Federal agents seized a major arms cache that included explosives, machine guns, assault rifles, and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition discovered as Berkeley firefighters battled a blaze in a 3027 Adeline St. liquor store early Wednesday. 

The arsenal was found in an upstairs apartment over Black & White Liquor Store. In addition to the weapons and explosives, the apartment contained 178 marijuana plants in a sophisticated “grow” operation. 

Among the items seized from the apartment were: 

• Two machine guns. 

• A 50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle, which fires slugs capable of killing at ranges of more than a mile. 

• At least two dozen military assault rifles. 

• Assorted shotguns. 

• Handguns. 

• A pair of bullet-proof vests. 

• Illegal “loud reports,” a mortar-launched fireworks explosive charge that produces a sharp noise and a brilliant flash of white light, that federal agents said can cause considerable damage. 

“Thank goodness the fire didn’t spread to where the weapons were stored. It could have been a real disaster for the neighborhood,” said Marti McKee, public information officer for the Northern California office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). 

Police found the apartment’s tenant, 45-year-old Leslie Tanigawa, in the crowd that had gathered to watch the firefighters in action. He was taken into custody without incident, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Tanigawa’s address is listed as 2001 Emerson St. because the entrance to the two upstairs apartments is located on the side of the building facing the cross street one block south of Ashby Avenue. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth said the fire appeared to have been intentionally set and began outside the downstairs liquor store. Firefighters discovered the weapons cache as they entered an upstairs apartment in their efforts to contain the blaze. 

The fire began in the narrow, four-foot space between the liquor store and La Balafon, an African art store and braiding salon at 3217 Adeline St. The blaze didn’t spread to the other structure. 

Orth said the fire caused an estimated $35,000 in structural damage and $15,000 in losses to contents of the wooden, two-story building. 

“Most of the damage to the store was done to one wall, but when we arrived it was spreading inside the wall to the apartment upstairs,” Orth said. 

Firefighters inadvertently broke dozens of bottles of booze as they struggled to contain the blaze. Orth said, “When the first guys came out of the store, the smell of liquor was so bad that I asked them, ‘What’ve you been drinking?’” 

Emergency dispatchers were notified about the fire at 2:48 a.m. Wednesday, and by the time the blaze had ended at 3:39, ten companies had responded with five engines, two ladder trucks, two ambulances, 28 firefighters and two chiefs. 

A fire company from Oakland was dispatched to cover Berkeley in case another fire broke out in the city, Orth said. 

Firefighters chopped a hole in the roof to provide ventilation in case the fire spread to the attic, “where it would have taken hours to contain,” he said. 

The first had already spread to the kitchen of the apartment with the arsenal.  

Only one of the two upstairs apartments was occupied; the second was undergoing renovation, Orth said. Berkeley Police called in the ATF after the arms were discovered, “and they have taken over many of the firearms aspects of the case,” he said 

By mid afternoon Wednesday, Berkeley and Oakland Police and a team of ATF agents were hauling out the contents of one of two apartments.  

“It was a good-sized seizure,” said John Lee, Resident Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Oakland Field Office, deferring other comments to Marti McKee, press officer for the ATF’s Northern California Office. 

Tanigawa has been booked on six felony counts, Okies said. Three of the charges stem from the loud reports: storage of fireworks without a valid permit, possession without a valid permit and felonious possession of fireworks. 

He is also charged with two drug counts for the cultivation and possession for sale of marijuana. 

The sixth count is a felony firearms charge stemming from the assault rifles. 

Additional and still more serious charges could result from the federal investigation, particularly if tests confirm early suspicions that many of the weapons have been illegally modified to fire automatically—that is, to fire continuous bursts so long as pressure is maintained on the trigger. 

“From a preliminary examination, it appears that at least a few are fully automatic,” McKee said, “although we will have to await a final determination by our experts.” 

McKee declined to give an exact count of the weaponry or a list of their types, saying that such information was confidential and would only be released if an indictment is handed down by a federal court. 

Possession of the explosive fireworks could also result in federal felony charges, because permits for possession and storage are required at both the state and federal levels. 

The liquor store has been targeted by neighborhood activists, who see it as a source of violent crime. 

Six weeks ago Black & White Liquors was the target of a Berkeley Police sting resulting from reports that the store was willing to buy stolen booze. 

Officers arrested store clerk Satnan Singh on five felony counts of attempting to possess stolen property on June 10 after a police recorded him attempting to buy liquor he was told was stolen. 

Black & White owner Sucha Singh Banger, the building’s owner, also owns Grove Market, two blocks to the west at the Ashby Avenue/Martin Luther King Jr. Way intersection. 

Neighborhood activists have tried to close both stores, said former City Council candidate Laura Menard. “Both of them are our problem liquor stores in North Berkeley,” she said. 

Two men helping to clean up the fire scene Thursday morning threatened to assault a reporter who took a photograph of the fire damage through the store’s open front door.

Today (Friday) when loved ones attend a memorial for 19-year-old Berkeley High graduate Meleia Willis-Starbuck, one of her best friends will be facing arraignment in connection to her murder. 

Chistopher Wilson, a 20-year-old Berkeley High graduate, turned himself into Berkeley police Wednesday. Police say he drove the getaway car after a friend sprayed bullets in the direction of Willis-Starbuck and others shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Wilson was arrested for murder and is being held in Berkeley jail on $100,000 bail. 

Police have identified the shooter as Chistopher Hollis, a 2001 graduate of Berkeley Alternative School. Hollis, who now lives in Hayward, remained at large as of Thursday evening.  

A source close to the event told the Daily Planet that Willis-Starbuck and the two suspects in her murder were at the same party that Saturday night, and parted ways shortly before Willis-Starbuck and her friends were accosted by several men some of whom are believed to be UC Berkeley football players. 

Feeling threatened, Willis-Starbuck, the source said, telephoned Hollis. Wilson drove up Dwight Way with Hollis and a third man in the car, the source said. At College Avenue, Hollis jumped out of the car and shot one bullet into the air and three into the crowd. 

The men then drove to a house where other Berkeley High graduates were hanging out, according to the source. The men asked their friends to let them park their car in the driveway so it would be out of view. At the time, the three men did not know that one of the bullets hit Willis-Starbuck. 

Later that night Hollis reportedly returned to the scene of the shooting, figured out what had happened and fled, the source said. The third boy in the car is said to be out of the country on a pre-planned trip. 

The arrest of Wilson shocked those who knew him and Willis-Starbuck. 

“It absolutely could not have been on purpose. They were close friends,” said Berkeley High teacher Rick Ayers, who taught both students. Ayers called Wilson “a really great kid.” 

Willis-Starbuck, a Dartmouth College junior, was murdered outside of her apartment on College Avenue between Dwight Way and Haste Street. She was living there for the summer while interning at a local center for homeless women. 

According to eyewitness Dana Johnson, shortly before the shooting, Willis-Starbuck and several female friends were verbally accosted by a group of five men. An argument began and as most of the women prepared to get into a friend’s car, Willis-Starbuck continued talking to the men.  

Police say that a car driving up Dwight Way stopped at College Avenue. A man got out and opened fire at the group, striking Willis-Starbuck with at least one round. No one else was hit. 

Okies refused to comment on reports that Willis-Starbuck knew Wilson and Hollis and called them for help following the argument. 

“At this stage I cannot go into specifics about any of that,” he said. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Joe Okies said police were not currently looking for other suspects in the crime. 

Wilson, a former Berkeley High baseball player, had completed two years at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, and was planning to attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall, according to Ayers. 

“I’m shocked he would even be in the same car as someone with a gun,” said Ayers, who had lunch with Wilson this spring. 

Okies said police had worked around the clock “on a number of leads.” The investigation led to search warrants for the homes of Wilson and Hollis. Wilson turned himself in after police searched his house. The car he was driving is now in police custody. 

The victim’s mother, Kimberly Willis-Starbuck, issued a statement Thursday morning that didn’t address the arrests. 

“This has become a tragedy for the whole community,” she wrote. “What the family wants most is for violence to end and for healing for everyone to begin.” 

The memorial service for Willis-Starbuck will be held at Berkeley High School’s Donohue Gym at 11 a.m. Friday. 

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Berkeley peace activists are fuming over a hostile takeover, but not by Republicans in Washington, D.C. or corporations abroad. 

They see appointees who oppose taking stands on controversial national and international issues, especially those which include Israel and Palestine, amassing power within Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission.  

Since the 15-person commission was created by voters in 1986, councilmembers and school board members who wanted Berkeley to weigh in on issues across the globe appointed like-minded residents to it. Many others chose to ignore the commission. It has been a vehicle for promoting pacifist ideals at home and abroad that has made some city lawmakers proud and others a bit uncomfortable. 

But not anymore. A recent series of appointments by officials uncomfortable with Berkeley taking stands on issues outside the city limits has some commissioners crying foul. 

“There has been an obvious attempt to change the face of Peace and Justice,” said commissioner Michael Sherman. 

The same commission that in 2001 voted unanimously to support conscientious objectors to war couldn’t muster an eight-vote majority last month to support a federal Department of Peace. The council ultimately adopted the resolution without the commission’s endorsement. 

“Some people seem to have come to the commission with the determination not to foster peace or justice,” said Rita Moran, removed last month from the commission by Councilmember Laurie Capitelli after serving for two years.  

“When I came on I was kind of a conservative, but by the time I was off I was a liberal,” she said. “It was funny to see my political role change for me.” 

The Peace and Justice Commission has no power to dictate policy, but over the years it has shown a knack for grabbing headlines and making lawmakers squirm. 

The most recent cases came at the height of the Palestinian Intifada, when the commission sent the council resolutions on the Israel-Palestinian dispute that polarized lawmakers and residents. 

In 2002, the council narrowly defeated the commission’s proposal for the City of Berkeley not to sign contracts or hold stock in any company doing business in Israel or Palestine. Opponents at the time charged that the resolution really targeted Israel since it has the larger economy.  

The next year the council narrowly passed a commission proposal that Berkeley support a house bill calling for an investigation into the death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old pro-Palestinian activist from Washington run over and killed by an Israeli bull-dozer.  

“I think there were members of the community who were very opposed to those two resolutions and decided they wanted to take over Peace and Justice,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. The commission has not taken up an Israel-Palestine resolution since the Corrie vote. 

After the two resolutions, John Gertz, former board president of the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, began lobbying sympathetic councilmembers and school board directors to appoint commissioners who would oppose similar resolutions. 

“Corrie was the straw that broke camel’s back,” said Gertz, the president of Zorro Productions, which controls the worldwide trademark to the famed Spanish swordsman. A local player in Democratic politics, Gertz in the past year said he has played host to three congressmen and calls Sen. Joe Liberman (D-Conn.) a good friend. 

“What I have observed is that a lot of people were sick of the commission being run by the lunatic left and some brave people came forward to put a stop to it,” Gertz said. 

After the Corrie vote, Peace and Justice Commissioner Elliot Cohen said Gertz met with several colleagues and demanded that they rescind their votes. “He told us we had to reverse our vote or else,” Cohen said. 

For Gertz, his vendetta over the Corrie vote goes beyond the Peace and Justice Commission. He is focusing on future mayoral elections when two councilmembers who voted for the Corrie resolution, Linda Maio and Kriss Worthington, might run for the city’s top job. 

“The real political objective is that Maio is going down and so is Worthington,” Gertz said in a phone interview, but didn’t specify how he would ensure their defeat. “They refused to rescind their vote on Corrie. That’s it for them. They’re toast.” 

Last year Gertz also proposed arranging a meeting between Daily Planet editors and local Jewish leaders over an editorial cartoon he thought was anti-Semitic. 

Gertz said he knows three of the commissioners appointed in the last year, but didn’t push for any of them to be put on the commission. 

Moderate councilmembers and school board directors said they weren’t aware of any lobbying effort for them to appoint pro-Israel members to Peace and Justice. 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who last year appointed Jonathan Wornick, one of the commission members hesitant to support resolutions not specifically dealing with Berkeley, said he had trouble finding volunteers for the post and that he had no intention of removing him. “I think the commission should be willing to tolerate diversity,” he said. 

Right after the commission voted to approve divesting from Israel and Palestine, School Board Director Joaquin Rivera filled his appointment on the commission with Thom Seaton, the former president of Congregation Beth El.  

Although Seaton’s appointment to the commission came the same week as those of two other staunchly pro-Israel residents, David Weinstein and Micki Weinberg, neither of whom still serve on Peace and Justice, Rivera said he didn’t need any lobbying effort to convince him the commission needed a wider range of opinions. 

“I thought the commission was out of control,” he said. “They needed people who would bring some balance.” 

“My view was that the city and the commission were mired in ideological orthodoxy,” said Seaton. “Everyone in Berkeley says to question authority. Now people are questioning authority and people don’t like it.” 

Over the past year, Seaton has found more kindred spirits on the commission. Since 2004, four councilmembers and school board directors have appointed new members, all of whom are bucking the commission’s traditionally internationalist agenda. 

Wornick, who identifies himself as “a solid Democrat and vegetarian” called the Department of Peace “a silly idea,” that would duplicate the work of the State Department. 

Although he has been active in AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, he said the Israel issue was not a factor in his decision to seek a seat on the commission. 

“I had read about the commission when I lived in San Francisco and it seemed like it might be an interest of mine,” he said.  

Elisabeth Kashner, who replaced Moran, said that as an elementary school teacher she would fight hard for children’s and health issues. But when it comes to controversial matters, she doesn’t want the commission going too far out on a limb. 

“They clearly have a distressing effect in Berkeley and set people against each other,” she said. 

The divide between the new appointees to the commission and the old guard was evident at this month’s meeting. 

Among the five members opposing a resolution Monday calling for Gov. Schwarzenegger to recall state guardsmen from Iraq, three of them, Wornick, Kashner and Jessica Weddle, were appointed within the past year. The four most senior members of the commission backed the proposal, which didn’t get the eight votes needed for passage. 

The failure in back-to-back meetings to pass resolutions for a Department of Peace and to pull out the guard has some commissioners gunning for a counter offensive.  

“We’re not going to roll over and be doormats,” said Commissioner Phoebe Anne Sorgen. “We need to lobby the council and the school board to appoint true advocates of peace and justice as is their duty.” 

The commission was approved by voters with a mandate to advise the council on social justice issues across the globe. Ann Fagan-Ginger, a former commission chair, said anyone who didn’t believe in that mission shouldn’t sit on the commission. 

“It’s not the job of commission members to change the content of the ordinance and resolution that established it,” she said. “If they want to do that they should start an initiative petition.” 

Commissioner Cohen said he didn’t think the commission should have an ideological litmus test, but added that the new commissioners seemed bent on obstruction. 

“They want to defeat everything without giving reasons for their opposition,” he said. “These people are not interested in working with us, they’re interested in destroying us.” 

Cohen said the new members had not offered any proposed resolutions for the commission to consider. 

The new commissioners said the resolutions are often poorly researched and presented, giving them little choice but to object. 

Stuck in the middle of the divide is Commission Chair Steven Freedkin, who said he supports taking stands on controversial national and international issues, and has struggled to keep the peace at commission meetings. Freedkin has taken the unusual step of having commissioners take time to introduce themselves at meetings to build better rapport. 

The arrangement is still a work in progress. Members who supported pulling the guard troops from Iraq walked out of last week’s meeting after 10 p.m. rather than take up an item they knew they didn’t have the votes to carry.  

“It’s not realistic to think that if officials appoint people to the commission who don’t believe in its purpose that there won’t be some controversy,” Freedkin said. 

Nevertheless, he said the commission still functioned reasonably well. Over the past year, the commission passed 11 resolutions approved by council, he said. 

“Maybe, with some exceptions, having a commission to the right of mainstream Berkeley offers an opportunity,” Freedkin said. “When we get broader support here, we end up with something that has a bigger impact across America.” 

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A Superior Court Judge in Oakland has tentatively ruled that while the Berkeley Daily Planet is entitled to see some 17,000 Wal-Mart documents related to an employee lawsuit, the newspaper or its attorneys must pay $76,000 for the privilege of doing so. 

The July 19 ruling by Judge Ronald Sabraw comes in a case in which the Daily Planet intervened as a third party in the Savaglio v. Wal-Mart lawsuit, involving plaintiffs who are seeking to recover lost wages from the retail giant store for more than 204,000 current and former employees. 

The Daily Planet got involved solely for the purpose of unsealing documents which Wal-Mart had filed with the court. 

“Before the Daily Planet intervened with a motion under the California Sealed Records Rules,” the newspaper’s attorney in the case, Suzanne Murphy of Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld of Alameda, wrote in an e-mail, “almost every document relating to the case ... was effectively ‘under seal.’ As a result of our efforts, over 17,000 pages of court records are now (or will be soon) available for inspection by the public both in the paper files and on the court’s domain website.” 

Murphy said that she filed a motion with the court asking for Wal-Mart to pay the newspaper’s attorneys fees because “no media organization anywhere should have to spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to gain access to documents that unquestionably should have been available to the public for ... the actual cost of photocopying.” 

Judge Sabraw disagreed. 

In his tentative ruling, the judge said that the Daily Planet was not a successful party in the case or a “classical intervenor” who would qualify for attorneys fees, and that most of the thousands of pages of Wal-Mart documents that were unsealed by the newspaper’s actions “were of limited interest to the general public.” 

The judge also tentatively ruled that the newspaper had a “private commercial interest in covering the underlying lawsuit in the newspaper. The Berkeley Daily Planet, like all newspapers, must expend funds to gain access to information. In this case, it appears that the Berkeley Daily Planet was sufficiently motivated by its own interests to seek to unseal the documents and does not need the incentive of the prospect of a fee award.” 

Daily Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley said, “It is difficult to understand how the judge could tentatively rule that the documents were of limited interest to the general public, while simultaneously asserting that our newspaper could derive some financial benefit from distributing information to the public which the judge says the public doesn’t necessarily want.” 

Ben Bagdikian, former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, said in a telephone interview in response to the ruling, “I think it’s essential that the Daily Planet not be penalized in this matter. If that persists, it will have a deleterious effect on all journalism, as well as on the rights of citizens to get a hearing without paying for it.” 

No date has been set for Judge Sabraw’s final opinion. If that opinion does not change from the tentative ruling, Murphy says she plans to appeal.

Thanks to the combined efforts of sports fans and of East Bay cities from Emeryville to Richmond, a new ball field complex in Berkeley is nearing reality. 

And it’s about time, says Doug Fielding, president of the Association of Sports Users. 

“If you came to me and said the Daily Planet wants to schedule a pickup game against, say, the San Francisco Chronicle and you’re looking for any week night or any time on a weekend except Saturday night, I would have to tell you we have nothing open until February 2006,” said the Berkeley manufacturer. 

Fielding, who is president of the Companion Group, a company that makes barbecue tools for retailers ranging from Williams Sonoma to Orchard Supply, is a key player on the local sports scene and one of the reasons Berkeley is about to get new playing fields where Gilman Street meets the bay, said Berkeley Parks and Recreation director Marc Seleznow. 

It took years of political maneuvering, an alliance of East Bay cities and a parks district plus millions of dollars to bring the dream into reality, but if all goes as planned a pair of year-round artificial turf rectangular playing fields will open in the fall of 2006, the first phase of a complex that will also include baseball diamonds when it’s completed. 

“There’s a deficit of at least 11 or 12 fields,” said Seleznow, explaining why Berkeley has teamed up with Albany, Richmond, El Cerrito, Emeryville and the East Bay Regional Parks District to build the complex. 

The Berkeley City Council, which is serving as lead agency under a Joint Powers Agreement with the other jurisdictions, is scheduled to vote its final approval on the complex on Sept. 27. 

The first two fields are scheduled to open 11 months later, with development of the three baseball fields—two softball and one regulation hardball—to follow as additional funds are raised. 

The site, currently used as the overflow parking lot of Golden Gate Fields, belongs to the East Bay Regional Parks District and will be operated on a self-sustaining basis by a private operator. 

Fielding has been advocating for extra fields for more than 12 years, and his alliance began doing maintenance on several fields about ten years ago. The organization incorporated as a non-profit eight years ago, and now schedules play at 23 fields, mostly in Berkeley and Albany, and represents about 17,000 players organized into 25 to 30 groups, he said. 

One of the major reasons for the group’s formation was that most of the fields in Berkeley were being allocated by the city for city-sponsored adult softball teams. 

“Youth teams couldn’t get on any of the fields,” Fielding said. “That was a big part of what got us started.” 

The first new fields in the East Bay were originally slated for development by the Albany City Council and Waterfront Commission for the Albany Plateau at the end of Buchanan Street at the base of the Albany Bulb. Environmental groups, including the Golden Gate Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, Save the Bay and Citizens for the Eastshore State Park (now Citizens for Eastshore Parks) mobilized against the site, urging instead its development as wildlife habitat. 

During the planning process for the state park’s 2,000 acres, ball field advocates won agreement that some of the park’s upland acres would be reserved for their sports. 

“The East Bay Regional Parks District and the environmental community came up with the 16-acre (Gilman) site, which was owned by Magna Entertainment.” Seleznow recalled. “They worked a deal and got the Parks district to buy the land.” 

The cities created the Joint Powers Agreement late in 2003, with Berkeley as the lead agency. Originally, the plan was to raise grant money for simultaneous construction of all the fields, but one of the grants fell through, leaving only $3 million for the two artificial turf fields. 

“We’re now hiring a designer to see what we can build, and in the meantime we’re hoping other grants will come through,” said Seleznow. 

For the moment, the focus is on the planning commission, which needs to revise the Waterfront Specific Plan to allow construction to commence. Other city commissions are also conducting their final reviews, but no one doubts that the fields will be constructed on schedule. 

Fielding said several forces have reduced the availability of fields. First is the remarkable upsurge in women’s participation in field sports. Currently, he said, girls account for about 40 percent of the youth soccer teams, and there are now many more women participating in all field sports. 

Second is the rapid increase in urban infill development, which is eating up the vacant lots and fields once used for informal play. 

Third is the increasing awareness, driven by the media, of the need for physical activity to combat heart ailments and maintain good health. 

“We don’t have any over-40 women’s leagues yet, but they’ll be coming along too as players get older,” he said. 

Fielding said the rectangular fields are being constructed first because the artificial surface will allow year-round play, unlike grass fields which aren’t playable during the rainy season. 

“They’re also available for more sports like lacrosse, football and rugby,” he said. 

The location hasn’t won universal approval. Some, like L.A. Woods of Berkeley, say that playing so close to a heavily traveled freeway poses significant health risks to the developing lungs of young players. 

In written comments he filed with the city last Thursday, Wood noted that the section of West Berkeley nearest the I-80 also has the city’s highest rate of asthmatic children. 

Citing concerns about soil contamination, noise, traffic and wind-born contaminants—concerns minimalized in the city’s Environmental Initial Study on the project—Wood called for citing the complex further away from the freeway. 

The Parks and Recreation Commission will hear an update on the project when they meet Monday at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.

Calling some Berkeley staff recommendations “chicken poop,” Councilmember Dona Spring escalated the war of words over city land use and affordable housing at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. 

Spring and Councilmember Kriss Worthington fumed over the city’s interpretation of state housing law that they charge incorrectly gives developers higher profits without making them offer truly affordable housing. 

At one point, when Mayor Tom Bates asked the city attorney if Berkeley was in violation of state law, Spring chimed in, “You’re asking the wrong person.” 

Bates later told Spring to be careful about her language. 

“You make all these characterizations about things being illegal and secret,” he said. 

“I have a right to my opinion,” Spring said. 

Councilmember Betty Olds predicted mass resignations in the Planning Department following Spring’s outburst and asked Spring to mute her concerns in public. 

“If you have gripes with the staff, for heaven’s sake, air them in private,” she said. “It shouldn’t be put out for all the world.” 

When land use wasn’t on the table Tuesday, the council found some common ground. They voted unanimously to spend up to $300,000 over the next three months to reduce fire company closures and keep the Berkeley hills fire station open during fire season. The money will come from funds set aside for street repairs. 

A proposal to give the city manager authority to approve contracts of up to $200,000 without council approval passed 7-2. Spring and Worthington, voted no, preferring to keep the limit at $50,000. 

No vote was taken on proposed amendments to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. The issue will return to the council in September. 

Density bonus at University Avenue project  

For several years there has been a brewing firestorm over Berkeley’s interpretation of the state density bonus law, which requires cities to give additional building space to developers who provide affordable housing units. 

Before the council Tuesday was the “Tune-Up Masters” project at 1698 University Ave., which has become the poster child for critics of the city policy.  

In January the council sent the five-story, 25-unit condominium project back to the Zoning Adjustments Board because city staff had erred in calculating the bonus space. 

The ZAB had granted the developer 25 percent more space for including condominium units to be sold at a price affordable to people making at or below 120 percent of the average local median income.  

But it turns out that for condominiums, the state allows a 15 percent bonus, equal to three additional units. A 25 percent bonus (five additional units) would only be permitted if the four affordable condos were offered at 80 percent of AMI.  

Rather than drop the price of the affordable units or reduce the number of bonus units, the developer invoked a separate section of the state law requiring Berkeley to grant additional concessions to offset lost revenue from including affordable units. 

The city determined the developer was entitled to an additional 1.6 units, bringing the number of bonus units from three to 4.6. To win the full fifth extra unit, the developer agreed to reduce the cost of one of the affordable units from 120 percent of AMI ($270,000) to 90 percent of AMI ($177,000).  

The ZAB approved the revised project in April. 

Critics appealed the ruling to the council charging that planning staff had incorrectly applied the state law and given the developer too many concessions. They also warned that the recommendation threatened to set a new precedent for developers to price affordable units at 120 of AMI rather than 80 percent. 

ZAB Chairman Andy Katz told council that a ZAB subcommittee has since begun reviewing the law, and if the ZAB had to vote over again, “we may have had a different result.” 

Seizing on the previous staff error, Councilmember Kriss Worthington called for the council to set a public hearing on the development. “I’m very nervous about setting precedent when the city government might be breaking the law,” he said. 

In most cities, the density bonus law encourages affordable housing. However, in Berkeley, which already requires developers to make one-fifth of new units affordable to low or middle-income residents, the law has often decreased the proportion of affordable units in new buildings since the bonus space goes to building more market-rate units. 

“For 25 percent more space, not to get affordable units for 80 percent of AMI is a travesty,” said Spring. “It will be a blot on everyone’s record who votes for this.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak countered that the project would help middle income home-buyers afford to live in Berkeley and didn’t want to see it delayed any further. “I have problems holding this project up while we resolve the density bonus issue. That could take a year or two,” he said. 

The council voted 5-3 (Spring, Worthington, Anderson, no) to uphold the ZAB’s ruling. 

With Tune-Up Masters behind them, the council stayed focused on the density bonus. By a unanimous vote councilmembers formed a nine-member joint subcommittee of the ZAB, Planning Commission and Housing Advisory Commission to review the city’s application of the law.  

The council also struck language from the proposal that would have prevented the ZAB from implementing new interpretations of the law until the council reviewed the complete subcommittee recommendation, a process that could take over a year. 

During the debate, Worthington demanded a copy of city rules, never approved by the council, that are used to set land use policies. 

“We’re being told it’s impossible to change these rules despite the fact that they are applied inappropriately and illegally,” said Worthington. 

Planning Director Dan Marks replied, “No one on staff has indicated that anything on the density bonus is illegal.” 

“It’s in the public record already that staff at a minimum gave inaccurate information to the zoning board in the case we heard this evening,” Worthington said. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz urged councilmembers to be patient while the subcommittee meets. “We want to come back to council with some straight answers and that will take some time,” he said. 

Spring then defended the right of the ZAB and the council to ignore staff recommendations and apply its own density bonus interpretation to future projects. 

“We don’t have to vote for all this chicken poop,” she said. 

Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Revisions 

For the first time Tuesday Councilmembers briefly staked out positions on how to deal with proposed changes to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. With conflicting recommendations from the Planning Commission and Landmarks Preservation Commission, Mayor Bates is expected to try to forge a compromise by the fall. 

Councilmembers Max Anderson and Darryl Moore both called for the council to establish a working group to iron out differences. Wozniak urged the city to find money for a survey to determine which city buildings should be protected before a property is proposed for a new development. 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli said the LPO had “become a tool” for opponents of new developments to control the development process. He also questioned the contention of Landmarks Preservation Commission members that the ordinance could be made to confirm with state law simply by changing a few words. 

Spring countered that there was little evidence the landmarking laws had done much to slow down or stop development in the city. 

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A parking dispute between Congregation Beth-El, Berkeley’s largest Jewish congregation, and its soon-to-be neighbors will now be decided by city staff. 

On Wednesday, Beth El submitted a parking plan that, if it meets with city approval, will likely result in the congregation receiving a permit to move into its new 34,000-square-foot synagogue at 1301 Oxford St. 

Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin said the city would meet with neighbors over the proposal and likely rule on it within a week. 

Beth El has planned an opening celebration for Sept. 9. 

Despite months of negotiations, neighborhood leaders say the final plan still doesn’t honor a settlement agreement designed to keep Beth El members and guests from monopolizing available on-street parking spaces. 

“They’ve come a long way, but not far enough,” said Nancy Levin, a member of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association, which includes blocks of Spruce and Oxford streets just east of Shattuck Avenue’s Gourmet Ghetto. Many synagogue neighbors have posted signs on their lawns asking Beth El to honor the agreement. 

Members of the group said if the congregation doesn’t offer further amendments to the plan they would ask city officials to withhold the occupancy permit. 

Without a permit, Beth El would be at least temporarily shut out of the synagogue it has spent five years and around $8 million building. 

“We really do believe that we are following the agreement and that we have resolved the parking issues,” said Beth El First Vice President Katherine Haynes-Sanstad. 

The congregation and LOCCNA have battled over the new synagogue for years since Beth El announced it was moving from its home two blocks away at the corner of Arch and Vine streets. 

After coming to terms over the restoration of Codornices Creek, which runs through the property, Beth-El officials and LOCCNA signed an agreement outlining the congregation’s responsibilities to keep the neighborhood unburdened from members and guests looking for parking spaces. 

Neighbors have insisted that street parking around Oxford and Spruce streets is sparse, while an environmental study commissioned by the congregation found that there were between 50 and 100 on-street parking spaces available at all times of the day. 

The compromise required that for events of 150 people or more the congregation must use “on site valet parking and satellite parking or other effective techniques.” 

The congregation has contracted with Safeway, St. Mary Magdalen Church, First Union Title company and the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center to provide spaces for large events like weddings and congregation functions. 

Combined the satellite lots would add 102 parking spaces in addition to 31 spaces at the site and 26 on-street parking spaces along the synagogue’s street frontage. Beth El’s current home has two on-site parking spaces. 

Nevertheless Alan Gould of LOCCNA feared that several of the lots may not be available over the weekend when the congregation would likely need them.  

“They aren’t firm commitments,” he said. “The end result is the satellite parking schemes they have don’t seem like they would work.” 

LOCCNA members also oppose Beth-El’s proposal to monitor on-street parking usage during large events to gauge the synagogue’s impact on neighborhood parking. The plan calls for the congregation to lessen the neighborhood parking burden with additional signs and educational outreach if more than half of all available on-street neighborhood parking spaces are taken by Beth El patrons. 

“The general consensus is the 50 percent threshold [for taking action] is way to low,” Levin said. “It’s claiming too much of the parking spaces.” 

Haynes-Sanstad said neighborhood fears of big synagogue crowds were misplaced. She said that the 54 spaces on-site and along the synagogue’s frontage would be enough to accommodate up to 160 worshippers, a larger than usual crowd for Sabbath services. 

She added that the underground Safeway lot on Shattuck Avenue with 47 parking spaces would be available to the congregation for all occasions. Also parking at the church could be expanded from 15 to 115 spaces for some occasions because Beth-El patrons will be allowed to park in part of its playground area. 

“We’re going to direct people to the lots,” she said. “People will not be instructed to cruise the neighborhood.” 

Cosin said the final decision on the matter would be made by Zoning Officer Mark Rhoades based on whether the congregation’s parking plan honored the agreement with neighbors. Although Haynes-Sanstad is confident that it does, she said the congregation is still concerned the dispute could delay the synagogue’s grand opening. 

“Let’s just say we haven’t printed opening invitations yet,” she said. 

A West Berkeley senior housing development slated to open next year will bear the name Margaret Breland Homes, in honor of the former city councilmember and longtime West Berkeley resident who died earlier this year. 

“It seemed like a wonderful way to honor her memory,” said Dan Sawislak, executive director of non-profit housing developer Resources For Community Development. “She was a big supporter of affordable housing.” 

RCD is overseeing the project with Jubilee Restoration Inc., whose executive director Pastor Gordon Choyce was close to Breland. 

The 28-unit project at 2575 San Pablo Ave. was originally scheduled to be named Jubilee Senior Homes. 

Also under construction in Berkeley is Affordable Housing Associates’ Sacramento Senior Homes, which will have 40 units of senior housing at 2517 Sacramento St. AHA recently completed University Neighbors Apartments. The project at 1719 University Avenue has 27 affordable apartments. 

—Matthew ArtzÃ

High on a hilltop above the city, the researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are working every day to contribute to both the scientific and world communities. 

In the Donner Lab under Dr. Kenneth Downing, graduate student Alison Killilea works on a microscopic level to understand the medications used to treat breast, lung and ovarian cancer. She works with a chemotherapeutic drug, commercially sold as Taxol and generically known as paclitaxel, which inhibits the replication, or mitosis, of cells. Rapid mitosis is the basis for tumors. 

Since the discovery of paclitaxel in 1960, researchers have produced a multitude of drugs that work on the same principle. They target microtubules, a structure used in the division of cells, and stabilizes them to the extent that mitosis is disrupted. Microtubules are “very dynamic- they are like the railroad system of the cell. They transport proteins around the cell and are essential for mitosis,” Killilea said. 

“But cells are very smart,” she said. “If you inhi bit the dynamic nature of microtubules with a stabilizing drug, this blocks mitosis and the cell realizes that something is wrong. Since the cell can no longer proceed through mitosis, the cell essentially commits suicide. This keeps the cancer from growi ng.” 

Despite its effectiveness, paclitaxel has some drawbacks. Paclitaxel targets the fastest-growing cells, but it isn’t specific to cancer cells. It also kills hair cells and cells in the stomach lining, leading to the hair loss and nausea that are associated with chemotherapy. It is possible for patients to be resistant to it, and also to develop a tolerance, limiting the drug’s ability to fight future occurrences of cancer. The drug itself is mildly toxic, and it isn’t water soluble, necessitating a carrier to deliver it to cells. The carrier is toxic as well. 

Killilea is exploring how new drugs, similar to paclitaxel, bind to microtubules because the new drugs have the potential to be less toxic and more effective against drug resistance. According to Killilea, her goal “is to map the drug binding site, leading to a better understanding of how chemotherapeutic agents work on their biological targets.” This better understanding should contribute to the discovery and application of more effective can cer treatments. 

“The hope is that in a decade people will have more and better options,” Killilea said. 

Working alongside Killilea is Nicholas Leiby, an MIT undergraduate who is at the lab for the summer. His project involves microtubules as well, but g oes in a different direction. He is working on developing a model of how Parkin, a protein implicated in the onset of Parkinson's disease, binds to microtubules. To achieve this he looks at the complex in an electron microscope. The model may take between six months and a year to complete. 

Though their research has a known application, Killilea feels the exploration of how proteins bind to tubulin has its own merit. 

“Pure or raw science is terribly important, because you never know what will come of it. Sometimes it’s an atomic bomb; sometimes it’s a vaccination. You just never know when you start how much can be affected later on,” she said. 

Numbers and data are the inevitable result of research, and in the William Jagust Lab, Drs. Beth Kuczynski and J amie Eberling and research assistant Amy Gitcho spend their days analyzing observations of brain functions. They are looking at information gathered from a longitudinal study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Cerebrovascular Disease (CVD). 

Both diseases are pre valent in the elderly population and are often co-concurrent, Kuczynski said. It is her hope to separate the symptoms and disassociate the diseases to determine the cause of dementia in each. 

From a cohort of subjects from a multi-institutional study (UC Berkeley and LBL, UC Davis, UCSF and USC) on memory, Kuczynski and her team found that certain brain activities (or lack thereof) indicate a change in metabolic activities in subsequent years. All activities in the brain are fueled by glucose, so a reduc tion in glucose use indicates reduced brain function. By tracing the delivery of a substance that acts like glucose, scientists can determine with parts of the brain aren’t working as hard as they should. 

The next step for the team is to examine the whit e matter tracts, or axons. Axons are a part of the brain’s communication system. A new technique called diffusion tensor imaging allows one to see the white matter tracts, and more importantly, to see if there are any disruptions in pathways to areas of the brain that show a metabolic decrease. It is Kuczynski’s hope that this will reveal more about the ways memories are lost in a brain afflicted with Alzheimer’s. 

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Responding to a plea by UC Berkeley Boalt Hall Law School Dean Chris Edley Jr. that “if we don’t get these fees, we will be out of money,” University of California Regents this week approved increases up to 7 percent in professional school fees beginning in the second half of the 2005-06 school year. 

The increases are scheduled to begin in the winter quarter. 

The 12-6 vote took place Thursday in San Francisco. The increase affects 31 law, business, medical, and other professional schools throughout the university system. 

The increase is in addition to the 3 percent professional school fee increase approved by regents last November, bringing the total increase up to 10 percent from last year to this. 

In his Executive Summary recommending the increases, UC President Robert Dynes said that professional school faculty salaries have fallen an average 10 percent behind comparable institutions, and “the professional schools have been unable to make the financial investments necessary to maintain the academic quality of their programs.” 

Regents rejected the argument of several of their colleagues that the increase should be delayed until the board’s November meeting, when a discussion on a long-term professional fee schedule is scheduled. 

Even with the increases, UC’s professional fees compare favorably with fees at other institutions in the nation. Average base fee levels for state residents for UC law schools will be $21,863 in 2005-06, $373 more than the average resident fees for all public law schools. Law school fees at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale range between $35,000 and $37,000 per year. 

But in announcing her decision not to vote for the increase, Regent Monica Lozano, a Gray Davis appointee from Los Angeles, said, “I believe fees need to be increased, but it should be predictable and moderate. Rather than take incremental steps, we should wait for a few months to come back with a long term plan.” 

And Regent Norman Pattiz, a Davis appointee from Culver City, called the decision “shortsighted” and “a tremendous mistake.” 

Using UC Berkeley’s law school as an example, he said, “Boalt Law School should get the money they need, but we shouldn’t make it more difficult to go to Boalt.” 

But school officials argument vehemently for the increase, saying that state budget cuts over the past decade have eroded the system’s professional school standings. 

“We are seeing an alarming deterioration of quality as perceived by people considering coming to our professional schools,” Dynes said. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau asked, “Do we want to have a second-rate law school with low fees? I didn’t come to Berkeley to preside over a second-rate program. It would be a betrayal of the University of California not to provide us with the budget to continue to be a world-class institution.” 

And UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale added, “People used to come to the university’s professional schools because we were of comparable quality with other schools in the nation, but we were less expensive. If we continue to be less expensive but are not as comparable in quality, that will lead prospective students to make a different calculation.” 

Some regents appeared to be swayed by the argument that at least 25 percent of the fee increase would be dedicated to financial aid for low income students. 

Regent Gerald Parsky, a Pete Wilson appointee from Los Angeles and a supporter of the increases, pointed out that unlike in past years, when professional fee increases only made up for cuts in state funds, the money generated by Thursday’s action would all actually add to the professional schools’ budgets. 

In addition to the 10 percent professional fees approved by regents for the 2005-06 year, regents also approved, on a 10-8 vote, a “temporary” two year fee increase—$770 in the first year and $1,050 in the second. University officials said that extra increase was necessary after a Superior Court Judge in San Francisco granted an injunction to plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed by students in 2003. 

In that lawsuit, the professional students—all of whom had enrolled in 2002 or before—alleged that professional fee increases approved by regents for the spring of 2003 and beyond violated a contract between the university and the students that professional fees would not be increased while they were enrolled. 

The court’s injunction prevented the university from collecting the additional fees, a decision the university says has cost them $22.5 million over the past two years. A final decision is expected by the court sometime later this year. 

A second, similar lawsuit was filed last week in Superior Court in San Francisco by UC professional school students enrolled in 2003. That lawsuit has yet to be answered by university attorneys. 

Community members are invited to join Berkeley Civic Arts Commission (CAC) Chair David Snippen for a Sunday afternoon tour and discussion of the proposed location for Spaceship Earth. 

The gathering is a preview to the Parks and Recreation Commission’s Monday meeting which could result in a final decision to locate the artwork in Ohlone Park. 

The sculpture, a massive sphere of bronze-bedecked blue Brazilian quartzite plus a life-size statue of the late Berkeley-born environmentalist David Brower, has been in search of a new home for months. 

Sunday’s gathering will occur at 4 p.m. opposite the softball fields at the southern edge of Ohlone Park near Sacramento Street. 

Mayor Tom Bates has been an outspoken advocate for the sculpture that has received at best a lukewarm response in the community. 

After the Waterfront Commission rejected the mayor’s favored site in the Berkeley Marina, the 350,000-pound creation of Finno-American sculptor Eino was dropped into the lap of the Parks and Recreation Commission, which will vote on the proposed site in Ohlone Park Monday night. 

The cerulean craft and its passenger of “Spaceship Earth” was commissioned by Power Bar founders Brian and Jennifer Maxwell before the former’s death last year. 

The Maxwells originally intended that the weighty work would be installed in San Francisco, and they enlisted some supporters on the Board of Supervisors to plead their case. 

But the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Visual Arts Committee saw things differently, rejecting the piece as “extremely grand and flamboyant” and lacking in “sensitivity to environmental issues.” 

They next turned to Berkeley, and Mayor Bates welcomed it as a friend of both Brower and the Maxwells. 

Considerable opposition greeted the mayor’s invitation, and the work as originally conceived with a life-size bronze Brower perched on the globe and reaching for the stars impressed some as the embodiment of the image of the imperialist urge. 

Eino and the Maxwells agreed to relocate Brower next to the sphere. 

If all goes as planned “Spaceship Earth,” a phrase popularized by inventor and visionary Buckminster Fulller—who hated weighty creations—will be one of two massive memorials to the environmentalist. 

The second, the proposed Brower Center at Allston Way and Fulton Street, will be five stories high. That memorial is currently near the end of the city approval process. 

The arts commission began with a list of 30 potential sites. UC Berkeley nixed sites in Tilden Park and near the Lawrence Hall of Science and others fell by the wayside. 

One by the alternatives were rejected, leaving only the Ohlone Park site. 

The Parks and Recreation Commission will hold their hearing on the siting at their regular meeting Monday starting at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.

Botched robbery 

A teenager approached a 46-year-old man near the corner of Alcatraz Avenue and California Street about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, told him that he was packing a pistol, then demanded he fork over his valuables. 

When the man refused, the would-be bandit slugged him in the head and then departed. The victim did not require medical attention, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Shira Warren. 

Peeper 

A 19-year-old woman called police shortly before midnight on July 13 to report that a man with a buzz-cut was leering at her through a window. 

The man was GOA—gone on arrival—by the time officers arrived at her apartment at Allston Way and Shattuck Avenue. 

Gunman gets wallet 

A man armed with a pistol approached a pedestrian near the corner of Holly Street and Buena Avenue about 6:44 p.m. last Thursday and demanded his wallet. 

The victim, a 43-year-old man, complied and escaped without injury, said Officer Warren. 

Burglar busted  

Police arrested a 25-year-old man two hours after he allegedly burglarized the Wet Seal and Gap clothing stores in the 2300 block of Telegraph Avenue last Thursday evening. 

Clothes and other items were taken in the course of the crime. 

Extreme heist  

A gunman burst into Extreme Pizza at 2352 Shattuck Ave. just before midnight last Friday and emptied the till before fleeing. No arrest has been made, said Officer Warren. 

Gunshots reported 

Neighbors who live near the intersection of Prince and California Streets called police at 3:14 a.m. Saturday to report they had just heard gunshots. 

Officers responded moments later but were unable to find either a gunman or any damage inflicted by the shots. 

Rape arrest 

Police arrested a 40-year-old man near the corner of Bancroft Way and Byron Street shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday. Details of the attack were unavailable, said Officer Warren.

Berkeley developer James D. Levine’s plan to build a posh gambling resort on the Richmond shoreline has inched closer to reality with the release of key environmental review documents. 

The massive collection will determine the focus of the environmental review process that play a central role in determining whether Point Molate, a former naval refueling base, becomes a tribal reservation eligible for casino operations. 

Levine’s Upstream Molate LLC has enlisted the Guidiville Rancheria band of Pomos, Washington insider and former Defense Secretary William Cohen and Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company, to bring the project to fruition. 

The Results of Scoping document, as the collection of comments is called, will be used in preparation of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), the federal equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Once the draft document is prepared, it will be released to the public for a 45-day comment period, which will include another public meeting in Richmond where individuals, groups and agencies can offer their comments on the document. 

The final draft will then follow, and the document will provide much of the basis for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ decision to grant or deny the reservation designation and the right to operate a casino on the site. 

The project, initiated by Levine, would turn Point Molate into a reservation for the Guidiville Rancheria band of Pomos, while Harrah’s would run the gaming and hotel operations. 

Levine and his partners have agreed that they will also prepare an EIR on the project, one of the major demands of the project’s critics. 

Two-stage project 

According to the scoping documents, the resort will be constructed in two stages. 

First would come the transformation of the nationally landmarked Winehaven building, which housed California’s largest pre-Prohibition winery, into a 180,000-square-foot casino, accompanied by the construction of a 400-room hotel, transformation of landmarked former naval officers’ cottages into luxury hotel suites, construction of 150,000-square-foot conference and showroom building and the building of 5,000 parking spaces. 

Also included in the first phase would be development of a ferry terminal on the former navy pier, widening of Western Drive from two lanes to four, extension of the Bay Trail through the reservation and construction of a tribal park including ceremonial dancing grounds. 

Development of the second phase would depend on the economic success of the first and would include the addition of two hotel towers bringing the total rooms to 1,100 and construction of a 300,000-square-foot upscale retail complex and a 2,500-space multilevel parking structure. 

Alternatives 

The scoping session also resulted in four alternatives that will be included in the final environmental report: 

• Creation of the Upstream proposal plus a one million-square-foot mixed-use development including 500 units of commercial and high-end residential dwellings. 

• Creation of a smaller project including a 400-room hotel, a 100,000-square-foot entertainment and conference center, 5,000 total parking space and 20,000 square feet of retail, with the additional of 200 acres of park land and open space. 

• A non-reservation, non-gambling alternative in which the tribe and Levine’s Upstream would build two housing complexes with 1,100 units of high-density housing, a 400-room hotel, a 50,000 square foot convention facility and additional retail and restaurant facilities along a pedestrian walkway. This alternative would also include a ferry terminal. 

• A final alternative in which no development would occur. 

Two other alternatives proposed at the scoping session were rejected. 

The first would have turned the entire site into parkland. This was rejected because the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act requires that former military bases transferred to local governments must be used to create jobs and replace income lost when the bases were closed. 

The second proposal, which called for the project to be built at other locations in the Bay Area, was rejected for the same reason. 

Report focus 

The scoping report identified areas of potential impacts to be addressed in the final environmental document, including: 

• Socioeconomic (the impacts of problem gambling, lost taxes, impacts on housing and local business). 

• Potential traffic problems (local and regional). 

• Hazardous materials (both leftovers from the naval station and the ChevronTexaco refinery just over the ridge). 

• Risks to threatened plant species and migratory bids. 

• A variety of land use and planning policies, effects of local governmental services (both emergency and non-emergency). 

• Threats to air and water quality. 

• Visual, noise and aesthetic implications.  

• Adverse effects on archaeological resources.  

• Whether or not the Guidivilles have any historic link to the site (which would determine their eligibility for a reservation in Richmond). 

• Site geological and soil suitability for a major project. 

• Environmental justice issues. 

• The cumulative effects of all potential impacts. 

Diverse comments 

State agencies which offered written comments for the scoping included the Department of Fish and Game, Caltrans, the State Lands Commission, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Highway Patrol and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.  

On the local government level, comments came from Contra Costa County, Marin County, the East Bay Regional Parks District, and El Cerrito and Pinole. 

Organizations commenting include the Sierra Club, the California Native Plant Society, the Trails for Richmond Advisory Committee, the anti-casino Coalition to Save Point Molate, the San Francisco Bay Trail Project, Save the Bay, Citizens for East Shore Parks and the chair of the Point Molate Restoration Advisory Board 

A lawyer for Artichoke Joe’s, a San Bruno cardroom which opposes tribal casinos in the Bay Area, offered a lengthy and negative set of considerations. Other lawyers to who wrote included a Sacramento law firm retained by Contra Costa County and a Phoenix law firm, which wanted information only about upcoming scoping events. 

Comments from individuals were generally either pro and con, and most offered few specifics that could be addressed in the EIS. 

The strongest immediate concerns to the siting of a massive casino complex at Point Molate were raised by two state agencies with oversight over cleanups at chemically contaminated sites. 

One, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, has been overseeing the cleanup of contaminants left over from the days the site was used as a naval refueling basis. 

Berkeley developer James D. Levine, whose Upstream LLC is spearheading the project, once served on the board’s staff before setting up his own toxic contamination remediation firm, which he ran before launching himself on the career of a developer whose first major project, Point Molate, is located on a so-called “brownfield” site. 

Water Board Executive Officer Bruce H. Wolfe submitted a staff report that concludes the transfer of the site shouldn’t take place “until a more aggressive cleanup effort is completed, that cleanup success is evaluated, and final remedy consensus is achieved.” 

Of the 29 parcels transferred from the Navy to the city in September 2003, seven have enough residual contamination to mandate deed restrictions on use of the property and five are recorded as unsuitable for residential use. 

Of the remaining 15 percent of property still undergoing remediation, some is contaminated by the potentially deadly solvent TCE, another parcel was a landfill and is of continuing concern, a third has heavy metal soil contamination and two have worrisome concentrations of volatile organic compounds and petroleum products in subsurface groundwater. 

The Water Board doesn’t want a transfer until the cleanup is finished, despite a request for an earlier transfer made by the Richmond City Council in November 2004. 

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control raised its own concerns about on-site contamination, calling for the environmental documents’ acknowledgment of the ongoing cleanup, inclusion of the names all contaminants still needing to be cleaned up, a list of known or suspected releases of contaminants and plans for their cleanup, and preparation of a risk assessment and levels calling for action. 

CHP worried 

The California Highway Patrol letter offered a specific prediction:  

“I-580 is the only and would likely be the primary access to any form of development of Point Molate ... we expect significant increase in traffic would lead to extended commute times and an attendant potential for collisions and vehicle code violations on the part of those trying to access Point Molate.” 

The letter also said that with alcohol consumed at the casino and especially “during special events (concerts, sports contests, etc.), we would expect to experience an increase in incidents relating to driving under the influence.” 

The law enforcement agency also noted that Levine’s development might lead to a need for increased security and personnel to protect the refinery just over the ridge. 

Other state agencies 

Timothy Sable, a Caltrans district chief responsible for environmental impact issues, laid out many of the same requests as had been suggested by the CHP and county officials. 

Caltrans also asked for study of impacts on bridge travel, including examination of effects on specific interchanges with focus on both peak and off-peak transit hours and on potential mitigations. 

Among requests raised by the California State Lands Commission was a study of the impacts of Levine’s proposed ferry service on marine traffic in San Francisco Bay waters. 

The Department of Fish and Game asked that the reports focus on impacts to flora and fauna, particularly those involving rare, threatened and endangered species. 

Counties concerned 

A 21-page letter from Contra Costa County Administrator John Sweeten and the Western Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee made no secret of county officialdom’s disdain for the project. 

Sweeten declared that “the county has seen no objective evidence Guidiville Band’s interest in the Point Molate site for a casino/resort project is anything but reservation shopping, i.e., acquisition of land outside the area where the tribe was traditionally located.” 

That contention was supported by a letter from Randall Milliken, who holds an anthropology doctorate from UC Berkeley and is the author of A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1769-1810, who wrote to argue that Richmond had not been inhabited by any Pomo-speakers but was the ancestral homeland of the Huichin tribelet of the Chocenyo Ohlone. 

Sweeten also asked that the environmental documents deal specifically with a worst-case scenario and examine the cumulative effects of all impacts. 

The transportation committee called for inclusion of impacts on specific streets, highways and intersections, the effects on public transportation and of the proposed ferry service not only of the Levine resort, but on their effects in combination with the proposed Sugarbowl Casino in North Richmond and momentarily delayed expansion of Casino San Pablo. 

The list also included a call to examine a host of other potential areas that could be affected. 

Among the issues the Marin County Community Development Agency asked to be considered were impacts of the project on regional housing, possible spillover effects on neighboring counties and traffic impacts on Richmond/San Rafael Bridge travel. 

Marin County Administrator Mark J. Riesenfeld offered predictions of his own. 

“[O]ff-reservation impacts associated with gaming would affect not only Contra Costa County, but Marin County as well ... potential impacts include ... increased traffic congestion ... associated with air pollution and increased crime” and minor demands for increased emergency services. 

Marin County Board of Supervisors President Harold C. Brown wrote a similar letter addressing the same basic points. 

A letter from the Contra Costa County Administrator’s office asked that the environmental documents detail the impacts of the project on Emergency Medical Services, including those on the reservation, off-reservation demands cause by activities on the reservation and the effects of service delays resulting from the development. 

Other jurisdictions 

Pinole City Planner Elizabeth Dunn asked that the Contra Costa County report be incorporated as reflecting her city’s concerns as well. 

East Bay Regional Parks District lawyers filed a 17-page request, raising such issues as:  

• Impairment of views of the Bay and the site, destruction or impairments to sensitive habitats and species. 

• Visual and physical impacts on historic structures. 

• Destruction of archaeological sites. 

• Conflicts of local, regional, state and federal land use plans. 

• Traffic impacts. 

• Elimination or interference with aquatic and open space recreational uses.?

When asked why the religious right is so much more powerful in American politics than the religious left, a political observer quipped that it is because the religious right consists of cows, docile and easily led, while those on the left are cats, difficult to herd under any circumstances. While that may prove be the case, on Wednesday more than 1,200 of those cats gathered on the UC campus to attend a four-day conference on spiritual activism. 

The intent of the conclave is to create a new “Network of Spiritual Progressives.” The brainchild of UC Professor Michael Nagler and Berkeley Rabbi Michael Lerner, the conference was sponsored by a variety of faith-based groups, with the cornerstone organization being Lerner’s Tikkun community. 

Wednesday night the tandem of Lerner and Reverend Jim Wallis provided the keynote addresses. Wallis, whose latest book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, a bestseller, has become the best-known voice of the religious left. Given this cachet he has joined the elite group of celebrity consultants—another of whom is UC Berkeley’s George Lakoff—periodically summoned to Washington to advise Democratic leaders. 

An evangelical preacher, Jim Wallis was a leader of Students for a Democratic Society, and is a long-time activist, best known as the founder of the Sojourner Community in Washington, DC. Wallis lambasted the religious right, arguing that the time has come for the left to take back American religion. 

Remarking that “Religion’s job is to pull out our best stuff,” Wallis decried the “seduction” of key leaders of the religious right by the Republican Party. He observed that the true function of prophetic religion is to serve “not as a wedge, but as a bridge.” He argued that “religion should be the moral center of our public life,” and that the reawakening of the religious left would assure that this would again be the case. 

Noting that the religious right’s moral “agenda” is restricted to abortion and gay marriage, Reverend Wallis observed that while poverty is mentioned 3,000 times in the Old Testament, neither poverty, protection of the environment, nor the “illegal and immoral” war in Iraq has caught the right’s attention. Remarking that conservatives have painted a picture of Jesus as “pro-rich, pro-war, and pro-American,” Jim lamented, “We need to take our religion back.” 

Wallis observed that “the biggest mistake progressives made was to cede values and faith to the religious right,” implying that many people of faith decided that liberals, and Democrats in general, didn’t care about faith, didn’t care about their spiritual crisis, and as a result began to vote Republican. Reverend Wallis argued that progressives must have faith, that it “is about changing the big things” such as ending poverty in the world. 

Quoting a young activist, who when asked where the new leaders were, was fond of remarking, “We are the ones we have been waiting for,” Jim Wallis encouraged attendees to begin a new movement. “American history has been changed by social movements and the best ones have had a spiritual foundation.” 

Although the conference audience gave Reverend Wallis a standing ovation, many participants probably wondered what they should do next. How to build a bridge between his optimism and the network of spiritual progressives advertised in the conference literature? Rabbi Michael Lerner provided many of the operational details. 

Like Wallis, Michael Lerner is a long-time activist—interestingly, also a participant in SDS—a leader in Jewish Renewal and Rabbi of Beyt Tikkun in Berkeley and San Francisco. Lerner has a Ph.D. in psychology and has worked as therapist. He used this experience to provide a psychosocial analysis of American culture. Agreeing that faith-based social movements can transform American society, Lerner argued that their unique role was to “transform the energy from fear to hope.” He sees America as locked in a spiritual crisis where the average citizen is fearful, because we have been taught to treat each other as commodities in an increasingly materialistic culture. 

Lerner believes that the religious right sees this spiritual crisis and has proceeded with a faulty analysis that scapegoats groups such as Jews, blacks, feminists and gays. The left doesn’t understand that there is a spiritual crisis and therefore has lost contact with the average American—who would rather go with a faulty solution than no recognition of their alienation. 

Lerner’s solution is for spiritual progressives to unite in an awareness of the crisis and to then generate an analysis and compelling vision. He proposed the Network of Spiritual Progressives as the vehicle to accomplish this. Rather than stick to the conservative paradigm of “selfishness and materialism” the network would posit an alternative of “love and generosity.” Michael Lerner sees this analysis being worked out through a series of conferences; his target is to provide a progressive “platform” before the 2008 elections. 

The 1,200 “cats” packed into Pauley ballroom were obviously moved by the words of Wallis and Lerner. The question is whether they will line up to form a movement. 

Late last winter, a story on Oakland’s sideshows appeared in the Los Angeles Times. “Virtually every night, from midnight to dawn,” the story reported, “hundreds of young people gather at intersections throughout this city to watch cars spin and swerve wildly, the drivers and passengers often dangling halfway out of open doors as the vehicles burn rubber. Some drivers like to spew sparks by wearing their tires down to the steel belts. The people of Oakland have survived epidemic drug use, soaring murder rates and police corruption scandals, but now they face an increasingly violent homegrown movement that has police chasing one spontaneous driving exhibition after another at a cost of $500,000 a year.” 

Not good news for Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who wants to be California’s top law enforcement officer. Los Angeles is the home of the largest bloc of voters in the State of California. It is also the home of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Mr. Brown’s major announced opponent in the 2006 Democratic primary for California Attorney General. 

Three months after the L.A. Times article appeared, Mr. Brown suddenly introduced his last-minute, headline-grabbing “arrest the sideshow spectators” ordinance to Oakland City Council. Cause and effect? Your guess is as good as mine. But that would go a long way towards explaining why Mr. Brown waited until the beginning of the summer to introduce legislation aimed mainly at summertime activity, or why Oakland police officials testifying at City Council meetings concerning the proposed ordinance seemed to suggest that they already had the sideshows “under control” without the new law. 

In any event, last Tuesday, an hour or so before they went on their eight-week summer vacation, Oakland City Council passed the mayor’s ordinance this week, making it an infraction (and, on the third offense, a criminal act) to be a spectator at a sideshow in Oakland. 

One of the fears of many opponents of the new sideshow ordinance is that the fines will go unpaid by the young people who will be the main targets of these citations, leading to bench warrants, further involvement with the police, and a descent into the criminal justice system. 

Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Jean Quan (who both voted for the measure) did their best to pretty up the ordinance, insisting that they would work on alternatives to the stiff $500 and $750 fines that the first two “sideshow spectator” offenses called for, saying that they would try to get judges and prosecuting attorneys to set up some sort of “community service” in place of the payments. 

I have great respect for both Ms. Nadel and Ms. Quan, two of the more progressive members of council who have conservative constituents to worry about (Ms. Nadel is running for mayor of Oakland in 2006 and Ms. Quan represents the most conservative council district in the city). 

Still, their insistence on finding unwritten substitutes for the financial penalties written into Mr. Brown’s sideshow law reminded me of the story a friend once told me about a country fellow who had no date to the summer barn dance, so he decided to take a hog instead. He spent several hours putting a pretty pink party dress on the animal, curling its hair, slapping on lipstick, and even painting polish on its hooves. “What did he end up with?” I asked my friend. “What the hell do you think?” my friend answered. “A dressed-up pig.” 

Instead of dressing up the mayor’s ordinance by making sure the fines are not enforced but, instead, are superceded by community service work-offs, why didn’t these two councilmembers simply try to take the fines out altogether and replace them in the law with the alternatives? 

Also left out of the law was a requirement that the police give a warning to disperse before police begin targeting spectators. Oakland police told councilmembers that they didn’t mind giving such a warning—in fact, they probably would give such a warning—they just didn’t want to be required by law to give such a warning. Since they made such a point of not having the warnings in the law, how many warnings to disperse do you think will actually take place? 

Another sideshow alternative missed the summer cut, this one being a safe, sanctioned, and legal entertainment alternative to the sideshows themselves. Several councilmembers at this week’s meeting—as well as Lt. David Kozicki, who oversees sideshow abatement activities for the Oakland Police Department—insisted that such an alternative was a good idea, and the city was actively working on setting it up. (On her city website, Ms. Brooks has thoughtfully provided a copy of a signed, undated memo from Mr. Kozicki in which he lays out all of the plans worked out for such a sideshow alternative, finishing with “Now all we need is a place to have it!”) 

The mayor’s “arrest the sideshow spectators” ordinance, in fact, was supposedly partially modeled after a San Diego drag racing ordinance in which both the crackdown and the legal alternative were done simultaneously. 

But the council took off for the summer without doing the simultaneous, deciding that the fines and penalties of Mr. Brown’s sideshow ordinance could not wait, while finding summertime entertainment alternatives for Oakland youth could. 

Another interesting item pointed out at the council meeting—by Ms. Brooks—was that Mr. Brown’s “arrest the spectators” ordinance mentioned arresting spectators only at sideshows, but not at Oakland’s dangerous and illegal drag races. Ms. Brooks suggested that there might be a racial motive there—sideshows are a primarily African-American and Latino activity, while drag racing involves people of other races. I might suggest another possible explanation. The Los Angeles Times article last March did not mention Oakland’s drag racing problem—only its sideshow problem—so Mr. Brown may not have been motivated to include those events in his rushed-through law (I only say may here because I cannot read Mr. Brown’s mind and therefore am only speculating, just like everyone else). 

Meanwhile… 

The day before Oakland City Council passed Mr. Brown’s “arrest the sideshow spectators” ordinance, the Oakland Tribune reported on a middday running gun battle between two cars along International Boulevard past 87th Avenue (a block from our house) which left “dozens of shell casings scattered” along the street and one bystander injured. Some of the shooters escaped, on foot, over backyard fences in our neighborhood. Part of the gun battle was actually witnessed by California Highway Patrol officers, who regularly spend a portion of their day giving out tickets and towing cars along International (an activity, if you remember, we were originally told would slow down the homicide rate in the area). My mother told me later that traffic was diverted down our street while police searched in vain for the shooters, with a police helicopter circling over the neighborhood, and police came down our street, knocking on doors, asking if anybody had seen anyone running from the scene. 

The Tribune reported that the gun battle “apparently began just before 3 p.m. in the area of 89th Avenue and Holly Street.” Anyone familiar with East Oakland knows right away that the area of 89th and Holly is one of Oakland’s long-standing, well-known, open air drug markets. 

If that incident got Mr. Brown’s attention, I missed it. But then, the International Boulevard shootout story didn’t make it in the Los Angeles Times, either, so maybe it’s not quite so important. 

›

RESPONSIBILITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some more young blacks kill each other and the editor can suggest nothing better than the tired old crap about the gun being the problem. 

Excuse me, did the gun fire itself? What about assigning responsibility for this ghastly killing to the punk who pulled the trigger? 

And by the way, every issue of the New American has pages on individuals successfully exercising their Second Amendment rights to ward off criminals. It’s not that people imagine they have guns for self-defense—they do. 

I have to also add that the hype on this particular murder seems to have a political agenda behind it. If the woman had been an acolyte of Ayn Rand instead of an admirer of Cuba, would there have been the media outpouring that we have seen over the past couple of days? 

The question answers itself. 

Michael Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

DEFENSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While Ms. O’Malley is correct that guns make it easy to commit murder, she overlooks that guns would make it easy to defend herself from a 200-pound rapist. Otherwise she may as well follow the advice of another ivory tower anti-gun nut and “Lay back and enjoy it.” 

Sam A. Kersh 

San Antonio, Texas 

• 

A STRONG WOMAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am horrified to hear that Meleia Willis-Starbuck was murdered in Berkeley, despite not knowing this obviously remarkable young woman. What I find absolutely astounding about her death is that no one is calling it what it is: a misogynist hate crime. It is time that we applaud a strong woman such as Willis-Starbuck for her efforts to thwart sexism and identify hate crimes when they occur. In a city as liberal as Berkeley, I am stunned and appalled that her death is not spotlighting a larger societal problem—sexism—that many feel the need to ignore. Being gunned down is the ultimate example of the strong hatred many in our country feel toward strong women, especially strong women of color. It is time that communities stand up in support of its women and denounce all hate crimes, including those that are motivated by a hatred of women. 

Eileen M. Mello 

Oakland 

• 

GUN LESSON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Becky O’Malley’s editorial on guns: 

“Women who fear being victims imagine that possession of firearms will make them safe.” 

You know you are being a condescending bitch with this statement, send your boyfriend over to try this one out by attacking one of these women. 

“Urbanites whose lives are controlled by their fears believe that guns in their homes will protect them, oblivious of the statistics that say that guns in homes are most often used against family and friends, not strangers.” 

I am a urbanite and I fear nothing but God, I don’t like spiders but I can step on them, I know hundreds or maybe thousands of people who have had guns in their homes, from their grandparents on down, and no one in their family has been killed by a gun in the home. I grew up around them and no one in the family was killed or at any family member’s home we went to was anyone killed even though the guns were there. 

I hope you know the lies you tell get people killed every day. You may not want to defend yourself but stop trying to stop others from doing so. I have seen the aftermaths of shootings, knifings and auto crashes, and guess what? People are just as dead from all three, the only difference would be that if you had a gun to defend yourself you might be able to stop the first two from happening. Either by just showing it or if need be using it. If you want to go after something, why not the cars? They kill 10 times more then guns do every year. 

Duane Owen 

NRA Certified Instructor 

• 

TOO MANY MOVIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Anytime that you feel like you would like to visit a red state and see how working people live, swing by Wichita, Kansas. I am a high school art teacher that also teaches handgun safety classes at a local range. I assume by the ignorant rantings in your editorial article that you have gathered most of your information from watching too many Bruce Willis movies. The article reflects that you lack “hands on” knowledge about which you write. I realize that the People’s Republic of California has some of the most Draconian gun laws in the U.S. so I came up with an idea: If Berkeley would be willing to spring for the plane ticket to send you to Wichita for a weekend I would be more than willing to educate you in proper firearms maintenance and technique. After that, if you still think that guns are the bogeyman of modern times, then I guess that I did not do my job right. But, at least you would not be writing from ignorance any longer. 

Craig Godderz 

Whichita, Kansas 

• 

GUN VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We are all devastated by the murder of Meleia. Our teenagers are very angry, rightfully. I am too. I am asking the mayor and City Council to imagine living with street shootings on a regular basis. Since Friday night, South Berkeley neighborhoods have experienced three shootings; attempted homicides are another way to categorize these crimes. Tuesday, the gunfire was in the middle of the day and kids were playing up and down the sidewalks. 

The felon living on the next block has been a target of drive-bys three times this year. His family promised neighbors and city officials that young men would not be hanging out on the street in front of their house attracting more shootings. Promises don’t mean much to criminals, as a large group was hanging out most of this morning. When will the automatic gunfire erupt again? 

It is clear that several disputes are being played out in our streets this summer. These young men are often perceived to be the social underdogs in need of services to change their ways. Most have criminal records, are on probation and cruise the streets with automatic weapons in their pockets. When will the families and people who live here peacefully yet are hostage to fear, intimidation and threat be seen as the true victims? These young men wreak havoc and disorder in our community. 

This morning I spent a half hour at the College Avenue memorial talking with a young man who has seen four of his friends murdered. This same week last summer was the first of three brutal murders in South Berkeley, and no suspects identified so far in all three murders. 

There are actions worth your consideration, but hoping it just stays down here won’t be good enough. Sometimes I joke about the tax credit we should be receiving for the misery we endure. At least post warning signs, entering “drive-by shootings zone.” Maybe you could double the speeding tickets within the zone. 

Laura Menard 

• 

GOD BLESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I did not know Ms. Meleia Willis-Starbuck but as a retired Child Protective Services Social Worker and Investigator with the City and County of San Francisco, who spent 28 years in the same field that captured Meleia’s interest, I am unable to locate adequate expression in the American language for the pain of her death. 

Certainly Meleia was smart; she was very smart but among those things that I have learned of her, it was her heartfulness, her courage, her breeding and the content of her character that has frozen my attention. 

The sorrow I feel shall never completely diminish and I shall never stop scrutinizing young men in the College Avenue environs—on my daily walks— until the day I die, or more mercifully, until that day—and make no mistake about it, that day will come, when the Berkeley Police Department apprehends the shooter and brings him before the court to answer for his conduct. 

God Bless Meleia today. 

God Bless Meleia tomorrow. 

God Bless Meleia for ever and ever. 

Gerry O’Brien 

• 

IN THE DARK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I think the reason the City of Berkeley switched from advertising in the Berkeley Daily Planet to advertising in the East Bay Daily News was to keep us taxpayers in the dark. 

The EBDN is on few corners and has nothing in it. Why would anyone in Berkeley pick one up? If they want to know about a city meeting they’ll have to find a little red box first—good luck to them. 

I’m not surprised our very own Caesar (def. 3 or 4 in my dictionary) and his planners (read: plotters) who have 1. reduced the number of commissions, 2. reduced the number of meetings the commissions have, 3. prefer to meet in secret, 4. prefer developers to tax payers who pay their salaries, 5. really wish no pesky citizens would attend meetings, etc., have decided to advertise their meetings in the EBDN. It makes perfect sense. 

For what it’s worth, I’ll write a letter of complaint to the City Council. 

Rosemary Vimont 

• 

COGENT ANALYSIS 

[Regarding Becky O’Malleys July 19 editorial on gun violence:] 

Horseshit if I have ever heard it!!!! Get a real job and a real life!!! 

William Glosson 

“Midwest” 

Lifetime NRA member 

• 

TAXES AND CLUB DUES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mal Burnstein in his July 19 letter states, “Taxes in society are quite analogous to club dues.” That applies only to taxes on real estate, especially land. In a condominium, the member chooses to join and pays an assessment in exchange for community services. In contrast, a tax on sales or income has no direct connection to services received, and are extracted by force. Club dues are voluntary and in direct exchange for benefits; taxes on sales and income are coercive and have no direct connection to benefits. When I buy shoes and have to pay a sales tax, this is not voluntary dues to a club, but money extracted from me by force, with no connection to any benefit. 

Fred Foldvary 

• 

BLOTTER VOTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Damon Runyon of the Police Blotter, a.k.a. Richard Brenneman, obviously has some readers who are offended by his style (I am one), and others who are pleased. 

This would be an issue that I would like the Planet to conduct a poll on. Perhaps some way to telephone pro and con votes. 

Max Macks 

• 

OPEN FORUM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to compliment the Daily Planet on its enlightened policy of letting anyone write a commentary. Not just a letter to the editor, as most papers provide, but three quarters of a page on a subject of their own choosing. Most papers reserve their commentary space for people who represent more than just themselves, with some proven expertise on the subject they are elucidating upon. They may be elected officials, city commissioners, representatives of an organization or political grouping, or a neighborhood organization. The Daily Planet, to its credit, does this. The Daily Planet also turns over its pages to individuals, regardless of their knowledge of the subject they write about or its relationship to facts.  

Take, for example, the commentary in your July 15-18 edition by a Ruchama Burrell about the Berkeley School District’s planning process for the West Campus property on University Avenue. She is listed as someone living with her family near West Campus. Now Ms. Burrell has every right to her opinion, and I for one will consider it seriously, but instead of this individual, with no apparent knowledge of school district funding, school district planning processes, school district decision making, school district operations, or school district educational programs afforded the opportunity to write a letter to the editor, she is given three quarters of a page in your newspaper to vent her half truths and expose her ignorance. 

But nothing surprises me these days in the pages of the Daily Planet, especially in its search “for truth.” Keep up your unique style of informing Berkeley. I always look forward to each new edition and how many commentaries by individuals will be printed. We only have about 100,000 individuals in Berkeley to go. 

Terry Doran 

Vice President, Berkeley School Board 

• 

REINCARNATION 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I am writing this letter in response to the commentary by Homayon in Berkeley Daily Planet of July 15. When I read pieces by Homayon, I tend to think he is the reincarnation of Shabon. Who is Shabon? He was a wrestler and gangster, who had an important role in the CIA sponsored coup d’etat in 1953 to bring Shah back to power in Iran. Due to his role, he was the beloved gangster in Shah’s regime that ended by the 1979 Iranian revolution. 

In his commentary, Homayon writes about a dissident in Iran who is now on hunger strike. The dissident has become the center of attention of the corporate media. You never know, he might be on the CIA payroll. Know that Iran is not a political Utopia; neither is any other country. Remember the massacre in Waco, Texas? In supposedly the most democratic country, during the presidency of a favorite Mr. Clinton, about 80 people and David Koresh were incinerated by an inferno in their compound. An excellent documentary called Waco: The Rules of Engagement shows that the massacre was a federally engineered crime. 

Homayon writes that he is ashamed to be an Iranian. Then, he must change his citizenship; no problem. Iran would be much better off without people such as 

Homayon or Shabon. 

Kurosh Arianpour, 

Bagalore, India 

• 

ALBANY BULB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dorothy Bryant’s account of her single visit to the Albany Bulb makes the place sound like some post-apocalyptic moonscape (Letters, July 19). That’s odd. My dog and I go there all the time, and we encounter something much nicer.  

We find pleasant trails through coastal chaparral; some vernacular scrap art that carries on a quirky Bayside tradition; and a gorgeous beach where dogs can chase tennis balls to their hearts’ content. 

Come for the art, stay for the ball-chasing. That’s what my dog says. 

But leaving aside our differing subjective reactions, Ms. Bryant is absolutely right about one thing: The Bulb is a former garbage dump. Nasty toxic stuff is buried there. 

The more accurately we describe the Bulb as a reclaimed dump, the more absurd it seems to try to “clean it up” or “restore” it into part of an “Eastshore State Park,” by evicting the art and dogs. 

The Bulb is a perfectly functional park the way it is. Let it be. 

Marcia Lau 

• 

AFRICA TRIP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s “Controversy Surrounds Laney Africa Trip” (Daily Planet, July 19-21) focuses on a specific instance of the Associated Students of Laney College (ASLC) funding a trip for two Laney students. Allen-Taylor posits that the controversy stemmed from the fact that the student, Rehema Gueye, “Was not so well known to the Laney College and Peralta Community College District (PCCD) hierarchy.” I have written on this topic for the college paper, the Laney Tower and would like to give you further information about ASLC and PCCD’s funding history. 

In 2002, Ronald Temple, then PCCD chancellor, was using district funds to send himself and several of his friends on trips to Asia supposedly to recruit students for the district. The trips were very expensive and very few students were recruited. Meredith May, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter who recently received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, did a two-part expose on Temple’s use of district funds. Her uncovering of gross misuse of district funds subsequently led to his dismissal. Since then, both the ASLC and PCCD funding procedure has taken on an accountability that was not present prior to Chancellor Temple’s dismissal. Current Laney President Odell Johnson showed both financial integrity and generosity by personally helping out the students by providing them with funds “out of his own pocket.” 

Joe Kempkes 

Oakland 

• 

IN DEFENSE OF JAN GARRETT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a member of the disability rights community I disagree with Iris Crider’s recent criticism of CIL Director Jan Garrett. In the five years I have worked with Jan, I have found her to be professional and sincere. She is fiscally responsible and devoted to the core values that make CIL a world class leader in disability rights. Jan is dedicated to CIL’s continued success. 

Ralph Hager  

CIL Board Member 

Oakland 

• 

PEACE AND JUSTICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was greatly saddened recently by an action of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission at their July 11 meeting. Our resolution, already endorsed almost unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last March, to bring our California National Guard troops home now, was voted down due to a lack of an eighth vote to pass it on to the City Council. Seven Commissioners voted for the Resolution with five against. 

Berkeley has a fine history of going on the public record against social injustices and militarism. For example, just last year before the U.S. attacked Iraq, the City Council passed Resolution 61,934-N.S., urging Congress to slow the rush to war, condemned “pre-emptive” miltary action against Iraq and called on Berkeley citizens to participate in nonviolent peace demonstrations. 

In 2002 Resolution 61,747-N.S. was unanimously passed by the council opposing those parts of the Patriot Act which are unconstitutional, stating in part that our city has been and remains firmly committed to the protection of civil rights and cilvil liberties for all people including those who are citizens of other nations. 

So now some peace and anti-war groups such as CodePink: Women for Peace, Vets for Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace, etc., are working in cities and towns up and down the state to pass the resolution urging the governor and our Congress members to use their influence in Washington to bring our 4,600 (approx.) Guard troops home now, out of harm’s way. They were not trained or equipped to fight in such a foreign war and are needed here at home. 

Unfortunately, five members of the Peace and Justice Commission failed to support the proposal, although acting under a mission statement clearly enabling them to endorse such a document to send on to CIty Council. How disappointing that not all the appointee members embrace the principles they are meant to uphold, i.e. peace and social justice. 

Corrine Goldstick 

CodePink member  

• 

AN URGENT PLEA 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Most of you probably know that the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to endorse a boycott of Berkeley Honda. And for good reason. The new owners have been uninterested in seriously negotiating with the union. They apparently believe that these older unionized workers—average seniority of 20 years—who have been replaced by recent graduates of a technical school, will become too discouraged to carry on the good fight. 

Berkeley Honda may be right unless we can galvanize the community on behalf of the strikers as soon as possible. Honda owners must be alerted to why the union called a strike and they should persuaded to service their automobiles elsewhere. Although fewer cars than usual are showing up, too many are still passing the picket line. I am asking you to distribute leaflets, no matter how few, by placing them on Honda cars in supermarket parking lots and in the streets, and/or taping them on poles and other conspicuous places. 

Just send me an e-mail at harry.brill@sbcglobal, and I’ll send you a leaflet that you can download. If this is inconvenient, just let me know how many you would like and where I can drop them off. You could also join the picket line on Parker and Shattuck. 

Harry Brill 

El Cerrito 

Labor Committee, 

Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club  

• 

BERKELEY HONDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for covering the strike at the former Jim Doten Honda. I have been a customer there for more than 10 years and I was saddened to see that the new ownership is set on union-busting which seems to be happening all too frequently these days. I stopped by to get my service records and spoke with the strikers and the new service rep, who seems to have become the mouthpiece of the new management. I informed them I will no longer do business with them and gave them my reasons. After speaking with both sides, it became clear to me that this is one more case of owners taking away the power of workers to negotiate. I hope the people of Berkeley will support the strikers. They have a very good cause!  

Liz Raymer  

• 

COMIC RELIEF 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A sincere thank you to Stillyn Shawke for putting a lighter touch on the city’s sick’ning settlement with UC. This is the most I have laughed since hearing of the settlement. 

Carl Friberg 

• 

JOHN ROBERTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Roberts thinks that the Endangered Species Act is “unconstitutional”! Is there any limit to human arrogance? Life existed on this planet for 3.8 billion years before humans ever thought of appearing. What kind of hubris allows someone to say that a given species, however insignificant in our minds, does not deserve to exist, simply because it conflicts with some human’s petty wishes? Such ignorance doesn’t deserve to be on the bench, much less the Supreme Court. John Roberts may appear to be intelligent and knowledgeable, within the narrow context of “constitutional law,” but no human being can today afford to be ignorant of the biological basis for life on Earth, and we cannot afford to have such a person in a position of power. 

Mike Vandeman, 

Hayward 

• 

SCALIA, THOMAS, ROBERTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What do you know about John Roberts? President Bush has picked Judge Roberts to replace outgoing Supreme Court consensus maker Sandra Day O’Connor. Mr. Roberts is the spitting image of Mr. Bush. Did you expect anything different? The President has told us all along that he would select a Supreme Court justice cast in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. 

Does Roberts represent mainstream America? Religious right-wingers and anti-abortionists are ecstatic. What does that tell you about Mr. Roberts. Will Justice Roberts be any different than Scalia and Thomas? Would Bush take a chance with his partisan base breathing down his neck? Now is not the time to give Bush the benefit of the doubt. 

Let’s hear from John Roberts where he stands on the abortion issue. George W. Bush told us he was a uniter and look what we got.  

Ron Lowe 

Nevada City 

• 

ASBESTOS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

How ironic that at a time when politicians in Washington are stepping over each other to show how much they support the troops, they are preparing to pass an asbestos bailout bill that would hurt veterans poisoned or killed by asbestos. 

Asbestos was used extensively on Navy ships during World War II. Today, thousands of American Navy veterans and ship workers suffer from asbestos-related diseases due to heavy exposure. But the asbestos trust fund considered by Congress excludes many of them from ever receiving compensation for their medical bills or ever being able to hold the asbestos manufacturers liable. 

Those who served deserve better. 

Jewell Mack, Sr. 

Oakland 

• 

FIFTH COLUMNIST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Having read the op-ed by Jonathan Wornick opposing the resolution for a Department of Peace and denigrating the very idea, I wondered why on earth would someone with his views be interested in sitting on a commission devoted to peace and justice. He indicated that city councils have no business concerning themselves with, among other things, Middle Eastern politics. 

I then had an “a-ha” moment. 

It is not far-fetched to believe that Mr. Wornick is part of a fifth column within the commission, dedicated to destroying the effectiveness of the commission. I remember that the PJC sponsored a resolution to honor Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist who was crushed to death by a Caterpillar tractor while defending a Palestinian home. Could it be that, at that moment, a decision was made to neutralize the PJC? 

Shining a spotlight on the Corrie killing could not have been welcome to those who wish to keep the gory details of the occupation secret. Politicians are well aware of the secrets, but acknowledging them publicly amounts to instant political suicide. 

I imagine that 60 years ago there were many who knew of the brutality inflicted on Jews in faraway Europe, but found it safer to hold their tongues.  

Now, the perpetrators and the victims are different, but the willful ignorance goes on. So our leaders are cowed and impotent. 

It’s left to us, the citizenry, to educate ourselves as to the history, past and present, of Palestine. Then, we can demand of our politicians that they intervene before another people is brought to the brink of annihilation. 

Barbara Henninger 

• 

DEPARTMENT OF PEACE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Too bad so many people miss the point, being that the leaders who’ve appropriated our lands through our combined ignorance and our willingness to be deceived/deceive ourselves must control us through these institutions we’re told are good for us. “We have a Department of Peace (he says). It’s called the State Department.” 

But it will only be through mass control of our institutions, including our ownership of Earth/land, our ownership of production and distribution of our goods and services—food, communication, transportation—and all—that we will obviate the Owners’ brutal aggressions and afford ourselves growth of enjoyment of life and not of the profit margin. 

The person who suggests that there are already bodies designed to take care of us is in great mental and physical pain, unable to climb the little or great hurdles past which we march in the efforts to take this control for all of us. Leaving it up to the warmongers leaves us in the straits we’re in, now...the cities, the towns, the villages—the water!—despoliation being the manner of our oppression—ruination of us and Earth, sapping our power. 

It’s difficult, surely, but we are many and they, the owners, are few. But we do need to notice our discomfort and our need to turn elsewhere—to us all—for our salvation. 

Norma J. F. Harrison 

• 

GOD™ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In atheist Michael Newdow’s repeat lawsuit against the school districts, the state and Congress, declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, the opposition again asserts that the words “under God” are not about religion, but designed “to teach children about patriotism.”  

The majority of our lawmakers who steadfastly agree seem to be affirming that the word “God” is secular rather than religious. This may disturb many religious organizations, as indeed, they created “God” before the U.S. politicians did, and I assume that they have a copyright on the use of His or Her name.  

Gerta Farber  

S

As a great admirer of the work of Dorothy Bryant I was disappointed to read her July 19 letter to the editor, in which she spoke so casually and dismissively of the artwork at the Albany Bulb. On the basis of a single “afternoon hike” in this most complex and nuanced environment, she has seen fit to judge the artwork there as if it were no more than a museum exhibit. She describes “nightmarish and sado-masochistic fantasies” in some of the artwork, seemingly unaware of the influence of her voice in our community and the effect of her words in shaping public opinion about what is to happen to this fragile, untamed space.  

I have been going to the Albany Bulb for nearly a decade. It has been a place of solace and inspiration for me. I will never forget the first time I encountered the Sniff paintings. Walking after dusk down an unfamiliar trail I came upon mysterious shapes that I only later realized were large canvasses. Peering closer I began to see strange figures looming up from the dark surfaces. I felt a prickly sense of unease as if something singular were taking place. I became transfixed by the illusion that I was seeing something no one else had ever seen before. It felt exhilarating to discover something like this right here in Albany. And all of it assembled from mere “scrap art.” Returning again and again over the years, getting to know the unique character of the entire Bulb and its wide range of magical creations, I continue to marvel at these vulnerable, generous contributions to our community, and their creators, who trust their work to the elements and to the good intentions of their fellow human beings.  

The Albany Bulb is not “wild” in the sense of its being a pristine untrammeled wilderness. It is merely an untamed sliver of land in an urban setting. The place is a dump, after all, that has begun to be reclaimed by the natural environment. It has been settled by the homeless, discovered by artists (among them homeless residents of the Bulb), dog walkers and those who wish to step for a brief moment outside the grid of our paved-over, locked-down culture.  

So now the Bulb is becoming valuable real estate. Many interests want to get their hands on it. But in between the time it was a forgotten, unwanted dump, and now, when it is becoming a hot property, something has been created that exists nowhere else in the world. And it was made by ordinary people with imagination and ability. No one got an art grant to do it.  

Everyone has the right to express their opinion. I admit that I have been bewitched, enchanted, frightened, inspired, awed and honored to have been able to observe what has taken place on the Bulb over the last decade. But whether one likes or dislikes or dismisses what has been created there, the task at hand is to acknowledge publicly that much of this artwork is unique, irreplaceable and inarguably “site-specific.” Artwork in a museum at least has the advantage of being physically protected from harm, whatever our opinion of it.  

Those who wish to “clean up” the Bulb have the support of the monied interests. The artwork survives only on its own merits—its existence is extremely fragile and subject to the goodwill of the community. Negative public opinion could easily lead to the removal or destruction of the artwork, benefiting those who wish to “improve” the area. We need to be smart about how we critique what has been going on there. The developers count on the support of decent, law-abiding citizens who feel uncomfortable with anything they perceive as disorderly or chaotic.  

Once the Bulb is developed, the artwork and the historical moment it embodies will be gone forever.  

All one has to do is to look at the hideous seabird sculpture at the entrance to the park to see an officially sanctioned alternative to what has been created at the Bulb. This bird sculpture is public art in all its impersonal splendor—and aesthetically it is deader than a doornail. It is not too difficult to imagine a similar monument being erected in honor of the soon-to-be-destroyed Bulb artwork: Perhaps a corner of one of the existing paintings or sculptures could be salvaged and incorporated into a publicly-funded project honoring this unique, and now, sadly, extinct, moment in Albany city history. Someone could be awarded a grant to do it. It would resemble all the ways we have honored and continue to honor the natural wonders, environments, peoples, cultures and architecture we destroy in our mad rush to fence in and pave over every aspect of this fearsome untamed world.  

Probably the artwork will have to go. But only because our culture cannot bear to “leave things alone.” We seem to honor the most valuable things by trampling them underfoot. If we have reverence for anything do we have the restraint to “let it be?” To “not” do something to it? Or do we have to spill over into every fragile and sacred space, destroying it simply because “we can?”  

Maybe we have the right to do this. But to deny the value of something we are busy destroying is just a cheap way to rationalize our insensitivity. Though this work was created outside official sanction, it exists nonetheless, and is given by artists freely and generously for everyone to enjoy. It enriches our culture more than we will ever be able to know, until after it is gone.  

Our job is not to “judge” the artwork (though we have the right to do so). Our job right now is to figure out a way to coexist with this or any other accidental beauty that springs up unexpectedly in our midst, and which cannot survive without our good will.  

Albany resident Peter Josheff is a composer and performer.  

My name is Michael Cook and I am a business representative and a member of the Machinists Union that represents the bargaining unit employees at Berkeley Honda, formally Jim Doten Honda. I appreciate Mr. Lubeck’s exercise of freedom of speech with his editorial published in the July 15-18 edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet. He did, however take some liberty with the truth on several issues. Mr. Lubeck knew when he was hired that he was replacing a service writer that had been working for Jim Doten Honda for many years. Mr. Lubeck started work on June 1. He only worked alongside some of the mechanics that are walking the street. He never worked alongside any of the mechanics that were not hired; therefore he has absolutely no idea of what their abilities, training, or certifications were then or are today. However, he did watch as four Honda Top Tech or Master Tech award banners were taken down from display in the service drive because they were no longer working at Berkeley Honda. Not one of the Wyotech students that were hired to replace mechanics with as much as 31 years of experience has qualifications that exceeds even the least qualified mechanic in the old Doten crew. Mr. Lubeck watched several Wyotech students get fired because of mistakes that resulted in destroyed transmissions and loose wheels. Our members talked to the customers that had those problems and no amount of denial on his part will make that truth go away.  

Indeed the Wyotech students that are hired by other employers in union shops are placed in the Apprenticeship Program for four years and watched carefully to turn them into journeyman mechanics. They do become good mechanics when properly trained over a period of time.  

Mr. Lubeck has no idea what the union’s healthcare package consists of since he has never seen the package, but he is somehow an expert on the comparison of the plans. He is simply not informed. Nor am I, as I have yet to compare the plans as I am patiently waiting for the necessary information from the employer. He totally misrepresented the employer-implemented single Employer Profit-Sharing plan contribution amount. The employer offered to make contributions of $300 dollars a month into an untested high-risk plan that only vests after three years. Only the union’s Defined Benefit contribution was $465.97 for senior journeyman techs. Since 1993, the employees have been diverting wages into the increases in pension contributions. Literally, the employees have been earning every cent of that contribution. 

Mr. Lubeck attempts to speak about the union’s pension plan that he apparently knows nothing about. The plan assets exceed $1.2 billion dollars. Last year was the first year since 1957 that the plan has experience un-funded liability as a result of Federally mandated calculations. This is not a high-risk single employer pension plan like others that have been the news lately. The 5 percent employee realization he speaks of is actually the defined monthly benefit that members enjoy from the total contributed during their career. Compare 60 percent annual return on investment as a benefit with any 401(k) or other pension plans to realize the true value of our pension plan and that the fund management has been exceptionally good for a very long time and it took an unprecedented downturn in the economy that has lasted longer that any other in this country’s history to give our pension plan a minor and resolvable problem. Mr. Lubeck should look at his 401(k) in the last five years to see what has happened to his assets. Nobody lost benefit money in our pension. When and if Mr. Lubeck gets educated as to the facts and finds out just how good this plan is compared to the fantasy that he believes to be truth now, he will be absolutely tickled that he may have a chance to participate.  

If this employer was indeed concerned about the customers of Berkeley Honda, he would have accepted the offer made by this union when he first opened that would have ensured a smooth transition, good training and apprenticeships for any new hires and would have given him a chance to find out just what the true qualifications of the journeyman mechanics, parts technicians, and service writers and detail department were before he made decisions based on information as fallacious as Mr. Lubeck was repeating for his employer’s benefit in his letter to the editor.  

Instead the new owners made the decision to save money by hiring cheap help and expanded profits without ever considering what it would mean to the Honda owners of Berkeley in terms of safety and reliability of their vehicles or to the families of the highly qualified, union-represented employees that were not hired simply because they were represented by and believe in the Machinists and the Teamsters Union. 

Berkeley Honda will be a good place to have your car repaired as soon as they learn how to respect people before coveting profits and stop disseminating fallacies by hiding behind uninformed employees. 

Michael S. Cook is a proud member of the Machinists Union. 

As one of the original appointees to the Peace and Justice Commission when it was established in 1986, I welcome the opportunity to explain and define the purpose, goals and most importantly of all, the mandate of the commission. This is in response to a recent commentary in the July 12 issue of the Daily Planet titled “Opposed to the Department of Peace” by Johnathan Wornick, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s appointee to the commission. 

The article misrepresents the mandate of the Peace and Justice Commission in a way that supports unstated political agendas currently in play in Berkeley—at least one of which Councilmember Wozniak has publicly supported. 

The Peace and Justice was created by City Ordinance No. 5705 on Feb. 18, 1986. The Findings Section includes these statements: “(e) Peace is inseparable from justice; (g) Initiatives are needed to reverse the drift toward war and to remove the causes of war” [emphasis added]. 

Section 3 defines Peace and Justice as “the goal of creating a world community in which the relations between people are based on equality, respect for human rights, and the abhorrence of exploitation and all forms of oppression.” 

Section 7 describes the various functions of the Peace and Justice Commission: 

“(a) Advise the Berkeley City Council and the Berkeley Unified School Board on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley’s role in issues of peace and social justice, including, but not limited to the issues of ending the arms race, abolishing nuclear weapons, support for human rights and self-determination throughout the world, and the reallocation of our national resources so that money now spent on war and the preparation for war is spent on fulfilling human needs and the promotion of peace.” 

“(d) Hold public hearings and forums ...” 

“(h) Act as a liaison between community groups organizing around issues of peace and justice and city government ...” 

“(l) Perform other functions and duties as may be directed by the City Council or prescribed or authorized by any ordinance of the city. ...” 

Our commission is only one of many, but all share a deep and integral part of the body politic of the City of Berkeley and that is the concept of “participatory democracy.” This proud and historic tradition dates backs hundreds of years in our nation’s history to the New England town hall meetings. It was codified in modern times by the issuance, in 1965 of the “Port Huron Statement: Agenda for a Generation.” The following language, adopted in this document, provided the philosophical background for the evolution of the commission system in this and many other cities by wedding tradition with the modern: “As a social system we seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation governed by two central aims; that the individual share in those social decisions determining the quality and direction of life; that society be organized to encourage independence and provide the media for their common participation.” 

At the heart of the concept of participatory democracy is that we all, in whatever way possible, become involved—i.e. think globally, act locally—and that decision-making of basic social consequences be carried out by public grouping. This brief history/philosophy lesson explains why the commission system enjoys the strong support it does in our city, and how this is reflected in ordinance No. 5705. 

Commissioners should serve in areas that interest them most. Wornick, the author of the July 12 piece, indicates that rather than “wasting their time ... writing resolutions on national and international issues” (as mandated in the Peace and Justice Commission’s enabling statute), he believes local officials should focus on “working hard to improve our schools, keep fire stations open, fix our roads, and bring jobs to our beloved City of Berkeley.” There are several commissions charged with addressing these very issues. Some of them currently have vacancies, and would welcome a new appointee who feels strongly about such issues. 

Berkeley is an international city. It has a university of worldwide acclaim with student from over 110 countries. We are the home to hundreds of non-governmental organizations. If we as a commission or a city were to ignore the issues we are charged with addressing, then we would be slamming the door on hundreds of our citizens and groups who have raised issues and/or brought resolutions to our commission. 

This we cannot do, because of our mandate, and we will not do. 

National and international issues are directly relevant to the City of Berkeley. Does $1.4 billion spent per week on the war in Iraq not impact our city’s finances? Would not an anti-choice Supreme Court nominee severely and negatively impact us here? 

If commissions were not to address national and international issues, then it would be necessary to oppose, say, a resolution from the Labor Commission opposing cruel, unhealthy, unsafe and degrading conditions of workers employed by U.S. corporations in another country; or a resolution from the Commission on Women opposing gang rape as a weapon of war, or the practice of genital mutilation; or a resolution from the Environmental Commission criticizing Chevron for polluting the land, the water and the lives of the people living in the Nigerian delta; or a resolution form the Youth Commission in opposition to child labor, or to child soldiers. 

One of the unstated political agendas served by such arguments is reflected in Councilmember Wozniak’s position on the commission system. In numerous public pronouncements and proposals, Mr. Wozniak has made clear his opposition to the commission system. If he can’t destroy it, he at least hopes to weaken it. 

Finally, I want to bring closure to two other issues raised in the op-ed piece. First, in the history of the Peace and Justice Commission, many if not most of the resolutions we worked on were presented to us by outside sources: the City Council, city agencies and departments, individuals, non-governmental organizations, sister cities and community-based groups. 

Second, regarding costs, analysis after analysis have shown that the 40-odd commissions in this city not only cost an infinitesimal amount of money, but in fact save the city big-time dollars by doing much of the background work and research for the City Council. We commissioners are volunteers, working for free, out of love for our city. 

The Department of Peace resolution that has recently attracted so much attention enjoys broad support in Berkeley (and was endorsed overwhelmingly by the City Council). Local citizens and organizations also bring more-controversial issues to the commission, which is required by its mandate to consider their proposals and concerns. 

Whether the issues are popular or contentious, the commission must fulfill its legislated mandate. It is not our job to silence or ignore anyone raising issues that fall under our jurisdiction. It is our duty to be open as a political body to those who wish to debate and make recommendations on issues of justice and world peace. 

The Peace and Justice Commission generally meets the first Monday of each month (except August) at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Martin Luther King Way at Hearst Street. I encourage all Berkeley residents to express their views to the commission during its public comment period and to the City Council and School Board members who have appointed us. 

Michael Sherman is a member of the Peace and Justice Commission and a former chairperson of the commission. 

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the “parking lobby” (DBA, YMCA, various business owners) was calling for an additional level of underground parking at the Oxford lot. Nobody offered to raise funds to pay for this additional construction; the lobby evidently wants the city to compel the developer to cover that cost as a public duty. 

As one speaker put it, they were singing the same old song. It’s the persistent refrain that downtown Berkeley is losing business to Emeryville and El Cerrito, where parking is abundant. According to the parking lobby, all customers come in cars, even the people exercising at the YMCA, even visitors to the library. The lobby tells us that the city has an obligation to accommodate each and every car with a place to park. 

This sad old song is a wrong song. First of all, there is plenty of parking downtown. One of the parking lobby speakers even had the grace to note that many spaces are taken up by meter-feeding employees. Yes indeed; Betty Deakin’s study showed us that. But then the speaker said these poor people can’t be forced to come by bus. It would cost too much. They should buy a car and get free parking. 

Nonsense. Business owners and their meter-feeding employees just need to get out of their own way. All-day parkers should switch to public transit and free up those parking spaces for short-term parking. This was the recommendation of the TDM study, which the parking lobby always ignores, while they continue to sing their sad old song.  

Planet Earth is coming to a crisis. We have too many people driving too many cars, filling the air with pollution and driving up the global temperature. A policy of unlimited parking begins to look like dangerous foolishness.  

If we must accommodate customers with cars, then at least shift the owners and employees to public transportation and free up those spaces. The cost of that would be way less than building another layer of underground parking. Just set up an agency to distribute bus passes and BART tickets. The DBA could run the agency, or at least fund it. The YMCA could distribute the passes at their front desk. 

Global warming is a reality. So is asthma and other diseases caused by automobile-generated air pollution. Do we WANT to kill our children, ourselves, our planet? Will we keep calling for more parking and do NOTHING while our quality of life steadily diminishes? Are we really that dumb? Or is it only the parking lobby?  

Our parking-first attitude may soon get a shock treatment from catastrophe. Oil is running out. Greenhouse gas accumulation, any day, could cause a snap-over in Earth’s climate. (Oh no, couldn’t happen. There will be more oil found. We’ll fight for it. Driving is a divine right.) 

Some people chuckle tolerantly at the notion of “alternative transportation.” Of course cars are the only way to go. Only the young and athletic can go about by bicycle. Most destinations are too far for walking. We need cars to haul groceries. Buses are for the poor and lower classes. BART might be OK for a trip to the City, for some people. But the simple truth is that people want to DRIVE.  

Sorry, the party’s over; we have to start facing reality. Now would be nice. 

So what should we do about the Oxford lot? Let’s make the David Brower Center a starting place, where the urban dwellers of Berkeley started the green-city movement, the place where the car culture finally peaked out. 

Don’t build ANY underground parking. Limit the surface parking to spaces for delivery, short-term visitors and work-related vehicles. All the ecology advocates in the Brower Center should be ready and willing to come and go via public transportation, if they don’t want to bike or walk. 

Of course we could just roll on, one person to a car, each with a smirk on his face. We could build more parking, encourage more cars, more congestion, produce more carbon dioxide. Hey, maybe it’s too late and we might as well just party-on, waiting for whatever snap-over catastrophe global warming will bring, wallowing in traffic and pollution, continuing to consume the last of the oil, burning it into the air.  

The parking lobby would be far more credible if they subjected themselves to a special assessment tax to cover the additional Oxford parking— and whatever other parking they desire.  

The parking lobby should stop singing their song and wake up to what’s happening. 

Steve Geller is a Berkeley resident. 

“The gallery floor is off limits, and there are no showcases, so they asked me to create 30 ceramic pieces that will hang on the walls!” 

We are standing in Susan Felix’s studio in the small basement garage of her home, surrounded by boxes, sawhorse tables, and unfinished walls, all covered by quarter-inch thick ceramic pieces, most of them about 8x12 inches in size, many patched together from broken shards, fired in cloudy colors, shot through with smoky black and metallic shimmers of gold and silver. 

Many feature Biblical quotations in neat, black Hebrew script emerging from the cloudy texture (“That smoky look comes from pit-firing with sawdust.”) Thirty of these pieces are now on exhibit at the Pacific School of Religion. 

Susan Duhan Felix was born in Queens, New York (she still has the accent to prove it) to a secular Jewish family, her father a doctor, her mother a Latin teacher. There were artists on both sides of her family, but her parents discouraged her from becoming an artist. 

“‘Artists are disappointed, bitter people,’ they told me. ‘No recognition, no money.’ So, when I went to Queens College, I majored in literature,” Felix said. “I read some poems in the college literary magazine, fell in love with them, and then fell in love with the poet. Morton was a graduating senior, on his way to the University of Connecticut to do graduate work and teach in Clinical Psychology. After a year, I joined him. We were married. I was 19.” 

After finishing her B.A. at the University of Connecticut, she took some art classes. 

“First I tried painting, but it was when I started working in clay that I felt at home. In 1961 Morton insisted I enter a piece in the New England Ceramic Show. I did, and won first prize!” She shrugs and rolls her eyes. “So—I guess that labeled me ‘artist’ and ‘art teacher.’” 

Daughter Lisa was born as the Vietnam War began, along with Susan’s interest in community activism. She helped found the first peace center in Providence.  

In retrospect, Susan credits two events with giving direction to her art. The first was her 1962 M.A. thesis. Her subject was T. S. Eliot’s “Wasteland” as a metaphor for the loss of sacred ritual in modern life. Four years later, in 1966, she made a ceramic menorah for a friend. When a local rabbi’s wife saw it, she asked Susan to make one for her, then one for each of her children. 

That year also brought a brief teaching stint in Mexico. Then Susan and Morton were drawn to Berkeley, where they settled permanently in 1967. 

Susan is best known here for her thirty-odd years of community art and social activism; the list of boards and commissions, titles and honors recognizing her efforts, is long and may be exemplified by one example. In the late seventies, she began working with UA Housing. 

“I was good at writing grants, and when I got a grant for the University Avenue Housing Co-op, they hired me as executive director,” she said. “We managed to create 122 units of housing for the homeless in Berkeley.” 

During all these years, how did she find time to devote to art? 

She laughs. “Working with clay evenings and weekends was what kept me sane! And since I had a small but steady salary from UA Housing, I was able to make ceramics without concern for whether they would sell. It seemed natural for me to turn toward sacred art, ritual objects. In some cases the object came to me first, and then I actually invented a ritual to go with it.”  

She shows me examples that don’t appear in the PSR exhibit (because they can’t be hung on a wall). Her “Blessing Bowl” is a receptacle for blessings by well-wishers on happy occasions. She also originated a candle-holder to be part of a girl’s baby-naming ceremony, then to be used in adulthood by the girl as she lights the Sabbath lamp. 

“Traditionally Jewish women don’t get to do much ritual, but they do light the Sabbath candles, and I wanted to emphasize that,” she said.  

Her “Miriam’s Cup” is a two-part vessel to be used for hand washing during a Passover Seder. The prophetess Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, led women in singing and dancing to celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea, which then drowned Pharaoh’s pursuing forces; Miriam is also credited with locating water during the long wanderings of her people. The Hebrew inscription on this “Miriam’s Cup” translates to “Rise up, oh well, respond to my song.” 

So, did the molding and firing of ritual objects lead Susan back to the religious observance her parents had rejected? 

“I’ve found two spiritual homes here in Berkeley, Chocmat HaLev (Jewish) and Spirit Rock (Buddhist).” 

Then she shows me the eight-piece set of deeply etched wall plaques symbolizing the Eight Noble Truths of Buddhism, hanging next to the five-piece set titled “Jacob’s Ladder.”  

These hang in the midst of more abstractly spiritual plaques dedicated to comforting individuals, inspired by friends who were ill or troubled, and given titles that suggest a mood, a hope, a shaft of light in darkness. Most of them bear a jagged, broken line down the middle or several across. Sometimes the line is emphasized with contrasting color. Marks of fusing broken plaques? 

“Yes, I made these from random shards, some old ones, some recently broken—you never know what will happen in pit-firing. To use them again, to patch them up, is symbolic for me of broken worlds, broken people that can be repaired and reunified, can make new wholes in the spirit of creative grace. That is why I’m calling the exhibit Wholly Grace, with the double pun on Wholly.” 

She smiles. “As for Grace, it’s a lovely, rich word. I’m not sure I can define it.”

Maestro George Cleve’s Midsummer Mozart Festival orchestra performed four of Mozart’s early works on July 17 at Berkeley’s St. John’s Presbyterian Church. Cleve’s disciplined concentration on Mozart has allowed him to discover and reveal qualities and nuances in both acknowledged masterpieces and obscure gems that might otherwise go undiscovered. 

If you missed last weekend’s concerts, you can still catch their second and final program this weekend which focuses on Mozart’s compositions from 1781 through 1786. 

Last week’s program began with the Divertimento No. 2 in D major. This was written in 1772 to be played as background music during celebrations of either the birthday of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg or the end of the academic year. Mozart wrote background music the way Art Tatum played cocktail piano. Although the unique element in this composition is the beautiful four horn chorale, the star of the piece was Maria Tamburrino on flute. Her lyrical playing gave this diversion its center. 

The Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in E flat major, featuring violinist Robin Hansen, who never played better, and violist Victor Romasevich, was the highpoint of the evening. The back and forth movement and weaving interplay between the “male” violin and the “female” viola, like twisting strands of DNA locked in a helical embrace while performing a cosmic pas de deux, came off beautifully even though the viola’s sound was a little hard to hear at times. 

The second half of the concert began with the ballet music for Les Petits Riens. After the choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre stiffed Mozart, he then passed off the compositions as his own. These dozen or so brief numbers run the gamut from stately court dances to rustic Scottish jigs. 

The evening ended with the “Paris” Symphony No. 31 in D major. Here, Mozart was at once able to give the superficial French audience the pretty toy he knew they craved while transforming popular effects into something deeper, more substantial and of a rarer beauty. Cleve chose to play the supposed second version of the andante movement that Mozart wrote after the piece was premiered. 

This weekend, the final program, focusing on Mozart’s compositions from 1781 through 1786, will be performed Friday in San Francisco, Saturday in Sonoma and on Sunday in Berkeley. 

Mozart’s first of eight full-scale operas was Idomeneo, Rè di Creta, composed for Elector Karl Theodor of Bavaria. For this program, Cleve will perform only the strange overture with its ominous, disappearing ending, so unlike the usual buildup before an opera begins. The music seems to dry up suddenly like water sucked into desert sand.  

In 1783 Mozart made his first trip back to Salzburg after leaving the Archbishop’s service. It was also the first time his wife of one year, Constanze, was to meet Wolfgang’s disapproving father, Leopold. Mozart had vowed to write a mass when Constanze was ill. She performed this challenging but never completed work at the abbey church of St. Peter in Salzburg during this visit.  

Now known as the Great Mass in C minor, it will feature Christina Major and Deborah Berioli, sopranos; Joseph Muir, tenor; Joseph Wright, baritone; and The Cantabile Chorale. There was no division in Mozart’s mind between sacred and secular and he used every resource available to him to create this human replica of angelic choirs: this is the music of the spheres. Mozart wrote only a few pieces of sacred music after leaving Salzburg, but every one is a masterpiece with this coming in just a bit behind his Requiem.  

World-renowned pianist Seymour Lipkin will perform the Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, said to be the most technically challenging of all of Mozart’s piano concertos. Lipkin will also be at the keyboard to accompany Christina Major singing “Ch’io mi scordi di te?,” Scena and Rondo for Soprano, Piano Obligato and Orchestra. It fits nicely on this program because it was written to be inserted into performances of Idomeneo. Mozart composed this heartbreaking, demanding concert aria for his English friend Nancy Storace’s Viennese farewell concert with himself at the keyboard. This program should be a powerhouse event with four remarkable works from such varied genres being performed. 

If you miss the live concerts you can still pick up on the Festival Orchestra by getting their recordings. One, which is sold at the concerts, features two symphonies performed at previous festivals. The other, three non-stop sparkling performances, was given out to those who attended the June benefit, and features Jon Nakamatsu performing Piano Concerto No. 27; Dorota Anderszewska performing Violin Concerto No. 3; and the Haffner Symphony No. 35. Both the orchestra and the guest artists play at the highest level.  

The second program of this year’s Midsummer Mozart Festival will be presented, Friday, July 22 at 8 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco; Saturday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Gundlach Bundschu Winery, Sonoma (outdoors); and Sunday, July 24 at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley.  

Each concert is preceded by a free half hour talk about the music and Mozart. For tickets and information about the festival programs and recordings call (415) 627-9145 or see www.midsummermozart.org. l

FRIDAY, JULY 22 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “A Murder is Announced” at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Runs Fri. and Sat. through Aug. 13. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 31, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Central Works, “The Grand Inquisitor” Thurs - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 31. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Anything Goes” Cole Porter’s musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

“Livin’ Fat” a comedy about an African American family struggling over a financial blessing, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., through July 30, at Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$35. 233-9222. 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “The Spy in Black” and “Q Planes” at 9:10 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Buhle describes “Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Jazzschool Summer Youth Concert at 6:30 p.m. at the Jazz 

school. Free. 845-5373.  

Hungarian and Night Music with tango lessons at 7 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Benefits the Latin American Music Scholarship Fund. Cost is $12-$15. www.berkeleymusiccooperative.com  

Caimalantin Latin Jazz Quartet at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Terry Rodriguez, Buford Powers Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Free Peoples, bluegrass/jazz at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tommy Emmanuel at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sara Leib Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Echo Beach, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Penelope Houston, Moore Brothers, Willow Willow at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Bafabegiya, Disconnect, The Sweethearts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Radical Politics and Folk Music with David Rovics, Robert Temple and Folk This! at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 208-1700.  

Beenie Man at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

Du Uy Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bobby Watson & Horizon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JULY 23 

THEATER 

Berkeley Rep “The Ugly American” Created and performed by Mike Daisey at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Aug. 13. Tickets are $30-$35. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Woman’s Will, “Richard III” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. in Mosswood Park, Oakland. Free. 420-0813. www.woman’s will.org 

Big City Improv, comedy, at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby at MLK. Tickets are $15. 595-5597. www.ticketweb.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Ceramic Art of Vivika and Otto Heino” opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Gallery talk at 2 p.m. Cost is $8 adults, $5 seniors and students with i.d. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Clay Song” A 40-year retrospective of the work of Diana Bohn. Reception at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Potters Guild, 731 Jones St. 524-7031. www.berkeleypotters.com 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Baby Face” at 7 p.m. and “Night Nurse” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse with poet and musician Avotcja at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Free. 527-9753. 

Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Bejamin Ajak describe, “They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Official Pep Talks” Gallery talk on the installation and interactive project by The Susan O'Malley Research Team at 1 p.m. at ProArts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-4361. www.proartsgallery.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wild Mango & The Kelly Takunda Orphan Project 8:30 p.m. Conversation with the artists at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $14-$16. 849-2568.  

Folk This! members Marcus Duskin and Ramsey Kanaan in performance commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as a benefit for the Peace and Freedom Party at 8 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph, Oakland. Admission $10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 465-9414. www.folkthis.org 

Harry Best and Shabang, Caribbean music from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Bay Street Plaza, (near Old Navy) Emeryville. 

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

Ellen Hoffman, Darryl Rowe with Yancie Tayllor Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Jude Johnstone at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Beenie Man at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

The McGinty Brothers at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Djialy Kounda Kouyate at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Women in Global Perspective” A benefit for the Supressed Histories Archives, with Luisah Teish, priestess, Matu Feliciano, drummer, and Julie Hammond, singer and harpist, at 7:30 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. Cost is $10-$30, sliding scale. www.supressedhistories.net 

Forthmorning, Unjust, Sleep in Fame at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dale Miller, finger-picking blues, at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Walter Savage Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Altamont Pass, singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jessica Lurie Ensemble, Mushroom at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

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

Lack of Interest, Reproach, Haymaker at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JULY 24 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Blind at the Museum” guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu  

FILM 

Harold Lloyd “The Freshman”at 3 p.m., Pre-Code Hollywood “Employees’ Entrance” at 5:30 p.m. and “Two Seconds” at 7:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash Thicket Press reading with Virginia Westover, Jennifer Sweeny, Annie Stenzel, V. Moralex, Tricia Caspers, Katherine Case, and Jennifer Arin at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Midsummer Mozart Concerto in B flat major, Mass in C minor, at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$48. 415-627-9145. www.midsummermozart.org 

Josie Morgan, viola with Miles Graber, piano, perform works by Enesco, Bach, Schumann at 3 p.m. at The Crowden School, Sacramento and Rose Sts. 

The Jazz House Benefit for Teach the Kids, with The Al Lazard Quartet and Muisi-Kongo Malonga at 3 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., Oakland. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

100 Years of Struggle A celebration of the IWW and the American Labor movement with readings by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, and music by Folk This! and Allegro Non Troppo at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Sol Do Brasil at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Maria Marquez at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bandworks at 2:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Shotgun Ragtime Band at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged: Homespun Rowdy at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Look Back & Laugh, Violent Minds, Jealous Again at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, JULY 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Blair Tindall describes “Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Express “Dead Poets Night” with friends of David Lerner at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Uri Caine Trio with Drew Gress & Ben Perosky at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $7-$14. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, JULY 26 

CHILDREN 

Nick Barone Puppets with a cast of over twenty friendly dinosaurs dressed as cowboys at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

FILM 

Eyeing Nature “Proteus: A Nineteenth-Century Vision” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell it on Tuesdays Solo performer storytellers share their work at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $5 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

David Ewing Duncan introduces “The Geneticist Who Played Hoops with my DNA” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

The Whole Note Poetry Series with Eugene David Parch and Jim Barnard at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dan Zemelman Trio with Dayna Stevens at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Melissa Ferrick at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Randy Craig Trio, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Django Reinhardt Festival with the John Jorgenson Band and David Grisman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200.  

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

Eric Shrifrin, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “Billion Dollar Brain” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Arab Women Film Festival “Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, but donations accepted. 415-642-8066. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ernest Callenbach on the 30th Annniversary of “Ecotopia” at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. www.ecologycenter.org 

Writing Teachers Write with host Judy Bebelaar at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-3635. 

Christopher Sorrentino describes “Trance: 1974; the SLA; Tania” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ned Boynton/Jules Broussard Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Phil Berkowitz & Louis’ Blues at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Paris King Band, funky rock, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

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

Flowtilla, world groove jazz funk, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jack Williams at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Django Reinhardt Festival with the John Jorgenson Band and David Grisman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 28 

THEATER 

The Lobster Project “Killing My Lobster and the Wonderful World of Science” Thurs. and Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 7:30 and 10 p.m. and Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $12-$17. 415-558-7721. www.killingmylobster.com 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Heroes for Sale” at 7:30 p.m. and “Mayor of Hell” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Latino Film Festival “ANC Hip Hop Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dana Adam Shapiro introduces his mystery “The Every Boy” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Word Beat Reading Series with Russell Gonzaga and Karen Gorman at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Super Hoss, bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Waterson Carthy at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Helene Attia & Own Davis Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Brandi Carlile at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

Anton Schwartz Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Django Reinhardt Festival with Dorado Schmitt, Florin Niculescu and others at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Selector, laptop funk, beat machines, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

n

Early on a recent morning at J.R. Muggs cafe in El Cerrito, Lorene Francois stepped up to the counter to order her daily cup of coffee. But before being served, she had to answer a few questions.  

Suzie O’Brien, who has worked the counter for the last seven years, wanted to know how Francois’ granddaughters were doing. 

“They’re fine,” Francois said with a smile and a hint of pride. “The youngest, Mecca, is graduating preschool today.” That kind of exchange is common at J.R. Muggs where most customers are known by name. O’Brien, who takes a genuine interest in her regulars, is largely responsible for the homey feel of “The Muggs,” as most people call it. 

If the family atmosphere seems genuine it’s probably because the cafe is a family-run operation, which adds to the hominess. Suzi’s two daughters Allison and Molly work the counter with her, and her oldest daughter Carol is co-owner and coffee roaster. 

“I just really enjoy people so I feel very lucky,” O’Brien said. “I mean, I really look forward to seeing our customers everyday and I want them to leave here happy.” 

Over the last 13 years, the small cafe has earned a reputation as a community hub where locals can stop in for a bit of friendly conversation and some of the best fresh-roasted coffee in the Bay Area.  

But according to Muggs’ founding owner Julie Rowlett and Carol O’Brien, who was made a partner in 1995, J.R. Muggs is in danger of closing for an all too familiar reason; the Starbucks juggernaut is squeezing them out of business. About 18 months ago, Starbucks opened three stores in the El Cerrito Plaza two miles away and last February they put in a new drive-through store down the street.  

“In the last year and half, we’ve lost about 60 percent of our business,” Carol O’Brien said. “The property manager is going to help us with some promotion, but it’s hard to compete with Starbucks.” 

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia (double, nonfat latte) is a regular customer at The Muggs. He said when large corporate businesses come into a community, it’s usually at the expense of the small business owner.  

“This is really the ‘Wal-Martization’ of America and we’re losing something very important in the process,” he said. “We lose the individual character of the community when we lose the individually owned businesses.” 

No one is more upset about the possible closure of The Muggs than the regular customers who say they can’t imagine having to switch to Starbucks and its corporate culture. They have also come to rely on The Muggs as a welcoming outpost among the sprawling car dealerships, mega chain stores and impersonal fast food joints that dominate San Pablo Avenue.  

Joanne Pieroni (double mocha with whipped cream and caramel), who works nearby at Feline Bed and Breakfast, is a regular at the cafe even though she says she doesn’t enjoy coffee that much.  

“Stopping in at The Muggs is just a daily practice for me,” said Pierone, whose preferred drink goes into production as soon as her car noses into the parking lot. “Suzie and her daughters make the atmosphere really warm and I come here knowing I’m going to see someone I can talk with for a little while. I’m going to see a friend.”  

Alexandra Gibbs (medium regular coffee in a large cup) and her son Adam, 19 months, are Muggs regulars who converted from the other side. Gibbs said she is not keen on going back. 

“I used to go to Starbucks, but now I come here for the sense of community,” Gibbs said. “You go to the same Starbucks for the fifteen-hundredth time and nobody knows who you are or what your name is. Here they actually want to know about your family.” 

Like many of the regular customers, Eugene Cassidy (triple latte) said if The Muggs closes the community will lose something else that’s very rare: extremely good coffee, which he described as the “real deal.” 

The Muggs is one of the few cafes in the Bay Area that serves fresh-roasted coffee. Carol, who runs a sister company that supplies markets and hotels with gourmet coffee, is up before dawn five days a week to roast the Muggs’ daily supply of beans. 

“I like a latte with lots of froth,” Cassidy said. “They give me the steamed milk pitcher so I can customize my morning jolt and that’s something that would never happen at Starbucks.” 

Gioia said he is hopeful The Muggs will be able to turn things around, but really it’s up to the community to pitch in.  

“We can talk about saving local businesses, but the only way to do it is to patronize them,” he said. “In this case we have to vote with our feet and our pocketbooks.” 

Carol O’Brien is quick to reassure customers that all is not lost yet.  

“You just never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “We’ve been in tough spots before and pulled out of them.” 

?

FRIDAY, JULY 22 

Memorial Service for Meleia Willis-Starbuck at 11 a.m. at the Berkeley High Food Court. A memorial scholarship account has been set up in Meleia’s name for Berkeley High graduates interested in pursing work in social justice. Contributions can be sent to the Mechanics Bank, 2301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, 94704. Checks should be made payable to the Meleia Willis-Starbuck Memorial Fund. 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

Bearded Iris Rhizome Auction at 7:30 p.m. at 666 Bellvue Ave. Lakeside Park, Oakland. Free growing instruction and advice from experts. Sponsored by the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society. 277-4200. 

“Tigers Forever” with filmmaker Anthony Marr, followed by a talk on “Omniscientific Cosmology” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. 

Radical Politics and Folk Music with David Rovics, Robert Temple and Folk This! at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Activism Series with Gulf War Vet Dennis Kyne and Pat Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Harry Potter Read-a-Thon A two-week program at the Jefferson School focusing on literacy and creative writing for children ages 6-13. 835-2215. www.teachacademy.org 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 1 to 7 p.m. at Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, 1501 Walnut St. 527-6215. 

Berkeley Chess Club at 8 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, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Kol Hadash Shabbat, nontheistic, Humanistic, with Rabbi Jay Heyman on “The Making of a Humanistic Rabbi, Part 2,” at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring finger dessert to share for Oneg, and non-perishable food for the needy. 428-1492. info@kolhadash.org  

Salsa Dancing at “The Beat” Dance Studio at 8:30 p.m. Lessons with Joseph Gallardo. 2560 9th St. at Parker. 472-2393 www.wildsalsanights.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 23 

Town Hall Meeting with Barbara Lee, Daniel Ellsberg, Bill Mitchell, and Steve Cobble at 11 a.m. at Grand Lake Theater, Oakland. 763-0370. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Bearded Iris Rhizome Sidewalk Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockridge Mall, Broadway at Pleasant Valley Rd., Oakland, near Starbuck’s. Free growing instruction and advice from experts. Sponsored by the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society. 277-4200. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Burgers and Backyard Bites at 10 a.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by Compassionate Cooks. Cost is $35. Registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com  

Fundraiser for BayIT Help send at child to summer marine biology camp. Raffle and silent auction from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. in the Berkeley Marina. 981-6720. 

SpiritWalking at the Berkeley Warm Pool Ability to walk on land not necessary. Sat. from 10 to 11 a.m., to Aug. 11. Cost is $3.50 seniors/disabled, $5.50 others. Bring a towel and deck shoes. 526-0312. well-being@pacbell.net 

Breast Not Bombs Parade for Peace Meet at noon at People’s Park for a walk to Cedar and Bonita to the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. 848-1985. 

Child Car Seat Check with the Berkeley Police Dept. from 10 a.m. to noon at the UC Garage on Addison at Oxford. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of this ancient and healthy cuisine. You will prepare and taste many types of sushi. Parent participation required for children ages 8-10. Cost is adult, $35, senior $30, child age 8-12 $25. registration required. 636-1684. 

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 

Butterfly Gardening Learn what plants are important and how we can encourage butterflies to visit our garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Walk Oakland...For Life Special events celebrate health, peace, and life at 11 a.m. throughout Oakland. To participate call 444-9655. www.walkoakland.org 

Free Help with Computers at the El Cerrito Library to learn about email, searching the web, the library’s online databases, or basic word processing. Workshops held on Sat. a.m. at 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Registration required. 526-7512.  

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the Produce Market and the Waterfront Warehouse District. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

NIAD Summer Art Sale, Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 551 23rd St., near Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

“Women Make it Happen” Luncheon with Brenda Knight, Oakland’s Woman of the Year for 1995 at 10 a.m. at Linen Life Gallery, 6635 Hollis St., Emeryville. Tickets are $39. For reservations call 776-4992. 

Ohtani Summer Bazaar from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sun. noon to 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, 1524 Oregon St. Food, children’s games and crafts. 843-6933. 

“Women in Global Perspective” Benefit for the Supressed Histories Archives, with Luisah Teish, Matu Feliciano, and Julie Hammond, at 7:30 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. Cost is $10-$30, sliding scale. www.supressedhistories.net 

Books by the Bay Bay Area independent booksellers outdoor celebration of writers, books and bookstores, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco. www.booksbythebay.com 

“True Stories of Travel with Man’s Best Friend” with editor Christine Hunsicker at 3 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

“Creating Conditions for Peace” a symposium on Buddhist spiritual activism from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 655-6169, ext. 304. www.bfp.org 

“East Meets West” Integrative Medicine Open House at AIMC, 2550 Shattuck Ave. To RSVP call 666-8248, ext. 106.  

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, JULY 24 

Pancake Breakfast on Board the Red Oak Victory Ship, moored in Richmond Harbor, Berth #6 off Canal Blvd. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $6. 237-2933. 

Berkeley Rocks, a Greenbelt Alliance hike that features volcanic rock formations. From 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To register call 415-543-6771, ext. 321. www.greenbelt.org 

Snake Secrets See a serpent up close and learn how they move, eat and age without wrinkles. At 1 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Story Hour at 3 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

100 Years of Struggle A celebration of the IWW and the American Labor movement with readings by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, and music by Folk This! and Allegro Non Troppo at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Oakland’s first suburb and Preservation Park. Cost is $5-$10. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

Social Action Forum With Rita Maran, on recent developments at the United Nations, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 

MONDAY, JULY 25 

“Time Bomb” A documentary that spotlights America’s exploding national debt. Filmmaker John Ince will be present. At 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club. Cost is $5. Free for members. 527-0450. 

Stress Less with Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

“Natural Advocacy in the Medical Labyrinth” with Ed Bauman, Director of Bauman College, at 10 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JULY 26 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meets at 10 a.m. at Huckleberry Preserve on Skyline Blvd., Oakland. To register call 525-2233.  

GPS Navigation with Steve Wood, REI guide, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. If you own a GPS unit, please bring it. 527-4140. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Community Family Dance from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5 per person or $10 per family. Sponsored by the Berkeley Folk Dancers. 841-1205. 

Nick Barone Puppets with a cast of over twenty friendly dinosaurs dressed as cowboys at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Healthy Eating Habits and Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MLK Student Union, UC Campus. 1-800-448-3543. www.BeADonor.com 

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

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 

“Artist Housing in West Berkeley” extended Public Comment at 6 p.m. at the Civic Arts Commission meeting at the West Berkeley Senior Center. For information contact Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. 

“Will the Governor’s November Election Sink California?” with speakers from teachers, aabor, activists and the Alliance for a Better California. At 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“Why We Can’t Allow Gaza to Fail” with Marcia Freedman at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. 848-0237. 

Ernest Callenbach on the 30th Annniversary of “Ecotopia” at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. www.ecologycenter.org 

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Adventure Racing with Robyn Benincasa on her experiences competing around the world, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Arab Women Film Festival “Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, but donations accepted. 415-642-8066. 

2005 Asthma Walk Kick-Off Luncheon, hosted by the American Lung Association of the East Bay at 11:45 a.m. at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr., Oakland. For reservations call 893-5474 ext. 237. 

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

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. 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 

Artify Ashby Muralist Group meets every Wed. from 5 to 8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, to plan a new mural. New artists are welcome. Call Bonnie at 704-0803. 

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

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JULY 28 

Early Morning Bird Walk in Tilden. Meet at 7 a.m. at the Padre picnic site off South Park Drive to look for woodland birds. 

Parenting Class: Baby Langugae and Brain Development, for new and expecting parents at 10 a.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1744A University Ave. Public is welcome. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

Nonprofits and Grantwriting Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. freeskoolyes@yahoo.com 

Steps to Buying Your Own Home at 7 p.m. at Shaw Properties, 400 45th St., Oakland. Includes the process of pre-approval for financing, including income requirements and credit issues, and finding a realtor. www.barringtoncollective.org 

ONGOING 

Halogen Torchiere Swap!!! California Youth Energy Services is offering an on-going Torchiere Swap. Swap your halogen torchiere for a brand new energy saving torchiere for only $15! Please call CYES at 665-1501, ext.10. 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washington School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

Albany Summer Youth Programs including basketball, classes, bike trips and family activities. For information see www.albanyca.org/dept/rec.html 

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for ages 7 to 13, two week sessions through Aug., at John Hinkle Park. Cost is $395, with scholarships available. 415-422-2222. www.sfshakes.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., July 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Virginia Aiello, 981-5158. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission Mon., July 25, at 7 p.m., at North Berkeley Senior Center. Tania Levy, 981-6368. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., July 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., July 27, at 6 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commis- 

sions/civicarts 

Disaster Council and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., July 27 at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., July 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Planning Commission meets Wed., July 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. July 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., July 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning

A story on the Pinebrook estate, at 1106 Keith Ave., on the front page of this issue’s Real Estate section, mistakenly reported the era in which a cottage on the estate was built. The cottage was built in the 1930s.  

In the story “UC Regents Consider Fee Hike This Week” (July 19-21) the figures for proposed increases in fees for Boalt Hall students (from $33,776 to $36,231 next year and to $36,581 the year after) should have indicated that those fees were for nonresident students only. The proposed fees for state resident Boalt Hall students will rise from $21,531 to $22,568 next year and to $23,644 the year after. These fee increases were approved by the UC Regents at this week’s meeting.

Meleia Willis-Starbuck always stood up for herself and loved ones, her friends said. 

Whether she disagreed with someone in her classes at Berkeley High or Dartmouth, or happened upon someone mistreating her mildly-autistic half-brother Jack, Willis-Starbuck, 19, was never afraid to speak her mind or try to change other people’s way of thinking. 

So when a group of young men early Sunday morning “disrespected” Willis-Starbuck and her friends, they weren’t surprised to learn that she took the time to explain to them how to respectfully talk to women. 

But as Willis-Starbuck was ending her conversation with the five men in front of her apartment near the intersection of College Avenue and Haste Street, a gunman opened fire on the group. One bullet struck Willis-Starbuck in the chest. She was the only person hit and stopped breathing before an ambulance arrived. It was the second homicide in Berkeley this year. 

Police have not determined if the murder was random or somehow connected to the argument between the groups of young men and women, said Berkeley Police Officer Joe Okies. The gunman, believed to be a male in his 20’s, remains at large. 

“We’re just numb right now,” said John Starbuck, Meleia’s step-father from the family’s home in Atlanta. “Right now we’re trying to figure out a way to use all the goodwill and energy she put in the world for all our betterment.” 

Outside the College Avenue apartment Willis-Starbuck was renting for the summer, loved ones continued to mourn at a makeshift shrine. They recalled a loyal friend, who they all believed would one day make her mark on the world. 

“She wasn’t a person who lived for herself,” said Mercedes Hong, 20. “Everything she did was to help others. “She was my only friend I thought could really change the world.” 

In high school, Willis-Starbuck worked as a peer advocate teaching sex education to fellow-students. She was the president of the Black Student Union and as a member of the school’s Communication’s Arts and Sciences Program, she traveled to Cuba and Vietnam. 

At Dartmouth where she was majoring in sociology and African American studies, she was president of the Black Student Union her sophomore year. She returned to Berkeley this summer to work as an intern in the women’s Daytime Drop-In Center, a program for homeless women. 

For her friends though, she was more than a fighter for social justice, she was someone they could both laugh with and trust to speak from the heart. 

“She loved people and was always down for anything fun,” said Tara Singh, who recalled the two of them hopping on a motorcycle during the Cuba trip. “Her cell phone was always ringing.” 

“If you ever needed to talk to someone you called her. She was a really good listener,” said Perry Kramer. 

When Hong found out last year she had unexpectedly become pregnant, she called Willis-Starbuck first. “She told me I’ll always be there for you and your child will be my child,” Hong said.  

Willis-Starbuck also wasn’t shy about sharing her own fears. Hong said she adjusted slowly to Dartmouth, where she had a full scholarship, and sometimes said she felt alienated at the school where there were so few minorities or students from working class backgrounds. 

“I think she thought, I’m going to go there and be myself and show everyone there what needs to be done in the world, but it wasn’t always easy,” she said. 

The Starbuck’s moved from Berkeley to Georgia last year. Meleia’s mother Kimberly Willis-Starbuck had worked worked many years in Berkeley’s City Manager’s office. 

Starbuck said he and Kimberly had urged her to stay at school for summer classes, but his step-daughter insisted on returning to Berkeley. “She was so happy to be back,” he said.  

“She was a catalyst for a lot of the best discussions that ever occurred in my classroom,” said Bill Pratt, one of her history teachers at Berkeley High. “She was fearlessly willing to challenge people, but she was also conciliatory and understood how to mediate conflict,” he said. 

Willis-Starbuck wasn’t much different at home, her stepfather said. “She had a mouth. She would come out with opinions and I would try to poke holes in what she said. She was my political child.” 

She could be very honest with you without ever being offensive,” said Molly Dutton-Starbuck, Meleia’s half sister. “No matter what she always could make me laugh at myself.” 

“I had so much respect for her because she never took shit,” Singh said. “That’s why she was telling those guys not to talk to girls that way.” 

Willis-Starbuck was spending last Saturday night with friends, when they decided to stop at her apartment for a bathroom break before heading off to another friend’s house, according to Dana Johnson, 20, who was with Willis-Starbuck when she was murdered. As the girls approached Willis-Starbuck’s apartment, a group of five young men “acted disrespectfully” towards them and an argument ensued. 

Willis-Starbuck went inside during part of the dispute, according to her step-father, but then returned and resumed talking to them, while the people she was with were getting inside Johnson’s car. 

“Then someone came out of nowhere and fired shots,” Johnson said. The five young men raced from the scene, Johnson recalled, and one friend tried to administer CPR to no avail. Johnson said the gunman shot from the parking lot at corner of College and Dwight, while they were standing on College closer to Haste Street. Okies confirmed that the shots came from “some distance”. The gunman, he said, fled by car heading east on Dwight. 

Johnson questioned the response time of Berkeley Police and Fire. She said the girls managed to flag down a passing police car, but that other police units and fire-fighter paramedics were late to the scene. 

According to dispatch reports the first 911 call reporting the shooting came in just after 1:47 a.m. A minute later officers were dispatched to the scene, Okies said. The first officers arrived within a minute, according to Okies. 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said and a fire engine company and ambulance both arrived at 1:54 a.m., five minutes after they were notified of the shooting. The fire department’s goal is to arrive on the scene of an emergency within six minutes after the call comes in. 

A memorial for Willis-Starbuck is being planned for 11 a.m. Friday at Berkeley High School.  

Starbuck said the family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of sympathy from his step-daughter’s friends in Berkeley. “My wife has been on the phone all day today,” he said. “What we’re finding out is just how many people had bonds with her.” 

Hong, who had planned to make Willis-Starbuck the godmother of her daughter expected to be born around the end of the month, now intends to honor her friend the best way she can. “We haven’t quite figured it out yet, but Meleia is going to be part of the name.” 

Among other relatives, Willis-Starbuck is survived by her mother Kimberly, step-father John, step-sister Molly, step-brother Jack and half-brother Zachary. 

A memorial scholarship account has been set up in Meleia's name for Berkeley High graduates who wish to pursue work in social justice. Those interested in contributing should send checks to The Mechanics Bank at 2301 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, 94704. Checks should be made payable to 'The Meleia Willis-Starbuck Memorial Fund.'"

The City Council is poised Tuesday to restore fire service after an uproar earlier this month over the closure of the Berkeley hills fire station.  

Four councilmembers are sponsoring a proposal that would require Berkeley to spend up to $300,000 to ensure that the city closes no more than one fire company at a time and Berkeley hills Fire Station 7 to remain open through the fire season, which ends Oct. 31. 

In June, the council agreed to close as many as two fire companies at a time to save an estimated $1.2 million in firefighter overtime. The council expected that double closures would be rare and that fire station 7 would be exempt, but that wasn’t how it turned out. 

Because of summer vacation schedules, 11 vacant firefighter positions and two firefighters on injury leave, the department now says that without more money to pay for overtime two companies would be closed three out of every four days over the summer, including Station 7. 

The $300,000 will be taken from $4.3 million put aside for street repairs. Fire Department officials have said that staffing shortages are expected to diminish by the end of the year when the city brings on 12 freshly-trained new firefighters. 

Landmarks Preservation Ordinance 

After a two-hour public hearing last week, the council is scheduled to debate proposed amendments to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. 

Before the council are overlapping recommendations from the Planning Commission, which has proposed amendments that the State Office of Historic Preservation said would weaken protections for historic buildings, and a proposal from the Landmarks Preservation Commission calling for the council to bring in an independent consultant to offer amendments. 

Cisco De Vries, chief of staff to Mayor Bates, said the city would likely work with interest groups on ordinance revisions over the summer in hopes of striking a compromise between the Planning Commission’s recommendation and amendments which were put forward by the LPC before it reversed course and called for the city to bring in a consultant.  

De Vries said there was a good chance that the council would not approve either commission’s recommendation in full. He added that any compromise recommendation would require a public hearing before the council acted. 

Although the item is on the council’s action agenda Tuesday, De Vries said he does not expect the council to vote on the issue until September. 

Tune Up Masters Appeal 

The council will again consider an appeal for a use permit for a condominium project at 1698 University Ave, the site which fomerly held Tune Up Masters. Earlier this year the council granted an appeal on grounds that the Zoning Adjustment Board approval violated state law. 

The ZAB granted the developer a 25 percent size increase (density) bonus for including condominium units to be sold at a price affordable to people making at or below 125 percent of the average local median income.  

But it turned out that for condominiums, the state only allows a 10 percent state bonus.  

The new project, approved by the ZAB, looks nearly identical to the old one because staff identified another section of state law requiring that builders who add units for low income tenants be granted concessions to make the building as profitable as it would have been without the cheaper units.  

Staff calculated that to make the developer’s venture profitable, the building would have to be 25 percent larger than otherwise allowed in the zoning ordinance. 

Density Bonus Subcommittee 

With projects like the Tune Up Masters site development frequently raising the issue of the state density bonus, city staff is asking the council to approve a joint subcommittee to look into how Berkeley should apply a state law giving developers bonus space for projects that include affordable housing. 

The current city interpretation of the density bonus has been criticized by residents who charge that it is a tool to help developers build more massive buildings than local zoning rules or state law would permit. 

A four-member subcommittee of the Zoning Adjustments Board, which is responsible for implementing land use, has been meeting with city staff on the issue. The city has proposed combining that subcommittee with one from the Planning Commission, which is responsible for developing land use policy. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, the council’s staunchest critic of the current density bonus, opposed bringing the Planning Commission into the process. “The Zoning Board knows the problem because they deal with it every meeting,” she said. “The planning commission is out of the loop.” 

In the staff report, Land Use Manager Mark Rhoades reasoned that a joint subcommittee made sense because, “it is highly inefficient for two or three different board or commission subcommittees to review the same information and develop their own overlapping procedural recommendations.” 

Other Issues 

With the Elmwood Theater slated to reopen July 28, the council is being asked to nearly double its loan to the theater’s ownership group for seismic repairs. Cost overruns and delays have sent costs spiraling from $90,000 to $170,000. 

The council will consider a proposal to give the city manager authority to approve capital improvements for up $200,000 without council approval. Currently the city manager can independently authorize expenditures of up to $50,000. 

.

The only way for listener-sponsored KPFA radio to move forward is to show General Manager Roy Campanella the door, according to the 70 members of the station’s paid and unpaid staff who have signed a letter of no confidence in Campanella. 

The letter, claiming the manager created a hostile work environment, was presented at Saturday’s Local Station Board meeting. Some at the LSB meeting called for the return of former General Manager Nicole Sawaya, now station manager at KALW in San Francisco.  

But former local and national board member and professional mediator Tomas Moran argued the focus should not be on the individual who leads the station. 

“It’s a feudal system,” where programmers defend their territories, he said. 

KPFA-Berkeley is one of the Pacifica Foundation’s five community stations. As a result of lawsuits between the governing Pacifica Foundation Board and local stations, resolved about three years ago, the radio network is now run by elected local boards made up of listener-sponsors and staff, and a national board of representatives from local boards.  

But democratic governance has failed to ease internal tensions at 56-year-old KPFA, whose diverse programmers pride themselves on delving deep into local and global concerns and showcasing a broad range of music, touched little by other media.  

At Saturday’s LSB meeting, attended by most of the 23-member board and more than 80 members of the pubic, seven female staffers called on the board to recognize Campanella’s “unfitness” to run the station. 

The women complained of “instances of hostility and gender-based treatment” by the general manager. (Campanella has conceded that he asked subordinates—men and women—out to movies, but denies these were “dates.” The women allege retaliation for their complaints.) This letter was in addition to the letter of no confidence signed by 70 of the 300 paid and volunteer staff.  

Moran believes the accusations are relatively minor and should not cloud the larger, systemic issues plaguing KPFA for years. It is likely that Ambrose Lane, interim national director, will mediate the underlying issues, Moran said. 

“It’s not just putting out one fire to go to the next,” he said.  

The mediation would be transparent and include listener forums. 

“It takes courage to put the conflicts out in the open,” Moran said. “It’s going to be painful for the station.”  

Areas of conflict include questions of governance: who is in charge? Another issue is the role of independent activism—an individual or group may successfully lobby for a program, but is the activism appropriate? A third problem area is the need for program evaluation. And fundraising questions need clarification: can individual programmers raise their own funds? How should station funds be distributed?  

Local Station Board member Joe Wanzala also says mediation is the way to move forward, unless further investigation shows that the general manager’s misdeeds are such that his removal is necessary. Investigating the complaints has become an issue of conflict in itself. “We haven’t done enough due diligence,” Wanzala said.  

Oakland attorney Dan Siegel was hired to conduct an investigation. However, Wanzala contends that Siegel, one of the attorneys challenging the Pacifica Foundation during the 1999-2002 station crisis, was an inappropriate choice. 

“Some thought he was too close to KPFA,” Wanzala said, adding, “And he’s running for mayor (of Oakland).” The board may decide whether to accept Siegel’s report at its closed-door meeting July 24.  

Like Moran, Wanzala stressed that any investigation should go beyond Campanella. “I thought we needed an institutional audit,” he said. “There’s a pattern of the staff resisting efforts by the general manager ... It’s not a question of getting the right person and all will be well.” 

The claims of a hostile working environment mask long simmering tensions, he said.  

Staff and their supporters who spoke out at the July 16 meeting say the public airing was the only avenue through which they could be heard. (Local Board Member Sepideh Khosrowjah said staff could have addressed the board in closed session, but failed to go through procedures to do so.)  

In addition to reading the letter accusing Campanella of creating a hostile work environment, others spoke out individually. “People shouldn’t have to work in an environment of fear,” said Gary Niederhoff, subscriptions editor.  

On the other hand, Peter Franck, chair of Media Action Marin, called on the board to work with Campanella. “You should not wait for a Messiah to rescue you,” he said.  

But when it was her turn to speak, seventeen-year staffer Jan Etre responded to Franck: “There was a Messiah; her name was Nicole Sawaya.”  

Sawaya was a popular KPFA manager in 1999 when the Pacifica National Board removed her. Although Pacifica banned staff from talking about Sawaya’s termination on the air, various programmers did just that. This led to their removal and to the events culminating in the national board hijacking the station and the staff and listeners fighting back on the streets and in the courts.  

While one of the staff and community demands had been Sawaya’s reinstatement, she was passed over in April 2003, when the job was given to Gus Newport, who left the post after about nine months.  

An unsigned flyer distributed at the Saturday board meeting addressed one of the complaints by the listener-sponsor group, Peoples’ Radio, which charges programmers with refusal to follow management directives.  

The flyer said it’s a myth that the staff doesn’t want to be managed. “KPFA workers desperately want good management. That’s why they risked their jobs to protest Sawaya’s termination on the air in 1999. And that’s why they made Sawaya’s reinstatement one of their key demands after they were locked out for doing so. Sawaya’s reinstatement is the only such demand that has not been met since the takeback of KPFA in 2000.”  

Sawaya did not return calls for comment.  

In a telephone interview, Susan Stone, 25-year staffer who recently left the station to become a mediator, called Sawaya “a bright light.” Stone said Sawaya “made people feel visible and valued. That was something she had a talent for. She even won over diehard critics. It was staggering that she wasn’t brought back.”  

Campanella, who sat quietly through the public condemnation—and support—at the Saturday meeting, said he’s frustrated because personnel rules prevent him from defending himself in public. However, he said he’s open to mediation and has begun the process with staff.  

“We’ve had one group session. I hope there will be others,” he said, “I’m very sincere about having a healthy dialogue.” 

He said that he hoped the mediation would eventually extend to sessions that include the board and himself, then to the board, the staff and himself. “That would be a powerful healing experience,” he said.  

Asked if staff would be open to mediation, shop steward Lisa Ballard responded by e-mail: “Roy sent Pacifica’s Zero Tolerance for Violence policy out to the entire staff list, and hours later instigated a fight in our workplace kitchen.” 

This was the widely-reported incident between Hard Knock Radio producer Weylan Southon and Campanella. While Campanella admits he called Southon outside to fight, he says he wasn’t being serious; no blows were exchanged. 

“We had already been in mediation with Roy for inappropriate behavior and creating a hostile workplace for women,” Ballard continued. “This was the last straw. This is a community of over 300 people, producers, hosts, support staff, engineers. We need someone who will set the bar on workplace safety, who will not escalate conflict. Programmers have been permanently banned from the station for similar behavior. He has only been with us for seven months. It is not a matter of forgiveness or counseling at this point. We made a mistake with this hire and he needs to go. It is evident to a wide cross section of workers, which is why over 70 staffers signed a vote of no confidence.”  

As the internal conflict rages, programmer Khalil Bendib says it’s important to put it in perspective. “Six years ago, we could have lost KPFA,” he said. The internal problems are real, he said, “but not comparable” to the earlier crisis.  

Still, Susan Stone wonders if the internal conflict won’t escalate and eventually spill over onto the airwaves. “What about the listener in all this?” she asks.  

Even though she is not a professional tour guide or travel agent, West Oakland resident Rehema Gueye was not surprised when a Laney College student approached her earlier this year about arranging a student educational trip to West Africa. 

Because Laney students were involved, they decided to make a request that the trip be sponsored in part by funds from the Associated Students of Laney College (ASLC). 

What surprised both Gueye and Imani Williams—the ASLC treasurer who made the request to Gueye—was the confusion and controversy it generated within both Laney and the entire Peralta Community College District. 

Married to a Senegalese husband and fluent in Wolof, one of West Africa’s major languages, the 45-year-old Mississippi native is a highly visible regular in the Malonga Casquelord Center (formerly Alice Arts Center) African/African-American cultural circle, where African dance classes and performances intermix with an extensive social network and intermingling between the two groups. 

Gueye has been to West Africa eight times, usually to the countries of Senegal and Gambia on the extreme western tip, the ancestral home of many African-Americans. Mostly she travels in connection with her business as a seamstress of African clothing—bringing back fabric or finished goods—but she doubles it up with visits to an extensive network of in-laws and friends. 

Besides operating her seamstress business out a room at her West Oakland home, Gueye is a registered nurse, a service worker for troubled youth, and gives lectures at West Oakland’s McClymonds High School and other Oakland public schools on cultural awareness and traditional African dance. 

In 2003, for the first time, Gueye agreed to take along several friends—some of them fellow dancers at the Casquelord Center—who wanted to go to West Africa with someone who was familiar with the culture and knew the area. The visitors stayed and ate their meals with Senegalese and Gambian families. 

“I didn’t take them to the places where the tourists go, around the hotels and resorts,” Gueye explained. “I took them to be around regular people.” 

Gueye did take her friends to one of the regular and most emotional stops on Senegal’s tourist circuit. On Goree Island, just outside of Dakar, they visited the slave-station where many of the ancestors of African-Americans went out the infamous “Door of No Return” to be put on Middle Passage slave ships, seeing their last view of their native Africa before embarking in chains to North American plantations.  

The 2003 trip generated much positive talk around Oakland’s Afrocentric African-American community, eventually reaching Williams. 

“I saw this as a chance for a 22-year-old African-American single parent to go to Africa,” Williams told Peralta College trustees last month, referring to herself. “That doesn’t happen very often for low income, community college students.” 

But Gueye was not so well known in the Laney College and Peralta College District hierarchy, and that’s when the controversy began. 

“There were originally eight students who were interested in going,” Williams said. “But eventually, we determined that only four of them were attending Laney.” 

Williams and Gueye approached the Associated Students of Laney College for assistance in funding the trip. Eventually, the ASLC allotted $4,500 on a divided vote to assist the Laney College students participating in the trip , with ASLC President and Peralta Student Trustee Lisa Watkins-Tanner voting against the allocation. 

With $1,125 going to each of the four Laney students, Gueye said that the allotment did not even cover the $1,680 San Francisco to Dakar round trip air fare that the trip will eventually cost. And that also did not cover the guaranteed room and board once the students got to West Africa. 

Gueye said that she began organizing fund-raising activities among the students to pay the balance. She said that none of the money will go towards her share of the trip or that of her husband; they are paying for that out of their own funds. 

Gueye also says that the delay in the release of the Laney funding—it took the ASLC two meetings to eventually vote for approval—caused two of the Laney students to have to drop out of the trip. That caused a further complication. 

When Laney Vice President of Student Services Carlos McLean released the ASLC travel money this month, he said that the $4,500 stipend had been based on the eight students that had originally intended to go on the trip. Since only two students were now going, McLean told Williams, he was only going to cut a check for $1,124—$562 apiece. 

That left Williams discouraged and almost in tears. 

“We thought the trip was going to be off,” she said. 

Their salvation came from an unexpected source.  

“When I told [Laney College] President [Odell] Johnson how much we’d been given, he told me that wasn’t right,” Williams said. “He went into his pocket and wrote us a check for $3,000. Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to go.” 

The trip also faced expressions of concern and skepticism from Laney College trustees and administrative staff members at the board’s June 28 meeting, even though trustees admitted that they had no sayso over how the ASLC spent their funds. 

She said that after the group returns in mid-August, they will prepare a presentation for Laney College students, faculty and administrators and any other group within the Peralta colleges that is interested. 

“I think the students will have a lot to share, and I want them to share it,” she said. “They’ll be immersed in language and culture and customs. They’re going to experience African life. That’s something they’re going to want to talk about. That’s the whole purpose.” 

With University of California Regents preparing to vote on proposed increases in professional degree fees at this week’s meeting, four UC professional degree students have filed a class action lawsuit in San Francisco against the regents to prevent those increases. 

The regents meeting will be held July 20-21 on the campus of UCSF-Laurel Heights, 3333 California St. in San Francisco. 

UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law student Freeda Yllana of San Jose and UC Berkeley joint Ph.D and J.D. candidate Ross Astoria of Berkeley—along with an UCLA Law School student and an UCSF School of Medicine student—are asking that the California Superior Court issue an injunction preventing the university from “collecting professional degree fees [from professional degree students] in amounts greater than those at which they first enrolled in their respective programs.” 

The university has not yet answered the complaint, which was only filed last week. University representatives could not be reached for comment. 

In their complaint, the four students say that they and all other professional degree students were promised by the university when they enrolled that their professional degree fee would not be raised during their enrollment in the university’s program. The four students each enrolled in 2003. 

In November 2004, however, university regents voted for professional degree fee increases that included existing students. The complaint estimates that fee increase at between $2,690 and $6,570 above the previous year’s amount. The complaint claims the increase was a breach of contract. 

The students are being represented by the Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain law firm of San Francisco and Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP of Baltimore. 

At its 10:30 a.m. Thursday session on July 21 trustees will consider a proposal to increase fees for selected Professional School Students by 7 percent over and above the 3 percent increase approved in November of 2004, bringing the total proposed increase this year to 10 percent. 

In addition, trustees will consider a temporary increase—$700 in 2005-06 and $1,050 in 06-07—to offset costs of another lawsuit injunction. If passed, that “temporary” increase will be reevaluated by the spring of 2007. 

For Boalt Hall students, if both increases pass, that would mean that regular fees would take a one-year jump from $33,776 to $36,231 next year, and to $36,581 the year after. Similar increases would also occur in UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the School of Medicine, with increases also being considered in graduate schools of optometry, public health, and public policy. 

In other items of interest at this week’s meeting, UC regents will: 

• Hear and update from the Eligibility and Admissions Study group on undergraduate eligibility admissions issues facing UC in the coming years (10:30 a.m. on July 20 in the Committee on Educational Policy); 

• Hear a report on the status of competition at Department of Energy laboratories as well as consider modifications to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory contract with the department (9:20 a.m. on July 21 in the Committe on Oversight of the Department of Energy Laboratories); 

• Discuss the impacts of the 2005-06 California budget agreement on university finances, as well as begin a preliminary discussion on the university’s 2006-07 budget (9:30 a.m. on July 21 in the Committee on Finance).›

The proposed new Berkeley Bowl planned for 9th Street and Heinz Avenue in West Berkeley is nearing the initial phase of the environmental review process. 

Glen Yasuda’s plan to open a second version of his highly popular Shattuck Avenue grocery store has run into several snags along the way, and critics successfully fought for a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR). 

The first step in preparing an EIR is the scoping process in which community members and others are invited to make suggestions about issues to be raised in the preparation of the report. 

Written comments will be accepted until Aug. 5, said planner Allan Gatzke, and a scoping meeting at which members of the public can present written or spoken presentations has been scheduled for July 27 at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Plans call for a total of 97,970 square feet in two buildings and 201 parking spaces, 99 of them in an underground lot. 

Neighbors are worried about increased traffic and parking that the store could bring to the already congested Ashby Avenue corridor and to other surface streets in the area. 

For more details on the project, see www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/landuse/eirs.html#IS and click on 920 Heinz St. General Plan Amendment and Rezoning and the links below. 

To submit comments by mail, write to City of Berkeley, Land Use Planning Division, ATTN: Allan Gatzke, 2118 Milvia St., 1st Floor, Berkeley 94704.›

The recent 2005-06 California State budget passed by a legislative conference committee and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated the governor’s shift of teacher retirement costs to local school districts, but what effect it will have on Berkeley Unified School District’s finances is yet to be determined. 

BUSD Deputy Superintendent Glenston Thompson was poring over budget information last week, and said he didn’t want to comment on possible effects until he’d worked out all the numbers. 

In his original budget, Governor Schwarzenegger had proposed that local school districts pick up—for the first time—the government’s portion of State Teacher Retirement Systems (STRS) costs which had previously been paid for out of the state budget. That proposal would have shifted $700 million in costs from the state budget to local school districts. 

In May, under pressure from school districts, the governor cut that shift, proposing that $469 million of the STRS costs come from the local districts. 

Relying upon those May figures, the BUSD 2005-06 budget, passed by the school board last month, included close to a million dollars in additional STRS costs to Berkeley Unified. 

But after the BUSD budget was passed, the legislative conference committee reversed the governor’s actions completely, putting all of the STRS payment responsibility in the hands of the state. 

Does this mean that BUSD’s budget now has close to a million dollars in “extra money” that was originally budgeted for STRS, but can now be shifted over to other district programs? 

Thompson says that such a conclusion can’t be drawn because it is still unclear how much the new state budget actually earmarks for distribution to local districts. Such state aid is set out in complicated formulas, and those formulas have yet to be worked out into actual numbers by BUSD staff. 

California Federation of Teachers Media Consultant Steve Hopcraft outlined one of those complications in a telephone interview: in making up the money in the state budget from the reversal of the governor’s STRS proposal the conference committee eliminated at least $235 million in state reimbursements to local districts for programs mandated by the state. 

BUSD had not counted on any of that money (the district’s 2005-06 budget notes that “no amount has been projected in the budget” for state-mandated costs reimbursement), but Thompson said that other state aid listed in the district’s budget might be affected. 

School board directors are expected to receive an update on the budget numbers sometime after their monthlong summer meeting break.

Members of the Zoning Adjustments Board’s subcommittee on the city’s controversial application of the density bonus are beginning to see the light, they told fellow ZAB members Thursday. 

ZAB member Rick Judd said that after the panel met June 6 with Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan and three members of the Planning Commission he realized that “a lot of avenues are foreclosed to us by the city attorney’s view of the law.” 

“It was fairly clear from the meeting that Berkeley’s approach to the law was fairly unusual,” Judd said. 

Instead of awarding the bonus based on the actual project presented in the application, ZAB member Dean Metzger said, city staff calculates the maximum size the project could be if all the zoning strictures were relaxed and adds the density bonus on top of that, “creating huge projects that the neighbors don’t like.” 

To get sanity back into the process, Metzger said, “staff needs to develop what the project size would be if all zoning ordinances were applied, then add the density bonus on top of that.” 

State law decrees that developers who include condos or apartments with prices limited to what low- (or, in the case of condos, middle-) income tenants can afford to pay are allowed to make up for lost profits by enlarging their projects beyond normal limits. 

Subcommittee member Dave Blake said Monday he is particularly concerned with two modes city planning staff use in calculating the extra space a developer receives as a result of adding such “inclusionary” units into a project. 

By deciding to allow a building’s roof space as the building’s so-called “open space” requirement, builders are allowed to submit plans for projects that extend to the full dimensions of their lot. 

Another innovation is allowing parking spaces to be defined by the sometimes-three-high electrical lift parking spaces incorporated into many buildings rather than by floor area, which bestows even greater density. 

By incorporating lifts and rooftop open space, Blake said, developers can achieve densities beyond those allowed by a more conventional applications of the bonuses law. 

ZAB members noted Thursday that the interpretations used in Berkeley lead developers to submit two projects, the first to maximize density bonus space, and the second which reflects the final project as ultimately submitted for ZAB approval. 

“Every project becomes two projects, and my hope is that the mission of the Density bonus Subcommittee is to get it back to one project,” Blake said at the close of the meeting. 

The subcommittee’s next task is an examination of how other cities approach the density bonus—which revised state law has recently boosted from 25 percent to 35 percent. 

Other business 

Several neighbors of a construction project at 2844 Derby St. asked ZAB members to intervene in the case of a building project in a case that they said Senior Planner Greg Powell told them was wrongly approved. 

An Arts and Crafts home at the site had been severely damaged by a Dec. 24, 2001, blaze and had remained unrepaired and unoccupied for nearly three years until a new owner started work last November. 

Neighbors were startled so see the structure being expanded to three stories in the rear, acting on a permit application that listed the work as restoration rather than addition. A stop-work order issued in April has suspended the project. 

Senior Planner Debbie Sanderson told ZAB that her department is in the middle of dealing with the site, and said no decision has been made on the status of the use permit. 

Over the protests of one neighbor, ZAB authorized construction of a detached three-car garage at 1734 La Vereda Trail. 

Leo Simon, who lives next door said he was worried about soil stability, parking and other issues, but ZAB members unanimously approved a mitigated negative declaration that said all environmental concerns had been adequately addressed, then voted to authorize construction.

After calling a temporary halt to plans to demolish the landmarked building she owns, Kathleen Garr said she’s about to give up—forced to surrender by the heavy costs she’d incur should she break her contract with developers. 

The Lafayette woman is the owner of the former dried coconut warehouse at 740 Heinz Ave., which once housed part of Durkee Famous Foods’ now-vanished Berkeley processing plant. 

“I was trying to work something out,” Garr said, “but the attorneys I’ve talked to said it would be very expensive.” 

City officials had suspended “red tag” fines imposed on the building because the structure is deemed seismically unsafe, thanks to the pending applications to demolish the structure and replace it with a new and much larger laboratory and manufacturing building. 

The package was assembled by developer Darrel De Tienne, who teamed up Garr with Wareham Development, the firm that owns buildings on either side of the building where Garr’s late husband once ran a plastics recycling business. 

“I couldn’t afford the fines, and I can’t afford to retrofit the building, so I may just have to go ahead and make this deal,” she said. 

Garr said she wished she’d known earlier that she could have found support from neighbors and West Berkeley activists who turned out to oppose the demolition at last Monday’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). 

“Had I known about them, I would have done something earlier with their support,” she said. 

Garr cited ongoing health problems as another reason that adds urgency to her decision. 

“I just can’t afford the struggle,” she said. 

Garr’s building is one of three former Durkee’s structures the LPC landmarked on Aug. 6, 1985. 

Betsy Strange, a 27-year tenant of the former Durkee margarine plant at 800 Heinz Ave., remembers the process quite well. 

She moved into the building after earning a graduate degree from UC Berkeley in 1978. Along with other tenants, she chose the former processing plant because rents were cheap for space large enough to use as live/work units. 

When her corporate landlord went bankrupt and the land was sold at auction to Wareham in the first part of 1980’s, a five-year battle ensued in which landmarking played a significant role. 

The tenants were able to win the support of then-Mayor Loni Hancock and other city officials, eventually resulting in a formal agreement that placed the existing tenants under permanent protection of the city rent board for as long as they remain tenants of the building. 

Because the whole building is earmarked as affordable housing, rents for those who qualify for vacated spaces average between $700 and $900, while Strange and the remaining three originals pay less than $500. 

And while three buildings were landmarked, the agreement allowed demolition of two others, as well as the city’s last remaining industrial brick smokestack. 

Garr’s building was landmarked but was not involved in the Wareham settlement because it was the only former Durkee property under separate ownership. 

One aspect of the deal was never realized. The city awarded Wareham the first-ever cultural density bonus for setting aside one building for a theatrical troupe. 

“They were never able to find a tenant, so they were eventually allowed to rent it to Bayer for offices,” Strange said. 

Two of the original tenants testified at last Monday’s LPC meeting, John Shea and Weezie McAdams. Neither liked the current plans for the 105,800-square-foot four-story structure Wareham wants to build. 

“I’m appalled at the extra height and lack of setbacks,” said Shea. “After all these years of silence, this is what’s being offered.” 

“It’s very demoralizing and disturbing to see these plans,” McAdams told the LPC. “Basically, it’s a brick behemoth 81 feet high. “Our building would fall into shadow. It’s also very disturbing to think about that building (Garr’s) being demolished.” 

With other neighbors, she complained that she’d had trouble getting a look at any plans for the project, and saw her first draft at a meeting on July 7 attended by LPC Chair Jill Korte. 

“There were lots of concerns expressed by the tenants” of 800 Heinz, Korte told the LPC meeting. 

The commissioner also noted that the LPC can’t approve demolition without finding that it’s not feasible to preserve or restore the building. 

Corliss Lester, a post-accord tenant of 800 Heinz, said her unit would be cast into darkness if Wareham gets their way. “It’s three times larger than the landmark structure,” she told the LPC, “and it’s not being built for a specific tenant.” 

Lesser pleaded with the commissioners to scale down the plans to fit the character of the neighborhood. 

De Tienne filed an application to demolish the building in May, and city staff deemed it complete the following month. 

“We need to have a public hearing,” said Giselle Sorensen, the planning staffer assigned to the LPC. 

After hearing initial testimony, the commission continued the hearing until its next meeting on Aug. 8. 

Four people were killed in two fiery weekend collisions on I-80. 

The first crash at 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ashby Avenue interchange resulted in the deaths of the driver and two passengers in one car and shut down the freeway in both directions for seven hours. 

The second, a three-car crash at the Powell Street interchange in Emeryville at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, claimed the life of one of the motorists who extricated himself from the wreck only to be struck down by a passing vehicle. 

Berkeley firefighters, who have a reciprocal agreement with Emeryville, responded to both crashes, said BFD Deputy Chief David P. Orth. 

California Highway Patrol officers are seeking witnesses to the first crash, in response to reports that the another vehicle may have forced the 1995 Toyota in which the eastbound victims were riding into the path of a tractor-trailer rig traveling in the same direction. 

No formal identification of the three fatalities had been made as of press time Monday. 

Both the truck and the Toyota burst into flames on impact, and the truck hurtled over the center divider and into the path of two oncoming cars, both of which also caught fire, said Orth. 

The flames spread to grass next to the Ashby on-ramp, where they were extinguished without further damage. 

Orth said three people were hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries: the truck driver, the driver of another westbound vehicle which became entangled in the crash and the driver of one of the eastbound vehicles that hit the truck after it leapt the divider. 

Berkeley firefighters remained on the scene until 6:51, when the crumpled Toyota had yielded the last of the victims. 

Eastbound traffic, the last to be restored, resumed at 9:20 a.m. 

The Highway Patrol requests anyone with information about the motorist who may have caused the crash and escaped unharmed to call the Oakland CHP office at 510-450-3821. 

Emeryville crash 

Berkeley firefighters were summoned to the Powell Street interchange at 2:23 a.m. Sunday to help battle another car fire. What they found was a two part-accident that had happened a few minutes earlier. 

The original two-car collision, between a westbound motorist and a parked car, ended with both vehicles on the shoulder and the driver of one standing outside his car, which was then hit by an oncoming Toyota. 

The impact hurled the driver into the roadway, where the Toyota, which had swerved away from the vehicle, ran over the him, killing him instantly. 

Orth said one patient was rushed to Highland Hospital for treatment of serious trauma, and three others were treated for minor injuries. 

Traffic was reopened at 4:35 a.m.

If all goes well in a Thursday night hearing at the Design Review Commission (DRC), construction of an 80-unit low-income senior housing project at 1535 University Ave. can start soon. 

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

The project by Satellite Housing, a Berkeley-based builder of low-income housing, received the last of its needed funding in June, and construction is scheduled to begin in late October or early November. 

The design by Berkeley architect Erick Mitiken of Mitiken Associates, won high praise in earlier appearances before the panel, which nonetheless asked for minor changes. 

The project’s studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments are reserved for tenants making from 30 percent to 60 percent of the Oakland-area average median income, with rents ranging from $435 to $931 monthly. 

The four-story, 80,501-square-foot project at the northeast corner of University Avenue and Sacramento Street features 33 parking spaces, 12 for commercial tenants and 21 for residents. 

The project will also feature colorful murals by noted Berkeley artist Juana Alicia. 

The Zoning Adjustments Board gave the project its approval in February. 

DRC is also scheduled to give its final verdict on Prince Hall Arms, a proposed four-story housing structure with ground floor retail and space for a Masonic lodge at 3132 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The long-delayed project has had a tough time winning DRC approval. 

Also on the agenda is a preliminary review of designs for seismic and accessibility upgrades of a 55,831-square-foot mixed use building at 2424 Ridge Road.›

MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

If residents of Berkeley and Albany have not weighed in on the Mental Health Services Act (voted in as Proposition 63 by the state of California voters in 2004), we would appreciate your input in the next few weeks. You can fill out a survey on line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/mentalhealth/mhsasurvey.html or you can call Ericka Leer at 981-5222 to request a paper copy or to find out when and where meetings are still being held. A progress report on information collected so far is scheduled on Wednesday July 27 at both 3-5 and 6-8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. (at Ashby). It is near the Ashby BART station and is one block west of the 15 bus stop at Martin Luther King and Ashby. There will be refreshments. We are looking forward to seeing as many residents as possible.  

Trish Thomas 

• 

HOGWASH ON HILLARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Please use your liberal platform to do more than just mirror, though I guess you were trying to be subtle, the Republican “hogwash” about Hillary (“Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign Already Underway,” July 12). Who cares about why she’s with Bill. How many disinterested political spouses have decided to keep their mouths shut about their mates or their opinions unknown in order to protect their reputations? Hillary’s out there, not hiding somewhere to protect herself. I just want to know what she thinks and about how hard she works. Watch C-SPAN sometime when she’s at a committee hearing. Pleeeease do better next time when you talk about her. She is a great lady! 

Catherine O’Neill 

Austin, Texas 

• 

ROOT OF EVIL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The question has arisen, “How did our political system get to this point?” The Bush administration’s propensity for lies and secrecy is the easiest explanation. The love of secrecy is the root of evil and secrecy defines the Bush administration; secrecy defines the anti-abortion movement; secrecy defines the anti-gay crusade and these three are interwoven. This has led to an administration that pitches division, deception, demonization of any opposition and has programmed a whole legion of right-wing and religious converts. 

Ron Lowe 

Nevada City  

• 

BOBBY SANDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In Homayon’s recent commentary “Bobby Sands and Akbar Ganji,” the author states that IRA prisoner Bobby Sands went on a hunger strike with the demand that he be released. This is not correct. Bobby Sands was one of a number of IRA and INLA prisoners who went on a hunger strike, and he was the first of 10 to die. These brave prisoners were not demanding release, but rather were rightfully demanding to be recognized as the political prisoners they were, rejecting an attempt on the part of the British government to regard them as common criminals. Their five demands were: 

1. The right not to wear a prison uniform. 

2. The right not to do prison work. 

3. The right of free association with other prisoners. 

4. The right to organize their own educational and recreational facilities. 

5. The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week. 

Also worth noting is that the street the Iranians named “Bobby Sands Street” is the street on which the British embassy in Tehran sits—a fact which pleases many people, myself included, greatly. (It was formerly known as Winston Churchill Street.) 

I’d not been aware of Akbar Ganji. My thanks to Homayon for sharing the story, and to the Berkeley Daily Planet for publishing it. 

Robert Fitzgerald 

Rochester, Minnesota 

• 

TWO BIRDS, ONE STONE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To Parks and Recreation and the Civic Arts Commission, I would like to propose the following location for the David Brower globe sculpture: Civic Center Park fountain! Although I was lucky enough to dabble my feet in the fountain as a child, we all know that the city will never be able to afford flowing water there again, and we don’t want to provide a public urinal anyway. Let’s cap the plumbing and create the perfect venue for the Brower globe. It’s the ideal setting: a) downtown and central to Berkeley; b) appropriate scale to the setting; c) viewable from a distance and many angles; d) circular fountain base complementing the design of the sculpture; e) blue background of tiles on the walls tying into color of the globe; and f) the city officials that wanted to have this white elephant can see it every day on the way to work. 

Carolyn Sell 

• 

ANTI-MALE RHETORIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I continue to greatly enjoy your newspaper and its unusual blend of thoughtfulness, open-mindedness, and political awareness. Regrettably, you continue to see fit to occasionally publish anti-male rhetoric. Under today’s reigning political ideology, males seem to be the last safe whipping dog for all of society’s ills, as well as a seemingly reliable target for inaccurate or exaggerated facts. 

I have learned to expect more from the Daily Planet than P.M. Price’s remarkable question (The View from Here, July 15), “Has testosterone outgrown its usefulness?” Well, let’s see .. Are we ready to give up all the comforts and conveniences of modern urban life that were invented and built primarily by men, including our roads, our cars, our houses, the buildings in which we work, our electrical and sewer systems, and on and on? Whoever is ready to do so, feel free to bash males with relative impunity. The rest of us need to start respecting males as well as females. Would any author writing, let’s say, about Susan Smith, mass murderer of her own children, have leapt to a parallel query, “Has estrogen outgrown its usefulness?” Unlikely. How many people even realize that mothers, not fathers, not step-fathers, not male strangers, commit the majority of physical violence against their own children? These facts don’t fit the reigning ideology and so somehow never get discussed. 

Let’s talk about Price’s rape “statistics.” Only a definition of rape so liberal as to encompass cases where a woman willingly, voluntarily has sex but then has regrets months later can lead to a conclusion that “one out of 12 male college students has committed rape.” Despite all the misplaced outcry, most university campuses remain phenomenally safe place for women. (Some semi-hidden classism is doubtless lurking in the disproportionate attention paid to university students relative to other people.) Price would have us believe that “one woman is raped every two minutes in the United States.” The Department of Justice (DoJ) reports that some 72,240 rapes occurred in 2003, the last year for which statistics are available. This breaks down to one rape every 7.5 minutes, a bit different from the reported number. One further hidden fact about rape: According to Human Rights Watch and other concerned and reputable organizations, a high percentage of rape victims are 

male prisoners. Somehow empathy seems to be lacking for these folks above all others, and they also don’t show up in the DoJ’s statistics. 

Authors whose articles diverge from accuracy and fair treatment of people should have their work edited or in extreme cases, rejected. Women expect (and receive) no less. Isn’t it time we started treating all humans with the dignity and respect we all deserve, regardless of the sexual equipment with which we happen to have been born? 

J. Steven Svoboda 

Public Relations Director 

National Coalition of Free Men 

• 

ALBANY BULB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

First a disclaimer: My experience of the Albany Bulb is limited to one afternoon hike to see the scrap-art mentioned in a Daily Planet article. On the basis of that sparse observation, I want to comment on the second, July 12 article by John Geluardi with commentary by Osha Neuman. 

The immediate concern seems to be the use of heavy equipment to remove re-established squatters’ campsites, instead of removing things “by hand.” Public Works Supervisor John Medlock (as quoted by Mr. Geluardi) seems to make a good point about “a lot of broken glass and needles. We are trying to handle the debris as little as possible.” I did not see the squatters’ encampments, but if my husband or son were hired to do any clearing work on any part of the Albany Bulb, I would hope Mr. Medlock would stick to this position. 

Mr. Geluardi’s report of “concern among [unnamed] landfill visitors that mature trees and wildlife habitat will be destroyed,” along with Mr. Neuman’s use of phrases like “environmental damage,” the military euphemism, “environment as collateral damage,” “reduce biodiversity,” and “leave ugly scars,” could convey the mistaken image of a green, flourishing, unspoiled, natural area. That’s what I would think if I had not visited the site. It is an industrial construction-material dump. The scruffy bushes twisting over concrete blocks and rusted metal show only the persistence of life throughout decades of “environmental damage.” 

The art is impressive, in a dark way, quite unlike the whimsical Emeryville Mud Flat sculpture of 30 years ago. Much of the Bulb art depicts nightmarish and sado-masochistic fantasies. (Perhaps the materials at hand, as well as other aspects of our world have give inspiration toward the sinister.) 

If you decide to go to see the art, I offer some advice: 

1. Wear sturdy shoes with thick, protective soles. 

2. Once you have left the short, paved road keep your eyes on the ground. You will be walking on crude, rutted paths where partly concealed spears of construction rebar may stab through running shoes or (god forbid) thongs. 

3. Do not take small children with you unless you are willing to tether them to you at all times, and watch every step they take. 

4. Do not take older children either, unless they are so unadventurous as to stay on the “path.” On all sides there are large concrete blocks spiked with rebar, plus large, rusted, sharp clusters of metal, plus unidentifiable remains of destroyed buildings and roads. 

5. If you are over 60, bring your treking pole to steady you over the frequent ruts, dips, rocky ups and downs--studded, of course, with hazardous debris. 

6. Hope and pray that the county and the state come through with money and plans to do whatever it takes to clean up the Bulb and turn it into a shoreline park like our wonderful Caesar Chavez Park (which was once the Berkeley Dump). 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Robert Clear in his July 15 letter to the editor would like a response from “Hudson or Thomas” to his commentary on the “urban infill problem.” He juxtaposes urban infill and preservation issues and apparently sees a conflict. He suggests that preservation has gone too far and that the result has been a “social burden.”  

He is hereby referred to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association website where a pro-preservation perspective on many of the more controversial recent development issues can be found: www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/discourse.html.  

For those who believe Berkeley has been “excessive” (Mr. Clear’s word, not mine) in its landmarking decisions, please visit the photo gallery at the same website (www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/all_landmarks.html) to be sure you know the scope and nature of what’s at stake.  

Let it be said that infill development does not have to be at odds with preservation principles. Rather it is insensitive infill development that has caused ire among residents and preservationists.  

To its credit, a preservation perspective is sometimes solely about individual structures and their inherent worth. But equally often, preservation is a planning tool which affects a livable, quality environment that is inherently attractive. Its effects are beyond the landmarked building to the streetscape, neighboring structures, and community at large.  

Finally, as discussions about the Landmark Preservation Ordinance bring these issues to the fore, we would do well to take note of landmarked structures and their environs in order to evaluate preservation’s salubrious reach. Developers might do well to consider financial perks, e.g. the federal income tax credit, for rehabilitation of National Register properties. Homeowners might well investigate Mills Act tax benefits for qualified maintenance to locally landmarked homes. In short, a fair study of these issues would show preservation as friend and not foe and not intrinsically at odds with development.  

Janice Thomas 

• 

FIRE STATION 7 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Our pleas to city officials to refrain from enforcing rolling brownouts obviously fell on deaf ears. And now the threat of a major catastrophic fire is becoming a hard reality in the wake of recent fires in the city (including one yesterday near Fish Ranch Road). Despite assurances by the mayor’s office, the City Council and the Fire Department that Station 7 on Shasta Road was going to be staffed for the entire fire season, Berkeley hills residents were put in a perilous situation on July 6 when Station 7 was closed until 5 p.m. It was only through the diligence of its residents that the station was staffed after 5 p.m., following angry calls to the mayor’s office and the Fire Department. 

To place Berkeley residents in this precarious situation is not only irresponsible, it is highly negligent and constitutes a breach of trust by city officials who place greater priority on their pet projects over basic necessities like public safety. The threat of a major catastrophic fire hangs over us like the sword of Damocles and our city officials have acted like Dionysius by cutting our fire services. Alas, the sword hangs only by a strand of a horse’s hair.  

Cecilia Gaerlan 

Co-Captain, Shasta-Sterling Neighborhood Group 

• 

FORGET ROVE! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When the day is done I have four choices for news in prime time (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox), five if your include PBS. Actually “news” is somewhat inaccurate; “news bites” would be better. But, come to think of it, the news on any given day occupies a tiny portion of the half-hour allotted; reports of actual events get squeezed by the weight of advertising, pseudo entertainment and prophesies of “experts”—“Well, professor, tell our audience what you think the next move of X will be.” [Replace X with Bush, the Democrats, the terrorists, the insurgents—whatever.] Lately I’ve begun to ask myself “Why bother?” 

Consider how the issue involving Rove, Bush’s main man, has been hogging the news. Everybody has something to say. Did he leak? Did he lie? Did he violate the law? In spirit? In fact? Such questions are minuscule when compared to the Watergate potential of the Downing Street Memo—documented evidence that the Bush network was fixing the case for war, promising one thing while planning another.  

Karl Rove may be a liar, a thug, a genius. He may be fired. He may keep his job. He may get the Medal of Honor. The point, unacknowledged by newspersons everywhere is that Rove is alive and almost 1,800 of his fellow citizens, soldiers mostly in their early twenties, are not. Karl Rove is healthy but several thousand of his countrymen are permanently maimed.  

Newspersons, forget Rove! We belittle ourselves as a nation by spotlighting his venial sins rather than the grievous sins of George W. and his prompters.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo  

• 

STATIST RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What a clever title for Lin Biao’s letter (“Statist Quo,” July 12). And oh how bad it makes me feel to have come to that from a guy that was considered a (rhetorical) bomb-thrower in my distant youth. Age has its definite drawbacks. 

But wait. Taxes in society are quite analogous to club dues. Those that don’t like them can vote out the rascals that installed them. And there ain’t no free lunch in this or any other society. Those folks that don’t like taxes are sure interested, for the most part, in the services they buy. 

Just one example: The U.S. just lost a Toyota assembly plant to Canada despite several American states offering more financial incentives. It seems Toyota found that Canadian workers were better educated than American workers, so Toyota needed to spend less in training (and Toyota liked the lower health care cost per employee hour—about $5—that Canada’s national health plan offered) So we spend money on education and health care, and we get good paying jobs; we don’t spend that money, we lose the jobs.  

Mal Burnstein 

• 

POLICE BLOTTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a loyal reader of the Daily Planet, I, unlike most people, like the way Richard Brenneman writes the Police Blotter. I appreciate the sardonic wit. He seems to write with a good slant on things. Crimes are just that, crimes. Granted, they are not too often made light of, but Richard’s airy attitude towards them is a breath of fresh air. If you do not appreciate his style, then just ignore it. I’d rather read his Police Blotter than read readers’ thoughts and opinions on his writing. Stop crying about it. 

Richard, keep up the good work, there are those of us out here that don’t take your light-hearted observations as offensive. What’s offensive is the crimes themselves, not the manner in which it is reported. Naysayers please shut up already and let the man do his job, because I like the way he reports and not the way you mercilessly assault the man. 

Kudos, Richard, kudos. 

Dave Schwartz 

• 

STUDYING SLAVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his recent column about the proposal to change the name of Jefferson Elementary School, J. Douglas Allen Taylor most unfortunately persists in viewing all black persons as a homogeneous mass of people rather than the individuals that we are. His suggestion about studying more about slavery could accomplish nothing that would be of benefit to anybody, black or white. It is like he wants to blame today’s white people for what some of their remote ancestors did. I remember some time ago meeting a very lovely young woman who was a direct descendant of a Civil War Confederate general. I did not, and I do not blame her for what her distant ancestor did in fighting to preserve slavery. That is what he, not she, did; however, from the time I met her I had such great admiration for the very nice and gracious and energetic young woman she is that instead of blaming her for the slavery of so many centuries ago, I am sure that it would have been all right with me if she had made me her slave. 

It is only as individuals that any person, black or white, can achieve anything, and persons who do not know anything about Thomas Jefferson except that he owned slaves are incapable of offering any ideas that would be of benefit to themselves or anyone else. Mr. Taylor should study enough American history to know and appreciate the good things Thomas Jefferson did, such as drafting the Virginia Statute of Religion that dis-established the Anglican Church in the Virginia colony and proclaiming that all men are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights. Jefferson inherited slaves, as did George Washington, and Virginia law at that time made it impossible for them to free their slaves as both wanted to. 

Andrew Jackson did not inherit slaves; he bought slaves and became a slave-trader and he killed many black persons and many Native Americans and fought in several duels. What he did was far worse than what Thomas Jefferson did and I would like to replace his portrait on the twenty dollar bill with a portrait of our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That would be more beneficial to the country than changing the name of the Jefferson School. 

Charles J. Blue 

• 

AL QAEDA DOESN’T EXIST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Jalal Ghazi blames a fanciful “Cold War within Islamic forces” for the London bombings. That’s only credible if you believe a gang of “Islamic terrorists” is out to get you. Ghazi’s elaborate constructions and name-dropping may be impressive but they don’t jibe with what most dedicated researchers have been saying for the past few years. Nowadays nobody knows where “Osama bin Laden” is and nobody cares.  

It’s clear by now that “al Qaeda” doesn’t exist. Whole shelves of books debunk the 9/11 Islamic conspiracy theory. Dozens of websites will fill you in on all the details about collapsing buildings blown into dust, controlled demolitions, “suicide pilots” who are still alive, “Boeing 757s” swallowed up by tiny holes in the Pentagon, etc. Those doing the hard work have already concluded that 9/11 was an inside job, along with the anthrax scare, the “Washington sniper”, the multiple bombs that took down Okie City, and the Madrid operation, which is similar to the London attacks. Just recently revelations have come out about British MI5 and other double agents’ responsibility for so-called “IRA bombings” in Britain in the 1990s. Seems the “Real IRA” was not so real after all.  

All of this is phony nonsense designed to make people fear enemies from the outside when the real enemies are already in power, feeding off tax money, with the full CIA/DIA apparatus at their disposal. Bush and Blair will continue to stage these attacks whenever they feel their grip on power loosening. As long as people continue to believe in official fairy tales, their political will to challenge those in power will be sapped and they’ll be sitting ducks for more police oppression and military raids on the public treasury. It’s an old old game, easily seen through.  

Our media should not simply repeat government propaganda as if it were fact. Intelligent analysis of government motives and practices is necessary. Don’t bother printing Ghazi’s idle musings unless he’s ready to debunk government lies and help us turn the game around. No, there are no wild-eyed bearded Muslim scholars living in caves who are out to get you. And young students in Leeds are not capable of obtaining military explosives and blowing up trains. That’s the job of Special Forces troops and radio-controlled “suicide bombers” programmed in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. It’s time to wake up and smell the gelignite and phosphorous, for YOU may be Bush-Blair’s target next time.  

Steve Tabor  

Alameda 

POEM 

Whistle, horn, let’s end this twaddle once and for all. 

When I was younger than I am now, my lover stirred next to me deep in the night down here in West Berkeley, and whispered, half asleep, “Wow, that train is going really fast!” 

Now I am alone and much older, and since America invaded Iraq for false reasons, I hear the trains at night, still down here in West Berkeley, and I sense, half waking, “America is finished.” 

I have always loved the mournful sound of trains in the night, and how I would love to be wrong now. 

Patrick Fenix 

?

A VALUABLE ASSET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The purpose of a commission is to serve the citizens of Berkeley as best it can in the way it seeks to. It is healthy to have controversy and debate on issues from commissioners, but it is unhealthy when a commissioner is attempting to undermine a commission’s purpose as Commissioner Wornick is doing. His article stresses important points, but his arguments have little to do with the Peace and Justice Commission or its main goals. Relating fire stations and schools to Peace and Justice makes me wonder if perhaps Wornick is a bit confused. He opposes the issue which is good for establishing new strategies to work for Peace and Justice, but perhaps Wornick is looking at other issues, and needs to be a part of a commission that deals with issues like state of our schools and fire stations. It solves no problems, and eases no tensions between political ideologies when individuals seek only to criticize and undermine without looking to build.  

The Peace and Justice Commission is a valuable asset to our city and continues to serve the Berkeley community and to reflect Berkeley’s ideas in our nation and world. I am extremely grateful to have those commissioners working for efforts such as the Department of Peace, and hope the ideals of Peace and Justice we all strive for can be met with healthy debate and cooperation. 

Chris Howell 

• 

ALL POLITICS ARE LOCAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to you from the far away land of Michigan, where I currently enjoy wonderful weather, beautiful fresh water lakes, and am surrounded by the greens that our summers bring. However, it was not long ago that I had the pleasure of visiting your beautiful city when things were not so pleasant in my home town. I thank the citizens of Berkeley. You have a lovely community. 

I would like to respond to an op-ed piece by Jonathan Wornick, that was recently published in your paper with regard to the Department of Peace Resolution your City Council recently passed. It simply astounds me that someone so interested in seeing that city resources be well spent does not seem to have the insight to recognize the basic tenet of this bill, which is fiscally conservative in nature. Meeting violence at the causal level saves dollars now spent on the symptoms, while not solving any problems. Our jails, health care system, military expenditures are all examples of major expenses that could be mitigated addressing the problems of violence at the front end of the equation, rather than trying to poorly manage the symptoms of the underlying causes of violence at a cost we are increasingly unable to afford. Budgets are tight, schools are closing, billions are being spent overseas on a war largely admitted to have been based on “bad intelligence”...and we are paying the price at the local level, are we not? 

Having a Department of Peace at the federal level to research the underlying causes of violence both in this country and abroad, and using best practices to address conflict with non-violent solutions, certainly is an issue that would and should affect every town, city and municipality in our country. It follows that the citizens of this country should have an impact through their local governments on what the national politicians do or omit to so do. 

If there is any room for criticism it may be that the citizenry, through its local elected officials, has failed to be vigilant with regard to our federal government, and should become more involved, not less. It would do us well to follow Jefferson’s words carefully: “All politics are local.” Nothing that has ever been accomplished in terms of social justice issues has been done from the top down. Growing grass roots efforts have been at the forefront of every meaningful demonstration of social justice on the planet. 

The cities of Hamtramck and Detroit, Michigan have also passed similar resolutions in favor of a cabinet level Department of Peace. We do not advocate an unrealistic ideal, but propose a very practical and fiscally responsible law which makes these issues a national priority that would have as its goal the purpose of better enabling and expanding the chiefly ad hoc programs that currently attempt to deal with violence in our cities, states, country and the world, all of which affect each and every one of us. 

As an attorney, I cannot imagine anyone, who feels remotely responsible as a citizen in a democracy, advocating that one should not be concerned about national politics because it is not their job on the local level to so involve themselves, as politicians or otherwise. Quite the contrary...it is your job Mr. Wornick. Et tu, Councilman Wozniak? May I suggest that if you are uncomfortable with where you are sitting, that you consider changing your seat. 

Bravo to the Berkeley City Council for understanding its role. Keep shining your light—we can see by it all the way over here in the state of Michigan! 

Linda Henderson 

Lansing, Michigan 

• 

MISINFORMATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

People wondering why Berkeley took longer then neighboring cities to endorse the creation of a federal Department of Peace should understand that some people oppose Berkeley’s proud history of speaking out on national issues, a point driven home by the commentary “Opposed to a Department of Peace” (Daily Planet, July 12), which was riddled with misinformation that this reply seeks to address. 

The statement that the Peace and Justice Commission reviewed the “…legislation to save our elected officials from wasting their time and our money” is factually incorrect. First, a resolution is not legislation, it is a recommendation. By law of the Peace and Justice Commission act as a liaison between “…groups organizing around issues of peace and social justice and City government…” and advises the City Council on matters related to “…issues of peace and social justice, including …ending the arms race, abolishing nuclear weapons…and the reallocation of our national resources so that money…is spent on…the promotion of peace.” (Berkeley Municipal Code § 3.68.070) 

Saying his vote against a Peace Department was a message that City Council should do their job is ironic considering that a Peace and Justice Commissioner’s job is to read and apply the law quoted above and anyone properly doing that job would understand reviewing the Department of Peace proposal was based on our statutory responsibility, not some unsubstantiated notion that it might save time or money. I respect Mr. Wornick’s right, as an appointed official, to vote however he desires. Just as he should respect the competence of Kriss Worthington to decide which issues merit consideration by the City Council, since Mr. Worthington, was, after all, elected to make such decisions. 

Berkeley was the first city in the nation to divest from South Africa and pass economic sanctions against the repressive regime in Burma. In both cases other communities, and eventually Congress, modified these Berkeley-born ideas to create National Policy. In 1986 the voters adopted the Nuclear Free Zone Act, which specifically calls for City Council to work for peace. The council also enacted the legislation quoted above creating a Peace and Justice Commission for the specific purpose of advising the City Council on issues of Peace and Justice. And the Berkeley City Council unanimously voted, not once, but twice, to oppose the invasion of Iraq. This is powerful historic evidence that Berkeley voters want our local officials to promote peace and social justice, so the commentary’s premise that the job description of the mayor or City Council does not include taking such positions is clearly erroneous. 

Commissioner Wornick also states “… we already have a Department of State working for peace all over the world…” causing one to wonder if Wornick is aware that Secretary Powell went before the U.N. to justify war with Iraq based on the false premise that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The commentary also ask how Department of Peace supporters would feel if Donald Rumsfeld was appointed to run it. Recent pharmaceutical scandals involving Vioxx as a cause of heart attacks and stroke, and Viagra for causing blindness show how wrong things can go when the wrong people are placed in positions of power, but without a Food and Drug Administration things would be far worse. Should we really abolish the National Parks Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Forestry Service, and every other department in government because the president can make bad appointments? 

Indeed, we need not go to Washington. Right here in Berkeley some Peace and Justice commissioners oppose virtually every resolution calling for peace. That hasn’t dissuaded citizens from approaching the Peace and Justice Commission to get the City Council to endorse efforts toward peace and social justice, nor should it. And if they fail to get the commission recommendation they seek it remains their First Amendment right to go directly to their elected officials, as they did with the Department of Peace item. This, despite the displeasure it causes politically conservative folks, is how representative democracy is supposed to work. 

Elliot Cohen 

• 

BERKELEY’S VALUES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Like most Berkeleyans and our mayor, I am proud of Berkeley’s progressive tradition. From his editorial, “Opposed to a Department of Peace,” it appears Peace and Justice Commissioner Wornick is directly opposed to the mission and values of a commission he is responsible to uphold. A diversity of viewpoints on a commission is expected, but it is counterproductive for a commissioner to undermine a commission’s very mission. Since “Warnik” is more concerned about school and Fire Department issues, why not resign and offer his services instead to a PTA or the Fire Safety Commission? We call on Mayor Bates; Councilmembers Wozniak (who appointed him) Capitelli, and Olds; and School Board members Riddle and Rivera to appoint Commissioners who support citizen efforts towards peace. We are appreciative of the cooperative Peace and Justice commissioners who do our city proud by donating hundreds of hours to worthy efforts such as the Department of Peace, saving city staff both time and money. Of course the City Council focusses on practical local needs, and can also address global issues of local concern, without spending inordinate amounts of time thanks to the work of dedicated commissioners. 

Scott McCandless 

So Jonathan Wornick opposes the idea of a Department of Peace. As they say, it’s a free country. Mr. Wornick can have his opinion while the rest of Berkeley has theirs. But judging from the vehemence of his letter, it seems to me that the only reason he’s on Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission is so that he can fight against everything it stands for. Not very community spirited.  

Personally I think that the idea of a Department of Peace is a brilliant and revolutionary idea whose time will come. Think of it, a cabinet level officer to advise the president concerning, non-violent solutions to world problems. And if the U.S. does this, will not other nations follow? And if the Department of Peace idea catches on world wide, could war become obsolete? A brave dream but one worth dreaming. If you think about it, it’s Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission expanded to the federal level.  

People like to make fun of Berkeley with its own “foreign policy,” but Berkeley’s caring international activism helped bring down apartheid. We will help make this dream come true as well.  

Blaine Brende  

• 

DEPARTMENTS OF WAR 

Wornick has it wrong. 

The State Department is actually the second Department of War, the first being the Department of “Defense.” 

We need a Department of Peace. 

David Wald?

It’s not often that I discover a rich new metaphor in a bureaucratic memo. So it was a pleasant surprise to come across the image of the planner as alchemist in the California Senate Local Government Committee’s analysis of Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s Assembly Bill 691.  

AB 691 would make it easier for counties and cities to designate existing land use plans, including redevelopment plans, as transit village plans and thereby easier to create transit villages—dense, mixed-use developments within walking distance (a quarter-mile) of transit stations. “The bill,” writes Senate staff analyst Peter Detwiler, “lets local officials practice a bit of planning alchemy, converting existing plans into golden opportunities.”  

Clearly, Mr. Detwiler intends his magic trope as a high compliment. Metaphors are however notoriously unstable things, susceptible to multiple, indeed conflicting, interpretations. To my mind, the image of the alchemist-planner wonderfully captures some of the more dubious aspects of the planning profession, particularly as that line of work is pursued in the Land Use Planning Division of the Berkeley Planning Department.  

For starters, it exposes the pretension of planners’ claims for the objective, not to say scientific, character of their work. That pretension is legitimated by claims for the value-free authority of professional expertise in general.  

During the City Council’s recent public hearing on the budget, City Manager Kamlarz shot down the money-saving idea of having the minutes of commission meetings taken by citizen volunteers instead of paid staff. Official minutes have to be taken by a neutral party, said the city manager, and that meant that only staff could take them.  

In the nearly seven years that I served on the Planning Commission, staff-taken minutes accurately reflected the commission’s proceedings. As far as I know, that’s still the case. But the fairness of those records stands in stark contrast to the partiality that skews so much of the other work done by the city’s planning staff.  

As documented in numerous articles, editorials, commentaries and letters in the Daily Planet, the Planning Department is heavily biased toward development. And not just any development: it favors big over little; urban amnesia over historic preservation; housing and retail over development that benefits light industry, artists and artisans; transit-oriented projects over those geared to the private automobile. Some of these preferences, such as transit-oriented development, are generally desirable. But that’s beside the point, which is that our officially neutral civil servants have their own agenda.  

That agenda also includes a cause that staff pursue with greater zeal than development of any sort: the aggrandizement of staff authority and power. Because it’s members of the public who most often challenge both the development promoted by the Planning Department and staff per se, a top priority of the Land Use Planning Division is the suppression of citizen participation and influence.  

Mind you, I’ve worked with Berkeley planning staff who serve the community with dedication and respect, and who welcome citizen participation. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Planning Department has cultivated a model of civil service in which the public figures principally as an adversary. Since Berkeley is professedly a democracy, the adversarial model can’t be openly acknowledged. Instead, planners pay lip service to the public while subverting its prerogatives.  

Like the alchemists of yore, their strategems include mystifying language and esoteric procedures. To be sure, some of these expedients are based in city, state and or federal laws not of their own making. The complex process and abstruse terminology associated with environmental impact reports, for example, are stipulated by the California Environmental Quality Act.  

But how CEQA and other laws get interpreted and implemented is largely determined by city staff. Again and again, citizens find themselves flummoxed by staff machinations: selective and/or prejudicial readings of the law, cooked data, weird schedules that fast-track controversial projects, manipulative meeting formats and prevarication that sometimes verges on mendacity.  

The most potent deterrent to public influence, however, is secrecy. Standard dodges include inadequate notification, untimely reports, withheld or buried information and—perhaps staff’s single most effective expedient—secret meetings.  

It’s a major flaw of California’s sunshine law, the Brown Act, that it applies only to elected officials and their appointees, not to professional staff who work for public entities. Unlike their nominal bosses, our civil servants can and do take their decisions behind closed doors. Presumably their exemption is justified by the mistaken belief that staff are singularly disinterested parties. Whatever the rationale, this huge loophole shields our bureaucrats from public scrutiny, thereby giving them undue power over the people they’re paid to serve.  

Getting rid of voodoo expertise will involve a lot more than training sessions in customer service. Berkeley residents may think that city staff’s principal duty is to the citizenry, but it’s not. The staff’s first obligation is to the city manager.  

That was made painfully obvious in June, when Berkeley’s outgoing health officer, Dr. Poki Namkung, publicly charged the city’s Health and Human Services Department with fiscal mismanagement. According to the Daily Planet, on May 3 City Manager Kamlarz sent Namkung a letter reminding her “that under Berkeley’s form of government she was not to have written or oral communication with the mayor or council.”  

In other words, staff secrecy and non-accountability to the public are embedded in Berkeley’s city manager system itself. If we want staff to be open and accountable, we need to rethink and then reform the very foundations of Berkeley municipal governance. The first step is to stop believing in magic.  

Taking that step, by the way, means casting a wary eye on AB 691. The downside of this bill, as noted in Peter Detwiler’s admirably evenhanded analysis, is that it “limits public participation.” To designate an area a transit village—the phrase itself qualifies as planner mumbo jumbo—cities and counties now have to go through two noticed public hearings, the first at the planning commission and the second at the city council or county board of supervisors. AB 691 requires only that a public notice be issued ten days before the new designation is enacted.  

The assumption here is that transit village-ization is unquestionably a good thing. But planners’ alchemy can run in reverse, turning urban gold into the equivalent of base metal. Would ten days have been long enough to mobilize the hundreds of north Oakland residents whose protests have delayed the Oakland Redevelopment Agency’s plan to declare their neighborhoods a blighted redevelopment area so as to subsidize, among other things, a transit village at MacArthur BART?  

?

I’m sitting in the middle seat of an Alaska Airline flight from Seattle to Oakland. An hour ago I arrived at SeaTac on a much smaller prop plane that had taken off from Spokane. Before that I was in the backseat of a Ford Explorer “taxi” owned by the Moose Express. I’ve been in Sandpoint, Idaho, for a week visiting friends. Now I’m heading home. 

On my lap I hold an ordinary gray cardboard egg carton. But within the box is something extraordinary. Every so often I open the lid and peek inside. 

The carton contains a dozen chicken eggs. 

But these are not ordinary, run-of-the-mill, factory-produced eggs. These are Northern Idaho Panhandle eggs, or more exactly, eggs from the Arucana chickens owned by Lois Clizer, who lives in the Cabinet Mountains near the Montana border, below British Columbia. These are, in all respects, magic eggs. 

And they are blue. 

Lois Clizer has homesteaded 40 acres of land along Flume Creek for the past 35 years. She is 74 years old and resides in a cabin once shared by the Hucklebery Duckleberry Commune. Down the road lives her daughter Ann and Ann’s husband, Chris. Beyond them lives another daughter, Janet and her son, Aza. Scattered up and down the mountainside are more relatives and friends. The Clizers are a big clan, composed of eight siblings and a slew of grandkids and great-grandkids. Most of them were involved in the logging business at one time or another. But now that logging is on a downswing, they make livings doing whatever needs to be done. Chris works with metal and engines. Janet cleans houses. Aza is a carpenter and mechanic. Ann writes. 

I am coming home from a visit with Ann. We met eight years ago at a writers’ conference on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Ann mesmerized me with stories of her mountains and way of life. For years she lived in a two-room cabin with no electricity or running water. Twenty-one years ago she gave birth to her daughter Maya in one of those rooms. She baked bread from scratch, raised horses, and dozens of dogs and cats. She fought off skunks, cougars, porcupines, and the deer who tried to enter her garden and take off with her tomatoes, peppers and squash. 

Year after year she watches the snow fall, the spring ice melt, the summer solstice come and go, the leaves change as fall approaches. It’s a world so different from the East Bay it is mind boggling. The pace is slow. You can hear the roar of bumblebees among the blackberries, the honk of geese migrating down from Canada, thunder claps across the valley above the southwestern Selkirk Mountains. At dusk moose amble in the lower marshes and in the early morning hours a lone grizzly bear has been seen sniffing around the old woodshed and outhouse. 

I take another peek at the eggs. Each one is a different shade: pale blue, cerulean, aqua, azure, turquoise, light green, olive. Some are speckled with flecks of brown and gold. They are of varying size and shape, not smooth and perfect like Safeway eggs, but rough and luminous, so dazzling they hurt my eyes. 

I don’t usually speak to my seatmates while flying. I prefer to remain quiet, catching up on reading and crossword puzzles. But today is different. Today I hold in my lap a small piece of untamed Idaho, 12 fabulous gems. I want to share their beauty with everyone. 

“Look,” I say to the man and woman on either side of me. “Look what I have.” I open the box. Both of them lean forward and stare. “Blue eggs,” I say. “From Idaho.”  

“Remarkable,” says the man. 

“Fantastic,” says the woman. 

“Magic,” I say, and then I close the box, squeeze my eyes shut, and try to conjure up the sweet pine and weedy heat of wild Idaho before my plane sets down in Oakland.

Range fire 

A quick response by Berkeley firefighters to a residence at 1510 Olympus Ave. last Monday morning, July 11, caught a kitchen range fire before it had time to do more than $1,000 in damage, said Berkeley Fire Department spokesperson Deputy Chief David P. Orth. 

Nursing home blaze 

It sure helps to have a fire station next door, as residents of St. Rafael’s Nursing Home at 2628 Shattuck Ave. discovered last at 6:05 p.m. last Tuesday. 

Smelling smoke, residents called the fire department, and soon folks were arriving from Station 5, which is one door to the south. 

The location of the blaze proved to be something of a mystery, and tenants were relocated to areas away from the site of the suspected blaze, and plans were made to relocate them to other homes. 

Firefighters finally found the cause of the blaze—an electrical short in wiring buried deep under attic insulation, and they had to remove the ceiling from one room to bring it under control. 

Orth said the fire and necessary ax and saw work caused an estimated $100,000 in damage to the structure and $15,000 in damage to contents. 

The fire was out before it became necessary to move the tenants to other homes, he added. 

Stairway arson? 

A blaze of suspicious origins did $500 in damage to an exterior wooden stairway on a building at 1733 San Pablo Ave. shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday.›

Our lively and well-read local Berkeley newspaper, the Berkeley Daily Planet, and its eminences grises, the O’Malleys, are apparently under sustained assault by some city politicians and officials who do not like their attitude and who neither understand nor respect the role of a free press. Newsracks and newspaper copies have mysteriously disappeared, city public noticing has been pulled, certain insider local businesses have pulled advertising (or decline to advertise in the first place), and there is extensive and inappropriate badmouthing of the paper and its management. 

Is our press once again being stolen and recycled, as happened in the 2002 mayoral election with the Daily Cal? Are the current events a more subtle version of this prior regrettable but actual, factual incident? 

We live in an era of incredible information flow. There is a plethora of news sources and opinions—Internet newspapers and blogs, e-mail, websites, talk radio, teleconferencing, cellphones, cable coverage, videostreaming, traditional print media and journals, and probably many other venues that I have not yet discovered. Interested members of the public are now able to hear many voices and opinions and make up their own minds, and spreaders of information and misinformation, including government and politicians, are likely to encounter immediate response and argument. This is our information world and those of who are in public life had better get used to it. 

In my opinion, the Planet has provided an incredible public service to Berkeley residents in a professional, lively, and up-to-date manner. Yes, the owners/editors have their opinions, but they have every right to print them in their editorials. Yes, there are a lot of critical and carping signed opinion pieces and letters by civic activists, but so what? If members and supporters of the current civic establishment have something to say, they too are free to write opinion pieces and letters and have them published in the Planet. And yes, there are signed news stories with lively headlines that pretty accurately report on the issues and voices heard at public meetings. I have not yet heard of any instance where an “establishment” article or letter or news “correction” was turned down by a biased Planet staff. Is it possible that the those who are now running Berkeley have nothing (more) to say, or are afraid of putting their thoughts out in black and white in the Planet for all to see and respond to? Or do they already have a built-in spin machine, paid for by us taxpayers, and taking the form of press releases, city-sponsored websites, city-sponsored newsletters, city-sponsored public meetings, City Council meetings, and so on?  

I know that our politicians and city officials mostly believe that they are doing the best that they possibly can and making the best possible decisions on the basis of the best possible facts. They still need to hear from the public and the press, who sometimes know and think things that officialdom does not. I know that Berkeley issues are tough and serious, but this is exactly why a free press and many public opinions are so important. I know that it is hard for public officials to be criticized, corrected, and satirized, but that is in the nature of our lively information system and democracy.  

So, my plea to local officialdom and its supporters is to cease attacking the messengers, listen more closely to the messages, and engage more fully and honestly in the dialogue about vital local issues. With respect to the Berkeley Daily Planet in particular, instead of trying to discredit and undermine it, please join its lively exchanges and give us all more opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussion.  

Barbara Gilbert is a Berkeley civic activist who is grateful to live in a free society with a free press and without fear of a Gulag for her opinions. 

›

Unfortunately, the only thing that can be said for the school district in how it goes about wasting our tax monies in doing construction is that it does not learn from past mistakes. 

While in the city, six-figure salaries are justified because they pay for highly qualified staff, with the school district, six-figure salaries continually pay for poorly educated and incompetent staff. BUSD continually hires and promotes people who do not have the ability to do a good job. BUSD hired a food services manager, who was only a high school graduate, and had never run a food services department. She lost over $3 million dollars before she “voluntarily” left to run a prison cafeteria. The manner in which construction in this district is mismanaged is another case in point 

One year ago, BUSD began a landscaping project at Willard Middle School, projected to take two months. Fourteen months later, they’re still constructing. Anyone in construction knows that there is an appropriate sequence of steps. First, you build your all hardscape, and then you put in your plants and other softscape. But not BUSD. First, they trenched the asphalt and installed irrigation pipes. Then they patched up the asphalt, laid pavers and sod and plants. Now, they are tearing up the asphalt, and putting in a fence. Why wasn’t this coordinated? Why pay for trenching and patching? Why put in grass which is now being trampled, and irrigation boxes, which are now being cracked? Despite the fact that knowledgeable folks pleaded with BUSD, BUSD insisted on installing sprinkler heads that are 12 inches above the ground, especially along busy Telegraph Avenue and a bus stop. No wonder, the sprinkler heads are continually being broken and vandalized. The BUSD staff manager said, it’s no big deal. Hey, a $200 irrigation box here, a thousand dollars there. After all, BUSD has had $275 million of our money to burn. 

Several years ago, against the recommendation from the Maintenance Advisory Committee, BUSD installed wood parquet floors at Cragmont Elementary School in the lunchroom. Lunchroom floors need to be mopped daily. Wood and water, especially in a highly used area are not good partners. Three years later, that floor had to be removed and replaced. 

Yet, BUSD continually cries poor and asks for tax increases, it is also installing a new fence at Willard that is costing a mint—with over a dozen brick pillars and a custom wrought iron. Why? There isn’t enough money to retrofit some classrooms, or to meet all the teachers’ requests for inside the classroom, but we’re building brick-pillared custom wrought iron fences and gates? Aesthetically attractive material can be inexpensive and sturdy. Just look at Koolhaus’ fabulous public library in Seattle, made out of industrial materials. 

A week or two ago, an opinion in this paper excorciated the school district for waste. What will it take for the school district to pay attention? In November 2006, BUSD will be asking us again for more money. Maybe it is time to turn off the funding spigot and insist on performance audits. 

Yolanda Huang is chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission.›

A proud history of evoking an entire disability movement for equal rights is coming to shame at the Center for Independent Living. Its executive director, Jan Garrett, seems bent on abandoning doctrines of fair treatment for employees and absolute fairness, efficiency and dedication to providing excellent service above all—in favor of wielding personnel policies, overlooking inefficiencies and making the bottom line the primary consideration in decision making. 

I worked there for three years, some two years ago now, coordinating an independent living services program for the disabled community. The program, with me at the helm, profitted financially and in its reputation for the first time since its inception in the ‘80s. I worked very hard to do this; did nothing illegal or unethical; kept accurate records. What I also did was to work pretty independently. As long as the money rolled in, I was a hero. The Moving On program at CIL is the only one which has to support itself and it does so with individual contracts for consumers paid for by either the Regional Center of the East Bay or The State Department of Rehabilitation, which working relationship I established while working as coordinator. 

Today, I learned that I have been and it is the prevailing lore, that I was successful in my job because I was “unethical.” Last month, a 30-year employee of CIL was dismissed—his counselling service discontinued—for what were called financial reasons. Phil Chavez is a cornerstone—a lynch-pin—of CIL. I attended a board meeting following his being given notice of termination. There were many members of the community present—at least 15 of whom were present or past recipients of the counselling group he coordinated—telling how valuable the service had been to them and how could Phil Chavez be fired? He is synonymous with the Center for Independent Living. 

Many months ago, another employee was summarily dismissed with no warning and no explanation. In a letter subsequently received by her, it was stated that she could no longer be trusted with inventory—i.e. she was accused of stealing. If you knew her, you knew her to not be capable of stealing. Just that simple. The accusation was never proved; she denied any such acts in a letter to the board of directors; and went on to seek other employment and early retirement.  

It happens that I shared an office with this person for the three years I worked as a coordinator at CIL. Imagine, a thief and a slime both in the same office. Imagine what crimes they cooked up between them. 

I am writing this letter because I am angry at having been referred to as unethical. Because I think of myself as one of the most creative people I know and certainly one of the most honest—in the ways I express myself and in just the conduct of my life. I have lived in Berkeley for almost 40 years and done lots of things; participated in a changing community and tried to contribute the best of myself, which is what I did while at CIL. If I could afford it, I would sue Jan Garrett. I would force a showdown in this old Western town. But I can’t afford it. CIL can continue to let itself be oblivious to the dictates of what is true and to its own growing disrepute and inefficiencies. It can’t afford it either, though.  

It is my opinion that if Jan Garrett can’t dictate the terms, she terminates the agreement—if she can’t be successful in wielding power over an individual—if they stand up to her or don’t ask her permission to exist in their function—they go. I was not fired; my position was not eliminated; but I could no longer tolerate the environment of having me do all the work to make a program successful and then be criticized for doing so. 

Iris Crider is a Berkeley resident. 

3

While some of the specific intelligence regarding Iraq has proven false, and some of it controversial, it may be helpful to look at just the intelligence that nobody seems to disagree with. The controversies make the front page more often but the non-controversial material is heavy stuff. 

One frightening fact is that with access to raw materials, knowledge, and a few simple tools, a resourceful and intelligent organization can produce weapons of mass destruction cheaply, quickly, and stealthily. With a little work, they can likely transport them globally and deploy them, undetected until the moment of deployment. This fact is uncontroversial since it is just a summary description of a pretty obvious property of the state of humankind’s technological and economic development. (Here is proof that this fact is uncontroversial: When Colin Powell told the U.N. of trucks converted to biological weapons labs, not a single scientist in the entire world said “Oh, that’ s not feasible.”) 

We also all seem to agree, although individual reports are sometimes wrong, that there certainly exist s a large, international black market for the raw materials, technology, knowledge, experts, and finished products of WMD production. In economic terms: Demand is up for the means to end the world! 

And we know, sadly, that asymmetric warfare has been declared on the U.S. by a collection of private organizations who control lots of money and do things like set up training camps to prepare fighters with precisely the kinds of skill needed for stealthy WMD materials gathering, improvisation, construction, and deployment. 

Nobody contests, either, that certain governments clearly harbor, assist, and otherwise link up with these private organizations. That’s because it’s not surprising: governments are points of control for otherwise largely unregulated and sometimes difficult-to-observe international commerce, travel, and communication. If one wants to participate in or help run a black market, one could hardly do better than to operate with the cover of a government office. Governments and black markets and private armies have a natural symbiotic relationship.  

Now, Iraq certainly had a fine resume as one of those nations that reached out to terrorists and dabbled in black markets. That is interesting but not distinguishing. Iraq had other qualifications: 

Other properties of Iraq nobody really argues about: The tyrannical nature of Saddam’s regime; the mass killings; the attempted territory grab of Kuwait; the systematic, vast, and unchecked prisoner abuse that makes Abu Graib look like a night out at the Power Exchange; the control of citizens via terror; procurement of women for rape by members of the elite; forcing Keystone Cops games with U.N. inspectors; redirecting aid and letting citizens starve; and ... maintaining a hostile posture towards the U.S. 

Nobody seriously argues (any more): sanctions weren’t even close to working—they just helped filter all commerce through Saddam’s government thus giving him more power. 

It’ s not controversial, either, that Iraq was weak in conventional military terms and is located in a key region that is central to the war on terror. 

Although programs such as Oil for Food failed and experienced some discredit, we can say at least this much about them: For 10 years, the U.N. tried its damnedest to help Iraq “come in from the cold” and distinguish itself from those governments who, by their actions, promote terror. That program and other efforts didn’t have to end in corruption. Saddam had years and years in which to just say “Screw it. You guys are right. Let’s clean up this place.” Instead, he flung the occasional rocket at a U.S. fighter jet and tried to engage the U.N. in a little crude embezzlement scheme. If, during those 10 years, the top ranks of the Saddam regime had been replaced by, say, the Berkeley City Council—who had to operate under all the same sanctions and threats and trade opportunities—where do you think Iraq would be today? Do you think the U.N. or even the U.S. was making it hard for Saddam to transform Iraq in a positive direction? 

So: We were (and are) faced with an overall enemy which is a strange mix of private organizations and governments and parts of governments. We are certain that that enemy is making alarming progress at training and deployment and the creation of a black market for trade in war materials. In Iraq we have a strategically inviting target (geographically, governmentally, politically, morally, economically, etc.) against which, we on the left must remember, an attack spells the end of an obscenely oppressive regime. We made all of this explicitly clear to the regime in question who had, in effect, but to lift a finger to free his people and avoid the present conflict. Our failure to act would have enabled our enemies to close the military vulnerabilities of Iraq and secure the black market of war as an impregnable force. There is no other conclusion but that we would have had to be suicidal to not attack Iraq at this particular point in history—by his actions, Saddam was promoting the devastation of our society and the efforts to which he contributed were and remain a significant threat. The reasonable person principle applies here: he had more than a decade to avert the present outcome. 

Having attacked Iraq we see imperfect progress but progress nonetheless. The roots of a more individualistic, egalitarian, democratic, and free society are clearly taking hold, by all accounts. A region of people once enslaved to warring elites unified by their hostility to the U.S. is being transformed into a democratic region, ultimately to be governed, policed and protected by it’s own. 

Towards a Progressive Agenda, Given War 

There is no use crying over spilled milk. Of all possible outcomes to the conflict in Iraq, progressive values are certainly best served by a just, efficient, and swift suppression of the insurgency and an intensive, multi-modal integration of the new Iraq into the civilization of coalition forces. All other plausible outcomes harm progressive causes in deep ways. The left, as much as the reddest of red-state citizens, has a strong interest in supporting and helping the coalition to complete the victory, and helping to integrate the new Iraqi people with the rest of peace-oriented civilization. 

Domestically, we are missing an opportunity. Progressives should be demonstrating their intellectual prowess by presenting the nation with a clear economic vision—worked out math, rough plans of action—for a just and sustainable domestic economy (or at least for an economy which trends in that direction). At this point in history we have a conjunction of domestic investment capital with not much to invest in, large numbers of un- or under-employed workers, and ecologically dubious consumption patterns. The left needs an intellectual center within which economic planning can contemplate that conjunction and propose steps that address all three problems at once with, dare I say it, marketable solutions. 

Finally, the popular-media dialectic—red vs. blue states, left vs. right, conservatives vs. liberals—has got to go. A large, coherent, and justifiably angry coalition has formed largely in response to the soap-box politics of blue state newspapers and other media producers. In all our public forums it is de rigeur to make fun of right wingers and red staters to the point where we are practically denying their essential humanity. Then we turn around and are surprised when the large number of (often) hard-working, (often) family-oriented, (frequently) joyful, (fundamentally) loving people referred to in our snide remarks get wind of them, take note, and express alarm and organized resistance. The public image of the left in the U.S. is largely constructed by would-be progressives and is just about the opposite of an image consistent with being a leadership movement. In that sense, it's time for “the left” (such as it is) to apologize to the red states, embrace the common causes, and starting bringing diplomatically marketable good ideas back into politics. 

Tom Lord is a Berkeley resident.?

I live on Spruce Street between Cedar and Vine. As a result of construction for the Beth El Temple, many, many construction vehicles, trucks and heavy equipment trailers are going up and down our residential street at very early hours of the morning—before 8 a.m. I am further concerned that there will be more through traffic on Spruce as a result of the exit planned onto Spruce from Beth El.  

Our street is a residential street, not a “collector” or through street and little has been done to enable us to enjoy the quiet residential aspect of the neighborhood since the barrier was removed at Rose and Spruce. I would like to see our street returned to its original status as I am concerned the problem will worsen once Beth El funnels its traffic on to Spruce Street. 

I had no idea how massive the Beth El project was going to be. Now that I see it, I am very concerned about the traffic on Spruce street as a result. I was under the impression that all traffic would go to Oxford Street, the through street in the area.  

I also understand that the Beth El leaders have failed to live up to their agreement with our neighborhood association and that despite that, the city is preparing to issue a certificate of occupancy for the project. 

I pay taxes to the city, and in return I expect the city to provide essential services and protect my interests. The Beth El project will have major negative impacts on my neighborhood.  

It was to mitigate those impacts that LOCCNA went through a long and hard negotiation with Beth El’s leaders. After many compromises, a deal was reached, a legally binding agreement signed, and the language of that agreement incorporated into the conditional use permit issued for the project. 

That deal was a compromise. To preserve the creek and minimize parking and traffic impacts on our neighborhood and our daily lives, LOCCNA’s negotiators yielded on a number of key points.  

Since that deal is written into the city’s permit conditions, if the congregation’s leaders fail to live up to the deal they signed, it is the city’s responsibility to enforce it. 

I demand that the city require full compliance with the conditions it specified before allowing the buildings to be occupied. 

In particular: 

• The city must require an adequate, detailed parking plan that complies with the language of the agreement and the permit. 

• The city must ensure the protection of Codornices Creek by requiring bank-stabilization and other landscaping before permitting occupancy. 

It is self-evident to anyone looking at the buildings being constructed that this is a massive addition placed in the middle of a residential neighborhood—my neighborhood. It is time for the city to show that it means what it says about neighborhood preservation by enforcing its own rules. It would be a shame if we citizens had to sue our own city to make it do what is right and what the city said it would do to support our agreement. 

Mary Ciddio is a 20-year Berkeley resident and taxpayer.›

At one end of the room by the patio in the Berkeley City Club that serves as theater for Central Works Ensemble, a rough-hewn cross studded with spikes adorns the wall above a gothic chair, a wooden ecclesiastic throne. A lamp hangs by a chain, guttering. To Gregorian chanting, a wry, acerbic figure in plain habit and shaved head looks upward, fixedly, as if staring at the light from a mullioned glass window we see reflected on the walls. 

“Have mercy on me, o God,” the man intones. “I have done such evil in your sight, you are just in your sentence.” There’s the sound of flames crackling, and the man faints, awakened later by a black man, a Moor, in a more elaborate robe: “Don’t you recognize me, Your Eminence? ... You’re the Grand Inquisitor of Spain!” 

These two are the only two performers the audience will see over the following hour and a half. But not the only two characters. 

Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor was originally a story within another story. In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan the skeptic tells his pious brother Alyosha a parable: what would happen if Jesus came back to the world at the point of the Church’s greatest moment of power and authority? How would the judge and torturer of those wayward from the Church’s teachings react to his crucified god? 

Dostoevsky intended it, at least in part, as a parable of the division between the authority of the Roman Church and the Protestant call to the grace of God as the only authority—thereby justifying the Eastern Church as the only one preserving the integral Christian message. There have been many stagings of this story, abstracted from its context in the novel, and Central Works has come up with one that’s uniquely successful, a truly imaginative adaptation that expands on the situation for a contemporary audience. 

Dostoevsky’s little tale centers on a one-sided dialogue between a silent Christ and an admonitory Grand Inquisitioner who has had Jesus dragged in from the streets of Sevilla where he has been working miracles. Decades before August Strindberg came up with the kind of one-sided monologue delivered by one actor to another: “silent one,” a form of exposition that bears Strindberg’s name and has been a mainstay of American theater since Eugene O’Neill. Dostoevsky realized the same innovation in his story. 

“The trouble with that,” laughed Central Works director Jan Zvaifler, “is what actor’s going to want to play a part with no lines, listening to another actor constantly talking?” 

In the unique collaborative style Central Works has developed, Zvaifler and adapter Gary Graves (both co-directors and founders of the Ensemble—Graves also plays the Grand Inquisitor himself) worked with actor David Skillman (a first-timer with the company, a stunning debut) and the production staff to come up with what might be called an improvization on the theme in four scenes, each featuring a different character collateral with the Grand Inquisitioner, all played by the shape-shifting Skillman. 

The story gradually unfolds as the Moorish “familiar” to the Inquisitor, who finds him on the floor, victim of a fit, tells him of the latest auto-de-fe and execution of heretics, all of whom confessed—except for a certain Verazuela, who the Inquisitor, once alone, wrily addresses in absentia, saying he’ll be missed. The others—the Jew “who wore his circumcision on his sleeve;” the Moor’s own cousin, a false convert from Islam—were merely garrotted; the unrepentent one burned at the stake, unnervingly serene. 

The Inquisitioner ferrets it out of the familiar: An apparent mountebank, who the crowds seem to believe is Christ come again, has worked a miracle, giving sight back to a blind beggarwoman on the cathedral steps. “An old wives’ tale!” barks the Inquisitor, “I know every beggar in Sevilla!” 

The subsequent scenes bring Skillman back again and again in different roles to be confronted by Graves’ relentless yet subtle Inquisitor. As the ironically-named beggarwoman Magdalena, Skillman clutches his ragged shawl over his head and asks, “I hear people in pain; is this a prison?”—“Oh no, no, my dear; this is much more than a prison!” The beggarwoman confesses her own deceptiveness, but won’t surrender her belief that she met—“Him!”—at least, not until threatened. 

Skillman later reappears as the executioner, in masked leather hood and apron, leading the Inquisitor through self-mortification that mimicks the grisly fate of the confessed heretics. And finally, in what would be merely a tour-de-force, if it weren’t for the light touch of ambiguity in the adaptation and the extreme sensitivity of Skillman’s interpretation in subtle expression and gesture, this exceptional “utility man” appears as “Him!”—returning Christ or itinerant imposter?—to face the outpourings of the Inquisitor. It could ironically be either a self-contradictory confession (almost at once denying God, yet announcing the stranger as Christ—before changing his tack again) or a clever baiting of the prisoner to react, to declare himself and be condemned. 

Gary Graves plays the title character he’s adapted with an almost reptilian twist and leer, an exceptional person who feels himself close—and superior—to both man and God. David Skillman is the soul of the unspoken thoughts and emotions that play across his face, underpinning his spoken words, eloquent in silence. Jan Zvaifler’s direction furthers Central Works’ tradition of a thorough, imaginative combination of a few spare elements (and players) on a small stage in an intimate room—as does the work of Robert Anderson, Gregory Scharpen and Tammy Berlin, in light, sound and costume design. 

Central Works presents The Grand Inquisitor through July 31 at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and at 5 p.m. Sundays. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. $9-25 sliding scale. For more information, call 558-1381 or see www.centralworks.org. r

TUESDAY, JULY 19 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Official Pep Talks” installation and interactive project by The Susan O'Malley Research Team opens at 5 p.m. at ProArts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland, and runs through Aug. 7. 763-4361. www.proartsgallery.org 

FILM 

Eyeing Nature “Proteus: A Nineteenth-Century Vision” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Brian Kane, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Sarah Manning Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Latin Youth Ensemble of San Francisco at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “Darling Lili” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Arab Women Film Festival “Wild Flowers: Women of the South” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest with three short films from Mexico and Argentina at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 415-642-8066. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rebecca Solnit discusses “A Field Guide to Getting Lost” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Curtis Woodman Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Balkan Folkdancing at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lessons at 7 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. 

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

Bryan Girard Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Kaki King at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Palenque at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JULY 21 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Wholly Grace” works by Susan Duhan Felix. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Badé Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave. 848-0528. 

Residency Projects by Kala Fellowship artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Exhibit runs to Sept. 3. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Skyscraper Souls” at 7:30 p.m. and “Lady Killers” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Betsy Burton reads from “The King’s English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller” at 7 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Margot Pepper, journalist, reads from “Through the Wall: A Year in Havana” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. Sponsored by Global Exchange. 415-575-5534. 

Mark O’Connell introduces “The Good Father: On Men, Masculinity, and Life in the Family” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Steve Arntson & Christopher Robin at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with the David Thom Band at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza.  

Kaki King at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. 

Richard Kalman & Con Alma Vocal Jazz Septet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Kid Beyond at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Pete Madsen at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Peter Barshay/Rich Kuhns Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Bobby Watson & Horizon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, JULY 22 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “A Murder is Announced” at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Runs Fri. and Sat. through Aug. 13. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 31, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Central Works, “The Grand Inquisitor” Thurs - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 31. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Anything Goes” Cole Porter’s musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

“Livin’ Fat” a comedy about an African American family struggling over a financial blessing, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., through July 30, at Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$35. 233-9222. 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “The Spy in Black” and “Q Planes” at 9:10 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Buhle describes “Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Jazzschool Summer Youth Concert at 6:30 p.m. at the Jazz 

school. Free. 845-5373.  

Hungarian and Night Music with tango lessons at 7 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Benefits the Latin American Music Scholarship Fund. Cost is $12-$15. www.berkeleymusiccooperative.com  

Caimalantin Latin Jazz Quartet at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Terry Rodriguez, Buford Powers Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Free Peoples, bluegrass/jazz at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Andrew McKnight at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tommy Emmanuel at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Sara Leib Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Echo Beach, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Penelope Houston, Moore Brothers, Willow Willow at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Bafabegiya, Disconnect, The Sweethearts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Radical Politics and Folk Music with David Rice, Robert Temple and Folk This! at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 208-1700.  

Beenie Man at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

Du Uy Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bobby Watson & Horizon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JULY 23 

THEATER 

“The Ugly American” Created and performed by Mike Daisey at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Aug. 13. Tickets are $30-$35. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Woman’s Will, “Richard III” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. in Mosswood Park, Oakland. Free. 420-0813. www.woman’s will.org 

Big City Improv, comedy, at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby at MLK. Tickets are $15. 595-5597. www.ticketweb.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Ceramic Art of Vivika and Otto Heino” opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Gallery talk at 2 p.m. Cost is $8 adults, $5 seniors and students with i.d. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Clay Song” A 40-year retrospective of the work of Diana Bohn. Reception at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Potters Guild, 731 Jones St. 524-7031. www.berkeleypotters.com 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Baby Face” at 7 p.m. and “Night Nurse” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse with poet and musician Avotcja at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Free. 527-9753. 

Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Bejamin Ajak describe, “They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Official Pep Talks” Gallery talk on the installation and interactive project by The Susan O'Malley Research Team at 1 p.m. at ProArts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-4361. www.proartsgallery.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wild Mango & The Kelly Takunda Orphan Project 8:30 p.m. Conversation with the artists at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $14-$16. 849-2568.  

Harry Best and Shabang, Caribbean music from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Bay Street Plaza, (near Old Navy) Emeryville. 

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

Ellen Hoffman, Darryl Rowe with Yancie Tayllor Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Jude Johnstone at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Beenie Man at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

The McGinty Brothers at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Djialy Kounda Kouyate at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Women in Global Perspective” A benefit for the Supressed Histories Archives, with Luisah Teish, priestess, Matu Feliciano, drummer, and Julie Hammond, singer and harpist, at 7:30 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. Cost is $10-$30, sliding scale. www.supressedhistories.net 

Forthmorning, Unjust, Sleep in Fame at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dale Miller, finger-picking blues, at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Walter Savage Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Altamont Pass, singer-songwriters,at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jessica Lurie Ensemble, Mushroom at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

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

Lack of Interest, Reproach, Haymaker at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JULY 24 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Blind at the Museum” guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu  

THEATER 

Berkeley Rep, “The Ugly American” opens at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2929. www.berkeleyrep.org 

FILM 

Harold Lloyd “The Freshman”at 3 p.m., Pre-Code Hollywood “Employees’ entrance at 5:30 p.m. and “Two Seconds” at 7:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash Thicket Press reading with Virginia Westover, Jennifer Sweeny, Annie Stenzel, V. Moralex, Tricia Caspers, Katherine Case, and Jennifer Arin at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Midsummer Mozart Concerto in B flat major, Mass in C minor, at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$48. 415-627-9145. www.midsummermozart.org 

Josie Morgan, viola with Miles Graber, piano, perform works by Enesco, Bach, Schumann at 3 p.m. at The Crowden School, Sacramento and Rose Sts. 

The Jazz House Benefit for Teach the Kids, with The Al Lazard Quartet and Muisi-Kongo Malonga at 3 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., Oakland. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

100 Years of Struggle A celebration of the IWW and the American Labor movement with readings by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, and music by Folk This! and Allegro Non Troppo at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Sol Do Brasil at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Tres Almes at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bandworks at 2:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Shotgun Ragtaime Band at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged: Homespun Rowdy at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Look Back & Laugh, Violent Minds, Jealous Again at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, JULY 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Blair Tindall describes “Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Express “Dead Poets Night” with friends of David Lerner at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Uri Caine Trio with Drew Gress & Ben Perosky at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $7-$14. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, JULY 26 

CHILDREN 

Nick Barone Puppets with a cast of over twenty friendly dinosaurs dressed as cowboys at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

FILM 

Eyeing Nature “Proteus: A Nineteenth-Century Vision” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell it on Tuesdays Solo performer storytellers share their work at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $5 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

David Ewing Duncan introduces “The Geneticist Who Played Hoops with my DNA” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

The Whole Note Poetry Series with Eugene David Parch and Jim Barnard at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dan Zemelman Trio with Dayna Stevens at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Melissa Ferrick at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Randy Craig Trio, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Django Reinhardt Festival with the John Jorgenson Band and David Grisman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200.  

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

Eric Shrifrin, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

As far as I know, there’s only one Erythrina crista-galli living as a street tree in Berkeley, though I’m sure there are others in people’s gardens. There used to be another in front of a house just over the Oakland line on MLK—just south of the infamous “Here/There” sculptures—but it got taken out for construction. A pity; most of the year that one looked like an accident in a stick factory, but when it bloomed, wow.  

The surviving street tree is a lot like that. It’s gawky, runtish, and oddly placed, uncomfortably elbowing a stop sign. Most of the time it’s a presumptuous shrub. But when it blooms in summer, it’s quite the looker.  

Its leaves are OK, nice strong-green pointed ovals, rather like lilac leaves. Its pale tan, deeply furrowed bark is actually handsome, especially on the trunk. But those flowers, now that’s a show; that’s what makes it worth stopping to see.  

They’re red and another red, one of those combinations only a diva like Mother Nature can get away with wearing, two shades of coral red. This plant has more “common” names than you can shake a stick at: cockscomb coraltree (a literal translation of the species binomial), cockspur coraltree, crybabytree, fireman’s hat, Brazilian coral tree, ceibo, and variations on most of those. The “cockspur” salutes the little tree’s thorns, which can be rather fierce. They’re strategically placed along the leaf “stem” and rather wickedly backward-pointed.  

The species hails from South America, from the rainforest-ish parts of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. It’s the national flower of the last two.  

There’s individual variation among the flower colors in these plants, and some correlation with the part of their ancestral range they come from—scarlet south to pink north. They bloom in long, loose, cone-shaped racemes at the ends of twigs, and a close look reveals a resemblance to wisteria blossoms, held at very different angles. Like wisteria, this is a pea.  

But don’t be deceived. The flowers are reportedly edible when cooked—though I haven’t found any recipes—but the seeds, brown-on-brown mottled beans, are toxic. If you eat them, your guts will have extremely strong objections in every direction, and you might get some neurological nastiness too.  

There’s a more benign culinary use for coraltrees: they’re planted to shade coffee and cacao bushes. Shade-grown chocolate, like shade-grown coffee, is a lot easier on the land and wildlife of its region, and self-help movements are just beginning to allow small-scale farmers and co-ops to grow premium cacao in the shade of planted and natural local trees, conserving those trees, the soil and some of the understory with them, and the birds and other animals native there. Even the mycorrhizae that mediates nutrients between roots and soil prospers better in a relatively undisturbed place, and the experts are beginning to conclude that the best cacao is what grows in concert with this soil-fungus net.  

By the way, the chocolate exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences’ temporary home at 875 Howard Street in San Francisco isn’t half bad, managing as it does to incorporate veterans of the Academy’s previous ants exhibit, South American history and pre-Columbian technology, anthropology and politics, bits of furniture that I truly covet, and just plain sensual fun. 

It runs through Sept. 5. Admission is free on the first Wednesday of each month; otherwise it’s $7 for non-members; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. They won’t tell you about coraltrees, though. 

Seeing the tree in bloom, you won’t be at all surprised to read that hummingbirds are attracted to coraltree flowers. The plant’s tough for a tropical, too. In some places, people grow it as a houseplant or bring it indoors in winter; in such cold places, and sometimes here, it’s deciduous in winter. But it can freeze and die back all the way to its roots and still regenerate in spring, with winter temperatures all the way down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Might be an interesting small tree for your backyard. Certainly the example on Bancroft Avenue shouldn’t be completely lonesome in our adventurous town.  

TUESDAY, JULY 19 

Peach Tasting plus other stone fruits, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. Cooking demonstration at 11:30 a.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Creating a Non-Violent Peaceforce” with Mel Duncan at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Donation $5 and up. 533-4732. 

Community Family Dance from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5 per peron or $10 per family. Sponsored by the Berkeley Folk Dancers. 841-1205. 

Healthy Eating Habits and Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Craig’s List: Has it Changed Your LIfe?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690.  

Magic Show with Norman Ng at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 524-9992. 

Parenting Class: Living with Ones and Twos, with Meg Zeiback, nurse practitioner at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Fast-Packing An evening with GoLite founder Demetri Coupounas at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“A Fat Nation in a Thin World” video and discussion at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

“Pain Relief through Guided Visualization” with Clinical Hypnotherapist Jerry Ziegler at the Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support and Education Group at noon at Alta Bates Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. 644-3273. 

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

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

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. At 11 a.m. Laurabeth Nelson will talk about the Asian Art Museum’s exhibit “Tibet Rooftop of the World.” 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock will speak at the Current Events class at 1 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. All interested community members are invited to attend this discussion on the Campus Bay toxic cleanup, Clean Money campaign, urban casinos and other local issues of interest. 524-9122. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests & new members. Meets at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest with three short films from Mexico and Argentina at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 415-642-8066. 

Arab Women Film Festival “Wild Flowers: Women of the South” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“How do Independents Affect the Political Landscape?” with Harriet Hoffman of the Committee for an Independent Voice at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

“Fellowships and Grants for Writers” A panel discussion sponsored by the American Society of Journalists and Authors at 6 p.m. at India Palace, 2160 University Ave., upstairs banquet room. Cost is $5-$10. Please RSVP to 530-6699. laird_harrison@hotmail.com 

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Parenting Class: Potty Training with Meg Zeiback, nurse practitioner at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

JumpStart Entrepreneurs share information at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. 541-9901. 

“Don’t be Six Feet Under Without a Plan” Learn more about creating a Living Will, Powers of Attorney, and making final arrangements at 6 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. 562-9431. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany YMCA, 921 Kains Ave. To make an appointment call 1-800-448-3543. www.BeADonor.org 

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

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. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JULY 21 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the LeConte School. Agenda items will include the Berkeley City/UC Agreement, Proposed Changes in the City’s Preservation Ordinance and Traffic Circle Garden guidelines. No meeting in August. The next meeting will be on September 15. 843-2602.  

Quit Smoking Class meets for six Thurs. evenings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. To register call 981-5330. quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Parenting Class: Sleep for new and expecting parents at 10 a.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Parenting Class: Chosing a Preschool at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

World of Plants Tours Thurs.-Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Bo- 

tanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $1-$5. 643-2755.  

FRIDAY, JULY 22 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

Bearded Iris Rhizome Auction at 7:30 p.m. at 666 Bellvue Ave. Lakeside Park, Oakland. Free growing instruction and advice from experts. Sponsored by the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society. 277-4200. 

“Tigers Forever” with filmmaker Anthony Marr, followed by a talk on “Omniscientific Cosmology” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. 

Radical Politics and Folk Music with David Rice, Robert Temple and Folk This! at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Activism Series with Gulf War Vet Dennis Kyne and Pat Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Harry Potter Read-a-Thon A two-week program at the Jefferson School focusing on literacy and creative writing for children ages 6-13. For information call 835-2215. www.teachacademy.org 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 1 to 7 p.m. at Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, 1501 Walnut St. 527-6215. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 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, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Kol Hadash Shabbat, nontheistic, Humanistic, with Rabbi Jay Heyman on “The Making of a Humanistic Rabbi, Part 2,” at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring finger dessert to share for Oneg, and non-perishable food for the needy. 428-1492. info@kolhadash.org  

Salsa Dancing at “The Beat” Dance Studio at 8:30 p.m. Lessons with Joseph Gallardo. 2560 9th St. at Parker. 472-2393 www.wildsalsanights.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 23 

Town Hall Meeting with Barbara Lee, Medea Benjamin, and Daniel Ellsberg at 11 a.m. at Grand Lake Theater, Oakland. 415-235-6517. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Bearded Iris Rhizome Sidewalk Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockridge Mall, Broadway at Pleasant Valley Rd., Oakland, near Starbuck’s. Free growing instruction and advice from experts. Sponsored by the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society. 277-4200. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Burgers and Backyard Bites at 10 a.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by Compassionte Cooks. Cost is $35. Registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com  

Fundraiser for BayIT Help send at child to summer marine biology camp. Raffle and silent auction from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. in the Berkeley Marina. 981-6720. 

SpiritWalking at the Berkeley Warm Pool Ability to walk on land not necessary. Sat. from 10 to 11 a.m., to Aug. 11. Cost is $3.50 seniors/disabled, $5.50 others. Bring a towel and deck shoes. 526-0312. well-being@pacbell.net 

Breast Not Bombs Parade for Peace Meet at noon at People’s Park for a walk to Cedar and Bonita to the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. 848-1985. 

Child Car Seat Check with the Berkeley Police Dept. from 10 a.m. to noon at the UC Garage on Addison at Oxford. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of this ancient and healthy cuisine. You will prepare and taste many types of sushi. Parent participation required for children ages 8-10. Cost is adult, $35, senior $30, child age 8-12 $25. registration required. 636-1684. 

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 

Butterfly Gardening Learn what plants are important and how we can encourage butterflies to visit our garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Walk Oakland...For Life Special events celebrate health, peace, and life at 11 a.m. throughout Oakland. To participate call 444-9655. www.walkoakland.org 

Free Help with Computers at the El Cerrito Library to learn about email, searching the web, the library’s online databases, or basic word processing. Workshops held on Sat. a.m. at 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Registration required. 526-7512.  

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the Produce Market and the Waterfront Warehouse District. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/ 

walkingtours 

NIAD Summer Art Sale, Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 551 23rd St., near Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

“Women Make it Happen” Luncheon with Brenda Knight, Oakland’s Woman of the Year for 1995 at 10 a.m. at Linen Life Gallery, 6635 Hollis St., Emeryville. Tickets are $39. For reservations call 776-4992. 

Ohtani Summer Bazaar from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sun. noon to 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, 1524 Oregon St. Food, children’s games and crafts. 843-6933. 

“Women in Global Perspective” Benefit for the Supressed Histories Archives, with Luisah Teish, Matu Feliciano, and Julie Hammond, at 7:30 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. Cost is $10-$30, sliding scale. www.supressedhistories.net 

Books by the Bay Bay Area independent booksellers outdoor celebration of writers, books at bookstores, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco. www.booksbythebay.com 

Child Car Seat Check with the Berkeley Police Dept. from 10 a.m. to noon at the UC Garage on Addison at Oxford. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

“True Stories of Travel with Man’s Best Friend” with editor Christine Hunsicker at 3 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

“Creating Conditions for Peace” a symposium on Buddhist spiritual activism from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 655-6169, ext. 304. www.bfp.org 

“East Meets West” Integrative Medicine Open House at AIMC, 2550 Shattuck Ave. To RSVP call 666-8248, ext. 106.  

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, JULY 24 

Pancake Breakfast on Board the Red Oak Victory Ship, moored in Richmond Harbor, Berth #6 off Canal Blvd. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $6. 237-2933. 

Berkeley Rocks, a Greenbelt Alliance hike that features volcanic rock formations. From 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To register call 415-543-6771, ext. 321. www.greenbelt.org 

Snake Secrets See a serpent up close and learn how they move, eat and age without wrinkles. At 1 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Story Hour at 3 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

100 Years of Struggle A celebration of the IWW and the American Labor movement with readings by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, and music by Folk This! and Allegro Non Troppo at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Oakland’s first suburb and Preservation Park. Cost is $5-$10. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

Social Action Forum With Rita Maran, on recent developments at the United Nations, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 

MONDAY, JULY 25 

“Time Bomb” A documentary that spotlights America’s exploding national debt. Filmmaker John Ince will be present. At 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club. Cost is $5. Free for members. 527-0450. 

Stress Less with Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

“Natural Advocacy in the Medical Labyrinth” with Ed Bauman, Director of Bauman College, at 10 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

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 

Halogen Torchiere Swap!!! California Youth Energy Services is offering an on-going Torchiere Swap. Swap your halogen torchiere for a brand new energy saving torchiere for only $15! Please call CYES at 665-1501, ext.10. 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washington School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

Albany Summer Youth Programs including basketball, classes, bike trips and family activities. For information see www.albanyca.org/dept/rec.html 

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for ages 7 to 13, two week sessions through Aug., at John Hinkle Park. Cost is $395, with scholarships available. 415-422-2222. www.sfshakes.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., July 19, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Aging meets Wed. July 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed. July 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. July 20, 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., July 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., July 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., July 21, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation?

An old reprobate, a heavy-drinking veteran of many barroom brawls, once told me why he favored knives over guns when he needed to get out of a tight spot. Anyone who knows how to use knives, he said, knows that you can always put your thumb half-way up the blade, so you can just stick the guy, not kill him by accident. 

This story always comes to mind when we hear about yet another person dying on our city streets. There was such a tragedy on a corner near the UC campus on Sunday morning. One of Berkeley’s golden children, a young woman full of joy and promise, was killed while she was out for an evening with her girlfriends. As of this writing the killer has not been identified, nor is his motive understood. What is known, however, is that he used a gun, from some distance away.  

Anger, jealousy, greed, revenge—the motivations for quarrels among human beings haven’t changed since biblical times. But what’s different in the United States in the third millennium is the ease with which emotion translates into death. Only guns can kill swiftly, anonymously, at a distance. And here, now, guns are easily purchased, ready to wreak havoc in a single unguarded moment. The impulse which could give rise to a slap or a punch is quickly fatal—no time for reflection, no time to pull back as you could with a knife. 

There’s a new counter-trend among some leftists which says that gun control is not a winning issue these days, so it should be downplayed. Winning back red-staters, some say, means not challenging their right, indeed their need, to strap those rifles onto their pickups (forgetting the children in rural areas who have turned these guns on each other).  

Women who fear being victims imagine that possession of firearms will make them safe. And urbanites whose lives are controlled by their fears believe that guns in their homes will protect them, oblivious of the statistics that say that guns in homes are most often used against family and friends, not strangers.  

There are tactical discussions about tradeoffs in the political area—let’s ban Saturday night specials, not shotguns, gun shows, not gun dealers. But the central inescapable fact about guns, all guns, is that they make it possible, indeed easy, for humans to kill other humans on a whim, without reflection, with no chance to say no to anger. Death can be dealt from a distance, so that the person pulling the trigger does not even have to touch the victim. Guns provide an all-to-easy way for humans to dodge the checks and balances inserted by evolution and culture between our murderous tendencies and our actions. 

For the determined murderer, there are plenty of tools available without the need for guns. Humans in the 20th century engaged in mass slaughter of other humans with machetes, gas chambers, explosives, as well as with guns. But for the impulse killer, the ready availability of guns is the lynchpin which changes a quarrel into a tragedy, often for both shooter and victim. When they find the young man who was seen to have fired the shot which killed our Berkeley child at the corner of Dwight and College on Sunday morning—and they will find him—chances are that he also will prove to be someone’s beloved boy, born into high hopes and expectations, brought down because a gun in his hand turned him into a quick and easy killer. Without that gun he might have paused and changed his mind, and Meleia Willis-Starbuck would still be alive. Instead, today Berkeley mourns her. 

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