Opinion

Today’s paper contains the first of two “Back-to-Berkeley” pullout magazine sections. Students are arriving this week at the University of California, some coming back and some for the first time. Many new non-students also arrive at the beginning of each semester: faculty, staff, significant others, kids. Whoever you are, and wherever you came from, welcome. You’ll find a lot to read in the Planet. -more-

As I blew out my candle and walked away from the vigil in front of the French Hotel last night, I told the friends who were with me that this is as close as many of us in Berkeley ever get to church. Demonstrations like this are the most inclusive of our indigenous religious institutions, with all the elements which contribute to a soul-satisfying religious experience. Congregants from my generation spontaneously sang our oldest hymns--“We shall overcome…we shall not be moved….ain’t gonna study war no more”—memorabilia of our successful struggles to end segregation and stop the war in Vietnam. -more-