Berkeley students heading back to class Wednesday can expect cleaner, greener campuses, but when they step inside some school buildings rust and dirt will still prevail. -more-

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26 -more-

Charisma. That’s a word you don’t hear much lately, especially in connection with political candidates. Merriam-Webster offers two definitions: -more-

Mel Gibson’s upcoming movie “The Passion” is already stirring up passions more than half a year before its scheduled release—which is not surprising, since it deals with the emotionally charged subject of the crucifixion of Jesus. The intensity of the debate recalls the firestorm sparked by Martin Scorcese’s 1988 movie “The Last Temptation of Christ.” -more-

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26 -more-

AC Transit Bus drivers facing certain job cuts over the pending December elimination of 34 bus lines—nearly one in four—voted Saturday to stage a one-day weekday walkout, the date yet to be determined. -more-

RUINOUS FIDDLING -more-

For Henry Jenkins, a professor of media studies at MIT, the video game Grand Theft Auto III is a bit like “Birth of a Nation,” the 1915 film that cineastes praise for helping create the basic grammar of the movies and simultaneously damn for celebrating the Ku Klux Klan. -more-

For two young Berkeley documentarians, one of modern history’s most dramatic moments took on a new and unexpected reality when they set about collecting first-hand accounts of that day, four decades past, when Martin Luther King Jr. told the world he had a dream. -more-

The Berkeley Public Schools NEVER received a “Report Card” from a State Agency but a report on how we can continue to improve our schools. Either the reporter or headline writer for the Berkeley Daily Planet did not attend the meeting where this report was presented to the School Board, or they purposely are trying to inflame our community against our public schools. -more-

After four months of trying to organize a union, Berkeley Bowl employees and community supporters will take their campaign to the streets Sunday with a rally in front of the store to demand that management agree to begin negotiations. -more-

Dear Mayor Bates and Council, -more-

1990s Immigration Battles Resurface in California Recall -more-

The moment California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante said he was tossing his hat in as a replacement candidate in the recall race, the buzz among blacks was that he was the guy who used the “N” word. -more-

Berkeley police say they are closing in on the man they believe severely injured fellow officer Ben Cardoza in a hit and run accident last week. -more-

“College Students Pay More and Get Less,” the newspaper headlines scream. I have discovered just how true this statement is. -more-

California Gov. Gray Davis, in a surprise move, recently promised to approve greater legal rights for same-sex couples. While it is too soon to tell how this bold action will affect Davis’ chances in the recall election, governments and politicians around the world are finding it to their advantage to champion lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. -more-

The headline of the Rio de Janeiro daily Jornal do Brasil put it most starkly: “Brazilian Peace Hero Dies in Iraq Attack.” -more-

The deadly bombing of the U.N. compound in Baghdad last week has spurred Arab commentators to gauge Iraq’s future with a combination of fear and cynicism. Many note bitterly that a war ostensibly against terrorism has in fact transformed Iraq into fertile ground for terror groups. -more-

Berserkeley. I hate that word, the easy epithet with which benighted out-of-towners reduce our rich and varied local life—above all, our intense, grass-roots activism—to the antics of our most outlandish residents. If only there was somebody whose job it was to defend us against such slurs. -more-

Over one hundred perfectly normal folks came out for the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society’s Annual Plant Show and sale Sunday, Aug. 24 at the UC Botanical Garden. -more-