The Week

Jakob Schiller: Eric Montalvo, an officer selection officer with the Marine Corps’ recruitment center in the Bay Area, was confronted last week at the UC Berkeley career fair by Stevie Hanley, Corrie Westing and Chelsea Collonge.a
Jakob Schiller: Eric Montalvo, an officer selection officer with the Marine Corps’ recruitment center in the Bay Area, was confronted last week at the UC Berkeley career fair by Stevie Hanley, Corrie Westing and Chelsea Collonge.a
 

News

County School Board Moves to Shield Students From Recruters By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday April 29, 2005

The Alameda County Board of Education is asking its 18 school districts to take a more aggressive stand concerning military recruiters, encouraging them to adopt a controversial “opt in” policy to inform students, parents and legal guardians “of their rights to withhold their child’s name and contact information to the military recruiters.” -more-


Council OKs UC Bridge Plan, Demands Higher Sewer Fees By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 29, 2005

Shortly after the clock struck midnight Wednesday, the City Council breathed new life into a pedestrian bridge proposed to rise 21 feet above Hearst Avenue. -more-


Battle Over City Landmarks Ordinance Dominates Planning Commission Meeting By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 29, 2005

The struggle over Berkeley’s landmarks generated lots of heat for city planning commissioners Wednesday night during a spirited three-and-a-half-hour hearing in the North Berkeley Senior Center. -more-


Neighbors File Suit Against Owner of Alleged Drug Den By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 29, 2005

Hoping to rid themselves of a neighbor whose home has been targeted by police for over two decades as a drug hot spot, 15 South Berkeley residents filed suit Monday charging the homeowner has created a neighborhood nuisance. -more-


BAHA Spring Tour Features Stellar Homes and Scenery By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 29, 2005

On Sunday afternoon, architecture and history buffs will have the chance for a unique first-hand look at some works by the most famous names in architecture from Bernard Maybeck to Frank Lloyd Wright. -more-


City Workers Rally Against Mandatory Time Off By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 29, 2005

Berkeley’s two largest public employee unions blocked traffic outside city offices Tuesday to protest a cost-savings proposal requiring them to take mandatory time off without pay. -more-


Library Director Griffin Receives Jeers at Board Meeting By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 29, 2005

In a scene resembling a high school pep rally more than a library board meeting, the Library Board of Trustees Wednesday remained far apart on a new budget and the public feud between some library employees and library director Jackie Griffin remained far from settled. -more-


Campus Bay-Inspired Bills Clear Assembly Committee By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 29, 2005

Two bills designed to change the way California handles hazardous waste sites won the approval Tuesday of the state Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. -more-


Peralta Trustees Approve Laney Art Annex Contract By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday April 29, 2005

Peralta Community College District Trustees gave the unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to the construction of the Laney College New Art Building by a San Joaquin County modular building firm. Meanwhile, with consideration of the long-delayed proposed contract to developer Alan Dones for a Laney-Peralta development plan failing to make the trustee’s agenda, opponents came out to oppose the proposal anyway. -more-


Author Calls for Islamic Reforms During UC Talk By MICHAEL KATZ

Special to the Planet
Friday April 29, 2005

The suicide hijackers behind the 9/11 attacks were reportedly each promised “70 virgins in Paradise.” But would they have proceeded if they’d realized that their recruiters might only be offering 70 white raisins? -more-



Letters to the Editor

Friday April 29, 2005

END THE SLAUGHTER -more-


Column: Oakland is Not to Blame for the State of its Schools By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Undercurrents
Friday April 29, 2005

Poor, bleeding Oakland. In addition to losing its rights to run its own schools—two years and counting, now—it is now being blamed in the media for school district actions over which it has absolutely no control. -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 29, 2005

Rape Suspect Arraigned -more-


Commentary: Host Cities Battle University Expansion By KIM STANLEY ROBINSON

Friday April 29, 2005

UC Davis and the City of Davis are like Siamese twins who share one body but have two heads. The interests of the two heads are not always the same. If one wants to grow and the other doesn’t, they’ve got a problem. -more-


Commentary: City Denied Due Process in Drayage Case By JEFFREY CARTER

Friday April 29, 2005

While much attention and concern has been rightly directed towards the Bush administration’s erosion of civil liberties, the federal government is not alone. In fact, the City of Berkeley is in the midst of denying a number of its citizens their constitutionally guaranteed due process rights under the law. -more-


Commentary: Berkeley Thai Temple Responds to Critics

Friday April 29, 2005

Editors, Daily Planet: -more-


Exhibit Highlights the Work of Women in California By STEVEN FINACOM

Special to the Planet
Friday April 29, 2005

For a brief respite from the present era of posturing machismo in politics and public life, as well as a thoughtful tour through California’s past, a new exhibit, “Our Collective Voice: The Extraordinary Work of Women in California,” is well worth visiting on the University of California campus. -more-


Berkeley Rep Production Revisits the People’s Temple Tragedy By KEN BULLOCK

Special to the Planet
Friday April 29, 2005

It’s hard to recall, to represent the atmosphere—the immediate sense, much less any deeper one—of the scandals and violent deaths in November 1978, in the Bay Area and Guyana. The People’s Temple, now in its world premiere at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, in association with San Francisco’s Z Space, which originally commissioned and developed the piece, begins with traces, voices and images. -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday April 29, 2005

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 -more-


A Writer’s Odyssey Through Literary Dublin By MARTA YAMAMOTO

Special to the Planet
Friday April 29, 2005

Metamorphosis. Dull caterpillar, easily overlooked, to striking butterfly. Insect Biology 101? No—Dublin. Now a vibrant, energized city, moving forward economically and culturally. Today visitors are buffeted by stimuli—masses of people, miles of traffic, a cacophony of sounds. So much to do: museums, galleries, historic sites, cafes, pubs, and clubs. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday April 29, 2005

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 -more-


Warm Water Pool’s Future in Doubt By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 26, 2005

The future of Berkeley’s warm water pool, a popular recreation choice for disabled residents, remains unsettled after a city study released last week found that rebuilding the current facility at Berkeley High School’s Old Gym or constructing a new one would cost between $6.3 and $7.5 milion—roughly twice the amount the city has on hand for the project. -more-


More Heated Exchanges, Anger Erupt at West Campus Meeting By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Angry words and heated questions surfaced anew Thursday night when West Campus neighbors confronted Berkeley public school district officials and their consultant on the future of the site on the south side of University Avenue between Bonar and Curtis streets. -more-


City Council to Decide Fate of UC’s Foothill Bridge Plan By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 26, 2005

After repeated delays, the City Council appears ready to vote today (Tuesday) on whether to allow UC Berkeley to build a bridge 21 feet over Hearst Avenue. -more-


New Vista College Campus on Track for 2006 By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Staff
Tuesday April 26, 2005

Vista College President Judy Walters gave Peralta Community College District Trustees a power-point view last week of what the college’s new Center Street campus will look like when it opens next fall, in hopes of showing that the six-story downtown structure is worth its $65 million price tag and the years of meetings, litigation, and struggle it took to bring it into the world. -more-


Berkeley Developer’s Big Dreams Dominate Richmond Landscape By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Walking through the cavernous interior of what was once California’s largest winery, Jim Levine bubbles with enthusiasm. -more-


Human Rights, Right to Resist Top Conference Agenda By JUDITH SCHERR

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 26, 2005

Small groups of political activists across the country have been working for decades to make the United States accountable for a variety of human rights violations and to resist government repression of those who work for political change. -more-


UC Forum Highlights Diversity in Islam By JUDITH SCHERR

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 26, 2005

The practice of Islam, like the practice of other religions, responds to the cultural context of the countries where it takes root. Scholars discussed the many faces of Islam and addressed Islam’s intersection with democracy in a day-long conference, “Democracy and Global Islam,” at UC Berkeley on Friday. -more-


Art Annex Back on Peralta Agenda; Dones Contract Still on Hold By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Two Laney College development contracts go in opposite directions on this week’s Peralta Community College District Trustee agenda, with the expected appearance of developer Alan Dones’s proposal failing to materialize, and the New Art Building “piggyback” modular contract returning after a two-week delay. -more-


University Co-Op Association Shuts Down Le Chateau By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 26, 2005

The University Students Cooperative Association board voted last week to shut down Berkeley’s most infamous student co-op, Le Chateau, this summer and eventually transform it into a “graduate-themed” co-op. -more-


Local PTA Joins Sacramento Rally to Save Education Funding By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday April 26, 2005

In the latest blast against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2005-06 budget proposals, Berkeley parents and students will be joining a statewide caravan to the state capitol in Sacramento Thursday to protest state education cuts. Buses will be leaving from Berkeley at 9:30 a.m. from the West Campus pool at the corner of Browning and Addison streets. -more-


Library Trustees Revise Budget With Layoffs Put on Hold By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 26, 2005

The Library Board of Trustees will meet Wednesday to approve a budget that looks to be far less controversial than it appeared two weeks ago. -more-


Drayage Tenants Face Eviction By MATTHEW ARTZ

Staff
Tuesday April 26, 2005

The owner of an illegal West Berkeley live-work complex has broken off negotiations to sell the building to a public trust and is moving ahead with evicting tenants, according to his attorney Bill Berland. -more-


Fraternity Suspended for BB Gun Hazing by J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday April 26, 2005

The UC Berkeley fraternity accused in a BB-gun hazing incident has been temporarily suspended by the university pending further investigation. -more-


Planners Tackle Landmarks Law; Highrise, Additions, Flying House at ZAB By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Planning commissioners will tackle the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Wednesday night, while the Zoning Adjustments Board will handle a controversial pop-up and by-right additions after they get their first look at a major new proposal for University Avenue. -more-



Letters to the Editor

Tuesday April 26, 2005

CIVIC CENTER FOUNTAIN -more-


COLUMN:Downtown Parking: Myths, Realities, Solutions By Zelda Bronstein

The Public Eye
Tuesday April 26, 2005

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard fellow Berkeleyans holding forth on the difficulty of parking downtown. The complaint puzzles me, since I almost always find a space at the city’s Center Street garage. -more-


COLUMN: The Trials of Fire and Foot Fungus By Susan Parker

Staff
Tuesday April 26, 2005

“Jerry’s apartment is on fire,” shouted Willie as he sprinted out the door. Someone had called and told him that one of the buildings at the Sojourner Truth housing complex for seniors on Martin Luther King was ablaze. Before I could respond, Willie was gone. -more-


Police Blotter

Tuesday April 26, 2005

There’s no police blotter today because the Berkeley Police Department didn’t post their police bulletins this week or return calls from the Daily Planet. -more-


COMMENTARY: Library User Blames Director for Problems By ROSEMARY VIMONT

Tuesday April 26, 2005

As a Berkeley homeowner for over 30 years and a life-long Berkeley Public Library user, I have been following the recent controversies surrounding the library and its director very closely. I’ve also been doing some thorough investigation in the matter. -more-


COMMENTARY:Note to ZAB: Time to Say No To Phony Affordable Housing By ROBERT LAURISTON

Staff
Tuesday April 26, 2005

On Thursday, April 28, at 6 p.m., the Zoning Adjustments Board will consider a proposal by Hudson McDonald LLC to demolish the one-story strip mall (Kragen, Pet Food Express) on the west side of Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Berkeley Way and University Avenue and replace it with a massive, boxy two-building complex containing 186 apartments and a few tiny retail spaces. (This project was originally proposed by Patrick Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests. Kennedy’s former affiliates Christopher J. Hudson and Evan McDonald took the project with them when they left to start their own firm: see “Reports Cite Chill Between Developer, UC Prof Backer,” August 6, 2004.) -more-


COMMENTARY: Library Staff Proposes Service Principles By JANE SCANTLEBURY and ANDREA SEGALL

Tuesday April 26, 2005

The staff at the Berkeley Public Library recognizes that the library faces budgetary constraints and must make difficult decisions on staffing and services. Unfortunately, library management has made unilateral decisions on what services are important and what should be cutback without consulting either library staff or the users of library services. These arbitrary decisions have eroded staff morale and aggravated relations with the library user community. As long-time library staff, we want to propose a set of principles that could guide decisions about maintenance of library services and the staffing to ensure them: -more-


Rubens at BAM: A Dismal Glimpse of a Baroque Giant By JOHN KENYON

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 26, 2005

Growing up Protestant and Lower Middle Class in a Northern English milltown is not the best preparation for appreciating Rubens. It was about as difficult to warm up to those big fat naked ladies as it was to take seriously Italian Opera. “Well, I only ‘ope YOU can sing while you’re dying!” -more-


Berkeley Author Offers Portraits of Spanish Civil War Vets By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Though he talks with a distinctive Chicago accent—a family inheritance—Richard Bermack is finally willing to admit the reality. -more-


New Book Reveals Universities Behaving Badly By SHARON HUDSON

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 26, 2005

Given our intimate relationship with the 800-pound gorilla in our midst, Berkeleyans should be racing to bookstores to buy the new book University Inc. by Jennifer Washburn, subtitled The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education, or, as I like to call it, Universities Behaving Badly. If you are interested in the integrity of higher education, academic freedom, the responsible treatment of employees and students, quality undergraduate education, the continued vitality of the liberal arts and social sciences, unbiased research, and public ownership of the discoveries funded by your tax dollars—this might well be the most important book you will ever read. But be forewarned: this is a tragedy, so keep the Kleenex handy. -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday April 26, 2005

TUESDAY, APRIL 26 -more-


The Pleasures of the Hearty African Fern Pine By RON SULLIVAN

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 26, 2005

I see the city’s planting some podocarps along Dwight Way just east of Shattuck Avenue. I don’t see that often as a street tree; the plant is more likely to be in a lobby or courtyard, or next to some institutional doorway. As it generally gets used, it’s kind of a 1960s Sunset décor plant, with a poolside aura. It looks natural—which is to say, not quite natural at all—next to an Eames chair or one of those round plastic tables that look like exaggerated hourglasses. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday April 26, 2005

TUESDAY, APRIL 26 -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Electing a Pig in a Poke By BECKY O'MALLEY

Friday April 29, 2005

The central political question at this point in time is not what to do when your candidate loses elections—it’s what to do when your candidate wins. -more-


EDITORIAL: Sleight of Hand, Centerstage By BECKY O'MALLEY

Tuesday April 26, 2005

Old-time vaudeville conjurers, before they went Las Vegas, used to rely on a series of clever effects known as “hat tricks.” The magician, elegantly attired in white tie and tails, would produce a series of unexpected objects out of his top hat: playing cards, brightly colored silk scarves, and for the grand finale, a live rabbit. Audience members, particularly small boys, would avidly watch the magician’s hands to see how he did it, but they seldom figured it out. A friend of mine used to do a funny imitation of the patter with which the magicians accompanied hat tricks: “At no time do my hands leave my arms!” It was designed to do what’s called “misdirection” in the trade. The idea is that you keep the watcher’s attention focused one place while the trick is actually being done someplace else. Sleight of hand, as the stage magician’s craft is sometimes called, is also practiced in other places, notably in “the shell game,” where con artists on the street move around peas under walnut shells and lure gullible watchers into betting on where they are. -more-