Berkeley City Council was set to decide tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 14) whether to present voters with three controversial ballot measures—possibly as soon as next March. If passed by the electorate, the proposed measures would profoundly alter the way elections are held in the city. 

Council will consider asking voters to consider a range of election change options, including: 

* Raising the campaign contribution limit for citywide elections from its present $250 while keeping that limit for council races; 

* Requiring candidates to either pay a filing fee or collect nominating signatures; 

* Public financing of election campaigns; 

* Extending the time period between general and runoff elections from its present four weeks to as long as long as eight months; and 

* Allowing Berkeley to implement instant runoff voting (IRV) once such a system is put in place by the Alameda County Registrars Office. 

Also on the table for discussion for the 5 p.m working session was Council’s proposed March, 2004 special tax bond referendum. 

Council is scheduled to debate the election change proposals both tonight and at its Oct. 21 5 p.m. working session. 

In order to appear on the March 2004 ballot, the text of the proposed ballot measures would have to be presented to Council for review on Nov. 4 and for final vote no later than Nov. 25. Council could, however, delay putting the measures on the ballot until the November, 2004 general election, or later. 

Mayor Tom Bates originally presented the election change proposals to Council in bare bones form on May 13, co-sponsored by Councilmembers Kris Worthington and Gordon Wozniak. At Council’s request, the City Manager’s office has spent the last five months fleshing out the ideas, developing background material and working up detailed recommendations. 

In defending the idea of requiring filing fees for candidates for Berkeley office, Bates said last May that “I don’t want to keep anybody off the ballot. I just think that a candidate should be serious. The guy who ran against me [for Mayor] paid nothing, got 200 words [of his candidate statement printed in the official election pamphlet] that went out to every voter, and appeared nowhere. I think you should have to make some minor contribution.” 

Bates also said that while keeping the present system of campaign contribution limits at $250 a person favored incumbents such as himself, he said that such limits gave an unfair advantage to wealthy candidates, who could put up their own money. Bates said he also favored raising the limits “so that candidates don’t have to spend all of their time trying to raise money.” 

If passed by the voters in March, the proposals would begin implementation during the November, 2004 general election. 

If the May 13 meeting is any indication, the mayor’s election proposals will spark lively discussion over the next few weeks. Council engaged in a contentious, 30-minute debate on the matter last May, including a heated back-and-forth between an impatient Bates and a clearly frustrated Councilmember Dona Spring. 

Spring lost on a motion to table the discussion on the proposals and then led the unsuccessful opposition to including the extension of the time between general and runoff elections and the raising of campaign contribution limits. 

Spring said at the time she opposed raising the fees because of what she called the “escalating arms race” of the cost of running for office in Berkeley. Councilmember Margaret Breland also opposed raising the contribution limits, saying she believed it would lessen the political influence of low-income contributors. 

The only proposal that did not receive a no vote at the May meeting was the Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which eliminates any possible runoffs by allowing voters to list their second (and third, and fourth, and so on) choices in the event their first choice doesn’t win. Currently, Santa Clara County, San Francisco, San Leandro, and Oakland have all amended their charters to allow IRV. 

Although Bates included the IRV proposal in his recommendations, he abstained on the IRV motion, causing Spring to question his position, shouting out, “You campaigned on supporting this! Jeez!” 

At the same May meeting, Councilmember Worthington lost 3-4 on a motion to ask city staff to explore lowering campaign contributions for City Council races. Councilmember Linda Maio lost 3-4 on a motion to explore abolishing runoff elections altogether. Councilmember Miriam Olds was not present at the May meeting.

TUESDAY, OCT. 14 

Memorial for Edward Said at 7 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. For additional information please contact ghannam@itsa.ucsf.edu or hats@igc.org  

Fall Fruit Tasting at Berkeley’s Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way, from 2 to 4 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org  

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) meets at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., near Rockridge BART. 835-6303.  

The Wellstone Democratic Club meets at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Alternative School, MLK and Derby, to assess the results of the October 7 elections.  

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.  

“Introduction to Islam” with the Arab Association of the Bay Area at 7:30 p.m. at Interna- 

tional House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

“Israel Yes, Occupation No” with Marcia Freedman, former Israeli Parlimentarian, and founder of the Alliance for Peace and Justice, at 7 p.m. at 30 Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by Tzedek. 845-7793. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Anna Swardenski from the Coalition for Seniors and People with Disabilities will speak about Emergency Preparedness for seniors. 845-6830. 

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

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15 

Gray Panthers Night Out with Alison Wier, co-founder, “If Americans Knew: Information on Israel and Palestine.” Political discussion and light supper at 7 p.m. at 1403 Addison St. All welcome. 548-9696. 486-8010. 

Prose Writers Workshop 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 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 

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. 548-0425. 

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

THURSDAY, OCT. 16 

“The Ohlone Culture,” with Beverly Ortiz, naturalist, at 7:30 p.m. at Coyote Hills Regional Park Visitors Center. Lecture is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $12. For information call 841-8562.  

“Civil Rights in the 21st Century Conference: Connecting the Dots!” Join prominent activists, educators, and civil rights organizations in a two-day conference to examine the state of Civil Rights in the 21st century. Fri., 7 to 10 pm., Sat., 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. MLK Student Center, Telegraph Ave. & Bancroft Way. Free. 868-8318. www.sacredroots.net 

“Peace Zones: The Philippine Experience” with Renia Corocoto, Rotary Peace Scholar, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

UC Botanical Garden Docent Training at 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee and registration required. 643-1924.  

Faith, Land, and Agriculture: A GTU Faculty Panel, the second of a Series on Topics in Ecology, Theology, and Ethics at 7 p.m. in the GTU Dinner Board Room. Panel includes Drs. Marvin Chaney (SFTS), Lisa Fullam (JSTB), and Naomi Seidman (GTU, Center for Jewish Studies). 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

Stop Breast Cancer Where it Starts - Stop Toxic Pollution Find out how pharmaceutical and chemical company Astra Zeneca conceived of Breast Cancer Awareness Month to increase their sales of tamoxifen, that is also on the Prop 65 list of cancer causing chemicals. From 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 540-2220 ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

Stroke Prevention and Treatment, a free community workshop offered by the Ethnic Health Institute of Alta Bates Summit at 6:30 p.m. at the Health Education Center, Samuel Merritt College, 400 Hawthorne Ave. For information and reservations please call 869-6737. 

Improving the Chemotherapy Experience a free, open session for cancer patients, their families and friends, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Auditorium, 2450 Ashby Ave. For more information call Jill Bender at 415-625-1135.  

League of Women Voters meets at 6:45 p.m. at the South Branch Library to discuss the October 7 election. 843-8824. 

Simplicity Forum, “Take Back Your Time” Speaker and attendees will share about the impact of time deprivation and ways they are getting back time in their lives, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. For more information call 549-3509, or go to www.simpleliving.net.  

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, OCT. 17 

Dance Benefit for Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1FM at 8 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. With Sokrates the Virgo, Elementactics, Space Vacuum, Jay Jay Johnson, and many others. $10 donation requested.  

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

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 

Charity Fashion Show by the Asian Business Association at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. All proceeds benefit the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Tickets are $10 for ABA members, $12 general. For more information visit www.juliamorgan.org  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with G. Steven Detlinger, Vice President, Morgan Stanley on “Today’s Market.” 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, OCT. 18 

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

Berkeley High School Independent Studies Garage Sale, Bake Sale and Car Wash from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also on Sunday. Held at the Independent Studies Campus at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Derby Sts. Money raised will help Art, French and Spanish students on a trip to Europe.  

Michael Moore, award-winning documentarian and author, on the “American Economic and Political Climate” at the Greek Theater at 1 p.m., Tickets are $15 and $30. 642- 9988. 

Autumn in Asia, walking tour through the Asian Area of the Botanical Garden, with Horticulturalist Elaine Sedlack, from 9 to 11 a.m. Space is limited, registration required. 643-2755. http:// 

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of the Berkeley Kensington border at 10 a.m. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. Please make check payable to Berkeley Historical Society, and mail to P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701-1190. 848-0181. 

Wilderness First Aid with Steve Donelan, covering subjects ranging from hypothermia to frostbite, stings to injuries, water purification to first-aid kits. From 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.at the Sierra Club, SF Bay Chapter, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight. Cost is $50, plus $15 for Sierra Club membership if you aren’t a member already. Reservations required. For information email donelan@wildernessemergencycare.com or visit www.wildernessemergencycare.com 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Earthquake Retrofitting for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 812 Page St. Register on-line at www.ci. 

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

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. The class is taught by Rosie Linsky, who at age 72, has practiced yoga for over 40 years. Open to non-members of the club for $8.00 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

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

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 19 

Spice of Life Food and Arts Festival, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, on Shattuck Ave. between Francisco and Vine Sts. 540-6444. info@northshattuckassociation.org  

Growing Food in the City, from 1 to 4 p.m. with Daniel Miller, Project Director of BOSS Urban Gardening Institute, at the Subsistence Garden Center, 2838 Sacramento St, at Oregon. karenjoy@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Prehistoric Plants Life cycles and natural history of liverworts, hornworts, mosses and ferns will be our theme as we walk the Pack Rat Trail, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Mewsic and A Howling Good Time, benefit for Hopalong Animal Rescue from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door. For reservations call 530-5154, ext. 505. www.hopalong.org 

“Digital Democracy: The Effect of the Internet in Participatory Politics,” with MoveOn.org cofounder Joan Blades; Ask Jeeves founder Garrett Gruener; Lauren Gelman, assistant director, Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society; Zane Vella, executive director, Campaign Video Project; and Tyler Ziemann, CEO, Affinity Engines, at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. $10 donation at the door. 

California Peace Action Network meets at 4 p.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semetic?” A panel on Counter Punch’s new book, “The Politics of Anti-Semitism,” with Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey Blankfort, Lenni Brenner and Scott Handleman at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinnelle, UC Campus. A donation of $5-$10 requested. Sponsored by the Middle East Radio Project and Students for Justice in Palestine. 415-255-9182. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 5 p.m. with the Cal Sailing Club. Bring warm waterproof clothes and come to the Berkeley Marina. For more information see www.cal-sailing.org 

Tibetan Buddhism “World Peace Ceremony,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

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

MONDAY, OCT. 20 

Friends of Strawberry Creek will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library Public Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge. Please note this is a change of location. For more information email bjanet@earthlink.net, jennifemaryphd@hotmail.com, caroleschem@hotmail.com 

“Looking at the Middle East Conflict form the Heart and from the Head” with Riva Gambert and Dawn Kepler of building Jewish Bridges, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. For information on the speakers, call 839-2900 ext. 347. www.jfed.org/interfaith 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

Investigative Reporting: Past, Present and Future, with Frank McCulloch, Stephen Engelberg, David Barstow, and Mark Schapiro, in conversation with Lowell Bergman, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Graduate School of Journalism Library, North Gate Hall, UC Campus. 643-9411. 

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  

Flu Shots will be offered at a number of Berkeley locations during the month of October, by Sutter VNA and Hospice. For a location near you call 1-800-500-2400 or visit www.suttervnaandhospice.org 

East Bay Center for International Trade Development (EBCITD), part of the Economic Development Program at Vista Community College, offers seminars to assist companies, professionals and entrepreneurs with international trade related issues. Foe details on the seminars, visit http://eastbay.citd.org or call 540-8901, ext. 23.  

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.  

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

School Board meets Wed. Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320.  

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Oct. 16, 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., Oct. 16, 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., Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., Oct. 20,  

at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/peaceandjustice

NO SPEED BUMPS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The bicycle advocates who favor speed bumps do not speak for all bicyclists. Speed bumps can damage delicate items, shake loose packages and recycle goods, and create a hazard when drivers swerve into the gutter/bike lane so one set of wheels can avoid the bump. We’d much rather share the lane with a wheelchair than with a swerving car. California law states it is illegal for pedestrians to walk in bike lanes when sidewalks are available, but obviously they are not available for people in wheelchairs. 

Cars and trashcans blocking the sidewalk were in our way too when our kids were little and riding or wagoning on the sidewalk. In most cases, cars are left there parked in the sidewalk, not just there temporarily for unloading. 

Widening the sidewalk won’t help if no effort is made to enforce rules against parking on the sidewalk. It may even backfire if it creates enough room for a car to be fully off the street (and on the sidewalk) in a place where there wasn’t sufficient room before. Imagine what would happen if cars blocking the sidewalk were routinely ticketed or towed even if no one phoned in to complain. That is, the parkers would complain, but sidewalks would be clearer and safer. The sidewalk cracks and holes would still need fixing, of course. (It’s not a problem because no wheelchair users use your street? Maybe they can’t.) 

We agree with Steven Finacon (Letters, Daily Planet, Oct. 7-9) that we need to pay to allow our trash collectors enough time to set the cans neatly along the curb. They used to place the cans back along in peoples‚ back or side yards. 

Making the major streets easier to cross would make side streets a more useable option. 

Finally, we want to express our amazement that the person who hit Fred Lupke did not get a ticket for driving at an unsafe speed. If visibility conditions prevent you from driving safely, drive slower, until you are moving slowly enough to be safe. That used to be the law. 

Barbara Judd and Robert Clear 

• 

ADVANCE NOTICE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

How courageous of Ms. Weir to have gone to her office despite the warning left on her voicemail that if she did go she’d be risking her life. (“Telephone Bomb Threat Follows Campus Debate,” Daily Planet Oct. 7-9). The U.S. often being a trend setter, I hope that Palestinian suicide bombers will take note and start announcing in advance the day, time and place of the deadly act they intend to commit.  

Kathryn Winter 

• 

BLAME CALTRANS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

It has been widely misreported that Fred Lupke, much-loved Berkeley activist who was struck by motorcar while riding his wheelchair along Ashby Avenue and later died of his injuries, was breaking the law. This terrible untruth was first propagated by the Berkeley Police Department (which despite years of citizen efforts, holds an abysmal record on knowing and upholding the rights of non-drivers).  

Lupke rode his wheelchair in the parking lane on Ashby Avenue, where the sidewalk is dangerously impassible. There is no law against doing so; no law requires those who use wheelchairs (who are legally pedestrians) to stay on the sidewalk. Yet the driver of the vehicle that killed Fred certainly violated the unsafe speed law (CVC 22350) by driving into the setting sun—which by her own admission, blinded her—at such a speed as to throw him 55 feet! She also violated his basic pedestrian rights. But aggressive, kill-risky drivers are commonplace—even as the police fail to cite or arrest them. The true culprits of this death are Caltrans, who engineered the dangerous condition there and have stubbornly refused to tender local control of Ashby Avenue to the city through which it passes, even after numerous similar tragedies. Perhaps they still pine to build the community-crushing Ashby freeway. 

Ashby is a trap lined with pedestrian and bicycle-slaying features. Caltrans’ constantly changing lanes endangers drivers and non-drivers alike. The driver who killed Fred surely made a rapid lane switch into the briefly vacant parking lane where Fred was forced to ride. Such racetrack-style lane switches increase speeding and are especially deadly to pedestrians, unseen by drivers jockeying to pass. The vicious cycle perpetuates: another fellow activist against this madness has been cut down by it. 

It’s time for the institutional biases to go, and for all travelers to be protected equally. Fred’s death was no “accident.” 

Jason Meggs 

California State Coordinator 

Bicycle Civil Liberties Union 

• 

THE BIG CIRCUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After the balloting that climaxed our recall circus last week news junkies are free to turn again to the four-ring circus taking place in the nation’s capitol. 

In Ring One, Congress dithers over the four score and seven billion bucks der leader needs to Continue to hang onto the tiger’s tail in Iraq. 

In Ring Two, Rummy, aged white male secretary, contends with Condi, young brown female advisor, over who gets top position. 

In Ring Three, verbal contortionists twist failures into successes, invasion into liberation, occupation into rebuilding and spin each death into a step on the road to democracy.  

The magical acts in Ring Four follow the theme of putting different saddles on the same ol’ donkey. Inability to find WMDs proves the deception of Hussein the Mad. Tax cuts turn into jobs. The horrific scene of three thousand dead civilians is conjured over and over into fantasies of a future in which tens and possibly hundreds of thousands are rescued in the nick of time from “the most lethal weapons known to man.”  

In due course Fourth Ring acts are mimicked by the congressional performers in Ring One, thus completing the circus circuit. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo

Thirty years after a bunch of politically charged Irish-music-loving dreamers opened South Berkeley’s Starry Plough, Irish music night can still draw just about anyone from around town. 

Among those gathered at the bar Sunday were a plumber who used to rock the house in the 70s, an unemployed technology professional, a UC Berkeley professor and some heavily tattooed university students, all of whom stopped talking the moment a woman of Japanese descent rose from to sing the famous Emerald Isle ballad “The Sally Gardens.” 

While some old timers lamented that their bar had lost some of its spunk, everyone agreed it was still a great place to hang out. 

“This place always had a living room feel,” said Paul, who, like several other in attendance Sunday night, had worked as a voluntary bartender during the pub’s early years when profits took a back seat to politics. 

This week, the Starry Plough celebrates a wild 30 years at the heart of Berkeley’s political and musical scenes. To understand what the pub has meant to its founders and first patrons, one must understand the era that reared it. 

“1973 was a hearty year for political stuff,” said Kevin Cadogan, who belonged to the cooperative that ran the bar until 1980. “You had the fight for civil rights in Northern Ireland, the anti-war movement, Pinochet in Chile. We started this as a way of promoting Irish music and politics.” 

The early days of the bar oozed with Irish Republican patriotism, old timers said. The only Irish bar in Berkeley at the time, the Plough hosted Republican Club meetings and collected money in wine bottles to send to the IRA and families of Irish Catholic prisoners in British jails. Small wonder, since one of the pub’s founders was the grandson of Irish Nationalist James Connolly, killed by English troops in the 1916 Easter Uprising and whose famous statement on Irish independence hangs on the pub’s wall. 

The Starry Plough, though, is a bit of a chameleon, at times a blue collar neighborhood bar, rock venue and Irish folk house. A reporter asking patrons about the pub sometimes wonders if they are talking about the same place. 

For Eoghain M’Bean, a black man and a professor of Gaelic Studies and Linguistics at UC Berkeley, the music and the camaraderie have kept him coming since he first walked through the door in 1973 to find six people gathered around the stage listening to a performance of the Chieftains, now a famous Irish band. “There were zero blacks in here in 1973 except for me,” said M’Bean, who grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where Irish and Scottish folk music reigned supreme over American rock and roll.  

M’Bean started playing and dancing with local musicians, using his connections at UC Berkeley to bring in foreign music students to study under local music phenom Kevin Keegan. “This bar has welcomed everyone,” he said. “It has always been willing to accept everyone from the community.” 

Rick Purcell loved a different Starry Plough. “This place used to roar,” the burly plumber said as he faced the stage where in the mid-70s he played base guitar with the band Natural Grit. He recalled happy hours when the bar was filled with plumbers, carpenters and other craftsmen networking about their trades. 

In the early years, Purcell said, late nights were for partying, not politics. “We ruled this place,” he said, recalling nights when regulars stayed past the 2 p.m. closing time to suckle on beer taps while women danced naked on the bar. 

The uproarious party days didn’t last long though. In 1980 with the unwieldy collective falling apart, Mehrdad Naima and Rose Hughes, a daughter of two of the original collective members, bought the pub. Gone were the volunteer bartenders and other remnants of the wild 70s, but the couple has remained committed to providing a place for self expression and Irish music. 

“We’ve been open to everybody,” said Naima. “If you come with a tie you’re welcome. If you come with a hole in your shirt, you’re welcome.” 

One of the pub’s biggest attractions is a Wednesday night poetry slam where poets come from as far away as Santa Cruz to compete against the gladiators of the Bay Area’s spoken word scene. While the slam attracts a predominantly younger crowd than the Sunday night Irish music gathering, old timers say the energy on Wednesday reminds them of the pub’s early days. “The poetry slam is an amazing new development,” said Cadogan. “That’s the kind of energy there used to be.” 

As the pub and Berkeley have changed, politics has taken a back seat at the Starry Plough. “I haven’t seen any political activism here,” said Chad Goerzen who was so impressed by the Irish music when he came last year that he bought a flute and now plays along.  

The pub’s walls are a testament to political vigor grown tame. Posters call for an end to the U.S. air bombardment over Southeast Asia, a united Ireland, and the overthrow of Chilean Dictator Agusto Pinochet. Anyone looking them over would be led to believe that political activism ceased with the 1979 Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua.  

“Times have changed, the political struggle in Northern Ireland has changed. It’s a little less extraordinary, but it’s still a great Irish pub,” Paul said. 

But for a new generation of residents the pub remains a vibrant treasure. “This is my only bar,” said Susan Mashiyama, the woman who silenced the pub with her singing. Mashiyama, a UC Berkeley graduate student, came to Irish music night five years ago and was so entranced, she dusted off the violin she hadn’t played since middle school and started studying Irish music. 

“They let me play right away even though I couldn’t quite keep up,” she said. “I don’t like bars in general, but this place is so nice.” 

In celebration of the pub’s 30th anniversary, all shows this week are free. In addition to Tuesday’s open mic night and Wednesday’s poetry slam, the pub will host free music all weekend. See the Arts Calendar on Page Nine for details.

TUESDAY, OCT. 14 

FILM 

The Cinema of Ernie Gehr, Program 2, with the filmmaker in person, at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is  

$4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jonathan Raban reads from “Waxwings” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. www.codysbooks.com 

Best of Open Mic Invitational and Showcase at 7:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. 

www.starryploughpub.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Alan Clay and Selene Steese, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Blue” Gene Tyranny, composer/pianist in a rare West Coast appearance, will play pieces from his new album, “Take Your Time” for electromagnetically-stimulated piano, and “Spirit” for computer-edited harmonics and piano, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 665-9496. 

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

Courtableu performs at 8:30 p.m. with a Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo 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, OCT. 15 

FILM 

Heddy Honigmann: “Good-Bye” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Molly Ivins reads from “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America” at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, entrance on Dana. Sponsored by Cody’s Books and the Graduate School of Journalism. Tickets are $5. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Artists Forum “One Struggle, Two Communities: Late 20th Century Political Posters of Havana Cuba and the San Francisco Bay Area,” with Lincoln Cushing at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Poetry Reading with Art Goodtimes and friends at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220 ext. 227. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam special anniversary theme with birthday cake and prizes at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Emmy Werner on the “Conspiracy of Decency: Rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II” at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, Alexandra Roedder, cello, Adam Scow, violin and Tiffany Shiau, piano, perform Bach and Turina at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

Brenda Boykin and Big Soul Country perform at 9 p.m. with a swing lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Baby Gramps, vo-calisthenics and stunt guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

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

Sarah Manning Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 16 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Addison Street Windows, “Natural Forces” paintings by Bill Douglas, Corrine Innis and Orlonda Uffre, opening reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 2018 Addison St. 658-0585.  

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “Tecknolust” with filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson in person, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Community Reading of “Grass Roof, Tin Roof” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Publc Library’s Central Community Room, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6233. 

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

Mark Baldassare discusses public polling and voter behavior, drawing on his book “A California State of Mind: The Conflicted Voter in a Changing World” at 7 p.m. at UC Press, 2120 Berkeley Way. Free. Part of the series “Minds on Fire: Conversations with UC Press Authors.” 642-9828. 

Tim Holt, author of “Songs of the Simple Life,” will speak on his philosophy of living at 7 p.m. at the North Branch of the Public Library, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6250. 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers N-Side and Avotcja, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

Alison Wright, photojournalist, introduces her new book, “Faces of Hope: Children of a Changing World,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Multi Media Concert Chris Jonas and Lolly Sturgess in a performance for voices and instruments at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

The Starry Plough’s 30th Anniversary with the Cowlicks, Loretta Lynch and Yardsale at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Free. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Daniel Pearl Music Day, A tribute to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Bob Norman and Alan Senauke, songs of social change at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10, $8 students and seniors. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Steve Baughman and Robin Bullock, Celtic guitar summit, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Shots, traditional Irish, American bluegrass, at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

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

FRIDAY, OCT. 17 

French Sculpture An exhibit of photographic prints by Howard Barkan at the Westside Bakery Café, 2570 Ninth St. Mid-show party from 6 to 9 p.m.  

FILM 

Heddy Honigmann: “The Underground Orchestra” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Sammy and Rosie Get Laid,” 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 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Susan Snyder will show slides and discuss her new book, “Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

George Packer and Todd Gitlin introduce “The Fight is For Democracy: Winning the War of Ideas in America and the World,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. www.codysbooks.com 

Randy Fingland will be featured at the Fellowship Café & Open Mike, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita Sts. A donation of $5-$10 is requested. 540-0898. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Chamber Music Concert with Jerry Kuderna, piano and Elaine Kreston, cello, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

The Starry Plough’s 30th Anniversary with Chuck Prophet and Stephanie Finch, the Moore Brothers, Bart Davenport, Etienne de Rocher, and Willow Willow at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Free. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

“Another Abstraction” with Joel Davel, marimba lumina, percussion; Roberto Morales, piano, buchla piano bar, jarocho harp, flute, pre-Columbian flutes, electroacoustics; and Matt Wright, electroacoustics, percussion, at 8 p.m. at The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $10 general admission, $5 students. Wheelchiar accessible. For map and directions see www.cnmat.berkeley. 

edu/Home/WhereisCNMAT.html 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, with Ms. Carmen Getit perform East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop at 9 p.m., with a dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

La Peña Community Chorus presents “Canto Para Una Semilla,” a cantata based on the autobiographical verses of Violeta Parra, mother of la nueva canción of Chile and Latin America, at 8 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ellen Robinson, jazz vocalist, 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 

Denise Perrier at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

All Bets Off, Powerhouse, Life Long Tragedy, Love Hope and Fear 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. 

Spinside, featuring members of Solomon Grundy, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Skin Divers perform funky blues rock at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

Tim Barsky, Ashkenazi storyteller and oral historian, 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, OCT. 18 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Asheba, improvisational singer/songwriter from Trinidad, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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. Sug- 

gested donation $3. Children under 3 free. 549-1564. 

FILM 

Festival Film Program, “I Have a Dream,” by recent Berkeley High graduates, “Of Rights and Wrongs,” “Let’s Face It, “Across Time & Space,” “A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Farmers of Petaluma” and other films, from noon to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. 665-9496. 

New Latin American Cinema: “Bolivia” at 5:25 and 8:50 p.m. and “Maids” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A Tribute To Pablo Neruda, an evening of poetry readings, music and a preview of an upcoming documentary on his life and work, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Janna Levin explains “How the Universe Got its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Richard Lupoff will speak on “Versatility: The Writer as Jack of All Trades” from 10 a.m. to noon, Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Starry Plough’s 30th Anniversary with the Naked Barbies, George Pederson and His Pretty Good Band, Mark Growden, and Faun Fables at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Free.  

841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

An Evening of Improv Comedy with Platypus Jones at 8 p.m. at La Val’s, 1834 Euclid. Cost is $10, $7 with student i.d. 338-3899. www.platpus- 

jones.com  

“Another Abstraction” with Joel Davel, marimba lumina, percussion; Roberto Morales, piano, buchla piano bar, jarocho harp, flute, pre-Columbian flutes, electroacoustics; and Matt Wright, electroacoustics, percussion, at 8 p.m. at The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $10 general admission, $5 students. Wheel- 

chair accessible. For map and directions see www.cnmat. 

berkeley.edu/Home/WhereisCNMAT.html 

Bluegrass Intentions, traditional bluegrass quintet, 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 

Stephanie Bruce performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Tim Barsky, Ashkenazi storyteller and oral historian, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Kotoja performs Afro-Beat at 9:30 p.m. with an African dance lesson with Comfort Mensah at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Mind Club at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Octomutt, with members of Drizzoletto, at Epic Arts Studios, 1923 Ashby. Donation of $7-$10. 644-2204. 

The Pitt of Fashion Orchestra at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Cripple Bastards, Phobia, Born Dead Icons, La Fraction, Depressor at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 19 

Berkeley Potters Guild Tour and Demonstration Members will demonstrate potters’ wheel throwing and hand building techniques, at 1 p.m. at the Potters Guild, 731 Jones St. at 4th. 524-7031. 

FILM 

Fernando de Fuentes: From the Revolution to the Comedia Ranchera, “Prisoner Number 13” at 5:30 p.m. and “El Compadre Mendoza” at 7:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Late Marriage,” an Israeli film about arranged marriages among Georgian immigrants in Haifa, at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $2. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry at Cody’s with Geoff Brock and Sidney Wade at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Peter Nichols discusses his new book, “Evolution’s Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

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 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Piano Concert with Jerry Kuderna performing Scriabin, Debussy, Swift and Chopin at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Peace it Together An exporation of the elements of lasting peace and building community through collaborative art and performance, with Betsy Rose, singer/songwriter; Adam David Miller, poet; Gael Alcock, cellist; and Tomoko Murikami, dancer and visual artist, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Charlie Dohr Park, 2216 Acton. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Organ Recital by David R. Hunsberger performing the music of Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Bach, Hindemith, and Rheinberger at 7 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave.  

Classical Encounter Philharmonia presents music of four of the most popular composers of the Classical era at 7:30 p.m. at First Congragational Church, Channing at Dana. Tickets are $29-$60 and are available from 415-392-4400, or on-line at www.philharmonia.org  

Student Gamelan Ensemble performs in the Morrison/Hertz Breezeway, UC Campus, at 3 p.m., under the direction of Heri Purwanto. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Afro-Caribbean Music, featuring Francisco Barroso, Afro-Cuban Rumba, Susana Arenas, Hector Lugo, Puerto Rican Bomba at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. A fundraiser in support of Yaya Maldonado’s effort to continue his studies of Ifa in Africa this winter. Cost is $12-$15 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Music from Scotland, England and Beyond with Fil Campbell with Tom McFarland at 7:30 p.m. Donation of $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For reservations and location email sally@greenberg.org 

Metta Quintet, performing from their new CD, at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Vasen, Swedish folk revivalists, 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 

Americana Unplugged, with The Saddle Cats at 4 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277.

Berkeley High School’s revolving administrative door spun again this month with the unexpected departure of Clare Davies, director of the school’s special education program, and Kenneth Purser, one of the school’s two deans—re-igniting concerns about stability at the 2,700-student school. 

Davies will leave next week to accept a promotion as Director for Special Education for the Benicia school system. Purser, who left without giving notice, wrote administration officials that he planned to seek opportunities at an area experimental school. His wife is the principal of an Oakland small school, said BUSD Spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

Berkeley High Principal Jim Slemp said that while losing two administrators after the first month of school wasn’t typical, the departures did not signify continued instability at the high school. 

“It’s a loss,” Slemp said, calling them both fine administrators, adding that other officials would be able to carry their load until replacements were found. 

Stability at the high school has been an ongoing concern, and this year has seen significant changes at the top. In May, Co-Principals Mary Ann Valles and Laura Leventer resigned. They were to serve as vice-principals this year under newly-hired principal Patricia Christa, but Christa shocked district officials by resigning eight days after Valles and Leventer, paving the way for Slemp to take over. 

Purser’s resignation leaves the bulk of student discipline to first-year Dean Denise Brown, who had previously taught in the district. “People know it’s just me for now , so everyone on the safety team helped out to take the load off of me,” said Brown, who in addition to being in charge of discipline for tenth through twelfth graders, must now handle ninth graders and members of small school programs within the high school. 

Despite Purser’s resignation and the loss of the school’s two locker room attendants due to budget cuts, parents say they can’t remember the high school ever being safer.  

“Four years ago the place was insane,” said Laura Menard, who sits on the PTSA Safety Commission. “Now it’s so much better.” 

Deans at the high school were reintroduced three years ago after a scathing report from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) threatened to rescind accreditation if the school did not address 11 problem areas, including student safety. Since the report, the school has devised a safety plan that it is now implementing. 

Brown didn’t have fight statistics for the new school year, but she estimated that there have been only three, way down from previous years. She credited reductions in fights and truancy to two things: a new policy in which the school’s nine security guards roam the campus instead of standing at fixed check points, and staff familiarity with the six-period day implemented last year. 

This is the first year that all students have classes from second to fifth periods, which means that hall monitors know that from 9:36 a.m. to 2:14 p.m. students have no excuse not to be in class, she said. 

Ken Jacopetti, district director for special education, said Davies’ departure would be a blow to the program. “It’s a mixed blessing,” he said. “We’re all happy for her promotion, but she’s going to be tough to replace.” 

Davies arrived at the high school three years ago, and supervised 18 special education teachers who instruct 270 high school students. Jacopetti said she played an important role on the school’s ongoing special education task force which will present proposals to improve the program. 

Jacopetti said finding a replacement in the middle of the school year should not be difficult because Berkeley has a good reputation as a leader in special education. Candidates interviews will begin next month, he said. In the meantime, teachers and guidance counselors will pitch in to do Davies’ work.

This letter from the Berkeley Budget Oversight Committee was addressed to Mayor Bates, City Manager Weldon Rucker and City Council.  

We are opposed to any increase in Berkeley’s real property tax on homeowners, and we hope that our elected city Council does not go forward with this ill-conceived March ballot measure. There are many reasons to scrap this idea and there are alternative and fairer ways to balance the city budget and preserve the most important of our worthwhile city services and jobs. 

The Gargantuan Berkeley Budget Deficit 

• Right now, the projected all-fund city deficit moves from about $9.4 million in 2004-2005 to $16.4 million in 2007-2008. If the recently-triggered Vehicle License Fee increase is somehow repealed, as threatened, the city will lose an additional $6 million annually, bringing the all-fund deficit to about $15.4 million next year and $23 million in just four years. And these figures do not account for other likely losses due to additional cuts in outside fund infusions (foundations and federal and state grants) and additional losses resulting directly or indirectly from the effects of economic recession on our taxpaying residents. 

• Clearly, we have an enormous budget problem that will require very painful actions. The city’s increased labor costs are the biggest part of the problem. Labor costs account for about 75 percent of the city budget of $250 million. Due to the recently-negotiated labor contracts, the annual increases in city labor costs are, very conservatively, about 5 percent, or about $9.375 million annually. Having examined these contracts and compared them to others, and despite being strong supporters of labor, we must assert that these contracts are excessive, that our city employees, while generally exceedingly competent, are now being overcompensated, and the labor contracts are the proximate cause of the city’s budget problem. The prior labor contracts must certainly have been the envy of beleaguered and underpaid workers at Berkeley Bowl, BOSS, the Claremont, and in our child care centers, and these new ones must seem like an unimaginable dream. 

• One could fairly state that the real estate tax increase proposed to be levied on our highly-taxed property owners will go directly into the pockets of our excellent but overcompensated city employees. 

Why New Homeowner Real Estate Taxes Are a Very Bad Idea 

• Most Berkeley homeowners are not multimillionaire corporate plutocrats who have enriched themselves at the expense of others. Rather, they are regular hardworking people who have sacrificed to buy a home and who are struggling to meet expenses. The vast majority of them of them do not have the job security, defined-benefit pension, and numerous other benefits enjoyed by our city employees. 

• Berkeley homeowners are already paying a far higher real property tax than their neighbors in Oakland, Hayward, Emery-ville, and the other pertinent jurisdictions selected by our own city Manager as comparisons. 

• Relative to the entire Berkeley community, Berkeley homeowners do not use more public services than other Berkeley groups who currently pay far less or nothing toward the cost of their upkeep. For example, many tax-exempt religious/educational establishments with multiple housing units are heavy public service users and they pay zero taxes for these services. 

• The proposed March ballot measure (purportedly for fire and police services but in reality simply a backfill to the General Fund) is but the first in a series of likely tax and fee increase measures that will, when taken together, cost the so-called average Berkeley homeowner between $1,000 and $2,000 annually. I am talking about a new BUSD measure, the Gann reauthorizations with recurring annual increases and now with a proposed 5 percent annual inflator, more money for the Berkeley Library (which has already received a substantial 14 percent increase), and likely measures for BART, East Bay Regional Parks, and our local bridge tolls. To these new homeowner costs one must add the already-approved and effective cost increases for parks and recreation, paramedic, special school taxes, clean storm water, and others. 

• There are serious and predictable consequences to further reducing the discretionary income of the homeowner segment of Berkeley’s population. These are the families that spend substantial money in Berkeley. They fix up their homes using Berkeley stores and Berkeley contractors. They buy big ticket items, such as cars, appliances, electronics, and furniture, in Berkeley. They contribute money to worthwhile causes in Berkeley, such as school fund raisers. And they patronize our local artistic establishments and better restaurants. For most of these homeowners, a hit of $1,500 will seriously impact their spending behavior and, in consequence, negatively impact our already-weakening economic infrastructure. 

We Need to Face Our Budget Reality and Stop Looking for Scapegoats 

• Yes, Proposition 13 caused problems, Bush is spending excessively on the military, Enron executives are criminals who should be in jail, the State of California has taken all our money, etc. Expounding about these matters does not help us face the reality that the Berkeley budget is simply not sustainable, cuts must be made, some fair new taxes and fees assessed, and the fragile local economic ecosystem must not be further impaired. 

• The property tax hike proposed for the March ballot will not solve the underlying problem and might make it worse insofar as it re moves big money from those who might spend it more productively in our town and it deludes the community into thinking that we are addressing our budget problem in a fair and effective manner. It will promote selfish thinking on the part of many who receive services while paying little for them, it will encourage labor union recalcitrance, and it will forestall necessary financial discipline within the bureaucracy. 

Alternative Budget Balancing Measures 

• We all know that the city will have to lay off many, many city workers and severely cut city services. This scenario will be minimized if the city renegotiates the labor contracts in a manner such that all our city employees take a small hit but all get to keep their jobs and keep providing services. This alternative is, obviously, infinitely preferable and would serve the greatest good for the greatest number of persons. If our city leaders were willing to forcefully stake out this honorable position now, as have leaders in most other communities, there is no doubt that it would come to pass.  

• Many other smaller belt-tightening measures have been initiated, such as Workman’s Comp reform ($1.2 million annually if I recall correctly) and a reduced workforce by attrition. We need to make sure that these measures are not sidetracked by temporary cash infusions. 

• Many other taxes and fees have been proposed for exploration that would more equitably spread the burden of government among the entire community, including but not limited to a car tax, a resident tax, bicycle license fees, residential parking fees and fines tied to the family necessity, value, and environmental detriment of the vehicle, and luxury taxes. These fees would not only, cumulatively, add substantial revenue, but they would also promote more appreciation for our services, a better sense of community participation, and a real reciprocity in the interactions among residents and between residents and the city. In the mad rush to get a new homeowner real property tax on the ballot, the mayor’s Revenue Task Force and city staff pooh-poohed most of these ideas as difficult, time-consuming, and chump change. This strikes us as a very wrongheaded and cavalier approach. 

• Many, many residents have come to realize that institutional expansion by tax-exempt organizations threatens both our land use balance and our city budget. Apart from UC (which owns or controls 30-40 percent of Berkeley parcels according to Phil Kamlarz!), there are hundreds of exempt organizations owning land and assets worth multimillions or more. Many of these rich nonprofits are very high service users. There is also evidence that some profitmaking entities are inappropriately benefiting from the “welfare exemption” (State law appears to only permit this exemption for qualifying nonprofits with qualifying uses, or, in a few rare instances, for partnerships with qualifying uses where the Managing General Partner is a qualified nonprofit). So, before any new real property taxes are levied, we need a thorough and independent audit of each and every exempt parcel/owner to determine, first, if the exemption is legal and second, if payments in lieu of taxes are warranted for that parcel/organization. Throughout this country, there are thousands of examples of nonprofits that make a financial contribution to the governing entity for schools, parks, paramedics, and all the other city services to which they have unfettered access. Retaining an expert audit team and getting a full report in the very near future should be an immediate order of city business. And we might consider paying this audit team, as is done in similar circumstances, with a percentage of the net tax/payment revenue garnered through the audit. 

These are just a few of the thoughts we want to convey to you now in the hope of influencing you to think this situation through comprehensively, rationally, and fairly. New property taxes are a dead end: They will not solve the problem; they will make the local economic situation worse; there will be many distressed and financially-stressed homeowners; and there are other fairer ways to address the budget problem. Regardless of the results of the (flawed) Voter Survey that pandered to people’s worst fears and desire for others to pay instead of themselves, as word gets out about the magnitude of the budget problem, the magnitude of the likely cumulative cost to property owners, and the inappropriateness of the labor contracts, you may well face serious anger and outrage of the sort that shakes up political stability. We believe that this outcome is unnecessary and avoidable, only it require your courage and leadership and not conducting business (taxing) as usual. 

Barbara Gilbert and Viki Tamaradze are co-chairpersons of the Berkeley Budget Oversight Committee.

Rosa Equihua knows how vital and precarious after-school programs are in Berkeley. As a working single mother who can’t be home when school lets out, she sends her two elementary school-aged daughters to the nonprofit Bahia Program. 

When last summer’s state budget stalemate froze program funds, the nonprofit needed emergency city loans to pay its bills. “That was a frightening time,” Equihua said. “This program is essential. It allows me to earn a living.” 

Equihua was one of hundreds of Berkeley parents who turned out last Thursday for Lights On After School, a national event aimed at drawing attention to the benefits of after-school programs so that governments—facing mounting deficits—think twice before slashing their funding. 

According to Alameda County, 2,022 out of 6,448 Berkeley school-aged children are enrolled in after school programs run by the school district, the city and various charitable groups. Berkeley places a higher percentage of students in such programs than most neighboring cities, but not enough, city and district officials say, to prevent waiting lists of at-need students at numerous after-school programs. 

Most Berkeley programs follow a set formula, providing youngsters an afternoon snack, tutoring them for the first hour after school and then providing recreational opportunities, such as dance classes, crafts and sports. Teachers include full-time district employees and part-time instructors teaching to groups of between 12 and 20 students. 

Program advocates have clamored for more funds to boost enrollment, pointing to studies that show students in such programs do better scholastically and stay out of trouble—although a recent study has called those findings into question. 

Berkeley has long championed funding after-school activities, and twice as many students proportionately are enrolled in such activities here as in neighboring Oakland. 

After-school opportunities for Berkeley kids flowered in 1998 when the school district utilized a new state grant to implement programs at six of the district’s elementary schools and all three junior high schools. 

Last year, despite a budget crunch, the city continued to earmark about $2 million for city programs and nonprofit after-school providers. 

State funding—which provides for most of the district’s programs—has also remained stable despite the budget deficit, but city and school officials say current funding levels are insufficient to meet the needs of all Berkeley students. 

A funding shortfall this summer forced the city to trim two weeks from its youth summer program. 

Kimberly Watson Fox, director of the district’s after-school programs which serve 1,500 students, said increased program costs, especially teacher medical benefits, have forced reductions in enrichment programs and tuition hikes for wealthier families. The district now charges parents according to a sliding scale fee from between $0 and $300 per month—still less than the county average maximum tuition of $480. 

Many of those participating in Lights On took solace that the event’s Honorary Chairperson Arnold Schwarzenegger will soon be calling the shots in California. 

“I think with Arnold now governor, program funding won’t get cut,” said Michael Funk, director of an after-school program in San Francisco. 

But Julie Sinai, aide to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, said she feared that should Schwarzenegger succeed in repealing the increase in vehicle license registration fees—which city officials estimated would add $6.2 million to the general fund—Berkeley could be forced to cut funds for after-school programs. “What the state does has a direct impact on our ability to fund community organizations,” she said. 

Last year Schwarzenegger championed Proposition 49, passed overwhelmingly by California voters, which could potentially raise state funding for after-school programs from the current $135 million to $550 million. However, no cities have yet received a cent because the law mandates that funds can only be released when there is a state budget surplus. 

Federal funding hasn’t kept pace with program demand either. 

As part of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy, funding for the federal block grant 21st Century After-school Learning Program—which funds some of the Berkeley school district’s programs—was to increase to $1.75 billion in 2004. Instead Bush asked Congress this year to cut funding for the program nearly in half from $1 billion to $600 million. Congressional opposition allowed funding to remain at $1 billion. 

While the funding battle continues, a debate is brewing over the effectiveness of the programs. A 2002 UC Irvine study found that California students enrolled in after-school programs performed better on the SAT-9 Reading and Math tests, had better attendance records, and reported more positive attitudes towards their school. 

However, a recent federal Department of Education report on the 21st Century program found that, nationwide, students enrolled in program-funded activities showed zero scholastic improvement and did not feel safer or more positively inclined towards their schools. The report’s authors blamed poor attendance for the results, noting that middle school students enrolled in the programs showed up, on average, only once a week. 

Equihua, though, said that Bahia, which offers bilingual education to West Berkeley’s Latino community, provides services no tests can measure. “This is a safe place for kids to go to feel accepted and get a sense of community,” she said. “My daughters love it here.”

In the third (and what the mayor undoubtedly hopes is the last) act in Mayor Tom Bates’ Great Newspaper Theft drama, City Council will discuss at its regular meeting tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 14) an ordinance to ban the stealing of newspapers in the City of Berkeley. 

The drama’s first act occurred on the day before last November’s mayoral election, when some 1,000 copies of the Daily Cal, which contained an endorsement of Bates’ opponent, former Mayor Shirley Dean, were stolen from the campus. 

Act two came when Bates pleaded guilty to stealing and trashing the papers and was fined $100 by the Alameda County Superior Court. At the time he confessed, Bates also promised to introduce a newspaper theft ordinance to City Council. 

The proposed ordinance would ban the theft of newspapers in Berkeley, whether the thefts were for the purpose of curbing free speech or for resale to a recycler. Violation of the ordinance would come under the City Charter’s general misdemeanor provision, which calls for a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and/or imprisonment not to exceed six months. 

Theft of newspapers to silence speech is a growing national problem, particularly affecting college student newspapers. Earlier this year the Student Press Law Center in Arlington reported 25 incidents of theft of college student newspapers during the past academic year. 

Also at tonight’s meeting, Council is set to discuss a resolution, introduced by Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Margaret Breland and recommended by the Community Environmental Advisory Commission, that could change the way the city acquires and uses possibly harmful commodities and services. 

Called the “Precautionary Principle,” the resolution would “shift the responsibility for demonstrating the safety of a potentially harmful substance or activity to the proponent of the activity,” and would concentrate in the areas of minimizing health risks to staff and residents, minimizing the city’s contribution to global climate change, improving air quality, protecting the quality of ground and surface waters, and minimizing the city’s consumption of resources. 

If adopted, the resolution would require city staff to create a draft “Precautionary Principle” ordinance and purchase policy within one year. 

Other highlights of tonight’s City Council agenda include a proposed ordinance to ban smoking in Berkeley’s bus shelters and recommendations to improve wheelchair and pedestrian safety on Ashby Avenue.

Pro-union shoppers at the Berkeley Bowl Sunday tied colorful balloons to their carts to show their support of workers who will be voting Oct. 30 on whether to certify the union many of them have been working tirelessly to organize since early May. 

A favorable vote would create the first union contract at the store since its move to the new location—but it wouldn’t be the first time the Bowl sported a union label. 

Berkeley veterans who knew the old Bowl—located across the street in a converted bowling alley—might remember that for a brief stint in the 1980s, workers had a contract through the same United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) now running their organizing effort—albeit through another local. 

The store was much smaller then, with 40 to 50 employees compared to the 250 it now employs. 

Many in the current organizing drive said that since the days of the old union and with the Bowl’s rapid growth, a whole new string of problems has developed which have pushed them to organize. 

According to one employee who worked at the Bowl before the move, store workers have always needed a union. 

Jose Mena, a former Bowl employee who now works at Andronico’s on Solano Avenue, said the Berkeley Bowl has always put business first and employees second. 

Mena, who worked 60-hour weeks at the old store for three years just after the original union left, said the work environment then was high-pressure and unfriendly. 

“I worked so many hours but was always told I was slow,” said Mena. 

In those days, he said, the store’s employees, though fewer in number, did have perks like full health care coverage. Mena said he finally left because he was not being paid enough and was working too many hours. 

“The owner said he would give union wages, but it never happened. And raises? They came whenever the boss wanted instead of on a schedule like with a union,” said Mena. 

Shelton Yokomizo, another former Bowl employee who now works for a union store, disagreed with Mena about the atmosphere at the store but said he was also forced to leave because he needed a retirement plan that included full health coverage—something the Bowl was unwilling to provide. 

“It was nice because it was a smaller store,” said Yokomizo. “For example, all the employees used to take breaks together and the owner’s parents used to bring in food for us. I enjoyed every minute of it.” 

Yokomizo, unlike Mena, saw the opportunity to work long hours as a perk. He said that, at the time, the store’s structure was more fluid. Employees could show up after or before their scheduled start times so long as the work got done and they put in the necessary hours. 

But Yokomizo, who suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, said he had to find work at a union store because he already had several years with a union and only needed a few more to receive the most comprehensive retirement package. Now 60, he said he couldn’t have afforded to wait to see how the new Bowl developed and whether or not management would pay for his health care plan. 

Like other employees at the old Bowl, Yokomizo voted to decertify the union after its first contract expired because he felt the store was friendly and workers didn’t need a union. 

Mena said that even though Yokomizo might still think positively about the store and the long hours, he was being duped by the store’s image. 

“That’ s not fair to Shelton after he worked there for over twenty years,” he said in reference to the Bowl’s refusal to provide a benefit package. “It was a nice store, but they still needed to treat everybody better.” 

Both Yokomizo and Mena said they are happy at the union stores where they currently work. Mena said his wife recently had a knee replacement that would have cost him $64,000 without the union’s health-care plan—which required him only to make his regular monthly copayments. He said he is guaranteed a raise after a set number of hours with no questions asked, something he said never happened at the Bowl. 

At the new Bowl, pro-union workers said that if the representation vote passes, they hope all the issues both old and new will disappear and that the store will continue to thrive.

Probably no creature native to North America has inspired more fear and awe than the Grizzly bear. 

Consider the Latin name assigned by taxonomists: Ursus arctos horribilus, the horrible northern bear. 

And of all the regions of what became the United States, none proved more hospitable to the massive omnivores than California, the state which adopted the fearsome beast as its totem and emblazoned it on its flag. 

Of course, bears have a special connection with UC Berkeley, home both of the Cal Bears and of the Bancroft Library, that magnificent historical repository that is the Bancroft Library. How appropriate then, that a lavish tribute to the creature derived from the Bancroft’s unique resources should come from Heyday Books, a Berkeley publisher. 

Susan Snyder, a Point Richmond resident who heads the Bancroft’s Access Services department, has drawn on the remarkable collection at her disposal to create Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly, a tribute in words and images that does unique justice to a creature now long vanished from the California landscape. 

A beautifully designed 244-page coffee table book, Snyder’s creation follows the Grizzly from the legends and myths of indigenous cultures, through the eras of Spanish and Mexican dominion and into the modern era (which itself began with the declaration of the Bear Flag Republic), in which the now-vanished creature has been reincarnated as a symbol and as an advertising icon. 

While Bear in Mind can be consumed as a linear read, as with all good exemplars of the coffee table genre, the book can be picked up and opened at will, offering visual and verbal delights. 

As the reader proceeds through the 11 sections, the Grizzly begins as a mythic being and first emerges as a fleshly being in the descriptions and anecdotes of the Spanish, Mexican and Anglo settlers. With Ursus horribilus now vanished from the land over which it once held dominion, it has reentered the world of myth, albeit in a commodified, commercialized form. 

The artwork ranges from crude sketches to photos, intricate paintings to airbrush advertisements, reproductions of manuscript pages to lurid “Wild West” magazine covers. Particularly haunting are the hand-tinted lithographs of Francis Florabond (Fannie) Palmer, whose style manages to meld the geometric formalism of Japanese block prints with the thematic context of the American frontier. 

The literary vignettes range from a brief autobiography from an anonymous “Mission Indian” to the tale of how “Oski” came to be the mascot of UC Berkeley. In one, William Heath Davis recounts for Hubert Howe Bancroft the night he spent huddled in terror on the flats between modern-day Berkeley and Oakland, listening as the creatures prowled outside his tent. 

Snyder reserves a full section for the story of John “Grizzly” Adams, the much celebrated frontiersman-turned-showman who amazed audiences around the world with his remarkable troupe of performing bears. 

Particularly poignant is the section that looks at the Grizzly’s sad plight as a creature sacrificed to the blood lust of spectators in Gold Rush-era arenas, a reminder of the perilous nature of that thin veneer we call civilization. 

Bear in Mind is both a delightful experience in reading and looking, and a superb holiday gift for anyone fascinated by history, wildlife, and the power of the media to shape our images of the world around us. It’s one of those books a reader will flip through again and again, drawn both by the well-selected words and artwork that is carefully chosen, often surprising, and sometimes hauntingly moving. 

Bear in Mind, edited by Susan Snyder, 244 pages, Heyday Books, Berkeley. $49.50 through Dec. 31; $60 thereafter. 

Richard Brenneman is managing editor of the Daily Planet and author of Deadly Blessings [1991] and Fuller’s Earth [1983].

Berkeley’s first American-era settlers arrived in 1853, which seems quite a long time ago. Yet this area had been chosen and shaped as a good place to live by others at a much earlier date—not 150, but at least 5,000, years ago. 

The most familiar physical remains left by those early inhabitants are the Bay Area’s shoreline “shell mounds,” including West Berkeley’s landmark site, now largely buried beneath parking lots, buildings, train tracks and industrial sites. 

The archaeology of the shell mounds was explored in an evening talk earlier this month at West Berkeley’s Finn Hall by UC Berkeley Professor Kent Lightfoot, an expert in local archaeology.  

Lightfoot was joined by local publisher and author Malcolm Margolin who also spoke about the native peoples and culture of the Berkeley area. 

Their presentations were the first in a series of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the little manufacturing hamlet of Ocean View, Berkeley’s first modern settlement.  

Interpretation of the Bay Area’s shell mounds is tied up with the development of modern archaeological programs at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, Lightfoot said. 

Archaeologist Max Uhle began excavations at Emeryville’s shell mound in 1902. “He did some of the first stratigraphic excavation in the United States,” said Lightfoot. “It was something that was very innovative at the time.” 

In 1903 Danish immigrant Nels Nelson arrived in Berkeley and in 1906 he began work in local archaeology, funded by UC Regent Phoebe Hearst and others. “From the period of 1906 to 1911 he did very important work with these shell mounds. He went out on a very small budget to locate and record all the archaeological sites he could find in the Bay Area,” said Lightfoot. Nelson ultimately documented some 125 shell mounds and excavated several. “A lot of this was done before there was real heavy development,” Lightfoot noted. Today, it’s difficult to even find many of the sites. 

Later, researchers at UC added to the knowledge of shell mounds, eventually documenting about 425 around the Bay Area. They are “typically found in clusters of four to six mounds,” Lightfoot said, and some were monumental, “covering a couple of football fields in size” and rising up to 40 feet high. The mounds contain a complex stratigraphy, layering ashes, artifacts, and the remains of animals including elk, deer, seals, sea otters, fish and birds, as well as enormous numbers of shells.  

“Literally tons and tons of shellfish made up those mounds,” Lightfoot said. Nelson had estimated that some 17 million shells had been deposited at a mound he excavated in Richmond. 

Five thousand years ago sea levels were rising and “the Bay began to develop the configuration we know today,” Lightfoot said. “The earliest of the shell mounds go back about 5,000 years. West Berkeley, in fact, has the earliest Carbon 14 dates in the Bay Area for a shell mound.” 

The Bay Area mounds were used for millennia, particularly between 500 B.C. and A.D. 900—what Lightfoot called their “Golden Age.” Initially, Lightfoot said, scholars thought the shell mounds were essentially “trash dumps.” In the 1940s a theory emerged that they were mounded villages and “that’s probably the most common way the mounds are interpreted today.” 

Later theories have developed, holding that the mounds were not used all year but served ceremonial purposes, for burials or for annual gatherings. Hundreds of burials have been found in Bay Area shell mounds, often in pairs or small groups. Lightfoot said some scholars now believe that the significance of Bay Area mound burials may center on connecting the deceased to the natural world. “People were being buried not in ‘trash’ but in what gave them life,” the shell fish. 

Although there are prehistoric mounds across the country, the Bay Area shell mounds may be unique across North America in that they don’t appear to have had substantial villages built on them and, elsewhere, “you don’t have massive burials like we did here,” Lightfoot said. 

Lightfoot places the Bay Area’s shell mounds in the “archaic period” of hunter/gatherer mound building in North America, before agrarian cultures emerged. He took note of more recent work by researchers, including Berkeley historian Richard Schwartz, who “has detected extensive midden deposits up in the Berkeley Hills,” in areas long covered by subdivisions. “It’s amazing what may be out there—the archaeology that may be in your backyard.” 

Many native settlements along East Bay creeks, associated rock art, and burials found elsewhere in the Bay Area date from the “Golden Age” of shell mounds. 

“What’s happening is we’re seeing a little more complicated picture. You have the mounds down by the Bay shore, but in the uplands there’s something going on as well.” 

Lightfoot called for “a two-pronged plan of action.” First, “preservation and protection of the local archaeology” and, second, analysis of the extensive materials already in museum collections “to try to do a better job of understanding the lifeways of the early native peoples here.”  

Following Lightfoot’s slide-illustrated presentation, author and local publisher Malcolm Margolin spoke movingly about Bay Area native culture. Noting that the first European settlements in the Bay Area came in the 1770s, only “two and a half long lifetimes ago…amazingly close,” Margolin outlined his sense of the Berkeley area before the Spanish arrived. 

“This was a land that was tended,” he said. “This was not a wilderness. The people who lived here lived in a land that was well known, that was comfortable,” shaped by fire and other human interventions to produce plant and animal resources in abundance. Instead of land “ownership,” Berkeley’s natives probably possessed rights to hunting, to fishing, and other opportunities to gather resources from the landscape. They left some enduring artifacts, but others—prayer flags, hunting trails, places where certain types of bulbs or basket making materials would be gathered, art created of perishable items—have now vanished from the landscape. 

“These little villages would have 60 to 70 people in them, perhaps 100,” Margolin said. “Living in a world where you would rarely see a stranger…a tight world of community, of familiarity.” Life revolved around changes in the natural landscape such as the ripening of acorns or berries, or the arrival of migrating birds or salmon. “It was linked events, and each village and its place had its own.” And “it was a world that was very personal.” Objects were created one by one, for their individual users, with individual character. “Everything you owned was unique. Everything had history, resonance.” 

Finally, Margolin said, “it was a world of tremendous religious intensity. There was a sense that the things in the world were as alive and intelligent as we are.” Animals could do things humans could not—eagles flew, bears were immensely strong, antelope had great speed. “Animals still had power in the world. They still had the power to inspire. In a way, they were another kind of people.” 

Margolin concluded by noting that elsewhere in the United States, native peoples, were often able to negotiate treaties with the American government and retain fragmentary lands and some sovereign rights. But in the Bay Area, decades of Spanish/Mexican rule scattered and dispossessed the original inhabitants. “Native peoples were invisible to the Anglos who came in” and land and rights were never secured. 

However, “one of the most glorious things I’ve seen has been the revival of Indian culture over the past 30 years,” he concluded. “What has been marvelously regained is culture.” 

Both Lightfoot and Margolin took questions and commented on the recent construction of a shopping mall on the site of the Emeryville shell mound.  

“They had the opportunity, I think, do some preservation in place and they chose not to. It’s a real shame what happened,” Lightfoot said. 

Margolin added, “as long as people wait around for something to be destroyed, and then go in to try to fight it, not much is going to happen.” That was the case at Emeryville, where development plans were already well advanced when organized protests began. 

“I think the thing that needs to be done is to identify these cultural sites right now to make certain that cities acknowledge them, to make certain they’re written into school curricula, to make certain they’re given special status…” 

The celebration of Ocean View’s 150th anniversary continues with once-weekly lectures and events through late November. Next up, on Thursday, Oct. 16, is a talk at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, by naturalist Beverly Ortiz. She will be speaking about the native culture of the Bay Area at a site where, unlike Berkeley, much of the natural landscape has been preserved. The talk is at 7:30. Call 795-9385 for directions. Tickets are $10 at the door; series tickets are also available. Call 841-8562 for more information on the series, or e-mail bahaworks@yahoo.com.  

If you live in South Berkeley, chances are you’ve met Bill Bahou. For 22 years, he’s run Roxie’s Delicatessen on the corner of Shattuck and Ashby, serving quality, affordable sandwiches to one and all and offering a helping hand wherever he can. 

Like many in South Berkeley, I find myself in his store at least once a day. 

I look forward to walking down the street from the office and being greeted as soon as I walk in the door with a genial, “Hey, how are you doing Ya’kub,” Bill’s Arabic rendering of my name. 

Before I can walk to the back of the store to grab a drink, Frances or Marina are already busy behind the counter, whipping up my regular, the Roxie D (short for Delight) of turkey, avocado and feta cheese—for me, no mayo or jalapenos, served up on sourdough roll. 

Five dollars later, after a little friendly chatting with Bill, I’m headed back to work, smiling. 

I’m not the only customer on a first-name basis with Bill, or whose sandwich preferences are known by heart by Frances and Marina. Everyone who walks in gets the same treatment, the same great deal on a sandwich. 

And, just like me, most keep coming back. 

You have to experience Roxie’s to really know how wonderful the place is. In a world of hostility, formality, greed, and impersonal relationships, Bill’s store is a rare treasure. 

And I probably don’t even know the half of it. 

It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is that makes Roxie’s such a treat, but trust certainly plays a big role. 

For example, many customers use store credit. Operating like a general store from times long gone, Bill has established a system where those who can’t always afford to pay can buy on credit and repay him whenever they can. Some pay every few days, some pay weekly, and others by the month. 

Bill says he can’t stomach turning people away who don’t have enough money. “If you want a sandwich but you don’t have enough money, what am I supposed to do? I’m not Safeway. I have a relationship with my customers.” 

Care is written on his face whenever he talks about people without enough money to eat. Confronted with a customer in need, he’s quick to cut the prices on his already affordable sandwiches. 

Take schoolchildren for example. 

“So many kids don’t have pocket money; their parents are working and they don’t have food when they get home. So I make them a sandwich big enough to last them through dinner and charge them two dollars.” 

He always works in whole numbers. A sandwich is not $4.23, it’s $4.00. Add a soda and its $4.50 or $5.00, not $4.83 or $5.14. 

He has incredible stories about the way the store works. 

Consider the neighbor who used to come into the store daily to buy groceries on credit. A contractor who lost work as the economy declined, he finally left town without paying his $162 tab. Bill was resigned to the loss, figuring he’d never see the money. 

Then, a few days ago, the customer returned, walking in with an apology and every penny he owed. He had been off looking for work and feeling terrible about his debt. 

As we sat in the store talking, another patron dropped off $400 dollars to cover a $387 tab. Bill showed me the receipt while the customer ground his coffee, then signed for more credit. 

“I have good customers; they never cheat me. I never worry. Many of these people have given me business for years, they always pay me back on time.” 

Bill says that a handful of people have left and never come back to pay their bills, but not many. ”It’s a risk, I know, it’s 50-50, but for me it’s 90-10.” 

While Bill seems to have become a community beacon as proprietor of a corner market, his real training came as an engineer. 

Born in Palestine, Bill was educated first in Israel and then Perth, Scotland, where he studied engineering for 18 months. For years before he came to the United States Bill worked for an American oil companies on the Arabian Peninsula and in Kuwait and as an aircraft mechanic in Germany. 

He had visited the United States several times, but came permanently in 1981 at the behest of his sister, who had been living here for several years. He opened the store soon after arriving, using donations from his family. The rest is history. 

Bill’s worldliness adds to the store’s appeal. Several customers, myself included, can always count on Bill for friendly banter about world politics. He’s also “way smarter than your normal store owner,” said one customer.  

He speaks three languages fluently—English, French and Arabic—and he’s picked up little Spanish, too. 

Bill’s devotion to Roxie’s hasn’t come without sacrifice. His commute from the other side of the Bay and the long hours he put in at the store—from 5:30 a.m. till late into the afternoon—means that he spends more time at work than with his family. To see his eldest son, who is also busy, he says has to leave messages asking when they can meet—even though they live under the same roof. 

At 60, he’s agile and still quick on the draw, engaging every customer who comes in, joking with them and inquiring about their families. On those rare days when he’s tired or just not feeling well, customers never know it. 

Don’t take my word. The real testaments come from all his customers. 

Consider Jeff Selbin, the director of the East Bay Community Law Center, who for years has been calling in his lunch order to Bill—who delivers. 

“He’s always been an incredibly friendly and helpful part of the neighborhood. He’s served hundreds of people at the office and probably thousands of our clients. He’s a warm and generous guy who has made South Berkeley a happier place,” Selbin said. 

In the end Bill says that his store has been a success even with all the sacrifices because it has allowed him to provide for his family and put his kids through school, his two top priorities. He says he’ll never retire because that “only you makes you die quicker.” 

Bill’s departure, I’m sure, would unsettle many people who have come to depend on him, not only because of his generosity, but also because of his charm. Until that time however, I—like so many others—will continue to look forward to my daily trips to Bill’s, happy that he’s there, ready to lend a helping hand.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10 

“Berkeley’s Creeks,” with Robin Grossinger and Carol Schimmerling, at 7:30 p.m. at Spenger’s, 4th and University. Lecture is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $12. For information call 841-8562.  

Daniel Ellsberg on “Should the President Lead a War on ‘Evil’?” at 8 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd. Kensington. Donation of $10 requested, $7 seniors and students. 528-3417.  

Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace, with Rami Elhanan, a seventh generation Jerusalemite whose daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber, and Ghazi Brigieth, whose brothers were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. At 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker, 1640 Addison Ave. A $10-$20 donation is requested, no one turned away. For more information call 464-4911 or email bayareapeacetour@ 

yahoo.com, www.rcnv.org 

Literary Friends meets from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. The topic is Leni Riefenstahl: Correspondence, Life and Documentary “Olympia.” 232-1351. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Jack Citrin, Ph.D., professor Political Science, on “Clashing Civilizations.” 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. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

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

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

Berkeley Hillel 75th Anniver- 

sary Shabbat at 6:30 p.m. at 2736 Bancroft Way. 845-7793.  

SATURDAY, OCT. 11 

Shellmound Run Gather at 7:30 a.m. at University and 4th St. The route is along Strawberry Creek to the shoreline, then to the Pow Wow at MLK Civic Center Park. Sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples Day Committee and the City of Berkeley. 595-5520. www.red-coral.net/Pow 

Indigenous Peoples Day PowWow and Indian Market from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Civic Center Park, with arts and crafts, Native California dancing and Native American foods. Sponsor- 

ed by the City of Berkeley. 595-5520. www.red-coral.net/Pow 

East Bay Earth Charter Community Summit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 27th St. and Harrison. Program includes performance art, presentations by local activists and commentators, an ecologically prepared lunch, and workshops. Free. For information call 655-8252. www.earthchartersummits.org.  

Rockin’ in Berkeley Visit seven parks in Berkeley featuring an- 

cient volcanic rock formations. Climb up (optional) for great views. Walk through neighborhoods and see rocks incorporated into buildings and landscapes. From 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For information call 415-255-3233. www.greenbelt.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster Mental Health 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 by calling 981-5506. 

Quaker FunRaiser to benefit the Friends Committee on Legislation, a lobby for just and compassionate lawmaking. Live entertainment, art, children’s activities, books, baked goods and more. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St., 1 block north of N. Berkeley BART. 547-2099, 486-1391. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of the Gilman Street Industrial Area. Begins at 10 a.m. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. Please make check payable to Berkeley Historical Society, and mail to P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701-1190. 848-0181. 

Green Living Series: Green Interior Design Topics will include cleaners, paints, sealers, furnishings, flooring, energy efficient systems and products. Bring a rough plan of your space if possible. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $10 Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call to pre-register. Drop-ins OK. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with David Harris, author, Vietnam War resister, and Jeff Patterson, Conscien- 

tious Objector, First Gulf War, Organizer, “Not in Our Name,” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Daniel Ellsberg seminar on ending the cycle of violence and banning nuclear weapons from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd. Kensington. Donation of $10 requested, $7 seniors and students. 528-3417.  

A Better Chance Annual Independent School Fair for students and families of color. This free event will take place at Samuel Merritt Health Education Center in Oakland from 3 to 6 p.m. 496-1151. 

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

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. The class is taught by Rosie Linsky, who at age 72, has practiced yoga for over 40 years. Open to non-members of the club for $8.00 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

Kol Hadash, Northern California Community for Humanistic Judaism Brown Bag Family Shabbat with Rabbi Kai Eckstein: “A Celebration of Sukkot," from noon to 1:30 pm at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring lunch for your family, and (finger) dessert to share; juice provided. We also collect non-perishable food for the needy. For information call 428-1492 or email kolhadash@aol.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 12 

The Soil Is Alive Come explore our homegrown compost, meet our worms, and take some home to care for and start your own compost pile, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Plant Walk in People’s Park with naturalist, Terri Compost. Meet at 1 p.m. in the West End Community Garden. Heavy rain cancels. 658-9178.  

Fall Festival at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, ethnic food, dancing, music, art and fun for children from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

Afternoon Tea Honoring the Women's Club Movement, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center. Reservations recommended. 528-3284. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/  

Tibetan Buddhism, “What is Knowledge of Freedom “ with Abbe Blum at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 13 

Indigenous People’s Day  

City offices are closed. 

“Aftermath: Unanswered Questions From 9/11” video screening followed by discussion, at 8 p.m. at Grand Lake Neighborhood Center, 530 Lake Park Ave., Oakland. Wheelchair accessible. $1 suggested donation, no one turned away. Sponsored by East Bay Community Against the War. www.ebcaw.org 

Home Owners Support Group meets to discuss what to do when your house needs painting, at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center, volunteer training, every second Monday of the month, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 5741 Telegraph Ave. To sign up call Emily at 601-4040, ext. 109. emily@wcrc.org 

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, OCT. 14 

Fall Fruit Tasting at Berkeley’s Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way, from 2 to 4 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org  

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) meets at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., near Rockridge BART. 835-6303.  

The Wellstone Democratic Club meets at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Alternative School, MLK and Derby, to assess the results of the October 7 elections.  

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.  

“Introduction to Islam” with the Arab Association of the Bay Area at 7:30 p.m. at Interna- 

tional House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

“Israel Yes, Occupation No” with Marcia Freedman, former Israeli Parlimentarian, and founder of the Alliance for Peace and Justice, at 7 p.m. at 30 Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by Tzedek. 845-7793. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Anna Swardenski from the Coalition for Seniors and People with Disabilities will speak about Emergency Preparedness for seniors. 845-6830. 

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

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15 

Gray Panthers Night Out with Alison Wier, co-founder, “If Americans Knew: Information on Israel and Palestine.” Political discussion and light supper at 7 p.m. at 1403 Addison St. All welcome. 548-9696. 486-8010. 

Prose Writers Workshop meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

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. 

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 

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. 548-0425. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month 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, OCT. 16 

“The Ohlone Culture,” with Beverly Ortiz, naturalist, at 7:30 p.m. at Coyote Hills Regional Park Visitors Center. Lecture is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $12. For information call 841-8562.  

“Peace Zones: The Philippine Experience” with Renia Corocoto, Rotary Peace Scholar, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

UC Botanical Garden Docent Training at 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee and registration required. 643-1924.  

Faith, Land, and Agriculture: A GTU Faculty Panel, the second of a Series on Topics in Ecology, Theology, and Ethics 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the GTU Dinner Board Room. Panel includes Drs. Marvin Chaney (SFTS), Lisa Fullam (JSTB), and Naomi Seidman (GTU, Center for Jewish Studies). 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

Stop Breast Cancer Where it Starts - Stop Toxic Pollution Find out how pharmaceutical and chemical company Astra Zeneca conceived of Breast Cancer Awareness Month to increase their sales of tamoxifen, a drug given to women after they are diagnosed with breast cancer, and that is also on the Prop 65 list of cancer causing chemicals. From 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 540-2220 ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

Stroke Prevention and Treatment, a free community workshop offered by the Ethnic Health Institute of Alta Bates Summit at 6:30 p.m. at the Health Education Center, Samuel Merritt College, 400 Hawthorne Ave. For informations and reservations please call 869-6737. 

Improving the Chemotherapy Experience a free, open session for cancer patients, their families and friends, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Auditorium, 2450 Ashby Ave. For more information call Jill Bender at 415-625-1135.  

League of Women Voters meets at 6:45 p.m. at the South Branch Library to discuss the October 7 election. 843-8824. 

Simplicity Forum, “Take Back Your Time” Speaker and attendees will share about the impact of time deprivation and ways they are getting back time in their lives. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. For more information, call 549-3509, or go to www.simpleliving.net.  

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

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

ONGOING  

UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan Public Comment Period has been extended to Oct. 10. For more information on the plan, visit http://ldrp/berkeley.edu Written comments can be emailed to 2020LRDP@cp.berkeley.edu or mailed to Jennifer Lawrence, Principal Planner, Capital Projects, 1936 University Ave., Suite 300, Berkeley, CA 94720-1382. 

Flu Shots will be offered at a number of Berkeley locations during the month of October, by Sutter VNA and Hospice. For a location near you call 1-800-500-2400 or visit www.suttervnaandhospice.org 

“Berkeley Speaks” a community program for activists and artists on Berkeley Community Media, BETV Channel 25. For information on being on the program please call 848-2288. or visit www.betv.org 

East Bay Center for International Trade Development (EBCITD), part of the Economic Development Program at Vista Community College, offers seminars to assist companies, professionals and entrepreneurs with international trade related issues. Foe details on the seminars, visit http://eastbay.citd.org or call 540-8901, ext. 23.  

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

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 

Fair Trade Week Oct. 6-12. Products bearing the Fair Trade Certified(tm) label, such as coffee, organic tea and chocolate will be featured at Andronico's Markets. www.transfairusa.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, 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., Oct. 15, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

School Board meets Wed. Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320.  

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Oct. 16, 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., Oct. 16, 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., Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation

For many, the nightmare of trying to survive on low wage jobs just about anywhere in America remains just that, a nightmare. One person who’s lived to tell what it’s really like to try to live on a little over $5 an hour is journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.” 

The book recounts her struggle to make ends meet working at Wal-Mart, as a waitress, a maid and at other jobs on the fringes of our economy. Published in 2001, it became a runaway bestseller—and now it’s been turned into a play of the same name. 

“Nickel and Dimed” opens Saturday night at Brava Theater Center in San Francisco. 

Commissioned by the Seattle-based Intiman Theatre Company last year, veteran San Francisco Mime Troupe playwright Joan Holden, a Berkeley native, was chosen to adapt the book for the stage. Holden has written and collaborated on over 28 of the Mime Troupe’s left wing political shows, usually held in Bay Area parks. Longtime Mime Troupe actress Sharon Lockwood, who lives in Berkeley, plays the Ehrenreich character. 

Ehrenreich found out the hard way that you can’t make it on $5.15, the minimum wage in 1998 when she did her research. “You can eat, but you can’t pay your rent. You have to have two jobs or you have to be sleeping on somebody’s couch or your husband or boyfriend has to be working to make it. But to make it on your own on one low wage job is not possible in America,” says Holden.  

While that conclusion may come as no surprise, the alienation Ehrenreich experiences on the job in low wage America should. 

“It’s this constant—not only deprivation, but constant immolation and really fascistic alienating work environment with ridiculous rules. Drug tests and interrogations and constant suspicion that you’re stealing,” says Holden.  

“She (Ehrenreich) finds that what it’s like to work for a giant chain like Wal-Mart run by assistant managers according to rules that are from some far away corporate headquarters—it’s a really alienating working environment where workers are consistently disrespected.” 

While Holden’s version of “Nickel and Dimed” is true to the original, for the purposes of whittling the book down to a play the other actors joining Lockwood on stage take on multiple rolls to create over 35 characters. Featured cast members include Julia Brothers, Elizabeth Carter, Cat Thompson, Cristina Anselmo and Darren Bridgett. The play also boasts a jazz score performed live. 

“Nickel and Dimed” has been performed at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and most recently at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on what Holden refers to as the affluent Peninsula. But even there, the play’s message may be having an impact. 

“About halfway through the run one of the actors was in the café outside the theater and asked the girl there if she’d seen the show yet and she said ‘No, I haven’t seen it yet, but something’s definitely going on cause our tips have tripled.’ That’s trickle down. But that makes a difference in people’s lives,” says Holden. 

Ultimately Holden would like to see the play have an effect on efforts to increase the minimum wage. Right now it’s $6.25, but there are ballot initiatives in San Francisco and elsewhere to raise it from $9 to $10. At discussion groups held after the play, many in the audience are saying they had no idea about the problems of low-wage workers. 

“What are these people going to go out and do? You only hope that maybe they won’t have such a knee jerk reaction to living wage legislation when it comes around,” says Holden. “The next time somebody says it’ll ruin the business climate you go wait a minute, Wal-Mart is not going to leave the country if it has to pay $9 an hour instead of $6. Sorry. Not going to happen.” 

While she admits that the reaction of the San Francisco audience may be akin to preaching to the already converted, Holden sees a place for that as well. “In Mountain View we were evangelizing,” says Holden. “So, if you take that metaphor of the evangelist there’s two jobs: one is to spread the word and the other is to do revivals for the faithful. The Mime Troupe in the park is doing revivals for the faithful, but that’s actually important work because the faithful will get very tired and discouraged. They need energizing. They need events that remind them why they care.” 

“Nickel and Dimed” runs through Nov. 9. Saturday night’s performance features an after-party with Ehrenreich. The Brava Theater is located at 24th and York Streets in San Francisco. For more information, call (415) 647-2822 or go to www.brava.org.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10  

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Gardens Showcase Gallery Reception from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. featuring 21 resident artists from Redwood Gardens, a community development providing affordable housing for senior citizens and disabled adults. 2951 Derby St.  

FILM 

Heddy Honigmann: “O Amor Natural” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Holy Land” about life in the Middle East opens at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinema.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Terry Pratchett reads from his new novel, “Monstrous Regiment,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kirov Ballet and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$110, and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Festival Antiqua, classical, folk, and devotional music of Turkey and Eastern Europe, at 8 p.m. at the Parish Hall, St. Alban’s Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $15 general and $12 students and seniors. 486-2803 or 524-7952. www.timrayborn.com/Festival 

The Ives String Quartet, “Inspired By,” three string quartets inspired by other artists’ works. Robin Sharp and Susan Freier, violins; Scott Woolweaver, viola; and Stephen Harrison, cello. At 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $20 general, $10 students, and are available from 415-883-0727. 

Ollin, at 9 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Harry Best and Shabang, Tropical Vibrations perform caribbean/reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Rosin Coven and Japonize Elephants perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $9.  

841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Leonard Thompson at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Nac One, featuring DJ Gigs, at 8 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. 644-2204. 

Stairwell Sisters perform old-time stringband music at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Quarteto Sonando, Latin jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Dwarves, The Frisk, This is My Fist!, Scattered Fall at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Lycanthrope Lounge Pre-Halloween Bash with Nommo Ogo, David Seagull and more, 10 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 11  

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Juanita Ulloa, original and traditional songs from Mexico, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

New Latin American Cinema: “Crane World” at 5:10 and 9:20 p.m. and “Japón” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Enter the Dragon,” classic Bruce Lee, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Saul Landau discusses “The Pre-emptive Empire: A Guide to Bush’s Kingdom,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com  

Shelly Rivoli reads from her novel “I Was a Vacuum Cleaner Salesman,” the story of a young woman trying to earn money for tuition, at 7:30 p.m. at Boadecia's Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184. 

Rhythm and Muse with Avotcja at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893.  

www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Poetry Lovers Unite! Poetry Book Club meets to read from “American’s Favorite Poems,” edited by poet laureate Robert Pinsky at 7:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Face Orchestra, “Fish Pond,” installation by Mantra and music by Dan and Mantra Plonsey, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 665-9496.  

Kirov Ballet and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$110, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Facing East, East/West fusion group, performs at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. 415-703-0330. www.facingeast.com 

Café de la Paz's 10th Anniversary and Flamenco Celebration Dinner show at 8 p.m., seating at 6 p.m. for $40-$47, or late show at 10 p.m. for $20-$27. Reservations encouraged. 843-0662. cafedelapaz.net 

Julia Tsitsi Chigamba and the Chinyakare Ensemble, performance of Zimbabwean music on traditional instruments, at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. Cost is $12-$15. 845-2605. 

Jolie Holland sings 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 

Larry Schneider Quintet performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

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

Married Couple, alt-jazz ensemble, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Edlos perform a cappella at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ze Manel, from Guinea-Bissau, performs at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Schloss, Brian Kenney Fresno, Fear of Sleep, Three Piece Combo perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Frank Jackson at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

irishpub.com 

Hammers of Misfortune, Bread and Water, Garuda, Abandon, A Sleeping Irony at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 12 

Berkeley Potters Guild Tour and Demonstration Members of the guild will demonstrate potters’ wheel throwing and hand building techniques, at 1 p.m. at the Potters Guild, 731 Jones St. at 4th. 524-7031. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Berkeley Arts Festival Exhibition Opening, drawings and prints by Carol Brighton, Mari Marks Fleming, Debra Jewel, Sylvia Sussman, Sandy Walker, Audrey Wallace Taylor, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shatttuck Ave. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Women's Cancer Resource Center, “Roots - Art” by Renata Gray and Rae Louise Hayward. Reception with the artists from 1 to 4 p.m. 5741 Telegraph Ave. 601-4040. wcrc@wcrc.org 

FILM 

New Latin American Cinema: “Japón” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pa- 

cific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry at Cody’s with Kate Gale and Tracy K. Smith at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Power of Poetry: A Celebration at 7:30 p.m. in the Domin- 

ican School of Philosophy and Theology lounge, 2401 Ridge Rd. Featuring Wayne Daniel Berard, winner of the Sixth Annual New Eden Chapbook Contest. cjrenzop@yahoo.com 

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 

“Genes, Texts, and Tropes: A Space between Fiction and Fact,” lecture by Evelyn Fox Keller at 3 p.m. in the Museum Theater, Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Jazz Latino: America’s Music, a lecture demonstration with John Santos from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at The Jazzschool. Free, registration suggested, call 845-5373. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kirov Ballet and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$110, and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Live Oak Concert with Nan- 

ette McGuiness, soprano, and William Ludtke, composer, pianist, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Tickets are $10 general, $9 students/seniors and $8 BAC members. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Music from Scotland, England and Beyond with David Francey at 7:30 p.m. Donation of $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For reservations and location email sally@greenberg.org 

Xicano Moratorium presents Indigenous People’s Day, with activists, music and culture,  

at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

California Friends of  

Louisiana French Music Dance Jam from 2 to 6:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance workshops from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $5 for members, and $8 non-members. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Austin Lounge Lizards 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 

Americana Unplugged, with Cabin Fever at 4 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

MONDAY, OCT. 13 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Susan Choi introduces her new novel, “American Woman,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Martin Kersels discusses his “performative objects,” exploring the themes of gravity and the human form, at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 642-2582. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sarah Cahill and Innovative Piano Program, featuring a special performance of Frederic Rzewski’s “Coming Together,” commemorating the Attica prison uprising, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. 655-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Bill Staines performs traditional 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 

TUESDAY, OCT. 14 

FILM 

The Cinema of Ernie Gehr, Program 2, with the filmmaker in person, at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is  

$4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jonathan Raban reads from “Waxwings” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. www.codysbooks.com 

Best of Open Mic Invitational and Showcase at 7:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. 

www.starryploughpub.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Alan Clay and Selene Steese, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Blue” Gene Tyranny, composer/pianist in a rare West Coast appearance, will play pieces from his new album, “Take Your Time” for electromagnetically-stimulated piano, and “Spirit” for computer-edited harmonics and piano, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 665-9496. 

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

Courtableu performs at 8:30 p.m. with a Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo 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, OCT. 15 

FILM 

Heddy Honigmann: “Good-Bye” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Molly Ivins reads from “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America” at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, entrance on Dana. Sponsored by Cody’s Books and the Graduate School of Journalism. Tickets are $5. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Artists Forum “One Struggle, Two Communities: Late 20th Century Political Posters of Havana Cuba and the San Francisco Bay Area,” with Lincoln Cushing at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Poetry Reading with Art Goodtimes and friends at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220 ext. 227. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam special anniversary theme with birthday cake and prizes at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Emmy Werner on the “Conspiracy of Decency: Rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II” at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, Alexandra Roedder, cello, Adam Scow, violin and Tiffany Shiau, piano, perform Bach and Turina at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

Brenda Boykin and Big Soul Country perform West Coast Swing and R&B at 9 p.m. with a swing lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Baby Gramps, vo-calisthenics and stunt guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

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

Sarah Manning Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 16 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Addison Street Windows, “Natural Forces” paintings by Bill Douglas, Corrine Innis and Orlonda Uffre, opening reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 2018 Addison St. 658-0585.  

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “Tecknolust” with filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson in person, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Community Reading of “Grass Roof, Tin Roof” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Publc Library’s Central Community Room, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6233. 

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

Mark Baldassare discusses public polling and voter behavior, drawing on his book “A California State of Mind: The Conflicted Voter in a Changing World” at 7 p.m. at UC Press, 2120 Berkeley Way. Free. Part of the series “Minds on Fire: Conversations with UC Press Authors.” 642-9828. 

Tim Holt, author of “Songs of the Simple Life,” will speak on his philosophy of living at 7 p.m. at the North Branch of the Public Library, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6250. 

Rick Atkinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History, reads from “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942-1943,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers N-Side and Avotcja, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

Alison Wright, photojournalist, introduces her new book, “Faces of Hope: Children of a Changing World,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Multi Media Concert Chris Jonas and Lolly Sturgess in a performance for voices and instruments at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

The Starry Plough’s 30th Anniversary with the Cowlicks, Loretta Lynch and Yardsale at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Free. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Daniel Pearl Music Day, A tribute to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Bob Norman and Alan Senauke, songs of social change at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10, $8 students and seniors. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Steve Baughman and Robin Bullock, Celtic guitar summit, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Shots, traditional Irish, American bluegrass, at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

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

West Berkeley neighbors say they hope the recent police raid of a notorious drug den will finally clear the drug dealers and loiterers from a long-blighted intersection. 

“It’s been hell living here with guys hanging out on the corner dealing drugs, shooting dice, throwing their trash everywhere,” said one neighbor, who—like every neighbor interviewed—refused to give his name for fear of reprisal. 

The corner of Ninth Street and Allston Way has long been an epicenter of drug peddling and loitering. But neighbors said this year has been the worst in recent memory, and they claim the corner house at 2135 Ninth Ave. has served as the clubhouse and refuge for the dealers that plague their neighborhood. 

“Until that house is vacated I don’t see how the corner will really be clean,” said one neighbor, who added he would drive his children to a friend’s house a few blocks away just so they wouldn’t have to cross the corner.  

After months of surveillance, police executed a search warrant Tuesday at the house, arresting four 19-year-old Berkeley residents for possession of marijuana with intent to sell. Only one of those arrested—Thirland Ross, one of the owner’s sons—lived at the house. 

That is telling, said neighbors, who have complained that the house has been the scene of an endless, raucous party, with strangers driving up to the home, blasting souped-up car stereos and otherwise making noise into the early morning. 

“One night they had boxing matches in the street,” a neighbor said. “There were about 40 guys in a circle surrounding two guys fighting with gloves on.” 

Neighbors turned to police, but since Berkeley does not have an anti-loitering law, officers could not order the men off the corner unless they were seen breaking the law. 

The house had garnered such a reputation that one city official said that people arrested for drug sales often claimed the house as their residence even though they didn’t live there. 

The home belongs to James Ross and his six children. Drug dealing at their corner predates Ross’ arrival on the block more than fifteen years ago, but neighbors said that since the death of his wife last year, Ross, despite numerous city and community interventions, has been unable to control what goes on at his house. 

The city could move to seize the property, but Michael Caplan of the city’s Problem Property Team said he would rather solve the problem through mediation. 

“Our job is not to get people out of their house,” he said, adding that not all the problems at the property were the fault of Mr. Ross, who works in Berkeley and is not able to keep tabs on everything happening at the home. 

The city has facilitated meetings between Ross, his minister—Pastor Gordon Choyce of the Missionary Church of God in Christ—and Councilmember Margaret Breland, but the problems continued.  

Neighbors said that drug dealing at the corner has been cyclical. 

After a police sweep last May netted 20 arrests, the block was quiet, but by winter, dealing and loitering resumed, with Ross’ house again serving as a safehaven where dealers could use the bathroom and hang out. 

The situation grew violent this past spring and summer. 

On April 27, an arsonist set fire to the home of a neighbor who had complained about activity on the corner. Then on July 4, a M-80 firecracker set inside a porchlight shattered the front window of another vocal neighbor.  

Neighbors blamed the men hanging out on the street, but police have not linked them to the crimes. 

Police did work with neighbors who called in reports of drug dealing, while police conducted surveillance. Ultimately their work resulted in a search warrant for Marques Hill, his car, and Ross’ house—where Hill was known to hang out. 

Police executed the warrant at 2 p.m. Tuesday arresting Hill, Lawrence Williams, Sherman Montgomery and Thirland Ross for possession of marijuana with intent to sell. Although neighbors say they have seen crack dealing at the corner, police found no trace of it at the house. 

Neighbors hope that the sting will usher in a new era of calm to the corner. 

Wednesday night police officers in two black-and-white patrol cars manned the corner, discouraging anyone from hanging out there, and there was no sign of the five or six men one neighbor said would typically have been loitering there. 

City officials and community members are still working with Ross to rid his home of outsiders that Caplan said have taken advantage of him.  

“All indications from [Ross] to me is that he is not contributing to the situation,” said Pastor Choyce. “What we say back to him is if you’re not contributing, you need to be more proactive.” Ross did not respond to his door bell last night for an interview. 

If Ross does not clean up his property, he may face multiple lawsuits. Caplan said about 20 neighbors have threatened to sue Ross in small claims court for creating a nuisance. If they all won $5,000 claims, Ross could face a lien on his property.  

A few years ago a woman on the corner of Tenth Street and Allston faced similar charges and ultimately was pressured to sell her house. 

Choyce said Ross had recently agreed to go to Berkeley Dispute Resolution Services to work with neighbors.  

Some neighbors seemed open to the idea. “The ideal solution is to have a nice community with him here,” said one neighbor. “No one has a personal vendetta against him.”

FRED LUPKE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Fred Lupke was a wonderful person. We are saddened by his passing in September from injuries sustained when a vehicle struck his wheelchair on Ashby Avenue near the South Berkeley Senior Center. 

As an activist Fred helped improve our community and was pleasant to work with. Fred contributed to pedestrian safety efforts along with many other important activities. He helped the pedestrian safety tax Measure L gain a majority of votes in the 2002 election. 

We appreciated his help. Unfortunately, Measure L did not receive the necessary two thirds vote and thus funds for improving disabled access as well as other much needed pedestrian safety improvements are in short supply. Although fewer than 25 percent of registered voters opposed Measure L, many voters did not vote on L at all and so it failed.  

Half the traffic fatalities in Berkeley are pedestrians: Fred has joined this number. We already miss Fred Lupke. 

Wendy Alfsen,  

Walk & Roll Berkeley 

• 

VOTE TALLY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Those who have heard about possible problems with hacking of the code used to count votes in the Diebold voting machines may be interested in the following statistics from Tuesday’s vote. 

Schwarzenegger received 3,694.436 votes. McClintock received 1,014,895 votes . Yet only 4,188,199 voted for the recall. This leaves at least over half a million voters (521,132 or 6.8 percent) who voted for a Republican replacement for Gray Davis yet voted to keep Mr. Davis in office.  

Food for thought. 

George Palen 

• 

NO MANDATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tuesday’s vote is no landslide mandate for Arnold. Three and a half million people voted against the recall to keep Davis and 3.5 million voted for Arnold. 

Tom Lent 

• 

STRAWBERRY CANYON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Janice Thomas says she is “bewildered” by my letter about development in Strawberry Canyon (Daily Planet, Oct. 7-9), but that is obviously because she didn’t bother to read it carefully.  

First, she did not even get my name right. It is Siegel, not Spiegel.  

Second, I said clearly that one resident of Strawberry Canyon creates a greater environmental impact than one employee there. That obviously does not mean that the 265 residents create more of an impact than the 4,000 employees there, as Thomas claims. It does mean that it is hypocritical for residents to say they love the wildlife in the canyon, when they are actively degrading the habitat of that wildlife.  

Third, she says she is mystified by the point of my reasoning. Am I saying that saving what remains of the canyon is a lost cause? Or am I saying that the labs and neighborhood should go away? Or am I “just saying that the neighborhood should go away”? 

Since I said there should be no development in Strawberry Canyon, my point should be obvious. As our immediate goal, we need to stop all new 

development in the canyon. As our long-term goal—though it may take a century or more—we should try to remove existing development from thecanyon.  

We should begin by removing the development that restores the most land at the least cost. Some activists have already suggested that Memorial Stadium should be removed. But it would probably be more cost-effective to remove the residences there, as the first step toward restoring the canyon.  

We could use a study of all the options for removing development from the canyon, to find which would be most be cost-effective. If we start planning to remove development and restore the canyon as open space, that will be the strongest statement we could possibly make against any new development there.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

XXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A similarity between George Washington and Arnold Schwarzenegger occurred to me when I hear Arnold’s apology to women he had harassed, after the complaints about his behavior had become known. According to legend, Washington had proclaimed that he would not lie when he was found with a hatchet in his hand, next to a hacked up cherry tree and when he hardly had the choice of not confessing the deed. Arnold has already become a politician.  

Max Alfert 

Albany 

• 

XXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding “Oakland’s Murderous Summer” (Daily Planet, Sept. 26-29): The frequency of murder in Oakland is an ongoing tragedy. 

During the 20 years (1975-95) I worked there, the city averaged 100 murders per year—a total of 2,000. This going to be another “average” year. 

Realistically, it can’t be said that the Oakland Police Department is ever indifferent to murder. It solves an unusually high number of homicides, no matter where they happened in the city. This is an outstanding achievement, but it is a limited one: Killers are arrested, convicted, go to prison do their time, and some come out again; the victims stay in their graves. Police investigations by their very nature cannot prevent murders; they begin after the death. It is part of our social tragedy that a successful investigation can only repair part of the social fabric torn by a murder. It cannot restore the victim, nor (except while a potential recidivist is in prison) can it prevent other crimes. 

People in Oakland do cooperate with their police department. If the solution to the murder rate were only better police-community relations, the murder rate would be back to 10 or 20 a year, as in the 1940s, and the community would not live in fear. 

Major parts of the problem must be solved elsewhere than in Oakland. Put simply, there are too many guns in circulation, and too much ammunition—ammunition with a practically unlimited shelf life. For the common good, our state and federal governments have a duty to adopt serious gun control (and gun elimination) programs. Ultimately, our goal should be to have cities that can be patrolled by police officers who (as in England) do not need to carry guns. 

And we need to put our minds in order: Owning a gun in the city should be as socially unacceptable as driving a humvee or chain smoking in church. 

Phil McArdle 

On a recent afternoon at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center on Telegraph Avenue, Maria gets a tender embrace from Mary Tunison, the center’s executive director. 

“There’s lots of hugs around here,” says Tunison. “Women know how to take care of women. It’s an intrinsic part of who we are and some of that is made manifest here.” 

The atmosphere of emotional support is what makes the center a rarity—and why thousands of women a year come here for help. Maria, who has been a resident and community activist in North Oakland for the past 32 years, is visiting WCRC for the first time today, just two days after undergoing a mastectomy. 

Maria (who preferred not to give her last name) walked here from her home—just eight blocks away—to learn more about the support groups the center offers. “I’m in denial,” she says. “There’s so much information. I’m really overwhelmed and scared.” 

Like most women who use WCRC’s services, Maria says she heard about the center through a friend and wanted to find out what kind of support groups the center offers. “There’s the loss of control and the fear of death,” she says. “I’m getting used to crying.” Maria is accompanied by a long-time friend, Oakland city council member Jane Brunner. 

“Everyone knows it’s a wonderful place,” says Brunner, who was also visiting the center for the first time that day. “People highly recommend it. People rave about it.” 

It’s not difficult to see why. In its 17 years of existence, the center has offered free services to women with all types of cancer, and have specifically reached out to women who are more likely to be underserved in mainstream health system—women of color and lesbians. 

The center houses a 3,000-volume library that carries texts on conventional and alternative treatments, cancer as it affects specific communities, and the environmental causes of cancer. WCRC offers eleven support groups, including those focused on lesbians, African Americans, Latinas and Chinese women. It also operates a peer referral network, which links up women with similar medical diagnoses and backgrounds, and runs a help line to provide callers with information on treatment options and referrals to physicians. 

“A cancer diagnosis can be so incredibly isolating,” Tunison said. “No matter how much a spouse loves you, it’s just not the same. We link them up with someone who can help them walk the cancer walk. We provide them with someone who’s been there.” 

The kind of in-depth care the center offers is a breath of fresh air for most people in the mainstream health care system. “The average HMO allows only seven minutes for an appointment with a doctor,” Tunison said. “How do you process that information? How do you begin to educate yourself?” 

One program specifically helps Latinas with limited English skills by providing them with patient advocates to help them traverse the complex health care system. Another offers in-home support services to clients. The center also administers the East Bay Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which provides financial assistance to low-income women with breast cancer who live in Alameda and Contra Costa County. 

The other component to WCRC is its public policy focus, which centers around raising awareness about the environmental links to cancer. Its most recent campaign involves the Bay Area Working Group on the Precautionary Principle, a Bay Area collaborative formed to promote the use of less harmful substances by government entities. 

Catherine Porter, an attorney who works as WCRC’s public policy coordinator, describes the precautionary principle as a “common sense approach” to decision-making related to the use of potentially hazardous materials. She cited as an example the rampant use of toxic pesticides, when simple cleaning with soap and water will often solve the problem of pests 

WCRC is one of the organizations lobbying to get the Berkeley City Council to adopt a precautionary principle resolution. The council will decide on the issue at its Oct. 14 meeting. The next step, Porter says, is to get City Council to adopt an ordinance that specifically develops a preferable purchasing policy that will require the city to use safer substances in the city’s cleaning and janitorial products. 

“There’s so little that we know about so many chemicals and many cancers seem to have environmental links” said Porter. “We can start being part of this cultural shift of saying ‘is there a less toxic way to deal with this?’”

As a tenant the proposal to increase homeowners taxes by $250 annually will cost me nothing, but I oppose it because it is wrong. It is wrong to scare Berkeley residents with polling questions threatening to cut off emergency services unless we agree to increase taxes. It is wrong because homeowners are not all rich, some struggle to get by or are dependent on fixed incomes. But mostly, it is wrong because it is unnecessary. 

A mayor who ran on a platform of making Berkeley an environmental leader should consider environmental taxes, such as added parking permit fees for SUVs, hefty fines for improper disposal of old computers, and point of purchase taxes for plastic containers and disposable lighters. Aside from bringing in tax revenue, in the long term such taxes reduce city expenses by diminishing the volume of waste we pay to landfill, because those seeking to avoid the tax curtail their use of polluting disposables. And speaking of revenue based on sound environmental policy, why isn’t the city doing more to get UC to pay their fair share?  

The city may not be able to tax UC but we need not subsidize them either. The city’s decision not to sue over North Side development or the Molecular Foundry are excellent examples. The city attorney claims Berkeley is helpless because UC is sovereign and can develop without city permission. But sovereignty does not prevent the city from suing over environmental impacts. If Berkeley had sued we would do better, because sovereignty cuts both ways. Yes, UC can develop without our permission, but they also must bear responsibility for that development. Berkeley has no obligation to provide free or subsidized services. We could control UC development by simply insisting they pay their fair share. Payment for city services is a legitimate legal demand, which is why “mitigation agreements” provide compensation for specific city services. The fact that UC pays less for these services than it costs to provide them is due to bad negotiation, not the city’s hopeless legal position. 

Sewer services are an excellent example. Under federal law, every thirty years sewer systems need to be replaced and upgraded. Some estimate the city has deferred nearly a billion dollars in maintenance, meaning some sewer lines are in horrible shape. According to the city budget, over the five-year period running from fiscal years 1999 to 2005 the city will spend approximately 39 million dollars on sanitary sewer maintenance and replacement, with over 4 million more going to storm sewers. In total, Berkeley spends approximately 44 million dollars for sewers every five years. With a population of 100,000 people, approximately 30,000 of whom are students, the university should pay approximately one third—over fourteen million dollars! 

But sweetheart deals approved by City Council have UC paying less then two million dollars during that five year period! This means Berkeley homeowners subsidize UC to the tune of approximately four million dollars annually—and that’s just for sewer service. It doesn’t begin to cover what UC owes us for costs associated with other environmental impacts, such as increased traffic. To make matters worst, deferred sewer maintenance is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. If sewers are not properly maintained damaged pipes can burst and flood neighborhoods, spreading pollution that can cause serious disease.  

Bad legal advice has caused the city to settle for chump change. City Council should renegotiate and demand UC pay for the full cost of city services, both now, and as the cost expands due to further UC development. If UC refuses the city should selectively stop providing non-emergency services. If UC sues, the city can have the court determine the true cost of city services and seek equitable relief, pleading, if necessary, malpractice on the part of the city attorney. 

Those in city government, including council members and the city attorney, whose sweetheart deals are costing taxpayers a fortune, have a lot to answer for, especially to homeowners, whose taxes they want to increase despite the fact that hefty sewer fees are helping subsidize UC development. Insisting that UC pay their fair share would discourage further expansion, eliminate the “need” to increase homeowner taxes, and enable Berkeley to free millions of tax dollars for parks, libraries, health care and other services.  

Elliot Cohen practiced law in New York City for seven years. He is presently serves on the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission.

In response to vocal concern about a rapidly rising crime rate in North Oakland neighborhoods, the chief of the Oakland Police Department admitted last week that his office “made a mistake” in diverting elite officers from North Oakland and West Oakland last summer. 

Chief Richard Word told an audience at Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner’s regular monthly Community Advisory Meeting at Peralta Elementary School that he cut North and West Oakland patrols of the Crime Reduction Team (CRT) in half in order to control nuisance youth auto “sideshows” in the city’s eastern neighborhoods.  

In a followup interview, Sergeant Peter Sarna, Chief Word’s chief of staff, said that during the summer, the North Oakland and West Oakland CRT patrols diverted to East Oakland on Friday and Saturday nights, leaving them in North Oakland only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

Councilmember Brunner, a New York native, said that violence in North Oakland this year was the worst that she’d seen since she came to the city. Violent crime is up sharply in North Oakland in the past year, with homicides alone rising 200 percent. Berkeley police believe that some of the North Oakland murders may be connected with South Berkeley homicides, and may be part of what has been described as a possible “turf war” crossing the boundary of the two cities. 

A furious daylight gunbattle last August on Sacramento Street in Berkeley came one day after the shooting death just on the Oakland side of Shattuck Avenue. It followed similar, back-to-back, Berkeley/Oakland shootings in June. 

Oakland’s CRT units are roving patrols designed to concentrate on the city’s street level drug-dealing and felony crime trends. The city operates six such teams, each assigned to patrol its respective district each night from Wednesday through Saturday. Police Lieutenant Lawrence Green, who heads up the North Oakland CRT, reported to the Brunner meeting that his unit was responsible for 1,000 arrests, including six homicide arrests over the past 13 months. Green said that his unit has been “working closely with the Berkeley Police Department on the Shattuck corridor shootings.”  

Oakland’s sideshows are loosely defined as late-night, roving gatherings of youth and young adults who commandeer intersections to do car stunts. Because they are spontaneous gatherings and because there is no clear or legal definition as to what constitutes a sideshow, there is considerable controversy among Oakland residents as to how much violent or illegal activities can be attributed to the events. 

Chief Word told the Brunner meeting last weekend that “sideshows have resulted in two deaths.” However, earlier this summer, Word told a meeting sponsored by East Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks that no deaths had occurred at sideshows. The discrepancy may be in the difference between “resulted in” and “at.” Two automobile accident deaths in Oakland have occurred in the last two years after drivers fled from police who were breaking up sideshows. 

Participants at the Brunner meeting broke up into groups to discuss proposed suggestions for a crime reduction program in North Oakland. Brunner said that the suggestions would be compiled into a single document and presented to the police department at a later date.

Let’s give a cheer for good old Arnie— 

Though we may not give a darn he 

Won it hands down, fair and square, nearly 

Half those still up to voting clearly  

Think the man is not, as often charged, uncouth 

But someone set to speak power to truth. 

Make no mistake: neath his silk tuxedo 

he is seen as nearly pure libido, 

a man who freely grabs and squeezes 

when-, where-and whom-ever he pleases 

is the people's choice. Sheer muscular force, 

teeth like diamonds, he rides the popular horse 

of strength and joy. Program? Old blood depart! 

Taxes? Fall. Economy? Not grow, jump start! 

Arnie pushing, then leaping in to pop the clutch 

And roar off at special fx speed, much 

As he does in movies. And so the android 

Who would be governor will fill the void 

Left by recalled Gray, a governor who seems  

A bit android himself. An agent dreams 

Of millions if he can only get Davis to 

complete the switch. No way it can miss you 

see, ‘specially with senior guys and chicks: 

Gray Davis starring in Terminator Six. 

Peter Solomon

Volunteer poll workers mistakenly barred a Daily Planet reporter from watching them handle data chips embedded with thousands of electronic votes shortly after the polls closed on election night. 

Jesse Taylor was reporting on the election at the polling station at City Hall, but when the time came for poll workers to remove memory cards from the station’s seven electronic touch screen voting machines, the head poll worker—against state law—ordered Taylor out of the building. 

The worker, according to Taylor, said that only poll workers were allowed in the room when the data cards were removed from the machines. Taylor eventually was forced to stand between two sheriff’s deputies in a hallway where he could not view poll workers handling the pocket-sized memory cards embedded with the day’s votes. 

Although no fraud was alleged, voter rights advocates said denying public access to any part of the voting process casts a cloud of skepticism over poll numbers. 

“When the memory cards are taken out unobserved it’s a big problem, because how would you know that the memory card transported to [election headquarters] is what came out of the voting machine,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. 

Alameda County Assistant Registrar Elaine Ginnold said the poll workers had misinterpreted state election law. “Every scrap of what we do is open to the public,” she said. A poll worker can require a citizen to stand a certain distance from the workers, but the worker cannot keep the citizen from viewing the proceedings, she said. 

Touch screen voting machines record votes onto a memory card. When the polls close, a poll worker removes a pocket-size card and places it into a package in the presence of the other workers and they all sign a certificate declaring that they witnessed the process. 

Sheriff deputies are always stationed at polling stations during closing, Ginnold said, to make sure that no one tries to steal or destroy paper ballots or the memory cards. 

Ginnold said that cases of poll workers overzealously guarding privacy are not uncommon, even though they are instructed during their training to allow public observation of the entire process. 

“This isn’t something they do every day,” she said. “Sometimes they mistakenly think the closing process has to be closed.” 

For Taylor, who has spent more than 30 years in the political arena, it was only the second time he was tossed from a polling station. 

The other instance was in Selma, Ala., in 1966, when the notorious Sheriff Jim Clark booted Taylor and other volunteer poll watchers with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

Berkeley librarians insist that embedding their books with a state-of-the-art monitoring device despised by privacy advocates will not grant Big Brother a glimpse at patron’s reading material. 

“We’re not going to fight the Patriot Act this hard and then just give away information,” said Berkeley Director of Library Services Jackie Griffin, who added that, after careful study, she planned to purchase Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) before next June. 

The technology replaces magnetic bar codes that need to be scanned by hand with a microchip often as small as a grain of sand that sends radio waves picked up remotely by a scanner. Because each object can be traced by a unique code, businesses and libraries have lauded the technology as a way to prevent theft and better manage inventory. 

In June, Wal-Mart asked its top 100 suppliers to attach RFID chips to the cartons they ship to company warehouses. But, a month later, the retailer canceled an experiment to embed the chips into consumer packages of Gillette products, in part due to concerns lodged by privacy rights groups. 

“The current position of industry is to gloss over privacy issues,” said Lee Tien, a lawyer with the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation. He said he feared that if the chips were eventually planted in clothes, books and other goods, scanner-equipped police could have more clues to identify people. 

But Griffin said RFID chips used by the library posed no privacy risk because the chips store only enough memory to read a library bar code for the book. “There would be no way to attach the information to a person,” she said. 

Even if someone had a scanner, she added, the spy would need the library’s software and book codes—and even then all he would get would be the name of the book, not any information on the person checking it out. 

“It would be more effective to follow someone around,” she said, than to use a scanner to pick up the frequency. 

Griffin envisions RFID revolutionizing library checkouts. Instead of waiting on long lines for librarians to zap the bar code, with RFID patrons could easily check out materials themselves by stacking as many as six books on a RFID radio frequency sensor and inserting their library card into a scanner. The radio frequency would reach only about a foot, she said, to protect against possible spies with scanners and prevent unwanted books near the sensor from inadvertently getting checked out.  

The technology, which Griffin estimates will cost about $600,000 to implement, will save the library money by cutting down on theft. On average the library loses about 700 volumes a year because its magnetic security system is only about 80 percent accurate. RFID is nearly 100 percent accurate and if the thief runs past security, the library won’t try to recover the book, Griffin said, but at least librarians will know which book was stolen so they can replace it. 

Karen Rollin Duffy, Director of Library Services for the city of Santa Clara, recommends the system, which she said had dramatically reduced thefts in the two years since her library became the first and only one in California to implement RFID. 

More important to Griffin than security is the health of her librarians, who have to manually check out approximately 1.3 million items annually. 

“The repetitive motion is causing incredible damage to the staff,” said Griffin, and several librarians have developed carpal tunnel syndrome. With RFID, Griffin envisions assigning just one librarian to the checkout line, while others are put into more direct public service. 

However, privacy advocates fear the technology’s short-term productivity gain will result in long-term privacy losses. 

“You don’t need to be personally identified to have your privacy violated,” said Beth Givens, a former librarian who serves as Director of the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. She said that in a world where RFID tags were commonplace, police could tag RFID markers in the clothing or books of citizens attending political protests. Although the information would not by itself identify specific individuals, she said it would give police additional information to link protesters to the event. 

Tien acknowledged that presently the technology isn’t advanced or pervasive enough to pose wide threats to privacy, but cautions that without rigorous analysis it could soon be too late to stop RFID scanning.  

“It’s a folly to base all expressed privacy concerns based on how they are today. They will get better,” he said. Once stronger scanners and more powerful chips are on the market, he added, the system will already have some measure of social acceptance and it will be too late to stop it. 

Tien fears that libraries—with their reputation for upholding privacy rights—will serve as the gateway for RFID manufacturers. 

“Libraries can be the poster children for RFID. People will think if they’re OK here, they’re OK anywhere else,” he said. 

Griffin said that inside the library RFID would actually benefit privacy. For patrons like a teenager exploring his sexuality or an adult facing bankruptcy who are embarrassed by their reading choices, RFID will allow them to withdraw books without a librarian seeing their selections, she said. 

Griffin said she doesn’t take privacy concerns lightly and explored various scenarios with the four companies she is considering as suppliers of the chips, making sure they’re aware that Berkeley residents are sensitive to privacy concerns. 

“I think we have been responsible,” she said. “If someone says we overlooked a huge issue, we’ll look at it.”

The nationwide Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary—otherwise known as BAMN—returned to UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza Wednesday to celebrate California’s decision to vote down Proposition 54. 

“Tuesday was the day these racist ballot measures came to an end in California,” said Jodi Masley, a national organizer from BAMN, to a small but enthusiastic crowd. “People have said we are not going to accept a policy of colorblind racism.” 

BAMN, one of several organizations from the Cal campus involved in the anti-54 fight, had been organizing full steam since the summer to defeat the proposition. 

Two weeks ago, the coalition organized a march attended by a number of high school students from around the East Bay which traversed the campus and parts of downtown Berkeley, at one point taking over Bancroft Avenue. The group had originally planned to hold a rally to protest the appearance by Proposition 54 author Ward Connerly at Cal for a debate about the proposition, but a medical emergency forced Connerly to back out. 

Organizers at the rally, while in high spirits, said that the work is far from done. The next step they say, is to remove Connerly from the UC Board of Regents, where he is in the tenth year of a 12-year appointment. 

“We’re going to strike while the iron is hot,” said Josie Hyman, a junior at Cal and one of the organizers working with BAMN. 

Hyman and Masley said BAMN’s next big action is planned for the Nov. 17 Regents meeting in Los Angeles, where they hope to let Connerly know that they want him out. They also said that they will continue to gather signatures to join the 6,000 already gathered for their petition demanding Connerly’s immediate removal.  

For more information on BAMN, see their website: www.bamn.com.

Police May Bring Back Dogs 

At the request of Mayor Tom Bates, the Chief of the Berkeley Police Department has issued a preliminary written proposal to reinstate the department’s canine unit. 

Mayoral aide Cisco DeVries confirmed that Bates had expressed interest in a possible reviving of the controversial program. 

After complaints by members of the city’s African-American community, Berkeley’s police canine program was suspended by City Council in 1982, but the use of dogs borrowed from other agencies was permitted on a case-by-case basis upon the approval of the city manager. Revival of the program would require City Council action. 

Chief Roy Meisner forwarded the 13-page “Berkeley Police Department Canine Patrol” proposal to City Manager Weldon Rucker, Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz, and City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque on Sept. 23. The chief also presented the proposal to members of Berkeley’s Police Review Commission at their Oct. 8 meeting. 

Under Meisner’s proposal, canine units could be deployed when police believed that a suspect posed an immediate threat, when the suspect was hiding in a narrow, enclosed location—such as a crawl space or under a porch or deck—where entry by officers might pose a danger to their safety, when a suspect was physically resisting arrest, and in searching warehouses or buildings where a burglar might be present. Dogs could also be deployed in narcotics and explosives detection and scent tracking. 

Meisner’s proposal would prohibit using police dogs in crowd control. 

Commission member Jackie DeBose said that several Commission members expressed concern about the proposed canine program, but decided not to take a formal position. Instead, the Commission voted to seek public input at meetings to be held throughout the city over the next four months. Commission members also requested that Meisner present the plan at the department’s Police Community Forum next month. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

City Website Hacked 

The City of Berkeley’s website was hacked this week, but a city computer expert said that there was little, if any, cause for concern. 

Earlier this week, a virus containing links to a video poker website appeared on several pages of the city’s site. City of Berkeley E-Government Manager Donna LaSala said that the links were visible on some browsers, but not on others. She said her department was systematically going through and erasing the links from the city website’s code. As late as Thursday evening, portions of the code were still present on the city’s site. 

“This is really a non-event,” LaSala said. “They didn’t hack into our internal network. Then we’d be really concerned. But this one is pretty routine, as these things go. Not very sophisticated.” 

LaSala said that the Berkeley website gets hacked once every couple of months. “Some bright, burgeoning, whiz-kid tries to jump on. We usually detect it within the first couple of seconds.” 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

NLRB Sets Berkeley Bowl Vote 

The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled an election for Oct. 30 when workers at the Berkeley Bowl will decide whether or not they want to be represented by United Food and Commercial Worker (UFCW) Butcher’s Union Local 120. 

Jeremy Plague, an organizer for the union, said management has been making concessions to workers in an effort to sway the vote, including easing restrictions on health insurance eligibility. 

Workers are looking at the new health care policies as a victory but are skeptical about the motives. 

“I’ll take it,” said Nicholas Brown, one of the employees who became eligible. “If they are going to give health insurance, sure no problem, thanks. But I’m still going to vote yes when the union comes.” 

Meanwhile, Bowl workers and the union are planning a weekend event to help garner support from the community in the face of what they say is a growing anti-union campaign being run by management. 

Plague said that management has come on strong since the filing, recently telling employees that they are not allowed to talk about the union at work, a right that he says is protected by the NLRB. 

“It’s against the law but all they have to do is post a little paper next to the time clock,” said Plague in reference to a previous ruling handed down by the NLRB that found the Bowl guilty of other infringements. The store’s only obligation under the ruling he said, was to post a memo acknowledging their wrongdoing. 

Plague said the Berkeley community has been very supportive. “We have to take advantage of the fact that the Berkeley Bowl is in Berkeley,” he said. 

Union event will be distributing flyers outside the store from 2-6 p.m. Sunday. 

—Jakob Schiller 

When Rush Limbaugh’s drug problem first surfaced in various website chatter, I was intrigued. When it made the evening news, I admit I felt a moment of joy. Limbaugh is the icon of brutish, cheap-shot conservatism and his entertaining style has spawned a vast legion of broadcast talkers even nastier than he. How could one not find some pleasure in his fall from grace? As we learned from the unmasking of other righteously destructive rightwingers, hypocrisy is their middle name. 

My feeling passed and the story disappeared from the news (at least for now). But I was led to reconsider my reactions to Limbaugh’s troubles by a surprisingly compassionate editorial in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ is a leading purveyor of brittle condescension and scorn, the first apostle of hard-ass conservatism. But the Journal asked its readers to feel human sympathy. 

What an odd suggestion from that source. American culture has been severely coarsened during the last generation, not so much by the rightwing talkers, but by the brutish practices of modern capitalism and by institutions like the Journal who lead cheers for the ideology of take no prisoners, throw the losers over the side. Winners and losers are the natural order in life, winners should merely push them aside and get on with it. 

The anger and shame that now permeate this society were planted in large part by the callousness of Wall Street finance and major corporations. They routinely pursue self-interest by trampling others and call it “efficiency.” The victims are often their own employees or shareholders (not to mention welfare mothers and people too weak and poor even to afford shelter). The right embraces this new definition of manliness (even the so-called Christian right). Liberals who hold back are ridiculed as bleeding-heart sissies. 

Business is business. The dominant culture tells young people their only choice in life is between hard or soft. Despite what they are taught, a lot of young people reject that choice, but many also succumb. Who wants to be a loser? 

Repairing our damaged culture is a difficult and longterm task, but maybe social change can start in odd places like the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. Their Limbaugh editorial cited the New Testament parable of the adulterous woman—he who is without sin may cast the first stone—“to remind us that we are all human, failed creatures.” President Bush, it added, responded compassionately to Rush’s troubles, perhaps because he himself fought a drinking problem not too long ago. Yes, indeed, we are all human, failed creatures. 

We are not all compassionate beings, however. The Wall Street Journal and right-wingers in general are very selective in where they choose to bestow human sympathy. Usually, it is reserved for other rightwingers or for business guys who find themselves in trouble with the law. When the WSJ recently reviewed my new book, it peppered it and me with the usual disparaging wisecracks. That’s expected. I don’t go to their church and, indeed, I regularly attack their religion. 

But what really angered me were the scornful wisecracks the review directed at the organization called Solidarity described in my book. It is a temp agency in Baltimore owned and run by the temp workers themselves in cooperative fashion. They earn a dollar or two more per hour than other temp workers, they have health-care coverage, they share the profits. And nearly all of them are recovering narcotics addicts and/or former prison inmates. I explained how their mutual struggles with addiction give them a shared sense of self-discipline (no one can con a fellow member of Narcotics Anonymous who’s been through the same fire). The reviewer quipped: “Apparently, being stoned together breeds camarderie.” Yuk, yuk. 

The Solidarity workers are of course black. The WSJ would not make drug jokes about white guys in suits—corporate executives struggling to overcome alcoholism or the bond traders afflicted by cocaine habits (indeed, it seldom writes about these addicts). The Journal needs to work on its own human sympathy. “The quality of mercy is not strain’d,” Shakespeare taught us. “It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven...” 

Maybe, when the full story becomes known, Rush Limbaugh will find the courage to express a more encompassing sympathy for other human beings. No one should expect Rush to change his politics or eschew cheap-shot jokes (he would be boring without them). But, the next time someone has stumbled and fallen, either wrestling with personal demons or crushed by error and ill fortune, the first question Limbaugh (and the rest of us) might ask is: Doesn’t anybody feel sorry for the poor bastard? 

William Greider is the author of “The Soul of Capitalism.”

On Monday night the Oakland A’s played the Boston Red Sox in the final baseball game of their American League Division Series. A win moved them one step closer to a World Series title; a loss ended the season. It was a big game. I wondered if Oakland’s playoff fever stretched north to Berkeley. 

Part pub-crawl, part census report, my approach was simple: nine Berkeley bars in nine innings. I wanted to know the whereabouts of Berkeley’s hardcore baseball fans.  

1st Inning: Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse 

Baseball aficionados applaud the first pitch of a game, especially during the playoffs. At Triple Rock, though, the first pitch provokes not a sound. Strike one.  

“Some A’s fans were in here earlier,” says Annie, the bartender. “They said they were going to the game and told me to meet them at their white Subaru in the parking lot.” 

With a total of six people in the bar, I consider heading for the Subaru. Luckily, though, the inning speeds by. And before Annie can offer me another pickled egg, I’m out the door and peddling south on Shattuck. 

2nd Inning: Beckett’s Irish Pub and Restaurant 

If Beckett’s owners hoped to recreate a classic Irish pub, they succeeded. It’s dark, there are lots of men, and nobody gives a damn about baseball. A projector TV screens a Monday Night Football pre-game show. A smaller TV towards the back airs the ballgame. A young man with glasses sits alone watching it. 

I approach and ask, “Did you come to watch the A’s?” 

“Nope,” he says, “I came to drink a Guinness.” His hand grips a half-finished pint.  

Disheartened by the lack of fans, I shove my notebook aside and order myself a beer. But even this decision backfires. It’s another quick inning and as I chug the remainder of the glass, Guinness-boy asks, “Does your writing get better or worse as the game goes on?”  

3rd Inning: The Bear’s Lair 

From Shattuck, I bike east on Bancroft to The Bear’s Lair, the lone bar on campus. It’s a mellow crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. I notice a group of young men huddled around one TV in a corner. I’m convinced this is an A’s crew. Wrong again. These are participants in the Madden 2004 tournament, a football video game for Play Station 2.  

Hope is not lost, though. There are a few students donning A’s hats. David Ha, a fourth year student from San Jose, is one of them. An A’s fan all his life, he decided to skip his political science class in order to watch the game. Finally, a young man with his priorities in order.  

“This is game five,” Ha says. “You can’t miss game five.”  

I agree, and after another scoreless inning, head towards Durant.  

4th Inning: Henry’s in the Hotel Durant 

The half-filled bar contains a handful of diehards. As Boston leads off the inning with an infield hit, I hear moans from a table nearby. Tim Wortham, 35, and Robert Wong, 37, are sharing a pitcher of beer and a basket of hot wings drenched in sauce. Crumpled napkins lay scattered on the table.  

The last time they watched a ballgame together was Game 6 of last year’s World Series, when San Francisco lost to the Anaheim Angels.  

“We’re trying to reverse fortune,” says Wortham, a San Francisco resident, who—not surprisingly—didn’t want to talk about his Giants’ playoff performance this year.  

“The A’s can’t lose three straight—there’s no way,” says Wong, from Berkeley. 

“Unless it’s against the Yankees,” ribbed Wortham.  

Moments later, the duo is pounding on the bar, celebrating the A’s first run of the game. The score: A’s 1, Red Sox 0.  

5th Inning: La Val’s Pizza 

La Val’s is packed—and all chairs face the big-screen TV. Folks are drinking beer, screaming at the umpire, and drinking more beer. This is playoff fever. I feel like I’m in the bleachers. The crowd explodes as A’s centerfielder Chris Singleton throws a Boston runner out at second base.  

“I had old school parents that took me to the games,” says Ken Washington, 48, an Oakland fan since the early 70s and one of the crowd’s more vocal leaders.  

Washington used to be homeless and said LaVal’s always treated him with respect. So he’s loyal to the Durant hangout.  

“You know, the north side of Berkeley has everything we got over here, but it’s quieter. This is the south side,” he says proudly. “We watch a lot of Raider games here, too.”  

I believe him. And, as the inning ends, I fight the urge to ditch the article and grab a bleacher seat at La Val’s.  

6th Inning: Kip’s 

Disaster strikes in the 6th inning. The Red Sox score four runs. And I chose Kip’s, where the TVs nearly outnumber the patrons 

At one point, after Manny Ramirez’s homerun, Fox’s television coverage flashes to a packed bar in Boston. I’m envious and wonder if the words “nostalgia” and “La Val’s” have ever been used in the same sentence.  

Eric, one of Kip’s’ bartenders, has just taken a break to eat some chicken fingers. Sitting down next to me at the bar, Eric claims he’s an A’s fan. But I’m not seeing the pain. He’s enjoying those chicken fingers a bit too much.  

Fortunately, Oakland picks up one run in the bottom of the 6th. The score: A’s 2, Red Sox 4.  

7th Inning: Blake’s 

The A’s retire the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th. I am at Blake’s, a busy Telegraph Avenue bar.  

In the bottom half of the inning, Boston’s Johnny Damon and Damian Jackson collide while chasing a pop fly. (Damon starred for Oakland in 2001.) Immediately, I hear clapping from the bar’s balcony. Investigating, I find an unsympathetic pocket of A’s fans crowded into the small room. 

“If you leave Oakland for a punk-ass team like Boston, you get what you deserve,” says Justice Israel, 21, one of Blake’s bartenders. The playoffs can make people nasty, especially when their team is losing. It’s the misplaced anxiety of the true fan. I love it.  

8th Inning: Raleighs 

The A’s are down 4-2 with two innings left. The first guy I try to interview won’t even make eye contact with me. That’s a good sign.  

David Orlando, 48, summed up Raleighs this way: “Good crowd, good beers…it’s close.” His first A’s memory was an inside-the-park home run Reggie Jackson hit to win a game in the early 70s. He’s been a fan ever since.  

The bar looks like the waiting room at a maternity ward: lots of stressed out men hoping for good news. When McMillon singles to right, the A’s score to make it 4 to 3, and the bar jumps to life. Strangers high-fiving strangers. People yelling, “One more! One more!” 

But the run doesn’t come. And when Boston makes the final out of the inning, the energy of the bar deflates. Heads shake. Brows get massaged. It’s a nine-inning roller coaster of emotions, and the ride ain’t over.  

“It’s close,” says Orlando. “Don’t count them out yet.” 

9th Inning: White Horse Inn 

The legendary White Horse is known for many things; baseball is not one of them. But the game is being shown on a projector TV at the back of the bar. And for the handful of people watching, the 9th inning mesmerizes.  

In storybook-fashion, the bases end up loaded with two outs and a full count to Terrence Long. An entire season boils down to one game, one inning, one at-bat, and—finally—one pitch. And then the A’s lose. And that’s it. Season over.  

“I’m taking all the stickers off my truck,” shouts bartender, Mara Pelaez, 36. “I need a new team.” 

Despite Pelaez’s anger, the White Horse Inn does not dwell on the loss. Just moments after the final pitch, the TV screen flashes blue, lyrics appear, and a pudgy, older man starts singing.  

And while Berkeley didn’t prove to be the greatest baseball town—I had to agree—there’s nothing more cathartic than karaoke.  

Final Score: A’s 3, Red Sox 4.  

Violent Hotel Guest 

Police dodged a barrage of flying furnishings to arrest a man holed up in his Berkeley hotel room Saturday afternoon. Police received a telephone call from the Doubletree Hotel in the Berkeley Marina at 2:05 p.m. complaining that a guest had refused to check out and that they smelled drug-laden smoke coming from the room. When officers cut through the chain lock the guest hurled a lamp and a glass picture frame their way, but neither missile hit its mark. The officers summoned backup, then wrestled with the guest before finally subduing him. A search of the man, the room and his car yielded 13 rocks of crack cocaine as well as a stash of stolen hotel towels. Ronald Williams, 49, of Oakland was arrested for possession of narcotics for sale, possession of stolen property and parole violation. 

Attempted Getaway 

As a police officer watched, as a woman drove into a car parked in the 1200 block of Harrison Street Saturday. When she started to walk away from the accident, the officer told her to get into her car so she could back away from the car she hit. The woman backed up—and kept going. A quick check of the license plate revealed that the vanishing car was stolen, so the policeman followed her to the 2800 block of Acton Street, where again she plowed into a parked car. She fled on foot, but not fast enough. Lateesha Perkins, 19, of Berkeley was apprehended behind a house on the block and arrested for car theft, resisting arrest and hit and run. 

Drug Bust 

Police raided a house on the 2700 block of Sacramento Street Wednesday night, snagging 28 rocks of crack cocaine. The Berkeley Police Department’s Special Enforcement Unit (SEC), operating on a probation warrant, found the individually wrapped pieces of cocaine hidden throughout the property—including a car and the inside of a disabled smoke detector. Berline Covey, 43, of Berkeley, was charged with possession of narcotics with the intent to sell and violating parole. 

Botched Car Robbery 

A car thief was leaving with a prize catch when a chance run-in with the vehicle’s owner spooked him into flight on foot. According to police, the thief entered a car in a garage in the 2400 block of Prospect Street Monday afternoon, started the ignition and began backing out when the owner appeared. Stopping, the would-be thief bolted out the diver’s side door and jumped into a small blue car parked nearby, where a waiting friend drove him away. No arrests have been made. 

Robbery 

Police arrested a teenager they say was part of a pack of youths who robbed a woman walking at California and Hearst streets Sunday evening. According to police, the victim was walking on California Street when several teenage boys grabbed her while another boy on a bike ripped off her backpack. After the boys ran off, the woman went to a friend’s house and called police. Just three minutes later, police acting on her description, picked up a boy on a bicycle, who the woman then positively identified as the one who had snatched her backpack. The 15-year-old did not have the backpack when he was caught.

On the day after the recall election, a couple of my more politically-involved friends asked—in no small state of befuddlement—how Californians could simultaneously overwhelmingly defeat Proposition 54 and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger governor.  

The answer, I suspect, is that the defeat of Mr. Connerly’s 54 is not so liberal an event as progressives might hope, and, at the same time, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s election is not quite the hard-right mandate as our conservative friends would now have us believe. California, like the country, remains delicately—some might say precariously—balanced right on the middle of the political spectrum.  

Figuring out the Prop. 54 side of it is easy. More than anything else, the get-the-government-out-of-the-business-of-cataloguing-by-race initiative lost on the argument that its passage would undercut medical research and treatment. Neither the left nor the right has a monopoly on that concern.  

The rapid elevation of Mr. Schwarzenegger to the governorship is more difficult for progressives and liberals to fathom. The major problem, I believe, is that many progressives and liberals looked at Schwarzenegger’s candidacy through the fog of the right-wing coup theory, the belief that the recall election was merely a continuation of a recent string of radical conservative attempts to nullify the will of the voters. Thus, the original sin theory of many of my progressive-liberal friends: Since Schwarzenegger came to the governorship through the unholy vessel of the hard-right recall, his victory signals a sharp turn to the right in California politics.  

That theory assumes we were somewhere to the left during the regime of Gray Davis, evidence of which is somewhat thin, even after five years’ observation.  

But it also assumes that that those Californians who voted for Mr. Schwarzenegger did so on the belief that he will advance the right-wing cause. If that is their belief, it came about with little or no help from Mr. Schwarzenegger himself.  

In fact, the brilliance of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s campaign was that he managed to get himself elected without promising much of anything at all, or revealing much of anything that he intends to do in his three years of stewardship. But like the folks back home—my Southern home—used to say, the same thing make you laugh, make you cry. That which allowed Mr. Schwarzenegger to roll to victory will now present his greatest difficulty as he sets about trying to govern.  

During the campaign, Mr. Schwarzenegger presented himself as a blank screen upon which the voters were allowed to pretty much project their own thoughts about his agenda. About his platform there could be little argument. No new taxes, unless a fiscal crisis absolutely mandated them. Cut government inefficiency. Bring jobs back to the state. Protect education. Close your eyes, alter the accent just a bit, and you can easily imagine those same promises coming equally from Gray Davis, Cruz Bustamante, Arianna Huffington, Peter Camejo, and (if you leave out the “unless fiscal crisis” caveat), Tom McClintock. Mr. Schwarz-enegger painted in broad strokes...we were left to fill in the details of implementation ourselves, to our own particular fancies. But as they also say, the devil is in the details.  

Mr. Schwarzenegger’s first bit of difficulty will come—and come quite soon—with the car tax increase, which he loudly promised to repeal.  

If he manages to rescind the car tax increase, he must immediately come up with some $4 billion to shore up the resulting leak in the budget, or else make the appropriate cuts to a budget already reeling and out of balance. 

There has been some talk that Mr. Schwarzenegger intends to try to make up a portion of that amount from Indian gambling interests. Under the deal being talked about in the press this week, the Indian gambling folks would give the state $1 billion in return for the right to expand their casino operations in the state. An odd twist, here. During the campaign, Mr. Schwarzenegger (also loudly) criticized Mr. Bustamante for taking campaign contributions from the Indian gambling interests. And why were the Indian gambling interests giving so much money to Mr. Bustamante? Because if he were elected governor, it was their hope that the present Lieutenant Governor would allow them to—guess what?—expand their casino operations in the state. Oh, yes, it’s going to be fun listening to the explanation on this one. And that still leaves $3 billion left to go.  

And besides the math problem, Mr. Schwarzenegger cannot afford to fail on the car tax. Not the Last Action Hero. Bill Clinton flubbed on health care reform in the first days of his presidency, and his presidency survived and even prospered thereafter. Mr. Schwarzenegger does not have that luxury. He came to us as the movie idol who parachutes into the Colombian jungles, wipes out the cartel army with homemade weapons, and brings out his kidnapped daughter, unharmed. Many California voters—knowing nothing of the man except what they have seen in his movies—expect such miracles, and will be dearly disappointed in anything less. How can the man who whipped the seven-foot alien Predator not take down the stoop-shouldered, professorial John Vasconcellos?  

With every step—or misstep, as it were—Mr. Schwarzenegger risks a significant portion of his recall majority. From here on down, as Pogo used to say, it’s uphill all the way. This may be more interesting than you think.

In light of a continuing string of wheelchair pedestrian accidents, including Fred Lupke’s recent death, the Berkeley Commission on Disability’s subcommittee for transportation met Wednesday to draw up requests asking the city to revisit what they say are important safety measures proposed for the city’s general plan. 

Commission Chair Emily Wilcox said that the meeting did not produce a definitive proposal for City Council but instead was a preliminary way to address several of the most important issues commissioners said have been continually brought up before the city but never incorporated into the general plan.  

Wilcox said the subcommittee discussed a litany of issues, including a request for the police department to develop a code that would track pedestrian accidents involving people who use mobility devices or are self-identified as disabled. 

“Currently we have no numbers to support our impression that significant numbers of people involved in pedestrian accidents are disabled,” said Wilcox. “And I believe we’ve made this request several times.” 

Other issues included a request for the city to develop a policy that would set the maximum allowable slope and cross-slope for sidewalks and the development of minimum amount of vertical and horizontal vegetation clearance.  

Wilcox said that if, for example, a sidewalk’s slope is too steep, a person using a wheelchair or walker could tip over or be thrown off balance and that often trees and bushes on sidewalks are overgrown, presenting numerous problems for disabled pedestrians. 

There is no set date for when the commission will present the issues discussed to City Council because Wilcox says there is still more work to be done. She said other city commissions including Public Works and the Commission on Aging have taken an interest, expanding the scope and helping push the issue forward. 

The commission is set to make a presentation to City Council during the Oct. 14 meeting about the city-issued taxi permits for wheelchair users, but Wilcox said the city manager is expected to request that the agenda item be held back until the November meeting.

While some Indian jewelry and saree stores are rumored to have taken off for Los Angeles and more lucrative markets, new Indian stores and restaurants are opening almost monthly on and around University Avenue. Indian Americans travel from San Jose, Fremont, Palo Alto, Yuba City, and even Los Angeles to shop here. 

UC MBA graduate Kirpal Khanna, who opened the first Indian store on University in 1971 as a grocery store, has expanded twice and added a variety of merchandise including screens, inlay boxes, hair tassels, glass bangles, musical instruments, videos, and a fascinating book and card store adjacent to the original storefront. Here you can find extensive selections of books on Ayurveda, the science of self-healing, cookbooks, Sikhism, Hindu gods and goddesses, cookbooks, and travel guides to India. 

As president of the University Avenue Association, Khanna hosts a veritable community center in his incense-infused store and says all the Indian stores work in a friendly competition, helping each other. 

In the same block, Fiji Indians are converting Ramson’s Discount Depot futon shop to a full service Indian and western clothing shop offering alterations on site. 

On the north side of University, Gold Palace Jewelers (1085 University Ave.), is the Tiffany of Indian jewelry stores, with security buzzing in and out the curious. In an elegant, slightly untrusting atmosphere, Gold Palace offers Delhi- and Calcutta-made 22 karat gold jewelry, as well as Rolex, Omega, Movado, Gucci, and Rado watches—all under lock and key. Flyers advertising Vik S. Bajwa (Dem) for Governor adorn a table near the exit. 

India uses 783 tons of gold per year, according to Maulin at Bombay Jewelry Company. Indians believe in investing in gold as a good investment and as an asset. Even poor families buy what they can afford as part of their family security, and brides and children receive gold, so Gold Palace sells small earrings and bracelets from $25 and up. 

G&H International Emporium, 1027 University Ave., is another neighborhood Indian community center in this location since 1981, providing $25 full saree outfits from Punjab in northern India, bolts of fabric, gold and silver trim, incense, rice cookers, food blenders, DVD players, boom boxes, and irons. On the south side of University, India Chaat & Sweets (824 University Ave.) offers a lunchtime buffet ($6.99) and a cozy dining room with parking just off University on Sixth Street. 

Milan Imports (990 University Ave.) blasts visitors with curry aroma at the doorway, emanating from scores of bins of spices sold in bulk at the lowest prices available in the Bay Area. 

Unusual delicacies used in the cuisines of India, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan available here include $2.99 a pound whole almonds (one-third the normal retail price), Indian cornflakes, chapati flat breads, whole wheat roti, chick pea twigs, four varieties of ground coconut, garbanzo flour, white and yellow corn flours, mace power, sumack, yellow garlic powder, 22 varieties of dal (lentils) and other beans, international teas, whole nutmeg and star anise, green Ethiopian coffee beans, Patak and Laxmi chutneys, Ahmed mango pickles, ghee (clarified butter), and mustard oil for massage use only. 

At this location since 1975, Milan owner Mahinder “Mike” Parmar, born near Bombay, carries Indian movies, CDs and tapes (many $2-$3), and Indian movie posters, and tempting sweets from his Bombay Cuisine Restaurant Café next door at 2006 Ninth Street. Parmar also sells Spanish saffron at the best price around, $21 an ounce. 

All saree stores here are having big sales as a run-up to Diwali, the Indian New Year celebrated this year on Oct. 25. Boasting Sharon Stone as a regular client, Sari Palace specializes in fabulous Indian bridal outfits (langas) for women that include 15 yards of fabric and can weigh up to 15 pounds including sequins and jewels, and cost up to $3,000. Women traditionally wear red for their weddings, but may wear any other color for the wedding reception, which means two outfits. 

Salwaar Kameez outfits are more casual and include pants, three-quarter or short tops, and scarves. Shawls contain a mere two yards of material, and Sari Palace even sells the silk scarves separately for $15. Men’s jodhpuri suits run from $125-$150. 

Bombay Spice House (1036 University Ave.) is a clean, small, family store where visitors are greeted by displays of samosas, fresh teas, and chai. Frozen imported Indian vegetables include cluster beans, methi-fenugreek beans, parwal, and violet yams. Bombay Spice House offers packaged spices, incense burners, mediation books, pestals and mortars, Indian cooking utensils, metal serving trays, and statues of Ganesh, the Hindu God of Wisdom and good thinking (believed to remove life’s obstacles), and of Laxmi, Goddess of Prosperity and money. 

Berkeley Music House has thousands of Indian and Pakistani CDs, tapes, and movies, with customers flocking from throughout California for their unusual collection. 

Bombay Jewelry Company is smaller than Gold Palace, but sells lots of gold bangles to Indians, because “You collect all the gold you can because you don’t know when your husband is going to die.” Maulin weighs all 22 karat pieces to arrive at a price, which varies daily. 

Roopam Sarees and Sari Boutique owner Chhabildas Khatri (1044 University Ave.) was born in Fiji and has the busiest store on the street. Roopam sarees range from $25-$500, and come in French or Japanese chiffon, with shoes and colored glass bangles to match ($3 for 12), and sequined earrings and necklaces from $15. Children and belly dancers also get outfits here! 

While in the neighborhood, venture a half block north on San Pablo to Indus Food Center and Halal Food Market, both Islamic providers of Halal meats, poultry, and produce. Indus’s meat prices are fabulous, with leg of lamb at $3.25 a pound, goat leg at $3.99, and chickens at $.99 a pound.  

Halal Food Market supplies Middle Eastern, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Indian and other groceries, as well as lamb, goat, beef and organic-raised chicken. Customers are treated as guests here, first offered sage-spiked tea from an urn on the deli meat counter, which comes with a dose of interesting and friendly conversation, all led by owner Naime Ayyad and manager Zafar Khan. Expanding after one year in business, Halal offers sweet butter, cheeses, yogurts, and a plethora of Islamic books. 

Just south of University on San Pablo is a real find, new restaurant, Priya (2072 San Pablo Ave.), serving South and North Indian cuisine and “all halal meats.” Clean, slightly elegant, peaceful and festive, Priya is already packed with new fans. Its lunchtime and Sunday brunch buffets ($6.99/$10.99) feature many vegetarian and meat entrees, including goat, lamb, and chicken curries, with an unusual abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits. Owner Parvata Reddy Seelam has 20 years’ experience in the restaurant business, and it shows. 

One of Berkeley’s best known Indian food merchants, Vik’s Distributors (726 Allston Way), offers products other markets don’t, including Bedekar’s pickled sauces, White Gold Basmati rice at only $5.99 for ten pounds, French and English digestive crackers, and ZEN chili pastes, Chirag garlic ginger pastes, and Gits curry mixes. 

Indira Chopra’s Vik’s Chaat’s Corner is the steal of the day, taking up half of Vik’s warehouse and due to expand before the end of the year. Chaat (“snacks”) are $3, and weekday specials, both vegetarian and not, max out at $4.99. The only utensils are plastic spoons and Indian breads.

How smoothly last Tuesday’s recall election went in the city of Berkeley depends upon which end of the process you observed. Poll workers reported a nearly flawless experience by voters using the Diebold touch-screen voting machines throughout the city. But there were glitches in the vote compiling process. 

And while Alameda County preliminary vote totals were available early Wednesday morning, precinct or even city results weren’t—even as late as Thursday afternoon. 

Elaine Ginnold, a spokesperson for the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office, said that county election officials were delaying the printing of the precinct result report because of its unusual size, which she estimated to be at 1,000 pages. 

Ginnold said that the enormous number of pages was needed because the vote totals for each gubernatorial candidate—all 135—had to be listed for 1,092 precincts in the county. 

But Ginnold said that she was at a loss to know why compiled city results (such as the number of votes for each candidate and for or against each issue in Berkeley) were not available two days after the election. She said that such results are normally available to the public on the night of the election. 

At Berkeley City Hall on election night, four Diebold voting machines were set up to upload Berkeley’s precinct results to the county election headquarters in Oakland. A county election worker explained at the time that while only one regular machine was actually needed to upload the results, four had been supplied by the county “in case we get really busy and have to transmit on more than one machine at a time.” It ended up being a fortunate bit of foresight. Three of the voting machines malfunctioned, leaving only one to transmit the data. 

Ginnold said she had no information as to why the Berkeley machines malfunctioned, but said that in other upload centers in the county, some of the uploads failed when workers plugged the modem into the wrong slot. 

But around the city, voting itself went on without major problems. Berkeley City Clerk Sherry Kelly and local NAACP spokesperson Denisha DeLane both said they’d heard of no significant election difficulties by either voters or election workers. DeLane, however, said that this report was preliminary. 

Janet White, who worked at the North Berkeley Senior Center on Hearst, said that the recall election went smoother than last year’s general election. However, White said she noticed a larger amount of provisional ballots this year, a fact she attributed to “a lot of lost souls who weren’t picked up by the online registration process.” 

Provisional ballots, which are filled out by voters by hand, are required when a voter says that they have registered for a particular precinct, but their name does not show up on that precinct’s registration list on election day. White said that her precinct had “a box full of these ballots.” 

Barbara Allen, a first-time poll worker who worked at the Redwood Gardens Community Hall on Derby Street, was bubbling over about the experience. “It was so exciting to see 18-year-olds come in and vote for the first time,” she said. “Some of them said they were going to tell their grandchildren about the experience.” Talking before the election results had been released, Allen called the recall election “historic, no matter how it comes out.” 

At the Berkshire Retirement Home on Sacramento Street, a poll worker reported only one problem, an elderly voter “who insisted that I read off the names of every one of the people running for governor to him.” 

“All 135?” 

“All 135,” he said, with a grimace. Otherwise, the worker said he detected no problems with voters using the touch-screen voting machines. “This is Berkeley, after all,” he said. “We’re used to computers.” 

Precinct workers at Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue on Bancroft Way and the University Christian Church on Le Conte Avenue also reported no problems with the election. 

Spot checks at various precincts across the city—including the South Berkeley Branch Library on Russell Street, the Berkeley Unified School District Building, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Lobby (Precinct 207600)—all showed steady voting throughout the day. 

The greatest number of problems appeared to occur in precincts serving the UC Berkeley population, probably a combination of the consolidation and changing of precinct locations and a mobile—and forgetful—student population. At the Westminster House on College Avenue, where two precincts were consolidated, crowds of student voters were being screened by two workers who had never operated polls before. 

The major confusion concerned voters who could not identify their voting precinct, including students who reported that they were registered as far away as San Jose. A poll worker at the YWCA on Bancroft Way called the process at her precinct “incredibly confusing. This is the first time they’ve consolidated two precincts like this, and some of the people who voted at this location last November are not supposed to be voting here now.” 

City Clerk Kelly said that Berkeley had 70 voting locations during the Oct. 7 election, a reduction from the 110 voting locations open during normal elections. Voting locations were consolidated all over the state because of the short amount of time available to organize the recall election. 

The city clerk said that the county registrars office attempted to make up for the reduction in voting locations by increasing the number of voting machines in some locations. She said that seven voting machines were in operation at City Hall during the Oct. 7 election, up from the normal number of four. 

Around the city on election day, electoral activity was low-key. An elderly Asian man in a straw hat mounted himself on an upturned bucket on top of a wooden folding chair at the Sproul Plaza entrance to UC Berkeley, surrounded by a slew of barely readable signs, working his fingers in and out and calling out over and over “Yeah! I’m Arnold! I groped them! I squeezed them! Vote for me!” Little different than any day on campus. 

As for pre-voting in the two weeks before the election, Kelly said that it “went smoothly,” with more than 500 citizens taking advantage of the opportunity to cast ballots at City Hall. Pre-voting was allowed at City Hall from Sept. 15-26. 

Kelly said that 66 ballots were cast on the first day of early voting, dropping dramatically to 12 on the second day from the confusion that resulted after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threatened to halt the recall election. 

She said that early voting later picked up, with 100 ballots cast in each of the last three days of pre-voting. 

The Elections Division of the California Secretary of State’s office reported that as of the afternoon before the election, close to 85,000 absentee ballots had been turned in from Alameda County, and about 100,000 from Contra Costa County.

I’d left the hot, dirty city in order to find peace and inspiration in the remote woods of northern Minnesota. A record number of young black men (97 and still counting) had been killed on the streets of Oakland during the past few months. There were drive-by shootings, drug deals gone askew, heavy gang activities. 

The bloodshed barely affected me. I read about it in the newspaper. It was occurring just a few blocks from my home, in a city that claimed to be the most integrated in America. 

In Minnesota I found the harmony I was looking for: a quiet house on acres of rich farmland, set beside an unspoiled river that flowed softly into the brown Mississippi, rolling south toward far-off New Orleans.  

There I lived with poets and composers, storytellers and sculptors, a woman from New Mexico, a couple from Wisconsin, a prolific writer of children’s books and an elderly Israeli holocaust survivor/freedom fighter/retired chemical engineer/woodworker/writer, and his adoring wife. 

Together and apart we ate and slept, talked and worked, creating art in the daylight hours, arguing politics, religion and sports at night. 

Indian summer turned to fall and during our stay the war in Iraq continued although our country’s leaders said otherwise. The poets, composer and children’s book writer were alarmed. The Israelis, Ephraim and Shoshana, saw it differently. 

Late at night while others slept, I read Ephraim’s memoir, tales of torture and pain, entire families killed in death camps, clandestine operations to immigrate to Palestine, more war, more death, more blood spilled.  

I came to know Ephraim and Shoshana through his words. A brief marriage ceremony on a desolate kibbutz, the wedding night spent on a hard cot in a tent, the next day back to work in the fields. “It was a difficult life,” Shoshana told me. “But we were young and strong and without our families. The war in Europe had ended. There were many possibilities; so many new and interesting opportunities.” 

I took the shuttle bus into town each morning with Ephraim. We swam at the YMCA and shared coffee at a nearby café. The bus driver flirted with him. “Please,” he said. “You are killing me with your compliments. Would it not be better if you took a pistol or knife and killed me in this way instead of with kindness?” The bus driver laughed and took another long drag from her carcinogenic cigarette. 

As time went on, rising at 6:30 in the morning for our swim became easier. I was awake when he gently knocked on my door, warning me that I had just 10 minutes before the bus arrived. Sometimes I was already up, and when I told him I was ready, he said, “That is called involuntary indoctrination. You are becoming a very good soldier.” 

The references to war and death continued. A restaurant was bombed near their home in Haifa. They worried about their children and grandchildren in Israel, the day-to-day errands and activities that had become life threatening. 

As I helped Ephraim edit his manuscript, memories of a life lived in fear and intolerance, I asked him, “Do you ever want to move from Israel, to someplace safer and less violent?” He looked at me with patient annoyance. “Israel is our only home. We cannot leave and we never will.” 

Shoshana told me that she believed God had sent me to help her husband with his manuscript. I disagreed. I told her that God and I didn’t have such a great relationship and that I was certain he wasn’t interested in sending me as his representative anywhere or to anyone. Shoshana said that I should not think too much about it. She had a wonderful relationship to God.  

While in Minnesota I came to an unexpected conclusion: God hadn’t dispatched me to the Israelis, but he had sent them to me. I went back to my home in Oakland, renewed, reinvented, re-awakened to the world around me. I returned to the big city, where now the headlines loudly proclaimed, “Murder rate at an all-time high. 98 dead in Oakland.”

Tom Lehrer, the ideological mentor of my teenage years in the fifties, said that political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He himself stopped performing in 1967, a long time ago now, and yet he is still regarded as a fountainhead of political wisdom by young people of a certain type who were raised in homes with old Tom Lehrer songbooks on the piano. The Onion, one of his spiritual descendants, interviewed him in May on the occasion of the release of his boxed CD set, which has been selling well.  

Political satirists like Molly Ivins and Al Franken are doing fine these days, even though political reality at first blush would appear to be beyond satire. What fun can we make of a California electorate which voted in record numbers for the man my 89-year-old mother calls “Governor Groper”? Television has been a lost cause for years now, but what can be said about a print press which seems to have converted itself into People Magazine? Acres of pages in the Hearst Comical which formerly contained at least a modicum of news now are devoted primarily to displaying the very prominent teeth of the Schwarzenegger/Kennedy/Shriver family.  

On the other hand, it’s hard to engage in sober political commentary about why voters appear to despise William Jefferson Clinton for a bit of sex play with a willing partner, but cheerfully elect Arnold Schwarzenegger although he confesses to manhandling unwilling victims. The answer in this case may be the difference between California and Rest-of-World—perhaps Californians really do care more about their auto licenses than about anything else, including celebrity sex.  

One positive result of the election coverage is that it has just about put an end to the Beserkely stories which were formerly a media staple. It’s hard to make fun of Berkeley for debating the Middle East when it’s one of the few locations which emphatically rejected the recall circus. (We don’t really have the precinct returns to confirm that, but we know it’s got to be true.) The East Bay’s tackiest entertainment weekly, owned by a Phoenix media conglomerate, tried a Beserkely cover story in the middle of the recall campaign, but it lacked credibility coming from the publication which financed Gary Coleman. 

Berkeley types are now saying in hushed tones that Schwarzenegger is an Actual Fascist. He might be, but the end of the world has been predicted after so many elections in my lifetime that I’ve given up listening for the final trumpet. If the state of California survived Ronald Reagan, we’ll survive the Schwarzenegger regime (or the regime of whoever will really be calling the shots in Sacramento.) “Springtime for Hitler” was probably a funny show, and at least this Arnie doesn’t have an army.  

Unlike the Wolfowitz regime in Washington, the one satirists are starting to have trouble making jokes about... It’s one thing to make fun of George W. Bush, but as it becomes increasingly clear that poor dumb Dubya isn’t running the show, it gets harder to laugh about his cronies. Ed Holmes’ career as the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s comic Dick Cheney may be at an end.  

The U.S. Government, with its unlimited ability to borrow against the resources of future generations, can do a great deal of harm in a short time, and the people in charge seem to be doing it. All of us in Berkeley who are afflicted with the conviction that we’re in charge of saving the world have our work cut out for us as we look toward the next federal election. We might as well forget about California for while. It’s time, as they say, to Move On. 

A story from Berkeley High which is now making the rounds shows that Berkeleyans in the next generation are ready to do their part, and with a bit of humor too. A vigilante from out of town has lately insisted that American and California flags be prominently displayed on our high school campus. The morning after the election, thanks to someone who hasn’t stepped forward to take the credit, those flags were at half mast. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.