Construction crews were still carting away trash by the forklift near the Donahue Gymnasium and in the newly refurbished Academic Building, many baseboards were still not in place and some of the wall tiles had not been cemented into place. 

But the first day of school at Berkeley High School on Wednesday was a far cry from the two previous days, when what was described as an army of workers swarmed over the C Building in an effort to finish the job. 

Late Monday afternoon, workers had been still hand-painting the red doors along the first floor corridor of the building, the most visible part of a project that included classroom remodeling and repainting, restoration of 12 restrooms, additional lockers, and new flooring. 

“I don’t see how they got it done,” BHS baseball coach Tim Moellering said on Wednesday afternoon. “It was pretty amazing.” 

“It used to look like a dungeon down on the first floor,” another teacher said. “It’s certainly an improvement.” 

Wednesday afternoon the refurbished hallways were empty, quiet except for the sound of a security guard speaking over a walkie-talkie, and the hum of activity coming from the classrooms. On the classroom doors were signs of the massive organizational effort it takes to move some 3,000 students around through a six-period day. 

Mimeographed class schedules were taped on the walls at interviews down the hallway, with teachers’ names and their location each period listed. On each doorway, a second set of handwritten notations showed the schedule modifications. On Room C131, a note told Mr. Hildebrandt’s Spanish 6-7 students to go to Room C106, and on Room C135, another note simply announced a “Room Change!” to C126. And one guidance counselor said there had been later modifications from the handwritten ones. 

“I came to one or two classrooms and the teachers weren’t there who were listed on the signs,” she said. “I’m not sure how it worked, but all of the students seemed to have found their way to the right classroom. None of them were wandering around in the halls.” 

In fact, on the first day of school, there was little evidence of students wandering anywhere without purpose. Shortly after the ringing of the bell to return to class, only a handful of students are left in the common area between the C Building and the theater. Within moments they are sent somewhere—to class, or off campus if they are seniors and their day is done—by Principal Jim Slemp, who can be seen crisscrossing the school campus throughout the day, seemingly all places at all times, without ever appearing to be hurrying. 

Teachers and administrators say that an increased organizational efficiency at Berkeley High is directly attributable to Slemp, who is entering his third year at the school. 

“The first year he was here, I think he did a lot of observation on the first day of school,” said Vice Principal Thelette A. Bennett. “And he said, ‘this can’t work that way,’ and began planning administrative changes. This is the best I’ve seen it.” 

Bennett said that one of the major changes is in student responsibility. “This is Berkeley,” she said, “so a lot of students were used to doing what they want to do. But that’s changing. It has to change. The whole world is changing.” 

One of the most visible changes Slemp has instituted, a teacher said, is ending what she called the school’s former “hang-out culture. There’s not a lot of hanging out going on now. Students know they’re supposed to be someplace.” 

That change was evident this year in the way the counseling department is handling course changes. Two years ago, students requesting course changes lounged in chairs in the hallways in front of the counselors’ offices while classes were going on, waiting to be seen. This year, counselors said that they are requiring that students fill out course change requests in writing, and then send the students back to class, where their revised schedules are later delivered to them. The obvious purpose, counselors explain, is to keep the students in class as much as possible while administrative tasks are being handled. 

Another innovation speeding up the first of the year organizational work is the computerized textbook checkout procedure. Instituted a year ago for history, math, and science textbooks, the procedure now includes foreign language and the 125-title English Literature section. 

Teachers walk their classes down to the textbook room, where students pick up their class book and have its bar code and their student ID number scanned into the library computer. The classes come to the textbook room on a prearranged schedule, four classes per period, with AP and honors classes going first, the rest of the school later to follow. 

While students stood in line the blazing sun of Wednesday’s first day, BHS Library Media Teacher Ellie Goldstein-Erickson was making a game of it, clapping her hands and saying “we’re going to set a land-speed record for this, okay?” to the students as they filed through. After timing the procedure, Goldstein-Erickson told subsequent classes that they had a six-minute, 30-second record to beat. Pumping her arms as the students left, she told a parent volunteer “anything to get teenagers worked up.” 

By midday, administrators said that most of the registration work had been completed, leaving only latecomers or students with schedule problems to be worked out on an individual basis. Clifford Blueitt, Director of Photography for ABC Harrell, the photographic service company handling the school’s ID photos, said that his firm had taken 120 ID photos on Wednesday and 400 the day before as part of the school’s registration procedure in the gymnasium, and that the bulk of the registration had actually taken place the week before.

A group of Berkeley citizens filed a lawsuit against the City of Berkeley and several city officials in the California Superior Court in Oakland yesterday, asking the court to set aside the city’s settlement agreement with the University of California over UC’s Long Range Development Plan because it “contracted away the City Council’s right to independently exercise its police power in the future.” 

The plaintiffs charge that the agreement would deprive the council (and future councils) of independent regulatory and planning powers and also of environmental protection authority, which they claim is in violation of state and local law and contrary to at least three settled lines of legal authority in case law. 

The lawsuit was filed by the law offices of Oakland attorney Stephan C. Volker on behalf of Carl Friberg, Anne Wagley, Jim Sharp, and Dean Metzger. All four plaintiffs are neighborhood activists who live near the university campus. Wagley is a former District 8 City Council candidate, and is the arts and calendar editor for the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

“The suit points out that the city sold its autonomy for the illusory promise of a few more dollars from the university,” Volker said. “The agreement violated the state constitution and the city’s own charter, which forbids the city from delegating its legislative authority to the university. It gave the university veto power over the Downtown Plan and the City Charter prohibits that.” 

Volker said the city’s interests and those of UC are opposed to one another in regards to development downtown. 

“The city sold its independence to another agency and that’s unconstitutional,” he said. 

The suit lists the City of Berkeley, Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Linda Maio, Darryl Moore, Max Anderson, Laurie Capitelli, and Gordon Wozniak as defendants, along with City Manager Phil Kamlarz and City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. 

Not listed as defendants were City Councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington, and Betty Olds. Wagley said that those councilmembers were not included in the lawsuit because they voted against the Berkeley/UC Berkeley settlement agreement. 

The suit requests the court to invalidate the settlement agreement and to reinstate the city’s lawsuit against the university. One of its major contentions is that “the settlement agreement redefines, without any opportunity for city Planning Commission review and approval, or public participation, the Downtown Area Specific Plan boundaries,” amounting to a significant expansion of the downtown area. 

Sybil Parks-Brown, secretary of the Berkeley city attorney’s office, told the Daily Planet that “it is our policy not to comment on any on-going litigation.” 

The roots of the dispute go back to last February, when the City of Berkeley filed its own lawsuit against the university in state court, charging that the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) violated state law and would sanction a university building boom inside of Berkeley, leaving Berkeley residents to pay for strained city services and clogged roads. The city’s lawsuit contended that the university circumvented the state’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by not disclosing all of the effects the LRDP would have on the city. 

“The university asked us to sign the equivalent of a blank check that would allow it to build wherever, whenever, and however it would like,” said Bates at the time of the filing of the city’s lawsuit. “This lawsuit firmly states that we are not signing anything until we know what we are buying.” 

But the Berkeley citizen plaintiffs in the new lawsuit now charge that when city officials eventually gained that information from the university in closed door meetings, they withheld the information from their own citizens until a binding agreement was reached with the university. 

Last May, after a series of private negotiations between city and university representatives over the university’s LRDP, the Berkeley City Council voted in closed session to approve an agreement with the university that called for, in part, the city’s dropping of its lawsuit. The terms of the settlement agreement were not released to the public before City Council’s vote and were only released after the university approved the agreement several days following the City Council vote. 

Under the agreement, UC Berkeley is required to increase its annual payments to the city from just over $500,000 to $800,000, with the amount increasing by 3 percent every year through 2021. The payments, which will go to sewer and fire services as well as transportation improvement and neighborhood beautification programs, were far lower than the $4.1 million originally sought by the city. 

When details of the agreement were publicly announced, Bates said that he agreed to the settlement because even if the city had prevailed in court against the LRDP, the university “would have still gotten exactly what it wanted with just more stop signs.” 

UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said the university didn’t have enough money to raise its offer to the city, and the eventual settlement agreement was the best the university could do. “We’re running a deficit too,” he said.  

Shortly after Berkeley city officials dropped the city’s lawsuit against the university, a superior court judge dismissed a petition filed by Friberg, Wagley, and Councilmember Worthington asking to intervene as a third party in the city lawsuit. 

At the time of the filing of that petition last May, Worthington said that he hoped the court would allow the petitioners to pursue the lawsuit on their own, even though the city was abandoning the effort. “If the city doesn’t address [the issues raised in the lawsuit],” Worthington said, “the community should be allowed to pursue them.” 

The court ruled, however, that the petition came too late because lawsuit had been dropped before action on the petition could be taken by the court. 

The new complaint also charges that by reaching the settlement agreement “secretly, in closed session, without any public notice or participation,” the city broke state law.

If, as the poet Robert Frost once wrote with a touch of irony, “good fences makes good neighbors,” the Berkeley corollary is clearly, “loud parties don’t.” 

If you crowd a handful or two bright young students into one-bedroom off-campus apartments, parties are pretty much a given—as are the complaints of the more sedate “civilians” who live nearby. 

Witness the case of the residents of Hillegass Avenue who showed up at last week’s meeting of the Zoning Adjustments Board to raise a ruckus of their own about a landlord who rents primarily to UC Berkeley students. 

Neighbors vs. landlord 

David Meyers came to the board from his home in Dublin requesting a use permit that would allow him to add three new apartments to the building he owns at 2538 Hillegass Ave. 

What followed offered a glimpse at long familiar town/gown rifts in a neighborhood that’s seen plenty of them—so much so that the university has launched a special program this year to ease student/neighbor conflicts there. 

George Beier was the first to offer opposition, speaking on behalf of the 300 members of the Willard Neighborhood Association (WNA), one of the areas most impacted by off-campus student housing. 

The WNA district is bounded by Dwight Way on the north, Ashby Avenue on the south and College Avenue on the east and Telegraph Avenue on the West, and includes one of the most troubled—many would say notorious—student housing properties. 

Meyers’ building is located on Hillegass a few doors south of People’s Park, and directly across the street from the late and often noisy Le Chateau, which was closed to undergraduate students this year following lawsuits by angry neighbors. 

That three-building complex, owned by the University Students Cooperative Association, housed 85 undergraduates before a judge awarded neighbors $63,230 in damages  

As Meyers explained it to ZAB members, “I don’t think conditions should be put upon me because of what they see as problems with other houses in the neighborhood.” 

But there’s another property in the neighborhood that’s also problematic, and that is one that Meyers does own at 2609 Hillegass, where complaints of loud parties resulted in a city “second response” warning last March—which meant that the landlord must post a prominent notice warning that any further calls to the house will result in escalating fines. 

What irked neighbor Randy Fish, who has lived across the street from 2609 for the last 20 years, was Meyers’ response when he called him to complain about a noisy party that had continued into the pre-dawn hours. 

“He said, ‘Just call the cops. Don’t call me,’” Fish said, a point Meyers conceded. 

But, Meyers said, “I’ve worked real hard on 2609 and there’ve been no calls since March. It takes me a few months to get rid of problem tenants.” 

“What you do with other property indicates what might happen with this building,” said ZAB member David Blake. 

When asked by ZAB member Rick Judd, Meyers said he owned 35 units in Berkeley. 

“Often we can require that there can be specific people to call when there is a problem,” said Judd. 

“We have to have place for the students,” said member Jesse Anthony, “but at the same time, you have to work to make the students behave.” 

Blake said he felt that as the landlord of Berkeley property, Meyers’ action showed that “you don’t want to take responsibility for your tenants in a way that’s appropriate.” 

“I agree with Dave’s comment,” said ZAB member Bob Allen. “It’s totally inappropriate to say ‘Don’t call me; call the police.’” 

“I’m sure the applicant knows this is a very organized neighborhood,” said ZAB Chair Andy Katz. “Behavior of the sort that’s gone on at 2609 won’t be tolerated.” 

Judd also joined the call for a contact person who could handle complaints, and the board voted to stay a decision on his additions until their next meeting to allow Meyer to address the issue.  

It’s a neighborhood where neighbors are willing to fight, and they’ve succeeded in making a major change in another noisy property. 

University targets neighbors 

The university has taken steps this year to ease relationships between students and their neighbors, most notably the creation last spring by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau of a town/gown task force that looked into the issue. 

Panel chair Associate Chancellor John Cummins said their meetings “achieved remarkable buy-in on everybody’s part.” 

The panel included university and city officials, neighbors and students, and one was the WNA’s own George Beier. 

“The task force represents a true partnership between the university and the community and the neighborhood to make a concerted effort to make things better,” said Jim Hynes, assistant to Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

One result of their meetings was the creation of a “welcome to the neighborhood brochure” that has been distributed to residents of the Willard neighborhood offering tips for good student/neighbor relations and spelling out the relevant city codes and fines that could accrue from bad behavior. 

The task force also helped in winning funds for AlcoholEdu, an online alcohol education program now required of all incoming students. The university has also funded two student goodwill ambassadors to the neighborhood. 

Members of the WNA are forming a neighborhood crime watch, and students have been invited to join. 

Students weigh in 

One student who’s somewhat cynical about the result is Jesse Arreguin, who is perhaps the embodiment of a unique set of town/gown relations fostered by City Councilmember Kris Worthington, whose district includes much of the university and the Telegraph Avenue corridor. 

“I am concerned with the university’s approach to relations between the student and community,” said Arreguin, a man of many titles. 

Besides serving as City Affairs Director for the ASUC—“I’m their lobbyist”— Arreguin serves on the city’s Rent Stabilization Board and as acting chair of the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission. He also has a seat on the university’s Planning and Transportation Committee and on the board of the Telegraph Avenue Association. 

“We make up about 20 percent of the city’s population, but with the exception of Kris Worthington, councilmembers don’t appoint students,” he said. 

Arreguin acknowledged that the Willard neighborhood has had some legitimate concerns about students, “but my sense is that the university is putting the neighbors before its own students.” 

Arreguin praised the WNA for hosting an upcoming neighborhood yard sale and party on Sept. 11 to introduce students to their new neighbors in friendly setting. 

But he said the university’s actions toward its own students complicate the picture. 

However Sharon Han, external affairs vice president for the ASUC, said “We’re very excited about the program. We think it’s going to be very beneficial for the campus community.” 

a

Three firefighters and one healthcare worker from Berkeley have flown to the South to aid in the rescue and care of victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

A second healthcare worker, a specialist in treating stress in rescue personnel, is scheduled to leave in two weeks. 

Firefighter Dave McPartland, an expert in swift water rescue, was the first to go. He left for New Orleans Tuesday, said Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. 

Lt. Darren Bobrosky, the head of the department’s Rescue Dog Program, was sent to Mississippi Wednesday as a rescue dog team leader. Accompanying him was Firefighter David Sprague, who will serve as the team’s information systems specialist. 

“He’ll be starting up a website for sharing information,” Orth said. 

They are members of Urban Search and Rescue Team Task Force 4, a program sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, Orth said. 

The team includes participants from the county, city departments, the Lawrence Livermore Lab and the state parks system. Of 28 such teams nationally, eight are based in California. 

Also leaving Wednesday were two members of the Disaster Medical Aid Team (DMAT). 

One of them, Barbara Morita, is a familiar face at Berkeley High School’s health center. As public health nurse, she will be providing assistance to both rescuers and the rescued. 

The final member of the contingent is David Wee, a licensed clinical social worker and head of the city’s Mobile Mental Health Team. He is a nationally recognized leader in the field of stress debriefing, Orth said. Wee will leave in the coming weeks to handle the effects of the disaster on the rescue workers themselves. 

“His specialty is called critical incident stress management,” said Orth. Wee assists city firefighters and police with on-the-job traumas.  

Wee will contact rescuers, learn how they fell about what they’ve seen and done, arrange group meetings and arrange individual debriefings as needed with peer counselors and mental health professionals.  

Alameda County currently maintains three identical search and rescue teams of 64 members each. 

“Currently, the Red Team was deployable,” Orth said. “The second team helped them get out the door and on their way, and the third team provides fill-in people if any members of the Red Team happen to be on vacation or ill.” 

A team includes a contingent of rescue specialists, including an acoustic expert to help locate people in collapsed and damaged building, a rigger to set up equipment to lift concrete and sections of collapsed structures to rescue people buried beneath, water rescue specialists and a dog component for locating victims. 

Orth said normal deployments are for a maximum of 10 days, and he expects that the group’s tour this time will last about a week as more teams are rotated through the disaster areas. 

The search and rescue teams are composed of sworn fire and police personnel, while the DMAT teams are drawn from the civilian sector, Orth added.›

Alameda County Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to call for proposals from voting machine vendors who can provide both a verifiable paper trail and the capacity for instant runoff voting (IRV). 

Berkeley City Councilmember Kris Worthington, who attended the meeting, hailed the vote as a small but significant step forward. 

“If nothing else, the proposals will give us proposals with specific costs,” he said. 

The county currently uses equipment and software from Diebold Election Systems Inc., the firm Democratic Party activists love to hate. 

Critics have charged that Diebold machines were manipulated to give inflated vote totals for George W. Bush in the last presidential election, and hackers have pointed to vulnerabilities in the company’s software. 

But the firm’s biggest problem came in June, when the California secretary of state’s office reported that of 96 of Diebold’s machines with paper audit capability, 19 had failed when tested by the state. 

Alameda County officials immediately began exploring alternatives because state law requires paper-verifiable machines in time for next June’s primary elections. 

Since Berkeley voters approved IRV elections by an overwhelming majority last year, Worthington and City Council colleagues Max Anderson and Mayor Tom Bates have urged the county supervisors to require that bidders for a replacement system offer IRV along with the paper trail. 

Worthington said that the bidders who answer the call for proposals issued Tuesday could still lose out to Diebold if the company fixes its paper problems. 

The supervisors are scheduled to act on the bids in November, Worthington said.

Officials of the union representing 8,000 workers at Sutter Health hospitals—including the Alta Bates Summit facilities in Berkeley and Oakland—are holding a press conference this morning (Friday) to announce a strike deadline. 

Failure to reach a settlement could result in what officials of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West say would be “the nation’s largest open-ended healthcare strike in two decades.” 

California Federation of Labor Executive Secretary Art Pulaski will speak at the conference, slated for 9:30 a.m. at the San Francisco Marriott. 

Also slated to appear are representatives of the SEIU, the California Nurses Association, and the Stationary Engineers, Teamsters, Professional Employees, UNITE-HERE and Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union. 

Carolyn Kemp, spokesperson for Summit Alta Bates, said that if and when the strike is called, “that would be unfortunate, but we will be taking care of the people who come to us. It’s the only reason we exist.” 

Union officials have been attempting to negotiate a contract with all 13 Sutter facilities, but corporate officials have argued that each division is separate entity. 

The California Nurses Association, which represents only registered nurses, signed an accord with Summit Alta Bates last month—though they had made the same argument.›

An Oakland parent who transferred her ninth-grade daughter from the Oakland School for the Arts to Skyline High School after only one semester says that OSA’s academic program and some of its art programs are in “turmoil,” adding several other parents have pulled their children from the school during the past year. 

“While I had some reservations about OSA’s academic program going in, I never thought my daughter would be getting anything but a top notch arts education,” Andrea Kosmos said in an interview with the Daily Planet. “So I was shocked that she didn’t get the theater training I expected.” 

Kosmos cited teacher turnover, broken promises, and a lack of adequate freshman theater curriculum as her reasons for removing her daughter, Lydia, from the school. Kosmos said she knows of six or seven other OSA students who have transferred to Skyline in the past year for similar reasons, and “at least 15, that we know of” who have transferred to Berkeley High School in the same period. 

Oakland School for the Arts, a nonprofit public charter school founded by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, has operated in downtown Oakland under an Oakland Unified School District charter since September 2002. 

The school had a 9- to 11-grade attendance of 300 for the 2004-05 school year, with attendance expected to rise to 550 this fall as OSA adds 6th through eight-grades. OSA is ranked in the top 10 percentile in the Academic Performance Index, California’s official scorecard for rating its grade schools. 

But Kosmos said that teacher turnover this school year, particularly in OSA’s academic department, was “unacceptable,” and was one of the reasons that drove her to remove her daughter from the school. 

“Lydia’s English teacher [Vani Ari] quit in the first month of school,” Kosmos said, adding that her daughter’s science teacher, Asher Davison, left the school soon after. Kosmos said that in all, her daughter had three separate English and three separate science teachers during her one semester at OSA, with “much of the time filled in by substitutes.” 

Kosmos said that comparing a list of OSA teachers from the end of the last school year to the end of this, she has estimated that there was more than 50 percent teacher turnover, with only one of seven English teachers and one of six science teachers lasting in their positions the whole year. 

Kosmos’ claims of an exodus from OSA could not be verified by the school. OSA Director Loni Berry did not return telephone calls in connection with this article. 

A spokesperson for the Oakland Unified School District said that while individual student records at Skyline High School would indicate the school from which a student transferred, neither the school nor the district compile a report detailing student transfers. 

Berkeley Unified School District Public Information Officer Mark Coplan said he could not determine if that number of students had transferred from OSA to Berkeley High this year, but said the number was “possible.” Coplan said that Berkeley residents who attended OSA would be automatically eligible to transfer to Berkeley High School. 

Coplan said that in addition, BUSD examines inter-district student transfers “on a case-by-case basis,” and said it was possible that some non-Berkeley resident OSA students could have transferred to Berkeley High on that basis. 

But a pair of Oakland parents whose child remains at OSA confirmed much of Kosmos’ complaint, saying that their child also had three different English teachers in the course of last year, and that the humanities classes were “so disorganized” that different classes were taught during the year by a French teacher, a Spanish teacher, an English teacher, and a Visual Arts teacher. 

The parents, who asked to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation against their child by school administrators if their names were published, said that while they were “incredibly pleased with OSA’s music department,” they did not feel OSA administrators exercised “a lot of oversight” over the academic department, and that they often learned of a teacher’s leaving from their child, but not from the school administration itself. 

“If we don’t get satisfaction from the administration about these problems, [our child] will leave the school as well by the end of the next school year,” one of the parents said. “Art is very important. But we feel [our child’s] academic future is at stake.” 

It was Lydia Kosmos’s theater courses, however, that were the most disappointing to both Andrea and Lydia Kosmos. 

“I sent her to OSA specifically to get pre-professional training in drama,” Kosmos said. 

Instead, Lydia said she spent most of her semester doing physical exercises led by a teacher she had for three of her four afternoon theater-oriented periods. 

“He kept saying that if we did these correctly, he’d move us into something that was fun, like improv,” Lydia said. “But we never got to do anything like improv, not for the whole semester, because we could never get the exercises right.” 

She said the teacher left OSA shortly after she transferred out. 

In contrast, even before being accepted into Skyline’s Performing Arts Academy for this fall, Lydia said that she was able to enroll mid-year in a Beginning Drama course, which is open to all students. She ticked off a list of things she learned in her semester, including “projection work, articulation, breathing, moving on stage, character development, memorization of monologues, writing a monologue, and theater history.” 

Another difference between OSA and Skyline, the mother and daughter said, was in performances and field trips, both of which they said had been promised in OSA literature. 

“They said in the handbook that performances would be frequent and intense,” Kosmos said. “They were neither.” 

“I didn’t take a single field trip while I was at OSA,” Lydia said. “They told us that they didn’t have enough money.” She also said that she had “no opportunity to perform” while she was at OSA. 

She said a planned February production of the musical Chicago—for which she got a callback after auditioning—was canceled, and that another play was not performed until after she had left. 

During her semester at Skyline, she said that she took four theater-related field trips, and that within two weeks at Skyline, she won a singing and speaking role in the school’s spring musical. 

“There are problems at Skyline, like there are everywhere,” Kosmos said. “But I’m satisfied with what my daughter is getting now. I’m just sorry that the children who are left at OSA are getting gypped.” 

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20WorkÉ

HOUSING CRISIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Many thanks for enlightening readers regarding the “crises” of increased “above moderate” housing. Let me add further dangers of this creeping social nemesis. As middle income families increased the crime rate simultaneously has fallen. So too new entertainment venues opened and restaurants and retail began to make profits. City accounts balance as new tax payers are initially charged market rather than Prop. 13 rates. Schools are full and the school board may be forced to give priority to residents over non-taxable crashers from out of district. Yes, nice housing is the root social problem of our city! Thanks for a fair and thoughtful consideration of the issue. 

Professor David Baggins 

CSU Hayward 

• 

PERVASIVE RACISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Of all the sad news that has resulted from Hurricane Katrina, the media’s characterization of white people as “finding food” while black people are “looting” (AFP and AP photo feeds), is one of the most disappointing reminders of the racism that pervades our country. 

Allyson Klein 

San Francisco  

• 

WELCOME BACK 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Becky O’Malley welcomes the students back to Berkeley with tales of conflict between UC and our city. She admonishes student behavior. She sees students as merely guests of real city residents. 

Ms. O’Malley, Where you see conflict and bad behavior, I see vibrancy, excitement, opportunity and renewal. Many long-term residents were themselves attracted to this town because of the affiliations and opportunities associated with a great university. The student body while possibly only residents for four or six years are vital to the well being of all permanent residents and the greater good of our city. The students are in no way a temporary guests. Many students stay and become permanent citizens. The rest act as ambassadors and boosters for our town, their alma mater. 

Our wealth, diversity and international recognition are a privilege derived from UC’s coattails, and no longer earned by the city itself. What came first, the chicken or the egg? What would Berkeley be if not for UC. A suburb of San Francisco? 

This city has allowed itself to be dominated by a conservative neighborhoods at the expense of the greater good. 

If neighbors can’t live with the UC’s “noise” or understand its contribution they should simply relocate to a non-university town. Don’t buy a house next to a football stadium or amphitheater if you don’t like noisy crowds. 

The job of the City Council and it’s many commissions is to capture the energy of the university in the form of a tax base instead of demanding handouts from UC. UC related startup companies choosing to do business in Berkeley usually end up in Emeryville. Outdated zoning ordinances preserve derelict factories and empty warehouses instead of allowing innovative companies to thrive. 

Instead of thousands of students enjoying our downtown every evening there is the sucking sound of cars and BART trains taking them away to San Francisco to entertain themselves. Instead of thousands of Bay Area citizens enjoying unique UC funded venues such as the Football stadium, the Greek Theatre etc., neighbors restrict their full use. 

Students of UC let your youthful exuberance overflow onto our streets. Your immediate neighbors can move to quieter locales. Thanks to UC their land values will be high. We feel privileged that you chose this university even if the town is becoming unattractive, unhip, and unfriendly. Make a big racket while you are here. We are enriched by your presence. Stay even longer and help write our next downtown plan! 

Peter Levitt 

Proprietor of Saul’s Delicatessen 

• 

THE ‘UN’ PARTY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bob Burnett (“Democrats Must Cease to be The ‘Un’ Party,” Aug. 23) has it exactly right. Anybody, anything other than Bush didn’t cut it in November 2004 and won’t be effective in 2006 or 2008. Burnett provides three examples of policy areas (national security, social security, energy) for which the Democrats should propose positive and realistic alternatives to what the Bush Republicans are offering. He might well have added to this list, including such policy possibilities as poverty, education, medical insurance, affordable housing, income equality, etc. Unfortunately, he did not go on and suggest what such alternative policy statements might contain or who might be charged with the responsibility of drawing up such statements. A more glaring lack in Burnett’s presentation is the absence of any discussion of exactly what or who was meant to be the audience for these policy presentations. 

To my way of thinking, both the main stream Democratic Party and the political left have continued to ignore religiously inspired people who, in part at least because of being ignored and often mocked, have gravitated to the Republican Party. They account for 30 or more percent of the electorate. It is a most un-natural home for them. To be good Christians and Jews, to adhere to the precepts set forth in the new and old testaments, religiously inspired people must be committed to reducing, if not eradicating, poverty, to caring for the sick and for the old, to caring for this earth, this universe. And these are all areas in which the Democratic Party has a justifiable claim to represent, to champion what is best in political and spiritual America. What the party and left must do is to actively seek ways to communicate, compassionately (must we let Bush monopolize this term?) and respectfully, with our religiously inspired fellow American. 

Irving Gershenberg 

• 

SUSAN PARKER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you, Jessica Matthews. I have had a running e-mail battle with Susan Parker since her racist columns appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle some time ago. I was very disappointed when the Daily Planet picked her up. There are countless good, witty writers in Berkeley and Oakland. Why her?  

At the time she was denigrating Ms. Scott (who since died), Jernae, the helpers waiting on her poor husband, and any other of her neighborhood 

friends of color. When I pointed out to Ms. Parker how insulting her pieces were rather than humorous as she seemed to find them, she told me that the people she wrote about thought her pieces were just dandy. They would, wouldn’t they? These unsophisticated people trusted her. And she continues to take liberties with them (and by inference all African-Americans, myself included). 

What really bothers me is why newspapers such as the Berkeley Daily Planet continue to publish her. Evidently the white press doesn’t get it either. You (the press) consider her witty—an amusing read. And when she is finished belittling black people, she belittles Ralph. I have often wished he would rise up out of his wheel chair and “go upside her head.” 

Madeline Smith Moore 

Oakland 

• 

CRIME PEDALERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I saw that Richard Brenneman had featured “Crime Pedalers” in his controversial Police Blotter, I at first thought it my duty as a member of the board of directors of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC) to write a good, stuffy “We are not amused” type letter. However, after a moment’s thought, I realized that Brenneman is on to something; the hoodlums have just gotten ahead of the curve, as they so often seem to do, and figured out that the bicycle has real practical advantages as a means of urban transportation. Something we in the bicycle-advocacy community have been trying to demonstrate to the general public for years! So I’m glad to see that somebody’s listening, even if it’s the wrong guys. 

For others who may want to explore the low-cost, convenient, swift and easy transport that a bicycle provides, BFBC is hosting four “Get Acquainted  

Rides” to the Solano Stroll on Sunday, Sept. 12; two groups will leave from North Berkeley BART, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., two others will leave from El  

Cerrito Plaza BART at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.: destination for all four is the valet bicycle parking booth in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot at Solano and Colusa, where riders can leave their bikes safely—for free—while they enjoy the Stroll. 

Anyone interested in joining one of these rides can get more information at www.bfbc.org/events or by calling 549-RIDE. We can also use volunteers to distribute flyers, call 549-RIDE and leave your phone number and/or e-mail address,. We’ll be in touch. 

David Coolidge 

• 

MANDEL, PRESENT TENSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your identification of me under my article in last Tuesday’s Daily Planet says that I was a KPFA broadcaster for 37 years. 

It’s hard enough to rebuild an audience with a half-hour show only every second week, and a change in time right in the middle of the 14 weeks assured me, without the further handicap of being described in the past tense. My broadcasts henceforth will be every other Friday, at 2:30 p.m., the next on Sept. 16. Whether I have guests or not, they will include the phone-in period that won me the status of most popular individual broadcaster in numerous surveys over the years by the station itself. 

Listeners whose work hours prohibit tuning in at that time may hear my program, and any other, by computer. Go to kpfa.org. Click on “archive.” That will bring up an alphabetical list of all programs. I am under “T”: “Thinking Out Loud With Bill Mandel.” Click on that, and all of my programs to date come up. They are not repetitive in any way, so you will find a lot of interesting listening. 

Bill Mandel 

• 

ISRAEL / PALESTINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I enjoy reading the Daily Planet so much, and feel a loss when I miss an issue. Thanks for your excellent coverage of local issues. 

Thank you also for branching out, for publishing the article about Palestinians being driven out of their small village by Jewish settlers. Publishing it was courageous; I’m sure there are many Daily Planet readers who are not aware of the extent of the hateful behavior of many of the Israeli settlers. They are the illegal residents, and yet go unpunished. We as Americans must know what Israel is doing in our name and with our tax money, and must speak out to our government to stop endorsing the kind of behavior pointed out in this article. 

Joy Hilden 

• 

MIXED FEELINGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I confess to mixed feelings about Henry Norr’s article about Israeli settler hooliganism. On the one hand, his article does ring true. A small minority of settlers are indeed prepared to act recklessly guided by their religious chauvinism. As far as they are concerned, God gave them the whole land of Israel plus Palestine and any Arab thereon is a trespasser. In this regard they are similar to Hamas, which represents the view of Islamic chauvinists who believe that Allah has given them the whole land of Israel plus Palestine, and that any Jew found thereon is to be slaughtered as an infidel trespasser. Followers of Hamas are far more numerous, and their acts are often fatal, while their Jewish counterparts, though loathsome fanatics, have generally, but not always, used non-lethal tactics. 

But what bothers me about this article is that the Daily Planet published it not as an op-ed, but in a form that made it look like it was written by a reporter, when in fact it was written by a pro-Palestinian activist. Late in the article Norr admits that he is one of a group of international volunteers who has come to the West Bank to protect Palestinians. We further know that Norr is a Palestinian activist, because he ends his article with a reiteration of standard Palestinian propaganda. He calls for the removal of all Israeli settlements in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242. Although that is the governing resolution in the matter, 242 in no way calls for the removal of all settlements. Quite the opposite, it calls for Israeli withdrawal from territories in exchange for peace. First, a final end-of-conflict peace has never been offered by the Palestinians. Second, 224 pointedly left out the word “the” in front of “territories.” This was a matter of intense diplomatic negotiation at the time. All parties understood that Israel would not be required to give up “the” or “all the” territories and return to the 1967 line. That line, after all, was not an international border, but an armistice line. Arafat’s attacks on Israel began in 1965 precisely because he did not recognize that line, and the 1967 war was precipitated by the Arabs who felt that Israel’s true border should be the sea. The war began when Nasser famously boasted “I will throw the Jews into the sea.” He then blockaded Israeli shipping (an act of war) and sent his armies into Sinai. In fact, Jordan entered that war, and thus lost the West Bank, on Egypt’s assurance that its armies were fast approaching Tel Aviv, when in fact they had already been largely destroyed en route. 

Elsewhere, Norr seems to indicate that the name of his group of volunteers is ISM. ISM is the pro-Palestinian group that sent Rachel Corrie into a war zone to protect Hamas weapons smuggling tunnels. ISM, though practicing non-violence itself, praises Palestinian violence, and explicitly supports suicide bombings. In fact, ISM was found to have harbored a suicide bomber in its office. The group was also caught passing photos to the press allegedly taken at Corrie’s tragic death, when they were not. Since having so thoroughly discredited itself in this fashion, ISM has been almost completely shut out of the press, except of course, our own Daily Planet, which never seems to care a whit about fact-checking or the reliability of its sources when it comes to Israel/Palestine. Politically, ISM has also been totally discredited everywhere, except of course here in Berkeley, where they are supported by Linda Maio’s wing of the City Council. 

So, is the Daily Planet’s account of a small hapless Palestinian village accurate? I have no idea. The story sounds believable, but neither the Planet, nor its reporter, have any more credibility than a tabloid peddling cheap sensationalism. 

John Gertz 

• 

THANKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you, Henry Norr, for the reminder of how Palestinians are made to disappear from their land. Of course some of our readers will find ethnic cleansing to be just fine and dandy (as long as it’s aimed at the right ethnicity). Others find it sad but inevitable, because the West Bank will be tamed and the buffalo are gone, anyway. (Oops! Wrong ethnocide.) 

Thank you, Daily Planet, for the reminder of what a free press looks like. The San Francisco Chronicle already told Mr. Norr it had no further use for exposure of Israeli intentions, so I’m glad to see someone still recognizes its journalistic value. 

Thank you, city of Berkeley and its Peace and Justice Commission, for reminding us that government by the people is still alive. If the nation and the State are too spineless to address an issue, let the city of Berkeley be their Socrates, and give stinging advice to those who would deceive themselves and others. 

To who girds our freedoms with repressive intent, I say, “Go join! Your nation calls you.” 

Paul Larudee 

El Cerrito 

• 

RARE BIRD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to thank Henry Norr one thousand and one times for his Aug. 30 article, “Palestinians Struggle to Hold on to Land, Watering Holes.” His story is a small yet no less tragic story of the ethnic cleansing which has been going on for years in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The timing of this article is particularly important, because the Gaza disengagement has proved, predictably, to be a giant cover for the systematic land-grab sponsored by the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and paid for by us, the taxpayers. There will never be peace in Israel-Palestine until Americans are aware of the pain and suffering on both sides. The mass media tends to focus only on Israel’s story, which makes Norr’s article a rare bird indeed. 

Heather Merriam 

• 

KPFA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This letter is about the dispute between the KPFA Local Station Board and the paid KPFA staff. The LSB wants to move Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” program to 7 a.m. “Prime Drive Time” and the paid staff refuses to follow the order. The reason for the LSB’s decision is that Amy Goodman is “Pacifica’s proudest human product” (Bill Mandel’s description). 

The inference is that “Democracy Now!” is a better program than “The Morning Show” and better than all the other KPFA programs, that Amy Goodman is a better producer and interviewer than Philip Maldari and Andrea Lewis and all the other KPFA producers and interviewers. 

My opinion is that they are all equally good: Philip Maldari, Andrea Lewis, Dennis Bernstein, Larry Bensky, Kris Welch, C. S. Soong, Sasha Lilley, Pratap Chatterjee, Bonnie Faulkner, Amy Goodman and so on. 

I think the reason that Amy Goodman is the “star” of Pacifica is that her program is broadcast on many stations. If any other Pacifica programmers were broadcast on many other stations, they too would be “stars.” 

There was a survey of KPFA’s contributors about KPFA’s programming. We’ve never been given the results of that survey. Does the LSB have it and their decision reflects the desires of the contributors? I would like to know. 

Myrna Sokolinsky 

• 

MORE ON KPFA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The commentary by some KPFA board members on that appeared on Aug. 26 leaves out some important details. 

Though they say that the board: 

1. Hired Mr. Dan Siegel, a well known local attorney, to conduct an investigation. 

2. Met with Mr. Siegel to review and discuss his findings [about the sexual harassment charges against Mr. Campenella].” They leave out the fact that they ignored Mr. Siegel’s recommendation to fire Roy Campenella as general manager. When asked about this, they respond that the report was biased, but when asked to explain further they will hastily explain that they can’t due to confidentiality. Apparently the statement that the investigator, that the board itself hired, is biased is not confidential but the reasons behind it are. 

They go on to state that while they didn’t recommend firing Mr. Campenella or even the purely symbolic act of putting him on probation, but “On Aug. 20, it [the board} approved a motion recommending constructive steps to be taken to improve the situation at KPFA.” 

However, the board hasn’t detailed what those “steps” are beyond that one word description of “constructive.” 

Chris Stehlik 

KPFA staff person 

• 

JACK LONDON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Usually, when people assert that Jack London was a racist it is because some of his characters are racists, as J. Douglas-Allen Taylor recently pointed out in the Daily Planet on Aug. 26 and Aug. 30. 

If a novelist gives voice to bigots, racists, fascists, etc., does that make him one? If his fiction accurately portrays the sentiments of his times does that mean he agreed with them? What about authors of mystery novels? Does this make them murders or sympathetic to murderers? 

Jack London stated very clearly that he wrote two kinds of work: fiction for money, non-fiction for conviction. Jack London was a life-long socialist who saw racism as a tool for dividing working people. Jack London can speak for himself on this question, quoting from a letter to Toichi Nakahara, editor of the Japanese American Commercial Weekly, dated Aug. 25, 1913:  

Dear sir: 

In reply to yours of August 16,1913. First of all, I should say by stopping the stupid newspaper from always fomenting race prejudice. 

This of course, being impossible, I would say, next, by educating the people of Japan so that they will be too intelligently tolerant to respond to any call to race prejudice. 

And, finally, by realizing, in industry and government, of socialism—which last word is merely a word that stands for the actual application of in the affairs off men of the theory of the Brotherhood of Man. 

In the meantime the nations and races are only unruly boys who have not yet grown to the stature of men. So we must expect them to do unruly and boisterous things at times. And, just as boys grow up, so the races of mankind will grow up and laugh when they look back upon their childish quarrels. 

Sincerely yours, 

Jack London 

(From The Letters of Jack London: Volume Three: 1913-1916, edited by Earle Labor, Robert C. Leitz, III, and I. Milo Shepard, Stanford University Press 1988, p.1219) 

Tarnel Abbott 

(One of Jack London’s great-granddaughters 

Richmond) 

• 

SCHOOLS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s good that Superintendent Michele Lawrence attended the August meeting of the Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations and participated in the agenda item about ballot initiatives for Berkeley’s public schools. 

The first initiative in circulation seeks to change the way school board members are elected to be in sync with our city’s eight districts. This way, every resident in Berkeley will have representation on the School Board. Some districts, like mine, District 8, has not had a representative for many, many years.  

The second initiative being prepared, would require BUSD to have an auditor whose job would be to insure that our tax monies are efficiently and effectively used. We know the school district spends the money. But no one seems to be able to say, was the money well spent? In fact, the state’s Fiscal Management Crisis Advisory Team, in their June, 2006 report, rated the personnel management as a 5.65 and financial management as a 5.7 on a scale of 10. Less than 60 percent equals an F. We need to do much better than that. 

The third initiative being prepared would require that the school district to not sell land unless approved by the voters of Berkeley. We all know that once the school district sells land, it will never be able to buy it back. The school district holds land and other assets in trust for the public, so the public should be consulted before any sale.  

I hope the School Board and superintendent will work cooperatively with the community rather than opposing the community so that we can, together, productively invest our energy, time and money into our very important public schools. 

Stephanie Corcos 

• 

IRV 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last year, Berkeley voters passed instant runoff voting election modernization by a landslide, with over 72 percent support, the most greatest margin of any item on the ballot. We want our first, second and third choice to count. San Francisco voters are already benefiting from better elections. 

The city and county should be making election modernization a top priority so that we too can have IRV elections with less hostility, more votes counted, and without an expensive and time-consuming runoff in 2006. Ranked Voting elections empower voters otherwise disenfranchised by the antiquated one-choice plurality election system 

On Monday Aug. 29, please join us in front of City Hall for a noon rally to renew Berkeley’s call for better democracy. Much of the nation watches our city for civic leadership. IRV elections here in 2006 will support the efforts of congressmen Cynthia McKinney, Jesse Jackson Jr., and Dennis Kucinich, and also Howard Dean, U.S. Sen. Obama, and Assemblymember Loni Hancock for state and national IRV reform by 2008.  

Sennet WIliams  

?

A key Silicon Valley rule is that to be successful at developing new products one must focus on getting the job done, rather than on being right. The failure of the Iraq constitutional process brings America to a critical decision-point, where the American public has been presented with only two options, both based on the notion of taking the “right” next step in Iraq. 

The Bush administration champions a conservative view of rightness. They contend that we must fight terrorists in Iraq, so that we don’t have to fight them at home. Bush argues that the United States must stay in Iraq until “the job gets done,” the insurgency ends. There are two problems with his position: One is that it is open-ended—there are no cost limits in terms of time, money, or American lives. The other is that this conservative view turns a blind eye to the increased risk of another 9/11; it ignores the reality that America has been weakened by the Iraqi occupation, that resources spent in Iraq would be better spent on real homeland security measures, such as fortifying chemical plants, 

Progressives propose a competing view of what is right. They argue that the justification for the Iraq war was fabricated and, therefore, the occupation has no moral authority. They insist upon a withdrawal plan, that troops must begin to leave Iraq by Oct. 1, 2006. The problem with this approach is that a total U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would likely plunge the nation into civil war, where hundreds of thousands would perish in sectarian battles and ethnic cleansing. Inevitably, this fighting would spill over into the rest of the Middle East, and impact the economy and security of the United States. 

Giving up the notion of being right and substituting “getting the job done” represents a significant departure from both the conservative and progressive views. Such a stance recognizes that our occupation of Iraq has not worked, but that the United States cannot simply walk away. After all, it is one thing for a married couple to divorce after two months, and quite another for them to divorce after 10 years and two children. Whether we like it or not, our “marriage” with the Iraqis has produced “children” that we must take responsibility for. 

Getting the job done means that Americans, first, get our priorities straight. It reasons that rather than asking how we win in Iraq, or how we get out as fast as possible, we should instead ask ourselves what course of action will make America safer, in the long run. It recognizes that the United States is expending resources in Iraq that should, instead, be used to bolster homeland security; for example, rather than build enduring military bases in Iraq, we should be strengthening our first responders here at home, pumping funds into police and fire departments.  

After we clarify our priorities, the United States needs to adopt three new policies to help us get the job done. The first regards our military forces. We should admit that we are not winning the war with our ground troops—that we have never had enough troops in Iraq for a successful occupation—and that it would enhance our national security if we began bringing these troops home. Therefore, we should announce that we are withdrawing our ground troops from urban areas and that, once all parties accept a new Iraqi constitution, we will withdraw most of our ground troops from the country. Thereafter, the United States would adopt the same strategy that we have in Afghanistan: let the reconstituted national army do the day-to-day fighting with insurgents, while we assist Iraq with our air power and Special Forces.  

The second new policy regards our conception of Iraqi democracy. We should accept the Shiite and Kurd position that Iraq must become a federation rather than a republic. The United States should provide financial and political incentives so the Sunnis can live with this arrangement; for example, we should agree upon an amnesty for most former Baath Party members. We should allow Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis to have different versions of democracy; for example, the Shiite region could place more emphasis on Islamic law. The United States must abandon the notion of “model” democracy and settle for something that works. 

The third new policy would be economic. The United States must renounce the draconian financial conditions set by the Coalition Provisional Authority, for example, the terms of the reconstruction loans from the World Bank. We should redirect reconstruction funding away from U.S. contractors to their Iraqi counterparts. Finally, the United States should announce that when there is political stability in each of the three regions of Iraq, we would withdraw from our bases there and turn them over to the Iraqi military. 

By dogmatically insisting that we are right in Iraq, and refusing to acknowledge our mistakes, the Bush administration has backed the United States into a corner. The only way to get out of this corner is to abandon all pretenses of getting it right and, instead, take actions that will truly protect America. 

Bob Burnett is a retired Silicon Valley executive, now a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

Did someone fire seven shots “at” Oakland police officers following a motorcycle club charity event at the Kaiser Convention Center last Saturday night? Were the motorcycle clubs—composed of mostly black members—in any way connected with the fired shots or the reported “chaos” that surrounded it, including what has been described by police officials as a “massive sideshow” that rolled from the downtown area out into East Oakland? And what were the exact events that led to the fired shots? 

It would seem that the City of Oakland would want to know the answers to those questions in order to prepare the proper response. 

I don’t know what information the Police Department or some city officials have, but following the various reports in the local media, it is pretty much impossible to get an accurate picture of what happened. 

According to the Oakland Tribune article by reporter Heather MacDonald published the next day, “the disturbance began about 11 p.m. as the [Kaiser Convention Center event hosted by the Shadows of the Knight, Kings of Cali, Wiseguys and Goodfellas local motorcycle clubs] began breaking up. At 2 a.m.—an hour after police ordered the crowd to disperse—someone fired seven shots at two police officers who were attempting to direct the traffic outside the Convention Center near Lake Merritt. Neither was hit. … To quell the chaos, officers pushed the vehicles out of the area, only to have hundreds of vehicles swarm the streets near Jack London Square less than a hour later, touching off a massive reckless driving ‘sideshow’ near Fourth Street and Broadway that involved several hundred people and vehicles.” 

The puzzlement begins with this newspaper account. What type of “disturbance” was taking place at 11 p.m. and if it was serious enough to be noted in the newspaper, why did Oakland police not order the crowd to disperse until two hours later? (The MacDonald article says the shots were fired at 2 a.m., an hour after they began the dispersal.) 

A San Francisco Chronicle article on the 29th by reporter Demian Bulwa mentioned no 11 p.m. disturbance, but only said that “[a]t 1 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the city-owned Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center downtown on 10th Street, as a canned food drive and charity dance organized by four motorcycle clubs was letting out.” Responded to what? Unfortunately, Mr. Bulwa doesn’t let us know. 

The reporter goes on to say, however, that ‘[a]s people hung out in the parking lot and traffic backed up in the area, a sideshow—an illegal street party where some participants perform tricks with their cars—was starting.” 

But to believe this account, you have to believe that a sideshow continued in the Kaiser Convention Center parking lot after Oakland police responded to the scene and continued on for an hour in full police presence. 

Is that what happened? Perhaps, but it doesn’t fit any of the scenarios I’ve witnessed over the past several years when Oakland police came out to disperse sideshow events. In all such events that I have seen or heard of, sideshow participants have dispersed almost immediately as soon as the police showed up. Are we being told that sideshow participants are now ignoring the police and going on with their activities, regardless? Or, in the alternative, was this merely a dispersal of cars from a parking lot that later developed into a sideshow at another downtown location several blocks away, Fourth and Broadway. 

And where, exactly, were the shots fired? 

The Tribune articles puts the shooting outside the Convention Center while two police officers were directing traffic. That shooting location appeared to be confirmed by KPIX and KTVU television stations, both of which posted the almost identical lead paragraphs on their websites that “about a thousand people were involved in a sideshow at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland Saturday night when shots were fired at police.” 

But the Chronicle article quotes a motorcycle club member from Vallejo, identified only by his club name Fireworks, saying that “(the shooting) happened up the street from us.” Up the street, where? Meaning the parking lot? Or was he talking about the Fourth and Broadway location where sideshow events reportedly took place somewhere around 2 o’clock? 

The question is more than idle curiosity. Various city officials—including City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, a spokesperson for Mayor Jerry Brown, and Oakland Police Lieutenant Paul Berlin—have all put the cause for the disturbances on the motorcycle clubs, with Lt. Berlin telling the Tribune he was going to ask city officials to revoke a permit for the clubs to have a similar event at the Convention Center this weekend. “We have enough problems here in Oakland,” Berlin said. And while Mr. Brown’s spokesperson Gil Duran said the organizers of the charity event are not “personally responsible for the actions of individuals,” Mr. Duran noted that “we don’t need to be sanctioning events that have our officers shot at in the middle of the night.” 

But shouldn’t we determine if the motorcycle clubs were at fault in some way-other than for simply holding an event in Oakland-before deciding to initiate a ban on their activities. How far away did the disturbances occur from their event? Was it reasonable to suppose in advance that there would be trouble? If so, did city or police officials anticipate such trouble and, if so, did they require any extra security efforts by the motorcycle clubs that the clubs did not follow? Or did the police not anticipate trouble, but are now holding the motorcycle clubs to a higher standard? 

Another important question to be answered is were the seven shots actually intentionally fired at the officers, or did they simply go by the officers because they happened to be there? 

Don’t get me wrong. Discharging a weapon in a crowded, public place is a serious, dangerous act, and people can end up just as dead from it regardless of whether or not their deaths were intentional. But it seems we would all agree that the intentional firing of a weapon at police officers trying to disperse a crowd would have enormous implications for any and all police and public activities in this city, so shouldn’t we know for sure? Is there a video available that can show—or witnesses who can say—that someone pointed a weapon directly at the two officers and fired at them? 

And finally—in the past, Oakland police have been accused of escalating crowd problems by their attitude, particularly crowds involving young African-Americans (Carijama, the Festival at the Lake, and, of course, Oakland’s sideshows come quickest to mind). Nobody has made that charge about Saturday night’s disturbances, although it must be noted that because neither the two newspapers or the two television stations quoted anyone who says they were in the parking lot when police were dispersing the drivers, or admitted being involved in the later sideshow at Fourth and Broadway, we haven’t yet heard from the individuals who were in a good position to make that charge. We will have to wait and see if any such accusations surface. If such accusations of police escalation of the problem do come forward, they should not necessarily be believed, but they should be taken seriously and made part of the investigation of this event. 

And an investigation of the events that occurred surrounding the Kaiser Convention Center benefit is certainly in order. Although some people have already drawn their conclusions, the public, at least, has not been presented with nearly enough information to be able to make up our minds about what happened, and why.

Rape suspect busted 

Israel Bustamonte, 25, of Oakland, was arrested Monday for a May 22 rape in Aquatic Park, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

The 17-year-old victim was assaulted and raped about 6 p.m. as she was walking along the north side of the park. With her help, police were able to produce a sketch of the assailant, which played a key role in role in the case when a patrol officer spotted the suspect several days later and remembered another case in which he had been involved.  

Sex Crimes Detail Detective Keith Deblasi said the sketch, extensive interviews and DNA evidence were critical to the case officers assembled. 

Bustamonte was arrested while already in custody at Santa Clara County Jail, where he was being held in connection with an unrelated case, said Okies. 

Cyclist botches heist 

A man in his early 20s pulled a pistol on a 23-year-old fellow walking along the 2200 block of Ellsworth Street about 4:30 a.m. Monday and demanded valuables. 

When the victim showed his disinclination to comply, the bandit departed on his street bike. 

Teenage bandit foiled 

A teenage bandit armed with a small knife was rebuffed by two would-be robbery victims, causing him to run away on both occasions. 

The first incident just before 5 p.m. Monday when a teenager described as about 14 approached a 22-year-old man walking along Ashby Avenue near the Adeline Street intersection, said Officer Okies. 

When the victim refused to comply, the young robber boogied. 

Then, at 7:30, a fellow of similar description approached a 37-year-old woman near the corner of Adeline and Russell streets, he pulled his knife. 

The small-knife fugitive remains at large. 

Profitable bust 

When Berkeley police arrived in the 18900 block of Seventh Street to arrest a 23-year-old man on an outstanding warrant Monday evening, they discovered he was in possession of methamphetamine, stolen property, and a concealed and loaded pistol—adding four new charges to the one on which he was sought, said Officer Okies.3

Two things happened in one day that tell much about the abysmal failure of the Bush administration to get a handle on poverty in America.  

The first was the tragic and disgraceful images of hordes of New Orleans residents scurrying down the city’s hurricane-ravaged streets with their arms loaded with food, clothes, appliances, and in some cases guns that they looted from stores and shops. The second was a Census Bureau report released the same day, which found that the number of poor Americans has leaped even higher since Bush took office in 2000.  

Criminal gangs, which always take advantage of chaos and misery to grab whatever they can, did much of the looting. But many desperately poor, mostly black residents saw a chance to grab items that they can’t afford. That’s still wrong, unless the items were necessary for survival. But it’s no surprise. New Orleans has one of the highest poverty rates of any of America’s big cities.  

According to a report by Total Community Action, a New Orleans public advocacy group, nearly one in three of New Orleans’ 485,000 residents live below the poverty level. The majority of that group is black. A spokesperson for the United Negro College Fund noted that the city’s poor live in some of the most dilapidated housing in the nation.  

New Orleans is not an aberration. Nationally, according to Census figures, blacks remain at the bottom of the economic totem pole. They have the lowest median income of any group. Bush’s war and economic policies don’t help matters. His tax cuts redistributed billions to the rich and corporations. The Iraq war has drained billions from cash-starved job training, health and education programs. Increased American dependence on Saudi oil has driven fuel prices skyward. Corporate downsizing, outsourcing and industrial flight have further fueled America’s poverty crisis. All of this happened on Bush’s watch.  

The 2 million new jobs in 2004 Bush touts as proof that his economic policies work are mostly due to number-counting tricks. The bulk of these jobs are low-paying ones in retail and service industries, with minimum benefits and little job security. A big portion of the nearly 40 million Americans who live below the official poverty line fill these jobs. They’re the lucky ones. They have jobs. Many young blacks, such as those who ransacked stores in New Orleans, don’t.  

The poverty crisis has slammed them the hardest of all. Even during the Clinton-era economic boom, the unemployment rate for young black males was double and in some parts of the country triple that of white males.  

During the past couple of years, state and federal cutbacks in job training and skills programs, the brutal competition for low- and semi-skilled service and retail jobs from immigrants and the refusal of many employers to hire those with criminal records have further hammered black communities and added to high unemployment numbers among young blacks that resemble joblessness during the Great Depression. The tale of poverty is more evident in the nearly 1 million blacks behind bars, the HIV/AIDS rampage in black communities and the raging drug and gang violence in many black neighborhoods.  

Then there are the children. One-third of America’s poor are children. Worse, the Children’s Defense Fund found that nearly 1 million black children live in extreme poverty. That’s the greatest number of black children trapped in dire poverty in nearly 25 years.  

Bush officials claim the poverty numbers do not surprise them. They contend that past trends show that poverty peaks and then declines a year after the jump in new job growth. But the poverty numbers have steadily risen for all five years of the Bush administration. There has been no sign of a turnaround. For that to happen, Bush would have to reverse his tax-and-war spending policies, and commit massive funds to job, training and education programs and provide tax incentives for businesses to train and hire the poor. That would take an active national lobbying effort by Congressional Democrats, civil rights and anti-poverty groups. That’s not likely either. The poor are too nameless, faceless and vast in numbers to target with a sustained lobbying campaign.  

The NAACP hammers Bush on the Iraq war and his domestic policies, but poverty has not been their top priority. The fight for affirmative action, economic parity, professional advancement and busing replaced battling poverty, reducing unemployment, securing quality education, promoting self-help and gaining greater political empowerment as the goals of all African-Americans. That effectively left out in the cold the one in four blacks who live below the official poverty level.  

The looting in New Orleans, though deplorable, put an ugly public face on a crisis that Bush administration policies have made worse. The millions in America who grow poorer, more desperate and greater in number are bitter testament to that.  

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is author of The Crisis in Black and Black (Middle Passage Press).

I think that in the beginning, redevelopment was either a good idea or an act of desperation. I believe it was initially spurred by massive disinvestment in inner cities in the East. I have to laugh when I hear redevelopment people in California talking about blight and abandoned buildings; do you know that Baltimore has 40,000 empty buildings? Oakland only has 80,000 buildings altogether. In any case, the good idea or act of desperation, once it was in place, turned out to be not so good. It led to “urban renewal”—the destruction of mostly historic and intact neighborhoods deemed “blighted,” and the removal of the residents. Eventually urban renewal fell from grace and was replaced by new planning fads like: turning your downtown into a pedestrian mall, festival marketplaces, building aquariums, gambling facilities, or the current favorite, downtown baseball stadiums, and of course, “smart growth.” Because you have to understand, planning is subject to fads, and planners like to think big. Politicians like to think big, too, because it gives them big things to point at when they run for reelection.  

Smart growth is the current fad, and they can all repeat the tenets like gospel: density in the inner cities will save farmland in the Central Valley, density near transit will get people out of their cars. Let me be clear: The only connection between density in the inner cities and farmland in the Central Valley is money- money for developers. The developer spouting the Smart Growth line at the Oakland Planning Commission is exactly the same developer who is paving over farmland in Ripon. And the same developer who is making large political contributions to the city councilmembers who also just happen to be the board of the Redevelopment Agency. 

All that aside, my primary problem with redevelopment is that historic buildings are always the first thing to go. They are always the ones that are (and I’m quoting now from the California Redevelopment Association), “aging, deteriorating, outdated and inefficient building configuration and design that does not meet current business needs, vacant, underutilized, incompatible adjacent or nearby uses of land parcels that hinder economic activity.” 

You should always run screaming when any politician or city planner uses the word “underutilized.” 

No one ever tears down an ugly building from the 1970s to put in a parking lot, but the argument whenever someone wants to demolish a historic building is “It would cost too much to fix it.” On top of that is what I call “hate the building syndrome.” Most people simply cannot see beyond a bad use or bad tenants, so if a historic building was a crack house or a porn theater or a liquor store, or was allowed to run down by an uncaring owner, although it is not the building’s fault, everyone will say, “Oh yes, it’s so awful—tear it down!” And then several thousand board feet of old growth timber will be sent splintered and useless to the landfill, and in its place will rise an overly dense building that dwarfs everything around it, built of crappy materials, that looks like hell inside of five years. 

I find this particularly amusing because one of the “adverse economic conditions” listed under blight is “residential overcrowding.” 

Redevelopment is not about giving homeowners low interest loans to fix up their houses. It is not about giving low interest loans to business people so they can open up bookstores or hardware stores or bakeries or shoe repair shops or other things that benefit the neighborhood. Rather, it’s about removing long time homeowners and existing businesses in order to assemble large parcels that can be turned over to developers.  

And development is apparently the only business in which you can demand a guaranteed profit, and refuse to do things you don’t want to do because they “don’t pencil out.”  

Russell Baker said, “Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.”  

Half of Oakland is already IN redevelopment areas—the downtown area was recently renewed for another 30 years, because the first 30 years where we threw millions of dollars at the Warrior practice arena, the Oakland Ice Center, and everything else that was supposed to “revitalize downtown Oakland” didn’t work. Now we are prepared to spend $65 million at minimum, remove thriving small businesses through eminent domain, all in order to build a suburban-style apartment complex for the benefit of a developer from Cleveland, with no guarantee that it will revitalize downtown. 

With the recent Kelo decision by the Supreme Court, no one is safe from eminent domain. Cities can take your property (or your landlord’s property) and give it to a private developer in the name of “economic development.” Oakland city officials are salivating over the possible tax increment money to be gained from annexing North Oakland to the existing redevelopment area. North Oakland is not blighted—that’s why they want it. The millions of dollars they will get from increased property taxes on houses that are selling for $600,000 to $800,000 will get sucked into the black hole of the MacArthur Transit Village or some other project that a developer is pitching to them even now, that will be a snowball rolling downhill before we even hear of it. 

According to officials at the California Redevelopment Association, if Tom McClintock’s bill SCA15, the Homeowner and Property Protection Act, ever becomes law, they will be out of business. I suggest we should all do our best to make sure that happens. 

Jane Powell is an Oakland preservationist.

First, I would like to commend Daily Planet Executive Editor O’Malley for her two editorials welcoming UC Berkeley students back to Berkeley and presenting them with information on the myriad of opportunities to shop and participate in community life. I would also like to take this opportunity to correct a pervasive urban myth that the University of California and non-profits “dominate the majority of square acreage in Berkeley”. 

A March 15 report to the City Council and City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan presents an analysis of the 28,293 Berkeley parcels on Alameda County’s 2003 Secured Tax Roll which lists the major Berkeley landowners. Excluding underwater land at the marina, Berkeley’s total lot square footage is 241 million square feet. The major landowners are: City of Berkeley, 5.6 percent: other public agencies, 23.1 percent (includes the Regents of California and East Bay Regional Park District): public utilities, 0.7 percent, and nonprofits, 2.5 percent. Thus, public and non-profit entities own 31.9 percent of Berkeley’s above-water land, whereas taxpaying residential, commercial, industrial and institutional own 68.1 percent. 

The biggest landowner is the East Bay Regional Park District (28.3 million square feet), with the Regents of California second with 21.4 million square feet (includes both the UC Berkeley campus, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other parcels owned by UC), followed by the City of Berkeley with 13.5 million square feet and the Berkeley Unified School District with 3.8 million square feet.  

To summarize, the Regents own about 8.9 percent of the property in Berkeley. Adding the nonprofits (2.5 percent) increases the total for the “university and nonprofits” to 11.4 percent. Thus, the university and nonprofits own less than one-eighth of the above-water land in Berkeley. This can easily be verified by the casual observer by simply looking carefully at a map of the City of Berkeley and observing the relative size of UC to the city as a whole. 

Thus, the Alameda County tax rolls indicate that Becky O’Malley’s claim that UC and nonprofits “dominate the majority of square acreage in Berkeley” is clearly erroneous. Since one of the purpose of journalism is to provide a critical review of the facts and eliminate errors from the public debate, I would ask that the Daily Planet cease making this clearly erroneous claim in its future editions. 

  Finally, although I do not have space in this letter to address the complex issue of whether public entities and nonprofits are paying their “fair share” for services rendered by the City of Berkeley, I would note that the consultant report that O’Malley quotes for her claim that the university owes the city millions of dollars was never peer-reviewed and suffers from a seriously flawed methodology. Basically, the consultant was hired to generate the largest possible number to be used as an opening gambit in the negotiations between the city and the university and not to make an objective assessment. Thus, it is misleading to the public to quote this report as the definitive word on the subject. 

City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak City represents Berkeley’s District 8. 

I was one of those 12,000 or more KPFA supporters Bob Baldock referred to in his Aug. 26 opinion piece, and I have a different take than Mr. Baldock (for whom I have a lot of respect) on both the meaning of that march for KPFA six years ago and of the present situation. We did not march to support the staff, but the station. And we listeners not only won it back, but we won recognition as the guardians of the station, and network, and a role in station and network governance which we hadn’t had before. Now we find some staff blocking us in this role.  

I was out there to preserve the community ownership of the radio station which was my trusted source of information about our world. I’ve been a listener/supporter of KPFA since 1962 and as a leftist I pay attention to dissident views, and that is why I participated in movements to democratize the station and stop the corporate takeover, long before 1999 (Take Back KPFA and Save KPFA). It was not to support just the station staff—the station is more to me than just particular individuals. I was happy to see staff support the autonomy of the station from the forces trying to gag and sell it, but I was well aware that this struggle began long before 1999 and that previously much of the staff had had much denial for the situation and little support for those trying to save the station. 

It was an amazing victory when we won the station back and won democratic participation for the listeners, who were instrumental in the victory. Our governance was changed from a general manager and an “advisory five stations’ representation on the National Board. 

I don’t know all the details of the sexual harassment charges and denials, but I see that this elected board has taken it very seriously, spending many hours investigating it, and found Mr. Campanella not guilty as charged. I am a feminist but am all too aware of these charges being used to manipulate situations. 

And as someone who keeps up with governance at the station, I am also aware that there is a basic struggle going on there for the last two years at least, between those who want a station run by shared decision making, and those who have de facto power and want to preserve it. I have been a part of various democratic collectives over the years, and I can tell you two things: Democratic decision making is essential to the health of community organizations, and those who have the power want to keep the status quo and will fight to the death—the death of their principles!—to preserve it! This is what is really going on: The general manager was trying to include others in the decisionmaking, and various forces on the staff are trying to push him out, just as they did the former GM, Gus Newport.  

This is all very heartbreaking and confusing to most of us. We love and identify with the brave and true hosts and commentators on KPFA, and actually know them personally if we are staff. But, I have to say, we are also being manipulated with such issues as harassment, feminism, workers vs. management, violence, a safe workplace, unity, and they are all red herrings, whether intentional or not. 

I will offer some websites as well: go to www.PeoplesRadio.net for pro-democracy articles; also www.IndyBay.org and/or SF.IndyMedia.org for articles such as Maria Gilardin’s well documented “Why Did the Staff not Prevent the 10-Year Corporate Raid?” (Aug. 30, 2004). 

Mara Rivera is a KPFA listener and supporter.  

One of the most beautiful exhibitions to be seen hereabouts in a long time is currently on view at the library of the Graduate Theological Union on Holy Hill (2400 Ridge Road) in Berkeley, a venue that has mounted fine art exhibitions for over 30 years. 

The artist, Patsy Krebs, has had almost 40 solo exhibitions, and shows regularly at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco, but this is her first in the East Bay. On the walls and in the display cases of the library, the viewer encounters contemplative wate rcolors, paintings whose subtle color relationships induce contemplation. 

It is always difficult to find words in the discussion of abstract painting, as the work strikes the viewer on a pre-verbal level. Krebs’s recent work belongs to the tradition of g eometric abstraction, going back to the early 20th Century masters Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian, transmitted at mid-century by Josef Albers’s luminous squares and Mark Rothko’s vibrating rectangles, which defied geometry. 

Among the pictures on disp lay are four pieces of layered watercolor and acrylic on paper, mounted on panel, which are called “Elysion.” Elysion in Homer is a beautiful meadow at the extreme end of the earth. The paintings are horizontal fields without limit, extending, it would se em, beyond space and time. 

“Horizon,” Krebs writes, “is both distance and boundary. It is as far as we can see in any direction, an edge of what is unseeable.” 

And, on the wall label, she also quotes the philosopher Martin Heidegger: “What is evident of a horizon, then, is but the side facing us of an openness which surrounds us.” And, indeed, one of the “Elysion” paintings of the two horizontal planes in the dark browns and dark green-greys, recalls Rothko’s canvanses, which affect a silent dialogue be tween painting and viewer. 

On the library walls there are also several paintings called “Stepwells” that consist of squares which emit color haloes and are embedded in larger squares of related color tones. In the display cases there are sequences of wat ercolors on hand-made paper and larger paintings, some of them luminescent, even though they are almost monochrome, and have poetic titles such as “Requiescat,” “Vigil” and “The Hours.” 

At a time in which so much of the art we see is gimmicky, when we ar e confronted with public art of low wit, when much of the stuff flaunts high tech without human emotion, when our vision is overloaded with endless visual noise, it is difficult to tune into silent art such as Patsy Krebs’ paintings, which can slowly chan ge our perception, as we become aware of the subtle gradations of color and light. Each observer will respond differently to these paintings, depending on his/her own feelings and thoughts, which may well be the essential artistic experience. 

“Patsy Kreb s: A Decade” will be on view at the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Road, through Sept. 22, featuring select works on paper, 1995-2005. A lecture and reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sept. 22. Exhibit is free and open to the public during library hours. For more information, call 649-2500 or see www.gtu.edu. 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 2 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Price” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., through Oct. 9, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “Nicholas Nickleby” Part 2 at 8 p.m. at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., between Berkeley and Orinda, through Sept. 18. Tickets are $10-$55. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Impact Theater “Nicky Goes Goth” at 8 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, through Oct. 1. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

The Marsh Berkeley “When God Winked” by Ron Jones. Thurs.-Sat. at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Building, 2120 Allston Way, through Sept. 16. Tickets are $10-$22. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

Woodminster Summer Musicals “Jesus CHrist Superstar” at 8 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland, Sept. 2-4, 9-11 Tickets are $20-33. 531-9597. www.woodminster.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Jerome Carlin’s Landscape Paintings Imaginary Landscapes and small plein air oil oil sketches of Tilden Park and streetscapes of the Berkeley Hills, at The Musical Offering, 2340 Bancroft Way, through Oct. www.jeromecarlin.com 

Artwork by Yvette Buigues Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Cafe DiBartolo, 3310 Grand Ave., near Grand Lake Theater. 832-9005. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jack Pollard & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kai Eckhardt, Jon Fishman and Julia Butterfly Hill at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20-$22. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Walter Pope Trio at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

E Ivey Orchestra, Old Puppy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Dick Conte Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ken Mahru and Friends at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373.  

Otis Goodnight, Stymie & The Pimp Jones Love Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159 

Crossfire Crew at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Locust, Cattle Decapitation, Look Back and Laugh at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Night of the Cookers with Billy Harper, James Spaulding, Charles Tolliver, David Weiss, John Hicks, Roy McCurdy and Dwayne Burno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $1-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 3 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players, “Cyrano de Bergerac” at 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. through Sept. 11, at John Hinkle Park, labor day perf. Sept. 5. Free with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Synergy Women’s Open Mic at 3 p.m. at Lakeview Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland Literature and World Music Festival Sat.-Mon., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at City Center Plaza. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. www.ArtandSoulOakland.com 

Walter Savage Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Gator Beat at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

“Braziu” with Sotaque Baino and Raiv Do Samba at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$12. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Samantha Raven and Friends at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony at 10 p.m. at 510 17th St., Oakland. www.at17th.com 

Kurt Riback Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

George Pederson and the Natives, Real Sippin’ Whiskeys at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Rory Snyder Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Lucky Stiffs, Tried and True, Nuts and Bolts, Sore Thumbs at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 

CHILDREN 

Gary Laplow at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Talks and Tours” of “Wholly Grace” by Susan Duhan Felix, at 3 p.m. at the Bade Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave.  

Kick Back Sundays Jazz and spoken word sponsored by The Jazz House at 6 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 415-846-9432. 

Poetry Flash with Trane Devore and Donna de la Perriére at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Adrian West at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Hostile Takeover, Acts of Sedition, Sabretooth Zombie, 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, SEPT. 5 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players, “Cyrano de Bergerac” today at 4 p.m., and Sat. and Sun. through Sept. 11, at John Hinkle Park. Free with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Last Word Poetry Reading with Eugene David and Dan Marlin at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Edgardo Cambon & Latido at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Wed. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

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

TUESDAY, SEPT. 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Darkroom Drawings” black and white photographs and mixed media by Robert Tomlinson opens at Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St., and runs to Oct. 22. 644-1400.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nahid Mozzafari and Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak describe “Strange Times, My Dear” the PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Fundraiser for Victims of Hurricane Katrina withTom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Hamilton de Holanda & Mike Marshall, mandolinists, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Gary Rowe, solo jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, Cuban guitarist, at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Leslie Thorne Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 7 

EXHIBITIONS 

“CCA Faculty New Work” Reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Oliver Art Center, 5212 Broadway, Oakland. 594-3600. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Chris Mooney discusses “The Republican War on Science” 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.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Anais Lim, flute, and Jessie Lee, piano, at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

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

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

Edessa at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Julio Bravo, salsa, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Fundamentals Jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Dirk Powell Band with Riley Baugus, Appalachian music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Calvin Keys Trio Invitational Jam at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Dave Eshelman’s Jazz Garden Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 8 

THEATER 

Woodminster Summer Musicals “Jesus Christ Superstar” at 8 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland, through Sun. Tickets are $20-33. 531-9597. www.woodminster.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Residency Projects Part Two by Kala Fellowship artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Exhibit runs to Oct. 15. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

“From the Maker’s Hand” selections from the permanent collection of the Phoebe Hearst Museum opens at Bancroft Way at College. 643-7648. http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu 

“China Obscura: A Photo Exhibit” by Mark Leong opens at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th flr. 642-2809. 

“Retro” a photography exhibition by Harold Adler opens at the Art of Living Gallery, 2905 Shattuck Ave. Reception at 6 p.m.  

“China’s Vanishing Heritage” Heirloom Embroidered Textiles from the Hill Tribes of Southwestern China at Ethnic Arts, 1314 10th St. 415-812-0015. www.redgingko.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Reporting From China” by Mark Leong in conjunction with his photography exhibit at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th flr. 642-2809. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 6 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Lan Samantha Chang introduces her novel “Inheritance” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Word Beat Reading Series with Jan Steckel and Debra Grace Khattab at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Albany Music in the Park with Spirit of ‘29, Dixieland jazz, at 6:30 p.m. at Albany’s Memorial Park. 524-9283. www.albanyca.org 

She’Koyokh Klezmer Ensemble, Eastern European folk music, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Ahenk Duo, traditional music from Turkey, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Memphis Murder Man, Year of the Wildcat at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Pete Madsen at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Ginny Wilson and Tommy Kesecker, piano, vibes, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Zawinul Syndicate at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

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

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Price” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., through Oct. 9, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “Nicholas Nickleby” Part 2 at 8 p.m. at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., between Berkeley and Orinda, through Sept. 18. Tickets are $10-$55. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Impact Theater “Nicky Goes Goth” at 8 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, through Oct. 1. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

The Marsh Berkeley “When God Winked” by Ron Jones. Thurs.-Sat. at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Building, 2120 Allston Way, through Sept. 16. Tickets are $10-$22. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

Shotgun Players, “Owners” at 8 p.m., Thurs.-Sun. through Oct. 16 at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Reservations suggested. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Wilde Irish Productions “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” Thurs. -Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m., at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Oct. 2. Tickets are $18-$22. 644-9940. www.wildeirish.org 

Woodminster Summer Musicals “Jesus Christ Superstar” at 8 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland, through Sun. Tickets are $20-33. 531-9597. www.woodminster.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Arie Furumoto, color etchings inspired by landscape, ocean and plants. Reception at 6 p.m. at The Scriptum-Schurman Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. 524-0623. 

“Contemporary Traditions in Clay: The Pottery of Mata Ortiz” reception at 5 p.m. at the Phoebe Hearst Museum, College and Bancroft. 643-7648. http://hearstmuseum. 

berkeley.edu 

Recent Work by Jon Nagel and Loren Purcel Reception at 7:30 p.m. at Boontling Gallery, 4224 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. boontlinggallery@hotmail.com 

The Big Brush Off featuring works by Berkeley artists Gael Fitzmaurice and John King at Falkirk Cultural Center, 1408 Mission, at E St., San Rafael. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Images of America: El Cerrito” will be introduced by the El Cerrito Historical Society at 5:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library.  

Bret Easton Ellis introduces his new novel “Lunar Park” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sheng Xiang & Band, Taiwanese folk music, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Mamadou Diabate & Walter Strauss, African, contemporary at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

E.W. Wainwright’s Elvin Jones Birthday Celebration at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Duamuxa, CD release concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

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

Plays Monk, Ben Goldberg at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Dani Thompson Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

DJ & Brook, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz 

school.com 

Brown Baggin’ at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Times 4, contemporary jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Time Flys, Top 10, The Gimmies, High Vox at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

The Zawinul Syndicate at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.comh

Calf-deep in the snappy waters of the Pacific, on a driftwood-tossed beach across the river from the town of Gualala, I gaze at the portrait of raw beauty around me. My weekend escape was to be work-free but a travel article is writing itself in my head. Some places are just too good to keep to oneself. 

Once you reach the north coast on Highway 1, your actual destination ceases to be important. From Jenner to Mendocino, any salt-tanged village or roadside pullout offers a similar experience: an untouched coastline seemingly far removed from the Bay Area, a place devoid of loud noises and jarring distractions. Here the landscape is the main event and surprises await you at every turn. 

Above Jenner, Highway 1 hugs the coast as it snakes north. As I followed hairpin curves I played hide and seek with the sun drifting in and out of the thick fog. On one side of the road the softly contoured hills held pale sere grasses of burnt gold with mauve tassels and bunches of wild sweet peas, cow parsnips and lupine in colors of blue, apricot and white. In contrast were sharp-edged rock formations tinged with orange and the sparkling aquamarine of the sea. Cows precariously grazed on the narrow verge, sea weathered farm buildings dotted the landscape and stands of pines and firs acted as windbreaks. 

The road wound past Fort Ross Park, a historic Russian settlement, and its village with bluff-side cabins and general store, and Stillwater and Ocean Coves with their privately owned facilities for camping and coastal access. Salt Point State Park’s 6,000 acres of coastal forest and rocky coastline with hidden coves drew me in. I surveyed the two campgrounds for a future visit, noting the numbers of especially alluring sites. Kruse Rhododendron Reserve offered hiking trails amid a forest of redwood, tan oak, fir and a wealth of rhododendrons. 

White plumes of crashing waves and weathered, lichen bedecked picket fences lined the road. Colors appeared softened, a palette of soft hues buffeted by the marine climate. Even oxidized red metal roofs were subdued. Cows, sheep and llamas shared the same field amid sheds completely overgrown by pink flowered vines. A landscape ruggedly shaped by the water and wind of the north coast. 

If your trip ended at Steward Point General Store, it wouldn’t be in vain. Serving coastal residents since 1868, this historic clapboard building greeting customers with a wide front porch is a highlight in itself. Catering to ranchers and Sea Ranchers, groceries run the gamut from the basics to fine wines, gourmet brownie mix and Stonewall Kitchen jams. Fishing, camping and hardware supplies vie for space on wooden shelves, while the ceiling displays remnants from the past: old saddles and harnesses, fishing floats and even beautiful paper wasp nests. It was hard to pass up the Big Daddy skillet of rolled steel, especially when it cooks 8 fish fillets, one dozen eggs and 15 pancakes! 

Gualala was my home base for the weekend. Small enough for comfort and big enough to provide the services a weekend away requires: good sleeps, good eats and interesting shops to peruse.  

Gualala is the geographic heart of the Redwood Coast, located in a “banana belt.” While the rest of the coast drips with fog, Gualala is often sunny and mild. The Gualala River, at its southern end, historically served as an attracter to Pomo Indians, loggers and millers and gave the town its name—Gualala means where the waters meet. During summer, the landlocked river becomes a calm lagoon for sea birds, kayakers and swimmers. 

Gualala Point Regional Park is the ideal spot to enjoy both the river and the coast. I began my visit in the Sea Ranch- style Visitor Center, where cement buttresses and steep roof make it my choice as the best place to wait out a fierce winter storm. Inside, interpretive panels describe Gualala’s past while posters and artifacts illustrate the plant and animal communities of the present. 

Many trails lead through the 195-acres of this park. A 0.5-mile paved path leads to the beach, bluffs and picnic tables, crossing open meadows and breaks of pines. Side paths lead down to the river. At the beach, few people but hundreds of brown pelicans, gliding and plummeting to the sea, greeted me. Driftwood constructions glowed silver in the afternoon light. As I stood barefoot, the waves whispered as they traveled over my toes and the tiny pebbles on the beach. 

There’s nothing like sea air to build up an appetite. Bones Roadhouse fits the bill for great food and great ambiance, combining Texas Style BBQ, brews and blues in an eclectic décor. This roadhouse was hopping on a Saturday night with a nice mix of locals, visitors and live music. Amid skulls and crossbones, Harley Davidson Club memorabilia, multi-state license plates and Marilyn Monroe—there’s something here for everyone. 

The next day I stopped in Point Arena to tour the town and wharf. Storefronts sport bold paint jobs in bright orange, olive, navy and yellow-blue sunray stripes. Large enough for its own movie-theater, thriving commercial fishing and choices for good eats, Point Arena is definitely browse-worthy. At Carlini’s Cafe, I relished a classic north coast experience, a delicious Sidecar breakfast in a homey atmosphere. There’s nothing like eggs, sausage, pancakes and a side of home fries to provide fuel for further exploration.  

The Point Arena Lighthouse combines history with a fantastic coastal photo-op. Erected in 1870 at the tip of a narrow peninsula, destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and rebuilt in 1908, a tour of the light tower and the Fog Signal Building’s maritime museum just seems to fit perfectly with a coastal adventure. An aid to digestion is the 115-foot climb to the top, equivalent to six stories, where the two-ton Fresnel lens from France kept ships at bay. The views from the outside circumference walkway are amazing—postcard vistas at every turn. Illustrations at the tower’s base are a history lesson on the types of illumination, lenses, housing and rotating mechanisms used in lighthouses. If this remoteness appeals, the three original keeper’s homes are now vacation rentals. 

Heading back on Lighthouse Road, I pulled over and stopped behind other parked cars. A telltale trail led out to rocky bluffs above the sea. Grazing black cows, yellow flowers carpeting the ground, cliffs highlighted with orange mineral deposits—a picture worth painting. Just a random spot being accessed by abalone divers, rock cod fishermen and others enjoying the waves crashing on the shale. 

Northward, open ranch land and white farm buildings gave the landscape a pastoral air and the gnarled trunks of cypress lined the road. In Manchester I smiled at toadstool-like cypress topiary and a flamingo decorated fence. At Manchester Beach State Park, campsites were spacious and popular. Access to the beach is across undulant sand dunes festooned with narrow grasses in shades of pale yellow and green, violet lupine and the hidden nests of snowy plovers. The 18,000-feet of curved ocean frontage is a catch basin for driftwood and is one of the highlights of this spectacular coast. 

My journey ended here. The rugged beauty I experienced continues north to Mendocino and beyond. Every stop I made, in village, headland or beach, could have been my final destination and I would not have been disappointed. For some, the open road calls. For others, like myself, a quiet beach with a flock of sea birds, the feel of the sand and the sea is the place to be. 

Getting there: Take Hwy 101 north. You can access Hwy 1 via 116 west, at Cotati, or River Road, north of Santa Rosa, taking you though Guerneville and reaching the coast at Jenner. Mileage from Berkeley to Gualala is 115 miles. 

Where to stay:  

Surf Motel: West side of Hwy 1, Gualala, 1-888-451-SURF, www.gualala.com. Doubles from $95.  

Where to eat: 

Bones Roadhouse: 38920 S. Hwy One (Uptown Gualala), (707) 884-1188. Dine in or take out. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Twinks: Downtown Gualala, (707) 884-1713. Open daily. Brewed coffee, pastries, light breakfast, lunch. 

Carlini’s Café: 206 Main St., Point Arena, (707) 882 2942. Open 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. Open 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and Sun. 

What to do: 

Salt Point State Park: (707) 847-3222, day use $4/car, camping $25/night (reservations required) 

Gualala Point Regional Park: (707) 785-2377, open sunrise to sunset, parking $4/car. 

Point Arena Lighthouse: 45500 Lighthouse Road, Point Arena, (877) 725-4448, www.pointarenalighthouse.com. Open daily 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (winter), until 4:30 p.m. (summer). Adults $5, children $1. 

Manchester Beach State Park: (707) 882-2463. Campsites on first come first served basis. 

For more information: 

Redwood Coast Chamber of Commerce: (800) 778-5252, or www.redwoodcoastchamber.com 

›

FRIDAY, SEPT. 2 

Sustainable Business Alliance meets at noon at the Swan’s Market Co-housing Cooperative, 9th & Washington Sts. Cost is $10-$12. 451-4001. 

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. 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 

“Introduction to Dzogchen: Buddhist Meditation” with Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche at 7 p.m. at Studio Raza, 933 Parker St. Donation $20.  

SATURDAY, SEPT. 3 

Sick Plant Clinic UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755.  

Berkeley Really Free Market Bring things to trade, a no-money event. from noon to 4 p.m. at Civic Center Park. 601-0882. 

City of Oakland’s Art and Soul Festival Sat. through Mon., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland. Four concert stages with live music, food and special Family Fun Zone. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. 444-CITY. www.artandsouloakland.com  

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Cost is $40. To register call 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Pro” documentary film on the 2004 road racing championships at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Benefits the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League. 325-6502. www.norcalmtb.org 

“Stress Less with Hypnosis” at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Free, registration required. 465-2524. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 

“Untold Stories of 9/11” A video by David Randolph, discussion following with the maker at noon at First Baptist Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. http://homepage.mac.com/ 

davidjrandolph1 

“The Break Up of the AFL-CIO & The Rank and File” Which way forward for working people? At 4 p.m. at the Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland. www.laboraction.org 

Reportback from Cindy Sheehan’s Camp Casey outside of Bush’s Ranch in Crawford, Texas, at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 658-9178. 

Hands-on Bike Maintenance Learn how to prevent and repair flats on your bike at 10 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

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

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

“Religion After God, Science After Certainty” with Walter Truett Anderson at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 5 

Giant Labor Day Rummage Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship, Cedar and Bonita Sts. 540-8271. 

“The Chavez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venuzuela” with author and human rights attorney Eva Golinger at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship, Cedar and Bonita Sts. 540-8271. 

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. 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 6 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Living Poor with Style” 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. 

“Bicycle Touring California Backroads and Trails” a slide presentation with Joel Albright, at 7 p.m. at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 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. 524-9992. 

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  

“Healthy Eating with Hypnosis” at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Free, registration required. 465-2524. 

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, SEPT. 7 

Back to School Walk Berkeley Path Wanderers take an easy First Wednesday walk exploring local school sites and school memories. Meet at 10 am at the entrance to the Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck. Free and all welcome. 524-2383. www.berkeleypaths.org  

“Reflections on Life in Gaza” with Palestinian activist Majeda Al-Saqqa from Gaza at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Firescaping: Creating Fire-Resistant Landscapes” A discussion with author Douglass Kent at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 558-1666. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

WriterCoach Connection Training Sessions Wed. Sept. 7 and 14 at 6:30 p.m. Help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills; become a mentor to Berkeley students. Commit to 1-2 hours per week during the school day. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Auditions, Sept. 7, 9 and 10 by appointment only. Please call 849-9776. 

Textile Art and Papier-mache Whimsey Classes at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests and new members at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863.  

Entrepreneurs Networking at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. For more information contact JB, 562-9431.  

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. 

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. 

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, SEPT. 8 

“Altered Global Needs: Meeting the Challenges” with Rita Maran, Lecturer in International Human RIghts, UCB, at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Cost is $5. 642-9460.  

Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, a presentation by Medi- 

care Today at 11 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center.  

East Bay Mac User Group Mark Altenberg of Apple presents Quicktime Streaming Server from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Free. ebmug.org 

Communication for Caregivers An ongoing free Berkeley Adult School class meets Thurs. at 1 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Peter Haurus, author, “Resurgence of China: Whither?” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

Free Emergency Preparedness Class in Disaster First Aid from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

fire/oes.html 

Town Hall Meeting on RFID (Radiofrequency ID) tracking tags in Berkeley Public Library materials at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. 843-2152. 

Womansong Circle a monthly musical gathering for women at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, at Dana. 525-7082. 

By the Light of the Moon Open Mic and Salon for Women at 7:30 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $3-$7 sliding scale. 655-2405. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 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. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 10 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Waterfront Walk to explore the history and future of Berkeley’s waterfront, led by Susan Schwartz. Meet at 10 a.m. at Sea Breeze Delicatessen, south side of University Ave. just west of the I-880/580 Freeway. Bring water, snack, and, if you want, binoculars to enjoy shorebirds on their fall migration. 848-9358. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Point Richmond Day Long Summer Festival starting at 11 a.m. Featuring 360, The Irrationals, Two Feet Tall Norma Blase, Jeb Brady and many more. Plus Classic car show, vendors, children’s activities, food and drink. www.pointrichmond.com/prmusic/ 

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Progressive Democrats of the East Bay Chapter meets at 1 p.m. at Temescal Library, 5205 Telegraph, Oakland. The agenda includes a discussion of the propositions for the special election on Nov. 8, and the anti-war, pro-choice Ret. Lt. Col. Charlie Brown, who is planning to contest the 4th congressional seat of very conservative Republican John Doolittle. 526-4632. www.pdeastbay.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Basic Personal Preparedness from 9 to 11 a.m. at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

East Bay Athiests meets at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 3rd flr meeting room, 2090 Kittredge St. Videos from “Theocracy Watch” will be shown. 222-7580. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

“Music, Community Politics and Environmental Justice in Taiwan” at noon at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. 642-2809. 

Piedmont Choirs Fall Tryouts for children age six to 18, from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Piedmont and 10 a.m. to noon in Alameda. Call for appointment 547-4441. www.piedmontchoirs.org 

Tet Trung Thu: Mid Autumn Children’s Festival Celebrate the Vietnamese full moon festival from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Yuri Kochiyama and her biographer, Diane Fujino, will speak at 2 p.m. at Heller Lounge, MLK, Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. 642-6717.  

Free Quit Smoking Class for pregnant and parenting women from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Alta Bates, first floor auditorium, 2450 Ashby Ave. Childcare provided. Free but registration requested. 981-5330. quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

East Bay Chapter of the Great War Society meets to discuss “Military Revolutions Since 1600” and “Napoleon and WWI” at 10:30 a.m. at 640 Arlington Ave. 527-7118. 

Studio 12 Open House from 4 to 7 p.m. to meet the teachers and see what classes and workshops are coming this fall, at 2525 8th St. www.movingout.org 

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 

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.  

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, SEPT. 11 

Solano Avenue Stroll “Don't Rain on My Parade” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with entertainment, food booths, crafts, art cars, kidtown and more. 527-5358. www.solanostroll.org 

Run for Peace with the United Nations Association A 10k run or a 5k run/walk at 9 a.m. at Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. To register call 849-1752. www.active.com, www.unausaeastbay.org 

Bike Ride to the Solano Stroll Leave from the North Berkeley BART at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. and the El Cerrito Plaza BART at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Valet bike parking at the Stroll. Sponsored by the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition. 549-7433. 

Free Hazardous Waste Drop-Off of computers, monitors, TVs, cell phones, and batteries at Solano at Evelyn St., near the BART tracks, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sponsored by the Cities of Berkeley and Albany and the Ecology Center. 981-5435. 

Mercury Thermometer Exchange Liquid mercury from broken thermometers is harmful to the Bay. Exchange them for a Bay-safe digital thermometer. Bring mercury thermometers in two plastic zipper bags from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 1241 Solano Ave., Albany. 452-9261, ext. 130. www.savesfbay.org 

Pancake Breakfast on the Red Oak Victory Ship in Richmond Harbor from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth #6. Exit at Canal Blvd off 580. Cost is $6, children under 5 free. 237-2933. 

Montclair Flea Market and Community Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 6300 Moraga Ave. Activities include safety fair, health fair, food and Astro Jump. Benefits the Montclair Lions Club. www.montclairlions.org 

Music in the Park at Arroyo Viejo Park with Toni, Tony, Tone at 3 p.m. at 7701 Krause St., Oakland. 

“New Faces of Israel” with Donna Rosenthal at 7 p.m. at Oakland Hebrew Day School, 5500 Redwood Rd., Oakland. RSVP to 531-8600, ext. 26 

“Friends of Roman Cats” a slide show and presentation on the Torre Argentina Roman Cat Sanctuary at 3 p.m. at Rabbitears, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Donation $10. 525-6155. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

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

“Christianity for Unitarian Universalists” with Huston Smith at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Weekend Healing Workshops with Rabbi Goldie Milgram at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $50-$65. 655-8530. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Tues., Sept. 6, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5190. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/women 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Thurs. Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 8, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kristin Tehrani, 981-5356. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/health 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 8, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Iris Starr, 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Sept. 8, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/zoning ?

Two days before students are scheduled to come streaming into the halls and classrooms, two Berkeley public schools showed radically different approaches to preparation this week. 

At LeConte Elementary School, the hallways were virtually empty, with a si ngle custodian wheeling a cart of chairs to be delivered to a classroom, and an office worker and a student in the beginning stages of filling up the school’s bulletin board. In one classroom, a teacher pored over notes, “Prince” playing quietly in the ba ckground on the radio. Two doors down, veteran first grade teacher Deborah Barer (11 years at LeConte, 17 years in private school before that) has kicked off her shoes by the door and was deep into her second day of work getting her classroom ready. 

“Aft er so many years, I’m getting better at it,” Barer said. “I know that for the new teachers, there’s a lot more angst. My biggest problem is that I’ve just become so overloaded with stuff. I could easily spend a week to do it right, to get ready for the ki ds, but you just have to set a boundary point.” 

Barer said she worked all day Saturday until 7 in the evening, and “I’ll probably have another marathon day tomorrow [Tuesday] to get everything ready for Wednesday’s first day.” 

While middle and high school teachers “are probably more focused on developing lesson plans,” according to Barer, “the focus of the elementary school teacher is on the classroom itself. So much of the learning comes from the type of environment you set up. You have to provide the students with a room that looks organized, that’s friendly, and comfortable, and diverse. It’s a tall order.” 

Instead of the rows of desks all facing front towards the blackboard that used to be the classroom standard, Barer organizes her classroom into work centers—a listening area, an art center, a guided reading area, a spot for recyclables (next to the sink, since recyclables tend to get messy among first graders), a four-computer-one-printer technology center. About two-thirds of the available wall space is filled with teacher-developed projects for students to work on—a calendar, for example—but Barer says some of the space will be left vacant for students to fill with their own work. 

“If I don’t do that, it won’t be their classroom,” she said, with a laugh. “It will be a publisher’s classroom.” She uses the same philosophy in developing her own work materials for the students. “I could buy pre-fab stuff from the teachers supply store,” she said (noting that she would have to use her own money to do so), “but all of that comes with the numbers and things already on it. The children learn more when they see the things developed in front of them, or when they have to develop them themselves.” 

A few blocks away at Willard Middle School it wasn’t jus t the individual classrooms that were getting a renovation; it was the entire school. Over the summer, Willard had an extensive overhaul: a new disabled access ramp outside, new ceiling tiles and linoleum floors in the hallways, removing student lockers, repainting classrooms. 

While the inside of Willard looks like a new school, it also looked very much like a construction site two days before school opening. The basketball courts were stacked with 2X4s and 2X2s and plywood sheets, and a workman was still cleaning up the concrete residue outside from the recently finished handicap access ramp. In fact, more construction workers than teachers filled the hallways this week, and while one administrative staff member said “we’ll be ready for Wednesday,” there was still clearly a lot of construction-related work to be done. The linoleum floors appeared only recently cut to size, with the cuttings still strewn across the floor, and many of the black baseboard trims not yet in place. In some spots, butcher paper was still pasted along well-traveled pathways in the halls to keep the rolling construction carts from ruining the floors. The entire inside of the A Building—which houses the school library—was still under complete renovation, with the exposed framing showing wire conduits and air conditioning vents still needing to be put up. 

In between the construction, the work of teacher preparation at Willard still goes on. 

In one otherwise empty room, two teachers huddle with a counselor at a single table, asking her questions as she checks information on a computer. A teacher hustles by from the supply room with an iMac under his arm, grimaces as he looks down the cluttered hallway, and says, “Doesn’t look like it’ll be finished, does it?” A few more teach ers move in and out of an administrator’s office, a jumble of boxes and desks, still being set up. In another room, someone has stacked several loads of packing boxes with various labels that give a hint at their purpose in the coming school year: Cathy C’s Stuff (R&J/Poetry, etc.), Cleaning Supplies, Books, Folders, Beg. Of Year Stuff. Beside them are several packages of color-coded notebooks in cellophane wrapping, the hundreds of lined pages empty now, to be filled by students as they go through their course work. 

In another room, posters sit on top of a desk, waiting to be put up on the wall. One of them is a picture of Malcolm X with the quotation written below: “Of All Our Studies, History Is Best Qualified To Reward Our Research.” At the far end o f the room, a white dry-erase board stands empty, except for the single neat notation in the upper left-hand corner: “8/31/05”—the first day of the new school year in the Berkeley Unified School District.eU

The Berkeley Unified School District is projecting that it will have $346,000 more for the school year than it anticipated last June when the 2005-06 budget was passed, but district officials cautioned that it’s not quite the time to open up the checkbook to more spending. 

“I keep getting calls from constituents who have heard that the budget problems are easing, and are asking me if we can now put funding into this program, or that program,” BUSD Board President Nancy Riddle said at last week’s meeting. “I just want to caution people. Our budget problems are not yet over. We’re still on a tight budget.” 

In figures released to the board last Wednesday by Director of Fiscal Services Song Chin-Bendib, the district now projects a $1.8 million surplus out o f a total $50.1 million unrestricted general fund budget. Chin-Bendib stressed that the figures do not include funds generated through local Measures B, BB, and BSEP. 

Aside from some minor accounting details, Chin-Bendib said that many of the major chang es between the budget passed the end of last June and the district’s working budget as of Aug. 5 come from adjustments from a compromise between the state legislature and the governor’s office that occurred after BUSD’s budget was passed. 

Because Gov. Ar nold Schwarzenegger backed off on his proposal to shift teacher retirement costs from the state to local school districts, BUSD now projects paying more than half a million less in pension costs than it anticipated. That savings was partially offset, however, by other increased employee benefit costs to the general fund as well as deeper cuts than anticipated in state aid. 

Chin-Bendib and Superintendent Michele Lawrence also pointed out that both the original and the revised budget figures project about $3.7 million lost to BUSD in state aid over the last two years because of the governor’s deal with state school leaders two years ago to “temporarily” suspend some of the provisions of Proposition 98. That “temporary” suspension has now become permanent—i n the governor’s eyes, at least—and Chin-Bendib noted in her presentation to the board that “there is no hope of recouping these funds in the absence of successful litigation—and that would be a long time coming (if ever).” 

Earlier this month, the Califo rnia Teachers Association, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and a group of public school parents sued Gov. Schwarzenegger in Superior Court in Sacramento over his Prop 98 cuts, asking that full-funding of the education voter initiative be restored. 

At the time of the filing, CTA Vice President David Sanchez said that the complaint “is meant to force the governor to honor his word, the will of the people, and to ensure California students get no less than the minimum school funding gua ranteed under our constitution. The governor hasn’t just broken a promise, he’s broken the law.” 



“Redevelopment is very simple to understand,” said Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby at Sunday’s community meeting on proposed redevelopment in Oakland. “It’s a land grab by corporate interests, big-box retailers and developers to grab land from people like you.” 

“Always run screaming when you hear a politician or a developer call a property ‘underutilized,’” added Oakland preservationist Jane Powell. 

“The residents of Oakland who don’t live in redevelopment districts will be picking up the tab,” said Anne Weber, a West Oakland resident. 

“You have to start reading and following the issues,” said recent Oakland City Council candidate Pamela Drake, a self-described policy wonk. 

Opponents of the proposed new redevelopment district in North Oakland greeted the speakers Sunday with frequent bursts of applause. The conservative Southern California official gathered the most raucous approval. 

The meeting was organized by project opponents Bob Brokl and Alfred Crofts, along with others in the community. 

One of the catalysts for Sunday’s gathering was the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 23 ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, which held that local governments can use eminent domain to force property owners to sell to private developers if a proposed project would benefit the public. 

The court ruled that local governments needn’t make a finding of blight, the usual determination for invoking eminent domain for redevelopment, nor does it require a finding that the new project will succeed. 

“Redevelopment” is the latest incarnation of what began as “urban renewal” in the late 1940s. It is a program proponents say will salvage run-down urban districts by channeling tax dollars toward projects designed to eliminate “blight.” 

The district under consideration would target 800 acres of Oakland immediately south of the Berkeley border—a district many residents say is anything but blighted. 

To be granted status as a redevelopment area, the City Council—sitting as the Redevelopment Agency—must make a specific finding that the area is blighted, a term so broadly defined that critics say it is basically meaningless. 

Norby, a property rights traditionalist, said he sees redevelopment as a tool of the powerful using the force of the state to benefit the rich at the expense of home and small business owners. 

He points to the case of Wal-Mart, which has benefited to the tune of $1 billion in redevelopment projects nationally over the last two decades, including $100 million in California. Sports team owners have won massive concessions under redevelopment, he said, citing the cases of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis in Oakland and San Diego Charges owner Alex Spanos in San Diego. 

“That’s wrong, and you have to stop it,” Norby said. 

Land seizures and projects benefiting big box retailers and auto malls have become commonplace, Norby said, because local governments are desperate for sales tax revenues. 

“Officials say, ‘We’ve got to get Wal-Mart, otherwise Berkeley or Emeryville or Albany will get it’,” Norby explained. 

Of particular concern to many who gathered in the colorful building at 4799 Shattuck Ave. Sunday afternoon was the broad criteria that can be used to declare an area “blighted,” the key finding needed to establish and redevelopment district. 

“If you aren’t enjoying your property to its ‘highest use,’ then they can take it,” Norby said. “So basically, you have no property rights.” 

One of those who took up the microphone Sunday was John Revelli, whose 56-year-old family-owned tire shop was seized by Oakland’s Redevelopment Agency the day after the Kelo decision. 

“It had been a very successful business. We treated out customers very fairly and we thought we could continue in business till we didn’t want to,” Revelli said. “But on July 1, they forced Tony Fung and myself out of business.” 

Fung owned the Autohouse, a neighboring car repair business. 

“The city said they needed the property to do trenching and soil testing,” Revelli said. “I’ve now joined the ranks of the unemployed, and not by choice.” 

Also at the meeting was a contingent from San Jose’s Coalition for Redevelopment Reform, which is battling redevelopment projects in that city. 

“We’re here because we’re united on this issue,” said Lorraine Wallace Rowe, the group’s chair. “This is not just an Oakland problem. Redevelopment is not just a local issue. Don’t let anyone fool you.” 

Rowe said that after her initial shock at the Kelo decision, she realized the ruling was a powerful tool for redevelopment opponents. 

“The court said that it was up to individual states if they wanted to make changes,” she said. 

Attending a symposium of the California Redevelopment Association—the umbrella organization for redevelopment districts across the state—she said she heard an organization official declare that Kelo could mean the end to redevelopment in California. 

“He said that if state legislation passed banning the taking of property to give it to someone else, they would have no power,” Rowe said, referring to pending legislation by state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks. 

McClintock’s bill calls for a statewide referendum on a constitutional amendments that would bar the taking of private property for the benefit of private developers. 

Among those in the audience Sunday were aides to several legislators and Oakland City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nancy J. Nadel, who said she favors redevelopment in her West Oakland District. 

Speaking briefly, she said that Sunday’s meeting “is the signal to me that redevelopment is not the necessary tool in this area. ... I’m here to implement what you people want in your community,” a remark that gathered considerable applause. 

Rachel Richman, aide to Assemblymember Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, said the meeting was well timed to help her boss consider the legislation. She urged the audience to fax and e-mail legislators about the legislation and to share their own experiences with eminent domain, 

Also on hand but not speaking was Taina Gomez, an aide to Assemblymember Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley-Richmond. 

e

South Berkeley’s Flying Cottage hit yet another patch of turbulence Thursday night, this time from members of the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Capped by an increasingly tattered collection of blue tarps, besmirched by gang graffiti and littered with trash and weeds, the remnants of an Edwardian cottage stacked atop a two-story plywood box have met with little favor over the past three years. 

The structure at 3045 Shattuck Ave. was back on ZAB’s agenda after owner Christine Sun and her architect Andus Brandt opted to stop meeting with the city Design Review Committee (DRC), which had been demanding changes to Brandt’s design. 

“A few years ago we started with proceedings, and now we’re dealing with design issues. No one on staff can recall a situation quite like this,” said city Principal Planner Debbie Sanderson. 

Sanderson acknowledged that the staff report on the project to ZAB members “may have treated Design Review as the appellant,” noting that “this is the first time that staff have considered making a different decision than Design Review.” 

While the staff had originally considered that the project should go back to the DRC, Sanderson said Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan ruled that it couldn’t and that it should instead be referred to city staff alone. 

“We came to the highly unusual conclusion to overturn Design Review and approve the design with additional changes,” she said. “Staff has recommended three changes and the decision is up to ZAB.” 

Brandt opened with a shot across the bow of the DRC. “There seemed to be great confusion at DRC about its role.” 

Noting that the original permit had been vacated, Brandt said that “if people really understood the many improvements” to the design, “they would think it was quite nice.” 

But neither the five DRC members present for the meeting nor the well-organized neighborhood opponents agreed. 

Brandt singled out one critic, declaring that he believed that some neighbors would have approved his latest design, “but they would only meet with the mediation of Robert Lauriston.” 

When it came his time to speak, Lauriston called on ZAB members to uphold the June 16 DRC decision and reverse the staff conclusion that found the project in compliance. “I also want you to encourage Ms. Sun to negotiate with the neighbors,” he said. 

Victoria Ortiz, who lives next door to the project at 3051 Shattuck Ave., told ZAB members that “for more than eight months she hasn’t bothered to remove the mouldering trash that has become a hazard and for more than eight months hasn’t bothered to cut the grass.” 

Ortiz also said the structure “has seen a steady stream of homeless people and drug sellers,” and despite complaints to the city police and fire neighborhood liaisons, the structure is adorned with highly visible gang graffiti. 

“Please require her to put forward a plan to fix the property,” Ortiz pleaded, noting that a July 4 grass fire on the property might have had disastrous consequences but for the prompt arrival of firefighters. 

Neighbor Jennifer Elrod, who said she lives “32 feet from that monstrosity,” said Brandt had never contacted her to ask her opinions on the project. 

“I support the DRC,” said Jack Appleyard, another neighbor. “It is important as a matter of principle and practice not to overturn the decision of DRC. It’s a signal to developers.” 

Appleyard said he suspected that city staff might have responded different had the project not been in South Berkeley. 

DRC Chair Burton Edwards said he was “disappointed in the staff report that recommended that you overturn the DRC decision,” noting that “the DRC comments were under-represented in the staff report.” 

Edwards said that “because the building got to be larger than anyone expected, it needs to be a really good design to compensate. The purpose of the Design Review Committee is to get developers to make their buildings compatible with their neighbors. This isn’t.” 

He also pointed out that the June DRC decision was reached on a unanimous vote. 

Brandt acknowledged that the DRC process had resulted in a “much better looking building,” but said that because the size of the latest design had reduced the structure to less than 5,000 square feet, it was no longer the concern of DRC. 

He then accused Lauriston of “character assassination,” saying that he and Sun didn’t want to limit who they could meet with. “The client specifically said she wanted to meet with the two immediate neighbors, but both refused to meet with me.” 

After a long discussion, ZAB member David Blake recommended the creation of a subcommittee formed of a ZAB member and two DRC members to work with the developer on a compromise. 

After a lengthy discussion, his proposal passed with only Dean Metzger voting no. 

With Bob Allen as the ZAB representative and Burton Edwards and David Snippen representing the DRC, the panel is scheduled to report back to ZAB on Sept. 22.

Berkeley election activists rallied on the City Hall steps Monday afternoon to call on Alameda County to hire a voting machine vendor that will support independent runoff voting (IRV) and provide a verifiable paper trail. 

City Councilmembers Kris Worthington and Max Anderson were joined by Mayor Tom Bates and Nancy Bickel from the League of Women Voters, who co-chaired the committee for Measure I, the March 2004, Berkeley ballot initiative calling for implementation of IRV, which allows voters to list candidates in their order of preference and which is supposed to eliminate the need for costly runoff elections.  

Tuesday’s Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting will consider a call for a Request for Proposals to find a new election equipment vendor capable of meeting the state’s verified paper trail audit requirement. 

Supporters want the supervisors to add a requirement that whatever system is chosen will support IRV elections. 

“If you don’t get active and make sure it’s included, it won’t happen in 2006, or even in the next (presidential) election,” said Worthington. 

He said that runoff elections cost about $100,000 for a city council seat and more than $300,000 for citywide mayoral and auditor elections. 

“We want IRV,” said Bates. 

Life in the tiny Palestinian hamlet of Qawawis seems straight out of the Old Testament, but that doesn’t stop the Jewish settlers in the hilltop outposts that surround the place from doing their best to destroy it. And if something isn’t done soon about the settlers’ latest threat—denying Qawawis’s shepherds access to watering holes their flocks depend on—the villagers might have no choice but to abandon their ancestral homes and lands. 

Qawawis, located near the southern tip of the occupied West Bank, south of the city of Hebron, is home to just four extended families and a few hundred sheep and goats. Only one of the families has a house; the others live in caves carved—originally by nature, later by human hand—out of the region’s limestone hills. 

Like their neighbors in nearby At-Twani and dozens of other villages throughout the south Hebron hills, the residents of Qawawis have faced harassment from the settlers since the 1980s. (See “Means of Expulsion: Violence, Harassment and Lawlessness against Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills,” a report released in July 2005 by the Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem, at http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/200507_South_Hebron.asp, and the reports of the Christian Peacemaker Team on the poisoning of wells, the beating of schoolchildren and international monitors, and other forms of settler harassment in At-Twani, at http://www.cpt.org/hebron/documents/Tuwani_media_packet.htm.)  

For a while things in Qawawis got so bad that the villagers had to move out altogether. When they left, settlers promptly moved into their caves, until the Israeli military decided to clear everyone out (for “security reasons”) and brought in bulldozers to seal the caves with rubble. 

But in March of this year, after winning an order from Israel’s High Court confirming their right to their land, the villagers came back to Qawawis, cleaned up the mess left by the settlers and the army, and reclaimed their homes. In hopes of deterring settler retaliation, the villagers requested help from progressive Israelis and internationals, and ever since the International Solidarity Movement has provided a steady stream of volunteers to stay in the village and accompany the shepherds to their fields. 

Neither the court order nor the international presence has stopped the harassment, though. At first the settlers showed up almost daily, often wearing masks, shouting insults and threats, waving guns and throwing rocks, sometimes attempting to enter the villagers’ caves, and beating locals and internationals alike. (See the account posted on April 1, 2005 by Kasper Lundberg, an ISM volunteer from Denmark, at electronicintifada.net/v2/article3735.shtml.) 

While I was in Qawawis in late July, the settlers came up with a new trick: two of them showed up on horseback, galloping through the village’s olive groves and right past the caves. They didn’t stay long and caused no particular problem, but under the circumstances, their very appearance on village land was an act of intimidation. As I followed them, trying to snap their pictures, I could only imagine what would happen to a Palestinian who had the temerity to approach the settlers’ outposts. 

What really has Qawawis’s residents worried at the moment, however, is the threat to its always precarious water supply. In July, after a suicide bombing in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, the settlers informed the villagers that they are no longer permitted to graze their sheep and goats within 150 meters of a road that leads to one of the outposts. 

That order, which appears to have no legal basis—not even one of the military orders that provide pseudo-legitimacy for most of the occupation’s abuses—denies Qawawis a significant portion of its land. But the immediate problem is that the prohibited strip includes two watering holes to which the village’s herders have taken their sheep and goats since time immemorial. To keep the animals alive in the area’s stifling summer heat, the villagers have had to share the water from their own wells in the village. But the capacity of those wells is limited, and the villagers say it’s insufficient to supply both them and their animals (not to mention the internationals) for long. 

Time standing still 

At a glance, you might wonder why the settlers bother with Qawawis. The population usually totals only about 20, though it sometimes rises to 50 or 60, depending on how many offspring and relatives are at home at a given moment, as opposed to staying in the nearby town of Al-Karmel (a 40-minute walk), sleeping in the hills with their flocks, or—as in the case of one young man I met—studying electrical engineering at the university in Hebron. If you drive by on the highway that runs near the place, all you see are the solitary house (three bare rooms, no plumbing or kitchen) and the stone walls that surround the cave entrances and pens for the sheep and goats. 

There’s no running water, just a couple of wells. Electricity arrived only this summer, in the form of a generator provided by Ta’ayush, a progressive Israeli organization with both Jewish and Arab members; the generator runs for just an hour and a half or two every evening. Each cave, as well as the outdoor platforms the families sometimes eat on and the canvas-roofed shelter the villagers recently built for visiting internationals, now has a bare light bulb and an outlet, but so far they have had no visible effect on the residents’ lifestyle: there’s no radio, TV, or any other appliance except a video camera left by a visiting international, which remains something of a mystery to the locals. 

Daily life revolves around the sheep and goats, as it has in this area for millennia. At sun-up, men from each family take their flocks—about 30 or 40 animals each—out to graze on the rocky fields that surround the village, or sometimes to the adjoining olive groves. The women, meanwhile, prepare the food and tend to the homes, crops, and kids. (Except for constant infusions of tea and sugar, all the food I was served during my three-day stay was homegrown, including delicious flat bread baked in tabuun, or traditional outdoor ovens.) 

By around 10 a.m., at least in the summer, the heat begins to get overwhelming, and the shepherds bring the flocks back to their stone-walled pens in the village. Then everyone seems to disappear for a rest and the midday meal. At 3:30 or 4 p.m, it’s off to graze again until dusk. By 9:30, when the generator cuts out, most everyone seems to have retired, until the routine begins again the next morning. 

All in all, it’s a simple, peaceful life—or it would be if not for the settlers and the warplanes constantly audible and occasionally visible overhead. (There’s apparently an Israeli air force training base nearby—perhaps they’re practicing for a raid on Iran’s nuclear sites?) 

The planes, though, are easy to ignore. The settlers are not. The shepherds continually look over their shoulders to see who might be sneaking up on them; the boys study each car that passes on the settler road. 

Running dry 

So far, the villagers have complied with the settlers’ demand that they stay away from the road and the watering holes near it—though they seem to value the presence of the international volunteers, they obviously don’t believe that we’re capable of protecting them from the consequences of defying the order. 

The villagers have, however, tried to interest international humanitarian organizations in the threat they face. While I was there, a jeep from the International Committee of the Red Cross pulled up to the village, carrying an investigator, a translator, and a three-person film crew. 

At the time the family that owns the house was away (they were in town with relatives visiting from Saudi Arabia), but one of the other elders had a key, and the house was quickly opened, and a half-dozen of the men, plus the two internationals, assembled there to meet with the ICRC team.  

In addition to describing past incidents of harassment, the villagers explained the impending water crisis. The ICRC investigator tried hard to get the villagers to give him exact figures for Qawawis’s population as well as for the capacity in cubic meters of each of the “water systems” in question. The men were unable to respond with the precision he wanted, but after much consultation among them, they arrived at the key conclusion: if the sheep and goats as well as the human residents have to use the village wells, they’ll likely run dry in as few as thirty days, or sometime around the end of August.  

The ICRC investigator promised to file an urgent report with the Israeli authorities. Whether that will do any good remains to be seen. But unless someone intervenes, the residents of Qawawis may again be forced to leave, and the settlers will have succeeded in cleansing another small piece of Palestine of its legitimate owners. 

Update:  

After this article was written, activists from the Israeli grassroots organization Ta’ayush brought a water tanker truck to Qawawis. With the activists standing by to deter settler interference, the truck pumped a tankful of water out of one of the prohibited watering holes, then into one of the wells the residents still have access to. 

This emergency response has apparently eliminated the immediate threat 

to the survival of Qawawis, but it’s obviously not a long-term solution. That, of course, would begin with the removal of all Israeli settlements from the occupied Palestinian territories, as required by the Fourth Geneva Convention, United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, and dozens of subsequent U.N. resolutions. 

l

CARACAS, Venezuela—“I support Chavez for standing up to U.S. imperialism,” said Sean, a 16-year-old Canadian. He was one of 15,000 youths representing 144 countries at the recent 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, a communist splurge organized by Venezuela’s president and self-proclaimed revolutionary Hugo Chavez. 

The Venezuelan newspaper Tal Cual was not impressed, describing many of the organizations in attendance as “archeological remains of an extinct species, normally requiring Carbon-14 to be detected.” 

Tal Cual Editor Teodoro Petkoff knows about revolutions. He is a former jailed Marxist guerrilla. Today he is a leading Chavez critic. He also opposes President Bush and the war in Iraq. 

Christian commentator and GOP stalwart Pat Robertson’s call for President Chavez’s assassination last week and the White House’s tepid disassociation from his comments were only the latest in an ongoing war of words between Washington and Chavez. Venezuela’s twice democratically elected president has increasingly been playing to the international anti-U.S. crowd. On August 21, while visiting Cuba, Chavez called U.S. imperialism “the grand destroyer of the world.” 

Yet beneath the heated rhetoric and posturing by both sides, business between the two nations goes on uninterrupted, and is in many sectors increasing. 

One of the underlying and most contentious issues between the two nations has been oil, and Venezuela’s threat to replace the U.S. market with China’s. Chavez recently teased the United States, saying, “We could send two ships a day elsewhere.” 

Yet analysts think this is unlikely, at least in the short-term, despite PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company, recently opening an office in China. Roger Tissot of PFC Energy, an oil and gas consulting firm, says “it is very difficult to see this happening.” Venezuela crude oil is of an inferior quality to Middle East crude. It is heavier and contains more sulfur, and the Chinese lack the necessary refining technology to process it. 

Chavez nonetheless continues to discount Venezuelan oil to countries he views as strategic or ideological partners. Yet the Chinese “are neither interested in importing nor exporting a revolution,” Tissot says. 

General commerce between the United States and Venezuela also seems unaffected by the sparring. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. exports to Venezuela during the first six months of 2005 grew by 40 percent over the same period last year. Venezuelan exports to the United States grew by 35 percent. In 2004, U.S. pharmaceutical exports increased 75 percent compared to 2003 levels, and electric machinery exports more than doubled. 

At a Business Roundtable held in Caracas last month—attended by Chavez—U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield said, “Venezuela and the U.S. are natural commercial partners, and this will not change.” 

In public, however, Chavez continues to provoke the United States. At the communist festival he said, “Mr. Danger (his nickname for President Bush) is not a person—he is an imperialist system. Either we take down the United States or the United States ends this planet.” 

Conference-goers ate up such rhetoric. 

Luis Petrosini, a political analyst and professor at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, contends that Chavez’s increasingly anti-U.S. rhetoric is meant to shift attention away from some of his failures in Venezuela. “He is transferring responsibility for Venezuela’s problems to Bush.” 

When Chavez took office in 1999, he promised that in one year no more children would be begging in the streets. He has not yet delivered. He also promised to build 120,000 low income houses this year. So far he has come through on 10,000. And while he attended the graduation last week in Havana of the first Venezuelans sent to Cuba to study medicine, public hospitals in his country lack X-ray equipment. 

Chavez still enjoys widespread support. But he was first elected because he offered hope to thousands of Venezuelans who had previously been neglected. He rarely mentioned the United States his first few years in office. 

Professor Petrosini even voted for Chavez twice, but says today the charismatic figure prefers playing to the international crowd with his anti-U.S. rhetoric. “He has a messianic sense that he is divined to change world order,” Petrosini says. 

While the United States, in opposing Chavez, could simply hold him accountable to his promises, it has instead opted for supporting failed coups and recall referendums, strategies that have backfired. 

Following the July launch of the pan-Latin American television channel Telesur, which is heavily funded and majority-owned by the Venezuelan government, a U.S. Congressman from Florida sponsored legislation financing a counter TV channel. Tal Cual’s Petkoff, contacted by phone, calls the move “politically idiotic, demonstrating total ignorance of Venezuela,” where the media is mostly privately owned and anti-Chavez. 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in mid-August said that Chavez’s actions in Latin America “were unhelpful,” insinuating a Chavez role in the recent instability in Bolivia. The United States has never offered proof for this allegation. “The idea that Venezuela is responsible for the problems in other countries is absurd,” Petkoff says. “It overestimates Chavez.” 

Many of the communist festival-goers might also need to back up their revolutionary credentials. Dozens stayed at the Hilton Caracas hotel, where rooms normally start at $150 per night. Venezuela footed the bill. 

Vinod Sreeharsha is a freelance writer based in Buenos Aires.?

If every working California adult is “headed over the cliff” for lack of affordable health insurance, as the co-author of a new statewide study contends, then Latinos will be the first to go.  

California has no racial/ethnic majority, but according to the report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the burden from “crumbling” employer-based insurance is shared unevenly. Non-Hispanic whites continue to have the highest—and Latinos the lowest—rates of job-based health insurance coverage.  

“If the Latino population weren’t so damned healthy, the cliff would have collapsed by now,” says Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, professor of medicine and director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health, which was not involved in the study.  

More than 6.5 million Californians under the age of 65—more than one in five—lack health insurance, according to the study that covers 2001-2003. The figure includes nearly one million children. E. Richard Brown, the study’s co-author and director of the health policy center, reports that the cost of job-based family health insurance coverage escalated nearly 80 percent in the past few years.  

Contrary to stereotype, nearly two-thirds of the state’s uninsured children have parents with full-time jobs. But many employers have passed on the escalating costs by cutting benefits for spouses and children. Those seeking private health insurance may find lower premiums, but usually have higher deductibles and, according to Brown, “skimpy” coverage.  

“I think that the trends we’re seeing are a clear indication that we are all headed over the cliff in not being able to afford health insurance coverage for ourselves and our families,” Brown concludes.  

According to this latest analysis of insurance in California, dependents cut from employer rolls and unable to afford private insurance have turned to state, federal and expanded county programs. The study, which was funded by the California Endowment and the California Wellness Foundation, does not estimate additional costs to government for use of its programs.  

Nowhere does the study’s message hit harder than in California’s racial and ethnic communities. Non-elderly Latinos and American Indian/Alaska Natives report the highest rates of non-insurance. While 66.6 percent of non-Hispanic white workers report having employment-based health coverage, only 34 percent of Latino workers were similarly insured—the lowest rate among all groups. In 2003, Latinos had the highest rates of non-insurance, with one in three uninsured for some or all of the year. One in four of American Indians/Alaska Natives was uninsured during some or all of 2003; most of them do not have access to Indian Health Service medical clinics or hospitals, which are available only on tribal lands.  

Shana Alex Lavarredo, the other author of the study, says the disparity in job-based health insurance is due to issues of citizenship, education, and lower-paying service, retail and restaurant jobs—all of which work against California’s Latino population. Just 37 percent of non-citizens with green cards are covered by employer-offered insurance, according to the report.  

“There is something peculiar about California that wasn’t a part of our research,” Lavarredo says. “If you’re a non-citizen Latino here, you’re less likely to have employers offer health insurance than you might from employers for the same job in another part of the country.”  

Anthony Wright, executive director of the consumer health organization Health Access, thinks he knows why. “In California, there is a strong correlation with immigrant status and employers thinking they might get away without providing benefits. Regional culture matters. Look at Minnesota, which has one of the highest rates of employer-based insurance in the nation. It’s a combination of factors—unionization and employers having the expectation that they will offer health care.”  

Even small business Latino owners who employ Latinos are caught in a bind of rising health insurance rates, according to Dr. Hayes-Bautista.  

“Small business owners are classically contracting out for things like janitorial services,” he says. “Did you know that when Social Security was set up, some jobs held by poor blacks in domestic service and poor whites in agriculture were exempted? Now, Latinos are filling these. One has to wonder if California is ahead of the country in the race to the bottom....”  

Minnesota doesn’t get caught up in the California conversation over immigration and its impact on health coverage, adds the doctor.  

“There’s this absolutely ludicrous notion in the West that we have 10 million undocumented immigrants clawing at the emergency rooms. What people don’t know is that Latino immigrants have better behaviors than U.S.-born Latinos. Immigrants smoke and drink less and are more likely to be married and have fewer sexually transmitted diseases. There are tremendous pressures in the United States to change these good behaviors.  

“Right now, Latinos see doctors and stay in hospitals far less and have less expensive procedures than other groups. And they still live five years longer than non-Hispanic whites. But how long can that last?”  

In Beverly Hills, there are 2,022 physicians for every 100,000 people, according to Hayes-Bautista.  

“In Bell—a mainly Latino community about 20 miles away—there are 19 physicians for every 100,000 people. Even if Latinos had insurance, where will they go? Getting insurance is only part of the solution for them.” 

Hilary Abramson is a Pacific News Service contributing editor and the recent recipient of a grant from the Fund for Investigative Reporting for health reporting.

I knew I didn’t have long before they would spot me in my hiding place. There were so many that someone was bound to see me. There must have been 40 or 50 of them hanging around the fence and peering through the trees to the spot where I sat breathlessly. They seemed to be searching for wildlife—they found it all right.  

“Wow kids, I see some wildlife hiding right back there!”  

“Look, it’s a person back there! What’s he doing?”  

“That’s no ordinary person kids, that’s Wildcat George! He lives here in the forest and has a special permit so he can go places we can’t!”  

Now that my cover was up, I smiled and growled ferociously to the day camp group as the counselor told the children stories about crazy Wildcat George. I let the gender thing slide. My s ummer internship with the East Bay Regional Parks was certainly putting me into some bizarre situations. Already I had been charged by a young buck, jumped and chased by dogs, stabbed by a large mouth bass fin and attacked by a toe biter. I have gotten mo re poison oak than suntan this summer, and I almost find stinging nettle pleasant in comparison. My job, I like to tell people, is comprised of dog-stalking and fish-shocking. The components of my work in Tilden Park of Berkeley include monitoring dogs to see if they are staying out of the pools, and conducting electro-fishing surveys of Wildcat Creek. Both are integral to assessing the health of Wildcat Creek’s native rainbow trout population.  

In Tilden Park, there is a good reason to be concerned abou t the trout. Surveys on the rainbow trout populations in Wildcat Creek have been conducted since 1984, and these figures have shown a significant decline in the trout populations from 1999 and on. The only year that populations appeared to increase was th e year when fewer dogs were observed splashing about in the pools, although there is no way to be certain that this was directly responsible. Dog activities often have destructive effects upon riparian ecosystems and the wildlife they support. There are v ery few pools that have enough water in them all year long to support native aquatic species such as rainbow trout, three spine stickleback and California newt larvae. In the summer months, the water temperature increases as the water levels lower. This reduces the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water needed to sustain the fish. When dogs run along the pool banks, they destroy riparian vegetation that provides a shade cover as well as the root systems essential to stabilize the loose dirt of the banks. Loose dirt is washed into the pool where it fills it in pools and clouds the water. Trout lay their eggs in little gravel nests, or redds, and sedimentation kicked up by the dogs can potentially suffocate these eggs before they hatch. When they are actua lly swimming, the dogs cause even more problems by raising the turbidity of the water and shaking up all kinds of organic debris from the pond bottom. This in turn can also lower water oxygen levels, causing the fish great distress.  

The pool of particul ar concern to me, Nook, is only 32 feet wide, 22 feet long and about 1.6 feet deep, but our surveying indicated that at least 12 rainbow trout between six and eight inches and one 14-inch monster lived there. Over the course of 51 hours of creek monitorin g, 363 dogs passed along Wildcat Gorge Trail with their owners or hired dog walkers. Of these, 66 or approximately 27 percent ignored posted signs by running along its banks or jumping in for a swim. The total sum of swimming time that I observed was 27 m inutes. Considering that a mere three-second splash is enough to leave the small pool murky for hours, it was amazing the fish could survive there at all. As Nook is one of the few perennial pools of WildCat Creek, they are essentially stranded there unti l the rains come.  

In an area where most parks don’t even allow dogs off-leash, many people come to Tilden especially so that they can let Fozzy and Molly unleash their canine angst. The East Bay Regional Park District has a very generous off-leash dog p olicy. Implementing a leash law in highly sensitive habitat areas has been successful in other parks. However, in the spirit of a cooperative and educational approach, Tilden Park has been experimenting with colorful and informative signs as a means of ke eping dogs from entering the creek. The idea is to appeal to the conservation ethic of trail users rather than using more hard-handed restrictive measures. As I learned from my poolside observations, some park visitors are more respectful of these measure s than others. One woman compliantly leashed her dog whenever passing a protective area. Disappointingly, many more allowed their dogs to splash in Nook to their heart’s content. 

We recently installed invisible deer fencing between the fence posts of Noo k to keep dogs out, and it appears to be a great success. Without the turbidity of swimming to stir up sediment, the water almost immediately cleared to the point where once-skeptic hikers started to see fish. When the day camp group returned from its hike, I met them on the other side of the fence and explained what I, Wildcat George, was doing in an area they were not supposed to go. I told them about the fish and let them peer through my magic polarized lenses to see through the water more clearly. As they walked off talking about fish in wonder, I hoped that they could return years later and still enjoy the rich abundance of wildlife that East Bay Parks like Tilden are teeming with. When you are enjoying the more than 95,000 acres of parkland that the East Bay offers, please be mindful of the impact your actions may have upon park life such as the rainbow trout, and be pro-active in asking this of other trail users as well! 

Ashley DuVal is a student at Cal and an East Bay Regional Park District employee.y

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Workj

WELCOME, BETH EL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I live on Oxford Street one block from the new Temple Beth El. Let me begin by saying that I am not Jewish and I am not a churchgoer. In my view the neighbors who are posting signs and complaining about the new site even before it opens are reacting too harshly. This is a residential neighborhood but a residential neighborhood is the place to build churches, schools or temples. 

Will there be impacts on street parking? Of course. But the other institutions in the neighborhood also have visitors who park on the street. Aren’t the Utah plates common on Sunday morning going to the Mormon church on Walnut and Vine? Do not Oxford School parents attend events at Oxford School and park on the street? Live Oak Park events often make it difficult to park. Even Cal football games affect parking even thought the stadium is more than a mile off. Currently Beth-El is already in the neighborhood and has lees parking now than at the new site. 

I expect that Beth El will be a good steward of Cordonices Creek and that the neighborhood will survive the parking impacts. If the parking regulations in the neighborhood need to be changed, those can be changed after the temple opens and a need is shown. 

Instead of the current anti-Beth El signs I would post a sign on m lawn that says: “Beth El: Welcome to Oxford Street.” 

William Flynn 

• 

PEACE AND JUSTICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe that the right wing in Berkeley, including three members of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission, have launched a campaign to discredit the commission. 

The right wing was infuriated last year when a majority of the committee voted for the U.S. government to conduct an investigation of the Israeli Army driving over and killing Rachael Corrie in Palestine. 

The right wing on the committee tried to block the vote and once it was defeated, their friends vowed revenge. 

Now they are trying to block the authority of the commission, which is a light in Berkeley on local, national, and international issues. We in Berkeley are not ostriches. We want a voice in our country and with people in other countries. The commission mostly does work with Berkeley residents who ask the commission to take a stand on political issues. 

The attack on the commission is an attack on our First Amendment right to free speech and a free press. It wants to stop Berkeley from speaking out on the violence and terrorism of the U.S., Israel, and other right-wing governments and the rule of the corporations and neo-liberals. We must work to stop this trend in Berkeley. Support the commission and call a city councilmember to support the commission members for the commission. 

John Murcko 

• 

VOTING MACHINES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am dismayed to see that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is considering spending several millions of dollars to purchase voting machines which will produce a paper trail as per state law.  

Although mandated by the state, it is only throwing good money after bad and thereby locking us into a fatally flawed system. 

A voter verified paper trail is a farce. A computer’s source codes can be programmed to “print out” an accurate receipt of a voter’s selections and, at the same time, record an entirely different result in the “official” tabulation. It’s a simple programming situation, and one which can be “instantly erased” so that no computer trail can be detected. 

I think we need to go back to paper ballots and hand-counting until the conditions for computer-based electoral fraud are solved. 

Sydney Vilen 

• 

CHILDHOOD OBESITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to express my view regarding childhood obesity in particular among the low-income community. It is my opinion that obesity among children starts with poor diet, lack of adequate exercise and the often discussed genetic inheritance. I’m pleased to know that there is a state-wide campaign led by California First Lady Maria Shriver to combat childhood obesity. Low-income families lack money to buy healthy nutritious food items including salad and health promoting fruits. No partnership can enhance the low-income people’s health unless the low-income people get healthy food free of charge. If they could afford it I’m sure they would choose a healthy diet to promote their health and enhance their lifespan. Most people have the knowledge about nutritional diets but they can not afford it.  

I want to hear from the first lady how she will help such needy people to survive and maintain good health. All the junk food that they get as donations from people or restaurants are generally fried meat products or leftovers. I don’t consider such food healthy and it will not make them physically fit or give them energy. As a community we must provide healthy nutritious food to low-income children, thereby laying the foundation of a stronger, healthier America. 

Romila Khanna 

• 

OPT OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To parents of high school and middle school children: As soon as school begins, please look in your child’s packet from her/his school. There should be an “opt out” form. This form is to prevent your child’s information from being given to the military recruiters. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are required to hand over information on their students to the military for recruitment, unless parents opt out. If you do not receive an opt out form, call the registrar or principal of the school and ask that a form be sent to you, or , if possible, go to school to pick it up. Also, please share this information with parents you know who are not likely to see this newspaper. 

It might be a good idea for the Berkeley Daily Planet to have a reporter write an article on this situation as well. 

Jean Pauline 

Oakland 

• 

DIEBOLD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Diebold, our county’s voting equipment company, is walking all over us, and we’re letting them get away with it.  

First, after gaping security holes were found in their equipment, they lost a $2.6 million settlement in Alameda County Superior Court. Then they tried to charge the county $2 million for instant runoff voting in Berkeley, only to drop the price by $1 million under public scrutiny. Now the state refuses to certify them because of printer jams and a ten percent failure rate.  

Clearly, enough is enough. We deserve to have a voting equipment company that is safe and secure. It’s time for the City Council to step up and say no to Diebold. 

By switching to another vendor for our city’s elections in November 2006, we can do instant runoff voting easily and save money in the process. We can vote on paper and know that our vote is secure. Finally, we can show companies like Diebold that their actions have consequences.  

Let’s not let Diebold hold our elections hostage any longer.  

Matt Stewart 

• 

CONTROLLING THE MESSAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Wow! It was so refreshing reading Anne Cromwell’s commentary (Aug. 23) that actually addressed statements made by others, as opposed to so many letters to the editor which answer a lot of questions that no one is even asking. 

Sarah Turner 

• 

DOGS AT THE BULB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Nancy Jean, quoted in “Every Dog Has Its Day In Berkeley” as saying, in protest of restricting off-lease dogs at Albany Bulb, “What are they (dogs) going to do, eat the weeds?” betrays an alarming ignorance of ecology. Reactions like this should task local environmentalists with some public education. 

First of all, to migrating or indigenous fauna (and flora!), the “weeds” have a purpose, each and every instance playing some part in the fabric of our local ecology. With regard to restricting dogs to protect birds, though, it’s somewhat another matter. Migrating birds, especially, have radically depleted levels of energy at certain times of year—imagine flying several thousand miles to get to Albany—and cannot withstand very well the intrusion of introduced mammals, to which they must respond with evasion or flight. Such reactions at times of low reserves of energy can be deadly to them. As well, dogs are very threatening to the well-being of any birds, such as plovers, that nest on the ground. If you’ve ever seen a female killdeer frantically faking an injured wing so as to draw a real or imagined predator/despoiler of her nest, it’s easy to image the energy expended, and how such an expense is corrosive of the bird’s ability to perform other tasks for which it needs lots of fuel to nurture its young. 

Dogs have been an important element in my life. My wife and I love dearly our little border collie mix, and we love to take her places where she can run free with little or no harm to the environment. We are happy to make this accommodation so that we can help optimize future generations’ chances for enjoyment not only of dogs, but of our natural environment as well. And it’s no credit to Matthew Artz of the Daily Planet that he implicitly endorses the illegal presence of off-lease dogs at Albany Bulb. 

Peter Hubbard 

• 

BERKELEY HONDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When it comes to union negotiations, the management of Berkeley Honda are a pretty nonchalant bunch. First, they can barely be bothered to come to the bargaining table, so they schedule negotiating sessions weeks apart. Then, when they do come to bargain, they can only manage two or three hours before the press of business sends them right out the door again (although it’s not clear what that business might be, since their clientele is down by about two thirds). Lastly, there’s the way they act during those brief and infrequent meetings: Not troubling themselves to take notes, not getting down to the union’s concerns about health care, wages, and the pension plan. 

In contrast, their behavior at the dealership can be downright bellicose. Last Thursday they really went off the scale. They called the police on me for ostensibly “harassing” (i.e., talking to) their customers. A few minutes after that, they stood by the service entrance and hurled insults at the strikers—the union guys are dupes of the union, I’m crazy, and we’re all deluded if we think we’re going to get anywhere with this. Furthermore, did we want them to call the police again, since I’d just gone up and harassed another customer about our situation? Because they would be happy to oblige. One of the salesmen kept telling me to “Go away! Go away!” I said I would gladly go away. All they have to do is settle with the union, and I’ll be gone. Oh, don’t be stupid, they said, they can’t do that because of the pension. 

No? Even though the union has offered to lower management’s monthly contribution to $300, which is what they wanted to pay into a 401K plan? And even though the union further agreed that they would let the pension deficit ride for five years, after which, if the plan was still underfunded, they would (1) release management’s obligation to the deficit, and (2) would be willing to switch to a 401k plan? Even with all that, the pension is still a problem? 

Hmm. What does it all mean? Well, to me, their refusal to deal with the pension at negotiations, and their insistence on clinging to the now-irrelevant excuse of the pension deficit in Thursday’s encounter, proves what we’ve known from the beginning. They don’t want to settle this strike because they don’t want a union at Berkeley Honda.  

Judy Shelton 

• 

SUPPORT THE WORKERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We need the community more than ever to support the striking Berkeley Honda workers. Management is trying to wear the workers down. After meeting with union reps for only a few short hours on Aug. 23, it has refused to negotiate again until Sept. 19, almost four weeks later. From the beginning, Berkeley Honda has adopted a policy of continual delays. 

This is unacceptable. The new management team is putting a tremendous financial and psychological burden on the striking workers, who have been out of work since mid-June. We must demand that Berkeley Honda negotiate now!  

We are rallying with the striking workers at Shattuck and Parker every Thursday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 1 to 2:30 until the labor dispute is settled. Please join us. 

Both the strikers and the union leadership have continually acknowledged that community participation is essential to winning the strike. Also, if we lose this battle, it can have a domino effect. It would make it more difficult for other workers in the East Bay to protect their jobs, wages, and benefits.  

We cannot allow Berkeley Honda’s right-wing agenda—to bust the union and to substantially reduce wages and benefits—prevail. We have to demonstrate that the persistence and endurance of the workers and community will triumph.  

Also, please call Berkeley Honda at 843-3704 to demand that it negotiate now. 

Harry Brill 

El Cerrito 

• 

PIGEON LOVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for running an article that appreciates pigeons, the most friendly and tame kind of wild bird. Pigeons think of people as part of their own bird society, and people who love them accept that. We’re the lucky ones, able to make friends with these wild animals. 

Maybe the reason redtails catch pigeons regardless of the color of the rump patch is that they’re techniques are very different. Buteo hawks—that’s what these broad-winged predators are called—cruise around over a flock, picking out the prey that’s least likely to escape. The slow hawks move more like bombers as contrasted with falcons, which are like maneuverable fighters. Some of the time, the hawks close in and trap a pigeon in tree branches. More often, they dive and catch them when they’re eating on open ground. 

The rumor that pigeons spread disease is false. All birds have the same germs, but what we catch comes almost exclusively from other people. The only excuse for shunning pigeons is their droppings, which they do when perched, almost never when flying. To keep them off buildings, only the most humane, non-lethal, and cheap methods work.  

Please take the time to read about pigeons and observe them. They’re worth it. They make wonderful, affectionate pets. They play with toys, invent games, love music, even put on jewelry. 

Al Streit 

New York City 

• 

BEAUTY ALL AROUND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I loved the article about our underappreciated pigeons. There are more things I love about those birds: 

1. Their orange eyes, which can see you whether you’re above, front, back, or side. You can see them, too. They must have extremely precise vision to see tiny crumbs and human donors’ gestures. 

2. Their iridescent necks. 

3. Their color-coordinated pink feet. 

Sometimes we miss the beauty that’s all around us. 

Ruth Bird 

• 

DOGS IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hey, you missed one great place for dogs and people. Café Zeste, on the edge of Strawberry Creek Park, in the Design Center at 1250 Addison. The two-legged types can sit on the patio and eat fabulous food while the four-legged types (and the kids) play in the park. You can throw a Frisbee right from your table! 

Barbara Shayesteh 

• 

POLICE BLOTTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Richard Brenneman’s colorful Police Blotter writing: I have to come down on the side of those who like (or who are at least not offended by) his tarting-up of otherwise mundane events. To his detractors I say, do you really want these crimes reported in cop-speak circumlocutions, like “The male subject allegedly accosted a female pedestrian and was apprehended” ? (Are police spokespersons required to use clinical terms like “male” and “female,” as if speaking about some other species? How about “man” and “woman”?) If people like that style, they can always read that competing new daily rag. 

But I am irritated by sloppy reporting, which I think Mr. Brenneman is guilty of in his Police Blotter of Aug. 23, where he reports that “[a] gang of four or five felons ranging in ages between 15 and 20 confronted a man outside Iceland.” The report went on to say that they were “long gone” before police arrived. There are at least two problems with this: For one, as I’m sure Brenneman knows, one is not a felon until actually convicted of a felony. These chaps weren’t even available to be so charged. Plus, I’m not sure if a 15-year old can even be a felon, though with the rapid advances of the National Security Lock-’em-Up state, I’m sure that oversight will soon be corrected. 

So he should have at least thrown a modifier in there: “a gang of four or five wannabe felons.” 

Another small nit: Brenneman might want to consider using jargon that’s not commonly understood, like the “deuce rap” he described in another item. After all, what good is snappy language if people don’t understand it? 

David Nebenzahl 

North Oakland 

• 

DISAPPOINTED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m disappointed in Susan Parker’s recent piece, “Queen LaSuzy is Big Momma for a Day,” because it epitomizes a dangerous behavior that I see so many white folks espousing: that of aligning themselves with African-American culture in an effort to take the sting out of their own racist words or actions.  

Ms. Parker seems to feel that if she makes certain to let us know how big-hearted and generous she is for taking in a young black teenager from Hunter’s Point for the summer, and tells a humorous story of this young woman’s impressive grandmother and her brand of discipline, that it excuses the racist implications of referring to herself as “Queen LaSuzy.” It does not.  

I would have felt much better about this essay if Ms. Parker had not chosen to go for the cheap laugh by cheekily mocking a trend in African-American names that is so frequently put up for public denigration. White people often think it’s cute and funny to write or tell anecdotes about how they bemusedly find themselves in the midst of black, Asian, or Latino culture, and how they end up being so hip to that culture that they now feel comfortable mocking the eccentricities of that culture as insiders. Usually, this makes the “hip white insider” sound amazingly similar to a white racist outsider who is mocking the culture for sport, but without any kind of social consequences or public censure.  

No matter how many black friends/acquaintances you have, no matter how secure you are in your anti-racist altruism, no matter how generous you are toward African-American teenagers, you are still a white person poking fun at black culture, and it is racist because you are still acting from a place of economic, social, and political privilege.  

Ms. Parker, please try a bit harder not to take such racist potshots in the name of being “down.” It sets a tone and example for other white people that only perpetuates unhealthy, unequal dynamics in an already strained relationship between races. A good guideline for any white person tempted to create humor based on a culture other than their own is to remember that membership has its privileges, and you are not party to them no matter how “hip” you are. 

Jessica Matthews 

• 

JOYFUL, POIGNANT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Susan Parker’s Aug. 23 column, “Queen LaSuzy is Big Momma for a Day,” was great. She nailed the issue of teens and taking charge right on the head. Leave it to a seasoned grandmother to come up with just the right approach for dealing with a 15-year-old! 

Thanks, Grandmother, for your pearls of wisdom and thanks to Susan for your continued joyful, poignant articles in the Daily Planet.  

Barbara Scheifler  

• 

NCAA MASCOTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The NCAA’s executive committee made a compromise decision involving American Indian mascots in some sports teams. They will only ban them during post-season tournament. That is not good enough. The mascots of American Indians should be banned immediately, not just half of the season. These mascots are very degrading to American Indians. It makes them less of a people. 

Other people who are saying that American Indians had other things to worry about than the mascots are the same folks that are not fighting for American Indian sovereignty, such as water and land rights. 

In conclusion, the NCAA’s action is half-complete. 

Billy Trice 

Oakland 

• 

OPT OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To the administrators of BUSD: 

As our children grow up in school, we teach them to use the words “please” and “thank-you” when asking for or receiving something from someone else. Yet how many of you ever use the same phrases to your staff members that work for you? How many of you ever say, “please” get this or that when your staff member is at lunch, and when they have spent time looking up something that you need for your presentation to the School Board and public, how many of you have said, “This was prepared by my staff” in a positive way? How many times has the superintendent thanked the staff members for their presentations by saying “Thank you and your staff.” 

Many of the employees in the BUSD come in early, work through their breaks and lunches, stay beyond their working hours, and even take work home in order to get their own work finished after spending all day working on yours. How many of you administrators even think of giving them something for it. A pay increase would be nice, but even something simple like a card, flowers or an honest “thank-you” will be appreciated. 

Your staff is what makes you look good to your boss and the public. If you treat them like human beings and respect their abilities and promote an enjoyable work environment in your office, then the staff may be willing to overlook some of your shortfalls. 

Remember the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.” 

Dave Fidiam 

?

When 79 percent of Berkeley voters nixed Measure P, a.k.a. the Building Height Initiative, in November 2002, were they expressing satisfaction with the current state of planning and development in this city? That’s what some prominent individuals have been saying ever since that bitterly contested election.  

Earlier this month, the Daily Planet reported that developer and Piedmont resident Patrick Kennedy told the Aug. 3 meeting of a Zoning Adjustments Board subcommittee that “most people in Berkeley are happy with development, as exemplified by the four-to-one margin of defeat of Measure P.”  

But what else would you expect from one of the two most flagrant rogue builders—the other is San Franciscan Darryl de Tienne—to operate in Berkeley in recent years? The city is littered with outsized projects of dubious legality that were constructed by Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests. Of course he’s going to say that everybody’s happy with the status quo.  

The same goes for Kennedy’s biggest shill in the city’s planning department, Land Use Planning Manager Mark Rhoades. With Kennedy at his side, Rhoades told an audience at the September 2003 Santa Barbara conference of the California chapter of the American Planning Association: “We had a citizen initiative placed on the ballot last November that would have gutted the city’s ability to do infill development. Fortunately, that measure lost 80 percent to 20 percent … which sent in our minds a very strong message that we’re headed in the right direction.”  

This is self-serving hype. The real message sent by Measure P’s defeat was that a campaign bankrolled by big developer money can crush a poorly-conceived, underfunded initiative.  

Measure P was deeply flawed. The draconian limits it would have imposed on building heights were inconsistent with Berkeley’s new General Plan. Nevertheless, it was a sincere effort to grapple with a major municipal crisis that few of our civic officials are willing to acknowledge: Out-of-control development is violating city laws and policies, threatening the quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods and exacerbating gentrification. The curse of Measure P is that its overwhelming defeat has made it harder to recognize that this crisis exists, much less to deal with it. The post-election humbug put out by Rhoades, Kennedy and their ilk makes it harder yet.  

For those who would like to see the city deal with reality, the first task is to counter humbug with truth. To that end, I want to scrutinize the claim that got top billing in the anti-P campaign literature. Broadly stated, it goes like this: If Berkeleyans want new affordable housing, we have to accommodate the sort of mega-buildings that are going up downtown and on major transit corridors such as University and San Pablo.  

Surely this notion has captured many Berkeley hearts and minds. Everybody knows there’s a crying need for affordable housing. People may say to themselves: “I’m not crazy about the bulk or height of these big new developments but if that’s the only way we’re going to get housing for those in greatest need, so be it.”  

The trouble is, those in greatest need scarcely benefit from the big new developments. In July Planning Director Dan Marks charted Berkeley housing production between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2005. He showed that during the past six years, 1,544 units of housing were approved by the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board, with 584 more pending approval, for a total of 2,128 units. In the planning director’s own words, Berkeley has undergone a “building boom.” (So much for the oft-heard developer complaint that it’s impossible to build in this town.)  

What Berkeley has not undergone is an affordable housing boom. The 2000 census reported that the median income of Berkeley’s 25,748 tenant households is $27,341 (for our 19,602 owner households, it’s $80,324). This means that half of our tenant households live on more than $27,341 a year, and half on less. Federal guidelines says that an affordable rent should consume no more than 30 percent of a household’s income. That means that a household with an annual income of $27,341 or less should pay no more than $683 monthly rent. How many of the 2,128 units approved or pending approval rent, or will rent, for $683 or less?  

Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward answer to that question, in part because, reasonably enough, housing officials rate affordability in terms of different income levels and the number of persons in a household.  

For the sake of illustration, consider the plight of a two-person household consisting of a single mother and her child living on or below the median annual income of Berkeley’s tenant households, $27,341 a year ($13.50 an hour in wages). By official standards, in our area (designated as Alameda and Contra Costa Counties), such a household falls just below the category of “Very Low Income” ($33,100 a year). The affordable rent level for a “Very Low Income,” two-person household is officially pegged at $828, $145 more than the $683 affordable rent for the median income of Berkeley tenant households.  

According to Planning Director Marks’ chart, only 378, or a paltry 18 percent, of the 2,128 new housing units approved in the past six years are slated for “Very Low Income” households.  

By contrast, 1,434, or 67 percent of new Berkeley housing is destined for households with “Above Moderate” incomes. “Above Moderate” means 121 percent or more of the area’s median income. The median income for our area is $82,200 a year, based on a four-person household. 121 percent of $82,200 is $99,462. So 2/3 of Berkeley’s new housing is for four-person households earning $99,462 a year or more. (The equivalent figure for a one-person household is $69,635, for a two-person household, $79,557.)  

One of Berkeley’s great strengths as a community is its middle-class character. There have always been and always will be people at either extreme. But now the extremes threaten to become the norm, and the biggest reason is the cost of housing.  

If the people of Berkeley realized that the building boom has mainly served the affluent, would they say, with Land Use Planning Manager Rhoades, that “we’re headed in the right direction”?  

%

If I didn’t have this column to write I could deal with Ralph’s broken wheelchair. It hasn’t worked in over five weeks, forcing him to stay in bed except for the occasions when he must go to doctor appointments and attend meetings at the Center for Indep endent Living, in which case he and chair must be pushed, not an easy task considering their combined weight tops 300 pounds. 

If I didn’t have this column to write I could confront my identity theft problems, prepare for my upcoming appearance at the Sup erior Court of Alameda County where I have to prove that I was not a black woman with blonde hair driving a Jaguar recklessly on Powell Street. I could dispatch with the pesky $250 ticket from Solano County’s Superior Court that claims I ran a stop sign in Vallejo when in fact I was in New York City at the time of the alleged crime. 

If I didn’t have this column to write I could reason calmly with Ralph’s dentist, explaining why we can’t pay his $2,093 bill. I’ll tactfully suggest to him that we’ll begin with a partial payment equal to the amount of money he puts into making his office wheelchair-accessible. I’ll suggest that a simple wooden ramp up his front steps will suffice, although wider doors and hallways would be appreciated. 

If I didn’t have this column to write I could find the time to call my handyman neighbor Teddy to remind him I need the holes in the dining room ceiling plastered, the plywood on the wheelchair ramp replaced, the gasket in the upstairs bathroom faucet fixed, and the washing machine looked at again because it leaks water 24/7. 

If I didn’t have this column to write I could weed the garden, clean the rugs, match up my orphan socks, contend with the alarming notice from the Social Security Administration that has melded Ralph’s name with my Social Security number and claims a discrepancy of $1,659 in self-employment earnings in 2004. 

I could inform Apria Healthcare that the bill for Ralph’s $3,816 specialized mattress should be paid by Kaiser, and I could explain to the cell p hone company that I didn’t know my teenage houseguest Jernae was making numerous long-distance calls late at night while I was sleeping. 

I could take out the trash, repaint the bathroom, organize my computer files, return the broken television to Berk La nd TV and Appliances and point out to them that it’s still under warranty from the last time they repaired it. 

I could respond to the red warning light that comes on whenever I put the key in the ignition of the van. 

I could finish writing the novel I started when I began the MFA program at San Francisco State and which I must complete before graduation, an event with a stress-inducing final deadline of 2010. 

If I didn’t have this column to write I could go see the new play at the new Marsh Theater on Allston Way. I could attend the Thursday Caregivers meetings at the South Berkeley Senior Center. I could take a walk with my friend Lynn. I could zip down to the pharmacy and pick up Ralph’s overdue prescription. 

I could shop for a present for my mother’s upcoming 80th birthday and carefully choose something that commemorates such a noteworthy milestone, forever making up for the numerous birthdays I’ve forgotten or acknowledged only with a cheapskate Hallmark card. 

I could take up where I left off in the Confederacy of Dunces, a novel I began reading in 1980 and have always meant to finish. I could then sit down with my unopened copies of Moby Dick and Anna Karenina, and read them from cover to cover so that I would no longer have to nod my head in ag reement when someone talks about how great they are, pretending that I know exactly how they feel when, in fact, I have no clue.c

Crime Pedalers 

In a city concerned about environmental issues, even the robbers and flashers seem to be taking the hint, using bicycles rather than gas-guzzlers as their vehicles of choice. 

Consider, for example, the following: 

Two thugs, one bike 

A p air of pistol-packing bandits robbed three folks of cell phones and cash in the 2300 block of Blake Street shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday and fled northbound on Dana Street, with one bandit peddling and the second holding on tight to the first, said Berkel ey Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Strong-arm cyclist 

After his attempt to strong-arm a 43-year-old pedestrian of his goodies outside the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall on the 1300 block of Cedar Street shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, the foiled would-be felon made his departure on a mountain bike. 

Two thugs, two bikes 

A pair of bandits in their early 20s robbed two victims in the 2500 block of Parker Street at 10:18 p.m. Friday, taking cash and cell phones before they made their getaways, eac h on his own two-wheeler. 

Non-Cycling Criminals 

Not all of Berkeley’s criminals were riding bikes, however. Some were traveling by foot and others by means unknown. . . 

Attacks officer 

Police were summoned to the front of Mel’s Diner in the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue at 6:22 p.m. Thursday in response to a call of a fellow threatening passers-by with a bottle. 

When officers arrived to try to talk him down, the fellow attacked one of them, earning him a trip straight to the city lockup on suspicion of committing battery on a peace officer, said Officer Okies. 

Juvenile arsonists 

Berkeley Police arrested a pair of juveniles on suspicion of arson for allegedly setting fire to a trash container in the playground at San Pablo Park early Friday afternoo n. 

A citizen had already extinguished the blaze before police and fire units arrived. 

Mop attack 

A 61-year-old woman was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon Friday afternoon after she allegedly beat a 50-year-old woman with a mop handle in the 1600 block of Milvia Street, said Officer Okies. 

Slasher sought 

Police are seeking a knife-wielding man in his 20s who slashed the right cheek of a 40-year man in the 1200 block of Fifth Street just after 11 a.m. Saturday. 

Officer Okies said th e suspect is being sought on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Teen bandits sought 

Police are seeking two bandits, one about 19 years old and the other about 13, who robbed three people in the 2700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way about 9:45 p.m. Saturday. 

Officer Okies said the duo robbed three victims, including a 19-year-old, before joining a larger group that was loitering nearby. 

They were all gone by the time officers arrived, he said. 

h

Bob Baldock’s commentary in last weekend’s edition is astonishing. It is a combination of contempt of court and frank admission that the entrenched staff at KPFA has no use for the democracy its broadcasts preach to the world. 

A court decision put an en d to the rule over Pacifica by people we at the station called the hijackers. It required the formulation of a new set of by-laws and elections to adopt them and to choose members of local station boards for each of the five stations. A remarkably large number of people had the patience to write those by-laws via endless e-mail discussions. 

A great deal of negotiation went into formulating bases of representation of the various players (paid staff, unpaid staff, affirmative action requirements to assure full representation of ethnic minorities and women). It was only far-reaching concessions in representation that finally coaxed paid staff to deign to associate with the rest of us in the local station board, which differs from the previous local advisory board in that it has real powers. 

But now the station board has dared to exercise those powers. It decided, fully two years ago, to make a time change that would give Pacifica’s proudest human product, Amy Goodman, access to prime drive time, requiring the Morning Show to move to the second best hour. The paid staff has simply refused to implement that, flat insubordination that merits dismissal in any union contract worthy of the name. 

Now, for three months, the board has given the fullest imaginable hearing to the charges of those who want Roy Campanella dismissed as manager. At the end, the vote was totally surprising to board members opposing such action. They had thought, on the basis of its actions in various other respects, that the decision would be by something like a one-vote margin. Instead it was 15 to 5 to retain Mr. Campanella. 

So now Baldock tells us that votes don’t count and powers will be ignored. Despite the existence of a manager found after a long and careful search, he says that “Essentially the same workers then being endorsed (in the huge demonstration and parade of 1999) are running the radio station now.” Among the 20 members of the elected Local Station Board who voted for or against Campanella’s dismissal, I recognize one n ame of an individual who can be classed as having been endorsed in 1999. 

At the National Board meeting held in Berkeley in March, 2004, I, like all who were not members of that body, had two minutes in which to set forth a position, so I prepared my rema rks beforehand. The key sentence reads: “I believe the biggest problem facing the new National Board in accomplishing anything whatever, particularly in programming, is breaking the stranglehold that the senior paid staffs now have on the stations.” It won a standing ovation. 

Bill Mandel was a KPFA broadcaster for 37 years. 

r

A recent guest editorial in your paper inaccurately criticized Secretary of State Bruce McPherson about the latest developments in California’s move to electronic voting machines. The piece misused several figures reported by the Associated Press and Con tra Costa Times about a recent testing of Diebold Election Systems, Inc.’s (DESI) AccuVote-TSX with AccuView Printer Module election voting machines. The author also sarcastically accused a respected public official of poor math skills. One of the misstated facts claimed that during the dry-run test of the Diebold election system, McPherson’s office reported a 10 percent failure rate (the guest writer wondered if the failure rate was actually higher, which it was not). In fact, in that test, 10,720 votes were recorded on 96 voting machines with 100 percent accuracy. Despite 11 paper jams and 21 other problems on the new machine-printer combination, not a single ballot was lost. 

The State of California has understandably asked DESI to fix the printers bef ore the new machines can be used in real, live elections, and we’re making those changes now. Sadly, there has been too much of this type of misinformation in media coverage of electronic voting machines in California. Media coverage of the test earlier t his month sensationalized the results so that any reader would imagine complete chaos and a failure in tabulating results. One newspaper even reported that the paper jams caused long lines, “causing voters to give up and go home,” when the actual test con sisted of a handful of volunteers voting repeatedly on the machines in a warehouse. 

Paper jams on these printers occurred in roughly one out of 1000 cases, which while not perfect, is consistent with similar tests on receipt printing for ATMs and cash re gisters. DESI is now working to make minor adjustments to the printing units to improve their performance, and is also working to reduce or eliminate the screen freezes. 

Do these problems need to be fixed? Absolutely, but let’s not lose sight of the bene fits. A recent CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project report says that the national average rate for residual (missing) votes in the 2000 elections—conducted overwhelmingly on punch card and paper ballot systems—was 1.9 percent. Applying that ratio to this test of 10,720 ballots would mean 203 lost votes. Again, this test did not lose a single vote. 

No system is perfect, but in comparing touchscreen machines to punch cards, mechanical lever machines, optical scan, or plain old-fashioned paper ballots, a half-dozen studies including the CalTech/MIT report show that your vote is most likely to be counted if you vote on a touchscreen. 

With these kinds of results, the contest between touchscreens and hanging chads should be a landslide. And public officials who are helping California vote more effectively with these machines should be praised, not ridiculed on the pages of your newspaper. 

Dave Byrd is vice president of business operations for Diebold Election Systems, Inc. 

th

Here are some of the things that I learned at the Aug. 1 “community forum” on radio frequency identification devices (RFID) sponsored by the Board of Library Trustees: Patrons’ reading materials cannot be protected from prying eyes, and anyone can buy a reader/scanner for $150. I learned that there are many studies showing that radiation from radio frequency poses a threat to public health, and I discovered that Councilmember Gordon Wozniak studied none of these before he became an expert panelist for the forum. Moreover, Checkpoint (the RFID company that the library contracted with) is negligent in repairing its equipment, and the Berkeley Public Library and its board were, and continue to be, even more negligent in researching the claims of RFID’s efficacy in reducing both repetitive stress injuries and theft of library materials. As well I learned that Checkpoint is not a new company, but one that’s been around since the 1960s. 

The most informative panelist was Lee Tien, senior attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization concerned with privacy on the Internet and in technology. Among other things, he reminded us that corporations could benefit from our personal information without being held accountable for what happens to that information. His organization played a strong role in the rejection of RFID at the San Francisco Public Library, the rejection of RFID in student IDs at a school here in California and it continues to fight the application of RFID in U.S. passports. 

There were many more experts in the audience. During public question/comment period, we heard from two representatives from the union, two members from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), two health experts from San Francisco Neighborhood Antennae Free Union and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, one library advocate from the San Francisco Library Users Association and those unrelenting members of BOLD, Berkeleyans Organized for Library Defense. Every expert was opposed to RFID. This opposition provided much of the information that night. 

And here is what I saw in the community: I saw citizens exercising their First Amendment rights without apology. They used their Intellectual Freedom and researched their topic at their local public library and then discussed it in a forum. They made sure that the board and the director of the Berkeley Public Library heard them loud and clear—a forum after the purchase of this technology erodes a public trust that seems to be low on the priority list of the library’s director and board. There were on the order of 50 people who walked up to the mike, and every one of them was opposed to RFID. I also saw board members who seemed impatient with this tedious democratic process and two of them felt the need to lecture the citizens as if they were children. Watch for the forum on Channel 33!  

Here are other ways for readers to inform themselves about this harmful technology: Electronic Frontier Foundation is at www.eff.org; SuperBOLD is at www.libraryadvocates.org; for health effects of radio frequency, www.wave-guide.org; for recordings of the forum you can go to www.sfbayvideo.com or call 644-2489. 

One speaker called it a boondoggle. He has a point. If it doesn’t fix repetitive stress injuries and doesn’t reduce theft (but in fact increases it) then WHAT is it good for? Another lesson from the forum—RFID is good for two things:surveillance and corporate profit and all at the expense of public trust, worker safety and patron privacy. Is it too much for the board to admit that it made a mistake, and, if they can truly rise to the occasion—get rid of the problem?  

Wanda Crow is a Berkeley resident. 

The Bay Area will play host to an abundance of great jazz this fall. The single most important event of the next few months is the San Francisco Jazz Festival with almost 50 events scattered around the city. In Oakland, Yoshi’s continues to bring some of the best jazz musicians in the world to their restaurant/nightclub, while in Berkeley, there will be great jazz offerings at the Jazz-school and at Anna’s Jazz Island.  

This year’s 23rd annual San Francisco Jazz Festival offers nearly 50 imaginatively c onceived programs in venues all over San Francisco. The events take place at beautiful locations like the Palace of the Legion of Honor’s Florence Gould Theatre where admission to the museum is included in the ticket price, Davies Symphony Hall, the Palac e of Fine Arts, and Herbst Theatre with its magnificent autumnal murals by Sir Frank Brangwyn. Besides straight ahead musical performances that range through mainstream, avant garde, Latin, African, French, klezmer, Broadway and gospel, there are also cla sses, interviews and films that can broaden and enhance the experience of the music. The following half dozen shows are just the cream of a consistently great festival. 

Abbey Lincoln has moved from one among many jazz vocalists to take her place in the p antheon of all-time great jazz singers. She has done this by learning to express herself through her original songs, poems set to lovely tunes that are the perfect vehicles for her emotion-drenched voice. She also knows which standards work best for her and can turn a group of talented young accompanists into top-flight jazz performers. This event, at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 19, at Herbst Theatre, kicks off the festival and is only open to SFJazz members, an incentive to join.  

The World Saxophone Quartet—David Murray, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett and Bruce Williams plus guests Gene Lake, Matthew Garrison and Lee Pearson—will present the music of Jimi Hendrix at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Oct. 20, at the Great American Music Hall. The Quartet is one of the all-time great jazz combos with wide-ranging interests and stellar performers in Murray, Bluiett and Lake . 

Etta James, the Queen of Rhythm and Blues, brings her Roots Band to Nob Hill Masonic Center at 8 p.m., Oct. 22. Although known as a blues singer, like Dinah Wash ington or Big Maybelle, she is just as great doing jazz interpretations of standards, as witness her album of songs dedicated to Billie Holiday. 

Clarinetist Don Byron was at the festival a few years back playing the klezmer compositions of Mickey Ka tz. He returns this year, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., Oct. 30, at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, to present the music of Sam Musiker, a great swing and klezmer player, and his father-in-law Dave Tarras, arguably the greatest klezmer clarinetist to ever record. 

Barbara Cook is not a jazz singer, but she is one of the greatest Broadway and cabaret performers of the last half-century. She’ll present masterful interpretations of tunes from the “Great American Songbook” at 8 p.m., Nov. 4, at Davies Symphony H all.  

Finally, the Ornette Coleman Quartet will perform at 8 p.m., Nov. 5, at Nob Hill Masonic Center. Although his rhythm section, two string bassists and his son Denardo on drums, seems beside the point, his own playing is always fresh, lyrical and su rprising and he remains one of the seminal influences in the history of post-bop jazz. 

For great jazz in a club setting, you cannot beat Yoshi’s Japanese Restaurant and World Class Jazz House, 510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square, Oakland. This fall’s lineup includes at least five promising shows.  

From Sept. 1–4, an all-star hard-bop band including tenor saxophonist and Jazz Messengers alum Billy Harper, alto saxophonist and flutist James Spaulding, trumpeter Charles Tolliver, pianist John Hicks and drummer Roy McCurdy will perform as Night of the Cookers. These musicians have all performed brilliantly for decades both together and with many of the greatest bop musicians. 

Oakland’s own Carla Bley, a brilliant composer, bandleader and pianist, m akes a rare Bay Area appearance with her Lost Chords, a quartet including the great bassist Steve Swallow, a long-time accompanist, from Sept. 13-14.  

The great Argentinian tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri follows hot on her heels from Sept. 15-18. Barbie ri, who did the music for Last Tango in Paris, combines passionate, lyrical playing with Latin and avant-garde influences. 

The great hard bop trumpeter Clifford Brown would have turned 75 this year. Yoshi’s honors him from Oct. 25-30, with performances by Latin trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, pianist Mulgrew Miller and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, who penned the haunting homage to Clifford, “I Remember Clifford,” following his death in a car crash in 1956. 

The last great fall event at Yoshi’s will be the return of violinist Regina Carter, from Nov. 16-20. Carter has played in many musical contexts from classical to rhythm and blues, but she always approaches her instrument with the freedom of jazz and the aggressiveness of a swing era saxophonist like Ben Webster. 

The Jazzschool at 2087 Addison St. in Berkeley offers classes for those who want to learn the art of playing jazz from professional jazz musicians. They also offer a full schedule of concerts featuring a variety of their teachers, local musicia ns, visiting world class performers and their own student ensembles. This fall’s lineup includes such well-known players as Dick Hindman, Art Lande, Mel Martin, Mark Levine, Dick Whittington, Keith Terry and the school’s executive director, Susan Muscarel la. The highlight of the season should be the appearance of world-class trumpeter Wallace Roney at 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 16 in the Jazzschool’s Hardymon Hall. 

Finally, the poetical/musical combination Upsurge celebrates its fifteenth anniversary at Anna’s Jazz Island, a new jazz and blues venue at 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley, at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 23. The group includes saxophonist Richard Howell, poets Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg, pianists Dee Spencer and Tammy Hall, bassist Ron Belcher and drummer Darrell Green. 

For more information on the San Francisco Jazz Festival call (415) 788-7353, or visit their website at sfjazz.org. For more information on Yoshi’s call 238-9200, or visit their website at yoshis.com. For more information on the Jazzschool call 845-5373, or visit their website at jazzschool.com. For more information on UpSurge call 835-5348, or visit their website at upsurgejazz.com.?

A few years ago I attended a performance of a new opera The Aspern Papers, after the Henry James novella. The composer had, of course, taken liberties with the story, juggling generations of time, changing some names, changing the dead poet to a dead composer, changing the setting from Venice to Lake Como so that the poet-cum-composer could drown while taking a midnight swim home from his lady-love’s villa (if you tried to swim down a Venice canal, you’d probably get a nasty case of dysentery, but you couldn’t drown). I accepted these changes, but I became uneasy when private letters were changed to the only copy of a lost opera. And when the finale featured Tina as a woman scorned, burning this manuscript of the last opera by the great composer, I left the hall sputtering condemnations to my bemused companions, who shrugged, “Guess he wanted to make it more dramatic, more operatic.” 

“By destroying the point!?” 

“What point?” 

“Simple. They were letters, private letters! Not a work of art. Tina burns his lost opera, she’s a monster. Tina burns private letters, she’s a hero!”  

Another shrug. My friends saw no difference, and that bothered me even more. 

In Henry James’ The Aspern Papers, Miss Tina Bordereux lives in a couple of rooms of a “dilapidated palazzo on an out-of-the-way canal,” caring for her ancient, reclusive aunt who 80 years before was the lover of the famous poet Jeffrey Aspern, and is rumored to possess old love letters from him. Avid to get these letters, a critic/biographer worms his way into the household and romances the lonely, middle-aged spinster. Tina is so vulnerable that he slowly brings her to the point of breaking her promise to her aunt to burn the letters at her death. But when Tina says she will bring them to him as her dowry, the critic/biographer suddenly backs off in revulsion at the success of his courting. Still determined to get the letters, he sneaks into the aunt’s bedroom. The old lady struggles up from bed, catches him going through her bureau drawers, rasps, “You publishing scoundrel,” and drops dead. He flees, but returns after the funeral is over, for one more try at getting “my goods” as he refers to the letters. He is amazed to see Tina looking—well, almost attractive, glowing with a certain “force of soul.” Maybe he could marry her after all! But he is too late. Bouncing back from rock-bottom humiliation and now free to choose, she has burned the letters. “Goodbye. I shall not see you again. I don’t want to.” 

A couple of years later, a new young writer, Edith Wharton, published her first novel. The Touchstone is also about letters from a writer, Margaret Aubyn, now famous after her early death. The recipient of the letters, Stephen, had never read a thing by Margaret and had quickly tired of their discreet romance; nevertheless, he had strung her along for quite a while—and had kept hundreds of abject, devoted, pleading love letters from her. Suddenly the letters are worth a lot of money, money that will enable him to marry the beautiful woman he can’t afford. He sells the letters to a publisher friend on the condition that he not be identified as the recipient. 

The book comes out shortly after his marriage, and it takes off, an instant best seller. Everyone is reading and discussing it, including his wife: “It is like listening at a keyhole. I wish I hadn’t read it! It’s horrible, it’s degrading almost, to read the secrets of a woman one might have known. Stephen did know her once, I think, didn’t you, Stephen?” Does she suspect? Stephen is tortured by this question, and by their friends’ unending, inescapable discussions of the anonymous cad who published the letters from the weak, pathetic female genius they continue to leave unread, while licking their lips over her humiliation. The letters that financed Stephen’s marriage now begin to poison it. 

What these two novellas have in common is respect for the right of the artist to keep his or her private life apart from his or her work, not only for the sake of the artist but for the sake of literature. (Remember, I’m talking about works of fiction and poetry — not memoirs by politicians or media stars, or texts by “authorities” in their field — like Bruno Bettelheim, who might have done a lot less harm if some dirt-digging biographer had exposed him as the phony he was). There is no doubt in either of these novellas that those who want to profit by violating the artists’ privacy have crossed the line between serving art and smearing mud all over it. They are the bad guys who get the punishment they deserve, one by losing the prize he wanted, the other by winning it.  

I think both of these novellas were protest novels, against a trend already under way a century ago, when mass media key-hole peeking had not quite arrived, but was clearly on the horizon. Their protest failed, of course, big-time. These days, the line drawn between probing a work of art and probing the common, messy dross of everyday life, is not only frequently crossed, it is almost erased. The first question I am invariably asked after I give a reading is, “Is this book autobiographical?” My stern answer (just what you’d expect from the school teacher I used to be) is, “What matters in reading my novel is not what you learn about my life, but what you learn about your own.”  

I’m sorry to say that not all writers are as grumpy as I am on this issue; some of them pander to the appetite for private whining, which is profoundly anti-art. The poet Denise Levertov called these writers perverters of the 1960s slogan, “let it all hang out,” which meant being totally truthful, but became an lazy excuse for publishing “raw, unmediated, unshaped, self-pitying journal entries and calling them poetry.”  

Of course, many of today’s biographers (like old Ms. Bourdereux’s “publishing scoundrel”) defend keyhole peeking as necessary to understanding the work of artists. They practice what Julian Barnes calls “biographical sourcery, as if the novelist’s imagination works like a paint mixing machine, with pinches and dabs of actual experience or people mixed up.” On the contrary, Barnes insists, “Fiction is about transforming life rather than disguising autobiography.” 

Or, as Tobias Wolff says, through the protagonist of his novel Old School, “The life that produces writing can’t be written about. It is a life carried on without the knowledge even of the writer, below the mind’s business and noise, in deep unlit shafts where phantom messengers struggle toward us, killing one another along the way—” 

A bit of gossip from Edith Wharton’s life is worth introducing here only because it supports Wolff’s statement. A few years after the publication of The Touchstone, Wharton fell for a smooth operator named Morton Fullerton, who strung her along, borrowed money, used her influence, and, when she finally got free of him, refused to return her letters. In the 1980s these letters were found in a second-hand shop where, evidently, Fullerton had—yes—sold them. They are, like Margaret Aubyn’s letters—loving, confused, humiliated—but different in two crucial elements: there weren’t that many of them, and the final ones kissed off Fullerton graciously, crediting him, delicately, with giving Wharton good sex.  

That Wharton’s novel foretold the future is nothing new—as any fiction writer can tell you; it happens all the time (more usually foretelling the future of a person who was one of the models for a fictional character.) The important thing about the Fullerton affair is this: you can read everything Wharton wrote after Fullerton entered her life, and you will find no sign of enhanced or impaired creativity directly traceable to anything Fullerton did, or any character who directly resembles him. He got under her skin, but never sank in deep enough to enter those mysterious “unlit shafts where phantom messengers struggle toward us.” He is a minor, ordinary, irrelevant blip like those in all our lives, sometimes useable in small, altered, mixed bits. He is not a shaper of the work that “transforms life.” 

The one thing that the real stuff, transformative fiction, needs—must have—from outside, is creative readers, those who are uninterested in prying into everyday details of an artist’s life, who demand nothing less than the (sometimes painful) joy of illumination. Creative readers are willing to maintain “silence, some form of isolation, and sustained concentration in the presence of an enigmatic thing,” wrote Phillip Roth. But then he added “a habit of mind that has disappeared.” 

I hope he’s wrong. If you’ve read this far, I know he is. 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30 

FILM 

Eyeing Nature: “Ten Skies” with James Benning in person 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 Tuesday” storytelling with Ruth Halpern, Wayne Harris, Marijo, and Gay Ducey at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. 845-8542. www.juliamorgan.org 

Karen Fisher describes the romance and cruelty of pioneer life in “A Sudden Country” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sauce Piquante at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance leson at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Larry Coryell Trio with Victor Bailey and Lenny White at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

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

Duncan James at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31 

EXHIBITIONS 

Tenth Annual Yozo Hamaguchi Printmaking Scholarship Awards Exhibition opens at the Isabelle Percy West Gallery, California College of the Arts, 5212 Broadway, Oakland. 594-3619. 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only: The President’s Analyst” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

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.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark Little Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

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

Dhol Patrol at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Home at Last at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Larry Coryell Trio with Victor Bailey and Lenny White at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, SEPT. 1 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems at 12:10 p.m. at Morrison Library in Doe Library, UC Campus. http://lunchpoems. 

berkeley.edu  

Julia Vinograd, poet, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 6 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Jamey Genna and Alice Templeton at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Davka, classical Middle-Eastern Ashkenazi jazz, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Peter Barshay’s “Fog” at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Paul Mehling, Will Bernhard and Ken Emerson, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Night of the Cookers with Billy Harper, James Spaulding, Charles Tolliver, David Weiss, John Hicks, Roy McCurdy and Dwayne Burno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $1-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 2 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Price” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., through Oct. 9, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “Nicholas Nickleby” Part 2 at 8 p.m. at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., between Berkeley and Orinda, through Sept. 18. Tickets are $10-$55. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Impact Theater “Nicky Goes Goth” at 8 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, through Oct. 1. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

The Marsh Berkeley “When God Winked” by Ron Jones. Thurs.-Sat. at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Building, 2120 Allston Way, through Sept. 16. Tickets are $10-$22. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

Woodminster Summer Musicals “Jesus CHrist Superstar” at 8 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland, Sept. 2-4, 9-11 Tickets are $20-33. 531-9597. www.woodminster.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Artwork by Yvette Buigues Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Cafe DiBartolo, 3310 Grand Ave., near Grand Lake Theater. 832-9005. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jack Pollard & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kai Eckhardt, Jon Fishman and Julia Butterfly Hill at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20-$22. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Walter Pope Trio at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

E Ivey Orchestra, Old Puppy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Dick Conte Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ken Mahru and Friends at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373.  

Otis Goodnight, Stymie & The Pimp Jones Love Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159 

Crossfire Crew at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Locust, Cattle Decapitation, Look Back and Laugh at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Night of the Cookers with Billy Harper, James Spaulding, Charles Tolliver, David Weiss, John Hicks, Roy McCurdy and Dwayne Burno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $1-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 3 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players, “Cyrano de Bergerac” at 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. through Sept. 11, at John Hinkle Park, labor day perf. Sept. 5. Free with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Synergy Women’s Open Mic at 3 p.m. at Lakeview Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland Literature and World Music Festival Sat.-Mon., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at City Center Plaza. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. www.ArtandSoulOakland.com 

Walter Savage Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Gator Beat at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

“Braziu” with Sotaque Baino and Raiv Do Samba at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$12. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Samantha Raven and Friends at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony at 10 p.m. at 510 17th St., Oakland. www.at17th.com 

Kurt Riback Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

George Pederson and the Natives, Real Sippin’ Whiskeys at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Rory Snyder Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Lucky Stiffs, Tried and True, Nuts and Bolts, Sore Thumbs at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 

CHILDREN 

Gary Laplow at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Talks and Tours” of “Wholly Grace” by Susan Duhan Felix, at 3 p.m. at the Bade Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave.  

Kick Back Sundays Jazz and spoken word sponsored by The Jazz House at 6 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 415-846-9432. 

Poetry Flash with Trane Devore and Donna de la Perriére at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Adrian West at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Hostile Takeover, Acts of Sedition, Sabretooth Zombie, 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, SEPT. 5 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players, “Cyrano de Bergerac” today at 4 p.m., and Sat. and Sun. through Sept. 11, at John Hinkle Park. Free with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Last Word Poetry Reading with Eugene David and Dan Marlin at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Edgardo Cambon & Latido at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Wed. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

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

TUESDAY, SEPT. 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Darkroom Drawings” black and white photographs and mixed media by Robert Tomlinson opens at Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St., and runs to Oct. 22. 644-1400.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nahid Mozzafari and Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak describe “Strange Times, My Dear” the PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Hamilton de Holanda & Mike Marshall, mandolinists, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Gary Rowe, solo jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, Cuban guitarist, at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Leslie Thorne Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277.

Alert reader Hal Hoffman called the Daily Planet to note that I’d sent the last tree column, published on Aug. 16, without mentioning the tree’s species epithet. He’s entirely correct, and I’m grateful and abashed; getting that Latin-ish binomial in is a principle of mine. Knowing the scientific name of anything is a key to learning what there is to know about it, from every possible source.  

Oh—California buckeye, the tree I was talking about, is Aesculus californica. 

This Latin stuff (which is rarely proper Latin, but incorporates bits of Greek, place names and surnames and sometimes first names in many other languages, often with a Latin suffix to cap it) is particularly a big deal with plants because plants’ English names vary wildly among places and even families. Then you get to talking with someone from a different culture and language, and you’re in the soup, along with Pan knows only what other ingredients. But if you both know the species epithet, you can figure things out. And even if only you know it, you can more easily find a picture of the plant in question to compare with your correspondent’s memory or specimen and get it all straight. 

And all this matters because we do things like calling a haphazard assortment of trees “cedars” because they share two characteristics: They’re conifers and they have fragrant wood. There isn’t much resemblance between some sets of “cedars;” on the other hand I find some of the true cedars hard to tell apart.  

The North American tree we call “eastern red cedar”—the source of those hope chests some of our grannies had and the little cedar boxes the local furniture stores used to give girls at high school graduation—is actually a juniper, Juniperus virginiana. Western red cedar, Thuja plicata, is in the same Cupressaceae family but not even the same genus; both have scented wood but the scents are quite different, as western’s is much milder and sweeter, with a hint of sassafras. It’s easy enough to find some here; just go into a big enough hardware store and look for fencing boards. The Haida and their Northwest Coast neighbors use it for lots of their remarkable artworks, too. I won’t say “Go sniff a totem pole” but you might be pleasantly surprised if you do.  

In California, we also have “incense cedar,” Calocedrus decurrens. In fact we have a few on the streets, and I’ll write about them one of these days. As you can see from the name, it’s neither a true cedar nor a very close relative of the first two, though it is in the same family. 

We do have true cedars in Berkeley, and they are easy to spot as a group. They’re in the Pinaceae family, not particularly close to those Cupressaceae “cedars.” They’re big when mature, open in structure, pale gray of bark, and have short, usually bluish needles. We have a few of the famous Cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libani, which appears on that nation’s flag and of which the Temple of Solomon is supposed to have been built. We have more specimens of the Atlas cedar, Cedrus libani var. atlantica, a subspecies of Lebanon cedar. And we have deodar cedar, Cedrus deodara.  

The first two—or one-and-a-half—come from the Mediterranean region, yes, including Lebanon. Deodar cedar hails from the Himalayas. Its needles have a less bluish cast than the Mediterranean types. All carry their stout cones upright on horizontal branches. All are relatively sturdy, long-lived trees, even in cities. They have lots of chemicals—the source of the wood’s fragrance—that repel their potential pests, including resin glands on the cones that are supposed to repel squirrels.  

Mediterranean cedarwood is sturdy and pest-repellent enough to keep its own integrity, though its reputation for keeping moths out of the woollens may be exaggerated. The Spanish Armada was built of cedarwood, and the ships supposedly lasted longer than even the English ships of stout oak. The lumber couldn’t withstand all storms and wrecks, but the live trees’ structure is actually better than most at that, because it doesn’t form a wind-catching “sail.” Good news in a big tree in a windy place. 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30 

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 Pt. Pinole. For information and to register call 525-2233.  

GPS Mapping Learn how to make your own maps at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

East Bay Animals Advocates Volunteer Meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Fellini Restaurant, 1401 University Ave. 925-487-4419. infor@eastbayanimaladvocates.org 

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. 

Tai Chi for Health and Long Life from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com 

“Supporting Your Child’s Attention Holistically” at 7 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com 

Celebrating the Legacy of Derek Humphry, of the Hemlock Society, at 1 p.m. at Northbrae Church. Reservations required. 843-6798. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

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

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

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 

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, AUGUST 31 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “From Jesus to Christianity” by l. Michael White, at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop, El Cerrito Plaza. 433-2911. 

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 and a warm hat. 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 

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. 

Kundalini Yoga for All Ages at 2:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com 

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, SEPT. 1 

LGBT Catholics BBQ-Potluck Get-together at 6:30 p.m. at Newman Hall, Holy Spirit Parish, 2700 Dwight Way at College Ave. 663-6302. www.calnewman.org 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud's Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. jstansby@yahoo.com  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 2 

Sustainable Business Alliance meets at noon at the Swan’s Market Co-housing Cooperative, 9th & Washington Sts. Cost is $10-$12. 451-4001. 

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. 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 

“Introduction to Dzogchen: Buddhist Meditation” with Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche at 7 p.m. at Studio Raza, 933 Parker St. Donation $20.  

SATURDAY, SEPT. 3 

Sick Plant Clinic UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755.  

Berkeley Really Free Market Bring things to trade, a no-money event. from noon to 4 p.m. at Civic Center Park. 601-0882. 

City of Oakland’s Art and Soul Festival Sat. through Mon., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland. Four concert stages with live music, food and special Family Fun Zone. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. 444-CITY. www.artandsouloakland.com  

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Cost is $40. To register call 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Pro” documentary film on the 2004 road racing championships at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Benefits the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League. 325-6502. www.norcalmtb.org 

“Stress Less with Hypnosis” at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Free, registration required. 465-2524. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 

“Untold Stories of 9/11” A video by David Randolph, discussion following with the maker at noon at First Baptist Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. http://homepage.mac.com/ 

davidjrandolph1 

“The Break Up of the AFL-CIO & The Rank and File” Which way forward for working people? At 4 p.m. at the Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland. www.laboraction.org 

Hands-on Bike Maintenance Learn how to prevent and repair flats on your bike at 10 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

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

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

“Religion After God, Science After Certainty” with Walter Truett Anderson at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 5 

Giant Labor Day Rummage Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship, Cedar and Bonita Sts. 540-8271.  

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. 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 6 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Living Poor with Style” 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. 

“Bicycle Touring California Backroads and Trails” a slide presentation with Joel Albright, at 7 p.m. at REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 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. 524-9992. 

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  

“Healthy Eating with Hypnosis” at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Free, registration required. 465-2524. 

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, SEPT. 7 

Back to School Walk Berkeley Path Wanderers take an easy First Wednesday walk exploring local school sites and school memories. Meet at 10 am at the entrance to the Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck. Free and all welcome. 524-2383. www.berkeleypaths.org  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Auditions, Sept. 7, 9 and 10 by appointment only. Please call 849-9776. 

Textile Art and Papier-mache Whimsey Classes at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests and new members at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863.  

Entrepreneurs Networking at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. For more information contact JB, 562-9431. FIrst and third Wed.  

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. 

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. 

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 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 1, at 7 p.m., at 2118 Milvia St. Nabil Al-Hadithy, 981-7461. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/environmentaladvisory 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housing 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/publicworks 

›

Thursday’s New York Times editorial started out “George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday…” Well, he’s already topped himself. On Thursday morning he told ABC News, as quoted online by the BBC, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did appreciate a serious storm but these levees got breached and as a result much of New Orleans is flooded ….” Yes, Mr. President, many people did anticipate the breach of the levees, but you and your advisers chose to ignore them. Thursday’s papers were already full of the accounting of how the current administration has chosen to ignore the facts on the ground. Molly Ivins in her syndicated column did a tidy roundup of all the ways that budget essential to protecting New Orleans from the inevitable and anticipated breach of the levees was diverted by the Bush administration into the war in Iraq and other follies.  

Finger-pointing when disaster strikes is sometimes considered to be in bad taste. Some prefer to consider the devastation which has accompanied Hurricane Katrina as “an act of God.” The godly should be the first to object to this, since much of the suffering is caused by the action, or failure to act, of humans who should know better.  

Here we are, once again, experiencing what we’ve come to call a Cassandra Moment. Things happen, bad things that many of us have long predicted, and the fools who are running the country act surprised. The failure of Iraq’s constitutional process is another example. Why in the world would anyone think that three or more tribes which have been at odds for centuries could agree on how to govern a devastated area with just a few months’ deliberation?  

Government as we knew it seems to have disintegrated on every level. Arnold Schwarzenegger is clearly unable to govern the state of California, again not surprising to many of us. When the inevitable natural disaster strikes here, and it will, probably in the form of an earthquake, the Bushes and the Schwarzeneggers, having pilfered the federal and state treasuries for tax cuts for the already wealthy, will act surprised once more that they can’t deal with the emergency.  

At least there’s always some good news about how ordinary citizens have managed to take care of themselves when the government let them down. Here’s one story from Marge Taylor, 78, a retired Contra Costa County deputy. She’s one of the Richmond area’s lively community of former Louisianans who moved to the East Bay in the mid-’40s, part of the great defense plant migration. She told us that Tuesday she cried all day, after hearing from her New Orleans sister Hildred Williams, 75, that her nephew Charles had missed the family’s evacuation. Their home was in one of the lowest lying parishes in the city, so they assumed the worst when they didn’t hear from him.  

Yesterday, thank goodness, they did. It turns out that, despite being in poor health, he’d gotten himself and his dog Rex on some kind of raft, and had paddled their way out to where a kind stranger in a truck picked them up. They made it last night to their old home town of San Gabriel, La., where cousins had laid by enough food to feed the extended family for a while. “It was kind of like a family reunion—they even had a little barbecue yesterday,” Marge told me. She said she told her nephew Charles “you caused me to cry so many tears—I’ll never have to cry again.” And the house, it turns out, can be fixed. 

The family of longtime Point Richmond blues singer Barbara Rhodes, in Gulfport, Mississippi, wasn’t quite so lucky. Her sister Teresa, who also lived in the Point for a while, reports that their home was completely demolished, though the family members had been evacuated to safety. Barbara and Point Richmond fans are busy organizing a benefit fundraising concert. 

Many people do manage to take care of themselves, their families and even strangers, in some fashion-- the human species is remarkably resilient. But many more aren’t going to be so lucky this time. It’s tragic to think that many of the deaths and much of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina could have been prevented if the federal government hadn’t cut the funds for levee maintenance. When the Big One hits around here, will we have learned enough from this experience to have adequate disaster relief in place, or have funds been cut too much in that area too? That’s the kind of question people all over the U.S. should be asking right now.  

—

For those of us who have spent a substantial part of our lives in or near educational institutions—and that’s most of us in Greater Berkeley—the approach of September always feels like the real New Year. Even for small children it’s the chance to start over again and to get it right this time. Over the weekend we attended a small gathering marking the tenth anniversary of the deaths of Page and Eloise Smith, who 40 years ago spearheaded some significant attempts to get education right.  

Page, a distinguished historian who was teaching at UCLA at the time, became the first provost of Cowell College, the first college of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The model was to be Oxford, California-style, and the plan was that students and faculty would form small learning communities within the larger institution. It was seen as an antidote to the mega-university on the corporate model which was starting to dominate the other campuses of the University of California, notably Berkeley and UCLA. There were many educational experiments conducted at Santa Cruz in the first few years, notably narrative evaluation of students instead of letter grades and a core curriculum grandly called “World Civilization” which attempted to incorporate most of human history in a course taught by several professors as a group. Not all, or perhaps not most, of these experiments are now considered to have been successful by current academic theorists. Page Smith himself didn’t last even 10 years at UCSC, resigning in disgust at the decision of the academic bureaucracy to deny tenure to a valued colleague, and yet his former students who spoke at the memorial on Saturday continue to believe that their education was an outstanding success from their personal perspective.  

No discussion of education is complete without pointing out the Latin root of the word, from the Latin educare, to lead out. The job of education, contrary to the philosophy of No Child Left Behind, is not to stuff students with poorly grasped facts and figures to be regurgitated verbatim on tests. It is instead to encourage them to make the most of their inherent gifts, in the context of the past to be sure. The University of California bureaucrats have spent the last 40 years trying to destroy this ideal at Santa Cruz, to turn the school into another feeder for whatever industry is trendy at the moment, first Silicon Valley and now biotechnology. What survives to this day nonetheless among some of the students at the University of California at Santa Cruz is a vigorous curiosity and an irreverence toward the conventional wisdom which dead-serious competitive Berkeley students increasingly lack. It’s not a coincidence that among the Daily Planet’s liveliest staffers and contributors at least four were educated at UCSC.  

Eloise Smith, Page’s wife and co-conspirator, was a fine painter who made her major contribution to education with the program she started in 1977 to bring art to California prisons. She believed that participation in the arts offered inmates the best way to develop the self-respect which is essential for rebuilding life after incarceration. British critic John Carey, in his recent book What Good Are the Arts?, says that the most important, or perhaps the only, way that art “improves” society is in prison programs, and he quotes several criminology studies to prove his point. It’s an idea which has been widely recognized since Eloise Smith launched her prison art program, though not, unfortunately, by the state of California, which defunded it in 2003. 

Most educational experiments don’t survive for very long, at least in their original form, but many of them seem to be “successful” nevertheless. This might have something to do with the nature of experiments. Industrial psychologists in the nineteen-thirties documented the Hawthorne Effect: At an electrical plant, workers took part in a series of experiments with different ways of doing their jobs, and to the surprise of the investigators, almost everything worked. One commentator described the results as “an increase in worker productivity produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out and made to feel important” because workers knew that they were participating in an experiment. What was good for workers then is probably good for students now.  

Conceptual rigidity is the enemy of true education. As soon as would-be educators get locked into The Right Way to Do It, à la NCLB, they’re probably getting it wrong. That’s why the people who are trying to create a bit of ferment at Berkeley High School with programs like Small Schools and Academic Choice deserve community support. Even if no particular program gets it exactly right, chances are that 40 years from now today’s students, like the original UCSC students, will report that they’re better people—and better educated—because they participated in an interesting experiment in 2005.