Berkeley gets another sobering look at the reality of the Era Of Diminishing Budgets tonight (Tuesday, March 9) when the director of the Berkeley Public Library is expected to propose laying off 16 employees and closing the main library on Sunday. The proposal will be presented at the City Council’s 4:30 p.m. work session at the Old City Hall, where City Manager Phil Kamlarz will present some $14 million in total proposed budget reductions for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. 

Berkeley’s main library on Kitteridge Street presently opens from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, while the four branch libraries—Claremont, North Branch, South Branch, and the Tool Lending Library—are currently closed on that day. 

And while in the midst of resolving local and state budget problems, the City Council takes another shot at national and international issues tonight at its regular 7 p.m. meeting, when it takes on competing resolutions concerning the administration of President George W. Bush. The City Council will be faced with no disagreement about whether Bush is bad for the country—only over what to do about it. 

The Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission has requested that the council support a resolution “requesting an investigation as to whether impeachable offenses were committed” by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The alleged impeachable offenses center around the president and vice president’s actions leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the toppling of the Iraqi government. 

A pre-council meeting impeachment rally co-sponsored by such organizations as the National Lawyers Guild, Veterans for Peace, the Gray Panthers, and the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians has been set for 6 p.m. tonight (Tuesday) on the front steps of Old City Hall. 

A competing proposal—to censure President Bush for the same Iraqi actions—has been introduced to the City Council by Councilmember Kriss Worthington on behalf of MoveOn.org. 

The two resolutions come before the City Council almost one year after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. 

Meanwhile, in one of the most anticipated staff reports in several years, Planning Director Dan Marks will brief the City Council at the 7 p.m. meeting on compliance of recently-built Berkeley residential developments with various Berkeley ordinances. 

The request for the report came from Councilmember Dona Spring last fall in the wake of revelations that the Gaia Building in downtown Berkeley—built and managed by Berkeley development powerhouse Panoramic Interests—had failed to be billed for certain Berkeley tax assessments. Spring had asked the city manager’s office to report on the status of fee waivers, tax assessments, affordability, and occupancy of three recently-built Panoramic properties. At the request of Councilmember Betty Olds, that inquiry was expanded to include any residential project of 20 or more units approved for construction in Berkeley since 1997.<

The Zoning Adjustments Board will soon have to decide whether or not to overrule the Landmarks Preservation Commission and give developer Ruegg & Ellsworth permission demolish the historic Blood House. 

On March 11, ZAB will hear both sides of the debate, with preservationists pushing an alternative plan that would restore the Blood House to its original use as residential housing, and developer Ruegg & Ellsworth arguing that it is impossible to come up with a financially feasible plan to develop the site without razing the century-old building. 

“This is a difficult call and will require a fair amount of analysis,” said principal planner Debbie Sanderson, speaking to ZAB commissioners at their Feb. 26 meeting. 

Preservationists have argued that the developer has no right to tear down the house, which was designated a “Structure of Merit,” and thus a historic resource, by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1999. The designation brings the Southside area building, located at 2526 Durant Ave. and one of three remaining Victorians in the immediate neighborhood, under the protection of the California Environmental Protection Act (CEQA). That means the city must adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations, which says that the merits of a proposed project outweigh the loss of a historic resource, before approving destruction of the building. In weighing whether or not to adopt the statement, the city must also make sure that all reasonable alternatives to demolition have been considered. 

Ruegg & Ellsworth has maintained that the addition of 44 housing units, seven of which are affordable, constitutes a community benefit that overrides the loss of the building. But so far, ZAB commissioners have not been convinced, twice ordering the developer back to the drawing board to come up with more viable alternatives to demolition. Since the first ZAB meeting about the issue last June, Ruegg & Ellsworth has proposed six plans that would preserve the Blood House, either by relocating it off site or by moving it to another place on the lot. But, according to project manager Brendan Heafey, the developer would lose between $1.4 to $2.9 million under any of those alternative plans. 

But activists pushing to save the house say the developer hasn’t exhausted all the options. And at the March 11 ZAB hearing on the case, they will present a proposal that calls for renovating the Blood House for use as a three-story, five-unit apartment building and surrounding it with a L-shaped building containing up to 35 residential units and a commercial section. They say the plan, devised by architect Mark Gillem, would provide almost the same number of housing units of about the same size while providing a profit comparable to that yielded by the developer's preferred plan. 

They also note that the preservation proposal allows for more light and open space on the site, as well as amenities within the buildings, such as computer-room alcoves and bay windows. The catch? The preservation plan includes no parking lot, a modification that is necessary in order to free up space that will instead go to the Blood House, whose basement level will be raised two feet and turned into a livable unit. 

It’s not a sacrifice the developer is willing to make. Although parking is not legally required on the site, Heafey said it is necessary. For one, he said, eliminating parking will make it more difficult to market the units to professionals and other non-students. “No parking will contribute to a more homogenous Southside population,” he said, adding that most of the 1,500 Southside-area housing units recently built or undergoing construction are intended for students. He also said area businesses would suffer. “Merchants complain that customers from outside the area cannot conveniently drive to their shops,” Heafey told us. 

Preservationists disagree, noting that the draft Southside plan, a long-range planning guide for the city, encourages development that minimizes car use in the dense area north of Dwight Way. John McBride, a member of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA), which hired Gillem to devise the plan, said Gillem is providing a public service to the city, which could be sued if it approves the plan without thoroughly considering alternatives to demolition. 

“I see myself as an unbiased player in this,” Gillem said. “This is not a case where people are trying to stop development; the community wants to see development. We are not trying to punish the developer. We wanted to create a good project for the developer, one that would be profitable for them.” He added that the case presents a test of the city’s stated commitment to car-free development. “If it can’t work here, it can’t work anywhere,” he said. 

The preservationists’ challenge is convincing ZAB that their alternative plan, yielding a profit of at least 8.01 percent, is financially feasible. 

The developer says it is not. 

In a letter to city planner Greg Powell, Heafey said BAHA had underestimated the cost of its plan by about $1.5 million. That figure was based on the findings of three consultants, including Oliver & Company and BBI Construction. “The plan is simply infeasible,” Heafey said. 

The disagreement over projected costs revolves around two issues: the cost to renovate the Blood House and the type of construction used in the new building. According to Heafey’s consultants, the cost to convert the house to a three-story apartment building would actually run from $285 to $375 per square foot, 36 percent to 79 percent higher than the cost estimate provided by BAHA. 

But McBride said the developer’s figures are based on misinformation. “Their consultant says in their letter that we propose adding an additional story. But our plan doesn’t call for adding a floor,” McBride said. “We just want to elevate the basement two feet to make it livable.” 

Heafey countered that this does, in effect, constitute adding another story. “There’s nothing down there now. You will have to put in the kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, so forth,” he said. 

A more complicated matter is the type of construction called for in BAHA’s plan. The original plan submitted by Gillem proposed using concrete construction on the ground floor and wood framing for the top four stories, at a cost of $135 per square foot. Gillem’s plan had to be revised, however, after Heafey presented evidence showing that the California Building Code forbids residential uses on the ground floor of a building that has wood frame construction above a ground-floor concrete podium. 

Heafey said the only way Gillem’s plan could work is if the building were constructed using metal frame construction, a change that would raise the cost to at least $175 per square foot. 

Gillem’s latest proposal calls for removing the fifth floor of the new building and making the fourth floor units lofts instead. That revision, Gillem says, eliminates the need for the troublesome—and relatively expensive—concrete podium, which is required in buildings that have more than four stories. Under the new proposal, the new building would have 38 units instead of 40. BAHA says the loss of the units would be offset by the reduction in total building area, bringing the cost to no more than $135 per square foot. 

But Heafey isn’t so sure of this. He said wood frame is not necessarily less expensive to do and doubts if building lofts can compensate for the loss of the fifth floor units. 

“I haven’t seen a drawing on this latest plan,” he told us. “Until I know what it looks like I won’t be able to see if it meets building code requirements. It’s all up in the air at this point.” 

A

The Grand Old Party has declared war on MoveOn.org’s Voter Fund’s television ads critical of President Bush, and MoveOn founder Wes Boyd is furious. 

On Friday, the Republican National Committee sent letters to 250 television stations across country Friday, warning of potentially dire consequences should they air the ads from the Berkeley-based activist organization. 

In the three-page letter, RNC Chief Counsel Jill Holtsman Vogel told broadcasters they “have a responsibility to the viewing public, and to your licensing agency, to refrain from complicity in any illegal activity.” 

“That’s outrageous,” Boyd said Monday. “They’re lying. We’re operating under the law. But this is getting to be a standard tactic of the RNC to silence opposition.” 

The GOP letter doesn’t seem to have had the intended effect. Boyd said he talked to MoveOn’s media buyer Monday afternoon, and not one station had bumped the group’s commercials. 

MoveOn launched the ad campaign Thursday, buying $1.9 million in broadcasting time in 67 media markets in 17 states. The ads highlight worker job insecurity and White House plans to eliminate overtime pay for eight million jobs. The group responded to the RNC letter by announcing plans to add another $1 million in advertising buys to the campaign. 

The Republicans claim the ads are illegal because they are funded in part by a seven-figure donation from George Soros, while the law limits such ads to funding by contributors who give $5,000 or less. 

Because the ad “clearly attacks and opposes President Bush. . .and is being broadcast in states commonly considered crucial to the outcome” of the November election, Holtzman wrote, “the MoveOn.org Voter cannot use soft money” for the ad “and must register with the Federal Election Commission.” 

The letter concluded with an ominous last line: “Now that you have been apprised of the law to prevent future violations of federal law, we urge you to remove these advertisements from your station’s broadcast rotation.” 

But Joseph Sandler, MoveOn.org’s own lawyer, sent a letter of his own to broadcasters, charging that the missive was part of “the RNC’s cynical and dishonest efforts to silence the voices of citizens who dare to criticize the president. . .and to intimidate broadcasters into complicity with that indefensible attempt at censorship.” 

Sandler said MoveOn.org’s ads “are entirely lawful under the federal campaign finance laws.” 

Broadcasters are walking on eggs recently, in light of the recent Clear Channel purge of shock jock Howard Stern after he turned against the president and the outburst of conservative rage following Justin Timberlake’s bearing of Janet Jackson’s breast during the Super Bowl halftime show. 

One thing Super Bowl viewers didn’t see on CBS was a MoveOn ad the network refused to air, saying they wouldn’t run advocacy ads during the biggest game on the American broadcasting calendar. CBS also killed an ad from the animal rights group PETA on the same grounds. But CBS did air another advocacy ad during the show, a product of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Just as voters approved a bond measure last week filling AC Transit’s coffers with money for new infrastructure projects, cash shortfalls are once again threatening basic AC Transit service. After eliminating 43 lines last December to close a $50 million deficit, AC Transit now finds itself $17 million in the red and is mulling more service cuts, the sale of its top-of-the-line buses, and another service-saving ballot measure—the third in the last five years. 

An interim financial report, released last month, reported that soft sales tax revenue—about 50 percent of AC Transit’s funding—had opened up deficits of $4 million for this fiscal year and $13 million for 2004-05. 

AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez outlined 22 deficit reducing measures in a document released last week, but if revenues continue to slide, a request for another public bailout is possible. The transit agency has approved $60,000 for a political consultant to advise them on taking a possible tax hike to county voters, presumabl y in November. 

Talk of further cuts comes right as voters passed Measure 2, the regional transportation initiative on the March Ballot that earmarks $167 million for AC Transit projects including a Bus Rapid Transit System from Downtown Berkeley to San L eandro. 

The money, however, cannot be used to offset AC Transit’s operational deficit. “It’s so frustrating for people to see us improving our infrastructure, but then cutting service,” AC Transit Board Member Greg Harper said. “A normal business would s top innovating when revenues are hamstrung, but if we stop doing improvements we won’t be able to bring in new riders.” 

To help close the budget gap in the meantime, AC Transit is negotiating the sale of 25 brand new Belgian-made buses to transit operato rs in Washington DC, a move that would pare $8 million from the deficit. 

AC Transit Assistant General Manager Jim Gleich said service cuts had eliminated the need for the new Van Hool buses—Europe’s 2003 Bus of the Year. AC Transit has already deployed 1 33 Van Hools on its major lines. In the sale to Washington, DC, AC Transit would recoup all of its expenses, Gleich said, including the roughly $80 thousand spent last year sending mechanics to Belgium to learn how to maintain the vehicles. 

Meanwhile tra nsit planners are mapping out future service reductions as a last resort if the budget outlook remains dim. 

“We’d be foolish not to plan for another round of cuts,” Harper said. Since the economy soured in 2000, AC Transit has devoured its $50 million r ainy day reserve fund, he added. “We don’t have a cushion anymore so even the small stuff has to be sweated.” 

The only way to salvage AC Transit and other regional bus agencies is to offer more stable and diverse funding sources, said Stuart Cohen of the pro-mass transit Transportation and Land Use Coalition. “It’s been a perfect storm of events,” he said pointing to cuts in state and federal funding, sales tax shortfalls and increased unemployment that have derailed bus agencies throughout the state. He fears that downcycles damage AC Transit’s long-range viability because riders affected by cuts will ultimately stop using the bus. “It’s a cycle we need to get away from,” he said. 

To weather the storm AC Transit has won voter support for a series tax h ikes. In 2002 voters approved a parcel tax, netting the agency $7.5 million a year and in 2002 voters passed a half-cent sales tax totaling roughly $300 million.  

Separate from the current budget deficit, AC Transit is committed to a roughly $4.5 million service cut this June. The cut, which affects 13 lines—none in Berkeley—was supposed to go into effect with other cuts last December. AC Transit delayed implementation in hopes an innovative method to fund union pensions could raise money to spare the se rvice, but the plan fell through, Gleich said. 

Though it won’t be targeted in the scheduled June cuts, Berkeley has felt its share of pain from the service reductions. In December Berkeley lost Routes 17 and Transbay Route HX, and suffered reduced service on Routes E, G, H and 9. Last June AC Transit eliminated Route 8 and reduced service on Routes 65, 67, 51 and 52. Chris Ramirez, a junior at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, has seen his travel time from the Berkeley hills nearly double to 1.5 hours after AC Transit cut service on his bus lines in June and again in December. 

“Since they reduced frequency to every half-hour the buses aren’t as reliable and aren’t timed with BART,” he said.  

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TUESDAY, MARCH 9 

“Commencement for Cuts” a mock graduation to kick-off the campaign to protest higher education budget cuts, at noon at Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 

Impeachment Rally with Daniel Ellsberg, Dona Spring, member, Berkeley City Council, Riva Enteen, National Lawyers Guild, and Gus Newport, former mayor of Berkeley at 6 p.m., Old City Hall, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. 843-2152. 

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) Meeting Forest activists unite and discuss strategy. Topics include the Humboldt county DA recall funded by Pacific Lumber, the DA fraud lawsuit against PL, a new market campaign against PL redwood lumber, and much more. Bring snacks and liquid to share. At 7 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. 548-3113, bach@headwaterspreserve.org 

Stop the War on the Black Community, a discussion on the war in U.S. inner cities. Keynote speakers are Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess, and Bakari Olatunji. At 7 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 390 27th St & 411 28th St, between Telegraph & Broadway, Oakland. Donation $5-$25. 625-1106. 

“Trekking in Bhutan” a slide presentation with Himalayan guide Peggy Day, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Traditional Regional Foods of Spain, with co-authors of “Cesar: Recipes from a Tapas Bar,” James Mellgran and Olivier Said, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

“Rotten Foundations: The Reclamation Act and Urbanization of the West” with Gray Brechin, author and research fellow, Dept. of Geography, UC Berkeley, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Writing Workshop on the art of writing imminent fiction with Pamela Cranston and Michael Kurland at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Death Penalty Vigil, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART station. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Blood pressure checks at 10:30 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

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. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 

Great Decisions 2004: “Diversity in Islam” with Prof. John L. Hayes, UCB Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“The Patriot Act and Our Civil Liberties” with Jack Newman, Deputy Attorney General, State of California, speaking from his personal viewpoint, at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave.  

“Faith and Environmental Injustice” A GTU Faculty Panel Discussion, at 6:30 p.m. at the Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

“The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at Albany High School, Multi-Purpose Room, 603 Key Route Blvd.  

“Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It” with Judge James Gray, senatorial candidate and author at 6 p.m. at 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. Hosted by Cal Libertarians. wonder_son@yahoo.com 

“Generation E” A film about the R.A.V.E. Act, the electronic dance scene, and the war on drugs and youth culture at 7 p.m. in 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. Donations requested. Hosted by Students for Sensible Drug Policy. 882-8334. 

“The Crippling Effects of Landmines” with author John Gray at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinnelle Hall, UC Campus. The East Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association. Admission is free, donations will go to landmine clearance programs. 540-8017. 

“Renaissance Images of Christ” with Jason van Boom, GTU, at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

“Street Skills for Cyclists” a lecture and discussion from 6 to 10 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free, but registration required 433-7433. 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Danna Zeller, 7 to 9 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 20. 

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 We’re a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

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

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

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 11 

“Agriculture Under Occupation: Farming in the West Bank” Local landscaper and compost consultant Jon Bauer has returned from Israel and will share his findings on the ways in which the Occupation of the West Bank affects Palestinian farmers and farming in this fertile land. Accompanied by a slide show. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. $5 donation requested. This is a benefit for the Wheels of Justice Tour. 548-2220, ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Dabru Emet (Speaking the Truth): A New Statement on Jews and Christians for Our Time” at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, 2770 Marin Ave. 649-2482. 

"The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way. 

East Bay Mac User Group for all levels, software demos, tips, presentations. From 6 to 9 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers meets at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 

Berkeley Schools Now Celebration with Assemblymember Loni Hancock, BHS Principal Jim Slemp, and Rosa Parks Principal Shirley Herrera at 3:30 p.m. at Rosa Parks School Library.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Izaly Cemtsov- 

ski, Prof. Slavic Studies, UCB, “Today’s Music in Central Asia.” 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. 

Free Speech Movement Retrospective with Michael Rossman and Lynne Hollander Savio at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Literary Friends meets at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to discuss Jane Austen. 232-1351. 

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. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169.  

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

SATURDAY, MARCH 13 

National Nutrition Month celebration with cooking demonstrations, taste testing and nutrition education from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Flea Market, Ashby BART Station. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org  

Mini-Gardeners: Seeds Learn the plant cycle and see where seeds come from, for ages 4-6 accompanied by an adult, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Cost is $3, $4 non-resident. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Good Night Little Farm Rain or shine the animals need to be fed and put away for the night. Join us from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Little Farm. Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Compost Give-Away as part of the National Nutrition month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Seed Saving Workshop Introduction to seed saving for the backyard, school, and community gardener. We’ll cover seed saving in detail, including botany and pollination, types of seeds, wet and dry seed processing methods, equipment, and seed storage. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $15 general, $10 EC members. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

School Garden Conference Join teachers, school volunteers, and youth gardening enthusiasts for a one-day conference on starting or enhancing gardens in Bay Area Schools. Workshops will will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will begin at the Lawrence Hall of Science and move to the UC Botanical Garden. Cost is $10. 495-2801. 

Alternative Materials: Cob and Strawbale A workshop on two natural building methods are currently undergoing renewed popularity. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610.  

Hands-on Ecological Restoration for Youth Enjoy a fun-filled, muscle building day working on a native plant restoration project at Shoreline Park in Oakland from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants should be 12 to 16 years old. Gloves, tools and snacks provided. Cost is $10. 238-3818.  

Stream Restoration Workshop taught by Ann Riley, author of “Restoring Streams in Cities,” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Urban Creeks Council, 1250 Addison St., #107-C. www.urbancreeks.org 

Help Build a Native Plant Nursery and Restore a Marsh Join the effort to restore West Stege Marsh, along the south Bayshore of Richmond, for the endangered Clapper Rail and other wildlife. We will be building potting tables, erecting a shade house, and of course tending our new little plants. From 9 a.m. Pre-registration preferred. 231-5783. martha@aoinstitute.org 

Introduction to Renewable Energy This workshop will introduce solar, wind and micro-hydro systems to homeowners who want to become their own utility companies by generating electricity with renewable energy technologies. At the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 970-963-8855. www.solarenergy.org 

Spring Care and Feeding of Roses with Deb McKay at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

78th Annual Poets’ Dinner at 11:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn in Emeryville, with guest speaker Richard Silberg. Tickets are $22, availabel from 841-1217. 

Story Dressmaking Workshop with artist Patricia Bulitt, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Live Oak Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Commemorate a woman or girl who influences your life with collaging onto a brown paper cut out dress. Bring art supplies such as paint, glue, stapler, scissors. Photos, buttons, ribbons, whatever you bring to remember her. Suggested for 8 years and older. Cost is $25-$50 at the door, no one turned away for lack of funds. 841-6612.  

The American Red Cross Classes in CPR and preparedness training at Patten College and Trinity Lutheran Church. Different locations will offer classes in English, Spanish and Cantonese. For more information or to register, call 1-888-686-3600, or register online at www.bayrea-redcross.org 

South Berkeley Annual Crab Festival from 5 to 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Community Church at 1804 Fairview St. at Ellis. Music will be provided by the Stacy Wilson Trio. Tickets are $35.00 for adults and $17.50 for children. For further information, please call 652-1040. www.sbccucc.org 

“Honoring Transition Beyond Identity” a workshop on gender and identity awareness from noon to 5 p.m. at Toltec Center of Creative Intent, 2300 Roosevelt at Bancroft. Cost is $55-$85, sliding scale. To register call 649-0352, ext. 4. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. For further information and to register, call 848-7800. 

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

SUNDAY, MARCH 14 

Green Sunday The Green Party and the 2004 Presidential Race, panel discussion at 5 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland.  

Butterfly Club for ages 8 and up. Learn about these colorful insects, growing native plants and habitat restoration. From 1to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Singing in the Rain Join us on a hike from 1to 3 p.m. and learn how to identify slender salamanders, singing tree frogs and the Clafornia newt. Dress for mud and rain. At Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

“The Fourth World War” with Stephen Funk, imprisoned for refusing to fight in the Iraq War at 3 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 390 27th St., between Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland. 644-6466. 

“From Risk to Action: Women and HIV/AIDS in Ethopia” a film presentation and discussion at 3 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Sponsored by Priority Africa Network, Citizens League of Ethiopian Americans and Concentric Media. 650-568-4340. 

Workshop on Creating Character 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.  

Storytelling Women Performance at 3 p.m. at Live Oak Center, Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave, at Berryman. Cost is $15-$35, no one turned away. 841-6612.  

Beth El Diversity A panel discussion with Gary and Diane Tobin from 2 to 4 p.m. at Beth El, 2301 Vine St. 848-3988. 

Summer Camp Fair from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Temple, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Learn about summer camp options for you and your children. Sponsored by the American Association of University Women. For a free directory of camps call 800-362-2236. www.acanorcal.org 

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

MONDAY, MARCH 15 

Tea at Four Enjoy some of the best teas from the other side of the Pacific Rim and learn their cultural and natural history. Then take a walk to see wintering birds and dormant ladybeetles, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration required. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds Educator Workshop An overview of activities and programs. Copy of “Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds” included. Held in Berkeley from 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. Pre-registration required by 3/11. 415-597-5888, afrankel@coastal.ca.gov, www.coastforyou.org/  

Classroom Matters Fundraiser for middle school tutoring scholarships at 6:30 p.m. at Downtown Restaurant, 2102 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $75 available from 540-8646. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 1:15 p.m. 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. 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 9., at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.ber 

keley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 11, 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., Mar. 11, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 11, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Mar. 11, in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning±

Elise Blumenfeld’s voice resonates enthusiasm as she guides a reporter through a verbal tour of Berkeley’s newest officially recognized historic district. 

“Usually, when people think of the history of Berkeley, they think in terms of the university. But here in West Berkeley, there were a lot Spanish-speaking immigrants, especially from Chile, and the Irish, who fled here from the famine,” she said. 

Blumenfeld’s passion for what has now become Sisterna Tract Block 106 Historic District began as a drive to preserve a collection of houses and quickly turned into fascination with the discovery of a rich, unexpected history, peopled with immigrants driven from distant homelands by poverty, famine and despair. 

Her effort culminated on March 1 in the official declaration by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission after the panel received a copiously illustrated 48-page report written by Blumenfeld and Sarah Satterlee from the extensive research of 14 other volunteers, including an architect, a woodworker and an archaeologist. 

On Sunday afternoon, neighbors drawn together by the struggle to save their block from the further metastasis of the large apartment buildings and major remodelings that have been invading their neighborhood, gathered over carrot cake, chips, dip, cheese, crackers, cookies, sparkling water and wine to fete their victory at the now-landmarked colorful “Carpenter Gothic” at 2110 Sixth St.  

Blumenfeld, who holds a doctorate in clinical social work, and her spouse and colleague Neal Blumenfeld had restored the building in 1989, 101 years after it was built. Counselors and the California Institute for Social Work now occupy what have been offices since 1929. 

Inside, the original moldings and ornamentation have survived, and 10-foot ceilings keep the interior quite cool, despite the unseasonable warmth outside. 

The new historic district includes the Blumenfeld building and eight other houses on the northern half-blocks of Fifth and Sixth streets south of Addison Street, and two on Addison between Fifth and Sixth. Two other lots are included in the district, but not the structures that now occupy them. 

Blumenfeld credits Hank Mooney with discovery of much of the district’s fascinating history, and Todd Boekelheide with the images in a report that begins with the Ohlone people who inhabited the region long before the arrival of Europeans. 

The following history comes from their account. 

The parcel derives its name from Rosario and Carmelita Sisterna, a Chilean immigrant couple who bought a large dairy farm including the block in 1858.  

The Spaniards, in the person of Luis Peralta, were the first Europeans to seize the land from the Ohlone people—who left three shell mounds within a few minutes stroll of the Sisterna Tract. Holding a land grant from the Spanish crown, Peralta laid claim to the site along with much of the East Bay in 1820. 

In 1842, Peralta subdivided his grant, giving the hunk that includes the Sisterna Tract and most of modern-day Berkeley to his son, Domingo. With the influx of gold-seekers and the Mexican surrender of California to the U.S., both in 1848, his lands were fenced off and his cattle seized by interlopers. 

Surrendering to reality, Peralta sold the last of his holdings five years later to a San Francisco consortium which managed to corral title to all of modern-day Berkeley and Oakland. The speculators sold a parcel south of Strawberry Creek—including the new historic district—to Yolo County dairy farmer James J. Foley, who in turn sold the land in 1858 to the Sisternas, Chilean immigrant who’d been burned out of their farm in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow. 

After the fire, the Sisternas had headed for Gold Country, making their pile before returning to the East Bay, where they bought Foley’s farm. 

The district’s larger neighborhood got its name after a sea captain from Massachusetts, William J. Bowen, built an inn at what is now the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street. The stagecoach line that stopped there dubbed the site Ocean View, and the name stuck. 

Bowen and fellow captain James H. Jacobs sparked early industrial development. Jacobs built a wharf at the foot of Delaware Street—today Jacobs’ Landing—and set up a freight hauling business. A grist mill, a soap factory, and a wood planing mill soon followed, bringing still more industries in the wake. 

Workers for the new enterprises poured in from Europe, Mexico, and South America. The largest group was Irish, fleeing the great famine, but many, like the Sisternas, came from Chile. 

In 1873, Jacobs and a collection of Ocean View entrepreneurs—plus retired UC president Henry Durant—formed the Berkeley Land and Town Improvement Association and proceeded to subdivide between San Pablo Avenue and the Bay from Cordonices Creek to Bancroft Way. 

The Sisternas sold shares in their land to Jacobs’ consortium, retaining title and the right to subdivide and sell off lots. Block 106, Berkeley’s newest historic district, was settled over the next decade by immigrants from Mexico, Chile, Ireland, and Germany. 

Five years later, faced with the growing political clout of Oakland and fearing they’d be swallowed up by the growing city, Ocean View residents joined with the university to incorporate the City of Berkeley. 

Political activism has been an Ocean View traditional from the start, and the district provided an organizational hotbed for the California Working Man’s Party—a major player in the incorporation drive. 

Today, the neighborhood retains the ethnic diversity that marks its beginnings, with the old wave of Spanish-speaking immigrants replaced by a new one.  

The oldest of the new landmarks bears a name that may be either Portuguese or Hispanic. The Juan Velasca House at 2109 Fifth St. still preserves most of the classically inspired ornamentation that defines the Italianate Victorian.  

The Velasca House name is that of the original owners, Juan and Margaret Velasca, who bought the lot from the Sisternas on Aug. 6, 1877, and built their home that same year. Juan Velasca declared himself a tanner, and probably plied his craft with the help of the tannic acid in the plentiful supply of acorns yielded by native oak trees. 

Though 2105 Fifth boasts two bay windows to 2107’s one, the two Italianate cottages are otherwise nearly identical, though 2107 was built in 1889, six years after 2105—originally the home of French-born blacksmith Peter Haller, who built the near-twin for his stepson, Thomas F. Dowd. Satterlee is the proud owner of 2105, which she is presently restoring. 

Though the building is modern, the land at 800 Addison once housed Haller’s carriage shop, built in 1888—enough to win the plot itself inclusion in the district. 

Todd Boekelheide, who collected the illustrations for the landmark application, owns 814 Addison—named after Joseph McVay, a Missouri-born contractor, teamster and developer who built the Queen Anne cottage in 1888. 

McVay also bought the house next door at 816 in 1892. Today a duplex, the home may have begun as an older house moved in and elevated, or as the conversion of a barn known to have once stood on the site. 

In 1892, McVay’s brother Edward built the newly landmarked house at 2100 Sixth St., the largest and costliest to build of the newly landmarked homes—a lavishly ornamented and lovingly restored Queen Anne cottage. He was also married to Isabella Moore, granddaughter of the Sisternas. 

Clara Ballard, the original owner—in 1892—of the Victorian at 2104 Sixth was a sister to the McVays. The home is a virtual twin of the Blumenfeld’s building two doors down. 

The home at 2108, originally built in 1888 and subjected to major remodeling later, was exempted from the district, though the land beneath was included. 

The last house, a Carpenter Gothic at 2112 Sixth, was another Haller creation, built in 1888 and described by Blumenfeld and Satterlee as a reverse twin of Blumenfeld’s building next door. 

“We’re really delighted with the landmark designation,” Satterlee said. “Working together, we’ve helped preserved the a unique part of Berkeley’s history.”o

With a Target store moving in next door, a resort hotel envisioned a few blocks further north and transbay ferry service beckoning at its shore, Gilman Street—part of Berkeley’s industrial core—is emerging as ground zero in the city’s planning wars. 

“There are turf battles everywhere,” said Linda Perry, a supporter of putting a ferry terminal near the mouth of Gilman and an organizer of a Saturday workshop, sponsored by Berkeley Design Advocates on the future of Gilman from San Pablo Avenue to the waterfront. 

The chief tug-of-war pits development advocates who see Gilman as a burgeoning commercial and residential center against manufacturers, who fear that new development would raise property values and force them out of Berkeley. The current West Berkeley Plan favors industry, but the BDA argues that by precluding retail and housing development, the plan depresses property values and potentially costs the city valuable sales tax money, which Albany is positioned to capture.  

“Gilman is an area with a lot of potential for the city,” said JWC Design President, Jay Claiborne. He added that the confluence of development in Albany and the potential for a ferry terminal spurred him and others at Berkeley Design Advocates—a trade group of local architects, planners and urban designers—to take a fresh look at developing Gilman. “Some areas are really deteriorating,” he said. “There are a lot of empty sites that don’t look viable for manufacturing activities.” 

The city’s Office of Economic Development didn’t send a representative to the meeting nor did it not return phone calls requesting information on vacancy rates or the business climate in West Berkeley. 

Saturday’s workshop on Gilman was the BDA’s third over the past several months. Claiborne said that “after hearing from numerous sources that the street had limited retail opportunities,” the BDA has focused more on housing to create a base for future retail development in the area.  

The concept presented Saturday calls for putting housing alongside quiet industries like graphic designers between Sixth Street and San Pablo Avenue, where residents would have easy access to mass transit. The section of Gilman west of Sixth Street would be reserved for industries with loud machinery or frequent truck pickups that wouldn’t fit in a residential neighborhood. 

To make their concepts a reality, the BDA wants to revisit the 11-year-old West Berkeley Plan, up for review in 2005. Their suggestions, said Planning Director Dan Marks, would essentially change the focus of the plan along Gilman, from Harrison Street to Camelia Street, from preserving manufacturing jobs to providing housing. He added that city staff had no opinion on such a change, which would ultimately be determined by the City Council. 

Though the brainstorming session, known as a Charrette, had no binding authority, Claiborne said he hoped to bring the group’s ideas before the city’s Planning Commission and work with those involved in formulating the current West Berkeley plan. 

Some planning commissioners in attendance Saturday were hostile to tinkering with the plan that took years to hammer out. John Curl argued that West Berkeley was not blighted and that the meeting was solely motivated by “developers wanting to develop something.” Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein warned that a change would be a “body blow” to the West Berkeley Plan. 

Manufacturers said that inconsistent enforcement of zoning regulations has allowed retailers onto Gilman and sent rents spiraling. Two years ago Urban Ore, an industrial re-use business, lost its lease at Gilman and Sixth streets when the property owner demanded a rent hike from $7,500 to $18,000.  

That property, now owned by the Berkeley Unified School District, is pivotal to the debate over Gilman. Mayor Tom Bates told the Planet in November that he was working to find a different home for the school district, because the Sixth Street property was located on one of Gilman’s few budding commercial centers. 

“There’s not a lot of commercial opportunities on Gilman,” Bates said in November. “But if you have a vacant lot, I’d like to explore the revenue opportunities.” 

The district, however, failed to close a deal on a property at Eighth and Carleton streets and with rental expenses for their current bus lots totaling $450,000, it plans to push ahead with the Gilman project, said Lew Jones, the district’s director of facilities and maintenance.  

Concepts offered by DBA designers sparked heated debate among the roughly 30 people in attendance. 

Responding to Landscape Architect Karen Burkes’ vision of a ferry terminal, hotel and light rail system on the Gilman waterfront, the Sierra Club’s Norman LaForce minced few words. “We will sink any ferry boat that tries to get into Gilman.”  

Environmentalists want to locate the future ferry terminal—approved in a ballot measure last week, at a yet-to-be-determined site in Berkeley or Albany—at the Berkeley Marina, away from the Eastshore State Park which they worked decades to secure. They are currently fighting a hotel and entertainment center, planned by the Magna Entertainment Corporation, set to rise just east of the park and blocks from Gilman at Golden Gate Fields racetrack. 

Few West Berkeley residents attended the meeting, but most who were present favored a modest amount of new development. “Right now all we have are vacant lots, abandoned buildings and graffiti. How is that better than development?” said Alvin Jackson and Randal DeLuchi, who moved into the neighborhood eight years ago. “It’s gentrifying and everyone loves it. This plan would be our dream,” they said. 

ˇ

For almost 14 years, Rebecca Dennison has been fighting one of the world’s toughest fights. Since testing positive for HIV in 1991, Dennison, who is a Berkeley resident, has also become one of the leading advocates for women living with HIV/AIDS. She was honored for her work last Saturday when she was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame. 

Dennison, who originally founded WORLD, or Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases, out of her living room, just recently stepped down from the helm of the organization that now reaches 12,000 women in 85 countries. Here in the East Bay alone they serve 200 families. 

According to Dennison, she originally founded the organization because outreach services for women with HIV/AIDS didn’t exist at the time. 

“I felt like women and the people who care about them needed a place to share information, resources and strategies for living with HIV/AIDS,” said Dennison. 

Today WORLD’s resources include a newsletter, retreats and peer advocates who serve as a bridge between women and services such as doctors. The organization boasts many success stories, and has also helped Dennison in her own struggles. 

When she learned she was positive she said she immediately thought she would quickly die and, even if she lived, never be able to have children. But with the information she got through WORLD, she found ways to reduce the risk of transmission. She eventually learned that she is a non-progressor, which means that her disease does not progress quickly. 

“By belonging to this community there were a lot of things that I had, and the most important was having the information about reducing the risks of my children being infected,” said Dennison. 

It took Dennison five years to get pregnant and she said it was the hardest decision she ever made to try. 

Today, however, she is the proud mother of twin girls who will turn eight next week, both of whom are HIV negative. 

“If I hadn’t had the support or information that the organization provides, I might have delayed getting pregnant and lost time with my kids,” she said. 

A group of concerned homeless residents came knocking at the city’s door on Friday, asking officials to help them find a way to keep a temporary shelter at Oakland’s old Army Base open until the weather dries out and warms up. 

More than a dozen people gathered in a ground-floor conference room with Steve Barton, director of the city’s Housing Department, Andrew Wicker, a community support specialist with the Housing Department, and Cisco DeVries, aide to Mayor Bates, to ask the city to find a way to help them keep the shelter open. The group had earlier pleaded its case to Oakland officials. 

“We don’t want to point the finger, we want to help,” said Dwight Stallings who has used the shelter for most of the winter. Stallings said he and other called the meeting not to protest the upcoming closure but as a way to try and facilitate a way to find more money. 

“We need the housing, we’re people with skills and trades and we just need a little more time,” he said, adding that many of those at the meeting are trying to transition into more permanent housing. 

The Operation Dignity Temporary Winter Shelter, which has 100 beds and provides showers and two meals a day along with counseling and health services, usually stays open through or until the middle of April. It is now a victim of pending budget cuts. According to Alex McElree, executive director of Operation Dignity, the organization that runs the shelter, a $50,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that came through in previous years was cut off for this year. 

According to McElree, as of Monday Oakland had proposed re-allocating $30,500 which will keep the shelter open until April 2. It costs the shelter $2,500 to per day to run operations. 

Andrew Wicker, from Berkeley’s Housing Department, said the city will not be able to contribute as much as Oakland, but will contribute almost $20,000 pending approval from the city manager and or the City Council. 

Wicker said the funds will come out of the Housing Department’s unused pool for emergency shelter vouchers for families or people with disabilities. That pool, he said, was not drained as much as expected this year. 

Berkeley contributed $56,000 to the Army shelter’s budget earlier this year because it serves large parts of the homeless community here in Berkeley that cannot get into other city shelters. The city also allocated $42,000 for travel vouchers on BART that the homeless can use to get to the shelter. 

“On the one hand the city should be responding to the concern of its citizens,” said Wicker. “We support their goals and I’m very impressed that they’re working to make things happen.” 

“On the other hand it’s frustrating that we’re scrambling to come up with resources.” 

According to McElree, the shelter serves a vital role for those who cannot get into other shelters, especially during the county’s rainiest and coldest months. He said the county only has 1,000 beds for an estimated 3,500 people. 

“We take the homeless who are hardest to serve, the people who will not come in from the rain, the most needy,” said McElree. 

McElree said the center is also a home base of sorts for homeless veterans. Operation Dignity runs a number of veteran services and veterans make up 22 percent of shelter residents. 

A young man who declined to give his name but said he had just returned from Iraq after serving with the 82nd airborne said the shelter was one of the only places he could turn because people had continually turned him down for jobs, fearing he might have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

“I spent 120 days serving, and I get kicked back on the street, that’s what I get, that’s my reward,” he said. “I’m hitting brick walls everywhere I go.”

UC Berkeley and Federal Express have agreed to fund Fulbright fellowships jointly for graduate students denied funding after a FedEx error caused applications to be picked up past the deadline. 

FedEx will contribute about half of the grant money, with the rest coming from the university’s fellowship endowment, Chancellor Robert Berdahl said in a statement. 

In January the Department of Education, which oversees the Fulbright-Hayes program, denied consideration to the 30 UC students. Upon the request of UC officials, The U.S. Department of State, which also oversees Fulbright programs, agreed to manage a special review of the students’ applications, but held UC responsible for funding the fellowships. 

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

“All parties agreed that the students were the focus,” said Sandra Munoz, spokesperson for Federal Express. “This agreement means these students will get a chance to fulfill their dreams.” 

UC officials did not say if devoting campus fellowship money to the Fulbright students might cost other students fellowship opportunities.›

Burglar Caught 

Police responded early Sunday morning to a 911 call from a resident on the 2300 block of Ellsworth Street, who overheard people talking about a burglary they had committed. Officers responded and detained one man at the scene. An area search located bags filled with computers and jewelry determined to been stolen from a Berkeley heist hours before. Police arrested Alhondro Myers, a 26-year-old nomad, for possession of stolen property, trespassing and showing a false ID to a police officer. 

Landlord Trespassing 

Tenants at an apartment on the 900 block of Grizzly Peak Boulevard called police Wednesday evening when their landlord illegally entered their home. Landlords must give notice before entering a tenant’s residence. Police documented the case, but arrived after the landlord had left the premises, police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said. 

Telephone Worker Scuffle 

A PG&E crew member traded blows with a passerby at a job site at Hilldale and Marin avenues Wednesday, police said. The two men struck each other with their hands, said police spokesperson Kevin Schofield. Neither combatant was believed to be injured in the scuffle.›

One of the great modern California folk myths is that African-Americans did not show up west of the Sierra Nevadas until the opening of work for black folk at the World War II shipyards. In fact, African-Americans were migrating into the state in signifi cant numbers as early as the mid-19th century, and in the East Bay had formed a stable, diverse, and well-defined community by the turn of the last century. One of the survivors of that pre-World War II black community—Berkeley native Dorothy Reid Pete—ce lebrated her ninetieth birthday last week. 

The event was held in Oakland at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, the establishment of Dorothy Pete’s youngest son, local businessman Geoffrey Pete. 

A portion of Dorothy Pete’s family originally came to California from Virginia during the turmoil immediately preceding the Civil War, when plantations were being broken up and families and servants shipped out of the South in anticipation of the bloody battles soon to come. Her great-grandfather, William Henry Galt, was h onored by a California governor for his work with the state militia in helping to keep California out of the Confederacy. 

Other members of Pete’s family were active in significant California and national events. One of her grandfathers, Edward Parker, is listed in the Great Register of San Francisco County Voters as having registered to vote on April 15, 1870, the first day African-Americans were allowed to vote under the protection of the 15th Amendment. A great-cousin, Berkeley native William Patterson, was the leading black member of the U.S. Communist Party during the 1930s and 1940s, and wrote the 1951 petition delivered by Paul Robeson to the United Nations charging the United States with genocide against the African-American people. 

Dorothy Pete was born in Berkeley in 1914, the ninth of 13 children of Tom Reid Sr. and Virginia Parker Reid. Three of her younger sisters—Florence Lewis (the widow of former lightheavyweight champion John Henry Lewis), Maybelle Allen, and Hazel Huff—are all still liv ing. 

The Reid family grew up in South Berkeley, living on both California and Oregon streets. Like most East Bay African-American families of the early 20th century, much of their recreation and social life centered around Berkeley’s San Pablo Playground, where national Negro League teams often came to play and give exhibitions on Saturdays and Sundays. 

One of Dorothy Pete’s brothers, Charles Reid, was an accomplished semi-professional baseball player and a longtime recreation director at Shields Park i n North Richmond, later named Shields-Reid Park in his honor. Another brother, Paul Reid, was a cofounder (with cousin Mel Reid) of Reid’s Records on Sacramento Street, one of the oldest still-existing black businesses in Berkeley. Paul Reid was also a no ted radio gospel deejay. After his death he was honored by the City of Berkeley as a South Berkeley Pioneer, with a banner with his image placed along Adeline Street. 

Dorothy Reid Pete graduated from Berkeley High School, worked as a secretary at the the n-segregated Linden Branch of the Berkeley YWCA, and later integrated the downtown YWCA as a staff worker. She married Herman Pete, a star athlete from Alameda, and moved to Oakland after living in Berkeley for several years. They had two other sons besi des Geoffrey: Gregory, a journalist and counselor, and Dennis, who had an early career with both the Black Panther Party and briefly as a defensive back with the Oakland Raiders, and has since become a church youth counselor on the east coast. 

J. Dougla s Allen-Taylor is the nephew of Dorothy Reid Pete. 

?

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—Although temperatures sometimes drop below freezing, farmers have already planted this year’s opium poppy crop in fields just outside Kandahar city. It’s no secret to the government of interim President Hamid Karzai or the U.S. troops who patrol the area. Opium poppy is virtually the only winter crop. 

Akhtar, a major opium growing farmer who asked that his full name not be used, says his and other nearby villages producing drugs never see any U.S. anti-drug officials. The farmers are quite open about their business, even offering visitors bowls of salt-roasted marijuana seeds, a byproduct of another major commodity in the village: hashish. 

Akhtar and other villagers say producing drugs is a simple matter of capitalist economics. They can earn three times as much growing poppy and marijuana as raising wheat, their traditional crop. 

“Because these two crops don’t require a lot of water,” said Akhtar, “we make a better profit when we sell it.” 

Afghanistan has once again become the number one exporter of heroin in the world. Drug trafficking accounts for a startling 50 percent of Afghanistan’s estimated gross domestic product, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. 

Mirwais Yasini, head of Afghanistan’s Counter Narcotics Department in Kabul, says his government is making some progress in the fight against drugs. The government is educating farmers, cracking down on heroin labs and “eradicating the opium plants,” said Yasini. He said the U.S. Army has a new policy of destroying heroin labs and poppy fields when they encounter them during normal operations. 

So far the results are not encouraging, however. While poppy production decreased last year in some provinces such as Kandahar, entrepreneurs shifted production to other parts of the country. Overall opium cultivation increased by eight percent from 2002-03, according to the UN’s 2003 Opium Survey. 

Opium poppies have grown in Afghanistan for centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that significant amounts were processed into heroin. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the mujahadeen guerrillas discovered that heroin smuggling was a lucrative means to finance their anti-Soviet jihad. Weapons for the mujahadeen arrived in Karachi, Pakistan, traveled by truck to the Afghan border and then by mule over the mountain passes. The heroin followed the same trail in reverse. 

Within a few years after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, factional fighting among the mujahadeen led to chaos. Heroin quickly became the country’s number one export as warlords financed their armies with drug smuggling. By the time the Taliban seized power in 1996, Afghanistan produced roughly 75 percent of the world’s heroin, and the fundamentalists at first did little to address the problem. 

Under tremendous pressure from the U.S., however, the Taliban reversed course and banned poppy growing in 1999. Within two years, poppy cultivation dropped by over 90 percent, according to UN aerial surveys. It continued only in areas controlled by the Northern Alliance, the U.S.-backed guerrillas that later helped topple the Taliban. 

Within months after the US invasion in 2001, when Afghanistan had no effective government, farmers planted poppy and heroin smuggling surged once again. Interim President Karzai has tried to crack down on the drug trade, but the government has limited resources, according to drug czar Yasini. For example, only 430 of the proposed 17,000 Afghan national police will be assigned to anti-drug efforts, because the government’s priority is fighting the Taliban and maintaining security. 

The government would like to provide alternative crops to impoverished farmers. “We are thinking about saffron as an alternative crop, olives, and all types of vegetables and fruits,” he said. 

Yasini concedes, however, that the government has no money for such projects. The drug trade, on the other hand, finances the country’s warlords and their underlings known as commanders. One high government official said flatly that drug corruption reaches extremely high in both the national and provincial governments. 

“If you give me a list of all the commanders in the country, I will point out the few who are not involved in the drug trade,” he said. 

For example, the former governor of Kandahar province, Gul Agha Sherzoi, helped protect drug smugglers, according to Sarah Chayes, until recently head of the non profit Afghans for a Civil Society in Kandahar. One day she saw him lunching with “the top opium trafficker in the region.” On another occasion, a tanker truck carrying 9,000 kilos of hashish into Pakistan “had provincial governor license plates,” said Chayes. The driver carried “a safe conduct written on provincial governor stationery.” 

Sherzoi, a staunch US ally, is no longer governor of Kandahar Province. Karzai promoted him to minister of housing in Kabul. Minister Sherzoi was not available for comment despite numerous phone calls to his office. 

Back in the village outside Kandahar city, farmers are tending their fields. They understand the social problems caused by drug addiction. “But what option do we have? asked poppy farmer Akhtar. 

“We don’t like to grow this, but we’re obliged to,” he said. “If God brought us something to grow instead, we would immediately change.” 

As we prepared to leave, Akhtar had an additional thought. “It’s interesting to know that people in America know we’re growing poppy, but they don’t know we’re not getting food.” 

Reese Erlich is co-author, with Norman Solomon, of “Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You” (Context Books, 2003).ˇ

What’s the first stop you make after spending two months in the west wing of Oakland’s Kaiser Permanente ICU? If you are anything like my husband, Ralph, you go directly to Fentons Creamery and Restaurant, the venerable 110-year-old ice cream institution located just a few blocks up the street from the hospital, but a million miles away in terms of sweetness, atmo, and calorie counts. 

Because Fentons is completely wheelchair accessible, it was easy for Ralph to get through the wide front doors and navigate to a table with a view of Piedmont Avenue. Cold glasses of ice water were immediately delivered to us. A huge laminated menu with every conceivable frozen dessert concoction imaginable gave Ralph a moment of pause. For most of his time in ICU he had been nourished via a feeding tube placed strategically up his nose. It was only in the last few days of his seven-plus week stay that he had eaten any solid food. He hadn’t been happy with the hospital cuisine. We smuggled in hot pastrami sandwiches from nearby A.G. Ferarri’s Italian delicatessen, and chocolate devil’s food cake from their next door neighbor, Just Desserts. 

At Fentons, Ralph finally settled on a Black and Tan ice cream sundae, made with homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate and caramel syrups, and topped with shaved almonds, whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. It came in a tall, beveled glass, a beautiful creation fit for a man who has just been sprung from Intensive Care. Ralph ate with gusto and when he was finished he sampled my monstrous banana split and then, still hungry, he ordered a root beer float. 

Normally, I would have advised against such an impulsive decision. Normally, he wouldn’t have wanted a second dessert. Normally, I wouldn’t order a banana split. But this was no ordinary occasion. Ralph had survived 51 days in ICU, 49 of them on a ventilator. He had endured irregular heartbeats, a tracheotomy, plummeting blood pressure, skyrocketing fevers, IV’s in his neck, arms and wrists. He had missed the Super Bowl, his sixty-fifth birthday, the Stanford-Cal basketball game, and Valentine’s Day. He deserved this small moment of pleasure. 

And I deserved it too. I hadn’t bothered telling him about the emergency root canal I had while he was in the hospital, or the 45 minutes I was stuck underwater on a hot, crowded BART train in the trans bay tube. I neglected to mention my trip to Santa Rita Jail to visit one of his attendants, the backed-up kitchen sink, or the leaky bathroom faucet . He had other, more important concerns, like staying awake and breathing. 

Neither of us has any illusions that this will be his last visit to Intensive Care. His health is fragile. The tracheotomy literally opens a new location for potential infections to invade his body. But at this moment we are happy. He is out of the hospital. He is home. He can eat a pastrami sandwich or two ice cream sundaes in a row and no one, least of all me, is going to offer objections. And as soon as our friend in Santa Rita gets paroled, we’re heading right back to Fentons.

ALBANY ZONING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For over five months now I have been part of a community group that respects the need for commercial development along San Pablo Avenue, but would like the City of Albany to respect our wishes to leave the neighboring streets residential. In less than five months, we have drafted a well-thought out and detailed Alternative to the Planning and Zoning Commission’s commercial expansion proposed along San Pablo Avenue and we have attracted over 400 supporters from all over the city (not just the so-called “NIMBYs”). By contrast, it took some members of the commission more than seven years to come up with a radical expansion proposal that only he and one other member can support with a straight face. Unfortunately, these two have married themselves to a proposal that would ruin the spirit of Albany for no other reason than to preserve their fragile egos. 

Four-story buildings built up to the property line of single family homes would destroy the neighborhood—plain and simple. A radical increase in large commercial buildings would increase crime, traffic and pollution; such changes would have a negative impact not only on the neighboring streets but anyone living in Albany and anyone attempting to drive through Albany, especially via San Pablo Avenue. This is not a case of “NIMBYism.” Keep in mind that San Pablo Avenue runs through the majority of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. You could be the next homeowner with a Wal-Mart opening in your backyard. I am amazed and appalled that the powers that be have let the voices of a few drown out the voices of hundreds. We just want to be heard! 

We have started a petition and urge potential supporters of reasonable, respectful development to contact us before the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 9. We have a hotline at 527-0923, and our website is http://stopsanpabloexpansion.com. 

Kamala Appel 

• 

WHAT NEXT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Schwarzenegger’s office gravely warns the public that gay marriages being performed at San Francisco’s City Hall will cause mayhem, that it will “lead to anarchy.” Other foes of gay marriage warn of a “fierce backlash.” 

What now: Will Washington policymakers initiate preemptive military strikes against San Francisco—as they did in Kabul, Khandahar and Baghdad? 

Will Gov. Schwarzenegger or President Bush call in the U.S. military to drop cluster bombs on civilian wedding parties—as in Afghanistan? 

I suppose we should take the warnings seriously. After all, there’s no knowing from one minute to the next what this administration will drop on our heads, or—God forbid—on the heads of others. 

Sheila Newbery 

• 

AN ELECTION TALE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We just voted in the March 2 California Primary, believing that this fundamental exercise of our democracy is more important than ever. Unfortunately, we have no proof that we voted, or that our vote will be counted. We are deeply alarmed to find that even here in Alameda County, a stronghold of responsible political thinking, balloting procedures and technology have become sloppy and mysterious. 

This is our experience: 1) No proof of identification was requested. 2) At the point where the plastic voting card was issued, there was no reliable verification that we had signed in, and anyone could have stepped in line to have simply requested a voting card. 3) The touch screen voting system did not allow for any paper trail. 4) When we asked for a receipt showing that we had voted, we were told that no receipts exist and the voting officials tried to convince us that the “I voted” sticker (available in a dish) could serve as proof of voting. 

In this historical moment when we are trying to reclaim our country and democracy from the theft of a presidential election, this is more than outrageous. 

Joanna Macy and  

Michael Leaver 

• 

ART PROGRAMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I can’t agree more with Bonnie Hughes’ commentary in your last issue regarding the Seagate Plan and how the current process continues to hinder arts programs in Berkeley. 

Everyone has a responsibility to recognize the importance of the arts, especially in a city who has developed much of it’s history and reputation on 

liberal arts and the freedom of expression. In the very same edition of the Berkeley Planet in which Ms. Hughes expressed her concerns, there was a front page story of another tangled web between city government, corporate development, and Berkeley’s art community centered around the Gaia Building project. 

It’s time we fully utilize the systems that have been put into place such as the Civic Arts Commission and the Cultural Trust. These groups exist for a reason. To develop the arts in Berkeley. To speak on behalf of the people of Berkeley. To speak on behalf of the artists of Berkeley. 

Rob Woodworth 

• 

ELP GETS THE AXE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The corporate University Extension decided to lop one of its finest appendages. The English Language Program has taught English as a second language for over three decades with sensitivity both to the different cultural backgrounds of scholars and to local academic culture. ELP training allowed scholars to participate fluently and gracefully in the life of the University.  

ELP teachers have included some of the most engaging people we have ever known, versed in the humanities and attuned to individual differences. We have met students over the years at social events held for them by their teachers. For the students we met (many more than were interviewed in 

deciding to cut the Program), ELP provided a supportive beginning for their academic pursuits here. It was an enclave of comity that students were willing to pay more for than other English language instruction. 

Now more than ever we need to retain humane settings for international education. 

The English Language Program is Berkeley quality, is Berkeley appropriate, as long as Berkeley has any soul left. 

Horst and Eva Bansner 

• 

GAIA CONTROVERSY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Many thanks to Richard Brenneman for his lucid and revealing article on the Gaia Building controversy (”Gaia Building Criticized For Lack of Arts Tenants,” Daily Planet, March 5-8). It is interesting that he is able to include a quote from Patrick Kennedy, the developer, to the effect that he plans to complete the work necessary “in a few weeks” for Anna De Leon to be able to move her new club “Blackbird” into the building in a matter of maybe a few months from now. I for one will keep my eye on this.  

Rick Kalman  

• 

UC LANGUAGE PROGRAM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I very much appreciate your coverage of a decision with great impact on both Cal and the city of Berkeley in your article, “Fate of English Language Program Debated” (Daily Planet, March 5-8). I work on campus and was at the rally. The one error that I wish could be corrected is that many of the people attending that rally were members of CUE, the clericals’ union, whose efforts on campus you have covered so well and so thoroughly in the past. We protest any situation where we see UC staff being laid off as a result of what we consider questionable reasons, and you couldn’t ask for a better example than the closing of this program. 

Jude Bell 

Dept. of Art Practice 

UC Berkeley 

• 

MINOR CORRECTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have one minor correction to make to Lesley Emmington’s wonderful article about the Blood house and the continuing destruction of Berkeley’s historic resources (“Blood House Catalogs Southside History,” Daily Planet, Feb. 24-26). While the Southside, and indeed much of the city, did support and benefit from the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance, it was in fact authored by Martha Nicoloff along with the Oceanview Committee in response to the wholesale bulldozing of houses in the West Berkeley Redevelopment Project Area. Committee members threw themselves prostrate in front of bulldozers and then unsuccessfully sued to force the Redevelopment Agency (which at the time was a separate board headed by the city manager) to comply with the newly adopted NPO and to stop the razing of some of the oldest houses in the city. It was then that the City Council became one of the first in California to declare itself to be the Redevelopment Agency and they created a plan to restore the Oceanview neighborhood. A fragment of the original committee continues to exist as the Oceanview Tenant and Neighborhood Association and we’re still waiting for the city to fulfill the promises that it made so long ago.  

Rhiannon 



Thomas Jefferson was a slave holder. Allowing a Berkeley school to remain named for him is a tacit, but, powerful statement that owning more than 150 slaves was a minor or excusable part of his legacy. Citing selected pieces of his writing to characterize him as an opponent of slavery goes against the common sense notion that “actions speak louder than words.” To minimize the fact that he bought, sold and worked other human beings for his personal profit is disrespectful to the memory of those for whom slavery was not a concept to be pondered, but a life that was lived. It is equally disrespectful to the memory of the many white Americans of Jefferson’s era who actively resisted the institution of American slavery. 

Thomas Jefferson has a prominent place in American history books and has schools named for him because he owned slaves, not in spite of that fact. Slave labor was the source of his wealth; and so, also the source of his political power and his prominent place in American history books. The argument that Jefferson was “a man of his time and place” cannot be supported by history which considers the lives and actions of individuals beyond the most wealthy and powerful to which the average school textbooks are limited. Research reveals many men and women (perhaps less prominent and wealthy) of Jefferson’s time who were possessed of a morality which led them to resist, rather than personally profit from, the abomination of African-American slavery. With that information, we do not need to rely on contemporary ethics and morality to find Jefferson lacking in the integrity and courage which generally define a hero. 

Jefferson’s neighbor and friend, Edward Coles, made the bold decision to sell his plantation and move to Illinois so that he could free his slaves. Once in that free state, he gave each former slave family 160 acres of land. As the second governor of Illinois, he worked to keep Illinois a free state. His support of that cause lost him a great deal of popularity, and pretty much ended his political career. His former slaves and the state of Illinois, however, remained free because of his efforts. 

In 1794, the Society of Friends (Quakers) declared that it was wrong “to live in ease and plenty by the toil of those whom fraud and violence has put in (one’s) power.” More important than their words, brave Quakers living in Jefferson’s time had already begun the practical effort of helping slaves escape via the “Underground Railroad.” In 1786, George Washington complained that “a society of Quakers, formed for such purposes, have attempted to liberate” one of his slaves. These Americans not only declined the personal gain associated with slavery, but in many cases risked their own safety to oppose it. 

The actions of many other lesser known men and women give evidence that Thomas Jefferson was only one kind of “man of his time and place.” He was the kind of man who elicited forced labor from other individuals with the use and threat of physical violence. When one of his slaves escaped, he advertised a bounty for that man or woman’s capture and return. If the slave was caught, Jefferson ordered a severe punishment—flogging or being sold away from their family. This was an example meant to discourage other men and women from attempting to gain their freedom. Jefferson, just as all other slave holders, relied on the threat of physical violence to keep his plantation profitable. African-American slaves simply did not give up their freedom willingly to do Jefferson’s work for him. To be a slave holder, one is required to be a tyrant. 

Thomas Jefferson “talked the talk.” He did it beautifully and quotably. At no point in his life, however, did he “walk the walk.” There were many other Americans living in his era who not only knew what was right, but did what was right. They were not only “men and women of their time and place,” they were the true—if unsung—heroes of their time and place. 

It is not easy to give up long-held, sentimental misconceptions about our nation’s history and “heroes.” I believe, though, that as responsible citizens: When we have the opportunity to know the truth, we must hear it. When we have the opportunity to tell the truth, we must speak it. When we have the opportunity to respect and honor the humanity of others, we must do so expressly and openly. When we have the opportunity to exercise our own humanity, we must embrace it. These opportunities are presented to the Jefferson School community as we reconsider what kind of statement we would like to make with our school name.  

Marguerite Talley-Hughes is a second grade teacher at Jefferson School.

Welcome to the second installment of my “Ask Mayor Tom” column. If you have a question or an issue you would like covered in this column, please drop me a note (my contact information is at the bottom).  

Dear Mayor Tom, 

I am writing about the air raid siren at Indian Rock Park. It is defunct and just sits there to the detriment of the park. It needs to come down and anything you can do would be great. I have lived here all my life and would be willing to help take it down.  

Bill Somerville 

Dear Bill, 

I’m familiar with the old siren. It is a large ugly structure with concrete footings that was originally put in by the federal government. It hasn’t been used for decades. I would love to remove this eyesore, but city staff have estimated that the removal will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000. With our budget uncertainties, this just is not at the top of the city’s priority list because it is not an active safety hazard. However, I would be happy to work with the neighborhood to raise money to help pay for the removal. If you or anyone else from the neighborhood would like to talk to me about that, please give me a call. 

Dear Mayor Tom, 

I am one of the dwindling number of Berkeley street vendors/artists on Telegraph Avenue. Here are some suggestions for changes if you would like to see us remain as an attraction on Telegraph. First, better lighting. Second, access to power outlets. Third, parking. Fourth, Make the mental health crisis team a permanent fixture on Telegraph—the are the best thing that has happened to Telegraph in years. Fifth, Consider making Telegraph a pedestrian zone without the threat of buses (or at least avoid widening the road for buses because that would take away our vending spaces). 

Philip Rowntree 

Dear Philip 

I have been working with the Telegraph Avenue Association, the Telegraph Business Improvement District, UC Berkeley and AC Transit to explore options for improving the Telegraph Avenue Area. Right now, we are in the process of contracting with a group called Project for Public Spaces that has had great success in improving areas like Telegraph Avenue. We are close to finalizing an agreement and I will for sure put forward your suggestions—so stay tuned! Lastly, I suggest you tell all your patrons to park at the Sather Gate Garage. We’ve made changes to the parking system, so there are almost always spaces available throughout the day. 

Dear Mayor Tom, 

Isn’t there some city rule or sanction prohibiting full-time City of Berkeley employees from sitting on city boards and commissions? For example, I know of several aides to city councimembers that also serve on city commissions. Could we please stop this illegal process? It is a way for staff to rule the citizen commissions. 

Jeanne Burdette 

Dear Jeanne, 

City staff members are already prohibited from serving on a commission that overlaps with their work responsibilities. For example, the city does not permit an employee of the Parks Department to serve on the Parks Commission because it would be a conflict of interest. However, if an employee (who is also a resident of Berkeley) works for the Department of Information Technology, the rules would allow that person to also serve on the Parks Commission.  

You specifically raised the issue of councilmember aides serving on commissions. Council aides do not direct city staff, they work with constituents to solve problems and develop policy initiatives. If a councilmember doesn’t see a problem with their aide participating as a commissioner in an area in which they have an interest, I would leave it to their discretion. We are lucky to have so many people volunteering their time and energy on our more than 35 commissions. 

Please send questions, concerns, and ideas that you’d like to see discussed in this column to “Ask Mayor Tom,” care of the mayor’s office: 2180 Milvia St., Berkeley, 94704. E-mail: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us. Fax: 981-7199. Phone: 981-7100.

Finally, after 25 years as an amateur community opera, the Berkeley Opera has taken a first step toward becoming a small professional company. By presenting Wagner’s Ring at Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Theatre in a three-and-a-half-hour condensed version designed to be produced by small companies, the opera makes this work accessible to the general public at a reasonable price. Jonathan Khuner, the artistic director, took a risk and broke the ground for further explorations in this direction. Cast with professional singers rather than local amateurs, and staged by the brilliant young stage director Mark Streshinsky, with stunning projections by both Streshinsky and Jeremy Knight, the general quality of the production was well above what has previously been seen at the Berkeley Opera. Hopefully it will be the dawning of a new age for this company.  

Director Khuner chose a reduction of the work that had already been performed at the Nuremberg Pocket Opera. It was created by David Seaman, conductor at the Welsh National Opera. Seaman took as his goal the telling of the tale itself, eliminating back narrations, musings, repetitions, and segments written for large orchestra. There are only eight singers in the Berkeley production, appearing as different characters identified by similarity in psychological prototype and voice. For example, Marie Plette sings the sweet Woglinde, the innocent Freia, the winsome Forest Bird, and the vulnerable Sieglinde. Clifton Romig appears first as the ambitious Wotan, later as power-hungry Gunther, and finally as The Wanderer. Similarly, the orchestra members must play two or more instruments as well as perform as soloists, reflecting and commenting upon the drama. 

The music and text, except for a few brief transitional chords, are directly from Wagner’s score. It is a formidable task for everyone involved, as both the singers and the orchestra members must perform throughout the opera, all the time. The challenges of presenting scenes from the Rhine to Valhalla—from forests to dragon’s lairs to the circle of fire to the final apocalypse and rebirth of the world—were masterful visual components that could stand on their own as artistic achievements. They served to powerfully propel the drama forward. 

The three sopranos (Marie Plette, Catherine Cook, and Christine Springer) shone forth in all their incarnations. While Marie Plette’s voice glows with extreme beauty and Catherine Cook’s luscious sound was perfect for Fricka, the revelation of the evening was Christine Springer. Here is a singer born to sing Wagnerian heroines—commanding presence, authoritative sound, and trumpeting high voice. Indeed, all three singers are rarities—they are born Wagnerians, who give life to the declamatory style in impeccable German.  

Another discovery was Jo Vincent Parks, who used his rich tone with both eloquence and subtlety as Alberich and Fasolt. With the exception of Marie Plette, who is already embarking on an international career in this repertoire, the extraordinary capabilities of these artists would still be unknown had they not been given this opportunity by Jonathan Khuner.  

The rest of the cast, Clifton Romig, William Pickersgill, Roy Stevens, and Gary Ruschman, were all excellent as well.  

There were the predictable opening night glitches onstage, but these should be smoothed over in future performances. The orchestra was four rehearsals short of an opening night, due to the exceedingly severe financial constraints under which this production was mounted. It may be hoped that the day will come when the superb conductor Khuner will have enough money to pay for the orchestra he deserves, and the time needed to rehearse them adequately. It is testimony to Khuner’s and Streshinsky’s love of art that four evenings of such a work could be produced on less money than a major company might spend to build 10 costumes. 

Olivia Stapp is a retired Metropolitan Opera Soprano and former director of Contra Costa County’s Festival Opera.o

At Berkeley High School, students usually congregate on campus and in the park to laugh, eat lunch and make plans for the weekend. But for many Berkeley High students, recent gatherings include memorials, funerals and grief support groups, as they come t o grips with the accidental deaths of two popular students. 

Nic Rotolo and Miguel Caicedo passed away last month in two separate accidents, Rotolo in a hockey game, and Caicedo in a traffic accident. Their untimely deaths have left a huge void in the liv es of their family members, as well as their friends.  

But after the memorials are over, students are left on their own to grieve for their friends. Family members are seen as survivors and are supported in their grief, but classmates are expected to mov e on more quickly.  

Berkeley High students are fortunate to have a health center that offers grief support, but students in private schools in the area don’t have these services.  

Students throughout the city are grieving with one another the best way t hey can—sharing funny stories about their friends, wearing sweatshirts with their classmate’s picture emblazoned on them, and making bracelets out of hockey shoestrings in remembrance of the hockey player who died. Some of them are just hanging out togeth er, wondering what to do with this huge void in their lives.  

Oftentimes, some parents aren’t even aware of how a classmate’s death has affected their child. What does grief look like in teenagers? Grief can be complex and unique to every teenager, and t he needs of the bereaved teenager have been overlooked for decades. It is hard to teenagers to receive – or know who to ask for – support when they are grieving. While teenagers might look like men or women, they’re not. And they need consistent and compa ssionate support as they grieve.  

So how can parents understand the unique ways in which teenagers grieve? According to an article by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, author, educator and director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition, " Bereaved teens give out al l kinds of signs that they are struggling with complex feelings, yet they are often pressured to act as if they are doing better than they really are." While they are working towards their independence and looking toward the future, teenagers are experiencing a sense of loss while they break away from their parents and seek to gain a sense of their own independence. The experience of a classmate’s death compromises this normal development, and makes teenagers vulnerable to stress.  

For teenagers, common grief reactions include confusion, depression, shock, guilt and anger. While adults feel an immediate intensity of loss and experience grief for long periods of time, teenagers can experience very brief grief reactions several times a day. Parents can observe, for example, if their kid may not be sick, but might want to stay home from school just to curl up in bed. Give them permission to grieve. They need the stability and presence of their parents and other caring adults. 

A simple hug or a few minutes to talk to a teenager never hurts, either. Give them time to work through their grief, as well as keeping them involved in activities they enjoy. For teenagers who like to write, give them journals to express their thoughts. Art supplies and music are als o excellent tools to help teens cope with their grief. 

Books and websites that parents might find helpful in supporting their teenagers through the grief process are: I Will Remember You: A Guidebook Through Grief for Teens (L. Dower); Part of Me Died, T oo. Stories of Creative Survival Among Bereaved Children and Teenagers , (V. Fry); The Dougy Center website, www.dougy.org; and www.bereavedfamilies.ca/Library/Teenage 

_Grief. 

lies.ca/Library/Teenage_Griefµs

Someone once said that in order to understand the culture and history of a people, you must “flush the johns.” You might also consider visiting a shopping mall. If you’re retail consultant Paco Underhill (a “tall, bald, stuttering research wonk on the cusp of his fifty-third year”), you would spend your time sniffing around 300 malls all across the country, observing American shoppers in their sweatpants and sneakers and taking copious notes. 

For all the time he spends in malls, Mr. Underhill seems to hate them, and he has his reasons. “The fact is that the mall phenomenon came along and took the place of the town square, the public zone,” he writes in Call of the Mall, his second book dealing with the science of consumerism. “The mall is a monument to the moment when Americans turned their back on the city.” This comes from a man who lives in Manhattan, and who describes urban centers as the crowning democratic achievement of our civilization. But he also acknowledges that, “Increasingly, cities are becoming the province of the rich, the childless, or the poor.”  

Malls have stepped in to take their place as one of the only environments where community life is on view, families can relax together and the citizens of different generations and economic classes can mingle.  

Unfortunately, malls—now well past their prime—are failures on many levels. The complaints range from bad architecture, greasy food and filthy bathrooms to insinuations of racism and censorship. The reason for all this, Mr. Underhill believes, is that malls are not designed or built by retailers, architects or city planners, but by real-estate-development companies whose only concern is the bottom line. 

What does it mean when corporations control the “public” spaces? For one thing, it means they aren’t public anymore. Their capitalist owners regulate who goes in and out in the name of protecting their investments. Shopping malls are big business—$308 billion in annual sales, and 14 percent of all U.S. retailing—and their investors’ primary concern is maximizing profit per foot. Mr. Underhill illustrates the resultant tradeoffs by walking us through a typical shopping center (just outside New York City) and deconstructing it toilet by food court by window display. Though he neglects the broader social and political implications of this disturbing trend, focusing instead on improvements that would benefit the mall retailers themselves (who are his real-life paying clients), Call of the Mall nonetheless makes for entertaining reading. 

“If you need proof of suburban malls’ smug, insular nature, consider this—they can almost never be easily reached by public transportation,” Mr. Underhill writes. (The same might be said of suburbs generally, which are completely hostile to the carless.) He describes one of the consequences: in 1995, there was a ban on city buses stopping near a mall in Buffalo, and an African-American teenage girl was killed trying to cross a seven-lane highway to reach it. There were accusations of racism and a lawsuit filed by the dead girl’s family against the mall, which settled for $2 million. On the positive side, most malls’ marble walkways are “tranquil” and “lulling,” partially due to restricted access. 

Mall developers are open about wanting to discourage youths from marauding in their courtyards. (At what point does restricted access become discrimination?) Mr. Underhill questions the developers’ logic, citing low crime rates and explaining that poor people tend to avoid wealthier shopping areas of their own volition, but he doesn’t dig much deeper. 

The developers and their fiscal concerns influence even the most mundane details. Have you ever thought, for example, about why the restrooms at any shopping center are down a dank, out-of-the-way corridor, so isolated that you fear for your life as you scurry towards them? Mr. Underhill explains that from the developers’ point of view, the bathroom is a “necessary evil” with no sales potential; they have zero incentive to make it comfortable. This state of affairs is a particular affront to women, who make up the greatest proportion of shoppers and of restroom users. Mr. Underhill wonders: do male mall executives not value the goodwill of their female market base? His answer is a defense of the executives’ position. He cites insurance and liability issues associated with bathrooms and suggests that we should be thankful that malls provide any facilities at all. His prescription? The mall should take advantage of this “captive audience” by showing new DVD’s on restroom walls, selling advertising space on stall doors and having the local Body Shop supply the soap. “An entrepreneurial approach to the well-appointed restroom could turn even this place into a profit center,” he concludes gleefully. (The same forward thinking brought TVs to yellow cabs.) 

It helps that Mr. Underhill understands the absurdity of his job. “No wonder we look at the mall—at the ambition of it, at the reality, at that already obese teenager stuffing her jaw with a drooling Cinnabon—and we can’t help but wonder, is this the best we could do?” Unfortunately, he weighs down his narrative with clunky dialogue that distracts from the flow of interesting information. He also constantly reminds us that he’s writing mostly for his potential consulting customers—the Gaps and Starbucks of the world. (This criticism was also leveled five years ago against his first book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping.) 

In a long section of his new book, Mr. Underhill analyzes mall store window displays and berates retailers for making poor use of their entrances. The driving design philosophy is to let shoppers see as far into the store as possible from the corridor, which creates an unsightly bowling-alley effect—in his opinion, it’s one giant wasted opportunity. Worse, “the mall aesthetic has now infected the urban shopping experience.” Anyone who’s strolled down Fifth Avenue recently will heartily agree—and anyone who’s been to the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle knows that an actual mall has now landed in Manhattan. A discussion of the impact of all this homogenization might have been interesting, but that’s a whole other, weightier book. Mr. Underhill deserves credit for at least raising the questions and for doing it with spunk. 

“Theoretically, we could all grow our own food and make our own clothes and build our own houses. But it would be boring,” he writes in an introduction that betrays a creeping insecurity about the importance of his work. “So let’s agree that the saga of humankind can be told at least in part through the story of shopping.” Try to hold onto that lofty sentiment next time you find yourself fighting over a pair of shoes at a sample sale. 

Call of the Mall, by Paco Underhill. Simon and Schuster, 227 pages, $24.95. This review first appeared in the New York Observer. 

ˇ

TUESDAY, MARCH 9 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival: “On the Road: A Document” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Orin Starn reflects on “Ishi’s Brain: In Search of America’s Last “Wild” Indian” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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. 

Pete and Joan Wernick, with Dr. Banjo of Hot Rize fame, 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 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 

THEATER  

Berkeley Opera, “The Legend of the Ring” at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$40 available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Film 50: “Charulata” at 3 p.m. and Asian American Film Festival at 7 and 9 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mark Katz remembers “Clinton & Me” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7,  

$5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Jean Thompson reads from her new novel, “City Boy” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Early Keyboard Music with Davitt Moroney at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

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

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

Slack Key All-Stars 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, Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ben Adams Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Moped, earRotator, Sign for Stereo at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 11 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Picturing Berkeley: UC Students Take a Closer Look” at the Addison St. Windows, 2018 Addison. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition runs to April 12. 845-3449. 

FILM 

Film and Video Makers at Cal: “Music, Story, Expectation” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ayelet Waldman in a benefit reading of “Food for Thought” for the Alameda County Community Food Bank from 7 to 9 p.m. at Verbena, 1111 Broadway, Oakland. Suggested donation $40. Reservations required. 843-3663, ext. 328. events@accfb.org 

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 12:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Paul Belz and Marc Elihu Hof- 

stadter, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

Brad Land talks about “Goat,” on the fears and isolation of young adults, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Georgia-Chechnya Border: An Anthropological Survey” with Shorena Kurtsikidze, lecturer in the Dept. of Slavic Languages at 6:30 p.m., 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-7648. 

Robert Scheer and Christopher Scheer discuss “The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq” at 7:30 p.m. Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Charlene Sprenak reads from her new book, “Missing Mary” at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The Algerian National Ballet presents an evening of traditional dances at 8 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside, Oakland. Tickets are $25-$40 available from 800-769-9669.  

New Century Chamber Orchestra, recording sneak preview, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 415-392-4400. www.ncco.org 

Evergreen Dazed, Bob O’Magic at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Jackie Greene, folk and blues, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mushroom and Eddie Gale at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $5. 763-1146. 

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

Loretta Lynch, Real Sippin’ Whiskeys, Yardsale at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Joshi Marshall Project at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 12  

CHILDREN 

Let’s Clown Around, with storyteller Laura Shennum at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

FILM 

Women of Color Film Festival “The Secret Language of Youth” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Reading “Contemporary Poets on Writing, Meditation, and Buddhism,” at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Berkeley Opera, “The Legend of the Ring” at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$40 available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. and runs through April 11. 647-2917. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Black Repertory Group Theater, “Street Soldier The Play” a benefit for Omega Boys Club and celebrating Black History month at 8 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $20. 1-800-SOLDIER. 

Central Works, “The Duel” a new play adapted from Chekhov’s novella, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Runs Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 27. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Everyday Theater, “The Bright River,” a show by Tim Barsky, at 8 p.m. at the Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through March 20. Tickets are $12-$20 and are available from 644-2204. 

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

“Marat/Sade,” by Peter Weiss, directed by Philip Charles Sneed at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Also March 13 at 8 p.m. and March 14 at 2 p.m. UC Dept. of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. Tickets are $8-$10. 866-468-3399. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Youth Musical Theater Commons “West Side Story” performed by 7th-11th grade youth at 7:30 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 848-1797.  

Un-Scripted Theater “Imrov Survivor” at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, and runs to April 3. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Charles Hamilton and the Alums of Berkeley High at 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theatre, Allston Way between MLK & Milvia. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults, $12 reserved. 464-4631. 

Jr. Bach Festival at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $5-$10. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

Back Like I Never Left with Game, Kahlil Almustafa, Kirby Dominant at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Tangria Jazz Group performs blues and tunes by Monk at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $7-$10. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums with Ms. Carmen Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Captured! By Robots, Hurting Crew, The Dead Hensons at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Ian Butler, Blue on Green, Hy Brassyl at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Danny Caron, jazz and blues guitar, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

John Santos Quartet, Latin jazz, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Married Couple, alt-jazz, at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Phenomenauts, Rock’N’Roll Adventure Kids, The Secretions, The Paranoids, Safeway at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 13 

CHILDREN  

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

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

Pop Art Superstar Workshop, for ages 12-17, at 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. Bring a light colored t-shirt or pillow case to print on. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org  

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Katsunori Hamanishi, mezzotint prints, reception 6 to 8 p.m. at Shurman Fine Art Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. Exhibition runs to March 31. Gallery hours are Weds.-Sat., 2-6 p.m. and Sun. 11a.m. -3 p.m. 524-0623. 

THEATER 

Confessions of a Cha Cha Feminist, with performance artist Maria Elena Fernandez at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Herstories, “Bone Songs: Echoes of the Unknown Mother” at 8 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Tickets are $10-$25 sliding scale. 594-1377. 

Youth Musical Theater Commons “West Side Story” performed by 7th-11th grade youth at 7:30 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 848-1797.  

“Orphans of Delerium” a series of performance rites presented by ParaTheatrical ReSearch at 9 p.m. at Wildcat Studio, 2525 Eighth St. $10 suggested donation. 464-4640. 

FILM 

Muslim Film Festival, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $7-$10. www.muslimfilmfestival.org 

“Angel’s Ladies” about a legal Christian brothel in Nevada at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Women of Color Film Festival “The Liberation of Everyday Life” at 6:30 p.m. and “Ways of Love” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Sign-language interpreted guided tour at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Youth Speaks Poetry Slam at 8 p.m. at Youth Radio Cafe, 1801 University Ave. Cost is $3. 435-5112. 

Gallery Conversation with artists featured in The Kala Gallery’s current exhibition, “The Drawing Room,” at 2 p.m. 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

Steven Saylor, author of “Roma Sub Rosa,” speaks to the California Writers Club at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Netherlands Bach Society with guest soloist Marion Verbruggen at 8 p.m. at First Congragational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $38 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival with Berkeley Arts Magnet Percussion at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

Jr. Bach Festival at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $5-$10. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

Gamelan Sari Raras at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. 642-9988. http://music. 

berkeley.edu/concerts.html 

Flamenco Spirit with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at 6 and 9 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $42-$55 and includes dinner. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Dress Up/Dress Down, a collection of stories told through outlandish dresses, dance and music at 8 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd. Tickets are $10-$15, available from 587-0770. www.movingout.org 

Angel Magik, hiphop, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

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

Pisces Party at the 1923 Teahouse at 9 p.m. All ages welcome. Suggested donation of $7-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Post Junk Trio at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Barbara Higbie, pianist, fiddler, singer and composer, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

The Fountain St. Theater Band, Wart and Sonic Orange at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Sheldon Brown Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com  

Acme Observatory presents Vivian Corringham with Tim Perkis, Scott Looney, Toyoji Tomita and Gino Robair at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Admission is free, donations accepted. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

Farma, Crooked Jades, The Shiftless Rounders at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Eric Shifrin and the In Crowd at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Amy X. Neuberg and Herb Heinz at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

All Bets Off, Daughters, Some Girls, Chinese Stars, Paint the Light at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926.π

The ceanothuses are blooming! Ceanothi? Or is “ceanothus” like “moose”—singular and plural? Either way, it’s almost not a street tree, but the plantings on the University Avenue median are too gorgeous right now to let semantics stand in the way.  

Those big shrubs/little trees in the median look like Ceanothus thyrsiflorus ‘Skylark’ to me, just on a drive-by ID. They’re very nicely pruned, to show off their soft-gray trunks and masses of bloom in fanned-out domes. The thing I’ve always liked about that public planting is that, at the right time of day (usually morning) in the right kind of weather, the blue of the flowers precisely matches the blue in the distant folds of the Marin headlands that backdrop the view down the avenue. That combination plays delightful tricks with the eye, tricks of depth and distance and the color qualities of clear air.  

I’m identifying the planting so tentatively because a singular quality of the genus Ceanothus is its plurality: The Jepson California plant manual mentions 45 species, and many of those have assorted varieties within the species, and as a group they hybridize merrily for still more multiplicity. Horticulturists have used that tendency well, and given gardeners lots of cultivars to play with. And almost every one of them is a different shade of blue.  

So are their wild cousins. I’ve stood on a Sonoma hillside (somewhere up Ida Clayton Road) for a great view of a whole chaparral valley dappled with ceanothus, wave after wave of blues ranging from fresh indigo to cold-sky to a palest dust, and white. I wouldn’t begin to estimate how many species I was looking at.  

Ceanothus is called “blueblossom”—sensible, if economical—and “California (or wild) lilac,” which is a stretch. Its flowerheads are much more compact, and their scent more subtle, than that of lilacs. You wouldn’t think of blueblossom as a scent plant at all unless you stood in a mass of them, or stuck your nose right into the blooms.  

Be careful if you do that; bees like ceanothus. I’ve seen honeybees and our native bees working the flowers. Deer eat some species (though they’re generally among the plants optimistically called “deer–resistant”) and between the large and the small, they’re an integral bit of several native systems. Unusually for a non-bean, they’re nitrogen fixers, and so enrich the soil for other plants. Humans use them, too, for more than ornament. Coppiced, they put out sprigs for basketry; some species are smoked, some used for medicine, and you can produce a shampoo by rubbing blossoms in water between your hands.  

They want native conditions in your garden—summer drought, especially around the base of the trunk. Their only drawback is that they’re short-lived for a shrub/tree, tending to die after ten or 15 years. So that garden in the median isn’t planted for the ages, but in a city, who could count on that anyway? The beauty is worth the grief; sometimes it pays to burn the horticultural candle at both ends. 



After racking up 50,000 periods of unexcused absences last year, Berkeley High students are sure to show up Wednesday evening when the school board considers adopting a policy that will automatically lower the grade of chronic absentees.  

The proposal raises the stakes for students, but for the high school, attendance has always been a high stakes game. Aside from obviously wanting students in the classrooms and learning, the district’s funding from the state is tied to daily attendance, and the loses have been steep. So far this year, average daily attendance at the 2,784-student school is 90.59 percent, consistent with prior years, but low enough to cost the district $116,399 in state funding. Any day a student misses three or more classes, excused or otherwise, the district misses out on state education dollars. 

The proposed policy is simple but, for a community uneasy with punitive measures, it is likely to generate real controversy. In short: Too many unexcused absences or chronic tardiness will result in automatic grade reductions. 

Not surprisingly, the high school’s students are not convinced of the merits of the new approach.  

“I have not spoken to a single student who supports it,” said Student Director to the Board of Education Bradley Johnson. “The administration thinks this will make things easy, but I don’t see how it will work.” 

Under the proposal, five unexcused absences from a class during the 45-day report card period equals one full letter grade drop, for example from a B-minus to a C-minus. The lowest a grade can drop due to attendance is D-minus. Three late marks are the equivalent of one unexcused absence and 15 late marks also lowers the grade. A student is tardy when he is not in the classroom when the bell rings and absent if he arrives more than 20 minutes late. Appeals would be available to students, who would also have three days to offer a valid explanation. 

Whatever the proposed procedure would replace is a mystery to students, teachers and administrators alike. 

“Right now, whatever our policy is, it’s not understandable to everyone, said Rory Bled, vice principal and author of the new policy. She reviewed attendance policies from numerous school districts and found that most either tied attendance to grades, or, even more frequent dropped truant students from a class altogether. 

School Board Director Terry Doran, who taught at Berkeley High for 30 years said the attendance policy had always been a hot issue of debate among teachers, and that while there were consequences for truant students, attendance rules were never mandatory or enforced by the entire staff. 

“Tardies have always been an issue of who’s on first,” said Vice Principal Mike Hassett. “If seven administrators try to enforce it for all 3,000 students that doesn’t work. And if 150 teachers [enforce] their own tardy policies, that leads to inequity.” 

Teachers have voted to back the new plan. Wyn Skeels, a history teacher, said the current policy is “not clear cut.” “You can be tardy every day right now without repercussions,” he said. “We need a plan that says ‘if you’re gone, this is what happens.’” 

The current policy has resulted in inertia. Though disciplinary measures include detention and on-campus suspension, truant students rarely get anything more than a call to mom and dad. 

“It’s very hard to enforce something complicated,” said Bled. “That’s why were trying to make something that’s concise.” 

Students, though, think the policy doesn’t attack the root problem—teaching—and that its enforcement could actually exacerbate the school’s attendance woes. 

“The blame for bad attendance is being shifted to students when the reason it’s so poor is that teaching is poor,” Student Director Johnson said. Too many teachers place more attention on homework than classwork, he said, so even high achieving students see little to gain from attending class. “If teachers cut down on homework and made classwork more relevant, we might see a change in attendance.” 

Johnson also warned that students who start a semester with several tardies would just give up and stop going to class altogether. “This policy wasn’t thought through, it is going to cause a drop in attendance,” he said. 

Bled doesn’t consider the plan punitive. To lose a letter grade, a student would need to be tardy for one of every three classes, she said. “That’s a pretty serious commitment to being tardy.” 

Students have six minutes to get from one class to the next, enough time to traverse the campus, Bled said. Most tardies and unexcused absences are recorded in periods one and four, right after lunch. 

Though the procedure might change, the creaky, sometimes unreliable method of recording attendance will remain in place. Teachers fill-in a bubble on a Scantron sheet for absent students. If the absence isn’t cleared in three days, an automatic dialer calls the student’s home. 

Johnson said teachers sometimes fill in the wrong bubbles and provide incorrect data. “Before they talk about putting grades on the line, they need to get the system straight,” he said. On a recent report card he added, an unexcused absence he forgot to clear didn’t show, but a different class had him out five times when he had perfect attendance.  

Bled said the school wants to put attendance online, but its technology grant has outfitted with the school with Macs, which struggle to support the school’s attendance software. 

The policy also raises questions of equity. While the administration expects parents acquiesce to grade drops, Johnson fears that less connected students will bear the brunt of the new policy. “Parents don’t want grades going down; they’ll be complicit in the act,” he said. “The second a kid in AP classes gets a grade dropped, the parents will complain and they’ll bring their friends.” 

Instead of punishing students, Johnson proposed using attendance data as staff development for teachers to gauge if their lessons are compelling. 

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5 

The Oakland Bird Club open meeting with Robert Hewitt who is involved in planning birding festivals at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, Upstairs Meeting Room, 5366 College Ave. 444-0355.  

“Tales of the San Joaquin: A River Journey” A documentary on the San Joaquin River and its role in the statewide water system at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St. at 10th St, Oakland. 238-2200.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with John Gjerde, Prof. History, UCB, “Immigration.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Karate for Kids” a free introductory class with Dara Connolly at 5:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave., for ages 4 and up. 847-2400. 

Shambhala Buddhist Workshop on “A Life in Consort: Integrating Feminine and Masculine Principles” at 7:30 p.m. and continuing throughout the weekend at the Berkeley Shambhala Center, 2288 Fulton St. First lecture is $20, full weekend fee is $120. 841-3242. www.bayarea.shambhala.org 

American Social Gospel Lecture with Chris Evans on “Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauchenbusch” at 3:30 p.m. at the Bade Museum, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Senic Ave. 849-8221. 

“The Under-reported Human Tragedy of Chechnya” a session on Humanitarian Aid at 3 p.m. and “Stories from the Front Line” at 7 p.m. at 159 Mulford Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, the Chechen Advocacy Network, and the Muslim Student Association. For further information contact didishka@yahoo.com 

Anarchist BookfairMovie Night with videographer Jay Finneburgh, at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Donation $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

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. 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, MARCH 6 

Sick Plant Clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, the first Sat. of every month, UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants. Free. Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

Kids Garden Club Join us as we discover the science of the kitchen and feast on garden goodies. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. For ages 7 - 10 years. Cost is $3, non-resident $4. Registration required, 525-2233. 

Orchid Collection Tour and Workshop Treat yourself to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Botanical Garden’s orchid collection, normally closed to the public, and a rare sale of unusual orchid species from the Garden collection. Workshop and tour led by Garden horticulturist and orchid expert, Jerry Parsons who will help you gain confidence with the basic skills of orchid ID and culture. Workshop covers the major groups of orchids, how to divide and mount them, and their care and culture. From 9 a.m. to noon at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $50, $40 members. To register call 643-2755. http:// 

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Cerrito Creek Restoration Meet at 10 a.m. at the south edge of El Cerrito Plaza. We’ll re-plant salvaged native plants, plant new, and perhaps spread more chips on the trail. f5creeks@aol.com 

Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame awards ceremony at the Marriot Hotel, Oakland at 12:30 p.m. 535-7414. 

“In Song and Struggle” An International Women’s Day event featuring Copper Wimmin, Libby Kirkpatrick, Gwen Avery, Rebecca Riots and Rachel Garlin at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Cost is $10 to $20 sliding scale. A benefit for Berkeley Copwatch. 548-0425. 

“Street Skills for Cyclists” a lecture and discussion from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free, but registration required 433-7433. 

35th Annual UC Open Taekwondo Championship, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Haas Pavilion. Tickets are $5-$7. 642-3268. www.ucmap.org 

Cal FIT 5K Race/Fun Run/Walk Start/Finish at Sather Gate, check-in starts at 9 a.m., race at 10 a.m. Cost is $10. 847-7633. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~calfit 

Auditions for Showtime at the Apollo will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Amateur performers and groups wishing to audition may call Laura Abrams at 642-0212 or e-mail apollo@calperfs.berkeley.edu to schedule an audition. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. 848-7800. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 7 

Aquatic Park EGRET and the Berkeley Rowing Club will plant coastal wildflowers and native shrubs in the circle at Aquatic Park’s south entrance beginning at 9:30 a.m. 549-0818. 

Breakfast with the Birds from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Bring your own beverage and we’ll watch what is feathered down at the lake. Cost is $3, $4 non-resident. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“On Her Own Terms: Annie Montague Alexander and the Rise of Science in the American West” with author Barbara Stein at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian physician and leading human rights activist, at 7 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Tickets are $20. Benefit for The Middle East Children’s Alliance. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org 

“Dividing Walls” a close-up view of the Israel/Palestine conflict by Chris Brown at 7 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar. Sliding scale donation of $5-$15, benefit for the Palestinian program of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. 785-9509. 

Death Penalty Update at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine Street at Walnut, in the Education Building. Update with Eric Moon, American Friends Service Committee staff person on death penalty and prison issues. Includes short video, “Interview with an Executioner.” All are welcome. 528-7784. 

Non-Violent Communication with Miki Kashtan, Certified NVC Trainer, Social Change and Project Coordinator for the Center for Nonviolent Communication in Berkeley at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Purim Carnival from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Dance Party with the Mowtown Megillah at 7 p.m. at Beth-El, 2301 Vine St. Tickets for the dance party are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. Please RSVP to 848-3988, ext. 11. www.bethelberkeley.org 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Robin Canton on “Meditation and Creativity” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 8 

Tea at Four Enjoy some of the best teas from the other side of the Pacific Rim and learn their cultural and natural history. Then take a walk to see wintering birds and dormant ladybeetles, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration required. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

Forum on “The Passion of Christ,” a Jewish-Christian conversation, hosted by the Graduate Theological Union, at 7 p.m. in the Dinner Boardroom, Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2482. 

“Photography, Melancholy and the Conception of Brazilian Nationalism” with Natalia Brizuela at noon at the Center for Latin American Studies, 2334 Bowditch St.  

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 1:15 p.m. 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. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center, volunteer training from 6 to 8 p.m. at 5741 Telegraph Ave. To sign up call Emily at 601-4040, ext. 109.  

TUESDAY, MARCH 9 

“Trekking in Bhutan” a slide presentation with Himalayan guide Peggy Day, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Traditional Regional Foods of Spain, with co-authors of “Cesar: Recipes from a Tapas Bar” James Mellgran and Olivier Said, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

“Rotten Foundations: The Reclamation Act and Urbanization of the West” with Gray Brechin, author and research fellow, Dept. of Geography, UC Berkeley, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Writing Workshop on the art of writing imminent fiction with Pamela Cranston and Michael Kurland at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Death Penalty Vigil, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART station. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Blood pressure checks at 10:30 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

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. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 

Great Decisions 2004: “Diversity in Islam” with Prof. John L. Hayes, UCB Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“The Patriot Act and Our Civil Liberties” with Jack Newman, Deputy Attorney General, State of California, speaking from his personal viewpoint, at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave.  

“Faith and Environmental Injustice” A GTU Faculty Panel Discussion, at 6:30 p.m. at the Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

“The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at Albany High School, Multi-Purpose Room, 603 Key Route Blvd.  

“The Crippling Effects of Landmines” with author John Gray at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinnelle Hall, UC Campus. The East Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association. Admission is free, donations will go to landmine clearance programs. 540-8017. 

“Renaissance Images of Christ” with Jason van Boom, GTU, at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

“Street Skills for Cyclists” a lecture and discussion from 6 to 10 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free, but registration required 433-7433. 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Danna Zeller, 7 to 9 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 20. 

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 We’re a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

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

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

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 11 

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 at 849-4134 or email Bloomburgh@sbcglobal.net 

“Agriculture Under Occupation: Farming in the West Bank” Local landscaper and compost consultant Jon Bauer has returned from Israel and will share his findings on the ways in which the Occupation of the West Bank affects Palestinian farmers and farming in this fertile land. Accompanied by a slide show. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. $5 donation requested. This is a benefit for the Wheels of Justice Tour. 548-2220, ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Dabru Emet (Speaking the Truth): A New Statement on Jews and Christians for Our Time” at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, 2770 Marin Ave. 649-2482. 

"The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way. 

East Bay Mac User Group for all levels, software demos, tips, presentations. We meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers, a group dedicated to furthering the sport of fly fishing through education and conservation, invites you to its monthly meeting at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. 

ONGOING 

Free Income Tax Help is available on Tuesday mornings between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at St. John’s Presbyterian Church Prime Timers, 2727 College Ave., Berkeley. Ozzie Olson, AARP trained tax preparer is available by appointment. 845-6830.  

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic, 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Spring Bulb Bonanza at the Botanical Garden, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., March 15 to April 15, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanical 

garden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Mar. 8, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Public Housing Resident Advisory Board meets on Mon. Mar. 8 at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Housing Authority, 1901 Fairview St. Angellique DeCoud. 981-5475. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/publichousing 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 9. , 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., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.ber 

keley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 11, 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, Mar. 11, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs. Mar. 11 at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/housing 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs. Mar. 11, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/westberkeley 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Mar. 11, in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

ˇ

Berkeley voters ran into a number of glitches Tuesday when the machines that clear voter cards after they are used malfunctioned throughout the day, forcing several precincts to move to paper ballots which quickly ran out and had to be re-supplied by the county. 

According Elaine Ginnold, the Assistant Registrar of Voters for Alameda County, the county had trained poll workers to run the machines using a particular screen interface which somehow changed when the machines were set up at polls. As a result, the poll workers were unable to work the machines and had to call in for help. An estimated 200 precincts around the county were affected. 

Ginnold speculated that the problems happened because the machines’ batteries and/or memory cards were shaken lose during transport to the polling stations. 

The slowdowns forced by the machines, along with problems encountered at City Hall when Berkeley and Albany tried to submit the results to the county over secure phone lines, left Berkeley behind the rest of the county in submitting the vote tallies. 

According to Councilmember Kriss Worthington, by 9 p.m. when Alameda county had counted 33 percent of their totals, Berkeley had only counted 2 percent. By 11:49 p.m., when Alameda was at 89 percent, Berkeley was still at 38 percent. Alameda county was also slower than other counties, according to Worthington. San Francisco county was finished when Alameda’s count was only half done.  

The card encoders that caused Berkeley’s tardiness were controversial even before the vote, according to Jim March, one of the plaintiffs who recently filed a suit against Diebold, the manufacturer of the card encoders and the touch screen voting machines. He said the machines were never properly certified before they were bought by the county. 

Ginnold said the machines did get a conditional certification but are pending further review. 

Other problems encountered throughout the day included voting machine freeze-up. That forced poll workers, who were not trained to re-boot the machines, to call in county workers, again delaying voters. 

Leshaun Yopack, a employee for the county confirmed the freezes but said every instance they responded to was quickly fixed by wiping out initial votes and then giving voters the opportunity to re-cast their votes.  

Around the country, as well as in Berkeley, critics of the new electronic technology also used the day to enroll as poll workers to get a first-hand glimpse of other problems they say could potentially plague the system. Avi Rubin, a professor at John Hopkins university and co-author of the report that analyzed the software used by Diebold to run the machines, enrolled as an election judge in Baltimore County to help him examine firsthand several of his concerns. 

In particular, opponents are worried about the technology being vulnerable to hackers who could tamper with the voting machine, the systems used to submit the votes to the county and the machines used by the county to tally the votes.  

Here in Berkeley, Judy Bertelsen, a Berkeley physician who has attended several of the state-wide meetings concerning the new electronic machines, did the same as Rubin. She said she found several security concerns, prompting her to write a letter to Brad Clark, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. 

She said the voting machines were left unattended at her polling place the night before with only thin plastic strips locking them shut. One machine was not locked at all. During her training before the election, she also criticized the county’s decision to use the same password--1111—to run all the machines. 

“The minimal [security procedures] they run past us are insulting,” said Bertelsen. “Why have a password if everyone knows it?” 

At Bertelsen’s polling place, paper results of the totals were not posted, contrary to new security updates issued in a directive from Kevin Shelley, the California Secretary of State. In the directive, Shelley required that all polling places print out a paper record of the ballots cast by each machine and post them. 

“Some members of the public and the media have indicated concern that once the results of the vote leave the polling place citizens have no ability to check on whether the results from that polling place are accurately conveyed to the central counting facility. Therefore, a copy of the results from each voting unit that is capable of printing out a tabulation of the results shall be posted for public inspection for at least 24 hours outside each polling place," wrote Shelley. 

Bertelsen’s precinct printed out paper sheets that were sent to the accumulation site along with the voter cards that contained the tallies. “It would be such a minor thing to print a second one,” she said. 

According to Ginnold from the Alameda County Registrar’s Office, Shelley’s directive came too late for the county to include the extra safety measures in their training sessions for poll workers.  

On a statewide level, the malfunctioning voter card encoders also added to arguments of touch-screen opponents such as March, who say the cards and card encoder machines fall outside the current security checks that are required only for the machines used to actually cast the votes. According March, the card encoders are excluded from the security checks that only verify the information sent between the voting machines at the poll places and the county. 

He said malicious code or instructions could be placed on the cards from the card encoders that would continually tamper with votes. If a machine sent a switched vote, and the county recorded the vote, the paper audit trail would not be able to detect any switch because the too votes would still match. 

“If there is fun and games on these cards then all the downstream process gets funky,” said March. “This card presents a hack problem that is above the paper audit trail that posting results will solve.” 

In the midst of widespread speculation that District 2 Councilmember Margaret Breland will be leaving Berkeley City Council at the end of her term this year, an aide to the ailing councilmember said that Breland will make a decision in the next few weeks on whether she will run for re-election. 

Breland was hospitalized for several days after she suffered a minor stroke in early December. She has not attended a City Council meeting in person so far this year, but has participated in the debates and voted by telephone since the end of January. Longtime aide Mel Martynn said that Breland is “doing much better,” and is expected to return to full City Hall duties by the March 16 council meeting. 

Breland, who is also in remission from a bout with breast cancer, told the Daily Planet last year that she was unsure about her re-election plans and was leaving it “in God’s hands.”  

If Breland chooses not to run for re-election, she would be the second Berkeley councilmember to do so this season. Last fall, Miriam Hawley announced that she would not be running for her 5th District seat. In December of last year, Mayor Tom Bates told a City Council meeting that he expected at least two, and possibly three, city councilmembers to choose not to run for re-election in the fall. Councilmembers Maudelle Shirek and Betty Olds are also up for re-election this year. 

If Breland chooses not to run, it may set up a contest for the seat between at least two political heavyweights. Peralta Community College District Four Trustee Darryl Moore and Housing Advisory Commission Chairperson Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) member Deborah Matthews—both of whom, like Breland, are African-American—have both announced that they would consider running for the District 2 seat if Breland opts out. Both also stressed that it was Breland’s decision whether to run or not, and asked that their comments not be taken as an indication that either were trying to force her out. 

“I’ve been honored recently that people who have heard of Margaret’s health and heard from her that she’s contemplating whether or not to run again have called and e-mailed me and suggested that I run for her seat,” Moore said. “It’s humbling. I would definitely weigh that, given the response.” Moore said that he would “probably form a small, exploratory committee to see what a run for city council would look like.” 

Matthews called a run for the District 2 “a possibility. But out of due respect to [Breland] and her position in her seat, I would not declare candidacy unless she chose not to run. I haven’t taken it any further, because it is a sensitive issue.” 

Matthews, who was appointed by Breland to both the Housing Advisory Commission and ZAB, said she hoped, however, that the councilmember “will have some sense of what her direction is sooner, rather than later. That would best service the community.” 

“There is a greater likelihood than not that [Breland] is going to run” for a third council term this fall, said Martynn, her aide. “She really enjoys this job tremendously and from all indications I have, she would like to continue. She hasn’t thrown in the towel yet. Margaret feels that she can make a big contribution to the community and particularly to West Berkeley.” 

The 2nd District is in the extreme southwestern corner of Berkeley, bordered by University Avenue, Sacramento Street, the Oakland boundary, and the bay. 

“She’s laying low and trying to get her strength back so she can make a decision,” Martynn explained, adding that while her decision is “dependent on her health, it’s more energy than anything else. It’s just that she’s more tired now. She’s building up her endurance. Once she gets into coming regularly to Council meetings, again, I think she’ll be in a better position to know if she wants to continue doing this, or if it’s going to be too much.” 

As for Moore, he said that a Breland decision did not need to come until early summer. 

“The official campaign season doesn’t start until Labor Day, but I think one would have to be setting the groundwork in early July. One would have to start meeting with people earlier, but the actual fund-raising and other public activity one could easily begin by the first of the summer.” 

Nomination papers for city council candidates can be obtained starting July 12, and normally must be turned in by Aug. 6. If no incumbent files for a council seat, however, the deadline is extended by a week. 

Breland first came on Berkeley City Council in 1996 when she defeated five-term Councilmember Mary Wainwright. In 2000, she beat out four rivals to win re-election with 55 percent of the vote. ˇ

Three years after the Gaia Building opened, the first tenant may soon be moving into the ground floor space developer Patrick Kennedy built to help him win city approval to add extra floors to one of the city’s most controversial buildings. 

The long-vac ant 10,000-square-foot first floor, a sore point in Berkeley politics, has drawn the ire of one city commission and prompted two city councilmembers to announce they’ll be introducing new city regulations this month that will change the way the city handl es developers who promise public cultural space in exchange for bigger buildings. 

Building that cavernous unfinished space helped developer Patrick Kennedy capitalize on state and city laws and the machinery of government to build the extra floors of apa rtments that enriched his business. Even more perplexing, under the present state of city ordinances, as Berkeley Planning Manager Mark Rhoades told an Arts Commission forum two years ago, the regulations in place when Kennedy inked his Gaia Building deal merely obligated the developer to build the space, not to rent it out. 

By promising to offer 19 apartments for lower- and low-income tenants and reserving the first floor for cultural uses, Kennedy convinced the city to award him the lot and relax the d owntown five-story cap, allowing him to tack on greater height and build more apartment units under city and state “density bonus” programs. The Gaia Building’s height remains controversial. While Kennedy says seven stories, critics have charged its actua l height is that of a nine-story-plus structure, the difference consisting of in-apartment loft space. 

Today, the first floor windows—one dominated by a real estate agency sign—are shrouded with translucent plastic. Behind them, work has begun in the open-framed concrete-floored shell. On the floors above, 12 of the 91 apartments—not 19—are reserved for tenants who earn 80 percent and less of the median area income. And city councilmembers, commissioners, and staff cite the project as an example of what not to do. 

What happened with Gaia won’t happen again if Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington succeed in passing the measure they plan to introduce to their fellow city councilmembers March 16. 

“Basically, the way it is now, there’s nothing we can do to compel developers to have an arts space,” Spring said. Under the Spring/Worthington proposal, “If an owner left cultural space vacant for more than two months, the building would be declared in non-compliance.” 

When Anna de Leon closed her celebrated Anna’s Jazz Cafe on University Avenue, she thought she’d be moving soon into elegant new quarters in the Gaia building under a new name—the Blackbird. 

A year passed, and the space she thought was hers remained vacant, lacking even the interior walls and wiring that would let her begin installing furniture and fixtures. However, within the last few weeks construction crews have started building out the raw space and putting in the improvements that will finally allow De Leon to reopen after 13 months in limbo. 

The first would-be occupant of that same space went bankrupt before construction of the building was completed, and two others—a pair of nonprofit theatrical troupes that would have shared a 142-seat theater adjacent to De Leon’s café—were never able to take occupancy because Kennedy never built the theater. 

“It’s unacceptable for a developer to reap the benefits of the bonuses without providing the benefits,” Worthington said. “The Gaia Building is a case study of what shouldn’t happen,” he said, addi ng that city staff members will be working out ways to give bite to their proposal. 

Worthington said one possible solution is a city ordinance barring a developer from renting out additional apartment space acquired through the arts bonus until community groups are using the cultural facilities. 

Why did the Gaia Building’s other projects fail? “The bottom line,” Spring said, “is basically that Kennedy wanted too much money for the space to be genuinely accessible to the civic arts groups who are struggl ing to find performance space in the downtown arts district.” 

Kennedy acknowledged that the high costs had kept nonprofit tenants out, and said he saw no reason why commercial tenants shouldn’t qualify for the bonus if they serve the city’s cultural comm unity. 

Which goes a long way to explain why city officials pointed to the Gaia Building saga as the very thing they wanted to avoid when they gave preliminary approval to plans for the new nine-story Seagate project on Center Street. 

By the time developers and city staff pitched that proposal to the Civic Arts Commission last week, Seagate was holding a signed 20-year lease from the nonprofit Berkeley Repertory Theater for the 9,000 square feet of density bonus performing space they’d incorporated into their nine-floor Center Street edifice—and Berkeley Rep was committed to make their performance hall available to other civic groups 100 days a year. 

Seagate also claims another 2,000 square feet of arts bonus space for a public art gallery they’re provi ding in a corridor that leads to the performance space and connects on through the middle of the block to Addison Street. 

The Seagate deal also requires the owners to provide an annual audit, proving the arts space has been fully and properly used for artistic performances and rehearsals. Nothing similar was required of Kennedy. 

As the city’s largest developer of what urban planners call “infill development,” Kennedy and his Panoramic Interests have become lightning rods for critics of the large “mixed use” projects that have spouted up along the city’s major arteries—projects that grow larger than city regulations would otherwise allow because of the inclusionary (“low income”) housing and cultural density bonuses. 

Kennedy said the Gaia Building, his tallest to date, is the only project for which he applied for additional size under the cultural density bonus. 

The building has been plagued by troubles. For months last year, a plastic shroud covered the rear of the building after mold was discovered b ehind leaking walls and crews stripped and replaced the affected exterior. Crews this week were wrapping up similar repairs at another of his nearby downtown developments, the Berkeleyan. 

Recently community activist Barbara Gilbert stood up at a city cou ncil session and asked why the building wasn’t being charged for city property tax assessments all the city’s other property owners were being forced to pay. When that dust settled, Kennedy owed $72,000 in back taxes on the building–plus another $90,000 on some of his other buildings—which he promptly agreed to pay. 

Kennedy’s first projected Gaia Building “cultural” tenant—intended as the sole occupant of the ground floor and the source of the structure’s name—was the Gaia Bookstore, a venerable New Age institution driven by high rents from its home of 13 years on North Shattuck Avenue in March, 2000. But economic realities—including the cost of furnishing their new quarters and the loss of customers to Internet discount booksellers—forced the store into bankruptcy before the building was finished. 

For replacements, Kennedy recruited two theatrical troupes along with De Leon. 

“We were supposed to be co-anchor tenants along with Shotgun Players,” said Gary Graves, company co-director of Central Works Th eater Ensemble. “It was supposed to open in July, 2002, and we even scheduled performances. But the (construction) work was never done, and it never became what it was supposed to be, a theater. 

“We lost faith that anything would happen, and we had no written agreement with him, despite our best efforts. We couldn’t continue in a place where we couldn’t be sure anything would ever be completed.” De Leon said she didn’t have a written lease until two months ago. 

Central Works briefly used the unfinished Gaia Building space for rehearsals before relocating to their present quarters in the Berkeley City Club on Durant Street. “We’re very happy with the facilities there, as is our audience,” he said. 

Graves said Kennedy cited high construction costs—estima ted at a million dollars—as the reason for not completing the theatrical installation, an account the developer acknowledges. “My guess is that the problems came because the building was designed and completed before the recession,” Graves said.  

Like ot hers in the city arts community, the theatrical director is reluctant to criticize Kennedy. “He’s a patron,” the director explained. “It’s a delicate matter.” 

No one from the Shotgun Players returned calls from the Daily Planet. 

With the Gaia building’s bottom floor vacant for almost two years, arts commissioners and others are wondering what’s going to become of a large block of space that was supposed to meet the needs of a city filled with groups eager to have a venue but unable to come up with the b ig bucks needed to realize their dreams. 

David Snippen, chair of the city’s Civic Arts Commission, says the Gaia Building highlights a current weakness in Berkeley’s procedures for dealing with new development. 

“The Arts Commission wasn’t involved at al l” in the process that led to the construction of the tallest downtown construction project in recent decades. 

Even the Seagate project, hailed as a model of compliance with the cultural and inclusionary bonuses, came to the Civic Arts Commission last we ek as a fait accompli. 

The problem, says Snippen, is that the city still hasn’t drafted ordinances precisely defining the rules governing the award of additional square footage under the cultural density bonus. “That’s something that has to be done by th e city staff, and every time someone gets started, they either get reassigned or they quit,” he said.  

Planning Commissioner Rob Wrenn agrees. “The Land Use element of the plan was adopted in December 2001, and [author] Andrew Thomas began writing the im plementation proposal. Then he left, and different members of city staff have been assigned to work on it, but they’ve all left or been reassigned. We’re been through five or six different drafts.” 

In the latest version, Wrenn said, no new downtown construction would be allowed over seven stories, including inclusionary and cultural density bonuses.  

Snippen and his fellow arts commissioners want enforcement language written into city regulations to give them a role in reviewing prospective tenants for cultural bonus space, as called for in the Land Use Element. “That’s our next major project,” he says. 

Spring, Worthington and the arts commissioners all want the space to go to nonprofits. 

“One of the things we learned from the Gaia Building is that th e whole idea of the cultural density bonus was to provide for public use,” Kamlarz acknowledged. “One of the problems is that the building was designed to fit one group, the bookstore, and we’ve learned not to have space that’s designed solely for one gro up.” 

In the Seagate proposal, the 9,000 square feet of performance space under Berkeley Rep’s control includes two separate halls, Kamlarz said, “so two different groups can use it at once. We want space that can be used simultaneously by different groups.” 

Meanwhile, Kennedy says he’s installing the walls that will block out both the theatrical space and the Blackbird and installing the restrooms that will serve both. Anna De Leon is ready. “Once Patrick gets everything in, I can be ready to open in a month,” she said, pending inspections and the approvals needed to get her new liquor license.o

Three years after the Gaia Building opened, the first tenant may soon be moving into the ground floor space developer Patrick Kennedy built to help him win city approval to add extra floors to one of the city’s most controversial buildings. 

The long-vacant 10,000-square-foot first floor, a sore point in Berkeley politics, has drawn the ire of one city commission and prompted two city councilmembers to announce they’ll be introducing new city regulations this month that will change the way the city handles developers who promise public cultural space in exchange for bigger buildings. 

Building that cavernous unfinished space helped developer Patrick Kennedy capitalize on state and city laws and the machinery of government to build the extra floors of apartments that enriched his business. Even more perplexing, under the present state of city ordinances, as Berkeley Planning Manager Mark Rhoades told an Arts Commission forum two years ago, the regulations in place when Kennedy inked his Gaia Building deal merely obligated the developer to build the space, not to rent it out. 

By promising to offer 19 apartments for lower- and low-income tenants and reserving the first floor for cultural uses, Kennedy convinced the city to award him the lot and relax the downtown five-story cap, allowing him to tack on greater height and build more apartment units under city and state “density bonus” programs. The Gaia Building’s height remains controversial. While Kennedy says seven stories, critics have charged its actual height is that of a nine-story-plus structure, the difference consisting of in-apartment loft space. 

Today, the first floor windows—one dominated by a real estate agency sign—are shrouded with translucent plastic. Behind them, work has begun in the open-framed concrete-floored shell. On the floors above, 12 of the 91 apartments—not 19—are reserved for tenants who earn 80 percent and less of the median area income. And city councilmembers, commissioners, and staff cite the project as an example of what not to do. 

What happened with Gaia won’t happen again if Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington succeed in passing the measure they plan to introduce to their fellow city councilmembers March 16. 

“Basically, the way it is now, there’s nothing we can do to compel developers to have an arts space,” Spring said. Under the Spring/Worthington proposal, “If an owner left cultural space vacant for more than two months, the building would be declared in non-compliance.” 

When Anna de Leon closed her celebrated Anna’s Jazz Cafe on University Avenue, she thought she’d be moving soon into elegant new quarters in the Gaia building under a new name—the Blackbird. 

A year passed, and the space she thought was hers remained vacant, lacking even the interior walls and wiring that would let her begin installing furniture and fixtures. However, within the last few weeks construction crews have started building out the raw space and putting in the improvements that will finally allow De Leon to reopen after 13 months in limbo. 

The first would-be occupant of that same space went bankrupt before construction of the building was completed, and two others—a pair of nonprofit theatrical troupes that would have shared a 142-seat theater adjacent to De Leon’s café—were never able to take occupancy because Kennedy never built the theater. 

“It’s unacceptable for a developer to reap the benefits of the bonuses without providing the benefits,” Worthington said. “The Gaia Building is a case study of what shouldn’t happen,” he said, adding that city staff members will be working out ways to give bite to their proposal. 

Worthington said one possible solution is a city ordinance barring a developer from renting out additional apartment space acquired through the arts bonus until community groups are using the cultural facilities. 

Why did the Gaia Building’s other projects fail? “The bottom line,” Spring said, “is basically that Kennedy wanted too much money for the space to be genuinely accessible to the civic arts groups who are struggling to find performance space in the downtown arts district.” 

Kennedy acknowledged that the high costs had kept nonprofit tenants out, and said he saw no reason why commercial tenants shouldn’t qualify for the bonus if they serve the city’s cultural community. 

Which goes a long way to explain why city officials pointed to the Gaia Building saga as the very thing they wanted to avoid when they gave preliminary approval to plans for the new nine-story Seagate project on Center Street. 

By the time developers and city staff pitched that proposal to the Civic Arts Commission last week, Seagate was holding a signed 20-year lease from the nonprofit Berkeley Repertory Theater for the 9,000 square feet of density bonus performing space they’d incorporated into their nine-floor Center Street edifice—and Berkeley Rep was committed to make their performance hall available to other civic groups 100 days a year. 

Seagate also claims another 2,000 square feet of arts bonus space for a public art gallery they’re providing in a corridor that leads to the performance space and connects on through the middle of the block to Addison Street. 

The Seagate deal also requires the owners to provide an annual audit, proving the arts space has been fully and properly used for artistic performances and rehearsals. Nothing similar was required of Kennedy. 

As the city’s largest developer of what urban planners call “infill development,” Kennedy and his Panoramic Interests have become lightning rods for critics of the large “mixed use” projects that have spouted up along the city’s major arteries—projects that grow larger than city regulations would otherwise allow because of the inclusionary (“low income”) housing and cultural density bonuses. 

Kennedy said the Gaia Building, his tallest to date, is the only project for which he applied for additional size under the cultural density bonus. 

The building has been plagued by troubles. For months last year, a plastic shroud covered the rear of the building after mold was discovered behind leaking walls and crews stripped and replaced the affected exterior. Crews this week were wrapping up similar repairs at another of his nearby downtown developments, the Berkeleyan. 

Recently community activist Barbara Gilbert stood up at a city council session and asked why the building wasn’t being charged for city property tax assessments all the city’s other property owners were being forced to pay. When that dust settled, Kennedy owed $72,000 in back taxes on the building–plus another $90,000 on some of his other buildings—which he promptly agreed to pay. 

Kennedy’s first projected Gaia Building “cultural” tenant—intended as the sole occupant of the ground floor and the source of the structure’s name—was the Gaia Bookstore, a venerable New Age institution driven by high rents from its home of 13 years on North Shattuck Avenue in March, 2000. But economic realities—including the cost of furnishing their new quarters and the loss of customers to Internet discount booksellers—forced the store into bankruptcy before the building was finished. 

For replacements, Kennedy recruited two theatrical troupes along with De Leon. 

“We were supposed to be co-anchor tenants along with Shotgun Players,” said Gary Graves, company co-director of Central Works Theater Ensemble. “It was supposed to open in July, 2002, and we even scheduled performances. But the (construction) work was never done, and it never became what it was supposed to be, a theater. 

“We lost faith that anything would happen, and we had no written agreement with him, despite our best efforts. We couldn’t continue in a place where we couldn’t be sure anything would ever be completed.” De Leon said she didn’t have a written lease until two months ago. 

Central Works briefly used the unfinished Gaia Building space for rehearsals before relocating to their present quarters in the Berkeley City Club on Durant Street. “We’re very happy with the facilities there, as is our audience,” he said. 

Graves said Kennedy cited high construction costs—estimated at a million dollars—as the reason for not completing the theatrical installation, an account the developer acknowledges. “My guess is that the problems came because the building was designed and completed before the recession,” Graves said.  

Like others in the city arts community, the theatrical director is reluctant to criticize Kennedy. “He’s a patron,” the director explained. “It’s a delicate matter.” 

No one from the Shotgun Players returned calls from the Daily Planet. 

With the Gaia building’s bottom floor vacant for almost two years, arts commissioners and others are wondering what’s going to become of a large block of space that was supposed to meet the needs of a city filled with groups eager to have a venue but unable to come up with the big bucks needed to realize their dreams. 

David Snippen, chair of the city’s Civic Arts Commission, says the Gaia Building highlights a current weakness in Berkeley’s procedures for dealing with new development. 

“The Arts Commission wasn’t involved at all” in the process that led to the construction of the tallest downtown construction project in recent decades. 

Even the Seagate project, hailed as a model of compliance with the cultural and inclusionary bonuses, came to the Civic Arts Commission last week as a fait accompli. 

The problem, says Snippen, is that the city still hasn’t drafted ordinances precisely defining the rules governing the award of additional square footage under the cultural density bonus. “That’s something that has to be done by the city staff, and every time someone gets started, they either get reassigned or they quit,” he said.  

Planning Commissioner Rob Wrenn agrees. “The Land Use element of the plan was adopted in December 2001, and [author] Andrew Thomas began writing the implementation proposal. Then he left, and different members of city staff have been assigned to work on it, but they’ve all left or been reassigned. We’re been through five or six different drafts.” 

In the latest version, Wrenn said, no new downtown construction would be allowed over seven stories, including inclusionary and cultural density bonuses.  

Snippen and his fellow arts commissioners want enforcement language written into city regulations to give them a role in reviewing prospective tenants for cultural bonus space, as called for in the Land Use Element. “That’s our next major project,” he says. 

Spring, Worthington and the arts commissioners all want the space to go to nonprofits. 

“One of the things we learned from the Gaia Building is that the whole idea of the cultural density bonus was to provide for public use,” Kamlarz acknowledged. “One of the problems is that the building was designed to fit one group, the bookstore, and we’ve learned not to have space that’s designed solely for one group.” 

In the Seagate proposal, the 9,000 square feet of performance space under Berkeley Rep’s control includes two separate halls, Kamlarz said, “so two different groups can use it at once. We want space that can be used simultaneously by different groups.” 

Meanwhile, Kennedy says he’s installing the walls that will block out both the theatrical space and the Blackbird and installing the restrooms that will serve both. Anna De Leon is ready. “Once Patrick gets everything in, I can be ready to open in a month,” she said, pending inspections and the approvals needed to get her new liquor license.

Berkeley voters, at least those who showed up to the polls Tuesday, won’t need a second ballot to let the city and county know how they feel about Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). By a whopping 72 percent, Berkeley passed Measure I, which—if ever implemented—would allow Berkeley voters to rank candidates by preference in the general election and eliminate the need for costly runoff elections. 

Voters also approved two other election reforms that, unlike IRV, go into effect in November. One, Measure H, seeks to squash vanity candidates by requiring all candidates for elected office to gather 150 signatures or pay a filing fee of $150. The other, Measure J, lowers the vote threshold from 45 percent to 40 percent for the leading candidate to be declared the winner without a runoff election and pushes back runoffs from December to February. 

Two countywide ballot measures also passed, one which raises local bridge tolls $1 to fund transportation projects, including a proposed Berkeley Ferry, and the other, a half-cent sales tax hike to fund county hospitals and health care providers. 

While Berkeley residents appeared to be in a giving mood Tuesday, many didn’t even volunteer the time to fill out a ballot. Only 28,230, or 36%, of Berkeley’s estimated 70,000 voters cast ballots on Measure I. Less than 28,000 voted on Measure H and only 26,753 voted on Measure J. In 2002, the ballot measures garnered between 34,000 and 38,000 votes. Full Berkeley votes for state and county elections have not been provided by the Registrar of Voters. 

The landslide victory for Instant Runoff Voting heartened supporters who wondered if it would even garner 50 percent in the face of staunch opposition from some city councilmembers. 

“It was a stunning victory,” said Councilmember Dona Spring, a member of the Green Party, which has long advocated the system to allow disaffected Democrats to vote Green without the fear that they were helping to elect a Republican. 

The system would also spare the city runoff elections. In 2002, the runoff in District 8 cost the city $90,000, City Clerk Sherry Kelly said. 

“This is a very strong mandate that will help us go to the county to get this in operation as soon as possible,” said Spring, who is hoping a system could be in place and certified by the state by 2006. How Berkeley would actually stage IRV elections would be up to the City Council after they determine that the system is practical and cost effective. 

Spring’s time frame might be too optimistic, said Kelly. To get the system up and running, software has to be manufactured for Alameda County’s Diebold voting machines, the county has to integrate the system into its elections procedures and the state has to certify it—something California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has so far been hesitant to do for San Francisco, which has had its IRV law on the books for two years, but still hasn’t been given the go-ahead. 

Considering that the county and Diebold continue to work out the kinks on the new touch-screen voting machines, adding complexity to the system won’t be a top priority in the next couple of years, Kelly said. 

Berkeley could stage its own election using IRV, but Alameda County doesn’t yet have the capacity to consolidate IRV ballots, said County Registrar Brad Clark. That means Berkeley would have to stage its own election at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Gordon Wozniak, the chief opponent of Measure I predicted Berkeley wouldn’t see IRV for at least 10 years. 

Berkeley’s other two winning ballot measures also have economic implications. By implementing a $150 filing fee for candidates, offset at the rate of one dollar for every signature collected, Berkeley hopes to cut back on the thousands it spends on administrative costs for vanity candidates. The measure passed with 62 percent of the vote. 

Michael Delacour, Berkeley’s most prolific third-party candidate for mayor, argued that the measure was more about stifling democracy, and though it was backed by several councilmembers, he blamed Mayor Tom Bates and his wife Assemblywoman Loni Hancock. 

“They’ve got quite a political machine, and they’re stomping on free speech anyway they can.” 

There was a similar divide for Measure H, backed by every councilmember, and passed by voters with 55 percent of the vote. By pushing runoff votes to February instead of 28 days after the general election, UC Berkeley students won’t be asked to vote during finals week, and the city clerk won’t have to rush through ballot mailings. Also by lowering the threshold for victory to 40 percent, the city might cut down on expensive runoff votes. 

Like Delacour, former Rent Board Commissioner Bob Migdal saw the measure as a further sign of Berkeley regressing from its egalitarian roots. “This was just about keeping councilmembers in office,” he said, remarking that despite no formal opposition the measure was nearly defeated. “I should have done something,” he added. “If the pro democracy group had gotten off its ass I think we could have defeated it.”  

One group that made its voice heard was supporters of Lyndon LaRouche—the left-wing student activist, turned fascist, turned Democrat, who has a history of anti-Semitism. LaRouche supporter Martin Garcia won one of the six slots on Berkeley’s Democratic Committee, which guides party strategies in the city.  

›

All hope is not lost for Berkeley Extension’s English Language Program that was terminated by campus officials in January. 

At the request of Academic Senate Chair Ron Gronsky, the Senate’s committee that oversees Berkeley Extension will investigate the decision to eliminate the English Language Program (ELP), which is one of the oldest and most respected programs of its kind in the country.  

“We’ll be asking for the basis on how the decision was made,” said Council Chair David Dornfeld, cautioning that since Extension is separate from the main campus, the Academic Senate has less influence over the fate of the program. “This will be a consolatory process,” Dornfeld said. “The dean and provost have a great amount of autonomy in how these programs run.” 

Berkeley’s English Language Program, which has offered English instruction to international students since 1973, has used the Berkeley name to attract students from mostly influential, upper-class families. ELP employs 32 teachers and 12 administrators, and in 2002 enrolled 2,733 students from 54 countries. Since Jim Sherwood, dean of University Extension, announced the closure of the program, effective May 7, teachers have been demanding an explanation for the decision. Dean Sherwood insists that his decision was based on a thorough evaluation of the program. On Thursday afternoon, ELP staff and about 100 students rallied on outside California Hall questioning the sincerity of the evaluation. 

“No one observed our classrooms, no one looked at our curriculum guides. Whatever purported review was done, we were totally unaware of it,” said ELP teacher Kimberly Green. She added that staff requests for a copy of the review had been rebuffed. 

Sherwood said the evaluation consisted of at least 30 interviews with University Extension and UC officials over several months, but was never made into a written report. The evaluation, he added, was part of the process for formulating a Strategic Plan towards realigning Extension’s curriculum closer to the university’s core mission. 

Using Strategic Plan buzzwords, “Berkeley Quality, Berkeley Appropriate,” Sherwood said he eliminated ELP because English immersion programs had grown more abundant and teaching English was not an appropriate mission for the university. The Strategic Plan, offered guidelines for reviewing programs, including student input and a curriculum analysis, but Sherwood said those didn’t apply in the case of ELP because he was only gauging its fit with UC. 

“I never questioned the quality of the program, I just determined it wasn’t something we should be offering,” he said. 

Dornfeld said his group will study relevant documents and, depending on the findings, might offer an opinion to the Academic Senate. 

The closure of the ELP appeared to lower morale at Berkeley Extension, already devastated by a series of layoffs. The Extension staff heckled Sherwood twice during a question and answer session at Wednesday’s annual Extension meeting and when two employees began arguing if the ELP issue should be dominating the forum, Sherwood intervened, saying “I don’t want to see this disintegrate into anything it shouldn’t be.” 

Since 2002, Extension has closed its San Francisco headquarters and eliminated 120 positions—slightly more than a third of its roster. It still carries a $4.7 million budget deficit, Sherwood said, which he is required to close by 2005. 

Sherwood said ELP was projected to lose $476,883 this year, but added financial reasons didn’t factor into his decision and he didn’t anticipate the need for future layoffs to get make Extension profitable.  

ELP teachers questioned his accounting and his motivations. Teachers had filed two unfair labor practices against the university, for failing to alert the teachers of labor policy changes.  

“Considering the administrative mess they’re in, they couldn’t have picked a more convenient time to close the program,” Green said in an earlier interview. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Johnny (last name withheld for his safety), 18, is a former youth reporter with Radyo Timoun (Children’s Radio) 90.9 FM in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This week rebels looted and burned it along with the Aristide Foundation For Democracy in which the station was located. Johnny told his story to PNS contributor Lyn Duff via telephone from Port-au-Prince. 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—I was living in the gutter, dressing in old clothes and begging at the airport when President Aristide took office in 1990. One of the first things Titid [as President Aristide was popularly known] did when he moved into the National Palace was invite a group of children who sleep in the streets to visit the palace and speak out about the conditions of the street children.  

I heard on the radio the voice of Little Sony, one of the street children, speaking from the National Palace about the rights of children and I knew that the lives of the children in Haiti would change.  

When Titid became president he told the world that we street children were people, we had value, that we were human beings.  

Many adults didn’t like this message. They said we were dirty and should be thrown out like the trash that we are. But Titid loved us and when I met him, he kissed me and put his hand on my face and told me he loved me. And they were not the empty words of a politician.  

During the first coup in 1991 the street kids were attacked and Lafanmi Selavi [a shelter for homeless children started by Aristide when he was a parish priest] was burned. Aristide came back from exile in October 1994 and it was a new world for the children. Three years of horror were over.  

I was just a little child at that time but with Titid I felt important. We went to Titid and told him that we wanted to have a voice in democracy, to have a voice for children and he gave us Radyo Timoun. We were the first children’s radio station in the world, run by children and promoting the human rights of all Haitians. We spoke on the air about the news, about our hopes and opinions. Adults all over the country heard our voices and were forced to accept that we children are people too.  

In the past eight years the radio station has gone through many changes and transitions; it was criticized and vandalized but we knew that behind mountains there are more mountains. The radio station was moved from Lafanmi Selavi to the Aristide Foundation for Democracy.  

Yesterday at the Foundation I saw gangsters and criminals in army uniforms destroy the hopes and dreams of the Haitian people. They destroyed the building, burned books and killed many people. A new government run by these people will surely be bad not only for the children but for all the people of Haiti.  

I do not believe that President Aristide has abandoned us to this misery. There is no electricity so it is hard to find news about what is really happening but I have heard he was forced to leave and I believe that. He would never leave us willingly. Last week Titid said on the radio he would die before he would give up the struggle for democracy in Haiti.  

Right now it is hard to survive and we don’t know what we will do to find food and water. There are gangs everywhere in army clothes, looting and burning, attacking people and robbing those that are weaker. Everyone is fearful for the present and for the future.  

The U.S. Marines stood by and did nothing while the library at the Aristide Foundation was burned. With my own eyes I saw the American Marines stand and watch while rebels cut a woman and shot her. I yelled at them, “Do something!” and they swung their guns around toward me and yelled, “Get back!”  

While I hid in a field the American Marines put their hats on the bodies of dead people and posed for pictures with them. It made me sick because in Haiti we respect the dead. The Americans scare me; I don’t believe that they want anything good for the Haitian people because they support the criminals who oppose democracy.  

We are fearful of the old army because they are those who killed the street children of Lafanmi Selavi. They killed the peasants in the North who wanted to have democracy and supported Aristide.  

A new government has no hope for the children of Haiti. I am scared, I think the criminals will try to kill me too because I am one of Titid’s boys. But I am not just scared for myself. I am scared for all the children of Haiti. And today I cannot stop crying.  



Police Shoot Dogs 

A police officer shot and killed two dogs early Thursday afternoon on the 2500 block of Haste Street, on the sidewalk beside Peoples Park. Police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said the two dogs, which witnesses described as black pit bull mixes, escaped from a parked car and began attacking a yellow Labrador. 

An officer left a business on Haste, saw the dog fight, and determining that the owner was unable to control his dogs, shot both of them. 

One pit bull staggered from the gunfire and dropped dead on the sidewalk, the other pit bull ran on to Haste where the officer shot it again. That dog later died at an animal hospital, Schofield said. 

The Labrador was taken to an emergency veterinary clinic and was expected to survive. Schofield said shooting the dogs was a last resort, but was “certainly within policy” because the dogs were a threat to the other dog and to people in the area.  

Homeless Man Dies 

Eric Helmso, an oft-sighted Berkeley homeless man, was found dead early Monday morning at a bus stop at University and Sacramento avenues. Helmso, 42, apparently died of natural causes, friend Doug Freitag said.  

Beatdown in West Berkeley 

Several women attacked another woman at Sixth Street and Bancroft Way, police said. Police arrived after the attack had ended, and did not arrest any of the assailants, Schofield said. 

Southside Brawl 

Police received a call of six to eight men fighting on the 2300 block of Telegraph Avenue Sunday evening. Though the brawl had subsided when officers arrived, police arrested Antonio Sanders, 24, of Berkeley for felony assault as well as another man whose name was not available, Schofield said. 

Attempted Purse Snatch 

Police arrested Roy Jones, 46, of Berkeley in connection with an unsuccessful attempt to snatch a woman’s purse Sunday night.

Like most Americans, I find that I know very little about Haiti. 

I have read C.L.R. James’ seminal book, The Black Jacobins, which traces the country from its original Carib inhabitants, then through the French-sponsored slave trade, and finally to the uprising of its African inhabitants under Toussaint L’Ouverture and the military defeat of the armies led by Napoleon’s brother-in-law by an army composed of former captive Africans. 

I know a little about the brutality of the regimes of the Duvaliers, Papa and Baby Doc, which was swept away in the popular, democratic revolt that led to the first administration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 

I once saw the now-and-then former President Arisitde speak at a Berkeley church, in the early ‘90s, in the period of his last exile. I remember him them as a quiet but riveting mystic, with the kind of intensity that one imagines flowed from the great religious-political leaders of history. By great I do not necessarily mean good. I do not know, one way or the other. Like most Americans, I must confess that I did little to follow the policies of his administration while he governed Haiti. I know that he was the democratically elected president of that nation, and little more. 

And I have watched and read as ou r national government and national media, in the course of a day or two, have managed to take this blank slate of Haiti and Aristide and write upon it in such a way that we have come to accept—quite willingly, and before our eyes—our country’s participati on in, if not active orchestration of, the overthrow of a democratically elected government several hundred miles from our border. 

Haiti first got the attention of most of us sometime last week when, with armed rebels suddenly pouring across half the cou ntry like water through a sieve, Secretary of State Colin Powell came on television and suggested that Aristide should resign. Until then, I think, most Americans believed that this was no more than a minor revolt. 

On Monday morning we awoke to find that the Aristide regime was no more. 

“He made the decision to give up power on Saturday evening,” Christopher Marquis wrote in the New York Times, “hours after the White House in a statement questioned his fitness to rule.” Haiti’s crisis, the Bush administ ration wrote in a statement, “is largely of Mr. Aristide’s making.” 

But there was a curiousness to the write-up’s in both the Times and the Washington Post of those last hours of the Aristide government. Lydia Polgreen and Tim Weiner of the Times report ed March 1 that Aristide had “resigned” and “fled” the country, and both the Times and Post articles of that day paraphrased the questions the Haitian President was supposed to have asked in order to facilitate his exile. But even though both papers exten sively quoted individuals who spoke with Aristide in those hours, not a single one quoted Aristide as simply saying, “I wish to resign.” In fact, there were no direct quotations from Aristide at all. 

And the choice of words used by Times and Post reporters to describe those conversations—at second hand—were also interesting. Aristide “meekly” asked American ambassador if his resignation might help, Mr. Marquis wrote. The Times reported those questions as “poignant,” the Post as “plaintive.” Peter Slevin and Mike Allen of the Post wrote that Aristide “ran out of bluster,” with Marquis of the Times gave an editorial opinion that the Haitian President was “signaling [his] disconnection from the violence engulfing his country.” 

Do you think that these “embe dded” characterizations had no bearing on Americans’ rapidly-forming opinion about Aristide? 

Read them again, and think about the image they conjure. A pitiful little man, weak and terrified, unable to understand this sudden turn of events in his fortune, turns, at the very end, for help from the benevolent older brother—the U.S.—for whom he has so long held such scorn. How sad. 

This is all the more important when you come to realize that misters Marquis and Slevin and Allen neither heard these Aristide conversations themselves, nor spoke with anyone from Aristide’s side who might have characterized them in another way. 

Two members of Congress—Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel—as well as the respected Africa expert Randall Robinson did speak by telephon e with Aristide following the president’s ouster. Aristide, they reported, had described a completely different scenario of his departure from Haiti. He denied that he had resigned. Instead, Aristide said that armed U.S. Marines had come to the presidenti al palace, took him and his immediate family at gunpoint to the airport without allowing him to telephone anyone outside the country to report what was happening, and forced him on a U.S. airplane and into exile. 

“That’s nonsense,” Bush spokesperson Scot t McClellan was quoted by the Times. McClellan called that a “conspiracy theory.” 

But if the Secretary of State called for Aristide to leave Haiti—which we know Powell did, because we watched him say it on television—and if U.S. Marines forcibly escorted Aristide out of Haiti within a matter of days, that would not be a conspiracy theory. It would be an order. 

And that leaves aside that we are speaking about characterizations coming from the Bush administration which, one might delicately say, has not been entirely forthcoming to the public in recent months in matters of international activity. 

Meanwhile, on the day after Aristide’s ouster—however he went—the Times was not finished with him. In describing Aristide’s presidency, Tim Weiner of the Times wrote “Aristide rose from his priesthood in Haiti’s slums to his presidency by preaching democracy. But once in power, he dashed the hopes of many who had hailed him as a champion of the oppressed… In the end, the disillusioned say, he could not practice what he had preached.” 

It would be nice if Mr. Weiner had followed this up with some opinion directly from those Haitian oppressed. Instead, he quotes only U.S. sources. “As a politician, [Aristide] reverted to the same authoritarianism he had condemned for so long,” Mr. Weiner quotes former U.S. diplomat Robert E. White as saying. “I don’t believe Aristide had a democratic bone in his body.” 

Thus do we justify the stain on our own hands. Had anyone in the Bush administration made such an observation, I might have replied that this would be like rice calling cotton white. 



SANA’A, Yemen—The expensive, new U.S. television channel aimed at Arabs in this part of the world, looks like a bust. Since beginning Feb. 14, the station’s limited broadcasting time, tacky promos, and documentaries in English with clumsy Arabic subtitles, have all contributed to a growing sense of disappointment among viewers with the latest, and most expensive, U.S. overture to the Arab world.  

Al-Hurra, which translates to “the Free One” in Arabic, has a first year budget of $62 million, and is designed to be a 24-hour “accurate, balanced, and comprehensive” Arabic-language news network. Despite its current broadcast schedule of only 14 hours a day, with many programs repeated numerous times, the station should be at 24-hours-a-day strength by March 14.  

But for many here the first impression has been one of hubris and ignorance. It took the new al-Hurra television channel less than 15 minutes to lose the support of one young Yemeni. After watching interviews with President Bush and Norman Pattiz, head of the U.S. agency overseeing the station, on the first day of broadcasting, 24-year old Amar al-Audi, had seen enough. “It is just like everything America does, they say every other Arab station is wrong and they are right,” he said.  

This wasn’t the message President Bush was trying to convey to the Arab world. But with promos that feature men and women opening doors and windows onto a rising sun, close-ups of a series of eyes that are opening for what appears to be the first time, and, strangely, a group of horses galloping together through the snow until they stop to drink at a spring, that is the message that is getting through.  

The station is intended as an alternative to other pan-Arab news stations like al-Jazeera and al-Arabbiyya, which the United States has long accused of an anti-American slant in reporting. According to President Bush, al-Hurra will cut through this “hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world,” and promote debate in the region.  

Al-Hurra’s website (www.alhurra. com) says the station is “a commercial-free Arabic-language satellite television network for the Middle East devoted primarily to news and information.” But it will also feature more general programs focusing on health, personal fitness, sports, fashion, and science and technology.  

What isn’t mentioned on the website, however, is that a number of these programs will be in English with only Arabic subtitles, a problem for the large number of Arabs, especially Arab women, who remain illiterate.  

Nor are cooking shows, stories on the Detroit car show, or segments on the U.S. Super Bowl, necessarily what the Arab world expected when Bush announced the birth of “the Free One.” While al-Hurra is often left broadcasting what sometimes look like infomercials in English, its competitors are showing the news in Arabic.  

For instance, on its program “Destination World” on Feb. 20, al-Hurra broadcast an English documentary with Arabic subtitles on Hindu warriors and Indian gurus with Hollywood connections, while in the same time slot al-Arabbiyya was showing a story on the U.S. presidential race, and al-Jazeera was interviewing Palestinians in the West Bank.  

But programming is not the only problem plaguing the fledgling news channel; credibility has also been a sticking point with its target audience.  

U.S. funding of al-Hurra has raised eyebrows around the Middle East, with many of its critics wondering if it can be anything other than a flashy American version of the state-run news media throughout the region.  

The issue of credibility is one that al-Hurra has been keen to address, and from the beginning it has been on the defensive. Within minutes of going on the air, al-Hurra broadcast portions of an exclusive interview with President Bush as well as an interview with Norman Pattiz, who heads the Middle East committee of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the agency that is overseeing the project.  

Pattiz said that al-Hurra would maintain editorial independence despite its ties to the U.S. government and stressed the fact that it was the American people, through Congress, who were funding the station.  

This sentiment has struck a chord with a few Yemenis like Abdu al-Awda, a local clerk, who says he enjoys the channel for the “picture of America” that it gives. But most here seem to view al-Hurra as nothing more than U.S. propaganda. Nor are they alone. Throughout the Arab world the reaction to al-Hurra has been overwhelmingly negative.  

The majority of the critics claim that they don’t want an explanation of the “values and the policies of the United States,” which President Bush promised al-Hurra would deliver, but rather a change in those policies.  

For the moment at least, it seems that the U.S. and the Arab world are once again talking past each other, with neither taking the time to listen.  

Pacific News Service contributor Gregory D. Johnsen is a Fulbright Scholar. His views do not reflect those of the Fulbright Commission.›

INAPPROPRIATE PHOTO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in response to your coverage of the death of 15-year-old Miguel Caicedo (”West Berkeley Go-cart Accident Kills Teenager,” Daily Planet, Feb. 24-26). I see that other readers have written letters focusing on the illegal and dangerous use of go-carts, or on the regrettable deficit of stop signs in the West Berkeley neighborhood where the accident occurred.  

Personally, I am still reeling from the shock of opening the paper to see the unnecessarily graphic photograph (of Miguel’s smashed go-cart underneath the front of the pickup truck) and description of the accident scene. As a newspaper it is your job to report the facts, which often includes compelling details and visuals. However, it is also your job to present such facts in a way that considers the overall context of the story, your audience, and the consequences of your representation of facts. I believe that you have exacerbated an already tragic situation by assuming that the disturbing photograph would have somehow served your readers or strengthened this story. It is unfortunate that my knowledge about this accident has come at the expense of Miguel’s family, friends, and even the truck driver, who all have to live with such an image imprinted on their minds. Your choice to include the photograph was inappropriate, irresponsible, and ultimately disrespectful to the community that mourns Miguel. 

Kris Helé 

• 

SLEEPWALKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing in response to Erik Olson’s photo which accompanied an article about a fatal go-cart accident.  

As a photojournalist studying at UC Berkeley, I think about photo ethics. And the photo you ran depicting Miguel Caicedo’s mangled scooter beneath the fender of a truck, with pools of blood running in the street, was in poor taste, an unnecessary illustration of a tragedy and offensive to the family and friends of the 15-year-old.  

Remember the flak newspapers got after 9/11 when they published photos of people falling from the windows of the Twin Towers? The papers argued that although these were grisly portrayals of people dying, what kept this out of the realm of a morbid fascination with fatalities (a la “Faces of Death”) was that 9/11 was an inconceivable horror, the largest modern attack on American soil, and that those photos helped illustrate what no one could imagine or believe.  

The death of Miguel Caicedo is newsworthy. He was young and well loved and his friends held a week-long vigil at a memorial site to show their devotion to him. The grisly representation of the fatal collision that unceremoniously claimed his life is emotionally disturbing, like all roadway accidents must be. But we don’t see pictures of every accident scene in the paper. I think there’s 50, 000-80,000 U.S. roadway deaths a year. A casual snapshot of a bloody wreckage is unusual, and is not typically published not only because it is upsetting to see, but usually it is not in the public’s interest to see (what purpose did the photo serve?). 

I imagine that your editors were sleepwalking when they published this piece. For one, a four-letter word (“fuck,” will you print it again?) appears quite arbitrarily in the text, when paraphrasing the speaker would’ve worked just as well. Secondly, Caicedo’s name was misspelled in one reference.  

I’ve heard plenty of talk about this Daily Planet piece from people who knew Miguel Caicedo—I’ve been photographing the memorials and funeral this past week—and the only thing anyone has to say about your article is “Man, did you see that photo they used? That wasn’t right.”  

Keli Dailey 

• 

COMMUNITY SAVES LIVES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently I listened to a remarkable interview with Father Boyle, a Jesuit Priest, on NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.” Father Boyle works with Latino gangs in Los Angeles. At one point he was asked, what works? And Father Boyle answered, “Community. Community saves gang members.” Of course. We all need community. Gang members need community. I need community. And community is the reason I have volunteered for 12 years at Willard Middle School. 

For these reasons I am deeply disturbed and puzzled at the leadership of our schools. For example, right now, every request for school district information must be personally reviewed by the Superintendent. This level of control and lack of transparency is not appropriate for Berkeley. The White House inhabited by Bush operates in this manner. BUSD should be open and transparent. 

When the Superintendent first came, she organized an elaborate system for input, and required every school to conduct a parent meeting in order to develop priorities. I personally attended two of these, one at Willard and one at BHS. The input went in, and nothing has come out. We’ve never found out the results. We’ve never been informed as to how the information is used, nor what decisions, if any were guided by all that effort. 

When I say “Our schools”, I mean all of us, students, parents, teachers, staff, neighbors, administrators, local businesses, all of us, which is what it should be. When I hear BUSD administrators say “our schools” the “our” usually denotes BUSD, and is being used to tell me that I’m excluded. Butt out. 

When schools are part of “our” community, the 65 percent of Berkeleyans who don’t have children attending BUSD, have been willing to support our schools with generous funding: $13 million extra every year.  

BUSD: Be a lot more user friendly; practice democracy which requires honest, open and easy access to information. 

Yolanda Huang 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

In regards to the flooding at Malcolm X School, I’ve been surprised that no one has mentioned the street re-paving that occurred in the summer of 

2002. Many of the streets in our neighborhood were changed by having the street level raised to within two inches of the top of the curb. A neighbor with an at-grade house succeeded in having them redo a section of his street to have a deeper gutter, and he still gets flooded. We are above grade, but this is the first year since 1977 that I’ve seen standing water rippling on our front walkway. I measured the gutter depth around Malcolm X and found that while Ashby has a nice five- to six-inch depth, King to the west has 3.5 to five inches, Ellis to the east (uphill) has only 2.5 to three inches, and Prince, to the south, has 2.5 to four inches. Not only is this less a barrier to high water, but once the flow spreads out over the street and sidewalk, it goes slower and removes less debris, perhaps leading to more blockage. 

Another problem is the (fairly recent) design of the front entryway on Prince Street. From the access ramp at the street there is no uphill slope before another elegant ramp curving down to access some below grade classrooms. In their patio-like entry way, there are some skinny little grates that, not surprisingly, are not up to the task of channeling the overflow from the street. Perhaps we could have an inexpensive competition among local architect students to design something that would channel water out to the street or drains but retain wheelchair access. 

Another solution would be to return to dirt and gravel streets. They are cheap, absorb more water, and have a side benefit of slowing traffic. 

Barbara Judd 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

While just about everyone agrees that the food served to our children in Berkeley schools is of vending machine quality, no district official has done anything to address the problem beyond rhetoric. Perhaps if the superintendent and school board were forced to eat what they serve our children, on a daily basis, we would see some change. Instead, I have witnessed district administrators eating lunch, on several occasions, at the trendy, expensive “Downtown” restaurant.  

The district’s contention that freshly cooked food, prepared on site, would increase costs is nothing more than an excuse to uphold the status quo. As someone who has prepared healthy food for large amounts of people, I have learned how simple and inexpensive it can be. The district would be saving money, not losing money. Unbeknownst to the district, there are many qualified cooks and organizers in our community who have the expertise to enact such a program. We wouldn’t demand the six-figure salaries and obscene benefits packages given away to our current food services director and others. We don’t need to hire any additional bureaucrats from out of town, to show us how it’s done. 

I pose a question to Ms. Lawrence and the school board: Are you willing to try a pilot program in which fresh food is prepared and served on one site for one day a week by qualified cooks? Are you willing to take this small step, or have your words been nothing but the same old rhetoric once again?  

Michael Bauce 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your article on the $100,000 overcharging of tenants by former rent control board employee Michael Berkowitz encapsulates all that is wrong with rent control. 

The hypocrisy and irony of a rent control advocate with close ties to the current board thumbing its nose at the system he helped create are well  

documented in the story so they are not worth repeating. However, from a public policy perspective this story illustrates that it is time to re-think rent control. 

Owners have been saying for years that the low annual adjustments granted by the rent board only create a disincentive to landlords who, as a result, eventually opt to sell their properties; most often these properties are never again used as rentals. 

The rent controlled rent for the Berkowitz five-bedroom house that is both close to campus and in a very desirable neighborhood where only wealthy people can afford to buy was $1,335 a month. This is roughly the market rate rent for a one-bedroom unit in an apartment complex.  

Mr. Berkowitz, just like countless other owners, chose to sell his property simply because it is not financially viable to continue renting for $1,335 a  

five-bedroom house that is worth $800,000 (the sales price of the 2820 Derby St. property according to the weekly sales database of the Hills newspapers). Currently the rent board controls about 19,000 rentals while the total number of rentals in 1980, the year rent controls were implemented, was 28,000. That is a staggering loss that mostly results in a one-way ticket from rental to owner occupancy. 

The fact that UC Berkeley is currently building thousands of units is a testament to this process in which students have lost private housing within  

walking distance to campus. 

At the other end of the spectrum, rent control has a corrosive effect on vacant units when there is a high vacancy rate. The current ordinance in fact  

admits to this by providing a clause by which the City Council can repeal rent control if the vacancy rate goes above five percent. The latest informal survey  

shows the vacancy rate hovering around 10 percent since November 2002. Here is the thinking that prevails in a punitive rent control environment such as Berkeley’s during a high vacancy rate period: An owner knows that he may rent to a tenant that will remain in the unit a very long time. That new rent  

will be virtually frozen in the foreseeable future as a result of rent control. Therefore the landlord is reluctant to offer the unit at a lower price and tenants are forced to pay a rent higher than necessary. It’s a situation where the landlord loses, the tenant loses, the city loses, the state loses, merchants see fewer sales, etc. 

Just do the math: A 10 percent vacancy rate translates into conservatively 4,000 fewer tenants living in Berkeley. That is a staggering loss of revenue for a cash-strapped city as fewer dollars flow as fees for telephone service, cable, sewer, business license fees, new auto taxes, etc. Just this past November, Cambridge Massachusetts—Berkeley’s ideological sister city—said no to a city ballot initiative to bring back rent control by a 61 to 39 percent margin after a 1994 statewide initiative repealed it. Cambridge’s voters compared rent control with what the market delivered during the past 10 years and they overwhelmingly chose the free market. It’s time for Berkeley to follow that lead.  

Robert Cabrera 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I applaud Matthew Artz for writing the article about how “Bush Law Sabotages School’s Effort to Leave No Child Behind” (Daily Planet, Feb. 13-16) is wrongly giving Washington Elementary School a bad reputation. As a mother of a first grader at Washington, I felt really bad when I got the school district’s letter stating that Washington is a “needs improvement” school and I can opt to transfer my child to another Berkeley school. By the way, I heard from our Leadership Team meeting that not one Washington family opted to transfer. Last year, when I was searching for a school for kindergarten, I visited four schools in my zone and one private school. We selected Washington. Why? Because for my family, it is the best choice. My son is an intelligent and confident child, so I knew that he would be fine in public school. He had completed three years of Montessori preschool and was a good candidate for private school. But, I felt that a private school would be too homogenous. Frankly, how many families can afford $9,000 tuition a year? Not only am I interested in good academics, I want him in an environment that reflects the Bay Area in race, culture and economics, because social development is important too. 

Since being at Washington for two years now, I’m impressed with the school. I’m part of the Leadership Team, which comprise of the principal, staff,  

teachers and parents. As a group, we help make spending decisions together. I like this inclusion. Honestly, I’m learning more about Washington every year and I like what I see. Of course, I’m not happy about everything at Washington, but that would be unrealistic. Are there better schools than Washington? That is a personal question each family needs to search out for themselves. It upsets me when I hear that parents avoid Washington because of what they hear rather than what they see and experience for themselves. 

We need good parents and kids at all Berkeley schools so I hope that families take the time to research schools by visiting them. 

Mimi Chin 

Washington Elementary School Parent 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

For over five months now I have been part of a community group that respects the need for commercial development along San Pablo Avenue, but would like the City of Albany to respect our wishes to leave the neighboring streets residential. In less than five months, we have drafted a well-thought out and detailed Alternative E to the Planning and Zoning Commission’s commercial expansion proposed along San Pablo Avenue and we have attracted over 400 supporters from all over the city (not just the so-called “NIMBYs”). By contrast, it took some members of the commission more than seven years to come up with a radical expansion proposal that only he and one other member can support with a straight face. Unfortunately, these two have married themselves to a proposal that would ruin the spirit of Albany for no other reason than to preserve their fragile egos. 

Four-story buildings built up to the property line of single family homes would destroy the neighborhood—plain and simple. A radical increase in large commercial buildings would increase crime, traffic and pollution; such changes would have a negative impact not only on the neighboring streets but anyone living in Albany AND anyone attempting to drive through Albany, especially via San Pablo Avenue. This is not a case of “NIMBYism.” Keep in mind that San Pablo Avenue runs through the majority of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. You could be the next homeowner with a Wal-Mart opening in your backyard. I am amazed and appalled that the powers that be have let the voices of a few drown out the voices of hundreds. We just want to be heard! 

We have started a petition and urge potential supporters of reasonable, respectful development to contact us before the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 9. We have a hotline at 527-0923, and our website is http://stopsanpabloexpansion.com. 

Kamala Appel 

ˇ

IMPEACH BUSH 

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council will consider recommending to U.S. Representative Barbara Lee that she support the impeachment of Bush, 

Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft. 

These unelected criminals have not only violated U.S. and international law by involving the U.S. in wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, but have now supported the violent overthrow of a legitimate democracy and ally in Haiti, and also kidnapped a chief of state and his wife. (The cross-examination of Noriega by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday demonstrated this without a doubt.) 

All of these actions are clearly impeachable offenses. These men are simply too dangerous to leave in office until the coming elections in November. They will very likely involve the U.S. in an invasion of Venezuela and Cuba before November. We have already gained a well deserved reputation as an aggressor nation; now, many thousands more will be killed and crippled for illegal motives that we don’t agree with. 

Berkeley has been a vanguard of opinion and action for peace and social justice in this nation. The National Coalition for Impeachment of Bush and Cheney has therefore called upon the Berkeley City Council and Mayor Bates to recommend to Barbara Lee that she either introduce articles of impeachment into the Congress, or immediately support that action if taken by another U.S. Representative. 

I am dismayed that preliminary indications have shown that several people on the council are reluctant to support this resolution. Some of the reasons I have heard are outrageous beyond my comprehension, e.g., equating Bush and Co.’s crimes with Clinton’s lying about oral sex, and using this idea in somehow determining the propriety of impeachment. Furthermore, another move being considered is the alternative of recommending “censure” of the administration. This absurdity will have absolutely no influence on a junta that has shown its willingness to go to war against the opinions and wishes of record numbers of its own people, and in defiance of the United Nations. “Censure” is nothing more than a formal expression of someone’s opinion, and it is quite evident by now that the Bush Administration will simply do whatever it can get away with, regardless of any opinion. Only impeachment has the force of law to remove these criminals, who lie and connive. Censuring Bush makes about as much sense as “censuring” Charles Manson, as an alternative to incarcerating him. And Manson was responsible for far less damage than Bush, Cheney, etc. 

Finally, it has been indicated Lee’s district office chief of staff Jeffrey Thomas that Congresswoman Lee balks at pursuing impeachment because it would “divert precious hours and energies away from other important legislative matters.” First, I would remind the Berkeley City Council that there are no more important legislative matters than keeping us out of wars of aggression—the highest crime on the planet. Second, we as citizens should not be taking our cue from Representative Lee—she should be taking her cues from us. We don’t work for her—she works for us. We would not be in this mess if Congress had been willing to appropriately exercise their duty of oversight of the executive branch. Let’s get real—tell them to indict these bastards, and remove them. 

I am reminded of a politician character in Walt Kelly’s comic strip Pogo, some years ago, who says, “The people have spoken, and I must follow, for I am their leader.” Well, that’s how it works, folks. 

Hank Levin 

San Rafael 

S

In a performance straight out of Alice in Wonderland, Seagate Corporation came before the Civic Arts Commission at our February meeting to deliver a message: “We are here to show you something we do not want you to examine” and “we are asking for your approval which we assure you we do not care about.” And, as if the message were not sufficiently clear, they brought a visual aid in the form of an enormous, expensive, elaborate model of their project and its environs which was designed not to be seen. 

The model of their building, to be built on Center Street, was totally hidden from view by models of existing buildings on Allston Way and Addison Street. The architect indicated details of interest which we could not possibly see by pointing down behind a wall of tall, blank, white buildings. Befuddled, we finally had to get up from our seats and peer over the tops of the old building models to get an uncomfortable glimpse of the new building. 

And by the end of an hour and a half of different versions of the same message, the Berkeley Arts Commission approved the project 6-3.  

Seagate has applied for two extra floors over the usual five story limit as a bonus for providing a minimum of 10,000 square feet of cultural usage, in addition to the two floors they get for a percentage of low cost housing, making a total of nine floors. The role of the Arts Commission was to determine if the cultural use they offer meets the standards set down in the General Plan Policy LU-19 which defines the suitable space as” fine and performing arts facilities...regularly programmed for public events.”  

In Richard Brenneman’s fine article (“Giant Project Leaps Nimbly Over First Legal Hurdle,” Daily Planet, Feb. 27-March 1), he described the cultural use as “performance space for the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.” There is every reason for him to have come away with that impression. The project seems to provide either 12,067 square feet or 10,000 square feet to the Berkeley Rep for rehearsal and storage space in the back of the building. In order to meet the General Plan’s definition of “public events” Berkeley Rep will rent the space out 52 nights a year to other arts groups, plus they themselves will put on open rehearsals or other performances 48 times a year for a total of 100 opportunities for public access. The details will be determined by the Berkeley Rep’s schedule. One of my waggish friends suggested that it would be fair for Seagate to get the rent from the two extra floors for only 100 days a year, and the rent for the other 265 days should go to pay for a proper downtown arts center.  

We need to answer two questions.  

One is how could we have accepted this project when there are so many arts groups that need space, when there are so many artists who haven’t had a chance to build audiences, when there is such a need for a multi- purpose arts center dedicated to presenting all of the arts, sufficiently subsidized to make it truly accessible to the public? 

The other question is what to do about the city making commissions irrelevant by setting up a closed system. No public input allowed, until the project is signed sealed and about to be delivered and then—“Oh my God how can you raise questions at this late date...shades of partial birth abortion.”  

We are told that the developer has complete freedom to choose whatever group he wants to designate for the cultural usage. Then the city staff will work with him for years—in this case 32 months—to shape the proposal to fit the loosest possible interpretation of “public events.” Where does satisfying the needs of the arts community come into this equation?  

If the city isn’t there to represent us and the developer certainly isn’t, then perhaps we should turn to the Cultural Trust, a volunteer organization set up a few years ago to lobby for the arts. When any one of its members hears of a possible opportunity like this one, it could be brought to the attention of the entire group to consider what best would serve the needs of all.  

But back to the real world. At the commission meeting, Seagate offered another small gesture to meet the requirement of “public events”—125 square feet of window space for the display of art in the fire corridor leading to the rehearsal and storage space, a corridor which they point out will be open through the block to Addison Street during the day. They told us that they originally wanted to provide a street-front gallery, but city staff insisted that the city wants only high quality retail stores on street frontage.  

Whoa... over and over we are told that the arts are the economic engine of downtown. We all know what luck they’ve had in attracting interesting businesses to the area. They prefer rehearsal space to a gallery? It certainly is confusing around here.  

It’s painful to know that if the people’s interests had been honored we could be on the road to building a downtown cultural center. Twelve thousand square feet is an enormous amount of space to lose for the public benefit. We could easily have had two performance spaces and a gallery. There could be all kinds of music, discussions, dance, poetry, composer forums, exhibitions, film previews, workshops, performances by all kinds of neighborhood groups, small theater and student productions….. (Does anyone remember seeing the wonderful Berkeley High Independent Theater Production of All of Shakespeare’s Plays in 30 Minutes at the Berkeley Store Gallery years ago?) 

Anyway, our work is cut out for us. We have to define the cultural bonus better and agitate for a more open process within the city bureaucracy. We have to build a downtown art center (with one of the few opportunities for space just removed from the picture) and at the very same time we have to shift our focus away from downtown to support the neighborhoods and the schools where the bubbling up of creativity starts and is often stopped for lack of funds and encouragement.  

Bonnie Hughes is the founder of the Berkeley Store Galleries and the Berkeley Arts Festival, and is a member of the Civic Arts Commission. The views expressed her are her own and do not necessarily reflect the opinons of the other members of the commission.  

›

Director Doran, you are wrong. 

In your article “Daily Planet Trashes Berkeley Schools—Again” (Daily Planet, March 2-4) you describe Daily Planet pieces on the Berkeley Public Schools as “sensational,” ‘inflammatory,” “completely [missing] what happened.” You ask if the Planet intends to “turn our community against Berkeley Public Schools.” 

Your complaint? The articles “failed to state the positive.” 

Your efforts to serve our schools are laudable, but the idea of all-good news is an idea democracy cannot afford. Good people (that’s you) doing hard work for a good cause are the very people we depend upon to guard against all-good news. It’s the critical news, the difficult news, and even the bad news that needs your protection. As a public servant you must know the importance of good and bad news, especially when the bad news is delivered by honest people working hard, like you, to make public schools better. 

Balance. Without bad news, good news loses its meaning. Too much of either can be a dangerous thing, but I would argue that in a democracy a newspaper with too much bad news is less dangerous than a newspaper with too much good news. 

Those of us who follow school board meetings see decent people working hard for a good cause. Three years of fiscal emergency can take its toll on even the toughest advocates for public schools, however. Good news in hard times then becomes a seductive thing. When it turns into information management, and a determination to eliminate criticism, red flags must go up in every Berkeley household. 

One boardmember spent her entire comment period excoriating union representatives for failing to present more good news. This is a trend that shows a failure to understand and/or believe in the critical role played by those who responsibly present another point of view. 

Let’s look at the two “bad news” items disliked by Doran. It is in everyone’s best interests to find ways to save money that do not sacrifice the core mission of education. Our colleagues in Local 39 spoke responsibly in highlighting a hemorrhaging of money in the BUSD Food Service Department. For blowing that whistle you blame them, or the reporter for quoting them. Out colleagues with the Berkeley Federation of Teachers spent endless hours asking simple questions about flood damage at Malcolm X School, and BUSD administration has yet to honor them with a single meeting to share information. 

As for the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees, of which I am president, we take exception to your opinion that “the key point” of the Daily Planet articles should have been the relative relief felt this year, when “this year’s cuts, which targeted mostly non-teachers, sparked little citizen outrage. Class sizes are scheduled to remain stable and lost teacher jobs…are forecast to be offset by retirements and resignations.” We disagree with your idea that the focus of the article should have included a divisive expression of relief that “non-teachers” were the only ones to suffer. We know that our teaching colleagues support us in this. 

Here’s the outrage. How have we come to a time when our citizens have become so reconciled to the attrition of jobs, so battered by the erosion of faith in and funds for our public institutions that they do not protest? And, is their exhaustion then part of the good news? The elimination of 15 full-time-equivalent instructional assistant positions will not be good news for the special education students in their charge. The closure of the Vera Casey Center has been covered, but the elimination of other jobs has not been mentioned. These losses do not justify an entry into the plus side of any column, anywhere. 

We understand your desire to hear good news, and we appreciate your work toward creating it. Please don’t make the mistake of trying to clear out the bad news to make room for the good. It isn’t good for your cause, and it isn’t good fro democracy. 

Ann Graybeal, President, Berkeley Council of Classified Employees, Local 6192 CFT/AFT/AFL-CIO 

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Although interest rates continue to be astonishingly low, the conservative 30-year fixed rate loan seems to be going the way of the Brontosaurus. According to the folks at Cohn’s Loans in North Berkeley, roughly two thirds of buyers are choosing alternatives to the 30-year fixed loans. Buyers are attracted to the low rates and flexible programs offered by adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). This low cost financing gives consumers greater buying power.  

Given the price of housing in Berkeley, buyers--especially first time buyers--are searching for ways to finance nearly all of their home purchase price. An entry level home or condo can easily cost over $400,000. A buyer may need 10 percent down, $40,000, plus closing costs of up to $15,000, for a total of $55,000. On top of that, once a buyer has jumped over this hurdle she is still faced with a monthly payment based on 90 percent or more of the purchase price. Today’s ARMs provide lower payment options that get buyers through the front door, but with a plethora of these programs to choose from it is easy to get lost.  

Mortgage lending, like most investing, is a game of trying to maximize returns and minimize risks. In making their investment decisions, lenders juggle numerous variables to reflect their own investment goals as well as the risk each borrower represents. The higher the risk a consumer’s profile suggests, the higher the interest rate the lender will demand. Just because your friend got an impressively low rate, doesn’t mean that you will qualify for that same rate.  

The following is a summary of two of the most popular loan programs buyers are choosing today: 

Short-term, fixed-rate Adjustable-Rate Mortgages (ARM): These loans are typically fixed at a low rate for three, five, seven or 10 years and then they adjust annually (or monthly) for the remaining life of the loan. The rates adjust based on a set margin over a moving interest index. The longer the fixed term, the higher the rate. These are fully amortizing loans, meaning that each payment is comprised of a portion of interest and principal. 

Ideal Borrower: This is the perfect loan for someone who wants a home but is planning on selling before the loan starts to adjust. If you anticipate a job relocation or a sudden change in family size this is a great loan option because it temporarily fixes your finance costs.  

Risks: Remember that the adjustable part of this loan exposes you to interest rate risks. Your rate is fixed for the first few years and then it adjusts to reflect changes in market rates. Make sure that your loan will adjust reasonably if you end up staying in your house longer than anticipated. The margin is a fixed amount that will be added to an index rate, which is variable, the adjustable part of the loan. Make sure the index on which your loan rate is based moves slowly. Research the history of the index so you don’t end up with one that tends toward sharp upward shifts. A prepayment penalty is often an option that will buy your rate down, but don’t get one unless you know you are definitely going to sit tight for a couple of years. Prepayment penalties are usually in effect for two to three years and typically cost two percent of the principle. This is a big chunk of change.  

Short-term, fixed-rate, interest-only ARMs: These loans are similar to the amortizing ARM described above, only they don’t amortize. That means you don’t pay down any of the principle. You may choose to increase your payment to pay down principle, but if you choose only to pay the interest the balance of the loan never decreases. You borrow $300,000 and after years of paying only interest you would still owe $300,000. Therefore the only equity you will have in your house is the initial down payment plus that gained from improvements and/or market appreciation. The difference in an interest-only payment is hefty. For example, if you have a loan amount of $300,000 and an interest rate of five percent, your fully amortizing payment would be $1,610, but your interest-only payment would be $1,250. The difference of $360 per month can make it or break it for many people. 

Ideal Borrowers: People with fluctuating incomes, who can afford to increase payments to pay down principle in some months, but need the security of making a lower payment in other months. Also, people who are planning on making home improvements and choose to leverage extra cash by making home improvements rather than spending it paying down the principle.  

Risks: The same risks apply as for the amortizing program. The difference here is that if you don’t increase your payments to pay down principle you will not build the certain equity that an amortizing program provides. 

When shopping for ARMs always compare the following details: 

• Initial fixed rate: For example five percent. 

• Initial fixed period: For example five years. 

• Index: For example the COFI (Cost of Funds Index) 

• Margin: For example 2.25 percent in addition to the index rate. 

• Cap Rate: For example 9.5 percent (this is the shocking amount the adjusting rate can never exceed) 

• Prepayment Penalty: For example two percent of balance if paid off within a certain number of years 

• Loan Origination Fee: Zero to two percent of the loan amount (aka “points”). The higher this fee the lower the rate—the more you pay now the less you’ll pay in the long run. 

• Lender Fees: For example $500 for processing and $200 for document preparation. 

When choosing a loan program it is very important to shop for the program that will suit your needs and your plans. The services provided by a trustworthy loan broker are valuable because brokers work with multiple lenders and have market and program knowledge that is not generally available to the layman. Ask your friends and your real estate agent for referrals, and make sure you compare cashews to cashews. ] 

Heather Sittig is a local real estate agent.  

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George Thomson, an otherwise sensitive, highly intelligent artist, collects tapes of Perry Mason episodes. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) Does he see a pinnacle of thespian excellence in Raymond Burr’s work? No, his interest has to do with the similarity between the structure of the TV show and Haydn symphonies: 

“There is a familiar framework of what is expected; there will always be a woman who screams, ‘He was dead when I got there!’ but both the show and Haydn play beautifully with what happens in between.” 

Oh. 

The Berkeley Symphony associate music director’s unusual hobby and his straight-faced, semi-serious explanation for it both fit him well. He is invariably described as “funny,” “impressive,” “quirky” and “brilliant”... if and when he is discussed at all.  

Thomson has been a vital presence in the Bay Area’s musical life, but, until recently, something of an éminence grise. Like Père Joseph, Cardinal Richelieu’s powerful secretary and the first éminence grise, Thomson has been working behind the scenes, supporting the peripatetic, globetrotting conductor Kent Nagano.  

Thomson has been holding the fort while Nagano headed orchestras in Lyon, Manchester, Berlin, acting as the music director of the Los Angeles Opera, and filling guest-conducting assignments around the world. 

There will be a lot for Thomson to do backstage in the future as well. As announced earlier this week, Nagano becomes music director of the Montreal Symphony in 2006, at the same time when he is to take his most prestigious position yet: music director of Munich’s 300-year-old Bavarian State Opera.  

Ask Nagano about Thomson and he will spare no adjectives: “Maestro Thomson is an amazing person, an extraordinary musician, wonderful conductor, friend and colleague.”  

Not a bad reference from the boss for somebody just turning 41, the conductor equivalent of reaching post-puberty. Thomson’s youthful nature is also expressed in the vibrancy of his increasingly frequent music criticism in the web publication San Francisco Classical Voice (www.sfcv.org). Thomson’s blithe spirit lurks even in such a learned dissertation as his review of the San Francisco Opera’s St. François d’Assise, which included this memorable sentence: “Doubtless this is the first such event in history for which the entire audience could know going in just how much the score weighs.”  

Hoisting enough scores to equal the 25 pounds Messiaen’s opera requires, Thomson is about to appear as a conductor up front, leading performances in four venues in the coming weeks, three in Berkeley.  

• Thomson conducts his own Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra at 3 p.m., on Sunday, March 7, in the Veterans Auditorium. 

• On the same day, at 8 p.m., after a Nagano-like mad dash from one location to another, Thomson will lead the Berkeley Symphony’s “Under Construction” new music reading concert in St. John’s Presbyterian Church. (Nagano himself conducts “Madama Butterfly” at a Los Angeles Opera matinee the same day, flying in to participate in the concert as “host.”) 

• On Tuesday, March 16, Thomson will make his Berkeley Symphony subscription-concert conducting debut (after a decade “below the deck”), leading Elliott Carter’s Cello Concerto (Judiyaba is the soloist). 

• May 8-16 Thomson makes his Berkeley Opera conducting debut as music director for Handel’s “Acis and Galate.”  

Besides conducting and collecting “Perry Mason” tapes, Thomson has two other busy, important careers, as educator and instrumentalist. At Berkeley Symphony, he has been director of the manifold music education program and producer/director of “Under Construction.” He is also music director of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, and program director/conductor of the San Domenico School’s famed Virtuoso Program.  

Says Nagano of Thomson: “As a music educator, he has a remarkable gift of communication. He has been impressively effective in having a powerful and important impact on our future generation of musicians and music lovers.” It is a testimonial Thomson appreciates, but from his Til Eulenspiegel side, he wonders who this legendary figures may be, sharing his name. 

As a violist, Thomson is one of those hyperactive musicians, somebody you might have heard in the Bay Area for almost two decades, since graduating from UC Berkeley, playing with the Carmel Bach Festival, the American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Earplay... and more. All the while, conducting has been the goal, beginning in Cupertino Junior High, where young Thomson led the school orchestra in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, albeit “only” the first movement. At Cal, he conducted the Summer Orchestra in Hertz Hall, in works by Haydn, Stravinsky, Ravel.  

In the small-world department, he auditioned for a program at Yale which Alasdair Neale attended (Neale is now music director in Marin), and at the Prometheus Symphony, he took the job over from Jonathan Khuner (now director of Berkeley Opera). 

All that playing, education and interest enabled this “emerging maestro” to take on assignments: There are some 50 more or less standard works in his repertory, from Adams to Wreede (both happen to be Berkeley-based), and his background in contemporary music is about as broad as anybody’s.  

Almost certainly, Thomson has mastered Fred Steiner’s scores as well. That would the composer/arranger responsible for the Perry Mason theme. 

d

All right, this is going to sound like heavy duty stuff—and, in a way it is, of course. 

Central Works’ new play The Duel, skillfully adapted by local playwright Gary Graves from Chekhov’s story of the same title, is loaded with plot and action and drama. There’s plot here, people! Lots and lots of plot. Adultery, heartbreak, a life-threatening duel, rape—all presented by an absolutely first-rate cast of six actors playing eight challenging parts. Even Nietzsche and Darwin’s theories—new stuff in Chekhov’s time—find their way into the mix. They just don’t make plays like this anymore. And oh is it good to see one! 

We’ve grown so accustomed to one- and two-person “plays” that it’s almost startling to be presented with a fully developed, multi-character, multi-faceted, comprehensible, drama. It’s enough to bring out the Luddite in us all. 

Michael Cheng (Vanya) and Jennifer Fagundes (Nadya) do great work as the pair of illegitimate lovers (she’s married) at the center of the action. But this is far from the traditional story of heavy breathing anguish that we’ve encountered so many times. Chekhov concerned himself with the aftermath of their passion. The play takes place two years after the couple have run off together to set up housekeeping in a barren, isolated town. And the bloom is definitely off the rose. 

By the time the play opens, Vanya is completely convinced that he wants out. Out of the relationship, out of his job, definitely out of the town. He is so ready to split that he’s more than willing to spill his situation to the tiny group of men who make up his only society. He has not, of course, mentioned his discontent to Nadya (who has some discontents of her own).  

The way Vanya sees things, his only real problem is that he needs somebody to “loan” him some money to give to Nadya so that he can leave her with a clear conscience. He’s not quite enough of a cad to just abandon her with no resources. Jobs were in short supply for adulterous women in 19th century Russia. Women of any kind, for that matter.  

His favorite candidate for the loan source is his friend and professional nice guy, Alexi (Richard Frederick) who never thinks to mention that he must borrow money himself in order to make the loan.  

But things get increasingly complicated with serious friction between Vanya and the rational, totally “modern” Kolya (John Patrick Moore), leading to a life-threatening situation for Vanya. Nadya’s vulnerability as the town’s admitted adulteress is equally destructive to her.  

Arguably, the only characters in the play who are left undamaged by the fall-out from the couple’s self-centered behavior are a rather simple cleric (Michael Shipley) who admits that he doesn’t really understand what he’s doing there, and a motherly—respectable—woman (Jan Zvaifler) who has befriended Nadya out of pity for her isolation.  

The Duel is serious, of course, but it’s not a downer; and it’s not melodrama. Chekhov was far too creative to fall into such superficiality and this production is far too sophisticated to head in that direction. It should be mentioned that in addition to the actors’ strong performances, several are gifted with first-rate singing voices which are used to great advantage toward the end of the play.  

While the material is old, this is actually a new play. All of Central Works’ plays are new. The hand-in-glove fit of the actors in their roles is more than good fortune: they’re selected before the play is written, and they then collaborate in the playwright’s creative process. It’s a method of play development based on the techniques of a British group called the Joint Stock Theatre Company of Britain.  

It works. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series about people and businesses that make things in Berkeley. 

The economy’s in trouble, but at Sun Light & Power on Folger Avenue, business is booming. The firm, one of the East Bay’s leading solar energy companies, doubled the size of its workforce to 23 in the past year. And while residential installation has been and remains its main gig, the company just won contracts to outfit the City of Berkeley’s Corporation Yard and Willard Swimming Pool with solar panels. 

Gary Gerber, Sun Light & Power’s founder and president, is not surprised that he’s prospering in the midst of a downturn. “My company has actually been on an anti-economy trend ever since we started,” he says, looking back on Sun Light & Power’s 28-year history. “When the economy isn’t doing as well, we usually do better.” 

That’s because it usually takes a jolt to get people to face questions like how are we going to meet our energy needs when we run out of cheap oil and natural gas? As long as energy is cheap, it’s easy to evade that question. It’s only when costs climb that people start looking for alternatives. 

“Most people can see the writing on the wall,” says Sun Light & Power designer and salesperson Doug Sorenberger. “They realize that our energy costs are going to go up, what with PG&E’s bankruptcy and the Enron scandal. As ratepayers, we’re going to shoulder the burden of the costs of deregulation.” But in the long run, which is getting shorter and shorter, even a regulated market wouldn’t prevent a steep rise in the cost of energy, simply because the earth’s supplies of fossil fuels are running out. Sun Light & Power staff hand out a copy of a 1998 Scientific American article by two oil industry consultants that predicts that global production of conventional oil will begin to decline by 2008. 

Solar energy is clean, quiet and, as long as the sun shines, renewable. The State of California offers both a tax credit on solar installations that amounts to 7.5 percent on the value of the system and, through the California Energy Commission, a rebate on a per-watt basis. According to Sorenberger, on a typical house the rebate is $8,500. That’s the best deal available from any state. These incentives can save homeowners up to half the cost of a solar system. 

Sun Light & Power installs about a hundred residential solar systems a year, mostly in Berkeley and Oakland. These units, consisting of solar modules, also known as photovoltaic or PV modules, are mounted on a roof facing south. The solid-state modules silently convert sunlight into electricity. The systems installed by Sun Light & Power have a capacity of 2,000-6,000 watts and generate between eight and 30 kilowatt hours a day. The cost of a typical home solar installation after the rebate ranges from $12,000 to $40,000, with an average of about $18,500. That sounds like a lot of money, but think of it in terms of your PG&E bill for years to come. 

“The conundrum with alternative energy,” observes Gary Gerber, “is the long view versus the short. In the long view, it’s always less expensive to go this way. If you buy a solar electric system, it’s like you’re prepaying for a good 30 years in one payment. You’re done. Let’s say that number is $25,000. That’s going to offset $75,000 to $100,000 worth of energy bills over the next 30 years.” 

Homes with solar systems remain connected to the utility grid, but they have a unique “buy/sell” relationship with the utility company. Under the “net-metering” program, on a sunny day, when energy demands are low and a home’s solar modules produce more electricity than the household uses, the meter runs backwards, effectively “selling” extra electricity to the utility company and creating an “energy credit.” Alternately, when the household uses power, the electric meter runs forward, using up the energy credit. The net result of installing a PV system is that homeowners purchase less electricity or none at all from the utility company. 

Gerber credits his success in part to the sophistication of his customers, people who’ve run the numbers far into the future and recognized that solar energy is going to save them money. They’re also people who are willing and able to do the right thing. 

Sun Light & Power helps them do it by taking care of all the paperwork and footwork. “All we ask the customer to do,” says Doug Sorenberger, “is to sign the checks and the contracts. We handle the permitting. I go get the permits myself. We have a woman in our shop who is a rebate specialist who deals with the California Energy Commission. We have engineers on staff. We’re a one-stop shop for solar.” 

If Gary Gerber has his way, Sun Light & Power will be a one-stop shop for all of his customers’ energy needs. Gerber talks about what he calls the Complete Energy Solution. “What I want to do,” he says, “is enable people to get completely off fossil fuel. That’s totally doable now. It’s even affordable.” 

Sun Light & Power practices what Gerber preaches. “We’re trying to be the model right here of all the things we’re talking about...We’re just completing the installation of our own biodiesel boiler. We run our vehicles on the biodiesel, we rerun an electric vehicle off the photovoltaics, we run our whole office off the solar electricity, we heat our office with the biodiesel, and we use the biodiesel boiler to make the biodiesel fuel out of used [cooking] oil” collected from local restaurants. “The only thing we don’t have here is the radiant heating, because we don’t own the building.” 

Gerber moved Sun Light & Power from Pt. Richmond to Berkeley in 1981. Now ready to be his own landlord, he says that keeping a Berkeley address is a must. “Berkeley is the only logical place for us to be….The city epitomizes what we’re all about: forward-thinking alternatives to the status quo.” And it’s companies like Sun Light & Power that keep Berkeley one step ahead of business as usual. 

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5 

CHILDREN 

Poetry for Children at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

THEATER 

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 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. and runs through April 11. 647-2917. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works, “The Duel” a new play adapted from Chekhov’s novella, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 27. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Everyday Theater, “The Bright River,” a show by Tim Barsky, at 8 p.m. at the Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through March 20. Tickets are $12-$20 available from 644-2204. 

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

“Marat/Sade,” by Peter Weiss, directed by Philip Charles Sneed at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Also March 6, 12, 13 at 8 p.m. and March 7 and 14 at 2 p.m. UC Dept. of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. Tickets are $8-$10. 866-468-3399. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Un-Scripted Theater “Imrov Survivor” opens at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, and runs to April 3. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Fesitval: “Invisible Light” at at 7 p.m. and “See You Off to the Edge of Town” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Surplus” a Swedish documentary in a visual critique of consumerism at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Caroline Kraus describes “Borderlines,” the dark side of relationships between women, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Paco de Luciá, flamenco and jazz guitar, at 7 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Johannes Brahms: Sacred and Secular Choral Music” with the California Bach Society at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $12-$25. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org 

University Symphony, under the direction of David Milnes at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $3-$10. 642-9988.  

An Evening of Shipyard Blues from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, at Oak and 10th Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Groove Fest” with the Albany High School Jazz Band and the “Rhythm Bound” Band at 7 p.m. at Albany High School, 503 Key Route Blvd. 558-2500. 

Humble Soul, Native Elements, Marty Dread in a Hawaiian Roots Reggae concert at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Phil Roy and Julian Coreal at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 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 

Latin Music Calendar Party at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Joshi Marshall, modern jazz saxophone, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Fruit, Australian jazz quintet, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Nino Moschella 8 p.m. at the Jazz House. Donation $5-$15. www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

Against Me!, Lucero, Grabass Charlestons, Mike Park, Love Songs at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Jump/Cut performs modern jazz at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

El Jefe and The Greans perform hip hop at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Reggae Party with Irie Productions at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

SATURDAY, MARCH 6 

CHILDREN  

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

Wild About Books with the Shahrzad Dance Academy at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“The Art of Living Black” tour of over 40 galleries and studios in Berkeley, Albany, Oakland and Richmond. For a list of locations see www.therichmondartcenter.org or call 620-6772. 

“Super Six: Live in Berkeley” paintings, drawings, and sculpture by Cassie Davis, Megan DeArmond, John Poole, Matthew Scheatzle, Mark Seely and Becca Jo Young. Reception at 6 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. 848-1228. 

THEATER 

Berkeley Opera, “The Legend of the Ring” at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$40 available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Lucky Dog Theater, “Full Spectrum Improvisation,” directed by Joya Cory, at 8 p.m. at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $12 available from 415-564-4115. www.joyacory.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival: “A Good Lawyer’s Wife” at 7 p.m. and “15” at at 9:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Bend it Like Beckham” at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kevin Odegard describes “A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading, 3 to 5 p.m., at the South Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1901 Russell St. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Palm Wine Boys at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

University Symphony, under the direction of David Milnes at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $3-$10. 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu/comcerts.html 

“In Song and Struggle” An International Women’s Day event featuring Copper Wimmin, Libby Kirkpatrick, Gwen Avery, Rebecca Riots and Rachel Garlin at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Cost is $10 to $20 sliding scale. A benefit for Berkeley Copwatch. 548-0425. 

The Stanford University Early Music Singers, under the direction of William Mahrt, perform Missa Fortuna Desperata at 8 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Church, 2220 Cedar St., at Oxford St. Suggested donation $12. 848-1755. 

Holly Near at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18 in advance, $20 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Purim Party with Adama at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 for members, $20 general. Co-sponsored by Aquarian Minyan and Kehilla Synagogue. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Robin and Linda Williams, roots country originals, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Po’ Girl, Chris Brown and Kate Fenner at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Sylvia and the Silvertones, songs of the 30s and 40s, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

The Wayward Monks at 8 p.m. at the Jazz House. Donation $7-$10. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Snake Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

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

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

DogFysh, Zachary Tree and Corporate Whore at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Prefixo De Verago, live Brazilian music at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $12. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

The Bananas, Shotwell, Defiance, Ohio, Before the Fall, Bastards of Young at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Gaucho Gypsy Jazz at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 7 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“The Art of Living Black” tour of over 40 galleries and studios in Berkeley, Albany, Oakland and Richmond. For a list of locations see www.therichmondartcenter.org or call 620-6772. 

FILM 

“924 Gilman St.” a film by Jack Curran, premieres 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. 

Asian American Film Festival: “The Other Final” at 3:20 p.m., “Travellers and Magicians” at 5 p.m. and “Bright Future” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rinzler’s Return #2, a workshop for writers at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Flash with Leonard Nathan and Peter Klappert at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert with Jupiter String Quartet at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra presents Under Construction No. 14, at 8 p.m. St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. Free. 841-2800. 

“Dancing in the Isles” with Musica Pacifica performing Baroque folk music at 7:30 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $15-$20 and are available at the door. 444-4113. www.musicapacifica.org  

Pacific Mozart Ensemble, “Monk in the Cathedral,” vocal music from the 16th to the 21st Century at 5 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-705-0848. wwwpacificmozart.org 

Novello Quartet performs Haydn’s Seven Last Words and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at 3 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut St., Alameda. 522-0181. Admission $10-$15. www.novelloquartet.org 

Lonnie Lazar & The Vaporizers, Jam Planet featuring Berkeley High students Andrew Harris and Julian Clark with Ethan Culler-Mayeno and Mike Ruby, at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale, $5 age 17 and under. Benefit for Greenaction. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Submerge 2g Tour with Galapagos 4 and Secluded Journalist at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

International Women’s Day Celebration at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Zilber Trio 8 p.m. at the Jazz House. Donation $7-$10. www.thejazzhouse.com 

The Hot Club of San Francisco at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

John Schott and Ben Goldberg from 4 to 6:30 at Spasso Cafe, 6021 College Ave. at Claremont. 

MONDAY, MARCH 8 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Passion of Christ” A Jewish-Christian Conversation at 7 p.m. in the Dinner Boardroom of GTU’s Hewlett Library. All welcome, admission free. 649-2482. 

Ellen Sussman reads from “On A Night Like This” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, featuring Tres Santos, Muteado, Chokwasi, Mark G. from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

David Bornstein tell us “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

TUESDAY, MARCH 9 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival: “On the Road: A Document” at 7:30 p.m.at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Orin Starn reflects on “Ishi’s Brain: In Search of America’s Last “Wild” Indian” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride aat 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 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. 

Pete and Joan Wernick, with Dr. Banjo of Hot Rize fame, 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 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 

THEATER  

Berkeley Opera, “The Legend of the Ring” at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$40 available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Film 50: “Charulata” at 3 p.m. and Asian American Film Festival at 7 and 9 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mark Katz remembers “Clinton & Me” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7,  

$5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Jean Thompson reads from her new novel, “City Boy” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Early Keyboard Music with Davitt Moroney at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$58, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

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

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

Slack Key All-Stars 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, Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ben Adams Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Moped, earRotator, Sign for Stereo at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com

Jazz is more than a passing fancy for Anna De Leon, a singer/composer who is currently wrapping up the mixing of her latest CD. The restaurateur/perfomer also holds two UCLA degrees in painting, and she was president of the Berkeley arts commission for three years. She also holds a law degree and once headed the Berkeley school board. 

She’d been a Patrick Kennedy tenant at her old location at 1801 University Ave., and she said the Gaia move came at his invitation. 

“My lease came up for renewal and I mentioned to him that customers were telling me I’d do better business downtown. That’s when he invited me to come to the Gaia Building,” she said. 

Anna’s, renamed the Blackbird, would occupy a street-front location a half-block up from Shattuck Avenue. 

De Leon closed her restaurant in February, 2003, vacating early so Youth Radio—a much admired nonprofit then desperately in need of a new home—could set up shop in a spot with zoning tailor-made for their needs. 

Then she made plans, bought a grand piano and some furniture. And waited. 

“I expected to move in about nine months ago. I don’t know what’s happened, although Patrick tells me he’s applied to the city for a building permit,” she said. “I can’t do anything till he puts in the walls, the wiring, the bathroom and the ventilation system. I could be done in a month once he puts in the shell.” 

And that, says Kennedy, could happen in a few weeks. 

De Leon said she’s made good use of her time. “I’ve been writing a lot,” she said, “and working on my new CD,” which features her singing and backed by jazz legends singer/composer/guitarist Taj Mahal, Harold Jones (the last drummer to back up the great Sarah Vaughn), and pianist Kenny Baron. 

And if everything goes the way she hopes, the Blackbird will soon be offering free vintage jazz movies on a large-screen TV during the afternoons and live music at night, “with an emphasis on local musicians”—which is why she disagrees with Spring on the suitability of her club under the cultural density bonus. “It will be a wonderful cultural use for the city,” said De Leon. 

Richard Kalman, a patron and jazz musician, agrees. “I played there, and it was a great place to hang out, too. I loved it. It was a great place for local bands to develop their craft. It was also a wonderful place for the after-theater crowd to go.” The San Francisco dubbed Anna’s “a quintessentially Berkeley cafe,” and the San Francisco Bay Guardian described it as “a rare place that recharges the soul.” 

City Councilmember Dona Spring, whose district includes the Gaia Building, say she’s also not convinced that De Leon’s relocated for-profit café justifies giving Kennedy more profit-making apartments. “When the cultural bonus was implemented, it was to help civic arts organizations that couldn’t afford downtown rents,” she said. “The idea was to create subsidized venues for non-profits, which Anna’s Jazz Cafe is not,” Spring said. “But the Zoning Adjustment Board did approve it.” 

Patrick Kennedy says Anna’s is a perfect fit. “My view is that the city should be grateful to have any cultural activity that’s willing to locate downtown,” Kennedy said. “‘Nonprofit’ is a distinction that doesn’t matter to me. Anna’s is a labor of love, and whether she makes a profit remains to be seen. 

“Besides, I’m really excited about having a venture that will appeal to the aging hipster,” he said. “I think there’s a dearth of those right now.” 

Fans of De Leon’s contralto riffs can catch her and other musicians Sunday at the International Women’s Day Concert at Freight & Salvage, 1100 Addison Way, starting at 8 p.m. Fellow performers include Barbara Dane, Ronnie Gilbert, India Cooke and others. For tickets or more information, call 548-1761 or go to www.thefreight.org.

Sitting in Albany Bowl last Wednesday, watching several life-long friends enjoying their weekly bowling leagues, Nobu Asami remembered a time when bowling was one of the few recreational sports Japanese Americans were allowed to participate in after World War II. 

Asami is the co-founder of the Go-Go Japanese American bowling league that meets weekly at Albany Bowl. Bowling has long been an important part of her life. The bowling alley was the one place she and her family and friends could publicly gather and not be questioned during the war. 

Asami’s story, however, has a twist. Bowling was not only a pastime, but at one point a career.  

Back in 1942, when Asami was only 21, she and her husband were forced to flee Berkeley and move to Colorado (where they hid out with friends) when the United States government began putting Japanese and Japanese Americans in internment camps. It wasn’t until 1945 that she was able to move back to Berkeley and reunite with her family, who had been living in an internment camps in Tanforan, Cal. and Topaz, Utah, where they slept in horse stables and barracks. 

“It was miserable, I cried all the way from here to Colorado,” said Asami. In Colorado she and her husband originally stayed on a farm in Brighton and then moved to an apartment in Denver with several friends. Like most Japanese Americans, when Asami got back she had to build a new life for herself. 

Asami and her husband eventually settled in Berkeley and had children. Asami said she often found herself at home taking care of the kids while her husband was out. She needed something else to absorb her energy and get her out of the house.  

Enter bowling. Asami bowled on her own or with her kids several times a week at several of the bowling alleys around the East Bay and quickly found a job at Richmond’s Uptown Bowling. At the same time, large bowling leagues were developing in the Japanese American community here in the Bay Area. The leagues were called Nisei leagues, which means second generation, and were separate from the traditional leagues, which until 1950 were only open to whites. 

Working at Uptown, Asami developed into a talented bowler. When racial integration finally came to the leagues in the ‘50s, she was promptly recruited by women bowlers from Alameda County. Another member of the Alameda women’s league was Helen Duval, one of the most decorated woman bowlers of all time.  

Bowling alongside Duval, Asami emerged as one of the premier bowlers in the country. She and Helen began touring the United States and overseas as part of circuit of leading women bowlers. 

While her children stayed at home with her mother, Asami spent five years touring the world. In 1964, Asami and Duval enrolled in the national doubles competition in Syracuse, New York, and won. That victory was the highlight of her career. She continued to bowl competitively but eventually settled down and got a job with the University of California, where she worked for 20 years. 

Then in 1982, Asami retired from UC. Her passion for bowling had never left so with her free time she helped found a new Nisei league called the Go-Gos, which means 55 in Japanese. Because there was a tradition of bowling among the community around her age, the league quickly gained a substantial membership, peaking at 200 members. 

Over the past two decades the league has continued to thrive. Asami, now 84, is not the most senior of the Go-Gos. Several members are in their late eighties and early nineties, although the average age falls somewhere in the eighties.  

Most of the bowlers in the Go-Gos have pushed their memories of the times when they could not participate in the traditional bowling leagues into the past and say they continue to bowl both out of tradition and for the recreation. 

“Athletically, we can’t play basketball and we’re too small to play football,” quipped Wheky Sumimoto, one of the Go-Gos. 

To this day, Asami can still bowl a good game. She is full of energy and a better bowler than most bowlers who are half her age. She sits out sometimes when the Go-Gos bowl because her average is still quite a bit higher than the rest. Her best average was 195 and her best score ever was a 299, only one point away from a perfect score. 

“I told my son that if I ever bowled a 300 I’d quit bowling. I guess that’s why I never stopped bowling.”  

FRIDAY, MARCH 5 

The Oakland Bird Club open meeting with Robert Hewitt who is involved in planning birding festivals at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, Upstairs Meeting Room, 5366 College Ave. 444-0355.  

“Tales of the San Joaquin: A River Journey” A documentary on the San Joaquin River and its role in the statewide water system at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St. at 10th St, Oakland. 238-2200.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with John Gjerde, Prof. History, UCB, “Immigration.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Karate for Kids” a free introductory class with Dara Connolly at 5:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave., for ages 4 and up. 847-2400. 

Shambhala Buddhist Workshop on “A Life in Consort: Integrating Feminine and Masculine Principles” at 7:30 p.m. and continuing throughout the weekend at the Berkeley Shambhala Center, 2288 Fulton St. First lecture is $20, full weekend fee is $120. 841-3242. www.bayarea.shambhala.org 

American Social Gospel Lecture with Chris Evans on “Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauchenbusch” at 3:30 p.m. at the Bade Museum, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Senic Ave. 849-8221. 

“The Under-reported Human Tragedy of Chechnya” a session on Humanitarian Aid at 3 p.m. and “Stories from the Front Line” at 7 p.m. at 159 Mulford Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, the Chechen Advocacy Network, and the Muslim Student Association. For further information contact didishka@yahoo.com 

Anarchist BookfairMovie Night with videographer Jay Finneburgh, at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Donation $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

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. 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, MARCH 6 

Sick Plant Clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, the first Sat. of every month, UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants. Free. Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

Kids Garden Club Join us as we discover the science of the kitchen and feast on garden goodies. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. For ages 7 - 10 years. Cost is $3, non-resident $4. Registration required, 525-2233. 

Orchid Collection Tour and Workshop Treat yourself to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Botanical Garden’s orchid collection, normally closed to the public, and a rare sale of unusual orchid species from the Garden collection. Workshop and tour led by Garden horticulturist and orchid expert, Jerry Parsons who will help you gain confidence with the basic skills of orchid ID and culture. Workshop covers the major groups of orchids, how to divide and mount them, and their care and culture. From 9 a.m. to noon at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $50, $40 members. To register call 643-2755. http:// 

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Cerrito Creek Restoration Meet at 10 a.m. at the south edge of El Cerrito Plaza. We’ll re-plant salvaged native plants, plant new, and perhaps spread more chips on the trail. f5creeks@aol.com 

Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame awards ceremony at the Marriot Hotel, Oakland at 12:30 p.m. 535-7414. 

“In Song and Struggle” An International Women’s Day event featuring Copper Wimmin, Libby Kirkpatrick, Gwen Avery, Rebecca Riots and Rachel Garlin at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Cost is $10 to $20 sliding scale. A benefit for Berkeley Copwatch. 548-0425. 

“Street Skills for Cyclists” a lecture and discussion from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free, but registration required 433-7433. 

35th Annual UC Open Taekwondo Championship, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Haas Pavilion. Tickets are $5-$7. 642-3268. www.ucmap.org 

Cal FIT 5K Race/Fun Run/Walk Start/Finish at Sather Gate, check-in starts at 9 a.m., race at 10 a.m. Cost is $10. 847-7633. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~calfit 

Auditions for Showtime at the Apollo will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Amateur performers and groups wishing to audition may call Laura Abrams at 642-0212 or e-mail apollo@calperfs.berkeley.edu to schedule an audition. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. 848-7800. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 7 

Aquatic Park EGRET and the Berkeley Rowing Club will plant coastal wildflowers and native shrubs in the circle at Aquatic Park’s south entrance beginning at 9:30 a.m. 549-0818. 

Breakfast with the Birds from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Bring your own beverage and we’ll watch what is feathered down at the lake. Cost is $3, $4 non-resident. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“On Her Own Terms: Annie Montague Alexander and the Rise of Science in the American West” with author Barbara Stein at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian physician and leading human rights activist, at 7 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Tickets are $20. Benefit for The Middle East Children’s Alliance. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org 

“Dividing Walls” a close-up view of the Israel/Palestine conflict by Chris Brown at 7 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar. Sliding scale donation of $5-$15, benefit for the Palestinian program of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. 785-9509. 

Death Penalty Update at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine Street at Walnut, in the Education Building. Update with Eric Moon, American Friends Service Committee staff person on death penalty and prison issues. Includes short video, “Interview with an Executioner.” All are welcome. 528-7784. 

Non-Violent Communication with Miki Kashtan, Certified NVC Trainer, Social Change and Project Coordinator for the Center for Nonviolent Communication in Berkeley at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Purim Carnival from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Dance Party with the Mowtown Megillah at 7 p.m. at Beth-El, 2301 Vine St. Tickets for the dance party are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. Please RSVP to 848-3988, ext. 11. www.bethelberkeley.org 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Robin Canton on “Meditation and Creativity” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 8 

Tea at Four Enjoy some of the best teas from the other side of the Pacific Rim and learn their cultural and natural history. Then take a walk to see wintering birds and dormant ladybeetles, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration required. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

Forum on “The Passion of Christ,” a Jewish-Christian conversation, hosted by the Graduate Theological Union, at 7 p.m. in the Dinner Boardroom, Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2482. 

“Photography, Melancholy and the Conception of Brazilian Nationalism” with Natalia Brizuela at noon at the Center for Latin American Studies, 2334 Bowditch St.  

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 1:15 p.m. 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. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center, volunteer training from 6 to 8 p.m. at 5741 Telegraph Ave. To sign up call Emily at 601-4040, ext. 109.  

TUESDAY, MARCH 9 

“Trekking in Bhutan” a slide presentation with Himalayan guide Peggy Day, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Traditional Regional Foods of Spain, with co-authors of “Cesar: Recipes from a Tapas Bar” James Mellgran and Olivier Said, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

“Rotten Foundations: The Reclamation Act and Urbanization of the West” with Gray Brechin, author and research fellow, Dept. of Geography, UC Berkeley, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Writing Workshop on the art of writing imminent fiction with Pamela Cranston and Michael Kurland at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Death Penalty Vigil, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART station. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Blood pressure checks at 10:30 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

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. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10 

Great Decisions 2004: “Diversity in Islam” with Prof. John L. Hayes, UCB Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“The Patriot Act and Our Civil Liberties” with Jack Newman, Deputy Attorney General, State of California, speaking from his personal viewpoint, at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave.  

“Faith and Environmental Injustice” A GTU Faculty Panel Discussion, at 6:30 p.m. at the Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

“The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at Albany High School, Multi-Purpose Room, 603 Key Route Blvd.  

“The Crippling Effects of Landmines” with author John Gray at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinnelle Hall, UC Campus. The East Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association. Admission is free, donations will go to landmine clearance programs. 540-8017. 

“Renaissance Images of Christ” with Jason van Boom, GTU, at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

“Street Skills for Cyclists” a lecture and discussion from 6 to 10 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free, but registration required 433-7433. 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Danna Zeller, 7 to 9 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 20. 

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 We’re a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

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

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

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 11 

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 at 849-4134 or email Bloomburgh@sbcglobal.net 

“Agriculture Under Occupation: Farming in the West Bank” Local landscaper and compost consultant Jon Bauer has returned from Israel and will share his findings on the ways in which the Occupation of the West Bank affects Palestinian farmers and farming in this fertile land. Accompanied by a slide show. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. $5 donation requested. This is a benefit for the Wheels of Justice Tour. 548-2220, ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Dabru Emet (Speaking the Truth): A New Statement on Jews and Christians for Our Time” at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, 2770 Marin Ave. 649-2482. 

"The House We Live In” A film on how our laws, the courts, customs and real estate practices affect race relations and the accumulation of wealth, at 7 p.m. at YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way. 

East Bay Mac User Group for all levels, software demos, tips, presentations. We meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers, a group dedicated to furthering the sport of fly fishing through education and conservation, invites you to its monthly meeting at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. 

ONGOING 

Free Income Tax Help is available on Tuesday mornings between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at St. John’s Presbyterian Church Prime Timers, 2727 College Ave., Berkeley. Ozzie Olson, AARP trained tax preparer is available by appointment. 845-6830.  

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic, 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Spring Bulb Bonanza at the Botanical Garden, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., March 15 to April 15, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanical 

garden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Mar. 8, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Public Housing Resident Advisory Board meets on Mon. Mar. 8 at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Housing Authority, 1901 Fairview St. Angellique DeCoud. 981-5475. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/publichousing 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 9. , 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., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.ber 

keley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Mar. 10, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 11, 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, Mar. 11, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs. Mar. 11 at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/housing 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs. Mar. 11, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/westberkeley 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Mar. 11, in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

›

Things you’d never know if you didn’t read the papers…even the local Knight-Ridder-CocoTimes-Lesher-Hills-faux-front offspring that appears in driveways in upscale zip codes from time to time. From the Berkeley manifestation of this conglomerate publishing empire, we learn that our mayor was “frosted” because a memo addressed to him by a city attorney found its way into the Berkeley Daily Planet. Since the mayor’s office didn’t honor us with his comments, we’ll quote the full item from Knight-Ridder’s Berkeley Voice, for those of you who live in the flats and don’t see it: 

“A security lockdown is taking place at City Hall as a result of a recent story in a local newspaper that quoted a confidential memo from Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan to Mayor Tom Bates.  

“Locks have been changed, computer passwords have been replaced and city staffers will no longer be able to access their files from home.  

“‘Somebody either broke into our office or hacked into our computer to get that memo,’ said Bates.  

“‘Either way, it was a serious violation of lawyer-client confidentiality. We’re not going to go on any witch hunts, but we have to prevent it from happening again. But it breaks my heart to see the openness with which we have traditionally conducted the public’s business in Berkeley so badly abused.’ 

“Adding insult to injury, Bates said, ‘What really frosts me is that despite all the underhanded lengths they went to, they still got the story wrong!’” 

What’s wrong with this silly scenario? Quite a lot, actually. First, what the Planet got was an anonymous copy of a fax of a printout of an e-mail. Given today’s electronic technology, changing the locks at City Hall and changing computer passwords won’t do much to stop that kind of leak, which could easily have originated in a recycling bin somewhere. And “a serious violation of lawyer-client confidentiality?” The attorney-client privilege has never been construed as banning the press from reporting on information about legal opinions provided to government by staff, and we hope no one in the city attorney’s office has told Mayor Bates that it does.  

Also, what’s this about getting the story wrong? What story? We got a copy of what seemed to be a memo from a city attorney. Those of us who had seen previous memos from the same attorney decided, on strictly literary criteria analyzing prose style, that it was authentic, so we printed it. Period. No one from the city has stepped forward to deny the memo’s authenticity or authorship. Is there anything more that we might have missed? 

What’s more important is how good the attorney’s advice was, and how the mayor intends to use it. The memo opines that UC is claiming exemption from city zoning. But another anonymous source, this one inside the University of California, tells the Planet that UC’s planners and attorneys have been taking for granted, for a long time, that UC is already required to follow local zoning restrictions for commercial projects like hotels. An internal memo to that effect has circulated inside the UC administration, seen by many. (And no, we didn’t have to break into an office or hack a computer to get that tip. People trust us with important information, perhaps even more than they trust their employers.) The source gave us the case references on which UC’s belief is based. We looked them up, and they seem to check out. So why have the city attorney and the mayor been strategizing about how the city can change its zoning to accommodate UC, in the memo’s words, to “bulletproof any city approval”? Whose side are they on, anyway?  

If the office of the mayor wants to answer some of these questions, or to complain about anything that appears in the Planet about their activities, our pages are open to them, as always.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet. 

The pages of the Daily Planet have been full of controversies about what constitutes appropriate speech in the past month or so. To partisans in the various discussions, their own case probably seems unique, but there are common threads which unite them.  

We’ve printed some, though not all, of the letters about who shouted what at the Daniel Pipes lecture on the UC campus. We’ve acknowledged that we made a mistake printing a letter reporting that an attendee said something specific which he denies. But the value of the brouhaha, as far as I’m concerned, is that I didn’t know much about Pipes before this happened, and now I do. I looked at his website, and can now report that I find his views reprehensible. Do I condemn the organization that sponsored his visit? No, because the more the public knows about people like this, the better. Do I condemn the people who created a scene during the talk? I wasn’t there, so I don’t know if they prevented the audience from hearing or not. Pipes has the right to speak, and the audience has the right to listen. But I commend the protesters, photographed for the Planet, who stood outside with signs indicating their disapproval. 

A journalism student in this issue criticizes the Planet’s use of a graphic black and white photo of an accident scene on an inside page. I approved the use of the photo myself, and the reason I did so is because it so clearly shows the disparity in size between the go-cart and the truck which literally ran over it. The editor for that issue and I, both parents and grandparents, hoped it might serve as a warning that it is never safe to operate these little motorized vehicles in the street. Showing the victim’s blood spilling out beneath the truck was unavoidable, but not the central focus of the picture. 

The death of one person, old or young, is “an inconceivable horror.” Many 15-year-olds cannot “imagine or believe” in their own mortality. It does no one, including family, friends and especially other kids who are tempted to live dangerously, any service to cover up the reality and finality of death in order to save their sensibilities.  

Bowdlerizing will never be Daily Planet policy. When a speaker uses “dirty” language in everyday speech, that tells the reader something about who the speaker is and what his values are. When a young man who has spent time in juvenile hall says “the police always fucked with him” he's using strong language to express strong anger, and his choice of language tells the reader something about who he hangs out with.  

If the letter writer is a journalism student, chances are she’s somewhat younger than my 64 years. I was educated in a convent school, but it doesn't shock me to see the word “fuck” in print. Journalists have been accurately quoting strong language for at least 40 years in my experience, and civilization still survives.  

Then there’s the request of a school board member that the Planet print more good news about the schools. I’ve already written one editorial about that topic, reprising the bad witch Evilene from “The Wiz” saying “don’t nobody never bring me no bad news!” but perhaps Mr. Doran didn’t read it. (I know he saw the show when they did it at Berkeley High). I’ve supported the Berkeley public schools for 30 years, but there’s just no point in pretending that things are better than they really are. Doran’s suggestion that our reporter should have focused on a future program involving a celebrity chef instead of current problems with food service reminded me of the old song Woody Guthrie used sing: “There’ll be pie in the sky by and by.” Even if, by and by, there will be quiche in the schools, children are already eating school lunches every day, and they need good food now. 

Next, we’ve seen recent attempts to make sure that major projects downtown will be done deals before the public knows what’s happening. The Seagate behemoth and the UC hotel megaplex might or might not be good ideas, but the powers that be, whoever they are, seem determined to turn one or the other into a new Gaia-type scandal by doing everything behind closed doors. That’s how mistakes happen. 

And finally, we have the continuing effort of whoever is running the show in the city administration to shut off the flow of information from the citizenry to the electeds. The erstwhile “rules” committee, now re-baptized the “agenda” committee, was set up by the new mayor to limit what the City Council gets to consider. True, the original version was loosened up after many complaints, but new proposals pop up regularly to further encroach on public access to elected officials. Two of the latest bad ideas: truncating the commission system, which provides many person-years of unpaid citizen labor to solve all sorts of problems at no cost to the city, and moving public comments at council meetings even more in the direction of soundbytes by cutting them to two minutes per person.  

(Well, at least the current system draws speakers’ cards at random from a basket. When I first moved to Berkeley, the mayor held the cards, and shuffled them at will to select favored speakers.) 

One more chorus from the choir: Free public speech, and lots of it, is the best way in a democracy to be sure that the right things happen. Berkeley owes a lot to the civic watchdogs whose howls of outrage regularly appear in these pages.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.›