Students at UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law staged a rally supporting affirmative action on Monday, hours after the nation’s high court ruled to uphold the basic tenets of race preferences in college admissions. 

But local legal scholars said the Supreme Court’s decision will have little to no effect on California universities. 

“This largely codifies the status quo,” said UC Berkeley law professor Jesse Choper. 

While the court ruled Monday that colleges may consider race in admissions, it did not require the practice. So in California, public institutions like the University of California and California State University will remain subject to the voter-approved Proposition 209, which bans affirmative action in public admissions and hiring.  

Private institutions like Stanford University, which are not subject to Proposition 209, will be allowed to continue with admissions policies that weigh race as one of many factors. 

The Supreme Court, in its most important statement on affirmative action in a generation, upheld a University of Michigan Law School admissions policy that weighed race as one of several considerations, ruling that the state had a “compelling” interest in promoting diversity on campus.  

In a separate decision, however, the court struck down an undergraduate admissions policy at the university which automatically gave minority students 20 points on a 150-point scale that was used to rank prospective students. 

The rulings were in line with the court’s Bakke decision of 1978, which rejected hard-and-fast quotas but allowed the use of race as a “factor” in college admissions and hiring decisions. 

Although the rulings apply only to admissions at public institutions, they are expected to have broad impacts at private universities and businesses across the country.  

UC Regent Ward Connerly, a conservative activist who led the fight to pass Proposition 209 in 1996, lamented the court’s split ruling—supporting the general use of race, but striking down the point-based system. 

“The decisions handed down today by the Supreme Court are, indeed, mixed and ambiguous,” he said in a statement Monday. “These conflicting decisions consign our nation to another generation of litigation and agony about the constitutionally permissible uses of ‘race.’” 

University of California President Richard Atkinson said, in a statement, that he welcomed the court’s ruling on the law school policy “as a supporter of affirmative action.” 

“[But] as president of the University of California, I also respect the decision of the California voters, who in 1996 eliminated consideration of race and ethnicity in state university admissions,” he said. “The University of California will continue to work through other, legal means to achieve excellence and diversity on our campuses.” 

UC’s admissions of “underrepresented minorities” —blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans—dropped from 18.8 percent in 1997 to 16.7 percent in 1998, the first year Proposition 209 went into effect. 

Since then, UC has guaranteed admission to the top 4 percent of students at every California high school, struggling and successful alike, and instituted “comprehensive review” in admissions, weighing intangible factors like success in the face of adversity alongside traditional measures, like grades and SAT scores. With the new policies in place, admissions of underrepresented minorities have jumped every year and now stand at 19.8 percent.  

Opponents of affirmative action say the 4 percent program and comprehensive review represent an attempt to circumvent Proposition 209. But the university contends that it is simply trying to reach out to new communities and get a fuller sense of every applicant. 

Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan said the UC’s outreach programs appear to be race neutral, well within the law and in no need of Supreme Court review. Monday’s decisions, she said, have no bearing on the new policies. 

“A 4 percent plan that is race neutral might not even come within the range of what is being considered here,” Karlan said. 

At the press conference and rally Monday afternoon, a gathering of UC Berkeley students welcoming the court’s decision and rallying the faithful for the fight against Connerly’s next effort, the controversial Racial Privacy Initiative. The measure, slated for the March 2004 ballot, would prevent the state from collecting data on race. 

Proponents say the initiative marks an important step toward a color-blind society. Opponents say it will block vital research and eliminate any evidence of racial discrimination in public health, housing and education. 

“[The Supreme Court ruling] is a great victory for America, but our work is not yet done in California,” said Mohammad Kashmiri, a third-year law student at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. “We’ve got to defeat Ward Connerly’s new proposition.” 

Andrea Irvin, president of Berkeley College Republicans, said she was “disappointed” that the Supreme Court upheld the consideration of race in admissions, but vowed to continue the fight for Connerly’s initiative on campus.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

Meet Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and acknowledge the commissioners and non-profit organizations that help make a difference in District 5, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. 272-6695. 

100% Biodiesel Fleet Come celebrate the City of Berkeley’s conversion to 100% biodiesel vehicles. An exhibit and ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 981-7000. 

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

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

Berkeley Partners for Parks Haskell-Mabel Mini-Park Play Area Renovation Meeting, at 7 p.m. at the Frances Albrier Community Center, 2800 Park St. at San Pablo Park. Contact Landscape Architect Yi-Liang Kao for more information, 981-6435. 

Cerrito Creek Access Final public meeting on plans for pedestrian and bicycle access along Cerrito Creek from the Ohlone Greenway to the Eastshore State Park, at 7 p.m., Albany City Hall. For information contact Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 or F5creeks@aol.com 

Berkeley Food Policy Council meets at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. The Berkeley Food Policy Council is a coalition of residents, non-profit agencies, community groups, school district and city agencies formed in 1999 to in- 

crease community food access and help build a healthy regional food system. Everyone is welcome. 

548-3333.  

“Crisis in the Schools: What Can be Done?” Discussion with Terry Doran, Berkeley School Board member and teacher Jonah Zern of Edu- 

cation Not Incarceration, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berke- 

ley Senior Center. All welcome. Sponsored by the Ber- 

keley Gray Panthers. 548-9696.  

“Local Heroes: Changing Sustainability Cultures One Company at a Time” Panel discussion on how individuals can change the sustainability culture in their company, from 6 to 7:30 pm, at Café de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7 for SBA members, $10 for non-members. Sponsored by The Sustainable Business Alliance. For information and registration visit www.sustainablebiz.org or call 282-5151. 

University Village Redevelopment, Public Scoping Meeting at 7 p.m. at University Village Community Center, Four Corners Room, 1123 Jackson St., Albany.  

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group 

meets at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. 872-0768. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

Berkeley NAACP Youth Council Pinning Ceremony and Silent Auction, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Yacht Club, 1 Seawall Drive. Cost is $20 per person, $150 for a table of eight, and includes light refreshments and deserts. Your support will help send five Berkeley youth to the 94th Annual NAACP Convention in Miami. 330-8577. berkeleynaacp@hotmail.com, 

www.naacp.org 

Zoot Soot Riots A panel discussion on one of the worst race riots in U.S. history, with Jose Montoya and Dr. Jose Cuellar. Film clips will also be shown. At 7:30 p.m. at at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Suggested donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Public Hearing on Ursula Sherman Village, Draft Environmental Impact Report, at the Zoning Adjustments Board, at 7:10 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Written comments should be submitted to Wendy Cosin, Planning Dept., 2118 Milvia St., Berkeley 94704, before 5 p.m. Mon. July 7. 981-7402. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek  

Meeting on Water Quality Arleen Feng, an engineer/ 

scientist with the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, will discuss how to monitor contaminants, limit storm water pollution and generally improve water quality in Strawberry Creek, at 6:30 p.m. at the Corporation Yard Green Room, 1326 Allston Way. For more information, contact at janet@ 

earthlink.net or 848-4008. 

Berkeley Friends Meeting with Catherine Hunter to discuss a new Quaker School in San Francisco, at 7 p.m., at 2151 Vine St. 705-7314. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 

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. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 

Memorial for Kevin Lee Freeman, resident of Berkeley’s streets, who was murdered on May 9 in Santa Rita Jail. March at noon in People’s Park, followed by Memorial at the Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. 845-2248. 

Howard Dean House Party at 6 p.m. at 2933 Benvenue Ave., corner of Ashby. Conference call with Howard Dean at 7 p.m. Learn about Dean's campaign for President, his record as Governor of Vermont, why we are supporting him, and how he is the most progressive electable Democrat running to defeat George W. Bush. Please bring your checkbooks, and questions to ask Howard Dean. For information or to confirm your attendance call Paul Hogarth, 666-1260.  

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Exercise The public is invited to ob- 

serve the Northern Alameda County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services in a nationwide test from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkeley’s Emergency Operations Center at 997 Cedar St. For more in- 

formation call Ron Jacobs at 525-0212. 

Kids’ Garden Club: Bread  

Learn about bread, mill wild wheat, and bake bread. For children age 7 - 12, from 2 to 4 p.m., Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $5 for Berkeley residents, $7 for non-residents. 525-2233, tnarea@ebparks.org 

Sudden Oak Death in California, a two-day class with UC researcher Matteo Garbeletto and Botanical Garden Director Ellen Simms who will provide an up-to-date account of the research and status of the epidemic. Cost is $200. To register, call the Jepson Herbarium at 643-7008. 

National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay chapter, celebrates its 36th anniversary at noon at Café de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck. The keynote speaker will be Ruth Rosen, author of “The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America.” Cost for the luncheon is $30, $20 for students. 287-8948. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 

Permaculture Workshop Series Ongoing workshops held every second and last Sunday of each month. Call for information. Berkeley EcoHouse, 1305 Hopkins St. 465-9439. 

Gardening With Kids, A Workshop for Adults 

Whether you’re starting a school or home garden or have one already and want to get kids involved, this is the workshop for you, from 1 to 4:30 p.m in Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $10 for Berkeley residents, $12 for non-residents. 525-2233, tnarea@ebparks.org 

“History of Nyingma” with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JUNE 30 

LBNL Development, Public Scoping Meeting on the proposed six-story 65,000 sq. ft. Research Office Building on Cyclotron Rd., at 6:30 p.m., North Berkeley Senior Center.  

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

Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Educators Academy: Insects and Crawling Creatures Tues., June 24 - Thurs., June 26, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration is required. Cost is $100 for Berkeley residents, $110 for non-residents. Financial as- 

sistance is available. For information call 636-1684. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Summer Science Weeks: Insects and Plants Count butterflies, hunt bugs, and meet common plant families. Mondays, June 30 to July 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for ages 9 to 12, in Tilden Nature Area in Tilden Park. Cost is $150 for Berkeley residents, $166 for non-residents. Financial assistance available for low-income families. For information call 636-1684.  

Bay Area Technology Education Collaborative, a community non-profit offers low-cost training in Computer Information Technology. For information call 451-7300, ext. 604. www.baytec.org 

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 26-28 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 old fuel and motor oil; household batteries, cleaners and sprays; garden products, including pesticides and fertilizers. Call 1-877-STOPWASTE or visit stopwaste.org/fsrecycle.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Monday, June 30, at 

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

981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wednesday, June 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Phil Kamlarz, 981-7006.www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. 

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

Disaster Council meets Wednesday, June 25, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wednesday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, 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, June 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. 

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

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thursday, June 26, at 7 p.m., at 1900 Sixth St. Iris Starr, 981-7520. 

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

Zoning Adjustments Board 

meets Thursday, June 26, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/zoning 

ANIMAL SHELTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On last November’s ballot, the voters approved just one bond measure—Measure I for a new animal shelter. Measure I was a rare and beautiful phenomenon in Berkeley, with over two-thirds of the voters, then-Mayor Dean and the entire City Council supporting a much needed $7 million new home for the truly voiceless residents of our city. All of us who worked so hard on the campaign were euphoric about the outcome. Berkeley finally seemed to be on track to catch up with other “less enlightened” cities in its care of abandoned animals.   

  Seven months later, we still have no drawings and no site for the new shelter, and our new mayor appears to have little interest in fulfilling the most significant mandate of the last election. Meetings are held regularly to discuss potential sites, but all the sites proposed by city staff are throwaways and every workable site that is brought up seems to be earmarked by the city for some other purpose, even though we all know there is no money available for new projects with the enormous deficits the city is projecting for years.   

Granted, there is not a lot of available land in Berkeley, but many of us are getting the distinct feeling that something is up. At best, the new shelter may simply not be a priority of the new mayor or the city manager. Or, even worse, could the city be stalling so that the approved $7 million won’t be enough to build the shelter and the bond won’t have to be issued? Or, quite possibly, the city plans to load the next ballot with more bond measures and hopes that property owners will forget about the Measure I assessment if the project is stalled, the bonds haven’t been issued and no debt service shows up on our property tax bills. 

I hope I speak for the 68 percent of the voters who passed Measure I in saying that I want to see the mayor and the city manager fast track this project before the $7 million isn’t enough to build a new shelter. How about some accountability to the voters, Mr. Bates? 

Nancy S. Hair 

• 

LOCAL VOICES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Who is Calvina L. Fay from St. Petersburg, Fla., and why do we care what she thinks? I thought the Berkeley Daily Planet is supposed to be Berkeley’s local newspaper? Why are we printing flawed and biased “opinions” from 3,000 miles out of state? When someone has an indefensible position (like Ed Rosenthal should have had the book thrown at him for growing marijuana for the city of Oakland) they talk about something else (what’s contained in a book Rosenthal wrote about marijuana cultivation). For Ms. Fay to refer to Ed Rosenthal as a “drug kingpin” is outrageously silly. For Ms. Fay to propose that she speaks for “our children’s future” is a bit presumptuous.  

  Judge Breyer was smart to give Ed Rosenthal a suspended sentence. Judge Breyer knew that he was in big trouble with the people of California for conducting a trial that barred crucial evidence from the jury in order to obtain a conviction (Ed Rosenthal was deputized by the city of Oakland to grow medical marijuana) and playing into the hands of Attorney General John Ashcroft. 

Judge Breyer knew that sentencing Ed Rosenthal to jail time would have set off a firestorm that may have been impossible to put out. There certainly were mitigating circumstances in Ed Rosenthal’s case—the will of the people of California voting that medical marijuana should be legalized, the sanction of the city of Oakland properly was not ignored, and Ed Rosenthal’s not having realized any personal financial gain from his medical marijuana growing for the city of Oakland. 

  I am writing to the Daily Planet because maybe it is the local residents’ fault for not supporting our local newspaper and providing the Daily Planet with enough letters to print that the Planet feels the need to print letters such as Ms. Fay’s 3,000-miles-away letter. Please spare the people of Berkeley the drivel of Ms. Fay’s narrow mind. 

George Collins 

• 

RECONSIDER DECISION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following letter was addressed to City Manager Weldon Rucker: 

I am writing on behalf of the Berkeley Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the California Council of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind, regarding the city’s having reversed its decision to reorganize the city Disability Compliance Program from the Public Works Department to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Since its incorporation into city government, the Disability Compliance Program has primarily focused on issues and concerns of individuals with mobility-related disabilities. The city has basically ignored the larger part of the disability community, those with communication-related disabilities, i.e. individuals who are blind and visually impaired, deaf and hearing impaired, cognitively impaired and individuals with certain non-apparent disabilities. A review of the city’s budget patterns shows that 100 percent of all ADA funding has been allocated toward fiscal access issues, i.e. curb ramps, electric doors, ramps and other structural considerations. Conversely, the city has elected to budget zero dollars to enhance access for the much larger portion of its disability community.  

Mr. Rucker, as a tax-paying individual with a disability, I find it absolutely demeaning and personally offensive for the City of Berkeley not to recognize individuals with disabilities as humans, but rather continue to view this population on the same level it views parking meters, street lights and other lifeless objects. It is time for this type of backward thinking to stop. In the year of 2003, it is not acceptable to segregate individuals based on their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Why is the city comfortable in its active participation in the segregation of individuals with disabilities in relationship to programs and services by relegating this population to the narrow confines of a public works department? 

You have an opportunity to right this wrong by exercising your executive prerogative and doing the right thing. If this type of offensive treatment is no longer considered to be acceptable on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation, it should not be considered as acceptable simply because the group are individuals with disabilities. 

Angela Griffith  

President 

• 

ILLEGAL ANTENNAS  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following letter was addressed to Mayor Tom Bates and the City Council:  

On June 17, 2003, the City Council postponed our public hearing till Sept. 16, 2003. 

Today, June 21, we noticed that the antennas are already installed on the roof of 1600 Shattuck Ave. We looked at the photo-simulations provided by Sprint. According to these photos, antennas are now on the roof. Just go to the entrance door of Andronico’s and look at 1600 Shattuck. There are two antennas that look like chimneys. 

How can this happen? Does the city know about this? Does the Planning Department know about this?  

We would like to ask the city to check whether the antennas are installed. If yes, then Sprint has acted illegally. In that case, the antennas should be removed. If they stay there, Sprint may start operating them. 

Shahram Shahruz 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Mr. Koenigshofer’s letter to the editor of June 10-12:   

Mr. Koenigshofer’s main argument against rent control, that it interferes with the freedom to contract, can serve as the basis for opposition to minimum wage laws, workplace safety rules, consumer protection regulations—indeed, any public attempt to curb the socially damaging results of leaving the private market (which, after all, consists of a set of contracts between businesses and others) to its own devices. 

In the early days of the 20th century, some judges used Mr. Koenigshofer’s  rationale to overturn the first versions of social legislation: laws protecting female employees against dangerously long work hours. Later on, the judiciary rejected this notion of the sanctity of contracts and recognized that public welfare justifies government intervention in a wide variety of “private” economic relationships. 

At least Mr. Koenigshofer’s line of thinking places rent control where it belongs, as part of the body of sensible economic regulations that have tamed the savage tendencies of laissez-faire capitalism. 

These regulations are under assault from the extreme right. Accepting Mr. Koenigshofer’s logic would take us where some of the more brazen ideologues surrounding George W. Bush want to go, back to the glorious days when unbridled freedom to contract enabled workers to be paid starvation wages, consumers to be poisoned, and renters to be gouged. 

Randy Silverman 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Two years ago, Berkeley Unified hired a new food services director. In the first year of her administration, Food Services lost $800,000. This year, according to BUSD budget reports, Food Services lost $900,000. During this period, food services administrators’ salaries increased by over $100,000 while the entire department has only 35 mainly part-time workers. The three full-time administrators' salaries and benefits total about $250,000. $900,000 would pay for quite a few teachers.  

It’s no secret why Food Services is losing money. In an era where even McDonald’s and Jack in the Box are featuring salads, the new director terminated the popular farmers’ market salad bars as a cost-cutting measure. Instead cottage cheese and cling peaches became staples on the salad bar.  

A very expensive food preparation unit (estimated at $200,000) was purchased and placed on the black top at Berkeley High School. It has cooking facilities, refrigeration, the works. Yet, this food unit only sells pizza, soda, water and juice.  

And in a school of 3,000 students, the director of food services only manages to sell four to six orders of pizza a day. No wonder the department is losing money, hand over fist.  

Two years ago, the director of the very successful Santa Monica program applied for the job, and we didn’t hire him. Santa Monica’s food services has a farmers’ market salad bar in every school. Each school has regular cafeteria staff plus a salad bar manager. The Santa Monica Food Services department is so successful, they fund a school garden volunteer coordinator and a part-time horticulture teacher at their high school.  

How long do we give someone before we decide that this person is not competent. Is two years and a loss of $1.7 million enough? I would much rather have teachers or music or librarians or sports than cottage cheese and cling peaches with a $900,000 bill.  

Yolanda Huang 

Dear Editor, 

Chris Kavanagh (of the Berkeley Rent Board) continues to expose his grandiose self-dellusions in his letter of June 20 when he asserts that the “Rent Board is perhaps the city’s most critical elected body.” Critical indeed if the great function of government is to build useless and counter productive bureaucracies that create and enforce random and unfair regulations.  

Kavanagh, like any good Orwellian Bureaucrat, speaks from the platform of regulatory minutia but never addresses the larger issues of fairness or justice. He never explains the logic of a rent subsidy program that makes no effort to determine whether or not its recipients need or deserve such subsidies. He is apparently indifferent to the terrible injustices arising from the program he enforces and assumes the case by case abuse of citizens is excusable in the service of the board’s ideological predisposition.  

Explain Chris how you justify forcing a landlord to subsidize the housing costs for a tenant who has a higher income than that landlord?  

Explain why you are indifferent to the fact that the policies you enforce have prompted a decrease in small scale, “mom and pop” rental housing and promote a consolidation of such housing in the hands of large, impersonal, corporate type owners?  

Explain Chris why it doesn’t bother you that citizens, relying on their own character and discernment, are prevented by your agency from negotiating agreements with one another and instead subjected to Draconian governmental intrusion?  

Chris, do you not find it ironic and unjust that a senior citizen on a fixed income can be compelled by your agency to provide subsidized housing to an individual who is younger, earns more and comes from a privileged background?  

Do you not comprehend how such ironies and injustices hurt not only their immediate victims but also the broader social contract between government and citizen?  

Lastly, Chris, I am curious, do you or any of the other Rent Board members enjoy benefits of the program you so actively enforce and defend? Simply Chris, how many of you live in rent controlled units? 

John Koenigshofer 

Wow. Just, “Wow.” 

So it’s a Greek tragedy, Euripides’ “The Bacchae,” and the Actors’ Ensemble of Berkeley is providing it for free in a beautifully staged production at the outdoor theater in John Hinkle Park. What more could you want?  

Everybody needs a Greek tragedy sometime, and this looks like an opportunity that won’t come around too often. If there were absolutely nothing else to recommend this production (and there are many good things indeed) it would be worth seeing for the handling of the Chorus alone. This element of Greek drama is always a challenge: While as a modern audience we accept the fantasy that we’re peering at the actors through an invisible “fourth wall,” it can be hard to buy the idea that a bunch of people happen to be hanging around on stage, chanting commentary on the action.  

It’s a challenge that director David Stein has met with enormous success. The Chorus consists of six lovely and talented young actresses who each creates a separate personality. They are a believable group of devotees to the increasingly fanatical ideas introduced to the women in the kingdom by the god, Dionysus (Ross Pasquale). Pasquale turns in a powerful performance as the god who seeks and, through the women, extracts a ghastly revenge on the royal family who denied his heritage as the son of Zeus.  

As the Chorus’ worship darkens from almost amusing hedonism into uglier and more brutal behavior, their performances, even their costuming, becomes frightening. No way could anyone ever think of this group as “hanging around the stage.” They’re doing some excellent acting.  

“The Bacchae” is a source of some controversy in feminist criticism. One camp sees the play as a classic example of the stereotyping of women as hysterics; another views it as the earliest feminist portrayal. It is, after all, the women who follow Dionysus and are the revolutionary force in the kingdom. It is women who bring about the final tragedy, and it is a woman, the queen, Agave (Donna Turner), who suffers the final and cruelest punishment. 

The number of fine performances in so large a cast suggests that Stein may have called in the chips he earned during his own extensive acting career. His debut as a director with Actors’ Ensemble demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and attention to detail. It would be virtually impossible to go through the cast and comment in detail on all the fine acting. Even some relatively minor roles are effectively done—not all, of course, but many.  

However, Bruno Kanter’s superb performance as Pentheus, king of Thebes, must be noted. He arrives on stage with an air of natural authority that could not be bettered. His gradual change as he is duped by Dionysus is almost heartbreaking, leading as it does to the grotesque absurdity of his final appearance on stage. 

Stein has used the outdoor theater to great advantage. The tragedy is introduced by flute music (Carol Albany and Nancy Taylor) as the huge rose-colored drapes that form the background blow in the occasional breeze. At times, actors disappear up the stairs into the forest, or come from behind the audience down onto the stage. The horror of the destruction is made more real by the sound of West African drumming performed by Ozem Roberts and Joha Williams, second year students at the Ethnic Arts Institute.  

This production of “The Bacchae” is a departure for the 45-year-old company; it’s the first time they’ve staged a play outside. The group has been on hold for a year while their usual venue, the Live Oak Theatre, was retrofitted. Unsure of the precise timing of the work’s end, they elected to use the lovely old outdoor theater for this production.  

It was a great choice.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

CHILDREN 

Magic School Bus Video Festival, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Seven different Magic School Bus video adventures with Ms. Frizzle on the big Auditorium screen at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. 642-5132. 

FILM 

Peter Watkins: “The Jour- 

ney,” episodes 7-13, at 6 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 

Berkeley Summer Poetry 

from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Cafe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. Free, open mic, poetry, prose, and short fiction artists welcome. 549-1128. 

Craig Danner introduces his first novel, “Himalayan Dhaba,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Firoozeh Dumas talks about life in Southern California with her extended Iranian family in “Funny in Farsi”at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Richard Sterling discusses his new book “World Food in California Cuisine,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. www.easygoing.com 

Kathy Sanborn discusses her new book, “The Seasons of Your Career,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tanja Fiechtmair on the Alto Sax at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

D. B. Walker Band plays the blues at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Waikiki Steel Works, Hawaiian-flavored steel guitar at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

Jazzschool Ensemble performs at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

FILM 

I Found it at the Movies: “The Andromeda Strain” 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 

Robert MacNeil, Canadian-born former co-anchor of  

The MacNeil-Lehrer News 

Hour, discusses his new book, “Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Julie Shigekuni reads from her new novel, “Invisible Gardens,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Diana DeLonzor presents cures for the punctually challenged in “Never be Late Again” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

The Banjo-ologist performs bluegrass and vaudeville at 1 p.m. at The Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. 642-5132. 

Paul Thorn, one-man house-rocker, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Susie Ibarra, improv drummer, performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Cocodril performs traditional Lousiana fare at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, with a Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Sarah Manning, jazz saxophonist, performs standards and originals at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

FILM 

Peter Watkins: “The Jour- 

ney,” episodes 14-19, at 6 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 

Guided Tour of Paul Kos: “Everything Matters,” at 12:15 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Free for members, UC students, faculty and staff, $5 seniors and disabled, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Cecil Brown uncovers the story of a legendary crime in “Stagolee Shot Billy” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Darren Shan returns with his latest adventures in the Cir- 

que du Freak series, “Vampire Prince,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Nancy Rawles reads from her new novel about a Creole matriarch, “Crawfish Dreams,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Mario Jimenez Castillo reveals the meaning of dreams in “Diccionario de Los Suenos.” Presentation in Spanish and English at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert Downtown with Voz e Ven- 

to, a Brazilian jazz emsemble, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Assoc. 549-2230. 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

Belle de Gama, Low Flying Owls and Liz Anah Band perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ruthie Foster, Texas blues and gospel singer, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Sal- 

vage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sarah Luella/Local Love Enforcement and CitiZen One at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 

CHILDREN 

Stage Door Conservatory's “Kids OnStage” presents a free mini-musical at 7:30 p.m. at Epworth United Metho- 

dist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 527-5939. StageDoor- 

Camp@aol.com 

FILM 

Douglas Sirk: “Written on the Wind” at 7:30 p.m. and “Magnificent Obsession” at 9:30 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 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series, “Wisdom, Experience, Humor, and Whatever” with City Club members. Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations 526-2925, 665-9020. 

Edward Tenner explores how technology has shaped our bodies in “Our Own Devices: The Past and Future of Body Technology” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codys- 

books.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

Big Brutha Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenez. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

U.D.I., 11/5, Da Duke Boys, ADR La Vey, Pho-Ba’la perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Suzanne Pittson in concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in ad- 

vance, $14 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Doraflood, Sushirobo and Love is Chemicals perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

www.starryploughpub.com  

LynAnn King with the Vincent Tolliver Quintet perform at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House.Cost is $15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Shana Morrison, celtic/blues fusion 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 

Sean Powers Shadow  

Puppetry and the Bent Antennae Puppet Troupe at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

O-Maya fuses Latin music with Hip Hop at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625. 

Missing 23rd, Breath In, Members of the Yellow Press, Clampdown, The Filthy Vagrants 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, JUNE 28 

CHILDREN 

Golden Gate International Children’s Choral Festival Choirs from Jakarta, Indo- 

nesia, Vladivostok and Nakhodka, Russia, Havana, Cuba and the United States will perform “Sing All Ye Joyful” at 7.30 p.m. in Zeller-bach Hall. Tickets are $10-26, available from 642-9988. www.piedmontchoirs.org 

Dance Jammies, a multi-generational event presented by Orches, a non-profit dance/ 

art organization from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at 2525 8th St. Reservations advised. 832-3835. orches@earthlink.net 

Audrey Coleman reads her new book, “Francine, Francine the Beach Party Queen,” at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Douglas Sirk: “Tarnished Angels” at 4:30 and 8:40 p.m. and “Shockproof” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Allan Sekula, conceptual photographer, in converstaion with Kaja Silverman, on his recent work, including “Waiting for Tear Gas,” at 1 p.m. in Dwinnelle 142, UC Campus. More information is available at www.NewScreen 

Media.com 

Rhythm and Muse Poetry reading at the Berkeley Art Center. Open mic sign-up at 6:30 p.m., reading at 7 p.m. 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. Admis- 

sion is free. 527-9753 or 569-5364. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Baghdad and Beyond: Healing the Wounds of War” with Cameron Powers and other musicians who played Arab music in Baghdad during the war, at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Don Carlos with Reggae Angels and Jah Light Music at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14 in advance, $16 at the door. 525-5054. www.ash- 

kenaz.com 

Mark Growden and the Electric Pinata and Molehill Orchestra perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Psychokenetics, Kirby Dominant perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

LynAnn King with the Vincent Tolliver Quintet perform at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

House Jacks, a cappella over-drive, at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in ad- 

vance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jesus Diaz y su QBA, Afro-Cuban dance music at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Famous Last Words performs at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625. 

Babyland, Replicator, Brilliant Red Lights, 8-Bit perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 

FILM 

“Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel” will be sceened at 7 p.m. at Congre- 

gation Beth El, Arch and Vine. Facilitated discussion groups will follow. Admission is free. Sponsored by Bridges to Israel-Berkeley. For information call June Brott at 636-9639 or Seymour Kessler at 525-1526. 

Douglas Sirk: “Imitation of Life” 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 

Audacious Imaginations: A Tribute to Berkeley Poet Barbara Guest, at 3:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way 642-0808.                   www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poets Eliot Figman and Judith Taylor at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codys- 

books.com 

Guided Tour of Paul Kos: “Everything Matters,” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Free for members, UC students, faculty and staff, $5 seniors and disabled, $8 adults. 642-1412. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jupiter String Quartet, with Victor Romasevich, violin, performs Tchaikovsky, Andriasov and Mozart at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $10, children under 12 are free. 644-6893. 

ReminEssence in a performance of music, poetry and dance to benefit Destiny Art Center, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8 in advance, $10-$25 at the door. For tickets call 306-0236. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus at 7 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

Arin Simonian, contem- 

porary singer-songwriter,  

performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $14.50 in advance, $15.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

LynAnn King with the Vincent Tolliver Quintet performs at 5 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Flamenco Open Stage with Alicia and Roberto Zamora at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  www.ashkenaz.com 

The Landrus Project, Johnny Sketch perform funk at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $3. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

MONDAY, JUNE 30 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ursula K. LeGuin reads from her new novel, “Changing Places” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Lincoln Cushing introduces a unique graphic art in “¡Revolución!: Cuban Poster Art,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www. 

blackoakbooks.com 

AT THE THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “The Bacchae,” directed by David Stein. Euripedes’ play about Dionysus and his revenge against a hateful king. Sat. and Sun., June 21 through July 6, at 5:30 p.m., outdoors in John Hinkle Park, off The Arlington at Southampton Ave. and Somerset Place. Free admission. 525-1620. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theater Company, “Thérèse Raquin,” by Emile Zola, directed by Tom Ross. A sinister tale set among the lower classes in nineteenth-century Parisian society. Runs June 20 to July 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $32 and $34. 843-4822.  

www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, 

“The Guys,” by Anne Nelson, directed by Robert Egan. Through July 5, Tues. - Sun., call for starting times. $10-$54. The Roda Theater, 2016 Addison St. 647-2918. 647-2949.www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Festival runs May 28 to October 22. Performances this year will be Julius Caesar, Arms and the Man, Measure for Measure, and Much Ado About Nothing. Please call for dates and times. The Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org  

Central Works Theater Ensemble, “The Wyrd Sisters” directed by Jan Zvaifler. Through July 13,  

Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $8-$20 sliding scale. For reservations call 558-1381. 

Shotgun Players presents 

“under milk wood” by Dylan Thomas at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 8th St. Through June 29, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 adults, $12 children and seniors, $10 on Thursdays. 704-8210. www.shotgun- 

players.org

The City Council will take action on one of two proposed library tax increases Tuesday. Both are designed to help the library bridge a $1.3 million budget deficit.  

The council will choose between the city manager’s proposal to increase the library tax by 13. 9 percent and a request from the Board of Library Trustees for an increase of 27 percent.  

The City Council will take action on one of two proposed library tax increases Tuesday. Both are designed to help the library bridge a $1.3 million budget deficit.  

The council will choose between the city manager’s proposal to increase the library tax by 13. 9 percent and a request from the Board of Library Trustees for an increase of 27 percent.  

Under the Library Tax Relief Act of 1988, City Council can increase property taxes annually according to one of two indexes, the Bay Area Consumer Price Index, which rises by 2.2 percent annually, or the California Per Capita Income Growth Index, which rises by 2.3 percent a year. The city has not increased the library tax consecutively over the last 15 years, and both the city manager’s and the trustees’ proposals call for a retroactive property tax increase.  

Under the city manager’s proposal, the library tax for a 1,900-square-foot residence would be $245 annually—a $30 increase. The trustees’ increase would translate to a $58 increase on the same sized home for an annual total of $273.  

Commercial and industrial space pay a slightly higher rate. For a 10,000-square-foot building, the tax would go up $238 under the city manager’s proposal for an annual total of $1,955. Under the trustees’ proposal, the annual commercial rate would rise by $463 for a total of $2,180. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque issued an undisclosed memorandum on the legality of the trustees’ proposed increase. According to a councilmember, who asked not to be identified, Albuquerque determined the increase was too large and therefore in violation of the Library Tax Relief Act. 

Mayor Tom Bates said he expects the council to approve the city manager’s proposal. 

“I think we’re going to help them as much as is legally possible to do,” he said. “It’s not as much of an increase as the library services had hoped for, but it’s still a substantial increase.” 

Library Deputy Director Mary Lou Mull said the city manager’s proposal will be just enough to keep the library afloat next year but added that the lesser amount makes no provisions for the library’s long-term health. She said, with the 13.9 percent increase, the budget would not allow for inflationary increases for the purchase of new materials or allow the library to create a reserve fund. The tighter budget would also put immediate pressure on the library for the following year’s budget.  

“The city manager’s proposal will allow us to fill our current vacant positions,” Mull said, “but it will also likely mean that we will have to come back to the council again in 2005 and possibly put a measure on the ballot to increase the library’s base funding to something that would keep us stable.” 

According to a city manager’s report, city officials were unable to justify the trustee’s 27 percent increase. “Staff believes that this is an inappropriate application of the personal income growth index for the purpose of calculating inflationary adjustments for this municipal tax,” the report reads.  

The report also claims that the smaller increase will allow the library to increase staffing, fund technology investments and fund an experimental program that would put a public library staff person in a Berkeley public school.  

Mull said she’s waiting to see what the council decides. She added that no matter what decision they make, library employees will do everything in their power to maintain high standards of library service.  

“We’ll do the best we can either way,” she said. “We’ll give the best possible service to our community. That’s where we’re at.”Under the Library Tax Relief Act of 1988, City Council can increase property taxes annually according to one of two indexes, the Bay Area Consumer Price Index, which rises by 2.2 percent annually, or the California Per Capita Income Growth Index, which rises by 2.3 percent a year. The city has not increased the library tax consecutively over the last 15 years, and both the city manager’s and the trustees’ proposals call for a retroactive property tax increase.  

Under the city manager’s proposal, the library tax for a 1,900-square-foot residence would be $245 annually—a $30 increase. The trustees’ increase would translate to a $58 increase on the same sized home for an annual total of $273.  

Commercial and industrial space pay a slightly higher rate. For a 10,000-square-foot building, the tax would go up $238 under the city manager’s proposal for an annual total of $1,955. Under the trustees’ proposal, the annual commercial rate would rise by $463 for a total of $2,180. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque issued an undisclosed memorandum on the legality of the trustees’ proposed increase. According to a councilmember, who asked not to be identified, Albuquerque determined the increase was too large and therefore in violation of the Library Tax Relief Act. 

Mayor Tom Bates said he expects the council to approve the city manager’s proposal. 

“I think we’re going to help them as much as is legally possible to do,” he said. “It’s not as much of an increase as the library services had hoped for, but it’s still a substantial increase.” 

Library Deputy Director Mary Lou Mull said the city manager’s proposal will be just enough to keep the library afloat next year but added that the lesser amount makes no provisions for the library’s long-term health. She said, with the 13.9 percent increase, the budget would not allow for inflationary increases for the purchase of new materials or allow the library to create a reserve fund. The tighter budget would also put immediate pressure on the library for the following year’s budget.  

“The city manager’s proposal will allow us to fill our current vacant positions,” Mull said, “but it will also likely mean that we will have to come back to the council again in 2005 and possibly put a measure on the ballot to increase the library’s base funding to something that would keep us stable.” 

According to a city manager’s report, city officials were unable to justify the trustee’s 27 percent increase. “Staff believes that this is an inappropriate application of the personal income growth index for the purpose of calculating inflationary adjustments for this municipal tax,” the report reads.  

The report also claims that the smaller increase will allow the library to increase staffing, fund technology investments and fund an experimental program that would put a public library staff person in a Berkeley public school.  

Mull said she’s waiting to see what the council decides. She added that no matter what decision they make, library employees will do everything in their power to maintain high standards of library service.  

“We’ll do the best we can either way,” she said. “We’ll give the best possible service to our community. That’s where we’re at.”

The following letter was addressed to Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley City Council: 

We, residents of Berkeley, and longtime customers of Berkeley Bowl, and ardent supporters of the basic rights of workers to organize themselves for better pay and working conditions, strongly urge you and the Berkeley City Council to speak out in support of the Berkeley Bowl workers who are attempting to unionize their South Berkeley store. 

At a time in our history where decent jobs with decent pay are fast disappearing from our economy and more of this state’s workers than ever have no health coverage, your unanimous backing of these workers and their families and the greater Berkeley community is indeed the right action to take. 

We are gratified to hear through recent news articles that you are supportive of the rights of workers to organize. We know that others on the council have also expressed their commitment to the aspirations of working people to organize themselves. We urge you to speak out on behalf of these workers and their efforts to unionize and to convey your support to the owners and management of the Berkeley Bowl. 

Members of the Strawberry Creek Affinity Group: Carol Thornton, Jane Kelly, Frances Berges, Dorothy Headley, Eric Roberts, Jane Eiseley, Tom Kelly, Patti Marsh, Chris Walter, Fran Rachel, Chris Kroll, Bob Marsh, Nina Falk

As the debate surrounding proposed AC Transit fare changes and service reductions intensifies, a restructuring plan adopted in February will take effect next week. 

Beginning June 29, the transit organization’s Service Deployment Plan will eliminate five bus lines in northern Alameda and western Contra Costa counties: the 6, 8, 42, 64 and 325. An additional 29 lines will reduce service times or coverage areas. AC Transit public information officer Mike Mills said that the new design will save over $4 million for the company, which is facing a projected $40 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year.  

The most highly touted service change is the addition of the San Pablo Rapid, 72R, which replaces the 72L bus line running from Contra Costa College to Del Norte BART. The Rapid Bus is expected to speed trips along San Pablo Avenue by 20 percent and will feature trips in both directions every 12 minutes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. 

The San Pablo Rapid will also use a variety of measures to speed up its commute time. New low-floor, multi-door buses are intended to reduce the time spent in loading zones, while traffic signal automation will give Rapid Buses priority at congested intersections.  

AC Transit also increased the intervals between Rapid Bus stops to two-thirds of a mile. The Rapid has been in the works for several years, and has been the subject of several proposals and modifications. AC Transit planners investigated other cities’ express bus lines, including several rapid lines in San Francisco. Mills said that although the new buses were expensive, the increased efficiency would compensate for the extra initial cost. 

The other widely publicized aspect of the Service Deployment Plan, passed by the AC Transit board of directors Feb. 6, is the newly created 19 service line. The 19 bus will run from North Berkeley BART on Sacramento Street, along University Avenue to Sixth Street, continuing along Seventh Street to Peralta Street and West Oakland BART, and then into Alameda. The line will run every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, and will incorporate sections of three lines that will be eliminated or reduced. 

“Several of these changes are not about cost-cutting first and foremost,” Mills said. “They’re about increasing efficiency. We’re taking three lines and making them into one new one with limited negative effect on our riders. It’s a good thing for everybody.” 

But many riders remained unconvinced. 

“The service is going to be a lot slower because the new route is so much bigger,” said Tamara Stevenson, who rides the 6 line from her South Berkeley home to Emeryville. “The driver on the 6 told me that my trip, which normally takes 25 minutes, will probably take closer to 45. That doesn’t make it good for everybody.” 

One of the largest service changes in Berkeley will be the elimination of the 8 line and the reductions in service of the 65. The 65 route, which currently runs from Grizzly Peak to the Berkeley marina, will shorten to run from the downtown Berkeley BART station to Euclid Avenue, with trips every other weekday to Grizzly Peak. 

“I’m not quite sure how I’m going to get to school any more,” said Berkeley High School student Lindsey Thompson. “I ride the bus from Grizzly Peak and Senior [Street] to downtown, but now there won’t be a bus that goes near my house. Without school buses it’s a big problem.” 

Many UC Berkeley students may find themselves with similar problems getting to campus due to service reductions on the 52 line, which runs from University Park on San Pablo Avenue to the edge of the UC Berkeley campus at Bancroft Street and Telegraph Avenue. Under the Service Deployment Plan, that line will only operate from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m and 4:30 to 6 p.m. 

Though AC Transit managers acknowledged that some riders would be hurt by the Service Deployment Plan, they emphasized the gravity of the company’s financial situation as the impetus to cut service. 

“In spite of our best efforts to run a lean and fiscally sound operation, the severe decline in the economy leaves us no choice,” said AC Transit general manager Rick Fernandez. 

Meanwhile, AC Transit is developing a new proposal to further reduce service and adjust fares beginning Sept. 1. Though the board of directors has not yet passed a plan, Mills said a final proposal should come within the next two months. 

At a public hearing June 11, many riders said that any service cuts after the Service Deployment Plan takes effect would be unacceptable because they would impact too many riders. AC Transit initially presented two options for fare changes, but managers returned to the drawing board after riders said they would rather pay higher fares and keep as many current bus lines as possible than face additional service cuts. 

The board of directors will hold another public hearing July 16, though the time and location have yet to be finalized.

For an hour on Friday night, Cody’s Books on Fourth Street sold more than three books a minute. During the same time period, Pegasus Fine Books in downtown Berkeley had a line of 100 people—more than had ever been in the store at one time. 

The cause could only be one thing: Harry Potter mania. 

Over a weekend that saw five million copies of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth book in the popular series, fly off shelves across the country, Berkeley bookstores were no exception, with store managers reporting thousands of sales and scrambles to buy additional copies to last through this week. 

“We had to get more; we sold them faster than we originally thought we would,” said Pegasus junior buyer Adam Tobin. “We had a batch we intended to last for a while, but we ran through it really quickly.” 

Tobin would not comment on how many books had been sold but said the store’s staff was “thrilled” by the numbers. 

At Cody’s, marketing director Melissa Mytinger said the numbers were similarly high. The company bought 3,000 copies for its two Berkeley stores, and Mytinger said close to half were gone by Monday morning. 

“We bought a high number originally because we wanted to have enough to last for a week or so,” Mytinger said. “Now, people are coming to us because other places have run out.” 

The Cody’s store on Fourth Street and the Pegasus location on Shattuck Avenue, like bookselling giant Barnes and Noble across the street from Pegasus, began selling the books at precisely 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Both stores said the turnout was larger than expected. 

“We figured we’d do it for the die-hard fans who couldn’t possibly wait until eight the next morning,” laughed Mytinger. 

In fact, many of those at Cody’s on Friday night could not wait until they got home to begin reading the book, a hefty tome at 870 pages. Most of the people in line were already engrossed in the early sections of the book, and many stayed in the store to continue reading. 

“Please Daddy, let’s just read the first chapter before we leave,” pleaded 7-year-old Jessica Kilpatrick. After Jessica’s father, Doug Kilpatrick, protested with an argument about bedtimes, he gave up and sat down to read. 

“She’s got me, because she knows I’m as anxious to start as she is,” the older Kilpatrick said. 

While people stood outside waiting for Cody’s to open, Pegasus held a release party for the book’s opening, featuring Harry Potter balloons, costumes, goody bags and lots of candy. The store stayed open until 1 a.m., and Tobin said the staff sold more than 100 books in the first hour. 

But Tobin acknowledged that Pegasus was hurt by its location across the street from Barnes and Noble, which began teeming with people at 10 p.m. and closed around 1 a.m. 

“We absolutely lost a lot of business to them,” Tobin said. 

The primary reason for the difference in turnout between Pegasus and Barnes and Noble was the price each store charged for the book. Pegasus customers paid the list price, $29.99, while Barnes and Noble offered the book for 40 percent off. 

“I’d like to support the independent chain, but here I can get the book for 12 bucks less,” said Berkeley resident Jesse Farmer while standing in line with his copy at Barnes and Noble. “It’s hard to turn that down.” 

The Barnes and Noble Harry Potter release party featured a costume contest, trivia contest and face-painting artist, who entertained children and adults while staff members rushed around to finalize selling procedures. The event drew between 400 and 500 people, many of whom wore the Harry Potter glasses they were handed at the door. 

Although Barnes and Noble has not yet released its selling numbers for the weekend, community relations director Schuyler Morgan said the release party was “a huge success.” Morgan said the store was able to accommodate the demand of all of its pre-orders, and sold many additional books on the spot, though people who arrived later in the evening did not get a book. Barnes and Noble received a new shipment on Tuesday. 

“We pre-ordered ours two months ago to make sure we were going to get one,” said Barnes and Noble customer Marlene Hagen, who held the new book in one hand and her costumed, face-painted daughter, Emily, in the other. “My family wouldn’t have been able to wait until Monday or even tomorrow. We’re going to start reading as soon as we get home—it’s late, but this is a special occasion.”

The city manager’s next report on the ongoing neighborhood dispute over the 3045 Shattuck Ave. house expansion is expected to address the issue of backyard space, a debate which has pitted two city commissioners against the city’s planning staff.  

Project opponents recently succeeded in getting the city to issue a stop work order on the project based on misstatements by property owner Christina Sun on her permit application. However, they are still urging the city to call a public hearing for the project and have not backed down from their claim that Sun’s plans to pave over virtually all of her rear yard, leaving only about 6 inches of space, violate the zoning ordinance’s requirement that there be at least 15 feet of rear yard space. They point out that the definition of yard prohibits obstruction of a yard by parking spaces and say this means Sun should have to obtain a use permit and go through a public hearing before reducing the amount of rear yard with parking space.  

In a June 17 memo to the City Council, City Manager Weldon Rucker defended the Planning Department’s decision to allow the parking spaces. Planning staff has argued that the definition of yard to which project opponents refer was inadvertently added to the ordinance when it was amended in 1999. He said city staff has not changed its pre-1999 policy of approving parking spaces in yards.  

“Since the 1999 zoning ordinance revision, staff has not altered its long-standing practice of allowing off-street parking in rear and side yards without discretionary permits unless the side yard abuts the street,” Rucker said. 

But at least two city officials who were members of the Planning Commission in 1999—commissioner Gene Poschman and Zoning Adjustments Board Chair Laurie Capitelli—say the current language is correct and that it was, in fact, the intent of the city to prohibit parking in rear yards.  

In a June 10 memo to Mayor Tom Bates, Capitelli wrote, “The revision of the zoning ordinance was careful, deliberate and precise in precluding the locating of parking in a required rear yard.” 

Some councilmembers say they worry the department’s interpretation will lead to unrestricted paving over of parking lots.  

“What we need to know is, how much paving of backyards can people do without getting a permit? Even though we’re talking about little backyards all over the city, it would have a cumulative effect on storm drainage,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.  

“If there’s no ground for it to go in then it goes over to the street and causes flooding. There should be a certain percentage you can pave over without a permit. It shouldn’t be unlimited.”

Two recent resignations have hamstrung the Transporation Department’s ability to keep up with pending projects, according to Deputy City Manager of Transportation Peter Hillier. 

Associate Transportation Planner Carolyn Helmke resigned Friday. Associate Traffic Engineer Si Lau resigned three weeks ago after working for the city of Berkeley for less than a year. 

“We are falling behind on complaints, projects and inquiries,” Hillier said. “The result is frustration from neighborhood groups and frustration from the City Council, although they have been very understanding.” 

According to Hillier, Lau accepted a job with the city of Oakland. And Helmke accepted a job at Stanford University as the campus bicycle coordinator. 

Despite the city’s selective hiring freeze, City Manager Weldon Rucker has approved filling the vacant positions.  

“We have to have some flexibility because some positions are more important than others,” Rucker said. “We have a backlog of projects that neighborhoods are concerned about and we’re right at the point where we can implement them once staff is stabilized.” 

Rucker said some of the projects include the installation of traffic circles, traffic lights and Santa Rosa-styled lighted crosswalks. 

The city’s traffic department has been plagued with resignations in recent years. In 2000, city traffic engineer Jeff Knolls quit after working for less than eight months. In 2001, the city’s first traffic planner, Joe Kott, quit three weeks after he was hired.  

Both Kott and Knolls cited internal conflict between the Department of Planning and Development, Public Works and at least three transportation- and traffic-oriented commissions as partial reasons for their departures.  

To address ongoing staffing problems, Rucker established the Office of Transportation in his office and in 2002 hired Hillier, who was the manager of operational planning and policy for the city of Toronto.  

One of the main goals of the Office of Transportation was to deal with traffic safety. In a 2000, 119-page report, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force determined that Berkeley ranks number one in the state for bicycle and pedestrian deaths and injuries.  

Mayor Tom Bates said the recent resignations are a disappointment but that he is committed to supporting the Office of Transportation. 

“It’s a difficult department to work in because there are a myriad of problems to deal with,” Bates said. “Peter Hillier is doing a good job and I want to support his efforts.”

After two shootings in two days last week, Berkeley police increased patrols throughout southwest Berkeley, resulting in 15 arrests, including six for illegal possession of a firearm. Other arrests were for probation, parole and drug violations.  

In addition, police on Thursday arrested a man suspected in the April killing of East Palo Alto diner owner Kenneth Hamel III. Berkeley police spotted suspect Kevin Edward Clark, 39, of Vallejo walking in the 1400 block of Harmon Street and recognized him from a wanted poster. 

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department took custody of Clark, who was then booked into the San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of murder. 

Police spokesperson Mary Kusmiss said the increased patrols will be maintained at least through next week. 

Last Tuesday a 27-year-old Berkeley man was shot on Alcatraz Street near California Street at 2 p.m. The following day, a 31-year-old Oakland man was shot on the 1600 block of Russell Street. In that shooting, the window of a corner grocery store and two vehicles were shot out. No bystanders were injured. 

Kusmiss said police are unsure if the two shootings are related.  

Neighbors in South Berkeley said the shootings were disturbing, but added that the Berkeley and Oakland police have been doing a good job of patrolling the area. “They’re doing an excellent job of catching the bad guys,” said South Berkeley resident Sam Herbert. “When this kind of thing happens the neighbors circle the wagons. We look out for each other because we will not be victims.” 

—John Geluardi

KARACHI, Pakistan—U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials have reportedly met with Taliban leaders in an effort to devise a political solution to an escalating guerrilla war in Afghanistan. 

According to a Pakistani jihadi leader who played a role in setting up the communication, a recent meeting took place between representatives of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Taliban leaders at the Pakistan Air Force base of Samungli, near Quetta.  

The source told Asia Times Online that four conditions were put to the Taliban before any form of reconciliation could take place that could potentially lead to a Taliban role in the Kabul government:  

• Mullah Omar must be removed as supreme leader of the Taliban.  

• All Pakistani, Arab and other foreign fighters currently engaged in operations against international troops in Afghanistan must be thrown out of the country.  

• Any U.S. or allied soldiers held captive must be released.  

• Afghans currently living abroad, notably in the United States and England, must be given a part in the government, through being allowed to contest elections.  

Apparently, the Taliban refused the first condition point-blank, but showed some flexibility on the others. As such, this first preliminary contact made little headway.  

The channels for the contact have been set up by Taliban who fled to Pakistan when the government collapsed in Kabul and were sheltered in ISI safe houses. These people, working with Pakistani jihadis who know how to approach the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan, are acting as go-betweens.  

Violence against U.S. and other foreign troops in Afghanistan has been increasing. Small hit-and-run attacks are a daily feature in most parts of the country, while face-to-face skirmishes are common in the former Taliban stronghold around Kandahar in the south.  

Observers familiar with Afghan resistance movements say the one that has emerged since Taliban’s fall is stronger than the movement that opposed Soviet invaders for nearly a decade starting in 1979.  

A key reason for this is that the previous Taliban government—which dispersed almost intact after capitulating to advancing Northern Alliance forces without a fight—is backed by the most powerful force in Afghanistan: clerics and religious students.  

For centuries, clerics were the most respected segment of Afghan society. But before 1979 they never participated in politics; their role was one of reconciliation of conflicts. Things changed during the Afghan resistance movement against the USSR. Clerics threw their weight behind the mujahedeen struggle, but, with a few exceptions, they were not in command.  

With the withdrawal of the Soviets and the emergence of the Taliban in the early 1990s, however, the situation once again changed. The Taliban, taking advantage of the power struggles among bitterly divided militias in Kabul, consolidated themselves into an effective political movement led by clerics. In 1996, they seized power in Kabul. Part of their success lay in the fact that, initially, many Afghans were reluctant to take up the gun against clerics.  

Now, in the renewed guerrilla war against foreign troops, the clerics are calling the shots. Hafiz Rahim, for instance, is the most respected cleric in the Kandahar region.  

U.S. forces have employed maximum air support and advanced technology in an attempt to curtail attacks, but without the help of local Afghan forces they have been unable to track down Rahim, who has targeted U.S. convoys scores of times. The United States has admitted a few U.S. casualties; the Taliban claim to have killed many more. For funds, the Taliban use money they looted from the central bank before abandoning Kabul, estimated in excess of $110 million, in addition to money received from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.  

At the same time, famed warlord Gulbbudin Hekmatyar has joined the resistance after returning from exile in Iran. His Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) is the most organized force in the country, and it has added real muscle to the resistance. Many top slots in the Kabul administration are occupied by former HIA members who, although they were once anti-Taliban, are loyal to the Islamic cause and anti-U.S. Also, several provincial governors and top officials are former HIA commanders. They are suspect in the eyes of the Americans, but cannot be removed because of their huge political clout.  

With this groundswell of support—even if in places it is only passive—and with Kabul’s influence restricted to the capital, the Americans and their allies will remain vulnerable targets. In fact, many experts on Afghanistan argue that traditionally, similar situations have spawned insurrections in the Afghan army against foreign administrators.  

At present, Kabul is divided into two main factions. The first is pro-U.S., represented by U.S. and allied troops and those loyal to President Hamid Karzai. The second is pro-Russian and pro-Iranian, represented by Defense Minister General Qasim Fahim and his Northern Alliance forces.  

Although the camps are cooperating at present, they are silently building their support bases to make a grab for full power once the present interim administration runs its course, a process that is due to begin in October with a loya jirga (grand council).  

Syed Saleem Shahzad is a reporter for Asia Times Online, where this article originally appeared.

Money buys happiness for some, but misery for others, according to a new UC Berkeley study. 

The study, published in the June edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, finds that people who enter the workforce looking for a hefty salary are happy when they get it. But those who are interested in meaning or fulfillment on the job actually feel worse as they move up the ladder. 

The study comes to no definitive conclusions as to why values-driven people become less and less happy as they rake in more and more dough. But Ariel Malka, a UC Berkeley Ph.D. candidate in psychology and co-author of the study, said they may become upset about forgoing fulfillment and creative self-expression to make the big bucks. 

“If you were the type of person who back in the day said, ‘Oh yeah, I value a job for intrinsic values,’ then you effectively sold out ... your happiness takes a hit,” he said. 

Malka, citing studies that found that people have less fun pursuing hobbies if they are paid for it, added that fattening the wallet may just take the enjoyment out of a beloved job. 

“Perhaps making a lot of money in your job can actually cause you to question why you are working at the particular job you have,” he said.  

The study, co-authored by professor Jennifer Chatman, of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, followed 124 men and women from graduate school to the professional world over a nine-year period. 

Participants filled out lengthy surveys while studying business at Haas between 1986 and 1991. In 1995, four to nine years after completing the initial surveys, participants checked in again, recording their annual income and rating their well-being and job satisfaction. 

While the study identifies differences in job satisfaction between those motivated by money and those motivated by loftier goals, it found, on average, that income has no impact on happiness. 

“In a capitalistic society, people generally believe that—all other things being equal—being rich is better,” said Chatman. “But that is not what we found.” 

Previous studies, he said, have shown that pay hikes make a real difference in the happiness of lower-income workers. “At those income levels, having more money [means] knowing where you’re going to live next month or whether you’re going to have enough groceries for dinner,” he said. 

Malka, for his part, said he’s a pretty happy guy, even though he envisions years of work as a researcher and junior professor who won’t make much money. “My family laughs at me—they say I do this research to justify going into a low-paying job,” he said.

The City Council meetings of June 17 were a nightmare. 

Despite the generally outstanding budget work of the city manager and his staff and despite earlier mayoral and council declarations of budget rectitude, fairness and council team spirit, and despite the as-yet-undetermined recommendations of the Citizens Revenue Task Force, the city’s budget discussions have now regressed into chaos and bad old ways. And, I am very sorry to say, that despite an impressive growth in leadership qualities and commitment to democratic process that emerged from the poor start of Papergate, Mayor Bates now appears to have relapsed into his bad old ways. He is behaving in an alarming, inappropriate and arrogant manner, and engaging in Sacramento-style strong-arming and ramrodding with respect to his favored agendas. 

The immediate precipitating substantive cause of the June 17 council disaster was the Berkeley library’s unprecedented request that council approve a 36 percent library assessment increase on Berkeley property owners. More about this shortly. 

With respect to democratic process, there was little in evidence at the June 17 meetings. Despite the fact that the city now has a Rules/Agenda Committee which is supposed to advance preview council items for completeness, despite the existence of a Revenue Task Force which has yet to make recommendations, and despite the city clerk’s honorable commitment to letting the sun shine on public decision making, critical budget materials were delivered at the last minute and they were not posted on the city’s Web site, even by the next morning at 11 a.m. Not only was the interested public and the press shortchanged, so were our councilmembers. How could council possibly review these complex materials in the scant hour or even minutes prior to the meeting? 

Furthermore, certain vital materials relating to the library, to which only the library director, Mayor Bates and Councilmember Linda Maio were apparently privy, were literally waved in the air during the meeting. No copies of this new document were initially available for other councilmembers, the public or the press.  

The process also broke down when the chair, that is the mayor, let his advocacy for certain ideas overwhelm his chairmanship obligations. Councilmembers were speaking out of turn, certain councilmembers were favored and others ignored, Councilmember Maio acted as unauthorized and unelected co-mayor, premature motions were made, assertions were put forth as facts and non-existent “compromises” were stated as fact by Mayor Bates. These “compromises” were simply wishful thinking. 

As a person who has attended or viewed almost every council meeting in the last four-and-a-half years, I can honestly state that this was among the most disgraceful. 

As for the Berkeley library issue, this is a complex issue that deserves a separate discussion. For now, here is my summarized version.  

The library has asked the council to approve a huge property assessment increase of marginal or no legality that would mostly fund substantial “cost-of-living” increases for library staff and substantial library services for non-Berkeley residents. There has been an unseemly and out-of-character haste by the library, as a cherished Berkeley institution, to grab all that it can even before it needs it and to stonewall council requests for information that could negatively impact its grandiose budget plans. And there has been an unseemly effort by Mayor Bates and Councilmember Maio, who support the library on this matter, to force a premature and unnecessary council vote for the whole enchilada. The city attorney and city manager have advised that the maximum legal assessment increase would be about 13 percent, and they actually recommend a much smaller amount. So we are not only dealing with unwarranted library budget increases, we are also dealing with potential taxpayer rebellion and lawsuits. 

The library budget and assessment needs to be a part of the full budget process. That is, it needs to be looked at in the context of all new tax assessments and all program needs. What I saw on the part of the library director, the mayor and Councilmember Maio was an alarming disrespect for the budget process, the city manager and his staff, other councilmembers, the press and the interested public. 

I certainly hope that this meeting was an aberration and that the mayor, council, library and other stakeholders in our city will return to the sane and thoughtful approach to our budget crisis on which I once thought they had embarked. 

Barbara Gilbert is a Berkeley resident and a frequent contributor to the Planet’s editorial pages.

Berkeley’s City Hall and Corporation Yard were once located at Sacramento and University avenues. City Hall was moved to an appropriate, prominent location in the heart of the city. The Corporation Yard moved to an established residential neighborhood at Allston, Acton and Bancroft. Houses were moved to accommodate the yard.  

The city’s first architect, Walter Ratcliff, designed the main L-shaped building in 1913. Grassy fields and brick walls separated the new home for horses and wagons from neighboring homes.  

The grassy fields are long gone; the horses replaced by big diesel trucks pulling trailers. The Corporation Yard is in an R-2 Residential Zone, and constitutes the largest non-conforming use in the city. It generates unbelievable noise, dust, fumes and traffic.  

Public Works wants to demolish the “L” of the Ratcliff Building and install three portable buildings and 15 more storage containers (each 40 feet by 8 feet). They didn’t bother presenting this plan to the neighbors, but sent it directly to the Zoning Board, which will consider it on Thursday, June 26.  

Although neighbors understand and fully support the need to move city employees out of the un-reinforced masonry Ratcliff building, we believe the proposed project will create even more noise, pollution and traffic in our already greatly overburdened neighborhood.  

We disagree with the Negative Declaration and believe an Environmental Impact Report is necessary, including considering the cumulative impact of the school district plan to move offices, maintenance and vehicles within two blocks of the yard.  

The proposed modular buildings are close to homes, and will put congregations of people where sound will disturb neighbors. This project wastes valuable tax dollars on temporary buildings, temporary utility lines and the uncalculated costs of employee inefficiency due to working in an overcrowded facility.  

The proposal states surplus vehicles now stored at the yard will be sold. The history of the yard shows that those vehicles will be quickly replaced by an unending stream of damaged or over-age vehicles, kept for spare parts or awaiting sale.  

Neighbors are understandably wary after their 1987 experience. The city proposed to demolish part of one building, and replace it elsewhere. As mitigation, they would build a sound wall and expand off-street employee parking. Neighbors were shocked when a new 24-hour gas station appeared almost outside their living rooms, something never mentioned at the public hearings. It took nearly 10 years of protests to get the sound wall; the rest of the mitigation was never done. Instead, the city added 21 ugly storage containers in violation of their Use Permit.  

According to the 1987 master plan for the Corporation Yard:  

• When improvements occur they do so in a piecemeal fashion. 

• The 4.5-acre site is too small to accommodate all of the present operations.  

• Site location is incompatible with residential use.  

• General building layout is awkward, cramped and not designed for the functions of the Corporation Yard.  

• Facilities for divisions are scattered throughout the yard with no apparent organization.  

• Insufficient amount of off-street employee parking (at least 85 employee cars park on the street). 

• Equipment vehicles generate excessive noise pollution during day and night time hours. Volume of traffic to and from yard increases potential safety hazards and air pollution in the neighborhood.  

• The overall yard productivity suffers when work space is inadequate for the efficient performance of job activities, resulting in higher operational cost to the city.  

The Public Works and Parks departments need to look at the logic of keeping all of the current activities at the yard. Placing the Parks Department or Streets Division near the transfer station would make good sense, since their vehicles visit the transfer station nearly daily. There is city and private land in the industrial section of Berkeley that could easily accommodate one or more divisions on a temporary or permanent basis.  

In January 2003, Public Works claimed a new 6-acre Corporation Yard would cost $16 million, but days later, with no factual basis for either figure, claimed $25 million dollars. This was the foundation of their argument to City Council to allow demolition of the “L” of the historic Ratcliff Building. Public Works denigrated the “L” as “The Shed.” It is not a shed, but an integral part of the original building, which the Landmarks Commission considered worthy of landmark status.  

Over the past 30 years Public Works has not dealt in good faith with its neighbors. Their promises are hollow and forgotten quickly. They make little effort to reduce trips, obey traffic laws, limit noise and air pollution. They have yet to create an emergency evacuation plan for the neighborhood.  

The Zoning Board should consider that if they approve the proposed demolition and modular buildings, they are actually approving future construction of five permanent, new buildings at the Corporation Yard to replace existing buildings. The Zoning Board should not support this bad neighbor.  

This commentary piece was submitted by the Corporation Yard Neighbors, an informal group of area residents, who did not want their individual names published.

Spiritual enlightenment can hurt sometimes. A man meditating in a tree in the Berkeley hills learned this the hard way Sunday, June 22, when he fell 30 feet to the ground, then tumbled 50 feet down a steep ravine, said Chief Mike Migliore of the Berkeley Fire Department. 

"This is a first for me,'' Migliore said. 

Around 2 a.m., Ben Mann, 18, fell from a tree he had perched in to meditate, said Migliore. Mann had been in the tree since about 10 p.m. Saturday. 

An early-morning hiker heard Mann calling for help around 2:30 a.m. and called 911. Rescuers arrived on scene near 100 Stonewall Dr. at 2:45 a.m. and, using a rope and rescue basket, were able to remove Mann two hours later, Migliore said. 

According to Migliore, paramedics took Mann to Highland Hospital, where he was treated for minor leg and back injuries and a possible head injury. 

Migliore said that Mann told rescuers he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the incident occurred. 

—Bay City News

On Tuesday, the City Council will finalize the budget, vote on a contract with a parking meter parts company and consider a new fountain on the Berkeley-Kensington border. 

The final, final budget 

The council will finalize next year’s budget Tuesday after some massaging and tweaking. The budget is expected to bridge a $4.7 million deficit.  

In addition, the council is expected to adopt increased parking fines and approve a library tax hike at a special 5 p.m. meeting immediately before the regular meeting at 7. 

Both increases will have a direct bearing on the final budget the council will adopt later in the evening. 

The council has already approved increases on a variety of fees including the residential parking permit fees, ambulance fees and fire inspections fees.  

The final budget seeks to fund the city’s $4.7 million deficit through a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in parking fines, a selective hiring freeze and cuts in expenditures such as travel.  

Keeping up with meter vandals 

The council will consider increasing the city’s contract with Dunchan Industries for parking meter replacement parts for the repair of hundreds of broken city meters. 

The new contract will add $146,000 to the existing $33,700 contract. The revised contract would be good until June 2004 and will not exceed $180,000. 

According to a Department of Public Works report, 30 percent of the city’s 3,000 meters are in need of repair because of vandalism.  

The new contract would include new vandal resistant coin slots which is expected to reduce the approximately 100 requests for repairs the department currently fields each week.  

Fountain on Arlington 

The council will consider a recommendation from Councilmember Miriam Hawley to approve a new fountain on Berkeley’s northern border with the un-incorporated town of Kensington. 

The small fountain will be placed on the median strip on Arlington Avenue near the intersection of Amherst Street.  

Funds for the fountain will come from the Kensington Improvement Association, which will raise money from dues, donations and Contra Costa County. According to project coordinators, no estimate for the cost of the fountain is available yet.  

Berkeley will contribute a bit of land, some water and electricity. Hawley did not include an estimate of the cost to the city of Berkeley in her agenda item.  

The fountain will be circular in shape, similar to the fountain in the Marin Circle in Berkeley, although smaller. 

“We are very hopeful Berkeley agrees to the project,” said Kensington Improvement Association project coordinator Lorraine Osmandson. “We don’t want Berkeley to be the only city around here with a fountain.”

On Saturday night around 11 p.m. police received a call from a motorist who said he was driving eastbound on Marin Avenue near Santa Barbara Street when he heard something hit the right rear window of his car.  

When officers arrived at the scene, they heard a pellet gun fired on the hill above them.  

One officer went to investigate and several pellets were shot in his direction although he was not struck.  

The officer saw two young boys and ordered them not to move. Both ran off. At the same time two other motorists were struck by BBs, one on his forehead through an open window.  

Police detained two teenage boys, 15 and 16, one of whom immediately confessed to the shootings. Both boys are residents of the Berkeley Hills. They were taken into custody, charged with assault with a deadly weapon and then released to their parents.  

—John Geluardi 

Meditation monkey style 

Spiritual enlightenment can hurt sometimes. A man meditating in a tree in the Berkeley hills learned this the hard way today when he fell to the ground 30-feet below, then tumbled 50-feet down a steep ravine, said Chief Mike Migliore of the Berkeley Fire Department. 

"This is a first for me,'' Migliore said. 

Around 2 a.m. today, Ben Mann, 18, fell 30-feet from a tree he had perched in to meditate, said Migliore. Mann, who had been in the tree since about 10 p.m. Saturday, fell to the ground, then tumbled another 50-feet down a steep ravine located in a wooded section of the Berkeley hills.  

An early-morning hiker heard Mann calling for help around 2:30 a.m. and called 911. Rescuers arrived on scene near 100 Stonewall Dr. at 2:45 a.m. and, using a rope and rescue basket, were able to remove Mann two hours later, Migliore said. 

According to Migliore, paramedics took Mann to Highland Hospital where he was treated for minor leg and back injuries and a possible head injury. 

Migliore said that Mann told rescuers he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the incident occurred. 

- Bay City News 

Benicia is well worth exploring, partly because no one else is exploring it.  

Connected to mainland East Bay by the Benicia-Martinez (George Miller, Jr. Memorial) Bridge and by Benicia Transit’s bus from the Pleasant Hill BART Station, Benicia is a quiet, historic village masked as a lower-cost commuter hub that once served as California’s third state capital. 

Benicia does not translate to “upwind from Martinez oil refineries.” It was actually the favored name of Maria Felipa Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo, wife of the Mexican commandant of Alta California, Gen. Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.  

As Bear Flag Party member Dr. Robert Semple transported Vallejo as a prisoner from Sonoma to Sutter’s Fort in 1846, he eyed the picturesque site which Vallejo happened to own as a Mexican land grant. By the end of the trip, Semple co-owned the five square miles, with the condition that he would name it after Vallejo’s wife.  

Semple and Thomas O. Larkin, former American Consul to Monterey, built the brick building at First and G streets as a city hall and offered it to the state, which used it as the state capitol for 13 months during 1853 and 1854. The state Treasury was located here as well, as no wooden building was deemed safe enough to house it. Restored to its finery and now a historical park, it houses the upstairs Assembly chambers and downstairs Senate chambers, with feather pens in ink wells, gentlemen’s hats on desks and brass spittoons within convenient range of every legislator’s seat. 

Benicia was the first California city to incorporate, and most buildings on First Street are historic. First Street itself has been dubbed “Main Street,” a nod to Benicia’s participation as one of 40 cities in the California Main Street Program to revitalize historic towns. 

At the foot of First Street is the Transcontinental Railroad Depot, built in 1879, First Street Green and the former ferry pier with an unusual view of the Benicia and Martinez bridges. Here trains transferred onto the Solano and Contra Costa ferry boats for Port Costa, where they continued trips toward San Francisco until the Southern Pacific built a bridge between Benicia and Martinez in 1930. President Taft campaigned from his train here in 1912. Captain Blyther’s seafood and steak restaurant nearby is an old-time local favorite. 

Benicia is now a Mecca for artistic glass-blowing, with a few studios near or on First Street, and many others at the Old Arsenal, now a near industrial park. At First and F streets, David L. Lindsay displays his bright colored glass objects and blows glass in the back, where the oven cooks at 2,000 degrees and the air temperature hits 140 in the summer. Manager and wife Ann Lindsay says, “That’s when he makes things that don’t take any thinking.” 

About a one-mile stroll or roll, First Street is loaded with informal antiques and used book stores, some of which are not open on Sunday. Yesterdaze Books at 501 First St. is the former Lido Club, a onetime hangout of Jack London.  

Breakfast and lunch on the weekends are best at First Street Café, an oasis of great casual food from Acme bread and homemade scones to here-made desserts and jams. Omelets are out of sight. Dinner is equally great and under $20. 

The Camellia Tearoom, once the Mona Lisa Club, is owned and overseen by local Mary Ellen Hayes, whose husband is the very Democratic and very preservationist immediate past mayor of Benicia. Mary Ellen serves true afternoon tea, sandwiches and salads, including a sampler of chicken-artichoke, Italian tuna and curry chicken. As the house cook, Mary Ellen says, “I cook by ear, and my daughter Casey bakes by formula, so we can’t be in the kitchen at the same time!” The results, though, work well together. 

Other restaurants worth sampling on First Street are Victor’s Italian Restaurant, Sala Thai and its sister restaurant Petals, and Kaigan Sushi. Coffee stops include In the Company of Wolves—so named for the previous owner who kept two pet wolves in his camper, parked across the street, while tending the café—and Benicia Bay Company, whose café is in the back of the shop and features Peet’s Coffee and Joseph Schmidt truffles. 

Camels do not live in the Camel barns, but they did in the 1850s and 1860s when the U.S. Army used them as pack animals, an experiment abandoned after the Civil War. The remaining camels were shipped to the Benicia Arsenal, where they were auctioned off to the public. 

As home to artists such as Robert Arneson and Manuel Neri, Benicia’s Arsenal art studios now host 100 artists, Bradbury and Bradbury Art Wallpaper, the National Neon Institute, the Benicia Ballet and the Benicia Historical Museum. Benicia Glass Studios include Nourot Glass Studio, Smyers Glass and Zellique Art Glass, all close together at 675 and 701 East H Street. 

If your mother, like mine, told you not to go to Benicia, try it now. 

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.”

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

When people hear Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek deliver a public address in the City Council Chambers, they take a second look to make sure the prodigious voice is actually emanating from the elderly woman with the short gray afro and cherubic face. 

Then they straighten a bit in their seats, compelled by her timbre, modulation and eloquence to pay close attention. Shirek, who celebrated her 92nd birthday on Wednesday, has lent her stirring voice to the struggles of the voiceless for the last 60 years. With a tenacious resolve, she has demonstrated, organized and advocated for the rights of workers, seniors, minorities, single parents, the homeless and the disabled. 

The vice mayor’s commitment to her ideals has resulted in what longtime aide Michael Berkowitz characterized as “countless” arrests while championing for human rights. Long after the age when most people retire, Shirek was still chaining herself to the gates of tear gas manufacturing plants and to doorways of hospitals threatening to close AIDS wards. 

Just last year, Shirek was arrested after leading hundreds of hotel workers into an intersection near the exclusive Claremont Resort and Spa for a sit-down protest against the hotel management’s union negotiations. 

During a birthday celebration at her New Light Senior Center on Wednesday, Shirek, the granddaughter of slaves, spoke about her political activism, which began shortly after she arrived in Oakland from rural Arkansas during the Second World War. 

“When I stepped off the train at Seventh and Wood streets in 1943, I thought I was coming to the Promised Land,” said Shirek. Just back from a family reunion, she wore a T-shirt that bore a diagram of her family tree. “I soon found out that you had to struggle here, like you did back there. There’s no running away from it.” 

A Tribute Etched in Stone 

To honor Shirek’s record of public service and political activism, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday (Shirek’s birthday) that will designate Berkeley’s downtown Post Office the “Maudelle Shirek Post Office Building.” 

“Maudelle Shirek is one of my political heroes,” said Lee. “Fighting for social justice is no rarity in Berkeley, but Maudelle’s name always stands above the rest because of the uncompromising fidelity to her ideals and compassion for people.” 

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the designation in the coming weeks.  

Shirek, who has received a host of honors, including proclamations from The Alameda County Supervisors, Congresswoman Lee and President George Bush, said the gesture was unnecessary. 

“I haven’t done anything alone, it was with the help of many good people,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’ve done all that much.” 

But she has.  

Shirek’s voice was at the forefront of integrating Berkeley’s schools, breaking discriminatory employment barriers in downtown businesses and dismantling the city’s restrictive real estate covenants that prevented blacks from buying property east of Sacramento Street.  

Her voice has encouraged untold numbers of seniors to eat healthy meals at the two senior centers she founded. 

And her voice has inspired thousands of people to serve their communities and pressed dozens more into political service, including Congresswoman Lee, former U.S. Congressman Ronald Dellums and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. 

While Shirek has slowed a bit, her schedule still impresses people who are half her age. In addition to her council duties, she has spent every Tuesday morning for nearly 30 years shopping and preparing fresh food for the afternoon meals at the Light Senior Center. Each year the center serves more than 5,000 healthy, inexpensive meals to seniors in the center’s dining room and another 11,000 to those too frail to leave their homes. 

Critics of Shirek’s style as a city councilmember say she could be more responsive to her constituents. However, the majority of voters in south Berkeley’s District 3 don’t doubt her commitment to them. They have re-elected her seven times. In her last victory in 2000, she walked away with 74 percent of the vote.  

In recent years, Shirek has put affordable housing, job creation and job training at the top of her agenda. Two years ago, Shirek persuaded City Council to help fund the Cypress Mandela/Women in Skilled Trades Training Center that has a successful record of introducing people into construction-related jobs. 

“We were so glad that Maudelle worked to get Berkeley to contract with the program,” said Gay Plair Cobb, director of Oakland Private Industry, Inc., a nonprofit career center. “The program has helped many people overcome barriers to good paying jobs.” 

The source of her resolve 

Shirek credits her upbringing for her unflagging commitment to community activism. She was raised on a 160-acre farm in rural Arkansas, which was homesteaded by her grandparents, freed Mississippi slaves. Her instinct for political activism and powerful speaking voice was encouraged by her father who was a farmer, school teacher and activist in their rural community.  

“My father was very interested in us speaking clearly at school presentations and family meals,” said Shirek, who is the oldest of 10 children. “Both my dad and mother were very active in the community.” 

Shirek said her early years on the farm were characterized by a cooperative life style in which everybody relied on one another for support. “There was one plow we all shared and everybody exchanged services like tool sharpening, shoe cobbling and so on,” she said.  

It was also on the family farm that Shirek developed a life-long relationship with fresh food. The modest farm produced wild berries, fruit trees, potatoes, peanuts, peas and sugar cane. 

Since she founded the New Light Senior Center in 1976, Shirek has insisted on fresh, healthy ingredients for the mid-day meals. She doesn’t allow any salt, sugar or fried foods. Dessert is always a piece of fruit appropriate for the meal. 

Three days a week, about 50 nicely dressed seniors file into the center, pay $2 and sit down at long tables for a sociable, farm-styled lunch. 

“It is such a great thing, I come here three days a week,” said Gloria Trahan, 77. “I’ve stopped eating salt. You’re just more inclined to pay attention to what you eat because everybody else is eating healthy.” 

According to New Light Senior Center Director Jackie Dubose, the center will lose about 10 percent of its funding over the next two years. “With our limited budget that’s a huge cutback,” she said. “We will continue to serve meals but its going to be much harder.” 

Asked about the cutbacks Shirek said with her venerated voice and a faint smile: “The struggle continues.” 

Those interested in contributing to the New Light Senior Center can call Director Jackie Dubose at 510-549-2666. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 20 

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. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 496-6000, ext. 135. www.bpf.org 

Butterfly Count Come help with the annual butterfly count. Meet at North Oxford Tract driveway off Walnut St. just north of Delaware St. Call for details. 642-3207. powellj@nature.berkeley.edu 

“Suppressed Histories: Ancient Iraq” Max Dashu presents her slideshow, focusing on Iraqi women, from farming villages 7,000 years ago, to the empires of Sumeria, Babylonia, and Assyria, to the Muslim era, at 7:30 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Cost is $10-15. Wheelchair accessible. 654-9298. 

Farmers’ Market at Bay Street Emeryville, fresh produce, flowers, baked goods, and specialty food items, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 655-4002. www.baystreetemery 

ville.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Summer Solstice Celebration at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. Live music by Clan Dyken and Wake the Dead. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Solar Electricity For Your Home Learn how to design your own solar electrical generator. A short field trip to a functioning house/system and current catalog of available equipment are included. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610.  

Friends of Five Creeks work party to remove (thornless) blackberries at Cerrito Creek on the south edge of Pacific East Mall, 3288 Pierce. Meet at 10 a.m., bring work gloves, shovels, loppers if you can. 848-9358. F5creeks@aol.com 

Forces That Shape the Bay  

A weekend of family-oriented activities and events to celebrate the opening of LHS's permanent science park. Ride earthquake simulators, set erosion in motion, and see the Bay with powerful telescopes. Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. 

643-5961.www.lawrencehall 

ofscience.org 

Youth Institute -- Rise Up: Tools to Resist Militarism in Our Schools Join with others who are working on counter-recruitment and other anti-militarism work. Youth especially encouraged to attend. Workshops include Know Your Rights; Poverty Draft (or Military Myths); Peer Resources and Organizing in the Schools; Alternatives to the Military; Combating JROTC. From 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. We are looking for 50 high school students and 20 parents and/or school workers to carry on activities in fall 2003. Registration required. For details, or to register, contact Ron Wooden, 415-565-0201 ext. 27, or email rwooden@afsc.org or erosenberg@afsc.org 

Our Bankrupt Schools 

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock holds a public hearing on the fiscal crisis in public schools, examining why schools go bankrupt, what current mechanisms are in place to avoid bankruptcies, what happens in a bankruptcy and ideas on improving our school system. At 10 a.m. Richmond City Hall North, Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, 2600 Barrett Ave., Richmond. Free. For more information call 559-1478. 

Vegetable Oil Diesel Conversion Workshop, on Sat. June 21 and Sun. June 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A free workshop on converting diesels to run on vegetable oil using the Elsbet conversion kit. Leading the workshop will be a mechanic from the Elsbet company in Germany. Multiple Mercedes diesels will be converted. Held at 611 Hearst. 841-3607.  

Livermore Action Group Reunion, 20th Anniversary of the International Day of Nuclear Disarmament and book-release party for “Direct Action,” from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Unitarian Fellow- 

ship, at Cedar and Bonita. Free, open to the public. For information contact George Franklin, 415-255-7623 or info@directaction.org, www.directaction.org  

Plastics, Health, and the Environment: A Bay Area Roundtable Share the latest information on plastics, including scientific findings, recycling updates, activist campaigns, and strategies for reducing and preventing packaging waste. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch not included. At the Berkeley Public Library, Central Community Room, 2090 Kittredge. Please RSVP to Carrie Teiken, 527-5555.  

Canoe Outing with Save The Bay Celebrate the first day of summer with a paddle at Goodyear Slough, in Suisun Bay. Explore the tule marsh, 

observe wildlife and discuss wetland ecology and conservation. From 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., $25 for Save The Bay members, $30 for non-members. To register or for more information call 542-9261. www.savesfbay.org 

Volunteers for Kucinich meets for committee formation and team-tabling training at 10 a.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 636-4149. 

Kol Hadash, Family Shabbat with Rabbi Kai Eckstein,  

“Celebrating Our Jewish- 

ness,” from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring lunch for your family, and dessert to share. We also collect non-perishable food for the needy. 233-6880. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 22 

Native Plants and Insects  

Take a walk to identify native plants and learn about their insect companions and native plant gardening. For children and adults 8 and over, 2 p.m. in Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. tnarea@ 

ebparks.org 

Creating An Ecological House A class with Skip Wenz, author of “Adding To A House and Ecotecture: Designing a Sustainable Future,” on modeling houses on ecosystems, with natural building materials, solar design and alternative construction methods, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610.  

“What’s Going On at the Livermore Labs?” a teach-in by Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation, from 3 to 5 p.m, at 2550 Dana St. Free, but seating is limited. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Register by calling 524-7989. SandyH@iopener.net 

“Healing through Compas- 

sion,” with Erika Rosenberg, at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JUNE 23 

Community Orchard Project Public Hearing will be held by the The City of Berkeley’s Parks and Recreation Commission regarding the proposed Community Orchard Project on two blocks of the Santa Fe right-of-way be- 

tween Ward and Carleton, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6715. 

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

unteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

Meet Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and acknowledge the commissioners and non-profit organizations that help make a difference in District 5, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. 272-6695. 

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

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

Berkeley Partners for Parks Haskell-Mabel Mini-Park Play Area Renovation Meeting, at 7 p.m. at the Frances Albrier Community Center, 2800 Park St. at San Pablo Park. Contact Landscape Architect Yi-Liang Kao for more information, 981-6435. 

Cerrito Creek Access Final public meeting on plans for pedestrian and bicycle access along Cerrito Creek from the Ohlone Greenway to the Eastshore State Park, at 7 p.m., Albany City Hall. For information contact Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 or F5creeks@aol.com 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut at Rose. 

For information on the classes call 848-5143. 527-5332. 

Berkeley Food Policy Council meets at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. The Berkeley Food Policy Council is a coalition of residents, non-profit agencies, community groups, school district and city agencies formed in 1999 to in- 

crease community food access and help build a healthy regional food system. Everyone is welcome. 

548-3333.  

“Crisis in the Schools: What Can be Done?” Discussion with Terry Doran, Berkeley School Board member and Teacher Jonah Zern of Edu- 

cation Not Incarceration, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berke- 

ley Senior Center. All welcome. Sponsored by the Ber- 

keley Gray Panthers. 548-9696.  

“Local Heroes: Changing Sustainability Cultures One Company at a Time” Panel discussion on how individuals can change the sustainability culture in their company, from 6 to 7:30 pm, at Café de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Admission is $7 for SBA members, $10 for non-members. Sponsored by the The Sustainable Business Alliance. For information and registration visit www.sustainablebiz.org or call 282-5151. 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group 

meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Uni- 

tarian Universalist Fellow- 

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

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

Berkeley NAACP Youth Council Pinning Ceremony and Silent Auction, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Yacht Club, 1 Seawall Drive. Cost is $20 per person, $150 for a table of eight, and includes light refreshments and deserts. Your support will help send five Berkeley youth to the 94th Annual NAACP Convention in Miami. 330-8577. berkeleynaacp@hotmail.com,www.naacp.org 

Discussion: Zoot Soot Riots 

A panel discussion on one of the worst race riots in U.S. history, with Jose Montoya and Dr. Jose Cuellar. Film clips will also be shown. At 7:30 p.m. at at La Peña Cul- 

tural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Suggested donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Public Hearing on Ursula Sherman Village, Draft Environmental Impact Report, conducted by the Zoning Adjustments Board, at 7:10 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Written comments should be submitted to Wendy Cosin, Planning Dept., 2118 Milvia St., Berkeley 94704, before 5 p.m. Mon. July 7. 981-7402. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek  

Meeting on Water Quality Arleen Feng, an engineer/ 

scientist with the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, will discuss how we can monitor contaminants, limit storm water pollution and generally improve water quality in Strawberry Creek. Danny Akagi or Lorin Jen- 

sen of the Berkeley Public Works Department will also attend, and Bayla Bower, a creekside resident on Allston Way, will share what she has learned about water quality, at 6:30 p.m. at the Corporation Yard Green Room, 1326 Allston Way. For more information, contact at janet@ 

earthlink.net or 848-4008. 

Berkeley Friends Meeting with Catherine Hunter to discuss a new Quaker School in San Francisco, at 7 p.m., at 2151 Vine St. 705-7314. 

ONGOING 

Educators Academy: Insects and Crawling Creatures Tues., June 24 - Thurs., June 26, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration is required. Cost is $100 for Berkeley residents, $110 for non-residents. Financial as- 

sistance is available. For information call 636-1684. tnarea@ebparks.org 

The Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for children 7-13 years of age, in a series of five, 2-week sessions beginning June 16 and ending August 22. John Hinkel Park, South- 

ampton Place at Arlington Ave. The cost is $340 per session. After-care is also provided for a fee. Scholar- 

ships are available; call 981-5150 for details. To register for the camp, or for more information, please call 415-422-2222, or 800-978-PLAY. 

Summer Science Weeks: Insects and Plants Count butterflies, hunt bugs, and meet common plant families. Mondays, June 30 to July 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for ages 9 to 12, in Tilden Nature Area in Tilden Park. Cost is $150 for Berkeley residents, $166 for non-residents. Financial assistance available for low-income families. For information call 636-1684.  

Bay Area Technology Education Collaborative, a community non-profit offers low-cost training in Computer Information Technology. For information call 451-7300, ext. 604. www.baytec.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Monday, June 23, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/com 

missions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission meets Monday June 23, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

Civic Arts Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. 

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

Disaster Council meets Wednesday, June 25, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wednesday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, 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, June 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission 

meets Wednesday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. 

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

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thursday, June 26, at 7 p.m., at 1900 Sixth St. Iris Starr, 981-7520. 

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

Zoning Adjustments Board 

meets Thursday, June 26, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/zoning 

The Berkeley Daily Planet accepts listings for both the Arts Calendar and the Berkeley This Week Calendar. Listings should be sent to calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com, or by fax to 841-5695. Events are printed on a space available basis. For information call 841-5600, ext. 102.

INDEPENDENT BOARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a member—and partisan—of former Mayor Shirley Dean’s office staff,  Barbara Gilbert’s June 13 commentary (“Sacred Cow”) assailing the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board budget and operations is not a surprise. 

What is a surprise, however, is Ms. Gilbert’s apparent misreading of the Rent Board’s and the City of Berkeley’s fiscal relationship. 

Ms. Gilbert erroneously states that the Berkeley city manager has “review” authority over the Rent Board budget. She also mistakenly wonders why “city budget documents” do not contain Rent Board budget operations. 

To correct the record: Just like the Berkeley Unified School District budget or the Vista/Peralta Community College District budget, the Rent Stabilization Board maintains an independent, autonomous—and balanced—budget completely separate from the City of Berkeley.  

There is no fiscal or operational connection between the two budgets.  

Also, Ms. Gilbert complains that performing an audit of the Rent Board “is all but impossible.” In fact, an independent, outside auditor conducts an audit every year. C. G. Uhlenberg LLP, a certified public accounting firm, performed the Rent Board’s most recent 2002 audit. 

To address Ms. Gilbert’s point about the number of Rent Board employees: since 1995, the total number of employees (“full-time equivalents” or FTEs) has decreased by 20 percent. 

This 20 percent staff reduction reflects the elected affordable housing Rent Board majority’s successful commitment to increased employee efficiency and streamlined agency operations. Also, despite significant Bay Area inflation rate increases, the Rent Board’s 2003-2004 unit registration fee matches the agency’s 1991-1992 fee level. 

Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board is perhaps the city’s most critical elected body. The board administers the city’s single largest affordable housing public policy program: 19,000 regulated units providing tens of thousands of Berkeley citizens with rent level stability and housing security.  

Without the city’s 1980 voter-approved Rent Board, Berkeley’s unique and vibrant character, diversity and sizable affordable housing stock would have eroded—or disappeared—long ago, given the Bay Area’s explosive real estate market prices over the past two decades. 

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

RETIRED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Friday, June 13, I read two articles in your newspaper that prompted me to write. One was about the Berkeley Adult School moving to the Franklin School site, and the other was about the two retirees from Berkeley Unified School District.  

It might be interesting to you that on Friday, June 13, I retired from the Berkeley Adult School. I have taught ESL, computer applications and business English and math. I was the evening ESL coordinator for more than two years. I helped create a wonderful ESL computer lab, which is the plum of our ESL program, along with the more than 35 ESL classes taught daily morning, afternoon and evening. 

Berkeley Adult School has a large group of teachers as qualified as the teachers in other school programs in the Berkeley Unified School District. We have to have a teaching credential, too. The big difference is that teachers are hired as hourly teachers at Berkeley Adult School! This definitely has not been a popular situation with the teachers at BAS, but we enjoy teaching immigrants and other adults to speak our language and learn about our multifaceted cultures.  

My pension will be exceedingly small even though I taught English at College of Alameda for eight years (part-time of course) and several other places around the East Bay (when I was a freeway flyer or, as I like to call it, a Road Scholar). 

Prior to coming to Berkeley in 1988, I taught full-time at the American University of Beirut (1983-1986) and knew the hostages personally. I also taught at Truman College in Chicago, and will be probably be teaching there again in the fall, as I don’t have sufficient retirement equity to really retire. 

Kay Wade 

• 

FOREIGN POLICY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

During “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the aerial bombardments against strongholds like Mazar-e-Sharif (in early November 2001) and those against Kandahar in the south and Tora Bora in the east (after the conquest by Northern Alliance troops of Kabul—the Afghan capital—on Nov. 20, 2001) were intense, but so was the fire of the special units which fought on the ground.  

The United States and its allies have as much to fear from heavy reliance on newfangled gadgets as they do from outmoded military concepts: During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Patriot missiles shot down two coalition aircraft, killing both crews—one aircraft was American, the other British. Any formal Chinese response to the withdrawal from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea would be linked with the new strategic framework talks that include National Missile Defense. China’s relations with the United States notably cooled after the Bush Administration notified Russia of its withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, in December 2001.  

The Bush Administration partially lifted sanctions against India and Pakistan on Sept. 22, 2001—initially imposed because of the proliferation of nuclear weapons—two days after the ultimatum to the Taliban. Pervez Musharraf, President General of Pakistan, announced his support for Operation Enduring Freedom at that time. In doing so, Musharraf went way out on a limb.  

There are robust political implications of the withdrawal of American ground troops from the DMZ. In any case, talks with the two Koreas must include Japan, China and Russia. The U.S. Second Infantry Division has moved south of the Han River. This military redeployment is in the wake of the last South Korean election, in which Roh Moo-hyun, then-Member of Parliament from Seoul would have identified the United States with the River Styx to have gained favor with the South Korean electorate.  

In one sense, the North Koreans can claim that the return of the Yongsan military base, situated in downtown Seoul on some of the most valuable real estate in the world, is owed as much to their threats of Armageddon as to the campaign rhetoric of the recently elected President Roh. How much of the $11 billion the United States will now contribute to the Defense of South Korea will be used to tidy up the river near Yongsan, a northern tributary of the Han River, which Roh accuses the American military of polluting? Had anti-Americanism (I was there, I saw it) not been so pronounced in South Korea in the run-up to the election, the American troop’s withdrawal from the DMZ might be compared to “the night the tuans ran” from Singapore during the early stages of World II.  

Richard Thompson 

Former professor  

Honam University, South Korea 

Berkeley summer resident 

• 

HOPE FOR FUTURE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The editorial, “Planning for the People,” by Becky O’Malley interested me greatly. My late husband, Jack Kent, who was a professional city planner, served on the Berkeley Planning Commission from 1949 to 1957, at which time he was elected to the Berkeley City Council. He also established the Department of City Planning at the university, and would, I believe, have heartily agreed with the opinions expressed therein. I remember clearly his disagreement with Robert Moses’ approach to the process of city planning. 

I still live in north Berkeley where the streets follow the contours of the land and remember how Jack appreciated this. I think he would have liked Phil Kamlarz very much, and I feel hopeful for the future of this great town where I was born 82 years ago. 

Mary Tolman Kent 

• 

CURB SPENDING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While Supervisor Keith Carson performs a valuable service highlighting the costs of the administration’s military incursion into Iraq, after the first few paragraphs he descends into a litany of complaints which imply that California’s record fiscal deficit is somehow related to our nation’s ridiculous military expenditures. In so doing he fails to point Californians back to the path that led us here: profligate spending. Had our elected representatives in Sacramento shown restraint when presented with the bull market riches of the late 1990s, we would not face our current state deficit. 

The electorate (that is, you and I) do not escape blame either. In 2002 we chose to vote in the most expensive bond spending bills ever seen in California: Proposition 40 (Parks) at $2.6 billion, Proposition 46 (Homeless Shelters) at $2.1 billion, Proposition 47 (Education Construction) at $13.6 billion, and Proposition 50 (Wetlands) at $3.4 billion.  

That’s $22 billion in principal, and another $22 billion in interest. Over the next 30 years that’s about $1.5 billion a year just to service the debt from the 2002 election. Just how are you planning to pay for all that anyhow? 

In the face of all of this debt, California’s debt rating has been repeatedly downgraded and hovers two notches above junk rating. The effect? We pay about 0.5 percent more in interest. The bottom line of all of this spending is higher taxes or fewer services as more money goes to servicing our enormous debt. This is true for both the national debt and California’s deficit spending. 

Mr. Carson also cites the devaluation of the dollar and the drop in the DJIA as if these are bad things. But the devaluation of the American dollar has positive economic effects by making our exports cheaper in relation to foreign currencies. More exports, more income; more income, more jobs. And as for the DJIA being down 23 percent, that’s called regression to the mean—a much needed return to fundamental economic values. 

What can we do about all of this debt? Vote fiscally conservative. Oppose omnibus bond spending bills. Force Sacramento to cap its budget increases to the inflation rate. (Although attempts to do this in Albany, N.Y., have apparently caused an increasing number of bills to be presented as “one-time emergencies.”) Stop looking at government services as if someone else is going to pay for them. And finally, quit complaining when the bill comes due! 

John Vinopal 

• 

TITLE 

Dear Editors, Daily Planet: 

I like Jerry Holl’s idea (Daily Planet, May 27) to write “Topple Bush” on every letter we send through the mail. However, my slogan of choice is: “Show Bush the Door in 2004.” Pass it on. 

T. Marcus 

• 

TITLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following letter was addressed to City Manager Weldon Rucker: 

I am writing on behalf of the Berkeley Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the California Council of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind, regarding the city’s having reversed its decision to reorganize the city Disability Compliance Program from the Public Works Department to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Since its incorporation into city government, the Disability Compliance Program has primarily focused on issues and concerns of individuals with mobility-related disabilities. The city has basically ignored the larger part of the disability community, those with communication-related disabilities, i.e. individuals who are blind and visually impaired, deaf and hearing impaired, cognitively impaired and individuals with certain non-apparent disabilities. A review of the city’s budget patterns shows that 100 percent of all ADA funding has been allocated toward fiscal access issues, i.e. curb ramps, electric doors, ramps and other structural considerations. Conversely, the city has elected to budget zero dollars to enhance access for the much larger portion of its disability community.  

Mr. Rucker, as a tax-paying individual with a disability, I find it absolutely demeaning and personally offensive for the City of Berkeley not to recognize individuals with disabilities as humans, but rather continue to view this population on the same level it views parking meters, street lights and other lifeless objects. It is time for this type of backward thinking to stop. In the year of 2003, it is not acceptable to segregate individuals based on their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Why is the city comfortable in its active participation in the segregation of individuals with disabilities in relationship to programs and services by relegating this population to the narrow confines of a public works department? 

You have an opportunity to right this wrong by exercising your executive prerogative and doing the right thing. If this type of offensive treatment is no longer considered to be acceptable on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation, it should not be considered as acceptable simply because the group are individuals with disabilities. 

Angela Griffith, President  

• 

TITLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to the letter to the editor, by John Koenigshofer, of June 10-12:   

Mr. Koenigshofer’s main argument against rent control, that it interferes with the freedom to contract, can serve as the basis for opposition to minimum wage laws, workplace safety rules, consumer protection regulations—indeed, any public attempt to curb the socially damaging results of leaving the private market (which, after all, consists of a set of contracts between businesses and others) to its own devices. 

In the early days of the 20th century, some judges used Mr. Koenigshofer’s  rationale to overturn the first versions of social legislation: laws protecting female employees against dangerously long work hours. Later on, the judiciary rejected this notion of the sanctity of contracts and recognized that public welfare justifies government intervention in a wide variety of “private” economic relationships. 

At least Mr. Koenigshofer’s line of thinking places rent control where it belongs, as part of the body of sensible economic regulations that have tamed the savage tendencies of laissez-faire capitalism. 

These regulations are under assault from the extreme right. Accepting Mr. Koenigshofer’s logic would take us where some of the more brazen ideologues surrounding George W. Bush want to go, back to the glorious days when unbridled freedom to contract enabled workers to be paid starvation wages, consumers to be poisoned, and renters to be gouged. 

Randy Silverman 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Two years ago, Berkeley Unified hired a new food services director. In the first year of her administration, Food Services lost $800,000. This year, according to BUSD budget reports, Food Services lost $900,000. During this period, food services administrators’ salaries increased by over $100,000 while the entire department has only 35 mainly part-time workers. The three full-time administrators' salaries and benefits total about $250,000. $900,000 would pay for quite a few teachers.  

It’s no secret why Food Services is losing money. In an era where even McDonald’s and Jack in the Box are featuring salads, the new director terminated the popular farmers’ market salad bars as a cost-cutting measure. Instead cottage cheese and cling peaches became staples on the salad bar.  

A very expensive food preparation unit (estimated at $200,000) was purchased and placed on the black top at Berkeley High School. It has cooking facilities, refrigeration, the works. Yet, this food unit only sells pizza, soda, water and juice.  

And in a school of 3,000 students, the director of food services only manages to sell four to six orders of pizza a day. No wonder the department is losing money, hand over fist.  

Two years ago, the director of the very successful Santa Monica program applied for the job, and we didn’t hire him. Santa Monica’s food services has a farmers’ market salad bar in every school. Each school has regular cafeteria staff plus a salad bar manager. The Santa Monica Food Services department is so successful, they fund a school garden volunteer coordinator and a part-time horticulture teacher at their high school.  

How long do we give someone before we decide that this person is not competent. Is two years and a loss of $1.7 million enough? I would much rather have teachers or music or librarians or sports than cottage cheese and cling peaches with a $900,000 bill.  

Yolanda Huang 

FRIDAY, JUNE 20 

FILM 

Nicholas Ray: “55 Days at Peking” 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 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Series, “Better Shove this Letter into the Stove” with Robert H. Hirst, Ph.D., Professor, Doe  

Library; Director, Mark Twain Project, UC Berkeley. Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations 526-2925, 665-9020. 

Regina Louise talks about her childhood running away from over 30 foster homes in “Somebody’s Someone” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Carole Terwillenger Meyers will show slides and discuss her updated book, “Weekend Adventures in Northern California,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Latin Jazz Legacy Series, with Columna B and the Snake Trio. Panel at 7:30 p.m., performance at 8:30 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in ad- 

vance, $15 at the door.  

849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mikhail Baryshnikov “Solos with Piano,” with Koji Attwood, piano at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $86. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Fania, a Senegalese singer, performs at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14 in advance, $16 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Irish Ceili Night, with lessons at 7 p.m., dancing at 9 p.m. at the International House, 2299 Piedmont. Cost is $11 for class and dancing, $7 after 9 p.m. 650-326-6265. www.fridaynightwaltz.com 

Wake the Dead, a Celtic tri- 

bute to the Grateful Dead, 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 

Alessandra Belloni, Southern Italian percussionist, singer, and dancer performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $10. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Virus 9, The Enemies, The Frisk, Endless Struggle, Contraceptions 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. 

Jucifer, Drunk Horse, and Replicator perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Orixa, The Audrye Sessions, and Fine by Me perform rock at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 

CHILDREN 

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” Books go on sale at 12:01 a.m. at Cody’s on Fourth St. 559-9500 and Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

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

Youth Music Clinic on Rhythm at The Jazz House. Cost is $10. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Celebrate Summer with readings of “It’s Summer- 

time” and “How Will We Get to the Beach?” at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

“Videodrome,” a film about video, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheel- 

chair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Douglas Sirk: “All I Desire” at 5 and 8:45 p.m., and “All That Heaven Allows” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Let’s Face It,” a free screening of the documentary about women exploring their aging faces, featuring Berkeley women, at 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave., at Masonic. 526-5075. www.letsfaceit.tv  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Unbound and Under Covers” Experiments in visual writing, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mikhail Baryshnikov “Solos with Piano,” with Koji Attwood, piano, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $86. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Trinity Chamber Concerts 

Tom Heasley performs on his digitally manipulated tuba, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Suggested donation of $12 general, $8 students, seniors or disabled. 549-3864. 

Bay Street Arts and Music Festival, free live music, crafts and food vendors, and children’s activities, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Bay St. in Emeryville. Proceeds benefit Emery Education Foundation. 655-4002. 

Prom Nite with Harvey Sid Fisher, folk-pop lounge crooner, at 10 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Cost is $7 for singles, $10 for couples. 524-9220. 

New Spirit Talent Show,  

featuring music, dance and comedy, at 7 p.m. at the Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. Cost is $8-$20. 704-7729. 

Vienna Teng performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Servants and special guests perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Hyim Sextet, Thunderpussy and Fiyawata perform pop funk at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Johnny Nocturne and Mz. Dee perform at 9:30 p.m., with a swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashken- 

az.com 

Under a Dying Sun, Light the Fuse and Run, Transistor Transistor, The November Group, Angry for Life perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 22 

CHILDREN 

Teatro Nahual presents “La Otra Cara del Indio,” en español at 2 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Caribbean Kids’ Show with Asheba from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for children. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

“The Frisco Kid,” a humorous look at Jewish pioneers in the American West, with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford, at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $2. 848-0237. 

Douglas Sirk: “The First Legion” 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 

“Teaching Teo,” a humorous short about raising a child in a lesbian household, by Ber- 

keley resident and former Willard teacher Diane Dodge, at noon at the Castro Theater in SF. 649-9956. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Summer Solstice Gathering of Poets with Adam David Miller, Rita Flores Bogaert, David Shaddock, Carolyn Scarr, Steve Arntson and Dennis Fritzinger, from 2 to 5 p.m in the Peralta Community Garden on Peralta St., between Hopkins and Gilman. 231-5912. 

Poets Miriam Sagan and Gary Young at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Jerry Zolten chronicles the 75-year history of an important musical group in “Great God A’mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Guided Tour of Paul Kos: “Everything Matters,” at 2 p.m. 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 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Beck performs at 3 p.m. at the Greek Theater, Piedmont and Hearst Aves. Tickets for $39.50 are available from www.ticketmaster.com 

Joseph Zitt's Calculating Codes and Naive Melodies, 

works for sextet, and Aaron Bennett's Electro-magnetic 

Trans-personal Orchestra at 8:15 p.m. at The Jazz House. Admission is free, donations accepted. 649-8744. http://sfsound.org/acme 

African Drum Workshop, held every Sunday with Wade Peterson. Beginners from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., experienced from 12:30 to 2 p.m., at The Jazz House. Cost is $15-$25, and advan- 

ced registration is encouraged. 533-5111.  

Mikhail Baryshnikov “Solos with Piano,” with Koji Attwood, piano at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $86. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Piedmont Youth Bagpipe Band performs at noon at the Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive near Grizzly Peak. 642-5132.  

Listen and Bayonics perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. ww.blakesontelegraph.com 

Sourdough Slim, humor and 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 

Bay Street Arts and Music Festival, free live music, crafts and food vendors, and children’s activities, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Bay St. in Emeryville. Proceeds benefit Emery Education Foundation. 655-4002. 

MONDAY, JUNE 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Huston Smith, authority on world religions, discusses his new book, “Buddhism: A Concise Introduction,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Will Ferguson presents his satirical anti-self help manual, “Happiness,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

FILM 

Peter Watkins: “The Jour- 

ney,” episodes 7-13, at 6 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 

Berkeley Summer Poetry 

from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Cafe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. Free, open mic, poetry, prose, and short fiction artists welcome. 549-1128. 

Craig Danner introduces his first novel, “Himalayan Dhaba,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Firoozeh Dumas talks about life in Southern California with her extended Iranian family in “Funny in Farsi”at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Richard Sterling discusses his new book “World Food in California Cuisine,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. www.easygoing.com 

Kathy Sanborn discusses her new book, “The Seasons of Your Career,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tanja Fiechtmair on the Alto Sax at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

D. B. Walker Band plays the blues at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Waikiki Steel Works, Hawaiian-flavored steel guitar 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 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

FILM 

I Found it at the Movies: “The Andromeda Strain” 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 

Robert MacNeil, Canadian-born former co-anchor of  

The MacNeil-Lehrer News 

Hour, discusses his new book, “Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Julie Shigekuni reads from her new novel, “Invisible Gardens,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Diana DeLonzor presents cures for the punctually challenged in “Never be Late Again” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

Paul Thorn, one-man house-rocker, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Susie Ibarra, improv drummer, performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Cocodril performs traditional Lousiana fare at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, with a Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

FILM 

Peter Watkins: “The Jour- 

ney,” episodes 14-19, at 6 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 

Cecil Brown uncovers the story of a legendary crime in “Stagolee Shot Billy” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Darren Shan returns with his latest adventures in the Cir- 

que du Freak series, “Vampire Prince,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500.www.codysbooks.com 

Nancy Rawles reads from her new novel about a Creole matriarch, “Crawfish Dreams,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Mario Jimenez Castillo reveals the meaning of dreams in “Diccionario de Los Suenos.” Presentation in Spanish and English at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert Downtown with Voz e Vento, a Brazilian jazz emsemble, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Assoc. 549-2230. 

Noche Flamenca from Madrid performs at Zeller- 

bach Playhouse, UC Campus, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs. 

berkeley.edu 

Belle de Gama, Low Flying Owls and Liz Anah Band perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ruthie Foster, Texas blues and gospel singer, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Sal- 

vage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sarah Luella/Local Love Enforcement and CitiZen One at 8 p.m. at The 1923 Teahouse, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. 

AT THE THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “The Bacchae,” directed by David Stein. Euripedes’ play about Dionysus and his revenge against a hateful king. Sat. and Sun., June 21 through July 6, at 5:30 p.m., outdoors in John Hinkle Park, off The Arlington at Southampton Ave and Somerset Place. Free admission. 525-1620. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theater Company, “Thérèse Raquin,” by Emile Zola, directed by Tom Ross. A sinister tale set among the lower classes in nineteenth-century Parisian society. Runs June 20 to July 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $32 and $34. 843-4822.  

www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, 

“The Guys,” by Anne Nelson, directed by Robert Egan. Through July 5, Tues. - Sun., call for starting times. $10 - $54. The Roda Theater, 2016 Addison St. 647-2918. 647-2949.www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Festival runs May 28 to October 22. Performances this year will be Julius Caesar, Arms and the Man, Measure for Measure, and Much Ado About Nothing. Please call for dates and times. The Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org  

Central Works Theater Ensemble, “The Wyrd Sisters” directed by Jan Zvaifler. Through July 13,  

Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $8-$20 sliding scale. For reservations and information call 558-1381. 

Shotgun Players presents 

“under milk wood” by Dylan Thomas at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 8th St. Through June 29, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m., Sun. June 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 adults, $12 children and seniors, $10 on Thursdays. 704-8210. www.shotgunplayers.org

Two weeks after newly appointed Berkeley High School principal Patty Christa abruptly resigned, the school district named the runner-up from this spring’s principal search to the high-profile post Thursday. 

Jim Slemp, assistant superintendent of the Eugene School District 4J in Oregon, will become the fifth Berkeley High principal in six years when he takes the helm in July. 

Board of Education Director Shirley Issel played down any concerns that Slemp is not as strong a candidate as Christa, describing the new appointee as an “exceptionally good listener” who will serve “with a lot of heart and a lot of integrity.” 

Slemp, for his part, said he plans to stick around, bringing stability to the troubled high school.  

“I sort of make decisions four or five years at a time,” said Slemp, 56, in a phone interview Thursday with the Daily Planet. “Nothing could be worse than having someone there a short period of time.” 

But parents and teachers, shaken by Christa’s sudden departure and well-versed in Berkeley High’s tradition of rapid turnover at the top, took a wait-and-see attitude Thursday. 

“I think people are in such shock,” said English teacher Rick Ayers. “We’re always hopeful and we’ll just have to see what happens.” 

Slemp, who earned a Certificate of Theological Studies at Berkeley’s Pacific School of Religion in 1971, worked over the course of 22 years as a principal at four different schools, including the American School in London, England, before becoming an assistant superintendent in Eugene in 2000. 

He was one of three finalists this spring for the top job at Berkeley High, but Christa edged him out. Slemp was weighing another job as principal of Gaithersburg High School in Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C., when Christa quit and Berkeley Superintendent Michele Lawrence asked him if he wanted the position. 

Lawrence said Slemp struck her as a calm, inquisitive figure who might bring stability to the troubled high school. 

“I think it’s perhaps exactly what we need,” she said. 

Slemp said his first priority, when he arrives in Berkeley in mid-July, will be developing a rapport with community and staff. 

“I enjoy bringing people together, talking, having good relationships,” he said. 

Slemp said he will also focus on a major reform effort, approved by the Board of Education June 4, that will place half of Berkeley High’s students in a series of schools-within-a-school by the 2005-2006 school year. 

Slemp, who oversaw a small schools transition in the late-1990s as principal of Eugene’s Winston Churchill High School, said small schools can be effective for many students. But he praised the district for deciding to place only half its pupils in the program. 

“I always worry when you’re talking about high school students and absolutes,” he said, arguing that not all students would thrive in small schools. 

The appointment of Slemp is the latest in a string of high-level changes in the Berkeley Unified School District. In late April and early May, all three of the district’s associate superintendents announced their resignations, two of them to take jobs as superintendents elsewhere.  

The cash-strapped district, in a cost-saving move, replaced only one of its top administrators, hiring Eric Smith to replace Jerry Kurr as associate superintendent of business and operations. 

Then, on May 21, Berkeley High School co-principals Mary Ann Valles and Laura Leventer announced their resignations, sending shock waves through the school. Valles, who took a job as a middle school principal in San Leandro, and Leventer, who is taking a leave to deal with a family medical emergency, were slated to serve as vice principals under Christa next year.  

Eight days later, Christa bailed, just a month after being hired. The move raised doubts about the stability of the high school, which faces continual problems with student safety, scheduling and the “achievement gap” separating white and Asian students from blacks and Hispanics.  

Christa did not comment publicly on her decision, but Lawrence said the erstwhile principal felt overwhelmed by staff and parents who bombarded her with meeting requests and focused heavily on all the problems at the sprawling school. 

Lawrence cautioned parents and staff against overwhelming Slemp. 

“Having him be successful is the responsibility of the entire community,” she said. 

Parent activist Michael Miller, of Parents of Children of African Descent, agreed that the community must back the new principal. But he chastised the superintendent for failing to heed a recent open letter, signed by Miller and more than 40 other community activists, and published in the June 13 edition of the Daily Planet, that called for an extensive, nationwide search, with heavy community involvement, in the wake of Christa’s departure. 

Lawrence defended the selection process, arguing that Slemp had already been vetted by a parent interview committee during the initial hiring process. But Miller, who served on the committee, said members got scant information about each of the candidates in advance of the brief interviews. 

The mayor has convened an advisory task force taking on the difficult task of trying to make our planning process better. I offer the following comments to spur public input into this process. To me, there are two “big picture” problems with Berkeley’s planning process: 

1—Misapplication of Use Permit Process. Berkeley’s Zoning Code overextends the reach of the use permit into areas that are better served by the combination of a reasonable “by right” envelope and a variance if exceptions are required.  

2—Poor Alignment of Staff and Community. Friction between “professional” planning and Berkeley’s commissions and community members must be overcome. 

Both of these areas have solutions. 

Use Permit Background: A use permit was originally intended to deal with compatible and incompatible “uses.” For example, if you want to have a grocery store, a printing press or a music club, a planning process ensues to determine if this “use” is compatible with the neighborhood in which you want to locate it. Hence the “detriment” finding: the use will not be detrimental to the health, safety, peace, morals, comfort or general welfare of persons residing in the neighborhood.  

A variance is intended to deal with exceptions from a consistent “by right” envelope for physical structures. For example, to build a commercial building, a mixed-use building or a residential building, there is an envelope of height, setbacks, open space and required parking that establishes development consistent with the intended fabric of a neighborhood.  

A discretionary planning process only ensues if you require a variance—an exception to the standard rules. Hence the “exceptional circumstances” finding—there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances applying that do not apply generally to land, buildings and/or uses in the same district. 

Solution: Revise our Zoning Code to establish reasonable “by right” envelopes for all building types by district, grant exceptions by variance, and limit the use permit process to uses. This need not “take years” —this how planning is done in most cities across the United States. Berkeley has numerous planning documents demonstrating community consensus on what this envelope is. 

Opportunity: Developers and homeowners are looking for a fair, consistent process. The clear rules of a “by right” planning process will spur a blossoming of three- and four-story buildings replacing parking lots and one-story structures on Shattuck, San Pablo and University Avenues (allowing us to build our “fair share” of housing and more). Acrimonious neighborhood battles over partial second stories would be the exception, rather than the rule. ZAB Meetings might even end before midnight! 

Barriers: For reasons that are puzzling, our professional planning staff and a small cadre of activists and developers are at odds with our citizens on the level of density, setbacks and parking that our community finds acceptable.  

Alignment of Staff and Community Background: The management and staffing of the city Planning Department are troubled. During the three years I served on the ZAB, there were five different zoning officers. The planning director (the third to depart in the past five years) trumpeted criticism of our community and commissions as reasons for her departure. Her criticism merits consideration.  

I experienced considerable tension between “professional” planning and our community boards when I was on the ZAB. From where I sat, I found myself dismayed by staff reports that were frequently unprofessional in their writing and biases. I felt bad for applicants who had been drawn through a lengthy process, only to find that the staff’s suggested findings were at odds with previous board decisions, and showed a less sophisticated understanding of the Berkeley Zoning Code than that demonstrated by members of the board.  

Causes: Certainly, the “overworked” staff’s inconsistent interpretation of the code can be attributed to the poor fit between use permit findings and physical construction. A Planning Department culture that can be charitably characterized as indifferent to Berkeley’s citizens and commissioners, and a planning ideology that holds a different vision of our community than that held by what I believe are the majority of its citizens (that we are a low-slung, relatively dense community that values human scale and historical fabric) don’t help.  

Solution: Capable, knowledgeable citizens who are responsive to our community’s values staff our commissions. To improve alignment of the Planning Department with our community, the planning director and city manager should implement a formal process where commissioners are asked for written evaluation of the staff’s performance. An action plan should be jointly developed to improve alignment, and monthly meetings between commission chairs and the zoning officer/planning director should be held to monitor progress. Egregious staff reports should be identified and trigger write-ups that go into the staff planner’s personnel record for evaluation and action during annual performance reviews. 

Opportunity: There is a new planning director with considerable administrative expertise.  

Barriers: Institutional change is never easy… 

Kevin Powell has lived in Berkeley since 1980, and served on the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) from 1996 to 1999. He received his Master’s degree in Architecture from UC Berkeley. 

A recent straw poll taken by the political advocacy group MoveOn.org named Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry and Howard Dean as the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination among its members.  

The three candidates were then invited to write an e-mail introducing their platforms to the online political community. Now, though the country’s first primary is still seven months away, Berkeley-born MoveOn is a few days away from its 48-hour primary, which begins June 24, to determine who will receive its endorsement. 

“The choice will pretty much be set in stone eight months from now,” said Carrie Olson, MoveOn’s chief operating officer. “If we’re involved now, perhaps we can make a change from what otherwise might be handed down based on what the Washington political scene tells us is best for us.” 

The endorsed candidate will receive a significant campaign contribution. In 2002, with membership less than 500,000, the MoveOn.org Political Action Committee—a legally separate entity that solicits contributions for candidates for political office—raised $4.1 million to put toward election campaigns. With 1.4 million members today, the goal is $10 million. 

But endorsement, said Olson, is more than the money: “To have a committed base of people who are willing to volunteer their time and tell their friends and have house parties and do leafleting, write letters to the editor, keep their eyes on the issue as it moves along. That is invaluable to the process and to any candidate.” 

MoveOn.org is a rare breed of advocacy group that works from the ground up. Although members receive e-mails that draw attention to compelling issues, it is their response that determines the shape of MoveOn’s action. Members also write in independently about what concerns them, respond to each other’s suggestions and propose strategies for effecting change. 

Software entrepreneurs and husband-and-wife team Wes Boyd and Joan Blades founded the Internet-based MoveOn in 1999, amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal that paralyzed Congress. They set up a Web site with a petition urging Congress to censure President Clinton, quickly, and move on to more pressing issues. When the House voted to impeach, in December 1999, the nascent group began a pledge drive with the words: We will remember. 

The following year, the MoveOn.org PAC contributed $2.3 million to 30 congressional campaigns in which the candidate ran against someone who had voted to impeach. Thirteen of their candidates won, including four senators. The crucial balance of the Senate almost tipped.  

MoveOn has not looked back since that November, and the stakes have only increased for Americans whose politics run to the left of center. It has provided an outlet for the unease, anger and frustration of an unknown multitude. “There are tens of millions of people out there, each of whom have real talents,” said Boyd. “When put together in a coherent way, they become unstoppable.” 

Although Boyd, Blades and Olson all live and work in Berkeley, the city does not serve as headquarters in any traditional sense. MoveOn has only four paid employees, spread from San Francisco to New York City and Washington, D.C. They rely on the members who log on from across the country to form the group’s collective consciousness. MoveOn follows where the majority leads. 

Where that’s been is into every area of government policy, foreign and domestic. In February they focused on Bush’s reshaping of the judicial branch, flooding Senate offices with calls in support of the filibuster to prevent confirmation of conservative nominee Miguel Estrada. In May they fought media consolidation, overwhelming the FCC with so many phone calls and e-mails that, several days prior to the vote, the commission’s voicemail system and Web site went down. They have, most recently, partnered with Win Without War to purchase a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, asking Congress to establish an independent commission to investigate the distortion of evidence regarding weapons of mass destruction. 

Of late, the overarching message has been clear. Said Olson, who reads much of the member e-mail: “They are angry. They are motivated. They want to be involved.” 

“Folks from all walks of life are waking up and saying we have to do something, or we’re going to get into trouble,” Boyd said. “We all have to take responsibility.” 

The membership surge that has made dreams of regime change possible coincided with MoveOn’s stand on the Iraq controversy, said Olson. MoveOn was already backing candidates for 2002 mid-term elections, and sent members a message in support of those who had stood up and said the country shouldn’t go to war in Iraq. They called them heroes. 

Over the next five days, MoveOn was flooded with tens of thousands of e-mails. “We thought we were taking a stand we’d have to defend,” said Olson. And it turned out it was exactly what a lot of people wanted to hear. 

“It seems that every time we take a strong stand and fight on an issue, our membership grows. Folks are looking for leadership where they’ve seen a vacuum. For too long voter apathy has been seen as a voter problem, a constituent problem, but it’s not,” she said. “It’s a leadership problem. Folks are looking for great leadership. They’re just not seeing it. They’re waiting for it.” 

“Washington, D.C., is a wasteland when it comes to ideas,” said Boyd. “People talk about the same things over and over. There needs to be a process of renewal.” 

Looking ahead, Olson said there may be no ideal candidate who can be all things to everybody. But she hopes people can come together to back the one, whoever that may be: “The mainstream media is definitely looking for divisive game playing,” she said. “They want to be able to say the Democrats can’t get their act together; neither can the Greens, and it’s all going to fall apart. They’d love to be able to run that story for the next year and a half. I would love for us to be able to bring together all of our differences and not feed that monster. And instead work toward true change.” 

China has yet again outdone itself in its legacy of terrorism against humanity—this time by forcefully deporting two weeks ago 18 Tibetans to Tibet from nearby Nepal, which otherwise was for these hopeful refugees their doorstep to the outside world, to freedom in exile. 

One cannot help but take his mind to these Tibetans—many of them sick, more than half a dozen of them in their teens—who are now languishing in a prison somewhere in Tibet. It is not hard to imagine their bodies broken by the harrowing ordeals of escaping over the Himalayas, only to be betrayed by the Nepalese government back into their everyday reality of oppression under Chinese occupation. One shudders to think of how their hopes for freedom were crushed under the weight of China’s naked dance of tyranny, staged before the very eyes of the world? 

There is a picture showing Nepalese policemen dragging away an exile Tibetan woman who had tried to stop the deportation by throwing herself before the bus carrying the refugees. Her act in desperation marks the helplessness surrounding the “Free Tibet” movement today. 

Nothing can be more emblematic of the Tibetan situation than the plight of these 18 Tibetans, and nothing more representative of China’s politics than this blatant disregard to both Tibetan rights to freedom and international covenants in law. Even in the seeming refuge of exile, China’s tentacles of repressive authoritarianism reach out with full viciousness.  

The incident is rendered all the more ironic by the way it unfolded amid hopeful signs of reconciliation between China and the exile Tibetan government as heralded by the latter’s just-concluded second delegation visit to China.  

To say that China’s communism and its illegal occupation of Tibet is the biggest blot on the conscience of every free human being today is an understatement. China’s violent persecution of Tibetan people, and all other peoples suffering under it, ridicules the very aspiration for peace and justice that defines our fundamental likeness as citizens of a free world. 

In a reality gone awry, rage is an open resort. We’ve seen this all too overwhelmingly affect our reality. Where despair is tested beyond endurance, violence all too often finds its bloody mark. The question becomes not of choice, nor even of reason. The question, as well as the answer, becomes a blind explosion of desperation and despair set off by a chilling absence of any choice or reason. In the tormentor’s tool of oppression, therefore, the victim finds the ultimate weapon in self-defense: an inescapable rule of human nature which finds testimonies in charred bodies and destroyed buildings strewn across the ravaged landscapes today from Palestine to Northern Ireland, from Chechnya to Sri Lanka, from the Muslim world and beyond.  

Sometime last year, in seeking to disguise Beijing’s persecution of Tibetan people behind the mask of anti-terrorism, a Chinese spokesperson told reporters about Tibetans stockpiling weapons in Tibet. Considering no shred of evidence was brought forth by a repressive regime that has so overwhelmingly infiltrated into all aspects of Tibetan life today, that statement couldn’t be taken as anything but a lie. But conversely and probably unknowingly, he might well have been addressing a danger that is real. 

On an average, over 3,000 Tibetans choose to risk frostbite, deportation, even death, every year by crossing over the Himalayas into the safety of exile. In 1998, an army-retired exile Tibetan, Thupten Ngodup, self-immolated himself in Delhi when the Indian police forcibly hauled Tibetan hunger strikers into waiting vans under pressure from China. All calls for Unto-Death Hunger Strikes by Tibetan Youth Congress invariably attracts hundreds of Tibetan volunteers, in India as well as in the US.  

In the Tibetans’ choosing of “death and destruction” upon self rather the other in their desperate bid for freedom and justice, only they know with what great hardships they’ve so far preserved the delicate balance which is their cultural heritage in non-violence and compassion. Onlookers rarely notice what they sacrifice in return: the instant gratification of walking, with a bomb strapped to your waist, into a room full of your oppressors and knowing you’ll be taking along with you at least a half of them. 

If the events of recent years have done us any good at all, it is that it has brought us new appreciation of our freedom, its meaning and its strength. Moreover, it has brought us an absolute understanding that if life, peace and compassion are to be preserved, it is only through active defense of one’s belief in them. The recent antiwar protests throughout the world leaves us with one legacy: the need to actively champion non-violence wherever they are being played out against the greatest odds imaginable. 

And it all begins with taking a stand for Tibet and the concept for non-violence and peace it represents. It begins with doing more than nodding your heads upon finishing reading this piece.  

Topden Tsering is the President of San Francisco Bay Area Regional Tibetan Youth Congress.

The evening of Jan. 6, 2003, was supposed to be a homecoming for Jennifer Medina and Omar Khan. The couple, wed only 15 months before, was returning to the States after spending Christmas with Khan’s family in England. Khan is a 26-year-old British citizen who had just been in his homeland to finish up his college coursework. He was to return to his new home in Berkeley to begin building a life with Medina, a UC Berkeley graduate and local soccer celebrity. He had a public relations job lined up at a local startup animation company, and was considering a high school teaching career.  

Those plans went awry last January. Shortly after Khan exited his plane at San Francisco International Airport, a nightmare began. While filling out his landing card, a regular procedure for non-citizens entering the United States, he asked an Immigration and Naturalization Services official how he should complete part of the form, unsure of how he should answer the question that asked if he was a permanent or nonpermanent resident of the U.S. Far from getting the bit of customer service he politely requested, Khan was promptly taken away to an INS office room inside the airport, where he was interrogated by an INS inspector. 

Khan, the son of an Irish woman and an Indian native who immigrated to England at age 16, said the INS official “didn’t believe I was a British citizen. I told him I have the proper forms, they’re at the immigration office. But he was not willing to check them. He was shouting at me and calling me a liar, and telling me I could get five years in jail and that I would be deported. At some point I said this is borderline racism, you are judging me based on the color of my hair, based on my name. He told me to shut up and if I carried on in the insolent manner he would bring me up on charges.” 

Initially able to travel to the United States on a tourist visa, Khan had obtained an I-131 form, which allows non-resident aliens to be in the U.S. pending a change of status. In Khan’s case, he was in the process of changing his status from a regular British citizen to a British citizen who was in the process of applying for a marriage visa. Khan had also obtained a K-3 form to allow him to stay in the UK for three months—from July to October—in order to finish up his studies in England. The couple obtained another K-3 form in October when they decided to extend his stay so that Medina could spend the holidays with Khan and his family in England. 

What may have heightened suspicion was the fact that he did not have his travel documents with him when he entered the country. Because of a snowstorm in England at the time of their scheduled departure a day earlier, the two were forced to take separate flights. All of Khan’s documentation was with Medina, who was scheduled to arrive at SFO an hour after him. That documentation included their marriage certificate and visa forms from the INS that allowed Khan to leave the States in July 2002 and return in January 2003. 

By the time Medina arrived at SFO and found out where Khan was, he had already signed a statement saying he had failed to get the appropriate documentation to leave and return to the U.S. “It basically said it was all my fault,” said Khan, who spoke to the Daily Planet by telephone from London. “I didn’t want to sign it but he said if I didn’t I would be deported, so I signed it. I know, it’s funny, it sounds like Guatemala and not the U.S.” 

Khan was not deported—that would have required him to be brought up on criminal charges. He was denied entry into the country and put on a plane back to the UK the next day. At the conclusion of his four-hour interrogation, Khan and other immigrant and non-citizens who had been snagged by INS officials that day were escorted out of the airport in handcuffs and ankle shackles. Khan said he was driven in an armored van to the Oakland city jail, where he spent the night.  

The next morning, Khan was transferred to the INS holding cell in San Francisco, where he met up with Medina for the last time before being sent on a plane back to London. Medina says she was “treated roughly” by the INS officials there, and could only talk to her husband for 20 minutes through a glass window over a telephone. “I asked them if I could give him a hug. This was the last time I would see him before his flight back to England, and they said, ‘No you can’t, you have to finish up,’” Medina said. “It was unbelievable. At one point I was like, is this real? This is my husband—what has he done? All of our rights were out the window.” 

Medina and Khan don’t doubt that none of this would have happened had it not been for the Sept. 11 tragedy, and that subsequent changes in INS procedure, including the department’s subsumption into the Department of Homeland Security, has created more bureaucratic obstacles for immigrants and their families.  

Since January, Medina has worked tirelessly to figure out why her husband was denied entry despite their having completed what they were told were the proper forms, and how she can get him to legally return. She’s written letters to the INS, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee pleading for their help. So far, only Lee’s district office has given support, providing her with information that she wasn’t able to get from the INS, like where her forms are in the process and when they are likely to be finalized.  

A request for comment from Lee’s office on Medina’s case was forwarded to the Sacramento office. Spokesman Stuart Chapman said it was policy not to “comment on casework” but said Lee’s office is trying to help the couple out of their “terrible situation.”  

Medina is now hoping to obtain a temporary visa that would allow Khan to come to the United States pending attainment of the marriage visa, which will take a minimum of 12 months. But she is told the chances of getting either visa within a year are slim. “Pedro told me that the INS is going through a very draconian period and that the congresswoman’s hands are tied and that I should hire a lawyer” to help slice through the red tape. “That seems unfair. I’m having to go through the whole process again and pay all the fees to get the forms filled out again. Lawyer’s fees are expensive,” said Medina, who had to move in with family members because she could no longer afford to pay rent at the Berkeley residence at which she and Khan were living. 

Medina’s ordeal is complicated by the fact that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, a condition that worsens during times of stress and sometimes involves daily, two- to four-hour administration of intravenous medicine. The fact that Medina is an active person —she’s both a soccer coach and player — makes flare-ups of her condition particularly burdensome. “Sometimes I wake up and I just can’t move. I just feel like I’m moving through quicksand, and I go, oh no, not one of these days,” she said. 

Medina recently returned from a visit with Khan in England. While there, she attempted to go to the U.S. Embassy in London, only to be turned away. “It used to be you walk in and get a ticket and you can go in and talk with someone,” Khan said. “Now it’s guarded by police with guns, which is surprising to see in London, where the police don’t carry guns. Now they give you a number to call, and the number is just some British operator somewhere. I don’t think that Americans realize to what extent their rights are being taken away.” 

Khan, who has decided to pursue his teaching certificate during his limbo period in the UK, said, “It’s very distressing, very, very difficult, being separated from the woman I love,” and said the lack of clemency for someone who suffers from MS is “barbaric.” 

Medina takes a somewhat softer tone of U.S. policies, but is no less critical. “Right now, it seems like the terrorists have won. They’ve got what they wanted. They wanted to instill all this fear in people and the effect has been to take all the freedoms away that we’ve worked so hard to get,” she said. “People ask me, ‘Well, why don’t you just go to England to be with him?’ But I want to stay here because to me part of being a citizen is to push this country to be what it set out to be, and to let people know what’s going on.” 

Medina’s commitment to stick it out should comfort the players on the Mavericks, the under-15 soccer team in the Alameda-Contra Costa County soccer league that she has coached for two years. The members of that close-knit club, which went undefeated this season and is preparing to participate in the national 5-aside championships in Anaheim this July, say they worry that Khan’s dilemma will take Medina away from them. One player, Alina Schnake-Mahl, said, “We don’t want her to lose her as a coach. Before she came we had a lot of really bad coaches. She really brought our team together.” 

The City Council Chambers were overflowing on Tuesday with concerned parents, art-toting children and worried non-profit directors during the last public hearing on the city’s budget proposal. 

At next Tuesday’s regular meeting, the council will adopt the proposed budget after making some final adjustments. Prior to the regular meeting, the council will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. to vote on increases to parking fines and the Library tax. Whatever actions the council takes during the special meeting will have a direct impact on any amendments the council will make to the proposed budget. 

The proposed budget balances a $4.7 million deficit by increasing parking fines, maintaining a selective hiring freeze and reducing spending on things like cell phones and travel. 

Complicating the budget process is the uncertainty surrounding the state’s yet unresolved $35 billion deficit. State lawmakers, currently squabbling over solutions to the deficit, are not expected to adopt a final budget until late summer or possibly the fall.  

If the state reduces money currently earmarked for cities, Berkeley will be facing a much tougher fiscal environment. The city manager estimates as many as 150 lost jobs next year if the state adopts a draconian budget. 

During the public hearing, nearly 50 people entreated the council to augment funding for a variety of services such as children’s arts and crafts programs, battered women’s legal assistance and outdoor fairs and festivals. 

About 15 children who attend the Young Artists Workshops were ushered into the chambers and displaying colorful paintings, drawings and crafts they made in the program. Brianca Rico, 6, read from a short speech she prepared for the hearing.  

“I like Janet, my instructor. She has encouraged me when I feel like throwing my art in the trash,” she said haltingly. “If the class is canceled, I would feel furious, mad and sad.” 

A contingent of parents and their teenagers to speak on behalf of the Berkeley Boosters youth programs. Melkamu Yirgu told the council how valuable the program is for his 11-year-old daughter, Gesita. 

“I can’t believe what this program has done for my daughter,” he said. “She goes white water rafting, rock climbing, sailing, all opportunities I never had in my life.” 

Albert Lee of the Downtown Berkeley Association, which represents downtown businesses, asked the council to reconsider cuts to the city’s outdoor event fund, which subsidises a variety of fairs and outdoor events such as the Solano Stroll.  

“I urge the City Council to save some funding for outdoor events,” he said. “They attract visitors to the city, which is crucial for business.” 

Other organizations that asked the council for funds included the student-run Suitcase Clinic, which provides a variety of services to the homeless, members of the Berkeley Folk Dancers and a neighborhood group upset about the cutting of funding for traffic circles on Fulton, Ellsworth, Ward and Stuart streets. 

Several councilmembers have recommended that about $1 million be taken from some programs and redistributed to others. The council will vote on the recommendations prior to approving the budget next Tuesday.  

Two brazen daylight shootings in the past week have shaken Berkeley and prompted police to step up patrols in the area. 

The first incident occurred just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. A 27-year-old Berkeley man was shot multiple times with a large caliber automatic weapon on Alcatraz Street near California Street. According to police spokesperson Mary Kusmiss, the victim was transported to Highland Hospital where doctors determined his wounds were not life-threatening. 

Kusmiss said several stray bullets struck the window of Alcatraz Market, a corner grocery store, and two vehicles, one parked and the other headed east on Alcatraz Avenue.  

“Fortunately no bystanders were injured,” Kusmiss said. “But obviously we are very concerned because daylight shootings increase the possibility of a community member getting caught in the fray.” 

Kusmiss said numerous shell casings were found in the area of the shooting and that no motive or possible suspects have been identified.  

The second incident occurred Wednesday at 7:25 p.m. in the 1600 block of Russell Street. Police received calls reporting possible gunshots and when they arrived at the scene they found a 31-year-old Oakland man with a single gunshot wound.  

The victim was also transported to Highland Hospital where he was treated and released. According to Kusmiss, detectives suspect the shots were fired from a passing vehicle that was heading east on Russell Street.  

Police are not certain if the two incidents are related. Kusmiss said patrols have been increased in the area. 

Police are anxious to solve these cases and are seeking help from anyone who has information about either shooting.  

Those with with information are asked to anonymously contact the homicide bureau at (510) 981-5741. 

At the Grand Lake in Oakland there is still one large theater that has not been chopped down to postage stamp size. Painted on the ceiling above the huge screen is a medallion, tarnished with the breath of decades of expectant audiences. On it is depicted a seated woman wearing a toga. She was a woman with no arms. Or so it seemed to my daughter’s friend, who tells us that as a child she would stare up at the ceiling, searching in the gloom for the missing appendages.  

To entertain us while we waited for “Matrix Reloaded” to begin, management provided an elderly organist who plays 1940’s show tunes. His practiced feet glided over the pedals, and the mighty Wurlitzer’s hidden pipes resonated from curtained balconies on either side of the stage. Then the lights dimmed. The organist continued to play as the platform on which he sat descended into the orchestra pit. The audience applauded. The curtain rose.  

The slow descent of the organist evokes nostalgia for a time when imagination filled in the suggestions of life. Now there is no room for the imagination—either in film or in life. We do not know what happened in Iraq, but the media efficiently foreclosed imagination of what is missing. We do not wonder about the missing arms. 

After the organist it was all down hill. “Matrix Reloaded” been absorbed into the Matrix. “Matrix” could be read as an allegory of what the United States has become in the 21st century—a dream machine producing an illusion which conceals reality and forecloses imagination of alternatives. The movie was a product of that machine. It was, so to speak, the machine tattling on itself. It’s subversive messages were like renegade fortunes baked into fortune cookies by disaffected bakers. But I always suspected that those subversive messages were in fact engineered into the product to make it more palatable. The subversives and the system they subverted were pretty well fused. As Agent Smith said in the first movie, when we made the matrix too perfect, no one believed it. It needed the condiment of truth to make it palatable to jaded appetites.  

“Reloaded” dispenses with that condiment. It substitutes car crashes and murky musings. It’s full of portentous talk about the puzzling coexistence of freedom of choice and the domination of causes over their effects. The talk is an esoteric game. Adolescent boys go through a period where they like to embroil themselves in esoteric games. They escape into them. They’re better at them than adults. They know the passwords, the secret codes. “Reloaded” is an esoteric game for adolescents. The puzzle is not meant to be solved. 

The movie muddles its own metaphors and doesn’t care. Within the matrix and without are no longer clearly differentiated. They are both special effects. Nether are believable. Zion is a Hollywood back lot, left over from some heart-of-darkness epic in which explorers in pith helmets chop their way through the creeping vines to a clearing in the jungle where a heathen ceremony is in progress. Morpheus stands on a ledge above his tribe. He raises his arms. Commands that the revelry begin. Jungle fever. Drums of passion swell. Glimpses of bare breasts, sweaty garments, glistening thighs. The natives prostrate themselves before Neo. They bring him their sick children to heal. He makes love to their drumming. His rail-thin Trinity, all cheek bones and the minimum of flesh lies beneath him. It’s okay again to exoticize the colored masses. Multiculturalism for the era of Bush the 2nd. The Agents can save their strength. Zion will die of embarrassment.  

The original “Matrix” was a movie for the waning days of the Clinton era, when we still struggled to discern inklings of humanity in an administration presided over by a smarmy con man, persecuted for his immoderate lusts, who could feel our pain, while he sold us down the river. His administration was breathtakingly cynical. It was an utterly dispiriting spectacle. Could it get worse? It could. Now all traces of liberalism have vanished. A counter-revolution is in progress. Bomb Iraq. Bomb the electorate. Bomb the audience. 

Oh, the cost of staging these stunts, of manufacturing the illusion—the war on Iraq and “Matrix Reloaded.” Dreary gibberish alternating with paroxysms of violence. Promises of salvation. Reality of hopelessness. Language debased. Total control—“Matrix Reloaded” and the Bush administration. Neo has his Morpheus —Laurence Fishburn, mouthing his lines like he learned them the night before. Bush has his Colin and his Condoleeza, pretending to believe in their great white hope.  

Iraq was a snuff film. We could savor the slogan, but the gory details were expurgated. Instead of reality we get special effects. Now we get “Reloaded,” a terrible movie for terrible times. There’s nothing mystical about the working of the Zeitgeist. The creators of our collective dreams are finely tuned to the vibrations of that spirit that emanate from the humming pitchforks of Washington and its satellites.  

But we are not convinced. Bigger car crashes, bigger bombs, more shock, more awe—it stops working. The failure of the film is instructive. We long for the quiet real, the slender reed, the sound of small waters, the rustle of leaves, night flight, gulls landing in meadows, lizards doing push ups on the hot rocks, the finite, the effect that is special because it is not special, because it is an appearance intimately linked to reality. They cannot make us believe in their confections. In that there is still hope

After a year of heavy cuts, the Board of Education passed a final, $85 million 2003-2004 budget Wednesday night, leaving $6 million to be chopped the following year to balance the books. 

“We’ve come a long way, we’ve made a lot of cuts,” said board President Joaquin Rivera. “[But] there will be at least another round where we have to make more deep cuts that will be quite painful.” 

The board approved $8 million in 2003-2004 reductions and budget shifts in February, laying the groundwork for 70 to 100 teacher layoffs, increasing ninth-grade class sizes and cutting middle school music instruction from five to two days per week. 

Rivera warned that the next round of cuts will hurt even more. 

“Slowly, your creativity runs out and you have to start going deeper and deeper,” he said. 

Associate Superintendent of Business and Operations Eric Smith said he expects the Alameda County Office of Education, which has jurisdiction over the Berkeley schools, to reject the district’s final budget for the third straight year.  

But he predicted that the county office, which assigned a state fiscal adviser to the district two years ago, will not broaden state power over the Berkeley schools. 

“A county office will step it up when the board doesn’t have the wherewithal to make the cuts and this board has demonstrated it has the wherewithal to make the cuts,” he said. 

Under California law, the county office could give the state adviser, the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), the power of “stay and rescind,” allowing it to veto major budgeting decisions by the district. If the district remained in financial trouble, the state could then take over completely, as it has in neighboring Oakland and Emeryville. 

County Associate Superintendent of Business Services Mike Lenahan said Thursday his office has to review the final budget before making any decisions. “I know the board has made some good efforts in the past,” he said. 

Berkeley Unified faces a $3.4 million deficit in its general fund next year and is $2.6 million short of its rainy day reserve requirement— creating the $6 million shortfall. 

State funding cuts, escalating salaries and years of financial mismanagement have all contributed to the deficit. 

The district also faces a $263,000 deficit in its child development fund and a $622,000 shortfall in its cafeteria fund—prompted in part by the loss of a cushy, $300,000 food contract with the Emeryville schools last year. Left unchecked, these deficits could add to the district’s overall shortfall. 

Smith said Berkeley Unified should be able to get the child development deficit under control through layoffs, but added that the cafeteria fund deficit will be more difficult to close.

The Board of Education’s newest member, student representative Bradley Johnson, has been a politician since his freshman year at Berkeley High School. 

“I just enjoy politics,” he said. “I enjoy the art of diplomacy, the art of talking to people ... and the ability you have to change things.” 

Johnson, 17, served as president of the class of 2004 as a freshman and sophomore and helped write a new constitution for the student government. 

“We had a very outdated, very old constitution,” he said. “We made it more formal, more clear, we hope, and we created two new student bodies.” 

This year, as a junior, he served in one of those new bodies —the student senate. 

School board Director Shirley Issel said Johnson’s work on the constitution bodes well for his time as a student representative 

“That was just an extraordinary thing to do,” said Issel. “He told me how much he loved policy and government. He’s just fascinated by it. He wants to learn how to fly that airplane.” 

The student representative does not have an official vote, but can advise the board and serve as a liaison to the students. 

Johnson said he wants to get more involved in substantive policy discussions than his predecessors, and he’s got a couple of initial ideas. “I’m trying to create a system of constructive teacher review, where students can give feedback so teachers can continue to learn and grow,” he said. 

Johnson also wants to improve communication between high school administration and students. The daily student bulletin, he said, is inadequate. 

“It gets out too late, it’s unclear, kids don’t listen to it and teachers don’t read it [aloud],” he said. 

Johnson follows Andy Turner, who joined the board in August 2002 and participated in his last board meeting Wednesday night, five days after graduating from Berkeley High. Turner, who led a mural project at the high school this spring, will attend the University of Pennsylvania next year. He said Johnson will do well in his new position. 

“He’s got a long trail of successful programs behind him and a lot ahead of him,” Turner said. “So he’ll fill my shoes.” 

Once again the local, legendary rock band Metallica is in the news. Last year they made headlines in their lawsuit against Napster. This time they’re in the media because one of their members, James Hetfield, has returned to the band after a year off for drug and alcohol rehabilitation.  

Whenever I see the Metallica name in print I read the article, but not because I’m a big fan of Metallica. In fact, I’m not a fan at all. But reading about them brings back one of my fondest life memories; thoughts of someone who was and is just as legendary as Mr. Hetfield. When I read about Metallica I remember my neighbor and friend, Mrs. Scott.  

You see, years ago Mrs. Scott and I attended a Metallica concert by mistake. We went to the performance because Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Scott’s landlady, is a security guard for the San Francisco Symphony. Whenever she gets free tickets, she shares them with her friends. Mrs. Scott and I didn’t know the symphony was going to perform jointly with Metallica when we arrived at the Berkeley Community Center with our complimentary symphony tickets. 

Mrs. Scott had dressed for the concert as she did for everything else: she was aglow in rhinestones, sequins and gold lamé. But we immediately noticed something was not right with the crowd that had gathered on the center’s front steps. Everyone was clad in black, tattooed and pierced. Mrs. Scott was the only attendee in a full-length mink coat. 

We stood in line as security checked tickets. I was nervous when I saw that concert-goers were being frisked at the entrance. I knew Mrs. Scott always carried for protection a large kitchen knife in her enormous black pocketbook. But she reassured me. “Don’t worry. They won’t dare touch me.”  

She was right. We glided through security and proceeded majestically down the aisle.  

We had seats right in front. “Lord,” said Mrs. Scott, as she looked around the concert hall. “This don’t look like the symphony to me.”  

It was only then, when I opened the program, that I realized we were attending a Metallica concert. The entire performance was being recorded and filmed for a CD and MTV.  

“Do you want to leave?” I asked. 

“And waste good tickets?” she replied. “What’s wrong with you?” 

Slowly the lights dimmed. The crowd roared. Everyone rose to their feet, except for Mrs. Scott and me. The band members stalked on stage like feral animals, then went into a guitar riff that set my ears vibrating. The lights began to change. It felt as if we were swirling around inside a lava lamp. The musicians emitted the squeals of pigs being slaughtered. Mrs. Scott looked at me and rolled her eyes. “This ain’t the symphony,” her lips seemed to be saying, but I could not hear her. 

I tore off the corners of my program and stuffed them into my ears. Someone handed Mrs. Scott earplugs. The kids around us jumped onto their seats and thrust their fists into the air. Mrs. Scott moved her head ever so slightly to the beat. She tapped her cane against the floor.  

Without warning a young man in the seat across from us threw off his T-shirt, hopped onto the stage and did a back flip into the audience. Security guards hauled him away. Mrs. Scott seemed unimpressed. She thumped her cane harder.  

Suddenly, the bass player hurled a guitar pick in our direction. Kids swarmed over seats and crawled on hands and knees underneath us. A pale girl in black polyester tried to worm her way between Mrs. Scott’s legs. Mrs. Scott whacked her on the head with her cane.  

When the concert finally ended we waited until the audience departed. Then we hobbled up the aisle and out the door. “So what did you think?” I asked my glittering friend.  

“Well,” said Mrs. Scott, pausing to remove the earplugs. “You know I like to try new things. But baby, let’s not do that again. I like to dress up and get down and funky, but not for trash. Those boys need their butts whipped, way they be talkin’. Come on now, girl, go get the car. My ears are ringin’ and my feet are all swelled up.”  

Susan Parker is an Oakland resident. Her best friend, Mrs. Gerstine Scott, passed away on Sept. 6, 2001. Metallica performs locally August 10 at Candlestick Park.

I met Gregory Peck once. And of course he did not remember it. That’s how it is for famous people— the moment you meet them is blazoned into your mind, and for them, they cannot remember your face the minute they let go of your hand. This must be doubly true for legends, and Gregory Peck was a legend. 

Gregory Peck moved to Berkeley in 1935, took a place on Haste Street and enrolled at UC in the English department, until, in his second year, he was approached by a drama coach on campus who insisted Peck appear in his play. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

However, Peck’s first run in a Berkeley play was not all glory and roses. In fact, his performance was trashed by the critic who reviewed it. But that critic has long since been forgotten, while Gregory Peck went on to become Gregory Peck—this was always a little source of pride for Peck when he thought of it— which was probably rarely. I know this because, well, as I said, I was lucky enough to meet the man. 

In the late eighties, Peck returned to Berkeley and gave a talk to a film class I was in—hence the brief handshake. 

In 1989 anything in cinema not Spike Lee did not show up on the radar of anyone under the age of 21, and as such it was difficult to get some people to come see the man who was Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and the conniving reporter opposite Audrey Hepburn’s first major role in “Roman Holiday.” But after sitting and listening to the man who was nominated for an Academy Award for four of his first five films, the hip-hop kids became silent, aware that they were sitting in the presence of greatness. That’s probably what makes a legend a legend—the ability to command awe from each succeeding generation. And that’s what Peck did. 

During that afternoon in Berkeley, he told us the story of that critic who panned his first performance; he told us of his amused frustration that most of the scripts he got had his “good friend” Cary Grant’s thumbprints all over them; he talked about working with Hitchcock; he talked about working with Audrey Hepburn, and of working on “The Milagro Beanfield War” with “Bob” Redford. 

And as he talked about working with and being part of film projects that are known to everyone, he seemed to grow in stature right before the eyes of the kids in that room. When he rose to leave he seemed eight feet tall. And as he talked about his fondness for Berkeley and his happiness about having lived here for awhile, Berkeley itself seemed to grow taller, too. 

Gregory Peck died last week at the age of 87. 

I like to think that on that day in 1989 he was happy to be back in Berkeley, happy that there is no other place like it, happy to be there with us students of a medium that he had mastered. But something tells me that we got more out of it than he did. 

The Berkeley Community Fund has announced that Berkeley Symphony Orchestra conductor Kent Nagano has been selected as the recipient of this year's Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal. 

The prestigious medal has been awarded since 1929 to individuals selected for outstanding nonpartisan service in any field benefiting a significant number of Berkeley residents. 

President of the BCF Board Narsai David said "Kent has put Berkeley on the international musical map and has given us a cultural dimension that many larger cities envy.'' 

Under Nagano's leadership, the symphony has strengthened community ties through its Music Education Program. The program is a six-week residency of the orchestra in local public elementary schools. 

New works and works-in-progress by Bay Area composers are also premiered by the symphony through the Nagano-led Under Construction program. 

Nagano is currently celebrating his 25th season with the orchestra. 

He will be presented with the award during the fund's annual awards dinner at His Lordship's restaurant in Berkeley Nov. 4. 

—Bay City News

A man in his late teens or early 20s robbed two homes on Wednesday morning, according to police. A resident of the 800 block of Mendicino Avenue reported stolen items valuing $20,000. It was unclear whether anything was missing from the second home, on the 1700 block of San Lorenzo Avenue. 

Witness’ description from both robberies matched. The suspect is described as a white male between the ages of 18 and 22. He is about 5 feet 10 inches, 170 pounds. He has medium length brown hair. Witnesses said it appeared that he had a tan. He wore a dark baseball cap, dark puffy, winter jacket and was carrying an orange, yellow and red backpack. He was riding a gray mountain style bicycle. 

—John Geluardi

Part One: The California Legislature, possibly to ensure the re-election of Gov. Gray Davis in 2002, fails that year to enact that combination of spending cuts and tax increases necessary to deal with the problems of the dot-com bust and the energy company rip-off. As a result of delaying what seemed obvious to the casual observer, the Legislature causes the budget deficit to explode the next year to almost $38 billion. But instead of passing a constitutionally mandated balanced budget by the constitutionally mandated deadline of June 15, the Legislature goes home. 

Part Two: Over Father’s Day weekend, the United States Congress meets in an extraordinary emergency session. Declaring that by violating its own State Constitution the California Legislature has abrogated its right to self-rule, a bipartisan majority of Congress says it has no choice but to enact legislation to seize management of California. President Bush signs the bill into law, and immediately appoints a cabinet-level Secretary of California Affairs to take over all administrative affairs of this state, both legislative and executive. 

Ahhh, you say, you recognize Part One because that is exactly what is happening in Sacramento, even as we speak. But the second, you argue, could never happen. The explosion of political outrage—from conservatives, moderates and liberals—would burst across the nation like a volcanic eruption. If Congress could seize California on such a pretext, what other state would be safe? Front page editorials would scream “Despot!” in 48-point type. The talk shows would burst their decibels. Demonstrators would flood the streets of Washington and Atlanta and, of course, San Francisco, bringing the nation’s business to a halt. Congress couldn’t get away with it, seizing the running of the state of California from the citizens of this state because of the actions of the California Legislature. 

Who then, cries for Oakland, when the state Legislature seizes the running of the public schools from its citizens because of the actions of the Oakland School Board and the OUSD superintendent? 

Poor, sad Oakland. Not a tear shed in her defense.  

In 1998 and 2000, the voters of Oakland elected the School Board that eventually accepted Carol Quan’s resignation as OUSD superintendent and hired Dennis Chaconas in her place. Chaconas and the School Board then launched reforms to upgrade the quality of education in the Oakland schools and to bring them on par with other schools in the Bay Area.  

But at the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, Chaconas discovered the reforms had put Oakland’s school budget out of balance, something state law does not allow school districts to do. How the budget got out of balance has been much discussed, and is not the point here. The point is that the budget discrepancy was not discovered until after the last School board elections in March of 2002. Therefore there has been no chance for the voters of Oakland to act on this crisis, even if Oakland had wanted to do so by making wholesale changes in the School Board. 

The state Legislature never gave Oakland the opportunity. Instead, while loaning the school district enough money to meet its payroll, the state appointed an administrator to take over the operation of the Oakland schools. When asked why they did not appoint a trustee instead (a trustee would have the power to veto any proposals that went overbudget, but the School Board and superintendent would have been left in place to continue to run things), legislators said they couldn’t do that because an administrator was mandated by the school bailout law previously passed by the Legislature, California Education Code Section 41325 (a) and (b). 

Law, as Thomas Jefferson once said, is often but the tyrant’s will. 

Perhaps as disturbing as the Legislature’s act of administrative usurpation (sorry about the big word, but it’s the only one that seems to fit), was its pointed indifference to discovering either the causes of Oakland’s budget crisis or determining whether the School Board and superintendent were acting on a sound plan to correct the problem.  

Presumably, answers to those questions might go a long ways toward determining whether Oakland was fit to rule its own schools. But when senators at the state Senate Education Committee hearing last April tried to ask Chaconas and School Board President Greg Hodge to go into details, Education Committee Chairman John Vasconcellos pointedly cut them off. There was no time for that. The committee had already put in half a morning on this issue, he said. Half a morning in the cause of self-rule? How inexpedient. The senators stopped asking, and went back to their finger-wagging and scolding, of which they are expert.  

“The true danger” according to Edmund Burke, “is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.” 

The true danger is when a state Legislature, which has not balanced its own budget, decides it must take control from Oakland citizens because an Oakland legislative body could not balance its. Where are my conservative friends, constant with their cry of freedom of the vote abroad? Where are the liberals and progressives, so quick to defend civil rights? Where, my civil libertarians? Does Oakland ... being Oakland ... not count in their equations? Or did they simply fail to notice? 

Oakland should shut its mouth, some might say, for the sake of Oakland’s children, and be glad that the Legislature stepped in and saved our burning supper. 

“Experience should teach us,” Justice Brandeis might reply, “to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent.”  

Thus endeth the lesson. Or beginneth.

Sometimes it takes more than a village to raise a child. Sometimes, it takes the Village People. 

That’s the gag at the heart of “Teaching Teo,” a new 15-minute “mockumentary” by first-time Berkeley filmmaker Diane Dodge about raising a baby in the Bay Area’s gay community. 

“We’re just kind of laughing at ourselves,” said Dodge, 43, a San Diego native who has lived in the East Bay for years. 

The short, which premieres Sunday afternoon at the 27th Annual San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, begins with Teo, the real life infant son of a Berkeley lesbian couple, sitting in the laps of his astrology-conscious parents. 

“He’s a special being,” says one of his mothers. “He’s a pale pink being.” 

“I think more rose, actually, than pale pink,” his co-mom says, sparking a testy tit-for-tat on the child’s true “aura.” 

Soon, the gurgling baby is off to absorb the wisdom of his parents’ friends—a style and etiquette coach, a beauty sleep expert, a cross-dresser and a group of civil disobedience specialists. 

If approached by police at a protest, Teo is told, he can either get arrested or “go limp.” 

“Which is good to do this one time,” says a leather-bound Carlos Morales, in a cheeky sexual reference. 

Morales, a friend of Dodge’s, traveled north from San Diego in February to take part in the filming. Almost all the other actors and actresses in the film are Berkeley friends and, according to Dodge, simply play exaggerated versions of themselves.  

Teo’s parents actually do have a psychic, Dodge said. The sleep consultant in the film is, in fact, a sleep consultant. And San Francisco resident Franco Beneduce, the style and etiquette coach who teaches Teo about salad forks and fabrics, is on track to be “the gay Oprah.” 

“We just magnified everything 5,000 percent,” said Dodge, of the largely improvised film. “We kind of did everything over the top.” 

Dodge is one of five Berkeley filmmakers with work in the festival, which began June 12 and concludes June 29. Two of the films have already shown, but Ann Meredith’s short, “Strap ‘Em Down: The World of Drag Kings,” plays Saturday at 1 p.m. at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. Berkeleyan Nancy Kates is the co-director of “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” a documentary on a gay civil rights leader that will show at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco Monday at 6:30 p.m. 

Dodge, who taught English as a Second Language at Berkeley’s Willard Middle School for eight years and served as Associate Executive Director of the Berkeley YMCA for three, is a novice filmmaker. She shot “Teaching in Teo,” with the help of some more experienced friends, after just a weekend of training at San Francisco’s Bay Area Video Coalition in January. 

“At the beginning it was stressful because I was pushing myself to learn fast,” she said. “But then it was fun.” 

Dodge said she came upon the idea for the film, shot on digital video, when her circle of friends began chipping in to care for Teo. She made the short “just wanting to demonstrate this model that happens a lot in other countries and probably should happen more in the straight community here -—a village raising a child,” she said. 

The premier of “Teaching Teo,” which will screen at the Castro Theatre Sunday at noon as part of a series of shorts on gay and lesbian parenthood called “Mamas and Papas.” Tickets are $6. 

Teo, who turns one on Saturday, will be at the screening—but only after receiving another lesson in style from his “village.” The baby, according to Dodge, will roll up to the theatre in a long limousine, sporting a t-shirt tuxedo.

The world has been way, way too much with me lately. I have been rather beset by Issues, the details of which I am not at liberty to discuss (but be sure to ask if you bump into me on the street); I do confess, however, to some tossed curls, stamped feet, slammed doors, perhaps even a tear or two—and that’s just how my therapist has been behaving. The whole situation has left me feeling rather wrought, and longing for an appropriate venue to which I can repair to repair. I want a stylish backdrop that lends itself to the channeling of my inner diva. And, not that I’m picky or anything, but really good food and drink should be offered, too. 

Downtown, an urbane restaurant anchoring the graceful and grandly restored Frances Shattuck building in downtown Berkeley, fits the bill to a T. Indeed, as Mark McLeod, one of the partners in the venture, explains, “I see the restaurant as theater, with each participant, from the chef to the server to the diner, playing a role, and plays within plays within plays unfolding as the evening progresses.” What an ideal spot for an aging prima donna to practice her moves. 

My rapidly acculturating East Coast buddy insists that Downtown is the only restaurant in these parts with a decidedly New York feel. I find it reminiscent of what as a child I imagined adult life would be all about (along with room service and never having to make my bed). A kind of edgy energy, a buzz of deals being made, of assignations being kept, of people seeing and being seen, pervades the place. Berkeley’s movers and shakers mingle with the Ladies who Lunch during the day, while theatergoers make way for jazz aficionados and martini fans in the evening. 

The food can be quite fabulous (unsurprisingly, with alumni of Chez Panisse, Cesar’s and Bay Wolf involved in the operation). Try anything with seafood. The raw bar provides a delicious array of oysters in all their briny glory. A recent plate of succulent steamed mussels with roasted tomato, arugula and croutons had my companion and me mopping up every drop of its marvelous broth with our bread. A dish of roasted halibut, wrapped in a fig leaf with preserved Meyer lemon, served with pecan wild rice salad, organic greens and fig compote, was perfectly cooked and perfectly delectable. 

Meat eaters needn’t worry about being slighted, though. I’ve sampled the Ploughman’s Board, with its smoky house-made sausage, the grilled lamb loin chops on a bed of bulgar salad to soak up the luscious juices, the brick-oven roasted chicken with its crackling-crisp skin: all were exceptional.  

And I could happily end each and every meal for the next couple of months with the brown-sugar goodness of the butterscotch pot de creme. But that would be wrong. 

McLeod, a habitué of the late, lamented Keystone Corner, decided in the early eighties that he would eventually like to do something that combined his love of jazz with his love of food. Music is now featured Tuesday through Saturday nights (check out the Web site www.downtownrestaurant.com for the schedule), contributing to Downtown’s already convivial bar scene. The long zinc bar, presided over by a truly impressive mirror, is crowded with nattily dressed folks drinking concoctions like cosmopolitans (yes, here, in Berkeley) and listening to good music.  

And we’ll all have even more reason to venture downtown this summer. McLeod is helping to spearhead a summer film fest (with themes like Food on Film and Music on Film) using the Berkeley Rep space, and plans to tie Downtown’s food and live entertainment to the cinema fare being presented.  

For the column, Downtown contributed an elegant seafood recipe from its kitchen.

It may not be the next Paris. Or even the next Rockridge. 

“I don’t even think it’ll be the next Albany,” cracked Michael Kuchkovsky, a customer at North Oakland’s newly opened Nomad Cafe. 

But the eight-block stretch of Shattuck Avenue from Nomad Cafe at 65th Street to South Berkeley’s recently renovated Sole, just north of Ashby Avenue, has become the East Bay’s latest cafe row—drawing an unfamiliar crowd to the neighborhood. 

“It’s kind of a hip, younger, with-it group,” said Don Link, a longtime North Oakland resident and neighborhood activist. 

The strip still includes its fair share of auto repair shops and rundown storefronts, but Nomad, Sole and Jumpin’ Java, a small coffee shop with free Internet connections and modern art on the walls, have created a new feel. 

“It’s kind of a happening place to be,” said Thomas Myers, acting manager of Berkeley’s economic development office. 

Nomad, the most recent addition, is also the most striking. Located at 6500 Shattuck Ave., the month-old shop has a shiny, chrome exterior, silver tables and chairs and a tall ceiling. A pair of rust-colored leather chairs and a small, colorful children’s area offset the modern architecture. 

Owner Christopher Waters said he opened the cafe, which features jazz performance and rotating local art, as an extension of his Web site, www.gypsyspiritmission.com—a global community of artists and writers. 

“The Nomad is just sort of an outgrowth of that in real time and space,” he said. “That was the kernel at least—the reality is slinging espressos all day.” 

Coffee is not the only offering at Nomad. The cafe also offers free Internet connections, fruit smoothies, pastries and three sandwiches—grilled eggplant, spicy chicken and grilled focaccia—that go for about $5 each. 

“I really like it,” said Kuchkovsky, a Claremont resident who noticed the cafe on a recent trip to church. “It’s comfortable. It’s a nice place to be in.” 

Waters said his shop, which replaced a boxy, often-shuttered thrift store, is part of a larger transformation of a neighborhood that was plagued by gun shots and prostitution just 10 years ago. 

“In the six years that I’ve lived here the community policing groups have formed and fought tirelessly to improve the community, and crime has receded, and it’s turned into a pretty desirable place to live,” he said. “In the next 10 or 20 years, this part of the Shattuck corridor won’t be recognizable.” 

Mike Dawoud, owner of Jumpin’ Java, two blocks to the north, said the improving neighborhood was a major factor in his decision to run his own place after 12 years of managing local coffee shops. 

“I thought it was an up-and-coming area,” said Dawoud, who took over Jumpin’ Java a year ago, shortly after it opened. 

The cafe has an attractive exterior of wood, glass and steel and a smaller, more intimate feel than Nomad. Jumpin’ Java sells bagels, but its focus is on beverages like hot cider, mocha and espresso, with prices in the $1 to $3 range. 

Dawoud said he’s not concerned about competition from Nomad, arguing that it just adds to the overall allure of Shattuck Avenue. But Bill Bahou, owner of Roxie Delicatessen, an old convenience store and deli at the corner of Shattuck and Ashby avenues, said he is worried that the area cannot support a ballooning number of cafes. 

“We have seven coffee shops within a mile with the same population, the same customers,” he said. “It’s too many.” 

Raymond Lee, owner of Sole, agrees. 

“I believe the cafe market is saturated,” he said. 

Over the last two months, Lee spent $85,000 to remodel his business, transforming it from a walk-up cafe to a sit-down restaurant with dark wood, mirrors and a textured, deep yellow paint on the walls. 

“Some people, they’re still not used to it—they’re a little intimidated by the decor,” said Lee, who changed the name of his business from Cafe Sole to Sole with the remodeling. “But I’m a true believer, in this day and age, that people deserve better.” 

Lee, who has owned the space since December 2001, said he keeps his prices low so he can attract blue collar workers, along with the doctors and architects who have set up shop in the neighborhood. 

Sole, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serves a B.L.T. for $5.95, burgers for $6.75 and Cajun-inspired seafood and gumbo in the $6.50 to $7.75 range. 

Lee said the cafes and restaurants in the area, which are already tapping a new group of young, affluent homeowners, will only do a booming business if they can convince more of the locals to shake off the neighborhood’s bad reputation and stay local in their leisure time. 

“I want people to feel like, hey, my neighborhood’s coming up,” he said.

BDP Website Info for Downtown Berkeley Association 

Summer Noon Concerts in Downtown Berkeley (Headline) 

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 

Windmills that pumped water from wells up to a holding tank were once common backyard structures, not just in the countryside but also in urban settings such as Berkeley, and they appear in many old photographs.  

The earliest modern European windmills appeared in the 12th century and over time were adapted to a variety of tasks including pumping water, sawing wood and grinding grains. 

The water-pumping windmill does not actually pump the water but rather pushes it up a pipe. The rotation of the windmill blades causes a rod (that is inside a cylinder below the water level) to move up and down, pushing water up the pipe to a holding tank. The windmill is mechanically simple and dependable. 

Water-pumping windmills were essential to the settlement of the western United States and permitted farming far from streams and rivers. Windmills were used to pump water for the steam railroad trains, once the primary source of transportation across the continent. Other sources of domestic water—before large municipal water companies such as East Bay Municipal Water District—were wells with hand pumps and water piped from hillside reservoirs or springs. 

In 1870 lighter and more efficient steel blades were developed, and in the 1890s small wind turbine generators supplied electricity to rural areas. With the enactment after World War II of the Rural Electrification Act, federal funds were used to construct utility power lines in rural areas, bringing an end to the use of wind for generating electricity. However, with the need to reduce fossil fuel dependence interest in wind power has been renewed.  

The windmill pictured here is located behind a two-story, corner-grocery-styled building at 1201 6th St., but can best be seen from around the corner on Harrison Street. The building has a sign on its south wall proclaiming it to be the Grand Food Market, but the market has been gone for decades.  

The building was built in 1908 and once housed Arcieri Dairy, the last dairy in Berkeley. Cows actually grazed in the fields across the street until the early 1950s, but now there is a starkly new U.S. Postal Service building on the former field.  

This is the last intact windmill and water tank structure in Berkeley. In 2001, another long-standing windmill—located at 1129 Francisco St. and dating from about 1892—collapsed onto its water tank in a winter storm. Hidden behind a few houses lurk remnants of windmill structures whose bases have been converted to other uses. The remnants of three can be seen behind 1830 Delaware, 1141-3 Hearst and 705 Delaware. These windmill bases are recognizable because their walls are angled inwardly so they could carry the weight of the water saved in the tank above.  

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

Laurie Wilkie’s UC Berkeley Summer Session class does not take place in a lecture hall. 

Instead, Wilkie, an associate professor of anthropology, is leading her students in a more hands-on project: an archaeological dig to uncover the remains of two historic campus buildings. 

The students set out in the beginning of June to excavate the remnants of the Students’ Observatory, which was built in the 1880s and demolished in 1973, and the University Conservatory, which was constructed in 1891 and destroyed in 1924. The two sites contain some of the oldest remains of institutional buildings in Berkeley. 

“We’re trying to recreate the architectural and social landscape between 1890 and 1925,” Wilkie said, noting that that data could help document the university’s history. 

The conservatory was similar to the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and both were built by the same company. The students involved in the project visited the Golden Gate Park site, and park conservatory officials came on campus to inspect the students' dig. 

The observatory, which was torn down in order to build a more modern version with new equipment, was one of the first astronomy study centers on the west coast.  

The students’ project, which was sponsored by the Archaeological Research Facility and the Department of Capital Projects, marked the first time the foundations of the buildings have been exposed after remaining underground for as many as 120 years. 

Although the Department of Capital Projects is generally in charge of all demolition and construction projects on campus, the department sponsored the students’ project to contribute to the historical research. 

But the time that the students have to study the remains is very limited. 

Soon construction crews will begin building the Chang-Lin Tien East Asian Library on the site of the former buildings, completely covering any remains. So by Friday the team, which has been excavating the site for the past five weeks, will refill the gaping holes in the ground. 

The students will, however, have many artifacts left as historical remains of the former buildings. Aside from the cement foundations of the conservatory and the observatory, Wilkie and her students have found china plates, old Dr. Pepper bottles, piping, flower pots, a pen cap, and a cow bone. Some of these objects date as far back as 1900. 

“It looks like they would have had social events at the conservatory from the china and food remains,” Wilkie said. “It was probably a very beautiful place for something like that.”