Along the back hallway of North Berkeley’s Jefferson Elementary School, the teacher and 20 students of Room 203 have mounted a display on the recent South Asia earthquake and tsunami. 

Next to a globe with a cardboard arrow pointing to the epicenter of the disaster in the Indian Ocean, a student has written a brief explanation: “A tsunami,” it reads, “is a big wall of water!” 

Another student has drawn two pictures, before and after—one depicting a pastoral scene with a tower and a coconut palm, a second showing the same scene now covered by thick brown lines of water or mud. 

Another display is a letter by 8-year-old Carlin X. Hudson to an imaginary young person in Sumatra which attempts to summarize the tragedy in more detail: “Indonesia must be very unhappy right now. I am very sorry about what happened in the tsunami. I hope all of your loved ones didn’t die.” And then, in conclusion, a message of hope: “You’re not alone. I am with you. We will do whatever we can to help. I wish you the best during this very sad and horrific time.” 

The students of Room 203 at Jefferson Elementary School are, indeed, doing what they can to help. 

In three days since returning from the holiday break, students in Sean Keller’s third grade class have raised close to $1,300 for South Asia disaster relief. 

“We’re bringing in money that we’ve gotten from our parents and our other relatives,” Carlin told visitors to the school on a rainy Friday afternoon. “Students are bringing in $5 and $20, and one person even brought in $200 at one time. But if each person in Berkeley gave only $1, there would be a lot of money. It’s nice to help other people. And if you need help, it’s nice to feel that people are helping you.” 

Another student, Katiri Williams, 8, said in a quiet voice that the contributions were needed to help disaster victims “because they should be able to have a home to live in; they should have food and clothing.” Williams, added that she “felt very sorry for the people who may have died or been injured.” 

Essy Robinson-Abrams, 9, selected by Keller as a co-spokesperson for the drive because she has been to Bali, has been leaving voicemail messages urging citizens to support the effort. Bright-eyed and direct, she is mature beyond her age. “I think it’s good that we’re helping,” she said. “It’s sad that people died in Indonesia and Sri Lanka—” she pauses to try to remember the names of the other countries— “and all of the other places.” 

Keller said that the fund-raising effort came out of a class session to talk about the disaster. 

“I asked them what they wanted to do to help,” he said. “We tossed around a number of ideas—a rummage sale, clothing donations, an auction, a bake sale—and we finally came up with raising the money and giving it to a relief organization. On the first day I set what I thought was a lofty goal—$1,000—and afterwards I wondered why I set it that high. But, of course, the students came through on their own and surpassed it in a couple of days. I’ve stepped back from it now and let them take the lead.” 

Keller said the money would be sent to the Save The Children, a Connecticut-based nonprofit (www.savethechildren.org), one of the international-aid groups involved in the disaster relief effort. 

He said a second class at Jefferson has begun working on a fundraising project on their own, and that money raised by other classes is being funneled into Room 203. “We’ve become the hub of the activity,” he added. 

Jefferson principal Betty Delaney said the school has not yet decided when it will gather al the funds together and send them off. “I understand there are other fund-raising efforts being organized throughout the school district,” she said. “We’re still looking into whether we are going to work with the district in a combined effort, or simply send the money straight off, ourselves.” 

Meanwhile, she said she was “thrilled” at the students’ activities. “It’s just marvelous that they’re taking the initiative to work on something like this,” she said. “I’m very proud of them.”"

A group of environmental activists yesterday launched a campaign to get Apple Computer to “think different” about what happens to old computers and music players—and the lead and other toxic materials they contain. 

Under a giant banner reading “From iPod to iWaste, toxic trash in your pocket,” the Computer TakeBack Campaign—a national network pressuring high-tech manufacturers to take responsibility for their products when consumers, schools, and businesses no longer want them held a small demonstration outside Apple’s Cupertino headquarters on Monday. The group plans another one today (Tuesday) at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, where Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is scheduled to kick off the annual West Coast version of Macworld Expo, a trade show dedicated to Macintosh computers and related products. 

The campaign, an affiliate of the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, announced that it plans to make Apple its top target in 2005. It also launched a Web page (www.badapple.biz) through which visitors can send Jobs an electronic message urging him to take the lead in the movement for recycling of tech equipment and to stop testifying in opposition to legislation that would require manufacturers to take back discarded products in the United States, as they are already required to do in Europe and Japan. 

“People tend to assume Apple would be a leader in this sort of thing, because it projects such a hip, counter-cultural image, but it’s not,” said Ted Smith, senior strategist at the toxics coalition and one of the founders of the take-back campaign. “We think they should be, and we think a significant number of people from the Mac community will be right there with us.” 

Smith and Robin Schneider, a leader of the take-back initiative in Austin, Texas, tried Monday to deliver a letter about the issue to Jobs, along with supporting testimonials from some 75 Apple customers. A receptionist denied their request to see the CEO, but promised to pass along the materials.  

For the past several years the take-back campaign has concentrated its fire on Dell, the world’s largest computer maker. The Round Rock, Texas-based company initially denied responsibility for dealing with its products. Later it set up a program that required customers to pay for recycling their old equipment, and it contracted to have the work done by prison inmates. 

But after a vigorous struggle by the take-back campaign—whose tactics included delivering a truckload of discarded Dell computers to the annual meeting of the company’s shareholders and publishing a report documenting unsafe working conditions among the prisoners disassembling its machines—Dell began to change its tune. It abruptly severed its prison contract and instead promised to rely on environmentally-certified recyclers. It now offers free recycling of old equipment with purchase of certain new computers and all Dell-branded printers, and it has been pilot-testing a free drop-off program in cooperation with Goodwill Industries, according to Schneider. 

Dell’s recent turn-around has brought it together with its closest competitor in the PC business, Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard, as a leader in the computer-recycling movement. HP, which runs its own disassembly and resource-recovery facilities in Roseville as well as in Nashville, Tenn., launched a pioneering consumer-oriented computer recycling program almost four years ago. Though the program (www.hp.com/environment/recycle/index.html) currently requires that users pay for the cost of recycling, HP has also been experimenting with a free program in cooperation with OfficeDepot, according to Schnieder. 

Following its success with Dell, the take-back campaign conducted a two-month poll on its website to choose a new focus for its work. Among the six companies listed, Apple was the clear winner, followed by IBM and Sony, according to Smith. 

The most serious toxic threat associated with computers comes from CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors, each of which contains several pounds of lead. But the circuit boards in computers, music players such as Apple’s iPod, and other electronic devices also contain lead solder and other dangerous materials, and cables within computers are often coated with brominated flame retardants, which have been shown to cause neurological and reproductive problems in laboratory animals and are found in steadily increasing concentrations in human breast milk. If high-tech gear containing such materials is dumped in landfills, studies have shown, they are likely to leach eventually into the groundwater. 

Apple failed to return repeated phone calls seeking comment about the Computer TakeBack Campaign and its recycling policies.  



The recount of Berkeley’s Measure R has left the medical marijuana initiative 166 votes short of victory, and supporters still dissatisfied with the count hoping that legal action would overturn the outcome. 

Measure R spokesperson Debbie Goldsberry said that the recount uncovered hundreds of Berkeley voters whose votes were not counted because of improperly filled-out provisional ballot forms, and a thousand UC Berkeley students whose votes were not counted because their names could not be found in the Alameda County Registrar of Voters registration database. 

The measure sought to end limits on the number of plants allowed to medical marijuana users and would have allowed Berkeley’s three medical marijuana institutions to move anywhere within the city’s commercial zone. 

“I’m convinced that if we had properly counted all of the actual votes in Berkeley, Measure R would have won,” Goldsberry said. “But the decision of the registrar’s office is final.” 

Alameda County Assistant Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold said that while there were small discrepancies in the Measure R count “they had no material impact on the results of the election.” 

Ginnold said that one of those discrepancies was 20 fewer ballots than the number of voters who signed in on election day at the Side B precinct station at the Northbrae Community Church on The Alameda in Berkeley. Despite a search by registrar’s office workers during the recounts, those ballots were never recovered. In addition, the voter count and actual ballots were off “by one or two votes” in a number of other Berkeley precincts. “But there will always be that type of discrepancy in any election,” Ginnold said. 

The vote count discrepancies Ginnold referred to were a different issue from the uncounted votes referenced by Goldsberry. 

Goldsberry said that in the case of the thousand UC Berkeley student voters not found in the database, “the students’ names may have been there, but the workers just may not have been able to find them because of the way in which they were listed and the way the workers were searching.” Goldsberry said the uncounted votes involved students who lived in UC dormitories. 

She said that the largest number of improperly filled-out provisional ballot envelopes came from two Berkeley precincts. “We suspect that workers in those precincts were not giving proper instruction as to how to fill out the envelopes,” Goldsberry said. “That’s something which is just going to have to be looked out for and corrected in future elections.” 

The battleground for Measure R now shifts from the counting room to the courts, where Berkeley-based Americans For Safe Access have filed a state lawsuit contesting the election. That lawsuit involves ballots cast by computer in the Nov. 2 election. 

Goldsberry said that many of the uncounted paper ballot votes were discovered after the filing of the lawsuit early last week, and so will not be at issue in the legal proceedings. “We’re just going to have to suck that up.”

The City Council in closed session Monday authorized the city attorney to file a lawsuit against UC Berkeley unless the university satisfies concerns about the environmental impact of its latest Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). 

The vote puts the two entities on a collision course as city staff presents its assessment of the 1,300-page environmental impact report (EIR) at Tuesday’s council meeting. 

Also, the council will consider an appeal of the permits granted to the nine-story Seagate building that would stand taller than all but two downtown buildings. 

Last year, the city issued a scathing critique of UC Berkeley’s draft plan. City officials said the university has failed to address their concerns over new parking spaces, inadequate compensation for city services and lack of detailed information about new projects. 

Among those eager to challenge the university is Councilmember Dona Spring, who wants the city to start shopping for outside litigation attorneys to mount a lawsuit. “I don’t think we have anyone yet who can go to court with this,” she said. 

The university’s plan, which will guide development on UC Berkeley’s main campus and nearby neighborhoods through 2020, projects up to 2,600 new dormitory beds, 2,300 new parking spaces and 2.2 million square feet of new administrative space—three times more than called for in the university’s 1990 LRDP. 

In response to city and neighborhood concerns, the university withdrew plans to build 100 faculty-housing units in the Berkeley hills and has proposed deferring the construction of 500 parking spaces if AC Transit builds a proposed rapid bus service through Berkeley. 

The plan is scheduled to go before the UC Board of Regents Buildings and Maintenance Committee on Jan. 18 and then to the full Regents for approval on Jan. 20. After approval from the Regents, the city would have 30 days to file a lawsuit challenging the EIR. 

City officials said they are concerned that the plan would grant the university a blank check to proceed with specific developments without having to study the impacts on the city and consider alternatives. 

Unlike UC Berkeley’s 1990 LRDP, which identified specific projects it planned to build, the new plan only outlines one project, the Tien Center for East Asian Studies, slated to go on the main campus. 

“The university should be very concerned about the city’s threat of legal action,” said Antonio Rossmann, a land use attorney and Boalt Hall lecturer, who in 1978 successfully sued UCLA on behalf of private homeowners who argued the campus’ LRDP environmental report was faulty. 

“If I were representing the university right now there is no way I could advise them to go forward with this when they see how other agencies view it,” he said. 

Rossmann said, that in his estimation, UC Berkeley had failed to adequately address several concerns raised by public agencies, including comments from AC Transit questioning why the university’s proposal to lessen transit burdens caused by more parking spaces didn’t include BART.  

“The university can’t say it addressed the transit issue until it involves the most significant transit agency in the East Bay,” he said.  

Seagate appeal 

Also on Tuesday’s agenda is the appeal of the Seagate building’s permit, which was approved 7-2 by the Zoning Adjustment Board last October. The building would rise 115 feet above Center Street between Shattuck Avenue and Milvia Street and contain 149 residential units, rehearsal space for the Berkeley Repertory Theater, retail space and 160 underground parking spaces. 

The appellants, Friends of Downtown Berkeley, questioned city staff’s awarding of extra floors in exchange for providing low-income units and arts and cultural space and cited what it believed were numerous violations of city housing law including: 

• Restriction of low-income units to certain floors.  

• Allocation of fewer two-bedroom than one-bedroom units for low-income tenants. 

• Provision of smaller one- and two-bedroom units for low-income tenants than for market-rate tenants. 

Berkeley Planning Director Dan Marks wrote in response to the challenge that the ZAB found that the concessions would ensure maximum revenue for the project thus partially offsetting the cost of providing low-income units. He added that the ZAB also determined that the plan for the low-income units was consistent with city zoning laws, “because it does not create an identifiable low-income area within the project…” 

In a separate appeal before the council Tuesday, several neighbors are asking the council to also reconsider the ZAB’s approval of a four-story condominium project at Martin Luther King Jr. and Dwight ways. 

The neighbors argue that the project, slated to rise at the Dwight & King Drop-Off Recycling Center, lacks viable commercial space, is set too close to the sidewalk and lacks adequate parking. 

Mayor’s address 

Prior to the meeting, Mayor Tom Bates will give a televised start-of-the-year address at 5 p.m. council chambers. 

The speech will touch on five goals for the coming year, the mayor said: 

• Reforming city government. 

• Improving the city’s downtown. 

• Establishing the city as an environmental leader. 

• Supporting youth programs. 

• Winning concessions from UC Berkeley. 

With the city facing a $7.5 million deficit, Mayor Bates said he wants to better involve the public in this year’s budget deliberations. He has proposed setting aside one council meeting a month to solely focus on the budget and will hold neighborhood budget meetings throughout the city. 

“We want to make this the most open process imaginable,” Bates said. 

Last November voters rejected four city tax measures in what was largely seen as a rebuke of city hall. 

Bates said he also wants the city to pass a sunshine ordinance this year. Such laws specify a city’s obligation to conduct official business in the open and give the public ample notice of issues to be considered. 

For the downtown, Bates said he wanted to begin public meetings this spring to develop a community vision for the future of Berkeley’s urban core. 

Bates also said he planned expand the city’s summer reading program for youth and increase the number of green businesses operating within city limits. 

With the city threatening to sue UC Berkeley over its Long Range Development Plan, Bates said he would try to accentuate some of the positives of UC-city relations. However, he added that the city would continue to demand that the university pay more for the city services it receives. 

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Planning commissioners and members of the Zoning Adjustments Board will face full agendas this week for their first meetings of the new year. 

Among the items facing the Berkeley Planning Commissioners when they convene Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center are: 

• A discussion of potential revisions to the Creek Preservation Ordinance. 

• Proposed revisions to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance prepared by city landmarks commissioners. 

• The status of the environmental impact report (EIR) being prepared for the Southside Plan and the possibility for forming a subcommittee to work with city staff and the hired EIR consultants. 

• A public hearing on proposed revisions to non-residential parking requirements recommended by Mayor Tom Bates’s Task Force on Permitting and Development. 

• Another hearing on zoning ordinance amendments relating to home-based occupations. 

Two condominium maps are also on the table Wednesday. The first calls for a proposed 29-unit condo project with three condo commercial storefronts at 1809 Shattuck Ave. The second project, which would be built at 2131 Durant St., would feature 74 dwelling units and three commercial units. 

What could have been the most controversial item on the planners’ agenda, architect Kava Massih’s plans for a new Berkeley Bowl store at 9th Street and Heinz Avenue, was pulled from the agenda at the request of owner Glen Yasuda, who won’t be able to attend. That hearing has been tentatively rescheduled for Jan. 16. 

Thursday night’s ZAB meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers at the Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, should be less eventful. 

Board members will be considering two proposals that have already been before the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

First is the old Howard Automotive Building at 2140 Durant Ave., built by the owner of the famed race horse Seabiscuit and most recently owned by baseball legend Reggie Jackson. 

The Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Buddhist Churches of America plan to turn the landmarked Art Deco structure into a combination seminary office and study center, and their plans have been undergoing revisions at the request of Landmarks Preservation commissioners—who have said that the latest revisions are very close to winning their imprimatur. 

City Planner Greg Powell has recommended the board adopt a mitigated negative declaration and hold a hearing on the issue of whether to grant a use permit to allow construction of a two-story addition to the southernmost part of the structure. 

The other landmark on ZAB’s agenda is a cottage by architect William Wurster at 1650 La Verada Road. Neighbors who opposed the proposed expansion of the redwood cottage waged a successful battle to win landmark status for the home but lost their battle against the expansion, which landmarks commissioners authorized last month. City Planner Aaron Sage has urged approval of the expansion. 

Developer/realtor James Gordon and architect Jim Novosel will also present their plans for a project at 1952-1956 University Ave. 

Gordon wants to convert seven vacant dwelling units to office use, along with an eighth unit which would be demolished and replaced, while adding more than 3,500 square feet of restaurant and wine service space. 

Richard Schwarzmann will submit revised plans to add five new dwelling units in three buildings at 1414 Harmon St. after ZAB sent him back to the drawing board in December after complaints from project neighbors.

As controversy continues to surround the events unfolding at Campus Bay, a site where hazardous chemicals were produced for a century, Richmond officials are pondering a change in city statutes. 

One proposed change would also require a review before demolition of older buildings that could prove eligible for landmark status. 

The proposal was prompted by the events surrounding the 1999-2002 demolitions of three dozen buildings that housed the production facilities and offices of Stauffer Metals and later AstraZeneca. The firms produced a wide range of toxins, ranging from sulfuric acid to pesticides. 

The demolitions were carried out with simple over-the-counter permits issued on Oct. 21, 1999. 

City building official Fred Clement is looking into a revision to the municipal code that would prohibit issuing permits for similar buildings without a review under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

Richmond Councilmember Tom Butt said that under state law, permits sail through unless the city has reserved the power of discretionary permit review. 

“That’s a major, gorilla-sized Catch-22,” Butt said. “As it now stands, demolition permits are ministerial procedures with no discretionary review, no public input and no CEQA review.” 

Butt said the proposals were prompted by a series of demolitions in the city, including both toxic-laden and historic buildings. 

Neighbors and critics of the events at Campus Bay, where a Marin County developer is planning a major housing project, have criticized the building demolitions and subsequent hazardous waste cleanup operations as poorly managed. 

Large clouds of dust were generated during the demolitions and cleanup, which took place under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. Jurisdiction of the site has since been divided between the water board and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). 

Under terms of the proposed revisions of the city code, three categories would be created that would require CEQA review:  

• Demolitions or additions to structures used to make or store toxic substances where work may release the compounds and their toxic residues. 

• Demolitions of structures built at least 50 years ago that might be eligible for the California Register of historic sites. 

• Demolitions of structures or improvements necessary for a specific project that in itself requires discretionary review. 

Sherry Padgett, a leading activist in Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development, hailed the proposed revisions. She asked that city staff also consult Cal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the California Environmental Protective Agency and DTSC when considering potential toxic sites. 

Butt said he expects the proposed changes to be placed on a City Council agenda within a few weeks.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a challenge to Berkeley’s Living Wage Ordinance, handing a victory to the city and the employees of Skates On The Bay Restaurant. 

“We’re hoping that other cities will follow Berkeley’s lead,” said Andy Kahn who represented the Hotel Workers Employees Union, Local 2850. 

Although many cities have living wage laws, Kahn said Berkeley’s was unusually broad because it regulates companies not receiving direct city subsidies. 

The restaurant’s parent company, RUI One Corporation, filed suit against the city in 2000 when the City Council amended the law to apply to large businesses in the Berkeley Marina where Skates is located. 

The living wage law requires that city vendors, contractors, lessees and Marina businesses that employ more than six people or generate more than $350,000 in gross revenues pay workers a minimum of $10.75 an hour and $12.55 an hour when health benefits aren’t included. No other Marina business contested the law, said City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. 

RUI, which previously lost in trial court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, had argued that the law unconstitutionally modified its 50-year lease with the city. The Marina is state public trust land managed by the city, which has invested millions of dollars in the site. 

RUI Senior Director of Marketing Will Powers said he believed RUI planned to remain in Berkeley despite the ruling. A prepared statement from company General Manager Mark Chernis read, “While we are disappointed in the Supreme Court decision... we are grateful for the continued support of the Berkeley community.” 

Skates had refused to pay the living wage while the case was litigated, and instead chose to place the unpaid wages in an escrow account that must now be paid to the employees. Company and union officials contacted did not know how many employees were affected or the value of the account. 

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Several Berkeley residents plan to protest Sunday’s display of the remains of a Jerusalem commuter bus blown up by a suicide bomber last January. 

Protesters say the display, which will be held on Center Street beside Martin Luther King Jr. Park from noon to 3 p.m., is out of context and creates an inaccurate representation of the complex Middle East conflict.  

Among the organizations planning to protest is the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which said it will also display pictures of the Palestinian children killed during recent violence. 

“I want them to understand that there is suffering on both sides,” said Barbara Lubin, the organization’s executive director. According to Lubin, some 650 Palestinian and 120 Israeli children have died since September 2000. Several thousand adults have been killed. 

The organization also wants to educate viewers about what they see as the root cause for violence on both sides: Israel’s occupation. “All of us abhor violence, but there is really only one way to stop it, and that is for Israel to get out,” she said.  

The Israel Action Committee (IAC) of the East Bay is sponsoring the event. The Jerusalem Connection (formerly called Christians for Israel), a Washington D.C.-based organization, brought the bus to Washington D.C. from Europe where it was originally displayed outside The Hague to protest the International Court of Justice’s vote to condemn the separation wall Israel is building in an attempt to keep out terrorists. 

IAC’s chair, Susanne “Sanne” DeWitt, has led the project, personally paying more than half of the $11,000 it cost to ship the bus across the country to Berkeley. The city is also requiring her to pay for a private security company to assist Berkeley police and to purchase $1 million worth of liability insurance. 

Late last year, before the city granted her a permit, DeWitt posted a scathing letter on the Internet that said the city’s insurance and security demands, among other things, had “placed obstacles in my way at every turn.” 

“They were reluctant [to issue the permit],” she said. 

Lisa Caronna, the deputy city manager, said the permit request was originally submitted while the person needed to approve it was away on medical leave. Otherwise, she said the city treated the application like any other for a special event.  

“We had to go through a whole variety of issues that we normally do,” she said. 

DeWitt said the event is broadly supposed to address global terrorism. She said it is also a reaction to Representative Barbara Lee’s refusal to support a resolution passed by Congress in July condemning the International Court of Justice’s ruling on the wall. 

“I feel that people in her district should know about her vote,” DeWitt said. 

Jim Hutchens, the president of the Jerusalem Connection, said that along with the bus there will be a display of enlarged photos of the victims. This has raised concern for at least one family member of the 11 Israelis that died on the bus.  

Carrie Devorah, a photojournalist based in Washington D.C., was supposed to speak at the Berkeley rally but decided to travel to Israel for the one-year anniversary, Jan. 29, of the death of her brother, Yechezkel “Chezi” Goldberg, on the bus. 

Devorah said she was unaware that the tour has been using enlarged photos of the victims and said her family was never contacted for permission. While Devorah said she wants people to know about the impact of suicide bombings, she is concerned her brother’s image and name could be misused. 

“It is my hope the bus will be retired after the first anniversary and be removed from the controversy it is being taken into,” she said.  

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Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence told an overflow, standing-room only crowd at the Berkeley Alternative High School Monday night that seniors from the school would be included in Berkeley High School’s graduation ceremonies at the Greek Theater this spring. 

But she added that the alternative school should form a student-administration committee to address concerns about participation in Berkeley High’s winter ball and prom. 

The meeting was called by BAHS parents over concerns that BAHS students are being officially excluded from activities at Berkeley High School. BAHS principal Alex Palau said he would move forward immediately to form a committee and meet with Berkeley High principal Jim Slemp and other school officials. 

Lawrence told meeting participants that Slemp had approached her late last year about excluding BAHS students from BHS dances because of what she called “safety issues.” 

Alternative school students first reported last fall that they had been barred from participating in Berkeley High’s Homecoming activities. Rumors then spread that the ban would be extended to all extracurricular activities, including graduation. 

“Our students are very upset,” said Berkeley Alternative counselor Mercedes Sanders. “The seniors in particular are hurt and discouraged.” 

In fact, parents and students at the meeting gave Lawrence an earful, charging that the mostly African-American and Latino students at the alternative school were being relegated to second class status. 

Berkeley Alternative was originally formed as Berkeley High School’s continuation East Campus, made up of students involuntarily transferred from the main school because of truancy or other discipline problems. Five years ago, the school was transformed from a continuation to an alternative school, and while it still continues to enroll students who are doing poorly at Berkeley High and need a smaller environment, according to Sanders, its students now are voluntary transfers. 

The school has 150 students, 30 of them seniors. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

Public presentation of the latest state-mandated six-month report by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team on the Berkeley public schools will highlight this week’s meeting of the BUSD Board of Directors, scheduled for Wednesday night, 7:30 p.m., at the district headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The 170-page FCMAT report says that BUSD “continues to make good progress in five operational areas” of education management. The report was sent to BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence and posted on FCMAT’s website last week, but Wednesday will be the first chance that board members and the Berkeley public will get to publicly discuss it. 

The board will also review healthy snack suggestions made by the district’s Nutrition Services Department. The department wrote the suggestions to coincide with the district’s newly-adopted healthy Food Policy. If adopted, the guidelines will be available to schools, booster groups, and PTA units. 

An update on construction projects around the district is also on the agenda, including projects scheduled to begin this year at both the East Campus and West Campus sites. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

FROM ARROGANCE  

TO INSULT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Topping the news in the first week of the 109th Congress were dozens of items about the president’s choice to be the new attorney general. Democrats, liberals and progressives had their say: Alberto G. lacks experience and stature, he holds a twisted view of due process, and his sense of what’s right contradicts the American sense of justice. 

Democrats typically attack the president for rewarding special interests and favoring the wealthy. Liberals zero in on his arrogant way of interpreting the Constitution—due process, legislative oversight, state/church separation, and such. Progressives aim their attack at the immoral or unethical consequences of executive power; a president who is unable to admit his mistakes will never know the great harm flowing from his policies. 

It disturbs me that Democrats, liberals and progressives fail to attack the president’s second-round draft choices from the perspective of ordinary, politically literate citizens like me.  

Naming Gonzalez for attorney general and Spellings for education secretary, a legal quisling and a schools nobody, does not reach the implosion achieved when he named “good man” Kerik for Homeland Security. Nevertheless, the choice of Gonzales and Spellings typifies 43’s executive arrogance, and although they will most likely be confirmed, we the people can’t help but feel offended and deeply insulted. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

WAR IN IRAQ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bob Burnett’s special to the Planet, “Iraq: American Reality,” (Jan. 7-10) emphasizes some important facts: The occupation “isn’t going to script,” the media have framed the consideration of the occupation in very narrow terms, and there has been no national discussion of exit strategies. But contrary to Burnett’s take on this, there is no reason to suppose that this has happened because the Bush administration “controlled the discussion,” or strangled and “bullied” the media. From the New York Times and National Public Radio to Fox News the media have willingly gone out of their way to limit and distort the whole story of the invasion and occupation and, as for the lack of national discussion, if the Democrats had truly had views different from Bush’s and had come out strongly for them, the media would have been unable to withhold it all from the public. 

Richard Wiebe 

• 

ACTIVIST JUDGES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I applaud the commentary by Paul Glusman regarding the activist judges that President Bush is appointing (“Activist Judges Approve Sex Stereotypes,” Daily Planet, Jan. 4-6). Through these activist judges, the right wing fringe seeks to rewrite our laws and our constitution. Glusman’s suggestion that we make our opposition to these judges known to the White House is well timed. I would add that we also should write to Senators Feinstein and Boxer (senator@feinstein.senate.gov and senator@boxer.senate.gov) to let them know we support them in stopping the confirmation of these right wing judicial activists, through filibuster and all other legal means.  

Robert C. Cheasty  

• 

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my article, “The Stealth Plan to Bicycle-ize Marin Avenue” (Daily Planet, Dec. 10-13, 2004), I stated that “[t]o my knowledge, there was no announcement [of the Transportation Commission’s Oct. 21 public hearing on the proposed changes to Marin] in any newspaper.” City of Berkeley Transportation Planner Heath Maddox just reminded me that he’d told me that his office had noticed the hearing in the Berkeley Voice.  

Zelda Bronstein  

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Sharon Hudson writes: “the more rapidly buses transit ouf of my field of view, hearing, and smell, the better I like it,” and then she explains that she is against Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Telegraph because of “the possible diversion of traffic into the unbarricaded Willard Neighborhood.” (“Final LRDP Shows UC’s True Colors—And the City Sees Red, Not Blue and Gold,” Daily Planet, Jan. 7-10). 

In a previous letter, Hudson wrote about how offended she was by the term NIMBY. But this latest opinion piece, she is against buses in general and against BRT purely because of the immediate impact on her delicate sensibilities and on her neighborhood.  

She does not mention that better bus service is needed to help cope with global warming and fossil fuel depletion, because these issues are not in her back yard.  

We should deal with the immediate local impacts of bus service. We can add barriers or traffic calming to protect the Willard neighborhood from the unlikely eventuality that BRT will cause spill-over traffic there. We can urge AC Transit to follow the lead of Seattle and buy General Motors’ new hybrid buses, which create little noise and air pollution and which are cheaper than conventional buses in the long run because of their fuel savings.  

But we should also think about the global impacts of our actions. Berkeley should set an example of environmentally sound planning. We certainly should not listen to people who go beyond opposing BRT and run a hate campaign against buses in general.  

Charles Siegel  

• 

ALBERTO GONZALEZ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the Alberto Gonzalez confirmation for attorney general, not only does torture give permission to the enemy to reciprocate in kind, not only do we give licence for the most base brutal instincts to be expressed, but, does anyone who foolishly believes that such “encouragement” can beget reliable information, deserve to be our attorney general? 

Gerta Farber 

• 

TREE PLANTING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One rainy day in October, a magical event took place in my neighborhood. Neighbors, assisted by cheerful staff members of our city’s Parks and Recreation Department, planted over 70 trees along our streets. I have lived here in South Berkeley for over 40 years, and the previous street trees had gotten old, died and been removed. Just having the concrete removed and the dirt revealed, made a significant change in how our streets feel. Now everyday, as I walk my dog, I marvel at all these new trees, and look forward to the promise of fresh oxygen, flowers and fall colors. 

What was more remarkable, was that this took place in the rain. Dozens of neighbors appeared, apartment dwellers, young couples, people I met for the first time. Everyone was so happy at the prospect of planting all these trees, they enjoyed the rain, which was good for the trees. People who said they had only planned on volunteering for two hours, ended up staying for eight. So, it wasn’t just trees that were planted, but a much stronger sense of community. 

Bravo to Yolanda Huang, our community organizer, bravo to all the intrepid tree planters and the Halcyon Neighborhood Association, and thank you so much to Jerry Koch and Betsy Reeves of the Forestry Division. 

I strongly encourage every neighborhood to organize a street tree planting. Call Betsy Reeves at 644-6566. 

Ahna Stern 

• 

MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

“Make war, not love” seems to be a slogan of the Bush administration. As it turns out both Cheney and Rumsfeld have been lying and war mongering since the days of Nixon. BBC did a very revealing documentary detailing this, more information on all this can be found at: www.rense.com/general61/ddoc.htm. Also the Bush administration spent an unbelievable $900 million of tax payers money on teaching teenagers sexual abstinence, in another words to just say no to making love before marriage. Anyhow it is just incredible that the Bush administration is spending such huge amounts of taxpayers hard earned money on not making love but making war as the Iraq war is costing us more than $150 million dollars a day along with many lives. This all sounds real crazy to me but I have a feeling four more years of Bush and it is going to get even crazier. For an in depth analysis of the roots of this craziness go to: www.awakeninthedream.com/gerogews.html. Well anyhow, God bless America, we are sure going to need it for the next four years! 

Thomas Husted 

Alameda?

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas 

Several years ago, my friend Amy insisted on taking Ralph and me to dinner. Although it was somewhat embarrassing to allow a 26-year old to treat us to an expensive meal, we acquiesced to her demands.  

Amy was participating in a summer internship at an international law firm in San Francisco. She ordered the wine and the appetizers and made suggestions as to what we should have for a main course. We listened to her advice. Amy had been in town for less than three months, but she had already visited most of the trendy restaurants in the city. She knew what she was talking about. 

I have known Amy since she was a baby. I was her fourth grade teacher back in 1982 when she was an eager, innocent 9-year old. She was smart and sensitive, the kind of kid who stuck up for other people’s rights when she thought they had been treated unfairly. She was straightforward and honest to a fault. You always knew where Amy stood on an issue, whether it was about a passage in Little House on the Prairie or a segment of Mork and Mindy. 

After university she went to Manhattan to work at Legal Aid. She became an authority on housing issues for the poor. Attorneys called her from throughout the city to get information and advice. When Amy decided to go to law school, everyone wanted her. Not surprisingly, she chose an Ivy League university with an excellent reputation. 

Now she was sitting across from Ralph and me, telling us about her summer. She picked at her tuna tartare. “I go out for lunch everyday. The staff lawyers are required to entertain the interns. We choose the restaurant. The company picks up the tab.”  

“Wow,” I said. 

“I’ve been to Aqua, Bix, Boulevard, The Slanted Door, and LuLus. Next week I’ll try 42 Degrees, Postrio, and Masas. In the evenings I can go to any cultural event. I keep the receipt, turn it into accounting and the firm reimburses me. Last weekend they took all the interns to Napa Valley. The week before we visited Monterey. We went to cooking school and learned how to prepare snails. Here, taste this tuna. It’ s not half bad.”  

I tried the tuna, the soft goat cheese polenta and the fresh summer greens with balsamic vinegar. Everything tasted good. I thought about going to law school. 

“What do you do all day at work?” I asked. 

Amy smiled. “Well, you won’t believe this, but I don’ t roll in until 9:30 a.m. I read the paper. Then I go out for a latte. I ask my secretary to check my messages. I do a little research and then write a memo on some obscure legal concept. I look over papers then I go to lunch. After lunch I make reservations for dinner for the next evening. I talk to some of the associates. I find out where everyone is going after work. By then it’ s 5:30 and time to hit the health club.”  

“You belong to a health club?”  

“Of course. But I’ve been eating so much I’ ve gained weight, even though I work out almost everyday.” To emphasize her point, she unbuttoned the top of her Capri pants. 

“May we have the dessert menu?” she asked our waiter as he approached the table. Turning to us she said, “You guys decide what you want for dessert. I’m going to step outside and have a cigarette. That will keep me from eating more.”  

Ralph and I watched her as she left. “Wow,” I repeated. “I remember when a peanut butter sandwich on white bread was Amy’s favorite meal.”  

“Things change,” answered Ralph. 

“I wonder why the law firm doesn’t get their interns involved in charity causes like a homeless or battered woman’s shelter, or an organization fighting for disability rights?”  

“Suzy,” said Ralph from his wheelchair. “Get real. She’s being groomed to become a lawyer.”  

But I’m pleased to say that Amy had an ulterior motive all along. She gave the big international law firm exactly 363 days, enough to pay off her debt to them and put away a little money so that she could do what she’s always wanted to do. Now she’s a public defender representing first-time drug offenders at the Bronx Drug Court, with the goal of keeping them out of jail. She took a $100,000 salary cut to work long, frustrating hours for a clientele that is stuck on the bottom of the court system.  

Next time Amy comes to visit, we’re taking her out for dinner.

Bomb Threat Closes Shattuck 

A middle-aged man walked into the offices of Thomas Cooke Currency inside the Mechanic’s Bank at 2301 Shattuck Ave. Friday afternoon, placed a package on the counter and presented a note announcing that he’d set off a bomb if they didn’t make him richer. 

“He then took the money and fled,” said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Though the bag guy had booked, he left his package behind, forcing police to cordon off a section of one of Berkeley’s major thoroughfares while the bomb squad rendered the device safe, said Officer Okies. 

Details of the crime were sparse, Okies said, because the investigating detectives were unavailable for comment Monday. 

The suspect was described only as a white male in his early fifties. 

Gas Station Robbed 

A lone gunman wearing a ski mask walked into the Econo Gas station at 900 University Ave. just after 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, and demanded cash. 

His request fulfilled, he departed via shank’s mare. 

Dog Slasher Jailed 

Six hours later, a resident of the 1400 block of Scenic Avenue watched as a man brandishing a knife stabbed at a dog. 

When officers arrived, a quick search turned up the 51-year-old suspect, who was escorted to a new temporary domicile in the municipal lockup. 

Brolly Beating 

After spotting a car clouter attempting to burglarize his car parked in the 2800 block of Webster Street just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, the owner confronted the would-be thief, who proceeded to pummel him with his umbrella. 

By the time officers arrived, the brolly-wielding clouter had fled. The victim declined medical assistance. 

Hammer-Head 

An argument between two fellows in the 1400 block of Blake Street took a nasty turn late Wednesday night when one of the debaters produced a sledgehammer and began exercising his talents on his fellow debater’s car. 

The hammer wielder then came to the fellow’s house and, hammer raised, issued a few threats before departing. 

No arrest has been made, said Officer Okies. 

Frat House Fire 

A fire in a bedroom at the Acacia Fraternity House at 2340 Piedmont Ave. just before 7 a.m. Thursday triggered smoke alarms and set off sprinklers, which extinguished the blaze. 

Officers are investigating to see if arson may have been involved. 

Bat Batterer Busted 

Police arrested an 18-year-old Berkeley woman just after midnight Friday after she took a bat to another woman in the 1100 block of Sutter Street. 

The victim required medical treatment for her injuries, said Officer Okies. 

Child Abuse Arrest 

Police arrested a 45-year-old Berkeley man just after 3 a.m. Friday on charges of physically abusing a 2-year-old, said Officer Okies. 

No further details were available. 

MiniMart Robbed 

A gunman walked into the Campus Mini Mart at 2200 Durant Ave. Sunday afternoon and demanded cash. 

He was last seen running eastbound on Durant.

On Jan. 16, an event dubbed a “Rally against Global Terrorism” will be held in Martin Luther King Park, downtown Berkeley. The main purpose of the rally is to oppose Barbara Lee’s position in support of international law.  

The rally will feature a bus that was bombed in Jerusalem in January 2004, in which 11 people were killed. This bus is a powerful and tragic reminder of the violence that engulfs the region. The people who died in that bombing should be remembered and mourned, as much as all the other victims in the conflict.  

However, there is a political agenda behind this rally that supports the Bush/Sharon policies of militarism and occupation. This bus is being taken around the country by Christians for Israel, a right-wing outfit that opposes a negotiated solution that gives any land to Palestinian people. They even oppose Sharon’s very modest proposal to remove illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza.   

The rally is organized locally by the Israel Action Committee, which supports U.S. taxpayers’ funding of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.  This seemingly endless military occupation demolishes Palestinian family homes with Caterpillar bulldozers, kills civilians and fires on crowds with Apache helicopters, and erects hundreds of military blockades that make movement nearly impossible for Palestinian people.  

The rally also advocates for the separation wall that has taken Palestinian land, divided communities, and made some areas of the West Bank simply unlivable. The wall will not provide security for anyone; its purpose is primarily to annex land. This is why in July 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled against the wall, citing it as a violation of international law. Groups that still supported the wall pressured the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution condemning the court’s ruling. This resolution passed Congress, with some votes of dissent, including one by Barbara Lee. This rally was originally conceived as a protest of Lee’s principled stance in support of international law. 

A “Vigil for Global Justice” will be held at the park at the same time. The vigil is a response to the rally organizers’ support for militarism and will offer a radically different vision. We stand with Barbara Lee in defense of the role of international law in resolving conflict. We believe, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, whose life and work we will celebrate that weekend, that for peace to come we must “let justice flow like a river.” King spoke forcefully against the war the U.S. was waging in Vietnam in the name of combating “global Communism,” he would say the same about wars waged in the name of fighting “global terrorism.” The time has come to seek a way out of the madness, to end U.S. funding (with our tax money) of military occupation—in Palestine, in Iraq and elsewhere. To offer an alternative vision, to insist that justice is the way to peace and reconciliation; this is how we will honor King’s legacy, mourn the dead, and work to create a better world.  

Jim Harris is a resident of Berkeley and is a witness to the military occupation in the West Bank as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. 

›

Berkeley has done a good job so far in fighting uncontrolled urban sprawl and the auto-dominated lifestyle it requires. Berkeleyans have bravely banned big-box chain retail stores and the unthinkable regional shipping center, and we’ve reveled in our local, non-national-chain boutiques, restaurants and gourmet supermarkets. But now we are facing the stark consequences of our chosen lifestyle in an unexpected place—uncontrolled sprawl in the local veggie bins.  

Ever since Grace Slick sang it in the ‘60s, the unofficial Berkeley motto has certainly been “feed your head.” The Marijuana Munchies of the ‘60s and ‘70s spawned the Gourmet Ghetto of the ‘80s, and by the ‘90s eating well—VERY well—had become part of our civil religion. Other parts of California might have had tree huggers; Berkeley produced a city full of potato huggers, and fungus fondlers, and pear pamperers. Pro-choice was extended to include “fabulous produce selection,” where anything fewer than a dozen varieties of those preferably-organic potatoes, fungi or pears would simply no longer do. In this century, while the country was obsessing over Osama Bin Laden, we were also rejoicing with “Hosanna-bins laden!”  

Such abundant choice, however, has consequences—all the extra room required by multiple bins per produce species. Even at now- precious price levels, fruit and veggie bins yield a lot lower sales per square foot than do packaged foods on multi-level shelving, meaning traditional supermarkets can’t afford the Berkeleyan level of variety. So once the Berkeley Bowl developer did the math on a new site, the inevitable consequence was the proposed up-cloning of the current store from mere-supermarket scale to what would surely be the veritable Sam’s Club of greengrocers. And that wasn’t just greed—it was no more than their customers have been demanding of them.  

Not that such a larger market would necessarily be bad for the neighborhood where it’s built. The similar expansion of Monterey Market on Hopkins in the ‘80s did increase local traffic and parking hassles; but the extra shoppers have also supported the nearby row of diverse and interesting specialty shops that couldn’t survive otherwise. What west Berkeley businesses might do better from a greater concentration of shoppers in the Bowl’s new neighborhood? And what interesting new ones might be encouraged?  

The unexpected question to ask about the new Berkeley Bowl is: Are we willing to pay the price if the project is reduced to a smaller neighborhood scale? Not just the price in fewer provided parking spaces, which would actually increase parking pressure on the neighborhood. I’m talking about the price in—gasp—fewer choices in the veggie bins. It’s a classic tradeoff: To gain a half-sized 27,000-foot store, would we be willing to live with half as many choices? Only six bins of varietal organic potatoes instead of 12? Something fewer than every form of edible fungus known to humankind? A mere dozen alternatives for those perfect heirloom tomatoes in season?  

Or should we allow the larger footprint—if not “big box” then certainly “big bins.” Surely we wouldn’t put up with such edible excess in the center of town—but perhaps it would be OK if we pushed it out to an edge close to the freeway, like we did with that strange incursion of suburbia we allowed on Fourth Street. Perhaps we could even live with the inner contradiction required: Always driving to a more-distant store across town, which almost all of us would do, to demonstrate our support for organic produce that’s better for the environment.  

Let’s just be clear that this choice is about lifestyle, not necessity, and about the conflict between actual lifestyle and professed values. In my neighborhood, as an alternative example, the Berkeley Natural Grocery on Gilman Street provides a great selection of 100 percent organic produce and other foods in a modest space, and serves hundreds of local walk-in and bike-in customers without creating parking problems. Perhaps our total needs would be better served by cloning that model in other neighborhoods—starting with walker-friendly locations in the car-dominated hills, of course—rather than erecting a Cabbage Cathedral as our greatest cultural achievement in the new century.  

Alan Tobey, a retired technologist, has been eating very well in Berkeley since 1970. ›

Film critic David Thomson will host a wide-ranging series of films at UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive this month by way of illustrating the themes and opinions expressed in his latest book, The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood.  

Thomson, a regular contributor to the New York Times, Film Comment and Salon, puts forth a vast perspective on Hollywood and its history, one that attempts to encompass every aspect of the conception, construction and consumption of movies. It can be difficult to get a solid grasp on Thomson’s theory, but then that’s really the point; the history, structure and inner workings of the movie industry are so complex, with so many motives, desires, personalities and egos, that critics have rarely, if ever, attempted a compre hensive view of the entire machine.  

The book takes its title from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel The Last Tycoon, from a passage in which the daughter of a character based loosely on MGM boss Louis B. Mayer gives her view of the milieu in which she has grown up: “(Hollywood) can be understood…but only dimly and in flashes. Not half a dozen men have ever been able to keep the whole equation of pictures in their heads.” 

Thomson has brashly set out not only to understand that equation, but to exp lain it to the rest of us, and the book and PFA series do an admirable—if necessarily incomplete—job of it, offering a sequence of images, anecdotes and analyses that provide flashes of the big picture, if not a concise, linear narrative of the influences of, and on, the movies.  

William Faulkner, attempting to explain his discursive writing style, once said that he was “trying to put the history of mankind in one sentence…to put it all on the head of a pin.” Thomson’s prose often has this quality, as tho ugh he was rushing head-long through a dizzying maze of history and drama, breathlessly tossing off facts and thoughts and opinions and details, hoping that the links between the words and images might now and then coalesce into a discernible pattern, gra nting the reader those tantalizing yet fleeting glimpses of the “whole equation.” 

To condense such an ambitious book into a series of 19 films is no easy task. But what the program manages to do is put these titles, both familiar and unfamiliar, in a fre sh context, providing the audience with a framework for examining these movies in a new light.  

Thomson’s selection will take viewers on a rambling tour of a century of movies, from silent to contemporary drama, from musicals to horror. 

The idea for th e series began with a conversation between Thomson and Edith Kramer, senior film curator and director of Pacific Film Archive, when Thomson mentioned his latest project: a single book that would cover the entire history of the American film industry.  

“W hen David told me he was working on a one-volume history of Hollywood, I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’” Kramer says. She then invited him to present a series of films, coinciding with the release of the book, that would illustrate his ideas. 

“He’s not writing about his favorite movies,” Kramer says. “It’s a look at the evolution of how and why films are made, and what is expected of them.” 

The series begins Thursday at 7 p.m. with a lecture and book-signing by Thomson, followed, appropriately enough, by a screening of The Last Tycoon (Elia Kazan, 1976), a movie that Thomson considers flawed, but one that nonetheless illustrates one of his major themes—that Hollywood can be viewed as an ongoing war “between factory product and the chance of a movie th at could move the world.” 

It is this hunger for big-stakes gambling, this crazy notion that great profits are to be made from great art, that lurks behind many of these films. As Thomson states in his book, there are any number of more reliable methods t o make money, but this most un-businesslike business of Hollywood seems bent on the pursuit of a miraculously perfect marriage of art and commerce.  

And the funny thing is, sometimes it works.  

Later films in the series expand on this theme, most notab ly the great “lost masterpiece” of the silent era, Erich von Stroheim’s Greed (1924), a sprawling opus that pitted the director against his employer, MGM, in a battle of the auteur versus the factory system.  

Stroheim, the first of the renegade directors, wanted to adapt the gritty realism of Frank Norris’ novel McTeague to the screen, and did so, taking his crew on location to the settings described in the book: San Francisco’s Polk Street and the Cliff House, the goldmines of Placer County, to the shor eline in Oakland and the mudflats of what is now Emeryville. His obsession with detail and his passion for realism left him with a movie nearly 10 hours long. 

Irving Thalberg, MGM’s head of production and the inspiration for The Last Tycoon’s central cha racter, took the film away from Stroheim, cutting it down to just two hours. Stroheim disowned the final product, claiming that his masterpiece had been destroyed, and generations of movie buffs were left with only tantalizing clues as to the film’s original form. 

This story arc—with the charisma and reputation of a miracle-pursuing artist convincing businessmen to gamble on a high-stakes dream—recurs in the PFA series with Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1981). The director’s promise of a crowd-pleasing masterpiece enticed United Artists to endure an interminable production schedule and a skyrocketing budget for a box office failure that ultimately bankrupted the studio.  

These two examples merely scratch the surface; the breadth of the series, and the book from which it stems, is an attempt, in Thomson’s words, to capture the history of the medium “in a way that could accommodate the artistic careers, the lives of the pirates, the ebb and flow of business, the sociological impact—in short the wonder in the dark, the calculation in the offices, and the staggering impact on America of moving pictures…To be whole, the equation needs all of those things. And more.” 

It’s a vast topic, an equation that does not allow itself to be viewed directly or clearly or for very long. But for the next few weeks, David Thomson and Pacific Film Archive will provide their audiences with a chance to glimpse it in the form of 19 fascinating and not-so-dim flashes.  

TUESDAY, JAN. 11 

FILM 

Local Short Film Festival at 9:15 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $5 at the door. www.picturepubpizza.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ethan Rarick describes “California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Duke Robillard Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s, Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Cyril Guiraud and David Michel-Ruddy at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Andrew Heinze describes “Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Mikel Dunham reads from “Buddha’s Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Steve Arnston, classical piano at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Kurt Ribak Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Blues and Gooves with DJ Mike Pyle at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West Coast Swing dance lesson with Nick & Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The James King Band, mountain soul from Virginia, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Judgement Day, A Burning Water, Street to Nowhere, string metal, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Poncho Sanchez Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JAN. 13 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Texture: The Many Layers of Textile Arts” with works by Natasha Fouko, Joy Lily, Susan Putnam, and Deb Shattil. Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to Jan. 31. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Addison Street Windows Gallery Anti-Bullying Art and Essays by Berkeley Middle School students opens and runs through Feb. 25. 981-7546. 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “The Last Tycoon” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Christian Parenti describes “The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Edwin Drummond and John Rowe, and guest Sholeh Wolpé, Persian poet, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

John Schott’s Dream Kitchen, old-time jazz, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Gini Wilson, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Special Ed, Coolie High, hip hop, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $15. 848-0886.  

FRIDAY, JAN. 14 

THEATER 

“The Bright River” written and performed by Tim Barsky and the Everyday Ensemble at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. through Jan. 16. Tickets are $12-$35 available from A Traveling Jewish Theater, 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Shanghai Express” at 7 p.m. and “Only Angels Have Wings” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Page to Stage, a conversation with playwright Tony Kushner and director Tony Taccone at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

James D’Allesandro reads from “1906: A Novel” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Dance Production 2005” Berkeley High’s dance performance, choreographed by students, at 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way, on the BHS Campus. Also on Sat. Tickets are $5-$10.  

The Pacific Collegium “From Advent to Epiphany” at 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$18. 415-392-4400. www.pacificcollegium.org 

Songwriters in the Round Monica Pasqual, Sonya Hunter and Emily Bezar at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Wake the Dead at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Kathy Kallick Band, bluegrass and originals, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761.  

Captured! by Robots at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

The Phenomenauts, Freak Accident, Left Alone at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Cathi Walkup Quintet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Plays Monk at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Groovie Ghoulies, Jason Webley, Teenage Harlots at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Poncho Sanchez Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JAN. 15 

CHILDREN  

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

EXHIBITIONS 

“Emerging Masters” an exhibition showcasing eight Masters of Fine Art students from San Jose State University. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1717D 4th St. 525-4101. www.fourthstreetstudio.com 

“Becomming Free” works by Lowell Brook. Reception from 2 to 5 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600. 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Pierrot le Fou” at 6:30 p.m. and “The Shining” at 8:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Autumn Stephens, editor, and eight other local authors will read from their new book “Roar Softly and Carry A Great Lipstick” a 7 p.m. at A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 La Salle Ave., Montclair. 339-8210. 

Juried Annual at Pro Arts Artist Talks at 1 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second Street, Oakland. 763-4361. www.proartsgallery.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jon Raskin, solo saxophone, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., between Bancroft and Durant. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinitychamberconcerts.com 

“Music for the King of Prussia” performed by The Novello Quartet at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. at Garber. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  

Fingertight, Unjust, hard rock, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

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

Loose Wig Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bob Franke, singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kugelplex at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Vanessa Lowe & Bug Eyed Sprite at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 

Montuno Groove Dance at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

The Art of the Trio with the Dred Scott Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

The Mercury Dimes, The Earl White Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Gini Wilson “Chamberjazz” at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Gravy Train, Clorox Girls, Two Gallants, Red Tape Apocalips at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

Salon at the Giorgi Designers Bill Bowers and Mark Phillips show their wearable art at 2 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. at Ashby. 848-1228. 

FILM 

Screenagers: Seventh Annual High School Film and Video Festival at 12:30 and 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “My Man Godfrey” at 5:30 p.m. and “Sullivan’s Travels” at 7:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Addison Street Poetry Reading in celebration of the new anthology with Robert Hass and other Berkeley poets at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Rep., 2025 Addison St. RSVP to 549-3564, ext. 316.  

Poetry Flash with Laurie Glover and Yosefa Raz at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“In the Name of Love” A musical tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at 7:30 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Theaater, 10 Tenth St. Tickets are $6-$22. 866-468-3399. www.ticketweb.com 

Richard Goode, piano, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Music with Ron McKean playing Buxtehude, Scheidt, Sweelinck and Bach at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 658-3298. 

Sean Hayes and Black Bird Stitches at 1 p.m. at Mama Buzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph.  

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration with Vukani Mawethu at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Rebeca Mauleón Quartet at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Eric Thompson & Henry Kaiser, roots music guitars, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Banjo for Brunch with Liam Carey at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, JAN. 17 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PlayGround, readings by emerging playwrights, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $15. 415-704-3177. www.PlayGround-sf.org 

Richard Walker describes “The Conquest of Bread: 150 Years of Agribusiness in California” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, Other People’s Poems theme night from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trovatore, traditional Italian songs at 6 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Songwriters Symposium at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Faye Carol sings a MLK Birthday Celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, JAN. 18 

CHILDREN 

“Peter and the Wolf” presented by The Fratello Marionettes at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

FILM 

Japanese Experimental Fim & Video at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Temple Grandin, celebrated animal advocate, introduces “Animals in Translation” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Kermit Lynch on “Inspiring Thirst: Vintage Selections from the Kermit Lynch Wine Brochure” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Marilyn Sewell and Sandy Boucher discuss “Breaking Free” a collection of personal essays by women in the second half of their lives, at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Central Library, Shattuck and Kittredge Streets. 981-6151. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peter Barshay and Murray Low at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Rady Craig Trio, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Chris Botti, contemporary jazz trumpeter, at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Also on Wed. Cost is $10-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema at 3 p.m. and “The Most Dangerous Game” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nicole Galland reads from “The Fool’s Tale” an historical novel set in 12th century Wales, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Sandra Gilbert reads from her new collection of poems, “Belongings” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

Café Poetry hosted by Richard Moore, aka Paradise Freejahlove, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Peau de Chagrin at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Trouser, The Art Ghetto, Burke at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, JAN. 20 

THEATER 

"Bridge & Tunnel" workshop performances by Sarah Jones at 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. through Feb. 20 at Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $30-$40. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Greed” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Phyllis Whetstone Taper reads from her novel of a 1927 California summer, “On Kelsey Creek” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Malcolm Gladwell describes “Blink: Thin-Slicing, Snap Judgements, and the Power of Thinking Without Thinking” at 7:30 p.m. at at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series with featured readers Jan Steckel and Hew Wolff at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Suzy & Maggie Roche at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

David K. Matthews, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Bobby Hutcherson All-Stars, with Nicholas Payton, James Spaulding, George Cables, Dwyne Burno and Lewis Nash at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $16-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

You can see one from almost any spot with almost any view, but there aren’t many palms in the usual street tree spots in Berkeley. The few that you do see in the curb strips were probably guerilla trees, planted privately without a by-your-leave. They can safely be grandfathered in, most of the time. One notable exception is where they’re under powerlines. You can’t prune a palm around powerlines because, except for taking off leaves, you can’t prune a palm at all.  

They’re single-minded as any plant can be: Most palms grow one trunk and have one growing point—at or near the top. If you cut that off, they don’t have a hormone rush the way other trees do, forcing dormant buds below the top to sprout new branches. They just die. (There are a few palm species that can grow multiple trunks, but even these don’t branch; they all grow from the same base.) They’re not built like other trees in other ways, besides this: They don’t have bark like other trees’, and they don’t have distinct zones of heartwood and sapwood. Instead, their xylem and phloem tubes are scattered throughout the fibrous tissue of their trunks. They’re trees only by courtesy. Anatomically and taxonomically, they’re monocots, like lilies.  

The fibrous trunk makes them flexible and resistant to wind, as a rule, which is why you see those tropical palms in idyllic beach scenes, each with a graceful curve at its base. It’s a good idea for species that live on beaches to be able to survive serious wind. They’re tough in various other ways, including hardiness; some specimens are grown in inland Canada. 

They’re also easy to transplant because they can do well with a very small rootball, sending out new roots straight from the trunk. Landscapers like that, because it means they can plant a big tree in a relatively small space, and not have to wait years for it to reach “design height.” If you happen to have a palm that needs to go, don’t just whack it down; call around to local palm nurseries and ask if anyone’s interested in buying and removing it.  

One drawback to palms, as regards design, is that as soon as they get to mature size, they become something better viewed from afar. From across the yard or down the street, they look exotic; from up close, they look like telephone poles. Don’t go planting ivy at the base to compensate, because in no time you’ll have a fine freeway for vermin, leading under shelter of the vines to a secure hideaway in the thatch above. Ugh.  

Most of the palms in Berkeley are one of three species: California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera; Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta (those have fan-shaped leaves); or Canary Island date palm, Phoenix canariensis (feather-shaped leaves, a trunk strongly marked with leaf scars, and little unpalatable orange fruit in big conspicuous clusters in season). There are a few queen palms and windmill palms around, too, aside from rarer species in tropical collections. Hooded orioles like to nest in the thatch of fan palms, and other birds use fibers from the leaves for nesting material. I’ve watched a towhee determinedly zipping long cords from leaf edges, flying off, returning and repeating for hours. 

There’s a coquito palm, or Chilean wine palm, on the UC campus, too. It bears edible coconuts, the only one that does so in our climate. They’re small, the size of a big olive, and don’t produce coconut milk, but they taste like the real thing. I suspect the squirrels get the nuts on campus before we can. The tree has a smooth gray trunk and fan leaves. If you find it, do look at the ground below for missed nuts. You’ll need a hammer to break them. 

In rainy gray midwinter, even native palms evoke inviting warmer climes. That’s not why some of San Francisco’s feral/wild parrots nest in them, though; they can easily make holes in the relatively soft trunks. Check it out at the Act 1 & 2 theaters on Feb. 11, in Judy Irving’s engaging film The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.  

TUESDAY, JAN. 11 

Bird Walk in Pt. Isabel Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the end of Rydin Rd. (before Costco) to look for shorebirds and sparrows. 525-2233. 

School Age Storytime for ages 5 and up at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17.  

Learn How to Use Your GPS with Jeff Caulfield of National Geographic at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Getting Along with Your Adult Children” a participatory workshop at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $35-$40. 848-0327, ext. 110. www.brjcc.org 

Oakland Celebrates the Dream 11 a.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th St. and Broadway. 444-2489 www.oaklandnet.com/celebrations 

Introduction to Taiko Drumming, Tues. at 7 p.m. at Tatsumaki Taiko, 725 Gilman St. Cost is $12. www.tatsumakitaiko.com 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Streets every Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. A project of Spiral Gardens. 843-1307. 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880.  

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 

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

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors offered by Stagebridge, at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Classes are held at 10 a.m. Tues.-Fri. For more information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12 

Explore Winter: Women’s Snowshoe Workshop at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Down Home Martin Luther King Potluck at 6 p.m. at the Interstake Center, 4780 Lincoln Blvd., Oakland. Bring your favorite dish to serve four. 654-2592. 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers meets at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. Leo Siren of Fish First will talk about Christmas Island fishing opportunities. 547-8629. 

“Easy Rider” Peter Fonda film of the Vietnam era at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, donations accepted. 393-5685. 

Tap Into It Jazz and Rhythm Tap classes at Montclair Recreation Center, 6300 Moraga Ave., Oakland. Experienced at 6:30 p.m., beginners at 7:30 p.m. 482-7812. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

“Conflict in Jewish Identity: Looking at Our Own Lives” brown-bag lunch with Dr. Jerry Diller at 11:30 a.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0327, ext. 110.  

Home Buyer Assistance Information Session at 6 p.m. at 1504 Franklin St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Home Buyer Assistance Center. Reservations required. 832-6925, ext. 105. www.hbac.org 

Winter Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station. Vigil at 6:30 p.m., Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JAN. 13 

“Conversations About Watersheds” An interactive conference from Thurs. through Sun. at Lake Merritt College. Cost is $15-$25. Sponsored by the East Bay Watershed Center. For details call 434-3800. www.mountaincurrent.net/ebwc/ 

BHS PTSA Meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the High School Library. Principal Jim Slemp will address the “State of the School” and answer questions. colemanbarbara@comcast.net 

Rethinking School Lunch A two day seminar exploring the process of reinventing school meal programs as part of the learning day. Held at the Center for Ecoliteracy, 2528 San Pablo Ave. 415-392-4400. info@ecoliteracy.org 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Holly Near, singer-songwriter activist and Adrienne Torf at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Latino Film Festival “Un Hijo Genial/A Brilliant Son” directed by Jose Luis Massa, Argentina 2004 at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 620-6555. 

WriterCoach Connection Volunteer Training Help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Training session from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. Other Trainings on Jan. 20, Feb. 9, 16, Mar. 8, 15. www.writercoachconnection.org 

East Bay Mac User Group meets the 2nd Thursday of every month, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. http://ebmug.org, www.expression.edu 

FRIDAY, JAN. 14 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Robert Ashmore on “The Unspoken and Unsayable in Chinese Poetry and Philosophy.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

The Owl Told Me Join us for an evening of owl exploration. Listen and learn to call for the Great Horned Owl as they woo their mates. At 6 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Fee is $5-$7, reservations required. 525-2233. 

“Visual History of the Albany Shoreline” Photographs and maps of cattle ranching, dynamite factories, horseracing, military operations, dumps, art, and wildlife on display at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. 

“Torture: the CIA and the White House” with Jennifer Harbury, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Stop Torture Campaign and Bob Kearney, Associate Director, ACLU of Northern California, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Road, Kensington. Donation $5. 525-0302.  

Inspiration Point Hike with Solo Sierrans Meet at 4 p.m. in the parking lot off Wild Cat Canyon Rd. Optional dinner in Orinda after the hike. Please call Phyllis at 525-2299 to confirm time. Rain cancels. 

Radio Camp Build an FM trasmitter and learn the fundamentals of micropower broadcasting in this 4-day workshop in Oakland. Class runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is $150-$200 sliding scale. For information and to register call 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

“Three Beats for Nothing” meets every Friday at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. 655-8863, 843-7610. 

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

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

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

SATURDAY, JAN. 15 

“Winter Blooms!” Free garden tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Help Bring Back the Wild Join the Bayshore Stewards as we restore a rare tidal marsh on the UC Richmond Field Station, near the Bay Trail in Richmond, from 9 a.m. to noon. We will install native plants along the marsh edge and help create habitat for endangered species. We provide tools, gloves, rain gear and refreshments, and instruction on planting. Heavy rain will cancel the event. For more information call Elizabeth 231-9566. 

Green Design for Everyday People We will discuss the process of green design and how we all can have beautiful living and working spaces that are not toxic to ourselves or our environment. Topics will include cleaners, paints, sealers, furnishings, flooring, energy efficient systems and products. Bring a rough plan of your space if possible. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Junior Ranger Aide Training in the afternoon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. For more information call 525-2233. 

California Writers Club, Berkeley Branch meets from 10 a.m. to noon at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland. The speaker will be literary agent Ted Weinstein talking about the business of writing. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Winter Color in the Garden at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Historical and Botanical Tour of Chapel of the Chimes, a Julia Morgan landmark, every third Sunday at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. at Pleasant Valley. Reservations required. 228-3207. www.chapelofthechimes.com  

Pre-School Storytime for ages 3-5 at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. Ends Feb 19 

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, JAN. 16 

Winter Flowers on the Ridge Explore a fragile ecosystem on this 3 mile hike. Meet at 10 a.m. at the staging area at the end of Coach Drive, El Sobrante. For ages 10 and up. 525-2233. 

Our Neighbors, The Mountain Lions Is it a puma, panther, cougar or mountain lion? Learn how to make hiking safe and fun if you are lucky enough to see a big cat. At 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Community Peace Labyrinth, on blacktop next to the gardens at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. Enter by the dirt road on Derby. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377.  

Adult CPR Certification and Standard First Aid Class from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Training Room, Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, 2700 Ninth St., entrance on Carleton St. Cost is $70 per person, $10 will benefit the homeless animals at BEBHS, $60 will go to ER PLUS for the instruction. 845-7735, ext. 19. 

Interfaith Celebration of Martin Luther King with Congregation Beth El and McGee Avenue Baptist Church from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at McGee Avenue Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St., at McGee. Please bring food to share along with a card explaining what your dish is, where it is from and its cultural or historical significance. 848-3988, ext. 15. 

“Faith-Based Activity During the Vietnam War” at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. in conjunction with the exhibit “California and the Vietnam Era.” 238-2200. www.museum.ca.org 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Finding Yourself in Rhythm A TaKeTiNa Rhythm Workshop from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Ashkenaz back dance studio, 1317 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $25-$45 sliding scale, no one will be turned away. 650-493-8046. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “The Tibetan World Peace Ceremony at Bodh Gaya, India” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Personal Theology Seminar with Ron Nakasone on “The Indigenous Religions of Okinawa” at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

“Humanistic Judaism 101” with Marcia Grossman at 10 a.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Donation $5. info@kolhadash.org 

MONDAY, JAN. 17 

New Era, New Politics Walking Tour of African American history in Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum, 659 14th St., Oakland. Free. Tour lasts two hours. 238-3234. 

Living the Dream Intergenerational Activities at 10 a.m. and at 11:30 a.m. at the deFremery Recreation Center, 1651 Adeline St. Free, but reservations requested. 238-7739. 

Embracing the Dream of Peace A health, jobs and peace fair at the Calvin Simmons Ballroom, Oakland Marriott City Center from noon to 6 p.m. 548-4040, ext. 357. www.embracingthedream.org 

Multicultural Peace Celebration and Rally from 10 a.m. to noon at the ILWU Warehouse Local #6 Hall, 99 Hegenberger Rd. at Pardee. Celebration includes speakers, youth poets, singers and dancers. 638-0365. www.mlkfreedomcenter.org 

“Unbossed and Unbought” a film on the life of Shirley Chisholm at 1 p.m. at the African American Museum, 659 14th St. 637-0200. www.oaklandlibrary.org 

Martin Luther King Day for Children Make a dream collage with African textiles from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 9:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. Cost is $2.50 with refreshments. 524-9122. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 2 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. 

ONGOING 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers. Help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills; become a WriterCoach Connection mentor to Berkeley students. For information call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org 

Youth Speaks Winter Workshops in writing and spoken word begin Jan. 24 in Berkeley and Oakland. For more information call 415-255-9035. www.youthspeaks.org 

Bay Interpretive Training Ongoing classes on the Bay, the seashore and environment held at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. at the Berkeley Marina. 981-6720. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina 

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Seeks Host Gardens The Bringing Back the Natives Garden tour, which will be held in the spring of 2005, will showcase Alameda and Contra Costa County gardens that contain at least 30% native plants, don’t use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and provide habitat for wildlife. To be added to the mailing list, or to receive a host application, Kathy@Kathy 

KramerConsulting.net or 236-9558.  

Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is looking for girls in grades 1-8 to play girls softball. Season runs March 5-June 4. Scholarships available. To register call 869-4277. www.abgsl.org  

“Half Pint Library” Book Drive Donate children’s books to benefit Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. Donations accepted at 1849 Solano Ave. through March 31. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Jan. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. 

ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Jan. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Don Brown, 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disability 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Jan. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/prc 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/housing 

Library Board of Trustees meets Thurs. Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at 1901 Russell St., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/library 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Iris Starr, 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning 

City Council meets Tues., Jan. 18, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. 

ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Jan. 18, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housingauthority   

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Jan. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Jan. 19, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/labor 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Thurs. Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housing 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportationV

Before Berkeley introduced wheelchair-accessible taxis last summer, Patricia Berne’s world didn’t expand beyond a few blocks from a BART station.  

Now, on a whim, she can travel to Ocean Beach, Berkeley Marina, Fourth Street, her mother’s house, or even Emeryville. 

“It sounds trite, but it’s so cool to be able to go to a giant theater or Trader Joes,” said Berne, a nonprofit consultant, who rides a motorized wheelchair. 

Berne said she takes a taxi about twice a week, which makes her one of the most dependable customers of a service that hasn’t yet gained a strong following. 

“It’s been slower than we anticipated,” said Vicki Riggin, paratransit manager for the Friendly Cab Company, owner of Berkeley’s three wheelchair-accessible cabs. Riggin said Friendly gets between five and 10 calls a week from disabled clients for the specially designed minivans that can serve both ambulatory and wheelchair-riding customers. 

San Francisco’s Yellow Cab, by comparison, reported receiving 75 calls a day from disabled customers. Riggin attributed San Francisco’s higher volume of calls to the city’s hillier terrain and its inclusion of wheelchair-accessible taxis as part of its federally mandated disabled transit program, which means qualified riders get subsidized rides. 

Berkeley Councilmember Dona Spring, who uses a wheelchair, attributed the service’s slow start to a lack of awareness among disabled residents and steep prices. Alameda County’s subsidized disability transit buses and vans cost $6 for a trip to San Francisco and $3 to Oakland, compared to the taxis, which charge the standard meter price. Spring said the taxis cost her about $27 to San Francisco and $7 to Oakland from her Berkeley home. 

Those who qualify for the city’s taxi voucher program, available to low-income disabled residents, can use the vouchers to subsidize the taxi rides. 

To encourage taxi companies to buy wheelchair-accessible vans, Berkeley offered five new permits, above the city’s 120-taxi quota, for the specially designed cabs. Friendly, the only company to accept the city’s offer, benefits from having more cars it can lease to its drivers, who are independent contractors. Nevertheless, Riggin said the company has lost money on the service. 

She said that Friendly paid close to $40,000 for the minivans, nearly double the price for the standard Ford Crown Victoria sedan, adding that the added time to assist a disabled person into and out of the van eats away at driver profits. 

“We’re basically doing this out of the goodness of our hearts,” Riggin said. 

Yet nationwide, the demand for wheelchair-accessible taxis continues to grow. Sundance Brennan, Commercial Sales Manager for Freedom Motors International (FMI), the company that re-fitted Berkeley’s vans, expects his company to double sales this year from 120 taxis to at least 250. FMI charges between $8,500 and $12,000 to make standard minivans wheelchair-accessible. 

The surge in sales, Brennan said, comes from cities either encouraging companies to buy the taxis or requiring that they do so. Chicago requires one out of every 15 taxis to be wheelchair accessible and Harrisburg, Pa. recently required that seven percent of its taxis be accessible. By contrast, London’s entire fleet has been wheelchair accessible since 1989. 

Berkeley users say the four-month-old service has been indispensable. “Now I have the freedom to do things in San Francisco,” said Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, a member of Berkeley’s Commission on Disabilities, which lobbied for five years to bring the taxis to Berkeley. 

Before the taxis hit Berkeley streets, disabled residents had to rely solely on county-run paratransit buses and vans, which require passengers to reserve cars up to a week in advance and are notorious for slow rides. 

“One time it took me two hours to get to San Francisco for a medical treatment,” said Councilmember Spring, who now takes the taxis to doctor’s appointments.  

Although Friendly also asks for advanced notice, Berne said a cab is usually available if she calls on the fly. 

“It gives me the freedom of mobility that other people enjoy,” she said. Berne added that AC Transit buses weren’t well equipped to properly secure her mechanical wheelchair, so when she traveled she would have to wheel herself 20 blocks from her house to BART. 

Berkeley’s wheelchair taxis are here to stay, but the lack of ridership could keep the fleet from expanding. When the program started, Friendly offered to take all five permits, but the city, hoping to involve other companies in the program, only offered three.  

No other taxi company sought the permits, and now Friendly, which has five wheelchair-accessible taxis in its fleet that serves both Oakland and Berkeley, says its drivers aren’t interested in paying the roughly $150 in fees for Berkeley’s two remaining permits. 

“The drivers told us they make more at the Oakland Airport and don’t need a Berkeley permit,” Riggin said. 

San Francisco taxi companies aren’t sold on wheelchair-accessible taxis either, said Hal Mellgard, general manager of Yellow Cab. His company started a wheelchair-accessible pilot program in 1994 and now owns 25 of San Francisco’s 75 accessible taxis—about five percent of the city’s fleet. 

“We kind of did it for PR,” Mellgard said. “They don’t make money.” Wheelchair-accessible taxis, he added, cost three times more to maintain than Crown Victorias, and because many drivers don’t want to deal with the hassle of helping a customer into and out of the van, Yellow has to lease the cars to drivers at a discount to get them on the road. 

Mellgard and Kevin Ito, a Friendly executive, said they hope that their cities will one day subsidize the service either, in Friendly’s case, by allowing them to charge increased fares or, for Yellow, by paying the difference of the lease price charged to drivers. 

Public subsidies for wheelchair-accessible taxis are fairly common. This year New York City offered 16 percent discounts for wheelchair-accessible taxi permits, said Terry Moakley of the United Spinal Association. 

Bill Langston, a Friendly driver who leases a wheelchair-accessible car, said he enjoys giving rides to his new clientele. 

“They’re really interesting people,” said Langston, who after four months on the job said he can get a customer into and out of the minivan in under a minute. “Every time I pick up a new passenger they’re elated. A lot of them didn’t know the service existed.” 

›

Opponents of the nine-story Seagate Building, already approved by the city for a half-block frontage along Center Street in downtown Berkeley, Thursday filed a 68-page appeal asking the City Council to halt the project. 

Friends of Downtown Berkeley member Zelda Bronstein, one of the authors of the document, said the group represents a coalition of citizens concerned for the city center. 

Bronstein, former chair of the Planning Commission, and her colleagues raise a wide range of issues in the document, calling into question city policies and practices, especially the way city staff awards extra floors in exchange for providing low-income units and arts and cultural space. 

The building slated for 2041-1067 Center St., a project of a Marin County developer, would include a ground floor largely reserved as rehearsal space for Berkeley Repertory Theater, which currently rehearses in buildings which would be demolished to make way for the new high-rise. 

According to city staff estimates, one-bedroom apartments in the project would rent for an average of $1,800 and two-bedroom units for $2,500. Staff also alleges that because of high construction costs and the need to “ensure maximum revenue” for the owner, Seagate is entitled to a 102 percent density bonus—making for a 14-floor structure. 

Bronstein and her group contend that the high building costs are due to extravagant features including three levels of underground parking—far more than the city requires—negating the staff rationale. 

The appeal also cites what the group says are six specific violations of the inclusionary bonus regulations spelled out in the city housing law. 

Among the alleged violations cited are: 

• Restriction of low-income units to certain floors. 

• Allocation of fewer two-bedroom than one-bedroom units for low-income tenants. 

• Provision of smaller one- and two-bedroom units to low-income tenants than for market rate tenants. 

• The lack of permits variances required to allow these and other discrepancies with statutory requirements. 

The appeal also contends that the city staff’s application of the arts density bonus violates requirements in five specific ways. 

According to the appeal, the arts bonus has never been incorporated into city zoning statutes and thus lacks legal authority, and the Seagate’s builders never applied for the requisite use permits needed to build theatrical space. 

The appeal faults the city for granting two floors as a bonus in exchange for arts space occupying less than a full floor. It also takes issue with $450,000 in annual profits for the builder, and asserts that the bonus space allowance is invalid because the necessary use permits are absent. 

In addition, according to the appeal, the two floors granted for the arts bonus were then included in the calculation used to arrive at the inclusionary bonus. Bronstein and her allies also contend that even with bonuses, the downtown plan limits buildings in the city center to a maximum of seven floors. 

Another fault alleged is the city’s failure to establish procedures for applying and using concessions and incentives such as the density and cultural bonuses as required by Section 65915 of the Government Code. 

The appeal also charges that the project is out of compliance with both the Downtown Plan and the statutory purposes of the Central Commercial District (C-2) zoning requirements, as well as with multiple provisions of the city General Plan. 

Other alleged violations include provisions of the Creek Ordinance and transportation policies of the Land Use element of the General Plan. 

Finally, as critics of the project charged earlier, the appeal declares that the project was improperly approved because the city failed to require an Environmental Impact Report.

Have construction crews working in the polluted marsh at the edge of Richmond’s Campus Bay been operating in violation of city code? 

That’s what one leading critic of the project said city building officials told her when she paid them a visit after hea vy equipment operated through the night at the South Richmond site.  

Sherry Padgett of Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BARRD) met Fred Clement and Jay Gandhi of the building department after fellow BARRD members who live near the site called when they were awakened by loud construction noises. 

Padgett said Clement told her that the site permit allowed operations only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, although crews have been laboring seven days a week to excavate a highly polluted marsh and to truck the waste off site. 

City staff did not return calls for comment. 

The site, proposed as the home of a 1,330-unit residential development, is under split jurisdiction, with the inland portion governed by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the waterfront marsh supervised by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. 

“I’m not surprised,” said Richmond Councilmember Tom Butt said when told of the apparent work permit violations. 

“Though I don’t agree with it, city policy has been that if a project involves a toxic cleanup or oversight by the DTSC or the water board, all oversight is left to the agencies which have more authority and can impose the higher penalties.” 

However, Steve Morse, assistant executive officer for the water board, said his agency doesn’t regulate working hours. “That’s a local permitting activity,” he said.  

Karen Stern, a spokesperson for Cherokee Simeon Ventures, the firm which owns the site, said the company had obtained all necessary permits for weekend activities at the site. 

However, a copy of the purported permit provided to the Planet was simply Cherokee Simeon’s permit application letter with Clement’s initials where the proposed start time of 7:30 a.m. had been altered to 8 a.m. 

Stern said she was informed by Cherokee Simeon’s site supervisor Bill Collins that changes were frequently approved in similar fashion, but Padgett said Clement and Gandhi informed her that any major changes required action by the city Planning Commission. 

Stern said Collins had contacted Clement and reminded him of the letter after being reached by a Daily Planet reporter and was assured that their work was in compliance. 

“We’ve always been working under the assumption we h ad all the necessary approvals,” she said. 

Morse said he considered the overnight work necessary because a large excavator had tumbled into the marsh Wednesday afternoon, and the crews were attempting to extract the machinery before the morning high tide. 

Weekend work, however, is not an emergency issue, he said. 

Tangled jurisdictional issues have plagued the site throughout the year. 

Until criticisms by BARRD and others forced a December legislative hearing called by Assemblymembers Loni Hancock and Cindy Montanez, the water board had sole jurisdiction over the site. 

Peter Weiner, BARRD attorney, said the group wants total jurisdiction over all parts of the site transferred to the DTSC, which has both stricter regulations and vastly greater scientific expertise. 

Crews have been hauling excavated marsh sediments to a landfill near Pittsburg, but DTSC announced this week that 4,000 cubic yards of soils contaminated by hazardous’ levels of arsenic, copper, lead, mercury, and nickel must be hauled to a hazardous waste facility at Altamont. 

During the work Wednesday evening, workers wearing no hard hats or other protective gear, operated bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy construction equipment throughout the night, building a roadway from one part of the site to another and trucking toxic-laced soils from one section of waterfront marsh to another. 

No supervisors were present from either the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which administers the upland portion of the site, or the Regi onal Water Quality Control Board, which has jurisdiction over the waterfront areas. 

Scott said that his agency had been properly notified. 

Stern and Bill Carson, an official from LFR (formerly Levine-Fricke Recon), said the work was conducted appropriat ely.›

A six-month progress report released this week by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) on the Berkeley Unified School District says that the district “continues to make good progress in five operational areas” of education management. 

The largest jump was in the area of financial management, where the district’s FCMAT rating has climbed more than half a point on a 10-point scale between July and January (4.35 to 4.95) and nearly two points since FCMAT’s first rating in July of 2003 (3.08 to 4.95). In its report, FCMAT noted that “fiscal solvency has been restored, formal business processes and procedures and internal controls have been established.” 

As a result of the Alameda County Office of Education’s approval of BUSD’s 2004-05 adopted budget, FCMAT has been removed from the fiscal advisory role to the district it was assigned to by the county in 2003. 

The report mentioned one Berkeley school by name, saying in the facilities management section that “the staff at John Muir Elementary School has maintained the highest level of school safety and attractive facilities.” 

This is the next-to-the-last six-month review in which FCMAT rates BUSD in the categories of community relations/governance, personnel management, pupil achievement, financial management, and facilities management. 

FCMAT is a public management assistance organization formed by state legislative action in 1991 to provide assistance to troubled school districts.  

In 2002, after BUSD was assessed a $1.16 million fine by the state following a dispute over reimbursement for teacher development days, FCMAT was brought in to evaluate the district and develop a five-year improvement plan. In addition, the Alameda County Office of Education brought FCMAT in to the BUSD as fiscal adviser after the county office failed to approve the district’s 2001 budget. 

In 2003 FCMAT reviewed 456 specific areas of operation in the district. Each succeeding six month evaluation concentrated on only a portion of those areas (96 in this month’s report) spread out over the five categories. 

BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence, who said she had not yet had the chance to go through the 170-page evaluation in depth, said she was generally pleased at the results. 

“I did not see any things here that were surprises to me,” she said. “In some instances, they gave a higher rating where I might not have rated it that high. And the converse is true that in an area that they saw one or two points lower I would have perhaps given it one or two points higher. But those ratings are all subjective, and so I don’t quarrel with those positions.” 

The superintendent said that she was “immensely proud of the work that the staff has been doing to meet these objectives. I applaud the work that they have done.” 

Board, parent, and teacher representatives contacted by the Daily Planet had not yet seen a copy of the FCMAT report, which is scheduled to be presented to board directors and the public at next Wednesday’s meeting of the BUSD Board of Education. 

While FCMAT praised BUSD for what it called “significant effort” to remedy issues raised in FCMAT’s initial 2003 evaluation of the district, this week’s report offered specific criticisms in areas FCMAT evaluators felt still needed work. 

In personnel management, FCMAT said that among other things, employee evaluation and an internal operational procedure manual are lacking. In pupil achievement, the report said the district “needs to continue efforts” in developing a policy and model for due process and student discipline and creating an organizational structure for K-12 curriculum development in one division. 

Lawrence said that while the specific criticisms and suggestions in the report are helpful “to show what ought to be accomplished in order to get a school system righted,” the evaluation points themselves lack a frame of reference. 

“Since FCMAT is not evaluating all school districts in the state, there’s not a standard by which we can judge ourselves and take examples,” she said. “If there is a school district that got a perfect 10 in any of the areas, for example, we’d like to go and look at it so we can go and see what they’re doing that we are not. I asked FCMAT, but they told me they haven’t given out any 10s. So in the absence of statewide standards, we can only use the reports as internal documents by which to measure our own progress.” 

Ask Nancy D. Waters, principal of John Muir Elementary School, how much her school focuses on music and “beep be diddly do wop wop wop” will be her reply. Or she might break out a riff on her baritone saxophone as she has been known to do at the school’s Monday-morning “singing and signing assemblies.”  

But a scat-singing, sax-playing principal is only one of the school’s unusual features. Muir, on Claremont Avenue in southeast Berkeley, houses the district’s only Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. It also boasts a program in so-called life skills and, this year began making food a part of the curriculum with the backing of the Chez Panisse Foundation. 

Muir and Le Conte Elementary were the only elementary schools in the Berkeley Unified School District chosen by Chez Panisse to launch a program that incorporates food into the coursework. 

Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse, conceived the idea of integrating lunch with learning a decade ago and has been changing the way schools look at food ever since. 

It is part of Waters’ well-publicized crusade to bring healthier food to schools and foster a sense of community by engaging students in every aspect of food preparation.  

Through this program, children will tend garden beds, plant seeds and help cook the food that will eventually appear on their lunch trays. Teachers will reinforce key concepts by creating lessons that bring facets of gardening and cooking into the classroom. Students might learn science by studying soil and growing seasons. Subsequently, children might strengthen their writing skills by recording their observations in a journal. 

Principal Waters, known to most as “Nancy D.,” says she is thrilled the school will be able to better serve the health and nutrition needs of its students. 

“We’re very excited,” she says. “We already have a very strong gardening and cooking program, so this will tie in really well.” 

When the Muir students aren’t busy planting, cooking, or expanding their taste buds to include chard, they’re winning awards and practicing good citizenship. 

John Muir received a national citation in November of 2002 for its incorporation of singing and signing into assemblies. Principal Waters, who was a music teacher in Florida for 12 years before she became an administrator, leads the assemblies, during which students receive praise and peer recognition for embodying one or more of a variety of so-called life skills including cooperation, integrity, patience, problem-solving, respect and responsibility. 

“We think that emphasizing [the importance of music] strengthens academics,” says Waters. 

The singing and signing assemblies are also part of the school’s effort to serve the needs of Muir’s deaf and hard-of-hearing students. 

“The assemblies promote a positive attitude toward signing,” says Pam Ormsby, teacher for the Deaf Program, grades 3-5. “Our philosophy is to sign everything that is said … We have a strong group of interpreters [who] bring support to all the students. They are on the yard, in the cafeteria, at the buses, and in the classrooms.” 

The Deaf Program, noted for its emphasis on speech and listening skills, began with just five students in 1986 and currently has 18 enrolled from areas as close as Albany and as far away as Livermore. To date, 100 percent of the deaf and hard-of-hearing students who graduated from Muir have gone to college. 

John Muir prides itself on offering students a peaceful environment with emphasis on all aspects of child development. 

“It is a place of great beauty, great serenity and great activity,” says PTA President Valerie Gutwirth.  

This is the fifth in a series profiling the Berkeley elementary schools. The reports are written by students of the UC Berkeley Journalism School.

Already approved for construction by the city Zoning Adjustments Board, the proposed Ed Roberts Center for the disabled faces one more regulatory hurdle. 

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has scheduled a Monday night hearing to consider the center’s potential impacts on nearby South Berkeley historic buildings. 

The hearing begins at 7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The hearing is mandated under federal law which requires that all projects built with federal funds must take into account any historic structures and architecture within their “area of potential impact.” 

That area is bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Way on the west, Shattuck Avenue on the east, Ashby Avenue on the north, and Woolsey Street on the South. 

The area contains three potential candidates for the National Register of Historic Places: the recently landmarked Webb Building at 1985 Ashby, Luke’s Nickelodeon Building at 3192 Adeline, and the Hill & Durgin Funeral Home at 3031-3051 Adeline.  

The city Housing Department intends to commit $6 million in federal Section 108 loan program funds to the Ed Roberts Center project. 

The State Office of Historic Preservation identifies historical impacts for the federal government. 

On Oct. 3, 2003, Senior Planner Tim Stroshane of the city Housing Department notified the agency that the center would have no impact on historic structures. 

A letter from the state agency written 19 days later challenging Stroshane’s contention met with no response. Last Nov. 17, California Historic Preservation Officer Milford Wayne Donaldson wrote city Planning Director Dan Marks a letter sharply criticizing the city for failing to respond to the letter sent 13 months earlier. 

“We are concerned about the length of time that has passed since we provided the city with our comments. We are also concerned by the questions raised by the public regarding the city’s planning and environmental review efforts,” Donaldson wrote. 

Critics of the center have faulted its architecture rather than its purpose, raising concerns that its starkly modern facade will contrast too sharply with nearby buildings built a century ago. 

Others have questioned the project’s impact on a neighborhood where parking is a problem, in part caused by the Ashby BART station. 

Design proponents have repeatedly argued that the open, glass-walled front along Adeline Street is a necessary social statement, the antithesis of the blank and small-windowed walls behind which the disabled were institutionalized in times past. 

The structure’s curvilinear front is capped by a skylight that resembles a low-rise steamship smokestack built above an open curved wheelchair ramp leading to the second floor. 

Other proponents have charged that neighbors’ concerns are merely masks for NIMBYism—a charge that critics such as Prince Street activist Eric Cleary strongly deny. 

Meanwhile, Stroshane has issued a call to the public for information, photos and personal recollections about the neighborhood. 

Submissions may be made via e-mail at tstroshane@ci.berkeley.ca.us. 

For more information on Monday’s hearing, call LPC Secretary Giselle Sorensen at 981-7419.

Berkeley Police Chief Roy Meisner didn’t hand in his badge when he retired Dec. 30.  

With the search for his replacement expected to continue into February, Meisner will remain chief until a successor is named. 

“Roy agreed to stay on to provide for a smooth transition and a selection process that will be fair to all applicants,” City Manager Phil Kamlarz said.  

Kamlarz’ other option would have been to appoint a captain as the acting chief. 

On Monday, the city ended a nationwide recruitment effort to fill the police chief post, said Dave Hodgkins, the acting director of human resources. 

Hodgkins said the city received dozens of applications, including several from within the BPD. Community panels will interview selected candidates in February, said Kamlarz, who expected to recommend a successor to the City Council before the close of the month. 

The search for a replacement to replace Meisner, who announced his retirement in September, is on schedule, Hodgkins said. He added that the publications where the city posted the job opening required seven week lead times to place the ad. 

Meisner will be paid $79.40 an hour for his work, based on his $162,000 salary as chief, and will also begin collecting his pension which state law sets at 90 percent of his highest annual salary, which amounts to $146,007 a year..

On Wednesday, one day before Sen. Barbara Boxer decided to sign a Democratic challenge to Ohio’s electoral votes, a father/daughter pair from Berkeley marched into her Washington D.C. office and delivered a letter urging her to do just that. 

Although they doubt their letter was the deciding factor, George Coates and his daughter Gracie, 14, were overjoyed on Thursday when they heard Boxer had indeed decided to challenge the electoral votes. To celebrate, they joined a march through the rain that ended at a rally in front of the Senate building. 

“I was so excited this morning I was screaming,” Gracie said. As a freshman at Berkeley High, she is getting extra credit from her English teacher, Rick Ayres, for making the trip. Her dad is filming the trip and posting it to his blog, betterbadnews.com. Gracie also plans to show the video in her media class.  

“I’ve been really into this,” she said. “It’s an important issue for me because I know that more people voted for Kerry. I think the Bush administration needs to be caught for the votes they stole. 

Boxer’s decision to join Democratic Representatives in the House in challenging the electoral votes forced both houses of Congress to have up to a two-hour debate on the issue. It also interrupted the tallying of the electoral votes for only the second time in the country’s history. The first delay happened in 1877.  

“I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio’s election,” Boxer wrote to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, one of the protest leaders in the House. 

“I will therefore join you in your objection to the certification of Ohio’s electoral votes.” 

A litany of complaints, such as too few voting machines in Democratic precincts and misconduct by the Ohio secretary of state, who doubled as the Bush-Cheney co-chairman for Ohio, have continued to be made against the Ohio vote count since the election.  

Several members of the Democratic protest also cited a report released by the House Judiciary Committee which found “numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election,” that resulted in “significant disenfranchisement of voters,” to support their challenge.  

Both houses ultimately voted against the challenge Thursday. Only Boxer voted yes in the Senate and their debate took less than the allotted two hours. A more fiery exchange took place in the House, where 31 Representatives objected to certifying the electoral votes. 

“I’m disappointed,” said Gracie after the vote. “I think the Senate should be ashamed of itself.” 

At the same time, she said the experience had taught her a lot.  

“I’m glad I’m getting an early start in getting involved in politics,” she said. “I think everyone should start as early as they possibly can.” 

“I also think we need to elect more senators like Barbara Boxer,” she added.1

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a chance to mount an imaginative and energetic campaign to solve the state’s education crisis, but instead retreated to stale proposals in his State of the State Address on Jan. 5.  

Schwarzenegger disappointed advocates in his brief comments on education by failing to address the poor test scores of California’s students or propose viable ways to improve performance.  

A Rand Corporation study released Jan. 3 reveals that although California’s K-8 students have made gains in national achievement tests in math and reading, the state still ranks near the bottom of the 50 states, above only Louisiana and Mississippi.  

These results should have set off the alarm bells for Schwarzenegger and set his staff working on some solutions. But in his address, the governor bragged that the state spent $50 billion on education in 2004, and this year $2.9 billion more.  

“There is no revenue problem,” Schwarzenegger said. “We have a spending problem.” Thus he vowed not to raise taxes, and laid the foundation for cuts in education, given the $8 billion deficit still facing the state.  

Schwarzenegger ignored the Rand Corp.’s findings that California’s spending per student has fallen below the national average since 1970, and ranked 27th in per-student spending in 2001-2002. This spending level persists even though California faces greater challenges than other states because it must educate a large immigrant population. The 2002 Census revealed that 5.8 percent of California school-aged children had trouble speaking English, compared with a national average of 2.5 percent.  

One-on-one is the most effective teaching method and one of the surest ways to reach these immigrant children. But it costs money to reduce class size so that teachers can get around the room to give individual attention. And it costs a lot to hire teacher aides.  

To his credit, in his address Schwarzenegger did say he wanted to reward teachers for their hard work and promised a merit pay system. He did not say how he was going to fund it. As the Rand study pointed out, the real average annual teacher salary in California during 2000-2001—$39,000—is the same as it was in 1969-70 when adjusted for inflation. That salary hardly attracts the best and brightest to the classroom, especially given the cost of housing in the state. Would it not be more sensible to raise teacher’s salaries across the board rather than just reward a few?  

At a time when evidence is mounting that charter school students perform no better than their peers in larger public schools, Schwarzenegger pushed a pledge to open more charter schools.  

Schwarzenegger wants to avoid taxes, but by raising revenues through taxes on those who can best afford them he could wipe out the deficit and invest in the state’s future. California will face certain decline if this generation of students flounders in mediocrity. And if the deficit rides into the next decade, it will be impossible to meet the challenges facing the state.  

If Schwarzenegger values teachers, he should find a way to empower them to obtain books, teaching materials and comfortable and clean classrooms. All teachers suffer shortages at least once in their careers, and many reach into their own pockets to buy basic classroom supplies for their students throughout the year.  

If Schwarzenegger values students, he should make sure that every inner city student has a fully trained and experienced teacher. To attract teachers during the current shortage, according to the Rand report, districts are lowering their standards. Just 46 percent of school districts in California now require teachers to have full standard certification in the subjects they teach. Many of these unprepared teachers teach in the cities. These teachers must receive training, and once trained, the merit pay should go to them.  

Studies show parental involvement is a key factor in the success of kids at school. If Schwarzenegger values parents—including those who do not speak English well—he should devise programs to reach and motivate parents to establish a culture in California that values education. Students must come to school ready to learn and eager to do homework. Otherwise, no excellent teacher, upgraded facility or reduced class size will make a difference.  

Educational excellence takes money and imagination. Not enough of either appeared in the governor’s proposals on education this week.  

Donal Brown taught in California’s public schools for 35 years.

Berkeley Iceland has received a 15-day extension to submit a plan to bring its 64-year-old skating rink up to code. 

Last month the Berkeley Fire Department had given Iceland officials until Jan. 8 to propose a remedy for its ammonia-based refrigeration system or face a possible closure. 

Ammonia, a common refrigerant for skating rinks, is a toxic gas that can be lethal and turn combustible when mixed with oil. Iceland’s system however lacks many of the safeguards city codes require. 

Iceland sought a 30-day delay to present their plan, citing that their engineer had experienced a personal emergency. In response the Fire Department extended the deadline to Jan. 24, said Deputy Chief David Orth. 

To satisfy the city’s concerns, Iceland must either upgrade their ammonia system or install a new ammonia system. Another option would be to install a Freon-based system, estimated to cost between $200,000 and $300,000. 

     Berkeley High School has produced a number of outstanding people over the years and Yule Caise is no exception. Graduating in 1982, and giving a commencement speech at the graduation, Yule attended Harvard University where he majored in visual and environmental studies. 

     Yule Caise worked as a child actor, studying at the American Conservatory Theatre, and starring in the PBS series Up and Coming. While at Harvard he wrote and directed the award-winning film, Shoes. His film Boy’s Night Out has played at festivals worldwide. As a writer, Yule Caise has written numerous screenplays, most notably Free of Eden for Showtime, starring Sidney Poitier. Feature producing credits include Liar’s Dice starring Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou); On Edge, starring Jason Alexander and Tweek City. He is slated to direct the comedy Freon from his original screenplay in coming months. 

     Yule was brought to Los Angeles by Robert Townsend after Townsend saw Caise’s student film Shoes. 

     Yule Caise is also a world traveler. Starting at Berkeley High with the Concert Corale, Yule traveled to France, Italy, Australia and Japan. He has also been to Hungry and Egypt. Yule credits Berkeley High School with much of his success. 

     “My experience at Berkeley High was invaluable because of the diversity of the students at the time. If you come out of BHS you can interact with all kinds of people. It’s a very mature student body,” Caise said. 

     Though Yule currently lives in Los Angeles, he always looks for opportunities to film in the Bay Area and he commutes to Berkeley often. 

Yule and his girlfriend are the parents of a month-old baby boy. 

Berkeley writer Jonathan Wafer is a graduate of the Berkeley High School, Class of ‘81. 

BICYCLE BOULEVARDS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

As a member of the board of directors of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, I’d like to respond to Ray Quan’s letter about Bicycle Boulevards (Daily Planet, Dec. 31-Jan. 3). 

First, to address Mr. Quan’s unanswered question about whether there is a “...city ordinance governing the mutual use of the boulevard...” let me say that my understanding is that Bicycle Boulevards are still regular streets and all the usual traffic laws are in force for both motorists and cyclists. 

It isn’t special traffic rules that make Bicycle Boulevards work but rather design details that facilitate cycling—such things as the placement of stop signs, provision of bike-sensitive pickup loops that let a bicycle trip a stop-light the same way a car does, location of on-street auto parking, traffic calming measures, etc, etc. 

From Mr. Quan’s letter, I gather that he thinks there is only one Bicycle Boulevard in Berkeley. There is actually a network of them that allows cyclists to cross town both north-south and east-west on routes that closely parallel the major arteries, thus facilitating the use of bicycles for everyday transportation. Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevards are very much a work in progress, and many of the refinements that are called for in the design standard have not yet been implemented. The first phase was identification of routes and installation of signage, but there’s lots more to come. 

Anyone who wants more information about our city’s Bicycle Boulevard network can contact BFBC and we’ll be happy to help them. Here’s how to contact BFBC, from our website at www.bfbc.org: e-mail: bfbc@lmi.net or phone: 510-549-RIDE (549-7433). 

Note also that at the BikeStation in the Berkeley BART station (concourse level, south end) you can park your bike on weekdays in the care of an attendant at no charge.  

David Coolidge 

• 

CYCLISTS AND  

THE LAW 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I am disappointed by the attitude that too many car drivers have toward bicyclists. It results from ignorance of the California Vehicle Code that classifies bicycles as vehicles with the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles (CVC 21200). While bicyclists are required to “ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway” (CVC 21202), exceptions are made that include “(w)hen reasonably necessary to avoid conditions …that make it unsafe to continue...” This would include staying at a sufficient distance from cars parked at curbside to prevent being struck by car doors that might open in front of them.  

The “bureaucrats” Mr. Quan refers to in his Dec. 31 letter are our elected City Councilmembers who are responding to their constituents’ concern for the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians. Public workshops were held to plan the bicycle boulevard system. Most of the residents who participated favored the creation of bicycle boulevards. Routes were selected to include streets near public schools in order to qualify for grants under federal and state “Safe Routes to School” programs.  

Cyclists who fail to obey the traffic laws need to be cited for those violations. Drivers of motor vehicles need to respect the right of bicyclists to use the roadway. Several weeks ago, I was attempting to make a left hand turn from the center of the right lane on the Heinz Street bicycle boulevard onto Seventh Street, also permitted by CVC 21202. I was cursed out by the occupant of a taxi behind me to “get off the f…ing street.” There have been other times when I have been cursed or honked at while in a bicycle boulevard, including being told I should be riding on the sidewalk. Vehicles are not permitted on the sidewalk.  

While bicycles have the right to use all of the streets in the city, bicycle boulevards allow riders the option to avoid busy streets and unsafe conditions. While cars are not banned from the boulevards, the signs and decals should alert drivers to the presence of pedestrians and cyclists. The riders on Virginia Street that Mr. Quan encountered were not “oblivious” at all. They were well aware of the dangers of riding on either University Avenue or Cedar Street and chose Virginia to avoid those busy cross-town routes. If car drivers are in such a hurry to get across town, they should drive on the higher traffic streets such as Cedar, University, or Dwight Way.  

While drivers such as Mr. Quan may believe the roads are made for cars alone, the vehicle code states otherwise. If Mr. Quan needs more reasons to share the road, he might consider why many of us choose to pedal. We are concerned with the negative environmental impact of cars, including smog and global warming. Cars are rapidly depleting the world’s oil, a non-renewable resource. Bicycles take less space on the road and need less space to park. The next time Mr. Quan finds himself stuck in a traffic jam or is fighting for a parking spot, he should remember that too many cars are the problem, not bicycles. Tax money spent on the bicycle boulevards benefit everyone, not just cyclists.  

Tom Yamaguchi  

• 

ROBERTS CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The City of Berkeley Housing Department is undertaking a review of historic resources in the neighborhood surrounding the east parking lot of the Ashby BART station. This western portion of this lot is proposed for development as Ed Roberts Campus, a universally-accessible community resource center for people with disabilities.  

The area the city is interested in is within Ashby Avenue on the north, Shattuck Avenue on the east, Woolsey Street on the south, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way on the west. This area, coincidentally, corresponds to the approximate boundaries of a ranch owned by Mark Ashby, an early Berkeley resident.  

This neighborhood was originally developed at the turn of the 20th century as a streetcar suburb, and possesses a number of prominent examples of Colonial Revival-style homes. According to records assembled by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, this area saw six different electrified trolley lines going through. These lines linked together downtown Berkeley and the University of California campus with south Berkeley, north and west Oakland.  

In addition, state of California records indicate there are three historic buildings that may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, including the Webb Building at 1985 Ashby, the Hull & Durgin Funeral Home at 3031-51 Adeline, and Luke’s Nickelodeon building at 3192 Adeline. 

Ed Roberts Campus has received funding awards from the federal government toward its development. To receive funding commitments from the government, the Campus must have the City of Berkeley (acting on behalf of the federal government in this instance) consider what, if any, effects the Campus would have on historic resources in the Ashby BART, and the City wants to hear from the public about the history of this south Berkeley neighborhood.  

Members of the public who wish to contribute their knowledge, photographs, testimonies, or memories of this neighborhood—or who know someone who might be willing to contribute such information—are urged to contact Tim Stroshane, senior planner, City of Berkeley Housing Department, 981-5422, or via e-mail at tstroshane@ci.berkeley.ca.us. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Tim Stroshane 

Senior Planner 

City of Berkeley Housing Department 

• 

JOHN YOO 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Months after learning that John Yoo, currently a law professor at UC Berkeley, has no moral compass, being willing to draft briefs for his masters justifying tossing overboard long established prohibitions against torture, we now find that he has no ethical compass, either. He is quoted in the “Justice Thomas Leads Court in Getting Gifts,” a Dec. 31 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, saying, “I don’t see anything wrong in this. I don’t see why it is inappropriate to get gifts from friends. This (questioning of the propriety of Thomas accepting $42,200 in gifts over six years) reflects a bizarre effort to over-ethicize everyday life. . .”  

I suppose John fantasizes that it’s just charm that attracts this kind of largesse, not the fact that Thomas can pass judgments affecting people’s lives and fortunes. Frankly, I think I am pretty charming, and I haven’t garnered $42,200 in gifts in over 68 years. I guess some professions are just inherently more charming than engineering. 

Since it seems unlikely that John is imbuing his students with morality or ethics, I guess Boalt Hall wants John to teach the drafting of clever arguments to justify whatever the client wants to do. I think his services would be in great demand in Washington today. 

Incidentally, I think I learned more about the propriety of torture and what constitutes torture in a one-hour class on the Geneva Conventions in Army basic training 50 years ago than John apparently did in years of study of the law. 

Armin Wright 

Oakland 

• 

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Regarding your stupid, racist and sexist editorial on Shirley Chisholm (“Chisholm Campaign Recalled,” Daily Planet, Jan. 4-6): Frankly, Chisholm was not all that great, either as a candidate or an orator. That people would waste time on her candidacy in the very year when it was imperative to defeat the war criminal Nixon, just boggles the mind. Talk about juvenile ultra-left self-indulgence ! But then her death is just a good excuse to bash white males, a longtime project of the braindead PC Left in Berkeley. And a major reason why the Left will keep losing election after election. No critical thinking, no cogent analysis, just the same old sex and race baiting that was vogue in 1969. Identity politics is the reason the Left is dying. You PC Berkeley types are no different from the rankest bigot in Alabama, just a reverse choice of targets. I do admire your struggle to keep a local paper going but you can do better than being a print version of KPFA, can’t you ? 

Michael P. Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

POINTING FINGERS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

How convenient for Mayor Bates for the university’s long range plan to come along. Bureaucrats always love a big target. Irrespective of whether the university’s expansion plan will drastically affect “pollution and congestion ,” as he pretends to care about, guess what? 

We already have pollution and congestion, and it’s the city’s fault! In addition to approving hundreds of new housing developments over the past years, you might also notice hundreds of new traffic signs in Berkeley, telling you where you can and cannot drive. New stop signs, new Right Turn Only signs, illegal barricades everywhere, and traffic signals timed perfectly to turn red after you’ve gone one block traveling at the speed limit. If the city really cared about congestion and pollution, they’d insist on an EIR every time the traffic engineer got bored and ordered more signs to clutter our city. Clean your own house, Mr. Bates before starting to point fingers elsewhere. 

Tim Cannon 

• 

MORE ON ROBERTS CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Several articles and letters in recent weeks have covered the use permit issued to the Ed Roberts’ Campus by the Zoning Adjustments Board in November and its pending appeal by neighbors who argue that the building’s design doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood. It seems to me that response to this project has become unnecessarily complicated by issues that are not pertinent either to the core mission of the ERC project or to the architectural history of Berkeley. Since when is it okay in Berkeley for the aesthetic tastes of a few individuals to trump the social good of the community? 

The ERC is not demolishing any historic structure. Rather, it is replacing an eyesore parking lot with a building that will set the standard for universal and sustainable design. Berkeley prides itself on its diversity and tolerance—erecting a modern building in a neighborhood that has many kinds of buildings and land uses does not in any way detract from the historical interest of older parts of the neighborhood. And the ERC project stands to benefit its neighbors and the city of Berkeley in a variety of ways: providing needed services and a landmark community center for people with disabilities, paying tribute to a great East Bay resident and to the independent living and disability rights movements he helped to found, and revitalizing a mixed use and mixed income part of our city. 

The ERC partners have worked for years with the neighbors of the Ashby BART station and have made many compromises regarding the size of the building and the parking and traffic flow around it. The design is innovative and contemporary; some may not like its aesthetics. But the architects and planners have more than taken the neighborhood into account, and the building will welcome everyone and be a source of pride for Berkeley.  

Julia Epstein  

• 

PEPPERSPRAY 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Really enjoyed the Pepperspray Times in the Jan. 4-8 print issue of the Daily Planet. Funny stuff, with no (or few) cliches. I only moved to Berkeley this September so don’t know if this is an occasional feature or entirely new—but hope you will repeat it. 

Randy Reed 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Pepperspray Times is written by Berkeley musician and activist Carol Denney and appears in the Daily Planet on the first Tuesday of each month.) 

• 

TAX MEASURES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Rob Wrenn blames Proposition 13 for the failures of the tax increase measures on the November ballot. I once met the person who ran the Prop 13 campaign; he remarked that he had a lot of respect for the democratic system and that it is difficult to fool the electorate. 

Berkeley taxpayers know when they are being fooled to by its leaders and that is why the measures failed. Mr. Wrenn blames fire and police budgets for taking a large share of the general fund but makes no mention of the city’s large number of employees compared to other cities. The electorate knows that the city is run for the benefit of the unions and not for the benefit of its citizens. 

As long as Berkeley continues to fail to address these structural problems, tax increase measures will fail. 

Robert Cabrera 

• 

PROVING IT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

While I was on vacation, I talked with people from all over America. “I have here in my hand,” I told them, “absolute proof that George Bush stole the 2004 election.”  

No one wanted to see my proof.  

No one even cared. 

If I had made this outrageous statement to George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, they would have ripped the documents right out of my hand in their haste to get to the truth. “What do you mean—election fraud? That’s a serious accusation. Can you really prove it? Either show us some real proof or shut up about it.” 

If I were a patriotic American and someone offered to show ME proof that a U.S. presidential election had been stolen, I would want to see it. Is this actually true or is this person some kind of nut or kook? 

Americans all want to find out more about Ripley’s two-headed calf. But what about the strange case of the stolen 2004 election? It is possibly an even bigger scandal than that Bush was warned at least 28 times about an attack on America prior to 9-11. It is the Mount Rushmore of chicanery, the amazing shrunken head of deceit, the Grand Canyon of skullduggery and the two-ton pizza of voter fraud. 

So. What was the reaction of the average American when I promised them all this irrefutable proof of massive voter fraud? “Ho hum. That’s boring. Let’s talk about something else.” This is the most shocking accusation ever made and no one is interested. 

“Please!” I begged Americans. “If you care about honesty and decency and the soul of America, please just read this!” They sighed, shook their heads, looked inconvenienced and fervently hoped that I would just shut up and go away. 

“Five convicted felons wrote the Diebold software!” I cried. “Every single one of the thousands of errors detected on Florida voting machines were in favor of George Bush! Private companies sworn to elect Bush counted 80 percent of America’s votes! In at least 10 Ohio precincts with only 600 registered voters each, 4,000 per precinct voted for Bush!” 

Even though every word of what I say about the 2004 stolen election can be proved, no one believes me. No one listens to me. No one cares. 

This response by Americans is so strange, so weird, so truly bizarre that is deserves to be published in Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Plus two stolen U.S. presidential elections in a row should surely make the Guinness Book of World Records. 

Steal the election once—shame on Cheney/Bush. Steal the election twice—shame on America. 

Jane Stillwater 

• 

DROP A LINE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Readers who may be wondering about which way our country is headed should consider reading the “Union Democracy Review” which covers the ferment going on in unions all across the country to have honest unions. 

Drop them a note requesting a sample copy at: Association for Union Democracy, 104 Montgomery St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11225; Phone: (718) 564-1114, e-mail: aud@igc.org; or watch for the review of Rebels, Reformers and Racketeers by Herman Benson which will be out early in 2005. 

Charles Smith 

• 

BAY BRIDGE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

With all the controversy about the Bay Bridge, thought you would like to see a picture of a bridge we passed under as we floated down the Nile in Egypt, in Feb. 2003. It is beautiful! I hope that we can have a lovely bridge like this in the Bay Area. 

Margot Smith 

*picture in Edit/Comm    

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas?

West Oakland Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nancy Nadel says she wants to use some of Oakland’s newly-passed Measure Y violence prevention money on something she calls “peacemaking circles.” Ms. Nadel says that a judge in Nogales, Ariz. has used the circles with couples involved in domestic violence, and that a training in the technique was attended early last year by OPD Lt. Lawrence Green of North Oakland, who, she reports, “thought it was very useful.” The technique is also apparently being used, with some success, in both Massachusetts and Minnesota. 

With some slight modifications for Oakland use, I believe the councilmember is on to something. 

An Internet fact sheet put out by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (www.doc.state.mn.us/aboutdoc/restorativejustice/rjpeacemakingcircleprocess.htm) explains that the circles “provide a process for bringing people together as equals to talk about very difficult issues and painful experiences in an atmosphere of respect and concern for everyone. … [They are] built on the tradition of talking circles, common among indigenous people of North America, in which a talking piece, passed from person to person consecutively around the circle, regulates the dialog. The person holding the talking piece has the undivided attention of everyone else in the circle and can speak without interruption. The use of the talking piece allows for full expression of emotions, deeper listening, thoughtful reflection, and an unrushed pace. Additionally, the talking piece creates space for people who find it difficult to speak in a group. Drawing on both traditional wisdom and contemporary knowledge, the circle process also incorporates elements of modern peacemaking and consensus building processes.” 

Another good description of the circles and how they are used by the Massachusetts-based Roca organization can be seen at www.rocainc.org/circles.htm. 

The first modification I would suggest—and I consider it an unfortunate one—would be to drop the term “peacemaking circle.” 

The term conjures images of Native Americans sitting around a fire passing around a peace pipe because, of course, it comes directly from the practice of Native Americans sitting around a fire passing around a peace pipe. For too many Americans still infected with the memory of stereotyped Hollywood cowboy-and-Indian movies, that image is a caricature ripe for ridicule. For those of us old enough to remember how Oakland collapsed in embarrassment under the ebonics debacle—a flawed plan which deserved far more serious consideration than it got—it ought to be recognized that how an idea is named and how it is first presented to the public can be far more important than the substance of the idea itself. 

The second modification I would suggest is that—at least unless and until a major department reorganization is accomplished—we leave out the participation of the Oakland police as peacemakers and mediators. 

This is not meant as a criticism of the Oakland police—goodness knows, I’ve done enough of that in this column, and will probably do it again, when the occasion arises—but more an acknowledgement that the roles and actions we require of police as law enforcement and crime prevention officers often makes them less effective—and even, on occasion, detrimental—as peacemakers. 

And it certainly doesn’t mean that the police should be excluded from any role in the peacemaking process. 

To make peace—which is a far different thing from merely preventing violence—you have to get to the heart of the conflicts, including airing out how the conflicts came to be. 

But conflicts that have the potential for breaking out into violence oftentimes have already dipped into violence or other illegal activity along the way and, so, you are not likely to get the truth of things out if a police officer is a mediator or even if a police officer is in the room. 

This is even further a problem when police officers themselves are on one side of a dispute. Police, as we know, tend to close ranks in public when complaints are brought against one of their own. (If you want to see this in present practice, take a look at the agony and convolutions the Oakland Police Department is going through in the ongoing Riders trial.) 

One of the truths about Oakland—or any other diverse American city, I would imagine—is that the people who hang out on the streets in the violent zones are the people who can often tell you both the details of violent incidents as well as the immediate-and, sometimes, long-term causes. 

It was these people, for example, who first told me that the first death attributed to an Oakland sideshow—22 year old U’ Kendra Johnson in a February, 2002 auto accident—was actually the direct result of a high-speed police chase. Despite the later surfacing of a video showing the events leading up to that death, the Oakland Police Department has never publicly acknowledged that such a police chase even took place. 

But it is also one of the truths about Oakland—and maybe most other diverse American cities as well—that the people who hang out in the streets in the violent zones are the least likely ones to show up at official meetings to discuss causes of and cures for the violence. 

Part of the problem is that many of these street-hanging folks have crime histories themselves, which they would—understandably—prefer not get aired in a forum monitored by police. But another problem is that these folks are used to being either ignored or discredited by official Oakland, and so prefer to restrict the dispersal of their knowledge to the bars and porch steps and streetcorners and other more welcoming spots of our city. 

An Oakland Peace Project that fails to include street-familiar Oaklanders as major partners and players in the process is an Oakland Peace Project that is itself probably going to fail. 

(If you want to see how this could work in theory, and how it ends up getting botched in practice, you could take a look at the KTOP videotape of the city-sponsored town hall meeting held at Oakland’s Eastmont Mall in the summer of 2001 to come up with solutions to the sideshow problem. Sideshow participants weren’t invited, but came on their own to present their views. The tape shows how two of the sides of the conflict—sideshow participants and affected East Oakland neighborhood residents—came agonizingly close to working out a solution to Oakland’s sideshow problem, until police and city officials stepped in and aborted the process. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the tape yourself.) 

The shortest path to preventing violence and other social problems often buries the underlying conflicts and causes, leaving them to merely resurface in other places and other times (like cracking down on prostitution along San Pablo Avenue, only to have the girls and the johns move their business out along International). Making peace means bringing those underlying conflicts and causes out into the open, and attempting to bring about their resolution. Oakland, with a serious violence problem, needs to look at serious, adult solutions. The “peacemaking circles,” name notwithstanding, might be an important contribution to that solution, certainly worthy of serious consideration. 

?

We live in an all-encompassing culture of fear, which affects what we read, watch on TV, and talk about—even sports, where for example, it’s no longer sufficient to run a marathon, now one must compete in a 100-mile scamper through the Colorado Rockies i n order to risk dying of a heart attack or being eaten by a bear. 

This culture prompted the Survivor TV series and an intense media focus on obsessed winners and losers; in April, tabloids featured Aron Ralston who had an accident while climbing alone an d was forced to cut off part of his arm with a pocketknife. 

As we struggle to make sense of the Iraq war, it helps to remember that the U.S. is blanketed in this culture of fear, to view the occupation as a harrowing “reality” TV show produced by the Bus h administration. The themes are familiar: Americans are the good guys, deposited in a hostile environment, equipped with the latest technology, ordered to battle for an ill-defined goal, risking violent death each day; their opponents are cast as fanatic al baddies intent on killing all infidels; the public expects that no matter how grim the battles, how heavy the losses, the U.S.A. will triumph in the last reel. Americans are glued to their TV sets waiting for a happy ending, which each day grows more u nlikely. 

George and Dick’s adventure show isn’t going according to script—America is losing the war in Iraq. Each day brings new evidence of a strengthening insurgency; fresh proof that what was once unthinkable has now become ominously plausible—the U.S. occupation is sliding towards defeat. 

Those of us who opposed this war, who questioned the judgment of the Bush administration at every turn, who saw the election as a referendum on competence, may be tempted to take satisfaction from this growing catastrophe, to find solace in the knowledge that we were right all along. But it would be a mistake to distance ourselves from the conflict by rendering judgments rather than offering solutions. The stakes are too high, the human loss too dear for any of us to ignore reality: The administration has made a series of catastrophic blunders and led the nation, and our allies, into a no-win corner where our security will be imperiled no matter what we do. 

Given a realistic assessment of our predicament in Iraq, the question that Americans should be asking is not how can we win, but what is the best way to extricate ourselves? Unfortunately, the Bush administration doesn’t want to level with the public, doesn’t want to engage in a frank discussion of our options, because they feel that to do so would be an admission of defeat. And, of course, this is an administration that never admits any mistake, no matter how trivial, apparently out of the belief that to do so would reflect badly on their manhood.  

From the o nset of the war the Bush administration has tightly controlled discussion about Iraq. Even before the election they had such a stranglehold on the media, exercised such skill at framing consideration of the occupation that the election hinged not on wheth er victory in Iraq was achievable, or the underlying theme of the incompetency of those who led us into the quagmire, but rather who could do the best job of winning the war, who would wage the “smartest” campaign. As a result, even as the daily reports g rew bleaker, and polls indicated that a majority of Americans believed the occupation to have been a mistake, there has been no national discussion of exit strategies.  

Bullied by the Bush administration, the media has restricted its role, struggled each day to put a positive spin on the occupation, to suggest that victory might yet be snatched from the rabid jaws of defeat. However, the vital statistics of the war, ranging from the numbers of casualties to the barrels of oil pumped and hours of uninterr upted electrical service, tell a contradictory, somber story. The insurgency is growing—organized by four distinct organizations, we are told. It is unsafe for journalists to leave their quarters unless accompanied by an armed convoy; the road from the central airport into Baghdad is unsafe and visitors must be flown by helicopter into the Green zone. Many contractors have abandoned their projects; reconstruction has slowed to a snail’s pace. Some say that insurgents control two-thirds of the country and most of the oil-distribution system. America has lost the hearts and minds of the average Iraqi; eighty percent want us to leave.  

Iraq is in free-fall, headed for civil war, and the Jan. 30 elections won’t help. The United States has staged its own harr owing reality show. Like the climber trapped because of his own recklessness, forced to choose between starving to death or cutting off his arm, America is left with only dreadful choices: Are we on the set of Survivor or Lost? Will the United States face reality and make decisions that maximize our security? Or will we blunder onward, ensnared in our own version of the Donner Party? 

Kudos to Mayor Tom Bates for his forthright criticism of UC Berkeley’s environmental impact report. 

Mayor Bates has made substantial efforts to improve relations with UC, but UC has offered little in return. 

The city staff did an excellent job of prese nting the city’s concerns about UC expansion during the EIR process. But the final EIR largely ignores the city’s concerns and input.  

The two biggest impacts that UC has on the city are traffic impacts and fiscal impacts.  

LRDP Means More Traffic 

UC is the largest single generator of automobile traffic in Berkeley. Its plan to add 690 spaces at the Underhill parking lot near College Avenue and the 1800-2300 additional spaces called for in the LRDP will make traffic problems worse. 

The city’s General Plan calls on UC to cap its parking supply at current levels based on a recognition that increasing parking will increase traffic and encourage driving rather than use of public transit and other alternatives to driving. 

UC’s LRDP EIR is a very arrogant document. The phrase “continuing best practice” appears frequently. Yet what UC is doing now in the area of transportation planning, construction mitigation, and housing production could hardly be described as “best practice.” 

When it comes to transporta tion planning, UC Berkeley has never been a leader. It was one of the last UC campuses to provide students with passes to ride local buses for free, lagging behind UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. 

It still has not followed the lead of UCLA, Stanford and other universities in California and around the country who provide all faculty and staff with free rides on local transit.  

UC is refusing to take any responsibility for avoiding or substantially reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with mo re traffic. Growth does not have to mean more traffic. 

UC is willing to reduce the new parking it plans to build if other people do things, specifically if AC Transit goes forward with Bus Rapid Transit service on Telegraph with the support of the cities of Berkeley and Oakland. But what is UC committing itself to do? 

What Should UC Be Doing? 

It should have included in the LRDP a goal of ensuring that there is no increase in traffic associated with its expansion plans; specifically the goal should be n o net increase in single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) automobile trips to campus. 

This is a realistic goal. Universities that have taken the lead and made serious efforts to encourage transit use, along with bicycling and walking, have been successful.  

At U CLA, “BruinGo” allows faculty staff and students to board some area buses lines for free with their university IDs. Since implementation of this program on a trial basis, the percentage of faculty and staff living within the Blue Bus service area who comm ute by bus increased from 9 percent to 20 percent. Among students, it increased from 17 percent to 24 percent. A study of the impact of BruinGo found that it reduced parking demand. 

At the University of Washington, Seattle, despite a 22 percent increase in the campus population since 1989, peak hour traffic remains below 1990 levels. Parking lot utilization has dropped and fewer faculty, staff and students are buying parking permits. The UW Transportation Office estimates that the University has saved o ver $100 million in avoided construction costs for new parking and prevented the emission of 3,300 tons of carbon dioxide annually.  

This is all due to UW’s Eco Pass program called U-Pass. For a small quarterly fee, faculty, staff and students ride local transit for free. While Seattle’s transit system is not as good as what is available to UC Berkeley employees, the U-Pass program has achieved impressive results.  

Transit ridership has increased from 11 percent to 24 percent for faculty and from 25 per cent to 36 percent for staff. Drive alone rates have fallen to 43 percent and 38 percent respectively, much lower than the drive alone rate for UC faculty and staff. 

In fact, UC faculty and staff are somewhat more likely than other non-UC commuters to Be rkeley’s downtown and Southside to commute to work by driving along. UC is not a leader in promoting alternative modes of transportation in Berkeley. 

UC claims to be taking steps to encourage faculty and staff to use transit and touts its recently create d Bear Pass. But the Bear Pass is further evidence of the weakness and inadequacy of UC’s efforts. 

Bear Pass is much more expensive than Eco Passes provided by other universities, which are typically free (UCLA, Stanford) or low cost (UW Seattle). And Bear Pass is not universal; its an opt-in program.  

A 2001 survey of 35 university transit pass programs found that programs with universal coverage, where all students, staff and faculty can use the campus IDs to ride transit for free, work best. Partial coverage, opt-in programs like Bear Pass don’t increase transit use very much. 

But can UC afford to provide passes to everyone for free? Of course. A primary reason for offering passes is to reduce demand for parking and avoid construction costs for new parking.  

A portion of parking revenues can be used to pay transit agencies for the passes, which are sold at very deep discounts when they purchased for all students, faculty and staff. Both UCLA and UW Seattle used parking revenues to help fund their p asses. 

Improving Transit 

It’s also important for the city to continue actively supporting AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit that is planned for Telegraph Avenue. With dedicated lanes for buses, travel time and waiting time will be reduced when BRT is implemented. More people will travel by bus when service improves. 

Both improved transit service and incentives to use transit, such as Eco Pass, are needed to ensure that UC expansion and population growth in Berkeley don’t lead to higher volumes of traffic and more traffic congestion. 

But UC has to do its part. By failing to do enough to encourage alternatives to driving, UC has not only contributed to the city’s traffic problems, but has made itself part of the global warming problem, when it should be pa rt of the solution. 

Traffic impacts are not the only impacts, though. UC needs to make substantial in-lieu-of-taxes payments to the city to cover the fiscal impacts of UC growth. The city is facing a budget crisis and cannot afford to provide more servic es for a growing university without substantial contributions from UC to cover the cost. 

There are also construction impacts. UC does not do an adequate job of monitoring its construction contractors. There are too many instances of neighbors being awake ned by construction-related noise before the legal starting time for construction. And more needs to be done to ensure that construction workers don’t take up available on-street parking in neighborhoods near campus. 

As a mitigation, UC should help pay for improved Residential Permit Parking enforcement in near campus neighborhoods. And UC should consider following the lead of Harvard and create a construction ombudsman to deal with construction-related problems and impacts that will inevitably occur. 

Rob Wrenn is chair of the Transportation Commission. 

I and many other residents of Berkeley were thrilled to read Mayor Bates’ fightin’ words in response to the final version of UC Berkeley’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan and the accompanying environmental impact report. I suppose that the mayor would not stick his neck out so publicly without an expectation of City Council support. Yet one hesitates to congratulate the mayor or the council too quickly, since in previous encounters with the university, similar city blustering has been followed by rapid retreat with the city’s municipal tail tucked demurely between its little municipal legs. Undoubtedly the message UCB received from those prior encounters contributed greatly to the university’s current arrogance. Nonetheless, it looks like 2005 may bring meaningful and even courageous action against UC expansion, and we should wholeheartedly support our Mayor and City in their strong stand on our behalf. 

Like the previous draft version, the final LRDP/EIR is an adventure in mixed emotions. One cannot help but be impressed by the Berkeley citizens and organizations that contributed over 1,000 pages of well-considered comments, including the city’s own 100-page detailed criticism. Yet one cannot help but be equally amazed by UC’s stubbornly meaningless responses to almost all of the substantial concerns. In consideration of those thousand pages of citizen comment, perhaps 500 words—mostly insubstantial ones—were changed in the “revised” LRDP/EIR.  

The first of only two substantial changes in the final LRDP is the elimination of 100 ill-advised faculty housing units in the “Hill Campus.” Few were surprised to see this concession to a part of town populated by wealthy, organized citizens well able to round up their own lawyers to confront UC. But I have faith that these informed citizens will not “go away” now that their own ox is no longer being gored. We’re all in this together, though some of us are much closer to the dead canary. 

The other substantive change is that the final LRDP concedes a possible reduction by 500 of UC’s proposed 2,300 new parking spaces. However, this “concession” is contingent upon Berkeley’s and Oakland’s approval of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Telegraph Avenue. This is apparently a bone thrown to those who think that the mere existence of parking spaces, rather than people’s need or desire to get from one place to another, “causes” traffic. This ham-handed UC bribe simply adds insult to injury. Not only does UC want to force its own LRDP down Berkeley’s throat, it also wants to force Berkeley to accept another problematic project—BRT—an idea that the city should assess for its benefit to Berkeley, not to UC. This is undignified and inappropriate meddling in municipal decision making. 

I do not oppose bus rapid transit. In fact, the more rapidly buses transit out of my field of view, hearing, and smell, the better I like it. What I oppose is damage to Telegraph Avenue as a functional road for Berkeley’s drivers, and the possible diversion of traffic into an unbarricaded Willard Neighborhood. AC Transit’s own data show that a modest “enhanced” bus service will achieve two thirds of the ridership gain with only one quarter of the cost of BRT—with no damage to local traffic flow or to nearby neighborhoods.  

But BRT is not intended to help neighborhoods. Instead, BRT will be the artery that feeds UC’s expansion by hustling in commuters from the south. But will the Nobel Laureates working at the new UC research park live in apartments along the Telegraph corridor? Of course not. UC should spend more of its efforts addressing the real commuting needs of faculty and staff, who have the highest drive-alone rates and tend not to live near transit. Or better yet, why not just reduce the number of people coming to the UC campus! Oh, what a brilliant idea! Why hasn’t anyone thought of it before?! 

But wait—they have! The 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, which UC uses to justify its enrollment and research expansion, planned to distribute campuses based on the needs of the citizens of California, not the desires of individual branches of UC. In the interest of preserving good education, protecting overcrowded host cities like Berkeley, and placing new campuses in underserved parts of the state, that plan called for a cap of 27,500 students at all campuses—and the state was well aware of growing population pressures when it formed this plan. But UC Berkeley already exceeds this cap and plans to exceed it by a full 20 percent with the 2020 LRDP. Pushing so much expansion into Berkeley is not only bad for Berkeley, it is also very poor educational, physical, and fiscal planning for the state, because it is cheaper to place new facilities and their users in cities with lower land, construction, and housing prices. Less dense, less renowned cities would welcome and benefit by more prestigious research activities.  

If UCB’s expansion were mostly about improving education, people might take a different view of it. But Berkeley’s expansion is primarily an expansion of research activities. Less and less of UC Berkeley’s budget now comes from the state, and more and more from private sources, and partnerships with private corporations are the wave of the future. What this means for academic independence remains to be seen. But what it means for Berkeley residents is that these private companies are now riding the privileged coattails of UC’s sovereign immunity and tax-exempt status, reaping the rewards of UCB’s legalized abuse of the Berkeley community. But why should one small city—or even less, a few neighborhoods—bear all the externalized costs of this research, be it semi-private research that benefits private companies, or public research that benefits the entire world? It’s time for a change. I dare to hope that Mayor Bates and new Council will finally bring that change in 2005. 

Sharon Hudson is a longtime Berkeley resident and observer of development issues. 

The Berkeley City Club, one of Berkeley’s great historic, architectural, and cultural edifices, opens its doors this month for a public event. 

The six-story “Little Castle” on Durant Avenue east of Ellsworth was designed by famed architect Julia Morgan. The Jan. 20, event falls on the anniversary of Morgan’s birthday and during the 75th year since the building itself opened. 

“This club building carries the ambitions and the desires of thousands of Berkeley women,” wrote Mrs. Olga Beebe of the Business and Professional Women’s Club when the structure opened in 1930. “It will afford them the opportunity of enlarged social contacts, recreation of all kinds, including play, work and study, at times and in the ways to suit the varying needs of its members.”  

Many Berkeley residents probably recognize the landmark building on the outside, but have never been inside. 

From entrance hall to indoor swimming pool, the extensive and ornate interior of the landmark Durant Avenue building will be on display during the Jan. 20 event.  

The building includes two floors of event spaces—from cozy lounges to a large auditorium—and four floors of guest rooms and suites. It features room after richly furnished room, grand halls, garden courts, and an indoor swimming pool with spectator gallery.  

A cloister borders a lushly planted courtyard, and there are several outdoor terraces. Original or period-appropriate furnishings ornament the building. 

Julia Morgan carefully blended Mediterranean, Romanesque, Moorish, Renaissance, and Gothic architectural features in the $500,000 structure. Elaborately tiled hallways, graceful staircases, groined cloisters, leaded windows, ornate fireplaces, and even the original Club china for the dining room all reflect her expert hand. 

“Four thousand women opened this place,” says Mary Breunig, event organizer and head of the Landmark Heritage Foundation, one of the event sponsors along with the City Club itself and the Alameda County Historical Society. “It’s such a wonderful story.” 

The event is $15 per person in advance ($25 at the door), and is open to any interested member of the public. 

“People can come, have fun, mingle, and maybe think about using the building at some point,” Breunig says. 

Participants can enjoy all or part of five hours of varied events and entertainment, refreshments including tea, hors d’oeuvres and birthday cake, and special tours of the building.  

Live music, an appearance by “Julia Morgan” herself, a silent auction, and a talk by the Historian of Hearst Castle at San Simeon are additional highlights. 

Attendees can also arrange separate reservations for dinner in the club’s formal dining room that evening (see box for reservation information). 

Although functional and grandly appointed, the building is in need of some six million dollars in mostly behind-the-scenes repairs and upgrades, not surprising for a facility that has been heavily used for 75 years. 

The co-sponsor of the event, the non-profit Landmark Heritage Foundation, was formed some years ago to raise funds to preserve the City Club building and educate the public about Julia Morgan. 

The foundation will have materials about the building and renovation efforts and plans on display at the event. 

The Berkeley City Club organization itself, with a smaller membership than in early days, is also looking for new members, both individual and businesses. (The club reorganized in 1963 to fully admit men, and dropped “Women’s” from the formal name.) 

Members pay monthly dues and have access to the dining room, indoor swimming pool, exercise room, discounted rental rates for event spaces, Club entertainment and social programs and—a major benefit in the congested South Campus area—parking in the adjacent lot the club owns on Durant Avenue.  

In earlier decades the club building accommodated many permanent residents. Today, most bedrooms and suites are rented for either long or short-term stays, often to visiting scholars at the university. The club is also a popular setting for weddings and parties. 

The Aurora Theatre, now relocated to Downtown Berkeley, staged plays in the club for years, and the Berkeley Chamber Performers hold their concerts there.  

The City Club dates back to the mid-1920s when local women’s organizations joined together to establish one place where their members could meet, socialize, and exercise.  

“Most of the clubs were meeting in hotel venues and homes,” says Breunig, and they welcomed the opportunity to have a large, central, building.  

A building fund was quickly raised and the club claimed nearly 4,500 local women as members at one point. 

The work of organizing, operating, and sustaining the club was done by the women themselves. 

“May I remind you that the Berkeley Women’s City Club was conceived and followed to completion in every detail, including the construction and furnishing of this magnificent clubhouse, by women and by women alone,” Fred Athearn, widower of the first president, Purle Evelyn Athearn, told the club in 1952. 

“No man had anything to do with it, except some spade work, at the direction of the women who laid the foundation of this truly great institution…” 

“Much water has passed under the bridge since women were content to ‘sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam’ and the old idea that women are incapable of bigger things has been washed away with the current of to-day”, wrote Monday Study Club President Olive T. Buck for the Club building opening. 

The names of the local women’s clubs that participated in the founding illustrate some of the interests and activities of Berkeley women—at least those women with some social means and leisure time—in that era.  

They included the College Women’s Club, Berkeley League of Women Voters, California Writers’ Club, Etude Club, Northbrae Women’s Club, Political Science Club, Berkeley Piano Club, Women’s Army and Navy Club, and the Business and Professional Women’s Club. 

Historian Phyllis Gale, an expert on early women’s organizations in Berkeley, has characterized these sort of clubs as a form of “shadow government” in an era when women were typically excluded from formal leadership in business, most professions, and politics. 

The members of local women’s clubs promoted causes, organized civic activities and, in the terminology of a later era, “networked” and “raised consciousness,” as well as exerted influence on their more conventionally powerful husbands. 

›

FRIDAY, JAN. 7 

THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Polk County” A musical about aspring blues musician, Leafy Lee, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. to Jan. 9. Tickets are $15-$60. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

“The Bright River” written and performed by Tim Barsky and the Everyday Ensemble at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. through Jan. 16. Tickets are $12-$35 available from A Traveling Jewish Theater, 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

Shotgun Players “Travesties” by Tom Stoppard, at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. through Jan. 9. Free with pass the hat after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry from the Vietnam Era and Its Legacy at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. in conjunction with the exhibit “California and the Vietnam Era.” 238-2200. www.museum.ca.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Dance Production 2005” Berkeley High’s dance performanceat 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, on the BHS Campus. Also on Sat. Tickets are $5-$10.  

Elizabeth Anker, contralto, with John McDonald and Wayman Chin, piano, Scott Woolweaver, viola and Peter Maund, percussion, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. www.Elizabethanker.com  

Los Nadies with special guest Andres Soto, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$25. Fundraiser for the Social Equity Caucus.849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Caribbean Allstars at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Lua, global creole roots, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Due West, contemporary bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

David Jacobs-Strain, The Alexis Harte Band at 8 p.m. at the Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $8. 465-8480. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Lavay Smith Quintet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

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

Truxton, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Oktobre People at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Ludicra, Voetsek, John the Baker & The Malnourished at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Soul Captives, ShitOuttaLuck, Hazel at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Grand Groovement at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Brown Baggin’ at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Jenn August and Rachel Elfron at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Donation $5-$10.  

Mark Hummel’s 13th Annual Blues Harmonica Blow Out with James Cotton, Kim Wilson, and Charlie Musselwhite at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 8 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Juanita Ulloa’s Three Kings Celebration at 11 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Lee Tanner's “Jazz Image” photography show featuring large-format black-and-white prints of giants from the jazz encyclopedia. Through Jan. 24 at the Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge. Photographer’s talk at noon. 981-6100. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Tim Metallo “New Paintings” Reception at 5 p.m. at The New Gallery for Urban Art, 1266 66th St., Emeryville. 596-0020, ext. 193. 

FILM 

“Travellers and Magicians” a film from Bhhutan with actor and cinematographer in person at Act 1 & 2, 2128 Center St. 464-5980. Showtimes available at www.landmarktheatres.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

American Bach Soloists Chorus at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 415-621-7900. www.americanbach.org  

Cornell University Glee Club at 7:30 p.m. at 2345 Channing Way. 650-386-5224. 

Golden Bough, Celtic innovators, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

La Tania, flamenco, with Gypsy guitarist Jose Valle “Chuscales” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

West African Highlife Band 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 

Eric Shifrin & The In Crowd at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

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

Angel Magik at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15. 548-1159.  

All Star DJ Jam at 10 p.m. at Club Oasis, 135 12th St., Oakland. Cost is $10. 763-0404.  

7th Direction, Pocket, The Unravellers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

One Block Radiu, Disflex6, hip hop, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Donation $5-$10. 

Brainoil, Born Dead, Scurvy Dos, Machine Gun Romantics at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Noah Schenker Group at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 9 

CHILDREN  

Mary Ellen Hill “Celebrating Sun” at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“After Vietnam: California Stories from Southeast Asian Perspectives” from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. in conjunction with the exhibit “California and the Vietnam Era.” 238-2200. www.museum.ca.org 

Poetry Flash with Doren Robbins, Cecilia Woloch and Sholeh Wolpé at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

Women’s Poetry Reading Bring poetry of your own, or of your favorite women authors and we’ll share around the fire with hot cocoa and tea. At noon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Amina Figarova International Band at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazz- 

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

Verse, Another Breath, Forward to Death, The Shemps at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

John McCutcheon, folk music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Odd Shaped Case, Balkan music brunch at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, JAN. 10 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Texture: The Many Layers of Textile Arts” with works by Natasha Fouko, Joy Lily, Susan Putnam, and Deb Shattil, opens at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to Jan. 31. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

“Bay Area Landscapes That Make You Smile” paintings by Stan Cohen at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0327.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Opera Stars and Popular Music” with Larry Marietta, Music Program Director, First Congregational Church of Berkeley, at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Marilyn Abildskov describes an American woman living and loving in Japan in “The Men in My Country” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Express, featuring Gayle Eleanor and Sholeh Wolpé from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Songwriters Symposium at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Sakai, neo-soul, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, JAN. 11 

FILM 

Local Short Film Festival at 9:15 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $5 at the door. www.picturepubpizza.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ethan Rarick describes “California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Duke Robillard Band at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Cyril Guiraud and David Michel-Ruddy at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Andrew Heinze describes “Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Mikel Dunham reads from “Buddha’s Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Steve Arnston, classical piano at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Kurt Ribak Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Blues and Gooves with DJ Mike Pyle at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West Coast Swing dance lesson with Nick & Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The James King Band, mountain soul from Virginia, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Judgement Day, A Burning Water, Street to Nowhere, string metal, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Poncho Sanchez Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JAN. 13 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Texture: The Many Layers of Textile Arts” with works by Natasha Fouko, Joy Lily, Susan Putnam, and Deb Shattil. Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to Jan. 31. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Addison Street Windows Gallery Anti-Bullying Art and Essays by Berkeley Middle School students opens and runs through Feb. 25. 981-7546. 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “The Last Tycoon” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Christian Parenti describes “The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Edwin Drummond and John Rowe, and guest Sholeh Wolpé, Persian poet, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

John Schott’s Dream Kitchen, old-time jazz, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Gini Wilson, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Special Ed, Coolie High, hip hop, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $15. 848-0886.  

FRIDAY, JAN. 14 

THEATER 

“The Bright River” written and performed by Tim Barsky and the Everyday Ensemble at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. through Jan. 16. Tickets are $12-$35 available from A Traveling Jewish Theater, 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Shanghai Express” at 7 p.m. and “Only Angels Have Wings” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Page to Stage, a conversation with playwright Tony Kushner and director Tony Taccone at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

James D’Allesandro reads from “1906: A Novel” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Dance Production 2005” Berkeley High’s dance performance, choreographed by students, at 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way, on the BHS Campus. Also on Sat. Tickets are $5-$10.  

The Pacific Collegium “From Advent to Epiphany” at 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$18. 415-392-4400. www.pacificcollegium.org 

Songwriters in the Round Monica Pasqual, Sonya Hunter and Emily Bezar at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Wake the Dead at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Kathy Kallick Band, bluegrass and originals, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761.  

Captured! by Robots at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

The Phenomenauts, Freak Accident, Left Alone at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Cathi Walkup Quintet at 9 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 

Plays Monk at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Groovie Ghoulies, Jason Webley, Teenage Harlots at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Poncho Sanchez Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JAN. 15 

CHILDREN  

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

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Pierrot le Fou” at 6:30 p.m. and “The Shining” at 8:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Autumn Stephens, editor, and eight other local authors will read from their new book “Roar Softly and Carry A Great Lipstick” a 7 p.m. at A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 La Salle Ave., Montclair. 339-8210. 

Juried Annual at Pro Arts Artist Talks at 1 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second Street, Oakland. 763-4361. www.proartsgallery.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jon Raskin, solo saxophone, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., between Bancroft and Durant. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinitychamberconcerts.com 

“Music for the King of Prussia” performed by The Novello Quartet at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. at Garber. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  

Fingertight, Unjust, hard rock, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

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

Loose Wig Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bob Franke, singer-songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kugelplex at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Vanessa Lowe & Bug Eyed Sprite at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 

Montuno Groove Dance at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

The Art of the Trio with the Dred Scott Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

The Mercury Dimes, The Earl White Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Gini Wilson “Chamberjazz” at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Gravy Train, Clorox Girls, Two Gallants, Red Tape Apocalips at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 



Next time you hear someone rustling furtively in the bushes beside your house, just as night’s falling, check it out before you call the cops. It might be just me, frantically hunting snails to feed some shrews. 

I’m speaking of pigmy shrews—roughly speaking, the smallest mammal in the world. About the size of the top joint of your thumb, plus a tail as long. And much of that’s fur: a big one weighs less than two well-worn pennies. Though rather common in our woodlands, they’re so elusive that few people see them in the flesh, and fewer recognize them. I caught one hunting grass-spiders in a sunny meadow in springtime, took her home to show to the kids in school where I teach. She surprised us with four pups, and two survived—tempting me with visions of a breeding colony.  

Shrews are amazing. You’d expect that something that tiny, cute, and furry would like to be stroked, would cuddle in your hand, like a pet hampster. Not a chance. I could hardly lay a finger on one for an instant—not just because they darted about so rapidly, but because even pups raised in captivity are still genuinely wild. They can hardly see or smell, so it was easy to come close; but an instant of contact was long enough for one to turn, taste me, decide that I wasn’t food, and dash off to hunt elsewhere. Their only concession to domestication was to regard my hand as a vast inedible cloud, rather than an owl. 

Shrews move so fast because they live so fast. When a pigmy shrew takes a nap, its heart slows down to 800 beats a minute, and its metabolism comes almost to a standstill, burning energy only 35 times as fast as a resting human does. You’d have to digest a full meal every fifteen minutes, day and night, to keep up even with that. If you had to spend energy getting your food too—well, you burn about 800 calories an hour when you’re running, but a shrew your size would burn 160,000 calories an hour, or about two and a half meals a minute, if it could find them. So of course shrews hunt constantly, around the clock, pausing to nap every 20 minutes or so. And they eat a lot of snails. 

They’d rather have smaller, livelier prey. But three shrews can consume a thousand sowbugs a day, impossible to supply. A five-buck bag of crickets from the pet-store disappears like a bowl of popcorn set before teenagers. I thought about turning the back yard into a worm farm, But mainly, I made do with snails. Indeed, they’re an ideal food, plump, juicy, often bigger than a shrew—and, you might think, in infinite supply. 

Well, think again. There’s nothing like having to provide, to make one learn to count. I fed my three tiny carnivores four snails every six hours, around the clock. (Shrews carry no fat, and starve to death if left hungry overnight.) That’s sixteen snails a day, plus a weekly sprinkling of oatmeal—which added up to 500 full-grown snails a month, or 2,000 young ones. Whichever I supplied, it amounted to five and a half pounds of snails a month, or four pounds shelled. Month after month. 

Our own garden held but a week’s-worth of snails, and the neighbors’ were quickly exhausted. So I took to prowling the streets, or rather the pleasant sidewalks of Berkeley’s flatlands, with my gallon zip-lock baggie in hand, rummaging through curbside plantings and floral borders, poking into neglected vegetation beside houses and driveways, exploring the modest front gardens of this cosmopolitan town, rich with plants from around the world. 

Mostly I roamed with my son Jaime, an avid hunter, going on five. Being with a child is a passport, gives one permission for all kinds of reasonable activities that might seem foolish or daft for an unaccompanied adult. Perhaps I exploited him, but we both enjoyed it. It’s rare that an urban child gets a chance to be a real hunter and provider. And it was good for him to be involved in community service at a tender age, purging pests and providing benign entertainment for the folks who caught our act.  

We followed the usual courtesies, of course, asking permission before we probed too deeply into a garden, offering to service back yards, replacing all rocks. No one ever said no, though some were nonplussed. We didn’t quite have the cheek to announce ourselves as the Good Fairies of Snailocide, here to grant your fantasy of a pure garden and something useful to be done with all that meat. But there was no doubt about it: Anyone who cares for the mythical fauna of this mythical town could spot us as a native species. 

As for the actual fauna, a prolonged hunt for snails is a serious enterprise, a field-study in natural history. As hunters and scientists both, we studied our prey, its habitat, and their relations. Jaime learned a lot about local ecology, and so did I—for as we ranged wider afield, trekking to more distant neighborhoods and stopping the car for spot-checks all over town, our quest gave me a somewhat systematic survey of what’s been happening to the humbler creatures of our community. The details of my observations were too rich, and the conclusions too depressing, to deal with here. But what I learned about snails, as a predator, boils down to this: There weren’t really very many in town anymore. 

To anyone who’s fought them, this may seem a lunatic assertion. But you get a different perspective when you’re looking for something you want, rather than trying to rid yourself of a plague. And this is how the snail situation seemed from the streets, bearing in mind that we didn’t sample the back yards. Over the previous thirty years, their habitats had shrunk and changed, and their food supplies too; and systematic poisoning had reduced and isolated their remnant populations.  

The result, in practical terms, was that if you wanted more than a few snails, you really had to hunt for them. Each neighborhood still had its own scattered “ hot spots” where snails clustered, but often we walked for blocks without finding one. There are only three or four common ornamental plants in Berkeley that snails really like to eat, and two environments in which they thrive. These plants and environments had grown rarer during the previous decade; and when we did find them, they were usually barren of snails, often for so long that the tell-tale traces of disintegrating snail-bait, and even the empty shells, were gone. 

Mind you, we were after volume. It wasn’t worth our while to spend ten minutes inspecting a front border, with the light failing and our stomachs growling and the shrews nipping at each other in the cage back home, and come up with a lousy juvenile or two. We needed meat, right away. It was hardly worth stopping for less than 25 big ones. 

So I became in effect an extension of the shrews, a shrew of sorts myself, especially when abroad without my young—scurrying impatiently from one sidewalk garden to another, hardly pausing to whisk my hand under a choice leaf or behind the best rock, before deciding that it was fruitless and bounding on. Like a shrew, when I did find a bountiful place I ransacked it quickly and thoroughly, piling up my prey, bringing them back home to store alive in the larder, against the chance that my next hunt would find slim pickings.  

As the larder was our front garden, after eight months it was quite ravaged, though the shrews were so cute that I hardly cared. Our garden would doubtless be snail heaven still, if someone had not left the shrews’ cage-top ajar with an outside door open, sabotaging my hope for a breeding colony. I never saw them again, but as the sowbug and snail counts in my borders wax and wane, I imagine their descendants still at work.  

›

FRIDAY, JAN. 7 

Outings on Fridays with Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Tour of the Berkeley City Club at 11 a.m. Cost is $15. Reservations required. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Ronelle Alexander on “Languages and Ethnic Identity in the Balkans” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land” an historical overview of the factors which distort media coverage of the Middle East conflict at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free. 482-1062. 

“E-Motion Picture Magic” for healing and transformation with Birgit Wolz at 7 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph at 66th. 655-2405. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

“Three Beats for Nothing” meets every Friday at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. 655-8863, 843-7610. 

SATURDAY, JAN. 8 

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

Newt Research Join us for our annual hike up South Park Drive to find out why newts cross the road, and why it takes them so long. Meet at 2 p.m. at the parking lot across from the Botanic Garden in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Kids Garden Club For children 7-12 years old to explore the world of gardening. We plant, harvest, build, make crafts, cook and get dirty! From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$6, registration required. 525-2233. 

Pre-School Storytime for ages 3-5 at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17.  

Family Origami Recycle holiday paper and learn to make a 14-point star, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Basic Winter Maintenance, including mulching and pruning, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

“Forces of Nature” a giant-screen film on volcanoes, tornadoes and earthquakes opens at Chabot Space and Science Center. Tickets are $7-$8. 336-7300. www.chabotspace.org 

Luna Kids Dance Open House from 2 to 4 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 644-3629. www.lunakidsdance.com 

Family Brown Bag Shabbat at 11 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic. info@kolhadash.org 

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, JAN. 9 

Alvarado: River to Ridgetop Ramble We will explore the historic area once known as Grand Canyon Park. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Wildcat/Alvarado staging area off Park Ave. in Richmond. 525-2233. 

Strawberry Creek Work Party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. We’ll be weeding several sections of the creek bank, as well as checking out the natives we just planted. Wear sturdy footwear and bring work gloves. Please RSVP to kateholum@yahoo.com 

Green Sunday with the documentary “The End of Suburbia” followed by a discussion, 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

Women’s Poetry Reading Bring poetry of your own, or of your favorite women authors and we’ll share around the fire with hot cocoa and tea. At noon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“After Vietnam: California Stories from Southeast Asian Perspectives” from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. in conjunction with the exhibit “California and the Vietnam Era.” 238-2200. www.museum.ca.org 

“Tools for Inner Change from the Tibetan Tradition,” with Sylvia Gretchen at 3 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “The Tibetan World Peace Ceremony at Bodh Gaya, India” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Personal Theology Seminar with Emily Champage at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

MONDAY, JAN. 10 

Tea and Hike at Four Taste some of the finest teas from the Pacific Rim and South Asia and learn their natural and cultural history, followed by a short nature walk. At 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Ed Roberts Campus Public Hearing on Historic Buildings in the area of 3075 Adeline St., at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping in Berkeley Public schools at 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

A Year To Live How to live this year as if it were your last, facilitated by Bonnie O'Brien Jonsson, MS, at 7 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 559-9290. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 9:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. Cost is $2.50 with refreshments. 524-9122. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 2 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

TUESDAY, JAN. 11 

Bird Walk in Pt. Isabel Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the end of Rydin Rd. (before Costco) to look for shorebirds and sparrows. 525-2233. 

School Age Storytime for ages 5 and up at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17.  

Learn How to Use Your GPS with Jeff Caulfield of National Geographic at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Getting Along with Your Adult Children” a participatory workshop at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $35-$40. 848-0327, ext. 110. www.brjcc.org 

Oakland Celebrates the Dream 11 a.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th St. and Broadway. 444-2489 www.oaklandnet.com/celebrations 

Introduction to Taiko Drumming, Tues. at 7 p.m. at Tatsumaki Taiko, 725 Gilman St. Cost is $12. www.tatsumakitaiko.com 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Streets every Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. This is a project of Spiral Gardens. 843-1307. 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

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 

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

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors offered by Stagebridge, at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Classes are held at 10 a.m. Tues.-Fri. For more information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12 

Explore Winter: Women’s Snowshoe Workshop at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Down Home Martin Luther King Potluck at 6 p.m. at the Interstake Center, 4780 Lincoln Blvd., Oakland. Bring your favorite dish to serve four. 654-2592. 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers monthly meeting at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. Leo Siren of Fish First will talk about Christmas Island fishing opportunities. 547-8629. 

“Easy Rider” Peter Fonda film of the Vietnam era at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, $5 donations accepted. 393-5685. 

Tap Into It Jazz and Rhythm Tap classes at Montclair Recreation Center, 6300 Moraga Ave., Oakland. Experienced at 6:30 p.m., beginners at 7:30 p.m. 482-7812. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

“Conflict in Jewish Identity: Looking at Our Own Lives” brown-bag lunch with Dr. Jerry Diller at 11:30 a.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0327, ext. 110.  

Home Buyer Assistance Information Session at 6 p.m. at 1504 Franklin St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Home Buyer Assistance Center. Reservations required. 832-6925, ext. 105. www.hbac.org 

Winter Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

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

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JAN. 13 

“Conversations About Watersheds” An interactive conference from Thurs. through Sun. at Lake Merritt College. Cost is $15-$25. Sponsored by the East Bay Watershed Center. For details call 434-3800. www.mountaincurrent.net/ebwc/ 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Holly Near, singer-songwriter activist and Adrienne Torf at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Latino Film Festival “Un Hijo Genial/A Brilliant Son” directed by Jose Luis Massa, Argentina 2004 at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 620-6555. 

WriterCoach Connection Volunteer Training Help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Training session from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. Other Trainings on Jan. 20, Feb. 9, 16, Mar. 8, 15. www.writercoachconnection.org 

East Bay Mac User Group meets the 2nd Thursday of every month, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. http://ebmug.org, www.expression.edu 

FRIDAY, JAN. 14 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Robert Ashmore on “The Unspoken and Unsayable in Chinese Poetry and Philosophy.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

The Owl Told Me Join us for an evening of owl exploration. Listen and learn to call for the Great Horned Owl as they woo their mates. At 6 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Fee is $5-$7, reservations required. 525-2233. 

“Visual History of the Albany Shoreline” Photographs and maps of cattle ranching, dynamite factories, horseracing, military operations, dumps, art, and wildlife on display at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. 

Radio Camp Build an FM trasmitter and learn the fundamentals of micropower broadcasting in this 4-day workshop in Oakland. Class runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is $150-$200 sliding scale. For information and to register call 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

“Three Beats for Nothing” meets every Friday at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. 655-8863, 843-7610. 

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

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

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

SATURDAY, JAN. 15 

“Winter Blooms!” Free garden tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Help Bring Back the Wild Join the Bayshore Stewards as we restore a rare tidal marsh on the UC Richmond Field Station, near the Bay Trail in Richmond, from 9 a.m. to noon. We will install native plants along the marsh edge and help create habitat for endangered species. We provide tools, gloves, rain gear and refreshments, and instruction on planting. Heavy rain will cancel the event. For more information call Elizabeth 231-9566. 

Green Design for Everyday People We will discuss the process of green design and how we all can have beautiful living and working spaces that are not toxic to ourselves or our environment. Topics will include cleaners, paints, sealers, furnishings, flooring, energy efficient systems and products. Bring a rough plan of your space if possible. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Junior Ranger Aide Training in the afternoon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. For more information call 525-2233. 

Pre-School Storytime for ages 3-5 at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. Ends Feb 19 

Winter Color in the Garden at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Historical and Botanical Tour of Chapel of the Chimes, a Julia Morgan landmark, every third Sunday at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. at Pleasant Valley. Reservations required 228-3207. www.chapelofthechimes.com  

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. 

ONGOING 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers. Help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills; become a WriterCoach Connection mentor to Berkeley students. For information call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org 

Youth Speaks Winter Workshops in writing and spoken word begin Jan. 24 in Berkeley and Oakland. For more information call 415-255-9035. www.youthspeaks.org 

Bay Interpretive Training Ongoing classes on the Bay, the seashore and environment held at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. at the Berkeley Marina. 981-6720. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina 

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Seeks Host Gardens The Bringing Back the Natives Garden tour, which will be held in the spring of 2005, will showcase Alameda and Contra Costa County gardens that contain at least 30% native plants, don’t use synthetic pesticides of fertilizers, and provide habitat for wildlife. This tour is sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program, the Urban Creeks Council, and the National Wildlife Federation. To be added to the mailing list, or to receive a host application, contact Kathy Kramer at Kathy@KathyKramerConsulting.net or 236-9558.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Mon., Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

City Council meets Tues., Jan. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. 

ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Jan. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Don Brown, 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disability 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Jan. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/prc 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/housing 

Library Board of Trustees meets Thurs. Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at 1901 Russell St., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/library 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Iris Starr, 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  ¨

Our often amazing Gov. Schwarzenegger has outdone himself this time. He’s going to improve education and save money at the same time by tying teachers’ pay to how well their students do. It’s a safe bet that if California’s per-student expenditures on education continue to be among the lowest in the country, our students will continue to fail—thus saving the state money. It’s a brilliant idea—amazing that no one has thought of it before. But the problem is that teacher pay represents a pretty small part of California’s billion-dollar budget shortfall, so keeping teachers on short rations won’t do all that much to save money. We have a modest suggestion: How about taking the concept and applying it to other branches of government? What if all state and local employees were paid by how well they did their job, instead of by how much they’ve been able to squeeze out of government with well-placed campaign contributions to the right people?  

Take prison guards, for example. According to commentator Van Jones, “despite pay hikes in 1998, 1999 and 2000, [former Gov. Davis] approved raising the average prison guard salary…to a whopping $73,428 by 2006. That will cost taxpayers an extra $120 million this year. By 2006, the annual price tag will be about $700 million.”  

Let’s compare that with the salaries of Berkeley public school teachers. The lowest salary offered last year, entry-level, was $33,848. The average was $57,059, and the top of the range was $70,358 (i.e. less than the average prison guard.)  

Last week the Gobernator announced that he was reorganizing the California prison system. His new plan changes the name of the organization to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and it will operate adult prisons as well as the juvenile facilities now run by the California Youth Authority. Here’s a great idea: How about paying prison guards based on how well they rehabilitate prisoners? Merit pay based on lowering the recidivism rate: It’s fair, and it’s cost effective. Since prison guards are paid so much more than teachers, the percentage saving per employee if guards were paid for performance would add up to much more.  

Or, on the local level, how about applying the merit pay system to police officers? If the crime rate goes down on your beat, you get a raise, but if it goes up, your pay goes down. 

Here’s the starting level pay for police, as posted on the City of Berkeley’s website: “Police Officers (Entry Level)$69,156 - $86,064 annual salary… the city provides $1000 annual uniform allowance.” Compare that to entry-level teachers’ salaries, and you can see that the savings will be much greater if the merit system is applied to police officers instead of teachers.  

(And how about that uniform allowance? Teachers have to dress respectably, yet they pay for their own clothes. They even have to pay for their teaching supplies much of the time these days. If police officers had to pay for their own clothes and supplies, think how much could be saved.) 

Performance-based pay scales would work in other government jobs too. Planners could be compensated only for projects where their recommendations are not challenged by either applicants or citizens. Arborists could be paid according to how many trees they plant which thrive, and docked if trees die under their care. Those new systems which track auto speed could be used to set pay for highway patrol officers: If fewer drivers speed on your watch, your pay goes up.  

Even legislators could be put on the merit system. Do-nothing assemblymembers from safe districts who snooze through legislative hearings and seldom sponsor a bill could have their pay reduced, perhaps to the level of the average schoolteacher’s salary.  

The opportunities are endless. In fact, the only real problem with Schwarzenegger’s plan is that he’s applying it to the wrong end of the pay scale. Setting up a system to extract a few bucks from poorly paid teachers is a waste of time and money—let’s start with the well-paid government employees first, and score some real savings.  

—Becky O’Malley

The citizens of Berkeley have shown, yet again, that they can’t be fooled by the army of lawyers and planners (including the local firm DCE) that the University of California has arrayed against them to support yet another grandiose expansion plan. Both City Hall and numerous individuals with sharp pencils and good educations (often courtesy of UC Berkeley) have dissected the environmental impact report supplied for the university’s long range development plan, and lambasted it both for what it contains and for what it doesn’t contain. What the report discloses is horrendous enough: many more square feet of building mass in undisclosed locations, accommodations for many more cars, and other manifestations of uncontrolled growth. But even worse is what it doesn’t disclose, for example the University’s plans for development of its toxic site at the former Richmond Field Station, rechristened Campus Bay for marketing purposes, and the future of Lawrence Berkeley Lab, dependent of course on whether the federal government decides to re-invest in UC management skills.  

The current struggle is over the adequacy of the EIR itself. No one except the University has suggested that it’s a true and fair representation of all future plans. 

The California Environmental Quality Act provides that project proponents must disclose potentially harmful environmental impacts and mitigate them if possible. For impacts that can’t be mitigated, a statement of overriding considerations (saying why the project is really really important) has to be adopted by the regulatory body responsible for the project, in this case the UC Board of Regents. The City of Berkeley and citizen watchdogs have pointed out in detail what the EIR lacks, and it’s theoretically possible that the Regents could direct that it be fixed up. If not, again theoretically, someone could sue to force them to fix it up: the City of Berkeley, individuals or groups like the Sierra Club. In an ideal world, a decent EIR might materialize at some point in time.  

But while the EIR discussion is going on, it’s even more important to talk about the substance of UC Berkeley’s future program plans, both revealed and concealed. Overbuilding in Berkeley is a symptom of the problem, but it’s not the problem itself. Just because the University of California at Berkeley has been a good school in the past, as many of us who went there would agree, doesn’t mean that putting it on steroids will make it better. It’s already too big and too impersonal, and too many of its students are managing to graduate without getting what used to be called a broad liberal arts education. The factory-like atmosphere, with no quality control department, is producing some graduates who can’t express themselves adequately in writing, don’t know any foreign language, don’t have a grasp of simple statistics or a rudimentary acquaintance with science or the arts.  

Huge classes make it easier for students to disguise what they haven’t learned. If the Regents were to adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations which pledged that the new buildings would be used to improve the education of undergraduates, or would make it possible to admit more students from low-income families and under-represented minorities, many in Berkeley would cheer them on. That’s not what’s happening. 

As several of our correspondents have noted, there’s every reason to believe that UC’s Berkeley expansion is slated to accommodate the needs of for-profit industry, the biotechnology industry in particular. Many of us voted for the big stem-cell ballot measure in November because we sincerely believed that it would aid scientific progress, and it probably will. But we didn’t understand what an immense cash cow for drug companies it would turn out to be—news of how the money from the Stem Cell Initiative will be allocated is just now getting out, and the details haven’t been completed. There’s good reason to think that the biotech industry is supposed to be the anchor tenant for the 23 buildings, each with square footage equal to the six-story Civic Center building, that UC proposes to add to already-crowded Berkeley over the next 15 years.  

While the watchdogs are watching the EIR for the Long Range Development Plan, they might just add the task of following the stem cell money to their list. 

—Becky O’Malley