The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Directors voted 3-2 Wednesday to kill a proposal to consider a regulation high school baseball field for its Derby Street properties. 

Two members of the prevailing side said they cast their votes for procedural reasons only, suggesting that they might consider the baseball field option in the future. 

The board rejected pleas by members of Berkeley High’s three baseball teams to move forward with the construction of a new baseball field at Derby Street. 

Teams now practice and play on the city-owned baseball diamond at San Pablo Park in south Berkeley, about 20 blocks from Berkeley High. 

“San Pablo Park is a terrible place to play,” said Michael Durant, a senior who will be playing at Texas A&M University next year. “Before every game we have to get there early to put up a fence—that’s terrible. And last year, we could only practice there an hour a day because we got kicked off by an Albany Little League team.” 

Another player, Lucas Fogerty, criticized playing conditions at San Pablo Park, saying that “rocks in the infield make ground balls really superb. Going to away games at other schools is like playing on your dream field. It’s like heaven.” 

And D.J. Brooks, a sophomore, complained of the long walk from Berkeley High to San Pablo Park to get to practice. Brooks said that Berkeley High has “one of the best high school teams in the area, but we’ve got one of the worst fields in the area. The field should fit our team.” 

One East Campus neighbor told board members that while “we’d love to have [the baseball players] in the neighborhood,” he supported “the real compromise that’s out there that keeps Derby open and accommodates baseball on the East Campus site in some form.” 

Last April, the board of directors voted to tear down the abandoned East Campus buildings on the district-owned block surrounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Derby, Milvia, and Carleton streets and putting the property to different use. 

A month later, on a resolution introduced by directors Terry Doran and Shirley Issel, the board voted to “declare their support for pursuing the development of a large multi-purpose athletic facility at East Campus that would include a regulation-sized baseball field.” 

Included in that resolution was an acknowledgment that the proposed ballfield “would eventually require the closure of Derby Street” between the two district properties of East Campus and the Berkeley Alternative High School. The 2004 resolution also acknowledged that the Derby Street closure could not take place without approval by the Berkeley City Council. The resolution passed 4-0, with then-Board president John Selawsky abstaining. 

Meanwhile, the district moved forward with its plans to develop the East Campus portion of the two properties, creating an East Campus Site Committee and hiring WLC Architects of Emeryville to develop a proposal. Part of WLC’s charge was that it not consider closure of Derby Street at this time. 

This week, a week after WLC held its final community meeting on the East Campus redevelopment plans, the BUSD board rejected Director Terry Doran’s resolution for WLC to add the Derby Street closure and the expanded baseball field to its considerations of site plans. (Issel, Riddle, and Selawsky, no; Doran, Rivera yes; Student Director Dorman-Colby yes in an advisory vote.) 

Both Director Issel and Board President Nancy Riddle said it was the last-minute addition of the ballfield proposal at the end of the process—and not the ballfield proposal itself—which caused them to vote against Doran’s resolution. 

“I lean toward closing Derby Street and building the baseball field,” Issel said, “but to ask the Site Committee to change its itinerary at this point seems to me to be lacking in integrity. Maybe it was a bad decision not to include the Derby Street closure in our original charge to the architects, but it was our decision. Changing that decision at this point would be unethical.” 

Speaking to Doran, Issel said, “If we’d included this discussion when we started this process, I think you would have had my vote.” 

Riddle said that she “did support the vote we took last year to urge the city to close Derby Street. I haven’t changed my decision on that.” 

Riddle agreed following the meeting that it is “possible” that the district could pursue the Derby Street closure/baseball field option while still moving forward with the East Campus property plans. 

“My objection was in combining the two issues together at this time,” she said. “The Derby closure involves an entirely different set of criteria and if we were to do that, it might mean bringing in a different group of stakeholders, and possibly hiring a different firm to run the process.” 

In explaining his vote, Selawsky said, “While I won’t say [Doran’s resolution] is a slap in the face, I think it’s a disservice to the community to turn this project around at the last minute.” 

That contention was disputed by Doran, who said that his resolution “does not get us a baseball field. I merely introduced it in response to the fact that our community has been having informal discussions over the closing of Derby and building a ballfield, and we need to make it a formal discussion.” 

Rivera said, “I have been consistent in my support for a baseball field and the closing of Derby Street.” 

Adding the baseball field option to WLC’s charge “would correct the wrong that took place when we left this out when we started the planning process,” he said. “We may find out that we don’t have enough money to build a baseball field. But we should find that out sooner than later.” 

The sharp divide within the board and in the larger community on the Derby closure/baseball field issue was mirrored in the district itself. 

“While we need the fields, no doubt about that, we need to do this in stages,” said Superintendent Michelle Lawrence. “Unless you bring on more staff, we can’t take on the project of a new baseball field. It would not be my recommendation to do this at this time.” 

BHS Athletic Director Kristin Glenchur, in an e-mail to board members released by the district, wrote, “Not having a BUSD controlled [baseball] field forces us to rely on the use of the one regulation size field in Berkeley, San Pablo Park. So I support the consideration of a plan for a regulation sized baseball field. In addition to being close to the high school and convenient for our students, it is the only BUSD owned property which will accommodate a regulation size field.” 

BUSD baseball coach Tim Moellering, who organized a rally of baseball team players and adult supporters outside of the Old City Hall building before the meeting, wore a t-shirt reading, “Derby Street Park. If You Build It We Can Play.” 

Moellering told board members that he’d heard several reasons why neighbors don’t want a ballfield on the Derby Street site, including, “It’s only for 40 rich white boys who live in the hills.” 

Gesturing back towards the crowd of racially diverse players, Moellering said, “I think about four of them are rich, but rich boys should be able to play baseball, too.”›

Amid news that Berkeley’s Volvo dealership, and the more than $100,000 in annual sales tax revenue it generates, is packing off to Emeryville, the City Council Tuesday debated how to attract new businesses. 

“Right now we don’t have anything to offer [companies] except it’s great to come to Berkeley,” said City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

Increasing revenue from business taxes is pivotal to preserve city services, Kamlarz told the council. Skyrocketing employee benefits have contributed to a $10.9 million structural budget deficit over the next two years. And with residents rejecting new taxes, he said, city officials must find ways to raise revenues to avoid cuts that include losing a fire truck and school crossing guards this summer. 

Mayor Tom Bates insisted that the city manager return next month with strategies to build commercial zones along five traffic corridors: San Pablo Avenue, Shattuck Avenue south of Dwight Way, and Ashby Avenue, University Avenue, and Gilman Street, all west of San Pablo. 

“These are great opportunities for us,” the mayor said. “We have to look at land use rules there. If not, we’re just going to drift.” 

In other matters Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the “structure of merit” designation granted to 2040 Fourth St., home of Celia’s Mexican Restaurant. The council also unanimously rejected an appeal of a use permit for a condo development at 2700 San Pablo Ave. and approved both a city auditor’s report on parking enforcement and contracts with environmental planners for developers looking to speed up the city’s permitting process. 

McKevitt Volvo’s departure announcement was a long time in the coming, company employees said. 

“We’ve wanted to move to a more prominent location for a long time,” said Warren Johnson, a salesman at McKevitt Volvo and Nissan. He added that Volvo also wanted the dealership in locale “where we would move more than 30 cars a month.” 

In 18 months, Johnson said his company is slated to relocate from 2700 Shattuck Avenue to just across from Ikea in Emeryville. 

“It’s the busiest traffic corridor in the area,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t know if Berkeley had a comparable site.”  

McKevitt’s move is not a total loss for Berkeley’s tax base. Johnson said the dealership, which rents its Berkeley showroom, expected to keep its Nissan operations in Berkeley and might use the Volvo lot to sell used cars. 

Including McKevitt, Berkeley is home to five car dealerships, which all rank among the city’s top sales tax generators, according to Finance Director Fran David. 

“To match the revenue of one car dealership, someone would have to generate $45 million in retail sales,” she said.  

Berkeley’s other dealerships, located mostly on South Shattuck are also at risk to flee the city, said David Fogerty of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. 

“They’re all under pressure from their parent companies to relocate close to the freeway,” he said. 

Complicating efforts for the city to keep the dealerships, Fogerty added, the South Berkeley Plan, completed in 1990, doesn’t allow new dealerships on South Shattuck. City zoning laws also prohibit dealerships on substantial portions of Berkeley’s main corridors by I-80: Gilman Street, Ashby Avenue and University Avenue. 

Many lots on those avenues are zoned for light industrial and artisan uses. Mayor Bates said he wants to see small revisions to the West Berkeley Plan so the city could build commercial zones on the streets near I-80.  

Increasing commercial development in West Berkeley is sure to meet opposition from artists and industrialists who fear that encroaching retail shops will drive up rents and force them out of Berkeley. 

Aware of the entrenched opposition, Bates said Tuesday, “I recognize there are people who don’t want any change, but things happen.” 

Despite the impending loss of McKevitt, Berkeley tax revenues are projected to jump $5 million to $115 million next fiscal year, due to better than expected returns on property taxes and property sales, according to Finance Director David. 

The sales tax, projected at $13.5 million and the business license tax, projected at $10.6 million have remained flat in recent years, due to a sluggish economy and increased competition from Emeryville and El Cerrito, Fogerty said. Property-based taxes remain the city’s top revenue generator, taking in nearly $28 million—about 23 percent of all revenue in the city’s general fund. 

To increase revenues, councilmembers suggested a few new taxes, all of which Kamlarz rejected because they were either illegal or would require voter approval. Councilmember Linda Maio inquired about a surcharge on video rentals and movie tickets, while Councilmember Laurie Capitelli asked if the city could tax Internet purchases made by residents. 

City staff hinted that they would consider going to voters with an increase to the business license tax, which didn’t sit well with business representatives at Tuesday’s meeting. 

“Be careful before you do that to business,” said Lisa Bullwinkel, executive director of the Solano Avenue Association. She also urged the city to staff the Office of Economic Development better. 

Celia’s designation hearing 

At the request of councilmember Darryl Moore, the City Council will hold a hearing April 26 on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of 2040 Fourth St. as a “structure of merit.” The building, which is home to Celia’s Mexican Restaurant, is proposed to be torn down to build a square block of condos at the University Gate to the city. 

The LPC must give approval to the final project, which Don Deibel of the developer Urban Housing Group said he feared would “make the development nearly impossible.” 

Asked about his request for a public hearing, Moore said: “Unfortunately landmarking procedure was used to stymie development on that site. I don’t think that that was appropriate.” 

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The Berkeley public schools Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday night to expel a Berkeley High School student for one year for bringing a gun on campus in her backpack last month. 

The student was arrested by Berkeley police during the incident after telling school officials and police that she had brought the gun to school by accident. 

The vote, which was taken in closed session and announced in the board’s public session, upheld an expulsion committee’s recommendation, and identified the unnamed female student only as “Case Number 04051.” 

No further details on the vote or punishment were provided by Board Director Nancy Riddle. 

A recent article in the Berkeley High Jacket, the high school’s student-run newspaper, provided details about the Feb. 3 incident that have not been released by school or district officials. Some of the information reported in the student paper seemed to contradict the district’s version of events. 

The Feb. 18 article, written by BHS student Rina Breakstone, said that “the girl showed the gun to a few of her classmates” in Madalyn Theodore’s fourth period American Literature class. 

The article continued, “Although the girl and her father both say that she had brought the gun to school by accident, many people still are not assured of the validity of that statement. ‘She let one of the kids [in the classroom] touch the gun so I don’t think she forgot about having the gun,’ said [one] girl who reported the initial incident to Theodore.” 

The article quoted a sophomore in Theodore’s class that “from what I overheard, it sounded like she was possibly going to shoot a student that day,” but that account was not confirmed by any other students, or by BHS Vice Principal of Discipline and Safety Denise Brown, who interviewed the expelled student before she was arrested. 

The Jacket article also added that Theodore, in whose class the incident took place, “is somewhat doubtful” that the girl’s actions were accidental. 

“There were several kids who came up to me and said she was showing [the gun] to them at lunch,” Theodore was quoted in the paper as saying. “The police reports from me and from the other students contradict [the idea that it was accidental].” 

Berkeley High officials have said the unnamed student’s father confirmed he gave her the gun “for safekeeping from her siblings.” 

Assistant Alameda County District Attorney Walter Jackson of the department’s juvenile decision said the DA’s office has not yet made a decision as to whether to charge the student with a crime. Criminal charges could also be brought against the student’s father for providing her with the weapon.

A career Berkeley cop will become the city’s next police chief. 

Doug Hambleton, 51, currently the BPD patrol captain, has been selected to replace outgoing chief Roy Meisner. 

If the City Council approves the hire as expected on Monday, Hambleton, who began his career with the BPD 29 years ago, would become chief next Friday. 

“Doug knows the community, he has the respect of the officers and he has a good sense of the things we need to do now,” said City Manager Phil Kamlarz.  

Kamlarz picked Hambleton out of a field of six finalists that included two of Hambleton’s fellow BPD captains, Stephanie Fleming and Bobby Miller. 

Hambleton, who was born in Berkeley and raised in Pleasant Hill, has a bachelor’s degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley and a master’s in management from Cal State Pomona. 

Since joining Berkeley’s force in 1976, Hambleton has served in nearly every police division, and worked as project manager for construction of the Tsukamoto Public Safety Building and the department’s community-involved policing project. 

“I’m real buoyed that the city manager has the confidence in me and I’m anticipating the challenge of the job,” Hambleton said. He added that outgoing chief Roy Meisner had left the department in good shape for him. 

Meisner, who like Hambleton was a career Berkeley cop, announced his retirement after two and a half years as chief. His short tenure as chief bolstered his annual retirement pension, adding to the city’s already heavy pension burden. 

Hambleton said he gave Kamlarz a five-year oral commitment and insisted he had no plans to be a caretaker chief. “My feeling is if you take over a job like this, you need to stay long enough to get some things done,” he said. 

Asked about his top priorities, Hambleton said he wanted to continue working on the city’s community policing effort, improve the department’s crime analysis capabilities and upgrade its means of sharing information with the public. 

The BPD has a reputation for being tight-lipped about its work compared to neighboring forces. While Hambleton said the department is often prohibited from sharing information, he said the BPD was exploring ways to disseminate more information on its website and alert residents of nearby criminal activity.  

The department’s community policing effort has come under fire from members of the South Berkeley Crime Prevention Council, who have asked that the department consistently deploy the same officers to specific beats and improve communication between the department and community groups. 

Hambleton, who declined to delve into specifics, said he thought Berkeley community policing model was sound, but agreed there was room for improvement. 

Hambleton enters the top job during tough budget times when the department faces the loss of seven vacant positions. 

“There will probably be some things we won’t be able to do, but we can still do a good job with basic services,” Hambleton said. Budget constraints, Hambleton added, could make it difficult to hire a full-time crime analyst, a high department priority. Currently the BPD employs a retired officer part time to analyze crime trends. 

To improve the department’s ability to analyze crime and dispense data to residents better, Hambleton is banking on the city’s buying a new computerized dispatch system, estimated to cost more than $2.5 million. 

Hambleton’s ascension to the police department’s top job was largely cheered by local police watchers.  

“I think he’ll be excellent,” said David Ritchie of the Police Review Commission. “Doug has always been very willing to understand the concerns of all of Berkeley and is willing to work with everyone.” 

Trudy Washburn, a member of the Berkeley Safe Neighborhood Committee, complimented Hambleton as someone who communicates well with residents. “He has a very even manner,” said Washburn, who recalled Hambleton’s work during the KPFA strike in 1999. “He was out there very calmly keeping things under control.” 

Michael Diehl, a homeless activist, however, said he had some reservations about the appointment. “He seems to say the right things and then do something else,” said Diehl. He charged that Hambleton had backed out of agreements with homeless activists not to arrest people in homeless encampments. 

Hambleton’s appointment came as a surprise to some who thought Berkeley-native BPD Capt. Stephanie Fleming had the inside track to becoming the next chief. 

“Maybe Stephanie hasn’t been captain long enough,” mused Nikki Williams of Berkeley Youth Alternatives. “She’ll be a fabulous chief when it’s her time.” 

Hambleton takes over a relatively young department that saw many of its veteran officers retire several years ago when the city negotiated a more lucrative retirement package. 

Although Hambleton is now twice the age of some of Berkeley’s youngest officers, he can still keep up with them on his bicycle. Hambleton is a regular participant in the BPD’s annual Turkey Ride for charity. The ride take some of the BPD’s fittest officers on their bikes to the Sierras to raise money to feed the less fortunate on Thanksgiving. 

Hambleton said he planned to follow the lead of one of his predecessors, former chief Ronald Nelson, who didn’t miss a Turkey ride. 

“That’s not something I plan to give up,” he said. 

›

Bombs flew at Monday’s Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting, both literally and metaphorically. 

The literal bombs were of the nuclear and cluster sort, devices that figured in the histories of two buildings up for landmark consideration. The metaph orical devices were flung at each other by commissioners, by building owners, and by rival petitioners to landmark the same buildings. 

Commissioner Aran Kaufer, who will be replaced by a nominee of City Councilmember Darryl Moore, said he intended to use his last meeting to speak his mind, which he did. 

Austin Co. Building 

The first fracas of the evening pitted a West Berkeley artists’ collective against the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. At issue were two rival landmarking applications for three structures owned by the society that house the gallery and work spaces of the Nexus Institute. 

One version, by preservationist John English, emphasized the role of the collective in the history of the buildings; the version authored by Michael Corbett for the Humane Society ignored it, on that grounds that the collective, as a 1964 arrival, was too new to merit consideration. 

Corbett has challenged local preservationists before, most notably in the cases of the landmarking of 1891 Ellen Blood House at 252 6 Durant Ave. in Berkeley, where he held that the house was a significantly altered version of a not-uncommon original. The LPC voted to landmark the property anyway. 

In his latest Berkeley appearance, Corbett argued in favor of landmarking the buildings, but rejecting any mention of Nexus. A majority of the commission disagreed, landmarking the Austin Co. brick prefabricated steel-framed Standard Tool & Die Building. 

The commission excluded from the designation two metal-sided buildings, one of which d uring World War II manufactured parachute-dropped fragmentation bombs, the precursor of the modern cluster bomb. 

Officers and supporters of the Humane Society rose to argue for Corbett’s designation, while Nexus supporters rose to argue for a more inclus ionary designation. The arguments elicited a modicum of scorn from Commissioner Patricia Dacey. 

“Unfortunately, everyone’s saying there’s no adversarial relationship when we’re getting sucked in to some kind of psychodrama,” she said, adding that she was fine with withholding the Nexus Institute name from the building so long as the group’s role was spelled out in the body of the resolution. 

Commissioner James Samuels said he wanted to skip any mention of the bomb factory. 

“I find it rather appalling t hat we are including in the discussion of (the building’s) merit one of the most unfortunate weapons developed in this country,” he said. 

“My suggestion is to include it precisely because it is so horrifying,” Commissioner Carrie Olson said. 

“I am disin clined to whitewash anything,” Dacey said. “It would be weirdly politically correct to be disappearing this part of the history.” 

“I don’t see how we can get around historical uses without mentioning the most significant, awful as it is,” Commissioner Fr an Packard said. 

Kaufer said that while he supported landmarking the Austin Co. building, he felt the other two structures didn’t even rise to the lesser designation of structure of merit, provoking more disagreement and arguments among the commissioners. 

The commissioners voted down landmarking all three buildings on a five-to-four vote, then rejected eight-to-one a counterproposal from Packard that called for rejection of all three. 

Finally, Olson offered a compromise that called for landmarking the Austin building, denied any designation to the other structures but landmarked their sites and the accompanying history, Nexus included. It sailed through, with Packard casting the lone dissenting vote. 

The fate of Nexus remains uncertain. Spokesperson R obert Brockl said the group is willing to make needed seismic upgrades to the buildings if the Humane Society extends their lease, which ends shortly. 

Berkeley Piano Club 

Then, after a lengthy discussion of proposed repairs at one of Berkeley’s more not able artistic landmarks, the Julia Morgan Center, representatives of another cultural institution stepped up to seek their own designation for the Berkeley Piano Club. 

Designed by William Lee Woollett, who later designed the Metropolitan Theater in Los A ngeles (later the Million Dollar Theater), the first of Sid Grauman’s lavish silent-era movie palaces, the 1912 Berkeley Piano Club is a modest wood and stucco structure. 

Under Berkeley’s landmark ordinance, the building’s performance venue and murals do n’t qualify for designation, but its history and surviving exterior features do, a fact which disturbed club architect Tom McMillan, who said, “We don’t want you to have any purview over the exterior,” having heard the long discussion about what repairs a t the Julia Morgan would entail. 

Assured of the commission’s kindly disposition, McMillan relented because the landmarking designation would help the club make much-needed repairs under the state historic buildings code rather than local codes, which would require alterations to the performance structure. 

Dating from 1893, the Berkeley Piano Club is one of the few musical clubs in the nation to own its own building. The club has played host to a wide range of performers and is internationally known. It’s also the venue for aspiring pianists in search of a venue to study and play. 

The 1913 home that sits at the front of the lot was also included, in part because it served as the final residence of noted Berkeley architect John Galen Howard, and in part because it housed the evening’s other bomb-maker, one of the crew of Berkeley Manhattan Project scientists who used an upstairs workshop to design a triggering mechanism for the first nuclear weapons. 

Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of landmarki ng both structures. 

Maybeck skirmishes 

The final bombs of the evening were entirely verbal, lobbed by owners of Bernard Maybeck homes on Buena Vista Road and by the departing Kaufer. 

Robert Pennell sought to landmark his home at 2750 Buena Vista Way, w hich is based on sketches by Maybeck and includes a fireplace he designed. 

Owners of two nearby Maybecks which have been proposed for landmarking over their wishes angrily challenged Pennell and voiced their strong opposition to landmarking their own homes. 

Neighbor Thad Kusmierski charged that Pennell had sought landmark status to prevent Kusmierski from creating an addition to his own home at 2730 Buena Vista. “It’s only because they want to stop our addition,” said his spouse, Anna. 

Because Pennell’s home deviated from the sketches, Kaufer raised the question of whether or not the building even qualified as a Maybeck, prompting an angry retort from Carrie Olson.  

“Please be quiet, because you have no pedigree” to talk about the designs of Bernard Maybeck, she snapped. 

“Since this is my last meeting, I’m going to say what I want to say,” Kaufer declared. “It’s being done for the wrong reason. A historical district is the only way to do it. Having two neighbors fighting is the worst thing about thi s commission.” 

“Simply because someone wants to use me as a club doesn’t mean I’ll let myself be used as a club,” responded Dacey. 

“I feel the same discomfort Aran does,” said Commissioner James Samuels, as Packard also agreed. 

Because midnight was min utes away, the LPC’s deadline for vacating the North Berkeley Senior Center, Kaufer’s argument carried the evening and sent commissioners back to the drawing board. 

Angry opponents, frustrated at having to wait through more than three hours of other hear ings, received a promise that the item would head the list for the commission’s next meeting in April. 

Kaufer saved his final shot for the last item on the agenda, a unanimously approved request to demolished a corrugated metal building at 2039 Fourth St. 

Directing his gaze to Leslie Emmington, who had passionately argued for preservation of the metal clad structures on the Humane Society property, and offered a departing barb: “But Leslie, it’s such a nice tin shack.”  

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Library workers Wednesday railed against library trustees and a director who they said have ignored their concerns while cutting seven jobs. 

“In 34 years with the library, I’ve never seen morale so low or the staff so angry,” said library employee Anne-Marie Miller at the Library Board of Trustees meeting.  

Holding back tears, reference librarian Andrea Moss addressed Library Director Jackie Griffin: “We don’t know how to have a conversation with you and we need to.” 

In response to a $850,000 budget shortfall, Griffin proposed a restructuring plan for board approval aimed at maintaining service levels while cutting staff to balance its books. The board, as expected, held off voting on the budget plan until its April meeting. 

Griffin’s plan originally called for 12 layoffs out of a staff of 157, but due to five recent resignations at the library, Griffin said approximately seven staff members would lose their jobs. 

Trustee Terry Powell said the board was considering holding a public workshop on the budget before the next board meeting. Beginning next week the union will begin talks with city officials over the plan. Previously the talks only involved library officials. 

Library employees dominated the public comment session and lambasted both Griffin and the board for not addressing staff concerns or giving them a formal time during the meeting to present their arguments. 

“We have city councilmembers talking to us, but you are our City Council and we can’t talk to you,” Librarian Claudia Morrow told the board. “How else can you understand what it’s like to work at the library?” 

Employees argue that Griffin’s proposal disproportionately targets lower level workers for layoffs, while leaving management jobs largely untouched. 

With the goal of creating a more flexible workforce, Griffin has proposed cutting mostly lower level positions, while offering many of the remaining employees in lower classifications the opportunity for promotions to higher paying jobs with a wider range of duties.  

“There’s so much fear that people aren’t listening to the opportunities we’re offering them,” Griffin said. 

Much of the check-out work currently done by staff is anticipated to be eliminated this July when the library completes installing Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) on its materials.  

Griffin has not yet formally responded to union cost saving suggestions to avoid layoffs, including reducing work weeks from 40 hours to 37.5 hours, eliminating managerial positions and instituting voluntary and mandatory time off programs. 

After Wednesday’s meeting, Griffin said she was open to some of the union cost savings proposals. However, she remained concerned that mandatory time off would result in library closures and reduced work weeks could disqualify some part-time employees from receiving benefits. 

During its debate, the board never mentioned the union’s proposals. Instead, it listened to presentations from library managers who framed the discussion as a choice between Griffin’s restructuring plan or cutting jobs without any restructuring. 

Griffin attributed the library’s deficit to soaring pension contributions that this year are estimated to cost 21 percent of each employee’s salary. Last year, facing a $600,000 deficit, the library reduced its hours and closed its doors on Sundays. The current shortfall is estimated at $850,000, down from Griffin’s original estimate of $1 million. Griffin said the deficit figured had changed because of savings achieved by not immediately replacing departed senior managers. 

After the meeting, employees continued to fume over Griffin’s stewardship of the library. 

“Many of the staff have lost confidence in the overall ability of the director to lead the library,” said Librarian Tom Dufour. 

“She’s threatened everyone with layoffs. She thought she could push through this reorganization without any union input,” said Jane Scantlebury, a reference librarian.  

Griffin maintained that she meets monthly with the staff, keeps an open e-mail dialog, and has frequently discussed her budget plans. 

“We do everything we can think of to be open and honest with them,” she said.  



A formal demand by city officials that UC Berkeley adhere to its parking tax appears likely to send a second town-gown dispute to the courtroom. 

In a March 4 letter to UC Berkeley parking head Nad Permaul, the city gave the university 30 days to begin collecting the tax and held that it owed the city three years of back tax revenue. 

“If they don’t pay, we’re going to take them to court,” said Mayor Tom Bates. 

But UC Counsel Stephen Morrell said that the university system had no intention of paying local parking taxes. “Even if the tax is permissible there is no legal way to make the university collect the tax for the city,” he said. 

The city estimates the tax would generate $600,000 a year from taxes on the university’s approximately 7,000 parking spaces. 

The demand for parking revenue is part of a full-court press by the city to squeeze more money from the university to compensate for services the city provides. As a state institution UC Berkeley is exempt from direct city taxes and assessments. Yet, with the city projecting budget shortfalls for the next four years, it has recently taken a more aggressive posture with the university.  

In February, the city sued the university over its long range growth plan after negotiations broke down over university payments to the city. Later this month, city officials have said they will begin billing UC Berkeley for sewer service and will file suit if the university doesn’t pay. 

“We believe this is simply part of an ongoing political strategy by the mayor,” said Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley spokesperson. In negotiations, Gilmore said, the university had offered to increase its annual payments to the city to $1.2 million. Berkeley is asking for between $1.4 and $2.1 million for sewers alone.  

Currently the city levies a ten percent tax on parking spaces that private parking operators collect and remit to the city.  

Berkeley officials argue that UC’s tax exemption doesn’t apply to the parking tax, because the tax is levied on parking lot users, not the university. “We believe it’s a proper approach to collecting taxes that all other parkers pay,” Chakos said. 

Any lawsuit would be pursued by city attorneys, she said. The statute of limitations prevents the city from demanding parking tax revenues from beyond three years. 

UC’s Morrell said that collecting the tax would place a costly burden on university operations. “We believe that although nominally it is a tax on users for parking, in reality it’s a tax on the university and the university is exempt from taxes,” he said. 

If Berkeley is successful other UC towns appear likely to follow the city’s lead. “If Berkeley can do it, we’ll do it in a second,” said Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin, whose city has also battled its campus over growth and money. 

Santa Cruz City Attorney John Barisone said that although his city hasn’t clashed with UC over parking taxes, he agreed with the city’s position. Several years ago, he added, UC rebuffed Santa Cruz’ demand that it collect a city tax on admissions to cultural events at the campus. 

“The general counsel at that time basically told us that he disagreed with my analysis and said we would have to sue them. At the time, the City Council didn’t want to litigate,” Barisone said.  

According to Chakos, although no UC campus pays city parking taxes, schools in other states do, including the University of Wisconsin, the University of South Dakota and the State University of New York. 

›

Planning Commissioners sang the praises of the proposed David Brower Center Wednesday night, but city planning staff wondered just how they could fit the complex into existing city zoning laws downtown. 

In another case, commissioners were forced to accept a condo project where the developer had figured out a way around the city’s inclusionary housing law for low-income tenants, while in a third instance, planners grumbled at being presented with yet another fait accompli by the university. 

The Brower Center building, named for the Berkeley-born environmentalist, features four floors of offices for environmental organizations over a ground floor of retail space and a 250-seat lecture hall/theater. 

The accompanying six-story building will house 96 units of affordable housing available exclusively to low-income tenants. 

Planners loved the project, but, as Project Planner Aaron Sage reminded them, approval will take some tweaking of the Downtown Plan. One possible solution floated by Sage was the creation of a “green” bonus, which would award density bonuses for construction of structures that meet recognized standards for energy efficiency. 

No decision was required of planners Wednesday because project developers had merely come to present a preview look at their plans. 

Low-income unit law 

Planners did have to confront an uncomfortable vote on another controversial project. 

Architect Timothy Rempel and spouse Elizabeth Miranda figured out a way around the city’s inclusionary housing law, which requires one or more low-income units in projects that include five or more dwelling units or five or more live/work units. 

Their project at 2209 and 2211 Fifth St. in West Berkeley features four apartments and two live/work units. Their application to build on the site was approved only after they fought back a challenge by neighbors and preservationists to landmark a Victorian cottage on the site. 

The fight to save the poorly maintained Amos Cottage, a modest 1878 Italianate built the year Berkeley became a city, was spearheaded by neighbor Stan Huncilman, a sculptor who lives in another Victorian at 2129 Fifth St. A divided Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected the application and the Zoning Adjustments Board approved the new project, which features four apartments and two live/work units. 

As explained by city Planning Manager Mark Rhoades, had Rempel and Miranda planned for six units of either type, the city’s inclusionary housing law would have required them to allot one for low-income tenants. But by splitting the types, they eased their project out of the requirement. 

“It was the intent when we passed the inclusionary requirement that he would have had to have offered one,” said Commissioner Rob Wrenn, who sat on the commission when the ordinance was adopted. 

“We’re all disturbed by this process. The developer of 2700 San Pablo has done the same thing by offering four live/work units in her building,” said Steve Wollmer of PlanBerkeley.org. 

John Gutierrez, attorney for the developers, reminded commissioners and staff that the law says what it says, and a reluctant commission was forced to concur, approving the tract map for the project. 

Rhoades promised to consult his staff and the city attorney’s office to find a way to change the city ordinance to conform with the original intent. 

Underhill Field Parking 

Commissioners were less than happy when Kerry O’Banion, associate director of Project and Environmental Planning for UC Berkeley’s office of Capital Projects, presented plans for Underhill Field, a four-level, 1,000-slot underground parking structure capped by an artificially surfaced playing field built between Haste Street and Channing Way for the two blocks extending west of College Avenue. 

The parking structure that once occupied the space was demolished in 1993, and cars have parked on the surface since then, O’Banion said. 

The announcement particularly annoyed Commissioner Wrenn, who noted the city’s current battle with the university to collect city parking fees the university claims it doesn’t have to collect from those who use its parking. 

“They’re shoving it down our throats, just like they did with the LRDP,” Wrenn said, referring to the UCB Long Range Development Plan, which is the target of another city lawsuit. 

“The city opposed the Underhill Master Plan in 1989, and when the city announced they were not supporting it when they went ahead with the Environmental Impact Report in 2000, the university went ahead anyway,” he said. 

“This is a huge parking structure,” Wrenn said. “They’re not just replacing the old structure; they’re expanding it.” 

Waterfront sports fields complex 

The commission also gave its blessings to creating a joint planning and review process to team their commission with other city commissions, other cities, the East Bay Regional Parks District and an assortment of sports and environmental organizations to develop a joint plan for the three-baseball-field, two-soccer-field complex to be built just south of where Gilman Street dead-ends into the waterfront. 

The parks district received $3 million in Proposition 40 Urban Parks Act funds for the projects, and the cities and other groups are also raising funds to create the playing fields in a section of the East Bay sadly lacking in public recreation facilities. 

Many meetings and more money will be needed before the project comes to fruition. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington appeared earlier in the meeting to plead for a full-scale hardball field at the site, but the plans include two softball fields and a high-school-scale hardball field. Both soccer fields are regulation-sized. 

During the discussion, Rhoades mentioned that the city’s Waterfront Plan could include a hotel sometime in the future on the portion of Golden Gate Fields within city limits. A hotel is one of the specific uses spelled out in the plan, Rhoades said. 

The site currently houses the track’s stables. 

Rhoades’ disclosure came three days after Mayor Tom Bates denied a report that he had told an Albany City Councilmember that a hotel was planned for the site. 

Commissioners and staff also gave short shrift to another Worthington proposal, to approve a business quota system along a small section of Euclid Avenue where restaurants, which can typically pay higher rents than merchants, are driving out other small businesses. 

“I beg you, I implore you to put this on your agenda,” said Worthington, noting that the council had twice voted unanimously to send the same request to the commission. 

But Rhoades said the council’s mandate to devote staff time to revisions of the creeks ordinance had forced the tabling of many other projects, Worthington’s included. 

Later in the meeting, Commissioner Helen Burke again raised the issue. 

“Let Kriss Worthington deal with it at his level,” said Commissioner David Tabb. 

“There aren’t that many more food services that can go in there,” added Commissioner Susan Wengraf. 

“Of all the issues we have to face, this is pretty insignificant,” said Chair Harry Pollack. 

Of more importance, most agreed, was developing a uniform policy to regulate all the various bonuses a developer can use to build structures larger than the regular codes allow.

HEALTH CARE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In recent years, many Californians have been gouged by exorbitant hospital bills, especially those resulting from emergency room visits. Consequently, many of the uninsured avoid going to the hospital out of fear of the final price tag. In the effort to address such a serious issue, I am currently sponsoring Assembly Bill 774, which will place limits on the amount that hospitals can charge their uninsured patients. 

In order to better understand the scope of this problem, I am encouraging residents to share their stories. If you readers have been overcharged because of lack of insurance, and are facing over $10,000 in debt or even bankruptcy as a consequence, please have them contact my office at 286-1670, ext. 23. Their input will make a difference! 

Wilma Chan 

Assemblywoman, 16th District 

• 

LIBRARY MEETING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With regard to the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, March 9, why was a meeting of such interest to the community held at the South Branch, a building with very limited space, instead of at the newly remodeled Berkeley Public Library Central building?  

The citizens of the City of Berkeley paid for this building. What could be a more appropriate use for its new meeting spaces than a meeting which directly concerns the library and the community that uses it? Choosing the South Branch location instead suggests a desire on someone’s part to limit participation and attendance at the meeting. Whose decision was this? 

Shirley Stuart 

• 

ANGEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A message for Pat McCullough: Hurray for your continuing effort to aide our community. We need more heroes like you. Your heartfelt spirit, your time and energy hopefully will inspire others to follow in your footsteps. There are angels in all of us and you are the chosen one. 

Anna Marie 

• 

CLASS SIZE REDUCTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a parent of two children in the Berkeley public school system, I was confused when I read what Michelle Lawrence , superintendent wrote in regards to class size reduction, Measure B and the teachers action of work to rule (Daily Planet, March 1). For, according to the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, one of the issues of contention as laid forth in a flyer distributed to parents within the last few weeks, is also one of class size reduction. According to this flyer, “The board intends to: refuse to commit to reasonable class size limits, despite the BSEP/Measure B parcel taxes.” 

At first glance, I wondered what the problem could be. It seemed like both sides are in agreement, for Michele Lawrence, speaking for the district says, “ … the district is committed to the class size ratios we promised in Measure B. The class size averages will be 20:1 in grades K-3, 26:1 in grades 4-5, and 28:1 in grades 6-12.” 

Now, after reading between the lines, I have come to wonder if the sticking point on this issue might be that the district is speaking about averages (throughout the district), and that the teachers are speaking about fixed class size numbers for each and every class. For example, I am wondering if what the district is currently proposing would allow them to have a fifth grade of 30 students in one school, as long as there were less children in another fifth grade anywhere in the district, as long as it averaged out to 26 children. However, I am not in the know on this issue, and if my analysis is erroneous, I would appreciate the correct facts. 

But if my reading of this issue is correct, I have to say that as a parent who has watched my child suffer in classes of 30 children, that this idea of using averages across the district would be laughable if it were not so sad. What good does it do the child trapped in a class of 30, to know that across town, another fifth grader only has 25 other classmates? How can we reduce any child’s life to an average, a statistic? This makes absolutely no sense to me and as someone who voted for, and donated time working for the passage of Measure B, I am beginning to wonder if I have been duped. I understand that Measure B is up for renewal in two years; do you think the voters of Berkeley will approve it again, if this time, the district makes a mockery of its intent? 

I support the BFT in this issue and hope that they succeed in requiring that Berkeley Unified honor the intent of Measure B, that class size maximums should be written into the teachers’ contracts. What is a matter of working conditions for Berkeley’s teachers is, for Berkeley’s children, a matter of learning conditions. I urge other parents who have experienced large class sizes to voice their concern. 

Diana Rossi 

• 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing you from my grief about what is happening at the library. I had thought with the new building that the very best of all it had been would now be made real. Instead, I find that everything I love about the library is being taken away. This is a terrible way to learn the Dewey decimal system: the 300’s section has been stripped down which means the peoples’ histories, the folklore, unions, all that work that people did in the last century to build hope for a human oriented community. Much of that writing and public documentation has been casually discarded into a specially ordered dumpster. The new director of the last few years has suggested our library isn’t “balanced” enough. How dare she come into our town and strip our history out from under us before the next generations can see it! 

I had heard our library disagreed with the spying the federal government wants to do on our reading and us. I heard the library would avoid operating with scanning and reporting our reading interests. Now, I learn that this director, Jackie Griffin, has ordered and is installing the devices that scan chips she is placing in each book and that emit radioactive waves continually, possibly effecting workers health. I feel a secular sacred space in our community, source for our gathering democracy, a center where we celebrate our art and music and expression in words, grow our children’s minds and promote the best of our thinking, our library, has been raped by an interloper from the outside.  

I hear that she doesn’t believe in people working at the same place for more than three or four years. But, it’s the opposite with librarians: The longer they are there, the better they can be because they know the books best and have the most sense of the community’s history. But, she wants to fire librarians who meet the public, some who have been there for decades. She’s stripping the teens’ services that help youth find books, learn the library, and do homework. She’s installing machines to check out our books. She threatening to reduce the quilt displays that were so wonderful and remind us of the past and the incredible art done by women who are often seen as doing nothing but housework. They were historians and healers instead.  

She’s stealing our cultural heritage, and we’re paying her salary! Citizens should have had a vote about whether the chips (RFID’s) could be installed in the books and about dumping literary artifacts of our history. I say we should dump her and dump those chips and take the cost for extracting those chips out of her severance pay. And, keep the library workers; they keep the library being on a human scale. 

Nancy Delaney 

Save Our Library 

• 

THE PASSION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks very much for March 8 cartoon by Justin DeFreitas (“The Passion: Recut”). I am 75 and it brings back memories when I was in junior high school near Boston, when I was first called a Christ killer. Recently I saw a book review by Jimmy Breslin. His comment was, “It was Roman nails, Roman lumber and Roman soldiers.” 

Many thanks. 

Jack Melnick 

• 

ROSA PARKS COVERAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a parent of two (soon to be three) children at Rosa Parks Elementary School, I am often surprised at the positive attention paid to every other school in the district (except Berkeley High) while the coverage of our school remains negative. Our school went through serious changes last year, which I wasn’t supportive of. However, the changes I see this year are positive and I welcome the improvements. But I have not seen any positive coverage of Rosa Parks since last year. This creates the opinion that Rosa Parks is not a good school. Please, review our new science curriculum, as we are a science magnet, and our fabulous new teachers. We need positive coverage in order for families to feel good about Rosa Parks. We have many Spring activities planned and encourage your newspaper to cover any of them. While the news about teacher work-stoppages is important, so is the vitality of our schools. Please present a balanced portrayal of our school, there is much to love. 

Sally Torrez 

• 

FREE PRESS IN IRAQ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The story of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, whose car was attacked by a U.S. tank, is relevant to the question of how committed the U.S. military leadership is to the process of democracy, including a free press, in Iraq.  

For an answer to that question we should remember the story of Army Major Charmaine Means, who was at one time assigned the task of public relations in the city of Mosul. One day in May of 2003, Major General Petraeus decided that the local TV station, controlled by Iraqis, had too much freedom. So he ordered Major Means to seize the TV station with U.S. troops. Means refused to follow that illegal order.  

For her commitment to democracy, Charmaine Means was relieved of her post. It is a classic story of the lack of any commitment from the leadership of the occupation forces to any real freedom for the Iraqi people. Charmaine Means is truly one of the real military heroes of this war, and we can find a list of such people at www.tomjoad.org.  

Jim Harris  

• 

LESS SMOG MORE SMUG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Reading that Ms. Maio and Mr. Wozniak are proposing the city spend money on a study that considers the costs and benefits of allowing hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles to park for free at metered spaces (“City Audit Slams Parking Enforcement Practices,” Daily Planet, March 8-10) leads me to believe they are in bed with Toyota of Berkeley. Why else would they hold the elitist ideology that such a proposal stems from? While it is essential that city policies promote cleaner air, the majority of city residents are in no position to spend upwards of $30,000.00 to receive the perk of free meter parking. Why can’t we all be special? 

L.J. Cranmer  

• 

SCHOOL LABOR DISPUTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the labor dispute between BUSD and the teachers’ union: as a parent, I’m sympathetic to the teachers’ situation and respect how hard they work to educate my children. As a taxpayer, I appreciate Superintendent Michele Lawrence for straightening out the school district’s incredible financial mess and avoiding a state takeover of our school district.  

The person who so richly deserves criticism is our governor who has broken his promise to fully fund education and made it even more difficult for the cash-strapped BUSD to satisfactorily and speedily resolve the contract dispute. Write to the governor today and tell him how he’s hurting your children, teachers, and community. 

Brenda Buxton 

• 

AC TRANSIT BUSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

AC Transit’s Jaimie Levin (Letters, Daily Planet, March 8-10) correctly pointed out what I failed to mention—the one, single advantage of the new Van Hool buses: Tthe passenger enters almost on curb level, instead of climbing up the two steps of the older buses. However, she neglected to add that, while the passenger climbs up those entry steps in the older bus, the bus is standing still. 

The new buses are MOVING while the passenger climbs up a steep step into a seat, climbs down from the seat, searches for a button to signal departure, searches for something to hang onto while getting to the exit, then searches there for the button that works the electric door opener. 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

MORE ON BUSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In a March 8 letter, Jaimie Levin of AC Transit defends the Van Hool fleet of buses, without using comparative statistics. Ask riders which bus they’d rather ride in, and I suspect you’ll get different answers. The Van Hool’s have a teeth rattling ride, few seats with a good view, awkward ‘stop’ buttons, and third doors that rarely get used. This may be the latest European design, but when it comes to a bus, I prefer comfort over style. 

Bryce Nesbitt 

• 

BUSH’S DECISION-MAKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for publishing Bob Burnett’s article (Daily Planet, March 8-10) which analyzes and critiques Bush’s decision-making process. I am not convinced by the analysis in the article and, if I assume the analysis is correct, I disagree with the critique. 

The analysis (how he thinks the Bush administration operates) is too reductionist. I’ve little doubt that Burnett is probably right that the administration uses “blink”-style decision making in some situations. I question, deeply, the suggestion I see in Burnett’s analysis that “blink” is either unselfcritically applied by the administration or that it’s application is the result of a cult of loyalty rather than the result of a rational process. 

Nevertheless, if we assume that “blink” is one of the most important aspects of the administration, Burnett’s critique falls flat: 

First, Burnett should probably leave off trying to keep up with the technical and military game-playing questions that determine the wisdom of a NMD program. Bush does not operate in a vacuum and Burnett’s assumptions about the goals and technical status of the NMD program strike me as plainly naive for widely-known reasons that I will not rehearse here. He has heard that some geeks at MIT critique the program and that it is unlikely to protect the world from a cold-war-style global thermonuclear war —I agree with those facts—but Burnett then assumes that such absolute protection is the NMD goal and that the critiques from geeks condemn the program (in fact, they strengthen it). 

Second, Burnett conflates “blink” decision making with hubris. Making an analogy in the language of math, I think that “blink” and hubris are “orthogonal axes”: one can make blink decisions with or without hubris; one can display hubris with or without blink decision making. If Bush is guilty of hubris, his presumed use of “blink” decision making does not prove the charge. 

As a professional engineer (which might be accurately described as a career concerned with the craft of making practical decisions) I could write an essay defending this claim: refusal to rely on blink decisions when they are the best option, if such refusal is based on an arrogant and non-scientific philosophy, is hubris—in the mundane world of commercial engineering, there are countless examples of companies and projects that fail, hard, for that very reason. I don’t see any reason why global geopolitics should be very different from more mundane engineering, in that regard. 

Tom Lord 

• 

DOWNTOWN BART STATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This is the time to think about replacing the “drum” at the main downtown BART entrance, since BART is considering redesigning the downtown station and the city is doing planning to redesign the BART plaza.  

This faceless steel and glass structure at downtown BART should be replaced with something that works as a symbol of Berkeley, since this station is a major gateway to Berkeley, and since its position at a curve in the street makes it a very prominent building that is visible for a long distance down Shattuck Avenue. 

Replacing the drum itself should not cost much. It is as big as a small house, but it is just a shell, with no interior walls, no wiring, no plumbing, and no cost of land, so replacing it would cost much less than building a small house. 

I suggest that the city should hold a design contest. Invite people to submit conceptual designs to replace the drum that are appropriate symbols of Berkeley. I expect that many local architects, architecture students, and community groups would be interested in creating a design for such a prominent location—arguably the most prominent location in Berkeley.  

I myself would like to see something in Maybeck style, with vine-covered trellises, using modern materials rather than wood to reduce the cost of maintenance. But, this being Berkeley, I am sure that there would be many other good ideas. 

If we replaced the sterile BART that we now have with something more attractive, it would be a catalyst for further revitalization of downtown.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

CREDIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You max-out 16 credit cards and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the credit card whores… (With apologies to the late Tennessee Ernie Ford). 

James K. Sayre 

Oakland 

• 

DERBY FIELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Sometimes things are not that complicated. 

Three members of the School Board decided Wednesday night to deny children in this city something they need—a baseball field—because a powerful and well-connected neighborhood wanted them to. 

The politics of this fight has always been about avoiding the third rail this neighborhood represents. The board did a favor for every politician in this town by again avoiding touching that rail. They did a favor for their superintendent by not asking her to take on this issue, and she in turn did them a favor by giving them cover arguments about staff time and money. And of course, these three did themselves a favor by not revisiting a process that was obviously confusing and flawed. 

They did a favor for everyone except the children. 

James Day 

• 

WORD FREEDOM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Freeing words from ideas and thoughts frees them for mischief. We have heard unprovoked invasion called pre-emptive strike; a trust fund that may shrink to zero 30 years from now called a crisis; no child is left behind but the schools themselves are in front; the only patriots are those supporting the Patriot Act.  

Politicians, journalists, commentators, critics, writers and poets are word merchants: Their work produces words and only words. They are the specialists. They don’t have to be eloquent but they ought to be clear. They don’t have to be grammarians but guardians of the nexus between words and meaning. 

Today’s word merchants have become word mercenaries; they produce words for a price. Ignoring the nexus they spin words to suit and support any purpose whatsoever. The first turn is word change: “Gaming’ is better than “gambling”, in reference to security “homeland” is preferred to “national,” “personal” and “individual” are preferable to “private,” and on and on.  

Word mercenaries have mastered the lesson Humpty Dumpty taught Alice. “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean… neither more nor less.”  

To make words serve any purpose so that any word may mean the opposite of what it says obliterates any chance of distinguishing between fact and fiction, science and dogma, truth and falsehood, reason and faith.  

As Humpty Dumpty explained the question is who is to be master.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo

Click here to view the latest work by Planet cartoonist Justin DeFreitasÿ

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Brazil is scrambling to appear in control of the eco-conflict raging in the Amazon rainforest. After the assassination of 73-year-old environmentalist Dorothy Stang (an American and a nun), Brazil’s president has sought to make up, in weeks, for years of inertia on the Amazon issue.  

But an overview of some of the leading newspaper commentators and environmental reporters in Brazil and Latin America reveals that green activists have little confidence that President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva will be able to save even patches of rainforest without renewed dedication and serious reform.  

Most worrisome to environmentalists is the fact that the interests of agribusiness seem to be trumping any hope of a sustainable future in the Amazon.  

President Lula is doing too little too late to cover up for his ineffectiveness on the environment, writes Elio Gaspari, an influential columnist for Rio daily newspaper O Globo. Sister Dorothy, he writes “got six bullets from the same reality that killed Chico Mendes,” the internationally known rainforest crusader and rubber-tapper assassinated by ranchers in 1988, who became the first martyr for the Amazon cause.  

After the Feb. 12 assassination, Lula announced he would protect some 8 million hectares of rainforest from logging and signed a decree creating conservation areas covering over half that expanse, with more on the drawing board. He also deployed 2,000 troops to the area and created a new specialized forestry service to rein in illegal loggers.  

Those are nice gestures, writes Lucio Flavio Pinto, an environmental journalist from the Amazon. But plans like those announced by Lula often come to nothing once they face the realities of the jungle. “Once the meetings in urban and civilized settings are over ... it is incompetent and corrupt officials in the outback that are entrusted to implement the plans,” Pinto writes in the Feb. 28 edition of his newsletter, Jornal Pessoal.  

The challenges are multiplied in the most conflict-ridden areas of the Amazon, like the Terra do Meio (Portuguese for “Middle Lands”) the Texas-sized region in the southern Amazon’s Para state, where Stang was killed. The noose is tightening around the region bordered by the Amazon, Tapajos and Xingu rivers. Loggers, land speculators and ranchers are increasingly making incursions into what is still mostly pristine jungle and indigenous lands.  

In fact, the government is moving ahead with plans to pave BR-163, a highway that bisects the southern Amazon through Terra do Meio. BR-163 is still only a dirt track for most its length (and impassable in the rainy season). Brazilian media have already dubbed it the “Soybean Highway” because agribusiness is the main force pushing for it to be paved. The idea is to get soybeans (the current darling of Brazil’s export economy) quickly and cheaply loaded onto barges, down the Amazon to the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and on to hungry markets like China’s.  

But for environmentalists, the plan to pave BR-163 symbolizes everything that is wrong with Lula’s Amazon policy.  

The Amazon’s history shows the destruction of the rainforest is inextricably linked to road building. The military government’s construction of the Trans-Amazon in the 1960s and 1970s, meant to extend their authority to the jungle frontier, led to a chaotic mass migration of poor workers and resulted in the mind-numbing deforestation statistics of today.  

It’s no coincidence that Stang, who helped run a sustainable agriculture collective and denounced the violent tactics of land speculators and loggers, was killed near Anapu, which is on the Trans-Amazon. The highway radiates violence and predatory exploitation—satellite maps show how scars of deforestation emanate out into the greenness of the forest.  

The environmental movement is also disappointed that Lula, for the first time, has allowed the planting of genetically modified soybeans in Brazil, another surprising concession to big agribusiness.  

People like María Tereza Jorge Pádua, a well-known rainforest activist and founder of green organization Funatura, writes in on-line eco-journal O Eco that she felt especially betrayed that environmental minister Marina Silva, who fought alongside Chico Mendes in the 1980s, and who should know better, offered only “unconvincing” opposition to the “destructive” BR-163 plan.  

BR-163’s paving will fill the pockets of speculators who already are snapping up land along BR-163’s margins in Terra do Meio. The land rush has begun, and “grileiros,” a word coined in Brazilian Portuguese for those who usurp land by fraudulent or violent means, already are the law of the land.  

That’s why in a Feb. 25 letter to Brazil’s attorney general, Greenpeace and 17 other organizations pleaded for more aggressive crime-fighting. “Terra do Meio’s population ... lives in terror of a web of grileiros and ranchers.”  

In a community meeting convened by NGO Instituto Socioambiental to discuss BR-163’s paving, an indigenous man, Aka Panará, spoke of personal fears that may prove prophetic. “We are all very worried about the road’s paving,” he said. “Will it eat up all our earth and leave us hungry?”  

Marcelo Ballve writes about Latin America and was a reporter with the Associated Press in Brazil.›

Fake Bomber Bust 

Anthony Cassidy, the man suspected of using a fake pipe bomb to rob a Berkeley bank Jan. 27, was arrested in Castroville on Monday, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Investigators believe Anthony Cassidy was the man who entered the Mechanics Bank at 2301 Shattuck Ave. on a Friday afternoon and presented the clerks at the Thomas Cooke Currency Exchange with a package and a demand note promising he’d detonate a bomb if they didn’t fork over the cash. 

He fled with the cash, leaving the package behind. 

Berkeley Police evacuated the area and sealed of a stretch of Shattuck Avenue while they set out to neutralize what they soon discovered was a non-explosive fake. 

According to published accounts, the 54-year-old Cassidy was arrested by detectives from San Francisco and San Leandro, where he is suspected of other robberies. Additional cases come from Oakland. 

Non-Robber Cuffed 

A 50-year-old man was arrested at the Ashby BART station late Wednesday evening, March 2, after a botched robbery attempt at the nearby Black and White Liquors on Adeline Street. 

The suspect entered the store, using the old fake-gun-in-the-pocket routine, then fled when he recognized that his acting wasn’t stellar quality. Police quickly arrived, slapping on the cuffs within a few short minutes. 

Dealer Nabbed 

Responding to a call from a concerned citizen about drug dealing in the mini-park near the corner of Allston Way and Tenth Street, officers arrived in time to bust a 30-year-old man for possession of crack cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation. 

Armed Robber Sought 

Police are seeking a gunman who robbed two women outside the Ashby BART Station just after 7 a.m. Monday, said Officer Okies. He departed in an older-model white car of indeterminate make. 

Stabber Stopped 

Police arrested a 46-year-old woman on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after she stabbed her 51-year-old victim with a pen-knife. Fortunately for both the victim and his assailant, the weapon had a short blade. The stabbed was treated at the scene by paramedics and the stabber was given an armed escort to the pokey. 

Trio Takes Wallet 

Three young gunmen relieved a 27-year-old man of his wallet and its contents as he strolled along Shattuck Avenue near the corner of Kittredge Street shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, said Officer Okies. 

Uncertain Bandit 

A gunman, estimated to be in his 30s, walked into the Oceanview Market at 1458 Sixth St. around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, weapon in hand and apparently intent on robbing the place. 

Something spooked him, because he turned and fled, mounted atop his trusty mountain bike. 

Attempted robbery 

Two pedestrians were strolling along the 1600 block of Tenth Street just after 11:30 Wednesday night when three suspects walked up behind them and uttered something that sounded intimidating in a language their would-be victims didn’t understand. 

When two of the unintelligible trio proceeded to pull pistols, the pedestrians hot-footed it away and made a call to police. 

The mysterious three had also boogied by the time the cavalry arrived. 

?

“The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given th ee, thy beautiful flock?” Jeremiah 13:19-20 (King James Version) 

It seems almost fantastic, doesn’t it, looking at it from the perspective of today’s situation, but five years ago the Oakland public schools were in the middle of a renaissance, a golden p eriod in which confidence in our schools was growing, and hope was high. After years of patient work by many people, Oakland had finally pulled itself out of the doldrums and public school scandals of the ‘80s. 

A popular new mayor was in place who promis ed to put Oakland on the map. A popular new school superintendent had been hired—a prodigal son returned—with an involved and activist school board willing to carry out ambitious plans for accountability and reform. Almost 85 percent of Oakland voters pas sed Measure A in 2000, the $300 million school bond ballot measure that approved the city’s first real school expansion since the building of Skyline High School in the ‘60s. Later that year, when the district granted teachers nearly a 25 percent pay rais e, bringing them up—at long last—to the Bay Area average, Oakland had reached a high water mark, and had every reason to look forward to a promising future. 

Today the Oakland school district is in tatters, controlled by the State of California, disdainfu l of Oakland citizens, schools being sold off to the first bidders, rapidly being dismantled before our very eyes. No one can remember a lower point in the city’s school history, even following the 1973 assassination of School Superintendent Marcus Foster. How could that have come to be? What is it Oaklanders did so wrong, to be so cruelly struck by such a fate? 

With no public hearings or grand jury investigations (yet) called to provide us with an answer to such questions, and with no body of public off icials from the East Bay up to Sacramento willing to come forward to level with us, we are forced to try to come up with theories on our own, sifting through facts which may—at first—seem entirely unrelated. 

Let us sift. 

We find that in November of 2002, Oakland voters overwhelmingly passed another bond measure, this one by an 80-20 margin, the $198 million Measure DD, the so-called “water improvement bond.” Included in the bond measure’s projects are two which are relevant to our present inquiries: 1) redesign of 12th Street to create pedestrian and bicycle access from Lake Merritt to Kaiser Convention Center and Channel Park, and 2) the catchall “other Lake Merritt Channel and shoreline improvements.” 

The Lake Merritt Channel, for those who are w ondering, is the creek that connects the western portion of Lake Merritt to the estuary, running under the 12th Street/14th Street “highway” across from the Convention Center, opening up in parkways adjacent to Laney College and the Peralta College Distri ct administrative offices on East Eighth Street. 

In its October/November 2002 California Sustainer News Online newsletter prior to the bond vote, the California Clean Water Action & Clean Water Fund of San Francisco described how the Lake Merritt Channel portion of Measure DD was supposed to be: 

“In addition to the improvements that will be made to [Lake Merritt] and its infrastructure there will be moneys earmarked for acquisition of tidal wetlands and areas along the estuary. These areas will become p art of a waterfront park system that Oakland can be proud of. … [A] new park, Meadow Park, would be located on the east side of the mouth of Lake Merritt Channel. … Central to the plan would be the replacement of the 12th street culvert and the removal of the Tenth Street culvert. … Roadways on Lake Merritt’s south shore will be replaced by a system of roads and walkways that will provide for safe pedestrian access to the park as well as allowing for pedestrian and bicycle access to Channel Park and the K aiser convention center.” 

If you stood on the East 8th Street bridge over the channel in late 2002 and looked east towards the hills, you would have seen a long run of public-owned land all the way to the lake itself, from Peralta and Laney at its western end, past the back of the Second Street Oakland Unified School District headquarters on the right, and then the Convention Center on the left, and it would have been easy to imagine a gorgeous public park running all along that path, funded entirely by Oaklanders for the use of all Oaklanders, the first opening of a major Oakland waterway in living memory. 

Hard to hold onto that vision now, in the light of recent events. 

Thanks to a tentative agreement between outgoing Peralta Colleges trustees and Oakland developer Alan Dones’ Strategic Urban Development Alliance, instead of public parkland along on the Peralta and Laney portions at the channel’s western end, we may see private condominiums and other commercial development that blocks out the public’s access to the waterway. 

And this week, after state-appointed OUSD Administrator Randolph Ward had said for two years that he had no plans to sell the district’s 2nd Street Administration Building, an ominous paragraph began a story in the Oakland Tribune: “The Oakland school district is looking for a developer to remake its administration buildings and campuses near Lake Merritt in order to bring in more money for schools and generally improve the neighborhood. In what may be one of the first steps in a huge redevelopment of the Eastlake area, Oakland school State Administrator Randolph Ward formally requested development proposals last week for almost 10 acres of valuable district land between Tenth and 12th streets. Developing the property, including the historic but dilapidated Paul Robeson administration building, has ‘been talked about for so long and no one’s ever done anything,’ Ward said. ‘I really don’t know what folks will come up with, but I’m certainly excited about the prospects.’” 

Becaus e of the Oakland school takeover, approval for such an OUSD Lake Merritt Channel development project no longer has to go through the now-powerless Oakland School Board, or through Oakland citizens, to whom the property belongs. Stating what ought to be ob vious, the Tribune article reminded us that “any proposals ultimately would have to be approved in Sacramento by the state superintendent’s office.” 

And to demonstrate how rapidly these events are moving, two days after Ward’s announcement, the Tribune r an another story beginning: “Faced with a multimillion-dollar shortfall, [Oakland] is considering closing the [90 year old] Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.”  

Standing on the East Eighth Street bridge over the Lake Merritt Channel in 2005 and looking e ast towards the hills, instead of seeing an opening of public parklands all the way to the lake, you now see the distinct possibility of publicly-financed development standing to make somebody—or somebodies—millions and millions and millions of dollars, a nd those somebodies ain’t going to be the majority of Oaklanders. 

This all could have been fate, or unlucky accident, or God’s punishment of Oakland for some past transgressions. It could be merely vultures swooping in smelling blood in the water, taking an advantage of a weakened and weakening Oakland democracy. But from Measure DD to the Oakland school takeover to the Paul Robeson Buildings and Laney/Peralta private development proposals, you have to wonder in a tiny corner of the back of your mind…was this all part of a more secular plan, all the way from the beginning, to make a windfall profit at the bottom of Lake Merritt? If that were actually true, who, then, would be responsible for destroying Oakland’s hard work and dreams, for fleecing this po or city, and for taking its flock? 

An interesting question, don’t you think? 



The March 4 Undercurrents column by J.Douglas Allen-Taylor (“When Objective Investigators Become Activists”) contains some serious mis-statements and factual errors that require correction.  

First and foremost, the incident that took place at Pat McCullough’s residence was not a “vigilante shooting” but an act of self-defense by a man rushed on his own property by five or six young men, one of whom attacked him, aided by others who were throwing objects at and cornering him between his car and his house, 20 feet up his driveway. The incident began when one of them said “there’s the snitch” when he was walking to his car to go shopping. 

Second, the incident had nothing to do with the Shattuck Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (misidentified as the “North Central Oakland NCPC,” a non-existent organization). Pat McCullough’s activities have been, as correctly characterized by Lt. Green, mostly solitary and focused on his end of 59th Street, so much so that he was not even involved in the nuisance lawsuit against two households at the other end of the block where Melvin McHenry lives, households that spawned much of the drug dealing and violence that plagues 59th Street and the surrounding area. Pat is a homebody devoted to his family and concerned about things going on outside his house that affect him and his family.  

Third, in the 10 years he has lived on 59th Street, Pat McCullough has never been accused of assault nor charged with any crime. He has, however, been attacked once before and threatened by drug dealers who do not appreciate his frequent calls to the police. The last attack by the late Wayne Camper a year and a half ago was almost identical to the recent one and led to the prosecution of Camper by the district attorney because of the egregious nature of the intimidation and physical attack on McCullough by Camper and two associates, again on McCullough’s property. That attack left McCullough with seven stitches and the fear that he might not survive while it was going on. The trial was not completed because Camper died on the street while it was in progress, a victim of the border war of that year. Mr. Allen-Taylor’s omission of this formative event suggests that either he did not do his homework or perhaps is himself biased in the way that he suggests the police are in their handling of this matter.  

And that brings up an important fourth matter, the police. It is important to note that Lt. Green, who has publicly defended McCullough, is not one of the responding officers who took statements and wrote up reports about the shooting. His opinions are not part of the official record. He is the commander of the Crime Reduction Team and the Problem Solving (community policing) Officers who work on the priorities and projects identified by the NCPCs. The responding officers wrote up the official reports and are responsible for their accuracy. Officers assigned to conduct the follow-up investigation are from the Criminal Investigations Division with a different commander again. Though people would like to believe that police departments are a united team, they are bureaucracies in most big cities, with one bureau working independently of the others. Criminal charges are drawn up by the district attorney, who relies on police reports in deciding whether to charge anyone with a crime. To date no charges have been brought, suggesting that this is not a slam-dunk case of vigilante aggression as Mr. Allen-Taylor incorrectly asserts. 

A fifth mischaracterization is the non-representative character of the NCPC, implying that community policing represents the interests of a small, exclusive group. The fact is that the entire population of the beat is invited to participate in the community policing process. For the annual meeting, when representatives are elected to work with the police in the monthly meetings, invitations go out to every address in the beat, normally about 3,000 for Beat 11. Like our political elections, not everyone responds by attending and voting, nor can they be forced to participate. Does this mean we do not have a democratic form of government? The ones who do choose to participate decide the policies and activities of community policing in the beat. Their charge is to develop policies and actions that benefit the entire population of the beat with the exception of the criminals who bring violence and drugs into the streets of our neighborhoods.  

The Shattuck NCPC has worked with Pat McCullough on the issues of crime on 59th Street and the traffic barrier at the Shattuck end, two issues that affected him and the block powerfully. It would not be correct to say that he is an active participant in daily and monthly NCPC activities. As stated before, the NCPC works for the interests of the entire beat and relies on group action and partnering with the police and other city agencies. It will protect and defend any citizen in the beat who is threatened or attacked by criminals as Pat McCullough was twice. The NCPC came forward both times, and will again. Intimidation and retaliation are the chilling threat and debilitating nightmare to citizens working to end street-level crime of the type that 59th Street experiences. The police and citizens alike recognize this fact and respond to retaliation with a zero tolerance policy, as they should and must if community policing is going to succeed in its perennial effort to improve the quality of life in the city’s 57 beats. Community policing is official city policy. Lt. Green’s actions are consistent with that policy and in no way jeopardize the legal process as Mr. Allen-Taylor asserts. 

The way that citizens from other areas of the city have rallied around Pat McCullough, without even knowing him, demonstrates the widespread understanding of the importance of citizens being able to work with the police to eliminate street level crime without the fear of retaliation. The incident on 59th St. is all about citizen action, criminal retaliation, and the right of a citizen to defend himself and his family from harm when attacked. Law-abiding citizens do not accuse a person of being a snitch and then attack him as a group and threaten to shoot him. The situation at its most basic starts from that simple fact.  

Don Link is the chair of the Shattuck Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council. h

Something important was missing from the recent exchange in the Daily Planet’s letters section about Office of Transportation Director Peter Hillier’s untimely departure from the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association’s Feb. 24 meeting on traffic and parking—namely, the “pointed questions,” as letter-writer Jerry Landis put it, that moved Mr. Hillier to declare that he had “been insulted” and to walk out.  

I was the one who posed those questions, as president of TONA and moderator of the meeting. They all dealt with the changes to Marin Avenue that the City Council approved on Jan. 25. In the name of improved safety, pedestrian islands and two through auto lanes on Marin are to be replaced by a center-lefthand turn lane and two bicycle lanes.  

Here’s what I asked:  

1. Why weren’t north Berkeley residents consulted when this project was being planned?  

The project had a public hearing at the Transportation Commission Oct. 21, the same night as TONA’s candidates forum. I called transportation staffer Heath Maddox to ask that the hearing be continued to the commission’s next meeting and followed up my call with an e-mail making the same request. To my knowledge, the e-mail was not forwarded to the commission, which on Oct. 21 unanimously approved the project.  

I’d also objected to Mr. Maddox about the lack of prior consultation with affected residents. He said that there’d been ample public input when the Berkeley Bicycle Plan had been formulated. I have since discovered that the Bicycle Plan itself says that “[w]hen planning for a specific bikeway begins, neighboring businesses and residents will be contacted to solicit their input. Public workshops will be held to gather input from the public at large.” No such workshops were held in connection with the Marin reconfiguration. Why not?  

2. Why does a project ostensibly devoted to pedestrian safety call for removing pedestrian islands?  

The Jan. 25 staff report to the City Council, signed by Mr. Hillier, asserts that “the overall benefits of the project outweigh the benefits of these islands at an intersection [Marin and Colusa] where pedestrian safety is already enhanced by the traffic signals themselves. Furthermore, the crossing distance across Marin Avenue at this intersection will remain shorter than normal because of the right-turn islands on the southeast and northwest corners.”  

I’m not persuaded that the remaining, right-turn islands shorten the distance across Marin at Colusa. To my eye, the edges of those islands are about even with the edges of the sidewalk curb. Moreover, in the hundreds if not thousands of times in the past fifteen years that I’ve crossed this intersection, I’ve often stepped up onto the median island because I couldn’t get across the street on a single green light. Without that raised concrete refuge, the trip will seem and, I believe, actually be, less safe.  

In a Jan. 4 letter to the City Council, pedestrian advocate Wendy Alfsen wrote: “The Marin modification would seem more helpful to pedestrians if one or two intersections were improved, possibly by the addition of sidewalk extensions and mid-crossing protected refuges.” Why wasn’t this alternative pursued?  

3. Why was the Albany police enforcement of “pedestrian violations” cited as evidence that law enforcement can’t reduce speeds on Marin?  

It’s generally agreed that people drive too fast on Marin. So why not try reducing speeds by ticketing speeders? According to city staff, that’s exactly what the Albany police attempted for the better part of a year, and it didn’t work. The Dec. 14 staff report to the council states: “A nine-month program of targeted enforcement on Marin Avenue in Albany yielded a .4 mph reduction in speeds, leading the Albany chief of police to recommend an engineering solution.”  

In December, I began to wonder exactly how many speeders the Albany police had ticketed. When I asked Mr. Maddox for this and other specifics, he referred me to Albany Transportation Planner Cherry Chaircharn. She didn’t have any details either. But she queried the Albany police and within a few days sent me an e-mail stating among other things that the motorists cited by the police were drivers who had failed to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  

“Pedestrian violation enforcement,” as it’s called, is a good thing. But it’s different from ticketing speeders, and it shouldn’t have been cited by city staff to discredit speed violation enforcement on Marin. Why was it?  

4. What was the actual cause of the pedestrian fatality last summer?  

On June 2, 2004, on Marin at Modoc, a 73-year-old man was struck by a westbound vehicle in the median lane while crossing Marin southbound in the crosswalk on the east side of Modoc. He died in the hospital a week and a half later.  

Supporters of the Marin project repeatedly invoked this very sad event to demonstrate the street’s danger to pedestrians and to argue for eliminating two of its through auto lanes. On Jan. 25, Mr. Hillier told the council that “[the June 2 incident] happened to be a case where the two lanes of through movement were the primary cause of the fatality.”  

But in a memo to the Transportation Commission dated July 10, 2004, Mr. Hillier wrote: “The elderly man ran into the road….According to witnesses, [he] did not look to see the traffic approaching while crossing the street.” Mr. Hillier added: “The Berkeley Police Department did not charge the driver in this incident, noting that the pedestrian’s actions were the primary cause of the collision.”  

These two accounts appear to contradict each other. Which is accurate? If it’s the latter, why didn’t staff make that clear to the council?  

Until these and other questions about the Marin changes are answered, public doubts about the project and the officials who orchestrated and okayed it will persist.  

Zelda Bronstein is president of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association. The views expressed here are her own.  

o

Jared Diamond, author of Pulitzer-Prize Winning book Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Society, states unequivocally that one of the greatest risks humanity faces is clinging to recipes of the past that worked well for decades, but can no longer work under changed circumstances of the present and future. Collapse, his latest work, hints at a critical failing in the planning/design process in Berkeley. 

This term also characterizes with near perfection the situation with the proposed David Brower Center (DBC), to be built on top of the current site of a banal asphalt surface parking lot in the heart of downtown Berkeley. 

The City of Berkeley and several distinguished environmental groups are teaming and hoping to build a small city of affordable housing units, small retail storefronts, and nonprofit office space at the Oxford site in downtown Berkeley. The structure itself is designed to meet rigorous standards of green and sustainable building practices, hopefully even qualifying for U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification.  

Unfortunately the entire project is based on a foundation that reflects the thinking of a bygone century. The entire structure of the deal is predicated on the basis that parking for private passenger automobiles, which worked pretty well in Berkeley in the 20th century, will be the foundation for this 21st century project. With the specter of oil depletion and runaway price increases for the remaining and rapidly declining global reserves of petroleum indisputably on the immediate horizon, the team of Berkeley city officials, a private affordable housing developer known as RCD (Resources for Community Development) and a coalition of wonderful environmental groups, are all lining up to support a project with a 20th century design, five years after we have crossed over the turn of the spigot, er, century. 

Although the building site is in an active earthquake zone, and putting parking underneath high rise structures such as the proposed DBC is the best-known way to compromise a building’s ability to sustain and survive an earthquake, the proposed DBC—which I have nicknamed the DBEC, for David Brower Epicenter—is becoming a lightning rod for controversies regarding Berkeley’s automobile dependency and related perceived shortage of parking stalls for that dependency. It is an unfortunate fact that few citizens of Berkeley, and even members of environmental groups, have come to understand that the very concept of the urban private passenger automobile, whether greenwashed or not, is obsolete in the 21st century. 

The determination Berkeley, and its distinguished citizens such as members of the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) are showing to lock this project into becoming an underground parking lot as well as a center for sustainability is an excellent demonstration of Jarod Diamond’s assertion that societies can and will destroy themselves with ideas of the past that worked well in the past but are doomed to failure in the future. 

I believe this project could go forward much faster and with a much better investment in our non-fossil fueled but earthquake prone future, by spending the $5 million the underground parking garage expense represents, on light rail connecting the DBC to the Berkeley Marina, via Allston or Kittredge streets. These streets flank the building site, (and lead almost directly west barely one mile to a beautiful new streetcar-sized walk and bike bridge over the bayfilled, gridlocked, and quake vulnerable highway 80). Those two Kittredge and Allston blocks of crumbling, petroleum based asphalt could easily become free downtown real estate to support the project, by eliminating their current use as one-block ending streets. This would also make possible a car-free-zone flanking north, west and south exposures of the David Brower Center. 

This could expedite restoration of ferry service to the Berkeley Marina, as well as avoid a host of issues that the DBC plan as proposed and unveiled Jan. 19, violates: building guidelines and requirements as expressed in the current but hopelessly auto oriented Berkeley municipal codes and Berkeley General Plan. To proceed with the current plan, variances will have to be sought and obtained to accept substandard sidewalks widths for pedestrians, construction near, or even directly atop protected Strawberry Creek, and a menu of many other thorny issues. 

No one wants to notice the fabulous openable windows the developer is so proud of allowing for this huge proposed development, will open out to intake the exhaust of hot SUV tailpipes which by this absurd design will regularly gridlock and surround this high density proposed development. This makes a mockery of the LEED standards which apply to the building only, but have no bearing on locating same building directly above an underground parking lot surrounded by already jammed streets of honking, smoking, oil, gas, and profanity leaking private internal combustion vehicles. 

Yet the environmental groups to be headquartered here have raised almost no objection to the inclusion of cars-as-usual in what is so obviously 20th century thinking of what the 21st century cannot become. Environmental groups also seem locked into thinking in 20th century terms for the future, and the debate around the almighty automobile has become not whether it can succeed in the future (it can’t) but just how green private cars can become. The following appears in the 1991 book Autogeddon, by Heathcote Williams: 

The pollution-free car is as green as pus: 

its heat creates drought, 

Killing even those  

who never aspire to a car. 

...A mother collecting her children from school 

In a car covered with worthy stickers 

Expressing ecological concern 

Innocently understudies Mother Kali 

With her rosary of skulls. 

I have to close with reference to some words of Walt Kelly, which David Ross Brower so often cited, and which seem to have become the motif for this entire absurdly auto-oriented project: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” 

I am in favor of streetcar and ferry restoration, as well as state of the art bicycle parking and pedestrian and disabled facilities. My vision is a wonderful and wildly popular car-free zone flanking the David Brower Center on its north, west, and south sides. The cost of a mere one mile streetcar run to the Berkeley Marina from the DBC is about $10 million. The cost of not doing this is incalculable, but the cement underground gridlocked parking lot in the current proposal, is about $5 million, with costs of cement manufacturing and bulldozing the site unknown until after it’s done, sort of like the alleged new bay bridge. And the cost of keeping Strawberry Creek cemented under the tailpipes is the cost of recreating free running creek elsewhere. 

I humbly and modestly take off my hat, which is a bicycle helmet, and beg the City of Berkeley, and Resources for Community Development, to vision a sustainable future for the David Brower Center and redraw it along these expanded auto-free lines. Seek the extra $5 million needed for the streetcar run, from the Water Transit Authority, private donors, and a host of other sources. It can be done.  

I realize I am begging, hat in hand, for a refund on reality, and I fit right in with the homeless street beggars and their chances, too. 

James G. Doherty is CEO of APT Enterprises. 

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As a parent-member of the Academic Choice Design Team, I have an emphatic answer to School Boardmember Terry Doran’s question (Daily Planet, Feb. 18), “Does [Academic Choice] lead to a better Berkeley High School or a better Berkeley High School for some students?” Those of us associated with the program all believe that it will lead to a better Berkeley High for all students and are prepared to work to see that it does. A better Berkeley High, as Principal Jim Slemp has said repeatedly, is a Berkeley High that offers many excellent choices so that every student can find a program or school that meets their personal needs. Small schools are great places for some students and BHS is developing a variety of fine small schools. Do CAS and CP Academy make BHS a better school for all, or just for the 500 or so students in those two small schools combined? I’d say they make the whole school better, both because they offer a quality choice to students with specific interests and needs and because other, different programs can adapt and benefit from some of the things that those small schools do well, such as creating community to support students.  

Some students, like my child, are not ready in the ninth grade to focus their studies in one area and prefer the variety of options offered in a large school to the security and more personal atmosphere of a small school. Academic Choice is a program within the large school that aims to keep the academic bar high while serving the full diversity of students at BHS. It will provide its students with a rigorous course of study in English and history, leaving students free to choose math, science and electives from the wide range of offerings in the large school, at the same time encouraging them to complete the UC a-g subject requirements and take the most challenging classes appropriate to them. We believe that having such a program in the large school strengthens it and we hope to be able to expand the program over time (while maintaining diversity equal to that of the school as a whole) so that it is available to all students who want to participate. 

Over the last few months Academic Choice has changed from being a group of teachers with a similar educational philosophy to being an organized program working on building community, increasing diversity, and developing a structure that gives students, teachers and parents an opportunity to have input. We are also intent on creating a system of student support that will provide all students in the program with extra help as needed. The AP Project, a tutoring/mentoring program that works to increase the number of students from historically underrepresented groups to attend college, is assisting us in this area.  

We don’t claim that Academic Choice is the best option for every student; no option is. But we do believe that it is an excellent option for any student who plans to go to college. Students entering ninth and tenth grade next fall will not be applying to a single school or program. They will be ranking the available options in their order of preference, then, via lottery, assigned in a way that assures that all small schools and Academic Choice reflect the same diversity as BHS as a whole. Students may not be assigned to their first choice, so they need to think about their preferred alternatives. We hope parents and students will not dismiss Academic Choice based on old stereotypes and will instead find out what all the choices are and consider making Academic Choice a first or alternate preference.  

Marilyn Boucher is a member of the Academic Choice Design Team.3

Stained yellow teeth, wheezing fits, sudden cravings, bad breath, and eventual death. All symptoms of smoking. But look on the bright side, you won’t need any more cough drops. What a deal, for only as little as $165 per month, for an average smoker. The tobacco industry advertises in order to lure in its biggest target: youths between the ages of 10 and 20. Studies show that teenagers are heavily influenced by tobacco advertising. In 1998, surveys found that the tobacco industry was one of the top 10 advertisers in at least 18 countries. Eighty percent of the American advertising companies believe that tobacco advertising makes smoking more acceptable to youth. Every year the number of dollars the tobacco companies makes increases. Every year the tobacco company spends more trying to get youth to start smoking. The only warning given is the few lines of size five print: may be hazardous to your health. 

The tobacco firms are aware that today’s youth is educated about smoking, at least in America. They begin to advertise cigarettes that are filtered, or even ones that have less nicotine, the powerful addictant in cigarettes. They say, see it’s safe now. They also use role models, people who are cool, who of course, smoke, to show youth how cool you can be if you smoke. Characters such as the Marlboro Man, Jo Camel, and the Kool Penguin, are all aimed at youths. Through advertising, tobacco firms try to link smoking with athletic prowess, sexual attractiveness, success, sophistication, adventure, and even self-fulfillment. They try to proclaim that smoking will make you cool, that smoking is the cure to your social problems. 

Tobacco is the only legal drug that kills. More than 4,000 toxic and cancer-causing chemicals have been found in cigarettes. Even in the fine print, cigarette commercials don’t tell you the risk. Smokers who take drugs such as methadone, amphetamines and barbiturates rate tobacco as the most addictive drug. These people who take speed, crack, alcohol, heroin, opium, and morphine agree that cigarettes, a legal drug, are more addictive than these illegal drugs. Smoking causes and contributes to cancer of the lungs, voice box, throat, mouth, bladder, pancreas and kidneys. And there is no safe cigarette, for studies show that smoking filtered cigarettes has the same consequences as smoking those that are unfiltered. Besides this, smoking causes more deaths than alcohol, AIDS, illegal drugs, car crashes, murders and suicides combined. 

But some actions have been taken about the worldwide smoking situation. The World Health Organization (WHO), a branch of the United Nations, has been sponsoring many organizations that are researching ways to curb and reduce negative effects of smoking. The WHO has also put forward the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (the FCTC), which will control the amount of tobacco processed and advertised. Only a few countries object to it, including one world power: the US. During the election cycle, Phillip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company donated 3 million dollars to the Bush campaign and to the Republican party. So of course, the U.S. delegation is doing all that it can to “derail the negotiations.” Another negotiation meeting is planned this month. As this date draws nearer, more and more countries have begun to speak in favor of this Convention. 

Smoking kills one in five Americans. And every year five million people die worldwide. Every year a total of 200 billion dollars is lost caring for disease and deaths caused by smoking. Every year 1.1 million kids between the ages of 10 and 18 start smoking. On average, smoking removes 15 years from a smoker’s expected lifespan. So when someone offers you a cigarette, think about what you’re getting into. 

John Slama is a Berkeley High School student.  

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Berkeley High has produced a number of outstanding individuals over the years and Peter Wright is no exception. 

As Berkeley High’s number one-ranked tennis player for three years, Wright went on to attend UC Berkeley, first as a walk-on and then on a tennis scholarship. 

After graduation he took on the duties of head coach of Cal’s tennis team. Considered one of the best teachers and tacticians in men’s collegiate tennis, Wright has developed a reputation for getting more out of his players than perhaps any coach in the nation.  

Wright’s coaching talent hasn’t gone unnoticed. Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 2001 and in 1997, he received his first coaching award in 1994 when he was named Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year for guiding the Bears back to postseason play after Cal had missed the Big Dance the previous two seasons. 

Wright and the Bears have been a fixture in the NCAA Tournament almost every year since.  

The ninth coach in the 111-year history of Cal tennis, Wright has compiled a 148-109 (.576) career record during his tenure in Berkeley. 

The 2004 Bears advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year, making it to the second round NCAA Regionals and ending the year with a No. 30 national ranking. 

Wright’s 2003 team ended the season ranked fourth nationally, and boasted two All-Americans and three all-conference selections. Their 21-5 record in 2003 surpassed their 2002 mark of 19-7, which at the time was considered the school’s all-time best squad since joining the Pac-10. In that season the Bears finished in second-place, which is California’s best-ever showing in the competitive league. 

The 2002 season also marked the first time that Cal enjoyed a series sweep of UCLA since 1953 and the first time ever that the Bears beat Stanford, UCLA and USC in the same season.  

A four-year letterman during his collegiate career at Cal, Wright worked his way to the number one singles and doubles positions in the Bears’ lineup before joining the men’s professional tour in 1986. 

In his six years as a pro, Wright played in numerous tournaments around the world, including Wimbledon and the Australian Open. In addition to a doubles victory over Pete Sampras, Wright’s career highlights include playing Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, David Wheaton, Marc Rosset, Jonas Bjorkman and Tim Henman.  

Wright’s tour highlights include representing Ireland in the Davis Cup from 1988-95. His parents, Stanley and Elizabeth, were born and raised in Ireland, allowing Wright to compete as an Irish national. He has won numerous Irish national singles and doubles championships, and was instrumental in Ireland’s upset victories over Greece, Spain and Belgium when Ireland captured the 1992 European Cup.  

In addition to playing in the Davis Cup for Ireland, Wright served as the Irish Davis Cup Captain from 1995-2003. He also served as the head coach of the 1996 Irish Olympic tennis team in Atlanta.  

In addition to his coaching duties at Cal, Wright is currently the chairman of the NCAA men’s tennis committee and serves on the executive board of directors of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.  

His community involvement includes serving as vice president of Youth Tennis Advantage whose mission is to inspire inner-city kids to achieve their full potential through tennis and academic programs. 

In 2001, he established the BearTrax program at Cal, which brings children from Oakland to the Berkeley campus for academic tutoring with Cal students and tennis tutoring with the Cal men’s and women’s teams.  

A Berkeley native, Wright was born in San Francisco on Dec. 8, 1963, attended Berkeley High School and earned a B.A. in Social Science from Cal after returning to school in 1991. His wife of 12 years, Fionnuala, is a former Irish national tennis champion and a former member of the Irish national basketball team. The Wrights currently reside in Berkeley with their sons, Thomas and Michael, and daughter, Carly. 

“The older you get the more you find how unique the Berkeley High experience was,” Wright said. “You don’t have the prejudices or the biases because BHS was so racially diverse.” 



Octavio I. Romano, Ph.D., founder and senior editor of Tonatiuh-Quinto Sol Publications, and emeritus professor in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, passed away on Feb. 26 in Berkeley at the age of 82. 

Dr. Romano was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on Feb. 20, 1923 and raised in Tecate, Mexico and later in National City, Calif. The youngest child of Maria and Manuel Romano, he enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served two and a half years with service in Normandy, northern France. He was awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Unit Award, and World War II Victory Medal. 

Dr. Romano attended college on the G.I. Bill. He was a state championship tennis player during his community college years. 

He graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Anthropology in 1952. He received his master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and then worked for the Public Health Department in Santa Fe, N.M. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology at UC Berkeley in 1965. He taught in the School of Public Health at Berkeley until his retirement in 1989. 

Survived by his wife, Olga, sons Octaviano and Emiliano “Branko,” and brother, Ovidio, he will be missed by everyone who knew him. 

He enjoyed gardening, artistic pursuits and music. Octavio will be remembered for his sense of humor and his love of family, as well as his warmth, congeniality and deep love of literature. He was well loved and admired by many friends and colleagues for his wit and insights. 

In 1965 Dr. Romano founded Quinto Sol Publications, the pioneer publisher of Mexican-American authors. Dr. Romano was president and senior editor of Quinto Sol throughout its history. Quinto Sol published El Grito, the Journal of Mexican-American Thought, and numerous landmark novels and anthologies. Quinto Sol also awarded the annual Premio Quinto Sol, the first national awards for Chicano literature. 

From the 1980s onward Dr. Romano continued to work and write as senior editor under the company’s new name of Tonatiuh-Quinto Sol, a.k.a. TQS Publications. During the last 10 years of his life he published a successful newsletter of Mexican American Thought, with subscriptions worldwide. He was honored at the Breaking Barriers award ceremony sponsored by NHEA, the National Hispanic Employee Association, in San Jose. 

Memorial plans have not yet been announced. The family requests donations, in lieu of flowers, be made in Dr. Romano’s memory to La Clinica de la Raza, 1515 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, 94601 (laclinica.org), or the charity of your choice. 



Thirty years ago an extended women’s music and arts performance program was a revolutionary idea; today it’s an expression of a community’s solidarity. 

Tying together artistic veterans and newcomers in a series of conversations and performances, La Peña Cultural Center celebrates its 30th year of community-building by putting the spotlight on mujeres (women).  

The five-month series opens Saturday evening with the mother of all folk music, Ronnie Gilbert, a founding member of the Weavers. In the mid-20th century the Weavers took folk music out of the hollows and hills of the American backwoods, put it on stage, in a political context, and eventually before U.S. Congress where the Weavers were accused of being anti-American. 

After they were blacklisted, the Weavers were no longer able to play in publicly owned auditoriums and their successful pop careers tanked, but the musicians (including former Weaver Pete Seeger) continue to perform and to promote socially responsible values.  

In conversation and performance with Ronnie Gilbert will be Holly Near, the feminist singer/songwriter whose career parallels Gilbert’s, but decades later.  

Sylvia Sherman, La Peña’s development director and co-organizer of the Mujeres series said she is as excited about the on-stage pre-performance conversations between the artists as she is about their artistic collaborations.  

“To hear Ronnie Gilbert talk about how, when she was a young girl in New York and her parents dragged her to one of those union meetings, she didn’t want to be there... Then she saw a tall black man stand up and sing in this beautiful voice. Paul Robeson. At that moment she realized the power of music to really hold people’s attention and inspire them. That was one of the reasons she became a singer,” Sherman said. 

Longtime friends and fellow musicians Lichi Fuentes and Donna Viscuso are co-curators of the Mujeres series at La Peña. They conceived the idea of a women’s series while driving to rehearsal together.  

“We’ve played together, off and on, for 10 years,” Viscuso recalled. “Lichi was talking about female composers and players even I hadn’t heard of and we realized how invisible we all are. We decided to do this because no one else was going to do it. This program is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many great women musicians here in the Bay Area.” 

Sherman believes the Mujeres program ideally exemplifies La Peña’s programming mission.  

“We wanted to feature generations of artists. Highlight the talent of a particular community of artists—in this case of female artists—pulled together from different generations, different communities, different social movements, different disciplines,” said Sherman. “We’re really excited because we’re dealing with people who were groundbreakers and we’re pairing them with young (artists) from today.  

“As we’re facing our 30th anniversary we’re really focused on ‘Passing it on. Passing it down.’ And ensuring that the work of this center, and its mission—which is to support community art and diverse communities and to bring together artists in social movements—that all of that continues for the next 30 years or more,” said Sherman. “I love it when I look in the audience and see younger women hearing their stories and hearing their music. That’s definitely the intention, to try and bring in younger audiences to hear some of the veterans, and to showcase them together.”  

The hands-on approach gets a big boost a month later when renowned female virtuoso Rebeca Mauleón offers a musical afternoon workshop for players of all levels on Saturday, April 2. Titled “Descarga 101: The Art of the Latin Jam Session,” the event promises to “unlock the secrets to collective grooving” Latin-style. Later the same evening Mauleón will perform her unique melange of salsa, jazz, flamenco, gospel and rhythm and blues with a local all-star group.  

The Mujeres series integrates both youthful organizations and youthful expression, such as hip-hop music and dance, into the mix. Oakland’s Destiny Arts Youth Performance Group with mash it up with Pilipino hip-hop sensations Diskarte Namin in May. 

Carolyn Brandy (formerly the drum instructor at Berkeley Arts Magnet School and now working with youth organizations in San Francisco’s Mission District) will perform with the young women of Las Locas de Loco Bloco, also in May. Susan Muscarella, founder and director of the Berkeley Jazzschool, will perform with one of her student ensembles in July. Also in July locally and nationally celebrated, hip-hop/spoken word artist Aya de Leon will collaborate with the Bay Area R&B legend Linda Tillery and jazz guitarist Nina Gerber.  

In total, 11 events are scheduled for the Mujeres series, running from March 12 through Aug. 6 at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Specific event and ticket information is available at www.lapena.org/Mujeres/Mujeres or by phone at 849-2568. 

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FRIDAY, MARCH 11 

THEATER 

Bare Stage Productions “One Room” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 3 p.m. at the Choral Rehearsal Room, Cesar Chavez Student Union, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$7. http://tickets.berkeley.edu  

Central Works, “Enemy Combatant” at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Performances are Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 26. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “Buried Child” on the disintigration of the American Dream, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $10. 524-9132. www.CCCT.org 

Cuentos: Voices for (Our) Stories: “You so Fake!” with Leilani Chan and “Rise” with Shyamala Moorty at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Impact Theatre, “Othello” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid. Thurs.- Sat. through March 19. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

Shotgun Players “The Just” by Albert Camus. Thurs.- Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through April 10. Tickets are sliding scale $10-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

UC Theater, “Three Sisters” a contemporary staging of Chekhov’s drama, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. to March 13, at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Un-Scripted Theater Company “You Bet Your Improvisor!” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through March 26 at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.unscripted.com 

Word for Word Performing Arts Company “Stories by Tobias Wolff” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $25 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Blind at the Museum” Conference, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Sat. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “Ethan Mao” at 7 p.m. and “Keka” at 9:15 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

By the Light of the Moon open mic and salon for women at 7:30 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $3-$7. 655-2405.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company Fifth Annual Spring Performance featuring five original pieces choreographed and danced by Berkeley youth at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$8. www.enpointe.org 

Rachel Garlin Benefit concert for King Middle School student delegation to Washington D.C., at 7 p.m. in the King Middle School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Donation $10-$20. 843-0822 

Frank Martin Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Mills College MFA Dance Thesis Concert at 8 p.m. at Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $5-$7, free to Mills students. 430-2175. 

The Athena Trio at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12-$15. 848-1228.  

The Aggrolites, The Uptones, Monkey, presented by Bay Area Ska, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Mac Martin & The Dixie Travellers, bluegrass from central Appalachia, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

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

Riot A-Go-Go, Chow Nasty, The Inversions at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5-$7. 848-0886.  

Farma, Firecracker, The Unravellers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082.  

Brian Melvin Quartet 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.  

Otis Goodbight, Shotgun Wedding at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159.  

Rob Bayne, Ira Marlowe & Friends at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Babyland, Rajah, and local film shorts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

High Violets, Astral, Foxtail Somersault at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

CHILDREN  

East Bay Children’s Theater “Shoemaker and The Elves” at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum, 10th and Oak Sts. Tickets are $6. 655-7285. www.childrens-theatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“13 @ 13” “Berkeley Boys Coming of Age” Portraits by Phoebe Ackle. Reception at 7 p.m. at Fourth Street Studio, 1717D 4th St. 527-0600. www.fourthstreetstudio.com 

“Dulcis Domus” Utilitarian ceramics by Julia Galloway at Trax Gallery, 1812 Fifth St. through April 9. 540-8729. 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “And Thereafter” at 5 p.m., “Oldboy” at 7 p.m. and “Cutie Honey” at 9:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Chun Yu talks about “Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company Fifth Annual Spring Performance featuring five original pieces choreographed and danced by Berkeley youth at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$8. www.enpointe.org 

Mills College MFA Dance Thesis Concert at 2 p.m. at Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $5-$7, free to Mills students. 430-2175. 

Baroque Etcetera “Italian Beauties” at 8 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Oakland. Donation $10. 540-8222. www.baroquetc.org  

American Recorder Orchestra of the West “Music of the British Isles” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Church, 2220 Cedar St. Free, donations appreciated. 843-2425. www.schweter.com/arow 

Contra Costa Chorale at 2 p.m. at El Cerrito Methodist Church, 6830 Stockton Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. 514-1861. 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Flute Fest with students in grades K-5 at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. 

Nigel North, lute solo, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $22-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org  

Nancy Schimmel and Friends, in celebration of Nancy’s 70th birthday, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. 

Mujeres/Women: Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568.  

Hal Stein at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, l621 Telegraph, Oakland.  

“Collage des Cultures Africaines” with the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Theater, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$30. 733-1077. www.urbanevents.com 

The Wilders, The Earl Brothers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Palenque, Cuban Son, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The People, The Debonaires, Soul Captives, ska, hip hop, reggae at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Frank Sally at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The David Jeffrey Jazz Fourtet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

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

Carl Sonny Leland Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

R.A.M.B.O., Voestek, Born/ 

Dead, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

The Great Auk at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Floating Goat, Drink the Bleach, Secret Order of the Tusk at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 

THEATER 

“Beowulf” The epic translated and performed by Philip Wharton at 7:30 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Sun. nights through Mar. 20. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-608-9683. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens” guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295.  

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival 3:45 to 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Poems Against War” with readings by Susan Snyder, Chana Bloch, Anne Barrows, Nezar Alsayyad, Charlotte Painter, Kaya Oakes, Robert Hass and others from 3 to 5 p.m. at Morrison Library, Doe Library, UC Campus. 

Poetry Flash with Sandra Gilbert and Chana Bloch at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

International Women’s Writing Guild hosts Katherine V. Forrest at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Janet Stickmon reads from her biography “Crushing Soft Rubies” at 4 p.m. at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Peter Phillips and Webster Tarpley discuss what the media failed to report about 9/11 at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Sor Ensemble performs Bartok, Dvorak and Prokofiev at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children. 559-6910.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988.  

Cantabile Choral Guild “Songs of Love and Liturgy” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Preview lecture 30 minutes before concert. Tickets are $6-$25. 650-424-1410. www.cantabile.org 

Sounds New A program of new American music at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Donations $10-$15. 524-2912. www.SoundsNewUS.org 

Soli Deo Gloria and Camerata Gloria “Across the Pond,” a concert of a cappella music by English composers at 3:30 p.m. at Zion Lutheran, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-982-7341. www.sdgloria.org 

Organ Recital by Rodney Gehrke at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 845-0888.  

Baroque Etcetera “Italian Beauties” at 4 p.m. at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 1823 Hearst St. Donation $10. 540-8222. www.baroquetc.org 

International Women’s Day Celebration “In Song and Struggle” with Shelley Doty and Rachel Garlin at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Dave Lefevbre at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Earl Howard and David Wessel at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Tickets are $5-$10. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/calendar 

Robin and Linda Williams, contemporary acoustic country, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jacqui Naylor at 2 and 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $5-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 14 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Seen, Not Spoken” artwork by the Bentley High School students and artists with disabilities, at NIAD Art Center, 551 23rd St. Richmond, through April 15. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will 24-Hour Playfest Join us for the last 2 hours at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Cost is $12-$25. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

The Shotgun Players Theatre Lab, “Monster in the Dark” Mon. and Tues. at 8 p.m. through March 29, at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. at MLK. Tickets are $10. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “The People of Angkor” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Stairway to Paradise” A lecture on “the flowering of the song-jewelers” 1920-1940, with William Bolcom, composer and Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. http://music.berkeley.edu/bloch 

Chellis Glendinning describes “Chiva: A Village Takes on the Global Heroin Trade” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Robert Boynton and Eric Schlosser talk about “The New Journalism: Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, featuring Bucky Sinister, 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 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Dervish, music from the west of Ireland at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, MARCH 15 

THEATER 

The Shotgun Players Theatre Lab, “Monster in the Dark” Mon. and Tues. at 8 p.m. through March 29, at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. at MLK. Tickets are $10. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “62 Years and 6500 Miles Between” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Kelly discusses “the Great Morality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Chamber Performances Baguette Quarette at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 525-5211. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

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

Jeremy Cohen Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

René Marie at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Also on Wed. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 

THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater “For Better or Worse” opens at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. and runs through April 24. Tickets are $20-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Bright River” A hip-hop retelling of Dante’s Inferno, at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Tickets are $12-$35 available from 415-256-8499. www.inhousetickets.com 

FILM 

Cine Contemporaneo “25 Watts” the story of three young people bored with life in Montevideo at 7 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Azadeh Moaveni describes “Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“‘The Road to Calvary’ by Peter Paul Rubens” a conversation with Alejandro Garcia-Rivera and David Stedman at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295. www.banpfa.berkeley.edu 

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 www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music of Lent An organ concert at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988.  

“Lalo” and Jack West at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Red Archibald & The International Blues Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

La Verdad at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

The Black Brothers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Rutro and the Logs, Leavenworth at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174. www.storkcluboakland.com 

Bittersweet, the new chocolate café on College Avenue, has a small sign but you can’t miss it. The smell of dark, rich chocolate emanates from its front door. 

“I think it is absolutely fabulous,” said Nancy Duff, a real estate broker from North Berkeley, who has trekked to the store three times since it opened in late January. “I want them to open one on Solano Avenue immediately. The chocolate chip cookies are great.” 

Duff and her companion drank two hot chocolates, “The American” and the “White Chocolate Dream.” The café makes five types of hot chocolate including a spiced version with “a kick of pasilla pepper and a hint of rose.” 

Bittersweet’s owner, Penelope Finnie, said she and her partners wanted to create a welcoming place where customers could learn about the flavors of chocolate in various forms. The cafe does not make its own chocolate but sells fine chocolate from a wide variety of purveyors and also uses such chocolate along with organic milk and other ingredients to make its beverages and baked goods. 

The café, decorated in bright orange, lime green, and chocolate brown, has a hip, upbeat feel. Five large rough wood tables are often shared by strangers and a paper mache mural by artist Sabrina Ward-Harrison decorates the walls. The atmosphere shares more with Europe’s bars than it does with its candy boutiques. 

“All the (chocolate) shops in France have a very clinical feel, with everyone in white coats. They even call the kitchen a laboratory,” said Finnie. “We wanted to create a less daunting space.” 

The only thing daunting about Bittersweet is the sheer volume of chocolate contained within its walls. Where to begin? Valrhona, Pralus, Dagoba, Lindt, Dolfin, Vosges, Callebaut, Michel Cluizel and E. Guittard are all represented among the many chocolate bars for sale. You’ll also find cocoa powder, chocolate sauce from Fran’s of Seattle and Berkeley’s own Scharffen Berger, and even chocolate cosmetics including a chocolate sugar body scrub and chocolate saffron body oil made by Mandy Aftel of Berkeley, perfumer to Madonna and other stars. 

“We’ve been waiting for this place to open,” said Melissa Sachs, a 19-year-old California College of Arts and Crafts student who lives in nearby dormitories. “I come every week. Even if I don’t have a lot of money, I can just get something here to eat. If you went to Starbucks it would cost just as much and not even be special.”  

Bittersweet offers a bread and cheese plate (helpful if you bump up against your chocolate limit and require something savory) as well as Irish steel-cut oatmeal. They also serve a variety of fine teas such as dragon pearl jasmine and Earl Gray, and coffee and espresso drinks made from a blend of organic coffee created by Blue Bottle roastery of Oakland just for Bittersweet. 

Finnie’s business partners, Seneca Klassen and sisters Bonnie and Beth Rostan, each contribute their gifts to the cafe. Bonnie Rostan bakes the pastries and chocolate treats, including excellent, crisp croissant and pain au chocolate. She also makes chocolate and vanilla macaron, French almond macaroons with creamy fillings. 

“All the French people in the neighborhood are coming to us,” said Finnie, as a smile of pride broke open on her face. Finnie and partner Beth Rostan used to work together at Askjeeves.com. 

“We were in the Internet business,” said Finnie. “We couldn’t see the customers. Here we get to interact with the customers and see their reactions.” 

Finnie said that one of her goals is educating the public about methods of chocolate production and how they impact its flavor. Each month the café offers a tasting plate designed to highlight a particular aspect of chocolate. 

Partner Seneca Klassen is well versed in chocolate history and helps decide which confections to put in the café’s glass case. 

“The case is our seasonal, fun space where we can explore the different flavors of chocolate,” said Klassen. The work of up to three different chocolate makers is shown in the case at any one time. Right now the candies are from Garrison Confections, Chuao, and Chocolat Moderne. These confections, which cost $2 a piece, are infused with natural flavors from tea, nuts, fruit, coffee and caramel. 

In one of Bittersweet’s educational efforts, Klassen recently hosted a group of sophomores from Bentley School. 

“We tasted different chocolate and learned how chocolate is made,” said Klassen. “The kids were really interested.” 

Chocolate seems to enrapture children of all ages. On a recent Friday afternoon, a small herd of schoolboys burst through the café’s doors, followed a moment later by their mothers. The boys ran to the counter, their eyes scanning the pastry case wildly. 

Then one boy cried out: “Mom, I want hot chocolate with marshmallows and a piece of cake!” He’d come to the right place. 

›

FRIDAY, MARCH 11 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with I. Michael Heyman, Prof. Boalt Hall on “Life at the Smithsonian.” 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.  

Native American Spiritual Celebration Weekend with Jerry Farlee, Lakota Spiritual Leader from the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Fri. eve. through Sun. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. 525-0302. www.uucb.org  

“Beyond the Age of Innocence - A Worldly View of America” with Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, at noon at 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor. Sponsored by the Institute of East Asian Studies. 642-2809. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

“Transforming Our Communities: An Inclusive Approach to Environmental Justice” A forum of open dialogue with scholars, policy makers, activists, community organizers and environmental lawyers, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Boalt Hall, UC Campus. http://els.boalt.org/ej2005/ 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Roy Campanella II, new General Manager of KPFA Radio and Andrea Buffa, Global Exchange Peace Campaign Coordinator at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation $5. 528-5403. 

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. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

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-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

School Gardens A one-day conference sharing successes and best practices. Cost is $10. For details on location call 643-4832. 

Green Building 101 Learn about healthier building materials and how to lower your utility bills and reduce home maintenance from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15, no one turned away. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Seeds for Spring and Summer at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

“Historic Hotels--Could They Be Built Today?” with Henrik Bull, FAIA, at 3 p.m. at the Claremont Hotel, Horizon Room, followed by hors d'oeuvres and a no-host bar at 4 pm. Cost is $15, $20 at the door. www.mitcnc.org/www/Events_Single.asp?eventID=1083 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Making Plays with Beth Templeton, for children in grades 3-5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Monoprinting with Karen Weil from 1 to 4 p.m. at Artists at Play Studio, 1649 Hopkins Ave. Families welcome. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Dance of India with Purnima Jah from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893.  

Poets’ Dinner with contest winners and poet James Keller at 11:30 a.m. at Spenger’s Restaurant. 1919 Fourth St. Cost is $23. For reservations call 235-0361. 

Burmese Human Rights Day with speakers, including former political prisoners, and Burmese food at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $10-$20, benefits Burmese American Democratic Alliance. 220-1323. 

“Democracy, Maoists and the Monarchy: Nepal at the Crossroads” Experts brainstorm on solutions to Nepal’s political crisis at Lipman Room, Barrows Hall, 8th floor, UC Campus, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 643-4487. http://igov.berkeley.edu  

Radio Camp Build an FM transmitter and learn the fundamentals of micropower broadcasting in this 4-day workshop in Oakland. Class runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mar. 12-13, 19-20. Cost is $150-$200 sliding scale. For information and to register call 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

Kol Hadash Family Brown Bag Shabbat/Purim Celebration at 10:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 8465 Masonic Ave. Come in costume and bring lunch for your family and finger food to share. Free, all ages welcome. 428-1492. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 

Prehistoric Life Today Join us for a hike back in time to discover ferns, liverworts and silverfish at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Making Musical Instruments from Recycled Materials with Fran Holland, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. All ages and families welcome. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Green Sunday “Military Recruitment in our Schools & Citizen Counter-recruitment” with the film “Blood Makes the Grass Grow” at 5 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

World Affairs Challenge Berkeley High students in the finals of this academic challenge from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at UCSF, Burk Hall, 1600 Halloway Ave. SF. www.projectspera.org/programs/wac.html 

Amnesty International Conference “A Turning Point for Human Rights” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Room 126, Barrows Hall, UC Campus. Free and open to the general public. RSVP to norcal@aiusa.org 

Book Release Party for “From Ike to Mao and Beyond - My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist” a memoir by Bob Avakian, at 6:30 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

CancerGuides, a workshop to train integrative cancer care counselors through March 19 at The Claremont. Sponsored by Center for Mind-Body Medicine. 202-966-7338, ext. 222. 

Berkeley Cybersalon “Information Wants To Be Free, But Programmers Want To Get Paid,” with Paulina Borsook, Jon Callas, and Phil Zimmermann at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 843-3733. 

“Prisoner of Paradise” Film about Kurt Gerron, German-Jewish actor in pre-war Berlin at 2 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

Family Film Sunday Series ”The Wizard of Oz” at 11 a.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $5 at the door. 

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 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “The Healing Mantras” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 14 

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 

Mercury in View The best evening views of the planet Mercury are during the next two weeks. Join us at Tilden’s Inspiration Point at 6:30 p.m. and we’ll walk down Nimitz Way. 525-2233. 

“US Military Operations and Militarized Prostitution” The resistance of the women of Olongapo, Philippines, at 7 p.m. at Mills College Student Union, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Free. 430-2019. 

“Problems in Argentine Commercial Law” with Carlos Rosenkrantz, Prof. of Law, Univ. of Buenos Aires, at 4 p.m. in the Goldberg Room, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“Brazil’s Global Leadership: The Role of Civil Society” with Luiz Dulci, Secretary General, Brazil, at 4 p.m. in the Morrison Room, Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. J524-9122. 

Senior Health with Dr. McGillis on molds, mildews, and their relation to health at 10:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Introduction to Conscious Bookkeeping with Bari Tessler at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Cost is $15. 883-0600. www.belladonna.ws 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 15 

Berkeley Garden Club “Propagation for the Home Gardener” with Kathy Echols, Diablo Valley College Horticulture Dept. at 1 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 524-4374. 

Celebrity Waiter Luncheon & Silent Auction to benefit the Berkeley High Althletic Program at 11 a.m. at Hs Lordship’s Restaurant, Berkeley Marina. Tickets are $60 per person or $500 for a table of 10. 526-8885. www.berkeleyathleticfund.org 

“Eat in Season” for National Nutrition month with cooking demonstrations at 3:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Solar Power and Social Change in Rural Kenya” with Arne Jacobsen, Humbolt Univ. at 4 p.m. at 652 Barrows Hall, UC Campus. 642-8338. www.ias.berkeley.edu/africa 

Choices for Sustainable Living A 9-week discussion course meeting Tues. at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Free. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“A Year on the Road: Cycling Through Siberia, Mongolia and China” with Lori Lewis and Ilya Pratt at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Crossing Borders: Trade Policy and Transnational Labor Education” with Prof. Harley Shaiken, at 4 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu  

Magic with Magician Alex Gonzalez at 6:30 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets required. call 524-3043. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Beliefs and Believers” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690.  

“Pool Exercise for Pain and Stiffness” a video at the Fibromyalgia Support Group at noon at Mafffley Auditorium, Herrick Campus of Alta Bates Hospital, 2001 Dwight Way. 644-3273. 

“The Challenges of Aging” with Alice Wilson-Fried, author of “Menopause, Sisterhood, and Tennis: A Miraculous Journey Through ‘The Change’” at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512.  

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. www.writercoachconnection.org 

“Purim: A Meeting Point between Cyclical & Linear Time” with Avital Plan at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

Free Fitness Tests for people 50 and over from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. You will receive personalized scores and tips on how to maintain or improve your fitness. 981-5367. 

“On the Rediscovery of Buddhist Sanskrit Texts” with Michael Hahn, Visiting Prof. in Buddhist Studies, UC Berkeley, at 5 p.m. at 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. Sponsored by the Center for Buddhist Studies. 643-6492. 

“Personal Stories of Survival and Spirit” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley Ave., at Bancroft. 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation at 6 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave. Advance sign-up needed, 594-5165.      

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Nick Brown will sing and play folk music at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 

Great Decisions 2005: “Sudan’s Crisis in Darfur” with Prof. Martha Saavedra, Center for African Studies, UCB, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. Cost is $5, $40 for the series. For information and reservations call 526-2925. 

Outstanding Women of Berkeley honored at the Commission in the Status of Women at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5347. 

Community Meeting with the Mayor Come meet District 2 Councilmember Darryl Moore and Mayor Tom Bates to discuss current issues and concerns, at 7 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St. 981-7100, 981-7120.  

“Island Nations: Limited Space, Mounting Trash” with speakers from Japan, Puerto Rico and the UK at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Moveon’s Spin on Global Warming and How Cyclists Can Help” with Joan Blades, founding member of Moveon.org, at 8:15 p.m., at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Sponsored by the Grizzly Peak Cyclists. 527-0450. 

Remembering Rachel Corrie An evening of words, song and activism with Peter Camejo, Julia Butterfly Hill, Pratap Chatterjee, Barbara Lubin and many others at 7 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Donation $20, reception at 6 p.m. for a donation of $50. A Benefit for the International Solidarity Movement & The Rachel Corrie Foundation. 236-4250. www.norcalism.org 

“Judi Bari Discusses her FBI Case” videos at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St,. midtown Oakland. Donation of $5 requested.  

East Bay Asian Local Development Coproration 30th Anniversary at 4 p.m. at Swan’s Marketplace, 901 Washington St., Oakland. Festivities include tours of the new facility and entertainment. 287-5353. 

“Faith and the Church” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Parish, 2220 Cedar St. Part of the Journey of Faith Lenten Series. 848-1755. 

“Cosmic Sacramentality” A New Age Invention or the Church’s Living Heritage? A discussion with Eddie Fernandez at 5 p.m. at the Jesuit School of Theology, 2401 Le Conte Ave. 549-5021. 

AARP Free Tax Assistance for taxpayers with middle and low incomes, with special attention to those 60 years and older. From 12:15 to 4:15 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. This service will continue through April. Appointments must be made in advance. 526-3720, ext. 5. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Au Cocolait, 200 University Ave. at Milvia. 524-3765. 

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. 

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. 

ONGOING 

Domestic Violence Training for people interested in volunteering at Oakland’s battered women’s shelter, Sat. March 12 - April 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 986-8600, ext. 316. 

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

Spring Break Program for Children offered by the City’s Recreational Division, March 28-April 1, for children ages 5-12, at the Frances Albrier Community Center, 2800 Park St. For information call 981-6640. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Creeks Task Force meets every Monday at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center through April 4. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/creeks 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Mar. 14, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 15, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Mar. 15, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Mar. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wed. Mar. 16, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Mar. 16, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/labor 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. Mar. 16, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Kristen Lee, 981-5427. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Mar 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 17, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/transportation

Inspired by the need to pay for the school’s beloved drama program, the Parent Teacher Student Association at Malcolm X Arts and Academics Magnet School has come a long way from bake sales. 

In 1998, Malcolm X, at 1731 Prince St., was selected to become a magnet school, and receive a $650,000 federal grant in three annual installments. The one requirement was to establish a program that would prosper when the money ran out. 

Principal Cheryl Chinn says the money was used for teacher training workshops and construction, but the majority was spent on the visual and performing arts program. 

“We had to go with our strengths,” Chinn says. “We had to give parents a reason why they would choose Malcolm X over the other schools.” 

When the magnet money ran out, the Malcolm X PTSA took over the responsibility of paying for the drama program. 

Starting with a fall membership drive and ending with the Spring Fair in May, the 150-member PTSA works to ensure Malcolm X students have the same opportunities as private school students. This year’s goal is $40,000, said Jill Wild, co-chair of the fund-raising committee and mother of a third grader. 

“Every child has a right to go to a good school,” Wild says. “The parents involved in the PTSA feel strongly about public education and we want it to work.” 

As early as kindergarten, arts are incorporated into the student’s curriculums through classes such as drama, singing, art and cooking. Every year, Malcolm X students present many different productions, including an All-School Singing Chorale and operas, like last year’s An Adventure like No Other, that are written, directed and produced by the students.  

“When you see a kid on-stage singing and dancing you can see it empowers them. It’s incredible,” Wild says. “You see confidence in a child to do that.” 

In addition to a boost in self-confidence, the students learn that art is a way to express themselves, says drama teacher Simon Kaplan. 

“It’s good to show kids that you can take emotions and put them into something constructive,” he says.  

The money raised by the PTSA pays for programs not included in the school’s annual budget, which consists of $50,000 from Berkeley Schools Excellence Project and $80,000 in state funding, says Chinn. 

Last year, the school’s sports, drama and after-school programs like karate and ceramics, as well as salaries of the school librarian and drama teacher were completely paid for by the PTSA’s fund raising.  

For PTSA members, the benefits are well worth the time, says Stina Charles-Harris, co-chair of the fund-raising committee. 

“This school is in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city and there’s kids being bussed in from the other side of town because they want to be a part of the programs we fund,” she says. 

The school’s motto, “Together We Can,” is exemplified by the relationship between the parents and the teachers, said Chinn. 

“Each piece is equally important,” she said. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without the parents and the staff working together hand in hand.” 

The newest PTSA event is the May Spring Fair raffle, started by Wild three years ago. The raffle prizes range from theater tickets to a digital camera. The grand prize is a trip to Disneyland, including round-trip airfare purchased with PTA members donated frequent flyer miles. Last year’s raffle raised $15,000, says Wild. 

Thanks to the efforts of the parents and the teachers at Malcolm X, the school’s visual and performing arts program will be protected from state budget cuts, says Chinn. 

“We’re family,” she says. “We have a mutual respect and when we come to a budget challenge, we work together and rise above it.” 

This is the eleventh and last in a series profiling the Berkeley elementary schools. The reports were written by students of the UC Berkeley Journalism School.

A strongly worded audit report released last week charges that Berkeley’s parking enforcement has suffered a decline in production and morale, and officials have failed to safeguard parking meter money. 

On Tuesday, the audit, overseen by City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan, will go before the City Council, which doesn’t escape the audit’s criticism. 

Also on Tuesday’s agenda, the council will hear an appeal of permits for the construction of a five-story condominium project at 2700 San Pablo Ave. and consider approving up to $2 million in contracts for outside environmental and planning studies on new developments. 

With Berkeley facing a $7.5 million structural budget deficit next year, city officials are eager to boost revenues from parking enforcement operations which have lagged behind city expectations. 

The audit found that from fiscal year 2003 to fiscal year 2004 parking enforcers, per person, issued 6 percent fewer tickets. Due to higher ticket fines and fewer parking enforcers on sick leave, revenues nevertheless increased from $6.7 million in 2003 to $8.3 million last year—still below the city’s $9 million target. 

Even though they haven’t met city goals, parking enforcers still took in nearly triple the revenue required to pay for the enforcement, the audit found. To boost parking fine revenue, Berkeley police are proposing hiring three new parking enforcers and one new supervisor in the department that currently consists of 23 parking enforcers and six supervisors. 

The audit found that parking enforcers face numerous obstacles to meeting city collection goals. On an average day, about 400 of Berkeley’s approximately 2,900 parking meters are out of service and the color painted on the specially marked curbs is not always clear, keeping parking enforcers from ticketing for infractions like parking in a red or blue zone. 

Inconsistent enforcement goals from City Council have also hurt productivity, the audit found. According to police, parking enforcers had been asked not to cite violators for several types of transgressions and had been ordered to ease off on the enforcement of residential preferential parking on Saturdays when the Cal football team was in action.  

But the council in 2002 required parking enforcers to issue multiple parking tickets to cars that overstayed their time at broken meters. 

“It appears that council has not yet explicitly, publicly and clearly stated to parking enforcement operations the parking enforcement goals and the best way to achieve the city’s overall parking enforcement goals,” Hogan wrote. 

She also concluded that the mixed messages had contributed to low employee morale. From employee interviews, Hogan wrote that 84 percent of parking enforcers disagreed with the statement, “The city respects a job well done.” 

Although the audit found no evidence of misappropriating parking revenues, Hogan warned that cash handling procedures were inadequate. Among her concerns were that all traffic maintenance workers had access to the city safe with parking meter keys, which was observed to be unlocked for an entire day and that no one had responsibility for safeguarding canisters with meter coins. 

“Given the current system of accounting for coins, if there were missing canisters or less money in the canister than there should be, there would be no way to track down who was responsible,” Hogan wrote. 

The audit also faulted the police department, which manages parking enforcers, for failing to keep accurate enforcement statistics. From 2001 through 2003, police records for parking enforcement and finance department records revenue differed by as much as $2.1 million. Even when police revised their numbers after learning that they were not properly using an accounting program a discrepancy remained. 

Hogan called for the police to follow her recommendation from a prior audit and hire a public safety business manager to “provide for adequate budgetary and performance measure reporting.” 

Hybrids May Get to Park For Free 

In another twist to the city’s parking enforcement policies, councilmembers Gordon Wozniak and Linda Maio are proposing that the city study the costs and benefits of allowing hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles to park for free at metered spaces. 

Appeal of Condo Project 

The council will hear an appeal over a five-story project with 30 condos, four live/work units and ground floor commercial space at San Pablo Avenue and Derby Street. After local developer Patrick Kennedy failed to develop the plot in the face of neighborhood opposition, he sold the site along with several already approved permits to San Francisco developer Charmaine Curtis. 

Last December the Zoning Adjustment Board granted Curtis a permit for the project. A group of neighbors has appealed. 

The appellants argue that the Zoning Adjustment Board should have required Curtis to start the permit process anew, failed to make proper findings to permit a fifth floor, should have required a more thorough environmental review and failed to ensure that the project followed the spirit of Berkeley’s law requiring that developers set aside units for affordable housing. 

Planning Contracts 

The Planning Department is asking that the council approve four contracts with outside planning firms to provide services for developers seeking to expedite Berkeley’s planning process. The three-year contracts would not exceed $500,000 per contract and would be paid by the project applicant. 

In his report to the council, Planning Director Dan Marks wrote that “having a consultant function as a ‘dedicated planner’ for a specific project allows it to move faster” because city staff have other duties. He cited 2020 Kittredge St. and the “Blood House” at 2526 Durant Ave. as examples of consultants successfully being used to work on projects. 

Marks is recommending the city contract with Crawford, Multari & Clark, Pacific Municipal Consultants, Amy Skews-Cox and Chandler Lee. 

Former Planning Commissioner Zelda Bronstein said that in the past consultants have ignored Berkeley zoning rules, causing projects to actually be delayed. Chandler Lee, she said as an example, was hired to work on the West Berkeley Bowl, which has been withdrawn from the Planning Commission’s agenda pending revisions and is now two months behind plan. 

“I don’t think this will make anything go faster,” Bronstein said. ô

Former East Bay Democratic Assemblymember Dion Aroner has become a lobbyist for a Canadian racing track firm which has teamed up with powerful Los Angeles developer and Republican Rick Caruso, intensifying their push for a massive “theme” mall on the Albany waterfront. 

The chosen site is a disused 45-acre parking lot at Golden Gate Fields, where crowds have dwindled to a small fraction of avid racing fans who once thronged the track. 

Caruso, who is planning a 600,000- to 800,000-square-foot upscale megaplex, is working with Magna Entertainment, the Canadian owner that also controls the largest share of the nation’s horse racing venues. 

Aroner formally represents Golden Gate Fields, but has been actively urging Albany officials and environmental groups to meet with Caruso, a well connected Republican who is pals with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and raised large sums for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, entitling him to the official status of “Bush Ranger.” 

“I was sorely disappointed when I heard that Dion Aroner was willing to work for Magna,” said Robert Cheasty, a former Albany mayor and a leading East bay environmental activist. 

Aroner said her firm was hired to do “public outreach and listening” for the track. Just what that entails, she isn’t saying because it would involve disclosing details of the contract. She said Caruso wasn’t involved when she started working for the track, and that she’s been asking Albany officials to meet with the Los Angeles developer only because he’s partnered with Magna. 

After losing her seat to term limits, Aroner and two associates founded a lobbying firm, AJE Partners, with offices at 1803 Sixth St. in Berkeley. She was replaced in the legislature by Loni Hancock, who is Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates’ spouse. 

Before serving in the legislature, Aroner served on Bates’s staff before he too reached the end of his term limit in the Assembly. 

The mall move represents the latest evolution in the declining fortunes of the “Sport of Kings,” as horse racing is known. Once a major attraction for throngs of racing fans, the track has fallen onto hard times. 

Off-track betting has claimed much of the audience in other states, as races are captured on satellite video feeds and broadcast to betting parlors and other racetracks. 

Then there are casinos. 

A study completed in January by LECG, Inc., the high-priced legal and economic consulting firm in Emeryville headed by UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Professor David W. Teece, predicts the end of both Golden Gates Fields and the Bay Meadows track should the proposed 2,500-slot machine San Pablo casino ever open. 

The LECG study says that Golden Gate would close first, as the track’s estimated return of 3.5 percent on wagers fell to a minus 1.9 percent. 

The casino opening would slash profits at Bay Meadows from 3.5 percent to 0.4 percent, and profits would drop to a minus 9.2 percent once Golden Gates Fields closed, reports the study by LECG Director William Hamm and principals Ronald M. Schmidt and Richard Siegel. 

Closure of both tracks would end 80 percent of the racing season in the region, reports LECG. The remaining 20 percent represents the much shorter racing calendars of North California’s county fair circuit. 

Both tracks are owned by Magna, which has also teamed with Caruso to develop a similar mall project at their Santa Anita track in Southern California, modeled after the French Quarter in New Orleans. 

There is currently no sign that Santa Anita is as badly afflicted as its Northern California counterparts, and construction plans there also include new barns for the racing stock. 

Cheasty, as an attorney and environmentalist who serves as president of Citizens for Eastshore Parks, along with the Sierra Club and other environmentalists want the track site transformed into a shoreline park, while allowing for a smaller project inland near the casino. 

Magna, other racing interests and California card clubs—when players bet against each other and not the house—floated a statewide initiative last November that would have granted those venues the right to add slot machines to their gambling fare. 

The measure went down to decisive defeat.  

Magna has one ace in the hole, a video track slated to arise in Yolo County specifically designed for the video camera coverage required for OTB betting. 

The Magna/Caruso plans have provoked strong opposition from some members of the Albany City Council and the Chamber of Commerce, notably from Councilmember Robert Leiber. 

The Albany Council remains divided on the shopping center issue, with the three candidates endorsed by the Sierra Club—Leiber, Farid Javandel and Mayor Robert Good—opposed to the project, and Vice Mayor Allan Maris and Councilmember Jewel Okawashi expressing willingness to consider the Caruso/Magna proposal. 

Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook has been deeply involved in lobbying for the project, said Cheasty and Lieber. He handled media relations for Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn. Middlebrook resigned from Hahn’s staff to take the job as a senior vice president of Fleischmann-Hilliard, one of the nation’s most powerful public relations and lobbying firms. He heads their operations in the Bay Area. 

According to a Dec. 1 profile in the Los Angeles Times, Caruso is a successful entrepreneur, a man who wears $6,000 suits and lives in a 20,000-square-foot home in tony Brentwood, where he, his spouse and their four children are tended to by a staff of 10. 

He is a friend of Kenneth Starr, the special prosecutor who went after Bill Clinton, and a major backer of Hahn, running for reelection in today’s (Tuesday’s) Los Angeles mayoral contest.ª

A week after the Berkeley Unified School District board heard praises for its conversion plans for East Campus, a board director has asked for a new plan with a baseball diamond on the site, reigniting a long-standing controversy over the property and possible Derby Street closure. 

At its Wednesday meeting, the BUSD board will consider a resolution by Director Terry Doran to ask architects to design proposals for the one-block closure of Derby Street between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, find an alternate space for the Farmers’ Market, and place a regulation-size high school baseball field on two district-owned lots surrounded by Milvia, King, Carleton, and Ward streets. 

The board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Old City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way downtown. 

Ruth Reffkin, East Campus Site Committee member, called Doran’s baseball field proposal a “back-stabbing,” “a betrayal,” and a “bait-and-switch” tactic, and promised that East Campus neighbors would fight any plans to close Derby Street. 

Last week, after a series of meetings that included East Campus neighbors, school officials, and baseball field supporters, WLC Architects produced two proposals for the use of the East Campus property. The architects were hired by the Berkeley school board with instructions that their plans neither include the closure of Derby Street, nor create any structure that would prevent the closure of Derby Street and the building of a baseball field sometime in the future. The plans are expected to be presented to the board in May. 

Doran’s resolution would authorize up to $10,000 to amend the district’s contract with WLC for the architects to produce a third plan, including the street closure and the baseball field. The street closure, if chosen, must be approved by the City Council. 

Doran said his motivation was to “give board members information on all of the alternatives” concerning the district’s Derby Street properties. 

He said that it would save the district money to look at the baseball field now, in conjunction with the temporary plans, rather than waiting until a later date. 

Doug Fielding, chairman of the Association of Sports Field Users of Berkeley and Albany and a supporter of locating the baseball field on the Derby Street property, said that Doran’s motion is critical. 

“We feel if we can’t get the motion passed, [the baseball field] deal is dead,” he said. 

At the end of last week’s WLC-sponsored community meeting at the Berkeley Alternative High School, members of the “Friends of Derby Street Fields” passed out a 12-page pamphlet which advocated Derby Street closure and the building of a baseball field. The pamphlet included a schematic that showed the possible location of the baseball field, the retention of the Alternative High School in its present location, an alternative site for the Farmers’ Market, as well as the community garden, tot field, and basketball courts called for in the WLC plans. 

Friends of Derby Street Fields is an informal organization of Berkeley residents formed in the late 1990s and resurrected a year ago when the BUSD board reopened consideration of development of the Derby Street properties. 

Doran said it would be hard to imagine WLC coming up with anything different from the Friends of Derby St. Fields proposal. He also said formal discussion of a regulation baseball field plan “would lay to rest the rumors about lights, or sound systems, or locked gates on that site. Those things have never been on the table, as far as I’m concerned.” 

Doran said that what was missing in the Friends’ plan—and what would be included in a WLC plan—would be a cost-analysis of building a baseball field from scratch, or converting to a baseball field after either of the temporary plans were put in place for a few years. 

Site Committee member Ruth Reffkin said that East Campus neighbors “all feel very betrayed by this. I’ve been involved in this process for months and months, and we were all told that all they would come up with was a temporary plan which would not include a baseball field, and which would not include the closure of Derby Street.” 

Reffkin was one of the neighbors who spoke in praise of both the WLC process and the proposed plans at last week’s board meetings. 

“They came up with incredible designs that included both community use and student use of the fields,” she said. “But all of a sudden, this proposal came up without warning. It’s my belief that it was Terry’s (Doran’s) agenda to close Derby Street all along, and now he’s trying to sneak this item in at the last minute.” 

Reffkin said that installing a baseball field would be too expensive and destroy community trust.  

“With a teacher contract dispute going on, and the district having financial problems, is this the most important thing to be spending our money on at this time?” she asked. 

Reffkin said she was concerned that a baseball field would mean stadium lights and loudspeakers, despite Doran’s assurances. Reffkin said that she and other East Campus neighbors would not oppose multi-use athletic fields on the property. 

“We live in this city,” she said. “These are our kids. We want them using the fields. What we’re objecting to is the destruction of our community.”?

For several of her nearly 20 years in Berkeley Sara Holmes didn’t know there was ever a fountain at the Arlington Traffic Circle. But now that it’s back, she can’t take her eyes off of it.  

All year long, Holmes frequently descends to the underground control room to clean filters, treads through knee-high pools of water to change light bulbs and plugs away for hours at graffiti using nothing but a toothbrush to make sure the centerpiece of her neighborhood looks as good as it did when neighbors brought it back to life nine years ago.  

“For a long time I couldn’t spin around the circle without looking for something to fix,” said Holmes, who lives a few blocks from the fountain. 

In a time of declining city services, the retired airline sales representative has become the guardian angel for Berkeley’s only working public fountain. 

“Sara and her crew have just been an incredibly wonderful resource for the city,” said Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna. “They do all the little stuff that we never get the time to do.” 

Holmes and her husband Harvard first took up the fountain’s cause as part of a neighborhood drive in 1993 to restore the traffic circle at Marin Avenue to its past glory. First built in 1911 as the centerpiece of the fledgling Northbrae neighborhood, the circle’s fountain and its signature concrete bear cubs, which more than a few neighbors had mistaken for rats, came crashing down in 1958 underneath a run-away truck. 

For years the traffic circle was home to juniper scrubs, until 1996 when neighbors under the banner of Friends of the Fountain and Walk raised over $100,000 to install a replica fountain. 

“After the dedication, everyone kind of went back to their lives except me,” said Holmes.  

As a member of community group, Holmes drew up the procedures for maintaining the fountain and had the most thorough knowledge about how it worked. She also assumed responsibility of recruiting a loyal band of about a dozen volunteers that have come out on the first Saturday of every month to landscape the circle and surrounding grounds, including the nearby Fountain Walk. 

“To me it wasn’t about the fountain. I wanted to do something to make me feel like I was contributing to the neighborhood,” she said. 

For Malcolm Potts, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday at the fountain with fellow volunteers, fountain upkeep has drawn him closer to his neighbors. “This is spontaneous social combustion,” he said. “There are few things we do in the modern world where we can come together as neighbors and improve our community.” 

Last Saturday was the first day on the job for Larry Miller, who recently bought a home near the fountain after marveling at it while visiting his daughter at UC Berkeley. 

“I was never especially driven to fountains, but there’s something about this one that really attracted me to the area,” he said. “At first I thought, ‘Wow, the City of Berkeley keeps this up,’ but now I know better.” 

Holmes works closely with the city on upkeep of the circle and commends city employees for their work. City workers landscape the grass around the fountain and perform more technical maintenance jobs. But, as the city has had to scale back services to balance budgets, Holmes has started to do more of the dirty work herself. 

If the fountain were left to the city’s maintenance schedule, Holmes said, light bulbs would go unreplaced, graffiti would stain the circle and algae would reduce the fountain to a trickle. 

“We have a certain standard in this neighborhood that we like to keep up,” she said. 

Holmes once took it upon herself to resurface the circle bench with a wire brush after finding that people had etched their names in it. She also keeps a concrete mixture identical to the one used for the fountain for touch up work. Her last job came four years ago, she said, when a VW Bug spun out of control and clipped the fountain. 

In her battle against graffiti vandals, Holmes has formed an alliance with SBC, whose green telephone utility box at the circle is a frequent target. 

“The phone company gives her spray paint to match the color of the box,” Harvard Holmes said. 

“They deliver it to my door,” Sara chimed in. When it comes to tagging the porous fountain, Holmes’ tools are a toothbrush, some “globby” graffiti remover and plenty of sweat. 

Although the sculpture is coated with an anti graffiti seal, she said, “It’s a crapshoot whether it comes out or not.” 

During the summer months, Holmes said she and her husband travel to the underground control room several times a week to keep filters free of algae that clog the flow of water. For years, Holmes would jump down into the four foot pit and climb back up, but after she hurt herself, her husband Harvard, an engineer, built a subterranean staircase. 

Holmes’ hard work has won her the loyalty of her once-a-month helpers. “If anyone else called me to work on a Saturday morning I’d probably find an excuse not to come,” said Bob Young.  

“Sara is so faithful,” said Paddy Wolf, an 81-year-old Englishwoman, pulling weeds up from a traffic median. “If it wasn’t for her this place would just be full of graffiti.” 

In return, Holmes throws her fellow volunteers an annual year-end party. At last year’s party she gave each volunteer a fountain magnet. 

Holmes said keeping up the fountain always offers new problems to solve. Recently two trucks knocked out pillars that surround the circle and a pump problem has left the fountain pool covered with worms.  

Still, Holmes isn’t about to beg off her duties. 

“I know there are so many people who appreciate the fountain as much as I do,” she said. “When someone tells me how much it means to them, that’s what keeps me going. Otherwise, it’s brutal.” 

›

With the West Berkeley Plan up for reconsideration this year, the fate of Berkeley’s industrial core hangs in the balance. 

Which is why two city councilmembers, an economic analyst, a union official, a commercial real state expert and three West Berkeley business owners gathered at Alliance Graphics Thursday night to consider the future of the neighborhood. 

A standing-room-only crowd of West Berkeley residents packed the seats, along with other community activists, including Barbara Gilbert, former City Council candidate, and Zelda Bronstein, former planning commission chair. 

Woodworker John Curl convened the meeting on behalf of the West Berkeley Association of Industrial Companies (WeBAIC), an organization dedicated to preserving the neighborhood which plays host not only to corporate giants like Bayer but also a host of smaller businesses and a legion of artists and craftsfolk. 

Mary Lou Van Deventer of Urban Ore, a recycling business at Seventh Street and Ashby Avenue, is a passionate advocate of the plan. 

“We can’t afford retail rent,” she explained. Her firm, which recycles discarded and rejected goods into saleable products, combines a warehouse with a workshop and a sales area. 

Ironically, she explains, the business wouldn’t have been allowed in West Berkeley absent a zoning amendment that was passed to allow a “recovery firm” into the area. 

“Had the council not acted, we would have been in Oakland or Vallejo,” she said. 

Sharon Cornu, representing the Central Labor Council of Alameda County, said industrial zoning leads to good jobs for cities faced with job losses in the public sector. 

“They provide jobs so that workers don’t have to leave the metro area to find work,” she said. 

Councilmember Linda Maio acknowledged that artists and craftspeople couldn’t exist in West Berkeley with high rents, and she said the area formed a perfect fit for the growing numbers of green businesses as well. 

“At the end of the day our main objective is to improve the lives of West Berkeley residents,” said Councilmember Darryl Moore. 

Don Yost, a partner in Norheim & Yost, a West Berkeley commercial real estate firm, blamed part of the pressures on the misinterpretation of the West Berkeley Plan. He said one solution to the growing number of vacant properties in the area might be to upgrade the zoning in some areas to Industrial Manufacturing to attract bigger firms. 

Neil Mayer, an economic consultant who worked on the West Berkeley Plan, said, “Manufacturing is good for the basic health of Berkeley. The employment levels are fairly steady across the years and the vacancy rate is very low.” 

Susan Libby, whose father started Libby Laboratories at Sixth and Virginia streets in 1950, said her topical pharmaceutical firms has provided steady jobs and good salaries for Berkeley residents. 

“We provide 25 to 30 good jobs with good wages and benefits for those with little education all the way up to Ph.D.s,” Libby said. I’d like to see the city give industrial businesses a little respect. We provide a good diversity for the community and we plan on staying here. It would be ill-advised for the city not to take advantage of what we have to offer.” 

Maio said she’d like to see more auto dealerships, which provide substantial tax revenues for the city. But the only way to attract them would be to offer them sites along the freeway, the now-preferred location. 

Curl said he was especially concerned about growing pressures for development along the Gilman Street, University Avenue and Ashby Avenue corridors. 

“West Berkeley is being chopped up into a complex variety of uses concentrated around the uses already there,” he said. “There is great pressure on those three areas to change their uses to generate more revenue for the city.” Curl said. 

For that reason, Curl and other West Berkeley activists have been fighting the latest proposed incursion on the Ashby Corridor, the city’s second Berkeley Bowl outlet proposed for the corner of 9th Street and Heinz Avenue. 

They fear that the high rents and land prices that go with commercial zoning could force rezoning of the cheaper light industrial and manufacturing sites. 

V

An Oakland education activist was physically removed by a bodyguard from a San Francisco press conference called by State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O’Connell Monday morning when he tried to deliver a letter asking the Superintendent to meet with Oakland residents over the operation of the Oakland Unified School District. 

Michael Siegel, one of six persons arrested last week in the OUSD administrative offices in Oakland, said that he was “grabbed from behind by [O’Connell’s] personal security guard and wrestled from the room.” 

The confrontation took place at the City Arts and Tech Charter High School in San Francisco where O’Connell was announcing a state grant of $14 million in facility funds to the school. Siegel was released by the security guard outside the room where the press conference took place, and was not arrested. He was accompanied by Oakland District 2 Council candidate Pamela Drake, who was also arrested in last week’s demonstration. 

The Oakland Unified School District was seized by the State of California two years ago after teacher pay raises shot the district well over its budget. O’Connell now runs the district through an appointed state administrator, Randolph Ward. 

O’Connell press secretary Hilary McLean confirmed that Siegel was removed from the press conference, stating the action was taken “because he disrupted the event.” 

McLean also disputed a contention of last week’s OUSD office sit-in demonstrators that O’Connell has refused to come to Oakland to meet with concerned parents. 

“The superintendent is a public official and, of course, is always willing to meet with citizens,” McLean said. “I think their actions are designed to get press attention which is fine and well, if that’s the tactic they want to use.”  

Albany City Councilmember Robert Leiber said that Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Dion Aroner’s predecessor in the state Assembly, told him that he wants a hotel built on part of the Golden Gate Fields property within Berkeley city limits, something the mayor denies. 

Most of the track site falls within Albany city limits. 

In a statement issued through chief of staff Cisco DeVries, Bates acknowledged that the two had talked about project planning and revenue-sharing in the event of a track closure, but DeVries said, “Tom said he did not make that suggestion and he’s not suggesting that a hotel be built there.” 

“That’s funny,” said Leiber. “He sure said it to me.” 

Bates said that if the track closes, he’d prefer to see the whole site turned into park land, but he’s seen nothing to indicate the track may be closing. 

Since both Berkeley and Albany land is in the area is zoned commercially, Bates said, in the event of closure he would like to the see the two cities plan any development and share the proceeds, minus the amount necessary to make good lost track revenues for Albany. 

“It’s a chance to do something no two cities have ever done before,” he said.?

East Bay Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s urban casino legislation is within two weeks of completion, and other, similar measures are nearing introduction into the state Senate. 

The announcement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plans for a massive casino in San Pablo—originally planned for 5,000 slot machines and now reduced by half—has triggered concerns from urban legislators around the state. 

Hancock’s opposition is credited in part to what she sees as the negative economic and social impacts of a casino in the Bay Area metropolitan area, and in part to transportation impacts. 

Many of her fellow Democrats are more ambivalent, said Robert Cheasty, a former mayor of Albany and an attorney and environmentalist, who has been active in the anti-casino movement. 

Promised jobs during construction and permanent jobs inside the gambling parlors have generated strong support from unions, mainstays of financial and political support of Democratic politicians, he said. 

The strongest opponents are coming from the Republicans, in stark contrast to their titular leader, Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has proposed five pacts with tribes guaranteeing the state a larger share of gambling revenues in exchange for regional monopolies. 

Armando Viramontes, the Hancock staff member handling casino issues for the legislators, said her second measure, a proposed amendment to the state constitution covering urban casinos, will be submitted to fellow lawmakers in about a month-and-a-half. 

That measure would ultimately require approval by the state’s voters before it could become the law. 

As for the state senate measures, “word on the street is that they will be submitted to committees even before the assembly measures,” Cheasty said.

Berkeley residents got their first official chance to weigh in on the conversion of Berkeley Unified School District’s sprawling West Campus properties last week when developers hired by the district held their first community meeting. 

The Thursday meeting was held in the cafeteria of the old Berkeley Adult School, which moved its operation to the district’s Franklin Street property last year. 

That leaves the district with a sprawling, mostly-vacant, six-and-a-half-acre 10-building site on University Avenue between Bonar and Curtis streets variously described by residents at the meeting as an “asset,” an “eyesore,” and an “armpit.” 

While most of the old Adult School buildings are largely unused, the property currently houses a day care center, a Head Start program operated by the Berkeley YMCA, a gymnasium used by community members, and an outdoor pool operated by the City of Berkeley. District officials say that the property is far larger than is needed to house its administrative offices, which it plans to move from its present Old City Hall site, as well as operations presently housed at the district’s Oregon/Russell street property. 

On Thursday night, representatives of Berkeley-based Design, Community & Environment (DCE) development planning company asked some 40 West Campus neighbors and school and city officials to give preliminary suggestions for what else they might want on the site. DCE has been hired by the school district to present a proposal for the conversion of the old Adult School. 

Included in the suggestions were: 

• Expansion of the campus parking lot to accommodate not only district staff but spillover parking from the University Avenue commercial zone. 

• A suggestion by Board Director Terry Doran that some of the excess space be used “for things the district doesn’t currently do,” such as a teacher education and staff development center or a professional library. 

• A possible hundred-member school for “problematic, special needs students.” That brought a sharp expression of concern from at least one neighbor, who did not want such students brought into the neighborhood. 

• Commercial development, including housing. An assistant to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Calvin Fong, told participants that “the mayor clearly wants development on the University Avenue part of this property because it would help both the city and the school district with their financial problems.” 

But while DCE representatives filled several poster-sized sheets full of community ideas which they said would be synthesized into their report, they provided little information about what might be possible on the site. 

DCE principal David C. Early said that his organization was waiting for a survey of BUSD staff to see what parts of the site might be used up by BUSD projects. In addition, Early said that his company had no idea yet as to how many of the buildings on the site were seismically safe and could be preserved in a new plan. 

Early also said that because state law was unclear on how to treat city zoning law over mixed education and non-education uses on school district-owned land, he would not know what part of the development might be subject to Berkeley’s zoning ordinances until actual proposals are drawn up. The zoning issue is expected to be critical because Berkeley’s creek ordinance prevents new construction near existing creeks, and Strawberry Creek runs under the West Campus parking lot. 

Meanwhile, while neighbors expressed wariness about what the district might eventually put on the property, most expressed delight that it was going to be upgraded. 

“The site has been poorly maintained,” one woman said. “We’ve got folks lighting fires and smoking crack in the walkthrough, and people are leaving human waste on the property.” 

She also complained of long-standing neglect by the district, saying that the boys’ gym was painted halfway up five years ago, with the painting never completed. She called the West Campus site in its present form “a blight on our neighborhood.” 

DCE plans three more meetings on West Campus before drawing up formal proposals and presenting them to the district in June. At the next meeting, to be held at the West Campus site on April 7, participants will be asked to put down their ideas for site uses on property maps. Early said that maps of the property would be posted on the district’s website soon, as well as notes from each meeting.?

RFID INSTALLATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the library’s board of trustees debates the decision to install radio frequency identification tags (RFID) in circulation materials at Berkeley public libraries, here are some reasons why they should decide against it. 

First, the range of the RFID signal is not 18 inches as claimed by the system’s salespeople, but rather dependent on the transmitter’s power and the receiver’s sensitivity. One can copy the barcode on any book or CD, and create a list of “sensitive” library materials. Using a powerful transmitter/receiver with such a list, one could use RFID to locate library materials anywhere, without the patron’s knowledge. Patrons might no longer wish to research politically unpopular or potentially embarrassing subjects. The newest RFID systems will include signal encryption, reducing such risks of privacy invasion, so the Board should wait to purchase a more secure system. 

Further, there have been no repetitive stress injuries among library employees in 2004 (Daily Planet, Feb. 18), the library already has self-checkout machines and proven antitheft devices, and the true cost of RFID, including staff time, is greater than the projected two-year deficit. Faced with a budget crisis, I see no reason the board should buy RFID at all. 

Mark W. Hendrix 

• 

WHAT DOES IT TAKE  

TO BUILD A FIELD? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

High school students looking for examples of how power and politics work in the real world might want to study the Derby Street/baseball field debate, but they shouldn’t expect to witness any profiles in leadership. This is Berkeley’s version of a political third rail, and this time it’s the School Board that is trying to wiggle out of touching it by cynically neglecting to include a full-sized baseball field option in the current round of plans. 

You see, it happens that this new athletic facility, which would serve our children, would be located in one of the more politically potent parts of town, where a vocal group is opposed to it. As a result, the Derby Street field is a political hot potato that the City Council and the School Board have let kick around for more than six years. The city manager has a 1999 EIR for the Derby Street baseball diamond, complete with Farmers’ Market, sitting on the shelf, waiting to be dusted off and updated, once the council gets the request from the board. Now Derby Street has the backing of the mayor and, it seems, the votes needed to pass the council. 

At next week’s School Board meeting, on March 9, BUSD Director Terry Doran is introducing a motion to keep the Derby Street baseball field alive. The motion is almost pathetically tame, asking merely that the district include a regulation baseball diamond as a possibility in the planning process, period. This has been enough to cause the Derby Street political behemoth to stir once again, lashing out against officials that support the ball field and broadcasting two-faced praise of the district’s “fair” planning process, a process that was designed specifically to not include the diamond, so that, once again, the board can dodge a politically charged decision. 

There are children at Berkeley High who remember their older, now graduated, friends showing up in force in 1999 in support of the field. And now, six years later, it’s come down to asking for three votes to keep it from being killed altogether, with no guarantee that it will ever be built, and with no up or down vote on the merits of the proposal. Chalk up another victory to those who know how to work the “process.” Small wonder it’s so hard to motivate people outside the dominant political channels to see the point in taking part in our civic life. 

Phyllis Orrick 

NEW BUSES ARE POPULAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dorothy Bryant’s recent op-ed piece was highly critical of AC Transit’s fleet of Van Hool buses, but the facts present a very different picture. The truth is that the vast majority of AC Transit’s passengers really prefer these buses. 

AC Transit staff devoted considerable time and resources in designing a bus with passenger-oriented features that are actually based on market research and consumer preferences. These vehicles, with their low-floor entry, have been used throughout the world for many years. They are now an industry standard in Europe and Asia, where millions of daily riders in cities like Paris, Zurich, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Tokyo, to name a few, strongly prefer this style bus to the old high-floor buses that require people to lumber up and down three high steps to get on and off. 

The Van Hool bus actually achieved worldwide recognition in 2003 and 2004, as the best designed and engineered transit bus in Europe, beating out some of the biggest bus manufacturers in the world, including Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Neoplan of Germany, and DAF/Berkhof of the Netherlands. More than 15 journalists, who regularly cover the transit market in Europe, judged the highly competitive competition. 

AC Transit surveyed nearly 500 passengers when our prototype Van Hools arrived more than two years ago, and the average quality rating among those surveyed was 4.2 out of a maximum of 5. Equally significant, since we launched regular service with our Van Hool fleet in 2003, AC Transit’s overall ridership has climbed 7 percent. In particular, our San Pablo Rapid (Line 72R), which features Van Hools exclusively, has experienced a 66 percent growth in ridership. 

To be sure, some people don’t like our new buses. It’s impossible to please everyone, but the majority of our customers really do appreciate the new design and its many passenger-friendly conveniences, like low-floors, wide doors, electric door openers, big windows, rear windows, great views, bright destination signs, easy access for people in wheelchairs, third-door exits, and a wide-open area in the center of the coach to better accommodate extra passenger loads. 

Jaimie Levin  

AC Transit director of marketing and communications 

• 

BERKELEY BOWL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In a Feb. 11 Daily Planet commentary piece, Dale Smith wrote “yes, it’s possible to grocery shop on a bicycle, but not when you’re feeding a family of four.” I’ll admit my family is only three at the moment, but I don’t see any barrier to shopping for one more. People often comment on my cart as a I push it down the aisles at the Berkeley Bowl, “does that hook to the back of a bicycle?” The answer is yes it does, and I’m always tired of shopping long before it is full. My main complaint about shopping at the Bowl by bike? The bike racks are frequently full, and I have to park across the street at Walgreen’s. 

Bryce Nesbitt 

• 

PETER HILLIER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

James Day (Letters, Marc 4-7) admits he was not at the meeting that I reported on, and that Mr. Hillier walked out on, despite appeals from both the chair and audience members that he stay and discuss the issues. Mr. Day agrees with my premise that public officials work for us and should answer to us, and that those who don’t should leave office, yet he characterizes my letter as an “ugly attack” and an “ugly mockery...spewed out” by me. I did not intend my letter to attack or mock Mr. Hillier, but to describe the event and state my premise, and in fact, I forwarded my letter to Mr. Hillier as well as to the Daily Planet. 

I’m pleased to learn that Mr. Hillier was helpful with the Adult School matter. We have not found that the case with issues surrounding Solano and Marin avenues. I hope that he may have another less stressful opportunity to discuss those issues with us. 

Jerry Landis 

• 

OAKLAND SHOOTING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Patrick McCullough is a black man. If he were a white man living in Burlingame, I doubt that the newspapers would be as critical of his actions. 

It seems that black men are supposed to know their place. Black men aren’t allowed to complain if drug dealers—who by some sorry coincidence also happen to be black—insist on selling drugs in front of their homes. Black men are supposed to maintain “solidarity” with all other black people—even if the other black people are criminals. Black men are supposed to keep quiet when drug dealers, and the added crimes they and their customers commit, move into the neighborhood. 

Black men aren’t allowed to own property, either. It seems if a black man spends 10 years of his life working to buy a house, it is somehow “property that is easily replaced” and the black man is expected to give it over and lose his equity without a fuss. 

Black men aren’t allowed to protect their families. After all, everyone knows that “real black men” have no love or affection for their families because of a history of slavery. Any black man who would defend his family is obviously an evil violent person, as opposed to the “real black men” who kill each other over drug turf. 

And most important of all, reputable, educated middle-aged hardworking black men who have no criminal record are to be considered to be no more believable than juveniles who hang out on the corner with disreputable companions who sell drugs. After all, as every real white person knows, all black people not only look alike, but they act alike. And if they don’t behave in the fashion approved by real white people then obviously they need to be “corrected.” In the past the Klan did the correction; but today’s methods are not as crude. Today the newspapers and “activists” demand that the police, the district attorney, and others remind black people to stay in their place—and to remember that all black people are to be considered equally credible—except that those who best resemble unfortunate stereotypes are to be considered the most credible of all. 

Nadja Adolf 

Newark 

• 

GIANT MOUND OF DIRT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To answer Miko Sloper’s question in the March 4 Daily Planet: That “giant mound of dirt” west of the freeway and south of Seabreeze Market and Deli is one of many mounds of dirt that have been on that site for decades. The property is leased by a construction company that uses it for temporary storage of topsoil—a “put and take” operation, aka a “dirt hotel.”  

Change is in the works, however. This area is now part of the Eastshore State Park, and the first draft of the site plan for this section of the park has recently been released. It can be viewed at www.well.com/user/pk/waterfront/photo-of-the-week/Photo050221.html.  

State and East Bay Regional Park representatives will be on hand to discuss details of the plan at the Waterfront Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 9. at 7:30 p.m. in the Marina Conference room.  

Paul Kamen 

Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission 

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Click here to view the latest work by Planet cartoonist Justin DeFreitasÿ

Is the “Coalition of the Willing” unraveling in Iraq? The recent shooting by U.S. troops of kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and her rescuer Nicola Calipari is raising suspicion that the coalition’s operations in Iraq are slipping into disarray. Moreover, the incident has driven deeper the wedge between Washington and its reluctant European allies.  

A hail of gunfire from a U.S. military checkpoint hit Sgrena’s convoy as it approached Baghdad International Airport, killing Calipari, the Italian intelligence operative who had secured Sgrena’s release from her insurgent captors and who had rescued other Italian hostages before. Two of Calipari’s colleagues and Sgrena herself were wounded.  

Besides the senseless loss of life, the incident is producing a diplomatic rift between the U.S. and Italy. The Berlusconi government has been a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq despite the unpopularity of the war among Italians. The shooting has deepened anti-American sentiments and, with a new election coming up, protests calling for the withdrawal of Italian troops have put Berlusconi on the defensive.  

Suspicion of the truthfulness of the U.S. account of the incident is widespread. Italian media wonder how a sensitive operation, such the liberation of a kidnapped Western journalist, could have been possible without the knowledge of U.S. authorities in Iraq. On at the least two other occasions in the past—the freeing of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, two Italian NGO workers kidnapped in September 2004 and that of four Italian security operatives—U.S. and Italian authorities worked in close coordination, with U.S. Marines playing a pivotal role in the freeing of the two women.  

Are Washington and Rome still talking to each other in Baghdad, some Italian analysts wonder, or is the Iraq operation turning into a Somalia redux? Many foreign correspondents present on the ground in Somalia in 1993 believe the American go-it-alone posture was a major factor that fatally undermined a key operation on Oct. 3, 1993, when the “Blackhawk Down” ambush killed 18 U.S. Army rangers and wounded 84 others. Observers blamed the debacle on the U.S. decision to stage the assault against a warlord’s hideout without informing coalition partners or sharing intelligence, or taking into account the intelligence provided by other contingents.  

Italian journalist Giovanni Porzio, who was in Somalia for one of Italy’s leading periodicals, recalls that the U.S. forces rarely “touched ground” and worse, barely crossed paths with other international contingents. The lack of coordination and communication, plus the U.S. decision to act on its own, condemned the Blackhawk operation to failure.  

The facts of the March 4 Calipari-Sgrena shooting in Baghdad seem to show at the very least a redux of the Somali incident.  

“There’s no coordination in Iraq between the various national contingents,” says Gianni Perrelli, L’espresso special envoy to Iraq. “Except for the British, who are able to really control their territory, the other national contingents live confined to their barracks.” Perrelli says he has “sensed that there’s no longer an established channel of communication between the coalition countries and the U.S. occupation army.”  

But some, including Sgrena, are theorizing that the attack on her convoy may have been deliberate, part of a larger strategy directed at preventing foreign countries from negotiating with insurgents to free their kidnapped nationals.  

Sgrena says the Italians had informed their American counterparts that the operation was under way and that the convoy had already passed all the American checkpoints when it came under fire, without any warning. She says the convoy was proceeding at a regular speed, not at high speed as the United States claims.  

“In light of all the discrepancies I cannot exclude the possibility that I may have been targeted,” Sgrena told Italian wire agencies in the hours following her return to Italy.  

“It is not a mystery that the Americans do not like people to negotiate with insurgents, and that they do whatever they can to discourage it,” Sgrena said. “Also, my captors had warned us to be wary of the Americans. ‘Be careful,’ they said, ‘the Americans want you dead.’ In light of what has happened it is difficult to not believe that this may have been their goal.”  

The White House quickly dismissed Sgrena’s speculation as “absurd.”  

Sgrena’s ordeal, however, has given new meaning to a controversial episode at the last World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During one of the sessions, Eason Jordan, chief of international news for CNN, said he believed that the Defense Department was deliberately targeting journalists in Iraq, and that he knew of at the least 12 journalists who had been targeted and later killed by the U.S. military there. Jordan had to retract his statement and later resigned from CNN.  

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy group, has placed Iraq on top of its list of the most dangerous places for journalists. So far, said a committee report, 37 journalists and 18 media personnel have been killed in Iraq, the greatest number of any single conflict since the Vietnam War. Typically, the committee notes, journalists’ deaths in wartime are targeted killings. “The deliberate use of overwhelming force in the Al Jazeera case,” says committee spokesperson Joel Campania, referring to the bombing attack on the Arab television station’s headquarters in Baghdad that killed one journalist, “was never explained by U.S. forces.”  

As truth and journalism in Iraq become frequent victims of war and military rhetoric, the Bush administration is finding it more difficult to convince Europeans that the U.S. occupation of Iraq is all about “spreading democracy” and not a neoconservative imperial pipedream.  

Paolo Pontoniere is the San Francisco-based correspondent of Focus, Italy’s leading monthly magazine. U

New Yorker regular Malcolm Gladwell has written a new book about instantaneous decision-making called Blink. The title would provide an apt characterization for the presidency of George W. Bush, whose actions often are based on little more than his gut-feelings. 

A prime example of the Bush decision-making process can be seen in his advocacy of the National Missile Defense (NMD) system. On Feb. 15 a NMD test aborted when an interceptor missile failed to get out of its silo, the latest in a series of debacles that stretch back to the inception of the program. Despite this woeful track record, the Bush administration continues to move forward with a multi-billion-dollar deployment of a system that doesn’t work now and, most likely, will never meet its objectives. 

The NMD system, as the Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars,” was conceived in 1983, after Ronald Reagan shared a “dream” with his science advisor, Edward Teller. The basic idea seemed simple enough: If a missile is fired at the United States, our radar systems detect it, causing an interceptor rocket carrying an “exoatmospheric kill vehicle” to be launched; within minutes the kill vehicle climbs to the upper reaches of the atmosphere, finds the missile, and destroys it by ramming. 

This scenario presented a difficult technical challenge, comparable to designing a system to consistently hit one bullet with another; nonetheless, scientists initially were optimistic, believing that with specialized onboard computers, and sophisticated tracking radar, they could design a reliable kill vehicle. However, as development proceeded, the designers uncovered a major problem: the kill vehicle would likely not encounter a single target; instead it would intercept a cluster of warheads—one live and the others, decoys. 

The challenge of quickly discriminating between multiple potential targets has proved beyond the capability of modern technology. So far, there have been no successful tests conducted under realistic conditions. (Whenever the government reported a positive test, independent observers—most notably MIT scientist Theodore Postol—have quickly poked holes in the results, sometimes uncovering what appeared to be fraud.) 

Despite its abysmal track record, NMD has been supported by every president since Reagan—$51 billion dollars had been spent by the end of the Clinton presidency. It again became the cornerstone of US defense strategy when the Bush administration pushed a $100 billion dollar deployment through Congress in 2001. Last October, construction of the first stage of the system began at Fort Greeley, Alaska. Some estimate the ultimate cost of NMD as more than $1 trillion. 

Many ask why the US continues to fund a billion-dollar system that doesn’t work and, probably, isn’t needed. Even before 9/11, experts questioned the emphasis on missile defense given that the most likely threat to the US would come from a bomb delivered by conventional means—suitcase, container, truck, or airplane. Indeed, the most serious missile threat, North Korea, does not have the capability to hit the American mainland; it is their immediate neighbors—China, Japan, and South Korea—that are threatened.  

Bush “logic” propels NMD’s deployment. A dissection of the president’s rationale reveals a pattern, the same process involved in actions such as the war in Iraq or the “reform” of Social Security. The typical Bush decision is one-third pragmatism, another third obstinacy, and a final third “blink.” 

The pragmatic part stems from the political reality that continuing to build NMD is good for major Republican aerospace donors, such as Raytheon and TRW. Similarly, the war in Iraq may be bad for America, but it is good for Halliburton. 

NMD is a neo-conservative article of faith, and Bush and his advisers are true believers. Despite dramatic evidence to the contrary, they stubbornly hold on to the major Neo-con tenets, such as: Star Wars will make us safe; Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; cutting taxes is good for everyone; and war is peace.  

The final ingredient in the Bush rationale is “blink,” seat-of-the-pants reasoning. Malcolm Gladwell argues that instantaneous decisions are best formed out of years of experience. In other words, it’s okay to reach quick decisions, but there should be an underlying “seasoned” process. The problem with most of Bush’s “blink” decisions is that there is no evidence of this foundation. What we see, instead, are snap decisions wrapped in authoritarian rigidity. Once Bush locks onto a solution to a problem, he won’t consider any other alternatives. For example, while North Korea has nuclear weapons and a missile-delivery system, the Bush administration assumes that NMD will protect the American mainland and, therefore, remains closed to all but military solutions to solve the danger of the rogue nation. The United States refuses to participate in real diplomacy. 

There are two other problems with the Bush “blink” style: Once the president makes a decision, however ill-considered, his administration demands that all Americans support it and labels those who dissent as “unpatriotic.” In addition, Bush tends to surround himself with “yea sayers,” partisans who will not question his rationale. As a result, there is no “feedback loop” that enables the White House to learn from mistakes. (In most decision environments, there is a simple feedback loop: adopting a policy, trying it out programmatically, evaluating the results, and taking corrective action based upon the lessons learned—for example, modifying or abandoning the policy.) Instead, the primary rule for Bush decision-making seems to be: never admit making a mistake. The administration places a premium on its image of resolute toughness and, therefore, believes it to be a sign of weakness to acknowledge any policy shortcomings. For this reason it is incapable of learning from its mistakes. NMD is a classic illustration of this weakness. 

While inventors and artists often succeed because of “blink” decisions, political leaders typically do not fare as well. History provides many examples of national leaders who let hubris overwhelm their judgment and, as a result, came to disastrous ends: Napoleon refused to listen to wise council that warned him of the perils inherent in an invasion of Russia; a century later, Adolph Hitler, no doubt believing himself the intellectual superior to the French Emperor, engaged in a second disastrous foray into Russia. Now George Bush, ruler of the strongest nation in the world, buoyant from winning the 2004 election, surrounded by advisers who know better than to argue against his impulsive judgment, makes one strategic error after another. The results are as predictable, as they are disheartening: Rather than strengthening the United States, Bush policies systematically weaken it. Rather than forging an intelligent, flexible defense for the homeland, the president proffers an unfeasible, wasteful alternative. 

Bush has probably never read about Thomas Andrews, a “blink” thinker best known as the designer of the Titanic. Andrews went along on the maiden voyage of the great ship, knowing that it carried far too few lifeboats, but feeling secure because he supposed that the vessel was indestructible. 

Sheltered by his unique decision-making style, George Bush sleeps soundly, believing that because of NMD, and the other ill-considered policies of his administration, the United States is impregnable. Meanwhile, the good ship, America, steams unaware into the cold, iceberg-laden sea. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 



In the spirit of Susan Orlean’s recent “Lost Dog” piece in The New Yorker, I feel compelled to tell my own lost dog story. Actually I have two, a bonus for the reader, extra credit for me. 

But unlike the owners in Orlean’s tale, I didn’t leave my dog in the car with the key in the ignition, the engine running, and the air conditioning on. I can’t imagine how anyone could do such a thing and not expect bad behavior to follow. I once left my dog in my car with the windows open while I ran a quick errand in Marin County. Within minutes the San Rafael police were in the parking lot, ready to impound my car and arrest me. On the flip side, I have seen a baby locked in a running Land Cruiser on Piedmont Avenue while the driver shopped at A. G. Ferrari’s. I’m not defending my behavior. I’m just pointing out a difference between police workloads in Alameda and Marin counties.  

Years ago, just after my husband’s bicycling accident, an acquaintance gave me a dog. (Note to readers: do not give someone a dog after their husband has returned from the hospital a C-4 quadriplegic.) I was too distracted by other, more important things to return the gift. Instead, I gave the pooch a new name and let her natural curls grow wild. She’s a smart little dog, a miniature Schnauzer, who hates cats and craves affection. From the beginning of our relationship Whiskers has been my constant companion, my substitute bedmate, my one true love.  

But one day Whiskers disappeared. I searched the neighborhood, and learned she had been sighted near Children’s Hospital. Like the distraught dog owners in Orlean’s story, I posted Lost Dog signs, ran an ad in a local newspaper, visited the pound, and berated myself for not being a better mom.  

Fifteen days went by without a trace of Whiskers, and then suddenly there was a breakthrough. I received an e-mail from a woman who said she thought she had found my dog. I called her, but it turned out she didn’t have Whiskers. What she had though was nothing short of a serendipitous miracle. She had read in the Montclarion, under the heading “Found Items” an announcement that someone had found an undersized Schnauzer near Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. “I thought your ad matched this one,” she explained. “Perhaps you should call the number listed.” I did so and found Whiskers ensconced on a llama farm in eastern Contra Costa County.  

I drove the hundred mile round-trip to get her. She was living in rural utopia, soaked in perfume, adorned with pink ribbons, and surrounded by llamas. She was not excited about returning to North Oakland. But back to Oakland she came and I took better precautions to keep her in check, or so I thought. 

Several months later I walked with her to Temescal Pool and left her outside while I swam. When I returned to the place where she was tied, she was gone. I scoured the neighborhood, made posters, and ran another Lost Dog ad. Two days later a woman called and asked me a peculiar question. “Next time you go away,” she said, “can I take care of your dog?” “My dog is lost,” I cried. “No she’s not,” she replied. “She’s sittin’ across the street from my apartment.” “Where?” I asked. “37th Street,” she answered, “right off Telegraph Avenue.”  

I jumped in my car and headed down to 37th, and there was Whiskers, hanging out on the corner, freshly washed and groomed, looking as if she was waiting for me. I scooped her in my arms and thanked the finder. I dished out a second reward and took my doggie home. Another lesson learned. My baby requires a bomb shelter to keep her safe, or maybe I just need to use common sense. No more car trips to Marin, or walks to Temescal Pool. I built a fence around my house, and placed a gate across the wheelchair ramp. These are the sacrifices you must make when you have a dog that’s irresistible.  

Indoor Grass Fire 

Berkeley firefighters were summoned to an apartment at 945 University Ave. in the wee hours of the morning of Feb. 28. 

What they discovered was a grass fire—of sorts. 

The missing tenant had a garden going in the back bedroom, cultivating lots of a leafy green herb of dubious legality. 

“A grow light fell down and burned a hole through the floor and burned up a bookcase,” said Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. “He was long gone by the time we got there.” 

The blaze did relatively little damage, Orth said, and the growing operation was referred to the Police Department for further study. 

Dumpster Blaze 

An inconsiderate smoker is the likely cause of a dumpster fire last Saturday evening at 1040 University Ave., said Chief Orth. 

“Someone dumped some smoking material down the garbage chute, and it ignited the contents of a dumpsters down below,” he said. Firefighters got the call at 9:14 p.m. 

Fortunately, the dumpster was in a room designed to handle such fires, and the effects on the dwelling units above were confined to a little smoke, he said. 

Sweaty Pipe Fire 

A plumber sweating pipes with a torch prior to applying solder managed to ignite insulation in the walls of a home at 2267 Hearst Ave. just after 1 p.m. Sunday, said Deputy Chief Orth. 

Though damage was minor, Orth said that pipe sweating is a surprisingly common cause of structural fires in the city. 

When a Tree Falls. . . 

Two cars sustained substantial damage Sunday when an oak tree, the hold of its roots weakened by the recent wet weather, succumbed to winds and toppled over on the vehicles parked in the 1800 block of Arch Street about 1:15 p.m., said Orth.W

Being a forensic clinical psychologist who has chosen to work, at Atascadero State Hospital, with “Sexually Violent Predators,” as well as other mentally disordered forensic patients, I have counted on the CalPers retirement to make up the core of my retirement planning. I chose to work with the forensic population for the simple reason that I found it interesting to work with mentally disordered criminal offenders and especially with the “Sexually Violent Predators,” who have been committed. I wanted to work with a group of people for whom many professionals find it difficult to provide treatment. I have found existential meaning in this work because 1) I am helping to assess whether or not these people are safe to return to the community; and, 2) I am helping people who otherwise would be pushed to the absolute margins of society and perhaps re-offend due to their social alienation. Ultimately, I have wanted to provide treatment to these folks so that in some small way I can contribute to the safety of my state.  

Yet, I work for about two thirds of what my peers, in similar settings across the nation, earn for their work. I work for about 30 to 40 percent less than what other psychologists in private practice make. Even more concerning is that I currently earn about what my peers’ median salary was in 1995. I have lost pay raises because I have topped out and the 5 percent pay raise we were to be given two years ago was withdrawn and/or sucked up by increased costs for medical insurance. We psychologists in public service, caring for the worst of the worst sex offenders and dangerous mentally disordered criminals don’t even receive retention and recruitment bonuses.  

Now! Now, I am being told that Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to “starve the monster,” by destroying my retirement, for the simple reason that he wants to destroy CalPers’ influence upon corrupt corporations such as Enron. As the issue is described in the print media, I am going to have to pay 100 percent more in my contribution to the health plan. I am likely to lose my safety retirement, due to the governor’s plan to 1) create a two tier retirement system after 2007; and, 2) the incentives he would give current CalPers enrollees would provide a short term benefit, but would destroy the base of the current retirement system that I have counted upon. It is likely that I and those public employees, who work for essential public services in circumstances in which being killed is a distinct possibility, are being asked to carry the burden of an obscene deficit on our own backs. I work with patients, who would kill me if they weren’t afraid of a third strike (they have told me this to my face). Further, I am not in a secured setting like a prison; I work amidst the forensic patients and the SVP patients; and if my fellow employees fail to look out for each other and me, I or someone else could die. That safety retirement, i.e., combat pay, was going to enable me to build a decent retirement over the next 10 years. It made working in a high risk environment more palatable. The safety retirement was going to form the core of my retirement.  

Now, I see this overly affluent, blatantly ostentatious, action-adventure, Austrian-actor, with more money than he knows how to spend, taking action against the security of my and my wife’s future! I am livid. And what galls me is that I voted for him and that the California taxpayer will go for this plan (referendum) because the solution to the budget deficit will be paid off the backs of California public employees, rather than raising taxes so everyone pays their fair share of the costs of Gray Davis’ caving to power companies. I feel betrayed.  

The day my pension is changed is the day I leave my public sector job and return to the private sector, in another state. I will have to do so because I will need to increase my income and pay into IRAs at a staggering pace, to secure any retirement security. This state promised me something for working with people for whom few psychologists are willing or capable of providing decent assessment and psychological care. Now the governor wants to renege upon this promise!  

I am so irreducibly incensed that I want to rage against the dying of my future plans and those of my fellow public employees. But then I brace myself to reality and ask what can I do? What can the few hundred thousands of public employees do to assist the governor to admit to the heartbreaking changes in lifestyle that his political—not truly fiscal—attack upon CalPers will necessitate. We are out numbered by the other California voters, who don’t care about the retirement of police officers, firemen, nurses, physicians, paramedics, social workers, parole officers and psychologists. Consequently, when the governor calls for a referendum, we public employees are likely to suffer—as are our families and our futures. Being powerless as one stands in front of a steamroller is deeply distressing.  

Yesterday, I spoke with several of my colleagues and each of them—well the seven of them—said they would leave state service if what Arnold Schwarzenegger wants is passed by the legislature and/or voted for, through a referendum, by the people of California.  

If the governor and the Department of Mental Health believe they are going to keep quality professionals at DMH, when they threaten our retirement security, they are wrong. Here at ASH, just since I have been here, there has been nearly a 55 percent turnover rate of psychologists. And that turn over rate has been with the current CalPers system! Further, we find it difficult to recruit and retain psychologists, as things now stand. We have had as many as six to eight unfilled psychologist positions for as long as a year. And that has occurred with the current pension and medical insurance benefits. Who are you going to employ, if CalPers is destroyed?  

I am 52 years old. I can’t go anywhere else and obtain a reasonable retirement in the time left in my professional practice. I don’t even have the time to build up my IRAs to meet the shortfall that will occur if Schwarzenegger sabotages my pension. So, it seems I will be working for many more years than I had expected (but not for the State of California).  

Finally, if the governor and his ilk in state government do offer so-called golden incentives for people to leave the CalPers pension, those of us who have counted upon it will lose everything because the incentives will draw down the support base. People always go for the cash in the pocket now instead of thinking ahead and instead of supporting their community of fellow workers. I see a maelstrom ahead and I am angry. More, I am apprehensive regarding my future and the future of California’s public employees, who provide necessary services. I feel betrayed. Does anyone else feel betrayed by this governor?  

Warren E. Icke is a clinical forensic psychologist at Atascadero State Hospital.o

I spent four hours at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18, enjoying watching democracy in action. The issue was the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue, which I oppose. 

It seemed generally accepted that about 20,000 cars use Marin each day, that it takes at least two minutes to drive from The Alameda to San Pablo under average conditions, and that under the reconfiguration it would take 30 seconds (or more) longer. The city planners used a longer time for the possible delay, so I will use 36 seconds to make the arithmetic easier. 

Thus, what follows is data provided by Albany on their web site and the figures I heard from the Berkeley city planners, plus simple arithmetic and reasoning. 

If 20,000 drivers are delayed 36 seconds each, that is 12,000 minutes or 200 hours per day. 200 hours per day! 

This will surely increase air pollution significantly, especially to the residents along Marin. We heard a few speakers say that traffic will be smoother, thereby causing less pollution. Is that believable? During peak hours, with some congestion, the pollution and fuel efficiency is at its worst. 

Going hand in hand with the increased pollution is the reduced fuel efficiency of more stop-and-go traffic together with the extra fuel burned with an extra 200 hours of driving per day. 

Early on Tuesday night we heard from the Kyoto group who were praising the City Council for making Berkeley the first U.S. city to endorse the Kyoto agreements. They spoke of global warming as the most serious threat we are facing (amended to one of the most serious threats). I’m pleased to see the City Council endorsement. But those are just words. When it comes to deeds, increasing driving time on Marin by 25 percent is going in the opposite direction to the goals of Kyoto. Imagine how pleased we’d be if the Bush administration mandated a 25 percent increase in fuel efficiency for cars. Well, narrowing Marin goes 25 percent in the opposite direction. How do we have any moral claim to be Kyoto backers when we reduce fuel efficiency on Marin by 25 percent? 

Another point is the cost to drivers. As many speakers said, what’s the big deal if a driver has to spend a minute longer on Marin, if that saves lives. Put that way, who could refuse. 

But the way to understand the cost to drivers is to add them up. 200 hours can be valued in various ways. We can value driver’s time at $20/hour ($40,000/year, not so far from what the average driver earns, many of whom are on their way to or from work). At $20/hour, 200 hours gives $4,000 per day or one million dollars per year! For each driver, it is only $50/year. In one sense, that is not so much. On the other hand, how do the tax payers react to a request for a $50 increase in taxes? What does one million dollars mean in the context of the Berkeley or Albany city budget? 

Well, no speaker at the Tuesday meeting talked in these terms; it all about safety and how things will affect the street on which one lives. So, let’s talk about safety. 

The reconfiguration may or may not make Marin safer. During off peak hours it is not clear why traffic will be slower, but because it is in a single lane rather than two, when a traffic light turns green there will be a longer group of cars pulling away from the light (rather than doubled up) and hence a pedestrian will be less likely to find a break between cars when trying to cross at a corner without a light. 

During peak hours traffic will be slowed if there is more congestion, and I find it hard to believe things will be safer for pedestrians if there is more congestion. 

But a good idea, often used in England, is to have flashing lights which go on when a pedestrian pushes a button in order to cross the street. The flashing lights may be on posts on both sides of the crossing and in the middle, or they may be flashing lights along the crosswalk.  

We are about to spend tens of thousands of dollars, but why hasn’t an experiment been done first? Traffic cones can be put out to narrow Marin to two lanes. We can get a pretty good idea of what will happen within a few days. 

Summing up, I believe that we have now embarked on a costly decision, contrary to environmental concerns, in the hopes of improving life for Marin residents and pedestrians when there are better ways to achieve those goals. I heard almost none of the issues I have raised discussed by the public or the city planners, who are supposed to be the experts on transportation issues. 

Rob Kirby is a Berkeley resident.o

They’re back! 

A solitary lunch on a solitary beach adjacent to the Historic Lifeboat Station at Chimney Rock. I’m enjoying my lunch of bread and cheese while absorbed in National Geographic. Intermittently I hear a soft, indistinct burbling sound. Look up, nothing there. Maybe it’s just the sound of the water splashing against the pier. Then I hear it again, closer. I look up and can’t believe my eyes. 

Now is the time to visit the headlands of the Point Reyes Peninsula, perched 10 miles into the Pacific Ocean, and immerse yourself in wildlife. At the Point Reyes Lighthouse and nearby Chimney Rock you’ll become a voyeur to the complex life cycles of the behemoths of the sea, the California gray whale, northern elephant seal and California sea lion; and the jewels of the grassland, California’s palette-creating wildflowers. 

At the end of California’s longest peninsula, at the most western point of the park stands a “California style” squat white lighthouse and Visitor Center. On the one-half mile walk f rom the parking lot get in the wildlife mode by checking the trees for resident raptors, the north cliff for a colony of common murres and the rocks below for those, any rock will do, sea lions.  

It’s a cardio workout reaching the observation platform co veted for spotting the delicate heart-shaped plumes that signal the presence of the California gray whale. Three hundred steps equivalent to thirty stories down, and unfortunately, back up, lead to the lens room where a rotating beam has cast its light since 1870. Exhibit panels tell the history of the light and its keepers. Isolation and incessant fog were not kind to those who tended the three-ton lens of 1000 prisms. Keepers were plagued with “incidents of insanity, violence and alcoholism.” Keep this in mind and have a back-up plan if fog or strong winds threaten your day. 

On a quest for food and the warm waters needed for reproduction, California gray whales spend one-third of their lives in migration from Alaska to Baja California and back. Their 1 0,000 mile round trip is the longest for any mammal. Life in the deep dark ocean proceeds far from human eyes, but during the months of January and March, we have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of their size and grace. 

The Gulf of Farallones is a 20-m ile wide corridor through which the whales travel, at times close enough to hear the breathing of cow and her calf. I’ve always considered whale watching a Zen experience. You see a plume of spray out to sea. Is that a whale sounding? Spouting? Spyhopping? Whether I spot whales or not it’s enough to know that these natural treasures are out there, symbols of survival and tenacity, having come back from the brink of extinction. 

A short walk or drive from the Lighthouse parking lot leads to the Sea Lion Ov erlook, another cardio workout. A steep 54-step staircase descends the side of the cliff, where you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the colony that calls this protected cove home year round. After swimming in 53-degree waters, the sand and rocks are ju st the place to haul out and bask. Spring brings an added delight—mothers and their pups. 

My favorite spot on the Headlands is Chimney Rock, a one-stop haven for viewing whales, sea lions, elephant seals and wildflowers. A two-mile loop trail leads you a cross the headland toward the Pacific. From late February through March flowers blanket the ground with bright colors contrasting against the vibrant green of the grasses. Pick any color: pink cow clover; orange poppy; yellow mule ear sunflower, buttercup and bush lupine; white milkmaid and cow parsnip; blue-eyed grass. My favorites are the Douglas iris in shades from pale lavender to intense purple, so delicate but able to survive the harsh conditions along the coast.  

After several days of heavy rains, I recently revisited Chimney Rock. Worm-dodging, I followed the main upper trail and smaller footpaths skirting the perimeter of the headlands and feasted on the dramatic views before me: cliffs falling in jagged edges to the open blue of the ocean below, red-rock walls topped by plateaus of shamrock-green, raptors hand-gliding, layers of leaden sky with towering clouds contrasting with bands of vibrant light giving view to the Farallon Islands twenty miles distant, immobile sea lions on white sand. The trail ends at a fenced cliff edge overlooking a sea stack named Chimney Rock, another great whale watching spot. I sat among the wildflowers with binoculars and a thermos marveling at the beauty surrounding me. 

The lower trail leads to the Historic Lifeb oat Station and that solitary beach. If your visit corresponds with an extreme low tide, you can walk along the coastline and explore rich biodiverse tide pools and secluded coved beaches. 

Another trail leads to the Elephant Seal Overlook, above the nort h end of Drake’s Beach. Since 1981, from December through March, breeding colonies of elephant seals have returned to Point Reyes. Another “survivor” species, they have made a remarkable recovery after being hunted nearly to extinction. At last count, the Drake’s Beach colony numbered 180, while the entire Point Reyes population stood between 1500 and 2000.  

There’s never any doubt that you’ve spotted an elephant seal and the overlook is so close that binoculars aren’t necessary. Adult males of 5,000 pounds, females nursing their pups, “weaners” and juveniles—in assorted groups on the beach for a few months before beginning migrations that will take them over 11,000 miles and as far as one-mile deep in ocean waters.  

They’re the highlight of my day and I easily heard the colony long before I reached the overlook, as far away as Chimney Rock. The symphony of distinctive vocalizations reminded me of a busy playground with high-pitched screechings, lower rumblings from mom and the deep throated trumpeting of the males above the din. By closing my eyes and just listening I could imagine the scene before me: territorial tension relieved by two males chest to chest and proboscis to proboscis; sunlight gleaming on undulations of muscles as individuals scooted forward then collapsed; lonely weaned pups, their mothers long gone and the comical sight of one juvenile relieving an itch by squirming upside down on the sand.  

I was in no hurry to leave these odd yet distinguished mammals. My first close-up view was many years before while eating my lunch. Looking up I saw that large nose and gentle eyes watching me curiously while making those distinctive sounds. I’ve been a fan ever since. 

Important decisions need to be made before you head out. A visit on a weeke nd or holiday requires using the shuttle bus system that originates at Drake’s Beach, the road being closed to private cars. The upside it that everyone gets to enjoy the view and there are docents available for questions at the lighthouse and the elephan t seal overlook. The downside is that this is a very popular weekend destination. 

My recent visit was on a weekday. I had the road to myself and shared the headlands only with the wildlife. There were no docents but I felt like a queen in her domain.  

Whatever your choice, starting early will afford you the most time for the most options—a picnic on the headlands or a homeward visit to Drake’s Beach. This long walkable expanse of white sand, gentle waves and neck craning sandstone cliffs is home to the Kenneth Patrick Visitor Center and the Drake’s Beach Café, where local ingredients and a rustic setting bring the seashore indoors. 

Despite adversity, the whales and elephant seals have made a comeback. Despite encroachment, wilderness continues to exist and in some cases, expand. Point Reyes is home to over 45 percent of North America’s bird species and 18 percent of California’s plant species. For a few months every year, it’s also home to a large sea mammal that may, if you’re lucky, pay you a visit o n a solitary beach.  

Getting there: from Highway 101 North take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to Route 1 in Olema. Turn right, then left on Bear Valley Road. From Bear Valley Road, turn right onto Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and follow it past the town of Inverness to where it forks. Follow the fork left out to the lighthouse and the headlands. 

For more information about Point Reyes National Seashore call (415) 464-5100, or see www.nps.gov/pore. Peak of northern whale migration is mid-March.  

Point Reyes Lighthouse: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. open Thursday through Monday. Closed when winds exceed 40 mph. (415) 669-1534 

Kenneth Patrick Visitor Center: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. open weekends, holidays. (415) 669-1250. 

Drakes Beach Café: open weekends, holidays. 

Ranger led activities: 

Journey of the Whales: 1:30 p.m., weekends through March 

Experience Elephant Seals: weekends through March 15. Docents at overlook 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Whales and Wildflowers: 1 p.m., weekends in March. 

d

The Shotgun Players is running a new translation (Tom Hoover’s) of Albert Camus’ The Just (Les Justes) at the Ashby Stage. The program’s studded with quotations, not only from Camus, but also from Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson, emphasizing zeal for justice, such as Emerson’s “Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right.” The play explores that zeal which gives birth to revolutionaries—and the courage necessary for them to act. 

Shotgun is staging its production on the centennial of the event it explores, the assassination of Russian Grand Duke Sergei, uncle to the Tsar, a precipitant event of the 1905 revolution. The play, first staged in 1955, explores the assassins’ experience. This production doesn’t have much to say about present day terrorism despite the attention it has received in that regard in the production notes and in other articles. 

“Can one speak of terrorism without taking part in it? You have to be in the first row.” These words of Ivan “Yanek” (Taylor Valentine), in a bourgeois drawing room above the street which the Grand Duke takes to church, show the kind of hypnotic repetition the revolutionaries employ in thinking of their task, to keep in focus, “to put themselves in tune with murder.” 

Each in the play has his own mantras; Yanek wants to feel he’s throwing a bomb not at a man, but at despotism itself, and retain his innocence; Stepan (John Nahigian), who’s been tortured, says he has “a crystal-clear idea of shame ... I survived; I have nothing to be ashamed of.” 

When asked by Dora (Beth Donohue) “Why are you smiling?” Stepan replies, “Was I smiling? I do that sometimes.” And he asks, “How many [bombs] would it take to blow up Moscow?” 

Camus’ play bristles with irony, each verbal sally unfolding unresolved contradictions. Dora and Yanek share a love deferred by duty. Dora wants “real love, more than just a monologue—an answer from someone else!” But, she also says, “It takes time to love; we barely have time for justice.” 

The crisis keeps getting deferred, the suspense is prolonged. The question arises: What about the fate of children in the line of fire? Stepan demurs: If the bomb isn’t thrown, “thousands of Russian children will die of starvation. Have you ever seen a child die of starvation? I have!” 

Doubts, deferred action and dissent take their toll on the characters’ nerve: one comrade asks Boris privately, shamefacedly to be transferred back to committee office work when one merely “issues the order of execution ... you don’t see the man you have to kill.” (Boris replies: “Even cowards can serve the Revolution; they just have to find their niche.”). Another looks forward to being arrested after the act: “In prison, there’re no decisions to be made.” 

The final two acts take place in a gloomy dungeon and a dank cellar hideaway (good sets by Alf Pollard, well lit by Jared Hirsch), contrasting sharply with the placid drawing room—so filled with anxiety—of the first three acts. New characters are introduced, the latter two in particularly good turns: Foka (Eric Burns), a pithy trustee; Skouratov, commissioner of police (John Thomas, by turns dangerously affable and catty: “You start out wanting Justice, and end up organizing a police force!” Also, the religious Grand Duchess (Michele Beauvoir-Shoshani), who wants to forgive the conspirators against her husband’s life. 

“Imagine God without prisons,” smiles Skouratov, introducing her, “How lonely he’d be!” 

At least one critic has complained that the philosophical arguments made in the play slow down the action—but they are the true, Aristotelian form of action, a moral action. With little precedent to build on, Shotgun’s ambitious mounting of The Just, except at moments, is a little “monovalent,” as they say in critical theory; it’s too much on one track. 

The ironies decay to sarcastic contradictions, the tragic dilemma becomes a melodrama—those protagonists Camus says he loves and respects seem a bit too pathetic. The suspense that impels the first acts isn’t equaled by its complement, an almost-tangible group sense of oppression, a thick atmosphere impeding action and speech. And the cynical and desperate revelations in dungeon and cellar aren’t balanced out by the tragically renewed sense of resolve, of community, of a future springing from a meager present. 

The seeming hopelessness these revolutionaries face must be felt deeply by the audience, as well as the virtue that leads them on: “Men don’t live by justice alone!” and “When their bread’s stolen from them, what else do they have to live by?”

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: New Works by Andrew Noren at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robin Tolmach Lakoff discusses her revised edition of “Language and Women’s Place” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Deborah Rudacille looks at “The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

In Harmony for Asia, a cappella fundraiser for tsunami relief, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

The Nebulas, The Lava Rats at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886.  

The Red Thread, The Famous, alt country, at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

Kurt Rosenwinkel Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Wed. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200.  

The David Lefebvre Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 

THEATER 

“Bright River” A hip-hop retelling of Dante’s Inferno, every Wed. through March 16 at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Tickets are $12-$35 available from 415-256-8499.  

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival opens with a reception at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Exhibition runs to April 2. 644-6893.  

FILM 

History of Cinema: “Umberto D.” at 3 p.m. and Games People Play: “Parallel Universum, Part II” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Artistry of Keith Jarrett” with Susan Muscarella at 7 p.m. at The Musical Offering, 2340 Bancroft Way. Free.  

Frank Delaney introduces his novel “Ireland” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Pam Houston reads from her new novel “Sight Hound” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, “Handel & Telemann” with the Kharabaja Baroque Ensemble at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$80 available from 642-9988.  

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Ka Ua Tuahine Fundraiser, Tahitian music and dance at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peppino D’Agostino, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. 

Rad Audio, indie nu-wave, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886.  

Tetsuo at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 10 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Edible Photographs” by Don Melandry of plants at the Edible Schoolyard at King Middle School. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

“New Works in Papier-Mache” at the Addison St. Windows, 2018 Addison St. Diverse works by artists ages 6 to 80. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. 981-7546. 

“Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens” guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295.  

“Blind at the Museum” guided tour at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295.  

FILM 

Film amd Video Makers at Cal: “Intimate Team” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

T. J. English discusses “Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with Mike Hardy and Maggi H. Meyer at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oluyemi and Ijeoma Thomas, adventurous jazz and spoken word at 12:15 p.m. in the Music and Art Room, Berkeley Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6100.  

“It’s Berkeley” International Talent Show at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mills College MFA Dance Thesis Concert at 8 p.m. at Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $5-$7. 430-2175. 

Rose Street House of Music Harmony, collaboration, and community for Women’s History Month at 7:30 p.m. at 1839 Rose St. Donation $5-$15. 594-4000, ext. 687. www.rose- 

streetmusic.com 

Albany Superintendent’s Concert, middle and high school musical groups at 7 p.m. at Albany High School Gym, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. 558-2575.  

Leftover Dreams with Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Blowout, Wataka at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Steve Lucky, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ruth Brown at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square., through Sat Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

Greg Tannen at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Dynamite 8, The Insurgence, Year of the Wildcat at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

FRIDAY, MARCH 11 

THEATER 

Bare Stage Productions “One Room” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 3 p.m. at the Choral Rehearsal Room, Cesar Chavez Student Union, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$7. http://tickets.berkeley.edu  

Central Works, “Enemy Combatant” at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Performances are Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 26. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “Buried Child” on the disintigration of the American Dream, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $10. 524-9132. www.CCCT.org 

Cuentos: Voices for (Our) Stories: “You so Fake!” with Leilani Chan and “Rise” with Shyamala Moorty at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Impact Theatre, “Othello” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid. Thurs.- Sat. through March 19. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

Shotgun Players “The Just” by Albert Camus. Thurs.- Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through April 10. Tickets are sliding scale $10-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

UC Theater, “Three Sisters” a contemporary staging of Chekhov’s drama, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. to March 13, at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Un-Scripted Theater Company “You Bet Your Improvisor!” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through March 26 at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.unscripted.com 

Word for Word Performing Arts Company “Stories by Tobias Wolff” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $25 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Blind at the Museum” Conference, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Sat. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “Ethan Mao” at 7 p.m. and “Keka” at 9:15 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

By the Light of the Moon open mic and salon for women hosted by Karen Broder at 7:30 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $3-$7. 655-2405. ww.changemakersforwomen.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company Fifth Annual Spring Performance featuring five original pieces choreographed and danced by Berkeley youth at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$8. www.enpointe.org 

Rachel Garlin in a benefit concert for King Middle School student delegation to Washington D.C., at 7 p.m. in the King Middle School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Suggested donation $10-$20. 843-0822. king@rachelgarlin.com  

Frank Martin Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Mills College MFA Dance Thesis Concert at 8 p.m. at Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $5-$7, free to Mills students. 430-2175. 

The Athena Trio at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12-$15. 848-1228.  

The Aggrolites, The Uptones, Monkey, presented by Bay Area Ska, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Mac Martin & The Dixie Travellers, bluegrass from central Appalachia, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

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

Riot A-Go-Go, Chow Nasty, The Inversions at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5-$7. 848-0886.  

Farma, Firecracker, The Unravellers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082.  

Brian Melvin Quartet 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.  

Otis Goodbight, Shotgun Wedding at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159.  

Rob Bayne, Ira Marlowe & Friends at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Babyland, Rajah, and local film shorts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

High Violets, Astral, Foxtail Somersault at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

CHILDREN  

East Bay Children’s Theater “Shoemaker and The Elves” at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum, 10th and Oak Sts. Tickets are $6. 655-7285. www.childrens-theatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“13 @ 13” “Berkeley Boys Coming of Age” Portraits by Phoebe Ackle. Reception at 7 p.m. at Fourth Street Studio, 1717D 4th St. 527-0600. www.fourthstreetstudio.com 

“Dulcis Domus” Utilitarian ceramics by Julia Galloway at Trax Gallery, 1812 Fifth St. through April 9. 540-8729. 

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival “And Thereafter” at 5 p.m., “Oldboy” at 7 p.m. and “Cutie Honey” at 9:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Chun Yu talks about “Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company Fifth Annual Spring Performance featuring five original pieces choreographed and danced by Berkeley youth at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$8. www.enpointe.org 

Mills College MFA Dance Thesis Concert at 2 p.m. at Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $5-$7, free to Mills students. 430-2175. 

Baroque Etcetera “Italian Beauties” at 8 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Oakland. Donation $10. 540-8222. www.baroquetc.org  

American Recorder Orchestra of the West “Music of the British Isles” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Church, 2220 Cedar St. Free, donations appreciated. 843-2425. www.schweter.com/arow 

Contra Costa Chorale at 2 p.m. at El Cerrito Methodist Church, 6830 Stockton Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. 514-1861. 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Flute Fest with students in grades K-5 at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893.  

Nancy Schimmel and Friends, in celebration of Nancy’s 70th birthday, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. 

Mujeres/Women: Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568.  

Hal Stein at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, l621 Telegraph, Oakland.  

“Collage des Cultures Africaines” with the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Theater, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$30. 733-1077. www.urbanevents.com 

The Wilders, The Earl Brothers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Palenque, Cuban Son, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The People, The Debonaires, Soul Captives, ska, hip hop, reggae at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Frank Sally at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The David Jeffrey Jazz Fourtet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

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

Carl Sonny Leland Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

R.A.M.B.O., Voestek, Born/ 

Dead, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

The Great Auk at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Floating Goat, Drink the Bleach, Secret Order of the Tusk at 9:30 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5. 444-6174.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 

THEATER 

“Beowulf” The epic translated and performed by Philip Wharton at 7:30 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Sun. nights through Mar. 20. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-608-9683. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens” guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-1295.  

FILM 

International Asian American Film Festival 3:45 to 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Sandra Gilbert and Chana Bloch at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

International Women’s Writing Guild hosts Katherine V. Forrest at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Janet Stickmon reads from her biography “Crushing Soft Rubies” at 4 p.m. at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Peter Phillips and Webster Tarpley discuss what the media failed to report about 9/11 at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Sor Ensemble performs Bartok, Dvorak and Prokofiev at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children. 559-6910. www.crowdenmusiccenter.org 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$54. 642-9988.  

Cantabile Choral Guild “Songs of Love and Liturgy” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Preview lecture 30 minutes before the concert. Tickets are $6-$25. 650-424-1410. www.cantabile.org 

Sounds New A program of new American music at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Donations $10-$15. 524-2912. www.SoundsNewUS.org 

Soli Deo Gloria and Camerata Gloria “Across the Pond,” a concert of a cappella music by English composers at 3:30 p.m. at Zion Lutheran, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-982-7341. www.sdgloria.org 

Organ Recital by Rodney Gehrke at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 845-0888.  

Baroque Etcetera “Italian Beauties” at 4 p.m. at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 1823 Hearst St. Donation $10. 540-8222. www.baroquetc.org 

International Women’s Day Celebration “In Song and Struggle” with Shelley Doty and Rachel Garlin at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Dave Lefevbre at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Earl Howard and David Wessel at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Tickets are $5-$10. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/calendar 

Robin and Linda Williams, contemporary acoustic country, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jacqui Naylor at 2 and 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $5-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com

While we’re waiting for the first delicate ash-tree leaves to unfurl, and their later-rising neighbors to follow their example, I’m going to talk about why trees in a city are a good thing, and why we should think long and hard before cutting down a healthy one.  

Trees are efficient providers of habitat. A city with nothing but humans, our pets, rats, mice and cockroaches (OK, maybe Argentine ants) is not a very pleasant place. That’s aside from the thoroughness of destruction it represents. We’ve made the discovery that we can stack more of ourselves into small spaces if we build up: high-rises, skyscrapers. The same works for trees. On a footprint of a mere few square feet, it can stack yards and yards of habitat and food for birds, butterflies, squirrels and such pleasant company. Planting them in cities, we mitigate some of the insults we offer the land with paving, buildings—even exotic plantings that are useless to local animals.  

That vertical advantage works for us, too, in quantifiable ways. Along with their shade, city trees cool their surroundings by transpiration, as they exhale enough water vapor to drop the temperature around them by a few degrees, and lower it more by spending energy in the process of vaporizing the water in their leaves. Cop a feel of a healthy tree’s leaves, and you’ll notice how cool they are. Urban surfaces of stone and steel and concrete heat the air enough to affect weather in some places; we need that bit of cooling.  

Trees reduce energy needs, if we plant them right. Deciduous trees shade and cool what’s just north or east of them in summer and let sunlight through to warm the place in winter. A staggered row of evergreens on the north side of a building buffers the wind and reduces heating needs in winter. That means PG&E burns less fuel and spares the air—and there are other measurable ways trees improve air quality. 

Some are quite local. Trees in parking lots not only keep cars cool and reduce the need for A/C; they slow the rate at which asphalt paving volatilizes its petroleum compounds. Like all plants, trees produce oxygen and consume the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide; furthermore, they sequester the carbon part of it, by using it to build themselves, and, being long-lived, they sequester it for a long time.  

They keep more noxious gases and particulates out of human lungs, too. A preliminary study of Chicago air in 1991 estimated that the trees that shade 11 percent of the city filtered out 210 tons of ozone, 98 tons of nitrogen dioxide, 93 tons of sulfur dioxide and 17 tons of carbon monoxide. The study also showed trees removing 234 tons of particles less than 10 microns in size. These, especially the ones smaller than 2.5 microns, are strongly associated with lung diseases from asthma to lung cancer, with heart disease—even with strokes.  

Dust like this has been a feature of cities ever since we invented them. They are kicked up from the soil by foot, draft animal, and wheeled traffic; rubber tires and internal combustion engines are late additions to the grind. Industries have strewn the air with particles since the first days of blacksmithing; smokestacks are more a difference in degree than kind.  

Trees take up this dust both by absorbing it through their stomata—the respiratory pores in their leaves—and just by trapping it on leaf surfaces, especially if they’re fuzzy. Surface particles might blow away again, or be washed off harmlessly in rain, or just stick and be incorporated into leaf litter: mulch, compost—useful soil nutrition instead of dangerous pollution. In cities, disposable, compostable lungs become a good idea.  

When we cut a tree down, we immediately destroy all its efficient habitat, and even replacing it with a younger tree doesn’t mitigate that until years later, when the replacement gets as big as its predecessor. Meanwhile, a few generations of displaced small wildlife dies out. We’ve also eliminated an oxygenating air filter, and reversed the process of carbon sequestration as the dead wood decays. Trees are mortal, and sometimes we must cut dangerously ill individuals. But whenever we cut a city tree, we’re eliminating one of our best citizens.  



TUESDAY, MARCH 8 

International Women’s Day Proclamation at Berkeley City Council, 7 p.m. City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

“Best Mountain Bike Rides in the Bay Area” A slide presentation with mountain bike racer Lorene Jackson at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Guadalajara: The Silicon Valley of Mexico?” with Kevin Gallagher, Asst. Prof, Dept. of International Relations, Boston Univ., at Noon in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“The Gravel Pirates: Strip-Mining the Russian River Water Supply” with L. Martin Griffin, Jr., Founder, Friends of the Russian River, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

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. www.writercoachconnection.org 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping in Berkeley Public Schools at 3 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

International Women's Day Dance Party at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Cost is $10. Proceeds go to benefit Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and a scholarship for the Belladonna Mystery Camp for Girls. 282-2486. www.belladonna.ws 

Shivaratri - Night of Shiva A benefit for tsunami relief with yoga, rituals, food and music, from 4 to 10:30 p.m. at Yoga Mandala, 2807 Telegraph Ave. 486-1989. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 

Great Decisions 2005: “China” with Prof. Emeritus Joyce Kallgren, UC Davis, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. Cost is $5, $40 for the series. For information and reservations call 526-2925. 

Information Night for BHS Class of 2009 at 7 p.m. at the BHS Community Theater and the C Building. Presentations on academic departments, the 9th grade curriculum, small schools, athletics and activities. 644-6320. 

“Memorial Party for Judi Bari” a film screening at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland.  

AARP Free Tax Assistance for taxpayers with middle and low incomes, with special attention to those 60 years and older. From 12:15 to 4:15 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. This service will continue through April. Appointments must be made in advance. 526-3720, ext. 5. 

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. 100. www.hbac.org 

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

“Does God Exist?” A talk on the Reconstructionist, Humanist and Other Jewish Views about God’s Existence with Rabbi Jane Litman at 11 a.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

“Faith and Politics” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Parish, 2220 Cedar St. Part of the Journey of Faith Lenten Series. 848-1755. 

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. 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, MARCH 10 

Bird Walk along the Martin Luther King Shoreline to see marsh birds at 3:30 p.m. for information call 525-2233. 

Hidden Lodges of Berkeley An illustrated lecture on the Senior Men’s Hall and Senior Women’s Hall, with Harvey Helfand, Campus Planner, at 7:30 p.m. at Senior Hall, UC Campus. Cost is $10. For information contact Berkeley Architectural Heritage at 841-2241. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

Community Meeting on the Future of Old City Hall at 7 p.m. at Old City Hall Annex, 1835 Allston Way. 

“Diet for a Dead Planet” with author Christopher Cook at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

“The Great Conspiracy: The 9-11 News Special You Never Saw” benefit screening with producer Barrie Zwicker, at 7:30 p.m. at The Grand Lake Theater Oakland. Tickets are $10, available at local bookstores. 452-3556. 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Carolyn Scarr and Dr. Marc Sapir at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation $5. 528-5403. 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers meets at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. Steve Beck will discuss fly fishing in the Sierra Nevada National Parks. 

“The Universal Grammar of Religion” with Prof. Huston Smith at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Chapel, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 848-9788. 

“Awakening the Heart of Enlightenment” with Dr. Gaylon Ferguson, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Shambhala Center, 2288 Fulton St. Donation $25. www.norcal.shambhala.org 

FRIDAY, MARCH 11 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with I. Michael Heyman, Prof. Boalt Hall on “Life at the Smithsonian.” 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.  

Native American Spiritual Celebration Weekend with Jerry Farlee, Lakota Spiritual Leader from the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Fri. eve. through Sun. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. 525-0302. www.uucb.org  

“Beyond the Age of Innocence - A Worldly View of America” with Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, at noon at 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor. Sponsored by the Institute of East Asian Studies. 642-2809. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

“Transforming Our Communities: An Inclusive Approach to Environmental Justice” A forum of open dialogue with scholars, policy makers, activists, community organizers and environmental lawyers, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Boalt Hall, UC Campus. For more information please see http://els.boalt.org/ej2005/ 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Roy Campanella II, new General Manager of KPFA Radio and Andrea Buffa, Global Exchange Peace Campaign Coordinator at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

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

“Three Beats for Nothing” a small group meeting weekly at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. No charge. 655-8863. dann@netwiz.net 

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. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

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-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

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

Green Building 101 Learn about healthier building materials and how to lower your utility bills and reduce home maintenance from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15, no one turned away. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Seeds for Spring and Summer at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

“Historic Hotels--Could They Be Built Today?” with Henrik Bull, FAIA, at 3 p.m. at the Claremont Hotel, Horizon Room, followed by hors d'oeuvres and a no-host bar at 4 pm. Cost is $15, $20 at the door. www.mitcnc.org/www/Events_Single.asp?eventID=1083 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Making Plays with Beth Templeton, for children in grades 3-5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Monoprinting with Karen Weil from 1 to 4 p.m. at Artists at Play Studio, 1649 Hopkins Ave. Families welcome. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Dance of India with Purnima Jah from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893.  

Poets’ Dinner with contest winners and poet James Keller at 11:30 a.m. at Spenger’s Restaurant. 1919 Fourth St. Cost is $23. For reservations call 235-0361. 

“Democracy, Maoists and the Monarchy: Nepal at the Crossroads” Experts brainstorm on solutions to Nepal’s political crisis at Lipman Room, Barrows Hall, 8th floor, UC Campus, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 643-4487. http://igov.berkeley.edu  

Radio Camp Build an FM transmitter and learn the fundamentals of micropower broadcasting in this 4-day workshop in Oakland. Class runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mar. 12-13, 19-20. Cost is $150-$200 sliding scale. For information and to register call 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

Kol Hadash Family Brown Bag Shabbat/Purim Celebration at 10:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 8465 Masonic Ave. Come in costume and bring lunch for your family and finger food to share. Free, all ages welcome. 428-1492. 

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

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 

Prehistoric Life Today Join us for a hike back in time to discover ferns, liverworts and silverfish at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival Making Musical Instruments from Recycled Materials with Fran Holland, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. All ages and families welcome. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Amnesty International Conference “A Turning Point for Human Rights” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Room 126, Barrows Hall, UC Campus. Free and open to the general public. RSVP to norcal@aiusa.org 

Book Release Party for “From Ike to Mao and Beyond - My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist” a memoir by Bob Avakian, at 6:30 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

CancerGuides, a workshop to train integrative cancer care counselors through March 19 at The Claremont. Sponsored by Center for Mind-Body Medicine. 202-966-7338, ext. 222. 

Berkeley Cybersalon “Information Wants To Be Free, But Programmers Want To Get Paid,” with Paulina Borsook, Jon Callas, and Phil Zimmermann at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 843-3733. 

“Prisoner of Paradise” Film about Kurt Gerron, German-Jewish actor in pre-war Berlin at 2 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

Family Film Sunday Series ”The Wizard of Oz” at 11 a.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $5 at the door. 

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 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “The Healing Mantras” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 14 

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 

Mercury in View The best evening views of the planet Mercury are during the next two weeks. Join us at Tilden’s Inspiration Point at 6:30 p.m. and we’ll walk down Nimitz Way. 525-2233. 

“US Military Operations and Militarized Prostitution” The resistance of the women of Olongapo, Philippines, at 7 p.m. at Mills College Student Union, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Free. 430-2019. 

“Problems in Argentine Commercial Law” with Carlos Rosenkrantz, Prof. of Law, Univ. of Buenos Aires, at 4 p.m. in the Goldberg Room, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“Brazil’s Global Leadership: The Role of Civil Society” with Luiz Dulci, Secretary General, Brazil, at 4 p.m. in the Morrison Room, Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. Cost is $2.50 with refreshments. 524-9122. 

Senior Health with Dr. McGillis on molds, mildews, and their relation to health at 10:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Introduction to Conscious Bookkeeping with Bari Tessler at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Cost is $15. 883-0600. www.belladonna.ws 

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 

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour The tour, on May 1, 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. Admission is free, but tickets are required. Kathy@KathyKramerConsulting. 

net or 236-9558.  

All Net Basketball for boys and girls ages 9 to 11, begins Tues. Mar. 8, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and runs for five weeks. Fee is $10-$15. For information call Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

Domestic Violence Training for people interested in volunteering at Oakland’s battered women’s shelter, Sat. March 12 - April 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 986-8600, ext. 316. 

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

Spring Break Program for Children offered by the City’s Recreational Division, March 28-April 1, for children ages 5-12, at the Frances Albrier Community Center, 2800 Park St. For information call 981-6640. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 8, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar 9, 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 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 9, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Thurs. Mar. 9, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 9, Wed., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 9 at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Mar. 9, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti, 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Angellique De Cloud, 981-5428. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs, Mar. 10, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/health 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs. Mar. 10, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/housing 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 10, 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., Mar. 10, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning V

The controversial proposal to develop Laney College and Peralta Community College District lands surfaced briefly and then resubmerged this week, when an item appeared on the Peralta Board of Trustees closed agenda to discuss “real estate negotiations” between Chancellor Elihu Harris and developer Alan Dones, but no report on the negotiations was given to the public in open session. 

According to the First Amendment Project of Oakland, public bodies are only required to report on votes or actions taken in closed session. 

The item appeared on the Peralta Board’s March 8 closed agenda under the one-line listing “Real Estate Negotiation (54956.8), Laney College and District Office, Negotiators Harris and Doans.” Dones’ name was misspelled in the agenda item. 

Last November, the outgoing Peralta board authorized Harris to negotiate a one-year contract giving Dones and his Oakland-based Strategic Urban Development Alliance (SUDA) the right to produce a plan to develop unspecified Laney College properties and the adjacent district office on East 8th Street. 

Harris later announced that he had suspended contract talks with Dones because of controversies, including suggestions of conflicts of interest, surrounding the proposal. 

Trustee Cy Gulassa said following the meeting that while he could not discuss anything that occurred during the closed session, it was his understanding that “there has been some pressure on Elihu” to draw up and execute a contract with Dones. 

Since the November authorization, Dones has been attempting to shore up support for his development plan, but one such effort has apparently backfired. 

Last month, following complaints that he had not met with Laney College representatives, Dones held an open meeting on the Laney campus to discuss his plans. Reporting on that meeting, the Laney Tower , the student-run newspaper, wrote that the genesis of the Laney development plan actually came from a Laney College President. Dones said “he was first invited to look into the land use possibilities by former Laney President Dr. Deborah Blue back in 2000.” The paper reported Dones saying he had several meetings with Blue and others on the subject. 

Blue calls that assertion “patently false.” 

In an opinion article published in the Tower in late February, Blue wrote that she did meet with Dones “sometime between 2000 and 2001,” but the meetings concerned the interest of Dones and former Peralta Chancellor Dr. Ronald Temple in “Laney College development curriculum in the area of alternative energy sources. Their curriculum interest was the sole content of our discussion.” 

Blue went on to write, “I would like Mr. Dones to know that he cannot use me as a scapegoat for his failure to communicate with college representatives in his current areas of interest with Laney College.” 

Blue currently works for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting agency for such colleges as Laney. Neither she nor Dones returned calls in connection with this article.›

The BUSD board Wednesday accepted a Second Interim Financial Report on the district’s 2004-05 budget that continued BUSD’s “qualified” budget status and discussed the district teachers’ work-to-rule slowdown over a contract dispute. 

District financial staff members said that the figures in the financial report were little changed from the revised First Interim Report delivered to the Board in mid-February. 

A “qualified” status means that the district “may not be able to meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the current fiscal year or the subsequent fiscal year” without cutting expenses or finding additional revenue. 

The Second Interim Report projects a $265,000 unrestricted general fund deficit for this year, but Deputy Superintendent Glenston Thompson said that that figure could be lowered if the district receives added state Average Daily Attendance money from higher-than-budgeted student attendance. The deficit figure also does not include a budget hit in excess of $400,000 which the district’s auditors ordered because of uncollectable receivables on the district’s books. 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence cautioned that in part because of uncertainties in state funding, this was “a very tenuous budget; you don’t know from what side of the ledger the changes will come.” 

At the meeting, board directors also listened to an emotional speech from Student Board Director Lily Dorman-Colby, who criticized members of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers for their ongoing “work-to-rule” action. 

Breaking into tears at several points, Dorman-Colby said that there were “other ways for the teachers to get their message to the board without using the students.” 

Since late last month, members of the BFT across the district have been refusing to work beyond their contracted seven hour day—including lunch hours and after school—to protest the lack of a current contract with BUSD. BFT-BUSD negotiations are currently being handled through a state-appointed mediator. 

A mediation session is set for next week, and Board President Nancy Riddle announced that board members would hold a closed-session meeting on Sunday to prepare. 

›

Oops. The Daily Planet’s reporter caught me trying to suppress a giggle or two as I watched last week’s meeting of the Planning Commission’s subcommittee on the Landmark Preservation Ordinance revisions. It’s true, the spectacle of Planning Department staff grappling with arcane concepts like “integrity” from the specialized world of historic resource preservation can look pretty silly to anyone who knows anything about what they’re trying to talk about.  

Don’t get me wrong—I’m no expert myself. But what I did learn in seven plus years on the Landmarks Preservation Commission is that the first thing you have to know is what you don’t know. I went to lots of conferences and training sessions sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the California Preservation Foundation and the California State Office of Historic Preservation. I read many books and papers on the subject. But in the last analysis, what I learned is that there’s always a lot more to learn about preserving history for future generations.  

Berkeley is a Certified Local Government, which means that it follows the State Office of Historic Preservation’s rules for choosing historic resource commissioners—Landmarks Preservation Commissioners, in Berkeley terminology—who have some degree of expertise in the subject matter. When I was on the commission, my fellow commissioners were almost all considerably more expert than I was. And more important, they were considerably better educated in the subject than any of the many city staff members who served in the revolving door position of commission secretary in the whole seven-year period. They devoted four of those seven years to the tedious task of updating their enabling ordinance, the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO). The draft ordinance they produced represented a lot of study and a lot of compromises. I voted for it myself because I respected the process that produced it, not because I thought it was perfect. 

A few provisions of the new ordinance, notably those that deal with alteration permits, require the addition of supporting language to Berkeley’s zoning ordinance. Like all zoning ordinance changes, these must be approved by the Planning Commission. But the Planning Commission, in what would be describe in less politically sensitive cities as “a naked power grab,” has decided to ask city staff to produce revisions for the whole LPO. Further, some members even suggested that the whole LPO be placed in the zoning ordinance so that it would be under Planning Commission jurisdiction. The City Council didn’t ask them to do any of this, and it’s not in their charter, but they’ve gone ahead anyway. 

Planning Commission Chair Harry Pollack has his own reasons for being annoyed with the existing ordinance, of course. He was Temple Beth El’s point man in their successful effort to get city approval for a controversial building project, which came before the LPC because it’s on a historic site. His organization eventually got everything they wanted from the city, though it took a while. It was a lengthy and tedious process, also stirring up the creek advocacy contingent, and it’s not surprising that someone who went through it might think the rules should be completely changed. But that’s not the current charge that the City Council has given to the commissions, not to the LPC and certainly not to the Planning Commission.  

The meeting I attended last week was graced by the presence of City Attorney Zach Cowan, Planning Department chief Dan Marks, Current Planning Director Mark Rhoades and LPC secretary Giselle Sorensen. Discussion got off into deeply uncharted waters on frivolous topics like landmarking Mario Savio’s student apartment, and yes, Virginia, they all looked somewhat silly, and I couldn’t help laughing a bit. 

Sometimes it’s better to laugh than to cry. But when I added up in my head the expenditure of burdened salaries required for the presence of so many high-level staff members, it came to well over a thousand dollars just for the two-hour meeting. As Berkeley is contemplating severe cutbacks in badly needed city services, that’s a fair chunk of change to expend in a couple of hours on something that the city council does not think is a priority. Multiplied by several subcommittee meetings and even more off-line staff time, this is turning out to be a very expensive wild goose chase for the Planning Commission to be engaged upon. 

Chair Pollack is appointed by City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who is making something of a reputation for himself by questioning unnecessary expenditures in the budget. This might be a good opportunity for the two of them to discuss whether or not it’s the right time for the Planning Commission to be taking off on creating yet another LPO draft, which could easily cost $100,000 in staff time before it’s done.  

—Becky O’Malley 

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