When the main attraction at last Tuesday evening’s UC Berkeley Proposition 54 debate didn’t show—University of California Regent Ward Connerly—it was still business as usual at the packed session in Booth Auditorium at Boalt Hall. 

Proposition 54 is the Oct. 7 initiative that would ban the collection of most race data by California government agencies. Connerly, its author and principal sponsor, dropped out of the Boalt Hall debate at the last minute for health reasons. 

A generally polite, racially diverse crowd of students reserved their toughest questions and occasional hisses and audible gasps for Connerly’s pro-54 replacement, Justin Jones, Director of Policy and Planning for the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI). 

Both Jones and his debate opponent, California attorney Eva Paterson, are African-American. 

Some 75 to 100 students were turned away from the packed crowd at the auditorium for lack of space. A rally to protest Connerly’s presence at UC Berkeley and to demand his removal or resignation as UC Regent had been planned by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration (BAMN) to take place outside the debate. Students at the rally accused Connerly of ducking the debate. 

But an assistant at Connerly’s ACRI in Sacramento said Connerly was asked by his doctor yesterday to return for what the assistant called “routine tests to check on his heart” after the 64-year-old businessman had earlier taken a treadmill test. The assistant would not elaborate, but characterized the return hospital visit as “not serious” and “not newsworthy,” and said that Connerly was not hospitalized. 

During the debate itself Paterson, a Boalt Hall graduate and a frequent debate opponent of Connerly’s, argued that the most damaging effect of Prop. 54 would be the limitation on the government’s collection of race-based health data. 

While the initiative would allow the classification of medical research subjects and patients, Paterson said “that would leave a large gap in medical data. We know right now, for example, that the largest consumers of cigarettes in our society are Vietnamese men. The portion of our population most prone to suicide are young Filipino women. We also know that white citizens are more prone to certain diseases than other racial groups. 

“Disease is not color blind,” he said. “Proposition 54 will severely limit discovering the causes of diseases in different races.” Paterson also quoted former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop as saying that “lives will be lost” if Prop. 54 passes. 

Jones dismissed the health concerns, calling it a “phony issue” that was already adequately addressed by the health data exemptions in the proposition. As for other concerns expressed by Prop. 54 opponents, he said flatly that “Proposition 54 will end racial profiling.” 

Connerly’s stand-in argued that the collection of race-based data by government agencies should end because “so long as we continue to focus on race in our data, the more we are going to be obsessed and attached to race as a concept. For the last hundred years, we’ve been tracking the education of students by race in order to determine why there is a racial gap in test scores. 

“And yet in all that time, that gap has widened. The current plan isn’t working. We need to do something different.” Asked by an audience member what he would do to replace current plans to address racial disparities, Jones said, “That’s a tough question. I can’t tell you right now what that plan should be. We’ve got to change people’s hearts in some way.” 

The Boalt Hall debate was sponsored by the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy. 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Roy Meisner, Chief, Berkeley Police Department, “Keeping the Peace.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143. 

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

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

Coastal Clean Up Day Meet at 9 a.m. behind the Seabreeze Market at the corner of University and Frontage Rd. Everyone needs to sign waivers, and we will give you trash/recycle bags, pencils, tally cards and a map of the areas we need to clean. For information call Patty Donald at 644-8623 or visit ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/ 

marinaexp/cleanup 

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. City Manager Weldon Rucker will discuss interfacing with City Depts. 587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Nabisco Hall of Fame All-Stars versus Safeway Executives Charity Softball Game. The All-Star players include Pete Rose, Brooks Robinson, Vida Blue, Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Steve Carlton, and Andre Dawson. They also include U.S. Olympic champion softball pitcher Lisa Fernandez. Evans Field, UC Campus. Gates open at 11 a.m., game starts at noon. Raffle prizes during the game include $1,000 of free groceries, a chance to hit against Lisa Fernandez, and signed memorabilia. Tickets are $5 each, available in advance from 925-467-3755 and also at the gate. All proceeds go to CaPCURE to fight against prostate cancer. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour in commemoration of the North Berkeley fire of 1923. Begins at 10 a.m. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. 848-0181. 

Foliage Color in the Garden, a free class with Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nur- 

sery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-1992. 

Grasshopper Hunt We will search for grasshoppers, their relatives and other insects for a close-up look at locomotion by the six-leggers among us. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Identifying Native Shrubs with botanist Glen Keator, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Visitor Center, Botanic Garden, Tilden Park, followed by a day in the field on Sun. Cost is $65 members, $75 non-members. Sponsored by the East Bay Regional Park’s Botanic Garden and the Native Plant Society. To register call 925-935-8871 or 925-820-1021. www.nativeplants.org 

Fall Permaculture: Introduction Come find out about using permaculture principles in your garden from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wildheart Gardens, 463 61st Street, at Telegraph. Cost is $10 for Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

California Writers Club meets at 9:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. Bring pencil and paper for hands-on writing activities. Free and open to all. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster First Aid, 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.berkeley. 

ca.us/fire/oes or call 981-5506. 

Game Festival of new board , card and online games based on imaginative themes, from noon to 5 p.m., at Dr Comics and Mr Games is located at 4014 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland. 601-7800. 

Workshop on communication, anger, and identity in adolescent females, sponsored by Bay Area Children First, a local nonprofit organization working to reunify families. From 10 a.m. to noon at Bay Area Children First’s Berkeley office, 1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 7. Fee is $30 at the door. 883-9312 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

Run for Peace, sponsored by the United Nations Association, East Bay Chapter. Meet at 9 a.m. at Berkeley Marina Cesar Chavez Park for a 10k or 5k run/walk. Registration is $20. For information call Alma at 849-1752. 

International Indian Treaty Council, a report back on the summer activities of several youth groups, with music, spoken word and vendors, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation of $5 requested. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Thai Food Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Civic Center Park. 331-4034. 

Herb Walk in the Berkeley Hills Learn to identify and use many edible and medicinal plants that grow wild in the Bay Area. Meet at noon at the Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail head, below the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens on Centennial Drive. Sponsored by the Pacific School of Herbal Medicine. $6-$25 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 845-4028. www.pshm.org 

Turnings Great and Small: Where the Global and the Local Meet A talk by teacher and author Joanna Macy to benefit Berkeley EcoHouse, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater on Allston Way between MLK and Milvia. Tickets are $20 and are available at Cody’s Books, Black Oak Books on Shattuck Avenue, or at the door. 

Willard Community Peace Labyrinth Dedication at 2 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Celebration includes song, refreshments, and a guided labyrinth peace walk. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377. 

Treasure Sale Benefit for Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 845.8542 ext. 376.  

Hands-on Bicycle Repair Clinic at 11 a.m. REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

12th Annual Nude and Breast Freedom Day at noon at People’s Park, Haste above Telegraph. 848-1985 or email debbiemoore@xplicitplayers.com 

Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Palzang on “The Buddha’s Eight-fold Noble Path,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

“Growing Up Gay and Jewish in Germany,” with Rabbi Kai Eckstein at 7:30 p.m. at the ewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

Introduction to Tango Start correctly by learning from a master, Paulo Araujo, founder of the Instituto Brasileiro do Tango in Rio de Janeiro, 10:30-11:45 a.m. Cost is $15. The Berkeley Tango Studio. Registration and directions call 655-3585. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 22 

UC Berkeley’s 2020 Land Use EIR, Public Scoping Session, from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Krutch Theater, Clark Kerr Campus. Community members encouraged to attend. 643-9310. 

Berkeley High, Community Partnership Academy. Dinner at 6 p.m. in the BHS courtyard, information session at 6:30 p.m. in the Little Theater. 452-8822. 

League of Women Voters, Fall General Meeting from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. John W. Ellwood on “California After the Recall: Will Anything Change?” will speak at 7 p.m. Lecture is free, dinner is $15. For reservations call 843-8824. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23 

Access to the Outdoors for People with Disabilities, a panel presentation from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library  

Conference Room, 3rd Floor, 2090 Kittredge. Pre-registration required, call Access Northern California at 524-2026. 

Equinox Gathering at the Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Workshop at 6:30 p.m. on the seasons led by Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science. Learn how the park’s solar calendar works. 845-0657. www.solarcalendar.org  

Berkeley Fair Elections Coalition volunteers meeting and speaker training at 7 p.m. Call 693-5779 for location. 

“Mobilizing Millions: How Internet Activists are Helping the World,” with Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org at 7:30 p.m. at The College Prep- 

aratory School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway (north), Oakland. Cost is $10 adult, $5 student. 658-5202. www.college-prep.org/livetalk  

“Hillel: Tenets of Judaism” at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, University above San Pablo. 981-6270. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24 

“The Voting Machine Scandal: The Promise and Pitfalls of Touch-Screen Voting” with Katherine Forrest, Co-founder of the Commonweal  

Institute, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Free Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Class Learn how to detect and remedy lead hazards and conduct lead-safe renovations for your older home, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Emeryville Child Development Center, 1220 – 53rd Street, Emeryville. For information or to register, call the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 567-8280.  

Free Marketing Workshops, sponsored by Sisters Headquarters, for women entrepreneurs, every Wed. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 643 17th St. Oakland. For information call 238-1100. 

Prose Writers Workshop Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

Berkeley CopWatch open office hours 7 to 9 p.m. Drop in to file complaints, assistance available. For information call 548-0425. 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 

Defeat Prop 54 Rally and March, at noon at Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Committee to Defend Affirmative Action. www.bamn.com 

Brower Youth Awards at 6 p.m. in the Florence Schwimley Theater, 1920 Allston Way. Meet six of the nation’s outstanding young environmental leadrers and learn about their work in conservation, preservation and restoration of the earth. Free, but reservations suggested. 415-788-3666 ext. 260. www.earthisland.org 

“Masai Culture in the 21st Century” with Kores Ole Musuni Solomon at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

Watt's In It for Us? Renewable Energy Forum Learn about current incentive programs including state rebates, low-interest financing, and tax credits. Panelists will include solar system owners, renewable energy experts and representatives from the City of Berkeley, PG&E and the California Energy Commission. From 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. 548-2220 ext. 233. 

“The Presidents of the United States and the Jews,” with Rabbi David Dalin at 7:30 p.m. in the Dinner Boardroom, Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. Presented by the GTU’s Center for Jewish Studies. 649-2482.  

ONGOING  

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors, offered by Stagebridge. Wednesdays and Fridays, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Held at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., close to BART and AC Transit. For information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

People's Park Community Advisory Board is seeking members. The board reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs and improvements, and guides the implementation of the park's long-term plan. Current pro- 

jects include a peace garden and the improvement of the children's play area. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. Applications will be accepted until Sept. 30. They are available at the People's Park office, 642-3255; the UC Office of Community Relations, 643-5299; and via e-mail to plspark@uclink.berkeley.edu. 

Free Smoke Detectors for City residents and UC Berkeley students who live off-campus. Applications are available from the Environment, Health & Safety office of UC Berkeley, at any Berkeley Fire Station, or at the Fire Admin. Office located at 2100 MLK, Jr. Way. 981-5585.  

Free Energy Bill Payment Assistance The City of Berkeley has money to help low-income households pay their gas and electric bills. For applications contact the Energy Office at 644-8544. TDD: 981-6903. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/policereview 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning

PALESTINE PROPAGANDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It doesn’t surprise me to see the letter in the Daily Planet from International Solidarity Movement member Jim Harris, praising the Berkeley City Council for calling for an investigation into the death of fellow ISM activist, Rachel Corrie. Unfortunately, the so-called “progressives” on the council were all too happy to promulgate ISM’s pro-Palestinian propaganda rather than investigate for themselves the source from which their information on the matter stemmed. 

Clearly, the council members didn’t read the largely sympathetic story on Rachel Corrie in this month’s Mother Jones, not exactly a right-wing rag. The author, Joshua Hammer, went to the West Bank and found the following: ISM members by and large see suicide bombers as “freedom fighters.” Hence, it’s little wonder then that their members in Jenin hid Shadi Shukiya, a leader of Islamic Jihad, whom the Israelis arrested on March 27 for his role in the planning of four suicide bombings. 

After this, human rights organizations kept their distance from ISM and the International Red Cross kicked the ISM out of their shared office space. About 

a month later, in Rafah (where Corrie had been based), the ISM was found to have “socialized” with two Pakistani British citizens who soon blew themselves up as homicide bombers. Little wonder that other NGO’s decided they, too, wanted nothing to do with the ISM. 

Concerning the death of Rachel Corrie, the primary ISM witness later acknowledged that it could indeed have been nothing more than a tragic accident. And the international press, once sympathetic to what happened to Corrie, was alienated when several photos given Reuters News Agency by the ISM of Corrie turned out to have been taken several hours before her death. 

Whatever was left of concern for Corrie in most international venues evaporated when a picture of her burning a makeshift American flag in front of young  

Palestinian children was published. The Palestinians have rightfully been reviled for teaching children from pre-school on that the most honorable mission in life is to become a “shaheed,” a martyr who murders Jews. Here is the ISM heroine, Ms. Corrie, further fanning the flames of hatred in front of those too young to comprehend the complexities for themselves. 

In sum, Rachel Corrie, who probably died by accident, was a young woman whose ideals were superceded only by her ignorance. It’s one thing for the Stalinists in KPFA’s news department to daily disseminate Palestinian propaganda, yet another for said fabrications to be supported by our City Council. And why is the City Council, which has plenty of local business to attend to, wasting their time and ours paying lip service to the distortions of ideologues like the ISM who aid and abet the murder of innocent Israelis? 

Dan Spitzer 

• 

IN PRAISE OF COUNCIL 

Editors, Berkeley Daily Planet,  

I am another Jew who would like to thank the Berkeley City Council for its courageous action in calling for an investigation into the bulldozing death of Rachel Corrie by the Israeli Army in Gaza. 

The violence and killing must stop. All of it, without exception.  

When someone kills, the victim dies, but a part of the killer dies also. Their humanity is damaged. Similarly, when a nation acts oppressively toward another people, that people is hurt, but so is the nation acting oppressively. It is hurt in its hopes and dreams. It shrinks morally. 

This is happening to Israeli society. In extending its reach far into the lands of another people, in trying to force them to accept dispossession, Israel hurts Palestinians in every aspect of their lives. But the story does not end there. Israeli society becomes militarized, violent, fearful, and irrational. 

It betrays the hopes of Jews who wanted to build a society that would not only be a refuge from anti-Semitism, but would be a beacon to the whole world and embody the striving for freedom and for justice that have characterized our tradition at least since the time of Moses. 

Bulldozing of homes, their residents, and the people who try to protect them is the negation of Jewish tradition. It is a symptom of something going terribly wrong. 

Gentiles who look the other way undoubtedly mean well, but they are not doing Jews or Israelis any favor. If you know that your friend has an alcohol problem, do you ignore that and offer another drink? Of course not. What is needed is kind, but firm interruption of the harmful behavior. The terrible anguish of the Palestinians cries out for this. But Israelis need it, too. 

By calling for an investigation into Rachel Corrie’s killing, the council members acted as real allies to Jews and to Israelis. In an understated but firm way, they let it be known that they noticed that something was wrong, and that they care about it.  

Council members are being attacked for their trouble. These attacks should not be misinterpreted--they mean that members did something that matters. They acted with courage and integrity.  

Glen Hauer  

• 

SIERRA CLUB RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am compelled to respond to Mr. Fielding’s tirade, attacking the Sierra Club for its efforts to protect wildlife habitat while providing for recreational opportunities along the waterfront. In his ideological zeal, Mr. Fielding got his facts pretty well mixed up. Contrary to his claim that the club opposed the acquisition of 16 acres of land for playing fields, the Sierra Club actually engineered that acquisition and made it possible. Moreover, the Sierra Club/CESP plan for the Albany waterfront will provide more soccer and ballfields. In fact, the plan would provide enough fields to meet the stated need in the Albany-Berkeley area. Just why Mr. Fielding has refused to endorse this plan remains a mystery. 

As for the BHS rowing team, Mr. Fielding didn’t tell readers that the team currently rows at Lake Merritt and can still row there. Nor did he tell readers that as the Sierra Club volunteer leader on this issue, I offered to help the team find alternative locations. He also did not mention the fact that a wildlife biologist hired by the city concluded that the rowing team’s use of Aquatic Park would create an adverse impact on the rafting birds which rely on that body of water as a place of rest and nourishment on their migrations from the arctic to the Antarctic and back. Anyone who has seen “Winged Migration” will know what is required for that trip. 

Finally, Mr. Fielding failed to point out that at my request, Mayor Bates met with Arthur Feinstein for Golden Gate Audubon, members of the rowing team board and myself and reached an agreement on how we can work together to resolve issues in a constructive manner. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Mayor Bates for his good offices in this effort. 

It would be great if we saw the same kind of cooperative spirit from Mr. Fielding rather than the kind of screeds against the environmental community that we now associate with Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. 

Norman La Force, 

Chair, Sierra Club East Bay Public Lands Committee 

• 

NO ON PROP. 54 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve generally supported the work of Ward Connerly to get us past Affirmative Action. I strongly believe in Martin Luther King’s dream of a country where race doesn’t matter. 

But I’m voting no on Proposition 54. I don’t think I’m being inconsistent. 

It did sound great to think that some official evaluating a form will no longer be biased by seeing which race was checked off. But Prop. 54 could have also banned having a check box for sex. That’s going too far, isn’t it? Well, there are legitimate reasons to record race, too. 

One reason is medical demographics—disease susceptibility does vary with race. 

But more important, like it or not, race matters politically, just as sex does. The only way to know if people are being processed differently depending on their race or sex is to record that information. 

If race discrimination were eliminated today, Prop. 54 might make sense. But we haven’t quite achieved King’s dream. Racial-steering in real estate goes on, and of course there is “driving while black.” The only way to combat such things is to collect statistics on a person’s race. 

So I’m voting no on Prop. 54. I want to see a race-neutral society, but I don’t think we have to pretend we humans are all one race. Are we going to pretend there’s only one sex? 

Steve Geller 

• 

FERRY SERVICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your article discussing the Bridge Toll Increase Bill was a bit lopsided. While the bill will provide improvements for over 30 transit projects, including very large funding to the Transbay Terminal, BART, and rail service on the Dumbarton Bridge, the article barely mentioned these projects. Instead, it focused only on proposed ferry improvements which constitute about five percent of the bill’s funding. It also failed to mention that this is the most significant funding proposed for public transit in over 20 years and it should have passed years ago: The bill not only provides money for capital expenses, but also provides for operational expenses. Because public transit is in such severe need of financing, even Dianne Feinstein is working to make the bill feasible at the federal level. 

Kriss Worthington and his small group of transit detractors miss the point completely when they complain about the bill and about new ferry service. They claim that money would be better spent on AC Transit. They don’t understand that buses and ferries work hand in hand. They don’t compete with each other; in fact, you can’t have ferries without buses. AC Transit supports new ferry service primarily because 25 percent of ferry funding will be allocated directly to increased bus service and landside connections. Besides, there is no one transit mode that will solve all our needs; it’s a combination of different systems that will serve our future public transit. This group also hasn’t read the Environmental Reports which conclude that new ferries will be far cleaner than bus systems. Ferries will be meeting higher standards—and exceeding the EPA guidelines—than most other transit modes. 

Another problem with the tiny anti-ferry group is their assumption that ferries are purely commuting vehicles. While it’s true that ferries primarily serve commuters (as do buses and BART), what is distinctly different about boats is that they serve two other very important functions. First and foremost, in an emergency or disaster, ferries are necessary for replacing disrupted land service. This was the case in the 1980 BART strike, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and the 2001 World Trade Center attack. In all these events, ferries provided emergency transportation for several weeks or months while buses and trains were down. Second, ferries provide recreational benefits that other modes cannot. On the weekends, ferries provide access to Alcatraz, Angel Island, and Golden Gate Recreational Areas, to name just a few—all areas inaccessible to buses or trains. 

Finally, your article seems to indicate that Gov. Davis might not support the bill. Since the bill is simply a users fee that goes to the users for their approval, it’s no big deal whether Davis supports it; he only needs to let the voters decide for themselves. Either the voters say yes, they are willing to pay $1 more in bridge tolls for improved public transit, or they say no and continue to put up with some of the worst congestion in the state. We are certain, in fact, that Bay Area residents are very clear about transit priorities. The only question is whether the governor will uphold his recent promise to listen to the voters in this recall climate.  

Jerri Holan, Friends of the Albany Ferry 

Linda Perry, Berkeley Ferry Committee 

Albany 

• 

CHECK AGAIN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Google Site Bans Slurs Against Israelis...” Really? Run a search on “zionazi.” In fact, run a search on any epithet or slur aimed at Jews or Israelis; avalanche. There’s no ban or block. You get all the jaw-dropping diatribes. Lots of Indymedia.org hits, too. Pretty simple check to make if you want to maintain credibility, Paul Kilduff. 

Glad to clear Google of that indictment. I’m no loyalist, but it’s still a relief. 

Adam Seward 

• 

Q & A 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Iraq Q & A Highlights: 

Q. How do we invade Iraq without appearing to invade it? 

A. Lie about WMD then form a coalition. 

Q. How do we occupy Iraq without appearing to occupy it? 

A. We don’t occupy, we liberate. 

Q. How do we govern Iraq without appearing to govern it? 

A. Appoint a Temporary Governing Council. 

Q. How do we police Iraq without appearing to be police? 

A. Dress Iraqis in police uniforms. 

Q. How do we use Iraqi oil for the benefit of the Iraqi people? 

A. Make Halliburton hire Iraqis. 

Q. To get support from unsupportive allies, how do we give a little without appearing to give a little? 

Answer pending. 

Marvin Chachere  

San Pablo 

• 

GET OVER IT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

All those rabid Republicans who advised Democrats to “get over” their outrage with the Supreme Court’s decision to stop the Florida recount, thereby enabling the losing candidate to become president, are now apoplectic over the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision to postpone the Davis recall. Hoo, Ha! The chickens are coming home to roost! 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

FILM 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Fox and His Friends,” at 7 and 9:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“They Live,” John Carpenter’s cult classic, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Berkeley Art Center Film Festival: Political and Social Commentary, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

William Greider discusses “The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy,” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Michael Parenti reveals the secret life of the empire in “The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People’s History of Ancient Rome,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ravi Shankar The legendary sitarist performs with his daughter Anoushka at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Mary Watkins, pianist and composer, is featured at Fellowship Cafe & Open Mic at 7:30 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita Sts. A donation of $5-$10 is requested.  

Jazz Singers Collective, with Walter Bankovitch, piano, Bill Douglass, bass, and Steve Robertson, drums, at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Tickets are $7-$12 and are available from 507-2498. 

Donna the Buffalo performs roots rock at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kris Delmhorst, contemporary songcraft, 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 

CWK Trio performs acoustic modern jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $8-$12 sliding scale. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Redmeat and The Bellyachers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Michael Bluestein Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

JND, Bray, and Thriving Ivory at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Municipal Waste, Capitalist Casualties, Caustic Christ, Voetsek, Agents of Satan, Strung Up 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. 

Woman at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

Reorchestra at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 848-8277. 

Mokai and MarQue at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

Euripides’ “Medea,” performed by the National Theatre of Greece at 8 p.m. at the Greek Theatre, UC Campus. Pre-performance talk with UC Berkeley Dept. of Classics Professor Mark Griffith at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $32 and $62. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

EXHIBITION 

Photographs of Inner Mongolia by Michael Sun, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the 3rd Floor Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 

CHILDREN 

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

FILM 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Mother Goes to Heaven,” at 7 and 9:15 p.m., at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Art Center Film Festival: Bums’ Paradise, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joe Conason, political columnist, reveals the right-wing in “Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Bruce Balfour reads from his new book, “The Digital Dead,” at 2 p.m. at The Other Change of Hobbit, 2020 Shattuck Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents Anne Azema, soprano, and Shira Kammen, vielles and harp, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $22 for SFEMS members and Seniors, $25 for non-members, $10 for students. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Trinity Chamber Concerts, with Tom Rose, clarinet, and Miles Graber, perform an all English music program, at 8 p.m. at Trininy Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Admission by donation, $12 general, $8 students, seniors, disabled. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

Remember Shakti with John McLaughlin, guitar, and Zakir Hassain, tabla, U. Shrinivas, electric mandolin and V. Selvaganesh, ghatam and kanjira, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$56 and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Women Singing Out! presented by Rose Street House of Music and East Bay Pride at 8 p.m. at the Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway at 2nd in Jack London Square. Tickets are $8-$15 sliding scale. 594-4000 ext. 687. 

“Jah Music for the People” at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Suzy Thompson and Friends at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. www.downhomemusic.com 

Barry and Alice Olivier, contemporary folk 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 

Brightback, Joanna Newsom, Sean Hayes at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Pietro Lusvardi on the contrabasso at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $6-$15 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org  

Steve Smith-Mike Zilber Group with special guests Dave Liebman and Fareed Haque at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $20-$25. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Alphabet Soup, El Jefe at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Reggae Angels and Amandala Poets CD release party at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Post Junk Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter 848-8277. 

Scott Amendola with Nat Su and Devin Hoff at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

Euripides’ “Medea,” performed by the National Theatre of Greece. at 7 p.m. at the Greek Theatre, UC Campus. Pre-performance talk with UC Berkeley Dept. of Classics Professor Mark Griffith at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $32 and $62. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Oliver Ranch Tour, to benefit the Richmond Art Center. A special opportunity to visit a private reserve dedicated to site-specific sculpture. Cost is $95 per person, which includes a $50 donation to the Richmond Art Center. Reservations required. Call A New Leaf Gallery at 525-7621, or email info@sculpturesite.com 

CHILDREN 

The Kids of the Dayton Tribune Meet Vanessa Thill and Kelly Reed, the 12-year-old founders of the Bay Area annual literary magazine, at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

FILM 

“Homage to Chagall,” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $2. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

The Films of Germaine Dulac: “Ame d’Artiste” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jim Campbell/Matrix 208: “Memory Array” at 3 p.m. in Gallery 1, Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost $8, free to UC staff, faculty and students. 643-6494. tctorres@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 2 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry at Cody’s with Jennifer Arin, Katherine Case, Y. Morales, Annie Stenzel, Jennifer Sweeney and Virginia Westover at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tom Farber reads from his novels “The Beholder” and “A Lover’s Quarrel: On Writing and the Writing Life” at 7:30 p.m. Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pebble Theory, Cilantro, Sun Chasing Shadows at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $3. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

All Shoko Night, featuring the Natto Quartet and the Hikage-Segel Duo, at 8:15 p.m. at The Jazz House. Free, donations accepted. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Paula West at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20-$25. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Lucy Kaplansky with Nina Gerber, vocals with guitar accompaniment, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $19.50 in advance, $20.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

The People with LZ Phoenix, Sol Americano and Dr. Masseuse at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Indian Classical Music with Jyoti Rout, Pandit Habib Khan, and Prof. Mohini Mohan Pattnaik at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15-$20 available from 925-798-1300.  

Taarka seismic gypsy jazz at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epic- 

arts.org 

Americana Unplugged Series: The Whiskey Brothers at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 22 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and World Heavy- 

weight Champion, reads from his new poetry collection “it was today” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books at 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087.  

Elinor Langer reveals the world of skinheads in “A Hundred Little Hitlers: The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, open mic featuring Paradise, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

Catherine Brady reads from her new collection “Curled in the Bed of Love,” which won the Flannery O’Conner Award for Short Fiction, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

The Frail Rhino at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Reality and Illusion: The City of Berkeley Photographed” Reception from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery in Kroeber Hall at the Bancroft and College entrance to UC Campus. 642-4800. http://art.berkeley. 

edu/rev2/wrGallery  

CHILDREN 

Lemony Snicket Day at Cody’s Books. “The Slippery Slope” will be available. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

FILM 

The Films of Germaine Dulac: “The Smiling Madame Beudet” and other films at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robert Hass, Poet Laurate and co-founder of River of Words, reads at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Maxine Hong Kingston, reads from “The Fifth Book of Peace,” a hybrid of memoir and fiction at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Amy Wallace discusses her new memoir “Sorcerer’s Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

DP and The Rhythm Riders at 8:30 p.m., with a Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Beth Robinson, Doug Blumer, singer-songwriter double bill, 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 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24 

FILM 

“Discovering Dominga,” documentary by Patricia Flynn at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. A benefit for the Guatemala Accompaniment Project. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Veronica Voss“ at 5 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and “Satan’s Brew”at 7:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poets from the San Francisco Bay Area will gather with a symbolic giant peace dove at La Peña at 6:30 p.m. to read their “win with words not war” message from three new anthologies: “Farewell to Armaments,” “Flaunt Peace in the Face of War,” and “For You World Peace IMAGINE.” 

Meredith Maran discusses “Dirty: Inside America’s Teen- 

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

Liz Franklin discusses her new book, “How to Get Organized Without Resorting to Arson,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

PEN West presents an evening of readings and discussion in observation of Banned Book Week, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

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

Café Poetry and Open Mic hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation requested. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert University Symphony Orchestra, David Milnes, conductor, Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

Nanjing University Traditional Instruments Orchestra perfrom at 8 p.m. at the International House Auditorium, 2299 Piedmont. Free for I-House members, residents and alumni, $5 for the general public. 642-9460. landerso@uclink.berkeley.edu  

Sólas, traditional and contemporary Irish music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $19.50 in advance, $20.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Anthony Paule - Mz. Dee Band at 9 p.m., with a swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Outbound Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 

FILM 

“Unanswered Questions of 9-11,” presented by The Robber Barons, at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Free. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Genetic Screenings: “Homo Sapiens 1900” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Steve Arntson and Anna Wolfe, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

Wayne Bernhardson shows slides and talks about his new book, “Moon Handbook: Buenos Aires” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. 

Neal Stephenson reads from his new novel, “Quicksilver” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Educator’s Night, for K-12 educators, with author Meredith Maran, at 6 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. Please RSVP to 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Otep Myrrhy Music from Medieval Bohemia at 8 p.m. at at the Parish Hall, St. Alban’s Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $12-$15 and are available from 486-2803 or 524-7952. www.timrayborn.com/Festival 

Julieta Venegas, Mexican singer and rock artist, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Influents, The Flipsides, The Spinning Jennies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Kathy Kallick, album release show, 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 

Rosh Hashana Concert at 8 p.m. at the 1923 Tea House. 644-2204.  

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.

Opponents of the move of Berkeley’s Adult School to the vacant Franklin School site will file a legal challenge to the Berkeley Unified School District today, said Tim Arai, lead plaintiff for the group. 

“We are challenging the district’s traffic plan,” Arai said, “and we are filing suit under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA]. It is our contention that the environmental review and the traffic impact analysis the district filed are faulty.”  

Arai said the plaintiffs, neighbors of Franklin School, are represented by attorney Rose Zoia of Santa Rosa, who specializes in environmental law. 

“We have to file suit [today] because we can only bring action within 30 days of presenting our objections to the plan,” Arai said. 

“We met with city traffic manager David Hillier [Thursday] to discuss major traffic issues, and the city seems to agree with us that the district” hasn’t taken adequate measures to mitigate traffic dangers to the neighborhood. 

Arai and his fellow neighbors want parking lot access on San Pablo Avenue, which CalTrans has opposed because the avenue is a heavily traveled state highway. 

Without the access to San Pablo, the main access to the school is via an entrance across from Kains Avenue and an exit onto Francisco Street. 

Arai met with fellow opponents Thursday night at Cedar Rose Park to discuss the litigation. 

—Richard Brenneman

I’m responding to Sally Reyes’ commentary “Many Failings in BUSD Report Card,” Daily Planet, Sept. 12-15), regarding the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) report issued in July 2003 to the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). Of course, the Planet’s headline for the commentary was inaccurate to begin with. However, I believe it will do more good to offer information regarding the FCMAT report, rather than to argue over Ms. Reyes’ opinions in her commentary or the Planet’s biases. There has been a general misunderstanding and misreading, as well as a misuse, of the FCMAT report since it was released to BUSD in July. The report chronicles about 500 legal, professional, and educational standards for the BUSD as part of FCMAT’s advisory role with Berkeley. One section of the FCMAT report deals with Facilities Management, and this is the section that Sally Reyes’ commentary refers to. In this one section there are 111 standards addressed, with recommendations in several areas for improvement and progress. 

At the Aug. 13 Special Board meeting in which the Board and District staff and the FCMAT team discussed and reviewed the submitted FCMAT report, the Board hardly “bristled” (Ms. Reyes’ term) at the FCMAT report. In fact, Board President Joaquin Rivera has appointed a two-boardmember subcommittee consisting of Director Shirley Issel and myself to help facilitate communication and understanding of the FCMAT report for the Board (a 750-page report, in five major District areas). Further, anyone attending the Aug. 13 Special Board meeting, or reading the preface, summary, and conclusions of the full report would have known several facts that expressly contradict several statements and assertions in Reyes’ Sept. 12 commentary. The preface to the FCMAT report contains these two paragraphs: 

“The findings presented in this report represent a snapshot of the district, and the recommendations are based on the improvement of student learning. In the time since the data-gathering portion of the review, the district has begun to address certain areas of concern, making progress that is not reflected in this report. FCMAT would like to acknowledge the cooperation of the district Governing Board, administration and staff during the review process.” 

I wouldn’t characterize any of this as the Board “bristling” at the report. And although it is very easy to misconstrue the nature of the 10-point scaling system that FCMAT employs in this and other reports, FCMAT, in its preface to the report and at the Aug. 13 Special Board meeting emphasizes and reemphasizes that the report is a deficit analysis, and that the 10-point scale is to be used to measure progress and improvement from this point forward:  

“Every standard was measured on a consistent rating format, and each standard was given a scaled score from zero to 10 as to its relative status of completeness. The following represents a definition of terms and scaled scores. The single purpose of the scaled score is to establish a baseline of information by which the district’s future gains and achievements in each of the standard areas can be measured.” 

A scaled score of zero indicated no significant evidence that the standard has been implemented. This could mean very simply that indeed the standard has not been implemented, or that the paper trail and compliance forms necessary to document the implementation of the standard were not readily available. 

A scaled score of between 1 and 7 indicates a partially implemented standard, lacking completeness, or met to a limited degree. This range is further broken down and defined as follows:  

Scaled score of 1: Some design or research regarding the standard is in place that supports preliminary development. 

Scaled score of 2: Implementation of the standard is well into the development stage, appropriate staff is engaged and there is a plan for implementation.  

Scaled score of 3: A plan to address the standard is fully developed, and the standard is in the beginning phase of implementation.  

Scaled score of 4: Staff is engaged in the implementation of most elements of the standard.  

Scaled score of 5: All standard elements are developed and are in the implementation phase. 

Scaled score of 6: Elements of the standard are implemented, monitored, and becoming systemic. 

Scaled score of 7: All elements of the standard are fully implemented, are being monitored, and appropriate adjustments are taking place. 

It is important to note that the district scaled score for the Facilities Management area that the commentary piece addressed received a 5.67 by the FCMAT reviewers, meaning that staff is engaged in the implementation of the standard, or that elements of the standard have already been implemented and are becoming systemic. 

For those interested, the scores of 8, 9, and 10 are defined as such:  

Scaled score of 8: All elements of the standard are fully and substantially implemented and are sustainable. 

Scaled score of 9: All elements of the standard are fully and substantially implemented and have been sustained for a full school year. 

Scaled score of 10: All elements of the standard are fully implemented, are being sustained with high quality, are being refined, and have a process for ongoing evaluation.  

The FCMAT report is a massive, daunting document that requires days of careful reading, rereading, area comparisons, and further research to fully make use of. It is of course tempting to view the scaled scoring as a “report card.” However, that was not FCMAT’s intended use of the scale, and the report and the FCMAT consultants at the Aug. 13 Special Board meeting explicitly stated that. Using the report as a baseline, a snapshot of our current operations, systems, and practices, and as a basis for continued monitoring and evaluation, is much more demanding, much more difficult, but in the long-term much more beneficial and positive for BUSD, our schools, our staff, our community, and of course, our children. This board is committed to using the FCMAT report as the tool it was intended to be.  

John Selawsky is vice-president of the Berkeley School Board. 

The East Bay Community Law Center will be celebrating its 15th anniversary Saturday, honoring the people who have helped the center become one of the most important resources for low-income residents battling to stay alive and in need of legal help.  

The celebration happens from noon to three at the clinic, 3130 Shattuck Ave. 

Founded on Sept. 26, 1988, by a group of Boalt law students, the center has continued to serve its original purpose of providing legal aid for those most in need. 

Brad Adams, one of the original founders, now runs the Asia Watch division of Human Rights Watch, one of the largest human rights groups in the country. He says many of the original founders had come to Boalt expecting the school to be a leader in social justice work. Quickly disillusioned, they started the center to tackle the work on their own—which for Berkeley meant handling the problems of the city’s large homeless population.  

“These were the days when you literally had to step over homeless people on Telegraph,” said Adams. 

For Adams, watching the center grow into a formidable institution with 14 staff attorneys and the ability to train around 30 Boalt interns every semester has been nothing short of amazing. 

“I never thought it was going to be possible to open the center. We were hardly encouraged by anyone,” said Adams. “They told us not to waste our time. But to see this many clients served is thrilling.” 

Today’s center offers help in four specialties, including housing and tenant’s rights, employment and income support, community economic development, and legal services to people living with HIV and AIDS. 

One constant throughout has been the training program for Boalt students, which led to their role in helping the law school to establish their first clinical training course—which remains the largest of those offered to Boalt students, giving hands-on training to 116 students in the past two years. 

Jeff Selbin, the center’s executive director, said unpaid Boalt interns do the majority of the case work, receiving school credit in return. Students who intern during the fall and spring semesters also have the opportunity to take a for-credit law class taught by clinic staff. 

Over the last decade-and-a-half, interns and staff attorneys have assisted more than 20,000 clients, Selbin said, helping people obtain the most basic survival needs, including shelter, income and medical attention. 

“In most cases, without legal assistance [the clients] would have never stood a chance,” said Selbin. 

Cseneca Parker is a prime example. Facing eviction, Parker approached the center and got the help he needed to win. A grateful Parker began volunteering, and serves as the center’s client liaison. 

Asked what might have happened had he not received help, Parker said, “I would have been on skid row more or less.” 

Some of those who have passed through the center’s clinical training program have signed on as staff attorneys, like Laura Lane. A student at Boalt when she interned with the law center in 1994, after graduation she signed on as a staff attorney and is now working on tenant’s rights issues. 

Lane knew she wanted to do public interest work before she got into law school, and says that her internship with the center was the most valuable experience she had at Boalt. 

“My internship was much more relevant than law school,” said Lane. “I learned so much more in a semester here than I did in three years of law school.” 

Before the center started its clinical training program, Boalt students went through simulated programs on campus but never received any hands-on training. 

Boalt Professor Steve Sugarman says the clinical practice that the law center provides is one of the most important parts of the student’s education.  

“The students have received tremendous benefit from the training,” said Sugarman. “They have also ended up being a very important provider for people in need.”  

Boalt has also given back to the law center with a $180,000 dollar annual contribution. 

The center’s total budget averages $1.5-1.6 million dollars per year, of which 60 percent comes from government sources and the rest from law firms, individuals and foundations. 

Most of the students from Boalt who participate in the internship continue on in public interest law, and a few open their own community law centers. 

“It’s a goal of ours to train the next generation of lawyers who will do economic and social justice work,” said Selbin. 

To date, over 600 students have participated in the internship program. 

Several of the students who participate in the internship program have been recognized with awards, including Mark Davey, who recently received Boalt Law school’s Brian M. Sax ’69 Prize for Excellence in Clinical Advocacy for his work with the center’s Suitcase Clinic Legal Services (SCLS)—a program that provides legal support for the local homeless community. 

Davey spent two years living on the streets of Berkeley after leaving home at 16, but was able to turn his life around after enrolling in Berkeley as an undergraduate and then moving on to attend Boalt. 

Besides becoming one of the leaders in the SCLS program, Davey co-founded the Vehicular Integration Program, a project that is being reviewed by the Berkeley City Council that would create designated areas for people living out of their cars. 

Among those planning to attend Saturday’s anniversary fete—which features free food and entertainment—are Boalt Law School Dean Robert C. Berring Jr., Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

For more information and to RSVP, contact Michelle Eddleman Shin at 548-4040.

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It was with great interest that I read the commentary piece by Sally Reyes (Daily Planet, Sept. 12-14) regarding the failing grade that FCMAT gave Berkely Union School District, especially for its actions in the maintenance area. I am the union representative for the district’s maintenance and custodial workers, among others. FCMAT’s assessment is one we share as do the employees in the maintenance and custodial departments. We suffer the direct consequences of the district’s mismanagement. Those words are chose carefully and based on direct daily experience. 

BSEP provide some $70,000 for BUSD to hire professionals, consultants building maintenance and the custodial area. They produced two comprehensive reports with explicit recommendations for reorganizing these functions. Those reports were the basis for the reorganization plan passed by the board and for Measure BB that provides some $4 million annually to run a competent maintenance department.  

Virtually the first action that this administration took upon coming to Berkeley in the summer of 2001 was to throw out the board’s reorganization plan, the professional recommendations and replace it with one done by district staff. Then the maintenance director, who had had a long career in building maintenance in the private sector, was forced out. 

Subsequently, the custodial manager was laid off and supervision of the custodians was dumped back on overworked principals. This was a repeal of a key reform that the consultant said was essential to overhauling the custodial function.  

In our experience, there is very little accountability being demanded for these actions and the consequences that Ms. Reyes and FCMAT have documented so clearly. The board appears to have abandoned its oversight responsibilities, asks no questions nor challenges actions at odds with its own policies. 

We hope that the FCMAT a report card and op-ed pieces like Ms. Reyes’ will produce some badly needed changes. 

Sincerely, 

Stephanie Allan 

Business Representative, 

Stationary Engineers, Local 29, AFL-CIO

Fred Lupke, 58, a popular Berkeley activist for the disabled community, was seriously injured Thursday evening when his wheelchair was struck by a car as he was crossing Ashby Avenue. 

Berkeley Police Officer Matthew Meredith said Lupke was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was rushed into surgery for head injuries. 

He was listed in critical condition Thursday evening. 

The driver of the car stopped and remained at the scene. She told officers she hadn’t seen Lupke. She was not arrested, Meredith said. 

The accident occurred at 6:07 p.m. between Harper and Ellis streets. Lupke’s wheelchair was struck from behind by the car’s right front bumper, knocking him to the ground, said the officer. 

Lupke is a familiar figure in Berkeley, and an active volunteer in the antiwar and disabled movements. He has been a frequent visitor at the Daily Planet, where he has helped with the community calendar.

The Berkeley City Council split the baby on three contentious issues this week, passing a new housing inspection fee over the objections of landlords, putting off for a week a decision on the Sprint Wireless roof antennae on Shattuck Avenue, and dropping for good its plans to discuss a second resolution concerning American deaths in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Rental Housing Safety Program Fees 

The council approved the city manager’s recommendation to reaffirm Berkeley’s flat $17 per residential rental unit yearly inspection fee along with the $8.50 per room hotel and boarding house inspection fee, while passing slight increases for fees to reinspect rental units that have failed to correct housing code violations. City staff has said that the flat inspection fees, charged to all Berkeley residential landlords, are intended to make the inspection program self-sustaining. 

The Council’s Housing Advisory Commission earlier voted unanimously to recommend the fee schedule to Council. 

The Berkeley Property Owners Association (BPOA) has opposed flat inspection fees whenever they came before the council during the past two years, and they did so again Tuesday night. BPOA President Michael Wilson said the fees are illegally structured and completely unjustified, and contended that the Rental Housing Safety Program itself is “destined to result in litigation.” After the council vote, Wilson said his organization would now consider filing a lawsuit against the Rental Housing Safety Program. 

Councilmembers Olds and Worthington voted against the fee resolution. 

Sprint Wireless Antennae 

The council heard testimony from residents opposed to, and Sprint representatives in favor of, the phone company’s plans to place three cellular telephone antennae on the roof of a building at Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street. Written argument for sides took up nearly half of the thick Council agenda background packet this week. The public hearing, which was postponed once last June, will be reopened again Oct. 21 to allow the submission of an evaluation by CSI Telecommunications of San Francisco, an independent engineering firm. 

Middle East Death Resolution 

The council sidestepped a second straight week of foreign policy squabbling when Councilmembers Hawley and Olds withdrew their resolution calling for a federal inquiry into the deaths of all Americans in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the last three years. 

A deeply divided Council—in front of an equally divided audience—last week killed the Hawley-Olds measure on a 4-4 vote while passing on a 5-4 vote the Peace and Justice Commission-recommended measure supporting an investigation into the death of American peace worker Rachel Corrie, who was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier while she was blocking the destruction of a Palestinian home in Gaza. The Hawley-Olds measure would have expanded that inquiry to include Americans killed by Palestinian suicide bombers. 

After the meeting, Hawley said the expanded resolution was pulled “because we didn’t have the votes, and because we really need to get away from these foreign policy debates and get back to matters that really have some effect on the citizens of Berkeley.” 

There was question as to how the defeated Hawley-Olds measure got back on the council agenda in the first place. Council rules allow for reconsideration of a defeated measure, but the council must vote on a motion to reconsider. There was considerable confusion at the end of the vote on the Hawley-Olds measure, but a videotape of the Sept. 9 Council meeting appears to show Mayor Bates placing the matter over to the Sept. 16 agenda “without objection” over the objections of a number of Council members. 

In other action, Council adopted close to a million dollars in one-time savings and close to a half-million in recurring cuts to make up for a $1.43 million shortfall in the Fiscal Year 2004 budget caused by shortfalls in expected state revenues. 

On first reading, Council passed two ordinances that will temporarily legalize 12 bed and breakfast establishments currently operating in residential neighborhoods contrary to Berkeley’s zoning laws. No complaints against the establishments had been received from local residents, and their illegal status was only discovered by staff researching revenues from the transient occupancy tax. 

The new ordinance allows the bed and breakfast establishments to continue operation, but only by the present owners. Council gave Planning Commission staff six months to come up with recommendations for amendments to the zoning ordinance that would allow the inns to apply for permanent licenses, which could then be sold to new owners. 

The council passed a resolution by Councilmember Dona Spring to host events honoring the 25th anniversary of Kent Nagano as conductor of the Berkeley Symphony. The measure permits the hanging of street banners in connection with the anniversary, required after an embarrassed Council discovered earlier this week that its strict banner ordinance wouldn’t have allowed the Nagano banners. Staff is currently looking into similar ordinances in other California cities, and Council may consider amending its banner ordinance later this term. 

Council is scheduled to meet again Oct. 14, with both a 5 p.m. public working session on budget and ballot measure issues and a 7 p.m. regular session.

The University of California may be getting a different type of diversity next year—part of a drive to find new revenue sources. 

At Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting, UC President Richard Atkinson proposed hiking out-of-state tuition fees and expanding enrollment of out-of-state students to help pay the costs of California students whose education is subsidized by taxpayers. 

Atkinson’s idea was one of many proposed to deal with $484 million in state funding cuts that have wiped out UC’s funding for in-state enrollment growth next year. 

If approved, Atkinson’s proposal would put UC in line with other prestigious state university systems like those of Virginia and Michigan, which seek high out-of-state enrollment and charge those students “private school” fees. 

According to Peterson’s College Guide, last year 11 percent of UC Berkeley undergraduate students were from outside California.  

With recent fee hikes, they now pay around $19,000 in annual fees, nearly quadruple what California residents pay. 

In contrast, out-of-state students at the University of Virginia last year paid $25,000 including room and board and comprised 28 percent of the student body, according to Peterson’s. 

Other proposals to plug the state funding gap included cutting enrollment, freezing faculty pay, restricting community college transfers, laying off staff and raising student fees by $1,800—on top of a roughly $1,000 fee hike for resident undergraduates implemented this year. 

The Regents considered the proposals Wednesday, but aren’t scheduled to take action until January. 

Anu Joshi, executive vice president for the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), said Atkinson’s idea had promise. 

“I think [the ASUC] would support it if it keeps state prices low,” she said. 

Joshi said most of the regents were in agreement with students that ultimately lawmakers in Sacramento needed to stop targeting UC. 

“The truth is no matter the proposal we need to convince the legislature to give us funds,” she said. “Not a single person said we shouldn’t use our power to lobby the legislature.”

South Berkeley shooting 

Berkeley police arrested a suspect in a Wednesday night South Berkeley shooting in the 1500 block of Tyler Street. 

According to police, the victim, a Berkeley juvenile, was walking eastbound on Tyler Street when a man jumped out of a white four-door car and started heading towards him. The assailant displayed a gun and then shot the victim in the leg when the victim tried to escape westbound towards Sacramento Street. 

The victim managed to seek refuge at B-Town Dollar Market on the 2900 block of Sacramento, where a clerk called the police. He was taken to Highland Hospital, treated and released. 

Police arrested Terry Lee Lynch, 29, of Oakland during an area check shortly after the shooting. Police said Lynch matched the description of the suspect, but he had not been charged by press time Thursday night. 

The suspect is described as a black male, 16-18 years old, weighing about 150-160 pounds, approximately 5’7’’ tall, wearing a blue t-shirt with a white design on the front, dark pants and black or white cap. 

Berkeley Public Information Officer Sgt. Steve Odom said police have found no evidence linking Wednesday’s shooting to a string of shootings this year in South Berkeley that police attribute to a rivalry between groups in South Berkeley and North Oakland. 

Robberies 

A burglar sneaked into the bedroom window of an apartment in the 2200 block of Channing Street Wednesday night, police said. The burglar rummaged through the apartment, taking jewelry, a stereo and speakers before fleeing out a bathroom window. 

A burglar entered a house on the 2600 block of Matthews Street Wednesday by placing a chair up against a window and prying it open. According to police, the thief prowled all of the rooms and left with a guitar, credit cards and checks, before leaving through the front door.

The saga of one of Berkeley’s most derelict and contested properties, in legal limbo after a series of controversies and misadventures—one of which found the elderly owner abandoned and stranded in a Paris bathroom two years ago—ended with a whimper Thursday. 

Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies met with no resistance when they evicted Gregory Levin and Nattalia Yalke from the run-down rust-brown house at 1734 Bancroft St., which the pair insisted Rivka Sigal had promised to them before her death. Along with the couple, deputies booted nine homeless squatters who, with permission from Levin and Yalke, had set up tents and futons in the back yard. 

The eviction followed an Aug. 25 ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge John Kraetzer rejecting the couple’s claim that they had an oral contract with Sigal giving them the house in return for caring for her. The case spent two years in the court system, effectively giving Levin and Yalke control of the property until the judge’s ruling. 

Neighbors celebrated the couple’s removal. 

“When Rivka was here, the property was a mess, but she wasn’t threatening,” said one neighbor who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals. 

Last October the city had tried to intervene, sending in police, mental health officials and housing inspectors, who were turned back when the couple refused entry, said Michael Caplan of Berkeley’s City Manager’s office. “There was a question of whether or not they were the legal residents,” Caplan said. “If they were legal, then they have a right to deny access.” 

Caplan said the couple had already fixed the major complaint—trash lining the property—so the city opted not to get an inspection warrant. 

“It was really a messy situation from an enforcement issue,” he said. “The county said they were going through the process of getting them evicted, so we decided to take a back seat to them.” 

Although neighbors were glad to see Levin and Yalke go, they said Sigal was “no walk in the park.” 

A left-wing activist who charmed locals with spunky calls to local talk radio shows and infuriated neighbors with the 30 cats in her house and the eight-foot-high trash piles in her back yard, Sigal’s mental decline in the 1990’s set off a chain reaction that sent her house into legal limbo.  

According to Deputy Alameda County Counsel Sandra Bean, Sigal suffered from dementia and had a long history with the county’s department of adult protective services. Bean said Sigal had once shown up at Alta Bates Hospital covered in urine and feces. 

“She really couldn’t take care of herself,” Bean said. “She always had people to support her.” The court ruled that Sigal, who had no children, left her house—her only asset—to her three long-standing confidants: live-in care providers Mark Bellinger and Irene Cronin and ex-boyfriend Hunter Kuo. 

Levin and Yalte insisted their deal with Sigal superseded the will. 

Yalte said she was introduced to Sigal in April 1999, while she was caring for a friend of hers. “Rivka said ‘I want you to care for me.’ And so I went to work for Rivka cleaning out all the trash in the back yard,” Yalte said in an interview on her last night at the house. 

Yalte said Sigal agreed to make Levin and her joint tenants so that when Sigal died they would own the house. 

Though she said the couple said they drew up a contract to that effect, Sigal never signed. 

Her condition steadily worsened and in April 2001, according to court papers, Uzbek national Ali Abusgosh convinced Sigal to take out a $38,000 mortgage on her house. The two then flew to Paris, where he left her in a bathroom and disappeared with the money, presumably heading back to Uzbekistan. 

When Sigal returned, the county placed her under a conservatorship with the Public Guardian, who sent her to Willow Tree Convalescent Home in Oakland—one of three facilities where she resided until her death last January at the age of 71. 

Yalke and Levin insist their motives were pure and their care top notch. “Nattalia worked very hard caring for Rivka,” said Levin, a retired professor of music at the University of Calgary. “It wasn’t just about a house but about two people who cared for her.”  

According to the couple, Yalke returned to Canada in April of 2000 after she couldn’t convince Sigal to sign the contract turning over her house, but later returned to Berkeley five months later at Rivka’s request. “She would call me over and over again, ‘please come back,’” Yalke said. 

Even though Sigal still refused to sign, Yalke said she moved into the house in June of 2001, after the county put Sigal in the nursing facility. 

The couple’s court filing claimed they provided 92 weeks of work and services to Sigal worth more than $84,000. 

They filed suit against Sigal as the corporation Repuesto L.C. in June of 2001, alleging she had breached an oral agreement to put their names on the deed. After Sigal died, the county probate judge ruled that despite the will, the three named beneficiaries couldn’t take possession, because the lawsuit was still outstanding. 

The judge named the Alameda County Administrator to control the property while the legal case proceeded. 

Bean rejected Yalke and Levin’s claim, saying there was no evidence that they ever cared for Sigal and filed suit against them for elder abuse on the grounds that they pressured her to sign away her house. The suit was tossed out, Bean said, because she could not prove that Levin and Yalke had malicious intent. 

After Judge Kraetzer’s ruling, county authorities served the couple with an unlawful detainer order, demanding they vacate the property. Judge Kraetzer rejected the couple’s request for a 30-day stay, setting the stage for Thursday’s eviction. 

Yalke and Levin said they had no money left to appeal the case, and that, for the time being, they would stay at a friend’s house. “It never occurred to me that we could lose the place,” Yalke said. 

Tim, one of the nine homeless people squatting in the back yard seemed more upset about the eviction than Yalke or Levin. 

“This place is ideal because since it’s private, we can kick out any trouble makers,” he said. “If the city gave us a couple of houses like this one, it would solve the whole problem.”

The Berkeley High School Girls Crew Team will continue to paddle the waters of Lake Merritt for at least two more years, thanks to an agreement brokered by Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. 

The deal gives the rowers a reprieve at Lake Merritt, where last year Oakland Park officials seemed eager to sever their 20-year relationship with the team. Meanwhile, Berkeley will study the team’s effect on migratory birds that flock to the team’s hoped-for home in Aquatic Park. 

The 48-member crew had set sights on the park for its new practice facility years ago, but a tussle with local environmentalists this spring put the brakes on a proposed ten-year lease with the city. 

Sierra Club activist John LaForce and Golden Gate Audubon Society Executive Director Arthur Feinstein threatened to fight the deal unless the city commissioned an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to study how the team could avoid scaring off migratory ducks and geese that rest at the park’s main lagoon. A full report could take over a year and cost the city up to $100,000. 

Team officials were disappointed to lose out on the park. “Tom [Bates] says ‘Great, we have a compromise.’ But it’s not a great compromise,” said former team President Chris Noll. He said Aquatic Park, unlike Lake Merritt, would attract more kids who can’t commute to Oakland and provide enough storage space to house their four racing boats, three of which are slated to move to the park from the Berkeley Corporation Yard.  

Key for the rowers, Noll said, would be Bates’ effort to secure an after-school practice slot at Lake Merritt so the team could practice for two hours. Currently, the team is slotted to practice between 6:30 and 7:45 a.m—which is not enough time to compete with top-tier programs, he said. 

Candace Swimmer, president of the Lake Merritt Rowing Club, which rents space to the team, said she had no objections to letting the team practice in the afternoon, but noted that residents had complained to park officials about the girls making too much noise. 

LaForce praised the compromise, saying it bought time for both sides to reach a compromise and at least temporally staved off a potentially combustible feud between Berkeley students and environmentalists. 

“We were putting the Council in the role of ‘We have to split the baby here,’” he said. 

LaForce and Feinstein fought the team’s Aquatic Park plans, citing a city-funded report that found the rowers would likely scare away migrating seabirds in the park’s main lagoon. According to the report by Richmond-based environmental firm LSA Associates, the boats would rouse birds from their resting spots, expending precious energy needed to feed and eventually migrate. 

Under the deal, the city yielded to the environmentalists’ request to scrap its plan for a limited environmental study of the park and agreed to perform a full EIR. City officials hope to offset costs by combining the Aquatic Park study with an EIR to be conducted for nearby Eastshore State Park. 

The team’s future remains murky. Oakland is planning to transform the Lake Merritt Rowing Club offices into a restaurant in the near future, effectively displacing all of the club’s tenants, including the Berkeley team. Bates’ spokesperson Cisco DeVries said Oakland officials had given Bates assurances that they would give the team the same preference as Oakland teams in finding a new location. 

Last year, Oakland Parks Department Director Harry Edwards pushed to evict the girls to find more Oakland tenants. 

Practice facilities are scarce. Noll said the team had explored several options, including the Port of Oakland and the Jack London Aquatic Center—where the Berkeley boys’ team practices—but found all the alternatives either too costly or already full. 

Environmentalists and team officials met with Bates Saturday and pledged to coordinate efforts to find a compromise practice site.  

“Now I think everyone sees the value of working together,” said LaForce. 

Noll said he would cooperate with the environmentalists, but still considered Aquatic Park the team’s best option. “If they come up with a good location that would be a single location for the boys and girls close to Berkeley, that would be a permanent solution,” he said.

Deana Lopez graduated from Berkeley High School last year with her future very much in doubt. Although she is starting her second year at Vista College, as an undocumented immigrant she has no hope for financial aid to transfer to a four-year school and couldn’t work legally even if she graduated. 

“I can’t work because I don’t have a Social Security number and I can’t apply for federal or state aid, so community college is the only option for me,” said Lopez, 20, who was three when her parents illegally ferried her over the border from Mexico. 

On Tuesday Berkeley City Council unanimously endorsed national legislation aimed at giving Lopez and thousands of other Bay Area youth in her predicament a shot at the American dream. 

A bipartisan U.S. Senate Bill—the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM)—would grant temporary residency to undocumented students provided they graduated from high school and lived in the United States continuously for at least five years. Students who then proceed to complete two years of college or a trade school, or enroll in the army or a volunteer service would be granted permanent residency. 

The House version of the bill is more generous, bestowing permanent residency to students enrolled in the seventh grade or higher who have lived in the country for at least five years. 

The Urban Institute estimates that between 50,000 and 60,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools every year, though precise figures don’t exist because high schools are forbidden to inquie about students’ immigration status. 

By granting residency status to undocumented students, the legislation would enable them to apply for state and federal student loans, find a job and pay in-state tuition at state universities. 

Two years ago, California followed Texas as the second state to grant in-state tuition to undocumented students who spent at least three years in a state high school. Gov. Gray Davis signed the bill after rejecting a stronger version, which, like the Texas law, would have granted students access to state loans as well. New York and Utah are the only other states offering illegal aliens in-state tuition. 

The California law has opened educational opportunities for undocumented students, but without financial assistance or a work visa most attend cheaper local community colleges and find a dead end upon graduation, according to immigration advocates. 

“There are students who are going into adulthood who have no chance at a job and will become a drain on the system” said Humberto Retana of People United for the Legalization of Students. 

Brought over illegally as a child, Retana gained residency under a 1986 general amnesty signed by President Reagan. Retana said “this [legislation] is based on a simple idea—they’re here, we have to have some type of relationship with them, so this offers them the opportunity to integrate into American society,” he said 

Without the legislation, students say they have little motivation to excel, since a plum job is perpetually out of reach and deportation is never out of mind. 

“It affected my psyche in high school, said Luis Martinez, 20, a second-year student at Chabot College in Oakland and national CO-chair of Movimiento Estundtil Chicano de Aztlan (MeChA), a Latino student group. “It was really hard to be motivated, because no matter how many AP classes I took, I knew my future was limited.” 

Martinez, who was two when he illegally immigrated with his parents and older brother from Mexico, got a break a few years ago when his mother married a U.S. citizen. Since he hadn’t turned 18, he was granted residency, but his older brother was too old to qualify. 

“He is extremely limited with what he can do,” Martinez said. “If the Dream Act had been in place he would have had residency status and could have gone to college.” 

The legislation is opposed by the Washington-based Immigration Watchdog Group Federation for American Immigration Reform. The lobby argues that the legislation unfairly penalizes citizens and legal residents who do not violate U.S. immigration law and would open the flood gates to universal amnesty for illegal immigrants. 

“It’s a stepping stone,” said FAIR spokesperson David Ray. “The Dream Act exempts students from immigration laws and inevitably that loophole gets wider until no one is left out.” 

Ray said undocumented students should return to their native country, apply for university and then work the legal channels to petition for a visa. He said passing the legislation would prove an incentive for parents to smuggle their children across the border with Mexico. 

Humberto disagreed, saying most undocumented students have no interest in returning to a country they know little about. “Many of these students have been here for 10 to 15 years, he said. “They’re not going to go back from where they came from.” 

Neither side would wager on the legislation’s chances. Both bills are in their respective judicial committees, where the Dream Act is sponsored by powerful Utah Republican Committee Chair Orin Hatch.  

Still, after Sept. 11, the climate for immigration reform has cooled. President Bush buried a proposal to offer blanket amnesty to thousands of undocumented Mexicans after the 2001 terrorist attack, and has not voiced an opinion on the legislation. 

Lopez, meanwhile, says she is trying to concentrate on her studies in International Relations while the politics play out. “If this becomes law then hopefully I would transfer to UC Berkeley,” she said. “This would be a great opportunity for a person like me.”

Hoping to raise the $60,000 needed to keep Berkeley public swimming pools open this winter, the United Pool Council, a Berkeley community group, is sponsoring a swim-a-thon fund raiser this Saturday at the King pool, 1700 Hopkins St. 

Participating in the marathon will be upwards of 72 swimmers divided into three teams of 24 or more, with each individual swimmer swimming for an hour interval over the 24 hours of the event. The splashoff will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with the last lap ending at 11 a.m. Sunday. 

With city pools in danger of closing over the winter because of funding cutbacks, the Pool Council lobbied the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department and City Council to let them do their own fundraising to save several important programs at the two pools, Willard (Telegraph Avenue and Derby Street) and West (Addison and Browning streets).  

Blythe Lucero, coach of Berkeley’s Adult Masters swim team and the main organizer working with the pool council to sponsor the event, says pool closures would severely affect participants in the year-round programs, including those in the disabled community with a special need for the strenuous exercise only swimming can offer. 

“Fitness, whether is be competitive swimming or lap swimming, is a year-round thing, it’s important to make it routine,” said Lucero. 

Each swimmer participating in the swim-a-thon was responsible for finding donors that would sponsor them for at least up to $100, and some are pulling in up to $1,000 dollars. Several corporate sponsors have signed on, including Berkeley Sports and GU, local producer of an energy food product. 

Lucero aimed to raise at least $20,000 dollars through the event, an amount many thought out of reach. Now however, Lucero says that with all the support, the event might go beyond the original goal. 

In the meantime, the Pool Council has been raising other funds by working with the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront department to expand the programming at existing pools. They have also developed a plan to rent pool time out to private schools and other groups during non-use hours. 

Lucero says that everyone is really excited about the event and all have the common goal of ensuring that Berkeley’s public pools remain open. 

“I just want the pools to work,” said Lucero. 

For more information or to sign up and swim, call Blythe Lucero, 235-7018.

Students returned to Franklin Preschool Wednesday, four days after a suspected arsonist destroyed two classrooms in the school’s north wing. 

Nearly all of the three- and four-year olds were redistributed among the school’s other three classrooms and one permanent portable classroom that was not in use, said Jon Santoro, principal of early childhood education. 

About 15 of the school’s approximately 125 students, he said, were divvied among the district’s three other preschools. Two special education students were moved to an identical program housed at Rosa Parks Elementary School. 

The loss of the two classrooms did not drastically impact class size at the school, Santoro said. The four classrooms in use would house between 24 and 30 students, and the two classrooms destroyed in the fire both held about 25 students. 

Santoro is now working on replacing thousands of dollars in lost school supplies and appliances. 

Since the two charred classrooms housed all-day classes that provided students with meals and a nap time, Santoro said he will have to replace burnt sleeping mats, sheets, a refrigerator and convection oven, as well as shelves, chairs and desks. 

“We’re hoping for donations. Parents and neighbors have already given books and toys,” said Santoro. He has already secured a microwave oven, but would probably have to order new sleeping mats. 

The fire was set outside the north wing of the wooden building Saturday at approximately 11:50 a.m. “We’re calling it an arson,” said Fire Department Spokesperson Deputy Chief David Orth. “There was no reason for the fire to have started except for someone lighting it.” 

Fire inspectors have not announced a damage toll and it is not known if the north wing of the building can be salvaged. Police are investigating the incident. 

Students from the three undamaged classrooms returned Wednesday and were in high spirits, Santoro said. The students from the damaged classrooms returned Thursday and were more melancholy. “Some kids were teary-eyed,” Santoro said, “But so far it’s been OK.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on UC Berkeley’s expansion plans. Part two will look at other impacts related to the Long Range Development Plan and UC expansion, including fiscal impacts and impacts related to housing, construction and permit parking  

Planning for further expansion, the University of California at Berkeley has begun the process of preparing a new Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) to guide development on the Berkeley campus and in adjacent areas through the year 2020.  

The proposed expansion poses challenges for the City of Berkeley and its elected leaders. 

Will it result in more traffic, loss of tax revenues, a tighter housing market and construction-related disruption, or can these and other negative impacts be avoided or mitigated effectively? 

An environment impact report (EIR) will evaluate the potential impacts associated with the development of additional academic facilities, housing and parking, and the University released a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the EIR at the end of last month.  

The NOP states that the University may add up to 2,200,000 square feet of academic and support space, an increase of 18 percent over 2001-2002. The number of students attending UC during the spring and fall semesters may increase by as much as 5 percent from 31,800 to 33,450.  

The number of students attending UC in the summer could increase by as much as 50 percent, reaching a total headcount of 17,100.  

UC Berkeley will continue to be strongly oriented toward research, and will expand thusly devoted space with new research units to be located on blocks adjacent to campus. While the maximum increase in faculty is expected to be 13 percent, the remaining academic staff population (postdocs & visiting scholars included) is expected to grow by as much as 61 percent 

Altogether, the maximum campus headcount during the fall and spring semesters could grow by a maximum of 5,320, from 45,935 in the 2001-2002 school year to a maximum of 51,250 in 2020. Students would account for only 31 percent of this headcount increase. 

Of course, if the current problems with the state budget persist, expansion achieved by 2020 may fall substantially short of the estimated maximum growth presented in the NOP. 

While the 2020 LRDP EIR process is now underway, no actual 2020 plan exists. The university plans to produce a draft LRDP in the spring.  

Two already completed UC plans, the New Century Plan and the Strategic Academic Plan, define the policy framework for an updated Long Range Development Plan. 

The NOP includes five pages of parameters that will serve as the basis for environmental review, referencing both previous plans. 

The NOP also includes a list of alternatives that will also undergo environmental analysis. These include: “Reduced Enrollment Growth,” “Limited Research Growth,” “Some Research Growth Offsite.” 

How will the city be affected by further university expansion? 

Traffic impacts 

The University of California is Berkeley’s biggest employer with close to 13,000 faculty and staff (not including student workers), according to the NOP. Not surprisingly, it generates a lot of automobile traffic. A recent UC commuter survey found that about 51 percent of faculty and staff drive alone to work, as do 11 percent of the students. 

Traffic on various streets leading to campus will increase along with expansion unless the university takes steps to encourage more faculty, staff and students to walk, bicycle, carpool or take public transit to campus.  

The university’s record of promoting transit use is a mixed one.  

On the one hand the university has implemented a “Class Pass” for students, which allows students—who have actively supported the program—to ride AC Transit buses for free in return for a modest payment that all students pay as part of their annual fees.  

The university also has an alternative commute program for UC Berkeley employees called “New Directions for Faculty and Staff.” Faculty and staff can get a $10 a month subsidy for purchasing transit tickets and can use UC shuttles for free, and carpoolers can get certain types of UC parking permits for reduced or no cost. 

On the other hand, the university recently cut off funding for the Berkeley TriP Commute Store on Center Street in downtown Berkeley. The store, which closed as a result of the funding cuts, had been selling 110,000 transit tickets and passes a year and answering over 50,000 public inquiries a year.  

In addition, the university has been in discussions with AC Transit for a long time about creating an “EcoPass” for faculty and staff, which, like the student Class Pass, would allow passholders to ride the bus for free.  

Unions representing UC employees have lobbied for an EcoPass, but oppose UC’s proposal that staff should pay for the pass. (The City of Berkeley provides an EcoPass for its employees at no cost to the employees, as do most employers in the few other areas of the country that have such programs.)  

It also appears that implementation of an EcoPass for UC faculty and staff has been delayed because the University has been unwilling to offer enough money to make the program work financially for AC Transit. 

Parking Expansion 

The most controversial aspect of the LRDP project as presented in the NOP is its proposal for a huge expansion in the supply of UC parking. In addition to the Underhill parking structure planned for the Southside—which would add 690 spaces—UC is proposing to build as many as 2,300 more spaces, bringing the total to a maximum of 9,900 spaces by 2020.  

Since some spaces are occupied by more than one car during the course of a day, this is enough parking for perhaps an additional 4,000 auto commuters per day.  

Should these additional trips by auto materialize, it will add to traffic volumes on Berkeley streets and increase traffic congestion. It will certainly not do anything to improve air quality or reduce the local contribution to the global warming problem. 

The NOP indicates that UC is planning to locate a large majority of new parking to the west and south of the campus. The Downtown and the Southside are the two areas of the city with the highest level of transit service.  

What kind of message will commuters get if UC goes forward with plans to add more cars to the two areas of the city where getting around without a car is most practical? 

Transportation Demand Management 

The Southside/Downtown Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Study, jointly funded by the city and UC and completed in 2001, proposed a series of actions that could be taken to better manage transportation.  

These included EcoPass, transit preferential measures, additional bicycle parking, promotion of bicycle use and better utilization of existing parking. The TDM Study also suggested an expanded role for Berkeley TriP, which seems unlikely to occur unless the university reverses its decision to withdraw funding. 

The LRDP NOP makes no mention of TDM or specific TDM measures. Nor do any of the alternatives that will undergo environmental analysis mention TDM or policies to improve transportation “mode split” to reduce traffic by encouraging alternatives to driving alone to work.  

One alternative that will be considered by the EIR is a “Reduced or No New University Parking” option, but this assumes no reduction in demand for parking and focuses only on use of non-university parking as an alternative to more university-owned parking. 

The university’s New Century Plan does include, as one of its strategic goals, the aim of “achieving drive-alone rates under 50 percent for faculty/staff and under 10 percent for students.” As a “near-term objective,” UC proposes: “By the end of 2012, achieve five percent reductions in the percentages of student and faculty/staff drive-alone commuters from 2001 survey data.” 

The TDM study looked at how much of a shift away from driving alone would be necessary to obviate the need for more parking while accommodating anticipated growth through 2010-2011. 

To eliminate the need for more parking, the percentage of faculty and staff driving alone to work would have to be reduced from 50 percent to 44 percent—achieveable if the percentage of trips by carpools increased from 10 percent to 13 percent and if trips by transit increased from 16 percent to 19 percent. 

The TDM study concluded that the number of parking spaces needed to accommodate possible university growth through 2010-11 with no change in the percentage who drive would be 665. This is far less than the up to 3,000 spaces that UC is allowing for in the LRDP Notice of Preparation. 

Will the LRDP EIR’s environmental analysis include looking at the possibility of building less or no additional parking while undertaking TDM measures to reduce demand for parking and the percentage of people driving alone to campus? 

In the late 1980s, Stanford University General Use Permit EIR found that “Stanford could reduce the number of single-occupancy automobile commuters to campus in numbers sufficient to offset its daytime population increases.” Stanford successfully implemented a Traffic Mitigation Plan with a variety of TDM measures. 

Rob Wrenn has lived in Berkeley since 1982 and is a member of Planning Commission and the Transportation Commission.

The public will get a critical opportunity to comment on future growth plans for the UC Berkeley campus when the University of California conducts a scoping meeting for the 2020 Long Range Development Plan and the Tien Center Environmental Impact Report Monday from 5 p.m to 9 p.m. at the Clark Kerr Campus Krutch Theater, 2601 Warring St. The session will provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed scope of the environmental analysis.  

Written comments can also be submitted with a deadline of Monday, Sept. 29 at 5:00 p.m. Comments can be e-mailed to 2020LRDP@cp.berkeley.edu or mailed to Jennifer Lawrence, Principal Planner, Environmental & Long Range Planning, Capital Projects, 1936 University Ave., Berkeley, CA, 94720. 

The proposed scope of the EIR and a description of the project under consideration and a list of alternatives for environmental analysis are in the Notice of Preparation for the EIR. There is also an “Initial Study” which identifies the potential environmental impacts that will be addressed in the EIR.  

Copies of these documents and of the New Century Plan and Strategic Academic Plan can be found on the UC Capital Projects Web site: www.cp.berkeley.edu 

Copies should also be available for review in the main branch of the Berkeley Public library and at the offices of UC Capital Projects’ Physical and Environmental Planning offices, 100 A&E Building on the UC campus and at 1936 University Ave., Suite 300.

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante made a campaign stop in Oakland the other day to answer questions by members of the Black Elected Officials of the East Bay organization and the progressive Socially Responsible Network. The Bustamante appearance was marked by the question that wasn’t asked, and the question that wasn’t answered. 

For starters, not a soul asked him about the N-word. 

For the record, Bustamante’s original N-word slip came at the oddest of times and places—a speech at a 2001 Black History Month banquet held in Emeryville by the Coaliton of Black Trade Unionists, when he mispronounced the word “Negro” as “nigger.” I’ve heard Southern white politicians embarrass themselves like that before a black crowd. But the white Southern-drawl pronunciation of “Negro” is “nigra,” which sounds like an awfully close cousin to “nigger” to the untrained or sensitive ear, and is probably where the “nigger” term came from in the first place. Bustamante, an articulate man with the diction of an English professor, could not claim that his accent made him do it. To his credit, Bustamante did not profess that he was misunderstood by the trade unionists, several of whom walked out of the 2001 meeting, nor did he offer any excuses. He has apologized profusely, from that moment to this.  

Apparently, it’s not enough. Log onto any California-based African-American Internet discussion group this month, and you can’t find a mention of Bustamante without a reference to his once and infamous use of the N-word. It will cost him some portion of black votes in the recall election, though no one can guess how many at the present. 

One of the reasons this issue lingers among black Californians, I believe, is that while Bustamante’s apologies have been more than adequate, his explanations have not. “This word comes out my mouth, and I didn't know what to do,” Bustamante said back in 2001. “I couldn't believe what came out of my mouth. I know it came out of my mouth, but it is not how I was taught, it is not how I teach my children.” 

Then how, many African-Americans wonder, did it come out of his mouth? 

When I was in my late 40’s, I heard my father curse for the first time. What I mean to say is, it was the first time I heard him curse, which is not the same as saying this was the first time he cursed. He did it easily, and in perfect context, in a way people do it when they are used to cursing. Up until that moment I believed that my father did not curse, because I had never heard him curse. Afterwards, I realized that he did not curse in front of his children, which is quite a different thing. 

This, I think, is how many African-American Californians view Bustamante’s use of the N-word at the Black History Month Speech. There is a lingering suspicion that this a word the Lieutenant Governor either regularly uses among trusted associates when he’s out of the public eye, or else a word he regularly used at some other time in his life. Neither of these, of course, may be true. This is a simmering issue that is never going to be entirely forgotten. But even at this late date, if Bustamante wants to mitigate it, he needs to provide a better explanation as to why this word popped out of his mouth, both for the sake of his own political future and, more importantly, for the sake of better relations with the state’s two largest minorities. 

The question that didn’t get answered was that of Oakland school activist Kitty Epstein, who wanted to know if Bustamante would do something about the handful of school districts—including Oakland—that have been seized by the California Legislature and turned over to the state school superintendent because of various fiscal problems. It would seem that this is a violation of the electoral rights of close to half a million Oaklanders, who must continue to pay for our public schools, but have no control over them. That sounds like taxation without representation to me, a situation over which the American colonists once fought the British in a lively little war. 

Bustamante, an intelligent man who hears as well as he talks, seemed to think the school takeover question was about equal funding for all California schools, or something like that. Anyway, that’s the question he decided to answer. 

I can understand why Bustamante would want to duck the Oakland school takeover question. I just don’t understand why more Oaklanders haven’t used the gubernatorial recall as a way to get this issue back into the public eye. But we’ll save that for another day’s thoughts. 

Anyway, Bustamante got mostly softball questions from a largely supportive, largely black Oakland audience and for him, I’m sure, that’s all that mattered. These other issues will just be allowed to linger...until somebody brings them up again. Or until they are resolved.

It has hosted concerts and commencements, demonstrations and divas, mass meetings and memorials. The home fires of university spirit have burned bright on its sandy floor, and many of the great names and performing groups of the past century have trod its stage. 

It is one of the most distinguished and indelible features of Berkeley’s cultural and physical landscape.  

Berkeley’s oldest and grandest public performing arts space—the Hearst Greek Theatre—turns one hundred this month. 

The centerpiece of the celebration of this centennial takes place this weekend, when the venerable institution hosts another venerable institution—the National Theater of Greece, dedicated to the authentic revival of ancient Greek drama—performing Euripides’ Medea. 

This Saturday and Sunday evenings, Berkeley’s Greek guests will perform using ancient staging techniques; the performance will be as classical Athenian audiences once saw it, down on the circular orchestra, rather than on the stage, with the participation of a full chorus, a tradition rarely seen in American productions of ancient drama. 

The performance will be in modern Greek, with supertitles projected on the stage (there are also numerous English translations of Medea in print and online, if you’re inclined to study up before the performance.)  

Medea tells a classic tale of betrayal and revenge, revolving around the soured relationship of Jason, the hero-captain of the Argo, and Medea, the Colchian princess he brought back from his adventures seeking (and stealing) the Golden Fleece.  

Although they have had two sons together, Jason abandons Medea to take up with the daughter of the King of Corinth in what he rationalizes as an attempt to secure the family fortunes. Exiled from Corinth, Medea exacts a horrific revenge on both the Corinthian royalty and her cheating husband. 

The story is as old as, well, ancient Greece, and as modern as yesterday’s news headlines detailing some shocking story of family violence in which one angry member of an estranged couple draws the children into a cycle of vengeance against the other. 

The appearance of the National Theatre is literally a unique event, analogous to the Bolshoi Ballet or Royal Shakespeare Company dropping in to Berkeley for a few performances. 

When it comes to the United States the National Theater typically only plays East Coast venues, usually in New York or Washington D.C.  

This time, they are making a special and brief trip to Berkeley specifically because of our Theatre and its centennial. 

The event is sponsored by Cal Performances, which manages the Greek Theatre and was founded there itself nearly a century ago, when a newly minted campus committee on drama and music started staging events in the Greek. 

I like what Professor of Classics Mark Griffith recently told a campus journalist about this event. “People will kick themselves if they miss this.”  

It’s a rare chance to experience history—a notable centennial—and see a distinguished performance at the same time. 

The appeal of seeing a classical staging of Medea is particularly interesting at the present time, since less than a year ago the Abbey Theatre performed Medea in Zellerbach Hall, with Fiona Shaw in the title role, and not too long ago the homegrown Shotgun Players also staged their own unique interpretation in the (temporarily) defunct UC Theatre downtown.  

If you saw either or both of those stagings, it is well worth seeing this Medea as well, in comparison. 

Although Cal Performances and the Greek Theatre are part of the university, they are also Berkeley jewels in a broader sense. Much of the audience for Cal Performances events is drawn from the surrounding community.  

The Greek Theatre helped put Berkeley on the map culturally, at the beginning of the 20th century. It was an embodiment in concrete of the aspirations of both town and university to become “Athens of the West.”  

Real estate developers, travel writers, and local intellectuals all pointed to the Greek as a tangible symbol of Berkeley’s culture and character, and townspeople regularly trooped to the Theatre to see civic events, performances, and even Cal student spirit rallies. 

Most Berkeleyans probably have a favorite memory of an experience in the Greek Theatre, from Grateful Dead Concerts to the once-annual performances by the San Francisco Opera, to Bread and Roses Festivals, or notable speakers such as Bishop Tutu, the Dalai Lama, or innumerable statesmen and women over the years. 

Tickets are still available for both performances of Medea this weekend. 

Call the Cal Performances Ticket Office at 642-9988, or go to their website at www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Tickets are also available at the door.  

UC faculty and staff get a significant discount on tickets for this event, so if you are one—or have a friend or neighbor who works for the University—take advantage of that opportunity. 

(Steven Finacom is a long-time Berkeley resident and local historian and works at the University of California.) 

Two Pictures Attached: Suggested Captions:  

“Cal students prepare for a Fall, 1921, bonfire rally in the Greek Theatre. Student events and spirit rallies have been a tradition at the historic outdoor amphitheater since it was constructed” 

“The first official dramatic performance in Cal’s Greek Theatre was The Birds by Aristophanes, on September 24, 1903.” 

I saw a Hummer last month. More than that, I touched it. I rode in it. I even sat in the driver’s seat and pretended to run an armored car off the road. For a Berkeley kid like me, getting intimate with a Hummer is the ultimate taboo. It’s like a Bostonian rooting for the Yankees or a Kennedy marrying a Republican weight lifter. 

My friend Sabrina drove the beautiful beast up from LA for a visit. She’s got a dog and a couple of suitcases, so really, what else could she possibly drive? And her explanation for buying it (“Because I like it”) was good enough for me. 

I should mention that Sabrina hasn’t been in LA long, and buying the Hummer was her final act as a New Yorker; she drove that glorious pig right across this great land, touring gas stations east, west and central. If my math skills serve me—let’s see: carry the four, divide by $1.87, remultiply by n—the trip cost her just shy of forty million dollars. 

As I got out my flares and beacons and helped her back into a parking spot in front of my house, I got a guilty sort of pleasure. Men stared, children gaped, women dropped to their knees. The master of the motorways had arrived. 

I turned my back for a moment to ride the escalator into the back seat, and when I came out Sabrina was vigorously cursing at a passerby. She said he started it, that he’d made some comment about the war in Iraq being her fault. 

She shouted something back about how his obvious penchant for pot-smoking was as damaging to the country as her love for unleaded. It was a fairly irrelevant argument to be sure, but can’t we all just love a car that engenders public discourse? 

You’ve got to admire Sabrina’s willingness to drive into the lion’s den of Berkeley with only her wit and a Kevlar-plated demi-tank to protect her. This is a town where everybody is fully entitled to the opinion of everybody else. People share their feelings with wanton abandon, walking blithely through the streets castigating and condemning one another for faults real and imaginary. 

Sabrina told me that nobody in LA has ever said a thing to her, but that within hours of being here she’d had to defend her honor to strangers a dozen times or more. In Berkeley, apparently, you can’t own a Hummer; you can only be its curator as it is displayed for public comment. 

Of course, I tried to join the bandwagon of criticism, but I don’t have a leg to stand on. I am, after all, an Oldsmobile owner. 

I never wanted the Olds exactly. It came to me (along with a wood-handled ice-cream scooper) as an inheritance from my grandmother. But all doubt was removed the first time I sat down on those cigarette-burnt seats, flipped on Grandma’s radar detector and let those horsies run. 

I ask you, have you ever actually been in an Olds? Oh, you smug Subarites, you haughty Honda Civilians scurrying, always scurrying, ferrying groceries and babies and earnest intentions. In an Oldsmobile it is impossible to be harried or tired, unthinkable to imagine yourself trivial or weak. There are no speed bumps for me, my shocks are enormous, my suspension ethereal. I ride in style. 

The Oldsmobile, rounded and glistening like a lozenge, slides through town of its own accord. As a driver I am merely a pleasant accoutrement for my car; the Olds is a near-sentient luxury pod that attends to my every need. 

When I first saw my car it was amongst its own kind in South Florida and I worried that, stripped from it’s natural habitat and brought to California, it would fail to thrive. But by the time we’d driven cross-country together we had reached an agreement to eschew shame and beam out the pride of driving American. 

In Berkeley I scanned the streets in search of a sibling for my Olds. Now I know that there are half a dozen other Oldsmobile owners in this town of conservation and efficiency. When I see these fellow travelers I nod silently and they nod back, silver hair and ivory dentures bobbing up and down as a compliment to me for being wise beyond my years. 

They say that a person’s choice of car is a perfect reflection of their personality. It’s true my friend Sabrina is brash and loves to argue. She’s talking about driving her Hummer up for another visit and I think she may just need a little caustic sidewalk debate to add spice to her sunny Los Angeles life. 

But as for me, I never chose the Olds. Instead, it chose me and we’ve successfully asserted our right to exist in the fuel-efficient wilds of Berkeley. 

But still, it’s hard to find a parking spot that fits.

Katherine Case and Andrew Moore hope their third attempt to move to Berkeley is the charm. In 1999 the housing crunch forced them to Lake Merritt and in 2001 to Richmond in their quest for affordable housing. 

“Before it was ridiculous. There wasn’t a one-bedroom for under a thousand dollars,” said Case, scanning apartment listings at Berkeley-based rental service eHousing. 

This year, the couple might be in luck. Among the company’s 644 Berkeley listings—up three-fold from two years ago—are nearly a dozen one-bedrooms under $800. 

“That would have been impossible two years ago,” said eHousing President Davin Wong. “Now $800 can get you a one-bedroom and it’s not necessarily by the Bayer Warehouse [in West Berkeley].” 

The low prices signify what landlords, tenants and rental professionals say is a 180-degree turnaround in the local rental market since prices peaked in 2001. 

In 1998 and 1999 waves of tech boom transplants coupled with the elimination of rent control on vacant units sent shock waves through Berkeley’s rental housing market, catapulting prices for vacant units more than 40 percent in three years. 

Now, according to figures compiled by UC Berkeley rental service Cal Rentals, Berkeley rents this year have sunk more than 10 percent to 2000 levels. The drop is not as big as in nearby cities, but a sea change from a few years ago when an open house could attract a line of renters outside the door all scribbling down their references in hopes they would be the chosen ones. 

In June the average Berkeley studio rented for about $850, down from $1,000 in June 2001, according to Cal Rentals. One-bedrooms dropped $220 to $1,130; two-bedrooms dropped $180 to $1,580; and three-bedroom houses fell $300 to $2,400. 

“The rental market is the best for tenants that I have ever seen,” said Cal Rentals Director Becky White, who noted that many landlords were pricing rentals well below the recorded averages. “I thought I’d never see the day when a two-bedroom apartment in Berkeley would go for $1200.” 

The driving force behind the plunge, experts agree, is the retreat of the tech boom transplants. The loss of young workers flocking to Berkeley along with new student and residential housing and a static student population have left landlords—who rushed to put dormant units on the market during the boom—awash in vacancies. 

According to the Berkeley Property Owners Association, the average Berkeley landlord owns six apartment units. Recently, however, large developers—led by Panoramic Interests—have started building large apartment complexes downtown and along major transit corridors. 

Since 1998, Panoramic Interests has built four buildings, adding 239 one- and two-bedroom apartments to the city’s housing stock. The firm plans to complete three more complexes downtown next year, adding an additional 177 apartment units. 

Panoramic Interests Chairman Patrick Kennedy said he had only seven vacancies, but was unsure what the market what the market would bear when his next wave of development hits the market next August. 

“That’s when I’ll sweat the big drop,” he said. 

The abundance of options means tenants now have the hammer in dealing with their landlords. Wong said tenants are demanding rent reductions to stay at their homes and will shop around for the best deal. 

“Two years ago if you were offered a place, you’d have better biked over with the rent check right away,” said Wong. “Now landlords are competing against each other.” 

Despite improved negotiating leverage and a number of desperate landlords offering bargains, Berkeley prices, compared to other East Bay cities, remain stubbornly high. 

Oakland’s Lake Merritt neighborhood saw prices leap almost as high as Berkeley’s during the boom, but in the bust they have fallen quicker. 

According to Berkeley-based rental service Homefinders, in the last three months the average Lake Merritt studio rented for $742; one-bedroom $955; two-bedroom $1,317 and three-bedroom $1,837. 

Berkeley Rent Board Executive Director Jay Kelekian attributes the price gap to Berkeley’s reputation as a safe and progressive community with many charming homes, making the city attractive to tenants even in a slow economy. 

Property owners don’t discount Kelekian’s assumption, but they say the city’s contentious history of rent control has had the psychological effect of keeping some landlords from dropping rents down to the market rate. 

“In Berkeley owners are far less inclined to reduce rents than they are in Oakland,” said Wayne Rowland, president of the Rental Housing Association of Northern Alameda. 

Rowland said that even though Oakland voters last year barred landlords from evicting tenants without just cause—bringing the city’s rent control laws closer in line with Berkeley’s—Oakland landlords were more willing to cut rents because they weren’t traumatized by a long history of battling with a rent board they view as hostile. 

Since Berkeley instituted rent control in 1980, landlords have complained that—except for a few years when they controlled the popularly elected board—the Rent Board has favored tenants, locking them into antiquated rents for as long as they stayed in their apartment. 

Owners bristled last October when the Rent Board voted to deny them a rent increase for this year, and the two sides have tussled in court previously over permissible rent hikes. 

Now many say they are holding out, fearing that if they drop prices and the market goes back up, they will be stuck with below-market rents until the unit is again vacated. 

“I don’t know how Berkeley landlords manage to stick it out with vacancies month after month, said Dana Goodell at Homefinders. “They absolutely don’t want to rent it at a lower rent if the market is going back up so they often think in terms of 10 or 20 years.” She added that for some landlords the decision seemed based more on emotion than the state of the market. 

Kelekian insisted that under rent control, even landlords who have long-term tenants are guaranteed a profit on the unit, and that if they can prove they are losing money they can petition the Rent Board for a rent increase. “They want a windfall on the windfall,” he said. 

Berkeley Property Owner Association President Michael Wilson said many landlord holdouts were following simple mathematics. “If you lower rent $100 just for a year, that makes sense. But that loss begins to compound itself over time and you’re locked into the lowest rent of the worst market forever.” 

Kelekian second-guessed the landlord’s logic, noting about 25 percent of rental units turnover every year, and that by keeping units vacant and denying themselves rental income, they stand to lose more than if they acquiesce to market rates. “I’d like to hear their math because I don’t understand it, Kelekian said. “What they’re saying is that the market isn’t good enough.” 

Not all Berkeley landlords can afford to wait for the next boom. For small-time owners who bought their property within the past few years and must pay hefty mortgages or who otherwise need a steady flow of rental income, Wilson said they feel more pressure to drop rents until they find a taker. 

“There’s an incredible disparity in rents right now,” said White, noting that two-bedroom apartments in the same neighborhoods can be priced several hundred dollars apart. 

Looking ahead, though, Goodell thinks the holdouts will have to adjust to the new market. She expects prices to stabilize soon, but with developers building apartment complexes downtown and new university housing on line, she expects prices to hold steady indefinitely. 

Case and Moore, though, don’t want to risk falling victim to another housing crunch. “The good thing about Berkeley is, if you get in at a low rent, you’re golden for as long as you live there,” Case said.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 16 

Jesse Jackson will be on Upper Sproul Plaza, UC Campus at noon. 

Tribute to Roger “Bob” Gilmore, for his 80th birthday and honoring his 56 years of service to the community, at 5:30 p.m. at Shen Hua Restaurant, 2914 College Ave. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 at the door, and are available at many Elmwood merchants. No gifts necessary, but if you have pictures, cards, or stories, we will be assembling a memory album for Bob. For information please call Tad at 843-3794 or email bolfings@pacbell.net 

The People’s Park meeting about acacia trees’ safety issues at 6 p.m. in People’s Park. The arborist’s report will be available at the People’s Park office and the UC Berkeley Office of Community Relations. For information contact Glenda Rubin, UC Community Relations, 642-7860 or e-mail pplspark@ 

uclink.berkeley.edu 

Proposition 54, a public forum, sponsored by the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy. Speakers are Ward Connerly, initiative sponsor and UC Regent, Eva Patterson, Director, Equal Justice Society, speaking in opposition. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Booth Audtorium, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. For more information on this event, please contact Sharon Zarkin at 642-4670 or Kate Anderson at 642-5116. 

Berkeley Garden Club, “Autumn, the Second Spring” Kristin Yanker-Hansen, garden designer and owner of Kristin's Gardens will talk about and show plants for autumn bloom at 1 p.m. at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 524-4374. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke Seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. To join us, call 215-7672.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Sandy Nunn from Hospice will talk about their work and how you may want to volunteer. 845-6830. 

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

Free Prostate Screening Program, Sept. 16-17, for uninsured, low-income men over 45, or high risk men over 35. Sponsored by Alta Bates Summit. For information and registration call 869-8833. 

“Rosh Hashanah and the Jewish Calendar - Multiple Beginnings, Many Opportunities,” with Avital Plan at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0327, ext. 112. www.brjcc.org 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17 

Genetically Engineered Foods and Your Health, with Jeffrey M. Smith, author of “Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating,” at 7 p.m. at Marriott at the Oakland City Center, Oakland. Free. bgerner2@comcast.net  

“Theological Education: First World and Third World Creative Dialogue” by Dwight Hopkins, associate professor of theology at the Divinity School, University of Chicago, at the GTU Convocation, at 3:30 p.m. at University Christian Church, 2401 Le Conte Avenue. 649-2464.  

Prose Writers Workshop Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

tion, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

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

Berkeley CopWatch open office hours 7 to 9 p.m. Drop in to file complaints, assistance available. For information call 548-0425. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets at 7:15 a.m. at Hide-A-Way Café, 6430 Telegraph Ave. For information call Fred Garvey, 925-682-1111, ext. 164. 

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, at 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 848-0237. 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18 

Berkeley Fair Elections Coalition meets at 7:10 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 693-5779. 

BOSS Celebration, for volunteers, donors and community supporters, at 6:30 p.m. at Spengers Restaurant. RSVP to Syreeta or Janny at 649-1930. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the West Berkeley Public Library Community Room, 1125 Uni- 

versity Ave., across from the Adult School. To confirm call 848-4008 or janet@earthlink.net or jennifemaryphd@hotmail.com or 987-0668. 

“Hidden Walks in the Bay Area,” a talk by Stephen Altchuler, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Ave. at Arch. Sponsored by the Berkeley Path Wanderers Assoc. and the Hillside Club. www.berkeleypaths.org 

UC Botanical Garden Docent Training from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Call 643-1924 to sign up! 

Fight Back Rally to Defeat Prop. 54, sponsored by the Black Radical Congress, with speaker Eva J. Patterson, from  

the Equal Justice Society, at 6:30 p.m. at SEIU 250, 560 20th St., Oakland. For more information, call 527-4099, or email fmbeal@igc.org 

“Venezuela: A Nation on Edge,” a KQED Frontline/World Series Event, reception at 6:45 p.m., screening and town meeting at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Sproul Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

So How’d You Become An Activist with Kris Welch of KPFA and Ed Holmes of the SF Mime Troupe, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

A Conversation About the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and the Role of Civil Service with Sir Joseph Pilling, Permanent Under Secretary, Northern Ireland Office, at noon at 201 Moses Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for British Studies. 643-2115.  

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the Claremont Branch, Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6280. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM meets at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190.  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

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

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Roy Meisner, Chief, Berkeley Police Department, “Keeping the Peace.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

Coastal Clean Up Day Meet at 9 a.m. behind the Seabreeze Market at the corner of University and Frontage Rd. Everyone needs to sign waivers, and we will give you trash /recycle bags, pencils, tally cards and a map of the areas we need to clean. For information call Patty Donald at 644-8623. pdonald@ci.berkeley.ca.us or visit ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/ 

marinaexp/cleanup 

Grasshopper Hunt Predictions this spring were for a LOT of Orthoptera. We will search for grasshoppers, their relatives and other insects for a close-up look at locomotion by the six-leggers among us. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. City Manager Weldon Rucker will join us to discuss interfacing with City Depts. such as Planning, Neighborhood Liaisons, Code Enforcement Unit and the Police. 587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Nabisco Hall of Fame All-Stars versus Safeway Executives Charity Softball Game. The All-Star players include Pete Rose, Brooks Robinson, Vida Blue, Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Steve Carlton, and Andre Dawson. They also include U.S. Olympic champion softball pitcher Lisa Fernandez. Evans Field, UC Campus. Gates open at 11 a.m., game starts at noon. Raffle prizes during the game include $1,000 of free groceries, a chance to hit against Lisa Fernandez, and signed memorabilia. Tickets are $5 each, available in advance from 925-467-3755 and also at the gate. All proceeds go to CaPCURE to fight against prostate cancer. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour in commemoration of the North Berkeley fire of 1923. Begins at 10 a.m. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. Please make check payable to Berkeley Historical Society, and mail it to P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701-1190. 848-0181. 

Foliage Color in the Garden, a free class with Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-1992. 

Identifying Native Shrubs with botanist Glen Keator, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Visitor Center, Botanic Garden, Tilden Park, followed by a day in the field on Sun. Cost is $65 members, $75 non-members. Sponsored by the East Bay Regional Park’s Botanic Garden and the Native Plant Society. To register call 925-935-8871 or 925-820-1021. www.nativeplants.org 

Fall Permaculture: Introduction Come find out about using permaculture principles in your garden in this introductory class. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wildheart Gardens, 463 61st Street, at Telegraph. Cost is $10 for Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away. For information call Beck at 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

California Writers Club meets at 9:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. Bring pencil and paper for hands-on writing activities. Free and open to all. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster First Aid, 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.berkeley. 

ca.us/fire/oes or call 981-5506. 

Game Festival of new board , card and online games based on imaginative themes, from noon to 5 p.m.,at Dr Comics and Mr Games is located at 4014 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland. 601-7800. 

Workshop on communication, anger, and identity in adolescent females, sponsored by Bay Area Children First, a local nonprofit organization working to reunify families. From 10 a.m. to noon at Bay Area Children First’s Berkeley office, 1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 7. Fee is $30 at the door. 883-9312 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

Run for Peace, sponsored by the Unted Nations Association, East bay Chapter. Meet at 9 a.m. at Berkeley Marina Cesar Chaves Park for a 10k or 5k run/walk. Registration is $20. For information call Alma at 849-1752. 

International Indian Treaty Council, a report back on the summer activities of several youth groups, with music, spoken word and vendors, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation of $5 requested. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Herb Walk in the Berkeley Hills Learn to identify and use many edible and medicinal plants that grow wild in the Bay Area. Meet at noon at the Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail head, below the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens on Centennial Drive. Call for directions. Sponsored by the Pacific School of Herbal Medicine. $6-$25 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 845-4028. www.pshm.org 

Turnings Great and Small: Where the Global and the Local Meet A talk by teacher and author Joanna Macy to benefit Berkeley EcoHouse, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater on Allston Way between MLK and Milvia. Tickets are $20 and are available at Cody’s Books on 4th Street or Telegraph Avenue, Black Oak Books on Shattuck Avenue, or at the door. 

Willard Community Peace Labyrinth Dedication, at 2 p.m., at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Avenue between Derby and Stuart. Celebration includes song, refreshments, and a guided labyrinth peace walk. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377. 

Treasure Sale Benefit for Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 845.8542 ext. 376.  

Hands-on Bicycle Repair Clinic from 11 a.m. to noon, at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

12th Annual Nude and Breast Freedom Day at noon at People’s Park, Haste above Telegraph. For more information call Debbie 848-1985 or email debbiemoore@xplicitplayers.com 

Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Palzang on “The Buddha’s Eight-fold Noble Path,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

“Growing Up Gay and Jewish in Germany,” with Rabbi Kai Eckstein at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0327, ext. 112. www.brjcc.org 

Introduction to Tango Start correctly by learning from a master, Paulo Araujo, founder of the Instituto Brasileiro do Tango in Rio de Janeiro, 10:30-11:45 a.m. Cost is $15. Teen rates available. The Berkeley Tango Studio.Registration and directions email smling@msn.com 

MONDAY, SEPT. 22 

UC Berkeley’s 2020 Land Use EIR, Public Scoping Session, from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Krutch Theater, Clark Kerr Campus. Community members encouraged to attend. 643-9310. 

League of Women Voters, Fall General Meeting from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Northbrea Community Church, 941 The Alameda. The speaker will be John W. Ellwood on “California After the Recall: Will Anything Change?” Cost is $15 and includes dinner. For reservations call 843-8824. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING  

People's Park Community Advisory Board is seeking members. The board reviews and makes recommendations on park policies, programs and improvements, and guides the implementation of the park's long-term plan. Current projects include a peace garden and the improvement of the children's play area. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. Applications will be accepted until Sept. 30. They are available at the People's Park office, 642-3255; the UC Office of Community Relations, 643-5299; and via e-mail to plspark@uclink.berkeley.edu. 

Free Smoke Detectors for City residents and UC Berkeley students who live off-campus. Applications are available from the Environment, Health & Safety office of UC Berkeley, at any Berkeley Fire Station, or at the Fire Admin. Office located at 2100 MLK, Jr. Way. 981-5585.  

Free Energy Bill Payment Assistance The City of Berkeley has money to help low-income households pay their gas and electric bills. For applications contact the Energy Office at 644-8544. TDD: 981-6903. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

City Council meets Tues., Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. in City Council hambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

School Board meets Wed. Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wed., Sept. 17, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at Berkeley Work-Source, 1950 Addison St., Suite 105. Delfina M. Geiken, 644-6085. www.ci.-berkeley.ca.us/commissions/labor 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Political Practices Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste

RACHEL CORRIE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wish to commend the Berkeley City Council for the action it took to press for an independent investigation into the death of Rachel Corrie, run over by an Israeli military-operated Caterpillar bulldozer while protecting a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza on March 16. The City Council added its voice to nearly 50 congress members in asking that this be done, as was promised to the Corrie family by our government, but as yet unfulfilled.  

I wish to respond to those who asked that all deaths be investigated. Why is Rachel’s case special? Regarding Rachel, the U.S Department of State has stated that “the case is not closed” and have raised a series of questions about the report completed by the Israeli authorities. In contrast, in the case of others, our opponents presented no evidence that they have not been sufficiently investigated already. Certainly their family members were not forced to be content with an incomplete report from those who are accused of causing the death of a loved one.  

It has nothing to do with valuing one life over another, we most emphatically do not. It has to do with keeping the promises made by our government to all our citizens to protect us in other lands, and in the event of our death, to seek answers.  

September 16 is the six month anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death. We will commemorate that sad anniversary by thanking the City Council for their support of a fair investigation, and holding a brief vigil outside City Hall. Rachel’s parents will spend that time in Rafah, Gaza, still seeking answers.  

Jim Harris  

Volunteer with International Solidarity Movement 

• 

NICE PLANET  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just moved back to Berkeley, and discovered your wonderful revised Berkeley Daily Planet. I do have one problem with the paper, however: Somehow, each compact publication contains so many excellent articles, on subjects vital to Berkeley and beyond, I can’t throw the issues away!  

Thank you!  

Gerta Farber  

• 

TYRANNY 

This letter was addressed to Berkeley City Council. 

It is time to put an end to the environmental tyranny put forth by Norman LaForce and others. The request for sixteen acres of playing fields in a 270 acre, built on landfill, Eastshore State Park were met with cries of environmental disaster and outright lies published in the Sierra Club Newsletter. The BHS rowing team wants to row boats in aquatic park. Again, according to the environmental community, allowing this to happen is nothing short of ecological catastrophe. You see the birds would have to fly to another spot, perhaps the same Eastshore State Park, now a nature preserve, that is on the other side of the freeway from Aquatic Park.  

And where is our city council on all of this? Do they as a body stand up to this bullying and point out that they just supported the creation of one of the largest nature preserves in Northern California across the street from Aquatic Park? No, they look toward “other locations” outside the City of Berkeley, delaying the BHS use even longer and making volunteers work even harder. So what if these other locations have pollution spewing vehicles taking children to other cities, no harm in that.  

I may be wrong but it is my understanding that I and my friends can take the same boats used by BHS, put them in the water at Aquatic Park, and row to our hearts content. So why is the Berkeley City Council persecuting BHS rowers, who unlike me, are willing to do some environmental remediation? Why? 

Doug Fielding  

Chairperson,  

Association of Sports Field Users 

• 

OASIS CREATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a south Berkeley resident who participated with others in the creation of a small peace garden in the aftermath of the bombing in Iraq. Time has passed since this event, but its spirit forges on. 

On May 1, 2003 a small group of neighbors and friends gathered to celebrate spring and International Labor Day. They gathered on the grass of a vacant median strip on Stanford Avenue in Berkeley. A widely unused space, without a park bench or inviting atmosphere. 

The celebration unfolded into the creation of a small garden. People began by laying down recent war story newspapers with messages of hope and release they had written on them. Then a layer of local compost was added to create a garden bed, and thus the peace garden was born. 

The small, circular garden enclosed with wooden logs was home to sunflowers sprouts, purple beans from Chiapas Mexico, and a scattering of herbs and flowers. 

It was a humble offering for peace, a food source for those with only a liquor store near by, and a civic improvement adding beauty to a median strip framed by traffic. The peace garden grew steadily for about three weeks, and was watered by locals who did so of their own accord. Sunflowers leaves grew hearty and small bean tendrils reached for light. Then, the peace garden was torn down in the course of a day. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding, a routine reaction to an ‘unpermitted’ garden, or perhaps to someone, sunflowers are perceived as a danger to our neighborhoods? 

As time has passed, the peace gardeners have regrouped and we have been putting our heads together about how to streamline the creation of “beautiful space” in our vacant lots, median strips. 

A simple plan between neighbors and city officials would allow careful and thoughtful civic improvement projects to flourish without costly permits or threat of destruction.  

Amidst traffic, freeway noise and cement there can exist marvelous “place making” that invites the community to come out of their houses, cars, and into a new notion of public spaces.  

Indeed, we need more of these random acts of oasis creation! 

Jennifer Miller 

• 

BAD PLANET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing to urge the editors and staff of the new Berkeley Daily Planet to maintain the more open, balanced attitude a community newspaper for a town like Berkeley needs and deserves, especially when covering decisions made by the administrators of our public schools.  

Today was to be the Berkeley/Oakland Tech football game. It was canceled. Instead of the fairly matter-of-fact headline in today’s Berkeley Voice, “Berkeley-Oakland Tech Canceled” our Daily Planet announces, “District Thwarts New Game Plan” with the article lead-in “The Berkeley Unified School District has killed plans to reschedule today’s beleaguered Berkeley High-Oakland Tech football game amid continuing questions as to why the game was put off in the first place.” In contrast, the Voice’s lead, “The football game between Berkeley and Oakland Tech high schools scheduled for tonight has been canceled because of talk of potential violence from people who could show up at the game” was simple and to the point.  

The Planet’s coverage was unprofessional, unbalanced, and seems intended to make a difficult situation even harder. Principal Jim Slemp made a decision based on information from the Police and the School Community. To officially second-guess our new principal, on his first public “judgment call” is to explain, in part, why no self-respecting, competent administrator has been willing to take this job on—permanently—until now. I hope you will support those who make tough decisions in our community, in the future, unless you actually have reasons not to, and a lot of information to back up your reasons.  

Heather Jacobsen  

• 

MIDEAST COMMENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With respect to Paul Kilduff’s comment stating that sf.indymedia.org “is dedicated to free speech and does not edit the content provided by contributors” (“Google Site Bans Slurs Against Israelis, Not Arabs,” Daily Planet, Sept. 12-15): This is simply untrue. 

I have personally posted approximately three dozen comments, 75 percent of which have disappeared from their site within less than two hours from posting. The overwhelming majority of these comments have been pro-Israel—they are wiped off the site. As are any anti-Palestine comments. But an anti-Israel comment—that will stay up forever.  

Joe Francisco 

• 

REPORT CARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is simply no justification for the number of failing grades received by the BUSD from FCMAT (“Many Failings in BUSD Report Card,” Daily Planet Sept. 12-15). It’s time for the School Board to shut up and start performing. And if they can’t, they should turn the job over to someone who can. In the world of business, where people are actually held responsible for the quality of their work (what a refreshing idea!), these people would have been fired years ago. If students are increasingly held accountable for their achievements, it seems only fair that those who “administer” our schools be also. Since good old-fashioned pride in a job well-done seems unable to motivate these folks, perhaps external standards are the only alternative. It does seem, though, that a good motto for the school board, which, if followed, would make external monitoring a moot point, would be “just shut up and do your job!” 

James Ward 

• 

XXXXXXXX  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am wiring in support of the Berkeley High School Women’s’ Crew Team’s wish to utilize Aquatic Park for rowing, as the team had been doing until quite recently. I am the hard-working single mother of the disabled single mother of the rower. Obviously trips to and from Aquatic Park, as opposed to Lake Merritt, would be much easier for the three of us.  

Crew has played an invaluable role in my granddaughter’s high school experience with its team work, responsibility, discipline and healthy dose of the right kind of competition.  

Our family is very sensitive to environmental issues and carefully assesses the pros and cons of our lifestyle activities. In this case, since we are talking about only two hours a day and since the birds in question would be able to find suitable resting spots nearby, we feel the advantages to the girls definitely outweigh the ecological consideration. 

Name witheld 

• 

XXXXXXXX  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve shopped at Bolfing Elmwood Hardware for many years because there the clerks look you in the eye, smile and actually show you what you’re looking for. This is so unlike most of the chains where a clerk will point a languid finger and say, “It’s on the back wall, if we have it.” At Bolfing I’ve had a clerk spend five minutes looking for the kind of nails I wanted. Total sale: $.10. 

Nancy Ward 

• 

XXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the $89 BILLION Bush has requested: 

Population of US = 292,032,144 (approx) 

Population of the World= 6,316,680,114 

That 89 billion (89,000,000,000) represents $14 per person IN THE WORLD or $304 from EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the United States. 

Blood from a turnip!! Where is all that money going to come FROM? And why should I send $304 to Iraq when I can barely pay my rent? 

He said “sacrifices”. You know WHO is going to have to make the SACRIFICES -- me, that’s who. And you too. 

Sincerely, Paulina Miner 

Impeach Bush 

Jeff and Paulina Miner 

• 

XXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I marvel at the skill of high ranking military men (!) in using the Pollyanna mode to answer the questions of journalists. Here is an accurate but not literal exchange between CBS’s on-the-spot Dan Rather and Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, chief of operations in Iraq. 

Dan: What’s wrong, General, in your view? 

Ricardo: What’s wrong is the way our successful operations are reported by the press. 

Dan: Can you give me one example? 

Ricardo (smiling): I can give you a hundred. 

Dan: One will do. 

Ricarco: All right. The bombing last week of the mosque in Najaf…. 

Whoa, Nelly!  

To be fair, the good general went on to praise his troops for voluntarily assisting with the wounded (which the press reported). I marvel that he actually said and presumably believes the mass murder of over one hundred worshipers at a religious shrine was the occasion for a successful military operation. 

Marvin Chachere  

San Pablo 

The gorgeous staging alone is worth the price of admission to “Much Ado About Nothing,” the final production of the season at Cal Shakespeare. The costumes, with a good deal of flamboyant silk, place us in a vaguely but not obtrusively modern Italy (there is one silly joke about a cell phone, however). 

The set features a series of handsome gold and red pillars. Along with a glowing pink railing, these form a perfect background for a dazzling array of white in the two wedding scenes.  

The other great pleasure of this production is the truly inspired comic pair of Ron Campbell and Joan Mankin as the Constable Dogberry and his assistant Verges. Campbell serves up Dogberry’s famous malapropisms with an air of demented triumph. His legs seem to have an equally demented mind of their own, as they prance or bend with hilarious unpredictability. Decked out in fatigues and an antique helmet, Mankin makes the choice of a woman to play Verges look inspired. When the two of them are on stage or even as they leave it, arm in arm, the production comes alive. 

There are other strong performances from L. Peter Callender, who makes Leonato’s pain and rage over the supposed shame of his daughter vivid and disturbing, James Carpenter, who brings out the sadness and latent envy in Don Pedro, and Joaquin Torres, who makes an appealingly vigorous Claudio. I also admired Warren David Keith as Leonato’s brother Antonio and as the friar who comes to Hero’s rescue with some common sense. 

Unfortunately, the Beatrice and Benedick, who should be the emotional and moral center of the play, are less than outstanding. Julie Eccles is an adequate Beatrice, but Charles Shaw Robinson’s Benedick seems bland and baffled. His erotically charged sparring with Beatrice, which ought to provide a grown-up alternative to Claudio’s puppy love for Hero (and to its ugly underside), never catches fire. At moments when we long for a ringing affirmation (even if touched by irony)—“The world must be peopled,” for example—he sounds too much like Mr. Rogers.  

The result is an unbalanced version of the play.  

“Much Ado” is perfect for Indian summer, when there’s still plenty of warmth but the shorter days point toward winter darkness. The play has similar warnings of the darkness in Shakespeare’s later work. The venomous Don John is a warmup for the more effective poison of Iago and Edmund. The fear of sexual betrayal that is expressed but dispelled in “Much Ado” looks ahead to more catastrophic explosions of irrational jealousy in “Othello” and “The Winter’s Tale.” 

Without a convincing portrayal of mature, self-conscious sexuality in Beatrice and Benedick, the play is tilted toward its darker elements. We pay more attention to Don Pedro’s disappointment that he is too old for Hero or Beatrice, to Claudio’s and Don Pedro’s and her own father’s readiness to believe that the virginal Hero is a “stale”—that is, a whore—and to the savage misogyny that goes with such beliefs.  

This is a disappointment but not a disaster. All of these elements are important to Shakespeare’s play and powerfully presented. The production is less moving than it might be with more electricity between its central figures. It could also do with less distracting physical comedy; the sight gags sometimes cover important lines. In spite of these problems, director Peter DuBois gives us an absorbing, hilarious, and visually satisfying evening.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 16 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: Hy Hirsh and the Fifties: Jazz and Abstraction in Beat Era Film at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Maira Kalman, author of a dozen children’s books, introduces the latest adventures of Pete the Dog, “Smartypants: Pete in School,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Jeffrey and Rhoda Makoff discuss how to make big decisions in their new book, “Get off the Fence,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Steve Martinot will discuss “The Rule of Racialization: Class, Identity, Governance,” at 7:30 p.m. Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Comedy Showcase, with Tony Sparks, Phil Puthumana, “The Curry Comic,” Ian Jensen, Kevin Avery and Tessie Chua at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17 

FILM 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Fear of Fear” at 5:30 and 9:10 p.m. and “Chinese Roulette” at 7:20 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 

John Stauber, investigative reporter and founder and director of the Center for Media & Democracy, discusses “Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau discuss “The Way Things Are: Conversations with Huston Smith on the Spiritual Life,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Calligraphy Lecture and Demonstration with Georgianna Greenwood and Carla Tenret, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 528-1709. www.friendsofcalligraphy.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Mozart Clarinet Quintet, at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

Christopher O’Riley’s “Radiohead” Innovative pianist performs a program of music by British rock group Radiohead, transcribed by O'Riley for solo piano. At 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $14-$28. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Creole Belles at 8:30 p.m., with a Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m., at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Da Vinci’s Notebook, comedic a cappella quartet, 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 

Patrick Greene Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Love Rhino, Electric Jesus, 3 Prayers at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848- 

0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. becketts- 

irishpub.com 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18 

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “Gattaca” 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 

Berkeley Art Center Film Festival: Exploring Relationships and Aging, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

“Mai’s America,” A documentary about a Vietnamese exchange student by Marlo Poras, will be shown at 7 p.m. at 2060 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Southeast Asia Studies. 642-3609. cseas@uclink.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Curator’s Talk on Gene(sis) with Constance Lewallen, Senior Curator for Exhibitions, at 12:15 p.m. in Gallery 2, and Guided Tour at 5:30 p.m. Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $8, free to UC staff, faculty and students. 643-6494. tctorres@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Tony Cohan discusses “Native State,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Amelia Warren Tyagi on “The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading at 7 p.m. featuring David Gollub and Sparrow 13, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

Tony Rowell, son of Galen Rowell, introduces Barbara Rowell’s “Flying South: A Pilot’s Inner Journey,” her 25,000-mile 57-leg journey through Latin America, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Slaid Cleaves, Texas folk-roots at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

James Mathis Knockdown Society at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough.Cost of $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Autana at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

Porch Life performs at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

CHILDREN 

Dog Days of Summer stories and songs at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Fox and His Friends,” at 7 and 9:25 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 

“They Live,” John Carpenter’s cult classic, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Berkeley Art Center Film Festival: Political and Social Commentary, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

William Greider discusses “The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy,” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Michael Parenti reveals the secret life of the empire in “The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People’s History of Ancient Rome,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Mary Watkins is featured at Fellowship Cafe & Open Mic at 7:30 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita Sts. Poets, singers, and performance artists are invited to sign up for the open mic. A donation of $5-10 is requested.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ravi Shankar The legendary sitarist performs with his daughter, Anoushka, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jazz Singer’s Collective, with Walter Bankovitch, piano, Bill Douglass, bass, and Steve Robertson, drums, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $7-$12 and are available from 507-2498. 

Donna the Buffalo performs roots rock at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kris Delmhorst, contemporary songcraft, 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 

CWK Trio performs acoustic modern jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $8-$12 sliding scale. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Redmeat and The Bellyachers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Michael Bluestein Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

JND, Bray, and Thriving Ivory at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Municipal Waste, Capitalist Casualties, Caustic Christ, Voetsek, Agents of Satan, Strung Up 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. 

Woman at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

Reorchestra at 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave. 848-8277. 

Mokai and MarQue at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

Euripides’ “Medea,” performed by the National Theatre of Greece at 8 p.m. at the Greek Theatre, UC Campus. Pre-performance talk with UC Berkeley Dept. of Classics Professor Mark Griffith at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $32 and $62. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

EXHIBITION 

Photographs of Inner Mongolia by Michael Sun, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the 3rd Floor Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 

CHILDREN 

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

FILM 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: “Mother Goes to Heaven,” at 7 and 9:15 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 

Berkeley Art Center Film Festival: Bums’ Paradise, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park. Tickets are $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joe Conason, political columnist, reveals the right-wing in “Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents Anne Azema, soprano, and Shira Kammen, vielles and harp, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $22 for SFEMS members and Seniors, $25 for non-members, $10 for students. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Trinity Chamber Concerts, with Tom Rose, clarinet, and Miles Graber, perform an all English music program, at 8 p.m. at Trininy Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Admission by donation, $12 general, $8 students, senoirs, disabled. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

Remember Shakti with John McLaughlin, guitar, and Zakir Hassain, tabla, members of the original Shakti fusion ensemble of the 1970s, are joined by U. Shrinivas, electric mandolin and V. Selvaganesh, ghatam and kanjira, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$56 and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Good Night! An Evening of Spirituals at Hamilton Hall, 14th and Castro Sts, Oakland. Tickets are $25-$50, and benefit the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, a liberal religious congregation serving Oakland since 1869. For more information call 524-1417. 

Women Singing Out! presented by Rose Street House of Music and East Bay Pride at 8 p.m. at the Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway at 2nd in Jack London Square. Tickets are $8-15 sliding scale. 594-4000 ext. 687. 

“Jah Music for the People” at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Suzy Thompson and Friends at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. www.downhomemusic.com 

Barry and Alice Oliver, contemporary folk 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 

Brightback, Joanna Newsom, Sean Hayes at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Pietro Lusvardi on the contrabasso at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $6-$15 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org  

Steve Smith-Mike Zilber Group with special guests Dave Liebman and Fareed Haque at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $20-$25. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Alphabet Soup, El Jefe at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Reggae Angels and Amandala Poets CD release party at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Post Junk Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter 848-8277. 

Scott Amendola with Nat Su and Devin Hoff at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

Euripides’ “Medea,” performed by the National Theatre of Greece. at 7 p.m. at the Greek Theatre, UC Campus. Pre-performance talk with UC Berkeley Dept. of Classics Professor Mark Griffith at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $32 and $62. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Oliver Ranch Tour, to benefit the Richmond Art Center. A special opportunity to visit a private reserve dedicated to site-specific sculpture. Cost is $95 per person, which includes a $50 donation to the Richmond Art Center. Reservations required. Call A New Leaf Gallery at 525-7621, or email info@sculpturesite.com 

CHILDREN 

Café Rumba, Afro-Cuban folkloric drums at 3:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Kids of the Dayton Tribune Meet Vanessa Thill and Kelly Reed, the 12-year-old founders of the Bay Area annual literary magazine, at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

FILM 

“Homage to Chagall,” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $2. Peer led discussion following the film. 848-0327. www.brjcc.org 

The Films of Germaine Dulac: “Ame d’Artiste” 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 

Jim Campbell/Matrix 208: “Memory Array” at 3 p.m. in Gallery 1, Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost $8, free to UC staff, faculty and students. 643-6494. tctorres@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 2 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry at Cody’s with Jennifer Arin, Katherine Case, Y. Morales, Annie Stenzel, Jennifer Sweeney and Virginia Westover at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tom Farber reads from his novels “The Beholder” and “A Lover’s Quarrel: On Writing and the Writing Life” at 7:30 p.m. Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pebble Theory, Cilantro, Sun Chasing Shadows at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $3. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

All Shoko Night, featuring the Natto Quartet and the Hikage-Segel Duo, at 8:15 p.m. at The Jazz House. Free, donations accepted. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Paula West at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazz-school. Cost is $20-$25. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Lucy Kaplansky with Nina Gerber, vocals with guitar accompaniment, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $19.50 in advance, $20.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

The People with LZ Phoenix, Sol Americano and Dr. Masseuse at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Indian Classical Music with Jyoti Rout, Pandit Habib Khan, and Prof. Mohini Mohan Pattnaik at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15-$20 available from 925-798-1300.  

Kaarka seismic gypsy jazz at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Americana Unplugged Series: The Whiskey Brothers at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277.

A three-judge federal panel Monday postponed next month’s election because it would involve the use of outdated and unreliable punch card ballots by almost half the state’s voters. 

The three justices from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said their ruling would not go into effect until Monday of next week, pending a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and their ruling on the Oct. 7 election won’t have any immediate effect on people running the voting process in the city of Berkeley or Alameda County. 

The effect on taxpayers and on the people running the various voting campaigns is another matter. 

Assistant Alameda County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold said the county stands to lose all but approximately $80,000 of the $675,000 already spent on the election. 

Ginnold said that most of the expenditures were for the printing of ballots and voter pamphlets, mailings to voters, and staff overtime costs, none of which can be carried over to a new election. Ginnold said if the election is postponed, all of the costs will have to be absorbed by the county, and will not be passed on to city governments. 

Another spokesperson for Ginnold’s office—who declined to be identified—said, “It’s business as usual. We have early voting, and people are still voting.” 

Berkeley City Clerk Sherry Kelly also said nothing has yet changed for the Oct. 7 election. 

“I’ve talked to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, and he has requested that all city clerks who are conducting early voting continue with early voting. It’s his understanding that there’s going to be an appeal filed and there’s going to be no action for at least seven days. 

“There was quite a flow of people coming in (to Berkeley City Hall) to vote this morning. We will continue to accept people for voting for this election until we hear different from the county registrar, who will probably not do anything different until he hears something different from the secretary of State.” 

While people operating the voting booths were not affected by the uncertainty over the postponement, people running the campaigns clearly were. The main concerns appeared to be guarding against both a letdown and a loss of focus on the campaigns. 

“It makes it very difficult on all sides to plan any kind of campaign with this kind of a decision,” said Diane Schaehterle, state coordinator for the Yes On Prop 54 campaign. “But we’re not going to expend too much energy on (figuring what to do about) this until the appeal is complete. 

“We’re going forward. We still have a bunch of speakers and forums to meet at. We just hope that it’s resolved very quickly.” 

Asked if Prop 54 proponents would prefer an Oct. 7 election or a postponement until next March, Schaeterle said with a small laugh, “That’s the kind of energy I’m not going to expend on this. When they make the decision, then we’ll deal with it.” Schaeterle said she felt the uncertainty of the postponement was equally bad for people on both sides of the issue. 

That sentiment was echoed by the Defeat 54 campaign, which called on its campaign supporters to keep on working in a prepared statement on its Web site entitled “The election is STILL ON for October 7th.” 

“Given the uncertainty in this situation,” the statement read, “we must not relax our efforts... If the Supreme Court decides to allow the election to proceed, we will (then) only have two weeks (more) to get our voters to the polls...” 

A debate between UC Regent Ward Connerly, the author of Proposition 54, and Eva Jefferson Paterson, director of the Equal Justice Society and a Prop 54 opponent, was scheduled to go forward at Booth Auditorium in Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening. 

At the same time, gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington delayed the filing of what she called a Clean Money Initiative because of the ruling. The filing of the Huffington initiative had been originally scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 16 in Sacramento.

To my progressive friends: 

  Let me remind everyone as to why we are all once again drawn to national politics, some of us after a lapse of many years. Things are terribly wrong in this country and in the world. The Bush “New American Century” crowd is determined to rule the world, to create a Pax Americana, to transfer wealth in this country from the poor to the rich and to devastate the operations of government that constitute a safety net for the poor in favor of military spending and corporate welfare. 

  That frightens and troubles us greatly. I think every one of us wants to move the political dialogue in this country to the left. We want an internationalization of international problems, an end to U.S. meddling in the internal affairs of countries that do not constitute a threat to the security of the United States, universal health care, fair wages and decent conditions for workers, clean air and water, alternate energy, available housing, an end to poverty, etc. That means moving the political dialogue leftward. That seems to me to be a given; but most of us also agree that our first priority is to act so that the Bush crowd will not have four more years to rule the world and impoverish its citizens for the benefit of a few.  

  Many of us have tried working to accomplish that in other venues over many years or (in my case, decades), but without much success. So it was agreed by those of us in the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, and other venues, that an attempt would be made to do that in what looks like the only viable game in town: the Democratic Party.  

  That does not mean we like or accept all Democrats; after all, what we are seeking to do is to change the Democratic Party for the better. But it does mean that we can’t expect to demand perfection in all politicians who seek our support or endorsement. And it means that we must realize that our ability to move the dialogue leftward inside the Democratic Party will be leveraged in direct proportion to the work that we do to get Democrats elected.  

  As Joseph Stalin once said, “How many divisions has the Pope?” At the risk of that being misunderstood by people with no sense of humor, let me point to the California Democratic Council (late 1950s and 60s) and its example for us. Democratic politicians had to address the issues that the Council advanced (and they were progressive issues) because the Council provided the footsoldiers of the party.  

  The current Democratic Party has few footsoldiers (that is why Labor is so important to the party, and Labor doesn’t provide many troops very often); now, after an absence of many years, new progressive Democratic Clubs are forming, or gaining strength. If we now act to elect reasonable Democrats, we will have to be listened to on issues. Democratic candidates won’t always agree with us; but they will, more and more, have to address our issues! That is how the political dialogue moves leftward—just as right wing ideologues have moved the dialogue steadily rightward by providing the troops for the Republicans for 20 or more years. 

  None of that happens overnight. And the recall provides an anomalous incident on which to focus. No one picked the candidates, and there was no chance to affect the political dialogue in the short time we have for this election. And our movement is new, can field relatively few troops, and has little influence as yet. But this gives us the chance to start building our cachet with the party, while we also seek to expand our numbers here and in other locations. Progressives mostly agree that this recall, used against a governor elected not even a year ago, who has committed since no act of misconduct, is anti-democratic. It is bad public policy, on a par with term limits and three strikes. Furthermore, it appears to be part of the right wing scenario to steal government despite elections that started with the Clinton impeachment, shifted to the stolen 2000 election, moved to Texas where the Republicans are seeking to redistrict to gain new Republican House seats even though the state was reapportioned in 2001, and now is focused on California, where the Republicans are seeking to steal the governor’s office in a traditionally low-turnout election. 

  In these circumstances, to oppose the recall is morally right and politically correct. If the recall succeeds, Bustamante is the constitutionally appointed successor of the governor, like him or not. He is a Democrat, opposes the recall and is our best chance to thwart Republican efforts to seize this governorship. If Bustamante is elected, the Republicans will not be appointing our judges, vetoing legislation passed by the Democratic majorities in both the Assembly and the Senate and the Republicans will have less of a chance to prevent an honest budget from being adopted in this state.  

  Though he is not our candidate, there was no primary in which we could have supported a better candidate. And note that Bustamante has become a minor league populist recently (as has Davis). 

  For all those reasons, for me there is little choice but to oppose the recall, support Bustamante and seek to build up our progressive influence by earning it in the Democratic Party. Were we to adopt the purist’s approach of “give with one hand, take away with the other” we might as well disband as a Democratic club and reconstitute ourselves as another example of how not to accomplish anything at all. The history of the left has been too full of such groups, organizations and clubs, and I’ve been a member of too many of them myself. The bottom line for me (in my dotage) is: “Does what I am doing help advance the cause of civil rights, civil liberties, the fight against growing economic disparities among our people, the battle for a cleaner and less polluted earth and the struggle against the increasing religious bigotry we see in public life in this country?”  

Mal Burnstein is a retired Berkeley attorney and longtime civil rights activist. He is also a member of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, to which this letter was originally addressed.

Berkeley Rep’s new Roda Theater is a winner: Handsome and comfortable auditorium, good sight lines, a lobby with polished concrete floors and an elegant bar. There is a book shop. Even the bathrooms are pleasant.  

The current production adds other pleasures. The clever set is a dream version of Leonardo da Vinci’s study, with what looks like a giant wooden filing cabinet that frames the stage. The large drawers open up to provide unexpected exits and entrances for the actors and various other surprises, including a staircase. Enhanced by excellent lighting, the visual effect is intriguing. The eight actors speak well and use the set resourcefully.  

The only thing missing is a play.  

Except for an embarrassing bit of invented dialogue, spoken entirely in Berlitz Italian, “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” is made up entirely of brief excerpts from the actual notebooks. These, the program tells us with admirable candor, are more than 5,000 pages in length and “fragmentary.” Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation is fragmentary too. She gives us musings, often with no connection at all, about several of the artist’s many interests: painting, optics, mechanics, sculpture, birds, flying. For the sake of variety (or something), she also includes a few diary entries about Leonardo’s troubles with a boy he hired as servant and model.  

One or another of the actors declaims each fragment with great solemnity—this is Leonardo speaking, the portentous tone reminds us, so listen up. At the same time, other cast members perform a collection of workshop movement exercises: dance steps, gymnastics, bits of mime. Most last only a minute or two, but some develop into a sort of mimed skit, such as the oddly macabre business performed while we hear about Leonardo’s experiments with dissection.  

There is no attempt to create a drama, an action of any sustained coherence, or even to suggest anything much about the artist’s character. As a result, the whole thing is a terrible bore. Who would have thought that Leonardo’s private thoughts could be so dull? 

The production is full of technical invention, and the actors carry off the various bits with energy and flair. One cannot help wondering why so much effort and talent have been thrown away on something so resolutely undramatic. Perhaps the idea is to prove that anything at all can make good theater. 

If so, I’m not convinced.  

“The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” runs through Oct. 19 at the Rhoda Theater, 2025 Addison St. 

www.berkeleyrep.org.

NAACP National Chairman Julian Bond addressed an early Saturday morning City Hall civil rights breakfast meeting mistakenly billed briefly as an anti-Prop 54 rally. 

Co-sponsored by the NAACP national office and the organization’s California Conference of Branches, the meeting went off without a hitch—and apparently without breaking state law. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the gathering, held in the city’s Milvia Street City Hall conference room with some 40 participants, was held to have Bond publicly sign a copy of the 1963 Civil Rights Pledge. Hundreds of Berkeley residents signed the pledge at Civic Center Park in August during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1963 March On Washington. 

Worthington said that a week before the Saturday breakfast event, an event organizer sent out an e-mail advertising it as an anti-Prop 54 rally. Proposition 54 is the Ward Connerly-sponsored initiative that would ban the collection of race-based data in the state of California. 

“I don’t think we can have an anti-proposition rally at City Hall,” Worthington said. Queried by Worthington, Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan agreed, advising that use of City Hall facilities to campaign for or against a state proposition was contrary to both state law and state court rulings. 

“The original e-mail was a mistake,” Worthington said. “The breakfast meeting was never intended to be an anti-Prop 54 rally. But we had to spend a week straightening it out, sending out a new e-mail and making sure none of the literature mentioned the proposition.” 

Aside from signing the Civil Rights Pledge, the impeccably-dressed Bond did talk against Connerly’s measure, telling participants that “I don’t have to go into details; all of you know why it should be opposed,” calling the proposition “insidious” and calling Connerly “the California terminator.” 

In a rambling speech, Bond also denounced the gubernatorial recall as part of a “national nullification of the needy” and a “rehearsal for next year’s national elections.” The longtime civil rights activist and former Georgia assemblymember and state senator devoted much of his talk to his ties to Berkeley, revealing that he attended high school in Pennsylvania with former mayor and present Assemblymember Loni Hancock, and adding that he had a sister living in the city. And he saved most of his passion for a plea for statehood for the District of Columbia, where he presently lives. 

Mayor Tom Bates also made brief remarks, calling Bond “one of my heroes.” 

Bond left the Berkeley event early in order to attend an actual anti-Prop 54 event, keynoting an Oakland rally sponsored by several local labor organizations.

I’m writing in response to some recent sensationalized headlines in the Planet that conveyed a very different story about what BOSS is going through than what I know the reality to be.  

Established in 1971, BOSS has provided housing, jobs, education, and multiple support services to Berkeley’s homeless and poor for over thirty years. In 1994, BOSS employees organized to form a union. BOSS fully respects all unions, including our own, with the deep understanding that they exist to protect workers and to ensure safe and supportive working conditions. But the marriages of unions and nonprofits have inescapable differences from traditional union-company marriages. Are some of these differences irreconcilable? We prefer to think not. But hard facts remain at the foundation of nonprofit existence. By definition, nonprofits do not generate profit, but raise revenue to cover costs. And when revenues dip (public funding, private grants, donations), as they have for BOSS and so many nonprofits in our community, the only recourse for responsibly maintaining a balanced budget is to make cuts – cuts in staffing, cuts in services, cuts in operating expenditures. But the union-nonprofit marriage can make it difficult to pursue this course, even when the fallout is red ink and financial instability.  

All workers have rights, not just unionized workers. And BOSS has striven to respect the rights and needs of all our employees. BOSS has a long tradition of hiring from our target population – homeless and low-income workers who often come to us with lower skill or education levels than other applicants. Yet for each job description, we have not matched wages to skill or education levels, and because BOSS’s mission is to create opportunity and equity for our constituents, wage increases have followed from accomplishment, progress, or longevity (anniversaries) rather than having a headstart on the playing field. 

The fact is, despite the difficult period BOSS is going through right now in terms of funding and procedural changes, we have done our best to manage the organization while inflicting minimal harm on our employees. Thus far nothing has changed for them except for a higher health plan co-payment that saved the organization thousands of dollars in its operating budget while still ensuring that all employees have health care, and two delays distributing paychecks due to cash flow. In each instance, employees received advance notice. 

The funding environment will remain difficult for the foreseeable future, and some procedural shifts we are making will take a while. At the same time, our employee union is here to stay, and so is the press. As BOSS has done throughout its thirty-two year history, we will continue to do our best to manage the organization responsibly while supporting our employees as best we can, and we hope local headlines will do the same justice to this steady if unsensational effort that they do to publicize bumps in the road.  

boona cheema is Executive Director of Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS). 

Monday’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to delay California’s recall election was a victory, though perhaps short-lived, for UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Henry Brady’s two-year crusade against punch card voting machines. 

Brady’s research into inequities caused by the use of punched cards was the linchpin in the suit brought against the state of California by a group of public interest legal organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 

In a Monday afternoon press conference at UC’s Institute of Government Studies, Brady said he started looking into how punch cards compared with other voting systems after the 2000 presidential elections. Then, they played a key role in the election which became the U.S. Supreme Court case of Bush vs. Gore, which caused George W. Bush to become President. 

He called punch cards “a lousy system for voting” which causes the voice of poor people to go unheard when they come to the polls. 

His research results, which were submitted to the court by the plaintiff-appellants as a declaration, showed that in the six California counties which use punch cards, a significant number of votes cast by minority members were not counted because of systematic errors created by the technology’s flaws. 

The appeals court’s opinion agreed with his contentions that the rate of uncounted votes—which he calls “residual votes”— was significantly higher for minority voters than for non-minorities, and more than 2.5 times worse than for any other voting system, including electronic systems. 

Brady said that, in his estimation, the appeals judges confronted two competing interests. 

On one hand, the court said, “this is a classic voting rights equal protection claim.” Minority voters face the prospect of losing a significant percentage of their total votes because they live in punch card counties in disparate proportions. 

On the other hand, courts never like to delay elections. 

This election, however, does not pose the usual risk of leaving an office vacant, which is usually cited as the problem with postponing elections. Votes on the two propositions on the ballot will also be delayed, but they were previously scheduled for March anyway. 

The state of California, represented by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, can appeal either to the U.S. Supreme Court or to the Ninth Circuit sitting as a group “en banc”—with at least half of the venue’s 25 judges in attendance. 

Brady was unwilling to hazard a guess on the outcome of such an appeal. 

Ted Costa of the pro-recall group Peoples’ Advocates, who filed a brief in support of the trial court decision, might also appeal, Brady said. 

Stephen R. Barnett, a constitutional law professor at UC’s Boalt Hall, told the Daily Planet that he thinks that the state “has an uphill battle” in pursuing their appeal. They must first persuade either Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on behalf of the U.S. Supreme Court, or the more liberal 9th Circuit, to take the case. He thought some decision would be made quickly under the circumstances, perhaps within a week.  

Professor Brady’s research did not address potential problems which could be created by electronic voting systems which have recently been raised by computer scientists and others. 

At his press conference, however, in answer to a question, he pointed out that all modern non-paper voting systems, including punch cards, scanned votes and touch-screen methods, utilize computer vote counting, and thus are subject to being hacked or rigged if proper safeguards are not in place.

Polling only three percent in the runup to the on-again, off-again California gubernatorial recall and election campaign, conservative-turned leftist candidate Arianna Huffington has been waging an uphill battle. 

Even in Berkeley, a bastion of progressivism, she couldn’t muster a large turnout for her rally on Thursday at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. Passionate supporters held signs and shouted approval—but it was readily apparent that there was lots of open space for supporters who didn’t come. 

Still, Huffington is currently on what analysts are calling the top five list. Along with Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock, and Peter Camejo from the Green Party, she continues to make a name for herself as the only woman with a chance of winning. 

Huffington’s case is arguably unique, almost a political U-turn, changing sides and taking up many of the most important issues that concern liberal voters. 

A well-known author and columnist with nine books currently in print, she appears to aim simultaneously to garner votes and to push for reform and burnish her image.  

Thursday’s speech at Cal covered a number of her core issues, including public financing of elections, universal health care, the California state budget, renewable energy, enhanced funding for public education, and medical marijuana. In particular, she champions the budget, health care and public financing for elections—while allowing for ample time for book-signing and plenty of PR work. 

Huffington’s Berkeley appearance came as part of a tour of college campuses to turn out the vote among students. Her grassroots campaign director Van Jones said she looks at students as part of a swing vote. 

Many issues she supports strike a chord with students organizing around the same theme—evident in the turnout Thursday of several Berkeley organizations at the rally. 

Rebecca Saltzman, a member of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, one of the groups sponsoring Huffington’s Berkeley appearance, says that while she supports Huffington’s drug policy, she knows her candidate doesn’t stand much of a chance. 

“She’s the best candidate on drug policy in general, especially because Davis has been so poor on issues concerning drugs and criminal justice,” Saltzman said. “But people are scared [of the recall] so they’re voting for candidates like Bustamante.” 

Other groups on stage while Huffington spoke included the campus No on 54 Coalition and the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition. Representatives from No on 54 said they made an appearance because Huffington has come out against the proposition, but said the group was not making an endorsement.  

Huffington gave the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition representative a warm hug after her speech, which demanded the U.S. stop financing the war and occupation in Iraq. Afterwards however, Michael Smith from the coalition had a few words for Huffington, who, he said, is more talk than action. 

“She got so much mileage from putting her arm around our person,” said Smith. “She talks a lot about being anti-war but we’ll see what she does.” 

Unlike some of the other students at the rally, Smith expressed doubts about Huffington and her appeal to students. 

“They talk a lot about the students being central to the fight but that’s sort of patronizing to the students. I want to see her match her deeds to her actions,” he said.  

Alan Ross, a professor at UC Berkeley who teaches the wildly popular Politics 179 class that invites political speakers to guest lecture every week, invited Huffington to his class but says her campaign was too disorganized to make it. He said he hasn’t sensed much support for Huffington among students, nor voters across the state. 

“People thought that maybe with so many candidates running, someone with as little as 10 percent of the vote could win,” he said. “It’s a shame in the sense that the recall could have been an opportunity to look beyond the normal candidates, yet it’s coming down to Bustamante and Schwarzenegger.” 

However and whenever the vote turns out, Huffington will have succeeded in boosting her appeal and capturing some of the media limelight, a helpful boost for an already successful author.

School officials are scurrying to relocate about 30 three- and four-year-old pupils after a suspicious fire roared through a wing of their preschool Saturday, one of two suspected arson-caused fires set just blocks apart. 

Fire inspectors and Berkeley Unified District School officials who toured the charred grounds at Franklin Preschool at 1460 Eigth St. Monday declared that two of the school’s five classrooms would be off-limits indefinitely. 

David Eastman, a BUSD project manager, said the north wing of the building, home to two classrooms that housed about 50 students, would likely have to be demolished. 

The other three classrooms will be re-opened Wednesday, accommodating 90 of the school’s 125 students, said BUSD Spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

At press time Monday, school officials said they still hadn’t determined the status of one class with about 30 students and a special education class with two students. 

Coplan said the district planned to move the two special education students into similar programs in the district’s two other preschools and that the 30-student class would either be housed in an open classroom at Rosa Parks Elementary School, or be dispersed into other preschool classes. 

“The fire appears to be arson,” said Berkeley Fire Department Spokesman Assistant Chief David Orth. 

He said the one-alarm blaze was apparently started shortly before noon by somebody burning combustibles—possibly paper—outside the north wing of the building. 

Orth said firefighters spotted the fire as they were refilling their tanker at a nearby hydrant after responding to another suspected arson a few blocks away. 

The firefighters managed to keep the fire from jumping into the south wing of the C-shaped building, which only sustained broken windows and cosmetic damage. 

Three firefighters suffered injuries at the blaze, which Orth said was tricky to extinguish because of an east wind blowing hot dry air onto the scene. One firefighter fell through a burnt floor, another suffered burns to his face and a third keeled over from heat exhaustion. 

Orth said all three were back at work Monday. 

The other fire ignited a fence on the 2000 block of Tenth Street; Orth could not confirm if the two incidents were related. 

Firefighters originally estimated the damage at $115,000, but Coplan said that after the inspection, officials believed the final tally would run far higher. 

The school’s insurance policy is expected to pay for the damages. 

Franklin Preschool is available only to students whose parents work during the school day. All of the school’s students stayed home Monday, but Berkeley Early Childhood Education Principal John Santoro said that students and their families needed to return as soon as possible. “If they don’t go to school, their parents can’t go to work,” he said. 

Berkeley police are investigating the incident, but did not return telephone calls Monday evening. 

Erik Olson contributed to this story.

Governor Gray Davis now controls the fate of Berkeley residents who one day hope to zip to work along the waves of San Francisco Bay. 

The Assembly and Senate passed legislation to fund Berkeley Ferry Service to the San Francisco Ferry Building last week, along with a laundry list of 36 Bay Area transit projects aimed at reducing bridge congestion with money reaped from a $1 fare hike on seven Bay Area bridges. 

Davis has skirted questions about his support for the project, and Monday his aide Russ Lopez said the governor had “not taken a position.” 

The legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Don Perata D-Oakland, would raise an estimated $140 million annually to fund—among other projects—ferry service, BART extensions deeper into Contra Costa County, a retrofit of BART’s transbay tube, a regional bus rapid transit system and a fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel linking Alameda and Contra Costa Counties underneath the Berkeley Hills. 

The plan for Berkeley devised by the state-mandated Water Transit Authority includes a two-ferry system to be completed by 2010 that would carry as many as 350 people across the bay every thirty minutes during rush hour. 

Fares would be competitive with BART, which costs about $3 to cross the Bay, and the boats would leave from either the Berkeley or Albany coast, preferably the Berkeley Marina, said Heidi Machen, spokesperson for the Water Transit Authority, which developed the plan under a state mandate.  

The bill would allocate $107 million to buy the boats and get the entire system running and $3.2 million to operate the Berkeley service. The plan would also subsidize ferry service connecting South San Francisco with the Ferry Building and pay for boats for five other non-subsidized routes throughout the Bay Area. 

The WTA envisions the Berkeley ferries attracting up to 2300 commuters by 2025, passengers who currently prefer to drive across the Bay Bridge rather than take AC Transit or BART. 

“Our studies show that 50 percent of our riders would be coming directly from cars,” Machen said. “If ferries are not available, they’ll keep driving.”  

Critics argue that money would be better spent improving established services rather than reintroducing ferries. 

“I’m opposed to throwing tons of money away when it’s not being done in an environmentally and economically responsible way,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

Worthington fears that ferries potentially jetting as fast as 30 mph across the Bay would do more environmental harm releasing diesel emissions into the water than motorists on the bridge, adding that proposed parking lots for an estimated 590 and 890 cars would congest shoreline neighborhoods without reducing air pollution. 

“If people drive their car to the ferry that defeats the purpose [of limiting pollution] because most of the air pollution comes from starting the car.” 

The WTA insisted that they have mandated stringent environmental regulations for boats, which Machen said must be built to be 85 percent cleaner than the Environmental Protection Agency 2007 emission standards. The agency is also committed to building some non-diesel boats. 

Paul Kamen, a Berkeley Waterfront Commissioner and naval architect, supports ferry service and says that a slow ferry, traveling about 17 knots per hour, would use about the same power per passenger as a moped during its 20-minute ride across the bay. He said the Marina already had enough parking to accommodate a scaled back ferry service, but the service projected by the WTA and might have to go to Albany in order to find enough parking. 

Worthington insisted the $140 million earmarked would be better spent on AC Transit, which he said served more people. 

The AC Transit Board of Directors endorsed the legislation, which provides the cash-strapped agency with funds for rapid service programs. Also AC Transit Deputy General Manager Jim Gleich said the agency is excited to get first crack at operating the ferry service.  

“There’s an interest here for sure,” he said. “It would improve the ability to make a good land-water system.” 

Berkeley last had ferry service after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, but that service was halted in 1990 after commuters abandoned the service when the Bay Bridge was repaired. 

Mass transit advocates initially hailed the bill as giant leap forward for providing viable alternatives to car traffic, but support has cooled recently due to projects added to help get the bill through the Assembly.  

Chief among the complaints was the last-second addition of $50 million to help fund the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, which Perata spokesperson Tom Martinez said was essential to win support from Contra Costa County representatives.  

Amber Crabbe of the Oakland-based Transportation and Land Commission, said the TLC was “not terribly happy” about funding the Caldecott expansion, but that the bill still offered “a pretty exceptional program on how to fund transit in the future.” 

Despite the multiple programs included in the bill, local politicians are curious to see if Gov. Davis signs on with a recall vote looming. “If he thinks he can appeal to environmentalists and anti-tax people maybe he’ll think [vetoing the bill] will be popular,” Worthington said. 

The legislation must leap several more hurdles before it goes into effect. If Gov. Davis signs on, the bill will go to the ballot in the seven counties affected by the plan—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano. A majority vote in four out of the seven counties is needed for passage. 

Sen. Diane Feinstein has authored federal legislation that would amend rules for allocating toll hikes so that the funding could proceed as planned. WTA officials said they expected Feinstein’s bill to pass without difficulty.

Berkeley corporate accountability activists and coffee drinkers alike will be pleased to hear that a large coalition of organizations, including San Francisco-based Global Exchange, has won their campaign to force Procter and Gamble, the largest seller of coffee in the U.S., to start carrying Fair Trade Certified coffee. 

The two-year-old campaign, according to Valerie Orth from Global Exchange, is a giant step towards helping 25 million coffee-growing families around the world receive a fair price for their product. 

Berkeley is well versed on the issue of fair trade coffee as a result of last year’s Measure O, which proposed that Berkeley coffee vendors only carry fair trade coffee. Though voters ultimately rejected the measure, Orth said the media coverage generated by the election “was instrumental in raising awareness about fair-trade coffee.” 

Fair Trade Certification insures that farmers receive at least $1.26 a pound for their harvest, compared to last month’s industrial average of $0.52 as computed by the International Coffee Organization. Activists say higher prices will create sustainability for small farmers, many of whom have already been driven out of business by large coffee growing companies that use chemicals and unconventional means to increase their productivity. 

Orth said the agreement will eventually result in Proctor and Gamble carrying up to three million pounds of Fair Trade coffee a year, adding that until then “[the coalition] is certainly watching Proctor and Gamble to make sure that they hold to their commitment.”  

Global Exchange and the other organizations involved in the campaign are encouraging people to call or fax in a letter to Proctor and Gamble before the company’s Oct. 14 shareholder meeting to let the firm know that they appreciate their commitment. 

For more information on the campaign or on how to contact Proctor and Gamble please visit the Global Exchange website at www.globalexchange.org.

Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence Board Meeting, will submit the final 2002-2003 budget Wednesday for the school board approval. 

The board will will then begin work on the 2003-2004 budget, which must be finalized by June. 

The board will also vote on the tentative labor agreement with the 

International Union of Stationary Engineers Local 39, which represents workers who maintain the school’s furnaces and boilers and other heating devices. 

The meeting is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

—Matthew Artz

Gallery renaming proposed 

Following the Aug. 15 death of noted Berkeley photographer and curator of the Addison Street Windows Gallery, the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission has voted to rename the public exhibition space she headed as “The Addison Street Windows Gallery in Honor of Brenda Praeger.” 

The action requires the approval City Council, and the commission is now preparing a motion to that effect. 

Praeger, nationally known as a photographer of the disabled, was vice chair of the Civic Arts Commission and belonged to the city’s Public Art Committee. She founded the gallery 13 years ago and had served as curator until her death. 

Disabled recreation access meet 

Gaining the fullest access to outdoor recreational opportunities for the disabled will be the topic of a discussion by a series of speakers during a special meeting from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the third floor conference room of the Berkeley Main Library at 2090 Kittredge St. 

Speakers will include representatives of the East Bay Regional and California State Parks, the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program, and the Sierra Club. 

Advance registration is required. For more information call Access Northern California, 524-2026. 

Those attending should not wear scented products. 

Artist tackles recall 

A 17-year-old Berkeley artist offers his own skewed take on California’s gubernatorial recall in the form of twelve satirical posters that manage to include every one of the 137 candidates whose names are slated to appear on the ballot—whenever the election is eventually held. 

A student at St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley, Michael Sun incorporates the would-be chief executives in a movie poster format, offered on display at his website: www.recallposter.com. 

UC Regents settle lawsuit 

University of California Regents have agreed to pay nearly a million dollars to settle the whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Michelle Doggett. 

The settlement, reached Friday and announced Monday, ends the need for a trial in the workplace retaliation suit Doggett filed after she left the lab three years ago. She filed her lawsuit in August of 2000. 

The $990,000 settlement awards Doggett $33,000 in lost wages, $264,000 in medical expenses, and $264,000 in unspecified damages. Her lawyer, Gary Gwilliam, will receive the balance of the settlement, $428,000. 

Asian Indians in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties have a median family income of $88,540—24 percent higher than the total population and the highest of any Asian group—but there are severe pockets of poverty in the South Asian community in the region. 

These are two highlights in Asian Outlook, a new report issued by the San Francisco-based Asian Pacific Fund, an organization that connects donors to needs in the Asian American community. 

The report offers the first detailed look at age, income and employment data from Census 2000 for the various Asian American populations in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin and Solano counties. 

“Contrary to popular belief, many Asians are struggling to support themselves and their families,” said Cora M. Tellez, chairman of the Asian Pacific Fund board of directors. “Disputing the widely regarded notion that all Asians are faring well, the facts are especially troubling given the Bay Area’s stagnant economy and the high unemployment rates among Asians.” 

For example, the report said that 20,744 of the 143,932 South Asians sampled in the Bay Area, those for whom data was available, live in poverty, a rate of 14.4 percent. (Some South Asian groups could not be included in the income data—Bangladeshis in all the Bay Area counties except Alameda and Santa Clara, for example—because they did not meet the population threshold of 100 families in a given geographical area). 

Cambodians, with a median family income of $39,167 (45 percent less than the total population) and Laotians with $45,833 (-36 percent), had the lowest family incomes among Asian populations. Hmongs in the Bay Area had a poverty rate of 96.4 percent, followed by Cambodians at 54.5 percent and Laotians, 49.9 percent. 

Koreans and Chinese had poverty rates of 23.8 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively, while those for Japanese and Filipinos were 13 percent and 12 percent. 

“Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Filipinos have extremely low incomes when there is no employed worker. The income for these groups, when there is no employed family member, ranges from $9000 to $15,000, in some cases half to nearly one-fourth of the general population figures,” the report said. 

“These are likely families ineligible for income assistance or who are eligible but do not want to apply. They may also be new immigrants who have not worked long enough to qualify for social security.” 

Regarding per capita income, Japanese had the highest at $38,451, reflecting the fact that they were in an earlier immigration wave. Japanese also have the highest percentage of elderly at 8.1 percent, compared to 5.3 percent for the general population. 

Asian Indians were second among Asians in per capita income at $35,370, followed by Chinese ($28,743), Pakistani ($25,862) and Korean $25,608). “The number of Asians in the Bay Area is larger than previously reported, representing 23 percent of the total Bay Area population. Previous Census figures did not include Asians mixed with another race,” the Asian Pacific Fund said. 

“Our report shows that there are an additional 120,473 Asians mixed with one other race living in the Bay Area. This new figure, up from 21 percent, more accurately represents the Asian population growth.” 

The number of elderly Asians (75+ years old) more than doubled in size during that same period, from 25,204 to 50,476. About 1.2 percent of the South Asian population are 75+. 

From 1990 to 2000, the number of Asian children (0-18 years old) grew at a rate of 23.4 percent, compared to 14.9 percent in the general population. 

Asian unemployment in California doubled in the last seven years, while unemployment declined in the general population in the same period by 4.7 percent. “It is important to target specific Asian ethnic groups in need,” said Gail Kong, executive director of the Asian Pacific Fund. “We want other foundations and community or government agencies to take heed as well, refocusing their resources and committing themselves to helping these populations.” 

For more information, visit www.asianpacificfund.org.

My thirteen-year old friend Jernae wanted to open a lemonade stand on my front porch.  

“I need lemons,” she announced, rummaging through the drawers of our refrigerator. 

“I only have one,” I replied. “That’s not enough to make lemonade with.” 

“It’ll work,” she said. “How about sugar, you got any?” 

“Yes,” I answered. “I’ve got sugar, but one lemon will not cut it.” 

“You’ll see,” she answered. “I just need somethin’ that looks like lemonade.”  

She searched through the cupboards. A few moments later she exclaimed, “Here it is!” She held up a jug of yellow Gatorade. “This will work just fine.” 

“Jernae,” I said. “You can’t sell Gatorade and claim it’s lemonade.” 

“Why not?” 

“It’s called false advertising. You can’t pass one product off as another.” 

She paused for only a second. “I’m gonna call it ‘Almost Real Lemonade,’” she said. “Cuz it’s almost real.” 

“But you can’t.” 

“Look,” she said, giving me a serious glance. “I’m gonna add sugar. Then I’m gonna slice the lemon real thin and add it to the pitcher of lemonade. Then I’m gonna throw in ice cubes. It’ll be cold and refreshing. My customers will love it.” 

She poured the Gatorade into a glass pitcher on the kitchen countertop. She added heaping spoonfuls of white sugar and stirred it with a wooden spoon until the sugar disappeared within the yellow liquid. Then she sliced the lemon into four large portions and threw it into the pitcher. 

“You could at least remove the seeds,” I said.  

“That’s what helps make it REAL,” she replied, looking at the chunks of lemon swirling in the sweetened Gatorade. 

“Ice cubes,” she exclaimed. “I need a lot of them. And cups. Do you got any cups?” 

“I only have small Dixie cups, the kind that people use to take their medications. They aren’t big enough to serve Gatorade in.” 

“‘Almost Real Lemonade,’” she corrected. “That will work perfect. Small cups means I’ll make more money.” 

She got the Dixie cups out of the bathroom medicine closet and took them outside, along with a pile of napkins. She returned for the pitcher of “Almost Real Lemonade.”  

“I need signs,” she shouted. “I can’t sell lemonade without signs. I need paper, tape and crayons.” 

She ran upstairs to my bedroom and returned with four sheets of computer paper taped together to form one big square. With a marker she wrote quickly: All Most Real Lemon Aid 10 cent for 1, 2 for 25 cent. 

“Jernae,” I said. “You can’t sell one cup for ten cents and two for twenty-five cents!” 

“Why not?” she asked. 

“Because it’s not a deal. It costs more for two cups then for one.” 

“Of course,” she said. “Two cups is always gonna cost more than one.” She went outside to tape her sign on the porch railing. But she returned moments later. 

“I need incentives,” she announced. “I need coupons that say two for one, buy one get one free, or somethin’ like that. Or I need to give away somethin’ so people will buy the ‘Almost Lemonade.’ Can you help me?” 

“No,” I answered, “I’m not going to be a part of this. Everything you are doing reeks of false advertising. You are ripping off your public.” 

“No I’m not,” she answered.  

“Yes, you are,” I said. 

“Whatever,” she replied, and returned to the porch.  

Thirty minutes later she came back inside.  

“How’s business?” I asked.  

“Not good,” she said. “I only made 25 cents so far and there aren’t any other customers around. I need more signs to put up on 53rd and 54th streets. Nobody knows I’m open for business. Will you help me, please?” 

“No,” I said. “You can’t spell and you can’t add and you are defrauding the public. I cannot be a part of this scheme, kiddo.” 

“Tweener,” she said. 

“What?” 

“I’m not a kid. I’m a tweener. You know, like almost a teenager. 

“You mean like ‘Almost Real Lemonade?’” 

“Exactly,” she answered.

Mix a rich ersatz cowboy and politics and you might get George Bush. Use a real cowboy who’s not so rich and you might get Jim Hightower, one of the nation’s leading progressive political commentators, and a real Texas cowboy in his own right. 

Hightower came through Berkeley Sunday to speak at an event sponsored by the East Bay chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), leaving the cheering crowd of almost 600 rolling in their seats as he delivered a call to action well laced with political humor. 

Wearing his trademark ten-gallon topper and speaking with his Texas drawl, Hightower lashed out at Bush and his administration’s approach to America’s civil liberties—issues of real importance to a crowd heavily sprinkled with card-carrying ACLU members. 

“It makes me happier than a flea at a dog show to see you Ashcroft arrogance busters here,” he said as he took the mike. 

Hightower—whose latest book, “Thieves in High Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country and It’s Time to Take it Back,” just recently made the New York Times bestseller list—is a true Texas grassroots organizer who got his start as an aide to Sen. Ralph Yarborough of Texas. 

Co-founder of the Agribusiness Accountability Project, a public interest project that organized around corporate power in the food economy, Hightower went on to serve two terms as the Texas Agricultural Commissioner. 

Defeated for reelection in a campaign masterminded by Bush political advisor Karl Rove, Hightower now has his own radio show, a column in The Nation magazine, and runs a newsletter that is the fastest growing political publication in the country. 

All of his work, according to a statement on his Web site, is part of his commitment to “battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be—consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.” 

Barbara Macnab, the chair of the East Bay ACLU, said that she invited Hightower to speak not only because he represents many of the issues that are important to the chapter but also because of his “ability to galvanize the ACLU forces.” 

“He has spontaneous energy and it really helps when just day-to-day living takes all your energy,” Macnab said. “In a war, you need leaders.” 

One example of Hightower effectiveness came during the question and answer session following his talk when audience member Leonard Slape rose to thank Hightower for his commitment to everyday working people. 

A furloughed United Airlines mechanic, Slape said he has been battling the company who he says is siphoning money out of his retirement plan to pay for their own business problems. When the company started going after his Social Security, Slape said he approached a number of local representatives including Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi—of whom only Boxer responded, with a “thank you for your concern” letter. 

Hightower’s office did respond, he said, leaving him with some hope that his fight will succeed. 

“[Hightower] is the only person who is willing to pick up a baseball bat and swing it for me,” said Slope. 

Another person at the meeting who drew applause was Representative Barbara Lee. Like Hightower, she was praised for standing up for California’s working people. 

Lee addressed a number of issues including health care, education, the recall and Proposition 54. She left the podium encouraging the audience to “to take back the White House and the government in the name of the people of the United States.”  

Hightower laced his talked with one-liners and wisecracks that kept the event energized and upbeat.  

He concluded with a plea for involvement, asking the audience to follow the slogan developed by a his favorite local Texas moving company: “If we can get it loose, we can move it.” 

The crowd also left him with a plea, asking when he was going to run for president. Hightower chuckled, answering, “I’m going to keep running my mouth instead of running for president.”

When I migrated from the East Coast to the Bay Area in 1983 I wound up living in a communal household on Margarido Street along the border of Berkeley and Oakland. Among my housemates was a graphic artist/raft guide/old car aficionado/baseball nut named Steve Kowalski. 

Steve was famous for a lot of things but he was absolutely notorious for the way he lived within his bedroom. I’ve seen very messy living quarters in my life, places that the health department, if they dared to go inside, would declare dangerous to one’s safety, but Steve took messiness to an esoteric, artistic level. When Steve was away my roommates and I showed his bedroom to visitors, but we kept his door shut if potential renters came by. No one would have moved in if they had seen the catastrophe upstairs.   

But times have changed. Steve went on to run a very successful graphic arts firm located on Fifth Street in Berkeley. Then he transitioned into clock making. 

His one-of-a-kind, quirky, high-end timepieces, lovingly assembled from antique airplane, plumbing, ship and car parts, sold for $500 to $8,000 at galleries in San Francisco and New York. 

In 1995, Steve and his brother John, who was working for the Paris branch of Nintendo, decided to join forces hand-building small batches of clocks behind an old shop at Sixth Street and Austin Way. Soon thereafter, brother Dan joined in and together they formed Timeworks, Inc. with the goal of making historically authentic and attractive timepieces that are affordable and functional. 

“There is so much that should be said about … the fact that we have not killed one another,” says youngest brother, Dan. “I think that a family working together is both a blessing and a mistake. There is such a great dynamic that sizzles when the three of us are having fun, but when the pressure of business comes into play, it makes it hard to feel synergistic! 

“Steve was such a big influence on my childhood, and that of my three brothers,” enthuses Dan. “He made operating mechanical tanks that all five of us would sit in. We’d hold on to exposed nuts and bolts for dear life and travel down long hills, often until the thing hit a curb and we would go flying. I think all of us have a few sets of stitches on our noggins, yet our wild childhood produced some creativity. We’re all self-employed.” He laughs for a moment and then continues. 

“Steve made some of the finest small scale hand-built models I ever remember seeing. He was a celebrity as a teenager at Paul Freiler’s model shop in Torrance, where even the oldest fine model craftsmen would be amazed at his work.” 

Now located off Ashby Avenue in Southwest Berkeley, Timeworks has grown from the three brothers doing everything to over sixty employees. 

The original tiny 250-square-foot space has given way to the 50,000-square-foot warehouse located in one of the large buildings formerly occupied by Whole Earth Access. The selection of fine clocks has expanded from four originals to over 200. Also available is a line of adorable nursery room décor.  

The clocks are manufactured, assembled, tested and shipped from the Berkeley warehouse.  

Steve favors a new model called the Museum Stradivarius. It is based on an original sculptural timepiece Steve created years ago using parts from an 18th Century violin in combination with antique clock parts from the 1890s.  

Most Timeworks clocks sell in retail stores for between $60 and $200. The new museum line, of which the Stradivarius model is the first, will retail from $150 upwards to $400.  

Like most businesses with a good idea, Timeworks has recently been plagued with copycats: low-end, offshore manufacturing companies that have plagiarized Timeworks’ designs but not the Kowalski brothers’ pursuit of superior quality. Combined with the downturn in the economy, Timeworks recently dropped from $13 million in sales to $10 million. But the brothers have no plans to compromise on craftsmanship. 

“Our clocks are the best in the marketplace,” says Steve. “We’ll continue to maintain our high standards and niche market.” Adds Dan, “We’re going to be exploring other products yet to be determined, but with Steve's ingenuity, John’s savvy and my approach to presenting our product to the public, we can make interesting things the public will love.” 

Steve has been able to combine his fondness for antique cars, ships and baseball with his love of clock making. Timeworks manufactures logo-branded clocks for every major league baseball team, a line of authentic nautical timepieces, and a tinplate collection of children’s clocks, mirrors, picture frames, coat racks and chalkboards that feature whimsical depictions of old fashioned automobiles, trucks, airplanes, and fire engines. 

A rabid Giants fan, Steve has season tickets to PacBell Stadium and can be found there with his wife Patti and baby daughter Stephanie just a few feet behind first base during almost every home game. Not only does he have a great view of his favorite team and players, but he can look across the ballpark from where he sits and see the huge clock above the scoreboard. It’s a clock he designed for the Giants. Below it are large metal letters that spell out the word Timeworks.

What might happen to California if we adopt Prop 54 and its race privacy?  

The history of Mexico provides an advance look. 

Race was a central issue in Mexico’s 1810-1821 war for independence from Spain. Mexican freedom fighters demanded the abolition of the Spanish caste system of legal segregation and discrimination. 

The February 1821 peace plan of Iguala that led to the war’s end included a clause which read, “All inhabitants... without distinction to their being Europeans, Africans, or Indians, are citizens... with the option to seek all employment according to their merits and virtues.” 

A law of the first congress of free Mexico declared equality of all citizens, “irrespective of which ever of the four corners of the world from which they come.” 

The spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Mexico quickly met up with the spirit of Ward Connerly—author of California’s Prop 54. 

The Mexican Congress followed its equality law with a statute that prohibited mention of race in any government document, or in the records of the parish church. 

A second statute barred congressional delegates from speaking disparagingly of anyone’s race or ethnicity. This law was interpreted to mean no one should speak of race, either positively or negatively. However, mention of Indios was still being made in Congress, so one congressman proposed that congressmembers be prohibited from uttering the word “Indio” in debate. Congress decided members should only use the word by saying “those who are called Indios.” 

As Connerly appears to draw strong support from the well-to-do, so too, was the congress that passed race privacy in Mexico a thoroughly wealthy group, and almost exclusively European in physical appearance. As supporters of Prop 54 claim to be following Dr. King, so, too, did the congress of Mexico declare its initial race privacy law was “in honor of Iguala,” the plan with the equality clause. 

The liberal African American Dr. King pushed equality before conservatives got around to the race privacy ploy here, and it Mexico was the “precursor of socialism” in his country, the African and Indigenous Vicente Guerrero, who used his position of Commander-in-Chief of the Mexican army to push the equality clause in the Plan of Iguala. 

One effect of the silence on race laws in Mexico is that standard histories typically leave out discussion of either the equality or privacy legislation. 

Did race privacy keep race out of Mexican politics? A case in point is the 1828 presidential campaign of General Guerrero, during which the opposition put out anonymous fliers and unsigned editorials that warned against Guerrero “the black,” “the mulatto,” and “the Indio.” 

Guerrero had acknowledged his roots during the war with Spain, but he was merely “citizen Guerrero” during his political campaign, and his lieutenants complained about the opposition injecting race. 

“Can you imagine, the General was actually called a black!” wrote one Guerreroista journalist. 

Meanwhile, the General made sure there was wide distribution of an unsigned pamphlet he wrote which called upon the Indios to participate in politics and through majority rule reclaim their rightful domination of the country. 

Guerrero came to office amidst a near race war of riots and one large pitched battle. Three months into office, he issued his nation’s presidential slavery abolition decree, and three months after that he was overthrown, money for the uprising coming heavily from Campeche slave plantation owners. 

How has race privacy in Mexico affected the disadvantaged? 

This is hard to answer, because race has only been taken in the census three times since independence. 

We can note a near disappearance of a once sizable minority. A census taken by Spaniards just before independence showed African-mestizos were 10.1%, pure Africans 0.1%. A 1950 census reduced the descendants of the few hundred thousand enslaved Africans of colonial times to only 1 1/2 percent. Afro-Mexico amalgamated away in the manner of the Hungarian-Americans, or the Polish American Grabowsky family that is now the Garbers. 

The handful of overtly African Mexicans remaining have been too few to push for the due credit their ancestors deserve for contributions to nation’s culture, such as “La Bamba” song of slaves in Veracruz who came from the Angolan town of MBamba in that country’s district of Bamba. 

If being Prop 54rd help white wash out Afro-Mexico, the silence hasn’t quite worked with the Native Mexican. While the Indigenous were 60.1% in the Spanish census, their number was down to around 12% a decade ago in a count which defined Indians as those who spoke primarily Indigenous languages in their younger years. 

It is an economically depressed 12% and not much better off are the many extended family members who speak adequate Spanish but lack job histories and skills. 

Prop 54 is feared by many in the education community who feel that race privacy will hurt many programs for disadvantaged students, and Mexico has a long history of education failure in regard to the Indigenous. 

For instance, in 1833 Congressman Juan Rodriguez Puebla, an Indio, offered an amendment to Mexico’s first Federal Public School bill to have early grade instruction in Indigenous languages in those villages where nobody spoke Spanish. The amendment was voted down by opponents who declared that reference to “Indios” was a 

backward step; because, in modern Mexico “it is class not race” that counted. 

Regarding the substitution of “class” for “race,” advocates pushing Prop 54 should think twice. Mexico took the bait and the nation became notorious enough for its class revolutions that in 1871 certain pundits in Europe blamed the Paris Commune on a philosophical infection of ideas from revolutionary Mexico. And this reputation was before the great social revolution of 1910. 

It is said in Mexico that the spirit of “class not race” has helped interracial marriage flourish. And the saying in Mexico is, “Anybody with enough money can marry my daughter." 

However, the romances have been selective and Mexico is said to have ended up with a “pigmentocracy” in which the richer and lighter tend to marry each other and rule. Meanwhile, oppressors in Mexico who in colonial times used race to blame the victims, switched to blaming the downtrodden for not speaking Spanish or speaking it poorly.  

The modern underclass includes the Indian beggar women huddled with their emaciated children on the sidewalks of the nation’s cities as well as the day laborers who speak little or no Spanish and work for starvation wages. It is thus no small irony that we seem to be developing in California an underclass of Spanish speakers who speak little or no English. 

In intellectual life, if Mexico’s racial amnesia is a guide for a Prop 54ed future here, then discourse in California will lose focus. Mexican intellectuals have long lamented their “identity crisis." Octavio Paz describes the people of his nation wandering in a spiritual “labyrinth of solitude.” 

Samuel Ramos is said to have begun the school of lament in his 1934 “Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico” in which Ramos blaimed a lack of identity for tendencies of mistrust and poor self-confidence. A more recent work on identity is Guillermo Bonfil Batalla’s, “Mexico Profundo: Una Civilizacion Negada." The civilization denied is that of Native Mexico. 

Bonfil Batalla’s book is said to have inspired the Indigenous uprising of the Chiapas Zapatistas. The Indigenous rebellion has not spread from Chiapas, in part because no other state is sufficiently Indigenous. In Chiapas, more than other places in Mexico, there is open practice of Indigenous culture, people proudly wear Indigenous clothing, speak Indigenous languages and read magazines and books in Indigenous languages. 

Chiapas was part of Guatemala when Mexico passed its race privacy laws. 

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Mexico has changed since the 1994 uprising. The Zapatiastas of Chiapas appear to have convinced a many Mexicanos that there may be a softer way to settle dispute than class conflict. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to race is being discarded. 

People are now acknowledging Indio roots, and owning up that grandmother’s kinky hair is from her African heritage. Rock groups in Aztec dress and feathered headdress blare electric guitars. Classes in Náhuatl flourish. In little squares in Mexico City, young activists are joined in Aztec dancing by office workers and shoppers who reach into black garbage baggies filled with rattles and bells and proceed to prance to an Indigenous beat. [possible place to end] 

The Ballet Folklorico de Mexico adds more specifically Indigenous dance to the world renown repertoire of Afro-Spanish-Indigenous numbers. Ethnologist/sports enthusiasts are teaching the pre-Columbian basketball game, which is no easy sport in that you must move the ball with parts of the body other than hands or feet. 

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Ventures into race politics after the decades of silence have had strange effects. There was, for example the death threat in the 1999 governor’s election in the state of Guerrero. In 1994 a group living on the Guerrero coast where Afro-mestizos are a still numerous responded to the Zapatistas of Chiapas with a news conference announcing “If the Indios are organizing the blacks should, too.”  

The organized blacks of Guerrero voted for the left-wing Party of Democratic Revolution and won many local offices. In 1999 the ruling Party of Institutional Revolution in Guerrero ran “a black” for governor, Rene Juarez Cisneros. Disputed results gave him the election. There were protests at the state capital. 

On pavement at the capital square a grafitti read, “QUE MUERA, NEGRO ENEMIGO No. 1 DE GUERRERO, USURPADOR,” (Death to the Black, Enemy #1 of Guerrero, Usurper). In the corner of the scribble were the letters “ERP,” Popular Revolutionary Army—an openly violent self-proclaimed left-wing organization that might be but provocateurs. The ERP called for race murder, despite many a “black” Guerreroense working prominently in the opposition to the disputed governor. 

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In California, race privacy may appeal to some individuals who do not want attention drawn to the disproportionate representation of European looking Californians at the top of the socio-economic chain. And some thoroughly interracial individuals may say good riddance to the “nuisance” of filling in a multitude of race and ethnicity squares on forms. But the test case of Mexico shows that race privacy gained little that could not have been gained by other means, created some new problems, and made some older problems difficult to address. 

Perhaps, then, the Mexican experience is one reason the California poll shows Latinos significantly more opposed to Prop 54 than African Americans.

It may have felt like summer last week, but the birds know otherwise. The southbound migrants are on the move. 

Last week in Tilden Park, I spotted a few of the legion of travelers: western tanagers, warbling vireos, Wilson’s, orange-crowned, Townsend’s, yellow, and black-throated gray warblers. And I heard, but just missed seeing, a northern waterthrush, which should have been on another flyway altogether. More exotic strays are being reported from outer Point Reyes and from the Farallon Islands, landing field of last resort. 

Viewers of the recent documentary “Winged Migration”—for all its bombastic score and intrusive narration, an impressive film—may have come out with the sense that most of the traffic consists of big showy birds like geese and cranes. (I’m told that when the movie opened in Nevada City, a resident brought two ducks to see it. They were rowdy and raucous, though, and had to be removed from the theater. And I can see how the subject matter might have been disturbing to them.) 

In fact, smaller migrants—songbirds like those warblers, vireos, and tanagers—vastly outnumber the big guys. But since most of them migrate at night, they pose a challenge for the documentarian. 

The journeys they undertake are staggering to think about. The distances alone: from the northern boreal forests to the Amazon, in some cases. Western migrants don’t face the trans-Gulf of Mexico passage that eastern species do, but they still have long and risky routes to travel. 

They run a gantlet of dangers: bad weather, predators (hungry sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks are also moving south), human obstructions. In San Francisco’s Financial District, I’ve found thrushes and warblers dead on the pavement below high-rises, killed by collision with those glass cliffs. The buildings’ lights seem to draw birds, as do those of broadcasting towers where researchers have documented heavy mortality. And our transformation of the landscape has made the stopovers the birds need to rest and refuel fewer and farther between. 

Larger birds like geese learn migration routes from their elders. (They can also learn not to migrate, and hang around parks and golf courses all year). But most songbirds fly alone. They’re born with a genetically hardwired itinerary; some scientists think this involves a a time-distance program, a predisposition to fly along a specific compass bearing for a specific period of time. This has to be supplemented by careful reading of navigational cues: the positions of the stars and the setting sun, landmarks like mountains and rivers, even the Earth’s magnetic field. 

Some birds are dyslexic. That’s likely how the northern waterthrush wound up in Tilden Park. By the same token, every migration season brings a flurry of western strays to the East Coast. In spring and fall, birders in search of rarities haunt “vagrant traps,” like the cypress groves at Point Reyes ranches, where stragglers come to rest. 

If they stay on course, most western migrants reach wintering grounds in western Mexico and Central America. This is where their ancestors evolved before they began commuting north to take advantage of more favorable conditions for nesting. Some are drawn to habitats similar to their spring and summer quarters: black-throated gray warblers to oaks, hermit warblers to pines. Others are generalists. Richard Hutto, who has studied wintering songbirds in Mexico for over 20 years, has found that northern migrants are 

more tolerant of second-growth habitat than native birds. 

Biologists are still learning about the winter ecology of neotropical migrant birds. Their food preferences may shift: insect-eaters up north may become fruit or nectar-feeders down south. Black-headed grosbeaks wintering in Mexico feed on wintering monarch butterflies, being one of the few birds able to stomach the insects’ bitter taste. 

Some migrants stake out territories; in some species, males grab the best real estate, relegating females to less favorable spots. Quality matters: recent studies show that birds with better winter territories produce more chicks the following summer. Others join mixed flocks that may contain over 20 different species. By ganging up, they get access to the turfs of territorial birds, and there are more eyes to watch for predators. Hutto says that within these flocks, black-throated-gray warblers hang out with dusky-capped flycatchers; the flycatcher may benefit by snagging insects that the warbler flushes but misses. 

Although less publicized than the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, the area where western migrants winter is at grave risk. Mexico lost 3 million acres of forest per year over the last decade, a total area about the size of Ireland. Biodiversity advocate Edward O. Wilson says 70% of tropical dry forest, the predominant type in western Mexico, has been lost. Whether the forest is replaced by cornfields or marijuana plantations, the result is a net loss of viable wintering habitat. Hutto is now using satellite images to 

measure changes in habitat types and their impact on wintering migrants. 

Are North America’s neotropical migrants in trouble? Alarming population declines in the late 70’s and 80’s spurred the formation of international bird conservation groups like Partners in Flight. John Faaborg, author of the recent book Saving Migrant Birds, thinks things might not be all that bad, with losses for some species offset by gains for others. He points out that we still don’t have a lot of hard data on migrant numbers, let alone the fates of individual birds. 

Tools that promise to provide better data are being developed, though. Banding has its limitations: of over 140,000 Wilson’s warblers banded in the US and Canada, only three were ever recovered in Mexico and Central America. And with birds weighing only a third of an ounce, radiotelemetry is impractical. 

However, it may be possible to identify a wintering bird’s point of origin from its genetic signature. Analysis of feather chemistry is another promising technique: the ratio of hydrogen isotopes in a bird’s feathers can show how far north it was when those feathers grew in, just before it started its southward journey.

Gov. Gray Davis Thursday named Berkeley attorney John Marshall True III to the Alameda County Superior Court. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, True is a partner with Leonard Carder LLP, an Oakland law firm. 

A practitioner of employment law, True won’t be the only member of his family to wear judicial silk. His wife, Claudia Wilkin, is a judge of the U.S. District Court. 

“I look forward to no longer being overruled at the dinner table,” he quipped. 

Though he got the word officially Wednesday night from Burt Pines, the former Los Angeles City Attorney and the governor’s judicial appointments secretary, he had received hints as early as last spring. 

“A while back someone suggested I might not want to take a vacation around this time,” he said. 

The new jurist didn’t take straight to law school after earning his bachelor’s degree. “I spent six years in the Peace Corps in Nepal and in Afghanistan,” he said. 

He moved to Berkeley in 1972 to attend Boalt, and has lived here ever since. After winning his law degree, he spent three-and-a-half years as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Oakland and San Francisco before entering private practice. 

In 1985, True joined the staff of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, leaving in 1994. He had been with Leonard Carder for almost three years when his appointment came. 

True’s specialty has been representing workers in employee rights wage and hour litigation, and he has been serving as a mediator for the U.S. District Court. 

He has chaired the State Bar of California’s Labor Employment Law Section. 

He and his wife have two children, Peter, a senior at Berkeley High and editor of the school newspaper, and Sarah, a ninth grader. 

“I’m excited and quite pleased about the appointment,” he said. “It’s going to be a whole new professional life. I’ve been practicing 28 years in a quite specialized area of the law, and now I’m going to have to jump out of the boat and learn to swim all over again. It’s quite exciting.” 

True doesn’t know what assignment he’ll draw on the Alameda County bench. “I’ll be contacting the presiding judge, and he’ll take it from there.” 

True was one of two Boalt Hall grads Gov. Davis named to the Alameda County Superior Court Thursday. The other is First Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Clay of San Francisco, 48, who serves is the Science Advisory Board of UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science. 

Clay has practiced law in Alameda County since 1981. He earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and his law degree from UC San Francisco. 

He practiced in Oakland for 22 years doing criminal and entertainment law specializing in hip-hop musicians before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office a year ago as second in command.  

“I’m not certain when I’ll start,” Clay said. “I guess it depends on what the Ninth Circuit does with the recall. If they go ahead with the election, then I guess I’ll have to get sworn in before October 7,” the date of the gubernatorial recall until the federal judges put the election on hold earlier this week.

How to make up a $1.43 million Berkeley General Fund shortfall caused by the 2003-04 state budget? That’s the gloomy and wholly expected task the Berkeley City Council will take up at tonight’s regular 7:30 p.m. meeting at the Old City Hall. 

Also on the agenda will be a public hearing on changes in the city’s Rental Housing Safety Program fees and on the proposed building of a Sprint Wireless Communication Facility (to include three rooftop antennas) on the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street. Council also plans to discuss two items held over from its Sept. 9 meeting: a proposed study on the environmental effects of the use of the Aquatic Park Lagoon by the Berkeley High Women’s Crew team, and a second look at the defeated Olds-Hawley resolution calling for an inquiry into the deaths of all American citizens in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza over the past three years. 

The city officials knew a general fund gap was imminent this fiscal year, the only question being how large it would be. The council finally learned the exact size of it during a public workshop session held with City Manager Weldon Rucker and Budget Manager Paul Navazio before last week’s Council meeting. 

Rucker and Navazio have recommended that the city make up the deficit from three quarters of a million unspent dollars carried over from last year’s budget and a quarter of a million unallocated dollars from this year’s increase in parking fees. 

The two managers have also recommended close to a half million dollars in actual budget cuts, the most significant being elimination of an unfilled assistant fire chief’s position and a $50,500 cut in police overtime. 

At the same working session last week, Council also received long-term bad news from its budget experts. Unless Council enacts some combination of tax increases or spending cuts or the state economic picture magically brightens, Berkeley can expect a projected structural deficit of $8 million to $10 million next year, growing $2 million to $3 million per year . 

EMH Market Research firm of Sacramento is already conducting a City of Berkeley-ordered survey of 400 Berkeley registered voters to assess support for a possible city bond measure next spring to make up part of this deficit. Council expects the results of the survey by early October, and plans to discuss a possible spring bond measure during its first meeting in November.