Confusion over lease deadlines and a proposed upgrade of the Sather Gate Mall on Durant Avenue, near Telegraph Avenue, have left one longtime Berkeley optometrist without an office. 

Dr. Donald Sebanc, who has operated out of the city-owned space at 2446 Durant Ave. since 1972, marked his last day in his office Monday by packing up display cases of eyeglasses and chatting with student workers after he and city officials failed to negotiate a lease extension for the space. Sebanc is vacating the location, but he did not leave without a fight. 

Sebanc has provided optometry services to Berkeley residents for the past 31 years. Though he has many regular clients who buy corrective lenses from his shop, much of his work is provided pro bono for people who cannot afford glasses, he said. Sebanc also operates a branch location of his office in Oakland, but said that 70 percent of his business comes from the Sather Gate Mall store. 

“I guess this is it for me,” Sebanc said Monday as he stacked boxes in a corner of his former office. He said he’ll try to relocate his office, but doubted that he could find a new place for the $1,000 monthly rent he paid for the Durant Avenue location. 

When Sebanc’s lease expired in 2000, the city of Berkeley provided him with a new lease contract: a guaranteed five-year period with the possibility of an additional five-year option. Three weeks later, Sebanc said, he received a revised contract proposal, this one granting him only a two-year lease with a possible three-year additional option. 

“They cut my lease in half without giving me any reason or notifying me in advance,” Sebanc said. “I don’t know what happened to the lease that we had agreed upon.” 

Sebanc read the revised lease proposal, but said his attorney advised him not to sign and date it until he received an official copy. When Sebanc finally did receive the official contract, he said, it was six months too late to apply for the three-year lease extension. 

A letter from city officials to Sebanc said that his optometry shop, which has been open Monday through Friday from 1 to 8 p.m., was hurting the business of neighboring stores because it wasn’t open on Saturdays and thus was not drawing shoppers who might be attracted to visit other area stores on weekends. Additionally, one letter said, city officials want to “spruce up” the Sather Gate Mall by putting in more aesthetically pleasing storefronts. 

But some of Sebanc’s customers questioned why the city would single out the optometrist’s office under its renovation plans for the area. 

“The space two doors down has been vacant for four years,” area resident Rajeev Ranjan said. “Why don’t they focus on that rather than evicting longtime business owners?” 

Ranajan said he has been coming to Sebanc for 10 years. 

“He’s a great optometrist—really cares about his patients,” he said. “It’s a shame to see him go.” 

Sebanc said that upon learning of his eviction from his current office, he tried to secure a lease on the storefront two doors down, but found the city’s lease on the space was too expensive. 

“It was a slightly bigger store than what I have now,” he said. “But it was for $2,700 a month. In here I paid $1,000.” 

When he received an eviction notice last February, Sebanc sought legal help to challenge the ruling. He said he was surprised to see that he was being evicted because he had been told at a neighborhood association meeting just two weeks earlier that nobody would be evicted from their space. 

“Hallie Llamas [a capital planner with the city of Berkeley] came and told us to work out as a group what hours we would all be open,” Sebanc said. “Then I got the eviction notice and [City Manager Weldon] Rucker told me she didn’t have the authority to make that statement. If they had just gotten me the packet on time none of this would have happened.” 

Llamas and other capital planning staff members did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday. The city manager’s office referred all calls to capital planning.

TUESDAY, JULY 29 

Wellstone Democratic Club “Progressive Democrats and the Gubernatorial Recall” at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 27th and Harrison Sts., Oakland. Speakers include Margaret Hanon Grady, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Tim Wohlforth, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Coordinating Committee; and Jerry Fillingim, Political Director, SEIU 535. For more information call 733- 0996 or e-mail democraticrenewal@california.com 

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. Monthly field trips. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 

Twilight Tour: Godwanaland and Beyond, Jeff Parsons leads a tour of the collections focusing on plants from the Southern Hemisphere at 5:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Free for members, $5 for non-members. Reservations required. 643-2755. www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

tion, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m., Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geo 

cities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

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

Community Dances, 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 

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. 848-5143. 527-5332. 

THURSDAY, JULY 31 

The Sustainable Business Alliance will offer a networking event and presentation on The Natural Step at 6 p.m. at the Gaia Building. Cost is $7 for members, $10 for non members. For more information call 282-5151 or visit www.sustainablebiz.org 

“Coalinga Huron Berkeley House at Berkeley” Nancy Mellor will talk about her work with rural, usually minority, students who come to Berkeley for the summer to study, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine St. Almost all of these students are enrolled in, or have completed college, defying the national and state norms. For information contact Sue Friday, 705-7314. www.quaker.org/berkmm 

Open General Meeting of the United Pool Council at 7 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Berkeley City Council has given us the green light to keep the pools open all year, only if we meet their challenge to raise $60,000 by October in new revenues at the pools. Please join us as we launch the Swim Berkeley campaign for year-round aquatic programs. For information call Karen 548-3860. 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1 

Mayor’s Task Force on Permitting at 8:30 a.m. on the 6th floor of City Hall, 2180 Milvia St.  

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

wibberkeley@yahoo.com  

548-6310, 845-1143. 

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

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Light Search and Rescue, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

Native Plant Restoration sponsored by the Citizens for the Eastshore State Park and California Native Plant Society. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large bird sculpture at the west end of Buchanan St., Albany (west of I-580 and immediately north of Golden Gate Fields parking lot). Bring work clothes, boots, and gloves as well as sunblock and water. For more information, call Sarah Ginskey, 558-8139 or Tina Gerhardt, 848- 0800, ext. 313. 

Backyard Graywater Treatment Wetlands The Guerrilla Graywater People present a day-long, hands on workshop on designing and building small-scale graywater treatment wetlands. These systems use recycled materials and simple tools to create small wetlands that treat the water from a sink or shower for use in your garden. You will learn basic plumbing skills, methods of wastewater treatment, what plants to use in different situations, and how to design a graywater treatment wetlands for your home. We will be constructing a small treatment wetlands at a house in North Oakland. Cost is $15-$25, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call for location and more information 428-2354.  

Tomato Tasting at the Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free samples of a range of tomato varieties, cooking demonstrations begin at 11 a.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Sick Plant Clinic UC Botanical Garden experts diagnose your plant woes the first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755. www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden 

Summer Maintenance for Year-Round Garden Beauty  

A free lecture demonstration at 10 a.m. Discover how simple garden-maintenance techniques during the summer can help your garden to be healthy and beautiful all year long, including mulching, watering, fertilizing, and deadheading. At Magic Gardens 729 Heinz Ave. 520-6927. 654-2484. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 

KPFA Free Speech Radio Benefit for KPFA's New World Center, and welcoming Gus Newport, our new General Man- 

ager, and former Mayor of the City of Berkeley. Film screening of “Straight Outta Hunter’s Point” and performances by Emmit Powell and the Gospel Elites, Gregory Joe Bledsoe and the Source of Light. From 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Roundtree’s Museum and Restaurant, 2618 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $12 adults, $10 seniors and children. For tickets and information call 848-4300 or 848-6767, ext. 634. 

Tibetan Buddhism, Barr Rosen- 

berg on “Path of Heroes,” at 6 p.m. at Tibetan Nyingma Institu- 

te, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video Free gatherings, at 7:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. We will meet on the first and third Sunday of each month. 547-2024. EdShorelin@aol.com 

MONDAY, AUGUST 4 

Art is Peace Presents “The Inkwell Communiques” Based on a true story of one artist taking on several agencies of the government over the course of three presidential reigns. August 4th and 5th at 7:30 pm on Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage. A benefit for Amnesty Interna- 

tional's peace action campaign. A $20 donation is suggested. Reservations required, visit www.Frantix.net or call 415-621-1216. www.upontheseboards.org/forthcoming/inkwell 

Berkeley Biodiesel Cooperative Orientation at 7:30 p.m. for those interested in making biodiesel welcome for new member orientation. Some technical questions can be answered. Call for location. 594-4000 ext. 777. biobauerx@hotmail.com  

National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay Chapter meets at 6 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St. Assemblywoman Loni Hancock will speak on how the California GOP budget proposals affect women.  

Berkeley CopWatch meets at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Volun- 

teers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING  

Vista Community College Program for Adult Education (PACE) Enrollment through Sept. 6. PACE is a college alternative for adults with job and family responsibilities. Enrollment in American Sign Language classes is also being accepted. For information call 981-2864 or 981-2800 or email Marilyn Clausen at mclausen@peralta.cc.ca.us  

Community Food Drive Make a cash or food donation to the Safeway/ABC7 Summer Food Drive, benefiting the Alameda County Community Food Bank and its 300 member agencies. The food drive will help thousands of local low-income children who lose access to school meal programs during summer vacation. Now through August 9, put nutritious, nonperishable food donations in the red food collection barrels in all Alameda County Safeway stores or make a cash donation at Safeway check-out stands. For more information or to sign up to host a barrel, call 834-3663, ext. 318 or visit www.accfb.org  

Marine Biology Classes for ages 5 to 7, Tues. July 29 through Fri. Aug. 1 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave, at the Berkeley Marina. Adults must accompany 5 year olds. Cost is $45 for four days. To register call 644-8623. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina 

Summer Science Weeks at Tilden, for ages 9 - 12, August 4 - 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Tilden Park. Different topics daily, including pond and stream, reptiles and amphibians, dinos, astronomy, rainforests. Cost is $150 for Berkeley residents, $166 for non-residents. Financial assistance is available for low-income families. Registration required, call 636-1684.  

Institutes for Educators: Gold Rush to the Golden Gate, August 4 - 9. Join us on a journey through the SF Bay watershed, from the foothills of the Sierra to the Bay. Along the way discover how you can integrate watershed concepts and Bay curriculum into your teaching. Each day will be filled with on-the-water experiences, expert speakers, and hands-on activities. The program will also introduce educators to habitat restoration and ways to incorporate service learning projects into their work. Participants will network with other Bay Area educators and receive a wealth of resource materials. Cost is $195. Contact Save the Bay for more information, 452-9261. devo@savesfbay.org, www.savesfbay.org 

Free Energy Conservation Retrofits for Berkeley Residents CA Youth Energy Services is a nonprofit sponsored by the City of Berkeley that trains and employs high school students to provide conservation retrofits. Work includes weatherstripping, replacing lightbulbs with CFLs, cleaning refrigerator coils, replacing faucet aerators and showerheads with low-flow devices, installing earthquake preparedness measures, and a comprehensive audit. Available to home owners and renters. Call for an appointment, 428-2357. 

National HIV Testing Month The City of Berkeley offers free HIV testing. Drop in Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m., during July, at 830 University Ave. at 6th St. For other days and times call the HIV Testing Information Line at 981-5380.  

Free Energy Bill Payment Assistance The City of Berkeley offers funds to help low-income households in Berkeley, Emery- 

ville and Albany pay their gas and electric bills. For applications and more information, contact the Energy Office at 644-8544. TDD: 981-6903. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy 

CITY MEETINGS 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Monday, August 4, 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks

On Sept. 17, 1923, a disastrous wildfire swept down from the north Berkeley Hills and destroyed more than 500 buildings; most of them were homes. After the fire, there was some interest in using building materials that would be more fireproof than a wood-frame house covered with wood shingles—and for a time wood shingles were even banned.  

Although most new construction after the 1923 fire (just like after the 1991 Oakland Hills fire) consisted of stuccoed exterior walls over a wood frame, several buildings were constructed of “fireproof” materials. Among these was the Second Church of Christ, Scientist at 1521 Spruce St. (1926) designed by Henry Higby Gutterson, and a house, located at 1512 La Loma (1924), designed by John Ballantine, an architect who had worked in Gutterson’s office and had lost his home in the fire. 

Both buildings are built from unusual concrete blocks manufactured in Carmel by the Carmel Thermotite Company. Gutterson used these blocks for the Flanders Mansion in Carmel in 1925. (The Flanders mansion is now a city-owned cultural center.) One of Gutterson’s earlier Berkeley designs, the home of Raymond T. Framer, on Marin Avenue, had employed a hollow-brick wall construction not dissimilar to that chosen for the Flanders home, the Second Church and the Ballantine House. 

In both the Flanders Mansion and the Second Church the architect used a cavity wall system not common in California. The blocks were bonded by grout and bound by special metal ties for structural and seismic stability, the building material professed to be “waterproof, fireproof and practically everlasting.”  

The Thermotite concrete blocks have a surface quality and color, as well as a particular size, that makes them look much more like stone than what one thinks of as “concrete block.” All three buildings have the general feeling, ambiance and simplicity of a old English cottage.  

The Second Church of Christ, Scientist is an outstanding example of the mature work of architect Henry Gutterson, who graduated from the University of California in 1907 and then attended the l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The church is significant for its architectural simplicity and the use of natural materials in an elegant way; it demonstrates the transition from the Period Revival Style toward modernism. Its style is generally Spanish Revival with details borrowed from the Renaissance. The church illustrates how well a rather large building can fit quietly into a residential neighborhood.  

1512 Buena Vista (which is currently for sale) is an example of the early work of John Ballantine, who graduated from the university in 1919 and worked in Gutterson’s office until 1924 when he opened his own office. The U-shaped main house and the cottage are set around a garden courtyard giving the impression of a village square. The simple buildings are enhanced by small-paned leaded windows, hood molding over the doors and windows and a gray slate roof. Ballantine designed many houses during his 40-year career. 

Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny writes this in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

RETHINK SCHOOL MOVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a resident on Kains Avenue between Cedar and Virginia. I have just become aware of the proposal to move the Berkeley Adult School and have volunteered to be active in helping to avert a terrible disaster. 

I have taken a petition around to my neighbors on Kains and talked to people on Virginia. Everyone with no exception is against, very against this proposal. The neighborhoods surrounding the school are small residential neighborhoods that are quiet and use their on-street parking as a necessity of life. The school at present is in a commercial neighborhood. Making this switch will be extremely difficult for all concerned. The school is in a good location at present. I am sure there are creative ways to remodel without having to move the school to a location that will cause a hardship on the existing community and is not wanted. 

This situation has to be carefully evaluated before any steps are taken. When all of the residents are opposed and concerned it demands the attention of the School Board and the School District. 

We are concerned about the traffic, the noise and the use of our streets for parking from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. five days a week, plus half a day on Saturday. We are concerned about adding 1,200 more people and possible vehicles to our neighborhoods on a daily basis. 

We are asking for more time to deeply consider all the hardships involved in this proposal. We are very concerned. 

Joyce Barison 

• 

SUPPORT DEAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Progressives are supporting Howard Dean’s candidacy for president, even though he does not claim to be a programmatic progressive, because he has been an outspoken opponent of Bush’s unjustifiable and terribly costly invasion of Iraq and his outrageous tax cuts for the wealthy. Dean has the intelligence, honesty, integrity and energy to defeat Bush and to stand up to the right-wing minority that is disregarding the democratic process in order to claim power it can’t win at the polls, now in California as well as in Florida in 2000 and in the attempt to unseat Bill Clinton. Howard Dean’s positions can be found on his campaign Web site, www.DeanforAmerica.com. 

Charlene Woodcock 

• 

MISCONDUCT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The commentary by Sharon Hudson “Citizen Voices Can Influence ...” in the July 22 issue of the Planet does an excellent job of describing the misconduct of the city. The situation is close to anarchy and lawlessness. An office to be blamed for this situation is the Planning and Development Department, in particular the zoning, with staff such as Mark Rhoades. He was named “a duplicitous insect” by one of the readers of this newspaper a few months ago. The Planning Department breaks the zoning laws and ordinances in favor of developers or corporations. The City Council, the city manager and the city attorney are aware of this misconduct; however, they usually defend the Planning Department. At best, the City Council denies any knowledge of the Planning Department misconduct. Perhaps this is a common trend in the United States: Administrations lie, misconduct, mislead, breach the laws, but no one resigns, gets impeached or reprimanded.  

Some recent misconduct, among many, by the Planning Department and some of the city staff have to do with the Sprint antennas at 1600 Shattuck Ave. The story started in July 2002 and continues. In the past few months Sprint has taken many illegal steps while the Planning Department has ignored such steps, and in many cases has supported them. For instance, according to the Berkeley Telecommunications Ordinance, when applying for a permit, wireless providers must provide engineering calculations that show planned wireless facilities comply with all FCC requirements. Sprint never provided such calculations. They did so a week after the Zoning Board public hearing. When this was brought to the attention of the city, the Planning Department, in support of Sprint, wrote in the Action Calendar of April 1, 2003, that “the engineer ... presented information from the report verbally, to the ZAB on the Dec. 12, 2002 meeting, but neglected to leave a copy with the ZAB secretary. A copy was faxed to the office the following week.” This is a lie. The audio-tape of the ZAB meeting is available; engineering calculations were not presented in the meeting. Besides, the law requires that such calculations be available at the time of application in July 2002, not during the ZAB meeting in December. 

This is only the tip of iceberg; there are many other instances that some city staff have broken the laws and let Sprint do the same. Law is meaningless in Berkeley. We only hear superficial gestures by the mayor who is asking the city attorney to write an ordinance for stealing free newspapers. This is not necessary, Mr. Bates. People, except you and a few, do not steal newspapers. 

When it comes to laws, this is what the city is telling Berkeley citizens: “Yes, the city is breaking the laws. If you have resources, go ahead and sue the city.” I agree with Sharon Hudson, who wrote: “Get involved now.” Yes, people should get involved and united to file law suits against the city and remove corrupt staff members. 

Afrida Freeman 

• 

TITLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In October, when California voters decide on the governor’s political future, they must also concern themselves with the integrity of electronic (touch screen) voting machines that many will likely use. Current touch-screen voting machines do not provide a paper trail to assure voters that their votes are being recorded correctly. A recent advisory task force convened by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley examined the issues relating to current and pending purchases of touch screen electronic voting equipment in California. While all committee members agreed that voters should receive a verifiable audit to ensure their ballot has been accurately recorded, they could not agree on a timetable for implementing these changes. The majority wanted the new rules to apply to equipment purchased in the year 2007 and beyond, with allowance for older equipment to be modified by 2010. Other members insisted that the Voter Verifiable Audit Trail (VVAT) be implemented immediately.  

Secretary of State Shelley is asking for public comment before making a final decision on Aug. 1. It is imperative that California voters demand that all electronic (touch screen) voting machines to be used in the recall ballot measure and in the 2004 elections have a verifiable paper trail. We cannot repeat Florida’s mistakes!  

The integrity of your vote is at stake. Send your comments to elections@ss.ca.gov.  

Further information is available at www.workingassets.com/radio.  

Josephine Arasteh 

“There’s no doubt about it, what we are hearing is African music because it’s in your blood. It’s in everybody’s blood,” said Babá Ken Okulolo. 

In the early seventies Okulolo was a superstar bass player in his homeland of Nigeria with a recording contract on EMI and one of the best-selling albums in Africa. He frequently jammed with Ginger Baker from the British supergroup Cream and with Fela Kuti, one of Africa’s first superstars to break into the American pop market. Today Okulolo, a North Oakland resident, has three bands—Kotoja, the West African Highlife Band, the Nigerian Brothers—and lives with his wife and two sons in North Oakland.  

“Everything originally is from Africa. All those things just went away from Africa then came back again,” he said, explaining the unexpected similarities between the tuning of Japanese koto, the American blues pentatonic scale and traditional African melodies. 

“The first time I heard James Brown, back in Nigeria, I thought he was a guy from the eastern part of Africa because he had that beat and that culture and that powerful, forceful personality,” Okulolo continued. “He speaks very strongly in his music.” 

In Nigeria his band, Monomono, was one of the first groups to fuse African music with American pop. It became a very successful and influential band in Africa. 

“We called this kind of music Afro-Rock,” recalled Okulolo. “It was modern. It was authentic. It had the influence of jazz, highlife and a little bit of juju music—indigenous music.” 

As a child Okulolo learned to keep musical time by playing in sync with his village elders.  

“You got to learn how to keep your time, keep the meter and keep it locked when you’re young,” he said. “As village boys we all went through this routine of playing with our elders. They give you a bell to keep it steady and if you miss it, they’ll pop you on the head.” 

He said, laughing easily, “So you are there, you’re learning it. You’re hearing all the things they’re doing and there are a lot of things crisscrossing that are likely to throw you off, but you got to keep on doing it. You got to be on it. I went through all that and most African musicians went through that period of initiation they carry with them. It’s embedded in your soul.” 

Today Okulolo’s music fits sweetly and neatly under the World Music umbrella, although each of his bands has a distinctive sound and style. 

Kotoja, which in the Yoruba language means “Let’s be friends,” is a pop and Afro-beat big band with up to 12 members. Founded in 1985, shortly after Okulolo moved from Nigeria to the Bay Area, most of Kotoja’s music is sung in English. In the early 1990s Putumayo World Music launched both the band and the Putumayo label with a best-selling Kotoja album, which was followed by a second album shortly thereafter. 

“It’s one of the last standing African bands in the Bay Area,” said Okulolo. “Many other bands have come and gone, but after 17 years we’re still performing.” 

While Kotoja has some American members, the West African Highlife Band is an all-African quintet that Okulolo spun off in 1996. Like Kotoja they play feel-good songs with a strong and complex rhythmic structure, but their dance music is reverently authentic to the “highlife” style and is sung in several African languages.  

Okulolo’s most traditionally African band is the Nigerian Brothers, which he formed in 1998. The band members are essentially the same as the West African Highlife Band, but the Nigerian Brothers only play indigenous folksongs with modern acoustic accompaniment. 

Living in the East Bay with two nearly adult children, it would be impossible for Okulolo not to be well versed in hip-hop, the mass-culture music du jour. 

“I like hip-hop because it’s a way of this generation to express their inner feelings,” Okulolo said. “They are pissed off with the world in general, not only their parents. Society has put them in a particular box where they need to explode out, and this is the only way they can do it. They are very, very bitter. They don’t take life as anything. Just live and let die kind of thing. It’s a shame that it’s come to that situation and frustration, most of it is frustration. They have nothing to do, nowhere to go, no future, nothing to look up to.  

“I like all kinds of music that makes a political saying or that speaks to the people. That’s what musicians are for, to be able to recognize what’s going wrong in society and talk about it and bring it out.” 

The musicality of hip-hop doesn’t impress him, he said. He thinks it’s too rhythmic and too simplified.  

“There’s not much music in there; it’s just grooves,” Okulolo said. “You just have a drum machine and a keyboard and a mike. It doesn’t really take musicianship. But what they say, the way they rhyme is incredible. They can put so many words into a beat and make it rhythmic without falling out or getting all over the place. I think it’s very incredible. It’s something that I really admire them for.” 

Okulolo has little respect for what oozes out of the radio today.  

“There is no new music per se,” he said. “Everything sounds recycled to me. They’re just putting old wine in a new bottle. It’s a problem. You don’t hear [complex melodic and rhythmic music] because of commercialism. Everybody’s trying to make money. If you play that kind of thing you just go hungry. You do it for the love of it, not to make money, then you can experiment with stuff. The good music that lasts forever is the experimental ones. All the commercial ones, they come today and tomorrow, they are gone, something else takes over.” 

TUESDAY, JULY 29 

FILM 

Sarunas Bartas: “Freedom” 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 

Fragments From the War on Terror “In Shifting Sands,” (2002) Scott Ritter, UNSCOM Chief Weapons Inspector, at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. A free film series co-sponsored by Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil. For more information see www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil. 

For information on the film see www.seaswap.org/2003/ritter 

“The Chinatown Files,” a doc- 

umentary of seven Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans who faced persecution during the McCarthy period, at 7 p.m., at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Screening is part of a joint campaign of the ACLU and Amnesty International to prevent Patriot Act II and repeal Patriot I. For more information call 288-7432.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Josh Furst reads from his new collection of short stories, “Short People,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Summer Poetry with Steven Johnson Leyba from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Café, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 549-1128. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Andrew Carrier and the Cajun Classics perform at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mimi Fox Solo Guitar at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 

FILM 

Excess of Evil/Restoration Pleasures: “The Night of the Hunter” 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 

“The Weather Underground” documentary showing, benefit for Jericho Movement and Friends of Marilyn Buck, at 7 p.m. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinema, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-FILM. www.LandmarkTheatres.com 

SF Jewish Film Festival, “My Life Part 2” at 11:30 a.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Cam- 

pus. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Arthur Phillips discusses his new novel, “Prague,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Wendy Pearlman discusses her interviews with Palestinians in her new book, “Occupied Voices: Stories of Loss and Longing From the Second Intifada,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Return to Germany?” An evening with authors remembering their pasts in Hitler’s Germany, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. www.easygoing.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik, featuring Julia Serano, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

California Music Festival at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$15, available from 925-798-1300. For information on the performances see www.juliamorgan.org 

Young Musicians Program Composition Recital at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-2686.  

Gator Beat performs a blend of Louisiana Cajun and zydeco at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Patti White- 

hurst at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Open Road, bluegrass and mountain music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in ad- 

vance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

THURSDAY, JULY 31 

FILM 

Restoration Pleasures: “Casa- 

nova” 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 

SF Jewish Film Festival, Johnny & Jones” at 1 p.m. “Monsieur Batignole” at 6 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Stephen Lestat, formerly homeless in Berkeley, will read from his recent book, “Punk Chicken and Other Tales” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert Downtown with SoVoSó, a cappella ensemble, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association. 549-2230. 

Brothers Antonio and Man- 

uel de la Malena in a evening of flamenco, dinner shows at 6 and 9 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $27-$55. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

“Revision,” Ailey Camp students perform at 7 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Admission is free. 642-9988. 

Early Music Concert with Isabelle Metwalli, soprano, and Trevor Stephenson, harpsicord, at 8 p.m. at the Albany United Methodist Church, 980 Stannage Rd. Suggested donation $15. 547-7974. 

California Music Festival at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$15, available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Spank and Solarz from Groove Complex perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Denny Heines, world guitar, 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  

Eric McFadden Trio and Bonepony perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1 

FILM 

Czech Horror and Fantasy on Film: “The Pied Piper” at 7:30 p.m. and “Who Killed Jesse?” 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 

Disinformation Film Series: “Brothers and Others,” a film on the plight of people of Arab descent in the U.S. since 9-11 and the impact of illegal detentions on peoples’ lives, at 7:30 p.m., at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita. Donations requested. 528-5403.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Young Musicians Program Final Recital at 7:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-2686. 

Italian Art Songs, Isabelle Metwalli, soprano, and Trevor Stephenson, harpsicord, at 8 p.m. Chamber Arts House, 2924 Ashby Ave. Suggested donation $10. 

California Music Festival presents an evening of chamber music at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Pre-concert lecture at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $12-$18, available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Jerry Garcia’s Birthday Bash, Rex Foundation Fundraiser, with Sun Masons, Savant Guard, and Seconds on End at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5.  

841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Louisiana’s premiere band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Brothers Antonio and Man- 

uel de la Malena in a evening of flamenco, dinner shows at 6 and 9 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $27-$55. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Anzanga Marimba Ensemble with Julia Tsitsi Chigamba and the Chinyakarae Dance En- 

semble at 8 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mitch Marcus Quintet, original compositions, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Machel Montano and Xtatik 5.0, with Tropical Vibrations, at 9:30 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20 in advance, $25 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jackie Ryan at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Beneath the Ashes, To See You Broken, The Diskords, Secret Janet at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 

CHILDREN 

Storytelling for children ages 5 to 9 at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

The Inquiring Camera: “Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks - Part One: Rust” 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 

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading from 3 to 5 p.m., at the West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. Free. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Berkeley Summer Symphony, under the direction of Alexander Kahn, Mei-Fang Lin and Kumiko Takahashi, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free, donations welcome. 701-6590. www.geocities.com/summersymph2003. 

Gale Dobson Sextet, celebrating the release of her new CD “Parallel Reflections,” at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Victoria Williams and Mark Olson and the Creek Dippers at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $12. Carmel- 

ized at 10:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

African Drum Workshop with Wade Peterson. Beginners from 10 to 11:30 a.m., experienced from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at The Jazz House. Cost is $15-$25, and advance registration is encouraged. 533-5111. 

Son de Madera and Son Borikua perform Afro-Caribeño music at 8 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Houston Jones, acoustic americana, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $15.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band at 9:30 p.m., dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8:30 at Ashkenaz. Cost is $18 in advance, $20 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Joshi Marshall at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Brothers Antonio and Man- 

uel de la Malena in a evening of flamenco, dinner shows at 6 and 9 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $27-$55. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Plan 9, Penis Flytrap, Proud Flesh, Free Verse, The Pox 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, AUGUST 3 

FILM 

W. C. Fields: “It’s a Gift” 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 

Last Word Poetry, at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Bookstore, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midsummer Mozart Festival Serenade for Winds in C Minor, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, featuring violinist Dorota Anderszeuska, and Symphony #35 in D Major. Conducted by Berkeley resident George Cleve at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presby- 

terian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $28. 415-292-9620. www.midsummermozart.org  

Young Musicians Program Final Concert at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-2686. 

Bay Area Latin Jazz Legacy Series with Insight and Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco. Panel at 6 p.m., concert at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Live Oak Concert, with Sol- 

stice, a female a cappella sextet, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $10, BACA members $8, Students and seniors $9. Children under 12 free. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Music of Kenneth Gaburo Experimental music, theater, and text at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $5-15 sliding scale. 

Forward Kwenda with Eric Azim, mbira master from Zimbabwe, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Christy Dana Quartet, trumpet originals and new takes on jazz standards, at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

For the Crown, In Control, Modern Life is War, Dragnet at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, AUGUST 4 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Neil M. Levy will read from his new book, “The Last Rebbe of Bialystok,” at 7:30 p.m. Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Express, open mic from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

California Music Festival, with cellist Christine Walevska and pianist Del Parkinson, at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$18, available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

AT THE THEATER 

Berkeley Music Theater Company, “Oliver!” Lionel Bart’s musical will be performed July 31, Aug 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. at Albany High School, 603 Key Route, Albany. Tickets are $15 general, $10 seniors, students, and low-income. 524-1224. 

Oakland Summer Theater, “The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch,” August 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $8 seniors and students, $5 on Sun. Chabot School Auditorium, 6686 Chabot Rd. To reserve tickets call 597-5026. 

Shotgun Players, “Mother Courage and Her Children,” by Bertolt Brecht, translated by David Hare, directed by Patrick Dooley. Runs Saturdays and Sundays at 4 p.m. in John Hinkle Park, until Sept. 14. No show Aug 9. Show Sept. 13 is at Live Oak Park, Shattuck and Berryman. Free. 704-8210.  

www.shotgunplayers.org 

Young Actors’ Workshop, “Animal Farm,” Opening Night Benefit, August 1 at 7 p.m., August 2 at 8 p.m. and August 3 at 2 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $12, $10 for seniors and students. Opening Night is $40 in advance, and $45 at the door. For reservations call 232-7346. 

EXHIBITIONS 

ACCI Gallery, “Taste and Touch,” Members Exhibition with artists Toby Tover-Krein, Ellen Russell, Jean Hearst and Biliana Stremska. The exhibition runs to Aug. 11. Gallery hours are Mon. - Thurs., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Addison Street Windows, “Windows” An all-media ex- 

hibit by San Francisco Women Artists, through Aug. 11. 2018 Addison St. 658-0585.  

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

Berkeley Historical Society, “Focus on Berkeley” A photography exhibit by the Berkeley Camera Club, Berkeley High School students and community photographers in celebration of the City’s 125th Anniversary. Exhibition runs until Sept. 13. Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. 

Graduate Theological Union Library, “Hand-crafted Books by Bay Area Artists” Each book is accompanied by a statement addressing the issues and process involved in the creation of the work. Exhibition runs until Sept. 30. Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd.  

649-2541. 

Kala Art Institute, Kala Fellowship Exhibition, Part I The Kala Fellowships are awarded annually to eight innovative artists working in printmaking, book arts, video and digital media. Part I features the work of May Chan, Taro Hattori, Amanda Knowles and Andrew Mamo. Runs until July 31. Call for gallery hours. 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

A New Leaf Gallery, “Four Elements of Sculpture Fire, Air, Water and Earth,” Exhibition runs to Aug. 31. 1286 Gilman St. Call for gallery hours. 527-7621. www.sculpturesite.com 

Red Oak Realty “Mixed Media,” by Stan Whitehead. Reception for the artist on Aug. 8, 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition runs July 31 through Oct. 23, Mon. – Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387. 

Slater/Marinoff & Co., “All Animal Art” Forty photographers and artists have donated works to help fund the costs of the Milo Foundation’s work in finding homes for abandoned dogs and cats. Exhibition runs until Aug. 31. Hours are Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1823 Fourth St. 548-2001.

When Alex Rincon runs across College Avenue to do his banking at the Wells Fargo branch in the Elmwood section of town, he tries to make it in the late afternoon. It’s not that the lines are shorter or the service is friendlier that time of day. “I just try to pick a time when it seems like they won’t get robbed,” said Rincon, a manager at Your Basic Bird pet shop. 

Rincon explains that most holdups at the bank, like the recent heist Friday, seem to happen in the morning or early afternoon. 

Janet Dunlap, manager of The Trading Post, a jewelry and pottery store just a few doors down from Wells Fargo, at 2959 College Ave., has a different piece of advice. She says customers who find themselves in the bank during a robbery should skeedaddle before the police arrive. 

“If you’re in the bank when it gets robbed, get out before they lock you in half the day [to take witness reports],” she said. 

Robberies at the local bank, which gets hit two to three times per year, according to police, seem to have little effect on the business owners, employees and residents of the tree-lined Elmwood district, with its cafes and book stores. 

“Now, it’s just like earthquakes—I just go, ‘Oh, another one,’” said Tim Bonfield, who has worked at Bolfing’s Elmwood Hardware for seven years. 

Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Mary Kusmiss said the College Avenue Wells Fargo is not the only local bank susceptible to holdups. Robbers frequently hit Berkeley’s downtown banks, she said, because thick pedestrian crowds and the Downtown Berkeley BART station can make for an easy escape. 

There is no train station near the Elmwood Wells Fargo, and the foot traffic isn’t as heavy. But Kusmiss said the bank may be attractive to robbers because it sits on the corner of Ashby Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare. 

Chris McGoey, a Los Angeles-based security consultant who grew up in the Bay Area, disagreed. He said Ashby Avenue, with its traffic and distance from the closest freeway is probably not a significant draw. 

He said robbers likely take a host of other considerations into account—from the security at the bank, to the number of one-way streets in the area, to their own familiarity with the district. 

“They usually know the neighborhood,” he said. “They want to feel comfortable. They know someone who lives there. They know the back streets ... It’s all about escape.” 

Whatever the reasons, the locals say they are accustomed to the robberies, and are not terribly concerned for their own safety. 

Adam Broner, who lives nearby and banks at the Elmwood Wells Fargo, said he was more worried about the tellers who have to deal with the stick-ups. 

“It’s a shame,” he said. “They’re all so nice.” 

Tony Nero, who lives around the corner on Benvenue Avenue, said he was more concerned about the periodic street muggings in the neighborhood. 

“It makes me more nervous when people with guns go after individuals,” he said. 

But not everyone was so nonplused. Meghan Tiernan, a landscape architect who works nearby and walks to Elmwood to get lunch and do her banking at Wells Fargo, said the bank robbery, combined with the occasional leaflet warning of local muggings, would make her “think twice” and “look around” when she was in the area. 

The Friday morning holdup took a bloodier turn than most. After receiving a report of an armed robbery at 10:06 a.m., Oakland and Berkeley police traced the suspect to the 2200 block of Haste Street, 15 blocks away, and, after a confrontation, three officers fatally shot alleged robber Glennel Givens, 27, of Oakland. Givens was pronounced dead at Oakland’s Highland Hospital at 11:37 a.m. 

But just a couple of hours after the robbery, blocks from the somber site of the fatal shooting, it was business as usual in the Elmwood. College Avenue was bustling. The restaurants and cafes were filled at the peak of the lunch hour. And the Wells Fargo itself bore few signs of the heist—just a pre-printed sign that read, in a pleasant looping font: “Attention customers! We are temporarily closed due to a robbery and will re-open as soon as possible ... We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” 

The following letters were addressed to Jeff Philliber, environmental planning coordinator, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: 

I am writing on behalf of the Ecology Center in Berkeley to provide comments on the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Notice of Preparation, Draft Focused, Tiered Environmental Impact Report on the Construction and Operation of Building 49 and G-4 Parking Lot. 

The Ecology Center strongly objects to this project in its current form. Particularly problematic is the portion of the project that would dispose of excavated soil by filling in the riparian corridor known as “Cafeteria Creek.” The project appears to be in violation of Berkeley’s Creek Ordinance and would destroy sensitive riparian  

habitat for wildlife such as deer and bird species, and remove large, mature native trees. Cafeteria Creek is a rare and valuable stretch of unaltered riparian habitat and an important and natural tributary to Strawberry Creek. 

We believe that the proposed building site would produce excessive amounts of soil because of the steep slope on which the building would be constructed. We suggest that LBNL choose another, flatter site that does not require excavating a hillside, and that would generate less soil. Further, we suggest choosing a different method for soil disposal, such as delivering it to a disposal company for reuse as clean fill. 

Additionally, the area to be filled by the parking lot includes several coast live oaks, supports considerable bird life and is threaded with deer paths. We would suggest that LBNL find alternatives to building another parking lot. Rather than relying on increased parking capacity and increased single occupancy vehicular traffic to meet transportation needs, we would suggest increasing carpooling efforts and providing increased shuttle services. 

Since there are feasible alternatives to destroying this riparian corridor, we ask that you revise your project plan accordingly. 

Martin Bourque 

Executive Director 

Ecology Center 

• 

I am writing on behalf of the Friends of Baxter Creek (FOBC), a 950-member-plus organization whose mission is to preserve, restore, protect and advocate for Baxter Creek and neighboring watersheds. FOBC believes that protecting creeks is essential to the livability of our community. Our Web site can be found at http://www.creativedifferences.com/baxtercreek.  

FOBC objects to the proposed project to construct an office building and parking lot and dispose of the fill from construction by burying a natural-flowing creek. People who know the creek say that it runs much of the year, that its banks are densely vegetated with riparian plants and mature coastal live oaks, and that it supports abundant wildlife by providing water, shade and food, and creating a natural habitat corridor. As we understand it, the project is proposed on a steep slope that would necessitate substantial grading and fill, and could likely create soil instability and drainage problems in the area.  

Environmental analysis of the project should emphasize the many benefits to wildlife that creeks and the surrounding natural areas provide. To cite just a few examples, migrating songbirds use creeks in urbanized areas to stop and refuel. In its Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay (Region 2) published June 21, 1995, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region, states that the two most important types of wildlife habitat are riparian and wetlands habitats. According to the California Oak Foundation, many species of animals rely on oak woodlands for their sustenance.  

FOBC believes that alternatives exist to the proposed construction and fill in the creek and destruction of adjacent oak woodlands. Sites that have existing buildings capable of being renovated or expanded, or sites that would involve less grading and destruction of vegetation and wildlife should be chosen over a site with a natural-flowing vegetated creek and surrounding habitat corridor.  

Caitlin Smith 

El Cerrito 

When asked to choose his favorite music, Babá Ken selected the following albums: 

“The first one I would take,” he said, “not to lose my roots, is my traditional music, but I don’t think you can find it here. [We’re] a minority tribe and we’re not many in the world. I can count the musicians from that area on the fingers on my hand. I have some stuff [sung by] my elder brother. There was just two of them and they sing these weird harmonies and very intricate rhythms you won’t believe. You can’t even notate it. 

“I would take a highlife album from Chief Steven Osita Osadebe. 

“Then I will take a jazz album from John Coltrane. Any of them but the earlier albums were really good. He started listening to the African horns from the northern part of Africa. He started listening to that and his latest albums were really way out there. People couldn’t understand what he was doing. I like that. That’s visionary. He really trip and take his mind somewhere else, out of this world.  

“Next would be a Stevie Wonder album. His inner vision‚ is so deep, [also] ‘Songs in the Key of Life’‚ that’s an evergreen for me, I can hear it everyday. 

“And I would take a Fela album, any of them but mostly the earlier ones. Before he died he was going off his head, I mean he was going wild for me. Because of his arrangements and his knowledge between the African rhythm and the western rhythm and jazz and the groove, a very strong groove—because I’m groove oriented.  

“I also like Hawaiian music, it’s very soothing. 

“And that’s about it for me because with that selection everything is in there for me.”

Juggling parking problems, budget woes and a Baby Boomer population surging toward old age, the city of Berkeley is considering a series of changes at its three senior centers—some of them provoking concern among current elderly users. 

Proposals range from offering more yoga classes, to kicking off a singles club, to renaming the North Berkeley Senior Center the “Lifelong Living Center,” according to a draft reorganization plan put together in the city’s Health & Human Services department in April.  

Most seniors said they welcome these overtures to the aging Boomer set. But many say they have not had enough input on the reform plan.  

Others have grumbled about the push to rename the centers and objected to a plan to move the Meals on Wheels program from the North Berkeley to the West Berkeley Senior Center, where parking is more plentiful. 

“Why should North Berkeley be set free and we [get] punished?,” asked Marion Barlow, 74, a regular at the West Berkeley Senior Center. “Parking here will be ten times worse if we bring the program here.” 

Lisa Ploss, the city’s senior programs administrator, said the dozen vehicles used for Meals on Wheels, which feeds about 240 homebound seniors in Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville, can create gridlock in the North Berkeley Senior Center lot - prompting calls for the move. 

But Ploss emphasized that the Meals on Wheels proposal, like all the ideas in the reorganization plan, is preliminary and requires more input from Berkeley’s seniors. 

Rose Kennedy, a member of the West Berkeley Senior Center Advisory Council, said input is what has been missing. 

“None of the seniors have been involved in the planning,” she said. 

Ploss acknowledges that the city has done a poor job of communicating with the elderly community about the proposed changes. 

“Obviously, we haven’t done this as well as we could have,” she said. “I take responsibility for that.” 

The communication gap has helped fuel rumors, entirely untrue, Ploss said, that the West Berkeley Senior Center is closing.  

Ploss also ruled out a much-maligned proposal, included in the April reorganization plan, that called for West Berkeley seniors to take a bus to the South Berkeley Senior Center every day for lunch. 

Ploss said she is working on a survey, to be distributed at the senior centers in several weeks, that will give the city a broader sense for what programs work and what changes participants would like to see. She added that staff will also meet directly with seniors at each center to discuss the proposals. 

Berkeley’s senior centers, operating on a $2.2 million annual budget, serve 3,000 to 4,000 people per year. 

Ploss said the major motivating factor behind the reorganization plan was the Baby Boomers’ steady march toward old age. According to 2000 U.S. census data, the number of people over 65 in California is expected to jump 172 percent, over the current total of 3.5 million, in the next 40 years. In Berkeley, the 65-plus population will increase by 153 percent in the next eight years alone, according to census projections. 

“We need to start figuring out how to reach that population,” she said. “The challenge is being respectful to the [older] population that has really built these centers.” 

Scott Parkin, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Aging, said senior centers around the country are wrestling with the question of how to attract a generation that has embraced everything from exercise to botox in an effort to escape old age. 

“The image has been that senior centers are for older, more senior people,” he said. 

Experts say senior centers around the country have changed their names, redecorated and built workout facilities in a bid to win over the “new senior.” But change is not always a good thing, warns Paul Kleyman of the San Francisco-based American Society on Aging. 

“All aging is local,” he said, paraphrasing former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, who famously said “all politics is local.” 

Kleyman said makeovers, including movie clubs and trips to vineyards, have tended to be more successful in upper-income areas, and less successful in more traditional, low-income settings. 

The North Berkeley Senior Center is in an affluent part of town, but the south and west Berkeley centers are not. 

Ploss said the city will be careful to build on the strengths of the current centers—including the computer lab at South Berkeley and the line dancing and gardening at West Berkeley—as it eyes reform. 

But funding is sure to play a role in any overhaul. The senior centers escaped the budget ax this June, when City Council closed a $9 million deficit with a selective hiring freeze, tax hikes and cuts. But the financial picture will only get worse next year, when the city will take on an additional $8 to $10 million shortfall. 

“Next year is looking a lot more concerning,” Ploss said.

“The Green Party emerged from a national meeting ... increasingly certain that it will run a presidential candidate in next year’s election, all but settling a debate within the group over how it should approach the 2004 contest,” the Washington Post reported on July 21. The Green Party promptly put out a news release declaring that Greens “affirmed the party’s intention to run candidates for president and vice president of the United States in 2004.” 

That release quoted a national party co-chair. “This meeting produced a clear mandate for a strong Green Party presidential ticket in 2004,” he said, adding that “We chose the path of growth and establishing ourselves as the true opposition party.” But other voices, less public, are more equivocal. 

Days later, national party co-chair Anita Rios told me that she’s “ambivalent” about the prospect of a Green presidential race next year. Another co-chair, Jo Chamberlain, mentioned “mixed feelings about it.” Theoretically, delegates to the national convention next June could pull the party out of the 2004 presidential race. But the chances of that happening are very slim. The momentum is clear. 

Few present-day Green Party leaders seem willing to urge that Greens forego the blandishments of a presidential campaign. The increased attention—including media coverage—for the party is too compelling to pass up. 

In recent years, the Greens have overcome one of the first big hurdles of a fledgling political party: News outlets no longer ignore them. In 2000, the Green presidential ticket, headed by Ralph Nader, had a significant impact on the campaign. Although excluded from the debates and many news forums, candidate Nader did gain some appreciable media exposure nationwide. 

Green leaders are apt to offer rationales along the lines that “political parties run candidates” and Greens must continue to gain momentum at the ballot box. But by failing to make strategic decisions about which electoral battles to fight—and which not to—the Greens are set to damage the party’s long-term prospects. 

The Green Party is now hampered by rigidity that prevents it from acknowledging a grim reality: The presidency of George W. Bush has turned out to be so terrible in so many ways that even a typically craven corporate Democrat would be a significant improvement in some important respects. 

Fueled by idealistic fervor for its social-change program (which I basically share), the Green Party has become an odd sort of counterpoint to the liberals who have allowed pro-corporate centrists to dominate the Democratic Party for a dozen years now. Those liberal Democrats routinely sacrifice principles and idealism in the name of electoral strategy. The Greens are now largely doing the reverse—proceeding toward the 2004 presidential race without any semblance of a viable electoral strategy, all in the name of principled idealism. 

Local Green Party activism has bettered many communities. While able to win some municipal or county races in enclaves around the country—and sometimes implementing valuable reforms—the Greens stumble when they field candidates for statewide offices or Congress. 

When putting up candidates in those higher-level campaigns, the Greens usually accomplish little other than on occasion making it easier for the Republican candidate to win. That’s because the U.S. electoral system, unfortunately, unlike in Europe, is a non-parliamentary winner-take-all setup. To their credit, Green activists are working for reforms like “instant runoff voting” that would make the system more democratic and representative. 

In discussions about races for the highest offices, sobering reality checks can be distasteful to many Greens, who correctly point out that a democratic process requires a wide range of voices and choices during election campaigns. But that truth does not change another one: A smart movement selects its battles and cares about its impacts. 

A small party that is unwilling to pick and choose its battles—and unable to consider the effects of its campaigns on the country as a whole—will find itself glued to the periphery of American politics. 

In contrast, more effective progressives seeking fundamental change are inclined to keep exploring—and learning from—the differences between principle and self-marginalization. They bypass insular rhetoric and tactics that drive gratuitous wedges between potential allies—especially when a united front is needed to topple an extreme far-right regime in Washington. 

Norman Solomon is co-author of “Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You.”

Construction on a 32,000-square-foot synagogue has begun on Oxford Street behind Codornices Park, but not without some still unanswered questions about the project’s financing. The size and location of Congregation Beth El’s future home has pitted a very vocal neighborhood group against the congregation since the building was first proposed on the historical site two years ago. 

Chief among the concerns of some neighbors is whether the congregation will be able to raise the estimated $8.5 million needed to complete construction when they haven’t sold their original temple at Spruce and Arch. The asking price for the building is $4.5 million.  

Plans for the three-acre parcel that formerly housed the Chinese Christian Alliance’s modest church call for a synagogue, chapel, administration offices and a nursery school. When finished the building will be comparable in size to the nearby Safeway at Shattuck and Rose. Right now work crews are busy drilling holes on the land for the building’s geo-thermal system.  

Beth El president Harry Pollack, who is also a city planning commissioner, denied the congregation is having any trouble either selling their original temple or raising funds to build the new one, but declined to discuss any details. “You don’t talk about potential buyers while you’re in negotiations or while you’re busy marketing it,” said Pollack. “I’m not going to talk about the marketing for the newspaper.” 

Pollack also refused to comment on whether Congregation Beth El member dues had been increased substantially to help pay for the new temple. 

According to a recent report in the Northern California Jewish Bulletin, the cost of the new temple has risen to $11 million. In March 2002 the congregation’s newsletter, The Builder, indicated that contributions for the project were not at the level expected. According to the newsletter, the drive to raise $3.2 million from congregants was $1.3 million short, and only about half of the full dues paying members had pledged the asked-for $5,000. The November 2002 issue of the newsletter states that the board is addressing the issue of membership retention and reported it had fallen from 630 to 447.  

While questions persist about the financing of the new temple, David Dempster, a member of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association (LOCCNA) said Beth El is living up to its end of the settlement agreement, which the organization signed with the temple a year and a half ago, allowing the project to go through.  

A key to this agreement is that Congregation Beth El agreed to daylight the remaining portion of Codornices Creek—one of the most open creeks in the east bay—on the site if money can be found to pay for it (estimate of the cost is $500,000 ). Original plans for the temple called for its parking lot to be built on the north end of the site, covering up the creek that runs next to Berryman path, a public walkway. LOCCNA protested the plan, and the parking lot and driveway were moved south of the stream. Terms of the agreement state that Congregation Beth El cannot develop the northern portion of the property.  

Currently, about 300 feet of the creek on the property that had always been open (about a third of the creek on site) is being restored. Restoration includes the planting of native plants such as willows and dogwoods and the addition of a series of step pools. It is hoped that the step pools will make it easier for steelhead trout, a form of salmon, to climb up stream to a potential spawning habitat with cooler water and more vegetation just east of the site. The fish have been spotted recently downstream to the west toward the Bay. Before many creeks leading from the Berkeley hills to the Bay were culverted (put underground in cement passageways) in the late 1940s, steelhead trout were commonly seen swimming upstream in them.  

Juliet Lamont, an environmental consultant who lives one block east of the construction site, was initially upset when crews cleared 20 mature trees on the once heavily wooded site during the initial groundbreaking a year and a half ago. But she concedes that Beth El had a right to take them out, as Berkeley does not have a tree protection ordinance.  

Another issue LOCCNA is concerned about, Dempster said, is overflow parking onto Oxford Street, when there is an event that attracts 150 or more people at the temple. Congregation Beth El has yet to submit a parking plan for such events. Any such plan would have to include a combination of valet and satellite parking—access to a parking lot nearby with a shuttle to and from the lot. Prior to opening the building a parking plan must be submitted.  

Despite the signing of the agreement, there is still lingering resentment from some neighbors over the use of the space for such a large building. “I feel that from the very beginning the city dropped the ball in not buying that as a park. It was an ideal place and had lots of beautiful greenery and now it’s gone,” said Ruth Jennings, 87, who’s lived just north of the site since 1965. “I think what they’re trying to do on this property is much too big for the property. The traffic is going to be enormous and all the activities at night are going to completely change the neighborhood.” 

Still, despite the fact that her next-door neighbor moved out because of the new building, Jennings is staying put. 

“I’m not going to be run out of my home,” she said.

A UC Berkeley study and accompanying press release that focused on defining the psychology of social conservatism has infuriated conservatives across the country and prompted a demand for an apology from the Berkeley College Republicans. 

The College Republicans issued their request for a formal apology on Friday, five days after the original press release, entitled “What Makes 

Conservatives Tick,” appeared on the UC Berkeley home page to celebrate the release of a 37-page study that set out to explain underlying motivations common to all conservatives. 

The release was written by senior public information representative Kathleen Maclay but was approved by Berkeley associate professor of public policy Jack Glaser, who co-wrote the study with John Jost of Stanford University, Arie Kruglanski of the University of Maryland, and UC Berkeley visiting professor Frank Sulloway. 

At the heart of the current controversy is a paragraph that many conservatives charge equates former U.S. President Ronald Reagan with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini as political conservatives. The paragraph reads, “Disparate conservatives share a resistance to change and acceptance of inequality, the authors said. Hitler, Mussolini, and former president Ronald Reagan were individuals, but all were right-wing conservatives because they preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality in some form.” 

The study, which involved 88 sample works and 22,818 participants, found several main psychological factors that are shared traits among political conservatives. These traits include fear and aggression, intolerance of ambiguity, avoidance of uncertainty, and the need for cognitive closure, 

according to the press release. 

“The main finding was that conservatives tend to see the world more in black and white,” Glaser said. 

“[The press release] did not just misrepresent political conservatism, it misrepresented historical facts,” said Andrea Irvin, the president of the Berkeley College Republicans. “The likening of Reagan to Hitler is ridiculous to us.” 

But Glaser said the release does not equate Hitler and Reagan if read carefully and emphasized that he would not have approved the media relations release if he had read the paragraph as drawing that analogy. 

“It says at the beginning of the first sentence that these are ‘disparate conservatives,’” Glaser said. “I would not compare Reagan and Hitler. That is offensive to me, and that’s not what it said, but if someone just glossed over the words instead of reading it carefully I can see how they might have thought that.” 

The press release has since been removed from UC Berkeley’s home page and has been modified slightly. The release and study are still available through the Web site’s news center. 

On Friday, the Berkeley College Republicans sent a formal request for an apology to Maclay’s office. The group also posted a response article on the Web site of its monthly journal, the California Patriot. 

“This release is a political tool by the university,” said Amaury Gallais, the Bay Area Chair of the California College Republicans, in the article. “No conservative values are respected, only criticized.” 

Although the College Republicans’ main concern was with the press release that accompanied the formal study, Irvin and other group members also took issue with some conclusions drawn about conservatives as a whole in the report. The California Patriot article goes on to question Glaser’s claim that conservatives possess less “integrative complexity than others,” stating that many see that particular comment as “another attempt by the university to push a liberal agenda.” Many College Republicans were also concerned that because Berkeley is a public institution, public funding may have been used to support what they see as a biased study. 

“There is a definite political lean to the study,” Irwin said. “It felt like it painted a poor picture of political conservatism as a whole. They were trying to condense it into a study that paints being conservative as psychologically inferior.” 

But Glaser said that his study was designed only to find key similarities 

among a group of people, not to portray that group as inferior or identical 

to each other. 

“None of the information that is in the study is earth-shattering,” Glaser said. “Among any group of people there are interesting consistencies among people’s motivations.” 

Since the study was released early last week, Glaser and Maclay have 

attracted national attention from conservative pundits and media organizations. The National Review posted an opinion column listing concerns about the press release, and the controversy has been featured on the Wall Street Journal’s online opinion page. California Patriot editor-in-chief Steve Sexton appeared on Fox News Radio Monday night, and Hovannes Abramyan, the author of the Patriot article about the press release, made an appearance on news channel MSNBC. 

“When I approved the press release I wasn’t being too media-savvy,” Glaser said. “I did not predict this outrage.” 

Joe Wilson is on the phone with some serious allegations about the people who work for the president. 

Joseph Wilson IV, the former ambassador to Gabon and the man who told the world the Bush administration certainly should have known better about Saddam Hussein’s efforts to purchase uranium in Niger, wants to talk about how denizens of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. revealed his wife’s secret life as a CIA operative. 

“If what Novak said is accurate, it is a breach of U.S. national security and a violation of American law,” says Wilson, referring to Robert Novak and his July 14 Chicago Sun-Times column headlined “The Mission to Niger.” Novak wrote that Wilson’s “wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me his wife suggested sending Wilson to Niger …” 

Novak’s column, in essence, says that Wilson’s trip to Niger was set up without CIA director George Tenet’s knowledge. And, that Wilson’s findings—that the British claim about Hussein purchasing uranium yellowcake was based on a forged document—were inconclusive. But, in Novak’s attempt to spin this story on behalf of the White House, all of Plame’s contacts and missions were compromised. Not surprisingly, Wilson is irate. 

He’s already contacted the FBI and CIA and asked for investigations. Wilson tells me he will let the investigators figure out who outed his wife. But, while he doesn’t know for sure who leaked to Novak, Wilson’s pretty sure he knows where they work. 

“I have every reason to believe, from what people have told me, that it was people at the White House.” 

Wilson, by the way, does not hold Bush accountable for the leak. “I don’t think the president—I can’t imagine the president would have anything to do with this,” Wilson says when I ask him if Bush should be impeached if he is linked to the leak. “This is not the sort of thing he or his family—I knew his family since [the time I was] his father’s ambassador to Gabon—would do.” 

Wilson tells me he blames “political operators operating below [the president’s] particular screen” for blowing his wife’s cover. And, though on July 6 he wrote in a New York Times editorial that “… I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat,” Wilson doesn’t blame the president for the infamous 16 words in his January State of the Union speech. (That passage—”The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”—helped Bush justify war in Iraq.) 

Though two administration officials have now apologized for ignoring CIA warnings that the Niger uranium tale was bunk, Wilson apparently doesn’t believe the president’s actions are on par with staining a blue dress. 

“I don’t see how [Bush’s words are] impeachable. The president acted on good faith. The president is badly serviced by senior people around him,” says Wilson, who’s unwilling to name names. Well, was Bush truthful to the nation? 

“I don’t believe the administration adequately explained how much [the occupation of Iraq] will cost or how long it will take,” he says, adding that this nation should think about being over there for “five, 10, 15, maybe 20 years.” 

“Yes,” I nudge, “but was the administration truthful?” 

“I think the administration had its ideas on what it wanted to accomplish,” he answers. 

I push once more about Bush’s veracity. 

“Put it this way,” he says, relenting. “It is not really something I can answer. It will be determined through the process of an ongoing debate and, ultimately, at the ballot box.” 

Wilson, who has repeatedly stated that the outing of his wife was a “shot across the bow” at anyone else considering coming forward with damning information, tells me that potential fellow whistleblowers are already starting to reach out “indirectly” to express concerns about the consequences of releasing information they might have. With the president due in town today, I ask Wilson if he has any message for him. 

“No,” he says. “I have no message for him.” 

Who knew what? 

And when? 

The questions we were asking the Nixon administration, we are asking again, 30 years later. 

Now, it’s who knew that Niger was a lie? When did they find out? Who knew about the leak? When did they find out? 

Wilson, I think, is being a little too kind to Bush. 

These are very serious questions. 

Especially now that we are looking at a decade of paying with blood and money to do in Iraq what we could be doing here. Rebuilding cities. Establishing democracy. 

Especially when the administration, exposed for lying to the public, compromises national security just to get back at the whistleblower who called the White House on its lie. 

With so many lives on the line and so much money at stake, these questions make Watergate seem almost trivial. And Monicagate? Feh. Yet Nixon resigned and Clinton was impeached. 

It is time, President Bush, to answer these questions. 

And, if you knew about the leak and knew about the lie, it is time for you to go. 

Howard Altman is editor of The Philadelphia City Paper.

The city of Berkeley won the 2003 Distinguished Leadership Planning Award from the California Chapter of the American Planning Association (CCAPA), the group announced last week. 

Berkeley won the award for its Infill Housing Implementation Program, which is a city-coordinated effort to increase the amount of infill development to provide creative and affordable housing options. Infill planning is defined as redevelopment within existing developments, a concept that CCAPA coordinator Jon Akana said is important for urban areas. 

“Berkeley has a great model for urban planning,” Akana said. CCAPA awards coordinator Brian Smith cited Berkeley’s “sustainable development policies and examples of successful higher density infill development downtown and along major transit corridors,” as the factors that set the city’s program apart from other city planning projects. 

Winners of the CCAPA competition were selected from organizations across the state which were nominated by a member of the city’s planning group. 

Berkeley’s team included Vivian Kahn, Carol Barrett and Greg Powell from the city’s Planning and Development Department, Tom Lollini, UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor for physical and environmental planning, Kevin Hufferd, a UC Berkeley capital projects senior planner, and developer Patrick Kennedy, the CEO of infill development company Panoramic Interests. 

“The Berkeley program is the product of very innovative team members,” Akana said. 

The award will be presented to the city of Berkeley at CCAPA’s state conference in Santa Barbara in September. 

The award submission from the city included examples of 22 infill housing projects, all of which are currently under construction or were completed within the last few years and all of which lie along major transit corridors. Such projects included an Affordable Housing Associates completed at 2517 Sacramento St. as well as several Panoramic Interests projects. 

“Panoramic Interests is the most aggressive infill housing developer, so much of their work provides good examples of what we’re promoting with affordable housing options,” said Mark Rhoades, city planning manager. 

I’ve always held a fairly dim view of foreign countries. It’s not that I begrudge them their right to do whatever it is that foreign countries do, it’s just that I’ve never had the burning impulse to be a part of it. Oh, don’t tsk-tsk me. I’ve done my share of traveling to exotic land. It’s just that my share happened to be rather small. One. And my wife and I did have a great time when we went to China a few years back. We hiked along the Tibetan border (I suppose I could say we trekked, but I can’t bring myself to use that word). We let the bliss of sheer confusion wash over us as we boarded buses to places unknown and slurped down soups full of delightful mystery meats that made us ill. 

I wouldn’t mind getting out a little, but I’ve been so thoroughly sold on the wonders of America, that I’m playing catch-up seeing all that this country has to offer. No doubt the Alps are magnifique, but the Rockies are pretty darn amazing and you don’t have to take a red-eye to get there. I’m still searching for the majesty of my first purple mountain, and until I stumble on that icon of American wilderness, I’d better keep to the wide open West before I head for lands unknown. 

If it’s culture you want (and I happen to want it in very, very small doses) there’s really no shortage of exotica right here at home. As far as I can tell, “culture” seems to mean food, knick-knacks and people in funny hats, all of which we have in abundance. The always-intriguing Berkeley Bowl offers vague and mildly threatening vegetables from all 14 continents plus Southern California. And within walking distance of my home I can experience Anatolian appetizers, Congolese drumming, Falun Gong breathing exercises and Brazilian hand-springing and backflipping. I couldn’t point out Anatolia on a map, but my, what wonderful boreks they have! In fact, Berkeley is so rich in foreign culture that when I began to have misgivings about the Tibetan mobile that I failed to buy while I was over there, I just went out and bought myself one on University Avenue. 

So imagine my delight when I discovered a rich little slice of Southeast Asia right here at home: Sunday brunch at the Thai Temple, on Russell Street off of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. I’m not sure how it got started or who runs the show over there, but apparently every Sunday the local Thai community cooks a massive amount of incredible food and sells it to the adoring public. It’s all very exotic and confusing, just chaotic enough to be invigorating, just sanitary enough not to give you a tapeworm. 

Like any good foreign trip, brunch at the Thai temple starts off with a currency exchange. You plunk down your money and get little plasticky chips in exchange. Then you trade those chips for different food items, each of which is worth a different, often inscrutable amount. The drinks can be paid for with real money except of course, when they can’t. Then you use chips. How exhilaratingly disorderly! When you’re done you can trade the extra chips back for real money if you want to wait in line. I recommend going with a bunch of friends, buying a gigantic pile of chips Vegas-style, then hiding the extras in your socks so that you’ll be forced to come back next week to spend them. 

The food, needless to say, is spectacular. It’s deep fried and greasy and way too spicy to be forking down at 10 in the morning. No banana pancakes with whipped cream here, you fat Americans. Those of us who have gone native start our Sundays with green papaya salad and kleeplamduan. And since the Thai Temple is a foreign country (by my standards at any rate), the normal rules of behavior do not apply. Overeating is sanctioned, you’re encouraged to order something you’re scared of, and please feel free to eat off your friends’ plates as if they were your own. 

I’m sure they’re making money hand over fist and isn’t it just fantastic? We’re being fleeced and we love it! We’re on vacation! We’re spending quaint foreign currency that doesn’t look anything like our own! I don’t know what they’re doing with all the money but I can tell you that they’ve got a bunch of giant watering troughs full of lily pads and goldfish, and if that’s not a worthwhile expenditure in these troubled times then I sure don’t know what is. Also, sometimes they have monks there, and that can’t be cheap. 

So if you’re going to stay stateside for a while—and let’s face it, I will—there’s no better bang for your buck than the Thai Temple. Brunch is Sundays from 10 to three-ish, or thereabouts. It’s located on Russell above MLK. You can’t miss it: Just follow the tourists. 

A city program that subsidizes taxi and van rides for the elderly and disabled is in disarray, leaving participants scrambling for transportation to the grocery store and doctor’s office, seniors say.  

“It’s completely messed up,” said Frederick Borden, a resident of Strawberry Creek Lodge in North Berkeley, who said he worried about his ability to get to the hospital if needed. “I’m 94 years old. Anything can happen.” 

The Berkeley Paratransit Program, which dates back almost 25 years, serves up to 900 residents at a time—just under 1 percent of the city’s population. A small portion of the program’s $400,000 annual budget subsidizes van rides for the wheelchair-bound. But low-cost cab vouchers called “taxi scrip” are at the heart of Berkeley Paratransit. 

The cost of the vouchers varies with income level. But the typical participant, according to city officials, spends about $36 quarterly to get $120 worth of scrip—paper “money” that cabbies can then redeem for cash at the city’s customer service center. 

Seniors say applications for taxi scrip sometimes come late or not at all. And when they apply, participants say, they can go months without receiving the vouchers. 

Berkeley’s Housing Director Stephen Barton, who oversees the program, said a staffing shortage is largely to blame. The department has only one full-time administrator and one part-time clerical employee to process hundreds of applications, he said. 

Barton added there may also be a problem with how the Housing Department’s limited staff handles the paperwork.  

“The first thing we have to do is go back and re-look at our procedures and try to find out how to not have this happen again,” he said. 

The Berkeley Paratransit Program has come under fire in the past. Before January 2002, the city had contracts with just a handful of local taxi companies that would accept scrip. Seniors complained of limited service, rude taxi drivers and cabbies who refused to even pick up patrons using the vouchers. 

City Council responded by requiring all 44 taxi companies working in Berkeley to accept scrip, making it easier for taxi drivers to redeem the vouchers and mandating sensitivity training for cabbies. 

Helen Rippier Wheeler, a low-income senior who lives in the Lawrence Moore Manor in North Berkeley, said taxi service has improved dramatically since the last round of reform. But city officials have done little to fix the broken voucher system in recent months, she said. 

“We seniors, we get a lot of lip service, but we don’t have much clout,” Wheeler said. “It’s a lot of blow and no show.” 

Barton, of the Housing Department, said he may request clerical help from another office, or even a wholesale transfer of the program to another department with adequate staff to handle the program. 

“It’s fine with me wherever the city manager wants to put it,” he said. “My feelings won’t be hurt if it should move.” 

Emily Wilcox, who chairs Berkeley’s Commission on Disability, favors shifting the program elsewhere. 

“I really wonder how many people in Berkeley would like their transportation needs handled in the Housing Department,” she said. “It’s a transportation program and I would like to see it eventually be run by the professionals in the Transportation Department.” 

But moving the program could get sticky. Barton noted that the Transportation Department, like housing, is thin on clerical staff. And, while advocates for the elderly have pushed to lump the program in with the city’s other senior services in the Health and Human Services Department, he said, disabled activists have worried aloud that the move would favor the elderly and hurt their interests. 

Advocates for seniors and the disabled have also squabbled over how much money should be allocated to taxi scrip, which serves a largely elderly population, and how much should go to the van program, which serves the disabled. 

Resources for the Berkeley Paratransit Program are limited, and the aging and disability commissions are considering income caps that would restrict the program to the poor, who make up the bulk of current users. City Council would ultimately have to approve any changes. 

City Councilmember Miriam Hawley said she does not like the idea of cutting off upper-income participants, but suggested that the savings might fund more clerical help for the beleaguered program. 

“If it’s a matter of making the program work at all, we might have to take a look at it,” she said. 

In the meantime, Barton said the city will encourage residents to make greater use of East Bay Paratransit, a federally mandated car and van service operated by AC Transit and BART that provides transportation for the disabled. 

Patrons must call a day in advance to arrange a ride with the service. Barton said it can work well for customers who have made doctors’ appointments months in advance. 

Seniors say the East Bay Paratransit phone menu is difficult to navigate, the drivers are often rude and the buses sometimes don’t show up for return trips from the hospital. Maris Arnold, former chair of the Commission on Aging, added that the elderly simply shouldn’t have to call a day in advance for transportation. 

“When you get older, one of the components of your independence is to be spontaneous,” she said. “Younger people take that for granted.” 

FRIDAY, JULY 25 

Mayan Calendar New Year Celebration from noon to 9 p.m. at the MLK, Jr. Civic Center Park. Sponsored by the New Times Peace Movement. 763-6069. www.tortuga.com 

“Interviews in the Canyons” Film interviews with civilian Zapatista leaders at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. 841-4824. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibber- 

keley@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 

“Humanistic Kaddish - A Text of Life?” Shabbat with Rabbi Kai Eckstein at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring (finger) dessert to share. We also collect non-perishable food for the needy. For more information email kolhadash@aol.com or call 428-1492. 

SATURDAY, JULY 26 

18th Annual Berkeley Kite Festival, at Cesar E. Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fest@HighlineKites.com 

“The Palestinian Crisis: Another Nakba in the Making,” with Anne Gwynne, special correspondent for KPFA’s Flashpoints and volunteer with the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, joined by Hatem Bazian of UC Berkeley, and KPFA’s “Flashpoints” host Dennis Bernstein, at 7 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley. Donations welcome. For more information call 465-4092. www.flashpoints.net 

Berkeley Youth Alternatives Parent Group is sponsoring a bus trip to River Rock Casino as a fundraiser for fieldtrips and activities for Berkeley youth in the BYA program. The bus will leave 1255 Allston Way at 7:45 a.m. and return by 4 p.m. The cost is $20 per person and you will receive $15 cash back. For additonal information please call 845-0155.  

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Basic Personal Preparedness, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

Tour de Fat: Bike & Beer Community Festival from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Civic Center Park. Sponsored by the Ridge Trail Council and the new Bel- 

dium Brewing Company, maker of Fat Tire Ale. Morning ride from 9 to 11 a.m., bike rodeo, activities for children and beer tastings, festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. www.newbelgium.com  

SUNDAY, JULY 27 

18th Annual Berkeley Kite Festival, at Cesar E. Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fest@HighlineKites.com 

“Global Environmental Issues and Solutions” with David Seaborg at 10:30 a.m. at the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. 841-4824. 

“Iraqi Freedom from Debt Act,” a discussion with Marie Clark, national coordinator for Jubilee USA Network, on current legislation before Congress to cancel the international debts of Iraq, at 5 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. at Cedar. 528-0105. 

The 2nd Annual Summer Swim Fest at Willard Pool from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. The United Pool Council and Willard Swimmers Association sponsor this community celebration and swimfest, in support of year-round aquatic programs at Berkeley's pools. We will supply BBQs and a selection of vegetarian and non-vegatarian grilled goodies. Bring additional food for the grill, plus a salad, casserole or dessert to share. We will have demonstrations of water aerobics, diving, and other fun participatory public events, plus lap swim, public swim, and a parent/tots area. For more information call Krista at 540-5342. 

Art Installations in the Peralta Community Garden Tour of the garden’s art work from 2 to 5 p.m. Karl Linn will speak on the concept of the garden. Also tour the Ohlone Greenway mural, EcoHouse and the Karl Linn Community Garden. Wheelchair accessible. Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. kirklumpkin@mac.com 

ReGENERATION - A New Alternative to School Community Learning Service will hold information sessions for this independent study program for learners age 12-17, at 3 p.m. at Cafe Eclectica, 1309 Solano Ave., Albany. For more information call 524-0245. www.communitylearningservices.org 

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

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. For group reservations or more information, call 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Argentine Tango Lessons with Oscar Mandagaran. Beginners at 11 a.m., intermediate at 2 p.m. Benefit Milonga and class at 8 p.m. Claremont Hotel, 41 Tunnel Rd. 655-3585. 

MONDAY, JULY 28 

Berkeley CopWatch meets at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JULY 29 

Wellstone Domocratic Club “Progressive Democrats and the Gubernatorial Recall” at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 27th and Harrison Sts., Oakland. Speakers include Margaret Hanon Grady, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Tim Wohlforth, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Coordinating Committee; and Jerry Fillingim, Political Dir- 

ector, SEIU 535. For more information call 733- 0996 or e-mail democraticrenewal@california.com 

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. Monthly field trips. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 

Twilight Tour: Godwanaland and Beyond, Jeff Parsons leads a tour of the collections focusing on plants from the Southern Hemisphere at 5:30 p.m. at the UC Botannical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Free for members, $5 for non-members. Res- 

ervations required. 643-2755. www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden 

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

Community Dances, 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 

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 call 848-5143. 527-5332. 

THURSDAY, JULY 31 

The Sustainable Business Alliance will offer a networking event and presentation on The Natural Step at 6 p.m. at the Gaia Building. Cost is $7 for members, $10 for non members. For more information call 282-5151 or visit www.sustainablebiz.org 

“Coalinga Huron Berkeley House at Berkeley” Nancy Mellor will talk about her work with rural, usually minority, students who come to Berkeley for the summer to study, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine St. Almost all of these students are enrolled in, or have completed college, defying the national and state norms. For information contact Sue Friday, 705-7314. www.quaker.org/berkmm 

Open General Meeting of the United Pool Council at 7 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Berkeley City Council has given us the green light to keep the pools open all year, only if we meet their challenge to raise $60,000 by October in new revenues at the pools. We need your help! Please join us as we launch the Swim Berkeley campaign for year-round aquatic programs. For information call Karen 548-3860. 

ONGOING  

Vista Community College Program for Adult Education (PACE) Enrollment through Sept. 6. PACE is a college alternative for adults with job and family responsibilities. Enrollment in American Sign Language classes are also being accepted. For information call 981-2864 or 981-2800 or email Marilyn Clausen at mclausen@peralta.cc.ca.us  

Community Food Drive Make a cash or food donation to the Safeway/ABC7 Summer Food Drive, benefiting the Alameda County Community Food Bank and its 300 member agencies. The food drive will help thousands of local low-income children who lose access to school meal programs during summer vacation. Now through August 9, put nutritious, nonperishable food donations in the red food collection barrels in all Alameda County Safeway stores or make a cash donation at Safeway check-out stands. For more information or to sign up to host a barrel, call 834-3663, ext. 318 or visit www.accfb.org  

Summer Fun Camps for Children and Teens, from age five and up, are offered at Berkeley recreation centers and include arts and crafts, swimming and tennis lessons, yoga, organized sports and games, and field trips. Program runs through August 22, Mon. - Fri., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fee, including lunch and snack, is $77 per week for Berkeley residents. Applications available at the Camps Office, 2016 Center St. 981-5150. 

Echo Lake Youth Camp for ages 6 - 12 at Echo Lake, near South Lake Tahoe. One week sessions are offered through August 22. Cost is $235 per session. For registration information please visit the Camps Office at 2016 Center St., or call 981-5150. 

Marine Biology Classes for ages 5 to 7, Tues. July 29 through Fri. Aug. 1 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave, at the Berkeley Marina. Adults must accompany 5 year olds. Cost is $45 for four days. To register call 644-8623. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina 

Free Energy Conservation Retrofits for Berkeley Residents CA Youth Energy Services is a nonprofit sponsored by the City of Berkeley that trains and employs high school students to provide conservation retrofits. Work includes weatherstripping, replacing lightbulbs with CFLs, cleaning refrigerator coils, replacing faucet aerators and showerheads with low-flow devices, installing earthquake preparedness measures, and a comprehensive audit. Available to home owners and renters. Call for an appointment, 428-2357. 

National HIV Testing Month The City of Berkeley offers free HIV testing. Drop in Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m., during July, at 830 University Ave. at 6th St. For other days and times call the HIV Testing Information Line at 981-5380.  

Free Energy Bill Payment Assistance The City of Berkeley offers funds to help low-income households in Berkeley, Emery- 

ville and Albany pay their gas and electric bills. For applications and more information, contact the Energy Office at 644-8544. TDD: 981-6903. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Monday, July 28, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715.  

Solid Waste Management Commission meets Monday July 28, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/solidwaste

We think we have problems in Berkeley with the University of California. The Planet has been deluged with irate letters from citizens who oppose UC’s newest expansion projects in Strawberry Canyon: a six-story nanotechnology laboratory plus a new office tower, with the excavation debris dumped into a creekbed to form a parking lot. Local residents are fed up with arrogant UC expansion, no question about it, but it’s even worse in Davis. The Sacramento Bee carried an article about a raucous recent meeting between UC Davis administrators, city officials and citizen opponents of UC’s latest project in that formerly sleepy agricultural town. 

There was already controversy about UC’s plan to build a high-security infectious diseases laboratory, as there has been in Berkeley over the planned nanotechnology facility. Davis City Councilman Mike Harrington, as quoted in the Bee, called the project “a big federal secretly controlled facility that would be part of the federal government’s bioterrorism arms race.” In February, the Davis City Council voted unanimously to oppose the lab, familiarly referred to in the dispute as “the germ lab.” 

The latest Davis uproar concerns UC’s plans to build a 4,300-resident subdivision and hook it into Davis’ already overburdened road system. As in Berkeley, the University of California can do whatever it wants on its own land, with no local control, but it needs local approval to connect to local roads. 

The Bee recorded some choice comments from Davis activists. “UC Davis has shown absolute disrespect for the citizens of Davis. ... People feel totally betrayed,” said Mary-Alice Coleman. At a July 10 meeting called by UC and the city of Davis, planners tried to get residents to break into small groups to map out possible street links to the development. “It was like they said—‘Okay, kids, come get your Magic Markers and start coloring on the map,’” the Bee quotes Coleman as saying. Town-gown relations went from bad to worse at that point, according to the Bee: “Residents, many waving signs against the project, shouted angry barbs at university officials. Others chanted slogans. After one angry resident shoved a consultant, who fell to the ground, the university contingent walked out.” 

Here in Berkeley, we saw a bit of citizen insubordination at the meeting on the nanotechnology lab, but it wasn’t that bad—yet. At least, no consultants have been knocked down here. But Davis citizens who spoke to the Bee reporter are predicting more trouble there: “I don’t think we’ve hit the low. I think it’s going to get worse,” said Samantha McCarthy of the grass-roots group Stop UCD Biolab Now. Many Berkeley activists might agree with her judgment that “we have a City Council majority that’s working in cahoots with the university ... and they are dismissive of community input.” 

Fancy footwork by Berkeley’s city planning commissioners averted a confrontation over UC’s ham-handed attempt to control the city’s Southside plan, which had been pushed by Mayor Bates’ appointee to the Planning Commission, former UC development administrator David Stoloff. It’s possible that the council’s decision to designate a city staffer to monitor UC’s expansion plans will have some positive effect, but don’t count on it. A previous council voted to establish a city commission to monitor UC, but the commission was never set up or even funded. 

Towns like ours are close to powerless in the face of the UC juggernaut. In Santa Cruz, UC leased a big hotel, formerly the source of half a million dollars in annual tax revenue to that city, and took it off the tax rolls, though continuing to rent rooms to visitors. As compensation, the university magnanimously offered an in-lieu payment of $100,000. 

Davis community activist Ruben Arevalo compared the University of California to a “sovereign nation that is expanding and trying to push that expansion on the community.” Another comparison might be to the proverbial 2,000-pound elephant, which pretty much sleeps anywhere it wants. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Planet.

FRIDAY, JULY 25 

CHILDREN 

Stage Door Conservatory's “Kids OnStage” presents “Spy for a Day,” a free mini-musical by Betty Tracy Huff, at 7:30 p.m. at Epworth United Meth- 

odist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 527-5939.  

FILM 

Restoration Pleasures: “The Man on the Eiffel Tower” at 7 p.m. and “The Barefoot Contessa” at 9:20 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 

Dan Simmons reads from his new work of science fiction, “Ilium,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Opening Reception at ACCI Gallery with Angel the Harpist from 6 to 8 p.m. for “Taste and Touch” an exhibit with artists Jean Hearst, Ellen Russell, Biliana Stremska and Toby Tover-Krein. 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Midsummer Mozart Festival with featured guest Jon Nakamatsu, George Cleve conducting, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$48. 415-292-9624. www.midsummermozart.org  

Moodswing Orchestra performs ballroom-style East Coast swing and lindy hop at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenez. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Celebrate Peruvian Independence Day with De Rompe y Raja at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Smelly Kelly’s Plain High Drifters, Loretta Lynch and Dave Gleason’s Wasted Days perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Eddie Gale performs legendary jazz in a benefit at 8 p.m. for The Jazz House at The Jazz House. Suggested donation $15. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org 

Eddie Marshall Quartet performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Danny Caron and Friends at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

The Blueshouse, women’s trio, 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 

What Happens Next, Cut the Shit, Artimus Pile, the Rites, Funeral Shock at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Frontline, Balance, and Omen perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontele- 

graph.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 26 

CHILDREN 

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 

FILM 

Local Zine Short Movie Night at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. Free, donations accepted. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org  

Restoration Pleasures: “The Night of the Hunter” 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 

“The Weather Underground” documentary with filmmaker Sam Green in person at 2 p.m. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinema, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-FILM. www.LandmarkTheatres.com 

SF Jewish Film Festival, “Manhood” at 8:45 p.m. Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Angela Davis, veteran activist and professor at UC Santa Cruz, will discuss her new book, “Are Prisons Obsolete?” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2502 Harrison St. Tickets are $10 at independent bookstores or by calling 415-255-7296 ext. 200. $12 at the door. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert, Matthew Owens, ‘cello, performs original works, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $10, BACA members $8, students and seniors $9. Children under 12 free. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Junius Courtney Big Band, a tribute to Junius, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $14 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

African Drum Workshop with Wade Peterson. Beginners from 10 to 11:30 a.m., experienced from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at The Jazz House. Cost is $15-$25, and advanced registration is encouraged. 533-5111.  

West African Highlife Band performs Ghanaian and West African dance music at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson with Comfort Mensah at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Naked Barbies and The Pete Best Experience perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Aphrodesia, Chocolate Jesus, and Pacific Vibrations perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

The Altura Brothers perform at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eddie Gale performs legendary jazz in a benefit for the Jazz House at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation $15. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org 

Riders of the Purple Sage, classic cowboy harmonies, at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Scott Amendola at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

The Clarendon Hills, Latterman, Speakeasy, Weak Leads 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, JULY 27 

A Tribute to Brenda Prager, and 15th Anniversary of the Addison Street Windows, party and art sale from 2 to 5 p.m. at 2324 Shattuck Ave. between Bancroft and Durant. For more information call 548-8332.  

CHILDREN 

Caribbean Kids’ Show with Asheba from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for children. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PoetryFlash at Cody’s with Avotcja and Kathryn Waddell Takara at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Where Art Meets Garden: Creating Here, a discussion of art installations in the garden, with Karl Linn, from 2 to 5 p.m in the Peralta Community Gar- 

den on Peralta St., between Hopkins and Gilman. 231-5912. 

Zine Reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. Event is free. Vegan dinner available for $3-$5. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

FILM 

Restoration Pleasures: “The Awful Truth” 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 

SF Jewish Film Festival, “Kedma” at 2:30 p.m. and “Burial Society” at 8:45 p.m. Wheeler Auditorium, UC Cam- 

pus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert, Marvin Sanders, flute, Lena Lubotsky, piano, perform works by Haydn, Griffes and Prokofiev, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $10, BACA members $8, Students and seniors $9. Children under 12 free. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Terry Robb and Phil Kellogg, blues-based acoustic guitarists, 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 

Clairdee sings a tribute to Nat “King” Cole at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

“Red Riot Revue, A People’s USO Show,” an evening of music, spoken word and comedy to celebrate the movement for peace. Featuring spoken word by Shalija Patel, music by Folk This! and Pickin‚ Trix, and a musical tribute to Paul Robeson, featuring members of Allegro Non Troppo Opera company. At 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$15 sliding scale. For information call 415-431-8485. 

Blue Monday and Mental perform at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Beat Bash Benefit, performances in tap, salsa, tango, jazz, Afro-Cuban, Belly, and Break at 5 p.m. at The Beat, 2580 Ninth St., at Dwight. Donation $15. 548-5348. 

MONDAY, JULY 28 

FILM 

SF Jewish Film Festival, “Forget Bagdad” at 6 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Cam- 

pus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Art and Activism in These Times,” An Evening with the Creators of the Lysistrata Project, at 7:30 p.m. at The Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., with Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower, co-creators of the Lysistrata Project, Randall Stuart director/producer of the Lysistrata Project at the Berkeley Rep. Reservations recommended. Tickets are $15. www.Frantix.net or call 415-621-1216 or 866-372-6849.  

Bruce Moody describes his  

experiences begging by the roadside in “Will Work for Food or $,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

Kristin von Kreisler reads from her new book, “For Bea: The Story of the Beagle Who Changed my Life,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Express theme night: ex’s, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Northern California Songwriter’s Open Mic, professionally judged original song competition, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, JULY 29 

FILM 

Sarunas Bartas: “Freedom” 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 

“The Chinatown Files,” a doc- 

umentary of seven Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans who faced persecution during the McCarthy period, at 7 p.m., at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. Screening is part of a joint campaign of the ACLU and Amnesty International to prevent Patriot Act II and repeal Patriot I. For more information call 288-7432.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Josh Furst reads from his new collection of short stories, “Short People,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Summer Poetry with Steven Johnson Leyba from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Café, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 549-1128. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Andrew Carrier and the Cajun Classics perform at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mimi Fox Solo Guitar at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 

FILM 

Excess of Evil/Restoration Pleasures: “The Night of the Hunter” 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 

“The Weather Underground” documentary showing, benefit for Jericho Movement and Friends of Marilyn Buck, at 7 p.m. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinema, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 843-FILM. www.LandmarkTheatres.com 

SF Jewish Film Festival, “My Life Part 2” at 11:30 a.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Cam- 

pus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Arthur Phillips discusses his new novel, “Prague,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Wendy Pearlman discusses her interviews with Palestinians under occupation in her new book, “Occupied Voices: Stories of Loss and Longing From the Second Intifada,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Return to Germany?” An evening with authors remembering their pasts in Hitler’s Germany, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. www.easygoing.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik, featuring Julia Serano, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

California Music Festival at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$15, available from 925-798-1300. For information on the performances see www.juliamorgan.org 

Young Musicians Program Composition Recital at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-2686.  

Gator Beat performs a blend of Louisiana Cajun and zydeco at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Patti White- 

hurst at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Open Road, bluegrass and mountain music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in ad- 

vance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

THURSDAY, JULY 31 

FILM 

Restoration Pleasures: “Casa- 

nova” 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 

SF Jewish Film Festival, Johnny & Jones” at 1 p.m. “Monsieur Batignole” at 6 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Call for additional films and times. 925-275-9490. www.sfjff.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Stephen Lestat, formerly homeless in Berkeley, will read from his recent book, “Punk Chicken and Other Tales” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody's Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert Downtown with SoVoSó, a cappella ensemble, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association. 549-2230. 

“Revision,” Ailey Camp students perform at 7 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Admission is free. 642-9988. 

Early Music Concert with Isabelle Metwalli, soprano, and Trevor Stephenson, harpsicord, at 8 p.m. at the Albany United Methodist Church, 980 Stannage Rd. Suggested donation $15. 547-7974. 

California Music Festival at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$15, available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Spank and Solarz from Groove Complex perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Denny Heines, world guitar, 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  

Eric McFadden Trio and Bonepony perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

AT THE THEATER 

Aurora Theater Company, “Thérèse Raquin,” by Emile Zola, directed by Tom Ross. A sinister tale set among the low 

er classes in nineteenth-cen- 

tury Parisian society. Through July 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $32 and $34. 843-4822.  

www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Music Theater Company, “Oliver!” Lionel Bart’s musical will be performed July 31, Aug 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. at Albany High School, 603 Key Route, Albany. Tickets are $15 general, $10 seniors, students, children and low-income. 524-1224. 

Berkeley Opera, “Faust,” by Gounod, Jonathan Khuner music director, Ann Woodhead, stage director. July 25, and 26 at 8 p.m., July 27 at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $38 adults, $33 seniors, $16 children, $10 students and are available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Central Works Theater Ensemble, “The Wyrd Sisters” directed by Jan Zvaifler. Through July 27, 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.

Following a series of domino effects set off by the need for more student housing, UC is planning to convert Albany’s Gill Tract urban agriculture plots into Little League diamonds next spring. The farming space is currently used by the university’s College of Natural Resources (CNR) to conduct agriculture research projects. 

The plan to build on the Gill Tract land is part of a larger UC proposal to redevelop the University Village, a 77-acre area devoted primarily to housing for UC students with children. The plans calls for an expansion of the village, which in turn would displace the baseball fields adjacent to the housing complex. Those fields would then move to the Gill Tract lot, on San Pablo Avenue near Marin Avenue, which is also owned by UC. 

The proposal needs only the approval of the UC Board of Regents, a decision expected early this fall pending the results of an environmental impact report. 

“We are trying to strike a balance between all the different needs,” UC Berkeley capital projects planner Jeff Bond said. “As everybody knows, there is a real need for housing and not many possible places to put it.”  

He added that the baseball fields were an essential element of the university plan because of the area’s lack of recreational facilities. 

The proposed future site of the baseball diamonds was acquired by UC in 1929 from the Gill family, under the university’s land grant system. Since 1995, the land has been operated by CNR. 

CNR students and faculty have worked for two years to save at least part of the Gill Tract land for farming, but have been unsuccessful in their attempts. Last year, several concerned students, professors and neighbors formed the Urban Roots coalition to create alternative proposals that would allow for more student housing while retaining the farm land. 

One proposal, designed by Carla Hyman of DSA Architects, was submitted to UC Berkeley’s Capital Projects department earlier this year. Hyman’s plan called for the baseball fields to be relocated to an area south of the Gill Tract, an idea Bond and other university officials rejected because of parking and traffic concerns. 

“We were not presented with any other feasible alternatives,” Bond said. Many students and supporters of urban agriculture projects were dismayed to learn that the farmland would be eliminated. Josh Miner, a graduate student researcher within CNR, said his studies would be inhibited by the development of the area. 

“It shows a tremendous lack of forethought on the part of the university,” Miner said. “I do understand that there are a lot of pressures for that land, but the Gill Tract is the only thing really like it. To get rid of that gets rid of a lot of educational opportunities. There is a great feeling of disappointment that they wouldn’t see it as some kind of resource.”  

But despite the disappointment prevalent among Gill Tract researchers and supporters, most said they had accepted that the redevelopment plan will go on as planned. 

“It’s a done deal,” Miner said. “We know that this year is going to be our last planting season, and that next summer we’ll be out of there. Everything is all set.” 

Miner said the research facilities currently on the Gill Tract land will most likely be moved to a location in West Contra Costa County. 

“We’ll probably be out in Orinda or somewhere out there,” Miner said. “I feel like they’re trading one set of issues for another. And even if the greenhouses are out it’s not going to be the same type of setup. It will be inferior to what we have now.” 

ANOTHER BIG BOX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A 44,000-square-foot Berkeley Bowl market on Ninth and Heinz would be a typical freeway-oriented big-box retailer —a Home Depot for food.  

Twice as big as a supermarket and right near a freeway exit, it would draw customers from all over the East Bay. It would pull users away from neighborhood-serving supermarkets such as Andronico’s, which do not have as much parking or as easy freeway access. Big-box retailers are driving neighborhood supermarkets out of business now, just as the supermarkets drove corner stores out of business 50 years ago.  

Environmentalists oppose this sort of freeway-oriented development, because it generates more long-distance automobile use—which means more traffic congestion and more pollution. In this case, the city would not even get the sales-tax revenue that big box stores usually generate, because food is not taxed.  

I urge the city not to allow Berkeley Bowl to build a store larger than the city’s usual 20,000-square-foot limit, which is large enough for a conventional supermarket.  

A 20,000-square-foot store on this site would serve the West Berkeley community, and it would generate fewer long-distance shopping trips on the freeway.  

Charles Siegel  

• 

TAXI SCRIP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The grim reality is that seniors who have been relying on the city of Berkeley for taxi scrip have received none since the beginning of the current period, July 1. In short, the city appears to have discontinued (crashed) the program without even bothering to notify them or to respond to the plaintive queries of subscribers—most of these taxi-dependent seniors are low-income women, many without families or cars. 

I have heard it said that processing the taxi scrip is a hassle for City Hall. There is no reason why it cannot be processed by and at the city’s three senior centers. Indeed, it might bring more seniors back to the centers; classes have been cut back and there’s dissatisfaction with the lunches. 

I have heard it said that seniors who don’t have cars can use taxi scrip, the bus and the city’s three senior centers’ van service. I have news, folks: Seniors frequently need transportation to and from physicians and other health-related services; seniors ongoingly need groceries; seniors deserve to be able to get a life, i.e. to access the city’s three senior centers. 

One bus route stops at the North Berkeley Senior Center; one bus route stops at the West Berkeley Senior Center, and none stops at the South Berkeley Senior Center. The senior centers’ van serves frail elderly. Seniors who have cars but are unable to use their cars and seniors who don’t have cars (the majority) need taxi scrip. Purchase of specialized parking permits for use in the North Berkeley Senior Center neighborhood may be down because of several factors. Seniors who have cars and are able to use them are lucky. Seniors with disabled stickers merely have to find a place at a curb; in the words of one city father: “They should all get disabled stickers.” 

Helen Rippier Wheeler 

• 

BUSH’S FREE RIDE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I like to think of Bush’s now infamous 16 state of the union words as a “free ride” deception. Bush’s statement, “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” is true because the first phrase is true: Bush did, in fact, learn said intelligence from the Brits. The second phrase, the intelligence itself, does not have to hold water. It gets a free ride.  

Bush has used this free ride deception structure before. In May 2002 Bush was being asked “what he knew and when he knew it” concerning the Sept. 11 attacks. The media had just exposed the subject of his Aug. 6, 2001, Crawford, Texas, security briefing (Al Queda’s intention to attack American targets). There was speculation that the Bush administration knowingly allowed the attacks to take place.  

In defense of his actions Bush said, “The people of this country know this about me, my administration and my national security team: Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to attack buildings on that fateful morning I would have done everything in my powers to stop the attacks.” 

The Sept. 11 attacks were the key that unlocked the Bush administration’s policies of empire and repression. Bush’s smoke and mirrors response to Sept. 11 questions is extremely troubling. 

George Palen 

• 

A NEW ACRONYM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In her editorial of July 18-21, executive editor O’Malley has given us an excellent new phrase for the massive construction which is engulfing Berkeley, “Big Ugly Boxes,” and the acronym BUB, which I hope will make its way into common usage. 

The only question is how to pronounce it. The obvious phonetic choice would be rhyming it with tub or rub. Another possibility would be using the same vowel sound as in blue, but the image evoked is all wrong—much too curvaceous. My personal choice is to pronounce it to rhyme with cube. Say it out loud and see if it doesn’t sound just right: Big, all square angles and beginning to smell. 

Ed Brodick 

• 

HOWARD DEAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There are four letters that describe Howard Dean’s conduct during the great moral challenges of our generation: A.W.O.L.  

He was born to privilege and received the fine education and other advantages that family wealth brings. Yet he absented himself from the great struggles for peace and justice that engaged the real leaders of our time. 

Howard Dean was nowhere to be found when others were putting themselves on the line to end the war in Vietnam, dismantle the apparatus of racial bigotry and fight the encroachment of corporate power and corruption. 

Dean has spent his life in a conventional, comfortable niche that required neither courage nor sacrifice. Now he advertises himself as a person of unusual vision and rectitude. The substance of his past and present actions suggests otherwise. 

As Vermont’s governor, he collaborated with Republicans to loosen environmental regulations and tighten social expenditures, turning his back on Greens and progressive Democrats. He pressured state monitoring agencies to rush approval of massive developments. One of his last acts in office was to reduce Vermont’s education budget. 

His fiscal austerity short-changes the public sector. It is a favorite of Wall Street bankers, but a bane to everyone else—workers, consumers, seniors, students, those protected by police, health and fire departments—whose well-being depends upon adequate public spending. He continues to preach this balanced budget dogma in the current recession, when deficit spending by the federal government is needed to lift the economy from its slump. 

He opposes cuts in military expenditures despite posturing as the peace candidate. He does not distinguish funding for counter-terrorism (a relatively inexpensive item) from bloated spending on weapons systems. 

He refuses to take on health insurance companies, even though their greed increases the cost and threatens the quality and integrity of American medical care. In drafting his health care proposal, he rejected the fairness, simplicity and efficiency of  

the Canadian single-payer model. His plan keeps intact the power of private insurers, and requires moderate-income participants to pay high premiums and deductibles. 

He favors erosion of the most important federal benefits for the elderly. He has stated his willingness to limit Medicare spending and raise the age at which workers become entitled to Social Security. 

He supported NAFTA, which undermines labor, safety and environmental standards throughout North America. He currently proposes tepid reforms to somewhat moderate the misery from global corporate dominance. 

He shies away from demanding that America’s wealthiest 1 or 2 percent give up a greater portion of their wealth to properly fund programs and institutions that could make possible a more secure and decent life for us all. 

Howard Dean does not deserve to be hailed as the best hope of American progressives for one simple reason: he is no progressive. He is an astute political operator. But his opportunism should be recognized and treated with appropriate mistrust. 

Randy Silverman

Ed O’Neill, who lived outside Nevada City, Calif., was visiting his father in San Francisco in April 1977 when he saw the news clips.  

Disability rights advocates, in a bold stroke that placed their movement in the public eye for the first time, had occupied federal office buildings in San Francisco and several other cities across the country, demanding enforcement of the nation’s first major law barring discrimination against the disabled—Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. 

O’Neill, who had suffered from polio since childhood, went downtown to offer a few dollars for the cause, but was quickly drawn into a nearly month-long occupation. There, O’Neill said, he met one of the most remarkable people he would ever encounter—a powerful, 21-year-old quadriplegic activist named Cecilia “CeCe” Weeks who was handling everything from media relations to food distribution. 

“She was very strong and articulate and forceful and she happened to be beautiful,” he said. “She was one of those really special people you meet four or five times in your life. They’re dynamos, they’re beacons.” 

With pressure mounting in San Francisco and Washington, the Carter administration issued regulations enforcing Section 504, a predecessor to the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, on April 28. The disability rights movement had won its first, major national victory and, back in the Bay Area, a local leader was born. 

“CeCe was very young when the 504 demonstration took place ... and she grew into a very important leader in the last few weeks of the sit-in,” said Kitty Cone, a longtime activist who participated in the occupation. “She had a very quiet style of leadership, but it was very strong.” 

Last fall, Weeks died after a prolonged bout with bladder cancer that had restricted the activist, artist and cook to her home for much of the last year and a half of her life. This Sunday, on what would have been her 48th birthday—on a day that City Council has decreed CeCe Weeks Commemoration Day—Weeks’ family and friends will honor her with a private gathering at her old home on Spaulding Avenue and a tree planting in Berkeley’s Ohlone Park. 

Weeks was born in Palmer, Alaska on July 27, 1955, and spent parts of her childhood in California, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as her father, a construction engineer, pursued work around the country. 

“When I was a kid I was really wild,” said Weeks, in a January 1996 interview with There It Is magazine. “My parents didn’t have any control over me as long as I had a window that worked. I’d be on the roof and out of there without anybody knowing.” 

In 1969, at age 14, Weeks leapt off a diving board into a shallow lake in Minnesota and broke her neck, nearly drowning. 

“For the first couple of weeks it was hit or miss whether she was going to make it,” said her brother Stephan Weeks, an East Bay electrical engineer. 

Weeks spent about a year at a hospital in St. Paul, Minn. and a year at a rehabilitation center in Robbinsdale, Minn., where she met an attendant named Bronson West, who would become a long-term romantic partner, according to O’Neill. 

After West moved to the East Bay, Weeks made her way to Berkeley at age 19, eager to soak up the Bay Area birthplace of the Beat culture of the 1950s. 

“I wanted to see the world of Jack Kerouac,” she said in the 1996 interview. “I had to see the Mediterraneum Cafe where Allen Ginsberg washed dishes.” 

In 1974, a young Weeks met and befriended Ed Roberts, a founding father of the disability rights movement, and was soon swept up in local activism, according to the interview. She spent several years doing advocacy work for the Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living and was involved in creating Berkeley’s first emergency attendant program, which provided on-the-spot care for disabled people whose attendants were home sick or unavailable in a crisis. 

In the meantime, friends say, Weeks managed to produce a record by a local band, zip around to punk rock shows in her wheelchair, get heavily involved in American Indian activism, develop an abiding interest in spiritualism and earn degrees in public administration, clinical psychology and fine art at Antioch University West and New College of California in the 1970s and 1980s. 

“She would zoom all over town,” said O’Neill, remembering Weeks coming home from cultural events drenched from the rain. “She’d come in and she was cold and wet, but it wouldn’t stop her.” 

In 1995, Weeks launched Easy Does It, providing the city with its most comprehensive emergency attendant program to date. She served as executive director of the program until 1998. 

“It provides a vital service,” said City Councilmember Dona Spring, who is restricted to a wheelchair. “It’s really life-saving.” 

In addition to her public activism, Weeks was known for her personal generosity. Friends say she turned her home on Spaulding Avenue, which she shared with O’Neill and a rotating cast of roommates, into a community meeting space and a haven for activists, many of them poor, heading through town. 

“She drew people to her,” said Arlene Magarian, a friend and on-and-off caregiver. “People would come to her with their problems. She gave people hope and encouragement.” 

Kari Bradley, 26, an attendant who worked for Weeks in the last year and a half of her life, said her boss had a profound impact on her life. When she took the job, Bradley said, she was leaving behind a corporate position in San Francisco and looking for a new direction. 

“[Weeks] was definitely a catalyst in my life,” said Bradley, who now lives in the Spaulding Avenue home. “She could see so globally. She was about civil rights for all people...My vision of the world or my interest in the world became much bigger.” 

But in the fall of 2002, decades of activism and inspiration came to an end. Weeks died at Berkeley’s Alta Bates Medical Center on Nov. 8 and the house on Spaulding Avenue hasn’t been the same since, according to O’Neill. 

“I can’t describe how it is to lose her,” he said. “It’s like the center is gone. It’s like a great soul is not here.” 

Getting a parking ticket in Berkeley is the psychological equivalent of being mugged by your local government, the same institution that collects a percentage on every dollar you spend within city limits. It’s a twice-inflicted wound because often when shopping you’re victimized by circumstances beyond your control. For example, you’re patronizing our downtown restaurants. The waiter, not wanting to intrude on your conversation, takes an extra few minutes before delivering your check. Then bam, when you get to your car there’s a parking citation on your windshield that exceeds the cost of your lunch. Suddenly, you realize you have been playing with a stacked deck. It’s next to impossible to have lunch and conduct business within the restricted time allotment of one hour in Berkeley. As they say in Las Vegas, the house always wins. In this case, it’s the entrenched bureaucracy in city hall where fringe benefits such as pensions and early retirement come to a whopping, additional 40 percent of a starting salary. It also comes with a guaranteed lifetime employment backed by powerful, public employee labor unions. 

Our City Council by a 7-1 margin (kudos to Betty Olds for her lone, dissenting vote) increased parking fines by 33 percent. Mayor Tom Bates, in a state of inexplicable euphoria, wanted a hike of 40 percent. This was done on the pie in the sky misinformation that the city of Berkeley would take in an extra $2.5 million on an annual basis. This projection is fraudulent and absurd on several counts. 

At any given time, 33 percent of the parking meters are dysfunctional, inaccurate and jammed. I got this information from three of the technicians who collect the money from the meters. The antagonism among Berkeley residents will intensify with the city’s exorbitant parking fines. Many will flock to the local malls (El Cerrito and Emeryville) where parking is free and panhandling is minimal. Thus, revenue to the city of Berkeley will decline, not increase. Also, vandalism against parking meters, which is rampant in the university areas, will rise to the level reminiscent of guerilla warfare. More police surveillance will be needed. 

The five new parking enforcers that Mayor Bates wants to hire will each have a starting salary of $60,000 (adding fringe benefits). After five years and if you’re 55 years old, you can retire on 60 percent of your salary. Wow. Tell that to a teacher with a master’s degree applying to the Berkeley Unified School District or a journalist writing for a local newspaper.  

Years ago I got a parking ticket at Yosemite National Park during the Christmas season and I kept it as a cherished souvenir. It was called a courtesy tag and was issued by none other than Smokey the Bear. There was no fine but a gentle admonition to observe parking rules so that Smokey and his wildlife friends could exist in harmony with Homo sapiens and their gas guzzlers. 

Obviously, Berkeley is not programmed for courtesy tags, but let’s use our imagination. Redesign and calibrate our parking meters so that fines are determined by the expired time on the meter. A corollary would be a speeding ticket. You pay according to the number of miles over the posted speed limit. Go five miles over and the traffic fine is modest. If the radar catches you going 85 miles on the Bay Bridge, you pay a heftier fine. Likewise in parking; every minute over the first five minutes of expiration on the meter, it’s one dollar per minute with a maximum of $100 for the first offense. So, let the time determine the fine. At least it’s a start to make our parking enforcement gentler, kinder and most important of all, it lessens the seething resentment of the motorist and makes things appear morally more equitable. 

Here’s how this program would work. Instead of hiring five parking enforcers at $60,000, hire 10 at $30,000. Divide the work force into those who give “The Berkeley Bear Courtesy Tag” and those who write regular citations. The courtesy tag on the car would indicate that a parking violation has already occurred. It would make it a lot easier and less stressful to write the ticket since it establishes that the motorist was initially warned (an equivalent to his Miranda rights) and treated with deference. 

Dennis Kuby is a Unitarian Minister and resident of Berkeley since 1967. He directs the local Salon group.

In an age when electronic games have replaced classic wooden toys and independent toy stores have made way for mega-marts, Berkeley remains a haven for parents searching for traditional playthings for their children. 

While many towns of comparable size have seen their small toy stores close when a new Toys ‘R Us or KB Toys moves in, Berkeley has retained at least half a dozen old-style stores for toys, games and books. Berkeley also boasts several toy manufacturers and is home to a national expert on the power of play—a woman appropriately nicknamed “Dr. Toy.” 

Berkeley’s Mr. Mopps’ Children’s Books and Toys remains one of the premiere destinations in the Bay Area for all children’s products. The family-run store at 1405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. has housed Mr. Mopps’ for 40 years, a period during which many of the toys it sells have remained unchanged. 

“My son and I used to come in on Saturday afternoons and buy Lincoln Logs and Tinkertoys,” said Berkeley resident Laurel Girard while holding her five-year-old grandson, Sam, by the hand. “Now I bring Sam in here and I buy him the same toys. He loves Lincoln Logs.” 

Though the store can be a bit expensive for thrifty shoppers, many parents say the products’ high quality and the good selection keeps Mr. Mopps’ among their favorite places to shop. Children are drawn into the store by the huge stuffed lion that has occupied the front window from the beginning. 

“We can’t walk by unless we have time to go in,” said North Berkeley resident Mary Hart, who was pushing her three-year-old daughter Rachel in a stroller. “Every time she sees that lion she begs to go play inside.” 

In addition to Mr. Mopps’ and other high-end toy shops, the Berkeley area is also home to a number of second-hand stores for children’s products. Toy Go Round, which is located at 1361 Solano Ave. in Albany, is one of the Bay Area’s best destinations for used toys. The store, which has been in the Bay Area since 1976, offers parents the chance to sell back toys that their children have outgrown and buy high-quality used toys for discounted prices. 

Many Berkeley parents say the unique selection and low prices attract them to Toy Go Round: “You can’t usually go in looking for a specific product,” said Michael Felton, who was shopping for a birthday present for his six-year-old nephew. “But if you’re just looking for any fun toy, it’s a great place to discover something new.” 

Some of the best-kept secrets about the Berkeley toy scene are the several toy manufacturers that operate out of the area. One of the biggest and most well-known of these toy makers is Pamela Drake, Inc. (PDI), the company that makes the popular Woodkins toys that have won many “Best Toy” and “Toy of the Year” awards since their inception in 1998. 

Berkeley resident Pamela Drake launched her company with a “Paint-a-Snake” craft kit in 1994. The wooden snakes with the simple design soon gave way to the Woodkins dolls, which PDI public relations manager Pat Linn said became more popular than anyone involved had predicted. 

Though the Woodkins dolls are made from little more than two pieces of wood and a few scraps of brightly colored fabric, the design became a favorite with young children—first in the Bay Area and more recently across the country. The dolls use a sandwich board design with a cutout of a person on the bottom piece of wood. Children can place squares of fabric between the boards to create several types of clothing for the dolls. The Woodkins kits also come with different magnetic faces, which Linn said helps children with comprehension of emotion and feeling. 

“My daughter hardly plays with anything but her Woodkins,” said Berkeley mother Patricia Sanchez while standing in line with a new Woodkins toy at Mr. Mopps’. “They’re wonderful toys.” 

Berkeley resident Dr. Stevanne Auerbach, known as Dr. Toy, emphasized Woodkins’ simple premise as a quality that makes it an award-winning product. 

“Woodkins are colorful, lightweight and easy to play with,” Auerbach said in her “100 Best Toys” report in 2002. “They offer a new form of play with a classic feel.”  

Auerbach’s recommendations come with a lifetime of study about toys to support them. After earning a degree in education and psychology from Queens College in New York, she worked toward a doctorate in child development and child psychology at the Union Institute at Antioch College in Ohio. Auerbach worked in the U.S. Department of Education under presidents Johnson and Nixon, and continues her work today at her Institute of Childhood Resources, a Berkeley-based nonprofit she founded in 1975. 

Auerbach has since become one of the foremost national authorities on the best toys for children. She is a regular on national talk shows and in parenting magazines, especially near the holiday season. Her “100 Best Toys” and “Best Classic Toys” lists are perennial favorites with parents around the country. 

Auerbach said the high numbers of toy manufacturers and classic toy stores in Berkeley is in part attributable to its role as a college town with many young families. 

“Berkeley offers what every community that has a strong mix of university and diversity offers, but is just better than most,” she said. 

Most parents agreed. 

“Berkeley is such a great place for toys,” Girard said. “It’s so refreshing to see a place that has gotten away from the huge Toys ‘R Us stores.”

I applaud Rob Wrenn’s series on Berkeley housing. I would like to add a few comments that may make the recent changes in Berkeley housing patterns more understandable. Berkelely’s preferred mode of new housing production is mixed-use developments that combine ground floor retail/commercial with upper stories of housing, thus furthering two important development goals, revitalizing our commercial/retail base and providing needed housing. To achieve these goals the city zoning ordinance permits significant increases in density, lessened project resident amenities (in particular open space and housing) and significantly weakened protections for neighboring residential zones. The laudable goals of mixed-use projects have been hijacked by clever developers and winked at by a complacent zoning administration that apparently has never met a project they didn’t like.  

In today’s market the mixed-use distortion of the zoning ordinance takes the form of having a retail fig leaf covering an incredibly dense residential development. The most egregious examples of the mixed-use shell game are Mr. Patrick Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests’ projects. For example, their 1950 MLK project totals 120,000 square feet, of which only 5,000 (4 percent) is slated to be commercial or retail. The residential density that results is truly mind-boggling; in standard land use terms it amounts to 190 dwelling units per acre.  

To make clear how dense this project is, let us consider what could be built if it was proposed as a R3 project instead of mixed-use. The zoning code gives examples of the residential density permitted for this district—for example, if Mr. Kennedy was building a Group Living Accommodation (e.g. a dormitory or a jail) the project could have no more than 125 residents. But after waving the wand of mixed-use over the project, he is requesting use permits to build 191 units, with more than 300 bedrooms and, given the projects proximity to UC Berkeley, in all likelihood, a truly startling number of residents. Compare this result with the goals for the R3 district described in the zoning ordinance as “relatively high density residential areas; ... for persons who desire both convenience of location and a reasonable amount of Usable Open Space.” While we can all wonder what life will be like for the residents of these new developments given their density, the other main zoning concessions to mixed-use projects, the reduction in open space and parking will affect all who live, work or visit Berkeley.  

The 1950 MLK project provides only one-third of the required open space (12,570 feet squared of open space vs. 38,500 feet squared). For comparison, the ever popular Ohlone dog park a block north of the project on Hearst Street provides our canine friends more than 30,0000 square feet, and I am reasonably sure there are never anywhere near 190 dogs running around the park at one time. This type of zero-setback, open space on the roof type of development will have detrimental effects on the surrounding residential neighborhood and on the city in general through even greater demand on the existing public open spaces. To my knowledge the city has never required a developer to contribute to public open space enhancements to mitigate for their lack of project-provided open space.  

The reduction in parking below already low requirements will be noticeable to anyone who attempts to drive downtown once this and other projects similar to it are completed. For the residential portion of its project, 1950 MLK will provide only 100 out of the required 140 spaces. As we all know that Berkeley apartments are more likely to host two cars than none, expect a minimum of 100 cars circling in ever wider radiuses, looking for the elusive free parking space—they may even be parking in front of your house before long. The city is silent when asked where the residents will park, and if they will be eligible to participate in the residential parking permit program, but you, the reader will surely notice the radical diminishment of street parking the next time you attempt to park anywhere close to downtown in the evenings or the weekend.  

To my knowledge the city has never required a developer to contribute to public transportation, CarShare cars or improvements to public parking in the neighborhood to mitigate for their lack of project-provided parking.  

It is quite clear that control of development can only come through political leadership. Whether it will come from our city councilmembers or through yet another initiative the next few months will tell. There have been recent moves on the part of the Planning Department to resurrect the University Avenue plan from its unenforceable status as part of the general plan. We all need to ask, is this the type of housing the city needs or are we building the slums of the future? What is the effect on the livability of our city when we allow residential developments to be built with almost no useable open space. What will happen when the city finally reaches parking gridlock from its refusal to require projects to provide sufficient parking for their residents? Above all, remember your Psych 101 lab rat experiments and what happens when living space is reduced below even a rat’s minimal standards.  

Stephen Wollmer is a cartographer who lives on Berkeley Way. He has lived in the University/MLK neighborhood off and on for the last 30 years.

Claiming that last-minute student fee hikes represent a breach of contract, a group of University of California students are asking for millions of dollars in tuition refunds in a class action lawsuit filed Thursday. 

The suit comes a week after the UC Board of Regents raised student fees 25 percent, effective this summer. Seven months prior to that the Regents, in the thick of the state budget crisis, approved a mid-year, 11.2 percent fee hike effective in the spring 2003 semester. 

Students from four UC campuses, including UC Berkeley, say the university notified them of fee hikes for the spring and summer sessions after they had already registered for classes and received bills in the mail. 

“There is a certain requirement of fair dealing here,” said Jonathan Weissglass, one of the students’ attorneys. “They raised [fees] after folks had already committed and didn’t have time to change their plans.” 

A refund of the spring 2003 tuition hike would cost the university $28.5 million, according to UC documents. The price tag for a summer 2003 refund was unclear at press time. 

UC spokesman Hanan Eisenman said the university will fight the lawsuit. 

“The budget crisis has forced UC to make very difficult choices about student fees in a very short period of time,” he said. “The University of California tried to notify students, and we believe successfully, about the likelihood of fee increases.”  

The lawsuit also claims that the university promised, in an on-line message, that law students, medical students and others enrolled in professional programs would not face fee hikes during their time at the university.  

The UC Board of Regents’ July 17 decision to hike professional school fees for the 2003-2004 academic year is a breach of contract, the lawsuit contends, and the university should not be allowed to proceed with the jump. 

Berkeley students were notified of fee increases five days before summer school started. 

“My bill for this fall will be $2,500 higher than last fall, most of which is for a fee the university had promised not to raise,” said Mo Kashmiri, a third-year law student at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, who joined the suit. “The Regents need to live up to their promises.” 

Ten students from UC Berkeley, UCSF, UC Davis and UCLA are involved in this suit.

A documentary about the construction of Berkeley’s Peralta Community Garden and the community organizer behind it will make its television debut Sunday at noon on KQED, Channel 9. 

“A Lot in Common,” a 56-minute film, begins in 1997 when the North Berkeley garden was just an overgrown patch of dirt owned by BART. The documentary builds slowly, tracing a core group of community activists who survive city politics, a brouhaha over a bunny rabbit and a friend’s battle with cancer to build the garden. 

At the center of the story is Karl Linn, an 80-year-old Jewish psychologist and landscape architect who escaped Nazi Germany as a child and has spent decades building community gardens around the United States. 

“All I’m doing to contribute to the growth of community among people has to do with my experiences with racism,” Linn told the Daily Planet in April. 

The film includes interviews with PBS reporter Ray Suarez, urban planner Jane Jacobs and British scholar David Crouch, among others, to lend it context. 

A 76-minute version of the film screened May 1 at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian-Universalists. But Sunday’s showing will be the first on television. 

Producer-director Rick Bacigalupi said he is pleased to see the documentary air after seven years of planning, filming and editing. 

“It’s very exciting that this important story will reach a wide audience,” he said. “I hope people will enjoy it.”

On day 11 of my trip back east I took the Long Island railroad from Montauk to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, then walked to the Port Authority and caught a casino bus to Atlantic City. 

The bus dropped me off at the Tropicana and I hauled my luggage along the famous boardwalk to Caesar’s, where I met my parents under the naked statue by the nickel slot machines.  

The Atlantic City boardwalk is old and wide and the surrounding air smells like salt water, funnel cakes, hotdogs and homemade fudge. Seagulls and pigeons hover overhead. As I walked the boards I recalled one of my earliest memories: dancing with Mr. Peanut in front of the old Planter’s Peanut shop at the end of Georgia Avenue. My parents watched me as I twirled, dipped and bowed with the large, bow-legged, bespeckled creature. 

Later, as my folks and I reminisced about family summers at the Jersey shore, my father recounted some of his childhood memories of Atlantic City.  

“When I was a kid your grandfather rented a unit in a boathouse along Gardiner’s Basin at the corner of Casper and Rhode Island avenues. Do you know what a boathouse is?” he asked. 

“An expensive piece of real estate on the Sausalito waterfront.” 

“No,” said Dad. “These were rickety wooden structures built on a pier. There were 10 units, five on each side lining a wooden walkway that led to the water. We were in the middle unit; three small rooms, one on top of another. There was no electricity. We had gas lamps and an icebox. Everyday the iceman and the numbers man came by.” 

“A numbers man?” I asked. 

“Yes,” he said. “He was always dressed in black and he rode a bicycle. Your grandmother played the numbers. Everybody did. If you won, he came back the next day with your winnings. If you didn’t win he came back anyway so that you could place another bet. Back then Atlantic City was run by Nookie Johnson.” My dad looked at me meaningfully. “He wore a top hat and he had a lot of girlfriends.” 

I nodded. 

“We walked everywhere,” continued Dad. “To the beach and the boardwalk. I made fun of the ‘pickle juicers’ and ‘shoobies,’ people who came to town for day trips.”  

I interrupted again. “Pickle juicers and shoobies?” 

“Yes,” said Dad. “People who packed lunches in shoeboxes and took them to the boardwalk with them. When they bit into their pickles, juice splashed all over. My friends and I were summer people, a big step up from those damn pickle juicers.” 

“Go on,” I said. 

“Every Saturday your grandmom packed me a lunch and sent me to Steel Pier where I saw Abbott and Costello so many times I knew their jokes by heart. I watched Olga Katrina do handstands on top of a high pole and I musta seen that beautiful blonde girl on the horse dive into the ocean a million times.” 

“You saw Abbott and Costello live?”  

“Of course,” he said. “On Saturday nights my father would drive down from Philadelphia. He parked our old Ford at the boatyard and walked to our unit. I could hear him whistling before I could see him. But I always knew it was him because the tune was the same: Nelson Eddy’s Indian Love Song. You know who Nelson Eddy is, don’t you?” 

“No,” I answered.  

“What?” shouted Dad incredulously. “Nelson Eddy was the handsome dude who played a Canadian Mountie and Jeanette McDonald was his girlfriend.” 

I shrugged.  

“That’s too bad,” said Dad. “Nelson Eddy is dead, Jeanette McDonald is dead. Abbott and Costello, Olga Katrina, the blonde girl and her horse, Nookie Johnson and his girlfriends, the iceman, the numbers man, even the boathouses are gone.” 

“But not Mr. Peanut,” I say. “Mr. Peanut is alive and well, dancing in Beach Blanket Babylon and living at Club Fugazi in San Francisco.” 

“Figures,” said Dad.  

Oakland resident Susan Parker is spending the month in Montauk, New York as the guest of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. For information on this artist residency program visit www.pipeline.com/~jtnyc/albeefdtn.html

The Berkeley art community will celebrate the life and work of artist and arts commissioner Brenda Prager at a party in her honor Sunday. 

“A Tribute to Brenda Prager & 15th Anniversary of the Addison Street Windows Party and Art Sale” is open to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. at 2324 Shattuck Avenue. 

Prager joined the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission in 1988 and within a few months she created the Addison Street Window Gallery, a free sidewalk art gallery in Downtown Berkeley. She has curated the gallery for the last 15 years. 

Last month Prager was diagnosed with terminal, end-stage cancer. 

Prager said she plans to attend Sunday’s show and party. 

“I'm not looking backward on my life, not one minute,” she said. “I don’t have yesterday, I only have tomorrow. . .I only have what’s now.” 

Arts commissioner Bonnie Hughes planned Sunday’s event for Prager. 

“Artwork is coming in not just from people who’ve shown in the windows but from people who know Brenda from all over the world,” Hughes said “It gives people a chance to do something. When one of your friends is dying you feel pretty useless and here’s something you can do to make it a little easier.” 

Prager has won national recognition for her photographic images of disabled persons expressing their sexuality. The Berkeley Art Center is currently negotiating to exhibit a career retrospective of Prager’s hand-worked photographs in September.  

—Daily Planet staff

AC Transit Board and Green Party member Rebecca Kaplan has been circulating an e-mail this summer, calling on Gov. Gray Davis to resign ahead of the impending recall election. 

“We need to make it clear that Davis can win by stepping down,” Ms. Kaplan writes. “In fact, this is the only way he can win. By doing this, Davis can take the moral high road—stepping aside for the sake of his state and his party—saving the taxpayers millions of dollars, and defeating the Republicans who have spent a great deal of their own money to attempt a recall. … For this to work, it must be made clear that it is in Davis’ self-interest to step aside. Let him save face, as someone who ‘saw the light’ and decided to do something for the public.” 

Ms. Kaplan, a politician of intelligence, has not heretofore been known for her sense of humor, but this is a good start. On the day Gray Davis resigns the governorship for the good of the California public ... well ... gee ... I can’t imagine what extraordinary event might happen on that day. The judging of the quick and the dead? A return to 30 cents a gallon gas? No, this seems a to-the-bitter-end kind of guy, at least where his own future is concerned.  

Like a retreating army setting fires and wrecking railroad trestles in its wake, the Davis camp has been using interesting arguments to delay and confuse its pursuers. One such argument is a serpent with multiple heads: the recall is bad because it is a waste of the taxpayers’ money; the recall is bad because you should only recall a governor with just cause; the recall is bad because it comes so soon after the voters of California made their choice. All of these are not really arguments against recalling Gray Davis; they are arguments against the recall process itself. California progressives ought to be beware of repeating such, under the theory that words uttered now might be gleefully used against them at some unforeseen, later time. Recall is the ultimate, popular check-and-balance on unresponsive government. Someday, progressives might want to use it themselves.  

The second Davisite argument against the recall is that the recent petition-signing campaign did not reflect the actual will of California voters, but merely reflected the ability of Republicans (particularly Congressmember Darryl Issa) to pump in gobs of money to distort the political process. In other words, this is a “bought” recall. Coming from the Davis camp, which has perfected the art of buying elections, this is particularly amusing.  

But all of this is smokescreen for Davis’ real recall strategy.  

If the recall petition signatures are certified as valid—the most likely scenario—then California voters will soon participate in an election that presents us with a two-part ballot. The first part of the ballot will be a yes/no question: Should Gov. Gray Davis be thrown out of office? The second part of the ballot allows the voter to choose a potential replacement (Davis, by the way, cannot be one of those choices). If 50 percent or more of the voters vote “no” on the first part of the ballot, Davis stays in office. If a majority of the voters vote “yes” on the first part, the candidate who gets the most votes in the second part of the ballot takes over as governor.  

Davis’ real strategy, successful so far, is to keep any Democrat from putting his or her name on the ballot to succeed him. Potential powerhouse candidates such as Sen. Diane Feinstein, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Attorney General Bill Lockyer have all declined to run. The theory here is that Democratic voters, who are a majority in the state, have never been that tickled to death about Gray Davis, and might replace him if they had a decent alternative. If these Democratic voters look over the recall ballot and are horrified by the alternate choices (Arnold Schwarzenegger and the aforementioned Mr. Issa, for example, whom the Davisites have spent the spring and summer demonizing), then such Democrats will hold their noses, vote against the recall and live the next three years under Davis.  

This is great strategy for Gray Davis. It is lunacy for progressive Californians, however, since it ensures a bad choice (from progressives’ point of view) if the first part of the ballot succeeds and Davis is recalled.  

The recall ballot, after all, allows voters to hedge their bets. A voter can cast a vote against the recall of Gray Davis on the first part of the ballot (if that’s their pleasure), while at the same time making a choice for a replacement governor, in the event that Davis is recalled.  

Peter Camejo, the Green Party candidate, has been suggested as one alternative for California progressives. Arianna Huffington, the reformed former Republican, is another. I’m not ready to make my choice just yet. But I’d damn sure like to have a choice, come recall election day.

Finding Saddam Hussein is “definitely the most important thing we have to do right now,” declared Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in the wake of the killing of Saddam’s sons on July 22.  

But what should be worrying Wolfowitz is not how to find Saddam, but how to contain the disintegration of Iraq that looms even as U.S. forces try to track Hussein down and put a definitive end to his rule.  

From the outset, the neoconservative theory of the Iraqi war promoted by Wolfowitz, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Adviser Richard Pearl, among others, was simplistic. It asserted that Saddam and his sons held the nation in a reign of terror and the removal of these terrible tyrants would be greeted with gratitude and cooperation among the Iraqi people and lead to an instant national solidarity and the rise of a democratic state.  

This theory is not dead, as seen in the White House’s stated belief that eliminating Saddam once and for all is the key to peace and order in Iraq. However, as evil as he was, Saddam paradoxically unified rather than divided Iraq and provided order, albeit repressive.  

Iraq was a misbegotten nation, cobbled together from three provinces of the Ottoman Empire with spit, bailing wire and the British Army after World War I. The Britons crowned as their puppet king the Hashemite son of the Sharif (chief religious official) of Mecca, who had aided Britain against the Turks. The royal house of Iraq lasted only for as long as the British Army was there to hold things together.  

The king was ousted in a revolution in 1958. A succession of hard-line military rulers culminated with Saddam in 1978.  

Saddam, being a member of the minority Sunni Arab community, found he could only rule effectively over the larger ethnic and confessional communities by terror. The unruly majority Shiites, the separatist Kurds and other ethnic groups threatened his rule at every turn. His response was ruthless suppression. Internal political conditions were horrendous, but the nation held together.  

Like Louis XV, Saddam might well have said, “Apres moi, le deluge.” 

Ironically, President Bush’s father, President George Herbert Walker Bush, knew that the United States was ill-prepared to deal with a post-Saddam regime. This was one of the main reasons he decided not to remove Saddam during the first Gulf War.  

Now the United States has utterly obliterated the only force that held the nation together, with not a clue how to put it back together again. The Bush administration has done well to rid the world of a villain, but with no plan for the future, this act is a flirtation with complete chaos.  

The downfall of Saddam Hussein and his family is like the shot of a starter pistol for a mad struggle over the soul of the nation. Large groups, like the Shiites, want to dominate. A countervailing pull for independence by the Kurds in the north threatens to split the country into fragments. This is met by an attempt on the part of the former ruling Sunnis to reassert political and military control.  

Far from promoting unity, the United States’ dramatic efforts to prove that Saddam’s rule is over will only fuel fractionalization and competition between the ethnic and confessional groups. In short, the United States is setting Iraq on a path to civil war.  

Worse yet, our forces on the ground are doing nothing to stop the disintegration of the nation. The American public is fed optimistic statements about the high morale of U.S. troops and the “progress” being made at reconstructing Iraq. But observers on the ground depict a different reality. Our soldiers are being shot every day. We have put corporate America in charge of reconstruction, but these oil-field construction companies are woefully unprepared. To fill the urgent demand for expert positions, Bechtel and other highly paid U.S. contractors have had to grab the first inexperienced people they could find to do the work of seasoned professionals.  

Writer and Iraqi observer William Rivers Pitt notes that policemen from Atlanta, Ga., who speak no Arabic, are put in charge of rebuilding the police. Novice academics from religious colleges in the American South with no experience in the region or in working with Islamic societies are sent out to assess the political climate.  

Meanwhile, the United States cannot turn on the electricity or provide drinking water after four months of occupation.  

Obsession with “getting Saddam” is obviously getting in the way of the real “most important task” in Iraq: getting a grip on a nation that threatens to deteriorate physically and disintegrate politically. The cheers for the deaths of Uday and Qusay, and eventually Saddam, will continue for a day or two, but the horrendous, misbegotten mess of reconstruction will leave an eternal scar of shame on America’s history.  

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

There’s a Yiddish saying, “If you want to understand Jews, look at Christians.” 

The opposite is also true—an examination of Judaism can illuminate other cultures. For the next six days, Saturday, July 26 through Thursday, July 31, wonderfully divergent views of life through a Jewish lens will be shown on the UC Berkeley campus as the 23rd annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival comes to Wheeler Auditorium.  

In addition to the more than 30 films and videos ranging from high-end feature films to Indie shorts and documentaries from around the world, this year’s festival offers the world premiere of “Four Short Films About Love,” a candid collection of tales about being young and Jewish in the Bay Area, created by 10 Bay Area teens.  

Produced by Sam Ball of the New Jewish Filmmaker Project, this is the second in a series of “do it yourself” documentaries for Bay Area teenagers that the festival has funded and premiered. 

“For teenagers ... it’s really an amazing way, not only to dive into what’s possible in documentary film making [but] it’s a great opportunity to just dive into Jewish culture as it intersects with all these other cultures around the world,” said Ball. “That’s not something you really get in Hollywood. We’re using the medium to just spark a dialogue and to have the process be part of the product.  

“What’s particularly interesting about working with teenagers is they’re at a time in their life when some of the things we take for granted as adults—like ‘Who am I?’—are still very new and very raw. If you give them the opportunity to talk about those things you get material that’s really fresh and really interesting,” said Ball. 

“Our film [‘Four Short Films About Love’] is about love, but through a Jewish lens,” said Hannah Lesser, a 17-year-old Berkeley High student. “Even though it’s through a Jewish lens, that doesn’t mean that other people couldn’t enjoy it. Anything I say or do or think, is Jewish. Especially anything I think. It’s in the way that I’ve been taught, the way I’ve learned to see things. I guess I could say the same thing [about being a woman]. I would definitely say that anything I see, I see through a ‘Berkeley’ lens.” 

“Looking back I think a lot of people didn’t realize how open they were letting themselves be,” said Leah Whitman-Salkin, a 16-year-old from Kensington. “I think it freaked a lot of people out for so many people to see such a private time in our lives, in such private relationships. I’m kind of interested in seeing the relations of people and the reaction of myself in the audience as people see it.”  

“It took a lot out of us because it’s really honest,” agreed Lesser. “You have to be honest because you want people who are watching the movie to get the gist of it. You can’t keep secrets.”  

Edward Baraona, a 17-year-old from West Oakland, is currently participating in the making of next year’s documentary. An aspiring filmmaker, he also is struggling to integrate the disparate elements of his personal history.  

“My great-grandmother, she’s Jewish,” said Baraona. “Before the Holocaust, in ‘37, she came to America [from Berlin, Germany] looking for refuge, but the United States would not accept her so she was sent back. She came back again, but this time to Latin America. She found refuge in El Salvador. She had her child in ‘39, my grandmother, and she had her daughter in ‘63, my mother. Then they moved to the states and my mom married a native and indigenous man, he grew up in Mexico but he’s actually Peruvian, and they had me. So I have a bunch of mixes in me. I have native Spanish. I have Hebrew blood and I have indigenous blood. I come from different heritages and I’ve inherited all these different cultures but I wouldn’t say I’m unique because there are so many kids just like me.” 

“One of the things we explore is how Jewish identity intersects with other identities,” Ball said. “Sometimes in the same person. That reflects the breadth of Jewish culture. Throw any 10 Jews in a room and you’ll have more than 10 cultures from around the world represented. What it means to be a Jew is to ask yourself a series of questions about who you are, about your values, about your sense of place in the world. Where do I belong? And to have the kind of agility to project yourself in several places at once. To project yourself into the past and the future simultaneously is a very Jewish thing.” 

Laura Salazar, a self-identified Chilean-Jew, lives in East Oakland and studies film at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She was a member of the Jewish Film Festival’s first documentary project two years ago. 

“How do you define yourself? Like what do you relate to? How have you been raised? Many factors create a personality. It’s deep stuff,” Salazar said, laughing. “We would talk about and it would go on a long time. ‘You can’t be both in all of this stuff.’ That’s what they say. That’s what I’ve heard a lot of. Sometimes people’s feelings would get hurt. It was powerful but I came away from it feeling pretty positive. Being of mixed heritage, I can see both sides, it’s kind of like a portal. I think you can be both. I’m both. I’m more than that actually.” 

“Four Short Films About Love” premieres at Wheeler Auditorium Thursday, July 31, at 8:15 p.m. For a complete schedule of all the films showing in the 23rd annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival or information about tickets and prices, phone (925) 275-9490 or visit the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival on the Web at www.sfjff.org.  

The following letter was sent to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 21, 2003: 

The Honorable Dick Cheney 

Vice President 

Office of the Vice President of the United States Eisenhower Executive Office Building 

Washington, DC 20501 

Dear Mr. Vice President: 

While it has been widely reported that the President made a false assertion in his State of the Union address concerning unsubstantiated intelligence that Iraq purchased uranium from Niger, your own role in the dissemination of that disinformation has not been explained by you or the White House. Yet, you reportedly paid direct personal visits to CIA's Iraq analysts; your request for investigation of the Niger uranium claim resulted in an investigation by a former U.S. ambassador, and you made several high-profile public assertions about Iraq's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. We hope that you will take the opportunity to provide responses to the following ten questions. 

l. Concerning “unusual” personal visits by the Vice President to CIA analysts. 

According to The Washington Post, June 5, 2003, you made “multiple” “unusual” visits to CIA to meet directly with Iraq analysts. The Post reported: “Vice President Cheney and his most senior aide made multiple trips to the CIA over the past year to question analysts studying Iraq’s weapons programs.” 

These visits were unprecedented. Normally, Vice Presidents, yourself included, receive regular briefings from CIA in your office and have a CIA officer on permanent detail. In other words, there is no reason for the Vice President to make personal visits to CIA analysts. 

According to the Post, your unprecedented visits created “an environment in which some analysts felt they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush administration's policy objectives.” 

Questions: 

1) How many visits did you and your chief of staff make to CIA to meet directly with CIA analysts working on Iraq? 2) What was the purpose of each of these visits? 3) Did you or a member of your staff at any time direct or encourage CIA analysts to disseminate unreliable intelligence? 4) Did you or a member of your staff at any time request or demand rewriting of intelligence assessments concerning the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? 

II. Concerning a request by the Vice President to investigate intelligence of Niger uranium sale, revealing forgery one year ago. 

This alleged sale of uranium to Iraq by Niger was critical to the administration's case that Iraq was reconstituting a nuclear weapons program. During the period of time you reportedly paid visits to CIA, you also requested that CIA investigate intelligence that purported to show Iraqi pursuit of uranium from Niger, and your office received a briefing on the investigation. 

According to The New York Times of May 6, 2003, “more than a year ago the vice president’s office asked for an investigation of the uranium deal, so a former U.S. Ambassador to Africa was dispatched to Niger.” 

The ambassador “reported to the CIA and State Department that the information was unequivocally wrong and that the documents had been forged,” according to the Times. Indeed, that former U.S. Ambassador, Joseph Wilson, wrote in The New York Times, July 6, 2003, “The vice president’s office asked a serious question. We were asked to help formulate the answer. We did so, and we have every confidence that the answer we provided was circulated to the appropriate officials within our government.” 

Moreover, your chief of staff, Mr. Libby, told Time magazine this week that you did in fact express interest in the report to the CIA briefer. Our understanding is that Standard Operating Procedure is that if a principal asks about a report, he is given a specific answer. 

Questions: 

5) Who in the office of Vice President was informed of the contents of Ambassador Wilson's report? 6) What efforts were made by your office to disseminate the findings of Ambassador Wilson's investigation to the President, National Security Adviser, and Secretary of Defense? 7) Did your office regard Ambassador Wilson's conclusions as accurate or inaccurate? 

III. Assertions by the Vice President and other high ranking members of the Administration claiming Iraqi nuclear weapons program. 

The President’s erroneous reference to the faked Niger uranium sale in his State of the Union address was only one example of a pattern of similar assertions by high ranking members of the administration, including yourself. The assertion was made repeatedly in the administration's campaign to win congressional approval of military action against Iraq. 

For instance, you said to the 103d National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on August 26, 2002, “they [the Iraqi regime] continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago... we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons... Should all his ambitions be realized... [he could] subject the United States or any other nation to nuclear blackmail.” 

In sworn testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, just weeks before the House of Representatives voted to authorize military action against Iraq, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testified on September 18, 2002: “He [Saddam]... is pursuing nuclear weapons. If he demonstrates the capability to deliver them to our shores, the world would be changed. Our people would be at great risk. Our willingness to be engaged in the world, our willingness to project power to stop aggression, our ability to forge coalitions for multilateral action, could all be under question. And many lives could be lost.” 

Questions: 

8) Since your address to the VFW occurred nearly 7 months after Ambassador Wilson reported his findings to the CIA and State Department, what evidence did you have for the assertion that Iraq was continuing “to pursue the nuclear program” and that Saddam had “resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons”? 9) Since the Secretary of Defense testified to Congress that Iraq was “pursuing nuclear weapons” nearly 8 months after Ambassador Wilson’s briefing to CIA and the State Department, what effort did you make to determine what evidence the Secretary of Defense had for his assertion to Congress? 

Further refutation of the authenticity of the forged Niger documents came from IAEA Director General ElBaradei, when he reported to the UN Security Council on March 7, 2003: “These documents, which formed the basis for reports of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger, are in fact not authentic. We have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are unfounded... we have found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons programme in Iraq.” Yet on March 16—nine days afterwards—you again repeated the unfounded assertion on national television (Meet the Press, Sunday, March 16, 2003). You said: 

“We think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong,” and “We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” 

Question: 

10) What was the basis for this assertion made by you on national television? We hope you will take the opportunity to answer these questions about your role in the dissemination of false information about Iraq's nuclear program to justify the war in Iraq. We look forward to a response. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. Kucinich, Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations 

Carolyn B. Maloney, Member 

Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations 

Bernie Sanders, Member 

Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations

In England, they shot the messenger. True, the death of British biological weapons expert David Kelly was a suicide. But if the reserved scientist took his own life, it was in response to the British Ministry of Defense outing and reprimanding him as the alleged whistle-blower behind the BBC's controversial report that the government “sexed up” its intelligence information to make the case for war. 

The BBC charge against the government in this instance was quite mild, because what Tony Blair did was not merely hype the case for preemptively invading Iraq. Rather, he deliberately lied to his public about the certainty of his claims to frighten the people into sending their children off to war. In this case, the Brits said—wrongly— that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons in 45 minutes, a lie also employed by our president as one of his hysterical claims to justify the invasion of Iraq. 

But in England, Kelly's death and the unraveling justifications for war have created a governmental crisis and prompted calls for Blair to resign. 

The prewar confetti of frightening claims about Iraq has been exposed as nothing more than cherry-picked snippets from intelligence reports that generally regarded that nation’s threat to the world as modest and shrinking. Instead of admitting this now obvious fact, the Blair government unleashed a witch hunt against the BBC and anyone in the Blair administration who might have been a source for the news agency’s reporting. 

Kelly was the first victim of the government’s revenge against the British Broadcasting Corporation, which had—until Kelly was found dead—refused to name its source. The BBC has been a target of the Blair-Bush partnership ever since they decided to invade Iraq. 

During the Iraq war, the BBC, in stark contrast to leading U.S. news outlets, distinguished itself for objective coverage of its own government, even during a time of heightened patriotism. This should be a great advertisement for the model of a free society that we claim to be eager to export to, or impose on, the rest of the world. In most countries, publicly subsidized broadcasting is an important source of news, and the BBC serves as the premier example that such reporting can withstand official government assaults on its independence. The BBC’s reporting on the doctored intelligence concerning weapons of mass destruction followed its notable report debunking the U.S. military propaganda tale of the battle and rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch. 

Remember, the BBC was not taking the safe route that so many news organizations prefer. Yet, time and again, they have been proved right with each new revelation of half-truths, outright lies and data manipulation on the part of the coalition’s leaders-in-chief. 

As Paul Reynolds, a veteran BBC military affairs analyst, said of the British intelligence dossier cited as the source for Bush’s now-repudiated claim about Iraq’s nuclear program: “Of the nine main conclusions in the British government document ‘Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction,’ not one has been shown to be conclusively true.” 

Blair last week told the U.S. Congress that he and Bush were right to invade Iraq even if no weapons of mass destruction are ever found. Left unmentioned is that it was the coalition that chased U.N. weapons inspectors out of Iraq, claiming they weren’t doing their job and that the Iraq threat was growing. Clearly the immediacy of the threat from Hussein was a phony claim that Blair and Bush should have known full well was not backed up by any substantial evidence. 

What’s left is the idea that we are in Iraq to build a democracy by force. Yet the people on both sides of the Atlantic were adamantly opposed to this sort of nation-building, smacking as it does of past disasters, from the collapse of the British Empire to the U.S. war in Vietnam. In essence, we are now told to be happy with a rationale for war that we didn’t find convincing before the war started. 

This is a denigration of the core ideal of representative democracy—rule by an enlightened public—as are vindictive attacks on journalistic watchdogs and whistle-blowers who keep our representatives honest. Last week in his speech, Blair smugly claimed the favorable judgment of future historians, but it is the BBC that history will celebrate for its pursuit of truth.  

Robert Scheer is a Berkeley resident.

Think beyond the foul oil smell you conjure up when imagining Martinez on a sunny day. It isn’t always there, and a rather historic small town is. Thriving on pride derived from its famous sons, major league baseball’s Vince, Dom and “Joltin” Joe DiMaggio, and the city’s claim that the martini was born here, Martinez offers collectibles and antique stores, great parks and historic sites, of course surrounded by Shell oil tanks. 

A gold rush port from 1849, Martinez was settled by traders who bought, sold and shipped goods on Dr. Robert Semple’s ferry boat to Benicia and beyond. Martinez was declared the county seat in 1850, lacked the required 200 registered voters to incorporate, but finally made it in 1876. The county seat attracted lawyers and judges as permanent residents, and Martinez’s first newspaper, the Contra Costa Gazette, began publication in 1858. Two years later, Martinez became the shipping port preferred by grain growers around Mt. Diablo and the Livermore Valley, with cargos going to and arriving from England, France, Russia and Scandinavia. 

Railroads reached Martinez in 1877, and the Central Pacific linked its “world’s largest ferry boat” from grain wharves lining the shoreline from Martinez to Crockett to transcontinental rail routes.  

The Martinez Museum, located in an 1890 Victorian cottage at Escobar and Court streets, is loaded with maps, photographs, county history, railroad, educational, legal and baseball items. Docents show impressive knowledge of local lore. Shell Oil Company even offers the Shell Oil Alumni Museum, organized by former Shell employees, displaying large machinery, lab equipment and tools, pictures and screens, video tapes on oil processing, chemical testing demonstrations and bus tours. (Pacheco Boulevard and Arreba Street) 

The John Muir National Historic Site at 4202 Alhambra Ave. is worth the whole trip. Underknown and undervisited, the site offers a tour of the 17-room John Muir home (do not miss the library or the Sierra Club Exhibit Room), the Orchard Trail through nine acres of vineyards and orchards, a Victorian garden and a natural area by Franklin Creek. The Martinez Adobe was built by Don Vincente Martinez, son of the commandante of the Presidio of San Francisco. Muir’s father-in-law, Dr. John Strentzel, bought the property in 1874, planted fruit trees and used the adobe for storage. Eventually the Muirs’ eldest daughter, Wanda, and her husband, Thomas Hanna, lived in the home, where Muir played with his grandchildren. The whole site is wheelchair accessible. Be sure to stop in the visitor center for a great collection of John Muir’s writings, environmental publications and loads of children’s books, coloring books, a Kids’ Guide to the John Muir Historic Site and the “Earth Planet Universe” video shown hourly. 

Upcoming Muir events include the two-mile Full Moon Walk across the street at Mt. Wanda Park Aug. 11, the Perseid Meteor Shower Walk Aug. 13, and Ranch Days Sept. 13. Muir fans will enjoy John Muir’s Mountain Days, performed by Willows Theatre Company Aug. 8-31 in the John Muir Amphitheater at the Martinez Regional Shoreline. Call (925) 798-1300 or www.willowstheatre.org.  

The Shoreline, a feat of the city of Martinez and the East Bay Regional Park District at the foot of Ferry Street, includes surprising amenities, such as cycling paths, fishing, walking paths along Pickleweed Trail through the enhanced Marsh, boating, soccer, Waterfront Park with the latest in modern children’s climbing equipment, picnic tables, the Joe DiMaggio Ballfields and Martinez’s local obsession, bocce played on 15 covered courts. Bars, restaurants and other local groups field bocce teams and compete at the national level. 

The old Southern Pacific Station has steam cars on display, and the attractive new station sits just west of the old one. Watch carefully for passing trains. 

Antiques and collectibles shops line Ferry and Main streets, a real find for bargain hunters. Prices here beat anything in sight. 

Food is not an obsession in Martinez, so settle into comfortable country food at the Copper Skillet Courtyard, which does not have a courtyard, or at Victoria’s Café, once the DiMaggio Fine Foods and Bakery.  

The Copper Skillet has an elevated corner loft called “The Jury Box” where Contra Costa County’s judges have lunch every Wednesday. Bountiful breakfast specials begin at $3.99 and weekday lunch specials, such as a chicken Caesar, fish and chips, Greek salad or a grilled Portobello or chicken sandwich with mushrooms or bacon on grilled sourdough top out at $5.99. 

At Victoria’s Café, owner Willie Ebrahimie offers too-cute-named sandwiches such as the “Buttafuoco” and the “Legal Eagle” under $8, with ample salads and burgers under $8. Marilyn Monroe used to hang out here when it was DiMaggio’s. The only good restaurants open in the evening are Bertoli’s Italian Restaurant and Thai Lanna Fine Thai food on Ferry Street and Marina Vista. 

Collectors and garage sale aficionados alert: the Martinez Peddlers’ Faire on Main Street is Saturday, Aug. 2.  

The official City of Martinez Gold Rush-era original martini recipe (does not resemble mine): 

Dash of bitters 

2 dashes maraschino liqueur 

1 pony Old Tom gin 

1 wine glass vermouth 

slice lemon 

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

One finger, fifteen dollars 

A man, apparently using nothing more than an outstretched finger, stole $15 from a pizza shop late Thursday night, according to police. 

Berkeley Police Department spokseperson Sgt. Steve Odom said a man in his early-30s entered Extreme Pizza at 2352 Shattuck Ave. at about 11:30 p.m., left and returned 30 seconds later, demanding that employees and customers get down on the floor as he stole $15 from the tip jar. 

The robber, described as 5 feet 9 inches, with a medium build, wearing a dark sweatshirt, had a hand in the right pocket of his sweatshirt and was apparently using an outstretched finger to create the appearance of a gun, Odom said. 

As he made his way out the door, an employee said, “You better put the money back.” 

“You better get out of my way,” the robber said, fleeing the scene, according to Odom. 

Police had no suspects as of Monday afternoon. 

Durant Avenue beating 

Two men beat an acquaintance on the 2500 block of Durant Avenue late Thursday night, according to police. 

Berkeley Police Department spokseperson Sgt. Steve Odom said the group got in a verbal altercation, with all three parties “trash-talking,” when one of the men punched another in the face. 

The third man then worked with the puncher to shove the victim to the ground, according to police. The two assailants proceeded to kick the victim in the face and body, Odom said, fleeing when a witness told them the police were arriving. 

Investigators did not have the alleged attackers in custody as of Monday afternoon.

This Sunday the United Pool Council is launching its Swim Berkeley Campaign with a celebration from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Willard Pool in South Berkeley. 

Swim Berkeley is the joint effort of the United Pool Council and the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department to revitalize aquatics in the community. The campaign’s first aim is to prevent the five-month closure of the Willard Pool, a step City Council will take unless pool users raise the $60,000 needed to bridge the budget deficit and keep Willard open year-round.  

Berkeley’s four public pools and the warm-water pool at the high school are under the purview of the aquatics division of the parks department. Concerned pool users formed the United Pool Council five months ago when they recognized the logic of working together to maintain services. 

“If one is closed, it impacts the others,” said Karen Davis, a member of the pool council steering committee. 

“City Council challenged us,” she said. “And we decided the only way to deal with cutbacks is to launch a campaign and expand. We want to add more activities in the fall, more swim lessons, more opportunities for seniors and the disabled. We want people to see the value of these neighborhood services. 

“The pools don’t have to lay empty,” she added. “They can be filled, and are potentially very big profit centers for the community.” 

The Sunday afternoon event includes a barbecue (hamburgers and hot dogs provided, or bring your own food to toss on the grill), sign-ups for fall programs and demonstrations of new activities that will available (including diving, aquatic aerobics and water dance). The regular public swim will take place as scheduled. Cost varies from $2 to $5 depending on age.  

The Willard Pool is located on the southeast corner of Telegraph and Derby. For information about pool hours, swim lessons and other activities, call the city’s new Swim Berkeley hotline at 510-981-SWIM. 

—Alexis Tonti