When Berkeley High School junior Allison Roberts entered the New York Times Magazine high school photography contest, she did it only because it was required for a grade in her photography class. 

A month later, Allison has her “A” grade, plus a $1,000 check and a new digital camera as the grand prize winner of the contest. Her photo will be published in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday. 

The contest, which drew thousands of entries from across the country, set out to select a student to fill the “What They Were Thinking” column in the June 1 issue of the magazine. Each week the column showcases a picture of a person or group of people and prints an excerpt from an interview with the subject of the photograph to reveal his or her thoughts and feelings. 

After struggling to come up with an idea for a subject, Allison chose her 10-year-old cousin Rachel Seban. The resulting picture shows Rachel leaning against the wall in her bedroom in what Allison called “that typical 10-year-old wanting to be a model pose.” 

The interview, which Allison wrote, will accompany the photograph in the magazine. In it Rachel complains about the end of spring break and reveals her goal of some day working as an actress or singer. 

“At first I thought the assignment would be really hard to do,” Allison said. “But once I finally decided to do my cousin I ended up having a lot of fun with it.” 

Berkeley High photography teacher Lucinda Daly submitted 41 entries to the Times from her Advanced Photo II students. Daly said she was not entirely surprised when she received a phone call saying that one of the entries had taken the top award. 

“It was a great photograph,” Daly said. “She really deserved to win.” 

When they entered the contest, the students put Daly’s contact information on the group application sheet, so she was the first to learn that Allison’s photo had won. Daly went to Allison’s house two weeks ago to tell her the good news. Allison said she was shocked. 

“I didn’t believe it at first,” she said. “In fact, it’s still pretty hard to believe.” 

On Friday Allison will appear on the “KTVU Mornings On Two” television program, an experience she was apprehensive about. 

“I’m really nervous,” she said. “It’s kind of scary to me.” 

While Allison said the attention has made her uncomfortable, her cousin Rachel was thrilled about their newfound fame. 

“It’s always been her goal to be in the newspaper—it goes along with her wanting to be an actress or something,” Allison said. “She thinks this is great.” 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

“So How Did You Become An Activist, and What Now?” with poets Wanda Sabir, Frances Hillyard, and Adam David Miller from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar, at Bonita. Suggested donation $5, no one turned away for lack of funds. 526-4402.  

Jefferson Elementary Teachers Jim Harris and Linda Mengel with be honored with a Dessert Reception and Party at 7 p.m. in the Jefferson School Cafeteria. 525-7567 or downboy@pacbell.net 

SATURDAY, MAY 31 

Malcolm X Elementary School Spring Fair in celebration of its namesake’s birthday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1731 Prince St. Car- 

nival games, face painting and hair braiding. Featuring a talent show and a walking timeline of the life and work of Malcolm X.  

Bike Rodeo at San Pablo Park, in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Activities include a skill and handling workshop, bike maintenance, obstacle course for children four to eight. Food, carnival booths, and bike registration and i.d.-fingerprinting at the police booth. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley and Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition. 549-7433.  

ISM at the Crossroads  

Sympathy Service at 1:30 p.m. to honor ISM activists, Palestinians and Israelis who have lost their lives or been critically wounded as a result of the Israeli Occupation. Panel discussion follows at 2:30 p.m. with Dennis Bernstein, KPFA, Panel Moderator; Dr. Hatem Bazian,Center for Middle East Studies, UC Berkeley; Yael Ben-Zvi, Stanford University; Jennifer Kuiper, ISM; Lisa Nessan, ISM; Penny Rosenwasser, Middle East Children's Al- 

liance. At Unitarian Fellowship Hall, Cedar at Bonita. Suggested donation $10-20, no one turned away for lack of funds. 236-4250. www.norcalism.org  

Junior Solar Sprint 

Challenge, a solar car race between local middle 

schools, hosted by the Society of Women Engineers, 

U.C. Berkeley chapter. From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lawrence Hall of Science. For information call 642-1369. jssc@swe.coe.berkeley.edu 

Kids’ Garden Club: Soil  

For ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening. Learn about plant beds and collect clay for pottery, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Remove (thornless) Blackberries on Cerrito Creek 

with Friends of Five Creeks. Meet at 10 a.m at Pacific East Mall, 3288 Pierce St., 

El Cerrito. Bring work gloves, shovels, loppers if you can. 848-9358, www.five 

creeks.org 

“The Atomic Cafe,” a film about Americans preparing to survive a nuclear war in the 1950s, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. All events are free. 540-0751. ww.thelonghaul.org  

Fixing our Elections, a talk by SF Board President Matt Gonzalez on Instant Runoff Voting, at 1:30 p.m. in Ber- 

keley's Main Public Library meeting room, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck. 526-5852 www.fairvoteca.org 

The California Shakespeare Theater holds auditions for a new adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone. Needed are young people, ages 15-18, and adults, ages 50-80. Fri., May 31st, and Sat., June 1st, in Berkeley. For more information or to schedule an audition slot, call at 548-3422, ext. 114, or shana@calshakes.org 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

Rosa Parks School Annual Ice Cream Social and Silent Auction, from noon to 4 p.m. at 920 Allston Way. Silent auction items and services donated by local merchants and residents. 644-8812. 

La Place du Marché, the East Bay French-American School’s Annual Fair, with music, food and specialized vendors from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at 1009 Heinze Ave. and 9th St. Cost is $5, children 12 and under are free. 521-4920. www.ebfas.org 

Walkathon for the National Organization for Women, honoring Rep. Barbara Lee, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sailboat House, Lake Merritt. Donation $20. 562-1919. 

The World in Your Backyard, a garden party to benefit the Botanical Garden, with food, wine, music and plants from 3 - 6 p.m. For tickets call 643-2755.  

A Taste of Albany Spring Festival at Memorial Park, 1300 block of Portland Ave. from noon to 5 p.m. Music, arts and crafts, magic show and samples from Albany restaurants. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of event. 525-1771. www.albanychamber.org 

MONDAY, JUNE 2 

West Nile Virus and other  

Mosquito Problems 

William Hamersky of the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement speaks on how the West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne ill-nesses may affect Bay Area residents as well as wetland restoration programs, at 7 p.m. downstairs at the Al- 

bany Community Center, 1249 Marin. Sponsored by Friends of Five Creeks. 848-9358. f5creeks@aol.com 

National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay Chapter meets from 6 to 8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Library, 1901 Russell St. The speaker will be Breonna Cole, aide to Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and campaign manager for Wilson Riles. 287-8948. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 3 

March and Rally to Protect the Safety Net A community mobilization to protect basic services for the poor and homeless. Gather at 10 a.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 685 14th St., Oak- 

land. For information call boona or Janny at 649-1930. 

Auditions for Young People’s Symphony will be held for musicians ages 12 to 21 on June 3, 4, 6 and 7. 849-9776. www.ypsomusic.org 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 

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. 

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 

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 

Opening Day for Berkeley Farmer’s Market in North Shattuck, from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Elephant Pharmacy parking lot, 1607 Shattuck Ave., at Cedar, and continuing every Thursday. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6250. 

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

Embracing Diversity Films presents “Being Gay: Coming Out in the 21st Century” at 7 p.m. in the Little Thea- 

ter, Albany High School, 603 Key Route Blvd., between Portland and Thousand Oaks. A facilitated discussion follows. Appropriate for middle and high school students. Admission is free.  

Best Summer Camping and Hiking Adventures in Northern California Join Tom Stienstra, outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and award-winning guidebook author, for a slide presentation on the best camping, hiking and fishing opportunities this summer in the northern part of our state. At 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140.  

Susan Alcorn, author of “We’re in the Mountains, Not Over the Hill,” talks about women and wilderness travel, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. 

Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, all night study from 7 p.m. to dawn. Over 40 Rabbis and scholars will be teaching. All ages welcome. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Commu-nity Center, 1414 Walnut St. 925-979-1998. 

ONGOING 

Technical Assistance for Non-Profits A free workshop series hosted by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, to be held at the Alameda County Conference Center, at 125 12th St., Oakland. For information or to register, please call Breonna Cole at 272-6060.  

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 29 - 31 at Ala- 

meda County Household Hazardous Waste, 2100 E. 7th St., Oakland. Take ad-vantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of paint, stain, varnish; auto products such as motor oil, oil filters and batteries; household batteries, cleaners and sprays; garden products, including pesticides and fertilizers. Please do NOT bring asbestos, 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, or visit http://house 

holdhazwaste.org/oakland 

Berkeley Community Media announces the rebirth of the poetry program, “Berkeley Speaks” in June. If you are interested in being a featured  

artist, call 848-2288, ext. 10. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Meeting on the City Budget The public is invited to learn more about the budget deficit and plans to address the issue, on June 5, at 7 p.m., at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. For information call 981-CITY.  

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Monday, June 2, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Council Agenda Committee  

meets Monday, June 2, at  

2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 

981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Monday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m., in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/landmarks 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Monday, June 2, at 7 p.m., in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/peaceandjustice 

Youth Commission meets Monday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wednesday, June 4, 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, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/firesafety 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission meets Thursday, June 5, at 7 p.m., at 2118 Milvia St. Nabil Al-Hadithy, 981-7461. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/environmentaladvisory 

Housing Advisory Commission, Public hearing on Allocation of Housing Trust Funds on Thursday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m., in the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housing 

Public Works Commission 

meets Thursday, June 5, at 7 p.m., in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/publicworks 

School Board meets Wednesday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320.

Full confession: I live on a Transit Corridor in a house without a backyard, so I sympathize with people who complain when their blocks are designated as urban sacrifice zones. Many of Berkeley’s Transit Corridors (translation: bus routes) have actual humans living right on them, or near them. The Amazing South Shattuck Flying House in the last Planet, though on the 43 bus route in a commercial zone, is surrounded by homes. Streets like my street became Transit Corridors in the first place because residents of Neighborhoods (translation: side streets) didn’t want cars (or, godforbid, buses) mucking up their lovely blocks. The barrier explosion of the early seventies re-routed all that nasty traffic onto just a few streets (MLK, Ashby, Sacramento, Sixth, University, San Pablo, Shattuck), and their residents were told to shut up and smell the diesel. 

Now, however, they’re being asked to sacrifice still more. The powers that be (translation: builders and their pawns) have decreed that open space in Santa Rosa is better than open space in Berkeley. If you don’t agree, you’re obviously a dreaded NIMBY (translation: Not In My Back Yard, a slogan coined by the victims of the Love Canal toxic waste scandal, but expropriated by developers to disparage anyone who doesn’t like their projects). 

What’s wrong, you might ask, with backyards? In these pages, we’ve been featuring splendid art created by Berkeleyans like Marcia Donahue in their back and even front yards. The series is a tribute to my late mother-in-law, the artist Mary Holmes, who always wanted to do a book about home-based art called “Yes! In My Back Yard!” but never got around to it because she was too busy making art. Berkeley yards are home to many of these treasures and other wonderful gardens. Everyone can enjoy them. I pass maybe 30 fantastic yards in my 20-minute walk to work. 

Berkeley is the third densest town in the Bay Area, the 15th densest in the country. Yet residents of south, west and central Berkeley living on or near transit routes are being assaulted by self-righteous preachers who tell them that it’s their civic duty to accept still more crowding. 

Such urban evangelists typically live in nice single-family houses in the hills, or at least the foothills, of North Berkeley, or perhaps in Piedmont. Sometimes they’re even Architectural Historians, self-anointed priests of haut-design who deride the modest frame Victorians which are the historic resources of the flatter parts of Berkeley. 

Some have second homes in nice places like Bolinas or Soda Springs or even Paris. One business school professor who is an investor in a University Avenue multiplex is rumored to own five or six houses around the world, in addition to his architect-designed home in the hills. 

They are often healthy folks in the prime of mid-life, equipped by genetics and luck to ride bicycles and go backpacking in the mountains. But what about Berkeley residents who have a hard time getting out of town to see nature, and who can’t use bicycles for transportation? 

I’m talking here about the 60-something guy with arthritic knees, still working two jobs, who wants a little cookout in his South Shattuck yard on a Sunday night. Try telling him he can get from his Hayward job to his Antioch job and home again using ever-shrinking AC Transit. He needs that old car and a place to park it near home if he’s ever going to have enough free time for his cookout. He doesn’t deserve a three-story dormitory built right up to his lot line, stealing the sunshine from his tomato plants and the privacy from his, yes, Backyard. It’s  

the worst kind of elitism to say that bicycling or hiking is morally superior to gardening, barbecuing or just sitting on the front porch on a nice evening. (And no, this is not an invitation to go off on meat-eating or air-pollution, though it will look like that to some fanatic Berkeleyans.) 

The mantra of Affordable Housing is sometimes invoked as an excuse for the Cram-‘em-In theory of urban design. That’s a topic for another day and more statistics. For now, let’s just say that “affordable” housing, contrary to what many of us used to think, doesn’t necessarily mean low-cost. To be continued. 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “On Dangerous Ground” at 7:30 p.m., “Run for Cover” at 9 :15 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 

In Your Face Youth Poets  

at 7 p.m. at PRO Arts Gallery, 461 9th St. Oakland. Cost is $3-$6. 525-3948. 

Death at the Poetry Slam: An Interactive Murder Mystery written and directed by Thomas Lynch, featuring the East Enders Repertory Group. At 7:30 at the Public Library Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

Calvin Trillin on “Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, from Kansas City to Cuzco,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, an evening jazz swing with a dance lesson at 8 p.m. and show at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

The Influents, Communique, Milwaukee at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Spin Cushion, The Cushion Theory, Tiuana Gasser perform punk rock at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakes- 

ontelegraph.com 

Soul Frito The Caribbean Connection, Cuban hip hop at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

David Daniels, countertenor, Martin Katz, piano, perform works by Handel and Ravel, plus a song cycle written for Daniels by composer Theo- 

dore Morrison, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $28, $38, $48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Slammin, an all-body band combining a cappella singing with beat boxing and body music, performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

White Oak Dance Project 

with Mikhail Baryshnikov, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $36, $48, $62. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Flamenco Fever with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos, dinner shows at 6:30 and 9 p.m. for $35, cocktail show at 9:30 p.m., at Cafe de la pz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.com 

Monster Squad, Whiskey Sunday, La Plebé, The Saint Catherines, 30 Years of War 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 31 

Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios 2003 May 31-June 1, June 7-8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For list of participating studios go to www.mesart. 

com/openstudiosPA.jsp 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “Bigger Than Life” at 4:30 p.m. and 9:10 p.m., “Rebel Without a Cause” at 7 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 

Edward Miyakawa will be reading from his novel, “Tule Lake,” about Japanese- 

Americans in the Tule Lake internment camp during World War II, at 4 p.m. at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Iris Chang talks about “The Chinese in America,” at 10:30 a.m. at The Asian Cultural Center, Oakland Public Library, 388 Ninth St., Oakland. Sponsored by Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera’s Gala  

Concert, celebrating Tchai- 

kovsky and Gounod, at 8 p.m. at the Longfellow Arts and Technology School, 1500 Derby St. Alan Katsman conducts the Berkeley Opera Orchestra and the UC Alumni Chorus. Tickets are $28, $23 seniors, and $16 youth, and are available from 925-798-1300. 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria, perform “Bach’s Legacy,” music by the sons of Bach. Allen H. Simon, director, Jonathan Salzedo, harpsichord, Kevin Gibbs, tenor, Chad Runyon, bass. At 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-447-9823. www.sdgloria.org 

Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble performs “Equal Writes,” a concert of music composed by women from the medieval period to the present. At 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10, $5 for students and seniors. 233-1479.  

White Oak Dance Project 

with Mikhail Baryshnikov, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $36, $48, $62. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Shakuhachi and Koto Performance with Marco Lienhard and Shoko Hikage at 8 p.m. at Emeryville Taiko Dojo, 1601A 63rd St., Emeryville. Cost is $15. 655-6392. www. 

etaiko.org 

Caribbean Allstars with the Harmonics perform Jamai- 

can reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Carla Kihlstedt and Friends of Tin Hat Trio, with Marika Hughes, Ben Goldberg, Charming Hostess, Noe Venable, Scott Amendola, Todd Sickafoose, Nels Cline, Jim Campilongo and others in a benefit concert for the Lauren Orton Memorial Garden Fund. At 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Warsaw Poland Bros., Monkey, La Plebé at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Felonious, Otis Goodnight and the Defenestrators, and Illa Dapted perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

This is My Fist, The Specs, Hit Me Back perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no al- 

cohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Da Shout! Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Prophets of Rage, a 21-piece folkloric hip hop ensemble at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www. 

lapena.org 

Denise Perrier and the Cadence sing at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Ira Marlowe, Roger Linn, Don Bassey and Paul Revelli perform at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $7-$15 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

CHILDREN 

Stop the Violence, Music Heals Concert with Cherrie Williams, the “Singing Domestic,” and children and special guests performing gospel, blues, jazz, soul, dance, poetry and art, at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets available at the door, $15 adults, $9 children, students, senior. $13 in advance from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Community Women’s Orchestra Spring Concert at Malcolm X School, 1731 Prince St. at 4 p.m. Selections include Harry Potter Suite by John Williams, Finlandia by Sibelius, and Berceuse and Finale from Firebird by Stravinsky. Suggested donation $5, children free. For information call 653-1616. 

Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble Spring Showcase, “Lily’s Treasures.” Twelve young women, ages 10 - 19 playing an original score with a reading by actress Maria Duman of the story of a young girls’s journey through a world of animals. Story by Maureen Ustenci, directed by Diana Stork. At 5 p.m. at Saint Mary Magdalene Church, 2005 Berryman St. Tickets are $15 adults, 12 and under $5. 548-3326. 

Say it Through Song Benefit with Noe Venable, Baba- 

tunde Lea, John Fonseka, Etienne De Rocher, Carlos Mena, Jerry Hannan, Jethro Jeremiah and Todd Sicka- 

foose, at 3 p.m, at The Starry Plough. All ages welcome. Tickets $15 includes CD. 841-2082. 

West African Dance and Songs for Kids at 2 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for children. 

525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

Vera Chytilová: “Daisies” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Fred Wilson: “Aftermath,” guided tour of the installation at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, at 2 p.m. Free for members, UC students, faculty and staff, $5 seniors and disabled, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Ed Rosenthal discusses his new book “Why Marijuana Should be Legal,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera’s Gala Concert, celebrating Tchaikov- 

sky and Gounod, at 2 p.m. at the Longfellow Arts and Technology School, 1500 Derby St. at Sacramento. 

Alan Katsman conducts. Tickets are $28, $23 seniors, and $16 youth, and are available from 925-798-1300. 

San Francisco Girls Chorus 

“Nature’s Ebb and Flow,” perform music by Brahms, Holst, and Tchaikovsky, under the direction of Susan McMane. At 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $12-$24. 415-392-4400. www.sfgirlschorus.org 

Suzzy and Maggie Roche perform selections from their recent album, “Zero Church,” a collection of non-denominational prayers set to music, 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 

Contra Costa Chorale, with 

Thaddeus Pinkston, piano, perform works of Chopin and Brahms at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 

2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$12.50. 524-1861.  

Crowden School Faculty Showcase at noon at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $10. 559-6910. 

www.thecrowdenschool.org  

Mel Martin Quartet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, JUNE 2 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Series presents Thea Hillman and Glenn Ingersoll, at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Bookstore, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Stewart Udall talks about “The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Albany Music Benefit with Albany High School Jazz Band and Rhythm Bound at 8 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

TUESDAY, JUNE 3 

FILM 

The Inquiring Camera: “The American Egypt” 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. 642-0808. www. 

bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Weinstein, founder and longtime editor of the Socialist Review, discusses “The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zabava! Izvorno and Rumen Shopov and Friends at 8:30 p.m., with a Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m., at Ash- 

kenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 

FILM 

I Found it at the Movies: “Made in Hollywood” 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. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sidney Blumenthal, advisor to President Clinton from 1997 to 2001, provides a behind the scenes narrative of “The Clinton Wars” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Writers Group discusses “How to Write for the New Age Market” with author Richard Webster at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bluegrass Homecoming, in celebration of the Freight’s 35th Anniversary, with Bluegrass Intentions, Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, High Country, the Kathy Kallick Band, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin and True Blue 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 

Ignit, Green Hell, Caps-X, Parkside Drive perform punk rock at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tom Rigney and Flambeau at 8:30 p.m., with a Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 

FILM 

Antero Alli: “Under a Shipwrecked Moon” Finnish-born, Berkeley-based filmmaker presents his personal film of family and memories at 9 p.m. at 21 Grand, 449-B 23rd St., near Telegraph, Oakland. 464-4640. 

Vera Chytilová: “Fruit of Paradise” 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. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gallery Talk with Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson explor-ing art’s ability to provide insights into contemporary global issues, at 12:15 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

David Halberstam tells the story of four great ballplayers, their friendship and transition to older age in “The Teammates” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Simon Wood talks about his new thriller “Accidents Waiting to Happen” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Noon Concert Downtown 

Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Assoc. 549-2230. 

Berkeley Edge Fest  

The music of Edmund Cam- 

pion and Cindy Cox, with texts and concepts by poet John Campion, featuring the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Rachel Garlin 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 

Brian Joseph in Concert performs politically-conscious urban folk music at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

George Pedersen and His Pretty Good Band and Sons of Emperor Norton at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Erika Luckett and Ellis sing at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $8-$10 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org 

AT THE THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

“The Guys,” by Anne Nelson, directed by Robert Egan. An exploration of loss and redemption in the aftermath of 9/11. Runs until July 5, Tues. - Sun., call for starting times. Tickets are $10-$54. The Roda Theater, 2016 Addison St. 647-2918. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

“Surface Transit” 

Written and performed by Sarah Jones, directed by Tony Taccone. African Am- 

erican poet and spoken word performer Jones weaves poli- 

ical humor into monologues detailing lives of eight New Yorkers. Extended until June 1. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare  

Theater, opens May 31 with “Julius Caesar,” under the direction of Jonathan Moscone. Please call for dates and times. Bruns Amphitheater, off Highway 24 in Orinda. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org  

Shotgun Players presents 

“under milk wood” a play for voices by Dylan Thomas, exploring the characters in a fishing town in Wales. At Eighth Street Studio, 2525 8th St., through June 22, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 adults, $12 children and seniors, $10 on Thursdays. 704-8210. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Transparent Theater 

Virginia Woolf's “Night and Day,” a stage adaptation by Tom Clyde, concerning the loves and careers of a group of young people in London in 1910. Through June 8, Thurs. - Sat., 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. Sun., 7 p.m. pay what you can. 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305. www.transparenttheater.org

City Manager Weldon Rucker has asked Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz to run the city’s troubled Planning Department temporarily. 

Kamlarz is a 27-year veteran of Berkeley city government and has a reputation for being well liked. He will serve as interim director until another, long-term interim director can be found. Rucker said Kamlarz, who has no planning background, will focus on reorganizing the department and establishing better coordination and communication with other city departments and the various commissions that consider land use issues. 

“Phil has a tremendous presence and depth of experience that will help us cross the bridge to a new permanent director,” Rucker said. “He will help the organization become more systematic and improve how staff works with commissioners.” 

The Planning Department contains numerous subdivisions including the offices of current planning, advance planning, toxics management and building and safety.  

Kamlarz said he expects to hold the post for at least a month. 

“Personally it will be a challenge for me,” he said. “Now, I’m spending a lot of time learning about land use issues that are currently in the forefront. The city manager wants a smooth hand-off to a new interim director, so the game plan is to make that transition as smooth as possible.” 

Kamlarz, who has already begun to meet with planning staff, will take over from Director Carol Barrett, whose resignation takes effect June 6. After less than two years, Barrett announced on April 28 her intention to leave for a job in the city of San Marcos, Texas, her home state. 

Barrett, the third director in five years to resign abruptly, listed among her reasons for leaving a strained relationship with the Planning Commission, which develops planning policy and makes zoning ordinance recommendations to the City Council. Commission members frequently fight among themselves and clash with city staff over competing visions of the city’s future urbanscape, such as with the ongoing battle over the South Berkeley Plan and the recurrent strife over the West Berkeley Plan. 

Rucker said the job of planning director is tough and that Barrett left a positive mark on the city during her tenure. “She did a great job of recruiting new staff and established an excellent method of evaluating existing staff,” he said.  

Rucker said he’s been troubled by high turnover of not only planning directors, but also planning staff. He said Kamlarz has the experience to bring a much-needed stability to the department.  

Kamlarz said he is planning to meet with the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Planning Commission to establish a better working relationship. “It’s no secret that there has been conflict between staff and the commissioners,” he said. “It’s fine to disagree just so long as there’s a respectful discussion going on.” 

Several commissioners welcomed news of Kamlarz’s appointment.  

“I am very pleased the city manager is doing what he can to facilitate a smooth transition,” said Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein. “I am looking forward to working with Phil.” 

Commissioner Susan Wengraf said the Planning Department urgently needs Kamlarz’s guidance regarding budget cuts and staff morale. “Phil knows all the players, he’s a good administrator, a good boss, and he’s up to the task,” she said. 

Commissioner John Curl said he has had little personal experience with Kamlarz, but is looking forward to working with him based on his reputation.  

“I’ve only ever heard good things about him,” Curl said. “I hear he’s competent and I’m glad to hear we have somebody who has a good track record.”  

RIGHT TO BE HEARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bravo to Angela Rowen for her article “House Rises, Tempers Flare in South Berkeley,” (May 27-29 edition). 

As a concerned neighbor, I would add one more piece to this story. Why has the city denied neighbors their right of due process? Neighbors have consistently asked the city to hold a public hearing about 3045 Shattuck Ave. We’ve asked the Planning Commission, the Zoning Appeals Board, City Council and the city attorney. Each has turned us down. 

All we have asked for is an opportunity to be heard: to air our concerns about the project, the credibility of the owner, the history of the owner as landlord, and the established use of the house as something more than the claimed single-family home.  

The city has hidden behind the flimsy excuse that on Feb. 14, 2003, it posted a notice of design review at or near the building site. This was, according to the city, the neighbors’ chance to speak about the project.  

The problem is this: The neighbors never saw a posted notice. On May 20, when Carol Barrett was asked directly by Robert Lauriston, spokesman for the neighbors, about the specifics of the design review posting, she brushed him off with the excuse that the city does not keep records of when or where such notices are posted and by whom. Many neighbors said they pass by the site at 3045 Shattuck on a daily basis and never saw a posting by design review. 

It strains credulity to think that dozens of neighbors would not have flocked to the design review meeting in February to protest this monstrosity as they did on April 24 before the ZAB. And it also begs the question: Even if the notice was posted, who had the greater economic incentive to tear it down?  

Further, this section of Baja Berkeley is filled with dozens of active neighbors and neighborhood groups, all of whom are well known, individually and collectively, to the city Planning Department because of such issues as the public nuisance abatement involving Brothers Liquors at 3039 Shattuck (2000-2001); the Ed Roberts Campus on the east parking lot at the Ashby BART (2000-present); the proposed construction at 2076 Ashby, and the soon-to-open aquarium store at the former site of Brothers Liquors.  

Most troubling is the city’s silence. Despite receiving numerous complaints from many neighbors, not one city employee or official mentioned the appeal period for the decision by design review—even though each city employee, official or appointee knew about it. Rather than suggest to any of the many neighbors who complained that they could appeal this momentous decision, the city has been silent. Why? 

Where is our right to be heard? Why has the city allowed this owner to proceed without input from the neighbors? There have been multiple material facts disputed by the neighbors over and over, and still the city elevates the owner’s credibility over dozens of neighbors. Why? 

Victoria Ortiz 

• 

THE LEAST WE CAN DO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Kevin Lee Freeman lived on Telegraph Avenue for over 25 years. Longer than most of the merchants on Southside have been in business. Longer than the Berkeley city officials, elected and appointed, who conspired with those merchants to cleanse the Telegraph area of citizens like Mr. Freeman, have been in office.  

Like at least one of the Berkeley judiciary, Mr. Freeman had a drinking problem, not that this prevented that judiciary from facilitating the conspiracy against him. Unlike some members of the police agencies that enforced this conspiracy, this longtime citizen of Berkeley had no propensity for abuse or violence toward others.  

For years the dirty little secret of the “progressive” rulers of Berkeley, the one not spoken of before the cameras on the mayor’s campouts, has been the constant and systematic attacks on the poor. Sometimes it’s as seemingly innocent as the removal of public benches. Sometimes it is as harsh as the repeated arrest and incarceration for offenses ignored when committed by more moneyed members of the community. This is the hammer encased in the velvet bag called “homeless services” of which Berkeley is so proud. 

Kevin Lee Freeman was banned from his own neighborhood, a common practice here, in the hope that he would finally leave his home rather than face repeated incarceration. 

It worked. 

Kevin Lee Freeman is gone. 

End all stay away orders for nonviolent offenses. 

Absent a working detox facility end all but overnight incarceration for intoxicated citizens. 

It really is the least we can do. 

Robert Nichols 

• 

NO HISTORICAL MERIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In all of the gallons of crocodile tears and printer’s ink expended over the “historic” Doyle House, you forgot to tell your readers that three reputable architectural historians testified that the building did not 

possess outstanding architectural or historical merit. I and every other architectural historian that I know would concur. In a word, my reaction to the house and its alleged history was “Huh?” 

Despite that professional testimony, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association’s board of directors chose to sue the city. I’d like to know on what basis the directors make such decisions other than sentimentality masking a desire to checkmate developer Patrick Kennedy.  

How much did litigation cost BAHA and the taxpayers of Berkeley at a time of extreme fiscal crisis, and were the members of BAHA ever polled on this use of their dues and staff resources? Not surprisingly, BAHA’s directors quickly dropped the suit when they discovered that it might entail financial consequences for themselves and the organization. 

BAHA has done a great deal of good by researching the history of Berkeley and educating the people of the Bay Area about the town’s outstanding architectural heritage. But through such nuisance suits and a specious egalitarianism about what merits city landmark status whenever a developer seeks to build, it has also damaged its own credibility and that of the Landmarks Commission. If virtually everything is a landmark, then nothing is. 

Gray Brechin 

• 

TITLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

David and Lisa Sandelson have more than one dilemma with their trip to join the Yale reunion, but first, I hope that David met his friend Betty at the picket line at the Claremont. Doesn’t he know that there is a labor dispute going on there? 

Second, if he and the Missus are going to pay $300 for their White House picnic, do they know where that money is going? One might be too polite to ask, but just because it’s in the front yard doesn’t mean that the White House isn’t being used for shady purposes again. 

And third, what should Lisa wear? A nicely tailored pink dress might be just the thing! David could borrow a tasteful matching tie from Kriss ... 

Edith M Hallberg 

• 

TITLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is nothing conjectural about energy-efficient ferries, and there is no new technology required. The ferry boat “Berkeley,” built in 1898, transported countless people across the bay for 60 years at an energy rate of only 172 BTU/passenger mile. This approaches the efficiency of modern light rail, and was achieved with 19th-century technology (skeptical readers are invited to run the numbers for themselves; see http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/nhl/Berkeley.pdf). 

Keep in mind that car commuters are using over 5,000 BTU per passenger mile before attacking ferries on the basis of energy inefficiency or high emissions. 

I must acknowledge that Tom Brown, in his letter opposing a new ferry service from Berkeley to San Francisco, has done his homework. He has verified with published reports that his facts regarding emissions and energy consumption are indeed correct. However, he has provided the correct answers to the wrong questions. 

The studies he cites are based on three existing ferry routes: Vallejo, Larkspur and Oakland/Alameda to San Francisco. The first two have almost no relevance to the present debate about the Berkeley ferry and other short routes that would be funded by a small fraction of the bridge toll increase called for by state Senate bills SB 915 and 916. 

The Vallejo catamarans (very fast, very long route, very energy intensive) and the aging Larkspur monohulls (operating far below their original design speed of 30 knots) are two of the three services used to derive the results in the CalStart paper on emissions that Mr. Brown cites as authoritative. Even the Oakland/Alameda analysis is based on a longer route and faster boats than are applicable to a Berkeley or Treasure Island ferry. 

It’s no wonder that averaging in those long routes and high speeds leads to a conclusion unfavorable to ferries. But our Berkeley ferry, with a 5.6-mile route from the marina to the San Francisco ferry building, only needs to go 17 knots to cover this distance in 20 minutes. 

Repeat the analysis with realistic speeds, and with a hull form optimized for energy efficiency instead of cheap construction, and it’s easy to show that energy 

and emissions are an order of magnitude less than those assumed in the documents Tom Brown cites in his attack. 

It is not clear why the Water Transit Authority tossed such an easy softball to its opposition by allowing an estimated energy consumption of over 6,000 BTU/passenger mile to go all the way through their environmental impact report process. A quick conceptual design of a small ferry optimized for the Berkeley route (see www.Berkeley Waterfront.org) places energy consumption at about 665 BTU/passenger mile, about the same as a transit bus. 

Again, I must call upon Mr. Brown to compare apples to apples. Let’s not throw away the opportunity to have a Berkeley ferry that is clean and efficient, just because it is easy to find examples of other ferry services that are not. 

Paul Kamen

A controversy over a fall 2002 UC Berkeley course description that warned “conservative thinkers ... to seek other sections” has sparked a systemwide debate at the nine-campus University of California over one of academia’s most treasured concepts: academic freedom. 

Academic freedom, broadly defined, is the right to pursue research, teaching and publication without interference or intimidation by administrators who may not agree with a scholar’s work.  

At issue is a 69-year-old policy, crafted by former UC President Robert G. Sproul, which reserves academic freedom for scholars who engage in the “dispassionate” pursuit of “truth” and keep politics out of the classroom. 

The old policy has remained in place, largely unnoticed, since 1934, despite a politicization of the college campus that dates back to the 1960s and a growing consensus that there is no objective truth about anything.  

A new proposed policy, written by UC Berkeley law professor Robert Post at the behest of UC President Richard Atkinson, seeks to adapt to modern thinking. The statement, in line with those of most major American universities, asserts that professors should be free to pursue scholarship, regardless of its political bent, as long as it is quality work. 

“Most would now agree that scholarship can be both politically engaged and also professionally competent,” wrote Post in a March 12 letter to Atkinson accompanying the new policy. “In fact political passion is the engine that drives some of the best scholarship and teaching at the University of California.” 

But critics say the new statement, however modern, removes important safeguards against university professors who intimidate students who do not agree with their politics. 

“This is happening everywhere,” said Luann Wright, president of NoIndoctrination.org, a small, San Diego-based group that opposes bias in the classroom. “Why not leave the protections in place?” 

Proponents of the new policy say there are adequate safeguards in place elsewhere in the university’s policies. 

The UC Academic Senate, which represents faculty at all nine campuses, is reviewing the new policy and tinkering with small stylistic changes. An advisory vote is expected this summer or fall, but the ultimate decision likely will rest with Atkinson. 

UC spokesman Brad Hayward said it is unclear if Atkinson will have to seek a final stamp of approval from the UC Board of Regents, given that former President Sproul did not seek a vote from the board when he issued the initial policy in 1934 and made it official in 1944. 

UC dusted off the old policy last year when a national controversy erupted over a course description, written by graduate student instructor Snehal Shingavi, for his fall 2002 UC Berkeley writing class “The Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance.” 

The description discouraged “conservative thinkers” from taking the course and argued that the state of Israel “has displaced, maimed and killed many Palestinian people.” 

Critics blasted the description as biased, and the story made it all the way to the Wall Street Journal, where an editorial decried the “Intifada curriculum” as evidence that American universities are “beholden to leftist ideologies.” 

The university removed the “conservative thinkers” language, but left the bulk of the description intact. The English department also assigned a professor to monitor the class. 

Hayward said the university, in the midst of the controversy, reviewed the old academic freedom policy, located in the university’s Academic Personnel Manual, and found it out of date and not very useful.  

But critics say the old policy provided just the sort of safeguards against bias that the university should have embraced in the midst of the crisis. A new policy, without those safeguards, marks a step backward, they say.  

“It is a funny kind of response to [the controversy]—to say, okay, in the future, we’ll just let it happen,” said UC Berkeley history professor Richard M. Abrams. 

But Hayward said the university’s move to revamp the academic freedom policy was not a direct response to the Palestinian course controversy. He said UC simply stumbled across the old statement in the course of the crisis and realized it was time for reform. 

Furthermore, he said, there are several protections against faculty abuse of power in another section of the Academic Personnel Manual. 

The rules guard against “significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course,” preventing a chemistry professor, for instance, from lecturing on the evils of war. The section also prevents “use of the position or powers of a faculty member to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student” and forbids an instructor from evaluating a student “by criteria not directly reflexive of course performance,” such as political views. 

Wright acknowledged that these additional rules are significant, but argues there is symbolic importance in keeping protections in place in the university’s marquee statement on academic freedom. 

“Why remove these safeguards?” she asked. Students “should feel that [the classroom is] a safe place to say, ‘I’m looking at it from a different perspective.’” 

Wright cites dozens of postings on her Web site, from anonymous, conservative students, who complain about political intimidation at the hands of their liberal professors. 

One recent posting by a UC Santa Barbara student read: “I always felt that in [my instructor’s] eyes I was an enemy, not a young student who had come there to learn and discuss and debate. She did not want to hear what I had to say if I did not agree with her. She was not open, she only wanted to silence the other side to the story. It seemed ridiculous because here she was teaching freedom and equality, yet she was discriminating against me based on my political views.” 

But supporters of the new policy say intimidation is rare and argue that the new statement is simply a common sense reform that conservatives are turning into a political football. 

“I feel like this is a big argument over not a lot,” said UC San Diego political science professor Ellen Comisso. “These guys are going to make it political story — ‘these left-wing professors, in order to indoctrinate their students, are attacking the no indoctrination policy.’” 

Wright, who describes herself as middle-of-the-road, argues that indoctrination is a real problem and that she would also be opposed to a right-wing professor imposing views on students. 

When Sproul wrote the original academic freedom policy in 1934, he was intent on maintaining UC’s image as a neutral institution and concerned that radicals were soiling the university’s name, according to C. Michael Otten’s 1970 book “University authority and the student: The Berkeley Experience.” 

Sproul’s concern is clear in a passage of his academic freedom policy which reads: “In order to protect [academic] freedom, the University assumes the right to prevent exploitation of is prestige by unqualified persons or by those who would use it as a platform for propaganda.” 

UC Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement of the 1960s sharply challenged the notion of an apolitical campus. And many intellectuals, dating back at least as far World War II, disputed the notion that there is an objective “truth,” arguing instead that everyone brings their own biases and perspectives to the study of any given issue. 

Post, author of the new policy, said his new policy simply reflects these modern currents in American intellectual life and encourages a healthy debate among passionate people who are nonetheless open to new ideas.  

“All of academic freedom rests on this notion: that you can’t know something in advance,” he said. “So, to attack that is very bizarre.” 

If Charles Siegel (“NIMBYs Shout ‘It’s Too Big!’” May 23-26 edition) had bothered to talk with any of the actual neighbors of Patrick Kennedy’s proposed 1950 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way project, he would have discovered that we are not NIMBYs, but a group of reasonable people working to protect the character of our neighborhood and peacefully coexist with the project. 

He would have found that we agree with his assessment of the current strip mall on the corner, and that we actually favor the construction of a housing project in that location. He also would know that we have been meeting with Mr. Kennedy and his project staff to convey our concerns and create a project that all of us can live with. Does that sound like a bunch of NIMBYs to you? 

We are not here to stop the project. We are here to preserve our quality of life while accommodating the need for additional housing in Berkeley. We believe that it’s possible to do that without vilifying the people on one side of the debate or the other. Our neighborhood has been proactive in approaching Mr. Kennedy and making our specific concerns known before we get into the knock-down-drag-out fights for which his projects are famous. The accommodations we are asking for can and should be made: adequate setbacks from the sidewalk on the Berkeley Way side of the building, reduction in the height of the building along our street so as not to overwhelm the one- and two-story structures on the rest of the street, and changes in traffic flow to reduce congestion on Berkeley Way. Is that asking too much? If so, perhaps Mr. Siegel would like to swap houses with the neighbor who lives right next to the project, so he can bask in the 24-hour shade cast by the 50-foot structure next door. 

Contrary to his assertions, Mr. Siegel is not a member of our neighborhood. We are not living in downtown, where five-story buildings may be appropriate. We are not living in a European city, with its charming four- and five-story buildings. We chose to live in Berkeley, Calif., because we like the way it feels and the character of its neighborhoods. This is not a question of one project on one corner. This is about whether we as a city are going to let one developer dictate the character of our city. We are in favor of Smart Growth. We support the University Avenue Plan. We should not have to sacrifice the quality of life in our neighborhood to allow for maximization of Panoramic Interest profits. Mr. Kennedy should have to live by our rules, not vice versa. 

D’Arcy Richardson is a Berkeley resident.

The demolition process has begun in the construction of the new Congregation Beth El synagogue, the 35,000-square-foot project that pitted the synagogue against neighborhood activists. 

Neighbors who are opposed to the expansion said the project would prevent the future opening, or daylighting, of Codornices Creek, which runs through a culvert on the southern portion of the construction site, and create parking and traffic problems in the area. 

On Monday, workers began clearing trees, many of them mature cypresses that neighborhood activists had asked the synagogue to preserve. A ground-breaking ceremony will be held June 15 to kick off the demolition and construction process. 

The project, located on Oxford Street near Spruce Street, is expected to be monitored closely by two committees formed last year as part of an agreement between the synagogue and neighbors.  

The committees, composed of representatives from the synagogue and the neighborhood, will meet throughout the construction process to make sure the developer is abiding by the plans agreed to as a condition of its use permit. The plans include promises to restore and protect the creek and to provide enough parking to prevent neighborhood traffic congestion. 

“We have worked with and will continue to work with the committees,” said Harry Pollack, a spokesman for the synagogue and a city planning commissioner. 

David Dempster is a project neighbor and chairman of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association (LOCCNA), the group that fought to block the project in 2001. He said he hopes neighbors and the synagogue can keep the lines of communication open to prevent any acrimony. 

“Since the signing of the agreement, I have made efforts to try to be as welcoming as possible to CBE because they’re going to be our neighbors and I want to make sure we have the best possible relationship,” he said. 

Juliet Lamont, a neighbor who lives one block from the new synagogue site and a member of the creeks committee that will monitor Beth El’s compliance with its proposed creeks restoration plan, said she didn’t want to “build ill will” with the synagogue but was disappointed that so many trees were cut down.  

Lamont said neighbors had repeatedly asked Beth El to save as many trees as possible, and the developer has agreed to preserve many of the trees in the southern portion of the project. But on the north end, where the synagogue will be built, at least 80 percent of the trees, which total over 100, had been cut down in the past week, she said. 

“The whole perimeter was denuded,” she said. “It was a shock and it’s really a tragedy that this could happen on any site like that, not just for this site but for all of Berkeley.”  

Lamont said the Beth El project points to the need for not only a stronger creeks protection ordinance in the city, but also for the creation of a mature tree protection ordinance. 

In reply to Charles Siegel’s commentary on the emerging opposition to Patrick Kennedy’s proposal to build 191 units of housing at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and University Avenue: I am a resident of the 1800 block of Berkeley Way and I want to defend my neighborhood against the slander of Mr. Siegel, who attempts to brand us as suburban NIMBY whiners because we dare to challenge the “received” wisdom of the person he considers the only successful developer in town.  

University Avenue is undergoing a renaissance of sorts—or at least a great deal of construction activity. Paralleling University Avenue between San Pablo and the UC Berkeley campus are Berkeley Way (to the north) and Addison Street (to the south) which receive the spillover traffic, parking, noise and shadowing impacts from University Avenue development. We find ourselves in a continual struggle to maintain a residential neighborhood so close to downtown and the principal traffic artery of the city.  

When our neighborhood appealed the zoning appeals board’s approval of a second unit to the City Council in April/May 2001, then Mayor Shirley Dean and other councilmembers described our neighborhood as “fragile” and “deserving of protection,” and the council proceeded to overturn the permit. The University Avenue neighborhoods (both residential and commercial) joined with the city to develop a comprehensive and balanced plan for re-development of the University Avenue corridor. The plan was adopted by City Council and incorporated into the General Plan in 1997. Unfortunately the plan’s implementation required a zoning overlay similar to those that exist for other avenues in Berkeley, and this vital step was never completed.  

Absent a University Avenue zoning overlay, our neighborhoods have been working with developers and the city on individual projects within the framework of existing zoning laws and the General Plan. A group from the 1800 block of Berkeley Way met with Mr. Kennedy in October 2002 after his purchase of 1950 Martin Luther King in an attempt to develop a working relationship with his firm so our neighborhood concerns could be incorporated into his plans.  

Unfortunately Mr. Kennedy proceeded to design the largest possible structure that the one-acre lot could hold, so now we are struggling with a project with inadequate parking (110 spaces versus the 150 spaces required by zoning), inadequate open space (12,570 square feet versus the 38,600 square feet required by zoning), shadowing of neighborhood houses and gardens well into midday, and inadequate street and side-setbacks required of C1 developments that front and abut residential neighborhoods.  

These zoning code provisions protect the quality of life, both for Mr. Kennedy’s tenants and for our neighborhood. But Mr. Kennedy maintains that he needs these variances from the zoning ordinance to provide affordable housing. Mr. Kennedy’s project manager, Mr. Hudson, even went to the extent of lifting up the separate northwest building that intrudes into our neighborhood while informing neighbors that the building existed solely to meet affordable housing goals. 

As a neighborhood that optimizes inclusionary housing—from single-family and multi-family homes to condominiums, Section 8 and student housing— and whose population includes people of all ages, races and income levels—we resent being told that the livability of our neighborhood must be sacrificed to meet the goals that we support and represent. We contend what we are really being sacrificed to are Mr. Kennedy’s profit goals.  

This process takes an enormous amount of energy on everyone’s part, and often leaves hard feelings all around. Mr. Kennedy has developed not only new mixed-use projects in Berkeley but also an unsavory reputation for continually pushing the envelope of Berkeley development and political process, offering mitigations and promises that evaporate when “they don’t pencil out,” and for bad faith dealing with anyone who stands between him and an additional dollar of profit from his investments.  

We challenge Mr. Siegel and Mr. Kennedy to affirm their commitment to Smart Growth as embodied in the University Avenue Plan. Our neighborhood welcomes a sensitively designed project and will support one that conforms to the University Avenue Plan. But we will not be rolled, and we will resist a project that destroys our neighborhood. 

Stephen Wollmer is a Berkeley resident.

The Planning Commission put final touches Wednesday on a proposal to allow more in-law apartments in the city. 

The commission voted to lower the height limit it had previously proposed, to relax owner occupancy requirements and to allow more small-property owners to build secondary units, also referred to as accessory dwelling units. The revisions, hashed out at the commission meeting, will be added to the proposed amendments by planning staff, then sent to City Council for a final vote. 

A state law passed in 2002 requires cities to change their laws to make it easier for property owners to build accessory dwelling units. Under the planning department’s proposed amendments, developers would no longer be required to obtain a use permit to build secondary units in most residentially zoned areas. Instead, builders would simply have to obtain a zoning certificate—which certifies that the applicant has complied with a certain set of standards—and the necessary building permits. The proposed amendments eliminate public notification and public hearing requirements, essentially giving property owners the right to build secondary units that do not unduly impact neighboring units. 

The commissioners held a public hearing on the amendments at its May 11 meeting and asked staff to report back to them on the requirements related to owner occupancy requirements, rear and side setback space, building height, minimum unit size and parking.  

One of the more contentious issues was the owner occupancy requirement. The proposed amendment requires that a property owner who wishes to build an accessory unit occupy either the main unit or the secondary unit. Some commissioners said they feared such a requirement would be unenforceable. “There’s no good reason to pass a law that is unenforceable,” said Commissioner David Tabb. 

Other commissioners wondered what would happen to tenants if their owners decided to move off the property. 

“What are the eviction protections for these tenants?” said Commissioner Susan Wengraf. “Is there no way to craft an ordinance to protect the stability of the neighborhood? As it is now, it’s too rigid, too restrictive.” 

Wengraf also brought up the possibility of a property owner, such as a professor, who might vacate a unit temporarily to travel or go on sabbatical. 

The commission voted on and passed a motion proposed by Commissioner Gene Poschman to add a section to the owner occupancy provision that would allow property owners to live off the property for as many as three years. 

Only Commissioner David Stoloff voted against the time allowance. 

In response to public concerns that the proposed ordinance’s minimum size would prevent some small-property owners from building accessory units, the commission had asked staff to report back on how neighboring cities handle the size requirement. The report by senior planner Janet Homrighausen indicated that Oakland and El Cerrito, which have a minimum unit size of 220 and 275 square feet, are satisfied with their requirements.  

The commission voted to change the original proposal and to set the minimum at 25 percent of the floor area, or 300 square feet, whichever is larger. The previous draft had stated that an accessory unit had to meet both provisions, but the commission voted Wednesday to allow owners to satisfy at least one of the standards, which would allow owners with very small properties to build reasonably sized units. 

The commission will meet one last time to approve the remaining changes, after which it will go to City Council for a public hearing and vote in early July.

A Berkeley couple, reported missing Tuesday by a concerned parent when they did not return on schedule from a hike near Big Sur, were located by search and rescue teams later that day, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Department. 

Leif Meyer and Danielle Huber, both 22, began their hike into the Ventana Wilderness around noon on Monday. They had planned to hike back later that day, but Meyer fell late in the afternoon and sustained minor injuries to his face. 

Although unequipped with camping or overnight gear, the couple decided to spend the night in the forest and hike out the next day because it was already getting dark, sheriff’s officials said. 

Meyer’s father, Evan, reported his son missing around 1 a.m., Tuesday. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team located the pair at 10 a.m. Tuesday near Ventana Camp.  

Both had sustained minor injuries, but refused medical attention.  

Four sheriff’s deputies and six trained volunteers were involved in the search. According to a sheriff’s spokesman, any costs associated with the search may be charged to Alameda County. 

Sgt. John DiCarlo of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team said hikers should stay aware of the time while hiking in wilderness areas. Also, they should prepare for the worst—even on a short trip—by bringing food, water and extra clothing in case temperatures drop, and should dress in the proper gear and footwear.  

He added that hikers and campers should always let a friend or family member know where they are going and when they are expected to return, as Meyer did. 

—John Geluardi and  

Bay City News Service

The administration of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown often totters on the edge of both absurdity and obscenity, sometimes threatening to split itself in half and fall on both sides simultaneously. Such a time, it seems, is when the mayor puts out word that he might be interested in running for the office of California attorney general.  

One would think that, not yet five months into his second four-year term, Mr. Brown has some work left on all that mayoral stuff he so recently asked us for the chance to do. But this is a restless man, Jerry Brown, seeking out political office these days like the International Boulevard homeless folk collect cans.  

This leaves my California Republican friends with the delicate task of trying to push Mayor Brown into running for attorney general in the 2006 Democratic primary without hiding the glee they would feel if he were actually the Democratic nominee.  

Jerry Brown “deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done in terms of public safety in Oakland,” Republican communications consultant Dan Schnur tells the San Francisco Chronicle, “but if he ran for state attorney general, he’d run right into a Rose Bird-death penalty buzz saw.” 

The likelihood is that you have no idea what Schnur is talking about in his “Rose Bird-death penalty” comment, which is why this is a Republican smokescreen for what they really think is Brown’s vulnerability. It was 1977, some may remember, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Rose Bird as chief justice of the California Supreme Court, only to be supremely embarrassed (if it is possible for Brown to be embarrassed) when Californians voted Bird off the bench (in 1986) because of Bird’s opposition to the death penalty. Brown, who has managed to get away with appointing three members to the Oakland Unified School District Board while successfully avoiding any responsibility for their actions or for the crisis in the Oakland schools, has certainly had enough time and practice to be able to distance himself from the opinions of the late Ms. Bird.  

But there is not nearly enough time or room between Mr. Brown and the little man in black whom the Republicans somewhat conveniently failed to mention in their list of Jerry Brown vulnerabilities: his aide and confidante and used-to-be-roommate Jaques Barzaghi. It would be interesting and perhaps entertaining to see how Mr. Brown should reconcile his projected role as state attorney general with his silence on the official city finding that Barzaghi was a sexual harasser in the workplace while on the city payroll on Brown’s staff. The attorney general, after all, is charged with enforcing California’s sexual harassment in the workplace laws.  

Interesting, too, is Brown’s assertion in the Chronicle that he “has solid law enforcement credentials through his work combating crime in Oakland.” 

Must be a different Oakland he’s talking about than the one where I drive around. A few days after Brown talked up his crime-fighting successes, Oakland had its 41st homicide of the year. We are now up to 46, putting us in line with last year’s ghastly toll.  

I’m not a big believer in crime statistics as an indicator of what is actually going on in a community. A low number of reported domestic violence assaults, for example, might not mean there’s little domestic violence. It might mean that police are not taking the crime seriously, and, therefore, many women are opting not to call 911. A rising rate might mean just the opposite—that more women are gaining confidence in police willingness to investigate such crimes, and so more are coming forward.  

In other instances, police effectiveness in one area might boost the actual incidences of crime in another. When police do their jobs and bust some of the mid- or high-level drug lords (such as happened with Felix Mitchell some years ago), the established order of drug dealing is disrupted and organizations fight for control of lucrative corners. Thus, breaking up a drug gang can lead directly to an increase of drug-related murders in the short run. Looks bad in statistics, but if the community knew the cause and were prepared in advance by a city administration that talked straight with its citizens, they might be more willing to accept the temporary consequences.  

Brown, however, is not one for talking straight with citizens. In fact, in between elections, he hardly talks to us at all.  

And so it’s statistics ... and general perceptions ... that California voters will be weighing in 2006 when we decide on our next attorney general. 

Unless Brown gets awfully lucky and Oaklanders suddenly start practicing One Love for the next couple of years, thus dropping the crime rate dramatically and consistently for all categories, what folks are going to remember about Oakland and crime and Jerry Brown are last year’s triple-digit homicide rate, the Raider riots, the Riders (regardless of whether they are acquitted at trial), the $11 million police misconduct settlement, the dismantling of any semblance of “community policing” (even by the city administration’s own low standards of that term), and Oakland’s failure to find safe and legal outlets for its black and Latino young adults (see sideshows). 

It’s a good bet that California Republicans, who have not had a lot of statewide success in recent years, would dearly love to be able to run against somebody with that kind of record.

One of Saddam Hussein’s top generals was not included in the U.S. card deck of 55 most-wanted Iraqis. Now stories are circulating in European, Middle Eastern and other foreign press that he was paid off to ensure the quick fall of Baghdad.  

On May 25, the French paper Le Journal du Dimanche, citing an unnamed Iraqi source, claimed that Gen. Maher Sufian al-Tikriti, Saddam’s cousin and a Republican Guard commander, made a deal with U.S. troops before leaving Iraq on a U.S. military aircraft. Allegedly the deal had been secured in advance by the CIA, but by prearrangement was implemented only after U.S. troops reached Baghdad’s airport on April 4. Sufian was said to have left Iraq, along with a 20-man entourage, on April 8—the day before U.S. forces captured Baghdad without resistance.  

An Arab diplomat told Le Journal that the CIA had hatched the plot more than a year before. “Many suitcases filled with dollars were floating around,” the diplomat said.  

This story has been picked up by newspapers around the world, including the London Times and the Sydney Morning Herald. But the only recent reference to General Sufian in the U.S. press was in early May, when it was reported that his home was now a base where survivors searched for records on the fate of missing loved ones.  

Other Arab sources have added details. Reportedly Sufian ordered the Republican Guard out of the city to fight in the countryside, where they were easily picked off. General Sufian may also have betrayed the location of the house where Saddam Hussein met with his family on April 7, and where Saddam may or may not have been killed. A further report from Agence France Presse alleges that Saddam was betrayed by not one but three of his cousins, as well as other senior military officers, and a former Cabinet minister.  

The Egyptian weekly Al-Usbua claimed that General Sufian had betrayed his cousin in exchange for $25 million, the guarantee to move to the United States and the promise of a future high position in Iraq. (One hopes that this last claim is not true, as Sufian was notorious as Saddam’s partner in terroristic oppression.)  

The Lebanese newspaper Sawt al-Urouba has alleged that some of the “human shields” who had traveled to Baghdad before the war in the name of protecting civilian targets were in fact U.S. agents who bribed Iraqi generals while in the city.  

In a May 19 article in the Defense News, the retiring Chief of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, is quoted as telling a Defense News reporter on May 10 that, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Special Forces had gone in and bribed Iraqi generals not to fight. Franks told the reporter, “I had letters from Iraqi generals saying, ‘I now work for you.’”  

If so, the U.S. plans for occupying Iraq followed the model of the invasion of Afghanistan. There, too, key warlords were bought off by liberal dispensations of CIA dollars, making military operations far easier than many had anticipated. The downside of these deals was to restore parts of Afghanistan to warlords whose traditional source of income has been the drug traffic.  

Whatever the details, it would appear that refinements in military strategy and high-tech materiel were not, as the Pentagon has suggested, the key to quick U.S. victory in Iraq.  

On April 24, the U.S.-based online news site World Tribune.com noted that General Sufian, the commander of several Republican Guard units defending Baghdad, did not appear on the U.S. list of 55 most wanted Iraqis. It cited Arab diplomatic sources as saying that Sufian was believed to have ordered his units to abandon their weapons and return home. But U.S. officials, it reported, had denied any deal with Sufian.  

On April 8, at the time of the alleged deal, U.S. Marines announced that General Sufian had been shot at a roadblock outside Baghdad. On April 9, Knight Ridder newspapers carried a report from Marine headquarters on how Sufian met his death in a white Toyota sedan, uniformed and alone except for his chauffeur.  

The fate of Gen. Maher Sufian al-Takriti is key to a central mystery surrounding this poorly reported war: Why did Baghdad fall without a fight?

Close to 200 Berkeley artists will display their work as part of the Pro Arts gallery’s East Bay Open Studios beginning this weekend. 

More than 500 East Bay artists, who work in media ranging from painting and metal sculpture to prints, glasswork and furniture, will open their studios on May 31 and June 1, 7 and 8, marking the largest participation in the event’s 29-year history. Coordinators said the number of artists has increased by 15 percent during each of the last several years. 

“The word has gotten out about this opportunity,” said Svea Lin Vezzone, exhibition and program manager for Pro Arts and the coordinator of Open Studios. “We’ve been able to give the event as a whole more visibility.” 

Each artist displayed a sample of his or her work in the Pro Arts gallery in Oakland throughout May, giving visitors a preview of the studios they could visit during the two weekends of the exhibition. 

“It sets it up as a self-guided tour,” Vezzone said. “People see a sample of this completely unique art in the gallery and then decide that they want to see more of it.” 

Artist Jim Rosenau, for example, constructs bookshelves made of recycled books rather than wood. He designs the shelves to have themes, using for material old murder mysteries, humorous books or cookbooks. 

Rosenau, who will display and sell his work from his studio at 2612 Benvenue Ave., first displayed his art publicly at last year’s event, and partially attributed his decision to continue his project to the positive feedback he received from visitors. 

Though Rosenau will show pieces out of his own studio, several larger sites will host multiple displays. The Sawtooth Building at Dwight Way and 8th Street will feature the largest exhibition in Berkeley, with 18 artists showcasing their work. Another large Berkeley display will be at The Magazine furniture store at 1823 Eastshore Highway. There, seven local artists have planned an artistic showcase featuring a 1987 Airstream motor home remodeled using contemporary design and modern furniture.  

Artists participating in The Magazine open studio said the collaboration enables them to attract a larger number of visitors than each would receive at individual studios. Participant Max Geiser, who operates his own bedding company, Fold, said the turnout at the store last year was larger than the participants had expected. 

“We were giving people champagne and truffles, and by the end of the day we had gone through hundreds of truffles,” Geiser said. “It was incredible to see that kind of interest in our work.” 

A trend in this year’s Open Studios is the increased number of pieces that focus on current events, including the economic downturn, the war in Iraq and the heightened terror alerts in the United States. One piece called “Confiscation” shows a collection of sewing scissors seized at airports since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

“The art on a whole is more charged this year,” Vezzone said. “Artists are always the barometer of the political climate, and it’s been interesting to see how artists respond to the recent politically aggressive climate.” 

The East Bay Open Studios will take place May 31 and June 1, 7, and 8 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The preview exhibition will continue through June 8 at the Pro Arts gallery at 461 9th St. in Oakland, Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maps of open studio locations can be found at www.proartsgallery.org.

The quasi-rural stretch of the Gravenstein Highway south of Sebastopol is more adventurous to roam than the one-block Berkeley that Sebastopol has become. Forever looking behind trees for the radical chicken ranchers that once hid out here, I find current equivalents as antiques and collectibles dealers, cheese makers and tenders of flea markets and nurseries along the seven-mile “Antique Row.” 

Take the Rohnert Park-Sebastopol exit from 101 onto 116 West, which is the newer Gravenstein Highway. Many of the old blooming apple orchards morphed into “more profitable” vineyards, except when grapes glut the market. 

Llano House Antiques at the corner of 116 and Llano Road is named for the Llano Flood Plain just eastward. Ernie Haskell and Hilary Burton bought the 1849 roadhouse in the 1980s and today use it to display their classic collections of Depression-era glass, American oak furniture and old kitchen utensils. Be sure to walk upstairs to see over 50 pressback chairs and great redwood beams that were uncovered by vandals when the historic building was deserted in the 1970s. 

For a quick cheese fix, visit Jose (Joe) Matos Cheese Factory, a good mile out at 3669 Llano Road. Joe worked for decades making fireplace bricks in San Rafael, saving every penny so he could make cheese like his father and grandfather. The result: one white, full-flavored cheese made daily in one vat in one little building. On the right cows meditate, a calf hollers on entering the world in the garage, and on the left is the cheese room. Small and wonderful. 

Back on 116, turn right to Pack Jack Bar B Que, a must stop for carnivores. A brick barbecue pit inside smokes meat with premium seasoned oak. 

A native of Egypt, Texas, owner Donnie Harris said, “If you’re from Egypt and a boy, you call yourself a cowboy—that’s what you did.” Old rodeo posters, chaps, Harris’ grandpa’s shotgun and “even a plank from grandpa’s fence” adorn the walls.  

Visitors pack away the succulent ribs, chicken, lamb, cole slaw and potato salad, with nothing over $10. This is no “Texas-style” barbecue, this is the real deal. 

Next stop is School Bell Antiques, originally Mt. Vernon School, completed in 1903 and closed in 1957. The blackboards and chalk trays still function, you can pull the rope to ring the bell, and, ladies, don’t miss the sick pink girls bathroom just inside the door. 

After being invited to run an antique collective, Darrell and Jane Parker bought the building and moved in their Lone Pine Antiques Shop. They now rent space to 20 dealers of high quality collectibles and antiques, including foreign political posters and old trademark signs. 

Across the road is Lone Eagle’s Call of the Wild, a blend of American Indian traditions, leather clothes and mood-setting incense. Lone Eagle, aka Kerry Mitchell, draws on his Comanche heritage to make cedar flutes, peace pipes and medicine shields, and sells Panamanian palm leaf hats and Dakota buffalo skulls.  

Mitchell designed for stars from Doris Day to Jon Bon Jovi. His leather outfits have adorned the bods of Cher (a few decades and tucks ago), Ann Margaret (ditto), Glen Campbell, Crystal Gayle and Tommy Smothers. 

Headed north again toward Sebastopol, the Willow Tree Shops host 12 dealers. Among them is Jon Wobber of Shakespeare & Company, who has a loft of 4,000 quality used books. Willow Tree owner John Shoaf serves as auctioneer at the June 1 Antiques & Treasures Auction, at the Sebastopol Veterans Building, to benefit the Sonoma County Food AIDS Food Bank. 

Across the back street is Antique Society, featuring 100 dealers’ collections and a tea room with chocolates and espresso. Behind Willow Tree is the Red Barn 2nd Hand Store, a great place for rummaging. A half-block down is a compulsory stop: California Carnivores and Vintage Gardens Antique Roses, considered a shrine by many lovers of old roses. 

California Carnivores founder and grower Peter D’Amato talks to, nurtures and strokes sensual plants that eat animals, including a Venus Flytrap. Pretend spiders and skeletons dangle here and there, and when hearing the remark, “I love the sense of humor of this place,” Peter replied dourly, “What sense of humor?” 

The Sebastopol Flea Market offers lots of Mexican clothes and food imports (closes at 3 p.m.). Several more antique and collectibles dealers lie ahead, including the huge Sebastopol Antique Mall in town.  

Just beyond the flea market and on a dangerous curve, turn left carefully into the Sequoia Drive-in for the perfect hamburger Herb Caen sought and never found. One dines under corrugated green plastic with children’s plastic play equipment in the patio. Jerry and I joined two belly dancers from the nearby TribalFest dance contest, their Chihuahua, bikers, cyclists and farmworkers—the regular suburban Sebastopol crowd. Belly dancer Georgia Gilliam of Nipomo remarked, “Here we are in full regalia and all anyone says is ‘What a cute dog!’” 

Kathleen Hill writes a series of six Hill Guides to the West Coast with her husband Gerald Hill, including “Sonoma Valley—The Secret Wine Country.” Globe-Pequot Press.

Some of the biggest names in the world of East Bay spoken word went head to head at the Starry Plough on Wednesday in the first semifinal of the Berkeley Poetry Slam, a seven-month-long competition. 

After Wednesday’s three-round competition, four of the eight poets qualified for the finals, the next step in their quest to earn a spot on the Bay Area team that will compete in the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August. 

The results featured few surprises, with Jamie Kennedy, a returning member of the 2002 East Bay team, taking the grand prize. Jason Bayani, a poet who called herself Kat, and another poet known as Daled also qualified for the June 11 final. 

Before the slam, competing poets stood outside the club chatting, warming up and building their energy level for the performance. 

The eight poets earned their place in Wednesday’s semifinal through a series of weekly competitions that began last November. The poets are judged both for their verse and their performance, and the top 16 finishers during the season qualified for two rounds of semifinals, the second of which will take place next week. The resulting field of eight will be narrowed to four who will then compete in the Bay Area finals alongside the winners of the San Francisco finals; the Bay Area will send a unified team to the National Poetry Slam for the first time since 1999. 

Slam co-host Charles Ellik, who coached last year’s East Bay national team, said the high level of competition at Wednesday’s semifinals was a good sign for the group’s chances at nationals. 

“No matter what happens after this, this is definitely a team that can win in Chicago,” Ellik said. “These are some of the best poets anywhere in the country.” 

The audience in the packed pub seemed to recognize the high skill level, shouting out compliments when favorite artists took the stage or after a particular line of poetry. 

“Daled’s bringing the championship back to the bay,” one audience member yelled. “Jamie, will you marry me?” cried another. 

Wednesday night’s competitors used a mix of new poetry and audience favorites to rack up their scores from the panel of five judges.  

The highest score of the night—a 29.6 out of a possible 30—went to Kennedy’s poem in the second round, a tirade against brand name clothing that encouraged participation from many members of the audience who had heard the lyrics before. 

Kennedy’s first-round poem was a tribute to “walking time bombs in lipstick” that he’s dated. He drew laughs for his lines asking women to “let Jamie Kennedy be your therapy.” 

“I trust well-balanced women like I trust Ghandi to have my back in a bar fight,” Kennedy said. 

The poets focused on a variety of subjects, including racism, war, money, and love. Two well-received poems, by Daled and seventh-place finisher known as Victor, raged against President Bush, whom Daled called brainless and Victor labeled a coward. 

“Someday soon it’ll all go ‘boom,’” said Daled, prompting cheers and whistles. 

Other poems were more personal. The first performance of the night was from eventual sixth-place finisher Nazelah Jamison, who spoke about her desire to find a man who truly loves her. 

“I wanna‚ be somebody’s sunshine, his fine wine,” she said, smiling. “I wanna‚ be somebody’s big thing.” 

One surprise Wednesday was the elimination of the poet Rupert. A member of the 2002 East Bay national team, he finished fifth in this year’s semifinals. Competing poets were limited to three minutes per round, and Rupert’s time penalty on his first poem cost him the two points that would have pushed him into fourth place. 

Nevertheless, Rupert drew cheers at every mention of his name. Rupert was the loudest of the performers, yelling lyrics about impatient customers and drunken bar patrons that earned high performance scores from the judges. 

“I am the worst employee that this copy store has ever seen!” shouted Rupert during his poem about his job. 

Kat was the one newcomer among the four who made it to the finals. Although her first performance did not come until late February, Kat’s passionate lyrics and quiet presentation earned her a second place finish in a field of slam veterans. 

Kat’s poetry drew from personal experiences, such as being homeless, her mother’s diagnosis of breast cancer, and a troubled romantic relationship. Each piece silenced the often raucous crowd. 

“All I wanted to do was take away your pain, but you wouldn’t let me try,” she said in her third poem, an address to her ex-boyfriend. 

The poets showed their support for each other’s work, giving hugs and high fives throughout the competition. When slam co-host Dani Eurynome announced the four finalists, all the competitors gathered on stage and remained in a group until long after the event had ended. 

“It”s all about this community,” co-host Ellik said. “That’s what keeps this going.” 

The second round of the Berkeley Poetry Slam semifinals at the Starry Plough will be on Wednesday, June 4, at 8:30 p.m. The finals will take place Wednesday, June 11, at 8:30 p.m.

The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) presents Summer Noon Concerts 2003, a unique series of nine free concerts, Thursdays at noon in June & July, beginning June 5th. From Rhythm & Blues to Brazilian capoeira, these concerts at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza (Shattuck Ave. at Center St.) are a showcase of the culturally rich performing arts in Berkeley. This outdoor summer celebration of Berkeley-based musicians & dancers is just a small sampling of the performing arts happening nightly in clubs, cafes, schools, theaters and concert halls in Downtown Berkeley. 

On Thursday, June 5th, our concert series opens with Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut performing some of the best in R & B, with a splash of jazz and a solid helping of the blues. Soulful Strut appears regularly at many Bay Area nightspots such Enricos Sidewalk Café and Restaurant. 

On Thursday, July 31st, our concert series closes with SoVoSó, a highly visual and imaginative a capella ensemble that sings a compelling mix of jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, world, pop, and improvisational music. The ensemble is made up of former members of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, and McFerrin says, “SoVoSó is tight, soulful, and a whole lotta fun.” 

This event is easily accessible by transit and there is one hour free parking daily from 9 am to 5 pm in Center Street Garage. Seating will be available. 

For a complete schedule of entertainers for the Downtown Berkeley Summer Noon Concerts 2003 visit the Downtown Berkeley Association website at www.downtownberkeley.org 

Ching “Christina” Sun doesn’t consider herself a developer: she would rather do without the label’s implied power, without the antipathy it often evokes.  

“I’m just a property owner trying to make the best use of my property,” said Sun, a landlord who owns two properties in Berkeley. “I want to contribute something to the community. I want to be a good neighbor.” 

For almost a year, the neighbors of her Shattuck Avenue property have waged a campaign to stop her plan to convert a 1,600-square-foot, single-family dwelling unit into a three-story, 4,340 square-foot, mixed-use development, arguing that Sun misrepresented the details of her project to get around city development laws and that the city erred in pushing through her project without a public hearing. 

The project is located in the Commercial South Area district (C-SA), where mixed-use development is encouraged. But it is also adjacent to a two-family residential district (R-2A) that consists mostly of one- and two-story frame homes of the early 1900s.  

Since last June, at least a dozen residents in that south Berkeley neighborhood have written letters and e-mails to city officials, attended meetings with city planning department staff, and spoken out at meetings of the City Council and Zoning Adjustment Board to demand the city issue a stop work order and schedule a public hearing on the project, which they say breaks zoning rules against group-living accommodations and fails to provide the required amount of rear-yard space. 

“To see what was once a one-story ... craftsman home of about 1,600 square feet suddenly turn into a three-story monster without any kind of public hearing and simply a zoning certificate defies credulity,” Lynn Sherrell, an attorney who lives a block away from the project, said during the public comment period at last week’s City Council meeting. 

Sherrell echoed many other neighbors’ belief that the city didn’t do enough to engage the public in its decision-making process. “This creates cynicism and disbelief in the democratic process and discourages public participation,” she said. 

The city has stood by its claim that the project is legitimate and says because Sun’s project is a mixed-use development in the C-SA, staff was justified in issuing a zoning certificate for the project and not calling for a public hearing. And Sun has rejected claims that she misrepresented the facts or broke city laws. “I have worked closely with the city. It’s been a year-long process to get the requirements,” she said. “It really upsets me that the neighbors did not come to me with their concerns. They are welcome to come to me and offer constructive criticism. I do care about what the neighbors think and I do like everybody to win.” 

At 36 feet, the building is taller than anything else on the stretch between Ashby Avenue and the Oakland border, raising the ire of residents who worry that dense residential and commercial development will ruin the quiet character of their neighborhood. The neighbors recently won a battle to get the city to remove a liquor store that some said was bringing crime and drug-dealing, and say they fear that Sun’s project will bring in more bustle and congestion to the neighborhood than they want. 

The project is already well under way, and will probably be completed in August. Sun has already demolished the basement and is rebuilding it as commercial space totaling 1,400 square feet. The existing second story was jacked up to the third-story level, and a new second story is being built, bringing the total size of the residential portion of the project to 2,900 square feet. According to Sun’s applications, the two residential floors — which will consist of six bedrooms, four bathrooms and several auxiliary rooms — will remain a single-family dwelling residence. 

The project’s opponents raise several questions. For one, they say, Sun is actually planning to convert a single-dwelling unit into a group-living accommodation, a change that requires a use permit and, therefore, a public hearing. Rob Lauristan, a neighbor of the project and one of its most vociferous critics, said Sun’s floor plan suggests that she is planning to do more with the unit than she’s letting on. “It’s clear from the plans that it is designed to be two five-room flats,” he said. “There are 10 rooms, but no master bedroom, and the living room, dining room, library and office are all designed to be usable as bedrooms: you don’t have to go through them to get to any other room.” 

Lauristan also notes that residents would have to go outside and through the parking lot to get to the laundry room, which he says indicates a dorm-like living situation. 

When asked to respond to questions about her planned use of the residential portion of her project, Sun said she intends to use it as a single-family dwelling unit. 

For its part, the city says it can’t deny a permit on the assumption that someone is lying on their application, regardless of what the floor plan may indicate. In a letter to Sherrell dated April 24, principal planner Debra Sanderson responded to questions regarding Sun’s plans for the residential portion of her project. “We are sympathetic to the neighbor’s observation that the floor plan of the two residential floors lends itself to being used as a … rooming house. However, the city’s zoning standards provide staff no basis to require a change in the building’s floor plan to ensure its use only as single-family unit.” And at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said the city can’t take action on a violation of the single-family dwelling unit restriction until after the property owner actually attempts to enter into multiple leases.  

“I don’t particularly blame [Sun]. I see it as a horrible failure of the process,” he said. “Staff is supposed to rein in developers who are a little too creative in trying to develop. In this case, staff had the opportunity to call for a public hearing, and they failed.” 

So far, neighbors have failed to get the city to issue a stop work order and schedule a hearing before the Zoning Adjustment Board, which would give the city the opportunity to force Sun to revise her plans. At last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, neighbors were allowed a public hearing, but not much came out of it. City Planning Director Carol Barrett and City Attorney Albuquerque reiterated the staff’s report on the issue, saying they could find no reason to stop the project and call for a public hearing. Lauristan says he may sue the city, and has recently come forward with what he sees as another flaw in Sun’s project. According to her floor plan, Sun’s project provides for only six inches of rear-yard space, about 14 and a half feet less than what’s required, Lauristan said. 

No city staffer familiar with the project could be reached to comment on the rear-yard space issue.  

In a recent interview, Sun’s exasperation with her neighbors’ continued opposition was audible. “I just want to focus on my project. That’s what’s important to me now,” she said. “I have put all my life savings to build this thing and I have done everything by the book.” For her opponents, she said, “It’s more a political issue, more of an emotional issue, I think. They just don’t want tall buildings in their neighborhood. But I can do it by law. I am a citizen, too, and I have a right to build what is legal. If they don’t like the law, they need to change the law, not use me as a scapegoat.” 

That’s one thing her opponents might agree with. Lauristan is lobbying the city to amend the zoning ordinance to require use permits for all changes of use, addition of stories, expanded footprints, and changes in height in all projects falling within districts that are classified as neighborhood commercial under the city’s General Plan. He is also suggesting that the city balance the staff-level design review process by including a staff member to represent the public interest. “As it is now,” Lauristan said, “there is plenty of staff to help [developer] applicants avoid red tape, but there’s no one there who speaks for the public.” 

TUESDAY, MAY 27 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 525-3565. www.ber 

keleycameraclub.org 

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 

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 information call 644-2204. 

Berkeley Gray Panthers discuss Defending Our Civil Liberties, with Davis Riemer, former board chair of the ACLU, at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. graypanthersberk@aol.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam Semi-Finals, 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. 

THURSDAY, MAY 29 

Dining Out For Life Have dinner at one of 39 participating East Bay restaurants and 25% of your bill will benefit programs and servi- 

ces for people living with AIDS in the East Bay. For a list of restaurants visit www. 

diningoutforlife.com or call 428-0442.  

Aid to Adopting Special Kids holds an informational meeting on becoming a foster parent to or adopting a child with special needs, at 7 p.m. in Conference Room 2, Alta Bates Campus, 2450 Ashby Ave. 869-6737. 

Hoods in the Night, a report back on Colombia by the National Radio Project, producers of Making Contact, with a slide presentation and excerpts from Hoods in the Night, a radio documentary featuring community leaders and displaced people of Medellin & Bogota. At 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. $5-$10 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Dennis Kucinich, “Repair the American Dream,” at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $12-$30. For reservations call 415-383-3982. 

Family Literacy Night for the whole family. Book sale, book swap and information for parents on read-aloud choices and preparing your child for reading. From 5 to 7 p.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

“So How Did You Become An Activist, and What Now?” with poets Wanda Sabir, Frances Hillyard, and Adam David Miller from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar, at Bonita. Suggested donation $5, no one turned away for lack of funds. Wheelchair accessible. 526-4402.  

Jefferson Elementary Teachers Jim Harris and Linda Mengel with be honored with a Dessert Reception and Party at 7 p.m. in the Jefferson School Cafeteria. For information call 525-7567 or downboy@pacbell.net 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berke- 

ley, 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. 496-6000, ext. 135.  

SATURDAY, MAY 31 

Malcolm X Elementary School Spring Fair in celebration of its namesake’s birthday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1731 Prince St. Car- 

nival games, face painting and hair braiding. Featuring a talent show and a walking timeline of the life and work of Malcolm X.  

Bike Rodeo at San Pablo Park, in the Francis Albrier Community Center, for children and families. Activities include a skill and handling workshop, bike maintenance, obstacle course for children 4 to 8. Food booths, carnival booths, and bike registration and i.d.-fingerprinting at the police booth. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley and Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition. 549-7433.  

Junior Solar Sprint 

Challenge, a solar car race between local middle 

schools, hosted by the Society of Women Engineers, 

U.C. Berkeley chapter. From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lawrence Hall of Science. For information call 642-1369. jssc@swe.coe.berkeley.edu 

Kids’ Garden Club: Soil  

For ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening. Learn about plant beds and collect clay for pottery, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. 525-2233. tnarea@ 

ebparks.org 

Remove (thornless) Blackberries on Cerrito Creek 

with Friends of Five Creeks. Meet at 10 a.m at Pacific East Mall 3288 Pierce St. El Cerrito. Bring work gloves, shovels, loppers if you can.  

848-9358, f5creeks@aol.com,  

www.fivecreeks.org 

“The Atomic Cafe,” a film about Americans preparing to survive a nuclear war in the 1950s, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. All events are free. 540-0751. ww.thelonghaul.org  

Fixing our Elections, a talk by SF Board President Matt Gonzalez on Instant Runoff Voting, at 1:30 p.m. in Ber- 

keley's Main Public Library meeting room, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck. 526-5852 www.fairvoteca.org 

The California Shakespeare Theater holds auditions for a new adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone. No previous acting experience is necessary. Needed are young people, ages 15-18, and adults, ages 50-80. Fri., May 31st, and Sat., June 1st, in Berkeley. For more information or to schedule an audition slot, please contact Shana Cooper at 548-3422, ext. 114, or shana@calshakes.org 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

Rosa Parks School Annual Ice Cream Social and Silent Auction, from noon to 4 p.m. at 920 Allston Way. Silent auction items and services donated by local merchants and residents. 644-8812. 

La Place du Marché, the East Bay French-American School’s Annual Fair, with music, food and specialized vendors from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at 1009 Heinze Ave. and 9th St. Cost is $5, children 12 and under are free. 521-4920. www.ebfas.org 

Walkathon for the National Organization for Women, honoring Rep. Barbara Lee, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sailboat House, Lake Merritt. Donation $20. 562-1919. 

The World in Your Backyard, a garden party to benefit the Botanical Garden, with food, wine, music and plants from 3 - 6 p.m. For tickets call 643-2755.  

A Taste of Albany Celebrate the town’s second annual Spring Festival at Memorial Park, 1300 block of Portland Ave. from noon to 5 p.m. Music, arts and crafts, magic show and samples from some of the best restaurants in Albany. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of event. 525-1771. www.albanychamber.org 

MONDAY, JUNE 2 

National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay Chapter meets from 6 to 8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Library, 1901 Russell St. The speaker will be Breonna Cole, aide to Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and campaign manager for Wilson Riles. 287-8948. 

Berkeley CopWatch meets at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Vol- 

unteers needed. 548-0425. 

Berkeley Biodiesel Cooper- 

ative Orientation at 7:30 p.m. Call for location. 594-4000 ext. 777. biobauerx@ 

hotmail.com 

West Nile Virus and other  

Mosquito Problems 

William Hamersky of the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement speaks on how the West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne ill-nesses may affect Bay Area residents as well as wetland restoration programs, at 7 p.m. downstairs at the Al- 

bany Community Center, 1249 Marin. Sponsored by Friends of Five Creeks. For  

more information contact f5creeks@aol.com or 848-9358. 

ONGOING 

Technical Assistance for Non-Profits  

A free workshop series hosted by Alameda County Su- 

pervisor Keith Carson, to be held at the Alameda County Conference Center, at 125 12th St., Oakland. The first meeting will be May 29, on Public Relations and Media Training. For information or to register, please call Breonna Cole at 272-6060.  

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 29 - 31 at Ala- 

meda County Household Hazardous Waste, 2100 E. 7th St., Oakland. Take ad-vantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of paint, stain, varnish, thinner and adhesives; auto products such as old fuel, motor oil, oil filters and batteries; household batteries, cleaners and sprays; garden products, including pesticides and fertilizers. Please do NOT bring asbestos, explosives, railroad ties, radioactive materials, medical waste, 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, or visit http://householdhazwaste.org/oakland 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Meetings on the City Budget The public is invited to learn more about the budget deficit and how the city plans to address the issue on May 29 at the West Berkeley Senior Center. For information call 981-CITY.  

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wednesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the  

North Berkeley Senior Center. Phil Kamlarz, 981-7006. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wednesday, May 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center.  

Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed- 

nesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wednesday, May 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission 

meets Wednesday, May 28, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth 

Planning Commission meets 

Wednesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/planning 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Monday, June 2, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Council Agenda Committee  

meets Monday, June 2, at  

2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 

981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Monday, June 2, 7:30 p.m., in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/landmarks 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Monday, June 2, at 7 p.m., in the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/peaceandjustice 

Youth Commission meets Monday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth

EMERYVILLE BOOM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I enjoyed your piece, Friday, about Emeryville and how its booming economy contrasts to stagnant Berkeley’s and declining Oakland’s. Emeryville is our local Hong Kong: an entrepreneurial enclave next to a vast Socialist dystopia, or (like North and South Korea and East and West Germany) the closest thing in economics to a controlled experiment pitting Capitalism against Socialism. 

While Emeryville sees to the goose, Berkeley and Oakland think mostly of collecting the golden eggs. And at the end of the day, look who really gets to collect more eggs. 

Ted Sternberg 

Fremont 

• 

ASTRONOMICAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found Randy Shaw’s letter about Patrick Kennedy’s project at University and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (Planet, May 23-26 edition) very amusing. He refers to the question of “why Mr. Kennedy is increasingly the only individual willing to take on such projects.” I’ll bet the fact that Mr. Kennedy has figured out how to get “nonprofit” money (while profiting egregiously) might factor into Mr. Kennedy’s enthusiasm for transforming Berkeley. 

He received $15.3 million in state money for the Gaia building, which has been covered in plastic and scaffolding for five months now, and is nonetheless advertising minute apartments for $2,175 to $3,075 per month. In addition he got $18 million for the Fine Arts Building, $6.2 million to turn the Doyle House into splinters, $9.8 million for the Bachenheimer Building, $10.4 million for Acton Courtyard and a mere $4 million for the ARTech (I believe that’s about $1 million per “low-income” unit). These astronomical figures are available for all to confirm at the following Web site: http://www.abag.ca.gov/services/finance/fan/fanlist.htm. 

C. Osborn 

• 

RENT BOARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To briefly respond to John Koenigshofer’s May 20 letter (“Wasteful Bureaucracy”) assailing the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board and its policies: it is worth reiterating that all nine Rent Board commissioners were democratically elected by Berkeley’s voters. 

Rather than launching ad hominin attacks against commissioners (“self-aggrandizing,” “self-righteous,” etc.), if Mr. Koenigshofer is genuinely displeased with current policies, I would suggest instead that he invest his energy in actively campaigning to elect commissioners who reflect his political views. 

With respect to Mr. Koenigshofer’s claim that the Rent Board has “for years, opposed rent increases,” if one looks at the years 1990 to 1994 — when a real estate industry-backed majority controlled the Rent Board — Berkeley rent levels increased by 45 percent across the board citywide during that four-year period. 

After 1994, when an affordable housing majority slate was elected, the Rent Board has maintained reasonable, moderate rent increases through the required Annual General Adjustment (AGA) process. 

The AGA process allows Berkeley’s annual citywide rent increase (each January) to reflect more than a dozen separate owner operating expenses, including rental property-related costs that decrease or remain flat. 

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

TOPPLE BUSH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Building on the recent letter from George Palen, let me suggest that big things come from small starts. Folks everywhere are searching for little ways to make a difference. Here’s a simple tip for spreading awareness that the phony Bush stature (or is it statue?) can be brought down to its rightful size. 

On every letter, especially when paying bills by post, write “Topple Bush” large and in color across the front of the letter. Since the farcical “fall of Baghdad,” it’s a metaphor that quickly resonates. With every letter, you immediately reach at least three readers: the letter sorter, the letter carrier and the one who opens the envelope. Think of the possibilities if 10,000, 100,000 or a million people or more join the effort. Pass it on. 

Jerry Holl 

• 

EXORBITANT SALARIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What should we pay school administrators? The Planet (May 6-8 edition) reports that teachers are questioning administrative salaries that are three or more times those of the teachers, while Dennis Myers of the Association of California School Administrators defends the salaries as being low in comparison to that of corporate CEOs. 

From Myers’ comment one might think that salaries are related to the responsibility and value of the employee, but anyone who has ever looked at a proxy can see that executive salaries are not set in this manner. The critical assumption in the determination of relative compensations is that there are a very limited number of people who can successfully run a company, but there are lots of people who have the skills for the other jobs. Company “A” states that to attract/retain its valued executive it is setting CEO salary above the median paid to CEOs of “comparable” companies. This raises the median, and sparks comparable raises in company A’s competitors. The result is that CEO salaries have risen far faster than the salaries of other employees. 

Is this a successful strategy? It didn’t stop Enron’s stock from dropping from $80 a share to 8 cents a share. Do we really need high-paid administrators? Superintendent Lawrence evidently feels we can forgo $300,000 worth of associate superintendents (two are departing). Non-essential, but worth three teachers apiece. 

The truly pernicious effect of this strategy is that it devalues any other kind of work. If you are a teacher, Kenneth Lay is worth 1,000 of you, so why are you even alive? Why be a school administrator if you can earn 10 times more in business? Why be a teacher, if you can make three times more as an administrator? When I was a high school student I had a truly wonderful teacher one year. The next year he got a higher paying office job in the school, where as best I could tell, he was fairly mediocre. 

When all is said and done, it is the teachers who teach our children. Having great administrators is not going to help us if we can’t pay our teachers. Berkeley cannot isolate itself from the rest of the country, but we can try to moderate some of its worst excesses. If you own stock, vote against excessive CEO salaries. If you have kids, let the school board know that, given the fixed or shrinking budget, you want more money for teachers, and less for administration. 

Robert Clear  

Barbara Judd 

• 

KEEP LIBRARIES OPEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following letter was addressed to Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Dona Spring: 

Your decisions can keep Berkeley’s public libraries serving hundreds of people in our town and from surrounding communities. You have a vital role keeping our city’s public libraries open. You have the power to continue employing library workers. 

It is a known fact that public school libraries do not provide adequate reference materials for their student population. Yet students must excel in order to enter college. College is a daily image in every high school student’s mind because of the presence and reputation of the University of California in our town. 

The majority of our public citizens do not have access to the book stacks at the university libraries.  Paid membership is required to enter the book stacks, to use non-circulating materials and to check out books. 

Our public city libraries serve as the equalizer of access to education. City libraries house mainly books. And books house the whole wide world for every child, teenager and adult who decides to open a book. 

  Keep Berkeley’s public libraries open. Let us all have equal access to the world through books. 

Norine Shima 

• 

CATERPILLARS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The swallowtail butterfly caterpillars in fennel are not only black-green-and-yellow striped, beautiful and camouflaged, but also fun. 

If you tap their backs gently with your finger, two orange toy-like horns pop up on their heads. They then act like the dragon in a Chinese New Year’s parade. Even the newborns, cleverly disguised as black-and-white bird droppings, know this trick. 

Warning: Don’t overdo it. They need to return to their true work, munching fennel, so they can become gorgeous butterflies. 

Ruth Bird 

• 

SEARCH FOR TRUTH 

Editors, Daily Planet; 

One of the big myseries of the war in Iraq is why did Saddam Hussein disappear without using any of his vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction? 

One possible explanation is that the stockpile never did exist — except in the fertile imagination of President Bush. 

But anyone who believes that would also believe that our political leaders would lie just to be able to steal a few million barrels of oil. 

Marion Syrek 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In all of the gallons of crocodile tears and printer’s ink expended over the “historic” Doyle House, you forgot to tell your readers that three reputable architectural historians testified that the building did not 

possess outstanding architectural or historical merit. I and every other architectural historian that I know would concur. In a word, my reaction to the house and its alleged history was “Huh?” 

Despite that professional testimony, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association’s board of directors chose to sue the city. I’d like to know on what basis the directors make such decisions other than sentimentality masking a desire to checkmate developer Patrick Kennedy. How much did litigation cost BAHA and the taxpayers of Berkeley at a time of extreme fiscal crisis, and were the members of BAHA ever polled on this use of their dues and staff resources? Not surprisingly, BAHA’s directors quickly dropped the suit when they discovered that it might entail financial consequences for themselves and the organization. 

BAHA has done a great deal of good by researching the history of Berkeley and educating the people of the Bay Area about the town’s outstanding architectural heritage. But through such nuisance suits and a specious egalitarianism about what merits city landmark status whenever a developer seeks to build, it has also damaged its own credibility and that of the Landmarks Commission. If virtually everything is a landmark, then nothing is. 

Gray Brechin 

TUESDAY, MAY 27 

FILM 

The Inquiring Camera 

“From the Other Side” 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 

Le Thi Diem Thuy reads from “The Gangster We are All Looking For,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE  

Fling Ding: Earl White Band and Bluegrass Intentions, 

clogging with Evie Ladin at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 

FILM 

Video: I Found It at the Movies “Recon/Decon,” 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 

Mary Mackey reads from her novel, “The Stand In,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Lea Goldstein, Ph.D, dis- 

cusses “Drugs and Your Kid,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney and Flambeau, perform Cajun and zydeco with a dance lesson at 8 p.m. and show at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

Third World with MC UC BUU at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Ray Wylie Hubbard, new century Texas troubadour 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 29 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “I’m a Stranger Here Myself,” 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 

Chet Raymo on “The Path: A One-Mile Walk Through the Universe,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Laura Vestamen, will share ideas from her new book, “Travel Tips for the Sophisticated Woman,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

John Renbourn with Jacqui McShee, folk baroque innovators 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 

Kirby Grips, Go National, Luster at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “On Dangerous Ground” at 7:30 p.m., “Run for Cover” at 9 :15 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 

In Your Face Youth Poets  

at 7 p.m. at PRO Arts Gallery, 461 9th St. Oakland. Cost is $3-$6. 525-3948. 

Death at the Peotry Slam: An Interactive Murder Mystery written and directed by Thomas Lynch, featuring the East Enders Repertory Group. At 7:30 at the Public Library Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

Calvin Trillin on “Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, from Kansas City to Cuzco,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, an evening jazz swing with a dance lesson at 8 p.m. and show at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

The Influents, Communique, Milwaukee at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Spin Cushion, The Cushion Theory, Tiuana Gasser at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Soul Frito The Caribbean Connection, Cuban hip hop at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

David Daniels, countertenor, Martin Katz, piano, perform works by Handel and Ravel, plus a song cycle written for Daniels by composer Theo- 

dore Morrison, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $28, $38, $48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Slammin, an all-body band combining a cappella singing with beat boxing and body music, performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

White Oak Dance Project 

with Mikhail Baryshnikov, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $36, $48, $62. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Tin Hat Trio, chamber folk trio performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Monster Squad, Whiskey Sunday, La Plebé, The Saint Catherines, 30 Years of War 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 31 

Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios 2003 May 31-June 1, June 7-8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For list of participating studios go to www.mesart. 

com/openstudiosPA.jsp 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “Bigger Than Life” at 4:30 p.m. and 9:10 p.m., “Rebel Without a Cause” at 7 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 

Edward Miyakawa will be reading from his historical novel, “Tule Lake,” about Japanese Americans in the Tule Lake internment camp during World War II, at 4 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Iris Chang talks about “The Chinese in America,” at 10:30 a.m. at The Asian Cultural Center, Oakland Public Library, 388 Ninth St., Oakland. Sponsored by Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera’s Gala  

Concert, celebrating Tchai- 

kovsky and Gounod, at 8 p.m. at the Longfellow Arts and Technology School, 1500 Derby St. at Sacramento. 

Alan Katsman conducts the Berkeley Opera Orchestra and the UC Alumni Chorus. Tickets are $28, $23 seniors, and $16 youth, and are available from 925-798-1300. 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria, perform “Bach’s Legacy, ” music by the sons of Bach. Allen H. Simon, director, Jonathan Salzedo, harpsichord, Kevin Gibbs, tenor, Chad Runyon, bass. At 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-447-9823. www.sdgloria.org 

Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble performs “Equal Writes,” a concert of music composed by women from the medieval period to the present. At 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10, $5 for students and seniors. 233-1479.  

White Oak Dance Project 

with Mikhail Baryshnikov, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $36, $48, $62. 642-9988. ww.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Shakuhachi and Koto Performance with Marco Lienhard and Shoko Hikage at 8 p.m. at Emeryville Taiko Dojo, 1601A 63rd St., Emeryville. Cost is $15. 655-6392. www. 

etaiko.org 

Caribbean Allstars with the Harmonics perform Jamai- 

can reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tin Hat Trio, premier chamber folk trio, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

Warsaw Poland Bros., Monkey, La Plebe at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Felonious, Otis Goodnight and the Defenestrators, and Illa Dapted at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

This is My Fist, The Specs, Hit Me Back 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. 

Da Shout! Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Prophets of Rage, a 21-piece folkloric hip hop ensemble at at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www. 

lapena.org 

Denise Perrier and the Cadence sing at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

CHILDREN 

Community Women’s Orchestra Spring Concert at Malcolm X School, 1731 Prince St. at 4 p.m. Selections include Harry Potter Suite by John Williams, Finlandia by Sibelius, and Berceuse and Finale from Firebird by Stravinsky. Suggested donation $5, children free. For information call 653-1616. 

Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble Spring Showcase, “Lily’s Treasures.” Twelve young women, ages 10 - 19 playing an original score with a dramatic reading by actress Maria Duman of the story of a young heroine's journey through a world of animals. Story by Maureen Ustenci, directed by Diana Stork. At 5 p.m. at Saint Mary Magdalene Church, 2005 Berryman St. Tickets are $15 adults, 12 and under $5. 548-3326. 

Say it Through Song Benefit with Noe Venable, Baba- 

tunde Lea, John Fonesca, Etienne De Rocher, Carlos Mena, Jerry Hannan, Jethro Jeremiah and Todd Sicka- 

foose, at 3 p.m, at The Starry Plough. All ages welcome. Tickets $15 includes CD. 841-2082. 

West African Dance and Songs for Kids at 2 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for children. 

525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

Vera Chytilová: “Daisies” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Fred Wilson: “Aftermath,” guided tour of the installation at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, at 2 p.m. Free for members, UC students, faculty and staff, $5 seniors and disabled, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Ed Rosenthal discusses his new book “Why Marijuana Should be Legal,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera’s Gala Concert, celebrating Tchaikov- 

sky and Gounod, at 2 p.m. at the Longfellow Arts and Technology School, 1500 Derby St. at Sacramento. 

Alan Katsman conducts the Berkeley Opera Orchestra and the UC Alumni Chorus. Tickets are $28, $23 seniors, and $16 youth, and are available from 925-798-1300. 

Stop the Violence, Music Heals Concert 

Cherrie Williams, the 

“Singing Domestic,” with children and special guests performing gospel, blues, jazz, soul, dance, poetry and art, at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets available at the door, $15 adults, $9 children, students, senior. $13 in advance by calling 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

San Francisco Girls Chorus 

“Nature's Ebb and Flow,” perform music by Brahms, Holst, and Tchaikovsky, under the direction of Susan McMane. At 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $12-$24. 415-392-4400. www.sfgirlschorus.org 

Suzzy and Maggie Roche 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 

Contra Costa Chorale, with 

Thaddeus Pinkston, piano perform works of Chopin and Brahms at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 

2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$12.50. 524-1861.  

Crowden School Faculty Showcase, at noon at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $10. 559-6910. 

www.thecrowdenschool.org  

Mel Martin Quartet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool.  

Cost is $12-18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, JUNE 2 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Series presents Thea Hillman and Glenn Ingersoll, at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Bookstore, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Stewart Udall talks about “The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Albany Music Benefit with Albany High School Jazz Band and Rhythm Bound at 8 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

AT THE THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

“The Guys,” by Anne Nelson directed by Robert Egan. An exploration of loss and redemption in the aftermath of 9/11. May 21 – July 5, Tues. - Sun., call for starting times. Tickets are $10-$54. The Roda Theater, 2016 Addison St. 647-2918. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

“Surface Transit” 

Written and performed by Sarah Jones, directed by Tony Taccone. African Am- 

erican poet and spoken word performer Jones weaves poli- 

ical humor into monologues detailing lives of eight New Yorkers. Extended until June 1. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Festival runs May 31 to October 22. Opens with Julius Caesar. Please call for dates and times. Bruns Amphitheater, off Highway 24 in Orinda. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org  

Shotgun Players presents 

“under milk wood” a play for voices by Dylan Thomas, exploring the characters in a fishing town in Wales. At Eighth Street Studio, 2525 8th St., May 24 through June 22, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 adults, $12 children and seniors, $10 on Thursdays. 704-8210. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Transparent Theater 

Virginia Woolf's “Night and Day,” a stage adaptation by Tom Clyde, concerning the loves and careers of a group of young people in London in 1910. May 9 - June 8, Thurs. - Sat., 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. Sun., 7 p.m. pay what you can. 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305. www.transparenttheater.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

ACCI Gallery, “Midstream” 

A Photography Exhibition of artists Alex Ambrose, Bar- 

bara Bobes, Dafna Kory, and Catherine Stone. Exhibition runs May 30 to June 24. Reception, Fri. May 30, 6 to 8 p.m. Gallery hours are Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. acciart@aol.com, www.accigallery.com 

The Ames Gallery, “Conversations with Myself” Works by Barry Simons. Paintings and collages incorporating the artist's original poetry. By appointment or chance. Exhibition runs May 15 to August 15. 2661 Cedar St. 845-4949. www.amesgallery.com  

Art of Living Center, “Watercolors” by William Webb. Exhibitions runs May 17 through July 18, Tues., Wed., Sat., noon - 5 p.m., Fri. 1 - 5 p.m. 2905 Shattuck Ave. 848-3736. 

Berkeley Historical Society, “Focus on Berkeley” 

A photography exhibit by the Berkeley Camera Club, Berkeley High School students, and community photographers in celebration of the City’s 125th Anniversary. Exhibit runs May 18 to Sept. 13. Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. Sponsored by the Berkeley Historical Society, 848-0181.  

Kala Art Institute, “Water World” Photograph-based images of water by a diverse group of artists. Photography, digital imaging and video reveal perspectives on the ways we see and think about water. Exhibition runs May 22 to June 21. 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org  

A New Leaf Gallery, “Kinesis: Contemporary Sculpture in Space and Time.” Wind powered and interactive sculptures on display until June 1, at 1286 Gilman St. www.sculpturesite.com 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery, “Painted Blessings,” painted breast castings by Bibiana Lai. Exhibition runs May 23 - July 3. 5741 Telegraph Ave. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org

It’s a deadly disease that could be heading to California, and it isn’t SARS. 

The West Nile Virus, a mosquito-borne disease, appeared in New York City in 1999 and has spread further west every summer. 

“It takes over about a quarter of the country every year,” said William Hamersky, environmental specialist for the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District. “That’s the scary part.” 

But experts say Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco may not be hard-hit by the virus, which killed 284 Americans last year. 

“This is a safe area,” said UC Berkeley epidemiologist William Reeves, explaining that cool temperatures and effective control measures have limited the local mosquito population. “Be happy you live in Berkeley.” 

Still, Reeves warns that an infected traveler arriving on an airplane or a migrating bird that carries the disease could create a local problem. 

Blood transfusion is also a danger. Doctors reported in September that the virus could be transmitted via donated blood, and since then there have been 21 confirmed cases across the nation, with six deaths. 

“I think it does pose a risk,” said UC Berkeley epidemiologist Arthur Reingold.  

In recent months local companies Roche Diagnostics of Pleasanton and Chiron Corporation of Emeryville have scrambled to develop and ship West Nile Virus tests to the nation’s blood banks.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants all donated blood screened for West Nile Virus by July 1. Becky O’Connor, spokesman for American Red Cross Blood Services for Northern California, which supplies 23 East Bay hospitals including Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley and Oakland, said her blood bank will meet the July 1 deadline with a test developed by Chiron. 

“In the meantime, until the test is available, unfortunately, we are not able to test for West Nile Virus,” she said. 

O’Connor noted that West Nile has not yet hit California, where the Red Cross gets 70 percent of its blood for local use. The remaining 30 percent, she said, comes from surrounding states.  

O’Connor said the chances of receiving infected blood are slim and that patients in need should not hesitate to get a transfusion before July 1. 

“The benefits far outweigh the risks,” she said.  

West Nile is a “flavivirus” commonly found in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East and is closely related to the St. Louis encephalitis virus found in the United States. 

Mosquitoes spread the disease by biting an infected animal — usually a bird or horse — and passing the virus to a human or another animal.  

Most people infected with West Nile Virus do not have any symptoms, but about 20 percent develop a fever, headache or body aches. About one in 150 come down with more severe symptoms, including encephalitis, a life-threatening swelling of the brain. 

Last year, West Nile Virus infected 4,156 Americans, including one Californian in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There have been no human cases yet this year. 

The virus tends to appear in late summer, but the death of an infected Minnesota horse in early May has stoked fears that the disease could hit earlier this year. 

Experts say California, with some 52 mosquito abatement districts around the state, is in a good position to handle the West Nile threat, whenever the virus arrives. 

“Frankly, California has been at the leading edge of mosquito abatement,” said Reingold. “This state is generally much better prepared for this than other states.” 

Reeves said the state has a long history of battling mosquitoes that goes back to malaria control efforts begun in 1904. California has also reined in St. Louis encephalitis and western equine encephalitis, both of which peaked in the 1950s, Reeves said. 

“We’re using the same surveillance system that we’ve had for western and St. Louis and they’ve been very effective,” he said. 

The city of Berkeley has joined the fight through a public education campaign that includes pamphlets, articles in a quarterly newsletter and press releases published on the city’s Web site. 

Experts are warning all Californians to take precautionary steps — wearing long sleeves, using insect repellent and eliminating stagnant pools of water, like those in old tires and bird baths, that serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

The following letters were exchanged between Aran Kaufer and Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley: 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to object to the characterizations contained in your article “Doyle House Demolished For Kennedy Project,” of May 22.    

The pertinent facts about me are as follows: I was appointed to the Landmarks Preservation Commission prior to having any association with Panoramic Interests, LLC and well after the LPC had made any decisions related to the Darling Florists Project. Your article contains insinuations relating to my appointment by Councilmember Breland which you know to be patently false.  I demand that you formally retract your implication that my role with the LPC and my employment with Panoramic Interests are in any way related. 

The people of Berkeley deserve fair and balanced news.  It is obvious that the Berkeley Daily Planet cannot provide this service. 

Aran Kaufer 

• 

Dear Aran, 

Thank you for your letter.  It’s too late today to get in the Friday edition, but the Planet will be happy to run it on Tuesday. 

I notice there was one factual mistake in the caption of the picture in last Tuesday’s edition. I see that your name is misspelled, so we will correct that error on Tuesday. 

Your letter does not appear to say that any of the other information in the caption was factually incorrect as printed. Please inform the Planet as soon as possible if you can cite any  factual statement in the caption which you believe to be untrue and for which you request a retraction. Please also inform the Planet about what you believe the correct fact to be in such a case. 

Becky O’Malley 

• 

Dear Ms. O’Malley, 

If you insist upon hiding behind a disguise of objectivism with statements like “factually incorrect as printed,” that is your choice.  However, no legitimate newspaper would publish a statement like “Kaufer was recently appointed to the commission by City Councilmember Margaret Breland, who received significant campaign contributions from Kennedy and his business associates,” which obviously and willfully insinuates bribery, without a modicum of evidence. 

 It’s your hobby, print what you like. 

 Aran Kaufer

The Romare Bearden mural that has served for nearly 30 years as a backdrop to the drama of Berkeley city politics is going on a two-year tour with the National Gallery of Art as the centerpiece of a Bearden retrospective. 

From behind the City Council dais, the 11-foot-by-16-foot mural has presided over the polemics, compromise and exhortation from which Berkeley’s laws and policies are forged. In the mid-1970s, the city chose for its logo the section of the mural that depicts four men of different races. The ubiquitous logo appears on all city-owned vehicles, business cards, pamphlets and letterhead.  

One of City Manager Weldon Rucker’s first official actions — after City Council confirmed him in 2001— was the enhancement of the logo’s colors so it more accurately represented the image on the mural. Rucker said the mural, which is a collage of painted and photographic images of local people and landmarks, captures Berkeley’s diversity.  

“A great many changes were taking place in Berkeley when Bearden was here. It was the aftermath of the Free Speech Movement, the civil rights movement was going strong, there were anti-war protests and the unions were gaining influence,” said Rucker, who met Bearden when he was researching the mural. “He was able to capture Berkeley, the old and the new, in a snapshot.” 

National Gallery of Art curators regard Bearden, who died in 1988 at the age of 77, as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. The curators have been planning the retrospective for the last two years and recently decided to make the mural, titled “Berkeley, The City and its People,” the centerpiece of the retrospective. 

“The gallery gave the city high marks for working with a well-known African-American artist and integrating his interpretation into the fabric of city life and image,” Civic Arts Coordinator Mary Ann Merker said.  

Museum curators will dismantle the mural, which consists of five panels, and ship it to Washington, D.C., for the Sept. 15 opening of the retrospective at the National Museum of Art. Afterward the retrospective will travel to Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco and New York. The mural is scheduled to return home in 2005. 

The museum is also making a 30-minute documentary about the mural and its place in Berkeley’s civic identity.  

Bearden first attended New York University with the intent of becoming a doctor. He received a degree in science in 1936 but later decided to study art at the New York Arts Student League. 

Art historians consider Bearden, along with artists Hale Woodruff, Charles Alston and Norman Lewis, to be part of the African-American Vanguard of Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1963, Bearden co-founded the Spiral Group, a collection of African-American artists who limited the colors in their works to black and white as a symbol of racial conflict. Bearden was enjoying a high degree of success when the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission approached him about creating a mural.  

In 1971, City Council Chambers’ backdrop was a black-and-white, aerial photograph of Berkeley adorned with two portraits, one of President George Washington and the other of President Abraham Lincoln. 

According to Carl Worth, who was civic arts director at the time, the council wanted to liven up the chambers a bit.  

“The council had gone through a transformation,” he said. “There were two newly elected African-American councilmembers and the council had a more egalitarian point of view. They wanted a mural that would reflect that.” 

Worth said he attended a Bearden exhibit at the Berkeley Art Museum in 1971 and immediately thought Bearden’s style and subject matter would be ideal for the council’s chamber wall.  

The Civic Arts Commission reached an agreement with Bearden to create the mural for $16,000 (it was recently appraised at $1.25 million). Bearden and his wife, Nanette, spent 10 days in Berkeley taking pictures, sitting in on community meetings and getting to know the locals.  

“They attended two local church services and a Buddhist service,” said Worth, who acted as Bearden’s tour guide, secretary and driver during his stay. “They also went to a City Council meeting, a Housing Commission meeting and an Asian Youth Alliance meeting.” 

Bearden then returned to New York to work on the mural, which was completed and installed in December 1973.  

The unveiling of the mural was not without controversy. There were those who criticized aspects of the mural such as the reversed depiction of the Bay Bridge. Others thought it inappropriate for a New York artist to receive such a high-profile commission when there were so many local artists. 

Peter Selz, former UC Berkeley art professor and former director of the Berkeley Art Museum, organized the Bearden exhibit in 1971. He said the city is lucky to have the mural. 

“At the time, the council simply wanted to add a picture of an important black person to the two presidents that were up there.” he said. “The Bearden mural was a much better idea.”

For anyone living in Berkeley in the fifties and sixties, the “ticky tackys” of that time today seem luxurious apartments when compared to the cramped, high-density living quarters built by developers of late. 

Indeed, some plans even offer a two-bedroom apartment crammed into 600 square feet. 

As though such congestion were not enough, the most recent housing developments in Berkeley call for an alarming increase in huge, overscaled buildings. With the blessing of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), City Hall has shown little interest in stopping gigantic, five-story, Kennedy-style cracker boxes on transit corridors that have already appeared.  

Many others are in the approval pipeline for the flatlands exclusively. 

With a goodly amount of old fashioned wizardry, EcoCity planners and advocates of “Smart Growth” have been urging residents to live the really “smart” life of the future. For example, to quote from Richard Register’s latest publication, “EcoCity 2002”:  

“Good examples and policies will build up and capture the imagination ... We’ll get over the threshold of sufficient votes to pass important policies and launch projects, and the latent energy of the whole community will release a cascade of creativity.” 

Thus saith Register, having grasped the grand directions of future urban development. You will pass out in amazement, wonder and disbelief at how such incredible statements could be made, commandeering nothing less than the future of mankind with such a masterful sweep. With the eyes of a visionary peering beyond the horizon deep into a land of unbearable enchantment, he seems utterly oblivious of the precarious, seismic nature of the seemingly solid ground on which he stands. 

Read further, for another example in the same vein written by the author 15 years earlier: 

“The city owns most of the land there, and outrageously enough from the ecological point of view, most of it is parking — in spite of good public transit. And so, a land trade with substantial development rights to Santa Fe would be well within the realm of possibility. The marina already has enough visitors, along with some houseboat dwellers, that neighborhood stores and some jobs could be built into new offices and housing on the site. Venice-like canals could be dredged at this location, and buildings constructed at densities comparable to Venice’s.” 

In superimposing this vision of the Renaissance onto Berkeley, the author was clearly unaware that most structures on the land-fill of the marina are likely to sink or collapse in a liquefied mush during a seismic catastrophe. In a recent forum on the height of buildings, even the Sierra Club completely ignored the relevance of this latent, but very real, seismic hazard. 

Enough said. The more one reads of Register’s exuberant stream-of-consciousness about rooftop gardens, bridges between high-rises and the plowing up of neighborhoods, the less one can endure. How embarrassing to have gone on and on with such adventurous innocence about over-arching bridges spanning the wide spaces between ... yea, reaching unto “the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces” (Shakespeare). Indeed, attention needs to be given to EcoCity writings, if only to publicize their slick wizardry in the manipulation of ideas. 

It has been said that “the mistakes of lawyers hang in the air, while the mistakes of doctors are oft interred with their bones.” It can be conceded that by ignoring Berkeley’s “fault line,” the faults of EcoCity Planners may be catastrophic.  

Alex Nicoloff is a Berkeley resident. 

Alex Nicoloff  

SAN FRANCISCO — In barrios, inner-city communities and immigrant enclaves nationwide, ethnic media reporters cover stories often ignored by mainstream newsrooms. Now, with a media deregulation plan being formulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), critics fear that ethnic media’s civic role may be undermined. 

“The FCC has failed even to consider what abandoning its media rules will do to African-American, Latino, Asian and many, many other communities,” says Michael J. Copps, one of two Democrats on the FCC, a five-person regulatory body appointed by the president. 

Stories like the nationwide fight for drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants get front-page treatment in the nation’s immigrant community and in-language press, part of ethnic media’s unique function as an information link between its readers and the larger U.S. society. In California alone, over 1,000 ethnic media outlets serve booming populations. At least seven ethnic dailies in the state have circulations of 50,000 or more, hundreds of radio stations are aimed at ethnic listeners and, in Los Angeles, a television station focuses on Central Americans. 

Critics say changes to media ownership rules being considered at the FCC amount to a sweeping deregulation that will accelerate big corporations’ entry into ethnic markets. They say the strong community focus of ethnic media could be eroded and that minority owners may be squeezed out. 

Existing restrictions on ownership help those new to media or with limited funds more easily enter the field, says Félix Gutiérrez, a visiting professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications. “If these entry points are not preserved, the communications sector would carry into the 21st century the gender and ethnic disparities of the 20th,” Guiterrez says. 

Under relaxed ownership rules, some ethnic media owners will also face tougher competition for ad dollars, and many will receive buyout offers, Gutiérrez says. 

Ethnic markets are increasingly attractive to major corporations. Spending on the Hispanic ad market alone was a record $3 billion in 2002, according to the Association of Hispanic Ad Agencies. 

Current media ownership rules tend to keep big media invested in the mainstream or “general market.” The rules limit one owner to eight radio stations and one of the top four TV stations in a city. Also, one company cannot own a daily newspaper and a radio or television station in the same market.  

These rules, and others, are likely to be lifted or relaxed in the vote scheduled for June 2, according to FCC officials. Michael K. Powell, son of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, chairs the five-member FCC and is a proponent of media deregulation. 

Jonathan S. Adelstein, the other Democratic commissioner, says the expected changes will trigger a “tsunami” of consolidation that favors conglomerates such as AOL Time Warner, News Corp., Disney and Viacom. 

The head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Ciro Rodríguez (D-Tex.), sent a letter to Powell expressing worry at the proposed rule changes in light of the “rapid consolidation currently taking place in the Latino media market” and its unclear impact on Hispanic-owned media. 

With investors such as U.S. radio giant Clear Channel and California billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio playing pivotal roles, a proposed $3.5 billion merger announced in 2002 folded Hispanic Broadcasting Inc., the largest Latino radio chain, into No. 1 Spanish-language television network Univision.  

Telemundo— the second-largest Spanish-language network — was purchased by NBC in 2002. 

Some have accused Univision, a publicly traded company, of trying to monopolize the Latino media with its Internet, record label, television and now radio interests. But Stephanie Pillersdorf, Univision spokeswoman, says a muscular Univision helps the entire Hispanic media attract investment and high-profile ad clients. “I think it was about time there was a Hispanic company that could compete with the likes of AOL Time Warner,” Pillersdorf says. 

Pillersdorf says Univision can grow without losing the community focus that has characterized its news stations. 

Powell has said he believes big companies are often in consumers’ interests, since they can invest in more varied and high-quality programming. Plus, he says, technology like cable and Internet has helped produce a dizzying array of outlets with niche audiences. He argues “fierce competition” leads to a media that is responsive to U.S. consumers. 

But Harrison Chastang, news director of San Francisco’s African American-owned KPOO-FM, said past media deregulation led to less competition and less choice. 

“One of the biggest victims of radio consolidation has been black-owned radio,” Chastang wrote recently in an editorial for the San Francisco Bay View, a black newspaper. 

As a result of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, five corporations, including Clear Channel, which has over 1,200 stations, now own 80 percent of U.S. radio stations, Chastang wrote. 

José del Castillo, publisher of San Francisco’s El Mensajero weekly, says he and others in community publishing could be affected by the scrapping of the rule that prohibits one owner from having both broadcast properties and a daily newspaper in one area: “Someone like Univision could decide to get involved in publishing and create all kinds of havoc.” 

Felix Guo, station manager of the Chinese-language KAZN radio in Los Angeles, part of the Chinese-owned Multicultural Broadcasting Inc., says his mid-sized company is financially strong and not worried about surviving under new rules. 

However, Guo says, true ethnic voices may become harder to find, since deregulation will favor bigger companies that, regardless of their commitment to ethnic audiences, are less steeped in the concerns of specific communities. “We need more, not less, regulation,” he said. “Particularly in these times of catastrophic events, we need to hear that weaker voice. It’s that minority voice being heard that makes democracy work.”

Berkeley’s Mayor Tom Bates needs to brush up on the history of the city of Berkeley’s and community members’ relationship with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) as well as the democratic process known as Roberts’ Rules of Order. 

Bates, without a motion, on March 25, 2003, unilaterally tabled an agenda item asking for a meeting and extended comment period on LBNL’s proposed construction of a molecular foundry. Bates then proceeded, without benefit of further council direction, to follow up on a previous council motion requesting a meeting on the molecular foundry. But this time, Bates must have forgotten what he had written to the lab on Feb. 5 — “I am offering to host a community meeting on upcoming lab projects, including the molecular foundry ... Such meetings would be held fairly ...” — because he allowed the lab to host the meeting and call all the shots. 

The result was a colossal travesty: A meeting held May 8 at the Haas Clubhouse in Strawberry Canyon, inaccessible by public transportation, at which there were virtually no seats for the 75 or more people attending who were expected to have simultaneous “conversations” with lab employees stationed at booths devoted to “The Berkeley Lab,” “Scientific Initiative,” “Fire Protection” and, low and behold, the “Molecular Foundry.” The ensuing chaos arose out of Mayor Bates’ desire to rectify his belief that “terrible relations existed between the lab and the community when I came into office” (Planet, May 6-8 edition) and “I want them to start to talk to each other” (West County Times, May 10 edition). 

Following the Berkeley City Council’s unanimous vote in 1996 calling for the permanent closure of the National Tritium Labeling facility, LBNL, the city, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Departments of Health and Toxic Substances Control set up a Tritium Issues Workgroup. The group met with representatives from Berkeley’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) and the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste for 25 months.  

At that point, all CEAC and community members, with the backing of Rep. Barbara Lee, withdrew from the tritium workgroup because of the lab’s and the environmental regulators’ lack of good faith and cooperation. Abhorring a vacuum, the lab, about a year or so later, set up an Environmental Sampling Project Task Force (ESPTF) for which they selected the representatives who would represent the organizations the lab chose to represent the community. However, the concerned community, represented by the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste (CMTW) was allowed one representative at the table. 

During the realm of the ESPTF, thanks to Representative Lee’s having arranged a meeting between the National Institutes of Health (which fully funded the tritium facility) and the CMTW, NIH decided to end its funding of the facility. So the “talking” between the community and the lab on that issue soon ended. (Except for clean-up.) 

Terrible relations exist between the lab and the community because of the lab’s utter disregard of the city’s resolutions, its Nuclear Free Berkeley ordinance and the health, safety and comfort of the general community. The U.S Department of Energy, formally named the Atomic Energy Commission, which owns the Lawrence Berkeley (Radiation) Lab, is a part of the federal government. The Berkeley City Council has passed resolutions condemning the War on Iraq and asking that the city not cooperate with the U.S. Patriot Act. I hope Mayor Bates will not attempt to rescind (unilaterally or otherwise) these resolutions in the name of improving the city’s “terrible relations” with the federal government.  

Gene Bernardi is a Berkeley resident and former co-chair of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste.

In one universe, George W. Bush is soaring from victory to victory. His wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, waged with solid domestic support, each ousted unsavory regimes at a cost of relatively few U.S. casualties. He has prodded a historic series of tax cuts through Congress.  

Bush’s approval ratings have steadily topped 60 percent, despite weak support for many of his policies and low confidence in his economic stewardship. Polls indicate that he has transferred a chunk of that personal popularity to the Republican Party. 

And a disciplined team of White House image makers keeps stoking Bush’s winning profile through managed events like Bush’s audacious May 1 landing on an aircraft carrier, where he emerged from a Navy jet wearing a buff flight suit. 

Call this domain Headline Universe, or Head of the Newscast Universe. Watch only the first few minutes of TV news, and this is what you see. 

In a parallel universe, though, the national media have done a diligent job of reporting how all of these superficial victories may be unraveling: 

• Terrorist bombings in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Chechnya — the last two timed to greet Colin Powell’s arrivals — seemed to validate warnings that the Iraq war could backfire by reinvigorating Al Qaeda. 

• Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and their confidants all remain conspicuously at large. On May 21, Al Jazeera dutifully broadcast Al Qaeda’s deputy chief’s taped call for attacks on Western targets worldwide.  

• Postwar Iraq is in lawless chaos, with everything from utilities to police patrols broken. U.S. occupiers are the target of “go home” demonstrations. Ongoing attacks and accidents are conspiring to kill U.S. troops an average of nearly once per day, the Washington Post estimates. 

• No legitimate or cohesive Iraqi government is in sight, and self-declared leaders of the long suppressed Shiite majority are advocating an Iranian-style theocracy. Afghanistan itself is decaying into pre-Taliban warlordism. 

• Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction are nowhere to be found. Yet the U.S. took nearly two months to respond to United Nations demands to stop the looting of Iraq’s main nuclear research site. 

• Bush’s tax cuts will, according to expert consensus, stimulate little job creation, and will offer scant tax relief to the great majority of Americans who are not rich. Yet they will lock in record federal deficits for years to come, endangering core benefits programs like Social Security and Medicare. 

• Finally, Bush’s “Top Gun” landing provoked Democrats’ criticism that the White House was filming a re-election commercial at taxpayer expense. Word emerged that, to provide Bush’s backdrop, the Navy had delayed overnight the carrier crew’s long-awaited return to port.  

In this parallel universe, the media have — at least at the serious national level — been doing their jobs in covering the untidy backside of a carefully polled and presented presidency. 

Call that universe Boring World. Is anyone much paying attention to these details? None of these criticisms has “bounced” into broad or sustained outrage. Ultimately, the outcome of next year’s elections will depend on the extent to which these two universes collide. 

This administration has taken its playbook from the Reagan administration. In a famous anecdote, CBS News correspondent Lesley Stahl recalled the difficulty of working around Ronald Reagan's image makers. 

Stahl had broadcast a story about the contradictions between Reagan’s “compassionate” photo opportunities (visits to the Special Olympics and to a senior citizens’ apartment building) and his policies (budget cuts for disabled and seniors’ programs). 

She worried that she’d antagonized the White House. But, Stahl said, “They loved it.” She quoted a Reagan aide telling her, “They didn’t hear you. They only saw [the] pictures.” 

The current White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, and his team have learned well from their Reagan mentors. That’s apparent from what Bartlett (who is no relation to “The West Wing’s” fictional President Jed Bartlet) said in a May 16 front-page New York Times article on their work.  

“Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don’t have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast,” he told the Times. 

“But if they can have an instant understanding of what the president is talking about by seeing 60 seconds of television, you accomplish your goals as communicators.”

America’s college graduates are entering the worst job market in 20 years. With few good jobs on the horizon, many graduating seniors think it is time to get an advanced degree. They should think again.  

Applications to both medical and law schools increased this year, while more people than ever are taking the standardized tests for graduate school. Those who can borrow or whose parents can afford it probably figure another degree is worth the cost and will win them a better-paying job when the economy turns up.  

But the market value of advanced degrees is unlikely to rise enough to make the investments worth it, especially after the supply of people with such degrees expands. Even before the economy foundered, the median take-home pay of lawyers and doctors was dropping, and many newly minted Ph.D.s couldn’t find university appointments.  

Many college graduates would do better to lower their sights in the short term and take a “go-for” job (as in “go for coffee”) in an industry or profession that interests them. Even if the job doesn’t pay much, it can provide a window on to that particular world of work. 

If they can afford to go without a paycheck for six months or a year, they might consider taking an internship or volunteering. Teaching in a poor rural or inner-city school, for example, offers more hard-won lessons about planning, leadership and marketing than any business school. And more teachers will be needed in the next decade than in the last.  

The major benefit is not academic or professional knowledge so much as self-knowledge. Do you thrive in a hard-charging atmosphere or need quiet and stability? How important is it for you to believe passionately in a cause? 

College graduates are more likely to discover these sorts of things by working full time than by getting another degree. Once they learn them, they will have a better chance of finding work they love when the economy rebounds.  

Robert B. Reich served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor during President Clinton’s first term.

I took a flight into Kennedy International Airport, got myself through security, grabbed a shuttle into Manhattan, made my way to the Port Authority, bought a bus ticket for Atlantic City and called my parents in New Jersey from a pay phone to say I’d be arriving in three hours.  

“Where should we pick you up?” my dad shouted into the telephone. 

“How about Caesar’s?” 

“Where?” he asked 

“Caesar’s Casino,” I shouted. 

“That phone isn’t worth a damn,” Dad yelled. “Are you on a pay phone? Bang it against the wall. I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.” 

I banged the telephone against the wall as he told me to. I tried again. “Dad, can you hear me now? Do you have your hearing aid in?” 

“What?” Jeez, this is a sorry connection,” he said. “Look, I’ll talk and you just say yes or no, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“What?” 

“Yes!” I shouted. 

“Do you want your mother and I to pick you up at a casino?” 

“Yes,” I screamed. 

“Bally’s?” 

“No.” 

“Jeez,” he mumbled. “Where then?” After I pause I heard him shout at my mother. “Edna! Where should we pick up Susan? She says not Bally’s.” 

“How about Caesar’s?” Mom’s suggestion was loud enough for me to hear. 

“Caesar’s!” shouted Dad into the telephone. 

“Yes!” I shouted back. 

“Okay,” he said. “Your mother and I will meet you at Caesar’s. Under the big statue.” 

“Which one?” I forgot that the conversation was to be limited to yes and no responses. But he must have heard me because he said, “Hold on. I’ll ask your mother.” 

He came back. “Your mother says we’ll meet under the statue of Caesar without any clothes on.” 

“Dad, all the statues are naked at Caesar’s.” 

“Yes, but this is the one where he’s really naked. Full-frontal nudity. You can’t miss it. It’s huge. I mean he’s huge. Big hands, big ears, big everything. Your mother and will be standing right under, you know, under Caesar.” 

“Is he inside or outside?” 

“Who?” shouted Dad. 

“Caesar! Is it the outside statue where he’s in a chariot or is he inside standing in a fountain?”  

“Neither,” Dad said. “He’s right by the nickel slots. You can’t miss him. He’s all bare.” 

“Your time is up,” said a voice on the pay phone. “Seventy-five cents, please.” 

“What?” Dad shouted. 

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m hanging up now. I’ll meet you in three hours under the bare statue of Caesar by the nickel slot machines.” 

“Okay,” Dad said. “Is it safe on the bus?” 

“Yes,” I said. I hung up the telephone and caught the bus just before it pulled out of the station.  

Every time I go home to visit my folks, I do the same thing. I take a red-eye into Kennedy, grab a shuttle to the Port Authority and ride a casino bus to Atlantic City. Even with all the changes in the world since Sept. 11, the casino shuttle buses still run every 30 minutes, straight down the New Jersey Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City. At 50, I am still the youngest person on the bus, the only one with luggage and the only passenger without a bag lunch. The ticket price has gone up. Before it was $21 and you got $19 back in chips when you arrived at Bally’s or Caesar’s. Now the ticket costs $28 and you only get back $14. Still, it’s a good deal, and it takes me where I need to go. 

I got off the bus and made my way to the all-bare statue of Caesar. There, right below his you-know-what, were my parents, holding on to one another and beaming. “Hello, sweetheart!” Dad shouted. “You found us!” 

“I couldn’t miss you,” I said. “You’re standing right where you said you’d be.” 

“What?” Dad said, shouting over the noise of the slot machines. “You can’t miss this statue, can you? They need to put clothes on this guy, but then we wouldn’t know where to meet you would we?”

The following is an excerpt of an article on the 10-year anniversary of Berkeley’s first municipal elections, 125 years ago this month, published in the Berkeley Advocate on April 18, 1888: 

Last Sunday closed the tenth year of our incorporation as a town and it brings back to memory the scenes and incidents that occurred before our first town election which took place on Monday, May 13, 1878.  

Some excitement had been caused throughout California by the anti-Chinese crusade of Denis Kearney and following up the practice in other towns and cities an anti-Chinese club had been formed in West Berkeley, of which M.M. Gilman was president.  

As soon as the town was incorporated this club became the People’s Party. The convention was held in what was then known as the Ocean View (West Berkeley) Schoolhouse, although several informal talks were held in Mr. Doyle’s house on University Avenue near where Dr. Hilton now resides. 

A laughable scene took place there one evening. A son of the “ould sod” was speaking and in the course of his remarks quoted Denis Kearney saying this and Denis Kearney saying that until a young man (now one of our town officials) jumped to his feet and informed the speaker that the party present were Americans and did not care a doughnut for Denis Kearney, upon which Pat got his mad up and shouted “By God Denis Kearney is our apostle and I will lick the man who says anything agin him.” 

The convention for the nomination of officers took place at the schoolhouse on the evenings of May 6 and 7. There were no delegates in those days. Nominees were named and each man voted as he pleased by writing his favorite’s name on pieces of paper, which were soon gathered up, counted and the successful man named. 

The great contest was for the position of Marshal, and although Philip Montoe seemed to be the favorite on the first night the prize was awarded by Marvin M. Gilman on the second evening. There was no great amount of wire pulling made to obtain any office and the writer distinctly remembers the coaxing and pleading which was made to Edward L. Wright (brother to W.C. Wright) before he would accept a nomination. The first election was held in Union Hall and the total number of votes polled was 304. 

Local historian Richard Schwartz found this article, which he plans to use in his next book, a prequel to his book “Berkeley 1900, Daily Life at the Turn of the Century.”

The short version of this review is that the Shotgun Players’ new production, Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milk Wood,” is terrific. If you have any interest or response or even curiosity about the famed Welch poet, his poetry or maybe just 20th-century literature, go get a ticket. 

If those subjects leave you cold, the show is still a worthwhile investment for its extraordinary display of ensemble work. The eight actors, four each, male and female, never broke character or hesitated with a false movement throughout the evening. There were no lost seconds. Since they’re tossing around over 50 different characterizations through an unbroken, often dance-like flow of action on and off a small, bare stage, this is no mean accomplishment.  

The actors, a remarkably gifted lot, each create far too many characters to identify in the usual way. There are no stars in this performance. But there are eight talented actors who each deserves recognition: Gary Dailey, Jeffrey Hoffman, Gwen Larsen, Rami Margron, Desiray McFall, Lisa Patten, Brent Rosenbaum and Sean Tarrant. The movement designer, Amy Sass, is credited by the cast for the imaginative patterning of their movements; she, in turn, insists that the cast developed their own design.  

The action traces an ordinary day in the coastal Welch town of Llareggub, starting with the pre-dawn dreams of the blind Captain Cat who hears the voices of his drowned sailors, who want contact with life on earth. Through the day, many characters recur, such as the town floozy who shockingly beds most anyone who asks (this was, after all, largely written in the forties) but sings wistfully of a boy who kissed her before he died. There is no particular plot. This is simply the story of the lives of the people who live in this little spot on earth. 

There are many marvelously funny characters such as the twice-widowed lady who still terrifies the ghosts of her husbands with her compulsive housekeeping; the lanky postman who reads the mail before delivering it and vigorously expresses his opinions to the official recipients, and the courteous husband who spends his time fantasizing about poisoning his wife. 

Clearly, much of the play is devoted to overtly funny material. Not all of it, by any means. There are touching love relationships and more than one painful situation; we’re talking about a full day in a whole town. But the humor presents an interesting problem. On opening night, the comic portions of the play, although well and appropriately acted, didn’t trigger much laughter. Quite possibly Thomas’ lavish reliance on poetic license is responsible. His language is unquestioningly powerful, but probably easier to comprehend in writing than by ear.  

Here’s an example: “Mr. Utah Watkins counts, all night, the wife-faced sheep as they leap the fences on the hill, smiling and knitting and bleating just like Mrs. Utah Watkins.” There are many much more extravagant usages. It might be helpful for someone unfamiliar with Thomas’ work to at least glance through a copy of “Under Milk Wood” before seeing the play. 

Thomas didn’t write this for the stage. BBC had given him a contract for a radio play, so there was no need to observe the usual niceties that make it possible for one scene to follow another in some kind of coherent fashion. On radio, it wouldn’t matter if there was no way for a couple of actors to get off stage before the scene suddenly changed to some completely different place. The ensemble handles this problem by simply having actors change personalities. They become someone else. That’s all.  

It works.

The following is adapted from a Clemens Lecture presented in April for the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn. 

First things first: I want it clearly understood that this mustache I’m wearing is my father’s mustache. I should have brought his photograph. My big brother Bernie, now dead, a physical chemist who discovered that silver iodide can sometimes make it snow or rain, he wore it, too. 

Speaking of weather: Mark Twain said some readers complained that there wasn’t enough weather in his stories. So he wrote some weather, which they could insert wherever they thought it would help some. 

Mark Twain was said to have shed a tear of gratitude and incredulousness when honored for his writing by Oxford University in England. And I should shed a tear, surely, having been asked at the age of 80, and because of what I myself have written, to speak under the auspices of the sacred Mark Twain House here in Hartford. 

What other American landmark is as sacred to me as the Mark Twain House? The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln were country boys from Middle America, and both of them made the American people laugh at themselves and appreciate really important, really moral jokes. 

I note that construction has stopped of a Mark Twain Museum here in Hartford — behind the carriage house of the Mark Twain House at 351 Farmington Ave. 

Work persons have been sent home from that site because American “conservatives,” as they call themselves, on Wall Street and at the head of so many of our corporations, have stolen a major fraction of our private savings, have ruined investors and employees by means of fraud and outright piracy. 

Shock and awe. 

And now, having installed themselves as our federal government, or taken control of it from outside, they have squandered our public treasury and then some. They have created a public debt of such appalling magnitude that our descendants, for whom we had such high hopes, will come into this world as poor as church mice. 

Shock and awe. 

What are the conservatives doing with all the money and power that used to belong to all of us? They are telling us to be absolutely terrified, and to run around in circles like chickens with their heads cut off. But they will save us. They are making us take off our shoes at airports. Can anybody here think of a more hilarious practical joke than that one? 

Smile, America. You’re on Candid Camera. 

And they have turned loose a myriad of our high-tech weapons, each one costing more than a hundred high schools, on a Third World country, in order to shock and awe human beings like us, like Adam and Eve, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. 

The other day I asked former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton what he thought of our great victory over Iraq, and he said, “Mohammed Ali versus Mr. Rogers.” 

What are conservatives? They are people who will move heaven and earth, if they have to, who will ruin a company or a country or a planet, to prove to us and to themselves that they are superior to everybody else, except for their pals. They take good care of their pals, keep them out of jail — and so on. 

Conservatives are crazy as bedbugs. They are bullies. 

Shock and awe. 

Class war? You bet. 

They have proved their superiority to admirers of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain and Jesus of Nazareth, with an able assist from television, making inconsequential our protests against their war. 

What has happened to us? We have suffered a technological calamity. Television is now our form of government. 

On what grounds did we protest their war? I could name many, but I need name only one, which is common sense. 

Be that as it may, construction of the Mark Twain Museum will sooner or later be resumed. And I, the son and grandson of Indiana architects, seize this opportunity to suggest a feature which I hope will be included in the completed structure, words to be chiseled into the capstone over the main entrance. 

Here is what I think would be fun to put up there, and Mark Twain loved fun more than anything. I have tinkered with something famous he said, which is: “Be good and you will be lonesome.” That is from Following the Equator. OK? 

So envision what a majestic front entrance the Mark Twain Museum will have someday. And imagine that these words have been chiseled into the noble capstone and painted gold: 

Be good and you will be lonesome most places, but not here, not here. 

One of the most humiliated and heartbroken pieces Twain ever wrote was about the slaughter of 600 Moro men, women and children by our soldiers during our liberation of the people of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Our brave commander was Leonard Wood, who now has a fort named after him. Fort Leonard Wood. 

What did Abraham Lincoln have to say about such American imperialist wars? Those are wars which, on one noble pretext or another, actually aim to increase the natural resources and pools of tame labor available to the richest Americans who have the best political connections. 

And it is almost always a mistake to mention Abraham Lincoln in a speech about something or somebody else. He always steals the show. I am about to quote him. 

Lincoln was only a congressman when he said in 1848 what I am about to echo. He was heartbroken and humiliated by our war on Mexico, which had never attacked us. 

We were making California our own, and a lot of other people and properties, and doing it as though butchering Mexican soldiers who were only defending their homeland against invaders wasn’t murder. 

What other stuff besides California? Well, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. 

The person Congressman Lincoln had in mind when he said what he said was James Polk, our president at the time. Abraham Lincoln said of Polk, his president, our armed forces’ commander-in-chief, “Trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory, that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood -- that serpent’s eye, that charms to destroy, he plunged into war.” 

Holy smokes! I almost said, “Holy shit!” And I thought I was a writer! 

Do you know we actually captured Mexico City during the Mexican War? Why isn’t that a national holiday? And why isn’t the face of James Polk up on Mount Rushmore, along with Ronald Reagan’s? 

What made Mexico so evil back in the 1840s, well before our Civil War, is that slavery was illegal there. Remember the Alamo? 

My great-grandfather’s name was Clemens Vonnegut. Small world, small world. This piquant coincidence is not a fabrication. Clemens Vonnegut called himself a “freethinker,” an antique word for humanist. He was a hardware merchant in Indianapolis. 

So, 120 years ago, say, there was one man who was both Clemens and Vonnegut. I would have liked being such a person a lot. I only wish I could have been such a person tonight. 

I claim no blood relationship with Samuel Clemens of Hannibal, Missouri. “Clemens,” as a first name, is, I believe, like the name “Clementine,” derived from the adjective “clement.” To be clement is to be lenient and compassionate, or, in the case of weather, perfectly heavenly. 

So there’s weather again.  

First published “In These Times”

Two documentary filmmakers held an impromptu showing of their award-winning film, “Bums’ Paradise” Sunday night in a Berkeley pub courtyard after the East Bay Regional Park Police shut down an unofficial showing at the Albany Landfill the previous night.  

According to police, officers turned away close to 300 people who had come to see the film, which is about a colony of 50 homeless men and women who formed a community on the landfill from about 1990 to 2000. The documentary also chronicles the homeless colony’s dismantling during an eviction process set in motion by the city of Albany. 

The homeless village existed for a decade at the west end of Buchanan Street — near the entrance of the landfill — an area also known as the Albany Bulb. 

Filmmakers Tomas McCabe and Andrei Rosen had planned to screen the documentary at the landfill, where it was filmed. However, word of the event quickly spread and several hours before the 9 p.m. show police closed the access road to the landfill and patrolled the desolate, unincorporated spit of land by helicopter. 

“It had been a dream of ours to show the film on the landfill since we began shooting,” McCabe said. “We had been out there setting up for most of the day and when we found out it was shut down, I called the owners of the Lanesplitters Pub — as the helicopter was buzzing over our heads — and they agreed to let us use their outdoor courtyard for the Sunday showing.” 

Lt. John King of the East Bay Regional Park Police said the landfill showing was shut down for safety reasons.  

“They didn’t just advertise for the showing of the film, they also advertised a bonfire, DJs and suggested people bring their own alcoholic beverages,” King said. “It ended up being a real safety issue.” 

King, who has seen part of the documentary, thought it was “fantastic” and said he would like to work with the filmmakers to have a sanctioned showing on the landfill, possibly this summer.  

Since the documentary’s release in October, it has won awards at film festivals and attracted a burgeoning cult following. In addition, Rosen, who is now based in his home town of Moscow, recently sold one-time broadcast rights to Kultura, Russia’s version of the Public Broadcasting System. 

In the documentary, McCabe and Rosen examine the society that developed among the landfill’s inhabitants, most of whom struggled with varying degrees of alcoholism, drug addiction and madness.  

Robert “Rabbit” Barringer, the landfill’s village sage, narrates the documentary. The landfill community, which Barringer describes as “social egalitarianism in disrepute,” was complete with behavioral protocol, artwork and even a castle that served as the community’s structural identity.  

The camera follows Barringer as he walks through the landfill’s tall brush, pointing to bay vistas and introducing residents. He explains how the former dump is perfect for the inhabitants who reject greater society as thoroughly as it rejects them.  

“Untold tons of urban debris and bay dredgings were deposited there, layer by layer, year after year, spreading for nearly a mile into the San Francisco Bay. The landfill stands as a monument to obsolescence,” Barringer says at the beginning of the film. “What could be a more appropriate place for America’s unused people?” 

Mad Mark designed and built the community’s architectural symbol, the two-story, concrete Fairy Castle, complete with parapet and spiral staircase. Mad Mark worked on his project in the dark between ramblings about gases and government medications that were altering the community’s mind. “Well, I think this is a giant spaceship pretending to be the Berkeley Marina,” he says, eyes wide under the brim of a baseball cap. 

According to McCabe, actor Clint Eastwood, who is a California State Park and Recreation Commissioner, has expressed an interest in preserving the castle as a historical landmark.  

Other artistic expressions on the landfill include sculptures and paintings on rocks, driftwood and debris. However, it is the landfill’s poet laureate, James “Jimbow the Hobo” Baily, who best captures the spirit of the community. He writes about vagabonding across the country and his need to live separately from society because of his appearance, anti-social behavior and disposition: “I’m hair lipped, cleft chinned, cross-eyed and I’m a son of a biscuit eater.” 

Baily describes why the landfill gave him piece of mind. 

“To be able to live halfway civilized and not be treated with Proliten, Haldol and Prozac and all this shit that makes people think they’re getting well when they’re not,” he says.  

After the residents are evicted, it is a scene of Baily — silent, shirtless and smoking under the glare of a sterile light in a run-down hotel room — that brings the community’s loss into focus.  

Berkeley resident David Baruch attended the Sunday courtyard showing of Bums’ Paradise and said he was impressed by both the film and the former landfill community. “The film was very well done and it was interesting to see how they made things work, how they helped each other,” he said. “There were a lot of crazies out there, but when you compare it to the rest of the world?” 

Barringer attended the Sunday showing and answered questions from the audience afterward. He said that many of the residents are still in the area and that others have moved on. He said it was possible a government-sponsored camp could be as functional as the one on the landfill, but he had doubts if he would like living in one.  

“There’s always going to be people who are fiercely independent,” he said. “If you want to help those people, leave them alone and let us disappear. We are already rich.” 

The filmmakers are staging another outdoor showing of Bum’s Paradise Saturday at 9 p.m. in an Oakland parking lot located between 15th and 17th streets. Viewers who are on foot or bicycle should bring a portable radio in order to receive sound. For more information about the documentary, visit www.bumsparadise.com 

The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) presents Summer Noon Concerts 2003, a unique series of nine free concerts, Thursdays at noon in June & July, beginning June 5th. From Rhythm & Blues to Brazilian capoeira, these concerts at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza (Shattuck Ave. at Center St.) are a showcase of the culturally rich performing arts in Berkeley. This outdoor summer celebration of Berkeley-based musicians & dancers is just a small sampling of the performing arts happening nightly in clubs, cafes, schools, theaters and concert halls in Downtown Berkeley. 

On Thursday, June 5th, our concert series opens with Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut performing some of the best in R & B, with a splash of jazz and a solid helping of the blues. Soulful Strut appears regularly at many Bay Area nightspots such Enricos Sidewalk Café and Restaurant. 

On Thursday, July 31st, our concert series closes with SoVoSó, a highly visual and imaginative a capella ensemble that sings a compelling mix of jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, world, pop, and improvisational music. The ensemble is made up of former members of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, and McFerrin says, “SoVoSó is tight, soulful, and a whole lotta fun.” 

This event is easily accessible by transit and there is one hour free parking daily from 9 am to 5 pm in Center Street Garage. Seating will be available. 

For a complete schedule of entertainers for the Downtown Berkeley Summer Noon Concerts 2003 visit the Downtown Berkeley Association website at downtownberkeley!

What is authorship after all, I wondered, as I pondered Jayson Blair, formerly of the New York Times, surfing the Internet for juicy details for his stories. 

And then there’s Rick Bragg, also of the Times, who used reporting by a freelancer in a story without giving him credit. Blair got fired for his sins (which included more than surfing). Bragg was suspended last week; he resigned Wednesday.  

Both had violated the Times’ definition of byline integrity: they had used other people’s work and claimed it as their own.  

Reflecting on their fates, I can’t help thinking there’s something quaint about the notion of a journalist reporting and writing a piece all by himself. As a magazine writer and editor and book author, I’ve come to see writing as a group process. Behind every byline there are silent partners: researchers, editors, fact-checkers, spouses, friends, colleagues, lawyers —and Web sites.  

The bigger the publication and the more ambitious the writing, the bigger the platoon of unacknowledged authorial hands. (Doris Kearns Goodwin employs researchers; I borrow an occasional graduate student from the departmental pool.)  

Let’s face it: writing for publication is a complex social act, and the Internet has increased its complexity. It is easier now to draw on other people’s work—to locate it and appropriate it (a quick cut and paste).  

We may have already moved into a postmodern age of authorship, where we can never really be sure who wrote what. Bylines may be quaint holdovers, like the Doric columns on postmodern buildings.  

If that’s the case, we do face a real problem. Bylines are more than ways to claim intellectual property. They are assertions of authenticity. Lending her byline, the writer lends her personal authority to what she says. The more she relies on hidden sources, the less we may trust her.  

But in addition to the byline, there’s another guarantee of authenticity: the publisher — the newspaper, the magazine, the publishing house. The publisher assures readers that the group process used to produce the work under its name is a careful process. In our times, when journalism is big business, these institutions’ integrity is more important to us all than byline integrity.  

That is why the trouble at the Times is so troubling: the Times’ own rules for journalistic integrity seemed so out of touch with these Times reporters’ actual practice. Nobody seemed to be minding the store. 

Even if the Times improves its oversight, that may not be a permanent fix. Things are changing too fast. Rules that made sense yesterday don’t always make sense today. (When most journalists do most of their reporting by telephone, what exactly does “dateline integrity” mean?) Our journalistic conventions are having a hard time keeping up with changing technology. What scholars call the “social construction of truth” is taking on a whole, and often scary, new meaning.  

Carol Polsgrove is author of “It Wasn’t Pretty Folks, But Didn’t We Have Fun? Surviving the Sixties with Esquire’s Harold Hayes,” published by RDR Books in Oakland. A former East Bay resident, she teaches journalism at Indiana University.

It was the kind of mail I usually throw away without opening: a form letter with the return address “Yale Class of 1968 Thirty-Fifth Reunion.” No thanks, I thought. “Bright College Years” (“for God, for country and for Yale”) hasn’t been my song for a long time.  

Besides, reunions terrify me, Yale reunions most of all. It’s not just that I don’t want to replace the fresh faces in my memories with wrinkled ones. Even less do I want to swap stories with the diplomats and deans, the corporate and medical chieftains, who parade in triumph through the Class Notes section of the Alumni Magazine every month. Those notes make me feel puny. A weekend with the chieftains themselves might do me in.  

This time, however, curiosity (or masochism) made me open the envelope and glance at the letter. “Dear Classmates and Friends,” it began — ah yes — and then came the kicker. “I am thrilled to announce that as part of our 35th Reunion, President and Mrs. George W. Bush have offered to host a picnic dinner on the White House lawn on Thursday evening, May 29, 2003.”  

“We’ve been invited to the White House,” I said to Lisa, my wife. “Bushie is inviting all his classmates to a reunion party. Cocktails at six, dinner at seven.” 

“Are you kidding?” she said, and then, after a pause, “Should we go?” 

“Are you out of your mind? We both think the guy is repulsive. Besides, I’ll have to see all my other famous classmates, too. It’ll make me depressed for a year.”  

And that, I thought, was that. A few days later, she brought up the subject again.  

“Maybe we really ought to go.”  

“Think about those poets who turned down Laura Bush’s invitation just before the war started. You said they did the right thing.” 

“This is different — it’s just a class reunion. Anyway, aren’t you curious?” 

I argued back, but I was thinking. Maybe she was right. 

A few days later, at the Claremont — home of progressives and their BMWs — I ran into our feisty, political friend Betty. 

“I hate the son-of-a-bitch, but I think you should go. Go, see what he’s really like and write something about it.” 

The light dawned. I could be like John Hershey at Hiroshima, like Mailer on the steps of the Pentagon. I could be an embedded reporter, writing from the belly of the beast.  

Suddenly, I couldn’t stop telling people where we were going — not just relatives and friends, but everyone: our children’s teachers, waiters, people in stores. 

Scratch a progressive — this one, anyway — and you find a groupie. Is that the right conclusion? It seems true, at least, that a visit to the halls of power and, even more, a chance to touch the hand that touches the button, is something of an aphrodisiac. Perhaps one is more susceptible in middle age, with its load of disappointments and diminished prospects. 

Lisa and I became obsessed with two questions. First, assuming that there was a reception line and we got our 15 seconds with George and Laura, what on earth would we say to them? Second, and possibly more urgent, what should we wear? For me, the answer to that one was easy: the old Yale standby, a jacket and tie. For Lisa, it was not. A dress or a pants suit? Plain or fancy? Dark or light?  

“What should Lisa wear to the White House,” I asked Shelley, who cuts my hair. 

“Something to make a statement and get some attention. How about a bourka?” 

“But it’s a picnic dinner.” 

“How about a picnic bourka — maybe something with little strawberries, kind of Laura Ashley.”  

The question of what to say was just as vexing. First of all, how do you address the First Classmate? Could I call him George? Could I bring myself to call him “Mr. President?” 

And where do we go from there? Should we play Michael Moore: “Mr. President, just where are those famous weapons of mass destruction?” That would require more nerve than I usually possess, and would certainly get a frozen smile and a “Move along now” from the Secret Service.  

Besides, it seems like bad manners to attack someone who invites you to dinner at his house. “Invites” may be the wrong word, since the evening costs $150 per head (the reunion letter carefully says “hosts”). So do we fall back on “Nice to meet you, thank you for having us, nice house you’ve got here, do you own it or rent it, ha ha?” How about something personal? He has twin daughters, and so do we. Should we pull out our pictures and offer to compare notes? 

The other questions are personal. How will it be to face the fact that I am not going to grow up and become president (since I’m coming to visit the boy who did)? How will it be to recognize, as Lisa put it, that this will be our last invitation to the White House — that in middle age, we do many things not just for the first but also for the last time?  

Perhaps we’ll know the answers after the party.