtitles. Action film in historical setting of anti-Imperial movement during Japanese occupation. 8 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

A. J. Albany reads from “Low Down: Junk, Jazz and Other Fairy tales from Childhood,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Noon Concert 

Cathy Olsen, flute, Brian Christian, piano perform works by Dutilleux, Ibert, Roussel, Messiaen, Boulanger, at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Concert is free, doors open at 11:55 a.m. 642-4864. 

http://music.berkeley.edu 

Friday Afternoon Hang with the Brubeck Institute Quintet from 5 - 7 p.m. at the  

jazzschool. 845-5373.  

www.jazzschool.com 

Berkeley High Jazz Lab Band Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theatre. $8 for adults, $5 students and children. 527-8245 or e-mail lorij54@aol.com. 

Bernard Gilbert, singer/songwriter of topical and satirical songs, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. A donation of $5 - $10 is requested. 540-0898. 

Djialy Kunda Kouyate, a Senegalese dance and music ensemble performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Servants, Autopunch, Alive for Awhile, rock music at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tres Almas performs at 9:30 p.m., at downtown. 649-3810. www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Patty Larkin, a leading contemporary singer and songwriter, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House, Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mingus Amungus with special guest Pete Escovedo, panel at 7:30 p.m., with performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. 

Dick Hindman/Seward McCain/Colin Bailey at 8 p.m. the Jazzschool. Cost is $12, $15, $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

A Good Friday for Bach, with Findlay Cockrell performing on the fortepiano, at 8 p.m. at MusicSources, 1000 The Alameda. Admission by donation. 528-1685. 

Henri-Pierre Koubaka performs West African folk music at 7 p.m. at Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. at Center. 486-1840.  

Smelly Kelly’s Plain High Drifters, Yard Sale, Neighborly Deeds perform at  

9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Groovie Ghoulies, The Apers, Short Round, The Mall Rats, The Minds perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Kids on the Block Puppet Show, promoting acceptance and understanding of physical and cultural differences at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level). Suggested donation $3, children under 3 free. 549-1564. 

Los Mapaches, a Latin American children’s ensemble performs at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $3 for children, $4 for adults. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

S.F. International Film Festival showing Swing at 2 p.m., The Trilogy I: On the Run at 4:15 p.m., The Trilogy II: An Amazing Couple at 7 p.m. and Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary at 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Zero Patience, cult activist surrealistic musical about HIV/AIDS. Presented by NEED, Berkeley’s needle exchange project at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Let’s Face It: Women explore their aging faces, a documentary featuring seven Berkeley midlife women talking about their ambivalence, vanity, anxiety, and joy. Screened at 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. For more information call 526-5075. 

African Music and Dance Ensemble, under the direction of C. K. Ladzekpo, performs traditional dances and drumming of West and Central Africa at 8 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2 - $8. 642 - 9988. 

Reggae Angels, Native Elements, One Groove and DJ Jah Light Music, perform at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Crown City Rockers, Lunar Heights, Feenom Circle, Mavrik perform Hip Hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Post Junk Trio performs at 9:30 p.m., at downtown. 649-3810. www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Reilly & Maloney perform  

contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ira Marlowe, singer, songwriter in a free concert at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. 655-9755. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Pr. Rajeev Taranath in Concert at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts,  

2640 College Ave. Cost is $22 for adults, $18 for students, seniors, 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Collective Soul presents The Basics, Deuce Eclipse, & The Attik with special guests ISIS in performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

High Water Rising, Noelle Hampton, Meriwether perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

Plan 9 (5th anniversary), Lo Fi Neisans, Punk Rock Orchestra, Find Him & Kill Him, Doppleganger perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

S.F. International Film Festival showing He Who Must Die at 1:30 p.m., The Day I Will Never Forget at 4 p.m., Untouched by the West at 6:15 p.m. and The Trilogy III: After Life at 8:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash with Katy Lederer and Albert Flynn DeSilver at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. $2 donation. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek speak on “Visualization and the Tibetan Tradition” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place 

843-6812. 

www.NyingmaInstitute.com 

World Drum Clinic, hands-on African drumming clinic, at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St., at 10:45 a.m. Beginners: 11 a.m., Experienced: 12:30 p.m. Cost: $15 - $25. Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, contact Matthew Winkelstein at 415-356-8593 or 510-533-5111. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Wake the Dead performs dance music, mixing traditional Celtic jigs and reels with Grateful Dead songs, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Nigerian Brothers perform traditional folk music from West Africa at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gail Brand with Morgan Gunerman from London and Biggi Vinkeloe from Sweden perform improvisation and avant garde jazz at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open at 7:45 p.m., show at 8:15 p.m. Minimum $10. 655-9755. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Berkeley High School Jazz Combo performs at 2 p.m. at 

Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. 486-1840. 

S.F. International Film Festival showing The Death of Klinghoffer at 7 p.m. and Eat, Sleep, No Woman at 9:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Robert W. Fuller reads from “Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Wes “Scoop” Nisker reads from “The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

All Star Jam, featuring The Steve Gannon Band & Mz. Dee, at 9:30 p.m., at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

S.F. International Film Festival showing The Decay of Fiction at 7 p.m. and Comandante at 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Gerald Nachman reads from 

“Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

www.codysbooks.com 

Robert Kaplan reads from his new book, “The Art of the Infinite: The Pleasures of Mathematics,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Nik C. Colyer reads from “Channeling Biker Bob Lover’s Embrace” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble concert and benefit brunch at H’s Lordships on the Berkeley Marina, at 11 a.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $18 for children and are available from Lori Ferguson 527-8245 or Lorij@aol.com. 

Bandworks performs at 7:30 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 

525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Maeve Donnelly with Steve Baughman, Irish fiddler and guitar accompanist perform at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Film 50 showing Do the Right Thing at 3 p.m. (sold out). S.F. International Film Festival showing To Young to Die at 7 p.m. and The Man of the Year at 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Azar Nafisi reflects on her novel, “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berthold Madhukarson Thompson reads from “Odyssey of Enlightenment” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Cesar Chavez Breakfast & Award Ceremony hosted by the East Bay Cesar Chavez Committee of the United Farm Workers, celebrating the new Cesar Chavez postage stamp, and honoring leaders with Legacy Awards will be held 8 - 10 a.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $25. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Noon Concert 

The UC Department of Music Gamelan Ensemble, Gamelan Sari Raras, directed by Heri Puranto, performs in a free concert at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Doors open at 11:55 a.m. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Bandworks performs at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Rory Block performs country blues and tradition-based originals at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 

548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

“28 Very Short Scenes About Love” 

An ensemble performance conceived and directed by Linda Carr, Berkeley High School Performing Arts Chair. April 4 - 26. Fri., Sat. 8p.m. $15. Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa Street, SF 415-621-7078. 

www.28shortscenes.com 

www.theaterofyugen.org 

Aurora Theater Company 

“Partition” 

Written by Ira Hauptman, directed by Barbara Oliver. 

April 17- May 18. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m. $32-$34. 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. www.auroratheater.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

“Surface Transit” 

Written and performed by Sarah Jones, directed by Tony Taccone. April 18 - May 18 

Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, (888) 4BRTTIX  

www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group 

“Mulatto” 

by Langston Hughes. April 11 - April 27. Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. 3201 Adeline St. 652-2120. www.berkeleyrepertorygroup.org 

Shotgun Players 

“Vampires” 

By Harry Kondoleon, directed by Joanie McBrien. April 12 - May 10. La Val’s Subterranean 

1834 Euclid at Hearst. 

www.shotgunplayers.com 

Please send information two weeks in advanc to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com or phone 841-5600. 

Under pressure from activists this week, Emeryville pulled out of a high-profile legal fight pitting over 200 American cities against disability rights advocates in a battle over sidewalk accessibility. 

Emeryville Mayor Ken Bukowski announced the decision outside City Hall Tuesday night, as a dozen wheelchair-bound activists, many of them from Berkeley, prepared to protest at a City Council meeting. 

The conflict is rooted in the case of Barden v. Sacramento, brought by the Oakland-based Disability Rights Advocates in 1999, which may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.  

The plaintiff insists that local governments must clear any obstructions, including poles, benches or broken cement, that prevent the disabled from moving down sidewalks. 

But Sacramento, backed by over 200 cities and counties across the country, argued that the Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, which requires public entities to provide access to all of their “services, programs or activities,” does not apply to sidewalks. 

In June 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a lower court decision, ruled that the ADA applies to all basic government services, including public sidewalks. Sacramento has appealed to the Supreme Court, which has not yet decided whether to consider the case. 

The chief concern among local governments siding with Sacramento is that removing poles and fixing hundreds of sidewalk panels will be extraordinarily expensive. 

“If we had the money, of course we would want our facilities to be accessible to all the people in our communities,” said JoAnn Speers, general counsel for the League of California Cities, which authored an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief backing Sacramento. “But this is an example of a higher level of government, in this case the federal government, saying ‘cities you need to do this, but there is no funding.’”  

A handful of municipalities, including Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, have sided with the activists. But several major cities around the country, like New York City, Boston, MA and Dallas, Tex., have filed amicus briefs backing Sacramento. And scores of California cities, including Albany and Alameda, have signed onto the league’s amicus brief, supporting Sacramento’s appeal. 

Before Tuesday, Emeryville was one of those cities. But the Emeryville City Council, after a closed session, decided to withdraw. 

“It is too bad that we couldn’t have [done] this sooner,” said City Councilmember Richard Kassis, arguing that Emeryville had taken a “step backward” in supporting Sacramento. 

Activists, who had blasted the city in interviews prior to the meeting, said they were happy with the change of heart. 

“We’re just really pleased with their decision and we hope Albany and Alameda will follow suit,” said Jan Barrett, executive director of the Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living. 

Albany City Attorney Robert Zweben said he plans to meet with activists next week to discuss the issue, but still believes that sidewalks may not constitute a government “program,” covered by the ADA. 

Emeryville is not the first city to buckle under pressure from activists. At least 10 cities and counties in California, including San Diego, San Rafael and Mill Valley, have removed their names from the league’s brief. 

Speers, of the League of California Cities, said it was difficult to know how the Supreme Court will view the withdrawals. But in end, she said, the league’s legal arguments are strong and should carry weight with the court. 

Emeryville’s dance with the sidewalk issue has been a particularly odd one. In the fall of 2001, the city settled a suit on the matter and spent $1.5 million removing sidewalk obstacles, according to City Attorney Michael Biddle. 

Nonetheless, when Sacramento went to trial last summer in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Emeryville signed an amicus brief supporting the state’s capital. Last fall, after Sacramento lost in the Ninth Circuit, Emeryville signed a second amicus brief supporting the Supreme Court appeal. 

Biddle explains that Emeryville, as a small city, could afford to fix its sidewalks. But larger cities, he said, will face a tremendous economic burden in a time of severe budget deficits. 

“This potential ruling could really be a hardship for cities, not only in California, but throughout the country,” Biddle said. 

Melissa Kasnitz, staff attorney for Disability Rights Advocates, which filed the Emeryville and Sacramento suits, says the Ninth Circuit ruling, if it stands, need not break the bank. 

A clause in the ADA which prevents cities from incurring an “undue” financial burden will allow municipalities to spread out sidewalk improvements over many years, she said. 

“It won’t all happen overnight,” she said, arguing that cities only need to take “reasonable steps over time.” 

In the end, Kasnitz said, cities that support Sacramento’s position are sending the wrong message. 

“These cities have made a political statement that they don’t care about the safety of people with disabilities or their ability to participate in everyday activities,” she said.

Former news director at the old Jive 95 radio station, KSAN, and later at KFOG, Wes “Scoop” Nisker, will speak at Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue Monday evening to discuss his new book, “Big Bang, The Buddha and The Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation.” 

Nisker, a resident of the Berkeley area for the past 30 years, is the mind behind the line: “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.” These days, the news that this former alternative media trailblazer is making focuses more on the reflective and the spiritual than the politically radical.  

Nisker described his book as, “An attempt to try to understand the experience for each generation, not just the baby boomers, but everyone born in the last 50 years.” He is also the author of “The Essential Crazy Wisdom” and “Buddha’s Nature.”  

Nisker’s new book is concerned with the various “New Age” and Eastern-influenced spiritual pursuits of contemporary Americans, and the ways in which they have rejected, or chosen not to follow, the traditions of organized Western religion.  

“Part of what I was doing in this book was tracing my own story, my own confusion, my own spiritual search, my own political search, through this very strange transitional era we’ve been going through and trying to understand our experience and defend it to a certain extent,” Nisker said. 

“We feel like we’re cut off from nature, we feel cut off from community,” he said, “and I think a lot of our searching is to find new connections. … for a sense of feeling a part of something larger than ourselves. There’s an imbalance; we’re living in a culture that is really out of harmony with the biosphere and what it means and there has to be some changes.” 

Nisker is a Buddhist meditation leader who has met the Dalai Lama. He explained the religion’s appeal to boomers. “It emphasizes being present, open-hearted … it leads to breaking out of this individual self-drama which is so focused on in our culture. It doesn’t require a different belief. It really offers a way to feel your connection to experience directly; in your own way, in your own breath. You really feel less separate and less isolated.” 

A native of Nebraska, Nisker has nothing but praise for his adopted hometown. Calling Berkeley “a suburb with its own culture” and “one of the great places on the planet,” he believes that many natural factors have contributed to Berkeley’s reputation as an epicenter for people to explore non-traditional spiritual paths.  

“Here we are as far away as we can get from the centers of power in America — Washington and New York — and as far away as you can get from the old European traditions geographically,” he said. “And the fact that nature is so powerful here, it really calls people to pay attention to it.”

The stated purpose of the war in Iraq was to defend the United States from Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Thus far no weapons have been found. Moreover, according to United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix and two top Iraqi scientists who have given themselves up, there are none of any significance to be found. 

Hans Blix has not been interviewed in the American media since the war began March 19. However, he gave an extensive interview to the Spanish newspaper El País on April 9 in which he made it clear that the United States' claim that intelligence sources had proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was doubtful at best. 

Blix pointed out that U.S. intelligence services seemed to be collecting military reconnaissance information rather than evidence of weapons of mass destruction. This made it necessary for Blix to strictly delimit his activities to protect the integrity of the inspections process. 

"The intelligence agents seemed to be collecting data that later were used to attack Iraqi military objectives," Blix said. "Therefore, when I was charged with the inspection effort, it was necessary to clarify the point: we would be an independent body. We would be able to receive information from the intelligence services. But this process would be a 'one way street.' The intelligence services would contribute their data, and we would perform the verification of that data. I always told them that we were not going to "reward" them with new data collected by us. 

"The greatest prize for those intelligence services and their governments would be for us to find those weapons of mass destruction.... For example, to give them an idea whether the sources that had provided the information were valid or not. But that was all. This attitude did not please them." 

Blix felt that this arrangement was justified because U.S. intelligence services could not be trusted to tell the truth about their information. U.S. intelligence about Iraqi atomic weapons development and mobile laboratories had proved false. 

"Consider the case of the production of contracts for a presumed Iraqi purchase of enriched uranium from Níger," Blix said. "This was a crude lie. All false. The information was provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) by the U.S. intelligence services. As for the mobile laboratories, in attempting to verify the data that was passed on to us by the Americans, we only found some trucks dedicated to the processing and control of seeds for agriculture." 

Blix goes on to point out that once the Iraqis began to cooperate, after he delivered a rebuke to them at the United Nations on Jan. 27, Americans became increasingly upset and started to criticize him. Finally, as the weather began to heat up and threaten the military operation, the United States completely lost patience in the inspection process and abandoned it. 

When asked if he believed that weapons of mass destruction exist in Iraq, Blix expressed cautious doubts. "I originally thought that the Americans began the war believing that they existed. Now, I believe less in that possibility. But, I do not know." 

Blix's doubts seem to be confirmed by recent scientists who have turned themselves in to U.S. troops. In Baghdad, Lt. General Amir al-Saadi, a special adviser who oversaw Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, turned himself in. In an interview with the German television network ZDF, he insisted Iraq had no chemical or biological weapons and that there had been no justification for an attack on his country. 

If no weapons of mass destruction are found, the war in Iraq will mark the second failed military mission since Sept. 11. The first was the invasion of Afghanistan, ostensibly to destroy the Al Qaeda network and capture Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. 

It is perhaps for this reason that the White House has been so adept at converting both the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts into "wars of liberation." This redefinition of their original purpose may play well with the American public, but it is causing the United States to lose all credibility with Middle Easterners, who see "liberation" as a well-worn code term for "conquest," and the search for weapons of mass destruction as mere pretext for the extension of American hegemony over the region. 

Beeman is director of Middle East Studies at Brown University. He is author of "Language, Status and Power in Iran," and two forthcoming books: "Double Demons: Cultural Impediments to U.S.-Iranian Understanding," and "Iraq: State in Search of a Nation."

Despite stiff warnings from the Department of State, and increasingly hostile rhetoric from the Bush Administration, a group of city employees and a former city council member leave for Iran today to deliver 1,200 badly needed wheelchairs. 

“I’ve had to defend this trip to a million friends and family members who tell me I’m out of my mind,” said former Council Member Polly Armstrong. “But the more I learn about Iran, the more I come to believe it’s an acceptable risk. I’ve been told the Iranians are some of the most hospitable people in the world.” 

Armstrong will travel with 15 people who are making the humanitarian trip to Iran on behalf of the Wheelchair Foundation, a Danville-based nonprofit that has delivered 130,000 wheelchairs to over 100 countries.  

The need for wheelchairs in Iran is great. Niloofar M. Nouri, president of the Berkeley-based Persian Center, estimates as much as five percent of the population, or 3.5 million people, need wheelchairs. Inaccessibility to medical facilities and poor nutrition are contributing factors to the overwhelming need for wheelchairs in Iran, according to a Persian Center press release, 

There are also thousands who were left disabled from the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. 

Armstrong will travel with three city of Berkeley employees — Neighborhood Liaison Michael Caplan, Electronic Government Manager Donna LaSala and Geographic Information Systems Manager Pat DeTemple, who is making his second trip to Iran. 

DeTemple, reflecting on his trip last year, said he intends to be cautious but is not unduly worried.  

“The experience I had last time was so positive,” he said. “The Iranians were extremely friendly toward us, everybody from school kids to soldiers approached us to practice their English and there was pretty much nothing else but smiles.” 

The city is not sponsoring the trip and the city employees are traveling on their own vacation time and with their own money. 

The Berkeley contingent will distribute 600 of the wheelchairs at community centers in the capital city of Tehran and in the southeastern city of Kerman. The Red Crescent, the Middle East’s version of the Red Cross, will deliver the remaining 600. 

Thousands of disabled Iranians don’t have access to wheelchairs. The wheelchairs, which are made in China at about $150 a piece, will give them a new chance at independence, Armstrong said.  

Berkeley developer and philanthropist Soheyl Modarressi has organized the fundraising for and delivery of nearly 1,600 wheel chairs to Iran. Modarressi also organized the travel for those who volunteer to deliver the wheelchairs. 

Besides delivering the wheelchairs, the group will travel as tourists to the Caspian Sea in northern Iran and to Shiraz near the Persian Gulf in southwestern part of the country.  

“The more we talk about this trip the ever more excited I am to go,” Armstrong said. “I’m anxious to learn more about Iran, of which I know so painfully little, and eager to see through my own eyes the things I’ve been reading about.” 

However, Due to the military action and current American occupation of neighboring Iraq, the U.S. Department of State has posted a strong warning against travel anywhere in the Middle East. 

“The threat to U.S. citizens in the Middle East includes the risk of attacks by terrorist groups, including to those with links to Al-Qaeda,” according to the U.S. State Department warning. “Terrorist actions may include suicide operations, bombings or kidnappings.” 

The State Department posted a specific warning against travel in Iran in February, 2002. There has been no U.S. Embassy in Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis in which 54 American Embassy workers were captured and held for 444 days. 

More recently President George W. Bush called Iran a member of the “axis of evil” along with North Korea and Iraq during a state of the union address in January, 2002. The Bush Administration’s rhetoric towards Syria and Iran, both of which border Iraq, has been increasingly hostile in recent days.  

“We do not encourage travel to Iran,” said Department of State Spokesperson Stuart Patt. “We do not have an embassy in Iran so certainly anybody traveling there is unprotected.”

As individuals struggle with personal finances and businesses ponder their bottom lines, state and local governments face budget deficits of historic proportions. Over seven million Californians, about one in five, have no health insurance whatsoever. Many others are underinsured. Hospitals and health plans are closing and merging, making access to health care more difficult. The cost of health care continues to explode. 

There are currently three bills in the State Legislature that would solve these problems to varying degrees. I am a co-author of Senator Sheila Kuehl’s Healthcare for All Californians Act (SB 921), which would create a single-payer system for all California residents without any new spending. It would mean any one of us could walk into the physician’s office of our choice and be covered for more complete services than most HMO plans presently cover, including medical, mental health, dental, vision and emergency care. Health education and preventive care would reduce incidence of illness and alleviate the overwhelming burden on our overcrowded emergency rooms. 

A non-partisan study “Health Care Options Project,” (www.healthcareoptions.ca.gov) done by California’s Department of Health and Human Services, concluded that a single-payer program is the most effective and least expensive way to provide quality care to every Californian.  

A single-payer plan would provide more health care for less cost because it saves billions of dollars by reducing overhead. Current health insurance systems lose between 13-30 percent of their dollars on administration and billing costs; the simplified single-payer system would reduce overhead to less than 5 percent. As the Nation’s largest state and the world’s fifth largest economy, California’s bulk buying power is significant. The state can negotiate reduced prices for prescription drugs, medical equipment and other products.  

SB 921’s single-payer plan would be financed by small taxes on payrolls, unearned income, tobacco and alcohol. Payroll taxes for this plan would be significantly less than current employer and employee expenses for health insurance. In fact, the Health Care Options Project estimates that employers that currently offer health benefits will save an average of $1,000 per year for each employee. 

Our state’s economy stands to benefit enormously from a single-payer system. 

One of the most compelling arguments for the Healthcare for All Californians Act is access to reproductive services. “Choice” means nothing to women who cannot afford prenatal and infant health care, birth control or abortion. This is the only legislation ever introduced in California that would ensure that all low-income women have high quality health care with genuine access to reproductive choices. 

The other two health insurance bills currently in the legislature are well intentioned but less far-reaching. SB 2 (Senator Burton) does not cover people who are self-employed, unemployed or seasonal workers. AB 30 (Assemblyman Richman) does not cover the unemployed or protect those of us fortunate enough to have jobs from the unnecessary costs of their emergency room visits for routine care. 

Most importantly, these three bills will stimulate debate on serious healthcare reform for the first time in my political memory. The time to address the health crises is now. I hope you will join me in advocating for SB 921. For more information, please email me at Assemblymember.Hancock@assembly.ca.gov or call my office at (510) 559-1406. 

Loni Hancock is the state assemblywoman for Berkeley. 

For most of her life Alanna Baeks, a junior at Berkeley High School, has been told all she needed to do to get her diploma is accumulate the necessary course credits and eke out a C-minus average. Now she isn’t sure she’ll graduate, even though she’s taking the required classes and making reasonable grades.  

That’s because Baeks, like thousands of students statewide, has not passed the exit exam required as part of Gov. Gray Davis’ 1999 education reform bill. The class of 2004 began taking the test in 10th grade and will be given seven attempts to pass. 

Baeks said she passed the English portion of the test, but was 15 points shy of passing the math section. She’ll get another crack at it, but still questions the fairness of the new system.  

“What if you get straight As and flunk the test? Do you still not graduate? And what about people in special ed — do they not have to take it? If so, I’m signing up for special ed next year,” she said. 

She might not have to go to such an extreme. A bill proposed by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) would eliminate the state exit exam requirement and leave it to school districts to decide whether they want to use the test as a criterion for graduation. 

Hancock’s bill passed out of the Education Committee in mid-March and is slated to go before the Appropriations Committee in early May. 

Proponents of the bill, which is being sponsored by the California Teachers Association, say the exit exam unfairly punishes students for inequalities in the educational system. 

“We shouldn’t be holding those students who are the most vulnerable accountable for the fact that they’ve been given an inadequate education,” said Deborah Palmer, a former teacher at Berkeley’s Rosa Parks Elementary School and a doctorate student in education at UC Berkeley. “We should hold the governor accountable for not providing the schools with highly trained teachers in high-poverty areas.” 

Emily Hobson, a researcher for Californians for Justice, an organization dedicated to education reform, says the problem of underfunded, low-income schools is even more of a problem during the current budget crisis.  

“This is particularly true now during this budget crisis when a lot of funding to schools is being cut,” she said. 

She added that it’s also unfair to special education students and those learning English as a second language. 

Past test results reveal disparities along ethnic and racial lines. In 2002, 32 percent of students statewide passed the math portion of the test. Only 20 percent of African Americans and 22 percent of Latinos passed the math portion.One group that has lobbied against Hancock’s bill is the California Republican Women, who advocate for tough standard-based means to improving schools. 

Another defender is the governor’s Education Secretary Kerry Mazonni. Although the secretary’s office has not taken an official position on the bill, a spokesman for Mazonni said the bill’s proponents are misguided and the exam requirement has led to increased focus on achievement. She said eliminating the state mandate and giving local districts the freedom to make the exam optional would weaken test results and make it harder to use the data to measure success.  

“It does students no favor to hand them a diploma if they are not equipped to succeed at community college or vocational school, let alone at a university,” said spokesman Ann Bancroft. 

Bancroft also disputed claims that low-performing schools lack the resources to adequately educate students, citing the governor’s $9.6 million increase in education spending over the last four years.  

Another portion of Hancock’s bill would exempt second-graders from taking the STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting Program) test, an exam that students in grades two through 11 are required to take to measure student achievement and gauge school competency. The bill also would remove the provisions in the 1999 law that allows states to reward and sanction schools based on their students’ performances on the STAR exam.

Write a letter of support to State Senator Sheila Kuhl for SB 921—Health Care for All Californians Act, scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Insurance Committee, at 9 AM on April 30. The more letters of support she receives, the better the chances of the bill passing. Local co-sponsors are Don Perata, Wilma Chen and Loni Hancock. 

SB 921 would provide health insurance coverage to all Californians (including the unemployed) through a single public insurance plan designed to simplify administrative, financial and purchasing costs through statewide health planning. Coverage would include all care prescribed by a patient’s healthcare provider that meets acceptable standards of care and practice, including medical, mental health, surgical, podiatric inpatient and outpatient services, diagnostic testing, prescription drugs, medical equipment, dental, vision, chiropractic care, acupuncture, etc. Patients would choose their own providers. The plan involves no new spending.  

More detailed information is available on the web at www.votehealth.net and www.healthcareforall.org 

A simple letter expressing your support for the bill is all that’s needed. Please fax your letter to 916-324-4823 or mail it to: Senator Sheila Kuehl, State Capitol. Room 4032; Sacramento, CA 95814. Letters should be sent before April 30. If you are an organization, we would appreciate that it be on letterhead. 

Thank you for your support. 

Josephine Arasteh is with Vote Health, an Oakland-based organization.

Local scholars met this week to discuss the antiquities looting in Iraq, calling it a devastating blow to the world’s cultural heritage. 

Attendees of the teach-in viewed slides of towns, buildings, sculptures, jewelry and other artifacts from the land once called Mesopotamia, a civilization dating back to 8,000 B.C. that is believed to have given rise to the first cities, written language, codified laws and elaborate religious beliefs. 

Seventy people came to the forum in UC Berkeley’s archaeological research facility. 

Much of the destruction of this civilization’s remnants began in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, but archaeologists who have explored Iraq are saying that the latest events — the looting of the Iraq Museum on April 9 and 10 and the looting and burning of two libraries in Baghdad on Tuesday — have caused the most damage to the country’s antiquities. 

Among the lost artifacts are a three-foot carved vase dating back to 3200 B.C. and a headless statue of a Sumerian king. It is unclear what other sites have been ravaged by the U.S. bombing campaign. 

Scholars have blasted the U.S. government for its failure to protect the cities, saying experts had warned the Department of Defense months before the war that Iraq’s antiquities would be targets of looting.  

Wednesday’s teach-in at UC Berkeley roughly coincided with a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris. About 30 experts meeting in France issued a statement saying the group was “deeply shocked by the extensive damage to ... the cultural heritage of Iraq,” and calling upon the coalition forces to uphold the 1954 Hague Convention, which requires that invading countries protect cultural property during war. 

Marian Feldman, an assistant professor of Near Eastern Art at U.C. Berkeley, began studying Mesopotamian art in the late 1980’s. Because of the 1991 Gulf War and the ongoing political situation in Iraq, she has never been able to visit the place she has dedicated her life to studying. 

“There is a whole generation of us who have been trained without ever being able to go into this country,” she said. “This type of loss is felt very deeply by us.” 

David Stronach, professor of Near Eastern Studies, showed photos depicting objects that were probably lost in the looting of the National Museum of Iraq.  

Nicolaas Veldhuis, assistant professor of Assyriology, touched on ancient Iraq’s literary tradition and on the first written language, which many scholars believe was invented about 6,000 years ago in the Sumerian civilization, located in Southern Iraq. The Sumerians are thought to have produced the oldest book, the Epic of Gilgamesh. That book, and the written word, Veldhuis said, is “the everlasting gift of Iraq to humanity.” 

He added that many of the clay tablets containing that early literature were stored at the museum and are probably gone.  

Some audience members said they wanted the scholars to take a tougher stand on the matter.  

Laura Nader, a professor of Anthropology, called the Archaeological Institute of America’s statement on the issue of the looting insipid, and took issue with Stronach’s characterization of the U.S. response as mere indifference. “I think it’s more than indifference,” Nader said, adding that the U.S. government knew about the threat to the sites and did nothing to protect them. “The U.S. government should pay for the return” of the lost items, she said. 

Feldman said it was still too early to know exactly where to lay blame for the loss, but she said, “It was preventable it was avoidable. We’re all so heartbroken by this.”

Bates Award 

Mayor Tom Bates was given the dubious honor of a Jefferson Muzzle Award last week for trashing nearly 1,000 copies of the UC Berkeley student newspaper the Daily Californian last November. 

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, a Virginia-based nonprofit that monitors free speech issues, gives out 10 Muzzles annually to those who apparently have forgotten Jefferson’s admonition that freedom of speech “cannot be limited without being lost.” 

Bates, a former state assemblyman, known for his progressive record on human rights, the environment and civil rights, received the award for throwing out the papers one day before the Nov. 5 election. The issue carried the Daily Californian’s editorial endorsement of his opponent, incumbent Mayor Shirley Dean. The following day, Bates won with 56 percent of the vote compared to Dean’s 42 percent. 

After first denying responsibility, Bates admitted his involvement and made a public apology prior to presiding over his first City Council meeting. 

Other recipients of this year’s Muzzles include United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, the 107th United States Congress and the North Carolina House of Representatives. 

Berkeley Second Most Livable 

The American Foundation for the Blind has named Berkeley the second most livable city in the country for the visually impaired.  

First place went to Charlotte, N.C., and third to Kalamazoo, Mich. Fourth was New York City.  

Visually impaired residents from 116 cities responded to surveys about local conditions. The foundation rated each city for pedestrian safety, transportation, employment opportunities and access to cultural venues. 

Berkeley’s state school for the blind opened in 1896. Berkeley is also home to the Center for Independent Living (CIL), which was the first nonprofit of its kind when it opened over 30 years ago.  

Class of 2007 

UC Berkeley officials have announced that 8,679 students have been admitted to the fall 2003 freshman class. Of that number, the university expects to enroll about 3,800, roughly the same number as last year. 

Students were selected from a record 36,920 applicants, which officials say underscores that demand for admissions to the UC Berkeley is greater than ever. 

Of the 8,679 admitted, 88 percent are California residents. There was a slight increase in Latino students from 12.1 percent to 12.2 percent, and a decrease in new black students to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent. Asian Americans represent 40 percent of new students, slightly higher than last year, and white students comprise 32.9 percent of new admissions, down from 33.9 percent last year. 

Women represent 56.3 percent of the incoming class, up from last year’s 55.6 percent. 

—John Geluardi

Sather Gate suicide 

A 21-year-old UC student took his own life early Thursday morning by jumping from the roof of the Sather Gate Garage.  

Police discovered the student in a small courtyard inside the parking structure after a caller reported seeing a body there around 5:30 a.m.  

According to police, the student’s backpack, sweatshirt and keys were found near the edge of the sixth floor roof of the parking structure. Police said the student left numerous letters to friends and family members explaining that he had intended to end his life. 

Robbery on Acton 

A 47-year-old Pleasant Hill man was walking north on Acton Street near Oregon Street just before midnight when a man walking in the opposite direction suddenly grabbed his shirt, produced a large knife and said “break yourself,” which is a common street term meaning don’t resist and hand over your valuables.  

The victim began to wrestle with the suspect and attempted to grab the knife, according to police. The victim then threw some cash to the ground, which the suspect picked up and fled.  

The victim went to the home of a friend who lives nearby and was driven to Alta Bates Hospital where he was treated for cuts to his hand, shoulder and chest. 

Hashish? 

On Wednesday about 6 p.m., a Berkeley resident from the 1600 block of Tacoma Street called police and said she had received two envelopes in the mail from Pakistan.  

She called police after opening one of the envelopes and finding a substance she believed was hashish. When officers arrived they noted that the address was correct on the envelopes but the addressee was not. The return address was that of a doctor in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

They further examined the contents of the opened envelope and discovered a flat, brownish green substance that looked like hashish but had no distinguishing odor.  

Following potential terrorist protocol, the officer sealed the envelopes and took them to a nearby fire station. It remained unclear what the exact nature of the substance was.

If there’s a favorite city program you want to save from next year’s looming budget cuts, the best way to do it is to start making noise, and lots of it, according to the League of Women Voters. 

And the time to holler at elected officials and city staff about next year’s budget is now. 

The league sponsored a meeting Thursday night at the Berkeley Public Library designed to educate citizens on the budget process. About two dozen community members attended the meeting. 

According to Eloise Bodine, program vice president for the League of Women Voters, the City Manager’s Office is currently drafting next year’s budget with an eye for making up a $4.7 million deficit.  

Countermeasures include sharply raising parking fines and cutting programs. And according to the city’s bean counters, no program is sacred. Library funds, police and fire services, street lighting and the paramedic fund will all likely be cut.  

The city manager will present a draft budget to City Council May 13. A public hearing will follow on May 20. The Council is scheduled to adopt the budget on June 24. 

The only question is how much, and that’s exactly where citizen participation can have an impact. 

“It’s important to participate while the budget is being drafted,” Bodine said, “because it’s very hard to get things changed once the draft budget is completed.” 

The League has scheduled a series of meetings to present county and city budget information to residents and offer direction in civic participation.  

The League invited the City Manager Weldon Rucker and Budget Manage Paul Navazio to make a presentation to the public at the Central Library on Thursday.  

The presentation was similar to the one made to the City Council on April 8. But according to Bodine, it was intended to be more informal and designed for the general public.  

“It’s being held in the library instead of the City Council Chambers, which more comfortable for many people and it was publicized differently for a different audience,” Bodine said on Wednesday.  

An informal question and answered period followed the presentation for the audience.  

The league will hold a follow up meeting on April 23rd to discuss how to take action on specific budget items.  

She said that citizen participation and voting has fallen off in recent years and part of the problem is many people are unaware of government processes and have an underlying feeling that participation doesn’t matter.  

“One way to get more people to participate is simply letting them know how to do it,” Bodine said. “Also, knowing that the City Council members will actually listen to you and that you can influence their decisions encourages people to participate more.” 

Rucker said that the budget process has been open to more people this year than any year before. 

“Having meetings like this is part of our effort to get the community involved,” he said. “As we develop the budget we will seek more community input.” It’s an ongoing process and I haven’t made up my mind yet on the draft budget.” 

Rucker told the crowd Thursday that the best way to participate is to go to public hearings, contact city council members or call his office. 

City Council meetings can be viewed on cable TV and audio tapes are available for all meetings at the City Clerk’s Office. In addition, the City of Berkeley’s Web site (www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/) has a wealth of information about elections, city meeting and city departments.  

“You have to inform yourself,” she said, “and the reference desk at the public library can be a great resource.” 

Bodine said the next step is to find out who the decision makers are.  

“For example, if you’re interested in library issues, the Library Board of Trustees is where you start,” she said. “And you simply find out who they are and make yourself known to them.” 

The best way to influence city decisions, Bodine said, is to join an organization that has similar interests as yours.  

She said another way to have influence is to have your City Council member appoint you to one of the city’s 49 commissions or boards.  

For more information about the April 23 follow up meeting, call (510) 843-8824.

The Wheelchair Foundation was established in 2000 by Bay Area philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring. The goal of the organization is to provide wheelchairs to as many of the estimated 130 million people who need them worldwide. 

Behring, a real estate developer and former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, contributed $15 million to the organization and will match any donation of $75 to purchase a $150 wheelchair. 

The foundation has delivered 130,000 wheelchairs to over 100 countries and aims to deliver 5 million wheelchairs in the next five years. 

In Berkeley, a great deal of fund raising for the Wheelchair Foundation has been organized by Iranian developer Soheyl Modarressi, who is the president of Oxford Development and founder of the Persian Center.  

Modarressi has helped raised enough money to send nearly 1,600 wheelchairs to Iran, where the need is great, largely due to that country’s 10-year war with Iraq in the 1980s. 

For more information about the Wheelchair Foundation call (877) 378-3839 or visit their Web site at www.wheelchairfoundation.org.

My editor suggests that a subtext of desperation in my previous columns might be getting a tad repetitious; that any dwelling on our parlous circumstances (War! Coup! Aging!) is perhaps a trifle tiresome. 

So today, let’s talk about crime, instead. 

Even better, crime and celebrity. I speak, of course, of the recent theft of Sean Penn’s fully loaded muscle car from the streets of our fair city. (The vehicle, sans firepower, was recovered in Richmond.) 

So how should a card-carrying Berkeleyan react? Shock at Mr. Penn’s evident penchant for, and I use the technical term here, packing heat? Consternation that he can be both passionately anti-war and pro-gun? Dismay over the sorry state of our public transit system? And what was that Madonna thing all about? 

Whatever your response, I believe we can all agree on the excellent taste the star displayed in choosing to lunch at Venus, a hip Shattuck Avenue restaurant within calling distance of the city’s theater district. Venus serves up the sort of inventive fare that can please even the most jaded palate. 

“I’ve always been anti-microwave, anti-hormone, anti-chemical, just sensitive to quality,” says Amy Murray, Venus’ autodidact chef and co-owner (along with David Korman). “I like to use extremely fresh, organic ingredients. For instance, we use freshly-dug organic potatoes from Bolinas. No storage at all, just straight from the ground to our kitchen.”  

Amy’s menus often reflect her five-year sojourn in Asia. (She’s the only person I’ve ever met who can speak knowledgeably, even lyrically, about Sri Lankan cuisine.) The Indian Brunch dish served on weekends is a case in point. Delicious curried carrot-zucchini-parsnip pancakes are accompanied by mango aioli, handmade chapati, banana raita and eggs scrambled with chiles, tomato and cilantro.  

The Asian influence runs deeper than the occasional choice of ingredient. “I was very impressed by the Japanese reverence for food,” Amy says.  

That kind of respect is evident in the treatment of the pork in a recent carnitas sandwich. Niman Ranch meat was marinated in a spicy Cuban mix for 24 hours, then slowly roasted for 14 more hours, producing a meltingly tender and tasty filling.  

I have a weakness for brunch and, luckily, so does Amy. 

“I love brunch,” she confesses, and it shows. Airy lemon ricotta hotcakes, served with housemade lemon curd and fresh blackberry syrup, are simply exquisite. And it’s definitely worth going off your low-carb diet to indulge in a thick Belgian waffle from Venus’ antique waffle iron, topped with winter fruit in almond syrup. The omelettes are all superb, too; I keep returning to the Omelette Royale, with applewood bacon, Vermont cheddar, chipotle crema, avocado, tomato and scallion. The housemade biscuits and muffins are especially good, also. 

Venus is a perfect place to dine if you’re catching a downtown movie. You can choose something as light as an autumn salad with arugula, endive, pralined walnuts, pears and blue cheese, or more hearty fare like pan-seared medallions of beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce, shitake mushrooms, broccoli, and mashed yellow Finn potatoes. Leave room for dessert. One evening, when all the stars were aligned just right, I had a panna cotta with candied exotic fruits that was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. 

I’ve been asked to note the unusual attractiveness of the young waitstaff, especially the tall dude with smoldering blue eyes. So noted. They certainly add to Venus’ lively, relaxed, fun atmosphere. 

Amy offers us the recipe for one of Venus’s flavorful soups, made from seasonal ingredients with very little fat. 

Venus is located at 2327 Shattuck Ave. Hours are 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. daily, with dinner served Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 9:30 p.m. The telephone number is 540-5950.

Due to concerns about severe acute respiratory syndrome, the University of California has suspended education abroad programs to Beijing, China, and ordered students already there to return home immediately. 

Professor John Marcum, director for of the UC's EAP programs announced Thursday the temporary halt to foreign exchange studies at Peking University and Beijing Normal University. 

To date, SARS has claimed more than 100 lives, and UC officials said there are confirmed cases at Peking University and in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

UC officials are expected to issue a decision by May 10 as to whether study abroad programs to Beijing can resume for the upcoming summer session. 

“UC is monitoring events closely and is in constant contact with EAP staff abroad as well as with the U.S. State Department, local U.S. embassies and host institutions abroad. UC will continue to provide regular updates and recommendations about specific regional safety concerns,” Marcum said. 

Health conditions in other Asian countries are being closely monitored, but Marcum said UC programs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam remain open at this time. 

—Bay City News Service

I was on my way home from school (fourth grade?) when this treeful of dapper little birds stopped me in my tracks. I’d never seen anything like them: backswept crests, black masks, subtly colored brown and yellow plumage with vivid red markings on their wings. They were carrying on in high-pitched sibilant voices, ignoring me completely. 

They were cedar waxwings, and they’d probably been on a berry binge. That was years ago in Arkansas, but they’re Bay Area regulars as well, arriving in September and hanging around until May or June before flying to Humboldt County and points north to nest. They’re fond of their berries: they visit the juniper in front of my house and the pyracanthas, and will feed on mistletoe, madrone and peppertree fruits. Sometimes they overdo it, gorging themselves into a stupor on fermented fruit; mass deaths from ethanol poisoning have been documented. 

Berries are important in their social lives. Courting pairs will ceremoniously pass a berry back and forth, and there are unsubstantiated reports of a whole line of birds doing this. 

The waxwing’s diet may be responsible for the color of the wax on the wings. Unique among birds, the three species of waxwings — our cedar, the far northern Bohemian and the Japanese — have flattened waxy tips on some of their flight feathers. Chemists have determined that the color comes from the pigment astaxanthin, similar to the substance that makes flamingos pink, but as far as I know they haven’t traced the metabolic pathway from food to feather. 

Why red wax, though? In many birds, brightly colored plumage is explained as a product of sexual selection, Darwin’s other Big Idea, propounded in The Descent of Man. Female birds are supposed to be attracted to colorful males. Selective mating spreads the gene coding for bright feathers in males and for the female preference for brighter males through the population. Give this enough generations and you get baroque extravagances like the peacock’s tail or the plumes of the birds of paradise. 

It’s not just about esthetics. There’s evidence that females use the hue of a male’s plumage — or the complexity of his song, or the vigor of his dance routines — to assess his general health. Brighter males have been found to have fewer parasites, and it may be that only the fittest can schlep all their adornments around without getting nailed by a predator. Anyway, the idea is that more colorful males are the best potential mates. 

That doesn’t work for waxwings, though, since both sexes have red waxy feather-tips. Their function stumped ornithologists for years. Alexander Wilson, Audubon’s contemporary and rival, wrote in 1832 the tips preserved the feathers “from being broken and worn away by the almost constant fluttering of the bird among thick branches of the cedar.” Nice try, but there’s no empirical support for the idea. 

It wasn’t until the 1980s that Canadian biologists James Mountjoy and Raleigh Robertson came up with a more plausible explanation. Bird banders, who logged the age and sex of every bird they handled, had been aware that older waxwings had more wax-tipped feathers than younger ones. Looking at the birds’ mating patterns, Mountjoy and Robertson discovered that May-December relationships are rare among waxwings: older birds pair up with older birds. They also found older pairs nested earlier and fledged more chicks than younger pairs. 

So the wax may allow waxwings to select experienced, competent mates, good at the all-important business of producing more waxwings. The wax seems to be a badge not of vigor but of maturity, the avian equivalent of that touch of gray. 

Joe Eaton lives in Berkeley. He’s nature editor at Faultline Magazine (http://www.faultline.org) and writes a column for Terrain, the Ecology Center’s quarterly.

Since 1966, Essex Street in south Berkeley has been home to Bruce Arnold and his phantasmagoric, multicultural front yard sculptures. 

On the left side of his front walk is an architectural water feature composed of an eclectic collection of flags, dolls, swans, whirligigs and whatnots all anchored by a shallow grate covered wishing well. On the right, in the middle of his front lawn Arnold has created the "Mother of the World" a spraying water fountain and aggregation of painted stones, branches and crockery overseen by a Black Santa Claus.  

The 91-year-old self-taught artist has been on his own since he was 15. He came to California during World War II to work in the Alameda shipyards.  

"I left Arkansas to come to California in 1942, February the 15th," Arnold said. "I worked on the ships, repaired the ships, everything. It was tough then. I worked night and day, 12 hours, 24 hours a day. Every ship you name I worked it. Oh man. I was so good they'd tell me, 'Hot sheet! Hot job coming in. You got to stay overnight and work.' I said, 'Okay.' 

His garden sculptures are kept tidy and are a matter of pride to Arnold, but politics is his passion. "My daddy was a Democrat," Arnold said. "I been active in Democratic Party all my life. Won’t vote nothing but Democrat." Inside his house there are about a dozen signed photographs from former President Clinton and his wife Hillary. Arnold has no love for President Bush. 

"You know why, 'cause Bush took it. That wasn't right," Arnold said. Pointing to a picture of Al Gore he continued. "See Gore. He won this election. Bush, he went to the Supreme Court. Bush didn't steal it, He just took it. He has money. He bought it. He knows the people. Gore didn't follow Clinton. Clinton teach him but he didn't follow. I believe his wife's gonna run next time. I'd vote her." 

Arnold puts his money behind his beliefs and donates regularly to the Democratic Party. "Sure I do. I'm a Democrat. Why shouldn't I help them? They're there for me. I'm not a rich man but I need to help them Every cent is a help, you know? A vote helps them more better than any money." 

Berkeley politics play an important part in Arnold's life as well. He proudly announces that Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates is a friend.  

"I know Tom. I helped him win this race. He's been in my house. He did a favor for me. I needed some help and he sent some help over for me to go to the doctor. He know me. Tom Bates know me." 

More than supporting just the personalities of politics, while Arnold is proud he's never been arrested, he supports those whose who are speaking out against the war.  

"They doing a good job," Arnold said. "Protest against the war, that's a good job. Somebody got’s to speak up for what's right. They got to let the people know what they want, what they don't want. What you going to keep yourself hid for? Nobody's going to know nothing about it if you keep yourself hid." 

Women in Black Vigil, held every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph.  

wibberkeley@yahoo.com 

548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, Fridays at noon in Berkeley. Gather on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome. 496-6000, ext.135. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, www.bpf.org. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series: Robert Haas, Former Poet Laureate of the United States. Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50-$12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations 526-2925, 665-9020. 

John Zerzan will speak on the Pathology of Civilization in the context of the deepening crisis we face. “Surplus,” a new film by Erik Gandini, will be shown first. It is a 52-minute critique of consumer society. At 7 p.m. at The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds.  

548-3402.  

Berkeley Earth Day, live music including Wild Mango; Climbing Wall; Kid’s Eco-Art making area with East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse; Vegetarian food and beer, craft and community booths; Berkeley Farmers’ Market Family Farm Day with bike hayrides, baby goats, wool spinning, observational beehive, Bay Area Seed Interchange Library and much more, at Civic Center Park 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Volunteers needed, call 530-2105. For information call 654-6346. 

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) monthly meeting 3rd Saturday of every month. at 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 587-3257. 

www.berkeleycna.com 

Healing Our Community through Positive Change, a conference sponsored by the Parent Resource Center of Berkeley High. Topics include Parent/Teen Communication, Kids and the Law, How to Pay for College, Depression, Understanding Cultural Differences, among others. Held at Berkeley Alternative High School, 2701 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free admission, all welcome. For more information call the BHS Parent Resource Center at 644-8524. 

UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament in the Haas Pavilion on the UC Campus, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. Admission $7, children under 5 free. For information call 642-3268 or www.calwushu.com. 

California Native Plants Sale 

Bring cardboard boxes, if possible, to carry purchases, and an umbrella if it rains. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Wildcat Canyon Rd. & South Park Dr., in Tilden Park. Free admission. 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 841-8732.  

www.nativeplants.org 

Springtime in Tilden Outing Join the Greenbelt Alliance for a moderately challenging walk to Grizzly and Vollmer peaks in Tilden Park above Berkeley. We will traverse high ridges with panoramic vistas and explore human impacts on native plant systems. 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Meet at the parking lot on the south side of Golf Course Drive just east of Grizzly Peak Blvd. 415-255-3233.  

www.greenbelt.org 

Free real estate seminar, hosted by Charles Patton and Eric Jackson, from 10 a.m. - noon. Held third Saturday of every month. 3362 Adeline. RSVP at 472-0197.  

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk, facilitated by Berkeley Singer/Songwriter/Activist Margie Adam, begins at 2 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd. Free and open to all. Sponsored by the Avalon Project. 528-8193. 

The Center on Politics Presents: Bush at War: The Annual Review of the Presidency, from 7-9 p.m., 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Panelists include: Eleanor Clift, Newsweek; Richard Berke, The New York Times; Nelson Polsby, UC Berkeley; and Dean Michael Nacht, The Goldman School of Public Policy. Co-sponsored by The Institute of Governmental Studies and UC Extension. 642-4608. 

www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Meeting of those injured at the Port of Oakland April 7 demonstration, at 499 14th St., Suite 220, Oakland, CA. (Offices of Siegel & Yee), in Oakland City Center Square; near 12th St. BART station. We will discuss a legal response to police violence of that day, and collect information from the injured and witnesses. Also, we need photographs and video of injuries and police behavior from that day. Whether or not you can make the meeting, if you were injured or witnessed specific inappropriate police behavior, please call or write. 

Contact: Rachel Lederman, 

415-282-9300, 

rlederman@2momslaw.com. 

Living Peacefully in a Time of Turmoil. The Center for the Development of Peace and Well-being at UC Berkeley, presents a discussion about uncertainty, resilience and compassion in the face of conflict with James Donahue, President and Professor of Ethics, Graduate Theological Union; Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley; and Meg Zweiback, RN, MPH, Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing, UCSF, from 7 - 9 p.m. at Evans Hall, Room 10, UC Campus. 643-7944 or cph@pa.urel.berkeley.edu 

We’re Getting There: Transportation and the Environment in Berkeley, with Matt Nichols, of the City of Berkeley Transportation Office, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. For reservations call 981-5435. energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

“My Life as an Unabashed Liberal,” lecture by Stephanie Salter, columnist and reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, on the role of liberalism in the current climate of American politics, at 7:30 p.m., College Preparatory High School at 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $10. Call Bruce H. Feingold at 925-945-1315 for information. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 525-3565.  

www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270. 

Gaia Sculpture Unveiling. Four Architectural Sculptures celebrating Earth Day will be unveiled at 5:30 p.m., at the Gaia building, 2116 Allston Way, by Khalil Bendib, sculptor, and Patrick Kennedy, owner, Panoramic Interests. 

Ira Glass, host and founder of the NPR program, This American Life, will speak at  

8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $18, $22, $28. 642-9988. 

www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Peace Spirals: Somatic Expressive Dialogs for peace, community and mindful action, with Jamie McHugh, RMT and guests, 7-9 p.m. at Café de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck at Cedar. Please RSVP to peacespirals@aol.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam, Wednesdays, with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. $90 cash prizes. Cost is $7 at the door, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. 

Community Dances in Berkeley, traditional English & American Dances 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. Held also at 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St., 233-5065.  

www.bacds.org 

Take Back the Night March against rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in our community. Come hear our speakers, enjoy live music, browse the resource fair, and share your thoughts at the open mike. Rally at 4:30 p.m. on the UC Campus at Upper Sproul Plaza rain or shine. Contact information: Danna Yaniv at 204-9139. dyaniv@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder, Physicians for Social Responsibility and founder, Nuclear Policy Research Institute, will speak on “The New Nuclear Danger - George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex,” at 7 p.m. in the Chevron Auditorium, International House, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Chancellor's Office, co-sponsored by Depts of Public Policy, Public Health and the World Affairs Council. 642-4670. 

kander@socrates.berkeley.edu 

Bicycle Touring Information at 7:30 p.m., free lecture covering tools, routes, camping, and more, at The Missing Link, 1988 Shattuck Ave., 843-7471.  

Job Search 101, an interactive  

workshop on strategies to jumpstart your job search. 1:30-5 p.m. Cost is $35 for YWCA members, $45 for non-members. Preregistration required. For information call 848-6370. YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way. 

Activist Skill Class: Practical Skills for Difficult Times. Learn tactics and strategies of activism with Karen Pickett and Phil Klasky. Classes offered through Merritt College, Tuesday evenings and Saturdays, beginning April 29 through May 24. To register call 548-2220 ext. 233. 

The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Cooking and Baking Classes, offered by The Bread Project in conjunction with Berkeley Adult School. Contact Lucie Buchbinder at 644-1713 for more information. 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts/default.htm  

Citizen’s Budget Review Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Phil Kamlarz, 981-7006, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget/default.htm  

Energy Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, from 6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy/default.htm  

Mental Health Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213.  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth/default.htm  

Planning Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481.  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/planning/default.htm  

Police Review Commission meets Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview/default.htm 

Zoning Adjustments Board 

meets Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning/default.htm  

School Board meets Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-8764 or Mark Coplan 644-6320.

“We are challenging the memory that Black Panthers were brutal, the memory that they were violent, and the memory that they were criminal,” said UC Berkeley professor Percy Hintzen at a lecture Sunday.  

The challenge is in photographs — taken over a four-month period in 1968 — now on display at the Berkeley Art Museum.  

Hintzen, chair of African American studies, called the exhibit “a project of ‘re-memory.’ ” 

Former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver spoke at the lecture, praising the series of photographs for focusing on the group’s civic reform efforts in the 1960s, helping temper the violent reputation for which the Bay Area radical liberation group became infamous. 

Husband and wife photographers Ruth-Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones photographed the Black Panther Party members at a time when the radical organization was reeling from the pending trial of co-founder Huey P. Newton for the alleged murder of Oakland Police Officer John Frey. It was also a time when local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were pressuring the organization after FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called the Panthers “the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.” 

According to Cleaver, the Baruch and Jones photos tell a different story. She said they depict a very young, idealistic and organized group intent on making changes in a community that had long suffered the indignities of brutal oppression and little opportunity.  

About 250 people, including 15 ex-Panthers, filed into the museum’s theater Sunday to listen to Cleaver discuss the liberation movement while she flipped through a sampling of photos from the exhibit. She paused for a long time at a portrait of an unidentified young man standing guard outside a Black Panther meeting. 

“He is intense, completely concentrated and prepared to deal with any situation that arises,” she said. “It’s important to remember that most of the Panthers were teenagers. They were young, vulnerable, committed kids who put their lives on the line to better their community.”  

A jail photo of Newton just after he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Frey’s killing captures the youthful resolve of movement, she said. His handsome face is relaxed, his large eyes open and hopeful despite the recent conviction.  

“He seemed to be very much the leader,” wrote Baruch, who passed away in 1997, about the photo. “Sensitive and responsive, Huey’s face was a joy to photograph.” 

One goal of the photo exhibition, running concurrently with a series of documentaries on the Black Panther Party at the Pacific Film Archive, is to change the image of the Black Panthers, said Hintzen. 

He said Newton and Bobby Seale, then students at Merritt College, founded the Black Panther Party in 1966 to challenge a society based on racism, oppression and inequality. 

Hintzen described the Panther’s founding doctrine, known as the 10 Point Program, which sought to establish basic rights for the black community. The program demanded opportunities for housing, education and employment and an end to police brutality. 

Many of the exhibit photos focus on the Black Panther ethics of education and community service. There are several classroom photos of professor George Murray, a Panther who taught at San Francisco State University, as well as reading programs that were offered to the rank and file Panthers.  

Photos of the Panther-sponsored St. Augustine’s Breakfast Program for black children are also included in the exhibit, which runs through June 29. 

“It was an exciting, exhilarating and important time,” Cleaver said. “We were doing to politics what Jimmy Hendrix was doing to music.” 

Former Panther Elder Freeman, a painter who still lives in Oakland, said he was glad to see the photography exhibit highlighting the group’s accomplishments. 

“I very proud to see attention given to the Breakfast Program and the Panther emphasis on education and the voter registration drives,” he said. “We really felt we could make a change.” 

Pirkle Jones, 86, said he and his wife thought a photo essay on the Panthers would be interesting, and they proposed the project to Jack McGregor, then director of the de Young Museum. McGregor agreed to support the project.  

“We had no idea in the world that this would become as important as it did,” Jones said. “This is what we saw and this is what we felt.”

Frank Rich, the longtime New York Times drama critic, couldn’t seem to find anything good to say about Harry Kondoleon’s “The Vampires” when it appeared 14 years ago in New York. Judging by the production of Shotgun Players that opened Saturday night at La Val’s Subterranean, it looks as if Rich was just having a bad night.  

Be that as it may, Shotgun has taken the same play and created an amusing, if largely indescribable, evening’s entertainment which, after a slow start, turns out to be well worth the price of admission. 

The lead vampire of the play’s title is a drama critic, Ian (Patrick Dooley), who has just been fired after writing a review that caused an actor to jump out a hotel window. He has also made the injudicious gesture of publishing an assault on his brother Ed’s (Dave Maier) first play. Perhaps sensibly, Ian decides that he has turned into a vampire before Ed shows up to discuss the review. Ian goes to live in the cellar — appearing from time to time in search of his proper quota of blood. 

The play’s other characters accept Ian’s transformation with rather more equanimity than one would expect — particularly his wife, CC (Beth Donohue). She sums up the situation with, “You’re going through a difficult career transition period.” 

CC, like her sister-in-law, Pat ( Kimberly Wilday), begins as a traditional female stereotype and, as with the other characters, goes off in various ways into a never-never land of such remarkable logic that one really doesn’t care how little sense the narrative makes. The ideas are just too funny. Granted, there are a number of highly loaded and far from funny issues that pop in and out throughout what — for want of a better word — must be referred to as the plot. In this production the darkness fades, and it is the absurdist comedy that remains. 

When Ed storms in to demonstrate his displeasure with Ian’s lousy review, Ian promptly recognizes that there was more merit to the play than he had originally seen, and the two couples unite to produce an edited version. It’s a decision that leads to a second act in which the adult characters all appear clad in various versions of the American flag.  

I mean, why not? 

In the meantime, Ed and Pat’s 13-year-old druggie daughter, Zivia (Nina Auslander), has come on the scene to provide as much torment as she can to her parents. And for further confusion, the founder of the local Ashram, Porter (Robert Martinez), appears, chanting away, with a number of ideas that will certainly prove to be of some quite tangible benefit for himself.  

The ensemble is the strength of the production; the actors play so effectively as a group that it seems inappropriate to linger on any individual performance. There really are no stars in this production. Curiously, Kondoleon wrote a relatively brief opening which is structured quite differently from the rest of the play, focusing lengthily on one actor. It is misleading as well as the weakest part of the production, since the bulk of the play shifts skillfully from one to another of the cast members, giving each about the same amount of time and attention.  

This litany of facts may present an appearance of more coherence to the action on stage than is actually experienced by the audience or, more precisely, by the characters. 

They change quite abruptly from one mood or situation to another with no apparent need to make a bridge or any logical resolution of any particular issue. One couple, for example, raises the issue of divorce, and then never mentions the subject again.  

The curious thing is that that kind of logical dead end doesn’t matter. It is the glitter of the words that carries this play and makes it worth seeing.

TAX REFUND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I can’t stop thinking about Tom Miller’s “Taxes for Books, Not Bombs” ad in the Berkeley Daily Planet (covered by the San Francisco Chronicle on April 11), which suggests we’d be better off giving our federal taxes directly to local schools. 

By the way, California spends about $7,000 per year per public school student, and approximately $25,000 per prisoner in our huge and ever-increasing corrections system. 

May I suggest that all of us who agree with Mr. Miller donate at least a portion of any refunded federal and state taxes, perhaps to a school or local literacy program? 

Melanie Lawrence 

• 

NO ROLE IN WAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to commend Rabbi Steven Chester (Daily Planet, April 8-10 edition) for his commentary piece “Keep God Card Out Of This War.” The rabbi’s words are a thoughtful and timely reminder for all of us to remember that God should not be made to take part in any conflict, especially where thousands of civilians are being injured, maimed or killed. 

As a Palestinian American, I especially know the consequences of the pseudo-Godspeak from the many Jews and Palestinians who behave like God-appointed ventriloquists and henchmen. It is time to rely on our rich humanity and seek justice and peace instead of war and continuous conflict. 

A. Saba 

• 

PRO-DEMOCRAT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I already like the new Daily Planet because it is encouraging a high-minded Berkeley-type dialogue in our community. 

I wish to support Carol Denney’s strong sentiment in the Letters to the Editor of the April 4-7 edition, when she says the Green Party owes progressive Democrats (and all other sentient beings on this planet) an apology. 

Ralph Nader’s unilateralist, pre-emptive candidacy of 2000 certainly cost this country dearly. There is plenty of blame to go around, from gutless Democrats to those who didn’t even bother to vote. 

I worked as a volunteer with other ordinary people at the Democratic Headquarters in Oakland during the 2000 election, and I found the group to be a beautiful coalition of people of every age, race and economic level, all working together to get out the vote. 

Greens might be interested to know that 86.2 percent of the people of Macon County, Ala., voted for Al Gore. Can all these people in the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement be wrong? If you think Al Gore is a “eunuch,” you should reread his prophetic speech of Sept. 23, 2002, given at the Common Wealth Club in San Francisco. He forcefully argued against war with Iraq, well before any of the current Democratic candidates. 

Greens often say things like he ran a poor race; that Gore lost his home state of Tennessee. Can they acknowledge that despite the massive amounts of money the Republicans poured into Tennessee and Florida he still won by over 500,000 votes? That the Congressional Black Caucus, the conscience of our government, supported him 100 percent? 

We desperately need a Democratic candidate with a commanding understanding of where our foreign policy is going with these Bush moves to shut out all world cooperative organizations like the United Nations and NATO, which Al Gore counseled against. 

As an old Democrat, I often feel like a shame-bound abuse victim when I try to defend Al Gore to a purist Green. What’s up with that? 

I hope we Democrats and Greens can reconcile big time for the 2004 presidential race, because we can’t afford another four years of Bush’s policies. And I hope Gore reconsiders running in 2004. 

Maureen Farrell 

• 

ADHERE TO TERMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m an artist living at the Durkee building in Berkeley. 

It’s a live-work building for low-income artists. Sculptors, painters, woodworkers, photographers, children’s book illustrators and performance artists all live here. 

It was created 15 years ago when a developer bought the building (a vintage brick structure that originally housed a margarine factory) and tried to kick out the artists and tear down the building. 

The outcome of the lawsuit that followed was that in return for preserving the space for low-income artists in perpetuity, the developer (who owns many of the properties in West Berkeley, including Bayer and Xoma) would get special tax credits for 30 years. This was part of the West Berkeley Mu-Li plan (Mixed Use, Light Industrial) to try to preserve light industry and protect artists in the neighborhood from being forced out. 

At the beginning of March we received notice that Wareham was opting out, and we had one year’s notice. 

All we are asking is that they adhere to the terms of the original use permit. 

Claire B. Cotts

Among Berkeley’s few remaining original downtown residences is the John M. Doyle House, located at 2008 University Avenue. It was built as a duplex with a workshop in 1890; the storefront facade was added in 1947, but the Victorian house has remained in the rear.  

All buildings have a history. This house, however, has the distinction of being built by one of Berkeley’s early pioneers, John M. Doyle (1851-1934). The Feb. 27, 1890, edition of The Berkeley Herald described Doyle as: “The gentleman who took active part in the incorporation of Berkeley.”  

Doyle was part of a group of Berkeley residents, from both the university community and Ocean View (now West Berkeley), who worked diligently for the incorporation of Berkeley in 1878. Before that, Berkeley was a part of Oakland Township. 

Members of the Workingman’s Party, which was a major force in the incorporation movement, became Berkeley’s first elected Board of Trustees (now City Council). Doyle was a leading member of the party and served as it first secretary.  

The presence of the Doyle House in this now unlikely location reflects the complex layers of economic, cultural and political history that influenced Berkeley’s growth and development, and serves as a tangible link to the past. Increased development in this commercial-mixed use district over the past two decades has left the Doyle House a lone remnant of the past on this block of University Avenue. It was designated a Structure of Merit in June 2002. 

But the future of the house is threatened. The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board last year approved a demolition permit for the house. The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) appealed that decision to City Council, arguing that requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act were not met. 

The council overturned the Structure of Merit designation and upheld the demolition permit. BAHA then filed a complaint against the city with the Superior Court of Alameda County on Dec. 18, 2002, arguing that the demolition permit was premature without an Environmental Impact Report. The complaint hearing will be April 24 in Alameda County Superior Court. 

Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny is the author of the book “Berkeley Landmarks” and writes this column in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15 

Career Talk: A Musician’s Way of Work, with Dana Anderson-Williams, from noon to 1 p.m. at the YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way. Cost is $3 at the door. For information call 848-6370. 

Renewable Energy: Policy and Practical Solutions, with Peter Asmus, director, PathFinder Communications, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. For reservations: 981-5435.  

energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 

Community Meeting for Traffic Circle Project at California/Oregon Streets. Join city of Berkeley staff in discussing the proposed construction of a landscaped traffic circle at the intersection of California St. and Oregon St., 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center, 1730 Oregon St. For information call Kenneth Emeziem 981-6444. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 

LeConte Neighborhood Association Meeting at 7:30 p.m. at LeConte School, Russell St. at Ellsworth. 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

City of Berkeley Budget Crisis, a discussion with City Manager Weldon Rucker and City Budget Manager Paul Navazio at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library, Kittredge St., in the third floor conference room. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. For information call Eloise Bodine 843-8824. http://home.pacbell.net/lwvbae/  

California Botanical Society 

“Giants in the Mist: coastal redwoods and the land-sea interface” a free lecture with Todd Dawson, Department of Integrative Biology, UCB, at 2063 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus, 643-7008. www.calbotsoc.org 

FRIDAY, APRIL 18 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series: Robert Haas, Former Poet Laureate of the United States. Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50- $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations 526-2925, 665-9020. 

John Zerzan will speak on the Pathology of Civilization in the context of the deepening crisis we face. “Surplus,” a new film by Erik Gandini, will be shown first. It is a 52-minute critique of consumer society and its non-future at 7 p.m. at The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $5 - $10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 548-3402.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 

Berkeley Earth Day. Live music including Wild Mango; Climbing Wall; Kid’s Eco-Art making area with East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse; Vegetarian food and beer, craft and community booths; Berkeley Farmer’s Market Family Farm Day with bike hayrides, baby goats, wool spinning, observational beehive, Bay Area Seed Interchange Library and much more, at Civic Center Park 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers needed, call 530-2105. For information call 654-6346. 

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) monthly meeting third Saturday of every month. At 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave.  

587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Healing Our Community Through Positive Change, a conference sponsored by the Parent Resource Center of Berkeley High. Topics include parent/teen communication, kids and the law, how to pay for college, and depression, among others. Held at Berkeley Alternative High School, 2701 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free admission. For information call the BHS Parent Resource Center at 644-8524. 

UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament in the Haas Pavilion on the UC Campus, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. Admission is $7, children under five free. For information call 642-3268 or www.calwushu.com. 

California Native Plants Sale, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring cardboard boxes, if possible, to carry purchases, and an umbrella if it rains. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Wildcat Canyon Rd. & South Park Dr., in Tilden Park. Free admission. 841-8732. 

www.nativeplants.org 

Springtime in Tilden Outing. Join the Greenbelt Alliance for a moderately challenging walk to Grizzly and Vollmer peaks in Tilden Park above Berkeley. We will traverse high ridges with panoramic vistas and explore human impacts on native plant systems. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations required. 255-3233.  

Free real estate seminar, hosted by Charles Patton and Eric Jackson, from 10 a.m. to noon. 3362 Adeline. RSVP at 472-0197.  

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk, facilitated by Berkeley singer-songwriter Margie Adam, begins at 2 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd. Free of charge and open to all. Sponsored by the Avalon Project. 528-8193. 

MONDAY, APRIL 21 

Annual Critique of the American Presidency, The Center on Politics Presents: Bush at War: The Annual Review of the Presidency, from 7 to 9 p.m., 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Panelists include: Eleanor Clift, Newsweek, Richard Berke, The New York Times, Nelson Polsby, UC Berkeley and Dean Michael Nacht, The Goldman School of Public Policy. Cosponsored by The Institute of Governmental Studies and UC Extension. 642-4608. 

www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Meeting of those injured at the Port of Oakland April 7 demonstration, at 499 14th Street, Suite 220, Oakland, Calif. (offices of Siegel & Yee) in Oakland City Center Square; near 12th St. BART station. Discussion will involve a legal response to that day’s police violence, and information will be collected from the injured and witnesses. Also needed: photographs and video of injuries and police behavior from that day. Whether or not you can make the meeting, if you were injured or witnessed specific inappropriate police behavior, call Rachel Lederman, 415-282-9300, or e-mail her at rlederman@2momslaw.com (National Lawyers Guild member). 

TUESDAY, APRIL 22 

We’re Getting There: Transportation and the Environment in Berkeley, with Matt Nichols of the Berkeley Transportation Office, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. For reservations call 981-5435. 

energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

“My Life as an Unabashed Liberal,” a lecture by Stephanie Salter, columnist and reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. She will discuss the role of liberalism in the current climate of American politics at 7:30 p.m., College Preparatory High School at 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $10. Call Bruce H. Feingold at 925-945-1315 for information. 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270. 

ONGOING EVENTS 

Activist Skill Class: Practical Skills for Difficult Times. Learn tactics and strategies of activism with Karen Pickett and Phil Klasky. Classes offered through Merritt College, Tuesday evenings and Saturdays, from April 29 to May 24. To register call 548-2220, ext. 233. The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Cooking and Baking Classes, offered by The Bread Project in conjunction with Berkeley Adult School. Contact Lucie Buchbinder at 644-1713 for more information. 

A Taste of Judaism, free classes on the basic tenets of Judaism. Sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay. Registration required. March 31 through mid-May. 839-2900, ext. 347. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam, every 

Wednesday with host Charles Ellik. Begins 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. Cash prizes. Cost $7 at the door, $5 with student i.d. 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group 

meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 

1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. Join fellow human rights activists to help promote social justice one individual at a time. 872-0768. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM holds public meetings for all interested people the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue. Fridays at noon in Berkeley members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship hold a Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue. Gather on the grass close to the west entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome. 496-6000, ext. 135. Sponsored the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 

www.bpf.org 

Women in Black Vigil, held Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143.  

wibberkeley@yahoo.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/humane/default.htm  

Commission on Aging meets 

Wednesday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging/default.htm 

Disaster Council Special Meeting on Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disaster/default.htm  

Design Review Committee meets Thursday, April 17, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/designreview/default.htm 

Transportation Commission meets Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation/default.htm  

The Berkeley Daily Planet prints listings on a space-available basis. Send information at least two weaks in advance to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com; fax 841-5695 or phone 841-5600, ext. 102. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 15  

“Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther” will be introduced by Kathleen Cleaver and screened at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. A pre-film reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the BAM Theater Gallery. Cost is $4 members, UC students; $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Atul Gawande reads from  

“Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science” at 12:15 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Motor Dude Zydeco. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m., followed by show at 8:30 at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

Tyrone Hill’s Deep Space Posse, Sun Ra-style experimental jazz with Tyrone Hill on trombone, at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:30 p.m., show at 8. Cost is $10. 655-9755. 

The Movement, Spring 2003 Showcase. UC Berkeley dance group performs at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets $5 from 925-798-1300. 

www.juliamorgan.org  

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 

Ikiru at 3 p.m. (sold out) and Sympathetic Vibrations at 7:30 p.m., with Paul Klos in person, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Tamim Ansary reads from 

“West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

The Cultural Heritage of Iraq and the Impacts of War.  

Professors David Stronach, Marian Feldman, Niek Veldhuis will speak on the cultural and archaeological resources threatened by the war at 5 p.m. at 2547 Channing Way. Sponsored by the Archaeological Research Facility. 642-6914. conkey@sscl.berkeley.edu 

Noon Concert: Shaw Pong Liu, violin, Jody Redhage, cello, Monica Chew, piano, perform Ravel’s Piano Trio in G. Concert is free, doors open at 11:55 a.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. 

http://music.berkeley.edu 

Novello Quartet, Tekla Cunningham and Cynthia Miller Freivogel, violins, Anthony Martin, viola, and Elisabeth Reed, cello, perform 

Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on period instruments at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut, Alameda. Admission by donation. 522-0181.  

Timbuktu Heritage Institute Benefit. Special Malian Workshop with Tartit Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 - $15 sliding scale. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Damelatones Groove and Riot A Go Go at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886.  

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Carol Denney, singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Bob Daley, singer-songwriter, at 7 p.m. at Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. 486-1840. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 

UC Jazz at Noon, free concert on Lower Sproul Plaza. 

Grateful Dead DJ Nite at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-505. www.ashkenaz.com 

Spank, DJs: Solarz from Groove Conflux, an evening of hip hop and R&B house at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Patty Larkin, contemporary singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance and $19.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Redwood Forest Benefit with Darryl Cherney and the Chernobles, Francine Allen at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is sliding scale $5 - $10. 841-2082. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 18 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Century of the Self (Parts 1 and 2) at 4 p.m., Blissfully Yours at 7 p.m. and Internal Affairs at 9:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive.  

Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

The Anarchists, directed by Yu Young-Sik, in Korean with English subtitles. Action film in historical setting of anti-Imperial movement during Japanese occupation. Begins at 8 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

A. J. Albany reads from “Low Down: Junk, Jazz and Other Fairy tales from Childhood” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

www.codysbooks.com 

Noon Concert: Cathy Olsen, flute, Brian Christian, piano, perform works by Dutilleux, Roussel and others at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Concert is free, doors open 11:55 a.m. 642-4864. 

http://music.berkeley.edu 

Friday Afternoon Hang with the Brubeck Institute Quintet from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Jazzschool. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Bernard Gilbert, singer-songwriter of topical and satirical songs, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. A donation of $5 - $10 is requested. 540-0898. 

Djialy Kunda Kouyate, a Senegalese dance and music ensemble, performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

The Servants, Autopunch, Alive for Awhile, rock music at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost $7. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tres Almas performs at 9:30 p.m. at downtown. 649-3810. www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Patty Larkin, contemporary singer-songwriter, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mingus Amungus with special guest Pete Escovedo, panel at 7:30 p.m., with performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dick Hindman/Seward McCain/Colin Bailey at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12, $15, $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Henri-Pierre Koubaka performs West African folk music at 7 p.m. at Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. at Center. 486-1840.  

Smelly Kelly’s Plain High Drifters, Yard Sale, Neighborly Deeds perform at  

9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Groovie Ghoulies, The Apers, Short Round, The Mall Rats, The Minds perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 

Kids on the Block Puppet Show, promoting acceptance and understanding of physical and cultural differences, at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level). Suggested donation $3, children under three free. 549-1564. 

Los Mapaches, a Latin American children’s ensemble, performs at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $3 for children, $4 for adults. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

S.F. International Film Festival: Swing at 2 p.m., The Trilogy I: On the Run at 4:15 p.m., The Trilogy II: An Amazing Couple at 7 p.m. and Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary at 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

Zero Patience, cult activist surrealistic musical about HIV/AIDS. Presented by NEED, Berkeley’s needle exchange project, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Let’s Face It: Women explore their aging faces, a documentary featuring seven Berkeley midlife women discussing their ambivalence, vanity, anxiety and joy. At 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. For more information call 526-5075. 

African Music and Dance Ensemble, directed by C. K. Ladzekpo, performs traditional dances and drumming of West and Central Africa at 8 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2 - $8. 642-9988. 

Reggae Angels, Native Elements, One Groove and DJ Jah Light Music, perform at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Crown City Rockers, Lunar Heights, Feenom Circle, Mavrik perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Post Junk Trio performs at 9:30 p.m. at downtown. 649-3810.  

www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Reilly & Maloney perform  

contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ira Marlowe, singer-songwriter, in a free concert at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:30 p.m., show at 8. 655-9755.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Pr. Rajeev Taranath in concert at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts,  

2640 College Ave. Cost is $22 for adults, $18 for students, seniors. 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Collective Soul presents The Basics, Deuce Eclipse and The Attik with special guests ISIS in performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

High Water Rising, Noelle Hampton, Meriwether perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost $5. 841-2082. 

Plan 9 (fifth anniversary), Lo Fi Neisans, Punk Rock Orchestra, Find Him & Kill Him, Doppleganger perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 

S.F. International Film Festival: He Who Must Die at 1:30 p.m., The Day I Will Never Forget at 4 p.m., Untouched by the West at 6:15 p.m. and The Trilogy III: After Life at 8:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek speak on “Visualization and the Tibetan Tradition” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place. 843-6812. 

www.NyingmaInstitute.com 

World Drum Clinic, hands-on African drumming clinic, at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St., at 10:45 a.m. Beginners 11 a.m.; experienced 12:30 p.m. Cost $15 - $25. Preregistration encouraged. Contact Matthew Winkelstein at 415-356-8593 or 510-533-5111.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Mitch Marcus Quintet performs at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12, $15, $18. 845-5373.  

www.jazzschool.com 

Wake the Dead performs dance music, mixing traditional Celtic jigs and reels with Grateful Dead songs, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Nigerian Brothers perform traditional folk music from West Africa at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gail Brand with Morgan Gunerman from London and Biggi Vinkeloe from Sweden perform improvisation and avant garde jazz at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:45 p.m., show at 8:15. Minimum $10. 655-9755. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Berkeley High School Jazz Combo performs at 2 p.m. at 

Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. 486-1840. 

MONDAY, APRIL 21 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Death of Klinghoffer at 7 p.m. and Eat, Sleep, No Woman at 9:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive.  

Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Robert W. Fuller reads from “Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Wes “Scoop” Nisker reads from “The Big Bang, the Buddha and the Baby Boom” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

All Star Jam, featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost $4. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

TUESDAY, APRIL 22 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Decay of Fiction at 7 p.m. and Comandante at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“28 Very Short Scenes About Love,” an ensemble performance conceived and directed by Linda Carr, Berkeley High School Performing Arts Chair. Through April 26, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Cost is $15. 

Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa St., S.F. 415-621-7078. 

www.28shortscenes.com 

www.theaterofyugen.org 

Aurora Theater Company presents “Partition,” written by Ira Hauptman, directed by Barbara Oliver. Runs from April 17 to May 18. Performance Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets $32 - $34. 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. 

www.auroratheater.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

presents “Surface Transit,” 

written and performed by Sarah Jones, directed by Tony Taccone. Runs from April 18 to May 18. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, (888) 4BRTTIX.  

www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group presents “Mulatto,” by Langston Hughes. Runs through April 27. Performance Friday at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 and 5 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. 3201 Adeline St.  

652-2120.  

www.berkeleyrepertorygroup.org 

Shotgun Players present 

“Vampires,” by Harry Kondoleon, directed by Joanie McBrien. Runs through May 10. La Val’s Subterranean, 

1834 Euclid at Hearst. 

www.shotgunplayers.com 

The Berkeley Daily Planet prints listings on a space-available basis. Send information at least two weeks in advance to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com; fax 841-5695, or phone 841-5600, ext. 102. 

City Council’s effort to rename a major Berkeley street in honor of labor leader Cesar Chavez may be headed for a bump in the road.  

At its meeting April 8, the council unanimously approved the creation of a council subcommittee to study which major street, or streets, would be a good candidate for a possible name change. 

So far, possibilities include Ashby and University avenues and Gilman and Sacramento streets. One proposal would change two streets — Gilman and Sacramento, which nearly connect in northwest Berkeley — into one continuous Cesar Chavez Street, which would give the street a prized freeway sign. 

Depending on which street, or streets, is chosen, the proposal will likely meet with some opposition because of the potentially high cost to tax payers for changing the name during a budget crunch. It also might upset small business owners who would have to pay for new stationery and possibly lose business because of customer confusion. 

Once a street is chosen, the Council will vote on the proposal and the name change would likely occur within a few years. 

Sacramento Street appears to have the most support for the name change. The street has few businesses and connects with Market Street in Oakland, which is also being considered for a change to Cesar Chavez Street, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

Frederico Chavez, a nephew of Cesar Chavez who lives in Berkeley, said Sacramento Street is an excellent choice because it was the unofficial color barrier in Berkeley from the 1930s through the 1950s. “People of color in Berkeley knew not to go east of Sacramento Street,” he said. 

Worthington said there is a symbolic advantage to Sacramento Street.  

“It runs parallel with Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, which seems appropriate,” he said.  

The last major street to have its name changed in Berkeley was Grove Street, which is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. The change, which occurred in the mid-1980s, was also controversial. 

The cost to change a street name runs anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000, according to a public works spokesman. He said changing the name of a street that intersects with a freeway, such as Ashby and University avenues and Gilman Street, could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more because of the expense of changing freeway signs. 

Worthington argued that Cesar Chavez had a huge and lasting impact on the labor movement and deserves to be honored with a street in the city.  

“We would like to honor the Latino community and Cesar Chavez for his fight to establish social justice and labor reform,” said Worthington, who sponsored the recommendation. “Besides that, he spent a lot of time in Berkeley. He came here often to raise money, organize and also relax.” 

Business owners and managers said they have nothing against Cesar Chavez, but are concerned because they will have to spend money to change stationery, business cards, advertising and Web sites. They will also have to take time to notify vendors, clients and customers.  

“I’m sure the owner would be opposed,” said Gerald Acree, manager of Westbrae Nursery. “The nursery has been here since 1911 and we’re known as Westbrae on Gilman.” 

Toots Sweets Fine Desserts manager Catherine Avila said the bakery, located at 1277 Gilman St., has also long been associated with Gilman Street, and a change could cause confusion for new customers not familiar with the area.  

“It would be a big hassle,” Avila said. “Right now we are getting ready to send out a $700 mailer that will be useless if the street name is changed.” 

Councilmember Betty Olds said she has doubts about changing Gilman Street’s name because of the hardship it would work on small businesses.  

“I don’t think Mr. Chavez would want to hurt small businesses. They have a tough enough time as it is,” she said. “I think Sacramento Street would be better, but the best thing would be to put the name change on the ballot. Why should the council decide this?” 

Frederico Chavez said there have been negotiations with several print shops that are willing to help small businesses with price breaks. “We are sensitive to the concerns of small businesses and we understand that there should be a reasonable amount of time that the new name is present along with the old for a transition period,” he said. 

In 1995 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously changed Army Street to Cesar Chavez Street, touching off a citywide controversy.  

The supervisors didn’t take into account the attachment longtime city residents had to the name Army Street, and more important, they didn’t consider the cost of changing the freeway signage where Cesar Chavez Street intersects with Highway 101. 

Within weeks of their decision, the board was hit with a petition with over 18,000 signatures calling for a ballot measure and a Caltrans estimate of just under $1 million to change the freeway signs. The measure was finally approved by voters and the street name was changed. But resentment lingers in some Mission District neighborhoods nearly eight years later. 

Worthington said the council is aware of what happened in San Francisco and intends to avoid a similar situation.  

“Instead, we want to meet and have community input so it’s not a surprise to people like it was in San Francisco,” he said.

Pinball machines, beer and pizza stand guard while below, in the dungeon of La Val’s Pizza Parlor on Euclid Avenue, Berkeley’s 10-year-old phenomenon, The Shotgun Players, launch their latest theatrical offering: Harry Kondoleon’s “The Vampires.” 

Just a few days earlier this repertory troop closed Oedipus Rex at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts on College Avenue. Later this summer these same actors will perform Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage And Her Children” for free at the John Hinckle Park. Last year more than 3,000 people came to see the Shotgun Player’s annual free show in the park. 

“We go 18 straight weeks without a break. We produce six main stage productions, plus four experimental pieces every year,” Shotgun Players founder Pat Dooley said. 

Despite the rootless and penurious lifestyle he’s chosen, Dooley, 35, is charming, quick to laugh and easily engaged. He speaks enthusiastically about the burden that Shotgun’s 12 members bear in pursuit of their muse. 

“Everybody does one thing to help support the structure of the company,” said Dooley, “and they are either actors or designers or directors in addition to the other tasks they do, like administrative or technical, to support the company.” 

Dooley drifted into Berkeley more than 10 years ago to visit his brother, then a student at UC. Shortly after arriving Dooley started the Shotgun Players company. 

“One thing that’s so great about Berkeley is it has such a vibrant theater community,” he said. “People are doing relevant theater here. The Berkeley Rep, Aurora, Transparent, they’re all doing new plays and they’re all doing interesting things with older plays, the classics. 

“We do that as well. There’s an audience to support new work and there’s an audience to support seeing MacBeth. A lot of other towns wouldn’t support that kind of risk. In this town those things aren’t even risky.” 

Dooley earns $12,000 a year as one of only three paid members of The Shotgun Players. Brought up of modest means on an isolated farm in Pungo, Va., the price of theater tickets concerns him.  

“Being affordable is really important for me,” he said. “I started out without any money. Most people are not going to spend $40 per ticket to go see a play. That makes a date $100. They’re not going to do it and I’m not going to do it. Our tickets are from $10 to $18, and we have several ‘Pay What You Can’ nights.” 

Dooley said the company needs more space, but is making the most of the cozy confines at La Val’s, which holds 50 seats. 

“We try to get places where we can seat more people,” Dooley said. “It’s really challenging to find spaces that are legal to perform in.” 

When “The Vampires” first premiered in New York some 14 years ago, it was not well received. 

“A lot of good plays get bad reviews,” Dooley said. “The Village Voice loved it. [Kondoleon] was the darling of the East Village. I think the Berkeley audience is more akin to that audience. The people who come to see our plays want to hear that kind of voice. 

“For me there’s a lot going on in that play. It’s very bizarre but the things that happen in those relationships are very real. The Times trashed it as another family drama, but I feel like there’s hope at the end of the play. There’s an opportunity for redemption that’s not cornball. There are some things that are funny and there are some things that are really gut wrenching. I really love that the play has this really wide arc of emotional possibilities.” 

Dooley said “The Vampires” is the right kind of play for a company like The Shotgun Players. 

“I really want to do in-your-face theater. At La Val’s we’re literally in your face,” he said. 

“People, especially today, we’re numbed. Entertainment on television is so stripped away from anything real that we see happening in the world. We want to do plays that are going to really touch somebody. In the way that the world is touching them. So when they go to experience art, art is not separate from the world, it’s a part of the world.” 

“The Vampires,” by Harry Kondoleon, directed by Joanie McBrien, runs through May 10 at La Val’s Subterranean at 1834 Euclid Avenue at Hearst Avenue. Call 704-8210 for ticket information and show times, or visit the web site at www.shotgunplayers.com.

The following letter was sent to Chancellor Robert Berdahl in response to a protest held April 9 at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza: 

Dear Chancellor Berdahl, 

I am an infrequent visitor to your lovely campus, but yesterday I felt that I really needed to come to the demonstration and commemoration in memory of the 1948 massacre of the village of Deir Yassin. I was proud to stand with the demonstrators, but utterly grieved and dismayed by the behavior of some of the counter-demonstrators, who are ostensibly UC Berkeley students. 

I support the right of counter-demonstrators to protest peacefully, and quite a few did. But there were several students whose behavior was reprehensible by any standard. 

They were disrupting the demonstration at every turn, as they circulated among the crowd chanting “free Palestine” loudly, dressed with suicide belts on their waists and misinforming slogans on their backs. They worked to convince the bystanders that the Palestinians are all terrorists. They couldn’t even let those assembled peacefully commemorate this incredibly dark day in the history of Palestine. Really, it would be like showing up at someone’s funeral and mocking the dead person. That is what they did gleefully. 

At one point, the assembled Deir Yassin demonstrators lay down on the plaza in a “die in” to symbolize the fallen villagers and, indeed, the hundreds of thousands of fallen Palestinians since 1948. These same disruptive students then walked through the fallen bodies, stepping on many of them. Utterly reprehensible and even evil behavior. At one point, a young man with a large Israeli flag thought to move into the “fallen” and plant his flag firmly among them. He was discouraged from this at the last minute by another counter-demonstrator — I must say, I almost wish he had done it. I had my camera at the ready. What a photograph it would have been. 

I left the demonstration after an hour or so, in disbelief and dismay. I thought to drown my sorrows with a latte at the well-known Cafe Strada across from the university’s Bancroft fountain entrance.  

I was just sitting there quietly, when to my further dismay a procession of these counter-demonstrators (including the most disruptive students) went proudly and jubilantly by. Where could they be going, I wondered. Intrigued, I decided to follow them discreetly. 

They marched up the hill to a very lavish and prominent building. Was it a university building? It turned out to be the Hillel House. Quite a nice clubhouse from which to operate, I thought. 

My question to you, Chancellor Berdahl, is this: What is the university’s relationship to Hillel? Do you provide funding to them? Do they rent the building or the land on which it sits from UC Berkeley?  

It is one thing to peacefully counter-demonstrate, but quite another to attempt to disrupt a peaceful Deir Yassin commemoration in the most vicious and vulgar way. Surely you, Chancellor, or your great university cannot sanction this kind of behavior. But is this what you are doing indirectly by your support of Hillel? I must ask you this. 

If you are concerned then, please, investigate and sanction these students personally. Contact the rabbis and other adults who run the Hillel House and let them know about these vicious and reprehensible acts by their young charges. 

Let’s see a respectful environment thrive here in the East Bay and especially at the university. 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. 

Henry Hart 

Oakland

As the world watched, spellbound, the spectacle of massive looting in the cities of Iraq, the tragedy proved particularly wrenching for those whose lives have been devoted to the study of the ancient land considered the cradle of Western culture. Hardest to bear were scenes of looting at Baghdad’s Iraqi National Museum, until Friday home to one of the world’s greatest collections of antiquities.  

In response, David Stronach, a UC Berkeley professor of Near Eastern studies, has called a public meeting for Wednesday to address the war’s impact on Iraq’s rich archaeological heritage. He and two colleagues will discuss topics ranging from artifacts lost in the last Gulf War to the more recent thefts and other sites still in danger.  

Stronach called the loss a tragedy. “It was one of the great museums of the world,” he said. Before arriving in Berkeley in 1981, Stronach served as director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Tehran, Iran. 

The tragedy strikes closer to home for Abbas Kadhim, a UC Berkeley instructor in American history and a doctoral student in Islamic studies, a native of Mosul who first visited the Baghdad museum on a school field trip and returned each time he returned to his homeland. 

“They say it isn’t about oil, but of all the sites in Iraq, the two places in Baghdad [American] military commanders chose to protect with troops and tanks were the Ministry of Oil and the Al-dowra oil refinery,” Kadhim said. 

“Was it too much to ask to send one tank and a few soldiers to protect the Museum of Antiquities? Now 7,000 years of history have been scattered across the country and I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts turning up on the black market.” 

Stronach said ancient cuneiform tablets appeared on the international art market after the first Gulf War, and he expects more of the same in the wake of last week’s looting. 

Though American law bars the import of artifacts looted from Iraqi museums and archaeological sites, well-connected lobbyists for art dealers and museums have been pushing the Bush administration to relax both U.S. law and the Iraqi regulations banning the export of that nation’s antiquities. 

A group calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP) met with State and Defense Department officials shortly before the war, and the changes they urge would be “absolutely monstrous,” Cambridge University professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn told the Glasgow Herald. 

Patty Gerstenblith, president of the Archaeological Institute of America, concurred, telling the Scottish paper the ACCP’s proposals would have a disastrous impact on the world’s archaeological heritage. 

The session begins Wednesday at 5 p.m. at 2547 Channing Way. Stronach will discuss Iraq’s archaeological heritage and the impact of recent events.  

Marian Feldman, professor of archaeology and art history, will discuss endangered sites in Southern Iraq and artifacts lost in the museum looting. 

Neik Veldhuis, professor of Assyriology, will talk about looted artifacts from the last Gulf War and the impact of the loss of written records from the Baghdad museum.

Nothing could be more indicative of America’s innocence abroad than the outraged statement by one of the officers in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

“We were attacked by militias who were not even wearing uniform,” he complained. “They were in civilian clothes.” Really? Civilian clothes? Shock and horror! Did the Iraqis forget to do their laundry during the bombings? Did they forget to polish their boots before strolling out to face the B-52s? 

After all, when the forces of “good” are trying hard to defeat the forces of “evil,” the least the forces of evil can do is be well-dressed. American naiveté would be funny if it weren’t so worrying. 

If America wants to be a good imperialist, perhaps it might turn its attention to the lives and careers of the Great Gamers of the British empire, who, exploitative colonialists as they were, still brought detailed knowledge and human engagement to the imperialist project. “The Great Game” is the name given to the period of intense competition between Britain and Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, for control of the interiors of Asia. 

Charles Napier, Francis Younghusband, Charles “Chinese” Gordon among others were all imperialist adventurers of the time of the Great Game. And how different they were from the hard-faced techno-warriors of the United States. For the Great Gamers foreign adventures became journeys of personal transformation. 

Sir Charles Napier conquered the tribes of Sindh but he laid down formidable systems of civic administration and produced a voluminous collection of personal letters giving insights into the lives of the emirs. Durand, British agent at Gilgit from 1889 to 1894, set out in the quest for a “natural border” for India and established the Durand Line. Durand has left a painstaking memoir where he has described the horses, wild flowers, rope bridges, polo matches and hunting dogs of the area. 

By contrast, Tommy Franks can barely pronounce Umm Qasar, CNN anchors often say “Kuwait” instead of Baghdad and have only recently discovered the phenomenon of the suicide bomber. 

The commissioner sahibs of the British civil service were also imperialists. They quelled riots with a glare and silenced subordinates with a word and held down an empire for 200 years. 

The sahibs measured the mountains, carried out linguistic surveys, wrote directories of castes and tribes and produced gazettes and censuses. By contrast, what do the Americans have? A robot-like Donald Rumsfeld who utters the word “Iraqi” as if it means an alien species. Colin Powell who promises to “travel more” to find out about the world. Bush, who has traveled out of America only twice in his entire life. 

In fact, the wealth of American intellectual life in its universities stands in sharp contrast to the provincial insularity of its leadership. Morris Berman, professor at MIT, writes in “Twilight of American Culture” that America has fallen into an irretrievable dark age. The “dumbest” president in the history of the United States presides over a society where the number of people reading a daily newspaper has halved since 1965. In Berman’s survey, 40 percent of Americans couldn’t name the United States’ World War II enemies and 120 million Americans had the cognition of an 11-year-old. 

Victoria’s loyal officers ruled a formal empire and the sahibs sat in seats of administrative power for three-and-a-half centuries. American dominance is hardly direct or formal. Yet inbuilt in the British imperial project was a broadening of the mind for the imperialists, an exploration of new vistas. By contrast, the Americans seem only interested in imposing the “Middle America mentality” on the world. Listen to the expressionless assistant secretary of defense, Victoria Clarke, with her sterile phrases like “models” of “upscaling” and “downscaling” and her “flow of force” and “area denials” and it doesn’t seem as if there are human beings involved in this war, only an avalanche of strategic-speak and a chilling disinterest in other cultures. 

Compare Colin Powell to Francis Younghusband. The latter was an agent of empire who traveled to Lhasa to force the treaty of Tibet on the ruler and weld Tibet to British dominions. 

Yet Younghusband underwent a religious transformation and also became a supporter of Indian independence. T.E. Lawrence or “Lawrence of Arabia” also served British expansion, but ended up becoming deeply emotionally attached to Prince Faisal. Although Lawrence is today criticized for his paternalistic civilizing mission, he immersed himself in Arab culture and thought. Can you imagine Powell ever admitting that he is drawn to any part of the world other than the United States? 

The difference between the Great Gamers of the 19th century and the Americans today is the explosion of technology and information. But it seems that excessive information has torn people further apart than it has brought them closer. The American foreign project is imprisoned in antiseptic strategic-speak and think-tank theorizing. 

The Great Gamers, by contrast, were grassroots travelers who tried to learn as many languages as they could. Perhaps Gen. Tommy Franks might learn a bit of Arabic and Rumsfeld could cast off his gray suit and try on a jalabeya. 

A version of this article appeared April 2 in The Indian Express, an on-line publication based in Bombay, India.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15  

“Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther” will be introduced by Kathleen Cleaver and screened at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. A pre-film reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the BAM Theater Gallery. Cost is $4 members, UC students; $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Atul Gawande reads from  

“Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science” at 12:15 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Motor Dude Zydeco. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m., followed by show at 8:30 at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

Tyrone Hill’s Deep Space Posse, Sun Ra-style experimental jazz with Tyrone Hill on trombone, at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:30 p.m., show at 8. Cost is $10. 655-9755. 

The Movement, Spring 2003 Showcase. UC Berkeley dance group performs at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets $5 from 925-798-1300. 

www.juliamorgan.org  

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 

Ikiru at 3 p.m. (sold out) and Sympathetic Vibrations at 7:30 p.m., with Paul Klos in person, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Tamim Ansary reads from 

“West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

The Cultural Heritage of Iraq and the Impacts of War.  

Professors David Stronach, Marian Feldman, Niek Veldhuis will speak on the cultural and archaeological resources threatened by the war at 5 p.m. at 2547 Channing Way. Sponsored by the Archaeological Research Facility. 642-6914. conkey@sscl.berkeley.edu 

Noon Concert: Shaw Pong Liu, violin, Jody Redhage, cello, Monica Chew, piano, perform Ravel’s Piano Trio in G. Concert is free, doors open at 11:55 a.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. 

http://music.berkeley.edu 

Novello Quartet, Tekla Cunningham and Cynthia Miller Freivogel, violins, Anthony Martin, viola, and Elisabeth Reed, cello, perform 

Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on period instruments at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut, Alameda. Admission by donation. 522-0181.  

Timbuktu Heritage Institute Benefit. Special Malian Workshop with Tartit Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 - $15 sliding scale. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Damelatones Groove and Riot A Go Go at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886.  

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Carol Denney, singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Bob Daley, singer-songwriter, at 7 p.m. at Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. 486-1840. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 

UC Jazz at Noon, free concert on Lower Sproul Plaza. 

Grateful Dead DJ Nite at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-505. www.ashkenaz.com 

Spank, DJs: Solarz from Groove Conflux, an evening of hip hop and R&B house at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Patty Larkin, contemporary singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance and $19.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Redwood Forest Benefit with Darryl Cherney and the Chernobles, Francine Allen at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is sliding scale $5 - $10. 841-2082. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 18 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Century of the Self (Parts 1 and 2) at 4 p.m., Blissfully Yours at 7 p.m. and Internal Affairs at 9:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive.  

Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

The Anarchists, directed by Yu Young-Sik, in Korean with English subtitles. Action film in historical setting of anti-Imperial movement during Japanese occupation. Begins at 8 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

A. J. Albany reads from “Low Down: Junk, Jazz and Other Fairy tales from Childhood” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

www.codysbooks.com 

Noon Concert: Cathy Olsen, flute, Brian Christian, piano, perform works by Dutilleux, Roussel and others at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Concert is free, doors open 11:55 a.m. 642-4864. 

http://music.berkeley.edu 

Friday Afternoon Hang with the Brubeck Institute Quintet from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Jazzschool. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Bernard Gilbert, singer-songwriter of topical and satirical songs, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. A donation of $5 - $10 is requested. 540-0898. 

Djialy Kunda Kouyate, a Senegalese dance and music ensemble, performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

The Servants, Autopunch, Alive for Awhile, rock music at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost $7. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tres Almas performs at 9:30 p.m. at downtown. 649-3810. www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Patty Larkin, contemporary singer-songwriter, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mingus Amungus with special guest Pete Escovedo, panel at 7:30 p.m., with performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dick Hindman/Seward McCain/Colin Bailey at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12, $15, $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Henri-Pierre Koubaka performs West African folk music at 7 p.m. at Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. at Center. 486-1840.  

Smelly Kelly’s Plain High Drifters, Yard Sale, Neighborly Deeds perform at  

9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Groovie Ghoulies, The Apers, Short Round, The Mall Rats, The Minds perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 

Kids on the Block Puppet Show, promoting acceptance and understanding of physical and cultural differences, at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level). Suggested donation $3, children under three free. 549-1564. 

Los Mapaches, a Latin American children’s ensemble, performs at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $3 for children, $4 for adults. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

S.F. International Film Festival: Swing at 2 p.m., The Trilogy I: On the Run at 4:15 p.m., The Trilogy II: An Amazing Couple at 7 p.m. and Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary at 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

Zero Patience, cult activist surrealistic musical about HIV/AIDS. Presented by NEED, Berkeley’s needle exchange project, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Let’s Face It: Women explore their aging faces, a documentary featuring seven Berkeley midlife women discussing their ambivalence, vanity, anxiety and joy. At 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. For more information call 526-5075. 

African Music and Dance Ensemble, directed by C. K. Ladzekpo, performs traditional dances and drumming of West and Central Africa at 8 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2 - $8. 642-9988. 

Reggae Angels, Native Elements, One Groove and DJ Jah Light Music, perform at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Crown City Rockers, Lunar Heights, Feenom Circle, Mavrik perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Post Junk Trio performs at 9:30 p.m. at downtown. 649-3810.  

www.downtownrestaurant.com 

Reilly & Maloney perform  

contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ira Marlowe, singer-songwriter, in a free concert at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:30 p.m., show at 8. 655-9755.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Pr. Rajeev Taranath in concert at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts,  

2640 College Ave. Cost is $22 for adults, $18 for students, seniors. 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Collective Soul presents The Basics, Deuce Eclipse and The Attik with special guests ISIS in performance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

High Water Rising, Noelle Hampton, Meriwether perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost $5. 841-2082. 

Plan 9 (fifth anniversary), Lo Fi Neisans, Punk Rock Orchestra, Find Him & Kill Him, Doppleganger perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 

S.F. International Film Festival: He Who Must Die at 1:30 p.m., The Day I Will Never Forget at 4 p.m., Untouched by the West at 6:15 p.m. and The Trilogy III: After Life at 8:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek speak on “Visualization and the Tibetan Tradition” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place. 843-6812. 

www.NyingmaInstitute.com 

World Drum Clinic, hands-on African drumming clinic, at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St., at 10:45 a.m. Beginners 11 a.m.; experienced 12:30 p.m. Cost $15 - $25. Preregistration encouraged. Contact Matthew Winkelstein at 415-356-8593 or 510-533-5111.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Mitch Marcus Quintet performs at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12, $15, $18. 845-5373.  

www.jazzschool.com 

Wake the Dead performs dance music, mixing traditional Celtic jigs and reels with Grateful Dead songs, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Nigerian Brothers perform traditional folk music from West Africa at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gail Brand with Morgan Gunerman from London and Biggi Vinkeloe from Sweden perform improvisation and avant garde jazz at the Jazz House, 3192 Adeline St. Doors open 7:45 p.m., show at 8:15. Minimum $10. 655-9755. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Berkeley High School Jazz Combo performs at 2 p.m. at 

Starbucks Coffeehouse, 2128 Oxford St. 486-1840. 

MONDAY, APRIL 21 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Death of Klinghoffer at 7 p.m. and Eat, Sleep, No Woman at 9:45 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive.  

Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Robert W. Fuller reads from “Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Wes “Scoop” Nisker reads from “The Big Bang, the Buddha and the Baby Boom” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

All Star Jam, featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, 9:30 p.m. at Blake’s on Telegraph. Cost $4. 848-0886. 

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

TUESDAY, APRIL 22 

S.F. International Film Festival: The Decay of Fiction at 7 p.m. and Comandante at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 for members, UC students; $5 for UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth; $8 for adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“28 Very Short Scenes About Love,” an ensemble performance conceived and directed by Linda Carr, Berkeley High School Performing Arts Chair. Through April 26, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Cost is $15. 

Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa St., S.F. 415-621-7078. 

www.28shortscenes.com 

www.theaterofyugen.org 

Aurora Theater Company presents “Partition,” written by Ira Hauptman, directed by Barbara Oliver. Runs from April 17 to May 18. Performance Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets $32 - $34. 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. 

www.auroratheater.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

presents “Surface Transit,” 

written and performed by Sarah Jones, directed by Tony Taccone. Runs from April 18 to May 18. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, (888) 4BRTTIX.  

www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group presents “Mulatto,” by Langston Hughes. Runs through April 27. Performance Friday at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 and 5 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door. 3201 Adeline St.  

652-2120.  

www.berkeleyrepertorygroup.org 

Shotgun Players present 

“Vampires,” by Harry Kondoleon, directed by Joanie McBrien. Runs through May 10. La Val’s Subterranean, 

1834 Euclid at Hearst. 

www.shotgunplayers.com 

The Berkeley Daily Planet prints listings on a space-available basis. Send information at least two weeks in advance to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com; fax 841-5695, or phone 841-5600, ext. 102. 

A woman walking her dog along the Point Isabel Shoreline in Richmond Monday discovered the decomposed body of a woman at water’s edge, about a mile from where the body of a full-term male fetus was found the day before. 

The East Bay Regional Park Police (EBRP) immediately notified Modesto Police and flew officers who have been investigating the Laci Peterson disappearance to the Richmond shoreline. 

Both bodies were taken to the Contra Costa Coroner’s Office in Martinez. According to Richmond Police, the umbilical cord was still attached to the fetus, which had been dead for some time. 

According to EBRP Police Chief Norman Lapera, there is no evidence linking the discovery of the two bodies to the Peterson case. Laci Peterson, a Modesto resident, was eight-months pregnant when she disappeared on Dec. 24. Her husband, Scott Peterson, said he had been fishing near the Berkeley Marina, about three miles south from where the bodies were discovered, on the day his wife disappeared. 

Lapera said Modesto Police had one detective, two crime scene investigators and an investigator from the District Attorney’s Office at the scene of Monday’s discovery.  

“For all we know this could be a drowning victim,” Lapera said. “We won’t know any more until the autopsy is complete.” 

Lapera said the Contra Costa coroner announced the autopsy would be conducted Monday night. 

“The sheriff’s department is acting in a very professional manner to be able to answer questions,” he said.  

Lapera, addressing a swarm of reporters and television cameras, said he could not address rumors that the woman’s body was discovered wrapped in maternity clothing.

On April 18, I and other stunned neighbors from the Benvenue and Willard neighborhoods watched in dismay as eight members of City Council voted swiftly and mercilessly to destroy a fine old apartment building at 2500 Benvenue Ave. at Dwight Way. This building is just one part of the expansion plans of the American Baptist Seminary of the West. However, much to the community’s relief, the council also voted 6-2-1 to require an Environmental Impact Report (ERI) for another part of the project, a proposed massive new building slated to replace two historic homes. The purpose of the entire project is in question, since the seminary has only 40 full-time students and currently rents half its space to UC Extension. 

Both Progressives and Moderates claim they would like to improve Berkeley’s housing stock, especially for Berkeley’s long-term residents and families. 2500 Benvenue Ave. currently contains highly desirable housing: 12 spacious, one-bedroom units with hardwood floors, fireplaces, chandeliers and decorative detailed cabinetry. These units will each be cut in half, to yield poorly designed rabbit warrens of 290 to 390 square feet each. The rents per unit will dramatically increase; per square foot they will triple. None are rent controlled, nor are they available to the general public or UC students. In the past this building housed older, married seminary students and staff, an asset to a block that struggles to keep its long-term residents and few remaining homeowners in balance with its transient student population. 

The loss of these apartments and their stable tenants will permanently damage Benvenue Avenue. It is especially ironic that the seminary then wants to build other large apartments to replace the ones it is destroying, rather than just add to its already excellent housing stock. 

Why did the council permit this? I call on the council to explain itself. The seminary’s excuse that this destruction is required for earthquake retrofitting is simply untrue. The excuse that the seminary suddenly needs tiny units for young single students is also highly suspect, given that the student body is primarily older and/or married graduate students, as are other GTU students. Who will be the market for these tiny, expensive apartments? Some think it might some day be English language program students currently attending class on the seminary campus. If so, the council has just voted to destroy good housing that serves Berkeley’s own residents to create a hotel for short-term visitors who are not even California residents. How can this possibly be good housing policy for Berkeley or for Benvenue? 

The council was well aware of all these facts when it voted. In addition, the council seemed entirely unconcerned about doubling the number of units in the building without adding any more parking spaces, in a neighborhood where parking is already impossible. Is this, too, the beginning of a trend? Will this improve the quality of life in Berkeley? 

On a more positive note, the vote to require an EIR for the larger part of the project will, if the EIR is performed correctly, result in something like a comprehensive master plan for the seminary campus. The council indicated that it wanted to see a number of impacts examined, including but not limited to loss of historic resources, parking, traffic and density issues, with special attention paid to alternative solutions. This was encouraging to us neighbors. Unfortunately, however, based on statements already made by planning staff members and the seminary’s attorney, I and others fear that the planning staff, ever in favor of all developments at all costs, will be less than enthusiastic about arranging for a truly comprehensive and informative EIR. 

I believe that the majority of the council voted to see a real EIR so it can make a truly informed decision about the seminary campus, which has over the years become intensely used by UC Extension without the knowledge and oversight of the city. Legally, EIRs must examine both alternatives to, and cumulative impacts of, damaging developments. There are certainly good alternatives to the historic loss, and the cumulative impacts remain to be examined, given the existing parking problem created by the seminary’s UC rentals and the huge university housing project under construction a half-block away. We hope the council will support the neighbors in demanding a meaningful EIR that will examine the project — as the law requires — in the context of past, present and future developments both on the seminary campus and nearby. This should make the seminary produce any further development plans, so they can be viewed in their entirety, and thereby prevent such damaging fiascos in the future as destroying valuable old buildings for no reason. 

Sharon Hudson is a Berkeley resident.

It’s a classic switcheroo — a four-way building swap that is leaving West Berkeley residents a little dizzy. 

The Berkeley Unified School District administrative offices now reside at Old City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The district rents the building for a $1 per year from the City of Berkeley. But the lease runs out in 2009, and the city wants Old City Hall back. 

On the other side of town, the school system’s maintenance operation sits in a seismically unsafe building on Oregon Street, and officials want to move it to a safer location. 

Fortunately, the district has a large, empty building on the corner of Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue in West Berkeley — the old City of Franklin Elementary School, shut down last year in the midst of a budget crisis. 

Seems simple enough — just move the administration and maintenance operations to the Franklin building, right? Wrong.  

Instead, the district wants to move its Adult School, on University Avenue, into the Franklin building, and put administration and maintenance in the University Avenue building. 

It would actually be a neat little triangle, district officials said — the district would renovate the Franklin site next year; move the Adult School into the spiffed-up building in time for the 2004-2005 school year, then fix an aging Adult School building and move in the administration and maintenance operations. 

There is a problem, though — some Franklin neighbors aren’t so keen on the idea of an Adult School in the area. Late-night classes, traffic jams and parking headaches are all concerns.  

Many said they would prefer to have district administrators, who presumably would have a smaller impact, in their backyard. 

School officials said they are sensitive to neighborhood concerns and emphasize that no final decision on the building shuffle has been made. But the Board of Education, scheduled to vote on a final plan this summer, is leaning toward placing the Adult School at the Franklin site, they said. 

“I think everyone’s trying to keep an open mind, but thinking this makes sense,” said Board of Education Director Nancy Riddle. 

Still, some residents said a neat-and-tidy construction schedule is not a compelling reason to put the Adult School at Franklin. 

“I’m not convinced the Adult School should be here,” said Steen Jensen, a Curtis Street resident. 

City Councilmember Linda Maio, echoing several neighbors, added that the school district might better serve the community if it kept the Adult School on University Avenue. 

“University Avenue has many buses come and [the building] is very visible,” she said. “People can see what classes are available.” 

School board Director Terry Doran said the argument is compelling, but argued that San Pablo Avenue, where the Franklin school sits, is also a major traffic corridor, well-served by BART. 

If the Adult School must go in their neighborhood, residents said they will push the district to build an entrance to the building on San Pablo Avenue, as opposed to one of the side streets. 

School officials said they are open to the idea. 

“It’s a very reasonable thing and I think we have to look at that,” said Lew Jones, the district’s manager of facilities planning. 

Berkeley voters, with the passage of two separate ballot measures in the past 11 years, provided the district with almost $275 million for construction projects — including $10.3 million to renovate the Franklin site and $9.1 million to overhaul the Adult School building on University Avenue. 

The district has already spent $3.2 million on Franklin and $440,000 on the Adult School, according to Jones.

BART considers fare hike 

BART is considering a 10 percent fare hike, beginning Jan. 1, 2004, to help close a $38.8 million budget deficit. If approved, a trip from downtown Berkeley to downtown San Francisco would jump from $2.75 to $3. 

The hike, which must be approved by the BART Board of Directors, would come on top of a 5 percent increase which was put in place this past January. 

BART Director James Fang, of San Francisco, warned at a board meeting last week that a new jump in fares could drive people to their cars. But Director Roy Nakadegawa, who represents part of Berkeley, told the Planet a 10 percent increase is necessary and played down the idea that it would decrease ridership. 

“We already made a 5 percent increase in January and it didn’t seem to make a difference,” he said. 

The board will vote on a final budget, including the fare hike proposal and up to 42 layoffs, in June. 

—David Scharfenberg 

City receives parks awards 

The California Park and Recreation Society presented Berkeley’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department with two awards earlier this month.  

The first was in the category of facility, design and park planning for the Berkeley Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, which spans Interstate 80 to the Berkeley Marina and has become a symbol of Berkeley.  

The other was for the department’s mini-grant program, which allows community groups to apply for $3,500 grants that are used to improve neighborhood parks. 

—John Geluardi 

Lee pushes peace department U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) are leading an effort to create a Department of Peace, headed by a Secretary of Peace who would sit alongside other cabinet members to promote nonviolent solutions to conflicts. 

The legislation was introduced in July 2001 by Kucinich, a presidential candidate and a vociferous critic of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. The number of members sponsoring the bill has grown to 44. In a phone interview from Washington, D.C., Lee said last week that the legislation would “make peace a viable option” and “help our government think outside of the box and learn to do things differently.” 

The bill would also establish a four-year Peace Academy, modeled after military service academies, and designate Jan. 1 Peace Day. 

Getting the bill passed will prove a challenge. Sean Walsh, a Republican political strategist, explained: “It’s silly,” he said, “We already have a department that fulfills that function. It’s called the State Department.” 

Walsh said creating a Peace Department would only interfere with the Defense department’s function of reigning in brutal regimes and lead to the proliferation of “mini-Saddams all over the world.”  

—Angela Rowen

Dozens of new banners honoring UC Berkeley’s 18 Nobel Laureates were installed along Telegraph Avenue last week to promote the area as a center for ideas. 

The banners are a joint project between Telegraph Avenue merchants and the university. UC Berkeley officials, city officials and Telegraph Avenue business owners celebrated the new banners last Friday in front of Cody’s Books at 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Guests included all eight living Nobel Laureates, Mayor Tom Bates and Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl. 

Sixty-six banners were hung along six blocks of Telegraph Avenue, as well as on Bancroft Way, Bowditch Street, Dana Street and Durant Avenue near the University. The banners will be on display until the university’s winter holiday in December.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15 

Career Talk: A Musician’s Way of Work, with Dana Anderson-Williams, from noon to 1 p.m. at the YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way. Cost is $3 at the door. For information call 848-6370. 

Renewable Energy: Policy and Practical Solutions, with Peter Asmus, director, PathFinder Communications, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. For reservations: 981-5435.  

energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 

Community Meeting for Traffic Circle Project at California/Oregon Streets. Join city of Berkeley staff in discussing the proposed construction of a landscaped traffic circle at the intersection of California St. and Oregon St., 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center, 1730 Oregon St. For information call Kenneth Emeziem 981-6444. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 

LeConte Neighborhood Association Meeting at 7:30 p.m. at LeConte School, Russell St. at Ellsworth. 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

City of Berkeley Budget Crisis, a discussion with City Manager Weldon Rucker and City Budget Manager Paul Navazio at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library, Kittredge St., in the third floor conference room. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. For information call Eloise Bodine 843-8824. http://home.pacbell.net/lwvbae/  

California Botanical Society 

“Giants in the Mist: coastal redwoods and the land-sea interface” a free lecture with Todd Dawson, Department of Integrative Biology, UCB, at 2063 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus, 643-7008. www.calbotsoc.org 

FRIDAY, APRIL 18 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series: Robert Haas, Former Poet Laureate of the United States. Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50- $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations 526-2925, 665-9020. 

John Zerzan will speak on the Pathology of Civilization in the context of the deepening crisis we face. “Surplus,” a new film by Erik Gandini, will be shown first. It is a 52-minute critique of consumer society and its non-future at 7 p.m. at The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $5 - $10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 548-3402.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 

Berkeley Earth Day. Live music including Wild Mango; Climbing Wall; Kid’s Eco-Art making area with East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse; Vegetarian food and beer, craft and community booths; Berkeley Farmer’s Market Family Farm Day with bike hayrides, baby goats, wool spinning, observational beehive, Bay Area Seed Interchange Library and much more, at Civic Center Park 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers needed, call 530-2105. For information call 654-6346. 

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) monthly meeting third Saturday of every month. At 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave.  

587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Healing Our Community Through Positive Change, a conference sponsored by the Parent Resource Center of Berkeley High. Topics include parent/teen communication, kids and the law, how to pay for college, and depression, among others. Held at Berkeley Alternative High School, 2701 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free admission. For information call the BHS Parent Resource Center at 644-8524. 

UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament in the Haas Pavilion on the UC Campus, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. Admission is $7, children under five free. For information call 642-3268 or www.calwushu.com. 

California Native Plants Sale, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring cardboard boxes, if possible, to carry purchases, and an umbrella if it rains. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Wildcat Canyon Rd. & South Park Dr., in Tilden Park. Free admission. 841-8732. 

www.nativeplants.org 

Springtime in Tilden Outing. Join the Greenbelt Alliance for a moderately challenging walk to Grizzly and Vollmer peaks in Tilden Park above Berkeley. We will traverse high ridges with panoramic vistas and explore human impacts on native plant systems. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations required. 255-3233.  

Free real estate seminar, hosted by Charles Patton and Eric Jackson, from 10 a.m. to noon. 3362 Adeline. RSVP at 472-0197.  

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk, facilitated by Berkeley singer-songwriter Margie Adam, begins at 2 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd. Free of charge and open to all. Sponsored by the Avalon Project. 528-8193. 

MONDAY, APRIL 21 

Annual Critique of the American Presidency, The Center on Politics Presents: Bush at War: The Annual Review of the Presidency, from 7 to 9 p.m., 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Panelists include: Eleanor Clift, Newsweek, Richard Berke, The New York Times, Nelson Polsby, UC Berkeley and Dean Michael Nacht, The Goldman School of Public Policy. Cosponsored by The Institute of Governmental Studies and UC Extension. 642-4608. 

www.igs.berkeley.edu 

Meeting of those injured at the Port of Oakland April 7 demonstration, at 499 14th Street, Suite 220, Oakland, Calif. (offices of Siegel & Yee) in Oakland City Center Square; near 12th St. BART station. Discussion will involve a legal response to that day’s police violence, and information will be collected from the injured and witnesses. Also needed: photographs and video of injuries and police behavior from that day. Whether or not you can make the meeting, if you were injured or witnessed specific inappropriate police behavior, call Rachel Lederman, 415-282-9300, or e-mail her at rlederman@2momslaw.com (National Lawyers Guild member). 

TUESDAY, APRIL 22 

We’re Getting There: Transportation and the Environment in Berkeley, with Matt Nichols of the Berkeley Transportation Office, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. For reservations call 981-5435. 

energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

“My Life as an Unabashed Liberal,” a lecture by Stephanie Salter, columnist and reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. She will discuss the role of liberalism in the current climate of American politics at 7:30 p.m., College Preparatory High School at 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $10. Call Bruce H. Feingold at 925-945-1315 for information. 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270. 

ONGOING EVENTS 

Activist Skill Class: Practical Skills for Difficult Times. Learn tactics and strategies of activism with Karen Pickett and Phil Klasky. Classes offered through Merritt College, Tuesday evenings and Saturdays, from April 29 to May 24. To register call 548-2220, ext. 233. The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Cooking and Baking Classes, offered by The Bread Project in conjunction with Berkeley Adult School. Contact Lucie Buchbinder at 644-1713 for more information. 

A Taste of Judaism, free classes on the basic tenets of Judaism. Sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay. Registration required. March 31 through mid-May. 839-2900, ext. 347. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam, every 

Wednesday with host Charles Ellik. Begins 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. Cash prizes. Cost $7 at the door, $5 with student i.d. 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group 

meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 

1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. Join fellow human rights activists to help promote social justice one individual at a time. 872-0768. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM holds public meetings for all interested people the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue. Fridays at noon in Berkeley members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship hold a Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue. Gather on the grass close to the west entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome. 496-6000, ext. 135. Sponsored the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 

www.bpf.org 

Women in Black Vigil, held Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143.  

wibberkeley@yahoo.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/humane/default.htm  

Commission on Aging meets 

Wednesday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging/default.htm 

Disaster Council Special Meeting on Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disaster/default.htm  

Design Review Committee meets Thursday, April 17, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/designreview/default.htm 

Transportation Commission meets Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation/default.htm  

The Berkeley Daily Planet prints listings on a space-available basis. Send information at least two weaks in advance to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com; fax 841-5695 or phone 841-5600, ext. 102. 

A few weeks after 9/11, I hung an American flag in the upstairs bedroom window of our home. It stayed there for almost 16 months, fading in the sunlight that faces Dover Street.  

It hadn’t been my idea to hang it. My brother-in-law came to visit my husband and me and he was appalled to see that no one on our street displayed the flag. Apparently, everyone in his San Diego neighborhood was flying the Red, White and Blue. I had never known him to be the least bit patriotic but he had covered the rear window of his truck with a plastic United States flag. He suggested we do something similar.  

I said “okay.” I’m not a person of strong opinions and it has taken me years of self-analysis to come to the (now obvious) conclusion that I am a people-pleaser, bordering on obsessiveness. I didn’t buy a truck to please my brother-in-law, but I did run out and purchase a small cloth flag, perfect for our upstairs window.  

Then came the winds of war. “Get Out of Iraq” signs cropped up in nearby neighborhoods, though very few hung in mine. In January of this year, friends flew in from Wisconsin to participate in the San Francisco peace march. I joined them and walked with the crowds. My friends were exhilarated. I was less pleased. I felt like I was in an anti-war version of the Bay to Breakers. While my friends stayed for the Civic Center speeches I hopped on BART and hurried home. I had my pajamas on by 6 p.m. Anti-war activities can be exhausting. 

Before my guests returned to Madison, they were adamant that I take down the American flag in my window and replace it with a “Stop the War Now” poster. I complied. It seemed the right thing to do. 

But then, last week, I finally did what really needed to be done. I threw out last year’s pumpkins. They’d been sitting on either side of my front door since mid-October and they’d grown dimpled and soft. They were rotten throughout and I had a difficult time carrying them to the compost box. I had thought that someone would steal them from my front porch and smash them in the street. But the kids in my neighborhood are either not that bad, or on to bigger, badder or better things.  

It felt good to toss the slimy pumpkins into the black plastic compost box that I’d gotten from the county. It was a cause I could really get behind.  

Independence Day is now just a few months away and I have some decisions to make. I can take the anti-war poster down or leave it up. I can buy another American flag or two and hang them in my windows or stick them in the garden. I can tie yellow ribbons around my spindly front yard trees, put up a banner that says “Bring Our Troops Home” or I can do nothing.  

I’m giving this a lot of thought and none of the above appears to be the best course of action for me. I’m contemplating another plan, and although it’s not original, it fits with my point of view. Every day, while I walk my dog, I’ll pick up the trash that clutters the sidewalks and clogs the street gutters. It’s not an activity that is going to stop a war or bring our boys back to United States soil, but it will help the neighborhood, and that’s a cause I can support. And come October I’ll buy two firm plump pumpkins to grace each side of my front door. By then I hope the war in Iraq will actually be over, our troops will be home, Dover Street will be a little bit cleaner, and the candles in my pumpkins will stand not just for peace, but for welcome, too. 

Susan Parker lives in Oakland near the Berkeley border. She is the author of the book “Tumbling After,” a memoir published last year by Crown Publishing.

A group of teachers and parents at Jefferson Elementary School are pushing to rename the building, citing concerns with Thomas Jefferson’s slaveholding past. But critics, including some parents, call the move shortsighted. 

“You want to put a hole in this guy who people hold up as a hero — who’s going to be left?” said parent Mark Piccillo, annoyed at the renaming effort. “I pick my battles and this is one I’m going to fight.” 

First-grade teacher Marguerite Hughes said she’s not interested in “Jefferson-bashing.” But she said it would be insensitive to leave the name of a slaveholder on a building with a large black student population. 

“I think it’s important to think about how students feel about the school, and even teachers,” said Hughes. “As an African American, it’s not a small thing that Jefferson was a slaveowner.” 

To change the school name, proponents will have to get 20 percent of parents, 20 percent of staff and 20 percent of students to sign petitions pushing the idea. Once the community settles on a new name, a majority of each group will have to vote in favor of the change and win final approval from the Board of Education — a process likely to take at least a year. 

District officials, wrestling with a major budget crisis, are not lining up behind the nascent movement. 

“With the school district giving notices to 200 teachers, students of many cultures struggling to comprehend English and a community working hard to save programs in these difficult budget times, changing the name of a school site is not high on my list of priorities,” said Superintendent Michele Lawrence in a statement. “Right now, our time would be better spent on these immediate issues.” 

Even school board Director Terry Doran, a progressive stalwart, is taking a wait-and-see attitude. 

“I think it’s appropriate to look at that, but I don’t have strong enough feelings at this point to participate in a movement to change the name of the school,” he said. 

Robert Middlekauff, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of American history, said the legacy of Thomas Jefferson — slaveowner, Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence — is a complicated one. 

“All historians and students recognize that Jefferson was a slaveholder, but they also recognize that he was one of many, and his life, his career, his contributions to the Revolution were of another order,” Middlekauff said. “I think Jefferson is generally held in very high regard.” 

Philip Broaddus, parent of two children at the school, cited Jefferson’s contributions in defending the current name. 

“They should give Jefferson more due for what he did,” said Broaddus. “I don’t think we’d even be having this conversation if Jefferson hadn’t included those inalienable rights in the Constitution.”  

Piccillo noted that Martin Luther King, Jr., one of his heroes, was an adulterer and alleged plagiarist. King, he said, is still worthy of praise and the same should hold for Jefferson. 

“I don’t think you can compare adultery and slaveholding,” Hughes replied, drawing a sharp distinction between personal failures and holding human beings in bondage. 

“We’re not saying [Jefferson] can’t be people’s hero,” she continued. “All we’re saying is you can have that viewpoint with your life experiences, but I can’t do that, as an African American, with my life experience.” 

If a name change goes through, Jefferson Elementary would not be the first Berkeley school to take on a new identity. A few years ago, parents and staff at Columbus Elementary School decided to rename the building Rosa Parks Elementary School and won board approval.  

There wasn’t much controversy at the time over taking down the “Columbus” sign, but there was a heated battle over whether to name the largely black and Hispanic school after Rosa Parks or Cesar Chavez. 

Jefferson parent and name-changing advocate Dora Dean Bradley said the naming process at her school is wide open, but she mentioned a few possibilities, including Ohlone Elementary, after the nearby Ohlone Park, and Rose Street Elementary, after a nearby avenue. 

“We want to have something more positive now for Berkeley,” Bradley said. 

Whatever the final name, opponents raise concerns about a district policy which has elementary schoolchildren weighing in on the process. 

“If the kids get set up for it, I know how they’re going to vote,” Broaddus said. 

But Beverly Thiele, one of the teachers pushing for a name change, said the vote would be fair. 

“We’re certainly not going to go around and grab kids by the collar and say this is what you have to do,” she said.