Features

NEWSWEEK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The attack on Newsweek’s expose regarding interrogators’ denigration of the Muslim faith, like the earlier attack on CBS’ expose of the president’s military history, is surreal. Joe Garafoli places the wrong emphasis in his story. By caving in under attack both Newsweek and CBS played the role of pliant servants to government intimidation. Both stories were factually and technically true, yet CBS’ and Newsweek’s weak and defensive mea culpa conveyed the impression of fundamental factual error rather than the technical errors in sourcing they were guilty of. 

This reminds one of the strange guilty pleas by thousands in the Stalin purge trials and during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It also reminds us of the U.S. government’s current use of highly coercive interrogation techniques to make people say things the government wants to hear. It is not merely the treatment of the Koran that is on trial at the bar of world and Muslim public opinion just now, but the U.S. government’s denigration of human dignity. If the media is compliant it will enhance this dehumanizing death spiral and our nation will suffer every-growing anti-Americanism. Shooting the messenger (in this case Newsweek) is but the greatest absurdity.  

Marc Sapir 

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HERE/THERE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Wherefore Art? To put Berkeley in a doghouse similar to that in which Newsweek currently resides? I say revoke their artistic licenses. 

What we have here is one zeitgeist, not two platzgeister. Erect a sign that says “<—NEITHER MUCH NOW—>.” 

But then again, to solve two problems with one ivy-covered stone, why not ship half of UCB to Oakland. That might improve both cities. 

Raymond A. Chamberlin 

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NO THERE, HERE OR THERE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the proposed sculpture proclaiming “Here” to motorists entering Berkeley and “There” to those heading toward Oakland: At the rate we’re going, soon there won’t be any there here, either. 

Zelda Bronstein 

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RFID TECHNOLOGY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a Berkeley resident and taxpayer. I am appalled by the library spending more than half-million bucks on radio frequency identification tagging. There is no proof that this technology will work! The closest library that uses RFID is in Santa Clara; their multi-media is not tagged because effective RFID technology does not exist for this purpose. If Berkeley’s library gets tags for multi-media, as they are planning to, this technology will be brand-new and untested. Why should our library be the guinea pig? I have this message to the library trustees: “Stop experimenting with our tax dollars!!” The library’s primary priority should be re-opening on Sunday. Hold the director accountable for misuse of our money. 

C. Fourrie 

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UC LONG RANGE PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When the city challenged the environmental impact report of the UC Berkeley Long Range Development Plan, it was a statement that our city council cares about our quality of life and the environment. On behalf of the Sierra Club, I urge the council not to settle the current litigation against the University of California unless the settlement includes components that mitigate the traffic and air quality impacts of constructing between 1,800 and 2,300 commuter parking spaces. 

These parking spaces will generate significant traffic that will clog our streets, slow down AC Transit buses on major streets, and worsen our air. But there are transit alternatives that could accommodate UC growth without the negative impacts. Don’t settle for less. Settle for a plan that: 

• Reduces parking significantly, more than just a few hundred spaces. The parking is proposed to increase by twice the increase in faculty and staff headcount. Don’t settle for a plan that allows more than 1,000-1,300 spaces, which would maintain or reduce the current drive-alone rates to campus. 

• Requires as an environmental mitigation under CEQA that the university provide a universal transit pass for all employees in the form of a $1 million per year transit mitigation fund, subject to inflation or actual costs. 

This is more cost-effective than building additional parking, with either a 10 percent increase in parking fees or the capital program as the funding source. The current BearPass, while a slight improvement, comes far from realizing the potential of a universal pass like the Class Pass, which was successful reducing student drive-alone rates and encouraging transit use. Both AC Transit and BART directors have expressed willingness to develop such a program, which is justification to require that transit mitigation funds be set aside, with the requirement that UC actively seek a universal pass from both agencies. The joint city-UC TDM Study found that growth could be accommodated without building ANY parking by reducing drive-alone rates for faculty and staff from 50 percent to 45 percent. 

• Implements other TDM Measures suggested in past studies (move from offering monthly parking permits to daily parking permits; fund the Berkeley TRiP office; numerous other suggestions from the March 2001 Nelson/Nygaard study). 

Andy Katz 

Chair, Northern Alameda County Sierra Club 

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MORE ON UC PLAN 

I am writing in regards to the city’s negotiations with the UC Berkeley over the Long Range Development Plan (“Fighting Cal with a Rubber Banana,” Daily Planet editorial, May 13) 

I want to express my concern over the scope of these discussions as mentioned in recent media coverage. When the mayor first took his courageous stance to oppose the plan, I was optimistic that the issues of central concern to the student community would be remedied, despite UC’s railroading of this document.  

I want to commend the city for its efforts to speak out in the best interests of all of Berkeley and hopefully hold a firm line in future expansion. 

As a student, I personally support more university development. However, like most Berkeley residents, I firmly believe that such development must be effectively mitigated and that the local community must play a more direct role in the process.  

I strongly believe that the LRDP is flawed and needs revision. It does not comply with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. Specifically, it does not fully analyze impacts nor address them. Additionally, what alarms me the most is the massive increase in parking proposed in the plan. 

UC Berkeley’s transportation policy is poor. Instead of investing millions in building more parking it can also develop alternative transportation programs such as a free faculty/staff transit pass and a BART Class Pass program. However, a very select group of faculty dominates these decisions, and the rest of the campus and city suffer accordingly.  

Case in point, UC is proposing to substantially increase the student contribution to campus transit through the upcoming Class Pass vote. The rationale for this decision is because some faculty want to remove all non-parking funding and direct it to building more parking. 

This is not in the best interest of anyone in this town, and someone needs to stand up before its too late. The ASUC was actively involved in the LRDP planning process. They submitted written comments and attended most public meetings. However, like the city and the neighborhoods their voice was not heard, and the three years of opportunities resulted in what UC wanted, not what anyone else did. 

Because of this, it was my firm hope that the city would fight against this parking increase and other policies, such as the parking replacement policy. 

While I have no position on fiscal compensation for services, I think the city has a credible argument. But this has dominated the debate, and there are other issues of greater importance to Berkeley residents. 

I urge the mayor and councilmembers: Please do not forget about these concerns; please fight for a more safe and sustainable community. We are looking to your leadership to guide us through this process. Please don’t give up at $1.2 million, there is more at stake and we need an equitable and beneficial solution for everyone in Berkeley. 

Jesse Arreguin 

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SUPPORT AMTRAK USE 

The good news is that the City of Berkeley is finally upgrading Berkeley’s Amtrak train stop at the foot of University Avenue, including a platform, lighting and disabled access. The bad news is that it appears that most of the unrestricted parking spaces currently used by train riders will no longer be available after the city’s redevelopment plans are complete. 

Berkeley’s plan to eliminate all but six unrestricted parking spaces will discourage many train commuters from continuing to use the train, particularly in the dark during early morning and evening hours and in rainy weather. Berkeley is the only city on Amtrak’s Capital Corridor route between Oakland and Sacramento that has not recently built or renovated a station with a safe waiting area and provided sufficient parking for Amtrak patrons. The city of Davis, for example, renovated an old train station similar to Berkeley’s former station and maintains 160 free parking spaces.  

In contrast, Berkeley has chosen to abandon its former train station, to provide only a minimal platform stop and to reduce the already inadequate number of parking spaces for train riders. Berkeley should be doing more to promote Amtrak use. At the very least, Berkeley should reconsider its current plan to expand short-term parking for Fourth Street shoppers at the expense of parking access for Amtrak riders. 

Julien Mercier 

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THOMAS JEFFERSON 

One of the main reasons that we study history is so we can understand the past to assure that we make a positive change for our children’s future. At Jefferson School, every student, staff member, parent and guardian has a chance to take a stand that will publicly acknowledge the pain and suffering of millions of Africans through the institution of slavery by changing the name of our school. 

For many, the name Thomas Jefferson brings up the tenets of the Declaration of Independence and the phrase “all men are created equal…with certain unalienable rights…of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” While Jefferson is credited with contributing these words to the document, he returned home to 200 enslaved African people on whose back his future, and the future of America, was built. This fact alone outweighs the impact of his accomplishments. 

In naming a school after Thomas Jefferson, we bury the story of human suffering by glorifying a person who was the master of enslaved Africans for 65 years. As an white woman who is an ally in the fight against institutionalized racism, I am compelled to take a stand alongside the many people at my school who are personally offended by the name of Jefferson, and need the name to change. Jefferson’s visionary words are hollow and offensive if they are not put into practice 

Maggie Riddle, Teacher 

Jefferson School 

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RECYCLING ASSOCIATION 

Your readers might be interested in the recent newsletter of the Northern California Recycling Association (www.ncra.org) where the co-owner of Urban Ore is concerned about gentrifying West Berkeley removing the industrial (and increasingly reprocessing) base from the community (Will recyclables be like garbage?; everybody loves it when you pick them up but nobody likes it when you put them down). There’s also a piece written by Berkeley’s GAIA staffer Monica Wilson who is worried that since a third of California’s cities have failed to meet their 50 percent goal, will they all jump on some purported high-tech bandwagon to cook and zap their trash to keep the landfills clear. Good reading.  

Arthur Boone 

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RACIST POSTER 

It may be of interest to you to report a story about a racist poster that is currently on display at the Berkeley Shattuck Landmark Cinema. The poster is displayed by the concession stand in the glassed in area labeled “employee of the month.” The poster has a picture of a man and describes him as Babu the snake charmer who works for the theater performing snake charming shows, but was recently bitten by his snake well entertaining audiences. This caricature is totally inappropriate for a public venue like the theater and I found it ridiculous and offensive to see it on view. When I asked a worker at the theater about the poster they said it was just for fun. I sure wasn’t laughing, it is disgusting. So much for Berkeley being a place where different cultures are not stereotyped or discriminated against. It was only too ironic to walk out of Crash, a movie about racial intolerance and cultural misunderstandings, only to see this poster. The workers of the cinema should be ashamed. 

Jacqueline Gehring 

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MALCOLM X 

In honor of the birthday of Malcolm X, I would like to share a few observations from the time I heard Malcolm in San Francisco. It was in 1963 at the Fillmore Ballroom, which was then home of the Nation of Islam. The ushers escorted me and the four or five other whites to good seats up front.  

Malcolm came out with a two big tripods to put pictures on, and he carried a pointer. His discourse was in the even voice of your typical college lecturer, as opposed to the few flamboyant lecturers. His topic was the history of “how the Negro got in the position we are now.” He began by saying, “They accuse me of preaching race hate.” He paused, smiled and said, “I don’ t preach hate, I only tell the truth.” 

The lecture that followed focused upon the conditions of slavery and how those conditions twisted the minds of slave and slave master alike. It was the most impressively argued and detailed lecture on slavery I had ever heard, and the year before I was a teachers’ assistant for Kenneth Stampps’ UC Berkeley history course on the Old South, and the year before that I had been the reader for the course.  

Malcolm’s first visual aid was a blowup of an advertisement from a Southern newspaper, circa 1850. Three things were for sale: a mule, a cow and a Negro. The mule was advertised for twice the price of the human being, the cow for only slightly more. Malcolm pointed out the difference, looked intensely at the advertisement, stroked his chin and asked, “What kind of system can create such a monstrous set of values?” Then he turned to the audience to say, “And they accuse me of preaching racial hate. I only present the truth...” 

Other visual aids included pages from a manual on how to discipline slaves, and advertisements about runaways. I left the Fillmore curious to know how Malcolm X became such a thorough historian of that sick old world of American slavery. I found out that the Massachusetts prison where Malcolm served time in the early 1950s happened to be a prison where there was a very large library of abolitionist literature. The library was donated by the old Bostonian family the Peabodys, and the books and pamphlets were given as part of a program to see that prisoners got rehabilitation during their incarceration. I was told that Malcolm X devoured the library. 

We know that many things and many events went into the making of the world renown revolutionary, Malcolm X, and I wish more people knew of his expertise in history. 

Ted Vincent