Nonprofit and city agencies who had been dreading budget cuts for months felt the first sting of the state budget crisis Tuesday at a special City Council public hearing. A long line of nonprofit advocates lamented funding reductions for programs that serve the community’s most vulnerable people. 

The city manager, after consultation with three city commissions, had announced prior to the meeting his suggested grant and general fund allocations for the 96 agencies that are vying for $8.1 million in federal, state and local grant money — over $700,000 less than what was available last year. Altogether the nonprofits applied for $12 million. 

City Council Chambers was filled to capacity with nonprofit staff and beneficiaries who came to plead with the council to reconsider recommended program cuts. Supporters included recovering substance abusers, teenagers in Twilite Basketball jerseys and low-income seniors who rely on food programs. 

City Council has the option to reallocate some of the funding recommendations before approving them during the next council meeting this Tuesday. However, the council typically doesn’t make significant changes to the city manager’s recommendations. 

City Manager Weldon Rucker and representatives from the commissions on Housing Advisory, Human Welfare, Community Actions, and the Homeless said how difficult it was to make cuts on programs that have been valuable to the community.  

Mayor Tom Bates said he had to make tough decisions during his 20 years in the state Assembly but that this was the first time he had to look into the faces of those who would suffer the consequences. 

“In the Assembly, budget cuts seem more academic,” he said. “To see the parade of people who came to talk about the pain they will feel from the cuts, right up close and personal, it was very tough.”  

Many of the nonprofits received the same or slightly less funding than they did last year. Other programs received cuts based on need or because of poor management. The recommendations emphasized the need to maintain homeless services. 

No new programs were funded other than critical homeless services and other high priority programs that requested one-time funding. 

The Coalition for Alternatives in Mental Health (CAMH), which has one of the city’s oldest drop-in centers, was recommended to be cut by $13,500 from the $88,500 it received last year. According to the City Manager’s Office, the cut was recommended because the organization has been operating without a permanent director for the last two years and therefore was determined to be “unstable.” 

According to CAMH Interim Director Emmitt Hutson, the cut likely will result in reduced hours of service. 

Catherine Heath told the Council on Tuesday that she has been sober for over two years thanks to CAMH and challenged the city manager’s assessment of the program.  

“I’ve been there every day for the last three years and I don’t see it being ‘unstable,’” she said. “I know that I am not unstable anymore because of CAMH’s drop-in center.” 

Hutson said the agency has continued to function while trying to find a permanent director. He also expressed a common frustration: “When the people with mental disabilities need us the most, we’re asked to take cuts,” he said. 

Other nonprofits that received significant cuts were Berkeley Youth Alternatives, a multi-service provider in central Berkeley; Berkeley Food and Housing, whose Quarter Meal Hot Dinner program was cut by nearly half, and the New Light Senior Center, which serves over 15,000 meals a year and was cut by 10 percent.  

COMMUNITY MEETINGS 

FRIDAY, MAY 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series 

“Saving the Planet,” with Michael H. O’Malley, Publisher, Berkeley Daily Planet. 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. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 

548-6310, 845-1143. 

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

Johan Galtung, Norwegian peace researcher and mediator, will conduct a day-long workshop on “Peaceful Conflict Transformation” at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Pre-registration required, call 232-4493. Galtung will give a free lecture, “New Approaches to Peace Studies” at 7:30 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, on the UC Campus. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride converges at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

May Day Celebration, a benefit for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper, with food, poetry and speeches, at 7 p.m. at The Humanist Hall, 390 27th St between Tele- 

graph and Broadway. Dona- 

tion $5-10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Sponsored by May Day Committee, 848-1196.  

SATURDAY, MAY 10 

Annual Letter Carriers’ Food Drive in support of Alameda County Community Food Bank. If you receive a post card about the food drive, please leave a bag of non-perishable food by your mailbox for letter carriers to pick up. Food can also be dropped off at Berkeley Main, Berkeley DDU, Station A, and Berkeley Elmwood Post Offices. For more information visit ww.accfb. 

org or call 800-870-FOOD. 

Thousand Oaks School 28th Annual Carnival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 840 Colusa Ave. near Solano. Play games of skill for all ages, from Vegi-roulette to Pie-in-the-Face! You could win a “Flower Power” quilt in the raffle contest, or an award-winning cake at our cake walk. Have wonderful homemade Mexican corn and chicken tostadas for lunch, or even pizza and cotton candy! Thousand Oaks School welcomes the whole community to come have some good old-fashioned fun! Call 841-1445 for more information.  

Kids’ Garden Club: Farm Animals, for ages 7 - 12, from 2 - 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5 for Berkeley residents, $7 non-residents. For information call 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org.  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours: “Fourth Street Tour and Spenger’s History,” led by Denny Abrams. 10 a.m. $5 members, $10 non-members. For reservations call 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

Bike Day at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, with programs on traditional and practical bicycles for transportation and shipping, bike repair and bike safety. From 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Center St., at MLK, Jr. Way, sponsored by Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, the Sierra Club, and the Ecology Center. 549-7433. 

Green Design for Everyday People, a discussion of the process of green design and how we all can have beautiful living and working spaces that are not toxic to ourselves or our environment. Topics will include cleaners, paints, sealers, furnishings, flooring, energy efficient systems and products. Bring a rough plan of your space if possible. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Call to pre-register. $10 Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. 548-2220 x233.  

Take This Job and Shove It, a film on workers with  

Johnny Paycheck sound-track at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. All events are free. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org  

The Great War Society will hold its monthly meeting, at 10:30 a.m. at 640 Arlington Ave. The topic will be “Hol- 

lywood Goes to War," presented by Andrew Melomet. 527-7118. 

SUNDAY, MAY 11 

Berkeley Architectural  

Heritage House Tour 

"Tamalpais and Shasta" 

from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring twelve houses in one of Berkeley's earliest subdivisions, created in 1905 with artistic, intellectual, and conservation-minded residents in mind. There will be a garden reception at one of the houses. Tickets for the self-guided House Tour and Reception are $25 for BAHA members and their guests and $30 for general admission. Tickets will also be sold on the day of the tour at a table on Euclid Avenue at Bay View Place. For reservations, please call the BAHA office at 841-2242 or 841-1055. www.berkeleyheritage.com/2003springhousetour.html 

Mothers’ Day Tea at the Botanical Garden, food and music in a peaceful setting. Seatings 1 - 3 p.m. Cost is  

$30, Members $20, children under 12, $10. UC Botanical Garden, Centennial Drive, To register, call 643-2755. 

Mothers’ Day Peace Cele- 

bration, join in prayers and reflections on peace from different faith traditions, with music, poetry, and activities for children, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in MLK, Jr. Civic Center Park. Sponsored by Wo- 

men for Peace, Code Pink, Ecumenical Peace Institute, Gray Panthers, among many others. 415-255-7291. 

Planting the Seeds of Hope and Cooperation in Israel and Palestine Honor the earth and Mothers'Day to re-commit ourselves to working for harmony between Israelis and Palestinians by planting seeds at Cedar/Rose Park, two blocks west of Sacramento St. from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Trees of Hope Committee, Bay Area Women in Black, 

A Jewish Voice for Peace, Kehilla Synagogue School, and Brit Tzedek. 

Is Hope an Option? A discussion with Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based Rabbis for Human Rights at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley/Richmond Jewish 

Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

MONDAY, MAY 12 

Berkeley Partners for Parks General Meeting, with a presentation by UC students on their designs for the Santa Fe Right of Way, at 7 p.m. at the City of Berkeley Corporation Yard, 1326 Allston Way. mail@bpfp.org 

Writers Group discusses how to get an agent with a panel of agents including B.J. Roberts, Amy Rennert, and Mark Lee at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Cop Watch meets at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Berkeley Biodiesel Collective Business Meeting for collective members and those interested in making bio- 

diesel welcome. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center Recycling Trailers, 1231 2nd St. 594-4000 x107. biobauerx@hotmail.com. 

TUESDAY, MAY 13 

Constitutional Rights Teach-In, covering the Patriot Act and the proposed Patriot Act II. Nancy Nadel, Oakland City Council, Keynote Speaker. At 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 685 Fourteenth St., Oakland. 533-8358. 

Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling, a free class on how to detect and remedy  

Lead hazards in your home, offered by Alameda County lead Poisoning Prevention Program, at 6 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. 567-8280.  

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

eraclub.org 

Personal and Professional Portfolios, a brown bag career talk with Mary Robbins, noon to 1 p.m, at YWCA Turning Point Career Center, 2600 Bancroft Way. 848-6370.  

Poetry Book Club, meets at the Claremont Branch Library, at 7:30 p.m. at 2940 Benvenue Ave. This month we will discuss the works of Rumi, the 13th century poet and mystic. 981-6280. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 

South Berkeley Mural Project. Community members in South Berkeley are coming together to create a neighborhood mural on the side of the Grove Liquor Store on the corner of Ashby Ave and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Meetings are held every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Epic Arts Studios at 1923 Ashby Ave. For further information on ways to get involved please call 644-2204.  

Youth and the Military: Your Rights & Your Options, a panel discussion with veterans, conscientious objectors, conscientious objector counselors, and a school representative followed by questions from high school youth. A light dinner will be served. Contributions are welcome. From 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., at 27th St., Oakland. For information call Ying, 841-4755. www.PNVRC.net.  

Uplifting Spirit through Education, panel discussion with His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual theologian Matthew Fox, and other thinkers in an evening of discussion on education and how to empower youth. Sponsored by the International Association for Human Values. At Zeller- 

bach Hall, UC Campus, at 7 p.m. Cost is $12, $8 for students. (800) 454-9857. www.iahv.org,  

symposium@iahv.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam, 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 and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St., 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

ONGOING 

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 9 and 10 at Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste, 2100 E. 7th St., Oakland. Take ad- 

vantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of products such as paint, auto products, household batteries, cleaners and sprays, pesticides and fertilizers. Please do NOT bring asbestos, explosives, most compressed gasses, computer monitors, CRTs and TVs, computers & electronic equipment. Call 1-877-STOPWASTE or visit stopwaste.org/fsrecycle. For information on what to do with other items, call 800-606-6606, email HHW@co.alameda.ca.us 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Meetings on the City Budget. The public is invited to four meetings to learn more about the budget deficit and City plans to address the issue. May 15 at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, May 29 at the West Berkeley Senior Center, and June 5 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. For information call 981-CITY.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Monday, May 12, at 2:30 p.m. in the Redwood Room, 6th Floor, 2180 Milvia St. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk 

981-6900. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Landmarks Preservation Commission Special Meeting  

on Monday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss revisions to the Landmarks Preservations Ordinance and the Zoning Ordinance, in the North Ber- 

keley Senior Center. Greg Powell, 981-7414. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

City Council meets Tuesday, May 13, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability  

meets Wednesday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Church. 981-6342. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disability 

Homeless Commission 

meets Wednesday, May 14 at 

7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/homeless 

Planning Commission 

meets Wednesday, May 14 at 

7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission 

meets Wednesday, May 14 at  

7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/ 

policereview 

Waterfront Commission 

meets Wednesday, May 14 at 

7 p.m. at 201 University Ave. 

Cliff Marchetti, 644-6376 x 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/waterfront 

Design Review Committee  

meets Thursday, May 15 at 

7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/ 

designreview  

Fair Political Practices Commission meets Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the  

North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission  

meets Thursday, May 15 at  

7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/transportation 

Berkeley-born koto master Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto uses melodies from traditional Japanese court music to interpret a diverse cross section of music, including rhythm ‘n’ blues, reggae, Ethiopian music and jazz. 

“Jazz is changing a lot these days,” said Muramoto. “People are able to take what’s in their background, traditionally or classically, and work that into new music. That’s what [her jazz band] Murasaki Ensemble is about. We grew up with rock, jazz, all kinds of influences. And being from the Bay Area we’re lucky enough to get even more influences from so many diverse cultures. You get all these people together from those kinds of backgrounds, that’s exciting.” 

Muramoto exemplifies a new generation of koto players who are taking the six-foot-long, 10-inch-wide instrument in new directions, away from traditional Japanese court music. Sometimes referred to as an “Asian piano,” the 13-stringed koto originated in China over 4,000 years ago. 

“You have to tune it before you play it. It’s not like a piano where you can just sit down and start playing,” said Muramoto. “When I play koto I usually base it on five tones, an Asian pentatonic scale, very similar to a blues scale. That’s why I’m able to play blues. I can tune with whomever I’m going to be playing with. I play with Elias Negash, an Ethiopian jazz pianist in Oakland. He asked me to play with him on a couple of Ethiopian songs. I was just blown away because they were just regular scales for me. ‘This is Ethiopian music?’ ... The more I play with other people, it seems like a smaller world, musically. There’re a lot of things that are very similar all over.” 

“We get to stretch out a lot. I just follow my guitarist wherever he goes. We did some surfer music the other day,” Muramoto said, laughing. “Then all of a sudden we’re playing ‘I Shot the Sheriff.’ I was thinking, ‘God, am I doing this on the koto?’” 

In addition to leading the Murasaki Ensemble, Muramoto teaches koto at UC Berkeley and has raised two children. Her oldest son, 18, studies music at Cal State Hayward and plays the koto. Her younger son, 16, attends Oakland High School and studies martial arts. 

“You can say I’ve been playing and teaching instruments for about 45 years,” she said, laughing, when asked her age. 

Muramoto earned her Shihan degree (instructor’s license) with Yushusho (highest ranking honors) at the Chikushi School in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1976. A fourth-generation Japanese American, she learned to play the koto at her mother’s knee. Her mother, in turn, learned during World War II while interned at America’s notorious Tule Lake and Topaz Internment camps for ethnic-Japanese American citizens. 

“My mother was a child at that time,” Muramoto said. “My grandparents were born here. They were American citizens and lived in San Mateo. They lost everything when they were ‘relocated.’ They didn’t talk about it too much. It was one of those things they didn’t want to discuss. They were among the Japanese Americans who gave up their citizenship after the war. Because of that they had to move to Japan. It was a very difficult experience for all of them. My grandmother didn’t speak Japanese. She was an American. She was born here.” 

As the mother of a student at Oakland High School, she has been working to save the school’s music program. 

“Every year it’s been a struggle,” she said. “Just to keep the arts going on there. The city of Oakland decided to make all the high schools into academies, so they just concentrate on certain aspects of education ... I know for a fact in Oakland they gave pink slips to all the music teachers. That means they’re cutting all of it. It’s scary what’s happening. It seems like it’s a roller-coaster going down.” 

The Murasaki Ensemble performs at the Annual Satsuki Arts Festival and Bazaar on Sunday, May 18, from noon to 7 p.m. Located at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, 2121 Channing Way, the two-day event, starting Saturday, May 17, is free.

FRIDAY, MAY 9 

CHILDREN 

Madeline, will be at Barnes and Noble at 10:30 a.m. while the storyteller reads her story. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2 

I Walked with a Zombie, at 7:30 p.m., introduced by Mikita Brottman. Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, introduced by Patrick Macias at 9:30 p.m., Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Diana Abu-Jaber reads from her new novel “Crescent,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Stomp the Stumps” benefit dance for Berkeley-based Bay Area Coalition for  

Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and The Shut-Ins at 8 p.m. at Ash- 

kenaz. Cost is $8-$15, sliding scale. 525-5054.  www.ash- 

kenaz.com 

Sally Tims and Her Sadies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. 

University Symphony, Chorus and Alumni Chorus, directed by David Milnes and Marika Kuzuma, perform Beethoven, Symphony Nº 9, “The Choral” and John Thow’s “Eros and Dust,” at 8 p.m.at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2, $6, $8, from 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu 

ACME Observatory Contemporary Performance Series presents Scott Rosenberg's Skronktet West and, from Vancouver, Almost Transparent Blue at The Jazz House, formerly TUVA Space, at 8:15 p.m. Admission is free, donations ac- 

cepted. 649-8744. sfsound.org/acme.html 

Fiesta Musicale, an evening of good food and wine, and a program of music and dance at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Ad- 

vance tickets $35, students and seniors $25. For reservations call 527-3883 or email k7mr@yahoo.com 

Thunderpussy, Spoke, Space Vacuum perform Funk Pop, Alt Rock and Electro Clash at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Chorale Spring Show, featuring the UC Women’s and Men’s Chorales, at 7 p.m. in the Chorale Rehearsal Hall, basement of Cesar Chavez, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, $5 students. 642-3880. 

Butch Thompson, Prairie Home Companion pianist makes his Freight debut 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 

Small Brown Bike, Pitch Black, Choke, Scattered Fall, Charlevoix 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. 

SATURDAY, MAY 10 

CHILDREN 

Shadow Puppets by Sean Powers, a workshop for all ages at 11 a.m. with a performance at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale; scholarships available on request. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org  

Kristen Brooks Davidman’s flute students and members of the Windfall Woodwind 

Quintet at 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

A Present for Mom, stories about the great gift of mothers, at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2, Raw Force at 7:30 p.m. and Pig- 

keeper's Daughter at 9:20 p.m., introduced by Amy Abugo Ongiri, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joan Price shares convenient exercises from her new book, “The Anytime, Anywhere Exercise Book,” at 3:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, under the direction of Arlene Sagan, performs Brahms “German Requiem,” at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison. Admission is free, donations appreciated. 964- 0665.www.bcco.org 

Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, a musical-political force in Zimbabwe performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents The Orlan- 

do Consort, music from the antipodes of the 18th century musical spectrum at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 528-1725. ww.sfems.org 

Jazz... After Dark, with the Cal Jazz Choir at 8 p.m. in the Chorale Rehearsal Hall, basement of Cesar Chavez, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, $5 students. 642-3880. 

Broceliande celebrates spring in a concert of Celtic and Early music at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Parish Hall, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. $10-$12 suggested donation. 569-0437.www.broceliande.org 

University Symphony, Chorus, and Alumni Chorus, directed by David Milnes and Marika Kuzuma, perform Beethoven, Symphony Nº 9, “The Choral” and John Thow’s “Eros and Dust,” at 8 p.m.at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2, $6, $8, from 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance 

Annual Repertory Concert, featuring live music and drumming, professional guest artists, as well as more than 100 performers of world dance at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Adults $18, children, students, seniors $15 at the door. Advance tickets $15 adults, $12 children, students, seniors available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Trinity Chamber Concerts 

The Usher-Erlich-Rosenak Piano Quartet, with Sara Usher, violin; Paul Erlich, viola; Vicky Erlich, ‘cello and Karen Rosenak, piano performs the music of Han- 

del Halverson, Rebecca Clark and Brahms at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Suggested donation of $12 general, $8 students, seniors or disabled. 549-3864. 

Rhythm and Music: Young Poets, Writers and Musicians 

Open Mike, featuring Joshua Jamieson, Young Composers Trio, Ise Lyfe, Katrina Flint, Miguel Soberanis and others. Open-mic sign-up for 25 yrs. and under. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. for free performance at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.ber- 

keleyartcenter.org 

Passenger, Brown Baggin and Savant Guard perform Funk at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Mark Growden and the Electric Pinata, Go Van Gogh, Glass Bead Game, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Greg Brown performs contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $21.50 in ad- 

vance, $22.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sheldon Brown Group performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Against Me! Pansy Division, Fifth Hour Hero, Jason Webley, Panty Raid perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5, $1 if wearing prom clothes! 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MAY 11 

CHILDREN 

Kathy Kallick Family Show, bluegrass celebration of Mother’s Day at 1 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $6.50 for children, $8.50 for adults. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mothers Day Celebration 

California Revels at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, at 2 p.m. An event for the whole family! Celebrate Mom in grand style with song, dance and story. From fiddle tunes to Irish dance, classical guitar to audience sing-alongs, there's something for everyone at this Mother's Day gathering. Revels founder John Lang- 

staff will be joined by a cast of favorites including Sira Kammen, Susan Rode Morris, Eileen Mize, Yair Evnine and Mariel Vandersteel. Tickets available from 925-798-1300. Adults $10, Children $5. www.juliamorgan.org 

Freaky Friday at 2 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Recommended for ages 8 and older. Celebrate Mother's Day with a lesson in mother-daughter appreciation. Cost is $4 members,UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa. 

berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2 

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine introduced by Tamao Nakahara, at 5 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Jack Marshall, winner of the BABRA Poetry Award for Northern California, and Eric Gudas, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. $2 donation. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com, www.poetryflash.org 

South Asian Book Club, discusses “Gabriel’s Gift” by Hanif Kureishi at 11:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Ernesto Carmona will pre- 

sent his book “The Owners of Chile,” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sonny Fitman, guitar and vocals, at 11 a.m. in Walnut Square, at Vine. 204-9228. www.walnutsquare.com 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, under the direction of Arlene Sagan, performs Brahms “German Requiem,” at 4 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison. Admission is free, donations appreciated. 964- 0665. www.bcco.org 

SoVoSó, world-jazz-pop vocal ensemble, performs at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience performs in a benefit for the Albany Music Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving excellence and equity in music education in the Albany School District. Featuring teenage fiddler Brittany Haas, master fiddler Darol Anger and Mike Marshall on mandolin. At 7 p.m. at the Albany High School Gym, 603 Key Route, Al- 

bany. Ticket prices are $30 for Main Floor, $20 general and $10 students. 559-8474. http://creativedifferences.com  

University Wind Ensemble, Robert Calonico, director. Works by Edwin Dugger, Divertimento for Wind Ensemble (premiere) and Reed, Sparke, Daehn, at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, tickets are $2, $6, $8. 642-9988. pennyb@socrates.berkeley.edu 

“Triple Play,” Guitars, Strings and All that Jazz. A benefit and celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Crowden School. John Ad- 

ams, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, conductor; David Tanenbaum, guitar and conductor; Gyan Riley, guitar and composer; Paul Dresher, guitar and composer; San Francisco Guitar Quartet; San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Ensemble and Crowden Orchestra; selected current and alumni soloists. Michael Morgan, Music Director, Oakland East Bay Symphony, will be Master of Ceremonies. At 7:30 p.m. at the Dean Lesher Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Tickets are $45 for orchestra and front terrace, $25 for rear terrace. $175 special donor ticket, includes gifts and reception with artists. For more information 559-6910. Purchase tickets online at http://www.dlrca.org 

The Rincon Ramblers, bluegrass and roots country 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 

Blue Blazer, Fine by Me and Feral Moan perform Rock at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $3. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

MONDAY, MAY 12 

CHILDREN 

Cantemos Juntos with Lydia Mills and Arianna Guthries at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Family Art Day. Drop by and make something special at the Berkeley Art Center, at 2 p.m. Admission is free. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nancy Kricorian reads from her novel, “Dreams of Bread and Fire,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

TUESDAY, MAY 13 

FILM 

The Inquiring Camera: In Order Not to Be Here at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Ar- 

chive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Lewis on “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Rebecca Lawton reads from her new book, “Reading Water,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Courtableu, performing Cajun/zydeco at 8:30 p.m., with a dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

The Matt Flinner Quartet 

mandolin virtuoso and his band 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 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 

FILM 

Video: I Found It at the Movies, Body Double X at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tanya Shaffer’s “Somebody’s Heart is Burning,” book release celebration at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15, which includes a copy of the book. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Eric Schosser describes “Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Mar- 

ket,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Joyce Bueker discusses an ancient holist health system from India in her new book, “Ayurvedic Balancing,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brenda Boykin and Home Cookin’ perform West Coast swing at 9 p.m., swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Matt Haimovitz, virtuoso cellist, performs 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 

The Pin Up Motel, The Love Makers, Superlarry perform Indie Rock, Electro Clash, and Post Pardem Rock at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, MAY 15 

FILM 

Heroic Grace: Martial Arts 

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Truth: Exposing Israeli Apartheid, 50 min. documentary by Wendy Campbell. The screening will be preceded by a talk by Dave Ker- 

sting on What is Zionism? At 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. $20 donation requested. $10 for students with i.d. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jane Juska reads from “A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex & Romance,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Jack Foley and Richard Silberg talk about the poetic consciousness of the Bay Area in their book, “The Fallen Western Star Wars,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Russell, roots country troubadour, performs 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 

Rogue Wave, Ebb and Flow, 

Venison Book, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

ALL THE FACTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley Property Owners Association President Michael Wilson’s May 2 letter (“Rent Board”), while critical of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board’s 2003-2004 registration fee proposal, conveniently omitted the context and facts surrounding the board’s modest fee increase. 

It is important to bear in mind that the Rent Board’s registration fee has remained frozen for the past five consecutive years. In fact, the board’s fee has remained stable for the past 10 years: Since 1991-1992, the fee has stayed at the same level as — or below — the 2002-2003 fee level. 

Meanwhile, over the past five years alone, the Bay Area’s inflation rate has increased by 17 percent. Like other city services and public agencies that have increased fees to cover costs during the past five years — e.g. city fire inspection service, city refuse collection, city sewer service, water service, etc. — the Rent Board’s basic expenses have also increased. 

The Rent Board’s new budget is a “status quo” budget in that only the same or prior level of services and operations will be maintained. 

In his letter, Mr. Wilson claims that the Rent Board has “processed fewer” inquiries or complaints. In fact, the Rent Board’s activity level has remained very steady: In 2002 alone, over 12,000 individuals received consultations in person or by telephone, 1,400 e-mail inquiries were responded to, over 260 examiner cases or hearings were conducted and materials were distributed to over 20,000 tenant and property owner households. 

It is worth noting that since 1996 — when passage of the state Costa-Hawkins rent decontrol law allowed for market rate rent levels on newly vacant units — the average rent level for all one-bedroom units citywide has increased by 53 percent. 

Meanwhile, since 1996, the average rent level for newly decontrolled (or vacant) one-bedroom units only has increased by 97 percent, nearly double the rent level six years ago. 

Under the voter-approved 1980 Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the elected Rent Board’s purpose and mission, according to Section 120 of the City of Berkeley Charter, is to “provide for the proper administration of programs to regulate residential rents ... maintain community diversity ... and ensure compliance with legal obligations relating to the rental of housing.” 

Chris Kavanagh 

     Commissioner, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board 

• 

A GOOD INVESTMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It would be easy to agree with Tom Brown’s letter opposing ferry subsidies — if his numbers were accurate. 

Mr. Brown states that ferry costs per rider are “vastly higher” than BART. This may have 

been true for some of the early proposals involving high-speed ferries on long routes. But not for Berkeley to San Francisco. Cost per passenger, including subsidy and capitalization, is estimated by the Water Transit Authority (and independently confirmed) to be about $6.50 per 

one-way trip. Compare to BART: The fare from downtown Berkeley to the Embarcadero is $2.75, and after adding the $1.60 operating subsidy and the $3-and-change capitalization subsidy, we’re well over $7 per ride. No wonder we have to finance BART with sales tax. 

Brown also states that ferries cause more air pollution than competing modes. Again, he is using old data. The 1999 Bay Area Council study proposed a network of long high-speed ferry routes with no regard for emission controls, and was rightfully attacked by the environmental community for that omission. But this has little relation to the short routes and relatively low-speed vessels that would serve Berkeley. Our ferry would go less than half as fast and use less than one-quarter as much fuel per passenger mile. Let’s compare apples to apples: Apply the same emission controls as for land-based vehicles, use the correct speed and distance, and we find that ferries are cleaner and more fuel efficient than buses or cars. 

Whether the Berkeley ferry is a “core transit service” is not the issue. Certainly there are more cost-effective ways to move people across the bay, but to date we have not shown the political will to apply them. 

Ferries do more than take cars off the bridge. Ferries enhance mobility for a very diverse group of people who are currently not being served by any form of public transit. This includes anyone who travels by bicycle during commute hours, anyone who travels with a dog, and anyone unable to walk or bike to a station who wants to get to San Francisco after the BART parking lots fill up early in the morning. And ferries can serve all of these users at a subsidy level that compares favorably with other modes. This is not waste, this is a good investment in the quality of life in Berkeley. 

There are plenty of examples of wasteful transportation systems, and there are ferry routes, both proposed and existing, that would qualify. Let’s not confuse these with what is being proposed for Berkeley, where the service will be clean, efficient and economical. 

Paul Kamen 

• 

UNFAIR FEE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The May 2 article “Bates Touts City’s New Congeniality” states that the city manager instituted a hiring freeze several months ago. Why then is the Housing Department striving to expand? The rental inspection program they attempted to implement failed completely. Nonetheless they propose to institute a $25 per year landlord fee to pay for increased staff. 

In addition, the Rent Board is planning to increase their annual landlord fee by 10 percent. One of the most bloated bureaucracies, they wish to bloat further, despite cutbacks and reductions for other departments. I’m baffled. Is a city department exempt from fiscal constraint if (and only if) they can get more revenue from landlords? 

Can anyone explain why Berkeley landlords are treated so unfairly? 

Suzie Osborn 

• 

SCHOOL PLAY SHINES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The current Berkeley High School production of “Guys and Dolls” knocked my socks off. It is spectacular, as well done as any theater production I’ve seen. This was my first time at a high school play, and I was amazed. The acting, the singing, the dancing, the live orchestra, the sets, the costumes, the energy, took my breath away. How could this come out of a school where so many teachers have received pink slips? How could this come out of a school where the classrooms are often short of chairs? 

A parent reminded me: The high school is terrific. The students are terrific, the teachers are terrific. It’s the district administration that’s the problem. 

For example, while the district poor mouths it and constantly requests parents to badger our legislators about policy changes the district is advocating (like enlarging class sizes), the district still can’t tell us the numbers for the high school budget, or for the budget of any other school. Also, two years ago, the district spent $4 million to buy the Urban Ore land on 6th and Gilman (ostensibly for the transportation department). Yet, two years later, the district is still paying half a million dollars a year rent for its bus yard and the Urban Ore lot is still empty. Is BUSD poor, or just fiscally a dingbat? 

So, go see this great production. There’s two more shows Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 p.m.  

Yolanda Huang 

• 

QUESTIONABLE INTENT  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is impossible for me to believe the stated intentions of UC Berkeley when it claims: 

“During a bi-annual walk-through of the park last fall ... three acacia trees were identified as potential safety hazards to children playing in the play area and to the people who sleep under the trees in that area,” (from UC leaflet); 

“It [the acacia tree, on the east end of the park, that UC Berkeley took a chainsaw to in April] appeared to be in danger of falling over,” (Daily Planet, April 29 edition); 

“A large acacia tree near the lawn, closer to the Dwight Way side of the park, suddenly fell on a Saturday morning several months ago,” (from UC leaflet), and 

“The acacia tree ... was removed for safety reasons,” (from UC leaflet). 

If UC is really concerned about the safety of children playing and of people who sleep under the trees — rather than, as the Berkeley Lorax claims, “There has always been a university faction that wants to clear-cut People’s Park. For over 20 years they’ve wanted to clear out the trees from the east end” — would UC be kind enough to explain why they didn’t post the “unsafe” areas at any time since last fall? Why didn’t they post areas away from the trees “in danger of falling over” as safer for people to sleep or children to play?  

Also, was the tree that fell one of those identified as a potential safety hazard? I suspect not, from the above descriptions of the trees’ locations. All this leads me to suspect that the real reason for cutting down trees is so the police can see if there are homeless in the east end at night, so they can chase them out of the park. 

When I look at UC’s history of park intervention, I remember, for example, plans in the 1990s to build sports courts in front of the stage and to replace the stage with bathrooms, and attempts to remove the Free Box and the bulletin board. These memories make it difficult to imagine straightforward good intentions on the part of the university in regards to People’s Park. 

Jane Welford

As a UC Berkeley exchange student in China, Connie Wu, a junior, at first thought the foreign press might be overplaying the SARS story. 

“The government was really not reporting anything,” Wu said. “People were just going about their daily business. Everything was calm. I didn’t know who to believe.” 

Then, rumors and new press reports suggested the government was being deceitful about the scope of severe acute respiratory syndrome, and people on the street began wearing masks. 

On April 15, Peking University announced that a professor’s mother had died of the mysterious illness and that the lecturer herself might be infected. 

“All of a sudden, departments were shutting down, classes stopped,” Wu said. “It was at that point that there was a real sense of fear.” 

Two days later, the nine-campus University of California announced that it was recalling all 44 of its students, including 10 from UC Berkeley. Wu and her classmates scrambled to drop apartment leases, close bank accounts and buy plane tickets. Within two weeks all but one student, a UC Santa Cruz undergraduate who stayed behind to work on a Chinese television show about American sports terminology, had left Beijing. 

Wu said UC made the right call in bringing the students home. 

“People were hoarding food,” she said. “The streets were emptying out. Even if we had stayed in Beijing, what’s the point of being cooped up in your room all day long?” 

None of the returning students have tested positive for SARS, which had infected 7,053 people worldwide and killed 506 as of Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

UC’s SARS saga did not end with the Beijing exodus in April. Last week, the university announced it was canceling its summer session in China, a decision that affected 130 students. UC Berkeley went a step further, barring an estimated 500 students from SARS-affected areas — China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong — from enrolling in its own summer program. 

The university later dropped Singapore from the list because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) downgraded its warning about the country. Still, the move, which could cost the university $1.5 million to $2 million in lost revenue, has drawn fire from Asian civil rights advocates. 

“This policy excludes people from educational opportunities based only on their country of origin without any possible exceptions made for individual circumstances,” said Diane Chin, executive director of the San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action, in a statement this week. 

UC Berkeley Professor of Asian American Studies L. Ling-chi Wang, in a commentary piece that appears in today’s Daily Planet, writes that UC Berkeley’s decision “risks racializing a public health issue and inciting further hysteria” on a campus with a large Asian population. He also charges that the university has arbitrarily chosen countries for the ban, noting that Canada and Vietnam have also had significant SARS problems. 

But UC Berkeley spokesman Marie Felde notes that the CDC reported a lower threat level in Canada and Vietnam. 

“There’s nothing arbitrary about it,” she said. 

Felde said the university will admit students from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong as soon as the CDC scales back its travel warnings for those areas. 

“If circumstances change, then the policy will change,” she said. “We want the students to come to this country.” 

Public health officials have divided on UC Berkeley’s decision, with the city of Berkeley’s director of public health, Dr. Poki Namkung, backing it and Diana Bonta, director of the California Department of Health Services, arguing that the university policy “goes a step beyond what our advice would be.” 

UC Berkeley sophomore Victoria Huang, who was also studying at Peking University, said the quiet was eerie in a city that was normally bustling. 

“The trains were pretty empty,” she said. “Usually, you can’t find a place to stand. And now, you could get a seat.” 

Still, Huang said she was not seriously considering leaving China until UC announced the recall on April 17. Just a couple of hours before the announcement, she said, she was telling a friend in San Francisco, over the phone, that she had no intention to leave. 

“I thought people were too worried about it,” she said. “Now, I’ve taken a 180-degree turn.”

Berkeley High School Drama Department presents “Guys and Dolls,” music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, directed by Jordan Winer. The musical is based on short stories by Damon Runyon, of gamblers and chorus girls who lived on the fringes of the criminal world in the Broadway district of New York City. May 9 and 10 at  

8 p.m. at the Florence Sch- 

wimley Little Theater on Allston Way between Milvia and MLK Jr. Way. Tickets are $7, $5 with student i.d. and are on sale at the box office 1/2 hr. before performance time.  

Youth Musical Theater Commons presents “Les Miserables,” performed by students of King, Longfellow, Willard, BHS, and Albany High. This school edition is shorter than the Broadway version, but not short on talent. May 9, 10 and 17 at 7:30 p.m., and Sun. May 18 at 3 p.m. Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets at the door, $5-$8. 848-1797. http://busduse.org/lesmiz  

Sia Amma in What Mama Said About Down There, a new performance of monologues inspired through gossip, interviews, and conversations with women from all walks of life, May 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in ad- 

vance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

La Casa Azul, a work based on the life of Frida Kahlo with author/actress Sophie Faucher; Robert Lepage, director, May 8 - 10 at 8 p.m., May 10 at 2 p.m. and May 11 at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $36-$52. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

1 Foot 2 Players presents “The Maids,” by Jean Genet. Maids play a nightly game masquerading as their mistress, until the game unravels with devastating consequences. May 2-18, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 pm, with one extra late show Sat. May 3 at 11 p.m., at Ann Davlin Dance Studio, 2311 Stuart St., between Telegraph and Ellsworth. $10 general, $8 seniors, students. 644-1889. 

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 

Shotgun Theater Lab  

“Fig Leaf: Tales of Truth and Transgressions,” a glimpse of truth and transgressions.  

May 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. at La Val's Subterranean 

1834 Euclid. $10, no reservations.www.shotgunplayers.org 

Transparent Theater 

Virginia Woolf's “Night and Day,” a world premiere stage adaptation and direction by Tom Clyde. May 9 - June 8, Thurs - Sat, 8 p.m. $20. Sun, 7 p.m. Pay what you can. 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305. www.transparenttheater.org 

Shotgun Players 

“Vampires,” by Harry Kondoleon, directed by Joanie McBrien, April 12 - May 17, Thursday through Sunday, at 8 p.m. La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. www.shotgunplayers.com

Why do we believe a large majority of the U.S. public approves of President Bush’s job performance? We believe it because that’s what the pollsters tell us. 

But what if the polls are rigged? Not deliberately rigged, with the numbers simply made up. But biased in a more subtle manner, the way SAT scores are biased. 

Polls don’t merely reflect public opinion. They’re often a significant factor in shaping public opinion. A poll pronouncing overwhelming support for the president will discourage some of his opposition and stifle their criticism. And news that Bush is exceptionally popular will sway many in the center, having a weak or neutral opinion, to join the majority in a kind of bandwagon effect. 

Consequently, public opinion polls can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. 

There are relatively few prominent U.S. pollsters whose findings are widely disseminated. Gallup is the most recognizable polling name, and polls conducted by media partnerships such as New York Times/CBS News and NBC News/Wall Street Journal are also influential. In California, the Field Poll is the best known. 

Since polls play an important role in shaping public opinion and there are only a handful of top polling organizations, it’s tempting to presume a conspiracy where opinion polls are manipulated to promote the message of the “ruling class.” It seems more plausible that rather than deliberate manipulation, the methods used by the pollsters typically guarantee that their findings confirm and advance the views of those running the country. Nonetheless, whether public opinion polls are manipulated or methodologically biased, their impact winds up being the same — to inhibit dissent and swing undecideds to the majority position. 

Is there a way to diminish the power of the polls? My personal reaction to a recent national poll by the New York Times/CBS News may be instructive. 

The poll, as reported in the April 15 New York Times, found that “73 percent of Americans approve” of President Bush’s job performance. This, said the Times, was a 14 percent jump from Bush’s 59 percent approval rating the week before the Iraq war started. What’s more, “61 percent” of Democrats, the poll indicated, were now in the Bush camp. 

Given my strong convictions that Bush’s presidency has been a disaster, domestically and internationally, when I saw his huge approval numbers in the Times, my heart sank. And I was sufficiently disgusted and dismayed by the poll results that a part of me just wanted to throw in the towel and move to Canada. 

However, after a little moaning and groaning, the “Question Authority” module in my brain began firing away. First off, I did a bit of mental arithmetic. If 73 percent of the people polled voiced approval of President Bush, this means 27 percent declined to declare such support. That’s a decent number, considering the public has been bombarded with a vast amount of pro-war propaganda and one-sided media coverage. Not to mention that even mild critics of Bush have been viciously attacked, ranging from Vietnam war hero Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to the Dixie Chicks. 

Therefore, it’s impressive that 27 percent of those confronted by some stranger on the phone in the middle of dinner had the courage to withhold support of the Commander in Chief while U.S. troops were in combat. One wonders how many of the 73 percent who identified themselves as Dubya fans, but really weren’t, might be willing to express their true feelings in the secrecy of a voting booth. 

I next carefully reread the Times report of the poll results, paying particular attention to the section describing “How the Poll Was Conducted.” According to the Times, the pollsters only phoned “898 adults throughout the United States.” A quick Google search discovered the U.S. adult population is about 215 million. Plugging this number into a calculator revealed that each of the 898 people polled was supposedly a proxy for roughly 240,000 U.S. residents. 

To ensure these proxies were representative, the Times explained, the polling sample was weighted to take account of “geographic region, sex, race, age and education.” How was the weighting system determined? 

The Times doesn’t inform us, yet it does point out the potential for sampling error. And with a single poll respondent standing in for 240,000 other individuals, there wouldn’t need to be much error in the assumptions employed in devising the weighted sampling system to invalidate the poll’s findings. Along with sampling error, the Times further qualified the poll numbers by noting that the specific “wording and order of questions” asked by the pollsters could have compromised the results. Would it be a surprise if the guys writing the poll questions were burdened by the same racial and class biases as the guys writing the SAT questions? 

Deconstructing the details of the Times/CBS poll, my confidence in the results markedly dwindled. But my guess is most people, as I did initially, accepted the 73 percent approval margin at face value. And by creating the widespread impression that Bush’s popularity had soared, the poll likely helped shape the opinions and actions of a substantial segment of the U.S. public, whatever their political tendencies. 

What can opponents of Bushism do to limit the influence of slanted poll results? For starters, we can minimize their depressing effect on our own psyche by treating super-high Bush poll ratings with lots of skepticism. It’s worth remembering that Daddy Bush had great poll numbers following Iraq War I, yet still lost to Clinton. 

In addition, progressives need to challenge the media to evaluate public opinion polls more critically, scrutinizing the validity of the numbers and publicizing the biases inherent in the pollsters’ methodology. Perhaps, as well, progressive organizations should begin to do some counter-polling. For example, they could do a poll to gauge whether Americans have become more fearful to express certain opinions to pollsters; notably, their opinion of the president and his policies. 

Marty Schiffenbauer is a Berkeley resident.

The new general manager for KPFA, 94.1 FM, has no experience in journalism. But former Berkeley mayor Gus Newport said his new post suits him just fine. 

“To me, it’s just a continuation of my legacy,” said Newport, 68, who will officially take the reins of Berkeley’s radical public radio station in June. 

The former mayor, who played a key role in Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation push to divest from the apartheid state of South Africa in 1979, said he views the 54-year-old KPFA as a powerful weapon in a lifelong struggle for social justice. 

In an interview this week, Newport reeled off a series of causes, from universal health care to the protection of civil liberties, that he hopes to push on KPFA’s airwaves. 

“I see KPFA as a fine jewel and a natural tool,” he said. 

Newport served as mayor from 1979 to 1986 before heading to Boston to lead a major redevelopment project called the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. Since then, he has held various teaching posts around the country and, most recently, served as a senior associate at the Oakland-based Urban Strategies Council, focusing on leadership development and strategic planning. 

Moderate City Councilmember Betty Olds, who often clashed with Newport when he was mayor, said she was surprised to hear that he was moving from politics to the press. Berkeley, she said, will have to wait and see whether he makes an effective transition. 

“We’ll find out,” she said. 

But Olds said that Newport, even in times of conflict, was always a “gentleman” during his days as mayor. His people skills will be put to the test at KPFA, which has 35 paid staff, 125 volunteers and a cadre of thousands of devoted listeners — all devoted to their own competing visions for the station. 

“There’s only one KPFA and there are dozens of passionate people with their own political agendas,” said Larry Bensky, host of the station’s “Sunday Salon” program. “That’s always the challenge at KPFA.” 

Van Jones, executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in San Francisco and a longtime KPFA observer, said Newport is up to the task. 

“If anybody can pull together the fractious staff and diverse listenership, it would definitely be Gus Newport,” said Jones. “He has the political skill to bring about compromises where that’s appropriate.” 

Newport will also have to deal with the fallout from a brutal, two-and-a-half-year battle between KPFA and its parent organization, the Pacifica Radio Foundation, over programming and local control.  

The fight, which included a 23-day lockout of KPFA staff in July 1999, ended with a legal settlement in December 2001 that left local control intact and forced changes at Pacifica, which runs five radio stations across the country and provides programming to dozens more.  

Since then, under interim general manager Jim Bennett, KPFA has stabilized to some degree. Relations with a reconstituted Pacifica have improved, on-air fundraising has reached record heights and the station has won kudos from the left for its coverage of the war in Iraq.  

Most staff members say KPFA can only maintain its community radio feel if it keeps its current hodgepodge of arts, music, health and political programming on the air. 

“There’s a need for a sense of where our programming is going,” said Lisa Rothman, executive producer of the “Morning Show,” a drive-time, current affairs program. 

They add that KPFA’s strident political tone limits the station’s audience, which tops out at 180,000 to 200,000 at peak times, according to the latest figures, now several years old. By contrast, San Francisco-based KQED, the Bay Area’s leading public radio station, had 746,000 listeners at peak times this winter. 

“I think the biggest challenge Gus will have is creating some analytical public affairs programming rather than just reflecting the political views of the staff,” said former general manager Pat Scott, who clashed with KPFA traditionalists during the Pacifica crisis. 

But a shift to more balanced political reporting seems unlikely. KPFA has a devoted following that views the station as a progressive oasis in a desert of corporate media and rejected calls for change during the Pacifica crisis. 

Newport, for his part, said he doesn’t have any preconceived notions about where he wants to take the station’s programming. Instead, the new general manager will talk with staff and listeners, he said, and focus on filling the long-vacant program director’s slot at the station. 

Newport’s more immediate task, staff members say, will be cultivating foundations and wealthy donors who backed away during the Pacifica crisis. 

“I think it’s collapsed completely — it’s a disaster,” said Bensky, discussing the station’s “off-air” fund-raising operation. “I think people are ready and willing to come back, but they have to be approached.” 

Bennett, who was also among the 20 people who applied for the full-time job, acknowledged that Newport, well-connected from his days as mayor, will bring a new cache to the fund-raising effort. 

“Gus brings a lot to KPFA that we probably didn’t have before as a general manager in terms of his connections and his ability to be a public face,” said Bennett, who will help Newport with the transition and then shift to a job with Pacifica, which is moving its national offices from Washington, D.C., to Berkeley in June.  

Most at KPFA agree that Newport will excel at fundraising but say the former mayor, who has no experience in journalism, will have a lot to learn about other facets of his job. 

“He has not been involved in programming issues at all,” said Pacifica board member Peter Bramson. “So there’s a learning curve.” 

Newport acknowledges that he has much to learn, but said KPFA may be better served without a journalist in the general manager’s chair. 

“I will remind people, as we learned in the old days in running hospitals, that doctors are not necessarily the best managers,” he said. 

Whether he stumbles or succeeds, Berkeley will be watching him closely. 

“KPFA is the oldest public radio station in the country — it’s where public radio got invented,” said Susan da Silva, chair of KPFA’s local advisory board. “It’s a very important institution and very beloved in this area.”

The decision by the University of California, Berkeley, to bar hundreds of admitted students from SARS-afflicted Asian nations from attending summer sessions on campus risks racializing a public health issue and intensifying hysteria. 

On the surface, Chancellor Robert Berdahl’s decision appears precautionary and judicious. The university will bar students from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China from attending five summer sessions starting in May, June and July. In reality, the move is sweeping, untimely and arbitrary. 

It makes good sense for the chancellor to take all precautions necessary to protect the health and welfare of everyone on campus. This has to be the highest priority for any campus, and the SARS epidemic should not be taken lightly. But there are several serious problems with the decision. 

First, it is not clear why the countries targeted for exclusion were selected. The chancellor cited sources from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) as the basis for his decision. But we know from WHO and CDC reports that Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Canada were hardest hit by the epidemic. We also know that in countries such as Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Canada, only certain cities have been affected by the epidemic (for example, Hanoi, 

Beijing, Taipei and Toronto, respectively). 

The question is, why does the rule apply just to the Chinese-dominated countries and not to Canada and Vietnam? 

Second, it makes perfect sense for the chancellor to put a ban on those admitted for the May 27 summer session, because these students would not have been able to meet the two-week mandatory self-quarantine as recommended by WHO and the CDC (assuming they were not already in the United States when the chancellor made the announcement). But the students already admitted for the later sessions have at least two weeks to prove that they are not carriers of the SARS coronavirus. There is no legitimate basis to exclude them if, at the end of the mandatory quarantine period, they test negative. 

Third, the decision is particularly troublesome in light of the fact that the CDC has not prohibited normal travel and trade between the United States and the named countries. Tourists and business people, diplomats and students alike are still traveling back and forth. They are under closer scrutiny at the ports of departure and entry in the affected countries, and all travelers are required to undergo a two-week quarantine. But if the U.S. government allows people from these areas to be admitted into the country, why can’t the students be admitted into UC Berkeley, if they follow the regulations issued by the CDC and WHO? 

There is no U.S. prohibition against Americans traveling to any of the countries listed by the chancellor. In fact, Assistant Secretary James A. Kelly and his entourage of diplomats traveled last week to Beijing for a three-day meeting with North Korean diplomats. In addition, WHO has already concluded that the epidemic in Vietnam is now fully under control, and has declared that the SARS epidemic in Singapore, Hong Kong and Toronto has peaked.  

With reports of sharp declines in visits to Asian restaurants from New York to Honolulu and fewer tourists visiting Chinatowns across America, such a sweeping and arbitrary decision could not come at a worse time. On a predominantly Asian campus in a multiracial state, it could be particularly divisive, contributing to hysteria and racializing and politicizing a public health issue that now affects more than three dozen countries around the globe.  

L. Ling-chi Wang teaches Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley.

A caravan of buses from Berkeley, carrying students, parents and teachers, converged on the state capital Thursday to challenge proposed cuts of some $5 billion in education funds from this year’s state budget. 

More than 500 Berkeley students participated in the school board sanctioned field trip, promoted as a civics lesson in lobbying government. They joined hundreds of other Bay Area students in Sacramento. 

Hardest hit by the cuts will be teachers. In Berkeley, 217 teachers found pink slips in their mailboxes in March warning of possible dismissal, while popular programs, such as the Franklin after-school and district music programs, are slated to be reduced or eliminated. Board officials say 70 to 80 teachers will actually be laid-off once the budget is passed. In Oakland, nearly 1,000 teachers’ jobs are at stake. 

"We need to get a completely new system of financing schools. We’re always reacting to crises," said Berkeley High School English teacher Tammy Harkins, who shepherded a group of 17 students through representatives’ offices where they spoke with legislative aides about what they saw as inequities in public financing. 

Harkins, who herself received a pink slip, and Laura Lackey, a junior, wore homemade striped prison uniforms to connect the school cuts with raises for prison guards. Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed budget includes an additional $330 million for the Department of Corrections, while lopping at least 15 percent off current general education funds. 

“If you spent the money on schools, couldn’t you save a lot on prisons?” Laura asked. 

Nine buses took off from the Milvia Street sidewalk adjacent to the high school Thursday morning. Mayor Tom Bates was present, as was Sheila Jordan, county superintendent of schools. Jordan rode with the students. Bates, who did not make the trip, said he wanted to lend his support to the event.  

Bates insisted that the state needed to raise income taxes to meet the current shortfall. He suggested that $4 billion could be obtained from vehicle license fees — funds which go directly to local governments. Davis has said he would not entertain any such bill, according to assistant director of the state Department of Finance, Anita Gore. 

In Sacramento, the Berkeley contingent met with Assemblywoman and former Mayor Loni Hancock.  

“You can’t cut $36 billion from a $72 billion dollar budget,” Hancock said. She said she would refuse to sign an inadequate compromise on education spending, even if it meant dragging out a resolution. 

The rally crowd, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000, listened to speakers and teenage rap singers. 

Rose Braz, director of Education Not Incarceration, said, “This rally is about connecting education and prisons. In polls, people have consistently said they want to reduce prison spending and restore education spending.” 

“There are very few places to cut,” insisted Gore in an office interview. “Education is one. Health and human services is another.” 

As to the viability of such tax options as the vehicle license tax, Gore said, “Governor Davis told legislators not to bring him those bills. He thought it would not be prudent at this time.” 

There were reasons why certain budgets, such as for corrections, could not be cut, she said. 

“It has to do with federal mandates and court orders, not to mention statutes in the constitution. There’s one for education, too. Prop 98. It gets 40 percent of the budget.” 

Meanwhile, Harkins’ class swarmed in and out of offices to question aides and practice their lobbying skills. They wandered into the office of the Republican caucus, where they debated with a legislative aide for 45 minutes.  

Harkins felt the day at the state capital presented an exceptional teaching opportunity for the students. 

"It’s wonderful to show them you can lobby and take your case to the representatives,” she said. “They need to know that they can be that intern in a summer job. It was a great exercise in real citizenship.” 

A group of UC Berkeley students upset over a campus newspaper photograph they described as racist have caused the student-run Daily Californian to “lock down” their offices indefinitely. 

In addition, over the course of Wednesday and Thursday, at least 2,400 newspapers disappeared from racks at various locations around campus, according to UC Police Capt. Bill Cooper. He said officers cited two students for petty theft on Thursday, a charge that could carry a $250 fine.  

James Drake, a spokesman for the student group, denied that anybody associated with the group had anything to do with the missing papers. 

The lock down went into effect after about 50 members of the student group flooded the Daily Californian’s offices Tuesday to protest a story that ran with a photograph of Cal Football player Michael Gray. Gray, 19, was arrested under suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after a brawl outside a fraternity house on Saturday night. The lock down means the sixth-floor offices of the Daily Cal in Eshleman Hall are locked to the general public, though staffers can come and go at will. 

About 30 group members returned to the newspaper offices Wednesday night but were unable to gain access.  

The student group is not officially organized but includes blacks, Asians and “anti-racist” whites, according to Drake. 

Daily Californian Editor in Chief Rong-Gong Lin II said he’s taking measures to assure the paper will be available to readers and that the offices will remain in lock down until “We feel like it’s safe.” 

The controversy stems from a Saturday-night fight in which as many as 50 people were involved, according to police. Four people involved in the fight were taken by ambulance to Alta Bates hospital. The most serious injury was a skull fracture suffered by a UC student when he was struck in the head with a bottle, allegedly by Gray. 

Gray was released on Sunday, according to Berkeley police. An Alameda County District Attorney’s Office spokesman said Gray has not yet been charged. 

On Tuesday, the Daily Californian ran a story about the fight and included a photograph of Gray, which they copied from a Cal Football publication.  

The student group said Gray’s photo looked like a mug shot and accused the newspaper of racial profiling. The photograph and story, the group said, could adversely affect Gray’s collegiate career. 

“The Daily Cal has had problems like this in the past,” Drake said referring to past controversy surrounding Daily Californian cartoons and ads that were challenged as racist. “We’re going to continue taking action against the Daily Californian until they run a front page apology.” 

He said actions would include demonstrations and possibly contacting advertisers to discourage their purchasing advertising space in the Daily Californian. 

Lin said the editorial staff has refused to run a retraction and will stand by the photograph and story. He said that Gray enjoys special status as a Cal Football player and that his arrest, regardless of whether he is charged with assault, is news.  

Lin said he was upset about the paper thefts and that if members of the student group were stealing them, they were defeating their own argument.  

“It’s crucial to continue the dialogue on this issue,” he said. “Friday’s paper will include letters and opinion pieces from a variety of perspectives. If anybody takes the papers again, that goes against the very foundation of freedom of speech.”

EXTERIOR. DAY. Rubble-strewn street. A lone soldier, heavily armed, is standing guard.  

ENTER THREE MEN, disguised as state department officials, holding their kevlar-lined briefcases in front of their faces. 

SOLDIER: Halt! Who goes there. 

CHICO: Who’s on first!  

GROUCHO: That’s not our number, you idiot. It’s better to flatter them. Watch. [to the soldier] Good morning, Major. 

SOLDIER: Actually it’s General. I’m working undercover as a private to put an end to this stone throwing. [a stone flies by] Hey, aren’t you the Marx Brothers? 

GROUCHO: We were but we had to change our names — nobody will book an act named Marx. 

SOLDIER: Tough. But what are you doing here? 

CHICO: We can’t say.  

GROUCHO: You’ve heard of Mata Hari? [does a little shimmy] 

SOLDIER: Did he play for Buffalo? 

CHICO: [points to Harpo] What do you see? 

SOLDIER: Blonde? 

CHICO: Blonde. James Blonde. [Harpo tosses his curls; Chico catches them and puts them back.] 

[A stone comes flying past.] 

SOLDIER: [running after stone] I’ll get that rock if it’s the last thing I do.  

CHICO: Tell me, what are these WMDs? What are we looking for anyway? 

GROUCHO: It’s simple. You got your W, that’s for weapon 

CHICO: W for weapons, right. 

GROUCHO: You got your M, that’s for mass. You know about mass? 

CHICO: I should. I go every Sunday at nine. 

GROUCHO: Not that mass. 

CHICO: Well sometimes I go at 11. 

GROUCHO: Mass is everywhere -- even people have mass. Haven’t you heard of the masses? 

CHICO: I don’t know — hum a few bars, maybe I’ll remember it. 

HARPO: [writes on a blackboard E=mc squared] 

CHICO: [studies the board] Now I get it! It’s like mass production! 

GROUCHO: No no no.  

CHICO: But that’s great — if you got mass destruction [points to the wreckage all around] then you need mass production.  

GROUCHO: That’s not destruction. It’s collateral damage. 

CHICO: Lateral like in football, to the side? 

GROUCHO: Not lateral, CO-lateral. That means to the side no matter which way you face.  

CHICO: [inspecting the rubble] I think I get it. 

GROUCHO: [inspecting his watch] this is an outrage. Our contact has not liaised as promised 

[A WOMAN: ENTERS] 

CHICO: Maybe that’s it. 

GROUCHO: I’ll try the code. Pardon me miss, but are you going our way? 

WOMAN: Not if I can help it. 

GROUCHO: Actually, we just need directions. 

WOMAN: That’s easy. Go home. 

CHICO: Go home? 

WOMAN: You want a second opinion? 

GROUCHO: Sure. 

WOMAN: Go home now.  

[WALKS OFF as a young boy comes running in, pockets bursting with stones] 

BOY: Hey! You the guys looking for weapons of mass destruction? 

GROUCHO: It’s possible. 

BOY: Is there a reward? 

CHICO: Could be. 

BOY: There’s one just a little way down the road. It has a code name on it — I’m sure it’s the right one. 

GROUCHO: We’ll decide that, sonny. What’s the code? 

BOY: B five two.  

[DISSOLVE]

NONE SO BLIND AS…  

The Germans, or maybe it was the Swiss, used to tell a fable about a peddler who strayed into a forbidden forest, angering the troll who guarded those woods. The troll was about to kill the man, but the peddler begged so hard for his life that the monster took pity and devised another punishment. “I’ll send you back home on one condition,” the troll said. “You must walk the high road into town, and every person you see, you must give a gold coin from your sack. I will follow in the woods behind, and if you break this vow, I will pounce on you and eat you up in one bite.” The troll thought this was a fit punishment because he knew that the peddler loved his gold more than he loved his own life. The peddler agreed to the arrangement and walked out of the woods with the troll close behind, but when the peddler came out on the high road he stopped and tied a scarf around his eyes. In that way he walked all the way home, passing many but seeing none, and keeping all his gold.  

One wonders if Mayor Jerry Brown walks through downtown Oakland with his eyes purposely covered, so that he cannot see the people he insists are just not there.  

According to national columnist George Will, the mayor once described downtown Oakland in the late nineties as consisting of “a concentrated, homogeneous population — the elderly, parolees, people in drug rehab, from mental hospitals, transients. This is not the vibrant civic culture some might have in mind.” Since we doubt Mayor Brown would describe Oakland’s Chinatown as a community full of junkies and criminals, we can only assume that he has never actually seen that portion of downtown during the several years he has lived in our city.  

So, too, it must be with the mayor and the Alice Arts Center.  

First, the mayor. He came into office on a platform that emphasized revitalization of Oakland’s downtown, saying that it needed an influx of new residents to bring it back to economic and cultural health. He spoke often of the fact that downtown Oakland pretty much went dead on weekdays after five, with few places to eat or shop or gather for casual conversation.  

Now, to Alice Arts. The center is a city-owned property just off 14th Street near the lake — converted in 1993 from an exclusive women’s club. For 10 years it has been one of Oakland’s success stories. The facility houses several regionally and nationally recognized dance companies, including (but not limited to) Diamano Coura and Dimensions (two Afrocentric companies), AXIS Dance (which blends disabled and non-disabled performers) and the Oakland Ballet. Koncepts Kultural Gallery, which has offices at Alice, was bringing major jazz talent into the Jack London Square area as far back as the late 1980s, helping lead the way to that district’s revival as an entertainment center. Evening and weekend dance classes, sponsored mostly by Citicentre Dance, bring in thousands of participants a year.  

The city’s own Web site describes Café 1428, which sits next door to the Alice Center auditorium, as “a cozy, intimate cafe reminiscent of those found in New York’s Soho district.” This is probably an understatement. With a stream of people coming in and out from the dance classes and other activities at Alice, 1428 is probably the only place in downtown Oakland where you can drink coffee at an outdoor table, play chess or hold political discussions in four (or more) languages.  

In addition, the Alice building has some 70 apartments on its top floors, which the city encourages as residential rental space to “local artists, art students and individuals with careers in the arts.”  

But now comes trouble in the camp.  

A year ago, helped by a million-and-a-half-dollar renovation financed by the city, Brown moved his Oakland School For The Arts charter academy into the basement and unused ground floor office space at the Alice Arts complex. At the time, there was a lot of community concern that the unstated city plan was for the arts school eventually to take over the entire building, leaving no room for the present occupants. The Oakland Tribune, however, reported assurances from city staff back then that the arts school would “not displace any of the dance, music and performing arts groups that call the Alice Arts Center home.”  

Assurances, assurances.  

This week, we learn that the arts school needs more room, and Brown is considering giving it the whole center, scattering both the Alice Arts residential tenants and the various performance groups to other parts of the city. Or out of the city, if they can’t find space in Oakland.  

There are presently some 100 ninth-grade students enrolled at the arts school, which is able to operate only with an annual quarter-of-a-million-dollar city subsidy. If the school eventually reaches its long-term goal of a ninth- to 12th-grade student body (which is no certainty), it would reach a maximum enrollment of about 500, coming downtown each weekday morning, and leaving when the school closes at five.  

The arts school could be relocated, with little harm to its programs. Instead, Mayor Brown is willing to risk the dismantling of a proven Alice Arts Center program, successful over a 10-year period, that annually brings what the Tribune estimates as “tens of thousands” of people into the downtown area, daytime, evenings and weekends each year — what should be a cornerstone of the mayor’s downtown revival.  

You think maybe it’s ‘cause he just can’t see it? Or is there something else going on? 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor is an Oakland resident.

A main water pipeline ruptured early Wednesday morning on Grant Street near Allston Way, sending a stream of water onto the street and flooding the garage and basement of a nearby residence. 

Kathy Goldsmith, whose Allston Street house was hit with five inches of water, said she was awakened around 1 a.m. by the fire department. “I heard water and thought it was rain,” she said. “The street looked like a raging river.” 

About 40 residences in the affected neighborhood, which spans about two blocks around Allston and Grant, received no water service from 1:45 to 11:15 a.m. as a crew of East Bay Municipal Utility Department (EBMUD) employees worked to fix the rupture. EBMUD workers finished replacing the damaged section of the 12-inch-thick pipe and laying down temporary asphalt over the affected area around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. 

A subcontractor of EBMUD was brought in to pump water out of the Goldsmiths’ basement and garage and completely dry the area to prevent mold growth. Steve Goldsmith, Kathy’s husband, said he was pleased with the pace of the clean-up. “All the water was out in about an hour,” he said. “They were amazingly quick about it.” 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said it’s not uncommon for water mains to break but that Tuesday’s leak was “a fairly big one.” 

EBMUD spokesman Jeff Becerra said no exact cause has been pinpointed. He said there are water breaks almost every day throughout EMBUD’s jurisdiction, which covers about 45 miles of pipeline. He said most ruptures are caused by simple wear and tear. Other causes include heavy traffic and sudden weather changes. 

Officials could give no cost estimate for the damage.

Half of Berkeley High School’s 3,000 students will be in “small schools” of 200 to 250 pupils by the 2005-2006 school year, according to a much-anticipated reform package unveiled at the Board of Education meeting Wednesday night. 

The document, developed by 17 administrators, parents, teachers, students and union officials known as the Small Schools Advisory Committee, lays out an application process for parents and teachers interested in creating a small school and recommends a new administrative structure for the revamped high school. 

Under the policy, still in draft form, small schools could have a specific theme or function as a smaller version of the high school. They would be required to develop accountability measures, recruit a racially diverse student body and provide students with a “passport” so they could take courses outside the small school. 

Board members raised a number of concerns around admissions policies and the legality of mandating a racially diverse student body. 

The advisory committee will meet next week to discuss possible changes and, if all goes according to schedule, the board will take a formal vote on the policy May 21. 

The policy, in its draft form, can be viewed on the Berkeley Unified School District’s Web site, www.berkeley.k12.ca.us. 

—David Scharfenberg

A last-ditch effort to save the 19th-century home of Berkeley pioneer John M. Doyle is $15,000 short and running out of time. 

Mayor Tom Bates said a resident has put up some money to pay the cost of moving the house, slated for demolition May 16, to a nearby location.  

Developer Patrick Kennedy, who plans to replace the building at 2008 University Ave. with a 35-unit housing project on the site, has also offered some cash for the move, said Bates. But $15,000 more is needed. 

“If someone is very interested in seeing the building saved, now is the time to do it,” said Bates, urging would-be preservationists to contact his office soon. 

Even if the money comes through, he said, the city would have to push the permits through quickly and hope for a small miracle from PG&E, which requires weeks of advance notice before conducting the sort of complicated wiring job the move would require. 

Bates said the city will make every effort to push the process forward if the money appears. 

The Doyle House has been the subject of a battle between Kennedy and preservationists from the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). Kennedy cleared his last major hurdle to the project earlier this week when BAHA dropped a lawsuit asking the city of Berkeley to do an environmental impact report on the demolition proposal. 

—David Scharfenberg 

“Chile is living through a period of transition ... it’s the transition to democracy, not democracy. There is currently no freedom of expression in Chile.” 

—Ernesto Carmona, author “Los Dueños de Chile” 

Investigative journalism in Chile? It might seem like a contradiction in terms, but television and print periodista Ernesto Carmona shows that investigative journalism is alive and well, though limited in scope, in post-Augusto Pinochet Chile. 

Carmona has written a new book, “Los Dueños de Chile” (“The Owners of Chile”), a study of the 100 wealthiest Chilean citizens. The book teases out, in great detail, the hows and whys of the 100 who, out of a population of 15.4 million, have come to be known as the owners of Chile. In some respects the book appears to be a Chilean equivalent to C. Wright Mills’ “The Power Elite” and G. William Domhoff’s “Who Rules America.” Although the 100 individuals and families possess most of the wealth in Chile, there are five among the super rich, including at least three billionaires, according to Carmona. 

Carmona is on a speaking tour in the Bay Area, and on a recent gray Sunday he spoke with the Daily Planet in the offices of La Peña Cultural Center on Shattuck Avenue. 

He talked about how he was exiled from the country for 18 years during the Pinochet era. He now runs a small publication, “La Huella” (“The Fingerprint”), in Santiago and relies solely on the cover price — the equivalent of about $1.50 — to support him and his tiny staff. Its monthly circulation of 10,000 is part of a nascent alternative press in a country with few alternative media outlets. 

Carmona will speak in Berkeley at La Peña on Sunday and at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco on Wednesday. During his two-week stay in the area he also plans to speak at Sonoma State University and at San Francisco City College. He will also be a guest in Conn Hallinan’s journalism classes at UC Santa Cruz. 

As Carmona began discussing Chilean politics and journalism his gestures became lively. The interview, which was conducted in Spanish, was translated by the reporter: 

Is there a free press in Chile today?  

“In fact, there is no freedom of expression in Chile and there are just two companies [El Mercurio and Copesa] that control the written word. Investigative journalism is done, but independently. ... Small papers with no advertisements do it.”  

Why are you basing yourself in Berkeley on this book tour? 

“I have been invited by the Chilean community here. There is a strong, active Chilean community in the Bay Area. In addition, I am working with Fernando Torres, the publicist here at La Peña, to open a center for investigative journalism in Santiago based on the Media Alliance and Media Watch models here.” 

Berkeley is known for its politically left culture and ideas. What is the state of the Left in post-Salvador Allende Chile? 

“There is no political force on the Left right now. I do not see a resurgence in the Left, I see a great crisis among progressives in Chile. The Socialist Party has turned into a European-style Social Democrat Party. It was a party born out of the urban workers movement and now it has taken the word ‘worker’ out of its current vocabulary ... similar to the Labor Party in England. There is no political force on the Left currently in Chile. What is going to surface [next election] is the Right with a leftist mask. What is emerging right now is populism ... a discourse on leftist ideas, but actual decision-making in favor of the Right. That’s what will happen in the next round of Chilean elections. 

“What’s happened is that the country was robbed under the dictatorship and the problem is that the people forget this. In Bolivia and Ecuador there is a leftist resurgence ... and it is linked with indigenous movements. In Brazil, too, there has been a resurgence of the Left in the form of Lula, but that is all.” 

Is there democracy in Chile? 

“There is no democracy at this time in Chile ... There cannot be democracy when a high percentage of members in the Senate are appointed and not elected. Eight out of 50 senators are not elected.” 

Why didn’t Chile support the U.S.-led coalition in the Iraq war? 

“Chile never supported the United States in Iraq. It was a question of business. [President Roberto] Lagos and his people were going to support Bush, but the people of Chile were very much against it … Right, Center, everybody was against it … Chile has a free trade agreement with the European Union’s 15 countries.” 

What would you like the American people to know about how we are affected by the fabulously wealthy people in Chile? What does this book, “The Owners of Chile,” have to offer?  

“It’s important because it has much to do with what has happened in Chile. It’s very relevant to the role the United States played during the intervention of the government of Salvador Allende [1970-73]. That government was a constitutionally elected one, a legitimate one. I would like the American people to understand that the process of globalization of the economy permits and implies that the poor in our countries [Latin America] finance the well-being and quality of life for the wealthy countries with the only thing that we have, our natural resources. And they impose governments on us that facilitate that process.” 

Ernesto Carmona speaks in Berkeley this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave., and at Modern Times Bookstore on Wednesday, May 14, at 888 Valencia St. in San Francisco. 

Berkeley teachers, facing heavy layoffs, are raising questions about hefty executive salaries and an apparent conflict of interest in upper-level contract negotiations at the Berkeley Unified School District. 

District administrators counter that they are working 14-hour days and deserve salaries that top out at $185,000 per year for Superintendent Michele Lawrence and $153,000 per year for three associate superintendents. 

They add that the alleged conflict of interest, which involves Associate Superintendent of Human Resources David Gomez negotiating the framework for his own wage hike, was not a conflict and has been revised anyhow. 

“I think when people are angry and frustrated and hurting from the loss of such good people, it becomes easier to throw stones at the administration,” said Lawrence. 

But Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Barry Fike said the average person would “smell a rat” in the Gomez contract deal. He added that the district, facing a $4 million to $8 million deficit next year, has not cut enough from the central office — which spends significantly more per pupil on upper management than most districts in the county, according to the most recent state data available.  

Berkeley spends $48 per student on superintendent and associate superintendent salaries, compared to $14 in Oakland, $26 in Alameda City and $32 in Dublin, according to Department of Education data from 2000-2001. The statewide average is $23 per pupil. 

“I think that I earn a good salary, but I do believe it was necessary to recruit a superintendent to take over Berkeley, given all the troubles,” said Lawrence, referring to the dysfunctional accounting system and looming deficits that hung over the district when she took charge last year. 

Lawrence, on top of her $185,000 salary, received an interest-free $300,000 loan to help purchase a home. 

Dennis Myers, assistant executive director of the Association of California School Administrators, said loans and housing allowances for superintendents are becoming more and more prevalent, particularly in areas of the state with a high cost of living. 

“Fifteen years ago, people would raise their eyebrows,” he said. “But now nobody is surprised.” 

Myers added that superintendents, who manage large transportation, food service, custodial and educational systems, receive far less in compensation than corporate CEOs. 

Still, with class sizes on the rise and heavy layoffs hitting teachers and custodians, some find the district’s administrative salaries excessive. 

“We cannot continue to support a top-heavy, overpaid administrative staff while they slash from the bottom,” said Stephanie Allan, a union official with Local 39, which represents bus drivers, security guards and food service workers. 

District officials say they made heavy cuts to the central administration last year and cannot chop any more. According to district figures released last week, Berkeley Unified eliminated 16 positions, created six new jobs and upgraded seven more during a major reorganization effort designed to revamp a struggling central office while cutting costs. 

The move, according to district figures, saved the district about $240,000. Union leaders, who have claimed there was a $400,000 increase in administrative expenditures, declined to comment, saying the district had not yet provided them with the new figures. 

But union officials continued to raise concerns about the Gomez pact. 

As the district’s top human resources official, Gomez is responsible for negotiating contracts with all the district’s unions, including the Union of Berkeley Administrators (UBA), which represents 37 principals, assistant principals and other managers. 

Gomez is not a member of UBA. But three years ago, former Superintendent Jack McLaughlin tied raises for Gomez and Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Christine Lim to the annual UBA pay hikes. 

Lawrence said McLaughlin made the move to “protect his people,” ensuring that Gomez and Lim would get consistent raises under a new superintendent. 

But McLaughlin, now superintendent of public instruction for the state of Nevada, denies the allegation. He said he simply wanted to ensure that all administrators were treated equally. 

“It was meant to keep the integrity of the whole management side together,” he said. 

Experts and officials from other districts said school systems often attempt to give top-level administrators raises on par with those of other district employees. But they said they had never heard of contracts that formally tie pay hikes for administrators to those of another, specific union. 

In fact, several officials said, districts often use their discretion on executive salaries to restrict pay hikes for top managers in tough economic times, even as teachers and other district employees get raises mandated by their contracts. 

Gomez negotiated the most recent, three-year UBA contract in 1999. The contract included a mathematical formula that tied annual raises for union members — and ultimately himself — to those of administrators in 30 other similar districts. 

Gomez said there was no conflict of interest because he did not set his annual pay hike. Instead, the mathematical formula, which yielded a 7 percent pay hike last year, was in control. 

“They’re trying to show that there was foul play,” said Gomez. “There wasn’t.” 

Still, skeptics say the arrangement raises red flags. 

“It’s pretty hard for a teacher to take, considering that their salary is a lot larger than ours,” said fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Landaeta, one of 220 Berkeley educators to receive a pink slip in March. 

Lawrence insists there was nothing underhanded in Gomez’s negotiations. But she said the appearance of a conflict of interest, and the mistrust it might create, led her to change the associate superintendents’ contracts last year, separating their pay from that of UBA members.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS 

TUESDAY, MAY 6 

Freedom of the Press? Bay Area Perspectives, a panel discussion with local journalists, will be held in the Central Library's Community Meeting Room, at 7 p.m. Panelists include Brenda Payton, Becky O'Malley, and Henry Norr. 981-6241. Household Energy Conservation Made Easy, a class covering do-it-yourself insulation, weatherization and metering, plus discussion of appliance use, and standby power along with examples of low- and no-cost solutions, and RECO measures requir- 

ed by the City of Berkeley. Speakers are Reuben Deumling, Berkeley Energy Commission; and Alice La Pierre, City of Berkeley Energy Analyst. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Energy Office. 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5435 or energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us  

Disaster First Aid Class offered by the City of Ber- 

keley’s Emergency Oper- 

ations Center, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St. For more information call 981-5605. TDD: 981-5799. 

Alameda County Computer Resource Center, celebrates its opening and tour of the computer reuse and recycling facilities at 3 p.m. at their new headquarters, 1501 Eastshore Ave., near Gilman. Open House from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 528-4052. www.accrc.org  

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 

YMCA’s 63rd Annual Com- 

munity Prayer Breakfast, with Lyn Fine, Buddhist educator, Rev. Rodney Yee, Chinese Community Church, and music by the McGee Avenue Baptist Choir. From 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park. Tic-kets are $20 and available by calling 549-4525 or email nandini@baymca.org 

“Tamalpais Tales,” an eve- 

ning of anecdotes and reminiscences by Millie Barish, Tamalpais Road historian, in celebration of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association’s Spring House Tour, at 7:30 pm at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street at Arch. Tickets, $7, may be purchased at the door, or order by mail: BAHA, P.O. Box 1137, Berkeley, 94701 

South Berkeley Mural  

Project. Community members in South Berkeley are coming together to create a neighborhood mural on the side of the Grove Liquor Store on the corner of Ashby Ave and MLK, Jr. Way. Meetings are held every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Epic Arts Studios at 1923 Ashby Ave. For further information on ways to get involved please call 644-2204.  

Comedy Show to benefit Berkeley Dispute Resolution Service, featuring a diverse line-up of the Bay Area’s rising stars, at 8 p.m. Cost is $15 and up, sliding scale. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

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. 872-0768. 

Community Dances in Berkeley, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St., 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

THURSDAY, MAY 8 

Education Not Incarceration, a coalition of teachers, students, parents and community members need you to join the rally at noon at the State Capitol, Sacramento. Buses leave the Bay Area at 8:30 a.m. For information email ed_not_inc@earthlink.net or www.may8.org  

Public Meeting on the Proposed Molecular Foundry Development by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Strawberry Canyon, at 7:30 p.m. in the Strawberry Can- 

yon Recreation Center. All invited. For information, contact the Mayor’s office, 981-7100. 

Tariq Ali, author, Clash of Fundamentalisms; and Editor, New Left Review speaks on “War, Empire, and Resistance” at 4 p.m. in the Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Center, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Institute of International Studies. 642-2472. iis@globetrotter.berkeley.edu 

League of Women Voters Speaker Series program on “Rebuilding Together,” formerly “Christmas in April,” from noon to 2 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room of the Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave., at Masonic. 843-8824. lwvbae@pacbell.net 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers, invites you to a Fly Tying Extravaganza and Auction at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave., at 6:30 p.m. For information contact rorlando@uclink4. 

berkeley.edu  

FRIDAY, MAY 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series 

“Saving the Planet,” with Michael H. O’Malley, Publisher, Berkeley Daily Planet. 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. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 

548-6310, 845-1143. 

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

Lawrence K. Altman, M.D., Medical Journalist, New York Times, will talk on “Covering the Government's Response to Terrorism: A Journalist's Perspective” at noon at 22 Warren Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology. 643-2731. 

Johan Galtung, Norwegian peace researcher and mediator, will conduct a day-long workshop on “Peaceful Conflict Transformation” at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Pre-registration required, call 232-4493. Galtung will give a free lecture, “New Approaches to Peace Studies” at 7:30 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, on the UC Campus. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride converges at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

May Day Celebration, a benefit for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper, with food, poetry and speeches, at 7 p.m. at The Humanist Hall, 390 27th St between Tele- 

graph and Broadway. Dona- 

tion $5-10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Sponsored by May Day Committee, 848-1196.  

SATURDAY, MAY 10 

Annual Letter Carriers’ Food Drive in support of Alameda County Community Food Bank. If you receive a post card about the food drive, please leave a bag of non-perishable food by your mailbox for letter carriers to pick up. Food can also be dropped off at Berkeley Main, Berkeley DDU, Station A, and Berkeley Elmwood Post Offices. For more information visit ww.accfb. 

org or call 800-870-FOOD. 

Thousand Oaks School 28th Annual Carnival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 840 Colusa Ave. near Solano. Play games of skill for all ages, from Vegi-roulette to Pie-in-the-Face! You could win a “Flower Power” quilt in the raffle contest, or an award-winning cake at our cake walk. Have wonderful homemade Mexican corn and chicken tostadas for lunch, or even pizza and cotton candy! Thousand Oaks School welcomes the whole community to come have some good old-fashioned fun! Call 841-1445 for more information.  

Kids’ Garden Club: Farm Animals, for ages 7 - 12, from 2 - 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 non-residents. For information call 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org.  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours: “Fourth Street Tour and Spenger’s History,” led by Denny Abrams. 10 a.m. $5 members, $10 non-members. For reservations call 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

Bike Day at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, with programs on traditional and practical bicycles for transportation and shipping, bike repair and bike safety. From 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Center St., at MLK, Jr. Way, sponsored by Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, the Sierra Club, and the Ecology Center. 549-7433. 

Green Design for Everyday People, a discussion of the process of green design and how we all can have beautiful living and working spaces that are not toxic to ourselves or our environment. Topics will include cleaners, paints, sealers, furnishings, flooring, energy efficient systems and products. Bring a rough plan of your space if possible. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Call to pre-register. $10 Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. 548-2220 x233.  

Take This Job and Shove It, a film on workers with  

Johnny Paycheck sound-track at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. All events are free. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org  

The Great War Society will hold its monthly meeting, at 10:30 a.m. at 640 Arlington Ave. The topic will be “Hol- 

lywood Goes to War," presented by Andrew Melomet. 527-7118. 

SUNDAY, MAY 11 

Berkeley Architectural  

Heritage House Tour 

"Tamalpais and Shasta" 

from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring twelve houses in one of Berkeley's earliest subdivisions, created in 1905 with artistic, intellectual, and conservation-minded residents in mind. There will be a garden reception at one of the houses. Tickets for the self-guided House Tour and Reception are $25 for BAHA members and their guests and $30 for general admission. Tickets will also be sold on the day of the tour at a table on Euclid Avenue at Bay View Place. For reservations, please call the BAHA office at 841-2242 or 841-1055. www.berkeleyheritage.com/2003springhousetour.html 

Mothers’ Day Tea at the Botanical Garden, food and music in a peaceful setting. Seatings 1 - 3 p.m. Cost is  

$30, Members $20, children under 12, $10. UC Botanical Garden, Centennial Drive, To register, please call 643-2755. 

Mothers’ Day Peace Cele- 

bration, join in prayers and reflections on peace from different faith traditions, with music, poetry, and activities for children, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in MLK, Jr. Civic Center Park. Sponsored by Wo- 

men for Peace, Code Pink, Ecumenical Peace Institute, Gray Panthers, among many others. 415-255-7291. 

MONDAY, MAY 12 

Berkeley Partners for Parks General Meeting, with a presentation by UC students on their designs for the Santa Fe Right of Way, at 7 p.m. at the City of Berkeley Corporation Yard, 1326 Allston Way. mail@bpfp.org 

Writers Group discusses how to get an agent with a panel of agents including B.J. Roberts, Amy Rennert, and Mark Lee at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Cop Watch meets at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Berkeley Biodiesel Collective Business Meeting for collective members and those interested in making bio- 

diesel welcome. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center Recycling Trailers, 1231 2nd St. 594-4000 x107. biobauerx@hotmail.com. 

ONGOING 

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 8, 9 and 10 at Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste, 2100 E. 7th St., Oakland. Take ad- 

vantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of products such as paint, auto products, household batteries, cleaners and sprays, pesticides and fertilizers. Please do NOT bring asbestos, explosives, most compressed gasses, computer monitors, CRTs and TVs, computers & electronic equipment. Call 1-877-STOPWASTE or visit stopwaste.org/fsrecycle. For information on what to do with other items, call 800-606-6606, email HHW@co.alameda.ca.us 

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

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets on Tuesday May 6 for a Public Hearing on Allocation of $4.2 Million in Community De- 

velopment Block Grant Funds, at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wednesday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruby Primus, 981-5160. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/women 

Fire Safety Commission meets Wednesday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/firesafety 

Transportation Commission Bicycle Subcommittee meets on Friday, May 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2120 Milvia St. Third Floor Conference Room. Carolyn Helmke, 981-7062. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/transportation 

Commission on Early Child- 

hood Education meets  

Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/earlychildhoodeducation 

Community Health Com- 

mission meets Thursday, May 8, from 6:45 to 9:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/health 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thursday, May 8, at  

7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/zoning   

School Board meets Wednesday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320.

TUESDAY, MAY 6 

FILM 

The Inquiring Camera  

Remembrance of Things to Come at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Anne Cummins reads from “Red Ant House,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Toids and Edessa perform at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson with Lise Liepman at 7:30, show at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

Andy M. Stewart and Gerry O’Beirne, Scottish and Irish music masters, 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 

“Let's Start Using Our Cranium and Get Rid of Depleted Uranium” an evening of music and educational speeches calling attention to health and environmental effects of depleted uranium (DU) weaponry used in the recent war in Iraq. All proceeds from the evening will go to benefit the Military Toxics Project and National Gulf War Resource Center. Blackbox Theater, 1932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $10. 919-5478. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 

CHILDREN 

Karen Sudjian Lampkin and 

students from Whittier EDC perform songs, poetry, dan- 

ce and living history at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

FILM 

Film 50: Timecode at 3 p.m. (sold out) and Video: Special Event, Screening the Body: Video Dance and Live Music, live video mixes by Douglas Rosenberg. Live music by Ryan Smith, Daniel Feiler at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alejandro Murguia, Francisco X. Alarcon and Maria Melendez read from “Under the Fifth Sun: Latino Literature from California” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

John Derbyshire looks at “Prime Obsession: Bernard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Inez Hollander Lake, Ksenija Soster Olmer, and Sande Smith read from their book of stories, “A Cup of Comfort for Mothers and Daughters,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Noon Concert, Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Noon Concert Series, directed by Davitt Moroney. Concert is free, doors open at 11:55 a.m. Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Karen Sudjian Lampkin and Students from Whittier EDC in a free performance of songs, poetry, dance, and living history, at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Carrie Newcomer performs contemporary folk 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 

THURSDAY, MAY 8 

FILM 

Heroic Grace: Martial Arts 

at 7 p.m., Vengeance! at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Diane Ravitch describes “The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Douglas Rushkoff speaks about “Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Sharon Ellison, author of “Taking the War Out of Our Words,” describes how we use the rules of war as a basis for communication at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Jazz at Noon free concert on Lower Sproul Plaza. 

Due West, a traditional bluegrass band celebrates its album release, 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 

Lagbaja, Nigerian band playing a mix of Afrobeat with highlife, juju, funk and jazz at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

Faun Fables, Joanna Newsom, Jessica Hoop at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. 841-2082. 

Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert in a program of songs and stories at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $16 in advance, $18 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FRIDAY, MAY 9 

CHILDREN 

Madeline, will be at Barnes and Noble at 10:30 a.m. while the storyteller reads her story. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2 

I Walked with a Zombie, at 7:30 p.m., introduced by Mikita Brottman. Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, introduced by Patrick Macias at 9:30 p.m., Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Diana Abu-Jaber reads from her new novel “Crescent,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Stomp the Stumps” benefit dance for Berkeley-based Bay Area Coalition for  

Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and The Shut-Ins at 8 p.m. at Ash- 

kenaz. Cost is $8-$15, sliding scale. 525-5054.  www.ash- 

kenaz.com 

Sally Tims and Her Sadies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. 

University Symphony, Chorus and Alumni Chorus, directed by David Milnes and Marika Kuzuma, perform Beethoven, Symphony Nº 9, “The Choral” and John Thow’s “Eros and Dust,” at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2, $6, $8, from 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu 

ACME Observatory Contemporary Performance Series presents Scott Rosenberg's Skronktet West and, from Vancouver, Almost Transparent Blue at The Jazz House, formerly TUVA Space, at 8:15 p.m. Admission is free, donations ac- 

cepted. 649-8744. sfsound.org/acme.html 

Fiesta Musicale, an evening of good food and wine, and a program of music and dance at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Ad- 

vance tickets $35, students and seniors $25. For reservations call 527-3883 or email k7mr@yahoo.com 

Chorale Spring Show, featuring the UC Women’s and Men’s Chorales, at 7 p.m. in the Chorale Rehearsal Hall, basement of Cesar Chavez, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, $5 students. 642-3880. 

Butch Thompson, Prairie Home Companion pianist makes his Freight debut 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 

Small Brown Bike, Pitch Black, Choke, Scattered Fall, Charlevoix 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. 

SATURDAY, MAY 10 

CHILDREN 

Shadow Puppets by Sean Powers, a workshop for all ages at 11 a.m. with a performance at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale; scholarships available on request. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org  

Kristen Brooks Davidman’s flute students and members of the Windfall Woodwind 

Quintet at 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

A Present for Mom, stories about the great gift of mothers, at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2, Raw Force at 7:30 p.m. and Pig- 

keeper's Daughter at 9:20 p.m., introduced by Amy Abugo Ongiri, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joan Price, shares convenient exercises from her new book, “The Anytime, Anywhere Exercise Book,” at 3:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, under the direction of Arlene Sagan, performs Brahms “German Requiem,” at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison. Admission is free. 964- 0665.www.bcco.org 

Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, a musical-political force in Zimbabwe performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents The Or- 

lando Consort, music from the antipodes of the 18th century musical spectrum at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presby- 

terian Church, 2727 College Ave. 528-1725. ww.sfems.org 

Jazz ... After Dark, with the Cal Jazz Choir at 8 p.m. in the Chorale Rehearsal Hall, basement of Cesar Chavez, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, $5 students. 642-3880. 

Broceliande celebrates spring in a concert of Celtic and Early music at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Parish Hall, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. $10-$12 suggested donation. 569-0437.www.broceliande.org 

University Symphony, Chorus, and Alumni Chorus, directed by David Milnes and Marika Kuzuma, perform Beethoven, Symphony Nº 9, “The Choral” and John Thow’s “Eros and Dust,” at 8 p.m.at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2, $6, $8, from 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance 

Annual Repertory Concert, featuring live music and drumming, professional guest artists, as well as more than 100 performers of world dance at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Adults $18, children, students, seniors $15 at the door. Advance tickets $15 adults, $12 children, students, seniors available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Trinity Chamber Concerts 

The Usher-Erlich-Rosenak Piano Quartet, with Sara Usher, violin; Paul Erlich, viola; Vicky Erlich, ‘cello and Karen Rosenak, piano performs the music of Han- 

del Halverson, Rebecca Clark and Brahms at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Suggested donation of $12 general, $8 students, seniors or handicapped. 549-3864. 

Rhythm and Music: Young Poets, Writers and Musicians 

Open Mike, featuring Joshua Jamieson, Young Composers Trio, Ise Lyfe, Katrina Flint, Miguel Soberanis and others. Open-mic sign-up for 25 yrs. and under. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. for free performance at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.ber- 

keleyartcenter.org 

Mark Growden and the Electric Pinata, Go Van Gogh, Glass Bead Game, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Greg Brown performs contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $21.50 in ad- 

vance, $22.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sheldon Brown Group performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Against Me! Pansy Division, Fifth Hour Hero, Jason Webley, Panty Raid perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5, $1 if wearing prom clothes! 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MAY 11 

CHILDREN 

Kathy Kallick Family Show, bluegrass celebration of Mother’s Day at 1 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $6.50 for children, $8.50 for adults. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mothers Day Celebration 

California Revels at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, at 2 p.m. An event for the whole family! Celebrate Mom in grand style with song, dance and story. From fiddle tunes to Irish dance, classical guitar to audience sing-alongs, there's something for everyone at this Mother's Day gathering. Revels founder John Lang- 

staff will be joined by a cast of favorites including Sira Kammen, Susan Rode Morris, Eileen Mize, Yair Evnine and Mariel Vandersteel. Tickets available from 925-798-1300. Adults $10, Children $5. www.juliamorgan.org 

Freaky Friday at 2 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Recommended for ages 8 and older. Celebrate Mother's Day with a lesson in mother-daughter appreciation. Cost is $4 members,UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa. 

berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Born to Be Bad 2 

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine introduced by Tamao Nakahara, at at 5 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Jack Marshall, winner of the BABRA Poetry Award for Northern California, and Eric Gudas, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. $2 donation. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com, www.poetryflash.org 

South Asian Book Club, discusses “Gabriel’s Gift” by Hanif Kureishi at 11:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Ernesto Carmona will present his book “The Owners of Chile,” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sonny Fitman, guitar and vocals, at 11 a.m. in Walnut Square, at Vine. 204-9228. www.walnutsquare.com 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, under the direction of Arlene Sagan, performs Brahms “German Requiem,” at 4 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison. Admission is free. 964- 0665. www.bcco.org 

SoVoSo, world-jazz-pop vocal ensemble, performs at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $12-$ 18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

University Wind Ensemble, Robert Calonico, director. Works by Edwin Dugger, Divertimento for Wind Ensemble (premiere) and Reed, Sparke, Daehn, at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, tickets are $2, $6, $8. 642-9988. pennyb@socrates.berkeley.edu 

“Triple Play,” Guitars, Strings and All that Jazz. A benefit and celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Crowden School. John Ad- 

ams, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, conductor; David Tanenbaum, guitar and conductor; Gyan Riley, guitar and composer; Paul Dresher, guitar and composer; San Francisco Guitar Quartet, Jeremy Cohen, jazz violin and arranger; San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Ensemble and Crow- 

den Orchestra; selected current and alumni soloists. Master of Ceremonies is 

Michael Morgan, Music Director, Oakland East Bay Symphony. At 7:30 p.m. at the Dean Lesher Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Tickets are $45 for orchestra and front terrace, $25 for rear terrace. $175 special donor ticket, includes gifts and reception with artists. For more information 559-6910. Purchase tickets online at http://www.dlrca.org 

The Rincon Ramblers, bluegrass and roots country 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 

MONDAY, MAY 12 

CHILDREN 

Cantemos Juntos with Lydia Mills and Arianna Guthries at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Family Art Day, drop by and make something special at the Berkeley Art Center, at 2 p.m. Admission is free. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nancy Kricorian reads from her novel, “Dreams of Bread and Fire,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

END DECEPTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It was interesting to read Carol Barrett’s claim that she resigned from the Planning Department because of discourtesy by members of the Planning Commission. Considering the record of the department over the past few years, embarrassment by the department’s incompetence, rather then discourtesy by commissioners, would be a far more appropriate reason to resign. 

Among other things, the Planning Department signed off on plans allowing Patrick Kennedy to place less affordable units in the Gaia Building than originally promised; failed to provide proper notice to appellants in the 2517 Sacramento St., resulting in a court ordered re-hearing by the City Council; failed to properly review the Negative Declaration on the Molecular Foundry, and were caught in the act of trying to get council approval for a General Plan they changed the language in. This last item of deception no doubt created, or increased, distrust on the part of planning commissioners, but for all these things the Planning Department has no one to blame but themselves.  

I have nothing against Carol Barrett, but if her leaving causes other city officials to behave more honestly it will probably be a good thing. Still, it would be foolish to presume that her resignation solves the problem. Other members of the Planning Department who have been playing these games long before Ms. Barrett came to Berkeley should also be asked to leave.  

Planning departments everywhere favor development, so it is fine for them to argue for development before councils and commissions. It is quite another thing for city staff to act dishonestly, deceptively and at times unlawfully. That is what our Planning Department has been caught doing time and time again. Berkeley needs honest city officials, not those who lie, mislead and deceive. In this time of budget deficits staff members who have acted dishonestly and deceived the public should be the first to go. 

Elliot Cohen 

• 

DOYLE HOUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When developer Patrick Kennedy of Panoramic Interests cried foul last week because preservationists prevented him from demolishing the historic John M. Doyle House on University Avenue — “We have contracts signed that would have to be broken and we already have the financing for this” — your readers should know that the dots don’t connect.  

Mr. Kennedy’s financing for the Touriel Project, intended to replace the Doyle House, is in large part from a state bond low interest loan in the amount of at least $4.5 million, courtesy of the Association of Bay Area Governments. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved the ABAG financing in July 2002 contingent upon the Verification of Zoning and Local Approvals. In a city of Berkeley statement, dated July 10, 2002, zoning officer Mark Rhoades signed the verification document, stating all permits had been obtained at that time for the proposed 35-unit Touriel Building. 

In fact, on July 10 no permits had been secured for the Touriel Project: 

1 — The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Doyle House a Structure of Merit on June 1, 2002; 

2 — The Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to approve a demolition permit on June 1, 2002; 

3 — The Zoning Adjustments Board hearing did not take place until July 11, 2002, one day following the signing of the document verifying approvals. 

After July 11, permits approved by the Zoning Adjustments Board were still subject to question by the public, pending appeals which were filed to the City Council. When the City Council ultimately cleared the permits for the Touriel Project in November 2002, by law the public had the right to challenge the council decision, which the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association did. 

How can Mr. Kennedy cry foul when the public is questioning the demolition of a historic resource for which he obtained “affordable housing” financing based on a document containing erroneous information, signed by a city official prior to the hearing at which zoning approval could be granted? 

Lesley Emmington Jones 

• 

RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wonder if it ever occurs to the rest of Berkeley residents that those citizens living in rent-controlled apartments are rarely heard from in the opinion columns of the local press. Could it be that we might fear being harassed by landlords who could triple their rents, due to vacancy decontrol, if they could find a way to evict us? I have no doubt that the owners of this building would be delighted to replace me with a new tenant at a much higher rent. I am equally certain that I would not be able to live and work in Berkeley were it not for the reasonable rent and increases (most years) that I have paid for two decades, thanks to Berkeley’s Rent Control Program. 

If rents are down “by all accounts,” as the Berkeley Property Owners Association claims (Letters to the Editor, May 2-5), what is their explanation for the high vacancy rate? Why aren’t people standing in line to rent these decontrolled apartments? The BPOA is fond of bemoaning the curse of rent control while speaking of “lowered rents” in units that went sky high after vacancy decontrol. In the rundown building I live in, and in others around Berkeley, vacant apartments are held off the market as owners refuse to lower rents, while others are rented for three times the previously controlled rate. These often go to students, who stay for a year and move on, replaced by students whose parents can pay the high rent. 

Name Withheld 

• 

REVIEW POLICE POLICY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While riding my bicycle up Durant the evening of May 1, I was surprised to be confronted at the Ellsworth intersection by what appeared to be a military occupation force of about 20 police in riot dress. Their manner was threatening, harsh and mean as one officer blocked others and me from crossing the street in the pedestrian lane on a green light. I felt intimidated and demanded to know why they were there and by what authority he was blocking my right to cross the street. 

On the far side of the intersection, I could see a small crowd carrying Earth flags and moving away up Ellsworth. Another person on the corner said they were breaking up a May Day parade. The confronting officer replied, “Get off the street or I’ll hit you with my stick,” which he waved menacingly in front of me. They continued to block other people and my freedom of movement, and refused to answer why they were still there. They maintained a bullying stance. 

I by then had become inwardly terrified, my blood curdled, and a deep revulsion of militaristic occupational forces acting against civilians on the street here in America rose to a peak. I had my share of military force in World War II as an aerial gunner on a B-24, and for one year as a POW in Nazi prison camps. The scenes came flooding back of Warmacht guards shouting “Rous Mitt” as they broke up our baseball game crowd and other violations of their petty security rules. My sense of victimization surged as I equated this show of military force with my World War II experiences, the U.S. wars against small countries, Sept. 11 and the invasion of Iraq — all of which involved threatening of civilians.  

The scene got more ridiculous as I continued to demand them to disband and stop blocking the street. An order was shouted and they all like automatons did an about face and assembled into a two-abreast column. The column headed south and, with a sharp command, turned west on Durant toward the stalled traffic. Simultaneously, one of the apparent commanders walked to within five feet of where I was standing and threw down a smoke grenade, and then several more 15 feet down Durant.  

The point of this protest letter is that the Berkeley Police Department, the mayor and City Council need to review their training for crowd control and their policies for appropriate show of military force. One shoe does not fit all circumstances. At the point I came in on the May Day parade breakup there appeared to be no cause for the threat of “I’ll hit you with my stick.” (I have his badge number and name.) However, let us forgive, forget and rid our society and the world from the clutches of the “military mind.” 

Ken Norwood 

• 

PROPERTY TAX INEQUITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for publishing Barbara Gilbert’s article on Berkeley’s approaching budget deficit. I agree with her that this is an important issue affecting all of Berkeley’s residents, though I think that there’s more to City Council’s lack of attention to budget matters than just the dull nature of the topic. Thanks to Proposition 13, and the inability of City Council to diversify the city’s tax base beyond property taxes, there’s a major discrepancy between the people who make decisions in Berkeley and those who finance the city’s budget. 

All residents in Berkeley are paying property taxes, either directly as homeowners, or indirectly as part of the rent tenants pay to their landlords, who, in turn, pay property taxes. Yet, City Council, eight of whom are longtime homeowners in Berkeley, pays only a fraction of the property taxes that newer residents are paying. The Alameda County Web site allows the public to view property tax assessments and tax payments throughout the county. Doing some quick research, I looked up the assessed value of the seven homeowners on the council whose addresses are public on the Internet (Gordon Wozniak’s address is not public, and Kriss Worthington rents an apartment). 

The average net assessed value of these seven is $93,209 — Bates ($45,800), Breland ($89,500), Hawley ($92,600), Maio ($74,000), Olds ($62,000), Shirek ($32,000) and Spring ($256,600). According to the city of Berkeley’s Web site, residential property taxes are assessed at 1.2263 percent of the value of a property, so the average councilmember is paying about $1,143 per year in property taxes. 

Compare this to the $510,000 average assessment for a new homeowner in Berkeley (according to the California Association of Realtors) and you realize that a new homeowner, who is often trying to scrape together enough money to make a mortgage payment, is paying about $6,254 in property taxes, or more than five times the property tax that our City Councilmembers are paying. This is not to mention the property transfer tax, which would add an additional $7,500 to the tax bill of a new resident who buys a house in Berkeley. 

Given the disproportionately small amount of taxes paid by the council, is it any wonder, then, that City Council seems so unresponsive to financial issues that impact city residents? While I’m not blaming the councilmembers for Proposition 13 (I would bet that they all voted against it 30 years ago), I would hope that, as the representatives of all Berkeley’s residents, they would be more sensitive to the financial impact that their decisions have on younger residents. 

Richard Brooks 

• 

REDUCE TRAFFIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with interest the letter from Paul Kamen about the possible Berkeley ferry. It would be great to board a ferry at Berkeley Marina and ride across our beautiful bay to San Francisco, and perhaps other places — just like the old days. A boost in the bridge tolls might provide the funds to get it all started. 

There are a few big downsides. It’s only fair to point them out. 

1 — Right now, public transit is running a deficit. AC Transit is cutting back service. BART needs an earthquake retrofit. The down economy has reduced revenues from sales taxes. Now is not a good time to spend public money on yet another form of public transit, unless it’s thought that buses and BART will not satisfy future transit demand. 

2 — Plans for the Berkeley ferry always include large parking areas. Ferry riders appear unwilling to board the ferry from buses. But the Berkeley pier now has frequent bus service — the #51 bus. It’s not like a suburban BART station. Bay area air pollution is bad enough without more car engines being started on the bay shore. 

3 — The Vallejo ferry has been a success, but the Richmond ferry failed. There’s some question whether the Berkeley-SF market will support a ferry, given that one can now make the trip by BART or TransBay bus. 

My opinion is that we should spend the extra bridge tolls on things which reduce congestion on the Bay Bridge and its feeder routes. This means cutting back on cars, so I don’t like those plans for a parking lot at Berkeley Marina. I’d like the ferry a lot better if it increased rider traffic on the buses, not car traffic on Berkeley streets. 

Steve Geller 

In the early 1890s, the hilly areas north of the university campus began being developed with houses that were a dramatic contrast to the late Victorians still in fashion. The first of these was a fraternity house designed by Ernest Coxhead in 1892 (now the School for Public Policy at Hearst and Le Roy) followed by Bernard Maybeck’s Charles Keeler house in 1895.  

The Charles Keeler House was Maybeck’s first commission, “a house of redwood within and without, all the construction exposed, left in the natural mill-surface finish on the inside and shingled on the outside.”  

Keeler became an ardent proponent of Arts and Crafts ideals and in 1895 formed a discussion group for men called the Ruskin Club. Keeler’s wife founded the Hillside Club in l898. Though its members initially were women who lived in the north Berkeley neighborhood, their husbands were invited to join in 1902. 

The Hillside Club campaigned to retain the natural beauty of the Berkeley hills by promoting “artistic homes that appear to have grown out of the hillside and to be a part of it.” 

The club promoted its ideas by writing pamphlets and sponsoring art exhibits and lectures, as well as music recitals and club pageants. They were politically active and even influenced the design of the neighborhood school, the paving of streets and the design of pedestrian paths and staircases.  

The tenets of the Hillside Club served as inspiration for many home builders, including Lilian Bridgman who came to Berkeley from Kansas in 1891 to study natural science with Joseph LeConte. A scholarship provided by Phoebe Hearst helped finance her studies. After receiving her master’s degree in science in 1888, she taught and also wrote articles about growing up on a farm for magazines which included Overland Monthly and Harper’s Century Magazine.  

In 1899, Bridgman purchased a hillside lot north of campus on La Loma Street. Although she received advice from Maybeck and drew plans for the house herself, the architect of record is William Knowles. In 1908 she designed a studio behind her house that eventually become her architectural work space. In 1912, after teaching physics and chemistry for 17 years, she again enrolled at the university and, in 1915, became a licensed architect. She died in 1948 at the age of 82.  

On May 11 the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association’s annual house tour will explore Arts and Crafts-styled homes inspired by the Hillside Club. Call 841-2242 for information.  

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

Residents fighting to save the 19th-century home of Berkeley pioneer John M. Doyle announced Monday that they will give up their battle, allowing developer Patrick Kennedy to go ahead with plans to demolish the old Victorian building and develop a 35-unit housing project on the site. 

Austene Hall, a spokesman for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA), a nonprofit preservation organization, said the group’s board of directors voted not to appeal last Tuesday’s Alameda Superior Court ruling, which rejected BAHA’s claim that the project should undergo an environmental impact review (EIR). The lawsuit, filed last December against the city and developer Panoramic Interests, asserts that the Doyle House is a historic landmark and thus protected under a state law that requires an EIR for projects seeking to do irrevocable damage to historic resources. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission last July designated the house, located at 2008 University Ave., a historical landmark. That ruling was overturned by City Council in November.  

Hall said the organization simply didn’t have enough money to pursue the case. “It’s a lot of money for an organization that works very hard to earn the money that it does,” she said. 

Kennedy could not be reached for comment on the board’s decision. Last week he said he would ask the court to force BAHA to post a bond to cover the costs of the project’s delay due to the ongoing legal battle if the group went ahead with the appeal. BAHA would then likely have had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars if they lost the lawsuit. 

“I’m wondering who is funding this, who is using BAHA’s good name to continue this lawsuit,” said Kennedy, a member of BAHA and former president of the organization. “I don’t believe there was a vote of the board to pursue this” after the Tuesday ruling. 

BAHA went into court last Thursday to ask the judge to prevent Kennedy from demolishing the structure so that the group had time to appeal the ruling. 

Hall said Kennedy called her last week to request copies of BAHA board minutes.  

“He said he wanted to make sure BAHA was following the procedures” related to proper board approval of litigation, she said. “He said he didn’t want his member dues to be spent on lawsuits and that if [BAHA] hadn’t followed those procedures he would sue me personally.” 

Kennedy could not be reached to confirm that conversation. 

Hall said the board approved by vote every decision related to the Doyle House litigation. 

The Doyle House was built as a duplex with a workshop in 1890. 

Hopefully you will receive dozens of e-mails from teachers who, like me, are insulted by Michael Larrick’s commentary piece (May 2-5 edition), which reveals more about the author’s ignorance than it does about the current state of education. He says we should keep the graduation exam as a means of gauging teacher quality; that the current sorry state of education can be laid in the laps of academically challenged teachers who are responsible for inflating grades and engaging in social work more than teaching academics. 

Where did his statistics come from? Not one source was cited. 

He objects to the fact that over “two-thirds (69 percent) of all public elementary school teachers majored in ‘general education’ and not in a specific subject as undergraduates.” In California, that’s a liberal studies degree, and what is wrong with that? Elementary school teachers teach all subjects — math, social studies, language arts, science, etc. What subject should prospective teachers major in to cover all that? 

For those of us who did not have the foresight to major in liberal studies, there is the MSAT, a comprehensive test of competency in all subjects that must be passed to enter a teacher credential program. (Teachers, as far as I know, are not required to take the GRE to enter a credential program, so I don’t know where this author got his information regarding teachers coming from the “absolute bottom” of GRE examinees.) Teachers must attend continuing education classes in order to renew their credentials every five years. This is not the profession of dunces Mr. Larrick imagines. In my own case, I graduated from Mills College with honors without taking one “Mickey Mouse course.” 

Mr. Larrick declares us guilty of discarding traditional scholarship and adopting the “psychologist, social worker model” of education. I am mystified as to what that is, unless he’s referring to teachers who must deal with society’s dysfunctions, which get in the way of education. Mr. Larrick, what would you have me do? 

By law I have to teach all who come through my classroom door, regardless of traumas experienced, learning disabilities, medical conditions, ADHD, etc. I would love to have a class of well-adjusted individuals whose families are intact, who never see their fathers hitting their mothers, who never see their parents taking drugs, who have never had a parent in jail, who have never been beaten, who regularly eat well-balanced meals, who go to summer camp, whose parents take them to museums and parks and the library, who grow up with a solid sense of right and wrong. 

This is the reality of the public school classroom: While most of my students are well-adjusted, enough are emotionally unprepared for the classroom that I can’t ignore my “social worker” role. My primary concern is the academic success of all my students, and sometimes that means I have to focus on non-academic factors in their lives. 

Mr. Larrick claims the average Joe was better educated 100 years ago. On what basis does he make this claim? Just on the content of one test? How does he know that the average Joe actually passed the test? What percentage of the U.S. population 100 years ago went to school? Were average Joes black as well as white? Were they girls as well as boys? Were they poor as well as rich? What constituted the curriculum 100 years ago that students would be better educated?  

Mr. Larrick believes we are over-paid. Compared to whom? If you take into account the level of education required for teaching and compare that to other professions with similar requirements, which profession is the least paid? Also, Mr. Larrick bases his assumption on an erroneous belief that we are paid for nine months. We are actually paid for and work 10 months. 

I am disappointed this paper would run commentary so sloppy in its scholarship. Next time you run a piece on education, get it from somebody who knows what he or she is talking about. 

Lauren Kayed

The University of California, concerned about the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, has canceled its summer study abroad program in Beijing, China, and has barred students from SARS-affected countries from enrolling in UC Berkeley summer classes. 

“We cannot predict that the increased SARS control measures being put in place in Beijing will contain SARS by late June,” said John Marcum, director of UC’s Education Abroad Program, in a statement about the study abroad cancellation. “We are not willing to gamble with the safety of UC students.” 

The cancellation of the China study abroad will affect 130 students, including 20 from UC Berkeley, who planned to take language classes at Beijing Normal University this summer. 

The ban on new students from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong enrolling in Berkeley summer classes is expected to affect about 600 students and could cost the extension program as much as $1 million in lost revenue, according to an interview with UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl, which was posted on the university’s Web site Monday. The housing program also stands to lose $500,000 from the ban, he said. 

Returning full-time UC Berkeley students from SARS-affected countries will be required to fill out a health questionnaire and will be monitored for 10 days by University Health Services, Berdahl said. 

The move to cancel the China study abroad summer program, announced Friday, comes two weeks after UC canceled its spring study abroad program, recalling 44 students from Beijing in the middle of the semester. No UC students have contracted SARS. 

The Chinese government, which faced criticism for failing to confront the disease quickly, has stepped up its efforts in recent weeks — firing government officials in Beijing and stepping up its quarantine program. 

As of Monday, Beijing city officials said they had quarantined almost 16,000 people. The Chinese government reported nine new SARS deaths nationwide, for a total of 206, and 160 new cases for a total of 4,280, according to the Associated Press.  

The nine-campus UC system still has 250 students in academic programs throughout Asia — in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. 

UC spokesman Bruce Hanna said the university believes students outside China are safe. 

“We’re being very vigilant, particularly about those Asian countries closest to the epicenter” of SARS, Hanna said. 

Students registered for the program in Beijing will have the option to take part in a similar program at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. 

The university hopes to re-open its Beijing program in September, Hanna said.  

Everyone agrees that California’s health care system is in crisis. Seven point three million Californians, a full 20 percent of our population, lack health coverage. Costs are rising at rates far above inflation, and workers all over the state are seeing skyrocketing co-pays and declining service.  

Sometimes it’s easy to think the major problems we face have no solution, and that the reason our elected officials have been unable to take action to improve our lives is because such improvements are impossible — or would cost too much money. 

In the case of our health care crisis, the exact opposite is true. There already exists an effective way to solve the multiple problems faced by our health care system. The reform is called “single payer,” which means that health care costs are paid for through a single system. Paperwork, administrative costs and overhead, which are now responsible for 20 per cent to 30 per cent of our health care costs, are all drastically reduced by a single-payer system, making it possible to provide coverage to every Californian without spending any more money than we already do. 

Single payer also saves money, and lives, by guaranteeing that everyone has access to primary and preventive care. This means health problems will be treated before they become serious, and overburdened emergency rooms will be free to deal only with emergencies. Finally, a single-payer system saves money through bulk buying — obtaining reduced prices through coordinated purchasing of items such as medical equipment. 

Proven single-payer systems exist in numerous countries, including Canada. Canada has nearly the same population as California, but spends only half the amount of money on health care that we do, while insuring every resident. In a recent poll, 96 per cent of Canadians said they would prefer to maintain their current health care system rather than switch to a US-style “managed care” system. 

Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) has introduced a bill, SB 921, the “Health Care for All Californians Act,” that would create a single-payer system to cover all Californians. SB 921 allows everyone free choice of doctors and offers prescription drugs with no co-pays, all while containing health insurance costs. Since health coverage would not be linked to employment, people who lose jobs in times of economic crisis would not be forced to suffer doubly with the loss of health care. Self-employed people and part-time workers would have coverage equivalent to everyone else’s. No one would lose coverage due to divorce or temporarily lose coverage during waiting periods when they start a new job. 

SB 921 also unites many different struggles for justice into one solution that benefits everyone. Under our current health care system, serious inequities exist. People of color are dramatically more likely to lack health insurance or to have inferior policies. Many gay and lesbian couples are denied the right to health insurance policies equivalent to those offered heterosexual couples. And many workers do not have coverage, or are in danger of losing coverage, as employers seek ways to cut costs. Many low-income women do not have access to affordable birth control, pre-natal care, obstetric care and other health options.  

Each group that suffers from inadequate care under the current system could struggle separately to improve their access to care — likely an uphill battle. Or we can unite to support an effective and universal solution, which provides a win-win for all of our communities. Let’s pass SB 921. 

For more information, visit: http://www.healthcareforall.org. 

Rebecca Kaplan was a Green Party candidate for Oakland City Council in 2000.

New Police Chief Roy Meisner has taken the helm of a department that will have to struggle to maintain police services with a high percentage of young officers and a reduced budget. 

The department, which was budgeted at $39.5 million this fiscal year, could face between 5 percent and 15 percent in cuts over the next two years. In addition, many senior officers took early retirement following a statewide retirement enhancement, leaving the department with many inexperienced officers.  

The new chief said he’s confident the department will rise to the occasion through teamwork and a revitalized partnership with the community. 

Meisner, 53, has already logged 30 years with the Berkeley Police Department. He began his career as a police trainee and quickly progressed through the ranks. Promoted to patrol officer in 1973, he then made sergeant in 1979. He later was promoted to inspector, lieutenant, captain and then, in 1993, deputy chief.  

City Manager Weldon Rucker gave Meisner the nod in March after a statewide search for a new top cop. He replaces Dash Butler, who retired in July after 11 years as chief and 31 years in the department.  

“I think Chief Meisner’s experience and his character will assist in the development of those young officers and the department’s shift toward community policing,” Rucker said. “One thing for sure is that he listens and understands how to get good end results.” 

City Councilmember Betty Olds agreed that Meisner is an “excellent” choice for chief. 

“There are a lot of things I like about Roy, but one of the main things is that he always follows through,” she said. “You don’t get that very often with city staff because they are so overworked. He wants desperately to do a good job and you never hear anything bad about him.” 

During an interview in his office on the second floor of the Public Safety Building, Meisner displayed an easy and engaging manner, reminiscent of a congenial high school teacher or baseball coach — both professions he considered while studying at UC Berkeley.  

The walls of his office are decorated with family photos and group pictures of Berkeley Police officers at various award ceremonies and fund-raising events.  

“I’m very fortunate to be a part of this department and this community,” he said. “Berkeley is a very special place to work.” 

He is an advocate of community policing and said the best model for law enforcement is one that includes an active partnership with residents, merchants and city organizations. 

“Historically we’ve seen a great collaboration with the community, and when that happens there’s a huge impact on crime,” he said. “When block captains and patrol officers get to know merchants, neighborhood groups and church groups, that gives them an invaluable familiarity.” 

Meisner compared community policing to a mail delivery person who knows the neighborhood from routinely delivering mail and talking with neighbors. 

“That person knows when something is out of place, a car that’s not normally in a driveway or when a person is strange to the neighborhood.” 

The city of Berkeley has a community policing model in place and one of Meisner’s priorities as chief is to strengthen the working relationship with the community. More than half of city residents are new since 1995, he said, and the same is true of police officers. 

Meisner said he plans to schedule a series of town meetings to generate connections between the department and the community. 

“On a routine basis, we expect our officers to spend as much time as possible out of their cars, getting to know residents and merchants on their beats,” he wrote in his Chief’s Message posted on the department’s Web site. 

To contend with a likely budget shortfall, Meisner instituted changes to duty assignments. He eliminated some administrative positions, reassigning those officers to patrols, and plans to assign non-sworn employees to jobs traditionally carried out by sworn officers, further freeing officers for patrol work.  

“We have a bunch of lesser experienced officers who are going to be a tremendous asset to the department,” he said. “We also have a lot of retired officers who have come back to work part time and that will help us tremendously with our work load. It’s a great opportunity for our newer officers to learn from experienced officers.” 

Meisner was studying sociology and playing baseball at UC Berkeley in the late 1960s (“I still remember the smell of tear gas drifting over center field during the riots,” he said) when he saw an ad in the Daily Californian offering ride-alongs with Berkeley Police patrols. Impressed, he went to work for the department immediately after graduating in 1972. 

Meisner said he looks forward to being chief and explained the long-term goal that has governed his career as a police officer.  

“When I retire, I want to walk away with a smile and know I’ve done a good job,” he said.

Every Tuesday morning for a couple of years, I have enjoyed the special moment when the city recycling truck passes by. The truck stops, I hear the crash of glass dumped into the truck, then a voice signaling to the driver, “Yo!” and the truck moves a few yards onward. Then pickup, crash, “Yo!” and, perhaps, the pickup man jumping onto the running board as the truck lurches onward before he jumps off again. 

The shout reminded me of my San Francisco Mission District childhood, when the old junkman came up York Street (in a horse-drawn wagon) hoarsely shouting, “Rags, bottles, sacks,” and of the the cries of street peddlers that Gershwin wrote into “Porgy and Bess.” In Berkeley, we have our own street cries, I would think, as I heard, “Yo!” and would say to my husband, “There’s our friend again.” 

Last Tuesday, when I said that, my husband smiled sadly at me and said, “I hate to say this, but I happened to be out on the street watching. There’s only one man on the truck, the driver, who jumps off to pick up the stuff, then jumps back in. And the ‘Yo!’ you hear is a noise the truck makes when it starts up again.” 

“No.” 

“Yes.”  

“No!” 

“Come out and see.” 

“No!” 

I have refused to discuss it any further, refused to let my husband obliterate, dissolve, murder my friend. I think I know what he looks like, not young but vigorous, wearing jeans and a colorful cap to cover his bald spot, a cheerful guy, not without his own troubles, but glad to be doing valuable work. His name is something like Harry — make that Hari, a more International-American name, as befits Berkeley. I’m sure you all know him, and if that’s not his name, you can correct me. And let me know his age, his looks, his family, in case I’m mistaken. I’ll pass the information on to my husband, if and when I start speaking to him again. 

Dorothy Bryant is a Berkeley author.

UC Regents approved the construction of a six-story molecular foundry in Strawberry Canyon last month without an environmental impact report (EIR), rankling some city residents and at least one City Councilmember worried about environmental impacts. 

The 94,000-square-foot project will be built in the southwest corner of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) property at an estimated cost of $85 million. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2004 and be completed in February 2006. The lab will manage the foundry, which will be devoted to nanoscience research.  

LBNL is holding a public meeting Thursday night at the Haas Clubhouse to discuss activities related to nanoscience and the proposed foundry. 

Nanoscience is touted as an up-and-coming technology that will revolutionize manufacturing. It is the manipulation of organic and inorganic materials at the molecular level, and is expected to have revolutionary applications in a variety of fields including robotics, structural engineering, computer technology and weapons development.  

The foundry will be one of five nanoscience research centers being built across the country. Each will focus on a different area of nanoscience research and all are being constructed next to major laboratories, including Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. 

“This technology has untold promise in a variety of areas and we want to be part of it,” said LBNL Communications Director Ron Kolb. “The molecular foundry will be the centerpiece of the lab for the next decade or so.” 

At least one City Councilmember and a group of Berkeley residents are concerned the project will harm Strawberry Canyon’s environmental balance.  

“I hate to see a beautiful canyon destroyed by more development,” City Councilmember Dona Spring said. “A six-story building with several hundred employees a day driving in and out on a single road that is in a high fire risk area seems reckless.” 

The Citizens to Minimize Toxic Waste, a local organization, has also raised concerns that the nanoscience research conducted at the lab will be used for weapons development.  

Kolb said the lab does not have any Department of Defense contracts and doesn’t intend to. 

“Absolutely not,” he said. “We pride ourselves on being an unclassified laboratory. Everything we’re working on will be used for the goodness of life, not weapons.” 

Spring said she was disappointed that City Council did not request LBNL conduct an EIR for the foundry.  

LBNL did complete an environmental study known as a Negative Declaration, which addressed traffic and safety issues. However, an EIR is a more rigorous analysis that would also have included more thorough traffic studies, environmental impacts and alternatives to the project’s size and location.  

On Jan. 14, City Council voted against a Spring-sponsored recommendation calling for an EIR by a vote of 6-1-1. Spring was the only yes vote. Councilmember Kriss Worthington abstained and Councilmember Margaret Breland was absent. 

Councilmember Linda Maio and Gordon Wozniack are former employees of LBNL.  

“We required an EIR just to retrofit the Civic Center and one to landscape Civic Center Park, why would we ask the lab to do one on a new six-story building proposed for an environmentally sensitive area?” Spring said. “It’s the only responsible thing the decision makers could have done in my opinion.” 

Mayor Tom Bates said the council considered requesting an EIR shortly after he took office. He said he was concerned about damaging the city’s relationship with the laboratory. 

“It was sort of a done deal when I came into office,” he said. “Terrible relations existed between the lab and the city and at that point I thought it was better to be an advocate for a better working relationship.” 

Bates said he has been meeting with LBNL Director Charles Shank, and he hopes the city will be allowed greater participation in the lab’s development process in the future. 

The public discussion on the foundry will be held in the Strawberry Canyon Recreation Area at the Haas Clubhouse on Centennial Road at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 8.

Fifth-grader Ruthie Praskius is one of hundreds of Berkeley students who will head to Sacramento Thursday to protest some $5 billion in proposed education cuts, and she has a message for the governor. 

“By taking away our teachers, you’re ripping apart our community,” she said. “If we don’t get the education we need, how will we run the country?” 

Praskius was one of a handful of students who spoke at a “Save Our Schools” rally at Washington Elementary School Monday morning. 

The state and local budget crises have hit Washington hard, with 13 of its 19 teachers receiving pink slips two months ago. 

Berkeley Unified School District officials gave pink slips to 220 of its 652 instructors, but plan to take back as many as 145 by June, when the Board of Education must pass a final budget.  

The district has already rescinded 25 notices, including one at Washington, and an administrative law judge rescinded a second Washington pink slip last week during layoff hearings. 

The board, which has also dropped a pair of high school guidance counselors and raised some ninth-grade class sizes, must chop at least $4 million more from the district’s budget. Gov. Gray Davis, in his January budget proposal, called for $5 billion in cuts from public education. Next week, Davis will issue a revised budget that could include even heavier cuts. 

A group of East Bay parents, teachers and activists calling itself “Education Not Incarceration” is organizing the May 8 rally. Fifth-grade teacher Hilary Mitchell, who is taking her entire class of 29 Washington students to Sacramento, said the children will make more of a statement than adults ever could. 

“I want to see them say ‘no’ to these children,” she said. 

“We’re questioning how we invest in the future for California,” added Rose Braz, director of the Oakland-based Critical Resistance, an anti-prison group. “Are our priorities building prisons, prisons and more prisons or investing in quality education for our children?” 

Davis, in his budget proposal, called for a 1 percent hike in spending on the state prison system, while cutting almost every other major state service. 

“We’re outraged that the ‘education governor’ could take these steps,” said Washington parent Judy Greenspan.

Unchained melodies float free and constant in the azure air off Telegraph Avenue in South Berkeley’s The Village while boys and girls from age 13 to 70 drift into James Casella’s second floor Blue Note Music-storefront searching for their “Holy Grail.” 

Some are seduced by a $12,000 Blonde Gibson L-5 from 1948. Others intend to possess one of Mark Campellone’s exquisite, custom handmade $5,000 archtop guitars. Most frequently these searchers yearn to strum and own a beautiful new Martin, Gibson or Fender Custom Shop recreation of the classic guitars of the Golden Age, an age that depends more on the guitarist than the guitar. James and Jennifer Liu sell dreams — dreams of what once was to folks settled into their fifties, or dreams of what might be to folks in their teens and twenties.  

Wandering into The Village is like stepping into a time warp to the 1970s. A crazy quilt brick walk covers the floor, and staircases ascend and descend almost randomly around the enclosed former warehouse.  

“Obviously stoned out hippies built this place,” said Casella, 47. “They were literally smoking weed while they were putting this together. It has a vibe. It’s quirky. It’s unusual and it’s not a mall.” 

Donnie Mucker, a local gray-haired, dread-locked professional musician visits the 10-year-old shop regularly.  

“It’s like the old neighborhood barbershop,” Mucker said. “You can practice your licks, see your friends and play guitars that make you want to keep on playing.” 

Another customer concurred. Strumming a $3,500 Gibson L-5 he contemplated buying to celebrate his own 50th birthday, he recalled that his brother had purchased a new motorcycle as he approached 50. “I don’t want to die on a motorcycle,” he said. “I’d rather have a beautiful guitar.” 

“My major customer is a plus or minus 50-year-old man looking for expensive guitars,” Casella said. “People who typically — when they were between 15 and 25 — went to a store and saw the ‘Holy Grail’ — the blonde L-5 or the ‘58 Les Paul or the ‘56 Strat and said, ‘Some day I’m going to have that.’ That’s who buys the lion’s share, 60 to 70 percent of the higher end jazz guitars, the higher end acoustic guitars and the custom shop solid body stuff.” 

Over 30 years ago, Casella was a student at The School Without Walls in Rochester, New York. 

“There was a rock band in my area called Rain and I loved the guitar player in that band,” he said. “His name was Helmut Ghetto. I was 14, 15. Finally I met him and asked him where he learned to play. He was taking lessons from an old jazz guy, Dick Longale, who basically taught everybody in Rochester how to play. Because my favorite guitar player studied with him, I thought I was going to learn rock ‘n’ roll, but he taught me jazz instead. It was not my intention, but after you learn to play it you start developing an ear for it and you start listening and then the bug catches you. I started saying, ‘Hey. This is cool shit.’  

“We had to do a senior project, kind of a thesis. It really didn’t need to be related to anything else you were doing so I got an apprenticeship at a guitar shop and built my first guitar.” 

Following high school, a stint as a student in the music department at State University of New York at Brockport didn’t last long. “I stopped going to school when they hired me as an instructor,” Casella said. 

Casella left college for an upstate ashram which eventually led, 23 years ago, to UC Berkeley and a double major in religious studies and philosophy.  

“While I was a student at UC I was also a local jazz musician playing in jazz groups,” he said. “I never stopped being a jazz player. I’m still playing. Ten years ago I was out of school and needed money. There was a music store here, Tweed Music, that closed. When he went out of business I rented a little tiny space upstairs and started Blue Note.  

“If my success is attributable to anything,” said Casella, “it’s that I have knowledge from two sides. I was a guitar builder and repairman so I literally understand the instrument inside and out. I know how they work. I understand the materials and the history. And I’m a musician. I’ve been a performing musician. I’ve done that and I’ve done it for a long time. So I see both sides.” 

Blue Note Music is located at 2556 Telegraph Ave. (hidden upstairs in The Village). The phone number is 510-644-2583.  

A dozen members of the Berkeley-based California Peace Action joined hundreds of demonstrators in Santa Clara Friday, where President Bush toured a United Defense Inc. facility and later addressed the company’s workers. There Bush promised a brighter economic future for Silicon Valley and the United States. 

They brought with them a 50-foot inflatable missile with a glaring message in white letters on a banner hanging down one side, "Bush Strategy: Endangering America, Enraging the World." 

With 35,000 members and other offices in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, California Peace Action is the state’s largest peace organization. The group’s headquarters are located at 2800 Adeline Ave. 

“Before Sept. 11 we probably had one person per week coming by the Berkeley office to find out what we are about,” said Eric See, the group’s state outreach officer. “During the buildup to the invasion of Iraq we would have anywhere from five to 10 people coming in, asking about how they can get involved.” 

Dolores Beliso, the Bay Area canvass director, pulled out her cell phone when she parked her van at the demonstration site Friday. She called See, who had driven down separately. See told her the rest of the group had gathered close by at Lafayette Park to inflate the missile; she led her passengers there. 

“The idea behind the missile is if you have something that is very easy for the TV camera to look at, and it is repeated over and over again then people start looking for it and paying attention to it,” See said.  

The group first used the missile in California back in 2000 during the group’s “Missile Stop Tour.” They displayed the missile in front of different congressional representatives’ offices across the state, giving them two options: sign on to pieces of anti-nuclear legislation, or refuse and suffer bad press. 

The demonstrators’ spirits were high. Some grew anxious as the hour approached 10 a.m. Bush was inside the weapons technology plant.  

At one point during the President’s speech, he celebrated the company’s production of the Hercules tank, which helped drag down the statue of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The 1,500 workers listening cheered, while outside hundreds, cordoned off blocks away from the facility, shouted a different tune. 

Anti-war protesters lined one side of the street, across from a small pocket of Bush supporters. Eleven Santa Clara mounted police officers formed a gate across the street, keeping a buffer zone between the plant and Bush critics. 

The Berkeley group approached with the inflated missile held high. Soon the image grabbed everyone’s attention. A few protesters laughed, then ran toward the object. The closer it came, the louder the protest grew. The carriers marched it into the center of the column of protesters, and the loudest chanting of the day began. 

“The people were real responsive to our missile. The energy felt really good,” said Sean Sandusky, a Berkeley resident and canvasser.  

The day was incident free but for two arrests: a person laid on the ground and refused police orders to move and another person allegedly knocked a protest sign against one of the San Jose police horses.  

Once word spread that Bush had left, demonstrators dispersed shortly after 11 a.m. 

"I didn't have the idea we would change Bush's opinion on his foreign policy, and we didn't feel that we would actually see George W. Bush,” See said. “To the extent it got media coverage it was effective. Two news stations aired coverage of the missile. In terms of getting our message out there it was worthwhile."

Last week was May Day and it made me think of the three lovely young Russian women who stayed in our home several weeks ago. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, they were part of a group of 10 Russians studying advocacy issues with the Center for Independent Living, the Center of Accessible Technology, World Institute on Disability, Whirlwind Wheelchair International and several other Bay Area organizations that work on disability issues. 

Irina Gubareva, Marina Grinuk and Anna Naumovo live in Novosibirsk, a large city located in central Siberia, closer to Mongolia than to Moscow. They showed me photographs of their families, friends and school: pictures of stout grandmothers, lanky fathers, handsome boyfriends, smiling young women and huge gray buildings. Through lots of grunting, shouting and body language we were able to communicate on a very basic level. Marina, who is deaf, used sign language to talk with Anna and Irina, who then pantomimed or pointed to a Russian-English dictionary in order to get their point across.  

Although it was confusing, I think I was able to take care of most of their needs. I discovered that they liked coffee, soft white bread, jam and yogurt for breakfast. I figured out when they needed their clothes washed, when they wanted to borrow a hair dryer, when they had to go shopping. “Ross” they said and pointed to their skintight polyester Russian jeans.  

I took them to Ross Dress for Less on Shattuck Avenue where they poured themselves into the tightest pants imaginable. Anna bought clog-like sneakers and Marina purchased sky blue high heels that looked fit for a “working woman.” Irina wound up with a blue jean skirt far too short and all three bought socks. The prude in me wanted to cover their attractive bodies in sack-like, ankle-length dresses, but there was no deterring them. They were on a mission to purchase American clothing, and they had no trouble finding what they wanted.  

We went to Point Reyes where I got a map from the Visitors Center, positioned them at the Bear Valley trailhead and pointed westward. I showed them my watch and indicated that I’d be back in four hours to retrieve them. They were there when I returned, tired, sunburned and smiling. 

One night they heard African music coming from the house next door. Irina went outside, swayed her hips and giggled. I thought they might like to meet my neighbor, Githingi Mbire, a Kenyan artist. I shouted over the fence to his open window and told him my Russian guests requested his presence. He came over.  

His native language is Swahili and he was more successful at communication than I was. Or perhaps he was more interesting. With very little effort Marina let him know that she and her comrades wanted to see his painting studio. At 1 a.m. I went to bed. I left the back door unlocked for them.  

When I was growing up in the 1950s, all Russians were my enemy. I vividly remember crawling under my 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade school desks, sticking my head between my knees and praying that the Commies wouldn’t drop the big one. I recall curling up in my mother’s arms, allowing her to comfort me after a bad nightmare in which a fat little Nikita Kruschev beat me over the head with his shiny black shoes.  

How remarkable it is that now, while the United States fights a war with a country I hadn’t realized was our enemy, I am host to the children of the people I’d always thought were out to get me.  

I hope that it doesn’t take me another 40 years before I get to share a homestay with three young Iraqis. By then we’ll probably be at war with someone else. But maybe, if every American takes the time to meet the people we are told to fear, we can prevent another war from happening. Sign me up. They can buy whatever they want at Ross Dress for Less and I won’t complain. 

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 Berkeley city report on whether to install a stoplight at a busy Shattuck Avenue intersection where a man was killed last January recommends that one should be installed — eventually.  

The report, issued by the city’s Transportation Department, indicates there is not enough pedestrian or vehicle traffic at the corner of Woolsey and Shattuck to put in a stoplight now. It concludes, however, that traffic levels will warrant a stoplight when the Ed Roberts Campus (ERC), an educational and resource center for the disabled, is built at the Ashby BART station a few blocks west of the intersection. The report says the ERC should be asked to contribute to the estimated $150,000 cost of installing the stoplight. 

ERC Project Manager Caleb Dardick has not seen the city’s report and would not comment on it, but he did say the center “intends to be a good neighbor and offset any impacts the campus will have.”  

In the meantime, to improve pedestrian visibility, the city has put zebra stripes on the crosswalks at both Shattuck and Woolsey and Shattuck and Prince streets. The Prince intersection also recently received a pedestrian crosswalk sign. The improvements should be in place in a few weeks, said Peter Hillier, Berkeley’s assistant city manager for transportation. 

In addition, the report calls for the Berkeley Police to step up patrols in the area and set up a radar speed feedback trailer — a device that tells drivers how fast they’re going — from “time to time.” 

Last Jan. 17, longtime Berkeley resident and community activist John Henry Mitchell was killed by a car while crossing Shattuck at Woolsey. 

Upon seeing the report, Mitchell’s family members were skeptical about its language. They wanted to know if the ERC merely would be asked to contribute to the stoplight cost or whether it would be required. 

But, according to Hillier, the request “was a polite way of saying that it [the stoplight] should be added as a condition of development approval.” 

Hillier added that in a separate report the ERC’s own traffic consultant also concluded that a traffic signal would be required at Woolsey and Shattuck when the campus is built. The consultant recommended to ERC that they contribute to the cost of the signal. How much the ERC would be required to contribute “comes about through some discussion, negotiation,” said Hillier.  

Plans for the ERC have not been finalized, but representatives for the project recently forecasted that construction will begin in 2005. The stoplight at Woolsey and Shattuck would be installed at the same time. Mitchell’s widow, Siglinde, said a stoplight is needed and was frustrated to learn it would take a few years. “I still would have thought that the gravity of the situation” would have impacted the decision, she said. She said the city is putting residents at risk. “For years this community has been trying to get something done down there, even before John,” she said. “We had so many petitions signed. What does it take to stretch the rules?”