The dividing lines in the political struggle over the future of Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) grew clearer at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting when Mayor Tom Bates offered a 10-page “Draft for Discussion” of his own. It is not a draft of ordinance language, but simply a conceptual proposal. -more-

UC Berkeley and UCLA professors who have called for an investigation into newspaper allegations of hidden university employee compensation practices say they are not satisfied with the university’s response. -more-

Heated words and testy tempers at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting suggested that race remains very much an issue in Berkeley politics. -more-

Those with concerns about UC Berkeley’s major expansion plans for the Memorial Stadium area will be able to offer comments at Thursday’s scoping session on the project. -more-

We invite our readers to submit personal essays, short fiction, poetry and pictures for our Annual Reader Contribution Holiday Issue. Selected SUbmissions will be published in the Tuesday, Dec. 27 issue. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Sunday Dec. 18. Send us your material at holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com, or to 3023A Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 -more-

For their second meeting, members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC)—joined by interested citizens—will take a stroll this Saturday. -more-

New appointments at the Landmarks Preservation Commission could create a more developer-friendly majority on the panel that builders love to hate. -more-

Have you ever wondered what is happening with bathroom construction at Berkeley High School (BHS)? Has the bathroom retrofit been completed so that Berkeley High students can use them? -more-

Correction -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

WEST CAMPUS POOL -more-

Wednesday, George W. Bush confirmed what many of us have long suspected—our plan for Iraq is based upon a Talking Heads hit. The president’s “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq” was lifted from the lyrics to Road to Nowhere. -more-

In one of the recent articles on the recent West Oakland liquor store attacks, the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Mayor Jerry Brown as condemning the incidents—including the trashing of the two stores—and adding, “If there are issues, and there are issues in Oakland with liquor stores, people can come together to discuss them.” -more-

Down by the station -more-

Rob Wrenn’s Nov. 29 article on the context for downtown planning created by previous documents and city commitments was very helpful in reminding us where we have come from. But we will continually face two related challenges: making sure that we remember the past as completely as possible, and making sure we don’t give in to the temptation to selective retrieve only those parts of the past that support favored positions. -more-

An exhibition of limited edition fine prints addressing the transgressions of justice in Palestine is currently on view at the Berkeley Art Center. Fourteen multinational and multiethnic artists communicate their concerns in their approach. -more-

FRIDAY, DEC. 2 -more-

Music can turn any old day into a celebration, but the holiday season is a special time for concerts, with Messiah, Messiah & Messiah (not a law firm), dancing Sugar Plums, and other traditions that often provide a significant first experience of classical music. -more-

In retrospect, it was the best possible introduction: stumbling into Ono Hawaiian Foods, a hole-in-the-wall on Kapahulu Avenue in Waikiki, after walking from the hotel almost to Diamond Head and back, and ordering the laulau. I wasn’t sure what I was in for except that it involved pork and taro leaves, but we had just seen the white terns of Kapiolani Park and felt like celebrating with something local. -more-

FRIDAY, DEC. 2 -more-