In an abrupt about-face, developers of the largest housing complex ever planned for the city center have agreed to build 124 underground public parking spaces to partially offset the loss of the Kittredge Garage. 

The decision, relayed in a letter to city planners that was made public last week, has turned the plan’s chief detractors—downtown merchants—into supporters and bolsters its chances for approval by the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) when it revisits the plan in two weeks. 

The proposal was enough to sway the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA), a merchant group which organized opposition to the proposal at January’s ZAB meeting. “It’s the best we can hope for,” said DBA Executive Director Deborah Bahdia. 

Outgoing DBA President Rauly Butler said judging from the January hearing, he expected the ZAB to approve the project on Feb. 26. “It was pretty darn obvious how pissed off they were with [the developers] for not having the parking,” he said. “I think they read that and figured it was more cost effective to put the parking in than risk delaying the project another year.” 

Last month ZAB commissioners refused a use permit to TransAction Companies insisting they needed to offset some of the parking losses facing the city when they demolish their 375-space Kittredge Street Garage—25 percent of all downtown parking spaces—to make way for the 176-unit housing complex. 

TransAction Senior Vice President John DeClerq had been negotiating with the Berkeley-Albany YMCA for three months to jointly finance one level of underground parking with special privileges for Y members, but when negotiations broke down he opted to build the parking himself. 

DeClerq suggested that further studies showed the 124 underground parking spaces—expected to cost between $7 and $10 million—might not be quite the money pit he initially believed and that the cost of further delays in obtaining his use permit could jeopardize the project. 

“We did a new analysis and a fresh look came up with fresh answers,” DeClerq said, adding his offer hinged on speedy approval from the ZAB, either at the scheduled hearing on Feb. 26 or shortly thereafter.  

TransAction’s change of heart, came just eight days after their attorney Allan Abshez wrote a stern letter to city officials warning that if they proceeded with further delays or attempts to hold TransAction responsible for maintaining the city’s parking supply it would assume “liability for unlawful delegation of its police power authority.” 

While ZAB commissioners refused to speculate on their vote, Commission Chair Laurie Capitelli said, “We certainly communicated to him at the last meeting we wanted to see the loss of the parking structure mitigated and it seems like he’s moving in that direction.” 

The new plan calls for 240 spaces on one ground floor and underground level, with 110 spaces reserved for tenants and commercial vehicles and 130 for the general public—about a third of the current garage’s capacity, but enough to meet the average peak time demand, according to DeClerq. 

The Y remains lukewarm on the proposal. CEO Larry Bush said he didn’t know if his group would support the new plan and cast doubt that it would help fund the parking, saying, “We’re just going to live life as it comes.” 

When first proposed in 2000, Library Gardens included two levels of underground parking to replace the garage, but cost overruns scuttled the plan, which DeClerq reintroduced in 2002 with housing for about 280 tenants, but no parking. 

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Tilden’s Vollmer Peak, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Willow Rescue” Descendants of the shoreline’s original willows are being returned to health through ivy removal at Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Mini-Rangers at Tilden Park Join us for an afternoon of nature study, conservation and rambling through woods and waters. Dress to get dirty and bring a healthy snack to share. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. For ages 8-12. Fee is $6 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“Hiking the 60-Mile Diablo Grand Loop” with Seth Adams, Director of Land Programs for Save Mount Diablo at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“A History of the Environmental Justice Movement” with Juliet Ellis, Executive Director of Urban Habitat, at 7 p.m. at the GTU Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

Writers’ Room Coach Training is offered from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for volunteers who would like to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. To attend please call Terry Bloomburgh at 849-4134 or email Bloomburgh@sbcglobal.net 

“Evolutionary Biology and Some Aspects of African History” with Wilmot G. James of The Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town, South Africa, at 4 p.m. in 652 Barrows Hall. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

“Judaism, What is it all About?” an interactive lecture series with Rabbi Judah Dardik, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. www.bethjacoboakland.org 

Handwriting Analysis with Kabbalistic Graphologist Yaakov Rosenthal, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Co-sponsored by Chabad of the East Bay and the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 234-4783. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 

“Migrations at Dusk” Black-crowned night herons leaving their willows in Aquatic Park cross paths with great egrets coming to roost above the Cabin. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 5p.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Great Decisions 2004: “The Media and Foreign Policy” with Prof. Ben Bagdikian, UCB Grad. School of Journalism from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. The Great Decisions program will meet for eight Wednesdays. Briefing booklets are available. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Back in the Day” A Black History Celebration, featuring Miles Perkins, leader of the “Mingus Amungus Jazz Band,” and the Fantastic Steppers Tap Group, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

“Which Candidate?” The Berkeley Gray Panthers of the East Bay is sponsoring a debate to help senior citizens decide which candidate they might support in the March 2 Democratic Primary, at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. 

Police Review Commission Community Forum on the proposed Berkeley Police Department (BPD) canine program. BPD would like to implement a canine unit using “find and bark” dogs. The dogs would be used primarily to increase officer safety in searching for violent suspects and to increase efficiency in finding missing persons. At 7 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 

Berkeley Stop the War Coalition meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 255 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.berkeleystopthewar.org  

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 

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

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

THURSDAY, FEB. 12 

“Bayshore Cleaning” Bring renewed life to tidal plants by helping remove storm debris from the bay shoreline in Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Introduction To Sustainable Landscape Design Create an environmentally friendly oasis in your yard using the principles of sustainability. We will cover the fundamentals of design, installation and maintenance of a sustainable landscape. Use of native plants, recycled materials, water conserving techniques and pest control will be discussed. From 7 to 10 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $35. To register, call 525-7610. 

“Environmental Justice Law and Policy” with Luke Cole, Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, Jerilyn Lopez-Mendoza, Environmental Defense Fund, and Will Rostov, Communities for a Better Environment at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, UC Campus. sarale@uclink.berkeley.edu 

“Children Soldiers” with Sarah Williams, Rotary Peace Scholar, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-9460.  

Death Row Survivor Juan Roberto Melendez Colon, who survived almost 18 years on Florida’s death row for a crime he did not commit, will speak at 4 p.m. at Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by National Lawyers Guild, Prisoners Action Coalition, La Raza Law Students Association. 486-2860. 

Benefit for Dennis Kucinich with Oakland’s Gerry Tenney, Ithaca’s Will Fudeman, and Berkeley’s Betsy Rose, songs of struggle and peace at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15. 415-927-2004, ext. 80. 

East Bay Mac User Group Meet Other Mac users F2F. Q & A session for all levels, software demos, tips, presentations and give-aways! Meets from 6 to 9 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

FRIDAY, FEB. 13 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Therese McMillen, Deputy Director of Policy, MTC, “Solving Bay Area Transportation Issues” Lunch 

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. 

Anarchist Crush Night 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 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Kevin Danaher, Co-founder, Global Exchange and Anuradha Mittal, Director, Food First at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. For more information call 528-5403. 

“California Bounty” a gala for Children’s Community Center Preschool from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at One Lawson Road in Kensington. Silent and live auction items include vacation packages, dinners, original artwork, clothing, toys and more from the best businesses in the Bay Area. Dinner and live music. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12.50 or for $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit Berkeley’s Children’s Community Center Preschool— the oldest cooperative preschool in the West. For more information call 527-7654 or go to www.cccpreschool.org 

“Fostering or Frustrating Globalization” with Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, at 4 p.m. in 101 Doe Library, Morrison Library, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War” and “Imagine America” will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Kucinich for President office, 3362 Adeline, near Alcatraz. 420-0772. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

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. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 14 

“A Walk in the Garden” Colorful blooms are already on display in this Garden of California Native Plants at Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Fruit Tree Pruning Basics A hands-on class held in a Berkeley garden. General discussion on when to prune and when not to, maximizing and improving the quality of fruit production, different techniques and management styles, and specifics for different trees, with time for general tree pruning questions. Bring your own sharp hand clippers and branches from trees from your yard if you can. $10 for Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call for location 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Free Worm Composting Workshop Get the scoop on worm composting from the experts at the Alameda County Composting Program. Worm composting can be an especially good choice for apartment dwellers and others lacking yard space. Find out how to compost kitchen scraps into free, nutritious fertilizer using red wiggler worms. The class is geared for beginners but those who already compost with worms and need advice are welcome too. From 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org  

The Beautiful Camellia Garth Jacober will talk about planting, care and pruning of these garden beauties. At 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Sunset Walk in Emeryville at 3 p.m. Turn off Hwy 80 at Powell St. exit, go west to Chevy’s off frontage road. Rain cancels. For more information, call Vera at 234-8949. Sponsored by the Sierra Club Solo Sierrans. 

Residential Drainage Systems, a seminar for homeowners and builders, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Truitt and White Conference Room, 1817 Second St. Free, but reservations are required. 649-2674. www.truittandwhite.com/seminars 

God’s Beloved: A Workshop for LGBT Persons and their families and friends from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 2401 Le Conte Ave. Pastor Michal Anne Pepper will help participants identify how shame interferes with their relationship with God and how the bible is misused to create that shame. To register call 848-3788. www.uccbdoc.org 

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 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

Kol Hadash Family Brown Bag Shabbat from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Though we are a little ahead of Purim, we will get to know Queen Ester who had the courage to rescue her fellow Jews in Persia. Please bring lunch for yourself and children, and finger dessert to share. Juice provided. 428-1492. kolhadash@aol.com 

SUNDAY, FEB. 15 

“Park Transformations to Come” Walk the location in Aquatic Park where Coastal Conservancy may fund safer trail connections and habitat plantings. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 2 p.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Owl Pellet Mystery Party Learn what’s left over from an owl’s meal. We’ll discover the remains and you’ll go home with at least one more skeleton than you came with - guaranteed! From 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $4. 525-2233.  

Early Bloomers Leatherwood, currants, milkmaids and trillium are just waiting for you to admire on our trails. Take a hike to see them and learn their natural history. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

“Imagining Queen Califa” a family event with interactive activities, storytelling and music, in collaboration with The Art of Living Black Cooperative, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Nepal and The Philippines: Why are People’s Movements and Their Leaders Under Attack?” at 3 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Sylvia Gretchen on “Meditations for Relieving Pain” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Feldenkrais Resources Open House from noon to 5 p.m. at 830 Bancroft Way at Sixth St. 287-5748. 

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video, free gatherings at 6:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. 547-2024. EdScheuerlein@aol.com  

MONDAY, FEB. 16 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthing at 1:15 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425.  

ONGOING 

Family Activist Resource Center A small group of East Bay parents is meeting monthly to set up a drop-in center where parents and caregivers can come with their children and do their political work while their children are cared for in a creative, respectful and nurturing manner. For information on the next meeting, contact Erica at ericadavid@earthlink.net or call 841-3204. 

Valentine’s Gram by UC Choral Ensembles A quartet will travel anywhere within 1/2 mile of the UC campus, sing two songs in full harmony and deliver a long-stemmed red rose and a signed Valentine's Day card to your special recipient. You can schedule a 15-minute time slot for Friday, Feb. 13 between noon and 10 p.m. or Saturday, Feb. 14 between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Prices are $25 for students and $40 for the general public. Call 642-3880 to reserve your time and date. 

Valentine Day Weddings The Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s Office is pleased to announce that the office will be open Valentine’s Day, Sat., Feb. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to issue marriage licenses and perform wedding ceremonies. The office is located at 1106 Madison Street, in Oakland. The fee for a marriage license is $79, which includes one certified copy. The fee for a ceremony is $50 (cash or checks accepted). Interested parties should make an appointment. 272-6362.  

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra misses its alums! As our nation’s second oldest youth orchestra, based in Berkeley, YPSO is in possession of a treasure trove of memorabilia dating as far back as 1936. To preserve and share these photographs, letters, programs and other interesting materials YPSO is creating a Digital Online Museum. If you participated in the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra please contact David Davis at davisde@yogashorts.com or 543-4054. 

Did Your Family Live in Berkeley from 1890 to1925? This spring the Berkeley Historical Society is opening an exhibit on early Berkeley Bohemians, artists, poets, writers, musicians, photographers and other creative folks who lived in our city 1890-1925. If your family was here then, check your photo albums and other records to see if you have any photos or personal accounts of these activities. If so, we would like to try to include this information in our exhibit. If you can help, please contact Ed Herny, co-curator for this exhibit at 415-725-4674 or by e-mail at edphemra@pacbell.net  

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Church, 981-6342. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/disability 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at 2090 Kittredge. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti. 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Feb. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs, Feb. 12, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Feb. 12, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning 

Perhaps you saw my sign reading “City of Berkeley: Hands Off My Equity!” and “It's the Disclosure Stupid—First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Program is a Predatory Loan!” during the last city council session. I was voicing indignation at the silence of city government to questions about deceptive lending practices perpetrated within the former Berkeley program entitled First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Program, wherein 29 West Berkeley first-time homebuyers unwittingly handed the city a blank check to the equity accrued in their homes. Only now is the city admitting that these loans are investments, and also not the assistance they purport to be.  

Over the past six years, the city of Berkeley has been clandestinely siphoning off nearly half a million dollars of our equity. The city has unduly profited by omitting accurate and timely disclosures of bewildering loan terms to financially unsophisticated, gullible first-time homebuyers. These predatory lending tactics are known in banking circles as contract knavery and price gouging, and usually are inflicted upon underserved minority communities. This practice makes a mockery of the meaning of “assistance.”  

As in this case, unscrupulous lenders devise a loan with a hidden profit incentive wrapped in altruistic packaging that claims to be for the benefit of the borrower. We FHAP homebuyers were led to believe that the city’s high-cost secret investment loans were low-cost financing assistance for low-income families.  

Ordinarily when taking out mortgages, borrowers receive full disclosure within a few days of application—this is in accordance with state and federal laws that are meant to assist consumers in evaluating the complex credit terms involved. None of those laws appear to have been followed during the city of Berkeley's first-time homebuyers' program, which greatly contributed to the confusion of the borrowers, allowing the city to secure its lucrative equity-grabbing deal.  

When I participated in the program, I did not receive the loan terms until the close of escrow. Buried in a thick stack of legal documents were predatory terms the city never disclosed during its buyer education sessions. Included among the onerous clauses, I discovered later, were those requiring surprise future balloon payments from by then elderly owners who will have finally paid off their first mortgage after 30 years. Based on their loans’ historic performances, the city could easily demand hundreds of thousands of dollars from them by then.  

This belated disclosure deprived me of any opportunity to evaluate the terms privately, with counsel, prior to having to sign the loan. Given the amount of disclosure the city claims occurred, it’s remarkable that none of it exists today. Clearly the city’s disclosures do not meet professional standards of lending procedure and government accountability. It is also clear that at a time of historically low mortgage rates and rising equity, the city concocted these loans to bring a much higher return than simple interest alone would bear, but nowhere is the loan described as an investment. No information was offered regarding equity going up 150 percent in Berkeley every decade for the last 30 years (according to the city’s own data), or that city staff was monitoring these equity increases throughout the program. One family, for example, currently owes $81,000 for their five-year-old $20,000 FHAP loan. This is more than half the home’s $140,000 purchase price, scoring the city a hefty 400 percent profit, since the principal loan came from a HUD grant that cost the city nothing! My own $20,000 FHAP loan skyrocketed to $50,000 within four years’ time, amounting to a usurious 44 percent yearly interest rate.  

Berkeley’s FHAP loans continue to balloon—perhaps as high as 30 times over the cost of market-rate financing—all the while hiding their high cost. These balloon payments will most certainly lead to the loss of our houses in order to pay off these Draconian city loans. Housing Director Stephen Barton, Acting City Manager Phil Kamlarz and others in Berkeley city government are quick to assert, “All of the applicants were fully informed of all of the terms and conditions of the loan.” Relying entirely on staff assertions that cannot be verified independently, they offer a long-winded story of how borrowers supposedly were verbally disclosed repeatedly. However, it is evident that the disclosure was inadequate based on the city’s sizeable profits. Common sense supports that cognizant borrowers would not willingly have overpaid by up to four times the loan amount, unless systemic comprehension problems existed about the city’s terms.  

Unlike some first-time buyer programs where participants are helped with securing primary financing, credit repair, home repair, and locating a home, the city’s program was only available to those with resources already. Mr. Kamlarz writes in his report to the city council, “The goal of the program was to help low-income buyers who could not otherwise afford to do so to purchase their first home.” However, the program was only available to borrowers with “a clear credit history”, who were required to “obtain a mortgage loan from a private commercial lender” for the full purchase price of the home, minus the $20,000 HUD-financed loan. It was the borrowers who were considered a safe bet—with credit good enough for professional bank underwriters to be comfortable lending them up to $180,000, and who made down payments of up to $43,000—that were victimized under this program. Since the repayment amount is based on the current house price and not the owner’s original contribution, our down payments have also gone to the city.  

In response to inquiries regarding this unjust and problematic program, the city has chosen to dismiss us as ungrateful, disparaging homeowners, adding insult to injury. Berkeley’s FHAP borrowers were not destitute people, as Mr. Kamlarz implies, but simply low-income families seeking to purchase homes. Even without the city’s involvement, such high-qualified borrowers most assuredly could have obtained the $20,000 at drastically less cost than the 200-400 percent returns the city demands.  

The City of Berkeley’s profits are grossly out of proportion to its funding assistance. We call upon the compassionate citizens of Berkeley to demand accountability from city government. Please contact your councilmember and the mayor and tell them that predatory lending has no home in Berkeley. Further information can be obtained by e-mailing to fhap@pacbell.net, or by calling 757-5401. We need your help in bringing an end to the city of Berkeley’s First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Program that has kidnapped and held for ransom our dreams of homeownership, turning our American dream into a nightmare.  

Kent Brown is a longtime Berkeley resident.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

UC Berkeley Annual Faculty Art Exhibition, reception from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. Exhibition runs to March 5. 642-2582. 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Resist the Present: Yvonne Rainer and Lee Anne Schmidt” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Helen Knode and James Ellroy present Knode’s debut novel, “The Ticket Out,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Writers’ Workshop with Rhys Bowen discussing “How to Write a Successful Mystery Series” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Annalee Walker and Paradise, and open mic, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midnite performs reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17 in advance, $20 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Warsaw Poland Brothers, Monkey and The Connected at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

California College of the Arts Alumni Exhibition “Advance to Go” Reception 6 to 8 p.m. at 5212 Broadway, Oakland. Exhibition runs to March 6. 594-3712. 

FILM 

Film 50: “The Phantom Chariot” at 3 p.m. and Video: They Might be Giants: “Bill Viola” at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Madeline Albright talks about “Madame Secretary” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Gary Snyder reads from “Riprap & Cold Mountain Poems” and “Practice of the Wild” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation requested. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land” with author Donna Rosenthal at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0327, ext. 112. 

Stephen Altschuler introduces us to “Hidden Walks in the East Bay and Marin: Pathways, Yesterdays and Essays” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose. 843-3533. 

Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet read from “Killing the Buddha: A Heretic’s Bible” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

4th Annual Erotic Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik, featuring Aya de León and Roger Bonair-Agard, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10, $7 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

Ben Jones reads from his Civil War novel, “The Rope Eater” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Young Musicians Program at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Gypsy Spirit, “Journey of the Roma” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$38, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

“Back in the Day” A Black History Celebration, featuring Miles Perkins, leader of the “Mingus Amungus Jazz Band,” and the Fantastic Steppers Tap Group, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 981-5170. 

Ragas and Talas, classical Indian music open jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Midnite performs reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17 in advance, $20 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

John Reischman and The Jaybirds, bluegrass and new grass at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

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

Quiksand, Smith Point and Down Boy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, FEB. 12 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“The Drawing Room” at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Reception for the artists from 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition runs to March 25. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

THEATER 

“The Vagina Monologues” at 7 p.m. Fri and Sat. at 155 Dwinelle, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. All proceeds from our production will be going to NARIKA, a help referral line for South Asian women and children in abusive situations. 

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “Masterman” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Tom Odegaard and Diana Q., at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985 

Bell Hooks discusses “The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Mammals, trad rad, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Benefit Concert for Dennis Kucinich at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

A Touch of Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Davis Redford Triad, Appreciation at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Crater performs modern jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $7-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Savant Guard at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 13  

CHILDREN 

Strawberry Shortcake Valentines Day Party at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

FILM 

Anthony Mann: “The Mann for Laramie” at 7:30 p.m. and “Men in War” at 9:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa. 

berkeley.edu 

The 6th Annual Independent Film Festival (IndieFest), a world-wide blend of more than 100 independent films and videos, Feb. 13-15 at the Oakland Metro. Tickets are $9 for each screening; $7 for matinees. 415-820-3907. www.sfindie.com 

THEATER 

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley, “Helen of Troy (Revised),” written by Wolfgang Hilesheimer, translated and directed by David Fenerty at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Fri. and Sat. evenings through Feb. 21. Admission is $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Albany High School, “Grease” at 8 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. Albany. Also on Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors, $10 for adults. To reserve tickets call 558-2575. 

Aurora Theatre, “Man of Destiny” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver at 8 p.m. Through March 7. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Yellowman” by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Les Waters, 2025 Addison St. Through March 7. For ticket information call 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Impact Theater, “Say You Love Satan” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Runs through March 13. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts” performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

“Roberto Zucco” by Bernard-Marie Koltès, directed by Kristenn Templeman, presented by Impromptu Theater and the Dept. of French at 8 p.m. at Durham Studio Theater, UC Campus. Also Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8-$15, available at the door. ktemple@uclink.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paco Underhill explains “The Call of the Mall: The Author of Why We Buy on the Geography of Shopping” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

A Night of Erotic Haiku hosted by Charles Ellik at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $5-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Youth Speaks Poetry Slam, for ages 13-19, at 7 p.m. at Youth Radio Cafe, 1801 University Ave. 841-5123. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon, conductor, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Hip Hop & Art for Change at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Flamenco Spirit with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $45-$55 and includes dinner. 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Eddie Marsh Trio, comtemporary jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

“Bands Against Bush,” presented by Bay Area Arts Collective, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Psychokinetics, Sol Rebelz and Feenom Circle at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

My Bloody Valentine Bash at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Brian Melvin at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Tom Paxton, traditional and topical folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50 in advance, $21.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

La Verdad, salsa, at 7 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15, $10 with student i.d. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Monkey Knife Fight at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Frisk, Whiskey Sunday, Try Failing, Static Thought, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 14 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Asheba at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

“Wild About Books” storytime at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Helen S. French, “Cultural Convergence: The Nile and the Mississippi” solo metalwork exhibition at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Reception for the artist from 4 to 6 p.m. 843-2527. www.acccigallery.com 

THEATER 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts” performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Between Spruce and Euclid. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

FILM 

Anthony Mann: “El Cid” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon, conductor, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Trinity Chamber Concerts presents The Novello Quartet in a concert of romantic music for Valentine’s Day at 8 p.m. at 2320 Dana St. at Durant. Donation $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Valentine’s Day Cabaret with singers Rudy Guerrero, Elizabeth McKoy, Gail Simpson, and Woodrow Thompson, and an ensemble from Shotgun Players, at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. 925-798-1300.  

Kurt Ribak Trio at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The House Jacks, a cappella at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Soukous and Afro-Muzika at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Valentine’s Day with Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

The Tears in Your Beers Twangfest, featuring Loretta Lynch, the Belltachers and Nelly Bly, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $7-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Aya de Leon’s Valentine’s Day, a literary and musical celebration of love’s varied manifestations at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Flamenco Spirit with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at 5 and 8 p.m. upstairs and 6 and 8:30 p.m. downstairs at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $55-$65 and includes dinner. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Bat Makumba, Brazilian dance at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

SoVoSó at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Eddie Gale, avant-garde jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $8-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

The Solution, Mushroom at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ned Boynton Combo at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Reality Crisis, Rotary Beginners, Lebenden Totem, Deadfall at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 15 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4 for children, $6 for adults. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXIBITION OPENINGS 

Jewish Freemasons of the West, opens at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. and runs through July 8. 549-6950. www.magnes.org 

THEATER 

Kent Actors, “Hep Ask Vardi (There Was Always Love),” a Turkish family saga at 6 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center. Tickets are $35-$48, $15 for children, avalable at the door.  

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “He Who Gets Slapped” at 4 p.m. and “Fire on Board” at 5:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with John Isles and Joseph Lease at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Anthony Dubovsky introduces “Jerusalem: To Know by Living” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert Frances Blaker, solo recorder, in a concert of music from the 12th to 21st centuries, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Admission is $9-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano, with Sergio Ciomei, piano, at 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $50-$250, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Recital with Davitt Moroney playing works of Louis Couperin at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Donations gratefully received. 845-6830. 

The Don Robinson Trio plays the music of Glenn Spearman in celebration of his life and contribution to improvisational music from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6139. 

Counterfit, Park, Over It, Plans for Revenge at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

“Liberating the Diva Within” the ancient art of belly dance at 8 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Tickets are $10 at the door. 237-2152. www.asata.net 

Taylor Eigsti Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Noe Venable, contemporary folk, 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 

ACME Observatory’s Contemporary Composer Series with Fred Firth and KLiP Trio at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org

After recently agreeing to discontinue a shirt many found anti-Semitic, the Urban Outfitters clothing store on Bancroft Way is in the spotlight again after introducing a shirt that reads, “Voting is for old people.” 

Several local residents, including Andy Katz, who ran for city council during the last election, have called the store to complain about the shirts and ask that Urban Outfitters stop carrying them. 

Several months ago the store agreed to discontinue a shirt that read “Everyone Loves A Jewish Girl” embellished with money signs that several local and national Jewish groups said was offensive. In a recently issued statement, Urban Outfitters said they now reproduce the shirt with the same phrase but without the money signs. 

The company refused to comment on the latest brouhaha but residents say the decision to promote the shirt’s message is offensive and misguided, especially with two big elections coming up. They say it only adds to the growing problem of low voter turnout among young people. 

“This is a bad message to be sending to young people,” said Katz who recently sent out an e-mail asking people to call and complain to the store. “There is a major primary coming up and we have a president and a government who are asking young people to foot the bill for long term problems.”  

Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org, one of the organizations trying to turn voters out across the board said the young voters should absolutely be the group with the highest, not the lowest voter turnout, calling the shirts a failed attempt at humor. 

“[The youth] should be the group most likely to vote because they are going to be around the longest,” said Blades. Pointing out MoveOn.org’s own shirts, “Voting is not a spectator sport,” she said.  

“The message ‘voting is for old people’ is kind of telling,” said Anu Joshi, the vice president of external affairs for UC Berkeley’s student government and a member of the on-campus Youth Vote coalition. “Young people don’t think about voting at all.” The numbers speak for themselves, she said, with 20 percent of the registered electorate between the ages of 18-24 turning out during the last presidential election. 

She and others, who have pledged to not let the same thing happen in the upcoming election, say the problem is that politicians tend to shy away from issues that engage the college community such as tuition, financial aid, and family planning for the youth. 

“Politicians don’t really talk about youth issues so there is no incentive to vote. [But] because we don’t vote we’re not a threat [voter] group,” she said.  

There is also a disconnect at a local level, she said, even though the students make up a large percentage of Berkeley population. She does however, credit both Councilmember Kris Worthington and Mayor Tom Bates for their efforts to engage the campus. 

Eric Anthony, president of the Cal College Democrats, a partner in the Youth Vote coalition said he found the shirts “repulsive.” Anthony and other Youth Coalition volunteers are currently out on campus registering students every day to try and increase voter registration, but said they are waiting for the general election before they start another large-scale effort like the one they ran during the recall. 

That registration effort, which ultimately helped stop Proposition 54, was representative of the power the young voting block holds, said Joshi, with droves of students registering because the proposition threatened issues that would affect students directly. 

Anthony points out another issue that will affect students, Proposition 56, is on the upcoming ballot and hopes there is a similar push from students but he’s not holding his breath.  

“[The youth] don’t think their vote means anything,” said Anthony. 

Katz and others hope enough public pressure will help force the store to discontinue the sale of its latest controversial shirt. The number to call for customer complaints is 1-800-959-8794, and the store is open between 5 a.m and 5 p.m. Pacific time.  

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Betsy Hunton in her review of Helen of Troy writes that Helen ran off with a Greek Prince. 

He was not Greek, he was Trojan. And Menalaos did not want an excuse to go to war with Greece; he was Greek. 

It’s hard to see how the writer could have seen the play without realizing this. 

Nancy Ward 

• 

McNAMARA’S FOG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Andrew Lam’s comments on The Fog of War, (“‘The Fog of War’ Leaves McNamara Unscathed,” Daily Planet, Feb. 3-5) are right on target. McNamara is indeed “living a kind of self-deception,” and his formidable intelligence works hard at creating his self-delusion. I have not seen the complete film yet, only the clips shown at Zellerbach on Feb. 4, but I did hear McNamara speak there. He was quick to insist that his discussing Iraq would be off the subject, yet he was quick to veer off the subject into endorsement of actions sure to soften a basically hostile Berkeley audience: higher taxes for health care (applause) and education (applause). 

Asked why, when he became convinced that the Vietnam War was wrong, he did not speak out, he answered that in his position in the government, he might have endangered American lives. Yet in the film, he describes with tears in his eyes the grief of a World War II pilot at the death of his tail gunner, a grief answered by General LeMay with an assurance that the tail gunner had died to save many other thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. Apparently McNamara can make no connection in his mind between this comment and the possibility that his speaking out about Vietnam, while possibly killing his power in the administration, and hypothetically costing some immediate deaths among Americans in Vietnam, might very well have saved the lives of thousands of Americans and millions of Vietnamese. 

Asked again about Bush and Iraq, he said that his comments would not be appropriate, that, rather, it was our job as citizens to mobilize our opposition, write, call our representatives, and so on; in fact he more than once went into rather a pep talk about our doing so. Let me get this straight. McNamara felt that when he was in the highest reaches of government, making policy, it was his duty to stick to a policy he knew was wrong. And he is telling us that it is our duty to organize, mobilize, agitate to defeat a government policy that is wrong. (As if there hadn’t been worldwide protests a year ago.) And he says it in a building that stands on the very ground where in October, 1965, we mobilized for a teach-In followed by the first massive march against the Vietnam war—which went on killing people for another 10 years. 

Like a casting director assigning roles for a new war movie? 

Like a salesman describing a new video game? 

No, like a prophet without sin, telling us we must stop the killing. 

I left, docile as the rest of the audience, but the next day I woke up thinking of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I wondered what kinds of brilliantly designed locks McNamara keeps on the room in his unconscious where the monstrous image of his role in those millions of deaths is horribly revealed. 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last weekend’s commentary piece (“Downtown Berkeley: Who’s Minding the Shop?” Daily Planet, Feb. 6-9) stated downtown should be “worthy of Berkeley and appeal to the entire community.” However the author disparaged long time residents such as myself who believe downtown should not be just large concrete buildings but should include a touch of nature for the well-being of all nature, including ourselves. She disparaged me as a “creek freak” because I believe UC’s proposed new hotel next to Strawberry Creek should not ignore it. 

The author also complains that Berkeley High students are no longer “reasonably contained” as if they are not part of the “entire community” It strikes me they are a vibrant part of our community and should not be out of sight and out of parks and out of mind. 

Bill Walzer 

• 

TRANSPORTATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for your articles on planning in Berkeley. We in Berkeley have serious problems with transportation. The taxi voucher system for elderly and disabled is poorly administered—we at the Gray Panthers office hear frequent complaints about the limited times services to obtain vouchers are available and the chipping away of the funding, which means there are fewer vouchers and they cost more. One Gray Panther commented that her check took three months to clear! That is money lost to the city. 

We need serious planning for everyone’s transportation. Here in Berkeley we have a wonderful theater district, however, the car-less, elderly and disabled who use public transportation cannot access it because many AC Transit routes were discontinued, and many AC Transit services after 6 p.m. were cut. That means that the car-less, the elderly and disabled cannot go to these wonderful arts events because there is no transportation there and home after 6 p.m. 

Those moving to the many new apartment buildings built along Berkeley’s transportation corridors must use cars—there is no provision for grocery or staple shopping nearby, and public transportation ceases after people return from work. Moreover, provision for parking downtown is being cut back, so that those who drive and wish to shop and attend the theaters downtown don’t have a place to park.  

Lack of parking and transportation could be the death knell for downtown businesses and the arts centers. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, the deaths of down towns without parking has been documented across the nation, when malls filled this need and stole their business. 

I hope that the City of Berkeley will quickly implement a broader vision for our future transportation needs. If it doesn’t, I can see horrendous traffic jams on our streets, a deserted downtown, and a declining tax base. 

What we need is a Berkeley jitney system along the major traffic corridors, available user friendly public transit to all the neighborhoods, and a voucher system for the elderly and disabled that will meet their needs. We also need small shops with produce and staples near the new apartment buildings so that cars will be less necessary. All this requires planning! 

Margot Smith 

Berkeley Gray Panthers  

• 

SHASTA FIRE STATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Our neighborhood was selected for the site of the replacement of the Shasta fire station. I am not able to comment on the working and storage space requirements. However, this building will tower over the residences in the neighborhood. The living areas in this new station will occupy at least 3,000 square feet in order to house a crew of three. Even in the hills, 3,000-square-foot residences are a rarity. Is this really necessary? 

Lisa Brunet 

• 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing to voice my dismay at the closing of the Berkeley Extension’s English Language Program. I’ve been following the developments with interest.  

This is what I understand. I understand that the program has an international reputation for excellence and has been successfully teaching foreign students for 30 years. I understand that the school is profitable and that the students contribute more than 2.5 million dollars yearly to the local economy. 

I also understand that the program’s teachers are the only ones at UC Extension that are allowed to work full time, qualifying them for benefits. And just prior to the shut down, the program filed a suit with the Public Employee Relations Board citing unfair labor practices. 

According to Dean Sherwood the school is being shut down because it doesn’t fit into his strategic plan. Let’s see. Spreads international good will, profitable, contributes to the local economy. Shut the school down. How strategic is that? I’m no fool. He doesn’t want to pay benefits.  

What is even more troubling to me is that the dean is sacrificing an established institution with dedicated educators. He is sacrificing profits. And he is tarnishing the reputation of Berkeley in the world community.  

This is bad judgment. It’s arrogant and shortsighted. 

In an era where institutions of higher learning should be leading the way in international relations, Berkeley is locking the door and turning out the lights. We should be reaching out rather than isolating ourselves. What better way is there to build bridges than to encourage tomorrow’s leaders to study English at Berkeley. 

Kevin Numoto 

Oakland 

• 

SKEWED FACTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The account of the School Board’s Feb. 4 vote regarding a new student assignment plan (“Despite Lawsuit, School Board Adopts Racial Criteria,” Daily Planet, Feb. 6-9) has skewed several important facts evident to anyone who was present. An essential feature of the new plan is that it is “race neutral.” Race was considered along with several socio-economic factors in creating a composite socio-economic category map of the city. But the plan does not give any consideration to race in its formula for assigning students to schools. If Ward Connerly’s “race blind” initiative on the recent ballot had passed it would have had no impact on this plan. 

I don’t know how the painstaking discussion, written narrative and charts get translated into the juicy-sounding headline “Board Adopts Racial Criteria.” 

Board member Shirley Issel surprised the board and audience with an exhaustive enumeration of objections. Her shots were in many directions but it was clear that her principal objection was not that race had been considered in the formulation of the map. Judging from her remarks she favors a socio-economic scheme using only a criterion of low family income, “free and reduced lunch” eligibility. That approach has been tried in some cities and was among the many scenarios and combinations modeled by BUSD in its quest for a viable plan. 

If the new plan had been voted down or tabled on Feb. 4 then the calendar would have dictated that students be assigned to schools this year by the old integration plan which used race as a primary criterion. 

Bruce Wicinas 

• 

WASTED REPUTATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When UC Berkeley responded to the SARS epidemic last year by banning certain students from its English language programs, the outcry from the excluded was so large that it changed the administration’s minds. Such is the eagerness with which students from around the world wish to take courses at Berkeley, though hundreds of other institutions offer similar programs. 

When I was in Japan, I worked part time for a unit of a university that sent Japanese students to English language programs in the United States. The two most popular destinations were UC Berkeley and UCLA. I can still remember the dreamy eyes of the students as we held information seminars about Berkeley’s program. In fact, it is through this work that I myself became interested in Berkeley. 

The sudden announcement to close down the English Language Program is, in my mind, a huge step backward for UC Berkeley, a step that could cost its hard-gained name recognition in the world. It took 30 years for the program to build its reputation to a point where 3,000 students from 50 countries attended last year. In a sense, UC Berkeley has been getting millions of dollars in free worldwide advertisement as these students spread their experiences after they returned from Berkeley. 

With the fees for international students increasing from $16,000 a year to $24,000 a year in the last two years, Berkeley is already at a disadvantage in enrolling international students. Now, it is entirely closing down the popular and accessible English Language Program. Not only will Berkeley lose at least 3,000 international students in a year, it is at the threshold of losing its international status and a part of its unique culture that comes from the presence of such a diverse population. 

The outcry that Berkeley heard from excluded students last year was the product of the admiration that it has gained through the years. It is shocking and devastating that the university would think that it can get rid of this widely popular program with a stroke of a pen and only a few months’ notice. 

Takeshi Akiba 

UC Berkeley student 

• 

THANKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As we prepare to move back into our kindergarten and first grade classrooms following the flood at Malcolm X School, the Annex Wing teachers would like to take this opportunity to thank the BUSD maintenance staff for their care of our rooms. The job was immense. Wallboard, cupboards, and carpets all had to be removed and replaced. Each day, as more and more damage was discovered, it was immediately scheduled to be fixed. We appreciate that teachers were frequently included in discussions of the timeline and in on-site walk-throughs. Our rooms are now back in order and clean up work is focused on the rest of the lower floor which also sustained significant damage. The BUSD maintenance staff did a terrific job! 

We are, of course, hoping that the city and the district are taking steps to make sure major flooding doesn’t occur again in the next rainstorm. The flooding was not just a problem for the school, but also for the many neighbors who had flooded basements and cars on Ellis Street, east (uphill) of the school. We hope the city and the district will work together to investigate the causes of the flood and then jointly take the necessary steps to avoid this from happening again. 

Cynthia Allman, Candy Cannon, Hazelle Fortich, Dyanthe McDougal,  

Kathleen Richerson, Louise Rosenkrantz, and Kai Shen 

Malcolm X School 

Friday was a tear-filled day at Berkeley High. Tissue boxes lined the steps to the Community Theater where students—some slumped against the building, their faces cupped in their hands—gathered to mourn the passing of classmate Nic Rotolo. 

On Thursday night, Rotolo, a Berkeley High junior, and hockey player with the San Jose Junior Sharks, collapsed on the ice while his parents and four grandparents watched from the stands. His mother, Christine Rotolo Stevenson, rushed to the rink and held him in her arms, but Rotolo, 17, never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 8:50 p.m. at San Jose Medical Center. 

The Santa Clara County Coroners Office said the cause of death is still pending the results of further tests, but Rotolo’s parents said medical examiner Judy Melinek believed Rotolo, a robust 6-foot-2-inch, 215-pound defenseman, likely died of commotio cordis.  

The medical rarity occurs when a blunt blow to the chest disrupts the heart’s rhythm and is not detectable by an autopsy. When it strikes, the ailment is nearly always fatal, according to a report by Dr. Michael Vincent, though had a heart defibrillator been available within a minute after Rotolo collapsed, his life might have been saved.  

His parents said film of the game showed he collapsed seven seconds after an opponent’s shoulder smacked into his chest while Rotolo was applying a check.  

Conrad Stevenson, Rotolo’s step-father remembered his step-son as a “great kid who loved life. He was a totally funny guy, a total goofball and he loved hockey.” 

Rotolo started skating as a three-year-old at Berkeley Iceland and worked his way up to the Junior Sharks, an elite youth team that crisscrosses the western United States and Canada. 

Two of his grandparents had flown in from Texas for the rare home game, Stevenson said, which the Sharks needed to win to advance in a league tournament. 

Jolyn Overton, a close friend, said Rotolo was in especially high spirits on the day he died. “He had a really great day Thursday,” she said. “His grandparents were here and he had gotten an A-plus on his Spanish exam.” 

Rotolo lived in Berkeley with his mother, step-father and step-sister Raven. He also had a step-brother Paolo Brooks, a fellow Berkeley High student. Brooks was so upset by his step-brother’s death that on Friday he broke his hand punching a school locker, said his mother Natashya Brooks.  

Rotolo, who was born in Walnut Creek, spent most of his childhood in Piedmont before moving to Berkeley as a ninth grader when his mother remarried. 

At Berkeley High, he befriended a tight-knit crew of about six classmates who spent most of their time watching movies, playing hockey, football and lacrosse, and battling with water balloons and air pressure guns. 

“We were all aggressive with each other, putting one another through physical pain,” Overton said. “Since Nic was so much bigger than everyone, we just took turns picking fights with him.” 

Though Rotolo cast an imposing presence, with his size and love of hard-edged punk rock, the variety not played on mainstream radio, his friends described him as a fun-loving, demonstrative and caring person, who didn’t fit the mold of a jock.  

Overton recalled one evening stopping by Rotolo’s house at a time when she was dealing with personal issues. “We talked the whole night,” she said. “You knew he would never tell anyone what you said. He would just listen and always try to help make you feel better.” 

Stevenson broke the news to his friends Thursday night. On Friday, with the help of some teachers and parents, they set up a memorial that celebrated his unique, offbeat spirit. 

Plastered on the glass exterior of the Community Theater were a series of pictures of Rotolo, bare-chested, offering a different engaging facial expression in each shot. 

On two fold-out tables sat an empty bottle of Guinness beer with one lily inside, a blown-up picture of Rotolo, middle finger extended and sheets of construction paper covered with messages written by classmates. 

Though it’s hard to be well-known at 2,700-student Berkeley High, Rotolo’s death shook students beyond his small band of close friends. Several of the most emotional testimonials scribbled on the paper came from students who misspelled his name. 

“Thanks for all the good times, RIP Superman,” read one message. 

Rotolo, who aspired to play college hockey in New England, was a fitness guru, friends said, often running with the lacrosse team and working out regularly at the YMCA. 

He joined the Junior Sharks at their inception four years ago and played for various teams in their program. 

His coach Derek Fisher said of him: “He was a quality human being with a strong head on his shoulders. It was wonderful just to watch how he played the game and the enjoyment and learning he took away from it.” 

In honor of Rotolo, Southwest Youth Hockey League Commissioner Ron White announced the championship trophy in his division-Midget Tier 1- would be renamed the “Nic Rotolo Memorial Trophy.” 

Since his death, Rotolo’s friends have spent much of their time at his mother’s house to grieve with the family. “I’ve realized there’s going to be a tremendous amount of people who miss him,” his mother said. “I’m in shock of his death, but I’m also in shock of how many people loved him.” 

Charitable donations in Rotolo’s name can be made to the Iglehart Wilderness Foundation, which gives underprivileged children opportunity to explore nature and the Norcal Rep Club Youth Hockey Program. 

A memorial will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Theater. 

After a week’s vacation, the city council returns tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 11) to its continuing task of closing a projected $10 million shortfall in the upcoming city budget. City Manager Phil Kamlarz has set up a series of 5 p.m. non-voting working sessions on various aspects of the budget, scheduled to continue through the end of March. 

Also this week, on Wednesday night, the Planning Commission will receive its subcommittee report on the formation of the UC Hotel and Conference Center Complex Task Force. 

Tonight’s city council working session will focus on ideas for raising new revenue, including suggestions listed as “parking fine payment changes” and a possible November tax increase ballot measure. 

At the request of Councilmember Linda Maio, the council will discuss a controversial budget-cutting proposal at its 7 p.m. regular meeting: a recommendation to defer construction on any new $25,000 traffic circles in the city, and instead investigate lower-cost designs that are already in place in other cities. Members of at least one community group, the LeConte Neighborhood Association, have been lobbying councilmembers to keep the present traffic circle construction schedule in place. 

Also for its 7 p.m. regular meeting, the council has scheduled the long-delayed vote on the Sprint wireless communications facility proposed for the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street. The council held a public hearing on the facility last month, but held off voting on Councilmember Dona Spring’s motion to deny Sprint’s permit in order to give the company more time to submit information proving that the proposed facility is needed. The council has had the Sprint matter in its hands since April of last year, after neighbors appealed a decision by the Zoning Adjustments Board to grant the permit for the facility. Much of that time was taken awaiting a report from an independent evaluation of the project. 

On Wednesday night, the Berkeley Planning Commission will get its first look at the membership of the 25-member task force set up by the commission to “monitor, review, and make recommendations about the University of California’s proposed hotel and conference center project” on the Center-Shattuck-Allston-Oxford block site presently occupied by a Bank of America branch and several UC structures. Mayor Tom Bates said this week that while he believes that the membership of the task force is “balanced,” he continues to feel that the implementation of the task force should be delayed until he completes negotiations with UC over how much regulatory control the city will have over the building of the complex. 

The Planning Commission will also begin discussions Wednesday night on changing the city’s zoning code to bring it into compliance with the University Area Specific Plan. At present, the zoning code allows larger developments than would be permitted under the plan. The city council had set a March 16 public hearing on a proposed moratorium on mixed-use, above-three-story developments in the University Avenue area until the zoning code changes were put in place. But this week, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque and City Planning Manager Dan Marks told members of the city council’s Agenda Committee that they would not now recommend such a moratorium. Both Albuquerque and Marks said that because state law only allows a 45-day moratorium to be imposed once, without extension, there was a danger that such a moratorium would end before the zoning code changes were made, and a developer could take advantage of the loophole by applying for a permit during the interim. Marks told the Agenda Committee members that the council would have enough time to enact a moratorium in the event a developer applied for a permit to build a larger project in the University Avenue area while the code changes were still being considered.

Berkeley resident and convicted child molester Kenneth Parnell was convicted Monday on charges of trying to buy a 4-year-old boy. 

Parnell, 72, was arrested in West Berkeley last January after he allegedly offered an informant $500 to deliver him a boy for sexual purposes.  

After deliberating for about two hours, the jury found Parnell guilty of solicitation to commit a crime, trying to buy a person and attempted child theft. Under the state’s three strikes law, Parnell could face life imprisonment. 

Parnell was convicted of kidnapping a 7-year-old Merced boy in 1972 and a 5-year-old Ukiah boy in 1980. He was paroled to Berkeley in 1985 after serving five years in state prison. 

—Matthew Artz 

Bay City News contributed to this report.

There may still be a glimmer of hope for the 30 UC Berkeley graduate students denied consideration for prestigious Fulbright-Hayes fellowships when their applications were mailed after the competition’s deadline. 

Steven J. Uhlfelder, chairman of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, has scheduled a conference call of board members for Tuesday (Feb. 11) to see if anything can be done to assist the Berkeley students. 

“We’re just going to try to receive the facts and see if there’s anything we can do,” Uhlfelder told the Daily Planet Monday. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl, hailed Uhlfelder’s intervention, saying in a prepared statement that, “The purpose of the board is to make certain that all students have fair access to the competition...That, of course, has been our purpose in pursuing this all along.” 

Last month, the Department of Education disqualified UC Berkeley’s 30 applicants after their applications arrived postmarked one day after the Oct. 20 deadline. UC Berkeley officials contended the applications were scheduled to be mailed on the deadline day, but Federal Express never picked up the packages. 

Uhlfelder said the board had never reviewed decisions of the Department of Education during his three years of service, but in the case of the Berkeley students, “We need to make sure everyone feels they were treated fairly.” 

Fulbrights are among the most prestigious and generous scholarships offered to graduate students seeking to do research abroad, allowing recipients to propose their own budgets and include money for spouses. 

Last year, half of the UC Berkeley’s 30 applicants received grants ranging from $19,593 to $63,947, according to the university.

Ronald White, 45, of Berkeley was arraigned in an Oakland courthouse yesterday on three counts of carjacking and three counts of kidnapping for robbery. He was referred to a public defender and denied bail, said Deputy District Attorney Mike Nieto. 

Berkeley Police arrested White on Thursday in connection with four carjacking and robbery cases targeting women drivers from November through February. Police said ATM photographs and testimony from victims led them to White. 

All of the cases involved lone female drivers, forced at knifepoint to surrender control of their car, police said. In three of the cases the victim was forced to withdraw money from bank accounts at ATM machines. In the other case, the victim was sexually assaulted. 

Police said White surrendered himself peacefully after relatives alerted him that investigators planned to speak with him about the crimes. 

—Matthew Artz

Whether Kevin Cooper is ultimately put to death in San Quentin State Prison or not, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has missed a historic and unique opportunity to mount the bully pulpit to enlighten and lead. 

Kevin Cooper’s case, like so many, illustrates the unreliability of jury verdicts for death: sloppy police work, inconsistent statements by witnesses, evidence destroyed or never presented to the jury, and lingering doubts about his guilt. There are simply too many places for human error or malice to intervene and taint the process of taking a human life. Because of these predictable errors of a fallible system, more than 100 people who once were counting down the days and hours on death rows across the country have been freed as wrongly convicted. Is it possible that Kevin Cooper is among them? With an error rate that high, how can we trust that he is not? 

Besides the moral questions that seem only to be asked in church, the governor could have talked practicality, nuts and bolts economics. The death penalty is hugely expensive. In this time of fiscal crisis, Schwarzenegger might have used the context of a clemency hearing to examine what it has cost the people of the state to bring this one man to this day, solely for the purpose of executing him. 

A study done in Illinois—where the rate of error so offended another pro-death penalty, Catholic, Republican governor, George Ryan, that he first declared a moratorium on its use, then cleared death row through clemency and commutation as he left office—found that it costs about a million dollars a year for each person sentenced to death. There are more than 600 condemned prisoners in California, the largest death row in the nation. What would a moratorium on executions, starting with Kevin Cooper, save the state in resources that could strengthen local police and fire departments, schools and parks, libraries, services for the disabled? Why not raise the question? 

Schwarzenegger could have pointed to his European birth, and opened a discussion about why we, alone among western nations, allow the state the ultimate power of life and death. His native Austria, in fact, was the first country to urge the United Nations, through the Commission on Human Rights, to take up the issue of the death penalty as a human rights violation. That was in 1968. Is the death penalty a violation of basic human dignity, as the South African Supreme Court has declared? Isn’t the discussion worth having? 

As a religious Catholic, Gov. Schwarzenegger might have publicly acknowledged that Pope John Paul II declared in his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (The Gospel of Life) that, as a practical matter, executions cannot be justified in modern times. That was in 1995. What are the teachings of the great religions of the world on this subject? That, too, would be a worthy question to pursue. 

This governor could have reached across old party lines through his wife’s membership in the Kennedy clan to question why both assassinated Kennedys, John and Bobby, opposed the death penalty, as their surviving brother Ted still does, and why that opposition may have attenuated in Maria’s generation. Our governor might have raised this apparent anomaly in the course of a deeper discussion about a life-and-death matter. 

One could argue that only a Republican governor could take a principled stand on the death penalty, the Democrats being too fearful of being branded soft on crime. But this particular governor’s opportunity went far beyond the “only Nixon could go to China” model. Among sitting governors, Schwarzenegger is unique. He is bigger than life, a huge movie star whose enormous popularity has nothing to do with politics. 

California’s governor had the unique opportunity to speak and act on principle regarding the execution of Kevin Cooper. Because of who he is, he would have risked little by doing so. Instead, without even the benefit of a hearing, public or private, he denied clemency in two summary sentences, concluding about the man whose life we are about to snuff out: “He is not a case for clemency.” 

The governor not only refused to spare a human life, he also chose not to expend any of his immense political capital to raise questions and open an overdue discussion about the morality and efficacy of the death penalty, a discussion that other politicians have shown they have no stomach for. In so doing, he has shown himself to be just another politician. 

Michael A. Kroll founder of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. and currently an editor of The Beat Within, a writing program for incarcerated youth. 

It’s hard for most people to get their brains around a $521 billion deficit. Most of us have a hard enough time envisioning a million dollars, let alone a billion—which is, of course, a thousand million. Try to think about 521 thousand million dollars—which is next year’s budget deficit—and your mind just closes down. A kind of numbness sets in.  

Still, I want you to concentrate on a very practical question. Who’s going to lend the government that 521 billion dollars? In point of fact, it’s going to be the foreigners and the wealthy Americans who buy treasury bonds. And of course, eventually, we—you and I and our children—will have to pay that money back. There was a time not long ago in American history when the nation’s richest citizens helped finance the government by paying a high percentage of their incomes in taxes. Under President Dwight Eisenhower, for example, the highest marginal tax rate was 90 percent. Now, America’s richest citizens finance our government primarily by lending it money.  

Not to worry, though. The president promises to cut the budget deficit in half over the next five years. But here’s the catch. You’ve heard of balloon clauses in loan agreements, haven’t you? A balloon clause says you start out paying back a little bit and then your payments increase until you’re walloped with huge payments later on. The president’s budget is like that. The really big-ticket items hit more than five years from now, starting in 2009.  

Here’s one example. The White House admits that the 10-year cost of the new Medicare drug benefit will be more than half a trillion dollars. But what no one’s saying is that most of this kicks in after 2009, when the baby boomers begin retiring and taking advantage of the drug benefit.  

Or consider the tax cuts. If they’re made permanent, as the president wants, the loss of revenues over the next 10 years will be five and a half trillion dollars. And here’s the kicker: Most of this occurs after 2009. That’s because the tax cuts start out relatively small and grow.  

By the year 2014, according to recent estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the president’s budget will have added more than 10 trillion dollars to the national debt. And most of this happens after 2009. So cutting the deficit in half over the next five years doesn’t mean all that much, even if the promise is kept. Did you hear me? Ten trillion dollars. That’s ten thousand billion. Ten trillion dollars is just about the value of everything that everyone in this nation produces in an entire year.  

Ten trillion dollars—with the biggest balloon clause in the history of the world.  

Robert Reich, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, is professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis and the author of Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America, out in May from Knopf. He is teaching at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy spring semester. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a report on the New California Media association’s first national poll of Latino reaction to Bush’s immigration proposals. The public opinion survey was sponsored by the James Irvine Foundation and conducted by Bendixen and Associates. 

Latino reactions to President Bush’s new immigration proposal are mixed. The proposal has significant backing but has so far not translated into increased election year support for the president.  

Latinos demonstrated a high level of awareness that an immigration proposal was made by President Bush’s administration. Once respondents received more information however, opinions about the proposal changed, with opposition increasing.  

A large majority of respondents (74 percent) said they had heard of the proposal, which centers on a temporary worker program that will match undocumented workers living in the United States and potential workers abroad with jobs.  

When first asked, a significant number of Latinos were aware of the plan and supported it (42 percent), while a lower proportion (20 percent) were aware and opposed it. The rest (38 percent) either were not aware of the plan or did not have an opinion.  

Opposition to the plan doubled once respondents were informed that “most” temporary workers would have to return to their home countries.  

With the additional information, respondents became evenly divided between those (45 percent) who opposed the plan, and those (45 percent) still supporting it.  

This is how the Bush proposal was described to the poll respondents:  

Let me tell you about President Bush’s immigration proposal. It would grant working undocumented immigrants in the United States temporary legal status or work visas for three years. The work permits or visas would be renewable for an additional three years. After that, most of those in the program would have to return to their native country.  

Respondents were questioned between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26. President Bush announced his immigration proposal to the nation on Jan. 7.  

The survey involved a scientifically selected, nationally representative sample of 800 Hispanic/Latino adults who could choose to be interviewed in either Spanish or English. Before being asked for their immigration status respondents were assured the interview was 100 percent confidential. The poll has a margin of error of +/- three percentage points.  

Reactions to Proposal Details 

Latinos found a lot to like in the Bush proposal. A majority of respondents said they thought it was a good idea that temporary worker participants would receive comparable credit for their social security deductions in home country retirement systems (79 percent); that temporary workers would be protected by labor laws like the minimum wage (81 percent); that temporary workers would be able to travel back and forth to home countries (83 percent); and that they would be allowed to bring members of their immediate family with them if they earned enough money to support them (78 percent).  

The respondents were also asked to consider different specific criticisms aimed at the Bush proposal and say whether they agreed with these criticisms. Two criticisms resonated the most: a majority of Latinos (58 percent) said it was a valid criticism that the Bush plan does not guarantee a permanent residency visa or U.S. citizenship to undocumented immigrants that receive the proposed temporary legal status. A larger majority (63 percent) said it was a valid criticism that President Bush does not care about immigrants and that his plan is only aimed at getting Latino votes for 2004.  

Also, the majority of respondents said they agreed with criticisms that the plan would give too much power to employers and lead to workplace abuses, and that it would create a second-class group of workers like the “bracero” program of the 1950s.  

Latinos responded more positively to an alternate immigration proposal, which was discussed next. An overwhelming majority of Latinos (85 percent) said they supported a different immigration policy proposed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that would allow undocumented immigrants a way to earn legalization and become U.S. citizens.  

That plan is similar to a bipartisan proposal introduced Jan. 21 while the poll was being conducted by Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and minority leader Sen. Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat.  

When asked to choose between President Bush’s plan and the Hispanic Caucus plan, a wide majority (75 percent) said they thought the Hispanic Caucus plan was better and a small proportion (16 percent) preferred the Bush plan.  

President Bush and the 2004 Election 

Before being asked specifically about the immigration proposal, a majority of Latinos polled (53 percent) gave President Bush positive job ratings, rating his job as “good” or “excellent.”  

After being polled on the immigration proposal, Latinos who were U.S. citizens and thus eligible to vote were asked whether they would support President Bush in the upcoming presidential elections.  

A third (31 percent) said they would vote for President Bush. A higher number (48 percent) said they would choose the Democratic Party candidate.  

The results were the same for the 396 Latino registered voters surveyed; a similar number (51 percent) said they would vote for a Democrat, while about a third of the respondents (30 percent) said they would vote for President Bush.  

Bush’s approval rating among Latinos and the percentage of Latinos intending to cast votes for him in 2004 did not show improvement over figures from recent national surveys completed before the immigration proposal was announced.  

A New York Times/CBS poll conducted in July 2003 found that 52 percent of Latinos thought Bush was doing a good job.  

A Pew Hispanic Center poll conducted Dec. 8-11, 2003 found that 46 percent of Latinos gave President Bush a favorable job rating; 27 percent of Latinos said then that they would vote for Bush. A follow-up Pew poll conducted Jan. 2-4, shortly after the capture of Saddam Hussein found that 54 percent of Latinos gave Bush a positive job rating. In that survey, thirty-seven percent of Latinos said they would vote for Bush, while 48 percent said they would vote for a Democrat.  

President Bush won 35 percent of the Latino vote in the 2000 presidential elections. Among Latinos, immigration ranked fourth as a concern, with less than one-fifth (15 percent) of respondents naming it as the most important issue. It ranked behind jobs and the economy (30 percent), education (26 percent) and health care (20 percent). Terrorism was the most important issue for 51 respondents (6 percent).  

A majority of respondents (73 percent) said they thought it important that President Vicente Fox of Mexico had endorsed the proposal at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan. 12-13. A majority (82 percent) also said that it was important that President Bush participated in the summit.  

Registered Voters/ Undocumented Immigrants 

For registered voters, the most established portion of the Latino population, levels of support and opposition did not vary as much after receiving additional information on the proposal.  

Initial reactions among Latino registered voters who had heard of President Bush’s proposal were slightly less enthusiastic than that of all Latino respondents: one-fourth (24 percent) said they opposed the plan; a relatively low number (35 percent) said they supported it.  

Once the registered voters received the additional information, opposition increased (47 percent) and support increased slightly (42 percent).  

Upon first being asked undocumented immigrants who said they had heard of President Bush’s plan were largely (58 percent) in favor of it and a smaller percentage (19 percent) opposed it.  

Once the undocumented immigrant respondents were given more information and were told that “most” of the workers in the program would have to return to their home countries after work terms expired, results changed: a higher number of the undocumented (50 percent) now said they opposed the plan.  

Support decreased significantly, although a significant number (42 percent) of undocumented immigrants, the least established sector of the Latino population, still said they supported it.  

The rapid rise of John Kerry’s presidential campaign is causing grave concern in the Republican Party’s upper management. Although GOP. leaders denigrate him as a “Massachusetts liberal,” invoking doom-laden memories of Michael Dukakis, such glib chatter only provides a temporary relief from their worries. 

If he wins the Democratic nomination, Mr. Kerry will pose certain challenges that aren’t so easily solved: He’s a decorated war veteran, a hunter and a politician who doesn’t hesitate to fight back when attacked. Those qualities distinguish him from the soft targets that Republicans enjoy hitting most. 

Caustic assessments of the senator’s personality and character began to leak out last year, only to subside when his prospects seemed to dim. Now emergency experiments in Kerry-bashing are again on the front burners, boiling up unwholesome little pots labeled Botox, French-looking, rich wife, special interests, Jane Fonda, high taxes and, of course, liberal, liberal and liberal. 

The results to date aren’t impressive. In recent national polls, the lines marked “Kerry” and “Bush” have crossed—with the former rising and the latter descending. But bad news only inspires the inventive elves in the Republican war dungeon to more strenuous effort. Ed Gillespie, the former Enron lobbyist who serves as chairman of the Republican National Committee, is test-marketing their latest products. 

Some are obvious duds. When Mr. Gillespie harks back to 1972 for evidence that Mr. Kerry is “weak” on defense, as he did in remarks the other day, he invites questions about what George W. Bush was doing in those days. (And what young Mr. Bush was supposed to do but didn’t, like showing up for duty in the Air National Guard.) As the Bush twins might say, let’s not go there. 

Naturally, the Republicans will pay close attention to the senator’s four-term voting record, which offers plenty of material for creative misinterpretation. The objective is to tarnish Mr. Kerry’s national-security credentials and place the nation on orange alert against his candidacy. 

In that vein, the R.N.C. chairman has scolded Mr. Kerry for his alleged zeal to decimate the intelligence and defense budgets. He says that in 1994 and 1995, the Senator tried to slash intelligence funding by more than a billion dollars. 

Why would the Massachusetts senator, then serving on the Senate Intelligence Committee, question the massive, classified intelligence budget? With colleagues from both parties, he was then seeking to recover a substantial amount that had been squirreled away during the previous five years by the National Reconnaissance Office—the highly secretive satellite-intelligence agency whose strange fiscal practices were a scandal in Washington. 

On Sept. 29, 1995, Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who chaired the intelligence committee, rose on the Senate floor to explain why he and other members were seeking an unusual amendment to the intelligence authorization bill. According to Mr. Specter, they were seeking “to address concerns about financial practices and management at the National Reconnaissance Office …. These amendments address an issue that the committee first identified in 1992 but which has received a good deal of press attention in the past several days and has raised questions about the National Reconnaissance Office’s financial management practices. It has been alleged that the NRO has accumulated more than $1 billion in unspent funds without informing the Pentagon, CIA, or Congress. It has been further alleged that this is one more example of how intelligence agencies sometimes use their secret status to avoid accountability.” 

Vast sums have been spent on intelligence activities during the past two decades, but were they spent wisely or squandered? Such questions are even more pertinent now than when Mr. Kerry first began to ask them. More than 10 years ago, he demanded that higher budgets should include greater accountability. 

“If intelligence is the valuable commodity that I contend it is in this very uncertain world, a world of new threats but from which the old nuclear threat has not completely faded, then it ought to be amply funded,” he said in 1993. With the end of the Cold War, defense budgets were declining, but Mr. Kerry argued that intelligence should be restructured rather than cut. He had investigated the Panamanian drug dictator Manuel Noriega and exposed the criminal Saudi bankers at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. 

In the Senate, Mr. Kerry wasn’t quite alone in questioning Pentagon waste. Every year, his close friend John McCain reads a list of the worst defense pork projects aloud on the Senate floor. Despite their differences on some issues, Mr. McCain has said he feels “unbounded respect and admiration” for his Massachusetts colleague and fellow Vietnam veteran—an endorsement that sounds more heartfelt than the Arizonan’s more formal backing of his old enemy, Mr. Bush. 

No, Mr. Kerry isn’t an easy target or a simple caricature. He won’t sit in a tank wearing a helmet three sizes too big, either. 

Joe Conason writes a weekly column on politics for the New York Observer. His most recent book is Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth.

When my computer crashed last week I did what I always do in the face of calamity, which is to immediately admit defeat and then begin to mope nobly. When my previous computer crashed a year ago I hired a geek to extract the information from the hard drive and then I threw the entire thing away. No computer, no crash. 

Life can be deliciously simple sometimes. My wife thought it was a bit of a drastic solution, but the computer was almost a year old anyhow, and probably obsolete, though it did have a pleasing, retro 2002 look to it. 

This time though, getting a new computer was not an option. I dread calling tech support because they always ask so many pesky questions, like what kind of computer I’m using. Is it too much to ask that these people know everything? 

The first thing he asked was what operating system I’m running. By some quirk of luck, I knew that one, and I started to feel as if I might actually have some mastery of this situation. I’d breezed right through the questions about my name and telephone number and I was clearly poised for great things. Until he asked if I had any hubs or routers between the computer and the modem. That one stalled me out. It’s certainly possible. I mean, there are a lot of wires and cords under the desk. And Cheerios as well. Yup, lots of Cheerios down there, though I do understand that these have no data processing function of their own. 

Eventually we ascertained that I either do or I don’t have hubs and/or routers, and then he dropped the bomb on me. 

“We’re going to have to do a Power Cycle,” he said.  

I was crestfallen; this was unmitigated disaster. I had plans for the day, plans for actual face-to-face contact with actual face-possessing human beings. But now, clearly there wouldn’t be time, what with the Power Cycle and all. 

“I want you to reach behind your modem,” he said. “There’s a button that says ‘on/off’ and I want you to press it.”  

I followed his commands precisely, knowing that any small deviation on my part had the potential to lead to accidental global thermonuclear war. That’s just the power of computers, and I’m a man who can respect that.  

“After you turn the modem off, wait 10 seconds and turn it back on.” 

I did that. 

“Try it now,” he said. “Is your computer working now?” 

I called tech support for that? It worked of course, but did we have to get all techno and give it a name like Power Cycle? What do they call it when I swat the screen with the back of my hand—a digital-pixel realignment maneuver? 

In general I tend to use psychology to solve technological problems. If you act cool, like you simply don’t care, the problematic device will lose interest in tormenting you. Lately the remote control for my stereo has been less than helpful, so I end up mashing the play button until my knuckle aches. (Why I need a remote for my stereo isn’t a bad question—I’m never more than six feet from the thing, and besides, it lives right next to the cookies, which makes going there fairly pleasant.) The more I fret though, the more obstinate the stereo becomes. Better to sneak up on the thing. Oh my, is that a remote control in my hand? Not that I care one way or the other, but if I should happen to casually press play, I wonder what might happen? Works every time—never let the machine see you sweat. 

The problem, I think, is that even the simplest of modern technologies have far outstripped my ability to understand them. I once heard Bill Gates say that he wants computers to be as commonplace and non-threatening as toasters. What technophobe grandma would say “I’ve just never figured out how to use these newfangled toaster things; I’ll always prefer using a granite slab heated over a coal fire.” Gates’s dream sounds like a hell of a goal, until I admit that I don’t fundamentally understand the toaster. I get the general principal: Bread goes in, heat comes on, toast comes out. Voila, we have ze magique. But how it all happens is a mystery. I learned about electricity in that high school physics class where we diagrammed ohms and volts and learned that a lever is really the same as a pulley which is really the same as an inclined plane. But c’mon. Toast is coming out of my wall socket? Now that’s crazy talk. 

The comfortable balance, for me, is that I don’t ask too many questions or make unreasonable demands. Don’t I get toast more often than not? Consider it a blessing. Isn’t my e-mail account up and running at least half the time? I’m a lucky, lucky man. I try to think of these modern complexities not as providing more things that can break, but as offering more potential solutions. After all, you can’t Power Cycle two sticks together and have any hope of getting fire, now can you? 

Zac Unger is an Oakland firefighter who lives in Berkeley. His book Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman will be published by Penguin on March 8. He had to send this column twice; the first was lost to—yes—a computer error. 

When the subject is book publishers, “small” rarely means “insignificant.” Try “independent” and “adventurous”—vital terms in an era when most big publishers have become conformist corporate citizens. 

It was bad news, then, when Berkeley’s Creative Arts Book Company went out of business last year, especially since Creative Arts was unusually willing to publish fiction, which is risky financially. 

But there’s good news for book lovers, too: Some 15 independent presses remain in Berkeley, and most seem to be flourishing. 

Small presses deliver variety: music, politics, travel, spirituality and religion, law, Californiana, alternative medicine, Asia and the Pacific Rim, personal development—just a handful of the subjects of books published here each year. 

Quality is generally high, and in the case of some presses, so is quantity. Sometimes, it seems, small doesn’t exactly mean small. 

Consider Berkeley’s Wilderness Press, in business since the late 1960s. Their current list contains some 150 books, along with a scattering of titles they distribute for other publishers. It’s also a great source for maps. 

The press’s location is distinctly urban, in West Berkeley across Harrison Street from the currently padlocked Berkeley Skate Park. 

There I met with Laura Keresty, WP’s marketing director, and with Thomas Winnett, publisher emeritus and founder of the press. As Tom filled me on the history of his company, I recognized it as a virtual textbook case of how a small press can become a big success. 

First, you need a book that people want to buy. In 1967, in Berkeley, that meant a guide to hiking and backpacking in the Sierra, and Tom had written one, Sierra North (now in its eighth edition). There being then no other book like it, Sierra North wasn’t attractive to cautious established publishers, so Tom published it himself. After all, he already owned a publishing company, Fybate Lecture Notes, well known to UC Berkeley students of the ‘50s and ‘60s, especially those too lazy to get up for class. 

Note-takers were dispatched to the university’s big lectures, producing notes which Fybate then printed up and sold. Tom told me that he carefully read and edited every page of every set of notes. 

The same care went into the writing and editing of Sierra North, and the first run of 2,800 copies quickly sold out. 

Other books soon followed. Pacific Crest Trail California was phenomenally successful and now exists as a set of three volumes. Slain by the ready availability of photocopying, Fybate eventually closed, but Wilderness Press kept growing at the rate of six to 12 new titles every year. Current bestsellers include 101 Hikes in Northern California, by Matt Hein, Jerry Schad’s 101 Hikes in Southern California, and Meditations of Jon Muir. And owing to changing conditions along trails and in parks, older books must be constantly revised. 

Some diversification has occurred over the years. Wilderness Press has urban books, such as Berkeley author Gail Todd’s Lunchtime Walks in Downtown San Francisco and Adah Bakalinsky’s Stairway Walks in San Francisco, now in its fifth edition. (Watch for news of Stairway Walk Day, on May 22.) 

There’s been geographic expansion, too. Though Marketing Director Keresty identified California as their base and the Sierra as their core, Wilderness Press has moved into publishing guides covering the Northwest and Nevada. Their catalog also includes works she described as “geographically neutral,” such as Carole Latimer’s Wilderness Cuisine and John Vonhof’s Fixing Your Feet. I wouldn’t dare leave civilization without both. 

New writers are encouraged to submit proposals. See www.wildernesspress.com for details on submissions and for much else. 

Another Berkeley publisher, Kelsey St. Press, has taken a different road. In the words of one of its founders, Rena Rosenwasser, “We decided to stay small and do what we do well.” What they do, and have been doing for 30 years, is publish poetry by women. 

Among women’s presses specializing in literature, Kelsey St. is one of the oldest and most respected anywhere. 

There were six co-founders. Two—Rena Rosenwasser and Patricia Dienstfrey—remain fully engaged, and I caught up with them and a relatively new associate, Sonya Philip, at a Berkeley café. They gave me the history. 

In 1970 Ballantine Books published a major anthology, San Francisco Poets. Not one woman was represented. Nor did the male poets in a poetry workship of the time, composed of both genders, seem to understand what the women were trying to do.  

Inspired by the women’s movement, Rosenwasser, Patricia Dienstfrey, and four other poets purchased an ancient letterpress, installed it in the basement of the Dienstfrey home on Kelsey Street, and taught themselves how to use it. 

Their first book, published in 1974, was Neurosuite, by the Italian poet Margarita Guidacci, translated by Marina La Palma. Since then, Kelsey St. has published two to four volumes annually, usually in runs of a thousand copies, all of which eventually find a home, either in people’s houses or in public and university libraries. 

Though its headquarters has moved to another location in Berkeley, and the printing is now out-sourced, the guiding spirit of the enterprise has scarcely changed. This nonprofit press produces beautiful books, with great attention paid to design, at prices that even poets can afford. 

That is a constant, as is continuous innovation. 

In the ‘80s, according to Rena Rosenwasser, “considerations of language and form became more central to what we chose to publish,” so that explicit “message” became less so. In the following decade, Kelsey St. developed its Collaboration Series, books which vitally combined the energies of poets and visual artists. One particularly stunning example would be Endrocrinology (1997), with poetry by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge and images by Kiki Smith.  

Funding comes and goes. At the moment, with the virtual dismantling of the California Arts Council, it seems just about gone. But Kelsey St., with its mixed staff of old hands and energetic apprentices, is here to stay. Recent publications include poetry by Yedda Morrison and Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, essays by Barbara Guest (with drawings by Laurie Reid), and poems/images by Cecilia Vicuna. For more on these and for the complete list of titles, see www.kelseyst.com.

What happens when two expert female humorists get together and collaborate? Hilarity!  

Sylvia comic strip creator Nicole Hollander, and columnist Regina Barreca, have put their pretty little feminist heads together and written The ABC of Vice: An Insatiable Women’s Guide, Alphabetized, (Bibliopola Press/$10.95). This half-cartoon, half-text sassy, slim paperback covers the important issues of life, dishing dirt on topics such as: Adultery (“When involved in adultery, women will often get parts of their bodies waxed more often than they vacuum the rug.”); bras (“Cute bras look cute as long as they do not actually touch your person.”); penis envy (“Isn’t it a good thing… that it isn’t on his face?”); and youth (“As you grow older you are never tempted to buy orange lipstick no matter what the magazine writers say.”).  

In town to promote The ABC of Vice and visit with friends, Hollander gave a reading at Black Oak Books, dined at two of her favorite restaurants, Saul’s and Chez Panisse, and indulged in one of her obsessive-compulsive passions: buying shoes at Rabat on Fourth Street.  

A Chicago native and resident, Hollander spends about six weeks a year in Berkeley, seeking shelter from the miserably cold Midwest winters. “Chicago in February is terrible,” she says. “After working all morning, I love to walk down to Shattuck Avenue for a treat at noon. The gardens here are wonderful and the plants are enormous, not like the little things we have in Chicago. Everything smells good.” 

Her love affair with the East Bay began in 1966, when, after a divorce, she moved to Berkeley, learned how to drive, and taught art perspective at Laney College. She also subbed at a day care center, clerked at a toy store and was an art instructor at Live Oak Park Recreation Center.  

Hollander attended the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from Boston University. She had no intention of becoming a cartoonist, but while working as a graphic designer (one of her assignments was to create matchbox covers), she participated in the re-design of a feminist magazine. “I started doing illustrations and it turned into a comic strip… It was the atmosphere at the time that helped my work evolve. I didn’t want to be a cartoon artist, I wanted to be a great painter.” 

But 22 years and more than 20 books, calendars, day planners, and a variety of t-shirts and coffee mugs later, Hollander and her alter-ego, Sylvia, are still taking on the political issues of the day and the daily grind of womanhood. Hollander transforms news and events into a feisty, dynamic strip that is distributed to more than 80 newspapers around the country, including the Daily Planet. On her website, www.nicolehollander.com, Hollander has said of her life’s work, “On one hand, I have one of the best careers in the world: a chance to mouth off about everything and draw while I am in my pajamas. . .on the other hand, having to come up with a strip six days a week every week with no vacation, there is always the possibility that I won’t come up with an idea.”  

But it’s obvious from Hollander’s smile, laughter and prolific output that she doesn’t really have any trouble with inspiration, and that she loves what she does. As she and Barreca say in The ABC of Vice under the letter U for Unconditional Love: “Even unconditional love has conditions.”

A female Berkeley High student tried to jump to her death at school Tuesday, according to police. The student was not seriously injured and was taken to a local hospital, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Kevin Schofield, who didn’t have further details at press time of what police have classified as an attemped suicide.  

One source said the girl jumped from one of the two balconies atop the new food court that is still under construction. Peter True, editor of the Berkeley High Jacket, said a parent also told him the girl jumped from the balcony and that she suffered a broken leg.  

The balconies are a decorative feature of the new food court that is designed to look like a Roman forum. According to district lore, former superintendent Jack McLaughlin insisted they be included with the final plan. 

—Matthew Artz

The most startling thing about Berkeley breweries is how many have disappeared. In the 1990s, entrepreneurial beer fans believed that beer and micro-brewing was a quicker route to success than learning the intricacies of winemaking and distribution. As with books, distribution was the key. 

Local survivors provide great contrasts in approaches, but have a common love of beer and the fun surrounding it. 

Triple Rock at 1920 Shattuck Ave. (west side, north of University Avenue) is the baby of brothers John and Reid Martin, created in 1985 out of their love for beer, brewing, and “classic American taverns and dive bars.” Overcoming fears of a “factory” in downtown Berkeley in 1984 and getting seven variances to zoning codes, the Martins had been making beer in college, and brewed their first batch on Shattuck on Christmas, 1985. The second batch was made on New Years’ Day. “[These were] the only two days the construction crews weren’t in the way,” although carpenters contributed to the taste testing process.  

As the fifth brew pub in the country, Triple Rock first opened as Roaring Rock brewery. Losing lawsuits for name conflicts to Rolling Rock owner Latrobe Brewing Co. of Pennsylvania, John and Reid changed their pub’s name to Triple Rock. Serving as founders of the Berkeley Beer and Music Festival, the Martins now own Twenty Tank brewery in San Francisco, Big Time Brewery in Seattle, Jupiter across from the BART station in Berkeley, and operate the Bear’s Lair Pub on campus.  

Triple Rock head brewer Christian Kazakoff and assistant brewer Bradley Robbins make seven-barrel batches, which translates to about 1,700 pints a day, and you can watch the whole process through internal windows while sipping and munching on fairly decent brewpub food. Seasonal ales and lagers are your best bets, such as Resolution Ale, Punched in the I.P.A., or their flagship ales such as Pinnacle Pale Ale, Red Rock Ale, Black Rock Porter, or Stonehenge Stout. Triple Rock also features “English-style” cask conditioned ales, naturally carbonated in a cask stuffed with a sock of hops and aged for two weeks before being pulled through English beer engines, resulting in lighter carbonation and a warmer ale than those drawn through a standard tap. Don’t miss the Monkey Head Arboreal Ale on Thursdays only. Sample a flight or try the hard ciders. 

Triple Rock “cuisine” features T-Rock burgers, Angus served with house coleslaw, or fries as a “substitute” for additional $1.50. Grilled chicken sandwiches, a Bruschetta Rock with mushrooms, pesto, and provolone on sourdough baguette, and Philly Cheese Steaks are also available, all under $7.00. Nachos, cheese or garlic fries, baked potatoes, nachos, and salads are all served on the wooden table tops carved into by 25 years of students. The upstairs beer garden is small but cozy. Use Triple Rock’s games to play cards, checkers, chess, cribbage, scrabble, dice, dominoes, and backgammon. 

Triple Rock’s brother brew pub, Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Ave.), at which Brad Robbins produces about four kegs of seasonal, whimsical brews daily in an 1890s building decorated in what John Martin calls “Beer Gothic.” Featuring bronze-colored pressed tin, old Gothic church lights hang from the ceiling and pews “from the St. John’s Presbyterian Church (now Julia Morgan Theater) line the walls.” Jupiter also features a two-level beer garden in back, which presents jazz at least three nights a week.  

Jupiter serves better large name beers, as well as local brews such as Boont Amber from Anderson Valley and Twist of Fate Bitter from Moonlight Brewing, as well as 12 beers made in the company’s tanks in San Leandro and at Triple Rock. Jupiter’s food is a good notch up from Triple Rock’s, featuring wood-fired oven baked pizzas, pomegranate chicken skewers, rib tips, and good salads. Jupiter’s second floor offers tables around a woodstove, a 1950s bowling game, and an old pinball machine.  

Pyramid Alehouse (901 Gilman St.) is Berkeley’s largest surviving brew pub, producing a whopping 130 barrels per brewing cycle, which still qualifies it as a microbrewery. Started by five Seattle investors, Pyramid just bought Portland Brewing Co., already owned Thomas Kemper Brewery and Thomas Kemper Soda Company, and operates Pyramids in Berkeley, Seattle, Walnut Creek, and Sacramento. 

Particularly compared to Triple Rock, which still has the feel of years of cigarette smoke absorption, Pyramid is clean, shiny, glistening, and glaring with spotlights. Two televisions relay the latest Cal sports (when they’re telecast), the vast brew tanks are locked behind closed doors (tours daily at 4 p.m.), and their beers and sodas are Kosher and contain no caffeine. A highly professional-looking gift shop and the whole aura feel like large microbreweries in Washington, although the food is better here than at any brewpubs I’ve experienced in the Northwest. 

Pyramid shows second-run movies on its outdoor screen in the parking lot in good weather, to which beer added creates a keg-party atmosphere.  

Pyramid’s pub offers a $4.95 Kids Meal with lots of choices that include Thomas Kemper’s root beer, vanilla cream, organ cream, black cherry, and sandwiches and burgers with fries. The onion soup was actually very good ($4.95), and the Caesar salad dressing was excellent, although some of the chopped romaine had brown edges. Most guests ordered the mounds of onion strings, marinated in Beatnik White Ale and fried in buttermilk batter, and served with chipotle ketchup. Wood-fired pizzas are popular, as are the burgers, and wide variety of sandwiches, and soups. 

Oh yes, the beer and ale. The Tilted Kilt is a must try, as Pyramid’s current seasonal feature through mid-April. Grizzly Peak Porter, Apricot Ale, and Black Fog Nitro Stout are popular. Try the Brewer’s Rack of five samples ($5.95). Wines range from Beaucannon and Coppola Chardonnays to Chateau Julien Cabernet and Ravenswood Zinfandel. Kids of all ages can experience sugar delight in a Thomas Kemper Soda Sampler of four tasters ($2.95). 

A very important stop on any brewery crawl is the second floor Takara Sake USA (708 Addison St. at Fourth Street), “now the oldest sake brewer in the country, having opened in 1978. Takara follows a long tradition, succeeding Japan Brewing Company, which opened the first sake brewery in the U.S. in Berkeley in 1902. 

Sake brewing parallels beer brewing in that both processes start with grains that have no fermentable sugars in their original states. Sake uses a mold spore that occurs naturally on rice that converts the starch in the rice to sugar, creating a starter called rice koji.  

Takara has an elegant tasting room and museum on the second floor of its pale green building, with stairs or elevator options. The museum is a must-see, and features antique sake equipment showing the worn wooden tools used in Japan when the whole process was done by hand. 

Follow the hostesses’ advice on the order in which to try some of Takara’s 15 sakes, and watch your intake. The Nigori unfiltered sake, made in small batches, is close to a home brew sake. Also sample Ginjo or Sho Chiku Bai sake, Takara’s flagship sake.  

Visit Takara for the experience, calming music, and interesting design, the latter featuring reclaimed wood, granite-finished tile made from recycled bottles representing rice paddies, and the blue glass lines representing rivers through the paddies. Do not miss the “Song of the Sky” kinetic sculpture created in 1998 by Susumu Shingu.

A deal has been all but completed to sell the 94-year-old Shattuck Hotel and turn it into short-term student housing for international students, said city officials and hotel employees. 

The sale price has not been disclosed, but hotel manager Abhiman Kumar said the deal was in escrow, awaiting final approval from lenders to San Diego-based businessman Aki Ito. 

Ito, the owner of Vantaggio Suites, operates four short-term housing complexes—two in San Diego and two in San Francisco—that cater to international students with short stays in the U.S.  

Barbara Hillman of the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau met with Ito last week and reported that he intends to turn Berkeley’s lone downtown hotel into a similar operation, though he’d consider keeping a small portion of the 175 rooms available to hotel guests. 

Ito did not return phone calls for this story. 

The change in operations could cost the city thousands in transient occupancy tax revenues it collects from the hotel. Any stay longer than 13 days doesn’t qualify for the 12 percent tax, one of the biggest moneymakers for the city, said Ted Burton of the Office of Economic Development. City officials refused to divulge tax revenues collected from the hotel, but said last year the city garnered $2.5 million from its 23 hotels. 

If finalized, the sale will jeopardize the jobs of the 25 hotel employees, Kumar said, since less upkeep will be needed for short-term housing. He said the hotel, which already houses about 60 students on a short-term basis, would remain open during the transition. 

Kumar was among several who questioned Ito’s premise that student housing could support the hotel. 

“He needs to look at the big picture,” Hillman said. “One hundred seventy-five rooms is a lot to fill with students. I don’t think he’ll find enough business to succeed that way.” 

Becky White, assistant director at Cal Rentals, said that with UC Berkeley shutting down its English Language Program this spring the demand for short term housing was likely to drop. “At the moment there is enough housing,” she said, adding that there was a market for international students arriving for short-term research assignments, but that she usually received one such case per week. 

The pending sale is the latest chapter in the saga of the star-crossed hotel.  

Jerry Sulliger, who operated the Shattuck from 1993 to 1999, said business was strong under his stewardship, but a limited lease kept him from undertaking major renovations.  

In 1999, Global Royalty Hotels, a Southern California-based chain, bought the building and business for $8.5 million, but its plans to renovate the hotel stalled immediately when the man they had pegged to develop it died in a car accident, Sulliger said. Two years later, they sold to Sanjiv Kakkar for $12.5 million. 

Kukkar has made upgrades, Hillman said, but not enough to make it viable in an increasingly competitive market joined by new hotels in Emeryville. “If a good owner invests money into it, it would do really well. But I don’t think he’s the guy. He’s going to do cosmetic work, but it’s not going to be a top of the line hotel. 

Ito received high marks from Darlene Esparza of the Office of International Services at UC San Diego, who said international students who stayed at his complex had never lodged a complaint. 

Burton said business at the Shattuck has declined recently while the Hotel Durant has held firm in a tough market. When the Shattuck was last up for sale in 2001, Burton said an independent hotel operator told him it would require a cash infusion of $15 million to bring it up to snuff. 

The Shattuck’s future as a hotel was already on shaky ground after UC Berkeley announced its intention last fall to build a 200-room hotel and convention center at Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, just one block away. 

Though Burton thought both hotels could thrive downtown, Sulliger said the new UC development would likely mean the end for the Shattuck. “The Shattuck is an older hotel that’s been remodeled,” he said. “People would go to a modern hotel if it’s next door..

FRIDAY, FEB. 6 

Tom Torlakson, California State Senator, will speak on “Regionalism: New Thinking for A New Century” at 1:30 p.m. at UC Berkeley Alumni House Toll Room. Sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) and the Political Science Department. 642-1474. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with As’ad Abukhallil, Prof. Dept. of Politics, CSU, Stanislaus, “The Middle East After the Iraq War” 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.  

Upper San Leandro Reservoir Hike at 4 p.m. Meet at Valle Vistas Staging area. Rain cancels. For more information call Vonnie 925-376-5352 or Phyllis 525-2299. Sponsored by the Sierra Club Solo Sierrans. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

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. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Overeaters Anonymous meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 

Tour of Proposed UC Hotel and Conference Center Complex with UC Senior Planner & Project Manager Kevin Hufferd and organized by the Planning Commission subcommittee. Meet at 10 a.m. at the plaza in front of the Bank of America on the east side of Shattuck near Center St. In the event of inclement weather, the tour will be rescheduled. 

“A Walk Through History” The legacy of the past is on display in this stroll around Aqua- 

tic Park’s Middle Pond. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Gardening for Wildlife Learn to diversify your gardens by including CA native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers that provide food, shelter, and nesting places for a variety of wildlife, including birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Coyote Hills Regional Park, 8000 Patterson Ranch Rd, Fremont. Cost is $25, pre-registration required. 231-9430. mary@aoinstitute.org 

Kids Garden Club We’ll build a cob greenhouse for the season of cold and chills. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $3. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Walk in the Eastshore State Park Learn about plans for creek daylighting and nature restoration. Meet at Sea Breeze market, University Ave. just west of the freeway at 10 a.m. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Garden Basics, Part I with Robin North. Learn how to prepare for this spring’s planting season, and acquire some strategies for long-term success. At 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Responding to Terrorism for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Fire Department Training Center, 997 Cedar St. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html or by calling 981-5506. 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Earthquake Retrofitting for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Building Education Centre, 812 Page St. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html or by calling 981-5506. 

Annual Ergathon from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Civic Center Park. Berkeley High School rowers will each be rowing 4000 meters on an erg, a machine that simulates rowing, for donations. All donations go toward needed equipment and scholarships so that any BHS student who wants to row can. For more information contact Jane Dulay, jldulay@comcast.net or Ergathon Coordinator, Evelyn Larsen erlarsen@earthlink.net www.berkeleyhighcrew.org  

Northbrae Community Church’s Silent Auction and Gala Dinner at 5 p.m. at 941 The Alameda. Cost is $30 for adults, $10 for children. The public is welcome. Please call 526-3805 for reservations. 

Piedmont Children’s Choir Auditions for ages 7-10, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Children with no experience are encouraged to apply. To arrange an appointment call 547-4441, ext. 2. 

An Evening of Improv Comedy with Platypus Jones at 8 p.m. at Café Eclectica, 1309 Solano Ave. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 338-3899. 

The East Bay Marxist Forum Political Affairs Readers Group meets at 10 a.m. to discuss Democracy Matters: An Interview with Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party, USA, at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 595-7417. 

Introduction to the Alexander Technique, an educational method that helps you eliminate harmful habits of tension through increased awareness and control in everyday activities. From 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way. 848-6370.  

Visual Arts and Theological Studies Conference with a focus on the theological themes in three works of art: Junko Chodos’ “Requiem for an Executed Bird,” Stephen De Staebler’s “Winged Figure,” and Daniel Solomon’s Beth Israel Memorial Chapel. From 8:45 to 5:30 p.m. in the GTU Hewlett Library. Cost is $50, students $15. 849-8285. 

Rainbow Cafe ASTRAEA Fundraiser, lesbian singles dining and book tasting at 7:30 p.m. at Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. Cost is $30, dinner included. RSVP required. www.eastbayvoice.org/tickets 

SUNDAY, FEB. 8 

“Shorebirds of Berkeley's Wetlands” An array of over-wintering ducks has joined the resident population at Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 2 p.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Botanic Garden Foray Search for stinkpods, and learn why they should be called “stickpods” and other early bloomers in this native plant oasis. From 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Botanical Garden, in Tilden Park. 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Berkeley Women and the History of the University’s YWCA Dorothy Clemens, author of a book on the University’s YWCA, will discuss the role of Berkeley women, both town and gown, and the history of our own YWCA. From 2 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

“Electronic Voting in Alameda County: Are we being fooled?” Join Green Party members and community activists discussing concerns regarding the controversial Diebold voting machines used throughout Alameda County. County Supervisor Keith Carson, District 5, will share his views and answer questions from attendees. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 644-2293. countycouncil@yahoogroups.com 

A Tu B’Shvat Seder, celebrating the Jewish holiday of the trees will be held at 5:30 pm, at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. A benefit for the Jerusalem based Rabbis for Human Rights. 

Valentine’s Day Card Workshop Join us to make cards and to learn about the cultural history of Valentine’s Day, from 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area. Materials provided. Cost is $5, non-residents $7. 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Chocolate Tastings with Alice Medrich, author of “BitterSweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate” at 1 p.m. at The Pasta Shop, 1786 Fourth St. 528-1786. 

Workshop on Storytelling for the whole family from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Rep School of Theater, 2071 Addison St. Admission is free, please bring a children’s book as a donation to the John Muir School Library. 647-2972. 

The Berkeley Cybersalon invites everyone to a participatory discussion on the New Publishing Model with journalists/publishers from the SF Chronicle, Salon, Wired, and the UCB Graduate School of Journalism from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. $10 donation requested. www.berkeleycybersalon.com  

8th Annual Bike Film Fest from 4 to 9 p.m. at La Peña, 3015 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$20. Fundraiser for Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC). Free valet bike parking. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MONDAY, FEB. 9 

“Fifty Years: Brown v. Board of Education: A Troubled Legacy” with Waldo Martin, Professor of History at UC Berkeley, at 10 a.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Death Penalty Vigil from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART Station. All are welcome to join us, please note day change due to planned execution. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Volunteer Orientation for compassionate volunteers to help support women with cancer and their loved ones. From 6 to 8 p.m. Please call Emily for more information 601-4040, ext. 109. emily@wcrc.org 

Tu Bishv’at Seder Celebrate the Jewish New Year of the Trees according to the rites of the Kabbalah. Rabbi David Seidenberg, Jewish eco-theologian, will lead this journey through the “four worlds,” at 7 p.m. in the GTU Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. Co-sponsored with the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union. 649-2560. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthing at 1:15 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Tilden’s Vollmer Peak, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Willow Rescue” Descendants of the shoreline’s original willows are being returned to health through ivy removal at Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Mini-Rangers at Tilden Park Join us for an afternoon of nature study, conservation and rambling through woods and waters. Dress to get dirty and bring a healthy snack to share. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. For ages 8-12. Fee is $6 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“Hiking the 60-Mile Diablo Grand Loop” with Seth Adams, Director of Land Programs for Save Mount Diablo at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“A History of the Environmental Justice Movement” with Juliet Ellis, Executive Director of Urban Habitat, at 7 p.m. at the GTU Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

Writers’ Room Coach Training is offered from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for volunteers who would like to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. To attend please call Terry Bloomburgh at 849-4134 or email Bloomburgh@sbcglobal.net 

“Evolutionary Biology and Some Aspects of African History” with Wilmot G. James of The Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town, South Africa, at 4 p.m. in 652 Barrows Hall. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

“Judaism, What is it all About?” an interactive lecture series with Rabbi Judah Dardik, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. www.bethjacoboakland.org 

Handwriting Analysis with Kabbalistic Graphologist Yaakov Rosenthal, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Co-sponsored by Chabad of the East Bay and the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 234-4783. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 

“Migrations at Dusk” Black-crowned night herons leaving their willows in Aquatic Park cross paths with great egrets coming to roost above the Cabin. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 5p.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Great Decisions 2004: “The Media and Foreign Policy” with Prof. Ben Bagdikian, UCB Grad. School of Journalism from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. The Great Decisions program will meet for eight Wednesdays. Briefing booklets are available. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Back in the Day” A Black History Celebration, featuring Miles Perkins, leader of the “Mingus Amungus Jazz Band,” and the Fantastic Steppers Tap Group, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

“Which Candidate?” The Berkeley Gray Panthers of the East Bay is sponsoring a debate to help senior citizens decide which candidate they might support in the March 2 democratic primary, at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. 

Police Review Commission Community Forum on the proposed Berkeley Police Department (BPD) canine program. BPD would like to implement a canine unit using “find and bark” dogs. The dogs would be used primarily to increase officer safety in searching for violent suspects and to increase efficiency in finding missing persons. At 7 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center.  

Fun with Acting class meets at 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Free, all are welcome. 985-0373. 

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 

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

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

THURSDAY, FEB. 12 

“Bayshore Cleaning” Bring renewed life to tidal plants by helping remove storm debris from the bay shoreline in Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Introduction To Sustainable Landscape Design Create an environmentally friendly oasis in your yard using the principles of sustainability. We will cover the fundamentals of design, installation and maintenance of a sustainable landscape. Use of native plants, recycled materials, water conserving techniques and pest control will be discussed. From 7 to 10 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $35. To register, call 525-7610. 

“Children Soldiers” with Sarah Williams, Rotary Peace Scholar, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-9460.  

East Bay Mac User Group Meet Other Mac users F2F. Q & A session for all levels, software demos, tips, presentations and give-aways! Meets from 6 to 9 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

ONGOING 

Vocal Jazz Workshops on Saturdays for teenagers and adults, beginners and intermediate, begin Feb. 7 and run to April 10, at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Cost is $122 for Albany residents, $132 for others. 524-9283. 

Voice Technique Classes for Adults begin Feb. 11. Cost is $290 for 8 wks. Ongoing classes for children and teens. Verna Winter Studio, 1312 Bonita Ave. 524-1601. 

Valentine Day Weddings The Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s Office is pleased to announce that the office will be open Valentine’s Day, Sat., Feb. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to issue marriage licenses and perform wedding ceremonies. The office is located at 1106 Madison Street, in Oakland. The fee for a marriage license is $79, which includes one certified copy. The fee for a ceremony is $50 (cash or checks accepted). Interested parties should make an appointment. 272-6362.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Public Housing Resident Advisory Board meets on Mon. Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Housing Authority, 1901 Fairview St. Angellique DeCoud. 981-5475. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/publichousing 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 10. , at 7 p.m., with a Special Meeting at 5 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Church, 981-6342. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/disability 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at 2090 Kittredge. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti. 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Feb. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs, Feb. 12, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Feb. 12, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning 

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to commend the Daily Planet for publishing Michael Rossman’s controversial article on Clark Kerr. In a letter which also speaks highly of Rossman’s piece, Gilbert Bendix is in error about the emasculation of the Enola Gay exhibition at the Smithsonian. This inexcusable act was performed by I. Michael Heyman, who, when he was chancellor of UCB attempted to keep the Free Speech Movement marker from being put in place in Sproul Plaza. In that attempt to stifle free speech Heyman was fortunately unsuccessful. 

Peter Selz 

• 

MEA CULPA 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Sherry Smith is right, and I was wrong. Indeed, I confused two former UCB chancellors. Clark Kerr had no connection with the Smithsonian. My apologies to all concerned. 

Gilbert Bendix 

• 

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The city council is to be commended for initiating the long overdue process for adopting the zoning standards of the University Avenue Strategic Plan at their Jan. 27 meeting. 

The first meetings that eventuated in the plan were held more than 10 years ago, in the fall of 1993. The plan itself was approved by the council three years later. In those intervening three years, citizens, commissioners, city staff, and skilled consultants exercised an immense amount of care and effort to ensure that the plan represented the best, collaborative thinking of which our community was capable.  

Why is the city still struggling almost 10 years later with the problems that the plan addressed? In part, it is because the zoning standards developed in the plan have amazingly, after all this time, never been officially adopted. Passage of the plan raised expectations. By failing to enact the plan’s zoning standards, the city has guaranteed the perpetual dashing of those expectations and encouraged hopelessness and cynicism about planning in general as well as needless antagonisms between residents and developers.  

Residents deserve the protections and amenities they worked so hard to secure in the plan. Developers deserve the certainties that clear zoning standards offer and the confidence that they can proceed with their projects without facing interminable antagonism from shocked and apprehensive neighbors. 

The longer we delay enacting the fundamental recommendations of the plan, the more we exacerbate those negative features of the street identified in the plan and lose opportunities to develop its strengths, as envisioned by the plan. I hope others will let the city council know you appreciate their finally taking action to get those standards in the zoning ordinance. 

Rob Browning 

• 

YMCA RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Mark Johnson asked “Did it ever occur to the YMCA that its patrons could get a little exercise on their way to exercise at the gym by riding their bicycles there?” (Letters, Daily Planet, Jan. 13-15). 

Yes, Mark, it did. And many Y patrons do ride their bikes to the Y. 

But apparently it did not occur to you that not all of our “patrons” come to the YMCA “to exercise at the gym”. The Y has many programs not directed to exercise—Y-scholars, arts programs, family swims for pleasure, Head Start, summer camp, day care, etc. 

Moreover, some of our “patrons” are unable to ride bicycles to the Y, because of either age, health, disability, or circumstances (for example, we have many parents who bring very young children or a number of children to the YMCA, the transportation of which by bicycle would be impossible or impractical at best). We also have patrons who live in areas which would make biking impractical because of distance, hills, weather, or personal security (for example, woman at night in some areas). 

I hope that answers your question, and hopefully you will take the time to learn more about the YMCA, its programs, and its patrons. 

David M. Weitzman 

YMCA Board Member 

• 

AC TRANSIT PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The City of Berkeley has always discouraged cars on residential streets, through the use of frequent stop signs, traffic barriers, etc. If AC Transit’s plan is implemented, where are cars supposed to go? Back on residential streets? Telegraph, Shattuck, Sacramento, and San Pablo are supposed to be the cross-town routes. 

In the future we may have noisy, diesel-spewing buses take over two of these streets. Why? Because AC transit wants more riders and figures faster buses would do it. Sorry, that won’t work. People drive their cars because cars go to places where buses don’t go. Parents prefer cars and vans because of all the impedimenta they carry around, such as car seats and sports equipment, not to mention car-pooling of kids to school. So there will be millions of dollars wasted, the streets will look like hell, everyone will be angry, and AC Transit will scratch its head and wonder what went wrong. 

I’m old enough to remember the “beautification of Shattuck Avenue.” For months (years?) Shattuck was a mess when BART was being installed. But that was OK, because we knew we would have a great transit system, and it would be underground.  

AC Transit should go back to the drawing board. 

Jean Shirley Auka 

• 

FAILING GRADE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I am writing to comment on, “Did Real Estate Drive Takeover of Schools?” (Daily Planet, Jan. 30-Feb. 2) by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor. The article implies that Sheila Jordan, Alameda County Schools Superintendent, is involved in some “plan” to put Oakland schools on the path to real estate development. I have two children in Berkeley schools and have worked closely with Sheila Jordan over the past four years on education projects. I know Sheila Jordan to be a dedicated leader in the education community. I am impressed with the many “plans” coming out of the Alameda County office of Education (ACOE). Did you do your homework before writing your article? I give your article an “F.” I sincerely hope you do better next time.  

Kim Boston 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet:  

I just returned from a short trip to New York City where, among other things, I spent some time at the office of the Board of Standards and Appeals, which is the NYC version of ZAB. We are partners with our daughter in a small apartment in Queens which overlooks a vacant lot where a developer wants to put up a monster building. The BSA staff person returned my call and invited me to look at the file which was provided by very courteous counter staff, who then provided me, unrequested, with a staff phone list in case I have follow up questions. Truly amazing.  

Christopher Adams 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet:  

How interesting it is that our hyper-violent and erotically-oriented corporate culture of entertainment blithely puts on an uncensored, national spectacle of crotch-grabbing, naked pomposity, yet succumbs to tremendous pressure on a film maker (Mel Gibson) to delete a biblical scene from one of the most anticipated and perhaps relevant motion pictures of our time. 

Marc Winokur 

Oakland 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet:  

In her letter to the Daily Planet (Jan. 30-Feb. 2 edition), Carolyn La Fontaine asks for an explanation of the awful parking situation around Andronico’s on Solano Avenue. Here it is.  

It seems that at the behest of Andronico’s, the Solano Avenue Association and Councilmember Mim Hawley, the city’s office of transportation installed city signs converting the seven parking spaces in front of the Solano side of the store into a loading zone from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday so that the area could be used by trucks making deliveries to the market.  

These signs are illegal. They directly violate the terms of Andronico’s use permit, which stipulate that except for meat and poultry, which may be hand-carried into Andronico’s Fresno entrance, all deliveries must occur on the store’s premises.  

Also illegal is the sign declaring the parking space on Fresno just south of Solano a loading zone 7-10 a.m. every day except Sunday, as well as the red cones and signs in the parking spaces on Colusa just south of Solano declaring the area a loading zone in the morning.  

The situation on Colusa is particularly distressing. Even if it were legal for delivery trucks to park on Colusa north of the egress from the market’s parking lot, it would still be dangerous. Drivers turning out of the parking lot cannot see southbound traffic coming onto Colusa.  

When Andronico’s expanded in the early ‘80s, it accepted the terms of its use permit; it has not honored them. Instead, it has taken over the parking on the three streets that surround its site, while using its on-site delivery bays for storage. Worse yet, instead of getting Andronico’s to comply with the terms of its permit, the city is helping the store to evade them.  

Neighbors have complained before to the city before about the noise, the inconvenience and the parking and traffic issues raised by Andronico’s delivery trucks, to no effect. Nor have current objections gotten any response. Last Friday, an hour before reading Ms. La Fontaine’s letter, I delivered a letter from the board of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association (TONA) to City of Berkeley Transportation Director Peter Hillier asking him to remedy the situation by removing the illegal signs and working with other city officials to ensure that deliveries on Colusa stop and those on Fresno be curtailed.  

Since then, I have not heard from Mr. Hillier. The signs and the cones remain, and the delivery trucks continue to park on the street instead of on Andronico’s property. Meanwhile, the word from Councilmember Hawley and her staff is that the store is going to seek a revision in its use permit that will allow the on-street parking of delivery trucks. Councilmember Hawley supports such an effort.  

Whether or not the market does pursue a revision, in the meantime its current use permit is in effect. The TONA Board will continue to press the city to get Andronico’s to play by the rules.  

Zelda Bronstein, President  

Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association  

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet:  

The latest piece of the Franklin Elementary School/Berkeley Adult School scam concerns a so-called “community garden” in Linda Maio’s e-mails to the e-mail list. Anything to take the focus off kids! It is essential to not only have a kid-friendly space, but to have a kid-oriented space. I don’t have kids and I never will, but it is morally repugnant to trash kids’ space. Period. The kids need a totland! 

Community gardens are locked. I considered joining the Peralta garden a while back and I received a letter from Karl Lynn saying I could join the homeowners group and pay money for access. Community gardens to get City of Berkeley money, but perish the though that a hungry person might try to eat the vegetables. 

Lingo is everything in this battle! 

Alice Jorgensen 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In reading the redundant untruths about Israel by the likes of ISM’er Jim Harris and the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace, one asks why one should respond to such screed? Alas, the answer lies in Himmler’s infamous instructions to Hitler’s minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels: “If you repeat the same lies enough, the people will come to believe them.” 

Harris and JVP member Hauer defend our city council’s canonization of ISM’er Rachel Corrie and the council’s refusal to support the investigation of those scores of American Jews murdered by Palestinian terrorists. Neither Harris, Hauer nor the council were able to acknowledge the differences between the death of Corrie and the numerous Jews. The latter were in Israel largely to visit family, friends or tour their holy shrines. They were killed simply because they were Jews. And any investigation would surely underscore that their murders were either ordered or supported by the leadership of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PLA’s Al Aqsa Brigade, and/or Yassir Arafat himself. 

Corrie, herself older than a good number of the Palestinian homicide bombers and capable for her own decisions, voluntarily joined International Sanctuary Movement—an organization which embraces Palestinian terrorists. Indeed, the term “”sanctuary”” is most appropriate as that organization both hid a leader of Islamic Jihad and played host to two Pakistanis who shortly thereafter became homicide bombers.  

Corrie died when she was trying to stop an Israeli bulldozer from destroying what later was found to be tunnels through which Palestinian terrorists imported arms from Egypt. As the sole ISM eyewitness told Reuters and Mother Jones Magazine, Corrie’s death was most likely an “accident.”  

Unlike the innocent Americans killed by Palestinian terrorists, Corrie was a member of an organization which aided and abetted said terrorists. Hence, she and her fellow ISM’ers could be termed “war criminals” as accessories to murder. It’s rather difficult to mourn for members of such an odious organization. 

If giving sanctuary to terrorists makes ISM well named, surely “Jewish Voice for Peace” is a misnomer in the vein of the American bomber the Reagan administration dubbed “The Peacekeeper.” JVP members, like their hero Noam Chomsky, are “Jewish” only by accident of biology. Chomsky forfeited any ties with his heritage by writing an introduction to a book by crackpot Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson. The JVP forfeit any connective tissue with their heritage by supporting Palestinian terrorists as freedom fighters and demanding a single party state encompassing Israel and the Palestinian territories, wherein Palestinians would have a ruling majority. 

Concerning the majority the Berkeley City Council who refused to consider a resolution calling for an investigation of American Jewish deaths in Israel, I would say, “Stop being a slave to the distortions of the pro-Palestinian ideologues of the so-called Peace and Justice Commission and try getting your news on the issue from sources other than the misinformation regularly swilling from KPFA.” 

Consistent lies about Israel are only the latest incarnation of one of mankind’s oldest form of bigotry, anti-Semitism. While distortions concerning 

Israel are not necessarily anti-Semitic, more often than not that is precisely what they are. 

Dan Spitzer 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Dear Mayor Tom Bates: 

I’d just like to thank you for your sincere efforts on behalf of Berkeley’s homeless. I think in your own way, you’ve made a unique and powerful statement on the subject of urban homelessness. And I hope some of these other mayors take note. 

As you’re probably well aware, the homeless problem is a national—and even international—problem in its scope and origin. And there’s probably not a lot that can be done on the local level, aside from putting Band-Aid solutions on the problem after the fact. But certainly the town of Berkeley can be proud of the Herculean effort it has made in that regard (a point I regularly make to some of these local bums who complain to me that Berkeley isn’t providing enough service to suit them. Compared to what?) 

Again, much thanks for your time, effort and good will. 

Ace Backwords 

• 

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Dear Mayor Bates: 

City staff paycuts and mandatory time off (MTO) is a Bushy neo-con, neo-liberal concession and the wrong thing to do in an economic crisis. Are you going to be supporting big-box stores and labor abuse at Safeway and Albertson’s next? The neoliberals expect you to roll over as they gain more ground strategically in the US. Fortunately, history has shown that neo-liberal policies nearly always fail: remember Chile and Argentina? Well paid city staff help fuel a healthy local economy. Your recommended paycuts and even the threat of paycuts by businesses that happily follow your bad example, will help to ruin our local economy. No paycuts or labor rule manipulations for city staff.  

There’s plenty of money in this community. Plenty of value that can be taxed to pay for necessary city services if both the federal and state governments are not providing the revenues needed for necessary city services. It’s a lie that there are more efficiencies to be made in this city. Most people in civil service social service jobs are working an equivalent of three jobs at once. This must end. The rich of Berkeley aren’t going anywhere. You and the Berkeley City Council have to tax the wealthy residents—both corporate and individual. Close all loopholes. You have to tax property transfers above a certain amount and come up with other direct ways of raising revenue. If balkers move to Texas or the wasteland of middle Amerika, plenty of high quality others will come to replace them. A stand needs to be taken somewhere about the right thing to do to maintain a civilized society that adequately provides an infrastructure for an evolving civilized city. This city leadership, as any city being victimized by poor-mouthing state and federal leadership, must take the reigns itself and adequately, pro-actively and compassionately provide for the well being and necessary public services for it’s remaining middle class and needy citizens. Unlike neo-liberal policies, these policies nearly always produce a higher quality of life for everyone. 

Mayor, please work hard to open up business planning to larger non-special interest public oversight. Firmly ban package stores, soulless department stores and big boxes. Employ the creativity of the residents of this city to enrich the local economy. I would think that we could effect a socioeconomic balance here in Berkeley. You’ve done better in the past. Do far better now for the people you are charged to help. We don’t need a turncoat neo-liberal like Jerry Brown in the City of Berkeley. We need Tom Bates, who over his long tenure brought much needed social improvements in over 200 pieces of legislation that significantly helped the poor and middle class to have a higher quality of life, even in the face of early neo-liberalism under Reagan as California governor. 

Frank Snapp 

Oakland 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet:  

John Kenyon somehow became aware of five buildings he calls “signs of architectural life,” in the Berkeley flatlands, and told us about them (Daily Planet, Jan. 27-29), which is fine with me, but he prefaces and concludes his story by dismissing over half of Berkeley—everything west of MLK!—with generalizations both factually inaccurate and offensive to the large numbers of your readers who live here: 

“…an uneventful mix of modest bungalows ranging from ‘Sub Craftsman’ to ‘Plebian Ranch,’ made bearable here and there by surviving old trees…(a) visual limbo… Only a dedicated urban geographer would wish to be exposed to San Pablo Avenue or any stretch of the bland streets on either side.” 

As a south Berkeley resident who walks all over town for pleasure, I can show you dozens of “signs of architectural life,” in every part of South Berkeley and West Berkeley, if that means interesting, quirky remodels and home construction projects such as those shown in the article. Many are on main streets where Mr. Kenyon must have passed them. Perhaps none of them are to his taste, but it’s just as likely that, driving to somewhere else, he didn’t even see them.  

Kenyon’s careless remarks play to the ignorance and snobbism of some hill dwellers and out-of-towners. They would not deserve notice if so many of those people didn’t vote on matters affecting us, and drive daily on our main streets, often at 40 mph, turning them into daunting obstacles for walkers and bicyclists. Contempt for the flatlands environment implies that restrictions on traffic or development aren’t needed here, since we have little of value to be lost.  

For the record: uncontrolled traffic through the flatlands is a major problem that stops residents from walking or biking, thus making all of Berkeley’s traffic and parking worse. Please remember that people live here and slow down! 

Ann Sieck 

FRIDAY, FEB. 6 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Frank Garvey “Genetically Modified Surrealism” Reception for the artist from 5 to 7 p.m. at Epic Arts Gallery, 1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Hilda Robinson “The Art of Living Black,” oil pastels, opens at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

THEATER 

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley, “Helen of Troy (Revised),” written by Wolfgang Hilesheimer, translated and directed by David Fenerty at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck. Fri. and Sat. through Feb. 21. Admission is $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Albany High School, “Grease” at 8 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. Also on Sat. at 1 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5-$10, 558-2575. 

Aurora Theatre, “Man of Destiny” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver at 8 p.m. Through March 7. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Yellowman” by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Les Waters, 2025 Addison St. Through March 7. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Impact Theater, “Say You Love Satan” opens at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Through March 13. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts”, performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

Bill Santiago’s “Spanglish 101” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Workshop with Robert Beavers at 3 p.m. and Anthony Mann: “The Great Flamarion” at 7:30 p.m. and “Strange Impersonation” at 9:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Merce Cunningham Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Mozart Birthday Celebration with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $20. 415-392-4400. www.sfchamberorchestra.org 

Ives Quartet, “Les Vendredis” chamber works by Russian composers, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$18. 415-883-0727. 

Christy Dana Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. 524-1124. 

Viviane e Prefixo de Verão, from Brazil, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Route 111, Thriving Ivory, Polly’s Orchid at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Pete Best Experience, Cover Girls at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Triple Play, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Ira Marlowe at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Denise Perrier at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Quetzal at 9:30 p.m. benefit for Urban Promise Academy, at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Steve Seskin & Allen Shamb- 

kin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Katy Jay Band at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Good Clean Fun, Time for Living, Kill the Messenger, Case of Emergency, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Flowtilla at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Teed Rockwell, Hindustani classical music at 8 p.m. at Bansuri’s Spring Gallery, 3929 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. 594-0754. www.bansuri.net 

Aleph Null, home-grown neo-Persion art music, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Derique the clown at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $3-$4. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Wild About Books” storytime with the Brian Waite Band, at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

THEATER 

“Ben Franklin: Unplugged” with Josh Kornbluth in a comic, autobiographocal monologue at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $15-$22 in advance, $25 at the door. 848-0237. 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts”, performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., between Spruce and Euclid. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “His Grace’s Will” at 7 p.m. and “The Monastery of Sendomir” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Forrest Gander and Elizabeth Robinson at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Poetry Reading and Contest Winners Celebration from 3 to 5 p.m. with the Bay Area Poets Coalition at the South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella at 8 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium at UC Berkeley. Competing groups are California Golden Overtones, Cal Jazz Choir, University of Oregon Divisi, Stanford Harmonics, and others. Tickets are $7-$10. www.varsityvocals.com  

Merce Cunningham Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Flauti Diversi, “The Italians Are Coming,” baroque music in the Italian style from 18th century London at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $15-$18. 527-9840.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Melvyn Tan, fortepiano at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $29-$60. 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org  

Trinity Chamber Concerts Joyce Todd McBride, contralto, Dawn Kooyumjian, pianist, performing Haydn’s “Arianna a Naxos,” Brahms Lieder, and works for solo piano at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Marina Lavalle and Lalo Izquierdo perform Afro-Peruvian music at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Faye Carroll, music from then to now, at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

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

Bob Marley Birthday Celebration with Groundation at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

The Original Intentions at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

The Earl White Band, traditional old-time music at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

The Lovemakers, Desoto Reds at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

The Servants, Trouble Horse, Jerry Hannon at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Matt Renzi, Peter Barshay and Eddie Marshall at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Tree Leyburn and guests at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Rock & Roll with Nicole at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Braziu, samba, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $12. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Kylesa, Brainoil, Iron Lung, Desolation, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Bryan Girard Trio at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Irina Rivkin and Making Waves CD fundraiser at Rose Street House of Music. Donation $5-$20. For information and location call 594-4000 ext. 687. www.rosestreetmusic.com 

Wataka Ensemble, Afro-Vene- 

zuelan dance and music at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

SUNDAY, FEB. 8 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Matrix 210: Simryn Gill “Standing Still” Photographs exploring the idea of time standing still opens at the Berkeley Art Museum and runs through April 4. 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Animal Art at the Oakland Animal Shelter, by Jennifer Brault, Julia Kay and Debbie Sawin. Reception from 1 to 3 p.m. at 1101 29th Ave. 535-5605. www.oklandanimalservices.org 

FILM 

Robert Beavers “My Hand Outstretched” Program 3 at 3 p.m. and Victor Sjostrom: “Karin, Daughter of Ingmar” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Purple Heart” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $2. 848-0237. 

8th Annual Bike Film Fest, a fundraiser for Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition from 4 to 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with David Daniel and Jane Mead at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

“The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival” with author Louise Murphy, at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Co-Sponsored by Café Europa and Black Oak Books. 848-0237, ext. 112.  

Berkeley Women and the History of the University’s YWCA with author Dorothy Clemens at 2 p.m. at Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

“Jewish and African-American Artists of the Thirties: A Chronicle of Shared Experience” with cultural and art historian Bram Dijkstra at 2 p.m. at Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. 549-6950. www.magnes.org 

Read Shakespeare Aloud with the Shakespeare Reading Club. No experience necessary. For information and location please call Clifford Schwartz 306-0206. cswilford@lycos.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert “Le Gôut Italien,” music of Vivaldi and others at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Hilary Hahn, violin and Natalie Zhu, piano, at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Recital with Malcolm Rudland at 6:10 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Donations appreciated. 845-0888. 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Melvyn Tan, fortepiano, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $29-$60. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org  

Community Women’s Orchestra “Other Worlds” a family concert with works by Beethoven, Mozart, Holst and Shore at 4 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. $5 donation. 530-4213. 

“Oaktown Blue” an afternoon of song, dance, drama, and spoken word in salute to West Oakland in the ‘20s at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

The Rebeca Mauleon Quartet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Ta Ke Ti Na Workshop with Zorina Wolf from 3 to 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $35. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, annual fundraiser, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

024c and CMAU, experimental improvisors at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

UC Berkeley Annual Faculty Art Exhibition, reception from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. Exhibition runs to March 5. 642-2582. 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Resist the Present: Yvonne Rainer and Lee Anne Schmidt” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Helen Knode and James Ellroy present Knode’s debut novel, “The Ticket Out,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Writers’ Workshop with Rhys Bowen discussing “How to Write a Sucessful Mystery Series” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Annalee Walker and Paradise, and open mic, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midnite performs reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17 in advance, $20 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Warsaw Poland Brothers, Monkey and The Connected at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

California College of the Arts Alumni Exhibition “Advance to Go” Reception 6 to 8 p.m. at 5212 Broadway, Oakland. Exhibition runs to March 6. 594-3712. 

FILM 

Film 50: “The Phantom Chariot” at 3 p.m. and Video: They Might be Giants: “Bill Viola” at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Madeline Albright talks about “Madame Secretary” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Gary Snyder reads from “Riprap & Cold Mountain Poems” and “Practiceof the Wild” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation requested. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land” with author Donna Rosenthal at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0327, ext. 112. 

Stephen Altschuler introduces us to “Hidden Walks in the East Bay and Marin: Pathways, Yesterdays and Essays” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose. 843-3533. 

Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet read from “Killing the Buddha: A Heretic’s Bible” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

4th Annual Erotic Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik, featuring Aya de León and Roger Bonair-Agard, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10, $7 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ben Jones reads from his Civil War novel, “The Rope Eater” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Young Musicians Program at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Gypsy Spirit, “Journey of the Roma” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$38, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

“Back in the Day” A Black History Celebration, featuring Miles Perkins, leader of the “Mingus Amungus Jazz Band,” and the Fantastic Steppers Tap Group, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 981-5170. 

Ragas and Talas, classical Indian music open jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Midnite performs reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17 in advance, $20 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

John Reischman and The Jaybirds, bluegrass and new grass at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Nicole and the Sisters in Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

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

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

Quiksand, Smith Point and Down Boy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

When word broke last week that the city’s largest free dinner, the Quarter Meal, will be reducing service and possibly closing, many wondered what further hits await Berkeley food programs already facing cuts in both city and private sector funding. 

Rising costs forced the cuts in the Quarter Meal, Berkeley’s oldest dinner service for low income and homeless residents. Run by the Berkeley Food and Housing Project (BFHP), the dinner—which usually operates five days a week—will cut back to three on March 1 and will close by June if financial problems aren’t resolved. 

As with other similar programs in Berkeley, the Quarter Meal’s troubles didn’t stem solely from city budget cuts. The program took in as much from the city this year as last, and private donations were up 24 percent.  

What threatens to sink the program are skyrocketing costs in health care premiums and workers compensation on top of mandatory compliance with the city’s living wage ordinance—which raised minimum the wage for city employees and anyone working on a city contract from $9.75 to $10.76 an hour to reflect inflation.  

“We could have handled any one of those problems on their own,” said Marci Jordan, BFHP executive director. Combined, however, the costs were too much. 

Jordan said the decision to cut the Quarter Meal came after months of eyeing the budget. The BFHP knew the new fiscal year would bring hardship, but staffers couldn’t predict just how badly. The decision to eliminate the meal service came only after cuts in other programs. BFHP employees haven’t had a raise in two years, vision plans were cut, medical plans with lower premiums were chosen and some positions were eliminated at other facilities run by the BFHP. 

Jordan said other projects were spared because cuts there would push people from shelters and transition programs back onto the streets. 

“It came to a choice of food or shelter,” she said. 

BFHP also operates the North County Women’s Center (which includes a women’s daytime drop-in center and a shelter), the men’s shelter at the Berkeley Veteran’s building, the Russell Street residence for the mentally disabled homeless, and the multi-service center (MSC)—a referral and intensive case management service. 

The Quarter Meal currently operates on a $207,012 budget, including $60,000 from the city. BFHP’s total budget is a little over $2 million. With the increase in service costs for the 45-50 BFHP employees, they now face a $110,000 hole they cannot fill. 

Jordan doesn’t blame the city, and she plans to ask them for more money—because without more money from the city and other donors, BFHP will soon have to make other cuts.  

“If [costs] continue to rise, we’re going to have to close programs that will put people on the street,” Jordan said. 

Jane Micallef, a City of Berkeley community services specialist, said city Housing Department Director Steve Barton recently surveyed all the programs, asking them to review their current budget problems and try to predict others they could face in the future. 

Like Jordan, Micaleff fears that the just-announced cuts are only the beginning. “I think this city has demonstrated enormous commitment to homelessness problems,” he said, “but there is only so much a city the size of Berkeley can do.” 

Unfortunately, say advocates, BFHP and Quarter Meal aren’t the only programs facing budgetary woes. Other food programs in Berkeley are also scrambling with city and private funding cutbacks. 

Jackie DeBose, volunteer director at New Light—a food service and delivery program that serves food to elderly people primarily in south and west Berkeley—said her service is getting by on a shoestring after the city cut their funds by $10,000. 

Founded by Maudelle Shirek, now a city councilmember, New Light opened three decades ago to provide healthier alternatives for the home-bound elderly. Their delivery service provides lunches on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, serving over 10,000 people a year, and feeds another 5,000 yearly at their California Street facility.  

New Light’s private donations fell this year, with a $25,000 reduction in last year’s $150,000 budget—including the loss of $15,000 from the San Francisco Foundation—forcing the organization to consolidate jobs and cut staff vacation pay. 

DeBose said the budget is so tight there isn’t money to organize a fundraiser or send out a mailing, and she’s heard that further cuts in city funding are imminent. 

“Another cut would be devastating to us,” she said. “There is a good chance that we would have to shut down.” 

DeBose said she’s frustrated with the city, pointing to other programs—including the proposed police K-9 unit—as examples of what she calls mismanagement.  

“I love dogs, but if you have on the one hand seniors who need to be fed, [and on the other, dogs], do you feed the seniors or the dogs?” 

She said the thought of the program closing and seniors lapsing back into unhealthy eating habits is painful. “We’re the bottom, we’re the net, and when you put a hole in the net, people fall through,” she said. 

Other local programs facing cutbacks include the county-wide Project Open Hand, the Women’s Day-Time Drop-In Center in Berkeley, and several others. 

Brian Devine, East Bay program manager for Open Hand (which also runs a larger program in San Francisco), said the past two or three years have been tough on the organization which delivers meals to people with terminal diseases. 

Most of Open Hand’s funds comes from corporate donors who have generally slashed grants in response to the poor economy. Devine said that because most corporations keep their donation money in the stock market, as the market slumped, so did contributions. 

While healthcare and workers comp costs have continued to escalate and Open Hand pays more for its meals because of the costlier specialty foods needed for those with restricted diets, Devine said his program’s overall private sector funds had remained constant—allowing the East Bay program to make do with minimal cuts, including the elimination of this year’s employee cost of living raises. 

Devine said that while program staff members have almost grown accustomed to cuts, “it’s been very disheartening.” 

The Women’s Day-Time Drop-In Center has survived reduced and redirected city funding thanks to increased private funding, said Claudia Madison. Program staff, who serve breakfast and lunch six days a week, still worry about cuts to other city programs however, because their organization functions primarily as a referral and management service. 

On Wednesday night, Quarter Meal clients were still in good spirits, trying to get their food and eat before volunteers started to clean up. News of the cuts could be heard in soft voices under the louder bustle of the crowd. Mike Douglas and Heather Noyes are both homeless and have eaten at the Quarter Meal four or five times a week since coming to Berkeley from Richmond two years ago. They say they’ll have to scramble more than usual from now on. They have no other option. 

“I just roll with the punches because reality is reality,” said Douglas.

BERKELEY FREE FOLK FESTIVAL 

To Berkeley Free Folk Festival participants and supporters;  

The Berkeley Free Folk Festival is a wonderful treasure for the City of Berkeley. If you are someone who cares about keeping the wonderful Free Folk Festival happening in Berkeley, please join us to discuss these questions and get an early start on making the next festival the best one ever.  

Unfortunately planning for the festival at some times in some ways has involved less than transparent information as to the ways to participate and ways to ensure increased accessibility for the disabled community. I believe that some individuals have attacked several people including disabled activists and myself for expressing concerns about accessibility and disabled issues. When people take the time and trouble to stand up for the ADA, it is important to acknowledge and respect such concerns. This is especially important because the ADA itself prohibits retaliation against advocates who point out access questions. At times there has been a climate of retaliation against those who attempt to raise festival related issues, including me. With no notice, a few years ago, I was kicked off the committee working on the event. Significant improvements have occurred gradually. May 2003 included at least one performer in a wheelchair and an improved location through the use of a school which is a state code building. Braille programs were made available, which was an exciting improvement. More improvements need to be made. I believe it is important to ensure permanent continuation of the festival. With proposals to reduce funding for festivals and community events threatening some of the heart and soul of Berkeley we must come together to defend our events and make them even better. I would like it to be easier for everyone involved whether they be folks who have previously made suggestions, or people who were complained about. We need a healing period or process and part of healing usually includes admitting the mistakes of the past and building structures to avoid repetition. Early planning is important to effectiveness. To increase clarity and reduce confusion for the next festival it would be beneficial to answer some questions.  

As the original sponsor of the festival I wish to express my concerns and discuss them in a meeting which will address the following proposed agenda:  

To be sure that this year the climate is not hostile but receptive, how do we prevent retaliation? How do we insure transparence of the process?  

How can we make this event a model of the best disabled accessibility? Who are the members of the committee and how are they chosen? What is the process for making decisions? How can we maximize participation of the musicians and supporters? How can we raise additional funds to support the event?  

If you are someone who cares about keeping the wonderful Berkeley Free Folk Festival, please join us to discuss these questions and get an early start on making the next festival the best one ever.  

We are happy to provide a meeting room here at the City Hall conference room, 2180 Milvia St .  

Councimember Kriss Worthington 

The Claremont Resort and Spa—the East Bay’s premier resort—is up for sale. 

Word came first from the Oakland-based Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 2850 and confirmation followed from Patricia Peeples, a representative of Claremont owner KSL Resorts. 

Peeples said Thursday that the sale is part of a new financial venture with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), KSL’s main funding partner. KSL properties in Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Hawaii are also up for sale and two other California KSL properties have already been bought by KKR.  

According to KSL, the sales are part of expansion program that they hope will free them up to expand their property investments. The sales are also forced by KKR’s need to pay off investors. 

KKR’s website reported that $536 million of KSL’s initial start-up funding back in 1993 came from KKR. According to the union, KKR is funded primarily by public pension funds, several of which are liquidating those accounts, forcing KSL to sell property to repay investors. 

If the Claremont and other KSL properties are sold, union representatives said, KSL hopes to retain some equity by continuing to run the resort’s operations—though there could also be a full sale. Similar business models with operations and ownership split are now employed by several other successful hotel chains, including Hilton. 

“KSL is one of few companies to own 100 percent of its capital. What will happen now is KSL will have more capital for more acquisitions and reinvestment,” Peeples told the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, where the firm is also selling property. Peeples refused to discuss the Claremont sale with the Daily Planet. 

Meanwhile, officials from Local 2850 said they are excited by the news and hope the result will favor the labor struggle they’ve been waging with the Claremont for almost two years. 

“All the workers would be thrilled to death” if the Claremont was sold, said Leslie Fitzgerald, a Local 2850 organizer. The union and workers hope the labor strife will either force KSL to sign a contract in order to make the sale appealing to potential buyers, or that the dispute can be quickly resolved if the same company buys both operations and the property.  

“They feel like anyone would be better than KSL,” Fitzgerald said. 

Organizers and workers say the union-run boycott is partially responsible for the sale. Anne Appel, who refused to make any direct comment about business to the Daily Planet, told the San Francisco Chronicle last August that the boycott has affected the resort’s group business. In recent months the Claremont lost business from Kaiser Permanente, the HMO giant, and the UC Berkeley football team. 

“I think it’s really good news,” said Fidel Arroyo, a cook at the Claremont and member of Local 2850’s organizing committee. “We’re hoping we can find a new company that will negotiate. We don’t know what’s going to happen, [but we know] we want a just contract.”

What is happening in Berkeley’s downtown core, who is in charge, what is the vision? Despite being a longtime civic activist, I have no coherent idea of what is going on downtown beyond a series of catch-as-catch-can projects of varying degrees of attractiveness and plausibility, and behind the loud noise of a downtown boosterism that evidently masks a lot of confusion. Having checked with other citizen activists and city officials who should be in the know about downtown, I am convinced that no one is minding the downtown shop or has any clear notion of what our downtown will be like in 2020. 

The Idyllic Mid-century Main Street 

Up to the early 1970s, Berkeley had a workable, safe, and presentable small town downtown that included a modest department store (Hinks), a traditional five and dime establishment (Kresge’s), a quality market that even provided home grocery delivery (Blue and Gold), a presentable hotel with hotel restaurant (the Shattuck Hotel), several nice shops that catered to the city’s middle class (such as Morrison’s Jewelry), a few reasonably-priced American-type restaurants suitable for young family outings (Edy’s), and ample parking. Few persons actually lived in the heart of downtown (except for some elderly residents who were grandfathered into the Shattuck Hotel), but it was surrounded by modest and affordable working class homes whose owners and residents seemed to have few gripes about downtown commerce and activity.  

Berkeley High students had their own domain, in which they were reasonably contained, and UC denizens, expanding southward onto Telegraph Avenue and environs, had not significantly encroached across the eastern Oxford Street border into the downtown core. Apart from periodic political eruptions, this mid-century main street was serviceable and somewhat idyllic.  

Transformation and Decay 

Fast forward to the 1990s. By the ‘90s, the all too familiar forces of urban social change and dysfunctional politics, helped by BART construction disruptions, had transformed Berkeley’s downtown core into a scuzzy and dangerous low-rent district that no longer contributed to the city’s economic and social coffers and no longer held much appeal for the city’s middle classes. Put succinctly, there were too many homeless persons and social service establishments. Berkeley High students had become extremely rambunctious. There was no place to buy nice sheets and towels, in fact there was not much of anything to buy, nor to admire, in non-existent shop windows. There were too many copy shops. There were a lot of low-end food establishments but no comfortable place to sit down and dine. Parking became increasingly nightmarish, and the city’s parking control officers feverishly active. During the day, downtown Shattuck Avenue often seemed like an extension of Telegraph Avenue on a bad day. Nighttime was out of the question except for an occasional movie or Berkeley Rep performance, after which one could scurry to one’s car in fear. 

Something needed to be done. 

The Downtown Plan 

A city plan is a general statement of community priorities developed to guide public decision-making and steer day-to-day decisions in the desired directions. Since such plans are by nature general, unless there is clearly articulated vision and regular oversight, such plans are merely malleable documents that are not likely cumulatively honored.  

In 1990, the city enacted the Berkeley Downtown Plan as an amendment to the 1977 Berkeley Master Plan, and this downtown plan was re-adopted as part of the recent Master Plan update in 2002-2003. The downtown plan is chock full of worthy goals, objectives, and policies. Following is a small but important sampling of Berkeley’s goals, objectives and policies for the downtown core: 

“Create an appealing and safe downtown environment…Diversify, revitalize and promote the downtown economy.” 

“Develop a detailed streetscape plan.” (The city subsequently enacted a version of this in 1997, and most of the streetscape improvements mentioned therein and funded by Measure S have since been completed.) 

“Create a sense of community by locating housing for all income types in and near the downtown…Residents of downtown should be of a wide variety of social and income groups” 

“Enhance the economic vitality of the downtown with a mix of business to serve a wide variety of people…Ensure that the mix of uses in the downtown is appropriate to the downtown’s location both as part of Berkeley and the larger region…Strive for a socially diverse, economically thriving downtown, including a strong retail sector…Enhance the shopping activity in the downtown…” 

“Ensure that all public and private development downtown contributes positively to the downtown and pays its share of development costs and impacts associated with housing, traffic, parking, infrastructure and other impacts…” 

“Create adequate parking facilities to support land use policies for the downtown…Provide new long term parking facilities at remote locations adjacent to transit lines or shuttle service.” 

“Consider retail uses and residential uses as the highest priorities for the downtown with retail uses as a first priority…and residential uses second priority…Encourage land uses that will draw Berkeley residents to downtown for shopping and other activities. Attract a major retail anchor (department store or shopping complex…” 

So, since something needed to be done about the decay of Berkeley’s Downtown, the City took the proper first step by enacting the Downtown Plan. But initial clarity on concept was never followed up with clarity of execution. 

Politics and Piecemeal Development Trump Policy and Planning 

Berkeley’s big and perhaps now fatal mistake was to not follow up on the downtown plan with a detailed downtown visioning process and product, a formal downtown oversight body assisted by dedicated top-level staff, and enactment of the powerful legal tools, such as the creation of a redevelopment area, that are a prerequisite for master-planned land use. It is hard to believe, but there is really no one running the show and no show to run. There is no detailed downtown plan. There is no downtown staff czar or even consistent high-level staffing. There is no downtown advisory board representing a range of community interests and expertise. Instead, there is a hodgepodge of downtown development, some good and some bad. And, since there are several Berkeley individuals and groups who do care about downtown and do have opinions on large scale development, there is a hodgepodge of sniping at all proposed projects.  

We have a power void in our city with respect to our downtown and it is being filled by a mayor who, understandably wishing to leave his mark, is acting like a strong mayor in a weak-mayor town, in conjunction with disparate interest groups (such as developers, homeless advocates, creek freaks, ecocity dreamers, affordable housing gurus, preservation partisans) who, while having a right to their viewpoints, do not in any way speak for the community at large. As for Councilmember Spring, in whose district the critical downtown core happens to be located, she often speaks well for the surrounding neighborhoods but she is in no way authorized to be a sole-source provider of downtown input. 

Time to Develop the 2020 Vision 

So, although I am aware that the word moratorium will raise many hackles, and that our city staff and agenda is severely overburdened, I propose that we immediately implement the following measures: 

• Impose a moratorium on all large-scale downtown core development. 

• Establish a council-level downtown task force to undertake a serious downtown visioning/planning process. 

• Hire or appoint top-level planning staff for this task force, a “Downtown Czar” if you will, but a czar who is guided by constituent input and decisions. 

• Within six months, come up with a concrete vision and plan for the downtown core that will guide all large-scale downtown development. The plan should include visuals, recommended legal tools (including possible eminent domain and redevelopment powers), cash flow analyses of city costs and revenues, and all of the necessary ingredients to concretely plan and create a viable downtown for the entire Berkeley community. We already have an excellent framework in the 1990 downtown plan, so we need to move on from there to a detailed, concrete picture and action plan on which the larger community has agreed. 

We cannot restore our mid-century main street, nor would we want to, but we can certainly, together, try to create an updated main street that will be worthy of Berkeley and appeal to the entire community. We need to act immediately, before we are overwhelmed by misplaced “facts on the ground,” i.e., wrong developments. 

Barbara Gilbert is a longtime Berkeley resident and civic activist. 

KPFA General Manager Gus Newport announced Monday that he’s stepping down after eight short months at the helm of the Bay Area’s best-known alternative radio station. Newport said personal commitments, including the need to be with his 91-year-old mother who lives in New York, contributed to the decision. 

With local advisory board elections ending Thursday, Newport’s decision comes at a time when KPFA and Pacifica (the parent organization that runs KPFA) are already in the throes of change. After two plus years of internal struggle, KPFA—along with the other Pacifica stations including WBAI in New York, KPFK in Los Angeles, KPFT in Houston, and WPFW in Washington D.C.—is reorganizing its governing structure in an effort to democratize leadership. 

With a commitment to continue advising the station, Newport said a new general manager without outside obligations is needed to steer the station in the time of change. 

“I came to the conclusion that the time was right,” said Newport. “I love [KPFA] but it needs the full attention [of a general manager].”  

Jim Bennett, who filled in as interim general manager for almost three years during the battle with Pacifica over control of KPFA, will step in again until a replacement is found. The new local advisory board, which will be seated next week after the votes are counted, will begin its tenure by establishing a hiring committee. 

Bennett, along with others saddened by Newport’s decision, voices high hopes for a new era of stability as local boards settle around the country. “We basically have to catch our breath [and move on]” he said. 

Others are frustrated by Newport’s decision. Local advisory board Andrea Deflon, a volunteer producer and engineer at the station, said she never thought Newport was right for the job. 

She said others were impressed by his lengthy activist credentials. Newport served as the mayor of Berkeley from 1979 to 1986 and played a leading role as Berkeley’s became the first city in the nation to divest from South African investments. 

After his time as mayor, he led the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a major urban redevelopment project in Boston which has served as the model for other projects across the country. He has held several teaching positions, including one at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  

“The main problem is Gus is a politician, and a good one at that,” she said. “[But] he’s used to having a whole staff under him.” The GM job needed more hands on attention and less delegation, she said. 

“What he’s saying with this decision is just that this is a job [he] doesn’t want to take on, and that’s OK. It’s not causing havoc, it’s just unfortunate, we’re still going forward. We need someone who understands the broader picture, the broader Pacifica notion. We’re up against the Right; we have to be visionary.” 

Local advisory board member Mary Berg agreed with Deflon that the GM position demanded different skills than Newport brought to the job. 

“I’m sure Gus is very talented and could pick it up. But why would a man in his seventies take that up?” she said. The whole process “was unfortunate for Gus.” 

Willie Ratcliff, chair of the local advisory board, said nobody should be hired before the new advisory board is seated. The station was going through too much change to try and recruit a new GM, he said, and Newport got caught in the middle. 

“[Newport has] all the qualifications that are needed. If things were all right he’d still be GM,” Ratcliff said. 

He said part of the problem stemmed from an internal struggle over guidance. 

“[The staff] are afraid that [management] is going to usurp their power, they’re going to have a boss and they don’t like it,” Ratcliff said. “If you can’t get people to work with you than why are you going to beat your brains out, it made him sick.” 

Newport said he did his best to stay out of internal struggles, and stressed that his departure results from a need to attend to personal commitments. “If there was a power dynamic I wasn’t aware of it, I managed to stay above all the fray,” he said. 

Larry Bensky, who served as station manager from 1974-77 and was national affairs correspondent for Pacifica, produces and hosts Sunday Salon. He said KPFA attracts people with strong opinions who are passionate about the struggle to keep KPFA afloat. The ensuing chaos, he said, was too much for Newport. 

“[KPFA] has been a place where people of passion and people who are dissidents tend to gather. There are a lot of strong personalities,” he said. “It’s very hard even at the best of times to manage such a passionate group of people.”  

In the end, Bensky said, Newport’s inability to take control over such a complex media outlet helped the decision to resign. 

“His biggest mistake was not getting more people into positions of management and administration who had radio experience,” he said. “He was confused and alienated and understandably so.” 

Everyone interviewed said they are resolved to see KPFA through the search. Accompanying the chaos and frustration is an air of excitement about the new local boards and the elections for the national Pacifica board that will follow. 

“We are saddened that Gus is leaving; his being here meant a lot to us,” said Bennett. “KPFA beyond a doubt is very fragile, and anything that happens in terms of stability, we have to do our best to keep it afloat.” 

“Gus wanted to make KPFA more powerful and make it a more effective communication tool for the left, and that’s what we have to continue to do. We have to do it in a way that brings us all forward.”

Amid a testy debate that unlocked the door on one of the Berkeley Unified School District’s most sensitive issues—white flight—the school board Wednesday approved a plan to further integrate elementary schools despite warnings from one board member that it was picking an unnecessary legal fight. 

The new plan adds socioeconomic factors—parental income and education—to race in assigning students to elementary schools at a time when California courts have ruled that race may not be taken into account under Proposition 209.  

That measure, passed by voters in 1996, precludes racial preferences or discrimination in public education, employment and contracting. 

Last year the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, buoyed by a victory over a school district in Huntington Beach, sued Berkeley Unified over its school assignment plan. Though Wednesday’s vote institutes a new policy, lead PLF attorney Cynthia Jameson has said she would proceed with an amended case to cover the new plan as long as Berkeley Unified insisted on using race as a factor. 

The threat of a drawn-out lawsuit that could end in a legal defeat that could force the cash-strapped district to pay PLF legal fees tipped board member Shirley Issel against the plan. 

“I cannot believe that any of us on this board would choose to undertake a discretionary legal battle let alone use our children’s money to pay for it,” she said adding that the district’s contention that the plan held no financial implications “begs incredulity and violates the public trust.” 

Issel, who cast the lone vote in opposition, favored an assignment policy based solely on socioeconomic factors that a citizen committee—working on a mandate from former superintendent Jack McLaughlin—presented the board in 2002. That proposal was reworked by district officials into the current plan after a board majority made clear they wanted to retain race as a factor. 

Other board members took umbrage at Issel’s remarks, especially the Pandora’s box she opened when she argued that by reducing the odds of parents receiving their first choice in schools, the new plan would hasten middle class flight from the district and weaken parent involvement. 

“The logic of that argument would lead the district to 100 percent choice in Berkeley,” said board member Terry Doran. “That would attract a higher percentage of white students, but that would occur in segregated neighborhood schools. The community said no to that and the board is saying never again.” 

After Issel rejected any assertion she had a “hidden agenda” to return to segregated schools, student board representative Bradley Johnson pressed the issue further, saying his chief concern was middle class black flight which, he said, has sent most of his peers either to Catholic or other private schools. 

“It is incumbent that we address this issue,” said Bradley, who is African American. “We don’t have a group to bridge lower class blacks and upper class whites. It costs us parent involvement and academic leadership.” 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence argued that flight from the district was tied not to school assignment but resulted from years of district mismanagement. She said that as the district continues to address a poorly defined curriculum, violence, insolvency and low academic standards, confidence and enrollment will start to rise.  

Lawrence emphasized that the new school assignment plan was four years in the making and not tied to the PLF lawsuit. 

The new plan retains several features of the former policy. Elementary schools will still be divided into the same three zones, and students will still pick their three preferred schools and have priority to attend a school that a sibling already attends or that has a language program the child needs.  

But instead of placing children into elementary schools based, in part, on self-declared race, the new system will rely on assumed diversity characteristics of the planning area in which the student lives.  

Each planning area—about four to eight city blocks—will be given a value for parental income and education based on 2000 census information and racial breakdown between white and non-white, and based on multi-year K-5 enrollment.  

Planning areas will be assigned a value from 1 to 3—ranging from neighborhoods that tend to be more white with wealthier and highly educated parents to neighborhoods that have more minorities with poorer and less educated parents.  

Forms asking for student racial information will still be collected, in part, to monitor how well the system maintains racial balance at the district’s 11 elementary schools. 

Models calculated by district Admissions and Attendance Manager Francisco Martinez show the new system maintaining nearly identical levels of racial diversity while improving socioeconomic diversity. 

Choice could be slightly sacrificed under the new plan; Martinez estimates 67 percent of students would have received their first choice of schools this year, compared to 75 percent under the current system.  

The policy would also raise the acceptable deviation of student populations from a zone’s racial mix from the current five percent to a new maximum of 10 percent. Should the district opt for the 10 percent standard, more parents will get their first school choice, Martinez said. 

On the opposite side of the debate from Issel, about 30 members of the UC Berkeley group Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)—mostly students with a smattering of parents—spoke out against the new policy as a capitulation to the PLF and a retreat from its past as the first district to institute voluntary school desegregation.

Carl Freire absolutely, positively has to be in Japan next year. But a botched pick-up by Federal Express has cost the UC Berkeley doctoral candidate and 29 of his colleagues their best shot at a prestigious fellowship allowing them to study abroad.  

A computer glitch caused Federal Express to miss a scheduled pick-up of student applications for the Fulbright-Hayes fellowship Oct. 20, the postmark deadline date for all applications. 

Even though the applications were sent the following day with the airbill marked Oct. 20, the U.S. Department of Education ruled them invalid last week, much to the disgust of campus officials. 

“This is just a nightmare. It’s so stupid and senseless,” said Mary Ann Mason, dean of the graduate division. 

The university had spent weeks pleading their case, but appeals to Secretary of Education Rod Paige and a trip to Washington, D.C. by Chancellor Robert Berdahl failed to sway the department. 

“The facts are indisputable: UC Berkeley was negligent in failing to mail its application on time despite the fact that for years the university has applied for this program each fall,” wrote Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Sally L. Stroup in a prepared statement. 

Campus officials broke the news to students Tuesday, who had been kept in the dark about the bungled delivery. 

“I don’t know what my thoughts are,” Freire said, a doctoral candidate in Japanese history who needs to visit archives in Japan to complete his dissertation. “A little bit of responsibility seems to be spread around on this one.” 

Fulbrights are among the most prestigious and generous fellowships offered to graduate students. Unlike other fellowships, Fulbrights allow students to propose their own budgets and receive allowances for spouses. Under application rules, individuals must apply through their university. 

Last year, half of Berkeley’s 30 applicants received grants ranging from $19,593 to $63,947, according to the university. 

Problems with the application process first arose in September, campus officials said, when students and professors had difficulty navigating the Department of Education’s online filing system, causing the campus to request a waiver to mail paper applications. 

In previous years, applications went out several days before the deadline, school officials said, but due to problems with the department’s online application system, applicants got a late start, so the deadline was pushed back to Friday, Oct. 17, with overnight express pick-up scheduled for Oct. 20. 

But despite two calls from UC, Federal Express never came. In a letter sent with the applications on Oct. 21, Federal Express Dispatch Operations Manager blamed the botched pick-up on “problems with a new system rollout.” 

Campus officials contended that since the shipping labels for the applications were dated Oct. 20 they should qualify under department rules, but Stroup held UC accountable for the mishap. 

“The university blames Federal Express and the department. However, the reality is that when it became apparent that Federal Express would not arrive in time, a simple trip to the post office would have ensured that the university’s application met the deadline. Sixty other institutions met the application deadline.” 

An employee for the Institute of International Education, which oversees a different class of Fulbrights for the State Department, was shocked by the Department of Education’s ruling. “To me it’s inconceivable that any grant provider would be that rigid. I can’t imagine that we would quibble like that,” said the employee.  

Mason said the university would offer some money to affected students, though not enough to compensate for the potential loss of a Fulbright. 

Freire, who had applied for about $30,000 to fund his time in Japan is hoping one of the other fellowships he applied for comes through. “The archives I need are only in Japan,” he said. “I have to get there one way or another.”

Ignoring Mayor Tom Bates’ request to “hold off on the formal creation of a [UC Hotel Complex] task force for a month or so until a permit process is negotiated with the university,” a four-member planning commission subcommittee moved forward with the immediate creation of the UC Hotel Complex Task Force this week, including compiling a list of 24 members to be presented to the Berkeley Planning Commission at their Feb. 11 meeting and scheduling a Saturday morning walking tour of the proposed hotel site. 

The task force, which was formed at the request of both Mayor Bates and the city council, is expected to make recommendations to the council in early May on a wide range of issues surrounding the proposed hotel complex, from financial mitigations to architectural design to traffic effects to the possible daylighting of Strawberry Creek and a proposal to turn the block of Center Street in front of the hotel into a pedestrian mall. 

A hotel and conference center complex has long been envisioned for the downtown block bordered by Shattuck Avenue, Center Street, Oxford Street, and Addison Street, a block which currently houses a Bank of America branch and several UC properties. The estimated $150-200 million project began to take shape last year when it was taken up by the University of California itself. The college is proposing putting a hotel and a conference center on the site, as well as relocating several university-owned museums. UC is currently in negotiations with the Bank of America to purchase its property on the block, as well as with Mayor Bates’ office over tax and zoning issues.  

The 24-member task force includes: Rob Wrenn, Zelda Bronstein, Susan Wengraf, and Gene Poschman (all members of the four-person Planning Commission Hotel Complex Subcommittee), Wendy Alfsen (Transportation Commission), Deborah Bahdia (Downtown Berkeley Association), Helen Burke (Sierra Club), John English (planner), Austene Hall (Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association), Barbara Hillman (Convention and Visitors Bureau), Liz Hinckle (East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy), Bonnie Hughes (Civic Arts Commission), Charles Kahn (architect), Juliet Lamont (Urban Creeks Council), Nathan Landau (AC Transit staff), Kirstin Miller (Eco City Builders), Claire Risley (Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition), John Roberts (landscape architect), Rachel Rupert (Berkeley Chamber of Commerce), Peter Selz (founder, UC Art Museum), Burton Edwards (design review), Soheyl Moderassi (downtown business owner), and Sara Shumer (Public Works Commission). All of the above members have agreed to serve on the task force. While downtown architect Marvin Buchanan was also nominated for the task force, he has not yet been formally contacted. A spot on the task force was also left for a member affiliated with the Pacific Film Archive, which is one of the museums which may move to the downtown site. 

Rob Wrenn, chair of the subcommittee which will now be absorbed into the task force, says that while there may be a role for the hotel task force following the presentation of its recommendations to the city council in May, it is possible that the group “may not be continued past that date. Right now, that’s in limbo.”

Renewing the question of how much money Berkeley may be missing in so-called “escaped property fees and taxes” because of blind spots in its assessment program, the Berkeley Finance Administration has increased the taxable assessment of Patrick Kennedy’s controversial Gaia Building following a query from a former member of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

The new assessment adds slightly more than 5,000 square feet which finance administration staff originally listed as balcony space but which they have now determined to be corridors and walkways. Balconies are exempt from taxation under Berkeley ordinance, while corridors and walkways are not. 

The city manager’s office has scheduled a Feb. 24 report to the city council on plans to improve its methods of assessing and taxing properties in Berkeley. Escaped property fees and taxes became a major issue in Berkeley politics last year after revelations that several city property developments, including the Gaia Building and three other properties built by Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests company, had been either unbilled or underbilled for Berkeley property fees and assessments over the past several years. 

Notice of the Gaia Building reassessment came in a letter late last month from Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin to Tim Hansen, who served on the Berkeley Landmarks Commission at the time the Gaia Building was being built two years ago. “Finance staff is in the process of making the appropriate adjustments,” Cosin wrote. 

In his original query to City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan in early January, Hansen noted that the Gaia Building balconies “are not decorative additions to a building but rather the hallways for entering and leaving the apartments. ... Is it the city’s position that all such hallways are not taxed? ... I certainly understand that there [are] different ways to measure for different purposes, but it is important that everyone is treated the same.” 

Hansen said he first noticed that the Gaia Building may have been under-assessed after seeing the property’s parcel tax numbers in a Daily Planet story. 

Neither Patrick Kennedy nor representatives of the Berkeley Finance Administration could be contacted by deadline in connection with this story. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

The Massachusetts Supreme Court advisory, stating that nothing short of marriage for same-sex couples would satisfy the state constitution, has sent legislators throughout the nation as well as President Bush scrambling to define marriage as between “one man and one woman.”  

These legislative attempts are doomed, because there is no clear, scientific and strict definition of “man” and “woman.” There are millions of people with ambiguous gender—many of them already married—who render these absolute categories invalid.  

There are at least three ways one might try to codify gender under law: biologically, psychologically and culturally. On close inspection, all of them fail.  

Biologically, one must choose either secondary sexual characteristics—things like facial hair for men or breast development for women—or genetic testing as defining markers of gender. Neither method is clear-cut. Some women show male secondary characteristics, and vice versa. Before puberty, things are not necessarily any clearer. A significant proportion of all babies have ambiguous gender development. It has been longstanding—and now, increasingly, controversial—medical practice to surgically “reassign” such babies shortly after birth so that they will have only one set of sexual organs.  

Sometimes doctors guess wrong, and children are “reassigned” and raised as males, when they are genetically female, and vice versa.  

In one condition, androgen insensitivity syndrome, genetic males are born with a genetic immunity to androgens, the hormones that produce male sexual characteristics. Though they are genetic males, these children typically grow up looking like females, although they have no internal female organs.  

Although figures are imprecise, experts in intersexuality, such as Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling of Brown University, estimate that persons born with some degree of ambiguous gender constitute approximately one percent of the population. This means that there are two million Americans who may be biologically ambiguous.  

Psychologically, another dilemma for those who seek to codify gender is the condition known as gender dysphoria, in which a person feels that their true gender is the opposite of that in which they were born. These individuals are often referred to as “transgendered.” Some experts estimate as many as 1.2 million Americans are transgendered. Gender dysphoria is a matter of personal identity and has nothing to do with sexual orientation. A male-to-female transgendered person may be attracted to women or to men.  

Finally, human societies around the world recognize individuals who are culturally female or culturally male no matter what their physical gender. The “berdache” is an umbrella term used by Europeans to designate a man who is culturally classified as a woman, and who may be a “wife” to another man. The practice is perhaps best known among the Zuñi Indians of Arizona, but is widely seen in other tribal groups as well. Outside of North America, the hijra of India, a cultural “third gender,” is important in ceremonial life. Hijra are classified as “neither man nor woman,” but they may marry males. These examples of cultural gender ambiguity are only two among dozens throughout the world.  

If the United States tries to enact a national law defining gender conditions for marriage, it is only a matter of time before the law falters on one of these rocks of ambiguity. There are undoubtedly existing marriages where the wife is a genetic male or the husband is a genetic female. In a medical examination, if it is determined that this genetic fact is discovered, is the marriage then voided? When post-operative transgendered persons wed, whom will they be allowed to marry—persons with the opposite set of chromosomes, or people with the opposite set of genitalia?  

There has already been one Texas decision where two “women” were allowed to marry, because one of them had originally been a male. We can expect far more stories like this should this legislative circus proceed.  

PNS contributor William O. Beeman teaches anthropology at Brown University.

Back in my other home, in South Carolina, there used to be a neighborhood woman who could predict the weather by the pain in her knee joints. I’ve never been able to do that, but lately I’ve been getting pretty good at predicting when an Oakland City Council election is coming up. When Henry Chang gets in the paper proposing some law about police or violence or something like that, it’s time to get ready to vote. 

Mr. Chang was first elected as the at-large member of Oakland’s City Council after the death of Frank Ogawa in 1994. Most Oakland residents don’t know that there is an at-large member on the city council who is representing all of us, which seems to suit Mr. Chang perfectly well. An observer reports Mr. Chang told a Greater Mandana Action Coaliton organization the other night that he prefers to let citizens go directly to their district councilmembers for assistance, leaving him virtually “invisible.” “Invisible,” by the way, was Mr. Chang’s word. 

In the 1980s and ‘90s, the at-large council seat was considered the “Asian” seat, set aside in a sort of a backroom, gentlemen’s/ladies’ agreement because it was difficult for Asian-descent Oaklanders to win any of the district council seats. It was not a perfect compromise, but a good one, since a city government is better served when all of its large ethnic groups are represented. But that sort of lost its purpose after two folks of Asian descent were elected to council districts—first Danny Wan, and then Jean Quan. And so now Mr. Chang has to figure out other reasons to convince us why we should keep him on the city council. 

Most days, Mr. Chang spends his time working to get the government of the People’s Republic of China to send over pandas to live at Knowland Zoo in Oakland, and has made several speeches on that issue at city council, and has made a number trips to China for that purpose. He’s also gotten the council to authorize sending money to China to induce them to send us the pandas. Why it is so important for Oakland to have pandas living at the Knowland Zoo is not quite clear, and in any event, “HE’S WORKING TO GET YOU THOSE PANDAS!” is not quite the slogan one would want to take to Oakland voters. We’re easy, but not that easy. 

So four years ago, just around election time, Mr. Chang advanced a proposal to decrease the number of handguns on Oakland’s streets. If there was a decrease in the number of handguns on the streets of Oakland, I have not so noticed. But that is not the point. Mr. Chang was re-elected in 2000 over several opponents. He made himself invisible again for several years to work on that panda thing, uncloaking every now and again to give us periodic updates. The pandas—normally reclusive animals—have managed to remain more invisible than even Mr. Chang. 

Faced with a tough challenge in the March election by newcomer Melanie Shelby, Mr. Chang resurfaced just a few days ago with a proposal to put cameras in Oakland police cars. The idea, it seems, is that we can get some sort of notion of what our police officers are doing out here on the streets of Oakland. Some of us already have a pretty good idea, of course, but others appear to need convincing. In any event, does this mean that there will soon be cameras mounted on Oakland police cars? Well, no, not necessarily. While the government of the People’s Republic of China appear to be perfectly content to welcome Mr. Chang as a periodic visitor and to accept the Oakland money he sends, there is no evidence that they intend to ever actually send us any pandas. And so, while Chief Richard Word says in the newspaper that he does not think that the camera idea is a terribly bad thing, we will have to wait and see. 

If the Oakland police cars ever do get cameras, however, they will show a decidedly different landscape than we saw just a few weeks ago, at least out here in East Oakland, where I live. The rolling “Operation Impact” squads of California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County Sheriffs Deputies and Oakland Police Department officers of last fall have become sort of invisible themselves, disappearing virtually overnight from the International Boulevard corridor, leaving the OPD cruisers to go it alone again. 

One would hope that at some point, the public is going to be given some sort of accounting on the results of this grand experiment in police saturation, and we will be able to measure its success, or lack thereof. Meanwhile, we’ll just have to make do with our own limited observations. 

Operation Impact consisted of squads of officers from the three agencies virtually shutting down several dark and poor sections of Oakland during many weekends to, according to the police, “get… some of the criminal element off the streets… [to] reduce the possibility for more homicides.” The Oakland Tribune reported last September that “three such [Operation Impact] sweeps…have resulted in 240 arrests over the past week. Crime, violence and calls for police response in the areas targeted have decreased significantly, officials said.” 

A month and a half later, the Tribune quoted a CHP spokesperson as saying, “Every time we are out there, there are no street homicides and it reduces police calls for service.” 

Summing up the program in early January, the Tribune paraphrased remarks by Chief Word, stating the chief said that “teamwork by the law enforcement agencies made a big dent in gun violence in the last quarter of 2003.” 

Well, Oakland homicides did drop dramatically in the last quarter of 2003, but they began to spike again in December, jumping to 10 in a bloody first two weeks of 2004. All of this occurred during the time that Operation Impact was still in effect. 

Perhaps Chief Word will let us know why, sometime.

The Actor’s Ensemble, Berkeley’s oldest theater group (they’ve been around for 47 years) is staging a version of Helen of Troy which thumbs its nose at the story that most of us have heard over the years. You know, that’s the one that claims that the Trojan War’s 10 year’s worth of slaughter exploded into history because King Menelaos’ wife, Helen, run off with the gorgeous Greek Prince, Paris.  

Helen (played by the admirably cast Heidi Hooker) serves as narrator, an effective technique probably left over from Wolfgang Hildesheimer’s 1955 German radio play. Subsequently there was a second radio version, a stage production and a musical. Director David Fenerty, who has acted in several AE productions, both translated and adapted the current version. This time around, Helen promises to give us the “real story”—which cynics might comment bears a certain resemblance to the way the United States has ended up in Iraq. Not, mind you, that anyone is raising any questions about Laura Bush’s virtue. What Helen reveals is that the whole bloody war was a set-up. Menelaos was looking for an excuse to go to war with Greece.  

While Helen minces no words about either her rich and varied personal life or her quite understandable dislike of her husband, Minelaos (Hal Schneider), she is a bit surprised when he encourages her to initiate a romance with the youthful and attractive Greek prince, Paris (Tadamori Yagi). 

Janelle Carte does the most that can be done with her role as Hermione, Helen’s Miss Priss daughter, who understandably thinks the guy should be her own target, but hasn’t a chance up against her mother’s well practiced skills. The bulk of the first act is spent in Helen’s futile attempts to seduce the astonishingly naïve Greek prince. It’s an amusing exchange which continues to amuse for a surprisingly long time. 

The result, however, is that the second act bears the weight of about two-thirds of the traditional story content. The playwright, alas, while willing to take vast liberties with the characters, seems to feel required to crowd into that part of the production most of the events from a story which isn’t very funny at all. Real historical/political junkies may actually prefer the second act to the first, despite the fact that it requires Paris to abruptly adopt a totally different personality and Helen to limit much of her narration—one of the strongest elements of this production. Instead, after flinging out an interminable glob of historical information, her role seems to become something of an also-ran while the rest of the traditional events in the story are rushed along.  

Maybe there’s just no way to carry out the joke the play begins with, and maybe audiences long used to mixing traditional dramatic genres are inured to this sort of thing, but it does seem rather a shame. 

Helen of Troy shows Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 21, with a special Thursday show Feb. 19. All performances are at 8 p.m. at the Live Oak Theatre; 1301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets $10. For reservations, call 649-5999.

It’s been quite a year for voles. The evidence for this is indirect: high numbers of hawks, from the pastures of Point Reyes to the farmlands of Solano County. Word seems to get around that there’s a bumper crop of tasty rodents. 

I don’t recall that I’ve ever seen a California vole—a six-to-eight-inch-long mouse with dark brown fur, small ears, and a short tail—that wasn’t being eaten by something, or about to be. They’re an important prey item for raptors, composing 90 percent of the diet of the white-tailed kite. Northern harriers, also known as marsh hawks, will snatch a vole nest out of the grass, give it a good shake to dislodge the occupant, and snag the mouse as it falls. 

Herons and egrets, normally thought of as fish-eaters, also go for voles. I’ve watched a great blue heron dunk a vole like a furry doughnut until it stopped struggling, then gulp it down. In peak years, opportunists like ravens and Western gulls get into the act. 

It’s not just birds, either. Voles also fall victim to coyotes, foxes, cats (feral and domestic), weasels, and snakes. Weasels have been known to move into voles’ underground homes after eating the occupants. 

Pressure from predators tends to favor some kind of defensive adaptation among prey: speed, cryptic coloration, protective armor, noxious chemicals. Voles have none of those. As a group, voles survive—and they’ve done quite well at it, with 44 species worldwide, 17 in North America—by being fecund in the extreme. The vole’s defense is its ability to produce lots of new voles. 

In terms of reproductive biology, voles are about the closest thing to Star Trek’s tribbles that this planet has to offer. (I don’t know how they would feel about Klingons). A female vole is fertile at the age of three weeks. Weaning takes place at two weeks, and some females can even become pregnant at that point. With a gestation period of 21 days, an average litter size of five (maximum 11), and four or five litters in a good season—well, do the math. 

This potential for explosive reproduction pays off when voles have the opportunity to colonize a new area. Brooks Island is a 55-acre chunk of grassland off the Richmond shore, once managed by a gun club for pheasant hunters but now maintained as a reserve by the East Bay Regional Park District. California voles managed to reach the island in the summer of 1958. Within six months, they had occupied all the available habitat. 

We know a lot about the voles of Brooks Island thanks to William Z. Lidicker, Jr., a UC Berkeley emeritus professor. The island population was ideal for long-term study of the rodent’s social structure and population dynamics. They seem to be testy little creatures. Males will fight each other at the slightest provocation; females are peaceful unless an adult male is present. They sort themselves out into monogamous pairs, although males can be polygynous when conditions are favorable. Males have glands on their hips which they appear to use to scent-mark their runways in a behavior that Lidicker describes as “swaggering.” 

In a typical year, the Brooks Island voles started breeding a few weeks after the fall rains began. Their numbers built up through the spring, then dipped in summer when the vegetation dried out. 

As populations grow, California voles can reach densities of up to 400 per acre. Females tolerate daughters that stick around the parental territory, but mom’s pheromones suppress the daughters’ maturation. Take this far enough and you get the hive societies of the naked mole-rat, a creature that frankly gives me the willies. The pheromones of strange males cause females to abort their litters, giving the males a fresh opportunity to spread their own genes around. 

With an increase in density, greater numbers of large (for voles) males appear. Vole researchers used to believe the supersized males were a genetically determined type that was favored at high population densities. This was christened the Chitty Effect, after volologist Dennis Chitty. But Lidicker found that the big males often occupied resource-poor territories and were no more likely than males of normal size to be paired with fertile females. His Big Wimp Hypothesis posited that these guys were just standard-model voles that had grown to unusual sizes because of abundant food. 

Lidicker also discovered an interesting distinction between his island subjects and their mainland counterparts. Voles, like their close relatives the lemmings, are subject to cyclic population booms and busts. In mainland voles, a three- to five-year cycle is typical. But the Brooks Island voles demonstrated only a weak two-year cycle. Lidicker thought the absence of mammalian predators on the island accounted for the difference. (The only other mammals there were house mice, which the voles crowded into extinction, and rats that scavenged dead voles but did not prey on live ones. ) It’s not just a matter of the rodents depleting their food base, or of behavioral changes at high density slowing population growth; predation also seems to regulate their numbers. 

Voles are important enough as prey to be considered a keystone species by ecologists—a species without which an ecosystem would collapse. And there’s one recent study that suggests they also promote plant diversity: James Bartolome, a professor of Ecosystem Sciences at UC-Berkeley, found more plant species around the entrances of California vole burrows than in similar voleless areas. Voles may be small and obscure, but they play an ecological role out of proportion to their size.

Over the next several days, join EGRET's Park Guides in exploring Aquatic Park. All events last 90 minutes and begin outside the cabin in front of Middle Pond at the park’s southern entrance. 

Saturday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m.: “A Walk Through History.” The legacy of the past is on display in this stroll around Middle Pond. 

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2 p.m.: “Shorebirds of Berkeley’s Wetlands.” An array of over-wintering ducks has joined the resident population. 

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 10 a.m.: “Willow Rescue.” Descendants of the shoreline’s original willows are being returned to health through ivy removal. 

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 5 p.m.: “Migrations at Dusk.” Black-crowned night herons leaving their willows cross paths with great egrets coming to roost above the cabin. 

Thursday, Feb. 12, 10 a.m.: “Bayshore Cleaning.” Bring renewed life to tidal plants by helping remove storm debris from the bay shoreline. 

Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m.: “A Walk in the Garden.” Colorful blooms are already on display in this garden of California native plants. 

Sunday, Feb. 15, 2 p.m.: “Park Transformations to Come.” Walk the location where Coastal Conservancy may fund safer trail connections and habitat plantings. 

Visiting Aquatic Park: The southern end of the park can be reached along a somewhat convoluted route. Take Seventh Street or San Pablo Avenue south into Emeryville, and turn right on 67th Street. Continue across the railroad tracks and immediately turn right onto Shellmound which continues straight (north) into the park. As you reach the park, keep to the right to stay off the freeway on-ramp; the cabin is just ahead. 

Cyclists or pedestrians can also enter at Addison Street, Bancroft Way, or the I-80 bicycle/pedestrian overpass and head south one mile. 

For more information on Aquatic Park EGRET, call 549-0818 or write to egret@lmi.net.

“Look! This wasn’t here last week!” Mark Liolios shows visitors a strong green shoot on a willow trunk. Recent hand-clearing of tangled, sun blocking, ivy and brambles along the eastern edge of Berkeley’s Aquatic Park has encouraged the gnarled tree to vigorously re-sprout. 

It’s a chilly, overcast January morning and long-time Berkeleyan Liolios is energetically on duty for Aquatic Park EGRET (Environmental Greening, Restoration and Education Team), an affiliate of the nonprofit Berkeley Partners for Parks. EGRET is dedicated to improving conditions for wildlife and human visitors at Berkeley’s biggest, but perhaps least understood, municipal park.  

Aquatic Park may be Berkeley’s most visible public open space with tens of thousands of freeway drivers speeding past its western edge every day. To those passersby the park itself might appear empty, even abandoned. A visit, however, makes it clear that it is home to thousands of shorebirds and also well-used by the public. 

Rowers from the Berkeley Rowing Club tranquilly scull past. Disc (aka Frisbee) golfers compete along the shore. Joggers, parents with strollers, dog walkers and cyclists circle the water on extensive paths. The Dreamland children’s playground and the new pedestrian overpass to the Berkeley Marina have brought even more park visitors, Liolios says. 

Aquatic Park is a mix of human and natural constructs, edged on the east by railroad tracks atop a slight bluff along Berkeley’s original shoreline. The park encompasses three brackish lagoons, connected by pipes to the tidal flow of the San Francisco Bay.  

The lagoons and park appeared in 1937 when a four-lane highway for Bay Bridge access was built parallel to, but beyond, the shoreline. “That created a spot of shallow water which the City of Berkeley acquired and developed with Works Progress Administration funding,” says Liolios. The park opened with three days of elaborate citywide festivities. 

As evidence of that earlier era, along three banks of Middle Pond EGRET volunteers have gradually unearthed and cleared tiers of masonry stairs and viewing terraces for watching model yacht races. Nearby, EGRET’s crews have uncovered a substantial flagpole pedestal and plaza, probably a post-World War II veteran’s memorial. 

In recent years EGRET has been undertaking a sort of ecological archaeology, attempting to untangle, interpret, and re-knit layers of natural systems and human interventions. “The primary focus of EGRET is habitat stewardship”, says Lisa Stephens, another volunteer and former Parks and Recreation Commission chair.  

The nature of Aquatic Park’s habitat is complex and not always easily discerned. In one corner of the park, for instance, drivers headed for the freeway speed by a low and unremarkable bank of willow. But seen from its other side, across the water, the willow grove is revealed as the preferred daytime roost of black-crowned Night Herons, dozing just a few dozen feet from the moving cars. 

Even the non-native eucalyptus and black acacia trees below the railroad embankment presently have habitat value, providing secure roosts each night for great egrets that stand up to four feet tall. 

On this dreary winter day, the eucalyptus are in bloom and alive with small birds. “It’s not a eucalyptus tree, it’s a migratory bird feeder,” observes park visitor John Sutake, who pauses to share his binoculars and the reason several bird watchers are at the park today. A regal pair of hooded mergansers, rarely seen here, is serenely paddling amidst more plebeian ducks on Middle Pond.  

The park is an important stopping point for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway and a year-round home to egrets, herons, and other species. Near dusk, Liolios says, birds crisscross the sky as “the night herons are going out to feed and the snowy and great egrets are coming in to roost for the night.” 

A centerpiece of EGRET’s work has been creation of a garden of California native plants along a causeway at the southern end of the Main Lagoon. Volunteers have meticulously cleared non-native vegetation from two wide shoreline berms, and carefully replanted with California flora. Native shrubs and wildflowers (soon to begin their spring bloom season) dot the shore and snowy egrets gravely stalk through the shallows hunting for lunch. Now closed to motor vehicles, the causeway is a tranquil setting for walkers and bird watchers. 

EGRET’s plan, Liolios says, is to cluster native plantings along the shore to provide screening and roosting sites for the wildlife, interspersed with gaps through which visitors can view the water and birds.  

“We want the park landscaping to better serve both visitors and wildlife,” he explains. “Beautiful and useful” is the goal, Stephens adds. 

In almost every part of the southern end of the park there is evidence of EGRET’s on-going stewardship work. Groups of volunteers wearing EGRET t-shirts (with a handsome logo created by local design firm BGDI) work there regularly. More are needed, Leolios says. 

EGRET, Liolios adds, is happy to structure a volunteer activity to fit a lunch hour or complement a picnic. “Even a small scale project fits a much larger biological picture,” he explains. Volunteer work is always combined with wildlife observation and education. EGRET also offers guided walks and a self-guided tour booklet. 

EGRET is now working with the City of Berkeley to get California Coastal Conservancy funding for trail, habitat, and water quality improvements. Plans call for safer trail connections for pedestrians and cyclists, clearing unneeded asphalt to create more native plant areas, seating for wildlife observation, and better water circulation to improve the biological health of the lagoons. The former model yacht club cabin—a rustic structure with beamed ceilings, knotty pine paneling and a whimsical porthole window—can serve as a nature center for park visitors. 

Despite the scale of the projects, the enthusiasm and dedication of EGRET’s habitat stewards is clear. “It’s a lifetime of rewarding work,” Liolois says. 

On Saturday, one of those brilliant northern California sunlit February days, I went along on a downtown walking tour sponsored by the Planning Commission’s task force on UC’s hotel proposal. A couple of the participants gave a mini-lecture on the elegant moderne printing plant on Oxford (threatened with demolition), where the U.N. charter was printed and David Brower met his wife. The historic tidbits in their account whetted the appetite of one of my fellow walkers, a young man recently graduated from Boalt who has enthusiastically taken up the Berkeley activist tradition. “Why,” he said, “are there no walking tours of famous historic sites from the ‘60s and ‘70s, like the place where Patty Hearst was kidnapped?”  

Is that history? The Patty Hearst kidnapping? Well, it must be, though it seems like last week’s news to me. His question set me thinking about news from my lifetime as history, and wondering what I can tell younger people about recent history while I can still remember it.  

People the age of my young friend probably don’t even recognize the catch phrase from the Watergate scandal, “What did the President know and when did he know it?” That’s a good one to learn about, because it deserves permanent recycling, and is quite applicable to the current president in particular. The question of what our leaders know about what they’re doing is one of the central political questions in every era.  

Robert McNamara’s appearance here last week reminded me of how much people like me knew about what was going wrong in Vietnam, years before McNamara and his ilk claim they found out about it. How could that be true? When I started working against the Vietnam War in 1964, I was 24 years old, living in the Midwest, wife of a graduate student, raising babies and editing a medical newsletter. He was a corporate hotshot turned Washington politico. How could he have been so out of touch, when I, and people in the hinterlands like me, knew exactly what was going on? (Dorothy Bryant, in this issue, explores what his moral obligations might have been when he did find out.) 

Fast forward to 2004. How can George W. Bush have the nerve to go on television to say that he’s SHOCKED, SHOCKED to learn that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction? Wait a minute; didn’t a hundred thousand of us march down Market Street with big signs before he started the war to tell him that? In Ann Arbor in 1964 we were relatively few and far from the centers of power, but in 2002 the naysayers were many, ubiquitous and vocal.  

In the ‘60s, the politicians who claimed not to know what was going on were Democrats. Our Democratic congressman brought a junior State Department honcho to Ann Arbor, long about 1966, to meet with party faithful and explain why our Democratic president knew what he was doing in Vietnam. We hooted him down, and by 1968 both the congressman and President Johnson were gone.  

It could happen again. This time it’s the Republicans who are starting to question their guy. Kevin Phillips, once a Nixon aide, is the loudest defector from the current Republican folly, but others are warming up. Columnist George Will, in the past a reliable shill for the Republican party, said in his most recent column that “once begun, leakage of public confidence in a president’s pronouncements is difficult to staunch.” What did George W. Bush know about what was actually happening in Iraq, and when did he know it? Or even more alarming, maybe he STILL doesn’t know what’s going on there. His erstwhile friend Mr. Will reminds us that even last May, after the war, President Bush said, “We found the weapons of mass destruction. You know, we found biological laboratories.” No, we did not, says columnist Will. 

There used to be a deodorant commercial with the tag line “Even his best friends won’t tell him that he has Body Odor.” Even Dubya’s best friends seem to be telling him recently that something stinks about the Iraq war.  

• • • 

And now, back for a moment to the hotel proposal. My tour group included many thoughtful citizens, some of whom I know to be good writers. The Planning Commission’s task force is holding a public forum to discuss the plans on Feb. 18. Between now and then, I’d like to invite people who went on the tour to write short commentary pieces describing what they saw that the public should be thinking about before the forum. If we get enough submissions, we’ll devote an extra commentary page to them. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet. 

A national cleaning chain settled a lawsuit last week that charged it with polluting Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek. 

Burlingame-based Coit Services agreed to pay $42,000 in civil penalties—half in the form of a fine—and submit to county monitoring. 

The settlement came on the day Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Susan Torrence filed charges against the company for allegedly allowing van operators to discharge hundreds of gallons of soapy wastewater into storm drains at UC Berkeley’s Foothill Housing Complex that feed Strawberry Creek. 

“It’s a pretty serious form of non-point pollution,” Torrence said, noting that laboratory tests performed by the California Department of Fish and Game found the solution “deleterious” to fish. 

The suit specified four times in May 2002 that Coit van drivers were spotted illegally dumping the mixture of soap and dirty water beside the dormitory instead of following standard procedures to pump it into a sanitary sewer or return it to the company’s headquarters. 

UC Berkeley Environmental Specialist Steve Maranzana said he caught the drivers red-handed with their hoses discharging directly into the storm drain. “They tried to drive away just as the DA pulled up,” he said. 

Coit refused to accept responsibility for the discharge. Company Vice President of Operations Veny Pirochta said that while drivers interviewed had no recollection of the dumping, Coit nevertheless opted not to fight the charges. “If it did happen we want to make sure everyone is comfortable that it won’t happen again,” he said. 

UC Berkeley still contracts with Coit to clean dorm carpets and upholstery. 

To comply with the settlement, Coit technicians must keep logs showing how they dispose of wastewater from their 50-gallon van tanks, hire an environmental compliance officer, and submit disposal records to the Alameda County Environmental Health Department. 

Pirochta said the company avoids chemicals that could do serious harm to the creek that is home to fish, insects and plants. “All we use is mild soap,” he said. “Since we clean in homes where little kids play on carpets it has to be the safest possible materials. 

That’s a silly argument, said environmental consultant Julia Lamont. “Unless it was something completely biodegradable, it can build up in organisms and contaminate the whole ecosystem,” she said. 

The university opted not to perform a fish count in the days following the contamination, UC Berkeley Associate Director of Environment, Health and Safety Greg Haet said, so it’s unclear the extent of damage, if any, caused by the contamination. 

Soap discharge into Strawberry Creek is a common occurrence, said Tom Kelly, a member of Berkeley’s Health Commission. From monitoring the creek at Strawberry Canyon Lodge in West Berkeley, he said two-to-three-foot-high suds appear every couple of weeks. “I don’t know how the hell the fish survive,” he said. “Hopefully this will send a message that it’s not OK to pollute the creek.”